Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

List of World Heritage Sites in Europe and North America

2013-01-07T02:02:32Z

Funforever:

[[File:Sacre_Coeur.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Sacre Coeur]], [[France]]]]

According to the [[World Heritage Site|World Heritage Lists]] of the [[UNESCO]]:

==[[Albania]]==

*[[Butrint]]
*Historic Centres of [[Berat]] and [[Gjirokastra]]

==[[Andorra]]==

*[[Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley]]

==[[Armenia]]==

*Cathedral and Churches of [[Echmiatsin]] and the Archaeological Site of [[Zvartnots]]
*Monasteries of [[Haghpat]] and [[Sanahin]]
*Monastery of [[Geghard]] and the Upper [[Azat Valley]]

==[[Austria]]==

*City of [[Graz]] – Historic Centre and Schloss Eggenberg
*[[Fertö]] / [[Neusiedlersee]] Cultural Landscape
*Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape
*Historic Centre of the City of [[Salzburg]]
*Historic Centre of [[Vienna]]
*Palace and Gardens of [[Schönbrunn]]
*Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the [[Alps]]
*Semmering Railway
*[[Wachau]] Cultural Landscape

==[[Azerbaijan]]==

*[[Gobustan]] Rock Art Cultural Landscape
*Walled City of [[Baku]] with the [[Shirvanshah's Palace]] and Maiden Tower

==[[Belarus]]==

*Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the [[Radziwill]] Family at [[Nesvizh]]
*[[Belovezhskaya Pushcha]] / [[Bialowieza]] Forest
*[[Mir Castle]] Complex
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc

==[[Belgium]]==

*[[Belfrie]]s of Belgium and France
*Flemish Béguinages
*Historic Centre of [[Brugge]]
*La [[Grand-Place]], [[Brussels]]
*Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta ([[Brussels]])
*Neolithic Flint Mines at [[Spiennes]] ([[Mons]])
*[[Notre-Dame Cathedral]] in [[Tournai]]
*[[Plantin-Moretus]] House-Workshops-Museum Complex
*[[Stoclet House]]
*The Four Lifts on the [[Canal du Centre]] and their Environs, [[La Louvière]] and [[Le Roeulx]] (Hainault)

==[[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]==

*[[Mehmed Paša Sokolovic Bridge]] in [[Višegrad]]
*Old Bridge Area of the Old City of [[Mostar]]

==[[Bulgaria]]==

*Ancient City of [[Nessebar]]
*[[Boyana]] Church
*[[Madara Rider]]
*[[Pirin National Park]]
*[[Rila]] Monastery
*Rock-Hewn Churches of [[Ivanovo]]
*[[Srebarna]] Nature Reserve
*Thracian Tomb of [[Kazanlak]]
*Thracian Tomb of [[Sveshtari]]

==[[Canada]]==
[[File:Quebec City.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Quebec]], [[Canada]]]]

*Canadian [[Rocky Mountain]] Parks
*[[Dinosaur Provincial Park]]
*[[Gros Morne National Park]]
*Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
*Historic District of Old [[Québec]]
*[[Joggins]] Fossil Cliffs
*[[Kluane]] / [[Wrangell-St Elias]] / [[Glacier Bay]] / [[Tatshenshini-Alsek]]
*[[L’Anse aux Meadows]] National Historic Site
*[[Miguasha National Park]]
*[[Nahanni National Park]]
*Old Town [[Lunenburg]]
*[[Rideau Canal]]
*[[SGang Gwaay]]
*[[Waterton Glacier]] International Peace Park
*[[Wood Buffalo National Park]]

==[[Croatia]]==

*Episcopal Complex of the [[Euphrasian Basilica]] in the Historic Centre of [[Porec]]
*Historic City of [[Trogir]]
*Historical Complex of [[Split]] with the [[Palace of Diocletian]]
*Old City of [[Dubrovnik]]
*[[Plitvice Lakes National Park]]
*[[Stari]] Grad Plain
*The Cathedral of [[St James]] in [[Šibenik]]

==[[Cyprus]]==

*[[Choirokoitia]]
*Painted Churches in the [[Troodos]] Region
*[[Paphos]]

==[[Czech Republic]]==
[[File:Prague.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Prague]], [[Czech Republic]]]]

*Gardens and Castle at [[Kromeríž]]
*Historic Centre of [[Ceský Krumlov]]
*Historic Centre of [[Prague]]
*Historic Centre of [[Telc]]
*[[Holašovice]] Historical Village Reservation
*Holy Trinity Column in [[Olomouc]]
*[[Jewish]] Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in [[Trebíc]]
*[[Kutná Hora]]: Historical Town Centre with the Church of [[St Barbara]] and the [[Cathedral of Our Lady]] at [[Sedlec]]
*[[Lednice-Valtice]] Cultural Landscape
*[[Litomyšl]] Castle
*Pilgrimage Church of [[St John of Nepomuk]] at [[Zelená Hora]]
*[[Tugendhat]] Villa in [[Brno]]

==[[Denmark]]==

*[[Ilulissat]] [[Icefjord]]
*[[Jelling Mounds]], Runic Stones and Church
*[[Kronborg]] Castle
*[[Roskilde Cathedral]]

==[[Estonia]]==

*Historic Centre (Old Town) of [[Tallinn]]
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc

==[[Finland]]==

*Bronze Age Burial Site of [[Sammallahdenmäki]]
*Fortress of [[Suomenlinna]]
*High Coast / [[Kvarken]] Archipelago
*Old [[Rauma]]
*[[Petäjävesi]] Old Church
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc
*[[Verla]] Groundwood and Board Mill

==[[France]]==
[[File:Palace_of_Versailles.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Versailles]], [[France]]]]

*Abbey Church of[[ Saint-Savin sur Gartempe]]
*[[Amiens]] Cathedral
*[[Arles]], Roman and Romanesque Monuments
*[[Belfries]] of Belgium and France
*[[Bordeaux]], Port of the Moon
*[[Bourges]] Cathedral
*[[Canal du Midi]]
*Cathedral of [[Notre-Dame]], Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, [[Reims]]
*[[Chartres Cathedral]]
*Cistercian Abbey of [[Fontenay]]
*Episcopal City of [[Albi]]
*Fortifications of [[Vauban]]
*From the Great Saltworks of [[Salins-les-Bains]] to the Royal Saltworks of [[Arc-et-Senans]], the Production of Open-pan Salt
*[[Gulf of Porto]]: Calanche of Piana, Gulf of Girolata, Scandola Reserve
*Historic Centre of [[Avignon]]: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge
*Historic Fortified City of [[Carcassonne]]
*Historic Site of [[Lyons]]
*Jurisdiction of [[Saint-Emilion]]
*[[Lagoon]]s of [[New Caledonia]]: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems
*[[Le Havre]], the City Rebuilt by [[Auguste Perret]]
*[[Mont-Saint-Michel]] and its Bay
*Palace and Park of [[Fontainebleau]]
*Palace and Park of [[Versailles]]
*[[Paris]], Banks of the [[Seine]]
*[[Pitons]], cirques and remparts of [[Reunion]] Island
*[[Place Stanislas]], Place de la Carrière and Place d'Alliance in [[Nancy]]
*[[Pont du Gard]] (Roman Aqueduct)
*Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the [[Alps]]
*Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the [[Vézère]] Valley
*[[Provins]], Town of Medieval Fairs
*[[Pyrénées]] - [[Mont Perdu]]
*Roman Theatre and its Surroundings and the "Triumphal Arch" of [[Orange]]
*Routes of [[Santiago de Compostela]] in France
*[[Strasbourg]] – Grande île
*The Causses and the Cévennes, [[Mediterranean]] agro-pastoral Cultural Landscape
*The [[Loire]] Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes
*[[Vézelay]], Church and Hill

==[[Georgia]]==

*[[Bagrati Cathedral]] and [[Gelati]] Monastery
*Historical Monuments of [[Mtskheta]]
*Upper [[Svaneti]]

==[[Germany]]==
[[File:Bruhl_Palace.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Bruhl Palace]], [[Germany]]]]

*[[Aachen]] Cathedral
*Abbey and Altenmünster of [[Lorsch]]
*[[Bauhaus]] and its Sites in [[Weimar]] and [[Dessau]]
*[[Berlin]] Modernism Housing Estates
*Castles of [[Augustusburg]] and [[Falkenlust]] at [[Brühl]]
*Classical [[Weimar]]
*Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of [[Quedlinburg]]
*[[Cologne Cathedral]]
*[[Fagus]] Factory in [[Alfeld]]
*[[Frontier]]s of the [[Roman Empire]]
*Garden Kingdom of [[Dessau-Wörlitz]]
*Hanseatic City of [[Lübeck]]
*Historic Centres of [[Stralsund]] and [[Wismar]]
*Luther Memorials in [[Eisleben]] and [[Wittenberg]]
*[[Maulbronn]] Monastery Complex
*[[Messel Pit]] Fossil Site
*Mines of [[Rammelsberg]], Historic Town of [[Goslar]] and Upper Harz Water Management System
*Monastic Island of [[Reichenau]]
*[[Museumsinsel]] (Museum Island), [[Berlin]]
*[[Muskauer Park]] / [[Park Muzakowski]]
*Old town of [[Regensburg]] with [[Stadtamhof]]
*Palaces and Parks of [[Potsdam]] and [[Berlin]]
*Pilgrimage Church of [[Wies]]
*Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the [[Alps]]
*Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany
*Roman Monuments, [[Cathedral of St Peter]] and [[Church of Our Lady]] in [[Trier]]
*[[Speyer Cathedral]]
*[[St Mary's Cathedral]] and [[St Michael's Church]] at [[Hildesheim]]
*The [[Wadden Sea]]
*Town Hall and Roland on the Marketplace of [[Bremen]]
*Town of [[Bamberg]]
*Upper Middle [[Rhine]] Valley
*[[Völklingen]] Ironworks
*[[Wartburg]] Castle
*[[Würzburg]] Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Squar
*[[Zollverein]] Coal Mine Industrial Complex in [[Essen]]

==[[Greece]]==
[[File:Corfu_Greece.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Corfu]], [[Greece]]]]
*[[Acropolis]], [[Athens]]
*Archaeological Site of [[Aigai]] (modern name [[Vergina]])
*Archaeological Site of [[Delphi]]
*Archaeological Site of [[Mystras]]
*Archaeological Site of [[Olympia]]
*Archaeological Sites of [[Mycenae]] and [[Tiryns]]
*[[Delos]]
*Historic Centre ([[Chorá]]) with the Monastery of Saint John
*Medieval City of [[Rhodes]]
*[[Meteora]]
*Monasteries of [[Daphni]], Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios
*[[Mount Athos]]
*Old Town of [[Corfu]]
*Paleochristian and [[Byzantine]] Monuments of [[Thessalonika]]
*[[Pythagoreion]] and [[Heraion]] of [[Samos]]
*Sanctuary of [[Asklepios]] at [[Epidaurus]]
*[[Temple of Apollo]] [[Epicurius]] at [[Bassae]]

==[[Holy See]]==

*Historic Centre of [[Rome]], the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
*[[Vatican City]]

==[[Hungary]]==

*[[Budapest]], including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
*Caves of [[Aggtelek Karst]] and [[Slovak Karst]]
*Early Christian Necropolis of Pécs ([[Sopianae]])
*[[Fertö]] / [[Neusiedlersee]] Cultural Landscape
*[[Hortobágy National Park]] - the Puszta
*Millenary Benedictine [[Abbey of Pannonhalma]] and its Natural Environment
*Old Village of [[Hollóko]] and its Surroundings
*[[Tokaj]] Wine Region Historic Cultural Landscape

==[[Iceland]]==

*[[Surtsey]]
*[[Þingvellir National Park]]

==[[Ireland]]==

*Archaeological Ensemble of the [[Bend]] of the [[Boyne]]
*[[Skellig Michael]]

==[[Israel]]==

*[[Bahá’i]] Holy Places in [[Haifa]] and the Western Galilee
*Biblical Tels - [[Megiddo]], [[Hazor]], [[Beer Sheba]]
*[[Incense]] Route - Desert Cities in the [[Negev]]
*[[Masada]]
*Old City of [[Acre]]
*White City of [[Tel-Aviv]] -- the Modern Movement

==[[Italy]]==
[[File:Colosseum.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Colosseum]], [[Italy]]]]
*18th-Century Royal Palace at [[Caserta]] with the Park, the Aqueduct of Vanvitelli, and the San Leucio Complex
*[[Sacri Monti]] of [[Piedmont]] and [[Lombardy]]
*Archaeological Area and the Patriarchal [[Basilica of Aquileia]]
*Archaeological Area of [[Agrigento]]
*Archaeological Areas of [[Pompei]], [[Herculaneum]] and [[Torre Annunziata]]
*Assisi, the [[Basilica of San Francesco]] and Other Franciscan Sites
*Botanical Garden (Orto Botanico), [[Padua]]
*[[Castel del Monte]]
*Cathedral, [[Torre Civica]] and [[Piazza Grande]], [[Modena]]
*Church and [[Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie]]
*[[Cilento]] and [[Vallo di Diano National Park]] with the Archeological sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula
*City of [[Verona]]
*City of [[Vicenza]] and the Palladian Villas of the [[Veneto]]
*[[Costiera Amalfitana]]
*[[Crespi d'Adda]]
*Early Christian Monuments of [[Ravenna]]
*Etruscan Necropolises of [[Cerveteri]] and [[Tarquinia]]
*[[Ferrara]], City of the Renaissance, and its Po Delta
*[[Genoa]]: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli
*Historic Centre of [[Florence]]
*Historic Centre of [[Naples]]
*Historic Centre of [[Rome]], the Properties of the [[Holy See]] in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura 9
*Historic Centre of [[San Gimignano]]
*Historic Centre of [[Siena]]
*Historic Centre of the City of [[Pienza]]
*Historic Centre of [[Urbino]]
*Isole Eolie ([[Aeolian Islands]])
*Late Baroque Towns of the [[Val di Noto]] (South-Eastern [[Sicily]])
*Longobards in Italy. Places of the power (568-774 A.D.)
*[[Mantua]] and [[Sabbioneta]]
*[[Monte San Giorgio]]
*[[Piazza del Duomo]], [[Pisa]]
*[[Portovenere]], [[Cinque Terre]], and the Islands (Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto)
*Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the [[Alps]]
*Residences of the Royal House of [[Savoy]]
*Rhaetian Railway in the [[Albula]] / [[Bernina]] Landscapes
*Rock Drawings in [[Valcamonica]]
*[[Su Nuraxi di Barumini]]
*[[Syracuse]] and the Rocky Necropolis of [[Pantalica]]
*The Trulli of Alberobello
*The Dolomites
*The Sassi and the Park of the Rupestrian Churches of Matera
*Val d'Orcia
*Venice and its Lagoon
*Villa Adriana (Tivoli)
*Villa d'Este, Tivoli
*Villa [[Romana del Casale]]

==[[Latvia]]==

*Historic Centre of [[Riga]]
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc

==[[Lithuania]]==

*Curonian Spit
*[[Kernave]] Archaeological Site (Cultural Reserve of Kernave)
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc
*[[Vilnius]] Historic Centre

==[[Luxembourg]]==

*City of [[Luxembourg]]: its Old Quarters and Fortifications

==[[Malta]]==

*City of [[Valletta]]
*[[Hal Saflieni Hypogeum]]
*Megalithic Temples of Malta

==[[Moldova]]==

*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc

==[[Montenegro]]==

*[[Durmitor National Park]]
*Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of [[Kotor]]

==[[Netherlands]]==

*Defence Line of [[Amsterdam]]
*[[Droogmakerij de Beemster]] (Beemster Polder)
*Historic Area of [[Willemstad]], Inner City and Harbour, [[Curaçao]]
*Ir.D.F. [[Woudagemaal]] (D.F. Wouda Steam Pumping Station)
*Mill Network at [[Kinderdijk-Elshout]]
*[[Rietveld Schröderhuis]] ([[Rietveld Schröder]] House)
*[[Schokland]] and Surroundings
*Seventeenth-century [[canal]] ring area of Amsterdam inside the [[Singelgracht]]
*The [[Wadden Sea]]

==[[Norway]]==

*[[Bryggen]]
*Rock Art of [[Alta]]
*[[Røros]] Mining Town and the Circumference
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc
*[[Urnes Stave]] Church
*[[Vegaøyan]] -- The [[Vega]] Archipelago
*West Norwegian [[Fjord]]s – [[Geirangerfjord]] and [[Nærøyfjord]]

==[[Poland]]==

*[[Auschwitz]] Birkenau - former German [[Nazi]] Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945)
*[[Belovezhskaya Pushcha]] ([[Belarus]])/ [[Bialowieza]] Forest ([[Poland]])
*Castle of the [[Teutonic Order]] in [[Malbork]]
*[[Centennial Hall]] in [[Wrocław]]
*Churches of Peace in [[Jawor]] and [[Świdnica]]
*[[Kraków]]'s Historic Centre
*Historic Centre of [[Warsaw]]
*[[Kalwaria Zebrzydowska]]: the Mannerist Architectural and Park Landscape Complex and Pilgrimage Park
*Medieval Town of [[Toruń]]
*Muskauer Park ([[Germany]])/ Park Mużakowski ([[Poland]])
*Old City of [[Zamość]]
*[[Wieliczka]] Salt Mine
*Wooden Churches of Southern Little Poland

==[[Portugal]]==
[[File:The_Tower_of_Belem.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Tower of Belem]], [[Portugal]]]]
*[[Alto Douro]] Wine Region
*Central Zone of the Town of [[Angra do Heroismo]] in the [[Azores]]
*Convent of Christ in [[Tomar]]
*Cultural Landscape of [[Sintra]]
*Historic Centre of [[Évora]]
*Historic Centre of [[Guimarães]]
*Historic Centre of [[Oporto]]
*Landscape of the [[Pico Island]] Vineyard Culture
*[[Laurisilva of Madeira]]
*Monastery of [[Alcobaça]]
*Monastery of [[Batalha]]
*[[Monastery of the Hieronymites]] and [[Tower of Belém]] in [[Lisbon]]
*Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the [[Côa Valley]] and [[Siega Verde]]

==[[Romania]]==

*Churches of [[Moldavia]]
*Dacian Fortresses of the [[Orastie Mountains]]
*[[Danube]] Delta
*Historic Centre of [[Sighisoara]]
*Monastery of [[Horezu]]
*Villages with Fortified Churches in [[Transylvania]]
*Wooden Churches of [[Maramures]]

==[[Russian Federation]]==
[[File:St._Basil%27s_Basilica.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[St._Basil's Basilica]], [[Russia]]]]

*Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in [[Sergiev Posad]]
*Central [[Sikhote-Alin]]
*[[Church of the Ascension]], [[Kolomenskoye]]
*Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of [[Derbent]]
*Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the [[Solovetsky Islands]]
*Curonian Spit
*Ensemble of the [[Ferrapontov]] Monastery
*Ensemble of the [[Novodevichy]] Convent
*Golden Mountains of [[Altai]]
*Historic and Architectural Complex of the [[Kazan Kremlin]]
*Historic Centre of [[Saint Petersburg]] and Related Groups of Monuments
*Historic Monuments of [[Novgorod]] and Surroundings
*Historical Centre of the City of [[Yaroslavl]]
*[[Kizhi Pogost]]
*[[Kremlin]] and [[Red Square]], [[Moscow]]
*[[Lake Baikal]]
*Natural System of [[Wrangel Island]] Reserve
*[[Putorana]] Plateau
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc
*[[Uvs Nuur]] Basin
*Virgin [[Komi]] Forests
*Volcanoes of [[Kamchatka]]
*Western [[Caucasus]]
*White Monuments of [[Vladimir]] and [[Suzdal]]

==[[San Marino]]==

*San Marino Historic Centre and [[Mount Titano]]

==[[Serbia]]==

*[[Gamzigrad-Romuliana]], Palace of [[Galerius]]
*Medieval Monuments in [[Kosovo]]
*[[Stari Ras]] and [[Sopocani]]
*[[Studenica]] Monastery

==[[Slovakia]]==

*[[Bardejov]] Town Conservation Reserve
*Caves of [[Aggtelek Karst]] and [[Slovak Karst]]
*Historic Town of [[Banská Štiavnica]] and the Technical Monuments in its Vicinity
*[[Levoca]], [[Spišský Hrad]] and the Associated Cultural Monuments
*Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of [[Germany]]
*[[Vlkolínec]]
*Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the [[Carpathian Mountain]] Area

==[[Slovenia]]==

*Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the [[Alps]]
*[[Škocjan]] Caves

==[[Spain]]==
[[File:Alhambra_Patio_de_los_Arrayanes.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Alhambra]], [[Spain]]]]
*[[Alhambra]], [[Generalife]] and [[Albayzín]], [[Granada]]
*[[Aranjuez]] Cultural Landscape
*Archaeological Ensemble of [[Mérida]]
*Archaeological Ensemble of [[Tárraco]]
*Archaeological Site of [[Atapuerca]]
*[[Burgos Cathedral]]
*Catalan Romanesque Churches of the [[Vall de Boí]]
*Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in [[Seville]]
*Cave of [[Altamira]] and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain
*Cultural Landscape of the [[Serra de Tramuntana]]
*[[Doñana National Park]]
*[[Garajonay National Park]]
*Historic Centre of [[Cordoba]]
*Historic City of [[Toledo]]
*Historic Walled Town of [[Cuenca]]
*[[Ibiza]], Biodiversity and Culture
*[[La Lonja de la Seda]] de [[Valencia]]
*[[Las Médulas]]
*Monastery and Site of the [[Escurial]], [[Madrid]]
*Monuments of [[Oviedo]] and the Kingdom of the [[Asturias]]
*Mudejar Architecture of [[Aragon]]
*Old City of [[Salamanca]]
*Old Town of [[Ávila]] with its Extra-Muros Churches
*Old Town of [[Cáceres]]
*Old Town of [[Segovia]] and its Aqueduct
*Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, [[Barcelona]]
*Palmeral of [[Elche]]
*[[Poblet]] Monastery
*Prehistoric Rock Art Sites in the [[Côa]] Valley and [[Siega Verde]]
*[[Pyrénées]] - [[Mont Perdu]]
*Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of [[Úbeda]] and [[Baeza]]
*Rock Art of the Mediterranean Basin on the Iberian Peninsula
*Roman Walls of [[Lugo]]
*Route of [[Santiago de Compostela]]
*Royal Monastery of [[Santa María de Guadalupe]]
*[[San Cristóbal de La Laguna]]
*[[San Millán Yuso]] and [[Suso]] Monasteries
*[[Santiago de Compostela]] (Old Town)
*[[Teide National Park]]
*[[Tower of Hercules]]
*University and Historic Precinct of [[Alcalá de Henares]]
*[[Vizcaya]] Bridge
*Works of [[Antoni Gaudí]]

==[[Sweden]]==

*Agricultural Landscape of Southern [[Öland]]
*[[Birka]] and [[Hovgården]]
*Church Village of Gammelstad, [[Luleå]]
*[[Engelsberg]] Ironworks
*Hanseatic Town of [[Visby]]
*High Coast / [[Kvarken]] Archipelago
*[[Laponia]]n Area
*Mining Area of the Great Copper Mountain in [[Falun]]
*Naval Port of [[Karlskrona]]
*Rock Carvings in [[Tanum]]
*Royal Domain of [[Drottningholm]]
*[[Skogskyrkogården]]
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc
*[[Varberg]] Radio Station

==[[Switzerland]]==

*Benedictine Convent of St John at [[Müstair]]
*Convent of [[St Gall]]
*[[La Chaux-de-Fonds]] / Le Locle, Watchmaking Town Planning
*[[Lavaux]], Vineyard Terraces
*[[Monte San Giorgio]]
*Old City of [[Berne]]
*Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the [[Alps]]
*Rhaetian Railway in the [[Albula]] / Bernina Landscapes
*Swiss [[Alps]] [[Jungfrau-Aletsch]]
*Swiss Tectonic Arena [[Sardona]]
*Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-Town of [[Bellinzona]]

==[[Turkey]]==

*Archaeological Site of [[Troy]]
*City of [[Safranbolu]]
*[[Göreme National Park]] and the Rock Sites of [[Cappadocia]]
*Great Mosque and Hospital of [[Divrigi]]
*[[Hattusha]]: the [[Hittite]] Capital
*[[Hierapolis]]-[[Pamukkale]]
*Historic Areas of [[Istanbul]]
*[[Nemrut Dag]]
*[[Selimiye]] Mosque and its Social Complex
*[[Xanthos]]-[[Letoon]]

==[[Ukraine]]==

*[[Kiev]]: [[Saint-Sophia]] Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
*[[L'viv]] – the Ensemble of the Historic Centre
*Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and the Ancient Beech Forests of Germany
*Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans
*[[Struve]] Geodetic Arc

==[[United Kingdom]] of Great Britain and Northern Ireland==
[[File:Tower_bridge_London.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Tower Bridge]], [[United Kingdom]]]]
*[[Blaenavon]] Industrial Landscape
*[[Blenheim Palace]]
*[[Canterbury Cathedral]], [[St Augustine's Abbey]], and [[St Martin's Church]]
*Castles and [[Town Walls]] of [[King Edward]] in [[Gwynedd]]
*City of [[Bath]]
*[[Cornwall]] and West [[Devon]] Mining Landscape
*[[Derwent]] Valley Mills
*[[Dorset]] and East Devon Coast
*[[Durham]] Castle and Cathedral
*[[Frontier]]s of the [[Roman Empire]]
*[[Giant's Causeway]] and Causeway Coast
*[[Gough]] and Inaccessible Islands
*Heart of Neolithic [[Orkney]]
*[[Henderson Island]]
*Historic Town of [[St George]] and Related Fortifications, [[Bermuda]]
*[[Ironbridge Gorge]]
*[[Liverpool]] – Maritime Mercantile City
*Maritime [[Greenwich]]
*[[New Lanark]]
*Old and New Towns of [[Edinburgh]]
*[[Pontcysyllte]] Aqueduct and Canal
*[[Royal Botanic Gardens]], [[Kew]]
*[[Saltaire]]
*[[St Kilda]]
*[[Stonehenge]], Avebury and Associated Sites
*Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of [[Fountains Abbey]]
*[[Tower of London]]
*[[Westminster Palace]], [[Westminster Abbey]] and [[Saint Margaret's Church]]

==[[United States of America]]==
[[File:Grand_Canyon2.jpg|thumb|right|300px|[[Grand Canyon]], [[United States]]]]
*[[Cahokia Mounds]] State Historic Site
*[[Carlsbad Caverns National Park]]
*[[Chaco]] Culture
*[[Everglades National Park]]
*[[Grand Canyon National Park]]
*[[Great Smoky Mountains National Park]]
*[[Hawaii Volcanoes National Park]]
*[[Independence Hall]]
*[[Kluane]] / [[Wrangell-St Elias]] / [[Glacier Bay]] / [[Tatshenshini-Alsek]]
*[[La Fortaleza]] and [[San Juan National]] Historic Site in [[Puerto Rico]]
*[[Mammoth Cave National Park]]
*[[Mesa Verde National Park]]
*[[Monticello]] and the [[University of Virginia]] in [[Charlottesville]]
*[[Olympic National Park]]
*[[Papahanaumokuakea]]
*[[Pueblo de Taos]]
*[[Redwood National Park|Redwood National and State Parks]]
*[[Statue of Liberty]]
*[[Waterton Glacier International Peace Park]]
*[[Yellowstone National Park]]
*[[Yosemite National Park]]

== See also ==
*[[List of World Heritage Sites in Africa]]
*[[List of World Heritage Sites in Arab States]]
*[[List of World Heritage Sites in Asia and the Pacific]]
*[[List of World Heritage Sites in Latin America and the Caribbean]]

[[Category:Culture]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[Category:European History]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:American History]]

Vistula

2013-01-07T01:57:37Z

Funforever:

The '''Vistula''' river is [[Poland]]'s largest and longest river. It rises in the beskidy mountains in southern Poland and flows in a mainly northward direction. It flows through the cities of [[Kraków]],[[Sandomierz]] and [[Warsaw]] and empties into the Bay of [[Gdańsk]] on the [[Baltic Sea]].

==Reference==
[http://www.warsaw-life.com/poland/river www.warsaw-life.com]

[[Category:European Rivers]]
[[Category:Poland]]

Wroclaw

2013-01-07T01:56:40Z

Funforever: Redirected page to Wrocław

#REDIRECT [[Wrocław]]

Katowice

2013-01-07T01:55:18Z

Funforever: Created page with "'''Katowice''' is a city in southern Poland. Category:Poland Category:Cities Category:Central Europe Category:European Cities and Towns"

'''Katowice''' is a city in southern Poland.

[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:European Cities and Towns]]

Pope John Paul II

2013-01-07T01:52:15Z

Funforever:

[[Image:John_Paul_II.jpg|thumb|300px|John Paul II]]
'''Blessed Pope John Paul II''' (b. May 18, 1920, died April 2, 2005), born Karol Józef Wojtyła, in Wadowice, [[Poland]] succeeded [[John Paul I]] and preceded [[Benedict XVI]]. He held the second longest papacy in modern times, after Pope Pius IX, and was the first non-Italian [[Pope]] in over 500 years. He became Vicar of Christ (the title given to the pope) in 1978, the year of three popes, and is now known as Blessed John Paul II after being beautified on May 1, 2011. He was fluent in ten languages and would often give his [[homilies]] in the local language of countries he visited. By using Godly Love, he stood up to the [[Nazi]]s and the [[Communist]]s and overcame them both. His pontificate was successful in keeping a vibrant modern Church in strict accordance with Apostolic traditions. He [[canonized]] more [[saints]] than any other pope. It is widely desired that John Paul II be sainted and have a title of "John Paul the Great."

==Early Life==
Karol was born the last of three siblings to father Karol Wojtyła and mother Emilia Kaczorowska. At a young age, he was a known to be gentle and loving to all. His mother died on April 13, 1929 and his older brother, who was a doctor, died of scarlett fever on December 5, 1932.<ref>[http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry/KarolWojtylaPopeJohnPaulTimeline.aspx Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) Timeline]</ref> He lived with his father until he entered the Jagiellonian [[University]] in [[Kraków]], [[Poland]]. He was a very good football (soccer) player and his nickname was 'Goalie'. Karol loved the arts and was involved in poetry and drama. In 1939, Nazi [[Germany]] invaded Poland. His father died on Feb. 18, 1941, when Karol was 21 years old.<ref>[http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry/KarolWojtylaPopeJohnPaulTimeline.aspx Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) Timeline]</ref> Occupied Poland was a tough life for Karol but he managed by hiding within the underground movement. He refused any armed struggle, and was intent on keeping his freedoms and the Polish people's dignity alive through arts. He was known to help [[Jewish]] Poles against the wrath of Nazi [[persecution]]. In October 1942, at the age of 22, he entered the underground seminary to study as a priest..<ref>[http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry/KarolWojtylaPopeJohnPaulTimeline.aspx Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) Timeline]</ref>

==Election and Pontificate==

The Conclave of Cardinals elected him [[Pope]] on October 1,1978. As Pope, John Paul II traveled to more places, visited more countries, and traveled more miles than any other previous Pope. He also conducted more public meetings with the faithful, as the total attendance of his Wednesday audiences alone eclipsed 17,600,000 people. Controversially, during his reign, as many new saints were created as had been created in the reigns of all previous popes combined.

On 22nd October 1996 Pope John Paul II made world headlines with his message1 delivered to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. It was entitled ''Magisterium Is Concerned with Question of Evolution for It Involves Conception of Man'' and resulted in headlines in many of the world's newspapers declaring that evolution and creation could coexist. His holiness stated his opinion on evolution that "In fact it is remarkable that this theory has had progressively greater influence on the spirit of researchers, following a series of discoveries in different scholarly disciplines. The convergence in the results of these independent studies—which was neither planned nor sought—constitutes in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory."

Another one of his accomplishments is the establishment of [[World Youth Day]]. Also, he wrote 14 [[Encyclicals]], 5 books, and inumerous letters.

On May 9, 2005 John Paul II's successor, [[Pope Benedict XVI]], waived the five year waiting period for beatification.

1 From the Vatican, 22 October 1996. ''Official translation published in [[L'Osservatore Romano]], "Weekly Edition in English," 30 October 1996.
''

== Assassination attempts ==
A [[Muslim]] assassin from [[Turkey]], Mehmet Ali Agca, shot Pope John Paul II on May 13, 1981 at [[St. Peter's Square]]. In critical condition, he was rushed to Gemelli Hospital with abdominal wounds and severe blood loss. The recovered pope would meet with Mehmet in prison to offer forgiveness. Years later, an [[Italian]] court ruled that the [[Soviets]] were involved in the plot, possibly done for his efforts in [[Poland]]'s Solidarity movement. [[CIA]] reports have [[Warsaw Pact]] nation communist [[Bulgaria]] as a culprit. <ref>[http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8G3J3J00&show_article=1 Italian Panel: Soviets Behind Pope Attack] Ap, March 2, 2006</ref>

An ultra-conservative Spanish monk named Juan Maria Fernandez y Krohn attacked Pope John Paul II with a bayonet on May 13, 1982 in Fatima, Portugal. At the time, the pope concealed the fact from the public Fernandez y Krohn had wounded him with the blade. The monk was sentenced to 6-1/2 years in prison for the attack.<ref>[http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry/PopeJohnPaulIITimeline.aspx Pope John Paul II Timeline]</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7673443.stm Pope John Paul 'Wounded' in 1982]</ref>

Due to these attacks, the "Popemobile", a bullet-proof car, was used for Pope John Paul's visit to Great Britain on May 28 through June 2, 1982.<ref>[http://www.cbn.com/spirituallife/ChurchAndMinistry/PopeJohnPaulIITimeline.aspx Pope John Paul II Timeline] </ref>

== Quotes ==
Speaking of Crossing The Threshold of [[Hope]]. [[God]] is always on the side of the suffering. His omnipotence is manifested precisely in the fact that he freely accepted suffering. He could have chosen not to do so. He could have chosen to demonstrate his [[omnipotence]] even at the moment of the [[Crucifixion]]. In fact, it was proposed to him: "Let the Messiah, the King of Israel come down now from the cross that we may see and believe." ([[Gospel of Mark|Mark]] 15.32) But he did not accept that challenge. The fact that he stayed on the Cross until the end, the fact that on the Cross he could say, as do all who suffer, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15.34) If the agony on the Cross had not happened, the truth that God is Love would have been unfounded. Yes! God is Love and precisely for this he gave his Son, to reveal himself completely as Love. [[Christ]] is the One who "loved...to the end." ([[Gospel of John|John]] 13.1) "To the end" means to the last breath.

== See also ==
[[Image:JP2OLoG.jpg|thumb|Statue of Pope John-Paul II, at the basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe]]
*[[Our Lady of Guadalupe]]
*[[Catholicism]]
*[[Luigi Giussani]]
*[[Virgin Mary]]

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==

*[http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/index.htm Karol Wojtyla Official Vatican site.]

[[Category:Popes|John Paul II, Pope]]
[[Category:Polish People|John Paul II, Pope]]

Franz Leopold Neumann

2013-01-07T01:50:08Z

Funforever:

'''Franz Leopold Neumann''' (1900 - 1954) was born in [[Katowice]] near [[Kraków]], [[Poland]].

=== New Beginning ===

As a student Neumann participated in the German [[German Revolution|November revolution]] of 1918 and joined the [[Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany#Weimar_Republic|Social Democratic Party]] (SPD). Neumann was instrumental in organizing the Socialist Students Society in Frankfurt, where in 1918 he met Leo Lowenthal, a future member of the [[Frankfurt School]]. At [[Breslau]], Leipzig, Rostock and Frankfurt am Main, Neumann studied the law and graduated in 1923 (Dr. jur., a Ph.D.). He was active from 1925 to 1927 as a teacher at the trade union academy, and later as an assistant of Hugo Sinzheimer. Neumann was active in the clandestine Leninist organization, ''Neu Beginnen'' (''New Beginning''), which tried to bridge the gap between the SPD and the KPD. And from 1928 to 1933 he worked in Berlin in partnership with [[Ernst Fraenkel]] as an attorney specializing on industrial law. As such he frequently represented the SPD and [[trade union]]s.

After the ascendance of the [[national socialism|National Socialists]] to power, Neumann was arrested in April of 1933 under the newly enacted [[Enabling Act]], and after a month of incarceration, escaped to England. There he studied under [[Harold Laski]] at the [[London School of Economics]] and was granted a doctorate in Political Science. At Laski's recommendation Neumann joined the [[Institute for Social Research|Frankfurt Institute of Social Research]] in 1936 and worked with [[Theodor Adorno]] and [[Max Horkheimer]]. [[Paul Massing]], husband of [[Hede Massing]], is also associated with the Frankfurt School. His presence at the Institute enhanced the [[Critical theory (Frankfurt School)|critical social theory]] analysis of fascism and [[Nazism|German National Socialism]]. Neumann moved to New York in [[1936]].

=== OSS ===

Neumann achieved his academic reputation with the publication of ''Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism'' in 1942. This brought him to the attention of [[William J. Donovan]], head of the U.S. [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS), who recruited Neumann first into the U.S. [[Board of Economic Warfare]], and then in February 1942 into the OSS. In July he became the chief economist of the Intelligence Division at the Office of the U.S. Chief of Staff. In 1943 Neumann became deputy chief of the Central European Section of the OSS and worked with Arkady Gurland [http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.somnisllibertaris.com/libro/espagne3637/avant1986.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3DArkady%2BGurland%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DG], Otto Kirchheimer, and [[Friedrich Pollock]], [[Paul Baran]], Cora DuBois, [[John King Fairbank]], Hajo Halborn, Charles Kindleberger, Wassily Leontif, [[Herbert Marcuse]], [[Barrington Moore Jr.]], [[Leo Löwenthal]] and [[Paul Sweezy]].

Nuemann, Marcuse and Kirchheimer were assigned to a group in the Research and Analysis Branch (R&A) that worked on the analysis of political tendencies in Germany. They were "specifically assigned to the identification of Nazi and anti-Nazi groups and individuals; the former were to be held accountable in the war crimes adjudication then being negotiated between the four Great Powers, and the latter were to be called upon for cooperation in post-war reconstruction. For his source materials he drew upon official and military intelligence reports, extensive OSS interviews with refugees, and special OSS agents and contacts in occupied Europe; it was his duty to evaluate the reliability of each of the items of intelligence that reached him, and assemble them all into a coherent analysis on points of strength and weakness in the Reich." (Katz, 1980:116). At the end of 1944, Neumann, Marcuse, and Kirchheimer were involved in preparing a [[Denazification|De-nazification Guide]].

On 3 April 1943 the New York KGB station informed Moscow "Zarubina met for the first time with Neumann who promised to pass us all the data coming through his hands. According to Neumann he is getting many copies of reports from American ambassadors ... has access to materials referring to Germany." In the same report Neumann conveyed to [[Elizabeth Zarubina]] the substance of conversations between [[Pope Pius XII]] and [[Cardinal Francis Spellman]], and official Spanish conversations with Italian and German generals and industrialists regarding prospects of a coup to remove [[Hitler]].." <ref>KGB File 28734, Vol. 1, pgs. 7, 8, 14, 15, 20, 23, 28. </ref> Neumann also supplied information on [[Donald Wheeler]], who later couriered information from the OSS to Soviet intelligence, describing him as "a calm and [[Progressivism|progressive]] man". <ref>KGB File 45049, Vol. 2, pg. 9.</ref> U.S. [[Army Signals Intelligence]] analysts working at Arlington Hall intercepted a [[NKVD|Soviet intelligence]] message in June of 1943. The decrypted message listed several Soviet agents working in the OSS and the [[Office of War Information]]; five of the Soviet sources have been identified: [[Maurice Halperin]], [[Duncan Lee]], [[Julius Joseph]], Franz Neumann, and [[Bella Joseph]]. Shortly before the [[July 20 Plot|20 July 1944]] assassination attempt on Hitler's life, Neumann described in detail negotiations between the German dissident conspirators and [[Allen Dulles]]. New York ''[[Rezident]]'' [[Vasily Zarubin]] sent several reports to Moscow that month based on Neumann's information. [[Anatoly Gorsky]], an official of the Soviet [[Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies|Committee of Information]] (KI), in his 1948 Memorandum on ''Compromised American Sources and Networks'' listed Neumann as a member of the "Redhead group" headed by Hede Massing. <ref>John Earl Haynes, ''Comparative Analysis of Cover Names (Code Names) in the Gorsky Memo and Cover Names in Venona'', 2005; "'Ruff' ['Ersh' or 'Yeursch'] – Franz Neumann, former consultant in the Department of Research and Analysis of the OSS"; 'Ersh' is Russian for a type of fish known as 'Ruff' or 'Ruffe' in English but also has several other meanings, including that of a mixed beer and vodka drink.</ref> Neumann received [[U.S._citizenship#Naturalized_citizens|naturalized American citizenship]] in late 1943, and after Zarubina left the United States in the later half of 1944 Neumann had no further contact with Soviet intelligence.

=== Nuremberg ===

In the summer of 1945, Neumann travelled to Nuremberg, where he was to become the first chief of research of the [[Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal]] under chief prosecutor Justice [[Robert Jackson]]. Neumann was tasked with preparing an analysis of each of the twenty-two Nuremberg defendants, and various Nazi organizations. From mid-September 1945, Neumann’s R&A team prepared and supervised materials for a series of indictments with other OSS colleagues responsible for both interrogation and document analysis. Donovan initially directed Neumann to examine religious persecution under the Nazi regime.

The reports analysis of "the problem of establishing criminal responsibility" provided the prosecutorial strategy. The thinking was to show that measures taken against the [[Christian Church]]es were an integral part of National Socialism. It also attempted to show that measures were criminal from the standpoint of German or international law, depending where a given act was committed. This applied the typical Frankfurt School methodology of "immanent critique" to argue that the Nazi regime can be convicted most effectively by demonstrating that it violated not only the laws of ‘foreign’ occupied countries, but also the very ‘Germanic’ traditions it claimed to uphold. The report claimed key articles of the [[Weimar Constitution]] "were never formally abrogated by the National Socialist regime, … were left untouched and still remain theoretically in force." Furthermore: "respect for the principle of religious freedom", continued to be reiterated in various official policy statements of the Nazi regime, and in various "enactments of the National Socialist state, particularly the Concordat of 20 July 1933."

The material on religious persecution is placed in the wider context of how these agencies committed crimes against humanity as an integral part of the Nazi’s master plan, its conspiracy to seize and consolidate ideological control and totalitarian power within Germany by eradicating sources of actual and potential opposition. This material formed part of the evidence on which these agencies were judged to be criminal organisations. Neumann's group wrote,
<blockquote>"The Nazi conspirators, by promoting beliefs and practices incompatible with [[Christian]] teaching, sought to subvert the influence of the Churches over the people and in particular over the youth of Germany. They avowed their aim to eliminate the Christian Churches in Germany and sought to substitute therefore Nazi institutions and Nazi beliefs and pursued a programme of persecution of priests, clergy and members of monastic orders whom they deemed opposed to their purposes and confiscated Church property."</blockquote>

Neumann also took charge of revising the first draft prosecution brief detailing the personal responsibility of [[Hermann Goering]], the most senior defendant. Neumann believed that German war criminals should be tried before German courts according to [[Weimar Republic|Weimar law]] as an important part of the wider de-nazification effort. He continued working for a coming together of the Communist and Social Democratic movements. He later became disillusioned with the reality of Communist rule in [[East Germany]] and broke off contact with the Communists.

In 1948 Neuman became as a professor of Political Science at [[Columbia University]], and helped establish the [[Free University of Berlin]]. Together with Ernst Fraenkel and Karl Lowenstein, Neumann is considered to be among the founders of modern political science in the [[Federal Republic of Germany]]. He is noted together with Fraenkel, [[Hannah Arendt]], Ernst and Carl J. Friedrich as developing the [[Totalitarian]] theory. U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]]'s [[National Security Advisor]] and [[United Nations]] Ambassador [[Jeanne Kirkpatrick]] was a student of Neumann's at Columbia University. Neumann died in an automobile accident in 1954. His widow, Inge Werner, married Herbert Marcuse in 1955.

The Franz Leopold Neumann file among the [[Joseph R. McCarthy]] Papers will be held under seal at [[Marquette University]] until the year [[2050]].

===References===
<references/>

=== Books by Franz Neumann ===
*''Die politische und soziale Bedeutung der arbeitsgerichtlichen Rechtsprechung''. Berlin: Laub. 1929.
*''Tarifrecht auf der Grundlage der Rechtsprechung des Rechsarbeitsgerichts''. Berlin: Allgemeiner Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund. 1931.
*''Koalitionsfreiheit und Reichsverfassung. Die Stellung der Gewerkschaften im Verfassungssystem''. Berlin: Heymann. 1932.
*''Trade Unionism, Democracy, Dictatorship''. Preface by Harold J. Laski. London: Workers' Educational Trade Union Committee. 1934. (Published in the U.S. as European Trade Unionism and Politics, ed. Carl Raushenbuch. New York: [[League for Industrial Democracy]], 1936.)
*(under pseudonym '''Leopold Franz''') ''Die Gewerkschaften in der Demokratie und in der Diktatur. Probleme des Sozialismus, 13''. Karlsbad: Graphia. 1935.
*''Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism''. London: Gollancz. 1942.
*''Behemoth: The Structure and Practice of National Socialism, 1933 - 1944''. 2nd rev. edn, with new appendix. Toronto: Oxford University Press. 1944.
*''The Democratic and the Authoritarian State: Essays in Political and Legal Theory'', ed. Herbert Marcuse. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press. 1957.
*''Wirtschaft, Staat, Demokratie. Aufsätze 1930 - 1954'', ed. Alfons Söllner. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp. 1978.
*''Die Herrschaft des Gesetzes. Eine Untersuchung zum Verhältnis von politischer Theorie und Rechtssystem in der Konkurenzgesellschaft'' , trans. & ed. Alfons Söllner. Frankfurt a.M.: Suhrkamp. (German trans. of the 1936 doctoral dissertation, 'The Governance of the Rule of Law: an Investigation into the Relationship between the Political Theories, the Legal System, and the Social Background in the Competitive Society,' London School of Economics, 1936 (supervisor: Harold J. Laski). 1980.
*''The Rule of Law: Political Theory and the Legal System in Modern Society'', ed. Matthias Ruete. Leamington Spa: Berg. 1986.

=== Sources ===
*Ian Bryan and Michael Salter, ''War Crimes Prosecutors and Intelligence Agencies: The Case for Assessing Their Collaboration'', Taylor & Francis Group, Volume 16, Number 3, September 2001.
*Barry M. Katz, ''The Criticism of Army: The Frankfurt School Goes to War.'' Journal of Modern History 59 (September 1987).
*Barry M. Katz, ''Foreign Intelligence'' (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1989).
*Rolf Wiggershaus, ''The Frankfurt School'', Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 1994.
*''European War Crimes Trials: A Bibliography'', compiled and annotated by Inge S. Neumann. Additional material furnished by the Wiener Library, London. Edited by Robert A. Rosenbaum. Publisher: New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1951.
*Martin Jay, ''The Dialectical Imagination. A History of the Frankfurt School and the Institute of Social Research 1923-1950''. Little Brown and Company, Canada. 1973. [http://www.marxists.org/subject/frankfurt-school/jay/ch01.htm]
*William E. Scheuerman, ''Franz Neumann - Legal Theorist of Globalization?'', Kritische Justiz, 2002.
*[[Allen Weinstein]] and Alexander Vassiliev, ''The Haunted Wood: Soviet Espionage in America—the Stalin Era'' (New York: Random House, 1999), pgs. 249-51, 254, 261.

=== External links ===

*[http://www.wbenjamin.org/neumannproject.html Franz Neumann Project]
*[http://www.marcuse.org/herbert/people/inge/inge.htm Inge S. Neumann]
*Brig. Gen. John Magruder (Director of the Strategic Services Unit) to McCloy (Assistant Secretary of War, Department of War), Strategic Services Unit as of 1 October 1945, Washington, October 9, 1945 [http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/history/intel/95_99.html CIA Historical Files], HS/HC-265, (on file with the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion).
*Claire Hulme & Dr. Michael Salter, [http://www-camlaw.rutgers.edu/publications/law-religion/articles/RJLR_3_1_2.pdf ''The Nazi's Persecution as a War Crime: The OSS Response Within the Nuremeberg Trial's Process''], Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion, n.d.
*''Forced Migration and Scientific Change : Emigré German-Speaking Scientists and Scholars after 1933'', German Historical Institute, Mitchell G. Ash, Ed. (2002). [http://www.isa.unibo.it/focus%20group/ideas/ash.pdf]
*Bruce Cumings, ''Boundary Displacement: Area Studies and International Studies during and after the Cold War'', Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 1993. [http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/cumings2.htm]
* Michael Salter, ''Neo-Fascist Legal Theory on Trial: An Interpretation of Carl Schmitt's Defence at Nuremberg from a Perspective of Franz Neumann's Critical Theory of Law'' [http://www.philosophy.ru/library/pdf/201432.pdf]
*Jeffrey Herf, ''The "Jewish War"'', Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1. (2005). [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/holocaust_and_genocide_studies/v019/19.1herf.html#FOOT16]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Neumann, Franz Leopold}}
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:International Political Figures]]
[[Category:KGB Agents and Sources]]
[[Category:Authors]]

European Union

2013-01-06T22:20:57Z

Funforever:

{{Country
|name =''European Union''
|map =European_Union.jpg
|flag =567rugyhj.png
|arms =
|capital =
|capital-raw = [[Brussels]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Strasbourg]]
|government =
|government-raw = Sui generis [[supranationalism]]
|language = 23 official languages
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =
|president-raw = José Manuel Barroso (Commission) Hans-Gert Pöttering (Parliament)
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =4,324,782 km² (1,669,807 sq mi)
|pop =497,198,740 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =$16,574 billion (2007 IMF)
|gdp-year =
|gdp-pc =$33,482 (2007 IMF)
|currency =euro
|idd =
|tld =.eu
}}
The '''European Union (EU)''' is a democratically organised legal, political and economic union of 27 [[European]] countries. It was formed in 1993 with the ratification of the [[Maastricht Treaty]], though its predecessor, the [[European Economic Community]], was founded in 1957.

The term is often confused with [[Europe]].

As a set of institutions, the EU has more powers over its member states and their citizens than other international bodies; many of its competencies are supranational (above the member states) rather than intergovernmental (between them). Despite having a legal personality and sovereignty in agreed areas, it is not regarded as a federation or state in its own right: rather, it stands somewhere between these two points. Fifteen member states use a common currency, the '''[[euro]]'''<ref>Five other states formally agree to use it, and four others use it without formal agreement.</ref>.

There is no EU military. Each nation has its own forces, but nearly all are members of [[NATO]], in which the U.S. has a preponderant voice.

The EU is a driving force of global economic and political integration, but Hix (2008) sees three problems with the EU: policy gridlock, lack of popular legitimacy and the democratic deficit. He notes, "In substantive terms ... the EU is closer to a form of enlightened despotism than a genuine democracy."<ref> Hix (2008) </ref>
==Politics==
Each nation elects members to the Parliament in proportion to population. The June 2009 elections saw sweeping gains by conservative and anti-immigration parties, as labor and socialist parties lost heavily. Since the 2004 elections the largest grouping has for the last five years been the centre-right European People's Party '''EPP''' (288 seats out of a current 785), followed by the centre-left '''PES''' (216) and the liberal '''ALDE''' (100). With the 2009 election EPP made gains and retains power in the parliament.

Conservative Jose Manuel Barroso, who will have a second term as European Commission president, thanked voters and assured them their voices would be heard.

In 2009 The British [[Labour Party]], Germany's [[SPD]] (Social Democrats) and France's Socialist Party suffered historic defeats--the worst defeat for Labour in Britain in a century..

Turnout was at an all-time low in some countries, including France (41%) and Germany (42%).

==Structure==

===The European Commission===
In September 2009 Jose Manuel Barroso, was re-elected as president of the European Commission after the European Parliament voted to give him a second term. This ended weeks of uncertainty during which Socialist, Green and Liberal critics tried to block Mr Barroso's candidacy on the grounds that he had yielded too much power to national governments and promoted the kind of free-market liberalism that led to the financial crisis.

The role and responsibilities of the European Commission place it at the centre of the EU's decision-making process. Acting as the EU's policy and executive engine, the Commission is composed of 27 Commissioners, one from each state, and is supported by a substantial staff located primarily in [[Brussels]], [[Belgium]]. In matters relating to economic integration ("First or 'Community' Pillar"), only the Commission has the right to propose legislation for approval by the EU Council and European Parliament. As "guardian of the Treaties," the Commission ensures that EU laws are applied and upheld throughout the EU, prosecuting member states and other institutions for failing to follow treaty precepts or otherwise apply Community law. The Commission has full authority to enforce Community competition policy, and its policing of implementation of Community legislation preserves the integrity of the EU single market. The Commission likewise manages and develops the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), implements the budget, and represents the European Community in its areas of competence, notably including international trade negotiations.

The Commission President is appointed by agreement of the EU heads of government and is subject to approval by the European Parliament. Commissioners serve for a renewable five-year term. New Commissioners are identified by member state governments in consultation with the President-designate of the Commission and are normally put in place at the beginning of the term of the Commission President. The entire Commission must be confirmed as a collective whole by the European Parliament before its formal appointment by common accord of EU governments.

===The European Council===
The European Council brings together EU heads of government and the President of the European Commission; foreign ministers of member states also participate. Finance ministers are normally included when the leaders discuss questions related to the euro and the economy. The European Council meets at least twice a year, usually quarterly, at the end of each Presidency, to review major EU projects, set guidelines for policies and provide necessary guidance. The Presidency of the Council rotates every six months among EU member states (January–June; July–December). Its role has become increasingly important with the expansion of EU responsibilities and competencies. The Presidency organises and presides over the meetings of the European Council and EU Council (ministerial) meetings, drafts compromises, and seeks solutions to problems submitted to the European Council.

===Council of Ministers===
The Council of Ministers of the European Union (the "EU Council") is the body in which representatives of the individual member state governments, usually ministers, legislate for the EU, set its political objectives, coordinate national policies and resolve differences among their governments and with other EU bodies. Legally speaking, there is only one Council, but it meets in nine different formations, depending on the matters on its agenda. Foreign ministers usually meet at least once a month in the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC), which deals with major foreign policy issues and plays a coordinating role. Ministers for the Economy and Finance (ECOFIN) and ministers responsible for agriculture also hold monthly meetings. Ministers for Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) hold regular meetings to coordinate policies within their competence.

The Council holds formal sessions in its Brussels headquarters, except in April, June and October, when all sessions take place in Luxembourg. Most formations of the Council also meet informally (tasking no legally binding decisions) in the country holding the EU Presidency, usually once in the course of the Presidency's six-month term. The most prominent of these informal meetings is the so-called "Gymnich" meeting of foreign ministers, named for a town in Germany where the first such meeting took place.

The Council takes most decisions under the Community Pillar by qualified majority voting (QMV) but endeavours to reach the broadest possible consensus before approving legislation. Unanimity is required for a number of specific areas related to economic integration (e.g. taxation), constitutional matters such as amendments to the treaties, the launching of a new common policy, the accession of a new member state, and matters falling within the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy, European Security and Defence Policy, and aspects of law enforcement and judicial cooperation. The number of votes cast by each member state when the EU Council votes by qualified majority voting was determined by the Nice Treaty and roughly correlates to the size of its population.

===The [[European Parliament]]===
The European Parliament is the largest trans-national parliament in the world, and the second-largest overall (behind [[India]]), with an electorate of almost half a billion. Members of the Parliament are directly elected by all EU citizens for five-year terms; elections follow national election procedures, except they have to be a form of proportional representation. Members do not sit in national delegations; rather, they sit in groups according to political affiliation (including Socialists, Christian Democrats/Conservatives, Liberals, Greens, et cetera).

Parliament's powers have gradually grown with the entry into force of the Single European Act (1986), the Maastricht Treaty (1993) and the Treaty of Amsterdam (1999). Parliament shares decision-making power on an equal footing with the Council in many areas under the Community Pillar to which the "co-decision procedure" applies. The European Parliament is one of the two branches with budgetary authority – the Council is the other. The signature of the EP president brings the overall EU budget into effect.

The European Parliament also plays a role in the process of selecting the President and other members of the Commission. The European Council's nomination of the President is subject to approval by the Parliament. The EP holds U.S.-style public hearings of Commission nominees before taking a formal vote to approve the nomination of the Commission as a body. Parliament has the power to censure the entire Commission, but not to dismiss individual Commissioners.

===The European Court of Justice===
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ensures uniform interpretation and application of both the Treaties establishing the European Communities and the secondary legislation and other law adopted under their authority. To enable it to carry out that task, the Court has wide jurisdiction to hear various types of cases. For example, the Court has the authority to hear and issue binding judgements in lawsuits that seek to annul a law adopted by the EU, to compel an EU institution to act, or to require that a member state comply with EU law. The ECJ may issue clarifications of EU law (in response to a request for a preliminary ruling from any member state court) and hears appeals on legal questions arising out of cases at the Court of First Instance. The ECJ currently has 27 justices and eight advocates-general, who are appointed by common accord of the governments of the member states and who hold office for six-year renewable terms.

==Sovereignty==
The member states of the European Union fall under the jurisdiction of the Union's legislative and judicial institutions (the Court of Justice, the Commission, the Council and the Parliament) in those competences that they have conferred to the Union (the principle of subsidiarity). Similar to Federal Law trumping State Law in United States politics, EU member states are obliged to follow the laws set forth by the European Court of Justice, even if their national laws are contradictory. This system of government pools sovereignty in those agreed areas from the nation, and rests it in the EU institutions. Some political theorists argue that the EU is thus the death of the nation, as by the [[Treaty of Westphalia]], nations are defined by their right of self-sovereignty; however, each member state has a legal right to cede from the EU, which non-sovereign components of states do not.

==Economy==
The institutions of the European Union were originally created to oversee the operation of the several economic communities that later became the Single European Market. Even as the EU's political integration has continued, the area of greatest integration has always been in the economic sphere: goods, capital, and labour move freely between member states (with exceptions for goods which pose a public health risk), businesses in all member states are increasingly subject to common basic rules, and fifteen of the 27 member states use a common currency, the euro. The rest of the states are legally obliged to adopt the euro when their economies meet strict ''Convergence Criteria''. The fifteen euro-area countries share a common monetary policy administered by the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany. The EU strives to eliminate internal barriers to the free flow of goods, services, labour, and capital, and to promote the overall convergence of living standards. Internationally, the EU aims to strengthen Europe's trade position and capitalise on the political and economic leverage that a large, unified market brings.

===Growth===
The EU is the world's largest economic area (the U.S. is second) with a 2007 GDP of $16.6 trillion. Growth in many member states has been slow; between 2001 and 2003, the overall growth rate dropped from 1.8 percent to 1.0 percent, then recovered in 2004 to 2.4%, fell to 1.8 percent in 2005, then rose to 2.8% in 2006 and 2.4% in 2007. Within the euro area, growth varies as much as 4.5 percentage points between the fastest and slowest-growing economies: in 2005, the economies of Germany, France and Italy, grew by less than two percent. Growth remains strong in the new [[Central Europe]]an member states with rapidly industrialising economies.

In spring 2000, the EU committed to a ten-year strategic goal of transforming the EU into a more competitive, knowledge-based economy capable of sustaining higher levels of growth. Focusing on labour market reform, macroeconomic and fiscal policy, and promotion of e-commerce and entrepreneurship, the EU's "Lisbon Agenda" was an attempt to stimulate growth while remaining committed to the EU social model. Some suggest that it has so far failed to achieve its goals in large part because national governments (which retain authority over employment policy, immigration, large public sector workforces, entitlement programs and pensions) have not completed the necessary reforms, with unemployment at 6.9 percent in 2007. The European Commission re-launched the Lisbon Agenda in March 2005, promising three percent growth and six million new jobs by 2010. The revamped strategy focuses on developing political consensus within member states to make the changes necessary to complete elimination of barriers in the internal market, reduce the regulatory burden on business, improve labour market flexibility, provide incentives to work and increase investment in human capital.

===Fiscal and Monetary Policy===
Introduced in 1999, the euro is currently the official currency of fifteen of the 27 EU member states. The United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden chose to retain their national currencies, and some of the newer EU members have yet to meet the strict economic conditions required to adopt the euro. Prior to the euro's launch in 1999, national currency exchange rates of countries intending to join the euro were fixed within an Exchange Rate Mechanism. Following the January 2002 introduction of euro notes and coins into general circulation, national currencies were removed from circulation. Each of the euro area countries agreed to abide by a shared fiscal policy rule book known as the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP). This agreement generally obliges national governments to limit government budget deficits to 3 percent of GDP and established a target debt-to-GDP ratio of below sixty percent. Although enforcement actions have been forgiving – France and Germany, for example, avoided sanctions despite missing SGP targets – countries violating the SGP are technically subject to sanctions by the European Commission. As of March 2005, national governments have been granted budget leeway to achieve structural reforms and to combat prolonged stagnation, negative growth or other factors, such as the cost of German reunification or state pensions. The revised standards still require deficits to remain close to the targets; they may only temporarily exceed the three percent limit.

The euro area's monetary policy is set by the European Central Bank (ECB), which must devise a monetary policy to accommodate a wide range of domestic policies and economic conditions within the euro area. The Treaties require that the ECB's primary objective be to maintain price stability (i.e., to keep inflation low). Euro area national governments have sometimes criticised the ECB for guarding against inflation at the expense of interest rate flexibility that could enable struggling economies to gain traction. The ECB's consistent overnight interest rate of two percent has been credited with creating favourable conditions for growth in Spain and Ireland, but has been blamed for hindering growth in France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal. Non-EU countries have also adopted the euro, including Andorra, United Kingdom base areas, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, and the Vatican City. Additionally, several countries have currencies pegged to the euro, including French African states and those in the Exchange Rate Mechanism.

===Trade===
The EU is the world's largest exporter of goods and services. In 2003, the then fifteen EU members exported $987 billion worth of goods to non-EU countries. The EU's exports grew rapidly between 1996 and 2000 but have grown more slowly since. Except for 2002, the EU as a whole has posted a trade deficit every year since 1999; it was $62 billion in 2004. The EU is a major exporter of chemicals, transport equipment, and industrial machinery. The EU has large trade deficits in raw materials and energy, and a small deficit in food and drink.

The U.S. is the EU's main trading partner by a wide margin. U.S. goods and services exports to the EU reached $283 billion in 2004, while U.S. goods and services imports from the EU totalled $388 billion. Asian economies such as Japan and China, however, account for an increasingly important share of EU trade. The EU's two-way merchandise trade with China grew to $223 million in 2004, while merchandise trade with Japan was $149 million. Internal trade between euro area and non-euro area countries was down one percent in the first quarter of 2005, but the EU's external trade was up four percent, particularly with Russia and Norway.

Member states have given almost exclusive authority to the EU to negotiate binding international trade treaties. The European Community (EC) is a full member of the World Trade Organisation and plays an active role in the Doha Development Round to foster international trade in services and agricultural products. Bilaterally, the EC maintains framework agreements to facilitate trade flows with thirty-five countries worldwide, mostly elsewhere in Europe, in North Africa, and in the Middle East.

===Foreign Direct Investment===
The EU is both a major destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) and a major source of FDI. U.S. foreign direct investment in the EU totalled $83.3 billion in 2004; EU FDI into the U.S. totalled $46.6 billion. Following strong year-upon-year growth in the late 1990s, however, inward and outward flows of FDI have contracted since 2001. The EU is a net recipient of FDI from Japan, receiving $81 billion in 2003. Conversely, the EU is a net investor in Canada ($86 billion in outward investment in 2003), and China ($29 billion in outward investment in 2003). Growth of intra-EU FDI has increased rapidly in recent years and has increased much faster than FDI in non-EU countries.

The pattern of foreign investment by European firms reflects deep commercial ties with the United States. U.S. and EU businesses invest heavily and operate profitably on both sides of the Atlantic. U.S. affiliates in Europe accounted for 56 percent of the aggregate output of U.S. affiliates worldwide. European firms were the largest foreign investors in 44 U.S. states and the second largest foreign investor in the remaining six. Sales by U.S. affiliates in Europe totalled $1.5 trillion in 2002, more than double those of U.S. affiliates in the Asia/Pacific region. European affiliate sales in the U.S. were $1.2 trillion in 2002, more than three times the value of U.S. imports from Europe.

Intra-firm trade involving foreign affiliates is particularly important to the transatlantic trade and investment relationship. Approximately 58 percent of U.S. imports from the EU in 2004 involved trade between related parties, as did 30 percent of U.S. exports to Europe in 2003. This high level of intra-firm trade has contributed to the persistence of the U.S. trade deficit with Europe even as the dollar has lost value against the euro since 2002.

===Budget===
The EU's budget is composed of member state contributions. Equivalent to roughly one percent of the member states' combined gross national income (GNI), it was $123 billion in 2005. The UK receives a rebate for some of its contribution, as the CAP benefits the UK less than other states. In June 2005, the EU failed to agree on a budget plan for 2007 through 2013, due in part to a disagreement between the UK and France over the persistence of the UK budget rebate and the funding of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Costs attributable to the CAP constitute the EU's largest annual budget item, benefiting farmers across the EU, especially in France. Payments to net-recipient member states, designed to reduce economic and social disparities among EU countries and regions, are another budget item which has become more contentious with the accession of ten new states poorer than the EU average.

==Criticism==
A significant number of Europeans on the political right of centre are opposed to the EU on the grounds that it undermines national sovereignty and identity. The term "eurosceptic" has risen in popularity in Britan to describe these people, and among them are such members as the former British Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] (although, while in power, she committed Britain to the 1986 [[Single European Act]], a major integrationist measure). They also, however, include less well-respected politicians belonging to far right or [[nationalism|nationalist]] parties, such as France's [[Jean-Marie Le Pen]]. There are also extreme left-wing opponents of the European Union, such as ''Die Linke'' in Germany, who regard it as constituting an anti-progressive "Fortress Europe", and claim that EU membership impedes countries from following socialist policies.

==History==
Following World War II, traditional European rivals sought to solidify peace by bringing their nations together under a common institutional structure. Influenced by his compatriot [[Jean Monnet]], French Foreign Minister [[Robert Schuman]] officially tabled a plan on May 9, 1950 to pool French and German coal and steel production under an organisation that would be open to other European countries. German Chancellor [[Konrad Adenauer]] supported this proposal, and six founding countries – Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – took an early step toward European integration by establishing the '''European Coal and Steel Community''' (ECSC) in 1951.

After failing to establish a European Defence Community in the 1950s, the six countries then decided to set up a common market. With the entry into force of the ''''Treaty of Rome''' in 1957, they created the '''European Economic Community''' (EEC), with an objective of liberating the movement of goods, capital, workers and services. (The European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) was also established at this time.) The Treaty of Rome established the basic institutions and decision-making mechanisms still in place in today's European Union. in 1968, the EEC abolished customs duties between member states on manufactured goods. New policies, including a common agricultural policy (CAP) and a common trade policy, were in place by the end of the 1960s.

The success of the European integration project during a period of steady economic growth in the 1960s set the stage for a first enlargement – the accession of Britain, Ireland and Denmark – in 1973. Further "deepening" of European integration followed: the Community acquired executive authority in social, regional, and environment policies. The benefits of economic convergence became more evident in the context of the 1970s energy crisis and financial turmoil, which led to the launch of the European Monetary System in 1979. In the same year, the first direct elections to the European Parliament (EP) took place. Previously, delegates from national parliaments had represented their country's legislative bodies at the EP in Strasbourg, France.

The Community further expanded southward with the accession of Greece (1981, the second enlargement), followed by Spain and Portugal (1986, the third enlargement). These accessions led the EEC to adopt "structural programs" in order to reduce economic and social disparities among its regions.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Community began to assert itself on the international scene with the conclusion of agreements with southern Mediterranean countries. Starting in 1963, the EEC signed four successive Lome Conventions, which guaranteed trading advantages and development aid for member states' former colonies in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific (ACP).

World recession and internal disputes over member states' financial burdens gave way, from 1985 onward, to renewed efforts for economic integration, enshrined in the 1985 "Single European Act" (SEA) and marked by the 1992 "Single Market Project." The SEA set January 1, 1993 as the date by which an internal single market was to be established and, by extending the practice of majority voting rather than unanimity in the EU Council, gave Community institutions the means of adopting the 300 Community-wide Directives required to abolish the remaining barriers and obstacles to intra-Community trade. In 1995, the Community entered into the "Barcelona" partnership with twelve southern Mediterranean countries. The partnership, reinforced by agreements on social, cultural, and human cooperation, was intended to lead to a free-trade area.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall and German unification prompted member states to negotiate the 1992 Treaty on European Union (the "Maastricht Treaty"). In addition to establishing the European Union, the Maastricht Treaty set an ambitious program of further integration: establishment of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) by 1999 (part of the "First or 'Community' Pillar"), setting up of a Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) ("Second Pillar"); and cooperation on Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) ("Third Pillar"). Shortly thereafter, in 1995, Austria, Finland and Sweden joined the EU – the fourth enlargement.

Signed in 1997 and entering into force on May 1, 1999, the '''Amsterdam Treaty''' partially streamlined the EU institutional structure. Its most significant effects were: (1) to transfer aspects of Justice and Home Affairs policy to the Community Pillar, enabling the Commission to propose decisions to be taken by the EU Council by qualified majority voting instead of by consensus, and (2) to establish a High Representative for the CFSP (who also serves as Secretary-General of the Council Secretariat). Ten countries in [[Central Europe]] and Cyprus began accession procedures in 1997, followed by Malta. The prospect of eastward enlargement raised significant resource concerns and prompted the adoption in March 1999 of the "Agenda 2000" package, which covered amendments to the CAP and EU structural policies, as well as a budgetary framework through 2006.

In May 1998, EU heads of government officially designated eleven member states eligible to adopt a single currency. Britain and Denmark "opted out." On January 1, 1999, the euro became the official currency of the EU, and the '''European Central Bank''' (ECB) put euro notes and coins into circulation in 2002. Today, fifteen countries use the euro: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.

Streamlining the size and procedures of EU institutions to make the expanded EU more efficient was also an aim of the 2003 Treaty of Nice.

===Expansion===
In 2004, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia joined the EU, and in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania acceded, bringing total membership to 27. Candidate countries currently include Turkey, FYR Macedonia and Croatia, and potential candidates include the rest of the Western [[Balkans|Balkan]] states.

In October 2004, member states signed an EU Constitutional Treaty designed to replace all previous treaties. French and Dutch voters rejected the treaty through referendums in 2005, thereby suspending the ratification process. In 2007, a modified '''Treaty of Lisbon''' was agreed upon, which retains most of the reforms of the Constitution, but amends rather than replaces previous treaties.

==Candidates for membership==
There are three official candidates being considered for membership, [[Turkey]], [[Croatia]] and [[The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia]]. The western Balkan states of Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Albania are officially ''potential candidates''. A country that is expected to accede is required to make some economic, social and governmental changes to bring it in line with other member states.

The status of Turkey is highly controversial. It has repeatedly applied to join the EU but has been rejected each time on numerous grounds. Despite being one of the first countries to join the post-war Council of Europe and being a key regional power with a strong military Turkey has a long list of obstacles to overcome before accession. Many nations have cited its poor relations with other countries such as Cyprus, as well as its views on the rights of women and the Turkish Penal Code which includes the notorious Article 301. Article 301 is a recent piece of legislation that provides that "a person who publicly insults the Turkish nation, the State of the Republic of Turkey, or the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, shall be punishable by imprisonment of between six months and two years". Turkey's population of 70 million would make it one of the largest states in the EU with the second-highest amount of MEPs, and would be the first Muslim-majority state in Europe. Britain supports admission while France is strongly against Turkey's membership.

Gateway to the European Union (EU official website) <ref>http://europa.eu/</ref>

==Member states==
*[[Austria]]
*[[Belgium]]
*[[Bulgaria]]
*[[Cyprus]]
*[[Czech Republic]]
*[[Denmark]]
*[[Estonia]]
*[[Finland]]
*[[France]]
*[[Germany]]
*[[Greece]]
*[[Hungary]]
*[[Ireland]]
*[[Italy]]
*[[Latvia]]
*[[Lithuania]]
*[[Luxembourg]]
*[[Malta]]
*[[Netherlands]]
*[[Poland]]
*[[Portugal]]
*[[Romania]]
*[[Slovakia]]
*[[Slovenia]]
*[[Spain]]
*[[Sweden]]
*[[United Kingdom]]

==References==
<References/>

{{License|license = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.| source = [http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/fs/54126.htm]}}
==Further reading==
* Cini, Michelle, and Nieves Perez-Solorzano Borragan, eds. ''European Union Politics'' (2009)
* Craig, Paul and Gráinne de Búrca. ''EU Law, Text, Cases and Materials'' (4th ed. 2007)
* Dinan, Desmond. '' Europe Recast: A History of European Union' '(2004).
* Hix, Simon. ''What's Wrong with the Europe Union and How to Fix It'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Whats-Wrong-Europe-Union-How/dp/0745642055/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1263576617&sr=1-10-spell excerpt and text search]
* Kaiser, Wolfram. ''Christian Democracy and the Origins of European Union'' (2007)
* Peterson, John, and Michael Shackleton eds. ''The Institutions of the European Union'' (2nd ed. 2006)
* McCormick, John. ''The European Union: Politics and Policies'' (2007)
* Pinder, John, and Simon Usherwood. ''The European Union: A Very Short Introduction'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/European-Union-Short-Introduction-Introductions/dp/0199233977/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263575844&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
*Podmore, Will & Nicholls, Doug (2006), The EU: bad for Britain - a [[trade union]] view. Bread Books, ISBN 0-942112-5-1.
* Staab, Andreas. ''The European Union Explained: Institutions, Actors, Global Impact'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/European-Union-Explained-Institutions-Actors/dp/0253220181/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1263575844&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Yesilada, Birol A. and David M. Wood. ''The Emerging European Union'' (5th ed. 2009)
[[Category:European Politics]]
[[Category:European History]]

Western world

2013-01-06T22:00:20Z

Funforever:

The '''Western world''' or the Occident, [[Europe]] (western Eurasia), as opposed to the Eastern World (the Orient), Asia (eastern Eurasia), is made up of the countries of Europe, as well as the technologically advanced countries of the Americas that have been influenced (by colonisation or otherwise) tremendously by the France, Spain, Portugal, Russia, the United Kingdom or other European nations.

==Historical Cold War meaning==
During the cold War, when Russia created the Soviet Union and tried to cut itself off from the rest of the West, the term meant those European countries allied against the former [[Soviet Union]] also known as the Eastern bloc. The Western world was equated incorrectly with the [[Western Bloc]] to include [[Europe]]an democratic countries, the [[United States]], [[Canada]], [[Australia]], and [[New Zealand]], and [[Japan]] (although the latter countries is geographically in the Far East).

Due to historical confusion, term is often confused with [[Western Europe]] or Western Hemisphere.

[[Category: Geography]]

Vladimir Putin

2013-01-06T21:38:56Z

Funforever:

[[Image:Vladtheimpaler.jpg|right|thumb|Vladimir Putin]]
'''Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: Владимир Владимирович Путин) (born October 7, 1952) was reelected president of the [[Russian Federation]] in 2012, after serving as prime minister since May 8, 2008, and previously serving as [[president]] since December 31, 1999, the day [[Boris Yeltsin]] resigned from the presidency.<ref>Putin was later elected president by 54% of the electorate on March 26, 2000.</ref> Putin governs a nation that is rapidly becoming more [[Christian]] and more [[conservative]], and his snubbing of [[Obama]] in May 2012 suggests that Putin is well aware of how conservative his country is becoming.

Putin is mainly backed by the [[United Russia]] (''Единая Россия'') party, which currently holds a majority in the lower chamber of the Russian parliament, known as the ''Duma''. The party usually reflects the political views of Putin, which are that of moderate conservatism and nationalism. On March 14, 2004, he was elected to a second term as president with 71% of the vote. Barred from a third consecutive term by the Russian constitution, Putin ceded the presidency to [[Dmitry Medvedev]] on May 7, 2008 and became Prime Minister, at the time sharing power with the more moderate Medvedev. Medvedev did not run for a second term, and, as a result, Putin was re-elected in 2012.

In terms of achievements, Putin stabilized the Russian economy and restored Russia's national pride, largely by politically exploiting the financial windfall of Europe's need for Russian oil and gas. Russians were enthusiastic that he ended the social chaos that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the subsequent pell-mell privatization of the state-owned economy. Many Russians have been mesmerized by the new glitter of Moscow and the restored glamor of St. Petersburg. Russia's revived self-pride follows the humiliation of the chaos after 1991 and the incompetence of his predecessor [[Boris Yeltsin]]. Russians have a long history of authoritarian governments and a strong diastase for anarchy. They have little experience with freedom. The Russian mafia, which is more sophisticated than its counterparts elsewhere, controls more than 40 percent of the total economy. Their control is thought to be even greater in certain areas, such as banking, real estate, and consumer markets.<ref>[http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/janfeb97/art4.htm Louise I. Shelley, ''The Price Tag of Russia's Organized Crime'']</ref>

Putin has ruled Russia harshly in the style of the Czars—albeit not in the style of the Soviets. He gains popularity every time he challenges the U.S. or Europe, or sends troops to harass Georgia. Putin's Russia is an authoritarian system, with restricted capitalism, a rubber stamp parliament, pliant media, imprisoned or exiled oligarchs, harassed NGOs, marginalized pro-Western, democratic parties, and a foreign policy based on bullying and military strength, all based on money from oil and gas.

==Background==
Putin was born in [[Leningrad]] on [[October]] 7, 1952 and was baptized as an Orthodox Christian and continue to be a member to this day. He was educated in law and economics at Leningrad State University before being assigned to work in the [[GRU]].<ref>[http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmurph/articles/20090821.aspx Killing The KGB Myth],
August 21, 2009.</ref> After five years in [[East Germany]], he took up various political positions before becoming [[prime minister]] in 1999.

He is married to Lyudmila Putina since July 28, 1983 (former airline stewardess). They have two daughters.

==Escalating tensions==
[[File:Putin07.jpg|thumb|300px|Canadian news magazine tells it like it is--Sept. 03, 2007]]
Putin is seen as an antagonist to the West, trying to cut the country off from its own Western roots, just as the communist regime did; his presidency has become increasingly authoritarian and opponents are murdered. It is possible that his hostility to NATO and the U.S., his demand for a voice in the affairs of ex-Soviet nations, his rigged election system, nationalized oil, protection of Iran, and threats to Georgia have heightened tensions. The decline of [[human rights]] in Russia has been dramatic; for example, Russian riot police beat a number of protesters and journalists at an anti-Putin rally at Pushkin Square in Moscow, <ref>''The Economist'', April 21, 2007</ref> and Putin rigged national elections for his party <ref>http://www.reuters.com/article/homepageCrisis/idUSL03585550._CH_.2400</ref>

Putin has even exercised power over the Russian supreme court. Justice Vladimir Yaroslavtsev was forced to resign after warning that Russian security agencies now control the country as they did in Soviet times and expressing alarm over their lack of accountability. Justice Anatoly Kononov was likewise forced out after defending Yaroslavtsev.<ref>[http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2009/12/are_you_an_independent_russian_judge_youre_fired.htm ''Are You An Independent Russian Judge? You're Fired'', RobertAmsterdam.com]</ref>

A further cause of alarm is a quick moving bill moving through the Russian parliament which is said to have Putin's support, and which would make it illegal to discuss religion without a Kremlin-issued permit. Putin has also promoted a KGB operative into the position of pontiff of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Many who have reported or protested such things have found themselves being repressed - or killed.<ref>[http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/12/putins_own_worst_enemy.html Kim Zigfeld, ''Putin's Own Worst Enemy''] American Thinker, December 08, 2009</ref><ref>http://larussophobe.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/editorial-another-russian-journalist-takes-the-putin-plunge</ref> Journalist [[Anna Politkovskaya]], an outspoken critic of Putin, was assassinated in 2006 <ref>http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article1819666.ece</ref>, and it is widely believed that the Russian government had some involvement in this death. There were 13 journalists killed in contract-style slayings during Vladimir Putin's eight-year presidency. <ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,438381,00.html Russian Lawyer in Slain Journalist Case Says She, Family Poisoned] AP, October 15, 2008</ref>

Despite these negatives—or perhaps because of the strong hand they reveal—Putin remains popular in Russia<ref>http://www.levada.ru/prezident.html Putin's Approval Ratings</ref>. Since coming to power, Putin has expanded Russia's economy and reduced inflation. The majority of Russians are relatively uninterested in politics outside of issues affecting their personal prosperity, <ref>''The Economist'', April 21, 2007</ref> and journalist Anna Politkovskaya argued that the Russian people, as a whole, have been willing to tolerate violence in the name of "comfort and peace and quiet".<ref>Politkovskaya, Anna. Putin's Russia. London: Harvill Press, 2004</ref>

==Relations with U.S.==
President Obama's decision in August 2009 to cancel an antimissile defense system in [[Central Europe]] (the [[Czech Republic]], [[Poland]] and [[Lithuania]]) earned a strong welcome from Putin. Now, the question is whether Russia will do more to help prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Putin, who had repeatedly assailed the antimissile system as a grave danger to Russia's security, called Obama's decision ''correct and brave.'' President Dmitri A. Medvedev hinted that Russia would respond favorably to the decision to replace former President George W. Bush's plan with a missile shield seen as less threatening to Moscow.

==See also==
* [[Dmitri Medvedev]]
* [[Russian Federation]]

==Further reading==
* Baker, Peter, and Susan Glasser. ''Kremlin Rising: Vladimir Putin's Russia and the End of Revolution'' (2nd ed. 2007); [http://www.amazon.com/Kremlin-Rising-Vladimir-Revolution-Updated/dp/1597971227/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256923460&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Goldman, Marshall I. ''Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New Russia'' (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Petrostate-Putin-Power-New-Russia/dp/0195340736/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256915128&sr=1-2 excerpt and text search]
* Lucas, Edward. ''The New Cold War: Putin's Russia and the Threat to the West'' (2009) [http://www.amazon.com/New-Cold-War-Putins-Russia/dp/0230614345/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256915128&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Stuermer, Michael. ''Putin and the Rise of Russia'' (2009)
* Wegren, Stephen K., and Dale R. Herspring, eds. ''After Putin's Russia: Past Imperfect, Future Uncertain'' (4th ed. 2009) [http://www.amazon.com/After-Putins-Russia-Imperfect-Uncertain/dp/0742557855/ref=tmm_pap_title_0 excerpt and text search]

==References==
<references/>

==Links==
[http://www.kremlin.ru/articles/V_Putin.shtml Official Putin Biography]
{{DEFAULTSORT: Putin, Vladimir}}

[[Category:Heads of State]]
[[Category:Russian People]]
[[Category:Russian Political People]]

Western Bloc

2013-01-06T21:20:08Z

Funforever: Created page with "The Western Bloc or Capitalist Bloc during the Cold War refers to the countries allied with the United States and its NATO allies against the Soviet Union and its allies in [[Cen..."

The Western Bloc or Capitalist Bloc during the Cold War refers to the countries allied with the United States and its NATO allies against the Soviet Union and its allies in [[Central Europe]] and the Balkans. It is often confused with [[Western Europe]] and the [[Western world]].

See also:
*[[Eastern Europe]]

Eastern Bloc

2013-01-06T21:18:36Z

Funforever: Created page with "A historical term to refer to the USSR in Eastern Europe and its communist allies in Central Europe and the Balkans. The Eastern Bloc existed around for about 45 years - from lat..."

A historical term to refer to the USSR in Eastern Europe and its communist allies in Central Europe and the Balkans. The Eastern Bloc existed around for about 45 years - from late 1940s until late 1980s, or early 1990s. It is often confused with the term [[Eastern Europe]].

See also:
*[[Western Bloc]]

Breslau

2013-01-06T21:14:17Z

Funforever: Redirected page to Wrocław

#REDIRECT [[Wrocław]]

Wrocław

2013-01-06T21:14:12Z

Funforever: Created page with "Wrocław (also: Breslau; Czech: Vratislav; Latin: Vratislavia or Wratislavia; Yiddish: ברעסלוי) is the major city of the region of Lower Silesia, situated on the Oder rive..."

Wrocław (also: Breslau; Czech: Vratislav; Latin: Vratislavia or Wratislavia; Yiddish: ברעסלוי) is the major city of the region of Lower Silesia, situated on the Oder river. The city along with the region was historically ruled by the Polish dynasty of Piasts, then Austrian Habsburg Monarchy until the area was lost to Prussia after the War of the Austrian Succession. The city flourished under Prussian and later German rule. Following the Second World War, the city became part of Poland and is now the fourth largest city in Poland.

See also:
[[History of Poland]].

[[Category:Polish Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:European Cities and Towns]]

Gdańsk

2013-01-06T21:10:27Z

Funforever:

'''Danzig''' is the German name for the port known as Gdańsk in Polish. Located on the [[Baltic Sea]], it formed part of [[Prussia]] and [[Germany]] until 1919. As a result of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] Danzig, although having a majority German population, was taken from Germany and created a 'Free City' in order to provide the newly-independent [[Poland]] with a sea port not controlled by Germany. In the late 1930s Danzig developed a strong [[Nazi]] movement, and control of the city, and of the "[[Polish Corridor]]" (Polish land separating Danzig and [[East Prussia]] from the rest of Germany) was used by Germany as an excuse for its aggressive posture towards Poland. The first shots of the [[Second World War]] in [[Europe]] were fired in Danzig, as German warships attacked a Polish garrison in the port. Following the defeat of Poland, Danzig was reincorporated into the Reich, but on Germany's defeat in 1945 it was ceded to Poland. Danzig was known for its shipyards, and here in 1980 [[Lech Walesa]] founded the [[Solidarity]] trade union that was within a decade to precipitate the collapse of [[Communism]] in [[Poland]], later [[Central Europe]] and all the rest of the [[Eastern Bloc]] (the Balkans and the [[Soviet Union]]).

[[Category:Polish Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:European Cities and Towns]]

Warsaw

2013-01-06T21:08:39Z

Funforever:

[[Image:Warsaw.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Warsaw''' is the capital city of [[Poland]]. The city is situated on the banks of the [[Wisła River|Wisła]] (Vistula) River and is home to 1.7 million people. The city was extensively destroyed during [[World War Two]]. Many historic buildings and precincts were restored in the post war period. Warsaw is home to the Polish Parliament ([[Sejm]]).

==See also==
* [[History of Poland]]
* [[Kraków]]

==External links==
*[http://www.e-warsaw.pl/index.php City of Warsaw official web-site]

[[category:Capital Cities]]
[[Category:Polish Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:European Cities and Towns]]

Danzig

2013-01-06T21:07:38Z

Funforever: Redirected page to Gdańsk

#REDIRECT [[Gdańsk]]

Gdańsk

2013-01-06T21:07:36Z

Funforever: Created page with "'''Danzig''' is the German name for the port known as Gdańsk in Polish. Located on the Baltic Sea, it formed part of Prussia and Germany until 1919. As a result of t..."

'''Danzig''' is the German name for the port known as Gdańsk in Polish. Located on the [[Baltic Sea]], it formed part of [[Prussia]] and [[Germany]] until 1919. As a result of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] Danzig, although having a majority German population, was taken from Germany and created a 'Free City' in order to provide the newly-independent [[Poland]] with a sea port not controlled by Germany. In the late 1930s Danzig developed a strong [[Nazi]] movement, and control of the city, and of the "[[Polish Corridor]]" (Polish land separating Danzig and [[East Prussia]] from the rest of Germany) was used by Germany as an excuse for its aggressive posture towards Poland. The first shots of the [[Second World War]] in [[Europe]] were fired in Danzig, as German warships attacked a Polish garrison in the port. Following the defeat of Poland, Danzig was reincorporated into the Reich, but on Germany's defeat in 1945 it was ceded to Poland. Danzig was known for its shipyards, and here in 1980 [[Lech Walesa]] founded the [[Solidarity]] trade union that was within a decade to precipitate the collapse of [[Communism]] in [[Eastern Europe]].

[[Category:Polish Cities and Towns]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:European Cities and Towns]]

Gdansk

2013-01-06T21:07:17Z

Funforever: Redirected page to Gdańsk

#REDIRECT [[Gdańsk]]

Kraków

2013-01-06T21:03:53Z

Funforever: Created page with "'''Cracow''' (Polish: ''Kraków'') is one of the oldest and historically most important cities of Poland. Over 750,000 inhabitants live here, so it is second only to Warsaw i..."

'''Cracow''' (Polish: ''Kraków'') is one of the oldest and historically most important cities of Poland. Over 750,000 inhabitants live here, so it is second only to [[Warsaw]] in size.

The [[Jagiellonian University]] of Cracow (''Uniwersytet Jagielloński'') was founded in 1364 by [[Casimir III the Great]] with a license of pope [[Urban V]].

Since 1978, the historical center and the [[Wawel]] castle are listed as [[World Heritage Site]]s by the [[UNESCO]].
[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Cities]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:European Cities and Towns]]

see also [[History of Poland]]

Cracow

2013-01-06T21:03:49Z

Funforever: Redirected page to Kraków

#REDIRECT [[Kraków]]

Krakow

2013-01-06T21:00:24Z

Funforever: Redirected page to Kraków

#REDIRECT [[Kraków]]

Solidarity

2013-01-06T20:59:04Z

Funforever:

'''Solidarity''' was an independent [[trade union]] in [[Communist]]-dominated [[Poland]]. Its courageous struggle for freedom ultimately helped bring about the collapse of Communism in Poland and then [[Central Europe]], spreading later to the [[Balkans]] and [[Eastern Europe]] (the [[Soviet Union]]).

Solidarity was founded in September 1980 during a strike at the Lenin Shipyard in [[Gdansk]], on Poland's [[Baltic Sea]] coast. Its first leader was a shipyard electrician, [[Lech Walesa]]. In 1981 the Polish government imposed [[martial law]] to suppress industrial and political unrest, and Walesa was interned; the union was forced underground for several years, but the Communist Party eventually had to negotiate. Elections held in 1989 led to a coalition government of which Solidarity formed part, and Walesa became Polish president. During the 1981-1989 period when the Solidarity party was outlawed, the communist government tended to see its local [[Roman Catholic]] church as a far more conservative and reasonable social force than the Solidarity party.
==See also==
* [[History of Poland]]

[[Category:Poland]]
[[category:Labor Unions]]
[[category:Communism]]

Shtetl

2013-01-06T20:57:05Z

Funforever:

A '''shtetl''' ([[Yiddish]] for "town") was a [[Central Europe]]an (sometimes in [[Eastern Europe]] and the [[Balkans]]) town or village in which the majority of residents were [[Ashkenazi]] [[Jew]]s. Most shtetls existed between the 16th and early 20th centuries. [[Chernobyl]] was an example of a shtetl in pre-Soviet [[Russia]].

[[Category: Germany]]
[[Category: Poland]]
[[Category: Russia]]
[[Category: Jews]]
[[Category: Judaism]]

Shtetl

2013-01-06T20:55:44Z

Funforever:

A '''shtetl''' ([[Yiddish]] for "town") was a [[Central Europe]]an (not [[Eastern Europe]]an) town or village in which the majority of residents were [[Ashkenazi]] [[Jew]]s. Most shtetls existed between the 16th and early 20th centuries. [[Chernobyl]] was an example of a shtetl in pre-Soviet [[Russia]].

[[Category: Russia]]
[[Category: Poland]]
[[Category: Judaism]]

Poland

2013-01-06T20:53:45Z

Funforever:

{{Country
|name =''Rzeczpospolita Polska''
|map =Poland rel00.jpg
|map2 =Poland location.png
|flag =Flag of Poland.png
|arms =Arms of Poland.png
|capital =Warsaw
|capital-raw =
|government =Parliamentary Republic
|government-raw =
|language =Polish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Bronisław Komorowski
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Donald Tusk
|pm-raw =
|area =120,728 sq mi
|pop =38,441,588
|pop-basis =2011
|gdp =$413.3 billion
|gdp-year =2007
|gdp-pc =$10,858 (2006)
|currency =Złoty (PLN)
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Poland''' is the most [[pro-life]] nation in [[Central Europe]] (Middle Europe) located on its western side. It has suffered many hardships before and after [[World War I]] and [[World War II|II]] disappearing as a nation in 1975 and re-appearing in 1918. Emerging as a nation again after World War I, Poland was partitioned between [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] at the start of World War II. Given nationhood again at the end of the war, it was under the shroud of being a Soviet satellite controlled by a [[communist]] regime. Poland finally became liberated from the communist rule in late 1980s. The exact date of the end of communism in Poland is hard to difine, but it is often accepted as July 4, 1989 (the date of the elections won by the ''Solidarność'', or ''Solidarity'' movement. [[Pope John Paul II]] was from Poland and played a major part in bringing down [[communist|communism]] in Poland. Among the nations under Soviet domination, Poland was unique in continuing to keep its strong [[Catholic]] roots even in the face of persecution. The [[capital]] of Poland is [[Warsaw]].

== People ==
[[File:Fickowa Pokusa Poland.JPG|thumb|left|Polish musician.]]
Poland today is ethnically almost homogeneous (98% Polish), in contrast with the period before and during World War II, when there were significant ethnic minorities--4.5 million [[Ukrainiane|Ukrainians]], 3 million [[Jew]]s, 1 million [[Belorusse|Belorussians]], and 800,000 [[German]]s. The majority of the Jews were murdered during the German occupation in World War II, and many others emigrated in the succeeding years.

Most Germans left Poland at the end of the war, while many Ukrainians and Belorussians lived in territories incorporated into the then-U.S.S.R. Small Ukrainian, Belorussian, [[Slovakia]]n, and [[Lithuania]]n minorities reside along the borders, and a German minority is concentrated near the southwest city of Opole.
*Population (July 2006): 38.5 million.
*Annual growth rate: Unchanging.
*Ethnic groups: Polish 98%, German, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Lithuanian.
*Religions: Roman Catholic 90%, Eastern Orthodox, Uniate, Protestant, Judaism.
*Language: Polish.
*Education: Literacy--98%.
*Health (2006): Infant mortality rate--7.2/1,000. Life expectancy--males 71 yrs., females 79 yrs.
*Work force: 17.2 million. Industry and construction--29%; agriculture--16%; services--54%.
=== Religion ===
[[File:St John Cathedral Warsaw Poland.jpg|thumb|left|St. John Cathedral, Warsaw.]]
[[File:Altar in St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Gliwice Poland.jpg|thumb|Altar in St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Gliwice.]]
More than 94% of the population is Roman Catholic. According to the 2007 Annual Statistical Yearbook of Poland, the formal membership of the listed religious groups includes: 33,862,800 Roman Catholics; 506,800 Polish Orthodox Churchmembers; 53,000 Greek Catholics; 126,827 Jehovah's Witnesses; 77,500 Lutherans (Augsburg Confession); 23,670 Old Catholic Mariavits; 21,199 Pentecostals; 9,620 Seventh-day Adventists; 19,035 members of the Polish Catholic Church; 4,881 members of the New Apostolic Church; 4,726 Baptists; 4,445 Methodists; 3,516 Lutherans (Reformed); 2,500 Jews; 2,425 members of the Church of Christ; 2,195 Catholic Mariavits; 1,299 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons); 915 members of the Church of Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishnas); and 112 registered members of Muslim associations. These figures do not account for persons who adhere to a particular faith but do not maintain formal membership. Figures for Jews and Muslims in particular are significantly deflated as a result. Jewish and Muslim organizations estimate their actual numbers to be 30,000-40,000 and 25,000, respectively.<ref> See [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/ U.S. State Department "International Religious Freedom Report 2008"]</ref>

The majority of asylum seekers are Muslims from Chechnya. In the refugee centers around the country, they organize their own mosques where they practice their religion.

Currently, there is a movement in Poland to completely ban [[abortion]]<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,262104,00.html</ref>, however there is an opposite movement to allow abortion to greater extent than it is now. Most political forces in the parliament are in favor of keeping abortion law as it is (allowing abortion when the women's life or health is threatened, when pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, when the fetus is irreversibly damaged). The attempts to change constitution so that it would be stated that life would be protected from the moment of conception to natural death failed.

== Government and Political Conditions ==
The current government structure consists of a council of ministers led by a Prime Minister, typically chosen from the majority coalition in the bicameral legislature's lower house (Sejm). The president, elected every five years for no more than two terms, is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The judicial branch plays a minor role in decision-making.

The parliament consists of the 460-member Sejm and the 100-member Senat, or upper house. The new constitution and the reformed administrative division (as of 1999) required a revision of the election ordinance (passed in April 2001). The most important changes were liquidation of a national list (all deputies are elected by voters in electoral districts) and introduction of a new method of calculating seats (the modified St. Lague method replaced the d'Hondt method, thus eliminating the premium for the top parties). The law stipulated that with the exception of guaranteed seats for small ethnic parties, only parties receiving at least 5% of the total vote could enter parliament.

Parties represented in the newly elected (October 2011) Sejm are [[Civic Platform]] (PO), [[Law and Justice]] (PiS), Palikot's Movement (RP), Polish Peasant Party (PSL), Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), and the United Poland (SP) which was created after elections by former Law and Justice members. There is also one representative of the German Minority and some non-allied members of Parliament

=== Principal Government Officials ===
*President--Bronisław Komorowski
*Prime Minister--Donald Tusk (PO)
*Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration--Jerzy Miller (PO)
*Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy--Waldemar Pawlak (PSL)

[[File:Bronislaw Komorowsk Poland.jpg|left|300px]]

 
President Bronislaw Komorowski.
{{Clear}}

=== Foreign Relations ===
Poland became an associate member of the EU and its defensive arm, the Western European Union, in 1994. In a June 2003 national referendum, the Polish people approved EU accession by an overwhelming margin, and Poland gained full membership on May 1, 2004.

Changes since 1989 have redrawn the map of central Europe, and Poland has had to forge relationships with seven new neighbors. Poland has actively pursued good relations, signing friendship treaties replacing links severed by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. The Poles have forged special relationships with Lithuania and particularly Ukraine in an effort to firmly anchor these states to the West.

== Defense ==
Poland became a full member of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO) in March 1999 as part of the first wave of enlargement outlined at the July 1997 NATO Summit in [[Madrid]]. Poland's top national security goal is to further integrate with NATO and other west European defense, economic, and political institutions while modernizing and reorganizing its military. Polish military doctrine reflects the same defense posture as its Alliance partners.

Poland maintains a sizable armed force currently numbering about 140,572 troops divided among an army of 87,877, an air and defense force of 31,147, and a navy of 21,548. Poland relies on military conscription for the majority of its personnel strength. All males (with some exceptions) are subject to a 12-month term of military service. The Polish military continues to restructure and to modernize its equipment. The Polish Defense Ministry General Staff and the Land Forces staff have recently reorganized the latter into a NATO-compatible J/G-1 through J/G-6 structure. Although budget constraints remain a drag on modernization, Poland has been able to move forward with U.S. assistance on acquiring 48 [[F-16]] multi-role fighters, [[C-130 Hercules|C-130]] cargo planes, HMMWVs, and other items key to the military’s restructuring.

Poland continues to be a regional leader in support and participation in the NATO Partnership for Peace Program and has actively engaged most of its neighbors and other regional actors to build stable foundations for future European security arrangements. Poland continues its long record of strong support for UN peacekeeping operations by maintaining a unit in Southern Lebanon, a battalion in NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), and by providing and actually deploying the KFOR strategic reserve to Kosovo. Polish military forces have served in both [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]].

Poland assumed command of a multinational division of stabilization forces in Iraq (MDN-CS) on September 3, 2003. Poland and its MND-CS partners have worked effectively since then to stabilize south central Iraq while working to train Iraqi forces to take over MND-CS responsibilities and operate independently. <ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_orbat_coalition.htm</ref>

== Economy ==
[[File:Pol-cia.jpg|thumb|320px]] The Polish economy grew rapidly in the mid-1990s, slowed considerably in 2001 and 2002, returned again to healthy growth rates in 2003, then faltered during the worldwide [[recession of 2008]]. Poland’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 5.2% in the first quarter of 2006. Faster growth has begun to reduce persistently high unemployment, from nearly 20% in the middle of 2004 to 16.5% in May 2006. Tight monetary policy and dramatic productivity growth have helped to hold down inflation, which was 2.1% in 2005. Likewise, Poland's current account deficit, which grew rapidly in the late 1990s, has since moderated to 1.4% of GDP in 2005. The 2005 budget deficit was 27.5 billion zloty, or 2.8% of GDP in 2005, and the current government pledged to restrain the 2006 and 2007 budgets at 30 billion zloty.

Throughout the 1990s, the United States and other Western countries supported the growth of a free enterprise economy by reducing Poland's foreign debt burden, providing economic aid, and lowering trade barriers. Poland graduated from U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) assistance in 2000 and paid the balance of its U.S.-held Paris Club debt in 2005. Poland officially joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004.
*GDP (2006): $265.4 billion.
*Real GDP growth (2006): 5.3%.
*Per capita GDP (2006): $14,100.
*Rate of inflation (2006): 1.3%.
*Natural resources: [[Coal]], [[copper]], [[sulfur]], [[natural gas]], [[silver]], [[lead]], [[salt]].
*Agriculture: Products--grains, hogs, dairy, potatoes, horticulture, sugarbeets, oilseed.
*Industry: Types--machine building, iron and steel, mining, shipbuilding, automobiles, furniture, textiles and apparel, chemicals, food processing, glass, beverages.
*Trade (2006): Exports--$110.7 billion: furniture, cars, ships, coal, apparel. Imports--$113.2 billion: crude oil, passenger cars, pharmaceuticals, car parts, computers.

=== Agriculture ===
Agriculture employs 16.1% of the work force but contributes only 5% to the gross domestic product (GDP), reflecting relatively low productivity. Unlike the industrial sector, Poland's agricultural sector remained largely in private hands during the decades of communist rule. Most of the former state farms are now leased to farmer tenants. Lack of credit is hampering efforts to sell former state farmland. Currently, Poland's 2 million private farms occupy 90% of all farmland and account for roughly the same percentage of total agricultural production. These farms are small--8 hectares (ha) on average--and often fragmented. Farms with an area exceeding 15 ha accounted for only 9% of the total number of farms but cover 45% of total agricultural area. Over half of all farming households in Poland produce only for their own needs with little, if any, commercial sales.

Poland is a net exporter of confectionery, processed fruit and vegetables, meat, and dairy products. Processors often rely on imports to supplement domestic supplies of wheat, feed grains, vegetable oil, and protein meals, which are generally insufficient to meet domestic demand. However, Poland is the leading producer in Europe of potatoes and rye and is one of the world's largest producers of sugarbeets. Poland also is a significant producer of rapeseed, grains, hogs, and cattle. Attempts to increase domestic feed grain production are hampered by the short growing season, poor soil, and the small size of farms.

Pressure to restructure the agriculture sector intensified as Poland prepared to accede to the European Union, which is unwilling to subsidize the vast number of subsistence farms that do not produce for the market. The changes in agriculture are likely to strain Poland's social fabric, tearing at the heart of the traditional, family-based small farm as the younger generation drifts toward the cities. Nonetheless, dramatically increasing agricultural exports to the EU-15 (38% growth in 2005) and payments to farmers from Brussels following accession have enriched Polish commercial farmers and dramatically increase support for EU membership in Poland’s rural areas.

[[File:Panorama-Morskiego-Oka Poland.jpg|thumb|center|500px|Panoramic view of Morskie Oko ("Marine Eye").]]

=== Industry ===
[[File:Locomotive train station Poland..jpg|thumb|Locomotive at a train station.]]
Before World War II, Poland's industrial base was concentrated in the coal, textile, chemical, machinery, iron, and steel sectors. Today it extends to fertilizers, petrochemicals, machine tools, electrical machinery, electronics, and shipbuilding.

Poland's industrial base suffered greatly during World War II, and many resources were directed toward reconstruction. The communist economic system imposed in the late 1940s created large and unwieldy economic structures operated under a tight central command. In part because of this systemic rigidity, the economy performed poorly even in comparison with other economies in central Europe.

In 1990, the Mazowiecki government began a comprehensive reform program to replace the centralized command economy with a market-oriented system. While the results overall have been impressive, many large state-owned industrial enterprises, particularly the railroad and the mining, steel, and defense sectors, have remained resistant to the change and downsizing required to survive in an open market economy.

=== Economic Reform Program and Direct Foreign Investment ===
The economic reforms introduced in 1990 removed price controls, eliminated most subsidies to industry, opened markets to international competition, and imposed strict budgetary and monetary discipline. Poland was the first former centrally planned economy in central Europe to end its recession and return to growth in the early 1990s. The private sector now accounts for over two-thirds of GDP.

In early 2002, the government announced a new set of economic reforms known as the Hausner Plan, designed in many ways to complete the process launched in 1990. The package acknowledged the need to improve Poland's investment climate, particularly the conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises, and better prepare the economy to compete as a European Union (EU) member. The government also aimed to improve Poland's public finances to prepare for eventual adoption of the euro. Though the government was able to enact only portions of the Hausner Plan, those successes coupled with successful monetary efforts to strengthen the zloty, have put Poland within reach of the National Bank’s goal of Euro accession in 2008-2009.

As a result of Poland's growth and investment-friendly climate, the country has received over $85 billion in direct foreign investment (DFI) since 1990, with roughly $7 billion in 2004 alone. According to a recently publish report by Ernst and Young, Poland is tied with Germany as the most attractive destination for foreign investment in Europe. The availability of cheap land and a large, relatively skilled labor force are among Polish strengths. However, the government continues to play a strong role in the economy, as seen in excessive red tape and the high level of politicization in many business decisions. Investors complain that state regulation is not transparent or predictable, and the economy suffers from a lack of competition in many sectors, notably telecommunications.

=== Foreign Trade ===
With the collapse of the ruble-based COMECON trading bloc in 1990, Poland scrambled to reorient its trade. As early as 1996, 70% of its trade was with EU-15 members, and neighboring Germany today is Poland's dominant trading partner. Most of Poland's imports are capital goods needed for industrial retooling and for manufacturing inputs, rather than imports for consumption. Therefore, a deficit is expected and should even be regarded as positive at this point. Poland, a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and European Union, applies the EU’s common external tariff to goods from other countries--including the U.S.

In the year after it joined the EU, Poland experienced an overall growth in exports of 30%. This growth was not confined to trade among EU partners: while exports to EU countries rose by 27%, exports to developing countries rose by 46%, and exports to Russia rose an unexpected 77%. Poland’s trade balance continued to improve, with export growth significantly outpacing import growth. Opportunities for trade and investment continue to exist across virtually all sectors. The American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, founded in 1991 with seven members, now has more than 300 members. Strong economic growth potential, a large domestic market, EU membership, and political stability are the top reasons U.S. and other foreign companies do business in Poland.

== History ==
{{main|History of Poland}}
[[File:Polish composer Wojciech Kilar.jpg|thumb|Polish composer Wojciech Kilar.]]
Poland's written history begins with the reign of [[Mieszko I]], who accepted [[Christianity]] for himself and his kingdom in AD 966. The Polish state reached its zenith under the [[Jagiellonian dynasty]] in the years following the union with [[Lithuania]] in 1386 and the subsequent defeat of the [[Teutonic Knights]] at Grunwald in 1410. The Union of Lublin united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on July 1, 1569, in Lublin, Poland which created a single state known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish Commonwealth was at one point the largest country in Europe, covering much of what is today Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. The Polish experienced their Golden Age during the 16th century. The monarchy survived many upheavals but eventually went into a decline, which ended with the final partition of Poland by [[Prussia]], [[Russia]], and [[Austria]] in 1795.

Independence for Poland was one of the 14 points enunciated by [[President Woodrow Wilson]] during [[World War I]]. Many Polish Americans enlisted in the military services to further this aim, and the United States worked at the postwar conference to ensure its implementation.

However, the Poles were largely responsible for achieving their own independence in 1918 and keeping it shortly thereafter against [[Polish-Soviet War|Red aggression]] from [[Bolshevik]] Russia. Authoritarian rule predominated for most of the period before [[World War II]]. In the years preceding the outbreak of the World War 2, German leader, Adolf Hitler, repeatedly requested an alliance with Poland. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the [[Ribbentrop-Molotov nonaggression pact]], which secretly provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and Soviet-controlled zones. On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered his troops into Poland. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded and then occupied eastern Poland under the terms of this agreement. On October 6, all remaining Polish resistance inside Poland ceased and Poland fell to Soviet and German occupation. The eastern half of Poland known as the Kresy, was annexed into the Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was completely occupied by German troops.

The Poles formed an underground resistance movement and a government in exile, first in [[Paris]] and later in [[London]], which was recognized by the Soviet Union. During World War II, 400,000 Poles fought under Soviet command, and 200,000 went into combat on Western fronts in units loyal to the Polish government in exile.

In April 1943, the Soviet Union broke relations with the Polish government in exile after the German military announced that they had discovered mass graves of murdered Polish army officers at [[Katyn]], in the U.S.S.R. (The Soviets claimed that the Poles had insulted them by requesting that the [[Red Cross]] investigate these reports.) In July 1944, the Soviet Red Army entered Poland and established a communist-controlled "Polish Committee of National Liberation" (PKWN) at Lublin.

Resistance against the Nazis in [[Warsaw]], including uprisings by Jews in the Warsaw ghetto and by the Polish underground, was brutally suppressed. As the Germans retreated in January 1945, they leveled the city.

During the war, about 6 million Poles were killed, and 2.5 million were deported to Germany for forced labor. More than 3 million Jews (all but about 100,000 of the Jewish population) were killed in death camps like those at Oswiecim ([[Auschwitz]]), Treblinka, and Majdanek.

Following the [[Yalta Conference]] in February 1945, a Polish Provisional Government of National Unity was formed in June 1945; the U.S. recognized it the next month. Although the Yalta agreement called for free elections, those held in January 1947 were controlled by the Communist Party. The communists then established a regime entirely under their domination.

==== Communist Party Domination ====
[[File:Socialist reliefs Warsaw.jpg|thumb|left|Socialist relief, Pałac Kultury i Nauki, Warsaw.]]

In 1945, Poland was forced to give up its eastern territories to the Soviet Union, in exchange for Germany's eastern territories of Pomerania and Silesia. Poland took over Germany's former eastern territories and its territories illegally seized by the Soviet Union, including the cities of Lvov and Vilnius were incorporated and annexed under an agreement by the Communist rulers of Poland and the Soviet Union. Poland ended up losing its eastern territories which comprised half of the country and a sizable portion of the population.

In October 1956, after the 20th ("de-Stalinization") Soviet Party Congress in Moscow and riots by workers in Poznan, there was a shakeup in the communist regime. While retaining most traditional communist economic and social aims, the regime of First Secretary Wladyslaw Gomulka liberalized Polish internal life.

In 1968, the trend reversed when student demonstrations were suppressed and an "anti-Zionist" campaign initially directed against Gomulka supporters within the party eventually led to the emigration of much of Poland's remaining Jewish population. In December 1970, disturbances and strikes in the port cities of Gdansk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, triggered by a price increase for essential consumer goods, reflected deep dissatisfaction with living and working conditions in the country. Edward Gierek replaced Gomulka as First Secretary.

Fueled by large infusions of Western credit, Poland's economic growth rate was one of the world's highest during the first half of the 1970s. But much of the borrowed capital was misspent, and the centrally planned economy was unable to use the new resources effectively. The growing debt burden became insupportable in the late 1970s, and economic growth had become negative by 1979.

In October 1978, the Bishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, became [[Pope John Paul II]], head of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. Polish Catholics rejoiced at the elevation of a Pole to the papacy and greeted his June 1979 visit to Poland with an outpouring of emotion.

In July 1980, with the Polish foreign debt at more than $20 billion, the government made another attempt to increase meat prices. A chain reaction of strikes virtually paralyzed the Baltic coast by the end of August and, for the first time, closed most coalmines in Silesia. Poland was entering into an extended crisis that would change the course of its future development.

==== The Solidarity Movement ====
[[File:Lech Walesa.jpg|thumb|Lech Walesa.]]
On August 31, 1980, workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, led by an electrician named [[Lech Walesa]], signed a 21-point agreement with the government that ended their strike. Similar agreements were signed at Szczecin and in Silesia. The key provision of these agreements was the guarantee of the workers' right to form independent trade unions and the right to strike. After the Gdansk agreement was signed, a new national union movement--"Solidarity"--swept Poland.

The discontent underlying the strikes was intensified by revelations of widespread corruption and mismanagement within the Polish state and party leadership. In September 1980, Gierek was replaced by Stanislaw Kania as First Secretary.

Alarmed by the rapid deterioration of the PZPR's authority following the Gdansk agreement, the Soviet Union proceeded with a massive military buildup along Poland's border in December 1980. In February 1981, Defense Minister Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski assumed the position of Prime Minister as well, and in October 1981, he also was named party First Secretary. At the first Solidarity national congress in September-October 1981, Lech Walesa was elected national chairman of the union.

On December 12-13, the regime declared martial law, under which the army and special riot police were used to crush the union. Virtually all Solidarity leaders and many affiliated intellectuals were arrested or detained. The United States and other Western countries responded to martial law by imposing economic sanctions against the Polish regime and against the Soviet Union. Unrest in Poland continued for several years thereafter.

In a series of slow, uneven steps, the Polish regime rescinded martial law. In December 1982, martial law was suspended, and a small number of political prisoners were released. Although martial law formally ended in July 1983 and a general amnesty was enacted, several hundred political prisoners remained in jail.

In July 1984, another general amnesty was declared, and 2 years later, the government had released nearly all political prisoners. The authorities continued, however, to harass dissidents and Solidarity activists. Solidarity remained proscribed and its publications banned. Independent publications were censored.

==== Roundtable Talks and Elections ====
[[File:Royal Castle of Warsaw Poland.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The Royal Castle of Warsaw.]]
The government's inability to forestall Poland's economic decline led to waves of strikes across the country in April, May, and August 1988. In an attempt to take control of the situation, the government gave de facto recognition to Solidarity, and Interior Minister Kiszczak began talks with Lech Walesa on August 31. These talks broke off in October, but a new series, the "roundtable" talks, began in February 1989. These talks produced an agreement in April for partly open National Assembly elections. The June election produced a Sejm (lower house), in which one-third of the seats went to communists and one-third went to the two parties which had hitherto been their coalition partners. The remaining one-third of the seats in the Sejm and all those in the Senat were freely contested; virtually all of these were won by candidates supported by Solidarity.

The failure of the communists at the polls produced a political crisis. The roundtable agreement called for a communist president, and on July 19, the National Assembly, with the support of some Solidarity deputies, elected General Jaruzelski to that office. Two attempts by the communists to form governments failed, however.

On August 19, President Jaruzelski asked journalist/Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to form a government; on September 12, the Sejm voted approval of Prime Minister Mazowiecki and his cabinet. For the first time in more than 40 years, Poland had a government led by non-communists.

In December 1989, the Sejm approved the government's reform program to transform the Polish economy rapidly from centrally planned to free-market, amended the constitution to eliminate references to the "leading role" of the Communist Party, and renamed the country the "Republic of Poland." The Polish United Workers' (Communist) Party dissolved itself in January 1990, creating in its place a new party, Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland. Most of the property of the former Communist Party was turned over to the state.

The May 1990 local elections were entirely free. Candidates supported by Solidarity's Citizens' Committees won most of the races they contested, although voter turnout was only a little over 40%. The cabinet was reshuffled in July 1990; the national defense and interior affairs ministers--holdovers from the previous communist government--were among those replaced.

In October 1990, the constitution was amended to curtail the term of President Jaruzelski. In December, Lech Walesa became the first popularly elected President of Poland.

==== The Republic of Poland ====
The [[Republic of Poland]] in the early 1990s made great progress toward achieving a fully democratic government and a market economy. In November 1990, Lech Walesa was elected President for a 5-year term. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, at Walesa's request, formed a government and served as its Prime Minister until October 1991, introducing world prices and greatly expanding the scope of private enterprise.
[[File:Downtown Warsaw skyline Poland 2006.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Downtown Warsaw skyline, 2006.]]
Poland's first free parliamentary elections were held in 1991. More than 100 parties participated, representing a full spectrum of political views. No single party received more than 13% of the total vote.

Since 1991, Poland has conducted five general parliamentary elections and four presidential elections--all free and fair. Incumbent governments have transferred power smoothly and constitutionally in every instance to their successors. The post-Solidarity center-right and post-Communist center-left have each controlled the parliament and the presidency since 1991. Most recently, Poles elected Law and Justice (PiS) candidate and Mayor of Warsaw Lech Kaczynski to a 5-year term as President. Kaczynski narrowly defeated Civic Platform (PO) candidate Donald Tusk and was sworn in December 23, 2005.

PiS was also the top vote-getter in September 25, 2005, parliamentary elections. After coalition talks with runner-up PO collapsed, PiS alone formed a minority government under Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. Frustrated by its inability to achieve its legislative program alone, PiS formed a formal coalition government with Self-Defense (SO) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) in April 2006. In July 2006, Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz resigned and was replaced by PiS party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski as Prime Minister.
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
*[[Lech Kaczyński]] - President
*[[Jarosław Kaczyński]] - PM
==Further reading==
* Library of Congress. ''A Country Study: Poland'' (1993), highly detailed factual report by U.S. government (it is in the public domain, with no copyright) [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pltoc.html online edition]
* ''Poland'' (Eyewitness Travel Guides by DK Publishing) (2007)
* ''Lonely Planet Poland'' by Tom Parkinson, et al. (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Poland-Tom-Parkinson/dp/174059522X/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188096687&sr=8-2 online excerpt and search from Amazon.com]
* Biskupski, M. B. ''The History of Poland.'' Greenwood, 2000. 264 pp. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=28002395 online edition]
* Davies, Norman. ''Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland.'' Oxford University Press, 1984. 511 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Europe-Past-Polands-Present/dp/0192801260/ref=pd_bbs_5/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192604734&sr=8-5 excerpt and text search]
* Podgórecki, Adam. ''Polish Society'' Praeger, 1994 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=28518609 online edition]
* Turnock, David. ''The Human Geography of East Central Europe.'' Routledge. 2002. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108154408 online edition]

== References ==
<References/>

{{Copyright Details (US Government)}}

Source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2875.htm]

{{European Union}}

[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:Warsaw Pact Members]]
[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Christian-Majority Countries]]

Republic of Poland

2013-01-05T18:37:51Z

Funforever:

The Second '''Republic of Poland''' or '''Polish Commonwealth''' (pol: 'Rzeczpospolita Polska') came into existence at the end of [[World War I]] with the [[Treaty of Versailles]], and reclaimed a fraction of the land owned by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (first Polish republic) from Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia - the nations that allied themselves to [[Partitions of Poland|partition Poland]]. Its capital became [[Warsaw]]. After the German and Soviet invasions that began [[World War II]], the government went into exile in [[London]] under General Sikorski in 1940. Although of little importance, it owned Poland's gold reserve and was an alternative to People's Republic of Poland (1945-1989).
2nd Polish Republic dissolved itself in 1989 when the Communist Party of Poland abdicated single party rule, changing the political system thanks to radical economic reforms, or 'Shock Doctrine', and democracy was re-introduced, leading to the creation of modern [[Poland]], also known as 3rd Polish Republic, or '3rd Commonwealth' in the Polish language.

==See also==
*[[Polish Home Army]]
*[[Polish-Soviet War]]

[[Category:European History]]
[[Category:World War II]]

Norway

2013-01-05T03:41:16Z

Funforever:

{{Country
|name =''Kongeriket Norge''
|map =Norway rel96.jpg
|map2 =Norway location.png
|flag =Flag of Norway.png
|arms =Arms of Norway.png
|capital =Oslo
|capital-raw =
|government =Constitutional monarchy
|government-raw =
|language =Norwegian
|king =Harald V of Norway{{!}}Harald V
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Jens Stoltenberg
|pm-raw =
|area =148,746 sq mi
|pop =4,753,400 (2008)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$213.6 billion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$46,300 (2006)
|currency =Norwegian krone
|idd =
|tld =
}}

'''Norway''' is a country in [[Scandinavia]]. The capital is [[Oslo]], and the principal language in [[Norwegian]], though [[Sami]] languages are also spoken in the far north. Norway is one of the few former Western Bloc nations not in the [[European Union]] but is a member of the Schengen Agreement group of countries which permit cross-border travel without passport control. It belongs to [[NATO]] and is a strong ally of the United States.

Norway has escaped the [[Recession of 2008]] largely unscathed, partly by tapping into its oil and gas-fueled sovereign wealth fund — currently valued at more than 2.4 trillion kroner ($400 billion). Unemployment stands at 3%, among the lowest in Europe.

Oil and gas pumped from North Sea platforms have made the country of 4.8 million people one of the world's richest nations. Norway is the world's third largest exporter of natural gas and the sixth largest exporter of oil. While oil production has been falling in recent years, natural gas production continues to rise.

==People==
[[File:Royal Guardsman in Oslo.JPG|thumb|left|Royal Guardsman in Oslo.]]
Ethnically, Norwegians are predominantly Germanic, although in the far north there are communities of Sami (Lapps) who came to the area more than 10,000 years ago (according to secular archeology), probably from central Asia. In recent years, Norway has become home to increasing numbers of immigrants, foreign workers, and asylum-seekers from various parts of the world. Immigrants now total over 300,000; some have obtained Norwegian citizenship.

More than 10% of Norway's residents have foreign origins. They include many asylum seekers from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Eritrea. Their status is increasingly a political issue. Siv Jensen, leader of the right-wing Progress Party, demands tighter restrictions on immigration, claiming Norway is being "Islamified".

===Culture===
In 2012 Norway removed the Lutheran church as it's state religion which had held that position since it replaced Catholicism. Norway has complete religious freedom. Education is free through the university level and is compulsory from ages 6 to 16. At least 12 months of military service and training are required of every eligible male. Norway's socialist health system includes free hospital care, physician's compensation, cash benefits during illness and pregnancy, and other medical and dental plans. There is a public pension system.

Norway is in the top rank of nations in the number of books printed per capita, even though Norwegian is one of the world's smallest language groups. Norway's most famous writer is the dramatist Henrik Ibsen. Artists Edvard Munch and Christian Krogh were Ibsen's contemporaries. Munch drew part of his inspiration from Europe and in turn exercised a strong influence on later European expressionists. Sculptor Gustav Vigeland has a permanent exhibition in the Vigeland Sculpture Park in Oslo. Musical development in Norway since [[Edvard Grieg]] has followed either native folk themes or international trends.

===Religion===
[[File:Church in Kvam Norway.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Church in Kvam.]]
The Lutheran religion replaced Catholicism around 1536.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church has been a state-funded and state-controlled church since 1660. It is led by 11 bishops who report to the government's ministry of church and cultural affairs. The king and at least one half of his ministers are required by law to belong to the established church. Lay councils are very active in parish life, especially among the fundamentalists of the south and west. As a result, the church has been able to support much social work and important missions in Africa and India. In relation to population, Norway has sent abroad the largest number of missionaries. The first woman minister was appointed in 1961. Although 88% of Norwegians belong to the Church of Norway, and 82% if babies are baptized in it, only 10% attend ten or more services a year.<ref> See [http://www.howto.co.uk/abroad/living-in-norway/church_religion_and_belief/ "Church, Religion and Belief"]</ref> During the 1970s and 1980s, a movement to sever the strong connection between the state and the Lutheran Church failed.<ref> Peder A. Eidberg, "Norwegian Free Churches and Religious Liberty: A History." ''Journal of Church and State'' 1995 37(4): 869-884. </ref>

Lutheranism remained the only religious option until the Dissenter Law of 1845 legalized free church congregations. Historians see this law as a restricted reform: Norwegians could leave the Lutheran Church only after they turned eighteen, and civil service jobs were still restricted to Lutherans. Thereafter, liberal groups such as the Norwegian Council of Dissenting Churches worked to end legal discrimination on the basis of religion. In 1969, religious restrictions on the hiring of public school teachers were finally lifted. Today Norwegians enjoy complete freedom of worship. By a law passed in 1969 the state provides financing for the officially registered dissenting churches. Dissenters include 44,000 Pentecostals; a Lutheran Free Church, with about 20,000 members; a Methodist Episcopal Church, with about 20,000 members; 12,000 Baptists; about 21,500 Roman Catholics, and over 76,000 Muslims, the fastest growing group. According to polls some 31-72% of Norwegians are either agnostics or atheists. <ref>http://www.adherents.com/largecom/com_atheist.html</ref>
{{Clear}}

==Government==
The functions of the king are mainly ceremonial, but he has influence as the symbol of national unity. Although the 1814 constitution grants important executive powers to the king, these are almost always exercised by the Council of Ministers in the name of the king (King's Council). The Council of Ministers consists of a prime minister--chosen by the political parties represented in the Storting--and other ministers.

The 169 members of the Storting are elected from 19 fylker (counties) for 4-year terms according to a complicated system of proportional representation. After elections, the Storting divides into two chambers, the Odelsting and the Lagting, which meet separately or jointly depending on the legislative issue under consideration.

The special High Court of the Realm hears impeachment cases; the regular courts include the Supreme Court (17 permanent judges and a president), courts of appeal, city and county courts, the labor court, and conciliation councils. Judges attached to regular courts are appointed by the king in council after nomination by the Ministry of Justice.

Each fylke is headed by a governor appointed by the king in council, with one governor exercising authority in both Oslo and the adjacent county of Akershus.
[[File:Norway-map.gif|thumb|270px]]

===Politics===
Norway's left-leaning government narrowly defeated a splintered center-right opposition in the September 2009 elections. Prime Minister [[Jens Stoltenberg]]'s ruling [[Labor Party (Norway)|Labor Party]] government came under challenge by [[Siv Jensen]] and her right-wing populist [[Progress Party (Norway)|Progress Party]] (which has gained support by calling for lowering Norway's notoriously high taxes and tightening immigration rules), as well as [[Erna Solberg]] and her center-right [[Conservative Party (Norway)|Conservative Party]]. Debate centered on how to manage the Nordic welfare state's oil wealth.<ref>See Karl Ritter, [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090914/ap_on_re_eu/eu_norway_election "Norway election focused on oil wealth," ''AP'' Sept. 14, 2009] </ref>

Until the 1981 election, Norway had been governed by majority [[Labor Party (Norway)|Labor Party]] governments since 1935, except for three periods (1963, 1965-71, and 1972-73). The Labor Party lost its majority in the Storting in the 1981 elections. Since that time, minority and coalition governments have been the rule. The two conservative parties in, the old Conservative Party and the younger Progressive Party increased their electoral support from 23% in 1975 to 34% in the election of 1987. The electoral mobilization by these conservative parties was mainly based on an ideologically inspired rhetoric of reduced government spending and corresponding tax reductions.

From 1981 to 1997, governments alternated between Labor minority governments under [[Gro Harlem Brundtland]] and Conservative-led coalition governments under [[Kåre Willoch]] and [[Jan P. Syse]]. The first government coalition led by Christian Democrat [[Kjell Magne Bondevik]] came to power in 1997, but fell in March 2000 over the issue of proposed gas-fired power plants, opposed by Bondevik due to their impact on [[climate change]]. The Labor Party's [[Jens Stoltenberg]], a Brundtland protégé, took over in a minority Labor government but lost power in the September 2001 election when Labor posted its worse performance since World War I. Bondevik once again became Prime Minister, this time as head of a minority government with the Conservatives and Liberals in a coalition heavily dependent upon the right-populist Progress Party.

The September 2005 elections ended the Bondevik government, and the Labor party came back with its most substantial victory in years, securing 60 of the 169 seats in Parliament. While this election result once more made Labor the undisputed heavyweight in Norwegian politics, Stoltenberg, chastened by his previous stint as the head of a minority government, reached out to the far left Socialist Left party and agrarian Center party to form a coalition government that commanded a majority of seats in Parliament. The current government is the first majority government in Norway in over 20 years, but the governing coalition has had to bridge substantial policy differences to build this majority.

Norway, [[Iceland]] and [[Switzerland]] are the only countries in former Europe Bloc that do not belong to the [[European Union]].

Norway is one of five European countries that permit [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7978495.stm Sweden allows same sex marriage]</ref>

===Principal Government Officials===
[[File:Jens Stoltenberg Norweigian PM 2005 Gothenburg.jpg|thumb|Jens Stoltenberg.]]
*King, [[Harald V of Norway|Harald V]]
*Prime Minister, [[Jens Stoltenberg]]
*Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre
*Minister of Defense, Anne-Grethe Strøm-Erichsen
*Ambassador to the United States, Wegger Christian Strømmen
*Ambassador to NATO, Kim Traavik
*Ambassador to the United Nations, Johan Ludvik Løvald
{{Clear}}

===Foreign Relations===
Norway supports international cooperation and the peaceful settlement of disputes, recognizing the need for maintaining a strong national defense through collective security. Accordingly, the cornerstones of Norwegian policy are active membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and support for the United Nations and its specialized agencies. Norway also pursues a policy of economic, social, and cultural cooperation with other Nordic countries--Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland--through the Nordic Council.

In addition to strengthening traditional ties with developed countries, Norway seeks to build friendly relations with developing countries and has undertaken humanitarian and development aid efforts with selected African and Asian nations. Norway also is dedicated to encouraging democracy, assisting refugees, and protecting human rights throughout the world.
===Military===
The ''Economist'' magazine Intelligence Unit used measures of military spending and actions and violent crime rates to find that Norway is the most peaceful country in the world.<ref>See [http://www.ppu.org.uk/newsx/news_013.html report]</ref>

Norway spends about 1.8% of GDP on defense, about the NATO average. Military spending has fallen from 7.4% of the national budget in 1990 to 4.8% in 2004.

The principle of universal military service has long been accepted by most Norwegians. All men between the ages of 19 and 45 must serve 12 months in the army or 15 months in the navy or air force. The army, based on five regional commands, has a peacetime strength of about 19,000 and is posted mainly in the north near Russia. A home defense force of some 85,000 is trained for special tasks in local areas. The navy has 5 frigates, 15 submarines, and numerous small craft for patrolling the coast.

The Royal Norwegian Air Force (Luftforsvaret) became an independent service in 1944. In peacetime, it has about 3,000 personnel, and in time of war, some 17,500. It has 10 squadrons that operate from seven air stations and fly a variety of aircraft and helicopters, including F-16 fighters. It also operates six missile batteries and 10 short-range point defense missile systems.

In 2009, 500 Norwegian soldiers serve under NATO command in Afghanistan.

==Economy==
Norway is one of the world's richest countries in per capita terms. It has an important stake in promoting a liberal environment for foreign trade. Its large shipping fleet is one of the most modern among maritime nations. Metals, pulp and paper products, chemicals, shipbuilding, and fishing are the most significant traditional industries.
[[Image:Dalen Telemarken Norway.jpg|thumb|340px|Dalen, Telemarken, Norway. Photochrom print, between ca. 1890 and ca. 1900.]]
Norway's emergence as a major oil and gas producer in the mid-1970s transformed the economy. Large sums of investment capital poured into the offshore oil sector, leading to greater increases in Norwegian production costs and wages than in the rest of Europe up to the time of the global recovery of the mid-1980s. The influx of oil revenue also permitted Norway to expand an already extensive social welfare system. Norway has established a state Petroleum Fund that exceeded $132.6 billion as of December 2004. The fund primarily will be used to help finance government programs once oil and gas resources become depleted. Norway is currently enjoying large foreign trade surpluses thanks to high oil prices. Unemployment remains currently low (3%-4% range), and the prospects for economic growth are encouraging thanks to the government's stimulative fiscal policy and economic recovery in the United States and Europe.

Norway voted against joining the European Union (EU) in a 1994 referendum. With the exception of the agricultural and fisheries sectors, however, Norway enjoys free trade with the EU under the framework of the European Economic Area. This agreement aims to apply the four freedoms of the EU's internal market (goods, persons, services, and capital) to Norway. As a result, Norway normally adopts and implements most EU directives. Norwegian monetary policy is aimed at maintaining a stable exchange rate for the krone against European currencies, of which the euro is a key operating parameter. Norway is not a member of the EU's Economic and Monetary Union and does not have a fixed exchange rate. Its principal trading partners are in the EU; the United States ranks sixth.

===Energy Resources===
Norway has a highly-developed oil and natural gas sector. Norway's oil production peaked in 2001 at 3.42 million barrels per day (bbl/d) and has been steadily declining since, reaching 2.47 million bbl/d in 2008. Natural gas production, on the other hand, has been steadily increasing since 1993, reaching 3.5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) in 2008. All of Norway's oil and natural gas fields are located subsea on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Most of the new discoveries being made are natural gas. The Norwegian government is committed to developing the frontier Barents Sea region as existing North Sea fields mature.<ref> For current statistics, see [http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/country_energy_data.cfm?fips=NO Energy Information Administration, "Norway Energy Profile" (2009)] </ref>

Offshore hydrocarbon deposits were discovered in the 1960s, and development began in the 1970s. Norway is now the world's third-largest gas exporter and provides much of Europe's crude oil and gas requirements. In 2003, Norwegian oil and gas exports accounted for 56% of total merchandise exports. In addition, offshore exploration and production have stimulated onshore economic activities. Foreign companies, including many American ones, participate actively in the petroleum sector.

One issue that has hampered the development of oil and natural gas reserves in the northern Barents Sea area has been the lack of a defined maritime boundary between Norway and Russia. However, on June 5, 2009, Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom and Norwegian state-controlled oil company StatoilHydro signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding to work together in exploring and developing their Arctic sea regions. According to a joint statement, the two companies will work together on development of the Shtokman field, some 345 miles from land in 1,148 feet of water. It holds estimated gas reserves of around 113 trillion cubic feet.

Hydropower provides nearly all of Norway's electricity, and all of the gas and most of the oil produced is exported.

==History==
===Pre-Viking===
Hunting tribes were displaced by farmers after 3000 B.C. By 400 AD the inhabitants had contacts with Gaul, used [[runic]] writing, and expanded their settlements. After 400 AD, migrations brought in new peoples from the south to "Northern Way", or Norway. The first local kingdoms were created to bolster local defenses. For example, the Ynglings, a branch of the first Swedish royal house, established one of the earliest kingdoms west of the Oslofjord.
===Vikings===

The [[Viking]] period (9th to 11th centuries) was one of national unification and expansion.

see [[Viking]]
[[File:Vikings.jpg|thumb|280px]]

About 900 AD Harald Fairhair established a large kingdom by winning, in alliance with the earl of Lade (Trøndelag) a victory over other local kings. Harald's victory caused disgruntled subordinate chieftains to join the growing Viking movement. The growth in population forced some Norwegians to spread inland on to poorer soils and others to seek their fortunes as raiders, traders, or settlers across the North Sea. The Vikings proved to be superb sailors and ferocious warriors; their raids turned into landing operations and settlements.

The sparsely inhabited Scottish islands were settled first; the first recorded Viking raid on England came in 793 AD. In the following two centuries Norse Vikings plundered far and wide. Kingdoms were carved out in Ireland, Scotland, northeast England, and northern France, and the Faeroes, Iceland, and eventually Greenland were colonized. In addition to advanced ships, the Vikings had good iron tools and weapons and were expert wood-carvers. Overseas, the Vikings developed trade wherever they settled. In Norway, markets, the forerunners of towns that grew up in the 11th century, sprang up beside the fjords.

===Medieval Norway===
Inside Norway the Middle Ages were a time of political turmoil. Harald Fairhair's throne was fought over for nearly a century bloody civil wars among kings and earls, pagans and Christians, and between Norwegians and Danes. Olav II (reigned 1016-1028) briefly united Norway and introduced Christianity. He was killed in 1030 by rebel nobles who had allied themselves with Denmark. After his death Olav was hailed almost at once as a national saint; he was canonized in 1154. Trondheim cathedral was founded in his honor, and his family regained and kept the throne after a brief period of Danish rule (1028-1035).

English Christian missionaries had a major impact; their monasteries became the owners of large estates. The Viking traditions died out, surviving in the carvings on the new churches of dragons and other pagan symbols. Harald Hardraade (Hard Ruler) was the last Norwegian king to claim England (1066), but he was killed in England. In 1170 the papacy made Trondheim the seat of an archbishop, with five suffragan bishops in Norway and six in the western islands, Iceland, and Greenland. Norway became the ecclesiastical center for the widely dispersed Norse peoples.

The civil wars over control of the throne died out during the long reign of Haakon IV (1217-1263), and Norway entered upon the brief "age of greatness." Haakon reorganized the national government, with a royal council, regional governors, and judicial officers all appointed by the king. A national legal code was established in 1274. Iceland and Greenland accepted the king of Norway as ruler, and effective power was exerted in the Faeroes, Shetland, and Orkney in Scotland.<ref> The other Norse territories in Scotland were formally surrendered in 1266 to the Scottish king.</ref> Overseas trade flourished during this period, and Haakon IV, who usually resided in Bergen where the trade was centered, concluded his first commercial treaty with the English king.

The 13th century was the last period of early Norwegian independence and greatness. During the 100 years from the reign of Haakon IV to that of Haakon V (1299-1319) the Norwegian sagas, the stories of Norway's past, were gathered. In Iceland, Snorri Sturluson wrote the "Heimskringla" and the "Younger Edda," and Sturla Thordsson, a nephew of Snorri, wrote the "Islendingasaga," the "Sturlingasaga," and the "Haakon Haakonssonsaga,'' which comprise the earliest masterpieces of Scandinavian literature.

===Union of Kalmar===
The Norwegian royal line died out in 1387, and the country entered a dark period under the control of Denmark. The Norwegian merchant class began to decline after 1250 when the German [[Hanseatic League]] (the mercantile organization of north German towns) established agents in Bergen, who supplied essential imports of Baltic grain in exchange for north Norway's traditional export of dried cod. The aristocracy collapsed during the Black Plague, which killed half the population in 1349. The resulting economic calamity destroyed most of the dairy farming, the dominant form of agriculture on most aristocratic estates. Thus Norway was already the weakest Scandinavian kingdom when the extinction of the royal lines in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark led to the union of the three countries (1397) under the Union of Kalmar. Norway lost its king and court and aristocracy, its commerce declined; it stopped producing great literature. Outsiders, mostly Danish-speaking Danes, were in control; Norwegian tradition claims the harshness of the Danish misrule created a greater unity among Norwegians.

The population grew slowly, from 500,000 in 1660 to 900,000 in 1814--the vast majority were poor and eked out a living as farmers and/or fishermen.

===19th Century===
In 1814, as a result of the Napoleonic wars, Norway was separated from [[Denmark]] and combined with [[Sweden]]. Norway at last had its own government--the Storthing or parliament was now comprised of Norwegians--with a Swedish viceroy representing the king of Sweden. The king tried to stop the growing independence of the Storthing but failed; by the 1830s the peasants comprised half the Storthing and they demanded strict economy and stripped the remaining nobles (mostly Danes) of their aristocratic titles and pretensions.

As nationalism emerged across Europe it appeared as well in Norway; the "Young Norway" movement romanticized the peasants and ridiculed the king. An upper class party of merchants also emerged--both parties were led by poets who celebrated the Norwegian language. The new king Oscar I (reigned 1844-57) allowed a separate Norwegian flag for merchant ships, which increasingly became important on the Atlantic. [[Whaling]] became a major industry, as the economy began to improve in the 1840s. The first railway opened, and steamships provided easy travel along the long coastline.

The threat of socialism emerged when The Thranittforeningene (Workers' Associations), started by socialist Marcus Thrane, formed Norway's first modern mass political movement. At its peak in 1849-50 the Thranites included both propertied and unpropertied and urban and rural Norwegians brought together by anxieties over maintaining their economic position in a period marked by international economic depression and the beginnings of Norway's transition to a modern society.

By the 1880s the peasants could sell their holdings and buy passages to America. About a fourth of the families, specially the younger ones, did so, and headed to Minnesota and neighboring states. About one in four returned to Norway, but their tales of life in the New World only stimulated more emigration.

The viceroy system was dropped and Norway had its own prime minister from 1873--albeit one chosen by the king. Norway celebrated its 1000th anniversary as a nation as serious political tensions with the king continued throughout the latter part of the 19th century. By the 1890s the Norwegians demanded a role in diplomacy, which the Swedes refused to allow. The union with Sweden persisted until 1905, when Norway demanded and received complete independence, and could now have its own king and diplomats.

All men were given the vote in 1898, and most women in 1907.

===20th century===
[[File:Oslo Christian Frederiks plass Norway.JPG|thumb|280px|Oslo, Christian Frederiks plass.]]
The Norwegian Government offered the throne of Norway to Danish Prince Carl in 1905. After a plebiscite approving the establishment of a monarchy, the Parliament unanimously elected him king. He took the name of Haakon VII, after the kings of independent Norway.

Before 1900 Norway was one of the poorest countries in Europe, with an economy focused on farming, forestry, and fishing. Norway's harsh environment--the high latitudes and short growing seasons, the poor soils, the excessive precipitation, and the cool summers--have made farming difficult. Today only 3% of the land is used for farming; the main products are forage grains and dairy products. About one of every four Norwegian families cultivates its own garden plot.

In the 20th century new industries based on cheap water power and raw materials harvested from Norway's farms, forests, seas, and mines replaced agriculture as the prime employer. The very large merchant fleet became a major contributor to the nation's wealth. After 1970 vast offshore oil resources made the country rich.
{{Clear}}

===World War II===
Norway tried and failed to be neutral during [[World War I]], but was invaded by the Germans in 1940<ref> François Kersaudy, ''Norway 1940'' (1991). 272 pp.</ref> and ruled by traitors, led by Quisling. The king and the government escaped to Britain in 1940, serving as symbolic leader of a nation under occupation by the Nazis. In 1940-45, sharp jokes about the occupiers circulated widely among Norwegians. The jokes contained contempt for the oppressors, ridicule of Nazi ideology, depictions of the cruelty of Nazi methods, and mockery of the inflated self-image of the Germans. All of the jokes served to boost morale, educate Norwegians about the occupation, and encourage a sense of solidarity.<ref> Kathleen Stokker, "Heil Hitler - God Save the King: Jokes and the Norwegian Resistance 1940-1945." ''Western Folklore'' 1991 50(2): 171-190. </ref>

===Postwar===
King Haakon returned in triumph in 1945. He died in 1957 and was succeeded by his son, Olav V, who died in January 1991. Upon Olav's death, his son Harald was crowned as King Harald V.
====Welfare state====
[[File:Harbour of Hamnoy Norway.jpg|thumb|300px|Harbour of Hamnøy.]]
The Scandinavian countries first established strong welfare states in the 1920s and 1930s. Benefits for the middle as well as lower classes became lavish, and Social Democrats raised income taxes until they became the world's highest. Despite this, Norway (and the rest of Scandinavia) retained private enterprise. Unlike France, England, and Germany, Scandinavian states owned and ran very few companies other than public utilities and railroads. Across Scandinavia the major sompanies like Saab, Ericsson, Nokia, and Volvo have always belonged to stockholders.

The Norwegian Labor Party won a majority in 1945, a time that required cooperation among Norwegian political parties for national reconstruction after the German occupation. Labor Party leaders were willing to recognize a role for privately owned business and for market forces in economic planning both on pragmatic grounds and because party leaders in exile in London during the war had seen successful cooperation between British industry and government. The Labor Party acknowledged that private ownership was more effective than state management in improving efficiency. The state's role expanded in the direction of redistributing, rather than producing, national wealth. Although the Labor Party moved toward democratic socialism, the tension between broader participation, particularly by workers in management, and effective planning persisted into the 1970s.<ref> Trond Bergh, "Pragmatic and Democratic Socialism: Ideological and Political Trends in the Norwegian Labour Party during the 1940s and 1950s." ''Scandinavian Journal of History'' 1991 16 (3): 205-213. </Ref>

In 1945, all Norwegian political parties right and left agreed that extensive government economic controls would be needed for a period of postwar reconstruction. The Labor government's objectives were economic growth through expansion of the manufacturing sector and modernization. When government controls potentially interfered with the effort to increase industrial exports, the latter got priority. Similarly, although the private sector resisted attempts to institutionalize state corporatism, the government's flexibility led to increased cooperation between the government and manufacturing industries. The Labor Party and its opponents disagreed not on the need for modernization in postwar Norway but on the direction to take to the common goal.<ref> Even Lange, and Helge Pharo, "Planning and Economic Policy in Norway, 1945-1960" ''Scandinavian Journal af History'' 1991 16 (3): 215-228</ref>

In Norway (and the rest of Scandinavia) marginal tax rates on wages, and the value added taxes (which are assessed like sales taxes) remain the highest in the world. But capital gains taxes and real estate assessments are low or non-existent. The region is ahead of the United States in a few areas of market reforms: All four countries have school vouchers and allow individual control over some social security taxes.<ref> Eli Lehrer, "Scandinavia's Surprising Turn from Socialism." ''The American Enterprise'' v. 13 #8 Dec. 2002. pp 42+ online at [[Questia]]</ref>

====Cold War====
The wartime horrors led Norwegians to reject neutrality in the [[Cold War]], and they turned instead to collective security in alliance with the United States. Norway was one of the signers of the NATO Treaty in 1949 and was a founding member of the [[United Nations]] in 1945. Indeed, the first UN General Secretary, Trygve Lie, was a Norwegian. Under the terms of the will of Alfred Nobel, the Storting (Parliament) elects the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee who award the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] to champions of peace.

==Internet==
According to Alexa traffic statistics, Conservapedia enjoys its second highest national traffic rank in Norway.[http://www.alexa.com/data/details/traffic_details?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservapedia.com%2F]

==Further reading==
===Guides===
* ''Norway'' (Eyewitness Travel Guides) by Snorre Evensberget (2003) [http://www.amazon.com/Norway-Eyewitness-Travel-Guides-Evensberget/dp/078949339X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252960453&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
* ''Norway'' (Country Guide) by Anthony Ham (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Norway-Country-Guide-Anthony-Ham/dp/1741045797/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252960453&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* ''Insight Guide Norway'' by Simon Ryder and Cameron Duffy (2008) [http://www.amazon.com/Insight-Guide-Norway-Guides/dp/9812587128/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252960453&sr=1-5 excerpt and text search]
* ''Frommer's Norway'' by Darwin Porter (2009) [http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-Norway-Complete-Darwin-Porter/dp/0470432136/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252960453&sr=1-8 excerpt and text search]
* ''Norway - Culture Smart!: the essential guide to customs & culture'' by Linda March (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Norway-Culture-essential-customs-culture/dp/1857333314/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252960453&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]

===History===
====Surveys====
* Bain, Robert Nisbet. ''Scandinavia; a Political History of Denmark, Norway and Sweden from 1513 to 1900'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Scandinavia-Political-History-Denmark-Norway/dp/0543939006/ref=sr_1_44?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252960971&sr=1-44 excerpt and text search]
* Derry, Thomas Kingston. ''A History of Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.'' (1979). 447 pp.; standard scholarly history
* Dreyer, Grøndahl , et al. ''A History of Norway: From the Ice Age to the Age of Petroleum'' (1999) standard scholarly history
* Nordstrom, Byron J. ''Scandinavia since 1500'' (2000), standard scholarly history [http://www.questia.com/read/111772948?title=Scandinavia%20since%201500 online edition]
* Sjovik, Jan. ''Historical Dictionary of Norway'' (2008), standard reference book

====Specialized====
* Archer, Clive. '' Norway outside the European Union: Norway and European Integration from 1994 to 2004'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Norway-outside-European-Union-Integration/dp/0415282799/ref=sr_1_58?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252961077&sr=1-58 excerpt and text search]
* Berdal, Mats R. ''The United States, Norway and the Cold War, 1954-60.'' (1997). 268pp
* Beyer, Harald. ''A History of Norwegian Literature'' (1956) [http://www.questia.com/read/23498525?title=A%20History%20of%20Norwegian%20Literature online edition]
* Cole, Wayne S. ''Norway and the United States, 1905-1955: Two Democracies in Peace and War.'' (1989). 221 pp.
* Derry, Thomas Kingston. ''Haakon VII of Norway: The Man and the Monarch'' (1983) [http://www.questia.com/read/77549523?title=Haakon%20VII%20of%20Norway%3a%20The%20Man%20and%20the%20Monarch online edition]
* Einhorn. Eric S., and John Logue. ''Modern Welfare States: Scandinavian Politics and Policy in the Global Age'' (2003) [http://www.questia.com/read/113176873?title=Modern%20Welfare%20States%3a%20%20Scandinavian%20Politics%20and%20Policy%20in%20the%20Global%20Age online edition]
* Gjelsvik, Tore. ''Norwegian Resistance, 1940-1945.'' (1979). 224 pp.
* Gran, Thorvald. ''The State in the Modernization Process: The Case of Norway, 1850-1970.'' Oslo: Ad Notam Gyldendal, 1994. 415 pp.
* Greve, Tim. ''Haakon VII of Norway: The Man and the Monarch.'' (1983). 212 pp.; he reigned 1905-57.
* Haywood, John. ''The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings'' (1995) [http://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Historical-Atlas-Vikings-Hist/dp/0140513280/ref=pd_sim_dbs_b_2 excerpt and text search]
* Hovde, B. J. ''The Scandinavian Countries, 1720-1865: The Rise of the Middle Classes'' (1948) [http://www.questia.com/read/23307473?title=The%20Scandinavian%20Countries%2c%201720-1865%3a%20The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Middle%20Classes%20-%20Vol.%201 online edition]
* Lowell, Briant Lindsay. ''Scandinavian Exodus: Demography and Social Development of 19th-Century Rural Communities.'' (1987). 262 pp.
* Naess, Harald S., ed. ''A History of Norwegian Literature.'' (1993). 435 pp. [http://www.questia.com/read/9898528?title=A%20History%20of%20Norwegian%20Literature online edition]
* Petrow, Richard. ''The Bitter Years: The Invasion and Occupation of Denmark and Norway, April 1940-May 1945'' (1974)
* Rommetvedt, Hilmar. ''The Rise of the Norwegian Parliament'' (2003), recent history [http://www.questia.com/read/108508058?title=The%20Rise%20of%20the%20Norwegian%20Parliament online edition]
* Royal Institute of International Affairs. ''The Scandinavian States and Finland: A Political and Economic Survey'' (1951) [http://www.questia.com/read/57951997?title=The%20Scandinavian%20States%20and%20Finland%3a%20%20A%20Political%20and%20Economic%20Survey%20%281951%29 online edition]
* Rust, Val D. ''The Democratic Tradition and the Evolution of Schooling in Norway.'' (1989). 333 pp.

==External links==
* [http://www.howto.co.uk/abroad/living-in-norway/ "Living and Working in Norway"], useful coverage of many topics
* [http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article2741143.ece search Oslo newspaper stories]

== References ==
<references/>

{{Copyright Details (US Government)}}
Source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3421.htm]

[[Category:Norway]]
[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:NATO members]]
[[Category:Scandinavian Countries]]
[[Category:Political Parties in Norway]]

Conservapedia:Image upload requests

2013-01-05T03:36:57Z

Funforever: /* Europe */

<center><big><big>'''Place Current Requests At The Bottom Please!'''</big></big></center>
{{clear}}

[[Conservapedia:Image upload requests/Archive 1|Archive 1]]
[[Conservapedia:Image upload requests/Archive 2|Archive 2]]
[[Conservapedia:Image upload requests/Archive 3|Archive 3]] 
[[Conservapedia:Image upload requests/Archive 4|Archive 4]]
[[Conservapedia:Image upload requests/Archive 5|Archive 5]]
[[Conservapedia:Image upload requests/Archive 6|Archive 6]]

----

'''Image uploading is a privilege, not a right. See [[Conservapedia:User rights]]. Requests for image uploads can be placed here, or simply ask [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Special:ListUsers&group=Upload someone with upload rights] or [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Special:ListUsers&group=sysop&limit=100. any Administrator].'''

NOTE: '''Do NOT upload AP Photos''' (Copyright - [[Associated Press]]). We don't have Fair use rights to those images.
See also - [[Conservapedia:Copyright]].

Users without image upload privileges can specify specific locations for their requested images with {{tl|Image request}}, which adds articles to [[:Category:Articles in need of an image]].
[[Category:Conservapedia]]

==[[French Presidents]]==
Including (as a start) [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], [[Jacques Chirac]], [[François Mitterrand]], [[Charles de Gaulle]].--[[User:ARamis|ARamis]] 22:28, 25 September 2011 (EDT)
==[[Billy Idol]]==
<s>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Idol.jpg]</s>.--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 08:21, 29 September 2011 (EDT)
:[http://www.conservapedia.com/File:Billy_Idol.jpg]--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 13:52, 19 November 2011 (EST)
==[[MaDonal]]==
<s>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sulaymaniyah_McD.jpg].-</s>-[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:08, 19 November 2011 (EST)
:[http://www.conservapedia.com/File:Sulaymaniyah_McD.jpg]--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 13:52, 19 November 2011 (EST)
==[[Aloha from Hawaii]]/[[Elvis Presley]]==
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ElvisPresleyAlohafromHawaii.jpg]--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 09:07, 17 December 2011 (EST)
*Uploaded [[File:ElvisPresleyAlohafromHawaii.jpg|thumb]] --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 12:55, 17 December 2011 (EST)
:Thanks, Ed! I will give you this: it is a bit gaudy, but that was how Elvis rolled!--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 14:25, 17 December 2011 (EST)
==Cities==
*[http://visionbresil.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/sao_paulo_vista_aerea_590.jpg] for [[Sao Paulo]]
*[http://www.bestourism.com/img/items/big/80/Mosque-Faisal-in-Islamabad-Pakistan_One-the-largest-and-most-beautiful-mosque_74.jpg] for [[Islamabad]]
<s>*[http://atvm.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/melbourne-city.jpg] for [[Melbourne]]</s>
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/95/Queen%27s_Park_-_Art_Sculpture.jpg/800px-Queen%27s_Park_-_Art_Sculpture.jpg] for [[Melbourne]]
<s>*[http://www.easyvoyage.co.uk/images/destination/ALGERIE/ALGERIE2/1_big.jpg] for [[Algiers]]</s>
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/17/Algiers_coast.jpg/800px-Algiers_coast.jpg] for [[Algiers]]
<s>*[http://www.orangesmile.com/common/img_final_large/brussels_sightseeing.jpg] for [[Brussels]] (such a nice city by the way)</s>
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/91/Brussels_floral_carpet_B.jpg/800px-Brussels_floral_carpet_B.jpg] for [[Brussels]]
*I can't believe CP does not have a picture of Uluru ! [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1a/Uluru_Australia%281%29.jpg/799px-Uluru_Australia%281%29.jpg]
* And the list will be growing !

==Upload request==
<s>Can you upload [http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&biw=1024&bih=383&tbm=isch&prmd=imvnso&tbnid=BUlFPuGHUh7y7M:&imgrefurl=http://www.thirdage.com/news-photo/john-edwards-mug-shot-jpg/68879&docid=7voS1yMoL3fxcM&imgurl=http://www.thirdage.com/files/originals/john-edwards-mug-shot.jpg&w=560&h=373&ei=ybggT9eGEpLo2gWs4ZilCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=61&vpy=64&dur=3954&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=133&ty=204&sig=113777376745406980067&page=1&tbnh=78&tbnw=117&start=0&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0 this image] to update the [[John Edwards]] page. Thanks.</s> [[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 21:24, 25 January 2012 (EST)
:Done [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:John-edwards-mug-shot.jpg] --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 23:05, 27 January 2012 (EST)

==[[Religion]]==
*<s>[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Israeli_blue_Star_of_David.png/520px-Israeli_blue_Star_of_David.png] for [[Judaism]]
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/Baha%27i_star.png] for [[Bahá'í]]
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Messianic_Seal_with_8_Caldles.png] for [[Messianic Judaism]]
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Khanda.jpg] for [[sikhism]]
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Faravahar.png] for [[Zoroastrianism]]
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/JainismSymbol.PNG] for [[Jainism]]
And many more... 
By the way, why is image upload so controlled ? It must be a big charge for you.</s>--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 16:40, 3 January 2012 (EST)

==[[Elvis Presley phenomenon]]==
<s>[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elvis_impersonators_record.jpg]</s>--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 21:43, 15 December 2011 (EST)
:Done [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:Elvis_impersonators.jpg] --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:40, 5 March 2012 (EST)

==[[Sao Tome and Principe]]==
<s>*[http://www.mapsofworld.com/images/world-countries-flags/sao-tome-principe-flag.gif]
*[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a4/Coat_of_arms_of_S%C3%A3o_Tom%C3%A9_and_Pr%C3%ADncipe.jpg]</s>--[[User:PhilipN|PhilipN]] 22:46, 15 December 2011 (EST)

==[[Elvis Presley movies]]==
<s>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Love_me_tender423.jpg ''Love Me Tender'']</s> --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 16:45, 3 March 2012 (EST)
:Done [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:Love_me_tender.jpg]--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:40, 5 March 2012 (EST)

<s><s>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Loving_you_poster.jpg ''Loving You'']</s></s> --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 13:05, 4 March 2012 (EST)
:Done [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:Loving_you_poster.jpg]--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:40, 5 March 2012 (EST)

<s>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jailhouse_rock787.jpg ''Jailhouse Rock'']</s>--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:48, 27 March 2012 (EDT)
:Done [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:Jailhouse.jpg] --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 20:53, 27 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:King_Creole_poster.jpg ''King Creole'']--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 10:43, 28 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GIBluesElvis.jpg ''GI Blues'']--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 10:43, 28 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Flamsta2.jpg ''Flaming Star'']--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 10:43, 28 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WildintheCountryMoviePoster.jpg ''Wild in the Country'']--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 10:43, 28 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Blue_hawaii_poster.jpg ''Blue Hawaii'']--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 10:43, 28 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:FollowThatDreamElvis.jpg ''Follow That Dream'']--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 10:43, 28 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kidgalahad.jpg ''Kid Galahad'']--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 10:43, 28 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Girls_Girls_Girls_Poster_B.jpg ''Girls! Girls! Girls!''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ithappenedattheworldsfair.jpg ''It Happened at the World's Fair'']--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fun_acapulco_movieposter.jpg ''Fun in Acapulco''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Kiscousposter.jpg ''Kissin' Cousins''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:VivaLasVegasElvis.jpg ''Viva Las Vegas''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RoustaboutElvis.jpg ''Roustabout''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:GirlHappyElvisP.JPG ''Girl Happy''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ticklemeposter.jpg ''Tickle Me''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harumscarum.jpg ''Harum Scarum''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Frankie_and_Johnny-1966-poster.jpg ''Frankie and Johnny''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:18, 29 March 2012 (EDT)

==[[McDonald's]]==
<s>[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McDonald%27s_Golden_Arches.svg More up-to-date logo]</s>
:Done [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:McDonald%27s_Golden_Arches.png]--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:40, 5 March 2012 (EST)

<s>[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McKosher.jpg McDonald's in Israel]
</s>
:Done [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:McKosher.jpg]--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:40, 5 March 2012 (EST)
:P.S. - For someone that rails against the unhealthy world of bacon, you sure do love your unhealthy McD's--[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 11:40, 5 March 2012 (EST)
::I don't eat it, actually. I just committed to writing a proper article on the chain a while back and decided to do it now. And thanks.--[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:57, 5 March 2012 (EST)
==Rockstar Advanced Game Engine==
<s>http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/2/20/Rockstar_Advanced_Game_Engine.svg/500px-Rockstar_Advanced_Game_Engine.svg.png</s>
[[User:Mikon8er]]
: Done. [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:Rockstar.png] --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 12:20, 24 March 2012 (EDT)
==Intel logo==
http://www.intel.com/sites/sitewide/HAT/50recode/pix/main-logo.png
For the articles on Intel, and Intel related articles(processors, gpus etc)
[[User:JonM|JonM]] 22:29, 27 March 2012 (EDT)

==[[Elvis Presley directory]]==
[http://photos.elvispresley.com.au/1956_june_3_oakland_auditorium.html ''Elvis in 1956''] --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 11:51, 13 April 2012 (EDT)

==[[Full Asylum book cover]]==
[http://www.monteferropress.com/images/Full_Asylum_Cover_Front.jpg ''Full Asylum book cover''] --[[User:Misenber|Michael Isenberg]] 19:20, 26 July 2012 (EDT)

==[[Racism]]==
[http://dailybail.com/storage/racist_democrat_poster.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1282078783403 ''Racist Democratic Party poster'']--[[User:TheQuestioner|TheQuestioner]] 22:13, 3 August 2012 (EDT)
:We need to attribute the rights to this pic in order to upload. The dailybail hosting it is not the original license holder. To prevent ownership hassles, I searched for it and could not find attribution. This pic is from the Library of Congress, let me know if this poster will suffice. [http://explorepahistory.com/displayimage.php?imgId=1-2-1890] --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 22:49, 3 August 2012 (EDT)

==[[Synchronized Swimming]]==
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Synchronized_swimming_-_Russian_team.jpg
For a new article.
Thanks! --[[User:Jehoshaphat|Jehoshaphat]] 19:34, 9 August 2012 (EDT)

==Nupedia==
<s>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nupedia_oldlogo.PNG Nupedia]</s> --[[User:JamesWilson|James Wilson]] 10:45, 11 September 2012 (EDT)
:Done [http://www.conservapedia.com/File:Nupedia_oldlogo.PNG] --[[User:Jpatt|Jpatt]] 14:17, 11 September 2012 (EDT)

==E-Sword==
We have an old screenshot of the program. A new version (possibly from [http://www.e-sword.net/features.html]) would be nice. Not sure what our original permissions to the image were, nor if we need new permissions for an updated screenshot. --[[User:Nouniquenames|Nouniquenames]] 01:16, 19 October 2012 (EDT)

==Upload request==
[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_Warren_at_Women_In_Finance_symposium.jpg Public domain photo of Elizabeth Warren] --[[User:Qw|Qw]], 22 November 2012

[http://www.looking-glass.greenend.org.uk/help.htm Fair use photo for Transsexual page] --[[User:Qw|Qw]], 26 November 2012

== Upload request ==
I just came across this page. I would request photos for:
*[[Tiger I tank]]
*[[Jagdpanther]]

Cheers, [[User:JohnJustice|JohnJustice]] 23:44, 4 December 2012 (EST)

==[[Tom Clancy]]==
I would like to add a photo of the author to the page.

[[User:PatrickMarion|PatrickMarion]] 22:15, 21 December 2012 (EST)PatrickMarion

==Europe==
Could you upload the right map of Europe? Current map omits Ukraine and majority of European Russia: http://cstclair.cmswiki.wikispaces.net/file/view/border_of_europe.jpg/291057121/border_of_europe.jpg

Also, the regions should look like that: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grossgliederung_Europas-en.svg

Conservapedia:Image upload requests

2013-01-05T03:36:04Z

Funforever:

User talk:AlanE

2013-01-05T02:52:23Z

Funforever: /* Help needed to correct articles */ new section

{{welcome}}

In case you weren't aware, typing four tildes (<nowiki>~~~~</nowiki>) after a comment automatically produces your signature. --[[User:Hojimachong|'''Hojimachong''']][[User_Talk:Hojimachong|talk]] 20:38, 8 May 2007 (EDT)

Thank you...I'm new in town, so to speak.[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 20:44, 8 May 2007 (EDT)

: AlanE, thanks for your contributions. I just gave you blocking powers so that you can block the accounts of vandals yourself, as soon as you see them. Thanks much and Godspeed to you.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 01:16, 8 June 2007 (EDT)

Thank you. Appreciated. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 02:14, 8 June 2007 (EDT)

== Categories ==
Alan, I think your comments on the monarch categories are good, and would encourage you to fix the categories as you see fit. It seems to me, since this is such a new project, that a lot of things got categorized willy-nilly style (which is understandable), and anything we can do to set things straight, I think it is better sooner than later. I think you'll notice a lot of redundant categorization on some articles too that need cleaned up. --[[User:Colest|Colest]] 19:48, 11 June 2007 (EDT)

*Personally, I would check with a Sysop before doing what Colest is suggesting, especially removal of categories. Okay? --[[User:TK|Sysop-TK]] [[User_talk:TK|/MyTalk]] 19:49, 11 June 2007 (EDT)

==Email==

Unless there's a bug in the software, then, "This user has not specified a valid e-mail address, or has chosen not to receive e-mail from other users."

Although we do not require an email address, refusing to supply one is one of several factors which can add up to grounds for banning your account. If you really support the goals of this project, why not take a couple of minutes to create a free yahoo or account and put it in your preferences? --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 23:42, 6 August 2007 (EDT)

*Ed, check your preferences page. It was changed by Webmaster many months ago. ;-) --[[User:TK|şŷŝôρ-₮K]][[User_Talk:TK|Ṣρёаќǃ]] 23:52, 6 August 2007 (EDT)
**Yes, I see that now, Terry: "E-mail (required): Enables others to contact you through your user or user_talk page without needing to reveal your identity."

OK. I will go back and change the email address in my Preferences. Hang on. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 00:15, 7 August 2007 (EDT)
I have changed it to the address stated at the bottom of my user page and hit the "Mail confirmation code" even though I never got one. I did get the following though: A confirmation code has already been e-mailed to you; if you recently created your account, you may wish to wait a few minutes for it to arrive before trying to request a new code.

This wiki requires that you validate your e-mail address before using e-mail features. Activate the button below to send a confirmation mail to your address. The mail will include a link containing a code; load the link in your browser to confirm that your e-mail address is valid.

The above is what I have always received...right from day one. Maybe my geriatric brain is missing something. Ban me if you wish, but it must be obvious by now I am not refusing to supply it. It is sitting there in my User Page. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 00:30, 7 August 2007 (EDT)

:Don't be silly. It's not grounds for banning: Terry says I was wrong. But have you tried this link? http://www.conservapedia.com/Special:Emailuser/AlanE --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 00:36, 7 August 2007 (EDT)

Yes, Ed; but it tells me I need a valid email address!! Perhaps I should go away and come back as someone else... throw off AlanE and don the cloak of, um, how about Guddle. The IP address will be the same, but if I start from scratch, you (CP) will hopefully send me a confirmation code which I can send on its way (rejoicing or not) and I will be legitimate, so to speak. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 00:50, 7 August 2007 (EDT)

:You can get a free email address from Yahoo. Send me an email from your new account when you're set up. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 00:54, 7 August 2007 (EDT)

No, Alan...get at me on AIM if you have it, mine is on my user page. You need to fill in the box on your preferences here, AND check the box below, to the right! :p --[[User:TK|şŷŝôρ-₮K]][[User_Talk:TK|Ṣρёаќǃ]] 01:37, 7 August 2007 (EDT)--[[User:TK|şŷŝôρ-₮K]][[User_Talk:TK|Ṣρёаќǃ]] 01:37, 7 August 2007 (EDT)

==Re Buglar's "debate"==

Bugler; I would qualify for banishment. I am a non-believer in your brand of faith. I also consider myself to be pretty middle of the road in social and political matters, being conservative in some issues and left of centre in others, but certainly do not consider myself Conservative. (In other words I am normal.) I am neither American nor British. I follow the tenets of Christ's teaching and the Commandments without any of the trappings nor the passionate narrowness of orthodoxy of belief that says "we are always right and everyone else is always wrong". I do not attend a church. Too many good and wonderful people have died because that. I am known as a "man of goodwill". I know there are many others like me in Cp. I joined for the sake of the homeschoolers and others who I thought, in my vanity it now seems, might benefit from the breadth of my knowledge and my desire to share it.

Except for a long break enforced by ill-health, I have been editing since early May last year. I work at giving articles in my chosen fields, of a substance that I would have found useful in my teens when I was starting my love affair with history and classical music half a century ago. I believe passionately in historical veracity - and as much as anyone I have repaired the fun and games of historical parodists and mistakes as I have found them. (I fixed two blatant pieces of misinformation yesterday…both well over a year old.)
Go through my edits and you will see what I mean. I am actually trying to create a viable encyclopedia.

I know I am blowing my own trumpet, Bugler (um), but there is a reason - there are a lot of us here that are doing this sort of graft, many of whom would qualify for banishment under your “proposal”. More and more, Conservapedia is becoming a blog, and less “The Trustworthy Encyclopedia” – your proposal would finish that process.[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:14, 19 August 2008 (EDT)

== Notice ==

We need to close night editing early tonight. Hope to see you early tomorrow morning.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 23:29, 20 August 2008 (EDT)

== Portuguese names ==

Ok, I will review some of the Portuguese names. [[User:Sunda62|Sunda62]] 20:47, 2 September 2008 (EDT)
==Trade winds==
You're welcome...BTW, be sure to make comments on people's TALK page, the user page is for personal use. [[User talk:MargeryCampbell|Marge]] 10:26, 3 September 2008 (EDT)

== Composers ==

Be my guest. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 19:22, 26 September 2008 (EDT)
:Thanks...you may notice Chabrier has just arrived. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 19:27, 26 September 2008 (EDT)

== Richard Strauss ==

Some works are now lost. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 00:20, 28 September 2008 (EDT)

== I hope you enjoyed your breakfast ==

I was not implying that you did not contribute to this encyclopaedia and apologise for giving that impression. The guilt lies elsewhere. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 04:33, 29 September 2008 (EDT)

Thank you, I did. And thank you for this note.[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 14:08, 29 September 2008 (EDT)

== Schumann ==

What is wrong with the pic?
--[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 22:45, 29 September 2008 (EDT)

Oh 'ell! Sorry! I think I must have edited an old page. Um. If you want to revert it to your last edit, I'll do my last edit again in the morning....''Carefully'' this time. Sorry again. Gulp. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:23, 29 September 2008 (EDT)

== Sergei Prokofiev ==

Good work. Clap, Clap...!

Only a favor; Please save the valuable material that is already posted. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 18:32, 30 September 2008 (EDT
::Why? I made sure everything of value was transferred into my post. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 18:52, 30 September 2008 (EDT)

== Alfred Schnittke ==

How about an article on Alfred Schnittke?

You may use if you like: http://home.wanadoo.nl/ovar/schnopus.htm

--[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 19:48, 1 October 2008 (EDT)

::That's one from left field! I have some of his, but usually paired with Shostakovitch and the like. Viola I think. I'll have a go. Not today. I'm already late with the day's chores.
:::And I want you to think about the Prokofiev page. The double up looks a bit silly, seeing as pretty-well all the information parts of your edit are now repeats of mine. I may be back before 2pm (my time) but I doubt it. (You don't want to have a word with Andy about that do you?) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 20:28, 1 October 2008 (EDT)

:::The repeated pieces could be just a few but not all, and users sometimes prefer to have the cake sliced. So my advice is to have that section as it is now. I admire your work and hope this will encourage you to do your best. Andy, I am sure will be glad to hear from you, please go ahead. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 10:54, 2 October 2008 (EDT)

::::Ok and G'morning. (It's too early to say g'day.) Give me a few days to listen to Schnittke. He's not the sort the family would like to have filling the house at all hours so I have to be on my own. He's not easy listening, but neither is Shostakovitch whom I adore!
BTW. The "''...will encourage you to do your best''" is a tad off. I left school nearly 50 years ago!
Cheers. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 14:26, 2 October 2008 (EDT)

==Brit==
Hehe, I was hoping that no one would notice me attempting to change the British spellings. Good thing you didn't rev the whole edit. o.O [[User:NathanG|Nate]] [[User_talk:NathanG|my opinion matters?]] 15:02, 5 October 2008 (EDT)

:I was in the middle of a grump when the above came in. And why shouldn't I have a bet each way on refering/referring? BTW...what was the point of putting a single very alone reference under "References"? [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 15:12, 5 October 2008 (EDT)

==Monarchs==
Thanks for taking up the challenge to complete the red-links in the English Monarchs navbar. [[User:BrianCo|BrianCo]] 14:20, 12 October 2008 (EDT)

:I'll get there in the end...I'm on other things for a while (suffering from a surfeit of Ethels) but I'll be back to them. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 14:30, 12 October 2008 (EDT)

==Redirects==

I commented on the music page you edited, but just so you know, it's always better to link to the actual page (where possible) than to link to a redirect, just because redirects can be broken, and they are harder to fix then straight links. That is, if the National Association of How To spell set out a new rule that Bach should be spelled Back, you can make one change (on the actual page with the data), and not have to worry about all the redirects. otherwise, you manually have to rewrite a bunch of redirect pages. It does mean spelling out the whole name "J.S. Bach|Bach", but in the long run, it's "better". Or so the world says. grins. --JeanJacques 18:04, 29 October 2008 (EDT)

== Christopher Wren ==

Thank you! --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 13:20, 2 November 2008 (EST)

:I was thinking about the big gap between 2nd and 14th centuries overnight...but all I could remember was Henry Yvele (or Yevele) who did some of the Perpendicular stuff. (Canterbury Cathedral at least.) I think he was 14th century though. I will chase down the fella who built Edward I's Welsh castles - he's in the back of my mind somewhere but refuses to peek out. I have half a mind on it whilst I do private stuff. If I think of anyone I'll put it on the "Famous Architects" talk page. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 13:36, 2 November 2008 (EST)

:: Please do. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 14:46, 2 November 2008 (EST)
:::I have already...[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 14:51, 2 November 2008 (EST)

== !!!! ==

Oi!

Leave my edit to scottish monarchs alone, i put the link around the dates for a reason you know!!!!
thanks a lot for making me loads of extra work! :( --[[User:PhilipV|PhilipV]] 16:11, 5 November 2008 (EST)

Or shall i put it simply, LEAVE IT ALONE!!! (i know about your work on some scottish monarchs, and i agknowledge them, dont worry.) --[[User:PhilipV|PhilipV]] 16:17, 5 November 2008 (EST)

:Smile and say please when you say that. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 16:31, 5 November 2008 (EST)

:: -sigh- :) --[[User:PhilipV|PhilipV]] 16:34, 5 November 2008 (EST)

::: I aim to have this list complete by the end of the week , so please dont interfere until the list is complete, then please (note: please) do either tell me on my talk page, or on the scotland talk page if you want to take bits off it, thanks--[[User:PhilipV|PhilipV]] 16:39, 5 November 2008 (EST)

==List==

====Monarchs of Scotland====
*[[Malcolm II]] (1005-1034)
*[[Duncan I]] (1034-1040)
*[[Macbeth]] (1040-1057)
*[[Malcolm III (1057-1093)
*[[Donald Bane]] (1093-1094)
*[[Duncan II]] (1094)
*[[Donald Bane]] (1094-1097)
*[[Edgar]] (1097-1107)
*[[Alexander I]] (1107-1124)
*[[David I]] (1124-1153)
*[[Malcolm IV]] (1153-1195)
*[[William (The Lion)]] (1165-1214)
*[[Alexander II]] (1214-1249)
*[[Alexander III]] (1249-1286)
*Margaret ([[Maid of Norway]]) (1286-1290)
*[[John Baliol]] (1292-1296)
*Robert I (Robert Bruce]]) (1306-1329)
*[[David II]] (1329-1371)
'''House Of Stuart'''
*[[Robert II]] (1371-1390)
*[[Robert III]] (1390-1406)
*[[James I]] (1406-1437)
*[[James II]] (1437-1460)
*[[James III]] (1460-1488)
*[[James IV]] (1488-1513)
*[[James V]] (1513-1542)
*[[Mary Queen of Scots]] (1542-1567)
*[[James VI]] (1567-1625) ([[James I]] of England (1603-1625)

The problem now is I can't seem to link Edgar...It may need an official disambiguation page. If I were more computer literate..... [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:36, 9 November 2008 (EST)

== Don't pollute a talk page ==

Don't pollute a talk page with a personal attack, like what you just did on [[Talk:Barack Obama]].--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 18:54, 10 November 2008 (EST)

:I quote:''We are trying to build an encyclopedia here. Either help out or get out of the way, HGridley. You might find more people who think you are funny on a liberalpedia, if one exists.''

''The only truly funny thing about your note is that you call them "cantidates", which is a true record of how liberals treat Black Americans -- telling them "You can't, so depend on the government to do so for you." BHarlan 18:29, 10 November 2008 (EST)''

In my eyes, that is also a personal attack. I also consider that BHarlan's edits are, in the main, not particularly encyclopedic. That is my opinion only of course. I suppose I get a bit crabby at people who come and spend nearly all their time on variations on the same theme whilst I am getting up at four in the morning to find the time to do what I do here...which is 99point something per cent true encyclopedic. Can you deny I am trying to actually build an encyclopedia. If you think I am unproductive then ban me. if you agree I am productive then please give me at least some of the same leeway you extend to those you agree with. Cheers[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 19:26, 10 November 2008 (EST)

: AlanE, in hockey the third person who enters a fight is ejected. You jumped into a dispute with your own personal attack. Don't pollute a talk page like that.

: Moreover, BHarlan's comment was informative and appropriate. I found HGridley's prior comment to be offensive, despite my warning.

: Your substantive edits are appreciated. Godspeed.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 19:38, 10 November 2008 (EST)

::And don't feel bad about being singled out as a 'polluter'. Often we choose to speak to the person who has shown the greatest maturity, so a person who is already setting a good example can show an even better one. --[[User:Ed Poor|Ed Poor]] [[User talk:Ed Poor|Talk]] 16:00, 30 November 2008 (EST)

== Clausell ==

Thank you!

--[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 21:54, 14 November 2008 (EST)

== Artists ==

Done, thanks. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 21:22, 20 November 2008 (EST)
:Thank ''you''! [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:30, 20 November 2008 (EST)

:: AlanE, please, who are those two great composers that are left? I am planing to have two composers sections to have classical along. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 19:23, 21 November 2008 (EST)

:::Brahms and Handel are usually considered right up there at the top.
:Film composers are a funny breed...they use the classical idiom, but its usually up to a century old. The battle scene at the start of "Gladiator" is so much like "Mars" from "The Planets" that it must be a template. The last battle in "Troy" harks back to the "Battle on the Ice" scene in Prokofiev's "Alexander Nevsky". The main phrase in the scene where Superman takes Lois for a fly in the first Superman movie, is a direct pinch from a phrase near the end of Richard Strauss' "Death and Transfiguration". They are very good at their job, but they are not "great" composers in the true sense of the word. Good, if not great composers have written film scores of course...Prokofiev, Shostakovich, William Walton, Vaughan Williams, Copland, Korngold, etc. (And did you know that the first music written specifically for a film was by Saint Saens?) but they were classical composers before they went near films.

Cole Porter, Gershwin, Berlin, Mercer, etc. were great but they were not "classical". They need their own classification. When popular composers try and write something classical (like Meredith Wilson's symphonies, or Leroy Anderson's piano concerto) it never quite gets there. I can think of only one who sits comfortably as a true classical composer whilst feted also in the popular idiom and that Leonard Bernstein. I will now go back into my hole. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 20:02, 21 November 2008 (EST)

:: Thank you for your reply. I like Brahms and Händel, but are they as famous as Chopin? --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 07:14, 22 November 2008 (EST)

G'morning, Joaquín. Chopin wrote just for the piano. Apart from a couple of piano concertos and a cello sonata that is all he is known for....solo piano music. Some of the best ever written and much of it of an emotional intensity that can grab you. And for that - as well as for a strange sort of relationship with a strange sort of woman (George Sands) - he has grabbed the imagination of the public's attention (and Hollywood's) as one of the "great" composers. Which he is...''for the piano''.

Handel is known as one of the top 2 high baroque composers. People say "Bach and Handel" in the one breath - he is that good. Completely different in temperament and style in his output of course - he made and lost fortunes writing for the stage. But posterity owes him as much for his concerti grossi, organ concertos, chamber works, the two suites for augmented military band that have come down to us as the ''Water Music'' and ''Fireworks Music'' (one of which caused the first recorded traffic jam in history) his anthems and other church music, keyboard music - the lot. He is a part of every British coronation: and Christmas and Easter would not be the same in the English speaking countries without the enumerable ''Messiahs'' popping up, not only in concert halls but churches and town halls, and parks - many of them amateur productions. Grass roots stuff. I bet you that you can hum more Handel tunes than any other classical composer. He is part of the fabric of western culture right down to the farmer who turns up at his church hall to rehearse a bit of Handel for the service on Sunday.

As is Brahms, but in a different way. Brahms ain't "popular". Just great. When I say popular I mean amongst the general classical-illiterate public. And he is not for the young....you seem to grow into Brahms with age. He is recognised, though, as one of the truly great composers of "pure music"; that is music not written to a program. He is also considered the true symphonic heir to Beethoven. Like Bach and Handel mark the peak of the high baroque, and Beethoven the classical era, Brahms represents the pinnacle of the Romantic period. After him the movement started breaking up. He wrote four of the 20 great symphonies, two of the twenty great piano concertos, one of the top 4 violin concertos; he is one of the top 5 most popular writers of chamber music. His "Requiem" is in the top 5. He is one of the top four 19th century song composers. Pianists enjoy his many short piano pieces. He is second to none as a writer of "variations". When he died there was a state funeral and procession through the streets of Vienna attended by foreign heads of state...not to mention scores of thousands of ordinary citizens.

Are you sorry you asked? If you're going to hit me at 4:30 in the morning with something close to my heart.... :-) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 14:06, 22 November 2008 (EST)

: Excellent Alan, a very rich dissertation! --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 07:38, 23 November 2008 (EST)

:: Thanks again! --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 21:37, 1 December 2008 (EST)

== Ship ==

Done, it has been a pleasure my friend! --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 18:55, 8 December 2008 (EST)

== Happy Holiday ==

The same to you my dear friend. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 15:34, 19 December 2008 (EST)

== Merry Christmas! ==

Merry Christmas!----[[User:PhilipV|PhilipV]][[User talk:PhilipV|'' I Support our Troops!'']] 07:02, 25 December 2008 (EST)>>>
:....And to you, Philip. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 13:22, 25 December 2008 (EST)

== Categories ==

Please only use the subcategory and not the categories above it when applying categories to articles. Thanks. [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 03:28, 31 December 2008 (EST)

Um...I gather the problem is with Wars of the Roses. Which Cat. should I not have put it under? I wanted it to be clickable from all three categories. HNY. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 14:17, 31 December 2008 (EST)

==Scotland's History==
What's your opinion of that Neil Oliver series on TV at the moment? [[User:Bradlaugh|Bradlaugh]] 18:40, 5 January 2009 (EST)
:Mate... I'm writing from wildest Tasmania. We're still watching Hamish Macbeth down here (albeit for the third time). If its not tabloid, I will look forward to it. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 18:50, 5 January 2009 (EST)
Ah... if it gets on to BBC World (if indeed that is still going) you might give it a go. As a staunch (if adopted) Northumbrian I like to see what the neighbours are up to! [[User:Bradlaugh|Bradlaugh]] 18:51, 5 January 2009 (EST)

== Your work ==

Nice to see such a good work. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez]], [[User talk:Joaquín Martínez|talk]] 21:10, 18 January 2009 (EST)
:Thanks Joaquín. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:20, 18 January 2009 (EST)

::Indeed, Alan, your help in untangling Scotland hasn't gone unnoticed! --[[User:TK|'''₮K''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 21:23, 18 January 2009 (EST)
:::Yes..t'was a bit out of ''kilter''. (Ahem) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:32, 18 January 2009 (EST)

== Conservapedia:[[Featured articles]] ==

Dear friend. You are invited to participate in: [[Conservapedia:Featured articles]]. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez|Joaquín Martínez]] 16:23, 1 March 2009 (EST)

:Thank you Joaquín; it is appreciated - but for all your kindness, I don't think any of my articles are good enough, or the ones that may be would not be of sufficient interest. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 16:31, 1 March 2009 (EST)

: I think some of your articles should be considered. But I prefer to have you select one or two as you know them better than any other. Please? --[[User:Joaquín Martínez|Joaquín Martínez]] 22:34, 2 March 2009 (EST)
::Um. Let me think....[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 22:48, 2 March 2009 (EST)

::: Umm, waiting! --[[User:Joaquín Martínez|Joaquín Martínez]] 15:51, 12 March 2009 (EDT)

::::G'day, Joaquín. From the various comments on the Featured Articles talk page, I had gained the impression that those such as I were not likely to be welcomed so had stopped thinking about it. And frankly, I tend to think my articles are unsuited - wrong spelling, not enough references etc because usually I write from my own knowledge, I don't touch America, I don't follow any ideological line (as much as anyone can), I write to the old-fashioned reference book format without great lines and headings taking the eye away from the text and my articles tend to read as much like essays as wiki articles. Ya know wha' I mean? [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 17:02, 12 March 2009 (EDT)

Perhaps it would be beneficial if you stopped with the supposition? You were invited to participate first, and then my friend Joaquín brought up the subject of including some of your own articles. Two separate ideas. The main thing that is/was happening with "Featured Articles" is that the original idea was to have a committee decide, not some community vote, as that always leads to parodists and trolls disrupting, and that is why I locked the page. And if you are participating, I will certainly unlock it. The page needs further tweaks to make clear other's suggestions should be on the talk page, and only member's should vote. I hope you will choose to help out, all of us do, but of course that is your decision, Alan. --[[User:TK|'''₮K''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 17:51, 12 March 2009 (EDT)
:Okay. If I can help I will. Thanks. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 18:10, 12 March 2009 (EDT)

== From a new musician/editor on CP ==

Hi AlanE! I've just made some substantial changes to the "Arnold Schoenberg" article. The history of his stylistic evolution was a little inaccurate, in that the 12-tone phase didn't start until after 1923. This means also that "Pierrot Lunaire" was actually part of his "free atonal" period. If you think this needs a reference to back it up, I'd be happy to find one. Cheers! [[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 17:59, 16 March 2009 (EDT)
:No problems. (I think.) I am not an atonal fan so I probably tend to lump atonal and 12-tone together somewhat in my brain. I think though that he had the 12-tone down pat by 1923 having worked on it on the quiet (if that is not an oxymoron) for the previous 8 or so years.
::One thing, though. I am protective of my British (Aussie actually} spelling. :-) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 19:10, 16 March 2009 (EDT)
:::As you have every right to be! Just to be clear, Schönberg wrote "On the composition with 12-tones" in 1923, and his first compositions to utilise it were published in the same year. There were several years of development, as Schönberg makes clear in his article, but the first evidence appears in this year.[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 19:26, 16 March 2009 (EDT)
::::Sorry, the article was published in 1941. My bad.[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 20:00, 16 March 2009 (EDT)

:::Blimey, mate! No! Alan, do you see a citation about the 12-tone phase? I don't. --[[User:TK|'''₮K''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 19:14, 16 March 2009 (EDT)
::::Just added one, TK.[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 19:26, 16 March 2009 (EDT)
:::::Terry, in the biography net reference under 1923 it is alluded to sufficiently clearly for me to be satisfied I suppose...... ''"Introduces a “Method of Composing with Twelve Tones Which are Related Only with One Another”, which revolutionizes the traditional concept of harmony by means of a new classification of musical material and therewith lays »the foundations for a new procedure in musical construction which seemed fitted to replace those structural differentations provided formerly by tonal harmonies.« (»Composition with Twelve Tones« 1941)"'' That's what I based my acceptance on. Thanks. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 19:35, 16 March 2009 (EDT)

Ahh, so it is only a matter of making the citation line note that specific section, so as not to present the reader with an endless scroll, not knowing where to look. Thanks. --[[User:TK|'''₮K''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 20:10, 16 March 2009 (EDT)
:I'd be happy to do that, if I knew how. Is there a place in the help section that explains this?[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 07:37, 17 March 2009 (EDT)

::If you added the reference by using the ref deal, add the URL within it, and after the end of it, make a space, and add the comment that Alan did, would be easy enough. Like: [www.xyz1234.com Under 1923, it says "Introduces a “Method of Composing with Twelve Tones Which are Related Only with One Another]. That help? --[[User:TK|'''₮K''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 08:05, 17 March 2009 (EDT)
:::Sure, thanks.[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 08:50, 17 March 2009 (EDT)

Something completely different, AlanE. I'm interested in adding images as musical examples to some of the musical terms pages. Would you help me with this?[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 09:58, 17 March 2009 (EDT)
::: Attended. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez|Joaquín Martínez]] 16:10, 17 March 2009 (EDT) Thanks!![[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 16:12, 17 March 2009 (EDT)

:Sorry to be late answering. I was late logging on this morning (It's a little after 6AM here.) I'm also sorry that I can't help with uploading pictures...there are certain protocols and restrictions and I have never really tried to find out. (Though one day I must, if I am still around) Go to Help Index on the left there. Also[[:User talk:Joaquín Martínez]] is a senior sysop who loves his pictures and is usually helpful. Mention my name ;).[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 15:27, 17 March 2009 (EDT)
::Thanks for the advice. By the way, I just left a note for you under the Prokofiev article.[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 17:37, 17 March 2009 (EDT)
:::Just seen it, thanks. Gotta go. Have appointments.[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 17:43, 17 March 2009 (EDT)

Your thoughtful response in the Prokofiev thread got me reading again (dangerous hobby, I know), and revisiting the old books about music in the Soviet Union. I've started to expand the Shostakovich article, and am interested in your feedback. I plan to do the same with Prokofiev, and even perhaps write an essay on the topic. Let me know what you think.[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 19:55, 23 March 2009 (EDT)

==Just for fun==
Good morning. I added a "trivia" section to [[J.S. Bach]], including an amazing story that my doctoral advisor just told me. Thought you'd appreciate it, being a history buff yourself. [[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 10:24, 2 April 2009 (EDT)

:Thanks; enjoyed it. I've always found it interesting that Beethoven considered Handel to be the greater of the two. Then again how many know Louis Spohr who was considered at the time to be greater than Beethoven?
:I am about to let loose with St. Matthew Passion. Please do with it as you will. I know you can improve it. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 16:10, 2 April 2009 (EDT)
::Ahh, yes, I should probably mention it on the page too, but Von Swieten also brought Handel with him to Vienna; I had a hard time working it in in a relevant way. The quote from Mozart's letter to his father is something to the effect of "I go often to Swieten, where only Bach and Handel are played." My personal theory is that Beethoven was too close to Bach to effusively praise him -- a father complex, maybe?? My dissertation (still in the research phase) actually will discuss how Beethoven inherited several of his ideas about [[key]] characteristics from the Well-Tempered Clavier, the Mass, and the Passions.
::Ahh, Spohr. That's where weasel words get their name. Of course he "was considered" to be greater than Beethoven at one time, but by whom? Tovey writes about Spohr dismissively (in ''The Main-Stream of Music and Other Essays'', a great book if you happen upon it) by saying that his examples of sonata form, and only his and Hummel's, embody perfectly the academic definition of sonata form, and this is where many theorists got the wrong idea. You will find no examples from Mozart, Haydn, or Beethoven in sonata form as we learn at the conservatories. Conservatism always finds an enthusiastic audience.
::It's also worth remembering that Beethoven's late works disturbed all but his most ardent supporters. Out of the romantics, no one until Wagner felt sympathy enough to champion them: if you want to do some fun influence-spotting, listen to the slow movement of Beethoven's Op. 127, and immediately after that the duet from Act II of ''Tristan'' ("O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe"). [[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 17:19, 2 April 2009 (EDT)
::Oh duhh! I forgot that I actually mentioned Handel! [[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 17:23, 2 April 2009 (EDT)
:::I think the last time I read somewhere of the "greatness" of Spohr (and please realise that my comment above was sarcastic - ''of course'' Spohr had no viable claim of greatness) was in a comment about [[Charles Villiers Stanford]] who said once that he could remember when Spohr was considered such. Cheers [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 17:50, 2 April 2009 (EDT)

==St. Matthew Passion==
I've done my thing with it, and am quite happy with it as it stands momentarily -- though I still might like to add a section on famous recordings. Take a look and see what you think.
It also could use a nice image, perhaps some artwork appropriate for the subject. I'll give a holler to Joaquin about it.
[[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 11:59, 3 April 2009 (EDT)

:It's excellent, and shows scholarship!
:As far as famous recordings go, I am looking into them. (And yes, I'll mention Sir Georg's! - fancy having Kiri and Anne Sophie on the same bill. And if the sound is anything like his 1981 Mahler "Resurrection".......)[[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 18:11, 3 April 2009 (EDT)

::Glad you like the additions. It was a fun way to spend my afternoon. Joaquin has added several pictures per my request, and also nominated it as a Featured Article.
::The Solti recording is pretty special, and one that both sides of the "authentic performance" argument could find something to like and something to disparage. My only quibble is that Blochwitz as the Evangelist gets a little screechy for my taste. One particlar pregnant pause (and the crashing organ chord that comes after) in "Sind Blitze, Sind Donner" is one of my top 10 favorite moments on any disc period.
::By the way, also notice that I un-reddened the Category:Musical Works, which now only contains the Messiah (still unfortunately a stub) and this page. Just letting you know, in case you know of other pages that might fit. [[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 18:30, 3 April 2009 (EDT)

Just saw your new "recordings" section, and am thrilled! I'm glad that you added some perspective and opinion to this section, so that anyone interested enough to run out and buy a recording could have an idea of the issues with Baroque recordings in general. I fixed a few spelling things, but otherwise agree with the inclusions. I might have added Klemperer's to the list myself. My only other point is that it might be better to also name the orchestras involved instead of just the conductors. It could get cumbersome to list everything, but in most cases it's useful information for someone seeking out the recording. [[User:JDWpianist|JDWpianist]] 19:32, 7 April 2009 (EDT)
:Will do [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:54, 7 April 2009 (EDT)

== Guard Dog ==

Sorry he was acting out this morning....highly unlike him, actually, unlike me! --[[User:TK|'''₮K''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 18:39, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

Terry - it's not that. I'm a dog lover from way back, and they occasionally make a mess. It's everything else. ''You'' know I'm not a vandal. So does JM. So do every senior Admin I've spoken to.

::Except Andy.

Yesterday, I not only did a word count of my edits, I did a word count of the, um, "non-opinion" edits of various others. Even Jpatt's hagiographies didn't come close to the amount of new input I had done that month. In fact, if you take away the copy-and-pastes of countries and art and US ships and that sort of thing, I have probably contributed more new old-fashioned encyclopedic uncontroversial information to this site than any other editor. If you go just a day either side of the offending "athletics" to "sports" edit, (24rd, I think) I did major new articles totalling over 1500 words.
:I made my night-editing request so I had more time to do more work. That's all. No other reason. After all, midnight there is 2PM here in September (and now). I was amazed when I couldn't get it. I was even more amazed at the reason - which I only found out recently, and which made me angry, for obvious reasons.
:Cheers [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 19:26, 15 April 2009 (EDT)

::Well, I am in the dark about that, so perhaps it isn't true, but not the place to discuss such things, so email me, if you want. --[[User:TK|'''₮K''']]/Admin[[User_Talk:TK|/Talk]] 00:04, 16 April 2009 (EDT)

::: According to what I have learned from your edits, you have helped Conservapedia in an important way. --[[User:Joaquín Martínez|Joaquín Martínez]] 20:05, 18 April 2009 (EDT)

Thank you, Joaquín! - [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 20:47, 18 April 2009 (EDT)

"Your considerable efforts might be more appreciated at www.astorehouseofknowledge.info. [[User:Corry|Corry]] 11:59, 18 April 2009 (EDT)"

==Restoring page==
This block expired in April <s>2011</s> 2010; I have no idea why the user page was deleted. Sorry for the inconveniece. [[User:RobSmith|Rob Smith]] 10:07, 16 July 2011 (EDT)

== Look who is back! ==

How've you been? [[User:WesleyS|WesleyS]][[User Talk:WesleyS|Hello!]] 17:47, 5 July 2012 (EDT)

::Hi Wes!!
::Hanging on in there. I think I owe you a Christmas greeting or three. Went away a bit for a while there. Good to see your greeting! [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 22:05, 5 July 2012 (EDT)

== British Inventions page ==

Thanks for your contributions! [[User:EJamesW|EJamesW]] 16:38, 7 July 2012 (EDT)

Thanks. It's fun. I was adding a few when you wrote. Brits haven't invented the '''really''' important things, though - the stubby cooler, the cardboard wine cask and beach cricket, all of which can be seen together on a warm weekend arvo. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 17:24, 7 July 2012 (EDT)

== oops ==

Yeah I know he was, seems I forgot to put that bit back, sorry ! --[[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 21:56, 13 October 2012 (EDT)
:No problem - go Webber! [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:58, 13 October 2012 (EDT)

== Congratulations ==

Congratulations! Your account has been promoted to night editing, blocking and SkipCaptcha.--[[User:Aschlafly|Andy Schlafly]] 23:59, 23 October 2012 (EDT)

== Free Speech ==

By the way that debate you remembered me having on free speech is here. [[Debate: Should Westboro Baptist Church be allowed to protest funerals as free speech?]] I had forgotten about it, but having read it again I stand behind everything I said. Gotta take your lumps, good and bad, otherwise you haven't got free speech. --[[User:DamianJohn|DamianJohn]] 20:30, 7 November 2012 (EST)

:So you should. There is a small problem though for me... there is common or garden civility, decency, empathy, whatever. "''I know it's his funeral, Mrs Smith, but your husband really was a cheating cad''" is not the way to go and this can be extended to political discourse. Whilst those bastards at Westboro should have the right under law to do the hurt that they do, there is no way I will accept their moral justification. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 21:27, 7 November 2012 (EST)
::Yes. I think that is a given, but perhaps it should be spelled out explicitly. --[[User:DamianJohn|DamianJohn]] 23:25, 7 November 2012 (EST)
:::I have not the facility, these days, of speller-outery ( a reference to my much missed mother who considered herself a "looker-upperer" way into her nineties and used me (per telephone) in her later years as her main reference source.) I think, mate, that you can extract from the bones of my statement above that I do not agree with the use of malice in a political statement - though my grumgy-old-manliness can be frequently construed as such. Unfortunately these days, my knowledge exceeds my ability to expound it appropriately. Luckily. I usually wander the outer reaches of the CP galaxy where few of the more political, or overtly religious, editors go. Or if they do, they haven't the faintest interest in what I am talking about. Cheers [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 00:44, 8 November 2012 (EST)

== Request ==
This request is in ignorance, but as you are currently logged on, I was hoping you might unlock [[Karl Rove]] so I might made the additions mentioned on the talk page. Thanks, [[User:WilliamWB|WilliamWB]] 21:55, 8 November 2012 (EST)
: Only Sysop's can protect and unprotect pages. I suggest you ask Karajou, Ed Poor, JPatt, Aschafly or Conservative to unlock the page [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]]
::Thank you for your advice. [[User:WilliamWB|WilliamWB]] 22:07, 8 November 2012 (EST)

==Attention Dvergne==

Is that a Gallic way of answering a question or is it too much FourX? Or you're engrossed in the cricket? Deleting my question and answering in the summary is not polite. Even for a FNQer. :-) [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 23:19, 8 November 2012 (EST)

== Block ==

What was that for ? Because of that I couldn't block those vandals and had to spend more time cleaning the mess up. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 21:56, 17 November 2012 (EST)

Settle down! Read my next edit and be amazed I had the sense of humour to say to you what I did. You used inappropriate language, OK? [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 22:03, 17 November 2012 (EST)

== Blocking users for username ==

Alan when you block a user for his or her username, your edit summary indicates that they are allowed to recreate their account with an appropriate username, but the block settings you're using are preventing them from doing that. Make sure all boxes are unchecked as to not prevent account creation or block the IP.--[[User:Iduan|I]][[User_talk:Iduan|Duan]] 00:24, 28 November 2012 (EST)
:Will do. {{unsigned|AlanE}}
:: I think the block that Aaln gave for the user called Adm1nistrator was perfectly reasonable as that user would have almost certainly either been a troll or a vandal. [[User:Dvergne|Dvergne]] 00:50, 28 November 2012 (EST)
:::Thanks D. What Iduan has done, though, has made me aware of the varieties involved in the blocking policies. I had not really thought about it before. ...But thanks. Cheers [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 00:57, 28 November 2012 (EST)

== Thanks ==

Thanks for putting in the good word for me. Alas, I won't have much time in the future to hang around here. And helping to police the place is not really something I'm good at or interested in. The vandal of attack or December 30, and my being in the middle of it, was just a freak accident.

I was amused by your characterization of "swinging lustily". Though that's not what it felt like. :-) [[User:JudyJ|JudyJ]] 22:56, 1 January 2013 (EST)

:No problem, Judy. Best wishes for your future. [[User:AlanE|AlanE]] 00:42, 2 January 2013 (EST)

== Help needed to correct articles ==

Hello Alan,

I started correcting the entries so they don't look as if most of Europe was Eastern Europe. It should look like that: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/638/ciaeuroperegions.png/sr=1
unstats.un.org/unsd/geoinfo/UNGEGN/docs/23-gegn/wp/gegn23wp48.pdf
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Grossgliederung_Europas-en.svg

and not during the communist period of Central Europe and Soviet Union in Eastern Europe and the Baltic states:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/focuson/film/images/activities/cold-war/europe-cold-war.png

Therefore, I may need your help to correct mistakes, if they apply. Most of the time, when people mean Eastern Europe, they mean Central Europe.

Woould you be willing to help?

Germany

2013-01-05T02:40:30Z

Funforever: Undo revision 1027115 by AlanE (talk) True, it's not a long one, though. I hope that it sounds better. Germans say themselves we are Central Europe

{{Country
|name =''Bundesrepublik Deutschland''
|map =Germany rel 94.jpg
|map2 =Loc of Germany.PNG
|flag =Flag of Germany.JPG
|arms =Arms of Germany.png
|capital =Berlin
|capital-raw =
|government =Federal Republic (Parliamentary)
|government-raw =
|language =German
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Joachim Gauck
|president-raw =
|chancellor =Angela Merkel
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =137,858 sq mi
|pop =81,471,000
|pop-basis =2011
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$3.045 trillion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$36,975 (2006)
|currency =Euro (formerly the Deutsche Mark)
|idd =
|tld =
}}
[[File:Germ-vote-2009.jpg|200px|thumb|Exit polls from Sept. 2009 election won by the conservative coalition CDU and FDP]]
'''Germany''' (official name: '''Federal Republic of Germany''') is a federally organized [[Democracy]] in the crossroads of [[Western Europe]] and Central Europe with a population of about 82.2 million. The capital city and seat of government is [[Berlin]].

The major ethnic groups are German 94%, Polish 1%, Yugoslavs 1% and others 4%. 34% of the population are Protestants, 34% are Roman Catholics and 4% are Muslim.<ref>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html</ref>

As Europe's largest economy and the most populous nation wholly within Europe, Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. The central German bank, the [[Bundesbank]], has historically been the most influential force within the financial markets of the European Union.

The September 2009 elections were a major win for the conservative forces led by Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]], breaking a stalemate and opening the way for more conservative economic policies. Previously since an indecisive election in 2005 the Christian Democrats (CDU) (on the center-right) formed a "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats (SPD) (on the center-left). Now Merkel and her CDU will form a coalition with the libertarian, pro-business Free Democrats (FDP). Left in the cold will be the SPD, the Greens, and the ex-Communists who remain strong in the former East Germany under the name "Left party". Merkel is now expected to move forward on tax cuts, reform of the tax code, reduction of bureaucracy and a possible extension of the time that nuclear power plants can continue to operate.<ref>Craig Whitlock, "Germany's Merkel Reelected Easily, Will Form New Coalition," [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/27/AR2009092700631.html?nav=emailpage ''Washington Post'' Sept. 28, 2009]</ref>

Merkel's program announced as she took office Oct. 28 includes $36 billion in income tax cuts, lower business taxes, and higher family benefits. The budget will be in deficit for the next four years, as the government believes the economy is too fragile for spending cuts and that more stimulus is needed to end the recession. By law the budget must be balanced by the year 2016. Nuclear power plants will be given an extension, and Merkel wants to move more of the welfare costs from corporations to households.

==People==
===Demography===
[[File:German-fans.jpg|thumb|250px|German fans.]]
In 2005 there were 388,451 marriages and 201,693 divorces. There were 685,795 births and 830,227 deaths. The number of births has dropped from 767,000 in 2000, while the deaths have risen from 179,600.

The average age at marrying (for the first time) for men was 32 and for women 29. Abortions are officially illegal, according to a 1995 law. However, prosecutions are not brought if they are performed in the first three months of pregnancy after consultation with a doctor. The annual abortion rate, at under ten per 1,000 women aged 15–44, is among the lowest in the world

In 2005 10.2% of all children lived in poverty (in households with income below 50% of the national median).

Germany had a Net Reproduction Rate (NRR) of 0.66 in 1999. A rate of NRR=1.0 equals a constant population. Therefore, in terms of births and deaths (and not counting immigration) the population is shrinking by 34% between generations.[3]

Life expectancy of females at birth in West Germany rose from 71 years in 1954 to 80 years in 2000; the expectancy for boys rose from 66 to 75. Expectancy in the eastern zone was about three years less.

Projected population in 2050 is 76 million, down from the present 82 million. There will be more deaths than births, and that is largely offset by a net inflow of immigrants from 2000 to 2050, predicted to be about 240,000 per year.

<blockquote>
Germany's recent debate about immigration misses an important reality: for Germany, and most all developed countries, attracting educated and skilled foreign workers is a matter of economic survival. <ref>[http://www.cfr.org/germany/germanys-immigration-dilemma/p24213 Germany's Immigration Dilemma.]</ref>
</blockquote>

===Ethnicity===
[[File:Germany - houses.jpg|left|340px]]
Most inhabitants of Germany are ethnic German. There are, however, more than 7 million foreign residents, many of whom are the families and descendants of so-called "guest workers" (foreign workers, mostly from Turkey, invited to Germany in the 1950s and 1960s to fill labor shortages) who remained in Germany. Germany has a sizable ethnic Turkish population. Germany is also a prime destination for political and economic refugees from many developing countries. An ethnic Danish minority lives in the north, and a small Slavic minority known as the Sorbs lives in eastern Germany. Due to restrictive German citizenship laws, most "foreigners" do not hold German citizenship even when born and raised in Germany. However, since the German government undertook citizenship and immigration law reforms in 2002, more foreign residents have had the ability to naturalize.

===Education===
Germany has one of the world's highest average levels of education, technological development, and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of youths entering universities has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools of the Federal Republic of Germany (F.R.G.) are reasonable good. German 15-year olds score about average in comparison with similar countries.

At the university level, however, there has been a dramatic decline in quality from the days before Hitler, when German universities were the best in the world. Since the student revolts of 1968, conditions at the once-famous universities have deteriorated badly. A strong egalitarianism prevents the re-emergence of world class faculties and no German university ranks among the top 40 in the world.<ref>Gebhard Schweigler, "Heidelberg is Not Harvard …and Germany is embarrassed." [http://www.atlantic-times.com/archive_detail.php?recordID=83 ''The Atlantic Times'' Dec. 2004]</ref>

The conservative government has tried to reverse the decline by offering €1.9 billion (about $2.7 billion) in excellence grants to numerous schools spread over a period of five years--far less money than Harvard spends in one year. Little improvement has been reported from this small investment. The leading schools are Freiburg, Heidelberg and Konstanz (all in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg), Aachen, Göttingen, the Free University of Berlin, two schools in Munich and Karlsruhe’s Technical University.<ref> Lutz Lichtenberger, "Selective Upgrades The government’s 'Excellence Initiative' grants German universities small packs of ivy seeds," [http://www.atlantic-times.com/archive_detail.php?recordID=1080 ''The Atlantic Times'' Nov. 2007]]</ref> Meanwhile top German scientists and engineers migrate to the United States, where their talents are appreciated.

===Standard of Living===
[[File:Living Germany.jpg|left|170px]]
With a per capita income level of more than $28,700, Germany is a broadly middle class society. A generous social welfare system provides for universal medical care, unemployment compensation, and other social needs. Millions of Germans travel abroad each year.

With unification on October 3, 1990, Germany began the major task of bringing the standard of living of Germans in the former German Democratic Republic (G.D.R.) up to that of western Germany. This has been a lengthy and difficult process due to the relative inefficiency of industrial enterprises in the former G.D.R., difficulties in resolving property ownership in eastern Germany, and the inadequate infrastructure and environmental damage that resulted from years of mismanagement under communist rule.
{{Clear}}

===Extremism===
Economic malaise in eastern Germany is one factor contributing to extremist violence, primarily from the political right. Confusion about the causes of the current hardships and a need to place blame has found expression in harassment and violence by some Germans directed toward foreigners, particularly non-Europeans. The vast majority of Germans condemn such violence.

Wolfgang Schaube, the Interior minister 2005-9, was shot by a deranged man in 1990 and is confined to a wheel chair. He calls on Germans to feel more patriotic, and for immigrants to assimilate faster. He has adopted tough policies on policing and anti-terrorism, such as giving the military authority to shoot down hijacked planes.

===Religion===
[[Image:St Stephens Cathedral interior.jpg|thumb|left|300px|St. Stephens Cathedral (''Stephansdom'') in Passau, Bavaria. ]]
In 2006 the Roman Catholic Church reported a membership of 25.7 million. The Evangelical Church, a confederation of the Lutheran, Uniate, and Reformed Protestant Churches, has 25.3 million members. Together, these two churches account for nearly two-thirds of the population.<ref> According to [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108448.htm U.S. State Department, "International Religious Freedom Report 2008"]</ref>
[[File:Church pipe organ St Stephen s Cathedral of Passau Germany..jpg|thumb|Church pipe organ, St. Stephen's Cathedral of Passau.]]
Protestant Christian denominations include: New Apostolic Church, 371,305; Ethnic German Baptists from the former Soviet Union (FSU), 85,000; and Baptist, 75,000. Muslims number 3.5 million, including Sunnis, 2.5 million; Alevis, 410,000; and Shi'a, 225,000. Until 2004 the annual number of conversions to Islam was 300, largely Christian women native citizens marrying Muslim men; however, since 2004 the annual numbers of conversions have jumped into the thousands. There are approximately 2,600 Islamic places of worship, including an estimated 150 traditional architecture mosques, with 100 more mosques being planned. One million Muslims are citizens. Orthodox Christians number 1.4 million, including Greek Orthodox/Constantinople Patriarchate, 450,000; Serbian Orthodox, 250,000; Romanian Orthodox, 300,000; and Russian Orthodox/Moscow Patriarchate, 150,000. Buddhists number 245,000, Jehovah's Witnesses 165,000, and Hindus 97,500. The Church of Scientology operates 18 churches and missions, and according to press reports, it has 30,000 members. However, according to the Offices for the Protection of the Constitution (OPC) in Brandenburg and Hamburg, the Church of Scientology has 5,000-6,000 members.

According to estimates, Jews number more than 200,000, of which 107,330 are registered members of the Jewish community. Of these registered community members, 100,967 are immigrants and 6,363 are originally from the country. From 1990 to 2006, approximately 202,000 Jews and non-Jewish dependents from the countries of the FSU arrived, joining 25,000 to 30,000 Jews already in the country. As a result of a more restrictive immigration policy regarding Jews from the FSU, the number of Jewish immigrants decreased to 1,296 in 2007 from 1,971 in 2006 and 3,124 in 2005. The new policy was designed in cooperation with Jewish organizations in order to better manage the integration of individuals into the Jewish community.

An estimated 21 million persons (one-quarter of the population) either have no religious affiliation or belong to unrecorded religious organizations.

On December 18, 2007, the Bertelsmann Foundation published a survey on religious convictions and practice in the country, which failed to confirm the commonly held belief that the country was becoming more secular. Fully 70% of adult respondents said they were religious, and of those, 18% said they were "deeply religious" and regularly attend worship services, up from 15% in earlier studies. In the 18-29 age group, 41% expressed a belief in eternal life and a divine being, more than in any other age bracket. Roman Catholics report that 15% of nominal Catholics regularly attend Sunday Mass. Seventeen years after reunification, the country's eastern part remains far more secular than the west. The Bertelsmann Foundation found former easterners self-identified as 36% religious and 8% deeply religious, in contrast with 78% and 21%, respectively, for those from the west. Only 5 to 10% of eastern citizens belong to a religious organization, but numbers are increasing among non-Lutheran Protestants in the east.
====Discrimination====
[[File:Muslims in Europe map.jpg|thumb|290px|Muslims in Europe by country.]]
There have been recent reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, and practice. Right-wing extremists committed politically motivated crimes against minorities including religious groups, as well as anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic acts. Cemeteries were desecrated, and Muslim communities sometimes suffered societal discrimination when building new mosques and finding allotments of land for cemeteries; however, many members of Government and civil society initiated discussions about Muslim integration and expressed their commitment to addressing the issue. The Roman Catholic and Evangelical churches continued to use "sect commissioners" to warn the public of dangers from some minority religious groups such as the Unification Church, Scientologists, Universal Life (Universelles Leben), and Transcendental Meditation practitioners. Scientologists continue to find "sect filters" used against them in employment as well as discrimination in political party membership.

<blockquote>
Muslim population is around 3 million (3.6%); the majority of the Muslim population is Turkish, with many retaining strong links to Turkey. Others arrived from Bosnia and Kosovo during the Balkan wars. Until recently Muslims were considered "guest workers", who would one day leave the country - a view that is changing. Racist violence is a sensitive issue, with the authorities trying a range of strategies to beat it. Steps are being taken to improve integration. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4385768.stm#germany Muslims in Europe.]</ref>
</blockquote>

====Religion in schools====
Most public schools offer Protestant and Catholic religious instruction in cooperation with those churches, as well as instruction in Judaism if enough students express interest. The number of Islamic religion classes in public schools continued to grow. In principle, participants of the federal government-sponsored Islam Conference agreed that Islamic education should be made widely available. Education is a state responsibility and, in part because no nationally recognized Islamic organization exists that could assist in developing a curriculum or providing services, the form and content of Islamic instruction vary from state to state. Organizations providing Islamic instruction do not have public law corporation status.

Depending on the state, a nonreligious ethics course or study hall may be available for students not wishing to participate in religious instruction.
[[File:MUSLIM GERMANY RELIGION SCHOOL.jpg|thumb|left|330px|Coauthors Evelin Lubig-Fohsel and Guel Solgun-Kaps hold the German-language textbook they wrote for state-sponsored religion classes in Germany’s schools.]]
Islamic classes in public schools continued to be a controversial topic but were increasingly common throughout the country, except in areas where the Muslim population was too small to support them. Although no Muslim group had "public law corporation" status that would entitle them to offer Islamic courses, state governments recognized the need and demand and worked with local Muslim organizations to establish such courses. On March 13, 2008, the Interior Minister was quoted in the press indicating that the Federal Government and Muslim community leaders had reached an agreement in principle that schools should offer classes in Islam taught in German alongside the other religions, but he noted that it would take time to implement the agreement.

There are an estimated 900,000 Muslim students in the public school system; Islamic education in schools is offered in some states. At the start of the 2006‑07 school year, authorities in Baden‑Wuerttemberg established a two‑course system: one for Sunni and Shi'a students and another for Alevis. State officials and Muslim groups in Baden‑Wuerttemberg agreed upon the system and the initial reactions were positive. Some states offered similar programs while others were working with Muslim leaders to establish a uniform curriculum. Later in the year, universities in Frankfurt, Ludwigsburg, Karlsruhe, and Weingarten began offering training courses in the teaching of Islam.

The legal obligation that children attend school, confirmed by the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice in 2006, continued to be a problem for some home-schooling advocates, such as Baptists from the FSU in Eastern Westphalia, due to concerns about sex education and the teaching of evolution. On August 2, 2007, the Stuttgart Administrative Court dismissed the case brought by several Russian‑German immigrant families belonging to the Baptist group Gemeinde Gottes who had petitioned in 2004 to send their children to a private religious school run by members of their community. The court ruled that the teaching staff was insufficiently qualified. Other home-schooling cases remain in the court system.

<blockquote>
Public schools in Germany must offer religion classes, and pilot courses in Islam are now being offered in addition to established programs in Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. <ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0120/Why-German-public-schools-now-teach-Islam Why German public schools now teach Islam.]</ref>
</blockquote>

===State support for religion===
In order to help support [[Protestant]], [[Catholic]], and [[Jewish]] religious institutions, the German state collects [[taxes]] on members of those religions and passes the funding along to the relevant religious administrative body. <ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19737983]</ref>

===Data===
*Population (2007 est.): 82 million.
*Ethnic groups: Primarily German; Danish minority in the north, Sorbian (Slavic) minority in the east; 7.3 million foreign residents.
*Religions: Protestants (26 million); Roman Catholics (26 million); approximately 3.2 million Muslims.
*Language: German.
*Education: Years compulsory--9-13 (depending on the Land); attendance--100%; literacy--99%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate (2006 est.)--4.12/1,000; life expectancy (2006 est.)--women 81.96 years, men 77.81 years.
*Persons employed (2006 avg.): 39.08 million; unemployed (2006 avg.): 9.8% of labor force.

==Government==
===Executive Branch===
[[File:Merkel.jpg|thumb|Angela Merkel.]]
Germany has a president as [[head of state]]. The president's powers are essentially representative.
The current president is Joachim Gauck.

The actual political power and head of government is the chancellor ("Bundeskanzler"), who is elected by federal parliament ("Bundestag"). The chancellor is typically elected in the first session of a newly elected Bundestag for the entire legislative period of four years. The parliament can only force the chancellor to resign in a ''constructive motion of no-confidence'', if it elects at the same time a new Chancellor. The current chancellor is [[Angela Merkel|Dr. Angela Merkel]]. The current government is a center-right coalition between the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Free Democrats (FDP).<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569386,00.html</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Legislative Branch===
[[File:Bonn Bundestag Plenarsaal Germany.jpg|thumb|left|280px|Bundestag Plenarsaal at Bonn.]]
Germany has a bicameral system with a federal parliament ("Bundestag") and a representation of the states ("Bundesrat"). The members of Bundestag in elected every four years, using a personalized proportional system. The members of the Bundesrat are representatives of the state governments, and the delegations of each state are required to vote as a bloc on behalf of their governments. Each delegation has between 3 and 6 members, depending on the size of the represented state. The position of president of the Bundesrat rotates on an annual basis between the prime ministers of the states.
{{Clear}}

===Judicative Branch===
The German constitution provides for an independent jurisdiction. The highest appeals court in Germany is the Federal Court of Justice ("Bundesgerichtshof"), which is seated in the Southwestern city of [[Karlsruhe]]. Members of the Federal court are elected by a committee, with 16 delegates from the states, one from each state, appointed by the state governments, and 16 delegates appointed by the federal parliament. The Federal Constitutional Court ("Bundesverfassungsgericht") is the highest court to review decisions and acts by the executive and legislative branches of government. It can be called to determine whether public acts are unconstitutional and can render them ineffective if they are not. This court is also seated in city of Karlsruhe, and it members are elected by the Bundesrat and Bundestag, and need a 2/3 majority in each.

===Political Parties===
====Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU)====
An important aspect of postwar German politics was the emergence of a moderate, ecumenical Christian party--the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)--operating in alliance with a related Bavarian party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Although each party maintains its own structure, the two form a common caucus in the Bundestag and do not run opposing campaigns. The CDU/CSU has adherents among Catholics, Protestants, rural interests, and members of all economic classes. It is generally conservative on economic and social policy and more identified with the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.

====Social Democratic Party (SPD)====
[[File:German party SPD.jpg|140px|left]]
The SPD is one of the oldest organized political parties in the world. It originally advocated Marxist principles, but in the 1959 Godesberg Program abandoned the concept of a "class party" while continuing to stress social welfare programs. Under the leadership of Gerhard Schroeder, the SPD-Greens government implemented in 2003 the centrist Agenda 2010 reforms, designed to modernize the country's social system and labor market. The SPD has a powerful base in the bigger cities and industrialized states.
{{Clear}}

====Free Democratic Party (FDP)====
The FDP has traditionally been composed mainly of middle and upper class Protestants who consider themselves heirs to the European liberal tradition. It supports free trade and reducing the role of the state in economic policy. It is libertarian on social issues. The party has participated in all but three postwar federal governments but has not been in federal government since 1998.

====The Communist Left====
[[File:German communist logo.jpg|thumb|200px|A German communist logo.]]
The PDS (for 'Partei des demokratischen Sozialismus'; "Party of Democratic Socialism", the renamed communist party of the former East Germany, and follow-up of the [[SED]]) and the WASG (for 'Wahlalternative Arbeit und Soziale Gerechtigkeit'; "Voting alternative work and social justice") composed of west-German leftists) merged in June 2007 to form a party simply known as "The Left." The party's foreign policy is largely shaped by its rigid opposition to foreign military deployments, for example in [[Afghanistan]], and insists on an immediate pull-out. On domestic policy, the party opposes economic and social reforms, such as Hartz IV, which aim to increase free markets and reduce unemployment benefits. The Left proposes to weaken the free market system with a new orientation to democratic socialist principles. The Left also experienced a lot of criticism due to its communist wing, the 'communist platform' which makes up 4.4% of the national vote, an insufficient total to clear the 5 percent hurdle. <ref>[http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_electoral_system.htm German Culture.com; Electoral System of Germany (next to last paragraph]</ref>
{{Clear}}

====Alliance 90/Greens====
In the late 1970s, environmentalists organized politically as the Greens. Opposition to nuclear power, military power, and certain aspects of highly industrialized society were principal campaign issues. In the December 1990 all-German elections, the Greens merged with the Eastern German Alliance 90, a loose grouping of civil rights activists with diverse political views. The Greens joined a federal government for the first time in 1998, forming a coalition with the SPD.

====Other parties====
Because of the instability caused by the need for multi-party coalitions in the Weimar Republic, Germany's Basic Law today requires parties reach 5% of the vote to win seats in the Bundestag. In addition to those parties that won representation in the Bundestag in 2005, a variety of minor parties won a cumulative 2.7% of the vote, down from 3.0% in 2002. Several other parties were on the ballot in one or more states but did not qualify for representation in the federal Bundestag. Recent Polls polls indicate a rising popularity of the German Pirate Party. With results as high as 10% it is possible for the Pirate Party to be a part of the next Bundestag.<ref>http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm</ref>

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Joachim Gauck
*President of the Bundestag--Norbert Lammert (CDU)
*Chancellor--Angela Merkel (CDU)
*Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economics and Technology--Philipp Rösler (FDP)
*Minister of Defense--Thomas de Maizière (CDU)
*Minister of Finance--Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU)
*Minister of Interior--Hans-Peter Friedrich (CSU)
*Minister of Labor and Social Affairs--Ursula von der Leyen (CDU)
*Minister of Justice--Sabine Leutheuser-Schnarrenberger (FDP)
*Minister of Minister of Foreign Affairs--Guido Westerwelle (FDP)
*Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection--Ilse Aigner (CSU)
*Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth--Kristina Schröder (CDU)
*Minister of Health--Daniel Bahr (FDP)
*Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs--Peter Ramsauer (CSU)
*Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety--Norbert Röttgen (CDU)
*Minister of Education and Research--Annette Schavan (CDU)
*Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development--Dirk Niebel (FDP)
*Head of the Federal Chancellery and Minister for Special Tasks--Ronald Pofalla (CDU)

===Foreign Relations===
[[File:German Foreign Minister Welcomes Ukrainian President Yanukovych.jpg|thumb|340px|German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle welcomes Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Berlin, 2010.]]
Germany continues to emphasize close ties with the United States, membership in NATO, and the "deepening" of integration among current members of the EU. The Federal Republic of Germany took part in all of the joint postwar efforts aimed at closer political, economic, and defense cooperation among the countries of western Europe. Germany has been a large net contributor to the EU budget. Germany also is a strong supporter of the United Nations and of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

During the postwar era, the Federal Republic of Germany also sought to improve its relationship with the countries of Central Europe freed from communism, first establishing trade agreements and, subsequently, diplomatic relations. With unification, German relations with the restored democracies in central and eastern Europe intensified. On November 14, 1990, Germany and Poland signed a treaty confirming the Oder-Neisse border. They also concluded a cooperation treaty on June 17, 1991. Germany concluded four treaties with the Soviet Union covering the overall bilateral relationship, economic relations, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of the former G.D.R., and German support for those troops. Russia accepted obligations under these treaties as successor to the Soviet Union. Germany continues to be active economically in the states of central and eastern Europe and to actively support the development of democratic institutions, bilaterally and through the EU.

====Relations with the United States====
[[File:Nazi crowd salute.jpg|thumb|300px|Nazi crowd salute.]]
U.S.-German relations have been a focal point of American involvement in Europe since the end of World War II. Germany stands at the center of European affairs and is a key partner in U.S. relations with Europeans in NATO and the European Union.

German-American ties extend back to the colonial era. More than 7 million Germans have immigrated over the last three centuries, and today nearly a quarter of U.S. citizens claim German ancestry. In recognition of this heritage and the importance of modern-day U.S.-German ties, the U.S. President annually has proclaimed October 6, the date the first German immigrants arrived in 1623, to be "German-American Day."

U.S. policy toward Germany remains the preservation and consolidation of a close and vital relationship with Germany, not only as friends and trading partners, but also as allies sharing common institutions. During the 45 years in which Germany was divided, the U.S. role in Berlin and the large American military presence in West Germany served as symbols of the U.S. commitment to preserving peace and security in Europe. Since German unification, the U.S. commitment to these goals has not changed. The U.S. made significant reductions in its troop levels in Germany after the Cold War ended, and, on July 12, 1994, President Clinton "cased the colors" at the Berlin Brigade's deactivation ceremony. The U.S., however, continues to recognize that the security and prosperity of the United States and Germany significantly depend on each other.

As allies in NATO, the United States and Germany work side by side to maintain peace and freedom. This unity and resolve made possible the successful conclusion of the 1987 U.S.-U.S.S.R. Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), the Two-plus-Four process--which led to the Final Settlement Treaty--and the November 1990 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.
[[File:President and First Lady Obama with Chancellor Merkel.jpg|thumb|left|320px|President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband, professor Joachim Sauer, to Rathaus in Baden-Baden, Germany, 2009.]]
More recently, the two allies have cooperated closely in peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans and have worked together to encourage the evolution of open and democratic states throughout central and eastern Europe. Germany is also a strong contributor to our common effort to secure peace and stability in Afghanistan, contributing almost 3,000 troops to the NATO ISAF mission.

Following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, Germany has been a reliable U.S. ally in the campaign against terrorism. As two of the world's leading trading nations, the United States and Germany share a common, deep-seated commitment to an open and expanding world economy. Personal ties between the United States and Germany extend beyond immigration to include intensive foreign exchange programs, booming tourism in both directions, and the presence in Germany of large numbers of American military personnel and their dependents.

The United States and Germany have built a solid foundation of bilateral cooperation in a relationship that has changed significantly over nearly six decades. The historic unification of Germany and the role the United States played in that process have served to strengthen ties between the two countries.

German-American political, economic, and security relationships continue to be based on close consultation and coordination at the most senior levels. High-level visits take place frequently, and the United States and Germany cooperate actively in international forums.

====War on Terror====
Germany currently contributes troops to the NATO-led ISAF operation in [[Afghanistan]], but did not support the invasion of [[Iraq]]. German military participates in NATO Force Protection Program, protecting US military bases located in Germany.

====Libya====

[[Libyan uprising 2011]]

<blockquote>
Germany’s Defense Minister Thomas de Maziere has criticized NATO’s controversial military operation in Libya and lack of foresight when it comes to intervening in the North African country. [http://2012indyinfo.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/presstv-germany-slams-nato-mission-in-libya/]
</blockquote>

==Economy==
[[Image:The_castle3.jpg|right|thumb|270px|Neuschwanstein Castle, a popular tourist destination.]]
Germany is the world's third-largest economy and the largest in Europe.
From the 1948 currency reform until the early 1970s, West Germany experienced almost continuous economic expansion. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed down, and even declined, from the mid-1970s through the recession of the early 1980s. The economy then experienced 8 consecutive years of growth that ended with a downturn beginning in late 1992. Since unification, Germany has seen annual average real growth of only about 1.5% and stubbornly high unemployment. In 2006, Germany had its best year since 2000 with 2.7% growth; for 2007, growth was at 2.5% despite a 3 percentage point VAT hike at the beginning of the year. The government forecasts 1.7% growth in GDP for 2008. Unemployment in 2007 dropped to an annualized average of 9.0% nationwide, but it is still significantly higher--15.1%--in the German states that make up the former East Germany.

Germans often describe their economic system as a "social market economy." The German Government provides an extensive array of social services. The state intervenes in the economy by providing subsidies to selected sectors and by owning some segments of the economy, while promoting competition and free enterprise. The government has restructured the railroad system on a corporate basis, privatized the national airline, and is privatizing telecommunications and postal services.

The German economy is heavily export-oriented, with exports accounting for more than one-third of national output. As a result, exports traditionally have been a key element in German macroeconomic expansion, accounting for over half of the economic growth in recent years. Germany is a strong advocate of closer European economic integration, and its economic and commercial policies are increasingly determined within the European Union (EU). Germany uses the common European currency, the euro, and the European Central Bank sets monetary policy.
[[File:German transmission lines.jpg|thumb|left|340px|Transmission lines and generating stations.]]
In the early-mid 2000s, Germany adopted a complex set of labor/social welfare reforms to overcome structural weaknesses of the German welfare state and to create policies more conductive to employment. Defying a skeptical German public, the coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel initiated additional reform measures, such as the gradual increase in the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67--a move that would add 2.5 million to the workforce by 2030. Subsequently, however, there has been active political debate and some rollback of these labor reforms; most notably the government decided to extend the payment period of unemployment benefits to older workers in early 2008.

Fifteen years after reunification (October 3, 1990), Germany had made great progress in raising the standard of living in eastern Germany, introducing a market economy and improving its infrastructure. At the same time, the process of convergence between east and west is taking longer than originally expected and, on some measures, has stagnated since the mid-1990s. Eastern economic growth rates have been lower than in the west in recent years, unemployment is twice as high, prompting many skilled easterners to seek work in the west, and productivity continues to lag. Eastern consumption levels are dependent on public net financial transfers from west to east totaling about $13 billion per year. In addition to social assistance payments, the government will extend funds to promote eastern economic development through 2019.

The United States is Germany's second-largest trading partner, and U.S.-German trade has continued to grow strongly. Two-way trade in goods totaled $184 billion in 2007. U.S. exports to Germany were $ 71 billion while U.S. imports from Germany were more than $113 billion. At nearly $45 billion, the U.S.'s fifth-largest trade deficit is with Germany. Major U.S. export categories include aircraft, electrical equipment, telecommunications equipment, data processing equipment, and motor vehicles and parts. German export sales are concentrated in metalworks, motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals and heavy electrical equipment. Much bilateral trade is intra-industry or intra-firm.

Germany has a liberal foreign investment policy. For 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, German investment in the U.S. amounted to 233 billion euros (29 % of all German foreign direct investment, or FDI; the U.S. is the number-one destination for German FDI), while U.S. investment in Germany was 45 billion euros (11.5 % of all FDI invested in Germany; U.S. is third-largest source of FDI in Germany).

U.S. firms employ about 510,000 people in Germany; German firms likewise employ about 746,000 people in the United States.

Despite persistence of some structural rigidities in the labor market and extensive government regulation, the economy remains strong and internationally competitive. Although production costs are very high, Germany is still an export powerhouse, and unit labor costs have decreased in the last 10 years. Additionally, Germany is strategically placed to take advantage of the rapidly growing central European countries. The current government has addressed some of the country's structural problems, with important tax, social security, and financial sector reforms.
*GDP (2007 est.): $3.1 trillion.
*Annual growth rate: (2006) 2.7%; (2007) 2.5%.
*Per capita income (PPP, 2006): $31,900.
*Inflation rate (consumer prices, 2007): 2.2%.
*Natural resources: Iron, hard coal, lignite, potash, natural gas.
*Agriculture (0.9% of GDP): Products--corn, wheat, potatoes, sugar, beets, barley, hops, viticulture, forestry, fisheries.
*Industry (29.1% of GDP): Types--car-making; mechanical, electrical, and precision engineering; chemicals; environmental technology; optics; medical technology; biotech and genetic engineering; nanotechnology; aerospace; logistics.
*Trade (2006): Exports--$1.03 trillion: chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products, manufactured goods, electrical products. Major markets--France, U.S., and U.K. Imports--$844 billion: food, petroleum products, manufactured goods, electrical products, motor vehicles, apparel. Major suppliers--France, Netherlands, U.S.

The German economy showed substantial improvement in 2007 at 2.5% growth due to the effect of recent economic reforms and strong global economic growth. The export-led recovery is now filtering through to the domestic economy where private consumption has long been at a low level.
===Crisis of 2008===
The worldwide [[Financial Crisis of 2008]] hit Germany in the summer, revealing high risk policies pursued by numerous large banks looking for high rates of return outside Germany. In September the government unveiled a $635-billion bailout package for its floundering banks. Economic growth for 2009 is forecast to be an anemic 0.2%.

Automobile manufacturing is a major sector, but the financial crisis caused credit to be harder to obtain; many families postponed purchases. Auto exports fell 10% in October 2008 from October 2007; domestic sales dropped 8%. In contrast 2007 was a record year with production of 12.1 million vehicles and employment of 756,000 workers; an eighth of those jobs were created in the last five years alone.

==History==
See [[German History]]

==The states (Bundesländer) and their capitals==
[[File:Frankfurt skyline.jpg|thumb|300px|Frankfurt am Main, Hesse.]]
(In alphabetical order)
* [[Baden-Wuerttemberg]]: [[Stuttgart]]
* [[Bavaria]] (''Bayern''): [[München]]
* [[Berlin]]: [[Berlin]]
* [[Brandenburg]]: [[Potsdam]]
* [[Bremen]]: [[Bremen]]
* [[Hamburg]]: [[Hamburg]]
* [[Hesse]] (''Hessen''): [[Wiesbaden]]
* [[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]]: [[Schwerin]]
* [[Lower Saxony]] (''Niedersachsen''): [[Hannover]]
* [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] (''Nordrhein-Westfalen''): [[Düsseldorf]]
* [[Rhineland-Palatinate]] (''Rheinland-Pfalz''): [[Mainz]]
* [[Saarland]]: [[Saarbrücken]]
* [[Saxony]] (''Sachsen''): [[Dresden]]
* [[Saxony-Anhalt]] (''Sachsen-Anhalt''): [[Magdeburg]]
* [[Sleswick-Holsatia]] (''Schleswig-Holstein''): [[Kiel]]
* [[Thuringia]] (''Thüringen''): [[Erfurt]]

==Famous Germans==
{|
|-
|
*[[Konrad Adenauer]]
*[[Hannah Arendt]]
*[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]
*[[Franz Beckenbauer]]
*[[Boris Becker]]
*[[Pope Benedict XVI]]
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
*[[Otto von Bismarck]]
*[[Heinrich Böll]]
*[[Willy Brandt]]
*[[Wernher von Braun]]
*[[Bertolt Brecht]]
*[[Dietrich Buxtehude]]
*[[Marlene Dietrich]]
*[[Albrecht Dürer]]
*[[Albert Einstein]]
*[[Roland Emmerich]]
*[[Friedrich Engels]]
*[[Daniel Fahrenheit]]
*[[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]]
|
*[[Joseph Goebbels]]
*[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]
*[[Hermann Göring]]
*[[Günter Grass]]
*[[Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen]]
*[[Johannes Gutenberg]]
*[[Georg Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Otto Hahn]]
*[[Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Ernst August von Hannover]]
*[[Karl August von Hardenberg]]
*[[Friedrich Hegel]]
*[[Werner Heisenberg]]
*[[Heinrich Hesse]]
*[[Heinrich Himmler]]
*[[Adolf Hitler]]
*[[Oliver Kahn]]
*[[Henry Kissinger]]
*[[Helmut Kohl]]
|
*[[Käthe Kollwitz]]
*[[Otto Kretschmer]]
*[[Loriot]]
*[[Martin Luther]]
*[[Rosa Luxemburg]]
*[[Thomas Mann]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Angela Merkel]]
*[[Lise Meitner]]
*[[Anne-Sophie Mutter]]
*[[Dirk Nowitzki]]
*[[Friedrich Nietzsche]]
*[[Erwin Rommel]]
*[[Friedrich Schiller]]
*[[Gerhard Schröder]]
*[[Heinrich Schliemann]]
*[[Michael Schumacher]]
*[[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]
*[[Richard Wagner]]
*[[Wim Wenders]]
|}

==Further reading==
* Schafers, Bernha, ''The State of Germany Atlas'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/State-Germany-Atlas-Bernha-Schafers/dp/0415188261/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324991&sr=1-27 excerpt and text search]
* Schulte-Peevers, Andrea, et al. ''Lonely Planet Germany'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Germany-Andrea-Schulte-Peevers/dp/1740599888/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324694&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]

===Since 1990===
* Alba, Richard. Peter Schmidt, and Martina Wasmer. ''Germans or Foreigners?: Attitudes Toward Ethnic Minorities in Post-Reunification Germany'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Germans-Foreigners-Minorities-Post-Reunification-Transition/dp/1403963789/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324886&sr=1-22 excerpt and text search]
* Berghahn, Volker Rolf. ''Modern Germany: society, economy, and politics in the twentieth century'' (1987) [http://hdl.handle.net.proxy.cc.uic.edu/2027/heb.01673 ACLS E-book]
* Buse, Dieter K. ed. ''Modern Germany: An Encyclopedia of History, People, and Culture 1871-1990'' (2 vol 1998)
* Kahn, Charlotte. ''Ten Years of German Unification: One State, Two Peoples'' (2000) [http://www.questia.com/read/23486249 online edition]
* Larres, Klaus. ''Germany Since Unification: The Development of the Berlin Republic'' (2nd ed. 2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Germany-Since-Unification-Second-Development/dp/0333919998/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324991&sr=1-28 excerpt and text search]

===Economics and society===
* Siebert, Horst. ''The German Economy: Beyond the Social Market'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/German-Economy-Beyond-Social-Market/dp/0691096643/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201328508&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Zimmermann, Klaus F. et al. ''Immigration Policy and the Labor Market: The German Experience and Lessons for Europe'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Immigration-Policy-Labor-Market-Experience/dp/354068381X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201328716&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]

====Politics====
* Green, Simon, and William E. Paterson. ''Governance in Contemporary Germany: The Semisovereign State Revisited'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Governance-Contemporary-Germany-Semisovereign-Revisited/dp/0521848814/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324991&sr=1-25 excerpt and text search]
* Hancock, M. Donald, ''Politics in Europe: An Introduction to the Politics of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Europe-Introduction-Kingdom-Germany/dp/1933116455/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324694&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Schmidt, Manfred G. ''Political Institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany'' (2003) ISBN 0198782594

==See also==
*[[Prussia]]
*[[Bavaria]]
*[[German Painting]]
*[[Gallery of German Masterpieces]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.justgermany.org/germany/germany-facts.asp Germany Basic Facts.]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

 
===Sources===
* source: [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3997.htm US State Department Country Study]

{{European Union}}

[[Category:German History]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:NATO members]]

Bubonic plague

2013-01-05T02:30:15Z

Funforever:

An epidemic of the '''bubonic plague''' commonly called '''The Plague''' or (since the late 16th century) the '''Black Death''' killed millions in Europe and many parts of Asia between 1347 and 1352. The plague was spread and transmitted by rats and other rodents, who [[Carrier|carried]] infected fleas in their fur, but this cause was not known at the time.

About 20 million of the 60 million people in Europe at the time died. In all of recorded history, this epidemic has only two rivals: the plague of 542 and the [[flu]] epidemic of 1918. The long term effects affected the economy by causing a long-term labor shortage. [[File:Plague.jpg|thumb|290px]]
===Symptoms===
The germ theory of disease had not been discovered, so the means of transmission and cure were a mystery to contemporary doctors. After the 3-7 day [[incubation period]], the sufferer would experience initial symptoms of chills, fever, diarrhea, headaches, and the swelling of the infected lymph nodes. If it was untreated, 30-75% of those who contracted the plague died.

Among the most prominent signs of the disease were the development of blackish colored swellings called "buboes."
==Spread==
It spread rapidly along trade routes and especially the Silk Road. It originated amongst the Mongols in Asia, who allowed their sacks of food to be exposed to rats and fleas that carried the fatal disease. Traders brought it with them into the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. In four short years, a third of Europe's population was lost to the plague, especially the poor. [[File:Blackdeath.jpg|thumb|450px]]

==Slow recovery==
The fatality rate was even higher in China, where an estimated 25 million died from it. It took 100 years for Europe and China to recover, and a longer period of time for Islamic countries and the Middle East. Egypt was hit particularly hard, with some areas not recovering for 500 years.
==Impact on economy==
The era of the Black Death witnessed a series of important long-term changes in demographic behavior, agriculture, manufacturing, trade, and technology. Real wage series reflect the productivity increases from these changes and suggest that the Low Countries and England were able to resist to a greater extent the general tendency for wages to decline during the second leg of the demographic cycle that began with the Black Death. A wage gap thus began to emerge between the northwest and the rest of the continent after 1450.<ref>Sevket Pamuk, "The Black Death and the Origins of the 'Great Divergence' Across Europe, 1300-1600," ''European Review of Economic History'' 2007 11(3): 289-317, </ref>

The devastation of the serfs, who made up the vast majority of the population, also strengthened their socio-economic position. The scarcity of labour meant that, through proto-strikes, they could bargain with land-owners to improve their conditions of life. This led to the beginning of the end of [[feudalism]] in [[Europe]], as it weakened the force behind the success of the manors. The plague also created a demand for more centralized government that could respond effectively to disease.

The Black Death spurred monarchies and city-states across much of medieval Europe to formulate new wage and price legislation. These legislative acts splintered in a multitude of directions that to date defy any obvious patterns of economic or political rationality. A comparison of labor laws in England, France, Provence, Aragon, Castile, the Low Countries, and the city-states of Italy shows that these laws did not flow logically from new post-plague demographics and economics - the realities of the supply and demand for labor. Instead, the new municipal and royal efforts to control labor and artisans' prices emerged from fears of the greed and supposed new powers of subaltern classes and are better understood in the contexts of anxiety that sprung forth from the Black Death's new horrors of mass mortality and destruction.<ref> Samuel Cohn, "After the Black Death: Labour Legislation and Attitudes Towards Labour in Late-Medieval Western Europe," ''Economic History Review'' 2007 60(3): 457-485, </ref>
==Popular response==
Anxiety levels were very high--death was at hand for everyone. One result was social behavior such as the flagellant movement and the persecution of Jews, Catalans, and beggars. In some regions such as Alsace the Jews were blamed and were driven from the main cities.
[[File:Sebastian.jpg|thumb|280px|St Sebastian by [[Sandro Botticelli]] (1445-1510)]]

Artists often depicted the mass trauma using three popular cultural representations that surfaced in performance, poetry, and painting: the Triumph of Death, the Dance of the Dead ("danse macabre"), and Death and the Maiden. The story and image of St. Sebastian became popular; the arrows with which he was pierced represented the plague, but he survived the deadly assault and became a protector against the plague.

The Plague was commonly interpreted by popular religiosity as a divine punishment despite some efforts to treat the disease medically. The theological interpretation viewed premature death by the plague as either God's rescue of His own from unmitigated evil or as punishment for the victim's sins. Other interpretations blamed the plague on evil lifestyles or, in the case of Bavarian physician, humanist, and astrologer Joseph Grünpeck (d. 1532), on unfavorable juxtapositions of the heavenly bodies. Piety, contrition, and repentance were recommended as therapies, along with intercessory prayer by the saints and sometimes even exorcisms and magic. Natural remedies included treatment with garden herbs. Intended for both physicians and literate society at large, the treatises indicate a close relationship between practical piety and natural-empirical treatment - something Dutch historian [[Johan Huizinga]] called "the almost irreconcilable contradictions" of late medieval religious life.

[[File:Dance-dead.jpg|thumb|300px|left|[[Hans Holbein]], "The Dance of Death." Woodcut, about 1538]]

==Public health==
Modern methods of disease control originated in response to the Plague. Cities such as Venice created public health boards to use sanitation, quarantine, and isolation to slow the spread of the plague. Gradually these early boards became permanent fixtures and often employed elaborate inspectorates to identify possible disease sources. These boards spread slowly to northern Europe, with the first health boards appearing in France only in 1580. Soon northern Europe began to implement health measures on a national scale, such as the 1709 Prussian regulations on dealing with the plague. Such measures culminated in the Habsburg 'cordon sanitaire,' a thousand-mile, guarded border in the Balkans in effect from 1770 to 1871 to insulate the empire from epidemics common in the Ottoman Empire. These national endeavors tended to be more effective in dealing with large outbreaks of plague and other such diseases, but local measures retained their effectiveness against other endemic diseases.<ref> Gary B. Magee, "Disease Management in Pre-industrial Europe: A Reconsideration of the Efficacy of the Local Response to Epidemics," ''Journal of European Economic History'' 1997 26(3): 605-623, </ref>

==Today==
The bubonic plague is still [[Endemic (epidemiology)|endemic]] to some parts of the world, such as Tanzania.<ref>
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070517/hl_afp/tanzaniahealthplague_070517161454</ref> In May 2007, there was an outbreak of the bubonic plague among animals in Denver, Colorado.<ref>http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/05/21/bubonic.plague.reut/index.html?section=cnn_latest</ref> However, due to modern sanitation in European countries, it is unlikely to ever reach epidemic proportions again.
<ref>http://wcbstv.com/national/topstories_story_142072816.html</ref>
==Further reading==
{{Middle Ages}}
* Cantor, Norman. ''In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Wake-Plague-Black-Death-World/dp/0060014342/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240217033&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]
* Clark, James M. ''The Dance of Death in the Middle Ages and Renaissance'' (1950), 131pp
* Cohn, Samuel. "The Black Death: End of a Paradigm", ''American Historical Review'' 2002 107(3):703–738
* Gottfried, Robert S. ''The Black Death: Natural and Human Disaster in Medieval Europe'' (1985) [http://www.amazon.com/Black-Death-Natural-Disaster-Medieval/dp/0029123704/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256619324&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Hollar, Wenceslaus. ''The dance of death'' (1804) 70pp; art history [http://books.google.com/books?id=D6YZAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=intitle:The+intitle:Dance+intitle:of+intitle:Death&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0#v=twopage&q=&f=false full text online]
* Huppert, George. ''After the Black Death: A Social History of Early Modern Europe'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/After-Black-Death-History-Interdisciplinary/dp/0253211808/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256621576&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]
* Naphy, William G., and Andrew Spicer. ''Plague: Black Death & Pestilence in Europe'' (2004)
* Platt, Colin. ''King Death: The Black Death and Its Aftermath in Late Medieval England'' (1996) 262pp. [http://www.amazon.com/King-Death-Aftermath-Late-Medieval-England/dp/0802079008/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1256620751&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search]

== References ==

<references/>

[[Category:Diseases]]
[[Category:Medieval History]]

Communism

2013-01-05T00:09:13Z

Funforever:

[[Image:HammerAndSickle.png|right|175px]]
'''Communism''' is a [[left-wing]] [[materialist]]ic and violently [[atheist]]ic ideology created to justify the overthrow of [[Capitalism]], replacing [[free market]] economics and [[democracy]] with a "[[dictatorship of the proletariat]]". Under Communism, the [[political]] system replaces the [[private property|private ownership]] of the means of production with "collective ownership" of the economy, this is to be accomplished through direct "democratic" control by the workers.<ref>http://www.marxists.org/archive/mandel/1968/11/workersdem.htm</ref>
Twentieth century Communism was based on [[Karl Marx]]'s manifesto which proposed to establishment of a "[[classless society]]." However, all Communist societies have had a [[class structure]], notably the [[USSR]], which was dominated by a self appointed ''[[Nomenklatura]]''.

In the belief that "people cannot change", governments under the banner of Communism have caused the death of somewhere between 40 million to 260 million human lives.<ref>[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref><ref>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm]</ref><ref>[http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365 Memory and Ideology]</ref><ref>[http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526 The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]</ref> Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, is the scholar who first coined the term [[democide]] (death by government). Dr. R. J. Rummel's mid estimate regarding the loss of life due to communism is that it caused the death of approximately 148,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM</ref>

President [[Ronald Reagan]] in an address before the British [[House of Commons]] said,
{{Cquote|'''What I am describing now is a plan and hope for the long term -- the march of freedom and democracy which will leave [[Marxism-Leninism]] on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.'''<ref>President Ronald Reagan [http://www.iri.org/history_ReaganSpeech.asp Speech to the British Parliament], June 8, 1982. Retrieved from International Republican Institute 05/24/07. </ref>}}

Today, communism continues to rule over at least one-fifth of the world's people.<ref>[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation], Documenting Communism's Crimes Against Humanity.</ref>
__TOC__
 

==Communist Theory and Practice==

[[Image:Captive-nations-01b----07-19-06.jpg|thumbnail|180px|left|A monument to the Captive Nations stands at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
Communism is based upon [[Marxism]], a philosophy which uses [[materialism]] to explain all physical and social phenomena. The theory of [[evolution]] influenced the thinking of the Communists, including Marx, [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Vladimir Lenin]], and [[Joseph Stalin]].<ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=276</ref> Marx wrote, "[[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s book is very important and serves me as a basis in natural science for the [[class struggle]] in history." Marx offered to dedicate the second German edition of his polemic "Das Kapital" to [[Charles Darwin]], but Darwin declined the "honour." <ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=276</ref> <ref>Karl Marx's Social and Political Thought, Bob Jessop, ISBN 0415193265 (pg 476)</ref>

Economically, communism advocates a [[socialist]] economy in which the government owns the [[means of production]]. In countries where communism has been imposed, the government has taken ownership of farms, factories, stores and so on in the name of the people; see "[[dictatorship of the proletariat]]". This drives all [[free market|market-based]] economic activity underground and leads to inefficiencies and shortages. In both the Soviet Union and Red China, the number of people who starved to death when the government confiscated their farm products (animals and grain) is estimated in the tens of millions.

Even more important, one party controls every organization from the local labor union to the the army to the national government. The party is not elected. Its top officials (the "Politburo") select replacements when there is a vacancy. usually a dictator (like Stalin, Mao or Castro) controls the Politburo, but sometimes power is shared among five or six people. No dissent is allowed--all news media are controlled, and the Internet is heavily censored.

Elites do not disappear. Members of the ruling party (see [[Nomenklatura]]) have special stores in which ordinary people are barred, stores which are allegedly immune to the shortages which the lower class must endure.

Various communist doctrines have evolved or been adapted to the time and place they have been implemented. Marxism, developed by [[Karl Marx]], and its modifications under [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin| Vladimir Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin]], and [[Mao Zedong]], advocates the overthrow of the existing order by a revolution of the proletariat, the social group which does not control the means of production. The goal of Marxism is supposedly to create a classless society which would result in no longer the need for any [[government]] (Communism).

The most famous government to label itself "communist" is the former [[USSR]] or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the Communist Party controlled its government from 1918 to 1991. This government was officially [[atheist]] and attempted to suppress all religion until World War II, when it discovered religion was needed to rally the people against the Nazi invaders. Like all authoritarian regimes, it tried to cultivate reverence for the state as a psychological substitute for religion.

Marxist theory is intended to appeal to its adherents with the phrase, "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs", which essentially states point blank a worker does not get paid according to his abilities, and there is no [[incentive]] within the economic theory. Another quote by Marx was, "The theory of the Communism may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property," or as some have phrased it, legalized theft.

== Communism and militant atheism ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and communism]]

[[Karl Marx]] established [[atheism]] as a key part of communism. He famously said, "Religion ... is the opium of the masses."<ref>Marx, K. [http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/31765.html Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right] (Classic Quotations) (Standard translation from the original German).</ref> He believed it was part of the "superstructure," a false culture built to maintain the status quo. Thus he denigrated Christianity as a fictional religion. Instead, Marx was an avowed atheist, as he wrote, "Communism begins from the outset with [[atheism]]; but atheism is at first far from being communism; indeed, that atheism is still mostly an abstraction."<ref>Marx, Karl, [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/comm.htm Private Property and Communism], 1944.</ref>

[[Vladimir Lenin]] similarly wrote: "A Marxist must be a materialist, i. e., an enemy of religion, but a dialectical materialist, i. e., one who treats the struggle against religion not in an abstract way, not on the basis of remote, purely theoretical, never varying preaching, but in a concrete way, on the basis of the class struggle which is going on ''in practice'' and is educating the masses more and better than anything else could."<ref>Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, ''Proletary'', No. 45, May 13 (26), 1909, translated by Andrew Rothstein and Bernard Issacs, quote from [http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1909/may/13.htm].</ref>

In 1955, [[China|Chinese]] communist leader Chou En-lai declared, "We Communists are atheists".<ref>Noebel, David, The Battle for Truth, Harvest House, 2001.</ref>

The [[atheism]] in communist regimes has been and continues to be [[militant atheism]] and various acts of repression including the razing of thousands of religious buildings and the killing, imprisoning, and oppression of religious leaders and believers.<ref>http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2000/March_2000_4.html</ref><ref>http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/frroman1.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.nysun.com/article/23082?page_no=1</ref><ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/7/120250.shtml</ref><ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_26_116/ai_56249447</ref><ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35818</ref><ref>http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/</ref>

Marxists justification for its persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church was based upon the claim that the Church was a "willing tool of Tsarism."<ref>http://www.marxist.com/religion-soviet-union170406-6.htm</ref>

The clergy openly stated its support for the counter-revolution (White Revolution). Lenin proclaimed that a communist regime must show itself to be merciless toward the question of religion. There was no place for the church in Lenin's regime. This led to anti-religious decrees and propaganda. All church property was expropriated by the new Soviet government. <ref>http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-42047/Union-of-Soviet-Socialist-Republics#277888.hook</ref>

During the late 1930's and later 1940's the restrictions on church activity were loosened as Stalin needed all the support he could get for the war. This doctrine of co-operation between the church and state continued through out the existence of the Soviet republics and the other Warszawa pact nations. Though never going as far as a leader of the Soviet Union asking [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_barrow/2007/03/hiding_behind_god.html god to bless the country] the clause in the Soviet Unions constitution addressing the separation of church and state was rendered useless.

Dr. [[Martin Luther King]] said, "for the Communist there is no divine government, no absolute moral order, there are no fixed, immutable principles; consequently almost anything - force, violence, murder, lying - is a justifiable means." <ref>''Stride Toward Freedom : The Montgomery Story'', Martin Luther King, Jr., Harper and Rowe, New York, 1958, p. 92.</ref>
[[File:Stalin-kill.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Exhumed skeletons of [[class war]] victims murdered by communists.<ref>[http://www.mega.nu/ampp/rummel/rm1.stalin.kill.htm.</ref> Apologists maintain communism has never really been tried. ]]

== Atrocities and Repression ==
Communist regimes have engaged in mass killings on a scale of millions of individuals.<ref>http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/comfaq.htm#part3</ref> A work entitled ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]'' published by the [[Harvard]] Press focuses on the crimes, terror, and repression of modern communist regimes over a 70 year period.<ref>http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/COUBLA.html</ref> This book is fairly controversial partly due to the various estimates regarding the millions of people who died under communist regimes.<ref>http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html</ref><ref>http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm</ref><ref>http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365</ref><ref>http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526</ref>

Similarly, a influential book which concerns itself with Russian communist torture, repression and atrocities is [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]'s ''[[The Gulag Archipelago]]'' which won Solzhenitsyn a [[Nobel Prize]].<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/01/home/solz-gulag.html</ref> In 1983, Alexander Solzhenitsyn in which he gave his explanation of the cause of why millions of people died under Russian communism:
{{Cquote|Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened. Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.}}
In communist [[North Korea]], abuse and killing in prison camps is occurring today.<ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5596</ref><ref>http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/nkdefec3.htm</ref> In addition, the North Korean government practices brutal repression and atrocities against North Korean Christians.<ref>http://www.nysun.com/article/23082?page_no=1</ref><ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/7/120250.shtml</ref>

In 1999, the publication [[Christian Century]] reported that "China has persecuted religious believers by means of "harassment, prolonged detention, and incarceration in prison or `reform-through-labor' camps and police closure of places of worship."<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_26_116/ai_56249447</ref> In 2003, owners of Bibles in China were sent to prison camps and 125 Chinese churches were closed.<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35818</ref> China continues to practice religious oppression today.<ref>http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/</ref>

== Similarities between Communism, Nazism and liberalism ==

''See also:'' [[Similarities between Communism, Nazism and liberalism]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
![[Communism|Communist]] Manifesto
![[Nazi]] Party Platform
!Analysis
|-
|1
|"Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes."
|"We demand an agrarian reform in accordance with our national requirements, and the enactment of a law to expropriate the owners without compensation of any land needed for the common purpose. The abolition of ground rents, and the prohibition of all speculation in land."
|The stripping away of land from private owners. [[Liberalism]] today demands "eminent domain" on property.
|-
|2
|"A heavy progressive or graduated income tax."
|"We demand the nationalization of all trusts...profit-sharing in large industries...a generous increase in old-age pensions...by providing maternity welfare centers, by prohibiting juvenile labor...and the creation of a national (folk) army."
|The points raised in the [[Nazi]] platform demand an increase in taxes to support them. Liberalism today demands heavy progressive and graduated income taxes.
|-
|3
|"Abolition of all rights of inheritance."
|"That all unearned income, and all income that does not arise from work, be abolished."
|Liberalism today demands a "death tax" on anyone inheriting an estate.
|-
|4
|"Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels."
|"We demand that all non-Germans who have entered Germany since August 2, 1914, shall be compelled to leave the Reich immediately."
|The Nuremburg Laws of 1934 allowed Germany to take Jewish property.
|-
|5
|"Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly."
|"We demand the nationalization of all trusts."
|Central control of the financial system.
|-
|6
|"Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State."
|"We demand that there be a legal campaign against those who propagate deliberate political lies and disseminate them through the press...editors and their assistants on newspapers published in the German language shall be German citizens...Non-German newspapers shall only be published with the express permission of the State...the punishment for transgressing this law be the immediate suppression of the newspaper..."
|Central control of the press. Liberals today demand control or suppression of talk radio and Fox News.
|-
|7
|"Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c."
|"In order to make it possible for every capable and industrious German to obtain higher education, and thus the opportunity to reach into positions of leadership, the State must assume the responsibility of organizing thoroughly the entire cultural system of the people. The curricula of all educational establishments shall be adapted to practical life. The conception of the State Idea (science of citizenship) must be taught in the schools from the very beginning. We demand that specially talented children of poor parents, whatever their station or occupation, be educated at the expense of the State. "
|Central control of education, with an emphasis on doing things their way. Liberals today are doing things ''their way'' in our schools.
|-
|}

==Communists cite scripture==

Some Communist ideology has made its way into the Church as a [[Social Gospel]], interpreting the Gospel as less redemptive of sin and more of a public works campaign and activism. They often cite Jesus feeding the masses and warnings to the wealthy who believed self-seeking is all this world has to offer. Communists often cite the Acts of the Apostles, as early Christians practicing some form of sharing for the common good:
{{Cquote|And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (Acts 2:44-45, KJV)

Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,

Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.(Acts 4:34-7, KJV)}}

But as Arnold Toynbee has pointed out, this Marxist view denies the most crucial points,
{{Cquote|The passage in the Acts represents the philanthropy of the primitive Christian Society as flowing from a God-given grace which was the fruit of a belief in the divinity of Jesus. In other words, the charity which is here depicted as moving the primitive Christians to go—in their mutual concern for one another's welfare—to the extreme length of sharing all their worldly goods is not a mere love of Man for Man (which is the limited literal meaning of the word ‘philanthropy’), but is a spiritual relation to which God is a party as well as His human creatures. In fact, this Christian Socialism is a practical application, on the economic surface of life, of the fundamental religious truth that the brotherhood of man is a consequence of the fatherhood of God - a truth which is driven home with special force by a religion which teaches that God is not only the Father and Creator of man, but also his Savior, Who has been incarnate in human shape and has suffered, and triumphed over, death.<ref>Arnold Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', Annex II to Vol. V, Part C (i) (c) 2, p. 585, ''Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity''.</ref>}}

==Communists shared totalitarian ideals with facism and nazism==

[[Adolf Hitler]] noted that Communists made excellent converts to Nazism, because the same personality type was attracted to both. "[T]here is more that binds us to [[Bolshevik|Bolshevism]] than separates us from it. There is, above all, genuine, revolutionary feeling, which is alive everywhere in Russia except where there are Jewish Marxists. I have always made allowance for this circumstance, and given orders that former Communists are to be admitted to the party at once. The petit bourgeois [[Social democracy|Social-Democrat]] and the trade-union boss will never make a [[National Socialist]], but the Communists always will."<ref>quoted in Hermann Rauschning, ''Hitler Speaks''</ref> [[Josef Stalin]] also recognized that ex-Nazis and ex-[[fascist]]s were natural recruits for post-war Communist regimes. As Stanley Payne notes in his ''A History of Fascism: 1914-1945'', "All over Soviet-occupied eastern Europe (should be: Central and Eastern Europe), most rank-and-file former fascist party members, together with many lower-level leaders, were welcomed to fill the ranks of the initially exiguous local Communist parties. The psychological transition seems to have been an easy one, for obvious reasons."<ref>http://www.lietuvos.org/istorija/communism/</ref>

==Cuban communism==
[[Cuba]] remains a communist state controlled by the Castro brothers since 1960 and under U.S economic sanctions.

==Asian communism==
The [[CCP]] in China retains an autocratic regime controlled by the Communist party, which allows no democracy or dissent. However it does allow capitalism, and has experienced a very rapid growth of the private sector and the middle class. Observers expect that the regime's efforts to control public opinion and forestall the will of the people will be more and more difficult.

[[North Korea]] remains a brutal dictatorship controlled by the same family. [[Laos]], and [[Vietnam]] are also run by the old Communist cliques.

==Collapse of the Soviet bloc==

The shooting down by the Soviets on Sept. 1, 1983 of [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] may have been a contributing factor for the downfall of the Soviet Union as well as for the whole Soviet block. It being a catalyst for the collapse of the Soviet Union may be inferred from the fact that NATO had decided, under the impetus of the U.S. administration, to deploy Pershing II and cruise missiles in Europe, primarily West Germany. This deployment would have placed missiles just 6-10 minutes striking distance from Moscow. But support for the deployment was wavering and many doubted that the missile deployment would find enough support to effect it. When the Soviet Union shot down Flight 007 with 269 people aboard, including conservative Democratic Congressman [[Larry McDonald]] —an act which U.S. President Ronald Reagan characterized as a "massacre"—enough support was galvanized for the deployment. The deployment caused great resources of the Soviet Union to be diverted from inner economic use to military expenditures to counter the U.S. and NATO missile deployment.
Between 1989 and 1991, many communist governments fell. The [[Berlin Wall]] in [[Germany]], which had become a symbol for the division between the communist states and the rest of Europe, was torn down largely in response to Ronald Reagan in 1989, and there was also a large revolution against Romanian dictator [[Nicolaie Ceausescu]]. In 1991, the USSR broke up into several countries - each which reformed to capitalism. Some of these remained under autocratic governments, but some have embraced democracy. With the collapse the remnants of Communist parties have dropped their old names and ideologies, but still operate on the left of the political spectrum.

==American communism==
:''Main article : [[Committees of Correspondence]]''
With the collapse of Soviet communism and the conversion of Chinese communism to "state run capitalism," the spiritual and ideological center of world of communism and the [[Marxist-Leninist]] tradition shifted to the [[United States]]. Several prominent American communists, rudderless without [[Moscow]] direction, formed a new organization in 1992 called the [[Committees of Correspondence for Democratic Socialism]].

The initial organizational conference was held in [[Berkeley]], [[California]], July 17-19, 1992. Charlene Mitchell, a former leader of the California Communist Party, speaking at the conference said, "the collapse of [[socialism]] in [[Central Europe]] and the [[Soviet Union]] left the [[United States]] in a near unchallenged position of world leadership." Mitchell continued,
{{Cquote|What began as a moment to take stock and ponder where to go from there has now become a very different entity. People from the Communist Party, from CrossRoads, from the [[Democratic Socialists of America]], from NCIPA [National Committee for Independent Political Action], from Solidarity, from the Socialist Organizing Network and many others, including independent leftists and independent socialists, have come together here in Berkeley.}}
Criticizing U.S. actions in the [[First Gulf War]], Mitchell stated,
{{Cquote|[[progressive]] forces were nearly powerless in the face of an onslaught of demagogic, [[patriotic]] [[jingoism]] and yellow ribbons. This war, fought for no legitimate reason, was the crowning height of [[George H.W. Bush|President [George H.W.] Bush]]'s [[New World Order]]. Previously, the Soviet Union helped to provide a certain balance to rein in the crazies in this country. Now, that balance is no longer there. It is now up to us, the American people, to rein in our own crazies. The [[left]] must take a major responsibility in organizing this task.}}

==Notorious communists==

Well known communists include:
*[[Salvador Allende]]
*[[William Ayers]]
*[[Fidel Castro]]
*[[Raul Castro]]
*[[Hugo Chavez]]
*[[Carl Davidson]]
*[[Frank Marshall Davis]]
*[[Bernardine Dohrn]]
*[[Friedrich Engels]]
*[[Che Guevara]]
*[[Benjamin Jones]]
*[[Van Jones]]
*[[Kim Il Sung]]
*[[Kim Jong Il]]
*[[Kim Jong Un]]
*[[Lazar Kaganovich]]
*[[Vladimir Lenin]]
*[[Mao Zedong]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Ho Chi Minh]]
*[[Pol Pot]]
*[[Paul Robeson]]
*[[Joseph Stalin]]
*[[Yakov Sverdlov]]
*[[Leon Trotsky]]
*[[Genrikh Yagoda]]
*[[Yakov Yurovsky]]

==Further reading==
* Pipes, Richard. ''Communism: A History'' (2003), by a leading conservative historian
** Pipes, Richard. ''History of Communism: A Brief History'' (2002)
* Priestland, David. ''The Red Flag: A History of Communism'' (2009)
*[http://www.archive.org/stream/100thingsyoushou1949unit#page/n3/mode/2up 100 Things You Should Know About Communism'']

==See also==
*[[List of Communist States]]
*[[Communist Party of the United States of America]]
*[[Cold War]]
*[[Capitalism]]
*[[Iron Curtain]]
*[[Progressives for Obama]]
*[[Socialism]]
*[[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]]
*[[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] for the connection of the shootdown by the Soviets of KAL 007, with 269 people aboard, on Sept. 1, 1983 with the heightened U.S./Soviet confrontations of 1983-4.
*[[The Soviet/ U.S naval confrontation]] over KAL 007
*[[KAL 007 and the Soviet Top Secret Memos]]

==Notes and references==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.memorialsighet.ro/en/colectie.asp?id=3 Memorial to the Victims of Communism and the Resistance]
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/communism/ What Liberals Say - Category: Communism], [[Accuracy In Media]]

[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Oppression]]
[[Category:Marxist terminology]]
[[Category:Forms of Government]]
[[Category: Anti-American]]
[[Category:Atheism]]

Communism

2013-01-04T23:52:24Z

Funforever:

[[Image:HammerAndSickle.png|right|175px]]
'''Communism''' is a [[left-wing]] [[materialist]]ic and violently [[atheist]]ic ideology created to justify the overthrow of [[Capitalism]], replacing [[free market]] economics and [[democracy]] with a "[[dictatorship of the proletariat]]". Under Communism, the [[political]] system replaces the [[private property|private ownership]] of the means of production with "collective ownership" of the economy, this is to be accomplished through direct "democratic" control by the workers.<ref>http://www.marxists.org/archive/mandel/1968/11/workersdem.htm</ref>
Twentieth century Communism was based on [[Karl Marx]]'s manifesto which proposed to establishment of a "[[classless society]]." However, all Communist societies have had a [[class structure]], notably the [[USSR]], which was dominated by a self appointed ''[[Nomenklatura]]''.

In the belief that "people cannot change", governments under the banner of Communism have caused the death of somewhere between 40 million to 260 million human lives.<ref>[http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm The Black Book of Communism]</ref><ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/COM.ART.HTM</ref><ref>[http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm Source List and Detailed Death Tolls for the Twentieth Century Hemoclysm]</ref><ref>[http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365 Memory and Ideology]</ref><ref>[http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526 The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression]</ref> Dr. R. J. Rummel, professor emeritus of political science at the University of Hawaii, is the scholar who first coined the term [[democide]] (death by government). Dr. R. J. Rummel's mid estimate regarding the loss of life due to communism is that it caused the death of approximately 148,286,000 people between 1917 and 1987.<ref>http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM</ref>

President [[Ronald Reagan]] in an address before the British [[House of Commons]] said,
{{Cquote|'''What I am describing now is a plan and hope for the long term -- the march of freedom and democracy which will leave [[Marxism-Leninism]] on the ash heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.'''<ref>President Ronald Reagan [http://www.iri.org/history_ReaganSpeech.asp Speech to the British Parliament], June 8, 1982. Retrieved from International Republican Institute 05/24/07. </ref>}}

Today, communism continues to rule over at least one-fifth of the world's people.<ref>[http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation], Documenting Communism's Crimes Against Humanity.</ref>
__TOC__
 

==Communist Theory and Practice==

[[Image:Captive-nations-01b----07-19-06.jpg|thumbnail|180px|left|A monument to the Captive Nations stands at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in [[Washington, D.C.]]]]
Communism is based upon [[Marxism]], a philosophy which uses [[materialism]] to explain all physical and social phenomena. The theory of [[evolution]] influenced the thinking of the Communists, including Marx, [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Vladimir Lenin]], and [[Joseph Stalin]].<ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=276</ref> Marx wrote, "[[Charles Darwin|Darwin]]'s book is very important and serves me as a basis in natural science for the [[class struggle]] in history." Marx offered to dedicate the second German edition of his polemic "Das Kapital" to [[Charles Darwin]], but Darwin declined the "honour." <ref>http://www.icr.org/index.php?module=articles&action=view&ID=276</ref> <ref>Karl Marx's Social and Political Thought, Bob Jessop, ISBN 0415193265 (pg 476)</ref>

Economically, communism advocates a [[socialist]] economy in which the government owns the [[means of production]]. In countries where communism has been imposed, the government has taken ownership of farms, factories, stores and so on in the name of the people; see "[[dictatorship of the proletariat]]". This drives all [[free market|market-based]] economic activity underground and leads to inefficiencies and shortages. In both the Soviet Union and Red China, the number of people who starved to death when the government confiscated their farm products (animals and grain) is estimated in the tens of millions.

Even more important, one party controls every organization from the local labor union to the the army to the national government. The party is not elected. Its top officials (the "Politburo") select replacements when there is a vacancy. usually a dictator (like Stalin, Mao or Castro) controls the Politburo, but sometimes power is shared among five or six people. No dissent is allowed--all news media are controlled, and the Internet is heavily censored.

Elites do not disappear. Members of the ruling party (see [[Nomenklatura]]) have special stores in which ordinary people are barred, stores which are allegedly immune to the shortages which the lower class must endure.

Various communist doctrines have evolved or been adapted to the time and place they have been implemented. Marxism, developed by [[Karl Marx]], and its modifications under [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin| Vladimir Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin]], and [[Mao Zedong]], advocates the overthrow of the existing order by a revolution of the proletariat, the social group which does not control the means of production. The goal of Marxism is supposedly to create a classless society which would result in no longer the need for any [[government]] (Communism).

The most famous government to label itself "communist" is the former [[USSR]] or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; the Communist Party controlled its government from 1918 to 1991. This government was officially [[atheist]] and attempted to suppress all religion until World War II, when it discovered religion was needed to rally the people against the Nazi invaders. Like all authoritarian regimes, it tried to cultivate reverence for the state as a psychological substitute for religion.

Marxist theory is intended to appeal to its adherents with the phrase, "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs", which essentially states point blank a worker does not get paid according to his abilities, and there is no [[incentive]] within the economic theory. Another quote by Marx was, "The theory of the Communism may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property," or as some have phrased it, legalized theft.

== Communism and militant atheism ==

''See also:'' [[Atheism and communism]]

[[Karl Marx]] established [[atheism]] as a key part of communism. He famously said, "Religion ... is the opium of the masses."<ref>Marx, K. [http://www.quotationspage.com/quote/31765.html Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right] (Classic Quotations) (Standard translation from the original German).</ref> He believed it was part of the "superstructure," a false culture built to maintain the status quo. Thus he denigrated Christianity as a fictional religion. Instead, Marx was an avowed atheist, as he wrote, "Communism begins from the outset with [[atheism]]; but atheism is at first far from being communism; indeed, that atheism is still mostly an abstraction."<ref>Marx, Karl, [http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/comm.htm Private Property and Communism], 1944.</ref>

[[Vladimir Lenin]] similarly wrote: "A Marxist must be a materialist, i. e., an enemy of religion, but a dialectical materialist, i. e., one who treats the struggle against religion not in an abstract way, not on the basis of remote, purely theoretical, never varying preaching, but in a concrete way, on the basis of the class struggle which is going on ''in practice'' and is educating the masses more and better than anything else could."<ref>Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, ''Proletary'', No. 45, May 13 (26), 1909, translated by Andrew Rothstein and Bernard Issacs, quote from [http://www.marxists.org/archive/lenin/works/1909/may/13.htm].</ref>

In 1955, [[China|Chinese]] communist leader Chou En-lai declared, "We Communists are atheists".<ref>Noebel, David, The Battle for Truth, Harvest House, 2001.</ref>

The [[atheism]] in communist regimes has been and continues to be [[militant atheism]] and various acts of repression including the razing of thousands of religious buildings and the killing, imprisoning, and oppression of religious leaders and believers.<ref>http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2000/March_2000_4.html</ref><ref>http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/ecumenism/frroman1.aspx</ref><ref>http://www.nysun.com/article/23082?page_no=1</ref><ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/7/120250.shtml</ref><ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_26_116/ai_56249447</ref><ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35818</ref><ref>http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/</ref>

Marxists justification for its persecution of the Russian Orthodox Church was based upon the claim that the Church was a "willing tool of Tsarism."<ref>http://www.marxist.com/religion-soviet-union170406-6.htm</ref>

The clergy openly stated its support for the counter-revolution (White Revolution). Lenin proclaimed that a communist regime must show itself to be merciless toward the question of religion. There was no place for the church in Lenin's regime. This led to anti-religious decrees and propaganda. All church property was expropriated by the new Soviet government. <ref>http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-42047/Union-of-Soviet-Socialist-Republics#277888.hook</ref>

During the late 1930's and later 1940's the restrictions on church activity were loosened as Stalin needed all the support he could get for the war. This doctrine of co-operation between the church and state continued through out the existence of the Soviet republics and the other Warszawa pact nations. Though never going as far as a leader of the Soviet Union asking [http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/simon_barrow/2007/03/hiding_behind_god.html god to bless the country] the clause in the Soviet Unions constitution addressing the separation of church and state was rendered useless.

Dr. [[Martin Luther King]] said, "for the Communist there is no divine government, no absolute moral order, there are no fixed, immutable principles; consequently almost anything - force, violence, murder, lying - is a justifiable means." <ref>''Stride Toward Freedom : The Montgomery Story'', Martin Luther King, Jr., Harper and Rowe, New York, 1958, p. 92.</ref>
[[File:Stalin-kill.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Exhumed skeletons of [[class war]] victims murdered by communists.<ref>[http://www.mega.nu/ampp/rummel/rm1.stalin.kill.htm.</ref> Apologists maintain communism has never really been tried. ]]

== Atrocities and Repression ==
Communist regimes have engaged in mass killings on a scale of millions of individuals.<ref>http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/bcaplan/museum/comfaq.htm#part3</ref> A work entitled ''[[The Black Book of Communism]]'' published by the [[Harvard]] Press focuses on the crimes, terror, and repression of modern communist regimes over a 70 year period.<ref>http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/COUBLA.html</ref> This book is fairly controversial partly due to the various estimates regarding the millions of people who died under communist regimes.<ref>http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/finalconflict/fcrevb102.html</ref><ref>http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hpcws/lelivrenoir.htm</ref><ref>http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm</ref>
<ref>http://www.sarasotamagazine.com/blog/template_permalink.asp?id=365</ref><ref>http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2526</ref>

Similarly, a influential book which concerns itself with Russian communist torture, repression and atrocities is [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]]'s ''[[The Gulag Archipelago]]'' which won Solzhenitsyn a [[Nobel Prize]].<ref>http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/03/01/home/solz-gulag.html</ref> In 1983, Alexander Solzhenitsyn in which he gave his explanation of the cause of why millions of people died under Russian communism:
{{Cquote|Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened. Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution; in the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval. But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: "Men have forgotten God; that's why all this has happened.}}
In communist [[North Korea]], abuse and killing in prison camps is occurring today.<ref>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=5596</ref><ref>http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/nkdefec3.htm</ref> In addition, the North Korean government practices brutal repression and atrocities against North Korean Christians.<ref>http://www.nysun.com/article/23082?page_no=1</ref><ref>http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/7/120250.shtml</ref>

In 1999, the publication [[Christian Century]] reported that "China has persecuted religious believers by means of "harassment, prolonged detention, and incarceration in prison or `reform-through-labor' camps and police closure of places of worship."<ref>http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1058/is_26_116/ai_56249447</ref> In 2003, owners of Bibles in China were sent to prison camps and 125 Chinese churches were closed.<ref>http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=35818</ref> China continues to practice religious oppression today.<ref>http://theworldnow.wordpress.com/tag/around-the-world/asia/china/</ref>

== Similarities between Communism, Nazism and liberalism ==

''See also:'' [[Similarities between Communism, Nazism and liberalism]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
![[Communism|Communist]] Manifesto
![[Nazi]] Party Platform
!Analysis
|-
|1
|"Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes."
|"We demand an agrarian reform in accordance with our national requirements, and the enactment of a law to expropriate the owners without compensation of any land needed for the common purpose. The abolition of ground rents, and the prohibition of all speculation in land."
|The stripping away of land from private owners. [[Liberalism]] today demands "eminent domain" on property.
|-
|2
|"A heavy progressive or graduated income tax."
|"We demand the nationalization of all trusts...profit-sharing in large industries...a generous increase in old-age pensions...by providing maternity welfare centers, by prohibiting juvenile labor...and the creation of a national (folk) army."
|The points raised in the [[Nazi]] platform demand an increase in taxes to support them. Liberalism today demands heavy progressive and graduated income taxes.
|-
|3
|"Abolition of all rights of inheritance."
|"That all unearned income, and all income that does not arise from work, be abolished."
|Liberalism today demands a "death tax" on anyone inheriting an estate.
|-
|4
|"Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels."
|"We demand that all non-Germans who have entered Germany since August 2, 1914, shall be compelled to leave the Reich immediately."
|The Nuremburg Laws of 1934 allowed Germany to take Jewish property.
|-
|5
|"Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly."
|"We demand the nationalization of all trusts."
|Central control of the financial system.
|-
|6
|"Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State."
|"We demand that there be a legal campaign against those who propagate deliberate political lies and disseminate them through the press...editors and their assistants on newspapers published in the German language shall be German citizens...Non-German newspapers shall only be published with the express permission of the State...the punishment for transgressing this law be the immediate suppression of the newspaper..."
|Central control of the press. Liberals today demand control or suppression of talk radio and Fox News.
|-
|7
|"Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c."
|"In order to make it possible for every capable and industrious German to obtain higher education, and thus the opportunity to reach into positions of leadership, the State must assume the responsibility of organizing thoroughly the entire cultural system of the people. The curricula of all educational establishments shall be adapted to practical life. The conception of the State Idea (science of citizenship) must be taught in the schools from the very beginning. We demand that specially talented children of poor parents, whatever their station or occupation, be educated at the expense of the State. "
|Central control of education, with an emphasis on doing things their way. Liberals today are doing things ''their way'' in our schools.
|-
|}

==Communists cite scripture==

Some Communist ideology has made its way into the Church as a [[Social Gospel]], interpreting the Gospel as less redemptive of sin and more of a public works campaign and activism. They often cite Jesus feeding the masses and warnings to the wealthy who believed self-seeking is all this world has to offer. Communists often cite the Acts of the Apostles, as early Christians practicing some form of sharing for the common good:
{{Cquote|And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. (Acts 2:44-45, KJV)

Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,

And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,

Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.(Acts 4:34-7, KJV)}}

But as Arnold Toynbee has pointed out, this Marxist view denies the most crucial points,
{{Cquote|The passage in the Acts represents the philanthropy of the primitive Christian Society as flowing from a God-given grace which was the fruit of a belief in the divinity of Jesus. In other words, the charity which is here depicted as moving the primitive Christians to go—in their mutual concern for one another's welfare—to the extreme length of sharing all their worldly goods is not a mere love of Man for Man (which is the limited literal meaning of the word ‘philanthropy’), but is a spiritual relation to which God is a party as well as His human creatures. In fact, this Christian Socialism is a practical application, on the economic surface of life, of the fundamental religious truth that the brotherhood of man is a consequence of the fatherhood of God - a truth which is driven home with special force by a religion which teaches that God is not only the Father and Creator of man, but also his Savior, Who has been incarnate in human shape and has suffered, and triumphed over, death.<ref>Arnold Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', Annex II to Vol. V, Part C (i) (c) 2, p. 585, ''Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity''.</ref>}}

==Communists shared totalitarian ideals with facism and nazism==

[[Adolf Hitler]] noted that Communists made excellent converts to Nazism, because the same personality type was attracted to both. "[T]here is more that binds us to [[Bolshevik|Bolshevism]] than separates us from it. There is, above all, genuine, revolutionary feeling, which is alive everywhere in Russia except where there are Jewish Marxists. I have always made allowance for this circumstance, and given orders that former Communists are to be admitted to the party at once. The petit bourgeois [[Social democracy|Social-Democrat]] and the trade-union boss will never make a [[National Socialist]], but the Communists always will."<ref>quoted in Hermann Rauschning, ''Hitler Speaks''</ref> [[Josef Stalin]] also recognized that ex-Nazis and ex-[[fascist]]s were natural recruits for post-war Communist regimes. As Stanley Payne notes in his ''A History of Fascism: 1914-1945'', "All over Soviet-occupied eastern Europe (should be: Eastern Bloc), most rank-and-file former fascist party members, together with many lower-level leaders, were welcomed to fill the ranks of the initially exiguous local Communist parties. The psychological transition seems to have been an easy one, for obvious reasons."<ref>http://www.lietuvos.org/istorija/communism/</ref>

==Cuban communism==
[[Cuba]] remains a communist state controlled by the Castro brothers since 1960 and under U.S economic sanctions.

==Asian communism==
The [[CCP]] in China retains an autocratic regime controlled by the Communist party, which allows no democracy or dissent. However it does allow capitalism, and has experienced a very rapid growth of the private sector and the middle class. Observers expect that the regime's efforts to control public opinion and forestall the will of the people will be more and more difficult.

[[North Korea]] remains a brutal dictatorship controlled by the same family. [[Laos]], and [[Vietnam]] are also run by the old Communist cliques.

==Collapse of the Soviet bloc==

The shooting down by the Soviets on Sept. 1, 1983 of [[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] may have been a contributing factor for the downfall of the Soviet Union as well as for the whole Soviet block. It being a catalyst for the collapse of the Soviet Union may be inferred from the fact that NATO had decided, under the impetus of the U.S. administration, to deploy Pershing II and cruise missiles in Europe, primarily West Germany. This deployment would have placed missiles just 6-10 minutes striking distance from Moscow. But support for the deployment was wavering and many doubted that the missile deployment would find enough support to effect it. When the Soviet Union shot down Flight 007 with 269 people aboard, including conservative Democratic Congressman [[Larry McDonald]] —an act which U.S. President Ronald Reagan characterized as a "massacre"—enough support was galvanized for the deployment. The deployment caused great resources of the Soviet Union to be diverted from inner economic use to military expenditures to counter the U.S. and NATO missile deployment.
Between 1989 and 1991, many communist governments fell. The [[Berlin Wall]] in [[Germany]], which had become a symbol for the division between the communist states and the rest of Europe, was torn down largely in response to Ronald Reagan in 1989, and there was also a large revolution against Romanian dictator [[Nicolaie Ceausescu]]. In 1991, the USSR broke up into several countries - each which reformed to capitalism. Some of these remained under autocratic governments, but some have embraced democracy. With the collapse the remnants of Communist parties have dropped their old names and ideologies, but still operate on the left of the political spectrum.

==American communism==
:''Main article : [[Committees of Correspondence]]''
With the collapse of Soviet communism and the conversion of Chinese communism to "state run capitalism," the spiritual and ideological center of world of communism and the [[Marxist-Leninist]] tradition shifted to the [[United States]]. Several prominent American communists, rudderless without [[Moscow]] direction, formed a new organization in 1992 called the [[Committees of Correspondence for Democratic Socialism]].

The initial organizational conference was held in [[Berkeley]], [[California]], July 17-19, 1992. Charlene Mitchell, a former leader of the California Communist Party, speaking at the conference said, "the collapse of [[socialism]] in [[Central Europe]] and the [[Soviet Union]] left the [[United States]] in a near unchallenged position of world leadership." Mitchell continued,
{{Cquote|What began as a moment to take stock and ponder where to go from there has now become a very different entity. People from the Communist Party, from CrossRoads, from the [[Democratic Socialists of America]], from NCIPA [National Committee for Independent Political Action], from Solidarity, from the Socialist Organizing Network and many others, including independent leftists and independent socialists, have come together here in Berkeley.}}
Criticizing U.S. actions in the [[First Gulf War]], Mitchell stated,
{{Cquote|[[progressive]] forces were nearly powerless in the face of an onslaught of demagogic, [[patriotic]] [[jingoism]] and yellow ribbons. This war, fought for no legitimate reason, was the crowning height of [[George H.W. Bush|President [George H.W.] Bush]]'s [[New World Order]]. Previously, the Soviet Union helped to provide a certain balance to rein in the crazies in this country. Now, that balance is no longer there. It is now up to us, the American people, to rein in our own crazies. The [[left]] must take a major responsibility in organizing this task.}}

==Notorious communists==

Well known communists include:
*[[Salvador Allende]]
*[[William Ayers]]
*[[Fidel Castro]]
*[[Raul Castro]]
*[[Hugo Chavez]]
*[[Carl Davidson]]
*[[Frank Marshall Davis]]
*[[Bernardine Dohrn]]
*[[Friedrich Engels]]
*[[Che Guevara]]
*[[Benjamin Jones]]
*[[Van Jones]]
*[[Kim Il Sung]]
*[[Kim Jong Il]]
*[[Kim Jong Un]]
*[[Lazar Kaganovich]]
*[[Vladimir Lenin]]
*[[Mao Zedong]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Ho Chi Minh]]
*[[Pol Pot]]
*[[Paul Robeson]]
*[[Joseph Stalin]]
*[[Yakov Sverdlov]]
*[[Leon Trotsky]]
*[[Genrikh Yagoda]]
*[[Yakov Yurovsky]]

==Further reading==
* Pipes, Richard. ''Communism: A History'' (2003), by a leading conservative historian
** Pipes, Richard. ''History of Communism: A Brief History'' (2002)
* Priestland, David. ''The Red Flag: A History of Communism'' (2009)
*[http://www.archive.org/stream/100thingsyoushou1949unit#page/n3/mode/2up 100 Things You Should Know About Communism'']

==See also==
*[[List of Communist States]]
*[[Communist Party of the United States of America]]
*[[Cold War]]
*[[Capitalism]]
*[[Iron Curtain]]
*[[Progressives for Obama]]
*[[Socialism]]
*[[Social Effects of the Theory of Evolution]]
*[[Korean Airlines Flight 007]] for the connection of the shootdown by the Soviets of KAL 007, with 269 people aboard, on Sept. 1, 1983 with the heightened U.S./Soviet confrontations of 1983-4.
*[[The Soviet/ U.S naval confrontation]] over KAL 007
*[[KAL 007 and the Soviet Top Secret Memos]]

==Notes and references==
{{reflist|2}}

==External links==
*[http://www.memorialsighet.ro/en/colectie.asp?id=3 Memorial to the Victims of Communism and the Resistance]
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/communism/ What Liberals Say - Category: Communism], [[Accuracy In Media]]

[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Oppression]]
[[Category:Marxist terminology]]
[[Category:Forms of Government]]
[[Category: Anti-American]]
[[Category:Atheism]]

Socialism

2013-01-04T23:47:15Z

Funforever:

[[Image:Hitler.jpg|thumb|250px|right|One of the most well known political parties of the 20th century which was socialistic was the [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] (NAZI) which was headed by the [[evolution|evolutionary racist]] [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>http://mises.org/daily/1937</ref><ref>http://creation.com/darwinism-and-the-nazi-race-holocaust</ref><ref>http://www.hourofthetime.com/socialist.htm</ref> ]]
'''Socialism''' has its roots in visions of imaginary ideal societies, from thinkers who drew up elaborated designs and concepts for creating what they considered a more equal society, along collectivist lines or abolished private property; the primarily ideas came from British and French thinkers like [[Saint-Simon]], [[Charles Fourier]], [[Louis Blanc]], and [[Robert Owen]] preceded by [[Thomas More]], [[Tommaso Campanella]], and [[Jean Meslier]]. Currently it is considered a [[leftist]] [[economics|economic]] system which advocates state ownership or direct control of the major means of production and distribution of goods and services.<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism Meriam-Webster]</ref> Socialism is the economic system imposed by [[Communism]], but another one of the most well known political parties of the 20th century which was socialistic was the [[National Socialist German Workers Party]] (Nazi) which was headed by the [[evolution|evolutionary racist]] [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>http://mises.org/daily/1937</ref><ref>http://creation.com/darwinism-and-the-nazi-race-holocaust</ref><ref>http://www.hourofthetime.com/socialist.htm</ref> Often socialism is a matter of degree and numerous economies in the world are very socialistic such as [[Europe|European]] countries (many of which are facing financial difficulties).<ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2010/05/european_socialism_is_bleeding.html</ref>

The [[Ludwig von Mises Institute]] declares:
{{cquote|The identification of [[Nazi]] [[Germany]] as a socialist state was one of the many great contributions of [[Ludwig von Mises]]...

The basis of the claim that Nazi Germany was capitalist was the fact that most industries in Nazi Germany appeared to be left in private hands.

What Mises identified was that private ownership of the means of production existed in name only under the Nazis and that the actual substance of ownership of the means of production resided in the German government. For it was the German government and not the nominal private owners that exercised all of the substantive powers of ownership: it, not the nominal private owners, decided what was to be produced, in what quantity, by what methods, and to whom it was to be distributed, as well as what prices would be charged and what wages would be paid, and what dividends or other income the nominal private owners would be permitted to receive. The position of the alleged private owners, Mises showed, was reduced essentially to that of government pensioners.

De facto government ownership of the means of production, as Mises termed it, was logically implied by such fundamental collectivist principles embraced by the Nazis as that the common good comes before the private good and the individual exists as a means to the ends of the State. If the individual is a means to the ends of the State, so too, of course, is his property. Just as he is owned by the State, his property is also owned by the State.<ref>http://mises.org/daily/1937</ref>}}

Because many businesses still are privately owned, ipso facto, the [[United States]] is not a socialistic government. "That definition is confuted by the earliest theoretical writings on socialism. In France, Henri de Saint-Simon, in the first decades of the 1800s, and his pupil and colleague [[Auguste Comte]], in the 1820s and 30s, along with [[Robert Owen]] contemporaneously in England, ''stated that the essential feature of what Owen called socialism is government regulation of the means of production and distribution."'' <ref>[http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/once_again_what_is_socialism/ Thomas E. Brewton; Once Again: What Is Socialism?]</ref>
When the government controls the volume of money and its economic applications, it has the economy in a stranglehold. When government controls education so that nothing other than secular socialism may be taught, as Saint-Simon advocated, it controls the future destiny of a nation.

== Barack Obama and his socialistic and "fascist light" policies ==
[[File:Shepard-Fairey-imgs.JPG|right|thumb|250px|Shepard Fairey, designer of the official Obama hope and change logo, is more known for his anti-American and pro-communist themes. Here a [[Mao Zedong|Maoist]] revolutionary is depicted. <ref>http://images.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-ContextMenu&rlz=1I7ACAW_en___US352&tbs=isch:1&q=Shepard+Fairey&sa=N&start=40&ndsp=20</ref> ]]

In April of 2010, [[American]] political consultant [[Dick Morris]] wrote:
{{cquote|When [[Obama]] took office, federal, state and local spending accounted for 30 percent of [[gross domestic product]]. Now it is up to 35 percent, and when health care is fully implemented, it will rise to above 40 percent. But taxes are still below 30 percent. The difference is the deficit, now grown to 10 percent of our GDP.

If our government is to continue spending 40 percent of our GDP, we will morph into the European model of a socialist democracy. But if we can roll the spending back to 30 percent, while holding taxes level, we will retain our free market system.<ref>http://townhall.com/columnists/DickMorrisandEileenMcGann/2010/04/24/the_silent_killer_obamas_vat_proposal</ref>}}

[[Anita Dunn]], the political strategist and former White House Communications Director, admitted that one of favorite political philosophers, one that she “turns to the most”, is [[Mao Zedong]], the [[communism|communist]] dictator responsible for the starvation, torture, and killing of 70 million Chinese.<ref>http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/blog/2009/10/16/anita-dunn-favorite-philosopher-mao-tse-tung/</ref>
Critics of the Obama administration have coined the word "[[Obamunism]]" to describe Barack Obama's socialistic and "[[fascism]] light" [[economic planning]] policies ([[Benito Mussolini]] defined fascism as the wedding of state and corporate powers. Accordingly, trend forecaster [[Gerald Celente]] labels [[Obama administration corporate bailouts|Obama's corporate bailouts]] as being "fascism light" in nature).<ref>http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/daily-intel/2009/07/20/obamunism-inc</ref><ref>http://www.smallbusinessadvocate.com/small-business-interviews/gerald-celente-6944</ref> Obamunism can also allude to Obama's [[Obama administration fiscal policy|ruinous fiscal policies]] and [[Obama administration monetary policy|reckless monetary policies]].<ref>http://seekingalpha.com/article/120883-monetary-policynot-obama-s-stimulusis-what-needs-watching</ref><ref>http://www.nypost.com/seven/05172009/postopinion/editorials/bams_wise_words_169731.htm</ref><ref>http://blog.heritage.org/2009/03/24/bush-deficit-vs-obama-deficit-in-pictures/</ref>
=== Larry Summers and Leftist Economics ===

[[Larry Summers]] currently is the Director of the White House's National Economic Council (NEC) for President Barack Obama. George Gerald Reisman, Professor Emeritus of Economics at [[Pepperdine University]] and author of Capitalism: A Treatise on Economics, wrote that Summers socialistic ideas on redistributing wealth demonstrate that [[Larry Summers]] is a "lightweight leftist" who "fails to understand the nature of the most essential feature of capitalism, namely, private ownership of the means of production and the indispensable role it plays in the standard of living of the average person."<ref>http://blog.mises.org/archives/009031.asp</ref> Reisman also wrote that Summers is a shallow and ignorant man whose knowledge of economics is minimal and whose evil views qualify him to be the economic advisor to [[Hugo Chavez]] of [[Venezuela]] or [[Robert Mugabe]] of [[Zimbabwe]], but do not qualify him to be an economic advisor to the President of the United States.<ref>http://blog.mises.org/archives/009031.asp</ref>
=== Obama administration and land ownership ===
In August of 2010, [[Hot Air]] declared:
{{cquote|The federal government, as the memo boasted, is the nation’s “largest land manager.” It already owns roughly [http://bigthink.com/ideas/21343 one of every three acres] in the United States. This is apparently not enough. At a “listening session” in New Hampshire last week, government bureaucrats trained their sights on millions of [http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9HGKEAG0.htm private forest land] throughout the [[New England]] region. Agriculture Secretary [[Tom Vilsack]] crusaded for “the need for additional attention to the Land and Water Conservation Fund — and the need to promptly support full funding of that fund.”

Property owners have every reason to be worried. The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a pet project of green radicals, who want the decades-old government slush fund for buying up private lands to be freed from congressional appropriations oversight. It’s paid for primarily with receipts from the government’s offshore oil and gas leases. Both Senate and House Democrats have included $900 million in full LWCF funding, not subject to congressional approval, in their energy/BP oil spill legislative packages.<ref>http://hotair.com/archives/2010/08/14/great-outdoors-initiative-a-federal-land-grab/</ref>}}

== Influence of Russia on socialism ==
Not until the birth of the [[Soviet Union]] after the [[Communist Revolution]] did the idea become generally accepted that socialism meant government seizing ownership of the economy. Experience in 19th and 20th century [[France]], [[England]], and [[Germany]], however, made it clear that regulatory control by government bureaucrats is sufficient to implement socialism. <ref>[http://www.thomasbrewton.com/index.php/weblog/once_again_what_is_socialism/ What is Socialism?]</ref>

In [[Communism]] (the primary variant of socialism) the central goal is to establish a "worker's paradise"-an ideal state with perfect equality.

In practice the socialist government owns the banks, railroads, farmlands, factories, and stores, and is the only employer, or at least controls the regulation of production and distribution. The central goal is to destroy the "evils of capitalism" by government ownership or control of the means of production, usually with one party controlling the government on behalf of the working class.

The socialist system never manages to establish this "paradise" because management for the benefit of the employees leads to featherbedding and lack of investment or economic growth, at the expense of consumers. Collective farming (operating farms like factories) sharply reduced the food supply. The most thoroughgoing efforts by Communist regimes turned into authoritarian dictatorships. The government controls all investments, production, distribution, income, and prices, as well as all organizations, schools, news media and formerly private societies. Churches and labor unions are suppressed or controlled by the government. Socialism is the antithesis of [[capitalism]], because it opposes private ownership of capital or land, and rejects the free market in favor of central planning. It also rejects "civil society" and makes sure that all organizations are controlled by the government.

Theoretically, socialist regimes can have multiple parties. In practice there is only one political party, and it controls the government. The leaders of the party choose the government officials and set all policies for the nation and for cities and localities. Opposition parties are not allowed access to the media or to meeting halls or to funding, and their leaders are often arrested as "enemies of the people."

As a political ideology based on the redistribution of wealth, socialism stresses the privileges of the many over the rights of the few, but in practice when socialist economic principles are forced onto a nation by a totalitarian government a new Upper Class appears which is much better off than the Lower Class.
{{cquote|'''<big>Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.</big> - Winston Churchill''' <ref>[http://www.quotesdaddy.com/quote/280995/winston-churchill/socialism-is-a-philosophy-of-failure-the-creed-of Churchill; Quotesdaddy.com]</ref>}}

==Contradictory Goals of Socialism==

Socialism's stated purpose is to eliminate the huge gap between the highest and lowest classes of society. Their bitter complaint has been that the upper class exploits its dominance to gain privileges and wealth, while the lower class must suffer tyranny and poverty.<ref>"all socialists agree that a socialist economy must be run for the benefit of the vast majority of the people rather than for a small aristocratic, plutocratic, or capitalist class." [http://www.experiencefestival.com/socialism_-_an_economic_system] </ref> This obsession with class paradoxically creates a group of people with a vested interest in seeing class differences remain (socialist politicians, [[community organizer]]s, ''etc.''); if by some means the class system actually ''were'' destroyed, these people would be out of a job.

Another essential goal of most socialist thinkers has been to eliminate [[Capitalism]],<ref>"... one of the fundamental goals of the socialist movement throughout history has been the abolition of capitalism" [http://www.experiencefestival.com/socialism_-_opposition_and_criticisms_of_socialism_arguments_for_and_against A Wisdom Archive on Socialism - Opposition and criticisms of socialism; arguments for and against]</ref>
on the grounds that only "social control" of the economy can prevent abuses such as [[feudalism]], [[monopoly]], [[cartel]]s, etc.

But experiments on both a moderate and a grand scale have shown that socialism's main purpose has been undermined by its unremitting opposition to [[free market]] economics. In its drive to eliminate capitalism, it has overlooked the fact that general prosperity is vouchsafed by [[economic freedom]], and that free market economics improves the lot of the poor much more quickly and permanently than any system of central economic control.

The real aim of socialists is probably personal: why else would socialists want to create programs which encourage Dependency? Well, it fits into their lust for power.
People who want to control others need people who are willing to be controlled.
Independent, proactive people do not fit into the socialist Power Model. That is why the first thing [[Karl Marx|Marx]] wanted to remove from the economy was the [[Profit]] Motive: it gives people an incentive to make their own decisions!

==Types of Socialism==

There are three main kinds of Socialism, all of them are built on the premise of government control of the means of production.

===Leninism===
[[Image:Backrdv12n2.jpg|right|400px|thumb|The Russian caption reads, "Long live the great unbeatable flag of [[Karl Marx|Marx]], [[Friedrich Engels|Engels]], [[Vladimir Lenin|Lenin]], [[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]]!"]]

Marxist Socialism, or '''Leninism''', as revised by [[Vladimir Lenin]] and practiced in the pre-[[Joseph Stalin|Stalin]] Soviet Union, was the Socialistic theory developed by Vladimir Lenin during his rise to power. Lenin defined socialism as a transitional stage between capitalism and communism.<ref>"In striving for socialism, however, we are convinced that it will develop into communism", Lenin, State and Revolution, Selected Works, Progress publishers, Moscow, 1968, p. 320. (End of chapter four)</ref> Leninism is totalitarian, with no [[democracy]] and all decision made by the leaders of the Communist party. Lenin saw the Communist Party as an "elite" that was committed to ending capitalism and instituting socialism in its place and attaining the power by any means possible, including revolution. Lenin was quite mild on the belief, believing that, though controlling of resources was important, the people's will comes first.

Though [[Bolshevik]] Russia was somewhat more prosperous than its former [[Russian Empire|Tsardom]], Lenin's death in 1924 sparked the overthrow of his Marxist-Leninism and the imposition of [[Stalinism]], the violent, totalitarian belief that went against some of Lenin's ideas (many of Lenin's works were censored by Stalin post-1924).

==="Democratic" Socialism===
The second form of Socialism (sometimes called "Revisionism") prevailed in Europe down to the 1970s, and is typified by the British Labour Party. It was inspired by [[Socialism]] and closely linked to labor unions that had real power. The goal was for the government to own ("nationalize") major industries such as coal mining, railways, steel making, shipbuilding, airlines, and banking. Small businesses remained private. The idea was that labor unions controlled the government and therefore unions controlled working conditions and wages for the benefit of workers, regardless of the damage to long-term economic growth.

The Socialists were well organized and after 1918 they bitterly fought the breakaway faction that became the [[Communist]] movement. In recent years major Socialist parties (in Europe and Canada) have sometimes dropped the long-standing demands for state ownership of the means of production and have mostly accepted "Controlled Capitalism". However they remain tied to labor unions and favor liberal policies regarding high taxes and public spending. Conservatives have been negative toward the economics of the second form of socialism. Conservatives complain socialists use government power to redistribute wealth.

Within the [[European Union]], a form of [[democratic socialism]] was initially viewed as successful, but eventually lead to lowered social equity and a downward spiraling economy, as well as general discontent. Although this acts as a drag on the economy, in democratic countries of the industrialized west, some socialist ideas have been put into practice with varying degree of success. Beginning in 2010 many European countries were racked with rioting and social unrest as governments began to back away from out-of-control entitlements that began bankrupting them and lead to a world financial crisis because of unrestrained debt. <ref>[http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703791804575439732358241708.html WSJ; "Obstacle to Deficit Cutting: A Nation on Entitlements"]</ref> <ref>[http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_austerity_protests_10 Anti-austerity protests sweep across Europe]</ref> <ref>[http://www.allbusiness.com/economy-economic-indicators/economic-policy-bailouts/14758032-1.html "Debt crisis pushes Europe toward economic reforms"]</ref>

===Communal Socialism===
The third form of Socialism has nothing to do with Marx or government ownership, and emphasizes the importance of the community over the individual. Usually it means small communities sharing most of their possessions. The most famous examples are the religious [[Shakers]] of the 19th century (a conservative group), and the new-left communes that briefly existed in the 1960s and 70s.

=== Similarities between Communism, Nazism and liberalism ===

''See also:'' [[Similarities between Communism, Nazism and liberalism]]

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
![[Communism|Communist]] Manifesto
![[Nazi]] Party Platform
!Analysis
|-
|1
|"Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes."
|"We demand an agrarian reform in accordance with our national requirements, and the enactment of a law to expropriate the owners without compensation of any land needed for the common purpose. The abolition of ground rents, and the prohibition of all speculation in land."
|The stripping away of land from private owners. [[Liberalism]] today demands "eminent domain" on property.
|-
|2
|"A heavy progressive or graduated income tax."
|"We demand the nationalization of all trusts...profit-sharing in large industries...a generous increase in old-age pensions...by providing maternity welfare centers, by prohibiting juvenile labor...and the creation of a national (folk) army."
|The points raised in the [[Nazi]] platform demand an increase in taxes to support them. Liberalism today demands heavy progressive and graduated income taxes.
|-
|3
|"Abolition of all rights of inheritance."
|"That all unearned income, and all income that does not arise from work, be abolished."
|Liberalism today demands a "death tax" on anyone inheriting an estate.
|-
|4
|"Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels."
|"We demand that all non-Germans who have entered Germany since August 2, 1914, shall be compelled to leave the Reich immediately."
|The Nuremburg Laws of 1934 allowed Germany to take Jewish property.
|-
|5
|"Centralisation of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly."
|"We demand the nationalization of all trusts."
|Central control of the financial system.
|-
|6
|"Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State."
|"We demand that there be a legal campaign against those who propagate deliberate political lies and disseminate them through the press...editors and their assistants on newspapers published in the German language shall be German citizens...Non-German newspapers shall only be published with the express permission of the State...the punishment for transgressing this law be the immediate suppression of the newspaper..."
|Central control of the press. Liberals today demand control or suppression of talk radio and Fox News.
|-
|7
|"Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, &c, &c."
|"In order to make it possible for every capable and industrious German to obtain higher education, and thus the opportunity to reach into positions of leadership, the State must assume the responsibility of organizing thoroughly the entire cultural system of the people. The curricula of all educational establishments shall be adapted to practical life. The conception of the State Idea (science of citizenship) must be taught in the schools from the very beginning. We demand that specially talented children of poor parents, whatever their station or occupation, be educated at the expense of the State. "
|Central control of education, with an emphasis on doing things their way. Liberals today are doing things ''their way'' in our schools.
|-
|}

==Controversy==
''This section confuses "interpretation" with "debate".''

The ideology of '''Socialism''' is subject to a variety of interpretations. From a conservative perspective, Marxist socialism is an economic system whereby the means of production are seized and monopolized by the government sometimes without compensation to the builders of the [[capital]]. Investments, production, distribution, income, prices, and economic justice are administered by a government [[nomenklatura]] that regulates the transfer of money, goods (including capital goods), and services primarily through taxation, regulation and aggressive institutionalized coercion.

However, some socialists reject this description. Democratic socialists advocate a system of governance based on the principles of [[solidarity]], [[equality]] and [[liberty]], viewing these principles as interconnected. They believe increased socio-economic equality is associated with increased practical freedom to fulfill human potential. In many countries, such as Britain, socialist movements have been built on Christian, democratic and co-operative bases, embracing the notion that individuals should 'treat others as they would wish to be treated', and arguing that all individuals have a moral responsibility for the welfare of other members of their society. Socialism seeks to prioritize human welfare over other goals, such as profit and wealth accumulation by elites; it views increased redistribution of wealth as vital to securing greater freedom and happiness for the bulk of the people. Though this rosy picture of socialism is appealing to many, it ignores what Hayek called "the road to serfdom." Though in theory socialism is an idealized, egalitarian form of economics, in practice it means rule by labor bosses who minimize individualism and economic growth in the name of equality and benefits for the working class.

[[Marx, Karl|Karl Marx]] considered socialism to be a transitory stage between capitalism and communism. In his view, socialism is summed up by the expression: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." A major criticism of socialism is that it infringes individual rights in favor of the populace. In a very real sense, politics in the Western World throughout the 20th century was shaped by the conflict between socialist and capitalist governmental policies.

Although socialist parties are common in Europe, the leading examples all currently embrace some free enterprise, individual property rights and certain other aspects of capitalism although leading European Socialists are very critical of America. In many European countries socialism has been changing to [[Social democracy]].

==Key elements==

As a political ideology based on the expropriation of wealth, socialism stresses the privileges of the nomenklatura over the rights of workers and earners. Many of the most notoriously oppressive dictatorships have been socialist, such as the [[Soviet Union]] and China under Mao Zedong. Private wealth was seized and the owners executed.

===Welfare state===
As an economic theory, democratic socialism calls for equalization of incomes, through taxation of private wealth coupled with welfare state spending. The [[nationalization]] of major industries is primarily a device to allow the unionized workers to control their own wages and working conditions, cutting out the capitalistic owners.

State [[pension]]s and unemployment insurance were not brought in by Socialists--they were first introduced by arch-conservative Chancellor [[Bismarck]] in Germany in the 1870s. In Britain they were introduced about 1910 by [[Winston Churchill]] and [[David Lloyd George]] of the [[Liberal Party]], and in the U.S. were part of Democratic President, Franklin D. Roosevelt's,[[New Deal]] in the 1930s. Welfare state ideas such as [[universal health care]], and state control of key industries have been common throughout the developed world in the modern era. However, the United States has always rejected socialism as an ideological position, with a few exceptions such as the [[TVA]].

===Religion===
Some forms of socialism have often been [[atheistic]] in character, and many leading socialists (most prominently Karl Marx) have been critical of the role of religion - and conservative religion in particular - which they criticize for lending support to an unjust social order. Other Socialists have been Christians, and there has been considerable interplay between Christian and Socialist ideas. [[Christian socialists]] have asserted that early Christian communities, in particular, displayed certain traits, such as the holding of possessions in common,<ref>Acts 2:44: "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."</ref> the rejection of conventional sexual mores and gender roles, the provision for communal education, etc., that could be considered similar to socialism.

During the chaos sparked by the advent of the Reformation in Europe, several sects with radical new interpretations of Christianity sprung up, many of them Anabaptists (believers in adult baptism). Under the leadership of the reformer Thomas Muntzer the peasants of south-west Germany rose up in arms against the clergy and nobility, establishing anarcho-communes in their wake. Though they were massacred to a man, ten years later a group of radical Anabaptists under the leadership of Jan Matthys seized control of the north-western Germany city of Munster from the Prince-Archbishop there and established a Christian-Communist state. True to the spirit of applied communism, Mathys took twelve wives, held lavish feasts for himself and his most loyal followers and had himself crowned King of the World as the city starved, besieged by an alliance of Protestant and Catholic forces keen to see them exterminated. Mathys and all his followers were all tortured and killed when the Prince-Archbishop returned with professional troops to sack the city and reassert his authority, effectively wiping out all non-pacifistic Anabaptists in north-western Germany. Only Baptists as we know them today survived the following persecution.

See, for instance, Arnold Toynbee, the British historian, has responded to this,
:"the Marxian excerpt from a Christian Socialism is an experiment which is doomed to failure because it has denied itself the aid of the spiritual power which alone is capable of making Socialism a success. ….'Christianity', they say, 'is the opiate of the People'; and, in the [[Soviet Union]]… Christianity or of any other theistic religion have been debarred… from admission to membership of the All-Union Communist Party. In fact, Communism has been definitely and militantly anti-Christian. Thus the campaign against Christianity which is to-day an integral part of the propaganda of [[Marxian Socialism]] is a challenge to the living generation of Christians …we latter-day Christians may still turn a Marxian attack upon Christianity to good account … a re-awakening of the Christian social conscience has been the one great positive practical achievement of Karl Marx" <ref>Arnold Toynbee, ''A Study of History'', Annex II to Vol. V, Part C (i) (c) 2, p. 585-586, Marxism, Socialism, and Christianity.</ref>

====New Testament socialism====
The earliest Christians were decidedly living in a manner consistent with basic aims of socialism, albeit with critical requirements and distinctions from its secularist expressions. Luke 14:33 requires the forsaking of all one has if one will be a disciple of Christ, and while this is not shown to necessarily always require the literally forsaking of all,<ref>Lk. 19:8,9; Acts 16:14,15; 1Cor. 11:22; 2Tim. 4:13</ref> Acts 2:44 states that the communal believers "had all things common". Acts 4:32-5:11 also describes community redistribution of property, and details the Divine punishment of a husband and wife for hypocrisy, in keeping proceeds from the sale of a piece of property while openly pretending that they gave it all, as others voluntarily did.<ref>Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, 5:1-11)</ref>

However, forsaking all is shown to be that of first surrendering oneself and life to the God of the Bible, and placing all at His disposal,<ref>Matthew Henry (1662 - 1714), ''Commentary on the Whole Bible'', Lk. 14:25-35</ref><ref>Archibald Thomas Robertson, ''WORD PICTURES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT'', Lk. 14:33</ref> with literal giving as a result being as He directs, and voluntary. (2Cor. 8,9)
{{cquote|Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (2 Corinthians 9:7-8)}}

While the early organic community provides a noble model of communal life, and of a "seminary" type experience, it was also soon dispersed by persecution (thus greatly expanding the church: Acts 8:1-5; 11:19), and it is later indicated that believers retained ownership of property after conversion. (Lk. 19:8,9; Acts 16:14,15; 1Cor. 11:22; 2Tim. 4:13) Rich Christians are evidenced to have been part of the early church, but were not mandated by the church itself to give all they had away, but to be lowly in mind, and to be ready and willing to distribute, in faith and surrender to God. (1Tim. 6:17-19)

Moreover, in both Testaments capitalism is clearly supported,<ref>Gary North, ''Capitalism and the Bible''</ref> and indolence is not subsidized, but penalized by poverty, while diligence in work is rewarded by its fruits. (Prov. 6:6-11; 13:4; 20:4; 2 Thes. 3:10-12; 1 Tim. 5:17-18) Although holy widows over 60 years old who were without familial support were taken in by the church, a man is clearly required to provide for his own family, if able. (1Tim. 5:2ff)

While the success of the early church as an organic community is often invoked in support of modern socialism, and many communes of the 1960s evoked the Bible, the early organic church was a result of the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit among believers, while the "administrators" were humble servants who were examples of self-sacrifice, and who worked with their own hands as needed, (1Cor. 4:9-16) and whose authority was established by manifest Divine attestation, including the pro-active exercise of church discipline being only by supernatural or otherwise spiritual means, not carnal force.<ref>Acts 2:43; 5:5,9,10; 1Cor. 4:19-21; 2Cor. 13:2,3; 2Thes. 3:14,15; 2Tim. 4:2</ref>

In addition other distinctions, without the unique changes and influence resulting from faith and full surrender to Christ from all the community, and His anointing upon the work, attempts to mimic the communal life of Christians have failed.

As one critic of modern-day socialism states:
<blockquote>Socialism, unfortunately, completely disregards Biblical teaching about the fallen nature of human beings and assumes that human beings will act in a morally upright fashion if their basic needs are met. This is at the heart of why socialistic systems never work: because human nature does not work in this fashion.<ref>[http://www.dakotavoice.com/2009/06/capitalism-and-socialism-in-light-of-the-bible Bob Ellis, ''Capitalism and Socialism in Light of the Bible''] Dakota Voice, June 23rd, 2009</ref></blockquote>

== Britain, the Labour Party and Socialism ==

At its inception, the [[Labour Party]] borrowed socialist ideas by committing itself to a program of nationalization under 'Clause 4' of their Constitution, but was always fundamentally committed to the British system of parliamentary government. Clause 4 was formally dropped after the election of [[Tony Blair]] as Party leader, signaling the creation of 'New' Labour.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2515000/2515825.stm</ref> The British governments of 1945-1950 and 1950-1951 under [[Clement Attlee]] implemented the nationalization of several industries and utilities, including coal, steel, water, railways and electricity. Former owners of nationalized industries were compensated. The best known example is the nationalization of health care to create the [[National Health Service]] (NHS). This made - literally overnight - health care "free" at the point of delivery for everybody in Britain, and it remains so today.

In the 1980s under Conservative Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] most of the nationalized industries were returned to the private sector, and public housing has been sold to the residents. These conservative decisions were endorsed by the "New Labour" of Tony Blair, to the annoyance of elderly radicals who fondly remember the poverty and inefficiencies of the old system.

== Criticism of socialism ==

[[Friedrich Hayek]] and [[Ludwig von Mises]] were important critics of socialism, particularly regarding what is known as the Socialist Calculation Debate. Hayek and Mises argued that a socialist economy would face information constraints that would prevent even well intentioned planners from efficiently allocating resources. That is, the planners would not know how much a battleship or a hospital cost, and could not efficiently allocate resources among different choices. This criticism should be considered as compatible with, but independent of, criticisms based on [[Public choice theory]] that bring into consideration the incentives of political actors.

Svetlana Kunin, who lived in the Soviet Union until 1980 explains how the system worked:
<blockquote>
Life in the USSR modeled the socialist ideal. God-based religion was suppressed and replaced with cultlike adoration for political figures....Only the ruling class of communist leaders had access to special stores, medicine and accommodations that could compare to those in the West. The rest of the citizenry had to deal with permanent shortages of food and other necessities, and had access to free but inferior, unsanitary and low-tech medical care.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
USSR, 1959: I am a "young pioneer" in school. History classes remind us that there is a higher authority than their parents and teachers: the leaders of the Communist Party.
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
Those who left Russia found a different set of values in America: freedom of religion, speech, individual pursuits, the right to private property and free enterprise....These opportunities let the average immigrant live a better life than many elites in the Soviet Communist Party...
</blockquote>

<blockquote>
The slogans of "fairness and equality" sound better than the slogans of capitalism. But unlike at the beginning of the 20th century, when these slogans and ideas were yet to be tested, we have accumulated history and reality.<ref>[http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/SpecialReport.aspx?id=512665 ''The Perspective Of A Russian Immigrant''], ''Investors Business Daily,'' 09/10/2009 </ref>
</blockquote>

A government which adheres to economic socialistic principles also tends to have cultures which prize unmerited equality among citizen and criminal alike, and through extension of socialistic welfare policies, between the chronically employed and the chronically unemployed, by ensuring both groups receive income though only one group works for income. This enables people otherwise healthy to not seek gainful employment because they will receive income no matter their actions, thus providing no incentive to produce. The economies of socialistic governments are thus weak and riddled with flaws, such as expecting increased production from a reduced workforce, and when engendered with a progressive culture, which simply means people who do are the same as people who do not, eventually fall under the weight of their own poorly managed and over-extended public welfare institutions. Public welfare also decreases personal charity, thus making the people dependent on the aid of the government since charitable aid, such as from a church, is discouraged by the secular nature of socialistic nations.

Socialists occasionally appeal to the fact that God, in the Old Testament, commanded His own nation to surrender a tenth of its proceeds for the maintenance of the priests and for the care of the sickly and weak. But, while fallen men, and their secular and pagan nations, shall always struggle to understand the righteous balances between government and liberty.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/2011/08/23/139761274/how-the-a-p-changed-the-way-we-shop ''The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America''], "NPR’s interview of the book’s author, Marc Levinson"</ref> (i.e., between local and national logistics, as well as between the logistics of the individual person and those of his community) the mark of socialism is the general allowance for a naive, and willingly ignorant, adult sub-population whose members prefer, despite the limitations imposed by bureaucratic accountability, to live under all the securities rightly afforded in the fallen world only to infants. In the unfallen world, such security was a given for all persons, but without any of the bureaucracy required in the fallen world for maintaining it. In the fallen world, such security is an unattainable ideal, so that the more is done to attain it, the more the society suffers under the requisite bureaucracy. And, while the initial policy made toward that ideal is the creation of an executive class or executive vocation, such as monarchies and professional armies <ref>[http://www.blueletterbible.org/Bible.cfm?b=1Sa&c=8&t=KJV#19 ''First Samuel 8:19-20'']Blue Letter Bible</ref><ref>[http://www.wbur.org/media-player?url=http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2011/09/29/consequences-combat-vietnam&title=The+Consequences+Of+Combat&segment=consequences-combat-vietnam&pubdate=2011-09-29&source=hereandnow ''Interview of Vietnam war veteran, and '''What It Is Like To Go To War''' author, Karl Marlantes, on NPR's Here And Now''</ref>, there is a 'tipping point' in the creation of bureaucratic entities beyond which any civilization cannot help but increasingly lose its footing in the struggle to balance all its righteous human interests. The result is an ever-increasing proportion of that civilization's total population which, for all variety of reasons, becomes enslaved to their own demands for that ideal of security. When there is no judge who judges righteously, when all the people make the laws, and when the power of money is used to try to stay ahead of the natural consequences of unrighteousness, the 'bad money' cannot help but drive out the 'good money', until the 'Bank of Reality' is forced to call in the loan, and the civilization implodes to the point that it falls victim also to militant invaders and, or, to unmanageable internal unrest.<ref>[http://www.npr.org/2011/08/23/139761274/how-the-a-p-changed-the-way-we-shop ''The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America''], "NPR’s interview of the book’s author, Marc Levinson"</ref>

==Past Socialist Countries==
===Chile===
Marxist socialist leader [[Salvador Allende]] was elected in Chile in 1970 in a minority government run by the Popular Unity Party. Allende's economic policy, known as the Vuskovic Plan, sought to achieve transition to socialism. The Vuskovic Plan involved nationalization of large foreign enterprises, land redistribution to farmers, and redistribution of income. The majority in Parliament never supported it and the plan was never carried out as Allende was overthrown by the military.

==Other Socialist Countries (Current )==

===[[Cuba]]===
Communist leader [[Fidel Castro]] violently overthrew the Cuban government in the 1950's and has declared Cuba to be communist since then, nationalizing millions of dollars worth of American-owned property. It is notable that Fidel Castro originally self-defined as [[liberal]], before coming out openly as a communist.<ref>[http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=5&ved=0CGoQFjAE&url=http%3A%2F%2Fib-global-history-ii-period-5.aspen.high.schoolfusion.us%2Fmodules%2Flocker%2Ffiles%2Fget_group_file.phtml%3Ffid%3D6868636%26gid%3D1176955%26sessionid%3D0&ei=o74IUPDNOqPp6wGbtPGxCg&usg=AFQjCNG1bEoHrxurCF_WL1OPKMxIb4hCTw Fidel Castro - His Rise and Rule of Cuba]</ref> Today, Cuba faces copious economic problems and the people lack their fundamental rights. (Fidel's brother [[Raul Castro]] now runs the country, having taken it over from his ailing brother Fidel.)

===North Korea===

North Korea's form of communism is in the form of "Juche" - a doctrine established by Kim Il Sung and carried on by current leader Kim Jong Il. Although it is investing heavily in nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, extreme poverty on the verge of starvation is the fate of the people, who are very tightly controlled. The country has little to no electrical power at night outside the capital, which can be verified by looking at nighttime satellite photos. <ref>http://epod.usra.edu/archive/epodviewer.php3?oid=87488</ref>

===Venezuela===

The socialist policies of president-for-life Hugo Chavez have destroyed the economy of that oil-rich nation. In 2009, he seized the Venezuelan operations of U.S. based Cargill in order to tighten his grip on the shrinking food supply in his country. <ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/venezuela/4938993/Venezuelas-Hugo-Chavez-tightens-state-control-of-food-amid-rocketing-inflation-and-food-shortages.html</ref>

==Quotes==
Some quotes on socialism by historical figures and great thinkers.

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery."

-- [[Winston Churchill]]

"I've always doubted that the socialists had a leg to stand on intellectually"

-- [[Friedrich Hayek]]

"The trouble is with socialism, which resembles a form of mental illness more than it does a philosophy"

-- L. Neil Smith

"Socialists cry "Power to the people", and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean — power over people, power to the State."

-- [[Margaret Thatcher]]

"All socialism involves slavery"

-- [[Herbert Spencer]]

== See also ==
*[[List of Socialist States]]
*[[Nazism and socialism]]
*[[Essay:Resisting Socialist Landfills‎]]

==External links==
*[http://www.mises.org/etexts/hayekintellectuals.pdf The Intellectuals and Socialism], By F.A. Hayek, ''The University of Chicago Law Review'', (Spring 1949), pp. 417-420, 421-423, 425-433.
*[http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109587/socialism Socialism] Encyclopædia Britannica.
*[http://www.aim.org/wls/category/socialism/ What Liberals Say - Category: Socialism], [[Accuracy In Media]]

==Bibliography==
* Busky, Donald F. ''Communism in History and Theory: From Utopian Socialism to the Fall of the Soviet Union'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Communism-History-Theory-Utopian-Socialism/dp/027597748X/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232396722&sr=1-24 excerpt and text search]
* Dougherty, Jude P. "Socialist Man: A Psychological Profile," ''Modern Age'' Volume 46, Number 1-2; Winter/Spring 2004 [http://www.mmisi.org/ma/46_1-2/dougherty.pdf online edition], a conservative critique
*Laslett, John, ed. ''Failure of a Dream: Essays in the History of American Socialism'' (1984)
* Lindemann, Albert S. ''A History of European Socialism'' (1984)
* Lipset, Seymour Martin, and Gary Marks. ''It Didn't Happen Here: Why Socialism Failed in the United States'' (2001), Lipset was a leading conservative scholar [http://www.amazon.com/Didnt-Happen-Here-Socialism-Failed/dp/0393322548/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232396722&sr=1-21 excerpt and text search]
* Malia, Martin. ''Soviet Tragedy: A History of Socialism in Russia'' (1995) [http://www.amazon.com/Soviet-Tragedy-History-Socialism-Russia/dp/0684823136/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761853&sr=1-4 excerpt and text search]
* Muravchik, Joshua. ''Heaven on Earth: The Rise and Fall of Socialism'' (2003) by conservative historian [http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-Earth-Rise-Fall-Socialism/dp/1893554783/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761601&sr=1-21 excerpt and text search]
* Novak, Michael. ''Capitalism and Socialism: A Theological Inquiry '' (1988) [http://www.amazon.com/Capitalism-Socialism-Theological-Michael-Novak/dp/0844721549/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228761601&sr=1-19 excerpt and text search], bu leading conservative scholar
* Nove, Alec. ''An Economic History of the USSR 1917-1991'' (3rd ed. 1993)
* Pipes, Richard. ''Communism: A History'' (2003), by a leading conservative
* Suny, Ronald Grigor. ''The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States.'' (1998) [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=24265044# online edition]

{{Liberalism}}

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

[[Category:Socialism]]
[[Category:Marxist terminology]]
[[Category:Oppression]]
[[Category: Anti-American]]

Western

2013-01-04T23:43:37Z

Funforever:

"'''Western'''" refers to "[[the West]]" (the Occident), or Europe as opposed to Asia, or Occident (the East) is a term relating to those countries and people aligned with [[Western Christendom]] (as described by historian [[Arnold Toynbee]]). The Western world was led by England (see [[British Empire]]) until the ascendancy of the [[United States of America]].

However this term is not exclusively used to refer to anglophone nations nor is it used to refer to countries aligned on the western side on a standard [[world map]]. European nations such as [[France]], [[Germany]] and [[Poland]] are counted as "Western" states whereas some countries in [[South America]], such as [[Peru]] and [[Chile]], are not. [[Russia]] is a Western country but it created its own flank within the West.

The general rule of thumb is that it is used to refer to nations that have an origin in the [[Latin]]/[[Germanic]]/[[Slavic]] roots of and have a similar high level of societal development (e.g [[Australia]].)

==See also==
*[[Europe]]
*[[Western (movie genre)]]

[[Category:Geography]]

World History Study Guide from 1648

2013-01-04T23:27:40Z

Funforever:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Term
!Definition
|-
|Christian population
|steadily increased from 0% of the world when Jesus was born, to about 33%, or approximately 2.2 billion, of the world today
|-
|Reconquista
|(AD 722-1492) the Christian retaking of Spain and Portugal from Muslim control
|-
|Siege of Vienna
|1529: Christians Europeans defeated the Muslim Ottoman Turks
|-
|9/11/1683, Gates of Vienna
|an alliance of Christian armies, led by the Polish King Jan III Sobieski, defeated a massive Muslim army
|-
|[[Forbidden City]]
|elaborate imperial palace in Beijing, China, which was used by twenty-four emperors during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties; the public was kept out for 500 years
|-
|slave trade
|(1455-1800s) in North America, slave ''trade'' ended by a provision in the U.S. Constitution, and slavery ended with the American Civil War (1861-1865); in England, slave trade was ended by Christian reformers William Wilberforce and John Wesley; in Brazil, slavery continued until 1888
|-
|King Henry VIII
|(lived 1491-1547, reigned beginning in 1509) founded the Church of England (the Anglican Church) due to his dispute with the Catholic Church over its denial of his request to obtain a divorce
|-
|[[Rene Descartes]]
|(1596-1650) a French mathematician and philosopher who discovered analytical geometry and defined existence by “I think, therefore I am.”
|-
|Thirty Years’ War
|(1618-1648) a religious conflict in Germany between Bohemian Protestants and Hapsburg Catholics; this war also engulfed Spain, Holland, Denmark, France, Switzerland and the Holy Roman Empire, before the Protestants (and Catholic France) won
|-
|Treaty of Westphalia
|(1648) ended the Thirty Years' War in Europe, leaving a weaker Germany and Holy Roman Empire; France emerged strengthened and more unified
|-
|[[nation-state]]
|(beginning in the 1400s) a single country comprised of people unified in language and culture, such as England, France, Spain and, much later, Germany
|-
|Decline of the Holy Roman Empire
|weakened by the Ottoman Muslims, France, the Reformation, the growth of nation-states, and how the Italian and German cultures grew apart
|-
|[[Age of Exploration]]
|(1450-1650) a time period when European nation-states (mainly England, France, Portugal and Spain) explored distant lands, including the American continents
|-
|[[caravel]]
|a small, highly maneuverable, lightweight ship developed by the Portuguese, often used to carry cargo
|-
|[[Ferdinand and Isabella]]
|The King and Queen of Spain in the late 1400s, who expelled Muslims from Spain and then funded Columbus's voyages
|-
|Prince Henry the Navigator
|founded the School of Navigation in Portugal in 1419, to train sailors to explore the West African coast with a goal of eventually finding sea routes to India
|-
|Bartholomew Diaz
|a Portuguese navigator who sailed around the southern tip of Africa (the Cape of Good Hope) in 1487 to establish a sea route to India
|-
|[[Christopher Columbus]]
|(1451-1506) Italian explorer funded by Spain to sail in four voyages across the Atlantic ocean in search for a trade route to India; he discovered the "New World" by reaching the Caribbean
|-
|[[Columbian Exchange]]
|the exchange of plants and animals between America and Europe for many years after Columbus's voyages
|-
|Treaty of Tordesillas
|1494: established an 1100-mile long "Line of Demarcation," giving one side to Portugal and the other side to Spain for controlling the New World (Western Hemisphere)
|-
|Line of Demarcation
|a north-to-south line giving Portugal trading rights in India, China, the East Indies, East Brazil and the Spanish Americas, and giving Spain control of the remaining, vast majority of the Americas
|-
|Vasco da Gama
|the first explorer to reach India by sailing eastward around Africa (1497-1499), with the help of the powerful monsoon winds; this established trade with India.
|-
|[[John Cabot]]
|a British explorer (who had been born in Genoa, Italy, like Columbus) who discovered Newfoundland and the New England coast in 1497-1498, making that land the property of England
|-
|Jacques Cartier
|1534 and 1541: French explorer who discovered Canada and the Mississippi Basin, including Louisiana; the lack of gold and silver in North America made it less interesting to Europeans than South America
|-
|Ferdinand Magellan
|1519-1522: led the first successful voyage to go around the world, going through the [[traits of Magellan]] near the southern tip of South America. Magellan himself was killed by Philippine natives prior to completing the last leg of the journey.
|-
|Results of Magellan's voyage
|Spain gained control of many South American territories, including Peru, plus the Philippines in the Far East
|-
|[[Hernando Cortes]]
|aided by superior weapons and horses, he led the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1519 and conquered the Aztec empire, capturing the Aztec ruler known as Montezuma; Cortes burned the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan and built Mexico City in its place
|-
|Francisco Pizzaro
|with only 180 men and 37 horses, this Spanish soldier conquered 30,000 Incas in Peru in 1531; he also discovered the greatest silver mine in the Americas.
|-
|El Greco
|(1541-1614) a painter, architect and sculptor best known for his paintings of saints and martyrs, and his painting of a storm over a Spanish town (“A View of Toledo”)
|-
|Diego Velázquez
|(1599-1660) a Spanish painter of portraits of the royal family and scenes from daily life at court
|-
|Miguel de Cervantes
|(1605) wrote the novel ''Don Quixote'', an influential work of Spanish literature
|-
|divine right of kings
|belief they were given power by God; this belief lasted until religious conflict in England in the 1600s and the French Revolution in the late 1700s
|-
|Philip II
|(reigned 1556-1598) King of Spain who was the great-grandson of Isabella and Ferdinand; his mighty Spanish Armada was crushed by a quicker English fleet in 1588
|-
|William of Orange
|(1579) led the Netherlands in a revolt against their Spanish masters; this (along with the defeat of the Spanish Armada by the English) weakened Spanish power
|-
|[[England]]
|A nation-state based in the British isles off the western coast of Europe; it established the largest non-contiguous empire in history in the late 1800s but is much weaker than the U.S. today
|-
|mercantilism
|an economic system whereby a mother country (e.g., England) accumulates gold by exporting more goods than it imported, and by using her colonies (e.g., the American colonies) to ship it raw materials that could be manufactured and exported to other peoples
|-
|Queen Elizabeth
|(1558-1603) was known as the "Virgin Queen" of England and her 45-year reign was the “Elizabethan Age”; Virginia was named in her honor
|-
|[[James Stuart]]
|cousin of Queen Elizabeth who took over the English throne as James I and authorized the King James Version of the Bible; unlike Queen Elizabeth, King James I argued often with Parliament
|-
|Oliver Cromwell
|(1599-1658) an English soldier, statesman, and controversial leader of the Puritan revolution who overthrew the King
|-
|[[William Prynne]]
|(1600-1669) an English lawyer, author, political figure and prominent Puritan who was imprisoned for his religious beliefs
|-
|Jamestown settlement
|(1607) the first successful English settlement in the New World, in what is now Virginia
|-
|King James Bible
|(1611) the magnificent English translation of the Bible, authorized by King James, which even elevated the English language itself
|-
|[[Glorious Revolution]]
|revolution that took place in England in 1688, which replaced the Catholic King James II with the Anglican King and Queen, William and Mary.
|-
|William and Mary
|ruled England, Scotland, and Ireland in the late 1600s, and founded the college of William and Mary in the Virginia colony in 1693
|-
|Ivan IV “the Terrible”
|(reigned 1547-1584) first czar of Russia, who executed many innocent people; Ivan was succeeded by his son Feodor, whose repeated failures led Russia into a “Time of Troubles.”
|-
|Mikhail Romanov
|(1613) the first of a long line of Romanov Russian czars; under Romanov rule serfs lost almost all of their freedoms
|-
|Peter the Great
|a Romanov who ruled Russia from 1682-1696 and instituted sweeping reforms in Russian government and society; he built St. Petersburg and tried to make European traditions a part of Russia.
|-
|Maria Theresa
|(1717-1780) a Holy Roman empress who was the last ruler of the House of Habsburg dynasty, ruling over Austria
|-
|Frederick the Great
|(1712-1786) an absolutist King of Prussia, who built it into a powerful nation (before it became a key part of the future Germany)
|-
|War of the Austrian Succession
|(1740-1748) a broad conflict among many European nations, with the result that Prussia defeated Austria to win the territory of Silesia
|-
|Seven Years’ War
|(1756-1763) France, Russia, Sweden, Poland and Austria were allied against Britain and Prussia, for a region of Eastern Europe. Britain and France also fought in North America (called the French & Indian War here). Britain won the war due to the genius of William Pitt ("Pittsburgh" is named after him), gaining Canada and India as a result; France was humiliated, leading to the French Revolution decades later.
|-
|American Revolution
|a revolution against the British in the American Colonies beginning in 1776 with the American Declaration of Independence, caused by over-taxation by England; the Patriots won with the help of the French, and the Treaty of Paris (1783) ended this war
|-
|George Washington
|(1732-1799) first President of the United States (1789-1797); Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army; unanimous choice to serve as President; and voluntarily stepped down in 1797
|-
|[[Isaac Newton]]
|(1643-1727) the English physicist who, inspired by daily readings of the Bible, developed calculus and discovered the invisible force of gravity
|-
|Gottfried [[Leibniz]]
|(1646-1716) a German Lutheran mathematician and philosopher who developed calculus independent of Isaac Newton, and whose Christian-based philosophy was opposed by Voltaire. Leibniz invented the curly "S" notation for the integral (ignore the grids around it): <math>\int_a^b f(x)dx</math>
|-
|[[The Enlightenment]]
|a philosophical movement in Europe in the 1700s that challenged traditional views and preferred reason over faith; thinkers included Rousseau, Voltaire, Hume, Kant, Jefferson, Locke, and Diderot.
|-
|William Blackstone
|(1723-1780) the leading legal authority on English law, upon which American law is based; wrote the book ''The Rights of Englishmen'', in which he described the source of the rights of the people
|-
|Charles-Louis Baron de Montesquieu
|(1689-1755) a Frenchman who proposed the concept of separation of powers, and checks and balances, in government, which inspired key parts of the U.S. Constitution; wrote a book, ''The Spirit of the Laws'', that explained essential aspects of good government
|-
|Denis Diderot
|(1713-1784) a French writer during the Enlightenment who edited an encyclopedia of scientific and social knowledge known simply as ''Encyclopedia'' (in French: ''Encyclopédie'')
|-
|Jean Jacques Rousseau
|(1712-1778) his ideas led to the French Revolution and hostility to churches; he was a Swiss-born political philosopher who criticized private property and declared that government's goal should be to provide freedom, equality and justice
|-
|[[John Locke]]
|(1632-1704) English philosopher during the Enlightenment who created the idea of a "social contract" between the people and their government, which became the philosophical basis of rebellion in England and the American Revolution when people felt that government had broken this contract
|-
|[[Voltaire]]
|(1694-1778) a French philosopher, prominent during the Enlightenment, who favored '''''absolute''''' freedom and his ideas led to the French Revolution
|-
|[[monarch]]
|a person who rules over a kingdom or empire; he may be above the law (''absolute monarch'') or subject to it (''constitutional monarchy'')
|-
|[[Louis XIV]]
|(ruled 1643-1715) the absolute (all-powerful) monarch of France who said, “L’etat c’est moi!” (“I am the state”)
|-
|[[capitalism]]
|an economic system whereby private companies own all capital goods and sell them at a competitive price
|-
|[[Nicolaus Copernicus]]
|(1473-1543) a Polish Catholic scientist who started the "Scientific Revolution" with his discovery that the Earth revolves around the Sun, and published his discovery in a book at the end of his life ("On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres")
|-
|[[Johannes Kepler]]
|(1571-1630) a German Protestant scientist who built on Copernicus's work and discovered that planets orbit the sun in ellipses rather than circular orbits.
|-
|[[Galileo]]
|(1564-1642) a Catholic Italian astronomer who improved the telescope but was punished by the Church for publishing Copernicus's theory and saying the Church approved it; the Church then banned Galileo's book ("Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World - Ptolemaic and Copernican," published in 1632)
|-
|[[Rasputin]]
|Russian peasant-turned-monk who helped Czar Nicholas II's son survive hemophilia, until he was murdered by rivals in 1916
|-
|[[Tsar|Czar]] (Tsar)
|Absolute emperor of Russia since the 1500's, the first being Ivan IV "The Terrible."
|-
|[[Neo-Confucianism]]
|More of a philosophy than a religion, Neo-Confucianism is a combination of Confucianism and Buddhism, and was the primary practice of the Chinese nation in the 1600s.
|-
|[[Robert Fulton]]
|American engineer and inventor who created the first commercial steamboat service in 1807.
|-
|[[Bernhard Riemann]]
|(1826-1866) an influential German mathematician who made lasting contributions to differential geometry and analysis, providing the mathematical basis for some 20th century physics
|-
|[[balance of power]]
|first established by European nations after the final defeat of Napoleon: alliances called the Concert of Europe required nations to assist each other in order to defeat any one nation that became too powerful and started invading others
|-
|[[Constitution of the United States]]
|(1787) the oldest working constitution in the world, which established a masterful design for government
|-
|[[David Hume]]
|(1711-1776) a Scottish philosopher who promoted materialism and naturalism rather than Christianity, which later influenced Charles Darwin; Hume wrote "A Treatise on Human Nature" and believed in relativism rather than absolute truth
|-
|Declaration of Independence
|(1776) an American statement of "inalienable" (God-given) rights, asserting a right of the people break their "social contract" with a ruler (a king) when he violates those rights, such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness
|-
|Edmund Burke
|(1729-1797) a conservative Irish statesman in the British parliament who sided with the American colonies before the American Revolution; coined the phrase "salutary neglect" to support economic growth in the colonies, and criticized the French Revolution while others were praising it
|-
|The Federalist Papers
|(1788) brilliant essays encouraging ratification of the U.S. Constitution, written mostly by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison
|-
|Immanuel Kant
|(1724-1804) a leading German philosopher, Kant felt that behavior is moral only if it would work as a rule if everyone did it (e.g., littering is immoral for one person to do it, because it wouldn't work if everyone did it); Kant's book "A Critique of Pure Reason" criticized the use of pure reason to determine morality
|-
|Industrial Revolution
|technology-driven changes in society that began about 1760 in England and later in other countries, characterized chiefly by the use of power-driven machines, as the power loom and the steam engine, and a shift from farming to factories
|-
|James Clerk Maxwell
|(1831-1879) British physicist, perhaps the greatest of the 19th century; he developed a single consistent electromagnetic theory and the "maxwell", a unit of magnetic flux, was named in his honor
|-
|Johann Sebastian Bach
|(1685-1750) German classical music composer famous for Fugues and the "Passion according to St. Matthew"
|-
|Louis Pasteur
|(1822–95) French chemist, probably the greatest ever; he founded microbiology, invented pasteurization, and developed vaccinations for anthrax, rabies, and chicken cholera.
|-
|[[Matthew Perry]]
|helped end the isolation of Japan by sailing into Edo harbor and enabling the Treaty of Kanagawa to be signed in 1854
|-
|steamboat
|a waterborne ship useful to the Industrial Revolution which was powered by a steam engine, with the steam produced by burning coal (or less often, wood); today steamboats are powered by diesel gasoline
|-
|Economies of scale
|when increasing the size of a company enables it to lower its prices due to improved efficiencies, as the big Wal-Mart stores do
|-
|Enclosure movement
|in the 1700s when wealthy farmers bought land from small farmers, to benefit from economies of scale in farming huge tracts of land
|-
|Adam Smith
|(1723-1790) a Scottish political economist who discovered how the "invisible hand" of capitalism will create wealth and prosperity; his book describing this idea was the "Wealth of Nations" (1776)
|-
|[[David Ricardo]]
|(1772-1823) a classical British economist who advocated the advantages of more trade between nations
|-
|Victor Hugo
|(1802-1885) one of the greatest Romanticist poets, he was a Frenchman who wrote the classics Cromwell (1827), The Hunchback of Notre Dame of Paris (1831) and Les Miserables (1862)
|-
|[[Maximilian Robespierre]]
|(1758-1794) a French Jacobin who was most responsible for the Reign of Terror; under the influence of the work of Rousseau, Robespierre unbendingly murdered moderates and all opponents, and was eventually killed by the guillotine himself in 1794.
|-
|French Revolution
|began in 1789 by freeing Bastille prison, and ended in 1794 with Robespierre's death.
|-
|[[Bastille Day]]
|(July 14, 1789) when French peasants invaded the huge Bastille prison in Paris, freeing political prisoners. This started the Great Fear, with riots breaking out every day and peasants burning wealthy homes
|-
|[[Georges Danton|Georges Jacques Danton]]
|(1759–1794) a Jacobin during the French Revolution who joined and fully supported it until he saw the Reign of Terror and started to change his mind; then he was executed
|-
|[[Louis XVI]]
|the extravagant King of France (1774-1792) until executed during the French Revolution by guillotine in early 1793
|-
|[[Marie Antoinette]]
|privileged wife of Louis XVI during the French Revolution who reportedly said to the peasants, "Let them eat cake!" upon hearing of the shortage of bread
|-
|[[Reign of Terror]]
|terrifying chaos after the execution of Louis XVI when Maximilian Robespierre guillotined many people, including Marie Antoinette, until Robespierre died the same way (1794)
|-
|[[Napoleon]]
|(lived 1769-1821) Dictator of France after the French Revolution; signed peace treaties with major European enemies, created a successful system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code, and conquered much of continental Europe; defeated at Battle of Waterloo
|-
|[[Louisiana Purchase]]
|land stretching from Louisiana to the American Northwest that Napoleon sold to the U.S. for a low price in 1803
|-
|[[Battle of Waterloo]]
|1815: marked the end of Napoleon's reign in France when he was defeated by Prussia and Great Britain; the expression "someone's Waterloo" refers to a change from possible victory to a decisive defeat
|-
|[[Congress of Vienna]]
|1815: convention of European nations proposing a balance of powers among the rival nations to ensure than no single nation could threaten the others as Napoleon had just done
|-
|[[Concert of Europe]]
|established during the Congress of Vienna to create alliances between nations requiring assistance of each other if war or revolutions occurred; also adopted changes that legitimized monarchies and growing nationalism in Europe
|-
|[[Napoleon III]]
|Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1808-1873) President of the French Second Republic and nephew of Napoleon
|-
|[[Otto von Bismarck]]
|(1815-1898) leader of Prussia (1862-71) and the first chancellor of the German Empire (1871-90). Known as the "Iron Chancellor," he was a skilled politician who unified Germany as a nation in the 1860s by arranging for wars against other nations (first against Denmark, then against Austria and finally against France)
|-
|First French Empire
|(1804-1814/1815) was the empire of Napoleon I of France, and the dominant power of continental Europe
|-
|Second French Empire
|Bonapartist regime of Napoleon III from 1852 to 1870, between the Second Republic and the Third Republic in France.
|-
|[[United Kingdom]]
|the combination of "Great Britain" and "Northern Ireland," which is part of the island of Ireland.
|-
|[[Luddites]]
|a social movement in England that rioted and protested against the changes of the Industrial Revolution
|-
|[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
|(1770-1827) revolutionized instrumental music and took it to new heights never thought possible, despite being totally deaf when he did his best compositions
|-
|France
|a nation-state in Europe that was ruled by a monarch until the French Revolution
|-
|Prussia
|a very militaristic nation-state in Europe in part of the area where Germany is today
|-
|''The Communist Manifesto''
|written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in 1848, teaching that class struggles are the origin of all progress in society and urging people to start revolutions to establish communism; Russia did so in 1917, and others since then
|-
|Sun Yixian
|(1866-1925) also known as Sun Yat-sen, he led the Kuomintang or nationalist Party that overthrew the Qing Dynasty of China. He also became the first leader of the former Republic of China.
|-
|Virginia Declaration of Rights
|a declaration of rights adopted in colonial Virginia on June 7, 1776, as written by George Mason; the American Declaration of Independence was based on it
|-
|[[utilitarianism]]
|proposed by Englishman Jeremy Bentham and fine-tuned by John Stuart Mill (1806-1873), this non-Christian concept values overall "utility" (overall benefits minus costs) rather than individual justice as a method of determining morality and public policy. Example: tossing two people overboard in a lifeboat in order to save the other ten.
|-
|[[John Stuart Mill]]
|(1806-1873) British philosopher who supported utilitarianism and advocated an absolute right of free speech; he also supported the development of labor unions
|-
|[[nationalism]]
|when loyalty by a people to their nation becomes part of their identity; began in the late 1700s, around the same time as Romanticism, and later led to aggression by Germany and Japan in the 20th century
|-
|Handel
|(1685-1759) a German-born composer noted particularly for his oratorios, including the Messiah; Beethoven thought Handel was the greatest
|-
|Haydn
|(1732-1809) Austrian composer who played a major part in establishing the classical forms of the symphony and the string quartet
|-
|Mozart
|(1756-91) an Austrian composer known for his operas and his unfinished Requiem (1791)
|-
|Romanticism
|(1770-1870) a movement in poetry and the arts (including music) that emphasized individualism, feelings, thoughts, and the right to be different, which coincided with revolutions in France and elsewhere
|-
|Neoclassicism
|(1760-1850) paintings that emphasized clear linear design, using classical themes as subject matter
|-
|[[Karl Marx]]
|(1818-1883) German philosopher who, in 1848 with F. Engels, wrote ''The Communist Manifesto'', urging the working class to revolt and end private property
|-
|[[Friedrich Engels]]
|(1820-1895) German philosopher born to a wealthy family who co-authored ''The Communist Manifesto'', and who supported Marx financially while Marx wrote ''Das Kapital''.
|-
|classical economics
|19th-century economics plus the 18th-century Adam Smith, meaning less government restrictions on business, based upon the principles of the [[invisible hand]] and economic efficiency ([[Pareto]] optimality)
|-
|[[realpolitik]]
|Concept invented by Otto von Bismarck that emphasized practical politics rather than philosophy
|-
|[[laissez-faire]]
|approach in economics in which businesses are free from state and government intervention (translated literally, "let to do")
|-
|[[Franco-Prussian War]]
|(1870) Otto von Bismarck started the Franco-Prussian War by enticing the French to attack Prussia so that other Germans would join him in defense, and thereby unify Germany; Germans won in six weeks
|-
|Giuseppe Mazzini
|An Italian who sought unification of Italy as one nation; he formed the “Brotherhood of Young Italy” in 1831
|-
|King Leopold II
|(1835–1909) second king of Belgium, who founded the Congo Free State
|-
|[[Charles Darwin]]
|(1809-1882) English naturalist who proposed the theory of evolution: that all species had evolved into complex forms of life over millions of years through the process of "natural selection," or "survival of the fittest"
|-
|[[Charles Dickens]]
|(1812-1870) Greatest English novelist of the Victorian period, who sympathized with the poor and invented colorful characters like "Scrooge"
|-
|[[David Livingstone]]
|Scotsman who explored central Africa in the late 1860s to find the source of the Nile
|-
|Dual Alliance
|(1879) Germany (led by Bismarck) formed an alliance with Austria-Hungary as a way of protecting those countries against possible aggression by France
|-
|impressionism
|(late 1800s in France) paintings began emphasizing the transient effects of color and light, attempting to capture a fleeting image or “impression”. Artists included Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Pierre Auguste Renoir and Paul Cezanne, and they often painted landscapes.
|-
|musical impressionism
|emphasized mood and understatement and reflected its composers’ view that pure sound (like color) is an end to itself
|-
|Zulus
|a tribe of the Mthethwa African kingdoms of the late 1800s, which was wiped out by the British in 1879
|-
|Kaiser Wilhelm II
|leader of Germany who ended Germany’s alliance with Russia, which caused Russia to form an alliance with France in 1891.
|-
|[[imperialism]]
|the practice of one strong nation controlling another weaker nation, territory, or a group of people; types of imperialism (from strongest to weakest) are: colonization, protectorates, spheres of influence, and economic
|-
|Triple Alliance
|Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed this alliance in 1882 to protect against French attacks; later became the Central Powers after Italy left and the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria joined
|-
|Triple Entente
|(1907) from the French for "good-will", Great Britain, Russia, France formed this alliance in 1907 to oppose the Triple Alliance; this later became the Allied Powers after Italy and Japan joined. Not as strong an alliance as the Triple Alliance, the Triple Entente did require mutual assistance to defend against attack
|-
|[[Communism]]
|an oppressive system of government, beginning in Russia, which states everyone must have the same amount of wealth, which discourages people from working hard
|-
|[[Central Powers]]
|The enemies of the Allies in WWI, and they were Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman empire.
|-
|[[Allies]]
|The Allies in WWI were Britain (her colonies), France, Russia, Italy, Japan, and beginning in 1917, the United States; in WWII the Allies were Britain, America, France, and Russia.
|-
|[[The Axis]]
|The Axis were the enemies of the Allies in WWII; the Axis consisted of Nazi Germany, Italy (at the start of the war), and Japan, they also included Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia
|-
|[[Great War]]
|1914-1918: later known as World War I, this was one of the deadliest wars in world history based on trench warfare; the Allies defeated the Central Powers and imposed terms of peace that were so unreasonable they led to World War II
|-
|Schlieffen Plan
|German plan to avoid a two-front war in World War I by invading and defeating France first before fighting Russia on its other front
|-
|Entrenchment
|the first year and a half of World War I (1914-15) during which there were terrible casualties without either side gaining the upper hand.
|-
|[[First Battle of Marne]]
|(Sept. 6-12, 1914), massive conflict in WWI which halted the German efforts to capture France, and forced the Germans to fight a two-front war; French losses were horrific: 250,000 deaths
|-
|[[U-boat]]
|German submarines used to patrol the Atlantic in a terrifying manner and intercept British ships; the U-boats eventually sunk American ships too
|-
|[[Gallipoli Campaign]]
|(April 1915) Allied forces landed on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli, but were not prepared for the terrain or their tough opponents; unsuccessful, the Allies retreated after massive losses
|-
|[[Lusitania]]
|a British luxury liner sunk by a German submarine in the North Atlantic on May 7, 1915, killing 1,198 people, including 128 U.S. citizens; this outraged the American public and led later to the U.S. entry into WW I.
|-
|[[Battle of Verdun]]
|(1916) longest battle of WWI with massive casualties with nothing gained by either side with nearly 1 million wounded or killed; began when Germans attacked the French city of Verdun
|-
|[[Manfred von Richtofen]]
|Better known as the "Red Baron," this German was the greatest flying ace of all time with 80 kills until he was shot down by an unknown person near the end of WW I, in 1918
|-
|Treaty of Versailles
|(1919) ended WWI by imposing limits on the size and weapons of the German army, requiring Germany to pay massive damages, and taking away some of its colonies and territories.
|-
|Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
|(1923) created the modern state of Turkey, with a combination of military rule and an elected Parliament; also converted the Arabic language to a modern, Latin-style alphabet
|-
|Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
|(1870-1924) leader of the Communist Party who overthrew the Russian government; Lenin was leader of the Bolsheviks and ruled the Soviet Union, imposing a system of Marxism-Leninism that remained until the 1990s; Lenin also ended Russia's support of the Allies in the war in 1918
|-
|Bolsheviks
|(after 1903) the more extreme Marxist group, as opposed to the Mensheviks, who sought violent revolution soon
|-
|[[Expressionism]]
|style of art that arose in the 20th century, using distorted forms and bold colors
|-
|[[Great Depression]]
|a worldwide economic crisis in the 1930s when poverty struck most of the world and the unhappiness allowed dictators to seize power
|-
|[[King Victor Emmanuel]]
|The King in Italy who surrendered his power to Mussolini
|-
|[[Il Duce]]
|"The Leader." Name used by the fascists to identify Mussolini.
|-
|[[Nazi]]
|a member of the National Socialist German Workers' party of Germany, which in 1933, under Adolf Hitler, seized political control of the nation, started World War II, believed in a supremacy by the German people, and imposed the Holocaust
|-
|[[Fascism]]
|Fascists believe that all actions should be done for the good of the state. Fascism is a totalitarian economic and political ideology that came to dominate the social and political systems of Italy under Benito Mussolini and Germany under Adolf Hitler.
|-
|aggression by Japan in the 1930s
|Japan invaded Manchuria in 1931, attracted in part by the coal and iron deposits there, which began the Asian phase of World War II. In 1937, Japan invaded northern and central China.
|-
|aggression by Italy in the 1930s
|Italy invaded and conquered Ethiopia in 1935-1936.
|-
|[[Mussolini]]
|founder of Italy’s Fascist Party, Mussolini emphasized the need to improve Italy’s economy and its military. In October 1922, the Fascists protested in Rome, causing the King to make Mussolini leader of Italy. He then made it illegal to strike, thinking this would make the economy bounce back.
|-
|-
|aggression by Germany in the 1930s
|In 1936, Germany invaded the buffer zone separating Germany from France: the industrialized Rhineland; Germany annexed Austria in 1938 without much resistance, and on Sept. 1, 1939, Germany invaded and annexed western Poland despite armed resistance.
|-
|[[Enigma]]
|a cipher (encryption) used by the Axis in WWII, thought to be unbreakable until a 27-year-old Polish mathematician cracked it in 1937 (without telling the Germans!)
|-
|[[World War I]] (WWI)
|(1914-1918) also known as ''The Great War'', the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary fought against the Entente of Britain, France and Russia; the war ended with the economic collapse of the Central Powers in November 1918 after 4 years of brutal fighting and a successful blockade on Germany
|-
|[[World War II]] (WWII)
|began in the 1930s when Germany invaded Poland, and lasted until 1945 when the Allied powers defeated the Axis powers and forced them to surrender
|-
|[[Franklin Delano Roosevelt]]
|"FDR" was President during most of the Great Depression and WW II, where he wanted the U.S. to intervene to save Britain
|-
|[[blitzkrieg]]
|German for "lightning war," high-speed attack which combines bombing with a tank invasion, followed by infantry to mop up pockets of enemy troops that developed; first launched with spectacular success by Hitler against Poland in 1939
|-
|[[The Holocaust]]
|Germany blamed Jews for all of its problems. In 1935 a law was passed to prevent Jews from holding government offices, and during WWII Germany established concentration camps that exterminated millions of Jews.
|-
|[[Joseph Stalin]]
|(1879-1953) Russian atheistic dictator who succeeded Lenin as head of the Communist Party and created a totalitarian state by purging all opposition
|-
|[[Manhattan Project]]
|(Dec. 6, 1941) one day before the attack at Pearl Harbor, American scientists began the construction of an atomic bomb
|-
|D-Day
|(June 6, 1944) the massive invasion of Europe at Normandy (France) by the U.S.-led Allied forces, to turn the tide in WWII
|-
|George Patton
|homeschooled, this American was the finest field general in WWII and the only one the Germans truly feared; he was better at blitzkrieg-style tank warfare than the Germans were
|-
|[[Big Bang]]
|a scientific theory, initially ridiculed before being accepted by many physicists, that the universe had a unique creation rather than having existed forever
|-
|quantum mechanics
|(early 1900s) this breakthrough in physics is the foundation of electronic technology: there is an underlying uncertainty in the position of subatomic particles until they are observed, and these particles are easy to use for storing or controlling information
|-
|[[Niels Bohr]]
|a Danish physicist in the early 1900s who discovered the atomic structure and helped develop quantum mechanics
|-
|[[Albert Einstein]]
|(1879-1955) physicist best known for his work on the theory of relativity
|-
|Easter Rising
|(April 24-30, 1916) Irishmen seeking independence from Britain captured key locations in Dublin and proclaimed an Irish Republic; British suppressed this and executed its leaders
|-
|Irish Republic
|(1919) established through the efforts of its leader, Michael Collins (1890-1922), who was then killed three years later during an Irish civil war
|-
|Northern Ireland
|divided between British Protestants and Irish Catholics, still under the control of the British
|-
|[[jazz]]
|music originating in New Orleans in the early 1900s, developing varied and complex styles; it consists of intricate, propulsive rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, improvisatory, virtuosic solos, melodic freedom, and a harmonic idiom.
|-
|globalism
|the opposite of “nationalism”; “globalism” views the world as one political unit, as one massive village
|-
|[[Gandhi]]
|spiritual Hindu leader who set out to win independence for India through peaceful civil disobedience
|-
|free trade
|trade (importing goods) without limitation between nations; it can cause losses in American jobs and an increase in illegal drugs shipped in from other nations
|-
|GATT
|(1947) stands for “General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade,” in which western nations promoted free trade by first freezing tariffs (taxes on goods sent between nations), and later began reducing the tariffs
|-
|World Trade Organization
|(1995) WTO: most nations agreed to “free trade” and established international courts for handling disputes
|-
|NAFTA
|(1994) stands for “North American Free Trade Agreement,” which established free trade between Mexico, the United States, and Canada, and created international courts to resolve trade disputes
|-
|consumerism
|people becoming obsessed with buying more than what is healthy or necessary, with brand names (like McDonalds) becoming more familiar than important things like the Bible
|-
|Universal Declaration of Human Rights
|(1948) a United Nations declaration of basic human rights, including “life, liberty, and security of person”
|-
|[[Cold War]]
|(1945-1991) between the U.S., its allies and the communist Soviet Union, consisting of spying rather than actual fighting
|-
|[[Korean War]]
|(1950-1953) war between South Korea, supported by the U.S., and North Korea, supported by communists; ended in a stalemate after President Truman prevented General Douglas MacArthur from winning it by fighting the communist Chinese
|-
|Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
|(1960) “OPEC” is a cartel (monopoly by a group) formed by Middle Eastern and a few other nations to keep the price of oil by avoiding competition. In 2007, OPEC controlled about 2/3rds of the total oil market.
|-
|Berlin Wall
|a symbol of communism, this massive wall (with armed communist guards on top) was built in 1961 to stop the flow of people from communist East Germany to free West Germany
|-
|[[Pearl Harbor]]
|Dec. 7, 1941 Japanese launched a surprise attack on US navy fleet in Hawaii; Congress declared war on Japan and entered WWII
|-
|[[Korematsu v. United States]]
|(1944) Supreme Court decision upholding the forced removal of Japanese Americans to internment camps during WWII; the Court sided with the government, ruling that the exclusion order was constitutional
|-
|domino effect
|the expectation that when one nation fell to communism, then its neighboring nations became more likely to fall to communism too. This principle was the driving force behind US intervention against communism in Korea, Vietnam and perhaps Chile.
|-
|Ho Chi Minh
|a communist, nationalist leader of North Vietnam who defeated the weakened Japanese there in 1945, obtained freedom from the French, and then sought to make South Vietnam communist too
|-
|Vietcong
|communist insurgents in South Vietnam in the 1960s, during the Vietnam War
|-
|Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
|August 1964: in response to mysterious gunshots fired at an American ship in the Gulf of Tonkin near North Vietnam, Congress authorized sending troops; Congress never formally declared war on North Vietnam, and this Resolution became the substitute
|-
|Vietnam War
|1964-1975: an unsuccessful attempt by the United States to prevent the fall of Vietnam to communism
|-
|Henry Kissinger
|an adviser who ran the foreign policies of U.S. Presidents Nixon and Ford, and who mishandled the Vietnam War to a humiliating conclusion for the U.S.
|-
|Pol Pot
|ruled Cambodia in 1975-1979 as the leader of the Khmer Rouge government; he abolished private property, money and religion, and caused many deaths
|-
|Zionism
|a movement beginning in the late 1800s to reestablish a Jewish state in Palestine in and around Jerusalem
|-
|Balfour Declaration
|1917: a statement calling for the creation of new Jewish and Palestinian states in the Middle East
|-
|Israel
|established by the United Nations in 1948, having a size slightly smaller than New Jersey
|-
|David Ben-Gurion
|1948: first prime minister of Israel
|-
|Arab-Israeli wars
|four major ones between 1948 and 1973 (1948, 1956, 1967 and 1973)
|-
|Six-Day War
|1967: Egypt’s ruler Nasser closed off the Gulf of Aqaba, which was the only access Israel had to the Red Sea, and Israel responded with massive air strikes against several Arab nations, including Egypt; Israel conquered Jerusalem, the West Bank, the Sinai Peninsula and Golan Heights.
|-
|Anwar Sadat
|succeeded Nasser as ruler of Egypt (1970-1981)
|-
|Yom Kippur War
|(October 1973) Egypt’s ruler Sadat launched a surprise attack on Israel on its holiest day, Yom Kippur. After suffering massive initial losses, the Israeli prime minister, Golda Meir, regained much of the lost territory.
|-
|Camp David Accords
|1979: President Jimmy Carter brokered a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel, whereby Egypt agreed to recognize Israel in exchange for receiving return of the Sinai Peninsula.
|-
|Yasser Arafat
|founder of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1964, which demanded a Palestinian state in the area of Jerusalem and rejected the right of Israel to exist.
|-
|intifada
|1987: PLO instituted a campaign of persistent violence called whereby common citizens and even children threw stones at Israelis and committed additional violence.
|-
|Declaration of Principles
|1993: secret talks between Israeli leaders and the PLO in Oslo, resulting in a promise of self-rule to the Palestinians over the Gaza Strip and West Bank
|-
|Benjamin Netanyahu
|current leader of conservatives in Israel who is its current Prime Minister in 2011
|-
|Mikhail Gorbachev
|rose to power in the Soviet Union in mid-1980s and allowed “glasnost” or openness, and “perestroika”, which permitted some economic freedoms, until he resigned on Christmas Day of 1991 after losing to Boris Yeltsin
|-
|Lithuania
|annexed to the Soviet Union in 1940 but became independent in March 1990 as the Soviet Union fell apart with the overthrow of communism
|-
|Boris Yeltsin
|the popular mayor of Moscow who courageously challenged the communists in Russia and defeated them in June 1991 to become president of a new Russian Republic; he ended price controls and cut taxes; churches opened and the people of Leningrad changed its name back to St. Petersburg.
|-
|Commonwealth of Independent States
|the successor to the Soviet Union; most of its nations (including Russia) joined, except for the Baltic republics and Georgia
|-
|Chechnya
|Muslim-dominated region in southwest Russia, which declared its independence from Russia in 1991, leading to a bloody war
|-
|John Paul II
|(reigned 1978-2005) the first Polish pope of the Catholic Church, who then opposed communism especially in his homeland of Poland
|-
|Lech Walesa
|a leader against communism in Poland, who led his political party Solidarity to power once free elections were held in April 1989
|-
|Hungary
|attempted unsuccessfully to overthrow communism in 1956 (the Soviet Union invaded to suppress the revolt), but Hungarians overthrew communism in October 1989
|-
|East Germany
|an atheistic, communist nation until demonstrations broke out in October 1989, which not even its ruthless dictator Erich Honecker could control; he resigned and his successor opened the Berlin Wall in November 1989, whereupon the people tore the wall down
|-
|Czechoslovakia
|combination of diverse ethnic groups formed in 1919 out of the old Austria-Hungarian empire to promote [[Woodrow Wilson|Woodrow Wilson's]] "self-determination" principle, until Hitler invaded it in 1938; after WWII it was a communist-controlled nation until demonstrations forced its Communist Party leader to resign in November 1989; in 1993, the Czechoslovakia split along ethnic lines to form Slovakia and the Czech Republic
|-
|Romania
|Eastern European nation ruled by communist dictators from the end of WWII until overthrown by massive demonstrations in December 1989
|-
|Nicolae Ceausescu
|communist dictator of Romania from 1965 to Christmas Day 1989; unlike most communists, Ceausescu was pro-life and he prohibited abortion
|-
|Yugoslavia
|ruled by the communist Marshall Tito (1945-1980), who enjoyed some independence from the Soviet Union; Tito was succeeded in power by the Serbian Slobodan Milosevic, which caused Slovenia and Croatia to seek independence due to their different ethnicity
|-
|Kosovo War
|fighting in Croatia between the Serbs and the Croats; the U.S. and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened in 1999 and drove the Serbian Milosevic from power
|-
|Ronald Reagan
|(1981-1989) conservative U.S. president who cut taxes, helped defeat communism in the Soviet Union, and proposed the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
|-
|Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI)
|(1980s) also known as “Star Wars,” Reagan proposed developing advantaged technology to intercept and destroy fast-moving missiles that might be launched against the U.S.
|-
|Chairman Mao Zedong
|(ruled 1949-1976) the ruthless dictator who founded communist China and then starved tens of millions to death; in 1965 he imposed the "Cultural Revolution" to senselessly eliminate people who were achievers
|-
|Tiananmen Square
|(June 4, 1989) communist China used tanks to massacre hundreds of peaceful Chinese protesters who sought greater democracy
|-
|Hong Kong
|was a colony of Great Britain until July 1, 1997, when Britain's lease expired and it returned this colony to China, which promised to allow Hong Kong to remain capitalistic for another 50 years
|-
|9-11
|(September 11, 2001) 19 Muslims, most from Saudi Arabia, hijacked American airplanes and flew one into each tower of the World Trade Center, a third into the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania as the passengers attempted to retake control of the plane from the terrorists.
|-
|Modern Era
|can mean since 1789 (The French Revolution) or since 1900
|}

==Honors terms==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Term
!Definition
|-
|[[British Royal Air Force]]
|Also nicknamed the "RAF", this aerial warfare service is one of the oldest, independent warfare services in the world. The "RAF"'s technique of shooting down incoming German airplanes saved the British tremendously.
|-
|Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher
|The newspaper that Karl Marx wrote for after moving to Paris in 1843.
|-
|[[Dunkirk]]
|The harbor town, located on the northernmost tip of France, in which the Germans relentlessly bombed. Thousands of soldiers were departed to England during the constant bombing; Winston Churchill titled this wonder, the "miracle of Dunkirk."
|-
|[[Emilio Aguinaldo]]
| A rebel leader who collaborated with Muslims against U.S. and U.S. citizens in Philippine during 1899-1902, and later collaborated with Japanese against U.S. in world war two. They commited massive atrocities and their methods are extremely savage and brutal.
|-
|[[Emiliano Zapata]]
|Cowboy who helped lead the Mexican Revolution.
|-
|[[Endlosung]]
|The arranged execution of the Jewish people, throughout Germany, in brutal sites called "concentration camps." The Endlosung is also commonly known as Hitler's "Final Solution."
|-
|[[Guillotine]]
|The guillotine was invented by Dr. Joseph Guillotine. It has a heavy blade that is lifted up and then dropped onto the execution victim to severe their head. During the Reign of Terror, the guillotine was the main form of execution.
|-
|[[Franz Kafka]]
|a troubled author who wrote several classic stories about being persecuted or harmed unfairly, including The Trial (1916) and The Metamorphosis (1915).
|-
|[[National Security Agency]]
|A branch of the U.S. government staffed by mathematicians; the agency seeks for better ways to secure American communications against the interception of enemies. They also develop ways to decode the secret messages of enemies.
|-
|[[Manchuria]]
|A region in northeast China which was conquered by Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After being invaded by Japan in 1931, Manchuria was renamed Manchukuo. The charge into Manchuria began the Asian period of World War II.
|-
|[[Muhammad Ali Pasha]]
|(1769-1849) Albanian commander in the Ottoman army; regarded as the founder of modern Egypt.
|-
|[[Standing army]]
|Army in peacetime, which became popular among nationalistic countries beginning in the 1900s
|-
|[[Automobile]]
|a passenger vehicle designed for operation on ordinary roads and typically having four wheels and a gasoline or diesel internal-combustion engine.
|-
|[[Henry Ford]]
|United States automobile manufacturer, and founder of Ford.
|-
|[[Pearl Harbor]]
|a harbor near Honolulu, in Hawaii: surprise attack by Japan on the U.S. naval base and other military installations December 7, 1941.
|-
|[[Adolf Hitler]]
|German Nazi dictator during World War II (1889-1945)
|-
|[[opium]]
|an addictive, deadly drug that the British empire sent in large amounts to China, which caused the great Taiping Rebellion against the British
|-
|[[Little Boy]]
|When given the green light by U.S. president Harry S. Truman, the 9,700 pound atom bomb called "Little Boy" was dropped from 31,000 feet and detonated at an altitude of 1,968 feet over the Japanese city Hiroshima. It was the first atom bomb to be used in war.
|-
|[[M1 Garand]]
|One of the most influential American firearms in history, firing a .30 Cal bullet. These were the primary weapons in both World War 2 and the Korean War.
|-
|[[Cotton]]
|Cotton is a natural fiber used in clothing. It comes from the seed of the cotton plant. People have grown cotton since 3000 B.C. and traded it for other goods.
|-
|[[slavery]]
|the state or condition of being a slave; a civil relationship whereby one person has absolute power over another and controls his life, liberty, and fortune
|-
|factors of production
|Inputs used by companies to produce goods. Basic models of production have two input factors, labor and capital.
|-
|Corsica
|Became one of the 27 regions of France in 1769. The birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte.
|-
|Guy Fawkes
|A conspirator against the English throne who belonged to a group of provincial English Catholics who planned the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
|-
|Gregor Mendel
|Father of Modern Genetics. As an Augustinian monk, Mendel studied Pea inheritance and interpreted his results to shape genetics till this day with his laws of Segregation and Independent assortment.
|-
|Sigmund Freud
|Father of Modern Psychiatry. Arguably a pseudoscientist, with heavy focus on Ego and Eros. Famous for invention of the "Oedipus Complex" which is arguably a reflection of his troubled personal life.
|-
|[[Charles Spurgeon]]
|Charles Spurgeon was a Minister in England who taught that faith without works is dead and that people should try to help the poor.
|-
|Columbian Exchange
|plants and animals were brought from colonial America to Europe and vice-versa; Columbus brought from Europe to America wheat, melons, onions, grapes, sugar cane and horses. America had new fruits and vegetables, the white potato, peanuts, pumpkins, squash and chili peppers, which were then exported from America back to Europe.
|-
|[[Thomas Malthus]]
|Thomas Malthus was a British economist. He believed that exponential population growth, coupled with geometric advances in food production would mean that the world economy was inevitable going to collapse and fail. His vision did not take into account advances in technology and a slowing of the world population growth. Malthusian fears are also prevalent amongst liberal peak oil alarmism.
|-
|[[Battle of the Somme]]
|This battle started with the British and French meeting at the Somme River to begin an attack on the Germans to distract them from Verdun. The Allies bombed the Germans lines then sent 200,000 troops to storm them. The Germans were prepared for the attack and the losses were great. The British lost 20,000 men and had 40,000 wounded. The British and the French lost nearly 750,000 men.
|-
|[[Third Battle of Ypres]]
|The British hid 19 huge land mines under the German lines in southeast Ypres, Belgium over a 18 month period. The British detonated the mines and charged the lines in July 1917. The British plan worked for the beginning stages but soon failed because they did not pursue the Germans quick enough. Soon it rained the wettest fall season in years and the allies were literally stuck in the mud.
|-
|[[Communist League]]
|the first Marxist international organization. It was founded originally as the League of the Just by German workers in Paris in 1834.
|-
|[[Robert Owen]]
|(1771-1858) Welsh industrialist and philosopher, he was a leading supporter of the "Utopian Socialism” and he introduced better working conditions to his own cotton mills in Scotland.
|-
|[[Jeremy Bentham]]
|(1748-1832) Was a philosopher and lawyer who believed in individual and economic freedom.
|-
|[[Charles Fourier]]
|(1772-1837) In France, was the leader of the utopian socialists. He also believed that industrialism was a passing phase, and wanted to elevate the status of manual laborers.
|-
|[[St. Helena]]
|A British island used as a place of exile, the most notable prisoner was Napoleon.
|-
|encomiendas
|beginning in 1503: a Spanish system whereby a Spanish soldier (or colonist) received a section of land from the king along with the Indians who lived there as slave labor
|-
|repartimientos
|1575: after complaints about the encomiendas by a Spanish monk named Bartholomew de Las Casas, repartimientos was a new Spanish system that supposedly improved conditions for workers, and required paying them
|-
|locomotive
|developed in the early 1800s; it allowed man for the first time in history to travel faster than on horseback
|-
|Andreas Vesalius
|(1514-64) a Renaissance physician who advanced the understanding of anatomy for physicians
|-
|William Harvey
|(1578–1657) an English physician who first understood the circulation of blood in the body
|-
|[[Francis Bacon]]
|(1561–1626) an English philosopher/scientist who promoted research based on experimentation. Famously wrote the ''Novum Organum'' (the New Method) which argued that the only road to knowledge was through empiricism. It has been conjectured that he wrote some or all of Shakespeare's plays, although this is no longer regarded as credible by many scholars.
|-
|[[Nationalsozialismus]]
|The political fascists in Germany. Nazi for short.
|-
|[[Marian Rejewski]]
|Polish mathematician who first broke the German Enigma code in 1932
|-
|other free trade agreements in the Americas
|Latin American Free Trade Agreement (LAFTA, formed in 1961), and replaced in 1981 by the Latin American Integration Association (ALADI); the South American Common Market (Mercosur) which has Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela as members; and a recently enacted Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) which the United States joined.
|-
|Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)
|(1967) free trade group founded by Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines to combat communism; ASEAN later signed trade agreements with Japan (1977) and the European Community (1980)
|-
|McDonaldization
|when American advertising (as in the case of McDonalds) has an influence on the world culture, causing distant children (like Chinese) to repeat a McDonald’s slogan they heard on television
|-
|[[Rheinische Zeitung]]
|the newspaper that Karl Marx wrote for when he lived in Cologne
|-
|Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty
|(1987) an agreement between the U.S. and Soviet Union to ban missiles having ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles
|-
|[[New Orleans]]
|a port in SE Louisiana, on the Mississippi River, about 172 km (107 miles) from the sea: the largest city in the state and the second most important port in the US; founded by the French in 1718; belonged to Spain (1763--1803). It is largely below sea level, built around the Vieux Carré (French quarter); famous for its annual Mardi Gras festival and for its part in the history of jazz; a major commercial, industrial, and transportation center.
|-
|[[Fat Man]]
|When the Japanese refused to surrender after experiencing the first atom bomb, this 10,213 pound atom bomb was dropped and detonated on the Japanese city Nagasaki. Its blast yielded 21 kilotons of TNT or 75 million sticks of dynamite. It was the second atom bomb to be used in war.
|-
|[[Enola Gay]]
|A Boeing B-29 Superfortress piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets that on August 6, 1945 dropped "Little Boy", the first atom bomb, on the Japanese city Hiroshima.
|-
|[[Woodrow Wilson]]
|(1856-1924) American President who led us into World War I, secured the formation of the League of Nations, and at one point persuaded Congress to declare war on Germany in 1917
|-
|[[Heil Hitler]]
|The special salute that is used to show complete devotion to the national leader (Hitler)
|-
|[[Swastika]]
|Symbol used for the purpose of mind control in Germany. Used by the Nazi in World War II. Originally from Hinduism it's true name is Sanskrit.
|-
|[[Ultra]]
|Allied effort to break Germany's secret code (the Enigma); said by General Eisenhower to have been decisive to their victory over Germany
|-
|Ngo Dinh Diem
|An unpopular leader of the free South Vietnam until 1963, when he was overthrown by generals who had been supported by the U.S.
|-
|Vietnamization
|U.S. President Nixon’s policy for slowly withdrawing American troops from South Vietnam, hoping that the South Vietnamese would do more themselves in fighting communism.
|-
|The Four Tigers
|the prosperous Pacific Rim nations of [[South Korea]], [[Taiwan]], [[Singapore]] and [[Hong Kong]] (Hong Kong is now part of communist China but is allowed to remain free until at least the middle of the 21st century)
|-
|Deng Xiaoping
|(ruled 1978-1997) dictator of communist China who was more friendly to capitalism and the West, and began a program called the Four Modernizations
|-
|Jiang Zemin
|Communist China dictator who succeeded Deng when he died in 1997. Jiang refused to improve China’s record on human rights, and Christianity and democracy remain suppressed there; China has armed itself in preparation for a war with the U.S., pointing nuclear missiles at California
|-
|Bloody Sunday
|(1972) Irish held a peaceful march for freedom in Derry, Northern Ireland, but British soldiers responded by shooting and killing some of them, including children; the British never punished those responsible and a popular song by the group U2 commemorates the tragedy
|-
|[[President Truman]]
|Vice-President who became president when Roosevelt died in 1945. Was not able to handle the issue of war and bombing as well as Roosevelt. Issued the bombing of Japan.
|-
|[[Hiroshima]]
|Japanese city hit by an U.S. bomb in WW II.
|-
|[[Dr. Josef Mengele]]
|Doctor who because of his belief of "survival of the fittest," performed cruel surgeries and experiments on the prisoners in the concentration camps.
|-
|[[Great Leap Forward]]
|Name of Mao Zedong's idea in which he established collective farms where many people worked on many acres per farm. Because of this, many Chinese died.
|-
|[[Erwin Rommel]]
|Famous Nazi Field Marshall in Africa. Attempted to assassinate Hitler.
|-
|[[Stalingrad]]
|Famous battle between Russia and Nazi Germany in which Russian Artillery destroyed German army. The Germans were subsequently sent out of Russia.
|-
|[[Yalta]]
|Famous conference between Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin. Roosevelt, influenced by a Communist Agent, was ready to give large amounts of territory including East Berlin and Poland to Stalin
|-
|[[Winston Churchill]]
|[[Prime Minister]] of the [[UK]] 1940-1945 and 1951-1955. Inspirational leader who gave the British people the willpower to resist [[Nazi]] [[Germany]] in 1940 and 1941, leading to the invasion of [[Italy]] (1943), the [[D-Day]] invasion of Normandy (1944) and ultimately victory over [[Hitler]] (1945).
|-
|[[European Union]]
|Association of 27 states in [[Europe]]. Began as a free trade area (1958) known as the Common Market, becoming a single European market in the 1980s with extensive socialist-style regulation of business. Now in the process of becoming a super-state governed by the [[France|French]] political elite. In 2002 it instituted a single currency, the Euro, which is now on the point of collapse.
|-
|Georgi Konstantinovich [[Zhukov]]
|One of the greatest generals of the Second World War and of all time, whose victories, especially the crucial battles of [[Stalingrad]] and [[Kursk]], led to the defeat of Hitler.
|}

== See also ==

*[[World History Study Guide to 1648]]

[[Category:World History lectures]]

Protestantism

2013-01-04T22:35:28Z

Funforever:

{{Christianity}}
'''Protestantism''' is one of the three major divisions in [[Christendom]]; the others are [[Catholicism]] and the [[Eastern Orthodox]] Churches.

Protestantism began in Europe with the [[Reformation]] of the 16th century. Early leaders were [[Jan Hus]],[[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]]. [[King Henry VIII]] in England led the church in his country out of communion with the Church of Rome. Although he opposed Protestant doctrines, his action in ending the Pope's role in England contributed to the advance of Protestantism under Henry's successors.

Protestant Christianity rejects the Roman Catholic belief that Christ founded the Catholic Church as his sole representative and rejects the notion that priests or saints have special access to the divine. Protestantism greatly reduced the role of Mary, Christ's mother, as an object of devotion.

Most Protestants stress their belief that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God, although Quakers and Pentecostals believe in personal revelation as a factor in God's connection to believers. Protestants reject the Catholic concept that Tradition--beliefs held consistently by the people of God since the time of the Apostles--is a second means (alongside Scripture) by which God reveals his will to the Church. With few exceptions, Protestant churches observe two sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper), and not the seven sacraments that the Catholic Church accepts.

==Politics==
Europe was polarized by the Reformation, with most of northern Europe becoming Protestant while most of the Mediterranean regions remained loyal to the Roman Catholic Church. In the mid-sixteenth century, the Catholic Church struck back with a [[Counter-Reformation]] that is considered to be responsible for keeping such areas as Italy, France and Poland in the Catholic fold.

Religious wars broke out, the worst being the [[Thirty Years War]] (1618-1648) that devastated much of Germany and neighboring areas. By 1648 a compromise was reached such that, in the Holy Roman Empire, the religion of the Prince determined the official religion of the people. Nevertheless religious strife continued in Germany as late as the 1870s in the [[Kulturkampf]], and in [[Ireland]] into the late 20th century.

==Missions==
Each Protestant denomination launched missionary activity to spread the gospel, and they competed with each other and with Catholic missions.

The greatest successes came in the United States, where a series of revivals called the first and second [[Great Awakening]]s resulted in many converts to various Protestant churches by 1860, and in Africa and South Korea, where Protestantism grew rapidly throughout the 20th century.

==Numbers and Distribution in 1900==
One of the most striking facts in the history of Protestantism during the 19th century was its great expansion in North America.<ref> This section is based on [http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc09.protestantism.html?highlight=schleiermacher#highlight F. Kattenbusch and Arthur C. A. Hall, "Protestantism" in ''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge,'' (1911) Vol. IX]</ref> The United States by 1910 had the largest Protestant population of any land—from 65,000,000 to 66,000,000 (out of a total population of 79,000,000)<ref>According to the estimate of H. K. Carroll in W. D. Grant, ed. ''Christendom Anno Domini 1901'', (1902), i. 530–531</ref>, which is based upon the census of 1900. Britain probably comes next with 38,000,000 Protestants (total population 42,500,000) and Germany third with somewhat more than 35,000,000 (total population 56,000,000).<ref> H. Zeller's figures for the Eastern Church are 106,480,000, Orthodox; 8,130,000 "other [Eastern] Christians."; H. A. Krose, gives Greek Orthodox 109,000,000l schismatic Orientals, 6,554,913; Raskolniks (Russian dissenters), 2,173,371. Roman Catholics 265,000,000; Eastern Church 117,000,000.</ref>

'''Reformed Protestantism in 1900:'''
* Great Britain 20,500,000
**see [[Church of Scotland]]
* Germany 3,000,000
* Switzerland 2,000,000
* Netherlands 3,000,000
* Hungary 2,500,000
* France 500,000
* United States 65,000,000
* Canada 2,000,000
* Australia and New Zealand 1,500,000
* India 1,500,000
* South Africa 1,000,000
* Elsewhere 2,000,000
**Total Reformed 104,500,000

'''Lutheran: in 1900'''
*Germany 32,000,000
* Norway and Sweden 7,500,000
* Denmark 2,500,000
* Finland and the Baltic Provinces 6,000,000
* Hungary 1,250,000
* United States 6,000,000
* Elsewhere 750,000
**Total Lutheran 56,000,000

'''Anglican: in 1900'''
* England 10,750,000
* Scotland and Ireland 750,000
* British Empire 4,000,000
* United States 2,500,000
** Total Anglican 24,000,000

'''Protestant missions''' 5,500,000

'''Grand Total in 1900: 182,000,000'''

== Impact ==

Protestants made the Bible available to all persons through publication of the Scriptures in the common language and by promoting universal education. The mandatory [[celibacy]] of the [[clergy]] (including monasticism) was rejected, resulting in married clergy becoming the norm in Protestant churches. Unordained persons were permitted more voice in church affairs and in the worship services themselves. Some historians have also contended that Protestantism played an important factor in the growth of Democracy and Capitalism.

==Notable events==
* [[Martin Luther]]'s nailing of [[The 95 Theses]] to the church door in [[Wittenberg]] on October 31, 1517. Luther became the spiritual leader of the Evangelical movement later called [[Lutheranism]], which came to dominate much of Germany and all of Scandinavia

* [[King Henry VIII]]'s asserting the independence of the English church from Papal control in 1533. Under Henry's successors, Edward VI and Elizabeth I, the English Church became Protestant, although it retained the Catholic system of governance by bishops.

* [[John Knox]]'s leading of [[Scotland]] into the [[Presbyterian]] faith in 1560. He was a follower of [[John Calvin]] (and was aided by many [[Martyrs' Monument|martyr]]s).

== Protestantism in the United States ==

Protestants represent the largest Christian division in the United States. There are two main groupings, the more conservative [[Evangelical Christians]] and the more liberal [[Mainline]] denominations. Many of the Evangelicals incline to [[Fundamentalism]], but the the terms are often used casually and inconsistently.

There are over 200 major denominations in the United States. Among the larger groupings are:

*[[Baptist]]
**[[American Baptist Churches]] (liberal)
**[[Southern Baptist Convention]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
*[[Methodist]]
**[[Free Methodist Church]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
**[[United Methodist Church]] (liberal)
*[[Lutheran]]
**Evangelical Lutheran Church in America ([[ELCA]]) (liberal)
**[[Lutheran Church Missouri Synod]]
**[[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]]
*[[Presbyterian]]
**[[Presbyterian Church (USA)]] (liberal)
**[[Presbyterian Church in America]]
*[[Reformed]]
**[[Christian Reformed Church]]
**[[Reformed Church in America]]
*[[Episcopal]] (liberal)
*[[Restorationist]]
**[[Churches of Christ]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
**[[Disciples of Christ]] (liberal)
*[[Pentecostal]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
**[[Assemblies of God]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
**[[Church of God (Cleveland, TN)]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
*[[Holiness Movement]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
**[[Church of the Nazarene]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
**[[Church of God (Anderson, IN)]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
**[[Salvation Army]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
*[[Seventh Day Adventist]] (Evangelical/fundamentalist)
*[[United Church of Christ]] (liberal)

Smaller groups include:
*[[Anabaptist]]
**[[Mennonite]]
**[[Amish]]
*[[Continuing Anglican]]
*[[Brethren]]
*[[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]]
*[[Unitarianism|Unitarian]]

The [[Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints]] (Mormons) considers itself Christian but not Protestant.

==Further reading==
* Bell, James S., and Tracy Macon Sumner. ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Reformation and Protestantism'' (2002) [http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Reformation-Protestantism/dp/0028642708/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200807603&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Gonzalez, Justo L. ''A History of Christian Thought: Volume 3: From the Protestant Reformation to the Twentieth Century'' (1987) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Thought-Protestant-Reformation/dp/0687171849/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-12 excerpt and text search]
* Hillerbrand, Hans J. ed. ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation.'' ([[OUP]] 1996); the book is online at many academic libraries; [http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-encyclopedia-Reformation/dp/0195103645/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201162350&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''A History of Christianity'' (2 vol 1975) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christianity-Beginnings-1500-Revised/dp/0060649526/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823548&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search vol 1, to 1500]
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''Christianity in a Revolutionary Age: A History of Christianity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries'' (1958) [http://www.questia.com/library/book/christianity-in-a-revolutionary-age-a-history-of-christianity-in-the-nineteenth-and-twentieth-centuries-vol-1-by-kenneth-scott-latourette.jsp vol 1 online edition]
* Latourette, Kenneth Scott. ''A history of the expansion of Christianity'' (7 vol 1939-1970), monumental history of missionary work worldwide [http://www.questia.com/library/book/a-history-of-the-expansion-of-christianity-vol-7-by-kenneth-scott-latourette.jsp online edition]
* MacCulloch, Diarmaid. ''The Reformation'' (2005), influential recent survey [http://www.amazon.com/Reformation-Diarmaid-MacCulloch/dp/014303538X/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-2 excerpt and text search]
* McGonigle, Thomas D., and James F. Quigley. ''A History of the Christian Tradition, Vol. II: From the Reformation to the Present'' (1996) [http://www.amazon.com/History-Christian-Tradition-Vol-Reformation/dp/0809136481/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200808706&sr=8-15 excerpt and text search]
*''New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge'' (1911), ), major sources of older scholarly articles; mainline Protestant perspective
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc01.toc.html Vol. 1: Aachen - Basilians]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc02.toc.html Vol. 2: Basilica - Chambers]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc03.toc.html Vol. 3: Chamier - Draendorf]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc04.toc.html Vol. 4: Draeseke - Goa]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc05.toc.html Vol. 5: Goar - Innocent]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc06.toc.html Vol. 6: Innocents - Liudger]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc07.toc.html Vol. 7: Liutprand - Moralities]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc08.toc.html Vol. 8: Morality - Petersen]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc09.toc.html Vol. 9: Petri - Reuchlin]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc10.toc.html Vol. 10: Reutsch - Son]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc11.toc.html Vol. 11: Son of Man - Tremellius]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc12.toc.html Vol. 12: Trench - Zwingli]
**[http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc13.toc.html Vol. 13: Index]
===United States===
* Ahlstrom, Sydney E. ''A religious history of the American people‎'' (1979) 1192 pages; classic history from broad perspective [http://books.google.com/books?id=5kFF6a1viGcC&dq=inauthor:ahlstrom&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search]
* Balmer, Randall. ''Protestantism in America'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Protestantism-Columbia-Contemporary-American-Religion/dp/0231111312/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200807603&sr=8-3 excerpt and text search]
* Balmer, Randall. ''Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism'' (2nd ed. 2004), 655pp
* Balmer, Randall. ''Grant Us Courage: Travels along the Mainline of American Protestantism'' (1996) [http://www.questia.com/read/106364823?title=Grant%20Us%20Courage%3a%20%20Travels%20along%20the%20Mainline%20of%20American%20Protestantism online edition]
* Hutchison, William R. ed. ''Between the Times: The Travail of the Protestant Establishment in America, 1900-1960'' (1990) [http://books.google.com/books?id=wMH7PRqQDGkC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22neo+orthodoxy%22+barth+OR+niebuhr&lr=&num=30&as_brr=3&as_pt=ALLTYPES&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0 excerpt and text search]
* Lippy, Charles H. and Peter W. Williams, eds. ''Encyclopedia of the American religious experience: studies of traditions and movements'' (3 vol 1988) 1872 pages; standard reference work; long essays by scholars
* Noll, Mark A. ''The Old Religion in a New World: The History of North American Christianity'' (2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Old-Religion-New-World-Christianity/dp/0802849482/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200823548&sr=8-11 excerpt and text search], by a leading evangelical scholar
* Noll, Mark A. '' A history of Christianity in the United States and Canada‎'' (1992), by leading Evangelical historian [http://books.google.com/books?id=VGF3wbzzy9QC&dq=intitle:christianity+inauthor:noll&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=30&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES excerpt and text search], by a leading evangelical scholar
* Queen, Edward L. et al, eds. Encyclopedia of American Religious History'' (3rd ed. 2 vol. 2009) 1200pp
* Reid, Daniel G. et al. eds., ''Dictionary of Christianity in America'' (199)
* Roof, Wade Clark, and William McKinney. '' American Mainline Religion: Its Changing Shape and Future'' (1990) [http://www.amazon.com/American-Mainline-Religion-Changing-Future/dp/0813512166/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243520093&sr=1-6 excerpt and text search]
* Wooley, Davis C. ed. '' Encyclopedia of Southern Baptists‎'' (5 vol 1958-1982); 2565 pages
* Wuthnow, Robert, and John H. Evans, eds. ''The Quiet Hand of God: Faith-Based Activism and the Public Role of Mainline Protestantism,'' (2002), 430 pp.; essays by scholars

===Primary sources===
* Placher, William C. ''Readings in the History of Christian Theology, Volume 2: From the Reformation to the Present'' (1988) [http://www.amazon.com/Readings-History-Christian-Theology-Reformation/dp/0664240585/ref=sr_1_24?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200809912&sr=8-24 excerpt and text search]
====Notes====
<references/>

[[Category:Protestantism|*]]
[[Category:Christian History]]
[[Category:Reformation]]
[[category:Religion and Politics]]

Jan Hus

2013-01-04T20:30:54Z

Funforever:

'''Jan Hus''' (or John Huss) (1372-1415) was a preacher in Prague who picked up on the ideas of [[John Wyclif]] (or Wycliffe) (1330-1384) and spread them in [[central Europe]]. Born in southern Bohemia, Hus harshly criticized immorality in the clergy and preached a doctrine concerning the [[Eucharist]] that was considered to be [[heretical]]. He was [[excommunicated]] in 1411. A [[Council of Constance]] was convened under an "antipope" (not the official pope), and this Council tried Hus in 1414 and burned him at the stake, making him a [[martyr]]. His followers, known as [[Hussite]]s, fought battles against the [[Holy Roman Empire]] with surprising success.

[[Category:Clergy|Hus, Jan]]

Bratislava

2013-01-04T20:29:07Z

Funforever:

'''Bratislava''' is the capital city of [[Slovakia]]. It is located on the [[Danube]] River.

== External Links ==
[http://www.bratislava.sk/en Official Website of Bratislava (in English)]

[[Category:Slovakia]]

[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:Capital Cities]]
[[Category:Slovakian Cities and Towns]]

Slovakia

2013-01-04T20:28:46Z

Funforever:

{{Country
|name =''Slovenská republika''
|map =Slovakia rel94.jpg
|flag =Flag of Slovakia.png
|arms =Arms of Slovakia.png
|capital =Bratislava
|capital-raw =
|government =Parliamentary republic
|government-raw =
|language =Slovak
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Ivan Gašparovič
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Róbert Fico
|pm-raw =
|area =18,932 sq mi
|pop =5,447,502
|pop-basis =2007
|gdp =$99.19 billion
|gdp-year =2007
|gdp-pc =$20,002
|currency =Slovak koruna
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Slovakia''' is a country in [[Central Europe]] formed from the Velvet divorce of [[Czechoslovakia]] in 1993. Its capital is [[Bratislava]].

==People==
The majority of the 5.4 million inhabitants of the Slovak Republic are Slovak (85.8%). Hungarians are the largest ethnic minority (9.7%) and are concentrated in the southern and eastern regions of Slovakia. Other ethnic groups include Roma, Czechs, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Germans, and Poles. The Slovak constitution guarantees freedom of religion. The majority of Slovak citizens (69%) practice Roman Catholicism; the second-largest group is Protestants (9%). About 3, 000 Jews remain of the estimated pre-WWII population of 120,000. The official state language is Slovak, and Hungarian is widely spoken in the southern region.
*Population (May 2001 census*): 5,379,455. Bratislava (428,672), Košice (236,093), Žilina (156,361), Nitra (163,540), Prešov (161,782), Banská Bystrica (111,984).
*Annual population growth rate (2001 est.): 0.13%.
*Ethnic groups (2001): Slovaks 85.8%, Hungarians 9.7%, Roma 1.7%, Czechs 0.8%, Ruthenians 0.4%, Ukranians 0.2%, other 1.4%. Unofficial estimates place the Roma population between 6%-10%.
*Religions (2001): Roman Catholic 69%, Protestant 9%, Greek Catholic 4%, Orthodox 0.9%, other 0.6%, unknown 3.5%, 13% report no affiliation.
*Languages: Slovak (official), Hungarian, Ruthenian, Romany, and Ukrainian. Education: Literacy--99%.
*Health: Life expectancy (2001)--78 yrs. females; 70 yrs. males.
*Work force (2.1 million in 2001): Industry, construction, commerce--61%; financial, commercial, health services--18%; government and education--15%; agriculture--6%.

Despite its modern European economy and society, Slovakia has a significant rural element. About 45% of Slovaks live in villages of less than 5,000 people, and 14% in villages of less than 1,000.

==Government and Political Conditions==
Slovakia's highest legislative body is the 150-seat unicameral National Council of the Slovak Republic. Delegates are elected for 4-year terms on the basis of proportional representation. The Slovak political scene supports a wide spectrum of political parties, including several social democratic parties and the nationalistic Slovak National Party.

In January 1999, Parliament passed a constitutional amendment allowing for direct election of the president. Kosice Mayor Rudolf Schuster was elected president in a May 1999 run-off with former Prime Minister Meciar and took office on June 15, 1999. On April 17, 2004, Ivan Gasparovic, a former Meciar deputy, was elected president; he was inaugurated on June 15, 2004. Virtually all executive powers of government belong to the prime minister, but the president does serve as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, can grant pardons, and has the right to return legislation to Parliament. Parliament, however, can override this veto with a simple majority of the 150 members of Parliament.

The country's highest appellate forum is the Supreme Court; below that are regional, district, and military courts. In certain cases the law provides for decisions of tribunals of judges to be attended by lay judges from the citizenry. Slovakia also has a special Constitutional Court, which rules on constitutional issues. The 13 members of this court are appointed by the president from a slate of candidates nominated by Parliament.
In 2002, Parliament passed legislation that created a Judicial Council. This 18-member council, composed of judges, law professors, and other legal experts, is now responsible for the nomination of judges. All judges, except those of the Constitutional Court, are appointed by the president from a list proposed by the Judicial Council. The Council also is responsible for appointing Disciplinary Senates in cases of judicial misconduct.

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Ivan Gašparovič
*Prime Minister--Róbert Fico
*Minister of Foreign Affairs--Jan Kubis
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Peter Burian
*Ambassador to NATO--Igor Slobodnik
*Ambassador to the European Union--Maros Sefcovic

===Foreign Relations===
Slovakia officially became a member of the NATO on March 29, 2004 and joined the EU in May 2004. Slovakia has been an active participant in U.S. and NATO-led military actions and a partner in the war on terrorism. A military engineering brigade on the ground in Iraq from August 2003 departed in February 2007. A 57-man military engineering brigade is present at Kadahar airbase in Afghanistan. Slovakia participates in a joint Czech-Slovak peacekeeping force in Kosovo.

Slovakia is a member of the United Nations (it currently holds a temporary Security Council seat) and participates in its specialized agencies. It is a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the OECD. It also is part of the Visegrad Four (Slovakia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Poland), a forum for discussing areas of common concern. Upon the division of Czechoslovakia in 1993, Slovakia and the Czech Republic entered into a Customs Union, which facilitates a relatively free flow of goods and services. Slovakia maintains diplomatic relations with 134 countries. There are 35 embassies and 26 honorary consulates in Bratislava.

==Defense==
The armed forces of the Slovak Republic number about 18,000 uniformed personnel and are made up of Land Forces, Air Forces (which includes air defense forces) and a Joint Training and Doctrine Command. Land forces consist of two mechanized infantry brigades, one with two mech battalions (BMP-1), a tank battalion (T-72), and a combined artillery battalion. The other brigade has three mech battalions (BMP-2).. Each maneuver brigade is or is planned to be task organized with combat support units, such as an artillery battalion, an engineer battalion, a logistics support battalion, and an air defense battery. Other land forces include a separate NBC battalion, engineer battalion, ISTAR company, signal battalion and command support battalion. Air and Air Defense Forces are comprised of a fighter wing of [[MiG-29]]s, a wing of Mi-24 attack and Mi-17 utility helicopters, and a SAM brigade. Military police are under the command of the Ministry of Defense and a special operations regiment falls under the Land Forces Command. The armed forces are among the most respected national institutions according to national opinion polls.

Slovakia's ambitious roadmap for defense reform is the Force 2015 Long-Term Plan, which strikes a well-reasoned balance between requirements and resources and envisions a professionalized, combat-capable force of 18,000 uniformed personnel. Slovakia has about 530 personnel deployed to coalition and NATO-led operations in [[Afghanistan]], [[Iraq]] and [[Kosovo]], as well as UN-led peace support operations (PSOs) worldwide. Defense spending was 1.6% of GDP in 2006.

==Economy==
Since the establishment of the Slovak Republic in January 1993, Slovakia has continued the difficult transformation from a centrally-planned to a modern market-oriented economy. This reform slowed in the 1994-98 period due to the crony capitalism and irresponsible fiscal policies of Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar's government. While economic growth and other fundamentals improved steadily during Meciar's term, public and private debt and trade deficits soared, and privatization, often tarnished by corrupt insider deals, progressed only in fits and starts. Real annual GDP growth peaked at 6.5% in 1995 but declined to 1.3% in 1999. Much of the growth in the Meciar era, however, was attributable to high government spending and over-borrowing rather than productive economic activity.

The pace of economic reforms picked up during the second administration of Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, which oversaw the simplification of the tax system, reforms of the labor code and pension systems, and a large number of privatizations. The economy grew 8.3% in 2006 (the highest economic growth among OECD members and third highest growth in [[Central Europe]]), more than 9% in the first six months of 2007, and is predicted to continue at this pace through the remainder of 2007.

Slovakia entered into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism in November, 2005, and is currently on target to join the Euro Zone on January 1, 2009 by meeting or coming close to meeting the Maastricht Criteria. Headline consumer price inflation dropped from 26% in 1993 to 4.5% in 2006, and fell below 2.4% in the first months of 2007, supported by falling world energy prices and exchange rate appreciation. .The current account deficit, including the cost of the second pension pillar, reached 3.3% in 2006, but the general government deficit for 2007 is forecast at 2.9%.

Government debt was 33% of GDP in 2006.

The exchange rate has remained within the 15% fluctuation bands around the central ERM2 rate, but the central parity rate of the Slovak koruna against the Euro was revalued by 8.5% to SKK 35.4424 in March 2007 in view of significant inflows of foreign direct investment followed by the progressive acceleration of economic growth and substantial appreciation of the estimated equilibrium real exchange rate.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Slovakia has increased dramatically. Cheap and skilled labor force, low taxes, a 19% flat tax for corporations and individuals, no dividend taxes, a relatively liberal labor code and a favorable geographical location are Slovakia's main advantages for foreign investors. Major pillars of sound economic reforms remain untouched even after the 2006 elections. FDI inflow grew more than 600% from 2000 and cumulatively reached an all-time high of,$17.3 billion USD in 2006., or around $18,000 per capita by the end of 2006. The total inflow of FDI in 2006 was $1.31 billion.

Germany is Slovakia's largest trading partner, purchasing 23.52% of Slovakia's exports and supplying 20.48% of its imports in 2006. Other major partners include the Czech Republic (13.9% imports and 12.3% exports), Italy (6.48% and 4.52%), Russia (1.64% and 11.24%), and Austria (5.98% and 3.37%). Slovakia imports nearly all of its oil and gas from Russia and its export markets are primarily OECD and EU countries. More than 85.1% of its trade is with EU members and with OECD countries (89.7%). Slovakia's exports to the United States made up 3.16% of its overall exports in 2006 (1 319.2 mil USD), while imports from the U.S. account for 1.25% of its total purchases abroad (559.1 mil USD).
*GDP (2006): $55.2 billion.
*GDP growth rate (2006): 8.3%.
*Nominal GDP per capita (2006): $18,200 (CIA World Factbook), $17.600 (International Monetary Fund).
*Unemployment (May 2007): 8.3%.
*Natural resources: Antimony, mercury, iron, copper, lead, zinc, magnesite, limestone, lignite, uranium (not yet in production).
*Agriculture: Products--grains, potatoes, poultry, cattle, hogs, sugar, beets, hops, fruit, forest products.
*Industry: Types--iron and steel, chemicals, automobiles, light industry, food processing, back-office support, engineering, building materials.
*Trade (2006): Exports--$41.5 billion: vehicles, iron and steel, machinery and energy equipment, plastics, fiber optics. Imports (2006)--$44.6 billion: mineral fuels and oils, machinery, audio/video equipment, vehicles. Partners-- Germany 23.7%, Czech Republic 14.1%, Italy 6.5%, Poland 6.2%, Austria 6%, Hungary 5.8%, France 4.3%, Netherlands 4.2%.
*Foreign investment (1989-2006, OECD data): Cumulative-$17.3 billion USD, FDI inflow $4.2 billion USD in 2006 (highest-ever FDI inflows). Sources of direct foreign investment-Netherlands 19.5%, Germany 18.2%, Austria14.8%, Italy 12.4%, Hungary 6.1%, UK 5.3%, Czech republic 4.1%, Republic of Korea 3.6%, USA 3.3% (9th largest investor)**, Cyprus 2.7%.. Sectors of direct foreign investment - industrial production, financial services, energy production and distribution, wholesale and retail trade, transportation and telecommunications.

==History==
Slovak history can find its roots in the Great Moravian Empire, founded in the early ninth century. The territory of Great Moravia included all of present western and central Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and parts of neighboring Poland, Hungary, and Germany. Saint Cyril and Methodius, known for the creation of a Cyrillic alphabet, came to Great Moravia in the early tenth century as missionaries to spread Christianity upon the invitation of the king. The empire collapsed after only eighty years as a result of the political intrigues and external pressures from invading forces. Slovaks then became part of the Hungarian Kingdom, where they remained for the next 1,000 years. Bratislava became the Hungarian capital for nearly two and a half centuries when the Turks overran Hungary in the early 16th century.

Revolutions inspired by nationalism swept through [[Central Europe]] in 1848, which led to the codification of the Slovak language by Ludovit Stur in 1846 and later the formation of the dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy in 1867. As language and education policies favoring the use of Hungarian, which came to be known as Magyarization, grew stricter, Slovak nationalism grew stronger. Slovak intellectuals cultivated closer cultural ties with the Czechs, who were themselves ruled by the Austrians. After the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian State after WWI, the concept of a single Czecho-Slovakian unified state came to fruition. Tomas Masaryk signed the Pittsburgh Agreement, declaring the intent of the Czech and Slovaks to found a new state in May 1918, and a year later become Czechoslovakia's first president.

After the 1938 Munich agreement that forced Czechoslovakia to cede territory to Germany, Slovakia declared its autonomy. Slovakia became a Nazi puppet state led by the Catholic priest Jozef Tiso. During this period, approximately 70,000 Slovak Jews were sent to concentration camps to perish in the Holocaust. Roma, while persecuted under the Tiso regime, were not deported by the Slovak Hlinka guards. An undetermined number of Roma were deported from the southern part of Slovakia when it was occupied by Hungary in 1944. The Slovak National Uprising, a resistance movement against the fascist Slovak state, occurred in 1944 with the participation of Slovaks, Russians, Jews, and some allied forces but was put down by Nazi forces.

At the conclusion of WWII, the reunified Czechoslovakia was considered within the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. The communist party, supported by the U.S.S.R., took over political power in February 1948 and began to centralize power. The next four decades were characterized by strict communist rule, interrupted only briefly during the Prague Spring of 1968. The Slovak born Communist leader Alexander Dubcek presided over a thawing of communist power and proposed political, social, and economic reforms in his effort to make "socialism with a human face" a reality. Concern among other [[Warsaw Pact]] governments that Dubcek had gone too far prompted an invasion and Dubcek's removal from his position.

The 1970s were characterized by the development of a dissident movement. On January 1, 1977 more than 250 human rights activists signed a manifesto called Charter 77, which criticized the government for failing to meet its human rights obligation. The so-called "Candle Demonstration," which took place in Bratislava in March 1988, was the first mass demonstration of the 1980s against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia. The Demonstration, organized by Roman Catholic groups asking for religious freedom in Czechoslovakia, was brutally suppressed by the police.

On November 17, 1989, a series of public protests, known as the "Velvet Revolution," began and led to the downfall of communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Dissident groups, such as Charter 77 in the Czech Republic and Public Against Violence in Slovakia, united to form a transitional government and assist with the first democratic elections since 1948. Several new parties emerged to fill the political spectrum.

After the 1992 elections, Vladimir Meciar's Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS), based on its appeal on fairness to Slovak demands for autonomy, emerged as the leading party in Slovakia. In June 1992, the Slovak parliament voted to declare sovereignty and the federation dissolved peacefully on January 1, 1993. Meciar's party--the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS)-- ruled Slovakia the first 5 years as an independent state. His authoritarian style as Prime Minister created international concerns about the democratic development of Slovakia. In the 1998 elections, Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) received about 27% of the vote, but went into the opposition, unable to find coalition partners.

A reform-oriented coalition formed a government led by Mikulas Dzurinda, the chairman of the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU). The first Dzurinda government made political and economic reforms that enabled Slovakia to enter the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), close virtually all chapters in European Union (EU) negotiations, and make the country a strong candidate for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) accession. However, the popularity of the governing parties declined sharply, and several new parties gained relatively high levels of support in public opinion polls.

In the September 2002 parliamentary election, a last-minute surge in support for the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKU) gave Dzurinda a mandate for a second term. He formed a government with three other center-right parties: the Hungarian Coalition Party (SMK), Christian Democrats (KDH), and Alliance of New Citizens (ANO). The main priorities of the coalition were ensuring a strong Slovak performance within NATO and the EU, fighting corruption, attracting foreign investment, and reforming social services, such as the health care system. Following a summer 2003 parliamentary shake-up, the government lost its narrow parliamentary majority and controlled only 69 of the 150 seats; however, the coalition was relatively stable because of the parties' similar political philosophies and conflicts between opposition parties.

Slovakia officially became a member of NATO on March 29, 2004 and joined the EU on May 1, 2004. The government strongly supported Slovakia's NATO and EU accession and continued the democratic and free market-oriented reforms begun by the first Dzurinda government.

Parliamentary elections were held June 17, 2006. Robert Fico became Prime Minister, leading a coalition of SMER (Direction), the Slovak National Party (SNS), and the Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS).
----
(''*Figures are based on immediate city's (not region) Permanent Resident Population.'')

(''**Government of Slovakia official statistic. A recent U.S. Embassy survey found that, taking into account investments of U.S. subsidiaries in Europe, U.S. investment is more than 15% of the total.'')
----

{| style="width: 100%; background:transparent; border: 2px solid #000099;" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1"
!colspan=2 style="width: 100%; text-align: center; background-color: #000088; color: white; "|'''Copyright Details'''
|-
!style="background-color: #000088; color:white;"|License:
|style=" background-color: none;"| This work is in the [[Public Domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the U.S. Code
|-
!style=" background-color: #000088; color:white;"|Source:
|style="background-color: none;border-top: 2px solid black"| File available from the {{{1|[[United States Federal Government]] [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3430.htm]}}}.
|}

{{European Union}}

[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:Landlocked Countries]]
[[Category:Christian-Majority Countries]]

Budapest

2013-01-04T20:27:13Z

Funforever:

'''Budapest''' is the capital of [[Hungary]].

It was formed in 1873 by the merger of the twin cities of [[Buda]] and [[Pest (City)|Pest]]. It is known for its many beautiful old buildings and striking bridges across the River [[Danube]], and is sometimes referred to as "The Paris of Eastern Europe". The population is about 1.7m[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest].

==See also==
[http://english.budapest.hu/Engine.aspx| Official Budapest Website]

[[Category:Hungarian Cities]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:Capital Cities]]
[[Category:Urban History]]

Warsaw

2013-01-04T20:26:53Z

Funforever:

[[Image:Warsaw.jpg|right|300px]]
'''Warsaw''' is the capital city of [[Poland]]. The city is situated on the banks of the [[Wisła River|Wisła]] (Vistula) River and is home to 1.7 million people. The city was extensively destroyed during [[World War Two]]. Many historic buildings and precincts were restored in the post war period. Warsaw is home to the Polish Parliament ([[Sejm]]).

==See also==
* [[History of Poland]]

==External links==
*[http://www.e-warsaw.pl/index.php City of Warsaw official web-site]

[[category:Capital Cities]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:Polish Cities and Towns]]

Poland

2013-01-04T20:26:31Z

Funforever:

{{Country
|name =''Rzeczpospolita Polska''
|map =Poland rel00.jpg
|map2 =Poland location.png
|flag =Flag of Poland.png
|arms =Arms of Poland.png
|capital =Warsaw
|capital-raw =
|government =Parliamentary Republic
|government-raw =
|language =Polish
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Bronisław Komorowski
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Donald Tusk
|pm-raw =
|area =120,728 sq mi
|pop =38,441,588
|pop-basis =2011
|gdp =$413.3 billion
|gdp-year =2007
|gdp-pc =$10,858 (2006)
|currency =Złoty (PLN)
|idd =
|tld =
}}
'''Poland''' is the most [[pro-life]] nation in central [[Europe]] located on its western side. It has suffered many hardships before and after [[World War I]] and [[World War II|II]] disappearing as a nation in 1975 and re-appearing in 1918. Emerging as a nation again after World War I, Poland was partitioned between [[Nazi Germany]] and the [[Soviet Union]] at the start of World War II. Given nationhood again at the end of the war, it was under the shroud of being a Soviet satellite controlled by a [[communist]] regime. Poland finally became liberated from the communist rule in late 1980s. The exact date of the end of communism in Poland is hard to difine, but it is often accepted as July 4, 1989 (the date of the elections won by the ''Solidarność'', or ''Solidarity'' movement. [[Pope John Paul II]] was from Poland and played a major part in bringing down [[communist|communism]] in Poland. Among the nations under Soviet domination, Poland was unique in continuing to keep its strong [[Catholic]] roots even in the face of persecution. The [[capital]] of Poland is [[Warsaw]].

== People ==
[[File:Fickowa Pokusa Poland.JPG|thumb|left|Polish musician.]]
Poland today is ethnically almost homogeneous (98% Polish), in contrast with the period before and during World War II, when there were significant ethnic minorities--4.5 million [[Ukrainiane|Ukrainians]], 3 million [[Jew]]s, 1 million [[Belorusse|Belorussians]], and 800,000 [[German]]s. The majority of the Jews were murdered during the German occupation in World War II, and many others emigrated in the succeeding years.

Most Germans left Poland at the end of the war, while many Ukrainians and Belorussians lived in territories incorporated into the then-U.S.S.R. Small Ukrainian, Belorussian, [[Slovakia]]n, and [[Lithuania]]n minorities reside along the borders, and a German minority is concentrated near the southwest city of Opole.
*Population (July 2006): 38.5 million.
*Annual growth rate: Unchanging.
*Ethnic groups: Polish 98%, German, Ukrainian, Belorussian, Lithuanian.
*Religions: Roman Catholic 90%, Eastern Orthodox, Uniate, Protestant, Judaism.
*Language: Polish.
*Education: Literacy--98%.
*Health (2006): Infant mortality rate--7.2/1,000. Life expectancy--males 71 yrs., females 79 yrs.
*Work force: 17.2 million. Industry and construction--29%; agriculture--16%; services--54%.
=== Religion ===
[[File:St John Cathedral Warsaw Poland.jpg|thumb|left|St. John Cathedral, Warsaw.]]
[[File:Altar in St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Gliwice Poland.jpg|thumb|Altar in St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Gliwice.]]
More than 94% of the population is Roman Catholic. According to the 2007 Annual Statistical Yearbook of Poland, the formal membership of the listed religious groups includes: 33,862,800 Roman Catholics; 506,800 Polish Orthodox Churchmembers; 53,000 Greek Catholics; 126,827 Jehovah's Witnesses; 77,500 Lutherans (Augsburg Confession); 23,670 Old Catholic Mariavits; 21,199 Pentecostals; 9,620 Seventh-day Adventists; 19,035 members of the Polish Catholic Church; 4,881 members of the New Apostolic Church; 4,726 Baptists; 4,445 Methodists; 3,516 Lutherans (Reformed); 2,500 Jews; 2,425 members of the Church of Christ; 2,195 Catholic Mariavits; 1,299 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons); 915 members of the Church of Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishnas); and 112 registered members of Muslim associations. These figures do not account for persons who adhere to a particular faith but do not maintain formal membership. Figures for Jews and Muslims in particular are significantly deflated as a result. Jewish and Muslim organizations estimate their actual numbers to be 30,000-40,000 and 25,000, respectively.<ref> See [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/ U.S. State Department "International Religious Freedom Report 2008"]</ref>

The majority of asylum seekers are Muslims from Chechnya. In the refugee centers around the country, they organize their own mosques where they practice their religion.

Currently, there is a movement in Poland to completely ban [[abortion]]<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,262104,00.html</ref>, however there is an opposite movement to allow abortion to greater extent than it is now. Most political forces in the parliament are in favor of keeping abortion law as it is (allowing abortion when the women's life or health is threatened, when pregnancy is a result of rape or incest, when the fetus is irreversibly damaged). The attempts to change constitution so that it would be stated that life would be protected from the moment of conception to natural death failed.

== Government and Political Conditions ==
The current government structure consists of a council of ministers led by a Prime Minister, typically chosen from the majority coalition in the bicameral legislature's lower house (Sejm). The president, elected every five years for no more than two terms, is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The judicial branch plays a minor role in decision-making.

The parliament consists of the 460-member Sejm and the 100-member Senat, or upper house. The new constitution and the reformed administrative division (as of 1999) required a revision of the election ordinance (passed in April 2001). The most important changes were liquidation of a national list (all deputies are elected by voters in electoral districts) and introduction of a new method of calculating seats (the modified St. Lague method replaced the d'Hondt method, thus eliminating the premium for the top parties). The law stipulated that with the exception of guaranteed seats for small ethnic parties, only parties receiving at least 5% of the total vote could enter parliament.

Parties represented in the newly elected (October 2011) Sejm are [[Civic Platform]] (PO), [[Law and Justice]] (PiS), Palikot's Movement (RP), Polish Peasant Party (PSL), Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), and the United Poland (SP) which was created after elections by former Law and Justice members. There is also one representative of the German Minority and some non-allied members of Parliament

=== Principal Government Officials ===
*President--Bronisław Komorowski
*Prime Minister--Donald Tusk (PO)
*Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration--Jerzy Miller (PO)
*Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy--Waldemar Pawlak (PSL)

[[File:Bronislaw Komorowsk Poland.jpg|left|300px]]

 
President Bronislaw Komorowski.
{{Clear}}

=== Foreign Relations ===
Poland became an associate member of the EU and its defensive arm, the Western European Union, in 1994. In a June 2003 national referendum, the Polish people approved EU accession by an overwhelming margin, and Poland gained full membership on May 1, 2004.

Changes since 1989 have redrawn the map of central Europe, and Poland has had to forge relationships with seven new neighbors. Poland has actively pursued good relations, signing friendship treaties replacing links severed by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact. The Poles have forged special relationships with Lithuania and particularly Ukraine in an effort to firmly anchor these states to the West.

== Defense ==
Poland became a full member of the [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] (NATO) in March 1999 as part of the first wave of enlargement outlined at the July 1997 NATO Summit in [[Madrid]]. Poland's top national security goal is to further integrate with NATO and other west European defense, economic, and political institutions while modernizing and reorganizing its military. Polish military doctrine reflects the same defense posture as its Alliance partners.

Poland maintains a sizable armed force currently numbering about 140,572 troops divided among an army of 87,877, an air and defense force of 31,147, and a navy of 21,548. Poland relies on military conscription for the majority of its personnel strength. All males (with some exceptions) are subject to a 12-month term of military service. The Polish military continues to restructure and to modernize its equipment. The Polish Defense Ministry General Staff and the Land Forces staff have recently reorganized the latter into a NATO-compatible J/G-1 through J/G-6 structure. Although budget constraints remain a drag on modernization, Poland has been able to move forward with U.S. assistance on acquiring 48 [[F-16]] multi-role fighters, [[C-130 Hercules|C-130]] cargo planes, HMMWVs, and other items key to the military’s restructuring.

Poland continues to be a regional leader in support and participation in the NATO Partnership for Peace Program and has actively engaged most of its neighbors and other regional actors to build stable foundations for future European security arrangements. Poland continues its long record of strong support for UN peacekeeping operations by maintaining a unit in Southern Lebanon, a battalion in NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), and by providing and actually deploying the KFOR strategic reserve to Kosovo. Polish military forces have served in both [[Operation Enduring Freedom]] in [[Afghanistan]] and [[Operation Iraqi Freedom]].

Poland assumed command of a multinational division of stabilization forces in Iraq (MDN-CS) on September 3, 2003. Poland and its MND-CS partners have worked effectively since then to stabilize south central Iraq while working to train Iraqi forces to take over MND-CS responsibilities and operate independently. <ref>http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq_orbat_coalition.htm</ref>

== Economy ==
[[File:Pol-cia.jpg|thumb|320px]] The Polish economy grew rapidly in the mid-1990s, slowed considerably in 2001 and 2002, returned again to healthy growth rates in 2003, then faltered during the worldwide [[recession of 2008]]. Poland’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an annualized rate of 5.2% in the first quarter of 2006. Faster growth has begun to reduce persistently high unemployment, from nearly 20% in the middle of 2004 to 16.5% in May 2006. Tight monetary policy and dramatic productivity growth have helped to hold down inflation, which was 2.1% in 2005. Likewise, Poland's current account deficit, which grew rapidly in the late 1990s, has since moderated to 1.4% of GDP in 2005. The 2005 budget deficit was 27.5 billion zloty, or 2.8% of GDP in 2005, and the current government pledged to restrain the 2006 and 2007 budgets at 30 billion zloty.

Throughout the 1990s, the United States and other Western countries supported the growth of a free enterprise economy by reducing Poland's foreign debt burden, providing economic aid, and lowering trade barriers. Poland graduated from U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) assistance in 2000 and paid the balance of its U.S.-held Paris Club debt in 2005. Poland officially joined the European Union (EU) on May 1, 2004.
*GDP (2006): $265.4 billion.
*Real GDP growth (2006): 5.3%.
*Per capita GDP (2006): $14,100.
*Rate of inflation (2006): 1.3%.
*Natural resources: [[Coal]], [[copper]], [[sulfur]], [[natural gas]], [[silver]], [[lead]], [[salt]].
*Agriculture: Products--grains, hogs, dairy, potatoes, horticulture, sugarbeets, oilseed.
*Industry: Types--machine building, iron and steel, mining, shipbuilding, automobiles, furniture, textiles and apparel, chemicals, food processing, glass, beverages.
*Trade (2006): Exports--$110.7 billion: furniture, cars, ships, coal, apparel. Imports--$113.2 billion: crude oil, passenger cars, pharmaceuticals, car parts, computers.

=== Agriculture ===
Agriculture employs 16.1% of the work force but contributes only 5% to the gross domestic product (GDP), reflecting relatively low productivity. Unlike the industrial sector, Poland's agricultural sector remained largely in private hands during the decades of communist rule. Most of the former state farms are now leased to farmer tenants. Lack of credit is hampering efforts to sell former state farmland. Currently, Poland's 2 million private farms occupy 90% of all farmland and account for roughly the same percentage of total agricultural production. These farms are small--8 hectares (ha) on average--and often fragmented. Farms with an area exceeding 15 ha accounted for only 9% of the total number of farms but cover 45% of total agricultural area. Over half of all farming households in Poland produce only for their own needs with little, if any, commercial sales.

Poland is a net exporter of confectionery, processed fruit and vegetables, meat, and dairy products. Processors often rely on imports to supplement domestic supplies of wheat, feed grains, vegetable oil, and protein meals, which are generally insufficient to meet domestic demand. However, Poland is the leading producer in Europe of potatoes and rye and is one of the world's largest producers of sugarbeets. Poland also is a significant producer of rapeseed, grains, hogs, and cattle. Attempts to increase domestic feed grain production are hampered by the short growing season, poor soil, and the small size of farms.

Pressure to restructure the agriculture sector intensified as Poland prepared to accede to the European Union, which is unwilling to subsidize the vast number of subsistence farms that do not produce for the market. The changes in agriculture are likely to strain Poland's social fabric, tearing at the heart of the traditional, family-based small farm as the younger generation drifts toward the cities. Nonetheless, dramatically increasing agricultural exports to the EU-15 (38% growth in 2005) and payments to farmers from Brussels following accession have enriched Polish commercial farmers and dramatically increase support for EU membership in Poland’s rural areas.

[[File:Panorama-Morskiego-Oka Poland.jpg|thumb|center|500px|Panoramic view of Morskie Oko ("Marine Eye").]]

=== Industry ===
[[File:Locomotive train station Poland..jpg|thumb|Locomotive at a train station.]]
Before World War II, Poland's industrial base was concentrated in the coal, textile, chemical, machinery, iron, and steel sectors. Today it extends to fertilizers, petrochemicals, machine tools, electrical machinery, electronics, and shipbuilding.

Poland's industrial base suffered greatly during World War II, and many resources were directed toward reconstruction. The communist economic system imposed in the late 1940s created large and unwieldy economic structures operated under a tight central command. In part because of this systemic rigidity, the economy performed poorly even in comparison with other economies in central Europe.

In 1990, the Mazowiecki government began a comprehensive reform program to replace the centralized command economy with a market-oriented system. While the results overall have been impressive, many large state-owned industrial enterprises, particularly the railroad and the mining, steel, and defense sectors, have remained resistant to the change and downsizing required to survive in an open market economy.

=== Economic Reform Program and Direct Foreign Investment ===
The economic reforms introduced in 1990 removed price controls, eliminated most subsidies to industry, opened markets to international competition, and imposed strict budgetary and monetary discipline. Poland was the first former centrally planned economy in central Europe to end its recession and return to growth in the early 1990s. The private sector now accounts for over two-thirds of GDP.

In early 2002, the government announced a new set of economic reforms known as the Hausner Plan, designed in many ways to complete the process launched in 1990. The package acknowledged the need to improve Poland's investment climate, particularly the conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises, and better prepare the economy to compete as a European Union (EU) member. The government also aimed to improve Poland's public finances to prepare for eventual adoption of the euro. Though the government was able to enact only portions of the Hausner Plan, those successes coupled with successful monetary efforts to strengthen the zloty, have put Poland within reach of the National Bank’s goal of Euro accession in 2008-2009.

As a result of Poland's growth and investment-friendly climate, the country has received over $85 billion in direct foreign investment (DFI) since 1990, with roughly $7 billion in 2004 alone. According to a recently publish report by Ernst and Young, Poland is tied with Germany as the most attractive destination for foreign investment in Europe. The availability of cheap land and a large, relatively skilled labor force are among Polish strengths. However, the government continues to play a strong role in the economy, as seen in excessive red tape and the high level of politicization in many business decisions. Investors complain that state regulation is not transparent or predictable, and the economy suffers from a lack of competition in many sectors, notably telecommunications.

=== Foreign Trade ===
With the collapse of the ruble-based COMECON trading bloc in 1990, Poland scrambled to reorient its trade. As early as 1996, 70% of its trade was with EU-15 members, and neighboring Germany today is Poland's dominant trading partner. Most of Poland's imports are capital goods needed for industrial retooling and for manufacturing inputs, rather than imports for consumption. Therefore, a deficit is expected and should even be regarded as positive at this point. Poland, a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and European Union, applies the EU’s common external tariff to goods from other countries--including the U.S.

In the year after it joined the EU, Poland experienced an overall growth in exports of 30%. This growth was not confined to trade among EU partners: while exports to EU countries rose by 27%, exports to developing countries rose by 46%, and exports to Russia rose an unexpected 77%. Poland’s trade balance continued to improve, with export growth significantly outpacing import growth. Opportunities for trade and investment continue to exist across virtually all sectors. The American Chamber of Commerce in Poland, founded in 1991 with seven members, now has more than 300 members. Strong economic growth potential, a large domestic market, EU membership, and political stability are the top reasons U.S. and other foreign companies do business in Poland.

== History ==
{{main|History of Poland}}
[[File:Polish composer Wojciech Kilar.jpg|thumb|Polish composer Wojciech Kilar.]]
Poland's written history begins with the reign of [[Mieszko I]], who accepted [[Christianity]] for himself and his kingdom in AD 966. The Polish state reached its zenith under the [[Jagiellonian dynasty]] in the years following the union with [[Lithuania]] in 1386 and the subsequent defeat of the [[Teutonic Knights]] at Grunwald in 1410. The Union of Lublin united the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania on July 1, 1569, in Lublin, Poland which created a single state known as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Polish Commonwealth was at one point the largest country in Europe, covering much of what is today Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, and Poland. The Polish experienced their Golden Age during the 16th century. The monarchy survived many upheavals but eventually went into a decline, which ended with the final partition of Poland by [[Prussia]], [[Russia]], and [[Austria]] in 1795.

Independence for Poland was one of the 14 points enunciated by [[President Woodrow Wilson]] during [[World War I]]. Many Polish Americans enlisted in the military services to further this aim, and the United States worked at the postwar conference to ensure its implementation.

However, the Poles were largely responsible for achieving their own independence in 1918 and keeping it shortly thereafter against [[Polish-Soviet War|Red aggression]] from [[Bolshevik]] Russia. Authoritarian rule predominated for most of the period before [[World War II]]. In the years preceding the outbreak of the World War 2, German leader, Adolf Hitler, repeatedly requested an alliance with Poland. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the [[Ribbentrop-Molotov nonaggression pact]], which secretly provided for the dismemberment of Poland into Nazi and Soviet-controlled zones. On September 1, 1939, Hitler ordered his troops into Poland. On September 17, Soviet troops invaded and then occupied eastern Poland under the terms of this agreement. On October 6, all remaining Polish resistance inside Poland ceased and Poland fell to Soviet and German occupation. The eastern half of Poland known as the Kresy, was annexed into the Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus, and Lithuania. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Poland was completely occupied by German troops.

The Poles formed an underground resistance movement and a government in exile, first in [[Paris]] and later in [[London]], which was recognized by the Soviet Union. During World War II, 400,000 Poles fought under Soviet command, and 200,000 went into combat on Western fronts in units loyal to the Polish government in exile.

In April 1943, the Soviet Union broke relations with the Polish government in exile after the German military announced that they had discovered mass graves of murdered Polish army officers at [[Katyn]], in the U.S.S.R. (The Soviets claimed that the Poles had insulted them by requesting that the [[Red Cross]] investigate these reports.) In July 1944, the Soviet Red Army entered Poland and established a communist-controlled "Polish Committee of National Liberation" (PKWN) at Lublin.

Resistance against the Nazis in [[Warsaw]], including uprisings by Jews in the Warsaw ghetto and by the Polish underground, was brutally suppressed. As the Germans retreated in January 1945, they leveled the city.

During the war, about 6 million Poles were killed, and 2.5 million were deported to Germany for forced labor. More than 3 million Jews (all but about 100,000 of the Jewish population) were killed in death camps like those at Oswiecim ([[Auschwitz]]), Treblinka, and Majdanek.

Following the [[Yalta Conference]] in February 1945, a Polish Provisional Government of National Unity was formed in June 1945; the U.S. recognized it the next month. Although the Yalta agreement called for free elections, those held in January 1947 were controlled by the Communist Party. The communists then established a regime entirely under their domination.

==== Communist Party Domination ====
[[File:Socialist reliefs Warsaw.jpg|thumb|left|Socialist relief, Pałac Kultury i Nauki, Warsaw.]]

In 1945, Poland was forced to give up its eastern territories to the Soviet Union, in exchange for Germany's eastern territories of Pomerania and Silesia. Poland took over Germany's former eastern territories and its territories illegally seized by the Soviet Union, including the cities of Lvov and Vilnius were incorporated and annexed under an agreement by the Communist rulers of Poland and the Soviet Union. Poland ended up losing its eastern territories which comprised half of the country and a sizable portion of the population.

In October 1956, after the 20th ("de-Stalinization") Soviet Party Congress in Moscow and riots by workers in Poznan, there was a shakeup in the communist regime. While retaining most traditional communist economic and social aims, the regime of First Secretary Wladyslaw Gomulka liberalized Polish internal life.

In 1968, the trend reversed when student demonstrations were suppressed and an "anti-Zionist" campaign initially directed against Gomulka supporters within the party eventually led to the emigration of much of Poland's remaining Jewish population. In December 1970, disturbances and strikes in the port cities of Gdansk, Gdynia, and Szczecin, triggered by a price increase for essential consumer goods, reflected deep dissatisfaction with living and working conditions in the country. Edward Gierek replaced Gomulka as First Secretary.

Fueled by large infusions of Western credit, Poland's economic growth rate was one of the world's highest during the first half of the 1970s. But much of the borrowed capital was misspent, and the centrally planned economy was unable to use the new resources effectively. The growing debt burden became insupportable in the late 1970s, and economic growth had become negative by 1979.

In October 1978, the Bishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, became [[Pope John Paul II]], head of the [[Roman Catholic Church]]. Polish Catholics rejoiced at the elevation of a Pole to the papacy and greeted his June 1979 visit to Poland with an outpouring of emotion.

In July 1980, with the Polish foreign debt at more than $20 billion, the government made another attempt to increase meat prices. A chain reaction of strikes virtually paralyzed the Baltic coast by the end of August and, for the first time, closed most coalmines in Silesia. Poland was entering into an extended crisis that would change the course of its future development.

==== The Solidarity Movement ====
[[File:Lech Walesa.jpg|thumb|Lech Walesa.]]
On August 31, 1980, workers at the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, led by an electrician named [[Lech Walesa]], signed a 21-point agreement with the government that ended their strike. Similar agreements were signed at Szczecin and in Silesia. The key provision of these agreements was the guarantee of the workers' right to form independent trade unions and the right to strike. After the Gdansk agreement was signed, a new national union movement--"Solidarity"--swept Poland.

The discontent underlying the strikes was intensified by revelations of widespread corruption and mismanagement within the Polish state and party leadership. In September 1980, Gierek was replaced by Stanislaw Kania as First Secretary.

Alarmed by the rapid deterioration of the PZPR's authority following the Gdansk agreement, the Soviet Union proceeded with a massive military buildup along Poland's border in December 1980. In February 1981, Defense Minister Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski assumed the position of Prime Minister as well, and in October 1981, he also was named party First Secretary. At the first Solidarity national congress in September-October 1981, Lech Walesa was elected national chairman of the union.

On December 12-13, the regime declared martial law, under which the army and special riot police were used to crush the union. Virtually all Solidarity leaders and many affiliated intellectuals were arrested or detained. The United States and other Western countries responded to martial law by imposing economic sanctions against the Polish regime and against the Soviet Union. Unrest in Poland continued for several years thereafter.

In a series of slow, uneven steps, the Polish regime rescinded martial law. In December 1982, martial law was suspended, and a small number of political prisoners were released. Although martial law formally ended in July 1983 and a general amnesty was enacted, several hundred political prisoners remained in jail.

In July 1984, another general amnesty was declared, and 2 years later, the government had released nearly all political prisoners. The authorities continued, however, to harass dissidents and Solidarity activists. Solidarity remained proscribed and its publications banned. Independent publications were censored.

==== Roundtable Talks and Elections ====
[[File:Royal Castle of Warsaw Poland.jpg|thumb|left|300px|The Royal Castle of Warsaw.]]
The government's inability to forestall Poland's economic decline led to waves of strikes across the country in April, May, and August 1988. In an attempt to take control of the situation, the government gave de facto recognition to Solidarity, and Interior Minister Kiszczak began talks with Lech Walesa on August 31. These talks broke off in October, but a new series, the "roundtable" talks, began in February 1989. These talks produced an agreement in April for partly open National Assembly elections. The June election produced a Sejm (lower house), in which one-third of the seats went to communists and one-third went to the two parties which had hitherto been their coalition partners. The remaining one-third of the seats in the Sejm and all those in the Senat were freely contested; virtually all of these were won by candidates supported by Solidarity.

The failure of the communists at the polls produced a political crisis. The roundtable agreement called for a communist president, and on July 19, the National Assembly, with the support of some Solidarity deputies, elected General Jaruzelski to that office. Two attempts by the communists to form governments failed, however.

On August 19, President Jaruzelski asked journalist/Solidarity activist Tadeusz Mazowiecki to form a government; on September 12, the Sejm voted approval of Prime Minister Mazowiecki and his cabinet. For the first time in more than 40 years, Poland had a government led by non-communists.

In December 1989, the Sejm approved the government's reform program to transform the Polish economy rapidly from centrally planned to free-market, amended the constitution to eliminate references to the "leading role" of the Communist Party, and renamed the country the "Republic of Poland." The Polish United Workers' (Communist) Party dissolved itself in January 1990, creating in its place a new party, Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland. Most of the property of the former Communist Party was turned over to the state.

The May 1990 local elections were entirely free. Candidates supported by Solidarity's Citizens' Committees won most of the races they contested, although voter turnout was only a little over 40%. The cabinet was reshuffled in July 1990; the national defense and interior affairs ministers--holdovers from the previous communist government--were among those replaced.

In October 1990, the constitution was amended to curtail the term of President Jaruzelski. In December, Lech Walesa became the first popularly elected President of Poland.

==== The Republic of Poland ====
The [[Republic of Poland]] in the early 1990s made great progress toward achieving a fully democratic government and a market economy. In November 1990, Lech Walesa was elected President for a 5-year term. Jan Krzysztof Bielecki, at Walesa's request, formed a government and served as its Prime Minister until October 1991, introducing world prices and greatly expanding the scope of private enterprise.
[[File:Downtown Warsaw skyline Poland 2006.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Downtown Warsaw skyline, 2006.]]
Poland's first free parliamentary elections were held in 1991. More than 100 parties participated, representing a full spectrum of political views. No single party received more than 13% of the total vote.

Since 1991, Poland has conducted five general parliamentary elections and four presidential elections--all free and fair. Incumbent governments have transferred power smoothly and constitutionally in every instance to their successors. The post-Solidarity center-right and post-Communist center-left have each controlled the parliament and the presidency since 1991. Most recently, Poles elected Law and Justice (PiS) candidate and Mayor of Warsaw Lech Kaczynski to a 5-year term as President. Kaczynski narrowly defeated Civic Platform (PO) candidate Donald Tusk and was sworn in December 23, 2005.

PiS was also the top vote-getter in September 25, 2005, parliamentary elections. After coalition talks with runner-up PO collapsed, PiS alone formed a minority government under Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz. Frustrated by its inability to achieve its legislative program alone, PiS formed a formal coalition government with Self-Defense (SO) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) in April 2006. In July 2006, Prime Minister Marcinkiewicz resigned and was replaced by PiS party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski as Prime Minister.
{{Clear}}

== See also ==
*[[Lech Kaczyński]] - President
*[[Jarosław Kaczyński]] - PM
==Further reading==
* Library of Congress. ''A Country Study: Poland'' (1993), highly detailed factual report by U.S. government (it is in the public domain, with no copyright) [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/pltoc.html online edition]
* ''Poland'' (Eyewitness Travel Guides by DK Publishing) (2007)
* ''Lonely Planet Poland'' by Tom Parkinson, et al. (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Poland-Tom-Parkinson/dp/174059522X/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188096687&sr=8-2 online excerpt and search from Amazon.com]
* Biskupski, M. B. ''The History of Poland.'' Greenwood, 2000. 264 pp. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=28002395 online edition]
* Davies, Norman. ''Heart of Europe: A Short History of Poland.'' Oxford University Press, 1984. 511 pp. [http://www.amazon.com/Heart-Europe-Past-Polands-Present/dp/0192801260/ref=pd_bbs_5/103-4827826-5463040?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1192604734&sr=8-5 excerpt and text search]
* Podgórecki, Adam. ''Polish Society'' Praeger, 1994 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=28518609 online edition]
* Turnock, David. ''The Human Geography of East Central Europe.'' Routledge. 2002. [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=108154408 online edition]

== References ==
<References/>

{{Copyright Details (US Government)}}

Source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2875.htm]

{{European Union}}

[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:Central Europe]]
[[Category:Warsaw Pact Members]]
[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Christian-Majority Countries]]

Germany

2013-01-04T20:25:44Z

Funforever:

{{Country
|name =''Bundesrepublik Deutschland''
|map =Germany rel 94.jpg
|map2 =Loc of Germany.PNG
|flag =Flag of Germany.JPG
|arms =Arms of Germany.png
|capital =Berlin
|capital-raw =
|government =Federal Republic (Parliamentary)
|government-raw =
|language =German
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Joachim Gauck
|president-raw =
|chancellor =Angela Merkel
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =137,858 sq mi
|pop =81,471,000
|pop-basis =2011
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$3.045 trillion (2006)
|gdp-pc =$36,975 (2006)
|currency =Euro (formerly the Deutsche Mark)
|idd =
|tld =
}}
[[File:Germ-vote-2009.jpg|200px|thumb|Exit polls from Sept. 2009 election won by the conservative coalition CDU and FDP]]
'''Germany''' (official name: '''Federal Republic of Germany''') is a federally organized [[Democracy]] in [[Central Europe]] with a population of about 82.2 million. The capital city and seat of government is [[Berlin]].

The major ethnic groups are German 94%, Polish 1%, Yugoslavs 1% and others 4%. 34% of the population are Protestants, 34% are Roman Catholics and 4% are Muslim.<ref>https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html</ref>

As Europe's largest economy and the most populous nation wholly within Europe, Germany is a key member of the continent's economic, political, and defense organizations. The central German bank, the [[Bundesbank]], has historically been the most influential force within the financial markets of the European Union.

The September 2009 elections were a major win for the conservative forces led by Chancellor [[Angela Merkel]], breaking a stalemate and opening the way for more conservative economic policies. Previously since an indecisive election in 2005 the Christian Democrats (CDU) (on the center-right) formed a "grand coalition" with the Social Democrats (SPD) (on the center-left). Now Merkel and her CDU will form a coalition with the libertarian, pro-business Free Democrats (FDP). Left in the cold will be the SPD, the Greens, and the ex-Communists who remain strong in the former East Germany under the name "Left party". Merkel is now expected to move forward on tax cuts, reform of the tax code, reduction of bureaucracy and a possible extension of the time that nuclear power plants can continue to operate.<ref>Craig Whitlock, "Germany's Merkel Reelected Easily, Will Form New Coalition," [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/27/AR2009092700631.html?nav=emailpage ''Washington Post'' Sept. 28, 2009]</ref>

Merkel's program announced as she took office Oct. 28 includes $36 billion in income tax cuts, lower business taxes, and higher family benefits. The budget will be in deficit for the next four years, as the government believes the economy is too fragile for spending cuts and that more stimulus is needed to end the recession. By law the budget must be balanced by the year 2016. Nuclear power plants will be given an extension, and Merkel wants to move more of the welfare costs from corporations to households.

==People==
===Demography===
[[File:German-fans.jpg|thumb|250px|German fans.]]
In 2005 there were 388,451 marriages and 201,693 divorces. There were 685,795 births and 830,227 deaths. The number of births has dropped from 767,000 in 2000, while the deaths have risen from 179,600.

The average age at marrying (for the first time) for men was 32 and for women 29. Abortions are officially illegal, according to a 1995 law. However, prosecutions are not brought if they are performed in the first three months of pregnancy after consultation with a doctor. The annual abortion rate, at under ten per 1,000 women aged 15–44, is among the lowest in the world

In 2005 10.2% of all children lived in poverty (in households with income below 50% of the national median).

Germany had a Net Reproduction Rate (NRR) of 0.66 in 1999. A rate of NRR=1.0 equals a constant population. Therefore, in terms of births and deaths (and not counting immigration) the population is shrinking by 34% between generations.[3]

Life expectancy of females at birth in West Germany rose from 71 years in 1954 to 80 years in 2000; the expectancy for boys rose from 66 to 75. Expectancy in the eastern zone was about three years less.

Projected population in 2050 is 76 million, down from the present 82 million. There will be more deaths than births, and that is largely offset by a net inflow of immigrants from 2000 to 2050, predicted to be about 240,000 per year.

<blockquote>
Germany's recent debate about immigration misses an important reality: for Germany, and most all developed countries, attracting educated and skilled foreign workers is a matter of economic survival. <ref>[http://www.cfr.org/germany/germanys-immigration-dilemma/p24213 Germany's Immigration Dilemma.]</ref>
</blockquote>

===Ethnicity===
[[File:Germany - houses.jpg|left|340px]]
Most inhabitants of Germany are ethnic German. There are, however, more than 7 million foreign residents, many of whom are the families and descendants of so-called "guest workers" (foreign workers, mostly from Turkey, invited to Germany in the 1950s and 1960s to fill labor shortages) who remained in Germany. Germany has a sizable ethnic Turkish population. Germany is also a prime destination for political and economic refugees from many developing countries. An ethnic Danish minority lives in the north, and a small Slavic minority known as the Sorbs lives in eastern Germany. Due to restrictive German citizenship laws, most "foreigners" do not hold German citizenship even when born and raised in Germany. However, since the German government undertook citizenship and immigration law reforms in 2002, more foreign residents have had the ability to naturalize.

===Education===
Germany has one of the world's highest average levels of education, technological development, and economic productivity. Since the end of World War II, the number of youths entering universities has more than tripled, and the trade and technical schools of the Federal Republic of Germany (F.R.G.) are reasonable good. German 15-year olds score about average in comparison with similar countries.

At the university level, however, there has been a dramatic decline in quality from the days before Hitler, when German universities were the best in the world. Since the student revolts of 1968, conditions at the once-famous universities have deteriorated badly. A strong egalitarianism prevents the re-emergence of world class faculties and no German university ranks among the top 40 in the world.<ref>Gebhard Schweigler, "Heidelberg is Not Harvard …and Germany is embarrassed." [http://www.atlantic-times.com/archive_detail.php?recordID=83 ''The Atlantic Times'' Dec. 2004]</ref>

The conservative government has tried to reverse the decline by offering €1.9 billion (about $2.7 billion) in excellence grants to numerous schools spread over a period of five years--far less money than Harvard spends in one year. Little improvement has been reported from this small investment. The leading schools are Freiburg, Heidelberg and Konstanz (all in the southern state of Baden-Württemberg), Aachen, Göttingen, the Free University of Berlin, two schools in Munich and Karlsruhe’s Technical University.<ref> Lutz Lichtenberger, "Selective Upgrades The government’s 'Excellence Initiative' grants German universities small packs of ivy seeds," [http://www.atlantic-times.com/archive_detail.php?recordID=1080 ''The Atlantic Times'' Nov. 2007]]</ref> Meanwhile top German scientists and engineers migrate to the United States, where their talents are appreciated.

===Standard of Living===
[[File:Living Germany.jpg|left|170px]]
With a per capita income level of more than $28,700, Germany is a broadly middle class society. A generous social welfare system provides for universal medical care, unemployment compensation, and other social needs. Millions of Germans travel abroad each year.

With unification on October 3, 1990, Germany began the major task of bringing the standard of living of Germans in the former German Democratic Republic (G.D.R.) up to that of western Germany. This has been a lengthy and difficult process due to the relative inefficiency of industrial enterprises in the former G.D.R., difficulties in resolving property ownership in eastern Germany, and the inadequate infrastructure and environmental damage that resulted from years of mismanagement under communist rule.
{{Clear}}

===Extremism===
Economic malaise in eastern Germany is one factor contributing to extremist violence, primarily from the political right. Confusion about the causes of the current hardships and a need to place blame has found expression in harassment and violence by some Germans directed toward foreigners, particularly non-Europeans. The vast majority of Germans condemn such violence.

Wolfgang Schaube, the Interior minister 2005-9, was shot by a deranged man in 1990 and is confined to a wheel chair. He calls on Germans to feel more patriotic, and for immigrants to assimilate faster. He has adopted tough policies on policing and anti-terrorism, such as giving the military authority to shoot down hijacked planes.

===Religion===
[[Image:St Stephens Cathedral interior.jpg|thumb|left|300px|St. Stephens Cathedral (''Stephansdom'') in Passau, Bavaria. ]]
In 2006 the Roman Catholic Church reported a membership of 25.7 million. The Evangelical Church, a confederation of the Lutheran, Uniate, and Reformed Protestant Churches, has 25.3 million members. Together, these two churches account for nearly two-thirds of the population.<ref> According to [http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2008/108448.htm U.S. State Department, "International Religious Freedom Report 2008"]</ref>
[[File:Church pipe organ St Stephen s Cathedral of Passau Germany..jpg|thumb|Church pipe organ, St. Stephen's Cathedral of Passau.]]
Protestant Christian denominations include: New Apostolic Church, 371,305; Ethnic German Baptists from the former Soviet Union (FSU), 85,000; and Baptist, 75,000. Muslims number 3.5 million, including Sunnis, 2.5 million; Alevis, 410,000; and Shi'a, 225,000. Until 2004 the annual number of conversions to Islam was 300, largely Christian women native citizens marrying Muslim men; however, since 2004 the annual numbers of conversions have jumped into the thousands. There are approximately 2,600 Islamic places of worship, including an estimated 150 traditional architecture mosques, with 100 more mosques being planned. One million Muslims are citizens. Orthodox Christians number 1.4 million, including Greek Orthodox/Constantinople Patriarchate, 450,000; Serbian Orthodox, 250,000; Romanian Orthodox, 300,000; and Russian Orthodox/Moscow Patriarchate, 150,000. Buddhists number 245,000, Jehovah's Witnesses 165,000, and Hindus 97,500. The Church of Scientology operates 18 churches and missions, and according to press reports, it has 30,000 members. However, according to the Offices for the Protection of the Constitution (OPC) in Brandenburg and Hamburg, the Church of Scientology has 5,000-6,000 members.

According to estimates, Jews number more than 200,000, of which 107,330 are registered members of the Jewish community. Of these registered community members, 100,967 are immigrants and 6,363 are originally from the country. From 1990 to 2006, approximately 202,000 Jews and non-Jewish dependents from the countries of the FSU arrived, joining 25,000 to 30,000 Jews already in the country. As a result of a more restrictive immigration policy regarding Jews from the FSU, the number of Jewish immigrants decreased to 1,296 in 2007 from 1,971 in 2006 and 3,124 in 2005. The new policy was designed in cooperation with Jewish organizations in order to better manage the integration of individuals into the Jewish community.

An estimated 21 million persons (one-quarter of the population) either have no religious affiliation or belong to unrecorded religious organizations.

On December 18, 2007, the Bertelsmann Foundation published a survey on religious convictions and practice in the country, which failed to confirm the commonly held belief that the country was becoming more secular. Fully 70% of adult respondents said they were religious, and of those, 18% said they were "deeply religious" and regularly attend worship services, up from 15% in earlier studies. In the 18-29 age group, 41% expressed a belief in eternal life and a divine being, more than in any other age bracket. Roman Catholics report that 15% of nominal Catholics regularly attend Sunday Mass. Seventeen years after reunification, the country's eastern part remains far more secular than the west. The Bertelsmann Foundation found former easterners self-identified as 36% religious and 8% deeply religious, in contrast with 78% and 21%, respectively, for those from the west. Only 5 to 10% of eastern citizens belong to a religious organization, but numbers are increasing among non-Lutheran Protestants in the east.
====Discrimination====
[[File:Muslims in Europe map.jpg|thumb|290px|Muslims in Europe by country.]]
There have been recent reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, and practice. Right-wing extremists committed politically motivated crimes against minorities including religious groups, as well as anti-Semitic and anti-Islamic acts. Cemeteries were desecrated, and Muslim communities sometimes suffered societal discrimination when building new mosques and finding allotments of land for cemeteries; however, many members of Government and civil society initiated discussions about Muslim integration and expressed their commitment to addressing the issue. The Roman Catholic and Evangelical churches continued to use "sect commissioners" to warn the public of dangers from some minority religious groups such as the Unification Church, Scientologists, Universal Life (Universelles Leben), and Transcendental Meditation practitioners. Scientologists continue to find "sect filters" used against them in employment as well as discrimination in political party membership.

<blockquote>
Muslim population is around 3 million (3.6%); the majority of the Muslim population is Turkish, with many retaining strong links to Turkey. Others arrived from Bosnia and Kosovo during the Balkan wars. Until recently Muslims were considered "guest workers", who would one day leave the country - a view that is changing. Racist violence is a sensitive issue, with the authorities trying a range of strategies to beat it. Steps are being taken to improve integration. <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4385768.stm#germany Muslims in Europe.]</ref>
</blockquote>

====Religion in schools====
Most public schools offer Protestant and Catholic religious instruction in cooperation with those churches, as well as instruction in Judaism if enough students express interest. The number of Islamic religion classes in public schools continued to grow. In principle, participants of the federal government-sponsored Islam Conference agreed that Islamic education should be made widely available. Education is a state responsibility and, in part because no nationally recognized Islamic organization exists that could assist in developing a curriculum or providing services, the form and content of Islamic instruction vary from state to state. Organizations providing Islamic instruction do not have public law corporation status.

Depending on the state, a nonreligious ethics course or study hall may be available for students not wishing to participate in religious instruction.
[[File:MUSLIM GERMANY RELIGION SCHOOL.jpg|thumb|left|330px|Coauthors Evelin Lubig-Fohsel and Guel Solgun-Kaps hold the German-language textbook they wrote for state-sponsored religion classes in Germany’s schools.]]
Islamic classes in public schools continued to be a controversial topic but were increasingly common throughout the country, except in areas where the Muslim population was too small to support them. Although no Muslim group had "public law corporation" status that would entitle them to offer Islamic courses, state governments recognized the need and demand and worked with local Muslim organizations to establish such courses. On March 13, 2008, the Interior Minister was quoted in the press indicating that the Federal Government and Muslim community leaders had reached an agreement in principle that schools should offer classes in Islam taught in German alongside the other religions, but he noted that it would take time to implement the agreement.

There are an estimated 900,000 Muslim students in the public school system; Islamic education in schools is offered in some states. At the start of the 2006‑07 school year, authorities in Baden‑Wuerttemberg established a two‑course system: one for Sunni and Shi'a students and another for Alevis. State officials and Muslim groups in Baden‑Wuerttemberg agreed upon the system and the initial reactions were positive. Some states offered similar programs while others were working with Muslim leaders to establish a uniform curriculum. Later in the year, universities in Frankfurt, Ludwigsburg, Karlsruhe, and Weingarten began offering training courses in the teaching of Islam.

The legal obligation that children attend school, confirmed by the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice in 2006, continued to be a problem for some home-schooling advocates, such as Baptists from the FSU in Eastern Westphalia, due to concerns about sex education and the teaching of evolution. On August 2, 2007, the Stuttgart Administrative Court dismissed the case brought by several Russian‑German immigrant families belonging to the Baptist group Gemeinde Gottes who had petitioned in 2004 to send their children to a private religious school run by members of their community. The court ruled that the teaching staff was insufficiently qualified. Other home-schooling cases remain in the court system.

<blockquote>
Public schools in Germany must offer religion classes, and pilot courses in Islam are now being offered in addition to established programs in Judaism, Catholicism, and Protestantism. <ref>[http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0120/Why-German-public-schools-now-teach-Islam Why German public schools now teach Islam.]</ref>
</blockquote>

===State support for religion===
In order to help support [[Protestant]], [[Catholic]], and [[Jewish]] religious institutions, the German state collects [[taxes]] on members of those religions and passes the funding along to the relevant religious administrative body. <ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19737983]</ref>

===Data===
*Population (2007 est.): 82 million.
*Ethnic groups: Primarily German; Danish minority in the north, Sorbian (Slavic) minority in the east; 7.3 million foreign residents.
*Religions: Protestants (26 million); Roman Catholics (26 million); approximately 3.2 million Muslims.
*Language: German.
*Education: Years compulsory--9-13 (depending on the Land); attendance--100%; literacy--99%.
*Health: Infant mortality rate (2006 est.)--4.12/1,000; life expectancy (2006 est.)--women 81.96 years, men 77.81 years.
*Persons employed (2006 avg.): 39.08 million; unemployed (2006 avg.): 9.8% of labor force.

==Government==
===Executive Branch===
[[File:Merkel.jpg|thumb|Angela Merkel.]]
Germany has a president as [[head of state]]. The president's powers are essentially representative.
The current president is Joachim Gauck.

The actual political power and head of government is the chancellor ("Bundeskanzler"), who is elected by federal parliament ("Bundestag"). The chancellor is typically elected in the first session of a newly elected Bundestag for the entire legislative period of four years. The parliament can only force the chancellor to resign in a ''constructive motion of no-confidence'', if it elects at the same time a new Chancellor. The current chancellor is [[Angela Merkel|Dr. Angela Merkel]]. The current government is a center-right coalition between the Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the Free Democrats (FDP).<ref>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,569386,00.html</ref>
{{Clear}}

===Legislative Branch===
[[File:Bonn Bundestag Plenarsaal Germany.jpg|thumb|left|280px|Bundestag Plenarsaal at Bonn.]]
Germany has a bicameral system with a federal parliament ("Bundestag") and a representation of the states ("Bundesrat"). The members of Bundestag in elected every four years, using a personalized proportional system. The members of the Bundesrat are representatives of the state governments, and the delegations of each state are required to vote as a bloc on behalf of their governments. Each delegation has between 3 and 6 members, depending on the size of the represented state. The position of president of the Bundesrat rotates on an annual basis between the prime ministers of the states.
{{Clear}}

===Judicative Branch===
The German constitution provides for an independent jurisdiction. The highest appeals court in Germany is the Federal Court of Justice ("Bundesgerichtshof"), which is seated in the Southwestern city of [[Karlsruhe]]. Members of the Federal court are elected by a committee, with 16 delegates from the states, one from each state, appointed by the state governments, and 16 delegates appointed by the federal parliament. The Federal Constitutional Court ("Bundesverfassungsgericht") is the highest court to review decisions and acts by the executive and legislative branches of government. It can be called to determine whether public acts are unconstitutional and can render them ineffective if they are not. This court is also seated in city of Karlsruhe, and it members are elected by the Bundesrat and Bundestag, and need a 2/3 majority in each.

===Political Parties===
====Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU)====
An important aspect of postwar German politics was the emergence of a moderate, ecumenical Christian party--the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)--operating in alliance with a related Bavarian party, the Christian Social Union (CSU). Although each party maintains its own structure, the two form a common caucus in the Bundestag and do not run opposing campaigns. The CDU/CSU has adherents among Catholics, Protestants, rural interests, and members of all economic classes. It is generally conservative on economic and social policy and more identified with the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.

====Social Democratic Party (SPD)====
[[File:German party SPD.jpg|140px|left]]
The SPD is one of the oldest organized political parties in the world. It originally advocated Marxist principles, but in the 1959 Godesberg Program abandoned the concept of a "class party" while continuing to stress social welfare programs. Under the leadership of Gerhard Schroeder, the SPD-Greens government implemented in 2003 the centrist Agenda 2010 reforms, designed to modernize the country's social system and labor market. The SPD has a powerful base in the bigger cities and industrialized states.
{{Clear}}

====Free Democratic Party (FDP)====
The FDP has traditionally been composed mainly of middle and upper class Protestants who consider themselves heirs to the European liberal tradition. It supports free trade and reducing the role of the state in economic policy. It is libertarian on social issues. The party has participated in all but three postwar federal governments but has not been in federal government since 1998.

====The Communist Left====
[[File:German communist logo.jpg|thumb|200px|A German communist logo.]]
The PDS (for 'Partei des demokratischen Sozialismus'; "Party of Democratic Socialism", the renamed communist party of the former East Germany, and follow-up of the [[SED]]) and the WASG (for 'Wahlalternative Arbeit und Soziale Gerechtigkeit'; "Voting alternative work and social justice") composed of west-German leftists) merged in June 2007 to form a party simply known as "The Left." The party's foreign policy is largely shaped by its rigid opposition to foreign military deployments, for example in [[Afghanistan]], and insists on an immediate pull-out. On domestic policy, the party opposes economic and social reforms, such as Hartz IV, which aim to increase free markets and reduce unemployment benefits. The Left proposes to weaken the free market system with a new orientation to democratic socialist principles. The Left also experienced a lot of criticism due to its communist wing, the 'communist platform' which makes up 4.4% of the national vote, an insufficient total to clear the 5 percent hurdle. <ref>[http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/facts/bl_electoral_system.htm German Culture.com; Electoral System of Germany (next to last paragraph]</ref>
{{Clear}}

====Alliance 90/Greens====
In the late 1970s, environmentalists organized politically as the Greens. Opposition to nuclear power, military power, and certain aspects of highly industrialized society were principal campaign issues. In the December 1990 all-German elections, the Greens merged with the Eastern German Alliance 90, a loose grouping of civil rights activists with diverse political views. The Greens joined a federal government for the first time in 1998, forming a coalition with the SPD.

====Other parties====
Because of the instability caused by the need for multi-party coalitions in the Weimar Republic, Germany's Basic Law today requires parties reach 5% of the vote to win seats in the Bundestag. In addition to those parties that won representation in the Bundestag in 2005, a variety of minor parties won a cumulative 2.7% of the vote, down from 3.0% in 2002. Several other parties were on the ballot in one or more states but did not qualify for representation in the federal Bundestag. Recent Polls polls indicate a rising popularity of the German Pirate Party. With results as high as 10% it is possible for the Pirate Party to be a part of the next Bundestag.<ref>http://www.wahlrecht.de/umfragen/index.htm</ref>

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Joachim Gauck
*President of the Bundestag--Norbert Lammert (CDU)
*Chancellor--Angela Merkel (CDU)
*Vice Chancellor and Minister of Economics and Technology--Philipp Rösler (FDP)
*Minister of Defense--Thomas de Maizière (CDU)
*Minister of Finance--Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU)
*Minister of Interior--Hans-Peter Friedrich (CSU)
*Minister of Labor and Social Affairs--Ursula von der Leyen (CDU)
*Minister of Justice--Sabine Leutheuser-Schnarrenberger (FDP)
*Minister of Minister of Foreign Affairs--Guido Westerwelle (FDP)
*Minister of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection--Ilse Aigner (CSU)
*Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth--Kristina Schröder (CDU)
*Minister of Health--Daniel Bahr (FDP)
*Minister of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs--Peter Ramsauer (CSU)
*Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety--Norbert Röttgen (CDU)
*Minister of Education and Research--Annette Schavan (CDU)
*Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development--Dirk Niebel (FDP)
*Head of the Federal Chancellery and Minister for Special Tasks--Ronald Pofalla (CDU)

===Foreign Relations===
[[File:German Foreign Minister Welcomes Ukrainian President Yanukovych.jpg|thumb|340px|German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle welcomes Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in Berlin, 2010.]]
Germany continues to emphasize close ties with the United States, membership in NATO, and the "deepening" of integration among current members of the EU. The Federal Republic of Germany took part in all of the joint postwar efforts aimed at closer political, economic, and defense cooperation among the countries of western Europe. Germany has been a large net contributor to the EU budget. Germany also is a strong supporter of the United Nations and of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

During the postwar era, the Federal Republic of Germany also sought to improve its relationship with the countries of Central Europe freed from communism, first establishing trade agreements and, subsequently, diplomatic relations. With unification, German relations with the restored democracies in central and eastern Europe intensified. On November 14, 1990, Germany and Poland signed a treaty confirming the Oder-Neisse border. They also concluded a cooperation treaty on June 17, 1991. Germany concluded four treaties with the Soviet Union covering the overall bilateral relationship, economic relations, the withdrawal of Soviet troops from the territory of the former G.D.R., and German support for those troops. Russia accepted obligations under these treaties as successor to the Soviet Union. Germany continues to be active economically in the states of central and eastern Europe and to actively support the development of democratic institutions, bilaterally and through the EU.

====Relations with the United States====
[[File:Nazi crowd salute.jpg|thumb|300px|Nazi crowd salute.]]
U.S.-German relations have been a focal point of American involvement in Europe since the end of World War II. Germany stands at the center of European affairs and is a key partner in U.S. relations with Europeans in NATO and the European Union.

German-American ties extend back to the colonial era. More than 7 million Germans have immigrated over the last three centuries, and today nearly a quarter of U.S. citizens claim German ancestry. In recognition of this heritage and the importance of modern-day U.S.-German ties, the U.S. President annually has proclaimed October 6, the date the first German immigrants arrived in 1623, to be "German-American Day."

U.S. policy toward Germany remains the preservation and consolidation of a close and vital relationship with Germany, not only as friends and trading partners, but also as allies sharing common institutions. During the 45 years in which Germany was divided, the U.S. role in Berlin and the large American military presence in West Germany served as symbols of the U.S. commitment to preserving peace and security in Europe. Since German unification, the U.S. commitment to these goals has not changed. The U.S. made significant reductions in its troop levels in Germany after the Cold War ended, and, on July 12, 1994, President Clinton "cased the colors" at the Berlin Brigade's deactivation ceremony. The U.S., however, continues to recognize that the security and prosperity of the United States and Germany significantly depend on each other.

As allies in NATO, the United States and Germany work side by side to maintain peace and freedom. This unity and resolve made possible the successful conclusion of the 1987 U.S.-U.S.S.R. Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), the Two-plus-Four process--which led to the Final Settlement Treaty--and the November 1990 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty.
[[File:President and First Lady Obama with Chancellor Merkel.jpg|thumb|left|320px|President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are welcomed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her husband, professor Joachim Sauer, to Rathaus in Baden-Baden, Germany, 2009.]]
More recently, the two allies have cooperated closely in peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans and have worked together to encourage the evolution of open and democratic states throughout central and eastern Europe. Germany is also a strong contributor to our common effort to secure peace and stability in Afghanistan, contributing almost 3,000 troops to the NATO ISAF mission.

Following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, Germany has been a reliable U.S. ally in the campaign against terrorism. As two of the world's leading trading nations, the United States and Germany share a common, deep-seated commitment to an open and expanding world economy. Personal ties between the United States and Germany extend beyond immigration to include intensive foreign exchange programs, booming tourism in both directions, and the presence in Germany of large numbers of American military personnel and their dependents.

The United States and Germany have built a solid foundation of bilateral cooperation in a relationship that has changed significantly over nearly six decades. The historic unification of Germany and the role the United States played in that process have served to strengthen ties between the two countries.

German-American political, economic, and security relationships continue to be based on close consultation and coordination at the most senior levels. High-level visits take place frequently, and the United States and Germany cooperate actively in international forums.

====War on Terror====
Germany currently contributes troops to the NATO-led ISAF operation in [[Afghanistan]], but did not support the invasion of [[Iraq]]. German military participates in NATO Force Protection Program, protecting US military bases located in Germany.

====Libya====

[[Libyan uprising 2011]]

<blockquote>
Germany’s Defense Minister Thomas de Maziere has criticized NATO’s controversial military operation in Libya and lack of foresight when it comes to intervening in the North African country. [http://2012indyinfo.wordpress.com/2011/06/19/presstv-germany-slams-nato-mission-in-libya/]
</blockquote>

==Economy==
[[Image:The_castle3.jpg|right|thumb|270px|Neuschwanstein Castle, a popular tourist destination.]]
Germany is the world's third-largest economy and the largest in Europe.
From the 1948 currency reform until the early 1970s, West Germany experienced almost continuous economic expansion. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed down, and even declined, from the mid-1970s through the recession of the early 1980s. The economy then experienced 8 consecutive years of growth that ended with a downturn beginning in late 1992. Since unification, Germany has seen annual average real growth of only about 1.5% and stubbornly high unemployment. In 2006, Germany had its best year since 2000 with 2.7% growth; for 2007, growth was at 2.5% despite a 3 percentage point VAT hike at the beginning of the year. The government forecasts 1.7% growth in GDP for 2008. Unemployment in 2007 dropped to an annualized average of 9.0% nationwide, but it is still significantly higher--15.1%--in the German states that make up the former East Germany.

Germans often describe their economic system as a "social market economy." The German Government provides an extensive array of social services. The state intervenes in the economy by providing subsidies to selected sectors and by owning some segments of the economy, while promoting competition and free enterprise. The government has restructured the railroad system on a corporate basis, privatized the national airline, and is privatizing telecommunications and postal services.

The German economy is heavily export-oriented, with exports accounting for more than one-third of national output. As a result, exports traditionally have been a key element in German macroeconomic expansion, accounting for over half of the economic growth in recent years. Germany is a strong advocate of closer European economic integration, and its economic and commercial policies are increasingly determined within the European Union (EU). Germany uses the common European currency, the euro, and the European Central Bank sets monetary policy.
[[File:German transmission lines.jpg|thumb|left|340px|Transmission lines and generating stations.]]
In the early-mid 2000s, Germany adopted a complex set of labor/social welfare reforms to overcome structural weaknesses of the German welfare state and to create policies more conductive to employment. Defying a skeptical German public, the coalition government of Chancellor Angela Merkel initiated additional reform measures, such as the gradual increase in the mandatory retirement age from 65 to 67--a move that would add 2.5 million to the workforce by 2030. Subsequently, however, there has been active political debate and some rollback of these labor reforms; most notably the government decided to extend the payment period of unemployment benefits to older workers in early 2008.

Fifteen years after reunification (October 3, 1990), Germany had made great progress in raising the standard of living in eastern Germany, introducing a market economy and improving its infrastructure. At the same time, the process of convergence between east and west is taking longer than originally expected and, on some measures, has stagnated since the mid-1990s. Eastern economic growth rates have been lower than in the west in recent years, unemployment is twice as high, prompting many skilled easterners to seek work in the west, and productivity continues to lag. Eastern consumption levels are dependent on public net financial transfers from west to east totaling about $13 billion per year. In addition to social assistance payments, the government will extend funds to promote eastern economic development through 2019.

The United States is Germany's second-largest trading partner, and U.S.-German trade has continued to grow strongly. Two-way trade in goods totaled $184 billion in 2007. U.S. exports to Germany were $ 71 billion while U.S. imports from Germany were more than $113 billion. At nearly $45 billion, the U.S.'s fifth-largest trade deficit is with Germany. Major U.S. export categories include aircraft, electrical equipment, telecommunications equipment, data processing equipment, and motor vehicles and parts. German export sales are concentrated in metalworks, motor vehicles, machinery, chemicals and heavy electrical equipment. Much bilateral trade is intra-industry or intra-firm.

Germany has a liberal foreign investment policy. For 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, German investment in the U.S. amounted to 233 billion euros (29 % of all German foreign direct investment, or FDI; the U.S. is the number-one destination for German FDI), while U.S. investment in Germany was 45 billion euros (11.5 % of all FDI invested in Germany; U.S. is third-largest source of FDI in Germany).

U.S. firms employ about 510,000 people in Germany; German firms likewise employ about 746,000 people in the United States.

Despite persistence of some structural rigidities in the labor market and extensive government regulation, the economy remains strong and internationally competitive. Although production costs are very high, Germany is still an export powerhouse, and unit labor costs have decreased in the last 10 years. Additionally, Germany is strategically placed to take advantage of the rapidly growing central European countries. The current government has addressed some of the country's structural problems, with important tax, social security, and financial sector reforms.
*GDP (2007 est.): $3.1 trillion.
*Annual growth rate: (2006) 2.7%; (2007) 2.5%.
*Per capita income (PPP, 2006): $31,900.
*Inflation rate (consumer prices, 2007): 2.2%.
*Natural resources: Iron, hard coal, lignite, potash, natural gas.
*Agriculture (0.9% of GDP): Products--corn, wheat, potatoes, sugar, beets, barley, hops, viticulture, forestry, fisheries.
*Industry (29.1% of GDP): Types--car-making; mechanical, electrical, and precision engineering; chemicals; environmental technology; optics; medical technology; biotech and genetic engineering; nanotechnology; aerospace; logistics.
*Trade (2006): Exports--$1.03 trillion: chemicals, motor vehicles, iron and steel products, manufactured goods, electrical products. Major markets--France, U.S., and U.K. Imports--$844 billion: food, petroleum products, manufactured goods, electrical products, motor vehicles, apparel. Major suppliers--France, Netherlands, U.S.

The German economy showed substantial improvement in 2007 at 2.5% growth due to the effect of recent economic reforms and strong global economic growth. The export-led recovery is now filtering through to the domestic economy where private consumption has long been at a low level.
===Crisis of 2008===
The worldwide [[Financial Crisis of 2008]] hit Germany in the summer, revealing high risk policies pursued by numerous large banks looking for high rates of return outside Germany. In September the government unveiled a $635-billion bailout package for its floundering banks. Economic growth for 2009 is forecast to be an anemic 0.2%.

Automobile manufacturing is a major sector, but the financial crisis caused credit to be harder to obtain; many families postponed purchases. Auto exports fell 10% in October 2008 from October 2007; domestic sales dropped 8%. In contrast 2007 was a record year with production of 12.1 million vehicles and employment of 756,000 workers; an eighth of those jobs were created in the last five years alone.

==History==
See [[German History]]

==The states (Bundesländer) and their capitals==
[[File:Frankfurt skyline.jpg|thumb|300px|Frankfurt am Main, Hesse.]]
(In alphabetical order)
* [[Baden-Wuerttemberg]]: [[Stuttgart]]
* [[Bavaria]] (''Bayern''): [[München]]
* [[Berlin]]: [[Berlin]]
* [[Brandenburg]]: [[Potsdam]]
* [[Bremen]]: [[Bremen]]
* [[Hamburg]]: [[Hamburg]]
* [[Hesse]] (''Hessen''): [[Wiesbaden]]
* [[Mecklenburg-Vorpommern]]: [[Schwerin]]
* [[Lower Saxony]] (''Niedersachsen''): [[Hannover]]
* [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] (''Nordrhein-Westfalen''): [[Düsseldorf]]
* [[Rhineland-Palatinate]] (''Rheinland-Pfalz''): [[Mainz]]
* [[Saarland]]: [[Saarbrücken]]
* [[Saxony]] (''Sachsen''): [[Dresden]]
* [[Saxony-Anhalt]] (''Sachsen-Anhalt''): [[Magdeburg]]
* [[Sleswick-Holsatia]] (''Schleswig-Holstein''): [[Kiel]]
* [[Thuringia]] (''Thüringen''): [[Erfurt]]

==Famous Germans==
{|
|-
|
*[[Konrad Adenauer]]
*[[Hannah Arendt]]
*[[Johann Sebastian Bach]]
*[[Franz Beckenbauer]]
*[[Boris Becker]]
*[[Pope Benedict XVI]]
*[[Ludwig van Beethoven]]
*[[Otto von Bismarck]]
*[[Heinrich Böll]]
*[[Willy Brandt]]
*[[Wernher von Braun]]
*[[Bertolt Brecht]]
*[[Dietrich Buxtehude]]
*[[Marlene Dietrich]]
*[[Albrecht Dürer]]
*[[Albert Einstein]]
*[[Roland Emmerich]]
*[[Friedrich Engels]]
*[[Daniel Fahrenheit]]
*[[Rainer Werner Fassbinder]]
|
*[[Joseph Goebbels]]
*[[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]]
*[[Hermann Göring]]
*[[Günter Grass]]
*[[Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen]]
*[[Johannes Gutenberg]]
*[[Georg Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Otto Hahn]]
*[[Friedrich Händel]]
*[[Ernst August von Hannover]]
*[[Karl August von Hardenberg]]
*[[Friedrich Hegel]]
*[[Werner Heisenberg]]
*[[Heinrich Hesse]]
*[[Heinrich Himmler]]
*[[Adolf Hitler]]
*[[Oliver Kahn]]
*[[Henry Kissinger]]
*[[Helmut Kohl]]
|
*[[Käthe Kollwitz]]
*[[Otto Kretschmer]]
*[[Loriot]]
*[[Martin Luther]]
*[[Rosa Luxemburg]]
*[[Thomas Mann]]
*[[Karl Marx]]
*[[Angela Merkel]]
*[[Lise Meitner]]
*[[Anne-Sophie Mutter]]
*[[Dirk Nowitzki]]
*[[Friedrich Nietzsche]]
*[[Erwin Rommel]]
*[[Friedrich Schiller]]
*[[Gerhard Schröder]]
*[[Heinrich Schliemann]]
*[[Michael Schumacher]]
*[[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]
*[[Richard Wagner]]
*[[Wim Wenders]]
|}

==Further reading==
* Schafers, Bernha, ''The State of Germany Atlas'' (1998) [http://www.amazon.com/State-Germany-Atlas-Bernha-Schafers/dp/0415188261/ref=sr_1_27?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324991&sr=1-27 excerpt and text search]
* Schulte-Peevers, Andrea, et al. ''Lonely Planet Germany'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Germany-Andrea-Schulte-Peevers/dp/1740599888/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324694&sr=1-3 excerpt and text search]

===Since 1990===
* Alba, Richard. Peter Schmidt, and Martina Wasmer. ''Germans or Foreigners?: Attitudes Toward Ethnic Minorities in Post-Reunification Germany'' (2004) [http://www.amazon.com/Germans-Foreigners-Minorities-Post-Reunification-Transition/dp/1403963789/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324886&sr=1-22 excerpt and text search]
* Berghahn, Volker Rolf. ''Modern Germany: society, economy, and politics in the twentieth century'' (1987) [http://hdl.handle.net.proxy.cc.uic.edu/2027/heb.01673 ACLS E-book]
* Buse, Dieter K. ed. ''Modern Germany: An Encyclopedia of History, People, and Culture 1871-1990'' (2 vol 1998)
* Kahn, Charlotte. ''Ten Years of German Unification: One State, Two Peoples'' (2000) [http://www.questia.com/read/23486249 online edition]
* Larres, Klaus. ''Germany Since Unification: The Development of the Berlin Republic'' (2nd ed. 2001) [http://www.amazon.com/Germany-Since-Unification-Second-Development/dp/0333919998/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324991&sr=1-28 excerpt and text search]

===Economics and society===
* Siebert, Horst. ''The German Economy: Beyond the Social Market'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/German-Economy-Beyond-Social-Market/dp/0691096643/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201328508&sr=8-1 excerpt and text search]
* Zimmermann, Klaus F. et al. ''Immigration Policy and the Labor Market: The German Experience and Lessons for Europe'' (2007) [http://www.amazon.com/Immigration-Policy-Labor-Market-Experience/dp/354068381X/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201328716&sr=8-9 excerpt and text search]

====Politics====
* Green, Simon, and William E. Paterson. ''Governance in Contemporary Germany: The Semisovereign State Revisited'' (2005) [http://www.amazon.com/Governance-Contemporary-Germany-Semisovereign-Revisited/dp/0521848814/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324991&sr=1-25 excerpt and text search]
* Hancock, M. Donald, ''Politics in Europe: An Introduction to the Politics of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden'' (2006) [http://www.amazon.com/Politics-Europe-Introduction-Kingdom-Germany/dp/1933116455/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1201324694&sr=1-11 excerpt and text search]
* Schmidt, Manfred G. ''Political Institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany'' (2003) ISBN 0198782594

==See also==
*[[Prussia]]
*[[Bavaria]]
*[[German Painting]]
*[[Gallery of German Masterpieces]]

== External links ==
*[http://www.justgermany.org/germany/germany-facts.asp Germany Basic Facts.]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

 
===Sources===
* source: [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3997.htm US State Department Country Study]

{{European Union}}

[[Category:German History]]
[[Category:Germany]]
[[Category:NATO members]]

Switzerland

2013-01-04T20:23:57Z

Funforever:

{{Country
|name =''Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft (German) Confédération suisse (French) Confederazione Svizzera (Italian) Confederaziun svizra (Romansch)''
|map =Switzerland rel 2000.jpg
|map2 =Switzerland location.png
|flag =Flag of Switzerland.png
|arms =Arms of Switzerland.png
|capital =Bern
|capital-raw =
|government-raw =[[Federal|Federal State]], [[direct democracy]]
|language =German, French, Italian, Romansch
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =
|pm-raw =
|area =41,285 sq mi
|pop =7,508,700 (2006)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =
|gdp-year =$264.1 billion (2005)
|gdp-pc =$50,532 (2005)
|currency =Swiss franc
|idd =
|tld =
}}

'''Switzerland''' is a [[Europe]]an country located in [[Central Europe]] between [[Germany]], [[Italy]], [[France]], and [[Austria]]. Its capital is [[Bern]], and its largest city is [[Zurich]]. Four languages have been designated as official: [[German]], [[French]], [[Italian]], and [[Romansch]] (a dialect spoken by a small minority, closely related to [[Latin]]). Switzerland has been an independent country since 1291 and is a confederation of 26 cantons with elements of direct democracy in that all laws passed by parliament can be overturned by arranging a [[referendum]]. Switzerland is also well-known for having strict [[neutrality]].

==People==
Switzerland sits at the crossroads of several major European cultures, which have heavily influenced the country's languages and cultural practices. Switzerland has four official languages--German, French, Italian, and Romansch (based on Latin and spoken by a small minority in the Canton Graubunden). The [[German]] spoken is predominantly a Swiss dialect, but newspapers and some broadcasts use [[High German]]. Many Swiss speak more than one language. [[English]] is widely known, especially among professionals.
[[File:Alphorn players in Vals Switzerland.JPG|thumb|250px|left|Alphorn players in Vals.]]
More than 75% of the population lives in the central plain, which stretches between the [[Alps]] and the [[Jura]] Mountains and from [[Geneva]] in the southwest to the [[Rhine]] River and [[Lake Constance]] in the northeast. Resident foreigners and temporary foreign workers make up about 20% of the population.

According to the Swiss Federal Office of Statistics, the population in Switzerland increased to an estimated 7,523,934 by July 2006. Three-quarters of this growth was attributed to migration. Switzerland naturalized 22% more people in 2006 compared to 2005, totaling 46,700 persons. By the end of 2006, there were 850,000 foreigners working legally in Switzerland. The rise of German immigrants, as confirmed in earlier reports, increased by 10.6% (+10,000). Portuguese workers also increased by 7.4% (+7000). On the other hand, the number of the Italians continued to drop by –3.2% (-5000). The major ethnic groups are: German 65%, French 10%, and Italians 6%.

Almost all Swiss are literate. Switzerland's 13 university institutes enrolled 111,100 students in the academic year of 2004-05. About 25% of the adult population holds a diploma of higher learning.

The Constitution guarantees freedom of worship, and the different religious communities co-exist peacefully. About 40% of the population are [[Protestants]] and 46% are [[Roman Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]s.

Switzerland consistently ranks high on quality of life indices, including highest per capita income, one of the highest concentrations of computer and Internet usage per capita, highest insurance coverage per individual, and high health care rates. For these and many other reasons, it serves as an excellent [[test market]] for businesses hoping to introduce new products into Europe.

==Government==
Switzerland is a federal state composed of 26 [[canton]]s (20 are "full" cantons and six "half" cantons for purposes of representation in the federal legislature) that retain many attributes of [[sovereignty]], such as fiscal autonomy and the right to manage internal cantonal affairs. The 1874 Constitution began, "Together, the peoples of the 23 sovereign Cantons of Switzerland united by the present alliance..." Similarly, under the current 2000 Constitution, cantons hold all powers not specifically delegated to the federation. Switzerland's federal institutions are:
*A bicameral legislature--the Federal Assembly;
*A collegial executive of seven members--the Federal Council; and
*A judiciary consisting of a regular court in [[Lausanne]]--the Federal Tribunal--and special military and administrative courts.
**The Federal Insurance Tribunal is an independent division of the Federal Tribunal that handles social security questions; its seat is in [[Lucerne]].
**The Federal Criminal Court, located in [[Bellinzona]], is the [[court of first instance]] for all criminal cases under federal jurisdiction.
*The Constitution provides for separation of the three branches of government.

===Federal Assembly===
The Federal Assembly is the primary seat of power, although in practice the executive branch has been increasing its power at the expense of the legislative branch. The Federal Assembly has two houses--the Council of States and the National Council. These two houses have equal powers in all respects, including the right to introduce legislation. Legislation cannot be vetoed by the executive nor reviewed for constitutionality by the judiciary, but all laws (except the budget) can be reviewed by popular referendum before taking effect. The 46 members of the Council of States (two from each canton and one from each half canton) are directly elected in each canton by majority voting. The 200 members of the National Council are directly elected in each canton under a system of proportional representation. Members of both houses serve for 4 years.

The Federal Assembly meets quarterly for 3-week plenary sessions. The parliamentary committees of the two houses, which are often key in shaping legislation, meet behind closed doors, but both majority and minority positions are presented during the plenary sessions. The Federal Assembly is a militia parliament, and members commonly retain their traditional professions. Individual members of parliament have no personal staff.

The Assembly can be legally dissolved only after the adoption of a popular initiative calling for a complete revision of the Constitution. All citizens 18 or older have the right to vote and run for office in national, cantonal, and communal elections unless individually disqualified by the relevant legislature.

===Federal Council===
The top executive body is the seven-member cabinet called the Federal Council. The Federal Assembly individually elects the seven Federal Councilors in a joint session of both houses at the opening of a new legislature. Federal Councilors are elected for 4-year terms; there are no term limits and no provision to recall the cabinet or individual members during the legislature. Each year, the Federal Assembly elects from among the seven Federal Councilors a president and vice president, following the principle of seniority. The member who is vice president one year traditionally is elected president the next. Although the Constitution provides that the Federal Assembly chooses and supervises the cabinet, the latter has gradually assumed a preeminent role in directing the legislative process as well as executing federal laws.

Under an arrangement between the four major parties called the "magic formula" which was introduced in 1959 but ended in December 2003, two Federal Councilors (ministers) were elected each from the Christian Democrats, the Social Democrats, and the Free Democrats and one from the Swiss People's Party. Under the new magic formula starting January 1, 2004, the new party composition of the cabinet changed to the following composition: 1 Christian Democrat, 2 Social Democrats, 2 Free Democrats, and 2 representatives of the Swiss People's Party. This arrangement was shaken up in the aftermath of the 2008 federal elections: a leftist coalition of Social Democrats, Greens and Christian Democrats formed a parliamentary majority to oust Councilor Christoph Blocher, the iconic leader of the [[Swiss People's Party]], from office even though his party had just achieved a decisive electoral victory. He was replaced by party colleague Evelin Widmer-Schlumpf, who was subsequently banned from the party for conspiring against Blocher, along with fellow Councilor Samuel Schmid. The two went on to form a new breakaway party, the Conservative Democratic Party. The Swiss People's Party has since returned as a participant in the national government following the demission of Schmid, who was replaced by Ueli Maurer.

The Constitution requires that Federal Councilors act collectively in all matters, not as individual ministers or as representatives of their parties. Each Councilor heads one of seven federal departments and is responsible for preparing legislation pertaining to matters under its jurisdiction. The president, who remains responsible for the department he heads, has limited prerogatives and is first among equals (there is no formal prime minister).

====Federal Council Membership====
*President and Economic Affairs--Doris Leuthard (Christian Democrat)
*Vice President and Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications--Moritz Leuenberger (Social Democrat)
*Justice and Police--Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (Conservative Democratic Party)
*Defense, Civil Protection and Sports--Ueli Maurer (Swiss People's Party)
*Finance--Hans-Rudolf Merz (Free Democrat)
*Foreign Affairs--Micheline Calmy-Rey (Social Democrat)
*Home Affairs--Didier Burkhalter (Free Democrat)
*Federal Chancellor--Annemarie Huber-Hotz (Ex Officio)

===Judiciary===
The administration of justice is primarily a cantonal function. The Federal Tribunal is limited in its jurisdiction. Its principal function is to hear appeals of civil and criminal cases. It also hears complaints of violations of the constitutional rights of citizens and has authority to review cantonal court decisions involving federal law as well as certain administrative rulings of federal departments. However, it has no power to review federal legislation for constitutionality. The Tribunal's 30 full-time and 30 part-time judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for 6-year terms. The Federal Criminal Court is the court of first instance for criminal cases involving organized and white-collar crime, money laundering, and corruption, which are under federal jurisdiction. The Court’s 11 judges are elected by the Federal Assembly for 6-year terms.

===Local Government===
[[File:Lausanne, Switzerland.jpg|thumb|Lausanne, canton of Vaud.]]
The cantons regulate local government. The basic unit of local government, which administers a village, town, or city, is the commune or municipality. Citizenship is derived from membership in a commune and can be conferred on non-Swiss by a commune. Cantons are subordinate to federal authority but keep autonomy in implementing federal law.

===[[Referendum|Referenda]]===
A strong emphasis on ballot votes arises out of the traditional Swiss belief that the will of the people is the final national authority. Every constitutional amendment adopted by parliament is automatically brought to the ballot and has to carry a double majority of votes and cantons in order to become effective. The voters themselves may actively seek changes to the Constitution by means of the popular [[initiative]]: 100,000 voters may with their signatures request a national vote on a proposed [[constitutional amendment]]. New federal legislation also is subject to popular review, under the so-called referendum: 50,000 signatures suffice to call a ballot vote on any federal law adopted by parliament. The Assembly can declare an act to be too urgent to allow time for popular consideration, but this is rare. At any rate, an act passed urgently must have a time limit and is later subject to the same constitutional provisions on popular review as other legislation. This device provides a useful channel for linking laws closely to the will of the people and reducing the influence of elites. A stunning example of this process occurred in November 2009, when Swiss voters turned out at the polls in huge numbers to approve of an amendment to the constitution banning the construction of [[minaret]]s <ref>http://www.admin.ch/ch/d//pore/va/20091129/det547.html Official voting results (in German)</ref>. This decision of a vast majority of voters to take a stand against political Islam came after a campaign in which the establishment elites had presented a unified front against the measure: all political parties except the [[Swiss People's Party]] had strongly opposed the suggested amendment, and most of the media openly mocked its supporters as racist and foolish.

===Political Conditions===
Although it has a diverse society, Switzerland has a stable government. Most voters support the government in the armed neutrality underlying its foreign and defense policies. Domestic policy poses no major problems, but the changing international environment has generated a significant reexamination of Swiss policy in key areas such as defense, neutrality, and immigration. Quadrennial national elections typically produce only marginal changes in party representation.

In recent years, Switzerland has seen a gradual shift in the party landscape. The rightist Swiss People's Party (SVP), traditionally the junior partner in the four-party coalition government, more than doubled its voting share from 11% in 1987 to 22.5% in 1999, and finally to 26.6% in 2003, thus overtaking its three coalition partners. This shift in voting shares ended the 44-year old "magic formula," the power-broking agreement of the four coalition parties, and gave a second seat in the 7-person Swiss cabinet to the Swiss People's Party at the expense of the Christian Democrats, now the weakest party with 14.4% of the votes. For the first time in Swiss history, the SVP has two seats in the government, reflecting its new status as Switzerland's most popular party.

On December 10, 2003, [[Christoph Blocher]]--a self-made industrialist and main figure of the right-populist Swiss People's Party known for his strong opinions on asylum and migration and law and order issues--was elected to the cabinet by parliament, replacing the incumbent Christian Democrat Justice and Police Minister Ruth Metzler. The parliament also elected the Free Democrat Hans-Rudolf Merz to replace retiring Finance Minister Kaspar Villiger. Both Blocher and Merz are strong advocates of drastic public spending cuts in order to reduce the country's mounting $102 billion francs state deficit and are staunch opponents to Switzerland's entering the European Union. On June 14, 2006, the Federal Council elected Doris Leuthard of the Christian Democratic Party. Leuthard replaced the retiring Joseph Deiss and has assumed the Economics and Trade portfolio that Deiss managed. Leuthard’s election and Deiss’ resignation do not change the dynamics of the Federal Council. The current makeup of the government remains fiscally conservative and against further integration with the European Union.

The Constitution limits federal influence in the formulation of domestic policy and emphasizes the roles of private enterprise and cantonal government. However, the Confederation has been compelled to enlarge its policymaking powers in recent years to cope with national problems such as education, agriculture, energy, environment, organized crime, and narcotics.

==Foreign Relations==
Traditionally, Switzerland has avoided [[alliance]]s that might entail military, political, or direct economic action. Since its forces suffered a major military defeat in the Middle Ages, it has stayed strictly [[neutral]]. Switzerland maintains diplomatic relations with almost all countries and has no major dispute in its bilateral relations. Historically, it has served as a neutral intermediary between hostile powers and host to major international treaty conferences. After [[World War I]], it hosted the [[League of Nations]] headquarters; during [[World War II]] it represented German interests in America and American and British interests in Germany. Since 1980, Switzerland has represented American interests in [[Iran]]. It also played a key role in brokering a truce agreement between the Sudanese Government and Sudan's Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) for the Nuba Mountain region, signed after a week's negotiations taking place near [[Lucerne]] in January 2002.

The Swiss Constitution declares the preservation of Switzerland's independence and welfare as the supreme objective of Swiss [[foreign policy]]. Below this overarching goal, the Constitution sets five specific foreign policy objectives: to further the peaceful coexistence of nations; promote respect for [[human rights]], [[democracy]], and the [[rule of law]]; promote Swiss economic interests abroad, alleviate need and poverty in the world; and preserve natural resources.

The Swiss feel a moral obligation to undertake social, economic, and humanitarian activities that contribute to world peace and prosperity. This is manifested by Swiss bilateral and multilateral diplomatic activity, assistance to developing countries, and support for the extension of international law, particularly humanitarian law. Switzerland (mainly Geneva) is home to many international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the [[International Committee of the Red Cross]] (whose flag is essentially the Swiss flag with colors reversed--the Red Cross historically being a Swiss organization). One of the first international organizations, the [[Universal Postal Union]], is located in Bern.

===International Organizations===
In recent years, the Swiss have broadened the scope of activities in which they feel able to participate without compromising their neutrality. Swiss voters first rejected [[United Nations]] membership by a 3-to-1 margin in 1986 but in March 2002 adopted it, albeit in a very close election, making Switzerland the first country to join the UN based on a popular referendum decision. In similar fashion, the electorate rejected a government proposition to deploy Swiss troops as UN peacekeepers (Blue Helmets) in 1994, but Switzerland joined NATO's Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 1996 and 1997, respectively, and deployed Yellow Berets to support the OSCE in Bosnia. In June 2001, Swiss voters approved new legislation providing for the deployment of armed Swiss troops for international peacekeeping missions under UN or OSCE auspices as well as closer international cooperation in military training.

On September 10, 2002, Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations. Switzerland had previously been involved as party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice and member of most UN specialized agencies, as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency. Switzerland has long participated in many UN activities, including the Economic Commission for Europe, UN Environment Program, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UN Conference for Trade and Development, UN Industrial Development Organization, and the Universal Postal Union (UPU). Prior to its formal accession, Switzerland had maintained a permanent observer mission at UN Headquarters since 1948.

Switzerland also is a member of the following international organizations: World Trade Organization, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, European Free Trade Association, Bank for International Settlements, Council of Europe, and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). In 1992, Swiss voters approved membership in the Bretton Woods organizations but later that year rejected the European Economic Area agreement, which the government viewed as a first step toward EU membership.

Switzerland has furnished military observers and medical teams to several UN operations. Switzerland is an active participant in the OSCE, its foreign minister serving as Chairman-in-Office for 1996. Switzerland also is an active participant in the major nonproliferation and export control regimes.

===[[War on Terror]]===
The Swiss Government on June 25, 2003, eased most of the sanctions against the Republic of [[Iraq]] in accord with UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1483. The government lifted the trade embargo, flight restrictions, and financial sanctions in place since August 1990. The weapons embargo and the asset freeze, the scope of which was extended, remain in force, and restrictions on the trade in Iraqi cultural goods were newly imposed. Though not a member at the time, Switzerland had joined UN sanctions against Iraq after the invasion of Kuwait. Switzerland in recent years joined UN and EU economic sanctions imposed on Sierra Leone, UNITA (Angola), Liberia, Serbia and Montenegro, Burma, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Cote d'Ivoire. On October 15, 2003, the Federal Council ended the import restrictions on raw diamonds from Sierra Leone and lifted sanctions against Libya.

Switzerland in October 2000 implemented an ordinance to enforce UN sanctions against the Taliban (UNSCR 1267), which it subsequently amended in April 2001 in accord with tighter UN regulations (UNSCR 1333). On May 2, 2002, the Swiss Government eased the sanctions regime in accord with UNSCR 1388 and 1390, lifting the ban on the sale of acetic acid (used in drug production), Afghani Airlines, and Afghani diplomatic representations. The weapons embargo, travel restrictions, and financial sanctions remain in force. The Swiss Government in November 2001 issued an ordinance declaring illegal the terrorist organization [[al Qaeda]] as well as possible successor or supporting organizations. More than 200 individuals or companies linked to international terrorism have been blacklisted to have their assets frozen. Thus far, Swiss authorities have blocked about 72 accounts totaling 34 million francs.

==Defense==
On May 18, 2003, Swiss voters approved the military reform project "Army XXI" that will drastically reduce the size of the Swiss Army. In January 2004, the 524,000-strong militia started paring down to 220,000 conscripts, including 80,000 reservists. The defense budget of currently SF 4.3 billion ($3.1 billion) will be trimmed by SF 300 million, and some 2,000 jobs are expected to be shed between 2004 and 2011. The mandatory time of service will be curtailed from 300 to 260 days. All able-bodied Swiss males aged 20 to 30 must serve. Thereafter, most personnel are assigned to civil protection duties until the age of 37.

A new category of soldiers called "single-term conscripts" will discharge the total time of service of about 300 days of active duty in one go. Recruiting is on a voluntary basis and should not exceed 20% of a year's draft. The armed forces have a small nucleus of about 3,600 professional staff, half of whom are either instructors or staff officers, with the remainder mostly being fortification guards. The army has virtually no full-time active combat units but is capable of full mobilization within 72 hours. Women may volunteer to serve in the armed forces and may now join all units, including combat troops. About 2,000 women already serve in the army but, so far, have not been allowed to use weapons for purposes other than self-defense.

The armed forces are organized in four army corps and an air force and are equipped with modern, sophisticated, and well-maintained gear. In 1993, the Swiss Government procured 34 [[F/A-18 Hornet|F/A-18 fighters]] from the United States.

==Economy==
Despite a dearth of [[natural resources]], the Swiss economy is among the world's most advanced and prosperous. Per capita income is virtually the highest in the world, as are wages. Trade has been the key to prosperity in Switzerland. The country is dependent upon [[export]] markets to generate income while dependent upon imports for raw materials and to expand the range of goods and services available in the country. Switzerland has liberal investment and trade policies, notwithstanding agriculture, and a conservative fiscal policy. The Swiss legal system is highly developed, commercial law is well defined, and solid laws and policies protect investments. The Swiss franc is one of the world's soundest currencies, and the country is known for its high standard of banking and financial services. Switzerland is a member of a number of international economic organizations, including the [[World Trade Organization]] (WTO), the [[International Monetary Fund]], the [[World Bank]], and the [[Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development]] (OECD).
[[File:Cathedral Lausanne Bessieres.JPG|thumb|left|300px|Lausanne, Cathedral, Bessieres Bridge and St-Martin Bridge.]]
Switzerland's machinery, metals, electronics, and chemicals sectors are world-renowned for precision and quality. Together they account for well over half of Swiss export revenues. In agriculture, Switzerland is about 60% self-sufficient. Only 7.5% of the remaining imports originated from the U.S. Swiss farmers are one of the most highly protected and subsidized producer group in the world. OECD estimates show that Switzerland is subsidizing more than 70% of its agriculture, compared to 35% in the EU. According to the newly adopted "2008-2011 Agricultural Program", Switzerland intends to reduce its subsidies from SF 14.1 billion (U.S. $11.6 billion) to SF 13.6 billion (U.S. $10.5 billion) over the next four years. In March 2007, the parliament increased the initial government bill by SF 150 million (U.S. $123 million) on the grounds that Swiss farm reforms were going too fast. The parliament also accepted international parallel imports for fertilizers and tractors. Swiss farmers will be allowed to import tractors produced in China or India and sold in the EU, and save up to $41 million (SF 50 million) annual in expenses. German [[fertilizer]] could save another $20 million (SF 25 million). A more general bill on parallel imports will be presented by the Justice Ministry to parliament by the end of 2007.

[[Tourism]], [[banking]], [[engineering]], and [[insurance]] are significant sectors of the economy and heavily influence the country's economic policies. Swiss trading companies have unique marketing expertise in many parts of the world, including Eastern Europe, the Far East, Africa, and the Middle East. Not only does Switzerland have a highly developed [[tourism]] infrastructure (making it a good market for tourism-related equipment and services), the Swiss also are intrepid travelers. Per capita, more Swiss visit the United States every year than from any other country. Tourism is the most important U.S. export to Switzerland (earning almost $1.5 billion). In 2004, more than 285,000 Swiss came to the United States as tourists.

In 2005, the dollar/Swiss franc exchange rate continued to be shaped by geopolitical tensions. The dollar depreciated further against the Swiss franc from SF 1.49 in October 2002 to SF 1.31 in 2003, to 1.28 in 2005 to 1.23 in July 2006, and 1.22 in January 2007. The strengthening of the Euro, however, helped Switzerland to minimize the pressure from a weakening dollar. The Swiss National Bank raised interest rates on June 15, 2006 to 1.5%, the third increase since January 2006. The Swiss National Bank also said it expected economic growth to be a robust 2.5% in 2006 and 2007.

While the number of bankruptcies in Switzerland had been on the rise for four years, reaching alarming levels in 2005 (10,800), the rate dropped by 4.7% in 2006. Compared to other European countries, Switzerland's bankruptcy rates ranks fourth (1.35%) among the hardest hit countries, after Luxemburg (2.39%), Austria (1.9%) and France (1.49%).

The Swiss economy expanded by 2.7% in 2006, the fastest rate in six years, thus confirming sustained growth over the last four years. GDP growth was primarily due to the positive evolution of private consumption and expansion of investment in fixed assets and software. For once, all export industries benefited from increased demand from foreign markets. With a surplus of $9.6 billion (SF 11.7 billion), the Swiss trade balance reached unprecedented levels. On the inflation side, import prices increased more rapidly than exports.

Switzerland was ranked as the most competitive economy in the World Economic Forum’s 2006 Global Competitiveness Report for the first time, reflecting the country’s sound institutional environment, excellent infrastructure, efficient markets, competent macroeconomic management, world-class educational attainment, and high levels of technological innovation, which boost Switzerland's competitiveness in the global economy. The country has a well-developed infrastructure for scientific research, companies spend generously on research and development, and intellectual property protection is strong. Business activity benefits from a well-developed institutional framework, characterized by the rule of law, an efficient judicial system, and high levels of transparency and accountability within public institutions. Higher education and training are rapidly growing in importance as engines of productivity growth.

===Global Economic Crisis===
Being a nation that depends upon exports for economic growth, and due to the fact that it is so closely linked to the economies of Western Europe and the United States, Switzerland was not able to escape recent slowdowns experienced in these countries. During most of the 1990s, the Swiss economy was Western Europe's weakest, with annual GDP growth averaging 0% between 1991 and 1997. Beginning in late 1997, the economy steadily gained momentum until peaking in 2000 with 3% growth in real terms. The economy returned to lackluster growth during 2001-2003, but has been growing at or above potential since 2004--2.5% per annum. The Swiss Economic Ministry reports that strong global demand, particularly in the U.S. and Asia, and better Euro zone growth has helped Switzerland’s economic recovery. Long-run economic growth, however, is predicated on structural reforms. In order to maximize its economic potential, Switzerland will need to push through difficult agrarian and competition policy reforms. These are essential if the government is to reduce its budget deficits and meet its 3% growth target.

The recent economic upswing had some positive impact on the labor market. Unemployment decreased from 4.1% in December 2003 to 3.1% in March 2007. Swiss in the 15-25 age bracket continue to fight unemployment numbers with a rate of 5.4%, and hotel and restaurant industry workers with 10.4%. One-fourth of the country's full-time workers are unionized. In general, labor/management relations are good, mostly characterized by a willingness on both sides to settle disputes by negotiations rather than by labor action. About 600 collective bargaining agreements exist today in Switzerland and are regularly renewed without major problems. However, the mood is changing. The massive layoffs that resulted from both the global economic slowdown and major management scandals have strained the traditional Swiss "labor peace." Swiss trade unions encouraged strikes against several companies, including the national airline SWISS, Coca-Cola, and Orange (the French telecom operator), but total days lost to strikes remain among the lowest in the OECD. Uncertainties concerning the proper management of pension funds, and the prospect of a potential hike in the retirement age from 65 to 67 have stirred heated political debate.

===Trade with the EU===

The Swiss economy earns roughly half of its corporate earnings from the export industry, and 62% of Swiss exports are destined for the [[EU]] market. The EU is Switzerland's largest trading partner, and economic and trade barriers between them are minimal. In the wake of the Swiss voters' rejection of the European Economic Area Agreement in 1992, the Swiss Government set its sights on negotiating bilateral sectoral agreements with the EU. After more than 4 years of negotiations, an agreement covering seven sectors (research, public procurement, technical barriers to trade, agriculture, civil aviation, land transport, and the free movement of persons) was achieved at the end of 1998. Parliament officially endorsed the so-called "Bilaterals I" in 1999, and the Swiss people approved them in a referendum in May 2000. The agreements, which had to be ratified by the European Parliament as well as legislatures in all 15 EU member states, entered into force on June 1, 2002. Switzerland has so far attempted to mitigate possible adverse effects of non-membership by conforming many of its regulations, standards, and practices to EU directives and norms. Full access to the Swiss market for the original 15 EU member states entered into force in June 2004, ending as a result the “national preference”. The Swiss agreed to extend these preferences to the 10 new EU members on September 25, 2005.

The Swiss Government embarked in July 2001 on a second round of bilateral negotiations with the EU known as “Bilaterals II”. Talks focused on customs fraud, environment, statistics, trade in processed agricultural goods, media, the taxation of savings, and police/judicial cooperation (dubbed the Schengen-Dublin accords). Amid a fierce political debate over the essence of Swiss-EU relations and populist warnings against EU workers and criminals entering Switzerland, the Schengen-Dublin package was approved on June 5, 2005 by a referendum of 54.6%. Fears of cheap labor coming from new EU member states have prompted the government to provide for tripartite surveillance committees to ensure that decent wages are enforced. The EU has still to ratify the extension of Schengen to Switzerland, and implement the bilateral agreements on research and development and media cooperation.

As part of the bilateral agreement on the taxation of savings signed in June 2003, Swiss banks will levy a withholding tax on EU citizens' savings income. The tax, which started on July 1, 2005, will increase gradually to 35% by 2011, with 75% of the funds being transferred to the EU.

On November 26, 2006, the Swiss electorate approved a government bill to contribute 1 billion Swiss francs (about $800 million) to the 10 new EU member states. In a nation-wide referendum, 53.4% of voters accepted the “Eastern Europe Cooperation Act,” which entitles the government to spend 1 billion Swiss francs on projects in primarily [[Central Europe]]an states over the next 10 years. Switzerland had pledged this contribution to share the burden of the EU’s eastern expansion in order to facilitate the conclusion of the second set of bilateral negotiations with the EU. The right-populist Swiss People’s Party (SVP), which prompted the referendum, was disappointed, but pleased that it mobilized a 47% opposition. The Eastern Europe Cooperation Act gives a new legal basis for Swiss aid to countries in Eastern Europe. The act has a 10-year term and replaces the former federal Law on Aid to Eastern Europe, which came into force in 1995. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Switzerland has spent SF 3.5 billion on about 1,000 aid projects in East-[[Central Europe]] to help countries in the region transform into market economies. Sixty percent of the SF 1 billion is to come from the budget of the departments of foreign and economic affairs, mainly from cuts in aid programs to other parts of the world. The remaining 40% will be taken from the regular budget of the federal administration. The funds are to be used on projects chosen by Switzerland and focused on education, trade promotion, environment, and internal security. The money is paid directly to the projects and does not go the EU cohesion fund in Brussels. Switzerland has no formal agreement with the European Union concerning these contributions. Instead, there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that sets out the general conditions of the Swiss commitment to the ten new EU member states. Under the MOU, almost half of the funding will go to Poland. Hungary's benefit will be SF 131 million, while the Czech Republic will receive SF 110 million.

The Swiss federal government remains deeply divided over whether to eventually join the EU, and in a March 2001 referendum more than 70% of Swiss voters rejected rapid steps toward EU membership. The issue of EU membership is likely to be shelved for several years, if not a decade. In May 2005, the government said it could sign a framework agreement with the European Union, as an alternative to joining the organization, to encourage dialogue and create a platform for closer cooperation.

Switzerland nevertheless expressed interest in reaching a third layer of bilateral agreements that would involve energy, the Galileo satellite navigation system, health, and agriculture. But recent harsh criticism by the European Commission against preferential cantonal tax treatment for foreign holdings cooled the political climate surrounding the EU. Unilateral trade retaliation--as threatened by the EU if the Swiss cantons do not change their cantonal tax regimes--has not occurred, but the political damage is done, including greater anti-EU feelings among the population. The pressure to negotiate with the EU could turn sour as the EU has already asked Switzerland to pay another SF 300-350 million ($240-280 million, on top of the SF 1 billion cohesion fund) to provide further financial aid to Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU on January 1, 2007. Unlike the November 2006 referendum, the newly enacted Eastern Europe Cooperation Act does not provide for an automatic referendum on further payments. The parliament will decide on the additional aid request.

The government also decided in November 2006 to once more consider adoption of the EU “Cassis-de-Dijon” principle for trade after a first setback in 2004. If adopted, EU products could be imported in Switzerland without having to go through the burdensome Swiss certification and Swiss language requirement process. Currently, Swiss retail prices are on average 20-40% higher than in the EU. If parallel imports are allowed under adoption of the Cassis-de-Dijion principle, prices could drop by 10%. Possible exceptions have been reduced from 129 products to 40, but hurdles remain on the labeling of alcohol contained in Alcopops, the Swiss ban of phosphates in washing machine powders, the real origin of “EU meat”, and on the stringent Swiss generic food production requirements. The “Cassis de Dijon principle” will not apply to the many farming and industrial products already covered by mutual recognition agreements (MRAs) under the EU-Swiss Bilaterals I and II; nor will it apply to other products such as pesticides, motor engines, and weapons that require an authorization. The impact, as a result, may not be as large as expected. Another issue is that Swiss and EU MRAs concluded with third countries may also benefit from adoption of the Cassis-de-Dijon principle (these goods would also have to receive WTO most favored nation status).

The government has reaffirmed its wish to strengthen ties with other non-EU trading partners in Asia and America. Exploratory talks on a Free Trade Agreement between the U.S. and Switzerland failed to result in negotiations, due to Swiss problems with free trade in agriculture, but the two sides did agree to a new framework for economic, trade, and investment discussions. This new agreement is the Swiss-U.S. Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum (the “Forum”) and is currently assessing areas where the two governments could facilitate greater trade and investment flows.

Switzerland ranks 17th among the main trading partners of the U.S. worldwide. The United States is the second-largest importer (11.5%) of Swiss goods after Germany (20%). The U.S. exports more to Switzerland each year than to all the countries of the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe combined, and Switzerland imports more U.S. products and services than does Spain. In addition, the United States is the largest foreign investor in Switzerland, and conversely, the primary destination of Swiss foreign investment. It is estimated that 200,000 American jobs depend on Swiss foreign investments. Total U.S.-Swiss bilateral trade increased from $15.33 billion during 2003 to $16 billion in 2004.

==History==
[[File:D aigle Castle Switzerland.jpg|thumb|300px|D'aigle Castle.]]
Originally inhabited by the Helvetians, or Helvetic Celts, the territory comprising modern Switzerland came under Roman rule during the Gallic wars in the 1st century BC and remained a Roman province until the 4th century AD. Under Roman influence, the population reached a high level of civilization and enjoyed a flourishing commerce. Important cities, such as Geneva, Basel, and Zurich, were linked by military roads that also served as trade arteries between Rome and the northern tribes.

After the decline of the Roman Empire, Switzerland was invaded by Germanic tribes from the north and west. Some tribes, such as the Alemanni in central and northeastern Switzerland, and the Burgundians, who ruled western Switzerland, settled there. In 800, the country became part of Charlemagne's empire. It later passed under the dominion of the Holy Roman emperors in the form of small ecclesiastic and temporal holdings subject to imperial sovereignty.

With the opening of a new important north-south trade route across the Alps in the early 13th century, the Empire's rulers began to attach more importance to the remote Swiss mountain valleys, which were granted some degree of autonomy under direct imperial rule. Fearful of the popular disturbances flaring up following the death of the Holy Roman Emperor in 1291, the ruling families from Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden signed a charter to keep public peace and pledging mutual support in upholding autonomous administrative and judicial rule. The anniversary of the charter's signature (August 1, 1291) today is celebrated as Switzerland's National Day.

Between 1315 and 1388 the Swiss Confederates inflicted three crushing defeats on the Habsburgs, whose aspiration to regional dominion clashed with Swiss self-determination. During that period, five other localities (cantons in modern-day parlance) joined the original three in the Swiss Confederation. Buoyed by their feats, the Swiss Confederates continuously expanded their borders by military means and gained formal independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499. Routed by the French and Venetians near Milan in 1515, they renounced expansionist policies. By then the Swiss Confederation had become a union of 13 localities with a regularly convening diet administering the subject territories. Swiss mercenaries continued for centuries to serve in other armies; the Swiss Guard of the Pope is a vestige of this tradition.

The Reformation led to a division between the Protestant followers of Zwingli and Calvin in the German and French parts of the country respectively, and the Catholics. Despite two centuries of civil strife, the common interest in the joint subject territories kept the Swiss Confederation from falling apart. The traffic in mercenaries as well as the alienation between the predominantly Protestant Swiss and their Catholic neighbors kept the Swiss Confederation out of the wars of the European powers, which formally recognized Swiss neutrality in the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648. The Swiss remained neutral during the War of the First Coalition against revolutionary France, but Napoleon, nonetheless, invaded and annexed much of the country in 1797-98, replacing the loose confederation with a centrally governed unitary state.

The Congress of Vienna in 1815 re-established the old confederation of sovereign states and enshrined Switzerland's status of permanent armed neutrality in international law. In 1848, after a brief civil war between Protestant liberals seeking a centralized national state and Catholic conservatives clinging on to the old order, the majority of Swiss Cantons opted for a Federal State, modeled in part on the U.S. Constitution. The Swiss Constitution established a range of civic liberties and made far-reaching provisions to maintain cantonal autonomy to placate the vanquished Catholic minority. The Swiss amended their Constitution extensively in 1874, establishing federal responsibility for defense, trade, and legal matters, as well as introducing direct democracy by popular referendum. To this day, cantonal autonomy and referendum democracy remain trademarks of the Swiss polity.

Switzerland industrialized rapidly during the 19th century and by 1850 had become the second most industrialized country in Europe after Great Britain. During World War I serious tension developed between the German, French, and Italian-speaking parts of the country, and Switzerland came close to violating its neutrality but managed to stay out of hostilities. Labor unrest culminating in a general strike in 1918 marked the interwar period, but in 1937 employers and the largest trade union concluded a formal agreement to settle disputes peacefully, which governs workplace relations to the present day. During World War II, Switzerland came under heavy pressure from the fascist powers, which after the fall of France in 1940 completely surrounded the country. Some political and economic leaders displayed a mood of appeasement, but a combination of tactical accommodation and demonstrative readiness to defend the country helped Switzerland survive unscathed.

The Cold War enhanced the role of neutral Switzerland and offered the country a way out of its diplomatic isolation after World War II. Economically, Switzerland integrated itself into the American-led Western postwar order, but it remained reluctant to enter supranational bodies. Switzerland did not join the United Nations, even though Geneva became host to the UN's European headquarters, and the country played an active role in many of the UN's specialized agencies. Switzerland also remained aloof in the face of European integration efforts, waiting until 1963 to join the Council of Europe. It still remains outside the European Union. Instead, Switzerland in 1960 helped form the European Free Trade Area, which did not strive for political union. Following the Cold War, Switzerland joined the Bretton Woods institutions in 1992 and finally became a member of the United Nations in 2002.

{{Copyright Details (US Government)}}

Source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3431.htm]

==See also==
*[[Bern Switzerland Temple]]

==References==
<References/>

[[Category:European Countries]]
[[Category:Landlocked Countries]]
[[Category:Christian-Majority Countries]]
[[Category:Switzerland]]

Category:Central Europe

2013-01-04T20:07:44Z

Funforever:

Articles dealing ith the history and culture of [[Central Europe]].

[[Category:Regions of the World]]
[[Category:Europe]]

World History Study Guide to 1648

2013-01-04T20:05:41Z

Funforever:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Term
!Description
|-
|[[Abraham]]
|2000 BC: father of Jewish people, made a covenant with God; Arabs claim descendance from Abraham's son Ishmael.
|-
|[[acropolis]]
|part of a Greek city-state that is built on a hilltop for easy defense. Example: where the democratic assembly met in Athens.
|-
|[[Plato's Academy|the Academy]]
|Founded by the Greek philosopher Plato in 387 BC, this was the world's first great center of learning.
|-
|[[Aesop]]
|a Greek writer famous for writing ''[[Aesop's Fables]]'' around 600 BC, such as "The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing," to teach life lessons
|-
|[[Alexander the Great]]
|356-323 BC: born to Philip II of Macedon and tutored by [[Aristotle]]. Conquered Greece, Egypt, Persia, and more, but not India. Alexander's conquests spread Greek culture and language, helping the future expansion of [[Christianity]].
|-
|[[Alexandria]]
|City in Egypt captured by Alexander the Great and then "Hellenized" (made Greek-like). Known for its famous library.
|-
|[[Allah]]
|The god of the [[Islamic]] religion. Followers of Allah are called Muslims.
|-
|[[Analects]]
|a record of the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius, written and compiled by his disciples circa 400-300 BC
|-
|[[Ancient world]]
|civilizations before the fall of the Western [[Roman Empire]] in AD 476
|-
|''[[Aeneid]]''
|a fictional epic poem, describing how a wandering [[Trojan]] became the ancestor of the [[Romans]], written by the great Roman poet [[Virgil]].
|-
|Anglo-Saxon
|refers both to the people of England from AD 449-1066 who came from Germanic tribes, and to their Old English language
|-
|[[Anselm]]
|a medieval Christian philosopher who founded scholasticism and developed an "ontological" proof for the existence of God based on degrees of perfection.
|-
|[[Archimedes]]
|287–212 BC: Greek mathematician and engineer. Discovered Archimedes' Principle, invented "Archimedes' screw," and built defenses against the Romans for his city of Syracuse; killed by the Romans.
|-
|[[archons]]
|Aristocratic officials elected by the Athenian government to make the laws; later overtook by tyrants who rose to power in the 600s BC
|-
|[[Arianism]]
|a heresy (false doctrine) claiming that Jesus was not God
|-
|[[aristocracy]]
|rule by the wealthy and privileged, rather than by democracy
|-
|[[Aristotle]]
|384-322 BC: Greek [[philosopher]], student of [[Plato]] and tutor to Alexander the Great. Emphasized the value of experience, and founded the Lyceum (a school resembling a university with specimens and a library)
|-
|[[Art of War]]
|first book on military strategy, written by Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, having insights like "If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril."
|-
|[[Assyrian Empire]]
|1400-605 BC: was first dependent on Babylonia, then became an independent state, and finally an empire. Known for cruelty, especially to the Hebrews. Captured northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC.
|-
|[[Athens]]
|birthplace of democracy in 509 BC, Athens was a Greek city-state previously ruled by aristocrats. It defeat invading Persians.
|-
|[[Attila the Hun]]
|(AD 406-453): last and greatest ruler of the Huns, called the "Scourge of God"; almost defeated the Roman empire but was talked out of looting Rome by Pope Leo I.
|-
|[[Augustus Caesar]]
|the first Roman Emperor (27 BC-14 AD), whose name was Octavian; he took power away from the Roman Senate, he began "Pax Romana" (peaceful prosperity), and he was the emperor when Jesus was born
|-
|[[Aztecs]]
| A fierce type of people (AD 1200-1521), also known as "the Mexica," from Central Mexico who built a glorious capital city titled Tenochtitlan, and established three causeways to connect it to the mainland.
|-
|[[Babylon]]
|the major Mesopotamian city in the ancient Middle East, its greatest ruler was Hammurabi. Babylon developed Cuneiform, used base-60 numbers, defeated ancient Sumer about 2000 BC, and was later cruel to Hebrews.
|-
|[[Babylonia]]
|State and empire created by Babylon. First empire existed from 1900-1600 BC, later reemerged as the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 625-538 BC
|-
|[[Babylonian Exile]]
|Period of time from 597 to 538 BC, during which the Israelites were kept as prisoners in Babylon.
|-
|[[barbarian]]
|any "uncivilized" (not Roman), unshaven, ruthless warriors who would attack and invade ancient Rome (name "barbarus" means "bearded").
|-
|[[Battle of Tours]]
|Pivotal victory against the Muslims (732); led by Charles "the Hammer" of the Germanic people known as the "Franks".
|-
|B.C.E./[[C.E.]]
|anti-Christian terms for B.C./A.D., whereby "Before Common Era (B.C.E.)" replaces "Before Christ (B.C.)", and "Common Era (C.E.)" replaces "In the Year of Our Lord (A.D.)"
|-
|[[Bible]]
|Collection of Hebrew (Old Testament) and Christian (New Testament) Scriptures. Foretells the coming of a Messiah for the Hebrews, and recounts ancient history including the Tower of Babel and the Great Flood.
|-
|[[Brahman/Brahmin]]
|Brahman is the ultimate god or existence in Hinduism, of which all existence is a part; "Brahmin" means the highest class for families in the Hindu caste system
|-
|[[Bronze Age]]
|2500-1200 BC: when bronze was used for jewelry, tools, utensils, weapons; this eventually enabled the introduction of the plow for easier farming.
|-
|[[Buddha]]
|"Awakened One" in Buddhism. Siddhartha Gautama was the first Buddha.
|-
|[[Buddhism]]
|A belief system which teaches that desire causes suffering and if desire is eliminated, enlightenment and Nirvana are attained.
|-
|[[Bushi]]
| Proficient, skilled generals from Japan who raised their own "samurai" soldiers to defend and protect their land.
|-
|[[Byzantine Empire]]
|It was the eastern part of the Roman empire, based in Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey), which outlasted the Western half by 1000 years.
|-
|[[Caligula]]
|(AD 37-41) cruel and senseless Roman emperor, who even declared his horse to be a Roman Senator.
|-
|[[Carolingian Court]]
|Dynasty that started with Charles Martel and his descendants, including Charlemagne, whose revival of education became known as the Carolingian Renaissance. The crowning of Charlemagne in 800 is considered the birth of the "Holy Roman Empire", also known as the Carolingian empire.
|-
|[[Carthage]]
|An ancient city on the coast of northern Africa (across the Mediterranean Sea from Italy) which fought against Rome in the three Punic Wars, which left Carthage destroyed, never to be rebuilt again.
|-
|[[caste]]
|the social rank in Hinduism: Brahmins are priests and scholars, Kshatriya are rulers, Vaishya are peasants, and Shudra are serfs. Good karma enables one to improve his caste in the next life.
|-
|[[Celts]]
|A tribal, ancient people living in what is now Ireland and Great Britain, who worshiped many gods and had priests called "druids."
|-
|[[Chaldeans]]
|The ancient Babylonians
|-
|[[Chaldean Empire]]
|Ancient Babylonian Empire that lasted from 605-562 BC
|-
|[[Chandragupta Mauryan]]
|Built the largest Indian empire ever; he was a tough and strong dictator who defeated Greek general Seleucus in 322 BC, taking from him the portion of the Greek empire slightly north of India.
|-
|[[Charlemagne]]
|King of the Franks from AD 768-814, and Holy Roman Emperor after being crowned by the Pope in AD 800
|-
|[[Charles Martel]]
|Charles "the Hammer"; Christian ruler who led the Franks to a decisive victory against the Muslims in the Battle of Tours (AD 732)
|-
|[[Chivalry]]
|Code of behavior developed during feudalism; required loyalty to God, looking out for one another, and different roles for men and women
|-
|[[China]]
|One of the world's oldest major civilizations, with a tradition of philosophers rather than religious leaders
|-
|[[Christendom]]
| A massive church-state network that consisted of religious hierarchy and held influence over all of Europe during the Middle Ages.
|-
|[[Cicero]], Marcus Tullius
|Famous Roman orator, senator and lawyer who lived from 106-43 BC, and who opposed Marc Anthony.
|-
|[[city-states]]
|Small nations consisting of only a single city each, especially in ancient Greece. Examples included Sparta, Athens and Corinth. They fought each other, but also banned together to defeat the Persians when that great empire sought to absorb Greece.
|-
|[[civilization]]
|must have towns, social and government institutions, record-keeping systems for property, and an agricultural surplus so not everyone is farming
|-
|[[classical civilizations]]
|Ancient Mediterranean civilizations that were generally pre-Christian, such as Rome, Greece, and Egypt
|-
|[[classicism]]
|Near the end of the Middle Ages, a Renaissance movement in the arts, looking back to ancient Rome and Greece for inspiration
|-
|[[Cleisthenes]]
|Established democracy in Athens in 507 BC, giving all free men the right to vote
|-
|[[Cleopatra]]
|The queen of Egypt who reigned from 51-30 BC
|-
|[[Code of Hammurabi]]
|The code of Hammurabi was one of the first set of written laws. It was a harsh code that demanded an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth.
|-
|[[Code of Manu]]
|Hindu law containing rules and codes of conduct. Written in 200 BC in India.
|-
|[[Colosseum]]
|A massive stadium in Rome that was used to hold gladiatorial contests, chariot racing and killing Christians and others for entertainment. Originally known as the Flavian Amphitheatre.
|-
|[[comedy]]
|In ancient Greece, a play with a happy ending. All classical plays were either a "comedy" or a "tragedy".
|-
|[[Confucius]]
|A famous Chinese philosopher who came up with many ideas about ethics and social conduct
|-
|[[Constantine|Constantine (the Great)]]
|The first Christian emperor of Rome who legalized Christianity, ended the persecution of Christians, and united the eastern with the western Roman empires
|-
|[[Constantinople]]
|Now named Istanbul, it was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire beginning in AD 330. Originally known as Byzantium.
|-
|[[Council of Nicaea]]
|AD 325, a council of bishops called by Constantine to obtain agreement on various aspects of Christianity (e.g., the Trinity) and to end heresies (e.g., Arianism).
|-
|[[Crusades]]
|(AD 1099-1204): a series of four major military expeditions by Christians to free Jerusalem and make it safe for pilgrimages, beginning with the successful First Crusade but later including the looting of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade.
|-
|[[cuneiform]]
|The earliest known form of writing. Consists of lines and dashes to represent different concrete things, such as fish.
|-
|[[Cynicism]]
|Greek philosophy emphasizing living life without worldly possessions, founded by Socrates' student Antisthenes.
|-
|[[Daimyo]]
|Japanese feudal lord. Smaller agricultural workers would function under them. Daimyos began their importance after a civil war in 1467.
|-
|Darius the Great
|the king of Persia (522-486 BC) and one of the greatest rulers of the Achaemenid dynasty, best known for his failed attempts to conquer Greece; in 492 a storm destroyed his fleet, and in 490 BC Athens defeated his army at Marathon
|-
|[[David]]
|Second king of Israel, as chosen by God, and an ancestor of Jesus Christ. He expanded the kingdom of Israel.
|-
|[[Delian League]]
|Formed in 477 BC as an alliance consisting of Athens and other Greek city-states to guard against the Persia (Achaemenid) empire after the Persian Wars; but Athens misused it to impose taxes and fund Athenian projects.
|-
|[[Dharma]]
|The laws of the religions of Buddhism and Hinduism
|-
|[[diaspora]]
|The migration or scattering of a people, especially the ancient Hebrews, away from their ancestral home.
|-
|[[Diocletian]]
| The Roman emperor who tried to save the empire of Rome by dividing it into eastern and western regions. He established the "tetrarchy" (rule by four), and ruled from AD 284 to 305.
|-
|[[direct democracy]]
|laws are made by votes of the citizens, rather than by elected officials. Athens of ancient Greece was the first direct democracy.
|-
|[[Dorians]]
|tribes that settled Greece, 1100-1000 BC, having an oppressive military ruling class. The "Doric order" is the simplest form of Greek architecture, consisting of a straight column without any artistic trim at the top.
|-
|[[Dravidians]]
|The lowest class of the Aryans, they were the children of mixed Aryans and not treated very well. They were people of Southern India and Sri Lanka
|-
|[[early agriculture]]
|crops such as grain being grown in places such as Egypt
|-
|[[Edict of Milan]]
|a political proclamation that legalized Christianity (and all other religions) throughout the Roman empire, issued by Constantine I in AD 313 after the Diocletian persecutions against Christians
|-
|[[Egypt]]
|One of the oldest civilizations in recorded history, going back to nearly 3000 BC
|-
|[[Eightfold Path]]
|The Buddhist way to end suffering and attain inner peace and contentment. It includes wisdom (right view and intention); ethics (right speech, action & livelihood); and mind (right effort, mindfulness & concentration).
|-
|[[Emperor]]
|A ruler or king of a country, such as Augustus Caesar as the first Roman emperor.
|-
|[[Enlightened One]]
|A translation of the name Buddha, in Buddhism
|-
|[[Enlightenment]]
|A philosophical movement in the 1700s that included atheistic ideas like utilitarianism.
|-
|[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]
|A Sumerian (Mesopotamia) poem preserved on stone tablets with a story bearing great resemblance to Noah's Ark and the Great Flood
|-
|[[Euclid]]
|A Greek mathematician around 300 BC who developed geometry and wrote the ''Elements''.
|-
|[[Euphrates river]]
|The Euphrates is a river that was the border of Mesopotamia and was both a trading route and a protection for Mesopotamia.
|-
|[[Fertile Crescent]]
|An area of land in the Middle East along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where it was easy to grow crops, which was the birthplace of civilization and probably the location of the Garden of Eden.
|-
|[[feudalism]]
|way of life in Europe (particularly Western and Central Europe) in the early Middle Ages, consisting of a "lord" who owned land (given by the king) on which "peasants" or "serfs" farmed in exchange for food and protection.
|-
|[[First Punic War]]
|between Rome and Carthage in 254-241 BC: Rome conquered the island of Sicily and developed a navy; although Rome was no match for the powerful Carthaginian navy, Romans did invent a corvus that allowed them to board enemy ships and win the war
|-
|[[Four Noble Truths]]
|in [[Buddhism]]: (1) suffering is universal, (2) craving or desire causes it, (3) the cure is to eliminate the craving or desire, and (4) following the Eightfold Path helps eliminate this desire in order to attain "nirvana" (complete contentment).
|-
|[[The Franks]]
|Germanic tribes settling in the northern part of the Roman empire (including northern France), rising in power and territory from AD 330-751 and defeating barbarians; Charles the Hammer and Charlemagne were Franks
|-
|[[Gentiles]]
|The term for peoples, such as Greeks, who are not of Jewish or Arab descent.
|-
|Golden Age
|An age of great peace and prosperity, especially in ancient Greece between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars
|-
|[[Gracchi brothers]]
|Two tribunes (high elected officials) of ancient Rome who wanted to help the poor by redistributing land from the rich
|-
|Great Schism
|AD 1054: the Eastern Orthodox Church splits from the Roman Catholic Church in a dispute over icons and statues, the origin of the Holy Spirit, and regional differences
|-
|[[Great Wall of China]]
|the long and high wall in China that was built beginning with the Qin dynasty in about 200 BC, to keep invaders out
|-
|[[Greece]]
|perhaps the greatest ancient civilization: invented democracy, developed mathematics and philosophy, and adopted ethical standards like the Hippocratic Oath (which prohibits abortion)
|-
|[[Greek drama]]
|Theatrical tradition of ancient Greece, 600-400 BC, with two main types: comedies (good ending) and tragedies (bad ending)
|-
|[[Gregory the Great]]
|One of the most significant popes, who used church money for non-religious purposes such as paying for public projects such as roads, supporting armies, and establishing government programs for the poor; this later caused controversies.
|-
|[[Gaul]]
|Now France, it was a place for barbarians to attack the Roman empire.
|-
|[[Gothic]]
|architecture of the late Middle Ages, featuring tall, perpendicular structures, long or stained-glassed rose windows, pointed arches, and flying buttresses (stone supports on the outer walls of churches)
|-
|[[Gupta empire]]
|(AD 240-550): large Indian empire that developed with algebra, the concepts of zero and infinity, and the numbers 1-9
|-
|[[Hammurabi]]
|King of Babylon, 1792-1750 BC, who developed the Code of Hammurabi, which is based on the concept of an eye for an eye
|-
|[[Han dynasty]]
|202 BC - AD 220, this was the greatest of all the Chinese dynasties and was similar to the Roman empire in expanding territory, administering justice, and enjoying peace like the Pax Romana. The Han dynasty valued education highly, and created a scholar class of people known as "shi".
|-
|[[Hannibal]]
|A military commander for Carthage who had a brilliant surprise attack against Rome during the Second Punic War
|-
|[[Hebrews]]
|God's chosen people who established the nation of Israel and wrote the Old Testament
|-
|[[Hellenistic]]
|Relating to Greek culture and language, particularly in lands beyond Greece as conquered by Alexander the Great beginning in 335 BC
|-
|[[Hernando Cortes]]
|Led the Spanish to capture and burn the Aztec capital in 1519.
|-
|[[hieroglyphics]]
|A phonetic alphabet developed by the ancient Egyptians that uses the pictographic symbols to represent both an object and/or a phonetic sound.
|-
|[[Himalaya Mountain Range]]
|Mountain range famous for having the world's tallest peaks, including Mount Everest and K2; geographic protection that isolated ancient China
|-
|[[Hinduism]]
|An ancient polytheistic religion followed by 82% of (Asian) Indians to this day
|-
|[[Hippocrates]]
|"The father of medicine" in ancient Greece who developed the [[Hippocratic Oath]], an ethical code that all medical students traditionally repeated as a condition of graduation.
|-
|[[Holy Roman Empire]]
|Lasting from AD 800 to 1806, it included the territory in Europe under the authority of the Holy Roman Emperor. Constituent states often ruled themselves.
|-
|[[Homer]]
|An early Greek poet, famous for lengthy sagas such as ''Iliad'' and ''The Odyssey''.
|-
|[[Hsia dynasty]]
|rulers in China up until 1766 B.C., when Emperor Chieh (the last in the dynasty) was overthrown
|-
|[[Huns]]
|A confederation of Asian tribes who fought against the Romans in what is now the Ukraine, Germany, France, Italy and the Balkans. They were considered by many Romans to be the most ferocious enemies
|-
|[[ideograms]]
|In primitive societies, a graphic symbol (rather than alphabetic words like these) representing a concept or an idea
|-
|[[The Incas]]
|developed a huge empire beginning in AD 1250 in the Andes Mountains in South America, making it the largest civilization in all of the Americas
|-
|[[India]]
|A country that was home to the Indus Valley civilization and dates back over 3,000 years, and was birthplace of Hinduism and (later) Buddhism
|-
|[[Indus River Valley]]
|A fertile valley that was home to an ancient civilization and is modern Pakistan and northwestern India
|-
|[[Invisible Hand]]
|A powerful unseen force that benefits all when the government leaves free enterpise alone.
|-
|[[Iron Age]]
|An era following the Bronze age when tools and weapons were made primarily out of iron: 1200 BC in Europe, but later (600 BC) in China.
|-
|[[Isaac]]
|The promised son born to Abraham and Sarah in their old age, whom Abraham offered to sacrifice to God despite Abraham's great love for Isaac. Isaac is the father of the Israeli people.
|-
|[[Isaac Newton]]
|(1643-1727) Scientist during the Scientific Revolution and Christian fundamentalist who discovered and explained the invisible force of gravity
|-
|[[Ishmael]]
|The son born to Abraham and Sarah's servant, Hagar. Ishmael is revered by Muslims as an ancestor who was unfairly treated as an outcast after Isaac was subsequently born to Abraham and Sarah.
|-
|[[Islam]]
|the only major world religion that developed after Christ, Islam was founded by Muhammad in AD 622 and is based on the "Five Pillars of Islam."
|-
|[[Israel]]
|Nation founded by King David in 1010 BC, first temple destroyed by Babylonians in 587 BC, Jerusalem was rebuilt in 515 BC, Alexander the Great then conquered region in 332 BC.
|-
|[[Jainism]]
|Branched off of Hinduism, this religion stresses strict vegetarianism and non-violence towards all life.
|-
|[[Japan]]
|an island archipelago made up of 4 large islands and over 4,000 smaller ones, it had feudalism during the same time period that Europe did
|-
|[[Jesus]]
|The Holy Messiah of the Christian faith, and the only son of God who was promised to save all humanity. He was the only founder of a religion to perform miracles to cure the suffering, the only one to emphasize the power of faith, and the only one to give up His life for the salvation of others.
|-
|[[Joan of Arc]]
|17-year-old girl who led the French army to a remarkable military victory over the English in 1429, and was later captured and martyred by the English and made a saint by the Catholic Church
|-
|[[Johannes Kepler]]
|(1571-1630) Scientist in Scientific Revolution who built on Copernicus's work and discovered that planets orbit the sun in ellipses rather than circular orbits; also a devout Christian
|-
|[[John Locke]]
|(1632-1704) Leading political philosopher in the Enlightenment whose ideas helped the American colonists form a new government with the social contract theory
|-
|[[Judah, Kingdom of]]
|the southern kingdom of a divided nation of Israel, after the death of Solomon in 928 BC
|-
|[[Julius Caesar]]
|(100-44 BC) a military and political leader who laid out the groundwork for the future Roman empire before he was murdered by Roman senators
|-
|[[Julian Calendar]]
| The 12 month, 365-day calendar established by Julius Caesar, and the basis for the Gregorian calendar we use today.
|-
|[[Justinian|Justinian I]] and the [[Justinian Code]]
|Eastern Roman Emperor from AD 527 to 565 who developed the Justinian Code, which is the basis of civil law in many places
|-
|[[karma]]
|In Hinduism, everything a person has done. This determines status in the next life, so a Hindu wants "good karma."
|-
|[[knight]]
|An armored soldier of feudalistic Europe. These soldiers first began using plate mail around the time of the crusades.
|-
|[[Latin]]
|the powerful, concise language spoken in ancient Rome that has contributed many roots of words and terms to modern European languages. "Caveat emptor!" (let the buyer beware)
|-
|[[lord]]
|The ruler and owner of a feudalistic area, under him are the serfs.
|-
|[[Lyceum]]
|The great Greek center of learning founded by Aristotle, which then competed with the Academy
|-
|[[Niccolo Machiavelli]]
|An Italian political theorist who wrote the ''The Prince'', the most famous guide to how a conniving politician can seize power by manipulating others
|-
|[[Magna Carta]]
|A charter of personal and political liberties granted to the barons by King John of England in 1215, which later became a foundation for personal rights in the US Constitution.
|-
|[[maize]]
|corn, first grown by Native Americans, now one of the most popular foods in the world
|-
|[[Mandate of Heaven]]
|Chinese mandate that held that the gods blessed good rulers and overthrew bad ones
|-
|[[manor]]
|Under feudalism during the Middle Ages, a manor was a farm owned by a lord who had peasants to do the work and pay him rent in exchange for food, shelter and protection
|-
|[[Marc Antony]]
|A Roman commander and close friend of Caesar. He was in the 1st civil war of the Roman republic
|-
|[[Marcus Aurelius]]
|A Roman emperor known most for ending Pax Romana and conquering Germanic tribes.
|-
|[[Marcus Crassus]]
|A wealthy Roman who ruled Rome along with [[Julius Caesar]] and Pompey the Great, as a part of the first [[triumvirate]].
|-
|[[Martin Luther]]
|an important Christian figure who launched the Protestant Reformation in AD 1517 and founded the Lutheran Church based on a theory of salvation by faith alone, causing a split in the Catholic Church in Central Europe, then in Western and Northern Europe.
|-
|[[Mauryan Empire]]
|323–185 BC: a Buddhist empire covering much of modern India
|-
|[[Maya]]
|The civilization of the Mayans existed in Mesoamerica (including where Guatemala is today) from about AD 300-900. They were advanced in math and astronomy and had a written pictographic language; today 4 million people still speak the Mayan language.
|-
|[[Mesoamerica]]
|Mexico and Central America, where pre-Columbian (before Columbus' exploration in 1492) civilizations existed
|-
|[[Mesopotamia]]
|Modern-day [[Iraq]], where civilization first appeared
|-
|[[Messiah]]
|Anointed by God. Jesus Christ is the Messiah of Christianity
|-
|[[Michelangelo]]
|(AD 1475-1564) A Renaissance man known for his paintings on the Sistine Chapel ceiling and his sculptures of David and the Pieta (Mary holding Jesus after the Crucifixion).
|-
|[[Middle Ages]]
|A period of time, also called the Medieval Ages, spanning from AD 500-1500, when [[feudalism]] was common
|-
|[[Middle Kingdom]]
|2100-1650 BC: Egyptian kingdom known for its works and ideas, which ended due to a civil war
|-
|[[Ming Dynasty]]
|Kept to itself while rebuilding and strengthening its country's defenses against the Mongols. Was replaced in 1644.
|-
|[[monasteries]]
|communities of Christian monks that are set apart for God, and which preserved knowledge during the Middle Ages.
|-
|Mongol empire
|Peaked in power in the AD 1200s, held more contiguous (connected) land than any empire in history, but failed twice in trying to conquer Japan.
|-
|[[monotheism]]
|The belief in a religion worshiping only one god. [[Christianity]], [[Judaism]], and [[Islam]] are monotheistic religions.
|-
|[[Moses]]
|The prophet who led the Israelites out of Egypt, gave them the Ten Commandments, and wrote the first five books of the Bible.
|-
|[[Muhammad]]
|The man who preached a new monotheistic religion "Islam", founded on only one god, Allah.
|-
|[[Nile]]
|River in Egypt which flows northward towards the Mediterranean Sea, supplying Egypt with water.
|-
|[[Nero]]
|One of the most irresponsible and cruel emperors of Rome. Nero reigned beginning when he was 16 years old, ruling until AD 69.
|-
|[[New Kingdom]]
|1550-700 BC: ancient Egypt at the time of Moses, where many buildings were construted primarily with slave labor
|-
|[[Nicene Creed]]
|A core statement of Christianity that affirms the Holy Trinity of God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Ghost
|-
|[[Nicolaus Copernicus]]
|(1473-1543) Polish scientist who first sparked this movement with the bold declaration that the earth revolved around the sun, instead of sun revolving around the earth
|-
|[[Nirvana]]
|The ultimate goal of Buddhism: the end of all suffering
|-
|Normans
|Vikings who settled in northwest France (Normandy), and then invaded and conquered England in AD 1066
|-
|[[Octavian]]
|The grandnephew of Julius Caesar who became the first Emperor of Rome, ruling with his new name of Augustus Caesar.
|-
|[[Old Kingdom]]
|3000-2200 BC: the ancient Egyptian kingdom that built the famous pyramids
|-
|[[Olympics (Ancient Greek)]]
|An ancient sporting event first held in 776 BC, establishing the beginning of the Greek civilization
|-
|[[Paper]]
|Invented by Chinese in AD 100, from dipping a bamboo screen into a mixture of bark, rags and plants, and then allowing only a thin layer of pulp to dry on the bamboo screen.
|-
|[[patricians]]
|the upper 10% of the Roman republic, consisting of wealthy landowners
|-
|[[Paul]]
|an energetic evangelist for early Christianity, who wrote many letters now in the New Testament of the Bible
|-
|[[Pax Romana]]
|27 BC-180 AD: the "glory days" of the Roman empire, a time of peaceful prosperity and influence (but cruelty to Christians)
|-
|[[Peloponnesian War]]
|fought between Athens and Sparta, 431-404 BC, which was ultimately won by Sparta and its allies
|-
|[[Pentateuch]]
|The first five books of the modern Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy
|-
|[[Pepin]]
|Son of Charles Martel, Father of Charlemagne. Donated territories to the Pope and was a wise and judicious king of the Franks.
|-
|[[Persian empire]]
|550-330 BC: a large empire stretching from India to southern Europe and Egypt
|-
|[[Persian Wars]]
|492-449 BC: wars between Persia (modern-day Iran) and Greek city-states including Athens and Sparta
|-
|[[Peter]]
|a leading apostle of Jesus who became the first pope in Rome, where he was martyred
|-
|[[pharaoh]]
|the ruler in Ancient Egypt, considered by Egyptians to be a son of god
|-
|[[Philip of Macedon]]
|King of Macedonia who arranged for the homeschooling of his son, Alexander the Great.
|-
|[[Philistines]]
|ancient people who occupied the land of Canaan, who were enemies of Israel and God.
|-
|[[Phoenicians]]
|ancient people who lived and traded goods on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, developing a new language using an alphabet of 22 letters, on which Greek, Latin, English, French, etc., are based.
|-
|Pillars of Islam
|the five basic rules of Islam: submit to Allah, pray, fast, give to the poor, and make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca (in Saudi Arabia today)
|-
|[[Plato]]
|Greek (Athens) philosopher who emphasized the value of logic, while his student Aristotle preferred the value of experience.
|-
|[[Pompey the Great]]
|Ruled Rome as a part of the first [[triumvirate]] with [[Julius Caesar]] and [[Marcus Crassus]]. Pompey is well known for ridding the Mediterranean sea of pirates.
|-
|[[polis]]
|The name for city-states in Ancient Greece
|-
|[[polytheism]]
|A religion with many gods, which was common in ancient times until Judaism and Christianity emerged.
|-
|[[Pope]]
|The leader of the Roman Catholic Church, who was most powerful in Europe during the time of the Holy Roman Empire.
|-
|[[Ptolemy]]
|(AD 90-168) a mathematician, geographer and astronomer in Hellenistic Egypt
|-
|[[Punic Wars]]
|Won by the Roman republic, enabling it to gain control of the Mediterranean Sea and control commerce
|-
|[[pyramids]]
|Very large monuments in Egypt for the burial of pharaohs, built with a precision that cannot be duplicated even today.
|-
|Qin Shia Huandgi
|the first Chinese emperor, who ruled from 221-210 BC, built new roads, and established a standard coin, weight and writing system. This Qin (or Chi'in) state was the first unified Chinese empire.
|-
|[[Qur'an (Koran)]]
|the holy book of Islam
|-
|Ramses II
|the most famous pharaoh, whose reign from 1279-1213 BC (during the New Kingdom) was the second longest in Egyptian history
|-
|[[Red Sea]]
|The Red Sea is between Egypt and the Sinai peninsula. The Israelites would have died if not for the protection of the Red Sea, yes they would have died if a miracle had not been preformed Through Moses God parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape from the Egyptian army.-
|-
|[[Reformation]]
|Events beginning in 1517 when German monk Saint Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses to a Church door, leading to a separation of Catholic and Protestant churches.
|-
|[[The Republic]]
|Plato's greatest writings, which form a foundation for America's system of government.
|-
|[[Renaissance]]
|a revival in artwork and Greek and Roman achievement, from the AD 1300s to the 1600s, that made the transition from medieval to modern times
|-
|[[Richard the Lionheart]]
| King of England and primary leader of the third Crusade, the only Christian leader feared by Muslims. He supposed to free the Jerusalem but his French partner king Philip left the Crusade and supported his brother revolt against him. He is known for his Chivalry and adhering of Christian ideas.
|-
|[[Roman Catholic Church]]
|The Christian Church led by a Pope, beginning with Peter the Apostle. The word "catholic" means "universal".
|-
|[[Roman citizenship]]
|a special status attained by living in Rome, being birthed to a Roman citizens, or enlisting in the army for 25 years.
|-
|[[Roman empire]]
|(27 BC-476 AD) Began when August Caesar changed Roman Republic and became its emperor, and ended 500 years later when barbarians overran it; the Roman empire laid foundations to cities in Southern, Western and Central Europe, built roads, established laws, and eventually spread Christianity.
|-
|[[Roman law]]
|began with a code of laws inscribed in the Twelve Tables, establishing the concept of "justice" - rule by principle and not by whim
|-
|[[Roman military]]
|considered to be invincible; each soldier was equipped with shields, helmets, swords, and javelins
|-
|[[Roman republic]]
|509-27 BC: The first republic in history, it was located in Rome and inspired some of the principles of the government of the United States. The Roman republic ended when Augustus Caesar took full power and established the Roman empire.
|-
|Roman senate
|300 members representing wealthy families in Rome, it dominated the Roman republic; similar to the U.S. Senate today
|-
|Romanesque
|architecture popular in the early Middle Ages, featuring thick walls, rounded arches and small windows
|-
|[[Rome]]
|the capital city of the Roman empire, and of modern day Italy; supposedly founded by Romulus and Remus, and named after Romulus after he killed his brother
|-
|[[Rosetta Stone]]
|ancient text written on stone in three different languages, which enabled the first translations of Egyptian hieroglyphics
|-
|[[Royal Road]]
|ancient Persian highway rebuilt by Darius the Great
|-
|[[samurai]]
|elite warriors of feudalistic Japan who followed a special honor code called Bushido
|-
|[[Saul]]
|the first king of Israel, appointed by God; Saul was a flawed man, jealous of David.
|-
|[[Satraps]]
|Governors in the distant lands of the Persian empire, which extended to Egypt and Arabia, who were carefully watched by the "King's Eyes and Ears" soldiers to prevent rebellions
|-
|[[scholasticism]]
|Christian philosophy from the AD 900s-1500s that developed logic in the direction of God
|-
|[[scientific revolution]]
|The beginning of modern science in the AD mid-1500s, starting with the recognition by Copernicus that the Earth revolves around the Sun
|-
|[[Second Punic War]]
|between Rome and Carthage in 218-202 BC; Carthage's leader Hannibal led his army with elephants over the Alps to surprise the Romans, but could not conquer Rome itself; by the end Rome had acquired Spain
|-
|[[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]
|a listing of the most impressive public works in the world, written by Greek writer Antipater in the 2nd century BC (200-100 BC)
|-
|[[Shang Dynasty]]
|first major dynasty of China, which lasted from 1766 BC (when T'ang overthrew the prior dynasty) to 1122 BC
|-
|[[Shiite Muslims]]
|fundamentalist Muslims who are considered more aggressive than Sunni Muslims
|-
|[[Shinto]]
|The national religion of Japan, which considered the emperor to be descended from a godlike "sun kami"; Shinto is sometimes considered more of a code of conduct rather than a religion.
|-
|[[shogun]]
|a feudalistic military ruler of Japan
|-
|[[Siddhartha Gautama]]
|the Buddha, and the founder of the religion of Buddhism
|-
|[[Silk Road]]
|A trade route from East China to Central Asia and Europe
|-
|[[Sir Isaac Newton]]
|Discovered the explained the force of gravity. Many say he was the second most influential man after Jesus Christ.
|-
|[[Socrates]]
|The first great Greek philosopher, Socrates taught that the visible world is not all of reality; Socrates taught Plato, who later taught Aristotle
|-
|[[Socratic method]]
|A teaching method developed by [[Socrates]], which consists of asking questions and is used today in law schools
|-
|[[Solomon]]
|Third king of Israel and the author of ''Proverbs'', ''Ecclesiastes'' and ''Song of Solomon''; known for his wise justice
|-
|[[Solon of Athens]]
|One of the Seven Sages of ancient Greece, who believed that one should "keep everything with moderation"
|-
|[[Sparta]]
|a Greek city-state well-known for its military prowess, which won the Peloponnesian war against Athens.
|-
|[[Spread of Buddhism]]
|Buddhism traveled outside of India along the Silk Road
|-
|[[St. Augustine]]
|(AD 354-430) a father of the early Christian church who wrote intellectual discussions of the faith entitled ''Confessions'', ''City of God'', and ''On Christian Doctrine''
|-
|[[Sumer]]
|Ancient homeland of the Sumerians, located in Mesopotamia, located in where Iraq is today
|-
|[[Sunni Muslims]]
|moderate Muslims who oppose the more aggressive Shiite Muslims
|-
|[[Sumerians]]
|the earliest civilizations living in the Middle East, where inventions included the wheel and the first known form of writing
|-
|[[Taijitu]]
|Also called "Yin and Yang," this is the symbol for Taoism. It represents a constant interaction and harmony in nature between two forces having opposite qualities.
|-
|[[Taoism (Daoism)]]
|Chinese philosophy of seeking harmony with nature by recognizing that two major forces are opposed to each other
|-
|[[Ten Commandments]]
|the laws of the God of Israel handed down to Moses
|-
|[[Theocracy]]
|a government ruled by the laws of a specific religion, as in some Muslim nations today
|-
|[[Thomas Aquinas]]
|(AD 1225–1274) A brilliant medieval priest who merged Aristotle's insights with Christian faith, and wrote ''Summa Theologica'' as a summary of Christian theology that is studied even today
|-
|[[Third Punic War]]
|Romans conquered and destroyed Carthage in 146 BC and then went into Macedonia and Greece to defeat them in revenge for having helped Hannibal; Rome then controlled the entire western civilized world (all the land around the Mediterranean)
|-
|[[Thucydides]]
|Greek historian who wrote ''History of the Peloponnesian War''
|-
|[[Toltecs]]
|A northern Mexican nomadic tribe that reigned over a city called Tula (AD 900-1200) in present-day Mexico City.
|-
|[[Tragedy]]
|A type of drama or poetic saga that has an unhappy ending. Common in ancient Greece, this type of work focused on the followed the fall of a character, often because of a specific character flaw such as envy or greed.
|-
|[[Troy]]
|an ancient city whose destruction was recorded in the Iliad, and its survivors supposedly helped found Rome
|-
|[[Tutankhamen]]
|"King Tut": a young Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from 1341-1323 BC. Archaeologist Howard Carter first discovered his tomb in 1922, shedding light on ancient Egyptian culture.
|-
|[[Twelve Tables]]
|450 BC: basic and successful Roman laws that filled twelve tablets, such as "If one is slain while committing theft by night, he is rightly slain."
|-
|[[Vassals]]
|Performed military services to the lords in exchange for protection and land in the feudal system.
|-
|[[Vedas]]
|Holy books of Hinduism
|-
|[[Virgil]]
|(70-19 BC) a Roman poet & philosopher, friend of Octavian (Augustus Caesar), and author of the ''Aeneid''. Portrayed in the Middle Ages as a noble pagan and symbol of wisdom.
|-
|[[Vishnu]]
|Supreme god of Hinduism
|-
|[[Visigoths]]
|a confederacy of Germanic tribes that harassed the Roman empire but later fell in AD 711 to the Moors, who were North African Muslims
|-
|[[Voltaire]]
|(1694-1778) Leading philosopher in the Enlightenment, advocating freedom and emphasizing his form of reason, written in "The Candide"; his ideas later formed the basis of the French Revolution
|-
|[[Vulgate]]
|The Latin translation by Saint Jerome of the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament. It was then used as the authoritative Bible for over 1000 years.
|-
|[[Warring States Period]]
|475-221 BC: war period in ancient China also known for the philosophical schools that flourished
|-
|[[Wheel]]
|The ancient Mesopotamia invention, originally in the form of a potter’s wheel; the wheel is considered the first and greatest of man's inventions.
|-
|[[Yahweh]]
|God as described in the [[Old Testament]], written as YHWH in the original Hebrew (which lacked vowels).
|-
|[[Yangtze River]]
|Longest river in Asia which flows south for 3000 miles; navigable from the sea for half of its course; the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers are the most important rivers in Chinese history
|-
|[[Yellow River]]
|Second longest river in Asia; known also as Huang He and "the cradle of Chinese civilization," it runs westward from the Yellow Sea and has a tendency to flood surrounding lands such its course can change with devastating results
|-
|[[Zeus]]
|Highest of Greek Gods, God of Thunder, supposedly father of the gods.
|-
|[[Zhou dynasty]] (or Chou dynasty)
|1071-221 BC: it was the longest lasting dynasty in China and included both Prince Zheng as a leader, and Confucius as the major philosopher. This dynasty benefited from the Iron Age after 600 BC.
|-
|[[Ziggurat]]
|man-made step-sided structures resembling pyramids that were built in Mesopotamia. The [[Tower of Babel]], described in Genesis 11, may have been a giant ziggurat.
|-
|[[Zoroastrianism]]
|Polytheistic religion founded between 1200 and 600 BC by the Persians.
|}

==Honors terms==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Term
!Description
|-
|[[Aeneas]]
|according to legend, a prince who escaped from Troy whose son founded Rome and whose grandson, Brutus, founded the Britons in England
|-
|[[Aeschylus]]
|the oldest of the three great Athenian tragic playwrights (next to [[Sophocles]] and [[Euripides]]), 525-456 BC
|-
|[[Age of Metal]]
|discovery of metals for use in tools: copper (beginning 3500 BC), bronze (beginning 2500 BC), and iron (beginning 1200 BC) were developed as tools.
|-
|[[Age of Pericles]]
|the "golden age" of Athens, led by Pericles, who introduced a form of direct democracy from 461-429 BC
|-
|[[Ahuramazda]]
|the Creator in Persia's religion of Zoroastrianism
|-
|[[Queen Ahhotep|Ahhotep]]
|a Middle Kingdom Pharaoh who repelled the Hyksos people from Egypt
|-
|[[Akkadian Empire]]
|a Sumerian empire (2360-2180 BC) located in the fertile crescent in the lower Mesopotamia and north of the Sumer River
|-
|[[Alluvial]]
|a deposit of sediment (alluvium) in a river bed
|-
|archons
|in the early Greek empire (around 700 BC), archons were government officials elected by the land-owning aristocrats; the archons then made the law
|-
|[[Aristophanes]]
|(456-380 BC) an Athenian playwright who wrote comedies and political satires
|-
|[[Ark of the Covenant]]
|The chest used by the Hebrews to contain the tablets of the Law given to Moses by God.
|-
|[[Aryans]]
|A semi-nomadic Nordic tribe who invaded and settled India around 1500 B.C.
|-
|[[Ashoka]]
|Emperor of the Mauryan Empire of India (273-232 B.C.). Upset by the horrors of war (despite winning), he converted to Buddhism and recorded Buddha's teachings on thousands of rock pillars.
|-
|Assembly of Centuries
|the group of representatives who approved new laws in the Roman republic
|-
|Assembly of Tribes
|the governing entity that held the election of representatives
|-
|[[Ashoka]]
|Emperor of the Mauryan Empire of India (273-232 B.C.). Upset by the horrors of war (despite winning), he converted to Buddhism and recorded Buddha's teachings on thousands of rock pillars.
|-
|Aztecs
|An aggressive type of people from Central Mexico who adopted many legends and customs from their ancestors. They built a capital city called Tenochtitlan, and established three causeways to connect it to the mainland.
|-
|-
|[[Bantu]]
|Over 400 tribes in Africa that share the Bantu language and common customs.
|-
|[[Barracks Emperors]]
|A series of Roman emperors (235-284 AD) who used the Roman army as a base for political power. These emperors usually had a poor, rural background.
|-
|[[Battle of Marathon]]
|In August 490 B.C., King Darius I of Persia brought his army to the plains of Marathon to invade Athens. Despite being outnumbered ten to one, the Athenian army defeated the Persians.
|-
|Battle of Chalons
|451 BC: one of the bloodiest battles in world history and the last major victory of the Roman empire, when it defeated Attila the Hun in what is now France; Attila returned later for revenge and could have looted Rome
|-
|[[Bhagavad Gita]]
|A section of the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Hindu text written in Sanskrit which consists of Krishna's writings on philosophy and morality.
|-
|[[Breda]]
|Became one of the leaders of the Hun, but was killed by his power-hungry brother, Attila the Hun.
|-
|[[Caesar's Commentaries]]
|A history by Julius Caesar describing the wars he fought.
|-
|[[Caligula]]
|A Roman emperor, ruling from 37 AD to 41 AD, who is historically depicted as a brutal monster, and who was so hated that he was murdered by his own guards.
|-
|[[Canaan]]
|The geographical area that encompasses modern-day Israel, the West Bank and a portion of land east of the Jordan River.
|-
|[[Canon of the Medicine]]
|Book written by Ibn Sina during the Golden Age of Islam describing many diseases and their causes.
|-
|[[Catal Huyuk]]
|An ancient settlement in southern Anatolia, in what is now modern-day Turkey.
|-
|[[Catholic Monarchs]]
|The title given by Pope Alexander VI to King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile, whose marriage in 1469 unified Spain led to its conversion back to a Catholic nation from Islam (the "Reconquest").
|-
|[[Cato the Censor]]
|A Roman statesman who during the Punic War called for the destruction of Carthage.
|-
|[[Champollion, Jean]]
|Jean Champollion (1790-1832) is the father of Egyptology (the study of Egypt), and who translated a portion of the Rosetta Stone.
|-
|[[Chandragupta Maurya]]
|The founder of the Mauryan Empire in India who ruled between 320 and 293 B.C. The first Indian emperor to be converted to Jainism, he eventually renounced his throne and joined a group of nomadic Jain monks.
|-
|[[Christian Catacombs]]
|Ancient, secret underground burial places for Christians, which served as secret passageways for Christians to meet and worship God together.
|-
|[[Cicero]]
|A Roman consul, statesman, lawyer, philosopher and author. After Julius Caesar's assassination, Cicero was one of the most powerful politicians in Rome, and was Mark Antony's rival.
|-
|[[Cincinnatus]]
|A Roman hero for whom the city of Cincinnati, Ohio is named. In 458 B.C., he raised an army in Rome and came to the aid of the consul Minucius and his men, who were trapped by the Aequians. Cincinnatus also voluntarily giving up power, surpassed only by George Washington in that respect.
|-
|[[Claudius]]
|Roman emperor who became ruler after his nephew Caligula's assassination, he ruled from 41-54 AD, when he was poisoned by his wife Agrippina. Britain came under Roman rule during his reign, and his edict expelling the Jews from Rome is mentioned in the Book of Acts in the Bible.
|-
|[[Cleopatra]]
|Seven Egyptian queens of Greek decent that ruled from 193 BC until 30 BC during the Ptolemaic Dynasty. The most famous, Cleopatra VII Philopator, Egypt's last independent ruler, had affairs with both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.
|-
|[[Code of Hammurabi]]
|An elaborate code of law created by Hammurabi that called for harsh punishment, such as an eye for an eye, a foot for a foot.
|-
|[[Confucianism]]
|A Chinese ethical and moral philosophy based on the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius that focuses on human morality and right action. It has had a significant influence on the development on the culture and history of East Asia.
|-
|[[Constitutional monarchy]]
|A government with a constitution that acknowledges a monarch as head of state with varying degrees of influence in the running of the country. Countries with constitutional monarchies include the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Denmark, the Netherlands and Spain.
|-
|[[consul]]
|An elected governmental position in ancient Rome that held executive authority and military command of the Roman republic.
|-
|[[Copts]]
|The Coptic Church originated in Egypt around 50 AD when St. Mark the Evangelist traveled to Alexandria, and is one of the oldest Christian denominations. Its leader is the Patriarch of Alexandria, who is called Pope.
|-
|[[Covenant]]
|An oath or promise.
|-
|[[Cynicism]]
|A Greek philosophy founded by Antisthenes (444 BC - 365 BC) that rejects worldly pleasure in favor of happiness derived from virtue.
|-
|[[Cyrus]]
|A Persian emperor (576 BC – 529 BC) who conquered Babylon and sent the Jews back to Israel.
|-
|[[Darius]]
|A Persian emperor (521 BC – 486 BC) who quelled the Ionian Revolt and invaded Greece, but was forced to withdraw at the Battle of Marathon.
|-
|[[Delian League]]
|A confederation during the Persian Wars controlled by Athens, and consisting of Athens and other Greek city-states and Aegean towns. Its navy helped defend Greece from Persia.
|-
|[[Demosthenes (Greek statesman)|Demosthenes]]
|A ancient Greek statesman who spoke against Philip II of Macedonia in speeches that came to be known as "Philippics". He also attempted to convince Greeks to rise up against Macedonian rule after the death of Philip's son, Alexander the Great.
|-
|[[Diadochi]]
|After the death of Alexander the Great, his empire was partitioned among the rivalling generals of his army, the so-called diadochi ("successors").
|-
|[[Diocletian]]
|The last Barrack Emperor of Rome, he ruled from 284-305 AD. He divided the Roman Empire into eastern and western regions in an attempt to save the empire, and formed a tetrarchy of four rulers, two for each region. He required the military to worship the Roman pagan gods, making it impossible for Christians to be soldiers, and persecuted them.
|-
|[[Donatello]]
|(1386-1466) He lived during the Renaissance and was a sculptor and painter. He created a statue of "David" made out of bronze, and sculpted a famous statue of St. George.
|-
|[[Dorians]]
|Tribes that settled in Greece between 1100 BC and 1000 BC, and had a military ruling class, which persisted in Sparta and Crete even after democracy was established in Athens. These tribes created the simplest style of Greek architecture, known as the Doric order, which consisted of unadorned, straight columns.
|-
|Draco
|a tyrant in Athens during the early Greek empire (600s B.C.) who established a set of written laws that were so strict that the term "draconian" today refers to overly harsh rules of punishment
|-
|[[Dravidians]]
|Dravidians are the people of southern India and Sri Lanka who speak the Dravidian languages and are found in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka.
|-
|[[Empress Lu]]
|The wife of the Chinese emperor Han Gaozu, who after her husband's death had all other possible heirs murdered and installed her son as emperor, ruling as regent until her death.
|-
|[[Epicureanism]]
|A philosophy founded by Epicurus in the late 4th century that holds the belief that great happiness is achievable through the avoidance of pain and fear. It does not believe in divine power interacting with humanity.
|-
|[[Etruscans]]
|People who settled in the Italian peninsula prior to 700 BC. Most Etruscan cities ran on a democratic-style system. Their culture influenced the later Roman Empire.
|-
|[[Euripides]]
|Athenian tragic playwright, BC 480-406.
|-
|[[Exodus]]
|The abrupt departure of the people of Israel from Egypt, as told in the Book of Exodus in the Bible.
|-
|[[Ezana]]
|Ezana was the king of Axum, in Africa, ruling from AD 330-350. He was the first Christian king in Africa.
|-
|[[Five Good Emperors]]
|Five consecutive Roman emperors who ruled between 96 AD to 180 AD and were elected due to talent rather than family connections.
|-
|[[foraging society]]
|A pre-farming economy based upon scavenging, hunting, and gathering resources.
|-
|[[Four Emperors Era]]
|A series of Roman emperors who ruled in quick succession in 68-69 AD.
|-
|[[Franks]]
|A Germanic people that, beginning in the 4th century AD, eventually conquered the areas of France, Benelux, Belgium, The Netherlands and portions of Germany.
|-
|[[Gaul]]
|The Roman name for the area comprising modern-day France and Belgium, and parts of northern Italy, western Switzerland and Germany, and the Netherlands. This area was under Roman rule for most of its existence.
|-
|[[Golden mean]]
|Is considered the middle between two extremes in philosophy.
|-
|[[Great Canal]]
|A canal that connected the Nile River to the Red Sea, built during the Middle Kingdom of Egypt.
|-
|[[Hadrian]]
|The third of the "Five Good Emperors" of the Roman Empire, Hadrian ruled from AD 117 to 138 and had two main achievements: he ended Rome's costly territorial expansion, fortifying her boundaries with numerous "Walls of Hadrian," and he effectively "Hellenized" Rome by anointing Athens the empire’s cultural center, thereby enhancing learning.
|-
|[[Han empire]]
|was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms.
|-
|[[Harappa]]
|A city that is part of the Indus Valley Civilization. It is part of modern Pakistan
|-
|[[Hatshepsut]]
|Originally a regent for her son, Thutmose III, Hatshepsut was the longest reigning female ruler of Egypt. She ruled during the eighth dynasty from 1479-1458 B.C. She established trade networks for Egypt and thus collected most of the wealth of the eighth dynasty. She was eventually dethroned when her son took power at the age of 22. Her monuments are the Temple of Karnak, Deirle-Bahri, and Speos Artemidos.
|-
|[[Hellenistic culture]]
|Greek culture after the death of Alexander in 323 B.C., when Greek influence extended throughout the territory he conquered; Hellenistic culture was renowned for its strict code of ethics, its culinary prowess, and its use of metal.
|-
|[[heliocentric]]
|Recognizing that the Sun ("helio" is Greek for "sun"), and not Earth, is the center of solar system.
|-
|[[Helot]]
|A person from the class of serfs in the city-state of Sparta (700s - 300s B.C.) in ancient Greece.
|-
|[[Herodotus]]
|Greek historian (484 to 425 BC), the "father of history". His book is simply called ''Histories'' and describes the Persian Wars.
|-
|[[Hiram]]
|The Phoenician king of Tyre. Ruled from 980-947 B.C.
|-
|[[Hittites]]
|An ancient people in the Middle East that gained control of most of Mesopotamia in 1650 B.C. due to their advanced inventions, such as horse-drawn chariots.
|-
|[[Horace]]
|The leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus, lived from 65-8 B.C.
|-
|[[humanism]]
|Thee Greek emphasis on reason, ethics and rational thinking rather than religion.
|-
|[[Hundred Years' War]]
|(1337-1453) This war was fought between France and England. It lasted for 116 years. It started when the English king Edward III tried to take the French throne because France lacked a successor to the late Capetian king.
|-
|[[Hyksos]]
|Refers to a people who entered - possibly forcibly - into Egypt, and built their capital at Avaris in the Nile Delta area in about 1648 B.C.
|-
|[[Ides (of March)]]
|The 15th of March, May, July and October in the ancient Roman calendar. The 13th is the ides of all the other months. Julius Caesar was murdered on the ides of March.
|-
|[[Invisible Hand]]
|If government allows free enterprise to flourish on its own, without interference by government, then an “invisible hand” harnesses the power of self-interest for the overall good of society. Companies are guided by this “invisible hand” to work in a way that is beneficial to others, and the overall wealth and progress of society will increase.
|-
|[[Imperator]]
|A title first used by Octavian (Augustus Caesar), literally meaning in Latin “general” or “commander”, giving him power over the entire army.
|-
|[[Iron Smelting]]
|A technology comprised of the extraction of usable metal from iron ore.
|-
|[[Iliad]]
|a great Greek work of literature written by Homer in the 800s or 700s B.C., describing the mythical Trojan War
|-
|Incas
|a member of any of the dominant groups of South American Indian peoples who established an empire in Peru prior to the Spanish conquest.
|-
|[[Indo-European]]
|A very general classification of peoples that includes all the way from India to Egypt.
|-
|[[Jericho]]
|A city in Israel by the Jordan River. Mentioned extensively in the Bible. Joshua and the Israelites marched around this city and blew trumpets in order to destroy it and to reach the promised land.
|-
|[[Josephus]]
| Flavius Josephus AD 37-101 Jewish general and historian who took part in the Jewish revolt against the Romans and later worked for a Roman patron.
|-
|[[Judaism]]
|The monotheistic religion of the Hebrews, also the oldest religion that remains currently active.
|-
|[[Kami]]
|Spirits in the Shinto religion that reside in prominent natural features and people. Shrines are often built to Kami.
|-
|[[Kassites]]
|Led by their king [[Agumkakrine]], they took advantage of the [[Hittite]] raid of 1595 B.C. and occupied the [[Babylonian]] region, where they ruled for over 400 years.
|-
|[[Kautilya]]
|Advisor to Chaundragupta Maurya, wrote book
"Arthoshastra" on maintaining political power.
|-
|[[Khmer Empire]]
|This empire peaked in A.D. 1200 in modern Cambodia, thriving on rice production and trade with China and India. The Khmer empire built the Angkor Wat, a temple dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu with mixed Southeast Asian and Indian art.
|-
|[[Khufu]]
|Egyptian pharaoh who had the pyramid of Giza built
|-
|[[Khyber Pass]]
|An important break in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan, pivotal in military campaigns by Alexander the Great, Aryans, Muslims, and later the British, who had to overcome defensive positions taken from above by local tribesman.
|-
|[[Kush]]
|Was part of a larger region called Nubia.
|-
|[[Larger Vehicle]]
|a form of Buddhism practiced in China, Korea, Japan and Tibet, teaching how to attain full enlightenment for the sake of others. (Also known as Mahayana Buddhism.)
|-
|[[Last Roman Emperor]]
| The last ruler of the Roman Empire was Romulus Augustus, who ruled from October of AD 475 to September of AD 476
|-
|legalism
|Legalism is the excessive adherence to law or formula.
|-
|[[Legions]]
|Legions were the principal unit of the Roman army comprising 3,000 to 6,000 foot soldiers and cavalry in addition to the foot soldiers.
|-
|[[Leonardo da Vinci]]
|(1452-1519) Leonardo da Vinci was considered a “Renaissance man.” He was a painter, a scientist, a mathematician and many more. He created one of the best paintings in the world, The Mona Lisa. He was said to have draw up designs for flying machines and armored tanks. When he wrote he wrote backwards so that you would have to look in a mirror to read it.
|-
|[[Lesser Vehicle]]
|in Buddhism, describes how to attain freedom from one's own suffering.
|-
|[[Livy]]
|A Roman historian (59 BC - 17 AD) who wrote a monumental history of Rome from its beginnings to his day.
|-
|[[Loess]]
|A type of soil derived form glacial deposits consisting of fine yellow silt that is extremely crumbly. The silt from Loess Plateau of north-west China, carried along by the Yellow River, has given that river its distinctive name.
|-
|[[Magadha]]
|Led Aryans to join and try to repel the Persians.
|-
|[[Mahayana]]
|the later of the two great schools of Buddhism, chiefly in China, Tibet, and Japan, characterized by eclecticism and a general belief in a common search for salvation, sometimes thought to be attainable through faith alone.
|-
|[[Manichaeism]]
|A belief system teaching that there exists two separate, opposite and equally ultimate Principles: the Light and the Darkness.
|-
|[[Marathon]]
|A small town about 26 miles from Athens where the Greeks won a key battle against the Persians in 490 B.C., and a messenger ran the distance to deliver the news to Athens, inspiring the modern marathon race today.
|-
|[[Marcus Aurelius]]
|Roman emperor from AD 161 to 180. Marcus Aurelius was also a philosopher, a Stoic, and wrote a famous book, ''Meditations''.
|-
|[[Marius]]
|Roman general and consul: opponent of Lucius Cornelius Sulla.
|-
|[[Masada]]
|a mountaintop fortress in East Israel on the South West shore of the Dead Sea: site of Zealots' last stand against the Romans during revolt of AD 66–73.
|-
|[[Menes]]
|Was a legendary Pharoah of Egypt from somewhere between 3100-2850 BC.
|-
|[[Meroe]]
|a ruined city in Sudan, on the Nile, NE of Khartoum: a capital of ancient Ethiopia that was destroyed AD c350.
|-
|[[Mesolithic Age]]
|Before the beginning of recorded history in 3500 B.C., when humans changed from hunting and gathering food to producing food, as in planting and farming.
|-
|[[Minoan Civilization]]
|A civilization that flourished on the island of Crete from around the 27th century B.C., to the 15th century B.C.
|-
|Moche
|A South American civilization that existed in northern Peru from AD 100-800
|-
|[[Moksha]]
|Means liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth in the Hindu religion.
|-
|[[monsoons]]
|Tropical storms, particularly in the climate of India, where the "southwest monsoon" occurs from about mid-June to the first week in October, and consists of winds carrying heavy rainfall from the Indian Ocean and resulting in widespread flooding
|-
|[[Mount Sinai]]
|A 7,498 foot mountain, located in Southern Sinai, now part of modern Egypt.The location where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.
|-
|[[Muhammad Ali]]
|Muhammad Ali was a professional boxer during the 1960’s and 70’s he was perhaps the most famous Muslim of the western world at this time. During the Vietnam war he refused to be drafted because it was not a “holy war.”
|-
|[[Mycenaean Civilization]]
|Was an early Indo-European civilization of Greece.
|-
|[[Nebuchadnezzar I]]
|was the emperor of the Babylonian Empire from 1146 to 1123 BC.
|-
|[[Nebuchadnezzar II]]
| Lived from 635 BC- 562 BC, was King of the Chaldeans and final conqueror of the Southern Kingdom of Israel, called "Judah." He was the first of many heads of state of foreign superpowers to come to a possibly salvific knowledge of God.
|-
|[[Neolithic Age]]
|The last part of the Stone Age (neo = "new", lithic = "of/like stone"), before the invention of metallurgy. It immediately preceded the rise of the first civilizations.
|-
|[[Nero]]
| Was the Emperor of Rome from AD 54-68. He blamed the great fire of Rome on the Christians who were unpopular due to their belief in one God.
|-
|[[Nerva]]
|Roman emperor from AD 96 to 98. Following the turmoils after Nero's death, he stood at the beginning of a long peaceful and prosperous time in the history of the Roman empire.
|-
|[[Nile River]]
|A river that ran throughout all of Egypt and fueled its entire agricultural and economic system.
|-
|[[Nineveh]]
|The capital of Assyria, seized and destroyed by the Chaldeans in 612 B.C.
|-
|[[Nok culture]]
|The African culture where the people created the first terracotta production as well as iron-smelting technology.
|-
|[[Oath of the Hindu Physician]]
|Oath requiring, among other things, that doctors not to drink alcohol and to have an honest doctor-patient relationship.
|-
|[[Octavian]]
|Also known as Augustus Caesar (63 BC - AD 14) was the first Roman emperor. He was originally called Gaius Octavius Thurinus until he changed it after being adopted by Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.
|-
|[[Odyssey]]
|The Odyssey was an epic poem written by the [[Greek]] poet [[Homer]]. It traces the journey home to Greece by a hero of the Trojan war and the troubles he faces at the hands of gods and men.
|-
|[[Olmec]]
|The first major Pre-Columbian civilization in Mexico
|-
|oracle bone
|First concrete evidence that the Shang Dynasty really existed. They were generally used as medicine by grinding them up into powder but they were also used to write on.
|-
|[[Origen]]
|was an early Christian philosopher, who lived in the East, and especially in Alexandria
|-
|[[Ostrogoths]]
|Were a Germanic tribe influential in the last days of the Roman Empire.
|-
|[[Ovid]]
|Ovid or Publius Ovidius Naso was a famous Roman poet, known for his Heroides, Amores, Ars Amatoria, and Metamorphosis. He lived from 43 BC to 17 AD
|-
|[[Paleolithic Age]]
| Is the name given by atheists to the first part of the Stone age, followed by the Neolithic Age. During the Paleolithic Age, atheists believe people harvested wild plants and animals for food.
|-
|[[papyrus]]
|A thin parchment constructed from reeds near the Nile River
|-
|pariah
|An outcast or any person or animal that is despised.
|-
|[[Parthenon]]
| The Parthenon is a celebrated marble temple of Athene, on the Acropolis at Athens. It was of the pure Doric order, and has had an important influence on art.
|-
|[[patricians]]
|A patrician is a person of high honor or rank.
|-
|Pericles
|493-429 BC: a fabulous orator, he led Athens during its Golden Age (between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars), and expanded democracy: "Government in the hands of the many, not of the few," he said.
|-
|[[Peru]]
|Peru is a country in South America with a rich history. Once dominated by the Incas, Peru fell to the Spanish in the 16th Century.
|-
|[[Petra]]
|Petra was an ancient city that lasted from some time in 6th century B.C. to 360 AD when an earthquake destroyed their water supply. The city is famous for its buildings carved in red sandstone and given the name the pink city. Also Indiana Jones was filmed there.
|-
|[[phalanx]]
|common Greek military formation, which is rectangular
|-
|[[Philippides]]
|An athlete sent by Athens to run 150 miles to Sparta as they needed help in their battle against Persia, where they were outnumbered 10 to 1. His remarkable ability continues to inspire ambitious joggers today.
|-
|[[Philo]]
|(20 BC - 50 AD) was a Jewish historian from Alexandria in the first century. He combined Judaism and Greek philosophy.
|-
|[[pictograph]]
|A pictorial symbol for a word or phrase. Pictographs are the foundation for cuneiform and hieroglyphics, having been discovered in Egypt and Mesopotamia from before 3000 B.C.
|-
|[[Pisistratids]]
|Was a ruler of Athens around 570 B.C.
|-
|[[plebian]]
|A Plebian was one of the lower classes in the early Roman world, such as small farmers and shopkeepers, similar to a commoner in Medieval Europe. This status was inherited in ancient Rome, though it could change through marriage or (rarely) promotion.
|-
|[[Plutarch]]
|(46 to 127 AD.)Was a Greek historian, philosopher, biographer, and priest.

|-
|[[praetors]]
|one of a number of elected magistrates charged chiefly with the administration of civil justice and ranking next below a consul.
|-
|[[Poseidon]]
|The god of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts, earthquakes, and the creator of horses; known as the "Earth Shaker". He is a son of Cronus and Rhea and brother to Zeus and Hades. In classical artwork, he was depicted as a mature man of sturdy build with a dark beard, and holding a trident.
|-
|[[Prehistory]]
|Before 3400 B.C.
|-
|purdah
|The seclusion of women from the sight of men or strangers. Purdah is practiced most in the Muslim and Hindu religions.
|-
|[[Pythagorus]]
|A Greek philosopher mathematician (569-475 B.C.), best known for his Pythagorean Theorem which equates the square of the hypotenuse of a right triangle to the sum of the squares of each side. His philosophy included abstracting 2 ships + 2 ships = 4 ships to the more general truth that 2 of anything plus 2 of anything = 4 of anything.
|-
|[[Ramayana]]
| A Sandskrit epic, depicting the life and adventures of Ramachandra.
|-
|[[Ramses II]]
| Ramses II was the king of Egypt. His reign is remembered by his constant war with the Hittites.
|-
|[[Raphael]]
|(1482-1520) Raphael was contemporary to the Renaissance. He was a skilled painter who is known for his artwork in churches and for his private clients. He inspired Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
|-
|[[Rembrandt]]
| A Dutch painter who lived from AD 1606-1669
|-
|[[Rig Veda]]
|A collection of over one thousand hymns that date back to as early as two thousand B.C.
|-
|[[Romance of Three Kingdoms]]
|Is a novel written by Luo Guanzhong in the Han Dynasty when it fell into disorganization. (AD 220-280)
|-
|[[Romulus and Remus]]
|Rome obtained its name from Romulus and Remus, who were twins, and by legend the the sons of Mars who were rescued from death by a mother wolf after his uncle threw him into the Tiber river out of jealousy.
|-
|[[rule of tyrants]]
|during the early Greek empire in the 600s, a series of tyrants ruled Athens. One was "Draco", who imposed the same penalty of death for every crime, no matter how minor!
|-
|[[Saint Patrick]]
|Born in Wales and grew up in England. Later traveled to Ireland and converted the Celts there to Christianity in the mid-400s AD
|-
|[[Sanctuary]]
|Medieval right of criminals on the run to enter churches and be untouchable by authorities.
|-
|[[Sargon the Great]]
|The first person in recorded history to create an empire or multi-ethnic state.
|-
|[[Sati (Buddhism)]]
|Mindfulness, self-collectedness, powers of reference and retention. In some contexts, the word sati when used alone covers alertness
|-
|[[Satrap]]
|Local governors established in distant lands by the powerful Persian ruler Cyrus
|-
|[[Saxons]]
|Were a Germanic tribe, eventually settling in England and North Western France.
|-
|[[Schliemann, Heinrich]]
|German archeologist who was an excavator of Troy. His work supported the idea that Homer's Iliad and Virgil's Aeneid reflected real historical events.
|-
|[[Scipio]]
|(236 BC -183 BC) Was the Roman General during the Second Punic War who brought about the final defeat of Carthage at the Battle of Zama in 202 B.C.
|-
|[[Seneca]]
|Roman philosopher (a [[Stoicism|Stoic]]), statesman and playwright; teacher of [[Nero]]. BC 4 - AD 65.
|-
|[[Shang dynasty]]
|Was a major ancient Chinese dynasty from about 1766 to 1122 BC. Built cities in northern China along the Yellow River. It consisted of city-states which were often at war with one another.
|-
|[[Shang Yang]]
|Was a Chinese statesman and philosopher. He promoted Legalism, which was like the divine right of kings in the West.
|-
|[[Shi]]
|A scholar class created by the Han dynasty
|-
|[[Shiva]]
|In Hinduism, Shiva "the Destroyer" is the third member of the Trimurti, or the "Hindu triad", along with Brahma "the Creator" and Vishnu "the Preserver".
|-
|[[Slavs]]
|Slavic people who settled the Steppe and cultivated the soil in AD 100. They lived in tribes and villages and were vulnerable to nomadic fighters like the Huns. They established a trade city known as Kiev which exists to this day.
|-
|[[Song Dynasty]]
|About 50 years after the fall of the Tang dynasty, the Song dynasty united China again under centralized rule. This dynasty governed for about 300 years, from A.D. 960 to 1279. It emphasized education even more than the Tang dynasty did. Art and literature thrived. Paper money was invented during the Song dynasty.
|-
|[[Solon]]
| Solon was an Athenian statesman who introduced economic, political, and legal reforms.
|-
|[[Sophocles]]
|Athenian tragic playwright, BC 497-406.
|-
|[[Steppes]]
|Steppes are large areas of flat unforested grassland in southeastern Europe or Siberia.
|-
|[[stirrup]]
|a metal frame for each foot when riding a horse; invented in China in 322 BC and used to great advantage in battle, because they make it easier to control the horse and shoot arrows with accuracy
|-
|[[Stoicism]]
| The second of the two main Greek philosophical schools of thought. Stoicism sought to find a sense of divine justice, deemphasizing pain and pleasure for the goal of reason, logic, and self discipline.
|-
|[[Stone age]]
|The stone age is believed to be at time before men had metal working skills in our prehistory. Young Earth Creationists dispute the exsistence of a stone age rather there were stone working cultures.
|-
|[[Stupa]]
|An ornate Buddhist dome-like stone structure originally built to cover items believed to be relics of the Buddha.
|-
|[[Sui Dynasty]]
|The Sui dynasty established centralized rule in China in A.D. 589 for the first time since the Han dynasty in A.D. 220. In other words, China went without a centralized government for over 300 years, from 220 to the establishment of the Sui Dynasty in 589.The Sui dynasty ruled for only a very brief period of 29 years, until A.D. 618. But in that brief period of time it accomplished something magnificent: it built the Grand Canal to connect northern and southern China.
|-
|[[Sulla]]
| (138-78 BC) was a Roman general and dictator during the Republican period. He won Rome's first civil war. Reforms during his time gave the Senate more power.
|-
|Sunna
|d
|-
|[[Sumuabum]]
|Was an Amorite king who established a Babylonian Kingdom in 1894 BC.
|-
|[[Suttee]]
|An ancient Hindu practice in India where a wife sacrifices herself upon her husband's funeral pyre. Outlawed by the British Raj.
|-
|[[Tacitus]]
| (AD 55-120) Was the Roman author of Histories, Annals, and Germania, describing first century Rome. His work chronicles Nero's blaming of the Christians for the fire in Rome and the resulting large scale persecution of Christians that ensued.
|-
|[[Taj Mahal]]
|A marble memorial located in Agra, India. It was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife, Queen Mumtaz Mahal, who died in childbirth.
|-
|[[Tang Dynasty]]
|The Tang dynasty ruled for nearly 300 years, from A.D. 618 to 907. This is known as the golden age of art and poetry in China. New territories were acquired, including Manchuria, Tibet, Korea and northern Vietnam.
|-
|[[The Tale of Gengi]]
|The world's first psychological novel. Was written in the 1000s and about Japanese culture.
|-
|Teotihuacan
|Known as "City of the gods," Teotihuacan (AD 100-900) was perhaps the most powerful and largest city-state in Mesoamerica. They worshiped many gods and lived in barrios (suburbs or ghettos) around the city.
|-
|[[terra cotta]]
|A hard fired clay, distinctively brownish-red colored traditionally used for architectural purposes, especially ornamental, and for pottery and sculpture.
|-
|Terracotta army
|when Shia Huandgi (the first emperor of China) died in 210 B.C he was buried with an army of life sized terracotta warriors, which all had different expressions on their carved faces.
|-
|[[Thales]]
|Thales of Miletus (ca. 624 BC–ca. 546 BC) was the first Greek philosopher. He successfully predicted the solar eclipse of 585 BC and posited that water was the basic principle of all matter in the world.
|-
|[[Thales of Melitus]]
|a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who tried to explain natural phenomena without the use of mythology; was regarded by Aristotle as the first |philosopher in the Greek tradition.
|-
|[[Theravada]]
| Oldest surviving Buddhist school, founded in India
|-
|[[Thirty Years' War]]
|A religious conflict as Catholic states sought to suppress Protestantism. It began as a fight between Bohemian Protestants and Hapsburg Catholics in 1618, and soon became a political conflict for power that included Spain, Holland, Denmark, France, Sweden, and the Habsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. The war ended with the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648.
|-
|[[Thutmos III]]
|The 6th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. The first 22 of years of his reign he was co-regent with his stepmother, Hatshepsut. Reigned from 1479 BC to 1425 BC;
|-
|[[Tiber River]]
|One of the longest Italian rivers, over 250 miles long, it flows through the city of Rome.
|-
|[[Tiberius]]
|a tyrannical Roman emperor who reigned from AD 14-37
|-
|[[Tigris and Euphrates]]
|Two rivers where civilization began in [[Mesopotamia]] before 3500 B.C., as described in the Book of [[Genesis]] and also confirmed by non-biblical sources.
|-
|[[Titus and Domitian]]
|The two sons of Emperor Vespasian. Titus ruled from AD 79–81; Domitian ruled from AD 81-96.
|-
|Toltecs
|AD 900-1200: a northern Mexican nomadic tribe that ruled about 50 miles north of present-day Mexico City, in a city called Tula
|-
|[[Torah]]
|the Jewish name for the first five books of the Bible, meaning Law.
|-
|[[Trajan]]
|Was a Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD and the second of the Five Good Emperors.
|-
|[[Tribal Assembly]]
|Was a Roman assembly of plebians & patricians, composed of members of 35 various Roman tribes
|-
|[[Triumvirate]]
|A triumvirate is a system of governance led by 3 leaders. The two most important triumvirates of ancient times were those of Rome: one led by Julius Caesar, Pompeius Magnus ("Pompey the Great") and Marcus Crassus; the other led by Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. It was the failings of these triumvirates that lead to the downfall of the Republic, and the emergence of the Roman Empire.
|-
|[[Untouchables]]
|People at the very bottom of the Hindu caste system. Their Hindi name is "Dalits." Under the system,these people literally are not be touched because they are considered to be so undesirable.
|-
|[[Upanishads]]
|Hindu scriptures that describe reincarnation. Written in Sanskrit, they predate the teachings of Buddha by several centuries.
|-
|[[Ur]]
|Important city-state in Mesopotamia
|-
|[[Vandals]]
|Eastern Germanic tribe that sacked Rome in AD 455. Sweeping through Gaul and Spain they finally settled in North Africa. The Spanish region of Andalusia is named after them.
|-
|[[Vergil]]
|Writer of Famous Roman Mythology "The Aeneid."
|-
|[[Vespasian]]
|a Roman Emperor (AD 70-79), also the general in charge of putting down the Jewish revolt near the end of the AD 60s
|-
|[[William Shakespeare]]
|(1564-1616) William Shakespeare is the greatest playwright in the history of the world. He has developed many famous plays such as the "Merchant of Venice", "a Midsummer Night's Dream", and "Macbeth".
|-
|[[Xenephos]]
|(435-354 B.C.) Was historian, philosopher, and military commander, born at Athens, son of an Athenian of good position; was a pupil and friend of Socrates.
|-
|[[Xenophon]]
|Famous Greek writer, Writer of renowned historical work "The Anabasis."
|-
|[[Xerxes]]
|A Persian king in the 5th century BC who attacked and conquered much of Greece, before being defeated in a naval battle in the Battle of Salamis and forced to withdraw back to Babylon
|-
|[[Zealots]]
|A group of Jews in the 1st century AD who sought the violent overthrow and expulsion of Rome from Israel. Their most famous battle (and defeat) came at Masada, a mountain fortress that still holds spiritual significance for Israel today.
|-
|[[Zeno]]
|a Greek philosopher who proposed Paradoxes, such as how a destination is never reached if the traveler goes half the distance to the goal an infinite number of times.
|-
|}

== See also ==

*[[World History Study Guide from 1648]]

[[Category:World History lectures]]

Central European

2013-01-04T19:46:25Z

Funforever: Redirected page to Central Europe

#REDIRECT [[Central Europe]]

Central Europe

2013-01-04T19:45:16Z

Funforever: Created page with "'''Central Europe''' is the region of Europe consisting of Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, [[Luxembou..."

'''Central Europe''' is the region of [[Europe]] consisting of [[Austria]], [[Czech Republic]], [[Estonia]], [[Germany]], [[Latvia]], [[Liechtenstein]], [[Lithuania]], [[Luxembourg]], [[Poland]], [[Slovenia]], [[Slovakia]] and [[Switzerland]].

Countries (or regions) occasionally included in Central Europe for geographical and/or cultural reasons are also: Croatia, Romania (including geographical regions of Transylvania and Bukovina), Serbia (Northern and Central Serbia), western Ukraine, western Belarus, Russia (Kaliningrad Oblast), eastern France and north-eastern Italy.

Some of the world's greatest cities - [[Berlin]], [[Budapest]], [[Frankfurt]], [[Prague]], [[Vienna]], [[Warsaw]] and [[Zurich]] are situated in Central Europe, and it is the home of the [[German language]], the [[Polish language]] and the [[Hungarian language]].

==History==
As elements of unity for Western and Central Europe were considered the Roman Catholicism and Latin. Eastern Europe that remained Orthodox Christian, was the area of Byzantine cultural influence, splitting the West into two flanks. Central Europe was the heart of protestant reformation, starting in Czech lands with prominent reformers such as Jan Hus, a professor at the Prague University and Martin Luter from Saxony, Germany. Thanks to a scholar Paweł Włodkowic, Poland became a state of religious tolerance.

Central Europe was always a region full of tensions and almost constant wars which often erupted there. The last war, [[World War II]], was the most violent. [[European Union]]'s initial goal was to integrate European countries so that they will stop fighting.

==Contemporary Central Europe==
Since the come back of democracy in most countries of the region after the fall of communism, Central Europe has been going through a "strategic awakening", with initiatives like the Central European Initiative, Centrope or V4. Region's economy shows high disparities with regard to income, however all Central European countries are listed by the Human Development Index as very highly developed countries.

Currently, Central European countries are among the most peaceful countries in the world, according to the Global Peace Index 2012.

[[Category:Regions of the World]]
[[Category:Europe]]