拉德拉牧场 (加利福尼亚州)

History.

Ladera Ranch is a planned community adjacent to Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, and San Juan Capistrano. Located along Antonio Parkway and Crown Valley Parkway, construction of the community began in 1999 on portions of the O'Neill, Avery, & Moiso families' Rancho Mission Viejo cattle ranch, which was the largest remaining working ranch in Orange County.

Geography.

Ladera Ranch is located in the foothills of the Orange County Saddleback.

Design and development.

The Ladera Ranch development is divided into nine "villages". Within each village, individual builders develop an area called a neighborhood. There are ten or more neighborhoods per village. The villages are:  Five of the nine villages have clubhouses themed on a particular architecture style that is emphasized within that village. There are also parks, pools, playgrounds and open areas within each village. The Covenant Hills village is a gated community which is closed to the general public, but accessible to all card-carrying residents of Ladera Ranch. There are no other gated villages in the community.  In addition to the various clubhouses, the community has a private water park and skate park, 18 community parks, a dog park, six smaller neighborhood pools, many pocket parks and green belts, shopping districts called Mercantile East and Mercantile West Shopping Centers, and miles of hiking/biking trails that connect to Doheny Beach.

Demographics.

2010.

The 2010 United States Census reported that Ladera Ranch had a population of 22,980. The population density was 4,685.2 people per square mile (1,809.0/km2). The racial makeup of Ladera Ranch was 17,899 (77.9%) White (69.4% Non-Hispanic White), 335 (1.5%) African American, 54 (0.2%) Native American, 2,774 (12.1%) Asian, 27 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 624 (2.7%) from other races, and 1,267 (5.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2,952 persons (12.8%).  The Census reported that 22,980 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.  There were 7,115 households, out of which 4,418 (62.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 4,996 (70.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 620 (8.7%) had a female householder with no spouse present, 274 (3.9%) had a male householder with no spouse present. There were 231 (3.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 72 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 927 households (13.0%) were made up of individuals and 226 (3.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.23. There were 5,890 families (82.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.59.  The population was spread out with 8,812 people (38.3%) under the age of 18, 892 people (3.9%) aged 18 to 24, 8,639 people (37.6%) aged 25 to 44, 3,802 people (16.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 835 people (3.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.1 males.  There were 7,410 housing units at an average density of 1,510.8 per square mile (583.3/km2), of which 5,204 (73.1%) were owner-occupied, and 1,911 (26.9%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.7%. 17,572 people (76.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 5,408 people (23.5%) lived in rental housing units.  According to the 2010 United States Census, Ladera Ranch had a median household income of $131,892, with 4.0% of the population living below the federal poverty line.

2000.

At the 2000 census, the Census Bureau did not define a census-designated place called Ladera Ranch, but it did define a Zip Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA), 92694. Because Ladera Ranch is contained within this ZCTA, it is possible to obtain Census data from the United States 2000 Census for the area even though data for "Ladera Ranch" is unavailable.

Local government.

As a part of unincorporated Orange County, Ladera Ranch is governed by the Orange County Board of Supervisors as part of the Fifth District.

Community organizations.

The Ladera Ranch Maintenance Corporation (LARMAC) is the homeowners association formed to manage, maintain and govern the LARMAC Property. LARMAC enforces its Governing Documents and imposes architectural control in the community. Each homeowner in the community is a Member of LARMAC. The LARMAC board of directors oversees its operations. Day-to-day activities are performed by the general manager and supervised by the LARMAC Board. Two essential committees assist the board of directors in overseeing its operations; the Aesthetic Review Committee, which has jurisdiction over design, development, aesthetics and the character of the community, and the Covenant Committee, which enforces the use restrictions of the community in accordance with the Governing Documents.  Ladera Ranch Community Services (LARCS) is an independent non-profit public benefit corporation (Community Services Organization) led by an elected five member board of directors. LARCS primary purpose is to enhance the lifestyle for the residents of Ladera Ranch through community and neighborhood events, recreational programs, resident led clubs and community groups, coordination of volunteer opportunities and resident communication which includes the management of the community website, LaderaLife.com, and the production of the quarterly news magazine, Roots & Wings. Jay Rogers currently serves as the Board President.  The Ladera Ranch Civic Council (LRCC) is a volunteer group that advises the Orange County Board of Supervisors. The council has no official municipal role or legal authority. The seven-member Civic Council board of directors focuses on topics within Ladera Ranch that are traditionally associated with a municipal body, such as planning and land use, public safety and infrastructure.  Ladera-Rancho Chamber of Commerce is currently working in partnership with LARCS to promote business awareness within the community through community events.  The community sponsors the annual Fourth of July Celebration which starts with a 10k / 5k race and then a community parade. In the afternoon the park is set up like a carnival with arts and crafts, activities, inflatables and baking contests. Later in the afternoon a band plays on stage until dark when a 30-minute choreographed fireworks display closes the day.  In addition to their signature Fourth of July event they hold a Summer Concert series, Family Campout, Movie night in the park, Spring and Fall Festivals, National Night Out, Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Santa visit, Bark, Biscuits and Brew event for our 4 legged friends as well as partnership events with local charities and vendors.  There are plenty of activities for youth of all ages as the community is well represented by AYSO, Ladera Football League, Little League Baseball, Lacrosse, NJB Basketball, Gators Swim Team, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, Venturing, and YMCA Adventure Guides. The community also has a Teen Leadership Council which is composed of 25 youth between 7th and 12th Grades who assist with programming and activities for community youth.

Education.

The community is served by the Capistrano Unified School District. A branch of the Orange County Public Library is also located on the campus of Ladera Ranch School.  Within the community are the Chaparral and Oso Grande Elementary Schools and the Ladera Ranch School, which is home to both an elementary school and a middle school on the same campus.  Chaparral Elementary School received the "California Distinguished School Award" in both 2004 and 2008. Ladera Ranch School opened in 2004, and the Middle School received the "California Distinguished School Award" in 2007 and has been nominated again in 2011.  Depending on which part of the community they live in, high school students attend either San Juan Hills High School in San Juan Capistrano, or Tesoro High School in Las Flores. Prior to its opening in 2007, students in areas currently served by San Juan Hills attended Capistrano Valley High School. A number of Ladera Ranch's students still attend Capistrano Valley, either due to having begun attendance prior to 2007, or by virtue of having been "grandfathered" in through siblings' attendance.  Private schools within a short distance to Ladera Ranch are Santa Margarita Catholic High School, J. Serra Catholic School and St. Margaret's Academy.  The community is close to Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California and Soka University of America in Aliso Viejo, California.

Law enforcement.

Law enforcement services in Ladera Ranch are provided by the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the California Highway Patrol.

Ladera Ranch is a highly affluent master-planned community and census-designated place located in south Orange County, California just outside the city limits of San Juan Capistrano, Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo.

拉德拉牧场(英语:Ladera Ranch)是位于美国加利福尼亚州橘县的一个人口普查指定地区。


Military career.

Before Welsh's last assignment as Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, he served as the 34th Commander, U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Commander, Allied Air Command Ramstein, Germany, and Director, Joint Air Power Competence Center at Kalkar, Germany, from December 13, 2010, to July 31, 2012. He was responsible for Air Force activities, conducted through 3rd Air Force, in an area of operations covering almost one-fifth of the globe. This area includes 51 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and the Arctic and Atlantic oceans with a total population reaching nearly one billion people speaking more than 80 languages. He also had administrative control of 17th Air Force, providing support, logistics and resources to U.S. Africa Command.  Welsh previously served as Associate Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for Military Support and Associate Director for Military Affairs, Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C., from August 2008 to December 2010. As the ADMA, he served as the principal advisor to the Director of the CIA on military matters and was the primary bridge between the CIA and the Department of Defense for the coordination and planning of military and interagency operations. Additionally, he assisted in the formulation of CIA policies regarding military affairs, managed the provision of direct support to deployed forces, and oversaw the Director of CIA representation at the combatant commands and senior service schools.  In May 2012, Welsh was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. On July 19, 2012, Welsh testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and was sworn in as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force in August 2012.  In 2013, Welsh said that the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II could not be expected to survive in future combat so should be retired in favor of the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, which he also said could not be expected to survive in future combat. Welsh believes that the USAF accomplishes the CAS mission "better than anyone" actually does.

Effective dates of promotion.

United States Air Force Academy Cadet – Class of 1976

References.

Mark Anthony Welsh III (born January 26, 1953) is Dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service, a graduate college of Texas A&M University, and a retired United States Air Force officer. His last military assignment before retiring from the Air Force was as the 20th Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, and entered the United States Air Force in June 1976 as a graduate of the US Air Force Academy. He retired after over 40 years of service on July 1, 2016, when he was relieved by General David L. Goldfein.

马克·安东尼·威尔什三世空军上将(英语:Mark Anthony Welsh III,1953年-1月26日),曾任第20任空军参谋长。作为空军参谋长,他是空军690,000名服役在全球各地现役、警卫队、预备役以及文职人员的首长,并且是参谋长联席会议成员,是总统、国防部长和国家安全委员的军事顾问。


Geography.

1,078 large islands dot the lake and a few thousand smaller ones are scattered across it. Over 90% of the area is forested. The islands in the lake include Bird Island, Snake Island, Monkey Island, Lock Island (featuring supposedly the world's biggest lock), and the Island to Remind You of Your Childhood. The lake covers an area of and has a storage capacity of. The islands in the lake cover about.

History.

Xin'an River Dam.

The valley was flooded in 1959 to create the lake for the Xin'an River Dam project. The dam that created the lake is located at and is tall with a crest length of. Xin'an Dam was the first dam constructed in China with a height greater than and its power plant has an installed capacity of 845 MW.

Submerged city of Shi Cheng.

Submerged in the lake, at the foot of Wu Shi Mountain (五狮山, "Five Lion Mountain"), lies an ancient city known as Shi Cheng (狮城, "Lion City"). It was built during the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25–200) and was first set up as a county in AD 208. The city acquired its name from nearby Wu Shi (Five Lion) Mountain, which is now known as Wu Shi Island since it too became partially submerged by the reservoir. At present Shi Cheng remains well-preserved and undisturbed at a depth of.  Besides the city of Shi Cheng many other historic sites have been confirmed beneath the water.

Qiandao Lake incident.

In 1994, in an event since named the Qiandao Lake Incident, three hijackers boarded a boat full of tourists and set it on fire, killing all 32 passengers on board. The passengers were mainly tourists from Taiwan.

Archimedes bridge.

In 1998, a Chinese-Italian consortium began planning the construction of a prototype of a submerged floating tunnel (also known as an Archimedes bridge), and decided in 2005 to build it across Quiandao Lake. The bridge, the first in the world of its kind, is expected to span, as a proof of concept for larger bridges.

Economy.

Companies take advantage of the pristine quality of the water and environment for aquaculture and water branding. Qiandao Lake is used to produce the Nongfu Spring brand of mineral water. Kaluga Queen produces much of the world's caviar through raising sturgeon in pens at the lake.  The lake has made Zhejiang a popular area for tourists. As a result, housing development has increased in the area since the late 1990s.

Transport.

An expressway links Hangzhou, Qiandao Lake, and Huangshan in Anhui. Every half an hour buses leave from West Hangzhou bus station to that connect Qiandao Lake.  On December 2015, 2018, high speed rail services started to serve the Qiandao Lake Railway Station on the Hangzhou-Huangshan line.

Qiandao Lake (), a human-made, freshwater lake located in Chun'an County, Zhejiang Province, China, was formed after the completion of the Xin'an River hydroelectric station in 1959.

千岛湖即新安江水库,位于中国浙江省杭州市西南部的淳安县和建德市境内,是1959年在新安江建德马铜官峡筑坝兴建水电站而形成的人工湖,面积达567.40平方公里。水库蓄水后未被淹没的山峰形成岛屿,当水库水位运行于108米高程(黄海)时,2500平方米以上岛屿共1078个,因此新安江水库得名千岛湖。1982年被国务院确定为国家级风景名胜区。1984年12月15日,经浙江省地名委员会批准,千岛湖作为新安江水库的风景区名。


The Trial.

In 1928, the local OGPU arrested a group of engineers, including Peter Palchinsky, Nikolai von Meck and A. F. Velichko, in the North Caucasus town of Shakhty, accusing them of conspiring with former owners of coal mines, who were living abroad and barred from the Soviet Union since the Revolution, to sabotage the Soviet economy. The group was charged with a multitude of crimes, including planning the explosions in the mines, buying equipment from foreign companies that was not needed, incorrectly administering labor laws and safety protocols, and failing to properly set up new mines. The architect of these arrests and interrogations was Yefim Yevdokimov. Although he retired from the OGPU in 1931, he later led a secret police team within the NKVD itself. Among those accused in similar trials and executed was Nikolai Karlovich von Meck, Tchaikovsky's nephew by marriage, who was accused of "wrecking" the state railway system. The trial marked the beginning of "wrecking" as a crime within the Soviet Union, as found in Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code).

Implications of The Trial.

The Shakhty trials marked the beginning of a long series of accusations against class enemies within the Soviet Union, and were to become a hallmark of the Great Purge of the 1930s. In the 1920s under the leadership of Joseph Stalin the Soviet Union began to move away from the policies of the New Economic Policy (NEP) introduced by Vladimir Lenin, introducing a series of Five-Year Plans with an emphasis on rapid industrialization. By the end of the 1920s, Soviet industry suffered from a high rate of industrial accidents caused by the forceful execution of unrealistic production plans and low management skills of the politically appointed directors. Stalin, however, saw this as an opportunity to clean up the management of "the old specialists", professionals whose skills were critical to the industry but were not sufficiently engaged with communism politically. In his 1923-1925 speeches, he frequently expressed hostility to this group, and inspired public resentment against them, for example, based on their relatively high earnings. Accusing them of "sabotage" was a convenient way of replacing "the old specialists" with people with more appropriate political views.  The trials constituted a shift in policy toward the intelligentsia, the "bourgeois specialists" that had previously been tolerated and protected due to their needed skills, to then be replaced by the “young proletarian communist specialist”. This marked the use of the concept of class warfare to motivate changes in soviet culture.  In a series of articles in 1928, the newspaper "Pravda" used the arrests to announce that the bourgeoisie were using sabotage as a method of class struggle. Stalin mentioned later that the Shakhty arrests proved that class struggle was intensifying as the Soviet Union moved closer to socialism.

General Population Response to the Trial.

The trial caused the worker population to turn on engineers, factory administrators and technicians. The worker population already had issues with the companies they worked for due to low wages and poor working conditions. The trial contributed to their distrust and resentment towards them. This also caused a trend of support for the government. The Soviet government used the resentment the low level workers had to gain their support of the government. During and after the trial there was an increase of government industrial loan bond purchases by low level workers. The trial also created a fear that Germans and revolutionaries were threatening the country.  German Secretary of the state Karl von Shubert felt that the Soviet Union handling of the Shakty trials was wrong. He felt Russia should have informed them of these crimes. If the crimes fit the bill then the Germans could have been deported from Russia but that wasn't the case.

Aftermath.

The trial resulted in eleven of the fifty-three accused engineers being sentenced to death. Thirty-four were sent to prison, four were acquitted and four were given suspended sentences. Six of the death sentences were commuted as reward for their confessions. Peter Palchinsky was executed in 1929 for his political positions and also Nikolai Karlovich von Meck, Tchaikovsky's nephew by marriage, who was accused of "wrecking" the state railway system. The trial marked the beginning of "wrecking" as a crime within the Soviet Union, as found in Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code).  Following the Shakhty Trials came a flood of social expulsion, primarily in secondary schools. Any children who were part of an illegal social organization, such as religious groups or the Boy Scouts, would be expelled. With the rise of the academic basis, many universities began implementing social discrimination in enrollment as political and social standards took over in the criteria. The Central Committee stated that more communists should be enrolled into the universities and that control over the technical faculties and schools should be transferred over to the Vesenkha. This helped lead to the creation of a new group of intelligentsia elites of “cultured and educated workers” that included later soviet leaders Khrushchev and Brezhnev.  Nikolai Bukharin, Alexei Rykov, and Mikhail Tomsky opposed Stalin's new policy on repression from within the Politburo, but Stalin insisted that international capital was trying to "weaken our economic power by means of invisible economic intervention, not always obvious but fairly serious, organizing sabotage, planning all kinds of 'crises' in one branch of industry or another, and thus facilitating the possibility of future military intervention". He said: "We have internal enemies. We have external enemies. We cannot forget this for a moment." Bukharin and Rykov were tried and convicted of treason in 1937 in one of the Moscow Show Trials, similar to the Shakhty Trial. These show trials were used as a means of presenting to the soviet people what was perceived as major threats to the Soviet Union. This played an important part in creating the cultural atmosphere leading to the Great Purge in the 1930s.

The Shakhty Trial () was the first important Soviet show trial since the case of the Socialist Revolutionary Party in 1922. Fifty-three engineers and managers from the North Caucasus town of Shakhty were arrested in 1928 after being accused of conspiring to sabotage the Soviet economy with the former owners of the coal mines. The trial was conducted on May 18, 1928 in House of Trade Unions, Moscow.

沙赫蒂审判(),又称沙赫蒂工程师案,是苏联历史上的一场摆样子公审。于1928年5月18日在莫斯科工会大厦开庭审理,审理持续41天,共30000名苏联居民参与旁听,100位苏联国内外记者参与报道。主审法官安德烈·亚努阿里耶维奇·维辛斯基,尼古拉·瓦西里耶维奇·克雷连科为主检察官。这也是苏联历史上第一场知名的摆架子公审。


Background.

The Green movement formed as a popular reaction of the peasantry against Bolshevik activities in the countryside during the Russian Civil War, which began after the October Revolution in November 1917. The Bolshevik government instituted the War Communism policy in 1918, sending officials through the peasant lands of central Russia to collect supplies that the state needed to sustain the military and to begin building a socialist economy. Official requisitioning of peasant property occurred, with common targets including recruits for the Red Army, horses, and grain. Requisitioning units and agricultural overseers often overstepped their official duties, plundering households indiscriminately and harming villagers. The official policies inflamed passions, and their harsh implementation engendered widespread resentment to the Bolshevik regime. The bloody repression of any popular unrest further alienated the peasantry, and when the Green armies began to form, Bolshevik excesses led many peasants to devote themselves to anti-Bolshevik activities.

Constituents, leadership and goals.

Despite Soviet attempts to associate the Green armies with White leadership, such a designation overemphasizes the political aspects of the movement. In a broad sense, the Green armies were spontaneous manifestations of peasant discontent rather than of any specific ideology. By 1920, the Bolsheviks had secured victory over the Whites and the peasant soldiers of the Red Army, outraged at the prospect of continuing to violently oppress their own class in the interest of the new government, deserted and consolidated in groups in the forests, eventually leading to their "Green" designation. While these groups primarily opposed the Bolsheviks, they often did so without a plan or alternative form of government in mind; rather, they simply wanted to rid the countryside of Bolshevik influence by any means necessary.  Besides Soviet records of their oppositional activity, there is very little personal information about the Green leaders, described as "men who acted and wrote not" due to the widespread illiteracy and spontaneous nature of their movement. In order to build substantial forces, a motivated individual would lead a group of soldiers through the countryside, enlisting village inhabitants and deserters from the Red Army along the way. The leaders would enter a village and make an announcement, employing simple messages and vague, reactionary goals in their rhetoric to rouse enthusiasm. They often exaggerated Bolshevik weakness and opposition victories as a means to convince listeners to join. By keeping the objectives simple, the recruitment indiscriminate, and the mood optimistic, Green leaders succeeded in provoking a sense among the peasants that they could make a significant dent in Bolshevik power. They also drew support from disillusioned urban and railroad workers, who had "fled back to the villages" and informed the peasants about the horrendous working conditions of developing industry.

Tactics and activity.

While it can be difficult to distinguish Green armies from other forms of peasant unrest, they were marked by concentrated leadership and distinct units, displaying a higher level of organization than most peasant uprisings. For instance, Aleksandr Antonov's Green army in Tambov had a medical staff, reinforcement brigades, and a complex system of communication and intelligence that employed women, children, and the elderly. Notable Green movements also developed in the regions of Novgorod, Tula, Ryazan, Tver, Voronezh, Kostroma, Syzran, Gomel, Kursk, Bryansk and Oryol, among many others. Estimations of Green forces ranged from a few hundred to fifty-thousand. Apart from the weapons that Red deserters brought with them, the Greens stole war material from defeated Bolshevik soldiers, from Bolshevik supply buildings, and from abandoned garrisons of the former Imperial Russian Army. They incited armed resistance to Bolshevik institutions in nearby villages and towns, bragging of peasant victories and recruiting new soldiers, sometimes by force. Green bands conducted highly mobile guerrilla warfare, attacking Bolshevik communication systems, mills, railways and factories, as well as Red Army detachments if they were comparable in size. If the peasants successfully overwhelmed Bolsheviks, they cruelly punished soldiers and officials, often mutilating bodies, torturing families or burying victims alive.

Cooperation with other groups.

Green armies often cooperated with other opposition groups – including anarchists and moderate left-wing Socialist-Revolutionary Party – in concerted efforts against the Bolsheviks, but generally for strategic reasons rather than ideological ones. While disillusioned Whites joined the Green cause and led some of the peasant bands, the Bolsheviks overstated the extent to which the two elements were related. Prone to follow fiery rhetoric and promises of violent revenge, the peasants usually rejected leaders who announced a primarily political goal or who represented the more moderate interests of the Socialist-Revolutionaries and other parties associated with the Provisional Government of 1917. "They preferred waging a desperate and lonely struggle on their own to helping the oppressors of the past [the Whites] achieve victory over the oppressors of the present [the Reds]."

Bolshevik response.

The Bolshevik government tried to build an anti-revolutionary, anti-communist image for the Green armies. Provincial Communist officials announced to locals that the Green armies were a subsection of the villainous White movement, despite the fact that Green armies were generally just as hostile to the Whites as they were to the Reds. The Bolsheviks also exaggerated the influence of the kulaks in Green armies, who were undoubtedly involved but hardly the driving force of the movement.  The Bolsheviks initially believed that they could easily defeat the Greens, treating them as a hopeless cause both in their propaganda and in their military strategies. Instead of focusing armed attention on the Greens as a whole, the Reds treated each peasant army as a specific instance of unrest, suppressing harshly and further angering the peasant population. By the time that Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks realized the strength of the Green movement, it had grown into a serious social and military threat to Bolshevik power. Some scholars credit the Green movement with indirectly forcing the Communist Party to change its economic strategy in 1921 (see New Economic Policy), and yet, while the Greens certainly contributed to changes in Bolshevik policy, the extent of their influence is open to debate. It is far less contestable that the New Economic Policy – along with increased rainfall – quelled the Green movement by improving rural conditions and thus damaged the Green armies’ foundation for successful recruitment – peasant discontent. By the summer of 1922, as the Bolsheviks were securing their victory in the civil war, the Green troops had all but disappeared.

Reasons for failure.

Aside from the Bolshevik response, a number of internal aspects of the Green movement led to its failure. Green activity often amounted to violence without an actual goal beyond killing communists and interrupting their economic and political activity. Thus, the armies rarely moved outside of their original geographic region. When Greens conquered towns or villages, they did not install themselves politically, leaving the territory to be retaken later by Bolsheviks. Furthermore, there was a great deal of tension within the bands, which often included agrarian peasants, kulaks, workers and Whites, many with preexisting resentment towards each other. The Green armies were underfunded, low on supplies, and outmatched by the Red Army (which, despite its flaws, had better organization and morale as a result of greater, more frequent victories).

The Green armies (), also known as the Green Army (Зелёная Армия) or Greens (Зелёные), were armed peasant groups which fought against all governments in the Russian Civil War from 1917 to 1922. The Green armies were semi-organized local militias that opposed the Bolsheviks, Whites, and foreign interventionists, and fought to protect their communities from requisitions or reprisals carried out by third parties. The Green armies were politically and ideologically neutral, but at times associated with the Socialist-Revolutionary Party. The Green armies had at least tacit support throughout much of Russia, however their primary base, the peasantry, were largely reluctant to wage an active campaign during the Russian Civil War and eventually dissolved following Bolshevik victory in 1922.

绿军(俄语:)是1910年代末期俄国内战当中,一批以无党派、无政府主义和无君主主义论者为主的组织,被视为除了「红军」、「白军」之外的第三势力。


Synthesis, reactions and properties.

Silver phosphate is formed as a yellow precipitate by the reaction between a soluble silver compound, such as silver nitrate with a soluble orthophosphate; its solubility product is 8.89×10 moldm. The precipitation reaction is analytically significant and can be used in qualitative or quantitative tests for phosphates.  This compound is dissolved by nitric acid, or by ammonia. It can also be formed as large crystals by gradual loss of ammonia from an ammoniacal solution of silver phosphate; the reaction can be used in quantitative analysis of phosphate ions. Depending on the method of preparation different crystal forms of silver phosphate can be produced of the same lattice structure.

Uses.

As well as being important in analytical chemistry, the precipitation of silver phosphate is also used in silver staining of biological materials (after reduction to silver metal) - as a magnifying agent for phosphate.  Silver phosphate also found use in early photography as a light sensitive agent.  In 2010, silver phosphate was reported as having a high (90%) quantum yield as a photocatalyst for the visible light photochemical splitting of water, and for production of activated oxygen by the same method.  Silver phosphate is also a potential material for incorporating silver ion antibacterial properties into materials.

Other silver phosphates.

Silver pyrophosphate AgPO (CAS No. 13465-97-9) can be prepared as a white precipitate from reaction of silver(I) and pyrophosphate ions. Like silver orthophosphate it is light sensitive. Silver orthophosphate turns red on exposure to light. It has a density of 5.306g/cm and a melting point of 585 °C. A hydrate also exists which decomposes at 110 °C.  Silver metaphosphate (AgPO) (CAS No. 13465-96-8) is a white solid with a density of 6.370g/cm and a melting point of 482 °C. A hydrate also exists which decomposes at 240 °C.

Silver phosphate or silver orthophosphate is a light sensitive, yellow, water-insoluble chemical compound composed of silver and phosphate ions of formula AgPO.

磷酸银,或正磷酸银,原磷酸银,是对光敏感的,黄色的,不溶于水的化合物,由银和磷酸根离子组成,化学式为AgPO或AgOP


Biography.

By the time of King Zhao's coronation, his father King Kang and grandfather King Cheng had conquered and colonized the Central Plains of China, forcing most of the northern and eastern tribal peoples into vassalage. Only the Dongyi of eastern Shandong continued their resistance, but they were no longer a threat to Zhou rule. As result, King Zhao inherited a prospering kingdom, and could afford to build a new ancestral temple for his father. This temple, known as “Kang gong”, was built in line with ritual reforms of the time and would grow into “one of the two central temples of dynastic worship”, the other being the much older “jinggong” temple.  With the north and east pacified and a large military force under his control, King Zhao turned his attention to the Yangtze basin. This region of great mineral wealth was under the control of the confederation of Chu, with whom the Zhou kingdom had been on good terms for almost two centuries. Under King Zhao, the relationship between Zhou and Chu deteriorated, however, as Chu continued its aggressive expansion and Zhou's demand for gold, copper and tin grew. As hostilities grew, border clashes ensued that eventually escalated into open war. No longer tolerating Chu's perceived defiance, Zhao invaded the Chu confederation in 961 BC. He initially conquered the region to the north of the Yangtze, and then defeated and subdued the 26 states of the Han River valley, including Chu. Most likely unable to permanently occupy the latter region, Zhao eventually retreated with much loot.  In 957 BC, Zhao launched another major military campaign into the middle Yangtze region. Employing half of the royal forces, organized into the "Six Armies of the West", he probably aimed to permanently bring the Yangtze basin under his control. This campaign, however, ended in disaster as the Zhou forces were defeated and almost entirely wiped out. King Zhao and his remaining troops allegedly drowned while retreating across the Han River.

Legacy.

Zhao's death and defeat greatly damaged the Zhou dynasty's reputation and ended its early expansion, resulting in several foreign invasions of the kingdom. His successor and son King Mu of Zhou was able to restabilise the kingdom, but the Yangtze basin became the permanent southern limit of Western Zhou's direct control. Despite his “humiliating end”, however, King Zhao was still commemorated for his southern campaigns during the Western Zhou dynasty, as he had at least established political dominance over the region to the north of the Yangtze and east of the Han River. After his death, he was also given a sacrificial site at the “Kang gong” temple he had himself built. As the first Zhou ruler to be enshrined this way, he eventually became a key figure for ancestor veneration of the middle Zhou dynasty. One major reason for the initially positive appraisal of his reign was possibly that later Zhou rulers did not want their ancestor being remembered for a defeat that cast shame upon the dynasty.  Later moralistic renditions of King Zhao's life were much more unfavorable, as they portrayed him as a ruler who loved pleasure and disregarded politics, dying on a hunting trip to the south. Later Chu poets also wrote about King Zhao in the Classical Chinese poetry collection "Heavenly Questions", mocking him for his perceived arrogance. An especially bizarre incident relating to King Zhao happened in the seventh century BC: When a coalition of Zhou states attacked the state of Chu, the latter sent a delegation to ask what reasons they could have for invading. The northern lords gave the feeble pretext that “King Zhao had failed to return from his southward expedition (which took place some three centuries earlier) and they had ‘come to investigate’."

King Zhao of Zhou (), personal name Jī Xiá, was the fourth king of the Chinese Zhou dynasty. He ruled from 977/75 BC until his death twenty years later. Famous for his disastrous war against the Chu confederation, his death in battle ended the Western Zhou’s early expansion and marked the beginning of his dynasty’s decline.

周昭王(约前1027年-前977年),姓姬,名瑕,西周第四代天子。周康王之子。《史记》称他为昭王,西周青铜器铭文多称他为<unk>王或者王<unk> 王,与周代青铜器铭文将周文王、周武王称为玟、珷的格式是一样的。


Background.

On 4 January 1868, the restoration of imperial rule was formally proclaimed. "Shōgun" Tokugawa Yoshinobu had earlier resigned his authority to the emperor, agreeing to "be the instrument for carrying out" imperial orders. The Tokugawa shogunate had ended. However, while Yoshinobu's resignation created a nominal void at the highest level of government, his apparatus of state continued to exist. Moreover, the Tokugawa family remained a prominent force in the evolving political order, a prospect hard-liners from Satsuma and Chōshū found intolerable.  Although the majority of fifteen-year-old Emperor Meiji's consultative assembly was happy with the formal declaration of direct rule by the court and tended to support a continued collaboration with the Tokugawa, Saigō Takamori physically threatened members of the assembly into ordering the confiscation of Yoshinobu's lands.  Although he initially agreed to the court's demands, on 17 January 1868, Yoshinobu declared "that he would not be bound by the proclamation of the restoration and called on the court to rescind it". On 24 January, after considerable provocation by Satsuma "rōnin" in Edo, Yoshinobu, from his base at Osaka Castle decided to prepare an attack on Kyoto, ostensibly to dislodge the Satsuma and Chōshū elements dominating the court and "freeing" young Emperor Meiji from their influence.

Prelude.

The battle started when shogunate forces moved in the direction of Kyoto to deliver a letter from Yoshinobu, warning the Emperor of the intrigues plotted by Satsuma and the court nobles who supported it, such as Iwakura Tomomi.  The 15,000-strong shogunal army outnumbered the Satsuma–Chōshū army by 3 to 1, and consisted mostly of men from the Kuwana and Aizu Domains, reinforced by "Shinsengumi" irregulars. Although some of its members were mercenaries, others, such as the "Denshūtai", had received training from French military advisers. Some of the men deployed in the front lines were armed in archaic fashion, with pikes and swords. For example, the troops of Aizu had a combination of modern soldiers and samurai, as did the troops of Satsuma to a lesser degree. The Bakufu had almost fully equipped troops and Chōshū troops were the most modern and organized of all. According to historian Conrad Totman: "In terms of army organization and weaponry, the four main protagonists probably rank in this order: Chōshū was best; Bakufu infantry was next; Satsuma was next; and Aizu and most liege vassal forces were last".  There was no clearly defined intent to fight on the part of the shogunate troops, attested by the many empty rifles of the men in the vanguard. Motivation and leadership on the part of the shogunate also seems to have been lacking.  Although the forces of Chōshū and Satsuma were outnumbered, they were fully modernized with Armstrong howitzers, Minié rifles and one Gatling gun. The shogunate forces had been slightly lagging in term of equipment, although a core elite force had been recently trained by the French military mission to Japan (1867–68). The Shogun also relied on troops supplied by allied domains, which were not necessarily as advanced in terms of military equipment and methods, making up an army that had both modern and outdated elements.  The Royal Navy, generally supportive of Satsuma and Chōshū, maintained a fleet lying at anchor in Osaka harbour, a factor of uncertainty which lead to the shogunate to maintain the garrison at Osaka with a significant part of its army in reserve rather than commit them to the offensive in Kyōto. This foreign naval presence was related to the protection orders for the foreign settlements at Hyōgo (modern Kobe), and the very recent opening of the ports of Hyōgo and Ōsaka by decree to foreign trade three weeks earlier on 1 January 1868. Tokugawa Yoshinobu was in bed with a severe chill, and could not participate directly in the operations.

Events of 27 January.

On 27 January 1868 Tokugawa Yoshinobu, based at Osaka Castle, south of Kyoto, started to move his troops north to Kyoto, through two main roads, one being the Toba road (鳥羽街道), and the other the Fushimi road (伏見街道). Altogether about 13,000 troops were moving forward, although they were widely spread out, leaving about 8,500 for the action at Toba–Fushimi. The overall commander ("rikugun bugyō") of the operation was Takenaka Shigekata.

Toba encounter.

The shogunate forces move in the direction of Toba under the command of Vice-Commander Ōkubo Tadayuki, making a total of 2,000 to 2,500 troops. At around 17:00, the shogunate vanguard, made up largely of about 400 men of the "Mimawarigumi", armed with pikes and some firearms, under Sasaki Tadasaburo, approached a Satsuma-manned barrier post at the Koeda Bridge (小枝橋), Toba (located in what is now part of Minami-ku, Kyoto). They were followed by two infantry battalions (歩兵), rifles empty as they did not expect a fight, under Tokuyama Kōtarō, and further south by eight companies from Kuwana with four cannons. Some Matsuyama and Takamatsu troops and a few others were also participating, but Bakufu cavalry and artillery seem to have been absent. In front of them were about 900 entrenched troops from Satsuma, with four cannons.  After denying the shogunate force permission to pass peacefully, the Satsuma force opened fire from the flank, the first shots of the Boshin War. A Satsuma shell exploded on a gun carriage next to the horse of shogunal commander Takigawa Tomotaka, causing the horse to throw Takigawa and bolt. The startled horse ran wild, throwing the shogunate column into panic and disarray. The Satsuma attack was forceful and quickly sent the shogunate troops in disarray and retreat.  Sasaki ordered his men to charge the Satsuma gunners, but since the Mimawarigumi was armed only with spears and swords, his men were killed en masse. However, the Kuwana forces and a unit under Kubota Shigeaki held their ground, making the skirmish rage on inconclusively. The Shogunate troops set fire to various houses as they retreated, but that allowed Satsuma snipers to aim more easily. The situation stabilized during the night, as troops from Kuwana arrived in reinforcement.  The Toba battlefield has been transformed into a public park, "Tobarikyūato-kōen" (鳥羽離宮跡公園), which contains a monument to the battle. It is located just between the Koeda Bridge, where the Satsuma forces were stationed, and the Jōnangū Temple (城南宮), where the Imperial forces had their headquarters.

Fushimi encounter.

On the same day, Satsuma–Chōshū forces further to the southeast at Fushimi also inconclusively engaged Shogunal forces in their area. The Satsuma–Chōshū forces started firing on the Shogunal forces when they heard the firing of cannons from the area of Toba. The Shogunal forces were composed of Bakufu troops, Shinsengumi and Aizu troops.  A violent encounter took place for the control of Bungo Bridge (豊後橋).

Events of 28 January.

On 28 January, Iwakura Tomomi gave Saigō Takamori and Ōkubo Toshimichi orders obtained from Emperor Meiji proclaiming Tokugawa Yoshinobu and his followers to be enemies of the court, authorizing their suppression by military force, and granting use of the Imperial brocade banners. These brocade banners were prepared beforehand, having been made by Ōkubo Toshimichi a few months previously, and stored in Chōshū domain and in the Satsuma Kyoto residence until an appropriate opportunity presented itself.  In addition, Imperial Prince Yoshiaki, a young man of 22, who had lived as a Buddhist monk at the "monzeki" temple of Ninna-ji was named nominal commander in chief of the army. Although the Prince had no military experience, this nomination effectively transformed the Satsuma-Chōshū Alliance forces into an Imperial army ("kangun"), which proved to be a powerful tool of psychological warfare, sending shogunal forces into confusion and disarray, since anyone who fired on the army would automatically become a traitor to the emperor.  The Bakufu forces that had been to Toba retreated and regrouped with other Bakufu troops at Tominomori (), where they set up their command base.  Meanwhile, the Battle of Awa took place that same day on the nearby Inland Sea. It was the first naval battle between modern fleets in Japan, and ended with a small shogunal victory over a Satsuma fleet, but was insignificant to the unfolding of the land battle.

Takasegawa encounter.

The forces which had been to Fushimi, consisting in Aizu troops, Shinsengumi and Yūgekitai () guerilla troops were again attacked at Takasegawa () and Ujigawa () on the morning of the 28th by the troops of Satsuma and Chōshū, and were forced to retreat in the direction of Yodo Castle after a bitter fight.

Events of 29 January.

Tominomori encounter.

The Shogunal forces which had regrouped at Tominomori () were attacked by the forces of Satsuma in the morning. Around noon, the Imperial brocade banner appeared from behind the Satsuma–Chōshū lines. At first, neither side recognized the strange banner. Messengers had to be sent to both sides to explain what it was. Shogunal forces were thrown into confusion and Satsuma-Chōshū forces, their morale boosted, drew swords and charged the shogunal lines. The shogunal forces attempted to counter-attack, but were forced to retreat in disarray. In the afternoon, the Shogunal forces had once again to retreat to the area of Nōsho (), in the direction of the Yodo Castle.  Shogunal forces attempted to regroup at Yodo Castle, but were refused admission, as the "daimyō" of Yodo Domain had decided to defect to the Imperial side on the appearance of the Imperial banner and defeat of the Shogunal forces. The "daimyō" of Yodo maintained his gates closed despite the supplication of the retreating army, thus denying them a major means of defense, forcing them to flee as far as Osaka castle. The "daimyō" of strategically located Tsu Domain followed two days later.

Events of 30 January.

The retreating shogunal troops were progressively streaming into Osaka Castle.  At Osaka Castle, Tokugawa Yoshinobu gathered his advisors and military leaders to plan strategy and, to boost morale, advised that he would personally take to the field as commander of "bakufu" forces. That evening however, he slipped away from Osaka Castle accompanied by the "daimyōs" of Aizu and Kuwana to escape back to Edo on the shogunate warship "Kaiyō Maru".  As "Kaiyō Maru" had not arrived, he took refuge for the night on an American warship,, anchored in Osaka Bay. "Kaiyō Maru" arrived the following day.  When the remnants of his forces learned that the "shōgun" had abandoned them, they departed Osaka Castle, which was later surrendered to Imperial forces without resistance. Yoshinobu later claimed that he had been disturbed by the Imperial approval given to the actions of Satsuma and Chōshū, and, once the brocade banner had appeared, he had lost all will to fight.  French advisors Jules Brunet and Cazeneuve, who were present at the battle, left Osaka and returned to Edo on 12 January, together with Enomoto Takeaki on board the "Fujiyama". Enomoto brought with him various documents and a treasure of 180,000 "ryō". They arrived in Edo on 14 January.

Aftermath.

The effects of the Battle of Toba–Fushimi were out of proportion to its small scale. The prestige and morale of the Tokugawa "bakufu" was seriously weakened, and many "daimyōs" who had remained neutral now declared in favor of the Emperor and offered military support to prove their new loyalties. Even more significantly, the ill-conceived attempt by Tokugawa Yoshinobu to regain control silenced elements within the new imperial government who favored a peaceful resolution to the conflict.  Osaka Castle, an important symbol of Tokugawa hegemony over western Japan, fell to Imperial forces. The victory set a course for a military settlement rather than a political compromise.

The occurred between pro-Imperial and Tokugawa shogunate forces during the Boshin War in Japan. The battle started on 27 January 1868 (or fourth year of Keiō, first month, 3rd day, according to the lunar calendar), when the forces of the shogunate and the allied forces of Chōshū, Satsuma and Tosa Domains clashed near Fushimi, Kyoto. The battle lasted for four days, ending in a decisive defeat for the shogunate.

鸟羽伏见之战(日语:)是日本近代的一场重要战役,交战双方为支持明治天皇的新政府军和支持德川幕府的军队,发生于1868年1月27日到30日,京都南郊之上鸟羽(京都市南区)、下鸟羽、竹田、伏见(京都市伏见区),战役以新政府军的全胜告终,标志着戊辰战争的开始。


Comparison of SiX.

The properties of the tetrahalosilanes, all of which are tetrahedral, are significantly affected by nature of the halide. These trends apply also to the mixed halides. Melting points, boiling points, and bond lengths increase with the atomic mass of the halide. The opposite trend is observed for the Si-X bond energies.

Lewis acidity.

Covalently saturated silicon complexes like SiBr, along with tetrahalides of germanium (Ge) and tin (Sn), are Lewis acids. Although silicon tetrahalides obey the octet rule, they add Lewis basic ligands to give adducts with the formula SiBrL and SiBrL (where L is a Lewis base). The Lewis acidic properties of the tetrahalides tend to increase as follows: SiI < SiBr < SiCl < SiF. This trend is attributed to the relative electronegativities of the halogens.  The strength of the Si-X bonds decrease in the order: Si-F > Si-Cl > Si-Br > Si-I.

Synthesis.

Silicon tetrabromide is synthesized by the reaction of silicon with hydrogen bromide at 600 °C. Side products include dibromosilane (SiHBr) and tribromosilane (SiHBr).

Reactivity.

Like other halosilanes, SiBr can be converted to hydrides, alkoxides, amides, and alkyls, i.e., products with the following functional groups: Si-H, Si-OR, Si-NR, Si-R, and Si-X bonds respectively.  Silicon tetrabromide can be readily reduced by hydrides or complex hydrides.  Reactions with alcohols and amines proceeed as follows:  Grignard reactions with metal alkyl halides are particularly important reactions due to their production of organosilicon compounds which can be converted to silicones.  Redistribution reactions occur between two different silicon tetrahalides (as well as halogenated polysilanes) when heated to 100 ̊C, resulting in various mixed halosilanes. The melting points and boiling points of these mixed halosilanes generally increase as their molecular weights increase. (Can occur with X= H, F, Cl, Br, and I)  Silicon tetrabromide hydrolyzes readily when exposed to air causing it to fume:  Silicon tetrabromide is stable in the presence of oxygen at room temperature, but bromosiloxanes form at 670-695 ̊C.

Uses.

Due to its close similarity to silicon tetrachloride, there are few applications unique to SiBr. The pyrolysis of SiBr does have the advantage of depositing silicon at faster rates than that of SiCl, however SiCl is usually preferred due to its availability in high purity. Pyrolysis of SiBr followed by treatment with ammonia yields silicon nitride (SiN) coatings, a hard compound used for ceramics, sealants, and the production of many cutting tools.

Silicon tetrabromide is the inorganic compound with the formula SiBr. This colorless liquid has a suffocating odor due to its tendency to hydrolyze with release of hydrogen bromide. The general properties of silicon tetrabromide closely resemble those of the more commonly used silicon tetrachloride.

四溴化硅,又称溴化硅,一种无机化合物。无色发烟液体,具强烈刺激性。暴露在空气中变黄。


Early life and career.

Born in 1965 in the Malësi e Madhe District of northern Albania, Marinaj started his writing career as a restricted correspondent publishing in a number of Albanian media outlets, first in local newspapers in Shkodra, then in a series of Albanian national publications including "Zëri i Rinisë" ("The Voice of Youth"), "Luftëtari" ("The Fighter"), "Vullnetari" ("The Volunteer"), and "Drita" (The Light). In August 1990, Marinaj published an anti-communist satiric poem entitled ""Horses"" (original ) and aware of his imminent arrest from the communist regime, on September 12, 1990, Marinaj escaped authorities by illegally crossing the Albanian-Yugoslavian border and fled first to Yugoslavia and later on to the United States. He arrived in San Diego in July 1991, then went to Richardson, Texas. In 2001, Marinaj founded the Albanian-American Writers Association and served as president until 2009.

Author Interviews.

While pursuing his new life in America, Marinaj continued working as a freelance journalist for the Albanian media; his freelance work included interviews with President George Herbert Walker Bush, the ninth and current President of the State of Israel Shimon Peres, and world-renowned soccer player Pelé.

Horses.

Marinaj published his poem entitled "Horses" in the Albanian paper of record, "Drita", which at first glance it read like a simple poem about farm animals, but was actually a satirical social and political commentary about the Albanian people being herded and corralled by an oppressive communist regime. "Horses" appeared in "Drita" on August 19, 1990, and the response was immediate and overwhelming. The sheer audacity of publishing such a clearly subversive poem in a national publication amazed the Albanians (and soon after the international community as well). " Within hours, copies of "Drita sold" out across the country, so people took to scrawling the poem on scraps of paper and passing it to one another in the subways and on the streets and months later, protesters chanted the poem through megaphones during anti-government demonstrations. Seen from this point of view, "Marinaj's words inspired freedom, helped defeat communism in Albania." Nevertheless, "having seen other poets hanged in the city's center for voicing similar notions of freedom and liberty, Marinaj knew that he had to leave the country immediately; packed a few of his favorite books, told his friends and family that he was going on vacation, and set off on an eight-hour hike over the mountains and into Yugoslavia."

Education in America.

After his education in Albania, Marinaj earned an associate degree in science from Brookhaven College, in 2001. He continued his education at the University of Texas at Dallas where he graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2006 with a bachelor's in literary studies, and a master's degree in the same subject in 2008. Three years later, he received a certificate in Holocaust Studies from the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies.

Doctor of Philosophy.

The University of Texas at Dallas awarded Marinaj a PhD in 2012. His dissertation which focus on the history and philosophy of oral poetry in the Balkans and on the Translation Theory is titled "Oral Poetry in Albanian and Other Balkan Cultures: Translating the Labyrinths of Untranslatability".

Protonism Theory.

According to The Dallas Morning News, Marinaj's "Protonism Theory" seeks to "promote peace and positive thinking" through literary criticism. Protonism Theory proposes that there are strong and weak points in every piece of literature but argues that a critic's personal interests and biases influence how much focus those points receive. Marinaj founded the Protonism Theory in 2005 as a response to the flood of unduly negative criticism in East European academia following the collapse of communism and as a response, he developed Protonism to provide a common ground from which critics could evaluate a literary work more objectively. Protonism works along five central principles: truth, inquiry, restitution, protonismiotics, and ethics.

Current Occupation.

Marinaj teaches English and Communications, among other courses, at Richland College, since 2001.

Published books.

Marinaj has published several books of poetry, journalism, and literary criticism. His three books of poetry include ("Do Not Depart From Me"), ("Infinite"), and ("Prayer on the Eighth Day of the Week"). In addition, he has published a book of author interviews titled ("The Other Side of the Mirror"), a book of selected articles and essays titled ("Some things can't be kept secret"), and one book of literary criticism titled ("Protonism: theory into practice").

Translations.

Marinaj, who has served as guest editor of the Translation Review, has translated several books from English to Albanian, and two from Albanian to English, including a collection of Albanian oral epic poetry (with Frederick Turner) and has edited more than a dozen books in both languages.

Recognitions and critical reception.

Marinaj is a recipient of the Pjetër Arbnori Prize for literature from QNK, part of the Albanian Ministry of Culture, in 2008.

Gjekë Marinaj is an Albanian–American poet, writer, translator, literary critic, and founder of the Protonism Theory. Currently living in the United States, he has been the first president of the "Society of Albanian-American Writers", established in 2001 and has published several books of poetry, prose, and literary criticism. In 2008, Marinaj was awarded the "Pjetër Arbnori Award" for literature by QNK part of the Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports of Albania.

杰克·马里纳耶(Gjekë Marinaj)美籍阿尔巴尼亚诗人,作家,翻译,以及文学评论家。 现居美国,担任“美籍阿尔巴尼亚作家协会”(成立于2001年)主席,出版过多部诗集。2008年, 马里纳耶获得由阿尔巴尼亚文化部颁发的“皮赫特·阿伯罗利奖”。


阿尔巴尼亚社会主义人民共和国

Consolidation of power and initial reforms.

On 29 November 1944, Albania was liberated by the National Liberation Movement (In Albanian: Lëvizja Nacional-Çlirimtare LNC). The Anti-Fascist National Liberation Council, formed in May, became the country's provisional government.  The government, like the LNC, was dominated by the two-year-old Communist Party of Albania, and the party's first secretary, Enver Hoxha, became Albania's prime minister. From the start, the LNC government was an undisguised Communist regime. Having sidelined the nationalist Balli Kombëtar after their collaboration with the Nazis, the LNC quickly moved to consolidate its power, liberate the country's tenants and workers, and fraternally link Albania with other socialist countries. King Zog I was permanently barred from returning to Albania.  The internal affairs minister, Koçi Xoxe, "an erstwhile pro-Yugoslavia tinsmith", presided over the trial of many non-communist politicians who were condemned as "enemies of the people" and "war criminals". Many were sentenced to death. Those spared were imprisoned for years in work camps and jails and later settled on state farms built on reclaimed marshlands.  In December 1944, the provisional government adopted laws allowing the state to regulate foreign and domestic trade, commercial enterprises, and the few industries the country possessed. The laws sanctioned confiscation of property belonging to political exiles and "enemies of the people." The state also expropriated all German- and Italian-owned property, nationalized transportation enterprises, and canceled all concessions granted by previous Albanian governments to foreign companies.  In August 1945, the provisional government adopted the first sweeping agricultural reforms in Albania's history. The country's 100 largest landowners, who controlled close to a third of Albania's arable land, had frustrated all agricultural reform proposals before

Albanian–Yugoslav tensions.

Until Yugoslavia's expulsion from the Cominform in 1948, Albania was effectively a Yugoslav satellite. In repudiating the 1943 Albanian internal Mukaj agreement under pressure from the Yugoslavs, Albania's communists had given up on their demands for a Yugoslav cession of Kosovo to Albania after the war. In January 1945, the two governments signed a treaty establishing Kosovo as a Yugoslav autonomous province. Shortly thereafter, Yugoslavia became the first country to recognize Albania's provisional government.  In July 1946, Yugoslavia and Albania signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation that was quickly followed by a series of technical and economic agreements laying the groundwork for integrating the Albanian and Yugoslav economies. The pacts provided for coordinating the economic plans of both states, standardizing their monetary systems, and creating a common pricing system and a customs union. So close was the Yugoslav-Albanian relationship that Serbo-Croatian became a required subject in Albanian high schools.  Yugoslavia signed a similar friendship treaty with the Bulgarian People's Republic, and Marshal Josip Broz Tito and Bulgaria's Georgi Dimitrov talked of plans to establish a Balkan Federation to include Albania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. Yugoslav advisers poured into Albania's government offices and its army headquarters. Tirana was desperate for outside aid, and about 20,000 tons of Yugoslav grain helped stave off famine. Albania also received US$26.3 million from the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration immediately after the war but had to rely on Yugoslavia for investment and development aid.  Joint Albanian–Yugoslav companies were created for mining, railroad construction, the production of petroleum and electricity, and international trade. Yugoslav investments led to the construction of a sugar refinery in Korçë, a food-processing plant in Elbasan, a hemp factory at Rrogozhinë, a fish cannery in Vlorë, and a printing press, telephone exchange, and textile mill in Tirana. The Yugoslavs also bolstered the Albanian economy by paying three times the international price for Albanian copper and other materials.  Relations between Albania and Yugoslavia declined, however, when the Albanians began complaining that the Yugoslavs were paying too little for Albanian raw materials and exploiting Albania through the joint stock companies. In addition, the Albanians sought investment funds to develop light industries and an oil refinery, while the Yugoslavs wanted the Albanians to concentrate on agriculture and raw-material extraction. The head of Albania's Economic Planning Commission, and Hoxha's right-hand man, Nako Spiru, became the leading critic of Yugoslavia's efforts to exert economic control over Albania. Tito distrusted the intellectuals (Hoxha and his allies) of the Albanian Party and, through

Deteriorating relations with the West.

Albania's relations with the West soured after the Communist regime's refusal to allow free elections in December 1945. Albania restricted the movement of United States and British personnel in the country, charging that they had instigated anti-Communist uprisings in the northern mountains. Britain announced in April that it would not send a diplomatic mission to Tirana; the United States withdrew its mission in November; and both the United States and Britain opposed admitting Albania to the United Nations (UN). The Albanian regime feared that the United States and Britain, which were supporting anti-Communist forces in the ongoing civil war in Greece, would back Greek demands for territory in southern Albania; and anxieties grew in July when a United States Senate resolution backed the Greek demands.  A major incident between Albania and Britain erupted in 1946 after Tirana claimed jurisdiction over the channel between the Albanian mainland and the Greek island of Corfu. Britain challenged Albania by sailing four destroyers into the channel. Two of the ships struck mines on

In the Soviet sphere.

Albania became dependent on Soviet aid and know-how after it broke with Yugoslavia in 1948. In February 1949, Albania gained membership in the communist bloc's organization for coordinating economic planning, the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon). Tirana soon entered into trade agreements with Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania, and the Soviet Union. Soviet and East European technical advisers took up residence in Albania, and the Soviet Union also sent Albania military advisers and built a submarine installation on Sazan Island. After the Soviet-Yugoslav split, Albania and Bulgaria remained the only countries that the Soviet Union could use to funnel war material to the communists fighting in Greece. What little strategic value Albania offered the Soviet Union, however, gradually shrank as nuclear-arms technology developed.  Anxious to pay homage to Stalin, Albania's rulers implemented elements of the Stalinist economic system. In 1949 Albania adopted the basic elements of the Soviet fiscal system, under which state enterprises paid direct contributions to the treasury from their profits and kept only a share authorized for self-financed investments and other purposes. In 1951 the Albanian government launched its first five-year plan, which emphasized exploiting the country's oil, chromite, copper, nickel, asphalt, and coal resources; expanding electricity production and the power grid; increasing agricultural output; and improving transportation. The government began a program of rapid industrialization after the APL's Second Party Congress and a campaign of forced collectivization of farmland in 1955. At the time, private farms still produced about 87% of Albania's agricultural output, but by 1960 the same percentage came from collective or state farms.  Soviet-Albanian relations remained warm during the last years of Stalin's life, although Albania was an economic liability for the Soviet Union. Albania conducted all its foreign trade with Soviet European countries in 1949, 1950, and 1951 – and over half its trade with the Soviet Union itself. Together with its satellites, the Soviet Union underwrote shortfalls in Albania's balance-of-payments with long-term grants.  Although far behind Western practice, health care and education improved dramatically for Albania's 1.2 million people in the early 1950s. The number of Albanian doctors increased by a third to about 150 early in the decade (although the doctor-patient ratio remained unacceptable by most standards), and the state opened new medical-training facilities. The number of hospital beds rose from 1,765 in 1945 to about 5,500 in 1953. Better health-care and living

In the Chinese sphere.

Albania played a role in the Sino-Soviet split which far outweighed its size or importance in the Communist world. By 1958 Albania stood with the People's Republic of China (PRC) in opposing Moscow on issues of peaceful coexistence, de-Stalinization, and Yugoslavia's "separate road to socialism" through decentralization of economic life. The Soviet Union, other Eastern European countries, and China all offered Albania large amounts of aid. Soviet leaders also promised to build a large Palace of Culture in Tirana as a symbol of the Soviet people's "love and friendship" for the Albanians. But despite these gestures, Tirana was dissatisfied with Moscow's economic policy towards Albania. Hoxha and Shehu apparently decided in either May or June 1960 that Albania was assured of Chinese support, and when sharp polemics erupted between the PRC and the Soviet Union, they openly sided with the former. Ramiz Alia, at the time a candidate-member of the Politburo and Hoxha's adviser on ideological questions, played a prominent role in the rhetoric.  The Sino-Soviet split burst into the open in June 1960 at a Romanian Workers' Party congress, at which Khrushchev attempted to secure condemnation of Beijing. Albania's delegation, alone among the European delegations, supported the Chinese. The Soviet Union immediately retaliated by organizing a campaign to oust Hoxha and Shehu in the summer of 1960. Moscow cut promised grain deliveries to Albania during a drought, and the Soviet embassy in Tirana overtly encouraged a pro-Soviet faction in the Party of Labour of Albania (APL) to speak out against the party's pro-Chinese stance. Moscow also apparently involved itself in a plot within the APL to unseat Hoxha and Shehu by force. But given their tight control of the party machinery, army, and Shehu's secret police, the Directorate of State Security (Drejtorija e Sigurimit të Shtetit—Sigurimi), the two Albanian leaders easily parried the threat. Four pro-Soviet Albanian leaders, including Teme Sejko and Tahir Demi, were eventually tried and executed. The PRC immediately began making up for the cancellation of Soviet wheat shipments despite a paucity of foreign currency and its own economic hardships.  Albania again sided with the People's Republic of China when it launched an attack on the Soviet Union's leadership of the international communist movement at the November 1960 Moscow conference of the world's 81 communist parties. Hoxha inveighed against Khrushchev for encouraging Greek claims to southern Albania, sowing discord within the APL and army, and using economic blackmail. "Soviet rats were able to eat while the Albanian people were dying of hunger," Hoxha railed, referring to purposely delayed Soviet grain deliveries. Communist leaders loyal to Moscow described Hoxha's performance as "gangsterish" and "infantile," and the speech extinguished any chance of an agreement between Moscow and Tirana. For the next year, Albania played proxy for Communist China. Pro-Soviet Communist parties, reluctant to confront the PRC directly, criticized Beijing by castigating Albania. Communist China, for its part, frequently gave prominence to the Albanians' fulminations against the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, which Tirana referred to as a "socialist hell." Hoxha and Shehu continued their harangue against the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia at the APL's Fourth Party Congress in February 1961. During the congress, the Albanian government announced the broad outlines of the country's Third Five-Year Plan (1961–65), which allocated 54% of all investment to industry, thereby rejecting Khrushchev's wish to make Albania primarily an agricultural producer. Moscow responded by canceling aid programs and lines of credit for Albania, but the Chinese again came to the rescue.  After additional sharp exchanges between Soviet and Chinese delegates over Albania at the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Twenty-Second Party Congress in October 1961, Khrushchev lambasted the Albanians for executing a pregnant, pro-Soviet member of the Albanian party Politburo Liri Gega, and the Soviet Union finally broke diplomatic relations with Albania in December. Moscow then withdrew all Soviet economic advisers and technicians from the country, including those at work on the Palace of Culture, and halted shipments of supplies and spare parts for equipment already in place in Albania. In addition, the Soviet Union continued to dismantle its naval installations on Sazan Island, a process that had begun even before the break in relations.  Communist China again compensated Albania for the loss of Soviet economic support, supplying about 90% of the parts, foodstuffs, and other goods the Soviet Union had promised. Beijing lent the Albanians money on more favorable terms than Moscow, and, unlike Soviet advisers, Chinese technicians earned the same low pay as Albanian workers and lived in similar housing. China also presented Albania with a powerful radio transmission station from which Tirana sang the praises of Stalin, Hoxha, and Mao Zedong for decades. For its part, Albania offered China a beachhead in Europe and acted as Communist China's chief spokesman at the UN. To Albania's dismay, however, Chinese equipment and technicians were not nearly as sophisticated as the Soviet goods and advisers they replaced. Ironically, a language barrier even forced the Chinese and Albanian technicians to communicate in Russian. Albanians no longer took part in Warsaw Pact activities or Comecon agreements. The other East European communist nations, however, did not break diplomatic or trade links with Albania. In 1964, the Albanians went so far as to seize the empty Soviet embassy in Tirana, and Albanian workers pressed on with construction of the Palace of Culture on their own.  The shift away from the Soviet Union wreaked havoc on Albania's economy. Half of its imports and exports had been geared toward Soviet suppliers and markets, so the souring of Tirana's relations with Moscow brought Albania's foreign trade to near collapse as China proved incapable of delivering promised machinery and equipment on time. The low productivity, flawed planning, poor workmanship, and inefficient management at Albanian enterprises became clear when Soviet and Eastern European aid and advisers were withdrawn. In 1962, the Albanian government introduced an austerity program, appealing to the people to conserve resources, cut production costs, and abandon unnecessary investment.

Self-reliance.

Albanian-Chinese relations had stagnated by 1970, and when the Asian giant began to reemerge from isolation and the Cultural Revolution in the early 1970s, Mao and the other Communist Chinese leaders reassessed their commitment to tiny Albania. In response, Albania began to broaden its contacts with the outside world. Albania opened trade negotiations with France, Italy, and the recently independent Asian and African states, and in 1971 it normalised relations with Yugoslavia and Greece. Albania's leaders abhorred the contacts of the People's Republic of China with the United States in the early 1970s, and its press and radio ignored President Richard Nixon's trip to Beijing in 1972. Albania actively worked to reduce its dependence on Communist China by diversifying trade and improving diplomatic and cultural relations, especially with Western Europe. But Albania shunned the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and it was the only European country that refused to take part in the Helsinki Conference of July 1975. Soon after Mao's death in 1976, Hoxha criticized the new leadership as well as Beijing's pragmatic policy towards the United States and Western Europe. The Chinese retorted by inviting Tito to visit Beijing in 1977 and ending assistance programs for Albania in 1978.  The Sino-Albanian split left Albania with no foreign benefactor. Albania ignored calls to normalize relations by the United States and the Soviet Union. Instead, Albania expanded its diplomatic ties with Western Europe and the developing nations and it also began to stress the principle of self-reliance as the keystone of the country's strategy for economic development. Albania, however, did not have many resources of its own, and Hoxha's cautious opening to the outside world was not enough to bolster Albania's economy, and nascent movements for change stirred up inside Albania. Without Chinese or Soviet aid, the country began to experience widespread shortages of everything from machine parts to wheat and animal

Transition.

After Hoxha's death, Ramiz Alia maintained firm control of the country and its security apparatus, but Albania's desperate economic situation required Alia to introduce some reforms. Continuing a policy set by Hoxha, Alia reestablished diplomatic relations with West Germany in return for development aid and he also courted Italy and France. The very gradual and slight reforms intensified as Mikhail Gorbachev introduced his new policies of glasnost and perestroika in the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 and the collapse of communist governments across Central and Eastern Europe.  After Nicolae Ceauşescu (the leader of Communist Romania) was executed in a revolution in December 1989, Alia expedited his reforms, apparently concerned about violence and his own fate if radical changes were not made. He signed the Helsinki Agreement (which was signed by other countries in 1975) which respected some human rights. On 11 December 1990, under enormous pressure from students and workers, Alia announced that the Party of Labor had abandoned its guaranteed

Legacy.

The policies which were pursued by Enver Hoxha and his followers influenced political and economic thought around the world. Thus, Hoxhaist parties were founded in many countries and they based their

List of leaders.

General Secretaries of the Party of Labour of

Military.

The Albanian People's Army (, UPS) was the term for the national army of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania from 1946 to 1990. After withdrawing from Warsaw Pact activities in 1968, it conducted a self-reliance policy for national defence, becoming one of the strongest militaries in the Balkans. It was dissolved in 1990 and is retained in its current form through the Albanian Armed Forces.

Albania (, ; ; ), officially the People's Socialist Republic of Albania (), was ruled by a Marxist-Leninist government from 1946 to 1992. From 1944 to 1946, it was known as the Democratic Government of Albania and from 1946 to 1976 it was known as the People's Republic of Albania.

阿尔巴尼亚社会主义人民共和国(阿尔巴尼亚语:Republika Popullare Socialiste e Shqipërisë,缩写为RPSSh)是1946年-1991年在阿尔巴尼亚存在的社会主义政权。


Plot.

In 2154, Earth citizens live in poverty, and with inadequate medical care. The rich and powerful live on Elysiuma gigantic space habitat in Earth's orbit. Elysium is technologically advanced, with devices such as Med-Bays that can cure all diseases, reverse the aging process, and regenerate body parts. A long-running feud exists between Elysium and Earth, whose residents want Elysian technology to cure their illnesses.  Max Da Costa, a former car thief on parole, lives in the ruins of Los Angeles, and works at an assembly line for Armadyne. Run by CEO John Carlyle, who originally designed Elysium, Armadyne produces Elysium's weaponry, as well as the robots that police Earth. During an industrial accident at the factory, Max is trapped in a kiln using radioactive sources, and is exposed to a lethal dose of radiation.  After being rescued, he is informed that he has five days to live before succumbing to radiation poisoning. Carlyle shows apathy by leaving him to his fate rather than helping him. Desperate for a cure, he and his friend Julio seek help from a human smuggler named Spider to get him to Elysium; his only chance for survival is using a Med-Bay.  Meanwhile, when three ships carrying illegal immigrants from Earth attempt to reach Elysium, Defense Secretary Delacourt orders sleeper agent Kruger to destroy the shuttles. While two of the shuttles are shot down in space, killing everyone on board, the third shuttle evades the missiles.  Once on Elysium, however, everyone on board is either killed or deported. Elysian President Patel reprimands Delacourt for her immoral response and threatens to fire her unless she tones down her actions. Regarded as a loose cannon, Kruger is dismissed from service. Delacourt, vowing to protect Elysium and her own power, bargains with Carlyle to create a program that can override Elysium's computer core to give her the Presidency and thus effect a coup. Carlyle stores the program in his brain to take to Elysium and encrypts it with a lethal protection program that would kill him in case of any attempt to manipulate or extract the data.  Spider agrees to get Max to Elysium if he can steal financial information from Carlyle. To assist him, Spider's men surgically attach a powered exoskeleton to Max. With Julio and a team of Spider's men, Max shoots down Carlyle's ship. In the ensuing firefight with Carlyle's security droids, Carlyle dies after being shot. Max downloads the program to his suit's neural implant but realizes that the encryption makes it unusable. Alerted to the data theft by Carlyle's medical implant, Delacourt secretly reinstates Kruger and deploys him to recover the program. In the following shootout, Julio is killed and Max is wounded. He contacts his childhood friend Frey, now a nurse, whose daughter Matilda has leukemia. Frey begs Max to take Matilda to Elysium to be cured, but Max refuses in order to protect them. Soon after Max leaves, Kruger, alongside mercenaries Drake and Crowe, arrives and brutally interrogates Frey; when Kruger realizes that Matilda is sick, they take Frey and Matilda prisoner aboard his ship while his drones hunt for Max. Delacourt orders an airspace lockdown over Los Angeles to buy enough time to recover Carlyle's program.  Max delivers the program to Spider, who discovers that the reboot could be used to make all of Earth's residents Elysian citizens. However, because the lockdown makes it impossible to leave Earth, Max bargains with Kruger to be taken to Elysium, unaware that Kruger is holding Frey and Matilda hostage on the ship. As Kruger's ship leaves Earth, Spider and his men take advantage of the lifting of the lockdown and also board a ship towards Elysium. Meanwhile, in Kruger's ship, a fight erupts and Kruger is grievously wounded by a grenade blast, which also disables the ship's engines. After the ship crashes on Elysium, Max is knocked out by Drake, while Frey escapes with Matilda to a nearby mansion, where she discovers that Med-Bays only work for Elysian citizens. Crowe arrives and subdues Frey with a taser. Max, Frey and Matilda are taken to Delacourt, who orders the decryption of the program despite the fact that it will kill Max. She then orders Frey and Matilda to be taken away by Crowe, who locks them in a supply room.  After being restored in a Med-Bay by Drake and Crowe, a defiant Kruger kills Delacourt after she chastises him for his recklessness. On Kruger's orders, Drake and Crowe assassinate major Elysian political officers in order to seize control for themselves. Having escaped his confinement, Max, knowing that Med-Bays only work for Elysian citizens, resolves to use the program and give everyone on Earth Elysian citizenship. After being ordered by Kruger to kill Frey and Matilda, Crowe enters the supply room and prepares to rape Frey first, but is killed by Max, who also kills Drake before freeing Frey and Matilda. Max then meets up with Spider, who has one of his team escort Frey and Matilda to a nearby Med-Bay. They then head for Elysium's computer core but are ambushed by Kruger, now equipped with a military-grade exoskeleton far superior to Max's. In the ensuing fight, Max manages to rip out Kruger's neural implant, rendering his suit immobile. However, Kruger tethers himself to Max's suit and arms a grenade with the intent of killing them both. Max rips off the tether and hurls Kruger over a ledge to his death.  Spider and Max reach Elysium's computer core, where Spider realizes that the program's activation will kill Max. Max personally activates the program, having spoken one last time with Frey via radio. As Max dies, Elysium's computer core reboots and registers every Earth resident as an Elysian citizen. President Patel arrives with security guards but the robots refuse to arrest Spider, whom they now recognize as a citizen. Matilda is cured by a Med-Bay and Elysium's computer dispatches a huge fleet of medical ships to begin treatment of the people of Earth.

Production.

"Elysium" was produced by Bill Block, Neill Blomkamp, and Simon Kinberg, and written and directed by Neill Blomkamp, the director and co-writer of "District 9" (2009). It reunites Blomkamp with some of his "District 9" crew, such as editor Julian Clarke, production designer Philip Ivey, cinematographer Trent Opaloch, and actor Sharlto Copley, playing one of the film's antagonists. "Elysium" is a co-production of TriStar Pictures and MRC. Although the film's story is set in 2154, Blomkamp has stated that it is a comment on the contemporary human condition. "Everybody wants to ask me lately about my predictions for the future," the director has said, "No, no, no. This isn't science fiction. This is today. This is now." In January 2011, independent studio Media Rights Capital met with major studios to distribute "Elysium", and Blomkamp shared art designs of his proposed science fiction film. The art designs won over the executives at Sony Pictures, who bought the film after making a more attractive offer than the other studios. With a production budget of, production began in July 2011. The film's Earth-bound scenes were shot in a dump in the poor Iztapalapa district on the outskirts of Mexico City, while the scenes for Elysium were shot in Vancouver and the wealthy Huixquilucan-Interlomas suburbs of Mexico City. Matt Damon shaved his head for the role of Max. The main role was first offered to Watkin Tudor Jones (aka Ninja), a South African rapper, who despite being a fan of "District 9" (he has a D9 tattoo on his inner lip) did not take the role. The role was then offered to rapper Eminem, but he wanted the film to be shot in Detroit. That was not an option for the two studios, so Blomkamp moved on to Damon as his next choice. Futuristic designs were executed by Philip Ivey after long periods of researching and studying older science fiction films. Ivey has continuously cited Syd Mead as a substantial influence for the film. Weta Workshop created the exosuits for Damon and Copley's characters, while the complicated visual effects were handled primarily by Image Engine (who also collaborated on "District 9) "with additional work by Whiskytree, MPC, The Embassy and Industrial Light and Magic. Re-shoots took place through October 2012. The film's music score was composed by newcomer Ryan Amon and recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The soundtrack was released on August 6, 2013.

Lawsuit.

In October 2013, a lawsuit was filed by Steve Wilson Briggs accusing the crew of copyright infringement, claiming he wrote a screenplay that was substantially similar to the movie. Several months before filing a lawsuit, he registered his screenplay with the U.S. Copyright Office to file an infringement complaint.  On 3 October 2014, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California found in favour of the film's producers.

Release.

When the film was first announced, Sony intended to release it in late 2012. It later set an official release date for, 2013, before moving one week earlier to prevent competing against "Oz the Great and Powerful". In October 2012, Sony then announced they had pushed back the release date to 2013. In April 2013, Sony also announced that the film would be specifically reformatted for IMAX theaters. By that time, two theatrical trailers and a TV spot had already been showcased. On December 17, 2013, "Elysium" was released on DVD and Blu-ray discs in Region 1.

Reception.

Box office.

"Elysium" grossed $93.1 million in North America and $193.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $286.1 million, against a production budget of $115 million. It made a net profit of $18 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues for the film.  The film opened on August 9, 2013, and grossed $11.1 million on its opening day, ranking No. 1. It proceeded to rank No. 1 for the weekend, grossing $29.8 million.

Critical response.

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 65% based on 252 reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "After the heady sci-fi thrills of "District 9", "Elysium" is a bit of a comedown for director Neill Blomkamp, but on its own terms, it delivers just often enough to satisfy." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 61 out of 100, based on 47 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.  In February 2015, while promoting his newest film, "Chappie", director Neill Blomkamp expressed some regrets regarding "Elysium", commenting: I feel like I fucked it up, I feel like ultimately the story is not the right story... I still think the satirical idea of a ring, filled with rich people, hovering above the impoverished Earth, is an awesome idea. I love it so much, I almost want to go back and do it correctly. But I just think the script wasn't... I just didn't make a good enough film is ultimately what it is. I feel like I executed all of the stuff that could be executed, like costume and set design and special effects very well. But, ultimately, it was all resting on a somewhat not totally formed skeletal system, so the script just wasn't there; the story wasn't fully there.

Elysium is a 2013 American science fiction action film written, produced and directed by Neill Blomkamp. It stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster, Alice Braga, and Sharlto Copley. The film takes place on both a ravaged Earth, and a luxurious space habitat (Stanford torus design, one of the proposed NASA designs) called Elysium. The film itself offers deliberate social commentary which explores political and sociological themes such as immigration, overpopulation, transhumanism, health care, worker exploitation, the justice system, and social class issues.

是一部于2013年上映的美国科幻片,由执导电影《第九禁区》的南非导演尼尔·布洛姆坎普执导。为麦特·戴蒙、茱蒂·佛斯特、沙托·科普利、华格纳·莫拉、艾莉丝·布拉加、狄亚哥·卢纳和威廉·菲德内尔主演。于2013年8月9日在美国上映。