History.

Origins.

After the demise of Napoleon's Empire, the Congress of Vienna of 1814–15 redrew the European map, intending to create a balance of power. One of the borders to be delineated was the one between the newly created United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Kingdom of Prussia. Both parties could agree on the larger part of the territory, as borders mostly followed older lines, but the district of Moresnet proved problematic, mainly because of a valuable zinc spar mine named Altenberg (German) or Vieille Montagne (French) located there. The governments of both the Netherlands and Prussia desired to appropriate this resource, which was needed for the production of zinc and brass—- at that time, Bristol in England was the only other place where zinc ore was processed.  In December 1815, Dutch and Prussian representatives convened in nearby Aachen and on 26 June 1816, a compromise was obtained, dividing the district of Moresnet into three parts. The village of Moresnet itself would become part of the Dutch province of Liège, whereas the Prussian village Moresnet (renamed Neu-Moresnet after ) would become part of the Prussian Rhine province, and the mine and village adjacent would become a neutral territory pending a future agreement. The two powers, whose armies were prohibited from occupying the area, established a joint administration.  When Belgium gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1830, the Belgians assumed control of the Dutch role in Neutral Moresnet (though the Dutch never formally ceded their claim).

Borders.

Formal installation of border demarcation markers for the territory occurred on 23 September 1818. The territory of Neutral Moresnet had a somewhat triangular shape with the base being the main road from Aachen to Liège. The village and mine lay just to the north of this road. To east and west, two straight lines converged on the Vaalserberg.  The roads from Germany and Belgium to the Three‐Country Point are named'( Three Countries Way) and'( Three Border Stones Road) respectively; the road from the Netherlands is called "" ( Four Borders Way).

Flag.

From 1883, Neutral Moresnet used a tricolour with horizontal bars in black, white and blue as its territorial flag. The origin is unknown and has been explained in two different ways:

Status.

The territory was governed by two royal commissioners, one from each neighbour. Eventually, these commissioners were commonly civil servants from the Belgian Verviers and the Prussian Eupen. The municipal administration was directed by a mayor appointed by the commissioners.  The Napoleonic civil and penal codes, introduced during French rule, remained in force throughout the existence of Neutral Moresnet. However, since no law court existed in the neutral territory, Belgian and Prussian judges had to come in and decide cases based on the Napoleonic laws. Since there was no administrative court either, the mayor's decision could not be appealed.  In 1859, Neutral Moresnet was granted a greater measure of self-administration by the installation of a municipal council of ten members. The council, as well as a welfare committee and a school committee, were appointed by the mayor and served an advisory function only. The people had no voting rights.  Life in Neutral Moresnet was dominated by the Vieille Montagne mining company, which not only was the major employer but also operated residences, shops, a hospital and a bank. The mine attracted many workers from the neighboring countries, increasing the population from 256 in 1815 to 2,275 in 1858 and 4,668 in 1914. Most services, such as the mail, were shared between Belgium and Prussia (in a fashion similar to Andorra). There were five schools in the territory, and Prussian subjects could attend the schools in Prussian Moresnet.  Living in the territory had several benefits. Among these were the low taxes (the national budget being fixed at 2,735 Belgian francs throughout most of its history), the absence of import tariffs from both neighbouring countries, and low prices compared to just across the border. A downside to their special status was the fact that people from Neutral Moresnet were considered to be stateless and were not allowed a military of their own.  Many immigrants settled in Moresnet so they would be exempt from military service, but in 1854 Belgium began to conscript its citizens who had relocated to Moresnet, and Prussia did likewise in 1874. From then on, the exemption applied only to descendants of the original inhabitants.

Currency.

Neutral Moresnet did not have its own currency. The French franc was legal tender. The currencies of Prussia (and then Germany, after 1871), Belgium and the Netherlands were also in circulation. In 1848 local currency began circulating, though these coins were not considered the official medium.

Uncertain future.

When the mine was exhausted in 1885, the continued survival of Neutral Moresnet was doubted. Perhaps in response, the next year Dr. Wilhelm Molly (1838–1919), the mine's chief medical doctor and an avid philatelist, tried to organise a local postal service with its own stamps. This enterprise was quickly thwarted by Belgian intervention.  A casino was established in August 1903 after the Belgians closed all such resorts in Belgium. The Moresnet casino operated with strict limitations, permitting no local resident to gamble, and no more than 20 persons to gather at a time. The venture was abandoned, however, when Kaiser Wilhelm II threatened to partition the territory or cede it to Belgium in order to end the gambling. Around this same time, Moresnet boasted three distilleries for the manufacture of gin.  During 1908 Dr. Molly proposed making Neutral Moresnet the world's first Esperanto‐speaking state, named'("friendship-place"). The proposed national anthem was an Esperanto march of the same name, set to the tune of "O Tannenbaum". A number of residents learned Esperanto and a rally was held in Kelmis to endorse the idea of'on 13 August 1908, and a coat of arms was publicized. The World Congress of Esperanto, meeting in Dresden, even declared Neutral Moresnet the world capital of the Esperanto community.  About 1900, Germany began a more aggressive policy concerning the territory and was accused of sabotage and obstructing the administrative process in order to force the issue.

First World War.

The First World War resulted in the end of neutrality. On 4 August 1914, Germany invaded Belgium, initially leaving Neutral Moresnet as "an oasis in a desert of destruction". A total of 147 Neutral Moresnet citizens were killed, though it is unclear whether they were killed inside the territory or in fighting outside its borders. On 27 June 1915, Neutral Moresnet was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, although the annexation never received international recognition.  In 1918, the Armistice between France and Germany, signed on 11 November at Compiègne, forced Germany to withdraw from Belgium and also from Moresnet. It also resulted in the ousting of Mayor Wilhelm Kyll, a German national who had been appointed after the German invasion.  On 28 June 1919, the Treaty of Versailles settled the dispute that had created the neutral territory a century earlier by awarding Neutral Moresnet, along with Prussian Moresnet and the German municipalities of Eupen and Malmedy, to Belgium. The treaty became effective 10 January 1920, ending the territory's existence and converting it into a municipality in Belgium.  To distinguish it from the already existing town of Moresnet (in the neighboring municipality of Plombières), Neutral Moresnet was renamed Kelmis (in French: "La Calamine")after kelme, the local dialect word for zinc spar.  Despite the annexation, Neutral Moresnet Mayor Pierre Grignard effectively stayed in office and became the first mayor of Kelmis. The ten members of Neutral Moresnet's council were confirmed for the Kelmis municipal council after its Prussian members renounced their nationality. They remained in office until the election of a new municipal council on 7 February 1923.

Post-annexation history.

After 1920, Moresnet shared the history of Eupen-Malmedy. Germany briefly re‐annexed the area during, but it returned to Belgium in 1944. Since 1973, Kelmis has formed a part of the German‐speaking community of Belgium. During 1977, Kelmis absorbed the neighbouring communes of Neu‐Moresnet and Hergenrath.  A small museum in Kelmis, the "Museum Vieille Montagne", includes exhibits on Neutral Moresnet. Of the 60 border markers for the territory, more than 50 are still standing.  As a company, Vieille Montagne survived Neutral Moresnet. It continues to exist as VMZINC, a part of Union Minière, the latter renamed in 2001 as Umicore, a global materials company.  On 26 October 2016, Catharina Meessen became the last surviving citizen of the former territory after the death of Alwine Hackens-Paffen.. During early 2020, Meessen died, age 105.

Neutral Moresnet () was a small Belgian–Prussian condominium in western Europe that existed from 1816 to 1920 and was administered jointly by the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (Belgium after its independence in 1830) and the Kingdom of Prussia. It was a mile wide and 3 miles long, with an area of 900 acres. After 1830, the territory's northernmost border point at Vaalserberg connected it to a quadripoint shared additionally with the Dutch Province of Limburg, the Prussian Rhine Province, and the Belgian Province of Liège. Its former location is represented presently by the Three-Country Point, the meeting place of the borders of Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Neutrální Moresnet (; ; ), jinak také Altenberg, bylo drobné evropské neutrální území o velikosti zhruba 3,5 km2, existující mezi lety 1816 až 1915, resp. 1919. Vzniklo proto, že jeho dva velcí sousedi nebyli schopni se domluvit, komu z nich má patřit, a tak se rozhodli z něj vytvořit kondominium. Toto území se rozkládalo asi 7 km jihozápadně od Cách (Aachen), přesně na jih od trojmezí hranic Německa, Belgie a Nizozemí na vrchu Vaalserbergu. Dnes je součástí Belgie.


Founding of the movement.

The word'surrealism' was first coined in March 1917 by Guillaume Apollinaire. He wrote in a letter to Paul Dermée: "All things considered, I think in fact it is better to adopt surrealism than supernaturalism, which I first used" ["Tout bien examiné, je crois en effet qu'il vaut mieux adopter surréalisme que surnaturalisme que j'avais d'abord employé"].  Apollinaire used the term in his program notes for Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, "Parade", which premiered 18 May 1917. "Parade" had a one-act scenario by Jean Cocteau and was performed with music by Erik Satie. Cocteau described the ballet as "realistic". Apollinaire went further, describing "Parade" as "surrealistic":  This new alliance—I say new, because until now scenery and costumes were linked only by factitious bonds—has given rise, in "Parade", to a kind of surrealism, which I consider to be the point of departure for a whole series of manifestations of the New Spirit that is making itself felt today and that will certainly appeal to our best minds. We may expect it to bring about profound changes in our arts and manners through universal joyfulness, for it is only natural, after all, that they keep pace with scientific and industrial progress. (Apollinaire, 1917)  The term was taken up again by Apollinaire, both as subtitle and in the preface to his play "Les Mamelles de Tirésias: Drame surréaliste", which was written in 1903 and first performed in 1917.  World War I scattered the writers and artists who had been based in Paris, and in the interim many became involved with Dada, believing that excessive rational thought and bourgeois values had brought the conflict of the war upon the world. The Dadaists protested with anti-art gatherings, performances, writings and art works. After the war, when they returned to Paris, the Dada activities continued.  During the war, André Breton, who had trained in medicine and psychiatry, served in a neurological hospital where he used Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic methods with soldiers suffering from shell-shock. Meeting the young writer Jacques Vaché, Breton felt that Vaché was the spiritual son of writer and pataphysics founder Alfred Jarry. He admired the young writer's anti-social attitude and disdain for established artistic tradition. Later Breton wrote, "In literature, I was successively taken with Rimbaud, with Jarry, with Apollinaire, with Nouveau, with Lautréamont, but it is Jacques Vaché to whom I owe the most."  Back in Paris, Breton joined in Dada activities and started the literary journal "Littérature" along with Louis Aragon and Philippe Soupault. They began experimenting with automatic writing—spontaneously writing without censoring their thoughts—and published the writings, as well as accounts of dreams, in the magazine. Breton and Soupault continued writing evolving their techniques of automatism and published "The Magnetic Fields" (1920).  By October 1924 two rival Surrealist groups had formed to publish a Surrealist Manifesto. Each claimed to be successors of a revolution launched by Appolinaire. One group, led by Yvan Goll consisted of Pierre Albert-Birot, Paul Dermée, Céline Arnauld, Francis Picabia, Tristan Tzara, Giuseppe Ungaretti, Pierre Reverdy, Marcel Arland, Joseph Delteil, Jean Painlevé and Robert Delaunay, among others The group led by André Breton claimed that automatism was a better tactic for societal change than those of Dada, as led by Tzara, who was now among their rivals. Breton's group grew to include writers and artists from various media such as Paul Éluard, Benjamin Péret, René Crevel, Robert Desnos, Jacques Baron, Max Morise, Pierre Naville, Roger Vitrac, Gala Éluard, Max Ernst, Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel, Man Ray, Hans Arp, Georges Malkine, Michel Leiris, Georges Limbour, Antonin Artaud, Raymond Queneau, André Masson, Joan Miró, Marcel Duchamp, Jacques Prévert, and Yves Tanguy.  As they developed their philosophy, they believed that Surrealism would advocate the idea that ordinary and depictive expressions are vital and important, but that the sense of their arrangement must be open to the full range of imagination according to the Hegelian Dialectic. They also looked to the Marxist dialectic and the work of such theorists as Walter Benjamin and Herbert Marcuse.  Freud's work with free association, dream analysis, and the unconscious was of utmost importance to the Surrealists in developing methods to liberate imagination. They embraced idiosyncrasy, while rejecting the idea of an underlying madness. As Dalí later proclaimed, "There is only one difference between a madman and me. I am not mad."  Beside the use of dream analysis, they emphasized that "one could combine inside the same frame, elements not normally found together to produce illogical and startling effects." Breton included the idea of the startling juxtapositions in his 1924 manifesto, taking it in turn from a 1918 essay by poet Pierre Reverdy, which said: "a juxtaposition of two more or less distant realities. The more the relationship between the two juxtaposed realities is distant and true, the stronger the image will be−the greater its emotional power and poetic reality."  The group aimed to revolutionize human experience, in its personal, cultural, social, and political aspects. They wanted to free people from false rationality, and restrictive customs and structures. Breton proclaimed that the true aim of Surrealism was "long live the social revolution, and it alone!" To this goal, at various times Surrealists aligned with communism and anarchism.  In 1924 two Surrealist factions declared their philosophy in two separate Surrealist Manifestos. That same year the Bureau of Surrealist Research was established, and began publishing the journal "La Révolution surréaliste".

Expansion.

The movement in the mid-1920s was characterized by meetings in cafes where the Surrealists played collaborative drawing games, discussed the theories of Surrealism, and developed a variety of techniques such as automatic drawing. Breton initially doubted that visual arts could even be useful in the Surrealist movement since they appeared to be less malleable and open to chance and automatism. This caution was overcome by the discovery of such techniques as frottage and decalcomania.  Soon more visual artists became involved, including Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Francis Picabia, Yves Tanguy, Salvador Dalí, Luis Buñuel, Alberto Giacometti, Valentine Hugo, Méret Oppenheim, Toyen, Kansuke Yamamoto and later after the second war: Enrico Donati. Though Breton admired Pablo Picasso and Marcel Duchamp and courted them to join the movement, they remained peripheral. More writers also joined, including former Dadaist Tristan Tzara, René Char, and Georges Sadoul. In 1925 an autonomous Surrealist group formed in Brussels. The group included the musician, poet, and artist E. L. T. Mesens, painter and writer René Magritte, Paul Nougé, Marcel Lecomte, and André Souris. In 1927 they were joined by the writer Louis Scutenaire. They corresponded regularly with the Paris group, and in 1927 both Goemans and Magritte moved to Paris and frequented Breton's circle. The artists, with their roots in Dada and Cubism, the abstraction of Wassily Kandinsky, Expressionism, and Post-Impressionism, also reached to older "bloodlines" or proto-surrealists such as Hieronymus Bosch, and the so-called primitive and naive arts.  André Masson's automatic drawings of 1923 are often used as the point of the acceptance of visual arts and the break from Dada, since they reflect the influence of the idea of the unconscious mind. Another example is Giacometti's 1925 "Torso", which marked his movement to simplified forms and inspiration from preclassical sculpture.  However, a striking example of the line used to divide Dada and Surrealism among art experts is the pairing of 1925's "Little Machine Constructed by Minimax Dadamax in Person (Von minimax dadamax selbst konstruiertes maschinchen)" with "The Kiss (Le Baiser)" from 1927 by Max Ernst. The first is generally held to have a distance, and erotic subtext, whereas the second presents an erotic act openly and directly. In the second the influence of Miró and the drawing style of Picasso is visible with the use of fluid curving and intersecting lines and colour, whereas the first takes a directness that would later be influential in movements such as Pop art.  Giorgio de Chirico, and his previous development of metaphysical art, was one of the important joining figures between the philosophical and visual aspects of Surrealism. Between 1911 and 1917, he adopted an unornamented depictional style whose surface would be adopted by others later. "The Red Tower (La tour rouge)" from 1913 shows the stark colour contrasts and illustrative style later adopted by Surrealist painters. His 1914 "The Nostalgia of the Poet (La Nostalgie du poète)" has the figure turned away from the viewer, and the juxtaposition of a bust with glasses and a fish as a relief defies conventional explanation. He was also a writer whose novel "Hebdomeros" presents a series of dreamscapes with an unusual use of punctuation, syntax, and grammar designed to create an atmosphere and frame its images. His images, including set designs for the Ballets Russes, would create a decorative form of Surrealism, and he would be an influence on the two artists who would be even more closely associated with Surrealism in the public mind: Dalí and Magritte. He would, however, leave the Surrealist group in 1928.  In 1924, Miró and Masson applied Surrealism to painting. The first Surrealist exhibition, "La Peinture Surrealiste", was held at Galerie Pierre in Paris in 1925. It displayed works by Masson, Man Ray, Paul Klee, Miró, and others. The show confirmed that Surrealism had a component in the visual arts (though it had been initially debated whether this was possible), and techniques from Dada, such as photomontage, were used. The following year, on March 26, 1926 Galerie Surréaliste opened with an exhibition by Man Ray. Breton published "Surrealism and Painting" in 1928 which summarized the movement to that point, though he continued to update the work until the 1960s.

Surrealism and international politics.

Surrealism as a political force developed unevenly around the world: in some places more emphasis was on artistic practices, in other places on political practices, and in other places still, Surrealist praxis looked to supersede both the arts and politics. During the 1930s, the Surrealist idea spread from Europe to North America, South America (founding of the "Mandrágora" group in Chile in 1938), Central America, the Caribbean, and throughout Asia, as both an artistic idea and as an ideology of political change.  Politically, Surrealism was Trotskyist, communist, or anarchist. The split from Dada has been characterised as a split between anarchists and communists, with the Surrealists as communist. Breton and his comrades supported Leon Trotsky and his International Left Opposition for a while, though there was an openness to anarchism that manifested more fully after World War II. Some Surrealists, such as Benjamin Péret, Mary Low, and Juan Breá, aligned with forms of left communism. Others fought for complete liberty from political ideologies, like Wolfgang Paalen, who, after Trotsky's assassination in Mexico, prepared a schism between art and politics through his counter-surrealist art-magazine DYN and so prepared the ground for the abstract expressionists. Dalí supported capitalism and the fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco but cannot be said to represent a trend in Surrealism in this respect; in fact he was considered, by Breton and his associates, to have betrayed and left Surrealism. Benjamin Péret, Mary Low and Juan Breá joined the POUM during the Spanish Civil War.  Breton's followers, along with the Communist Party, were working for the "liberation of man". However, Breton's group refused to prioritize the proletarian struggle over radical creation such that their struggles with the Party made the late 1920s a turbulent time for both. Many individuals closely associated with Breton, notably Aragon, left his group to work more closely with the Communists.  Surrealists have often sought to link their efforts with political ideals and activities. In the "Declaration of January 27, 1925", for example, members of the Paris-based Bureau of Surrealist Research (including Breton, Aragon and Artaud, as well as some two dozen others) declared their affinity for revolutionary politics. While this was initially a somewhat vague formulation, by the 1930s many Surrealists had strongly identified themselves with communism. The foremost document of this tendency within Surrealism is the "Manifesto for a Free Revolutionary Art", published under the names of Breton and Diego Rivera, but actually co-authored by Breton and Leon Trotsky.  However, in 1933 the Surrealists’ assertion that a 'proletarian literature' within a capitalist society was impossible led to their break with the Association des Ecrivains et Artistes Révolutionnaires, and the expulsion of Breton, Éluard and Crevel from the Communist Party.  In 1925, the Paris Surrealist group and the extreme left of the French Communist Party came together to support Abd-el-Krim, leader of the Rif uprising against French colonialism in Morocco. In an open letter to writer and French ambassador to Japan, Paul Claudel, the Paris group announced:  The anticolonial revolutionary and proletarian politics of "Murderous Humanitarianism" (1932) which was drafted mainly by Crevel, signed by Breton, Éluard, Péret, Tanguy, and the Martiniquan Surrealists Pierre Yoyotte and J.M. Monnerot perhaps makes it the original document of what is later called 'black Surrealism', although it is the contact between Aimé Césaire and Breton in the 1940s in Martinique that really lead to the communication of what is known as 'black Surrealism'.  Anticolonial revolutionary writers in the Négritude movement of Martinique, a French colony at the time, took up Surrealism as a revolutionary method - a critique of European culture and a radical subjective. This linked with other Surrealists and was very important for the subsequent development of Surrealism as a revolutionary praxis. The journal "Tropiques", featuring the work of Césaire along with Suzanne Césaire, René Ménil, Lucie Thésée, Aristide Maugée and others, was first published in 1941.  In 1938 André Breton traveled with his wife, the painter Jacqueline Lamba, to Mexico to meet Trotsky (staying as the guest of Diego Rivera's former wife Guadalupe Marin), and there he met Frida Kahlo and saw her paintings for the first time. Breton declared Kahlo to be an "innate" Surrealist painter.

Golden age.

Throughout the 1930s, Surrealism continued to become more visible to the public at large. A Surrealist group developed in London and, according to Breton, their 1936 London International Surrealist Exhibition was a high-water mark of the period and became the model for international exhibitions. Another English Surrealist group developed in Birmingham, meanwhile, and was distinguished by its opposition to the London surrealists and preferences for surrealism's French heartland. The two groups would reconcile later in the decade.  Dalí and Magritte created the most widely recognized images of the movement. Dalí joined the group in 1929, and participated in the rapid establishment of the visual style between 1930 and 1935.  Surrealism as a visual movement had found a method: to expose psychological truth; stripping ordinary objects of their normal significance, to create a compelling image that was beyond ordinary formal organization, in order to evoke empathy from the viewer.  1931 was a year when several Surrealist painters produced works which marked turning points in their stylistic evolution: Magritte's "Voice of Space (La Voix des airs)" is an example of this process, where three large spheres representing bells hang above a landscape. Another Surrealist landscape from this same year is Yves Tanguy's "", with its molten forms and liquid shapes. Liquid shapes became the trademark of Dalí, particularly in his "The Persistence of Memory", which features the image of watches that sag as if they were melting.  The characteristics of this style—a combination of the depictive, the abstract, and the psychological—came to stand for the alienation which many people felt in the modern period, combined with the sense of reaching more deeply into the psyche, to be "made whole with one's individuality".  Between 1930 and 1933, the Surrealist Group in Paris issued the periodical "Le Surréalisme au service de la révolution" as the successor of "La Révolution surréaliste".  From 1936 through 1938 Wolfgang Paalen, Gordon Onslow Ford, and Roberto Matta joined the group. Paalen contributed Fumage and Onslow Ford Coulage as new pictorial automatic techniques.  Long after personal, political and professional tensions fragmented the Surrealist group, Magritte and Dalí continued to define a visual program in the arts. This program reached beyond painting, to encompass photography as well, as can be seen from a Man Ray self-portrait, whose use of assemblage influenced Robert Rauschenberg's collage boxes.  During the 1930s Peggy Guggenheim, an important American art collector, married Max Ernst and began promoting work by other Surrealists such as Yves Tanguy and the British artist John Tunnard.  Major exhibitions in the 1930s

Post-Breton Surrealism.

In the 1960s, the artists and writers associated with the Situationist International were closely associated with Surrealism. While Guy Debord was critical of and distanced himself from Surrealism, others, such as Asger Jorn, were explicitly using Surrealist techniques and methods. The events of May 1968 in France included a number of Surrealist ideas, and among the slogans the students spray-painted on the walls of the Sorbonne were familiar Surrealist ones. Joan Miró would commemorate this in a painting titled "May 1968." There were also groups who associated with both currents and were more attached to Surrealism, such as the Revolutionary Surrealist Group.  During the 1980s, behind the Iron Curtain, Surrealism again entered into politics with an underground artistic opposition movement known as the Orange Alternative. The Orange Alternative was created in

Impact of Surrealism.

While Surrealism is typically associated with the arts, it has impacted many other fields. In this sense, Surrealism does not specifically refer only to self-identified "Surrealists", or those sanctioned by Breton, rather, it refers to a range of creative acts of revolt and efforts to liberate imagination. In addition to Surrealist theory being grounded in the ideas of Hegel, Marx and Freud, to its advocates its inherent dynamic is dialectical thought.

Other sources used by Surrealism epigones.

Surrealists have also drawn on sources as seemingly diverse as Clark Ashton Smith, Montague Summers, Horace Walpole, Fantômas, The Residents, Bugs Bunny, comic strips, the obscure poet Samuel Greenberg and the hobo writer and humourist T-Bone Slim. One might say that Surrealist strands may

1960s riots.

Surrealists believe that non-Western cultures also provide a continued source of inspiration for Surrealist activity because some may induce a better balance between instrumental reason and imagination in flight than Western culture. Surrealism has had an identifiable impact on radical and revolutionary politics, both directly — as in some Surrealists joining or allying themselves

Postmodernism and popular culture.

Many significant literary movements in the later half of the 20th century were directly or indirectly influenced by Surrealism. This period is known as the Postmodern era; though there's no widely agreed upon central definition of Postmodernism, many themes and techniques commonly identified as Postmodern are nearly identical to Surrealism.  Many writers from and associated with the Beat Generation were influenced greatly by Surrealists. Philip Lamantia and Ted Joans are often categorized as both Beat and Surrealist writers. Many other Beat writers show significant evidence of Surrealist influence. A few examples include Bob Kaufman, Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg,

Surrealist groups.

Surrealist individuals and groups have carried on with Surrealism after the death of André Breton in 1966. The original Paris Surrealist Group was disbanded by member Jean Schuster in 1969,

Surrealism and the theatre.

Surrealist theatre and Artaud's "Theatre of Cruelty" were inspirational to many within the group of playwrights that the critic Martin Esslin called the "Theatre of the Absurd" (in his 1963 book of the same name). Though not an organized movement, Esslin grouped these playwrights together based on some similarities of theme and technique; Esslin argues that these similarities may be traced to an influence from the Surrealists. Eugène Ionesco in particular was fond of Surrealism, claiming at one point that Breton was one of the most important thinkers

Alleged precursors in older art.

Various much older artists are sometimes claimed as precursors of Surrealism. Foremost among these are Hieronymus Bosch, and Giuseppe Arcimboldo, who Dali called the "father of

Bibliography.

André Breton  Other sources

Surrealism was a cultural movement which developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I and was largely influenced by Dada. The movement is best known for its visual artworks and writings and the juxtaposition of uncommon imagery. Artists painted unnerving, illogical scenes, sometimes with photographic precision, creating strange creatures from everyday objects, and developing painting techniques that allowed the unconscious to express itself. Its aim was, according to leader André Breton, to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality", or "surreality."

Surrealismus (výslovnost "syrealismus") je evropský umělecký směr, ale také životní styl, který usiluje o osvobození mysli, zdůrazňuje podvědomí. Snaží se o zachycení snů, představ, pocitů a myšlenek. První impulsy surrealismus dostal od André Bretona, jeho prudký rozvoj umožnil Salvador Dalí. Surrealismus je stále aktivní směr, ačkoli se od původních myšlenek značně vzdálil.


Nomenclature.

A narrow-gauge railway is one where the distance between the inside edges of the rails is less than. Historically, the term was sometimes used to refer to standard-gauge railways, to distinguish them from broad-gauge railways, but this use no longer applies.

History.

Early hand-worked lines.

The earliest recorded railway appears in Georgius Agricola's 1556 "De re metallica", which shows a mine in Bohemia with a railway of about gauge. During the 16th century, railways were primarily restricted to hand-pushed, narrow-gauge lines in mines throughout Europe. In the 17th century, mine railways were extended to provide transportation above ground. These lines were industrial, connecting mines with nearby transportation points (usually canals or other waterways). These railways were usually built to the same narrow gauge as the mine railways from which they developed.

Introduction of steam.

The world's first steam locomotive, built in 1802 by Richard Trevithick for the Coalbrookdale Company, ran on a plateway. The first commercially successful steam locomotive was Matthew Murray's Salamanca built in 1812 for the Middleton Railway in Leeds. Salamanca was also the first rack-and-pinion locomotive. During the 1820s and 1830s, a number of industrial narrow-gauge railways in the United Kingdom used steam locomotives. In 1842, the first narrow-gauge steam locomotive outside the UK was built for the -gauge Antwerp-Ghent Railway in Belgium. The first use of steam locomotives on a public, passenger-carrying narrow-gauge railway was in 1865, when the Ffestiniog Railway introduced passenger service after receiving its first locomotives two years earlier.

Industrial use.

Many narrow-gauge railways were part of industrial enterprises and served primarily as industrial railways, rather than general carriers. Common uses for these industrial narrow-gauge railways included mining, logging, construction, tunnelling, quarrying, and conveying agricultural products. Extensive narrow-gauge networks were constructed in many parts of the world; 19th-century mountain logging operations often used narrow-gauge railways to transport logs from mill to market. Significant sugarcane railways still operate in Cuba, Fiji, Java, the Philippines, and Queensland, and narrow-gauge railway equipment remains in common use for building tunnels.

Internal-combustion locomotives.

The first use of an internal combustion engine to power a narrow-gauge locomotive was in 1902. F. C. Blake built a 7 hp petrol locomotive for the Richmond Main Sewerage Board sewage plant at Mortlake. This gauge locomotive was probably the third petrol-engined locomotive built.

First World War and later.

Extensive narrow-gauge rail systems served the front-line trenches of both sides in World War I. They were a short-lived military application, and after the war the surplus equipment created a small boom in European narrow-gauge railway building.

Advantages.

Narrow-gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are usually lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives (a smaller loading gauge), smaller bridges and tunnels (a smaller structure gauge), and tighter curves. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where engineering savings can be substantial. It is also used in sparsely populated areas where the potential demand is too low for broad-gauge railways to be economically viable. This is the case in parts of Australia and most of Southern Africa, where poor soils have led to population densities too low for standard gauge to be viable.  For temporary railways which will be removed after short-term use, such as logging, mining or large-scale construction projects (especially in confined spaces, such as the Channel Tunnel), a narrow-gauge railway is substantially cheaper and easier to install and remove. Such railways have almost vanished, however, due to the capabilities of modern trucks.  In many countries, narrow-gauge railways were built as branch lines to feed traffic to standard-gauge lines due to lower construction costs. The choice was often not between a narrow- and standard-gauge railway, but between a narrow-gauge railway and none at all.

Disadvantages and solutions.

Interchangeability.

Narrow-gauge railways cannot freely interchange rolling stock (such as freight and passenger cars) with the standard- or broad- gauge railways with which they link, and the transfer of passengers and freight require time-consuming manual labour or substantial capital expenditure. Some bulk commodities, such as coal, ore, and gravel, can be mechanically transshipped, but this is time-consuming, and the equipment required for the transfer is often complex to maintain.  If rail lines with other gauges coexist in a network, in times of peak demand it is difficult to move rolling stock to where it is needed when a break of gauge exists. Sufficient rolling stock must be available to meet a narrow-gauge railway's peak demand (which might be greater in comparison to a single-gauge network), and the surplus equipment generates no cash flow during periods of low demand. In regions where narrow gauge forms a small part of the rail network (as was the case on Russia's Sakhalin Railway), extra money is needed to design, produce or import narrow-gauge equipment.  Solutions to interchangeability problems include bogie exchanges, a rollbock system, variable gauge, dual gauge or gauge conversion.

Growth potential.

Historically, in many places narrow gauge railways were built to lower standards to prioritize cheap and fast construction. As a result, many narrow-gauge railways have often limited scope for increase in maximum load or speed. An example is the use of low curve radius, which simplifies construction but limits the maximum allowed speed. In Japan, a few narrow-gauge lines have been upgraded to standard-gauge mini-shinkansen to allow through service by standard-gauge high-speed trains. Due to the alignment and minimum curve radius of those lines, however, the maximum speed of the through service is the same as the original narrow-gauge line. If a narrow-gauge line is built to a higher standard, like Japan's proposed Super Tokkyū, this problem can be minimized.  If narrow-gauge rails are designed with potential growth in mind (or at the same standard as standard-gauge rails), obstacles to future growth would be similar to other rail gauges. For lines constructed to a lower standard, speed can be increased by realigning rail lines to increase the minimum curve radius, reducing the number of intersections or introducing tilting trains.

Successful railways.

The heavy-duty narrow-gauge railways in Queensland, South Africa, and New Zealand demonstrate that if track is built to a heavy-duty standard, performance almost as good as a standard-gauge line is possible. Two-hundred-car trains operate on the Sishen–Saldanha railway line in South Africa, and high-speed Tilt Trains run in Queensland. Another example of a heavy-duty narrow-gauge line is Brazil's EFVM. gauge, it has over-100-pound rail () and a loading gauge almost as large as US non-excess-height lines. The line has a number of locomotives and 200-plus-car trains. In South Africa and New Zealand, the loading gauge is similar to the restricted British loading gauge; in New Zealand, some British Rail Mark 2 carriages have been rebuilt with new bogies for use by Tranz Scenic (Wellington-Palmerston North service), Tranz Metro (Wellington-Masterton service), and Transdev Auckland (Auckland suburban services).

Fastest trains.

Narrow gauge's reduced stability means that its trains cannot run at speeds as high as on broader gauges. For example, if a curve with standard-gauge rail can allow speed up to, the same curve with narrow-gauge rail can only allow speed up to.  In Japan and Queensland, recent permanent-way improvements have allowed trains on gauge tracks to exceed. Queensland Rail's Electric Tilt Train, the fastest train in Australia and the fastest gauge train in the world, set a record of. The speed record for narrow-gauge rail is, set in South Africa in 1978.  A special gauge railcar was built for the Otavi Mining and Railway Company with a design speed of 137 km/h. Curve radius is also important for high speeds: narrow-gauge railways allow sharper curves, but these limit a vehicle's safe speed.

Gauges.

Many narrow gauges, from gauge and gauge, are in present or former use. They fall into several broad categories:

4 ft 6 in gauge.

track gauge (also known as Scotch gauge) was adopted by early 19th-century railways, primarily in the Lanarkshire area of Scotland. lines were also constructed, and both were eventually converted to standard gauge.

3 ft 6 in gauge.

between the inside of the rail heads, its name and classification vary worldwide and it has about of track.

Metre gauge and Italian metre gauge.

As its name implies, metre gauge is a track gauge of. It has about of track.  According to Italian law, track gauges in Italy were defined from the centre of each rail rather than the inside edges of the rails. This gauge, measured between the edges of the rails, is known as Italian metre gauge.

3 ft, 900 mm, and Swedish three foot gauge.

There were a number of large railroad systems in North America; notable examples include the Denver & Rio Grande and Rio Grande Southern in Colorado and the South Pacific Coast and West Side Lumber Co of California. was also a common track gauge in South America, Ireland and on the Isle of Man. was a common gauge in Europe. Swedish three-foot-gauge railways () are unique to that country.

2 ft 9 in gauge.

A few railways and tramways were built to gauge, including Nankai Main Line (later converted to ), Ocean Pier Railway at Atlantic City, Seaton Tramway (converted from ) and Waiorongomai Tramway.

800 mm, 2 ft 6 in, Bosnian and 750 mm gauge.

gauge railways are commonly used for rack railways. Imperial gauge railways were generally constructed in the former British colonies. Bosnian gauge and railways are predominantly found in Russia and Eastern Europe.

Gauges between 2 ft and 2 ft 6 in.

Gauges such as, and were used in parts of the UK, particularly for railways in Wales and the borders, with some industrial use in the coal industry. Some sugar cane lines in Cuba were.

2 ft and 600 mm gauges.

gauge railways were generally constructed in the former British colonies., and were used in Europe.

Minimum gauge.

Gauges below were rare. Arthur Percival Heywood developed gauge estate railways in Britain and Decauville produced a range of industrial railways running on and tracks, most commonly in restricted environments such as underground mine railways, parks and farms, in France. Several gauge railways were built in Britain to serve ammunition depots and other military facilities, particularly during World War I.

A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard. Most narrow-gauge railways are between and.

Úzkorozchodná dráha neboli úzkokolejná dráha (zkráceně úzkokolejka) je železniční, tramvajová nebo jiná (průmyslová, důlní, pozemní lanová) kolejová dráha s rozchodem menším než normálním (1435 mm).


Youth.

Charles was born at the Château d'Amboise in France, the only surviving son of King Louis XI by his second wife Charlotte of Savoy. His godparents were Charles II, Duke of Bourbon (the godchild's namesake), Joan of Valois, Duchess of Bourbon, and the teenage Edward of Westminster, the son of Henry VI of England who had been living in France since the deposition of his father by Edward IV. Charles succeeded to the throne on 30 August 1483 at the age of 13. His health was poor. He was regarded by his contemporaries as possessing a pleasant disposition, but also as foolish and unsuited for the business of the state. In accordance with the wishes of Louis XI, the regency of the kingdom was granted to Charles' elder sister Anne, a formidably intelligent and shrewd woman described by her father as "the least foolish woman in France." She ruled as regent, together with her husband Peter of Bourbon, until 1491.

Marriage.

Charles was betrothed on 22 July 1483 to the 3-year-old Margaret of Austria, daughter of the Archduke Maximilian of Austria (later Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I) and Mary, Duchess of Burgundy. The marriage was arranged by Louis XI, Maximilian, and the Estates of the Low Countries as part of the 1482 Peace of Arras between France and the Duchy of Burgundy. Margaret brought the counties of Artois and Burgundy to France as her dowry, and she was raised in the French court as a prospective queen.  In 1488, however, Francis II, Duke of Brittany, died in a riding accident, leaving his 11-year-old daughter Anne as his heir. Anne, who feared for the independence of her duchy against the ambitions of France, arranged a marriage in 1490 between herself and the widower Maximilian. The regent Anne of France and her husband Peter refused to countenance such a marriage, however, since it would place Maximilian and his family, the Habsburgs, on two French borders. The French army invaded Brittany, taking advantage of the preoccupation of Maximilian and his father, Emperor Frederick III, with the disputed succession to Mathias Corvinus, King of Hungary. Anne of Brittany was forced to renounce Maximilian (whom she had only married by proxy) and agree to be married to Charles VIII instead.  In December 1491, in an elaborate ceremony at the Château de Langeais, Charles and Anne of Brittany were married. The 14-year-old Duchess Anne, not happy with the arranged marriage, arrived for her wedding with her entourage carrying two beds. However, Charles's marriage brought him independence from his relatives and thereafter he managed affairs according to his own inclinations. Queen Anne lived at the Clos Lucé in Amboise.  There still remained the matter of Charles' first betrothed, the young Margaret of Austria. Although the cancellation of her betrothal meant that she by rights should have been returned to her family, Charles did not initially do so, intending to marry her usefully elsewhere in France. Eventually, in 1493, she was returned to her family, together with her dowry – though the Duchy of Burgundy was retained in the Treaty of Senlis.  Around the king there was a circle of court poets, the most memorable being the Italian humanist Publio Fausto Andrelini from Forlì, who spread the New Learning in France. During a pilgrimage to pay respects to his father's remains, Charles observed Mont Aiguille and ordered Antoine de Ville to ascend to the summit in an early technical alpine climb, later alluded to by Rabelais.

Italian War.

To secure France against invasions, Charles made treaties with Maximilian I of Austria (the Treaty of Barcelona with Maximilian of Austria on 19 January 1493) and England, (the Treaty of Étaples with England on 3 November 1492) buying their neutrality with large concessions. The English monarch Henry VII had forced Charles to abandon his support for the pretender Perkin Warbeck by despatching an expedition which laid siege to Boulogne. He devoted France's resources to building up a large army, including one of Europe's first siege trains with artillery.  In 1489, Pope Innocent VIII (1484–1492), then being at odds with Ferdinand I of Naples, offered Naples to Charles, who had a vague claim to the Kingdom of Naples through his paternal grandmother, Marie of Anjou. Innocent's policy of meddling in the affairs of other Italian states was continued by his successor, Pope Alexander VI (1492–1503), when the latter supported a plan for a carving out a new state in central Italy. The new state would have impacted on Milan more than any of the other states involved. Consequently, in 1493, Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, appealed for help to Charles VIII. The next year in 1494, Milan faced an additional threat. On 25 January 1494, Ferdinand I, King of Naples, died unexpectedly. His death made Alfonso II, king of Naples. Alfonso II laid claim to the Milanese duchy. Alfonso II now urged Charles to take Milan militarily. Charles was also urged on in this adventure by his favorite courtier, Étienne de Vesc. Thus, Charles came to imagine himself capable of actually taking Naples, and invaded Italy.  In an event that was to prove a watershed in Italian history, Charles invaded Italy with 25,000 men (including 8,000 Swiss mercenaries) in September 1494 and marched across the peninsula virtually unopposed. He arrived in Pavia on 21 October 1494 and entered Pisa on 8 November 1494. The French army subdued Florence in passing on their way south. Reaching Naples on 22 February 1495, the French Army took Naples without a pitched battle or siege; Alfonso was expelled, and Charles was crowned King of Naples.  There were those in the Republic of Florence who appreciated the presence of the French king and his Army. The famous friar Savonarola believed that King Charles VIII was God's tool to purify the corruption of Florence. He believed that once Charles had ousted the evil sinners of Florence, the city would become a center of morality. Thus, Florence was the appropriate place to restructure the Church. This situation would eventually spill over into another conflict between Pope Alexander VI, who despised the idea of having the king in northern Italy where the Pope feared the King of France would interfere with the Papal States, and Savonarola, who called for the king's intervention. This conflict would eventually lead Savonarola to be suspected of heresy and to be executed by the State.  The speed and power of the French advance frightened the other Italian rulers, including the Pope and even Ludovico of Milan. They formed an anti-French coalition, the League of Venice on 31 March 1495. The formation of the League of Venice, which included the northern Italian states of Duchy of Milan, the Republic of Venice, the Duchy of Mantua, and the Republic of Florence in addition to the Kingdom of Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Naples, appeared to have trapped Charles in southern Italy and blocked his return to France. Charles would have to cross the territory of at least some of the League members to return home to France. At the Fornovo in July 1495, the League was unable to stop Charles from marching his army out of Italy. The League lost 2,000 men to his 1,000 and, although Charles lost nearly all the booty of the campaign, the League was unable to stop him from crossing their territory on his way back to France. Meanwhile, Charles' remaining garrisons in Naples were quickly subdued by Aragonese forces sent by Ferdinand II of Aragon, ally of Alfonso on 6–7 July 1495. Thus in the end, Charles VIII lost all the gains that he had made in Italy in 1494.  Over the next few years, Charles VIII tried to rebuild his army and resume the campaign, but he was hampered by the large debts incurred in 1494–95. He never succeeded in gaining anything substantive.

Death.

Charles died in 1498, two and a half years after his retreat from Italy, as the result of an accident. While on his way to watch a game of "jeu de paume" (real tennis) in Amboise he struck his head on the lintel of a door. At around 2pm, while returning from the game, he fell into a sudden coma, and died nine hours later.  Charles bequeathed a meagre legacy: he left France in debt and in disarray as a result of his ambition. However, his expedition did strengthen cultural ties to Italy, energizing French art and letters in the latter part of the Renaissance. Since his children predeceased him, Charles was the last of the elder branch of the House of Valois. Upon his death, the throne passed to his brother-in-law and second cousin once removed, Louis XII. Anne returned to Brittany and began taking steps to regain the independence of her duchy. In order to stymie these moves, Louis XII had his 24-year childless marriage to Charles's sister Joan annulled and married Anne.

Issue.

The marriage with Anne resulted in the birth of seven children, who all died young:

Media.

Charles VIII's invasion of Italy and his relations with Pope Alexander VI are depicted in the novel "The Sultan's Helmsman."  In the 2011 Showtime series "The Borgias", Charles VIII is portrayed by French actor Michel Muller. In the 2011 French-German historical drama "Borgia", Charles VIII is played by Simon Larvaron. The event of the king's death is depicted in the TV series "Borgia" with a small twist: in the episode, Charles "himself" plays a game of jeu de paume with Cesare Borgia and loses; while "leaving" the game, Charles strikes his head on the lintel of a door.

Charles VIII, called the Affable (; 30 June 1470 – 7 April 1498), was King of France from 1483 to his death in 1498. He succeeded his father Louis XI at the age of 13. His elder sister Anne acted as regent jointly with her husband Peter II, Duke of Bourbon until 1491 when the young king turned 21 years of age. During Anne's regency, the great lords rebelled against royal centralisation efforts in a conflict known as the Mad War (1485–1488), which resulted in a victory for the royal government.

Karel VIII. (30. června 1470 v Amboise – 7. dubna 1498 tamtéž) byl francouzský král z rodu Valois vládnoucí v letech 1483–1498. Jeho otcem byl král Ludvík XI., matkou Šarlota Savojská.


Etymology.

The first historical evidence of the existence of an island now known as Mauritius is on a map produced by the Italian cartographer Alberto Cantino in 1502. From this, it appears that Mauritius was first named "Dina Arobi" around 975 by Arab sailors, the first people to visit the island. In 1507, Portuguese sailors visited the uninhabited island. The island appears with a Portuguese name "Cirne" on early Portuguese maps, probably from the

History.

Early history.

The island of Mauritius was uninhabited before its first

Portuguese Mauritius.

In 1507, Portuguese sailors came to the uninhabited island and established a visiting base. Diogo Fernandes Pereira, a Portuguese navigator, was the first European known to land in Mauritius. He named the island "Ilha do Cirne" ("Island

Dutch Mauritius (1638–1710).

In 1598 a Dutch squadron under Admiral Wybrand Van Warwyck landed at Grand Port and named the island "Mauritius" after Prince Maurice of Nassau (Dutch: "Maurits van Nassau") of the Dutch Republic. The Dutch inhabited the island in 1638, from

French Mauritius (1715–1810).

France, which already controlled neighbouring Île Bourbon (now Réunion), took control of Mauritius in 1715 and renamed it Isle de France. In 1723, the Code Noir was established to categorise one group of human beings as "goods", in order for the owner of these goods to be able to obtain insurance money and compensation in case of loss of his "goods". The 1735 arrival of French governor Bertrand-François Mahé de La Bourdonnais coincided with development of a prosperous economy based on sugar production. Mahé de La Bourdonnais established Port Louis as a naval base and a shipbuilding centre.  Under his governorship, numerous buildings were erected, a number of which are still standing. These include part of Government House, the Château de Mon Plaisir, and the Line Barracks, the headquarters of the police force. The island was under the administration of the French East India Company, which maintained its presence until 1767.  From 1767 to 1810, except for a brief period during the French Revolution when the inhabitants set up a government virtually independent of France, the island was controlled by officials appointed by the French government. Jacques-Henri Bernardin de Saint-Pierre lived on

British Mauritius (1810–1968).

The British administration, which began with Sir Robert Farquhar as Governor, led to rapid social and economic changes. However, it was tainted by the Ratsitatane episode. Ratsitatane, nephew of King Radama of Madagascar, was brought to Mauritius as a political prisoner. He managed to escape from prison and plotted a rebellion that would free the island's slaves. He was betrayed by an associate and was caught by the British forces, summarily judged, and condemned to death. He was beheaded at Plaine Verte on 15 April 1822, and his head was displayed as a deterrent against future uprisings among the slaves.  In 1832, Adrien d'Épinay launched the first Mauritian newspaper ("Le Cernéen"), which was not controlled by the government. In the same year, there was a move by the procureur-general to abolish slavery without compensation to the slave owners. This gave rise to discontent, and, to check an eventual rebellion, the government ordered all the inhabitants to surrender their arms. Furthermore, a stone fortress, Fort Adelaide, was built on a hill (now known as the Citadel hill) in the centre of Port Louis to quell any uprising.  Slavery was abolished in 1835, and the planters ultimately received two million pounds sterling in compensation for the loss of their slaves, who had been imported from Africa and Madagascar during the French occupation. The abolition of slavery had important impacts on Mauritius's society, economy and population. The planters brought a large

Independence (since 1968).

At the Lancaster Conference of 1965, it became clear that Britain wanted to relieve itself of the colony of Mauritius. In 1959, Harold Macmillan had made his famous "Winds of Change Speech" where he acknowledged that the best option for Britain was to give complete independence to its colonies. Thus, since the late Fifties, the way was paved for independence.  Later in 1965, after the Lancaster Conference, the Chagos Archipelago was excised from the territory of Mauritius to form the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). A general election took place on 7 August 1967, and the Labour Party and its two allies obtained the majority of seats. In January 1968, six weeks

Republic (since 1992).

On 12 March 1992, twenty-four years after independence, Mauritius was proclaimed a republic within the Commonwealth of Nations. The last governor general, Sir Veerasamy Ringadoo, became the first president. This was under a transitional arrangement, in which he was replaced by Cassam Uteem later that year. Political power remained with the prime minister.  Despite an improvement in the economy, which coincided with a fall in the price of petrol and a favourable dollar exchange rate, the government did not enjoy full popularity. As early as 1984, there was discontent. Through the "Newspapers and Periodicals Amendment Act", the government tried to make every newspaper provide a bank guarantee of half a million rupees. Forty-three journalists protested by participating in a public demonstration in Port Louis, in front of Parliament. They were arrested and freed on bail. This caused a public outcry and the government had to review its policy.  There was also dissatisfaction in the education sector. There were not enough high-quality secondary colleges to answer the growing demand of primary school leavers who had got through their CPE (Certificate

Geography.

The total land area of the country is. It is the 170th largest nation in the world by size. The Republic of Mauritius is constituted of the main island of Mauritius and several outlying islands. The nation's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) covers about of the Indian Ocean, including approximately jointly managed with the Seychelles.

Mauritius Island.

Mauritius is off the southeast coast of Africa, between latitudes 19°58.8'S and 20°31.7'S and longitudes 57°18.0'E and 57°46.5'E. It is long and wide. Its land area is. The island is surrounded by more than of white sandy beaches, and the lagoons are protected from the open sea by the world's third-largest coral reef, which surrounds the island. Just off the Mauritian coast lie some 49 uninhabited islands and islets, several of which have been declared natural reserves for endangered species.  The Mauritius Island (Mauritian Creole: "Isle Moris";, )

Rodrigues Island.

The autonomous island of Rodrigues is located to the east of Mauritius, with an area. Rodrigues is a volcanic island rising from a ridge along the edge of the Mascarene

Chagos Archipelago.

The Chagos Archipelago is composed of atolls and islands, and is located approximately 2,200 kilometres north-east of the main island of Mauritius. To the north of the Chagos Archipelago are Peros Banhos, the Salomon Islands and Nelsons Island; to the south-west are

St. Brandon.

St. Brandon, also known as Cargados Carajos Shoals, is located northeast of Mauritius Island. The archipelago consists of

Agaléga Islands.

The twin islands of Agaléga are located some to the north of Mauritius. Its North Island is long and wide, while

Tromelin.

Tromelin island lies 430 km north-west of Mauritius. Mauritius claims sovereignty over Tromelin island, as does France.  The French took control of Mauritius in 1715, renaming it Isle de France. France officially ceded Mauritius including all its dependencies to the United Kingdom through the Treaty of Paris, signed on 30 May 1814 and in which Réunion was returned to France. The British Colony of Mauritius consisted of the main island of Mauritius along with its dependencies Rodrigues, Agalega, St Brandon, Tromelin (disputed) and the Chagos Archipelago, while the Seychelles became a separate colony in 1906. It is disputed whether the transfer of Isle de France (As Mauritius was previously known under French rule) and its dependencies to the United Kingdom in 1814 included Tromelin island. Article 8 of the Treaty of Paris stipulate the cession by France to the United Kingdom of

Districts of Mauritius Island.

Mauritius is subdivided into nine Districts,

Chagos Archipelago.

Mauritius has long sought sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, located to the north-east. Chagos was administratively part of Mauritius from the 18th century when the French first settled the islands. All of the islands forming part of the French colonial territory of Isle de France (as Mauritius was then known) were ceded to the British in 1810 under the Act of Capitulation signed between the two powers. In 1965, three years before the independence of Mauritius, the United Kingdom split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius and the islands of Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches from the Seychelles to form the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT). The islands were formally established as an overseas territory of the United Kingdom on 8 November 1965. On 23 June 1976, Aldabra, Farquhar and Desroches were returned to Seychelles as a result of its attaining independence. The BIOT now comprises the Chagos Archipelago only. The UK leased the main island of the archipelago, Diego Garcia, to the United States under a 50-year lease to establish a military base. In 2016, Britain unilaterally extended the lease to the US till 2036. Mauritius has repeatedly asserted that the separation of its territories is a violation of

Biodiversity.

The country is home to some of the world's rarest plants and animals, but human habitation and the introduction of non-native species have threatened its indigenous flora and fauna. Due to its volcanic origin, age, isolation, and unique terrain, Mauritius is home to a diversity of flora and fauna not usually found in such a small area. Before the Portuguese arrival in 1507, there were no terrestrial mammals on the island. This allowed the evolution of a number of flightless birds and large reptile species. The arrival of humans saw the introduction of invasive alien species, the rapid destruction of habitat and the loss of much of the endemic flora and fauna. Less than 2% of the native forest now remains, concentrated in the Black River Gorges National Park in the south-west, the Bambous Mountain Range in the south-east, and the Moka-Port Louis Ranges in the north-west. There are some isolated mountains, Corps de Garde, Le

The Dodo.

When it was discovered, Mauritius was the home of a previously unknown species of bird, the dodo, descendants of a type of pigeon which settled in Mauritius over four million years ago. With no predators to attack them, they had lost their ability to fly. The Portuguese discovered the island around 1505 and the island quickly became a stopover for ships engaged in the spice trade. Weighing up to,

Environment and climate.

The environment in Mauritius is typically tropical in the coastal regions with forests in the mountainous areas. Seasonal cyclones are destructive to its flora and fauna, although they recover quickly. Mauritius ranked second in an air quality index released by the World Health Organization in 2011.  Situated near the Tropic of Capricorn, Mauritius has a tropical climate. There are 2 seasons: a warm humid summer from November to April, with a mean temperature of and a relatively cool dry winter from June to September with a mean temperature

Government and politics.

The politics of Mauritius take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, in which the President is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government, assisted by a Council of Ministers. Mauritius has a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Government. Legislative power is vested in both the Government and the National Assembly.  The National Assembly is Mauritius's unicameral legislature, which was called the Legislative Assembly until 1992, when the country became a republic. It consists of 70 members, 62 elected for four-year terms in multi-member constituencies and eight additional members, known as "best losers", appointed by the Electoral Service Commission to ensure that ethnic and religious minorities are equitably represented. The UN Human Rights Committee (UNHRC), which monitors member states' compliance with the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights (ICPCR), has criticised the country's Best Loser System following a complaint by a local youth and trade union movement. The president is elected for a five-year term by the Parliament.  The island of Mauritius is divided into 20 constituencies that return three members each, while Rodrigues is a single constituency that returns two members. After a general election, the Electoral Supervisory Commission may nominate up to eight additional members with a view to correct any imbalance in the representation of ethnic minorities in Parliament. This system of nominating members is commonly called the best loser system.  The political party or party alliance that wins the majority of seats in Parliament forms the government. Its leader becomes the Prime Minister, who selects the Cabinet from elected members of the Assembly, except for the Attorney General, who may not be an elected member of the Assembly. The political party or alliance which has the second largest majority forms the Official Opposition and its leader is normally nominated by the President of the Republic as the Leader of the Opposition. The Assembly elects a Speaker, a Deputy Speaker and a Deputy Chairman of Committees as some of its first tasks.  Mauritius is a democracy with a government elected every five years. The most recent National Assembly Election was held on 10 December 2014 in all the 20 mainland constituencies, and in the constituency covering the island of Rodrigues. Elections have tended to be a contest between two major coalitions of parties.  The 2018 Ibrahim Index of African Governance ranked Mauritius first in good governance. According to the 2017 Democracy Index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit that measures the state of democracy in 167 countries, Mauritius ranks 16th worldwide and is the only African-related country with "full democracy".

Demographics.

The estimated population of the Republic of Mauritius was at 1,265,985, of whom 626,341 were males and 639,644 females as at 1 July 2019. The population on the island of Mauritius was 1,222,340, and that of Rodrigues island was 43,371; Agalega and Saint Brandon had an estimated total population of 274. Mauritius has the second highest population density in Africa. Subsequent to a Constitutional amendment in 1982, there is no need for Mauritians to reveal their ethnic identities for the purpose of population census. Official statistics on ethnicity are not available. The 1972 census was the last one to measure ethnicity. Mauritius is a multiethnic society, drawn from Indian, African, Chinese and European (mostly French) origin. According to the 2011 census conducted by Statistics Mauritius, 48.5% of the Mauritian population follows Hinduism, followed by Christianity (32.7%), Islam (17.2%) and other religions (0.7%). 0.7% reported themselves as non-religious and 0.1% did not answer.

Languages.

The Mauritian constitution makes no mention of an official language. The Constitution only mentions that the official language of the National Assembly is English; however, any member can also address the chair in French. English and French are generally considered to be de facto national and common languages of Mauritius, as they are the languages of government administration, courts, and business. The constitution of Mauritius is written in English, while some laws, such as the Civil code and Criminal code, are in French. The Mauritian currency features the Latin, Tamil and Devanagari scripts.  The Mauritian population is multilingual; while Mauritian Creole is the mother tongue of most Mauritians, most people are also fluent in English and French; they tend to switch

Education.

The education system in Mauritius consists of pre-primary, primary, secondary and tertiary sectors. The education structure consists of two to three years of pre-primary school, six years of primary schooling leading to the Primary School Achievement Certificate, five years of secondary education leading to the School Certificate, and two years of higher secondary ending with the Higher School Certificate. Secondary schools have "college" as part of their title. The government of Mauritius provides free education to its citizens from pre-primary to tertiary level. In 2013 government expenditure on education

Economy.

Since independence from Britain in 1968, Mauritius has developed from a low-income, agriculture-based economy to an upper middle-income diversified economy, based on tourism, textiles, sugar, and financial services. The economic history of Mauritius since independence has been called "the Mauritian Miracle" and the "success of Africa" (Romer, 1992; Frankel, 2010; Stiglitz, 2011).  In recent years, information and communication technology, seafood, hospitality and property development, healthcare, renewable energy, and education and training have emerged as important sectors, attracting substantial investment from both local and foreign investors.  Mauritius has no exploitable fossil fuel reserves and so relies on petroleum products to meet most of its energy requirements. Local and renewable energy sources are biomass, hydro, solar and wind energy. The country will be potentially among the main winners after the global transition to renewable energy is completed; it is ranked no. 8 out of 156 countries in the index of geopolitical gains and losses after energy transition (GeGaLo Index).  Mauritius has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world, and in 2012 the government announced its intention to develop the marine economy.  Mauritius is ranked high in terms of economic competitiveness, a friendly investment climate, good governance and a free economy. The Gross Domestic Product (PPP) was estimated at US$29.187 billion in 2018, and GDP (PPP) per capita was over US$22,909, the second highest in Africa.  Mauritius has an "upper middle income economy", according to the World Bank in 2011. The World Bank's 2019 Ease of Doing Business Index ranks Mauritius 13th worldwide out of 190 economies in terms of ease of doing business. According to the Mauritian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the country's challenges are heavy reliance on a few industry sectors, high brain drain, scarcity of skilled labour, ageing population and inefficient public companies and para-statal bodies.  Mauritius has built its success on a free market economy. According to the 2019 Economic Freedom of the World report, Mauritius is ranked as having the 9th most free economy in the world.

Financial services.

According to the Financial Services Commission, financial and insurance activities contributed to 11.1% of the country's GDP in 2018. Over the years, Mauritius has been positioning itself as the preferred hub for investment into Africa due its strategic location between Asia and Africa, hybrid regulatory framework, ease of doing business, investment protection treaties, non-double taxation treaties, highly qualified and multilingual workforce, political stability, low crime rate coupled with modern infrastructure and connectivity. It is home to a number of international banks, legal firms, corporate services, investment funds and private equity funds. Financial products and services, includes private banking, global business, insurance and reinsurance, limited companies, protected cell companies, trust and foundation, investment banking, global headquarter administration.  Despite being tagged

Tourism.

Mauritius is a major tourist destination, the tourism sector is the fourth contributor to the Mauritian economy. The island nation enjoys a tropical climate with clear warm sea waters, beaches, tropical fauna and flora complemented by a multi-ethnic

Transport.

Since 2005 public bus in Mauritius is free of charge for students, people with disabilities and senior citizens. There are currently no railways in Mauritius, former privately owned industrial railways having been abandoned. The harbour of Port Louis handles international trade as well as a cruise terminal. The sole international airport for civil aviation is Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, which also serves as

Information and communications technology.

The information and communications technology (ICT) sector has contributed to 5.7% of its GDP in 2016. Since 2016, Mauritius has participated in International Competitions led by cyberstorm.mu. They organized the 2016 & 2017 Google Code-in in Mauritius leading to 2 finalists and 1 Grand Prize Winner. Additionally, they have participated

Culture.

Art.

Prominent Mauritian painters include Vaco Baissac, Henri Le Sidaner and Malcolm de Chazal. Gabrielle Wiehe is a prominent illustrator and graphic designer.

Architecture.

The distinctive architecture of Mauritius reflects the island nation's history as a colonial trade base connecting Europe with the East. Styles and forms introduced by Dutch, French, and British settlers from the seventeenth century onward, mixed with influences from India and East Africa, resulted in a unique hybrid architecture of international historic, social, and artistic significance. Mauritian structures present a variety of designs, materials, and decorative elements that are unique to the country and inform the historical context of the Indian Ocean and European colonialism.  Decades of political, social,

Literature.

Prominent Mauritian writers include Marie-Thérèse Humbert, Malcolm de Chazal, Ananda Devi, Shenaz Patel, Khal Torabully, J. M. G. Le Clézio, Aqiil Gopee and Dev Virahsawmy. J. M. G. Le Clézio, who

Music.

The major musical genres of Mauritius are Sega and its fusion genre, Seggae,

Cuisine.

The cuisine of Mauritius is a combination of Indian, Creole, French and Chinese, with many dishes unique to the island. Spices

Holidays and festivals.

The public holidays of Mauritius involve the blending of several cultures from Mauritius's history. There are Hindu festivals, Chinese festivals, Muslim festivals, as well as Christian festivals. There are

Sports.

The most popular sport in Mauritius is football and the national team is known as The Dodos or Club M. Other popular sports in Mauritius include cycling, table tennis, horse racing, badminton, volleyball, basketball, handball, boxing, judo, karate, taekwondo, weightlifting, bodybuilding and athletics. Water sports include swimming, sailing, scuba diving, windsurfing and

External links.

Reference  Government  Geography

Mauritius ( ; ; Creole: ]), officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) off the south-east coast of the African continent. The country includes the islands of Mauritius, Rodrigues, Agaléga and St. Brandon. The islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues form part of the Mascarene Islands, along with nearby Réunion, a French overseas department. The capital and largest city, Port Louis, is located on the main island of Mauritius. The country is in area, while its Exclusive Economic Zone covers 2.3 million square kilometres.

Mauricius, respektive Mauricijská republika (francouzsky "République de Maurice", anglicky "Republic of Mauritius"), je ostrovní stát v Indickém oceánu asi 900 km východně od Madagaskaru. Tvoří ho stejnojmenný ostrov vulkanického původu o rozloze 1 865 km2 s pobřežím dlouhým 330 km, které je téměř kompletně obklopeno korálovým útesem, ostrov Rodrigues o rozloze 108 km2 vzdálený 560 km severovýchodně od hlavního ostrova a několik menších ostrovů - skupina Cargados Carajos a ostrovy Agaléga, které jsou od ostrova Mauricia vzdáleny více než 1 000 km směrem na sever.


Biography.

Origins and military career.

Aemilian was born in the Roman province of Africa. According to the 4th century source "Epitome de Caesaribus", he was born at "Girba" (modern Djerba, an island off the coast of Tunisia) and was a Moor; a reference in the same source hints that he was born around 207. The 12th-century historian Joannes Zonaras, who calls him a Libyan (that is, coming from western Egypt-eastern Libya) rather than a Moor, and another chronicle of the 13th century hold that he was forty at the time of his death in 253.  Regarding his lineage, there are two versions, both exaggerated: while Eutropius and his translator Paeanius probably defame a failed usurper when they say that he was from an insignificant family, John of Antioch may refer to Aemilian's propaganda when he says that the usurper used his ancestry to take power. Aemilian married Cornelia Supera, a woman of African origin; the year of their marriage is unknown, but since both were from the same place, it is possible they married before Aemilian left Africa.  During the reign of Trebonianus Gallus and his son Volusianus (251–253), Aemilian was sent to the Balkans to command an army. His primary responsibility was to assure peace along the Danube frontier, which had been subject to several attacks by the Goths led by king Cniva.  Gallus secured the throne after the death of emperor Decius at the hands of Cniva in the Battle of Abrittus (251), and later had to manage an outbreak of plague that devastated Rome. He was not popular with the army, mainly due to humiliating treaties signed in 251 with the Goths and King Shapur I of Persia who attacked Syria. According to John of Antioch, upon his appointment to the Moesian command, Aemilian was already envious of Gallus and plotted treachery against him. He was also an opponent of the Roman Senate, and his seditious plans are confirmed by Jerome and Jordanes.

Victory against the Goths, overthrow of Gallus, short rule and death of Aemilian.

In 253, the Goths, led by king Cniva, claimed they had not received the tribute due from the Romans according to the treaty of 251. They crossed the border and attacked Cappadocia, Pessinus, and Ephesus. Modern historians believe that this missing payment was not a change in Roman policy, and the Goths were more likely trying to capitalize on their military prowess. Aemilian had command of the army assigned to defend the area, but the recent defeat at the Battle of Abrittus put his troops on edge. Aemilian exhorted them, reminding them of Roman honor (according to Zosimus) and promising tribute from the Goths (according to Zonaras). The Romans took the Goths by surprise, killing most of them, followed by an invasion of Goth territory resulting in booty and the liberation of prisoners. The Roman soldiers, gathered by Aemilian, acclaimed him Emperor. Jordanes claims, however, that Aemilian's troops plundered Roman territory, rather than keep the tribute of the Goths.  With his few men, Aemilian left his province unguarded and moved quickly towards Rome to meet the legitimate emperor Gallus before the latter could receive reinforcements. While Aemilian descended upon Rome along the Flaminian Way, Gallus and Volusianus had him proclaimed "enemy of the State" by the Roman senate, then exited Rome to meet the usurper. This strategy suggests that Aemilian's army was smaller than theirs, as they probably did not expect reinforcements to come in time but trusted their larger army to win the clash. The two armies met at the Battle of Interamna Nahars near modern Terni, at the southern end of the eastern branch of the Flaminia, and Aemilian won the battle; Gallus and Volusianus fled to the north with a few followers, probably as a delay tactic before the arrival of reinforcements, but, in August 253, at "Forum Flaminii" (modern San Giovanni Profiamma), on the western branch of the Flaminia, they were killed by some of their own guards, who thought that their betrayal could earn them a reward.  Aemilian continued towards Rome. The Roman senate, after a short opposition, decided to recognize him as emperor. According to some sources, Aemilian then wrote to the Senate, promising to fight for the Empire in Thrace and against Persia, and to relinquish his power to the Senate, of which he considered himself a general. Aemilian received the titles of "Pius", "Felix" and "Pater Patriae", the "tribunicia potestas", and was elevated to the rank of "pontifex maximus"; he was not, however, elevated to consulate (possibly a hint of his non-senatorial birth). His coinage shows that his propaganda focused on his capability as a military commander—he defeated the Goths when nobody thought this possible, and thus he was the right man for the job of restoring the power of the Roman Empire.  However, Valerian, governor of the Rhine provinces, was on his way south with an army which, according to Zosimus, had been called in as a reinforcement by Gallus. But modern historians believe this army, possibly mobilized for an incumbent campaign in the East, moved only after Gallus' death to support Valerian's bid for power. Emperor Aemilian's men, fearful of a civil war and Valerian's larger force, mutinied. They killed Aemilian at Spoletium or at the "Sanguinarium" bridge, between "Oriculum" and "Narnia" (halfway between Spoletium and Rome), and recognized Valerian as the new emperor. After Aemilian's death, which happened between late July and mid-September, a "damnatio memoriae" against him was declared.  It is possible that the usurper Silbannacus was an officer left by Aemilian in Rome before moving against Valerian, who later tried to become emperor but then was killed.  The troubled administration of emperor Aemilian was perhaps best summed up by Eutropius:

Aemilianus (Marcus Aemilius Aemilianus; c. 207/213 – September 253), also known as Aemilian, was Roman emperor for three months in 253.

Marcus Aemilius Aemilianus (207/214 – září 253 u Spoletia) byl římský císař vládnoucí od července do září roku 253, podle jednoho pramene 88 dní.