History.

Middle Ages.

The nobility arose in the 12th and 13th centuries as the lowest part of the feudal military class, which comprised the court of a prince or an important boyar. From the 14th-century land ownership by nobles increased, and by the 17th century, the bulk of feudal lords and the majority of landowners were nobles. The nobles were granted estates out of State lands in return for their service to the Tsar, either for as long as they performed service or for their lifetime. By the 18th century, these estates had become private property. They made up the Landed army ()—the basic military force of Russia. Peter the Great finalized the status of the nobility, while abolishing the boyar title.

Early modern era in Russia: westernization.

Overview.

The adoption of the fashions, mannerisms, and ideals of Western Europe by the Russian nobility was a gradual process rooted in the strict guidelines of Peter the Great and the educational reforms of Catherine the Great. While cultural westernization was mostly superficial and restricted to court, it coincided with the efforts of Russian autocrats to link Russia to Western Europe in more fundamental ways – socially, economically and politically. However, Russia's existing economic system, which lacked a sizable middle class and which relied heavily on forced labor, proved an insurmountable obstacle to the development of a free market economy. Furthermore, the lower classes (an overwhelming majority of the Russian population) lived virtually isolated from the upper classes and the imperial court. Thus, most of the nobility's “western” tendencies were largely aesthetic and confined to a tiny proportion of the populace.  As different rulers ascended the throne in the 19th century, each figure brought a different attitude and approach to ruling the nobility. Yet, the cultural impact of Peter I and Catherine II was set in stone. Ironically, by introducing the nobility to political literature from Western Europe, Catherine exposed Russia's autocracy to them as archaic and illiberal. While the nobility was conservative as a whole, a liberal and radical minority remained constant throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, resorting to violence on multiple occasions in order to challenge Russia's traditional political system (see Decembrist Revolt, Narodnaya Volya).

Before Peter the Great.

Although Peter the Great is considered to be the first westernized ruler of Russia, there were, in fact, contacts between the Muscovite nobility and Western Europe before his reign. Ivan III, starting in 1472, sent numerous agents to Italy to study architecture. Both Michael Romanov (1613–1645) and his son Alexis (1645–1676) invited and sponsored European visitors – mostly military, medical, and building specialists – who came to Moscow in foreign dress, speaking foreign languages. When the boyars began to imitate the westerners in dress and hairstyle, Tsar Alexis in 1675 and then Tsar Feodor in 1680 restricted foreign fashions to distinguish between Russians and outsiders, but these were not effectively enforced until the 1690s.

Under Peter the Great.

Peter the Great was, first and foremost, eager to do away with Russia's reputation as an Asiatic land and to propel his new empire onto the political stage of Western Europe. One of the many ways he hoped to achieve this was by changing the upper-class culture; he believed that forcing selected features of western fashion, education, and language onto the nobility would hasten Russia's rise to international prestige. In 1697, he began to send nobles on compulsory trips abroad to England, Holland, and Italy. While the Tsar primarily designed these expeditions for naval training, he also encouraged the noblemen to learn about the arts of the west. Furthermore, Peter prioritized sending Russian natives as opposed to foreign expatriates; he was intent on “breeding” a new nobility that conformed to western customs but represented the Slavic people as a whole. When the travelers returned to Moscow, Peter tested them on their training, insisting on further education for those whose accumulated knowledge was unsatisfactory. By 1724, he had established – for the purpose of scientific study and discovery – the Academy of Sciences, which he modeled after “the ones in Paris, London, Berlin, and other places”.  Peter's westernizing efforts became more radical after 1698 when he returned from his expedition through Europe known as the Grand Embassy. Upon arriving Peter summoned the nobility to his court and personally shaved almost every beard in the room. In 1705 he decreed a beard tax on all men of rank in Moscow and ordered certain officers to seek out noble beards and shave them on sight. He only allowed peasants, priests, and serfs to retain the ingrained and religious Russian tradition of wearing beards, which the Orthodox populace considered an essential aspect of their duty to convey the image of God. He also reformed the clothing of the nobility, replacing the long-sleeved traditional Muscovite robes with European clothing. Beginning in 1699 the tsar decreed strict dress requirements borrowing from German, Hungarian, French and British styles, fining any noblemen who failed to obey. Peter himself, who usually wore German dress and had a trimmed mustache, acted as a prime example. While the nobility universally followed Peter's fashion preferences at court, they greatly resented these styles, which they saw as blasphemous. Away from St. Petersburg, very few noblemen followed Peter's guidelines and enforcement was lax.  Peter also demanded changes in mannerisms and language among nobles. To supply Russians with a basic set of “proper” morals and habits, he ordered publication of manuals on Western etiquette. The most popular of these was "The Honourable Mirror of Youth or A Guide to Social Conduct Gathered from Various Authors", a compilation of rules of conduct from numerous European sources, initially published in St. Petersburg in 1717. He also encouraged the learning of foreign languages especially French, which was the foremost political and intellectual language of Europe at the time. For the nobility, these changes felt even more forced than fashion regulations. As with clothing, there was uniform acceptance of Western mannerisms at court but general disregard for them outside of St. Petersburg. Furthermore, when Westerners visited Peter's court they found the image and personality of the courtiers to appear forced and awkward. Friedrich Christian Weber a representative of Britain commented in 1716 that the nobles “wear the German Dress; but it is easy to observe on many, that they have not been long used to it”.

Between the Greats.

While none of the rulers in power from 1725 to 1762 focused as strongly on cultural westernization, Peter sparked a transformation that was now unstoppable. Through their education and travels, some members of the nobility began to understand the extent to which Russia lagged behind Western Europe in the complexity of their political and educational systems, their technology and economy. By 1750, the ideas of secularism, skepticism and humanism had reached sects of the elite class, providing some with a new worldview and giving Russia a taste of the Enlightenment, of which they had experienced little. While even the most educated of the nobility still supported the autocracy that upheld the feudal system on which they depended, some considered how to make it more representative and to improve the bureaucracy.  The period between Peter I and Catherine II represents gradual yet significant developments in western culture among the nobility. Tsarina Anna gave many privileges to the nobility. In 1730 she repealed the primogeniture law introduced by Peter the Great allowing the sub-division of estates. In 1736 the age at which nobles had to start service was raised from 15 to 20 and length of service was changed to 25 years instead of life and families with more than one son could keep one to manage the family estate. In 1726 Catherine I and in 1743 Empress Elizabeth further regulated noble dress in a Western direction. In 1755 also during Elizabeth's reign, advanced secondary schools and the University of Moscow were founded with curricula that included foreign languages, philosophy, medicine and law; the material was chiefly based on imported texts from the west. Most significantly Peter III freed the nobility from obligatory civil and military service in 1762, allowing them to pursue personal interests. While some used this liberty as an excuse to lead lavish lives of leisure, a select group became increasingly educated in Western ideas through schooling, reading, and travel. As before, these changes applied to few and represented a gradual shift in noble identity rather than a sudden or universal one. Marc Raeff in "Origins of the Russian Intelligentsia" has suggested this was not a noble victory but a sign the state didn't need them as much now that they had plenty of trained officials.

Catherine the Great.

When Catherine II ascended the throne, she quickly made her political and philosophical opinions clear in the “Instruction” of 1767, a lengthy document which she prepared for the nobility, drawing largely from and even plagiarizing ideas from the west, especially those of Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The point she emphasized first and foremost was that Russia was a truly European state, and her reforms of the court and education reflect this belief. While Catherine was primarily preoccupied with impressing westerners (especially the philosophers, with whom she corresponded in writing), in doing so she also made significant efforts to educate the nobility and expose them to western philosophy and art. She designed an imperial court in the style of Louis XIV, entertaining the nobility with performances of western theatre and music. She encouraged the understanding of French, German, and English languages so that nobles could read classic, historical, and philosophical literature from the west. For the first time in the history of the Russian court, “intellectual pursuits became fashionable”. When foreigners visited the court, Catherine expected the noblemen and their ladies to flaunt not only their western appearance but also their ability to discuss current events in western languages.  Catherine also made specific reforms in institutional education that pushed the nobility's culture further westward. She based Russian education on that of Austria, importing German textbooks and adopting in 1786 a standardized curriculum to be taught in her newly created public schools. While many members of the lower classes were allowed into these schools, Catherine hoped that they could become educated enough to rise through the meritocratic Table of Ranks and eventually become nobles themselves. Catherine also established the Society for the Translation of Foreign Books, “to bring enlightenment to those Russians who could not read either French or German.” It is clear that, like Peter I, Catherine the Great desired to construct a new nobility, a “new race,” which would both resemble western noblemen and prove knowledgeable in discussions of modern issues. And, according to accounts from foreign visitors, the noblemen did, in fact, resemble those of Western Europe in their dress, topics of discussion, and taste in literature and performance.  She also gave away 66,000 serfs in 1762–72, 202,000 in 1773–93, and 100,000 in one day: 18 August 1795. Thus she was able to bind the nobility to herself. From 1782, a kind of uniform was introduced for civilian nobles called uniform of civilian service or simply civilian uniform. The uniform prescribed colors that depended on the territory. The uniform was required at the places of service, at the Court, and at other important public places. The privileges of the nobility were fixed and were legally codified in 1785 in the Charter to the Gentry. The Charter introduced an organization of the nobility: every province ("guberniya") and district ("uyezd") had an Assembly of Nobility. The chair of an assembly was called Province/District Marshal of Nobility. In 1831 Nicholas I restricted the assembly votes to those with over 100 serfs, leaving 21,916 voters.

Late modern era.

By 1805 the various ranks of the nobility had become confused, as reflected in "War and Peace." In the era of the Napoleonic Wars, there were counts who were wealthier and more important than princes and noble families whose wealth had been dissipated partly through lack of primogeniture, partly through extravagance and due to poor estate-management. Young noblemen served in the military but did not thereby acquire new landed estates. Tolstoy reported later improvements: some nobles paid more attention to estate management, and some, like Andrey Bolkonsky, freed their serfs even before the tsar did so in 1861. Of Russia's nobles, 62.8% were szlachta from the nine western gubernii in 1858 and still 46.1% in 1897. "Obrok" or cash rent was most common in the north while "barshchina" or labor rent was found mainly in the southern Black Earth Region. In the reign of Nicholas I (1825–1855) the latter brought three times the income of cash rent (though this needed less administration). In 1798 Ukrainian landlords were banned from selling serfs separately from land. In 1841 landless nobles were banned also.  The nobility was too weak to oppose the Emancipation reform of 1861. In 1858, three million serfs were held by 1,400 landlords (1.4%) while 2 million by 79,000 (78%). In 1820 a fifth of the serfs were mortgaged, half by 1842. By 1859, a third of nobles' estates and two-thirds of their serfs were mortgaged to noble banks or to the state. The nobility was also weakened by the scattering of their estates, lack of primogeniture and the high turnover and mobility from estate to estate.  After the peasant reform of 1861 the economic position of the nobility weakened. The influence of the nobility was further reduced by the new law statutes of 1864, which repealed their right of electing law officer. The reform of the police in 1862 limited the landowners' authority locally, and the establishment of all-estate Zemstvo local government did away with the exclusive influence of nobility in local self-government.  These changes occurred despite the nobles keeping nearly all the meadows and forests and having their debts paid by the state, while the ex-serfs paid 34% over the market price for the shrunken plots they kept. This figure was 90% in the northern regions, 20% in the black-earth region but zero in the Polish provinces. In 1857, 6.79% of serfs were domestic, landless servants who stayed landless after 1861. Only Polish and Romanian domestic serfs got land. Ninety percent of the serfs who got larger plots lived in the eight ex-Polish provinces where the Tsar wanted to weaken the Szlachta. The other 10% lived in Astrakhan and in the barren north. In the whole Empire, peasant land declined 4.1% - 13.3% outside the ex-Polish zone and 23.3% in the 16 black-earth provinces. Georgia's serfs suffered the loss of of their land in Tiflis province, in Kutaisi province. These redemption payments were not abolished till January 1, 1907.  The influx of New World grain caused a slump in grain prices, forcing the peasants to farm more land. At the same time, despite their efficiency, large peasant households split up (from 9.5 to 6.8 persons per household in central Russia, 1861–1884). The resulting land hunger increased prices 7-fold and made it easier for nobles to sell or rent land rather than farm it themselves. From 1861 to 1900 40% of noble land was sold to peasants (70% of this went to the Commune and by 1900 two thirds of the nobles' arable land was rented to the peasantry. 1900–1914, over 20% of remaining noble land was sold but only 3% of the 155 estates over 50,000 "destiny". According to the 1897 census, 71% of the top 4 ranks of the civil service were nobles. But in the civil service as a whole, noble membership declined from 49.8% in 1755 to 43.7% in the 1850s and to 30.7% in 1897. There were 1.2 million nobles, about 1% of the population (8% in Poland; compare with 4% in Hungary and 1 to 1.5% in France). Their military influence waned: in the Crimean War 90% of officers were noble, by 1913 the proportion had sunk to 50%. They lived increasingly away from their estates: in 1858 only 15 to 20% of Russian nobles lived in cities, by 1897 it was 47.2%.  By 1904 of noble land was mortgaged to the noble bank. During the 1905 Russian Revolution 3,000 manors were burnt (15% of the total).

Non-Russian nobility.

The Russian imperial nobility was multi-ethnic. Native non-Russians such as the Poles, Georgians, Lithuanians, Tatars, and Germans formed an important segment of the noble estate. According to the 1897 census, only 0.87% of Russians were classified as hereditary nobles versus 5.29% of Georgians and 4.41% of Poles, followed by Lithuanians, Tatars, Azerbaijanis, and Germans. After the abolition of serfdom, the non-Russian nobility, with the exception of Finland, lost their special status. Later, many of the impoverished or déclassé Polish and Georgian nobles became leaders of nationalist and radical political movements, including Bolshevism.

Russian Revolution.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the new Soviet government legally abolished all classes of nobility. Many members of the Russian nobility who fled Russia after the Bolshevik Revolution played a significant role in the White Emigre communities which settled in Europe, in North America, and in other parts of the world. In the 1920s and 1930s, several Russian nobility associations were established outside Russia, including groups in France, Belgium, and the United States. In New York, the Russian Nobility Association in America, was founded in 1933. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 interest among Russians in the role that the Russian nobility played in the historical and cultural development of Russia has grown.

Organization.

Nobility was transferred by inheritance or was bestowed by a fount of honour, i.e. the sovereign of the Russian Empire, and was typically ranked as per below, with those of the highest noble prestige ranked first.  Unlike the ancient nobility, which was exclusively hereditary, the remaining classes of nobility could be acquired.  A newly designated noble was usually entitled to landownership. A loss of land did not automatically mean loss of nobility. In later Imperial Russia, higher ranks of state service (see Table of Ranks) were automatically granted nobility, not necessarily associated with land ownership.  Russian did not in general employ a nobiliary particle before a surname (as "von" in German or "de" in French), however the Russian name suffix -skij which means “of” and is equal to “von” and “de” was used in many noble surnames especially topographic surnames as nobiliary particle. Russian noblemen were accorded an official salutation, or style, that varied by rank: "your high born" (), "your high well born" (), "your well born" (), etc.

Titled nobility.

Titled nobility () was the highest category: those who had titles such as prince, count and baron. The latter two titles were introduced by Peter the Great. A baron or count could be either proprietary (actual) ( владетельный (действительный))—"i.e.," who owned land in the Russian Empire—or titular (титулярный), "i.e.," only endowed with a rank or title.

Hereditary nobility.

Hereditary nobility () was transferred to wife, children, and further direct legal descendants along the male (agnatic) line. In exceptional cases, the emperor could transfer nobility along indirect or female lines, "e.g.," to preserve a notable family name.

Personal nobility.

Personal nobility () could, for instance, be acquired by admission to orders of knighthood of the Russian Empire. It was transferable only to the wife.

Estateless nobility.

Estateless nobility () was nobility acquired by state service, but without a grant of land.

Ancient nobility.

In addition, the ancient nobility () was recognised, descendants of Rurik, Gediminas and historical boyars and knyazes, "e.g.," the Shuyskies, Galitzins, Naryshkins, Khilkoffs, Gorchakovs, Belosselsky-Belozerskys and Chelyadnins.

Privileges.

Russian nobility possessed the following privileges:

Noble titles of the Russian Empire.

The Russian Tsardom came into being around the Grand Duchy of Moscow by the incorporation of various political entities surrounding it. After Peter the Great returned from his grand tour he implemented reforms aimed at westernization of his realm, including officially adopting the title of Emperor of All Russia, preceding the traditional Slavic title of Tsar. Peter and his successors also streamlined the stratification of the Russian nobility, adopting European-style titles such as Count and Baron and discontinuing the archaic titles of Boyars. The Russian system of noble titles evolved into its final form:

Acquisition.

Hereditary nobility could be achieved in the following ways: 1) by Imperial grant to individuals or families; 2) by attaining a certain military or civil officer's rank while in active service; 3) by being awarded an order of chivalry of the Russian Empire.  Between 1722 and 1845 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 14th rank of ensign, to civil servants who achieved the 8th rank of Collegiate Assessor and to any person who was awarded any order of the Russian Empire (since 1831 – except the Polish order of Virtuti Militari).  Between 1845 and 1856 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 8th rank of major/captain 3rd rank, to civil servants who achieved the 5th rank of State Councillor and to any person who was awarded the Order of Saint George or the Order of Saint Vladimir of any class, or any order of the Russian Empire of the first class.  From 1856 to 1917 hereditary nobility was given to military officers who achieved the 6th rank of colonel/captain 1st rank, to civil servants who achieved the 4th rank of Active State Councillor and to any person who was awarded the Order of Saint George of any class or the Order of Saint Vladimir of any class (since 1900 - of the third class or higher), or any order of the Russian Empire of the first class.  Personal nobility could be acquired in the following ways: 1) by Imperial grant; 2) by attaining the 14th military rank of ensign or the 9th civil rank of Titular Councillor; 3) by being awarded the orders of the Russian Empire unless those gave hereditary nobility; except merchants (unless those were awarded between 1826 and 1832), who acquired honorary citizenship instead. Personal nobility was not inherited by children but was shared by the recipient's wife.

The Russian nobility ( "dvoryanstvo") originated in the 14th century. In 1914 it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members (about 1.1% of the population).

Ruská šlechta je souhrnné označení aristokratických rodů v Rusku, které se utvářely od počátku 14. století a spoluvládly v Ruském impériu až do únorové revoluce v roce 1917.


History.

The airline was established on 19 September 1986 as Sichuan Airlines Company, its first flight was on 14 July 1988 between Chengdu and Wanzhou.  The airline was later restructured as Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. on 29 August 2002, in which the Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. Group became the major shareholder (40%). The other shareholders are China Southern Airlines (39%), China Eastern Airlines (10%), Air China Group (10%) and Chengdu Gingko Restaurant Co. (1%).

Corporate affairs.

Operations.

Sichuan Airlines' corporate headquarters is located in its hub Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, Sichuan and its secondary hubs are at Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Kunming Changshui International Airport.

Subsidiary.

Sichuan Airlines owns Chengdu Airlines as its subsidiary, which also has its hub at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. Chengdu Airlines was formerly named as United Eagle Airlines, and was changed to Chengdu Airlines to help lift the image of Chengdu on behalf of the city's government, according to an anonymous official of Sichuan Airlines. In late 2009, Sichuan Airlines sold some of its share of Chengdu Airlines to aircraft manufacturer Comac and the Chengdu Communications Investment Group. Chengdu Airlines is planned to become the first operator of the Comac ARJ21.

Branding.

Sichuan Airlines' logo is a "haiyan" () that is soaring with high temperament, symbolizing the company's entrepreneurial spirit. The circle represents the earth and the four wave patterns represents a hundred rivers going into the sea and carrying back virtues, corresponding to the core values of Sichuan Airlines' "truthfulness, goodness, beauty, love", symbolizing that Sichuan Airlines takes off from the inland and connects the stability of land civilization and the outward development of marine civilization.  In addition to the logo, Sichuan Airlines gives emphasis to the Chinese character "" in which not only the character means river or a shortened name of Sichuan, but also that the character is defined as running through and gathering. It means that Sichuan Airlines is engaged in aviation flight and had built a world-class fleet that connects five continents, improving its network radiation capability and opening more international routes to build a bridge between Western China and the world and to integrate the world's corporate vision.

Destinations.

Sichuan Airlines is operating mainly flights in East Asia. (Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beijing, Osaka, Seoul, Shanghai, Taipei, Guangzhou, Lhasa, Kunming, Urumqi, Kathmandu, etc.)  Others destinations include Australia (Sydney, Melbourne), New Zealand (Auckland), Africa (Cairo), Western Asia (Dubai), Southeast Asia (Singapore, Bangkok), Europe (Prague, Tel Aviv, Zurich, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Rome) and North America (Vancouver, Los Angeles), etc.  The airline launched its first long-haul overseas route in June 2012 with flights from its Chengdu hub to Vancouver, Canada. Its second long-haul flight, from Chengdu to Melbourne, Australia, was launched in February 2013 with three weekly services. On 17 October 2016 the airline launched twice-a-week service from Chengdu via Hangzhou to Los Angeles (LAX). In 2016, Sichuan Airlines started twice-a-week flights to its first European destination, Prague. On June 23, 2018, Sichuan Airlines launched service from Chengdu to Zurich via Prague. It was the first fifth freedom flight for the airline. It was also the only airline operating this route with Airbus A330 wide body aircraft.

Codeshare agreements.

Sichuan Airlines has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

Fleet.

Current fleet.

, Sichuan Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet consisting of the following aircraft:

Golden Panda.

The Golden Panda Club is a frequent-flyer program launched by Sichuan Airlines. It can accumulate every flight mileage and enjoy free tickets and other product rewards. When the mileage reaches a certain standard, it can be upgraded to a VIP member and enjoy free upgrades. Free first class lounge waiting, free baggage allowance and other value-added services.

Accidents and incidents.

On 24 January 2003, Sichuan Airlines Flight 434, an Embraer EMB-145 from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport, one man attempted to hijack the airplane and ignited home-made explosives, which injured a passenger and also himself. He was subdued by a security officer.  On 14 May 2018, Sichuan Airlines Flight 8633, an Airbus A319 from Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport to Lhasa Gonggar Airport, diverted to Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport after a windshield on the copilot's side of the cockpit blew off, intrinsically similar to the 1990 British Airways Flight 5390 Incident, resulting in a loss of a part of the flight control panel. The flight crew made a difficult landing with decompression failure and extremely low temperature. The copilot and a flight attendant were reported injured. Later the incident was adapted into the film "The Captain (2019 film)".

Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. () is a Chinese airline based in Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, and is the largest airline in western China, operating mainly scheduled domestic and international flights out of Chengdu Shuangliu Airport, Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport and Kunming Changshui International Airport.

Sichuan Airlines Co., Ltd. (čínsky: 四川航空) je čínská regionální letecká společnost se základnou na mezinárodním letišti Čcheng-tu Šuang-liou ve městě Čcheng-tu, provincie S'-čchuan. Operuje především domácí lety, poprvé začala létat na delší vzdálenosti v roce 2012 do kanadského Vancouveru a v roce 2013 do australského Melbourne. Společnost byla založena v roce 2002.


Background.

In the 1930s, the region faced Japanese invasion. By 1949, the Communist Party of China's (CPC) People's Liberation Army had largely defeated the Kuomintang (KMT)'s National Revolutionary Army in the Chinese Civil War on the mainland. This forced the Kuomintang to relocate the Government and institutions of the Republic of China to the relative safety of Taiwan, an island which was placed under the control of the Republic of China after the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II in 1945. With the establishment of the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949, the CPC-controlled government saw itself as the sole legitimate government of China, competing with the claims of the Republic of China, whose authority is now limited to Taiwan and other islands. This has resulted in a situation in which two co-existing governments compete for international legitimacy and recognition as the "government of China".  The phrase "mainland China" emerged as a politically neutral term to refer to the area under control of the Communist Party of China, and later to the administration of the PRC itself. Until the late 1970s, both the PRC and ROC envisioned a military takeover of the other. During this time the ROC referred to the PRC government as "Communist Bandits" () while the PRC referred to the ROC as "Chiang Bandits" (). Later, as a military solution became less feasible, the ROC referred to the PRC as "Communist China"" (). With the democratization of Taiwan in the 1990s, the phrase "mainland China" soon grew to mean not only the area under the control of the Communist Party of China, but also a more neutral means to refer to the People's Republic of China government; this usage remains prevalent by the KMT today.  Due to their status as colonies of foreign states during the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the phrase "mainland China" excludes Hong Kong and Macau. Since the return of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 and 1999, respectively, the two territories have retained their legal, political, and economic systems. The territories also have their distinct identities. Therefore, "mainland China" generally continues to exclude these territories, because of the "One country, two systems" policy adopted by the PRC central government towards the regions. The term is also used in economic indicators, such as the IMD Competitiveness Report. International news media often use "China" to refer only to mainland China or the People's Republic of China.

Political use.

Mainland China.

In the People's Republic of China, the term ('inland') is often contrasted with the term ('outside the border') for things outside the mainland region. Examples include "Administration of Foreign-funded Banks" () or the "Measures on Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Insurance Institutions" ().  Hainan is an offshore island, therefore geographically not part of the continental mainland. Nevertheless, politically it is common practice to consider it part of the mainland because its government, legal and political systems do not differ from the rest of the People's Republic within the geographical mainland. Nonetheless, Hainanese people still refer to the geographic mainland as "the mainland" and call its residents "mainlanders". In some coastal provinces such as Guangdong, Fujian and Jiangsu, people often call the area of non-coastal provinces in of mainland China as "Inland" ().

Hong Kong and Macau.

Hong Kong and Macau are both sovereign territories of the People's Republic of China. However, due to the One Country Two Systems policy, the two regions maintain a high degree of autonomy, hence why they are considered not to be part of mainland China.  Geologically speaking, Hong Kong and Macau are both connected to mainland China in certain areas (e.g. the north of the New Territories). Additionally, the islands contained within Hong Kong (e.g. Hong Kong Island) and Macau are much closer to mainland China than Taiwan and Hainan, and are much smaller.  In Hong Kong and Macau, the terms "mainland China" and "mainlander" are frequently used for people from PRC-governed areas (i.e. not Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau). The Chinese term "Neidi" (), meaning the "inland" but still translated "mainland" in English, is commonly applied by SAR governments to represent non-SAR areas of PRC, including Hainan province and coastal regions of mainland China, such as "Constitutional and Mainland Affairs" () and Immigration Departments. In the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (as well as the Mainland and Macau Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) the CPG also uses the Chinese characters "inner land", with the note that they refer to the "customs territory of China".

Taiwan.

In Taiwan, there are differing opinions as to the neutrality of the term "mainland China". However, the term is considered somewhat more neutral than historical terms used to describe the territories under the control of the People's Republic of China (PRC) (which is in turn led by the Communist Party of China (CPC)).  Since 1949, the Republic of China on Taiwan (led by the Kuomintang/Nationalists (KMT/GMD)) has referred to the territories under the control of the Chinese Communist Party with several different names, e.g. "(territory controlled by the) Communist bandits", "occupied/unfree area (of China)" (as opposed to the "free area of the Republic of China"), "Communist China" (as opposed to either "Nationalist China" or "Democratic China"), "Red China" (as opposed to "Blue China"), and "mainland China (area)". In modern times, the term "Communist bandits" is generally considered both inflammatory and offensive by supporters of the Kuomintang and other Pan-Blue political parties [the KMT and other aligned parties believe that "China" encompasses both sides of the Taiwan Strait], so it is no longer used by them. Similarly, terms implying illegal occupation (of the mainland) or an intent to reclaim the mainland tend not to be used by both Pan-Blue and Pan-Green individuals. Therefore, only the terms "Communist China" or "mainland China" are still commonly used by Taiwanese (Chinese) people aligned with Pan-Blue ideologies. Somewhat synonymous to the term "Communist China" is the term "People's Republic of China (PRC)" (which is either considered to encompass Hong Kong and Macau or isn't, due to the confusion and ambiguity of One Country Two Systems). Meanwhile, the term "mainland China" is often simply abbreviated to "the mainland" among speakers of Chinese in Taiwan or from Taiwan.  However, the Pan-Green Coalition in Taiwan, led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) [the DPP and other aligned parties usually support Taiwanese independence to a certain degree], tend to be opposed to suggestions that Taiwan is part of China, regardless of the subtlety of said suggestions. Referring to the territories under the control of the Chinese Communist Party as "mainland China" suggests that Taiwan is part of China. That is, the term "mainland China" suggests that Taiwan is a "satellite island" of China, and that Taiwan is tethered to China (much in the same way that one might say that "Kinmen is tethered to Taiwan"). Therefore, Pan-Green individuals tend to prefer the term "China", rather than "mainland China", since the term "China" suggests that Taiwan and China are two separate countries. Pan-Green Taiwanese might also prefer to refer to China as "Communist China" or "the People's Republic of China (PRC)" or "Red China". However, these terms suggest that there exist "two Chinas". Certain Pan-Green Taiwanese believe that there exist "two Chinas" and that the Republic of China (ROC) and Taiwan are one and the same, so they would be more inclined to use these terms (compared to those who believe that the ROC is illegally occupying Taiwan). Individuals in Taiwan who are aligned with Pan-Green ideologies might be more inclined to refer to the People's Republic of China as "the Communist bandits" or "occupied/unfree area" (compared to those aligned with Pan-Blue ideologies), due to their negative (or indifferent) views towards mainland China and the Chinese Communist Party, though they generally don't have any intention of "reclaiming the mainland".

Other terms.

Other use of geography-related terms are also often used where neutrality is required.

Mainland China, also known as the Chinese mainland, is the geopolitical as well as geographical area under the direct jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China (PRC). It includes Hainan island and strictly speaking, politically, excludes the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, even though both are partially on the geographic mainland (continental landmass).

Kontinentální Čína neboli pevninská Čína je geopolitické území pod jurisdikcí Číny nezahrnující Zvláštní správní oblasti Hongkong a Macao, jež byly do konce 20. století koloniemi evropských zemí. Do kontinentální Číny se také nepočítá ostrov Taiwan a další menší ostrovy ovládané Čínskou republikou, i když je skrze OSN Taiwan mezinárodně uznán jako součást Číny.


History.

Yuexiu is the historic center of the capital of the Nanyue Kingdom. Thirty-three years after the unification of Lingnan under Qin Shi Huang forced most of the Yue tribes out of Guangzhou, Yuexiu came under the administration of Panyu County in the Nanhai Commandery. Yuexiu District is named after Yuexiu Hill. Yuexiu was originally the seat of Panyu County until 15 February 1921 when Guangzhou was formally established carving parts of northern Panyu County to create Yuexiu along with Liwan which was eastern part of Nanhai County.  Dongshan in the eastern part of Yuexiu was a former suburb of Guangzhou. It was established as "Dongshan District" in 1960. On 28 April 2005, it was withdrawn and merged with Yuexiu.

Administrative subdivisions.

Yuexiu has administrative jurisdiction over the following 18 subdistricts

Government.

The Guangdong Department of Education is headquartered in Yuexiu District.

Economy.

Creative Power Entertaining is headquartered in the Wuzi Building in the Yuexiu District.  The Mainland China offices of Dairy Farm Group are located at the Guangdong Mechanical Sub-Building in the district.

Transportation.

Metro.

Yuexiu is currently served by four metro lines operated by the Guangzhou Metro:

Education.

The American International School of Guangzhou elementary school campus is on Ersha Island in the district.  Previously the École Française Internationale de Canton, the French international school of Guangzhou, was located at the GoldArch Riverdale development on Ersha Island.

Yuexiu District is one of 11 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province, China, located west of the Tianhe District and east of the Liwan District. It is the commercial, political and cultural centre of Guangdong and noted for its high quality education. The Guangdong provincial government and the Guangzhou city government are both located in the Yuexiu District. Established in 1960, the district absorbed the former Dongshan District in May 2005 along with several former subdistricts of the Baiyun and Tianhe district

Obvod Jüe-siou () je obvod Kantonu, hlavního města provincie Kuang-tung v Čínské lidové republice. Má rozlohu zhruba 33 kilometrů čtverečních a v roce 2014 v něm žilo přibližně 1146 tisíc obyvatel


Overview.

The league was introduced by the Nazi Sports Office in 1933, after the Nazi takeover of power in Germany. It replaced the "Bezirksligas" and "Oberligas" as the highest level of play in German football competitions.  Until the formation of the "Gauliga", the region was covered by a number of local leagues and, together with clubs from state of Saxony, they played out a "Central German championship" (German: "Mittel-Deutsche Meisterschaft").  In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league champion then qualified for the German championship. The bottom two teams were relegated. The league operated on the same modus until the outbreak of World War II in 1939.  Due to the effects of the war, the 1939-40 and 1940-41 seasons were played with only eight clubs. In 1941, the league returned to a ten-club strength, which it retained until 1944.  The imminent collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected all "Gauligas" and football in the region was split into six regional groups. However, none of them played more than a few games before the arrival of the Red Army, and the end of the war ended all competitions.

Aftermath.

With the end of the Nazi era, the "Gauligas" ceased to exist and the region found itself in the Soviet occupation zone. The DDR-Oberliga was formed in the following years as the highest level of play in the new country of East Germany and the region became part of the East German football league system.  Virtually all football clubs in the region were dissolved and replaced with clubs controlled by the new communist government. Of those, some readopted the pre-1945 names after the German reunification in 1990.

Founding members of the league.

The ten founding members and their league positions in the 1932-33 season were:

Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Mitte.

The winners and runners-up of the league:

Placings in the Gauliga Mitte 1933-44.

The complete list of all clubs participating in the league:

The Gauliga Mitte was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Saxony and the German states of Thuringia and Anhalt from 1933 to 1945, all located in the center (German:"Mitte") of Germany. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the "Gaue" "Thuringia", "Magdeburg-Anhalt" and "Halle-Merseburg" replaced the states and Prussian province.

Gauliga Mitte byla jedna z mnoha skupin Gauligy, nejvyšší fotbalové soutěže na území Německa v letech 1933 – 1945. Gauliga byla vytvořena v roce 1933 na popud nacistického vedení. Pořádala se na území Saska-Anhaltska, Durynska, severního Saska a jihozápadního Braniborska. Vítězové jednotlivých skupin Gauligy postupovali do celostátní soutěže, která trvala necelý měsíc, v níž se kluby utkávaly vyřazovacím způsobem.


Observation and exploration.

Although there is no well-defined solid surface within Uranus's interior, the outermost part of Uranus's gaseous envelope (the region accessible to remote sensing) is called its atmosphere. Remote sensing capability extends down to roughly 300 km below the 1 bar level, with a corresponding pressure around 100 bar and temperature of 320 K.  The observational history of the Uranian atmosphere is long and full of error and frustration. Uranus is a relatively faint object, and its visible angular diameter is smaller than 5′′. The first spectra of Uranus were observed through a prism in 1869 and 1871 by Angelo Secchi and William Huggins, who found a number of broad dark bands, which they were unable to identify. They also failed to detect any solar Fraunhofer lines—the fact later interpreted by Norman Lockyer as indicating that Uranus emitted its own light as opposed to reflecting light from the Sun. In 1889 however, astronomers observed solar Fraunhofer lines in photographic ultraviolet spectra of the planet, proving once and for all that Uranus was shining by reflected light. The nature of the broad dark bands in its visible spectrum remained unknown until the fourth decade of the twentieth century.  Although Uranus is presently largely blank in appearance, it has been historically shown to have occasional features, such as in March and April 1884, when astronomers Henri Joseph Perrotin, Norman Lockyer, and Charles Trépied observed a bright, elongated spot (presumably a storm) circling the equator of the planet.  The key to deciphering Uranus's spectrum was found in the 1930s by Rupert Wildt and Vesto Slipher, who found that the dark bands at 543, 619, 925, 865 and 890 nm belonged to gaseous methane. They had never been observed before because they were very weak and required a long path length to be detected. This meant that the atmosphere of Uranus was transparent to a much greater depth compared to those of other giant planets. In 1950, Gerard Kuiper noticed another diffuse dark band in the spectrum of Uranus at 827 nm, which he failed to identify. In 1952 Gerhard Herzberg, a future Nobel Prize winner, showed that this band was caused by the weak quadrupole absorption of molecular hydrogen, which thus became the second compound detected on Uranus. Until 1986 only two gases, methane and hydrogen, were known in the Uranian atmosphere. The far-infrared spectroscopic observation beginning from 1967 consistently showed the atmosphere of Uranus was in approximate thermal balance with incoming solar radiation (in other words, it radiated as much heat as it received from the Sun), and no internal heat source was required to explain observed temperatures. No discrete features had been observed on Uranus prior to the "Voyager 2" visit in 1986.  In January 1986, the "Voyager 2" spacecraft flew by Uranus at a minimal distance of 107,100 km providing the first close-up images and spectra of its atmosphere. They generally confirmed that the atmosphere was made of mainly hydrogen and helium with around 2% methane. The atmosphere appeared highly transparent and lacking thick stratospheric and tropospheric hazes. Only a limited number of discrete clouds were observed.  In the 1990s and 2000s, observations by the Hubble Space Telescope and by ground-based telescopes equipped with adaptive optics systems (the Keck telescope and NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, for instance) made it possible for the first time to observe discrete cloud features from Earth. Tracking them has allowed astronomers to re-measure wind speeds on Uranus, known before only from the "Voyager 2" observations, and to study the dynamics of the Uranian atmosphere.

Composition.

The composition of the Uranian atmosphere is different from that of Uranus as a whole, consisting mainly of molecular hydrogen and helium. The helium molar fraction, i.e. the number of helium atoms per molecule of hydrogen/helium, was determined from the analysis of "Voyager 2" far infrared and radio occultation observations. The currently accepted value is in the upper troposphere, which corresponds to a mass fraction. This value is very close to the protosolar helium mass fraction of, indicating that helium has not settled towards the centre of the planet as it has in the gas giants.  The third most abundant constituent of the Uranian atmosphere is methane, the presence of which has been known for some time as a result of the ground-based spectroscopic observations. Methane possesses prominent absorption bands in the visible and near-infrared, making Uranus aquamarine or cyan in colour. Below the methane cloud deck at 1.3 bar methane molecules account for about 2.3% of the atmosphere by molar fraction; about 10 to 30 times that found in the Sun. The mixing ratio is much lower in the upper atmosphere due to the extremely low temperature at the tropopause, which lowers the saturation level and causes excess methane to freeze out. Methane appears to be undersaturated in the upper troposphere above the clouds having a partial pressure of only 30% of the saturated vapor pressure there. The concentration of less volatile compounds such as ammonia, water and hydrogen sulfide in the deep atmosphere is poorly known. However, as with methane, their abundances are probably greater than solar values by a factor of at least 20 to 30, and possibly by a factor of a few hundred.  Knowledge of the isotopic composition of Uranus's atmosphere is very limited. To date the only known isotope abundance ratio is that of deuterium to light hydrogen:, which was measured by the Infrared Space Observatory (ISO) in the 1990s. It appears to be higher than the protosolar value of measured in Jupiter. The deuterium is found almost exclusively in hydrogen deuteride molecules which it forms with normal hydrogen atoms.  Infrared spectroscopy, including measurements with Spitzer Space Telescope (SST), and UV occultation observations, found trace amounts of complex hydrocarbons in the stratosphere of Uranus, which are thought to be produced from methane by photolysis induced by solar UV radiation. They include ethane, acetylene, methylacetylene, diacetylene. Infrared spectroscopy also uncovered traces of water vapour, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in the stratosphere, which are likely to originate from an external source such as infalling dust and comets.

Structure.

The Uranian atmosphere can be divided into three main layers: the troposphere, between altitudes of −300 and 50 km and pressures from 100 to 0.1 bar; the stratosphere, spanning altitudes between 50 and 4000 km and pressures between and the thermosphere/exosphere extending from 4000 km to as high as a few Uranus radii from the surface. There is no mesosphere.

Troposphere.

The troposphere is the lowest and densest part of the atmosphere and is characterised by a decrease in temperature with altitude. The temperature falls from about 320 K at the base of the troposphere at −300 km to about 53 K at 50 km. The temperature at the cold upper boundary of the troposphere (the tropopause) actually varies in the range between 49 and 57 K depending on planetary latitude, with the lowest temperature reached near 25° southern latitude. The troposphere holds almost all of the mass of the atmosphere, and the tropopause region is also responsible for the vast majority of the planet's thermal far infrared emissions, thus determining its effective temperature of.  The troposphere is believed to possess a highly complex cloud structure; water clouds are hypothesised to lie in the pressure range of, ammonium hydrosulfide clouds in the range of, ammonia or hydrogen sulfide clouds at between 3 and 10 bar and finally thin methane clouds at. Although "Voyager 2" directly detected methane clouds, all other cloud layers remain speculative. The existence of a hydrogen sulfide cloud layer is only possible if the ratio of sulfur and nitrogen abundances (S/N ratio) is significantly greater than its solar value of 0.16. Otherwise all hydrogen sulfide would react with ammonia, producing ammonium hydrosulfide, and the ammonia clouds would appear instead in the pressure range 3–10 bar. The elevated S/N ratio implies depletion of ammonia in the pressure range 20–40 bar, where the ammonium hydrosulfide clouds form. These can result from the dissolution of ammonia in water droplets within water clouds or in the deep water-ammonia ionic ocean.  The exact location of the upper two cloud layers is somewhat controversial. Methane clouds were directly detected by "Voyager 2" at 1.2–1.3 bar by radio occultation. This result was later confirmed by an analysis of the "Voyager 2" limb images. The top of the deeper ammonia/hydrogen sulfide clouds were determined to be at 3 bar based on the spectroscopic data in the visible and near-infra spectral ranges (0.5–1 μm). However a recent analysis of the spectroscopic data in the wavelength range 1–2.3 μm placed the methane cloudtops at 2 bar, and the top of the lower clouds at 6 bar. This contradiction may be resolved when new data on methane absorption in Uranus's atmosphere are available. The optical depth of the two upper cloud layers varies with latitude: both become thinner at the poles as compared to the equator, though in 2007 the methane cloud layer's optical depth had a local maximum at 45°S, where the southern polar collar is located (see below).  The troposphere is very dynamic, exhibiting strong zonal winds, bright methane clouds, dark spots and noticeable seasonal changes. (see below)

Stratosphere.

The stratosphere is the middle layer of the Uranian atmosphere, in which temperature generally increases with altitude from 53 K in the tropopause to between 800 and 850 K at the base thermosphere. The heating of the stratosphere is caused by the downward heat conduction from the hot thermosphere as well as by absorption of solar UV and IR radiation by methane and the complex hydrocarbons formed as a result of methane photolysis. The methane enters the stratosphere through the cold tropopause, where its mixing ratio relative to molecular hydrogen is about 3, three times below saturation. It decreases further to about 10 at the altitude corresponding to pressure of 0.1 mbar.  Hydrocarbons heavier than methane are present in a relatively narrow layer between 160 and 320 km in altitude, corresponding to the pressure range from 10 to 0.1 mbar and temperatures from 100 to 130 K. The most abundant stratospheric hydrocarbons after methane are acetylene and ethane, with mixing ratios of around 10. Heavier hydrocarbons like methylacetylene and diacetylene have mixing ratios of about 10—three orders of magnitude lower. The temperature and hydrocarbon mixing ratios in the stratosphere vary with time and latitude. Complex hydrocarbons are responsible for the cooling of the stratosphere, especially acetylene, having a strong emission line at the wavelength of 13.7 μm.  In addition to hydrocarbons, the stratosphere contains carbon monoxide, as well as traces of water vapor and carbon dioxide. The mixing ratio of carbon monoxide—3—is very similar to that of the hydrocarbons, while the mixing ratios of carbon dioxide and water are about 10 and 8, respectively. These three compounds are distributed relatively homogeneously in the stratosphere and are not confined to a narrow layer like hydrocarbons.  Ethane, acetylene and diacetylene condense in the colder lower part of stratosphere forming haze layers with an optical depth of about 0.01 in visible light. Condensation occurs at approximately 14, 2.5 and 0.1 mbar for ethane, acetylene and diacetylene, respectively. The concentration of hydrocarbons in the Uranian stratosphere is significantly lower than in the stratospheres of the other giant planets—the upper atmosphere of Uranus is very clean and transparent above the haze layers. This depletion is caused by weak vertical mixing, and makes Uranus's stratosphere less opaque and, as a result, colder than those of other giant planets. The hazes, like their parent hydrocarbons, are distributed unevenly across Uranus; at the solstice of 1986, when "Voyager 2" passed by the planet, they were concentrated near the sunlit pole, making it dark in ultraviolet light.

Thermosphere and ionosphere.

The outermost layer of the Uranian atmosphere, extending for thousands of kilometres, is the thermosphere/exosphere, which has a uniform temperature of around 800 to 850 K. This is much higher than, for instance, the 420 K observed in the thermosphere of Saturn. The heat sources necessary to sustain such high temperatures are not understood, since neither solar FUV/EUV radiation nor auroral activity can provide the necessary energy. The weak cooling efficiency due to the depletion of hydrocarbons in the stratosphere may contribute to this phenomenon. In addition to molecular hydrogen, the thermosphere contains a large proportion of free hydrogen atoms, while helium is thought to be absent here, because it separates diffusively at lower altitudes.  The thermosphere and upper part of the stratosphere contain a large concentration of ions and electrons, forming the ionosphere of Uranus. Radio occultation observations by the "Voyager 2" spacecraft showed that the ionosphere lies between 1,000 and 10,000 km altitude and may include several narrow and dense layers between 1,000 and 3,500 km. The electron density in the Uranian ionosphere is on average, reaching to as high as in the narrow layers in the stratosphere. The ionosphere is mainly sustained by solar UV radiation and its density depends on the solar activity. The auroral activity on Uranus is not as powerful as at Jupiter and Saturn and contributes little to the ionization. The high electron density may be in part caused by the low concentration of hydrocarbons in the stratosphere.  One of the sources of information about the ionosphere and thermosphere comes from ground-based measurements of the intense mid-infrared (3–4 μm) emissions of the trihydrogen cation (). The total emitted power is 1–2 W—an order of magnitude higher than that the near-infrared hydrogen quadrupole emissions. Trihydrogen cation functions as one of main coolers of the ionosphere.  The upper atmosphere of Uranus is the source of the far ultraviolet (90–140 nm) emissions known as "dayglow" or "electroglow", which, like the IR radiation, emanates exclusively from the sunlit part of the planet. This phenomenon, which occurs in the thermospheres of all giant planets and was mysterious for a time after its discovery, is interpreted as a UV fluorescence of atomic and molecular hydrogen excited by solar radiation or by photoelectrons.

Hydrogen corona.

The upper part of the thermosphere, where the mean free path of the molecules exceeds the scale height, is called the exosphere. The lower boundary of the Uranian exosphere, the exobase, is located at a height of about 6,500 km, or 1/4 of the planetary radius, above the surface. The exosphere is unusually extended, reaching as far as several Uranian radii from the planet. It is made mainly of hydrogen atoms and is often called the hydrogen corona of Uranus. The high temperature and relatively high pressure at the base of the thermosphere explain in part why Uranus's exosphere is so vast. The number density of atomic hydrogen in the corona falls slowly with the distance from the planet, remaining as high a few hundred atoms per cm at a few radii from Uranus. The effects of this bloated exosphere include a drag on small particles orbiting Uranus, causing a general depletion of dust in the Uranian rings. The infalling dust in turn contaminates the upper atmosphere of the planet.

Dynamics.

Uranus has a relatively bland appearance, lacking broad colorful bands and large clouds prevalent on Jupiter and Saturn. Discrete features were only once observed in Uranus's atmosphere before 1986. The most conspicuous features on Uranus observed by "Voyager 2" were the dark low latitude region between −40° and −20° and bright southern polar cap. The northern boundary of the cap was located at about −45° of latitude. The brightest zonal band was located near the edge of the cap at −50° to −45° and was then called a polar collar. The southern polar cap, which existed at the time of the solstice in 1986, faded away in 1990s. After the equinox in 2007, the southern polar collar started to fade away as well, while the northern polar collar located at 45° to 50° latitude (first appeared in 2007) have grown more conspicuous since then.  The atmosphere of Uranus is calm compared to those of other giant planets. Only a limited number of small bright clouds at middle latitudes in both hemispheres and one Uranus Dark Spot have been observed since 1986. One of those bright cloud features, located at −34° of latitude and called "Berg", probably existed continuously since at least 1986. Nevertheless, the Uranian atmosphere has rather strong zonal winds blowing in the retrograde (counter to the rotation) direction near the equator, but switching to the prograde direction poleward of ±20° latitude. The wind speeds are from −50 to −100 m/s at the equator increasing up to 240 m/s near 50° latitude. The wind profile measured before the equinox of 2007 was slightly asymmetric with winds stronger in the southern hemisphere, although it turned out to be a seasonal effect as this hemisphere was continuously illuminated by the Sun before 2007. After 2007 winds in the northern hemisphere accelerated while those in the southern one slowed down.  Uranus exhibits a considerable seasonal variation over its 84-year orbit. It is generally brighter near solstices and dimmer at equinoxes. The variations are largely caused by changes in the viewing geometry: a bright polar region comes into view near solstices, while the dark equator is visible near equinoxes. Still there exist some intrinsic variations of the reflectivity of the atmosphere: periodically fading and brightening polar caps as well as appearing and disappearing polar collars.

The atmosphere of Uranus is composed primarily of hydrogen and helium. At depth it is significantly enriched in volatiles (dubbed "ices") such as water, ammonia and methane. The opposite is true for the upper atmosphere, which contains very few gases heavier than hydrogen and helium due to its low temperature. Uranus's atmosphere is the coldest of all the planets, with its temperature reaching as low as 49 K.

Atmosféra Uranu je jako u většiny plynných obrů složena převážně z vodíku a helia. V hloubce je podstatně obohacena o těkavé látky jako voda, amoniak a methan ve formě "ledů". Naopak vrchní část atmosféry obsahuje kvůli nízké teplotě velmi málo plynů těžších než vodík a helium. Atmosféra Uranu je nejchladnější ze všech planet, dosahuje teploty kolem 49 Kelvinů.


World War I and interwar period.

Born in Goßmar in the Province of Brandenburg, Zeitzler came from a family of pastors. At the age of 18 he joined the 4th Thuringian Infantry Regiment of the German Army on March 23, 1914. Five months later Germany was at war. Zeitzler was promoted to lieutenant in December, 1914, and commanded various units, including a pioneer detachment. At the end of the war he was a regimental adjutant.  Zeitzler was chosen as one of the 4,000 officers selected to serve in the Reichswehr, the small German army permitted under the limits of the Treaty of Versailles. He was promoted to captain in January, 1928. In 1929 he began three years of service as a staff officer of the 3rd Division. In February, 1934 he was transferred to the "Reichswehrministerium" ("Defense Ministry" of the Weimar Republic) and promoted to major. In 1937 he became a staff officer in the operations office for the "Oberkommando des Heeres" (OKH), the headquarters of the German Army. In April 1939 he took command of Infantry Regiment 60, and was promoted to full colonel in June.

World War II.

During the invasion of Poland in September 1939, Zeitzler was Chief of Staff to General Wilhelm List, commanding the XXII (Motorized) Corps in the 14th Army. In March 1940 he became Chief of Staff to General von Kleist, commanding Panzergruppe A, later redesignated 1st Panzer Army. During the Battle of France, Zeitzler brilliantly organized and managed the panzer drive through the Ardennes. He continued in this post through the successful Invasion of Yugoslavia and Battle of Greece. On May 18, 1941 Zeitzler was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.  His greatest success came during the Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union. During the first two months of "Barbarossa", 1st Panzer Army plunged east into Soviet territory, then moved south to the Black Sea to cut off Soviet forces in the Battle of Uman, then north to encircle Soviet forces around Kiev, then south again across the Dnieper River, and then further south to cut off Soviet forces near the Sea of Azov. Through all this strenuous campaigning, Zeitzler kept 1st Panzer Army moving smoothly and ensured that supplies arrived. In appreciation of Zeitzler, Kleist commented "The biggest problem in throwing about armies in this way was that of maintaining supplies."  In January 1942, Zeitzler was made Chief of Staff to General Gerd von Rundstedt, OB West (Commander in Chief West) and commander of Army Group D. He played an important role in responding to the Allied raid on Dieppe on August 19, 1942.

Chief of Staff, OKH.

On September 24, 1942, Zeitzler was promoted to "General der Infanterie" ("General of the Infantry") and simultaneously appointed Chief of the OKH General Staff, replacing Franz Halder. Hitler had been impressed by Zeitzler's optimistic and vigorous reports, and chose him over several higher-ranked and more senior officers. Albert Speer states Hitler wanted a reliable assistant who "doesn't go off and brood on my orders, but energetically sees to carrying them out."  It is probable that Hitler believed Zeitzler would be a more pliable and optimistic OKH chief than Halder. He was known to be a master of logistics, with solid organizational skills. His performance at the head of the General Staff was very respectable, but his drive and initiative was eventually paralyzed by Hitler's increasingly unreasonable demands and irrational orders.  Following Zeitzler's promotion, Hitler was initially impressed with his dedication to his task and fighting spirit. In November 1942, Soviet counterattacks surrounded the German Sixth Army in Stalingrad. Zeitzler recommended that Sixth Army immediately break out and withdraw from Stalingrad to the Don bend, where the broken front could be restored. Hitler instead threw a tantrum, overruled Zeitzler, and personally ordered the Sixth Army to stand fast around Stalingrad, where it was destroyed.  Zeitzler was urged by his Army colleagues to give the breakout order himself, but refused to act in an insubordinate manner to the Commander-in-Chief. In a gesture of solidarity with the starving troops in Stalingrad, Zeitzler reduced his own rations to their level. Hitler was informed of these actions by Martin Bormann. After two weeks and the visible loss of some 12 kilos (26 pounds) in weight, Hitler ordered Zeitzler to stop the diet and return to normal rations.  During early 1943 Zeitzler developed the initial plans for Operation Citadel, the final major German offensive in the east, and convinced Hitler to undertake the offensive despite the objections raised by several other senior officers. This battle ended in a strategic defeat for the Germans, and a series of defensive battles ensued.  Zeitzler's relationship with Hitler deteriorated during 1944. Hitler blamed him for the German defeat in the Crimea during April and May. This caused Zeitzler to signal his desire to resign. By the middle of the year Zeitzler had lost all faith in Hitler's tactics as a result of the deteriorating situation in Western Europe after the Allied landing at Normandy and Hitler's refusal to allow Army Group Centre to withdraw to more defensible positions on the Eastern Front. On 1 July Zeitzler suffered a nervous breakdown, and fled Hitler's Berghof residence. Hitler never spoke to him again, and had him dismissed from the Army in January 1945, refusing him the right to wear a uniform.

Postwar life.

At the end of the war, Zeitzler was captured by British troops. He was a prisoner of war until the end of February 1947. He appeared as a witness for the defense during the Nuremberg trials, and worked with the Operational History Section (German) of the Historical Division of the U.S. Army.  Zeitzler died in 1963 in Hohenaschau in Upper Bavaria.

Kurt Zeitzler (June 9, 1895 – September 25, 1963) was a Chief of the Army General Staff in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II.

Kurz Zeitler (9. června 1895, Heideblick - 25. září 1963, Aschau im Chiemgau) byl vysoký německý generálporučík německé Třetí říše během druhé světové války.


History.

"Madman Across the Water" was the fourth studio album released by Elton John, as well as his third album to be released in 1971, at which point John had been rising to prominence as a popular music artist. It contains 9 tracks, each composed and performed by John and with lyrics written by songwriting partner Bernie Taupin as with his previous material. As with all of John's other studio albums at the time, "Madman" featured John's touring band, which consisted of bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson on only a single song, due to producer Gus Dudgeon's lack of faith in the group for studio recordings. Instead, most of the tracks were backed by studio players and string arrangements put together by Paul Buckmaster. Davey Johnstone, who had previously worked with Dudgeon as a part of Magna Carta, was also put on as the main guitarist. Murray and Olsson would later be fully featured in John's succeeding album, "Honky Château". Later band member, percussionist Ray Cooper makes his first appearance with this album. This was John's last album to be recorded at London's Trident Studios, although subsequent albums would be remixed or overdubbed at Trident. Caleb Quaye and Roger Pope would not play with John again until "Rock of the Westies" in 1975, following Murray and Olsson's departure from the band.  The album's title song was initially set to be released on John's previous album "Tumbleweed Connection", featuring guitarist Mick Ronson as the primary musician; however, it was set aside and was re-recorded for this album, with Johnstone on the guitar. The earlier version was included on the remastered "Tumbleweed Connection" CD. Dispelling rumours that the song‘s lyric referred to then US President Richard Nixon, Bernie Taupin had this to say: "Madman Across the Water" was one of John's lowest-charting album efforts. It continued a streak of mediocre performance in the UK for John, peaking at No. 41 on the UK Albums Chart and spending two weeks there. The album fared much better in North America, peaking at No. 8 on the US "Billboard" Top Pop Albums and later on at No. 10 on the year-end list of 1972. It received Gold by the RIAA in February 1972, achieving $1 million in sales at wholesale value just in the United States. In 1993, the album was certified Platinum, representing shipments of more than 1 million units in the US. In 1998, the album was certified Multi-Platinum, representing shipments of over 2 million units in the US. In May 2017 the album was certified Silver for sales of 60,000 units by the British Phonographic Industry.  When it was released in 'The Classic Years' collection, it was the first album not to feature any bonus tracks. One known track recorded at the time, "Rock Me When He's Gone", was released on the 1992 compilation "Rare Masters". The song was written for and recorded by one of John's long-time friends, Long John Baldry. This was John's first album to feature Davey Johnstone, who contributed acoustic guitar, mandolin and sitar. He would join John's band full-time for "Honky Château".

Track listing.

All music composed by Elton John, all lyrics written by Bernie Taupin.  Note

Personnel.

Track numbers refer to CD and digital releases of the album.  Production

Madman Across the Water is the fourth studio album by Elton John, released in 1971 through DJM and Uni Records.

Madman Across the Water je čtvrté studiové album anglického hudebníka Eltona Johna. Vydáno bylo v listopadu 1971 společnostmi Uni Records a DJM Records. Producentem alba byl Gus Dudgeon, který s Johnem spolupracoval již v minulosti, a nahráno bylo v londýnském studiu Trident Studios. V hitparádě UK Albums Chart se deska umístila na 41. příčce, zatímco v americké Billboard 200 na osmé.


Biography.

Fyodor Vasilyev was born in Gatchina to a low-level government official, Alexander Vasilyevich Vasilyev, and Olga Emelyanova Polyntseva on 22 February N.S. 1850. His parents married four years later, so he was always considered an illegitimate child. Feodor had to earn his living from the age of 12 – he worked as a mailman, scribe, and assistant to a restorer of pictures. After his father’s death, he became the sole supporter of the family.  In 1863, he managed to enter the evening classes of the School of Painting at the Society for Promotion of Artists (). While at school, Vasilyev got acquainted with many painters, who took care of him.  In 1866 famous landscape painter Ivan Shishkin fell in love with Feodor's sister Evgenia Vassilyev. Shishkin became acquainted with Feodor and started to teach him landscape painting. From July to November 1867 Shishkin and Vassilyev worked together on island of Valaam. Some places on Valaam were subjects of both artist's paintings. Later Shishkin introduced Feodor to Ivan Kramskoi, Ilya Repin, and art collectors Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov and Pavel Sergeevich Stroganov. Later Vasilyev became a major competitor to Ivan Shishkin and the latter was often accused of using intrigues and administrative influence trying to win over Vasilyev on different art competitions. In Vasilyev’s early works, such as "After a Thunderstorm" (1868), "Near a Watering Place" (1868) and others, one can feel the influence of the Barbizon school; it affected his art but never resulted in a non-creative borrowing of the motifs. Though, at first, Vasilyev was somewhat inferior technically to the Barbizon painters, most critics agree that he eventually found his own way of handling the subject. "After a Rain" (1869) and "After a Rain. Country Road" exceed in many respects the Barbizon stormy scenes in their expressiveness and deeply national sound.  In 1870, Vasilyev traveled on the Volga with Ilya Repin, the picture "Volga View. Barges"(1870) was a great success. In 1870 he became a member of Peredvizhniki movement (one of the original twenty members).  In 1871, Vasilyev painted "Thaw" (1871), which made him famous immediately. The tzar family's (Prince Alexander, future Alexander III of Russia), ordered a copy, and the Society for Promotion of Artists awarded him first prize. Later Prince Alexander's copy was exponated on the 1872 London World Fair and won a medal. Vasilyev was admitted, as an intern, to the Imperial Academy of Arts (which, among other things, gave him an exception from conscription to the Army). The "boy genius", as he was called in the artistic circles of Russia, had no time to enjoy his popularity – he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and had to leave St. Petersburg forever. He moved to Crimea. The Society for Promotion of Artists sponsored his stay there, but he was obliged to pay with his paintings.  Vasilyev could not get used to the new scenery. He went on to paint the Russian plains; his works, such as his masterpiece "Wet Meadow" (1872), were done from memory, old sketches and his imagination. After some time Vasilyev started to draw Crimea, gradually beginning to feel the attraction to its mountain views. "Mountains of Crimea" (1873) was an outstanding work and the last work of the artist.  He died in Yalta on 6 October N.S. 1873 at the age of 23. His posthumous exhibition in Saint Petersburg was a great success, and all his works were sold prior to the exhibition. His works had a strong influence on the next generation of Russian landscape painters. Nikolai Ge said, "He discovered for us the Sky". Many art historians emphasize Fedor Vasilyev's influence on Isaac Levitan, Valentin Serov, Viktor Borisov-Musatov.

Fyodor Alexandrovich Vasilyev (, 1850 – 1873) was a Russian landscape painter who introduced the lyrical landscape style in Russian art.

Fjodor Alexandrovič Vasiljev, rusky "Фёдор Александрович Васильев" (, Gatčina –, Jalta) byl ruský malíř-krajinář, představitel romantismu, člen uměleckého sdružení peredvižniků.


Background and development.

Following the release of her twelfth studio album, "MDNA" (2012), Madonna embarked on The MDNA Tour to promote it. The tour created widespread controversy over her statements on violence, human rights, politics, her use of fake firearms, and her on-stage nudity. She was threatened with several lawsuits. Madonna was enraged by many world events, which she claimed were acts of "injustice" against humanity. In September 2013 she released "secretprojectrevolution", a short film she directed with Steven Klein, dealing with artistic freedom and human rights. The film launched a global initiative known as Art for Freedom to promote freedom of expression. Madonna said in a "L'Uomo Vogue" interview her next album would be connected with Art for Freedom. She

Writing and recording sessions.

In March 2014, Madonna began posting a number of images on Instagram hinting at possible songwriters and collaborators with hashtag captions. First she posted about going into the recording studio with Swedish DJ and producer Avicii. Record producer Carl Falk spoke with the "Dagens Nyheter" newspaper in April 2014 about these sessions. He recalled that eleven demos with acoustic guitars and piano were recorded within a week at Henson Recording Studios in Hollywood. Avicii's manager Arash "Ash" Pour Nouri selected six people. They were divided into two groups, the first consisted of Falk, Rami Yacoub, and Savan Kotecha; the second consisted of Salem Al Fakir, Vincent Pontare, and Magnus Lidehäll. Avicii worked with both groups to create the demo songs, while Madonna arrived at the studio in the afternoon and stayed until 7:00 am. She worked closely with both teams while writing and changing melodies, and was in charge of the process.  A few days later, Madonna posted an image of a sunset with the words "Rebel Heart" on them, and a caption which the media interpreted as lyrics from a new song. The lines posted were: "Day turns into night. I won't give up the fight. Don't want to get to the end of my days... saying I wasn't amazed." Additional images showed Madonna with singer Natalia Kills in front of a microphone, and with Martin Kierszenbaum, the founder and chairman of Cherrytree Records, and senior executive of A&R for Interscope Records, Madonna's label. By mid-April 2014, she had also revealed on Instagram the names of songwriters Toby Gad and Mozella and record producer

Titling and themes.

Thematically, Caryn Ganz of "Rolling Stone" felt the album focused on two subjects: listening to one's heart, and being a rebel. Madonna explained that these concepts were not her initial inspiration but emerged during the sessions with Avicii. Madonna observed two distinct themes emerging organically, and felt the need to express them. The record was titled "Rebel Heart", since it dealt with two different aspects of the singer's character—her rebellious, renegade side, and her romantic side; she wanted the album to represent both. On the French radio station NRJ, she explained that "Rebel Heart" could be both autobiographical and fictional, since she mixed both her own experiences with imaginary narratives while writing the songs. The title stemmed from Madonna's belief that contemporary music artists are not encouraged or inspired to be rebellious, take risks, or speak-up, and she wanted to highlight this. However, she understood the importance of having love in the rebellious nature, so added the word "Heart" to the title. Introspection was also listed as one of the foundational themes prevalent on the album. "[G]enuine statements of personal and careerist reflection [are] scattered among the posturing of 'Bitch I'm Madonna' and 'Unapologetic Bitch'" according to "Slant Magazine"s Sam C. Mac as well as her "obsessive self-regard". Madonna explained to Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" that although she has never looked back at her past endeavors, reminiscing about it felt right for "Rebel Heart". "And it's bittersweet for me to think about that. It just seemed like a time where I wanted to stop and look back.

Music and lyrical interpretation.

"Rebel Heart" opens with the song "Living for Love". Composed in the house genre, it begins with Madonna singing over a "regal" piano line, eventually joined by percussion. Although a breakup song, it talks about being triumphant and hopeful. According to Dean Piper of "The Daily Telegraph", the song has "some classic Madonna traits: religious references, a gospel choir, 90s piano beats and a whirling bass". It was compared to her 1989 singles, "Like a Prayer" and "Express Yourself" by Jason Lipshutz of "Billboard". The second track, "Devil Pray", was inspired by how one could be enticed to partake of narcotics to achieve a higher level of consciousness and connect to God. Lyrically it asks for salvation from a variety of drug abuses, making allusions to Saint Mary and Lucifer, as well as the pain of healing from drug abuse. Produced by Madonna with Falk, Avicii, DJ Dahi, and Blood Diamonds, "Devil Pray" starts with gentle guitar sounds which build up to an electropop production, accompanied by a house beat. "Ghosttown" talks about civilizations ending and the world encountering an armageddon, but humans seeing hope amid the destruction. Written with Jason Evigan, Evan Bogart, and Sean Douglas, it is a power ballad song, which Madonna sings in "piercing" and "warm" vocals like those of Karen Carpenter; the production is comparable to her 1986 single, "Live to Tell". According to Douglas, "Ghosttown" was written in three days, after Madonna personally requested studio time with him and the other songwriters. The fourth track, "Unapologetic Bitch", has reggae, dancehall, and dubstep influences. It is a ska song where Madonna speaks negatively about a break-up and her lover, with lyrics such as: "It might sound like I'm an Unapologetic Bitch but sometimes you have to call it like it is." Madonna explained that the song is about having fun regardless of the situation one is in.  "Illuminati", the fifth song, was inspired after Madonna learnt that she was considered one of the Illuminati's members. She decided to research the real Illuminati and then wrote the song. Lyrically it refers to the Illuminati conspiracy theory, the Egyptian pyramids, the Phoenix, the Age of Enlightenment, and the Eye of Providence among others, with the chorus' lyrics: "It's like everybody in this party is shining like Illuminati." According to Madonna, Kanye West, who produced the track, loved the melody and changed the composition adding his own spin to it. Minaj appears on the sixth track, "Bitch I'm Madonna", where she raps, asking everybody to "go hard or go home", while Madonna shouts lyrics like: "I just want to have fun tonight, I wanna blow up this house tonight." Produced by Diplo and Sophie, the track has a tearing sound alongside the "bleepy electro" and "churning dubstep" composition. During the writing sessions, Minaj had to rewrite the lyrics until she got the sentiment Madonna wanted. "Hold Tight" consists of an "arresting" chorus and a drum beat sound, described by Sam C. Mac of "Slant Magazine"

Release, leaks, and artwork.

In May 2014, photographer Mert Alas posted on his Instagram account that he was listening to a new Madonna album. "Billboard" clarified that she was still in the process of recording it in Los Angeles. They later posted a 50-second snippet of an instrumental which media claimed was from Madonna, but the sample was traced back to Dutch DJ Sander Kleinenberg and his song "We Are Superstars". Oseary confirmed that Madonna looked forward to a 2015 release date for the album. However, on November 28, 2014, two songs titled "Rebel Heart" and "Wash All Over Me" were leaked onto the Internet; the songs were taken down immediately, and Oseary tweeted asking for help finding the source of the leaks. On December 17, 2014, thirteen songs were leaked, as well as artwork suggesting the album was to be named "Iconic". An aggravated Madonna clarified that the songs were demo versions from earlier recordings; she described the leak as "artistic rape". The singer was criticized for referring to the hack as "terrorism", due to the then-recent Peshawar school massacre and the Sydney hostage crisis. Madonna said in a "Billboard" interview that after the leak she and her team tried to trace it to the source, but ultimately decided to release the finished songs. Referring to the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack, she was critical of the Internet and explained that the incident led to her securing her laptop and hard drives, and disabling the Wi-Fi. "I wanted to plan everything in advance. Release the single, shoot a video, start talking about my record. And you know, prepare for the release of the entire album and have everything set up just so... But we sort of were left with no choice", she added. On December 20, 2014, the album was made available for pre-order at the iTunes Store. Once ordered, six tracks (five in the United Kingdom) were automatically downloaded. Madonna said the songs were meant to be "an early Christmas gift" with the final release on March 10, 2015. Originally,

Promotion.

Live appearances.

Madonna confirmed her appearance at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards on February 8, 2015; Oseary clarified she would also sing during the ceremony. The singer performed "Living for Love" wearing a one-piece, matador red outfit, surrounded by male dancers dressed as minotaurs similar to the song's music video. "Forbes" reported that Madonna's performance was the most-watched moment of the night. Her choice to sing live without Auto-Tune during the choreographed performance was widely praised. She also performed the song at the 2015 Brit Awards, on February 25, 2015.

Singles.

"Living for Love" was the first single from the album, released along with five other tracks. It was sent for radio play in the US on February 10, 2015. The song received positive feedback with "Slant Magazine" listing it at number 25 on their year-end top songs list for 2015, saying: "Overworked and overthought, for sure, but the song's essence remains intact, and if Madonna's message of life after love didn't register as a commercial comeback on the scale of, say, Cher's 'Believe', it remains a pop-gospel sequel of the highest order." An accompanying music video, directed by the French duo Julien Choquart and Camille Hirigoyen, together known as J.A.C.K., was released in February 2015. Its storyline incorporates mythological elements and shows Madonna as a matador, fighting her dancers dressed like minotaurs on a red circular stage. "Ghosttown" was first sent for radio airplay in Italy on March 13, 2015, and a week later in Australia. Jonas Åkerlund directed the music video, which starred actor Terrence Howard. The video's main theme was "an apocalyptic situation mimicking the end of the world", showing the singer and Howard as the sole survivors

Rebel Heart Tour.

Many news outlets began reporting on the concert tour supporting "Rebel Heart". The Italian newspaper "Torino Today" reported Madonna was planning on returning to Turin with the tour on November 20 and 21, 2015. The tour, called the Rebel Heart Tour, with appearances in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania, was to begin on September 9, 2015. "Billboard" reported it would only use arenas, and visit cities where Madonna had not performed previously. The initial itinerary included 25–30 shows in North America and 20–25 shows in Europe, with additional dates being revealed later. This tour was the singer's first visit to Australia in more

Critical reception.

On its release, "Rebel Heart" received positive critical reviews. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews by music critics, the album received an average score of 68, based on 29 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". "The Daily Telegraph" writer Neil McCormick, Andy Gill of "The Independent", AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine, and Lauren Murphy of "The Irish Times" each gave the album 4 out of 5 stars. McCormick felt that "(f)or the first time in years, [Madonna] doesn't sound desperate", praising it in comparison to "Hard Candy" and "MDNA". Murphy wrote "the indisputable pop icon is back with a tentative bang" after "MDNA" had "few memorable pop hits". For Gill, the most impressive aspect of "Rebel Heart" was Madonna's vocals, while Erlewine found the album a revival of Madonna's defiant side and her confessional mood. Saeed Saeed of "The National" called it: "a fine collection of sturdy pop tunes in which Madonna finally allows herself to look back and sometimes pilfer from her peak periods of the late 80s and early 2000s."  Writing for "The Quietus", Amy Pettifer praised the album, describing it as: "a darker return to the club culture roots [for Madonna], and it seems—on some level—to face up to the missteps of her more recent releases. Giving it 3.5 out of 4 stars, "USA Today" writer Elysa Gardner described the album's sound and lyrics as "piercingly direct". "Chicago Tribune" writer Greg Kot and Randall Roberts of the "Los Angeles Times" awarded it 3 out of 4 stars. Kot believed the album would have been better without the songs referencing sexuality, but still considered it "fascinating". Roberts believed "Rebel Heart" stood out "sturdily" because of its production. Writing for "The Boston Globe", James Reed opined that the album was a, "welcome detour in the artist's recent discography... her most satisfying effort in a decade

Commercial performance.

According to Andrew Hampp of "Billboard", pre-orders for "Rebel Heart" were strong after its release to iTunes Stores around the world. They were estimated at around 50,000 to 60,000 copies by industry prognosticators. "Rebel Heart" debuted at number two on the "Billboard" 200 chart with 121,000 album equivalent units, behind the soundtrack of the TV series "Empire". While it was the best-selling album of the week—ranking number one on "Billboard"s Top Album Sales chart with pure album sales of 116,000 copies (96% of overall units)—it fell behind the soundtrack when it came to streaming and track equivalent album units, with just over 1,000 and 4,000 units respectively. It became Madonna's 21st top-ten album, but was her first studio release not to debut atop the chart since 1998's "Ray of Light". "Rebel Heart"s concert tour bundle amounted to less than 10,000 copies compared to the 180,000 copies sold for her previous album, "MDNA". The release also saw Madonna debut at number seven on the "Billboard" Artist 100 chart, moving up by 2,919% in overall Artist 100 points and gaining 31% in social media activity. In Canada, "Rebel Heart" debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart. With 18,000 copies sold in the first week, it became Madonna's seventh number-one there during the SoundScan era. The next week, the album dropped 19 places on the "Billboard" 200, while in Canada it dropped only one position. "Billboard" reported sales dropped by 78% to 26,000 units, a reflection of the high pre-orders during the first week. The album was present for a total of 11 weeks on the chart, and ranked at number 151 on the "Billboard" 200 year end chart for 2015. As of December 2016, the album has sold 238,000 copies in the US according to Nielsen SoundScan. Despite

Accolades.

In its year end review of albums released in 2015, "Rolling Stone" ranked "Rebel Heart" at number 45 noting: ""Rebel Heart" was [Madonna's] finest album in a decade, picking up the disco-stick baton of her 2005 "Confessions on a Dance Floor" as Madonna voyages back into the groove and reflects on where she's been lately." It was also listed at number six on its ranking of the 20 Best Pop Albums of 2015. Similarly, in its year end review, "Spin" magazine listed the album at number 21 as Andrew Unterberger noted that: "For most artists who spent whole decades defining the mainstream, titling an album "Rebel Heart" would seem misguided at best, but for Madonna, it's truer now than ever: A fifty-something refusing to bend to public demands about how she should age gracefully... is as big an act of defiance as you

Track listing.

Credits adapted from

Personnel.

Personnel adapted

Certifications and sales.

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Rebel Heart is the thirteenth studio album by the American singer and songwriter Madonna. Interscope Records released it on March 6, 2015. Following the completion of her "MDNA" album and its promotion, Madonna worked on "Rebel Heart" throughout 2014, co-writing and co-producing it with various musicians, including Diplo, Avicii, and Kanye West.

Rebel Heart je třinácté studiové album americké zpěvačky Madonny. Vydáno bylo v březnu roku 2015 společností Interscope Records a podílelo se na ní několik producentů, mezi něž patří například Diplo, Avicii a Kanye West. Jako zpěváci se na albu podíleli například Chance the Rapper, Mike Tyson a Nicki Minaj. V hitparádě Billboard 200 se album umístilo na druhé příčce.


Biography.

Slipher was born in Mulberry, Indiana, and completed his doctorate at Indiana University in 1909. He spent his entire career at Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where he was promoted to assistant director in 1915, acting director in 1916, and finally director from 1926 until his retirement in 1952.  His brother Earl C. Slipher was also an astronomer and a director at the Lowell Observatory.  Slipher used spectroscopy to investigate the rotation periods of planets and the composition of planetary atmospheres. In 1912, he was the first to observe the shift of spectral lines of galaxies, making him the discoverer of galactic redshifts. In 1914, Slipher also made the first discovery of the rotation of spiral galaxies. He discovered the sodium layer in 1929. He was responsible for hiring Clyde Tombaugh and supervised the work that led to the discovery of Pluto in 1930.  Edwin Hubble is often incorrectly credited with discovering the redshift of galaxies; these measurements and their significance were understood before 1917 by James Edward Keeler (Lick & Allegheny), Vesto Melvin Slipher (Lowell), and William Wallace Campbell (Lick) at other observatories.  Combining his own measurements of galaxy distances with Vesto Slipher's measurements of the redshifts associated with the galaxies, Hubble and Milton Humason discovered a rough proportionality of the objects' distances with their redshifts. This redshift-distance correlation, today termed Hubble–Lemaître's law (formerly named as Hubble's law, the IAU Decision of October 2018 recommends the use of a new name), was formulated by Hubble and Humason in 1929 and became the basis for the modern model of the expanding universe.  Slipher died in Flagstaff, Arizona and is buried there in Citizens Cemetery.

Vesto Melvin Slipher (; November 11, 1875 – November 8, 1969) was an American astronomer who performed the first measurements of radial velocities for galaxies. He was the first to discover that distant galaxies are redshifted, thus providing the first empirical basis for the expansion of the universe. He was also the first to relate these redshifts to velocity.

Vesto Slipher (11. listopadu 1875 - 8. listopadu 1969) byl americký astronom, který jako první provedl měření radiálních rychlostí galaxií, které bylo klíčové pro pozdější objev expanze vesmíru.