Related definitions and terminology.

The "rotation group" is a Lie group of rotations about a fixed point. This (common) fixed point is called the "center of rotation" and is usually identified with the origin. The rotation group is a "point stabilizer" in a broader group of (orientation-preserving) motions.  For a particular rotation:  A "representation" of rotations is a particular formalism, either algebraic or geometric, used to parametrize a rotation map. This meaning is somehow inverse to the meaning in the group theory.  Rotations of (affine) spaces of points and of respective vector spaces are not always clearly distinguished. The former are sometimes referred to as "affine rotations" (although the term is misleading), whereas the latter are "vector rotations". See the article below for details.

Definitions and representations.

In Euclidean geometry.

A motion of a Euclidean space is the same as its isometry: it leaves the distance between any two points unchanged after the transformation. But a (proper) rotation also has to preserve the orientation structure. The "improper rotation" term refers to isometries that reverse (flip) the orientation. In the language of group theory the distinction is expressed as "direct" vs "indirect" isometries in the Euclidean group, where the former comprise the identity component. Any direct Euclidean motion can be represented as a composition of a rotation about the fixed point and a translation.  There are no non-trivial rotations in one dimension. In two dimensions, only a single angle is needed to specify a rotation about the origin – the "angle of rotation" that specifies an element of the circle group (also known as ). The rotation is acting to rotate an object counterclockwise through an angle about the origin; see below for details. Composition of rotations sums their angles modulo 1 turn, which implies that all two-dimensional rotations about "the same" point commute. Rotations about "different" points, in general, do not commute. Any two-dimensional direct motion is either a translation or a rotation; see Euclidean plane isometry for details. Rotations in three-dimensional space differ from those in two dimensions in a number of important ways. Rotations in three dimensions are generally not commutative, so the order in which rotations are applied is important even about the same point. Also, unlike the two-dimensional case, a three-dimensional direct motion, in general position, is not a rotation but a screw operation. Rotations about the origin have three degrees of freedom (see rotation formalisms in three dimensions for details), the same as the number of dimensions.  A three-dimensional rotation can be specified in a number of ways. The most usual methods are:  A general rotation in four dimensions has only one fixed point, the centre of rotation, and no axis of rotation; see rotations in 4-dimensional Euclidean space for details. Instead the rotation has two mutually orthogonal planes of rotation, each of which is fixed in the sense that points in each plane stay within the planes. The rotation has two angles of rotation, one for each plane of rotation, through which points in the planes rotate. If these are and then all points not in the planes rotate through an angle between and. Rotations in four dimensions about a fixed point have six degrees of freedom. A four-dimensional direct motion in general position "is" a rotation about certain point (as in all even Euclidean dimensions), but screw operations exist also.

Linear and multilinear algebra formalism.

When one considers motions of the Euclidean space that preserve the origin, the distinction between points and vectors, important in pure mathematics, can be erased because there is a canonical one-to-one correspondence between points and position vectors. The same is true for geometries other than Euclidean, but whose space is an affine space with a supplementary structure; see an example below. Alternatively, the vector description of rotations can be understood as a parametrization of geometric rotations up to their composition with translations. In other words, one vector rotation presents many equivalent rotations about "all" points in the space.  A motion that preserves the origin is the same as a linear operator on vectors that preserves the same geometric structure but expressed in terms of vectors. For Euclidean vectors, this expression is their "magnitude" (Euclidean norm). In components, such operator is expressed with orthogonal matrix that is multiplied to column vectors.  As it was already stated, a (proper) rotation is different from an arbitrary fixed-point motion in its preservation of the orientation of the vector space. Thus, the determinant of a rotation orthogonal matrix must be 1. The only other possibility for the determinant of an orthogonal matrix is, and this result means the transformation is a hyperplane reflection, a point reflection (for odd ), or another kind of improper rotation. Matrices of all proper rotations form the special orthogonal group.

Two dimensions.

In two dimensions, to carry out a rotation using a matrix, the point to be rotated counterclockwise is written as a column vector, then multiplied by a rotation matrix calculated from the angle :  The coordinates of the point after rotation are, and the formulae for and are  The vectors formula_3 and formula_4 have the same magnitude and are separated by an angle as expected. Points on the plane can be also presented as complex numbers: the point in the plane is represented by the complex number  This can be rotated through an angle by multiplying it by, then expanding the product using Euler's formula as follows:  and equating real and imaginary parts gives the same result as a two-dimensional matrix:  Since complex numbers form a commutative ring, vector rotations in two dimensions are commutative, unlike in higher dimensions. They have only one degree of freedom, as such rotations are entirely determined by the angle of rotation.

Three dimensions.

As in two dimensions, a matrix can be used to rotate a point to a point. The matrix used is a matrix,  This is multiplied by a vector representing the point to give the result  The set of all appropriate matrices together with the operation of matrix multiplication is the rotation group SO(3). The matrix is a member of the three-dimensional special orthogonal group,, that is it is an orthogonal matrix with determinant 1. That it is an orthogonal matrix means that its rows are a set of orthogonal unit vectors (so they are an orthonormal basis) as are its columns, making it simple to spot and check if a matrix is a valid rotation matrix.  Above-mentioned Euler angles and axis–angle representations can be easily converted to a rotation matrix.  Another possibility to represent a rotation of three-dimensional Euclidean vectors are quaternions described below.

Quaternions.

Unit quaternions, or "versors", are in some ways the least intuitive representation of three-dimensional rotations. They are not the three-dimensional instance of a general approach. They are more compact than matrices and easier to work with than all other methods, so are often preferred in real-world applications.  A versor (also called a "rotation quaternion") consists of four real numbers, constrained so the norm of the quaternion is 1. This constraint limits the degrees of freedom of the quaternion to three, as required. Unlike matrices and complex numbers two multiplications are needed:  where is the versor, is its inverse, and is the vector treated as a quaternion with zero scalar part. The quaternion can be related to the rotation vector form of the axis angle rotation by the exponential map over the quaternions,  where is the rotation vector treated as a quaternion.  A single multiplication by a versor, either left or right, is itself a rotation, but in four dimensions. Any four-dimensional rotation about the origin can be represented with two quaternion multiplications: one left and one right, by two "different" unit quaternions.

Further notes.

More generally, coordinate rotations in any dimension are represented by orthogonal matrices. The set of all orthogonal matrices in dimensions which describe proper rotations (determinant = +1), together with the operation of matrix multiplication, forms the special orthogonal group.  Matrices are often used for doing transformations, especially when a large number of points are being transformed, as they are a direct representation of the linear operator. Rotations represented in other ways are often converted to matrices before being used. They can be extended to represent rotations and transformations at the same time using homogeneous coordinates. Projective transformations are represented by matrices. They are not rotation matrices, but a transformation that represents a Euclidean rotation has a rotation matrix in the upper left corner.  The main disadvantage of matrices is that they are more expensive to calculate and do calculations with. Also in calculations where numerical instability is a concern matrices can be more prone to it, so calculations to restore orthonormality, which are expensive to do for matrices, need to be done more often.

More alternatives to the matrix formalism.

As was demonstrated above, there exist three multilinear algebra rotation formalisms: one with U(1), or complex numbers, for two dimensions, and two others with versors, or quaternions, for three and four dimensions.  In general (even for vectors equipped with a non-Euclidean Minkowski quadratic form) the rotation of a vector space can be expressed as a bivector. This formalism is used in geometric algebra and, more generally, in the Clifford algebra representation of Lie groups.  In the case of a positive-definite Euclidean quadratic form, the double covering group of the isometry group formula_12 is known as the Spin group, formula_13. It can be conveniently described in terms of a Clifford algebra. Unit quaternions give the group formula_14.

In non-Euclidean geometries.

In spherical geometry, a direct motion of the -sphere (an example of the elliptic geometry) is the same as a rotation of -dimensional Euclidean space about the origin (). For odd, most of these motions do not have fixed points on the -sphere and, strictly speaking, are not rotations "of the sphere"; such motions are sometimes referred to as "Clifford translations". Rotations about a fixed point in elliptic and hyperbolic geometries are not different from Euclidean ones.  Affine geometry and projective geometry have not a distinct notion of rotation.

In relativity.

One application of this is special relativity, as it can be considered to operate in a four-dimensional space, spacetime, spanned by three space dimensions and one of time. In special relativity this space is linear and the four-dimensional rotations, called Lorentz transformations, have practical physical interpretations. The Minkowski space is not a metric space, and the term "isometry" is inapplicable to Lorentz transformation.  If a rotation is only in the three space dimensions, i.e. in a plane that is entirely in space, then this rotation is the same as a spatial rotation in three dimensions. But a rotation in a plane spanned by a space dimension and a time dimension is a hyperbolic rotation, a transformation between two different reference frames, which is sometimes called a "Lorentz boost". These transformations demonstrate the pseudo-Euclidean nature of the Minkowski space. They are sometimes described as "squeeze mappings" and frequently appear on Minkowski diagrams which visualize (1 + 1)-dimensional pseudo-Euclidean geometry on planar drawings. The study of relativity is concerned with the Lorentz group generated by the space rotations and hyperbolic rotations.  Whereas rotations, in physics and astronomy, correspond to rotations of celestial sphere as a 2-sphere in the Euclidean 3-space, Lorentz transformations from induce conformal transformations of the celestial sphere. It is a broader class of the sphere transformations known as Möbius transformations.

Importance.

Rotations define important classes of symmetry: rotational symmetry is an invariance with respect to a "particular rotation". The circular symmetry is an invariance with respect to all rotation about the fixed axis.  As was stated above, Euclidean rotations are applied to rigid body dynamics. Moreover, most of mathematical formalism in physics (such as the vector calculus) is rotation-invariant; see rotation for more physical aspects. Euclidean rotations and, more generally, Lorentz symmetry described above are thought to be symmetry laws of nature. In contrast, the reflectional symmetry is not a precise symmetry law of nature.

Generalizations.

The complex-valued matrices analogous to real orthogonal matrices are the unitary matrices formula_15, which represent rotations in complex space. The set of all unitary matrices in a given dimension forms a unitary group formula_15 of degree ; and its subgroup representing proper rotations (those that preserve the orientation of space) is the special unitary group formula_17 of degree. These complex rotations are important in the context of spinors. The elements of formula_18 are used to parametrize "three"-dimensional Euclidean rotations (see above), as well as respective transformations of the spin (see representation theory of SU(2)).

Rotation in mathematics is a concept originating in geometry. Any rotation is a motion of a certain space that preserves at least one point. It can describe, for example, the motion of a rigid body around a fixed point. A rotation is different from other types of motions: translations, which have no fixed points, and (hyperplane) reflections, each of them having an entire -dimensional flat of fixed points in a -dimensional space. A clockwise rotation is a negative magnitude so a counterclockwise turn has a positive magnitude.

Soit "E" un espace vectoriel euclidien. Une rotation vectorielle de "E" est un élément du groupe spécial orthogonal SO("E"). Si on choisit une base orthonormée de "E", sa matrice dans cette base est orthogonale directe.


Types of drought.

People tend to define droughts in three main ways:  As a drought persists, the conditions surrounding it gradually worsen and its impact on the local population gradually increases.

Causes of drought.

Precipitation deficiency.

Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall. Convective processes involve strong vertical motions that can cause the overturning of the atmosphere in that location within an hour and cause heavy precipitation, while stratiform processes involve weaker upward motions and less intense precipitation over a longer duration. Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice. Droughts occur mainly in areas where normal levels of rainfall are, in themselves, low. If these factors do not support precipitation volumes sufficiently to reach the surface over a sufficient time, the result is a drought. Drought can be triggered by a high level of reflected sunlight and above average prevalence of high pressure systems, winds carrying continental, rather than oceanic air masses, and ridges of high pressure areas aloft can prevent or restrict the developing of thunderstorm activity or rainfall over one certain region. Once a region is within drought, feedback mechanisms such as local arid air, hot conditions which can promote warm core ridging, and minimal evapotranspiration can worsen drought conditions.

Dry season.

Within the tropics, distinct, wet and dry seasons emerge due to the movement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone or Monsoon trough. The dry season greatly increases drought occurrence, and is characterized by its low humidity, with watering holes and rivers drying up. Because of the lack of these watering holes, many grazing animals are forced to migrate due to the lack of water in search of more fertile lands. Examples of such animals are zebras, elephants, and wildebeest. Because of the lack of water in the plants, bushfires are common. Since water vapor becomes more energetic with increasing temperature, more water vapor is required to increase relative humidity values to 100% at higher temperatures (or to get the temperature to fall to the dew point). Periods of warmth quicken the pace of fruit and vegetable production, increase evaporation and transpiration from plants, and worsen drought conditions.

El Niño.

Drier and hotter weather occurs in parts of the Amazon River Basin, Colombia, and Central America during El Niño events. Winters during the El Niño are warmer and drier than average conditions in the Northwest, northern Midwest, and northern Mideast United States, so those regions experience reduced snowfalls. Conditions are also drier than normal from December to February in south-central Africa, mainly in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana. Direct effects of El Niño resulting in drier conditions occur in parts of Southeast Asia and Northern Australia, increasing bush fires, worsening haze, and decreasing air quality dramatically. Drier-than-normal conditions are also in general observed in Queensland, inland Victoria, inland New South Wales, and eastern Tasmania from June to August. As warm water spreads from the west Pacific and the Indian Ocean to the east Pacific, it causes extensive drought in the western Pacific. Singapore experienced the driest February in 2014 since records began in 1869, with only 6.3 mm of rain falling in the month and temperatures hitting as high as 35 °C on 26 February. The years 1968 and 2005 had the next driest Februaries, when 8.4 mm of rain fell.

Erosion and human activities.

Human activity can directly trigger exacerbating factors such as over farming, excessive irrigation, deforestation, and erosion adversely impact the ability of the land to capture and hold water. In arid climates, the main source of erosion is wind. Erosion can be the result of material movement by the wind. The wind can cause small particles to be lifted and therefore moved to another region (deflation). Suspended particles within the wind may impact on solid objects causing erosion by abrasion (ecological succession). Wind erosion generally occurs in areas with little or no vegetation, often in areas where there is insufficient rainfall to support vegetation.  Loess is a homogeneous, typically nonstratified, porous, friable, slightly coherent, often calcareous, fine-grained, silty, pale yellow or buff, windblown (Aeolian) sediment. It generally occurs as a widespread blanket deposit that covers areas of hundreds of square kilometers and tens of meters thick. Loess often stands in either steep or vertical faces. Loess tends to develop into highly rich soils. Under appropriate climatic conditions, areas with loess are among the most agriculturally productive in the world. Loess deposits are geologically unstable by nature, and will erode very readily. Therefore, windbreaks (such as big trees and bushes) are often planted by farmers to reduce the wind erosion of loess. Wind erosion is much more severe in arid areas and during times of drought. For example, in the Great Plains, it is estimated that soil loss due to wind erosion can be as much as 6100 times greater in drought years than in wet years.

Climatic changes.

Overall, global warming will result in increased world rainfall. Activities resulting in global climate change are expected to trigger droughts with a substantial impact on agriculture throughout the world, and especially in developing nations. Along with drought in some areas, flooding and erosion could increase in others. Some proposed solutions to global warming that focus on more active techniques, solar radiation management through the use of a space sunshade for one, may also carry with them increased chances of drought.  According to the Special Report on Climate Change and Land of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change climate change increase drought and desertification. Hundreds of million people are affected. The affected area includes large territories in Africa, Asia, Australia, South America

Consequences of drought.

One can divide the effects of droughts and water shortages into three groups: environmental, economic and social.  Effects vary according to vulnerability. For example, subsistence farmers are more likely to migrate during drought because they do not have alternative food-sources. Areas with populations that depend on water sources as a major food-source are more vulnerable to famine.  Drought can also reduce water quality, because lower water-flows reduce dilution of pollutants and increase contamination of remaining water-sources. Common consequences of drought include:

Historical droughts.

Examples.

Well-known historical droughts include: The Darfur conflict in Sudan, also affecting Chad, was fueled by decades of drought; combination of drought, desertification and overpopulation are among the causes of the Darfur conflict, because the Arab Baggara nomads searching for water have to take their livestock further south, to land mainly occupied by non-Arab farming people.  Approximately 2.4 billion people live in the drainage basin of the Himalayan rivers. India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Myanmar could experience floods followed by droughts in coming decades. Drought in India affecting the Ganges is of particular concern, as it provides drinking water and agricultural irrigation for more than 500 million people. The west coast of North America, which gets much of its water from glaciers in mountain ranges such as the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, also would be affected.  In 2005, parts of the Amazon basin experienced the worst drought in 100 years. A 23 July 2006 article reported Woods Hole Research Center results showing that the forest in its present form could survive only three years of drought. Scientists at the Brazilian National Institute of Amazonian Research argue in the article that this drought response, coupled with the effects of deforestation on regional climate, are pushing the rainforest towards a "tipping point" where it would irreversibly start to die. It concludes that the rainforest is on the brink of being turned into savanna or desert, with catastrophic consequences for the world's climate. According to the WWF, the combination of climate change and deforestation increases the drying effect of dead trees that fuels forest fires.  By far the largest part of Australia is desert or semi-arid lands commonly known as the outback. A 2005 study by Australian and American researchers investigated the desertification of the interior, and suggested that one explanation was related to human settlers who arrived about 50,000 years ago. Regular burning by these settlers could have prevented monsoons from reaching interior Australia. In June 2008 it became known that an expert panel had warned of long term, maybe irreversible, severe ecological damage for the whole Murray-Darling basin if it did not receive sufficient water by October 2008. Australia could experience more severe droughts and they could become more frequent in the future, a government-commissioned report said on July 6, 2008. Australian environmentalist Tim Flannery, predicted that unless it made drastic changes, Perth in Western Australia could become the world's first ghost metropolis, an abandoned city with no more water to sustain its population. The long Australian Millennial drought broke in 2010.  Recurring droughts leading to desertification in East Africa have created grave ecological catastrophes, prompting food shortages in 1984–85, 2006 and 2011. During the 2011 drought, an estimated 50,000 to 150,000 people were reported to have died, though these figures and the extent of the crisis are disputed. In February 2012, the UN announced that the crisis was over due to a scaling up of relief efforts and a bumper harvest. Aid agencies subsequently shifted their emphasis to recovery efforts, including digging irrigation canals and distributing plant seeds.  In 2012, a severe drought struck the western Sahel. The Methodist Relief & Development Fund (MRDF) reported that more than 10 million people in the region were at risk of famine due to a month-long heat wave that was hovering over Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. A fund of about £20,000 was distributed to the drought-hit countries.

Protection, mitigation and relief.

Agriculturally, people can effectively mitigate much of the impact of drought through irrigation and crop rotation. Failure to develop adequate drought mitigation strategies carries a grave human cost in the modern era, exacerbated by ever-increasing population densities. President Roosevelt on April 27, 1935, signed documents creating the Soil Conservation Service (SCS)—now the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Models of the law were sent to each state where they were enacted. These were the first enduring practical programs to curtail future susceptibility to drought, creating agencies that first began to stress soil conservation measures to protect farm lands today. It was not until the 1950s that there was an importance placed on water conservation was put into the existing laws (NRCS 2014).  Strategies for drought protection, mitigation or relief include:

A drought or drouth is an event of prolonged shortages in the water supply, whether atmospheric (below-average precipitation), surface water or ground water. A drought can last for months or years, or may be declared after as few as 15 days. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture of the affected region and harm to the local economy. Annual dry seasons in the tropics significantly increase the chances of a drought developing and subsequent bush fires. Periods of heat can significantly worsen drought conditions by hastening evaporation of water vapour.

La sécheresse ou sècheresse \\ définit l'état d'un environnement confronté à un manque d'eau significativement long et important pour qu'il ait des impacts sur la flore (naturelle ou cultivée), la faune (sauvage ou d'élevage) et les sociétés. Sécheresse ne doit pas être confondu avec aridité. Une région aride peut connaître des épisodes de sécheresse.


Early life.

He was born at Chambéry in Savoy on 24 March 1751, the son of a fur merchant. His paternal grandfather, born at Burneuil in Picardy, moved to Chambéry, in the Dukedom of Savoy, at the beginning of the 18th century. In 1709 the grandfather married Claudine Latoud, born in 1682. They had thirteen children, of whom only four reached the age of twenty, and opened up a fur shop on rue Tupin in Chambéry.  This shop made an impression on the young Benoît Leborgne. In his "Mémoires", he wrote that he was fascinated by the exotic sign outside the shop. It was brightly colored and featured wild animals including lions, elephants, panthers and tigers, with the motto underneath: "You can go ahead and try something else, you will all come to Leborgne, the fur dealer." The child's imagination was stimulated, and he kept asking his parents and grandparents about the animals. He wanted to know more about the far-off countries where they lived.  His father, Jean-Baptiste Leborgne, born in 1718, frequently traveled on business to wild-fur markets and brought

Early military career.

Leborgne began his military career in the north of France in 1768, as an ordinary soldier in Louis XV's Irish Regiment, directed by Lord Clare and quartered in Flanders. This regiment was made up mostly of Irish emigrants who did not want to serve the British; at this time Irish Catholics were disenfranchised in their own country under the anti-Catholic penal laws. During this period, many Irishmen left Ireland for the Catholic countries of Europe or for North

The Russian-Turkish war.

As he was leaving the Irish Regiment, young Leborgne learned from the newspapers that Prince Fyodor Grigoryevich Orlov of Russia was raising, in the name of Empress Catherine II of Russia, a Greek regiment to attack the Ottoman Empire. At the time, Russia was attempting to extend its territory to acquire a port on the Black Sea, and was using the anti-Turkish sentiments of people under Ottoman domination to aid its project. Leborgne saw a chance of advancement and adventure. He went back to Chambéry for a short time and got a letter of recommendation to Prince Orlov through the cousin of a client of his mother's, who was a close acquaintance of the prince. First Leborgne went to Turin,

Preparations for India.

Lord Percy took Leborgne as a guide through the Greek islands back to Paros, where Leborgne officially resigned from his regiment. He was free again, but had only his last pay received from before his resignation. He travelled to Smyrna (now Izmir), which at the time was a prosperous, booming city. There, Leborgne met merchants from many countries, including India, which was believed to hold much wealth, like the diamonds of Golconda and the sapphires of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Some of these merchants told him their theories about the existence of trade routes passing north of India, in upper Kashmir or along the glaciers of Karakoram. He also learned that many rajahs regularly sought out European officers to organize and command

Military glory and fortune in India.

In the late 18th century, the mighty Maratha Empire was gradually collapsing. The British were triumphing over their Portuguese, French, and Dutch rivals in India, where all the countries had hastened to install trading posts. The British East India Company was the most powerful military and economic

Arrival in India.

In 1778, Leborgne arrived at the Indian port of Madras (now Chennai). He was poor and to make a living, taught fencing. While teaching, he met a nephew of the British governor of the city, Sir Thomas Rumbold. He was offered a position as an officer in the 6th battalion of sepoys, a troop of local inhabitants raised by the Company. He accepted, and gradually learned the local customs and began training the sepoys. He lived in Madras for four years, but became restless. He was

Arrival in Lucknow.

In Lucknow, Leborgne was received by the nabab Asaf-ud-Daulah and was invited to live with Colonel Pollier, in the service of the Company. As Middleton, an Englishman present when Leborgne met the nabab, explained to him afterward, this invitation was in fact an order; if he refused he would have been thrown in prison. Colonel Antoine Polier, a Swiss, received him warmly. Leborgne discovered that Lucknow had many European residents. He met two who spoke French. The first, Claude Martin, was from Lyons and had made his fortune in India; the second, Drugeon, was

Leaving Lucknow for Delhi.

In August 1783, de Boigne received permission to leave Oudh and went north to search for new trade routes. His journey by horse led him to Delhi in the company of Polier, who also had to go there for business. During the trip, de Boigne saw the Taj Mahal and other Indian sights, including various smaller kingdoms and tribes. In Delhi, an Englishman named Anderson offered to get de Boigne an audience with Emperor Shah Alam, whose court was at the Red Fort. During this audience, de Boigne told the emperor about his proposal to seek new trade routes, but the emperor put off any decision ("We'll see"). De Boigne waited in Delhi, hoping for a favorable answer. However, circumstances were about to change. The day after the audience,

Doubted by Marathas, betrayed by Jaipur.

The Marathas had set up camp to besiege the citadel of Gwalior, in which a Scot named George Sangster, whom de Boigne had met in Lucknow, was commanding the garrison. When Levassoult and de Boigne arrived in the Maratha camp, they received a warm welcome. Levassoult presented his friend as the bravest of soldiers, and de Boigne was given a tent. However, while he was away from it, his baggage was stolen, and with it the precious letters of exchange of Hastings and also the letter for Kabul and Peshawar. He soon learned that this theft had been ordered by Sindhia himself, who wanted to know more about this suspect European. De Boigne, wanting revenge, decided to send a discreet message to Sangster in the besieged citadel and proposed an attack on the Maratha camp. But while he was waiting for the answer, he was called by an enraged

In the service of the Maratha empire.

After a time wandering, de Boigne again met his friend Levassoult, who introduced him to the Catholic convert Begum Joanna. She confided to him that Sindhia, the Maratha chief wanted him back. Although Sindhia had been mistrustful of de Boigne's projects of exploration, and in spite of their argument over the confiscated baggage, Sindhia had been impressed with de Boigne's two European-trained battalions, which contrasted sharply with his own troops. De Boigne finally agreed to enter the service of the Marathas. He was put in charge of organizing a cannon foundry in Agra, as well as equipping and arming 7000 men in two battalions. De Boigne from this time quickly became an influential man. One of the first actions under his command was the October 1783 capture of the citadel of Kalinjar in the region of Bundelkhand. The rajah of this region ended up parleying with de Boigne, which allowed Sindhia to enter Delhi as its master. The Maratha chief named himself "Column of

Commercial life and first marriage.

Back in Lucknow, Benoît de Boigne found his old friends Antoine-Louis Polier and Claude Martin. Martin persuaded de Boigne to work with him in trade. His military skills were useful, for at the time, Indian trade routes were dangerous, and even warehouses in the cities were sometimes robbed. Claude Martin and Benoît de Boigne built a warehouse inside an old fort. It included saferooms and a trained armed guard to watch it. Quickly, this business became successful. De Boigne also carried on a trade in precious stones, copper, gold, silver, indigo, cashmere shawls, silks, and

A general in the service of the Maratha empire, with the title of jaghir.

In 1788, Sindhia sent a discreet message to de Boigne. Sindhia wished to unite north and northwest India. At the time, the Rajputs and the Marathas had a tense relationship. The Marathas were levying the peasants with more taxes. Sindhia succeeded in convincing de Boigne to return to his service. He asked him to organize a brigade of 12,000 men within a year (January 1789-January 1790). De Boigne became commander-in-chief and general, the highest title under "rajah." To be able to pay his men, Sindhia gave his new general a "jaghir", a fief given for the lifetime of its holder, against a payment in return to the imperial treasury. At the death of its holder, the "jaghir" reverted to another deserving officer. The revenues from the "jaghir" allowed the officer to pay his men. Benoît de Boigne received the Doab, a region of plains in Uttar Pradesh. This plain was covered with

Military campaigns and victories.

Starting in 1790, the brigade had to face Rajputs, Ismail Beg, and the rajahs of Bikaner and Jaipur. De Boigne decided to attack this coalition by surprise on May 23. De Boigne demonstrated his military talent by gaining one victory after another. The East India Company began to become concerned about this new Maratha army, dangerous to their domination. Within six months of 1790, in a hostile, hilly terrain, de Boigne's brigade defeated 100,000 men, confiscated 200 camels and 200 cannons, many bazaars, and fifty elephants. The Maratha army attacked and took seventeen fortresses by siege. It won several decisive battles, among which the most difficult were the battles of Patan, Mairtah, and Ajmer. The Rajputs recognized the authority of Sindhia as prime minister. The Marathas were now the masters of northern and northwestern India. During these military campaigns, de Boigne continued his commercial association with Claude Martin from

Trusted by Maratha chiefs. European events.

Sindhia had become the most powerful man in India, with many enemies. As they were not able to beat him militarily, the Maratha chief faced conspiracies, intrigue and treason. De Boigne was a faithful follower and Sindhia trusted him and made him a confidant. De Boigne now was running imperial affairs for Sindhia in north and northwestern India. The minister Gopal Rao, whose brother had been engaged in a famous plot with Nana Farnavis (Nana Fadnavis), came to Aligarh to visit de Boigne to show his loyalty to Sindhia. But while India was now a confederation under the Maratha authority, the situation in Europe was changing profoundly. The French Revolution had overturned the equilibrium in Europe, and also in Europe's colonial empires. On November 12, 1792, a Savoy assembly proclaimed its unity with France. Until 1815, de Boigne was now considered a Frenchman like any other. The brigades of the Maratha army under de Boigne's command were under

Return to Europe and second marriage.

Benoît de Boigne left for England, where he installed his household near London. Although he had been born a Savoyard, the Revolution had made him a Frenchman, and therefore a potential enemy of the British. His wealth and his letters of credit were held in abeyance at the bank. However, his military prowess was known to many British who had campaigned in India, some of whom had dined with him in India. This sympathy allowed de Boigne to take British nationality on January 1, 1798. The nationality was conditional upon his remaining in Britain or its colonies. Wishing to leave London, de Boigne acquired a house in the English countryside, in Dorsetshire. He considered going back to Chambéry,

Unhappy second marriage; discovery of France under the Consulate.

His second wife, born in 1781, was an emigrant from a penniless, though noble, old family from Normandy. De Boigne did not reveal his own lowly origins before the marriage. He seems to have wished, after his adventurous life, to start a family and establish himself in Europe through the help of his wife's high-placed relations. But from the beginning, the marriage was not a success. De Boigne had a hard time adapting to European manners after so long in India, and the 30-year difference in age between him and his wife added to the difficulty. He was jealous. He also now took opium to assuage the pain of his dysentery, and his wife and her family claimed he abused it. During this period, France was under the Consulate, and many French emigrants returned to France. De Boigne decided to go back as well, and

Final return to Savoy.

Benoît de Boigne returned to Savoy definitively in 1807. There, he had himself called "General de Boigne." He lived alone in the château of Buisson-Rond near Chambéry, which he had bought in 1802 and appointed luxuriously for his young wife. But she continued to live in the Paris region, where she lived in the château of Beauregard and then of Châtenay. In this Parisian life she found the material for her celebrated "Mémoires", which were published in 1907. The Comtesse de Boigne rarely came to Buisson-Rond, although she occasionally gave urbane receptions during the summer on her way home from taking the waters at Aix, in the company of her friends Madame Récamier, Madame de Staël, Adrien de Montmorency (Anne Adrien Pierre de Montmorency-Laval), and Benjamin Constant.  Having returned from the isle of Réunion, Benoît de Boigne received the title of Field Marshal on October 20, 1814, and the Croix de Saint-Louis (Order of Saint Louis) on December 6. His wife was pleased. On February 27, 1815, Louis XVIII gave him the Legion of Honor for services rendered as President of the Conseil général du département du Mont-Blanc.

Descendants of Benoît de Boigne.

Charles-Alexandre de Boigne was born in Delhi, India in 1791. He married Césarine Viallet de Montbel in 1816. The marriage had been encouraged by his father. Césarine Viallet de Montbel was from a large Savoy family who had been parliamentarians and later ennobled. They had thirteen children. Charles-Alexandre, educated in England, had studied law, but spent most of his life as a minor courtier at the Savoy court, managing his land and inheritance. He was assisted by Thomas Morand, a

Benefactor of Chambéry.

At his death, Benoît de Boigne left a fortune estimated at 20 million French francs of the time. Altogether, his donations to his native city amounted to about 3,484,850 francs. He left a permanent fund of 6500 pounds yearly to the metropolitan church of Chambéry for, among other things, the choir. He gave a second fund of 1250 pounds to the Compagnie des nobles Chevaliers-Tireurs-à-l'Arc (Company of noble knight archers).  De Boigne gave many donations for charity, including giving beds to hospitals. He donated 22,400 francs for three hospital beds at the Hôtel-Dieu, a charity hospital, and later gave 24,000 francs for another four beds for poor, sick foreign travelers of any nation or religion. He paid 63,000 francs for the construction of various buildings at the Hôtel-Dieu of Chambéry, and gave a beggars' home the sum of 649,150 francs. He founded an old age home, the Maison de Saint-Benoît, which cost him 900,000 francs. He also paid for a place in the orphanage for 7300 francs, and ten beds at the charity hospital, for patients with contagious illnesses, who could not be admitted to Hôtel-Dieu. De Boigne also gave a trust fund of 1650 pounds a year, about 33,000 francs, to help poor prisoners every week with laundry and food. He gave another perpetual trust of 1200 pounds or 24,000 francs to the poor "shameful" of the city, to be distributed at their homes. Finally, he left a trust fund of 1200 pounds to the firemen of Chambéry to help the sick and wounded. De Boigne gave 30,000 francs to build the church of the Capucins, and 60,000 francs to build a theater. Among his other numerous donations, two were important. One was 320,000 francs for various works, as well as the ownership without usufruct of the property of Châtenay. The second donation was for 300,000 francs to demolish the cabornes [stone huts] and open up a wide avenue across the city. He also gave 30,000 francs for the repair of the city hall and 5000 francs for the bell-tower of Barberaz.  De Boigne also gave four major donations to education. He gave 270,000 francs to reorganize the collège of Chambéry; he gave a trust fund of 1000 pounds a year, 20,000 francs, to the Société royale académique de Chambéry for the encouragement of agriculture, arts, and letters; he gave two trust funds of 150 pounds apiece, or 3000 francs, to the Frères des Écoles chrétiennes (Brothers of Christian Schools) and to the Sisters of Saint Joseph. Both of these groups gave a free education to children, the first to poor children, the second to girls.

Benoît Leborgne (24 March 175121 June 1830), better known as Count Benoît de Boigne or General Count de Boigne, was a military adventurer from the Duchy of Savoy, who made his fortune and name in India with the Marathas. He was also named president of the general council of the French "département" of Mont-Blanc by Napoleon I.

Benoît Leborgne (né « Benoist Le Borgne »), plus connu sous le nom de Benoît de Boigne, comte de Boigne ou encore général-comte de Boigne, né le à Chambéry et mort dans la même ville, le, est un aventurier savoyard qui fit fortune aux Indes. Il fut également nommé président du conseil général du département du Mont-Blanc par l'empereur Napoléon.


Structure.

Agenda 21 is a 351-page document divided into 40 chapters that have been grouped into 4 sections:

Development and evolution.

The full text of Agenda 21 was made public at the UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), held in Rio de Janeiro on 13 June 1992, where 178 governments voted to adopt the program. The final text was the result of drafting, consultation, and negotiation, beginning in 1989 and culminating at the two-week conference.

Rio+5 (1997).

In 1997, the UN General Assembly held a special session to appraise the status of Agenda 21 (Rio +5). The Assembly recognized progress as "uneven" and identified key trends, including increasing globalization, widening inequalities in income, and continued deterioration of the global environment. A new General Assembly Resolution (S-19/2) promised further action.

Rio+10 (2002).

The Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, agreed to at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Earth Summit 2002), affirmed UN commitment to "full implementation" of Agenda 21, alongside achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other international agreements.

Agenda 21 for culture (2002).

The first World Public Meeting on Culture, held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 2002, came up with the idea to establish guidelines for local cultural policies, something comparable to what Agenda 21 was for the environment. They are to be included in various subsections of Agenda 21 and will be carried out through a wide range of sub-programs beginning with G8 countries.

Rio+20 (2012).

In 2012, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development the attending members reaffirmed their commitment to Agenda 21 in their outcome document called "The Future We Want". Leaders from 180 nations participated.

Sustainable Development Summit (2015).

Agenda 2030, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals, was a set of goals decided upon at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in 2015. It takes all of the goals set by Agenda 21 and re-asserts them as the basis for sustainable development, saying, "We reaffirm all the principles of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development...” Adding onto those goals from the original Rio document, a total of 17 goals have been agreed on, revolving around the same concepts of Agenda 21; people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership.

Implementation.

The Commission on Sustainable Development acts as a high-level forum on sustainable development and has acted as preparatory committee for summits and sessions on the implementation of Agenda 21. The UN Division for Sustainable Development acts as the secretariat to the Commission and works "within the context of" Agenda 21.  Implementation by member states remains voluntary, and its adoption has varied.

Local level.

The implementation of Agenda 21 was intended to involve action at international, national, regional and local levels. Some national and state governments have legislated or advised that local authorities take steps to implement the plan locally, as recommended in Chapter 28 of the document. These programs are often known as "Local Agenda 21" or "LA21". For example, in the Philippines, the plan is "Philippines Agenda 21" (PA21). The group, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, formed in 1990; today its members come from over 1,000 cities, towns, and counties in 88 countries and is widely regarded as a paragon of Agenda 21 implementation.  Europe turned out to be the continent where LA21 was best accepted and most implemented. In Sweden, for example, all local governments have implemented a Local Agenda 21 initiative.

Regional levels.

The UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs' Division for Sustainable Development monitors and evaluates progress, nation by nation, towards the adoption of Agenda 21, and makes these reports available to the public on its website.

Australia.

Australia is a signatory to Agenda 21 and 88 of its municipalities subscribe to ICLEI, an organization that promotes Agenda 21 globally. Australia's membership is second only to that of the United States.

Africa.

In Africa, national support for Agenda 21 is strong and most countries are signatories. But support is often closely tied to environmental challenges specific to each country; for example, in 2002 Sam Nujoma, who was then President of Namibia, spoke about the importance of adhering to Agenda 21 at the 2002 Earth Summit, noting that as a semi-arid country, Namibia sets a lot of store in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Furthermore, there is little mention of Agenda 21 at the local level in indigenous media. Only major municipalities in sub-Saharan African countries are members of ICLEI. Agenda 21 participation in North African countries mirrors that of Middle Eastern countries, with most countries being signatories but little to no adoption on the local-government level. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and North Africa generally have poorly documented Agenda 21 status reports. By contrast, South Africa's participation in Agenda 21 mirrors that of modern Europe, with 21 city members of ICLEI and support of Agenda 21 by national-level government.

North America.

United States.

The national focal point in the United States is the Division Chief for Sustainable Development and Multilateral Affairs, Office of Environmental Policy, Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, U.S. Department of State. A June 2012 poll of 1,300 United States voters by the American Planning Association found that 9% supported Agenda 21, 6% opposed it, and 85% thought they didn't have enough information to form an opinion.

Support.

The United States is a signatory country to Agenda 21, but because Agenda 21 is a legally non-binding statement of intent and not a treaty, the United States Senate did not hold a formal debate or vote on it. It is therefore not considered to be law under Article Six of the United States Constitution. President George H. W. Bush was one of the 178 heads of government who signed the final text of the agreement at the Earth Summit in 1992, and in the same year Representatives Nancy Pelosi, Eliot Engel and William Broomfield spoke in support of United States House of Representatives Concurrent Resolution 353, supporting implementation of Agenda 21 in the United States. Created by a 1993 Executive Order, the President's Council on Sustainable Development (PCSD) is explicitly charged with recommending a national action plan for sustainable development to the President. The PCSD is composed of leaders from government and industry, as well as from environmental, labor and civil rights organizations. The PCSD submitted its report, "Sustainable America: A New Consensus", to the President in early 1996. In the absence of a multi-sectoral consensus on how to achieve sustainable development in the United States, the PCSD was conceived to formulate recommendations for the implementation of Agenda 21.  In the United States, over 528 cities are members of ICLEI, an international sustainability organization that helps to implement the Agenda 21 and Local Agenda 21 concepts across the world. The United States has nearly half of the ICLEI's global membership of 1,200 cities promoting sustainable development at a local level. The United States also has one of the most comprehensively documented Agenda 21 status reports. In response to the opposition, Don Knapp, U.S. spokesman for the ICLEI, has said "Sustainable development is not a top-down conspiracy from the U.N., but a bottom-up push from local governments".  The Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry successfully lobbied against an anti-sustainable development bill in 2012, arguing "It would be bad for business" as it could drive away corporations that have embraced sustainable development.

Opposition.

Anti-Agenda 21 theories have circulated in the U.S. Some Tea Party movement activists and others promoted the notion that Agenda 21 was part of a UN plot to deny property rights, undermine U.S. sovereignty, or force citizens to move to cities. Activists believed that the non-binding UN resolution was "the linchpin in a plot to subjugate humanity under an eco-totalitarian regime." The conspiracy had its roots in anti-environmentalist ideology and opposition to land-use regulation.  Agenda 21 fears have played a role in opposition to local government's efforts to promote resource and land conservation, build bike lanes, and construct hubs for public transportation. The non-profit group ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability USA – was targeted by anti-Agenda 21 activists. In 2012 Glenn Beck co-wrote a dystopian novel titled "Agenda 21" based in part on concepts discussed in the UN plan. In the same year, fears of Agenda 21 "went mainstream" when the Republican National Committee adopted a platform resolution stated that "We strongly reject the U.N. Agenda 21 as erosive of American sovereignty."  Several state and local governments have considered or passed motions and legislation opposing Agenda 21. Most such bills failed, "either dying in committee, getting defeated on the statehouse floor or – in the case of Missouri's 2013 bill – getting vetoed by the governor." In Texas, for example, broadly worded legislation that would prohibit any governmental entity from accepting from or granting money to any "nongovernmental or intergovernmental organization accredited by the United Nations to implement a policy that originated in the Agenda 21 plan" was defeated because it could have cut off funding for groups such as 4-H, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Texas Wildlife Association. In Arizona, a similarly sweeping bill was introduced in the Arizona State Legislature seeking to mandate that the state could not "adopt or implement the creed, doctrine, or principles or any tenet" of Agenda 21 and to prohibit the state "implementing programs of, expending any sum of money for, being a member of, receiving funding from, contracting services from, or giving financial or other forms of aid to" an array of sustainability organizations. The bill, which was opposed by the state chamber of commerce and the mayor of Phoenix, was defeated in 2012. Alabama was one state that did adopt an anti-Agenda 21 resolution, unanimously passing in 2012 a measure to block "any future effort to 'deliberately or inadvertently infringe or restrict private property rights without due process, as may be required by policy recommendations originating in, or traceable to 'Agenda 21.'"

Europe.

The Agenda 21 status of European countries is generally well-documented.

France.

France, whose national government, along with 14 cities, is a signatory, promotes nationwide programs in support of the goals of Agenda 21.

Baltic nations.

Baltic nations formed the Baltic 21 coalition as a regional expression of Agenda 21.

Conspiracy theory.

Far right-wing groups, including the John Birch Society, assert that Agenda 21 is part of a scheme using environmental protection as a cover to impose a worldwide dictatorship.

Agenda 21 is a non-binding action plan of the United Nations with regard to sustainable development. It is a product of the Earth Summit (UN Conference on Environment and Development) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1992. It is an action agenda for the UN, other multilateral organizations, and individual governments around the world that can be executed at local, national, and global levels.

L'Agenda 21 est un plan d'action pour le adopté par 182 chefs d'État lors du sommet de la Terre à Rio de Janeiro en juin 1992. Il concerne les collectivités territoriales : régions, départements, communes, ainsi que les établissements publics comme les communautés de communes et les communautés d'agglomération.


Background.

The U.S. legislation system enacted the Cuban Adjustment Act in 1966, which sought to provide political asylum for Cubans who fled their country in the hopes of a new life. Under the act, Cuban refugees, without visas, entering the United States were paroled, and after a year could apply for permanent resident status. The US also issued 20,000 lottery visas every year to Cuban emigrants under the wet foot, dry foot policy. Under this policy, those who reached the mainland were granted asylum, while those who were intercepted at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard were sent back to Cuba.  Elián Gonzalez was a five-year-old boy who was found nestled in an inner tube floating at sea three miles from Florida's Fort Lauderdale coast. Two fishermen found Elián and reluctantly handed him over to the U.S. Coast Guard, as they feared he would be sent back to Cuba under the wet foot, dry foot policy since he had not yet reached land. The Coast Guard assured them that Elián would be taken "ashore for medical reasons," deeming him eligible to stay. Elián was immediately taken to a hospital and treated for dehydration and minor cuts on his body. It was later found that Elián's mother, Elisabet Brotons Rodríguez, and Lázaro Munero García, her common-law husband, had escaped Cárdenas, Cuba, as part of a group with 14 refugees on a boat. However, the others perished in a storm, while a young couple escaped to the shore, and Elián was found.  Once treated, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) provided Elián with a temporary deferral regarding his inspection, and further released Elián to his great-uncle, Lázaro Gonzalez, who lived with his family in Miami's Little Havana. These relatives informed the family in Cárdenas to prepare for an extreme hardship visa waiver. The former were told the next day that "some functionary of the government would be coming to get the boy" as a result of Fidel Castro having met with Juan Miguel, Elián's father. The involvement of the Cuban Communist leader in the case and the subsequent diplomatic note written to the U.S. Department of State emphasizing the father's demand for Elián's repatriation attracted international attention. This is because Elián had become a "symbol to many exiles" reminding them of the immense politically and economically oppressive conditions in Cuba that forced a mother to risk her child's life in the hopes of escaping to a better place. While Elián escaped both Cuba and death, he soon entered custody battles waged by his father, Miami relatives, and state actors from the U.S. and Cuba.  The international tug of war waged between the Cuban and American actors can be understood through the agendas of Fidel Castro; the Cuban American actor Lazaro Gonzalez representing the Miami relatives and the Miami Cuban expat community; and the U.S. government representative, Attorney General Janet Reno. In the case of Fidel Castro, he sought to showcase his power by first issuing an ultimatum to the U.S. that the boy should be returned to his father within 72 hours.  On January 10, 2000, a Florida state court had ruled that the Florida family court was able to decide the merit of motion related with temporary custody by Lazaro Gonzalez, stating that Elián should stay with the Miami relatives until a further custody hearing. However, Reno declared that the federal courts are responsible for deciding this case, and that the Miami relatives must appeal to the federal court. Here, the objective of Reno was to provide the relatives with a chance to provide "any information" they could that would be "relevant in the decision" ("Reno press conference," 2000). She again emphasized that the INS commissioner had declared that the father speaks for the son, and that his wishes were to have his son returned to him.

Early life, journey to U.S. and custody battle.

Elián González was born December 6, 1993, to divorced parents. On November 21, 1999, González, his mother Elizabeth Brotons Rodríguez, and twelve others left Cuba on a small aluminum boat with a faulty engine; González's mother and ten others died in the crossing. González and the other two survivors floated at sea until they were rescued by two fishermen, who handed them over to the U.S. Coast Guard.  González's cousin Marisleysis said that the boat's motor broke down and they tried in vain to bail out the water with nylon bags, but a storm doomed their efforts. He told her he tried to help get the water out and his mother's boyfriend placed him in an inner tube for safety. "He said afterwards that he fell asleep and that when he woke up he never saw his mother again". He said, "I think she drowned too because she didn't know how to swim".  Nivaldo Fernández Ferran, one of the three survivors on the boat, said "Elizabeth protected her son to the end". According to Ferran, they set out on their trip at 4 am, dragging inflated rubber floats, or inner tubes, in case they needed them. As they encountered bad weather, the boat's engine failed and the craft began to fill with water. After it went under, the passengers clung to the inner tubes in cold water, with waves reaching heights of three to four meters (10 to 13 feet).  Afterwards, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) released González to his paternal great-uncle, Lázaro. According to the "Washington Post", González's father, Juan Miguel González Quintana, had telephoned Lázaro from Cuba on November 22, 1999, to advise that González and his mother had left Cuba without Juan Miguel's knowledge, and to watch for their arrival.  Lázaro González, backed by local Cuban Americans, took the position that the boy should remain in the United States and not be returned to his father. Marisleysis González (Lázaro's adult daughter) became Elián González's caretaker and spokesperson for the paternal relatives. Also, Armando Gutierrez, a local Cuban-American businessman, became a spokesman. At the same time, Juan Miguel, with the support of Cuban authorities, demanded that his son be returned to Cuba.  On January 21, 2000, Elián González's grandmothers, Mariela Quintana and Raquel Rodríguez, flew from Havana to the United States to seek their grandson's return to Cuba. While they were able to meet with the boy only once at the Miami Beach home of Barry University president Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, they journeyed to Washington and met with congressmen and Attorney General Janet Reno. After nine days of media coverage (during which Republican lawmakers acknowledged they did not have the votes to pass a bill to give González U.S. citizenship), they returned to Cuba to "a hero's welcome".  On January 28, the Spanish foreign minister Abel Matutes called for the boy's return to Cuba, stating that international law dictated the return. Meanwhile, the Miami Gonzálezes denied allegations that they had offered Juan Miguel a house and a car if he abandoned the action and joined his son in Miami. Juan Miguel was uninterested in emigrating.  Through January and February, Juan Miguel sent a number of open letters to the U.S. government—published in, among other places, the Cuban newspaper "Granma"—demanding the return of his son and refusing the Miami relatives' demands.  Chicago-based fathers' rights attorney Jeffery M. Leving spearheaded the amicus brief, which set the foundation of the custody case to reunite González with his father in Cuba. Manuel González, Elián Gonzalez's great uncle, later retained Leving to reunite González with his father.  On March 21, Judge Kevin Michael Moore of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida dismissed the relatives' petition for asylum which they had filed on behalf of Elián González. Lázaro vowed to appeal. On March 29, Miami-Dade County mayor Alex Penelas was joined by 22 other civic leaders in a speech in downtown Miami. Penelas indicated that the municipality would not cooperate with Federal authorities on any repatriation of the boy, and would not lend police assets or any other assistance in taking the boy.  On April 14, a video was released in which Elián González tells Juan Miguel that he wants to stay in the United States. However, many thought that he had been coached, as a male voice was heard off-camera directing the young boy. In a September 2005 interview with "60 Minutes" after being sent back to Cuba, González stated that during his stay in the U.S., his family members were "telling me bad things about [my father]", and "were also telling me to tell him that I did not want to go back to Cuba, and I always told them I wanted to."  Elián González remained a subject of media attention as he went to Walt Disney World Resort one day, then met with politicians the next. Throughout the custody battle, opinion polls showed that a majority of Americans believed González should be returned to his father in Cuba, and that doing so was in the boy's best interest. On April 19, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that González must remain in the U.S. until the Miami Gonzálezes could appeal for an asylum hearing in May.

Taken by federal authorities.

Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the return of Elián González to his father and set a deadline of April 13, 2000, but the Miami relatives defied the order. Negotiations continued for several days as the house was surrounded by protesters as well as police. The relatives insisted on guarantees that they could live with the child for several months and retain custody, and that González would not be returned to Cuba. Negotiations carried on throughout the night, but Reno claimed that the relatives rejected all workable solutions.  A Florida family court judge revoked Lázaro's temporary custody, clearing the way for González to be returned to his father's custody. On April 20, Reno made the decision to remove González from the house and instructed law enforcement officials to determine the best time to obtain the boy. After being informed of the decision, Marisleysis said to a Justice Department community relations officer, "You think we just have cameras in the house? If people try to come in, they could be hurt."  In the pre-dawn hours of Easter Eve, April 22, agents of the Border Patrol's special BORTAC unit as part of an operation in which more than 130 INS personnel took part approached the house, knocked on the door, and identified themselves. When no one responded, they entered. At the same time, pepper-spray and mace were employed against persons outside who attempted to interfere. In the confusion, Armando Gutierrez called in Alan Diaz, of the Associated Press, to enter the house and entered a room with González, his great uncle's wife Angela Lázaro, her niece, the niece's young son, and Donato Dalrymple (one of the two men who had rescued him from the ocean). They waited in the room listening to agents searching the house. Diaz took a widely publicized photograph of a border patrol agent confronting Dalrymple and the boy.  INS also stated in the days after the raid that they had identified as many as two dozen persons who were "prepared to thwart any government operation", some of whom had concealed weapons while others had criminal records.  Approximately 100 people protested against the raid as it took place, with some calling the INS agents "assassins".  Public opinion about the INS raid on the Miami González's house was widely polarized. There were two major focuses in media coverage of the event: the raid and the family reunions. A "Time" magazine issue showed a photo of a joyful González being reunited with his father (the caption says "Papa!"), while "Newsweek" ran an issue that focused on the raid, entitled "Seizing Elián".

Return to father's custody.

Four hours after he was taken from the house in Miami, González and his father were reunited at Andrews Air Force Base. The next day, the White House released a photograph showing a smiling González reunited with his father, which the Miami relatives disputed by claiming that it was a fake González in the photograph. Later, González and his family were taken to the Aspen Institute Wye River Conference Center in Maryland (formerly known as "Wye Plantation"). The media were barred from access to the family.  While the family was still at Andrews, New Hampshire senator Bob Smith, escorting the Miami González relatives, was turned away from the base by guards. The May 5, 2000, "Miami Herald" reported that González was joined by his classmates (without their parents) and his teacher from his hometown, Cárdenas. The newspaper "Granma" released pictures of Elián in the Young Pioneer uniform of Cuba's Communist youth league. On May 6, 2000, attorney Greg Craig took González and Juan Miguel to a dinner in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC, hosted by Smith and Elizabeth Bagley.  After González was returned to his father's custody, he remained in the U.S. while the Miami relatives exhausted their legal options. A three-judge federal panel had ruled that he could not go back to Cuba until he was granted an asylum hearing, but the case turned on the right of the relatives to request that hearing on behalf of the boy. On June 1, 2000, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Elián was too young to file for asylum; only his father could speak for him, and the relatives lacked legal standing. On June 28, 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the decision. In the afternoon of the same day, seven months and one week after Elián González left Cuba, he and his family, along with his classmates and teacher, boarded two chartered planes at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia for José Martí International Airport in Havana.

Return to Cuba.

After his return to Cuba, Elián González lived with his father, stepmother, and three brothers in Cárdenas, where his father, Juan Miguel, was a waiter at an Italian restaurant at Josone Park, near Cardenas. Elián's father was interviewed at the restaurant in 2004 by Keith Morrison of the NBC News program "Dateline NBC" and "Cover to Cover" on CNBC. Juan Miguel filmed a home video on which González was shown doing his arithmetic homework with Juan Miguel in their dining room, going to bed in his bedroom with his two younger half-brothers, and attending karate lessons.  Morrison's TV report also showed an 18th-century building in Cárdenas which was previously used as a fire station and which was renovated and inaugurated on July 14, 2001, as a museum, called "Museo de la Batalla de Ideas" ("Museum of the Battle of Ideas"), which includes an exhibition room dedicated to González, which houses a life-size bronze statue of González raising a clenched fist. The former González home in Miami has similarly been turned into a museum, with the boy's bedroom left unaltered. Juan Miguel is also a member of the National Assembly and has attended events for the Communist Party of Cuba with González, who has been called up to the stage to meet Fidel Castro. Castro also attended a filmed birthday party of González with his schoolmates.  In September 2005, González was interviewed by "60 Minutes" and stated during the interview that Fidel Castro was a friend, and that he considers Castro "not only as a friend but as a father"; González's aunt, Angela González, said she doubted whether the interview represented his true beliefs because of the controls imposed by Cuba on information. In December 2006, an ill Fidel Castro was unable to attend González's 13th birthday celebration, so his brother Raúl attended instead.  On August 16, 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of an excessive force lawsuit brought by Dalrymple and others against the Federal Government and Reno.  González joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba in June 2008 shortly after graduating from junior high school. At age 15, he began military school. In a November 2013 speech, González described his time in the United States as "very sad times for me, which marked me for my whole life", asserting that the Cuban Adjustment Act led to the denial of his rights, including "the right to be together with my father, the right to keep my nationality and to remain in my cultural context".

Ramifications.

Commentators have suggested that the Elián González affair may have been a factor in voters' decisions in the 2000 United States presidential election, which could have affected the close outcome in Florida. Al Gore's handling of the matter may have angered the predominantly Republican Cuban community over the boy's return to Cuba. Gore initially supported Republican legislation to give the boy and his father permanent residence status, but later supported the administration position. He was attacked by both sides in the dispute for his equivocal position.

Later years.

In 2015, González was studying to be an industrial engineer, and hoped to marry his high school sweetheart and fiancée after finishing college. He stated that although he did not regret returning to Cuba, he would like to travel to the United States one day "to give my love to the American people". In July 2016, he received a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Matanzas, and read a letter to Fidel Castro from his graduating class, vowing "to fight from whatever trench the revolution demands".  After graduating in 2016, González began working as a technology specialist at a state-run company that makes large plastic water tanks.

Depictions in film and television.

The saga was portrayed in the 2000 television film, "A Family In Crisis: The Elian Gonzales Story", which starred Esai Morales as Elián's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, Laura Harring as Elián's cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez, and Alec Roberts in the title role.  "Elián" is a 2017 documentary film directed by Ross McDonnell and Tim Golden, produced by Trevor Birney and executive produced by Alex Gibney. The film details the story of the young Cuban and has exclusive interviews with Elián González and his family in both Cuba and Miami. The film was co-produced by Fine Point Films and Jigsaw Productions and has a voiceover by Raul Esparza. The film premiered on April 19, 2017, at the Tribeca Film Festival. It opened in limited release in May, and appeared on CNN Films in August 2017.

Elián González Brotons (born December 6, 1993) is a Cuban citizen who became embroiled in a heated international custody and immigration controversy in 2000 involving the governments of Cuba and the United States, his father Juan Miguel González Quintana, his other relatives in Cuba and in Miami, and Miami's Cuban community.

Elián González, né le à Cárdenas, est un garçon cubain qui quitta Cuba en novembre 1999, emmené par sa mère, afin d'émigrer aux États-Unis. Sa mère et dix autres personnes se noyèrent dans leur tentative. Elián survécut avec trois autres rescapés, dérivant sur une chambre à air jusqu'aux côtes de Floride.


Economy.

Longwy has historically been an industrial center of the Lorraine iron mining district. The town is known for its artistic faience, produced there since 1798, and carried on today by the Société des faïenceries de Longwy et Senelle, often in cooperation with artists and ceramists. Overglaze enamel decoration, often in a manner similar to cloisonné, has been produced in Longwy ceramics since 1872, initially under the direction of Amadeo de Carenza; these decors reached a peak in the Art Deco style, retailed by the Parisian department store Printemps.

History.

Longwy initially belonged to Lotharingia. After the division of that kingdom, the town became part of Upper Lorraine and ultimately the Duchy of Bar. Longwy was ceded to Wenceslaus I of Luxembourg in 1368, but was returned to Bar in 1378. The Duchy of Bar was then annexed into the Duchy of Lorraine in 1480.  From 1648 to 1660 Longwy was part of the Kingdom of France, returning to the Duchy of Lorraine afterwards. It was made part of France again in 1670, a situation which was finalized in the Treaties of Nijmegen in 1678. Vauban fortified the town during the reign of Louis XIV, having demolished the medieval Château de Longwy, of which one tower remains.  After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, almost all of the Moselle department, along with Alsace and portions of the Meurthe and Vosges departments, was ceded to the German Empire by the Treaty of Frankfurt on the ground that the population in those areas spoke German dialects. Only one-fifth of Moselle, including Longwy, was spared annexation. Otto von Bismarck later bitterly regretted his decision when it was discovered that the region of Briey and Longwy was rich with iron ore, exploited by the Aciéries de Longwy among other members of the cartel Comptoir Métallurgique de Longwy.  After the Battle of the Ardennes in August 1914, Longwy was occupied by the Imperial German army until the 1918 Armisitice.

Miscellaneous.

In 2008, the "ville neuve" ("New Town") was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of the "Fortifications of Vauban" group.  European route E411 passes through Longwy.

Longwy (; Historical German:, ) is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in northeastern France. The inhabitants are known as "Longoviciens".

Longwy ( le "g" est muet) est une ville lorraine du Nord-Est de la France, du département de Meurthe-et-Moselle et de la région Grand Est, chef-lieu du canton du même nom. Elle est arrosée par la Chiers, un affluent de la Meuse.


Early and family life.

Simon Cameron was born in Maytown, Pennsylvania in 1799, to Charles Cameron (d. January 16, 1814) and his wife Martha McLaughlin (d. abt. November 10, 1830).  Cameron was the third of five sons; and had three younger sisters. One story claimed that Cameron was orphaned at nine, and later apprenticed to a printer, Andrew Kennedy, editor of the Northumberland "Gazette" before entering the field of journalism. If Cameron were apprenticed to Kennedy at age nine (~1808) for a then-standard period of seven years, he would have become a journeyman printer at age 16 (~1815). On October 17, 1822 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Cameron married Margaret Brua (1794-1875).

Career.

Early printing and business careers.

Cameron was editor of the "Bucks County Messenger" in 1821. A year later, he moved to Washington, D.C., and studied political movements while working for the printing firm of Gales and Seaton. Cameron purchased and ran the Harrisburg "Republican" in 1824. Cameron became the state printer of Pennsylvania from 1825 until 1827, and was state adjutant general in 1826. He constructed several rail lines and merged them into the Northern Central Railway, of which his son became Vice-President. Cameron founded the Bank of Middletown in 1832 and engaged in other business enterprises. In 1838, he was appointed as commissioner to settle claims of the Winnebago Indians. This role would later haunt him politically, as he acquired the derisive nickname "Winnebago Chief" after allegedly cheating the tribe in a supply contract.

Prewar politics.

Cameron began his political career as a Democrat, supporting the campaigns of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren. He was elected to replace James Buchanan in the United States Senate in 1845, serving until 1849. A persistent opponent of slavery, Cameron switched to the Know Nothing Party, before joining the Republican Party in 1856. In 1857, Cameron was again elected to the US Senate.  At the 1860 Republican National Convention, Cameron controlled the votes of the Pennsylvania delegation. He delivered those votes to Abraham Lincoln for the nomination for President, which proved decisive. In return, Lincoln's managers promised a Cabinet post for Cameron.

American Civil War.

When Lincoln became President, he reluctantly appointed Cameron Secretary of War, and Cameron arranged that Pennsylvania Railroad vice-President Thomas A. Scott would be made assistant secretary of war (the Pennsylvania railroad delivered its long haul freight destined for Baltimore to the North Central at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania). Cameron's tenure as Secretary of War was marked by allegations of corruption and lax management. On April 18, 1861, the day after Virginia seceded from the Union, Virginia militia seized the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, which was also an important work station on the rival Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's main westward line. Soon B&O president John Work Garrett received letters from Virginia's Governor John Letcher both telling the B&O to pass no troops destined for any place in Virginia over the railroad, and threatening the line's confiscation. Charles Town's mayor threatened to cut the B&O's main line by destroying the long bridge over the Potomac River at Harpers Ferry, and Garrett also received anonymous threats. Thus he and others asked Cameron to protect the B&O as the national capitol's main westward link. Cameron instead warned Garrett that passage of any rebel troops over his line would be treason. The Secretary of War agreed to station troops to protect the North Central, the Pennsylvania Railroad and even the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, but flatly refused to help the B&O.  The B&O had to repair damaged line at its own expense, and often received late or no payment for services rendered to the federal government. On June 20, 1861, Confederates seized Martinsburg, a major B&O work center. Within weeks, CSA General Stonewall Jackson (who had blown up the Harpers Ferry bridge on June 14), went from allowing trains to pass through Martinsburg between 11a.m. and 1p.m. to confiscating dozens of locomotives and train cars and ripping up double track in order to ship rails for Confederate use in Virginia (14 locomotives and 83 rail cars were dismantled and sent south, and another 42 locomotives and 386 cars damaged or destroyed at Martinsburg, with the B&O water station and machine shops also destroyed and 102 miles of telegraph wire removed by the time federal control was restored in March 1862).  Since Jackson cut the B&O main line into Washington for more than six months, the North Central and Pennsylvania Railroads profited from overflow traffic, even as many B&O trains stood idle in Baltimore. Garret tried to use his contacts to secure the needed protection, from Maryland Delegate Reverdy Johnson to General George McClellan and Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase. As winter began, coal prices soared in Washington, even though the B&O in September arranged for free coal transport from its Cumberland, Maryland terminal down the C&O Canal (which reduced prices somewhat, although Confederates also damaged the C&O canal that winter). Furthermore, western farmers could not get their produce to markets because of the B&O shutdown, only partially alleviated by the summer 1861 Union army victories at the Battle of Philippi (West Virginia) and Rich Mountain, and vigorous army and company work crews which reduced the main line gap to 25 miles between Harpers Ferry and Back Creek.  Finally, Samuel M. Felton, the President of the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad notified newspapers of the War Department's discrimination against his competing and cooperating railroad line. President Lincoln (familiar with railroad law since his days as an Illinois lawyer) in January 1862 replaced Cameron with Pennsylvania lawyer Edwin M. Stanton, who had been serving as Cameron's legal advisor. Furthermore, on January 31, 1862 Congress passed the Railways and Telegraph Act of January 31, 1862, creating the United States Military Railroad and allowing it to seize and operate any railroad or telegraph company's equipment, although Stanton and USMRR Superintendent Daniel McCallum would take a "team of rivals" approach to railroad management and allow civilian operations to continue. In February 1862, Union forces recaptured Martinsburg and Harpers Ferry, and work crews continued replacing wrecked bridges and equipment, although bushwhacker raids continued.  Cameron's brother, James Cameron, colonel of the 79th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, was killed in action at the First Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861.  Nonetheless, Cameron's corruption became so notorious that U.S. Representative Thaddeus Stevens (also from Pennsylvania), when asked whether Cameron would steal, said: "I don't think that he would steal a red hot stove." (Cameron demanded Stevens retract this insult. Stevens said to Lincoln "I believe I told you he would not steal a red-hot stove. I will now take that back.") After Stanton's promotion, Cameron became Minister to Russia.

Postwar political boss.

Cameron made a political comeback after the Civil War, building a powerful state party machine that would dominate Pennsylvania politics for the next seventy years. In 1866, Cameron was again elected to the Senate.  Cameron convinced his close friend Ulysses S. Grant to appoint his son, James Donald Cameron, as Secretary of War in 1876. Later that year, Cameron helped Rutherford B. Hayes win the Republican nomination in 1876. Cameron resigned from the Senate in 1877 after assuring that his son would succeed him. Though Cameron also had intended for his son to succeed him as head of the state machine, Matthew Quay ultimately succeeded Cameron as the party boss.

Death.

Cameron retired to his farm at "Donegal Springs" "Cameron Estate" near Maytown, Pennsylvania where he died on June 26, 1889. He is buried in the Harrisburg Cemetery in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Cameron County, Pennsylvania, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana, are named in his honor.

Legacy.

According to historian Hans L. Trefousse, Cameron ranks as one of the most successful political bosses in American history. It was shrewd, wealthy, and devoted his talents in money to the goal of building a powerful Republican organization. He achieved recognition as the undisputed arbiter of Pennsylvania politics. His assets included business acumen, sincere devotion to the interests and needs of Pennsylvania, expertise on the tariff issue and the need for protection for Pennsylvania industry, and a skill at managing and organizing politicians and their organizations. He cleverly rewarded his friends, punished his enemies, and maintain good relations with his Democratic counterparts. His reputation as an unscrupulous grafter was exaggerated by his enemies; he was in politics for power, not profit.  As a young man his prudent investments in publishing, banking, manufacturing and railroads provided both a financial bankroll, and wide insights into key industries that boosters across Pennsylvania wanted to support. Originally an anti-abolitionist Democrat, Cameron moved to the Whig party by the mid-1840s. When the Democrats factionalized in 1845, he joined with insurgent Democrats and mainline Whigs to win election to the Senate. Again in 1857 he put together a coalition of Republicans, Know Nothings, and Democratic insurgents to win the legislatures vote for Senator. He waged a bitter dispute with governor-elect Andrew Curtin, but nevertheless it 1860 made himself the state's favorite son at the Republican national convention. He was not a serious contender for the presidency, but his control of the Pennsylvania delegation gave him a lock on a high position Lincoln's cabinet. Cameron was a poor secretary of war, unable to deal with the small-mindedness, the inefficiencies, and the fraud that pervaded contracts. He had little sense of national politics or military strategy. Biographer Paul Kahan says he was very good as a “back-slapping, glad-handing politician,” who could manipulate congressmen. But he was too disorganized, and inattentive to the extremely complex duties of the largest and most important federal department. He paid too much attention to patronage and then not enough to strategy. He broke with Lincoln and openly advocated emancipating the slaves and arming them for the army at a time Lincoln was not ready to publicly take that position. Lincoln sent him to Russia but continued to consult him. After the war, Cameron became the state party boss, returning to the Senate in 1867 and perfecting his machine. He used highly able lieutenants including Matthew Quay. Robert W. Mackey and his son Donald Cameron. In national politics he was a Radical Republican who opposed President Andrew Johnson and became a key advisor to President Ulysses Grant. President Rutherford Hayes dislike Cameron, but was outmaneuvered.

Simon Cameron (March 8, 1799June 26, 1889) was an American businessman and politician. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate and served as United States Secretary of War under President Abraham Lincoln at the start of the American Civil War.

Simon Cameron, né le à (Pennsylvanie) et mort le dans la même ville, est un homme politique américain. Membre du Parti démocrate, de Know Nothing puis du Parti républicain, il est secrétaire à la Guerre entre 1861 et 1862 dans l'administration du président Abraham Lincoln, ambassadeur des États-Unis en Russie en 1862 et sénateur de Pennsylvanie de 1845 à 1849, de 1857 à 1861 puis de 1867 à 1877.