History.

The history of ASS Altenburger begins at two locations in Germany: Stralsund on the Baltic Sea and in Altenburg in Thuringia.

Stralsund's playing card factories.

In 1765 Johann Kaspar Kern founded a playing card manufacturers in Stralsund. In 1793 it was taken over by Georg Friedrich Schlüter and, in 1823, passed to the von der Osten family with whom it remained for decades. In 1823 Ernst Joachim von der Osten took over the firm; he was followed in 1845 by Ludwig von der Osten, in 1859 by Carl Ludwig von Zansen and, in 1859, G. Mie, who also belonged to the von der Osten family. In 1846 Ludwig Heidborn founded a playing card factory which produced cards until 1848 and then again, after a long break, from 1857. In 1848, another playing card factory in Stralsund was started by Gustav Friedrich Diekelmann. This was led from 1850 by Eugen Diekelmann, from 1855 by Theodor Wegener and from 1863 by Fritz Wegener.  The firm of "Ludwig von der Osten" (owned by G. Mie) was merged on 1 October 1872 with the other two Stralsund companies of "Ludwig Heidborn" and "Theodor Wegener" (owned by Fritz Wegener) to form the United Stralsund Playing Card Company or "Vereinigten Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken Aktien-Gesellschaft Stralsund" (VSS). Its office was in the house at "Knieperwall" 1a which had belonged to Heidborn. Production was carried out in the buildings formerly owned by the von der Ostens and Wegeners. With the acquisition of the playing card house of "Lennhoff & Heuser" in Frankfurt in 1882 the VSS acquired several very popular card patterns, which contributed to their subsequently success. In 1883 the former owner of this factory moved to Stralsund and became the managing director of VSS.  The company grew steadily: in 1888 the Stralsund firm of "Falkenberg & Co." (founded 1872) was bought up, in 1891 the company of "Tiedemann" in Rostock, in 1894 the Berlin playing card manufacturers of Rochus Sala, in 1895 the Hallesche factory, "Ludwig & Schmidt", in 1897 the Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik, in 1901 "Sutor" from Naumburg (Saale), in 1905 "Booch" in Werdau and 1907 the Berlin concern of "Büttner & Cie." Still other factories were bought and integrated into the Stralsund company. In 1891/1892 production switched to a cheaper printing process. With that, the old VSS card patterns, with their rich tradition, disappeared. One that survives today, albeit erroneously known as the Berlin pattern ("Berliner Bild"), is a Stralsund schema with French suits, the Finest German Stralsund pattern or "Feinste Deutsche Stralsunder".  The Stralsund factories manufactured the majority of playing cards sold on the German market but also produced them for export. In 1907 Stralsund made 3,340,000 playing cards and, in 1913, they employed 235 workers.  The following card patterns were produced: Bavarian pattern, Stralsund type, Bavarian pattern, Munich type, Bongout pattern, Darmstadt double pattern (1872 to 1931), Finest German Stralsund pattern (1855 to 1892, wrongly termed the Berlin pattern), Frankfurt pattern (from 1882), Franconian pattern (from 1885), French pattern and double pattern, Prussian pattern (from 1840), Renaissance pattern (from 1882), Rhenish pattern (from c. 1920), Rokoko pattern (from 1913), Royal pattern, Saxon pattern (1882 to 1931), special patterns with German suit signs, Tarock pattern with French suits, Württemberg double pattern (1882 to 1908). The Stralsund Museum houses examples of many of the playing cards made, some very rare, displayed in a permanent exhibition.  The Stralsund firm soon had a problem with its factory site and original headquarters in Stralsund: the offices and production premises were too small and the character and limited space of the fortress town of Stralsund stood in the way of any expansion. The town of Altenburg, however, had geographical and logistical advantages.

Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik.

On 16 November 1832, the brothers Bernhard and Otto Bechstein, in the residential town of the Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, had been granted permission to manufacture German and French playing cards in the name of the Duchy and the Ducal Saxon Altenburg Playing Card Company ("Herzogliche Sächsische Altenburger Concessionierte Spielkartenfabrik") was founded. It operated for many years with great energy, but no profit due to tough competition from passing traders from Weimar, Leipzig and Dresden. In 1836, the Bechsteins asked for the sale of these 'foreign' cards to be banned and, in 1840, they made their first profit. That was a watershed and the firm now became known for the quality and value of its products. In 1874, Bernhard Bechstein sold the company to businessman, Theodor Gutmann. In 1886, Artur Pleißner and Richard Kühne turned it into a public limited company which lasted until 1891/92. From 1892 to 1897, the firm went back into the private ownership of one Carl Schneider, before being taken over in 1897 by the VSS. Until 1931, the Altenburg production site went under the name of the Altenburg division of the United Stralsund Playing Card Company, formerly Schneider & Co. ("Vereinigte Stralsunder Spielkartenfabrik AG Abt. Altenburg vormals Schneider & Co.") In 1931 the factory in Stralsund were close and the company offices moved to the more centrally-situated Altenburg.

Merger.

At the shareholder's meeting on 14 February 1931 it was decided to merge the premises in Stralsund and Altenburg and to move the firm to Thuringia. The company was renamed to the United Altenburg and Stralsund Playing Card Company ("Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken, A.G., Altenburg") or ASS. That same year the company moved its head office from Stralsund to Altenburg. Production at Stralsund ceased in September 1931.  After the Second World War the company was divided for more than 40 years: The ASS was expropriated and dismantled in 1946 and the company re-established by former shareholders in Mannheim, then moved to Leinfelden in 1956.  In Altenburg itself, operations resumed on 3 May 1946. The playing-card factory was part of a state-owned business in the state of Thuringia. Eleven years later it became the Volkseigener Betrieb of Altenburg Playing Card Company ("Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik, Altenburg Thüringen"). Its trademark and logo was "Cœur" (a heart symbol).  After the Wende the Altenburg firm was re-privatised in 1991 under the name of Altenburg Playing Card Company ("Altenburger Spielkartenfabrik") and sold by the Treuhand to the United Munich Playing Card Company ("Vereinigte Münchener Spielkartenfabriken") of F.X. Schmid. In 1996 the playing card range of F. X. Schmid was integrated into the production at Altenburg; F. X. Schmid was taken over by Ravensburger, the largest European game and puzzle manufacturers. That year, ASS lost a name dispute with the United Altenburger and Stralsund Playing Card Company ("Vereinigte Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkartenfabriken") in Leinfelden. It was forced to rename itself and chose the name "Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg". Some time afterwards the Leinfelder concern went bankrupt and went, as "ASS Spielkarten", to the Berliner Blatz-Group (Schmidt Spiele). Its head office moved to Steinenbronn on 1 October 1996.  In 1999 Ravensburger took over Berliner Spielkarten. Altenburg even produced cards for this subsidiary. In 2000, the brand of Berliner Spielkarten was integrated, along with its additional product fields of games and puzzles, into ASS. The site at Altenburg was developed into one of the most important production sites for playing cards of all types in Europe.

ASS Altenburger Spielkarten.

In 2002 the international playing card manufacturers, Cartamundi, who had taken over the ASS Spielkartenverlag in Steinenbronn the year before, acquired Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg from the Ravensburger Group. The two firms, which had been separated since 1946 due to the post-war situation in Germany were reunited in a business association. In 2003 the two brands, "ASS" and "Altenburger" were merged to form the new brand of "ASS Altenburger". Production in Steinenbronn was moved to Altenburg. There was now heavy investment in the production and storage capacity. In 2005 the factory site at Altenburg was greatly expanded with a new building on a plot given up by the old district hospital.  Several German playing cards dating to 1509 and made by Altenburger cardmaker, Merten (Martin) Hockendorf, have survived. For this reason, the town and its cardmakers jointly celebrated "500 Years of Altenburg Playing Cards" in 2009.  On 1 May 2011, the insolvent game manufacturer, Scheer Spiele from Marktheidenfeld, was taken over. The production of Scheer Spiele was then relocated to Altenburg. This enabled ASS Altenburger to also produce game plans, large boxes and punched parts for parlour games.  As of 2017, the company produces almost 40 million different card decks per year in Altenburg according to its own figures.

ASS Altenburger is since 2003 the trademark of the German playing card manufacturer Spielkartenfabrik Altenburg, based in the town of Altenburg. The firm is owned by Cartamundi, of Turnhout, Belgium. ASS ("Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkartenfabrik") claims to be the market leader in Germany for playing cards. Every year almost 40 million packs of cards of many different types are manufactured in Altenburg.

ASS ou "Altenburger und Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken" ou "Altenburg Stralsunder" est un éditeur de jeux de société basé en Allemagne, à Altenbourg (Thuringe).


Background.

The 1988 Convention was introduced following the political and sociological developments in the 1970s and 1980s. The growing demand for cannabis, cocaine, and heroin for recreational purposes, mostly in the developed world, triggered an increase of illicit production in geographical areas where cannabis, coca, and opium had been traditionally cultivated. With the rising size of the illicit drug trade, international drug trafficking became a multibillion-dollar business dominated by criminal groups, providing grounds for the creation of the 1988 Convention and the consequential escalation of the war on drugs.  The notes that previous enforcement efforts have not stopped drug use, warning of "steadily increasing inroads into various social groups made by illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances." It cautions that the drug trade and related activities "undermine the legitimate economies and threaten the stability, security and sovereignty of States." The sense of urgency is underscored by the image of innocent boys and girls being exploited:

Drug manufacture and distribution.

Much of the treaty is devoted to fighting organized crime by mandating cooperation in tracing and seizing drug-related assets. of the Convention requires its parties to confiscate proceeds from drug offenses. It also requires parties to empower its courts or other competent authorities to order that bank, financial, or commercial records be made available or seized. The Convention further states that a party may not decline to act on this provision on the ground of bank secrecy.  In addition, of the Convention establishes two categories of controlled illicit drug precursor substances, Table I and Table II. The Commission on Narcotic Drugs has power to decide whether to control a precursor substance, and which Table to place it in. The assessment of the International Narcotics Control Board is binding on the Commission, however, as to scientific matters. A two-thirds vote is required to add a substance to a Table.  Article 12 protects the interests of pharmaceutical and chemical companies by requiring the Board to take into account the "extent, importance and diversity of the licit use of the substance, and the possibility and ease of using alternate substances both for licit purposes and for the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances."  Control of amphetamine-type stimulant precursors has become a major UN priority.

Drug possession.

of the Convention may require nations to ban possession of drugs for personal use:  Previous drug control treaties had targeted drug manufacturers and traffickers, rather than users. In their 2003 article, "The Mechanics and Dynamics of the UN System for International Drug Control," David Bewley-Taylor and Cindy Fazey explain that "[t]he 1988 Convention was an attempt to reach a political balance between consumer and producer countries. Consequently, it was not only the duty of producing countries (e.g. the developing countries of Asia and South America) to suppress illicit supply, but also the duty of consumer countries (e.g. the industrialized countries of Europe and North America) to suppress the demand for drugs."  However, it is unclear whether this provision actually does mandate prohibition of drug possession for personal use, due to the caveat that such possession need only be prohibited if it is "contrary to the provisions of the 1961 Convention, the 1961 Convention as amended or the 1971 Convention." The American National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse found that the provisions of the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs against possession apply only to possession related to illicit trafficking, while the Canadian Le Dain Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medical Use of Drugs found otherwise.

Constitutional issues.

Several of the Convention's provisions are prefaced with the words, "Subject to its constitutional principles and the basic concepts of its legal system, each Party shall..." According to Fazey, "This has been used by the USA not to implement part of article 3 of the 1988 Convention, which prevents inciting others to use narcotic or psychotropic drugs, on the basis that this would be in contravention of their constitutional amendment guaranteeing freedom of speech." Similarly, if a national prohibition on drug possession violated a nation's constitution, those provisions would not be binding on that country.

Proposed repeal.

In 2003, a European Parliament committee recommended repealing the 1988 Convention, finding that:  The road to repeal would be difficult. Individual nations could withdraw from the treaty under the provisions of. However, as former UN drug official Cindy Fazey notes, the Convention has no termination clause, and therefore would remain in effect even if only one signatory remained. The Transnational Radical Party report noted that denunciation is the only route to changing the control regime established by the treaty:

List of controlled drug precursors.

Source: INCB Red List (14th Edition, January 2015)  The list of 23 substances is identical to list of EU-controlled drug precursors, except for the different categorization and inclusion of stereoisomers in EU Category 1.

Table I.

Table II.

The salts of the substances listed in this Table whenever the existence of such salts is possible.  The salts of hydrochloric acid and sulphuric acid are specifically excluded from Table II.

The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988 is one of three major drug control treaties currently in force. It provides additional legal mechanisms for enforcing the 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs and the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. The Convention entered into force on November 11, 1990. As of February 2018, there are 190 Parties to the Convention. These include 185 out of 193 United Nations member states (not Equatorial Guinea, Kiribati, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Sudan, or Tuvalu) and the Holy See, the European Union, the Cook Islands, Niue, and the State of Palestine.

La Convention contre le trafic illicite de stupéfiants et de substances psychotropes de 1988, convoquée par l'ONU, fut ratifiée le 20 décembre 1988 à Vienne. Elle comporte 177 signataires au 2005 et fut mise en application le 11 novembre 1990.


Early life.

Lady Zhen was from Wuji County (), Zhongshan Commandery (), which is in present-day Wuji County, Hebei. She was a descendant of Zhen Han (), who served as a Grand Protector () in the late Western Han dynasty and later the General-in-Chief () during the short-lived Xin dynasty. Her father, Zhen Yi (), served as the Prefect of Shangcai County in the late Eastern Han dynasty. He died when Lady Zhen was about three years old. Lady Zhen's mother, whose maiden family name was Zhang (), was from Changshan Commandery (常山郡; around present-day Zhengding County, Hebei). Lady Zhen's parents had three sons and five daughters: eldest son Zhen Yu (), who died early; second son Zhen Yan (), who became a "xiaolian" and later served as an assistant to the General-in-Chief and as the Chief of Quliang County; third son Zhen Yao (), who was also a "xiaolian"; eldest daughter Zhen Jiang (); second daughter Zhen Tuo (); third daughter Zhen Dao (); fourth daughter Zhen Rong (). Lady Zhen was the youngest of the five daughters.  Zhen Yi once brought his children to meet Liu Liang (), a fortune teller, who commented on Lady Zhen, "This girl will become very noble in the future." Unlike many children of her age, the young Lady Zhen did not enjoy playing. Once, when she was eight years old, her sisters went to the balcony to watch a group of horse-riding performers outside their house but Lady Zhen did not join in. Her sisters were puzzled so they asked her, and she responded, "Is this something a girl should watch?" When she was nine years old, she became interested in scholarly arts and started reading books and using her brothers' writing materials. Her brothers told her, "You should be learning what women traditionally do (such as weaving). When you picked up reading, were you thinking of becoming a female academician?" Lady Zhen replied, "I heard that virtuous women in history learnt from the successes and failures of those who lived before them. If they didn't read, how did they learn all that?"  Towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, after the death of Emperor Ling, China entered a chaotic period because the central government's authority weakened, and regional officials and warlords started fighting each other in a bid to gain supremacy. The common people suffered from poverty and hunger, and many wealthy households who owned expensive items such as jewellery offered to sell these valuables in return for food. Lady Zhen's family had large stockpiles of grain, and they planned to take advantage of the situation to sell their grain in exchange for valuable items. Lady Zhen, who about 10 years old at the time, said to her mother, "It's not wrong to own expensive items, but in this chaotic era, owning such items has become a wrongdoing. Our neighbours are suffering from hunger, so why don't we distribute our surplus grain to our fellow townsfolk? This is an act of graciousness and kindness." Her family praised her for her suggestion and heeded her advice.  When Lady Zhen was 14, her second brother Zhen Yan () died, and she was deeply grieved. She continued to show respect towards Zhen Yan's widow, and even helped to raise Zhen Yan's son. Lady Zhen's mother was particularly strict towards her daughters-in-law and treated them harshly. Lady Zhen told her mother, "It's unfortunate that Second Brother died early. Second Sister-in-Law became widowed at such a young age and she's now left with only her son. You should treat your daughters-in-law better and love them as you would love your own daughters." Lady Zhen's mother was so deeply touched that she cried, and she started treating her daughters-in-law better and allowed them to accompany and wait on her.

Marriages to Yuan Xi and Cao Pi.

Sometime in the middle of the Jian'an era (196–220) of the reign of Emperor Xian, Lady Zhen married Yuan Xi, the second son of Yuan Shao, a warlord who controlled much of northern China. Yuan Shao later put Yuan Xi in charge of You Province, so Yuan Xi left to assume his appointment. Lady Zhen did not follow her husband and remained in Ye (in present-day Handan, Hebei), the administrative centre of Yuan Shao's domain, to take care of her mother-in-law.  Yuan Shao lost to his rival, Cao Cao, at the Battle of Guandu in 200 CE and died two years later. After his death, his sons Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang became embroiled in internecine struggles over their father's vast domain. When the Yuan brothers were exhausted from their wars against each other, Cao Cao attacked and defeated them, swiftly conquering the territories that used to be controlled by the Yuans. In 204, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shang at the Battle of Ye and his forces occupied the city. Cao Cao's son, Cao Pi, entered Yuan Shao's residence and met Lady Liu (Yuan Shao's widow) and Lady Zhen. Lady Zhen was so terrified that she buried her face in her mother-in-law's lap. Cao Pi said, "What's going on, Madam Liu? Ask that lady to lift up her head!" Cao Pi was very impressed and entranced by Lady Zhen's beauty when he saw her. His father allowed him to marry her later. Another account of this incident stated that Lady Liu and Lady Zhen were in Yuan Shang's residence when Cao Pi entered. Lady Zhen's hair was dishevelled and she was crying behind her mother-in-law. When Cao Pi asked, Lady Liu told him the woman behind her was Yuan Xi's wife. Cao Pi was so entranced by Lady Zhen's beauty that he married her and treated her well. Yuan Xi was still alive at the time. Yuan Shang came to join him after his defeat by Cao Cao. In 207, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Xi, Yuan Shang and their Wuhuan allies at the Battle of White Wolf Mountain, after which they fled to Liaodong to join the warlord Gongsun Kang. Gongsun Kang feared that they would become a threat to him, so he lured them into a trap, executed them, and sent their heads to Cao Cao.

As Cao Pi's wife.

Lady Zhen bore Cao Pi a son and a daughter. Their son, Cao Rui, later became the second emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. Their daughter, whose personal name was not recorded in history, was referred to as "Princess Dongxiang" (東鄉公主; literally "Princess of the East District") in historical records. Lady Zhen remained humble even though Cao Pi deeply fancied her. She provided encouragement to Cao Pi's other wives who were also adored by him, and comforted those whom he less favoured. She also often urged Cao Pi to take more concubines so that he would have more descendants, citing the example of the mythical Yellow Emperor. Cao Pi was very pleased. Once, Cao Pi wanted to send Lady Ren (), one of his concubines who fell out favour with him, back to her family – which meant that he was divorcing her. When Lady Zhen heard about it, she told her husband, "Lady Ren comes from a reputable clan. I can't match her in terms of moral character and looks. Why do you want to send her away?" Cao Pi replied, "She is unruly, impulsive and disobedient. She has made me angry many times before. I'm sending her away." Lady Zhen wept and pleaded with her husband, "Everyone knows that you love and adore me, and they'll think that you're sending Lady Ren away because of me. I fear that I'll be ridiculed and accused of abusing your favour towards me. Please consider your decision again carefully." Cao Pi ignored her and sent Lady Ren away.  In 211, Cao Cao embarked on a campaign to attack a coalition of northwestern warlords led by Ma Chao and Han Sui, leading to the Battle of Tong Pass and the subsequent battles. Cao Cao's wife Lady Bian followed her husband and stayed at Meng Ford (孟津; present-day Mengjin County, Henan), while Cao Pi remained in Ye (in present-day Handan, Hebei). Lady Bian fell ill during that time. Lady Zhen became worried when she heard about it and she cried day and night. She constantly sent messengers to inquire her mother-in-law's condition, but refused to believe them when they reported that Lady Bian was getting better, and she became filled with greater anxiety. Lady Bian later wrote a letter to her, telling her that she had fully recovered, and only then did Lady Zhen's worries disappear. About a year later, when Lady Bian returned to Ye, Lady Zhen rushed to see her mother-in-law and displayed mixed expressions of sadness and joy. Those who were present were all deeply moved by the scene before them. Lady Bian assured Lady Zhen that her illness was not serious and praised her for her filial piety.  In 216, Cao Cao launched another campaign to attack the southeastern warlord Sun Quan, leading to the Battle of Ruxu in 217. Lady Bian, Cao Pi, Cao Rui and Princess Dongxiang all followed Cao Cao on the campaign, but Lady Zhen remained in Ye because she was sick. When Cao Pi and Lady Zhen's children returned to Ye in late 217 after the campaign, Lady Bian's attendants were surprised to see that Lady Zhen was very cheerful. They asked, "Lady, you've not seen your children for about a year. We thought you would miss them and be worried about them, but yet you're so optimistic. Why is that so?" Lady Zhen laughed and replied, "Why should I be worried when (Cao) Rui and the others are with Madam (Lady Bian)?"

Death.

After Cao Cao died in early 220, his vassal king title – "King of Wei" () – was inherited by Cao Pi. Later that year, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian, whom he paid nominal allegiance to, to abdicate in his favour, effectively ending the Han dynasty. Cao Pi became the emperor and established the state of Cao Wei, which marked the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period. The dethroned Emperor Xian was reduced to the status of a duke – the Duke of Shanyang (). The former emperor presented his two daughters to Cao Pi to be his concubines. Cao Pi began to favour his other concubines, especially Guo Nüwang. When Lady Zhen realised that Cao Pi favoured her less, she started complaining. Cao Pi was furious when he heard about it. On 4 August 221, he sent an emissary to Ye (in present-day Handan, Hebei) to execute Lady Zhen by forcing her to take her own life. Lady Zhen was buried in Ye on 20 March 227.  Lady Zhen's downfall was due to Guo Nüwang, whom Cao Pi fancied. One year after Lady Zhen's death, Cao Pi instated Guo as the empress despite opposition from an official, Zhan Qian (). The historical text "Han Jin Chunqiu" () mentioned that Lady Zhen's body was desecrated after her death – her face was covered by her hair and rice husks were stuffed into her mouth. Cao Rui was raised by Guo Nüwang after Lady Zhen's death.

Alternative account of Lady Zhen's death.

The "Wei Shu" () mentioned that Cao Pi issued an edict to Lady Zhen, asking her to move to the newly constructed Changqiu Palace () in Luoyang. Lady Zhen declined humbly, stating that she felt that she was not capable enough to manage the imperial harem, and also because she was ill. Cao Pi then consecutively sent another two edicts but Lady Zhen rejected both. It was around summer at the time. Cao Pi intended to fetch Lady Zhen from Ye to Luoyang in autumn, when the weather was cooler. However, Lady Zhen died of illness in Ye a few months later. Cao Pi mourned her death and posthumously elevated her to the status of an empress.  Pei Songzhi, who added the "Wei Shu" account to Lady Zhen's biography in the "Sanguozhi", found the account dubious. He believed that there were specific reasons as to why Cao Pi did not instate Lady Zhen as the empress after he became the emperor, and why he forced her to commit suicide. He suspected that Lady Zhen had probably committed an offence, which was not recorded in the official histories of the Cao Wei state.

Alternative theories on Lady Zhen's death.

Many popular stories speculated that the reason for Lady Zhen's death was that she had a secret affair with Cao Pi's younger brother, Cao Zhi, even though this speculation is not supported by evidence and is improbable. Some more fantastical accounts alleged that she had an affair with Cao Cao as well; one example of this can be found in the "A New Account of the Tales of the World", in which Cao Cao started the Battle of Ye in 204 to obtain Lady Zhen.

Posthumous honours.

Cao Pi died on 29 June 226 and was succeeded by Cao Rui, who became the second ruler of Cao Wei. On 25 July 226, Cao Rui granted his mother the posthumous title "Empress Wenzhao", which literally means "cultured and diligent empress". Lady Zhen's family and relatives also received noble titles.  The historical text "Han Jin Chunqiu" mentioned that Cao Rui had all along been aware of his mother's fate, and he was angry and sad about it. After he became emperor, his stepmother Guo Nüwang became the empress dowager. When he asked her about how his mother died, Guo replied, "The Late Emperor was the one who ordered her death, so why are you asking me? You're your father's son so you can blame your dead father. Are you going to kill your stepmother for your real mother?" Cao Rui turned furious and forced Empress Dowager Guo to commit suicide. He had her buried with the funeral rites befitting that of an empress, but also ordered her dead body to be treated in the same manner as she did to his mother – hair covering face, mouth stuffed with rice husks. However, the historical text "Weilüe" stated that after Empress Dowager Guo died of illness in 235, Cao Pi's concubine Lady Li () told Cao Rui about the fate of his mother. Cao Rui was deeply grieved and he ordered Guo's dead body to be treated in the same manner as she did to his mother.

Reliability of alternative historical sources on Lady Zhen's life.

The authoritative historical source on Lady Zhen's life is the "Records of the Three Kingdoms" ("Sanguozhi"), which was written by Chen Shou in the third century. In the fifth century, Pei Songzhi annotated the "Sanguozhi" by incorporating information from other texts and adding his personal commentary. Some sources used in the annotations include: "Wei Shu" ("Book of Wei"), by Wang Chen, Xun Yi and Ruan Ji; "Weilüe" ("Brief History of Wei"), by Yu Huan. The original version of Lady Zhen's biography in the "Sanguozhi" did not contain the anecdotes about Zhen's excellent moral conduct, such as her care for her family members, her filial piety towards her mother-in-law Lady Bian, her tolerance of Cao Pi's other wives, etc. These accounts, which were mostly documented in the "Wei Shu" and the "Weilüe", were later added to the "Sanguozhi" by Pei Songzhi. In his commentary, Pei cast doubts on the anecdotes relating to the "virtuous deeds" of Lady Zhen and other noble ladies of Wei, because it was difficult to verify whether they were true or not due to a dearth of alternative sources. The "Wei Shu" and the "Weilüe" were among the official histories of Wei, so they were likely to be biased towards Lady Zhen, hence some of those anecdotes might have been fabricated by Wei historians to promote a positive image of Lady Zhen. Pei remarked that Chen Shou had done well in omitting the questionable information when he first compiled the "Sanguozhi".

Personal name.

Lady Zhen's personal name was not recorded in any surviving historical text. All near-contemporary sources, such as Chen Shou's "Sanguozhi" and Xi Zuochi's "Han Jin Chunqiu", refer to her as "Lady Zhen" (), "Madam Zhen" (), "Empress Zhen" (), or simply "(the) Empress" ().  The attachment of the names "Fu" () and "Luo" () to Lady Zhen came about due to the legend of a romance between her and Cao Zhi, which Robert Joe Cutter, a specialist in research on Cao Zhi, concludes to be "a piece of anecdotal fiction inspired by the <nowiki>[</nowiki>"Luo Shen Fu" (洛神賦; "Rhapsody on the Goddess of the Luo")<nowiki>]</nowiki> and taking advantage of the possibilities inherent in a triangle involving a beautiful lady, an emperor, and his romanticised brother."  A tradition dating back to at least as far as an undated, anonymous note edited into the Tang dynasty writer Li Shan's annotated "Wen Xuan" had Cao Zhi meeting the ghost of the recently deceased Empress Zhen, and writing a poem originally titled "Gan Zhen Fu" (感甄賦; "Rhapsody on Being Moved by Lady Zhen"). Afterwards, Cao Rui found this poem about his uncle's love for his mother, and changed the title to "Luo Shen Fu" (), which could be translated as "Rhapsody on the Goddess of the Luo" or "Rhapsody on the Divine Luo", this second interpretation presumably referencing Lady Zhen's personal name, Luo. If true, this would be a forename unique to early China, as the Chinese character '洛' has been a toponym since it entered the language.  The poem contains references to the spirit of the Luo River, named Consort Fu (), interpreted as a proxy for Empress Zhen by those who believed in Cao Zhi's infatuation with her. This interpretation becomes less allusive if Empress Zhen's personal name was actually "Fu".

In popular culture.

Lady Zhen is featured as a playable character in Koei's "Dynasty Warriors" and "Warriors Orochi" video game series. She is referred to as "Zhen Ji" (literally means "Consort Zhen" or "Lady Zhen" in Chinese) in the games. Though, like every female character in the franchise, the space between her name was removed from "Dynasty Warriors Next" and "Warriors Orochi 3" onward.  Miu Kam-fung portrayed Zhen Fu (Lady Zhen) in the 1975 Hong Kong television series "God of River Lok" produced by TVB, which features the romance between Lady Zhen and Cao Zhi. In 2002, TVB produced a similar television series titled "Where the Legend Begins", starring Ada Choi as Lady Zhen. There is also a 2013 Chinese television series "Legend of Goddess Luo" () produced by Huace Film and TV, starring Li Yixiao as Lady Zhen. The 2018 Chinese television series "Hello Dear Ancestors" () has a time travelling theme, starring Wang Ting as Zhen Fu and her lookalike in modern times.

Lady Zhen (26 January 183 – 4 August 221), personal name unknown, was the first wife of Cao Pi, the first ruler of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period. In 226, she was posthumously honoured as Empress Wenzhao when her son, Cao Rui, succeeded Cao Pi as the emperor of Wei.

Zhen Ji ou Zhen Luo (182/183–221) était la fille de Zhen Yi. Elle fut l'épouse de Yuan Xi, deuxième fils de Yuan Shao, avant de devenir la première femme de Cao Pi et l'Impératrice du Wei. Son fils, Cao Rui, devint Empereur à la mort de son père.


Background.

Starting in the late 1970s, Ford and Ghia started exploring a series of futuristic designs with the "Probe" series of concept vehicles. The Probe I, first shown in 1979, was a wedge-shaped design that incorporated a number of drag-reducing features like covered rear wheels and pop-up headlights. This was followed the next year by a much more conventional looking Probe II, whose hatchback styling was also reminiscent of the pony cars. The 1981 Probe III was an advanced demonstrator with covered wheels, but its bodywork evolved into the more conventional Ford Sierra (or Merkur XR4Ti) and styling notes that were used on the Ford Taurus. The 1983 Probe IV was a more radical concept car with a low Cd (drag coefficient), and evolved into the equally radical 1985 Probe V.  After the 1979 energy crisis, the economic slump initiated by high fuel prices prompted Ford to give the Ford Mustang a major redesign. The new design would be based on a totally new platform introduced to Ford by Japanese automaker Mazda, who had been partnering with Ford since 1971, and whom Ford had owned a 25% stake in since 1979. Toshi Saito, a North American-based designer working for Ford, took the lead in envisioning styling directions for the front-wheel drive Mustang, and a design by Saito was chosen and finalized in late 1983. The project was then transferred to Mazda in Hiroshima, Japan and in internal Ford parlance, was referred to by the codename "SN-16". It was intended to gradually phase out the RWD Fox platform Mustang under the name "Mustang Classic" and have it eventually supplanted by the SN-16 as the "Mustang."  By 1985, Mazda acquired the former Ford Flat Rock Assembly Plant in Flat Rock, Michigan and intended to commence production of the two Mazda-badged GD platform cars for North America, the 626 along with the MX-6, and the SN-16, contracted by Ford, in 1987.  Christopher Sawyer, writing for AutoWeek magazine, in their issue for April 13, 1987, was the first to publicly reveal the existence of the SN-16 Mustang in a sensational report that featured an artist rendering on the issue's cover of a vehicle nearly identical to what would be released as the 1989 Ford Probe GT stating "Exclusive: The '89 Mustang," along with detailed technical reports about its Mazda origins and switch to front-wheel drive. The public outcry was immediate, with many Mustang fans and pony car purists detesting the SN-16's Japanese engineering, front-wheel drive platform and lack of a V8 engine, which were anathema to traditional Mustang buyers and enthusiasts. Ford Motor Company executives, along with many car magazines received strongly-worded letters of criticism decrying the decision.  Neil Ressler, the then-chief of small car engineering at Ford, spoke about the internal cultural differences at Ford Motor Company which led to a strong disagreement between two factions that had radically different notions about what the Mustang should be:  By 1987, Alex Trotman, the newly-appointed vice president in charge of Ford's North American operations, with strong urging from Ford Marketing vice president Bob Rewey, a dedicated performance enthusiast, decided that in the light of consumer outrage, the SN-16 would not make a suitable Mustang. At this point, somewhat ironically, Mustang sales, which were lackluster, grew substantially after the article's publication, out of fear that it would be the last opportunity to purchase a traditional RWD V8 Mustang. While Trotman approved the development of a RWD successor, there were many difficulties, notably that the engineering budget for the Mustang was spent on the SN-16 and Ford was still recovering from a financial crisis of the early 1980s that brought the company close to bankruptcy until the Taurus arrived.  John Coletti, Ford's small-car engineering manager and a vociferous opponent of the SN-16 Mustang, said of the project, "I would rather have seen the Mustang name die than put the Mustang name on the Probe...".  Ken Dabrowski, Ford's small-car line manager, tapped Coletti to lead a skunkworks team that would develop a RWD Mustang successor with the understanding there would not be a full budget to create an entirely new car. Coletti's team heavily revised the 1979 Fox platform for the new car, which eventually became the fourth-generation Ford Mustang released for the 1994 model year.  However, production for the SN-16 was about to commence, meaning Ford had to put it on sale or lose its development budget along with further potential financial headaches if Ford would break its production contract with Mazda. It was decided that the SN-16 would be released as the Ford Probe in 1988, taking the name from Ford's line of futuristic concept vehicles, and be sold alongside the Mustang, which would continue production in its then-current form with minor refreshing. Instead of being aimed as a successor to the Mustang or as a rival to its traditional competitors, the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird, Ford would aim the Probe against popular imported sports coupes of the era such as the Toyota Celica and Honda Prelude.  Both generations of the Probe were sold in Japan as Fords, at Ford/Mazda sales channels called Autorama. Japanese models were not in compliance with Japanese Government regulations concerning exterior dimensions and engine displacement, resulting in Japanese buyers being held liable for additional taxes as a result.  The Probe was a sales success in its first model year, owing to its futuristic styling and enjoyable driving experience. In fact, demand exceeded supply in 1988, enough that buyers were paying list price or higher for a Probe, and Jim Mateja, the automotive columnist for the "Chicago Tribune", urged potential Probe buyers who couldn't find a Probe to consider its sibling, the Mazda MX-6. Sales of the first-generation Probe were successful enough that Ford partnered with Mazda again, with further Ford engineering from the beginning of the project, to create a second-generation Probe for the 1993 model year developed alongside a second-generation Mazda MX-6. A proposed third-generation Probe, which would have been based on the Ford Mondeo instead of being Mazda-derived, was eventually released as the 1999 Mercury Cougar in the North American market to strengthen the Mercury brand. However, it is important to note that Ford in North America considered the Escort-based ZX2 the official successor to the Probe and not the Cougar. After disappointing sales of the Cougar and the waning popularity of front-wheel drive sport coupes in the late 1990s in favor of sport utility vehicles, Ford left the market segment with the 2002 discontinuation of the Cougar, and the 2003 discontinuation of the ZX2.

First generation (1988–1992).

The first generation Ford Probe was based on the Mazda GD platform, and was powered by a 2.2 L SOHC 4-cylinder Mazda F2 engine. It debuted in 1988 for the 1989 model year and was produced until 1992 in the United States. The Probe was available in several trim levels that differ depending on the market in which the vehicle was sold. In the United States, the Probe was available in GL, LX, and GT trim levels:  The 1991 Probe was given a 4-star crash rating in collision tests conducted by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Second generation (1993–1997).

The Ford and Mazda design teams merged once again to give the Ford Probe a complete redesign for the 1993 model year. As before, the Probe was to share its under-structure with Mazda's MX-6 and 626. Mazda engineered the engine, transmission, and chassis, while Ford engineered the body and interior. Technically, the second generation Probe is 60% Mazda and 40% Ford. Despite the car being extended 2 inches and widened 4 inches, it was 125 pounds lighter than the first generation Probe. The second generation Probe was introduced in August 1992 as a 1993 model. As first planned during 1992, it finally went on sale in Europe in the spring of 1994, filling the gap left there by Ford in that market sector since the demise of the Capri seven years earlier. The Capri had regularly been one of Britain's 10 best selling cars throughout the 1970s, but its popularity declined in the early 1980s as Ford launched high performance versions of the Fiesta, Escort and Sierra hatchbacks. Such was the falling demand for this type of car that by 1986, when the end of Capri production was announced, Ford decided against launching a direct replacement.  The second-generation Probe was designed by a team led by Mimi Vandermolen, who led the interior design of the 1986 Ford Taurus. In 1987, Vandermolen became the first female designer to be the design executive of small cars for an automobile manufacturer, and Vandermolen designed the Probe to improve the driving experience for women, stating "If I can solve all the problems inherent in operating a vehicle for a woman, that'll make it that much easier for a man to use."  However, the late 1980s and early 1990s saw the sales of affordable sports cars recover, first with a rising demand for Japanese built models like the Honda Prelude, Nissan Silvia, Mitsubishi Eclipse, and Toyota Celica, and then with the Volkswagen Corrado and the Vauxhall/Opel Calibra from Ford's direct competitor General Motors. By 1992, Ford had decided that there was now justifiable demand in Europe for a new affordable sports coupe to be launched.  Ford had been hoping to sell around 20,000 Probes each year in Britain as the car market recovered from the effects of the recession from 1992, but in the three years it was sold there, a total of just over 15,000 were sold - around a quarter of the projected figure for that length of time. Imports ceased during 1997, and its Cougar successor - launched a year later - was even less successful, being imported to Europe for just two years.  By February 2016, just 718 examples of the Probe were still in use in Britain.  The base model started at just over US $13,000 and came standard with the 2.0L Mazda FS 16-valve 4-cylinder engine, performance instrument cluster with tachometer and full gauge complement, and an electronic AM/FM stereo. The sportier GT model started at $15,504 and came standard with the 2.5L Mazda K engine KL-DE 24-valve V6, low profile P225/50VR16 91V Goodyear VR50 Gatorback tires, 4-wheel disc brakes, unique front and rear fascias, fog lights, 5-spoke aluminum wheels, leather-wrapped steering wheel, and driver-seat power lumbar/seat back side bolster adjustment. Both engines featured dual overhead cam designs with the choice of a 5-speed manual transmission or a 4-speed automatic transmission.  Two automatic transmissions were available in the Probe. At first both engines shared the same automatic transmission, the Ford F-4EAT transmission, but from 1994 onwards this changed. The V6 engine continued to use the 4EAT, but the 2.0 L I4 engine used a different automatic transmission, the Ford CD4E transmission. It was sourced by Ford, and manufactured at Ford's Batavia Transmission plant in Batavia, Ohio.  A new SE (Sport Edition) trim level was available for 1995 and 1996. It included the GT front fascia (without fog lamps), unique aluminum wheels, P205/55R15 BSW and Sport Edition "SE" nomenclature.  In a coast to coast road test by Automobile Magazine in search of the best cars in the world, the Probe GT scored third place, behind an $80,000 Mercedes-Benz and an $80,000 BMW. In the article, the Probe listed at about $15,000.

Special editions.

For 1993 and 1994, Ford offered a "SE" appearance package on the base model Probe. The package offered 3 spoke swirl-style alloy wheels, the GT model's ground effects, and the GT model's front bumper. Unlike the base, you were able to opt for power windows and mirrors on the SE package. Appearance wise, the only noticeable differences from the GT model were the wheels, "SE" nomenclature, rear bumper w/o air slot and lack of fog lights. "SE" was an appearance package and not an actual model or trim level. "SE" became a trim level in 1995 and was the middle grade model in the Probe lineup ahead of the base but behind the GT.  In 1994, Ford released a limited edition of the Probe, marketed as the Probe "Feature Car", but officially called the "GT Plus" package. This special package is better known to the general public and enthusiast community as the Probe "Wild Orchid Edition". Included on this limited appearance package was Wild Orchid exterior paint, "PROBE" badge on floor mats outlined in Wild Orchid, black cloth bucket seats with unique Wild Orchid inserts, and the "PROBE" badge on the rear outlined in Wild Orchid. This package was offered in 1994 only, and was exclusive to GT models. After dropping the Probe Feature Car after only a year of production, Ford carried over the Wild Orchid exterior color for the 1995 model year which was available on all Probe models.  In 1997, a "GTS" package was offered on the Probe GT. It was essentially nothing more than an appearance package, as performance was identical to the GT, but differences with the exterior were distinct. Dual racing stripes available in either white or black started at the top edge of the front bumper and continued on to the back lip of the hatch, terminating just below the center light reflector on the rear bumper. A chrome plated version of the GT's directional "swirlie" wheels and a spoiler were also included in the package, as well as having a "blank" center reflector which lacked "GT" lettering as the regular GT models have. The "GTS" was an appearance package and not an actual model or trim level. Very few Probes were produced with the GTS package and are considered today to be extremely rare.

Models/trim levels.

In most other markets outside North America, trim levels were labeled as simply 16v (I4) and 24v (V6).

Year to year changes.

1994  1995  1996  1997

Proposed third generation.

The last Probe was built on June 20, 1997. A third-generation model, using the same platform as the Ford Contour, was under development intended for release in mid-1998 as a 1999 model. When Ford decided to discontinue the Probe, this new design became the next-generation Mercury Cougar. The name change was intended to attract younger buyers into Mercury showrooms, but this proved unsuccessful. The Escort ZX2, released shortly after the discontinuation of the Probe, was considered the Probe's successor. In June 1998, Ford released what would have been the new Probe as the 1999 Mercury Cougar.

Awards.

The Probe "GT" was "Motor Trend" magazine's Car of the Year for 1993. It also made "Car and Driver" magazine's Ten Best list for 1989, 1993, and 1994.  The "NASCAR Dash Series" version of a 1990 Ford Probe driven by Jeffrey Collier set a new track record at "Daytona International Speedway" February 13, 1990 with a speed of 166.553 mph. That record still stands as the fastest closed course lap for a non-turbo 4-cylinder powered car.

The Ford Probe was a liftback coupé produced by Ford, introduced in 1988 and produced until 1997. The Probe was the result of Ford's collaboration with its longtime Japanese partner, Mazda, and both generations of Probe were derived from the front-wheel drive Mazda G platform that underpinned the Mazda Capella.

La Ford Probe est un modèle d'automobile de la marque Ford. Elle est destinée premièrement en 1993 à remplacer la Ford Mustang et à conquérir le marché Européen où les coupées sportives ont un succès grandissant : Nissan 200SX, BMW série 3, Toyota Supra...


Biography.

Léon Damas was born in Cayenne, French Guiana, to Ernest Damas, a mulatto of European and African descent, and Bathilde Damas, a Métisse of Native American and African ancestry. In 1924, Damas was sent to Martinique to attend the Lycée Victor Schoelcher (a secondary school), where he would meet his lifelong friend and collaborator Aimé Césaire.  In 1929, Damas moved to Paris to continue his studies. There, he reunited with Césaire and was introduced to Leopold Senghor. In 1935, the three young men published the first issue of the literary review "L'Étudiant Noir" (The Black Student), which provided the foundation for what is now known as the Négritude Movement, a literary and ideological movement of French-speaking black intellectuals that rejects the political, social and moral domination of the West.  In 1937, Damas published his first volume of poetry, "Pigments". He enlisted in the French Army during World War II, and later was elected to the French National Assembly (1948–51) as a deputy from Guiana. In the following years, Damas traveled and lectured widely in Africa, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. He also served as the contributing editor of "Présence Africaine", one of the most respected journals of Black studies, and as senior adviser and UNESCO delegate for the Society of African Culture.  In 1970 Damas and his Brazilian-born wife Marietta, moved to Washington, D.C., to take a summer teaching job at Georgetown University. During the last years of his life, he taught at Howard University in Washington and served as acting director of the school’s African Studies program. He died on January 22, 1978, in Washington and was buried in Guyana. Although the political aspect of his poetry held less appeal in the later years of the twentieth century, Damas’s reputation was on the rise. His poems, which sometimes experimented with typography and with the sound of words, were astonishingly modern for their time, and they seemed to anticipate the black poetry, both English and French, of a much later timeframe.

References.

3.^Miller, E. Ethelbert. “In Memoriam: Dr. Leon Gontran Damas (1912-1978).” Callaloo, no. 2, 1978, pp. 61–61. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2930776.

Léon-Gontran Damas (March 28, 1912 – January 22, 1978) was a French poet and politician. He was one of the founders of the Négritude movement. He had also used the pseudonym Lionel Georges André Cabassou.

Léon-Gontran Damas (né le à Cayenne, mort le à Washington, DC), est un poète, écrivain et homme politique français. Enfant d'un père guyanais et d'une mère martiniquaise, il appartient à la classe aisée créole. Il a une scolarité brillante ce qui lui permet de poursuivre des études universitaires en droit puis en langues (russe, japonais et baoulé) à l'École des langues orientales de Paris. Là, il rencontre de nombreux intellectuels et artistes noirs de tous horizons et participe dans cette émulsion intellectuelle à l'émergence du mouvement de la Négritude.


Becoming the king of ghosts.

According to folklore, Zhong Kui travelled with a friend from his hometown, Du Ping (杜平), to take part in the state-wide imperial examinations held in the capital city. Though Zhong Kui attained great academic success through his achievement of top honours in the major exams, his rightful title of "Zhuangyuan" (top-scorer) was stripped from him by the emperor because of his disfigured and ugly appearance. In anger and fury, Zhong Kui committed suicide by continually hurling himself against the palace gates until his head was broken, whereupon Du Ping had him buried and laid to rest. During the divine judgment after his death from suicide, Yama (the Chinese Hell King) saw much potential in Zhong Kui, intelligent and smart enough to score top honours in the imperial examinations but condemned to Hell because of the grave sin of suicide. Yama then gave him a title as the king of ghosts, and tasked him to hunt, capture, take charge of and maintain discipline and order among all ghosts. After Zhong Kui became the king of ghosts in Hell, he returned to his hometown on Chinese New Year's eve. To repay Du Ping's kindness, Zhong Kui gave his younger sister in marriage to Du Ping.

Popularization in later dynasties.

Zhong Kui's popularity in folklore can be traced to the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang China (712 to 756). According to Song Dynasty sources, once the Emperor Xuanzong was gravely ill and had a dream in which he saw two ghosts. The smaller of the ghosts stole a purse from imperial consort Yang Guifei and a flute belonging to the emperor. The larger ghost, wearing the hat of an official, captured the smaller ghost, tore out his eye and ate it. He then introduced himself as Zhong Kui. He said that he had sworn to rid the empire of evil. When the emperor awoke, he had recovered from his illness. So he commissioned the court painter Wu Daozi to produce an image of Zhong Kui to show to the officials. This was highly influential to later representations of Zhong Kui.

Legacy.

Zhong Kui and his legend became a popular theme in later Chinese painting, art, and folklore. Pictures of Zhong Kui used to be frequently hung up in households to scare away ghosts. His character was and still is especially popular in New Year pictures.

Zhong Kui () is a deity in Chinese and also Japanese mythology (where his name is pronounced Shōki). Traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings, and reputedly able to command 80,000 demons, his image is often painted on household gates as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business where high-value goods are involved.

Zhong Kui ( ; en japonais : Shōki) est un exorciste légendaire originaire de Chine. Il est souvent représenté dans l'art japonais. Il y apparaît barbu, armé d'une longue épée et portant parfois un large chapeau de paille. Ce héros combat et met à mort des "oni" (diables japonais).


Membership and rise.

Following the end of Clarendon Ministry in 1667, in a cloud of accusations of incompetence and corruption, the conduct of the government of Charles II fell to a loose coalition of energetic young ministers, the "Cabal".  The linchpin of the Cabal was probably George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. Although he only held the household office of Master of the Horse, with responsibility for overseeing the King's travel arrangements, Buckingham was a long and close associate of King Charles II, having been practically raised together since they were children, during the close association of their fathers, Charles I and the first Duke of Buckingham, a relationship they consciously compared themselves to in adulthood, and might have replicated had the younger Buckingham possessed the skills of his father. Nonetheless, Buckingham was in constant contact and clear favourite of the king, and the centre of the Cabal's grip on power. Gilbert Burnet, who knew some of its members personally, said that Buckingham stood somewhat apart from the rest of the Cabal, hating them and being hated in return.  The Lord High Treasurer Wriothesley having died just before Clarendon's departure, the Treasury went into commission in 1667, under the nominal chairmanship of George Monck (Duke of Albermarle). But as Monck was practically retired from public life, control of the Treasury commission was taken up by Sir Thomas Clifford (Comptroller and soon Treasurer of the Household) and Anthony Ashley Cooper (Chancellor of the Exchequer). With the assistance of their close associates John Duncombe (Ashley's deputy at the Exchequer), Stephen Fox (the Paymaster of the Forces) and notably Sir George Downing, the highly capable secretary to the Treasury commission, Clifford and Ashley overhauled the monarchical finances, placing them in a much more solvent state than before.  Foreign affairs was principally directed by Henry Bennet, Earl of Arlington (Secretary of the South), with occasional assistance from George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. (Although foreign affairs were notionally in the purview of the Secretary of the North, the Cabal bullied Sir William Morice into selling the seat to Sir John Trevor, and then sidelined the latter.)  John Maitland, Earl of Lauderdale (Secretary of State for Scotland) had already consolidated his position in 1663 by securing the dismissal of his principal rival, John Middleton (Lord High Commissioner to the Parliament of Scotland) and his replacement by the more pliable John Leslie, Earl of Rothes. In 1669, Lauderdale went one step further, and got Leslie dismissed and the Lord High Commissioner position for himself, consolidating his hold and ruling Scotland as a virtual autocrat for the remainder of his career.  Sir Orlando Bridgeman, the Royalist lawyer who had prosecuted the Regicides, and who took over Clarendon's duties as Lord Keeper of the Great Seal in 1667, was outside of this inner circle, although cooperative with their goals.  Despite their comparative energy and efficiency, the Cabal was a fractious and unpopular lot. Although perceived as a secretive and unsavoury junta, they rarely formed a united front, and their internal quarrels often spilled over into the public arena. J. P. Kenyon suggests that the King actually encouraged the Cabal members to quarrel, in the belief that this made them easier to control. They in turn, never trusted him not to bring them down as he had brought down Clarendon, and as Kenyon remarks, they hardly dared turn their backs on him for fear of sudden dismissal. It was said that the King treated his ministers very much as he did his mistresses: "he used them, but he was not in love with them, and was tied to them no more than they to him, which implies sufficient liberty on either side". Sir William Coventry, the Secretary to the Admiralty, resigned from office following a duel challenge from the Duke of Buckingham, and re-emerged in the House of Commons at the head of a group of MPs known as the "Country Party", which loudly opposed the Cabal and its policies. Causing poor relations with members of parliament, Charles II acceded to the Cabal's recommendation to prorogue parliament repeatedly, keeping it out of session for as long as he could, and leaving the Cabal to run the country on their own. In financial exigency (a pressing need to levy taxes), following the Great Stop of the Exchequer in 1672 and the outbreak of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, Charles was obliged to re-convene parliament in 1673 and the parliamentarians were bent on revenge.

Split and fall.

The Cabal began to split in 1672, particularly over the autocratic nature of the King's Royal Declaration of Indulgence, the financing of the Third Anglo-Dutch War, and Britain's relationship with France. Personal rivalries and a conflict over foreign policy between Buckingham and Arlington escalated. The Ministry became very unpopular, characterised by arbitrary rule; the public saw them as "untrustworthy, venal and self-seeking, their eyes always on the main chance". Towards the end of the year, Ashley, now the Earl of Shaftesbury, became Lord Chancellor, leaving Treasury matters to Clifford and the Exchequer to Duncombe. He pressed publicly for greater reform of government, taking the side of the Opposition against his colleagues and the King. Clifford resigned over the in-fighting and retired from public life: as an open Roman Catholic he would in any case have been debarred by the Test Act of 1673 from holding office in the future. Shaftesbury was replaced by Viscount Osborne, soon to become Earl of Danby, in the summer of 1673, on the recommendation of Buckingham and Clifford. Danby immediately established his authority over the remaining members of the Cabal. Buckingham's feud with Arlington saw him leak the details of the Treaty of Dover and fall from favour in 1674. Arlington survived as Southern Secretary until September of that year. Lauderdale retained his position and his relatively power in Scotland, becoming an enemy of Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury began to agitate against Charles and his brother, the Duke of York, later James II; he briefly returned to government in the Privy Council Ministry and took a lead in forming the partisan group that would eventually become known as the Whigs.  The Cabal was later called by Lord Macauley, British historian and Whig politician, "the first germ of the present system of government by a Cabinet".

Ministry.

These five members made up the "cabal" (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, Lauderdale), which held most of the power within the government.  The remaining members of the ministry, as would be expected, held less power than the cabal.

The Cabal ministry or the CABAL refers to a group of high councillors of King Charles II of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1668 to.

Le ministère de la Cabale était un conseil privé qu'avait formé Charles II, roi d'Angleterre, et qui pendant cinq ans (1669-1674) exerça une influence notable sur les affaires du pays.


Biography.

In 1981, the band released an EP, "Magazine 60", by Barclay Records. It sold over 260,000 copies in France, making the Top Ten, and became a gold record. One of the original singers, Danielle Delval left the band that year and was replaced by Michele Callewart. In 1982, the band released their first album, "60's Slows", which sold over 280,000 copies and made Top Ten. The band then released two music videos internationally and went on tour.  After several more line-up changes, the band decided to take a new direction in the mid-1980s. Pierre (Dit El Chico), Dominique, Véromique released the singles "Don Quichotte (No Están Aquí)" and "Rendez-vous sur la Costa del Sol," both of which appeared on the 1985 album that followed, "Costa del Sol". "Don Quichotte" became the band's most successful hit in the U.S. However, the "Costa del Sol" album would not be released in America until 1987, by which point, the group had lost momentum there.  In 2007, the singer of The Black Eyed Peas, Will.i.am, sample resumes Don Quichotte in his song I Got it from My Mama. By June 2013, the music of Don Quichotte tube (No están aquí) starring Dominique and Pierre resumed, this time in an advertising Sosh the mobile brand. A single entitled Don Quichotte – Edit TV comes in the wake still under the name Magazine 60. The title is also on the compilation Hit 2013 – Special September. Pierre ex member of Magazine 60, began a solo career, taking his original titles Don Quichotte, Costa Del Sol, Pancho Villa and his creations in Mexico Come On, Dont Play Love, etc.

Magazine 60 was a French synthpop band founded by music producer, Jean-Luc Drion. Other members are Dominique Régiacorte, Pierre Mastro and Véronique Olivier. The group was best known for the 1984 song, "Don Quichotte," which hit the Top 10 in France and the Top 60 in the United States in 1986.

Magazine 60 est un groupe français fondé en 1981 par Jean-Luc Drion, producteur indépendant et la fratrie Delval (Yves, Marc, Danielle Delval). Par la suite, Dominique et Pierre Mastro, interprète de "Don Quichotte (No estan aqui)" vont participer au groupe. Ils sont tous originaires de la région lilloise. Le groupe se consacre d'abord à des reprises de succès des années 1960 puis, à la suite d'une scission en 1983, fait de l'eurodisco-synthpop. En 1984, toujours sous le nom de Magazine 60, sortent plusieurs 45 tours de synthpop dont deux entrent dans les charts : "Don Quichotte (No estan aqui)" et "Rendez-vous sur la Costa del Sol", avec Dominique Regia-Corte (ou Régiacorte) comme compositeur-interprète et Pierre, ex-Magazine 60, dit "El Chico", comme guitariste vocal compositeur.


Early life.

Often called "Katia," Gordeeva was born in Moscow, Soviet Union (now Russia) to Elena Lvovna Gordeeva, a teletype operator for TASS, and Alexander Alexeyevich Gordeev, a dancer for the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble. Gordeeva said, "[My father] worked with me on movement very often when I was little." Gordeeva has a younger sister, Maria Alexandrovna Gordeeva (born 1975), who lives in Moscow.

Pairs career.

Gordeeva began figure skating at age four, when she entered Children and Youth Sports School of CSKA Moscow. She wore multiple pairs of socks inside skates many sizes too big because skates small enough for her feet were unavailable in the Soviet Union. She was not a particularly strong jumper, and in August 1981, coach Vladimir Zaharov paired the 11-year-old Gordeeva with the 15-year-old Sergei Grinkov. Because Grinkov frequently missed practice, their coach eventually insisted that Gordeeva pair with someone else, but she refused. Instead, the pair changed coaches.  Gordeeva and Grinkov won the 1985 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The following year they won the first of their four World Figure Skating Championships. They are one of the few pair teams to win back-to-back junior and senior world championship titles. They successfully defended their world title in 1987. In November 1987, Grinkov caught a blade on the ice during a practice session and dropped Gordeeva on her forehead. She was hospitalized for a time, but they were still able to compete in and win a gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics, which began the following February in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They remain the youngest pairs team ever to win Olympic gold. After a fall in their long program, they took silver at the World Championships in 1988, but reclaimed the title in 1989 and 1990. They turned professional in the fall 1990, winning their first World Professional Championship in 1991. They also won that title in 1992 and 1994.  Gordeeva and Grinkov won almost every competition they entered. In the 31 competitions whose results are known at the senior and professional levels, they finished first 24 times and never lower than second place from the time they won their first senior world title. They are one of the few pair teams in history to successfully complete a quadruple twist lift in international competition. They landed the difficult element with ease at the 1987 World Championships. They also completed the element at the 1987 European Championships, but due to a problem with Grinkov's boot strap and a misunderstanding about the rules (the referee signaled them to stop, going so far as to turn off their music, but they continued skating), they were disqualified from that event. They stopped performing the quad twist because it made no significant improvement to their marks, making the added physical stress unnecessary. Katia writes in her book, "My Sergei: A Love Story," that this element raised her heart rate and blood pressure to levels that alarmed the Soviet team's doctors. "That summer we had learned a very difficult move called the quadruple split twist," she wrote, "in which Sergei threw me in the air, I did a split, then closed my legs and made four turns before he caught me. We were the only pair to do this quadruple element, and it was very exhausting—more exhausting than difficult, really. Soviet doctors had measured my pulse rate as exceeding two hundred beats per minute when I did it."  By 1989, the skating partnership had grown into a romantic relationship. They shared their first kiss on New Year's Eve 1988 and were married in April 1991. Their state wedding was on 20 April and the church wedding was on 28 April. From November 1991 through April 1992, they toured with Stars on Ice for the first time. On 11 September 1992, their daughter, Daria Sergeyevna Grinkova, was born in Morristown, New Jersey. Shortly after Daria's birth, Gordeeva resumed training for the new season of Stars on Ice, which premiered in November 1992 and continued through the following April.  When a new ISU rule allowed professional skaters to regain their Olympic eligibility, Gordeeva and Grinkov decided to return to amateur competition for the 1993–94 season and skate in the Olympics. In 1994, the couple won their second Olympic gold medal in Lillehammer, Oppland, Norway.  After the Olympics, the pair returned to professional skating and moved to Simsbury, Connecticut. During the 1994–95 season, they toured with Stars on Ice, this time as headliners. That year, Gordeeva was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" by People Magazine. That summer, Gordeeva and Grinkov were chosen for induction into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame.  They planned to return to Stars on Ice for their fourth season with the tour. On 20 November 1995, while the pair were rehearsing in Lake Placid, New York for opening night of the upcoming tour, Grinkov collapsed on the ice and died at age 28 from a massive heart attack. Doctors later discovered that he had a congenital heart condition which caused his death.  Arguably the most influential, celebrated and highly decorated pair team in the history of the sport, many consider them to be the greatest pair team ever to take the ice. They are often referred to simply as "G&G". They were known for the quality of their basic skating technique: "Grinkov and Gordeeva had something special that was more easily appreciated in person. They didn't make noise when they skated. They moved so fluidly that their blades whispered over the ice, not scratching at it."

Solo career.

In February 1996, Gordeeva returned to the ice, this time as a solo performer. Her first performance was a tribute to her late husband, skated to the "Adagietto" section of Gustav Mahler's "Symphony No. 5." The number was publicly performed only twice, first at a preview performance at the Minto Skating Club in Ottawa, Ontario and then on 27 February 1996, in a televised tribute to Grinkov called "Celebration of a Life," in which numerous skating luminaries took part. Gordeeva has said that she felt as if she skated with Sergei that night, that she was "double strong" because she felt him with her. The same year, with the aid of author E. M. Swift, she told her story in a book titled "". In February 1998, CBS aired an eponymous docudrama based on the book. She published a second book in April 1998, titled "A Letter for Daria". In 1998, she told an interviewer that "My life of great skating, and skating with him, is over... I don't try to go now for Olympics. I take skating for a job."  Gordeeva returned to Stars on Ice as a solo skater in 1996 and toured with the show every year until 2000, when she took time off to give birth to another daughter, Elizaveta Ilinichna Kulik, in June 2001. Gordeeva has returned to the tour as a guest star many times, but has never returned to full-time touring. In addition to tours and shows, Gordeeva competed successfully as a professional solo skater, finishing as high as second place at the World Professional Championships (in 1997). She stopped competing in 2000, but continues to skate in professional skating tours, shows and competitions. While she has never returned to pair skating as a full-time endeavor, she has performed pair elements in many shows through the years with partners including Artur Dmitriev, Anton Sikharulidze, David Pelletier and John Zimmerman. For the 1998–1999 season of Stars on Ice, she and fellow Russians Ilia Kulik, Elena Bechke and Denis Petrov performed a quartet which showcased her pair skills, and in 1999–2000, she and Kulik skated a romantic duet during the tour.  Gordeeva has signed several endorsement contracts, the most notable of which was with Target and led to two perfumes ("Katia" and "Katia Sport") which were sold through Target stores. Gordeeva and her daughter, Daria, appeared in the 1997 holiday movie "Snowden on Ice" as part of the "CBS Sports Special;" Gordeeva appeared in the 1998 sequel, "Snowden's Raggedy Ann and Andy Holiday Show". She has represented Rolex and also appeared with Daria in a "Got Milk?" ad.  In 2001, she was the subject of a Lenox figurine called "Katia's Celebration of Life," which depicts her performing a layback spin in the tribute she skated for Grinkov. She also appeared in the 2003 "Sports Illustrated" Swimsuit Issue as a featured athlete. In 2003, she appeared on the ice for the first time with Daria. The pair performed a duet during a Mother's Day show and took the ice together several times since 2003, including two different versions of Amy Grant's "Children of the World" at Kristi Yamaguchi's "Family & Friends" shows in 2005 and 2006. During that show in 2007, the mother-daughter duo became a trio when they were joined by Gordeeva's younger daughter, Liza, and all three skated together to "Homesick" performed live by The Cheetah Girls. Since 2007, all three are amateur skaters together.  In 2007, Gordeeva starred in "Skate for the Heart", a show designed to raise awareness of heart disease. She skated in honor of Grinkov. Gordeeva briefly returned to pairs skating during the 2008–09 season when she participated in a Russian reality television show called "Ice Age 2", a figure skating version of "Dancing with the Stars". She was paired with Russian actor Egor Beroev and they won the show. During the taping of "Ice Age 2", she flew to the United States from Russia to headline "Skate for the Heart" a second time. She dedicated a number to the memory of her father, Alexander Gordeev, who died of a heart attack in 2008. In 2010, she was paired with hockey player Valeri Bure in another figure skating reality show, "Battle of the Blades". In the 22 November 2010 finale, she and Bure won the competition. Gordeeva rejoined Stars on Ice in November 2010 for the 25th Anniversary Tour.  In addition to her skating, Gordeeva has ventured into coaching and choreography.

Personal life.

Gordeeva and Grinkov had a state wedding on 20 April 1991 and a church wedding on 28 April. Their daughter, Daria Sergeyevna Gordeeva-Grinkova, was born on 11 September 1992, in Morristown, New Jersey. On 20 November 1995, Grinkov died of a heart attack during practice in Lake Placid, New York.  On 15 June 2001, Gordeeva gave birth to her second daughter, Elizaveta (or the diminutive "Liza," pronounced LEE-za) Ilinichna Kulik. Her father is 1998 Olympic men's singles champion Ilia Kulik. Gordeeva and Kulik married in a private ceremony in San Francisco on June 10, 2002.  Gordeeva and her family resided in California for several years before moving to Avon, Connecticut in 2003. They returned to the Los Angeles area in 2007 and currently reside in Newport Beach, California. Gordeeva, Kulik, Daria, and Elizaveta made their first televised appearance as a family for Kristi Yamaguchi's Friends and Family in 2005 and appeared in the 2006 and 2007 versions of the show. Gordeeva and her family speak Russian at home and travel to Russia frequently.  In 2012, Kulik and Gordeeva opened Kulik's Skating, an ice rink and figure skating training environment in Lake Forest, California. Gordeeva and Kulik divorced in 2016.

Programs.

Paired with Sergei Grinkov.

Results.

Paired with Sergei Grinkov.

Publications.

"My Sergei: A Love Story".

"My Sergei: A Love Story" was written by Gordeeva with "Sports Illustrated" writer E. M. Swift and published in 1996. Gordeeva's account of her years together with Grinkov topped the New York Times Best Seller list and includes many black-and-white and color photos from Gordeeva and Grinkov's personal collection, as well as publicity photos from their various touring groups, such as Stars On Ice. A made-for-television movie version of "My Sergei" was also made. Starring the Russian pair Elena Berezhnaya / Anton Sikharulidze, it included interviews with family and friends and archival skating footage.

"A Letter for Daria".

The children's book "A Letter for Daria" was written by Gordeeva for her daughter. It is an autobiographical letter from mother to daughter about childhood memories, skating, differences between Russian and American culture and the importance of family. It includes several pictures from Gordeeva's personal collection.

Ekaterina "Katia" Alexandrovna Gordeeva (; born 28 May 1971) is a Russian figure skater. Together with her partner and husband, the late Sergei Grinkov, she was the 1988 and 1994 Olympic Champion and four-time World Champion (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990) in pair skating. After Grinkov's death, Gordeeva continued performing as a singles skater.

Ekaterina Gordeeva (), née le 28 mai 1971 à Moscou, est une patineuse artistique russe. Elle a remporté, avec son partenaire Sergueï Grinkov, avec lequel elle s'est mariée en 1991, deux titres de champions olympiques et quatre titres de champions du monde en patinage artistique pour couples.


Etymology.

The generic name "Trapa" is derived from the Latin word for "thistle", "calcitrappa", as also is another common name for the water caltrop.  The Chinese name is "língjiǎo" (菱角), "líng" meaning "caltrop" and "jiǎo" meaning "horn". This is often rendered as ling nut by English-speakers.  In India and Pakistan, the plant has different regional names, such as "siṅghāḍā" (Hindi: सिंघाडा), "śṛṅgāṭaka" (Sanskrit), "pānī-phal" (Hindi: पानीफल, Urdu: سنگھارا) "śiṅgoḍā" (Gujarati: શિંગોડા), "heikrak" (Manipuri: ꯍꯩꯀ꯭ꯔꯛ), "pani singada" (Odia: ପାଣିସିଙ୍ଗଡ଼ା), "xiŋori" (Assamese: শিঙৰি), "hiṅgrai" (Sylheti: ꠢꠤꠋꠞꠣꠁ). This fruit's Bengali name is "shingara/paniphol" (সিঙ্গারা/পানিফল).  In Kashmiri it is called "gore ("گور). In Montenegro it is abundant in Lake Skadar and known as "kasaronja". The plant's name in Japanese is "hishi", a word meaning "diamond- or lozenge-shaped".

Biology.

The water caltrop's submerged stem reaches in length, anchored into the mud by very fine roots. It has two types of leaves, finely divided, feather-like submerged leaves borne along the length of the stem, and undivided floating leaves borne in a rosette at the water's surface. The floating leaves have saw-tooth edges and are ovoid or triangular in shape, 2–3 cm long, on inflated petioles 5–9 cm long, which provide added buoyancy for the leafy portion. Four-petalled white flowers form in early summer and are insect-pollinated. The fruit is a nut with four 0.5-in (1-cm), barbed spines. Seeds can remain viable up to 12 years, although most germinate within the first two years. The plant spreads by the rosettes and fruits detaching from the stem and floating to another area on currents or by fruits clinging to objects, and animals.  This plant should not be confused with the unrelated "Eleocharis dulcis", also called a water chestnut. "Eleocharis" is also an aquatic plant raised for food since ancient times in China. "E. dulcis" is a sedge, whose round, crisp-fleshed corms are common in Western-style Chinese food.

Fossil record.

The genus has an extensive fossil record, with numerous, distinctive species. Undisputed fossilized seeds have been found in Cenozoic strata starting from the Eocene throughout Europe, China and North America (though, the genus became extinct in North America prior to the Pleistocene). The oldest known fossils attributed to the genus, however, are of leaves from Cretaceous Alaska, referred to the species, "T. borealis".

History.

Investigations of archaeological material from southern Germany indicate that the prehistoric population of that region may well have relied significantly upon wild water caltrops to supplement their normal diet and, in times of cultivated cereal crop failure, water caltrops may even have been the main dietary component. Today, water caltrop is so rare in Germany that it is listed as an endangered species.  Water caltrop has been an important food for worship as prayer offerings since the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. The Rites of Zhou (second century BC) mentioned that a worshipper "should use a bamboo basket containing dried water caltrops, the seeds of "Euryale ferox" and caltrops" (加籩之實,菱芡栗脯). The "Chinese Herbal Medicine Summary" (本草備要 published in 1694, written by Wang Ang 汪昂) indicates that water caltrop can help fever and drunkenness.  In India and Pakistan, it is known as "singhara" or "paniphal" (eastern India) and is widely cultivated in freshwater lakes. The fruits are eaten raw or boiled. When the fruit has been dried, it is ground to a flour called "singhare ka atta", used in many religious rituals, and can be consumed as a "phalahar" (fruit diet) on the Hindu fasting days, the navratas.  It was possible to buy water caltrops in markets all over Europe until 1880. In northern Italy, the nuts were offered roasted, much as sweet chestnuts ("Castanea sativa") are still sold today. In many parts of Europe, water caltrops were known and used for human food until the beginning of the 20th century. Today, however, it is a rare plant. Several reasons for its near extinction exist, such as climate fluctuations, changes in the nutrient content of water bodies, and the drainage of many wetlands, ponds, and oxbow lakes.  "T. natans" was introduced to Massachusetts around 1874 as a planting in the Harvard University Botanic Garden. Staff gardener Louis Guerineau took it upon himself to throw seeds into Fresh Pond and other Cambridge waterways. This came to the attention of Medford-based botanist George E. Davenport, who decided to bring seeds and live plants to his friend Minor Pratt, in Concord. Pratt and he seeded a pond near the Sudbury River, and he suspected Pratt conducted additional distributions. As early as 1879, concern was voiced by botanist Charles Sprague Sargent, director of Boston's Arnold Arboretum, that this non-native species threatened to become a nuisance, based on dense growths reported in Cambridge. Davenport confessed in an entry in the Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, Vol. 6, page 352: "I have several times had plants of "Trapa natans" that were collected in the vicinity of Boston, during the present year, brought to me for identification, and I have entertained no doubt as to the manner of its introduction into waters outside Cambridge Botanic Garden. But that so fine a plant as this, with its handsome leafy rosettes and edible nuts, which would, if common, be as attractive to boys as hickory nuts now are, can ever become a 'nuisance' I can scarcely believe."  Water caltrop has been declared an invasive species from Vermont to Virginia., and is classified as a noxious weed in Florida, North Carolina, and Washington.  In Australia, and its state of New South Wales water caltrop has been declared a noxious weed.

Role in fasciolopsiasis transmission.

Fasciolopsiasis is an ailment resulting from infection by the trematode "Fasciolopsis buski", an intestinal fluke of humans, endemic in China, Taiwan, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, and India; this fluke can be transmitted via the surfaces of these and other water plants.  During the metacercarial stage in their lifecycle, the larval flukes leave their water snail hosts, and swim away to form cysts on the surfaces of water plants, including the leaves and fruit of water caltrops. If infected water plants are consumed raw or undercooked, the flukes can infect pigs, humans, and other animals.

Chemistry.

Bicornin is an ellagitannin found in "T. bicornis".

The water caltrop is any of three extant species of the genus "Trapa": "Trapa natans", "Trapa bicornis" and the endangered "Trapa rossica". It is also known as buffalo nut, bat nut, devil pod, ling nut, lin kok, ling kio nut, mustache nut or singhada.

Trapa est un genre de plantes dicotylédones. En, il forme la famille des Trapacées. Dans la classification phylogénétique, il a été classé dans la famille des Lythracées.


Early life.

Falkenhayn was born in Burg Belchau near Graudenz, West Prussia (now Białochowo, Poland) to Fedor von Falkenhayn (1814–1896) and Franziska von Falkenhayn, née von Rosenberg (1826–1888). His brother Arthur (1857–1929) became tutor of Crown Prince Wilhelm while Eugen (1853–1934) became a Prussian General of Cavalry. His only sister Olga von Falkenhayn was the mother of Fieldmarshall Fedor von Bock.

Military career.

Becoming a cadet at the age of 11, he joined the Army in 1880. He served as an infantry and staff officer and became a career soldier.  Between 1896 and 1903, Falkenhayn served in Qing-Dynasty China on leave for several years and saw action during the Boxer Rebellion. He also spent time in Manchuria and Korea.  After his service in Asia, the army posted him to Brunswick, Metz and Magdeburg; he became a major-general in 1912.

Prussian Minister of War (1913–1915).

In 1913 he became Prussian Minister of War, in which capacity he was involved at the beginning of World War I, when the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo took place. Like most German military leaders, he did not expect a great European war but he soon embraced the idea and joined with others pushing for Kaiser Wilhelm II to declare war.

Chief of Staff (1914–1916).

Falkenhayn succeeded Helmuth von Moltke the Younger as Chief of the "Oberste Heeresleitung" (German General Staff) after the First Battle of the Marne on 14 September 1914. Falkenhayn attempted to outflank the British and French in the Race to the Sea, a series of engagements throughout northern France and Belgium in which each side made reciprocal attempts to turn the other's flank, until they reached the North Sea and had no more room for manoeuvre. The British and French eventually stopped the German advance at the First Battle of Ypres (October–November 1914).  Falkenhayn preferred an offensive strategy on the Western Front, while conducting a limited campaign in the east: he hoped that Russia would accept a separate armistice more easily, if it were not humiliated too much. This brought him into conflict with Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff, who favored massive offensives in the east. Eventually, in the hope that either a massive slaughter would lead Europe's political leaders to consider ending the war or that losses would be less harmful for Germany than for France, Falkenhayn staged a battle of attrition, as claimed in his post-war memoirs, in the Battle of Verdun in early 1916. Although more than a quarter of a million soldiers eventually died and Falkenhayn was sometimes called "the Blood-Miller of Verdun", neither side's resolve was lessened.  Contrary to Falkenhayn's expectations, the French were able to limit casualties in the divisions sent to Verdun. General Philippe Pétain kept the divisions in the line at Verdun until casualties reached 50 percent of the infantry and then relieved them. The procession of divisions back and forth was analogous to the operation of a "noria", a type of water-wheel that continuously lifts water and empties it into a trough. After the relative failure at Verdun, coupled with reverses on the Eastern Front (the Brusilov Offensive and the entry of Romania into the war), the beginning of the Anglo-French offensive on the Somme and the intrigues of Hindenburg and Ludendorff, Falkenhayn was replaced as Chief of Staff by Hindenburg on 29 August, 1916.

Romania (1916–1917).

Falkenhayn then assumed command of the 9th Army in Transylvania (6 September 1916) and in August launched a joint offensive against Romania with August von Mackensen. Falkenhayn's forces captured the Romanian capital of Bucharest in under four months, with help of troops from all Central Powers against the sizeable but inexperienced and poorly trained and equipped Romanian Army, which had to defend a front, the longest in Europe.

Palestine (1917–1918).

Following the success, in mid-July 1917 Falkenhayn went to take military command of the Ottoman Yildirim Army Group ("Heeresgruppe F", Army Group F), which was being formed in Mesopotamia and at Aleppo. After long discussions with the Ottoman upper echelon, Falkenhayn was sent on 7 September 1917 as supreme commander of two Ottoman armies in Palestine, with the rank of a Mushir (Field Marshal) of the Ottoman Army. He failed to prevent the British under General Edmund Allenby from conquering Jerusalem in December 1917. However, he is credited with avoiding a destructive defensive battle for the walled ancient city of Jerusalem with its many holy sites, as well as with a crucial role in stopping the forced removal of the Jewish population of Palestine, which Governor Djemal Pasha had planned along the lines of the Armenian Genocide. The evacuation of the entire population of Jerusalem during the harsh winter months had also been planned by Djemal Pasha and was thwarted by German officers including Falkenhayn.

Belarus (1918–1919).

In February 1918, Falkenhayn became commander of the 10th Army in Belarus, where he witnessed the end of the war. In December 1918 he oversaw the withdrawal of the 10th Army to Germany. The formation disbanded in February 1919.

Postwar.

In 1919, he retired from the army and withdrew to his estate, where he wrote his autobiography and several books on war and strategy. His war memoirs were translated into English as "The German General staff and Its Critical Decisions, 1914–1916" (1919). With the benefit of hindsight, he remarked that the German declarations of war on Russia and France in 1914 were "justifiable but overly-hasty and unnecessary". Falkenhayn died in 1922, at Schloss Lindstedt, near Potsdam.

Family life.

In 1886 Falkenhayn married Ida Selkmann, with whom he had a son Fritz Georg Adalbert von Falkenhayn (1890–1973) and a daughter Erika Karola Olga von Falkenhayn (1904–1975) who married Henning von Tresckow (1901–1944), an officer who helped organise the 20 July plot to assassinate Hitler.

Assessment.

Falkenhayn in many ways typified the Prussian generals; a militarist in the literal sense, he had undeniable political and military competence and showed contempt for democracy and the representative Reichstag. He addressed the Reichstag in 1914 as follows:  Militarily, Falkenhayn had a mixed record. His offensive at Verdun proved a strategic failure. During the campaign against Romania in 1916 Falkenhayn demonstrated considerable skill in command of the German 9th Army, driving the Romanians from Transylvania, breaking through the Southern Carpathians and forcing the shattered Romanian forces northeast into Moldavia. His defence of Palestine in 1917 was also a failure but his forces, overwhelmingly Ottoman in composition, were outnumbered and outclassed and casualties were fairly equal.  Winston Churchill considered him to be the ablest by far of the German generals in World War I. Dupuy also ranked him near the top of the German commanders, just below Hindenburg and Ludendorff. Foley wrote that Germany's enemies were far more able to apply a strategy of attrition, because they had greater amounts of manpower, industry and economic control over the world, resorting to many of the methods used by Falkenhayn in Russia in 1915 and France in 1916. As the cost of fighting the war increased, the war aims of the Entente expanded, to include the overthrow of the political elites of the Central Powers and the ability to dictate peace to a comprehensively defeated enemy, which was achieved by a strategy of attrition.  All sources portray Falkenhayn as a loyal, honest and punctilious friend and superior. His positive legacy is his conduct during the war in Palestine in 1917. As his biographer wrote,

General Erich Georg Sebastian Anton von Falkenhayn (11 September 1861 – 8 April 1922) was the second Chief of the German General Staff of the First World War from September 1914 until 29 August 1916. He was removed on 29 August 1916 after the failure at the Battle of Verdun, the opening of the Battle of the Somme, the Brusilov Offensive and the entry of Romania into the war on the Allied side undid his strategy to end the war before 1917. He was later given important field commands in Romania and Syria. His reputation as a war leader was attacked in Germany during and after the war, especially by the faction which supported Paul von Hindenburg. Falkenhayn held that Germany could not win the war by a decisive battle but would have to reach a compromise peace; his enemies said he lacked the resolve necessary to win a decisive victory. Falkenhayn's relations with the Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg were troubled and undercut Falkenhayn's plans.

Erich Georg Anton von Falkenhayn, né le à Burg Belchau (aujourd'hui en Pologne) et mort le à Potsdam, est un officier prussien qui a servi dans l'armée allemande notamment durant la Première Guerre mondiale.


Biography.

Born in Tours, Roy turned professional with in 2003. During his early career, he continued his studies at the French National Institute of Applied Sciences in Rennes, and graduated in 2007 in mechanical and automated engineering. Despite splitting his time between studying and cycling, Roy still finished 4th in the Tour de Picardie and won the young rider competition in 2006. Also in 2006, he finished 4th in the Châteauroux Classic de l'Indre, then 4th in the Grand Prix de Plumelec Morbihan in 2007 and 5th in the Route du Sud in 2008.  Roy gained his first professional victory on 12 March 2009, when he won stage 5 of Paris–Nice, beating his breakaway companion Thomas Voeckler in a sprint. The following year he won the Tro Bro Leon, performed well in the La Flèche Wallonne and finished third in the prologue of the Tour de Romandie.  He won his first race of 2011, the Grand Prix La Marseillaise Open in late January. He began the 2011 Tour de France by attacking on the 1st stage, and again on stage 4, winning the award for most combative rider for that stage. Roy came agonisingly close to winning stage 13, finishing third after being caught with 2.5 km to go, by Thor Hushovd and David Moncoutié, after a challenging pursuit in the final kilometres. He did, however, gain enough points to take the lead in the classification for the Polka Dot Jersey, and the combativity award once more. He also got in a break on the final stage and spent over 700 km of the race in breakaways.

Jérémy Roy (born 22 June 1983) is a French former professional road bicycle racer, who competed as a professional between 2003 and 2018, spending his entire career with the team through its various team guises. He was named the most aggressive rider of the 2011 Tour de France after escaping into breakaways on many stages and continuously attacking from inside the breakaway.

Jérémy Roy est un cycliste professionnel français, né le à Tours (Indre-et-Loire). Professionnel de 2003 à 2018, il a notamment remporté le Prix de la combativité du Tour de France 2011 et une étape de Paris-Nice 2009.