History.

Hova-Vazimba conflict.

Madagascar's central highlands were first inhabited between 200 BCE–300 CE by the island's earliest settlers, the Vazimba, who appear to have arrived by pirogue from southeastern Borneo to establish simple villages in the island's dense forests. By the 15th century the Hova people from the southeastern coast had gradually migrated into the central highlands where they established hilltop villages interspersed among the existing Vazimba settlements, which were ruled by local kings and queens. The two peoples coexisted peacefully for several generations and are known to have intermarried. In this way, a reigning Vazimba queen (alternately given in the oral histories as Rafohy or Rangita) married a Hova man named Manelobe. Their oldest son, Andriamanelo (1540–1575), broke this tradition by launching a largely successful war to subjugate the surrounding Vazimba communities and force them to either submit to Hova dominance and assimilate, or flee.  Andriamanelo was succeeded by his son Ralambo (1575–1612), whose many enduring and significant political and cultural achievements earned him a heroic and near mythical status among the greatest ancient sovereigns of Merina history. Ralambo was the first to assign the name of Imerina ("Land of the Merina people") to the central highland territories where he ruled. Ralambo expanded and defended the Kingdom of Imerina through a combination of diplomacy and successful military action aided by the procurement of the first firearms in Imerina by way of trade with kingdoms on the coast. Imposing a capitation tax for the first time (the "vadin-aina", or "price of secure life"), he was able to establish the first standing Merina royal army and established units of blacksmiths and silversmiths to equip them. He famously repelled an attempted invasion by an army of the powerful western coastal Betsimisaraka people. According to oral history, the wild zebu cattle that roamed the Highlands were first domesticated for food in Imerina under the reign of Ralambo, and he introduced the practice and design of cattle pen construction, as well as the traditional ceremony of the "fandroana" (the "Royal Bath"), to celebrate his culinary discovery.  Upon succeeding his father, Andrianjaka (1612–1630) led a successful military campaign to capture the final major Vazimba stronghold in the highlands on the hill of Analamanga. There he established the fortified compound ("rova") that would form the heart of his new capital city of Antananarivo. Upon his orders, the first structures within this fortified compound (known as the Rova of Antananarivo) were constructed: several traditional royal houses were built, and plans for a series of royal tombs were designed. These buildings took on an enduring political and spiritual significance, ensuring their preservation until being destroyed by fire in 1995. Andrianjaka obtained a sizable cache of firearms and gunpowder, materials that helped to establish and preserve his dominance and expand his rule over greater Imerina.

Expansion of sovereignty.

Political life on the island from the 16th century was characterised by sporadic conflict between the Merina and Sakalava kingdoms, originating with Sakalava slave-hunting incursions into Imerina.  By the early 19th century, the Merina were able to overcome rival tribes such as the Bezanozano, the Betsimisaraka, and eventually the Sakalava kingdom and bring them under the Merina crown. It is through this process that the ethnonym "Merina" began to be commonly used, as it denotes prominence in the Malagasy language. Though some sources describe the Merina expansion as the unification of Madagascar, this period of Merina expansion was seen by neighboring tribes such as the Betsimisaraka as aggressive acts of colonialism. By 1824, the Merina captured the port of Mahajanga situated on the western coast of the island marking a further expansion of power. Under Radama I, the Merina continued to launch military expeditions that both expanded imperial control and enriched military chiefs. The ability of the Merina to overcome neighboring tribes was due to British firepower and military training. The British had an interest in establishing trade with the Merina kingdom due to its central position on the island since 1815. Merina imperial expeditions became more frequent and violent after the renunciation of the second Merina-British treaty. Between 1828 and 1840, more than 100,000 men were killed and more than 200,000 enslaved by Merina forces. Imperial rule was met with resistance from escaped slaves and other refugees from imperial rule numbering in the tens of thousands. These refugees formed raiding brigands that were dealt with by imperial troops who hunted them down in 1835. Notably, the rate of escaping refugees only heightened the demand for slave labor in the Merina kingdom, further fueling campaigns of military expansion. Throughout the middle of the 19th century, continued imperial expansion and increasing control in coastal trade solidified Merina predominance over the island. The Merina kingdom nearly consolidated all of Madagascar into a single nation before French colonization in 1895.

Division and civil war.

King Andriamasinavalona quartered the kingdom to be ruled by his four favourite sons, producing persistent fragmentation and warfare between principalities in Imerina. He extended the borders of the kingdom to their largest historical extent prior to the kingdom's fragmentation.

Reunification.

It was from this context in 1787 that Prince Ramboasalama, nephew of King Andrianjafy of Ambohimanga (one of the four kingdoms of Imerina) expelled his uncle and took the throne under the name Andrianampoinimerina. The new king used both diplomacy and force to reunite Imerina with the intent to bring all of Madagascar under his rule.

Kingdom of Madagascar.

This objective was largely completed under his son, Radama I, who was the first to admit and regularly engage European missionaries and diplomats in Antananarivo.  The 33-year reign of Queen Ranavalona I, the widow of Radama I, was characterised by a struggle to preserve the cultural isolation of Madagascar from modernity, especially as represented by the French and British. Her son and heir, King Radama II, signed the unpopular Lambert Charter giving French entrepreneur Joseph-François Lambert exclusive rights to many of the island's resources. His liberal policies angered the aristocracy, however, and Prime Minister Rainivoninahitriniony had the King strangled in a "coup d'état". This aristocratic revolution saw Rasoherina, the queen dowager, placed on the throne upon her acceptance of a constitutional monarchy that gave greater power to the Prime Minister. She replaced the incumbent Prime Minister with his brother, Rainilaiarivony, who retained the role for three decades and married each successive queen. The next sovereign, Ranavalona II, converted the nation to Christianity and had all the "sampy" (ancestral royal talismans) burnt in a public display. The last Merina sovereign, Queen Ranavalona III, acceded the throne at age 22 and was exiled to Réunion Island and later French Algeria following French colonisation of the island in 1896.

French colonisation.

Angry at the cancellation of the Lambert Charter and seeking to restore property taken from French citizens, France invaded Madagascar in 1883 in what became known as the First Franco-Hova War ("Hova" referring to the "andriana"). At the war's end, Madagascar ceded Antsiranana (Diégo Suarez) on the northern coast to France and paid 560,000 gold francs to the heirs of Joseph-François Lambert. Meanwhile, in Europe, diplomats partitioning the African continent worked out an agreement whereby Britain, in order to obtain the Sultanate of Zanzibar, ceded its rights over Heligoland to the German Empire and renounced all claims to Madagascar in favor of France. The agreement proved detrimental for the monarchy of Madagascar. Prime Minister Rainilaiarivory had succeeded in playing Great Britain and France against one another, but now France could meddle without fear of reprisals from Britain.  In 1895, a French flying-column landed in Mahajanga (Majunga) and marched by way of the Betsiboka River to the capital, Antananarivo, taking the city's defenders by surprise since they had expected an attack from the much closer eastern coast. Twenty French soldiers died in combat while 6,000 died of malaria and other diseases before the Second Franco-Hova War ended. In 1896, the Merina Kingdom was put under French protection as the Malagasy Protectorate and in 1897 the French Parliament voted to annex the island as a colony, effectively ending Merina sovereignty.

Geography.

Spatial organization.

Andriamanelo established the first fortified "rova" (royal compound) at his capital at Alasora. This fortified palace bore specific features – "hadivory" (dry moats), "hadifetsy" (defensive trenches) and "vavahady" (town gates protected by a large rolled stone disc acting as a barrier) – that rendered the town more resistant to Vazimba attacks.  Andrianjaka's policies and tactics highlighted and increased the separation between the king and his subjects. He transformed social divisions into spatial divisions by assigning each clan to a specific geographical region within his kingdom.  Andrianjaka unified the principalities on what he later designated as the twelve sacred hills of Imerina at Ambohitratrimo, Ambohimanga, Ilafy, Alasora, Antsahadita, Ambohimanambony, Analamanga, Ambohitrabiby, Namehana, Ambohidrapeto, Ambohijafy and Ambohimandranjaka. These hills became and remain the spiritual heart of Imerina, which was further expanded over a century later when Andrianampoinimerina redesignated the twelve sacred hills to include several different sites.  Under Andriamasinavalona, the Kingdom of Imerina was composed of six provinces ("toko"): Avaradrano, constituting Antananarivo and land to the northeast of the capital, including Ambohimanga; Vakinisisaony, including the land to the south of Avaradrano and its capital at Alasora; Vonizongo to the northwest of Antananarivo with its capital at Fihaonana; Marovatana to the south of Vonizongo, with its capital at Ambohidratrimo; Ambodirano, south of Marovatana with its capital at Fenoarivo; and Vakinankaratra to the south of Antananarivo with its capital at Betafo. Andrianampoinimerina reunited these provinces and added Imamo to the west, which has been described by some historians as having been incorporated into Ambodirano, and by others as separate from it; and Valalafotsy to the northwest. Together, these areas constitute the core territory rightly called Imerina, the homeland of the Merina people.  Imerina is located in the central highlands of Madagascar. It is notable that the word Imerina is derived from the Malagasy word meaning the "occupancy of a prominent place." Consistent with the name, much of the documented manipulation of the land in the Merina kingdom involve the building of palaces for royalty or of temples. Andrianampoinimerina (c.1745-1809) was the first to use the toponym of Imerina after conquering Antananarivo. He projected his power by constructing a palace on the site that became the seat of royal power in the Merina kingdom.  A significant alteration of the landscape made under the rule of Andrianampoinimerina was the introduction of irrigation systems that allowed for the farming of rice paddies. To the present day rice remains a staple of Malagasy cuisine. The digging of canals and dikes was done by vast numbers of slaves placed under royal servitude, or "fanompoana."  The landscape of Imerina and its geographical manipulation had significant ritual meaning in Merina culture. The irrigation system introduced to Antananarivo, the central authority of Imerina, represented the unification between the Merina royalty and its people. This infrastructural feat paralleled the ritual sprinkling of water known as "tsodrano" done to represent the unification of land and people. Merina beliefs held the connection between cultural history and the landscape in high regard. The use of water to represent spiritual connections between people, the land, and ancestors remains common in the present day.  By the 1820s, an increased European population had superimposed many Western geographic features onto Imerina. This involved the introduction of non native plants and trees. This proved particularly successful for Europeans as the Malagasy soil and climate were particularly conducive to growing European plants and vegetables.

Social organization.

Caste system.

Before the unification of the Merina kingdom under Andrianampoinimerina, the social structure of the central highlands of Madagascar were distinguished by a class of petty princes and peasant masses.  Andriamanelo was reportedly the first to formally establish the andriana as a caste of Merina nobles, thereby laying the foundation for a stratified and structured society. From this point forward, the term Hova was used to refer only to the non-noble free people of the society which would later be renamed Merina by Andriamanelo's son Ralambo. The first sub-divisions of the "andriana" noble caste were created when Ralambo split it into four ranks.  Andrianjaka was the first king to be buried on the grounds of the Rova of Antananarivo, his tomb forming the first of the Fitomiandalana (seven tombs placed in a row on the Rova grounds). To commemorate his greatness, his subjects erected a small wooden house called a small sacred house on top of his tomb. Future Merina sovereigns and nobles continued to construct similar tomb houses on their tombs well into the 19th century.  After the conquests of the 19th century, approximately half of the Merina population consisted of the descendants of slaves. This distinction is calcified in the present day by the classification of the descendants of slaves as "blacks" and those of freemen as "whites". The use of color to describe social distinction is further supplemented by the racial distinctions of the Malagasy population tracing back to the original settlement of the island, with Austronesian racial features are contrasted by African racial features.

Religion.

Andriamanelo is credited with introducing astrology ("sikidy") in Imerina. The Merina rite of circumcision, described by Bloch (1986) in great detail, continued to be practiced by the Merina monarchy through the end of the 19th century in precisely the way first established by Andriamanelo generations before. Many elements of these rituals continue to form part of the circumcision traditions of Merina families in the 21st century. The origins of these practices can be traced back to the southeastern part of the island that the Hova had left behind as they migrated into the central highlands. Astrology, for instance, had been introduced early to the island by way of trade contacts between coastal Malagasy communities and Arab seafarers. Under Andriamanelo's son Ralambo, the sovereign became imbued with increasing power to protect the realm. This was preserved by honoring the "sampy", traditional amulets made from assorted natural materials. Amulets and idols called "ody" had long occupied an important place among many ethnic groups of Madagascar, but these were believed to offer protection to the individual wearer only and were commonplace objects possessed by anyone from slave children to kings. After Ralambo received a highly powerful "sampy" called Kelimalaza that was distinguished by its supposed capacity to extend protection to an entire community, he sought out and amassed a total of twelve others from communities across Imerina believed to have such a quality. These sampy were personified—complete with a distinct personality—and offered their own house with guardians dedicated to their service. Ralambo then transformed the nature of the relationship between sampy and ruler: whereas previously the sampy had been seen as tools at the disposal of community leaders, under Ralambo they became divine protectors of the king's sovereignty and the integrity of the state, which would be preserved through their power on the condition that the line of sovereigns ensured the sampy were shown the respect due to them. By collecting the twelve greatest sampy—twelve being a sacred number in Merina cosmology—and transforming their nature, Ralambo strengthened the supernatural power and legitimacy of the royal line of Imerina. Oral history recounts numerous instances where sampy were taken into battle, and subsequent successes and varying miracles were attributed to them, including several key victories against Sakalava marauders. The propagation of similar sampy at the service of less powerful citizens consequently increased throughout Imerina under Ralambo's rule: nearly every village chief, as well as many common families, had one in their possession and claimed the powers and protection their communal sampy offered them. These lesser sampy were destroyed or reduced to the status of ody by the end of the reign of Ralambo's son, Andrianjaka, officially leaving only twelve truly powerful sampy (known as the "sampin'andriana": the "Royal Sampy") which were all in the possession of the king. These royal sampy, including "Kelimalaza", continued to be worshiped until their supposed destruction in a bonfire by Queen Ranavalona II upon her public conversion to Christianity in 1869.  Also beginning under Ralambo, the ritual sanctification of the realm occurred through the annual "fandroana" festival at the start of each year. Although the precise form of the original holiday cannot be known with certainty and its traditions have evolved over time, 18th- and 19th-century accounts provide insight into the festival as it was practiced at that time. Accounts from these centuries indicate that all family members were required to reunite in their home villages during the festival period. Estranged family members were expected to attempt to reconcile. Homes were cleaned and repaired and new housewares and clothing were purchased. The symbolism of renewal was particularly embodied in the traditional sexual permissiveness encouraged on the eve of the fandroana (characterized by early 19th-century British missionaries as an "orgy") and the following morning's return to rigid social order with the sovereign firmly at the helm of the kingdom. On this morning, the first day of the year, a red rooster was traditionally sacrificed and its blood used to anoint the sovereign and others present at the ceremony. Afterward the sovereign would bathe in sanctified water, then sprinkle it upon attendees to purify and bless them and ensure an auspicious start to the year. Children would celebrate the fandroana by carrying lighted torches and lanterns in a nighttime processional through their villages. The zebu meat eaten over the course of the festival was primarily grilled or consumed as "jaka", a preparation reserved uniquely for this holiday. This delicacy was made during the festival by sealing shredded zebu meat with suet in a decorative clay jar. The confit would then be conserved in a pit for twelve months to be served at the next year's fandroana.

Customs.

The marriage tradition of the "vodiondry", still practiced to this day throughout the Highlands, is said to have originated with Andriamanelo. According to oral history, after the sovereign had successfully contracted a marriage with Ramaitsoanala, sole daughter of Vazimba King Rabiby, Andriamanelo sent her a variety of gifts including vodiondry—meat from the hindquarters of a sheep—which he believed to be the tastiest portion. The value placed on this cut of meat was reaffirmed by Ralambo who, upon discovering the edibility of zebu meat, declared the hindquarters of every slaughtered zebu throughout the kingdom to be his royal due. From the time of Andriamanelo forward, it became a marriage tradition for the groom to offer vodiondry to the bride's family. Over time the customary offerings of meat have been increasingly replaced by a symbolic piastre, sums of money and other gifts. Andriamanelo's son Ralambo is credited with introducing the tradition of polygamy in Imerina. He also introduced the traditions of circumcision and family intermarriage (such as between parent and step-child, or between half-siblings) among Merina nobles, these practices having already existed among certain other Malagasy ethnic groups.  According to oral history, the institution of lengthy formal mourning periods for deceased sovereigns in Imerina may also have begun with the death of Andrianjaka. He was succeeded by his son, Andriantsitakatrandriana.  Despite plenty of religious variation across Imerina and the Malagasy highlands in general, ritual circumcision has remained a constant factor in Merina and Malagasy culture. The permanence of the circumcision ritual continues to the modern day.  Indigenous silk clothing ("landibe") is especially important in highland cultures, including with the Merina. It was worn during ancestral funerary ceremonies.  The "Tantaran'ny Andriana" or "Histories of Kings" is the written classic of Merina culture, compiled from oral traditions and stories. The "Tantara" was collected by the Jesuit priest François Callet in the 1860s. The "Tantara" and other printed works are held in such high regard that very few can be obtained for any price.  Present day Malagasy culture is still tied extensively to the past. Many ceremonies involve reenactments of the past, such as "tromba", or the spirit possession ceremony. Generally, the concept of history in Madagascar places a great emphasis on feeling and experiencing rather than knowing.

Political organization.

The line of succession in Imerina used a system called "fanjakana arindra" ("organized government"), which was established by the Vazimba noblewomen who raised Andriamanelo, founder of Imerina. While the Vazimba had historically tended to favor rule by queens, the Hova favored male heirs, and the marriage between Andriamanelo's Vazimba and Hova parents had produced two sons and a daughter. To prevent conflict, the queen decided that Andriamanelo would inherit the crown upon his mother's death and would be succeeded not by his own child but by his younger brother. This system of succession was ordered by the queens to be followed for all time, and applied to families as well: in any instance where there was an elder child and a younger one, the parents would designate an elder child to assume authority within the family upon their death, and that authority would be handed to the designated younger child in the event of the death of the elder child. Ralambo was the first Merina sovereign to practice polygamy, and his second wife was the first to give him a son. While his younger son by his first wife was to rule, Ralambo sought to assuage the elder son by declaring that the crown could henceforth only be passed to a child born of the reigning sovereign and a princess from the elder son Andriantompokoindrindra's family line.  The practice of sanctifying deceased Merina sovereigns is believed to have originated with Ralambo.  Imerina was initially ruled under Andriamanelo from his mother's home village of Alasora. The capital was shifted by his son Ralambo to Ambohidrabiby, location of the former capital of his maternal grandfather King Rabiby. Andrianjaka moved his capital from Ambohidrabiby to Ambohimanga upon ascending to the throne around 1610 or 1612. The Besakana, Masoandrotsiroa and Fitomiandalana houses at the Rova of Antananarivo were preserved and maintained over the centuries by successive generations of Merina sovereigns, imbuing the structures with deep symbolic and spiritual meaning. As Andrianjaka's residence, the Besakana was particularly significant: the original building was torn down and reconstructed in the same design by Andriamasinavalona around 1680, and again by Andrianampoinimerina in 1800, each of whom inhabited the building in turn as their personal residence. King Radama I likewise inhabited the building for much of his time at the Rova, and in 1820 he designated the building as the first site to house what came to be known as the Palace School, the first formal European-style school in Imerina. Sovereigns were enthroned in this building and their mortal remains were displayed here before burial, rendering Besakana "the official state room for civil affairs... regarded as the throne of the kingdom."

Defense.

The early Merina fighters under the first king of Imerina were equipped with iron-tipped spears, an innovation credited to Andriamanelo himself, who may have been the first among the Hova to use smithed iron in this way.

Justice system.

Andrianjaka imposed an intimidating change to the traditional form of justice, the trial by ordeal: rather than administering "tangena" poison to an accused person's rooster to determine their innocence by the creature's survival, the poison would instead be ingested by the accused himself.

Economy and trade.

Andriamanelo was the first in the highlands to transform lowland swamps into irrigated rice paddies through the construction of dikes in the valleys around Alasora. Under Andrianjaka, the plains surrounding Antananarivo were gradually transformed into vast, surplus-producing rice paddies. This feat was accomplished by mobilizing large numbers of his able-bodied subjects to construct dikes that enabled the redirection of rainwater for controlled flooding of planted areas.  Andrianjaka was reportedly the first Merina leader to receive Europeans around 1620 and traded slaves in exchange for guns and other firearms to aid in the pacification of rival principalities, obtaining 50 guns and three barrels of gunpowder to equip his army.

Technology.

Andriamanelo is traditionally credited with discovering the technique of silversmithing, iron smithing and the construction and use of pirogues. While these technologies were not discovered during his reign, Andriamanelo may have been among the first sovereigns in Imerina to make wide-scale use of them.

The Slave Trade.

Export of Slaves.

Captives from tribal raids were made into the Malagasy slave population. Surpluses of these populations were sent to foreign traders on the coast. These traders were initially Arab and Indian, though Europeans began to join those demanding slaves at the start of the 16th century. Malagasy slaves were exported to Arabia, India, Réunion and Mauritius, and the Americas, primarily Brazil.

British Influence.

After the British emerged victorious from the Napoleonic wars, they captured the French Mascarene Islands which lie east of Madagascar. These islands facilitated the export of slaves and agricultural products. Some of the first stories of Madagascar to be told in Britain were those told by Robert Drury, a shipwrecked British sailor who wrote about the Malagasy slave trade of in his journal that would be published and widely distributed in England. It was this fixation on the slave trade in Madagascar that initially drew the British to the Merina, giving the Merina the firepower to extend their empire and trading networks across Madagascar. Though the British later returned the island of Réunion to France, they retained Mauritius and included it in the second British-Merina treaty of 1820. This treaty declared an end to the export of slaves in Madagascar under the Merina crown. However, the internal slave market still boomed after 1820 despite British efforts. It is estimated that between 6,000 to 10,000 slaves per year were exported from Antananarivo by 1820. In 1828, Ranavalona I revoked the second British-Merina treaty and expelled most foreigners from Madagascar by 1836.

Domestic Slavery.

Due to the thin population density of Madagascar, domestic slavery was a way to broadcast control over resources and manpower. The elite of Imerina relied heavily upon slave labor. Because of this, the Merina king Radama I had little intent to abide by the first British-Merina treaty signed in 1817. Slave ownership became increasingly common in the following decades. As the slave caste expanded, more and more of the Merina population began holding slaves. As imperial conquests continually increased the supply of slaves captured from neighboring tribes, the population of Antananarivo grew from around 10,000 in 1820 to 50,000 in 1833. The demand in slaves matched the rise in supply as a result of "fanompoana", or mandatory military service, being established in the Merina kingdom thereby drawing able bodied free men away from agricultural labor and into the army. In the second half of the 19th century, the Merina had begun to import slaves from East Africa. This was driven by an economy that critically relied on slave labor as well as the demands of Merina court officials that had personal financial interests. Emancipation of domestic slaves began in 1877, when an estimated 150,000 slaves were freed. However, these newly freed slaves were made into an imperial labor reserve, a position not far removed from enslavement. A clandestine trade thrived in the 1880s until Franco-Merina hostilities broke out in 1882

The Merina Kingdom or Kingdom of Madagascar, officially the Kingdom of Imerina (–1897), was a pre-colonial state off the coast of Southeast Africa that, by the 19th century, dominated most of what is now Madagascar. It spread outward from Imerina, the Central Highlands region primarily inhabited by the Merina ethnic group with a spiritual capital at Ambohimanga and a political capital west at Antananarivo, currently the seat of government for the modern state of Madagascar. The Merina kings and queens who ruled over greater Madagascar in the 19th century were the descendants of a long line of hereditary Merina royalty originating with Andriamanelo, who is traditionally credited with founding Imerina in 1540.

Imerina je území ve středu ostrova Madagaskar. Počátky imerinského království jsou datovány do 13. století a trvají až do francouzské nadvlády v 19. století. Po jejím ukončení se celý ostrov Madagaskar stal samostatný. V současné době je Imerina jednou z mnoha oblastí tohoto ostrova.


Surrounding area.

The Großer Möseler is part of the Zillertal main crest, a dominant mountain chain of peaks over 3,000 metres high. Its neighbouring summits are: the subpeak of "Möselekopf" (3,390 m) to the south and separated by the "Westliche Möselescharte" notch; the "Breitnock" ("Dosso Largo", 3,215 m) further along the Southwest Arête and separated by "Nöfes Saddle" a crossing at 3,029 metres; the 3,188-metre-high "Furtschaglspitze" on the North Arête; and the 3,304-metre-high "Roßruggspitze" and the Turnerkamp ("Cima di Campo", 3,418 m) to the east, separated by the 3,240-metre-high "Östliche Möselescharte" ("Eastern Mösele Notch"). The Möseler is surrounded by the glaciated areas of the "Schlegeiskees" and "Furtschaglkees" to the west, the "Waxeckkees" to the north and the West Nevesferner ("Westlicher Nevesferner") and East Nevesferner ("Östlichen Nevesferner") to the south.

Climbing history.

In the first half of the 19th century, it was believed that the Schwarzenstein was the highest mountain in the Zillertal Alps. But when, in 1858, the Austrian alpine researcher and geographer, Anton von Ruthner, stood on the summit of this mountain, he realized that the Möseler, which he called the "Schneeberg", to the west had to be significantly higher. On 12 August 1863, von Ruthner attempted an ascent of the Möseler with two guides from "Breitlahner" in the "Zemmgrund", but in thick fog only reached the Nöfes Saddle, which they initially thought was the Möseler. When, later, the fog lifted, they realized their error. However, they were not the first to have used this well-trodden, ancient crossing. Not until the tour by Englishman, Francis Fox Tuckett on 16 June 1865, with his Swiss mountain guides and local bearers, did someone successfully conquer the mountain. That tour began in South Tyrol's Lappach in the Lappach valley (now part of the municipality of Muehlwald) at four clock in the morning and headed north to the East Nevesferner. After crossing the glacier, they reached the South Arête of the Möseler in fog, but only got as far as the southern subpeak, the significantly lower "Möselekopf". As the fog lifted, they realized that they had not climbed the main peak; instead the highest point appeared to the northeast as a broad rocky summit. Finally, crossing the icy South Arête they reached the Great Möseler after two and a half more hours at 12.30 pm. As the weather cleared, Tuckett now realized that even the tediously conquered Großer Möseler was not the highest mountain in the Zillertal Alps. To the west, an icy summit towered even higher above them. An angle measurement brought unwelcome confirmation: this ice pinnacle, later called the Hochfeiler, had to be the long-sought after, highest point of the mountain range. The mountaineers descended northwards to Schlegeistal valley and at around 9 pm they finally reached the Alpine hut at Breitlahner.

The Große Möseler (), also called the "Mösele", is a mountain,, and thus the second highest peak in the Zillertal Alps after the Hochfeiler (3,509 m). It lies on the Zillertal main ridge which forms the border here between the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian province of South Tyrol. Its great size makes it the dominant mountain in the area. Seen from the northwest it appears like a firn-covered dome; but from the northeast as a regularly shaped cone of rock. Prominent arêtes radiate from the peak to the northwest, east and south. The mountain is easily ascended from the Furtschaglhaus and is often visited as a result. It was first climbed on 16 June 1865 by G. H. Fox, Douglas William Freshfield and Francis Fox Tuckett with mountain guides, François Devouassoud from Chamonix and Peter Michel from Grindelwald, as well as two unknown bearers.

Grosser Möseler (italsky Grande Mèsule) je druhý nejvyšší vrchol v Zillertalských Alpách na hranici mezi Rakouskem a Itálií. Na úbočí hory zasahují ledovce Furtschaglkees a Waxeggkees a Nevesský.


Origin.

The Dzungars were a confederation of several Oirat tribes that emerged in the early 17th century to fight the Altan Khan of the Khalkha (not to be confused with the better known Altan Khan of the Tümed), the Jasaghtu Khan, and later the Manchu for dominion and control over the Mongolian people and territories. This confederation rose to power in what became known as Dzungaria between the Altai Mountains and the Ili River Valley. Initially, the confederation consisted of the Oöled, Dorbet (also written Derbet) and Khoit tribes. Later on, elements of the Khoshut and Torghut tribes were forcibly incorporated into the Dzungar military, thus completing the re-unification of the West Mongolian tribes.  According to oral history, the Oöled and Dörbed tribes are the successor tribes to the Naiman, a Mongol tribe that roamed the steppes of Central Asia during the era of Genghis Khan. The Oöled shared the clan name Choros with the Dörvöd. "Zuun gar" (left hand) and "Baruun gar" (right hand) formed the Oirat's military and administrative organization. The Dzungar Olots and Choros became the ruling clans in the 17th century.

History.

In 1697, two relatives of Galdan Boshugtu Khan, Danjila and Rabdan, surrendered to the Qing Kangxi Emperor. Their people were then organized into two Oolod banners and resettled in modern Bayankhongor Province, Mongolia. In 1731, five hundred households fled back to Dzungar territory while the remaining Oolods were deported to Hulun Buir. After 1761 some of them were resettled in Arkhangai Province.  The Dzungars who lived in an area that stretched from the west end of the Great Wall of China to present-day eastern Kazakhstan and from present-day northern Kyrgyzstan to southern Siberia (most of which is located in present-day Xinjiang), were the last nomadic empire to threaten China, which they did from the early 17th century through the middle of the 18th century. After a series of inconclusive military conflicts that started in the 1680s, the Dzungars were subjugated by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty (1644–1911) in the late 1750s. Clarke argued that the Qing campaign in 1757–58 "amounted to the complete destruction of not only the Dzungar state but of the Dzungars as a people." After the Qianlong Emperor led Qing forces to victory over the Dzungar Oirat (Western) Mongols in 1755, he originally was going to split the Dzungar Khanate into four tribes headed by four Khans, the Khoit tribe was to have the Dzungar leader Amursana as its Khan. Amursana rejected the Qing arrangement and rebelled since he wanted to be leader of a united Dzungar nation. Qianlong then issued his orders for the genocide and eradication of the entire Dzungar nation and name, Qing Manchu Bannermen and Khalkha (Eastern) Mongols enslaved Dzungar women and children while slaying the other Dzungars.  The Qianlong Emperor then ordered the genocide of the Dzungars, moving the remaining Dzungar people to the mainland and ordering the generals to kill all the men in Barkol or Suzhou, and divided their wives and children to Qing forces, which were made out of Manchu Bannermen and Khalkha Mongols. Qing scholar Wei Yuan estimated the total population of Dzungars before the fall at 600,000 people, or 200,000 households. Oirat officer Saaral betrayed and battled against the Oirats. In a widely cited account of the war, Wei Yuan wrote that about 40% of the Dzungar households were killed by smallpox, 20% fled to Russia or Kazakh tribes, and 30% were killed by the Qing army of Manchu Bannermen and Khalkha Mongols, leaving no yurts in an area of several thousands li except those of the surrendered. During this war Kazakhs attacked dispersed Oirats and Altays. Based on this account, Wen-Djang Chu wrote that 80% of the 600,000 or more Dzungars (especially Choros, Olot, Khoid, Baatud and Zakhchin) were destroyed by disease and attack which Michael Clarke described as "the complete destruction of not only the Dzungar state but of the Zungars as a people." Historian Peter Perdue attributed the decimation of the Dzungars to an explicit policy of extermination launched by Qianlong, but he also observed signs of a more lenient policy after mid-1757. Mark Levene, a historian whose recent research interests focus on genocide, has stated that the extermination of the Dzungars was "arguably the eighteenth century genocide par excellence." The Dzungar genocide was completed by a combination of a smallpox epidemic and the direct slaughter of Dzungars by Qing forces made out of Manchu Bannermen and (Khalkha) Mongols.  Anti-Dzungar Uyghur rebels from the Turfan and Hami oases had submitted to Qing rule as vassals and requested Qing help for overthrowing Dzungar rule. Uyghur leaders like Emin Khoja were granted titles within the Qing nobility, and these Uyghurs helped supply the Qing military forces during the anti-Dzungar campaign. The Qing employed Khoja Emin in its campaign against the Dzungars and used him as an intermediary with Muslims from the Tarim Basin to inform them that the Qing were only aiming to kill Dzungars and that they would leave the Muslims alone, and also to convince them to kill the Dzungars themselves and side with the Qing since the Qing noted the Muslims' resentment of their former experience under Dzungar rule at the hands of Tsewang Araptan.  It was not until generations later that Dzungaria rebounded from the destruction and near liquidation of the Dzungars after the mass slayings of nearly a million Dzungars. Historian Peter Perdue has shown that the annihilation of the Dzungars was the result of an explicit policy of extermination launched by Qianlong, Perdue attributed the elimination of the Dzungars to a "deliberate use of massacre" and has described it as an "ethnic genocide".  The Qing "final solution" of genocide to solve the problem of the Dzungars made the Qing sponsored settlement of millions of Han Chinese, Hui, Turkestani Oasis people (Uyghurs) and Manchu Bannermen in Dzungaria possible, since the land was now devoid of Dzungars. The Dzungarian basin, which used to be inhabited by Dzungars is currently inhabited by Kazakhs. In northern Xinjiang, the Qing brought in Han, Hui, Uyghur, Xibe, and Kazakh colonists after they exterminated the Dzungar Oirat Mongols in the region, with one third of Xinjiang's total population consisting of Hui and Han in the northern area, while around two thirds were Uyghurs in southern Xinjiang's Tarim Basin. In Dzungaria, the Qing established new cities like Urumqi and Yining. The Qing were the ones who unified Xinjiang and changed its demographic situation.  The depopulation of northern Xinjiang after the Buddhist Oirats were slaughtered, led to the Qing settling Manchu, Sibo (Xibe), Daurs, Solons, Han Chinese, Hui Muslims, and Turkic Muslim Taranchis in the north, with Han Chinese and Hui migrants making up the greatest number of settlers. Since it was the crushing of the Buddhist Öölöd (Dzungars) by the Qing which led to promotion of Islam and the empowerment of the Muslim Begs in southern Xinjiang, and migration of Muslim Taranchis to northern Xinjiang, it was proposed by Henry Schwarz that "the Qing victory was, in a certain sense, a victory for Islam". Xinjiang as a unified defined geographic identity was created and developed by the Qing. It was the Qing who led to Turkic Muslim power in the region increasing since the Mongol power was crushed by the Qing while Turkic Muslim culture and identity was tolerated or even promoted by the Qing.  Qianlong explicitly commemorated the Qing conquest of the Dzungars as having added new territory in Xinjiang to "China", defining China as a multi ethnic state, rejecting the idea that China only meant Han areas in "China proper", meaning that according to the Qing, both Han and non-Han peoples were part of "China", which included Xinjiang which the Qing conquered from the Dzungars. After the Qing were done conquering Dzungaria in 1759, they proclaimed that the new land which formerly belonged to the Dzungars, was now absorbed into "China" (Dulimbai Gurun) in a Manchu language memorial. The Qing expounded on their ideology that they were bringing together the "outer" non-Han Chinese like the Inner Mongols, Eastern Mongols, Oirat Mongols, and Tibetans together with the "inner" Han Chinese, into "one family" united in the Qing state, showing that the diverse subjects of the Qing were all part of one family, the Qing used the phrase "Zhong Wai Yi Jia" 中外一家 or "Nei Wai Yi Jia" 內外一家 ("interior and exterior as one family"), to convey this idea of "unification" of the different peoples. In the Manchu official Tulisen's Manchu language account of his meeting with the Torghut leader Ayuka Khan, it was mentioned that while the Torghuts were unlike the Russians, the "people of the Central Kingdom" (dulimba-i gurun 中國, Zhongguo) were like the Torghut Mongols, and the "people of the Central Kingdom" referred to the Manchus.  The Hulun Buir Oolods formed an administrative banner along the Imin and Shinekhen Rivers. During the Qing dynasty, a body of them resettled in Yakeshi city. In 1764 many Oolods migrated to Khovd Province in Mongolia and supplied corvee services for the Khovd garrison of the Qing. Their number reached 9,100 in 1989. A united administrative unit was demanded by them.  The Dzungars remaining in Xinjiang were also renamed Oolods. They dominated 30 of the 148 Mongol sums during the Qing dynasty era and numbered 25,000 in 1999.

The name Dzungar people, also written as Zunghar (literally "züüngar", from the Mongolian for "left hand"), referred to the several Oirat tribes who formed and maintained the Dzungar Khanate in the 17th and 18th centuries. Historically they were one of major tribes of the Four Oirat confederation. They were also known as the Eleuths or Ööled, from the Qing dynasty euphemism for the hated word "Dzungar" and also called "Kalmyks". In 2010, 15,520 people claimed "Ööled" ancestry in Mongolia. An unknown number also live in China, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Džúngarové, též Džúngaři, ( Өөлд "Ööld") je západomongolský (ojratský) historický národ, z něhož přežívají kmeny žijící v Číně a Mongolsku. Celkově se počet Džúngarů odhaduje na 34 tisíc, z toho 25 tisíc žije v Číně (sčítání 1999) a 9 tisíc v Mongolsku.


Methods.

Transformer.

Transformers couple by magnetic flux. The primary and secondary windings of a transformer are not connected to each other (an autotransformer has a conductive connection between its windings and so does not provide isolation). The voltage difference that may safely be applied between windings without risk of breakdown (the isolation voltage) is specified in kilovolts by an industry standard. The same applies to transductors. While transformers are usually used to change voltages, isolation transformers with a 1:1 ratio are used in safety applications.  If two electronic systems have a common ground, they are not galvanically isolated. The common ground might not normally and intentionally have connection to functional poles, but might become connected. For this reason isolation transformers do not supply a "GND/earth pole".

Opto-isolator.

Opto-isolators transmit information by light waves. The sender (light source) and receiver (photosensitive device) are not electrically connected; typically they are held in place within a matrix of transparent, insulating plastic.

Capacitor.

Capacitors allow alternating current (AC) to flow, but block direct current; they couple ac signals between circuits at different direct voltages. Depending on conditions, a capacitor may fail and become "short circuited", ending its electric isolation function, which creates risk to the "now connected circuit" and, possibly, human danger. To address this question, there are special ratings for capacitors used for safety isolation, such as "Class Y".

Hall effect.

Hall effect sensors allow an inductor to transfer information across a small gap magnetically. Unlike opto-isolators they do not contain a light source with a finite life, and in contrast to a transformer based approach they don't require DC balancing.

Magnetoresistance.

Magnetocouplers use giant magnetoresistance (GMR) to couple from AC down to DC.

Relay.

One side operates the magnetic coil of an isolation relay. The other side is connected to switched contacts.

Applications.

Optocouplers are used within a system to decouple a function block from another connected to the power grid or other high voltage, for safety and equipment protection. For example, power semiconductors connected to the line voltage may be switched by optocouplers driven from low-voltage circuits, which need not be insulated for the higher line voltage.  Transformers allow the output of a device to "float" relative to ground to avoid potential ground loops. Power isolation transformers increase the safety of a device, so that a person touching a live portion of the circuit will not have current flow through them to earth. Power sockets intended for electric razor supply may use an isolation transformer to prevent an electric shock if the razor should be dropped into water.

Galvanic isolation is a principle of isolating functional sections of electrical systems to prevent current flow; no direct conduction path is permitted. Energy or information can still be exchanged between the sections by other means, such as capacitance, induction or electromagnetic waves, or by optical, acoustic or mechanical means.

Galvanické oddělení je v elektrotechnice způsob, jakým se oddělují dvě nebo více částí obvodu, aby nebyly spojeny vodičem, ale přitom aby docházelo k přenosu el. energie (práce a výkonu), případně impulzů nebo informací.


Background.

In June 1816, the French frigate "Méduse" departed from Rochefort, bound for the Senegalese port of Saint-Louis. She headed a convoy of three other ships: the storeship "Loire", the brig "Argus" and the corvette "Écho". Viscount Hugues Duroy de Chaumereys had been appointed captain of the frigate despite having scarcely sailed in 20 years. After the wreck, public outrage mistakenly attributed responsibility for his appointment to Louis XVIII, though his was a routine naval appointment made within the Ministry of the Navy and far outside the concerns of the monarch. The frigate's mission was to accept the British return of Senegal under the terms of France's acceptance of the Peace of Paris. The appointed French governor of Senegal, Colonel Julien-Désiré Schmaltz, and his wife and daughter were among the passengers.  In an effort to make good time, the "Méduse" overtook the other ships, but due to poor navigation it drifted off course. On 2 July, it ran aground on a sandbank off the West African coast, near today's Mauritania. The collision was widely blamed on the incompetence of De Chaumereys, a returned émigré who lacked experience and ability,

Description.

"The Raft of the Medusa" portrays the moment when, after 13 days adrift on the raft, the remaining 15 survivors view a ship approaching from a distance. According to an early British reviewer, the work is set at a moment when "the ruin of the raft may be said to be complete". The painting is on a monumental scale of, so that most of the figures rendered are life-sized and those in the foreground almost twice life-size, pushed close to the picture plane and crowding onto the viewer, who is drawn into the physical action as a participant.  The makeshift raft is shown as barely seaworthy as it rides the deep waves, while the men are rendered as broken and in utter despair. One old man holds the corpse of his son at his knees; another tears his hair out in frustration and defeat. A number of bodies litter the foreground, waiting to be swept away by the surrounding waves. The men in the middle have just viewed a rescue ship; one points it out to another, and an African crew member, Jean Charles, stands on an empty barrel and frantically waves his handkerchief to draw the ship's

Execution.

Research and preparatory studies.

Géricault was captivated by accounts of the widely publicised 1816 shipwreck, and realised that a depiction of the event might be an opportunity to establish his reputation as a painter. Having decided to proceed, he undertook extensive research before he began the painting. In early 1818, he met with two survivors: Henri Savigny, a surgeon, and Alexandre Corréard, an engineer from the École nationale supérieure d'arts et métiers. Their emotional descriptions of their experiences largely inspired the tone of the final painting. According to the art historian Georges-Antoine Borias, "Géricault established

Final work.

Géricault, who had just been forced to break off a painful affair with his aunt, shaved his head and from November 1818 to July 1819 lived a disciplined monastic existence in his studio in the Faubourg du Roule, being brought meals by his concierge and only occasionally spending an evening out. He and his 18-year-old assistant, Louis-Alexis Jamar, slept in a small room adjacent to the studio; occasionally there were arguments and on one occasion Jamar walked off; after two days Géricault persuaded him to return. In his orderly studio, the artist worked in a methodical fashion in complete silence and found that even the noise of a mouse was sufficient to break his concentration.  He used friends as models, most notably the painter Eugène Delacroix (1798–1863), who modelled for the figure in the foreground with face turned downward and one arm outstretched. Two of the raft's survivors are seen in shadow at the foot of the mast; three of the figures were painted from life—Corréard, Savigny and Lavillette. Jamar posed nude for the dead youth shown in the foreground about to slip into the sea, and was

Influences.

"The Raft of the Medusa" fuses many influences from the Old Masters, from the "Last Judgment" and Sistine Chapel ceiling of Michelangelo (1475–1564) and Raphael's "Transfiguration", to the monumental approach of Jacques-Louis David (1748–1825) and Antoine-Jean Gros (1771–1835), to contemporary events. By the 18th century, shipwrecks had become a recognised feature of marine art, as well as an increasingly common occurrence as more journeys were made by sea. Claude Joseph Vernet (1714–1789) created many such images, achieving naturalistic colour through direct observation—unlike other artists at that time—and was said to have tied himself to the mast of a ship in order to witness a storm.  Although the men depicted on the raft had spent 13 days adrift and suffered hunger, disease and cannibalism, Géricault pays tribute to the traditions of heroic painting and presents his figures as muscular and healthy. According to the art historian Richard Muther, there is still a strong debt to Classicism in the work. The fact that the majority of the figures are almost naked, he wrote, arose from a desire to avoid "unpictorial" costumes. Muther observes that there is "still something academic in the figures, which do not seem to be sufficiently weakened by privation, disease, and the struggle with death".  The influence of Jacques-Louis David can be seen in the painting's scale, in the sculptural tautness of the figures and in the heightened manner in which a particularly significant "fruitful moment"—the first awareness of the approaching ship—is described. In 1793, David also painted an important current event with "The Death of Marat". His painting had an enormous political impact during the time of the revolution in

Exhibition and reception.

"The Raft of the Medusa" was first shown at the 1819 Paris Salon, under the title "Scène de Naufrage" ("Shipwreck Scene"), although its real subject would have been unmistakable for contemporary viewers. The exhibition was sponsored by Louis XVIII and featured nearly 1,300 paintings, 208 sculptures and numerous other engravings and architectural designs. Géricault's canvas was the star at the exhibition: "It strikes and attracts all eyes" ("Le Journal de Paris"). Louis XVIII visited three days before the opening and said: """", or "Monsieur Géricault, you've painted a shipwreck, but it's not one for you". The critics were divided: the horror and "terribilità" of the subject exercised fascination, but devotees of classicism expressed their distaste for what they described as a "pile of corpses", whose realism they considered a far cry from the "ideal beauty" represented by Girodet's "Pygmalion and Galatea", which triumphed the same year. Géricault's work expressed a paradox: how could a hideous subject be translated into a powerful painting, how could the painter reconcile art and reality? Marie-Philippe Coupin de la Couperie, a French painter and contemporary of Géricault, provided one answer: "Monsieur Géricault seems mistaken. The goal of painting is to speak to the soul and the eyes, not to repel." The painting had fervent admirers too, including French writer and art critic Auguste Jal, who praised its political theme, its liberal position–its advancement of the negro and critique of ultra-royalism–and its modernity. The historian Jules Michelet approved: "our whole society is aboard the raft of the Medusa".  Géricault had deliberately sought to be both politically and artistically confrontational. Critics responded to his aggressive approach in kind, and their reactions were either ones of revulsion or praise, depending on whether the writer's sympathies favoured the Bourbon or Liberal viewpoint. The painting was seen as largely sympathetic to the men on the raft, and thus by extension to the anti-imperial cause adopted by the survivors Savigny and Corréard. The decision to place a black man at the pinnacle of the composition was a controversial expression of Géricault's abolitionist sympathies. The art critic Christine Riding has speculated that the painting's later exhibition in London was planned to coincide with anti-slavery agitation there. According to art critic and curator Karen Wilkin, Géricault's painting acts as a "cynical indictment of the bungling malfeasance of France's post-Napoleonic officialdom, much of which was recruited from the surviving families of the "Ancien Régime"".  The painting generally impressed the viewing public, although its subject matter repelled many, thus denying Géricault the popular acclaim which he had hoped to achieve.

Interpretation and legacy.

In its insistence on portraying an unpleasant truth, "The Raft of the Medusa" was a landmark in the emerging Romantic movement in French painting, and "laid the foundations of an aesthetic revolution" against the prevailing Neoclassical style. Géricault's compositional structure and depiction of the figures are classical, but the contrasting turbulence of the subject represents a significant change in artistic direction and creates an important bridge between Neoclassical and Romantic styles. By 1815, Jacques-Louis David, then in exile in Brussels, was both the leading proponent of the popular history painting genre, which he had perfected, and a master of the Neoclassical style. In France, both history painting and the Neoclassical style continued through the work of Antoine-Jean Gros, Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres, François Gérard, Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, Pierre-Narcisse Guérin—teacher of both Géricault and Delacroix—and other artists who remained committed to the artistic traditions of David and Nicolas Poussin.  In his introduction to "The Journal of Eugène Delacroix", Hubert Wellington wrote about Delacroix's opinion of the state of French painting just prior to the Salon of 1819. According to Wellington, "The curious blend of classic with realistic outlook which had been imposed by the discipline of David was now losing both animation and interest. The master himself was nearing his end, and exiled in Belgium. His most docile pupil, Girodet, a refined and cultivated classicist, was producing pictures of astonishing frigidity. Gérard, immensely successful painter of portraits under the Empire—some of them admirable—fell in with the new vogue for large pictures of history, but without enthusiasm."  "The Raft of the Medusa" contains the gestures and grand scale of traditional history painting; however, it presents ordinary people, rather than heroes, reacting to the unfolding drama. Géricault's raft pointedly lacks a hero, and his painting presents no cause beyond sheer survival. The work represents, in the words of Christine Riding, "the fallacy of hope and pointless suffering, and at worst, the basic human instinct to survive, which had superseded all moral considerations and plunged civilised man into barbarism".  The unblemished musculature of the central figure waving to the rescue ship is reminiscent of the Neoclassical, however the naturalism of light and shadow, the authenticity of the desperation shown by the survivors and the emotional character of the composition differentiate it from Neoclassical austerity. It was a further departure from the religious or classical themes of earlier works because it depicted contemporary events with ordinary and unheroic figures. Both the choice of subject matter and the heightened manner in which the dramatic moment is depicted are typical of Romantic painting—strong indications of the extent to which Géricault had moved from the prevalent Neoclassical movement.  Hubert Wellington said that while Delacroix was a lifelong admirer of Gros, the dominating enthusiasm of his youth was for Géricault. The dramatic composition of Géricault, with its strong contrasts of tone and unconventional gestures, stimulated Delacroix to trust his own creative impulses on a large work. Delacroix said, "Géricault allowed me to see his "Raft of Medusa" while he was still working on it." The painting's influence is seen in Delacroix's "The Barque of Dante" (1822) and reappears as inspiration in Delacroix's later works, such as "The Shipwreck of Don Juan" (1840).  According to Wellington, Delacroix's masterpiece of 1830, "Liberty Leading the People", springs directly from Géricault's "The Raft of the Medusa" and Delacroix's own "Massacre at Chios". Wellington wrote that "While Géricault carried his interest in actual detail to the point of searching for more survivors from the wreck as models, Delacroix felt his composition more vividly as a whole, thought of his figures and crowds as types, and dominated them by the symbolic figure of Republican Liberty which is one of his finest plastic inventions." <br> The art and sculpture historian Albert Elsen believed that "The Raft of the Medusa" and Delacroix's "Massacre at Chios" provided the inspiration for the grandiose sweep of Auguste Rodin's monumental sculpture "The Gates of Hell". He wrote that "Delacroix's "Massacre at Chios" and Géricault's "Raft of the Medusa" confronted Rodin on a heroic scale with the innocent nameless victims of political tragedies... If Rodin was inspired to rival Michelangelo's "Last Judgment", he had Géricault's "Raft of the Medusa" in front of him for encouragement."  While Gustave Courbet (1819–1877) could be described as an anti-Romantic painter, his major works like "A Burial at Ornans" (1849–50) and "The Artist's Studio" (1855) owe a debt to "The Raft of the Medusa". The influence is not only in Courbet's enormous scale, but in his willingness to portray ordinary people and current political events, and to record people, places and events in real, everyday surroundings. The 2004 exhibition at the Clark Art Institute, "Bonjour Monsieur Courbet: The Bruyas Collection from the Musee Fabre, Montpellier", sought to compare the 19th-century Realist painters Courbet, Honoré Daumier (1808–1879), and early Édouard Manet (1832–1883) with artists associated with Romanticism, including Géricault and Delacroix. Citing "The Raft of the Medusa" as an instrumental influence on Realism, the exhibition drew comparisons between all of the artists. The critic Michael Fried sees Manet directly borrowing the figure of the man cradling his son for the composition of "Angels at the Tomb of Christ".  The influence of "The Raft of the Medusa" was felt by artists beyond France. Francis Danby, a British painter born in Ireland, probably was inspired by Géricault's picture when he painted "Sunset at Sea after a Storm" in 1824, and wrote in 1829 that "The Raft of the Medusa" was "the finest and grandest historical picture I have ever seen".  "The Gulf Stream" (1899), by the American artist Winslow Homer (1836–1910), replicates the composition of "The Raft of the Medusa" with a damaged vessel, ominously surrounded by sharks and threatened by a waterspout. Like Géricault, Homer makes a black man the pivotal figure in the scene, though here he is the vessel's sole occupant. A ship in the distance mirrors the "Argus" from Géricault's painting. The move from the drama of Romanticism to the new Realism is exemplified by the stoic resignation of Homer's figure. The man's condition, which in earlier works might have been characterised by hope or helplessness, has turned to "sullen rage".  In the early 1990s, sculptor John Connell, in his "Raft Project", a collaborative project with painter Eugene Newmann, recreated "The Raft of the Medusa" by making life-sized sculptures out of wood, paper and tar and placing them on a large wooden raft.  Remarking on the contrast between the dying figures in the foreground and the figures in the mid-ground waving towards the approaching rescue ship, the French art historian Georges-Antoine Borias wrote that Géricault's painting represents, "on the one hand, desolation and death. On the other, hope and life."  For Kenneth Clark, "The Raft of the Medusa" "remains the chief example of romantic pathos expressed through the nude; and that obsession with death, which drove Géricault to frequent mortuary chambers and places of public execution, gives truth to his figures of the dead and the dying. Their outlines may be taken from the classics, but they have been seen again with a craving for violent experience."  Today, a bronze bas-relief of "The Raft of the Medusa" by Antoine Étex adorns Géricault's grave in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.

The Raft of the Medusa ( ) – originally titled Scène de Naufrage ("Shipwreck Scene") – is an oil painting of 1818–19 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault (1791–1824). Completed when the artist was 27, the work has become an icon of French Romanticism. At, it is an over-life-size painting that depicts a moment from the aftermath of the wreck of the French naval frigate "Méduse", which ran aground off the coast of today's Mauritania on 2 July 1816. On 5 July 1816, at least 147 people were set adrift on a hurriedly constructed raft; all but 15 died in the 13 days before their rescue, and those who survived endured starvation and dehydration and practiced cannibalism. The event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely attributed to the incompetence of the French captain.

Vor Medúzy (, česky také "Prám medúzy", 1817–1818) je obraz na plátně francouzského malíře Théodora Géricaulta. Znázorňuje dramaticky skutečný příběh katastrofy lodě Medúza (Méduse), která se roku 1816 potopila a cestující, kterých bylo asi 150, byli opuštěni posádkou lodě a vydáni bez jídla i pití napospas moři a podnebí. Po 2 týdnech plavby, během kterých se vyskytly i případy kanibalismu, se zachránilo 15 pološílených lidí. Příhoda, která měla velikou odezvu veřejnosti i politickou dohru, je na plátně podána s takovou drásavostí a smyslem pro tragiku, že dílo vyvolalo na pařížském Salonu roku 1819 společenský skandál.


Early life.

Joan was born in October 1165 at Château d'Angers in Anjou as the seventh child of Henry II, King of England and his queen consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine. She spent her youth at her mother's courts at Winchester and Poitiers. As a young Angevin princess, Joan's early education consisted of subjects to ready her for marriage, and not just any marriage, but a royal one. She likely learned how to sew and weave, sing, play an instrument, and ride a horse – a pastime that she loved.

Queen of Sicily.

In 1176, William II of Sicily sent ambassadors to the English court to ask for Joan's hand in marriage. The betrothal was confirmed on 20 May, and Joan's father had to raise money to pay for the cost of the journey and the wedding. He did this by imposing a tax on English subjects. On 27 August, Joan set sail for Sicily from Southampton, escorted by John of Oxford, the bishop of Norwich and her uncle, Hamelin de Warenne, Earl of Surrey. In the Angevin territories of northern France, she was met by her eldest brother Henry the Young King, and he escorted her to Poitou to her brother Richard the Lionheart. He took her to Saint Gilles, and her entourage was met by representatives of the Kingdom of Sicily: Alfano, Archbishop of Capua, and Richard Palmer, Bishop of Syracuse. After a hazardous voyage, Joan arrived safely in Palermo, and on 13 February 1177, she married King William and was crowned Queen of Sicily at Palermo Cathedral.  Joan produced no surviving heir, although there were rumours that she had given birth to a boy called Bohemond, born in 1181 or 1182, but if he did exist, he died in infancy. Traditionally, a royal husband in such a situation may have annulled the marriage for a chance to marry a woman who would give him a son. King William did not annul the marriage, nor did he express any interest in doing so. Instead, he named his aunt Constance, daughter of Roger II of Sicily as his heir.  When William II died in November 1189, Sicily was seized by his bastard cousin Tancred, who took the lands given to Joan by William with the sound strategic reason that Monte Sant'Angelo lay on the route taken by the invading forces of Heinrich VI of Germany.

Third Crusade.

Finally, her brother King Richard I of England arrived in Italy in 1190, on the way to the Holy Land. He demanded her return, along with every penny of her dowry. When Tancred balked at these demands, Richard seized a monastery and the castle of La Bagnara. He decided to spend the winter in Italy and attacked and subdued the city of Messina, Sicily. Finally, Tancred agreed to the terms and sent Joan's dowry. In March 1191 Eleanor of Aquitaine arrived in Messina with Richard's bride, Berengaria of Navarre.  Eleanor returned to England, leaving Berengaria in Joan's care. Richard decided to postpone his wedding, put his sister and bride on a ship, and set sail. Two days later the fleet was hit by a fierce storm, destroying several ships and blowing Joan and Berengaria's ship off course. Richard landed safely in Crete, but they were stranded near Cyprus. The self-appointed despot of Cyprus, Isaac Comnenus was about to capture them when Richard's fleet suddenly appeared. The princesses were saved, but the despot made off with Richard's treasure. Richard pursued and captured Isaac, threw him into a dungeon, married Berengaria on 12 May 1191 at Limasol, Cyprus and then sent Joan and Berengaria on to Acre.  Joan was Richard's favourite sister, but he was not above using her as a bargaining chip in his political schemes. He even suggested marrying her to Saladin's brother, Al-Adil, and making them joint rulers of Jerusalem. Although Al-Adil and Saladin both expressed agreement with the arrangement, the plan failed when the high ranking priests opposed the wedding and threatened Richard that he would be excommunicated from the Christian Church. King Philip II of France also expressed some interest in marrying her, but this scheme, too, failed (possibly on grounds of affinity, since Philip's father Louis VII had formerly been married to her mother).

Countess of Toulouse.

Joan was married in October 1196, at Rouen, as his third wife, to Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, with Quercy and the Agenais as her dowry. She was the mother of his successor Raymond VII of Toulouse (born July 1197), and a daughter, Joan (born 1198), who married Bernard II de la Tour, Lord of la Tour.  Some chroniclers, who disliked Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse (believing he was a heretic), claim that his marriage to Joan quickly became unhappy, and that she had been fleeing to her brother Richard's domains in 1199, when she learned of Richard's death. "The Chronicle of Guillaume de Puylaurens", however, says the following of Joan's last few months: "She was an able woman of great spirit, and after she had recovered from childbed, she was determined to counter the injuries being inflicted upon her husband at the hands of numerous magnates and knights. She therefore took arms against the lords of Saint-Felix, and laid siege to a castrum belonging to them known as Les Cassés. Her efforts were of little avail; some of those with her treacherously and secretly provided arms and supplies to the besieged enemy. Greatly aggrieved, she abandoned the siege, and was almost prevented from leaving her camp by a fire started by the traitors. Much affected by this injury, she hastened to see her brother King Richard to tell him about it but found that he had died. She herself died, whilst pregnant, overcome by this double grief."

Death and burial.

Joan asked to be admitted to Fontevrault Abbey, an unusual request for a married, pregnant woman, but this request was granted. She died in childbirth and was veiled a nun on her deathbed. Her son, born by Caesarean section once Joan had died, lived just long enough to be baptised, receiving the name of Richard. Joan was thirty-three years old.  Joan was buried at Fontevrault Abbey. Her effigy was originally shown kneeling at the head of her father's tomb with her hands clasped and head bent in an attitude of devotion which was expressed on her face. Her son Raymond was buried beside her and his effigy knelt facing hers. Both effigies were destroyed during the French Revolution.

Joan of England (October 1165 – 4 September 1199) was a queen consort of Sicily and countess consort of Toulouse. She was the seventh child of Henry II, King of England, and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine. From her birth, she was destined to make a political and royal marriage. She married William II of Sicily and later Raymond VI, Count of Toulouse, two very important and powerful figures in the political landscape of Medieval Europe.

Johana Anglická (říjen 1165, Angers–4. září 1199, klášter Fontevrault) byla sicilská královna a poté hraběnka z Toulouse. Zúčastnila se třetí křížové výpravy.


Philosophy.

ML-derived languages are best known for their static type systems and type-inferring compilers. OCaml unifies functional, imperative, and object-oriented programming under an ML-like type system. Thus, programmers need not be highly familiar with the pure functional language paradigm to use OCaml.  By requiring the programmer to work within the constraints of its static type system, OCaml eliminates many of the type-related runtime problems associated with dynamically typed languages. Also, OCaml's type-inferring compiler greatly reduces the need for the manual type annotations that are required in most statically typed languages. For example, the data type of variables and the signature of functions usually need not be declared explicitly, as they do in languages like Java and C#, because they can be inferred from the operators and other functions that are applied to the variables and other values in the code. Effective use of OCaml's type system can require some sophistication on the part of a programmer, but this discipline is rewarded with reliable, high-performance software.  OCaml is perhaps most distinguished from other languages with origins in academia by its emphasis on performance. Its static type system prevents runtime type mismatches and thus obviates runtime type and safety checks that burden the performance of dynamically typed languages, while still guaranteeing runtime safety, except when array bounds checking is turned off or when some type-unsafe features like serialization are used. These are rare enough that avoiding them is quite possible in practice.  Aside from type-checking overhead, functional programming languages are, in general, challenging to compile to efficient machine language code, due to issues such as the funarg problem. Along with standard loop, register, and instruction optimizations, OCaml's optimizing compiler employs static program analysis methods to optimize value boxing and closure allocation, helping to maximize the performance of the resulting code even if it makes extensive use of functional programming constructs.  Xavier Leroy has stated that "OCaml delivers at least 50% of the performance of a decent C compiler", although a direct comparison is impossible. Some functions in the OCaml standard library are implemented with faster algorithms than equivalent functions in the standard libraries of other languages. For example, the implementation of set union in the OCaml standard library in theory is asymptotically faster than the equivalent function in the standard libraries of imperative languages (e.g., C++, Java) because the OCaml implementation exploits the immutability of sets to reuse parts of input sets in the output (see persistent data structure).

Features.

OCaml features a static type system, type inference, parametric polymorphism, tail recursion, pattern matching, first class lexical closures, functors (parametric modules), exception handling, and incremental generational automatic garbage collection.  OCaml is notable for extending ML-style type inference to an object system in a general-purpose language. This permits structural subtyping, where object types are compatible if their method signatures are compatible, regardless of their declared inheritance (an unusual feature in statically typed languages).  A foreign function interface for linking to C primitives is provided, including language support for efficient numerical arrays in formats compatible with both C and Fortran. OCaml also supports creating libraries of OCaml functions that can be linked to a "main" program in C, so that an OCaml library can be distributed to C programmers who have no knowledge or installation of OCaml.  The OCaml distribution contains:  The native code compiler is available for many platforms, including Unix, Microsoft Windows, and Apple macOS. Portability is achieved through native code generation support for major architectures: IA-32, X86-64 (AMD64), Power, SPARC, ARM, and ARM64.  OCaml bytecode and native code programs can be written in a multithreaded style, with preemptive context switching. However, because the garbage collector of the INRIA OCaml system (which is the only currently available full implementation of the language) is not designed for concurrency, symmetric multiprocessing is unsupported. OCaml threads in the same process execute by time sharing only. There are however several libraries for distributed computing such as Functory and ocamlnet/Plasma.

Development environment.

Since 2011, many new tools and libraries have been contributed to the OCaml development environment:

Code examples.

Snippets of OCaml code are most easily studied by entering them into the "top-level". This is an interactive OCaml session that prints the inferred types of resulting or defined expressions. The OCaml top-level is started by simply executing the OCaml program:  $ ocaml  Code can then be entered at the "#" prompt. For example, to calculate 1+2*3:  - : int = 7  OCaml infers the type of the expression to be "int" (a machine-precision integer) and gives the result "7".

Hello World.

The following program "hello.ml": print_endline "Hello World!" can be compiled into a bytecode executable:  or compiled into an optimized native-code executable:  and executed:  $./hello Hello World!  The first argument to ocamlc, "hello.ml", specifies the source file to compile and the "-o hello" flag specifies the output file.

Summing a list of integers.

Lists are one of the fundamental datatypes in OCaml. The following code example defines a recursive function "sum" that accepts one argument, "integers", which is supposed to be a list of integers. Note the keyword codice_1 which denotes that the function is recursive. The function recursively iterates over the given list of integers and provides a sum of the elements. The "match" statement has similarities to C's switch element, though it is far more general. let rec sum integers = (* Keyword rec means'recursive'. *)  Another way is to use standard fold function that works with lists. let sum integers =  Since the anonymous function is simply the application of the + operator, this can be shortened to: let sum integers = Furthermore, one can omit the list argument by making use of a partial application: let sum =

Quicksort.

OCaml lends itself to concisely expressing recursive algorithms. The following code example implements an algorithm similar to quicksort that sorts a list in increasing order.

Birthday problem.

The following program calculates the smallest number of people in a room for whom the probability of completely unique birthdays is less than 50% (the birthday problem, where for 1 person the probability is 365/365 (or 100%), for 2 it is 364/365, for 3 it is 364/365 × 363/365, etc.) (answer = 23). let year_size = 365.  let rec birthday_paradox prob people =  birthday_paradox 1.0 1

Church numerals.

The following code defines a Church encoding of natural numbers, with successor (succ) and addition (add). A Church numeral is a higher-order function that accepts a function and a value and applies to exactly times. To convert a Church numeral from a functional value to a string, we pass it a function that prepends the string to its input and the constant string. let zero f x = x let succ n f x = f (n f x) let one = succ zero let two = succ (succ zero) let add n1 n2 f x = n1 f (n2 f x) let to_string n = n (fun k -> "S" ^ k) "0" let _ = to_string (add (succ two) two)

Arbitrary-precision factorial function (libraries).

A variety of libraries are directly accessible from OCaml. For example, OCaml has a built-in library for arbitrary-precision arithmetic. As the factorial function grows very rapidly, it quickly overflows machine-precision numbers (typically 32- or 64-bits). Thus, factorial is a suitable candidate for arbitrary-precision arithmetic.  In OCaml, the Num module (now superseded by the ZArith module) provides arbitrary-precision arithmetic and can be loaded into a running top-level using:  The factorial function may then be written using the arbitrary-precision numeric operators, and : if n =/ Int 0 then Int 1 else n */ fact(n -/ Int 1);; val fact : Num.num -> Num.num = <fun> This function can compute much larger factorials, such as 120!: - : string = "6689502913449127057588118054090372586752746333138029810295671352301633 55724496298936687416527198498130815763789321409055253440858940812185989 8481114389650005964960521256960000000000000000000000000000"

Triangle (graphics).

The following program renders a rotating triangle in 2D using OpenGL: let () = The LablGL bindings to OpenGL are required. The program may then be compiled to bytecode with:  or to nativecode with:  or, more simply, using the ocamlfind build command  and run:  Far more sophisticated, high-performance 2D and 3D graphical programs can be developed in OCaml. Thanks to the use of OpenGL and OCaml, the resulting programs can be cross-platform, compiling without any changes on many major platforms.

Fibonacci sequence.

The following code calculates the Fibonacci sequence of a number "n" inputted. It uses tail recursion and pattern matching.  let fib n =

Higher-order functions.

Functions may take functions as input and return functions as result. For example, applying "twice" to a function "f" yields a function that applies "f" two times to its argument.  let twice (f : 'a -> 'a) = fun (x : 'a) -> f (f x);; let inc (x : int) : int = x + 1;; let add2 = twice inc;; let inc_str (x : string) : string = x ^ " " ^ x;; let add_str = twice(inc_str);;  The function "twice" uses a type variable" 'a" to indicate that it can be applied to any function "f" mapping from a type" 'a" to itself, rather than only to "int->int" functions. In particular, "twice" can even be applied to itself.

Derived languages.

MetaOCaml.

MetaOCaml is a multi-stage programming extension of OCaml enabling incremental compiling of new machine code during runtime. Under some circumstances, significant speedups are possible using multistage programming, because more detailed information about the data to process is available at runtime than at the regular compile time, so the incremental compiler can optimize away many cases of condition checking, etc.  As an example: if at compile time it is known that some power function is needed often, but the value of is known only at runtime, a two-stage power function can be used in MetaOCaml: As soon as is known at runtime, a specialized and very fast power function can be created: The result is: The new function is automatically compiled.

Users.

Several dozen companies use OCaml to some degree. Notable examples include:

OCaml (, formerly Objective Caml) is a general-purpose, multi-paradigm programming language which extends the Caml dialect of ML with object-oriented features. OCaml was created in 1996 by Xavier Leroy, Jérôme Vouillon, Damien Doligez, Didier Rémy, Ascánder Suárez, and others.

OCaml je v informatice implementace programovacího jazyka Caml, která byla rozšířena o objektově orientované konstrukce. OCaml je sada nástrojů obsahující interpret, překladač do bytecode i překladač do strojového kódu, který provádí optimalizace. Obsahuje rozsáhlou knihovnu funkcí, což v něm umožňuje dělat aplikace takové jako v Pythonu nebo Perlu.


History.

At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in July 1936, Francisco Franco, the leader of the rebel armies in Spanish North Africa, had about 30,000 troops and Moroccan nationals under his command, along with some artillery units. In order to transfer his troops and equipment to mainland Spain, on 24 July 1936, Franco turned to the Italian consul in Tangiers and then directly to Major Luccardi, the military attache at the Italian consulate.  Through them, Franco tried to convince Benito Mussolini to send twelve transport aircraft, twelve reconnaissance planes, ten fighter aircraft, 3000 aerial bombs, antiaircraft machine guns, and at least forty five transport ships. Mussolini was initially reluctant to send them, despite his sympathy for Franco, but, under pressure from his son-in-law Galeazzo Ciano, changed his mind on 25 July. Ciano had in the meantime met with representatives of the Spanish monarchy to arrange the transfer of about thirty fighter planes and other equipment, which would arrive on 2 August, sent by the French government.  On 27 July, Mussolini ordered the under-secretary for the "Regia Aeronautica", General Giuseppe Valle, to send 12 three-engined Savoia-Marchetti SM.81 bombers with crews and relevant specialists to Franco. These would form the first unit, initially known as "Aviación del Tercio", and set out at dawn on 30 July from Cagliari–Elmas on Sardinia, where they had picked up three officials from the "Scuola di Navigazione di Altura" at Orbetello, the "gerarca" Ettore Muti, and Lieutenant Colonel Ruggero Bonomi.  The aircraft crews and the specialists were all volunteers from 7th, 10th and 13th "Stormo" and were provided with civilian clothes and fake documents. All Italian insignia on the planes had been blotted out to avoid an international incident with pro-Republican European governments. Fake documents stated that the planes were being sold to the Spanish journalist Luis Bolin.  Not all of the Italian planes sent to aid the rebel faction reached Morocco – the plane commanded by Angelini crashed in the Mediterranean, Mattalia's crashed near Saïda in French Morocco, and Lo Forte had to make an emergency landing near Berkane (also in French Morocco) and was seized by the local authorities. The nine survivors of the Moroccan crashes were provided with nationalist papers and transportation to the airport at Tetuan, from which, over the following days, they helped escort the transport ships "Araujo", "Ciudad de Alicante", and "Ciudad de Ceuta", which together carried 4,000 men, four artillery batteries, two million cartridges, and 12 tons of other munitions to mainland Spain.  Encouraged by the success of this first operation, Mussolini began sending a steady stream of munitions, personnel, and supplies under the name of "Aviación Legionaria", "Aviazione Legionaria".

Bombing operations.

Besides military targets, the "Aviazione Legionaria" carried out a great number of strategic bombings of cities in the Spanish Republican rear area, intended to terrify the civilian population into surrender. The most significant of these was the 1936 bombing of Madrid ordered by General Franco, in which the city's residential areas were subject to heavy bombardment – with the exception of the upper class Salamanca district, which was assumed to contain many Nationalist supporters. Three Italian bombers attacked the Renteria bridge on the outskirts of Guernica, prior to the Condor Legion's bombing of Guernica itself on 26 April 1937, followed by an attack on Almeria.  It would be in 1938 that Italian planes carried out most of their large-scale bombing operations, striking the cities of Barcelona, Alicante, Granollers, and Valencia, as well as the railway stations of Sant Vicenç de Calders in 1938 and Xàtiva in 1939. With a total of 728 raids on Spanish Mediterranean cities, the "Aviazione Legionaria" dropped 16,558 bombs and inflicted numerous casualties.  On 12 May 1939, the last Italian aircrew embarked for Italy on the ship "Duilio" at Cadiz. By the end of the conflict the "Aviazione Legionaria" had logged a total of 135,265 hours' flying time on 5,318 operations, dropping 11,524 tons of bombs and destroying 943 enemy air units and 224 ships. Hundred and seventy-one Italian personnel had been killed and 192 wounded, with 74 fighters, eight bombers, two ground-attack planes, and two reconnaissance aircraft shot down or destroyed.  The ratio of results to men and machines lost was positive, but also confirmed the "Regia Aeronautica"s commanders in their mistaken belief that biplanes and triplanes were still valid in modern combat. In fact the age of air warfare dominated by these aircraft was waning and it was becoming evident that radio needed to be mounted on all aircraft and that bomb-aiming needed to be done with special instruments rather than by sight These errors of judgement would prove decisive when Italy entered the Second World War in 1940.

Aircraft and units.

Twelve Fiat CR.32 biplanes arrived in Melilla aboard transport ships on 14 August 1936 (405 would be sent to Franco by the end of the operation), and by the end of August the "Cucaracha" squadron was formed at Cáceres with aircraft of that type. Initial dispatches of aircraft were followed by more numerous ones – in March 1939, eleven new Fiat G.50 monoplane fighters were sent, to be based at Ascalona, though ultimately they never saw action. In addition to the aircraft, Italy provided a number of well-trained men, sending more than 6,000 in total – 5,699 airmen and 312 civilians.  Various types of bombers were sent to Franco's forces, including 55 three-engined Savoia-Marchetti SM.81s, 99 three-engined Savoia-Marchetti SM.79s, and 16 Fiat BR.20s. The units were made part of the 21st "Stormo da Bombardamento Pesante" and the 251st and 252nd "Squadriglia Pipistrelli delle Baleari". The "Cicognas" went to 230th "Squadriglia da bombardamento veloce" in summer 1937, before being transferred to the 231st in 1938.  The unit's recognition symbols were roundels placed on both sides of the wings and on the tail-rudder. The wing symbol was a completely black circle, later personalized with white symbols ranging from a simple cross to designs referring to the commanders of the Condor Legion and the "Aviación Nacional". The tail symbol was a simple black cross on a white field, which was subsequently adopted by the Spanish Air Force.  Altogether, a total of 764 aircraft were sent:

The Legionary Air Force (, ) was an expeditionary corps from the Italian Royal Air Force. It was set up in 1936 and sent to provide logistical and tactical support to the Nationalist faction after the Spanish coup of July 1936 marked the onset of the Spanish Civil War.

Aviazione Legionaria ( "Legionářské letectvo ") byla letecká jednotka vyslaná Italským královským letectvem ("Regia Aeronautica") v průběhu Španělské občanské války na pomoc Frankovým nacionalistům. Italští letci zde bojovali v součinnosti s německou Legií Condor.