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For Thanksgiving dinner, my wife made homemade crescent rolls. Here they are ready to go into the oven.
For FlickrBingo3, week29: FORM
Many of the exchangable tools for an excavator have a similarity of form with the human hand in the appropriate position for a similar function, upscaled.
FORM in this sense is FORM in Swedish, as well.
A form for filling in, as for customs or taxes, is FORMULÄR in Swedish.
On my card:
NECK well GOOD open body
make FORM BAND AREA seal
rate skip FREE WOOD word
LIKE rack RACE FALL HAIR
zone heel bolt wick shoe
On this night, we celebrated goddess Kalaratri. On the outside, this form of Durga has the most fierce and terrifying appearance. She symbolises the killing of the ego and the neutralising of the 'misdeeds' that people perform. She has a dark complexion which symbolises infinity and, therefore, She absorbs everything. She accepts everything from the devotee, not only all the good, but all the negative qualities as well, and that's why, ultimately, She is the most loving Mother. She wants to give Her child only the best by purifying everything around them and within them.
Every night of Navaratri we perform a guru-puja,
kalash-puja, yajna, abhishekam, and arati, as well as Divya Prabandham satsangs from different speakers and comments throughout the evening by Gurudev Himself.
Tonight's commentary was focused on Maha-Kali and the tranquility of her darkness that absorbs all the negativity. She seems to be the most terrifying yet She is the sweetest. She takes it upon herself to destroy all of our negativities and She brings us to the feet of Lord Narayana.
paramahamsavishwananda.com
bhaktimarga.org
Bain News Service,, publisher.
Gen. Radko Dimitrieff, Tchataldja
[between ca. 1910 and ca. 1915]
1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller.
Notes:
Title from data provided by the Bain News Service on the negative.
Photograph shows Bulgarian General Radko Dimitrieff (Dimitriev) at Çatalca (Chatalja), Turkey during the Balkan Wars. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2011)
Forms part of: George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).
Format: Glass negatives.
Rights Info: No known restrictions on publication.
Repository: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA, hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print
General information about the Bain Collection is available at hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.ggbain
Higher resolution image is available (Persistent URL): hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.18063
Call Number: LC-B2- 3331-4
ma una foglia portata dal vento sulla mia finestra e lì rimasta a prendere la pioggia
la foto non è ritoccata
Cannon Row Police Station formed part of the world famous Headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police, Scotland Yard, and was designed by Scottish architect Norman Shaw.
Cannon Row handled all of the major ceremonial occasions in the Capital plus the many large demonstrations that took place most weeks on Trafalgar Square, Parliament Square and Downing Street.
As well as the above, the station was responsible for the protection of the Monarch and the Royal Family when resident at Buckingham Palace, Clarence House, Holyrood House (Scotland), Balmoral Castle, (Scotland), Castle of Mey (Scotland), Windsor Castle (Berkshire), Royal Lodge, (Berkshire).
Click on the links below for more information about Cannon Row Police Station:
Image courtesy of Ex Cannon Row Police Constable Neil Watson.
The railway formed a part of the metre gauge Jodhpur Railway and originally extended as far west as Hyderabad which it reached in 1901. The stretch westwards from Mirpur Khas was converted to broad gauge several years ago. The metre gauge lines were separated from the Indian metre gauge system as a result of the partition in 1947. Through services ceased in 1965 during the Indo-Pakistan war that year and the stretch crossing the border east of Khokhrapar was lifted.
The line now exists primarily to serve the numerous army facilities along what remains a volatile border area. In 2004, Pakistani newspapers carried reports of a high level meeting between Pakistani and Indian officials about the proposed reopening of the line across the border. The Pakistani position was that the railway eastwards from Mirpur Khas needed complete reconstruction and should be rebuilt as a broad gauge line since the Pakistanis have no modern metre gauge equipment. They estimated that the work would take about two and a half years. The Indian position was that they could supply metre gauge equipment and diesels as needed to enable through trains to restart quickly – possibly as soon as September 2005.
In the meantime the railway remained something of a time capsule of how the Indian metre gauge must have been in the days of the British Raj. It is worked solely by BESA standard SP class 4-6-0’s designed in 1903, and by IRS standard YD class 2-8-2’s designed in the 1920’s.
Newgrange in Ireland, contains various examples of abstract Neolithic rock art carved onto large stones. These carvings fit into ten categories, five of which are curvilinear (circles, spirals, arcs, serpentiniforms and dot-in-circles) and the other five of which are rectilinear (chevrons, lozenges, radials, parallel lines and offsets).
Various archaeologists have speculated as to the meaning of the decoration, with some, such as George Coffey (who produced a study of art at "New Grange" in the 1890s), believing them to be purely decorative, whilst others, like M.J. O’Kelly (who led the 1962–1975 excavation at the site), believing them to have some sort of symbolic purpose, because some of the carvings had been in places that would not have been visible, such as at the bottom of the orthostatic slabs, below ground level
Every woman should own at least one fabulous steel-boned corset and we have a huge range to choose from AEC Corsets. To know more visit here: www.instagram.com/aeclothing/?hl=en
Tavurvur Volcano in Rabaul.
The eruptions that formed the Rabaul Caldera were completed in about 599 A.D. Throughout history, several eruptions aided in forming the small cone volcanoes in the complex. The Vulcan and Tavuruur volcanoes of Rabaul are responsible for the most recent eruptions, which took place in 1937 and 1994. Rabalanakaia volcano, on the northeast side of the caldera, also erupted in 1994. The 1994 eruption began on September 18 and lasted about five days.
The 1937 eruption killed about 500 people. With better technology and emergency preparedness, the 1994 eruption killed fewer than 10 people. The 1994 Rabaul eruption destroyed the city of Rabaul. All of the city's businesses and services relocated to nearby Kokopo. Most parts of Rabaul remain covered in layers of ash, but visitors are able to climb all of the volcanoes except Tavuruur.
In the United States the Autism rates are now 1 in every 97 births. The worst country being United Kingdom with a male autism rate of 1 in 38 births. Get your exemption forms at my website: experimentalvaccines.org/vaccine-exemption-forms/
Accession Number: spa.si.b.33.12
This picture forms part of the Scots Independent donation to the Scottish Political Archive. The Scots Independent is a monthly Nationalist newspaper. The paper was founded in 1926 and is the longest surviving political newspaper in Scotland in the twentieth century. For further information about the Scots Independent please visit their website at www.scotsindependent.org
The Scottish Political Archive is housed at the University of Stirling. The archive is home to the oral interviews, personal papers and associated material from prominent Scottish politicians. For further information about the work of the archive please visit our website www.scottishpoliticalarchive.org.uk
Qufu Shaolin Kung Fu School in China
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Formado em 1989 no curso de jornalismo da Universidade Metodista de São Paulo, na cidade de São Bernardo do Campo, em São Paulo.
Ingressou na Folha de S.Paulo em setembro de 1990. Trabalhou no jornal como redator e editor-assistente até o fim de 1992. Após uma temporada em Londres no ano seguinte, retornou à Folha em janeiro de 1994 na função de repórter. Saiu do jornal para trabalhar na campanha presidencial de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva em abril daquele ano. Atuou como assessor de imprensa de Lula até julho de 1995.
Voltou pela terceira vez à Folha em setembro de 1995. Por seis meses, fez cobertura de polícia. Em 1996, assumiu o cargo de editor da coluna de notas "Painel". Foi enviado especial para a cobertura do conflito no Kosovo em 1999. Escreveu o livro "Kosovo, a Guerra dos Covardes".
Em 2000, incorporou-se ao grupo de repórteres especiais da Folha. Em setembro daquele ano, foi transferido para Brasília, onde passou a escrever sobre os bastidores do poder. Depois do atentado de 11 de setembro de 2001, atuou como correspondente de guerra no Paquistão, Tadjiquistão e Afeganistão.
No ano de 2008, foi convidado para ser comentarista de política do telejornal RedeTV! News, da RedeTV!. Em outubro, estreou um novo programa semanal de entrevistas da emissora, o É Notícia. Conversou com os principais personagens do poder no Brasil. O programa entrevistou figuras de destaque no cenário internacional, como Hugo Chávez, Oliver Stone, Tariq Ali e José Sócrates.
Em 2010, foi o organizador e mediador dos dois primeiros debates presidenciais da RedeTV!. Mediou ainda seis debates estaduais. Em 2012, voltou a organizar e mediar debates eleitorais.
Deixou a versão impressa da Folha em 31 de dezembro de 2010 e a coluna semanal da versão eletrônica do jornal em 05 de outubro de 2012. Saiu da RedeTV! em 30 de setembro de 2013.
Em 07 de agosto de 2013, lançou o Blog do Kennedy, com informações, análises e opiniões principalmente sobre política e economia. É comentarista da CBN desde 15 de março de 2011. De segunda a quinta-feira, entra ao vivo na rádio por volta das 18h03 e comenta os assuntos do dia junto com Roberto Nonato, dentro do Jornal da CBN 2ª Edição, onde faz a coluna "A Política Como Ela É", nome do seu canal no YouTube.
A partir de 17 de março de 2014, passou a trabalhar no SBT. Analisava e informava os bastidores do dia em Brasília no SBT Brasil, no extinto Jornal do SBT e depois no "SBT Notícias". Fazia também entrevistas com personalidades de destaque da política e economia que foram exibidas nos telejornais da emissora. As íntegras das entrevistas estão publicadas no Blog do Kennedy. Em 05 de outubro de 2017, pediu demissão do SBT devido a mudanças no telejornal "SBT Brasil" e ao cancelamento da série "Cenários 2018", que era exibida no "SBT Notícias".
Fotos: Felipe L. Gonçalves/Brasil247
© All Rights Reserved - No Usage Allowed in Any Form Without the Written Consent of Connie Lemperle/ lemperleconnie or the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden
Link to Cincinnati Zoo..............Siamang
The Siamang inhabits the forest remnants of Sumatra Island and the Malay Peninsula, and is widely distributed from lowland forest to montane forest, even a rainforest. And can be found at altitudes of up to 3800 m [5]. The Siamang lives in groups of up to 6 individuals (4 individuals on average) with a home range 23 hectares on average.[6][7]. Their day ranges are substantially smaller than those of sympatric Hylobates species, often less than 1 km[8]. The Siamang's melodious choir singing breaks the forest's silence in the early morning after the Agile Gibbon or Lar Gibbon's calls. The Siamang in Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula are similar in appearance, but there are some differences in behaviour between the two populations.
Diet
The Siamang mainly eats various parts of plants. The Sumatran Siamang is more frugivorous than its Malayan cousin, with fruit making up to 60% of its diet. The Siamang eats at least 160 species of plants, from vines to woody plants. Its major food is figs (Ficus spp.), a member of Moraceae family.[7][9] The Siamang prefers to eat ripe fruit rather than unripe fruit, and young leaves rather than old leaves. It eats flowers and a few animals, mostly insects. When the Siamang eats large flowers, it will eat only the corolla (petal), but it will eat all parts of smaller flowers, with the small fruit collected in its hand before being consumed. When it eats big and hard seeds or seeds with sharp edge it will peel out the fruit flesh and throw away the seed.[9] Although its diet consists of substantial portions of fruit, it is the most folivorous of all members of Hylobatidae[10]. As it is also the largest gibbon, and thus fits well with the general primate dietary trend in which larger primates tend to be more folivorous.
Demography and population
A group of Siamang normally consist of an adult dominant male, an adult dominant female, with offspring, infant and sometimes a sub-adult. The sub-adult usually leaves the group after the age 6 to 8 years; sub-adult females tend to leave the group earlier than sub-adult males. Siamang males tend to offer more paternal care than other members of the family Hylobatidae, taking up a major role in carrying the infant after it is about 8 months old [12]. The infant typically returns to its mother to sleep and nurse. A study in relation to effect of habitat disturbance on the Siamang found that group composition is varied in age-sex structure between intact forest and post-burnt forest. The post-burnt population was more adult and sub-adults than the intact population. Post-burnt groups contain fewer infants, small juveniles and large juveniles compared to intact forest groups. Infant survival rates in post-burnt groups are lower than in intact forests. The number of individuals in intact forests is higher than in post-burnt forests.[7] The Siamang in disturbed forests live in small groups and have a density lower than in intact forests because of lack of food resources and trees for living.
In the 1980s, the Indonesian population of the Siamang in the wild was estimated to be 360,000 individuals.[13] This seems over-estimate today, as an example, Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) is the third largest protected area (3,568 km²) in Sumatra, of which approximately 2,570 km² remains under forest cover inhabit by 22,390 siamangs (in 2002 censuses). According to two different research projects conducted in Sumatra, the Siamang prefer to inhabit lowland forest below between 500 m in altitude and over 1000 m above sea level.
Behavior
The Siamang tends to rest for more than 50% of its waking period (from dawn to dusk), followed by feeding, moving, foraging and social activities. It takes more rest during midday, taking time to groom each other or play. During resting time it usually uses a branch of a large tree lying on their back or on their stomach. Feeding behaviors, foraging, and moving are most often in the morning and after resting time.
In the dry season the length of the Siamang's daily range is longer than in the rainy season. The Siamang in southern Sumatra undertakes less foraging than the Siamang in other places because it eats more fruit and therefore consumes more nutrition, which results in less time needed for looking for food. Sometimes the Siamang will spend all of the day in one big fruiting tree, just moving out when it wants to rest and then coming back again to fruiting trees.
Role of calling
The Siamang starts its day by calling in the early morning and calls less after midday, with the peak of their calls around 9:00 am to 10:00 am. Most of the Siamang's calls are directed to its neighbours rather than to inside its home range. This means that the Siamang's calling is in response to disturbances and is to defend its territory. Calls in the late morning typically happen when it meets or sees another Siamang group. The edge of the Siamang's home range, which may overlap another, is often the places where calling is made. Counter-call (co-response calling) occasionally happens near the border or in the overlap area. Calls are numerous when fruit is more abundant rather than when fruit is less available. Branch shaking, swinging, and moving around the tree crowns accompany the calling. This movement might be to show the other groups where they are.
The Siamang prefers calling in the living, high and big trees, it might be the places where another group is easy to see. Beside that, living, big, and tall trees can support Siamang movement. Calling trees are usually near feeding trees but sometimes they call in the feeding trees.
Siamang and their habitat
As a frugivorous animal, the Siamang disperses seeds through defacation as it travels across its territory. The Siamang can carry seed and defecate over 300 m with the shortest distance being 47.6 m from the seed resource, which supports the forest regeneration and succession.
Threats to population
The Siamang, as an arboreal primate, absolutely depends on the forest for existence, needing trees for its living. At the moment, the Siamang is facing a population decrease due to habitat loss[6], poaching and hunting.
Habitat loss
A major threat to the Siamang is habitat loss due to plantation, forest fire, illegal logging, encroachment, and human development. Firstly, palm oil plantations have removed large areas of the Siamang's habitat in the last four decades. Since 2002 107,000 square kilometres of palm oil have been planted,[17] which has replaced much rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia, where the Siamang originally used to live. Secondly, in the last two decades, forest fire destroyed more than 20,000 km² of Sumatran rainforest, mainly in the lowland area where most of the Siamang live. Thirdly, the rate of illegal logging in Indonesia increased from 1980 to 1995 and even more rapidly after the reformation era beginning in 1998.[17] These illegal activities devastated the remaining tropical rainforest especially in Sumatra. Fourthly, forest encroachments change forest cover into cultivated land, for example; the rising price of coffee in 1998 has been encouraging people in Sumatra to replace the forest with coffee plantation.[18] Fifthly, development in many areas needs infrastructure such as roads, which now divide a lot of conservation areas have been caused forest fragmentation and edge effects. Unfortunately, the Siamang as an arboreal primate faces difficulty because road establishment has disconnected their pathways.
Poaching and hunting
Unlike other parts of Asia, primates are not hunted for their meat in Indonesia (the exception is in Chinese restaurants in Indonesia which sometimes serve macaque on their menu). However, they are poached and hunted for the illegal pet trade, mostly for infant Siamang. Poachers kill the mothers because mother Siamang are highly protective of their infants. It is therefore very difficult to remove the infant without first killing the mother. Despite the fact that most Siamang on the market are infants many infants nevertheless die during transportation
Note________________________________________________________________
Well my grandson has left for work. He still lives here because he is in the Air Guard. He hopes to relocate to Colorado soon. My grandaughter is still sleeping but I have to get her up soon so she can have a nice breakfast before she has to catch a plane for back home. It sure was so nice to visit with her and I will miss her terribly once she's her for home. It sad that her family isn't still living here but I understand their desire to do this. New experiences in life are always fun even though there are downfalls like not living where your extended family is. I hope to get to Colorado in the fall. That will be a new experience for me plus I'll get to see the rest of my family that lives there. Anyway, everyone please have a very nice day and if you can try something new in your life even if its something right where you live. I'll try to catch up with you all later. Big Hugs!
Backstage Sky TG24HD una puntata con Paola Saluzzi insieme a Maurizio Zorzetto Country Manager Italia di Meetic per parlare dell'amore ai tempi della rete e come si formano le coppie in rete. In onda su Sky TG24
The Banks Peninsula.
This stunning volcano formed peninsula was named by Captain Cook in 1770 believing that it was an island after he saw Lake Ellesmere which he thought was the sea. He named it after the botanist on his voyage – Joseph Banks. We know that the peninsula is made up of two volcanic cones with breached sides on the calderas - with one forming Lyttelton Harbour and the other Akaroa Harbour. The volcanoes were active 1.6 to 5 million years ago. The volcanic cones or calderas have steep indented sides producing dramatic coastal and cliff formations. The first settlement that we reach on Banks Peninsula is called Little River which is known for its grass seed industry. On top of the caldera we should have superb views of Akaroa harbour if it is clear.
Apart from Maori occupation Akaroa was first settled by two Frenchmen who created the village of Duvauchelle in 1840. A little further on is Akaroa. The harbour is known for its wildlife including the rare Hector Dolphins and many seabirds. Since the Polynesian invasion of NZ about 1,000 years ago three successive waves of Maori have occupied Akaroa Harbour – the Waitaha, the Kati Mamoe and finally from the 1600s to the arrival of white settlers the Ngai Tahu. In 1830 the Maori settlement on the south side of the harbour was the scene of a notorious incident with the British ship named Elizabeth. British Captain John Stewart helped the North Island chieftain Ngata Toa to capture the local chieftain Te Maiharanui which resulted in a battle and massacre. The British wanted to establish a whaling station at Akaroa but the Ngai Tahu would not agree to this. Partly as a result of this James Busby was sent to New Zealand to negotiate with the Maoris for British occupation which he did through the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. In the meantime Akaroa was left alone until 1838 when French whaler Captain Langlois decided to use Akaroa for a whaling station. He “purchased” some Maori land through a dubious agreement with the Maoris. He returned to France, floated the Nanto-Bordelaise Company and returned to Akaroa with a group of French families with the intention of founding a French colony there. But by the time he arrived back in Akaroa the Treaty of Waitangi had been signed, including by the Akaroa chiefs and Britain had declared sovereignty over all of New Zealand’s three main islands. But the French stayed and settled anyway with villagers at Duvauchelle and Akaroa itself. New Zealand’s first Governor Hobson despatched a British ship the Britomart from the Bay of Islands to Akaroa to ensure British sovereignty was respected. The French laid out the streets of Akaroa with French names and they planted many walnut trees and bush roses. By the time the British arrived in Christchurch with the Canterbury Associated in 1850(based like SA on the ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield) Akaroa was already well established albeit with a French flavour. Look at the street names- Rue Lavaud, Rue Pompallier, Rue Jolie, Rue Balguerie, Rue Benoit, Rue Viard and Rue Grehan. The hill behind the town is L’Aube Hill (Sunrise Hill).
Historical walk in Akaroa with buildings numbered.
1. L’aube hill. Site of the pioneer French cemetery.
2. Trinity Church. A Presbyterian church opened here in 1860 by Mr Eteveneaux. Replaced 1886. Hall 1916.
3. Mrs Eteveneaux’s shop. No 42 Rue Lavaud.
4. No 43. A typical early colonial French style house.
5. Chez La Mer and the Madeira Hotel. Erected 1871 by Mr Rodrigues of the Madeira Islands.
6. Nos 45 and 47 were sites sold by the Nanto-Bordelaise Company in 1842 to a German settler, Jacob Waeckerle. House built 1877 with gallery added 1905.
7. Bon accord. Interesting house with two front doors. Used as Catholic school room and offices.
8. Chemist Shop. Henri Citron opened this pharmacy in 1883. During World War 2 a plane crashed into the shop.
9. No 60 was erected 1864 as a Town hall. Façade remodelled in 1993.
10. First Police Station built in 1864 and extended in 1904. Now a residence.
11. Akaroa Museum. The complex includes the Courthouse 1880, the Langlois-Eteveneaux house 1841.
12. The Old Criterion Hotel. Began as a shop in 1850s and became a hotel in 1860s.
13. The Customs House opened in 1853 closed 1880.
14. The old Post Office opened in 1914. Now the Information Centre.
15. Bank of New Zealand. A bank opened in 1863 but this one was built in 1905.
16. St Peters Church in Rue Balguerie. Built 1864 in English style. Graveyard contains grave of an early vicar who became the first Anglican Bishop of Dunedin.
17. Blythcliffe at no 37. Two storey house from 1857.
18. War Memorial which was unveiled in 1924.
Soldiers form the 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), conduct a Twilight Tattoo performance on Whipple Field, Joint Base Myer Henderson-Hall, Va., April 23, 2013. Twilight Tattoo is an hour-long pageant, which showcases the U.S. Army through Old Guard Soldiers and The U.S. Army Band. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Cody W. Torkelson)
The Alps are the highest and most extensive mountain range that is entirely in Europe, stretching approximately 1,200 km (750 mi) across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
The Alpine arch extends from Nice on the western Mediterranean to Trieste on the Adriatic and Vienna at the beginning of the Pannonian Basin. The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided. Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high mountain peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Mont Blanc spans the French–Italian border, and at 4,809 m (15,778 ft) is the highest mountain in the Alps. The Alpine region area contains 128 peaks higher than 4,000 m (13,000 ft).
The altitude and size of the range affect the climate in Europe; in the mountains, precipitation levels vary greatly and climatic conditions consist of distinct zones. Wildlife such as ibex live in the higher peaks to elevations of 3,400 m (11,155 ft), and plants such as edelweiss grow in rocky areas in lower elevations as well as in higher elevations.
Evidence of human habitation in the Alps goes back to the Palaeolithic era. A mummified man ("Ötzi"), determined to be 5,000 years old, was discovered on a glacier at the Austrian–Italian border in 1991.
By the 6th century BC, the Celtic La Tène culture was well established. Hannibal notably crossed the Alps with a herd of elephants, and the Romans had settlements in the region. In 1800, Napoleon crossed one of the mountain passes with an army of 40,000. The 18th and 19th centuries saw an influx of naturalists, writers, and artists, in particular, the Romantics, followed by the golden age of alpinism as mountaineers began to ascend the peaks of the Alps.
The Alpine region has a strong cultural identity. Traditional practices such as farming, cheesemaking, and woodworking still thrive in Alpine villages. However, the tourist industry began to grow early in the 20th century and expanded significantly after World War II, eventually becoming the dominant industry by the end of the century.
The Winter Olympic Games have been hosted in the Swiss, French, Italian, Austrian and German Alps. As of 2010, the region is home to 14 million people and has 120 million annual visitors.
The valleys of the Alps have been inhabited since prehistoric times. The Alpine culture, which developed there, centers on transhumance.
Currently the Alps are divided among eight countries: France, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany and Slovenia. In 1991 the Alpine Convention was established to regulate this transnational area, whose area measures about 190,000 square kilometres (73,000 sq mi).
The Wildkirchli caves in the Appenzell Alps show traces of Neanderthal habitation (about 40,000 BCE). During the Würm glaciation (up to c. 11700 BP), the entire Alps were covered in ice. Anatomically modern humans reach the Alpine region by c. 30,000 years ago. MtDNA Haplogroup K (believed to have originated in the mid-Upper Paleolithic, between about 30,000 and 22,000 years ago, with an estimated age here of c. 12,000 years BP), is a genetic marker associated with southeastern Alpine region.
Traces of transhumance appear in the neolithic. In the Bronze Age, the Alps formed the boundary of the Urnfield and Terramare cultures. The mummy found on the Ötztal Alps, known as "Ötzi the Iceman", lived c. 3200 BC. At that stage the population in its majority had already changed from an economy based on hunting and gathering to one based on agriculture and animal husbandry. It is still an open question whether forms of pastoral mobility, such as transhumance (alpiculture), already existed in prehistory.
The earliest historical accounts date to the Roman period, mostly due to Greco-Roman ethnography, with some epigraphic evidence due to the Raetians, Lepontii and Gauls, with Ligurians and Venetii occupying the fringes in the south-west and south-east, respectively (Cisalpine Gaul) during the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. The Rock Drawings in Valcamonica date to this period. A few details have come down to modern scholars of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus, as well as Hannibal's battles across the Alps. Most of the local Gallic tribes allied themselves with the Carthaginians in the Second Punic War, for the duration of which Rome lost control over most of Northern Italy. The Roman conquest of Italy was only complete after the Roman victory over Carthage, by the 190s BC.
Between 35 and 6 BC, the Alpine region was gradually integrated into the expanding Roman Empire. The contemporary monument Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie celebrates the victory won by the Romans over 46 tribes in these mountains. The subsequent construction of roads over the Alpine passes first permitted southern and northern Roman settlements in the Alps to be connected, and eventually integrated the inhabitants of the Alps into the culture of the Empire. The upper Rhône Valley or Vallis Poenina fell to the Romans after a battle at Octodurus (Martigny) in 57 BC. Aosta was founded in 25 BC as Augusta Praetoria Salassorum in the former territory of the Salassi. Raetia was conquered in 15 BC.
With the division of the Roman Empire and the collapse of its Western part in the fourth and fifth centuries, power relations in the Alpine region reverted to their local dimensions. Often dioceses became important centres. While in Italy and Southern France, dioceses in the Western Alps were established early (beginning in the fourth century) and resulted in numerous small sees, in the Eastern Alps such foundations continued into the thirteenth century and the dioceses were usually larger. New monasteries in the mountain valleys also promoted the Christianisation of the population. In that period the core area of supra-regional political powers was mainly situated north of the Alps, first in the Carolingian Empire and later, after its division, in France and the Holy Roman Empire. The German emperors, who received the imperial investiture from the Pope in Rome between the ninth and the fifteenth centuries, had to cross the Alps along with their entourages.
In the 7th century, much of the Eastern Alps were settled by Slavs. Between the 7th and 9th century, the Slavic principality of Carantania existed as one of the few non-Germanic polities in the Alps. The Alpine Slavs, who inhabited the majority of present-day Austria and Slovenia, were gradually Germanized from the 9th to the 14th century. The modern Slovenes are their southernmost descendants.
The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by the Alemanni from the 6th to the 8th centuries are, too, known only in outline. For "mainstream" history, the Frankish and later the Habsburg empire, the Alps had strategic importance as an obstacle, not as a landscape, and the Alpine passes have consequently had great significance militarily.
Between 889 and 973, a community of Muslim raiders operating from their base of Fraxinetum, on the coast of Provence, blocked the Alpine passes to Christian travellers until their expulsion by Christian forces led by Arduin Glaber in 973, at which point transalpine trade was able to resume.
Not until the final breakup of the Carolingian Empire in the 10th and 11th centuries is it possible to trace out the local history of different parts of the Alps, notably with the High Medieval Walser migrations.
Later Medieval to Early Modern Era (1200 to 1900)
The French historian Fernand Braudel, in his famous volume on Mediterranean civilisation, describes the Alps as "an exceptional range of mountains from the point of view of resources, collective disciplines, the quality of its human population and the number of good roads." This remarkable human presence in the Alpine region came into being with the population growth and agrarian expansion of the High Middle Ages. At first a mixed form of agriculture and animal husbandry dominated the economy. Then, from the Late Middle Ages onwards, cattle tended to replace sheep as the dominant animals. In a few regions of the northern slope of the Alps, cattle farming became increasingly oriented toward long-range markets and substituted agriculture completely. At the same time other types of interregional and transalpine exchange were growing in significance. The most important pass was the Brenner, which could accommodate cart traffic beginning in the fifteenth century. In the Western and Central Alps, the passes were practicable only by pack animals up to the period around 1800.
The process of state formation in the Alps was driven by the proximity to focal areas of European conflicts such as in the Italian wars of 1494–1559. In that period the socio-political structures of Alpine regions drifted apart. One can identify three different developmental models: one of princely centralization (Western Alps), a local-communal one (Switzerland) and an intermediate one, characterised by a powerful nobility (Eastern Alps).
Until the late nineteenth century many Alpine valleys remained mainly shaped by agrarian and pastoral activities. Population growth favoured the intensification of land use and the spread of corn, potato and cheese production. The shorter growing season at higher altitudes did not seem to be an impediment until around 1700. Later, however, it became a major obstacle to the further intensification of agriculture, especially in comparison to the surrounding lowlands where land productivity increased rapidly. Inside the Alpine region there was a striking difference between the western and central parts, which were dominated by small farming establishments, and the eastern part, which were characterised by medium or big farms. Migration to the urbanised zones of the surrounding areas was already apparent before 1500 and was often temporary. In the Alps themselves, urbanisation was slow.
Central Alps
In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1516 of the Swiss Confederacy, at least so far as regards the mountain cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons and the Grisons, so that both tried to secure, and actually did secure, various bits of the Milanese.
The Gotthard Pass was known in antiquity as Adula Mons, but it was not one of the important Alpine passes due to the impassability of the Schöllenen Gorge north of the pass. This changed dramatically with the construction of the so-called Devil's Bridge by the year 1230. Almost immediately, in 1231, the formerly unimportant valley of Uri was granted imperial immediacy and became the main route connecting Germany and Italy. Also in 1230, a hospice dedicated to Gotthard of Hildesheim was built on the pass to accommodate the pilgrims to Rome which now took this route. The sudden strategical importance for the European powers gained by what is now Central Switzerland was an important factor in the formation of the Old Swiss Confederacy beginning in the late 13th century.
In the 15th century, the Forest Cantons won the Valle Leventina as well as Bellinzona and the Valle di Blenio (though the Valle d'Ossola was held for a time only). Blenio was added to the Val Bregaglia (which had been given to the bishop of Coire in 960 by the emperor Otto I), along with the valleys of Valle Mesolcina and of Val Poschiavo.
Western Alps
Further information: County of Savoy and Duchy of Savoy
In the case of the Western Alps (excluding the part from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon Pass, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphiné and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succeeded in pushing back the house of Savoy across the Alps, forcing it to become a purely Italian power.
One turning-point in the rivalry was the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), by which France ceded to Savoy the Alpine districts of Exilles, Bardonnèche (Bardonecchia), Oulx, Fenestrelles, and Châtean Dauphin, while Savoy handed over to France the valley of Barcelonnette, situated on the western slope of the Alps and forming part of the county of Nice. The final act in this long-continued struggle took place in 1860, when France obtained by cession the rest of the county of Nice and also Savoy, thus remaining sole ruler on the western slope of the Alps.
Eastern Alps
The Eastern Alps had been included in the Frankish Empire since the 9th century. From the High Middle Ages and throughout the Early Modern era, the political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, at Habsburg castle. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia and Carniola in 1335, Tirol in 1363, and the Vorarlberg in bits from 1375 to 1523, not to speak of minor "rectifications" of frontiers on the northern slope of the Alps. But on the other slope their progress was slower, and finally less successful. It is true that they won Primiero quite early (1373), as well as (1517) the Ampezzo Valley and several towns to the south of Trento. In 1797 they obtained Venetia proper, in 1803 the secularized bishoprics of Trento and Brixen (as well as that of Salzburg, more to the north), besides the Valtellina region, and in 1815 the Bergamasque valleys, while the Milanese had belonged to them since 1535. But in 1859 they lost to the house of Savoy both the Milanese and the Bergamasca, and in 1866 Venetia proper also, so that the Trentino was then their chief possession on the southern slope of the Alps. The gain of the Milanese in 1859 by the future king of Italy (1861) meant that Italy then won the valley of Livigno (between the Upper Engadine and Bormio), which is the only important bit it holds on the non-Italian slope of the Alps, besides the county of Tenda (obtained in 1575, and not lost in 1860), with the heads of certain glens in the Maritime Alps, reserved in 1860 for reasons connected with hunting. Following World War I and the demise of Austria-Hungary, there were important territorial changes in the Eastern Alps.
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Alps and the Jura; the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, whereas most of the country's population of 9 million are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts its largest cities and economic centres, including Zürich, Geneva and Basel.
Switzerland originates from the Old Swiss Confederacy established in the Late Middle Ages, following a series of military successes against Austria and Burgundy; the Federal Charter of 1291 is considered the country's founding document. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognised in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Switzerland has maintained a policy of armed neutrality since the 16th century and has not fought an international war since 1815. It joined the United Nations only in 2002 but pursues an active foreign policy that includes frequent involvement in peace building.
Switzerland is the birthplace of the Red Cross and hosts the headquarters or offices of most major international institutions, including the WTO, the WHO, the ILO, FIFA, and the United Nations. It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but not part of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area, or the eurozone; however, it participates in the European single market and the Schengen Area. Switzerland is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal authorities based in Bern.
Switzerland is one of the world's most developed countries, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Switzerland ranks first in the Human Development Index since 2021 and performs highly also on several international metrics, including economic competitiveness and democratic governance. Cities such as Zürich, Geneva and Basel rank among the highest in terms of quality of life, albeit with some of the highest costs of living.
It has four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Although most Swiss are German-speaking, national identity is fairly cohesive, being rooted in a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy and Alpine symbolism. Swiss identity transcends language, ethnicity, and religion, leading to Switzerland being described as a Willensnation ("nation of volition") rather than a nation state.
Since 1848 the Swiss Confederation has been a federal republic of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of federation that goes back more than 700 years, putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics.
The early history of the region is tied to that of Alpine culture. Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetii, and it came under Roman rule in the 1st century BC. The Gallo-Roman culture was amalgamated with Germanic influence during Late Antiquity, with the eastern part of Switzerland becoming Alemannic territory. The area of Switzerland was incorporated into the Frankish Empire in the 6th century. In the High Middle Ages, the eastern part became part of the Duchy of Swabia within the Holy Roman Empire, while the western part was part of Burgundy.
The Old Swiss Confederacy in the Late Middle Ages (the Eight Cantons) established its independence from the House of Habsburg and the Duchy of Burgundy, and in the Italian Wars gained territory south of the Alps from the Duchy of Milan. The Swiss Reformation divided the Confederacy and resulted in a drawn-out history of internal strife between the Thirteen Cantons in the Early Modern period. In the wake of the French Revolution, Switzerland fell to a French invasion in 1798 and was reformed into the Helvetic Republic, a French client state. Napoleon's Act of Mediation in 1803 restored the status of Switzerland as a Confederation, and after the end of the Napoleonic period, the Swiss Confederation underwent a period of turmoil culminating in a brief civil war in 1847 and the creation of a federal constitution in 1848.
The history of Switzerland since 1848 has been largely one of success and prosperity. Industrialisation transformed the traditional agricultural economy, and Swiss neutrality during the World Wars and the success of the banking industry furthered the ascent of Switzerland to its status as one of the world's most stable economies.
Switzerland signed a free-trade agreement with the European Economic Community in 1972 and has participated in the process of European integration by way of bilateral treaties, but it has notably resisted full accession to the European Union (EU) even though its territory almost completely (except for the microstate Liechtenstein) has been surrounded by EU member states since 1995. In 2002, Switzerland joined the United Nations.
Archeological evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers were already settled in the lowlands north of the Alps in the Middle Paleolithic period 150,000 years ago. Agriculture in Switzerland began around 5500 BC. By the Neolithic period, the area was relatively densely populated. Remains of Bronze Age pile dwellings from as early as 3800 BC have been found in the shallow areas of many lakes. Around 1500 BC, Celtic tribes settled in the area. The Raetians lived in the eastern regions, while the west was occupied by the Helvetii.
A female who died in about 200 B.C. was found buried in a carved tree trunk during a construction project at the Kern school complex in March 2017 in Aussersihl. Archaeologists revealed that she was approximately 40 years old when she died and likely carried out little physical labor when she was alive. A sheepskin coat, a belt chain, a fancy wool dress, a scarf and a pendant made of glass, and amber beads were also discovered with the woman.
In 58 BC, the Helvetii tried to evade migratory pressure from Germanic tribes by moving into Gaul, but were defeated by Julius Caesar's armies and then sent back. The alpine region became integrated into the Roman Empire and was extensively romanized in the course of the following centuries. The center of Roman administration was at Aventicum (Avenches). In 259, Alamanni tribes overran the Limes, putting the settlements on Swiss territory on the frontier of the Roman Empire.
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Germanic tribes entered the area. Burgundians settled in the west; while in the north, Alamanni settlers slowly forced the earlier Celto-Roman population to retreat into the mountains. Burgundy became a part of the kingdom of the Franks in 534; two years later, the dukedom of the Alamans followed suit. In the Alaman-controlled region, only isolated Christian communities continued to exist and Irish monks re-introduced the Christian faith in the early 7th century.
Main article: Switzerland in the Middle Ages
Under the Carolingian kings, the feudal system proliferated, and monasteries and bishoprics were important bases for maintaining the rule. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 assigned Upper Burgundy (the western part of what is today Switzerland) to Lotharingia, and Alemannia (the eastern part) to the eastern kingdom of Louis the German which would become part of the Holy Roman Empire.
In the 10th century, as the rule of the Carolingians waned, Magyars destroyed Basel in 917 and St. Gallen in 926. Only after the victory of King Otto I over the Magyars in 955 in the Battle of Lechfeld, were the Swiss territories reintegrated into the empire.
In the 12th century, the dukes of Zähringen were given authority over part of the Burgundy territories which covered the western part of modern Switzerland. They founded many cities, including Fribourg in 1157, and Bern in 1191. The Zähringer dynasty ended with the death of Berchtold V in 1218, and their cities subsequently became reichsfrei (essentially a city-state within the Holy Roman Empire), while the dukes of Kyburg competed with the house of Habsburg over control of the rural regions of the former Zähringer territory.
Under the Hohenstaufen rule, the alpine passes in Raetia and the St Gotthard Pass gained importance. The latter especially became an important direct route through the mountains. Uri (in 1231) and Schwyz (in 1240) were accorded the Reichsfreiheit to grant the empire direct control over the mountain pass. Most of the territory of Unterwalden at this time belonged to monasteries that had previously become reichsfrei.
The extinction of the Kyburg dynasty paved the way for the Habsburg dynasty to bring much of the territory south of the Rhine under their control, aiding their rise to power. Rudolph of Habsburg, who became King of Germany in 1273, effectively revoked the status of Reichsfreiheit granted to the "Forest Cantons" of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden. The Forest Cantons thus lost their independent status and were governed by reeves.
On 1 August 1291, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden united to defend the peace upon the death of Emperor Rudolf I of Habsburg, forming the nucleus of the Old Swiss Confederacy.
By 1353, the three original cantons had been joined by the cantons of Glarus and Zug and the city-states of Lucerne, Zürich, and Bern, forming the "Old Federation" of eight states that persisted during much of the 15th century. The Holy Roman Empire built roads and bridges to connect the industrial region of north Italy with the Rhine (linked with the other industrial area of Middle Age Europe, the Burgundian Netherlands), making the peasants and bankers on the road rich, allowing them to buy specialized Italian armor and to stop paying the road collecting taxes to the Empire who built the road. At the Battle of Sempach in 1386, the Swiss defeated the Habsburgs, gaining increased autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire.
Zürich was expelled from the Confederation from 1440 to 1450 due to a conflict over the territory of Toggenburg (the Old Zürich War). The Confederation's power and wealth increased significantly, with victories over Charles the Bold of Burgundy during the Burgundian Wars (1474–1477), greatly due to the success of the Swiss mercenaries, a powerful infantry force constituted by professional soldiers originally from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Their service as mercenaries was at its peak during the Renaissance when their proven battlefield capabilities made them sought-after mercenary troops. The traditional listing order of the cantons of Switzerland reflects this state, listing the eight "Old Cantons" first, with the city-states preceding the founding cantons, followed by cantons that joined the Confederation after 1481, in historical order.
The Swiss defeated the Swabian League in 1499 and gained greater collective autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire, including exemption from the Imperial reforms of 1495 and immunity from most Imperial courts. In 1506, Pope Julius II engaged the Swiss Guard, which continues to serve the papacy to the present day. The expansion of the Confederation and the reputation of invincibility acquired during the earlier wars suffered its first setback in 1515 with the Swiss defeat in the Battle of Marignano and Battle of Bicocca.
The Reformation in Switzerland began in 1523, led by Huldrych Zwingli, priest of the Great Minster church in Zürich since 1518. Zürich adopted the Protestant religion, joined by Berne, Basel, and Schaffhausen, while Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Zug, Fribourg, and Solothurn remained Catholic. Glarus and Appenzell were split. This led to multiple inter-cantonal religious wars (Kappeler Kriege) in 1529 and 1531, as each canton usually made the opposing religion illegal, and to the formation of two diets, the Protestant one meeting in Aarau and the Catholic one in Lucerne (as well as the formal full diet still meeting usually in Baden), despite this the Confederation survived.
During the Thirty Years' War, Switzerland was a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" (Grimmelshausen) in war-torn Europe, mostly because all major powers in Europe depended on Swiss mercenaries, and would not let Switzerland fall into the hands of one of their rivals. Politically, they all tried to take influence, by way of mercenary commanders such as Jörg Jenatsch or Johann Rudolf Wettstein. The Drei Bünde of Grisons, at that point not yet a member of the Confederacy, were involved in the war from 1620, which led to their loss of the Valtellina in 1623.
At the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, Switzerland attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire. The Valtellina became a dependency of the Drei Bünde again after the Treaty and remained so until the founding of the Cisalpine Republic by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797.
In 1653, peasants of territories subject to Lucerne, Bern, Solothurn, and Basel revolted because of currency devaluation. Although the authorities prevailed in this Swiss peasant war, they did pass some tax reforms and the incident in the long term prevented an absolutist development as would occur at some other courts of Europe. The confessional tensions remained, however, and erupted again in the First War of Villmergen, in 1656, and the Toggenburg War (or Second War of Villmergen), in 1712.
During the French Revolutionary Wars, the French army invaded Switzerland and turned it into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic" (1798–1803). It had a central government with little role for cantons. The interference with localism and traditional liberties was deeply resented, although some modernizing reforms took place.
Resistance was strongest in the more traditional Catholic bastions, with armed uprisings breaking out in spring 1798 in the central part of Switzerland. The French Army suppressed the uprisings but support for revolutionary ideas steadily declined. The reform element was weak, and most Swiss resented their loss of local democracy, centralization, new taxes, warfare, and hostility to religion.
Major steps taken to emancipate the Jews included the repeal of special taxes and oaths in 1798. However, many such reforms were turned back in 1815, and not until 1879 were the Jews granted equal rights with the Christians.
In 1803, Napoleon's Act of Mediation partially restored the sovereignty of the cantons, and the former tributary and allied territories of Aargau, Thurgau, Grisons, St. Gallen, Vaud, and Ticino became cantons with equal rights. Napoleon and his enemies fought numerous campaigns in Switzerland that ruined many localities.
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–15 fully re-established Swiss independence and the European powers agreed to recognize permanent Swiss neutrality. At this time, Valais, Neuchâtel, and Geneva also joined Switzerland as new cantons, thereby extending Swiss territory to its current boundaries.
The long-term impact of the French Revolution has been assessed (by William Martin):
It proclaimed the equality of citizens before the law, equality of languages, and freedom of thought and faith; it created Swiss citizenship, the basis of our modern nationality, and the separation of powers, of which the old regime had no conception; it suppressed internal tariffs and other economic restraints; it unified weights and measures, reformed civil and penal law, authorized mixed marriages (between Catholics and Protestants), suppressed torture and improved justice; it developed education and public works.
On 6 April 1814, the so-called "Long Diet" (delegates from all the nineteen cantons) met at Zürich to replace the constitution.
Cantonal constitutions were worked out independently from 1814, in general restoring the late feudal conditions of the 17th and 18th centuries. The Tagsatzung was reorganized by the Federal Treaty (Bundesvertrag) of 7 August 1815.
The liberal Free Democratic Party of Switzerland was strong in the largely Protestant cantons and obtained the majority in the Federal Diet in the early 1840s. It proposed a new Constitution for the Swiss Confederation which would draw the several cantons into a closer relationship. In addition to the centralization of the Swiss government, the new Constitution also included protections for trade and other progressive reform measures. The Federal Diet, with the approval of a majority of cantons, had taken measures against the Catholic Church such as the closure of monasteries and convents in Aargau in 1841, and the seizure of their properties. Catholic Lucerne, in retaliation,1844 recalled the Jesuits to head its education. That succeeded and seven Catholic cantons formed the "Sonderbund." This caused a liberal-radical move in the Protestant cantons to take control of the national Diet in 1847. The Diet ordered the Sonderbund dissolved, igniting a small-scale civil war against rural cantons that were strongholds of pro-Catholic ultramontanism.
The Radical-liberal-Protestant element charged that the Sonderbund violated the Federal Treaty of 1815, § 6 of which expressly forbade such separate alliances. Forming a majority in the Tagsatzung they decided to dissolve the Sonderbund on October 21, 1847. The odds were against the Catholics, who were heavily outnumbered in population; they were outnumbered in soldiers by 79,000 to 99,000 and lacked enough well-trained soldiers, officers, and generals. When the Sonderbund refused to disband, the national army attacked in a brief civil war between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons, known as the Sonderbundskrieg ("Sonderbund War".) The national army was composed of soldiers from all the other cantons except Neuchâtel and Appenzell Innerrhoden (which remained neutral). The Sonderbund was easily defeated in less than a month; there were about 130 killed. Apart from small riots, this was the last armed conflict on Swiss territory. Many Sonderbund leaders fled to Italy, but the victors were generous. They invited the defeated cantons to join them in a program of federal reform, and a new constitution was drafted along American lines. National issues were to be under the control of the national parliament, and the Jesuits were expelled. The Swiss voted heavily in favor of the new constitution by 2 million against 300,000. Switzerland became calm. However, conservatives around Europe became frightened and prepared their forces to meet possible challenges, which indeed soon exploded the Revolutions of 1848. In those violent revolutions, outside Switzerland, the conservatives were always successful.
As a consequence of the civil war, Switzerland adopted a federal constitution in 1848, amending it extensively in 1874 and establishing federal responsibility for defense, trade, and legal matters, leaving all other matters to the cantonal governments. From then, and over much of the 20th century, continuous political, economic, and social improvement has characterized Swiss history.
While Switzerland was primarily rural, the cities experienced an industrial revolution in the late 19th century, focused especially on textiles. In Basel, for example, textiles, including silk, were the leading industry. In 1888 women made up 44% of the wage earners. Nearly half the women worked in the textile mills, with household servants as the second largest job category. The share of women in the workforce was higher between 1890 and 1910 than it was in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Swiss Universities in the late 19th century are notable for the number of female students receiving medical education.
Main article: Switzerland during the World Wars
The major powers respected Switzerland's neutrality during World War I. In the Grimm–Hoffmann Affair, the Allies denounced a proposal by one politician to negotiate peace on the Eastern Front; they wanted the war there to continue to tie Germany down.
While the industrial sector began to grow in the mid-19th century, Switzerland's emergence as one of the most prosperous nations in Europe—the "Swiss miracle"—was a development of the short 20th century, among other things tied to the role of Switzerland during the World Wars.
Germany considered invading Switzerland during World War II but never attacked. Under General Henri Guisan, the Swiss army prepared for the mass mobilization of militia forces against invasion and prepared strong, well-stockpiled positions high in the Alps known as the Réduit. Switzerland remained independent and neutral through a combination of military deterrence, economic concessions to Germany, and good fortune as larger events during the war delayed an invasion.
Attempts by Switzerland's small Nazi party to cause an Anschluss with Germany failed miserably, largely due to Switzerland's multicultural heritage, a strong sense of national identity, and long tradition of direct democracy and civil liberties. The Swiss press vigorously criticized the Third Reich, often infuriating German leaders. Switzerland was an important base for espionage by both sides in the conflict and often mediated communications between the Axis and Allied powers.
Switzerland's trade was blockaded by both the Allies and the Axis. Both sides openly exerted pressure on Switzerland not to trade with the other. Economic cooperation and extension of credit to the Third Reich varied according to the perceived likelihood of invasion, and the availability of other trading partners. Concessions reached their zenith after a crucial rail link through Vichy France was severed in 1942, leaving Switzerland surrounded by the Axis. Switzerland relied on trade for half of its food and essentially all of its fuel, but controlled vital trans-alpine rail tunnels between Germany and Italy.
Switzerland's most important exports during the war were precision machine tools, watches, jewel bearings (used in bombsights), electricity, and dairy products. During World War Two, the Swiss franc was the only remaining major freely convertible currency in the world, and both the Allies and the Germans sold large amounts of gold to the Swiss National Bank. Between 1940 and 1945, the German Reichsbank sold 1.3 billion francs worth of gold to Swiss Banks in exchange for Swiss francs and other foreign currency.
Hundreds of millions of francs worth of this gold was monetary gold plundered from the central banks of occupied countries. 581,000 francs of "Melmer" gold taken from Holocaust victims in eastern Europe was sold to Swiss banks. In total, trade between Germany and Switzerland contributed about 0.5% to the German war effort but did not significantly lengthen the war.
Over the course of the war, Switzerland interned 300,000 refugees.104,000 of these were foreign troops interned according to the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers outlined in the Hague Conventions. The rest were foreign civilians and were either interned or granted tolerance or residence permits by the cantonal authorities. Refugees were not allowed to hold jobs. 60,000 of the refugees were civilians escaping persecution by the Nazis. Of these, 26,000 to 27,000 were Jews. Between 10,000 and 25,000 civilian refugees were refused entry. At the beginning of the war, Switzerland had a Jewish population of between 18,000 and 28,000 and a total population of about 4 million.
Within Switzerland at the time of the conflict, there was moderate polarization. Some were pacifists. Some took sides according to international capitalism or international communism. Others leaned more towards their language group, with some in French-speaking areas more pro-Allied, and some in Swiss-German areas more pro-Axis. The government attempted to thwart the activities of any individual, party, or faction in Switzerland that acted with extremism or attempted to break the unity of the nation. The Swiss-German speaking areas moved linguistically further away from the standard (high) German spoken in Germany, with more emphasis on local Swiss dialects.
In the 1960s, significant controversy arose among historians regarding the nation's relations with Nazi Germany.
By the 1990s the controversies included a class-action lawsuit brought in New York over Jewish assets in Holocaust-era bank accounts. The government commissioned an authoritative study of Switzerland's interaction with the Nazi regime. The final report by this independent panel of international scholars, known as the Bergier Commission, was issued in 2002.
History after 1945
Further information: Politics of Switzerland
During the Cold War, Swiss authorities considered the construction of a Swiss nuclear bomb. Leading nuclear physicists at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich such as Paul Scherrer made this a realistic possibility. However, financial problems with the defense budget prevented substantial funds from being allocated, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 was seen as a valid alternative. All remaining plans for building nuclear weapons were dropped by 1988.
From 1959, the Federal Council, elected by the parliament, is composed of members of the four major parties, the Protestant Free Democrats, the Catholic Christian Democrats, the left-wing Social Democrats, and the right-wing People's Party, essentially creating a system without a sizeable parliamentary opposition (see concordance system), reflecting the powerful position of an opposition in a direct democracy.
In 1963, Switzerland joined the Council of Europe. In 1979, parts of the canton of Bern attained independence, forming the new canton of Jura.
Switzerland's role in many United Nations and international organizations helped to mitigate the country's concern for neutrality. In 2002, Switzerland voters gave 55% of their vote in favour of the UN and joined the United Nations. This followed decades of debate and its previous rejection of membership in 1986 by a 3-1 popular vote.
Swiss women gained the right to vote in national-level elections in 1971, and an equal rights amendment was ratified in 1981, however it was not until 1990 that the courts established full nationwide voting rights for women in all elections.
Switzerland is not a member state of the EU but has been (together with Liechtenstein) surrounded by EU territory since the joining of Austria in 1995. In 2005, Switzerland agreed to join the Schengen treaty and Dublin Convention by popular vote. In February 2014, Swiss voters approved a referendum to reinstitute quotas on immigration to Switzerland, setting off a period of finding an implementation that would not violate the EU's freedom of movement accords that Switzerland adopted.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Switzerland decided to adopt all EU sanctions against Russia. According to the Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, the measures were "unprecedented but consistent with Swiss neutrality". The administration also confirmed that Switzerland would continue to offer its services to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. Switzerland only participates in humanitarian missions and provides relief supplies to the Ukrainian population and neighbouring countries.
Durga
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In Hinduism, Durga one who can redeem in situations of utmost distress; is a form of Devi, the supremely radiant goddess, depicted as having ten arms, riding a lion or a tiger, carrying weapons and a lotus flower, maintaining a meditative smile, and practising mudras, or symbolic hand gestures.
An embodiment of creative feminine force (Shakti), Durga exists in a state of tantrya (independence from the universe and anything/anybody else, i.e., self-sufficiency) and fierce compassion. Kali is considered by Hindus to be an aspect of Durga. Durga is also the mother of Ganesha and Kartikeya. She is thus considered the fiercer, demon-fighting form of Shiva's wife, goddess Parvati. Durga manifests fearlessness and patience, and never loses her sense of humor, even during spiritual battles of epic proportion.
The word Shakti means divine feminine energy/force/power, and Durga is the warrior aspect of the Divine Mother. Other incarnations include Annapurna and Karunamayi. Durga's darker aspect Kali is represented as the consort of the god Shiva, on whose body she is often seen standing.
Durga Slays Mahishasura, Mahabalipuram sculpture.
As a goddess, Durga's feminine power contains the energies of the gods. Each of her weapons was given to her by various gods: Rudra's trident, Vishnu's discus, Indra's thunderbolt, Brahma's kamandalu, Kuber's Ratnahar, etc.
According to a narrative in the Devi Mahatmya story of the Markandeya Purana text, Durga was created as a warrior goddess to fight an asura (an inhuman force/demon) named Mahishasura. He had unleashed a reign of terror on earth, heaven and the nether worlds, and he could not be defeated by any man or god, anywhere. The gods went to Brahma, who had given Mahishasura the power not to be defeated by a man. Brahma could do nothing. They made Brahma their leader and went to Vaikuntha — the place where Vishnu lay on Ananta Naag. They found both Vishnu and Shiva, and Brahma eloquently related the reign of terror Mahishasur had unleashed on the three worlds. Hearing this Vishnu, Shiva and all of the gods became very angry and beams of fierce light emerged from their bodies. The blinding sea of light met at the Ashram of a priest named Katyan. The goddess Durga took the name Katyaayani from the priest and emerged from the sea of light. She introduced herself in the language of the Rig-Veda, saying she was the form of the supreme Brahman who had created all the gods. Now she had come to fight the demon to save the gods. They did not create her; it was her lila that she emerged from their combined energy. The gods were blessed with her compassion.
It is said that upon initially encountering Durga, Mahishasura underestimated her, thinking: "How can a woman kill me, Mahishasur — the one who has defeated the trinity of gods?" However, Durga roared with laughter, which caused an earthquake which made Mahishasur aware of her powers.
And the terrible Mahishasur rampaged against her, changing forms many times. First he was a buffalo demon, and she defeated him with her sword. Then he changed forms and became an elephant that tied up the goddess's lion and began to pull it towards him. The goddess cut off his trunk with her sword. The demon Mahishasur continued his terrorizing, taking the form of a lion, and then the form of a man, but both of them were gracefully slain by Durga.
Then Mahishasur began attacking once more, starting to take the form of a buffalo again. The patient goddess became very angry, and as she sipped divine wine from a cup she smiled and proclaimed to Mahishasur in a colorful tone — "Roar with delight while you still can, O illiterate demon, because when I will kill you after drinking this, the gods themselves will roar with delight".[cite this quote] When Mahashaur had half emerged into his buffalo form, he was paralyzed by the extreme light emitting from the goddess's body. The goddess then resounded with laughter before cutting Mahishasur's head down with her sword.
Thus Durga slew Mahishasur, thus is the power of the fierce compassion of Durga. Hence, Mata Durga is also known as Mahishasurmardhini — the slayer of Mahishasur. According to one legend, the goddess Durga created an army to fight against the forces of the demon-king Mahishasur, who was terrorizing Heaven and Earth. After ten days of fighting, Durga and her army defeated Mahishasur and killed him. As a reward for their service, Durga bestowed upon her army the knowledge of jewelry-making. Ever since, the Sonara community has been involved in the jewelry profession [3].
The goddess as Mahisasuramardhini appears quite early in Indian art. The Archaeological Museum in Matura has several statues on display including a 6-armed Kushana period Mahisasuramardhini that depicts her pressing down the buffalo with her lower hands [4]. A Nagar plaque from the first century BC - first century AD depicts a 4-armed Mahisamardhini accompanied by a lion. But it is in the Gupta period that we see the finest representations of Mahisasuramardhini (2-, 4-, 6-, and at Udayagiri, 12-armed). The spear and trident are her most common weapons. a Mamallapuram relief shows the goddess with 8 arms riding her lion subduing a bufalo-faced demon (as contrasted with a buffalo demon); a variation also seen at Ellora. In later sculptures (post-seventh Century), sculptures show the goddess having decapitated the buffalo demon
Durga Puja
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Durga puja is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi , Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and Bijoya Dashami. The dates of Durga Puja celebrations are set according to the traditional Hindu calendar and the fortnight corresponding to the festival is called Devi Paksha and is ended on Kojagori Lokkhi Puja
Durga Puja is widely celebrated in the Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, Jharkhand, Orissa and Tripura where it is a five-day annual holiday.In West Bengal and Tripura which has majority of Bengali Hindus it is the Biggest festival of the year. Not only is it the biggest Hindu festival celebrated throughout the State, but it is also the most significant socio-cultural event in Bengali society. Apart from eastern India, Durga Puja is also celebrated in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Kashmir, Karnataka and Kerala. Durga Puja is also celebrated as a major festival in Nepal and in Bangladesh where 10% population are Hindu. Nowadays, many diaspora Bengali cultural organizations arrange for Durgotsab in countries such as the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Singapore and Kuwait, among others. In 2006, a grand Durga Puja ceremony was held in the Great Court of the British Museum.
The prominence of Durga Puja increased gradually during the British Raj in Bengal. After the Hindu reformists identified Durga with India, she became an icon for the Indian independence movement. In the first quarter of the 20th century, the tradition of Baroyari or Community Puja was popularised due to this. After independence, Durga Puja became one of the largest celebrated festivals in the whole world.
Durga Puja also includes the worship of Shiva, Lakshmi, Ganesha, Saraswati and Kartikeya. Modern traditions have come to include the display of decorated pandals and artistically depicted idols (murti) of Durga, exchange of Bijoya Greetings and publication of Puja Annuals.
No. 26 Message Map. The map on the back has the German Trenches corrected to 16-10-17: 16th October 1917, at Passchendaele.
No. 11. says: Counter Attack forming at ...............
African Ambassadors & Diaspora Interactive Form AAIF United Nations buildings International Maritime Organization HQ IMO London. Photo Opportunity Portraits
My shoot with the awesome lady Jessica. Thank you again for allowing me to shoot you in such an intimate way.
Modern - to reject the traditionally accepted or sanctioned (in art and design). To be of one's time, not antiquated or obsolete.
The ethos of Modernism is exemplified the collaborations between Alessi, the Italian utensils company (founded in 1921 -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessi_(company) ) and modern designers, many of whom come from diverse professional backgrounds. This timer exemplifies form and function, the ultimate modern design accolade (IMHO), having survived many moves and daily use, and was designed by Michael Graves, one of America's leading architects of the 20th century en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Graves.
ODC Modern
TheFlickrLounge, Minimalism
Core-formed glass miniature Amphoriskos with a raised, geometric design on the body. A decorative handle on each side and a knobbed base. 400-200 BC
Eschscholzia californica 'Coastal Form'
Irish Hills, San Luis Obispo, CA 27May14 BushPhoto
Papaveraceae