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American University
American University (AU or American) is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C., United States. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893. Roughly 6,000 undergraduate students and 3,912 graduate students are currently enrolled. AU is a member of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area. A member of the Division I Patriot League, its sports teams compete as the American University Eagles.
American's main campus is located at the intersection of Nebraska and Massachusetts Avenues at Ward Circle in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest Washington. The area is served by the Tenleytown-AU station on the Washington Metro subway line in the nearby neighborhood of Tenleytown.
An inspiration for the founding of American University was a letter written by George Washington, in which he expressed a desire for a "national university" to be located in the nation's capital. The university was established in the District of Columbia by an Act of Congress on February 24, 1893, primarily due to the efforts of Methodist Bishop John Fletcher Hurst. Bishop Hurst and his colleagues were concerned with building an institution that would meld the strengths of the best German universities with the strengths of the existing university system in America. As their plans developed during the early years, they began to conceive of American University as an institution that would be:
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Battle of Stalingrad
Coordinates: 48°42′N 44°31′E / 48.7°N 44.517°E / 48.7; 44.517
The Battle of Stalingrad was a major and decisive battle of World War II in which Nazi Germany and its allies fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd) in southwestern Russia. The battle took place between 23 August 1942 to 2 February 1943 and was the largest battle on the Eastern Front, marked by brutality and disregard for military and civilian casualties. It is among the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare, with the higher estimates of combined casualties amounting to nearly two million. The heavy losses inflicted on the German army made it a significant turning point in the whole war. After the Battle of Stalingrad, German forces never recovered their earlier strength, and attained no further strategic victories in the East.
The German offensive to capture Stalingrad commenced in late summer 1942, and was supported by intensive Luftwaffe bombing which reduced much of the city to rubble. The German offensive eventually became mired in building-to-building fighting; and despite controlling nearly all of the city at times, the Wehrmacht was unable to dislodge the last Soviet defenders clinging tenaciously to the west bank of the Volga River.
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Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall (German: Berliner Mauer) was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin. The barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area (later known as the "death strip") that contained anti-vehicle trenches, "fakir beds" and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the "will of the people" in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that marked Germany and the communist Eastern Bloc during the post-World War II period.
The Berlin Wall was officially referred to as the "Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart" (German: Antifaschistischer Schutzwall) by GDR authorities, implying that neighbouring West Germany had not been fully de-Nazified. The West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the "Wall of Shame"—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Wall's restriction on freedom of movement. Along with the separate and much longer Inner German border (IGB) that demarcated the border between East and West Germany, both borders came to symbolize the "Iron Curtain" that separated Western Europe and the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War.
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Bolshoi Theatre
Coordinates: 55°45′37″N 37°37′07″E / 55.76028°N 37.61861°E / 55.76028; 37.61861
The Bolshoi Theatre (Russian: Большо́й теа́тр, tr. Bol'shoy Teatr; IPA: [bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈatr], meaning Large, Great or Grand Theatre, also spelled Bolshoy) is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds performances of ballet and opera. The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world. The theatre is the parent company of The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a world-leading school of ballet.
The main building of the theatre, rebuilt and renovated several times during its history, is a landmark of Moscow and Russia (its iconic neoclassical facade is depicted on the Russian 100-ruble banknote). On 28 October 2011, the Bolshoi was re-opened after an extensive six year renovation costing about 21 billion rubles (about $680 million). The renovation included restoring acoustics to the original quality (which had been lost during the Soviet Era), as well as restoring the original Imperial decor of the Bolshoi.
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Burma
Burma
i/ˈbɜrmə/ BUR-mə, also known as Myanmar i/ˌmjɑːnˈmɑr/ MYAHN--MAR, is a country in South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is bordered by India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand. One-third of Burma's total perimeter of 1,930 kilometres (1,200 mi) forms an uninterrupted coastline along the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. At 676,578 km2 (261,227 sq mi), it is the 40th largest country in the world and the second largest country in Southeast Asia. Burma is also the 24th most populous country in the world with over 60.28 million people.
Burma is home to some of the early civilizations of Southeast Asia including the Pyu and the Mon. In the 9th century, the Burmans of the Kingdom of Nanzhao, entered the upper Irrawaddy valley and, following the establishment of the Pagan Empire in the 1050s, the Burmese language and culture slowly became dominant in the country. During this period, Theravada Buddhism gradually became the predominant religion of the country. The Pagan Empire fell due to the Mongol invasions (1277–1301), and several warring states emerged. In the second half of the 16th century, the country was reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty which for a brief period was the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area that included modern Burma as well as Manipur and Assam. The country was colonized by Britain following three Anglo-Burmese Wars (1824–1885).
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Camp David
Coordinates: 39°38′54″N 77°27′54″W / 39.64833°N 77.465°W / 39.64833; -77.465
Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 100 kilometers (62 mi) north-northwest of Washington, D.C., on the property of Catoctin Mountain Park in unincorporated Frederick County, Maryland, near Thurmont, at an elevation of approximately 560 meters (1,840 ft). It is officially known as Naval Support Facility Thurmont and is technically a military installation; staffing is primarily provided by the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marine Corps.
First known as Hi-Catoctin, Camp David was originally built as a camp for federal government agents and their families, by the WPA, starting in 1935, opening in 1938. In 1942, it was converted to a presidential retreat by Franklin D. Roosevelt and renamed "Shangri-La" (for the fictional Himalayan paradise). Camp David received its present name from Dwight D. Eisenhower, in honor of his father and grandson, both named David. Camp David is not open to the general public. Catoctin Mountain Park does not indicate the location of Camp David on its official park maps due to privacy and security concerns.
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Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, – known as the October Crisis in Cuba and the Caribbean Crisis (Russian: Kарибский кризис) in the USSR – was a thirteen-day confrontation between the Soviet Union and Cuba on one side and the United States on the other; the crisis occurred in October 1962, during the Cold War. In August 1962, after some unsuccessful operations by the US to overthrow the Cuban regime (Bay of Pigs, Operation Mongoose), the Cuban and Soviet governments secretly began to build bases in Cuba for a number of medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic nuclear missiles (MRBMs and IRBMs) with the ability to strike most of the continental United States. This action followed the 1958 deployment of Thor IRBMs in the UK (Project Emily) and Jupiter IRBMs to Italy and Turkey in 1961 – more than 100 US-built missiles having the capability to strike Moscow with nuclear warheads. On October 14, 1962, a United States Air Force U-2 plane on a photoreconnaissance mission captured photographic proof of Soviet missile bases under construction in Cuba.
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Dalian
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Donetsk
Donetsk (Ukrainian: Донецьк Ukrainian pronunciation: [doˈnɛt͡sʲk], translit. Donets’k; Russian: Доне́цк, translit. Donetsk; former names: Yuzovka, Staline, Stalino, see also: Cities' alternative names), is a large city in eastern Ukraine on the Kalmius river. Administratively, it is a center of Donetsk Oblast, while historically, it is the unofficial capital and largest city of the larger economic and cultural Donets Basin (Donbass) region. Donetsk is a major economic, industrial and scientific center of Ukraine with a high concentration of companies and a skilled workforce.
The city was founded in 1869 by a Welsh businessman, John Hughes, who constructed a steel plant and several coal mines in the region; the town was thus named Yuzovka (Юзовка) in recognition of his role in its founding ("Yuz" being a Russian or Ukrainian approximation of Hughes). During Soviet times, the city's steel industry was expanded. In 1924–1931, the town was renamed in Stalino (Сталино). In 1932 the city became the center of Donetsk region. Today, the city remains the center for Ukraine's coal mining and notable steel industry center.
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East Germany
The German Democratic Republic (GDR; German: Deutsche Demokratische Republik [ˈdɔʏtʃə demoˈkʀaːtɪʃə ʀepuˈbliːk] or DDR), informally known as East Germany (German: Ostdeutschland), was a socialist state established by the USSR in 1949 in the Soviet zone of occupied Germany, including East Berlin of the Allied-occupied capital city. The GDR had an area of 107,771 km2 (41,610 mi2), bordering Czechoslovakia to the south, West Germany to the south and west, Poland to the east, and the Baltic Sea to the north. East Germany was dissolved upon joining the institutions of West Germany in the German reunification, on 3 October 1990.
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Inner German Border
The Inner German border (German: innerdeutsche Grenze or deutsch–deutsche Grenze; initially also Zonengrenze) was the frontier between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the similar but physically separate Berlin Wall, the border was 1,393 kilometres (866 mi) long and ran from the Baltic Sea to Czechoslovakia.
It was formally established on 1 July 1945 as the boundary between the Western and Soviet occupation zones of Germany. On the eastern side, it was made one of the world's most heavily fortified frontiers, defined by a continuous line of high metal fences and walls, barbed wire, alarms, anti-vehicle ditches, watchtowers, automatic booby traps and minefields. It was patrolled by 50,000 armed GDR guards who faced tens of thousands of West German, British and U.S. guards and soldiers. In the hinterlands behind the border, more than a million NATO and Warsaw Pact troops awaited the possible outbreak of war.
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Iowa
Iowa (
i/ˈaɪ.əwə/) is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New France. After the Louisiana Purchase, settlers laid the foundation for an agriculture-based economy in the heart of the Corn Belt. Iowa is often known as the "Food Capital of the World".
In the latter half of the 20th century, Iowa's agricultural economy transitioned to a diversified economy of advanced manufacturing, processing, financial services, biotechnology, and green energy production. Iowa is the 26th most extensive and the 30th most populous of the 50 United States. Its capital and largest city is Des Moines. Iowa has been listed as one of the safest states to live in.
Iowa is bordered by the Mississippi River on the east; the Missouri River and the Big Sioux River on the west; the northern boundary is a line along 43 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude. The southern border is the Des Moines River and a not-quite-straight line along approximately 40 degrees 35 minutes north, as decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Missouri v. Iowa after a standoff between Missouri and Iowa known as the Honey War.
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Kaliningrad
Kaliningrad (Russian: Калинингра́д; Polish: Królewiec; Lithuanian: Karaliaučius; German: Königsberg; Czech: Královec) is a seaport city and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. The territory, the northern part of the former East Prussia, borders on NATO and EU members Poland and Lithuania, and is geographically separated from the rest of Russia.
Originally named Königsberg in German, the town was founded in 1255 by the order of the Teutonic Knights in honour of the Czech king Přemysl Otakar II and was part of Prussia and then of Germany until 1945, but was largely destroyed during World War II. Its ruins were occupied by the Red Army in 1945 and its German population forced out. It was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 in honor of Mikhail Kalinin.
According to the preliminary results of the 2010 Census, its population was 431,491—an increase from 430,003 recorded in the 2002 Census. Its ethnic composition is 77.9% Russians, 8.0% Belarusians, 7.3% Ukrainians, 1.9% Lithuanians, 0.6% Germans, and 0.5% Poles.
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Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan (i/ˌkɑːzəkˈstɑːn/ or /ˌkæzəkˈstæn/) (Kazakh: Қазақстан, Qazaqstan, pronounced [qɑzɑqstɑ́n]; Russian: Казахстан [kəzɐxˈstan]), officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Europe. The ninth largest country in the world by land area, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of 2,727,300 square kilometres (1,053,000 sq mi) is larger than Western Europe. It is neighbored clockwise from the north by Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and also borders on a significant part of the Caspian Sea. Although Kazakhstan does not share a border with Mongolia, its most easterly point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Mongolia's western tip. The terrain of Kazakhstan ranges from flatlands, steppes, taigas, rock-canyons, hills, deltas, and snow-capped mountains to deserts. With 16.6 million people (2011 estimate) Kazakhstan has the 62nd largest population in the world, though its population density is less than 6 people per square kilometre (15 per sq. mi.). The capital was moved in 1998 from Almaty, Kazakhstan's largest city, to Astana.
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Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv (Ukrainian: Київ [ˈkɪjiw] (
listen); Russian: Киев) is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press.
Kiev is an important industrial, scientific, educational and cultural centre of Eastern Europe. It is home to many high-tech industries, higher education institutions and world-famous historical landmarks. The city has an extensive infrastructure and highly developed system of public transport, including the Kiev Metro.
The name Kiev is said to derive from the name of Kyi, one of four legendary founders of the city (brothers Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv, and sister Lybid). During its history, Kiev, one of the oldest cities in Eastern Europe, passed through several stages of great prominence and relative obscurity. The city probably existed as a commercial centre as early as the 5th century. A Slavic settlement on the great trade route between Scandinavia and Constantinople, Kiev was a tributary of the Khazars, until seized by the Varangians (Vikings) in the mid-9th century. Under Varangians rule, the city became a capital of the Rus', the first East Slavic state. Completely destroyed during the Mongol invasion in 1240, the city lost most of its influence for the centuries to come. It was a provincial capital of marginal importance in the outskirts of the territories controlled by its powerful neighbours; first the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, followed by Poland and Russia.
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Kursk Oblast
Kursk Oblast (Russian: Ку́рская о́бласть, Kurskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Kursk. Population: 1,127,081 (2010 Census).
The oblast occupies the southern slopes of the middle-Russian plateau, and its average elevation is from 177 to 225 meters (580–738 ft). The surface is hilly, and intersected by ravines. The central part of Kursk oblast is more elevated than the Seym Valley to the west. The Timsko-Shchigrinsky ridge contains the highest point in the oblast at 288 meters (945 ft) above the sea level. The low relief, gentler slopes, and mild winter make the area suitable for farming, and much of the forest has been cleared.
The chernozem soils cover around 70% of the oblast's territory; podsol soils cover 26%.
Kursk Oblast contributes to two major drainage areas—the Dnieper River and the Don River (78% and 22% respectively). There are 902 rivers and streams in the oblast, with their total length of approximately 8,000 kilometers (5,000 mi). Major rivers are the Seym and the Psyol.
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Latvia
Latviai/ˈlætviə/ (Latvian: Latvija), officially the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republika), is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia (border length 343 km), to the south by Lithuania (588 km), to the east by the Russian Federation (276 km), to the southeast by Belarus (141 km), and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden. With 2,067,887 inhabitants and a territory of 64,589 km2 (24,938 sq mi) it is one of the least populous and least densely populated countries of the European Union. The capital of Latvia is Riga. The official language is Latvian and the currency is called Lats (Ls). The country has a temperate seasonal climate.
The Latvians are a Baltic people, culturally related to the Lithuanians. Together with the Finno-Ugric Livs (or Livonians), the Latvians are the indigenous people of Latvia.Latvian is an Indo-European language and along with Lithuanian the only two surviving members of the Baltic branch. Indigenous minority languages are Latgalian and the nearly extinct Finno-Ugric Livonian language. In terms of geography, territory and population Latvia is the middle of three Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Latvia and Estonia share a long common history: historical Livonia, times of German (Teutonic Order), Polish-Lithuanian, Swedish, Russian, Nazi German and Soviet rule, 13th century Christianization and 16th century Protestant Reformation. Both countries are home to a large number of ethnic Russians (26.9% in Latvia and 25.5% in Estonia) of whom some are non-citizens. Latvia is historically predominantly Protestant, except for the region of Latgalia in the southeast which is historically predominantly Roman Catholic.
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Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City (Queens and Brooklyn), and two of which are mainly suburban (Nassau and Suffolk). The term "Long Island" often refers only to Nassau and Suffolk counties in order to differentiate them from New York City, though all four counties are on the island and part of the New York metropolitan area.
As of the 2010 census, Long Island had a population of 7,568,304, making it the most populated island in any U.S. state or territory. It is also the 17th most populous island in the world, ahead of Ireland, Jamaica and the Japanese island of Hokkaidō. Its population density is 5,402 inhabitants per square mile (2,086 /km2). If it were a state, Long Island would rank 13th in population (after Virginia) and first in population density.
Both the longest and the largest island in the contiguous United States, Long Island extends 118 miles (190 km) eastward from New York Harbor to Montauk Point, and has a maximum north-to-south expanse of 23 miles (37 km) between the northern Long Island Sound coast and the southern Atlantic coast. With a land area of 1,401 square miles (3,629 km2), Long Island is the 11th largest island in the United States and the 148th largest island in the world — larger than the 1,214 square miles (3,140 km2) of the smallest state, Rhode Island.
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Lüshunkou District
Lüshunkou (simplified Chinese: 旅顺口; traditional Chinese: 旅順口; pinyin: Lǚshùnkǒu) is a district in the municipality of Dalian, People's Republic of China. Also called Lüshun City or (more literally) Lüshun Port, it was formerly known as both Port Arthur and Ryojun.
Lüshunkou is located at the extreme southern tip of the Liaodong Peninsula. It has an excellent natural harbour, the possession and control of which became a casus belli of the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). Japanese and then Soviet administration would continue until 1953. During the first decade of that period, it was world famous and was more significant than the other port on the peninsula, Dalian proper. In Western diplomatic, news, and historical writings, it was known as Port Arthur, and during the period when the Japanese controlled and administered the Liaodong (formerly Liaotung) Peninsula it was called Ryojun (旅順), the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters in the city's name.
Downtown Dalian is some 40 miles farther up the coast, sprawling around the narrowest neck of the Liaodong Peninsula, whereas Lüshun occupies its southern tip. (See Landsat Map below Zoomed – Lushun City surrounds the lake-like structure clearly visible near the peninsular tip—the lake-like feature is the inner natural harbour of the port, a very well-sheltered and fortifiable harbor to 19th century eyes.)
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Mamayev Kurgan
Mamayev Kurgan (Russian: Мамаев Курган) is a dominant height overlooking the city of Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) in Southern Russia. The name in Russian means "tumulus of Mamai".
The original Mamayev Kurgan was a Tartar burial mound 102 metres high. The current formation is dominated by a memorial complex commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad (August 1942 to February 1943). The battle was a decisive Soviet victory over Axis forces on the Eastern front of World War II and arguably the bloodiest battle in human history. At the time of its installation in 1967 the statue named The Motherland Calls formed the largest free-standing sculpture in the world.
When forces of the German Sixth Army launched their attack against the city centre of Stalingrad on 13 September 1942, Mamayev Kurgan (appearing in military maps as "Height 102.0") saw particularly fierce fighting between the German attackers and the defending soldiers of the Soviet 62nd Army. Control of the hill became vitally important, as it offered control over the city. To defend it, the Soviets had built strong defensive lines on the slopes of the hill, composed of trenches, barbed-wire and minefields. The Germans pushed forward against the hill, taking heavy casualties. When they finally captured the hill, they started firing on the city centre, as well as on the city's main railway station under the hill. They captured the railway station on 14 September 1942.
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Manhattan
Manhattan (/mænˈhætən/) is the most densely populated and the oldest of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the U.S. state of New York. The borough and county consist of Manhattan Island and several small adjacent islands: Roosevelt Island, Randall's Island, Wards Island, Governors Island, Liberty Island, part of Ellis Island,Mill Rock, and U Thant Island; as well as Marble Hill, a very small area on the mainland bordering the Bronx. The original city of New York began at the southern end of Manhattan, expanded northward, and then between 1874 and 1898, annexed land from surrounding counties.
The New York County is the most densely populated county in the United States, and one of the most densely populated areas in the world, with a 2010 population of 1,585,873 living in a land area of 22.96 square miles (59.5 km2), or 69,464 residents per square mile (26,924/km²), more dense than any individual American city. It is also one of the wealthiest counties in the United States, with a 2005 per capita income above $100,000. Manhattan is the third-largest of New York's five boroughs in population, and its smallest borough in land area.
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Massachusetts
Massachusetts (i/ˌmæsəˈtʃuːsɨts/), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Massachusetts is the 7th least extensive, but the 14th most populous and the 3rd most densely populated of the 50 United States. The state features two separate metropolitan areas – the eastern Boston metropolitan area and the western Springfield metropolitan area. Approximately two thirds of the state's population lives in Greater Boston, most of which is either urban or suburban. Western Massachusetts features one urban area – the Knowledge Corridor along the Connecticut River – and a mix of college towns and rural areas. Massachusetts is the most populous of the six New England states and has the US's sixth highest GDP per capita.
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Mongolia
Mongoliai/mɒŋˈɡoʊliə/ (Mongolian: 
Монгол улс (help·info), literally Mongol country/state) is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only 38 kilometres (24 mi) from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest city, is home to about 45% of the population. Mongolia's political system is a parliamentary republic.
The area of what is now Mongolia has been ruled by various nomadic empires, including the Xiongnu, the Xianbei, the Rouran, the Gökturks and others. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206. After the collapse of the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols returned to their earlier pattern of constant internal conflict and occasional raids on the Chinese borderlands. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Mongolia came under the influence of Tibetan Buddhism. At the end of the 17th century, all of Mongolia had been incorporated into the area ruled by the Qing Dynasty. During the collapse of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, Mongolia declared independence, but had to struggle until 1921 to firmly establish de facto independence from the Republic of China, and until 1945 to gain international recognition.
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Moscow
Moscow (
/ˈmɒskaʊ/ or /ˈmɒskoʊ/; Russian: Москва́, tr. Moskva; IPA: [mɐˈskva] (
listen)) is the capital and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural and scientific center of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the northernmost megacity on Earth, the most populous city in Europe, and the 6th largest city proper in the world. Its population, according to the results of the 2010 Census, is 11,503,501. Based on Forbes 2011, Moscow has the largest community of billionaires in the world.
Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia. In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President and of the executive branch of the Government of Russia. The Kremlin is also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament (the State Duma and the Federation Council) also sit in Moscow.
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Moscow Kremlin
The Moscow Kremlin (Russian: Московский Кремль, tr. Moskovskiy Kreml; IPA: [mɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲɛmlʲ]), sometimes referred to as simply the Kremlin, is a historic fortified complex at the heart of Moscow, overlooking the Moskva River (to the south), Saint Basil's Cathedral and Red Square (to the east) and the Alexander Garden (to the west). It is the best known of kremlins (Russian citadels) and includes four palaces, four cathedrals and the enclosing Kremlin Wall with Kremlin towers. The complex serves as the official residence of the President of the Russian Federation.
The name the Kremlin is often used as a metonym to refer to the government of the Soviet Union (1922–1991) and its highest members (such as general secretaries, premiers, presidents, ministers, and commissars), in the same way that the metonym Élysée Palace refers to the President of the French Republic, the White House refers to the Executive Office of the President of the United States and Number 10 Downing Street or Whitehall refers to the Offices of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the British Government. It is still used in reference to the government of the Russian Federation and even the Russian President's official website is Kremlin.ru. "Kremlinology" refers to the study of Soviet and Russian policies.
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Novocherkassk
Novocherkassk (Russian: Новочерка́сск) is a city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Tuzlov River and on the Aksay River. Population: 169,039 (2010 Census preliminary results); 170,822 (2002 Census); 187,973 (1989 Census); 178,000 (1974); 123,000 (1959); 81,000 (1939); 52,000 (1897).
Novocherkassk was founded in 1805 by Matvei Platov, as the administrative center of the Don Host Oblast, when the inhabitants of the stanitsa of Cherkassk were compelled to leave their abodes on the banks of the Don on account of the frequent floods.
During the Russian Civil War, Novocherkassk was the heart of the Don counter-revolution and was under the command of Alexey Kaledin. The Red Army finally ousted the Whites from Novocherkassk on January 7, 1920. During World War II, Novocherkassk was occupied by the Germans between July 24, 1942 and February 13, 1943. In 1962, the local food riots were brutally suppressed by the Soviet Army in the event known as the Novocherkassk massacre.
Administratively, it is incorporated as Novocherkassk Urban Okrug—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.Municipally, this administrative unit also has the urban okrug status.
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Novodevichy Cemetery
Novodevichy Cemetery (Russian: Новоде́вичье кла́дбище, Novodevichye kladbishche) is the most famous cemetery in Moscow. It lies next to the southern wall of the 16th-century Novodevichy Convent, which is the city's third most popular tourist site. It should not be confused with the Novodevichy Cemetery in Saint Petersburg.
The cemetery was designed by Ivan Mashkov and inaugurated in 1898. Its importance dates from the 1930s, when the necropoleis of the medieval Muscovite monasteries (Simonov, Danilov, Donskoy) were scheduled for demolition. Only the Donskoy survived the Joseph Stalin era relatively intact. The remains of many famous Russians buried in other abbeys, such as Nikolai Gogol and Sergey Aksakov, were disintered and reburied at the Novodevichy.
A 19th-century necropolis within the walls of the Novodevichy convent, which contained the graves of about 2000 Russian noblemen and university professors, also underwent reconstruction. The vast majority of graves were destroyed. It was at that time that the remains of Anton Chekhov were moved outside the monastery walls. His grave served as the kernel of the so-called "cherry orchard" - a section of the cemetery which contains the graves of Constantin Stanislavski and the leading actors of his company.
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Novosibirsk
Novosibirsk (Russian: Новосибирск; IPA: [nəvəsʲɪˈbʲirsk]) is the third most populous city in Russia after Moscow and Saint Petersburg and the most populous city of Asian Russia, with a population of 1,473,737 (2010 Census preliminary results). It is the administrative center of Novosibirsk Oblast as well as of Siberian Federal District. The city is located in the south-western part of Siberia at the banks of the Ob River and occupies an area of 477.2 square kilometers (184.2 sq mi).
Novosibirsk was founded in 1893 at the future site of a Trans-Siberian Railway bridge crossing the great Siberian river of Ob and was named Novonikolayevsk (Новониколаевск), in honor of both Saint Nicholas and the reigning Tsar Nicholas II. The bridge was completed in the spring of 1897, making the new settlement the regional transport hub. The importance of the city further increased with the completion of the Turkestan-Siberia Railway in the early 20th century. The new railway connected Novosibirsk to Central Asia and the Caspian Sea.
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Oxford
Oxfordi/ˈɒksfəd/ is a city in central southern England, the home of the University of Oxford. The city is the county town of Oxfordshire, and forms a district within the county. It has a population of just under 165,000, of whom 153,900 live within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles (80 km) north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames (also sometimes known as the Isis locally) run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre.
Oxford has a diverse economic base. Its industries include motor manufacturing, education, publishing and a large number of information technology and science-based businesses.
Buildings in Oxford demonstrate an example of every English architectural period since the arrival of the Saxons, including the iconic, mid-18th century Radcliffe Camera. Oxford is known as the "city of dreaming spires", a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold in reference to the harmonious architecture of Oxford's university buildings. The University of Oxford is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
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Philippines
The Philippinesi/ˈfɪlɨpiːnz/ FI-lə-peenz (Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas) is a sovereign country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
With an estimated population of about 98 million people, the Philippines is the 7th most populated Asian country and the 12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12.5 million Filipinos live overseas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies. Trade introduced Chinese cultural influences which remain to this day.
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Pitsunda
Pitsunda (Abkhaz: Пиҵунда, Georgian: ბიჭვინთა, Bichvinta; Russian: Пицунда) is a resort town in Gagra district of Abkhazia.
The town was founded by the Greeks in the 5th century BC as a trade colony Pityus (Ancient Greek: Pityus, Πιτυοῦς, genitive Pityuntos, Πιτυοῦντος) or Pitiunt. Excavations guided by Andria Apakidze unearthed remains of three 4th-century churches and a bath with superb mosaic floors. The former "Great Pityus" harbour is now a mere lake within the town. Saint John Chrysostom was exiled there and died near the shore in 407. Like Dioskurias, remained under Roman control within the Diocese of Pontus until the 7th century. The city passed under Abasgian control and became one of the major political and religious centres of the kingdom of Egrisi (Lazica). An archbishopric of Pitiunt was instituted in 541. In medieval Georgia, the town's name was spelled as Bichvinta. At the end of the 10th century, King Bagrat III of Georgia built there the Pitsunda Cathedral which survives to this day and contains vestiges of wall-painting from the 13th and the 16th centuries. Bichvinta also served as the seat of the Georgian Orthodox Catholicate of Abkhazia until the late 16th century when Abkhazia came under the Ottoman hegemony. It is still a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. In the late 13th century, the area housed a short-lived Genoese trade colony called Pezonda.
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Poznań 1956 protests
The Poznań 1956 protests, also known as Poznań 1956 uprising or Poznań June (Polish: Poznański Czerwiec), were the first of several massive protests of the Polish people against the communist government of the People's Republic of Poland. Demonstrations by workers demanding better conditions began on June 28, 1956, at Poznań's Cegielski Factories and were met with violent repression.
A crowd of approximately 100,000 gathered in the city center near the UB secret police building. About 400 tanks and 10,000 soldiers of Ludowe Wojsko Polskie and the Internal Security Corps under Polish-Soviet general Stanislav Poplavsky were ordered to suppress the demonstration and during the pacification fired at the protesting civilians.
The death toll was placed between 57 and over a hundred people, including a 13-year-old boy, Romek Strzałkowski. Hundreds of people sustained injuries. Nonetheless the Poznań protests were an important milestone on the way to the installation of a less Soviet-controlled government in Poland in October.
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Russia
Russiai/ˈrʌʃə/ or /ˈrʊʃə/ (Russian: Россия, tr. Rossiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijə] ( listen)), also officially known as the Russian Federation (Russian: Российская Федерация, tr. Rossiyskaya Federatsiya; IPA: [rɐˈsʲijskəjə fʲɪdʲɪˈratsɨjə] ( listen)), is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects. From northwest to southeast, Russia shares borders with Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland (both via Kaliningrad Oblast), Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Mongolia, and North Korea. It also has maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, and the US state of Alaska by the Bering Strait. At 17,075,400 square kilometres (6,592,800 sq mi), Russia is the largest country in the world, covering more than one eighth of the Earth's inhabited land area. Russia is also the eighth most populous nation with 143 million people. It extends across the whole of northern Asia and 40% of Europe, spanning nine time zones and incorporating a wide range of environments and landforms. Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral and energy resources and is the largest producer of oil and natural gas globally. Russia has the world's largest forest reserves and its lakes contain approximately one-quarter of the world's fresh water.
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Russian Empire
The Russian Empire (Pre-reform Russian orthography: Россійская Имперія, Modern Russian: Российская Империя, translit: Rossiyskaya Imperiya) was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the short-lived Russian Republic, which was succeeded by the Soviet Union. It was one of the largest empires in world history, surpassed in landmass only by the British and Mongol empires: at one point in 1866, it stretched from eastern Europe across Asia and into North America.
At the beginning of the 19th century, the Russian Empire extended from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea on the south, from the Baltic Sea on the west to the Pacific Ocean and into North America on the east. With 125.6 million subjects registered by the 1897 census, it had the third largest population of the world at the time, after Qing China and the British Empire. Like all empires, it represented a large disparity in economic, ethnic and religious positions. Its government, ruled by the Emperor, was the last absolute monarchy in Europe at the time of its demise.
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Siberia
Coordinates: 60°0′N 105°0′E / 60°N 105°E / 60; 105
Siberia (/saɪˈbɪəriə/; Russian: Сиби́рь, tr. Sibir'; IPA: [sʲɪˈbʲirʲ] ( listen)) is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union (USSR) from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th to 19th centuries.
Encompassing much of the Eurasian Steppe, the territory of Siberia extends eastward from the Ural Mountains to the watershed between the Pacific and Arctic drainage basins, and southward from the Arctic Ocean to the hills of north-central Kazakhstan and the national borders of Mongolia and China. Siberia makes up about 77% of Russia's territory (13.1 million square kilometres), but has only 28% (40 million people) of Russia's population.
Some sources say that the word Siberia originates from the Turkic for "sleeping land". Another version is that this name was the ancient tribal name of the Sabirs, Turkic nomads later assimilated to Siberian Tatars. The modern usage of the name appeared in the Russian language after the conquest of the Siberian Khanate.
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Soviet Union
The Soviet Union (Russian: Советский Союз, tr. Sovetsky Soyuz), officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR; Russian: Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик, tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik; IPA: [sɐˈjus sɐˈvʲetskʲɪx sətsɨəlʲɪˈstʲitɕɪskʲɪx rʲɪsˈpublʲɪk] ( listen); abbreviated СССР, SSSR), was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991.
The Soviet Union was a single-party state ruled by the Communist Party from its foundation until 1990. A union of 15 subnational Soviet republics, the Soviet state was structured under a highly centralized government and economy.
The Russian Revolution of 1917 caused the downfall of the Russian Empire. Following the Russian Revolution, there was a struggle for power between the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the anti-communist White movement. In December 1922, the Bolsheviks won the civil war, and the Soviet Union was formed with the merger of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
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The Motherland Calls
The Motherland Calls, (Russian: Родина-мать зовёт! Rodina-Matʹ Zovët!), also called Mother Motherland, Mother Motherland Is Calling, simply The Motherland, or The Mamayev Monument, is a statue in Mamayev Kurgan in Volgograd, Russia, commemorating the Battle of Stalingrad. It was designed by sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich and structural engineer Nikolai Nikitin. Declared the largest statue in the world in 1967, it is the last non-religious statue to be declared the largest; every record holder since has been a Buddhism-related sculpture. Compared to the later higher statues, The Motherland Calls is significantly more complex from an engineering point of view, due to its characteristic posture with a sword raised high in the right hand and the left hand extended in a calling gesture. The technology behind the statue is based on a combination of prestressed concrete with wire ropes structure, a solution which can be found also in another work of Nikitin's, the super-tall Ostankino Tower in Moscow.
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Ukraine
Ukraine (i/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]; Russian: Украина; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.
According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with several internationally recognized attempts at independence from 1917 to 1921, following World War I and the Russian Civil War. Ukraine emerged from its own civil war, and on December 30, 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward during the civil war shortly before, and after World War II, and further south in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.
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Ukrainian State
The Ukrainian State (Ukrainian: Українська держава, Ukrains’ka Derzhava) or The Hetmanate (Ukrainian: Гетьманат, Het’manat) was a short-lived polity in Ukraine, installed by Ukrainian Cossacks and military organizations under the support of the Central Powers, after disbanding the Central Rada of the Ukrainian National Republic on 28 April 1918.
On April 29, 1918 the head of the German group army Kiew (Heeresgruppe Kiew), Hermann von Eichhorn organized a coup and appointed the Conservative General Pavlo Skoropadsky (commander of the first Russian Corps and later leader of the Free Cossacks) as Hetman of what was termed the Ukrainska Derzhava or Ukrainian State. That day Skoropadsky issued his manifesto (hramota) to the All-Ukrainian Nation and the laws of the Provisional State System. The Austro-Hungarian and German occupiers, wanting stability above all else, welcomed the coup; Skoropadsky co-operated with them, making him unpopular among many Ukrainian peasants. The new state retained the tryzub and the national colors, but reversed the flag design to light blue over yellow. The Sich Riflemen opposed the coup and were disbanded along with the "Bluecoats" (a Ukrainian division named after their blue uniforms and formed from POWs in Germany and Austria).
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Vienna
Vienna ( /viːˈɛnə/; German: Wien (help·info) [viːn]) is the capital and largest city of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million (2.4 million within the metropolitan area, more than 25% of Austria's population), and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre. It is the 9th-largest city by population in the European Union. Until the beginning of the 20th century it was the largest German speaking city in the world, and before the first world war and the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian empire the city had 2 million inhabitants. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations and OPEC. The city lies in the east of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city centre was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Volgograd
Volgograd (Russian: Волгогра́д; IPA: [ˌvəlɡɐˈɡrat] ( listen)), formerly called Tsaritsyn (Russian: Цари́цын (help·info); 1589–1925) and Stalingrad (Russian: Сталингра́д (help·info); 1925–1961) is an important industrial city and the administrative center of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. It is 80-kilometer (50 mi) long, north to south, situated on the western bank of the Volga River. Population: 1,021,244 (2010 Census preliminary results); 1,011,417 (2002 Census); 1,022,578 (1989 Census). The city became famous for its resistance, extensive damage, and death toll during the Battle of Stalingrad in World War II.
Although it is possible the city originated in 1555, it was first mentioned documentally in 1589 as Tsaritsyn, located at the confluence of the Tsaritsa and Volga Rivers. The fortress Sary Su (a local Tatar language name meaning: yellow water/river), was established to defend the unstable southern border of the country. It soon became the nucleus of a trading settlement. It was captured twice by Cossack rebels, under Stepan Razin in the rebellion of 1670 and Yemelyan Pugachev in 1774. Tsaritsyn became an important river port and commercial center in the 19th century.
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Adam Malik
Adam Malik Batubara (22 July 1917 – 5 September 1984) was Indonesia's third vice president, a senior diplomat, and one of the pioneers of Indonesian journalism.
Malik was born in Pematang Siantar, North Sumatra, Dutch East Indies to Abdul Malik Batubara and Salamah Lubis. He is from a Batak Muslim family of Batubara clan. After completing Junior High School, he received his first job as a shopkeeper, filling in time by reading books and increasing his knowledge.
Malik quickly developed an interest in politics and aged just 17, became the Chairman of the Pematang Siantar branch of Partindo (Indonesia Party). In this position, Malik campaigned for the Dutch Colonial Government to grant independence to Indonesia. As a result of this, Malik was put in prison for disobeying the Colonial Government's ban on political assemblies. Once he was freed, Malik left Pematang Siantar for Jakarta.
After leaving hometown, Malik pursued a job as a journalist. He wrote for Partindo's Party Magazine and Pelita Andalas Newspaper. In 1937, along with like-minded colleagues, Malik formed ANTARA. ANTARA would develop to become Indonesia's national news agency.
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Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (German: [ˈadɔlf ˈhɪtlɐ] ( listen); 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and dictator of Nazi Germany (as Führer und Reichskanzler) from 1934 to 1945. Hitler is commonly associated with the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II, and the Holocaust.
A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the German Workers' Party, precursor of the Nazi Party, in 1919, and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923, he attempted a coup d'état, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, in Munich. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoir, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). After his release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anticommunism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. After his appointment as chancellor in 1933, he transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. His aim was to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in continental Europe.
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Adolfo Suárez
Adolfo Suárez y González, 1st Duke of Suárez, Grandee of Spain, KOGF (Spanish pronunciation: [aˈðolfo ˈswaɾeθ]; born 25 September 1932) is a Spanish lawyer and politician. Suárez was Spain's first democratically elected prime minister after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, and the key figure in the country's transition to democracy.
He is a son of Hipólito Suárez Guerra and Herminia González Prados (Ávila, 1910 – 18 July 2006), and the brother of Doña María del Carmen Suárez González, who is married to Aurelio Delgado Martín
Suárez studied Law at Salamanca University, and held several government posts during the late Francoist regime.
He became the Minister Secretary General of the National Movement (Movimiento Nacional), a body that served as sole political party, for 18 years, a period that extended beyond the death of Franco in November 1975. At a rally just a month before Franco's death, Suárez was queried by the aging Caudillo on the political future of Spain and told him frankly that the Movement would not likely long survive Franco and that democratization was inevitable. Suárez was appointed as the 138th Prime Minister of Spain by the Spanish King Juan Carlos on 4 July 1976, a move opposed by leftists and some centrists given his Francoist history. As a nationalist, he was chosen by the monarch to lead the country towards a democratic, parliamentary monarchy without annoying the powerful conservative factions (especially the military) in the country. Surprising many observers and political opponents, Suárez introduced Political Reform in 1976 as a first, decisive step in the Transition (La Transición) to democracy.
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Agostinho Neto
António Agostinho Neto (September 17, 1922 – September 10, 1979) served as the first President of Angola (1975–1979), leading the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) in the war for independence and the civil war. His birthday is celebrated as National Heroes Day, a public holiday in Angola.
Born at Ícolo e Bengo, in Bengo Province, Angola, in 1922, Neto attended high school in the capital city, Luanda; his father, also called Agostinho Neto, was a Methodist pastor. The younger Neto left Angola for Portugal, and studied medicine at the universities of Coimbra and Lisbon. He combined his academic life with covert political activity of a revolutionary sort; and PIDE, the security police force of the Estado Novo regime headed by Portuguese Prime Minister Salazar, arrested him in 1951 for his separatist activism. Seven years later he was released from prison, and he finished his studies, marrying a white 23-years-old Portuguese woman who was born in Trás-os-Montes, Maria Eugénia da Silva, the same day he graduated. He returned to Angola in 1959.
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Ahmad Shah Massoud
Ahmad Shah Massoud (احمد شاه مسعود Aḥmad Šāh Mas'ūd; September 2, 1953 – September 9, 2001) was a political and military leader in Afghanistan. He was a central figure, known as the "Lion of Panjshir", in the resistance against the Soviet occupation between 1979 and 1989, fought against the alliance of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the early 1990s, and led resistance against the Taliban regime between 1996 and 2001. Massoud was assassinated on September 9, 2001, two days before the attacks of September 11.
Massoud was an Afghan-Tajik Sunni Muslim born in the Panjshir in northern Afghanistan. He studied engineering at Kabul University in the 1970s, where he became involved with Muslim anti-communist movements around Burhanuddin Rabbani. He led an uprising against the Soviet-backed communist government in his native Panjshir in 1979. His role in the following period of armed resistance against the Soviet occupation forces earned him the nickname of "Lion of Panjshir" (شیر پنجشیر). Following the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan the Wall Street Journal named Massoud "the Afghan who won the Cold War". In 1992, he was appointed minister of defense in the government of the newly established Islamic State of Afghanistan by the peace and power-sharing agreement Peshawar Accords. He led the Islamic State's defense against attacks by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's alliance of militias which were backed by Pakistan. Following the rise of the Taliban in 1996, Massoud, who rejected the Taliban's and Al-Qaeda's extremist interpretation of Islam, returned to the role of an armed opposition leader, serving as the military and political leader of the multiethnic United Islamic Front (also known in the West as Northern Alliance). In 1997, he helped end the civil war in neighboring Tajikistan urging parties to accept a United Nations peace plan.
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Alain Poher
Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher (French: [alɛ̃ pɔɛʁ]; 17 April 1909 – 9 December 1996) was a French centrist politician, affiliated first with the Popular Republican Movement and later with the Democratic Centre. He served as a Senator for Val-de-Marne from 1946 to 1995. He was President of the Senate from 3 October 1968 to 1 October 1992 and, in that capacity, served twice as the country's interim president. Candidate in the 1969 presidential election, he was defeated by Georges Pompidou in the second round.
Poher was born in Ablon-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne.
He graduated from the Lycée Louis-le-Grand and the Lycée Saint-Louis in Paris and later studied law. On 19 August 1938 he married Henriette Tugler, with whom he had one daughter, Marie-Agnès.
His political career began in 1938, when he became a junior executive officer in the Ministry of Finance.
Later he served on several positions before entering Senate:
A longtime ally and political protege of Schumann, Poher was elected to the Senate in 1952, where he remained for over 40 years (until 1995). As Senator he continued to serve in some governments and his home town mayor. Like Schuman, he was known for strongly pro-European integration positions, having served as President of the European Parliament (1968–1969).
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Alcide De Gasperi
Alcide De Gasperi (Italian pronunciation: [alˈtʃiːde de ˈɡasperi]; April 3, 1881 – August 19, 1954) was an Italian statesman and politician and founder of the Christian Democratic Party. From 1945 to 1953 he was the prime minister of eight successive coalition governments. His eight-year rule remains a landmark of political longevity for a leader in modern Italian politics. A conservative Catholic, he was one of the Founding fathers of the European Union, along with the Frenchman Robert Schuman and the German Konrad Adenauer.
De Gasperi was born in Pieve Tesino in Tyrol, which at that time belonged to Austria-Hungary, now part of the Trentino in Italy. His father was a local police officer of limited financial means. From 1896 De Gasperi was active in the Social Christian movement. In 1900 he joined the Faculty of Literature and Philosophy in Vienna, where he played an important role in the inception of the Christian student movement. He was very much inspired by the Rerum Novarum encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. In 1904 he took an active part in the student demonstrations in favour of an Italian-language university. Imprisoned with other protesters during the inauguration of the Italian juridical faculty in Innsbruck, he was released after twenty days. In 1905, De Gasperi obtained a degree in philology.
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Aldo Moro
Aldo Moro (Italian pronunciation: [ˈaldo ˈmɔːro]; September 23, 1916 – May 9, 1978) was an Italian politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Italy, from 1963 to 1968, and then from 1974 to 1976. He was one of Italy's longest-serving post-war Prime Ministers, holding power for a combined total of more than six years.
A leader of Democrazia Cristiana (Christian Democracy, DC), Moro was considered an intellectual and a patient mediator, especially in the internal life of his party. He was kidnapped on March 16, 1978, by the left-wing Red Brigades (BR), and killed after 55 days of captivity.
Moro was born in Maglie, in the province of Lecce (Puglia), into a family from Ugento. At 4, he moved with his family to Milan, but they soon moved back to Puglia, where he gained a classical high school degree at Archita lyceum in Taranto. Till 1939 he studied Law at the University of Bari, an institution where he was later to hold the post of ordinary professor of philosophy of Law and Colonial Policy (1941) and of Criminal Law (1942).
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Aleksandr Vasilevsky
Aleksandr Mikhaylovich Vasilevsky (Russian: Алекса́ндр Миха́йлович Василе́вский, September 30 [O.S. September 18] 1895, Vichuga – December 5, 1977) was a Russian career officer in the Red Army, promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1943. He was the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Armed Forces and Deputy Minister of Defense during World War II, as well as Minister of Defense from 1949 to 1953. As the Chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky was responsible for planning and coordinating almost all decisive Soviet offensives, from the Stalingrad counteroffensive to the assault on East Prussia and Königsberg.
Vasilevsky began his military career during World War I, earning the rank of captain by 1917. At the start of the October Revolution and the Civil War he was conscripted into the Red Army, taking part in the Polish-Soviet War. After the war, he quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a regimental commander by 1930. In this position, he showed great skill in organizing and training his troops. Vasilevsky's talent was noticed, and in 1931 he was appointed a member of the Directorate of Military Training. In 1937, following Stalin's Great Purge, he was promoted to General Staff officer.
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Alexander Dubček
Alexander Dubček (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈalɛksandɛr ˈduptʃɛk]; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia (1968–1969), famous for his attempt to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring. Later, after the overthrow of the government in 1989, he was Chairman of the federal Czecho-Slovak parliament.
Dubček was born in Uhrovec, Czechoslovakia (Slovakia), and raised in the Kyrgyz SSR of the Soviet Union (now Kyrgyzstan) as a member of the Esperantist industrial cooperative Interhelpo. His father, Štefan, moved from Chicago to Czechoslovakia after World War I, when he refused to serve in the military for his pacifism. Alexander Dubček was conceived in Chicago, but born after the family relocated to Czechoslovakia. When Alexander Dubček was three, the family moved to the Soviet Union, in part to help build socialism and in part because jobs were scarce in Czechoslovakia. In 1938 the family returned to Czechoslovakia.
During the Second World War, Alexander Dubček joined the underground resistance against the wartime pro-German Slovak state headed by Jozef Tiso. In August 1944, Dubček fought in the Slovak National Uprising and was wounded. His brother, Július, was killed.
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Alexander Rodimtsev
Aleksandr Ilich Rodimtsev (1905–1977, Russian: Александр Ильич Родимцев) was a Colonel-General in the Soviet Red Army during World War II and twice won the Hero of the Soviet Union award (in 1937 and 1945).
Rodimtsev joined the Red Army in the 1920s. He fought in the Spanish Civil War on the side of the Republicans against Francisco Franco in 1936-1937, where he earned his first decoration as a Hero of the Soviet Union. During the course of the Second World War, he is best remembered for his role in the Battle of Stalingrad, where he brilliantly commanded the 13th Guards Rifle Division which earned him his second order of Hero of the Soviet Union. The division was charged to hold the Germans between Mamaev Kurgan and Tsaritsa Gorge, which his outnumbered and outgunned force successfully did. Rodimtsev was vastly popular with his troops and was well known for his bravery.
In 1943, after the Battle of Stalingrad, Rodimtsev commanded the 32nd Guards Rifle Corps, which included the 13th Guards Rifle Division, the 66th Guards Rifle Division, and the 6th Guards Airborne Division. The 32nd Guards Rifle Corps was an element of the 5th Guards Army, which was a part of the Steppe Front (commanded by Field Marshal Ivan Konev), and engaged SS Panzer divisions at the Battle of Kursk.
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Alexei Kirichenko
Alexei Illarionovoich Kirichenko (Russian: Алексе́й Илларио́нович Кириче́нко; 12(25) February 1908 – 28 December 1975) was a Soviet politician. Between 1957 and 1960 he was a Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and effectively the second person in the party after Nikita Khrushchev.
Kirichenko was born in the village Chernobayevka of Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire in a family of Ukrainian factory worker. From the age of 11 he started earning for living by working in the fields and then at railways. After graduating from a mechanical school he worked in Kazakhstan as an engineer in a sovkhoz. He then returned to Ukraine to receive a university degree (1936) and teach agricultural engineering. In 1938, he became a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine and in 1941 its Secretary of Industry (later in 1949 he was promoted to the 2nd Secretary and in June 1953 to the 1st Secretary). During World War II, serving as a party functionary, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. In 1953, he became a member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet and in 1957 one of the secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. During 1957–1960, Kirichenko was effectively the second person in the Communist Party after Khrushchev, who was his patron since the 1930s. However, Khrushchev gradually became disappointed with Kirichenko whom he saw as a somewhat arrogant bureaucrat, not capable or willing to understand and solve the management problems, either on the national or international scale. As a result, in 1960 Kirichenko was demoted to the position of the first secretary of the Central Committee of Rostov Oblast and retired in 1962. He died in 1975 and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.
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Alexei Kosygin
Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin (Russian: Алексе́й Никола́евич Косы́гин, tr. Aleksej Nikolajevič Kosygin; IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej nʲɪkɐˈlajɪvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsɨgʲɪn]; (21 February [O.S. 5 March] 1904 – 18 December 1980) was a Soviet-Russian statesman during the Cold War. Kosygin was born in the city of St. Petersburg in 1904 to a Russian working class family. He was conscripted into the labor army during the Russian Civil War, and after the Red Army's demobilisation in 1921, he worked in Siberia as an industrial manager. Kosygin returned to Leningrad in the early 1930s and worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. During the Great Patriotic War (World War II), Kosygin was a member of the State Defence Committee and was tasked with moving Soviet industry out of territories soon to be overrun by the German military. He served as Minister of Finance for a year before becoming Minister of Light Industry and later, the Minister of Light and Food Industry. One year before his death in 1953, Stalin removed Kosygin from the Politburo, intentionally weakening his position within the Soviet hierarchy.
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Alexei Rykov
Alexei Ivanovich Rykov (Russian: Алексе́й Ива́нович Ры́ков) (25 February 1881 – 15 March 1938) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician most prominent as Premier of Russia and the Soviet Union from 1924–29 and 1924–30 respectively.
He joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1898, and after it split into Bolshevik and Menshevik factions in 1903, he joined the Bolsheviks—led by Vladimir Lenin. He played an active part in the 1905 Russian Revolution. Months prior to the October Revolution of 1917, he became a member of the Petrograd and Moscow Soviets, and was elected to the Bolshevik Party Central Committee in July–August of the same year, during the Sixth Congress of the Bolshevik Party. Rykov, a moderate, oftentimes came into political conflict with Lenin and more radical Bolsheviks, but nonetheless proved influential when the October Revolution finally did overthrow the Russian Provisional Government, and as such served many roles in the new government, starting October–November (old style) as People's Commissar for Internal Affairs on the first roster of the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), which was chaired by Lenin.
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Alison Cheek
Alison Cheek is a religious leader best known for being named by Time magazine as a Woman of the Year in 1975 representing the Women's Movement. Cheek was an Episcopal priest and became one of the first women to be an ordained priest in an Episcopal church. In August 1974 She was installed as assistant priest at the Church of St. Stephen and the Incarnation in Washington. In November 1974 Cheek became the first woman to celebrate communion in an Episcopal church in defiance of the diocesan bishop.
"A Dozen Who Made a Difference – Alison Cheek: Defiant Deacon". Time. 1976-01-05. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947599-5,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
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Anastas Mikoyan
Anastas Ivanovich Mikoyan (Armenian: Անաստաս Հովհաննեսի Միկոյան, Anastas Hovhannesi Mikoyan; Russian: Анаста́с Ива́нович Микоя́н; 25 November [O.S. 13 November] 1895 – 21 October 1978) was an Old Bolshevik and Soviet statesman during the rules of Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev. He was the only Soviet politician who had managed to be a member of the highest body of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union - the Politburo ceaselessly during Stalin´s, Khrushchev´s and Brezhnev´s era.
Mikoyan became an early convert to the Bolshevik cause. Mikoyan was a strong supporter of Stalin during the immediate post-Lenin years. During Stalin's rule, Mikoyan held several high governmental posts, including that of Minister of Foreign Trade. By the end of Stalin's rule Mikoyan was starting to lose favour with him, and in 1949, Mikoyan lost his long-standing post of foreign trade minister. At the 19th Party Congress Stalin even attacked Mikoyan viciously. When Stalin died in 1953, Mikoyan again took a leading role in policy-making. He backed Khrushchev and his de-Stalinization policy, and became First Deputy Premier under Khrushchev. Mikoyan's position under Khrushchev made him the second most powerful figure in the Soviet Union at the time.
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Anatoliy Kinakh
Anatoliy Kyrylovych Kinakh (Ukrainian: Анатолій Кирилович Кінах) (born August 4, 1954) is a Ukrainian politician and honorary professor at the Mykolaiv Government Humanitarian University. Kinakh is a People's Deputy of Ukraine in the 6th convocation of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament. Kinakh currently serves as the leader of Party of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs of Ukraine which supports the opposition Party of Regions.
Previously, Kinakh was a Prime Minister from 2001 to 2002 under President Leonid Kuchma, a first vice-Prime Minister, and a Minister of Economics of Ukraine.
Anatoliy Kinakh was born in the village of Brătuşeni in the Moldavian SSR (now Moldova) on August 4, 1954. In 1978, he graduated from the Leningrad Shipbuilding Institute as a shipbuilding engineer. After finishing his higher education, Kinakh started his engineering career at the Tallinn shipyard. From 1981 he worked at the Mykolaiv plant "Ocean".
In April 1990, he was elected to the Ukrainian parliament the Verkhovna Rada. There he worked on a committee dealing with economic reforms. In 1992, Kinakh was appointed as a representative of the President in the Mykolaiv Oblast (province) of southern Ukraine. In 1995, Anatoliy Kinakh was appointed Vice-Prime Minister of Ukraine in the Cabinet of Yevhen Marchuk concerned with industrial affairs.
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Anatoly Dobrynin
Anatoly Fyodorovich Dobrynin (Russian: Анатолий Фёдорович Добрынин, November 16, 1919 – April 6, 2010) was a Russian statesman and a former Soviet diplomat and politician. He was Soviet Ambassador to the United States, serving from 1962 to 1986 and most notably during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He was appointed by Nikita Khrushchev.
Dobrynin was born in the village of Krasnaya Gorka, near Mozhaisk in the Moscow Oblast. His father was a locksmith. He attended the Moscow Aviation Institute and after graduation went to work for the Yakovlev Design Bureau. He entered the Higher Diplomatic School in 1944 and graduated with distinction.
Dobrynin joined the Soviet Diplomatic Service working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Training Division. He later joined the Secretariat of the ministry working for Molotov, Shepilov, Gromyko and Zorin. He was appointed Deputy Secretary-General at the United Nations in 1957 and returned to Moscow as head of the Soviet Foreign Ministry's North America Department in 1959. Dobrynin was appointed Soviet Ambassador to the USA in 1962.
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Andrei Gromyko
Andrei Andreyevich Gromyko (Russian: Андре́й Андре́евич Громы́ко; Belarusian Андрэ́й Андрэ́евіч Грамы́ка; 18 July [O.S. 5 July] 1909 – 2 July 1989) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs (1957–1985) and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (1985–1987). Gromyko was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy until he retired in 1987. In the West he was given the nickname Mr. Nyet ("Mr. No").
Gromyko's political career started in 1939 with his employment at the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs (later renamed Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1946). In 1943 Gromyko became the Soviet ambassador to the United States, leaving in 1946 to become the Soviet Permanent Representative to the United Nations. Upon his return to the Soviet Union he became a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and later the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. He went on to become the Soviet ambassador to the United Kingdom in 1952.
Gromyko played a direct role in the Cuban Missile Crisis in his role as the Soviet Foreign Minister. Gromyko helped negotiate arms limitations treaties such as the ABM Treaty, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and SALT I and II among others. Under Leonid Brezhnev's leadership Gromyko helped build the policy of détente between the US and the USSR. He supported Mikhail Gorbachev's candidacy for General Secretary in 1985. Gromyko lost his office as foreign minister when Gorbachev became General Secretary, and was instead appointed to the largely ceremonial office of head of state. Gromyko retired from political life in 1988 and died the following year on 2 July 1989 in Moscow.
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Andriy Livytskyi
Andriy Mykolaiovych Livytskyi (Ukrainian: Андрій Миколайович Лівицький; born April 9, 1879 in Lyplyavo, the Russian Empire (now Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine) — died January 17, 1954) was a Ukrainian politician, diplomat, statesman, and lawyer.
He was president of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile (1948–1954) and the Chairman of the Directory prior to reforming that office into the presidential.
Andriy Livytskyi was born on 9 April 1879 in Lyplyavo (at the time part of the Russian Empire) into an old Cossack family. He finished the Gymnasium of Pavlo Halahana in Kiev, and later went on to study at the mathematical and juridical faculties of the St. Volodymyr Kiev University in 1896. In 1897 and 1899 he was held in the Lukyanivska Prison in Kiev for participation in protests. He was expelled from the university and exiled to Poltava Governorate under the secret surveillance of police for taking part in the student's strike of 1899. After obtaining his university diploma in 1903, he served in the Lubny Circuit Court, and then, since 1905, he was a barrister of the Kharkiv Court Chamber, and in 1913–1917 an elected judge of Zolotonosha uyezd in the Poltava Governorate. In his studential years, he took part in the Ukrainian independence movement, heading one of the organization's bases in Kiev.
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Anthony Eden
Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, KG, MC, PC (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957. He was also Foreign Secretary for three periods between 1935 and 1955, including during the Second World War. He is best known for his outspoken opposition to appeasement in the 1930s, his diplomatic leadership in the 1940s and 1950s, and the failure of his Middle East policy in 1956 that ended his premiership.
Eden's worldwide reputation as an opponent of appeasement, a "Man of Peace", and a skilled diplomat was overshadowed in the second year of his premiership when the United States refused to support the Anglo-French military response to the Suez Crisis, which critics across party lines regarded as an historic setback for British foreign policy, signalling the end of British predominance in the Middle East. Most historians argue that he made a series of blunders, especially not realizing the depth of opposition to military action by the US. Most historians say that Eden completely dominated the British decision-making process in the Suez crisis. However, Jonathan Pearson argues in Sir Anthony Eden and the Suez Crisis: Reluctant Gamble (2002) that Eden was more reluctant and less bellicose than most historians say.
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António de Spínola
António Sebastião Ribeiro de Spínola, GCTE, ComA (generally referred to as António de Spínola, though this particular surname never had a particle) (Santo André, Estremoz, April 11, 1910 – Lisbon, August 13, 1996) was a Portuguese soldier, conservative politician and author, who was important in the transition to democracy following the Portuguese Carnation Revolution.
He was a son of António Sebastião Spínola and first wife Maria Gabriela Alves Ribeiro, both natives of Madeira.
Spínola entered the Colégio Militar in 1920, beginning what would be a very successful military career. By 1928, Spínola was at Portugal's Military Academy, where he stood out as a young and promising cavalry officer.
In Anjos, Lisbon, by August 1932, he married Maria Helena Martin Monteiro de Barros (14 January 1913 - 23 May 2002), daughter of João de Azevedo Monteiro de Barros and his German wife Gertrud Elisabete Martin.
In 1939, he became adjunct-de-camp of the Guarda Nacional Republicana (English: Republican National Guard). In 1941 he travelled to the German-Russian Front, as an observer, to monitor Wehrmacht movements during the encirclement of Leningrad (the Portuguese volunteers had been incorporated into the Blue Division).
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Anwar Sadat
Anwar El Sadat (Arabic: محمد أنور السادات Anwar as-Sādāt, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæˈħæmmæd ˈʔɑnwɑɾˤ essæˈdæːt]; 25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was the third President of Egypt, serving from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 October 1981. In his eleven years as president he changed Egypt's direction, departing from some of the economic and political principles of Nasserism by re-instituting the multi-party system, and launching the Infitah economic policy.
He was a senior member of the Free Officers group that overthrew the Muhammad Ali Dynasty in the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, and a close confidant of President Gamal Abdul Nasser, whom he succeeded as President in 1970. As president he led Egypt in the October War of 1973 to re-acquire Egyptian territory lost to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, making him a hero in Egypt and, for a time, the wider Arab World. Afterwards he engaged in negotiations with Israel, culminating in the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. This won him the Nobel Peace Prize but also made him unpopular among some Arabs, resulting in a temporary suspension of Egypt's membership in the Arab League, and eventually his assassination.
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Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, GCC (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐˈniβɐɫ kɐˈvaku ˈsiɫvɐ]; born 15 July 1939), is the President of Portugal. He won the Portuguese presidential election on 22 January 2006 and was re-elected on 23 January 2011, for a second five-year term. Cavaco Silva was sworn in on 9 March 2006.
He was previously Prime Minister of Portugal from 6 November 1985 to 28 October 1995. His tenure of ten years was the longest of any Prime Minister since Salazar, and he was the first Portuguese Prime Minister to have won an absolute parliamentary majority under the current constitutional system (which was established after the country's redemocratization following the Carnation Revolution).
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Augusto Pinochet
Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte, more commonly known as Augusto Pinochet (Spanish pronunciation: [auˈɣusto pinoˈtʃet]), (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean army general and dictator who assumed power in a coup d'état on 11 September 1973. He was the commander-in-chief of the Chilean army from 1973 to 1998, president of the Government Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981 and President of the Republic from 1974 until transferring power to a democratically elected president in 1990.
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Babrak Karmal
Babrak Karmal (born Sultan Hashem; 6 January 1929 – 1 or 3 December 1996) was an Afghan politician and statesman during the Cold War. Karmal was born in Kamari and educated at Kabul University, after which he started his career as a bureaucrat. Before, during and after his career as a bureaucrat Karmal was a leading member of the Afghan movement. He was introduced to Marxism by Mir Akbar Khyber during his imprisonment for activities deemed too radical by the government. When the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was formed, Karmal became one of its leading members, and eventually became the leader of the Parcham faction. When the PDPA split in 1967, the Parcham-faction established a Parcham PDPA, while their ideological nemesis, the Khalqs, established a Khalqist PDPA. Under Karmal's leadership, the Parchamite PDPA participated in Mohammad Daoud Khan's rise to power, and his subsequent regime. While relations were good at the beginning, Daoud began a major purge of leftist influence in the mid-1970s. This in turn led to the refoundation of the PDPA in 1977. The PDPA took power in the 1978 Saur Revolution.
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Barbara Jordan
Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American politician and a leader of the Civil Rights movement. She was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first southern black female elected to the United States House of Representatives. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among numerous other honors. On her death she became the first African-American woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery.
Barbara Jordan was born in Houston, Texas' Fifth Ward. Her parents were Benjamin Jordan, a Baptist minister; and Arlyne Jordan, a "domestic worker". Barbara attended Roberson Elementary School. She graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1952 as an honor student.
Because of segregation, she did not attend The University of Texas at Austin and instead chose Texas Southern University, majoring in political science and history. Barbara was a national champion debater, defeating her opponents from such schools as Yale and Brown and tying Harvard University. She graduated magna cum laude in 1956. At Texas Southern University, she pledged Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She attended Boston University School of Law, graduating in 1959.
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Bettino Craxi
Benedetto "Bettino" Craxi (pronounced [betˈtiːno ˈkraksi]) (24 February 1934 – 19 January 2000) was an Italian politician, head of the Italian Socialist Party from 1976 to 1993, the first socialist President of the Council of Ministers of Italy from 1983 to 1987.
Craxi led the 2nd longest-lived government of Italy during the republican era (after the 2nd Silvio Berlusconi cabinet), and had strong influence in Italian politics throughout the eighties; for some time, he was a close ally of two key figures of Christian Democracy, Giulio Andreotti and Arnaldo Forlani, in a loose cross-party alliance often dubbed CAF (from the first letter of the surname Craxi-Andreotti-Forlani). Craxi had a firm grasp on a party previously troubled by factionalism, and tried to distance it from the communists and to bring it closer to Christian Democrats and other parties; his objective was to create an Italian version of European reformist socialist parties, like the German SPD or the French Socialist Party. The Italian Socialist Party reached its post-war apex when it increased its share of votes in the general election of 1987. However, the Italian Socialist Party never outgrew the much larger Italian Communist Party, whose highly charismatic leader, Enrico Berlinguer, was a fierce adversary of Craxi's policies throughout the years.
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Betty Ford
Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford (April 8, 1918 – July 8, 2011), better known as Betty Ford, was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford. As First Lady, she was active in social policy and created precedents as a politically active presidential wife.
Throughout her husband's term in office, she maintained high approval ratings despite opposition from some conservative Republicans who objected to her more moderate and liberal positions on social issues. Ford was noted for raising breast cancer awareness following her 1974 mastectomy and was a passionate supporter of, and activist for, the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Pro-choice on abortion and a leader in the Women's Movement, she gained fame as one of the most candid first ladies in history, commenting on every hot-button issue of the time, including feminism, equal pay, the ERA, sex, drugs, abortion, and gun control. She also raised awareness of addiction when she announced her long-running battle with alcoholism in the 1970s.
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Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society. She won "The Battle of the Sexes" in 1973, in which she defeated Bobby Riggs, a former Wimbledon men's singles champion, for $100,000, winner take all. She completed a career tour all surfaces win-loss performance of 81.76% (696-165). Her win-loss performance in all Grand Slam singles tournaments was 82.00% (190-39), at the French Open 77.77% (21-6), at Wimbledon 86.36% (95-15), at the US Open 80.55% (58–14), and at the Australian Open 80.00% (16-4).
King is the founder of the Women's Tennis Association, the Women's Sports Foundation, and owner of World Team Tennis, which was founded by her former husband, Larry King, Dennis Murphy, Frank Barman, and Jordan Kaiser.
Billie Jean Moffit was born in Long Beach, California, into a conservative Methodist family, the daughter of a fireman father and housewife mother. Her younger brother Randy Moffitt grew up to become a professional baseball player, pitching for 12 years in the major leagues for the San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, and Toronto Blue Jays.
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Bolesław Bierut
Bolesław Bierut ([bɔˈlɛswaf ˈbjɛrut] ( listen); 1892–1956; also known under assumed names Jerzy Bolesław Bielak and Bolesław Birkowski) was a Polish Communist leader, NKVD agent, and a hard-line Stalinist who became President of Poland after the Soviet takeover of the country in the aftermath of World War II.
Bierut was born in Rury Jezuickie, now a part of Lublin, as the son of Henryk Rutkowski, a village teacher, and his wife Barbara Biernacka (Wojciech and Maria, according to IPN source). He later adopted the surname "Bierut" combining the first syllables of his parents' surnames. In 1918 he took courses at the Warsaw School of Economics, and in 1924–1930 went to Moscow, to be trained at the school of the Communist International.
In 1930–1931 Bierut was sent by the Comintern to Austria, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria. In 1933 he became an agent of Soviet military intelligence, the GRU, and subsequently, was sentenced in Poland to 10 years in prison for his anti-state activities (incarcerated between 1933–1938). The pro-Soviet Communist Party of Poland was dissolved by Joseph Stalin in 1938. Bierut was fortunate to avoid being caught in the Great Purge, which led to the execution of most of the leaders of the Communist Party of Poland in the USSR. After an amnesty from the Polish government in 1938 Bierut settled down in Warsaw and worked as a bookkeeper in a cooperative.
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Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (Russian: Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к; IPA: [bɐˈrʲis lʲeɐˈnʲidəvʲɪt͡ɕ pəstʲɪrˈnak]; 10 February [O.S. 29 January] 1890 – 30 May 1960) was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister, Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language. Furthermore, Pasternak's theatrical translations of Goethe, Schiller, Pedro Calderón de la Barca, and William Shakespeare remain deeply popular with Russian audiences.
Outside Russia, Pasternak is best known as the author of Doctor Zhivago, a novel which spans the last years of Czarist Russia and the earliest days of the Soviet Union. Banned in the USSR, Doctor Zhivago was smuggled to Milan and published in 1957. Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature the following year, an event which both humiliated and enraged the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. In the midst of a massive campaign against him by both the KGB[citation needed] and the Union of Soviet Writers, Pasternak reluctantly agreed to decline the Prize. In his resignation letter to the Nobel Committee, Pasternak stated the reaction of the Soviet State was the only reason for his decision.
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Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (Russian: Бори́с Никола́евич Е́льцин; IPA: [bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈlaɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn] ( listen); 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was the President of Russia, serving from 1991 to 1999.
Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet. On 12 June 1991 he was elected by popular vote to the newly created post of President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR), at that time one of the 15 constituent republics of the Soviet Union. He won 57% of the vote in a six-candidate contest and became the second democratically elected leader of Russia in history. Upon the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev and the final dissolution of the Soviet Union on 25 December 1991, Yeltsin remained in office as the President of the Russian Federation, the USSR's successor state. Yeltsin was reelected in the 1996 election; in the second round of the election Yeltsin defeated Gennady Zyuganov from the revived Communist Party by a margin of 13%. However, Yeltsin never recovered his early popularity after a series of economic and political crises in Russia in the 1990s.
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Brian Mulroney
Martin Brian Mulroney, PC CC GOQ (born March 20, 1939) was the 18th Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993. His tenure as Prime Minister was marked by the introduction of major economic reforms, such as the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and Services Tax, and the rejection of constitutional reforms such as the Meech Lake Accord and the Charlottetown Accord. Prior to his political career, he was a prominent lawyer and businessman in Montreal.
Mulroney was born on March 20, 1939, in Baie-Comeau, Quebec, a remote and isolated town in the eastern part of the province. He is the son of Irish Canadian Catholic parents, Mary Irene (née O'Shea) and Benedict Martin Mulroney, who was a paper mill electrician. Six of the couple's children survived infancy. As there was no English-language Catholic high school in Baie-Comeau, Mulroney completed his high school education at a Roman Catholic boarding school in Chatham, New Brunswick operated by St. Thomas University (in 2001, St. Thomas University named its newest academic building in his honour). Benedict Mulroney worked overtime and ran a repair business to earn extra money for his children's education, and he encouraged his oldest son to attend university.
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Carla Anderson Hills
Carla Anderson Hills (born January 3, 1934) is an American lawyer and a public figure. She served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the Gerald Ford administration, and as U.S. Trade Representative. She was the first woman to serve as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and the third woman to serve as a cabinet officer.
Born Carla Anderson in Los Angeles, she received her B.A. degree from Stanford University, after studying at Oxford University. She earned her LL.B. degree from Yale University Law School in 1958 and married Roderick M. Hills the same year.
Hills was admitted to the California bar in 1959, and served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles from 1959 to 1961. From 1962 to 1974, she was a partner at Munger, Tolles, Hills, and Rickershauser in Los Angeles. In 1972, she was an adjunct professor at UCLA. An authority on federal practice and anti-trust law, Mrs. Hills wrote of Federal Civil Practice and Antitrust Advisor. She is a former president of the National Association of Women Lawyers.
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Carol Sutton
Carol Sutton (June 29, 1933-February 19, 1985) was an American journalist. In 1974 she became the first female managing editor of a major U.S. daily newspaper, The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Kentucky. She was cited as the example of female achievement in journalism when Time named American Women as the 1975 People of the Year. During her tenure at the paper, it was awarded the 1976 Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for its coverage of school desegregation in Louisville. She is also credited with significantly raising the number of minority reporters on staff.
"Kentucky Women Remembered," a permanent exhibit at the Kentucky State Capitol's Main Floor of watercolors of Women of Kentucky and those who help(ed) change the mindset of those upcoming. "TODAY'S WOMAN" Magazine for KY & Indiana. Daughter Kate Whaley Archer accepts the First Postumous Award Ever Given. Carol Sutton knew of her Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame award at the University of Kentucky before her death in 1985, and was very humbled and honored by it. The family holds a Carol Sutton Memorial Scholarship Award in her honor every year, which has grown from our first recipient to 8 or twelve deserving people. It is for we people who want and need more racial and ethnic equality within the news reporting workplace. She was the first white woman to be inducted into the National Association of Black Journalist's Hall of Fame.
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Caspar Weinberger
Caspar Willard "Cap" Weinberger (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006), was an American politician and businessman. He served in a variety of prominent state and federal positions for three decades, most prominently as Secretary of Defense under President Ronald Reagan from 1981 to 1987.
Born in San Francisco, California, Weinberger served in the 41st Infantry Division in the Pacific theater of World War II. His entry into politics was as a California State Assemblyman from 1953 to 1959, and he would go on to serve as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission and Director of the Office of Management and Budget under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. An accomplished private sector businessman, he later became vice president and general counsel of Bechtel Corporation, and still later Chairman of Forbes.
His tenure as Secretary of Defense is the third longest in U.S. history, and spanned the final years of the Cold War. He is also known for his key role in the administration's Strategic Defense Initiative and later indictments in the Iran-Contra affair. He was awarded both the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1987 and an honorary British knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.
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Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (/ˈtʃɑrlz/ or /ˈʃɑrl dəˈɡɔːl/; French: [ʃaʁl də ɡol] ( listen); 22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969.
A veteran of World War I, in the 1920s and 1930s de Gaulle came to the fore as a proponent of mobile armoured divisions, which he considered would become central in modern warfare. During World War II, he earned the rank of brigadier general (retained throughout his life), leading one of the few successful armoured counter-attacks during the 1940 Battle of France in May in Montcornet, and then briefly served in the French government as France was falling. De Gaulle was the most senior French military officer to reject the June 1940 armistice to Nazi Germany right from the outset.
He escaped to Britain and gave a famous radio address, broadcast by the BBC on 18 June 1940, exhorting the French people to resist Nazi Germany and organised the Free French Forces with exiled French officers in Britain. As the war progressed de Gaulle gradually gained control of all French colonies except Indochina most of which had at first been controlled by the pro-German Vichy regime. Despite earning a reputation for being a difficult man to do business with, by the time of the Allied invasion of France in 1944 he was heading what amounted to a French government in exile, but although he insisted that France be treated as a great independent power by the other Allies, the Americans in particular remained deeply suspicious of his motives. De Gaulle became prime minister in the French Provisional Government, resigning in 1946 because of political conflicts.
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Charles Hard Townes
Charles Hard Townes (born July 28, 1915) is an American Nobel Prize-winning physicist and educator. Townes is known for his work on the theory and application of the maser, on which he got the fundamental patent, and other work in quantum electronics connected with both maser and laser devices. He shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1964 with Nikolay Basov and Alexander Prokhorov. The Japanese FM Towns computer and game console is named in his honour.
Townes was born in Greenville, South Carolina on July 28, 1915, the son of Henry Keith Townes, an attorney, and Ellen (Hard) Townes. He attended the Greenville public schools and then Furman University in Greenville, where he completed the requirements for the Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and the Bachelor of Arts degree in Modern Languages, graduating summa cum laude in 1935, at the age of 19. Physics had fascinated him since his first course in the subject during his sophomore year in college because of its "beautifully logical structure". He was also interested in natural history while at Furman, serving as curator of the museum, and working during the summers as collector for Furman's biology camp. In addition, he was busy with other activities, including the swimming team, the college newspaper and the football band.
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Charles Stark Draper
Charles Stark Draper (October 2, 1901 – July 25, 1987) was an American scientist and engineer, often referred to as "the father of inertial navigation." He was the founder and director of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, later renamed the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, which under his direction designed and built the Apollo Guidance Computer for NASA, which made the Apollo moon landings possible.
Born in Windsor, Missouri, he attended the University of Missouri in 1917, then transferred to Stanford University, California in 1919, from which he earned a B.A. in psychology in 1922. After Stanford, he attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), from which he earned an S.B. in electrochemical engineering in 1926, and an S.M. and Sc.D. in physics in 1928 and 1938 respectively.
He started teaching while at MIT, first as an assistant, then quickly became a full professor in aeronautical engineering in 1939. It was here that he founded the Instrumentation Laboratory in the 1930s, spun off in 1973 as The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc. In 1961, Draper and the Instrumentation Lab were awarded the first contract given out for the Apollo program to send humans to the moon, which had just been announced by President John F. Kennedy. This led to the creation of the Apollo Guidance Computer, a one-cubic-foot computer that controlled the navigation and guidance of the Lunar Excursion Module to the surface of the moon during six successful landings.
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Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈtʃe ɣeˈβaɾa]; June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967), commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and military theorist. A major figure of the Cuban Revolution, his stylized visage has become a ubiquitous countercultural symbol of rebellion and global insignia within popular culture.
As a young medical student, Guevara traveled throughout Latin America and was radically transformed by the endemic poverty and alienation he witnessed. His experiences and observations during these trips led him to conclude that the region's ingrained economic inequalities were an intrinsic result of capitalism, monopolism, neocolonialism, and imperialism, with the only remedy being world revolution. This belief prompted his involvement in Guatemala's social reforms under President Jacobo Arbenz, whose eventual CIA-assisted overthrow solidified Guevara's political ideology. Later, while living in Mexico City, he met Raúl and Fidel Castro, joined their 26th of July Movement, and sailed to Cuba aboard the yacht, Granma, with the intention of overthrowing U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Guevara soon rose to prominence among the insurgents, was promoted to second-in-command, and played a pivotal role in the victorious two-year guerrilla campaign that deposed the Batista regime.
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Christian Rakovsky
Christian Rakovsky (August 13 [O.S. August 1] 1873 – September 11, 1941) was a Bulgarian socialist revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and Soviet diplomat; he was also noted as a journalist, physician, and essayist. Rakovsky's political career took him throughout the Balkans and into France and Imperial Russia; for part of his life, he was also a Romanian citizen.
A lifelong collaborator of Leon Trotsky, he was a prominent activist of the Second International, involved in politics with the Bulgarian Social Democratic Union, Romanian Social Democratic Party, and the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. Rakovsky was expelled at different times from various countries as a result of his activities, and, during World War I, became a founding member of the Revolutionary Balkan Social Democratic Labor Federation while helping to organize the Zimmerwald Conference. Imprisoned by Romanian authorities, he made his way to Russia, where he joined the Bolshevik Party after the October Revolution, and, as head of the Rumcherod, unsuccessfully attempted to generate a communist revolution in the Kingdom of Romania. Subsequently, he was a founding member of the Comintern, served as head of government in the Ukrainian SSR, and took part in negotiations at the Genoa Conference.
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Clement Attlee
Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, KG, OM, CH, PC, FRS (3 January 1883 – 8 October 1967) was a British Labour politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951, and as the Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. He was also the first person to hold the office of Deputy Prime Minister, under Winston Churchill in the wartime coalition government, before leading the Labour Party to a landslide election victory over Churchill's Conservative Party in 1945. He was the first Labour Prime Minister to serve a full Parliamentary term, and the first to command a Labour majority in Parliament.
The government he led put in place the post-war settlement, based upon the assumption that full employment would be maintained by Keynesian policies, and that a greatly enlarged system of social services would be created – aspirations that had been outlined in the wartime Beveridge Report. Within this context, his government undertook the nationalisation of major industries and public utilities as well as the creation of the National Health Service. After initial Conservative opposition to Keynesian fiscal policy, this settlement was broadly accepted by all parties until Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979.
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Corazon Aquino
Maria Corazon Sumulong Cojuangco-Aquino (January 25, 1933 – August 1, 2009) was the 11th President of the Philippines and the first woman to hold that office. She led the 1986 People Power Revolution, which toppled Ferdinand Marcos and restored democracy in the Philippines. She was named "Woman of the Year" in 1986 by Time Magazine.
A self-proclaimed "plain housewife", Aquino was married to Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., the staunchest critic of then President Ferdinand Marcos. Senator Aquino was assassinated on August 21, 1983 upon returning to the Philippines after three years in exile in the United States. After her husband's assassination, Corazon Aquino emerged as the leader of the opposition against the Marcos administration. In late 1985, when President Marcos called for a snap election, Aquino ran for president with former senator Salvador Laurel as her vice-presidential running mate. After the elections were held on February 7, 1986, and the Batasang Pambansa proclaimed Marcos the winner in the elections, she called for massive civil disobedience protests, declaring herself as having been cheated and as the real winner in the elections. Filipinos enthusiastically heeded her call and rallied behind her. These events eventually led to the ousting of Marcos and the installation of Aquino as President of the Philippines on February 25, 1986 through the "People Power Revolution".
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Daniel Ortega
José Daniel Ortega Saavedra (Spanish pronunciation: [xo̞ˈse̞ ðaˈnje̞l o̞rˈte̞ɣa saˈβe̞ðɾa]; born 11 November 1945) is a Nicaraguan politician. He is the current President of Nicaragua (since 2007), a position he has held previously between 1985 and 1990. A leader in the socialist Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN), his policies in government have seen the implementation of leftist reforms across Nicaragua.
Born into a working class family, from an early age Ortega developed a hatred of the ruling President Anastasio Somoza Debayle, who was widely seen as a dictator, and became involved in the underground movement to oppose Somoza's regime. Joining the Sandinistas, he also travelled to Cuba to receive training in guerilla warfare from Fidel Castro's Marxist-Leninist government. After the Nicaraguan Revolution resulted in the overthrow and exile of the Somoza's government in 1979, Ortega became a member of the ruling multipartisan Junta of National Reconstruction and was later elected president, serving from 1985 to 1990. At the time a Marxist-Leninist, his first period in office was characterized by a controversial program of land reform, wealth redistribution and literacy programs. Such leftist reforms damaged U.S. economic interests in the country, gaining hostility from the U.S.'s governing Reagan administration, who funded a right wing militia, the Contras, to overthrow Ortega's government.
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Demyan Korotchenko
Demian Serhiyovych Korotchenko (Ukrainian: Дем’ян Сергійович Коротченко; 29 November 1894 – April, 7, 1969) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who twice served as the head of government of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister).
Demian Korotchenko was born in a peasant family in a small village in Sumska Oblast, eastern Ukraine.
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Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (IPA: [tə̂ŋ ɕjɑ̀ʊpʰǐŋ] ( listen); 22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy. While Deng never held office as the head of state, head of government or General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (historically the highest position in Communist China), he nonetheless served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China from 1978 to 1992. As the core of the second generation leaders Deng shared his power with the two most powerful men after him: Li Xiannian and Chen Yun.
Born into a peasant background in Guang'an, Sichuan, China, Deng studied and worked in France in the 1920s, where he was influenced by Marxism. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1923. Upon his return to China he worked as a political commissar in rural regions and was considered a "revolutionary veteran" of the Long March. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Deng worked in Tibet and other southwestern regions to consolidate Communist control. He was also instrumental in China's economic reconstruction following the Great Leap Forward in the early 1960s. His economic policies were at odds with the political ideologies of Chairman Mao Zedong. As a result, he was purged twice during the Cultural Revolution but regained prominence in 1978 by outmaneuvering Mao's chosen successor, Hua Guofeng.
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Diosdado Macapagal
Diosdado Pangan Macapagal (September 28, 1910 – April 21, 1997) was the ninth President of the Philippines, serving from 1961 to 1965, and the sixth Vice President, serving from 1957 to 1961. He also served as a member of the House of Representatives, and headed the Constitutional Convention of 1970. He is the father of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who served as the 14th President of the Philippines from 2001 to 2010.
A native of Lubao, Pampanga, Macapagal graduated from the University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas, after which he worked as a lawyer for the government. He first won election in 1949 to the House of Representatives, representing a district in his home province of Pampanga. In 1957 he became vice president in the administration of President Carlos P. Garcia, and in 1961 he defeated Garcia's re-election bid for the presidency.
As president, Macapagal worked to suppress graft and corruption and to stimulate the Philippine economy. He introduced the country's first land reform law, placed the peso on the free currency exchange market, and liberalized foreign exchange and import controls. Many of his reforms, however, were crippled by a Congress dominated by the rival Nacionalista Party. He is also known for shifting the country's observance of Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, commemorating the day Filipino patriots declared independence from Spain in 1898. His re-election bid was defeated in 1965 by Ferdinand Marcos, whose subsequent authoritarian rule lasted 20 years.
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Dmitri Shepilov
Dmitri Trofimovich Shepilov (Russian: Дмитрий Трофимович Шепилов Dmitrij Trofimovič Šepilov; 5 November [O.S. 23 October] 1905– 8 August 1995) was a Soviet politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs who joined the abortive plot to oust Nikita Khrushchev from power in 1957.
Dmitri Shepilov was born to a worker's family in Askhabad. He graduated from the Law School of the Moscow State University in 1926 and was sent to work in Yakutsk, where he worked as a deputy prosecutor and acting prosecutor for Yakutia. In 1928-1929 Shepilov worked as an assistant regional prosecutor in Smolensk. In 1931-1933 Shepilov studied at the Institute of Red Professors in Moscow while simultaneously working as the "responsible secretary" of the magazine On the Agrarian Front. After graduating in 1933, Shepilov was made head of the political department of a sovkhoz. In 1935 he was made Deputy Chief of the Sector of Agricultural Science of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party.
In 1937 Shepilov became a Doctor of Science and was made the Scientific Secretary of the Institute of Economics of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He also taught economics in Moscow's colleges between 1937 and 1941.
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Dmitriy Ustinov
Dmitriy Feodorovich Ustinov (Russian: Дми́трий Фёдорович Усти́нов; 30 October 1908 – 20 December 1984) was Minister of Defense of the Soviet Union from 1976 until his death.
Dimitry Feodorovich Ustinov was born in a working-class family in Samara. During the civil war, when hunger became intolerable, his sick father went to Samarkand, leaving Dimitry as head of the family. Shortly after that, in 1922, his father died. In 1923, he and his mother, Yevrosinya Martinovna, moved to the city of Makarev (near Ivanovo-Voznesensk) where he worked as a fitter in a paper mill. Shortly after that, in 1925, his mother died.
Ustinov joined the communist party in 1927. In 1929, he started training at the Faculty of Mechanics in the Polytechnic Institute of Ivanovo-Voznesensk. Afterward, Ustinov was transferred to the Moscow Bauman Higher Technical School. Then, on March 1932, he entered the Institute of Military Mechanical Engineering in Leningrad from where he graduated in 1934. Afterward, he worked as a construction engineer at the Leningrad artillery Marine Research Institute. In 1937, he was transferred to the "Bolshevik" Arms Factory as an engineer. He later became the director of the Factory.
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Dmitry Lelyushenko
Dmitry Danilovich Lelyushenko (Russian: Дми́трий Дани́лович Лелюше́нко; (November 2 [O.S. October 20] 1901 – July 20 1987) was a Soviet military commander, Army General (1959), twice the Hero of the Soviet Union (April 7, 1940 and April 5, 1945), Hero of Czechoslovakia (May 30, 1970). Member of the CPSU from 1924. Born in Rostov Oblast, ethnically Ukrainian.
He commanded the 1st Guards Special Rifle Corps in October 1941. For nine days, soldiers of the 1st Guards Rifle Corps heroically battled on fields outside Mtsensk. At the height of fight for the city of Mtsensk where the tankmen of the 4th tank brigade (colonel M.E. Katukov) especially distinguished themselves, Lelyushenko received an order to proceed to the 5th Army which was setting up defenses in the area of Mozhaysk... However, he did not command the 5th Army for long—in one of the fights he was badly wounded, and was sent to hospital in Gorky.
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Dmitry Manuilsky
Dmitriy Manuilsky, or Dmytro Zakharovych Manuilsky (3 October 1883, Sviatets near Kremenets - 22 February 1959, Kiev) was an important Bolshevik. He was the son of an Orthodox priest from a Ukrainian village. After secondary school he enrolled in the University of St. Petersburg.
He also played a role in defending the Bolshevik state against its adversaries as is exhibited by Lenin's 1920 letter to him:
Headquarters of the South-Western Front Kharkov
Sapronov is wrong, because before focussing on the middle peasant it is necessary first, before that, to organise the poor peasants. This must definitely be done, and best done not in the form of Poor Peasants’ Committees, but in the form of Soviets composed exclusively of poor and middle peasants, with special measures on our part for safeguarding the interests of the poor peasants and for collection of grain. I asked you about transport since the chief task now is to step up the transport of troops and complete the defeat of Denikin. We must mobilise the workers for this and at all costs bring up large forces quickly and win back Rostov. I ask Stalin to reply to me whether he is taking all measures.
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Dmitry Polyansky
Note: There is also a Russian triathlete with the same name, transliterated also as Dmitry Polyanski.
Dmitry Stepanovich Polyansky (Russian: Дми́трий Степа́нович Поля́нский; Slovianoserbsk , 25 October [O.S. 7 November] 1917 – Moscow, 8 October 2001) was a Soviet-Russian statesman who was First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union from 1965 to 1973. From 1958 to 1962 he was Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian SFSR, literally meaning Premier or Prime Minister.
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Eduard Shevardnadze
Eduard Shevardnadze (Georgian: ედუარდ შევარდნაძე [ɛduard ʃɛvardnad͡zɛ]; born 25 January 1928) is a former Soviet, and later, Georgian statesman from the height to the end of the Cold War. He served as President of Georgia from 1995 to 2003, and as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party (GPC, the de facto leader of Soviet Georgia), from 1972 to 1985. Shevardnadze was responsible for many top decisions on Soviet foreign policy in the Gorbachev Era. He was forced to retire in 2003 as a consequence of the bloodless Rose Revolution.
Shevardnadze's political career started in the late 1940s as a leading member of his local Komsomol organisation. He was later appointed its Second Secretary, and even First Secretary. His rise up the Georgian Soviet hierarchy continued until 1961 when he was demoted after he insulted a senior official. After spending two years in obscurity, Shevardnadze's returned as a First Secretary of a Tbilisi city district, and was able to charge the Tbilisi First Secretary at the time for corruption. His anti-corruption work quickly garnered the interest of the Soviet government, and Shevardnadze was appointed to First Deputy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Georgian SSR. He would later become the head of the internal affairs ministry and was able to charge First Secretary (leader of Soviet Georgia) Vasil Mzhavanadze for corruption charges.
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Edward Gierek
Edward Gierek (Polish pronunciation: [ˈɛdvart ˈɡʲɛrɛk]; January 6, 1913 – July 29, 2001) was a Polish communist politician.
He was born in Porąbka, outside of Sosnowiec. He lost his father to a mining accident in a pit at the age of four. His mother married again and emigrated to northern France, where he was raised. He joined the French Communist Party in 1931 and was later deported to Poland for organizing a strike. After his military service in Stryj, Galicia, Gierek went to Belgium in 1934, where he joined the Communist Party of Belgium while working in the coal mines of Waterschei. During World War II, he remained activist of the Communist Party of Belgium. He returned to Poland in 1948 and rose through the party ranks to become by 1957 a member of the Polish parliament. As first secretary of the Katowice voivodship party organization (1957–70), Gierek created a personal power base and became the recognized leader of the young technocrat faction of the party. When rioting over economic conditions broke out in late 1970, Gierek replaced Władysław Gomułka as party first secretary. Gierek promised economic reform and instituted a program to modernize industry and increase the availability of consumer goods, doing so mostly through foreign loans. His good relations with Western politicians, especially France's Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and West Germany's Helmut Schmidt, were a catalyst for his receiving western aid and loans.
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Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1970–74) and as Leader of the Conservative Party (1965–75).
Born in Broadstairs, Kent, Heath studied at Oxford and served in the Second World War. He was first elected in the 1950 general election, for Bexley and was government Chief Whip during the 1950s. Entering the Cabinet as Minister of Labour in 1959, he was then Lord Privy Seal responsible for Macmillan's unsuccessful EEC entry negotiations, then President of the Board of Trade. In 1965 Heath won the leadership of the Conservative Party against Reginald Maudling and Enoch Powell. The general election of 1966 saw the Labour government of Harold Wilson achieve a large increase in seats, however Heath remained Conservative leader.
Heath became Prime Minister after winning the 1970 general election. In 1971, Heath oversaw the decimalisation of British coinage and in 1972, he implemented major reform to the UK's system of local government. In foreign policy, Heath took the UK into the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973. Heath's premiership oversaw the height of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, with the suspension of the Stormont parliament and the imposition of direct British rule. Unofficial talks with IRA delegates were unsuccessful, as was the Sunningdale Agreement of 1973, which caused Ulster Unionists to withdraw from the Conservative whip.
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Edward Mills Purcell
Edward Mills Purcell (August 30, 1912 – March 7, 1997) was an American physicist who shared the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for his independent discovery (published 1946) of nuclear magnetic resonance in liquids and in solids.Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has become widely used to study the molecular structure of pure materials and the composition of mixtures. See also Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Born and raised in Taylorville, Illinois, Purcell received his BSEE in electrical engineering from Purdue University, followed by his M.A. and Ph.D. in physics from Harvard University. He was a member of the Alpha Xi chapter of Phi Kappa Sigma while at Purdue. After spending the years of World War II working at the MIT Radiation Laboratory on the development of microwave radar, Purcell returned to Harvard to do research. In December 1946, he discovered nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) with his colleagues Pound and Torrey. NMR provides scientists with an elegant and precise way of determining chemical structure and properties of materials, and is widely used in physics and chemistry. It also is the basis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), one of the most important medical advances of the 20th century. For his discovery of NMR, Purcell shared the 1952 Nobel Prize in physics with Felix Bloch of Stanford University.
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Edward Teller
Edward Teller (Hungarian: Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb", even though he claimed he did not care for the title. Teller made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy (the Jahn–Teller and Renner–Teller effects), and surface physics. His extension of Fermi's theory of beta decay (in the form of the so-called Gamow–Teller transitions) provided an important stepping stone in the applications of this theory. The Jahn–Teller effect and the BET theory have retained their original formulation and are still mainstays in physics and chemistry. Teller also made contributions to Thomas–Fermi theory, the precursor of density functional theory, a standard modern tool in the quantum mechanical treatment of complex molecules. In 1953, along with Nicholas Metropolis and Marshall Rosenbluth, Teller co-authored a paper which is a standard starting point for the applications of the Monte Carlo method to statistical mechanics.
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Eisaku Satō
This article is about the Prime Minister of Japan. For the governor of Fukushima Prefecture of Japan of the same name, see Eisaku Satō (governor).
Eisaku Satō (佐藤 榮作, Satō Eisaku?, March 27, 1901 – June 3, 1975) was a Japanese politician and the 39th Prime Minister of Japan, elected on November 9, 1964, and re-elected on February 17, 1967, and January 14, 1970, serving until July 7, 1972. He was the longest serving prime minister in the history of Japan.
Satō was born in Tabuse, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and studied German law at Tokyo Imperial University. In 1923, he passed the senior civil service examinations, and in the following year, upon graduation, became a civil servant in the Ministry of Railways. He served as Director of the Osaka Railways Bureau from 1944 to 1946 and Vice-Minister for Transportation from 1947 to 1948.
Satō entered the Diet in 1949 as a member of the Liberal Party.
He was appointed Minister of Postal Services and Telecommunications from July 1951 - July 1952. Sato gradually rose through the ranks of Japanese politics, becoming Chief Cabinet Secretary to Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida from January 1953 to July 1954. He later served as Minister of Construction from October 1952-February 1953.
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Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (/ˈɛlɨnɔr ˈroʊzəvɛlt/; October 11, 1884 – November 7, 1962) was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international author, speaker, politician, and activist for the New Deal coalition. She worked to enhance the status of working women, although she opposed the Equal Rights Amendment because she believed it would adversely affect women.
In the 1940s, Roosevelt was one of the co-founders of Freedom House and supported the formation of the United Nations. Roosevelt founded the UN Association of the United States in 1943 to advance support for the formation of the UN. She was a delegate to the UN General Assembly from 1945 and 1952, a job for which she was appointed by President Harry S. Truman and confirmed by the United States Senate. During her time at the United Nations she chaired the committee that drafted and approved the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Truman called her the "First Lady of the World" in tribute to her human rights achievements.
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Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms, and head of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations. She is also head of state of the Crown Dependencies.
Elizabeth was born in London, and educated privately at home. Her father acceded to the throne as George VI in 1936 on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. She began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, in which she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. On the death of her father in 1952, she became Head of the Commonwealth and queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon. Her coronation service in 1953 was the first to be televised. Between 1956 and 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. Today, in addition to the first four aforementioned countries, Elizabeth is Queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
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Emanuel Kviring
Emanuel Kwiring (Kviring) (Ukrainian: Емануіл Йонович Квірінг) (13 September 1888, Friesenthal, Russian Empire - 26 November 1937, Moscow, Soviet Union) was a Soviet politician.
Born into a German family in Friesenthal (now Novolypovka, near Samara, Russia, he became a socialist activist and politician (Socialist-Revolutionary Party from 1906 to 1912, and Bolshevik Party beginning in 1912).
After World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution, he was a leader of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine (October 1918 - March 1919, and April 1923 - March 1925). He was an opponent of the "Ukrainization" policy, so he had to leave Kharkiv for Moscow. Then he worked as an economist in the State Planning Committee (Gosplan). In 1937, he was arrested and executed by NKVD.
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Enrico Berlinguer
Enrico Berlinguer (Italian pronunciation: [berliŋˈɡwɛr]) (25 May 1922 – 11 June 1984) was an Italian politician; he was national secretary of the Italian Communist Party (Partito Comunista Italiano or PCI) from 1972 until his death.
The son of Mario Berlinguer and Maria Loriga, Enrico Berlinguer was born in Sassari, Italy to a noble and important Sardinian family, in a notable cultural context, with family ties and political contacts that would heavily influence his life and career. His surname 'Berlinguer' is of Catalan origin, a reminder of the period when Sardinia was part of the dominions of the Crown of Aragon.
He was a cousin of Francesco Cossiga (who was a leader of the Italian Christian Democrats and later became a President of the Italian Republic), and both were relatives of Antonio Segni, another Christian Democrat leader and President of the Republic. Enrico's grandfather, Enrico Berlinguer Sr., was the founder of La Nuova Sardegna, an important Sardinian newspaper, and a personal friend of Giuseppe Garibaldi and Giuseppe Mazzini, whom he had helped in his attempts through his parliamentary work to improve the sad conditions on the island.
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Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha ( pronunciation (help·info); 16 October 1908 – 11 April 1985) was the leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania. He also served as Prime Minister of Albania from 1944 to 1954, Minister of Defence, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chairman of the Democratic Front from 1945 to his death, and as Commander-in-Chief of the Albanian armed forces from 1944 to his death. Hoxha's leadership was characterized by his proclaimed firm adherence to anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism from the mid-1970s onwards. After his break with Maoism in the 1976–1978 period, numerous Maoist parties declared themselves Hoxhaist. The International Conference of Marxist–Leninist Parties and Organizations (Unity & Struggle) is the most well known collection of these parties today.
Hoxha was born in Gjirokastër, a city in southern Albania (then under the Ottoman Empire) that has been home to many prominent families. He was the son of Halil Hoxha, a BektashiTosk cloth merchant who travelled widely across Europe and the United States of America, and Gjylihan (Gjylo) Hoxha. At age 16 he helped found and became secretary of the Students Society of Gjirokastër, which protested against the monarchist government. After the Society was closed down by the government, he left his hometown and moved to Korçë, continuing his studies in a French secondary school. There he learned French history, literature and philosophy. In this city he read for the first time the Communist Manifesto.
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Erich Honecker
Erich Honecker (German: [ˈeːʁɪç ˈhɔnɛkɐ]; 25 August 1912 – 29 May 1994) was a German socialist politician who led the German Democratic Republic as General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1971 until 1989, serving as Head of State as well after Willi Stoph's relinquishment of that post in 1976.
Following the definite end of the Cold War, Honecker refused all but cosmetic changes and was ousted by the party in late 1989 and removed from power. Following the German reunification he successfully evaded prosecution for human rights abuses committed under his regime, finally settling down with his family in Chile in 1993, dying the following year from liver cancer.
Honecker was born on Max-Braun-Straße in Neunkirchen, now Saarland, as the son of Wilhelm Honecker, a coal miner and political activist, who in 1905 had married Caroline Catharina Weidenhof. There were six children born to the family: Katharina (Käthe), Wilhelm (Willi), Frieda, Erich, Gertrud (b. 1917; m. Hoppstädter), and Karl-Robert.
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Erich von Manstein
Erich von Manstein (24 November 1887 – 9 June 1973) was a field marshal in World War II. He became one of the most prominent commanders of Germany's World War II armed forces (Wehrmacht). During World War II he attained the rank of Field Marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) and was held in high esteem by his fellow officers as one of the Wehrmacht's best military strategists.
He was the initiator and one of the planners of the Ardennes offensive alternative in the invasion of France in 1940. He received acclaim from the German leadership for the victorious battles of Perekop Isthmus, Kerch, Sevastopol and Kharkov. He commanded the failed relief effort at Stalingrad and the Cherkassy pocket evacuation. He was dismissed from service by Adolf Hitler in March 1944, due to his frequent clashes with Hitler over military strategy. In his memoirs, Verlorene Siege (1955), translated into English as Lost Victories, he was critical of Hitler above all for denying the Army flexible defensive maneuverability and for "over-reliance" on his "will", and critical of the attempt by other military officers on Hitler's life.
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Erich Weinert
Erich Bernhard Gustav Weinert (4 August 1890 in Magdeburg - 20 April 1953 in Berlin) was a German Communist writer and a member of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD).
Weinert was born in 1890 in Magdeburg to a family with Social Democratic beliefs. He attended a boys-only school in Magdeburg and from 1908 to 1910 visited the arts, crafts and trade school in the city, then going to an art school in Berlin in 1912. He later joined the military, where he participated as an officer during World War I. After the war, he went to Leipzig and worked as an actor and lecture artist, joining the KPD in 1929. During this time, he made various works.
From 1933 to 1935 Weinert, with his wife and daughter, Marianne Lange-Weinert, went into exile in the Saar protectorate. He then went to Paris, France so he would be able to arrive in the Soviet Union. He became a member of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War from 1937 to 1939, where he was active as front correspondence.
After Germany attacked the Soviet Union, Weinert sided with the Soviets and began creating propaganda to encourage soldiers in the Wehrmacht to abandon their positions using methods such as poems printed on handbills that were thrown off behind the German lines. In 1943 he was selected as the president of the National Committee for a Free Germany.
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Ernest Bevin
Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British trade union leader and Labour politician. He co-founded and served as general secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940, as Minister of Labour in the war-time coalition government, and as Foreign Secretary in the post-war Labour Government he supported the creation of NATO.
Bevin was born in the village of Winsford in Somerset, England, to Diana Bevin who, since 1877, had described herself as a widow. His father is unknown. After his mother's death in 1889, the young Bevin lived with his half-sister's family, moving to Morchard Bishop in Devon. He had little formal education, having briefly attended two village schools and then Hayward's School, Crediton, starting in 1890 and leaving in 1892. He later recalled being asked as a child to read the newspaper aloud for the benefit of adults in his family who were illiterate. At the age of eleven, he went to work as a labourer, then as a lorry driver in Bristol, where he joined the Bristol Socialist Society. In 1910 he became secretary of the Bristol branch of the Dockers' Union, and in 1914 he became a national organiser for the union.
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Ernst Neizvestny
Ernst Iosifovich Neizvestny (Russian: Эрнст Ио́сифович Неизве́стный) (born 1925) is a Russian sculptor. He lives and works in New York City. His last name in Russian literally means "unknown".
Neizvestny was born 9 April 1925 in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). In 1942, at the age of 17, he joined the Red Army as a volunteer. At the close of World War II, he was heavily wounded and sustained a clinical death. Although he was awarded the Order of the Red Star "posthumously" and his mother received an official notification that her son had died, Neizvestny managed to survive.
In 1947, Neizvestny was enrolled at the Art Academy of Latvia in Riga. He continued his education at the Surikov Moscow Art Institute and the Philosophy Department of the Moscow State University. His sculptures, often based on the forms of the human body, are noted for their expressionism and powerful plasticity. Although his preferred material is bronze, his larger, monumental installations are often executed in concrete. Most of his works are arranged in extensive cycles, the best known of which is The Tree of Life, a theme he has developed since 1956.
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Erwin König
Erwin König and Heinz Thorvald are names of an apocryphal Wehrmacht sniper allegedly killed by the Soviet sniper Vasily Zaytsev. König is depicted in fictional accounts as a ruthless Bavarian aristocrat pitted against Zaytsev. In the fictionalised account of these events in the film Enemy at the Gates, he is killed at the Stalingrad train yard by Zaytsev.
American author David L. Robbins used the name of Heinz Thorvald in his 1999 novel War of the Rats. This story portrays Thorvald (König) as an SS-Standartenführer who was originally an instructor at the Wehrmacht underground headquarters in Zossen. However, aside from a few staff officers, no SS-division fought in Stalingrad and no active sniper had such a high rank. German snipers were not employed in units but were deployed as Jägers. The Red Army, conversely, deployed snipers in large units up to battalion strength. Zaytsev was a Junior Lieutenant (мла́дший лейтена́нт) and eventually Captain (капита́н) of a Russian sniper-unit.(Photo shows German sniper using the Mauser 98k rifle with Russian PE scope mounted. This set-up was unusual but local German Waffenmeisters of Infantry Bns, did mount captured Russian optics to the standard German 98k)
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Evgenia Bosh
Evgenia Bosh (born August 11, 1879 in Ochakiv, Ukraine - died late 1924), sometimes known as Evgenia Bogtdanovna Bosch or Evheniya Bohdanivna Bosch, was a Bolshevik militant during the Russian Revolution, a military leader during the Revolution, and the first modern woman leader of a national government, as the Minister of the Interior, Leader of the Secret Police, and at one point the Acting Leader of the provisional Soviet government of the Ukraine in 1917. Evgenia Bosh is sometimes considered the first Prime Minister of independent Ukraine, but is nearly forgotten today, as her memory was deliberately suppressed by the Stalinist regime because of her sympathy with the opposition.
Evgenia Bosh was born in Ukraine, with the name Gotlibovna Maysh, to an ethnic German immigrant from Luxembourg and his Moldavian wife. Bosh's parents quarrelled often and her childhood was reportedly an unhappy one. She was educated at the Voznesensk women’s gymnasium. At age 17, her parents attempted to arrange her marriage to an older man, but she rebelled and married a bourgeois businessman named Petr Bosh. They had two children.
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Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of eleven children. He was the great-grandson of Ezra T. Benson, who was appointed by Brigham Young as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1846. Benson began his academic career at Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University), where he first met Flora Smith Amussen. Benson's alternated quarters at USAC with work on the family farm.
Benson served a church mission in Britain from 1921 to 1923. It was while serving as a missionary, especially an experience in Sheffield that caused Benson to realize how central the Book of Mormon was to the Restored Gospel message and converting people to the LDS Church. He later served as president of the Newcastle Conference.
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Feliks Kon
Feliks Yakovlevich Kon (May 18, 1864 in Warsaw – July 30, 1941 in Moscow) was a Polish communist activist.
Born in Warsaw, Kon's mother was Georgian and was brought up in Russia. He was trained as a historian and a journalist, but was involved in politics. He had limited knowledge of Polish affairs at first, but intuitively felt the revolutionary element among Polish workers that he could mobilize.
He was a member of the anti-Piłsudski faction of the Polish Socialist Party. Kon gravitated towards the anti-independence, pro-communism point of view. In January 1897 an administrative decision was at last taken to banish him. He was exiled to Irkutsk and began working on the progressive newspaper "Vostochnoye Obozrenie" (Eastern Review).
As the Bolsheviks began to prepare for the Polish-Soviet War, they summoned an increasing number of Polish communists, active elsewhere in Soviet service, to Moscow in order to form a cadre of party and state officials to move into ethnographic Poland with the Red Army. He was put on the Provisional Polish Revolutionary Committee (formed in Białystok on July 30, 1920 - dissolved August 20, 1920) during the Polish-Soviet War.
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Felipe González
Felipe González Márquez (born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish socialist politician. He was the General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997. To date, he remains the longest-serving Prime Minister of Spain, after having served four successive mandates from 1982 to 1996.
Felipe was born in Seville, son of a farmer who had a small dairy. He has a sister named Lola González y Márquez, married to Francisco Germán Palomino y Romera, by whom she has two sons, Felipe and Germán Palomino y González. He studied Law at Seville University and started his career as attorney specialising in labour. While at the University he met members of the socialist trade union Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) that was clandestine at the time. He also contacted members of the PSOE and started taking part in the party's clandestine activity. During that time he adopted the nom de guerre Isidoro and moved to Madrid. He was elected Secretary General of the Party at the Suresnes Congress, in France.
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Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician who held the title of President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1949–1959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (1959–1965). He was Senate President from 1963–1965.
While in power he implemented wide-ranging programs of infrastructure development and economic reform. However, his administration was marred by massive authoritarian corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression, and human rights violations.
In 1983, his government was accused of being involved in the assassination of his primary political opponent, Benigno Aquino, Jr. Public outrage over the assassination served as the catalyst for the People Power Revolution in February 1986 that led to his removal from power and eventual exile in Hawaii. It was later discovered that, during his 20 years in power, he and his wife Imelda Marcos had moved billions of dollars of embezzled public funds to accounts and investments in the United States, Switzerland, and other countries.
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Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Spanish: [fiˈðel ˈkastro]; born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, under his administration the Republic of Cuba was converted into a one-party socialist state, with industry and business being nationalized under state ownership and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society. On the international stage, he also served as the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and 2006 to 2008.
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Francesco Cossiga
Francesco Cossiga (26 July 1928 – 17 August 2010) was an Italian politician, the 43rd Prime Minister and the eighth President of the Italian Republic. He was also a professor of constitutional law at the University of Sassari.
Cossiga was born in Sassari in the north of Sardinia. He started his political career during World War II. His name is now usually pronounced Italian pronunciation: [kosˈsiːɡa], but it was originally pronounced Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔssiɡa], with the stress on the first syllable, meaning "Corsica". He was the cousin of Enrico Berlinguer.
He was a minister several times for the Democrazia Cristiana party (DC), notably during his stay at Viminale (Ministry for internal affairs) where he re-structured the Italian police, civil protection and secret services. In 1977, when Cossiga was minister of internal affairs, police squads organized by Cossiga shot against a demonstration in Rome, killing student Giorgiana Masi. Cossiga for many years stated that she was killed by her companions.
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Francis Gary Powers
Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence AgencyU-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission over Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 incident.
Powers was born in Jenkins, Kentucky, to Oliver and Ida Powers. He grew up in Pound, Virginia, just across the state border. Graduating from Milligan College in Tennessee, in 1950, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. After completing his training, Powers was assigned to the 468th Strategic Fighter Squadron at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, as an F-84 Thunderjet pilot. According to his son, he did not fly combat missions during the Korean War, because he was recruited by the CIA for his outstanding record in single engine jet aircraft. By 1960, Powers was already a veteran of many covert aerial reconnaissance missions.
Powers was discharged from the Air Force in 1956 with the rank of captain. He then joined the CIA's U-2 program. U-2 pilots flew espionage missions using an aircraft that could reach altitudes above 70,000 feet, making it invulnerable to Soviet anti-aircraft weapons of the time. The U-2 was equipped with a state-of-the-art camera designed to take high-resolution photos from the edge of the stratosphere over hostile countries, including the Soviet Union. U-2 missions systematically photographed military installations and other important sites.
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Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde, better known under the name of Franco, (Spanish: [fɾanˈθisko ˈfɾaŋko]; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general, dictator and the leader of the Nationalist military rebellion in the Spanish Civil War, and totalitarian head of state of Spain, from October 1936 (as a unified nation from 1939 onwards) until his death in November 1975. He came to power while recognizing the principles of the far-right Falange movement, although this was for propaganda reasons, as he belonged to no political party before becoming Head of State. As head of state, Franco used the titles Caudillo de España and Generalísimo, but also was called formally as His Excellency, The Head of State.
Franco was from a military family, and although originally intent on entering the Spanish Navy, he instead became a soldier. He participated in the Rif War in Morocco, becoming the youngest general in Europe by 1926. After returning to the Spanish mainland, he saw service suppressing an anarchist-led strike in 1934, defending the stability of Alcalá-Zamora's conservative government. Following the formation of a Popular Front government, made up of various left-wing factions, instability heightened. Violence between militant groups rose sharply with assassination of conservative parliamentary leader José Calvo Sotelo, in retaliation for the killing of José Castillo. Franco and his co-conspirators used Calvo's death as their pretext for war, as they had already initiated the plan for their rebellion.
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Frank Borman
Frank Frederick Borman, II (born March 14, 1928) is a retired NASA astronaut and engineer, best remembered as the Commander of Apollo 8, the first mission to fly around the Moon, making him, along with fellow crew mates Jim Lovell and Bill Anders, the first of only 24 humans to do so. Before flying on Apollo, he set a fourteen-day spaceflight endurance record on Gemini 7, and also served on the NASA review board which investigated the Apollo 1 fire. After leaving NASA, he was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Eastern Air Lines from 1975 to 1986. Borman is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. In the HBO miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, Borman was played by David Andrews.
Borman was born in Gary, Indiana, where the Frank Borman Expressway is named after him. Because he suffered from numerous sinus problems in the cold and damp weather, his father packed up the family and moved to the better climate of Tucson, Arizona, which Borman considers his home town. He started to fly at the age of 15. He is a graduate of the Tucson High School. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1950 where he served as an Army Football Manager, and along with part of his graduating class, he entered the United States Air Force (USAF) and became a fighter pilot. He received his Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the California Institute of Technology in 1957. Later, Borman was selected for the USAF test pilot school and became a test pilot.
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François Mitterrand
François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (French: [fʁɑ̃swa mɔʁis mitɛˈʁɑ̃] ( listen); 26 October 1916 – 8 January 1996) was the 21st President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, serving from 1981 until 1995. He is the longest-serving President of France and, as leader of the Socialist Party, the first figure from the left elected President under the Fifth Republic.
Reflecting family influences, Mitterrand started political life on the Catholic nationalist right. He served under the Vichy Regime in its earlier years. Subsequently, however, he joined the Resistance, moved to the left, and held ministerial office repeatedly under the Fourth Republic. He opposed de Gaulle's establishment of the Fifth Republic. Although at times a politically isolated figure, Mitterrand outmanoeuvred rivals to become the left's standard bearer in every presidential election from 1965 to 1988, except 1969. Elected President in the May 1981 presidential election, he was re-elected in 1988 and held office until 1995.
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Friedrich Paulus
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Paulus (23 September 1890 – 1 February 1957) was an officer in the German military from 1910 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generalfeldmarschall (field marshal) during World War II, and is best known for having commanded the Sixth Army's assault on Stalingrad during Operation Blue in 1942. The battle ended in disaster for Nazi Germany when approximately 270,000 soldiers of the Wehrmacht, Axis allies and Hilfswillige were encircled and defeated in a massive Soviet counterattack in November 1942, with casualties reaching as high as 740,000.
Paulus surrendered to Soviet forces in Stalingrad on 31 January 1943, a day after he was promoted to the rank of Generalfeldmarschall by Adolf Hitler. Hitler expected Paulus to commit suicide, citing the fact that there was no record of a German field marshal ever being captured alive. While in Soviet captivity during the war Paulus became a vocal critic of the Nazi regime and joined the Russian-sponsored National Committee for a Free Germany. He was not released until 1953.
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Frol Kozlov
Frol Romanovich Kozlov (Russian: Фрол Рома́нович Козло́в; 18 August [O.S. 5 August] 1908, Loshchinino – 30 January 1965) was a Soviet politician, Hero of Socialist Labor (1961).
He was elected a candidate member of the Presidium (as the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was then called) on 14 February 1957 and served as a full member from 29 June 1957 until he was relieved of his duties on 16 November 1964, following the ousting of his mentor, Nikita Khrushchev a month earlier.
In July 1959, he visited the secretive Bohemian Grove encampment in northern California.
He was for many years thought to be Khrushchev's likely successor as the dominant figure in the Soviet hierarchy of power. This was clearly what Khrushchev had intended[citation needed], but even before his mentor's removal from office in October 1964 Kozlov's position in the Soviet hierarchy had been undermined by the effects of his alcoholism; in 1963 he had ceased to be Secretary of the Party Central Committee, replaced by Leonid Brezhnev. At the time of his resignation in November 1964, Kozlov was already seriously ill after a stroke and died two months later. He was buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis, which indicates that he was not in deep disgrace under Brezhnev (later, neither Khrushchev nor Anastas Mikoyan were allowed to be buried there).
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Fyodor Sergeyev
Fyodor Andreyevich Sergeyev (Russian: Фёдор Андре́евич Серге́ев, Ukrainian: Федір Андрійович Сергєєв; March 19, 1883– July 24, 1921), better known as Comrade Artyom (това́рищ Артём), was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, agitator, and journalist. He was a close friend of Sergei Kirov and Joseph Stalin. Sergeyev was an ideologist of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic.
Sergeyev was born in the village of Glebovo, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire near the city of Fatezh in a family of a peasants. In 1901 he finished the Yekaterinoslav realschule. He attended the Moscow Imperial Moscow Technical College, but was expelled after throwing a protest on the school campus.
From 1902 he was a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, later remaining with the Bolshevik faction of the party. He was a prominent party agitator in Yekaterinoslav, Kursk, and the Ural mountains region. In 1905 Sergeyev participated in the armed uprising in Kharkiv. In 1906 for a short time he headed the Perm party committee. Sergeyev was a member of the 5th congress of Russian Social Democratic Labour Party after which he was arrested and sentenced to the Nikolayev detention companies, later substituted by an exile to Siberia.
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Gamal Abdel Nasser
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (Arabic: جمال عبد الناصر حسين, IPA: [ɡæˈmæːl ʕæbdenˈnɑːsˤeɾ ħeˈseːn]; 15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was the second President of Egypt from 1956 until his death. A colonel in the Egyptian army, Nasser led the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 along with Muhammad Naguib, the first president, which overthrew the monarchy of Egypt and Sudan, and heralded a new period of modernization, and socialist reform in Egypt together with a profound advancement of pan-Arab nationalism, including a short-lived union with Syria.
Nasser is seen as one of the most important political figures in both modern Arab history and politics in the 20th century. Under his leadership, Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal Company and came to play a central role in anti-imperialist efforts in the Arab World and Africa. The imposed ending to the Suez Crisis made him a hero throughout the Arab world. He was also instrumental in the establishment of the international Non-Aligned Movement. He is well known for his nationalist policies and version of pan-Arabism, also referred to as Nasserism, which won a great following in the Arab World during the 1950s and 1960s. Although his status as "leader of the Arabs" was badly damaged by the Israeli victory over the Arab armies in the Six-Day War, as well as Egypt's failure to win the subsequent War of Attrition against Israel, many in the general Arab population still view Nasser as a symbol of Arab dignity and freedom.
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Gennady Yanayev
Gennady Ivanovich Yanayev (Russian: Генна́дий Ива́нович Яна́ев; 26 August 1937 – 24 September 2010) was a Soviet Russian politician and statesman whose career spanned the rules of Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko, and culminated during the Gorbachev years. Yanayev was born in Perevoz, Gorky Oblast. After years in local politics, he rose to prominence as Chairman of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions, but he also held other lesser posts such as deputy of the Union of Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries.
Due to his chairmanship of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions he gained a seat in the Politburo. During the 1990 July plenum he was elected to the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee. Later that year, with the help of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yanayev was elected the first, and only, Vice President of the Soviet Union. Having growing doubts about where Gorbachev's reforms were leading, Yanayev started working with, and eventually leading, the Gang of Eight, the group which deposed Gorbachev during the August coup of 1991. After three days the coup collapsed due to the popularity of Boris Yeltsin, but during its brief grip of power Yanayev was made Acting President of the Soviet Union. He was then arrested for his role in the coup, but in 1994 he was pardoned by the State Duma. He spent the rest of his life working in the Russian tourism administration until his death on 24 September 2010.
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George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense. Once noted as the "organizer of victory" by Winston Churchill for his leadership of the Allied victory in World War II, Marshall served as the United States Army Chief of Staff during the war and as the chief military adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt. As Secretary of State, his name was given to the Marshall Plan, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1953.
George Catlett Marshall was born into a middle-class family in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, the son of George Catlett Marshall, Sr. and Laura Emily (Bradford) Marshall. Marshall was a scion of an old Virginia family, as well as a distant relative of former Chief Justice John Marshall. Marshall graduated from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), where he was initiated into the Kappa Alpha Order, in 1901.
Following graduation from VMI, Marshall was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Until World War I, he was posted to various positions in the US and the Philippines. He served as an infantry platoon leader and company commander in the Phillipines during the Phillipine-American War and several other guerilla uprisings. He was schooled and trained in modern warfare. His pre-war service included a tour at Fort Leavenworth, KS from 1906 to 1910 as both a student and an instructor.
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George Wells Beadle
George Wells Beadle (October 22, 1903 – June 9, 1989) was an American scientist in the field of genetics, and Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Nobel laureate who with Edward Lawrie Tatum discovered the role of genes in regulating biochemical events within cells.
Beadle and Tatum's key experiments involved exposing the bread mold Neurospora crassa to x-rays, causing mutations. In a series of experiments, they showed that these mutations caused changes in specific enzymes involved in metabolic pathways. These experiments led them to propose a direct link between genes and enzymatic reactions, known as the "one gene, one enzyme" hypothesis.
George Wells Beadle was born in Wahoo, Nebraska. He was the son of Chauncey Elmer Beadle and Hattie Albro, who owned and operated a 40-acre (160,000 m2) farm nearby. George was educated at the Wahoo High School and might himself have become a farmer if one of his teachers at school had not directed his mind towards science and persuaded him to go to the College of Agriculture in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1926 he took his B.Sc. degree at the University of Nebraska and subsequently worked for a year with Professor F.D. Keim, who was studying hybrid wheat. In 1927 he took his M.Sc. degree, and Professor Keim secured for him a post as Teaching Assistant at Cornell University, where he worked, until 1931, with Professors R.A. Emerson and L.W. Sharp on Mendelian asynopsis in Zea mays. For this work he obtained, in 1931, his Ph.D. degree. In 1931 he was awarded a National Research Council Fellowship at the California Institute of Technology at Pasadena, where he remained from 1931 until 1936. During this period he continued his work on Indian corn and began, in collaboration with Professors Th. Dobzhansky, S. Emerson, and A.H. Sturtevant, work on crossing-over in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster.
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Georges Pompidou
Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (French pronunciation: [ʒɔʁʒ pɔ̃pidu]; 5 July 1911 – 2 April 1974) was a French politician. He was Prime Minister of France from 1962 to 1968, holding the longest tenure in this position, and later President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974.
He was born in the commune of Montboudif, in the department of Cantal in central France. After his khâgne at Lycée Louis-le-Grand, where he befriended Senegalese future poet and statesman Léopold Sédar Senghor, he graduated from the École Normale Supérieure with a degree of Agrégation in literature.
He first taught literature at the lycée Henri IV in Paris until hired in 1953 by Guy de Rothschild to work at Rothschild. In 1956, he was appointed the bank's general manager, a position he held until 1962. Later, he was hired by Charles de Gaulle to manage the Anne de Gaulle Foundation for Down's Syndrome (de Gaulle's daughter Anne had Down's Syndrome).
He served as prime minister under de Gaulle after Michel Debré resigned, from 16 April 1962 to 21 July 1968, and to this day is the longest serving French prime minister under the Fifth Republic. His nomination was controversial because he was not a member of the National Assembly. In October 1962, he was defeated by a vote of non-confidence, but de Gaulle dissolved the National Assembly. The Gaullists won the legislative election and Pompidou was reappointed as Prime Minister. In 1964, he was faced with a miners' strike. He led the 1967 legislative campaign of the Union of Democrats for the Fifth Republic to a narrow victory. Pompidou was widely regarded as being responsible for the peaceful resolution of the student uprising of May 1968. His strategy was to break the coalition of students and workers by negotiating with the trade-unions and employers (Grenelle conference). Until this crisis, he was the Prime Minister of a quiet and prosperous France.
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Georgii Karpechenko
Georgii Dmitrievich Karpechenko (1899, Velsk - July 28, 1941) was a Russian and Soviet biologist. His name has sometimes been transliterated as Karpetschenko.
G. D. Karpechenko worked on cytology and created several hybrids. Among his contributions is his seminal work on allopolyploids, culminating in his creation of a fertile offspring of radishes and cabbages, the first instance of a new species obtained through polyploid speciation during experimental crossbreeding.
He worked at the Institute of Applied Botany near Leningrad, but collaborated with geneticists in other countries, notably Øjvind Winge in Denmark and Erwin Baur in Germany. He also travelled abroad to the John Innes Horticultural Institution in London. He was arrested by the NKVD under the false grounds of belonging to an alleged "anti-Soviet group" centered around the well known Russian botanist Nikolai Vavilov who was his colleague at Leningrad. He was sentenced to death and executed on July 28, 1941.
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Georgii Nadson
Georgii Adamovich Nadson (May 11 [O.S. May 23] 1867 - April 15, 1939) was a Soviet biologist, "one of the pioneers of radioecology in Russia" In 1930, he founded the Laboratory of Microbiology of the Russian Academy of Sciences (which in 1934 was transferred from Leningrad to Moscow and later transformed into the Institute of Microbiology). He was director of the institute until 1937, when he was "falsely accused of participating in so-called anti-Soviet sabotage and terrorism and arrested" The real reason for his execution was his opposition to Lysenkoism[citation needed].
Ulvella nadsonii, a species of algae, is named for him.
I. E. Mishustina. History of Marine Microbiology in Russia (the Soviet Union) in the Second Half of the 20th Century. http://www.springerlink.com/content/g784417x816t021j/
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Georgy Malenkov
Georgy Maximilianovich Malenkov (Russian: Гео́ргий Максимилиа́нович Маленко́в, Georgij Maksimilianovič Malenkov; 8 January 1902 – 14 January 1988) was a Soviet politician, Communist Party leader and close collaborator of Joseph Stalin. After Stalin's death, he became Premier of the Soviet Union (1953–1955) and was considered the most powerful Soviet politician before being overshadowed and ousted by Nikita Khrushchev.
Malenkov was born at Orenburg, Russian Empire. His paternal ancestors were of Macedonian extraction (area of Ohrid), some of whom served as officers in the Russian Imperial Army. His father was a wealthy farmer in Orenburg province. Young Malenkov occasionally helped his father to do business selling harvest. His mother was the daughter of a blacksmith and the granddaughter of an Orthodox priest. Malenkov graduated from Orenburg gymnasium just a few months prior to the Russian revolution of 1917 and joined the Red Army as volunteer in 1918, fighting alingside communists against capitalists. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1920 and worked as a political commissar on a propaganda train in Turkestan, Central Asia, during the Russian civil war in Central Asia. There he had extensive experience of arresting and killing opponents of the Soviet communist party.
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Georgy Pyatakov
Georgy (Yury) Leonidovich Pyatakov (Russian: Георгий Леонидович Пятаков; August 6, 1890–1937) was a Bolshevik revolutionary leader during the Russian Revolution, and member of the Left Opposition.
Pyatakov (party pseudonyms: Kievsky, Lyalin, Petro, Yaponets) was born August 6, 1890 in the settlement of the Mariinsky sugar factory which was owned by his father, an ethnic Russian, Leonid Timofeyevich Pyatakov.
He started political activity as an anarchist while he was in secondary school, but joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1910. In 1912 joined the Bolshevik faction. He was arrested and exiled to Siberia in 1912 with his partner, Evgenia Bosh, but they soon escaped and made their way to Switzerland where they joined the émigré revolutionary community. Pyatakov and Bosh remained together until she died by suicide in 1925 as a protest against the Stalinist regime.
His opinion on some points of the theory and tactics of the revolutionary struggle contradicted that of the party Central Committee.
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Georgy Zhukov
Marshal of the Soviet Union Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (Russian: Гео́ргий Константи́нович Жу́ков; 1 December [O.S. 19 November] 1896 – 18 June 1974), was a Soviet career officer in the Red Army who, in the course of World War II, played a pivotal role in leading the Red Army drive through much of Eastern Europe to liberate the Soviet Union and other nations from the brutal occupation of the Axis Powers, and ultimately, to conquer the capital of Germany itself, Berlin. He is the most decorated general officer in the history of the Soviet Union and Russia.
Born into a poverty-stricken peasant family in Strelkovka, Maloyaroslavsky Uyezd, Kaluga Governorate (now merged into the town of Zhukov in Zhukovsky District of Kaluga Oblast in modern-day Russia), Zhukov was apprenticed to work as a furrier in Moscow. In 1915, he was conscripted into the Army of the Russian Empire, where he served first in the 106th Reserve Cavalry Regiment (then called the 10th Dragoon Novgorod Regiment). During World War I, Zhukov was awarded the Cross of St. George twice, and promoted to the rank of non-commissioned officer, for his bravery in battle. He joined the Bolshevik Party after the October Revolution, where his background of poverty became a significant asset. After recovering from a serious case of typhus, he fought in the Russian Civil War over the period 1918 to 1921, serving with the 1st Cavalry Army, among other formations. He received the decoration of the Order of the Red Banner for subduing the Tambov rebellion in 1921.
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Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974. As the first person appointed to the vice-presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment (after Spiro Agnew had resigned), when he became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, he became the only President of the United States who was never elected President nor Vice-President by the Electoral College. Before ascending to the vice-presidency, Ford served nearly 25 years as the Representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district, eight of them as the Republican Minority Leader.
As President, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords, marking a move toward détente in the Cold War. With the conquest of South Vietnam by North Vietnam nine months into his presidency, U.S. involvement in Vietnam essentially ended. Domestically, Ford presided over arguably the weakest economy since the Great Depression, with growing inflation and a recession during his tenure. One of his more controversial acts was to grant a presidential pardon to President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate scandal. During Ford's incumbency, foreign policy was characterized in procedural terms by the increased role Congress began to play, and by the corresponding curb on the powers of the President. In 1976, Ford narrowly defeated Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination, but lost the presidential election to Democrat Jimmy Carter.
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Getúlio Vargas
Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒeˈtuliu doɾˈnɛlis ˈvaɾɡɐs]; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) served as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most for any President, and second in Brazilian history only to Emperor Pedro II among heads of government. He favored nationalism, industrialization, centralization, social welfare and populism – for the latter, Vargas won the nickname "O Pai dos Pobres" (Portuguese for "The Father of the Poor"). Despite his promotion of workers' rights, Vargas was a staunch anti-communist.
Vargas was brought to power by political outsiders and the rank and file of the Armed Forces in the Revolution of 1930, a reaction to his loss in rigged elections earlier that year. His ascent marked the end of the Brazilian oligarchic Old Republic and states' dominated café com leite politics. He successfully influenced the outcome of the Brazilian presidential election of 1934, and instituted an authoritarian corporatist regime in 1937 known as the Estado Novo ("New State"), prolonging his hold onto power. Vargas went on to appease and eventually dominate his supporters, and pushed his political agenda as he built a propaganda machine around his figure.
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Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti (Italian pronunciation: [ˈʤuːljo andreˈɔtti]; born January 14, 1919) is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior (1954 and 1978), Defense Minister (1959–1966 and 1974) and Foreign Minister (1983–1989) and he has been a senator for life since 1991. He is also a journalist and author.
He is sometimes called Divo Giulio (from Latin Divus Iulius, "divine Julius", an epithet of Julius Caesar). The movie Il Divo tells about Andreotti's links with the Mafia and won the Prix du Jury at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival.
Andreotti was born in Rome into a family from Segni. He studied law in Rome, during which time he was member of the Federazione Universitaria Cattolica Italiana (FUCI, or Italian Catholic University Federation), which was then the only Catholic university association allowed by the Fascist government. Its members included many of the future leaders of the Italian Democrazia Cristiana (or DC, the Christian Democracy party). In July 1939, while Aldo Moro was president of FUCI, Andreotti became director of its magazine Azione Fucina. In 1942, when Moro was enrolled in the Italian Army, Andreotti succeeded him as president of FUCI, a position he held until 1944.
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Gregorio Honasan
Gregorio Ballesteros Honasan II (born March 14, 1948), better known as Gringo Honasan, is a Filipino political figure. He played a key role in the 1986 EDSA Revolution that toppled the dictatorship of President Ferdinand Marcos. He led a series of coup attempts against the administration of Corazon Aquino. President Fidel Ramos granted him amnesty in 1992. He entered politics and became a senator from 1995 to 2004 and again since 2007.
Gregorio Honasan was born in Baguio City to Colonel Romeo Honasan and Alice Ballesteros, both from Sorsogon province. Honasan spent his elementary days at San Beda College from Kindergarten to Grade 6. After which, he went to Taiwan and studied at the Dominican School, Taipei, Taiwan. He then returned to the Philippines and finished his high school at Don Bosco Mandaluyong. He attained his Bachelor of Science degree at the Philippine Military Academy, where he received the title of "Class Baron", the academy's highest leadership award.
After graduating in 1971, he joined the Philippine Army and went into combat duty against separatist and communist insurgents in Luzon and Mindanao. He was wounded in action at battles in Lebak and Jolo. Making his way up through the armed forces, he became aide-de-camp to Secretary of National Defense Juan Ponce Enrile in 1974, and later became the department's Chief of Security.
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Grigory Petrovsky
Grigory Ivanovich Petrovsky (Russian: Григо́рий Ива́нович Петро́вский , Ukrainian: Григорій Іванович Петровський Hryhoriy Ivanovych Petrovsky) (February 4, 1878 - January 9, 1958) was one of the most prominent Russian revolutionaries of Ukrainian origin, who was the Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union from December 30, 1922, to January 12, 1938. He also was participant of signing two of the most important documents in the Soviet history: the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
Petrovsky was born in a village of Pechenihy near Kharkiv on February 4 (Old Style - January 22), 1878, in family of a craftsman (some sources claim - son of tailor and laundry lady). He had two siblings. At three little Grigory lost his dad.
After finishing two classes of school at the Kharkiv Theological Seminary in 1889, Petrovsky was dismissed for not be able to pay for his education. Being 11 years old he left education for a job in the city (locomotive depot). In 1893 at age of 15 he arrived to Yekaterinoslav (Dnipropetrovsk) where he found a job at the Bryansk Metallurgical Factory (today - Petrovsky Factory).
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Grigory Zinoviev
Grigory Yevseevich Zinoviev (Russian: Григо́рий Евсе́евич Зино́вьев, IPA: [ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲɪj zʲɪˈnovʲjɪf]; September 23 [O.S. September 11] 1883 – August 25, 1936), born Ovsei-Gershon Aronovich Radomyslsky Apfelbaum (Russian: Радомысльский), was a Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet Communist politician. Zinoviev is best remembered as the longtime head of the Communist International and as the chief defendant in a 1936 show trial, the Trial of the Sixteen that marked the start of the so-called Great Terror in the USSR and resulted in his execution the day after his conviction.
Gregory Zinoviev was born in Yelizavetgrad, Imperial Russia (currently Kirovohrad, Ukraine), to Jewish dairy farmers, who educated him at home. Between 1923 and 1935 the city was known as Zinovyevsk. Gregory Zinoviev was known in early life under the names of Apfelbaum or Radomyslovsky and later adopted several designations, such as Shatski, Grigoriev, Grigori and Zinoviev, by the two last of which he is most frequently called. He studied philosophy, literature and history. He became interested in politics, and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1901. He was a member of its Bolshevik faction from the time of its creation in 1903. Between 1903 and the fall of the Russian Empire in February 1917, he was a leading Bolshevik and one of Lenin's closest associates, working both within Russia and abroad as circumstances permitted. He was elected to the RSDLP's Central Committee in 1907 and sided with Lenin in 1908 when the Bolshevik faction split into Lenin's supporters and Alexander Bogdanov's followers. Zinoviev remained Lenin's constant aide-de-camp and representative in various socialist organizations until 1917.
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Hafizullah Amin
Hafizullah Amin (1 August 1929 – 27 December 1979) was an Afghan politician and statesman during the Cold War. Amin was born in Paghman and educated at Kabul University, after which he started his career as a teacher. After a few years in that occupation, he went to the United States to study. He would visit the United States a second time before moving permanently to Afghanistan, and starting his career in radical politics. He ran as a candidate in the 1965 parliamentary election but failed to secure a seat. Amin was the only Khalqist elected to parliament in the 1969 parliamentary election, thus increasing his standing within the party. He was one of the leading organisers of the Saur Revolution which overthrew the government of Mohammad Daoud Khan.
Amin's short-lived presidency was marked by controversies from beginning to end. He came to power by killing his predecessor Nur Muhammad Taraki. The revolt against communist rule which had begun under Taraki worsened under Amin, and was a problem that his government was unable to solve. The Soviet Union, which alleged that Amin was an agent of the Central Intelligence Agency, intervened in Afghanistan on behalf of the Twenty-Year Treaty of Friendship between Afghanistan and the Soviet Union. Amin was assassinated by the Soviets in December 1979 as part of Operation Storm-333, having ruled for slightly longer than three months.
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Harlow Curtice
Harlow Herbert Curtice (August 15, 1893 - November 3, 1962) was an American auto industry executive who led General Motors (GM) from 1953 to 1958. As GM's chief, Curtice was selected as Man of the Year for 1955 by TIME magazine.
Curtice was born in Petrieville, Michigan. He joined General Motors at age 20, and rose through its AC Spark Plug division to head it by age 36, and made the division profitable during the Depression. Selected to head the Buick division of GM, he expanded its line and made it profitable in the 1930s.
In 1948, Curtice became executive vice president of GM, and succeeded to the presidency in 1953 when GM president Charles Wilson became Secretary of Defense. With Curtice as president, GM became immensely profitable, and became the first corporation to have $1 billion in profits in one year.
In 1958, Curtice retired just after his 65th birthday. The following year, he accidentally shot and killed a friend while duck hunting. He died in 1962 at age 69.
Curtice was born in Petrieville, Michigan, on August 15, 1893, the son of Marion Curtice and the former Mary Ellen Eckhart, and was raised in Eaton Rapids, Michigan, attending Eaton Rapids High School. During school vacations, he kept the books for his father, a commission merchant, and also worked in a woolen mill. He graduated from the Ferris Business College in 1914. After moving to Flint, Michigan later in 1914, Curtice began his meteoric rise at GM. He started as a bookkeeper for GM's AC Spark Plug Division. The 20-year-old, in his job interview by the company comptroller, told him that his ambition was to become comptroller himself within a year. He did so, becoming AC Spark Plug's comptroller at just 21. Curtice went beyond the ledger, exploring the plant to find out what the figures meant in terms of men and equipment.
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Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, OM, PC, FRS (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 10 January 1957 to 18 October 1963.
Nicknamed 'Supermac' and known for his pragmatism, wit and unflappability, Macmillan achieved notoriety before the Second World War as a Tory radical and critic of appeasement. Rising to high office as a protégé of wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, he believed in the post-war settlement and the necessity of a mixed economy, and in his premiership pursued corporatist policies to develop the domestic market as the engine of growth. During his time as prime minister, average living standards steadily rose while numerous social reforms were carried out such as the 1956 Clean Air Act, the 1957 Housing Act, the 1960 Offices Act, the 1960 Noise Abatement Act, the Factories Act 1961, and the introduction of a graduated pension scheme to provide an additional income to retirees.
As a One Nation Tory of the Disraelian tradition, haunted by memories of the Great Depression, he championed a Keynesian strategy of public investment to maintain demand, winning a second term in 1959 with an increased majority on an electioneering budget. Benefiting from favourable international conditions, he presided over an age of affluence, marked by low unemployment and high if uneven growth. In his Bedford speech of July 1957 he told the nation they had 'never had it so good', but warned of the dangers of inflation, summing up the fragile prosperity of the 1950s.
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Harold Wilson
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, FRS, FSS, PC (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British Labour politician and Leader of the Labour Party. He was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the 1960s and 1970s, winning four general elections, including a minority government after the February 1974 general election resulted in a hung parliament. He is the most recent British Prime Minister to have served non-consecutive terms.
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Helmut Kohl
Helmut Josef Michael Kohl (German pronunciation: [ˈhɛlmuːt ˈkoːl]; born 3 April 1930) is a German conservative politician and statesman. He was Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 (of West Germany between 1982 and 1990 and of the reunited Germany between 1990 and 1998) and the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. His 16-year tenure was the longest of any German chancellor since Otto von Bismarck and oversaw the end of the Cold War and the German reunification. Kohl is widely regarded as one of the main architects of the German reunification and, together with French President François Mitterrand, the Maastricht Treaty, which contributed to the creation of the European Union.
Kohl and Mitterrand were the joint recipients of the Karlspreis in 1988. In 1998, Kohl was named Honorary Citizen of Europe by the European heads of state or government for his extraordinary work for European integration and cooperation, an honour previously only bestowed on Jean Monnet. In 1996, he won the prestigious Prince of Asturias Award in International Cooperation.
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Helmut Schmidt
Helmut Heinrich Waldemar Schmidt (German pronunciation: [ˈhɛlmʊt ˈʃmɪt]; born 23 December 1918) is a German Social Democratic politician who served as Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982. Prior to becoming chancellor, he had served as Minister of Defence and Minister of Finance. He had also served briefly as Minister of Economics and as acting Foreign Minister. He is the oldest surviving German Chancellor and the last surviving person to have been solely Chancellor of West Germany (Helmut Kohl was Chancellor of both West Germany and reunified Germany). He is also the oldest living Federal German Minister, after the death of his Interior Minister Werner Maihofer.
Helmut Schmidt was born in Hamburg, as son of two teachers. He studied at Hamburg Lichtwark School, graduating in 1937. He was conscripted into military service and began serving with an anti-aircraft battery at Vegesack near Bremen during World War II. After brief service on the Eastern Front he returned to Germany in 1942 to work as a trainer and advisor at the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. Also in 1942, on 27 June, he married his childhood sweetheart Hannelore "Loki" Glaser (3 March 1919 – 21 October 2010), with whom he fathered two children: Helmut Walter (26 June 1944–February 1945, died of meningitis), and Susanne (b. 1947), who works in London for Bloomberg Television. Toward the end of the war, from December 1944 onwards, he served as an Oberleutnant in the artillery on the Western Front. He was captured by the British in April 1945 on Lüneburg Heath and was a prisoner of war until August. During his service in World War II Schmidt was awarded the Iron Cross.
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Henry Kissinger
Heinz Alfred "Henry" Kissinger ( /ˈkɪsɪndʒər/; born May 27, 1923) is a German-born American writer, political scientist, diplomat, and businessman. A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, he served as National Security Advisor and later concurrently as Secretary of State in the administrations of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. After his term, his opinion was still sought by many subsequent presidents and many world leaders.
A proponent of Realpolitik, Kissinger played a dominant role in United States foreign policy between 1969 and 1977. During this period, he pioneered the policy of détente with the Soviet Union, orchestrated the opening of relations with the People's Republic of China, and negotiated the Paris Peace Accords, ending American involvement in the Vietnam War. Various American policies of that era, including the bombing of Cambodia, remain controversial to many.
Kissinger is still a controversial figure today. He is the founder and chairman of Kissinger Associates, an international consulting firm.
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Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring, (or Goering;German pronunciation: [ˈɡøːʁɪŋ] ( listen); 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader, and leading member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). A veteran of World War I as an ace fighter pilot, he was a recipient of the coveted Pour le Mérite, also known as "the Blue Max". He was the last commander of Jagdgeschwader 1, the fighter wing once led by Manfred von Richthofen, "the Red Baron".
A member of the NSDAP from its early days, Göring was wounded in 1923 during the failed coup known as the Beer Hall Putsch. He suffered from a lifelong addiction to morphine after being treated with the drug for his injuries. He founded the Gestapo in 1933. Göring was appointed commander-in-chief of the Luftwaffe (air force) in 1935, a position he held until the final days of World War II. By 1940 he was at the peak of his power and influence; as minister in charge of the Four Year Plan, he was responsible for much of the functioning of the German economy in the build-up to World War II. Adolf Hitler promoted him to the rank of Reichsmarschall, a rank senior to all other Wehrmacht commanders, and in 1941 Hitler designated him as his successor and deputy in all his offices.
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Hermann Hoth
Hermann "Papa" Hoth (12 April 1885 – 25 January 1971) was an officer in the German military from 1903 to 1945. He attained the rank of Generaloberst during World War II. He fought in France, but is most noted for his later exploits as a panzer commander on the Eastern Front. Hoth commanded the 4th Panzer Army during Operation Barbarossa in 1941, and later during the Wehrmacht's 1942 summer offensive. Following the encirclement of the 6th Army in Stalingrad in November 1942, Hoth commanded the panzer army during Operation Wintergewitter. After Stalingrad, Hoth was involved in the Kursk counter offensive in the summer of 1943 and the Battle of Kiev. The Fourth Panzer Army under his command at Kursk was the largest tank formation ever assembled. Hoth was dismissed from command by Adolf Hitler in 1943, only to be reinstated for a short time during the last weeks of the war. After the war, he served six years in prison for war crimes, and became a writer on military history.
Hoth was born in Neuruppin, the son of an army medical officer. He joined the army in 1903 and at the start of World War I was promoted to Captain and he won both classes of Iron Cross. He remained in the Reichswehr (the armed forces of the Weimar Republic) in the interwar period. Following the reorganization of the German military into the Wehrmacht in 1935, he was promoted to Major-General and appointed to command the 18th Infantry Division.
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Heydar Aliyev
Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev (Azerbaijani: Heydər Əlirza oğlu Əliyev, Russian: Гейдар Алиевич Алиев; 10 May 1923[dead link] – 12 December 2003), also spelled as Heidar Aliev, Geidar Aliev, Haydar Aliyev, Geydar Aliyev was the third President of Azerbaijan for the New Azerbaijan Party from October 1993 to October 2003, when his son Ilham Aliyev succeeded him.
From 1969 to 1982, Aliyev was also the leader of Soviet Azerbaijan, practically dominating the political life of Azerbaijan for over many years. He was married to Zarifa Aliyeva, who died in 1985, and was survived by his son and daughter.
The details of much of Aliyev's early life remain obscure. According to his hagographical website he was born in Nakhchevan City. After the graduation from Nakhchivan Pedagogical School, from 1939 till 1941, Aliyev attended the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now the Azerbaijan State Oil Academy) where he studied architecture. In 1949-50, he studied at the USSR MGB Officer Corps Qualifications-Raising School. Aliyev's official biography also claims that he studied at the Baku State University, graduating with a degree in history in 1957. However, it seems that he actually attended the Ministry of State Security Academy in Leningrad[citation needed].
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Hirohito
Hirohito (裕仁?), posthumously in Japan officially called Emperor Shōwa or the Shōwa Emperor (昭和天皇, Shōwa tennō?), (April 29, 1901 – January 7, 1989) was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order, reigning from December 25, 1926, until his death in 1989. Although better known outside of Japan by his personal name Hirohito, in Japan he is now referred to exclusively by his posthumous name Emperor Shōwa. The word Shōwa is the name of the era that corresponded with the Emperor's reign, and was made the Emperor's own name upon his death.
At the start of his reign, Japan was already one of the great powers—the ninth largest economy in the world after Italy, the third largest naval country, and one of the five permanent members of the council of the League of Nations. He was the head of state under the limitation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan during Japan's imperial expansion, militarization, and involvement in World War II. After the war, he was not prosecuted for war crimes as many other leading government figures were. During the postwar period, he became the symbol of the new state.
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Ho Chi Minh
Hồ Chí Minh (Vietnamese pronunciation: [hô cǐ miɲ] (Vietnamese pronunciation: [hô̤ tɕǐmɪŋ] ( listen)); 19 May 1890 – 2 September 1969), born Nguyễn Sinh Cung and also known as Nguyễn Tất Thành and Nguyễn Ái Quốc, was a Vietnamese Stalinist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1945–1955) and president (1945–1969) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the foundation of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945, as well as the People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) and the Việt Cộng (NLF or VC) during the Vietnam War.
He led the Việt Minh independence movement from 1941 onward, establishing the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at Điện Biên Phủ. He officially stepped down from power in 1955 due to health problems, but remained a highly visible figurehead and inspiration for Vietnamese fighting for his cause – a united, independent Vietnam – until his death. After the war, Saigon, the capital of Republic of Vietnam, was renamed Hồ Chí Minh City in his honor.
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Hua Guofeng
Su Zhu (16 February 1921 – 20 August 2008), better known by the nom de guerre Hua Guofeng, was Mao Zedong's designated successor as the Paramount Leader of the Communist Party of China and the People's Republic of China.
A regional official in Hunan between 1949 and 1971, he became the head of the party leadership in the province during the latter stages of the Cultural Revolution. Hua was elevated to the national stage in early 1976, and was known for his loyalty to Mao. Upon Zhou Enlai's death in January 1976, Hua succeeded Zhou as Premier of the People's Republic of China. After Mao's death, Hua took on the titles of Chairman of the Communist Party of China and the Chairman of the Central Military Commission, to the surprise and dismay of Jiang Qing and the rest of the Gang of Four. Hua is the only leader to have simultaneously held the three highest offices of the PRC - leading the Party, State Council, and the Central Military Commission.
Hua brought the Cultural Revolution to an end and ousted the Gang of Four from political power by staging their arrests in Beijing. He attempted moderate reforms and reversing some of the excesses of Cultural Revolution-era policies. However, because of his insistence on continuing the Maoist line, he was himself outmaneuvered a few years later by Deng Xiaoping, a pragmatic reformer, who forced Hua into early retirement. As Hua faded into political obscurity, he continued to insist on the correctness of Maoist principles. He is remembered as a largely benign transitional figure in modern Chinese political history.
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Ichirō Hatoyama
Ichirō Hatoyama (鳩山 一郎, Hatoyama Ichirō?, January 1, 1883 – March 7, 1959) was a Japanese politician and the 52nd, 53rd and 54th Prime Minister of Japan, serving terms from December 10, 1954 through March 19, 1955, from then to November 22, 1955, and from then through December 23, 1956.
Ichirō Hatoyama was, as his name indicates, the firstborn boy. He was born into a wealthy cosmopolitan family in Tokyo. His father Kazuo Hatoyama (1856–1911) was a Yale graduate (and Speaker of the House of Representatives) and his mother Haruko Hatoyama (1863–1938) was a famous author and the founder of Kyoritsu Women's University.
Ichirō was a Master Mason and a Protestant Christian (Baptist). He was Japan's third postwar Christian Prime Minister.
Iichirō Hatoyama, Ichirō's only son, made a career for himself as a civil servant in the Budget Bureau of the Finance Ministry. Iichirō retired after having achieved the rank of administrative Vice Minister. In his second career in politics, he rose to become Foreign Minister of Japan in 1976–1977.
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Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada (c. 1924 – 16 August 2003) was the military dictator and third President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military coup of January 1971, deposing Milton Obote. He later promoted himself to Field Marshal while he was the head of state. While serving in the British Regiment he toured Kenya.
Amin's rule was characterised by gross human rights abuse, political repression, ethnic persecution, extrajudicial killings, nepotism, corruption, and gross economic mismanagement. The number of people killed as a result of his regime is estimated by international observers and human rights groups to range from 100,000 to 500,000. During his years in power, Amin shifted in allegiance from being a pro-Western ruler enjoying considerable Israeli support to being backed by Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi, the Soviet Union and East Germany.
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Imelda Marcos
Imelda R. Marcos (born Imelda Remedios Visitasion Romualdez on July 2, 1929) is a Filipino politician and widow of 10th Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Upon the ascension of her husband to political power, she held various positions to the government until 1986. She is the first politician elected as member of the Philippine legislature in three geographical locations (Manila, Leyte, Ilocos Norte). In 2010, she was elected to become a member of the House of Representatives to represent Ilocos Norte's second district. She is sometimes referred to as the Steel Butterfly or the Iron Butterfly. She is often remembered for symbols of the extravagance of her husband's political reign, including her collection of 2,700 pairs of shoes.
Her paternal ancestors, the Lopezes of Leyte, were wealthy, landed and prominent, and claimed to have founded the town of Tolosa, Leyte. Spanish mestizos, the Lopezes were descended from the Spanish friar and silversmith Don Francisco Lopez, originally from Granada in the Andalusian region of Spain. Together with Fray Salustiano Buz, he arrived by way of Acapulco to build Roman Catholic missions in the island provinces of Samar and Leyte (Buz would establish his home base in Palapag, Samar, the exit-entry point of the Manila Galleons in the Visayas islands). It was common then for Spanish friars to take mistresses, and Lopez's life-long relationship with a Chinese mestiza, Maria Crisostomo y Talentin of Basey, Samar, produced seven children. The eldest of them was Trinidad Lopez, or Doña Tidad in later years.
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Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy (7 June 1896 – 16 June 1958) was a Hungarian communist politician who was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary on two occasions. Nagy's second term ended when his non-Soviet-backed government was brought down by Soviet invasion in the failed Hungarian Revolution of 1956, resulting in Nagy's execution on charges of treason two years later.
Nagy (Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈnɒɟ]) was born in Kaposvár, to a peasant family and was apprenticed to a locksmith. He enlisted in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I and served on the Eastern Front. He was taken prisoner in 1915. He became a member of the Russian Communist Party, and joined the Red Army.
Nagy returned to Hungary in 1921. In 1930 he travelled to the Soviet Union and joined the communist party. He was engaged in agricultural research, and also worked in the Hungarian section of the Comintern. He was expelled from the party in 1936 and later worked for the Soviet Statistical Service. Rumours that he was an agent of the Soviet secret service surfaced later, begun by Hungarian party-leader Károly Grósz in 1989 in an attempt to discredit Nagy. There is evidence, however, that Nagy did serve as an informant for the NKVD during his time in Moscow and provided names to the secret police as a way to prove his loyalty (not an uncommon tactic for foreign communists in the Soviet Union at the time).
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Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Hindi: इंदिरा प्रियदर्शिनी गांधी Indirā Priyadarśinī Gāndhī listen (help·info), née Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms (1966–77) and a fourth term (1980–84). Gandhi was the second female head of government in the world after Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, and she remains as the world's second longest serving female Prime Minister as of 2012. She was the first woman to become prime minister in India.
Gandhi was the only child of Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India. She adhered to the quasi-socialist policies of industrial development that had been begun by her father. Gandhi established closer relations with the Soviet Union, depending on that nation for support in India’s long-standing conflict with Pakistan. She was also the only Indian Prime Minister to have declared a state of emergency in order to 'rule by decree' and the only Indian Prime Minister to have been imprisoned after holding that office. She was assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in retaliation for ordering Operation Blue Star.
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Isaak Mazepa
Isaak Prokhorovych Mazepa (Ukrainian: Ісаак Мазепа) (16 August 1884, Kostrobobriv – 18 March 1952, Augsburg) was a Ukrainian politician.
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Isidor Isaac Rabi
Isidor Isaac Rabi ( /ˈrɑːbi/; 29 July 1898 – 11 January 1988) was a Galician-born American physicist and Nobel laureate recognized in 1944 for his discovery of nuclear magnetic resonance.
Rabi was born into a traditional Jewish family in Rymanów, Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now Poland), and was brought to the United States as a child the following year. He was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree from Cornell University in 1919, continuing his studies at Columbia University and received his Ph.D. in 1927. A fellowship enabled him to spend the next two years in Europe working with such eminent physicists as Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg, Wolfgang Pauli and Otto Stern. He then joined the Columbia faculty and never left.
In 1930 Rabi conducted investigations into the nature of the force binding protons to atomic nuclei. This research eventually led to the creation of the molecular-beam magnetic-resonance detection method, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1944.
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Italo Gariboldi
Italo Gariboldi (20 April 1879 – 3 February 1970) was a senior officer in the Italian Royal Army (Regio Esercito) before and during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (German: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes). The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded by the Third Reich to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership.
Gariboldi was born in Lodi, Lombardy.
From the end of World War I and through the interwar Period, Gariboldi rose in the ranks and held various staff, regimental, and brigade level commands.
In 1935, Gariboldi commanded the 30th Infantry Division "Sabauda" on the northern front during the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. His division was part of the I Corps based in Eritrea. After Italy defeated Ethiopia (Abyssinia) in 1936, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland were joined to form the colony of Italian East Africa.
From 1939 to 1941, Gariboldi was an army commander in Marshal Italo Balbo's "Supreme Command - North Africa." When Italy declared war, Gariboldi commanded the Italian Fifth Army which was on the border with French Tunisia. He ultimately commanded both armies located in Libya. After the Battle of France ended, the Fifth Army became a source of men, parts, and supply for the Italian Tenth Army on the border with Egypt.
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Ivan Arkhipov
Ivan Vasilyevich Arkhipov (Russian: Иван Васильевич Архипов; Kaluga , 18 April [O.S. 1 May] 1907 – Moscow, 28 February 1998) was a Soviet-Russian statesman who was First Deputy of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1986.
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Ivan Kazanets
Ivan Pavlovych Kazanets (Ukrainian: Іван Павлович Казанець; October 12, 1918) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who served as the Chairmen of the Council of Ministers of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister) from 1963 to 1965. He was the minister of ferrous metallurgy of the Soviet Union for almost 20 years.
Ivan Kazanets was born in Lotsmanska village in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, central Ukraine.
During his public service, Ivan Kazanets received numerous civil and state awards and recognitions, including the Order of Lenin (in 1957, 1958, 1966, 1968 and 1971), the Order of the October Revolution (in 1978), and 20 medals, four of which are from foreign countries. In 1996, he became a meritorious metallurgist of the Russian Federation.
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Ivan Silayev
Ivan Stepanovich Silayev (Russian: Ива́н Степа́нович Сила́ев; born on 21 October 1930 in Baktyzino, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union) is a former Soviet official who became a Russian politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He served as Premier of the Soviet Union through the offices of Chairman of the Interstate Economic Committee and Chairman of the Committee on the Operational Management of the Soviet economy from 6 September to 26 December 1991. Responsible for overseeing the economy of the Soviet Union during the late Gorbachev Era, he was the last Premier of the Soviet Union.
After graduating in the 1950s, Silayev began his political career in the Ministry of Aviation Industry in the 1970s. During the Brezhnev Era he became Minister of Aviation Industry, a Central Committee member, and Minister of Machine-Tool and Tool Building Industry. When Nikolai Tikhonov's Second Government was dissolved, Mikhail Gorbachev appointed him Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers in Nikolai Ryzhkov's First Government. He left all posts in the central government in 1990 to focus in his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers – Government of the Russian SFSR. He faced several cabinet difficulties during his tenure, and supported the majority of Boris Yeltsin's policies. Having opposed Yeltsin's secessionist policies during his tenure as Soviet Premier, he was removed from his post as Russian SFSR Premier and succeeded in his post by acting Premier Oleg Lobov.
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James Callaghan
Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, KG, PC (27 March 1912 – 26 March 2005), was a British Labour politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Commonly known as Jim Callaghan (and nicknamed "Sunny Jim", "Gentleman Jim", "Lucky Jim" or "Big Jim"), Callaghan is the only person to have served in all four of the Great Offices of State: Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary.
Callaghan was Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1964 to 1967 during a turbulent period in the British economy in which he had to wrestle with a balance of payments deficit and speculative attacks on the pound sterling. In November 1967, the Government was forced to devalue the pound sterling despite having already denied this would be done, both publicly and to the House of Commons. Callaghan offered to resign, but was persuaded to swap his ministerial post with Roy Jenkins, becoming Home Secretary from 1967 to 1970. In that capacity, Callaghan took the decision to use the Army to support the police in Northern Ireland, after a request from the Northern Ireland Government.
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James Van Allen
James Alfred Van Allen (September 7, 1914 – August 9, 2006) was an American space scientist at the University of Iowa.
The Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following the 1958 satellite missions (Explorer 1 and Explorer 3) in which Van Allen had argued that a Geiger counter should be used to detect charged particles.
In 1950 an event occurred that began small but was to affect the future of Van Allen and all his countrymen. In March, British Physicist Sydney Chapman dropped in on Van Allen [and] remarked that he would like to meet other scientists in the Washington area. Van Allen got on the phone, soon gathered eight or ten top scientists (Lloyd Berkner, S. Fred Singer, and Harry Vestine) in the living room of his small brick house. ‘It was what you might call a pedigreed bull session,’ he says. ... The talk turned to geophysics and the two ‘International Polar Years’ that had enlisted the world’s leading nations to study the Arctic and Antarctic regions in 1882 and 1932. Someone suggested that with the development of new tools such as rockets, radar and computers, the time was ripe for a worldwide geophysical year. The other men were enthusiastic, and their enthusiasm spread around the world from Washington DC. From this meeting Lloyd Berkner and other participants proposed to the International Council of Scientific Unions that an IGY be planned for 1957-58 during the maximum solar activity). ... The International Geophysical Year (1957-58) stimulated the U.S. Government to promise earth satellites as geophysical tools. The Soviet government countered by rushing its Sputniks into orbit. The race into space or Space Race may be said to have started in Van Allen’s living room that evening in 1950.
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Jawaharlal Nehru
Jawaharlal Nehru (IPA: [dʒəʋaːɦərˈlaːl ˈneːɦru] ( listen), Hindi: जवाहरलाल नेहरू; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964), often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian lawyer, politician and statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India (1947–64) and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the 1930s and ’40s. Nehru was elected by the Indian National Congress to assume office as independent India's first Prime Minister, and re-elected when the Congress Party won India's first general election in 1951 and 1952. Nehru contributed to the establishment of a parliamentary democracy in India and was one of the founders of the international Non-Aligned Movement.
The son of moderate nationalist leader and Congressman Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Congress when fairly young. Rising to become Congress President under the mentorship of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic leader, advocating complete independence for India from the British Empire. Throughout his life, Nehru advocated Democratic Socialism/Fabian Socialism and a strong public sector as the means by which economic development could be pursued by poorer nations. He was the father of Indira Gandhi and the maternal grandfather of Rajiv Gandhi, who would later serve as the third and sixth Prime Ministers of India respectively.
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Jerome Hines
Jerome A. Hines (November 8, 1921 – February 4, 2003) was an American operatic bass who performed at the Metropolitan Opera from 1946 to 1987. Standing 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m), his stage presence and stentorian voice made him ideal for such roles as Sarastro in The Magic Flute, Mephistopheles in Faust, Ramfis in Aida, the Grand Inquisitor in Don Carlos, the title role of Boris Godunov and King Mark in Tristan und Isolde.
Hines was born Jerome Albert Link Heinz in Hollywood, California. He studied mathematics and chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, while also taking vocal lessons. Hines made his operatic debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1941, singing Monterone in Rigoletto. He changed his surname to Hines at the suggestion of his manager Sol Hurok to avoid the anti-German feelings prevalent during World War II.
In 1946, Hines made his debut at the Met as the Sergeant in Boris Godunov. He went on to sing forty-one seasons there, encompassing forty-five roles in thirty-nine operas. During this time he pursued further voice studies with Samuel Margolis and Vladimir Rosing.
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Jill Ker Conway
Jill Ker Conway (born 9 October 1934) is an Australian-American author. Well known for her autobiographies, in particular her first memoir, The Road from Coorain. She was also Smith College's first woman president, from 1975–1985, and now serves as a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2004 she was designated a Women's History Month Honoree by the National Women's History Project.
Conway was born in Hillston, New South Wales in the outback of Australia. Together with her two brothers, Conway was raised in near-total isolation on a family owned 73 square kilometres (18,000 acres) tract of land, Coorain (aboriginal word for "windy place"), which was eventually expanded into 129 square kilometres (32,000 acres). On Coorain she lived a lonely life, and grew up without playmates except for her brothers. She was schooled entirely by her mother and a country governess.
Conway spent her youth working the sheep station; by age seven, she was an important member of the workforce, helping with such activities as herding and tending the sheep, checking the perimeter fences and lugging heavy farm supplies around. The farm prospered until a drought that would last for seven years. This and her father's worsening health put an increasing burden on her shoulders. But this ended abruptly when she was 11 and her father drowned in an unfortunate diving accident, while trying to extend the farm's water piping.
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Jim Lovell
James "Jim" Arthur Lovell, Jr., (born March 25, 1928) is a former NASA astronaut and a retired captain in the United States Navy, most famous as the commander of the Apollo 13 mission, which suffered a critical failure en route to the Moon but was brought back safely to Earth by the efforts of the crew and mission control. Lovell was also the command module pilot of Apollo 8, the first Apollo mission to enter lunar orbit. Lovell is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon, the first of only three people to fly to the Moon twice, and the only one to have flown there twice without making a landing. Lovell was also the first person to fly in space four times.
Born in Cleveland, Ohio to a Czech mother, Lovell's family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he graduated from Juneau High School and became an Eagle Scout. His father died in a car accident when Lovell was young and, for about two years, he resided with a relative in Terre Haute, Indiana.
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Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States (1977–1981) and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office. Before he became President, Carter served as a U.S. Naval officer, was a peanut farmer, served two terms as a Georgia State Senator and one as Governor of Georgia (1971–1975).
During Carter's term as President, two new cabinet-level departments were created: the Department of Energy and the Department of Education. He established a national energy policy that included conservation, price control, and new technology. In foreign affairs, Carter pursued the Camp David Accords, the Panama Canal Treaties, the second round of Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II), and returned the Panama Canal Zone to Panama. Throughout his career, Carter strongly emphasized human rights. He took office during a period of international stagflation, which persisted throughout his term. The end of his presidential tenure was marked by the 1979–1981 Iran hostage crisis, the 1979 energy crisis, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan (at the end of 1979), 1980 Summer Olympics boycott by the United States of the Moscow Olympics and the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
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Joe Clark
Charles Joseph "Joe" Clark, PC CC AOE (born June 5, 1939) is a Canadian statesman, businessman, and university professor, and former journalist and politician. He served as the 16th Prime Minister of Canada, from June 4, 1979, to March 3, 1980.
Despite his relative inexperience, Clark rose quickly in federal politics, entering the House of Commons in the 1972 election and winning the leadership of the Progressive Conservative Party in 1976. He came to power in the 1979 election, defeating the Liberal government of Pierre Trudeau and ending sixteen continuous years of Liberal rule. Taking office the day before his 40th birthday, Clark is the youngest person to become Prime Minister. His tenure was brief as he only won a minority government, and it was defeated on a motion of non-confidence. Clark subsequently lost the 1980 election and the leadership of the party in 1983.
He returned to prominence in 1984 as a senior cabinet minister in Brian Mulroney's cabinet, retiring from politics after not standing for re-election for the House of Commons in 1993. He made a political comeback in 1998 to lead the Progressive Conservatives before its dissolution, serving his final term in Parliament from 2000 to 2004. Clark today is recognized as a distinguished scholar and statesman, and serves as a university professor and as president of his own consulting firm.
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John Desmond Bernal
John Desmond Bernal FRS (b. 10 May 1901, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, d. London, 15 September 1971) was one of Britain’s best known and most controversial scientists, called "Sage" by his friends, and known for pioneering X-ray crystallography in molecular biology.
His family was Irish, of mixed Italian and Spanish/PortugueseSephardic Jewish origin on his father's side (his grandfather Jacob Genese, properly Ginesi, had adopted the family name Bernal of his paternal grandmother around 1837). His father Samuel Bernal had been raised as a Catholic in Limerick and after graduating from Albert Agricultural College spent 14 years in Australia before returning to Tipperary to buy a farm Brookwatson near Nenagh where Bernal was brought up. His American mother, née Elizabeth Miller, whose mother was from Antrim, was a graduate of Stanford University and a journalist and had converted to Catholicism.
Bernal was educated in England first, for one term, at Stonyhurst College which he hated. Because of this he was moved to Bedford School at the age of thirteen. There, according to Goldsmith, for five years from 1914–1919 he found it 'extremely unpleasant' and most of his fellow students 'bored him' though his younger brother Kevin who was also there was 'some consolation' and Brown claims "he seemed to adjust easily to life" there. In 1919 he went to Emmanuel College, Cambridge University with a scholarship.
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John Diefenbaker
John George Diefenbaker, PC, CH, QC (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, serving from June 21, 1957, to April 22, 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative (PC or Tory) party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an election victory, doing so three times, although only once with a majority of seats in the Canadian House of Commons.
Diefenbaker was born in southwestern Ontario in 1895. In 1903, his family migrated west to the portion of the Northwest Territories which would shortly thereafter become the province of Saskatchewan. He grew up in the province, and was interested in politics from a young age. After brief service in World War I, Diefenbaker became a lawyer. He contested elections through the 1920s and 1930s with little success until he was finally elected to the House of Commons in 1940.
In the House of Commons, Diefenbaker was repeatedly a candidate for the PC leadership. He attained leadership of the party in 1956, leading it for eleven years. In 1957, he led the party to its first electoral victory in 27 years; a year later he called a snap election and spearheaded the Tories to one of their greatest triumphs. Diefenbaker appointed the first female minister in Canadian history to his Cabinet, as well as the first aboriginal member of the Senate. During his six years as Prime Minister, his government obtained passage of the Canadian Bill of Rights and granted the vote to the First Nations and Inuit peoples. In foreign policy, his stance against apartheid helped secure the departure of South Africa from the Commonwealth of Nations, but his indecision on whether to accept Bomarc nuclear missiles from the United States led to his government's downfall. Diefenbaker is also remembered for his role in the 1959 cancellation of the Avro Arrow project.
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John Foster Dulles
John Foster Dulles (February 25, 1888 – May 24, 1959) served as U.S. Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower from 1953 to 1959. He was a significant figure in the early Cold War era, advocating an aggressive stance against communism throughout the world. He advocated support of the French in their war against the Viet Minh in Indochina and it is widely believed that he refused to shake the hand of Zhou Enlai at the Geneva Conference in 1954. He also played a major role in the Central Intelligence Agency operation to overthrow the democratic Mossadegh government of Iran in 1953 (Operation Ajax) and the democratic Arbenz government of Guatemala in 1954 (Operation PBSUCCESS).
Born in Washington, D.C., he was one of five children and the eldest son born to Presbyterian minister Allen Macy Dulles and his wife Edith (Foster). His paternal grandfather, John Welsh Dulles, had been a Presbyterian missionary in India. He attended public schools in Watertown, New York. After graduating from Princeton University (Phi Beta Kappa, 1908), where he competed on the American Whig-Cliosophic Society debate team, and graduating from The George Washington University Law School, he joined the New York City law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell, where he specialized in international law. He tried to join the United States Army during World War I but was rejected because of poor eyesight. Instead, Dulles received an Army commission as Major on the War Industries Board.
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John Franklin Enders
John Franklin Enders (February 10, 1897 – September 8, 1985) was an American medical scientist and Nobel laureate. Enders had been called "The Father of Modern Vaccines."
Enders was born in West Hartford, Connecticut and was educated at the Noah Webster School at Hartford and St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire. He then attended Yale University for a short time before entering the United States Army Air Corps in 1918.
After returning from war he graduated from Yale, where he was a member of Scroll and Key as well as Delta Kappa Epsilon, and went on to become a businessman in real estate in 1922. He tried his hand at several careers before choosing to work in the biological field studying infectious diseases, gaining a Ph.D. at Harvard in 1930.
In 1954, while working at Children's Hospital Boston, Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, and Frederick Chapman Robbins were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for their discovery of the ability of poliomyelitis viruses to grow in cultures of various types of tissue". This work was the first to show that viruses of this type could be grown and manipulated outside of the body. It was this technique dubbed the Enders-Weller-Robbins method that Jonas Salk used to develop the polio vaccine in 1952. After a large-scale test of the vaccine proved successful in 1954, Salk appeared on a radio show and announced his success to the world. Although he never claimed the credit for himself, he also did not offer up any credit to any of his colleagues, including Enders, Weller, and Robbins, whose technique made his success possible. Salk became a hero to the public, but was somewhat shunned by the scientific community. Despite this misappropriated credit many professionals in the field still regard Enders', Weller's and Robbins' work as substantial have given Enders the title of "The Father of Modern Vaccines".
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John Sirica
John Joseph Sirica (March 19, 1904–August 14, 1992) was the Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, where he became famous for his role in the Watergate scandal. He rose to national prominence during the Watergate scandal when he ordered President Richard Nixon to turn over his recordings of White House conversations.
Sirica's involvement in the case began when he presided over the trial of the Watergate burglars. He did not believe the claim that they had acted alone, and persuaded or coerced them to implicate the men who had arranged the break-in. For his role in Watergate the judge was named TIME magazine's Man of the Year in 1973.
John Sirica was born in Waterbury, Connecticut to Ferdinand and Rose Zinno Sirica, both of whom were Italian immigrants. He moved to D.C. in 1918, where he attended Emerson Preparatory School and eventually transferred to Columbia Preparatory School. Sirica received his J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center after doing undergraduate work at Duke University.
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John Turner
John Napier Wyndham Turner, PC, CC, QC (born June 7, 1929) is an English Canadian lawyer and retired politician, who served as the 17th Prime Minister of Canada from June 30 to September 17, 1984.
In his political career, Turner held several prominent Cabinet posts, including minister of justice and minister of finance, under Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau from 1968 to 1975. Amid a world recession and the prospect of having to implement the unpopular wage and price controls, Turner surprisingly resigned his position in 1975. After a hiatus from politics from 1975 to 1984, Turner returned and successfully contested the Liberal leadership. Turner held the office of Prime Minister for 79 days (the second shortest tenure in Canadian history after Charles Tupper), as he dissolved Parliament immediately after being sworn in as Prime Minister, and went on to lose the 1984 election in a landslide. Turner stayed on as Liberal leader and headed the Official Opposition for the next six years, leading his party to a modest recovery in the 1988 campaign, resigning from politics in 1990.
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Jonas Savimbi
Jonas Malheiro Savimbi (August 3, 1934 – February 22, 2002) was an Angolan political leader. He founded and led UNITA, a movement that first waged a guerrilla war against Portuguese colonial rule, 1966–1974, then confronted the rival MPLA during the decolonization conflict, 1974-75, and after independence in 1975 fought the ruling MPLA in the Angolan Civil War until his death in a clash with government troops in 2002.
Savimbi was born on August 3, 1934, in Munhango, Moxico Province, a small town on the Benguela Railway, and raised in Bié Province. Savimbi's father, Lote, was a stationmaster on Angola's Benguela railway line and a preacher of the Protestant "Igreja Evangélica Congregacional de Angola", founded and maintained by American missionaries. Both his parents were members of the Bieno group of the Ovimbundu, the people who later served as Savimbi's major political base.
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Jorge Rafael Videla
Jorge Rafael Videla Redondo (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxorxe rafaˈel βiˈðela]; born 2 August 1925) is a former senior commander in the Argentine Army who was the de facto President of Argentina from 1976 to 1981. He came to power in a coup d'état that deposed Isabel Martínez de Perón. After the return of a representative democratic government, he was prosecuted for large-scale human rights abuses and crimes against humanity that took place under his rule, including kidnappings or forced disappearance, widespread torture and extrajudicial murder of activists, political opponents (either real, suspected or alleged) as well as their families, at secret concentration camps. The accusations also included the theft of many babies born during the captivity of their mothers at the illegal detention centres. He was under house arrest until 10 October 2008, when he was sent to a military prison. On 5 July 2010, Videla took full responsibility for his army's actions during his rule. "I accept the responsibility as the highest military authority during the internal war. My subordinates followed my orders," he told an Argentine court. On 22 December 2010, Videla was sentenced to life in a civilian prison for the deaths of 31 prisoners following his coup d'état.
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Jose Maria Sison
Jose Maria Sison (born February 8, 1939, Cabugao, Commonwealth of the Philippines) is a writer and activist who reorganized the Communist Party of the Philippines and added elements of Maoism to its philosophy.
Since August 2002, he has been classified as a "person supporting terrorism" by the United States. The European Union's second highest court ruled to delist him as a "person supporting terrorism" and reversed a decision by member governments to freeze assets.
Jose Maria Sison was born at Cabugao, Ilocos Sur on February 8, 1939. Also a member of a prominent family with the connections to other prominent personalities like the Crisologos, Sison affirmed his background as a member of a landowning family. But during his childhood days, his inclination to the left began by listening to his barber discussing him about the Hukblahap in Ilocos (kwentong barbero), as well as studying in a public school in Ilocos (unlike his relatives) before entering Ateneo de Manila, then in Colegio de San Juan de Letran. A 1959 graduate of the University of the Philippines, Sison studied in Indonesia, before returning to the Philippines to settle as a university professor of literature. Sison also joined the Lavaite Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas as well as one of the founding members of the Socialist Party and Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism. And in 1964, he co-founded the Kabataang Makabayan or Patriotic Youth with Nilo S. Tayag. This organization rallied Filipino youth against the Vietnam war, against the Marcos presidency and corrupt politicians alongside Imperialism, Bureaucrat Capitalism and Feudalism. The organization also spearheaded the studying of Maoism as part of the struggle.
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Joseph Kuzmin
Joseph I. Kuzmin (Russian: Ио́сиф Ио́сифович Кузьми́н; Astrakhan , 19 May [O.S. 1 June] 1910 – Moscow, 12 January 1996) was a Soviet-Russian statesman who was First Deputy of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union from 1957 to 1958 and Chairman of the State Planning Committee from 1957 to 1959.
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Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957. Beginning in 1950, McCarthy became the most visible public face of a period in which Cold War tensions fueled fears of widespread Communist subversion. He was noted for making claims that there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathizers inside the United States federal government and elsewhere. Ultimately, McCarthy's tactics and his inability to substantiate his claims led him to be censured by the United States Senate.
The term McCarthyism, coined in 1950 in reference to McCarthy's practices, was soon applied to similar anti-communist activities. Today the term is used more generally in reference to demagogic, reckless, and unsubstantiated accusations, as well as public attacks on the character and/or patriotism of political opponents.
Born and raised on a Wisconsin farm, McCarthy earned a law degree at Marquette University in 1935 and was elected as a circuit judge in 1939, the youngest in state history. At age 33, McCarthy volunteered for the United States Marine Corps and served during World War II. He successfully ran for the United States Senate in 1946, defeating Robert M. La Follette, Jr. After three largely undistinguished years in the Senate, McCarthy rose suddenly to national fame in February 1950 when he asserted in a speech that he had a list of "members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring" who were employed in the State Department. McCarthy was never able to prove his sensational charge.
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Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин; born Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili, Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Джугашвили; 18 December 1878 – 5 March 1953) was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution in Russia in 1917 and later held the position of General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953. While the office of the General Secretary was officially elective and not initially regarded as the top position in the Soviet state, Stalin managed to use it to consolidate more and more power in his hands after the death of Vladimir Lenin in 1924 and gradually put down all opposition groups within the Communist Party. This included Leon Trotsky, a socialist theorist and the principal critic of Stalin among the early Soviet leaders, who was exiled from the Soviet Union in 1929. Whereas Trotsky was an exponent of permanent revolution, it was Stalin's concept of socialism in one country that became the primary focus of Soviet politics.
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Joshua Lederberg
Joshua Lederberg ForMemRS (May 23, 1925 – February 2, 2008) was an American molecular biologist known for his work in microbial genetics, artificial intelligence, and the United States space program. He was just 33 years old when he won the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discovering that bacteria can mate and exchange genes. He shared the prize with Edward L. Tatum and George Beadle who won for their work with genetics.
In addition to his contributions to biology, Lederberg did extensive research in artificial intelligence. This included work in the NASA experimental programs seeking life on Mars and the chemistry expert system Dendral.
Lederberg was born in Montclair, New Jersey, to a Jewish family, son of Esther Goldenbaum Schulman Lederberg and Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Lederberg, in 1925, and moved to Washington Heights, Manhattan as an infant. He had two younger brothers. Lederberg graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City at the age of 15 in 1941. After graduation, he was allowed lab space as part of the American Institute Science Laboratory, a forerunner of the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. He enrolled in Columbia University in 1941, majoring in zoology. Under the mentorship of Francis J. Ryan, he conducted biochemical and genetic studies on the bread mold Neurospora crassa. Intending to receive his MD and fulfill his military service obligations, Lederberg worked as a hospital corpsman during 1943 in the clinical pathology laboratory at St. Albans Naval Hospital, where he examined sailors' blood and stool samples for malaria. He went on to receive his undergraduate degree in 1944.
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Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [jɔ̂sip brɔ̂ːz tîtɔ]; born Josip Broz; Cyrillic: Јосип Броз Тито; 7 May 1892 – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman, serving in various roles from 1945 until his death in 1980. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, due to his successful economic and diplomatic policies, Tito was seen by most as a benevolent dictator, and was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad. Viewed as a unifying symbol, his internal policies successfully maintained the peaceful coexistence of the nations of the Yugoslav federation. He gained international attention as the chief leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, working with Jawaharlal Nehru of India and Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt.
Josip was born as the seventh child of Franjo and Marija Broz in the village of Kumrovec within Austria-Hungary (modern-day Croatia). Drafted into the army, he distinguished himself, becoming the youngest Sergeant Major in the Austro-Hungarian Army. After being seriously wounded and captured by the Russians, Josip was sent to a work camp in the Ural Mountains. He participated in the October Revolution, and later joined a Red Guard unit in Omsk. Upon his return home, Broz found himself in the newly established Kingdom of Yugoslavia, where he joined the Communist Party of Yugoslavia.
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João Goulart
João Belchior Marques Goulart (gaúcho Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈʒu.ɐ̃w bewˈki.ɔɾ ˈmarkis ɡuˈlaɾ], or [ˈʒwɐ̃w ˈbɛwkjɔʁ ˈmaʁkiʒ ɡuːˈlaʁ] in the standard fluminense dialect; March 1, 1919 – December 6, 1976) was a Brazilian politician and the 24th President of Brazil until a military coup d'état deposed him on April 1, 1964. He is considered to have been the last left-wing President of the country until Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in 2003.
João Goulart is nicknamed "Jango" ([ˈʒɐ̃gu]). The Jânio Quadros–João Goulart presidential bid was thus called "Jan–Jan" ([ʒɐ̃.ʒɐ̃], an amalgamation of Jânio and Jango).
His childhood hypocoristics was "Janguinho" (little Jango), which came from an uncle named Jango. Years later, when he entered the world of politics, supported and advised by Getúlio Vargas, his friends and colleagues started to call him Jango.
His grandfather, Belchior Rodrigues Goulart, descended from Portuguese immigrants from Azores who arrived at Rio Grande do Sul in the second half of the 18th century. In the group of first Azoreans established in the state there were at least three immigrants with the surname Govaert (latter adapted to Goulart or Gularte in Portuguese) of Flemish-Azorean ancestors; the surname Goulart originates from France.
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Juan Ponce Enrile
Juan Ponce Enrile (born February 14, 1924) is a Filipino politician. As a protege of President Ferdinand Marcos, he served as Justice Secretary and then Defense Secretary under the Marcos regime. He later became one of the leaders (along with General Fidel V. Ramos) of the 1986 People Power Movement that drove Marcos from power. Enrile has continued to be a prominent politician since then; he has been President of the Senate of the Philippines since November 2008.
Juan Ponce Enrile was born Juanito Furagganan in Gonzaga, Cagayan, to Petra Furagganan, the daughter of a poor fisherman. He was born out of wedlock—his father was the already married powerful regional politician and renowned lawyer Alfonso Ponce Enrile. He is the second great-nephew of Mariano Ponce. He was reunited with his father by the time he reached his high school years.
He graduated cum laude in 1949 with an Associate of Arts degree at the Ateneo de Manila University. Afterward, he attended the University of the Philippines College of Law and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Laws degree. While in law school, he joined the Sigma Rho fraternity. Upon graduation, he was elected to the prestigious Pi Gamma Mu and Phi Kappa Phi international honor societies. He achieved the 11th highest score in the 1953 bar examinations with a 91.72% rating and a perfect score in mercantile law. As a scholar at the Harvard Law School, he earned a Master of Laws degree with specialized training in international tax law.
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Julius Nyerere
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician who served as the first President of Tanzania and previously Tanganyika, from the country's founding in 1961 until his retirement in 1985.
Born in Tanganyika to Nyerere Burito (1860–1942), Chief of the Zanaki, Nyerere was known by the Swahili name Mwalimu or 'teacher', his profession prior to politics. He was also referred to as Baba wa Taifa (Father of the Nation). Nyerere received his higher education at Makerere University in Kampala and the University of Edinburgh. After he returned to Tanganyika, he worked as a teacher. In 1954, he helped form the Tanganyika African National Union.
In 1961, Nyerere was elected Tanganyika's first Prime Minister, and following independence, in 1962, the country's first President. In 1964, Tanganyika became politically united with Zanzibar and was renamed to Tanzania. In 1965, a one-party election returned Nyerere to power. During the first years Nyerere created a single-party system and used "preventive detention" to eliminate trade unions and opposition.
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János Kádár
János Kádár (26 May 1912 – 6 July 1989) was a Hungarian communist leader and the General Secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party, presiding over the country from 1956 until his retirement in 1988. His thirty-two year term as General Secretary makes Kádár the longest ruler of the People's Republic of Hungary. During Kádár's rule, Hungary was stabilized and liberalized to an extent never before seen in any Eastern Bloc country until Mikhail Gorbachev became General Secretary. Due to his age and declining health, he decided to retire as Secretary-General of the party in 1988, and a younger generation consisting mostly of reformers took over.
Kádár was born in Fiume to a poor family, his father left his mother and him when he was very young, and he never met his father. After living in the countryside for some years, Kádár and his mother moved to Budapest. After quitting school, Kádár joined the Communist Party of Hungary's youth organisation, KIMSZ. Kádár would go on to become a notable figure of the pre-World War II communist party, even becoming First Secretary. As leader he dissolved the party, and reorganised it as the Peace Party. This new party failed to win any popular support for the communist cause, and he would later be accused, of dissolving the Hungarian communist party. With the German invasion of Hungary, the Peace Party tried again to win support from the Hungarian populace, but failed. At the time of the Soviet occupation, the communists led by Kádár were very small in size.
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Kakuei Tanaka
Kakuei Tanaka (田中 角栄 or 田中 角榮, Tanaka Kakuei?, 4 May 1918 – 16 December 1993) was a Japanese politician and the 64th and 65th Prime Minister of Japan from 7 July 1972 to 22 December 1972 and from 22 December 1972 to 9 December 1974 respectively. He was also the most influential member of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party until the mid-1980s, when he fell from power after a long series of scandals, leading him to be described as "that paragon of post-war corruption."
Tanaka, nicknamed Kaku-san, was known as the "Shadow Shogun" (闇将軍 Yami-shōgun. literally, "Shadow Shogun" or "Shogun of Darkness").
His political-economic direction is called construction state (土建国家, Doken Kokka?).
Tanaka was born into a rural family with seven children in Nishiyama, Niigata Prefecture. His father was involved with a disastrous venture to start Niigata's first dairy farm, and so the family scraped by in abject poverty. Kakuei left school after the equivalent of the eighth grade and went to work in the construction business, and soon moved to Tokyo.
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Karl Strecker
Karl Strecker (20 September 1884 – 10 April 1973) was a highly decorated Generaloberst in the Wehrmacht during World War II who commanded several corps.
Born the son of a Prussian officer in Radmannsdorf, West Prussia (present-day Trzebiełuch, Poland), Strecker in 1905 joined the infantry regiment No. 152 of the German Army at Marienburg in the rank of a Leutnant, promoted to Hauptmann (captain) in World War I.
He was also a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarded to recognise extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership. Karl Strecker was captured by Soviet troops at Stalingrad in February 1943. He was held in captivity until 1955.
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Kathleen Byerly
Kathleen M. Byerly (born ca. 1944) is known for being one of the women named by Time magazine Time Person of the Year in 1975, representing American women (at the height of the feminist movement). She was in the first female officer in the United States Navy to be appointed flag secretary and aide to an admiral.
Byerly graduated from Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1966. Following graduation, she joined the U.S. Navy. In 1975 she held the rank of Lieutenant Commander and was a Navy executive and aide to Rear Admiral Allen Hill.
"A Dozen Who Made a Difference – Kathleen Byerly: Confident Commander". Time. 5 January 1976. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,947599-5,00.html. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
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Kim Campbell
Avril Phædra Douglas "Kim" Campbell, PC CC OBC QC (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician, lawyer, university professor, diplomat, and writer. She served as the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, from June 25, 1993 to November 4, 1993. Campbell was the first and to date the only female Prime Minister of Canada, the first baby boomer to hold that office, and the only PM to have been born in British Columbia.
Campbell was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia to George Thomas Campbell (1920–2002) and Phyllis "Lisa" Cook. Her mother left the family when Campbell was 12, leaving Kim and her sister Alix to be raised by their father. As a teenager, Campbell permanently nicknamed herself Kim, perhaps for actress Kim Novak.
While in her pre-teens, Campbell was a host and reporter on the CBC children's program Junior Television Club.
Campbell and her family moved to Vancouver, where she attended Prince of Wales Secondary School, and was a top student. She became the school's first female student president, and graduated in 1964.
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Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby (1 January 1912–11 May 1988) was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a double agent before defecting to the Soviet Union. He served as both an NKVD and KGB operative.
In 1963, Philby was revealed to be a member of the spy ring now known as the Cambridge Five, the other members of which were Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt, and John Cairncross. Of the five, Philby is believed to have been most successful in providing secret information to the Soviet Union. His activities were moderated only by Joseph Stalin's fears that he was secretly on Britain's side. Philby was an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from 1946 to 1965.
Philby was born at Ambala in the Punjab while it was a province of British India. His father, St. John Philby, a well-known author, orientalist, and convert to Islam, was a member of the Indian Civil Service and later a civil servant in Mesopotamia and advisor to King Ibn Sa'ud of Saudi Arabia.
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Kirill Mazurov
Kirill Trofimovich Mazurov (Belarusian: Кіры́ла Трафі́мавіч Ма́зураў, Russian: Кирилл Трофимович Мазуров; born 25 March 1914, Homyel Voblast, Belarus - died 19 December 1989) was a Belarusian Soviet politician.
Mazurov was originally a construction technician, and graduated from the Homyel highway technical school in 1933. He joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1940 and the Red Army in 1941. During the Great Patriotic War, he participated in military actions as a political instructor, a battalion commander and an instructor of the army's political department.[citation needed]
Mazurov left the army in 1942 to become secretary of the central committee of the Belarusian Komsomol. Mazurov then moved to a Soviet partisan unit where he became president of the central staff.[citation needed]
After the war, Mazurov returned to his position as secretary of the Belarusian Komsomol. In 1947 he joined the apparatus of the Communist Party of Byelorussia. From 1949 to 1950 he was the First Secretary of the Minsk city committee and from 1950 to 1953 first secretary of the Minsk regional committee of the Communist Party of Byelorussia. From 1950 to 1979, he was deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. After Joseph Stalin's death, he actively supported Nikita Khrushchev. He was chairman of the council of ministers of BSSR (1953–1965), then First Secretary of the Communist Party of Belarus (1956–1965). In 1964 he was appointed candidate member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee and was then a full member from 26 March 1965 to 27 November 1978. He was also the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers(1965–1976).[citation needed]
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Klement Gottwald
Klement Gottwald (23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czechoslovakian Communist politician, longtime leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ or CPCz or CPC), prime minister and president of Czechoslovakia.
Gottwald, of ethnic German descent was born on 23 November 1896, in Deditz, Wischau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now Vyškov, Czech Republic).
His first career was as a cabinet maker. Subsequently, he was (1921) one of the founders of the KSČ, 1921–1926 newspaper editor and KSČ functionary in Slovakia, since 1925 member of the KSČ Central Committee, 1926–1929 the leader of the Central Political and Propaganda Committee of the KSČ Central Committee, 1929–1948 member of the parliament, 1929–1945 Secretary-General of the KSČ, 1935–1943 a secretary of the Comintern, 1939–1945 one of the leaders of Communist resistance (in Moscow), 1945–1953 chairman of the KSČ, 1945–1946 Vice Premier, 1946–1948 Prime Minister of the Czechoslovak government, 1948–1953 President of Czechoslovakia.
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Kliment Voroshilov
Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov (Russian: Климе́нт Ефре́мович Вороши́лов (help·info), Ukrainian: Климент Охрімович Ворошилов, Klyment Okhrimovych Voroshylov), popularly known as Klim Voroshilov (Russian: Клим Вороши́лов, Klim Vorošilov) (4 February 1881 – 2 December 1969) was a Soviet military officer, politician, and statesman. He served as Defense Minister and Marshal of the Soviet Union from 1935 and 1936, respectively, until his death in 1969.
Voroshilov was born in the settlement Verkhnye, Bakhmut county (uyezd), Yekaterinoslav Governorate (now part of Lysychansk city in Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine), in the Russian Empire, into a railway worker's family of Russian ethnicity. However, according to the Soviet Major General Pyotr Grigorenko Voroshilov himself was pointing out to his Ukrainian heritage and previous family name of Voroshilo. Voroshilov joined the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1905. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Voroshilov became a member of the Ukrainian Council of People's Commissars and Commissar for Internal Affairs along with Vasili Averin. He was well known for aiding Joseph Stalin in the Military Council (led by Leon Trotsky), having become closely associated with Stalin during the Red Army's 1918 defense of Tsaritsyn. Voroshilov was instrumental as a commander of the Southern Front during the Russian Civil War and the Polish-Soviet War while with the 1st Cavalry Army. As Political Commissar serving co-equally with Stalin, Voroshilov was responsible for the morale of the 1st Cavalry Army, whose men were composed chiefly of peasants from southern Russia. Voroshilov's efforts as Commissar did not prevent a resounding defeat at the Battle of Komarów or regular outbreaks of murderous anti-Semitic violence within the Cavalry army's ranks.
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Konrad Adenauer
Konrad Hermann Joseph Adenauer (German pronunciation: [ˈkɔnʁaːt ˈhɛɐman ˈjoːzɛf ˈaːdənaʊɐ]; 5 January 1876 – 19 April 1967) was a German statesman. As Chancellor of Germany (West Germany) from 1949 to 1963, he led his country from the ruins of World War II to a powerful and prosperous nation that forged close relations with old enemies France and the United States. In his years in power Germany achieved prosperity, democracy, stability and respect. He was the first chancellor (head of government) of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, called West Germany), 1949–63. He was the first leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a coalition of Catholics and Protestants that under his leadership became and has since remained the most dominant in Germany.
Adenauer, dubbed "Der Alte" ("the old one"), belied his age as the oldest elected leader in world history by his intense work habits and his uncanny political instinct. He displayed a strong dedication to a broad vision of democracy, capitalism, and anti-Communism. A shrewd politician, Adenauer was deeply committed to a Western-oriented foreign policy and restoring the position of West Germany on the world stage. He worked to restore the West German economy from the destruction in World War II to a central position in Europe, rebuilt its army and came to terms with France, helped make possible Western European unification, opposed rival East Germany, and made his nation a member of NATO and a firm ally of the United States.
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Konstantin Chernenko
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko (24 September 1911 – 10 March 1985) was a Soviet politician and the fifth General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He led the Soviet Union from 13 February 1984 until his death thirteen months later, on 10 March 1985. Chernenko was also Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 11 April 1984 until his death.
Chernenko was born to a poor family in the village of Bolshaya Tes (now in Novosyolovsky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai). His father, Ustin Demidovich (of Ukrainian origin),[citation needed] worked in copper and gold mines while his mother took care of the farm work.
Chernenko joined the Komsomol (Communist Youth League) in 1929, and became a full member of the Communist Party in 1931. From 1930 to 1933, he served in the Soviet frontier guards on the Soviet-Chinese border. After completing his military service, he returned to Krasnoyarsk as a propagandist. In 1933 he worked in the Propaganda Department of the Novosyolovsky District Party Committee. A few years later he was promoted head of the same department in Uyarsk Raykom. Chernenko then steadily rose through the Party ranks, becoming the Director of the Krasnoyarsk House of Party Enlightenment then in 1939, the Deputy Head of the AgitProp Department of Krasnoyarsk Territorial Committee and finally, in 1941 he was appointed Secretary of the Territorial Party Committee for Propaganda. It was in the 1940s that Chernenko established a close-knit relationship with Fyodor Kulakov. In 1945, he acquired a diploma from a party training school in Moscow, and in 1953 he finished a correspondence course for schoolteachers.
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Kost Levytsky
Kost Levytsky (Ukrainian: Кость Леви́цький; 1859 – 1941) was a Ukrainian politician. He was a founder of the Ukrainian National Democratic movement and the leader of the State Representative Body of the Ukrainian government declared on June 30, 1941
Levytsky was born on November 18 1859 in the settlement of Tysmenytsia of today’s Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast into the family of a Greek Catholic priest Antin Levytsky. After finishing the Stanislaviv gymnasium he studied at Law faculties of Lviv and Vienna Universities. In 1884 he was awarded the Doctor’s degree in law, and in 1890 opened the barrister’s office in Lviv.
Kost Levytsky took active part in public and political life in his student years, he was one of the leaders of Academic Fraternity, the Circle of Law. From the first years of his barrister’s practice K. Levytsky was a practical advocate of the rights and freedoms of people. He united his professional activity with that in the sphere of Ukrainian enterprises, he was a co-founder and leading figure in the economic associations Zorya, People’s trade, Dniester, Province Credit Union. At the same time he was a well-known scientist in law, translated foreign laws into Ukrainian, worked with Ukrainian law terminology; he had published German-Ukrainian Law Dictionary, a series of popular works in law for the broad circles of Galician people, founded such professional editions as Chasopys pravnycha (Law periodical) and Zhyttia i pravo (Life and Law) and was their editor.
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Kulak
Kulaks (Russian: кула́к, kulak, "fist", by extension "tight-fisted"; kurkuls in Ukraine, also used in Russian texts in Ukrainian contexts) were a category of relatively affluent farmers in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and early Soviet Union. The word kulak originally referred to independent farmers in the Russian Empire who emerged from the peasantry and became wealthy following the Stolypin reform, which began in 1906.
According to the political theory of Marxism-Leninism of the early 20th century, the kulaks were class enemies of the poorer peasants.Vladimir Lenin described them as "bloodsuckers, vampires, plunderers of the people and profiteers, who fatten on famine.” Marxism-Leninism had intended a revolution to liberate poor peasants and farm laborers alongside the proletariat (urban and industrial workers). In addition, the planned economy of Soviet Bolshevism required the collectivization of farms and land to allow industrialization or conversion to large-scale agricultural production. In practice, these Marxist-Leninist theories led to disruption of agriculture as government officials violently seized kulak farms and murdered resistors.
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Kwame Nkrumah
The Rt. Hon. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah (21 September 1909 – 27 April 1972), P.C., was the leader of Ghana and its predecessor state, the Gold Coast, from 1951 to 1966. Overseeing the nation's independence from British colonial rule in 1957, Nkrumah was the first President of Ghana and the first Prime Minister of Ghana. An influential 20th-century advocate of Pan-Africanism, he was a founding member of the Organization of African Unity and was the winner of the Lenin Peace Prize in 1963.
Kwame Nkrumah was born in 1909 to Madam Nyaniba in Nkroful, Gold Coast. Nkrumah trained to be a teacher at Achimota School in Accra from 1927 to 1930 . For the following 5 years he worked as a teacher in several schools in the Gold Coast including a Catholic school in Axim, whilst saving money to continue his education in the USA. In 1935 he sailed from Takoradi, the Gold Coast's main port, to Liverpool in England, and made his way to London where he obtained his student visa from the US Embassy. It was while he was in London in late 1935 thet he heard the news of Fascist Italy's invasion of Abyssinia, an event that outraged the young Nkrumah and influenced his political development. In October 1935 Nkrumah sailed from Liverpool to the United States and enrolled in Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He graduated with a BA in 1939, and received a Bachelor of Sacred Theology in 1942. Nkrumah earned a Master of Science in education from the University of Pennsylvania in 1942, and a Master of Arts in philosophy the following year. While lecturing in political science at Lincoln he was elected president of the African Students Organization of America and Canada. As an undergraduate at Lincoln he participated in at least one student theater production and published an essay on European government in Africa in the student newspaper, The Lincolnian.
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Kyuichi Tokuda
Kyuichi Tokuda (徳田 球一, Tokuda Kyūichi?) was a Japanese politician and first chairman of the Japanese Communist Party from 1945 until his death in 1953.
At Revolutionary Democracy Archive
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Lavrentiy Beria
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (Georgian: ლავრენტი პავლეს ძე ბერია, Lavrenti Pavles dze Beria; Russian: Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия; 29 March 1899 – 23 December 1953) was a Soviet politician, Marshal of the Soviet Union and state security administrator, chief of the Soviet security and secret police apparatus (NKVD) under Joseph Stalin during World War II, and Deputy Premier in the postwar years (1946–1953).
Beria was the longest lived and most influential of Stalin's secret police chiefs, wielding his most substantial influence during and after World War II. He simultaneously administered vast sections of the Soviet state and served as de facto Marshal of the Soviet Union in command of the NKVD field units responsible for anti-partisan operations on the Eastern Front during World War II, as well as for acting as barrier troops and the apprehension of thousands of "turncoats, deserters, cowards and suspected malingerers". Beria administered the vast expansion of the Gulag labor camps and was primarily responsible for overseeing the secret defense institutions known as sharashkas, critical to the war effort. He also played the decisive role in coordinating the Soviet partisans, developing an impressive intelligence and sabotage network behind German lines. He attended the Yalta Conference with Stalin, who introduced him to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt as "our Himmler". After the war, he organized the communist takeover of the countries of Central Europe and Eastern Europe. Beria's uncompromising ruthlessness in his duties and skill at producing results culminated in his success in overseeing the Soviet atomic bomb project. Stalin gave it absolute priority and the project was completed in under five years in no small part due to Soviet espionage against the West organized by Beria's NKVD.
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Lazar Kaganovich
Lazar Moiseyevich Kaganovich (Russian: Ла́зарь Моисе́евич Кагано́вич; 22 November [O.S. 10 November] 1893 – 25 July 1991) was a Soviet politician and administrator and one of the main associates of Joseph Stalin. At his death in 1991 he was the last surviving Old Bolshevik, almost outliving the existence of the Soviet Union itself.
Kaganovich was born in 1893 to Jewish parents in the village of Kabany, Radomyshl uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Russian Empire (now named Dibrova, Poliske Raion, Kiev Oblast, Ukraine). Early in his political career, in 1915, Kaganovich became a Communist organizer for a shoe factory where he worked.
In 1911, he enlisted with the Bolshevik party (his older brother Mikhail Kaganovich was already a member). Later in 1915, Kaganovich was arrested and sent back to Kabany. During March–April 1917, he was the Chairman of the Tanners Union and the vice-chairman of the Yuzovka Soviet. In May 1917, he became the leader of the military organization of Bolsheviks in Saratov, and in August 1917, he became the leader of the Polessky Committee of the Bolshevik party in Belarus. During the October Revolution, he was the leader of the revolt in Homel.
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Le Duan
Lê Duẩn (7 April 1907 – 10 July 1986) was a Vietnamese communist politician. He rose in the party hierarchy in the late 1950s, and was elected General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam at the 3rd Party Congress. Le Duan continued Hồ Chí Minh's policy of ruling through collective leadership. From 1958 until his death in 1986, Le Duan was the top decision-maker in Vietnam.
Born into a lower class family in Quảng Trị province, French Indochina, little is known about Le Duan's family and childhood; his birthname remains unknown. He first came in contact with Marxist literature in the 1920s through his work as a railway clerk. Le Duan was a founding member of the Indochina Communist Party (the future Communist Party of Vietnam) in 1930, but was arrested the following year, in 1931. He spent six years in jail until he was released in 1937. From 1937 to 1939 he worked himself up the party ladder; but he was rearrested in 1939, this time for fomenting an uprising in the South. Le Duan was released from jail following the successful communist-led August Revolution.
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Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa (commonly rendered Walesa) (Polish: [ˈlɛx vaˈwɛ̃sa] ( listen), English: /ˌlɛk vəˈwɛnsə/ or /wɔːˈlɛnsə/; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity (Solidarność), the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 1995.
Wałęsa was an electrician by trade, with no higher education. Soon after beginning work at the Gdańsk (then, "Lenin") Shipyards, he became a trade-union activist. For this he was persecuted by the Polish communist government, placed under surveillance, fired in 1976, and arrested several times. In August 1980 he was instrumental in negotiations that led to the ground-breaking Gdańsk Agreement between striking workers and the government, and he became a co-founder of the Solidarity trade-union movement. Arrested again after martial law was imposed and Solidarity was outlawed, upon release he continued his activism and was prominent in the establishment of the 1989 Round Table Agreement that led to semi-free parliamentary elections in June 1989 and to a Solidarity-led government.
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Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky (Russian: Лев Троцкий, pronounced [ˈlʲef ˈtrot͡skʲɪj] ( listen); 7 November [O.S. 26 October] 1879 – 21 August 1940), born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army.
Trotsky was initially a supporter of the Menshevik Internationalists faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He joined the Bolsheviks immediately prior to the 1917 October Revolution, and eventually became a leader within the Party. During the early days of the Soviet Union, he served first as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs and later as the founder and commander of the Red Army as People's Commissar of Military and Naval Affairs. He was a major figure in the Bolshevik victory in the Russian Civil War (1918–20). He was also among the first members of the Politburo.
After leading a failed struggle of the Left Opposition against the policies and rise of Joseph Stalin in the 1920s and the increasing role of bureaucracy in the Soviet Union, Trotsky was successively removed from power, expelled from the Communist Party, deported from the Soviet Union and assassinated on Stalin's orders. An early advocate of Red Army intervention against European fascism, Trotsky also opposed Stalin's non-aggression pact with Adolf Hitler in the late 1930s.
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Leonel Brizola
Leonel de Moura Brizola (January 22, 1922 – June 21, 2004) was a Brazilian politician. Launched in politics by Getúlio Vargas, Brizola was the only politician to serve as governor of two different states in the whole history of Brazil. In 1959 he was elected governor of Rio Grande do Sul, and in 1982 and 1990 he was elected governor of Rio de Janeiro. He was also vice-president of the Socialist International, as well as Honorary President of that organization for a few months, from October 2003 until his death. Brizola and his party (Democratic Labour Party) preached and practiced a kind of social democratic left-wing policy.
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Leonid Brezhnev
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (Russian: Леони́д Ильи́ч Бре́жнев; IPA: [lʲɪɐˈnʲid ɪlʲˈjitɕ ˈbrʲeʐnʲɪf] ( listen); Ukrainian: Леоні́д Іллі́ч Бре́жнєв, 19 December 1906 (O.S. 6 December) – 10 November 1982) was the General Secretary of the Central Committee (CC) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), presiding over the country from 1964 until his death in 1982. His eighteen-year term as General Secretary was second only to that of Joseph Stalin in length. During Brezhnev's rule, the global influence of the Soviet Union grew dramatically, in part because of the expansion of the Soviet military during this time, but his tenure as leader has often been criticised for marking the beginning of a period of economic stagnation in which serious economic problems were overlooked, problems which eventually led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Brezhnev was born in Kamenskoe into a Russian worker's family. After graduating from the Dniprodzerzhynsk Metallurgical Technicum, he became a metallurgical engineer in the iron and steel industry, in Ukraine. He joined Komsomol in 1923, and in 1929 became an active member of the Communist Party. He was drafted into immediate military service during World War II and left the army in 1946 with the rank of Major General. In 1952 Brezhnev became a member of the Central Committee, and in 1964, Brezhnev succeeded Nikita Khrushchev as First Secretary. Alexei Kosygin succeeded Khrushchev in his post as Chairman of the Council of Ministers.
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Leonid Korniyets
Leonid Romanovych Korniyets (Ukrainian: Леонід Романович Корнієць; 21 August 1901 - 29 May 1969) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who served as the head of government of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister) from 1939 to 1944.
Leonid Korniyets was born in a town of Bobrynets in Kirovohrad Oblast, central Ukraine.
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Leonid Kravchuk
Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk (Ukrainian: Леонід Макарович Кравчук; born January 10, 1934) is a Ukrainian politician, the first President of Ukraine serving from December 5, 1991 until his resignation on July 19, 1994, a former Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada and People's Deputy of Ukraine serving in the Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united) faction.
After a political crisis involving the President and the Prime Minister, Kravchuk resigned from the Presidency, but ran for a second term as President in 1994. He was defeated by his former Prime Minister, Leonid Kuchma, who served as President for two terms. After his presidency, he was active in Ukrainian politics, serving as a People's Deputy of Ukraine in the Verkhovna Rada and the leader of Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (united)'s parliamentary group (from 2002 to 2006). He is currently politically inactive.
Leonid Makarovych Kravchuk was born in 1934 in the village of Velykyi Zhytyn (Żytyń Wielki) in a peasant family. At that time the village was located in Aleksandrija gmina, Rowno powiat in Poland. The village became part of Rivne Oblast in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic after the Soviet invasion in 1939 when he was a child. His father served in Polish cavalry in 1930s, later he and his wife worked for the local osadniks (Polish colonists). During the World War II the father of Kravchuk perished on the front-lines.
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Leonid Kuchma
Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (Ukrainian: Леонід Данилович Кучма) (born 9 August 1938) was the second President of independent Ukraine from 19 July 1994, to 23 January 2005. Kuchma took office after winning the 1994 presidential election against his rival, incumbent Leonid Kravchuk. Kuchma won re-election for an additional 5-year term in 1999.
His presidency was surrounded by numerous corruption scandals and the lessening of media freedoms. Corruption accelerated after Kuchma's election in 1994, but in 2000–2001, his power began to weaken in the face of exposures in the media.
Under his watch the Ukrainian economy continued to decline until 1999, whereas growth was recorded since 2000, bringing relative prosperity to some segments of urban residents. During his presidency, Ukrainian-Russian ties began to improve.
Kuchma was born in a village of Chaikine Chernihiv Oblast. His father Danylo Prokopovych (1901–1942) had died at the field hospital 756 near a village of Novoselytsia during World War II and his mother Paraska Trokhymivna worked at a farm. Kuchma attended the Kostoborove general education school in the neighboring Semenivka Raion. He enrolled to Dnipropetrovsk National University and graduated it in 1960 with a degree in rocket science as an engineer-mechanic. Kuchma is a candidate of technical sciences. The same year he joined the Communist Party of Soviet Union.
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Leopoldo Galtieri
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli (July 15, 1926 – January 12, 2003) was an Argentine general and President of Argentina from December 22, 1981 to June 18, 1982, during the last military dictatorship (known officially as the National Reorganization Process). The death squad Intelligence Battalion 601 directly reported to him. He was removed from power soon after the British retook the Falklands Islands, whose invasion he had ordered.
Galtieri was the child of working class parents who were poor Italian immigrants. At 17 he enrolled at the National Military Academy to study civil engineering, and his early military career was as an officer in the engineering branch.
In 1975, after more than 25 years as a combat engineer, he became commander of the Argentine engineering corps. He was an enthusiastic supporter of the military coup that started the self-styled National Reorganisation Process in 1976 and rose further, becoming a major general in 1977, and commander-in-chief in 1980 with the rank of lieutenant general.
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Lev Voronin
Lev Alekseyevich Voronin (Russian: Лев Алексеевич Воронин; 22 February 1928 – 24 June 2006) was a Soviet Russian official. He served as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, literally the Vice-Premier of the Soviet Union, from 1989 to 1990. Responsible for the "general issues" of the cultural and economic administration of the Soviet Union during the late Gorbachev Era, Voronin became acting Chairman of the Council of Ministers in between Nikolai Ryzhkov's hospitalisation and Valentin Pavlov's election as Prime Minister. Voronin worked as a banker following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Voronin was born on 22 February 1928 in the city of Perm, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union. He graduated as a mechanical engineer from the Ural Polytechnic Institute in 1949. In 1953 Voronin became a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU).
Voronin, along with the six other Deputy Premiers, had a career background in the Soviet military-industrial complex. He started working at an industrial plant in Sverdlovsk in 1949 as a common worker and eventually became the plant's manager. From 1959 to 1963 Voronin was a chief engineer in a plant located in the Kamensk-Ural Sverdlovsk region, and from 1963 he started to work as a chief engineer for a plant in the Urals for the Sverdlovsk Supreme Soviet of the National Economy. Later that year Voronin was appointed to the post of head of the radio and electronics industries.
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Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists of the 20th century. Pauling was among the first scientists to work in the fields of quantum chemistry and molecular biology.
Pauling is one of only four individuals to have won more than one Nobel Prize. He is one of only two people awarded Nobel Prizes in different fields (the Chemistry and Peace prizes), the other being Marie Curie (the Chemistry and Physics prizes), and the only person awarded two unshared prizes.
Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon, as the first-born child of Herman Henry William Pauling (1876–1910) and Lucy Isabelle "Belle" Darling (1881–1926). He was named "Linus Carl," in honor of Lucy's father, Linus, and Herman's father, Carl. Herman and Lucy – then 23 and 18 years old, respectively – had met at a dinner party in Condon. Six months later, the two were married.
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Llewellyn Thompson
Llewellyn E. "Tommy" Thompson Jr. (August 24, 1904 - February 6, 1972), was a United States diplomat. He served in Sri Lanka,Austria, and for a lengthy period in the Soviet Union where his tenure saw some of the most significant events of the Cold War.
Thompson was born in Las Animas, Colorado, the son of a rancher. Thompson studied at the University of Colorado and in 1928 he joined the foreign service. He was second secretary at the US Embassy in Moscow from 1941, and remained in the city with a skeleton staff when the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 forced the US Embassy to withdraw to Kuybyshev.
Thompson was the U.S. Ambassador to Austria from 1955–1957 and to Soviet Union from 1957 to 1962 and again between 1967 and 1969. He held a number of other positions throughout his U.S. foreign service career, including being the pivotal participant in the formulation of Johnson administration nuclear weapon non-proliferation policy. He also testified before the Warren Commission, which was investigating the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
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Lorenzo Sumulong
Lorenzo Sumulong (September 5, 1905 – October 21, 1997) was a Filipino politician who served in the Philippine Senate for four decades, and as a delegate of his country to the United Nations. He was noted for having engaged in a debate with Nikita Khrushchev at the United Nations General Assembly that provoked the Soviet Union Premier to famously bang his shoe on a desk.
Sumulong was born in Antipolo, Rizal. He finished law at the University of the Philippines College of Law and went on to top the 1929 bar examinations. In 1932, he obtained a Masters of Law degree from Harvard Law School
Sumulong began his political career as a municipal councilor in Antipolo. In the 1946 general elections, Sumulong won a seat in the House of Representatives, representing the 2nd District of Rizal. In 1949, Sumulong was elected to the Philippine Senate. He won re-election to the Senate in 1955 and in 1961. He did not seek re-election in 1967, but would return to the Senate in the 1969 elections. In all, Sumulong remained in Congress for 24 years, initially under the Liberal Party, but later under the Nacionalista Party. He served through the 1st Congress until the 7th Congress.
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Luís Carlos Prestes
Luís Carlos Prestes (January 3, 1898 – March 7, 1990) was a leader of the 1920s tenente rebellion and the Communist opposition to the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas in Brazil.
Known as the "Knight of Hope" - title of a biography written by Jorge Amado - Prestes helped organize the failed tenente rebellion of 1922, a revolt by the largely middle class officer corps and poor conscripted servicemen against the agrarian oligarchies that dominated Brazil's Old Republic (1889–1930). As he was sick with typhoid fever, he was not able to fight on the day of the rebellion. From 1924 Prestes was one of the leaders of the insurrectionary movement, leading the Coluna Prestes Prestes' column on a 25,000 km (15,534 mi) march through the rural Brazilian countryside, aiming not to defeat the enemy forces of the Federal government, but keep the column in being and continue to threaten the enemy.
The tenente revolt heralded the end of the politics of coffee and milk and coronelism and the beginning of social reforms. Years later, in 1930 the Revolution of 1930 would bring down the Old Republic. Joined by many moderate tenentes, but not Prestes, the Revolution of 1930 installed Getúlio Vargas as provisional president. Although the tenentes sympathized with him, Vargas was a far more conservative figure. As the tenentes wanted Prestes to join Vargas, Prestes decided to meet him in Porto Alegre and explained his idea of socialist revolution for around two hours. Vargas was highly impressed by him, and even donated 800 contos de réis, around 400,000 USD, but Prestes viewed Vargas as the leader of a bourgeois revolution, and decided to donate most of the money to the Latin American branch of the Comintern, which financed the group for a few years. Another part of the money was given to the tenente Siqueira Campos, who died in a plane crash while flying from Argentina to Brazil. His body was discovered three days later, but the money was never found.
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Maksim Saburov
Maksim Zakharovich Saburov (Russian: Максим Захарович Сабуров, 2 February 1900 – 24 March 1977) was a Soviet engineer, economist and politician, three-time Chairman of Gosplan and later First Deputy Premier of the Soviet Union. He was involved in the Anti-Party Group's attempt to displace Nikita Khrushchev in 1957.
Saburov was born in 1900 in the town of Druzhkivka in the modern Ukraine, and joined the Communist Party in 1920, serving in a detachment with the aim of suppressing resistance to the Communist regime. He attended the Sverdlov Communist University between 1923 and 1926, then studying to become an engineer at the Bauman Institute of Menachics in Moscow.
Between 1921 and 1926, Saburov was Secretary of the Bachmut Komsomol Committee, and then that of the Kostiantynivka raion. Between 1926 and 1928, Saburov was a propagandist working in the Donets region. After five years of studying at the Bauman Institute, Saburov then became head of the Technological Bureau of a factory in Moscow in 1933, before becoming head of the instrumental division of the Stalin Novokramatorsk Machine Plant until 1937.
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Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (Spanish pronunciation: [maˈnwel noˈɾjeɣa]; born February 11, 1934) is a former Panamanian politician and soldier. He was military governor of Panama from 1983 to 1989.
In the 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States he was removed from power, captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on eight counts of drug trafficking, racketeering, and money laundering in April 1992. Noriega's U.S. prison sentence ended in September 2007; pending the outcome of extradition requests by both Panama and France, for convictions in absentia for murder in 1995 and money laundering in 1999. France was granted its extradition request in April 2010. He arrived in Paris on April 27, 2010, and after a re-trial as a condition of the extradition, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in jail in July 2010. A conditional release was granted on September 23, 2011 for Noriega to be extradited to serve 20 years in Panama. He arrived in Panama on December 11, 2011.
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Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung listen (help·info), and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution. He was the architect and founding father of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from its establishment in 1949, and held authoritarian control over the nation until his death in 1976. His theoretical contribution to Marxism–Leninism, along with his military strategies and brand of policies, are collectively known as Maoism.
Mao rose to power by commanding the Long March, forming a Second United Front with Kuomintang (KMT) during the Second Sino-Japanese War to repel a Japanese invasion, and leading the Communist Party of China (CPC) to victory against Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang (KMT) in the Chinese Civil War. After solidifying the reunification of China through his Campaign to Suppress Counterrevolutionaries, Mao enacted sweeping land reform, by using violence and terror to overthrow the feudal landlords before seizing their large estates and dividing the land into people's communes. During the years when Mao was China’s 'Great Helmsman', a range of positive changes came to China. These included promoting the status of women, improving popular literacy, doubling the school population, providing universal housing, abolishing unemployment and inflation, increasing health care access, and dramatically raising life expectancy. In addition, China's population almost doubled during the period of Mao's leadership (from around 550 to over 900 million). As a result, Mao is still officially held in high regard by many in China as a great political strategist, military mastermind, and savior of the nation. Maoists further promote his role as a theorist, statesman, poet, and visionary, while anti-revisionists continue to defend most of his policies.
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Marcelo Caetano
Marcelo José das Neves Alves Caetano, GCTE, GCC, also spelled Marcello Caetano (Portuguese pronunciation: [mɐɾˈsɛlu kɐiˈtɐnu]; Lisbon, 17 August 1906 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 26 October 1980), was a Portuguese politician and scholar, who was the last prime minister of the Estado Novo regime, from 1968 until his overthrow in the Carnation Revolution of 1974.
He was a son of José Maria de Almeida Alves Caetano and his first wife Josefa Maria das Neves. Graduated as a Licentiate and later a Doctorate in Law, Caetano was a Cathedratic Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, where he graduated and of which he would also become the 9th Dean or Rector. An ultraconservative politician and a self-proclaimed reactionary in his youth, Caetano started his political career in the 1930s under the authoritarian regime of António de Oliveira Salazar. He soon became an important figure in the "Estado Novo" government, and in 1940 was appointed chief of the Portuguese Youth organisation. Caetano progressed in his academic career at the university, publishing several works and lecturing law. While in jail due to political causes, Álvaro Cunhal, law student, the future leader and founder of the Portuguese Communist Party, submitted his final thesis on the topic of abortion before a faculty jury that included Marcelo Caetano. Between 1944 and 1947 Caetano was Minister of the Colonies and since 1947 President of the Executive Board of the National Union. He served as President of the Corporative Chamber between 1949 and 1955.
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Marcos Pérez Jiménez
Marcos Evangelista Pérez Jiménez (Michelena, Táchira, April 25, 1914 – Alcobendas, Spain, September 20, 2001) was a Venezuelan military and general officer of the Army of Venezuela, engineer and politician.
His period in charge of the country is characterized by a marked improvement and development, with the rise of oil prices due to conflicts like the Korean War, its ambitious policy of public works and building could be executed to perfection. Also achieved an imminent development of industries such as hydropower, mining, steel, real estate sector and of course the building itself, all these bases, the high level of economic prosperity that is lived in the country.
Not go unnoticed, the progress in the military, which included the final professionalization of the armed forces, and increased sophistication of equipment, raising the level of armaments, and in general, the modernized undertaken in the area, while in with regard to domestic policy, the country experienced a state of order, high safety standards, but the negative side, said highly repressive character, with the National Security (Seguridad Nacional, secret police), as the spearhead and the almost complete concentration of power in his hands, turning his presidency into a dictatorial regime.
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Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, née Roberts (born 13 October 1925) is a British politician and the longest-serving (1979–1990) British prime minister of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. A Soviet journalist nicknamed her the "Iron Lady", which later became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As prime minister, she implemented conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became prime minister after winning the 1979 general election.
After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived as Britain's precipitous national decline. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership.
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Masayoshi Ōhira
Masayoshi Ōhira (大平 正芳, Ōhira Masayoshi?, March 12, 1910 – June 12, 1980) was a Japanese politician and the 68th and 69th Prime Minister of Japan from December 7, 1978 to June 12, 1980. He is the most recent Japanese prime minister to die in office.
He was born in present day Kan'onji, Kagawa and attended Hitotsubashi University.
At the apex of his political life, Ōhira came to represent what were known as "mainstream factions" within the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) which put him at odds with Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, who led what were known as an "anti-mainstream" faction.
Ōhira was elected to the presidency of the LDP in late 1978.
On December 7, 1978, he was appointed 68th Prime Minister, successfully pushing Takeo Fukuda from his position.
Ōhira was the sixth Christian to hold this office after Hara Takashi, Takahashi Korekiyo, Ichirō Hatoyama, Tetsu Katayama, and Shigeru Yoshida.
In the general election of 1979, the LDP narrowly failed to win an outright majority, but enough independent members of the Diet joined the party to enable Ōhira to remain in office, and he was duly reappointed on November 9 of that year. On May 16, 1980, a vote of no confidence was held in the Diet.
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Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin (help·info) (Hebrew: מְנַחֵם בֵּגִין, Polish: Mieczysław Biegun, Arabic: مناحيم بيغن Munahayyim Beeghin, Russian: Менахем Вольфович Бегин Menakhem Vol'fovich Begin, 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was a politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of the State of Israel. Before independence, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944, against the British mandatory government, which was opposed by the Jewish Agency. As head of the Irgun, he targeted the British in Palestine.
Begin was elected to the first Knesset, as head of Herut, the party he founded, and was at first on the political fringe, embodying the opposition to the Mapai-led government and Israeli establishment. He remained in opposition in the eight consecutive elections (except for a national unity government around the Six-Day War), but became more acceptable to the political center. His 1977 electoral victory and premiership ended three decades of Labour Party political dominance. He probably served as Opposition Leader longer than anyone in the history of modern democratic politics.
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Michel Aflaq
Michel Aflaq (Arabic: ميشيل عفلق, Damascus, 1910 – Paris, 23 June 1989) was a Syrian philosopher, sociologist and Arab nationalist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of Ba'athism and its political movement; he is considered by several Ba'athists to be the principal founder of Ba'athist thought. He published various books during his lifetime, the most notable being The Battle for One Destiny (1958) and The Struggle Against Distorting the Movement of Arab Revolution (1975).
Born into a middle class family in Damascus, Syria, Aflaq studied at the Sorbonne, where he met his future political companion Salah al-Din al-Bitar. He returned to Syria in 1932, and began his political career in communist politics. Aflaq became a communist activist, but broke his ties with the communist movement when the Syrian–Lebanese Communist Party supported France's colonial policies. Later in 1940 Aflaq and al-Bitar established the Arab Ihya Movement (later renaming itself the Arab Ba'ath Movement, taking the name from Zaki al-Arsuzi's group by the same name). The movement proved successful, and in 1947 the Arab Ba'ath Movement merged with al-Arsuzi's Arab Ba'ath organisation to establish the Arab Ba'ath Party. Aflaq was elected to the party's executive committee and was elected "'Amid" (meaning the party's leader).
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Mihail Lascăr
Mihail Lascăr (Romanian pronunciation: [mihaˈil ˈlaskər]; November 8, 1889, Târgu Jiu – July 24, 1959, Bucharest) was a Romanian General during World War II, and Minister of Defense from 1946 to 1947.
After graduating from the Infantry Officer School in 1910 with the rank of 2nd lieutenant, he fought in the Second Balkan War and in World War I, being promoted to major. He became colonel in 1934, and brigadier general in 1939.
On January 10, 1941, he was appointed commanding officer of the First Mountain Brigade, an elite military unit of the Third Army. On June 22, 1941, Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and its allies) commenced, with the Mountain Brigade entering Northern Bukovina. From there, Lascăr and his unit swung East, crossing the rivers Dniester, Bug, and Dnieper. He fought in the Battle of the Azov Sea, and then in the Battle of Crimea, remaining in charge of the Mountain Brigade until February 10, 1942. On March 11, 1942, he took charge of the 6th Division of the Romanian Third Army, and fought at the Battle of Stalingrad. He was taken prisoner on November 22, 1942, spending the years 1943-1945 in captivity in the Soviet Union.
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Mikhail Frunze
Mikhail Vasilyevich Frunze (Russian: Михаи́л Васи́льевич Фру́нзе; Romanian: Mihail Frunză; also known by the pseudonyms Арсе́ний Три́фоныч–Arseniy Trifonych, Серге́й Петро́в–Sergei Petrov, А. Шу́йский–A. Shuiskiy, М. Ми́рский–M. Mirskiy; 2 February [O.S. 21 January] 1885–31 October 1925) was a Bolshevik leader during and just prior to the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Frunze was born in Bishkek (at the time Pishpek, the Russian misnomer), then a small Imperial Russian garrison town in the Kyrgyz part of Russian Turkestan (Semirechensky Region), to a Romanian medical practitioner (originally from the Kherson Governorate) and his Russian wife. He began his studies at Verniy (present name Almaty), and in 1904 he attended the Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University.
At the Second Congress of the Social Democratic Party Labour Party in London (1903), during the ideological split between Vladimir Lenin and Julius Martov, the two main party leaders, over party tactics (Martov argued for a large party of activists, whilst Lenin wanted a small group of professional revolutionaries with a large fringe group of sympathisers), Frunze sided with Lenin's majority, the so called Bolsheviks (opposed to Martov's minority, the Mensheviks).
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Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (Russian: Михаи́л Серге́евич Горбачёв, tr. Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachyov; IPA: [mʲɪxɐˈil sʲɪrˈɡʲejəvʲɪtɕ ɡərbɐˈtɕof] ( listen); born 2 March 1931) is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the Soviet Union, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991. He was the only general secretary in the history of the Soviet Union to have been born during the Communist rule.
Gorbachev was born in Stavropol Krai into a peasant Ukrainian–Russian family, and in his teens operated combine harvesters on collective farms. He graduated from Moscow State University in 1955 with a degree in law. While he was at the university, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and soon became very active within it. In 1970, he was appointed the First Party Secretary of the Stavropol Kraikom, First Secretary to the Supreme Soviet in 1974, and appointed a member of the Politburo in 1979. Within three years of the deaths of Soviet Leaders Leonid Brezhnev, Yuri Andropov, and Konstantin Chernenko, Gorbachev was elected General Secretary by the Politburo in 1985. Before he reached the post, he had occasionally been mentioned in western newspapers as a likely next leader and a man of the younger generation at the top level.
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Mikhail Pervukhin
Mikhail Georgievich Pervukhin (Russian: Михаи́л Гео́ргиевич Перву́хин; 14 October 1904 – 22 July 1978) was a Soviet official during the Stalin Era, Khrushchev Era and the early Brezhnev Era. He served as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, literally First Vice-Premier of the Soviet Union, from 1955 to 1957.
He was born on 14 October 1904 in the village of Yuryuzansky Zavod, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union to a Russian working class family. Pervukhin became a member of the Russian Communist Party in 1919. In August to September 1919 Pervukhin was a member of the Zlatoust city commission on the nationalisation of property belonging to the bourgeoisie. He began working for the Zlatoust newspaper Borba in October 1919, and worked there until February 1920 when he started to attend after-school lessons. He fought alongside the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War in the South Urals. From October to November 1920 Pervukhin was a member of the Bolshevik squad quelling the anti-Bolshevik uprising in Chrysostom.
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Mobutu Sese Seko
Mobutu Sese Seko Nkuku Ngbendu wa Za Banga (born Joseph-Desiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997), commonly known as Mobutu or Mobutu Sese Seko ( /məˈbuːtuː ˈsɛseɪ ˈsɛkoʊ/), was the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (also known as Zaire for much of his rule) from 1965 to 1997. While in office, he formed an authoritarian regime, amassed vast personal wealth, and attempted to purge the country of all colonial cultural influence, while also maintaining an anti-communist stance.
Mobutu, a member of the Ngbandi ethnic group, was born in Lisala, Belgian Congo. Mobutu's mother Marie Madeleine Yemo, was a hotel maid who fled to Lisala to escape the harem of a local village chief. There she met and married Albéric Gbemani, a cook for a Belgian judge. Shortly she gave birth to Mobutu. The name "Mobutu" was selected by an uncle. Gbemani died when Mobutu was eight.
The wife of the Belgian judge took a liking to Mobutu and taught him to speak, read and write fluently. Yemo relied on the help of relatives to support her four children, and the family moved often. Mobutu's earliest studies were in Léopoldville, but his mother eventually sent him to an uncle in Coquilhatville, where he attended the Christian Brothers School, a Catholic mission boarding school. A physically imposing figure, he dominated school sports. He also excelled in academics and ran the class newspaper. He was also known for his pranks and impish sense of humor. A classmate recalled that when the Belgian priests, whose first language was Dutch, misspoke in French, Mobutu would leap to his feet in class and point out the mistake. In 1949 Mobutu stowed away aboard a boat to Léopoldville and met a girl. The priests found him several weeks later, and at the end of the school year he was sent to the Force Publique (FP), the Belgian Congolese army. Enlistment, which came with a seven-year commitment, was a punishment for rebellious students.
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Mohammad Hatta
Mohammad Hatta (help·info) (12 August 1902 – 14 March 1980) was born in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). He was Indonesia's first vice president, later also serving as the country's Prime Minister. Known as "The Proclamator", he and a number of Indonesians, including the first president of Indonesia, Sukarno, fought for the independence of Indonesia from the Dutch. Despite his efforts to gain Indonesian independence, he studied in the Netherlands from 1921 until 1932. Moreover, after his early education, he studied in Dutch schools in Indonesia.
Mohammad Hatta is often remembered as Bung Hatta ('Bung' is an affectionate title used to address colleagues, popular in the early 1900s and is still used by Indonesians).
Hatta was born in Bukittinggi on 12 August 1902 into a prominent and strongly Islamic family. His grandfather was a respected ulema in Batuhampar, near Payakumbuh. His father, Haji Mohammad Djamil, died when he was eight months old and he was left with his six sisters and his mother. As in the matrilineal society of Minangkabau tradition, he was then raised in his mother's family. His mother's family was wealthy, and Hatta was able to study Dutch as well as finishing Qur'an after school.
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Mohammad Mosaddegh
Mohammad Mosaddegh or Mosaddeq (Persian: محمد مصدق, IPA: [mohæmˈmæd(-e) mosædˈdeɣ] ( listen)*), also spelled Mossadegh, Mossadeq, Mosadeck, or Musaddiq (16 June 1882 – 5 March 1967), was the Prime Minister of Iran from 1951 until being overthrown in a coup d'état in 1953.
His administration introduced a wide range of social and political reforms but is most notable for its nationalization of the Iranian oil industry, which had been under British control since 1913 through the Anglo-Persian Oil Company (APOC/AIOC) (later British Petroleum or BP).
Mosaddegh was removed from power in a coup on 19 August 1953, organised and carried out by the United States CIA at the request of the British MI6 which chose Iranian General Fazlollah Zahedi to succeed Mosaddegh.
The coup is sometimes known as the TPAJAX Project after its CIA cryptonym, however, in Iran it is referred to as the 28 Mordad 1332 coup, after its date on the Iranian calendar., which is incorrect as the Operation's proper name was TPAjax (TP standing for Tudeh Party of Iran the Russian backed communist party of Iran} Mosaddegh was imprisoned for three years, then put under house arrest until his death.
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Mohammad Najibullah
Mohammad Najibullah Ahmadzai (February 1947 – 28 September 1996), better known mononymously as Najibullah or Najib, was an Afghan politician and statesman during the Cold War. Najibullah was born in Gardiz and educated at Kabul University, after which he began his career in the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). He became a member of the Parcham faction led by Babrak Karmal. Following the Saur Revolution Najibullah was a low profile bureaucrat, who was sent into exile during Hafizullah Amin's rise to power as Afghan ambassador to Iran. He returned to Afghanistan following the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan which toppled Amin's rule, and placed Karmal as head of state, party and government. During Karmal's rule, Najibullah became head of the KHAD, the Afghan equivalent to the Soviet KGB.
During Najibullah's tenure as KHAD head, it became one of the most efficient governmental organs. Because of this he gained the attention of several leading Soviet officials, such as Yuri Andropov, Dmitriy Ustinov and Boris Ponomarev. In 1981, Najibullah was appointed to the PDPA Politburo. Because of its efficiency, the KHAD was turned into the Ministry of State Security in 1985. On 21 September 1985 Najibullah stepped down as state security minister to focus on PDPA politics; he had just recently been appointed to the PDPA Secretariat. Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet leader, was able to get Karmal to step down as PDPA General Secretary on 4 May 1986, and replace him with Najibullah. From then, until November, Najibullah was locked in a power struggle against Karmal, who still retained his post of Chairman of the Revolutionary Council. Najibullah accused Karmal of trying to wreck his policy of National Reconciliation.
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Muammar Gaddafi
Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (Arabic: معمر محمد أبو منيار القذافي) (June 1942 – 20 October 2011), commonly known as Muammar Gaddafi /ˈmoʊ.əmɑr ɡəˈdɑːfi/ (Arabic: مُعَمَّر القَذَّافِي Muʿammar al-Qaḏḏāfī audio (help·info)) or Colonel Gaddafi, was the official ruler of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then the "Brother Leader" of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011. Gaddafi seized power in a bloodless military coup in 1969 and served as the country's head of state until 1977, when he stepped down from his official executive role as Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council of Libya, and claimed subsequently to be merely a symbolic figurehead. He styled himself as "Leader of the Revolution"; in 2008 a meeting of traditional African rulers bestowed on him the title "King of Kings". A leading advocate for a United States of Africa, he served as Chairperson of the African Union (AU) from 2 February 2009 to 31 January 2010.
Gaddafi replaced the Libyan Constitution of 1951 with laws based on the political ideology he had formulated, which he called the Third International Theory and published in The Green Book. After establishing the Jamahiriya (جماهيرية, "state of the masses") system in 1977, he officially stepped down from power and after that time held a largely symbolic role within the country's official governance structure. Rising oil prices and extraction in Libya led to increasing revenues. By exporting as much oil per capita as Saudi Arabia and through various welfare programs, Libya achieved the highest living standards in Africa; Libya remained debt-free.
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Mykhailo Bondarenko
Mykhailo Ilyich Bondarenko (Ukrainian: Михайло Ілліч Бондарено; 8 September 1903 - 10 February 1938) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who served as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister) from August to October 1937.
Mykhailo Bondarenko was born in a peasant family in a town of Elizavetgrad (Kirovohrad), central Ukraine.
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Mykhailo Hrushevskyi
Mykhailo Serhiyovych Hrushevsky (Ukrainian: Михайло Сергійович Грушевський; Chełm, 29 September [O.S. 17 September] 1866 – Kislovodsk, 26 November 1934) was a Ukrainian academician, politician, historian, and statesman, one of the most important figures of the Ukrainian national revival of the early 20th century. He was the country's greatest modern historian, foremost organizer of scholarship, leader of the pre-revolution Ukrainian national movement, head of the Central Rada (Ukraine's 1917–1918 revolutionary parliament), and a leading cultural figure in Soviet Ukraine in the 1920s. He died under mysterious circumstances in 1934.
Mykhailo Hrushevsky was born on September 29, 1866 in a Ukrainian noble family (according to Timothy Snyder, his parents were Ukrainian) of religious and humanist scholars in city of Chełm, in the Lublin Governorate of the Russian Empire (in present-day Poland). Hrushevsky grew up in the foothills of the Caucasian mountains in Stavropol and Vladikavkaz. His spiritual native land became Podolia in the area of the village of Sestrynivka, Podolia Governorate, where his mother (Hlafira Zakharivna Okopova) was born, and where her father was a local Russian Orthodox priest. In the same village she married the professor of the Kiev Ecclesiastical Seminary, Serhiy Fedorovych Hrushevsky. Serhiy Hrushevsky's father was a highly decorated official (his awards included the two Orders of Saint Anna and the Bronze Cross, and a title of nobility). Fedir Hrushevsky was a graduate of the history department of the Kiev University and later personally blessed his grandson when he was enrolling into the Saint Vladimir University in Kiev.
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Mykola Azarov
Mykola Yanovych Azarov (Ukrainian: Мико́ла Я́нович Аза́ров, Mykola Yanovych Azarov); né Nikolai Yanovich Pakhlo (Russian: Никола́й Я́нович Пахло) (born 17 December 1947) is a Ukrainian politician who has been the Prime Minister of Ukraine since 11 March 2010. He was the First Vice Prime Minister and Finance Minister from 2002 to 2005 and again from 2006 to 2007, and he also served as acting Prime Minister for two short periods in late 2004 and early 2005. Following the victory of Viktor Yanukovych in the 2010 presidential election, Azarov succeeded Yanukovych as leader of the Party of Regions, and he was appointed as Prime Minister in March 2010.
Azarov was born in Kaluga in the Russian SFSR, Soviet Union, to Estonian Yan Robertovich Pakhlo and Yekaterina Kvasnikova as Nikolay Pakhlo. When he married his wife, Lyudmila Azarova, he took her name.
Azarov attended the Moscow State University where he earned his doctorate in geology and mineralogy in 1971. He worked at the Tulaugol coal enterprise until 1976. Dr. Azarov moved to Donetsk on a permanent basis in 1984 to become deputy director of the Ukrainian State Geological Institute, that he went on to head. In 1984–1995 he was a deputy director and director of Ukraine's State Research and Design Institute of Mining Geology and Geomechanics.
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Mykola Livytskyi
Mykola Andriyovych Livytskyi (Ukrainian: Микола Андрійович Лівицький; 7 January 1907 – 8 December 1989) was a Ukrainian politician and journalist. He was the Prime Minister (1957-1967) and the President of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) in exile (1967 - 1989).
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Mykola Marchak
Mykola Makarovych Marchak (Ukrainian: Микола Макарович Марчак; 5 January 1904 - 23 September 1938) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who was the acting Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister) from October 1937 to February 1938.
Mykola Marchak was born in a peasant family in a small village in Khmelnytskyi Oblast, western Ukraine.
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Mykola Plaviuk
Mykola Vasyliovych Plaviuk (Ukrainian: Микола Васильович Плав'юк; June 5, 1925 – March 10, 2012) was a Ukrainian social and political activist in emigration, who had served as the last President of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile. He terminated his authority on August 22, 1992, when he formally ceded his authority to the first President of independent Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk.
Mykola Plaviuk was born on June 5, 1925 in the village of Rusiv in Poland (now part of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast in independent Ukraine). During World War II, Mykola became active in the Plast scouting movement in western Ukraine, which in effect became the youth division of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. After the war, he fled to Germany where he received a diploma from the University of Munich in economics. He emigrated to Montréal in Canada in 1949 where he became an active member of the Ukrainian diaspora in Canada. In 1954 he became an alumni from the Concordia University.
Prior to the proclamation of an independent Ukrainian state in 1991, parallel to his professional career, Mykola Plawiuk held prominent positions in Ukrainian diaspora community/political institutions: President of the Ukrainian National Federation of Canada (1956–66); Vice- President of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (1966–71); senior PLAST Ukrainian scout leader; initiator and chief organizer responsible for the establishment in 1967 of the World Congress of Free Ukrainians (WCFU) in New York; Secretary General of the WCFU (1973–76); 1st Vice-President of the WCFU (1976–78); President of the WCFU (1978–80); elected Leader of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in 1979; in June of 1988 elected Vice-President of the Ukrainian National Republic (UNR) in Exile.
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Mykola Skrypnyk
Mykola Oleksiyovych Skrypnyk (Ukrainian: Микола Олексійович Скрипник, January 25 [O.S. January 13], 1872–July 7, 1933) was a Ukrainian Bolshevik leader who was a proponent of the Ukrainian Republic's independence, and led the cultural Ukrainization effort in Soviet Ukraine. When the policy was reversed and he was removed from his position, he committed suicide rather than be forced to recant his policies in a show trial. He also was the Head of the Ukrainian People's Commissariat, the post of the today's Prime-Minister.
Skrypnyk was born in the village Yasynuvata of Bakhmut uyezd, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire in family of a railway serviceman. At first he studied at the Barvinkove elementary school, then realschules of the cities Izium and Kursk. While studying at Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology, he was arrested on political charges in 1901, prompting him to become a full-time revolutionary. Skrypnyk was eventually excluded from the Institute. He was arrested fifteen times and exiled seven times. He was convicted for the total term of 34 years and one time to the death sentence, while six times had chance to run away. In 1913 Skrypnyk was an editor of the Bolshevik's legal magazine Issues of Insurance and in 1914 was a member of the editorial collegiate of the Pravda newspaper.
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Mário Soares
Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares, GColTE, GCC, GColL, KE (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈmaɾiu suˈaɾɨʃ]; born 7 December 1924), Portuguese politician, served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the 17th President of Portugal from 1986 to 1996.
Soares is the son of João Lopes Soares (Leiria, Arrabal, 17 November 1878 - Lisbon, Campo Grande, 31 July 1970), Founder of the Colégio Moderno in Lisbon, Minister and then anti-fascist republican activist who had been a Priest for some time before marrying Elisa Nobre Baptista (Santarém, Pernes, 8 September 1887 - Lisbon, Campo Grande, 28 February 1955), Mário Soares's mother, at the 7th Conservatory of the Civil Register of Lisbon on 5 September 1934. His father also had another son by an unknown mother named Tertuliano Lopes Soares. His mother had previously been married and had two children, J. Nobre Baptista and Cândido Nobre Baptista. Mário Soares was raised as a Roman Catholic, but came to identify himself as a laic, agnostic and atheist.
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Mátyás Rákosi
Mátyás Rákosi (March 9, 1892 – February 5, 1971) was a Hungarian communist politician. He was born Mátyás Rosenfeld in present-day Serbia. He was the de facto ruler of communist Hungary between 1945 and 1956 — first in his capacity as General Secretary of the Hungarian Communist Party (1945–1948) and later as General Secretary of the Hungarian Working People's Party (1948–1956). His rule was aligned with USSR politics during Joseph Stalin's government.
Rákosi was born in Ada, a village in Bács County in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Vojvodina, Serbia). Born into a Jewish family, the fourth son of a grocer (his mother would give birth to seven more children) he later repudiated religion and totally repudiated Judaism.
He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during the First World War and was captured on the Eastern Front. After returning to Hungary, he participated in the communist government of Béla Kun; after its fall he fled, eventually to the Soviet Union. After returning to Hungary in 1924 he was imprisoned, and was released to the Soviet Union in 1940, in exchange for the Hungarian revolutionary banners captured by the Russian troops at Világos in 1849. In the Soviet Union, he became leader of the Comintern. He returned to Debrecen, Hungary, on January 30, 1945, sent by Soviet leadership, to organize the Communist Party.
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Nadezhda Alliluyeva
Nadezhda Sergeevna Alliluyeva (22 September 1901 – 9 November 1932) was the second wife of Joseph Stalin.
Nadezhda was the youngest child of Russian revolutionary Sergei Alliluyev, a railway worker, and his wife Olga, a woman of German, Romani and Georgian ancestry who spoke Russian with a strong accent.[citation needed]
Sergei Alliluyev, though Russian, had found work and a second home in the Caucasus. During Stalin's time of exile, the Alliluyev family was a source of assistance and refuge, and during 1917, Stalin lived from time to time in their apartment. Nadezhda first met Stalin as a child when her father, Sergei Alliluyev, sheltered him after one of his escapes from Siberian exile during 1911. She may have always been in love with the mysterious swarthy Georgian with the yellowish-colored eyes who saved her life from drowning when she was a child.
After the revolution, Nadezhda worked as a confidential code clerk in Lenin's office. She eschewed fancy dress, makeup, and other trappings that she felt un-befitting of a proper Bolshevik.
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Ne Win
Ne Win (Burmese: နေဝင်း IPA: [nè wɪ́ɴ]; born on 24 May or 14 May 1911 or 10 July 1910 – 5 December 2002) was a Burmese politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981. He also was the founder and from 1962 to 1988 the chairman of the Burma Socialist Programme Party, which from 1964 until 1988 was the sole political party in the Burmese nation state.
Ne Win's date of birth is not known with certainty. The English language publication Who's Who in Burma published in 1961 by People's Literature House, Rangoon, stated that Ne Win was born on 24 May 1911. Dr. Maung Maung stated in the Burmese version of his book Burma and General Ne Win, also published in English, that Ne Win was born on 14 May 1911. However, in a book written in Burmese titled The Thirty Comrades, the author Kyaw Nyein gave Ne Win's date of birth as 10 July 1910.
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Ngo Dinh Diem
Ngô Đình Diệm ( listen; 3 January 1901 – 2 November 1963) was the first president of South Vietnam (1955–1963). In the wake of the French withdrawal from Indochina as a result of the 1954 Geneva Accords, Diệm led the effort to create the Republic of Vietnam. Accruing considerable U.S. support due to his staunch anti-Communism, he achieved victory in a 1955 plebiscite that was widely considered fraudulent. A Roman Catholic, Diệm pursued biased and religiously oppressive policies against the Republic's Montagnard natives and its Buddhist majority, epitomized in Malcolm Browne's Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of the self-immolation of Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức in 1963.
Amid religious protests that garnered worldwide attention, Diệm lost the backing of his U.S. patrons and was assassinated, along with his brother, Ngô Đình Nhu by Nguyễn Văn Nhung, the aide of ARVN General Dương Văn Minh on 2 November 1963, during a coup d'état that deposed his government.
Diệm was born in Huế, the original capital of the Vietnamese Nguyễn Dynasty. His family originated in the central Vietnamese village of Phú Cẩm. Portuguese missionaries had converted his family to Roman Catholicism in the 17th century, so Diệm was given a saint's name at birth, following the custom of the Catholic Church. His full name was Jean Baptiste Ngô Đình Diệm. He would often claim that he had descended from a blue-blooded family of mandarins who were so revered that people believed that it was a great honour and good luck to be buried alongside his ancestors. Most historians dismiss this as false and believe that his family were of low rank until his father passed the imperial examinations.[citation needed]
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Nikifor Kalchenko
Nykyfor Timofiyovych Kalchenko (Ukrainian: Никифор Тимофійович Кальчекно; February 9, 1906 - May 14, 1989) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who served as the head of government of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister).
Nykyfor Kalchenko was born in a peasant family in a small village in Poltava Oblast, central Ukraine.
Nykyfor Kalchenko was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labour in 1976.
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Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (April 15 [O.S. April 3] 1894, – September 11, 1971) led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.
Khrushchev was born in the Russian village of Kalinovka in 1894, close to the present-day border between Russia and Ukraine. He was employed as a metalworker in his youth, and during the Russian Civil War was a political commissar. With the help of Lazar Kaganovich, he worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. He supported Joseph Stalin's purges, and approved thousands of arrests. In 1939, Stalin sent him to govern Ukraine, and he continued the purges there. During what was known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War (Eastern Front of World War II), Khrushchev was again a commissar, serving as an intermediary between Stalin and his generals. Khrushchev was present at the bloody defense of Stalingrad, a fact he took great pride in throughout his life. After the war, he returned to Ukraine before being recalled to Moscow as one of Stalin's close advisers.
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Nikolai Bulganin
Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (Russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин, Nikolaj Aleksandrovič Bulganin; 30 March [O.S. 18 March] 1895 – 24 February 1975) was a prominent Soviet politician, who served as Minister of Defence (1953–55) and Premier of the Soviet Union (1955–58). The Bulganin beard is named after him.
Bulganin was born in Nizhny Novgorod, the son of an office worker. He joined the Bolshevik Party in 1917, and in 1918 he was recruited into the Cheka, the Bolshevik regime's political police, where he served until 1922. After the Russian Civil War he became an industrial manager, working in the electricity administration until 1927, and as director of the Moscow electricity supply in 1927–31. From 1931 to 1937 he was chairman of the executive committee of the Moscow City Soviet.
In 1934 the Communist Party's XVII Party Congress elected Bulganin a candidate member of the Central Committee. A loyal Stalinist, he was promoted rapidly as other leaders fell victim to Joseph Stalin's Great Purge of 1937–38. In July 1937 he was appointed Prime Minister of the Russian Republic (RSFSR). He became a full member of the Central Committee later that year, and in September 1938 he became Deputy Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, and also head of the State Bank of the USSR.
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Nikolai Podgorny
Nikolai Viktorovich Podgorny (Russian: Никола́й Ви́кторович Подго́рный, Ukrainian: Микола Вікторович Підгорний) (18 February [O.S. 5 February] 1903 – 12 January 1983) was a Soviet Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, or leader of the Ukrainian SSR, from 1957 to 1963 and as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1965 to 1977. He was replaced as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1977 by General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev. That same year he lost his seat in the Political Bureau (Politburo) and was forced to resign from active politics.
Podgorny was born in the city of Karlovka in 1903 to a Ukrainian working class family. He graduated in from a local worker's school in 1926, and in 1931 from the Kiev Technological Institute of Food Industry. He became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) in 1930. Podgorny climbed up the Soviet hierarchy through the industrial ladder; by 1953 he had become Second Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine. After Anastas Mikoyan's resignation, Podgorny was voted into office as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. After Premier Alexei Kosygin's fall from favour Podgorny became the second most powerful figure in the Soviet Union until his removal as head of state in 1977.
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Nikolai Ryzhkov
Nikolai Ivanovich Ryzhkov (Russian: Николай Иванович Рыжков, Nikolaj Ivanovič Ryžkov; born 28 September 1929) was a Soviet official who became a Russian politician following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. He served as the last Chairman of the Council of Ministers or Premier of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1991. Responsible for the cultural and economic administration of the Soviet Union during the late Gorbachev Era, Ryzhkov was succeeded as premier by Valentin Pavlov in 1991. The same year, he lost his seat on the Presidential Council going on to become Boris Yeltsin's leading opponent in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) 1991 presidential election.
Ryzhkov was born in the city of Dzerzhynsk, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1929. After graduating in the 1950s he started work in the 1970s and began his political career in local industry, working his way up through the hierarchy of Soviet industrial ministries. In 1979 Ryzhkov was appointed First Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Committee. Following Nikolai Tikhonov's resignation as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Ryzhkov was voted into office in his place. During his tenure, he supported Mikhail Gorbachev's much-needed 1980s reform of the Soviet economy.
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Nikolai Talyzin
Nikolai Vladimirovich Talyzin (Russian: Никола́й Влади́мирович Талы́зин) (born 28 January 1929 - 23 January 1991) was a Soviet statesman, economist and head of the Gosplan, or the State Planning Committee.
Talyzin was Chosen by Mikhail Gorbachev in October 1985 to help start the program of economic change known as perestroika, after serving five years as the Soviet representative at Comecon, the Eastern European trade bloc. He was appointed head of the State Planning Commission, or Gosplan, when almost every sector of the Soviet economy was still firmly under state control. He became one of the three First Deputy Premiers at this time, as well as a non-voting member of the Communist Party Politburo.
The planning commission's task shifted from setting production targets to mapping out economic strategy, as Gorbachev pushed his economic reforms. Talyzin came under strong criticism, and moved to the post of head of the Bureau for Social Development in 1988, blamed for slowing reforms. In September 1989, with perestroika failing to produce the promised results, he was dismissed. along with many other conservatives in Nikolai Ryzhkov's government, whom he blamed for slowing the pace of reforms.
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Nikolai Tikhonov
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Tikhonov (Russian: Николай Александрович Тихонов; Kharkiv, 14 May [O.S. 1 May] 1905 – Moscow, 1 June 1997) was a Soviet Russian-Ukrainian statesman during the Cold War. He served as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1980 to 1985, and as a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, literally First Vice Premier, from 1976 to 1980. Tikhonov was responsible for the cultural and economic administration of the Soviet Union during the late era of stagnation. He was replaced as Chairman of the Council of Ministers in 1985 by Nikolai Ryzhkov. In the same year, he lost his seat in the Politburo; however, he retained his seat in the Central Committee until 1989.
He was born in the city of Kharkiv in 1905 to a Russian-Ukrainian working class family; he graduated in the 1920s and started working in the 1930s. Tikhonov began his political career in local industry, and worked his way up the hierarchy of Soviet industrial ministries. He was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Gosplan in 1963. After Alexei Kosygin's resignation Tikhonov was voted into office as Chairman of the Council of Ministers. In this position, he refrained from taking effective measures to reform the Soviet economy, a need which was strongly evidenced during the early–mid 1980s. He retired from active politics in 1989 as a pensioner. Tikhonov died on 1 June 1997.
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Nikolai Vavilov
Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov FRS (Russian: Никола́й Ива́нович Вави́лов) (November 25 [O.S. November 13] 1887 – January 26, 1943) was a prominent Russian and Soviet botanist and geneticist best known for having identified the centres of origin of cultivated plants. He devoted his life to the study and improvement of wheat, corn, and other cereal crops that sustain the global population.
Vavilov was born into a merchant family in Moscow, the older brother of renowned physicist Sergey Ivanovich Vavilov. "The son of a Moscow merchant who'd grown up in a poor rural village plagued by recurring crop failures and food rationing, Vavilov was obsessed from an early age with ending famine in both his native Russia and the world." He graduated from the Moscow Agricultural Institute in 1910 with a dissertation on snails as pests. From 1911 to 1912, he worked at the Bureau for Applied Botany and at the Bureau of Mycology and Phytopathology. From 1913 to 1914 he travelled in Europe and studied plant immunity, in collaboration with the British biologist William Bateson, who founded the science of genetics.
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Nikolai Voznesensky
Nikolai Alekseevich Voznesensky (Russian: Никола́й Алексе́евич Вознесе́нский, 1903 – 1 October 1950) was the Soviet economic planner who oversaw the running of Gosplan during the German-Soviet War. A protégé of Andrei Zhdanov, Voznesensky was appointed Deputy Premier in May 1940 at the age of thirty-eight. He was directly involved in the recovery of production associated with the movement of industry eastwards at the start of the war. His work The Economy of the USSR during World War II is his account of these years.
Following the war, however, his ideas on measuring and managing Soviet economic activity were at odds with Joseph Stalin's views[citation needed], and his instrumental role in reorganizing Leningrad's economic structure before the war[citation needed] led to his persecution during the Leningrad Affair[citation needed]. In a secret trial, he was found guilty of treason, sentenced to death and executed the same day.
He was a close companion of Alexei Kosygin and Mikhail Rodionov[citation needed].
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Nikolay Dyatlenko
Captain Nikolay Dmitrevich Dyatlenko (Russian: Николай Дмитриевич Дятленко; 26 November 1914 – 1996) was a Ukrainian officer, interrogator and translator who was part of a team that attempted to deliver a message of truce (sometimes referred to as an "ultimatum") to the German Sixth Army at the Battle of Stalingrad in January 1943. He also acted as the translator at the interrogation of Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus a few weeks later.
Dyatlenko was born in 1914 in the village of Kulichka in the Lebedyn district, Sumy Oblast, Ukraine. He studied philology at the University of Kiev before World War II, and after the war he became an author.
A fluent German speaker, Captain Dyatlenko was transferred to the 7th Department of the Stalingrad Front in the autumn of 1942 to help with the interrogations of German prisoners of war.Beevor claims that he was a member of the NKVD, but there is no mention of this in Dyatlenko's account of the ultimatum delivery, and the index in Erickson's Road to Berlin lists him as a Red Army officer.
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Nikolay Voronov
Nikolay Nikolayevich Voronov (Russian: Никола́й Никола́евич Во́ронов; May 5 [O.S. May 17] 1899, Saint Petersburg – February 28, 1968, Moscow) was a Soviet military leader, Chief Marshal of Artillery (1944), and Hero of the Soviet Union (May 7, 1965). He was commander of artillery forces of the Red Army from 1941 until 1950.
Foreign award:
Nikolay Voronov is interred in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis at the Red Square.
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Noboru Takeshita
Noboru Takeshita (竹下 登, Takeshita Noboru?, February 26, 1924 – June 19, 2000) was a Japanese politician and the 74th Prime Minister of Japan from November 6, 1987 to June 3, 1989.
Takeshita was also the last Prime Minister during the long rule of the Emperor Shōwa.
Takeshita was born in present-day Unnan, Shimane and attended Waseda University.
In 1958, he entered the lower house of the Diet of Japan, joining the powerful faction of Kakuei Tanaka in the Liberal Democratic Party. Takeshita eventually became Tanaka's primary fundraiser, traveling the country to garner support for the LDP's coffers. Like Tanaka, Takeshita was fond of "pork barrel" politics, retaining his own seat by bringing excessively huge public works projects to Shimane.
Takeshita served as Chief Cabinet Secretary from 1971 to 1974, as Minister of Construction in 1976.
Takeshita served as Minister of Finance from 1979 to 1980; and he again accepted the finance position from 1982 to 1986. In this period, he achieved prominence as Japan's negotiator during deliberations which led to the agreement which is known as the Plaza Accord in New York.
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Nobusuke Kishi
Nobusuke Kishi (岸 信介, Kishi Nobusuke?, November 13, 1896 – August 7, 1987) was a Japanese politician and the 56th and 57th Prime Minister of Japan from February 25, 1957 to June 12, 1958 and from then to July 19, 1960. He was called[who?]Shōwa no yōkai (昭和の妖怪 "the Shōwa era ghost/monster").
Kishi was born Nobusuke Satō in Tabuse, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Prefecture, but left his family at a young age to move in with the more affluent Kishi family, adopting their family name. His biological younger brother, Eisaku Satō, would also go on to become a prime minister.
Kishi attended Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo) and entered the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in 1920. In 1935, he became one of the top officials involved in the industrial development of Manchukuo, where he was later accused of exploiting Chinese forced labor. Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō, himself a veteran of the Manchurian campaign, appointed Kishi Minister of Commerce and Industry in 1941, and he held this position until Japan's surrender in 1945. He was also elected to the Lower House of the Diet of Japan in 1942.
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Nur Misuari
Nur Misuari (Bahasa Sūg: Nūr Miswāri) (born in 1942 in Jolo, Sulu, Philippines) is a Moro politician and former leader of the Moro National Liberation Front. He completed his education through academic scholarships at the University of the Philippines and became a student activist. Misuari was a lecturer at the University of the Philippines in political science and in the 1960s, he established the Mindanao Independence Movement which aimed to organize an independent state in southern Philippines. The Mindanao Independence Movement formed the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that sought political reforms from the Government of the Philippines. Unable to gain reforms, the MNLF engaged in military conflict against the Philippine government and its supporters between 1972 to 1976 under the leadership of Misuari. The military resistance to the government of former Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos did not produce autonomy for the Moro people. He departed to Saudi Arabia in exile. He returned to the Philippines after Marcos was removed from office during the People Power Revolution in 1986.
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Nur Muhammad Taraki
Nur Muhammad Taraki (15 July 1917, or 1913 – 14 September 1979) was an Afghan politician and statesman during the Cold War. Taraki was born near Kabul and educated at Kabul University, after which he started his political career as a journalist. He later became one of the founding members of the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) and was elected as the party's General Secretary at its first congress. He ran as a candidate in the 1965 Afghan parliamentary election but failed to secure himself a seat. In 1966 he published the first issue of Khalq, a party newspaper, but it was closed down shortly afterwards by the Afghan Government. The assassination of Mir Akbar Khyber led Taraki, along with Hafizullah Amin (the organiser of the revolution) and Babrak Karmal, to initiate the Saur Revolution and establish the communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
The presidency of Taraki, albeit short-lived, was marked by controversies from beginning to end. Taraki launched a land reform on 1 January 1978 which proved to be highly unpopular and, along with his government's other reforms, led to a popular backlash which initiated the Afghan civil war. Despite repeated attempts throughout his reign, Taraki proved unable to persuade the Soviet Union to intervene in support of the restoration of civil order.
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Oleksandr Liashko
Oleksandr Pavlovych Liashko (Ukrainian: Олександр Павлович Ляшко; December 30, 1915 - October 9, 2002) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician. He has been the Chairmen of the Council of Ministers of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister) for more than 15 years, making him the longest-serving person in that capacity. He joined Communist Party in 1942 and has been a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1961 to 1989. In 1985 Liashko received an honorary title of the Hero of Socialist Labour.
Oleksandr Liashko was born in a family of a railroader in a small village in Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine. He studied at technical school and matriculated at Donetsk Industrial Institute in 1937.
Oleksandr Liashko was awarded the Hero of Socialist Labour in 1985. During his public service he also received numerous other civil and state awards and recognitions, including the Order of Lenin (in 1965, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1985), the Order of the Red Banner of Labour (in 1957 and 1958), the Order of the Patriotic War, I class (in 1985) and the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, V class (in 2000).
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Oleksandr Turchynov
Oleksandr Valentynovych Turchynov (Ukrainian: Олександр Валентинович Турчинов) (born March 31, 1964 in Dnipropetrovsk) is a Ukrainian politician, a screenwriter, a Doctor of Economic Studies. Turchynov is first deputy head of the political party All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland". Turchynov was acting Prime Minister after former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's government was dismissed on 3 March 2010; till the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) appointed Mykola Azarov as Prime Minister on 11 March 2010.
Oleksandr Turchynov graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute in 1986 after that he worked for worked at Kryvorizhstal. He is an old ally of Yulia Tymoshenko. They used to have a common business in Dnipropetrovsk. In 1993 he was appointed advisor in economy issues to then PM Leonid Kuchma. In December 1993 he co-founded and became Vice President of Ukrainian Union of Industrialist and Entrepreneurs. In 1994 he created the political party Hromada together with Pavlo Lazarenko. He was also director of the Economic Reforms Institute from January 1994 to March 1998 and was head of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences’ Laboratory of Shadow Economy Research.
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Omar Torrijos
Omar Efraín Torrijos Herrera (February 13, 1929 – July 31, 1981) was the Commander of the Panamanian and National Guard and the de facto leader of Panama from 1968 to 1981. Torrijos was never officially the president of Panama, but instead held titles including "Maximum Leader of the Panamanian Revolution" and "Supreme Chief of Government." Although he was considered a leftist dictator, he simultaneously had the support of the United States as he opposed communism. His politics were based instead on progressivism.
Torrijos is best known for negotiating the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties that eventually gave Panama full sovereignty over the Panama Canal, at noon on December 31, 1999. His son Martín Torrijos was elected president and served from 2004 to 2009.
Torrijos was born in Santiago in the province of Veraguas, the sixth of twelve children. His father, José Maria Torrijos, was originally from Colombia, and was employed as a teacher. He was educated at the local Juan Demóstenes Arosemena School and won a scholarship to the military academy in San Salvador. He graduated with a commission as a second lieutenant. He joined the Panamanian army, the National Guard (Guardia Nacional), in 1952. He was promoted to captain in 1956 and took a cadet course at the School of the Americas in 1965.
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Palmiro Togliatti
Palmiro Togliatti (Italian pronunciation: [palˈmiro toʎˈʎatti]; 26 March 1893 - 21 August 1964) was an Italian politician and leader of the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death.
Born in Genoa to a middle class family, Togliatti began his political life in the Italian Socialist Party prior to the First World War. He served as a volunteer officer during the war, and was wounded in action and sent home for illness. Returning at the end of the conflict, he was a part of the group around Antonio Gramsci's L'Ordine Nuovo paper in Turin, while working as a tutor.
He was a founding member of the Communist Party of Italy (PCd'I, later PCI) and, after Gramsci was jailed by Benito Mussolini's Fascist regime, he became the senior leader of the PCd'I until his death, for which he also directed Il Comunista.
When the party was banned by the Italian Fascist government in 1926, Togliatti was one of few leaders not to be arrested, as he was attending a meeting of the Comintern in Moscow. In exile during the late 1920s and the 1930s, he organized clandestine meetings of the PCd'I at Lyon (1926) and Cologne (1931). In 1927 he took the position of Secretary of the party.
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Panas Lyubchenko
Panas Petrovych Lyubchenko (Ukrainian: Панас Петрович Любченко; 14 January 1897 - 29 August 1937) was a Ukrainian and Soviet politician, who served as the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister) from 1934 to 1937.
Panas Lyubechenko was a member of the Ukrainian Central Council.
Oleksandr Liashko was born in a peasant family in a town of Kagarlik, Kiev region.
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Patrice Lumumba
Patrice Émery Lumumba (2 July 1925 – 17 January 1961) was a Congolese independence leader and the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo after he helped win its independence from Belgium in June 1960. Only twelve weeks later, Lumumba's government was deposed in a coup during the Congo Crisis. He was subsequently imprisoned and executed by firing squad, an act that was committed with the assistance of the government of Belgium, for which the Belgian government officially apologized in 2002.
Lumumba was born in Onalua in the Katakokombe region of the Kasai province of the Belgian Congo, a member of the Tetela ethnic group. Raised in a Catholic family as one of four sons, he was educated at a Protestant primary school, a Catholic missionary school, and finally the government post office training school, passing the one-year course with distinction. He subsequently worked in Leopoldville (now Kinshasa) and Stanleyville (now Kisangani) as a postal clerk and as a travelling beer salesman. In 1951, he married Pauline Opangu. In 1955, Lumumba became regional head of the Cercles of Stanleyville and joined the Liberal Party of Belgium, where he worked on editing and distributing party literature. After traveling on a three-week study tour in Belgium, he was arrested in 1955 on charges of embezzlement of post office funds. His two-year sentence was commuted to twelve months after it was confirmed by Belgian lawyer Jules Chrome that Lumumba had returned the funds, and he was released in July 1956. After his release, he helped found the broad-based Mouvement National Congolais (MNC) in 1958, later becoming the organization's president. Lumumba and his team represented the MNC at the All-African Peoples' Conference in Accra, Ghana, in December 1958. At this international conference, hosted by influential Pan-African President Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Lumumba further solidified his Pan-Africanist beliefs.
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Pavlo Lazarenko
Pavlo Ivanovych Lazarenko (Ukrainian: Павло Івáнович Лазарéнко, born on 23 January 1953) is a former Ukrainian politician and former Prime Minister who, in August 2006, was convicted and sentenced to prison in the United States for money laundering, wire fraud and extortion. According to the official count by United Nations, approximately $200,000,000 was looted by Lazarenko during 1996–1997 from the government of Ukraine.
Under President Leonid Kravchuk, Lazarenko served as the presidential representative in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast from 1992 till 1995. Although Lazarenko sided with incumbent Kravchuk in the 1994 elections, he managed to establish close ties with the election winner, Leonid Kuchma. President Kuchma initially reappointed Lazarenko as the head of the state administration (governor) of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and, later, promoted him to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Lazarenko was appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine by President Kuchma on 28 May 1996. The appointment was never considered by the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) because at that time the right to unilaterally appoint the Prime Minister was vested with the President under a provisional constitutional agreement.
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Pavlo Skoropadskyi
Pavlo Petrovych Skoropadskyi (German: Paul Petrowitsch Skoropadskyj; Russian: Павел Петрович Скоропадский, tr. Pavel Petrovič Skoropadskij; Ukrainian: Павло Петрович Скоропадський, tr. Pavlo Petrovych Skoropads'kyj; 3 May 1873 – 26 April 1945) was a Ukrainian politician, earlier an aristocrat and decorated Imperial Russian Army general. Skoropadsky became a conservative leader in Ukraine's unsuccessful struggle for independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917.
Skoropadsky was born in a family of Skoropadskie, the Ukrainian military leaders and statesmen, that distinguished themselves since the 17th century when Fedir Skoropadsky participated in the Battle of Zhovti Vody. His father Petro Ivanovych Skoropadsky (1834–1885) was a Cavalry Guard Colonel and a veteran of the Caucasian War (Subjugation of Circassia, 1863). Afterwards he served as a marshal for the Starodub uyezd zemstvo (1869–1885) until his death. Pavlo's aunt Yelyzaveta Myloradovych (1832–1890) was a public activist and was married to Lev Myloradovych whose mother was from the Kochubey family. His grand father Ivan (1804–1887) also served as a marshal for the Pryliuky uyezd (1844–1847) and Poltava Governorate (1847–1852) zemstvas. He was known for building the Trostianets Dendrological Park (today in Chernihiv oblast). Pavlo's father Pyotr Ivanovich was also descendant of the Tarnowski family, while Pavlo's mother was the descendant of Miklaszewski and Olsufiev families.
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Peng Zhen
Peng Zhen (pronounced [pʰə̌ŋ tʂə́n]; October 12, 1902 – April 26, 1997) was a leading member of the Communist Party of China. He led the party organization in Beijing following the victory of the Communists in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, but was purged during the Cultural Revolution for opposing Mao's views on the role of literature in relation to the state. He was rehabilitated under Deng Xiaoping in 1982 along with other 'wrongly accused' officials, and became the inaugural head of the CPC Central Political and Legislative Committee.
Born in Houma (a town in Shanxi province), Peng was originally named Fu Maogong. He joined the Chinese Communist Party in 1923 as a founding member of the Shanxi Province CP. Arrested in 1929, he continued underground political activities while imprisoned. He was released from prison in 1935 and began organizing a resistance movement against the invading Japanese forces. Around the same time, he was appointed the Organization Department Director of the North Bureau of CPC. He also served on a number of positions as vice-president of the Central Party School and director of the CPC Policy Research Office. In 1945 he served in the history research committee and the organizing committee of the Communist Party's 7th National Congress. He is credited with substantial efforts towards the 1948 capture of Beijing by Communist forces in the Chinese Civil War.
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Peter Gitelman
Peter Gitelman (born May 29, 1917, in Glusk, Belarus; died March 10, 2007, in Montreal) was a Red Army Master Sergeant who took part in the Battle of Stalingrad during the World War II.
He was one of five children in a roving photographer's family. He went to Ukraine to learn a trade and before the war worked in Kiev as an electrical engineer. When he tried to enlist in the Russian air force, he was rejected because he had impaired vision in his left eye.
After the Germans attacked Russia in 1941, Gitelman enlisted in the Red Army When Stalingrad was attacked, Gitelman was sent to work as a technician in Soviet military field hospital #833.
It was in Stalingrad that he met his wife, Elena Gritsenko, a nurse working in the same field hospital. They married in 1945 and they took part in the Prague Offensive, the last major battle of the war.
He was decorated for bravery following the Russian offensive against the Germans that claimed more than one million lives during the winter campaign of 1942-1943. He was awarded the Soviet World War II Order, First Grade, and given medals for taking part in the liberation of Prague, the defence of Stalingrad and the Soviet Victory medal for distinguished military service.
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Petre Dumitrescu
Petre Dumitrescu (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈpetre dumiˈtresku]; 18 February 1882 – 15 January 1950) was a Romanian general during World War II, who led the Romanian Third Army on its campaign against the Red Army in the eastern front.
Dumitrescu was born in Dobridor, Dolj. He began his military training at the Artillery and Engineers Officers' School in 1901, graduating in 1903 with the rank of second lieutenant. Dumitrescu was promoted to lieutenant in 1906 and, five years later, to captain. That year, he was admitted into the Military Academy at Bucharest, graduating in 1913.
When World War I started, Dumitrescu was a major. Following the war, he climbed higher and higher in the military hierarchy, become a lieutenant colonel in 1920, a brigadier in 1930 and a major general in 1937. Between 1937 and the beginning of World War II, Dumitrescu served as a military attaché in both Paris and Brussels. After returning to Romania from these postings, he was given command of the First Army.
However, on March 25, 1941, he was made commander of the Third Army, a post which he would hold for the duration of the war. Dumitrescu July 5, 1941 attacked northern Bukovina and took Cernăuţi (Chernivtsi), reclaiming territory occupied by Soviet troops since June 28, 1940. He then crossed the Prut to recover northern Bessarabia. The German Eleventh Army covered Dumitrescu's right flank while he advanced towards the Dnister. At that point his army and the German 11th army switched places, with Italians continuing advancement over the Dniester towards the Southern Bug river, and Dumitrescu remaining on recovered Romanian territory. In September of that year, Dumitrescu repulsed a Soviet attempt to cross the Dniestr in the east, behind the Eleventh Army.
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Petro Shelest
Petro Yukhymovych Shelest (Ukrainian: Петро Юхимович Шелест; Russian: Пётр Ефи́мович Ше́лест) (February 14, 1908 – January 22, 1996) was the First Secretary of the Communist party in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (a position roughly equivalent to that of a governor of a U.S. state or province), a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of the Ukrainian SSR.
Petro Shelest was born in a peasant Ukrainian family in a village near Kharkiv in 1908. In 1928 he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and in 1935 graduated from Mariupol' Metallurgical Institute.
Between 1943 and 1954 Shelest was a chief manager of several large factories in Leningrad and Kiev. Between 1954 and 1962 he was the mayor of Kiev 1962 and became secretary of the Ukrainian Communist party. Soon he was promoted to the top position of first secretary of the Communist party of Ukrainian SSR and led it between 1963 and 1972. During his tenure and due to his cautious encouragement, there was a brief yet noticeable resurgence of the Ukrainian regional culture. In 1972 he became deputy chairman of the Sovmin (USSR Council of Ministers). Awarded Hero of Socialist Labor honorary title in 1968. In 1973 Petro Shelest was forced into retirement by Leonid Brezhnev.
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Pierre Trudeau
Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau CC, CH, PC, QC, FSRC ( /truːˈdoʊ/; French pronunciation: [tʁydo]; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), usually known as Pierre Trudeau or Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and again from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984.
Trudeau began his political career campaigning for socialist ideals, but he eventually joined the Liberal Party of Canada when he entered federal politics in the 1960s. He was appointed as Lester Pearson's Parliamentary Secretary, and later became his Minister of Justice. From his base in Montreal, Trudeau took control of the Liberal Party and became a charismatic leader, inspiring "Trudeaumania". From the late 1960s until the mid-1980s, he dominated the Canadian political scene and aroused passionate reactions. "Reason before passion" was his personal motto. He retired from politics in 1984, and John Turner succeeded him as Prime Minister.
Admirers praise the force of Trudeau's intellect and they salute his political acumen in preserving national unity against Quebec separatists, suppressing a violent revolt, and establishing the Charter of Rights and Freedoms within Canada's constitution. Critics accuse him of arrogance, economic mismanagement, and unduly favouring the federal government relative to the provinces, especially in trying to control the oil wealth of the Prairies.
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Pol Pot
Saloth Sar (19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998), better known as Pol Pot (Khmer: ប៉ុល ពត), was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1963 to 1981, he served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Kampuchea. From 1976 to 1979, he also served as the prime minister of Democratic Kampuchea. Pol Pot became leader of Cambodia on April 17, 1975. During his time in power he imposed agrarian socialism, forcing urban dwellers to relocate to the countryside to work in collective farms and forced labor projects. The combined effects of forced labor, malnutrition, poor medical care, and executions resulted in the deaths of approximately 21% of the Cambodian population. In all, an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 million people (out of a population of slightly over 8 million) died as a result of the policies of his three-year premiership.
In 1979, after the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, Pol Pot fled to the jungles of southwest Cambodia, and the Khmer Rouge government collapsed. From 1979 to 1997, he and a remnant of the old Khmer Rouge operated near the border of Cambodia and Thailand, where they clung to power, with nominal United Nations recognition as the rightful government of Cambodia. Pol Pot died in 1998 while under house arrest by the Ta Mok faction of the Khmer Rouge. Since his death, rumours that he was poisoned have persisted.
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Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II (Latin: Ioannes Paulus PP. II, Italian: Giovanni Paolo II, Polish: Jan Paweł II), born Karol Józef Wojtyła (Polish: [ˈkarɔl ˈjuzɛf vɔjˈtɨwa]; 18 May 1920, Wadowice, Republic of Poland – 2 April 2005, Apostolic Palace, Vatican City), reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005. He was the second-longest serving Pope in history and the first non-Italian since 1523.
John Paul II was acclaimed as one of the most influential leaders of the 20th century. He was instrumental in ending communism in his native Poland and eventually all of Europe. John Paul II significantly improved the Catholic Church's relations with Judaism, Islam, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Anglican Communion. Though criticised by progressives for upholding the Church's teachings against artificial contraception and the ordination of women, and by traditionalists for his support of the Church's Second Vatican Council and its reform, he was also widely praised for his firm, orthodox Catholic stances.
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Pope John XXIII
Blessed Pope John XXIII (Latin: Ioannes PP. XXIII; Italian: Giovanni XXIII), born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli (25 November 1881 – 3 June 1963), headed the Catholic Church and ruled Vatican City from 1958 until his death.
Pope John was elected on 28 October 1958. He called the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) but did not live to see it to completion. He died in 1963, only four-and-a-half years after his election, and two months after the completion of his final encyclical, Pacem in Terris. He was beatified, along with Pope Pius IX, on 3 September 2000.
Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli was born in Sotto il Monte, a small country village in the Bergamo province of the Lombardy region of Italy. He was the first-born son of Giovanni Battista Roncalli (1854–1935) and his wife Marianna Giulia Mazzolla (1854–1939), and fourth in a family of 13, including: Angelo Giuseppe, Alfredo (1889–??), Maria Caterina (1877–1883), Teresa (1879–1954), Ancilla (1880–1953), Domenico Giuseppe (22 February 1888 – 14 March 1888), Francesco Zaverio (1883–1976), Maria Elisa (1884–1955), Assunta Casilda (1886–??), Giovanni Francesco (1891–1956), Enrica (1893–1918), Giuseppe Luigi (1894–??) and Luigi (1896–1898). His family worked as sharecroppers as did most of the people of Sotto il Monte – a striking contrast to that of his predecessor, Eugenio Pacelli (Pope Pius XII), who came from an ancient aristocratic family, long connected to the Papacy. However, he was still a descendant of an Italian noble family, from a secondary and impoverished branch.
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Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961.
Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. After completing his undergraduate work at Whittier College, he graduated from Duke University School of Law in 1937, and returned to California to practice law. He and his wife, Pat Nixon, moved to Washington to work for the federal government in 1942. He subsequently served in the United States Navy during World War II. Nixon was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946 and to the Senate in 1950. His pursuit of the Hiss Case established his reputation as a leading anti-communist, and elevated him to national prominence. He was the running mate of Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Republican Party presidential nominee in the 1952 election. Nixon served for eight years as vice president. He waged an unsuccessful presidential campaign in 1960, narrowly losing to John F. Kennedy, and lost a race for Governor of California in 1962. In 1968, he ran again for the presidency and was elected.
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Robert McNamara
Robert Strange McNamara (June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth Secretary of Defense, serving under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson from 1961 to 1968, during which time he played a large role in escalating the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. Following that, he served as President of the World Bank from 1968 to 1981. McNamara was responsible for the institution of systems analysis in public policy, which developed into the discipline known today as policy analysis.
Prior to public service, McNamara was one of the "Whiz Kids" who helped rebuild Ford Motor Company after World War II, and briefly served as Ford's President before becoming Secretary of Defense.
Robert McNamara was born in San Francisco, California. His father was Robert James McNamara, sales manager of a wholesale shoe company. His mother was Clara Nell Strange McNamara. His father's family was Irish and in about 1850, following the Great Irish Famine, had emigrated to Massachusetts and later to California. He graduated from Piedmont High School in Piedmont, California in 1933 where he was president of the Rigma Lions boys club and earned the rank of Eagle Scout. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1937 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics with minors in mathematics and philosophy. He was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his sophomore year and earned a varsity letter in crew. He was also a member of the UC Berkeley's Order of the Golden Bear which was a fellowship of students and leading faculty members formed to promote leadership within the student body. He earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1939.
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Rodion Malinovsky
Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (Russian: Родио́н Я́ковлевич Малино́вский; 23 November 1898 – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander in World War II and Defense Minister of the Soviet Union in the late 1950s and 1960s. He contributed to the major defeat of Germany at the Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Budapest. During the post-war era he made a pivotal contribution to the strengthening of the Soviet Union as a military superpower.
Born in Odessa, some historians believe that Malinovsky's father was of Crimean Karaite descent. In search for a livelihood, after his father was killed, his Catholic mother[citation needed] left the city for the rural areas of Ukraine, and married. Her husband, a poverty-stricken Ukrainian peasant, refused to adopt her son and expelled him when Malinovsky was only 13 years old. The homeless boy survived by working as a farm-hand, and eventually received shelter from his aunt's family in Odessa, where he worked as an errand boy in a general store. He was known to have brilliant courage and resiliency.
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Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( /ˈrɒnəld ˈwɪlsən ˈreɪɡən/; February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States, serving from 1981 to 1989. Prior to that, he was the 33rd Governor of California from 1967 to 1975 and a radio, film and television actor.
Born in Tampico, Illinois and raised in Dixon, Reagan was educated at Eureka College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and sociology. After his graduation, Reagan moved first to Iowa to work as a radio broadcaster and then in to Los Angeles in 1937 where he began a career as an actor, first in films and later television. Some of his most notable films include Knute Rockne, All American, Kings Row, and Bedtime for Bonzo. Reagan served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, and later as a spokesman for General Electric (GE); his start in politics occurred during his work for GE. Originally a member of the Democratic Party, his positions began shifting rightward in the late 1950s, and he switched to the Republican Party in 1962. After delivering a rousing speech in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential candidacy in 1964, he was persuaded to seek the California governorship, winning two years later and again in 1970. He was defeated in his run for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968 as well as 1976, but won both the nomination and general election in 1980, defeating incumbent Jimmy Carter.
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Roswell Garst
Roswell "Bob" Garst (June 13, 1898 - November 4, 1977) was an American farmer and seed company executive. He developed hybrid corn seed in 1930 that allowed greater crop yields than open-pollinated corn. He was perhaps most well known for hosting Nikita Khrushchev on his farm in Coon Rapids, Iowa, on September 23, 1959. He sold hybrid seed to the Soviet Union beginning in 1955 and played a role in improving US-Soviet communication.
Roswell Garst's parents were Edward Garst and Bertha Goodwin. He married Elizabeth Henak on January 31, 1921. He was diagnosed with cancer of the voice box in 1963. Garst was founder of Garst & Thomas Co., which became one of the world's largest producers of hybrid seed corn. In the 1930s, Garst traveled around the Midwest convincing farmers of the benefits of hybrid seed corn. As an international agriculturalist, he encouraged modern farming methods to improve food production in many nations, including the Soviet Union, Chile, Hungary, Germany, and France. Garst was famous for offering (sometimes unsolicited) advice. When Khrushchev visited Coon Rapids, Garst could not help but discuss the US-Soviet political situation, and told Khrushchev, "You know, for a peasant, you're a damned poor horse trader."[citation needed] Khrushchev apparently liked Garst enough from his previous visits to the Soviet Union to demand Garst's farm be included on his 1959 tour of the U.S., where he famously stated that Iowa corn was superior to Ukrainian corn. Garst made six trips to the Soviet Union to teach about hybrid seed and farm mechanization. He also sent his sons, including David Garst, on similar trips. Garst, in his own view, was not only an agriculturalist, but also a goodwill ambassador promoting peace during the Cold War.[citation needed]
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Roy Medvedev
Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev (Russian: Рой Александрович Медведев; born 14 November 1925, Tbilisi, Georgia) is a Russian historian renowned as the author of the dissident history of Stalinism, Let History Judge (Russian: К суду истории), first published in English in 1972. Medvedev became a prominent Russian politician and served as a consultant to Mikhail Gorbachev.[citation needed]
Roy Medvedev was the son of a Aleksander Romanovich Medvedev, professor of Military-Political Academy and has an identical twin brother, the biologist Zhores Medvedev. Their father was arrested in 1938, during one of Joseph Stalin's purges, and died in a labor camp in 1941.
Medvedev graduated from the Leningrad University. After joining the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956 Medvedev pursued a teaching career before becoming a researcher in the Soviet Academy of Pedagogical Sciences.
From an allegedly Marxist viewpoint, Medvedev criticized former Russian General Secretary Joseph Stalin, and Stalinism in general, during the Soviet era. In the early 1960s, Medvedev was engaged in samizdat publications. He was critical of the unscientific nature of Lysenkoism.
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Ruhollah Khomeini
Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini (روحاللّه مصطفوی موسوی خمینی, Persian pronunciation: [ruːholˈlɑːhe muːsæˈviːje xomeiˈniː], 22 or 24 September 1902 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Following the revolution, Khomeini became the country's Supreme Leader — a position created in the constitution as the highest ranking political and religious authority of the nation – until his death.
Khomeini was a marja ("source of emulation") in Twelver Shi'a Islam, author of more than forty books, but is primarily known for his political activities. He spent more than 15 years in exile for his opposition to the last Shah. In his writings and preachings he expanded the Shi'a Usuli theory of velayat-e faqih, the "guardianship of the jurisconsult (clerical authority)" to include theocratic political rule by the Islamic jurists. This principle (though not known to the wider public before the revolution) was installed in the new Iranian constitution after being put to a referendum.
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Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War (25 October 1917 – October 1922) was a multi-party war in the former Russian Empire fought between the Bolshevik Red Army and the White Army, the loosely allied anti-Bolshevik forces. Many foreign armies warred against the Red Army, notably the Allied Forces and the pro-German armies. The Red Army defeated the White Armed Forces of South Russia in Ukraine and the army led by Aleksandr Kolchak in Siberia in 1919. The remains of the White forces commanded by Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel were beaten in the Crimea and were evacuated in the autumn of 1920. A number of independent countries – Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland – emerged from the war.
After the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, the Russian Provisional Government was established during the February Revolution of 1917.
In the wake of the October Revolution, the old Russian Imperial Army had been demobilized; the volunteer-based Red Guard was the Bolsheviks' main military force, augmented by an armed military component of the Cheka, the Bolshevik state security apparatus. In January, after significant reverses in combat, War Commissar Leon Trotsky headed the reorganization of the Red Guard into a Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, in order to create a more professional fighting force. Political commissars were appointed to each unit of the army to maintain morale and ensure loyalty.
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Rómulo Betancourt
Rómulo Ernesto Betancourt Bello (22 February 1908 – 28 September 1981), known as "The Father of Venezuelan Democracy", was President of Venezuela from 1945 to 1948 and again from 1959 to 1964, as well as leader of Accion Democratica, Venezuela's dominant political party in the 20th century. He survived an assassination attempt ordered by Rafael Trujillo, dictator of the Dominican Republic. Betancourt, one of Venezuela's most important political figures, led a tumultuous and highly controversial career in Latin American politics. Periods of exile brought Betancourt in contact with various Latin American countries as well as the United States, securing his legacy as one of the few real international leaders to emerge from 20th-century Latin America. Scholars credit Betancourt as the Founding Father of modern democratic Venezuela.
Rómulo Betancourt was born in Guatire, a town near Caracas, son of Luis Betancourt Bello (from Canary origins) and Venezuelan Virginia Bello Milano, being the middle brother between his older sister Teresa and younger sister Helena. Living along with his maternal grandmother Maria Milano Bello and his uncle Luis Bello Milano.
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Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti (Arabic: صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي Ṣaddām Ḥusayn ʿAbd al-Maǧīd al-Tikrītī; 28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003. A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, and later, the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and its regional organisation Ba'ath Party – Iraq Region, which espoused ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup, later referred to as the 17 July Revolution, that brought the party to long-term power of Iraq.
As vice president under the ailing General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, and at a time when many groups were considered capable of overthrowing the government, Saddam created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces. In the early 1970s, Saddam nationalized oil and other industries. The state-owned banks were put under his control, leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran–Iraq War, the Gulf War, and UN sanctions. Through the 1970s, Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraq's economy to grow at a rapid pace. Positions of power in the country were filled with Sunnis, a minority that made up only a fifth of the population.
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Salah Jadid
Salah Jadid (1926 – 19 August 1993, Arabic: صلاح جديد) was a Syrian general and political figure in the Arab Socialist Baath Party in Syria, and the country's de facto leader from 1966 until 1970.
Jadid was born in 1926 in the village of Duwayr B'abda, near the coastal city of Jableh, which in turn was close to Lattakia, to a Alawite family. He studied at the Homs Military Academy, and entered the Syrian Army in 1946. Jadid was originally a member of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), but later became a member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, led by Michel Aflaq and Salah al-Din al-Bitar, in the 1950s through an associate of Akram al-Hawrani. Even so, Jadid remained close to the SNPP; his brother, Ghassan, was one of its most prominent members in Syria. He changed allegiance again in the 1950s, when he became a member of the Arab Liberation Movement, a party supporting Gamal Abdel Nasser's ideological beliefs. Jadid supported Syria's ascension into the United Arab Republic (UAR), a union republic consisting of Egypt and Syria.
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Salgueiro Maia
Fernando José Salgueiro Maia, GOTE, GCL (born July 1, 1944 in Castelo de Vide, Portugal; died April 4, 1992 in Santarém), commonly known just by Salgueiro Maia (Portuguese pronunciation: [saɫˈɡɐjɾu ˈmajɐ]) was a captain of the Portuguese army. He made a significant contribution to the Carnation Revolution, which resulted in the fall of the then ruling dictatorship.
Salgueiro Maia was one of the captains of the Portuguese Army who led the revolutionary forces during the Carnation Revolution. He was a son of Francisco da Luz Maia, a railway worker, and Francisca Silvéria Salgueiro. He attended the Primary School in São Torcato, Coruche, and would later relocate to Tomar where he studied at Colégio Nun'Álvares, but would finish his Secondary School education in the National Liceu of Leiria. Maia later graduated in Social and Political Sciences and Ethnological and Anthropological Sciences.
In 1983 he received the Grand Cross of the Order of Liberty; in 1992, posthumously, the degree of Grand Officer of the Military Order of the Tower and of the Sword, of Valour, Loyalty and Merit; and in 2007, the Gold Medal of the city of Santarém.
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Salvador Allende
Salvador Allende Gossens (Spanish pronunciation: [salβaˈðoɾ aˈʝende ˈɣosens]; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and politician who is generally considered the first democratically elected Marxist to become president of a country in Latin America.
Allende's involvement in Chilean political life spanned a period of nearly forty years. As a member of the Socialist Party, he was a senator, deputy and cabinet minister. He unsuccessfully ran for the presidency in the 1952, 1958, and 1964 elections. In 1970, he won the presidency in a close three-way race, formally elected by Congress as no candidate had gained a majority.
Allende adopted the policy of nationalization of industries and collectivization. On 11 September 1973 the military, citing a call by the Chilean Congress to end his presidency, staged a coup against Allende. As the armed forces surrounded La Moneda Palace, Allende gave his last speech vowing not to resign, and committed suicide thereafter. After Allende's ouster, Chile was led by a military junta, and then as a dictatorship by General Augusto Pinochet.
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Semyon Budyonny
Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny (help·info), sometimes transliterated as Budennyj, Budyonnyy, Budennii, Budenny, Budyoni, Budyenny, or Budenny, Russian: Семён Миха́йлович Будённый (April 25 [O.S. April 13] 1883 – October 26, 1973) was a Soviet cavalryman, military commander, politician and a close ally of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.
Budyonny was born into a poor peasant family on the Kozyurin farmstead near the town of Bolshaya Orlovka in the Don Cossack region of the southern Russian Empire (now Rostov Oblast). Although he grew up in a Cossack region, Budyonny was not a Cossack—his family actually came from Voronezh province. He worked as a farm laborer until 1903, when he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army, becoming a cavalryman and serving in a dragoon regiment during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. In 1907, he was selected as one of the best riders in the regiment for admission to the Cavalry Officers' School in St. Petersburg, from which he graduated in 1908. He returned to the Maritime Cavalry Regiment until 1914.
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Semyon Timoshenko
Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko (Russian: Семён Константи́нович Тимоше́нко, Semën Konstantinovič Timošenko; Ukrainian: Семе́н Костянти́нович Тимоше́нко, Semen Kostiantynovych Tymoshenko) (18 February [O.S. 6 February] 1895 – 31 March 1970) was a Ukrainian military commander and senior professional officer of the Red Army at the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941.
Timoshenko was born into a peasant family at Furmanivka, in Southern Bessarabia, now a part of Odessa Oblast, Ukraine. In 1915, he was drafted into the army of the Russian Empire and served as a cavalryman on the western front. On the outbreak of the Russian Revolution in 1917, he sided with the bolsheviks, joining the Red Army in 1918 and the Bolshevik Party in 1919.
During the Russian Civil War, Timoshenko fought on various fronts. His most important encounter occurred at Tsaritsyn (later renamed Stalingrad, and now Volgograd), where he met and befriended Joseph Stalin. This would ensure his rapid advancement after Stalin gained control of the Communist Party by the end of the 1920s. In 1920–1921, Timoshenko served under Semyon Budyonny in the 1st Cavalry Army; he and Budyonny would become the core of the "Cavalry Army clique" which, under Stalin's patronage, would dominate the Red Army for many years.
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Serafima Hopner
Serafima Hopner (1880–1966) was a Bolshevik politician.
Since 1905, she was a member, and then a secretary of Bolshevik party in Yekaterinoslav. In 1910-1917, she lived in emigration. From September 9 to October 23, 1918, she was the secretary of the Communist Party (Bolshevik) of Ukraine. In 1928-1938 worked for the Comintern. Since 1945, she was an employee of the Institute of Marxism-Leninism in Moscow.
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Sergei Khrushchev
Sergei Nikitich Khrushchev (Russian: Серге́й Ники́тич Хрущёв, born in 1935), son of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, now resides in the United States where he is a Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.
Dr. Khrushchev holds several advanced engineering degrees. From the Ukrainian Academy of Science, he earned his Soviet doctoral degree, and he earned a Ph.D. from the Moscow Technical University. In addition, he earned an M.A. degree with distinction from the Moscow Electric Power Institute. He also holds an "occasional" professorship at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, meaning he is not a full-time professor (though he was for some time), but does teach there fairly often.
Prior to emigrating from the Soviet Union to the United States in 1991, Dr. Khrushchev worked in various high-level engineering positions. From 1968 to 1991, he served at the Control Computer Institute in Moscow, where he rose from section head to first deputy director in charge of research. From the years 1958 to 1968, Dr. Khrushchev worked as an engineer, then later as a deputy section head in charge of guidance systems for missile and space design. In this capacity, he worked on cruise missiles for submarine craft, military and research spacecraft, moon vehicles, and the "Proton" space booster.
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Serhiy Ostapenko
Serhiy Ostapenko (November 1881—1937) was economist, statesman, and political activist of Ukraine. In the beginning of 1919 he directed the Council of People's Ministers of Ukrainian People's Republic (prime-minister).
Ostapenko was born in the town of Troyaniv near Zhytomyr in November 1881. Today it is a village of Zhytomyr Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast. Ostapenko was born into family of a poor peasants and his father had another job as a freight transporter. From 1893 to 1897 Ostapenko attended the local elementary school after which he enrolled into an agrarian middle school in Bilokrynytsia of Kremenets uyezd (today Kremenets Raion of Ternopil Oblast).
In 1904 he started to work as a teacher in a two-grade school of Turiysk of Kovel uyezd. In 1905 Ostapenko was arrested being a member of the Ukrainian Socialist Revolutionary Party. He spent the next three years in jail for political reasons as he claimed. After his release, Ostapenko had some trouble of finding employment. He graduated from the Vladimir cadet corps by taken final tests in 1909 and the same year enrolled into the Economic school of Kiev Commercial Institute. Upon his graduation in 1913 Ostapenko was sent to Germany for the extending studies in economics.
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Shigeru Yoshida
Shigeru Yoshida (吉田 茂, Yoshida Shigeru?) (September 22, 1878 – October 20, 1967) was a Japanese diplomat and politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from 1946 to 1947 and from 1948 to 1954.
Yoshida was born in Yokosuka near Tokyo and educated at Tokyo Imperial University. He entered Japan's diplomatic corps in 1906 just after Japan's victory against Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. He was Japan's ambassador to Italy and the United Kingdom during the 1930s and finally retired from his last appointment as ambassador to London in 1938. Throughout the 1930s and before the war ended in the 1940s, Yoshida continued to participate in Japan's imperialist movement. After several months' imprisonment in 1945, he became one of Japan's key postwar leaders.
Yoshida became the 45th prime minister on May 22, 1946. His pro-American and pro-British ideals and his knowledge of Western societies, gained through education and political work abroad are what made him the perfect candidate in the eyes of the postwar Allied occupation. He is de facto the last prime minister of the Empire of Japan, before it was abolished following the signing of the constitution.
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Show trial
The term show trial is a pejorative description of a type of highly public trial in which there is a strong connotation that the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal to present the accusation and the verdict to the public as an impressive example and as a warning. Show trials tend to be retributive rather than correctional justice. The term was first recorded in the 1930s.
Cadaver Trial was a posthumous trial over Catholic Pope Formosus held in 897.
In the late 17th century, various people in Salem, Massachusetts were accused of practicing witchcraft and consorting with the Devil in the Salem witch trials. Nineteen people were executed, one was killed, and five died in prison.
The Dreyfus affair was a show trial in France in 1894, where a Jewish captain, Alfred Dreyfus, was accused of spying for Germany.
The trial of Sacco and Vanzetti in 1927 was one in which two anarchist Italian immigrants were accused of an armed robbery in Massachusetts. Both were executed, despite international appeals.
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Siad Barre
Mohamed Siad Barre (Somali: Maxamed Siyaad Barre, Arabic: محمّد زياد بري) (October 6, 1919 – January 2, 1995) was the military dictator and President of the Somali Democratic Republic from 1969 to 1991. During his rule, he styled himself as Jaalle Siyaad ("Comrade Siad").
At the time of independence in 1960, Somalia was touted in the West as the model of a democracy in Africa. However, clanism and extended family loyalties and conflicts were social problems the civilian government failed to eradicate and eventually succumbed to itself.
The Barre-led military junta that came to power after a coup d'état in 1969 said it would adapt scientific socialism to the needs of Somalia. It drew heavily from the traditions of China. Volunteer labour harvested and planted crops, and built roads and hospitals. Almost all industry, banks and businesses were nationalised, and cooperative farms were promoted. The government forbade clanism and stressed loyalty to the central authorities. A new writing script for the Somali language was also adopted. To spread the new language and the methods and message of the revolution, secondary schools were closed in 1974 and 25,000 students from fourteen to sixteen years of age and an additional 3,000 military and civil service employees were sent to rural areas to educate their nomadic relatives.
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Stanislav Kosior
Stanislav Vikentyevich Kosior, sometimes spelled Kossior (Russian: Станисла́в Вике́нтьевич Косио́р, Ukrainian: Станіслав Вікентійович Косіор, Polish: Stanisław Kosior) (18 November [O.S. 6 November] 1889 – 26 February 1939) was one of three Kosior brothers, Polish-born Soviet politicians. He was General Secretary of the Ukrainian Communist Party, deputy prime minister of the USSR, and a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). He is considered one of the principal so-called architects of the Ukrainian famine of 1932 to 1933, known as the Holodomor in Ukraine. He was executed during the Great Purge.
Stanisław Kosior was born in 1889 in Węgrów in the Siedlce Governorate of the Russian Empire, in the Polish region of Podlaskie, to a family of humble factory workers. Because of poverty, he emigrated to Yuzovka (modern Donetsk), where he worked at a steel mill. In 1907 he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party and quickly became the head of the local branch of the party. In 1913 he was transferred to Moscow and then to Kiev and Kharkiv, where he organized local Communist cells. In 1915 he was arrested by the Okhrana (the Russian secret police) and exiled to Siberia.
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Stepan Vytvytskyi
Stepan Vytvytskyi (Ukrainian: Степан Витвицький) (13 March 1884 near Stanislawow — 9 October 1965 in New York City, United States) was a Ukrainian politician, diplomat, and journalist. He was the President of the Ukrainian People's Republic in exile (1954-1965).
Stepan Vytvytskyi was born on 13 March 1884, in the village of Uhornyky, next to the city of Stanislawow, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria in Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine). He studied at the law faculties of the Lviv and Vienna Universities. During his years as a student, Vytvytskyi was the head of Academic Hromada in Lviv and the organization Sich in Vienna. In 1910, he began his practice as a lawer in Drohobych. In 1914, he entered the Legion of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen military organization. From 1915-1918, he was a member of the editorial board of the newspaper Dila, and an editor on the Svoboda newspaper, both being based in Lviv.
While being a member of the Ukrainian National-Democratical Party (UNDP) in October 1918, he was elected as a secretary of the Ukrainian National Rada of the West Ukrainian People's Republic (ZUNR). He was a member of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) Tsentralna Rada and the governmental secretary of foreign affairs of the UPR. As a secretary of the Ukrainian National Rada, he was a member of the delegation of the ZUNR at the Worker's Congress of Ukraine in Kiev, and a delegation member of the act of merging the ZUNR and UPR on January 22, 1919.
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Suharto
Suharto (help·info) (8 June 1921 – 27 January 2008) was the second President of Indonesia, having held the office for 31 years from 1967 following Sukarno's removal until his resignation in 1998.
Suharto was born in a small village, Kemusuk, in the Godean area near Yogyakarta, during the Dutch colonial era. He grew up in humble circumstances. His Javanese peasant parents divorced not long after his birth, and he was passed between foster parents for much of his childhood. During the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Suharto served in Japanese-organised Indonesian security forces. Indonesia's independence struggle saw him joining the newly formed Indonesian army. Suharto rose to the rank of Major General following Indonesian independence. An attempted coup on 30 September 1965 was countered by Suharto-led troops and was blamed on the Indonesian Communist Party. The army subsequently led an anti-communist purge, and Suharto wrested power from Indonesia's founding president, Sukarno. He was appointed acting president in 1967 and President the following year. Support for Suharto's presidency was strong throughout the 1970s and 1980s but eroded following a severe financial crisis that led to widespread unrest and his resignation in May 1998. Suharto died in 2008.
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Sukarno
Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was the first President of Indonesia.
Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967. He was replaced by one of his generals, Suharto (see Transition to the New Order), and remained under house arrest until his death.
The spelling "Sukarno" is frequently used in English as it is based on the newer official spelling in Indonesia since 1947 but the older spelling Soekarno, based on Dutch orthography, is still frequently used, mainly because he signed his name in the old spelling. Official Indonesian presidential decrees from the period 1947–1968, however, printed his name using the 1947 spelling. The Soekarno–Hatta International Airport which serves near Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia for example, still uses the older spelling.
Indonesians also remember him as Bung Karno or Pak Karno. Like many Javanese people, he had only one name; in religious contexts, he was occasionally referred to as "Achmed Sukarno". The name Soekarno means "Good Karna" in Javanese.
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Susan Brownmiller
Susan Brownmiller (born February 15, 1935) is an American feminist, journalist, author, and activist. She is best known for her pioneering work on the politics of rape in her 1975 book Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape, Brownmiller argues that rape had been hitherto defined by men rather than women; and that men use, and all men benefit from the use of, rape as a means of perpetuating male dominance by keeping all women in a state of fear. The book received criticism from Angela Davis, who thought Brownmiller disregarded the part that black women played in the anti-lynching movement and that Brownmiller's discussion of rape and race became an "unthinking partnership which borders on racism". In 1995 The New York Public Library selected Against Our Will as one of 100 most important books of the Twentieth Century.
Brownmiller also participated in civil rights activism, joining CORE and SNCC during the sit-in movement and volunteering for Freedom Summer in 1964, where she worked on voter registration in Meridian, Mississippi. Returning to New York, she began writing for The Village Voice and became a network TV newswriter at the American Broadcasting Company, a job she held until 1968. She first became involved in the Women's Liberation Movement in New York City in 1968, by joining a consciousness-raising group in the newly formed New York Radical Women organization. Brownmiller went on to co-ordinate a sit-in against Ladies' Home Journal in 1970, began work on Against Our Will after a New York Radical Feminists speak-out on rape in 1971, and co-founded Women Against Pornography in 1979. She continues to write and speak on feminist issues, including a recent memoir and history of Second Wave radical feminism. In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution (1999).
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Susie Sharp
Susie Marshall Sharp (July 7, 1907 – March 1, 1996) was an American jurist who served as the first female Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. She was not the first woman to head the highest court in a U.S. state, but is believed to be the first woman elected to such a post in a state, like North Carolina, in which the position is elected by the people separately from that of Associate Justice. In 1965, Lorna E. Lockwood became the first chief justice of a state supreme court, but in Arizona, the Supreme Court justices elect their chief justice.
Sharp was born in 1907 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina but spent most of her life in Rockingham County, North Carolina. In 1926 she entered law school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as the only woman in her class. In 1929, Sharp went into private practice with her father, James, in the firm of Sharp & Sharp.
In 1949, Governor Kerr Scott appointed her a state Superior Court judge, making her the first female judge in the history of the state. After Sharp became a Superior Court judge, Tom Bost of the Greensboro Daily News questioned "what would happen if Sharp was faced with trying a case of rape? Wouldn't that be too much for a woman?" Judge Sharp wrote back that "In the first place, there could have been no rape had not a woman been present, and I consider it eminently fitting that one be in on the 'pay-off'."
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Symon Petliura
Symon Vasylyovych Petliura (Ukrainian: Симон Васильович Петлюра, also known as Simon Petlura,Symon Petlura, or Symon Petlyura, May 10, 1879 – May 25, 1926) was a publicist, writer, journalist, Ukrainian politician, statesman, and national leader who led Ukraine's struggle for independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917.
During the period of Ukrainian independence in 1918–1920, he was Head of the Ukrainian State.
On May 25, 1926 Petliura was assassinated in Paris by the Jewish anarchist Sholom Schwartzbard.
Petliura was born on May 10, 1879, in Poltava, Ukraine, the son of Vasyl Petliura and Olha Marchenko, urban dwellers of Cossack extraction. Cossack, as opposed to peasant heritage, allowed certain privileges regarding land ownership, taxes and access to education in the Russian Empire, of which most of Ukraine was then part. Petliura's initial education was obtained in parochial schools, and he planned to become an Orthodox priest.
In 1898 while attending the Russian Orthodox Seminary in Poltava, Petliura joined the Ukrainian Revolutionary Party (RUP). When his membership was discovered in 1901, he was expelled from the seminary. In 1902, under threat of arrest, he moved to Yekaterinodar in the Kuban where he worked for 2 years initially as a schoolteacher and later in the archives of the Kuban Cossack Host where he helped organize over 200 thousand documents. In December 1903, he was arrested for organizing a RUP branch in Yekaterinodar and for publishing inflammatory anti-tsarist articles in the Ukrainian press outside of Imperial Russia. He was released in March 1904, moving briefly to Kiev and then emigrating to the Western Ukrainian city of Lviv then in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
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Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman (Hangul: 이승만; Hanja: 李承晩; Korean pronunciation: [i sɯŋman]; March 26, 1875 – July 19, 1965) was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere.
Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the Korean War. His presidency ended in resignation following popular protests against a disputed election. He died in exile in Hawaii.
Syngman Rhee was born on March 26, 1875 into a rural family of modest means in Hwanghae Province, Korea. Rhee was the youngest of five siblings, though his elder brothers died prematurely. Rhee's family traced its lineage back to the third king of the Chosŏn Dynasty. When Rhee was two years old, the family moved to Seoul. His early education involved primarily classic Chinese literature; though he attempted civil service examinations, he failed them multiple times. When reforms abolished traditional systems of education, Rhee enrolled in Paejae School, an institution which had been established by a missionary from the United States. Rhee learned English and began a school newspaper, Maeil Sinmun.
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Sōsuke Uno
Sōsuke Uno (宇野 宗佑, Uno Sōsuke?, August 27, 1922 – May 19, 1998) was a Japanese politician and the 75th Prime Minister of Japan from June 3, 1989 to August 10, 1989.
He was born in Shiga Prefecture and attended the Kobe University of Commerce. After serving in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, he entered politics, winning election to the Diet of Japan in 1960.
Uno's main action as prime minister was to institute the country's first consumption tax, which immediately caused an uproar among many voters and led to the Japan Socialist Party's victory in the Tokyo metropolitan legislative election of 1989. Uno's government was also hurt by repercussive effects from the Recruit Scandal of 1988. Uno assumed office on June 3, 1989.
Uno eventually had to resign after less than three months amid a sex scandal revealed by a geisha.[citation needed] The controversy surrounding Uno's extramarital affair was more focused on irresponsibility rather than immorality; Uno supposedly did not support his mistress, at the least not with an appropriate amount, which led her to complain publicly. The story was not widely publicized in Japan until a Washington Post reporter picked up the story from the Mainichi Shimbun, bringing international attention to Uno.
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Takeo Fukuda
Takeo Fukuda (福田 赳夫, Fukuda Takeo?, January 14, 1905 – July 5, 1995) was a Japanese politician and the 42d Prime Minister of Japan (67th administration) from December 24, 1976 to December 7, 1978.
He was born in Gunma Prefecture and attended Tokyo Imperial University. Before and during World War II, he served as a bureaucrat in the Finance Ministry and as Chief Cabinet Secretary. After the war, he directed Japan's general accounting office.
In 1952, Fukuda was elected to the House of Representatives representing the third district of Gunma. He was elected party secretary in 1957 and served as Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (1959–69), Minister of Finance (1969–71), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1971–73), and Director of the Economic Planning Agency (1974–76). He was a candidate for prime minister in 1972 but lost to Kakuei Tanaka.
He took over the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from Takeo Miki after the party's poor showing in the 1976 election. It remained in office, but relied on the support of minor parties to maintain a parliamentary majority. Although he was regarded as a conservative and a hawk on foreign policies, Fukuda drew international criticism when he caved in to the demands of a group of terrorists who hijacked Japan Airlines Flight 472, saying "Jinmei wa chikyû yori omoi (The value of a human life outweighs the Earth)."
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Takeo Miki
Takeo Miki (三木 武夫, Miki Takeo?, March 17, 1907 – November 4, 1988) was a Japanese politician and the 41st Prime Minister of Japan.
Born in Awa, Tokushima, Miki graduated from Meiji University in Tokyo. He attended the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, and was awarded an honorary doctorate in law from the institution in 1966.
Miki was elected to the Diet in 1937 and remained there until his death in 1988, during which he was elected a representative for 19 times over 51 years. He took over from Kakuei Tanaka as Prime Minister on December 9, 1974, following the latter's implication in the corruptions concerning real-estate and construction companies. Miki's attraction was particularly due his reputed political cleanness, and his weak power base from his small faction. In fact, he was not prepared to be prime minister at all, as was reflected when upon his election he murmured "a bolt from the blue".
After being elected, Miki attempted to reform the LDP, relentlessly investigating the Lockheed bribery scandals, which made him a large number of enemies within the party. A campaign literally called "Down with Miki" ("Miki oroshi") was started by influential faction leaders. Despite Miki's personal popularity with the public, the Lockheed scandal reflected poorly on the party, which lost its overall majority in the 1976 election to the Diet and had to make deals with minor parties to remain in power. Embarrassed by the result, Miki resigned and was succeeded on December 24, 1976, by Takeo Fukuda.
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Tan Jiazhen
Tan Jiazhen
(September 15, 1909 – November 1, 2008), or C. C. Tan, was a notable Chinese geneticist. He was an academician of Chinese Academy of Science and foreign member of United States National Academy of Sciences. Tan was a main founder of modern Chinese genetics.
Tan was born in Cixi City, Ningbo, Zhejiang. His father was a local postman. From 1926 to 1930, Tan did his undergraduate study at Soochow University. In 1932, Tan received M.Sc from Yenching University. Tan continued his study in the United States and received PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 1937, under the supervision of Theodosius Dobzhansky. Thomas Hunt Morgan and Alfred Henry Sturtevant also were his professors. He later taught at Columbia University.
After Tan returned China, he became a professor at the Department of Biology of Zhejiang University in Hangzhou. In 1952, Tan was transferred to Fudan University in Shanghai. Tan founded the first department of genetics in China at Fudan University.
"As part of the Morgan group in the 1930s, Tan helped make Drosophila pseudoobscura the leading species for evolutionary studies and did pioneering work in insect genetics. In spite of interruptions by Lysenkoism and by the Cultural Revolution, Tan was still scientifically active in China."
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Todor Zhivkov
Todor Hristov Zhivkov (Bulgarian: Тодор Христов Живков); IPA: [ˈtɔdɔr ˈxristɔf ˈʒifkɔf]) (7 September 1911 – 5 August 1998) was the communist president of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (PRB) from March 4, 1954 until November 10, 1989.
He became First Secretary of the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1954 and remained on this position for 35 years, until 1989, thus becoming the longest-serving leader of any Eastern Bloc nation, and one of the longest ruling non-royal leaders in history. His rule marked a period of unprecedented political and economic stability for Bulgaria, marked both by complete submission of Bulgaria to Soviet rule and a desire for expanding ties with the West. His rule remained unchallenged until the deterioration of East-West relations in the 1980s, when a stagnating economic situation, a worsening international image and growing careerism and corruption in the BCP weakened his positions. He resigned on November 10, 1989, under pressure by senior BCP members due to his refusal to recognize problems and deal with public protests. Only two months later, in January 1990, the People's Republic of Bulgaria and its Communist system ceased to exist.
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Toshiki Kaifu
Toshiki Kaifu (海部 俊樹, Kaifu Toshiki?, born 2 January 1931) is a Japanese politician who was the 76th and 77th Prime Minister of Japan from 1989 to 1991.
He was born in Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, and was educated at Chuo University and Waseda University. A member of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Kaifu ran successfully for the Diet in 1960 and served for sixteen terms totaling 49 years. He was education minister before rising to lead the party after the resignations of Takeshita Noboru and Sōsuke Uno, elected on the platform of "clean leadership." Kaifu became the 76th Prime Minister of Japan in August 1989, but his faction was too small to push through the reforms Kaifu sought, and the continuing repercussions of the Sagawa Express scandal caused problems. He resigned in February 1991 and was replaced by Kiichi Miyazawa.
In 1994, he left the LDP to become head of the newly founded Shinshinto (New Frontier Party). He left Shinshinto in 1998, then returned to LDP in 2003. He was defeated in the election of 2009 by DPJ candidate Mitsunori Okamoto, which witnessed the end of almost uninterrupted LDP dominance since 1955. At the time of his defeat, he was the longest-serving member of the lower house of the Diet, and he was also the first former prime minister to be defeated at a re-election since 1963.
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Trofim Lysenko
Trofim Denisovich Lysenko (Russian: Трофи́м Дени́сович Лысе́нко, Ukrainian: Трохим Денисович Лисенко, Trochym Denysovyč Lysenko) (September 29 [O.S. September 17] 1898 – November 20, 1976) was a Soviet pseudoscientist of Ukrainian origin, who was director of Soviet biology under Joseph Stalin. Lysenko rejected Mendelian genetics in favor of the hybridization theories of Russian horticulturist Ivan Vladimirovich Michurin, and adapted them to a powerful political-scientific movement termed Lysenkoism. Today, much of Lysenko's agricultural experimentation and research is largely viewed as fraudulent.
His unorthodox experimental research in improved crop yields earned the support of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, especially following the famine and loss of productivity resulting from forced collectivization in several regions of the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. In 1940, he became director of the Institute of Genetics within the USSR's Academy of Sciences, and Lysenko's anti-Mendelian doctrines were further secured in Soviet science and education by the exercise of political influence and power. Scientific dissent from Lysenko's theories of environmentally acquired inheritance was formally outlawed in 1948, and for the next several years, opponents were purged from held positions, and many imprisoned. Lysenko's work was officially discredited in the Soviet Union in 1964, leading to a renewed emphasis there to re-institute Mendelian genetics and orthodox science.
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U Nu
U Nu (Burmese: ဦးနု; pronounced: [ʔú nṵ]; also Thakin Nu; 25 May 1907 – 14 February 1995) was a leading Burmese nationalist and political figure of the 20th century. He was the first Prime Minister of Burma under the provisions of the 1947 Constitution of the Union of Burma, from 4 January 1948 to 12 June 1956, again from 28 February 1957 to 28 October 1958, and finally from 4 April 1960 to 2 March 1962.
He was born to U San Tun and Daw Saw Khin of Wakema, Myaungmya District, British Burma. He attended Myoma High School in Yangon. In 1929 he got a B.A. from Rangoon University. In 1935 he married Mya Yi while entering the exam of LLB.
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Urho Kekkonen
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (Finnish pronunciation: [urhɔ kɑlɛʋɑ kekːɔnɛn] ( listen); 3 September 1900 - 31 August 1986), was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland (1950–1953, 1954–1956) and later as the eighth and longest-serving President of Finland (1956–1982). Kekkonen continued the “active neutrality” policy of his predecessor President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, a doctrine which came to be known as the “Paasikivi–Kekkonen line”. Under it, Finland retained its independence while being able to trade with both NATO members and those of the Warsaw Pact.
The son of Juho Kekkonen and Emilia Pylvänäinen, Kekkonen was born in Pielavesi, in the Savo region of Finland and spent his childhood in Kainuu. His family were farmers (though not poor tenant farmers, as some of his supporters later claimed). His father was originally a farm-hand and forestry worker who rose to become a forestry manager and stock agent at Halla Ltd. Claims made that Kekkonen's family had lived in a rudimentary farmhouse with no chimney were later proved to be false—a photograph of Kekkonen's childhood home had been retouched to remove the chimney. His school years did not go smoothly. During the Finnish Civil War, Kekkonen fought for the White Guard (Kajaani chapter), fighting in Kuopio, Varkaus, Mouhu and Viipuri, and taking part in mop-up operations, including leading a firing squad in Hamina. He later admitted to having killed a man in battle, but wrote in his memoirs that he was randomly selected by his company commander to follow a squad escorting ten prisoners, where the squad turned out to be a firing squad, and then to give the actual order to aim and fire.
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Valentin Pavlov
Valentin Sergeyevich Pavlov (Russian: Валентин Сергеевич Павлов; 27 September 1937 – 30 March 2003) was a Soviet official who became a Russian banker following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Born in the city of Moscow, then part of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Pavlov began his political career in the Ministry of Finance in 1959. Later, during the Brezhnev Era, he became head of the Financial Department of the State Planning Committee. Pavlov was appointed to the post of Chairman of the State Committee on Prices during the Gorbachev Era, and later became Minister of Finance in Nikolai Ryzhkov's Second Government. He went on to succeed Ryzhkov as head of government in the newly established post of Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, and became de facto Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers.
As Prime Minister from 14 January 1991 to 22 August 1991 Pavlov initiated the 1991 Soviet monetary reform, commonly referred to as the Pavlov reform, in early 1991. Early on he told the media that the reform was initiated to halt the flow of Soviet roubles transported to the Soviet Union from abroad. Although ridiculed at the time, the statement was later proven to be true. In June the same year, Pavlov failed in an attempted coup against Gorbachev through a constitutional amendment. In August, he participated in the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, which tried to prevent the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Pavlov was arrested for his involvement in the coup and went on to work in the banking sector in post-Soviet Russia. He was succeeded as premier by Ivan Silayev.
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Valentyn Symonenko
Valentyn Symonenko (Ukrainian: Валентин Костянтинович Симоненко; b. July 4, 1940 in Odessa) is a Ukrainian statesman. Since late 1996 he has been chairman of the Ukrainian Chamber of commerce.
In 1983-1992 he served as mayor of Odessa, then as the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, and for a short period in October 1993, as the Acting Prime Minister of Ukraine.
Symonenko has been elected to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) for three sequential terms (11, 12(1), and 13(2) convocations).
In 1996 he was elected as the Chairman of the Accounting Chamber of Ukraine. In 2003 he was re-elected for the second 7-year term. The Accounting Chamber executes control over revenues and expenditures of the State Budget of Ukraine on behalf of the Verkhovna Rada
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Valerian Kuybyshev
Valerian Vladimirovich Kuybyshev (Russian: Валериа́н Влади́мирович Ку́йбышев (1888–1935), was a Russian revolutionary, Red Army officer, and prominent Soviet politician.
Kuybyshev was born in Omsk in the Russian Empire on 6 June [O.S. 25 May] 1888. He studied at the Omsk Military Cadet School. He joined the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in 1904. The following year, he entered a military medical academy, but was expelled in 1906 for controversial political activities.
Between 1906-14 Kuybyshev performed subversive activities for the Bolsheviks throughout the Empire, for which he was exiled to Narym in Siberia where—together with Yakov Sverdlov—he set up a local Bolshevik organization. In May 1912 he fled and returned to Omsk, where he was arrested the next month, and imprisoned for a year. He was transferred to Tambov to live independently under police surveillance, but soon fled again, whereafter he spent 1913-14 encouraging civil unrest in the cities of St. Petersburg, Kharkov, and Vologda; relocated to Samara in 1917; and became President of the local soviet—a position he held at the time of the October Revolution and for the next year. During the Russian Civil War he chaired the revolutionary committee of Samara province and became a political commissar in the First and Fourth Red Armies.
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Vasco Gonçalves
General Vasco dos Santos Gonçalves (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈvaʃku ɡõˈsaɫvɨʃ]; Lisbon 3 May 1922 – 11 June 2005) was a Portuguese army officer in the Engineering Corps who took part in the Carnation Revolution and later served as the 104th Prime Minister from 18 July 1974 to 19 September 1975.
He was best known for his controversial left-wing positions, including nationalization of banks and insurance companies after the events of 11 March 1975. The matter of fact is that those nationalizations were provoked by the bank conglomerates' huge debt to the Portuguese State and their directors' escape to Brazil.
In parallel, other measures implemented by his Government, such as imposing a minimum wage and the attribution of the "Christmas subsidy" (equal to one month's pay), were hardly radical in democratic Europe, even by today's standards.
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Vasily Badanov
Vasily Mikhaylovich Badanov (Russian: Васи́лий Миха́йлович Бада́нов; 14 December 1895, Verkhnyaya Yakushka – 1 April 1971, Moscow) was a Soviet military officer and general, best known for his leadership in the Tatsinskaya Raid (1942) and subsequent command of the 4th Tank Army (1943–1944).
Conscripted into the Russian Army during World War I, Badanov graduated from an officers' school in 1916, one year prior to the Bolshevik Revolution. Serving as a commissar and a staff officer in the Red Army during in the Russian Civil War, Badanov joined the Bolshevik Party in 1919.
Noted for his superb command of the 24th Tank Corps in 1942 during the German Stalingrad campaign, Badanov was promoted to lieutenant-general (a rank above major-general in the Soviet system) soon after the Tatsinskaya Raid and became the first recipient of the Order of Suvorov, second class, in 1943. Badanov commanded the 4th Tank Army in 1943-1944, which he led during the Battle of Kursk.
Badanov was seriously wounded during the Lvov–Sandomierz Offensive, and was assigned to the task of preparing the Soviet tank and mechanized forces for the front line for the remaining portion of the war. He served as the commanding officer of the Central Group of Forces' tank units in 1946-1950.
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Vasily Chuikov
Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov (Russian: Васи́лий Ива́нович Чуйко́в) (February 12, 1900 – March 18, 1982) was a Russian lieutenant general in the Red Army during World War II, twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945), who after the war became a Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Born into a large peasant family in the village of Serebryanye Prudy in the Tula region south of Moscow, he was the eighth of twelve children and the fifth of eighth sons. Chuikov and all his brothers became soldiers and fought in the Russian Civil War. At the age of twelve he left school and his family home to earn his living in a factory in St. Petersburg, turning out spurs for cavalry officers.
During the turmoil of the Russian Revolution of 1917 Chuikov became unemployed. Later the same year an elder brother arranged for Chuikov to be recruited to the Red Guards (Russia). The year after, in 1918, he joined the Red Army.
In October 1918 Chuikov saw active service when he was sent to the Southern Front as a deputy company commander to fight against the White Army. In the spring of 1919 he became commander of the 40th Regiment (later renamed the 43rd) as part of the 5th Army under Tukhachevsky facing the White Army at Kolchak in Siberia.
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Vasily Grossman
Vasily Semyonovich Grossman (Russian: Василий Семёнович Гроссман, Ukrainian: Василь Семенович Гроссман; December 12, 1905 - September 14, 1964) was a Soviet writer and journalist. Grossman trained as an engineer and worked in the Donets Basin, but changed career in the 1930s and published short stories and several novels. At the outbreak of the Second World War, he became a war correspondent for the Red Army newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, writing firsthand accounts of the battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk and Berlin. Grossman's eyewitness accounts of conditions in a Nazi extermination camp, following the liberation of Treblinka, were among the earliest.
After World War II, Grossman's faith in the Soviet state was shaken by Joseph Stalin's embrace of antisemitism in the final years before his death in 1953. While Grossman was never arrested by Soviet authorities, his two major literary works (Life and Fate and Everything Flows) were censored during the ensuing Nikita Khrushchev period as unacceptably anti-Soviet, and Grossman himself became in effect a nonperson. The KGB raided Grossman's flat after he had completed Life and Fate, seizing manuscripts, notes and even the ribbon from the typewriter on which the text had been written. Grossman was told by the Communist Party's chief ideologist Mikhail Suslov that the book could not be published for two or three hundred years. At the time of Grossman's death from stomach cancer in 1964, these books were unreleased. Copies were eventually smuggled out of the Soviet Union by a network of dissidents, including Andrei Sakharov and Vladimir Voinovich, and first published in the West, before appearing in the Soviet Union in 1988.
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Vasily Zaytsev
Vasily Grigoryevich Zaytsev (Russian: Василий Григорьевич Зайцев; IPA: [vʌˈsʲilʲɪj ɡrʲɪˈɡorʲjevʲɪtɕ ˈzajtsɨf]; March 23, 1915 – December 15, 1991) was a Soviet sniper during World War II, notable particularly for his activities between November 10 and December 17, 1942, during the Battle of Stalingrad. He killed 225 soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht and other Axis armies, including 11 enemy snipers.
Prior to November 10, he had already killed 32 Axis soldiers with the standard-issue Mosin–Nagant rifle. Between October 1942 and January 1943, Zaytsev made 242 verified kills.
Zaytsev was born in Yeleninskoye and grew up in the Ural Mountains, where he learned marksmanship by hunting deer and wolf with his grandfather and younger brother. When he was 5 years old, he killed his first wolf. His surname is based on the Russian word zayats (заяц) meaning "hare". He was nicknamed 'Vasya' by his friends.
Zaytsev served in the Soviet Navy as a clerk in Vladivostok. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, Zaytsev, like many of his comrades, volunteered to be transferred to the front line. At the time he had already reached the rank of Sergeant Major.
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Vasyl Durdynets
(Maj. Gen. Ret.) Vasyl Vasylovych Durdynets (Ukrainian: Василь Васильович Дурдинець, b. 27 September 1937) is a Ukrainian statesman and diplomat. He served as Acting Prime Minister of Ukraine during a short period in July 1997.
Vasyl Durdynets was born into peasant family in Czechoslovakia before the World War II. In 1960 he graduated the Law faculty of Ivano Franko Lviv State University. In 1958 through 1978 Durdynets was an active member of the Komsomol and the Communist Party in Lviv, Moscow, and Kiev.
In 1978 Durdynets was appointed as a deputy and in 1982 he became the first deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, holding the post until February 1991. In March 1990 he was elected as a parliamentary to the Verkhovna Rada (first convocation) as member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. To the next convocation Durdynets was reelected as non-affiliated, surrendering his deputy mandate on 3 September 1996. Since 29 January 1992 in Verkhovna Rada Durdynets served as vice-speaker (first deputy head).
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Viktor Pavičić
Colonel Viktor Pavičić (October 15, 1898 - January 20, 1943) was a commander of the Croatian Legion, a regiment that fought on Eastern Front and was involved in the Battle of Stalingrad.
He replaced previous commander Colonel Ivan Markulj, and was replaced by Lieutenant-colonel Marko Mesić on January 15. He died in Stalingrad on January 20, 1943.
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Viktor Yanukovych
Viktor Fedorovych Yanukovych (Ukrainian: Ві́ктор Фе́дорович Януко́вич (help·info), Russian: Виктор Фёдорович Янукович; born July 9, 1950) is a Ukrainian politician who has been the President of Ukraine since February 2010.
Yanukovych served as the Governor of Donetsk Oblast from 1997 to 2002. Subsequently he was Prime Minister of Ukraine from November 21, 2002, to December 31, 2004, under President Leonid Kuchma, and he was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2004 presidential election, ultimately losing to Viktor Yushchenko. Yanukovych continued to lead his party, the Party of Regions, after the 2004 election, and he served as Prime Minister for a second time from August 4, 2006, to December 18, 2007 under President Yushchenko. On March 3, 2010, Yanukovych transferred the leadership of the party to Mykola Azarov.
Yanukovych won most votes in the first round of the January 2010 presidential election, and faced Yulia Tymoshenko in the second round of the election. Yanukovych won the second round of the election with 48.95% of the vote against Tymoshenko's 45.47%. He is the first directly elected president in Ukraine's history to win with less than 50% of the vote.
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Viktor Yushchenko
Viktor Andriyovych Yushchenko (Ukrainian: Ві́ктор Андрі́йович Ю́щенко (help·info); born February 23, 1954) is a former President of Ukraine. He took office on January 23, 2005, following a period of popular unrest known as the Orange Revolution. He failed to secure a runoff spot during the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election.
As an informal leader of the Ukrainian opposition coalition, he was one of the two main candidates in the October–November 2004 Ukrainian presidential election. Yushchenko won the presidency through a repeat runoff election between him and Viktor Yanukovych, the government-supported candidate. The Ukrainian Supreme Court called for the runoff election to be repeated because of widespread election fraud in favor of Viktor Yanukovych in the original vote. Yushchenko won in the revote (52% to 44%). Public protests prompted by the electoral fraud played a major role in that presidential election and led to Ukraine's Orange Revolution.
Following an assassination attempt in late 2004, Yushchenko was confirmed to have ingested hazardous amounts of TCDD, the most potent dioxin and a contaminant in Agent Orange. He suffered disfigurement as a result of the poisoning, but has been slowly recovering in recent years.
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Vitaliy Masol
Vitaliy Andriiovych Masol (Ukrainian: Віталій Андрійович Масол; born November 14, 1928) was confirmed as Prime Minister of Ukraine on June 16, 1994 and resigned from that post on March 1, 1995.
Masol graduated in 1951 Kyiv Polytechnic Institute as an engineer, in 1971 he was awarded a doctorate in technical science.
Masol was Head of the Council of Ministers of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of Prime Minister) from 1987 till 17 October 1990 when was forced to resign and was replaced by Vitold Fokin. He was forced into resignation by Ukrainian student protests and hunger strikes.
President Leonid Kravchuk's appointment of Masol as Prime Minister of Ukraine on June 16, 1994 with his image of "an advocate of state-controlled economy" was seen as a surprice and a pre-election concession to the communist-dominated Verkhovna Rada (Ukraine's parliament). Masol was once again reinstated by President Leonid Kuchma. Masol was against most of Kuchma's reform plans and so openly; he sometimes mobilized the Verkhovna Rada against Kuchma. Masol resigned on March 1, 1995 continuing to attend meetings of the Verkhovna Rada.
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Vitold Fokin
Vitold Pavlovych Fokin (b. 25 October 1932, Novomykolaivka, Novomykolaivskyi Raion, Zaporizhia Oblast), the son of a teacher, was appointed first deputy prime minister of Ukraine in November 1991.
Fokin graduated from National Mining University of Ukraine in Dnipropetrovsk.
After Vitaliy Masol was forced to resign Fokin was appointed Head of the Council of Ministers of Ukrainian SSR (today's equivalent of prime-minister) on 17 October 1990.
As prime minister he tried to avoid any radical pro-market reforms, however, critics argued that Fokin's inaction, and further credits to various unproductive enterprises contributed to hyperinflation (1,210% in 1992) and in general to the disastrous performance of the Ukrainian economy. He resigned on 8 October 1992 under pressure from the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) and public. Until May 1994, he was vice speaker of the Verkhovna Rada. He currently serves as chairman of the supervisory board of AOZT Devon.
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Vladimir Dudintsev
Vladimir Dimitrievich Dudintsev (Russian: Влади́мир Дми́триевич Дуди́нцев, Ukrainian: Володимир Дмитрович Дудинцев; July 29, 1918 - July 23, 1998) was a Ukrainian-born Russian writer who gained fame for his 1956 novel, Not by Bread Alone, published at the time of the Khruschev Thaw.
Dudintsev, the son of a member of the gentry, attended law school in Moscow and fought during the second world war. After the war, he became a reporter and writer.
Inspired by Soviet apparatchiks refusing to credit a report of a deposit of nickel because Soviet dogma said it was impossible, Dudintsev wrote Not by Bread Alone, the tale of an engineer who is frustrated by bureaucrats when he attempts to bring forth his invention. The novel sparked wild enthusiasm among the Soviet population. Official reaction soon turned against the book, and Dudintsev suffered years of poverty, and was only able to publish occasional works. As the USSR tottered, in 1987, Dudintsev published a novel, The White Robes, for which he was awarded a State Prize the following year. He died in 1998.
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Vladimir Ivashko
Vladimir Antonovich Ivashko (Russian: Влади́мир Анто́нович Ива́шко; Ukrainian: Володимир Антонович Івашко) (28 October 1932 – 13 November 1994), was briefly the acting General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the period from 24 August 1991 to 29 August 1991. On 24 August Mikhail Gorbachev resigned, and on 29 August the CPSU was suspended by the Supreme Soviet. Before becoming General Secretary he had been voted Gorbachev's Deputy General Secretary within the Party on 12 July 1990, a newly created position as a result of the 28th Congress of the Communist Party
The Communist Party in between Gorbachev's resignation and its suspension was politically impotent. By the time of the 28th Congress in July 1990, the party was largely regarded as being unable to lead the country and had, in fifteen republics, split into opposing factions favouring either independent republics or the continuation of the Soviet Union. Stripped of its leading role in society the party lost its authority to lead the nation or the cohesion that kept the party united. Actual political power lay in the positions of President of the Soviet Union (held by Gorbachev) and President of the Russian SFSR (held by Boris Yeltsin). During the August coup he did not make public statements but on behalf of the Secretariat of the CPSU Central Committee distributed letters to local party organizations calling on them to uphold the CPSU.
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Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (Russian: Владимир Ильич Ленин; IPA: [vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr ɪlʲˈjitɕ ˈlʲenʲɪn] ( listen); 22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 – 21 January 1924) was a Russian Marxist revolutionary, intellectual and politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years (1917–1924), as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a socialist economic system.
As a politician, Lenin was a persuasive and charismatic orator. As an intellectual his extensive theoretic and philosophical developments of Marxism produced Marxism–Leninism, a pragmatic Russian application of Marxism that emphasized the critical role played by a committed and disciplined political vanguard in the revolutionary process, while defending the possibility of a socialist revolution in less advanced capitalist countries through an alliance of the proletarians with the rural peasantry.
Lenin was born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Russian: Владимир Ильич Ульянов) on 22 April [O.S. 10 April] 1870 in the town of Simbirsk in the Russian Empire. Simbirsk, a rural town on the River Volga nearly 1,500 miles from the capital Saint Petersburg, would be renamed upon Ulyanov's death fifty-four years later as "Ulyanovsk" in his honour. That same year, Saint Petersburg itself would be renamed Leningrad after Ulyanov's better-known cadre name.
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Vladimir Semichastny
Vladimir Yefimovich Semichastny (Russian: Владимир Ефимович Семичастный, 15 January 1924 – 12 January 2001) was the head of the KGB from November 1961 to April 1967.
His mentor and predecessor was Alexander Shelepin. In October 1963, Semichastny sanctioned the arrest of Professor Frederick Barghoorn of Yale University when he was visiting Moscow. Semichastny hoped that by charging Barghoorn as a spy he could induce the United States to release Igor Ivanov, arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that month for espionage.[citation needed].
Barghoorn was a personal friend of President John F. Kennedy, who forcefully stated that Barghoorn was not involved in any illegal activities at a press conference. The Soviets subsequently released Barghoorn. Ivanov was allowed to leave the United States in 1971.
Subsequently, Semichastny participated in the ouster of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in October 1964, an act that undoubtedly led to his being retained by the new Soviet leadership. There are some indications that Leonid Brezhnev, who led the coup against Khrushchev, wanted to assassinate him, but Semichastny refused to allow KGB participation.
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Vladimir Velichko
Vladimir Makarovich Velichko (Russian: Владимир Макарович Величко; Mozhayskoye Novousmanskogo, 23 April 1937) was a Soviet official and entrepreneur appointed as the First Deputy Prime Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers in 1991.
Velichko was born into a working class family in the village of Mozhayskoye Novousmanskogo in Voronezh Oblast, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Union on 23 April 1937. According to United Russia's homepage, Velichko started his career in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. He began studying at the Leningrad Military Mechanical Institute in 1955, graduating as a mechanical engineer in 1962.
In 1962, Velichko joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), and began work at a factory in Leningrad belonging to the Ministry of General Machine Building. He became Deputy Chief of the plant in 1967, and Deputy Director in 1971. Between 1971 and 1975 Velichko worked as the plant's manager and from 1986 to 1990 served as a member of the CPSU Central Committee, later becoming a Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union.
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Vlas Chubar
Vlas Yakovlevich Chubar (Ukrainian: Влас Якович Чубар; Russian: Вла́с Я́ковлевич Чуба́рь) (22 February [O.S. 10 February] 1891 - 26 February 1939) was a Ukrainian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician.
Chubar was born in Fedorovka, Yekaterinoslav Governorate, Russian Empire (now in Polohy Raion, Zaporizhia Oblast, Ukraine). He became a Marxist revolutionary early in life and joined the Bolshevik faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party in 1907. He rose through the ranks during the Russian Civil War and becаme a member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party in 1921. On July 13, 1923 Chubar replaced Christian Rakovsky as Chairman of the Ukrainian Sovnarkom. He became a candidate (non-voting) member of the Central Committee's Politburo in November 1926.
In 1934 Chubar was transferred to Moscow, where he became Deputy Chairman of the national Council of People's Commissars and Deputy Chairman of the USSR Council of Labor and Defense. In February 1935 Chubar was made a full member of the Politburo. He briefly served as the Soviet People's Commissar of Finance between August 16, 1937 and January 19, 1938. In 1938 Chubar was appointed the chief of the Solikamsk construction for the GULAG of Soviet Commissariat of Interior. There he was arrested during the Great Purge in June 1938 and executed in February 1939. The Soviet government cleared Chubar of all charges during the first wave of destalinization in 1955.
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Volodymyr Zatonsky
Volodymyr Zatonsky (Ukrainian: Володи́мир Зато́нський; Russian: Затонский, Владимир Петрович Vladimir Petrovich Zatonsky ) (July 27, 1888–July 29, 1938) was a Soviet politician, Communist Party activist, member of the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences (since 1929).
Zatonsky was born in the village of Lysets in of Ushitsy (Ushytsia) Uyezd, Podolia Governorate, Russian Empire (now in Dunaivtsi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine) in a family of a volost pysar.
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Vsevolod Holubovych
Vsevolod Oleksandrovych Holubovych (February 1885—16 May 1939) was born in the village of Poltavka, Balta uyezd, Podolie Governorate. Holubovych was the Prime Minister of the Ukrainian People's Republic from January to March.
Vsevolod's father was Alexander Holubovych (Aug.25, 1846 - Nov.28, 1902) and his mother Iryna Ovsiyevna Yefremovych (Apr.29, 1859 - Oct.2, 1921). Born into a priest family, Holubovych as was expected started his education in the Podolie Spiritual Seminary of Ivan Bohoslov (Kamyanets-Podilsky). Remarkable is the fact that the same seminary was attended by another future Prime Minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Chekhivsky although as a teacher. Vsevolod by the end of his studies in the seminary started to be interested in the political life in the country and in 1903 joined the Revolutionary Ukrainian Party.
Vsevolod decided to deviate from his family occupation into more scientific field enrolling in the Engineering Department of the Kiev Polytechnic Institute (KPI). Already in 1905 he was arrested for the first time and was excluded from the university. It took his mother's influence and connections to refrain Vsevolod from interrogations and reinstatement back into university. The administration of KPI reviewed her son's case and charged him with a simple administrative warning. Vsevolod was allowed to complete his studies in 1915 when Holubovych finally received his diploma in civil engineering (road network specialization). Considering all the complications that involved to reinstate him back in school, he nonetheless chose to ignore the warning and together with his friend Ivan Nemolovsky who just returned from Belgium established the Ukrainian Socialist-Revolutionary underground group. The party has already was earning the popularity amongst various categories of population in the Russian Empire and especially in the Ukrainian lands.
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Vyacheslav Molotov
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Molotov (Russian: Вячесла́в Миха́йлович Мо́лотов; 9 March [O.S. 25 February] 1890 – 8 November 1986) was a Soviet politician and diplomat, an Old Bolshevik and a leading figure in the Soviet government from the 1920s, when he rose to power as a protégé of Joseph Stalin, to 1957, when he was dismissed from the Presidium (Politburo) of the Central Committee by Nikita Khrushchev. He served as Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (Premier) from 1930 to 1941, and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1939 to 1949 and from 1953 to 1956. Molotov served for several years as First Deputy Premier in Joseph Stalin's cabinet. He retired in 1961 after several years of obscurity.
Molotov was the principal Soviet signatory of the Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939 (also known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact), after Britain and France repeatedly failed to join the Soviets in an anti-Nazi alliance, was involved in post-war negotiations where he became noted for his diplomatic skills, and knew of the Katyn massacre committed by the Soviet authorities. Following the aftermath of World War II (Great Patriotic War) Molotov kept his place, until 1949, as a leading Soviet diplomat and politician. In March 1949, after losing Stalin's favour, he lost the foreign affairs ministry to Andrei Vyshinsky. Molotov's relationship with Stalin deteriorated further, with Stalin complaining about Molotov's mistakes in a speech to the 19th Party Congress. However, after Stalin's death in 1953 Molotov was staunchly opposed to Khrushchev's de-Stalinisation policy. He defended his policies and the legacy of Stalin until his death in 1986, and harshly criticized Stalin's successors, especially Nikita Khrushchev.
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Wacław Gajewski
Wacław Gajewski (born 1911 in Kraków, died 12 1997 in Warszawa) was a Polish geneticist, one of the founders of the Polish post-war genetics and author of numerous academic and popular scientific books.
Shortly after the war, in 1948 Gajewski was one of the few Polish biologists who opposed the official "new biology", lysenkoism -- a pseudoscientific theory of genetics proposed by the Soviet agronomist, Trofim Lysenko. Consequently, for almost ten years of the Stalinism era, Gajewski was not allowed any contacts to students; however, he was permitted to continue his scientific work.
In 1956, with the fall of the stalism era and the diminishing importance of lysenkoism, Gajewski was allowed to hold a position of lecturer at the Uniwersytet Warszawski, where two years later, the first Polish department of genetics was established under his leadership.
During the years 1967-1981 Gajewski was the director of the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences. In 1981, when martial law was introduced in Poland, Gajewski (then retired) was initially on the list of Polish scientists that were to be arrested.
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Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein (17 November 1901 – 29 March 1982) was a German politician and professor.
He was one of the key figures of European integration after World War II, becoming the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community, serving from 1958 to 1967. He famously defined his position as "a kind of Prime Minister of Europe". His name is associated with the Hallstein Doctrine, a key doctrine in West German foreign policy during the Cold War.
Hallstein was born in Mainz, Germany, the son of a government building officer. He studied law in Bonn, Munich and Berlin and graduated in 1925 with a doctoral dissertation on the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles with regard to insurance policies. From 1926 he worked at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Foreign Private and International Private Law in Berlin. In 1930, at the age of 28, he was appointed professor for private law and company law at the University of Rostock (Rostock), where he remained until 1941. During Nazism Hallstein was a member of National Socialist People's Welfare and national socialist professional associations for lawyers and judges. In 1941 he was appointed professor of civil law at the University of Frankfurt (Frankfurt am Main). He was also, at the same time, director of the university's Institute for Comparative Law and Commercial Law.
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Walter Ulbricht
Walter Ulbricht (30 June 1893 – 1 August 1973) was a German communist politician. As First Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party from 1950 to 1971 (and then Honorary "Chairman" until his death), he played a leading role in the creation of the Weimar-era Communist Party of Germany (KPD) and later (spending the years of Nazi rule in exile in the Soviet Union) in the early development and establishment of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). From President Wilhelm Pieck's death in 1960 he was the East German head of state until his own death in 1973.
Ulbricht was born in Leipzig, Saxony, where his father worked as a tailor. He spent eight years in primary school (Volksschule). After leaving school, he trained to be a joiner. Both his parents worked actively for the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Walter Ulbricht joined the party in 1912.
Ulbricht served in World War I from 1915 to 1917 in Galicia on the Eastern Front, and in the Balkans. He deserted in 1917, as he had opposed the war from the beginning. Imprisoned in Charleroi, in 1918 he was released during the German Revolution of 1918–1919. In 1917 he became a member of the Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD) after it split off from the Social Democratic Party (SPD) over support of Germany's participation in World War I. During the German Revolution he became a member of the soldier's soviet of his army corps and later a member of the KPD in 1920, joining its Central Committee in 1923. Ulbricht attended the International Lenin School of the Comintern in Moscow in 1924/1925. The electors subsequently voted him into the regional parliament of Saxony (Sächsischer Landtag) in 1926. He became a Member of the Reichstag for South Westphalia from 1928 to 1933 and served as KPD chairman in Berlin from 1929.
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Wikipedia Persondata
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Wilhelm Hoffman
Wilhelm Hoffman was a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, and is cited in many documentaries and books concerning that topic. The most notable account used in both is the brutal six-day long battle between 16 and 22 September 1942 over a grain elevator where; according to him, only 40 Russian soldiers (He refers to them as "devils") were found dead in the elevator at the end of the engagement, while his battalion in comparison, suffered disastrously heavy losses.
His journal provides a first hand account of what the German 6th Army was experiencing and how they were coping with the situation, without the outside interpretive influence of propaganda and censorship. Although it is limited in information because it only gives the account of one person, it is still one of the few unaltered German accounts to survive World War II.
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Willard Libby
Willard Frank Libby (December 17, 1908 – September 8, 1980) was an American physical chemist noted for his role in the 1949 development of radiocarbon dating, a process which revolutionized archaeology.
Libby was born in Grand Valley, Colorado. He received his B.S. in 1931 and Ph.D. in 1933 in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, where he then became a lecturer and later assistant professor. Libby spent the 1930s building sensitive geiger counters to measure weak natural and artificial radioactivity. In 1941 he joined Berkeley's chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma.
Awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, he spent most of 1941 at Princeton University. After the start of World War II, he worked on the Manhattan Project at Columbia University with Nobel laureate chemist Harold Urey. Libby was responsible for the gaseous diffusion separation and enrichment of the uranium-235 which was used in the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
In 1945 he became a professor at the University of Chicago. In 1954, he was appointed to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. In 1959, he became Professor of Chemistry at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), a position he held until his retirement in 1976. He taught honors freshman chemistry from 1959 to 1963 (in keeping with a University tradition that senior faculty teach this class). He was Director of the University of California statewide Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP) for many years including the lunar landing time. In 1966 he married his second wife Leona Woods Marshall, an original experimenter on the world's first nuclear reactor and a UCLA professor of environmental engineering. He also started the first Environmental Engineering program at UCLA in 1972.
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William Anders
William Alison Anders (born October 17, 1933) is a former United States Air Force officer, NASA astronaut, businessman, and engineer. He is, along with Apollo 8 crewmates Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, one of the first three persons to have left Earth orbit and traveled to the Moon (of only 24 people to date).
Anders was born to US Navy Lt. Arthur F. Anders and Muriel Adams Anders in Hong Kong and was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second-highest rank, Life Scout. Anders attended St. Martin's Academy and Grossmont High School in La Mesa, California. He was born and raised Roman Catholic. However according to one article his outlook on religion changed profoundly after his participation in the Apollo 8 mission. He found his experience of space made a mockery of his beliefs and he gave up religion.
He received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1955 and a Master of Science degree in nuclear engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, in 1962. Anders completed the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 1979.
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William Shockley
William Bradford Shockley Jr. (February 13, 1910 – August 12, 1989) was an American physicist and inventor. Along with John Bardeen and Walter Houser Brattain, Shockley co-invented the transistor, for which all three were awarded the 1956 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Shockley's attempts to commercialize a new transistor design in the 1950s and 1960s led to California's "Silicon Valley" becoming a hotbed of electronics innovation. In his later life, Shockley was a professor at Stanford and became a staunch advocate of eugenics.
Shockley was born in London, England to American parents, and raised in his family's hometown of Palo Alto, California, from age three. His father, William senior, was a mining engineer who speculated in mines for a living, and spoke eight languages. His mother, Mary, grew up in the American West, graduated from Stanford University, and became the first female US Deputy mining surveyor.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the California Institute of Technology in 1932. While still a student, Shockley married Iowan Jean Bailey in August 1933. In March 1934 Jean had a baby girl, Alison; she also had a son, Richard (Dick) who also became a physicist. Shockley was awarded his PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1936. The title of his doctoral thesis was Electronic Bands in Sodium Chloride, and was suggested by his thesis advisor, John C. Slater. After receiving his doctorate, he joined a research group headed by Clinton Davisson at Bell Labs in New Jersey. The next few years were productive ones for Shockley. He published a number of fundamental papers on solid state physics in Physical Review. In 1938, he got his first patent, "Electron Discharge Device" on electron multipliers.
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William Taubman
William Chase Taubman (born November 13, 1940 in New York City) is an American political scientist. His biography of Nikita Khrushchev won the Pulitzer Prize for biography in 2004 and the National Book Critics Circle Award for Biography in 2003.
He is a graduate of the Bronx High School of Science and received a B.A. from Harvard University in 1962; an M.A. from Columbia University in 1965; a Certificate of the Russian Institute, 1965; and Ph.D., Columbia University, 1969.
He is currently Bertrand Snell Professor of Political Science at Amherst College. His wife, Jane A. Taubman, is a professor of Russian at Amherst College.
He was the recipient of a 2006 Guggenheim fellowship.
He is the brother of diplomatic journalist Philip Taubman.
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William Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland (March 26, 1914 – July 18, 2005) was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak (1964–68), during the Tet Offensive. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army. He later served as U.S. Army Chief of Staff from 1968 to 1972.
William Westmoreland was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, to Eugenia Talley Childs and James Ripley Westmoreland. His upper-middle-class family was involved in the local banking and textile industries. William was an Eagle Scout at Troop 1 Boy Scouts and became an Eagle Scout at the age of 15, and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo from the Boy Scouts of America as a young adult. After spending a year at The Citadel in 1932 he was appointed to attend the West Point Military Academy. His motive for entering West Point was "to see the world." He was a member of a distinguished West Point class that also included Creighton Abrams and Benjamin O. Davis Jr.. Westmoreland graduated as first captain - the highest graduating rank - and received the Pershing Sword, which is given to the most able cadet at the academy. Westmoreland also served as the Superintendent of the Protestant Sunday School Teachers. Following graduation in 1936, he became an artillery officer and served in several different commands. In World War II he saw combat in Tunisia, Sicily, France and Germany. He reached the temporary wartime rank of colonel, and on October 13, 1944, was appointed the chief of staff of the 9th Infantry Division.
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Willy Brandt
Willy Brandt (born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm; German pronunciation: [ˈvɪli ˈbʁant]; 18 December 1913 – 8 October 1992) was a German politician, Mayor of West Berlin 1957–1966, Chancellor of West Germany 1969–1974, and leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) 1964–1987.
Brandt's most important legacy was Ostpolitik, a policy aimed at improving relations with East Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union. This policy caused considerable controversy in West Germany, but won Brandt the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971.
In 1974, Brandt resigned as Chancellor after Günter Guillaume, one of his closest aides, was exposed as an agent of the Stasi, the East German secret service.
Willy Brandt was born Herbert Ernst Karl Frahm in the Free City of Lübeck (German Empire) to Martha Frahm, an unwed mother who worked as a cashier for a department store. His father was an accountant from Hamburg named John Möller, whom Brandt never met. As his mother worked six days a week, he was mainly brought up by his mother's stepfather Ludwig Frahm and his second wife Dora.
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Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British Conservative politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. Widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century, he served as Prime Minister twice (1940–45 and 1951–55). A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, a writer, and an artist. He is the only British prime minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and was the first person to be made an Honorary Citizen of the United States.
Churchill was born into the aristocratic family of the Dukes of Marlborough. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a charismatic politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer; his mother, Jenny Jerome, was an American socialite. As a young army officer, he saw action in British India, the Sudan, and the Second Boer War. He gained fame as a war correspondent and wrote books about his campaigns.
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Wojciech Jaruzelski
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski (pronounced [ˈvɔi̯t͡ɕɛx jaruˈzɛlskʲi] ( listen); born 6 July 1923) is a retired Polish military officer and Communist politician. He was the last Communist leader of Poland from 1981 to 1989, Prime Minister from 1981 to 1985 and the country's head of state from 1985 to 1990. He was also the last commander-in-chief of the Polish People's Army (LWP). He resigned from power after the Polish Round Table Agreement in 1989 led to democratic elections in Poland.
Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski was born on 6 July 1923 in Kurów, into a family of gentry. He was raised on the family estate near Wysokie (in the vicinity of Białystok). He was educated in a Catholic school during the 1930s.
On 1 September 1939, the September Campaign started when Poland was invaded by Germany, with the latter country aided by another invasion begun sixteen days later by the Soviet Union. The invasions resulted in the defeat of Poland by the following month, and its partition between Soviet and German control. Jaruzelski and his family fled to Lithuania and stayed with some friends there. However, a few months later, after Lithuania and the other Baltic states were forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union, Jaruzelski and his family were captured by the army of the Soviet Union, and deported to Siberia. In 1940 at the age of sixteen, Jaruzelski was sent to the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic, where he performed forced labour in the Karaganda coal mines. During his labour work, having experienced snow blindness, developed permanent damage to his eyes and back. The damage to his eyes forced him to wear dark sunglasses most of the time, which became his trademark.
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World War I
World War I (WWI), which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939 (World War II), and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918. It involved all the world's great powers, which were assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (based on the Triple Entente of the United Kingdom, France and Russia) and the Central Powers (originally centred around the Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy; but, as Austria–Hungary had taken the offensive against the agreement, Italy did not enter into the war). These alliances both reorganised (Italy fought for the Allies), and expanded as more nations entered the war. Ultimately more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 million combatants were killed, largely because of enormous increases in lethality of weapons, thanks to new technology, without corresponding improvements in protection or mobility. It was the sixth-deadliest conflict in world history, subsequently paving the way for various political changes such as revolutions in the nations involved.
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Władysław Gomułka
Władysław Gomułka (Polish pronunciation: [vwaˈdɨswaf ɡɔˈmuwka]; 6 February 1905, Krosno – 1 September 1982, Konstancin) was a Polish Communist leader. He was the de facto leader of Poland from 1945 to 1948, and again from 1956 to 1970.
Gomułka was a member of the Communist Party of Poland (Komunistyczna Partia Polski, KPP) starting in 1926.
In 1934 Gomułka went to Moscow, where he lived for a year. Upon his return to Poland he was arrested and spent most of his time in prison until the beginning of World War II. During the war, Gomułka became an influential Polish Communist and in 1943 convinced Stalin to allow the reformation of the local Communist party under the name Polish Workers' Party (Polska Partia Robotnicza). He was a Deputy Prime Minister in the Provisional Government of Republic of Poland - Rząd Tymczasowy Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, from January to June 1945, and in the Provisional Government of National Unity (Tymczasowy Rząd Jedności Narodowej), from 1945 to 1947. Using his position in the government, he crushed all meaningful resistance to the Communists. He also helped the Communists in winning the 3 x Tak (3 Times Yes) referendum of 1946. A year later, he played a key role in the 1947 parliamentary elections, which saw the Communists and their allies win an overwhelming majority. It later emerged that the Communists had only won both of these votes through massive fraud.
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Yakov Pavlov
Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov (Russian: Я́ков Федо́тович Па́влов; 4 October 1917–29 September 1981) was a Soviet Red Army soldier awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (June 27, 1945) for his role in defending "Pavlov's House" during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Born in 1917 to a peasant family in the small village of Krestovaya in northwestern Russia (present-day Novgorod Oblast), Pavlov joined the Red Army in 1938. During the German-Soviet War, he fought on the Southwestern, Stalingrad, 3rd Ukrainian and 2nd Belorussian fronts. Pavlov was a commander of a machine gun unit, an artilleryman, and a commander of a reconnaissance unit with the rank of Senior Sergeant.
During the Battle of Stalingrad, Pavlov's platoon seized a four-story residential building from the enemy on the night of September 27, 1942 and defended it against continual attack by the German army until relieved by advancing Soviet forces two months later. The building and its defense went down in history as "Pavlov's House" (Дом Павлова). For his actions in Stalingrad, he was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin, the Order of the October Revolution, two Orders of the Red Star and numerous other medals.
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Yasuhiro Nakasone
Yasuhiro Nakasone (中曽根 康弘, Nakasone Yasuhiro?, born 27 May 1918) is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan from November 27, 1982 to November 6, 1987. A contemporary of Brian Mulroney, Ronald Reagan, Helmut Kohl, François Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher, and Mikhail Gorbachev, he is best known for pushing through the privatization of state-owned companies, and for helping to revitalize Japanese nationalism during and after his term as prime minister. Nakasone is currently the oldest living Japanese prime minister.
Nakasone was born in Takasaki, in Gunma, a poor mountainous prefecture where his father was a lumber dealer. He attended Tokyo Imperial University. During World War II, he was a commissioned officer and paymaster in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
In 1947, he gave up a promising career in an elite government ministry to run for Parliament with the belief that in its postwar remorse, Japan was in danger of discarding its traditional values (according to a 2010 profile). He entered the Diet of Japan as a member of the House of Representatives for the Democratic Party. "As a freshman lawmaker in 1951, he delivered a 28-page letter to General MacArthur criticizing the occupation, a brazen move. The general angrily threw the letter in the wastebasket, Mr. Nakasone was later told. This stand established [Nakasone's] credentials as a right-wing politician." He gained brief notoriety in 1952 for blaming Emperor Hirohito for Japan's defeat in the war. In 1955, at Nakasone's urging, the government granted the equivalent of 14 million dollars to the Agency for Industrial Science and Technology to begin nuclear power research.[1] Nakasone rose through the LDP's ranks, becoming Minister of Science in 1959 under the government of Nobusuke Kishi, then Minister of Transport in 1967, head of the Agency of Defense in 1970, Minister of International Trade and Industry in 1972 and Minister of Administration in 1981.
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Yevgenia Bosch
Yevgenia Bosch (Ukrainian: Євгенія Богданівна (Готлібівна) Бош; Russian: Евге́ния Богда́новна (Го́тлибовна) Бош) (August 23, 1879—January 5, 1925) was a Bolshevik activist, politician, and member of the Soviet government in Ukraine during the revolutionary period earlier in the 20th century.
Officially Bosch was born in Ochakiv, in the Kherson Governorate of the Russian Empire, but some records have another information - village of Adjigol, Odessa uyezd, Kherson Governorate in a family of a German colonist, mechanic, and landowner Gotlieb Meisch and Bessarabian noblewoman Maria Krusser. For three years Yevgenia attended Voznesensk Female Gymnasium. During that time she married the owner of a local small wagon shop, Peter Bosch.
In 1901, at 22, she became a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) and after the II Party Congress became a bolshevik. She tried to educate herself while raising her two daughters. In 1907 she divorced her husband and moved to Kiev. In Kiev she established contact with local bolshevik faction and together with her younger sister Elena Rozmirovich (future wife of Nikolai Krylenko, chekist) conducted underground revolutionary activities. In 1911 Bosch is the secretary of the Kiev Committee of the RSDLP(b) exchanging letter with Lenin and Krupskaya. In April 1912 she was arrested and imprisoned in one of the Yekaterinoslav's prisons. There her health worsened as she had inborn heart and lung disease. The Kiev Court Chamber convicted her to life-term exile in Siberia while she suffered from tuberculosis.
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Yevhen Marchuk
(Gen. Ret.) Yevhen K. Marchuk (Ukrainian: Євген Кирилович Марчук), born on January 28, 1941, is a Ukrainian statesman and politician. During his career, Marchuk was prime minister of Ukraine, presidential candidate, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, and Defense Minister of Ukraine. Marchuk is affiliated with the Ukrainian Den newspaper, edited by his wife. He has been a general in the Army of Ukraine since March 23, 1994.
Yevhen Marchuk was born soon before World War II into a peasant family in Central Ukraine. In 1963, upon graduation from the Kirovohrad Pedagogical Institute, Marchuk was recruited by the KGB and steadily rose through the ranks of that organization. As an operative officer he served first in Kirovohrad Oblast, then in the republican KGB branch in Kiev as an intelligence and secret service officer, for a total of 31 years of service. Marchuk has admitted specializing in secret police functions. However, he claims to have been a humane lawful agent, secretly protecting some Ukrainian dissidents from harsh persecution.[citation needed]
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Yevhen Petrushevych
Yevhen Petrushevych (Ukrainian: Євген Петрушевич) (June 3, 1863 in Busk, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Kronland of Austro-Hungary — August 29, 1940 in Berlin, Germany) was a Ukrainian lawyer, politician, and president of the Western Ukrainian National Republic formed after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918.
He was born on June 3, 1863, in the town of Busk, of Galicia in the clerical family of a Greek-Catholic priest. After graduating from the Academic Gymnasium he studied law at the Lviv University, where he was one of the leaders of the student movement and headed the Academic Fraternity. After earning a doctorate in law, he started a practice in Sokal. He was regarded with favor by the people because of his professionalism in defending them from the self-will of powers. At the same time he headed the district Prosvita educational society and was an organizer of the cultural and educational life. He became an active member of Ukrainian National Democratic Party formed in 1899.
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Yukhym Zvyahilsky
Yukhym Leonidovych Zvyahilsky (Ukrainian: Юхим Леонідович Звягільський, Russian: Efim Zvyagilsky) (born 20 February 1933 in Donetsk) is a Ukrainian politician. He was appointed acting Prime Minister on 22 September 1993. He fulfilled these duties until Vitaly Masol was confirmed as prime minister in June 1994.
In 1994 Zviahilskyi was accused of having stolen some $20 million by Ukrainian President Kuchma during his term as acting Prime Minister and he fled to Israel in fear for his life. After some time Zviahilskyi returned to Ukraine.
Zvyahilsky is currently a member of the Verkhovna Rada (parliament), representing the ruling Party of Regions, and owner of the Zasyadko coal mine in Donetsk. Being a member of Parliament, he has immunity from prosecution.
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Yulia Tymoshenko
Yulia Volodymyrivna Tymoshenko (Ukrainian: Юлія Володимирівна Тимошенко, pronounced [ˈjulijɑ ʋɔlɔˈdɪmɪriʋnɑ tɪmɔˈʃɛnkɔ]), née Grigyan (Ukrainian: Ґріґян), born 27 November 1960, is a Ukrainian politician. She was the Prime Minister of Ukraine from 24 January to 8 September 2005, and again from 18 December 2007 to 4 March 2010. She placed third in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women 2005. Tymoshenko is the leader of the All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" party and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc.
She has been a practising economist and academic. Prior to her political career, Yulia Tymoshenko was a successful but controversial businesswoman in the gas industry, becoming by some estimates one of the richest people in the country. Before becoming Ukraine's first female Prime Minister in 2005, Tymoshenko co-led the Orange Revolution.
Tymoshenko was a candidate in the Ukrainian presidential elections of 2010, but lost this election to Viktor Yanukovych (Tymoshenko received 45.47% of the votes in the second and final round of this election). At first Tymoshenko challenged the election results, claiming the vote was rigged, but withdrew her appeal on 20 February 2010, stating, "It became clear that the court is not out to establish the truth".
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Yuri Andropov
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov (Russian: Ю́рий Влади́мирович Андро́пов, tr. Yuriy Vladimirovich Andropov; IPA: [ˈjʉrʲɪj vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ ɐnˈdropəf]; 15 June [O.S. 2 June] 1914 – 9 February 1984) was a Soviet politician and the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 12 November 1982 until his death fifteen months later.
Andropov was the son of a railway official Vladimir Konstantinovich Andropov, who was a member of a Don Cossack noble family. His mother was Yevgenia Karlovna Fleckenstein, a daughter of a wealthy Moscow businessman, Karl Franzovich Fleckenstein, a German Russian from Vyborg. Andropov was educated at the Rybinsk Water Transport Technical College.
Andropov joined the Komsomol in 1930. He became a member of the Communist Party in 1939 and was First Secretary of the Central Committee of Komsomol in the Soviet Karelo-Finnish Republic from 1940 to 1944.
During World War II, Andropov took part in partisan guerrilla activities in Finland. From 1944 onwards, he left Komsomol for Communist Party work. In 1947, he was elected Second Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
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Yuri Maslyukov
Yuri Dmitriyevich Maslyukov (Russian: Юрий Дмитриевич Маслюков; 30 September 1937 – 1 April 2010) was a Russian politician who was in charge of the Gosplan for three years preceding the demise of the Soviet Union.
Yuri Maslyukov was born on 30 September 1937 in the Leninabad in Tajik SSR. He graduated from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute.
Maslyukov served several positions within both the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. Within the CPSU, he was candidate member of the Central Committee's Politburo in 1988-1989 and full member from September 20, 1989 to July 14, 1990. Prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union, he held several high ranking positions with the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, including the post of First Deputy Defense Industry Minister of the Soviet Union. Then he joined the Communist Party of Russia (CPRF).
Maslyukov was the only Communist member of the Russian Cabinet under Boris Yeltsin, serving as First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation in the wake of the 1998 Russian financial crisis. He ultimately served as a member of the Committee on Budget Issues and Taxes of the State Duma, until his death on 1 April 2010.
wn.com/Yuri_Maslyukov -
Yuriy Kotsiubynsky
Yuriy Kotsiubynsky (Ukrainian: Юрій Михайлович Коцюбинський) (December 7, 1896—March 8, 1937) was a Bolshevik politician, activist, member of the Soviet government in Ukraine.
Yuriy like his father Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky was born in Vinnytsia, Podolia Governorate. He studied in the Chernihiv Gymnasium. In 1913 Yuriy joined the Bolsheviks and in 1916 was mobilized to the Russian Imperial Army. Later he studied in school of praporshchiks in Odessa and serving in Petrograd. In the capital Kotsiubynsky was conducting an anti-war agitation among soldiers for which he was arrested on several occasions by the Provisional Government. There he also became a member of a military organization at the Petrograd Committee of RSDLP(b), a commissar of Semenovsky Guard Reserve Regiment, the Chief of Red Guard, and commandant of the Moscow-Narva region (Petrograd).
With his future brother-in-law Vitaly Primakov Kotsiubynsky took active participation in storming of the Winter Palace during the October Revolution. Later he headed the Red Guard detachment of Moscow-Narva Distinct (Saint-Petersburg) against the foces of Kerensky - Krasnov, being also the commandant of the mentioned district. In December 1917 became a deputy of People's Secretary of Military Affairs and later was acting as the Secretary. In January 1918 became the Chief of Staff of the Soviet Ukrainian People's Republic and chairman of military collegiate, nominally heading the army of the Petrograd Red Guards and Baltic Sailors in the fight against the national forces of the Ukrainian People's Republic occupying Kiev in February 1918. In reality the army was led by Muraviov who was subordinated to Vladimir Antonov-Ovseyenko.
wn.com/Yuriy_Kotsiubynsky -
Yuriy Yekhanurov
Yuriy Ivanovych Yekhanurov (Ukrainian: Юрій Іванович Єхануров) (born August 23, 1948) is a Ukrainian politician who was Prime Minister of Ukraine from 2005 to 2006 and Minister of Defense in from 2007 to 2009. On July 14, 2009 he was appointed as the first deputy head of the Ukrainian Presidential Secretariat.
Yekhanurov was born in the village Belkachi in the far-north Yakut ASSR, which is currently the Sakha Republic within the Russian Federation. Yekhanurov, an ethnic Buryat[citation needed], moved to Ukraine during Soviet times, where he has spent most of his life and career. He holds a PhD-equivalent degree in Economics, is married, and has one son.
Yekhanurov graduated from the Kiev Construction tekhnikum in 1967, and the Kyiv Institute of National Economy in 1973. He was appointed manager of the "Kyivmiskbud-4"'s Plant of reinforced concrete as his first job in 1974. Yekhanurov quickly rose the ranks, already heading the "Stroydetal'" industrial group from 1985 to 1988. In that year, he was appointed deputy chairman of the Kiev construction directorate, the "Golovkyivmiskbud".
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Zhao Ziyang
Zhao Ziyang (pronounced [tʂɑ̂ʊ tsɨ̀jɑ̌ŋ]; 17 October 1919 – 17 January 2005) was a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China (PRC). He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989.
As a senior government official, Zhao was critical of Maoist policies and instrumental in implementing free-market reforms, first in Sichuan, subsequently nationwide. He emerged on the national scene due to support from Deng Xiaoping after the Cultural Revolution. He also sought measures to streamline the bureaucracy and fight corruption, which was severely affecting the Party's legitimacy in the 1980s. Zhao Ziyang was also an advocate of the privatization of state-owned enterprises, the separation of the Party and the state, and general market economic reforms. Many of these views were shared by then-General Secretary Hu Yaobang.
His economic reform policies and sympathies to student demonstrators during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 placed him at odds with some members of the party leadership, including Premier Li Peng. Zhao also began to lose favour with paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. In the aftermath of the events, Zhao was purged politically and effectively placed under house arrest for the next 15 years. He died in Beijing in 2005, but because of his political fall from grace he was not given the funeral rites generally accorded to senior Chinese officials.
wn.com/Zhao_Ziyang -
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai (pinyin: Zhōu Ēnlái; Wade-Giles: Chou En-lai; IPA: [tʂóʊ ə́nlǎɪ]; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976. Zhou served under Mao Zedong and was instrumental in consolidating the control of the Communist Party's rise to power, forming foreign policy, and developing the Chinese economy.
A skilled and able diplomat, Zhou served as the Chinese foreign minister from 1949 to 1958. Advocating peaceful coexistence with the West after the stalemated Korean War, he participated in the 1954 Geneva Conference and helped orchestrate Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China. He helped devise policies regarding the bitter disputes with the U.S., Taiwan, the Soviet Union (after 1960), India and Vietnam. Zhou is best known as the long-time top aide to Mao Zedong, specializing in foreign policy. Their contrasting personalities made them an effective team, according to Henry Kissinger, the American diplomat who had extensive dealings with both men:
wn.com/Zhou_Enlai -
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Urdu: ذوالفقار علی بھٹو, Sindhi: ذوالفقار علي ڀُٽو, IPA: [zʊlfɪqɑːɾ ɑli bʱʊʈːoː]) (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was 9th Prime Minister of Pakistan from 1973 to 1977, and prior to that, 4th President of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973. Bhutto was the founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and served as its chairman until his execution in 1979. His elder daughter, Benazir Bhutto, later also served as Prime Minister, while his son Murtaza Bhutto served as member of Parliament of Pakistan.
Educated at the University of Southern California and University of California, Berkeley in the United States and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, Bhutto was noted for his progressive economic initiatives, industrialisation, education, and foreign policy, and his intellectualism. In addition to national security issues, Bhutto promoted his policies on nationalisation, health care, and social reforms. Under his premiership, Pakistan's Parliament gave approval and passed unanimously the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan, a supreme law that provides a parliamentary system to Pakistan, strengthened Sino-Pakistani and Saudi-Pakistani relations, recognised East-Pakistan as Bangladesh, and hosted the second Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in 1974 where he delegated and invited leaders from the Muslim world to Lahore, Punjab Province of Pakistan. In July 1972, Bhutto successfully proceeded the Shimla treaty, signed with Indira Gandhi of India, brought 93,000 Prisoners of War back to Pakistan, and secured 5,000 sq mi (13,000 km2) held by India. In 20 January 1972, weeks after the Indo-Pakistani 1971 winter war, Bhutto orchestrated, authorised, and administrated the scientific research on nuclear weapons; for this, he is colloquially known in the world as "Father of the Pakistan's nuclear deterrent programme".
wn.com/Zulfikar_Ali_Bhutto -
Álvaro Cunhal
Álvaro Barreirinhas Cunhal, who used the name Álvaro Cunhal (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈaɫvɐɾu kuˈɲaɫ]; Sé Nova, Coimbra, 10 November 1913 — Lisbon, 13 June 2005), was a Portuguese politician. He was one of the major opponents of the dictatorial regime of Estado Novo. He served as secretary-general of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) from 1961 to 1992. He was one of the most pro-Soviet of all western Europe communist leaders, often supporting USSR world policies, including the intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Cunhal was born in Coimbra, the third child of Avelino Henriques da Costa Cunhal (Seia, Seia, October 28, 1887 – Coimbra, Sé Nova, December 19, 1966) and wife (m. Coimbra, Sé Nova, August 22, 1908) Mercedes Simões Ferreira Barreirinhas (Coimbra, Sé Nova, May 5, 1888 – Lisbon, September 12, 1971). His father was a lawyer in Coimbra and Seia, and later on in Lisbon, and came from a family of rural bourgeoisie, related to a rich and more aristocratic family, the Cunhal Patrício. His mother was a devout Catholic who wished her son had also become one. He also studied Law at the University of Lisbon, where he joined the PCP, then an illegal organization, in 1931. The deaths of his younger sister Maria Mansueta Barrerinhas Cunhal (Coimbra – Seia, January 13, 1921) and of his older brother António José Barreirinhas Cunhal (Coimbra, 1910 – Lisbon, 1932) struck the grief of both his parents and brothers, but specially of his mother and Álvaro, of whom they had always been close. He visited the Soviet Union for the first time in 1935 to attend the Seventh World Congress of the Comintern in Moscow. He joined the Central Committee of the PCP in 1936 at the age of 24. His first arrest occurred in 1937.
wn.com/Álvaro_Cunhal
Khrushchev, Nikita Filmography
- Marilyn Monroe: Murder on Fifth Helena Drive (2013)
- King Kennedy (2012)
- Reagan (2011)
- Kennedys' Home Movies (2011)
- Moy otets Evgeniy (2010)
- Saunaliittolaiset Kekkonen ja Hrushtshov (2010)
- Hubert H Humphrey: The Art of the Possible (2010)
- Double Take (2009)
- Cosmonauta (2009)
- A President to Remember (2008)
- Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008)
- La rabbia di Pasolini (2008)
- William F. Buckley: Right from the Start (2008)
- Hype: The Obama Effect (2008)
- Sputnik Mania (2007)
- The Wonder of It All (2007)
- Oswald's Ghost (2007)
- Secrets of the Moon Landings (2007)
- Tank on the Moon (2007)
- The First Miracle: 1960 US Olympic Hockey Team (2006)
- UFO: The Greatest Story Ever Denied (2006)
- Freedom's Fury (2006)
- Beyond the Moon: Failure Is Not an Option 2 (2005)
- Wennerström drack alltid Dry Martini (2005)
- DC3:ans sista resa (2004)
- The Doomsday Clock (2004)
- The Truth About 60s TV (2004)
- Die Helden von Bern (2004)
- The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003)
- K-19: Doomsday Submarine (2002)
- Naqoyqatsi (2002)
- Reel Radicals: The Sixties Revolution in Film (2002)
- The Burning Wall (2002)
- Die Nervenprobe - Kuba-Krise '62 (2002)
- Roots of the Cuban Missile Crisis (2001)
- The Secret KGB Paranormal Files (2001)
- The Secret KGB JFK Assassination Files (1999)
- ABC 2000: The Millennium (1999)
- Blast from the Past (1999)
- Hitler and Stalin: Twin Tyrants (1999)
- From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
- The Wall (1997)
- On the Brink: Doomsday (1997)
- East Side Story (1997)
- Nixon (1995)
- Ernesto Che Guevara (1995)
- Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie (1995)
- The Speeches of Richard Nixon (1995)
- Moon Shot (1994)
- The Century of Warfare (1994)
- Zaveshchaniye Stalina (1993)
- Beyond 'JFK': The Question of Conspiracy (1992)
- The JFK Conspiracy (1992)
- China Rising: The Epic History of 20th Century China (1992)
- Battle for the Soul of Russia (1992)
- JFK (1991)
- Tolkovanie snovideniy (1991)
- Sleepers (1991)
- Stalin s nami? (1990)
- Pokhorony Stalina (1990)
- 11-22-63: The Day the Nation Cried (1989)
- Chyornyy kvadrat (1989)
- The 1960's: Music, Memories & Milestones (1988)
- The 1950's: Music, Memories & Milestones (1988)
- Seeing Red (1983)
- The Right Stuff (1983)
- The KGB Connections (1982)
- The Atomic Cafe (1982)
- The World at War (1973)
- Executive Action (1973)
- I due Kennedy (1969)
- Hold On: It's the Dave Clark Five (1968)
- Barrikade (1966)
- La métamorphose des cloportes (1965)
- Four Days in November (1964)
- The World of Benny Goodman (1963)
- La rabbia (1963)
- Urho Kekkonen (1961)
- Achooo Mr. Kerrooschev (1960)
- Premier Khrushchev in the USA (1959)
- Kronika nr. 1-nga vizita e Nikita Hrushovit në Shqipëri (1959)
- Journey to Understanding (1959)
- Finlandia-katsaus 334 (1957)
- SF-katsaus 29 (1957)
- Tasavallan Presidentti J.K. Paasikivi Moskovassa I (1955)
Famous quotes by Nikita Khrushchev:
"The more bombers, the less room for doves of peace."
"Revolutions are the locomotives of history."
"Whether you like it or not, history is on our side. We will bury you!"
"The survivors would envy the dead."
"Economics is a subject that does not greatly respect one's wishes"
"Support by United States rulers is rather in the nature of the support that the rope gives to a hanged man."
"Life is short; live it up."
"The main difference for the history of the world if I had been shot rather than Kennedy is that Onassis probably wouldn't have married Mrs Khrushchev."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like a wolf."
"Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build bridges even when there are no rivers."
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Nikita Khrushchev: Between black & white
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 26:33
- Updated: 02 Mar 2013
He was put in power by Stalin's colleagues. But he was the one later to debunk his predecessor's cult of personality. Public attitudes to him still appear to be more contradictory and varied in comparison to all other Soviet leaders. Today, his son Sergey lives in the United States. But sometimes he visits his father's grave in Moscow. Meet the people who personally knew Khrushchev and find out the facts about the Soviet leader, only on RT.
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_Between_black_white
He was put in power by Stalin's colleagues. But he was the one later to debunk his predecessor's cult of personality. Public attitudes to him still appear to be more contradictory and varied in comparison to all other Soviet leaders. Today, his son Sergey lives in the United States. But sometimes he visits his father's grave in Moscow. Meet the people who personally knew Khrushchev and find out the facts about the Soviet leader, only on RT.
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 45:00
- Updated: 17 Feb 2013
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
http://wn.com/Secrets_of_war_Cold_war_Khrushchev's_regime
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
- published: 15 Aug 2012
- views: 1799
- author: SECRETSOFWAR9
Nikita Khrushchev shoe banging incident
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:27
- Updated: 02 Mar 2013
www.etsy.com Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident happened during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York on 12 October 1960 when the infuriated leader of the Soviet Union pounded his shoe on his delegate-desk. Description of incident During the meeting, head of the Filipino delegation to the United Nations Lorenzo Sumulong stated the following in reference to Soviet foreign policy: " My delegation, the Philippine delegation, attaches great importance to this item entitled "Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples", the allocation of which is now under discussion. We have been a colonized country. We have passed through all the trials and tribulations of a colonized people. It took us centuries and centuries to fight, to struggle, and to win our fight for the recognition of our independence, and, therefore, it would only be consistent with our history, our experience and our aspirations as a people that we vote in favour of having this item referred to the highest possible level of the General Assembly. While this is not the occasion to discuss the substance of the item, I would like to place on record my delegation's view on the import as well as on the scope, the extent, the metes and bounds of this item. We feel this to be necessary in view of the statements made at the start of our meeting by the Premier of the Soviet Union. It is our view that the declaration proposed by the Soviet Union should ...
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_shoe_banging_incident
www.etsy.com Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident happened during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York on 12 October 1960 when the infuriated leader of the Soviet Union pounded his shoe on his delegate-desk. Description of incident During the meeting, head of the Filipino delegation to the United Nations Lorenzo Sumulong stated the following in reference to Soviet foreign policy: " My delegation, the Philippine delegation, attaches great importance to this item entitled "Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples", the allocation of which is now under discussion. We have been a colonized country. We have passed through all the trials and tribulations of a colonized people. It took us centuries and centuries to fight, to struggle, and to win our fight for the recognition of our independence, and, therefore, it would only be consistent with our history, our experience and our aspirations as a people that we vote in favour of having this item referred to the highest possible level of the General Assembly. While this is not the occasion to discuss the substance of the item, I would like to place on record my delegation's view on the import as well as on the scope, the extent, the metes and bounds of this item. We feel this to be necessary in view of the statements made at the start of our meeting by the Premier of the Soviet Union. It is our view that the declaration proposed by the Soviet Union should ...
- published: 05 Jul 2010
- views: 205747
- author: Lauro Righi
Nikita Khrushchev: a brief political biography
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:26
- Updated: 11 Feb 2013
Who was Nikita Khrushchev and what is his legacy? This video examines the leader who was in the Kremlin throughout more than a decade of the Cold War. Topics include: de-Stalinization, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Sputnik, Sino-Soviet relations....and more.
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_a_brief_political_biography
Who was Nikita Khrushchev and what is his legacy? This video examines the leader who was in the Kremlin throughout more than a decade of the Cold War. Topics include: de-Stalinization, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Sputnik, Sino-Soviet relations....and more.
- published: 27 Mar 2011
- views: 888
- author: etrimnell
The Kitchen Debate (Nixon and Khrushchev, 1959) Part I of II
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:22
- Updated: 24 Feb 2013
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges (through interpreters) between then US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the American exhibitors claimed anyone in America could afford. It was filled with labor saving and recreational devices meant to represent the fruits of the capitalist American consumer market. It was the first high-level meeting between Soviet and US leaders since the Geneva Summit in 1955. It took place in a number of locations at the exhibition but primarily in the kitchen of a suburban model house, cut in half so it could be viewed easily. The two men discussed the merits of each of their respective economic systems, capitalism and communism. It was recorded on Ampex color videotape, a new technology pioneered in the US by the Ampex company.; during the debate Nixon pointed this out as one of the many American technological advances. Both men argued for their countrys industrial accomplishments, with Khrushchev stressing the Soviets focus on things that matter rather than luxury. He satirically asked if there was a machine that "puts food into the mouth and pushes it down". Nixon responded by saying at least the competition was technological, rather than military. In the end, both men agreed that the United States and the Soviet Union should be more open with each ...
http://wn.com/The_Kitchen_Debate_Nixon_and_Khrushchev,_1959_Part_I_of_II
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges (through interpreters) between then US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the American exhibitors claimed anyone in America could afford. It was filled with labor saving and recreational devices meant to represent the fruits of the capitalist American consumer market. It was the first high-level meeting between Soviet and US leaders since the Geneva Summit in 1955. It took place in a number of locations at the exhibition but primarily in the kitchen of a suburban model house, cut in half so it could be viewed easily. The two men discussed the merits of each of their respective economic systems, capitalism and communism. It was recorded on Ampex color videotape, a new technology pioneered in the US by the Ampex company.; during the debate Nixon pointed this out as one of the many American technological advances. Both men argued for their countrys industrial accomplishments, with Khrushchev stressing the Soviets focus on things that matter rather than luxury. He satirically asked if there was a machine that "puts food into the mouth and pushes it down". Nixon responded by saying at least the competition was technological, rather than military. In the end, both men agreed that the United States and the Soviet Union should be more open with each ...
- published: 25 Aug 2009
- views: 64793
- author: AmpexDataSystems
Three Years After "We Will Bury You," Nikita Khrushchev Tours America
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:23
- Updated: 26 Feb 2013
Read more at www.smithsonianmag.com As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California.
http://wn.com/Three_Years_After_We_Will_Bury_You,_Nikita_Khrushchev_Tours_America
Read more at www.smithsonianmag.com As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California.
- published: 23 Feb 2010
- views: 11878
- author: SmithsonianMagazine
Nikita Khrushchev - Takes Control of USSR
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:50
- Updated: 25 Feb 2013
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_Takes_Control_of_USSR
Kruschev Gets Angry
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:38
- Updated: 27 Feb 2013
Russian leader Krushev gets angry at meeting, with audio.
http://wn.com/Kruschev_Gets_Angry
Russian leader Krushev gets angry at meeting, with audio.
- published: 20 Oct 2008
- views: 112473
- author: myfootage005
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev RE: Our Communism
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:59
- Updated: 10 Feb 2013
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev. In 1959 Eisenhower asked Ezra Taft Benson to teach Nikita Khrushchev about Agriculture. Ezra relayed a conversation...... "Your children will live under communism." Khrushchev said. "On the contrary," Secretary Benson replied, "My grandchildren will live in freedom as I hope that all people will." Khrushchev then retorted: "You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept Communism outright; but we'll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you will finally wake up and find that you already have Communism. We won't have to fight you; we'll so weaken your economy, until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
http://wn.com/Ezra_Taft_Benson_Quotes_Nikita_Khrushchev_RE_Our_Communism
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev. In 1959 Eisenhower asked Ezra Taft Benson to teach Nikita Khrushchev about Agriculture. Ezra relayed a conversation...... "Your children will live under communism." Khrushchev said. "On the contrary," Secretary Benson replied, "My grandchildren will live in freedom as I hope that all people will." Khrushchev then retorted: "You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept Communism outright; but we'll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you will finally wake up and find that you already have Communism. We won't have to fight you; we'll so weaken your economy, until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
- published: 01 Nov 2008
- views: 27970
- author: lindaclements
Makem and Clancy Nikita Kruschev
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:53
- Updated: 21 Jan 2013
Tommy and Liam at the national Stadium in Dublin, February 1977 For more info, check out the biography on the group, "The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem & Robbie O'Connell: The Men Behind the Sweaters" at clancybrothersbook.com and amazon.com
http://wn.com/Makem_and_Clancy_Nikita_Kruschev
Tommy and Liam at the national Stadium in Dublin, February 1977 For more info, check out the biography on the group, "The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem & Robbie O'Connell: The Men Behind the Sweaters" at clancybrothersbook.com and amazon.com
- published: 11 Mar 2008
- views: 15968
- author: menbehindthesweaters
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:45
- Updated: 15 Sep 2012
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
http://wn.com/US_Vice_President_Nixon_Nikita_Khrushchev_Soviet_Leader_1959
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
- published: 23 Jul 2008
- views: 21257
- author: dan izzo
Enemy at the Gates (4/9) Movie CLIP - Nikita Khrushchev (2001) HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:43
- Updated: 28 Feb 2013
Enemy at the Gates Movie Clip - watch all clips j.mp click to subscribe j.mp A disappointed Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) addresses his officers after they fail to take Stalingrad back from the Germans. TM & © Paramount (2012) Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Markus Majowski, Peter Silbereisen Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud MOVIECLIPS YouTube Channel: j.mp Join our Facebook page: j.mp Follow us on Twitter: j.mp Buy Movie: j.mp Producer: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard, Roland Pellegrino, Jörg Reichl, John D. Schofield, Alisa Tager Screenwriter: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard Film Description: A turning point in 20th century war history is the focus of this fact-based account of the 1942-1943 battle of Stalingrad, in which the Germans were finally defeated by Russian influence -- one of the bloodiest battles in World War II history. The film stars Jude Law as Vassili, a marksman from the Urals who is transported to Stalingrad in 1942, and a master German sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris). Koenig, an expert German sniper, is determined to eliminate his formidable opponent by any means necessary; meanwhile, Vassili has joined forces with Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a young Russian political adversary, who is impressed by Vassili's skills and raises his profile in the Soviet Union. Both Vassili and Danilov become involved with Tanya (Rachel Weisz), whose Jewish parents have been captured by the Germans and have forced her to take up with the men on a sniper expedition. Koenig ...
http://wn.com/Enemy_at_the_Gates_4_9_Movie_CLIP_Nikita_Khrushchev_2001_HD
Enemy at the Gates Movie Clip - watch all clips j.mp click to subscribe j.mp A disappointed Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) addresses his officers after they fail to take Stalingrad back from the Germans. TM & © Paramount (2012) Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Markus Majowski, Peter Silbereisen Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud MOVIECLIPS YouTube Channel: j.mp Join our Facebook page: j.mp Follow us on Twitter: j.mp Buy Movie: j.mp Producer: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard, Roland Pellegrino, Jörg Reichl, John D. Schofield, Alisa Tager Screenwriter: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard Film Description: A turning point in 20th century war history is the focus of this fact-based account of the 1942-1943 battle of Stalingrad, in which the Germans were finally defeated by Russian influence -- one of the bloodiest battles in World War II history. The film stars Jude Law as Vassili, a marksman from the Urals who is transported to Stalingrad in 1942, and a master German sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris). Koenig, an expert German sniper, is determined to eliminate his formidable opponent by any means necessary; meanwhile, Vassili has joined forces with Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a young Russian political adversary, who is impressed by Vassili's skills and raises his profile in the Soviet Union. Both Vassili and Danilov become involved with Tanya (Rachel Weisz), whose Jewish parents have been captured by the Germans and have forced her to take up with the men on a sniper expedition. Koenig ...
- published: 23 May 2012
- views: 61932
- author: movieclips
Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev in America
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:57
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
Year: 1960
http://wn.com/Fidel_Castro_and_Nikita_Khrushchev_in_America
Nikita Kruschev on Face the Nation
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:12
- Updated: 08 Jan 2013
First Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR Nikita Kruschev talked about communism, competing with the US in agriculture and industry, and more on the June 2, 1957 edition of Face the Nation. (CBS NEWS)
http://wn.com/Nikita_Kruschev_on_Face_the_Nation
First Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR Nikita Kruschev talked about communism, competing with the US in agriculture and industry, and more on the June 2, 1957 edition of Face the Nation. (CBS NEWS)
- published: 13 Mar 2012
- views: 2938
- author: CBSNewsOnline
Khrushchev on the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:14
- Updated: 23 Feb 2013
Sergei Khrushchev answers "What was the Cuban Missile Crisis like from the Soviet perspective?" for more videos visit us online at www.choices.edu
http://wn.com/Khrushchev_on_the_Cuban_Missile_Crisis
Sergei Khrushchev answers "What was the Cuban Missile Crisis like from the Soviet perspective?" for more videos visit us online at www.choices.edu
- published: 09 Sep 2008
- views: 48605
- author: TheChoicesProgram
Nikita Khrushchev INTERVIEW
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:35
- Updated: 17 Sep 2012
Nikita Khrushchev INTERVIEW
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_INTERVIEW
Nixon & Khrushchev at Kitchen Debate Excerpt from Leisurama
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:43
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
On July 24, 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev spent hours publicly debating cultural ideology at the American National Exhibit in Moscow. This is an excerpt from the documentary "Leisurama", produced and directed by Jake Gorst, executive producer Dana Eshghi. Leisurama is currently in PBS broadcast distribution. For more information please visit www.leisurama.info. © 2008 Jonamac Productions
http://wn.com/Nixon_Khrushchev_at_Kitchen_Debate_Excerpt_from_Leisurama
On July 24, 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev spent hours publicly debating cultural ideology at the American National Exhibit in Moscow. This is an excerpt from the documentary "Leisurama", produced and directed by Jake Gorst, executive producer Dana Eshghi. Leisurama is currently in PBS broadcast distribution. For more information please visit www.leisurama.info. © 2008 Jonamac Productions
- published: 05 Jun 2008
- views: 18255
- author: jgorst
Nixon and Khrushchev
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:28
- Updated: 05 Feb 2013
Former Vice President Richard Nixon meets with Khrushchev . Their conversation and debate during the meeting became known as the kitchen debate.
http://wn.com/Nixon_and_Khrushchev
Former Vice President Richard Nixon meets with Khrushchev . Their conversation and debate during the meeting became known as the kitchen debate.
- published: 20 May 2007
- views: 59650
- author: politicalhack28
The Downfall of nikita kruschev
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:51
- Updated: 15 Nov 2010
My First Project
http://wn.com/The_Downfall_of_nikita_kruschev
Richard M. Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev The Kitchen Debate
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:26
- Updated: 07 Dec 2012
Richard M. Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev The Kitchen Debate
http://wn.com/Richard_M_Nixon_Nikita_Khrushchev_The_Kitchen_Debate
Richard M. Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev The Kitchen Debate
- published: 15 Jun 2008
- views: 44776
- author: zzahier
Nikita Khrushchev: A New Thaw From Frozen Debate
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:59
- Updated: 09 Mar 2012
Soon after the death of the dictatorial leader, Josef Stalin, in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev took power. Khrushchev broke down Stalin's former policies and began a process known as destalinazation where he destroyed Stalin's cult of personalty. Khrushchev took power in 1953 recognizing that the repression of debate and diplomacy with the other super powers was stymying the progress of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev succeeded in bringing debate and diplomacy back into the Soviet Union with his multiple meetings with world leaders and face to face debates. Due to Khrushchev's liberal policies, those in a position of power that followed Stalin, were angered and forced Khrushchev out of office in 1964. His successor, Leonid Brezhnev, brought the country back to almost pre-thaw control in response to Khrushchev's reform movements.This can be seen as the short term failure of Khrushchev's attempts to save communism.
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_A_New_Thaw_From_Frozen_Debate
Soon after the death of the dictatorial leader, Josef Stalin, in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev took power. Khrushchev broke down Stalin's former policies and began a process known as destalinazation where he destroyed Stalin's cult of personalty. Khrushchev took power in 1953 recognizing that the repression of debate and diplomacy with the other super powers was stymying the progress of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev succeeded in bringing debate and diplomacy back into the Soviet Union with his multiple meetings with world leaders and face to face debates. Due to Khrushchev's liberal policies, those in a position of power that followed Stalin, were angered and forced Khrushchev out of office in 1964. His successor, Leonid Brezhnev, brought the country back to almost pre-thaw control in response to Khrushchev's reform movements.This can be seen as the short term failure of Khrushchev's attempts to save communism.
- published: 10 Jan 2011
- views: 1361
- author: emendales
Khrushchev Resigns! 1964/10/15
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:56
- Updated: 04 Feb 2013
Khrushchev resigns, with Mao, Nasser, shakes fist at UN, pounds desk, Brezhnev to take over, "the red in the gray flannel suit", Brezhnev speaks (partial newsreel)
http://wn.com/Khrushchev_Resigns!_1964_10_15
Khrushchev resigns, with Mao, Nasser, shakes fist at UN, pounds desk, Brezhnev to take over, "the red in the gray flannel suit", Brezhnev speaks (partial newsreel)
- published: 17 Sep 2006
- views: 66567
- author: UniversalNewsreels
Nikita Khrushchev criticizes Dag Hammarskjöld (1960)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 14:56
- Updated: 02 Dec 2011
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev speaks.
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_criticizes_Dag_Hammarskjöld_1960
Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev speaks.
- published: 20 Aug 2011
- views: 482
- author: HammarskjoldProject
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Nikita Khrushchev: Between black & white
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 26:33
- Updated: 02 Mar 2013
He was put in power by Stalin's colleagues. But he was the one later to debunk his predecessor's cult of personality. Public attitudes to him still appear to be more contradictory and varied in comparison to all other Soviet leaders. Today, his son Sergey lives in the United States. But sometimes he visits his father's grave in Moscow. Meet the people who personally knew Khrushchev and find out the facts about the Soviet leader, only on RT.
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_Between_black_white
He was put in power by Stalin's colleagues. But he was the one later to debunk his predecessor's cult of personality. Public attitudes to him still appear to be more contradictory and varied in comparison to all other Soviet leaders. Today, his son Sergey lives in the United States. But sometimes he visits his father's grave in Moscow. Meet the people who personally knew Khrushchev and find out the facts about the Soviet leader, only on RT.
- published: 05 Sep 2010
- views: 33862
- author: RussiaToday
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 45:00
- Updated: 17 Feb 2013
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
http://wn.com/Secrets_of_war_Cold_war_Khrushchev's_regime
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
- published: 15 Aug 2012
- views: 1799
- author: SECRETSOFWAR9
Nikita Khrushchev: a brief political biography
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:26
- Updated: 11 Feb 2013
Who was Nikita Khrushchev and what is his legacy? This video examines the leader who was in the Kremlin throughout more than a decade of the Cold War. Topics include: de-Stalinization, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Sputnik, Sino-Soviet relations....and more.
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_a_brief_political_biography
Who was Nikita Khrushchev and what is his legacy? This video examines the leader who was in the Kremlin throughout more than a decade of the Cold War. Topics include: de-Stalinization, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Sputnik, Sino-Soviet relations....and more.
- published: 27 Mar 2011
- views: 888
- author: etrimnell
Nikita Khrushchev shoe banging incident
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:27
- Updated: 02 Mar 2013
www.etsy.com Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident happened during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York on 12 October 1960 when the infuriated leader of the Soviet Union pounded his shoe on his delegate-desk. Description of incident During the meeting, head of the Filipino delegation to the United Nations Lorenzo Sumulong stated the following in reference to Soviet foreign policy: " My delegation, the Philippine delegation, attaches great importance to this item entitled "Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples", the allocation of which is now under discussion. We have been a colonized country. We have passed through all the trials and tribulations of a colonized people. It took us centuries and centuries to fight, to struggle, and to win our fight for the recognition of our independence, and, therefore, it would only be consistent with our history, our experience and our aspirations as a people that we vote in favour of having this item referred to the highest possible level of the General Assembly. While this is not the occasion to discuss the substance of the item, I would like to place on record my delegation's view on the import as well as on the scope, the extent, the metes and bounds of this item. We feel this to be necessary in view of the statements made at the start of our meeting by the Premier of the Soviet Union. It is our view that the declaration proposed by the Soviet Union should ...
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_shoe_banging_incident
www.etsy.com Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident happened during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York on 12 October 1960 when the infuriated leader of the Soviet Union pounded his shoe on his delegate-desk. Description of incident During the meeting, head of the Filipino delegation to the United Nations Lorenzo Sumulong stated the following in reference to Soviet foreign policy: " My delegation, the Philippine delegation, attaches great importance to this item entitled "Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples", the allocation of which is now under discussion. We have been a colonized country. We have passed through all the trials and tribulations of a colonized people. It took us centuries and centuries to fight, to struggle, and to win our fight for the recognition of our independence, and, therefore, it would only be consistent with our history, our experience and our aspirations as a people that we vote in favour of having this item referred to the highest possible level of the General Assembly. While this is not the occasion to discuss the substance of the item, I would like to place on record my delegation's view on the import as well as on the scope, the extent, the metes and bounds of this item. We feel this to be necessary in view of the statements made at the start of our meeting by the Premier of the Soviet Union. It is our view that the declaration proposed by the Soviet Union should ...
- published: 05 Jul 2010
- views: 205747
- author: Lauro Righi
The Kitchen Debate (Nixon and Khrushchev, 1959) Part I of II
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:22
- Updated: 24 Feb 2013
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges (through interpreters) between then US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the American exhibitors claimed anyone in America could afford. It was filled with labor saving and recreational devices meant to represent the fruits of the capitalist American consumer market. It was the first high-level meeting between Soviet and US leaders since the Geneva Summit in 1955. It took place in a number of locations at the exhibition but primarily in the kitchen of a suburban model house, cut in half so it could be viewed easily. The two men discussed the merits of each of their respective economic systems, capitalism and communism. It was recorded on Ampex color videotape, a new technology pioneered in the US by the Ampex company.; during the debate Nixon pointed this out as one of the many American technological advances. Both men argued for their countrys industrial accomplishments, with Khrushchev stressing the Soviets focus on things that matter rather than luxury. He satirically asked if there was a machine that "puts food into the mouth and pushes it down". Nixon responded by saying at least the competition was technological, rather than military. In the end, both men agreed that the United States and the Soviet Union should be more open with each ...
http://wn.com/The_Kitchen_Debate_Nixon_and_Khrushchev,_1959_Part_I_of_II
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges (through interpreters) between then US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the American exhibitors claimed anyone in America could afford. It was filled with labor saving and recreational devices meant to represent the fruits of the capitalist American consumer market. It was the first high-level meeting between Soviet and US leaders since the Geneva Summit in 1955. It took place in a number of locations at the exhibition but primarily in the kitchen of a suburban model house, cut in half so it could be viewed easily. The two men discussed the merits of each of their respective economic systems, capitalism and communism. It was recorded on Ampex color videotape, a new technology pioneered in the US by the Ampex company.; during the debate Nixon pointed this out as one of the many American technological advances. Both men argued for their countrys industrial accomplishments, with Khrushchev stressing the Soviets focus on things that matter rather than luxury. He satirically asked if there was a machine that "puts food into the mouth and pushes it down". Nixon responded by saying at least the competition was technological, rather than military. In the end, both men agreed that the United States and the Soviet Union should be more open with each ...
- published: 25 Aug 2009
- views: 64793
- author: AmpexDataSystems
Three Years After "We Will Bury You," Nikita Khrushchev Tours America
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:23
- Updated: 26 Feb 2013
Read more at www.smithsonianmag.com As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California.
http://wn.com/Three_Years_After_We_Will_Bury_You,_Nikita_Khrushchev_Tours_America
Read more at www.smithsonianmag.com As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California.
- published: 23 Feb 2010
- views: 11878
- author: SmithsonianMagazine
Nikita Khrushchev - Takes Control of USSR
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:50
- Updated: 25 Feb 2013
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_Takes_Control_of_USSR
Nikita Khrushchev INTERVIEW
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:35
- Updated: 17 Sep 2012
Nikita Khrushchev INTERVIEW
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_INTERVIEW
Nikita Kruschev on Face the Nation
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:12
- Updated: 08 Jan 2013
First Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR Nikita Kruschev talked about communism, competing with the US in agriculture and industry, and more on the June 2, 1957 edition of Face the Nation. (CBS NEWS)
http://wn.com/Nikita_Kruschev_on_Face_the_Nation
First Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR Nikita Kruschev talked about communism, competing with the US in agriculture and industry, and more on the June 2, 1957 edition of Face the Nation. (CBS NEWS)
- published: 13 Mar 2012
- views: 2938
- author: CBSNewsOnline
The Downfall of nikita kruschev
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:51
- Updated: 15 Nov 2010
My First Project
http://wn.com/The_Downfall_of_nikita_kruschev
Khrushchev Resigns! 1964/10/15
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:56
- Updated: 04 Feb 2013
Khrushchev resigns, with Mao, Nasser, shakes fist at UN, pounds desk, Brezhnev to take over, "the red in the gray flannel suit", Brezhnev speaks (partial newsreel)
http://wn.com/Khrushchev_Resigns!_1964_10_15
Khrushchev resigns, with Mao, Nasser, shakes fist at UN, pounds desk, Brezhnev to take over, "the red in the gray flannel suit", Brezhnev speaks (partial newsreel)
- published: 17 Sep 2006
- views: 66567
- author: UniversalNewsreels
1960 Khrushchev's Shoe
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:38
- Updated: 01 Mar 2013
A Mechanical Icon film.
http://wn.com/1960_Khrushchev's_Shoe
Makem and Clancy Nikita Kruschev
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:53
- Updated: 21 Jan 2013
Tommy and Liam at the national Stadium in Dublin, February 1977 For more info, check out the biography on the group, "The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem & Robbie O'Connell: The Men Behind the Sweaters" at clancybrothersbook.com and amazon.com
http://wn.com/Makem_and_Clancy_Nikita_Kruschev
Tommy and Liam at the national Stadium in Dublin, February 1977 For more info, check out the biography on the group, "The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem & Robbie O'Connell: The Men Behind the Sweaters" at clancybrothersbook.com and amazon.com
- published: 11 Mar 2008
- views: 15968
- author: menbehindthesweaters
Nikita Kruschev v Jobber
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:26
- Updated: 26 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Nikita_Kruschev_v_Jobber
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev RE: Our Communism
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:59
- Updated: 10 Feb 2013
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev. In 1959 Eisenhower asked Ezra Taft Benson to teach Nikita Khrushchev about Agriculture. Ezra relayed a conversation...... "Your children will live under communism." Khrushchev said. "On the contrary," Secretary Benson replied, "My grandchildren will live in freedom as I hope that all people will." Khrushchev then retorted: "You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept Communism outright; but we'll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you will finally wake up and find that you already have Communism. We won't have to fight you; we'll so weaken your economy, until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
http://wn.com/Ezra_Taft_Benson_Quotes_Nikita_Khrushchev_RE_Our_Communism
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev. In 1959 Eisenhower asked Ezra Taft Benson to teach Nikita Khrushchev about Agriculture. Ezra relayed a conversation...... "Your children will live under communism." Khrushchev said. "On the contrary," Secretary Benson replied, "My grandchildren will live in freedom as I hope that all people will." Khrushchev then retorted: "You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept Communism outright; but we'll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you will finally wake up and find that you already have Communism. We won't have to fight you; we'll so weaken your economy, until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
- published: 01 Nov 2008
- views: 27970
- author: lindaclements
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:45
- Updated: 15 Sep 2012
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
http://wn.com/US_Vice_President_Nixon_Nikita_Khrushchev_Soviet_Leader_1959
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
- published: 23 Jul 2008
- views: 21257
- author: dan izzo
Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev in America
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:57
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
Year: 1960
http://wn.com/Fidel_Castro_and_Nikita_Khrushchev_in_America
Enemy at the Gates (4/9) Movie CLIP - Nikita Khrushchev (2001) HD
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:43
- Updated: 28 Feb 2013
Enemy at the Gates Movie Clip - watch all clips j.mp click to subscribe j.mp A disappointed Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) addresses his officers after they fail to take Stalingrad back from the Germans. TM & © Paramount (2012) Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Markus Majowski, Peter Silbereisen Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud MOVIECLIPS YouTube Channel: j.mp Join our Facebook page: j.mp Follow us on Twitter: j.mp Buy Movie: j.mp Producer: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard, Roland Pellegrino, Jörg Reichl, John D. Schofield, Alisa Tager Screenwriter: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard Film Description: A turning point in 20th century war history is the focus of this fact-based account of the 1942-1943 battle of Stalingrad, in which the Germans were finally defeated by Russian influence -- one of the bloodiest battles in World War II history. The film stars Jude Law as Vassili, a marksman from the Urals who is transported to Stalingrad in 1942, and a master German sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris). Koenig, an expert German sniper, is determined to eliminate his formidable opponent by any means necessary; meanwhile, Vassili has joined forces with Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a young Russian political adversary, who is impressed by Vassili's skills and raises his profile in the Soviet Union. Both Vassili and Danilov become involved with Tanya (Rachel Weisz), whose Jewish parents have been captured by the Germans and have forced her to take up with the men on a sniper expedition. Koenig ...
http://wn.com/Enemy_at_the_Gates_4_9_Movie_CLIP_Nikita_Khrushchev_2001_HD
Enemy at the Gates Movie Clip - watch all clips j.mp click to subscribe j.mp A disappointed Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) addresses his officers after they fail to take Stalingrad back from the Germans. TM & © Paramount (2012) Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Markus Majowski, Peter Silbereisen Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud MOVIECLIPS YouTube Channel: j.mp Join our Facebook page: j.mp Follow us on Twitter: j.mp Buy Movie: j.mp Producer: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard, Roland Pellegrino, Jörg Reichl, John D. Schofield, Alisa Tager Screenwriter: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard Film Description: A turning point in 20th century war history is the focus of this fact-based account of the 1942-1943 battle of Stalingrad, in which the Germans were finally defeated by Russian influence -- one of the bloodiest battles in World War II history. The film stars Jude Law as Vassili, a marksman from the Urals who is transported to Stalingrad in 1942, and a master German sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris). Koenig, an expert German sniper, is determined to eliminate his formidable opponent by any means necessary; meanwhile, Vassili has joined forces with Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a young Russian political adversary, who is impressed by Vassili's skills and raises his profile in the Soviet Union. Both Vassili and Danilov become involved with Tanya (Rachel Weisz), whose Jewish parents have been captured by the Germans and have forced her to take up with the men on a sniper expedition. Koenig ...
- published: 23 May 2012
- views: 61932
- author: movieclips
Khrushchev on the Cuban Missile Crisis
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:14
- Updated: 23 Feb 2013
Sergei Khrushchev answers "What was the Cuban Missile Crisis like from the Soviet perspective?" for more videos visit us online at www.choices.edu
http://wn.com/Khrushchev_on_the_Cuban_Missile_Crisis
Sergei Khrushchev answers "What was the Cuban Missile Crisis like from the Soviet perspective?" for more videos visit us online at www.choices.edu
- published: 09 Sep 2008
- views: 48605
- author: TheChoicesProgram
Nixon & Khrushchev at Kitchen Debate Excerpt from Leisurama
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:43
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
On July 24, 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev spent hours publicly debating cultural ideology at the American National Exhibit in Moscow. This is an excerpt from the documentary "Leisurama", produced and directed by Jake Gorst, executive producer Dana Eshghi. Leisurama is currently in PBS broadcast distribution. For more information please visit www.leisurama.info. © 2008 Jonamac Productions
http://wn.com/Nixon_Khrushchev_at_Kitchen_Debate_Excerpt_from_Leisurama
On July 24, 1959, Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev spent hours publicly debating cultural ideology at the American National Exhibit in Moscow. This is an excerpt from the documentary "Leisurama", produced and directed by Jake Gorst, executive producer Dana Eshghi. Leisurama is currently in PBS broadcast distribution. For more information please visit www.leisurama.info. © 2008 Jonamac Productions
- published: 05 Jun 2008
- views: 18255
- author: jgorst
Kruschev Gets Angry
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 0:38
- Updated: 27 Feb 2013
Russian leader Krushev gets angry at meeting, with audio.
http://wn.com/Kruschev_Gets_Angry
Russian leader Krushev gets angry at meeting, with audio.
- published: 20 Oct 2008
- views: 112473
- author: myfootage005
Richard M. Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev The Kitchen Debate
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:26
- Updated: 07 Dec 2012
Richard M. Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev The Kitchen Debate
http://wn.com/Richard_M_Nixon_Nikita_Khrushchev_The_Kitchen_Debate
Richard M. Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev The Kitchen Debate
- published: 15 Jun 2008
- views: 44776
- author: zzahier
Nikita Khrushchev: A New Thaw From Frozen Debate
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:59
- Updated: 09 Mar 2012
Soon after the death of the dictatorial leader, Josef Stalin, in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev took power. Khrushchev broke down Stalin's former policies and began a process known as destalinazation where he destroyed Stalin's cult of personalty. Khrushchev took power in 1953 recognizing that the repression of debate and diplomacy with the other super powers was stymying the progress of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev succeeded in bringing debate and diplomacy back into the Soviet Union with his multiple meetings with world leaders and face to face debates. Due to Khrushchev's liberal policies, those in a position of power that followed Stalin, were angered and forced Khrushchev out of office in 1964. His successor, Leonid Brezhnev, brought the country back to almost pre-thaw control in response to Khrushchev's reform movements.This can be seen as the short term failure of Khrushchev's attempts to save communism.
http://wn.com/Nikita_Khrushchev_A_New_Thaw_From_Frozen_Debate
Soon after the death of the dictatorial leader, Josef Stalin, in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev took power. Khrushchev broke down Stalin's former policies and began a process known as destalinazation where he destroyed Stalin's cult of personalty. Khrushchev took power in 1953 recognizing that the repression of debate and diplomacy with the other super powers was stymying the progress of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev succeeded in bringing debate and diplomacy back into the Soviet Union with his multiple meetings with world leaders and face to face debates. Due to Khrushchev's liberal policies, those in a position of power that followed Stalin, were angered and forced Khrushchev out of office in 1964. His successor, Leonid Brezhnev, brought the country back to almost pre-thaw control in response to Khrushchev's reform movements.This can be seen as the short term failure of Khrushchev's attempts to save communism.
- published: 10 Jan 2011
- views: 1361
- author: emendales
26:33
Nikita Khrushchev: Between black & white
He was put in power by Stalin's colleagues. But he was the one later to debunk his predece...
published: 05 Sep 2010
author: RussiaToday
Nikita Khrushchev: Between black & white
He was put in power by Stalin's colleagues. But he was the one later to debunk his predecessor's cult of personality. Public attitudes to him still appear to be more contradictory and varied in comparison to all other Soviet leaders. Today, his son Sergey lives in the United States. But sometimes he visits his father's grave in Moscow. Meet the people who personally knew Khrushchev and find out the facts about the Soviet leader, only on RT.
- published: 05 Sep 2010
- views: 33862
- author: RussiaToday
45:00
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime...
published: 15 Aug 2012
author: SECRETSOFWAR9
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
Secrets of war: Cold war Khrushchev's regime
- published: 15 Aug 2012
- views: 1799
- author: SECRETSOFWAR9
6:26
Nikita Khrushchev: a brief political biography
Who was Nikita Khrushchev and what is his legacy? This video examines the leader who was i...
published: 27 Mar 2011
author: etrimnell
Nikita Khrushchev: a brief political biography
Who was Nikita Khrushchev and what is his legacy? This video examines the leader who was in the Kremlin throughout more than a decade of the Cold War. Topics include: de-Stalinization, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Sputnik, Sino-Soviet relations....and more.
- published: 27 Mar 2011
- views: 888
- author: etrimnell
1:27
Nikita Khrushchev shoe banging incident
www.etsy.com Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident happened during the 902nd Plenary M...
published: 05 Jul 2010
author: Lauro Righi
Nikita Khrushchev shoe banging incident
www.etsy.com Nikita Khrushchev's shoe-banging incident happened during the 902nd Plenary Meeting of the UN General Assembly held in New York on 12 October 1960 when the infuriated leader of the Soviet Union pounded his shoe on his delegate-desk. Description of incident During the meeting, head of the Filipino delegation to the United Nations Lorenzo Sumulong stated the following in reference to Soviet foreign policy: " My delegation, the Philippine delegation, attaches great importance to this item entitled "Declaration on the granting of independence to colonial countries and peoples", the allocation of which is now under discussion. We have been a colonized country. We have passed through all the trials and tribulations of a colonized people. It took us centuries and centuries to fight, to struggle, and to win our fight for the recognition of our independence, and, therefore, it would only be consistent with our history, our experience and our aspirations as a people that we vote in favour of having this item referred to the highest possible level of the General Assembly. While this is not the occasion to discuss the substance of the item, I would like to place on record my delegation's view on the import as well as on the scope, the extent, the metes and bounds of this item. We feel this to be necessary in view of the statements made at the start of our meeting by the Premier of the Soviet Union. It is our view that the declaration proposed by the Soviet Union should ...
- published: 05 Jul 2010
- views: 205747
- author: Lauro Righi
7:22
The Kitchen Debate (Nixon and Khrushchev, 1959) Part I of II
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges (through interpreters) between then...
published: 25 Aug 2009
author: AmpexDataSystems
The Kitchen Debate (Nixon and Khrushchev, 1959) Part I of II
The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges (through interpreters) between then US Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the American exhibitors claimed anyone in America could afford. It was filled with labor saving and recreational devices meant to represent the fruits of the capitalist American consumer market. It was the first high-level meeting between Soviet and US leaders since the Geneva Summit in 1955. It took place in a number of locations at the exhibition but primarily in the kitchen of a suburban model house, cut in half so it could be viewed easily. The two men discussed the merits of each of their respective economic systems, capitalism and communism. It was recorded on Ampex color videotape, a new technology pioneered in the US by the Ampex company.; during the debate Nixon pointed this out as one of the many American technological advances. Both men argued for their countrys industrial accomplishments, with Khrushchev stressing the Soviets focus on things that matter rather than luxury. He satirically asked if there was a machine that "puts food into the mouth and pushes it down". Nixon responded by saying at least the competition was technological, rather than military. In the end, both men agreed that the United States and the Soviet Union should be more open with each ...
- published: 25 Aug 2009
- views: 64793
- author: AmpexDataSystems
5:23
Three Years After "We Will Bury You," Nikita Khrushchev Tours America
Read more at www.smithsonianmag.com As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita...
published: 23 Feb 2010
author: SmithsonianMagazine
Three Years After "We Will Bury You," Nikita Khrushchev Tours America
Read more at www.smithsonianmag.com As part of a diplomatic mission, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev traveled across the United States, meeting Americans from New York to Iowa to California.
- published: 23 Feb 2010
- views: 11878
- author: SmithsonianMagazine
3:12
Nikita Kruschev on Face the Nation
First Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR Nikita Kruschev talked about communism,...
published: 13 Mar 2012
author: CBSNewsOnline
Nikita Kruschev on Face the Nation
First Secretary of the Communist Party in the USSR Nikita Kruschev talked about communism, competing with the US in agriculture and industry, and more on the June 2, 1957 edition of Face the Nation. (CBS NEWS)
- published: 13 Mar 2012
- views: 2938
- author: CBSNewsOnline
5:51
The Downfall of nikita kruschev
My First Project...
published: 15 Nov 2010
author: TurtleColonel
The Downfall of nikita kruschev
My First Project
- published: 15 Nov 2010
- views: 115
- author: TurtleColonel
1:56
Khrushchev Resigns! 1964/10/15
Khrushchev resigns, with Mao, Nasser, shakes fist at UN, pounds desk, Brezhnev to take ove...
published: 17 Sep 2006
author: UniversalNewsreels
Khrushchev Resigns! 1964/10/15
Khrushchev resigns, with Mao, Nasser, shakes fist at UN, pounds desk, Brezhnev to take over, "the red in the gray flannel suit", Brezhnev speaks (partial newsreel)
- published: 17 Sep 2006
- views: 66567
- author: UniversalNewsreels
2:38
1960 Khrushchev's Shoe
A Mechanical Icon film....
published: 31 May 2010
author: Marshall Poe
1960 Khrushchev's Shoe
A Mechanical Icon film.
- published: 31 May 2010
- views: 244535
- author: Marshall Poe
2:53
Makem and Clancy Nikita Kruschev
Tommy and Liam at the national Stadium in Dublin, February 1977 For more info, check out t...
published: 11 Mar 2008
author: menbehindthesweaters
Makem and Clancy Nikita Kruschev
Tommy and Liam at the national Stadium in Dublin, February 1977 For more info, check out the biography on the group, "The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem & Robbie O'Connell: The Men Behind the Sweaters" at clancybrothersbook.com and amazon.com
- published: 11 Mar 2008
- views: 15968
- author: menbehindthesweaters
Vimeo results:
61:25
Sergei Khrushchev: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Sergei Khrushchev, son of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and a Senior Fellow at th...
published: 12 Apr 2011
author: The Gilder Lehrman Institute
Sergei Khrushchev: The Cuban Missile Crisis
Sergei Khrushchev, son of former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and a Senior Fellow at the Watson Institute for International Studies at Brown University, deconstructs the mythology surrounding the monumental events of October 1962. He argues that the placement of Soviet missiles in Cuba did not offer the Soviets a strategic advantage over the more heavily-armed United States. Khrushchev offers personal reflections and memories of the crisis and offers insight into his father's role in this event.
2:15
Tsar Bomba - The King Of Bombs
On October 30, 1961, the most powerful weapon ever constructed by mankind was exploded ove...
published: 27 Dec 2008
author: sir_daniel
Tsar Bomba - The King Of Bombs
On October 30, 1961, the most powerful weapon ever constructed by mankind was exploded over the island of Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Sea. The device was code-named "Tsar", was a multi-stage hydrogen bomb which was built in only sixteen weeks by engineers in the USSR at the order of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
1:09
Room 317
The Brown University office of Watson Institute Senior Fellow Sergei Khrushchev is a tiny ...
published: 08 Feb 2012
author: Watson Institute
Room 317
The Brown University office of Watson Institute Senior Fellow Sergei Khrushchev is a tiny museum dedicated to the life and work of his father, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.
10:00
The Whole World In Their Hands: Diplomacy Denies Devastaion
During the most tense and nervewracking standoff of the twentieth century, the vascillatin...
published: 15 Apr 2011
author: Delaney Wahl
The Whole World In Their Hands: Diplomacy Denies Devastaion
During the most tense and nervewracking standoff of the twentieth century, the vascillating diplomacy between John F. Kennedy, and Nikita Khrushchev was the only hope in successfully saving the world from the consequences of complete nuclear armegedon.
Youtube results:
9:59
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev RE: Our Communism
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev. In 1959 Eisenhower asked Ezra Taft Benson to te...
published: 01 Nov 2008
author: lindaclements
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev RE: Our Communism
Ezra Taft Benson Quotes Nikita Khrushchev. In 1959 Eisenhower asked Ezra Taft Benson to teach Nikita Khrushchev about Agriculture. Ezra relayed a conversation...... "Your children will live under communism." Khrushchev said. "On the contrary," Secretary Benson replied, "My grandchildren will live in freedom as I hope that all people will." Khrushchev then retorted: "You Americans are so gullible. No, you won't accept Communism outright; but we'll keep feeding you small doses of Socialism until you will finally wake up and find that you already have Communism. We won't have to fight you; we'll so weaken your economy, until you fall like overripe fruit into our hands."
- published: 01 Nov 2008
- views: 27970
- author: lindaclements
0:45
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959...
published: 23 Jul 2008
author: dan izzo
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
US Vice President Nixon & Nikita Khrushchev Soviet Leader 1959
- published: 23 Jul 2008
- views: 21257
- author: dan izzo
2:57
Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev in America
Year: 1960...
published: 21 Dec 2010
author: reasonparty
Fidel Castro and Nikita Khrushchev in America
Year: 1960
- published: 21 Dec 2010
- views: 1330
- author: reasonparty
2:43
Enemy at the Gates (4/9) Movie CLIP - Nikita Khrushchev (2001) HD
Enemy at the Gates Movie Clip - watch all clips j.mp click to subscribe j.mp A disappointe...
published: 23 May 2012
author: movieclips
Enemy at the Gates (4/9) Movie CLIP - Nikita Khrushchev (2001) HD
Enemy at the Gates Movie Clip - watch all clips j.mp click to subscribe j.mp A disappointed Khrushchev (Bob Hoskins) addresses his officers after they fail to take Stalingrad back from the Germans. TM & © Paramount (2012) Cast: Joseph Fiennes, Bob Hoskins, Markus Majowski, Peter Silbereisen Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud MOVIECLIPS YouTube Channel: j.mp Join our Facebook page: j.mp Follow us on Twitter: j.mp Buy Movie: j.mp Producer: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard, Roland Pellegrino, Jörg Reichl, John D. Schofield, Alisa Tager Screenwriter: Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alain Godard Film Description: A turning point in 20th century war history is the focus of this fact-based account of the 1942-1943 battle of Stalingrad, in which the Germans were finally defeated by Russian influence -- one of the bloodiest battles in World War II history. The film stars Jude Law as Vassili, a marksman from the Urals who is transported to Stalingrad in 1942, and a master German sniper, Major Koenig (Ed Harris). Koenig, an expert German sniper, is determined to eliminate his formidable opponent by any means necessary; meanwhile, Vassili has joined forces with Danilov (Joseph Fiennes), a young Russian political adversary, who is impressed by Vassili's skills and raises his profile in the Soviet Union. Both Vassili and Danilov become involved with Tanya (Rachel Weisz), whose Jewish parents have been captured by the Germans and have forced her to take up with the men on a sniper expedition. Koenig ...
- published: 23 May 2012
- views: 61932
- author: movieclips
photo: Malacañang Photo Bureau / Jay Morales
01 Mar 2013
TERESA CEROJANO. Associated Press= MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Shooting erupted in a Malaysian village that has been occupied by nearly 200 members of a Filipino clan for three weeks, but the Malaysian home minister denied Friday that his forces were responsible. Members of a Muslim royal clan from the southern Philippines landed in a coastal village in Malaysia's Sabah state on Feb ... He said his plan was "to fight." ... --- ... World news....(size: 3.0Kb)
photo: AP / Hussein Malla
03 Mar 2013
Syrian president Bashar Assad has accused the British government of being "naive, confused and unrealistic" in its approach to the conflict in his country and warned of dire consequences if the West armed its rebels. In an interview with the Sunday Times Mr Assad said Britain was sacrificing peace talks to push for an end to an EU arms embargo, which would allow rebels to be armed ... "We do not expect an arsonist to be a firefighter." ... ....(size: 2.3Kb)
photo: AP
03 Mar 2013
"Our path to freedom is irreversible," declared Nelson Mandela on February 11, 1990. Addressing over fifty thousand cheering South African supporters in Cape Town, he had just been freed after three decades of imprisonment ... Millions of South Africans accepted his challenge. Political violence and interethnic tensions soon diminished. Educational and employment opportunities increased ... Without one the other two cannot exist....(size: 4.3Kb)
photo: AP / SITE Intel Group
03 Mar 2013
MOKHTAR Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Islamist who masterminded a brazen attack on an Algerian gasfield, was branded "the Uncatchable" but the desert fox has now reportedly been killed in northern Mali. Chad said its troops killed the al-Qa'ida veteran yesterday during an operation in the Ifogha mountains, where French-led forces have been hunting Islamist fighters who occupied northern Mali for 10 months ... Recommended Coverage ... ....(size: 4.6Kb)
Sydney Morning Herald
04 Mar 2013
VAN CLIBURN, 1934-2013. Van Cliburn became a potent symbol of US dominance in the Cold War after his victory in 1958 at the first Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow ... "Is he the best?" Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, is reported to have asked ... Advertisement ....(size: 1.3Kb)
The Dallas Morning News
04 Mar 2013
Who would have believed that Pope Benedict’s well-choreographed departure from the Vatican was tepid theater compared with the pageantry of Van Cliburn’s funeral Sunday in Fort Worth? ... DeMille scope of the occasion ... Bush told of the fear that gripped the judges in Moscow in 1958 when they approached Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev to ask permission to name the young Texan winner of the competition. Khrushchev had only one question....(size: 7.9Kb)
Sydney Morning Herald
03 Mar 2013
VAN CLIBURN, 1934-2013. Van Cliburn became a potent symbol of US dominance in the Cold War after his victory in 1958 at the first Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow ... "Is he the best?" Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet leader, is reported to have asked ... Advertisement ....(size: 1.3Kb)
Tampa Bay Online
03 Mar 2013
"I'm not an entertainer," Van Cliburn once told the Dallas Morning News. "Classical music is a science ... You're dealing with pure sound.". Generations would disagree with Cliburn's self-assessment ... He electrified the audience, and after an eight-minute standing ovation, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev couldn't stand in the way of awarding Cliburn the top prize ... The Cliburn legend endured despite the musician's lower profile ... ....(size: 2.4Kb)
Star Telegram
03 Mar 2013
FORT WORTH -- The east side of the church was in breezy shadow by that time of day, making a chilly afternoon even more so. But Fort Worth sisters Linda Weber and Brenda Cole, didn't seem to notice, watching Saturday from a few yards away as pallbearers carried the brown wooden casket of Van Cliburn into Broadway Baptist ... "He's here ... His artistry and personality won over the Russian people, and the Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev....(size: 5.4Kb)
Huffington Post
03 Mar 2013
The bus lines, operated by the Afikim bus company, will begin operating an apparently Palestinian-only service from West Bank checkpoints to Gush Dan, according to Haaretz ... Also on HuffPost. Loading Slideshow ... 20, 1960 photo, Cuba's leader Fidel Castro, center, speaks with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, right, as his Foreign Minister Raul Roa, left, looks on at the Hotel Theresa during the United Nations General Assembly in New York....(size: 5.2Kb)
The Guardian
03 Mar 2013
American pianist who was hailed as a hero after scooping a major Russian prize in 1958 at the height of the cold war. Van Cliburn greeting his fans during his ticker-tape parade in New York, shortly after winning the first International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 1958. AP ... The Russians adored him, mobbed him, showered him with flowers. His victory was supported by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev himself ... Photograph ... ....(size: 5.4Kb)
Star Tribune
02 Mar 2013
Van Cliburn. He shared his talents with the world. With his long, slender fingers, an affectionate smile and the keys of a grand piano, Van Cliburn helped thaw the Cold War, transcended partisan politics and captured the hearts of people around the world ... His confidence, his presence and his incredible virtuosity enraptured his audiences ... He charmed Gorbachev just as he had Nikita Khrushchev almost three decades earlier ... ....(size: 2.6Kb)
Star Telegram
01 Mar 2013
Khrushchev's father, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, was enraptured with Cliburn's performance ... Throughout his reign as the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev was considered a villain by many Americans, a diminutive tough guy who staged a shoe-banging tirade at the United Nations in 1960....(size: 3.7Kb)
Richmond Times Dispatch
01 Mar 2013
The events were not at all alike, yet both had geopolitical implications ... Nikita Khrushchev said that Cliburn deserved his award ... Advertisement. ....(size: 0.6Kb)
Syracuse
28 Feb 2013
His win in Moscow came with the consent of then Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev, who gave Cliburn a bear-hug ......(size: 0.5Kb)
American Spectator
28 Feb 2013
By Aaron Goldstein on 2.27.13 @ 9.53PM. Renowned concert pianist Van Cliburn has passed away of bone cancer. He was 78. Cliburn was a child prodigy who enrolled in Julliard at 17 and made his Carnegie Hall debut at the age of 20 ... 3 made a fan even of Nikita Khrushchev. ... 1. ....(size: 1.5Kb)
Buffalo News
28 Feb 2013
July 12, 1934 – Feb. 27, 2013 ... He was 78. His death, from bone cancer, was announced by his publicist and longtime friend, Mary Lou Falcone. In April 1958, Mr ... 1 ... Mr ... But given the political tensions at the time, the judges of the competition checked with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev before announcing their decision to give the prize to a non-Soviet musician. “Is he the best?” Khrushchev is said to have replied ... Mr....(size: 3.7Kb)
"Khrushchev" redirects here. For other people with this surname, see Khrushchev (surname).
| Nikita Khrushchev Никита Хрущёв |
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union | |
| In office September 14, 1953 – October 14, 1964 |
|
| President | |
| Premier |
|
| Preceded by | Joseph Stalin |
| Succeeded by | Leonid Brezhnev |
| Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union | |
| In office March 27, 1958 – October 14, 1964 |
|
| First Deputies | |
| Preceded by | Nikolai Bulganin |
| Succeeded by | Alexei Kosygin |
| Chairman of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian SFSR | |
| In office February 27, 1956 – November 16, 1964 |
|
| Deputy | Andrei Kirilenko |
| Preceded by | Position created |
| Succeeded by | Leonid Brezhnev |
| Full member of the Presidium | |
| In office March 22, 1939 – November 16, 1964 |
|
| Member of the Secretariat | |
| In office December 16, 1949 – October 14, 1964 |
|
| Member of the Orgburo | |
| In office December 16, 1949 – October 14, 1952 |
|
| Candidate member of the Politburo | |
| In office January 18, 1938 – March 22, 1939 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1894-04-15)April 15, 1894 Kalinovka, Dmitriyevsky Uyezd, Kursk Governorate, Russian Empire |
| Died | September 11, 1971(1971-09-11) (aged 77) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality | Soviet |
| Political party | Communist Party of the Soviet Union |
| Spouse(s) |
|
| Religion | None (Atheist) |
| Signature |  |
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev[a] (April 15 [O.S. April 3] 1894, – September 11, 1971) led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964. Khrushchev was responsible for the partial de-Stalinization of the Soviet Union, for backing the progress of the early Soviet space program, and for several relatively liberal reforms in areas of domestic policy. Khrushchev's party colleagues removed him from power in 1964, replacing him with Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary and Alexei Kosygin as Premier.
Khrushchev was born in the Russian village of Kalinovka in 1894, close to the present-day border between Russia and Ukraine. He was employed as a metalworker in his youth, and during the Russian Civil War was a political commissar. With the help of Lazar Kaganovich, he worked his way up the Soviet hierarchy. He supported Joseph Stalin's purges, and approved thousands of arrests. In 1939, Stalin sent him to govern Ukraine, and he continued the purges there. During what was known in the Soviet Union as the Great Patriotic War (Eastern Front of World War II), Khrushchev was again a commissar, serving as an intermediary between Stalin and his generals. Khrushchev was present at the bloody defense of Stalingrad, a fact he took great pride in throughout his life. After the war, he returned to Ukraine before being recalled to Moscow as one of Stalin's close advisers.
In the power struggle triggered by Stalin's death in 1953, Khrushchev, after several years, emerged victorious. On February 25, 1956, at the 20th Party Congress, he delivered the "Secret Speech," denouncing Stalin's purges and ushering in a less repressive era in the Soviet Union. His domestic policies, aimed at bettering the lives of ordinary citizens, were often ineffective, especially in the area of agriculture. Hoping eventually to rely on missiles for national defense, Khrushchev ordered major cuts in conventional forces. Despite the cuts, Khrushchev's rule saw the tensest years of the Cold War, culminating in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Some of Khrushchev's policies were seen as erratic, particularly by his emerging rivals, who quietly rose in strength and deposed him in October 1964. He did not suffer the deadly fate of some previous losers of Soviet power struggles, but was pensioned off with an apartment in Moscow and a dacha in the countryside. His lengthy memoirs were smuggled to the West and published in part in 1970. Khrushchev died in 1971 of heart disease.
Contents |
Early years[link]
Khrushchev was born April 15, 1894,[b][1] in Kalinovka,[2] a village in what is now Russia's Kursk Oblast, near the present Ukrainian border.[3] His parents, Sergei Khrushchev and Ksenia Khrushcheva, were poor peasants of Russian origin[3] and had a daughter two years Nikita's junior, Irina.[1] Sergei Khrushchev was employed in a number of positions in the Donbas area of far eastern Ukraine, working as a railwayman, as a miner, and laboring in a brick factory. Wages were much higher in the Donbas than in the Kursk region, and Sergei Khrushchev generally left his family in Kalinovka, returning there when he had enough money.[4]
Kalinovka was a peasant village; Khrushchev's teacher, Lydia Shevchenko later stated that she had never seen a village as poor as Kalinovka had been.[5] Nikita worked as a herdsboy from an early age. He was schooled for a total of four years, part in the village parochial school and part under Shevchenko's tutelage in Kalinovka's state school. According to Khrushchev in his memoirs, Shevchenko was a freethinker who upset the villagers by not attending church, and when her brother visited, he gave the boy books which had been banned by the Imperial Government.[6] She urged Nikita to seek further education, but family finances did not permit this.[6]
In 1908, Sergei Khrushchev moved to the Donbas city of Yuzovka; fourteen-year-old Nikita followed later that year, while Ksenia Khrushcheva and her daughter came after.[7] Yuzovka, which was renamed Stalino in 1924 and Donetsk in 1961, was at the heart of one of the most industrialized areas of the Russian Empire.[7] After the boy worked briefly in other fields, Nikita's parents found him a place as a metal fitter's apprentice. Upon completing that apprenticeship, the teenage Khrushchev was hired by a factory.[8] He lost that job when he collected money for the families of the victims of the Lena Goldfields Massacre, and was hired to mend underground equipment by a mine in nearby Rutchenkovo,[9] where he helped distribute copies and organize public readings of Pravda.[10] He later stated that he considered emigrating to the United States for better wages, but did not do so.[11]
When World War I broke out in 1914, Khrushchev, as a skilled metal worker, was exempt from conscription. Employed by a workshop which serviced ten mines, Khrushchev was involved in several strikes demanding higher pay, better working conditions, and an end to the war.[12] In 1914, he married Yefrosinia Pisareva, daughter of the elevator operator at the Rutchenkovo mine. In 1915, they had a daughter, Yulia, and in 1917, a son, Leonid.[13]
After the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II in 1917, the new Russian Provisional Government in Petrograd had little influence over Ukraine. Khrushchev was elected to the worker's council (or soviet) in Rutchenkovo, and in May he became its chairman.[14] He did not join the Bolsheviks until 1918, a year in which the Russian Civil War, between the Bolsheviks and a coalition of opponents known as the White Army, began in earnest. His biographer, William Taubman, suggests that Khrushchev's delay in affiliating himself with the Bolsheviks was because he felt closer to the Mensheviks who prioritized economic progress, whereas the Bolsheviks sought political power.[15] In his memoirs, Khrushchev indicated that he waited because there were many groups, and it was difficult to keep them all straight.[15]
In March 1918, as the Bolshevik government concluded a separate peace with the Central Powers, the Germans occupied the Donbas and Khrushchev fled to Kalinovka. In late 1918 or early 1919 he was mobilized into the Red Army as a political commissar.[16] The post of political commissar had recently been introduced as the Bolsheviks came to rely less on worker activists and more on military recruits; its functions included indoctrination of recruits in the tenets of Bolshevism, and promoting troop morale and battle readiness.[17] Beginning as commissar to a construction platoon, Khrushchev rose to become commissar to a construction battalion and was sent from the front for a two-month political course. The young commissar came under fire many times,[18] though many of the war stories he would tell in later life dealt more with his (and his troops') cultural awkwardness, rather than with combat.[17] In 1921, the civil war ended, and Khrushchev was demobilized and assigned as commissar to a labor brigade in the Donbas, where he and his men lived in poor conditions.[17]
The wars had caused widespread devastation and famine, and one of the victims of the hunger and disease was Khrushchev's wife, Yefrosinia, who died of typhus in Kalinovka while Khrushchev was in the army. The commissar returned for the funeral and, loyal to his Bolshevik principles, refused to allow his wife's coffin to enter the local church. With the only way into the churchyard through the church, he had the coffin lifted and passed over the fence into the burial ground, shocking the village.[17]
Party official[link]
Donbas years[link]
Through the intervention of a friend, Khrushchev was assigned in 1921 as assistant director for political affairs for the Rutchenkovo mine in the Donbas region, where he had previously worked.[19] There were as yet few Bolsheviks in the area. At that time, the movement was split by Lenin's New Economic Policy, which allowed for some measure of private enterprise and was seen as an ideological retreat by some Bolsheviks.[19] While Khrushchev's responsibility lay in political affairs, he involved himself in the practicalities of resuming full production at the mine after the chaos of the war years. He helped restart the machines (key parts and papers had been removed by the pre-Soviet mineowners) and he wore his old mine outfit for inspection tours.[20]
Khrushchev was highly successful at the Rutchenkovo mine, and in mid-1922 he was offered the directorship of the nearby Pastukhov mine. However, he refused the offer, seeking to be assigned to the newly established technical college (tekhnikum) in Yuzovka, though his superiors were reluctant to let him go. As he had only four years of formal schooling, he applied to the training program (rabfak) attached to the tekhnikum that was designed to bring undereducated students to high-school level, a prerequisite for entry into the tekhnikum.[21] While enrolled in the rabfak, Khrushchev continued his work at the Rutchenkovo mine.[22] One of his teachers later described him as a poor student.[21] He was more successful in advancing in the Communist Party; soon after his admission to the rabfak in August 1922, he was appointed party secretary of the entire tekhnikum, and became a member of the bureau—the governing council—of the party committee for the town of Yuzovka (renamed Stalino in 1924). He briefly joined supporters of Leon Trotsky against those of Joseph Stalin over the question of party democracy.[23] All of these activities left him with little time for his schoolwork, and while he later claimed to have finished his rabfak studies, it is unclear whether this was true.[23]
In 1922, Khrushchev met and married his second wife, Marusia, whose maiden name is unknown. The two soon separated, though Khrushchev helped Marusia in later years, especially when Marusia's daughter by a previous relationship suffered a fatal illness. Soon after the abortive marriage, Khrushchev met Nina Petrovna Kukharchuk, a well-educated Party organizer and daughter of well-to-do Ukrainian peasants.[24] The two lived together as husband and wife for the rest of Khrushchev's life, though they did not register their marriage until 1965. They had two children together: son Sergei was born in 1935 and daughter Elena in 1937.[25]
In mid-1925, Khrushchev was appointed Party secretary of the Petrovo-Marinsky raikom, or district, near Stalino. The raikom was about 400 square miles (1,000 km2) in area, and Khrushchev was constantly on the move throughout his domain, taking an interest in even minor matters.[26] In late 1925, Khrushchev was elected a non-voting delegate to the 14th Congress of the USSR Communist Party in Moscow.[27]
Kaganovich protégé[link]
Khrushchev met Lazar Kaganovich as early as 1917. In 1925, Kaganovich became Party head in Ukraine[28] and Khrushchev, falling under his patronage,[29] was rapidly promoted. He was appointed second in command of the Stalino party apparatus in late 1926. Within nine months his superior, Konstantin Moiseyenko, was ousted, which, according to Taubman, was due to Khrushchev's instigation.[28] Kaganovich transferred Khrushchev to Kharkov, then the capital of Ukraine, as head of the Organizational Department of the Ukrainian Party's Central Committee.[30] In 1928, Khrushchev was transferred to Kiev, where he served as second-in-command of the Party organization there.[31]
In 1929, Khrushchev again sought to further his education, following Kaganovich (now in the Kremlin as a close associate of Stalin) to Moscow and enrolling in the Stalin Industrial Academy. Khrushchev never completed his studies there, but his career in the Party flourished.[32] When the school's Party cell elected a number of rightists to an upcoming district Party conference, the cell was attacked in Pravda.[33] Khrushchev emerged victorious in the ensuing power struggle, becoming Party secretary of the school, arranging for the delegates to be withdrawn, and afterward purging the cell of the rightists.[33] Khrushchev rose rapidly through the Party ranks, first becoming Party leader for the Bauman district, site of the Academy, before taking the same position in the Krasnopresnensky district, the capital's largest and most important. By 1932, Khrushchev had become second in command, behind Kaganovich, of the Moscow city Party organization, and in 1934, he became Party leader for the city[32] and a member of the Party's Central Committee.[34] Khrushchev attributed his rapid rise to his acquaintance with fellow Academy student Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Stalin's wife. In his memoirs, Khrushchev stated that Alliluyeva spoke well of him to her husband. His biographer, William Tompson, downplays the possibility, stating that Khrushchev was too low in the Party hierarchy to enjoy Stalin's patronage, and that if influence was brought to bear on Khrushchev's career at this stage, it was by Kaganovich.[35]
While head of the Moscow city organization, Khrushchev superintended construction of the Moscow Metro, a highly expensive undertaking, with Kaganovich in overall charge. Faced with an already-announced opening date of November 7, 1934, Khrushchev took considerable risks in the construction and spent much of his time down in the tunnels. When the inevitable accidents did occur, they were depicted as heroic sacrifices in a great cause. The Metro did not open until May 1, 1935, but Khrushchev received the Order of Lenin for his role in its construction.[36] Later that year, he was selected as Party leader for Moscow oblast, a province with a population of 11 million.[32]
Involvement in purges[link]
Stalin's office records show meetings at which Khrushchev was present as early as 1932. The two increasingly built a good relationship. Khrushchev greatly admired the dictator and treasured informal meetings with him and invitations to Stalin's dacha, while Stalin felt warm affection for his young subordinate.[37]
Beginning in 1934, Stalin began a campaign of political repression known as the Great Purge, during which millions of people were executed or sent to the Gulag. Central to this campaign were Moscow Trials, a series of show trials of the purged top leaders of the party and the military. In 1936, as the trials proceeded, Khrushchev expressed his vehement support:
Everyone who rejoices in the successes achieved in our country, the victories of our party led by the great Stalin, will find only one word suitable for the mercenary, fascist dogs of the Trotskyite-Zinovievite gang. That word is execution.[38]
Khrushchev assisted in the purge of many friends and colleagues in Moscow oblast.[39] Of 38 top Party officials in Moscow city and province, 35 were killed[39]—the three survivors were transferred to other parts of the USSR.[40] Of the 146 Party secretaries of cities and districts outside Moscow city in the province, only 10 survived the purges.[39] In his memoirs, Khrushchev noted that almost everyone who worked with him was arrested.[41] By Party protocol, Khrushchev was required to approve these arrests, and did little or nothing to save his friends and colleagues.[42]
Party leaders were given numerical quotas of "enemies" to be turned in and arrested.[42] In June 1937, the Politburo set a quota of 35,000 enemies to be arrested in Moscow province; 5,000 of these were to be executed. In reply, Khrushchev asked that 2,000 wealthy peasants, or kulaks living in Moscow be killed in part fulfillment of the quota. In any event, only two weeks after receiving the Politburo order, Khrushchev was able to report to Stalin that 41,305 "criminal and kulak elements" had been arrested. Of the arrestees, according to Khrushchev, 8,500 deserved execution.[42]
Khrushchev had no reason to think himself immune from the purges, and in 1937, confessed his own 1923 dalliance with Trotskyism to Kaganovich, who, according to Khrushchev, "blanched" (for his protégé's sins could affect his own standing) and advised him to tell Stalin. The dictator took the confession in his stride, and, after initially advising Khrushchev to keep it quiet, suggested that Khrushchev tell his tale to the Moscow party conference. Khrushchev did so, to applause, and was immediately reelected to his post.[43] Khrushchev related in his memoirs that he was also denounced by an arrested colleague. Stalin told Khrushchev of the accusation personally, looking him in the eye and awaiting his response. Khrushchev speculated in his memoirs that had Stalin doubted his reaction, he would have been categorized as an enemy of the people then and there.[44] Nonetheless, Khrushchev became a candidate member of the Politburo in January 1938 and a full member in March 1939.[45]
In late 1937, Stalin appointed Khrushchev as head of the Communist Party in Ukraine, and Khrushchev duly left Moscow for Kiev, again the Ukrainian capital, in January 1938.[46] Ukraine had been the site of extensive purges, with the murdered including professors in Stalino whom Khrushchev greatly respected. The high ranks of the Party were not immune; the Central Committee of Ukraine was so decimated that it could not convene a quorum. After Khrushchev's arrival, the pace of arrests accelerated.[47] All but one member of the Ukrainian Politburo Organizational Bureau, and Secretariat were arrested. Almost all government officials and Red Army commanders were replaced.[48] During the first few months after Khrushchev's arrival, almost everyone arrested received the death penalty.[49]
Biographer William Taubman suggests that, since Khrushchev was again unsuccessfully denounced while in Kiev, he must have known that some of the denunciations were not true and that innocent people were suffering.[48] In 1939, Khrushchev addressed the Fourteenth Ukrainian Party Congress, saying "Comrades, we must unmask and relentlessly destroy all enemies of the people. But we must not allow a single honest Bolshevik to be harmed. We must conduct a struggle against slanderers."[48]
World War II[link]
Occupation of Polish territory[link]
When Soviet troops, pursuant to the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, invaded the eastern portion of Poland on September 17, 1939, Khrushchev accompanied the troops at Stalin's direction. A large number of ethnic Ukrainians lived in the invaded area, much of which today forms the western portion of Ukraine. Many inhabitants therefore initially welcomed the invasion, though they hoped that they would eventually become independent. Khrushchev's role was to ensure that the occupied areas voted for union with the USSR. Through a combination of propaganda, deception as to what was being voted for, and outright fraud, the Soviets ensured that their new territories would elect assemblies which would unanimously petition for union with the USSR. When the new assemblies did so, their petitions were granted by the USSR Supreme Soviet, and Western Ukraine became a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) on November 1, 1939.[50] Clumsy actions by the Soviets, such as staffing Western Ukrainian organizations with Eastern Ukrainians, and giving confiscated land to collective farms (kolkhozes) rather than to peasants soon alienated Western Ukrainians, despite Khrushchev's efforts to achieve unity.[51]
War against Germany[link]
When the Germans invaded the USSR, in June 1941, Khrushchev was still at his post in Kiev.[52] Stalin appointed him a political commissar, and Khrushchev served on a number of fronts as an intermediary between the local military commanders and the political rulers in Moscow. Stalin used Khrushchev to keep commanders on a tight leash, while the commanders sought to have him influence Stalin.[53] As the Germans advanced, Khrushchev worked with the military in an attempt to defend and save the city. Handicapped by orders from Stalin that under no circumstances should the city be abandoned, the Red Army was soon encircled by the Germans. While the Germans stated they took 655,000 prisoners, according to the Soviets, 150,541 men out of 677,085 escaped the trap.[54] Primary sources differ on Khrushchev's involvement at this point. According to Marshal Georgi Zhukov, writing some years after Khrushchev fired and disgraced him in 1957, Khrushchev persuaded Stalin not to evacuate troops from Kiev.[55] However, Khrushchev noted in his memoirs that he and Marshal Semyon Budyonny proposed redeploying Soviet forces to avoid the encirclement until Marshal Semyon Timoshenko arrived from Moscow with orders for the troops to hold their positions.[56] Early Khrushchev biographer Mark Frankland suggested that Khrushchev's faith in his leader was first shaken by the Red Army's setbacks.[29] Khrushchev stated in his memoirs,
But let me return to the enemy breakthrough in the Kiev area, the encirclement of our group, and the destruction of the 37th Army. Later, the Fifth Army also perished ... All of this was senseless, and from the military point of view, a display of ignorance, incompetence, and illiteracy. ... There you have the result of not taking a step backward. We were unable to save these troops because we didn't withdraw them, and as a result we simply lost them. ... And yet it was possible to allow this not to happen.[57]
In 1942, Khrushchev was on the Southwest Front, and he and Timoshenko proposed a massive counteroffensive in the Kharkov area. Stalin approved only part of the plan, but 640,000 Red Army soldiers would still become involved in the offensive. The Germans, however, had deduced that the Soviets were likely to attack at Kharkov, and set a trap. Beginning on May 12, 1942, the Soviet offensive initially appeared successful, but within five days the Germans had driven deep into the Soviet flanks, and the Red Army troops were in danger of being cut off. Stalin refused to halt the offensive, and the Red Army divisions were soon encircled by the Germans. The USSR lost about 267,000 soldiers, including more than 200,000 men captured, and Stalin demoted Timoshenko and recalled Khrushchev to Moscow. While Stalin hinted at arresting and executing Khrushchev, he allowed the commissar to return to the front by sending him to Stalingrad.[58]
Khrushchev reached the Stalingrad Front in August 1942, soon after the start of the battle for the city.[59] His role in the Stalingrad defense was not major—General Vasily Chuikov, who led the city's defense, mentions Khrushchev only briefly in a memoir published while Khrushchev was premier—but to the end of his life, he was proud of his role.[60] Though he visited Stalin in Moscow on occasion, he remained in Stalingrad for much of the battle, and was nearly killed at least once. He proposed a counterattack, only to find that Zhukov and other generals had already planned Operation Uranus, a plan to break out from Soviet positions and encircle and destroy the Germans; it was being kept secret. Before Uranus was launched, Khrushchev spent much time checking on troop readiness and morale, interrogating Nazi prisoners, and recruiting some for propaganda reasons.[59]
Soon after Stalingrad, Khrushchev met with personal tragedy, as his son Leonid, a fighter pilot, was apparently shot down and killed in action on March 11, 1943. The circumstances of Leonid's death remain obscure and controversial,[61] as none of his fellow fliers stated that they witnessed him being shot down, nor was his plane found or body recovered. As a result, Leonid's fate has been the subject of considerable speculation. One theory has Leonid surviving the crash and collaborating with the Germans, and when he was recaptured by the Soviets, Stalin ordering him shot despite Nikita Khrushchev pleading for his life.[61] This supposed killing is used to explain why Khrushchev later denounced Stalin in the Secret Speech.[61][62] While there is no supporting evidence for this account in Soviet files, some historians allege that Leonid Khrushchev's file was tampered with after the war.[63] In later years, Leonid Khrushchev's wingmate stated that he saw his plane disintegrate, but did not report it. Khrushchev biographer Taubman speculates that this omission was most likely to avoid the possibility of being seen as complicit in the death of the son of a Politburo member.[64] In mid-1943, Leonid's wife, Liuba Khrushcheva, was arrested on accusations of spying and sentenced to five years in a labor camp, and her son (by another relationship), Tolya, was placed in a series of orphanages. Leonid's daughter, Yulia, was raised by Nikita Khrushchev and his wife.[65]
After Uranus forced the Germans into retreat, Khrushchev served in other fronts of the war. He was attached to Soviet troops at the Battle of Kursk, in July 1943, which turned back the last major German offensive on Soviet soil.[66] Khrushchev related that he interrogated an SS defector, learning that the Germans intended an attack—a claim dismissed by his biographer, Taubman, as "almost certainly exaggerated".[67] He accompanied Soviet troops as they took Kiev in November 1943, entering the shattered city as Soviet forces drove out German troops.[67] As Soviet forces met with greater success, driving the Nazis westwards towards Germany, Nikita Khrushchev became increasingly involved in reconstruction work in Ukraine. He was appointed Premier of the Ukrainian SSR in addition to his earlier party post, one of the rare instances in which the Ukrainian party and civil leader posts were held by one person.[68]
According to Khrushchev biographer William Tompson, it is difficult to assess Khrushchev's war record, since he most often acted as part of a military council, and it is not possible to know the extent to which he influenced decisions, rather than signing off on the orders of military officers. However, Tompson points to the fact that the few mentions of Khrushchev in military memoirs published during the Brezhnev era were generally favorable, at a time when it was "barely possible to mention Khrushchev in print in any context".[69] Tompson suggests that these favorable mentions indicate that military officers held Khrushchev in high regard.[69]
Rise to power[link]
Return to Ukraine[link]
Almost all of Ukraine had been occupied by the Germans, and Khrushchev returned to his domain in late 1943 to find devastation. Ukraine's industry had been destroyed, and agriculture faced critical shortages. Even though millions of Ukrainians had been taken to Germany as workers or prisoners of war, there was insufficient housing for those who remained.[70] One of every six Ukrainians was killed in World War II.[71]
Khrushchev sought to reconstruct Ukraine, but also desired to complete the interrupted work of imposing the Soviet system on it, though he hoped that the purges of the 1930s would not recur.[72] As Ukraine was recovered, conscription was imposed, and 750,000 men aged between nineteen and fifty were given minimal military training and sent to join the Red Army.[73] Other Ukrainians joined partisan forces, seeking an independent Ukraine.[73] Khrushchev rushed from district to district through Ukraine, urging the depleted labor force to greater efforts. He made a short visit to his birthplace of Kalinovka, finding a starving population, with only a third of the men who had joined the Red Army having returned. Khrushchev did what he could to assist his hometown.[74] Despite Khrushchev's efforts, in 1945, Ukrainian industry was at only a quarter of pre-war levels, and the harvest actually dropped from that of 1944, when the entire territory of Ukraine had not yet been retaken.[70]
In an effort to increase agricultural production, the kolkhozes (collective farms) were empowered to expel residents who were not pulling their weight. Kolkhoz leaders used this as an excuse to expel their personal enemies, invalids, and the elderly, and nearly 12,000 people were sent to the eastern parts of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev viewed this policy as very effective, and recommended its adoption elsewhere to Stalin.[70] He also worked to impose collectivization on Western Ukraine. While Khrushchev hoped to accomplish this by 1947, lack of resources and armed resistance by partisans slowed the process.[75] The partisans, many of whom fought as the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA), were gradually defeated, as Soviet police and military reported killing 110,825 "bandits" and capturing a quarter million more between 1944 and 1946.[76] About 600,000 Western Ukrainians were arrested between 1944 and 1952, with one-third executed and the remainder imprisoned or exiled to the east.[76]
The war years of 1944 and 1945 had seen poor harvests, and 1946 saw intense drought strike Ukraine and Western Russia. Despite this, collective and state farms were required to turn over 52% of the harvest to the government.[77] The Soviet government sought to collect as much grain as possible in order to supply communist allies in Eastern Europe.[78] Khrushchev set the quotas at a high level, leading Stalin to expect an unrealistically large quantity of grain from Ukraine.[79] Food was rationed—but non-agricultural rural workers throughout the USSR were given no ration cards. The inevitable starvation was largely confined to remote rural regions, and was little noticed outside the USSR.[77] Khrushchev, realizing the desperate situation in late 1946, repeatedly appealed to Stalin for aid, to be met with anger and resistance on the part of the leader. When letters to Stalin had no effect, Khrushchev flew to Moscow and made his case in person. Stalin finally gave Ukraine limited food aid, and money to set up free soup kitchens.[80] However, Khrushchev's political standing had been damaged, and in February 1947, Stalin suggested that Lazar Kaganovich be sent to Ukraine to "help" Khrushchev.[81] The following month, the Ukrainian Central Committee removed Khrushchev as party leader in favor of Kaganovich, while retaining him as premier.[82]
Soon after Kaganovich arrived in Kiev, Khrushchev fell ill, and was barely seen until September 1947. In his memoirs, Khrushchev indicates he had pneumonia; some biographers have theorized that Khrushchev's illness was entirely political, out of fear that his loss of position was the first step towards downfall and demise.[83] However, Khrushchev's children remembered their father as having been seriously ill. Once Khrushchev was able to get out of bed, he and his family took their first vacation since before the war, to a beachfront resort in Latvia.[82] Khrushchev, though, soon broke the beach routine with duck-hunting trips, and a visit to newly Soviet Kaliningrad, where he toured factories and quarries.[84] By the end of 1947, Kaganovich had been recalled to Moscow and the recovered Khrushchev had been restored to the First Secretaryship. He then resigned the Ukrainian premiership in favor of Demyan Korotchenko, Khrushchev's protégé.[83]
Khrushchev's final years in Ukraine were generally peaceful, with industry recovering,[85] Soviet forces overcoming the partisans, and 1947 and 1948 seeing better-than-expected harvests.[86] Collectivization advanced in Western Ukraine, and Khrushchev implemented more policies that encouraged collectivization and discouraged private farms. These sometimes backfired, however: a tax on private livestock holdings led to peasants slaughtering their stock.[87] With the idea of eliminating differences in attitude between town and countryside and transforming the peasantry into a "rural proletariat", Khrushchev conceived the idea of the "agro-town".[88] Rather than agricultural workers living in villages close to farms, they would live further away in larger towns which would offer municipal services such as utilities and libraries, which were not present in villages. He completed only one such town before his December 1949 return to Moscow; he dedicated it to Stalin as a 70th birthday present.[88]
In his memoirs, Khrushchev spoke highly of Ukraine, where he governed for over a decade:
I'll say that the Ukrainian people treated me well. I recall warmly the years I spent there. This was a period full of responsibilities, but pleasant because it brought satisfaction ... But far be it from me to inflate my significance. The entire Ukrainian people was exerting great efforts ... I attribute Ukraine's successes to the Ukrainian people as a whole. I won't elaborate further on this theme, but in principle it's very easy to demonstrate. I'm Russian myself, and I don't want to offend the Russians.[89]
Stalin's final years[link]
Khrushchev attributed his recall to Moscow to mental disorder on the part of Stalin, who feared conspiracies in Moscow matching those which the ruler believed to have occurred in the fabricated Leningrad case, in which many of that city's Party officials had been falsely accused of treason.[90] Khrushchev again served as head of the Party in Moscow city and province. Khrushchev biographer Taubman suggests that Stalin most likely recalled Khrushchev to Moscow to balance the influence of Georgy Malenkov and security chief Lavrentiy Beria, who were widely seen as Stalin's heirs.[91]
At this time, the aging leader rarely called Politburo meetings. Instead, much of the high-level work of government took place at dinners hosted by Stalin. These sessions, which Beria, Malenkov, Khrushchev, Kaganovich, Kliment Voroshilov, Vyacheslav Molotov, and Nikolai Bulganin, who comprised Stalin's inner circle, attended, began with showings of cowboy movies favored by Stalin.[92] Stolen from the West, they lacked subtitles.[92] The dictator had the meal served at around 1 a.m., and insisted that his subordinates stay with him and drink until dawn. On one occasion, Stalin had Khrushchev, then aged almost sixty, dance a traditional Ukrainian dance. Khrushchev did so, later stating, "When Stalin says dance, a wise man dances."[92] Khrushchev attempted to nap at lunch so that he would not fall asleep in Stalin's presence; he noted in his memoirs, "Things went badly for those who dozed off at Stalin's table."[93]
In 1950, Khrushchev began a large-scale housing program for Moscow. A large part of the housing was in the form of five- or six-story apartment buildings, which became ubiquitous throughout the Soviet Union; many remain in use today.[94] Khrushchev had prefabricated reinforced concrete used, greatly speeding up construction.[95] These structures were completed at triple the construction rate of Moscow housing from 1946–50, lacked elevators or balconies, and were nicknamed Khrushcheby by the public, a pun on the Russian word for slums, trushcheby. Almost 60,000,000 residents of the former Soviet republics still live in these buildings.[94]
In his new positions, Khrushchev continued his kolkhoz consolidation scheme, decreasing the number of collective farms in Moscow province by about 70%. This resulted in farms which were too large for one chairman to manage effectively.[96] Khrushchev also sought to implement his agro-town proposal, but when his lengthy speech on the subject was published in Pravda in March 1951, Stalin disapproved of it. The periodical quickly published a note stating that Khrushchev's speech was merely a proposal, not policy. In April, the Politburo disavowed the agro-town proposal. Khrushchev feared that Stalin would remove him from office, but the leader mocked Khrushchev, then allowed the episode to pass.[97]
On March 1, 1953, Stalin suffered a massive stroke, apparently on rising after sleep. Stalin had left orders not to be disturbed, and it was twelve hours until his condition was discovered. Even as terrified doctors attempted treatment, Khrushchev and his colleagues engaged in intense discussion as to the new government. On March 5, Stalin died. As Khrushchev and other high officials stood weeping by Stalin's bedside, Beria raced from the room, shouting for his car.[98]
Khrushchev reflected on Stalin in his memoirs:
Stalin called everyone who didn't agree with him an "enemy of the people." He said that they wanted to restore the old order, and for this purpose, "the enemies of the people" had linked up with the forces of reaction internationally. As a result, several hundred thousand honest people perished. Everyone lived in fear in those days. Everyone expected that at any moment there would be a knock on the door in the middle of the night and that knock on the door would prove fatal ... [P]eople not to Stalin's liking were annihilated, honest party members, irreproachable people, loyal and hard workers for our cause who had gone through the school of revolutionary struggle under Lenin's leadership. This was utter and complete arbitrariness. And now is all this to be forgiven and forgotten? Never! [99]
Struggle for control[link]
On March 6, 1953, Stalin's death was announced, as was the new leadership. Malenkov was the new Chairman of the Council of Ministers, with Beria (who consolidated his hold over the security agencies), Kaganovich, Bulganin, and former Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov as first vice-chairmen. Those members of the Presidium of the Central Committee who had been recently promoted by Stalin were demoted. Khrushchev was relieved of his duties as Party head for Moscow to concentrate on unspecified duties in the Party's Central Committee.[100] The New York Times listed Malenkov and Beria first and second among the ten-man Presidium—and Khrushchev last.[101] On March 14, Malenkov resigned from the secretariat of the Central Committee.[102] In September, Khrushchev was elected by the Central Committee as First Secretary of the Party.[103]
Even before Stalin had been laid to rest, Beria launched a lengthy series of reforms which rivalled those of Khrushchev during his period of power and even those of Mikhail Gorbachev a third of a century later.[102] Beria's proposals were designed to denigrate Stalin and pass the blame for Beria's own crimes to the late leader.[102] One proposal, which was adopted, was an amnesty which eventually led to the freeing of over a million prisoners.[104] Another, which was not, was to release East Germany into a united, neutral Germany in exchange for compensation from the West[105]—a proposal considered by Khrushchev to be anti-communist.[106] Khrushchev allied with Malenkov to block many of Beria's proposals, while the two slowly picked up support from other Presidium members. Their campaign against Beria was aided by fears that Beria was planning a military coup,[107] and, according to Khrushchev in his memoirs, by the conviction that "Beria is getting his knives ready for us."[108]
On June 26, 1953 Beria was arrested at a Presidium meeting, following extensive military preparations by Khrushchev and his allies. Beria was tried in secret, and executed in December 1953 with five of his close associates. The execution of Beria proved to be the last time the loser of a top-level power struggle in the USSR paid with his life.[109]
The power struggle in the Presidium was not resolved by the elimination of Beria. Malenkov's power was in the central state apparatus, which he sought to extend through reorganizing the government, giving it additional power at the expense of the Party. He also sought public support by lowering retail prices and lowering the level of bond sales to citizens, which had long been effectively obligatory. Khrushchev, on the other hand, with his power base in the Party, sought to both strengthen the Party and his position within it. While, under the Soviet system, the Party was to be preeminent, it had been greatly drained of power by Stalin, who had given much of that power to himself and to the Politburo (later, to the Presidium). Khrushchev saw that with the Presidium in conflict, the Party and its Central Committee might again become powerful.[110] Khrushchev carefully cultivated high Party officials, and was able to appoint supporters as local Party bosses, who then took seats on the Central Committee.[111]
Khrushchev presented himself as a down-to-earth activist prepared to take up any challenge, contrasting with Malenkov who, though sophisticated, came across as colorless.[111] Khrushchev arranged for the Kremlin grounds to be opened to the public, an act with "great public resonance".[112] While both Malenkov and Khrushchev sought reforms to agriculture, Khrushchev's proposals were broader, and included the Virgin Lands Campaign, under which hundreds of thousands of young volunteers would settle and farm areas of Western Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan. While the scheme eventually became a tremendous disaster for Soviet agriculture,[113] it was initially successful.[114] In addition, Khrushchev possessed incriminating information on Malenkov, taken from Beria's secret files.[115] As Soviet prosecutors investigated the atrocities of Stalin's last years, including the Leningrad case, they came across evidence of Malenkov's involvement.[116] Beginning in February 1954, Khrushchev replaced Malenkov in the seat of honor at Presidium meetings; in June, Malenkov ceased to head the list of Presidium members, which was thereafter organized in alphabetical order. Khrushchev's influence continued to increase, winning the allegiance of local party heads, and with his nominee heading the KGB.[117]
At a Central Committee meeting in January 1955, Malenkov was accused of involvement in atrocities, and the committee passed a resolution accusing him of involvement in the Leningrad case, and of facilitating Beria's climb to power. At a meeting of the mostly ceremonial Supreme Soviet the following month, Malenkov was demoted in favor of Bulganin, to the surprise of Western observers.[118] Malenkov remained in the Presidium as Minister of Electric Power Stations.[119] According to Khrushchev biographer William Tompson, "Khrushchev's position as first among the members of the collective leadership was now beyond any reasonable doubt."[120]
Leader (1955–1964)[link]
Domestic policies[link]
Consolidation of power; Secret Speech[link]
Main article: Secret Speech
After the demotion of Malenkov, Khrushchev and Molotov initially worked together well, and the longtime foreign minister even proposed that Khrushchev, not Bulganin, replace Malenkov as premier.[121] However, Khrushchev and Molotov increasingly differed on policy. Molotov opposed the Virgin Lands policy, instead proposing heavy investment to increase yields in developed agricultural areas, which Khrushchev felt was not feasible due to a lack of resources and a lack of a sophisticated farm labor force.[122] The two differed on foreign policy as well; soon after Khrushchev took power, he sought a peace treaty with Austria, which would allow Soviet troops then in occupation of part of the country to leave. Molotov was resistant, but Khrushchev arranged for an Austrian delegation to come to Moscow and negotiate the treaty.[123] Although Khrushchev and other Presidium members attacked Molotov at a Central Committee meeting in mid-1955, accusing him of conducting a foreign policy which turned the world against the USSR, Molotov remained in his position.[124]
By the end of 1955, thousands of political prisoners had returned home, and told their experiences of the gulag labor camps.[125] Continuing investigation into the abuses brought home the full breadth of Stalin's crimes to his successors. Khrushchev believed that once the stain of Stalinism was removed, the Party would inspire loyalty among the people.[126] Beginning in October 1955, Khrushchev fought to tell the delegates to the upcoming 20th Party Congress about Stalin's crimes. Some of his colleagues, including Molotov and Malenkov, opposed the disclosure, and managed to persuade him to make his remarks in a closed session.[127]
The 20th Party Congress opened on February 14, 1956. In his opening words in his initial address, Khrushchev denigrated Stalin by asking delegates to rise in honor of the communist leaders who had died since the last congress, whom he named, equating Stalin with the drunken Klement Gottwald and the little-known Kyuichi Tokuda.[128] In the early morning hours of February 25, Khrushchev delivered what became known as the "Secret Speech" to a closed session of the Congress limited to Soviet delegates. In four hours, he demolished Stalin's reputation. Khrushchev noted in his memoirs that the "congress listened to me in silence. As the saying goes, you could have heard a pin drop. It was all so sudden and unexpected."[129] Khrushchev told the delegates,
It is here that Stalin showed in a whole series of cases his intolerance, his brutality, and his abuse of power ... he often chose the path of repression and physical annihilation, not only against actual enemies, but also against individuals who had not committed any crimes against the party or the Soviet Government.[130]
The Secret Speech, while it did not fundamentally change Soviet society, had wide-ranging effects. The speech was a factor in unrest in Poland and revolution in Hungary later in 1956, and Stalin defenders led four days of rioting in his native Georgia in June, calling for Khrushchev to resign and Molotov to take over.[131] In meetings where the Secret Speech was read, communists would make even more severe condemnations of Stalin (and of Khrushchev), and even call for multi-party elections. However, Stalin was not publicly denounced, and his portrait remained widespread through the USSR, from airports to Khrushchev's Kremlin office. Mikhail Gorbachev, then a Komsomol official, recalled that though young and well-educated Soviets in his district were excited by the speech, many others decried it, either defending Stalin or seeing little point in digging up the past.[131] Forty years later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev applauded Khrushchev for his courage in taking a huge political risk and showing himself to be "a moral man after all".[132]
The term "Secret Speech" proved to be an utter misnomer. While the attendees at the Speech were all Soviet, Eastern European delegates were allowed to hear it the following night, read slowly to allow them to take notes. By March 5, copies were being mailed throughout the Soviet Union, marked "not for the press" rather than "top secret". An official translation appeared within a month in Poland; the Poles printed 12,000 extra copies, one of which soon reached the West.[127] Khrushchev's son, Sergei, later wrote, "[C]learly, Father tried to ensure it would reach as many ears as possible. It was soon read at Komsomol meetings; that meant another eighteen million listeners. If you include their relatives, friends, and acquaintances, you could say that the entire country became familiar with the speech ... Spring had barely begun when the speech began circulating around the world."[133]
The anti-Khrushchev minority in the Presidium was augmented by those opposed to Khrushchev's proposals to decentralize authority over industry, which struck at the heart of Malenkov's power base. During the first half of 1957, Malenkov, Molotov, and Kaganovich worked to quietly build support to dismiss Khrushchev. At a June 18 Presidium meeting at which two Khrushchev supporters were absent, the plotters moved that Bulganin, who had joined the scheme, take the chair, and proposed other moves which would effectively demote Khrushchev and put themselves in control. Khrushchev objected on the grounds that not all Presidium members had been notified, an objection which would have been quickly dismissed had Khrushchev not held firm control over the military, through Minister of Defense Marshal Zhukov, and the security departments. Lengthy Presidium meetings took place, continuing over several days. As word leaked of the power struggle, members of the Central Committee, which Khrushchev controlled, streamed to Moscow, many flown there aboard military planes, and demanded to be admitted to the meeting. While they were not admitted, there were soon enough Central Committee members in Moscow to call an emergency Party Congress, which effectively forced the leadership to allow a session of the Central Committee. At that meeting, the three main conspirators were dubbed the Anti-Party Group, accused of factionalism and complicity in Stalin's crimes. The three were expelled from the Central Committee and Presidium, as was former Foreign Minister and Khrushchev client Dmitri Shepilov who joined them in the plot. Molotov was sent as Ambassador to Mongolia; the others were sent to head industrial facilities and institutes far from Moscow.[134]
Marshal Zhukov was rewarded for his support with full membership in the Presidium, but Khrushchev feared his popularity and power. In October, the defense minister was sent on a tour of the Balkans, as Khrushchev arranged a Presidium meeting to dismiss him. Zhukov learned what was happening, and hurried back to Moscow, only to be formally notified of his dismissal. At a Central Committee meeting several weeks later, not a word was said in Zhukov's defense.[135] Khrushchev completed the consolidation of power by arranging for Bulganin's dismissal as premier in favor of himself (Bulganin was appointed to head the Gosbank) and by establishing a USSR Defense Council, led by himself, effectively making him commander in chief.[136] Though Khrushchev was now preeminent, he did not enjoy Stalin's absolute power.[136]
Liberalization and the arts[link]
After assuming power, Khrushchev allowed a modest amount of freedom in the arts. Vladimir Dudintsev's Not by Bread Alone,[137] about an idealistic engineer opposed by rigid bureaucrats, was allowed to be published in 1956, though Khrushchev called the novel "false at its base".[138] In 1958, however, Khrushchev ordered a fierce attack on Boris Pasternak after his novel, Doctor Zhivago was published abroad (he was denied permission to publish it in the Soviet Union). Pravda described the novel as "low-grade reactionary hackwork", and the author was expelled from the Writer's Union.[139] To make things worse (from Khrushchev's perspective), Pasternak was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, which, under heavy pressure, he declined. Once he did so, Khrushchev ordered a halt to the attacks on Pasternak. In his memoirs, Khrushchev stated that he agonized over the novel, very nearly allowed it to be published, and later regretted not doing so.[139] After his fall from power, Khrushchev obtained a copy of the novel and read it (he had earlier read only excerpts) and stated, "We shouldn't have banned it. I should have read it myself. There's nothing anti-Soviet in it."[140]
Khrushchev believed that the USSR could match the West's living standards, and was not afraid to allow Soviet citizens to see Western achievements.[141] Stalin had permitted few tourists to the Soviet Union, and had allowed few Soviets to travel.[142] Khrushchev let Soviets travel (over 700,000 Soviet citizens travelled abroad in 1957) and allowed foreigners to visit the Soviet Union, where tourists became subjects of immense curiosity.[142] In 1957, Khrushchev authorized the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students to be held in Moscow that summer. He instructed Komsomol officials to "smother foreign guests in our embrace".[143] The resulting "socialist carnival" involved over three million Moscovites, who joined with 30,000 young foreign visitors in events that ranged from discussion groups throughout the city to events at the Kremlin itself.[144] According to historian Vladislav Zubok, the festival "shattered propagandist clichés" about Westerners by allowing Moscovites to see for themselves.[141]
In 1962, Khrushchev, impressed by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, persuaded the Presidium to allow publication.[145] That renewed thaw ended on December 1, 1962, when Khrushchev was taken to the Manezh Gallery to view an exhibit which included a number of avant-garde works. On seeing them, Khrushchev exploded with anger, describing the artwork as "dog shit",[146] and proclaiming that "a donkey could smear better art with its tail".[147] A week later, Pravda issued a call for artistic purity. When writers and filmmakers defended the painters, Khrushchev extended his anger to them. However, despite the premier's rage, none of the artists were arrested or exiled. The Manezh Gallery exhibit remained open for some time after Khrushchev's visit, and experienced a considerable rise in attendance after the article in Pravda.[146]
Political reform[link]
Under Khrushchev, the special tribunals operated by security agencies were abolished. These tribunals (known as troikas), had often ignored laws and procedures. Under the reforms, no prosecution for a political crime could be brought even in the regular courts unless approved by the local Party committee. This rarely happened; there were no major political trials under Khrushchev, and at most several hundred political prosecutions overall. Instead, other sanctions were imposed on dissidents, including loss of job or university place, or expulsion from the Party. During Khrushchev's rule, forced hospitalization for the "socially dangerous" was introduced.[148] According to author Roy Medvedev, who wrote an early analysis of Khrushchev's years in power, "political terror as an everyday method of government was replaced under Khrushchev by administrative means of repression".[148]
In 1958, Khrushchev opened a Central Committee meeting to hundreds of Soviet officials; some were even allowed to address the meeting. For the first time, the proceedings of the Committee were made public in book form; a practice which was continued at subsequent meetings. This openness, however, actually allowed Khrushchev greater control over the Committee, since any dissenters would have to make their case in front of a large, disapproving crowd.[149]
In 1962, Khrushchev divided oblast (province) level Party committees into two parallel structures, one for industry and one for agriculture. This was unpopular among Party apparatchiks, and led to confusions in the chain of command, as neither committee secretary had precedence over the other. As there were limited numbers of Central Committee seats from each oblast, the division set up the possibility of rivalry for office between factions, and, according to Medvedev, had the potential for beginning a two-party system.[150] Khrushchev also ordered that one-third of the membership of each committee, from low-level councils to the Central Committee itself, be replaced at each election. This decree created tension between Khrushchev and the Central Committee[151] and upset the party leaders upon whose support Khrushchev had risen to power.[29]
Agricultural policy[link]
Since the 1940s, Khrushchev had advocated the cultivation of corn in the Soviet Union.[152] He established a corn institute in Ukraine and ordered thousands of acres to be planted with corn in the Virgin Lands.[153] In February 1955, Khrushchev gave a speech in which he advocated an Iowa-style corn belt in the Soviet Union, and a Soviet delegation visited the US state that summer. While their intent was to visit only small farms, the delegation chief was approached by farmer and corn salesman Roswell Garst, who persuaded him to insist on visiting Garst's large farm.[153] The Iowan visited the Soviet Union in September, where he became great friends with Khrushchev, and Garst sold the USSR 5,000 short tons (4,500 t) of seed corn.[154] Garst warned the Soviets to grow the corn in the southern part of the country, and to ensure there were sufficient stocks of fertilizer, insecticides, and herbicides.[155] This, however, was not done, as Khrushchev sought to plant corn even in Siberia, and without the necessary chemicals. While Khrushchev warned against those who "would have us plant the whole planet with corn", he displayed a great passion for corn, so much so that when he visited a Latvian kolkhoz, he stated that some in his audience were probably wondering, "Will Khrushchev say something about corn or won't he?"[155] He did, rebuking the farmers for not planting more corn.[155] The corn experiment was not a great success, and he later wrote that overenthusiastic officials, wanting to please him, had overplanted without laying the proper groundwork, and "as a result corn was discredited as a silage crop—and so was I".[155]
Khrushchev sought to abolish the Machine-Tractor Stations (MTS) which not only owned most large agricultural machines such as combines and tractors, but also provided services such as plowing, and transfer their equipment and functions to the kolkhozes and sovkhozes (state farms).[156] After a successful test involving MTS which served one large kolkhoz each, Khrushchev ordered a gradual transition—but then ordered that the change take place with great speed.[157] Within three months, over half of the MTS facilities had been closed, and kolkhozes were being required to buy the equipment, with no discount given for older or dilapidated machines.[158] MTS employees, unwilling to bind themselves to kolkhozes and lose their state employee benefits and the right to change their jobs, fled to the cities, creating a shortage of skilled operators.[159] The costs of the machinery, plus the costs of building storage sheds and fuel tanks for the equipment, impoverished many kolkhozes. Inadequate provisions were made for repair stations.[160] Without the MTS, the market for Soviet agricultural equipment fell apart, as the kolkhozes now had neither the money nor skilled buyers to purchase new equipment.[161]
One adviser to Khrushchev was Trofim Lysenko, who promised greatly increased production with minimal investment. Such schemes were attractive to Khrushchev, who ordered them implemented. Lysenko managed to maintain his influence under Khrushchev despite repeated failures; as each proposal failed, he advocated another. Lysenko's influence greatly retarded the development of genetic science in the Soviet Union.[162] In 1959, Khrushchev announced a goal of overtaking the United States in production of milk, meat, and butter. Local officials, with Khrushchev's encouragement, made unrealistic pledges of production. These goals were met by forcing farmers to slaughter their breeding herds and by purchasing meat at state stores, then reselling it back to the government, artificially increasing recorded production.[163]
In June 1962, food prices were raised, particularly on meat and butter (by 25–30%). This caused public discontent. In the southern Russian city of Novocherkassk (Rostov Region) this discontent escalated to a strike and a revolt against the authorities. The revolt was put down by the military. According to Soviet official accounts, 22 people were killed and 87 wounded. In addition, 116 demonstrators were convicted of involvement and seven of them executed. Information about the revolt was completely suppressed in the USSR, but spread through Samizdat and damaged Khrushchev's reputation in the West.[164]
Drought struck the Soviet Union in 1963; the harvest of 107,500,000 short tons (97,500,000 t) of grain was down from a peak of 134,700,000 short tons (122,200,000 t) in 1958.[165] The shortages resulted in bread lines, a fact at first kept from Khrushchev.[165] Reluctant to purchase food in the West,[165] but faced with the alternative of widespread hunger, Khrushchev exhausted the nation's hard currency reserves and expended part of its gold stockpile in the purchase of grain and other foodstuffs.[166]
Education[link]
While visiting the United States in 1959, Khrushchev was greatly impressed by the agricultural education program at Iowa State University, and sought to imitate it in the Soviet Union. At the time, the main agricultural college in the USSR was in Moscow, and students did not do the manual labor of farming. Khrushchev proposed to move the programs to rural areas. He was unsuccessful, due to resistance from professors and students, who never actually disagreed with the premier, but who did not carry out his proposals.[167] Khrushchev recalled in his memoirs, "It's nice to live in Moscow and work at the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. It's a venerable old institution, a large economic unit, with skilled instructors, but it's in the city! Its students aren't yearning to work on the collective farms because to do that they'd have to go out in the provinces and live in the sticks."[168]
Khrushchev founded several academic towns, such as Akademgorodok. The premier believed that Western science flourished because many scientists lived in university towns such as Oxford, isolated from big city distractions, and had pleasant living conditions and good pay. He sought to duplicate those conditions in the Soviet Union. Khrushchev's attempt was generally successful, though his new towns and scientific centers tended to attract younger scientists, with older ones unwilling to leave Moscow or Leningrad.[169]
Khrushchev also proposed to restructure Soviet high schools. While the high schools provided a college preparatory curriculum, in fact few Soviet youths went on to university. Khrushchev wanted to shift the focus of secondary schools to vocational training: students would spend much of their time at factory jobs or in apprenticeships and only a small part at the schools.[170] In practice, what occurred is that schools developed links with nearby enterprises, and students went to work for only one or two days a week; the factories and other works disliked having to teach, while students and their families complained that they had little choice in what trade to learn.[171]
While the vocational proposal would not survive Khrushchev's downfall, a longer-lasting change was a related establishment of specialized high schools for gifted students or those wishing to study a specific subject.[172] These schools were modeled after the foreign-language schools that had been established in Moscow and Leningrad beginning in 1949.[173] In 1962, a special summer school was established in Novosibirsk to prepare students for a Siberian math and science Olympiad. The following year, the Novosibirsk Maths and Science Boarding-School became the first permanent residential school specializing in math and science. Other such schools were soon established in Moscow, Leningrad, and Kiev. By the early 1970s, over 100 specialized schools had been established, in mathematics, the sciences, art, music, and sport.[172] Preschool education was increased as part of Khrushchev's reforms, and by the time he left office, about 22% of Soviet children attended preschool—about half of urban children, but only about 12% of rural children.[174]
Foreign and defense policies[link]
When Khrushchev took control, the outside world still knew little of him, and initially was not impressed by him. Short, heavyset, and wearing ill-fitting suits, he "radiated energy but not intellect", and was dismissed by many as a buffoon who would not last long.[175] British Foreign Secretary Harold Macmillan wondered, "How can this fat, vulgar man with his pig eyes and ceaseless flow of talk be the head—the aspirant Tsar for all those millions of people?"[176]
Khrushchev biographer Tompson described the mercurial leader:
He could be charming or vulgar, ebullient or sullen, he was given to public displays of rage (often contrived) and to soaring hyperbole in his rhetoric. But whatever he was, however he came across, he was more human than his predecessor or even than most of his foreign counterparts, and for much of the world that was enough to make the USSR seem less mysterious or menacing.[177]
United States and allies[link]
Early relations and US visit (1957–1960)[link]
Khrushchev sought to find a lasting solution to the problem of a divided Germany and of the enclave of West Berlin deep within East German territory. In November 1958, calling West Berlin a "malignant tumor", he gave the United States, United Kingdom and France six months to conclude a peace treaty with both German states and the Soviet Union. If one was not signed, Khrushchev stated, the Soviet Union would conclude a peace treaty with East Germany. This would leave East Germany, which was not a party to treaties giving the Western Powers access to Berlin, in control of the routes to the city.[178] This ultimatum caused dissent among the Western Allies, who were reluctant to go to war over the issue.[179] Khrushchev, however, repeatedly extended the deadline.
Khrushchev sought to eliminate many conventional weapons, and defend the Soviet Union with missiles.[180] He believed that unless this occurred, the huge Soviet military would continue to eat up resources, making Khrushchev's goals of improving Soviet life difficult to achieve.[181] In 1955, Khrushchev abandoned Stalin's plans for a large navy, believing that the new ships would be too vulnerable to either conventional or nuclear attack.[182] In January 1960, Khrushchev took advantage of improved relations with the US to order a reduction of one-third in the size of Soviet armed forces, alleging that advanced weapons would make up for the lost troops.[183] While conscription of Soviet youth remained in force, exemptions from military service became more and more common, especially for students.[184]
The Soviets had few operable ICBMs; in spite of this Khrushchev publicly boasted of the Soviets' missile programs, stating that Soviet weapons were varied and numerous. The First Secretary hoped that public perception that the Soviets were ahead would result in psychological pressure on the West and political concessions.[185] The Soviet space program, which Khrushchev firmly supported, appeared to confirm his claims when the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 into orbit, a launch many westerners, including United States Vice President Richard Nixon were convinced was a hoax.[185] When it became clear that the launch was real, and Sputnik 1 was in orbit, Western governments concluded that the Soviet ICBM program was further along than it actually was. Khrushchev added to this misapprehension by stating in an October 1957 interview that the USSR had all the rockets, of whatever capacity, that it needed.[180] For years, Khrushchev would make a point of preceding a major foreign trip with a rocket launch, to the discomfiture of his hosts.[180] The United States learned of the primitive state of the Soviet missile program from overflights in the late 1950s, but only high US officials knew of the deception.[185] In January 1960, Khrushchev told the Presidium that Soviet ICBMs made an agreement with the US possible because "main-street Americans have begun to shake from fear for the first times in their lives".[186] The perceived "missile gap" led to a considerable defense buildup on the part of the United States.[185]
In 1959, during Nixon's visit to the Soviet Union,[187] Khrushchev took part in what later became known as the Kitchen Debate, as Nixon and Khrushchev had an impassioned argument in a model kitchen at the American National Exhibition in Moscow, with each defending the economic system of his country.[29] Khrushchev was invited to visit the United States, and did so that September, spending thirteen days. Khrushchev arrived in Washington, DC on his first visit to the United States on September 15, 1959. The first visit by a Soviet premier to the United States resulted in an extended media circus.[188] Khrushchev brought his wife, Nina Petrovna, and adult children with him, though it was not usual for Soviet officials to travel with their families.[189] The peripatetic premier visited New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco (visiting a supermarket), Iowa (visiting Roswell Garst's farm), Pittsburgh, and Washington,[190] concluding with a meeting with US President Eisenhower at Camp David.[191] Khrushchev was supposed to visit Disneyland, but the visit was canceled for security reasons, much to his disgruntlement.[192] He did, however, visit Eleanor Roosevelt at her home in Hyde Park, New York.[193] While visiting Thomas J. Watson, Jr's IBM headquarters, Khrushchev expressed little interest in the computers, but greatly admired the self-service cafeteria, and, on his return, introduced self-service in the Soviet Union.[194]
Khrushchev's US visit resulted in an informal agreement with US president Dwight Eisenhower that there would be no firm deadline over Berlin, but that there would be a four-power summit to try to resolve the issue, and the premier left the US to general good feelings. Khrushchev returned from the US convinced that he had achieved a strong personal relationship with Eisenhower (who in fact was unimpressed by the Soviet leader) and that he could achieve détente with the Americans.[195] He pushed for an immediate summit, but was frustrated by French President Charles de Gaulle, who postponed it until 1960, a year in which Eisenhower was scheduled to pay a return visit to the Soviet Union.[196]
U-2 and Berlin crisis (1960–1961)[link]
A constant irritant in Soviet–US relations was the overflight of the Soviet Union by American U-2 spy aircraft. On April 9, 1960, the US resumed such flights after a lengthy break. The Soviets had protested the flights in the past, but had been ignored by Washington. Content in what he thought was a strong personal relationship with Eisenhower, Khrushchev was confused and angered by the flights' resumption, and concluded that they had been ordered by CIA Director Allen Dulles without the US President's knowledge. On May 1, a U-2 was shot down; its pilot, Francis Gary Powers captured alive.[197] Believing Powers to have been killed, the US announced that a weather plane had been lost near the Turkish-Soviet border. Khrushchev risked destroying the summit, due to start on May 16 in Paris, if he announced the shootdown, but would look weak in the eyes of his military and security forces if he did nothing.[197] Finally, on May 5, Khrushchev announced the shootdown and Powers' capture, blaming the overflight on "imperialist circles and militarists, whose stronghold is the Pentagon", and suggesting the plane had been sent without Eisenhower's knowledge.[198] Eisenhower could not have it thought that there were rogue elements in the Pentagon operating without his knowledge, and admitted that he had ordered the flights, calling them "a distasteful necessity".[199] The admission stunned Khrushchev, and turned the U-2 affair from a possible triumph to a disaster for him, and he even appealed to US Ambassador Llewellyn Thompson for help.[200]
Khrushchev was undecided what to do at the summit even as he boarded his flight to Paris. He finally decided, in consultation with his advisers on the plane and Presidium members in Moscow, to demand an apology from Eisenhower and a promise that there would be no further U-2 flights in Soviet airspace.[200] Neither Eisenhower nor Khrushchev communicated with the other in the days before the summit, and at the summit, Khrushchev made his demands and stated that there was no purpose in the summit, which should be postponed for six to eight months, that is until after the 1960 United States presidential election. The US President offered no apology, but stated that the flights had been suspended and would not resume, and renewed his Open Skies proposal for mutual overflight rights. This was not enough for Khrushchev, who left the summit.[197] Eisenhower accused Khrushchev "of sabotaging this meeting, on which so much of the hopes of the world have rested".[201] Eisenhower's visit to the Soviet Union, for which the premier had even built a golf course so the US President could enjoy his favorite sport,[202] was canceled by Khrushchev.[203]
Khrushchev made his second and final visit to the United States in September 1960. He had no invitation, but had appointed himself as head of the USSR's UN delegation.[204] He spent much of his time wooing the new Third World states which had recently become independent.[205] The US restricted him to the island of Manhattan, with visits to an estate owned by the USSR on Long Island. The notorious shoe-banging incident occurred during a debate on October 12 over a Soviet resolution decrying colonialism. Infuriated by a statement of the Filipino delegate Lorenzo Sumulong which charged the Soviets with employing a double standard by decrying colonialism while dominating Eastern Europe, Khrushchev demanded the right to reply immediately, and accused Sumulong of being "a fawning lackey of the American imperialists". Sumulong resumed his speech, and accused the Soviets of hypocrisy. Khrushchev yanked off his shoe and began banging it on his desk.[206] This behavior by Khrushchev scandalized his delegation.[207]
Khrushchev considered US Vice President Nixon a hardliner, and was delighted by his defeat in the 1960 presidential election. He considered the victor, Massachusetts Senator John F. Kennedy, as a far more likely partner for détente, but was taken aback by the newly inaugurated US President's tough talk and actions in the early days of his administration.[208] Khrushchev achieved a propaganda victory in April 1961 with the first manned spaceflight and Kennedy a defeat with the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion. While Khrushchev had threatened to defend Cuba with Soviet missiles, the premier contented himself with after-the-fact aggressive remarks. The failure in Cuba led to Kennedy's determination to make no concessions at the Vienna summit scheduled for June 3, 1961. Both Kennedy and Khrushchev took a hard line, with Khrushchev demanding a treaty that would recognize the two German states and refusing to yield on the remaining issues obstructing a test-ban treaty. Kennedy on the other hand had been led to believe that the test-ban treaty could be concluded at the summit, and felt that a deal on Berlin had to await easing of East–West tensions. Kennedy described negotiating with Khrushchev to his brother Robert as "like dealing with Dad. All give and no take."[209]
An indefinite postponement of action over Berlin was unacceptable to Khrushchev if for no other reason than that East Germany was suffering a continuous "brain drain" as highly educated East Germans fled west through Berlin. While the boundary between the two German states had elsewhere been fortified, Berlin, administered by the four Allied powers, remained open. Emboldened by statements from former US Ambassador to Moscow Charles E. Bohlen and United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairman J. William Fulbright that East Germany had every right to close its borders, which were not disavowed by the Kennedy Administration, Khrushchev authorized East German leader Walter Ulbricht to begin construction of what became known as the Berlin Wall, which would surround West Berlin. Construction preparations were made in great secrecy, and the border was sealed off in the early hours of Sunday, August 13, 1961, when most East German workers who earned hard currency by working in West Berlin would be at their homes. The wall was a propaganda disaster, and marked the end of Khrushchev's attempts to conclude a peace treaty among the Four Powers and the two German states.[210] That treaty would not be signed until September 1990, as an immediate prelude to German reunification.
Caribbean crisis and test ban treaty (1962–1964)[link]
Superpower tensions culminated in the Cuban Missile Crisis (in the USSR, the "Caribbean crisis") of October 1962, as the Soviet Union sought to install medium range nuclear missiles in Cuba, about 90 miles (140 km) from the US coast.[29] Cuban President Fidel Castro was reluctant to accept the missiles, and, once he was persuaded, warned Khrushchev against transporting the missiles in secret. Castro stated, thirty years later, "We had a sovereign right to accept the missiles. We were not violating international law. Why do it secretly—as if we had no right to do it? I warned Nikita that secrecy would give the imperialists the advantage."[211]
On October 16, Kennedy was informed that U-2 flights over Cuba had discovered what were most likely medium-range missile sites, and though he and his advisors considered approaching Khrushchev through diplomatic channels, could come up with no way of doing this that would not appear weak.[212] On October 22, Kennedy addressed his nation by television, revealing the missiles' presence and announcing a blockade of Cuba. Informed in advance of the speech but not (until one hour before) the content, Khrushchev and his advisors feared an invasion of Cuba. Even before Kennedy's speech, they ordered Soviet commanders in Cuba that they could use all weapons against an attack—except atomic weapons.[213]
As the crisis unfolded, tensions were high in the US; less so in the Soviet Union, where Khrushchev made several public appearances, and went to the Bolshoi Theatre to hear American opera singer Jerome Hines, who was then performing in Moscow.[29][214] By October 25, with the Soviets unclear about Kennedy's full intentions, Khrushchev decided that the missiles would have to be withdrawn from Cuba. Two days later, he offered Kennedy terms for the withdrawal.[215] Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles in exchange for a US promise not to invade Cuba and a promise that the US would withdraw missiles from Turkey, near the Soviet heartland.[216] As the last term was not publicly announced at the request of the US, and was not known until just before Khrushchev's death in 1971,[29] the resolution was seen as a great defeat for the Soviets, and contributed to Khrushchev's fall less than two years later.[29] Castro had urged Khrushchev to launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the US in the event of any invasion of Cuba,[217] and was angered by the outcome, referring to Khrushchev in profane terms;[218] Khrushchev invited him to Moscow later, and was able to restore good relations.[219]
After the crisis, superpower relations improved, as Kennedy gave a conciliatory speech at American University on June 10, 1963, recognizing the Soviet people's suffering during World War II, and paying tribute to their achievements.[220] Khrushchev called the speech the best by a US president since Franklin Roosevelt, and, in July, negotiated a test ban treaty with US negotiator Averill Harriman and with Lord Hailsham of the United Kingdom.[221] Plans for a second Khrushchev-Kennedy summit were dashed by the US President's assassination in November 1963. The new US President, Lyndon Johnson, hoped for continued improved relations but was distracted by other issues and had little opportunity to develop a relationship with Khrushchev before the premier was ousted.[222]
Eastern Europe[link]
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The Secret Speech, combined with the death of Polish communist leader Boleslaw Bierut, who suffered a heart attack while reading the Speech, sparked considerable liberalization in Poland and Hungary. In Poland, a worker's strike in Poznan developed into disturbances which left more than 50 dead in October 1956.[223] When Moscow blamed the disturbances on Western agitators, Polish leaders ignored the claim, and instead made concessions to the workers. With anti-Soviet displays becoming more common in Poland, and crucial Polish leadership elections upcoming, Khrushchev and other Presidium members flew to Warsaw. While the Soviets were refused entry to the Polish Central Committee plenum where the election was taking place, they met with the Polish Presidium. The Soviets agreed to allow the new Polish leadership to take office, on the assurance there would be no change to the Soviet-Polish relationship.[223]
The Polish settlement emboldened the Hungarians, who decided that Moscow could be defied.[224] A mass demonstration in Budapest on October 23 turned into a popular uprising. In response to the uprising, Hungarian Party leaders installed reformist Premier Imre Nagy.[225] Soviet forces in the city clashed with Hungarians and even fired on demonstrators, with hundreds of both Hungarians and Soviets killed. Nagy called for a cease-fire and a withdrawal of Soviet troops, which a Khrushchev-led majority in the Presidium decided to obey, choosing to give the new Hungarian government a chance.[226] Khrushchev assumed that if Moscow announced liberalization in how it dealt with its allies, Nagy would adhere to the alliance with the Soviet Union. However, on October 30 Nagy announced multiparty elections, and the next morning that Hungary would leave the Warsaw Pact.[227] On November 3, two members of the Nagy government appeared in Ukraine as the self-proclaimed heads of a provisional government and demanded Soviet intervention, which was forthcoming. The next day, Soviet troops crushed the Hungarian uprising, with a death toll of 4,000 Hungarians and several hundred Soviet troops. Nagy was arrested, and was later executed. Despite the international outrage over the intervention, Khrushchev defended his actions for the rest of his life. Damage to Soviet foreign relations was severe, and would have been greater were it not for the fortuitous timing of the Suez crisis, which distracted world attention.[225]
In the aftermath of these crises, Khrushchev made the statement for which he became well-remembered, "We will bury you" (in Russian, "Мы вас похороним!" (My vas pokhoronim!)). While many in the West took this statement as a literal threat, Khrushchev made the statement in a speech on peaceful coexistence with the West.[228] When questioned about the statement during his 1959 US visit, Khrushchev stated that he was not referring to a literal burial, but that, through inexorable historical development, communism would replace capitalism and "bury" it.[229]
Khrushchev greatly improved relations with Yugoslavia, which had been entirely sundered in 1948 when Stalin realized he could not control Yugoslav leader Josip Tito. Khrushchev led a Soviet delegation to Belgrade in 1955. Though a hostile Tito did everything he could to make the Soviets look foolish (including getting them drunk in public), Khrushchev was successful in warming relations, ending the Informbiro period in Soviet-Yugoslav relations.[230] During the Hungarian crisis, Tito initially supported Nagy, but Khrushchev persuaded him of the need for intervention.[231] Still, the intervention in Hungary damaged Moscow's relationship with Belgrade, which Khrushchev spent several years trying to repair. He was hampered by the fact that China disapproved of Yugoslavia's liberal version of communism, and attempts to conciliate Belgrade resulted in an angry Beijing.[136]
China[link]
After completing his takeover of mainland China in 1949, Mao Zedong sought material assistance from the USSR, and also called for the return to China of territories taken from it under the Tsars.[29] As Khrushchev took control of the USSR, he increased aid to China, even sending a small corps of experts to help develop the newly communist country.[232] This assistance was described by historian William Kirby as "the greatest transfer of technology in world history".[233] The Soviet Union spent 7% of its national income between 1954 and 1959 on aid to China.[234] On his 1954 visit to China, Khrushchev agreed to return Port Arthur and Dalian to China, though Khrushchev was annoyed by Mao's insistence that the Soviets leave their artillery as they departed.[235]
Mao bitterly opposed Khrushchev's attempts to reach a rapprochement with more liberal Eastern European states such as Yugoslavia. Khrushchev's government, on the other hand, was reluctant to endorse Mao's desires for an assertive worldwide revolutionary movement, preferring to conquer capitalism through raising the standard of living in communist-bloc countries.[29]
Relations between the two nations began to cool in 1956, with Mao angered both by the Secret Speech and by the fact that the Chinese had not been consulted in advance about it.[236] Mao believed that de-Stalinization was a mistake, and a possible threat to his own authority.[237] When Khrushchev visited Beijing in 1958, Mao refused proposals for military cooperation.[238] Hoping to torpedo Khrushchev's efforts at détente with the US, Mao soon thereafter provoked the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, describing the Taiwanese islands shelled in the crisis as "batons that keep Eisenhower and Khrushchev dancing, scurrying this way and that. Don't you see how wonderful they are?"[239]
The Soviets had planned to provide China with an atomic bomb complete with full documentation, but in 1959, amid cooler relations, the Soviets destroyed the device and papers instead.[240] When Khrushchev paid a visit to China in September, shortly after his successful US visit, he met a chilly reception, and Khrushchev left the country on the third day of a planned seven-day visit.[241] Relations continued to deteriorate in 1960, as both the USSR and China used a Romanian Communist Party congress as an opportunity to attack the other. After Khrushchev attacked China in his speech to the congress, Chinese leader Peng Zhen mocked Khrushchev, stating that the premier's foreign policy was to blow hot and cold towards the West. Khrushchev responded by pulling Soviet experts out of China.[242]
Removal[link]
Beginning in March 1964, Supreme Soviet head Leonid Brezhnev began discussing Khrushchev's removal with his colleagues.[243] While Brezhnev considered having Khrushchev arrested as he returned from a trip to Scandinavia in June, he instead spent time persuading members of the Central Committee to support an ouster of Khrushchev, remembering how crucial the Committee's support had been to Khrushchev in defeating the Anti-Party Group plot.[243] Brezhnev was given ample time for his conspiracy; Khrushchev was absent from Moscow for a total of five months between January and September 1964.[244]
The conspirators, led by Brezhnev, Aleksandr Shelepin, and KGB Chairman Vladimir Semichastny, struck in October 1964, while Khrushchev was on vacation at Pitsunda, Abkhazia. On October 12, Brezhnev called Khrushchev to notify him of a special Presidium meeting to be held the following day, ostensibly on the subject of agriculture.[245] Even though Khrushchev suspected the real reason for the meeting,[246] he flew to Moscow to be attacked by Brezhnev and other Presidium members for his policy failures and what his colleagues deemed to be erratic behavior.[247] Khrushchev put up little resistance, and that night called his friend and Presidium colleague Anastas Mikoyan, and told him,
I'm old and tired. Let them cope by themselves. I've done the main thing. Could anyone have dreamed of telling Stalin that he didn't suit us anymore and suggesting he retire? Not even a wet spot would have remained where we had been standing. Now everything is different. The fear is gone, and we can talk as equals. That's my contribution. I won't put up a fight.[248]
On October 14, 1964, the Presidium and the Central Committee each voted to accept Khrushchev's "voluntary" retirement from his offices. Brezhnev was elected First Secretary (later General Secretary), while Alexei Kosygin succeeded Khrushchev as premier.[249]
Life in retirement[link]
Khrushchev was granted a pension of 500 rubles per month, and was assured that his house and dacha were his for life.[250] Following his removal from power, Khrushchev fell into deep depression.[251] He received few visitors, especially since Khrushchev's security guards kept track of all guests and reported their comings and goings.[252] In the fall of 1965, he and his wife were ordered to leave their house and dacha to move to an apartment and to a smaller dacha. His pension was reduced to 400 rubles per month, though his retirement remained comfortable by Soviet standards.[253][254] The depression continued. His doctor prescribed sleeping pills and tranquilizers, but even so, when one of his grandsons was asked what the ex-premier was doing in retirement, the boy replied, "Grandfather cries."[255] He was made a nonperson to such an extent that the thirty-volume Soviet Encyclopedia omitted his name from the list of prominent political commissars during the Great Patriotic War.[29]
As the new rulers made their conservatism in artistic matters known, Khrushchev came to be more favorably viewed by artists and writers, some of whom visited him. One visitor whom Khrushchev regretted not seeing was former US Vice President Nixon, then in his "wilderness years" before his election to the presidency, who came to Khrushchev's Moscow apartment while the former premier was at his dacha.[256]
Beginning in 1966, Khrushchev began his memoirs. He dictated them into a tape recorder, and, after attempts to record outdoors failed due to background noise, recorded indoors, knowing that every word would be heard by the KGB. However, the security agency made no attempt to interfere until 1968, when Khrushchev was ordered to turn over his tapes, which he refused to do.[257] However, while Khrushchev was hospitalized with heart ailments his son, Sergei, was approached by the KGB and told that there was a plot afoot by foreign agents to steal the memoirs. Since copies had been made, some of which had been transmitted to a Western publisher, and since the KGB could steal the originals anyway, Sergei Khrushchev turned over the materials to the KGB, but also instructed that the smuggled memoirs be published, which they were in 1970 under the title Khrushchev Remembers. Under some pressure, Nikita Khrushchev signed a statement that he had not given the materials to any publisher, and his son was transferred to a less desirable job.[258] Upon publication of the memoirs in the West, Izvestia denounced them as a fraud.[259] When Soviet state radio carried the announcement of Khrushchev's statement, it was the first time in six years he had been mentioned in that medium.[29]
In his final days, Khrushchev visited his son-in-law and former aide, Alexei Adzubei, and told him, "[n]ever regret that you lived in stormy times and worked with me in the Central Committee. We will yet be remembered!"[260]
Khrushchev died of a heart attack in a hospital near his home in Moscow on September 11, 1971, and is buried in the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, having been denied a state funeral, and interment in the Kremlin Wall. Fearing demonstrations, the authorities did not announce Khrushchev's death until the hour of his wake, and surrounded the cemetery with troops. Even so, some artists and writers joined the family at the graveside for the interment.[261]
Pravda ran a one-sentence announcement of the former premier's death; Western newspapers contained considerable coverage.[262] Veteran New York Times Moscow correspondent Harry Schwartz wrote of Khrushchev, "Mr. Khrushchev opened the doors and windows of a petrified structure. He let in fresh air and fresh ideas, producing changes which time already has shown are irreversible and fundamental."[263]
Legacy[link]
Many of Khrushchev's innovations were reversed after his fall. The requirement that one-third of officials be replaced at each election was overturned, as was the division in the Party structure between industrial and agricultural sectors. His vocational education program for high school students was also dropped, and his plan for sending existing agricultural institutions out to the land was ended. However, new agricultural or vocational institutions thereafter were located outside major cities. When new housing was built, much of it was in the form of high rises rather than Khrushchev's low-rise structures, which lacked elevators or balconies.[264]
Some of Khrushchev's agricultural projects were also easily overturned. Corn became so unpopular in 1965 that its planting fell to the lowest level in the postwar period, as even kolkhozes which had been successful with it in Ukraine and other southern portions of the USSR refused to plant it.[265] Lysenko was stripped of his policy-making positions. However, the MTS stations remained closed, and the basic agricultural problems, which Khrushchev had tried to address, remained.[264] While the Soviet standard of living increased greatly in the ten years after Khrushchev's fall, much of the increase was due to industrial progress; agriculture continued to lag far behind, resulting in regular agricultural crises, especially in 1972 and 1975.[266] Brezhnev and his successors continued Khrushchev's precedent of buying grain from the West rather than suffer shortfalls and starvation.[264] Neither Brezhnev nor his colleagues were personally popular, and the new government relied on authoritarian power to assure its continuation. The KGB and Red Army were given increasing powers. The government's conservative tendencies would lead to the crushing of the "Prague Spring" of 1968.[267]
Though Khrushchev's strategy failed to achieve the major goals he sought, Aleksandr Fursenko, who wrote a book analyzing Khrushchev's foreign and military policies, argued that the strategy did coerce the West in a limited manner. The agreement that the United States would not invade Cuba has been adhered to. The refusal of the western world to acknowledge East Germany was gradually eroded, and, in 1975, the United States and other NATO members signed the Helsinki Agreement with the USSR and Warsaw Pact nations, including East Germany, setting human rights standards in Europe.[268]
The Russian public's view of Khrushchev remains mixed.[269] According to a major Russian pollster, the only eras of the 20th century that Russians evaluate positively are those under Nicholas II, and under Khrushchev.[269] A poll of young Russians found that they felt Nicholas II had done more good than harm, and all other 20th century Russian leaders more harm than good—except Khrushchev, about whom they were evenly divided.[269] Khrushchev biographer William Tompson related the former premier's reforms to those which occurred later:
Throughout the Brezhnev years and the lengthy interregnum that followed, the generation which had come of age during the 'first Russian spring' of the 1950s awaited its turn in power. As Brezhnev and his colleagues died or were pensioned off, they were replaced by men and women for whom the Secret Speech and the first wave of de-Stalinization had been a formative experience, and these 'Children of Twentieth Congress' took up the reins of power under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev and his colleagues. The Khrushchev era provided this second generation of reformers with both an inspiration and a cautionary tale.[270]
See also[link]
Notes[link]
Explanatory
- ^ English: Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, /nɪˈkiːtə sɜrˈɡeɪ.əvɪtʃ ˈkrʊʃ.tʃɛv/; Russian: Никита Сергеевич Хрущёв, [nʲɪˈkʲitə sʲɪrˈɡʲejɪvʲɪ̈t͡ɕ xrʊˈɕɕof] ( listen)
- ^ Soviet era reports list his birth date as April 17 (April 5 old style) but recent discovery of his birth certificate has caused biographers to accept the April 15 date. See Tompson 1995, p. 2.
Footnotes
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, p. 2.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 20.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 18.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 27.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 26.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 30.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 6–7.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 37–38.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 8.
- ^ Carlson 2009, p. 141.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 8–9.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 38–40.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 47.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, pp. 47–48.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 48–49.
- ^ a b c d Taubman 2003, p. 50.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 12.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 52.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 54–55.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 55.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 14.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 15–16.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 63.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, pp. 64–66.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Whitman 1971.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 66.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 68.
- ^ a b c Taubman 2003, p. 73.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, pp. 31–32.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 78.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 33–34.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 105–06.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 98.
- ^ a b c Taubman 2003, p. 99.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 57.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 99–100.
- ^ a b c Taubman 2003, p. 100.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 103–04.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 104.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 69.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 114–15.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 116.
- ^ a b c Taubman 2003, p. 118.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 60.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 135–37.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 72.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 149.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 150.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 163.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 162–64.
- ^ Khrushchev 2004, p. 347.
- ^ Khrushchev 2004, pp. 349–50.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 164–68.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, pp. 168–71.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 81.
- ^ a b c Birch 2008.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 157–58.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 82.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 158.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 158–62.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 171–72.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, pp. 177–78.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 81–82.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, p. 73.
- ^ a b c Tompson 1995, p. 86.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 179.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 180.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 181.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 193–95.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 87–88.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 195.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, p. 91.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 199.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 199–200.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 200–201.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 92.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 203.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, p. 93.
- ^ Khrushchev 2000, p. 27.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 95.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 205.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 96.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, pp. 96–97.
- ^ Khrushchev 2006, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Khrushchev 2006, pp. 18–22.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 210.
- ^ a b c Taubman 2003, pp. 211–15.
- ^ Khrushchev 2006, p. 43.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, p. 99.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 226.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 100–01.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 228–30.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 236–41.
- ^ Khrushchev 2006, pp. 167–68.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 114.
- ^ The New York Times, 1953-03-10.
- ^ a b c Taubman 2003, p. 245.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 258.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 246.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 247.
- ^ Khrushchev 2006, p. 184.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 121.
- ^ Khrushchev 2006, p. 186.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 123.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 125–26.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 259.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 263.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 262–63.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 174.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 260.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 263–64.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 264.
- ^ Fursenko 2006, pp. 15–17.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 141.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 142.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 266.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 266–67.
- ^ Fursenko 2006, p. 27.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 268–69.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 275.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 276.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, pp. 279–80.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 153.
- ^ Khrushchev 2006, p. 212.
- ^ The New York Times, 1956-05-06.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, pp. 286–91.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 282.
- ^ Khrushchev 2000, p. 200.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 176–83.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 361–64.
- ^ a b c Tompson 1995, p. 189.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 307.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 308.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 385.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 628.
- ^ a b Zubok 2007, p. 175.
- ^ a b Zubok 2007, p. 172.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 174.
- ^ Zubok 2007, pp. 174–75.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 525–28.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, pp. 257–60.
- ^ Neizvestny 1979.
- ^ a b Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 41–42.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 198–99.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 154–57.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, p. 153.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 374.
- ^ a b Carlson 2009, p. 205.
- ^ Carlson 2009, pp. 205–06.
- ^ a b c d Taubman 2003, p. 373.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, p. 85.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 86–87.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 87–89.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 89–91.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 91–92.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 216.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 214–15.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 519–23.
- ^ a b c Taubman 2003, p. 607.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 160–61.
- ^ Carlson 2009, p. 221.
- ^ Khrushchev 2007, p. 154.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, p. 108.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 192–93.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 193.
- ^ a b Kelly 2007, p. 147.
- ^ Laurent 2009.
- ^ Perrie 2006, p. 488.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 146.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 149.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 150.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 195.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 196.
- ^ a b c Tompson 1995, p. 187.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 217.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 127.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 216–17.
- ^ Zubok 2007, pp. 183–84.
- ^ a b c d Tompson 1995, p. 188.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 131.
- ^ UPI 1959 Year in Review.
- ^ Carlson 2009, p. 247.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 421–22.
- ^ Carlson 2009, p. 63.
- ^ Carlson 2009, pp. 226–27.
- ^ Carlson 2009, pp. 155–59.
- ^ Carlson 2009, p. 133.
- ^ Khrushchev 2000, p. 334.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 211.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 218.
- ^ a b c Tompson 1995, pp. 219–20.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 223.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 224.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, p. 225.
- ^ UPI 1960 Year in Review.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 441.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 469.
- ^ Carlson 2009, pp. 265–66.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 230.
- ^ Carlson 2009, pp. 284–86.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 139.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 232.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 233–35.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 235–36.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 248.
- ^ Fursenko 2006, pp. 465–66.
- ^ Fursenko 2006, pp. 469–72.
- ^ Life, 1962-11-09.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 145.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 575.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 148.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 579.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 597–98.
- ^ Kennedy 1963.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 602.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 604–05.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, pp. 166–68.
- ^ Fursenko 2006, p. 122.
- ^ a b Tompson 1995, pp. 168–70.
- ^ Fursenko 2006, pp. 123–24.
- ^ Fursenko 2006, p. 125.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 427–28.
- ^ Carlson 2009, p. 96.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 145–47.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 169.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 336.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 337.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 111.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 336–37.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 338.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 136.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 391.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 392.
- ^ Zubok 2007, p. 137.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 394.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 470–71.
- ^ a b Taubman 2003, p. 615.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 617.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 5.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 6.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 11–13.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 13.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 16.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 16–17.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 622.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 622–23.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 278.
- ^ Taubman 2003, p. 623.
- ^ Taubman 2003, pp. 623–24.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 279.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 280.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 280–81.
- ^ Shabad 1970.
- ^ Tompson 1995, p. 281.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 282–83.
- ^ Carlson 2009, p. 299.
- ^ Schwartz 1971.
- ^ a b c Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, pp. 180–82.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, p. 128.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, p. 185.
- ^ Medvedev & Medvedev 1978, p. 184.
- ^ Fursenko 2006, p. 544.
- ^ a b c Taubman 2003, p. 650.
- ^ Tompson 1995, pp. 283–84.
References[link]
- Birch, Douglas (2008-08-02), "Khrushchev kin allege family honor slurred", USAToday, http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-08-02-1193707578_x.htm, retrieved 2009-08-14
- Carlson, Peter (2009), K Blows Top: A Cold War Comic Interlude Starring Nikita Khrushchev, America's Most Unlikely Tourist, PublicAffairs, ISBN 978-1-58648-497-2
- Laurent, Coumel (2009), "The scientist, the pedagogue, and the Party official: Interest groups, public opinion, and decision-making in the 1958 education reform", in Ilič, Melanie; Smith, Jeremy, Soviet state and society under Nikita Khrushchev, Taylor & Francis, pp. 66–85, ISBN 978-0-415-47649-2, http://books.google.com/books?id=bF-pSkjIdOAC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA66#v=onepage&q=&f=false
- Fursenko, Aleksandr (2006), Khrushchev's Cold War, W.W. Norton & Co., ISBN 978-0-393-05809-3
- Kelly, Catriona (2007), Children's world: growing up in Russia, 1890–1991, Yale University Press, p. 147, ISBN 978-0-300-11226-9
- Khrushchev, Nikita (1960), For Victory in Peaceful Competition with Capitalism, E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.
- Khrushchev, Nikita (2004), Khrushchev, Sergei, ed., Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, Volume 1: Commissar, The Pennsylvania State University Press, ISBN 978-0-271-02332-8
- Khrushchev, Nikita (2006), Khrushchev, Sergei, ed., Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, Volume 2: Reformer, The Pennsylvania State University Press, ISBN 978-0-271-02861-3
- Khrushchev, Nikita (2007), Khrushchev, Sergei, ed., Memoirs of Nikita Khrushchev, Volume 3: Statesman, The Pennsylvania State University Press, ISBN 978-0-271-02935-1
- Khrushchev, Sergei (2000), Nikita Khrushchev and the Creation of a Superpower, The Pennsylvania State University Press, ISBN 978-0-271-01927-7
- Medvedev, Roy; Medvedev, Zhores (1978), Khrushchev: The Years in Power, W.W. Norton & Co.
- Perrie, Maureen (2006), The Cambridge History of Russia: The twentieth century, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-81144-6
- Schwartz, Harry (1971-09-12), "We know now that he was a giant among men", The New York Times, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30714FE345B137A93C0A81782D85F458785F9, retrieved 2009-09-25 (fee for article)
- Shabad, Theodore (1970-11-24), "Izvestia likens 'memoirs' to forgeries", The New York Times, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E14FC3F5F1B7493C6AB178AD95F448785F9, retrieved 2009-09-25 (fee for article)
- Taubman, William (2003), Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, W.W. Norton & Co., ISBN 978-0-393-32484-6
- Tompson, William J. (1995), Khrushchev: A Political Life, St. Martin's Press, ISBN 978-0-312-12365-9
- Whitman, Alden (1971-09-12), "Khrushchev's human dimensions brought him to power and to his downfall", The New York Times, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30B1FF7355B137A93C0A81782D85F458785F9, retrieved 2009-09-25 (fee for article), free version
- Zubok, Vladislav (2007), A Failed Empire: The Soviet Union in the Cold War from Stalin to Gorbachev, University of North Carolina Press, ISBN 978-0-8078-5958-2
Media
- Kennedy, John F. (1963-06-10), President Kennedy Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Speech, American University 1963 Commencement, American University, http://www1.media.american.edu/speeches/Kennedy.htm, retrieved 2011-12-31
- Neizvestny, Ernst (1979), "My dialogue with Khrushchev" (in Russian), Vremya i my (Times and us) (41): 170–200, http://www.vtoraya-literatura.com/publ_163.html, retrieved 2011-01-01
- "Text of Speech on Stalin by Khrushchev as released by the State Department", The New York Times, 1956-05-06, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30D1FFB3D5B157B93C7A9178DD85F428585F9, retrieved 2009-08-23 (fee for article)
- "The historic letter that showed Mr. K's hand", Life (Time Inc) 53 (19), 1962-11-09, ISSN 0024-3019, http://books.google.com/?id=qUoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA46&dq=khrushchev+cuban+crisis+singer#v=onepage&q=khrushchev%20cuban%20crisis%20singer, retrieved 2009-11-05
- "Vast Riddle; Demoted in the latest Soviet shack-up", The New York Times, 1953-03-10, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10D16FE345B117A93CAA91788D85F478585F9, retrieved 2009-08-23 (fee for article)
- 1959 Year in Review; Nixon visits Russia, United Press International, 1959, http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1959/Nixon-visits-Russia/12295509433704-7/, retrieved 2011-12-31
- 1960 Year in Review; The Paris Summit Falls Apart, United Press International, 1960, http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1960/The-Paris-Summit-Falls-Apart/12295509435928-2/, retrieved 2011-12-31
External links[link]
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Nikita Khrushchev |
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nikita Khrushchev |
- Nikita Khrushchev Archive at marxists.org
- The CWIHP at the Wilson Center for Scholars: The Nikita Khrushchev Papers
- Obituary, The New York Times, September 12, 1971, Khrushchev's Human Dimensions Brought Him to Power and to His Downfall
- The Case of Khrushchev's Shoe, by Nina Khrushcheva (Nikita's great-granddaughter), New Statesman, Oct. 2, 2000
- Modern History Sourcebook: Nikita S. Khrushchev: The Secret Speech—On the Cult of Personality, 1956
- "Tumultuous, prolonged applause ending in ovation. All rise." Khrushchev's "Secret Report" & Poland
- Thaw in the Cold War: Eisenhower and Khrushchev at Gettysburg, a National Park Service Teaching with Historic Places (TwHP) lesson plan
- Khrushchev photo collection
- Part One of Booknotes interview with William Taubman on Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, April 20, 2003.
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeyevich |
| Alternative names | Хрущёв, Никита Сергеевич |
| Short description | Soviet Union politician and premier |
| Date of birth | April 15, 1894 |
| Place of birth | Kalinovka, Russian Empire |
| Date of death | September 11, 1971 |
| Place of death | Moscow |
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Related pages:
http://it.wn.com/Nikita Sergeevič Chruščёv
http://cs.wn.com/Nikita Sergejevič Chruščov
http://es.wn.com/Nikita Jrushchov
http://ru.wn.com/Хрущёв, Никита Сергеевич
http://id.wn.com/Nikita Khrushchev
http://pl.wn.com/Nikita Chruszczow
http://fr.wn.com/Nikita Khrouchtchev
http://de.wn.com/Nikita Sergejewitsch Chruschtschow
http://hi.wn.com/निकिता ख़्रुश्चेव
http://pt.wn.com/Nikita Khrushchov
http://nl.wn.com/Nikita Chroesjtsjov
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikita_Khrushchev
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
For the Mormon religious leader (1811–1869) and great-grandfather of Ezra Taft Benson, see Ezra T. Benson.
| Ezra Taft Benson | |
|---|---|
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|
| 13th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints | |
| November 10, 1985 (1985-11-10) – May 30, 1994 (1994-05-30) | |
| Predecessor | Spencer W. Kimball |
| Successor | Howard W. Hunter |
| President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | |
| December 30, 1973 (1973-12-30) – November 10, 1985 (1985-11-10) | |
| End reason | Became President of the Church |
| Quorum of the Twelve Apostles | |
| October 7, 1943 (1943-10-07) – November 10, 1985 (1985-11-10) | |
| Called by | Heber J. Grant |
| End reason | Became President of the Church |
| LDS Church Apostle | |
| October 7, 1943 (1943-10-07) – May 30, 1994 (1994-05-30) | |
| Called by | Heber J. Grant |
| Reason | Deaths of Sylvester Q. Cannon and Rudger Clawson[1] |
| Reorganization at end of term | Jeffrey R. Holland ordained |
| 15th United States Secretary of Agriculture | |
| In office | |
| January 21, 1953 – January 20, 1961 | |
| Preceded by | Charles F. Brannan |
| Succeeded by | Orville Freeman |
| Political party | Republican Party |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1899-08-04)August 4, 1899 Whitney, Idaho, United States |
| Died | May 30, 1994(1994-05-30) (aged 94) Salt Lake City, Utah, United States |
| Resting place | Whitney Cemetery 42°04′40″N 111°50′28″W / 42.0778°N 111.84110°W / 42.0778; -111.84110 (Whitney Cemetery) |
| Spouse | Flora Smith |
| Children | 6 |
| Signature | |
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Ezra Taft Benson (August 4, 1899 – May 30, 1994) was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.
Contents |
Biography[link]
Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of eleven children. He was the great-grandson of Ezra T. Benson, who was appointed by Brigham Young as a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in 1846. Benson began his academic career at Utah State Agricultural College (now Utah State University), where he first met Flora Smith Amussen. Benson's alternated quarters at USAC with work on the family farm.[2]
Benson served a church mission in Britain from 1921 to 1923. It was while serving as a missionary, especially an experience in Sheffield that caused Benson to realize how central the Book of Mormon was to the Restored Gospel message and converting people to the LDS Church.[2] He later served as president of the Newcastle Conference.
After his mission Benson studied at Brigham Young University and finished his bachelors degree there in 1926. That same year he married Flora Smith Amussen, shortly after her return from her mission in Hawaii. He received his masters degree from Iowa State University. Several years later did preliminary work on a doctorate at the University of California at Berkeley, but never completed this degree.
Just after receiving his masters he returned to Whitney to run the family farm. He later became the county agriculture extension agent for Oneida County, Idaho. He later was promoted to the supervisor of all county agents and moved to Boise.
Ezra Taft and Flora Benson were the parents of six children.
In 1930, Benson moved to Boise, Idaho where he worked in the central stake extension office connected with the University of Idaho Extension Service. He also founded a farmers cooperative. He was superintendent of the Boise Stake (Latter Day Saints)Stake Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and later a counselor in the stake presidency. By 1939 he had been made president of the Boise Stake.
In 1939 he moved to Washington, D.C. to become Executive Secretary of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives, and became the first president of a new LDS Church stake there.
In August 1989, he received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President George H. W. Bush.
Apostle[link]
On October 7, 1943, both Benson and Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) became members of the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, filling two vacancies created by the deaths of apostles that summer. Because Kimball, being older, was ordained first, he was given seniority over Benson in the Quorum. Succession to the presidency of the church is by chronological order of ordination to apostleship, allowing Spencer W. Kimball to become president of the church years earlier than Benson. Upon Spencer W. Kimball's death in 1985, Benson became the president of the church.
Political career[link]
In 1953, Benson was appointed U.S. Secretary of Agriculture by President Eisenhower. Benson accepted this position with the permission of Church President David O. McKay and therefore served simultaneously in the United States Cabinet and in the LDS Church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Benson opposed the system of government price supports and aid to farmers which he was entrusted by Eisenhower to administer, arguing that it amounted to unacceptable socialism. Nonetheless, he survived in his cabinet position for all eight years of Eisenhower's presidency. He was selected as the administrator-designate of the Emergency Food Agency, part of a secret group that became known as the Eisenhower Ten. The group was created by Eisenhower in 1958 to serve in the event of a national emergency.
Benson was an outspoken opponent of communism and socialism, and supporter, but not a member, of the John Birch Society, which he praised as "the most effective non-church organization in our fight against creeping socialism and Godless Communism."[3] He published a 1966 pamphlet entitled Civil Rights, Tool of Communist Deception.[4][5] In a similar vein, during a 1972 general conference of the LDS Church, Benson recommended that all Mormons read Gary Allen's New World Order tract "None Dare Call it A Conspiracy".[6]
Church presidency[link]
Benson succeeded Kimball as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1973, and as President of the Church in 1985. During his early years as Church President, Benson brought a renewed emphasis to the distribution and reading of the Book of Mormon, reaffirming this LDS scripture's importance as "the keystone of [the LDS] religion." He is also remembered for his general conference sermon condemning pride.[7]
Scouting[link]
Benson was a lifelong supporter of Scouting. He started in 1918 as assistant Scoutmaster. On May 23, 1949 he was elected a member of the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. He received the three highest national awards in the Boy Scouts of America—the Silver Beaver, the Silver Antelope, and the Silver Buffalo—as well as world Scouting’s international award, the Bronze Wolf.[8]
Health problems and death[link]
Benson suffered poor health in the last years of his life from the effects of blood clots in the brain, dementia, strokes, and heart attacks, and was rarely seen publicly in his final years. He was hospitalized in 1992 and 1993 with pneumonia.
Benson died May 30, 1994 of congestive heart failure in his Salt Lake City apartment at the age of 94. Funeral services were held June 4, 1994 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle and conducted by Gordon B. Hinckley. He was buried near his birthplace in Whitney, Idaho, at the Whitney City Cemetery.
Published works[link]
- Reed A. Benson., ed. (1960). So Shall Ye Reap: Selected Addresses of Ezra Taft Benson. Deseret Book Company. ISBN B0007E7BME.
- The Red Carpet. Bookcraft. 1962. ISBN B0007F4WJI.
- Title of Liberty. compiled by Mark A. Benson. Deseret Book Company. 1964.
- An Enemy Hath Done This. Bookcraft. 1969. ISBN 0-88494-184-1.
- Civil Rights, Tool of Communist Deception. Deseret Book Co. 1969. ISBN (ASIN) B0007FRU42.
- God, Family, Country: Our Three Great Loyalties. Deseret Book Company. 1974. ISBN B0006CF3MC.
- Cross Fire: The Eight Years With Eisenhower. Doubleday. 1976. ISBN 0-8371-8422-3.
- This Nation Shall Endure. Deseret Book Company. 1977. ISBN 0-87747-658-6.
- Come Unto Christ. Deseret Book Company. 1983. ISBN 0-87747-997-6.
- The Constitution: A Heavenly Banner. Deseret Book Company. 1986. ISBN 0-87579-216-2.
- The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson. Bookcraft. 1988. ISBN 0-88494-639-8.
- A Witness and a Warning: A Modern-Day Prophet Testifies of the Book of Mormon. Deseret Book Company. 1988. ISBN 0-87579-153-0.
- A Labor of Love: The 1946 European Mission of Ezra Taft Benson. Deseret Book Company. 1989. ISBN 0-87579-275-8.
- Come, Listen to a Prophet's Voice. Deseret Book Company. 1990. ISBN 0-87579-351-7.
- Missionaries to Match Our Message. Bookcraft. 1990. ISBN 0-88494-779-3.
- Elect Women of God. Bookcraft. 1992. ISBN 0-88494-838-2.
- Sermons and Writings of President Ezra Taft Benson. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2003.
Benson also wrote the foreword to The Black Hammer, a book by Wes Andrews and Clyde Dalton. In the foreword, Benson alleges that the civil-rights movement is a communist plot for revolution in America.
See also[link]
- Steve Benson (Grandson and Pulitzer Prize Winning Cartoonist)
Notes[link]
- ^ Benson and Spencer W. Kimball were ordained on the same date to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve resulting from the deaths of Sylvester Q. Cannon and Rudger Clawson.
- ^ a b biographical article on Benson Ensign, July 1994
- ^ Confounding Fathers: The Tea Party’s Cold War Roots by historian Sean Wilentz, The New Yorker, October 18, 2010
- ^ Civil Rights, Tool of Communist Deception by Ezra Taft Benson
- ^ David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism, by Gregory A. Prince & William Robert Wright, University of Utah Press, 2005, ISBN 0-87480-822-7, pgs 72-73, 92-93, 473
- ^ Fringe Mormon Group Makes Myths with Glenn Beck’s Help by Alexander Zaitchik, Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report, Spring 2011, Issue Number: 141
- ^ "Beware of Pride". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=d8ff27cd3f37b010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ^ Church Educational System (2005). "Chapter 13: Ezra Taft Benson, Thirteenth President of the Church". Presidents of the Church: Student Manual. LDS Church. http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/pres-sm/pres-ch-13-15.htm#13. Retrieved 2011-01-28.
References[link]
- Ensign Editor (July 1994). President Ezra Taft Benson: A Sure Voice of Faith. Ensign. p. 8. http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1994.htm/ensign%20july%201994.htm/president%20ezra%20taft%20benson%20a%20sure%20voice%20of%20faith.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$q=$x=.
- Monson, Thomas S. (July 1994). President Ezra Taft Benson—A Giant among Men. Ensign. p. 35. http://library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Magazines/Ensign/1994.htm/ensign%20july%201994.htm/president%20ezra%20taft%20benson%20a%20giant%20among%20men.htm?f=templates$fn=document-frame.htm$q=$x=.
External links[link]
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ezra Taft Benson |
This audio file was created from a revision of the "Ezra Taft Benson" article dated 2007-01-17, and does not reflect subsequent edits to the article. (Audio help)
- Papers of Ezra Taft Benson, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
- Ezra Taft Benson Oral History finding aid, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
- Ezra Taft Benson at Find a Grave
- A biography of Ezra Taft Benson
- Ezra Taft Benson's comments on freedom and the U.S. Constitution
- Ezra Taft Benson's comments on freedom, the U.S. Constitution and the Founding Fathers
- Some Speeches (audio) of Ezra Taft Benson
- audio excerpt from “Our Immediate Responsibility.” Devotional Address at Brigham Young University. c. 1968
- Papers of Miller F. Shurtleff, assistant to Ezra Taft Benson, Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library
- A film clip "Longines Chronoscope with Ezra Taft Benson" is available for free download at the Internet Archive [more]
| The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Spencer W. Kimball |
President of the Church November 10, 1985 — May 30, 1994 |
Succeeded by Howard W. Hunter |
| President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles December 30, 1973–November 10, 1985 |
Succeeded by Marion G. Romney |
|
| Quorum of the Twelve Apostles October 7, 1943–November 10, 1985 |
Succeeded by Mark E. Petersen |
|
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Charles F. Brannan |
United States Secretary of Agriculture Served under: Dwight D. Eisenhower 1953–1961 |
Succeeded by Orville Freeman |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Benson, Ezra Taft |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints |
| Date of birth | August 4, 1899 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | May 30, 1994 |
| Place of death | |
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Related pages:
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http://pt.wn.com/Ezra Taft Benson
http://de.wn.com/Ezra Taft Benson
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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ezra_Taft_Benson
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Castro and the second or maternal family name is Ruz.
| Fidel Castro | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Castro in 2003 | |
| First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba |
|
| In office October 3, 1965 – April 19, 2011 |
|
| Deputy | Raúl Castro |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Raúl Castro |
| 15th President of Cuba | |
| In office December 2, 1976 – February 24, 2008* |
|
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Vice President | Raúl Castro |
| Preceded by | Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado |
| Succeeded by | Raúl Castro |
| 16th Prime Minister of Cuba | |
| In office February 16, 1959 – February 24, 2008 |
|
| President | Manuel Urrutia Lleó Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado Himself |
| Preceded by | José Miró Cardona |
| Succeeded by | Raúl Castro |
| 7th and 23rd Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement | |
| In office September 16, 2006 – February 24, 2008 |
|
| Preceded by | Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
| Succeeded by | Raúl Castro |
| In office September 10, 1979 – March 6, 1983 |
|
| Preceded by | Junius Richard Jayawardene |
| Succeeded by | Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (1926-08-13) August 13, 1926 (age 85) Birán, Cuba |
| Political party | Communist Party of Cuba |
| Spouse(s) | Mirta Diaz-Balart (1948–1955) Dalia Soto del Valle (1980–present) |
| Relations | (siblings) Raúl Castro Enma Castro Agustina Castro Ramon Castro Ruz Angelita Castro |
| Children | Fidel Ángel Castro Diaz-Balart Alina Fernández-Revuelta Alexis Castro-Soto Alejandro Castro-Soto Antonio Castro-Soto Angel Castro-Soto Alex Castro-Soto Jorge Angel Castro Francisca Pupo |
| Alma mater | University of Havana |
| Profession | Lawyer |
| Religion | Deist[1] |
| Signature |  |
| *Acting presidential powers were transferred to Raúl Castro from July 31, 2006. | |
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (Spanish: [fiˈðel ˈkastro]; born August 13, 1926) is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011. Politically a Marxist-Leninist, under his administration the Republic of Cuba was converted into a one-party socialist state, with industry and business being nationalized under state ownership and socialist reforms implemented in all areas of society. On the international stage, he also served as the Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1979 to 1983 and 2006 to 2008.
Born the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, Castro became involved in leftist anti-imperialist politics while studying law at the University of Havana. Involving himself in armed rebellions against right-wing governments in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, he concluded that the U.S.-backed Cuban President Fulgencio Batista, who was widely seen as a dictator, had to be overthrown; to this end he led a failed armed attack on the Moncada Barracks in 1953. Imprisoned for a year, he traveled to Mexico, and with the aid of his brother Raúl Castro and friend Che Guevara, assembled a group of revolutionaries, the July 26 Movement. Returning with them to Cuba, he took a key role in the Cuban Revolution, leading a successful guerrilla war against Batista's forces, overthrowing him in 1959. Castro subsequently became Commander in Chief of the armed forces and shortly thereafter became Prime Minister. The United States was alarmed by his involvement in the overthrow of Batista and relationship with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev, implementing an economic blockade of the island. U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower also ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to overthrow him, which they unsuccessfully tried through multiple assassination attempts and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of 1961. To counter this threat, Castro forged an economic and military alliance with the Soviet Union and allowed them to place nuclear weapons on the island, leading to the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.
Adopting Marxism-Leninism as his guiding ideology, in 1961 Castro proclaimed the socialist nature of the Cuban revolution, and in 1965 became First Secretary of the newly founded Communist Party, with all other parties being abolished. He then led the transformation of Cuba into a socialist republic, nationalizing industry, introducing free healthcare and education, and suppressing internal opposition. A keen internationalist, Castro introduced Cuban medical brigades who worked throughout the developing world, and aided foreign revolutionary socialist groups in the hope of toppling world capitalism, thereby involving Cuba in the Angolan Civil War and the Ogaden War between Ethiopia and Somalia. In 1976 he stepped down as Prime Minister to become President of both the Council of State and Council of Ministers. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Castro led Cuba into its economic "Special Period", before taking the country into the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas in 2006 and forging alliances with other nations in the Latin American "Pink Tide". Amidst failing health, in 2006 Castro transferred his responsibilities to Vice-President Raúl Castro, who was then elected President when Fidel stepped down in 2008.
Castro is a controversial and highly divisive world figure, being lauded as a champion of anti-imperialism, humanitarianism, socialism and environmentalism by his supporters, but his critics have accused him of being a dictator whose authoritarian administration has overseen multiple human rights abuses both at home and abroad. A prolific author on various topics, he has had a significant influence on the politics of various individuals and groups across the world, including senior leaders like Nelson Mandela, Hugo Chávez and Evo Morales.
Contents
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Early life[link]
Childhood and education: 1926–1945[link]
Fidel's father, Ángel Castro y Argiz (1875–1956) was a Spaniard born to a poor peasant family in rural Galicia, Northwest Spain. Working as a manual laborer on local farms, in 1895 he was conscripted into the Spanish Army to fight in the Cuban War of Independence against the Cuban revolutionaries who wished to secede from the Spanish Empire. Wishing to gain greater influence in the Caribbean, the United States subsequently declared war on Spain, leading to the Spanish-American War of 1898, in which the U.S. seized control of Cuba, setting up their own government on the island. In 1902, the Republic of Cuba was proclaimed, however it remained only partially independent of the U.S., which retained economic and political dominance over it. For a time, Cuba enjoyed economic growth, and Ángel Castro decided to migrate there permanently in search of employment.[3][4][5] Doing so, he undertook various jobs, eventually earning enough money to set up his own business growing sugar cane on a farm in Birán, near Mayarí in Oriente Province.[4][5][6]
Ángel took a wife, María Luisa Argota, with whom he had two daughters, but they separated after several years and he began a relationship with a household servant who was thirty years his junior.[7][8] This woman, Lina Ruz González (September 23, 1903 – August 6, 1963),[9] came from an impoverished Cuban family of Canarian descent, but became Ángel's domestic partner, bearing him three sons and four daughters.[7][10][11]
Fidel was Lina's third child, being born at his father's farm on August 13, 1926,[7][12][13] and was given his mother's surname of Ruz rather than his father's because he had been born out of wedlock, something that carried a particular social stigma at the time.[14][15] Although he was from a prosperous background, with his father's business proving ever more profitable, his father ensured that he grew up alongside the children of the farm's workforce, many of whom were Haitian economic migrants of African descent,[8][16] something that Fidel would later relate prevented him from absorbing "bourgeois culture" at an early age.[17] Aged six, Fidel, along with his elder siblings Ramón and Angela, was sent to live with their teacher in Santiago de Cuba, and it was here that the children dwelt in cramped conditions and in relative poverty, often failing to have enough to eat because of their tutor's poor economic situation.[18][19] Aged eight, Fidel was then baptized into the Roman Catholic Church, although later gave up his faith in Christianity, becoming an atheist.[18][20][21] Being baptized enabled Fidel to begin attending the La Salle boarding school in Santiago, but here he often got into trouble with the school authorities for misbehavior, and so he was instead sent to the privately-funded, Jesuit-run Dolores School in Santiago.[22][23]
In 1945 he transferred to the more prestigious Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belén in Havana.[24] Although Fidel took an interest in history and debating at Belén, he did not excel academically, instead devoting much of his time to playing sport, including swimming, mountain climbing, table tennis, athletics, basketball and baseball.[25][26] Meanwhile, Ángel Castro finally dissolved his first marriage when Fidel was fifteen, allowing him to marry Fidel's mother; Fidel was formally recognized by his father when he was seventeen, when his surname was legally changed from Ruz to Castro.[14][15]
University and early political activism: 1945–1947[link]
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Grau and Prío, two Cuban presidents whose administrations were marked by corruption, political repression and obedience to U.S. interests. Castro protested against both of them whilst a student.
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In late 1945, Castro began studying law at the University of Havana.[27][28][29] Here he became immediately embroiled in the student protest movement, which in Cuba at that time was particularly volatile: under the regimes of center-left Cuban Presidents Gerardo Machado (1925–1933), Fulgencio Batista (1933–1944) and Ramón Grau (1944–1948) there had been a government crackdown on student protesters, with student leaders being killed or terrorized by violent gangs.[30][31][32] This led to a form of gangsterismo culture within the university that was dominated by a variety of violent and often armed student groups who spent much of their time fighting one another and running criminal enterprises rather than opposing the government.[33][34] Becoming surrounded by this gang culture, Castro focused on political objectives, unsuccessfully campaigning for the position of President of the Federation of University Students (FEU). To do so he put forward a platform of "honesty, decency and justice" and emphasized his opposition to political corruption, something that he increasingly associated with the involvement of the U.S. government in Cuban politics.[35][36] He became passionate about anti-imperialism and opposing U.S. intervention in the Caribbean, joining the University Committee for the Independence of Puerto Rico and the Committee for Democracy in the Dominican Republic.[37]
He was in contact with members of several student leftist groups at the time, including the Popular Socialist Party (Partido Socialista Popular – PSP), the Socialist Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Socialista Revolucionaria – MSR) and the Insurrectional Revolutionary Union (Unión Insurrecional Revolucionaria – UIR), although did not adopt the Marxist ideas of the former and mistrusted some of MSR's connections to the Grau government. Castro had become critical of the corruption and violence of Grau's regime, delivering a public speech on the subject in November 1946 that earned him a place on the front page of several newspapers. Instead, it was to the UIR that he grew closest to, although whether he ever became a member or not has remained unknown.[38][39] In 1947, Castro joined a newly founded socialist group, the Party of the Cuban People (Partido Ortodoxo), which had been formed by veteran politician Eduardo Chibás (1907–1951). A charismatic figure, Chibás attracted many Cubans with his message of social justice, honest government, and political freedom. The Partido Ortodoxo publicly exposed corruption and demanded governmental and social reform. Though Chibás lost the election, Castro, considering Chibás his mentor, remained committed to his cause, working fervently on his behalf.[40][41][42][43]
Meanwhile, the student gang violence had escalated after Grau employed several prominent gang leaders, including members of the MSR, as officers in the police force, and Castro soon received a threat urging him to either leave the university and its political arena or be killed. He did not give in to the threat, instead carrying a gun and surrounding himself with friends who were similarly armed.[44][45] Various accusations would arise in later years alleging that Castro carried out gang-related assassination attempts at this time, including of prominent UIR member Lionel Gómez, MSR leader Manolo Castro and university policeman Oscar Fernandez, but these are supported by "scant evidence" and remain unproven.[46][47][48]
Latin American rebellions: 1947–1948[link]
In June 1947, Castro learned of a planned international expedition to invade the Dominican Republic and overthrow its right-wing president, Rafael Trujillo, a military general widely seen as a dictator who had overseen a system of "repressive brutality" through the use of a violent secret police which routinely murdered and tortured opponents.[49] An ally of the United States, Trujillo angered many across the world when he ordered the Parsley Massacre that killed 20,000–30,000 impoverished Haitian migrants.[50] Castro had become a heavy critic of Trujillo's regime, rising to the presidency of the University Committee for Democracy in the Dominican Republic, and decided to join the military expedition, which was led by General Juan Rodríguez, a Dominican exile, and supported by Grau's Cuban government which feared Trujillo's militaristic behavior.[46][51][52] The invasion was carried out on July 29, 1947, by around 1,200 men, most of whom were exiled Dominicans or Cubans, although other volunteers came from across Latin America. However, both Dominican and U.S. intelligence had gained foreknowledge of the event, and it was soon quashed by the Dominican army and the Cuban government, who had been pressured by the U.S. to cease their support for it. Whilst Grau's government immediately arrested many of those involved, Castro managed to escape the police by jumping off of the naval frigate he was aboard and swimming to shore in the dark of night.[53][54]
"I joined the people; I grabbed a rifle in a police station that collapsed when it was rushed by a crowd. I witnessed the spectacle of a totally spontaneous revolution... [T]hat experience led me to identify myself even more with the cause of the people. My still incipient Marxist ideas had nothing to do with our conduct – it was a spontaneous reaction on our part, as young people with Martí-an, anti-imperialist, anti-colonialist and pro-democratic ideas."
—Fidel Castro on the Bogotazo, 2009.[55]
The botched mission only served to further Castro's opposition to the Grau administration, and returning to Havana, he took a leading role in the student protests that were centered against the killing of a high school pupil by government bodyguards.[56][57] The protests, accompanied by a U.S.-imposed crackdown on those considered to be communists, led to violent clashes between protesters and police in February 1948, in which Castro was badly beaten.[58] It was at this point that his public speeches took on a distinctively leftist slant, condemning the social and economic inequalities of Cuba under the Grau government, something that was in contrast to his former public criticisms, which had centered around condemning corruption and U.S. imperialism. Castro's biographer Leycester Coltman would later remark that "Castro was not yet expressing a Marxist viewpoint, but he was moving in that direction."[59]
After a quick visit to Venezuela and Panama, in April 1948 Castro traveled to the city of Bogotá in Colombia with a number of other Cuban students on a trip sponsored by the government of Argentine President Juan Perón, whose anti-imperialist politics impressed Castro. Once there, the assassination of popular leftist leader Jorge Eliécer Gaitán Ayala led to widespread rioting that came to be known as the Bogotazo. Leaving three thousand dead, the riots revolved around clashes between rightist Conservatives, who then controlled the country's government and who were backed by the army, and leftist Liberals who were supported by a number of Colombian socialist groups. Castro, along with his fellow Cuban visitors, joined in in support of the Liberal cause by stealing guns from a police station, but subsequent police investigations came to the conclusion that neither Castro nor any of the other Cubans had been involved in the killings.[60][61][62][63]
Marriage and Marxism: 1948–1950[link]
Returning to Cuba, Castro became a prominent figure in the widespread protests against the government's attempts to raise bus fares, with buses being the only form of transport available to most students and workers.[64][65] It was also in 1948 that Castro married Mirta Díaz Balart, a student from a wealthy Cuban family through whom he was exposed to the lifestyle of the Cuban elite. The relationship was a love match and was disapproved of by both of their families. Mirta's father gave them tens of thousands of dollars to spend in a three-month honeymoon in New York City, and the couple also received a U.S. $1,000 wedding gift from the military general and former president Fulgencio Batista, a friend of Mirta's family.[66][67][68] That same year, Grau decided not to stand for re-election, and his party instead nominated Carlos Prío Socarrás as their presidential candidate. Prío would go on to win the election, becoming President of Cuba.[69][70] However, he faced widespread protests when members of the MSR, which by this time was allied to the police force, assassinated Justo Fuentes, a "self-taught black man" and prominent member of the UIR who was a friend and ally of Castro's. In response, Prío agreed to try to quell the gangs, but found them to be too powerful to control.[71]
"Marxism taught me what society was. I was like a blindfolded man in a forest, who doesn't even know where north or south is. If you don't eventually come to truly understand the history of the class struggle, or at least have a clear idea that society is divided between the rich and the poor, and that some people subjugate and exploit other people, you're lost in a forest, not knowing anything."
—Fidel Castro on discovering Marxism, 2009.[72]
Castro had begun to move further to the left in his political views, being influenced by the writings of prominent Marxists like Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Vladimir Lenin. He came to interpret the problems facing Cuba as being an integral part of capitalist society, or the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie", rather than the failings of corrupt politicians. Coming to believe the Marxist idea that meaningful political change could only be brought about by a revolution led by the working class, Castro set about visiting Havana's poorest neighborhoods, witnessing the nation's huge social and racial inequalities, and became active in the University Committee for the Struggle against Racial Discrimination.[73][74]
In September 1949, Mirta gave birth to a son, Fidelito, and so the couple moved to a larger flat in Havana.[73] Despite the need to care for his family, Castro continued to put himself at risk, staying active in the city's political arena and joining a new organization, the September 30 Movement, which contained within it both communists and members of the Partido Ortodoxo. The group's purpose was to oppose the influence of the violent gangs within the university; despite his promises, President Prío had failed to control the situation, instead offering many of their senior members jobs in government ministries.[75][76] Castro volunteered to deliver a speech for the Movement on November 13, in which he exposed the government's secret deals with the gangs and identified many of their key members. Attracting the attention of the national press, the speech angered the gangs, and Castro was forced to go into hiding, first in various rural areas and then in the U.S.[75] Returning to Havana several weeks later, Castro lay low and focused on his university studies, graduating from university as a Doctor of Law in September 1950.[74][75][77]
Career in law and politics: 1950–1952[link]
Now a Doctor of Law, Castro became a professional lawyer, founding his own legal partnership with two fellow leftist students, Jorge Azpiazu and Rafael Resende, whose intention was to focus on helping poor Cubans in asserting their rights. It was a financial failure, with its main client being a timber merchant who paid them in timber to furnish their office.[78][79] Castro cared little for money or material goods, something his wife found difficult, particularly when their furniture was reposessed and their electricity cut off, in both instances because Castro had failed to pay his bills.[80]
Castro remained active in politics, taking part in a high-school protest in Cienfuegos in November 1950 that involved students fighting a four-hour battle with police in protest at the Education Ministry's ban on the founding of student associations in schools. He was arrested and charged with using violence against police officers, but the magistrate later dismissed the charges.[81] He also became an active member of the Cuban Peace Committee, a part of the international campaign led by British intellectual Betrand Russell to oppose western involvement in the Korean War.[81] His hopes for Cuba still largely centered around Eduardo Chibás and his left wing Partido Ortodoxo; however Chibás had made a mistake when he accused Education Minister Aureliano Sánchez of purchasing a Guatemalan ranch with misappropriated funds, but was unable to substantiate his allegations. The government used this as an opportunity to go on the offensive against Chibás, accusing him of being a liar and a troublemaker. In 1951, while running for president again, Chibás shot himself in the stomach during a radio broadcast in an attempt to issue a "last wake-up call" to the Cuban people. Castro was present and accompanied him to the hospital where he died of his injuries.[82][83][84][85]
Although his political views were further left than the Partido Ortodoxo, Castro believed that those parties on the far left, namely the PSP, were too unpopular to achieve a revolutionary leftist movement in Cuba, and for this reason remained in the Ortodoxo. Seeing himself as the heir to Chibás, Castro wanted to run for Congress in the June 1952 elections, but senior party members feared his radical reputation and refused to nominate him. Instead he gained the support of enough Ortodoxo members in Havana's poorest districts to be nominated as a candidate for the House of Representatives, and put all his energies into campaigning.[86][87] It was at the time that Castro held a meeting with General Fulgencio Batista, the former president who had recently returned to politics by winning a seat in the Senate and founding the Unitary Action Party; although they both opposed the Prío administration, their meeting never got beyond "polite generalities" with no indication that they would later become bitter enemies.[86]
The Ortodoxo had gained a considerable level of support, and there was a "fair chance that the Ortodoxos and Castro would both have succeeded in the election."[88] However, this was quashed in March 1952 when General Batista seized power in a military coup, removing the widely discredited President Prío from office, who then fled to Mexico. Subsequently declaring himself president, Batista cancelled the planned presidential elections, describing his new system as "disciplined democracy": Castro, like many others, instead saw it as the establishment of a one-man dictatorship with no benefit to the Cuban populace.[82][89][90] Although in his earlier democratic terms as president Batista had taken a center-left stance, he now moved to the right and went on to solidify his ties with the United States, severing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, suppressing trade unions and persecuting socialist groups in Cuba.[82][91] Intent on opposing the Batista administration, Castro brought several legal cases against them, arguing that Batista had committed sufficient criminal acts to warrant at least 100 years imprisonment and accusing various ministers of breaching labor laws. These came to nothing, leading Castro to begin thinking of alternative ways to oust the new government.[92]
Cuban Revolution[link]
Main article: Cuban Revolution
The Movement and the Moncada Barracks attack: 1952–1953[link]
"In a few hours you will be victorious or defeated, but regardless of the outcome – listen well, friends – this Movement will triumph. If you win tomorrow, the aspirations of Martí will be fulfilled sooner. If we fail, our action will nevertheless set an example for the Cuban people, and from the people will arise fresh new men willing to die for Cuba. They will pick up our banner and move forward... The people will back us in Oriente and in the whole island. As in '68 and '92, here in Oriente we will give the first cry of Liberty or Death!"
—Fidel Castro's speech to the Movement just before the Moncada Attack, 1953.[93]
Dissatisfied with the Ortodoxo's policy of non-violent opposition to Batista's regime, Castro formed a group known simply as "The Movement". Consisting of both a civil and a military committee, the former conducted political agitation through an underground newspaper, El Acusador (The Accuser), while the latter armed and trained recruits to take violent action against Batista. With Castro as the Movement's head, the organization was based upon a clandestine cell system, with each cell containing ten members, none of whom knew the whereabouts or activities of the other cells.[94][95] A dozen individuals formed the nucleus of the movement, many of whom were also dissatisfied Ortodoxo members, although from July 1952 the Movement went on a recruitment drive, and within a year it had around 1,200 members, organized into over a hundred cells, with the majority of members coming from the poorer districts of Havana.[96][97][98] Although Castro's political ideology was that of revolutionary socialism, he avoided an alliance with the communist PSP, fearing that this would frighten away the political moderates who were members of the Movement,[99] but did keep in contact with some of the PSP's members, who included his brother and fellow conspirator Raúl.[100] He would later relate that the members of the Movement were on the whole simply anti-Batista, and few had strong socialist or anti-imperialist views, something which Castro attributed to "the overwhelming weight of the Yankees' ideological and advertising machinery" which he felt had suppressed class consciousness amongst Cuba's working class.[98]
Castro's Movement was not the only militant group that wanted to oust Batista. One of the Orthodoxo's founding members, the Professor of Philosophy Rafael García Bárcena, had founded the National Revolutionary Movement (Movimiento Nacional Revolucionaria – MNR). Consisting largely of middle-class members, it contrasted with Castro's predominantly working class support base. In March 1953, the MNR had planned to attack and seize control of the barracks at Camp Colombia, but police had been alerted to the plot, with the conspirators being rounded up and tortured. In all, fourteen people were sentenced to imprisonment for the attack.[101][102][103] Meanwhile, Castro had been having similar ideas, stockpiling weapons in order to lead the armed wing of the Movement in an attack on the Moncada Barracks, a military garrison just outside Santiago de Cuba in Oriente. The plan was for Castro's members to dress in army uniforms and arrive at the base in cars on July 25, the festival of St James, when many of the officers would be on leave or celebrating in the nearby town. The rebels would then seize control of the barracks before the alarm could be raised, raid the armory and then escape before the army could bring in reinforcements.[104] Supplied with a wealth of new weaponry, Castro believed that the Movement could arm local supporters and spark a revolution in Oriente, which was dominated by a population of impoverished cane-cutters. The plan was to then seize control of a radio station in Santiago, from which the Movement could broadcast their manifesto and promote widespread uprisings against Batista.[105] In doing so, Castro's plan was directly emulating those of the 19th century Cuban independence fighters who had raided Spanish barracks, and in keeping with this Castro saw himself as the heir to independence leader and national hero José Martí, both leading national liberation struggles against foreign dominance.[106][107]
Castro had gathered together 165 members of the Movement to take part in the mission, 138 of which were stationed in Santiago, with the other 27 instead positioned in Bayamo. The majority of them were young men from Havana and Pinar del Río, and Castro ensured that, with the exception of himself, none of the volunteers had children.[108] The plan had been carefully orchestrated, and Castro ordered his troops not to cause bloodshed unless they met armed resistance.[109] The attack took place on July 26, 1953, but before it had even begun it ran into trouble; of the sixteen cars that had set out from Santiago, one broke down on the way and two others got separated from the main convoy. When they eventually reached the barracks, further problems arose and soon the alarm was raised by the guards, with most of the rebels being pinned down outside of the base by machine gun fire. Those that managed to get inside faced heavy resistance, and four of them were killed by gunfire before Castro, realizing that he was heavily outnumbered, ordered his men to retreat.[110][111] In the attack, the rebels had suffered 6 fatalities and 15 other casualties, whilst the government forces had faced a heavier toll, with 19 dead and 27 wounded.[112] Meanwhile, some of the other rebels had taken over a civilian hospital, but as the main attack on the barracks failed, government soldiers stormed the hospital, rounding up the rebels, before torturing them for information and finally summarily executing 22 of them without trial.[112] Those rebels that had been able to escape, and who included both Fidel and his brother Raúl, had assembled at their base, the Siboney Farm, where some debated surrender, while others wished to flee to Havana. Accompanied by 19 comrades, Castro however decided to set out for the rugged Gran Piedra mountains several miles to the north, where they could establish a guerrilla base and continue their revolutionary activities.[113][114][115]
In response to the Moncada attack, Batista's government ordered a violent crackdown on all dissent (orchestrated by both the army and the SIM police), declaring martial law and imposing strict censorship on the media. Government propaganda began broadcasting misinformation about the event, claiming that the rebels had murdered patients in the civilian hospital and asserting that the Movement was a communist group financed by the exiled President Prío (ignoring the fact that the latter was a fierce anti-communist). Despite this censorship, news and photographs soon spread of the army's use of torture and summary executions in Oriente, causing widespread public and even some governmental disapproval.[116][117]
Arrest and trial: 1953[link]
"I warn you, I am just beginning! If there is in your hearts a vestige of love for your country, love for humanity, love for justice, listen carefully... I know that the regime will try to suppress the truth by all possible means; I know that there will be a conspiracy to bury me in oblivion. But my voice will not be stifled – it will rise from my breast even when I feel most alone, and my heart will give it all the fire that callous cowards deny it... Condemn me. It does not matter. History will absolve me."
—Fidel Castro in "History Will Absolve Me", 1953.[118]
Over the next few days all of the rebels hiding in the mountains were rounded up by government forces and transported to a prison north of Santiago, although Castro was not executed on the spot as many of his comrades had been.[119][120] Believing that Castro had been incapable of planning the attack by himself, the government accused politicians from the Ortodoxo and communist PSP of being involved in masterminding the attack, and in all 122 defendants, amongst them Castro, were put on trial on September 21 at the Palace of Justice in Santiago.[121][122] Although censored from reporting on it, journalists were permitted to attend the proceedings, which proved an embarrassment for the Batista administration. Acting as his own defense council, Castro convinced the three presiding judges to overrule the army's decision to keep all defendants handcuffed in court, before proceeding to argue that the charge with which they were all accused – of 'organizing an uprising of armed persons against the Constitutional Powers of the State' – was incorrect, for they had risen up not against the Constitutional Powers of the State but against Batista, who had seized power in an unconstitutional manner. When asked who was the intellectual author of the attack, Castro claimed that it was the long deceased national icon José Martí, before quoting some of Martí's works that justified uprisings against tyrannical regimes.[123][124]
As the trial went on, knowledge of the torture that army officers inflicted on their captives emerged. These included castration using a razor and the gouging out of eyes with bayonets; the judges agreed that full investigations into these crimes would have to be undertaken. These revelations proved to be a great embarrassment to the army, who tried unsuccessfully to prevent Castro from testifying any further by claiming that he was too ill to leave his cell.[125] The trial came to an end on October 5, with all of the politicians and many of the rebels being acquitted, although 55 were sentenced to prison terms of between 7 months and 13 years. Castro was sentenced separately, on October 16, during which he proceeded to deliver a speech that would later be printed under the title of History Will Absolve Me.[126][127] Although the maximum penalty for leading an uprising was a 20 year prison sentence, Castro was sentenced to 15 years, being imprisoned in the hospital wing of the Model Prison (Presidio Modelo) on the Isla de Pinos, sixty miles off of Cuba's southwest coast.[127][128]
Imprisonment and the July 26 Movement: 1953–1955[link]
"I would honestly love to revolutionize this country from one end to the other! I am sure this would bring happiness to the Cuban people. I would not be stopped by the hatred and ill will of a few thousand people, including some of my relatives, half the people I know, two-thirds of my fellow professionals, and four-fifths of my ex-schoolmates."
Imprisoned in the Presidio Modelo with 25 of his fellow conspirators, Castro devoted himself to politics once more, changing the name of "The Movement" to the "July 26 Movement", in memory of the date of the failed Moncada attack. Forming a school for prisoners, the Abel Santamaría Ideological Academy, Castro organized five hours a day of teaching, with himself and other Movement members lecturing on such subjects as ancient and modern history, philosophy and the English language.[131][132] Making use of the prison library and gifts from friends outside of prison, he continued reading widely, enjoying the works of Marx, Lenin, and Martí but also reading books by Sigmund Freud, Immanuel Kant, William Shakespeare, Axel Munthe, Somerset Maugham and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, analyzing most of them within a Marxist framework.[133][134] He corresponded with those outside of prison, trying to maintain control over his Movement without giving too much away to the prison censors, who read all of his letters, and also organized the publication of his History Will Absolve Me speech.[135][136] Although at first having a fair amount of freedom within the prison, this came to an end after prison inmates embarrassed the guards by singing anti-Batista songs on a visit by the President in February 1954. In retaliation, the prison authorities removed most of the privileges that Castro and other prisoners were allowed, locking Castro up in solitary confinement indefinitely.[137][138]
Meanwhile, Castro's wife Mirta, who did not share his obsession with political activism, had gained employment in the Ministry of the Interior, thereby working for Batista's government. She had been encouraged to do by her brother, who had been a friend and ally of Batista for many years. This was kept a secret from Castro, who eventually found out through a radio announcement. Appalled, he raged that he would rather die "a thousand times" than "suffer impotently from such an insult". Both Fidel and Mirta initiated divorce proceedings, with Mirta taking custody of their son Fidelito; this angered Castro, who did not want his son growing up in a bourgeois environment.[139][140]
In 1954, Batista's government went ahead with their earlier promises and held presidential elections, but no politician had risked standing against Batista lest they face violent reprisals. Batista won comfortably, but the election was widely recognized as fraudulent. It had however allowed some political opposition to be openly voiced, and supporters of Castro and his Movement had begun agitating for an amnesty for all those imprisoned over the Moncada incident. Some government politicians suggested that such an amnesty would provide good publicity, and the Congress and Batista eventually agreed. Backed by the U.S. government and major corporations, Batista believed that Castro would be no political threat to his regime, and on May 15, 1955 the prisoners were released.[141][142]
Returning to Havana, Castro was met by his supporters, being carried along on the shoulders of students, and set about giving various radio interviews and press conferences.[143][144] Now divorced, Castro had sexual affairs with two of his female supporters, Naty Revuelta and Maria Laborde, who each conceived him a child.[143][145] He also set about to strengthen his anti-Batista revolutionary Movement, welcoming members of the now defunct MNR into it, and establishing an eleven-person National Directorate of the 26 July Revolutionary Movement (or MR-26-7). Despite these structural changes, there was still dissent within the group, with some members questioning Castro's autocratic leadership. Castro dismissed their proposals for the leadership to be transferred to a democratic board, arguing that a successful revolution could not be run by a committee. Some of them subsequently abandoned the MR-26-7, labeling Castro a caudillo (dictator), although the majority accepted his reasoning and remained loyal.[146][147]
Mexico and guerrilla training: 1955–1956[link]
In 1955, a series of bomb attacks and violent demonstrations against Batista's administration led to a crackdown on dissent in Cuba, with Castro being placed under armed guard by his supporters as protection from possible assassination attempts. His brother Raúl was accused of one bomb attack and fled the county, with Fidel deciding to follow on July 7. Those members of the MR-26-7 that remained in Cuba were left with orders to prepare cells for revolutionary action in all of the country's main towns and cities, and await Castro's return, when he would bring with him an army to topple Batista.[149][150] He sent a letter to the country's political leaders and the press, declaring that he was "leaving Cuba because all doors of peaceful struggle have been closed to me. Six weeks after being released from prison I am convinced more than ever of the dictatorship's intention, masked in many ways, to remain in power for twenty years, ruling as now by the use of terror and crime and ignoring the patience of the Cuban people, which has its limits. As a follower of Martí, I believe the hour has come to take our rights and not beg for them, to fight instead of pleading for them."[151]
The Castro brothers and a number of other MR-26-7 members traveled to Mexico, a country with a long history of offering asylum to left-wing exiles.[152][153] Raúl had befriended one such exile, an Argentine doctor and Marxist-Leninist named Ernesto "Che" Guevara (1928–1967), who was a proponent of guerrilla warfare and who was keen to join the Cuban Revolution as a part of his deeply held belief in overthrowing U.S. imperialism in Latin America. Upon meeting Guevara, Fidel took a liking to him, later describing him as being "a more advanced revolutionary than I was."[154][155][156] Another socialist revolutionary whom Castro began associating with was the Cuban-born Spaniard Colonel Alberto Bayo (1892–1967), who had fought for the leftist Republican side in the Spanish Civil War during the 1930s, before being exiled upon the victory of the fascist General Francisco Franco and his Falange. Bayo agreed to teach Fidel's rebels the skills in guerrilla warfare that they would need if they were to return to Cuba to battle Batista, clandestinely meeting them at various premises.[157][158][159]
In desperate need of money to finance his activities, Castro went on a tour of the United States in search of wealthy sympathizers, including the exiled former President Prío (who contributed the considerable sum of $100,000), during which time he was monitored by agents of Batista's government who at one point allegedly orchestrated a failed plot to kill him. These agents also bribed Mexican police to arrest Castro and other MR-26-7 members in the country, but ultimately the revolutionaries were all released, particularly as several members of the Mexican government sympathized with their cause.[160][161] Castro had also kept in contact with the MR-26-7 agents who had remained in Cuba, where they had succeeded in getting a large clandestine support base in several towns in Oriente.[157][162] Other militant groups had also sprung up to oppose Batista within the country, primarily from the ranks of the student movement; most notable of these was the Revolutionary Directorate (DR), which had been founded by the Federation of University Students (FEU) President José Antonio Echevarría. Antonio traveled to Mexico City to meet with Castro, but the two disagreed widely on tactics, with Castro opposing with the young student's policy of supporting indiscriminate assassinations of anyone in the government.[163][164]
Purchasing a decrepit old yacht, the Granma, it was on the 25 November 1956 that Castro set sail from Tuxpan in Veracruz, Mexico with a group of 81 revolutionaries, armed with 90 rifles, 3 machine guns, around 40 pistols and 2 hand-held anti-tank guns.[165][166][167] The 1,200 mile crossing to Cuba was harsh, and in the overcrowded conditions of the ship (which was designed to hold around 20 passengers), many of the men suffered from seasickness, and food supplies began to run low. At some points they had to bail water caused by a leak, and at another a man fell overboard, delaying their journey.[168][169] The plan had been for the journey to take five days, and on the Granma's scheduled day of arrival, 30 November, members of the MR-26-7 in Cuba under the leadership of Frank Pais led an armed uprising against government buildings in Santiago, Manzanillo and several other towns.[168][170] However, the crossing in the Granma ultimately lasted for seven days, and with Castro and his men unable to provide immediate back-up, Pais and those MR-26-7 members under his leadership dispersed to their homes after two days of intermittent attacks, having "suffered very few casualties and arrests".[168]
Guerrilla war in the Sierra Maestra: 1956–1958[link]
File:Pico Torquino in the Sierra Maestra, Cuba's highest mountain, 1974 meters.jpg
The thickly forested mountain range of the Sierra Maestra, from where Castro and his revolutionaries led guerrilla attacks against Batista's forces for two years.
The Granma landed in Cuba on 2 December 1956, crashing in a mangrove swamp at Playa Las Coloradas, close to Los Cayuelos. Batista's forces had been expecting them, and within several hours of their arrival they were bombarded from a naval vessel. Fleeing inland, they headed for the Sierra Maestra in Oriente, a large forested mountain range from where they could lead a guerrilla war against Batista.[171][172] At daybreak on 5 December they were unexpectedly attacked by a detachment of Batista's Rural Guard; in the confusion, the rebels scattering into different groups which continued making their journey to the Sierra Maestra independently.[173][174] With only two comrades, Castro made it to the mountains, along the way meeting up with others who had survived the attack; ultimately it was discovered that of the 82 rebels who had arrived on the Granma, only 19 had made it to the Sierra Maestra, the rest being killed or captured by Batista's forces.[175][176]
Setting up an encampment in the thick jungle of the Sierra Maestra, the survivors, who included Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Raúl Castro and Camilo Cienfuegos,[177] began launching attacks on small army posts in the region in order to steal weaponry. In January 1957 they attacked the outpost near to the beach at La Plata, defeating the soldiers stationed there. Being a doctor, Guevara treated the soldiers for any injuries, but the revolutionaries executed the local mayoral (land company overseer) Chicho Osorio, who was despised by the local peasants and who had boasted of killing one of the MR-26-7 rebels several weeks previously.[178] The execution of Osorio aided the rebels in gaining the trust of local people, who typically hated the mayorals as enforcers of the much-despised wealthy landowners. Nonetheless, the locals were initially unenthusiastic in their support for the guerrillas, viewing them with suspicion as outsiders.[179][180] As trust grew between the two communities, some locals joined the rebels, although the majority of new recruits came from urban areas, traveling to the Sierra Maestra in order to aid the revolutionary effort.[181][182] With rising levels of support and increasing number of volunteers joining the rebel army, which now numbered over 200, in July 1957 Castro eventually divided his men into three columns, keeping charge of one and giving control of the others to his brother and Che Guevara.[183] The MR-26-7 members operating in urban areas continued agitating against the government, sending supplies to the Sierra Maestra rebels and on 16 February 1957 Castro met with other leading members of the group to discuss tactics; it was here that he met Celia Sánchez, who would become a close friend.[181][184]
"The story of our beards is very simple: it arose out of the difficult conditions we were living and fighting under as guerrillas. We didn't have any razor blades... everybody just let their beards and hair grow, and that turned into a kind of badge of identity. For the campesinos and everybody else, for the press, for the reporters we were "los barbudos" - the bearded ones. It had its positive side: in order for a spy to infiltrate us, he had to start preparing months ahead of time - he'd have had to have six-months' growth of beard, you see... Later, with the triumph of the Revolution, we kept our beards to preserve the symbolism."
—Fidel Castro on his iconic beard, 2009.[185]
The Cuban Revolution was not contained to the MR-26-7, and across Cuba militant groups were beginning to rise up against Batista. Most notably, Antonio and his DR had been carrying out bombings and acts of sabotage, leading the police to respond with mass arrests, the torture of suspects and extra-judicial killings. In March 1957 the DR launched an attack on the presidential palace, with Batista himself narrowly surviving. The rebels were eventually defeated, and Antonio was shot dead by police in the street as he attempted to issue a radio broadcast. His death would prove beneficial for Castro, removing a charismatic rival to his leadership of the anti-Batista movement.[186][187] Although already a Marxist-Leninist, Castro kept his beliefs a secret from many of the MR-26-7, something in contrast to Guevara and Raúl, whose beliefs were well known. In this way he hoped to gain a wider support base amongst those of other political persuasions, and in 1957 he met with leading members of the Partido Ortodoxo. Castro and the Ortodoxo leaders Raúl Chibás and Felipe Pazos drafted and signed a document called the Sierra Maestra Manifesto in which they laid out their plans for a post-Batista Cuba. Rejecting the idea that Cuba should be run by a provisional military junta following Batista's demise, it demanded that a provisional civilian government be set up that was "supported by all" and which would implement moderate agrarian reform, industrialization and a campaign to wipe out illiteracy before introducing "truly fair, democratic, impartial, elections". It also insisted on both press freedom and free elections within Cuba's trade unions.[188][189][190]
Batista's government censored the Cuban media, and so Castro felt it would be beneficial to reach out and contact foreign media sources in order to spread his message. A U.S. journalist from the The New York Times named Herbert Matthews came to interview Castro, attracting international interest to the rebel's cause and turning him into a celebrity. The New York Times front page story presented Castro as a romantic and appealing revolutionary, and exaggerated the number of troops and resources that he had at his command, with Matthews declaring that "Batista cannot possibly hope to suppress the Castro revolt".[191][192][193][194] Soon, other reporters followed in Matthews' footsteps by traveling to the Sierra Maestra to interview Castro, sent by such news agencies as CBS,[195] while a reporter from Paris Match stayed with the rebels for around 4 months, documenting their daily routine.[196] The number of attacks that Castro's guerrilla's undertook against military outposts in and around the mountains increased, forcing the government to withdraw from all its posts in the region.[183][197] By the spring of 1958 the rebels controlled all of the mountainous areas in Oriente province, controlling a hospital, schools, a printing press, slaughterhouse, land-mine factory and a cigar-making factory.[198]
Countering Operation Verano: 1958[link]
President Batista was coming under increasing pressure by 1958. His army's military failures in Oriente, coupled with his censorship of the media and the repressive techniques of torture and extra-judicial killings employed by the police and armed forces were being increasingly criticized both at home and abroad. Influenced by a wave of anti-Batista sentiment amongst their citizens, the U.S. government made the decision to stop supplying him with weaponry, which he had been using against the rebels, leading him to instead begin buying arms from the United Kingdom.[199] The opposition used this as an opportunity to rise up across the country, proposing a general strike which would be accompanied by armed attacks from the MR-26-7. The strike began on 9 April, and while receiving strong support in the center and east of Cuba, in Havana and other urbanized western parts of the country most workers continued working as usual.[200][201]
"When I saw the [U.S. supplied] rockets being fired at Mario's house, I swore to myself that the Americans would pay dearly for what they are doing. When this war is over a much wider and bigger war will begin for me: the war that I am going to wage against them. I know that this is my real destiny."
Batista's response was to launch an all-out-attack on Castro's guerrilla forces, known as Operation Verano. The army began aerial bombardment of forested areas and villages that were suspected of aiding and hiding the militants, whilst 10,000 soldiers under the command of General Eulogio Cantillo surrounded the Sierra Maestra, driving north to the areas where the rebels were camped. Despite their massive superiority of numbers and weaponry, the army were at a disadvantage, having no experience with guerrilla warfare or the mountainous region. Castro, who by this time had around 300 men at his command, avoided open confrontation, instead using land mines and ambushes to halt the enemy offensive.[204] The army suffered heavy losses and a number of embarrassments; in June 1958 a battalion was trapped in a valley by the rebels and forced to surrender. Their weapons were confiscated, and they were handed over to the Red Cross.[205] Many of Batista's soldiers, appalled at the human rights abuses that they were being ordered to carry out, defected to Castro's rebel force, who also benefited from "overwhelming" popular support in those areas that they captured.[206]
In the summer, the MR-26-7 went on the offensive, pushing the government forces back, out of the mountain range and into the lowlands, with Castro using his columns in a pincer movement to surround the main army concentration in Santiago. By November, Castro's forces had most of Oriente and Las Villas under his control, and although the capitals of Santiago and Santa Clara remained in government hands, their grip on them was slipping. Through control of Las Villas, the rebels had been able to divide the country in two by closing the major roads and rail lines, severely disadvantaging Batista's forces.[207][208]
Batista's fall and Cantillo's military junta: 1958–1959[link]
The U.S. government had come to realize that Batista would probably lose the war, and fearing that Castro, under the influence of known Marxist-Leninists like Che Guevara, would displace U.S. interests with socialist reforms, they decided to support Batista's removal in support of a military junta led by centrist or right wing officers, believing that General Cantillo, who then commanded most of the country's armed forces, would be best placed to lead it. After being approached with this proposal, Cantillo decided to secretly meet with Castro to see if they could bring an end to the fighting, and ultimately it was agreed that the two would call a ceasefire, following which Batista would be apprehended and tried as a war criminal.[210][211] Double crossing Castro, Cantillo warned Batista of the revolutionary's intentions. Wishing to avoid a war crimes tribunal, Batista resigned on 31 December 1958, informing the armed forces that they were now under Cantillo's control. With his family and closest advisers, Batista then fled into exile, taking with him an amassed fortune of more than US$ 300,000,000.[212][211] The following morning Cantillo entered the Presidential Palace in Havana, proclaimed the Supreme Court judge Carlos Piedra to be the new President, and began appointing new members of the government.[212]
Still in Oriente, Castro was furious at Cantillo's actions, recognizing it as the establishment of a military junta. He told his troops to end the ceasefire and continue on the offensive against government forces.[212][213] The MR-26-7 put together a plan to oust the Cantillo-Piedra junta, freeing the high ranking military officer Colonel Barquin from the Isle of Pines prison (where he had been held captive for plotting to overthrow Batista), and commanding him to fly to Havana to place Cantillo under house arrest.[212][213] While there was widespread celebrations as news of Batista's downfall spread across Cuba on 1 January 1959, Castro gave an order to MR-26-7 members to take on the responsibility of policing the country, in order to prevent the widespread looting and vandalism that he had witnessed in the Bogotazo.[214][215]
Whilst Cienfuegos and Guevara led their columns of soldiers into Havana onto 2 January, Castro entered Santiago, where he accepted the surrender of the Moncada Barracks, before giving a speech to the assembled crowds in which he invoked the 19th century wars of independence against the Spanish Empire. He proceeded to speak out against the Cantillo-Piedra junta but highlighted that the majority of soldiers in the armed forces were honorable, and that only the few who had committed human rights abuses would be brought to justice. He also praised the role that women had played in the MR-26-7, and proclaimed that they would have equal rights in the new Cuba.[216] Along the way he also met with the mother of the dead revolutionary, José Antonio Echevarría.[217] Castro immediately became a heroic figure to the Cuban people, striking a "Christ-like figure" and wearing a medallion of the Virgin Mary, with cheering crowds meeting him at every town on his way to Havana. Along the way he gave speeches, press conferences and interviews, with U.S. and other foreign reporters noting that the public adulation of Castro was on an unprecedented scale.[218][219][220]
Provisional government: 1959[link]
In the Sierra Maestra, Castro had made his opinion clear that the lawyer Manuel Urrutia Lleó (1901–1981) should become the new Cuban president and leader of a provisional civilian government following Batista's fall. A political moderate, Urrutia had defended several MR-26-7 revolutionaries in court during the Batista administration, and had argued that the attack on the Moncada Barracks was legal according to the Cuban constitution. For this reason Castro believed that Urrutia would make a good leader, being both established yet sympathetic to the revolutionary cause. Following the house arrest of Cantillo and the ensuing collapse of the junta, Urrutia was proclaimed to be Cuba's provisional president, with Castro erroneously announcing that he had been selected for the position by "popular election".[221][222] On January 8, 1959, Castro's army rolled victoriously into Havana, and he would shortly thereafter declare that "power does not interest me, and I will not take it."[223] Proclaiming himself to be the Representative of the Rebel Armed Forces of the Presidency,[224] Castro, along with a number of close aides and family members, set up both home and office in the penthouse of the Havana Hilton Hotel, there meeting with journalists, foreign visitors and government ministers.[225][224]
While he officially had no role within the provisional civilian government, in reality Castro exercised a great deal of political control, largely because of his overwhelming popularity with the Cuban populace and his control of the rebel armed forces. He ensured that the government implemented a number of policies designed to cut corruption and fight illiteracy, but did not initially force through any radical proposals. Attempting to rid Cuba's government of Batistanos and their corruption, the Congress that had been elected under Batista was abolished, and all those elected in the rigged elections of 1954 and 1958 were banned from political life. With the government now ruling by decree, Castro ordered a temporary ban on all political parties, but repeatedly claimed that the government would get around to organizing multiparty elections, which ultimately it never did.[226][227] He began secretly meeting with leading members of the banned communist Popular Socialist Party, believing that they had the intellectual capacity to form a socialist government where the MR-26-7 did not.[228][229] He nonetheless kept his true political persuasions a secret from the public eye, and repeatedly denied being a communist.[230]
"We are not executing innocent people or political opponents. We are executing murderers and they deserve it."
In trying to suppress the revolution, Batista's government had orchestrated mass human rights abuses, with estimates putting the death toll in the region of 20,000, and now popular uproar across Cuba demanded that those figures who had been complicit in the widespread torture and killing of civilians be brought to justice. Although he remained a moderating force and tried to prevent the mass reprisal killings of Batistanos advocated by many Cubans, Castro helped to set-up trials of many figures involved in the old regime across the country, resulting in hundreds of executions. Critics, in particular from the U.S. press, argued that many of these did not meet the standards of a fair trial, and condemned Cuba's new government as being more interested in vengeance than justice. Castro retaliated strongly against such accusations, proclaiming that "revolutionary justice is not based on legal precepts, but on moral conviction". In a show of support for this "revolutionary justice", he organized the first Havana trial to take place before a mass audience of 17,000 at the Sports Palace stadium; when a group of aviators accused of bombing a village were found not guilty, he ordered a retrial in which they were instead found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment.[233][234]
Widely acclaimed as a hero across Latin America, he soon traveled to Venezuela to attend the first anniversary celebrations of the overthrow of the former right wing president, Marcos Pérez Jiménez. Meeting President-elect Rómulo Betancourt, Castro proposed greater relations between the two nations, unsuccessfully requesting a loan of $300,000,000 and a new deal to obtain Venezuelan oil.[235] Returning home, an argument between Castro and senior government figures broke out when the government banned the National Lottery and closed down the casinos and brothels that had flourished under Batista's regime. While agreeing that gambling and prostitution should be eradicated, Castro was furious with the manner in which this law had been passed, leaving thousands of Cuban waiters, croupiers and prostitutes unemployed, usually with no other skills to fall back on. As a result of the argument, Prime Minister José Miró Cardona resigned, going into exile in the U.S. and eventually involving himself in the militant anti-Castro movement.[236][237]
Premiership[link]
Consolidating leadership: 1959[link]
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Castro in Washington, D.C., arriving at the MATS Terminal (left) and visiting the Lincoln Memorial (right). | |
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Castro in Washington, D.C., arriving at the MATS Terminal (left) and visiting the Lincoln Memorial (right).
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On February 16, 1959, Castro took the vacancy left by Miró, being sworn in as Prime Minister of Cuba. Initially proclaiming his reluctance in taking the role, he agreed to accept it on the condition that the Prime Minister's powers be increased, in part to the detriment of the President.[238][239] One of his first acts as Prime Minister was to travel to the United States between 15 and 26 April, accompanied by a delegation of industrial and diplomatic representatives. Castro hired one of the country's best public relations firms for a charm offensive, appearing as a "man of the people" by answering impertinent questions jokingly and eating hot dogs and hamburgers. The U.S. President, Dwight D. Eisenhower of the Republican Party, avoided meeting with Castro, who instead met with Vice President Richard Nixon, a man Castro took an instant dislike to.[240][241][242] Rather than returning straight to Cuba, Castro traveled to Canada, Trinidad, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, attending an economic conference in Buenos Aires, where he unsuccessfully proposed that the U.S. fund a "Marshall Plan" for Latin America.[243][244]
Castro took a great interest in rural life, and appointed himself to the presidency of the newly created National Institute of Agrarian Reform (INRA). On 17 May 1959, Castro signed into law the First Agrarian Reform, which limited landholdings to 993 acres (4.02 km2) per owner and forbade further foreign land ownership. As a result, all of the large land-holdings were broken up, and the land redistributed to the peasants who worked it; an estimated 200,000 peasants received title deeds as a result of its implementation. To Castro, this was an important progressive step, breaking the control of the wealthy landowning class over Cuba's agriculture; it proved popular among the working class, but also alienated many in the middle classes who had previously supported Castro.[245][246][247] In March 1959, Castro ordered that rents for those who paid less than $100 a month should be cut in half, with measures implemented to increase the Cuban people's purchasing powers, although productivity decreased and the country's financial reserves were drained within two years.[248]
Although at the time he refused to categorize his regime as socialist, Castro appointed known Marxists to senior positions throughout Cuban society. He controversially appointed Che Guevara, an Argentinian with no training in economics, to the position of Governor of the Central Bank and then Minister of Industries, while Marxists took control of most of the country's trade unions. Castro appointed Marxists to senior positions in the armed forces, leading to a backlash from various high ranking anti-communist officers; the commander of the Air Force, Díaz Lanz, soon defected to the United States, calling for the U.S. government to do something before a Marxist regime took over in Cuba.[249][250] These defections were denounced by President Manuel Urrutia Lleó, but he too publicly expressed concern with the rising influence of Marxism. This angered Castro, who publicly announced that he was resigning from his position as Prime Minister because Urrutia "complicated" government, arguing that the president's "fevered anti-Communism" was having a detrimental effect. Castro's sentiments received widespread support as organized crowds of over half a million Castro-supporters surrounded the Presidential Palace demanding Urrutia's resignation, which was duly received. On July 23, Castro resumed his position as Prime Minister and appointed the Marxist Osvaldo Dorticós to be the new President.[251][252]
"Until Castro, the U.S. was so overwhelmingly influential in Cuba that the American ambassador was the second most important man, sometimes even more important than the Cuban president."
—Earl T. Smith, former American Ambassador to Cuba, during 1960 testimony to the U.S. Senate.[253]
Castro made use of radio and the newly developed technology of television to communicate with the Cuban populace, developing what he called a "dialogue with the people", during which he would pose questions and make intentionally provocative statements.[254] Such tactics proved successful, and Castro's regime remained highly popular with workers, peasants and students, all of whom had benefited from its policies.[255] Nonetheless, opposition continued to grow, particularly within the Cuban middle classes, with thousands of educated doctors, engineers and other professionals emigrating to Florida in the U.S., causing a brain drain on the island's economy.[256][257] Militant anti-Castro groups sprung up, undertaking armed attacks against government forces, with some setting up guerrilla bases in Cuba's mountainous regions. They were funded and armed by various foreign sources, including the exiled Cuban community, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Dominican government of General Rafael Trujillo.[256] Castro's government began a crackdown on this opposition movement, labeling it counter-revolutionary, and arresting hundreds of dissidents.[255][258][259] Although it rejected the methods of physical torture which had been employed by Batista's regime, Castro's government sanctioned the use of psychological torture, subjecting some prisoners to solitary confinement, rough treatment, hunger and threatening behavior.[260] After conservative editors and journalists began expressing hostility towards the government following its leftward turn, the pro-Castro printers' trade union began to harass and disrupt editorial staff. In January 1960 the government proclaimed that each newspaper would be obliged to publish a "clarification" written by the printers' union to the end of any articles which were critical of the government. This would prove to be the start of press censorship in Castro's Cuba.[261][262]
Soviet support and U.S. opposition: 1960[link]
At the start of the 1960s, the Cold War was raging between the Earth's two great superpowers, the United States, a liberal democracy with a capitalist economy, and the Soviet Union, a Marxist-Leninist one-party state with a socialist economy. Castro had long expressed contempt for the U.S. government and their support of Batista's regime, as well as their imperialist and exploitative attitude towards Cuba, while he shared the ideological views of the Soviet government. Castro subsequently met with a Soviet KGB agent operating in Havana, and discussed the possibility of initiating a trading relationship with the Soviet Union (USSR). Meeting with Soviet First Deputy Premier Anastas Mikoyan, Castro agreed to provide the USSR with sugar in return for crude oil, fertilizers and industrial goods.[263][264] Relations were also established with other Marxist-Leninist governments, such as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the People's Republic of Poland and the People's Republic of China.[265]
The Cuban government ordered the country's refineries (then controlled by the U.S. corporations Shell, Esso and Standard Oil) to process this Soviet oil, but under pressure from the U.S. government, they refused. Castro responded by expropriating the refineries and nationalizing them under state control. In retaliation, the U.S. cancelled its import of Cuban sugar, provoking Castro to nationalize most U.S.-owned assets on the island, including banks and sugar mills.[266][267] Relations between Cuba and the U.S. were further strained following the explosion and sinking of a French vessel, the Le Coubre, in Havana harbor in March 1960. Carrying weapons purchased from Belgium, the cause of the explosion was never determined, but Castro publicly accused the U.S. government of sabotage.[268][269] Secretly, on 17 March 1960, President Eisenhower authorized the CIA to covertly overthrow Castro's government, permitting them to ally with the Mafia criminal organization in doing so; the Mafia despised Castro for closing down their casinos and other businesses in Cuba.[270][265] In October 1960, the U.S. government then prohibited most exports to Cuba, marking the start of an economic embargo that would devastate the island's economy for decades to come.[271]
In September 1960, Castro flew to New York City for the General Assembly of the United Nations. Taking offense at the attitude of the elite Shelburne Hotel, he and his entourage instead stayed at the cheap, run-down Hotel Theresa in the impoverished area of Harlem. Here, he met with a number of journalists as well as anti-establishment figures like the African-American leader Malcolm X. At the hotel he was also visited by the Soviet Premier, Nikita Khruschev, and the two leaders used the occasion as a press opportunity to highlight the poverty faced by many U.S. citizens in areas like Harlem; Castro would later describe New York as a "city of persecution" in reference to the treatment of working class and African-Americans by the establishment. Relations between Castro and Khrushchev were warm, with the two leading the applause to one another's speeches at the General Assembly. Although Castro still publicly denied being a Marxist or even a socialist, Khrushchev would privately inform his entourage that the Cuban would become "a beacon of Socialism in Latin America."[272][273] During the trip, Castro was also visited by two other senior world leaders, the socialists President Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt and President Jawaharlal Nehru of India.[274]
Returning to Cuba, Castro feared that the U.S. would attempt to overthrow his government, and so purchased tanks and other weaponry from the Soviets.[275] In September 1960, he created the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution, a nationwide organization of civilian groups who implemented neighborhood spying in an effort to weed out "counter-revolutionary" activities and who could back up the regular army in the case of invasion. Eventually, 80% of the Cuban population would be involved in these Committees.[275] Health care was socialised.[276]
The Bay of Pigs Invasion: 1961[link]
By January 1961, the U.S. Embassy in Havana had 300 staff, of whom 80% were believed by Castro to be spies. He ordered the Embassy to reduce its size to match that of the Cuban Embassy in Washington D.C. The U.S. response was to cut off all diplomatic relations with Cuba, with the CIA increasing its support for militant dissidents in exile. Such dissident groups began attacking ships trading with Cuba, and organized raiding parties to destroy Cuban factories and sugar mills in an attempt to disrupt the island's economy.[277] Under the Eisenhower administration, the CIA had organized a plan to invade Cuba using exiled Cuban dissidents as soldiers, thereby avoiding an international condemnation that would have arisen if they used U.S. troops. Following the election of Democratic Party nominee John F. Kennedy as U.S. President in 1961, the CIA gained his support for continuing with the plan, which would result in the Bay of Pigs Invasion of April 1961. Brigade 2506, made up of around 1,400 Cuban dissidents, divided into five infantry and one paratrooper battalions, had assembled in Guatemala, a U.S. ally, before being transported to another pro-U.S. state, Nicaragua, from which they set off aboard seven ships toward Cuba on 13 April. On 15 April, eight CIA-supplied B-26 bombers took off from Nicaragua and bombed three Cuban military airfields, damaging runways and fighter planes, as well as killing 7 and injuring 52. The U.S. government immediately proclaimed that the bombers had belonged to Cuba's air force and had been commandeered by dissidents who wanted to defect to the U.S.; in retaliation, Castro publicly went on state television to denounce their claims, providing evidence to expose their misinformation.[278]
Castro feared that the bombing was a prelude to an invasion, putting the armed forces on maximum alert and ordering the arrest of anyone suspected of having counter-revolutionary sympathies. This constituted at least 20,000 people, who were detained in prisons, theaters and sport centres. At the funerals of the dead airmen on 16 April, he publicly proclaimed that "What the imperialists cannot forgive us, is that we have made a Socialist revolution under their noses." This was his first ever declaration that the Cuban revolutionary movement was socialist in character, and he proceeded to declare that his movement was "a revolution of the humble, with the humble, for the humble, democratic and Socialist."[279]
At night, the invasion fleet landed in Cuba largely undetected along the narrow inlet known as the Bay of Pigs. A local revolutionary militia opened fire on the invaders, but was forced back by heavy fire from the landing craft. Castro had not expected this to be their landing site, and as a result it was a poorly defended stretch of coast. He ordered Captain José Ramón Fernández to launch an immediate counter-offensive, and ordered the country's small air force to destroy the Brigade 2506's ships which contained weapons, food and medical supplies for the dissidents. Eventually taking direct command of the operation, Castro oversaw the counter-offensive, bringing in reinforcements and tanks to use against the rebel army. President Kennedy was unwilling to directly intervene with U.S. military support, and so on 20 April 1189 men of the Brigade 2506 surrendered to the Cuban army.[280]
"Havana gleefully noted the wealth of the captured invaders: 100 plantation owners, 67 landlords of apartment houses, 35 factory owners, 112 businessmen, 179 lived off unearned income, and 194 ex-soldiers of Batista."
Celebrating his victory, Castro ordered that the rebels be interrogated on live television by a panel of journalists. He himself took over the questioning on 25 April, walking in among them with a microphone and asking them why they had taken part in the invasion. 14 of them were then put on trial for crimes that they allegedly committed before the revolution, while all of the others were returned to the U.S. in exchange for medicine and food valued at around U.S. $25 million.[280] Castro's victory was a powerful symbol for his supporters, both at home and across Latin America, but also served to increase some internal opposition, particularly among the thousands of primarily middle-class Cubans who had been detained in the run-up to the invasion. Although most were freed within a few days, many decided to flee Castro's Cuba for Florida.[282]
Embracing Socialism: 1961–1962[link]
Following the Bay of Pigs Invasion, on May Day 1961, Castro officially declared the Cuban government to be socialist.[283] He founded a new political organization, the ORI, under which he united the MR-26-7, the Communists and the Revolutionary Directorate.[284] The Soviet government were hesitant over Cuba's open embrace of socialism, fearing U.S. retaliation, but relations between the two nations deepened, with Castro supporting the USSR during the Sino-Soviet Split and sending his son Fidelito to be schooled in Moscow.[284] In December 1961, Castro officially proclaimed himself to be a Marxist-Leninist, and in his subsequent Second Declaration of Havana called on the peoples of Latin America to rise up in violent revolution against their governments.[285] In response, the U.S.-dominated Organization of American States expelled Cuba, while the Soviet government privately reprimanded Castro for being reckless, believing that other Latin American governments would now crack down on communists, ultimately hindering the cause of socialism.[285]
Castro's government brought in measures to shape society using the Soviet model, persecuting both political opponents and perceived social deviants such as prostitutes and homosexuals. Castro expressed the opinion that homosexuality was a bourgeois decadence absent from working class rural areas, proclaiming that "in the country, there are no homosexuals".[286] Members of his government spoke out against the treatment of gay people, noting the support of homosexual intellectuals in the Cuban Revolution, and ultimately Castro agreed that while they would be prevented from involvement in education, they would not be punished.[287] Nevertheless, many homosexuals were rounded up by police and forced into a manual labor organization for criminals, the Military Units for the Support of Production (UMAP).[288] Decades later, Castro expressed deep regret for these actions, taking full responsibility and calling them "moments of great injustice, great injustice!".[289]
"The revolution has no time for elections. There is no more democratic government in Latin America than the revolutionary government. ... If Mr. Kennedy does not like Socialism, we do not like imperialism. We do not like capitalism"
Castro, 1961.[290]
By 1962, the Cuban economy was in steep decline, a result of poor economic management coupled with the interference and trade embargo of the U.S. government. There were major food shortages, and the government introduced rationing, with a riot breaking out in Cárdenas.[288] Security reports indicated that the Cuban people were increasingly associating the governing communists with austerity, shortages and persecution, and so in March 1962 Castro removed the most prominent "Old Communists" from office, labeling them too "sectarian".[291] On a personal level, Castro was feeling increasingly lonely and isolated in his position as Prime Minister, and relations with his old friend Che Guevara became strained as the latter became increasingly anti-Soviet, instead favoring the Chinese Marxist-Leninist government of Mao Zedong in the Sino-Soviet Split.[292]
The Cuban Missile Crisis: 1962[link]
Main article: Cuban Missile Crisis
Soviet Premier Khrushchev believed that the USSR was vulnerable to attack from the U.S. and its NATO allies, who were both militarily superior and who had nuclear weapons in Western Europe and Turkey, within striking distance of the USSR. He developed a plan to alter the balance of power by placing Soviet nuclear missiles on Cuba, from where they could target the U.S.[293] Khrushchev approached Castro with this idea, and while the Cuban leader felt conflicted, he ultimately agreed, believing that it would guarantee Soviet protection of Cuba and enhance the power of the socialist camp.[294] In July 1962, Raúl Castro traveled to Moscow to work out the specifics.[295]
The operation was undertaken in strict secrecy, with only the Castro brothers, Guevara, President Dorticós and security chief Ramiro Valdés knowing the full picture.[295] It was agreed to deploy Soviet R-12 MRBMs on Cuban soil, all of which had the capacity to fire nuclear warheads at all of the U.S.' major cities. However, American Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance discovered the construction of the missile installations on October 15, 1962 before the weapons had actually been deployed. The U.S. government viewed the installation of Soviet nuclear weapons 90 miles (145 km) south of Key West as an aggressive act and a threat to U.S. security. As a result, the U.S. publicly announced its discovery on October 22, 1962, and implemented a quarantine around Cuba that would actively intercept and search any vessels heading for the island. Castro hit back at Kennedy, insisting that Cuba had a right to defend itself from foreign aggression.[296]
Castro privately urged Khrushchev to heighten tensions by threatening a nuclear strike on the U.S. should Cuba be attacked, but Khrushchev was desperate to avoid nuclear war.[297][298] Negotiations took place between Kennedy and Khrushchev, with Castro having no involvement. Ultimately, Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a U.S. commitment not to invade Cuba and an understanding that the US would secretly remove American MRBMs targeting the Soviet Union from Turkey and Italy, a measure that the U.S. implemented a few months later.[299] After learning of the deal, Castro was furious, believing that Khrushchev had betrayed him and given in to U.S. demands.[300] Depressed, he lost his appetite and became ill.[301]
Furthering Socialism: 1963–1970[link]
In February 1963, Castro received a personal letter from Khrushchev, in which the Soviet Premier had emotionally set out his reasons for coming to an agreement with the U.S. government and in which he invited Castro to come and visit the USSR. Deeply touched by the letter, Castro set aside his resentment and traveled to the country in April, ultimately staying for five weeks. Visiting 14 cities, he gave speeches and met with locals, addressing a rally in Red Square and watching the May Day parade from the wall of the Kremlin. During his visit, he was also awarded the Order of Lenin, becoming the first foreigner to do so.[302] Despite the Soviet government's misgivings, Castro continued to call for armed revolution across the capitalist world, providing funding and support for various militant leftist groups. He supported Guevara's plan for the "Andean project", an unsuccessful plan to set up a guerrilla movement in the highlands of Bolivia, Peru and Argentina, and allowed revolutionary groups from across the world, from the Viet Cong of Vietnam to the Black Panthers of the US, to train in Cuba.[303] In particular, he thought that Sub-Saharan Africa, much of which was dominated by western powers, was rife for revolutionary change, and in 1965 authorized Guevara to travel to Congo Kinshasa in order to train militant revolutionaries.[304]
"The greatest threat presented by Castro's Cuba is as an example to other Latin American states which are beset by poverty, corruption, feudalism, and plutocratic exploitation ... his influence in Latin America might be overwhelming and irresistible if, with Soviet help, he could establish in Cuba a Communist utopia."
Domestically, Castro agreed to allow anyone wishing to leave Cuba – with the exception of males aged between 15 and 26 – to do so. This helped rid the government of many of its opponents, but thousands took up the government's offer, many more than Castro had wanted.[306] In October 1965, the government officially changed its name to the Cuban Communist Party, and published the membership of its Central Committee.[306] In 1966 he staged the first Tri-Continental Conference of Africa, Asia and Latin America in Havana, further establishing himself as a significant player on the world stage despite the small and dependent nature of Cuba's economy.[307] Castro himself suffered personal tragedy when his friend Guevara was killed by CIA-backed troops in Bolivia in October 1967, publicly attributing it to Che's disregard for his own safety in the revolutionary cause.[308]
In 1968, Castro proclaimed a Great Revolutionary Offensive in Cuba, influenced by the Great Leap Forward in China. As a part of this, any remaining privately-owned shops and businesses were shut down, with Castro denouncing their owners as capitalist counter-revolutionaries.[309] On August 23, 1968, Castro made a public gesture to the USSR that caused the Soviet leadership to reaffirm their support for him. Two days after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia to repress the Prague Spring, Castro took to the airwaves and publicly denounced the Czech rebellion. Castro warned the Cuban people about the Czechoslovakian "counterrevolutionaries", who "were moving Czechoslovakia towards capitalism and into the arms of imperialists". He called the leaders of the rebellion "the agents of West Germany and fascist reactionary rabble."[310][311]
In January 1969, Castro publicly celebrated the tenth anniversary of his administration in Revolution Square, but used the occasion to ask the assembled crowds if they would tolerate greater sugar rations, reflecting the economic problems facing the country.[309] The majority of the country's sugar crop was being sent to the Soviet Union to maintain Cuba's trade quota, but the 1969 crop was heavily damaged by a hurricane. As a result, the government postponed the Christmas and New Year holidays of 1969/1970 so that the harvest could continue with detailed monthly targets being set for every mill, while the military were drafted in to aid in the agricultural effort.[312] Ultimately, the country failed to achieve that year's production quota for sugar. Castro publicly proclaimed it to be a worse set-back for the Revolution than the failed Moncada Barracks Attack, and offered to resign, but assembled crowds denounced the idea, cheering their support for Castro.[313] Despite the country's economic problems, Castro remained hugely popular in Cuba, whose population were largely supportive of the "Achievements of the Revolution" in education, medical care and road construction, as well as the government's policy of "direct democracy".[313]
Economic stagnation and Third World politics: 1970–1974[link]
In May 1970, Alpha 66, a militant Cuban dissident group based in Florida, sank two Cuban fishing boats and captured their crews, demanding the release of Alpha 66 members imprisoned in Cuba. Under U.S. government pressure, the hostages were released, with Castro welcoming them back as heroes.[313] In April 1971, Castro gained international condemnation after ordering the arrest of Herberto Padilla, a Cuban poet who had won an international prize but whose views were critical of the government. Padilla fell ill, with Castro visiting him in hospital; soon after, the poet publicly confessed his guilt and was released. Soon, the government formed the National Cultural Council through which it ensured that intellectuals and artists produced work that supported their administration.[314]
In 1971, Castro made his first foreign visit since 1964, this time to Chile, where the Marxist President Salvador Allende (1908–1973) had just been elected as the head of a left-wing coalition. Implementing socialist reforms by nationalizing industry, Allende gained Castro's support, and Castro spent 23 days touring the country, giving speeches and press conferences, talking to both admiring socialists and right wing opponents. He was however cautious of the Chilean military, which remained staunchly right wing and anti-socialist and advised Allende to purge such opponents from the armed forces before they led a coup. Castro was proven right. In 1973, the military, backed by the U.S. government, led a coup d'etat against Allende's government, banning elections and establishing a military junta led by Commander-in-Chief Augusto Pinochet. Castro considered it a tragedy, but was unsurprised.[315]
Following his trip to Chile, Castro traveled to West Africa to meet with Sékou Touré (1922–1984), the President of Guinea. A socialist and nationalist, Touré had much in common with Castro, and they forged an alliance; the Cuban even told a crowd of Guineans that theirs was the greatest leader in Africa.[316] From Guinea he went on a seven-week tour visiting various other leftist allies in Africa and Eurasia: Algeria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia and the then Soviet Union. On every trip he seemed eager to travel among the people by visiting factories and farms, and chatted and joked with those whom he met. Although publicly highly supportive of these governments, in private he urged them to do more to aid revolutionary socialist movements in other parts of the world, and in particular in Vietnam, where the Vietnam War was then raging between the Soviet-backed communists and U.S.-backed capitalists.[317] In September 1973 he returned to Algiers to attend the Fourth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). Various members of the NAM were critical of Castro's attendance, claiming that Cuba was aligned to the USSR and the Eastern Bloc and therefore should not be at the conference, particularly as he praised the Soviet Union in his speech and asserted that it was not imperialistic in nature.[318]
In 1974, Castro broke off relations with the Israeli government over both their treatment of Palestinian civilians during the Israel-Palestine conflict and their increasingly close relationship with the United States. This earned him respect from leaders throughout the Arab world. In particular he was praised by Muammar Gaddafi (1942–2011), the socialist president of the Libyan Arab Republic, with Castro and Gaddafi becoming friends and allies.[319] That year, Cuba also experienced an economic boost, due primarily to the high international price of sugar, but also influenced by new trade credits with Canada, Argentina, and various countries in Western Europe.[320] With such economic growth, the Cuban government decided to call the first National Congress of the Cuban Communist Party. It adopted a new constitution based upon the Soviet model, which abolished both the position of President and Prime Minister.[321]
Presidency[link]
Foreign wars and NAM Presidency: 1975–1979[link]
On November 4, 1975, Castro ordered the deployment of Cuban troops to Angola, southern Africa, to aid the Marxist MPLA-ruled government against the South African-backed UNITA opposition forces in the Angolan Civil War. Altogether, 15,000 Cuban troops had been stationed in the country by January 1976, and played a major part in defeating UNITA and the invading South African military.[322] Considering Africa to be "the weakest link in the imperialist chain", Castro celebrated the Angolan victory with Angolan President Agostinho Neto, Guinean President Sékou Touré and Guinea-Bissaun President Luís Cabral, together agreeing to support the government of Mozambique from the threat of white supremacist Rhodesia.[323] Heading north in February, Castro visited his allies in Algeria and then Libya, where he spent ten days in the company of friend and ally President Muammar Gadaffi. Moving on to talks with the Marxist government of South Yemen, he then traveled to Somalia, Tanzania, Mozambique and Angolan, being greeted by crowds as a hero for Cuba's role in opposing the apartheid government of South Africa.[324]
In 1977, the Ogaden War broke out between Somalia and Ethiopia as the government of the former, headed by pro-Soviet President Siad Barre, decided to annex the Ethiopian region of Ogaden to create Greater Somalia. In his earlier talks with Barre, Castro had advised him not to take such action, and as war broke out, Castro sided with the Ethiopians, whose Marxist President Mengistu Haile Mariam of the Workers' Party of Ethiopia appealed to fellow Marxist governments for help. Like the Soviet Union, Castro complied, sending troops under the command of General Arnaldo Ochoa to aid the overwhelmed Ethiopian army.[325] In addition, Castro extended support to Marxist revolutionary movements throughout Latin America, such as aiding the Sandinista National Liberation Front in overthrowing the government of right-wing president Anastasio Somoza Debayle in Nicaragua, leading to their victory in July 1979.[326] It has been claimed by the anti-Castro Carthage Foundation-funded Center for a Free Cuba that an estimated 14,000 Cubans were killed in Cuban military actions abroad.[327][328][329]
"There is often talk of human rights, but it is also necessary to talk of the rights of humanity. Why should some people walk barefoot, so that others can travel in luxurious cars? Why should some live for thirty-five years, so that others can live for seventy years? Why should some be miserably poor, so that others can be hugely rich? I speak on behalf of the children in the world who do not have a piece of bread. I speak on the behalf of the sick who have no medicine, of those whose rights to life and human dignity have been denied."
Castro's message at the UN General Assembly, 1979.[325]
In 1979, the Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) was held in Havana, while that year Castro was selected as the president of the NAM, a position that he would hold till 1982. In his capacity as both President of the NAM and of Cuba he appeared at the United Nations General Assembly in October 1979, giving a speech on the disparity between the world's rich and poor. His speech was greeted with much applause from other world leaders, although American anti-communist protesters demonstrated against him outside the building.[325] Relations between Cuba and other North American states improved, with the Mexican President Luis Echeverría reiterating ties between the two countries in the face of U.S. domination and the Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau even proclaiming "Viva Castro!".[330] Relations with the U.S. also improved following the election of Democratic Party candidate Jimmy Carter in 1977. Carter continued to criticize the human rights abuses of Castro's government, but took a more respectful approach which gained Castro's attention. Believing Carter to be well meaning and sincere, Castro freed certain political prisoners and allowed some Cuban exiles to visit relatives on the island, hoping that in turn Carter would abolish the U.S. economic embargo and halt the CIA's support for militant dissident groups.[331]
Reagan and Gorbachev: 1980–1989[link]
By the start of the 1980s, the Cuban economy was again in trouble, following a decline in the price of sugar on the open market and a decimated harvest following 1979's bad weather and plant infestations.[332] Increasing numbers of Cubans began hijacking boats and fleeing toward Florida, enticed by the wealth and consumer goods of the U.S., leading Castro to call them traitorous "scum".[333] In one incident, 10,000 Cubans eager to leave had stormed the Peruvian Embassy requesting asylum, embarrassing both the Peruvians and Cubans. The U.S. agreed that it would accept 3,500 Cubans, and so an angry Castro agreed that those who wanted to leave could do so from the port of Mariel. Hundreds of boats arrived from the U.S., leading to a mass exodus of 120,000; Castro's government took advantage of the situation by unloading criminals and the mentally ill onto the boats destined for Florida.[334]
In 1980, the Republican Party nominee Ronald Reagan was elected to the U.S. Presidency, pursuing a hard line approach against Castro,[335] and by 1981, Castro was accusing the U.S. of undertaking biological warfare against Cuba.[335] Although he despised the right wing military junta in Argentina, Castro supported them in the 1982 Falklands War against the British, whom he viewed as an imperialist aggressor, even offering military aid to the Argentinians, although British forces had won the war before this ever materialized.[336] Castro had also been supportive of the leftist New Jewel Movement that had seized power in Grenada in 1979, sending in doctors, teachers, and technicians to aid the country's development, and befriending the Grenadine Marxist president, Maurice Bishop. When Bishop was murdered by members of his own government in October 1983, Castro cautiously continued supporting the Grenadine government, which remained Marxist. However, the U.S. and six Caribbean nations opposed the coup as a basis for invading the island and overthrowing the government; those Cuban soldiers who fought alongside their Grenadian comrades were killed. Castro denounced the invasion and compared the U.S. to Nazi Germany, with condemnation also coming from the Soviet Union and the U.N. General Assembly.[337] Fearing a U.S. invasion of Nicaragua, Castro sent General Ochoa to help train the Sandinistas, particularly in the tactics of guerrilla warfare, but received little support from the Soviet Union.[338]
The Cuban government were desperate for money to boost the economy and fund its internationalist ambitions, in doing so turning to almost any economic transaction, however un-socialist. They began secretly selling off paintings from the national collections on the international market and illicitly traded to obtain U.S. electronic goods through Panama.[339] Castro became passionate in his denunciation of the Third World debt problem, arguing that the Third World would never escape the debt that the First World banks and governments had imposed upon it. In 1985 alone Havana hosted five international conferences on the world debt problem.[339]
In October 1985, Castro gave up regularly smoking Cuban cigars on medical advice, helping to set an example for the rest of the populace.[340]
Cuba's "Special Period": 1990–2000[link]
When Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev visited Cuba in 1989, the camaraderie between Havana and Moscow was strained by Gorbachev's implementation of economic and political reforms in the USSR. "We are witnessing sad things in other socialist countries, very sad things", lamented Castro in November 1989, in reference to the changes that were sweeping such communist allies as the Soviet Union, East Germany, Hungary, and Poland.[341] The subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 had an immediate and devastating effect on Cuba.
José María Aznar, former Spanish Prime Minister, wrote that the embargo was Castro's greatest ally, and that Castro would lose his presidency within three months if the embargo was lifted.[342] Castro retained control after Cuba became bankrupt and isolated following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The synergistic contraction of Cuban economy resulted in eighty-five percent of its markets disappearing, along with subsidies and trade agreements that had supported it, causing extended gas and water outages, severe power shortages, and dwindling food supplies.[343] In 1994, the island's economy plunged into what was called the "Special Period"; teetering on the brink of collapse. Cuba legalized the US dollar, turned to tourism, and encouraged the transfer of remittances in US dollars from Cubans living in the USA to their relatives on the Island. After massive damage caused by Hurricane Michelle in 2001, Castro proposed a one-time cash purchase of food from the U.S. while declining a U.S. offer of humanitarian aid.[344]
The U.S. authorized the shipment of food in 2001, the first since the embargo was imposed.[345] During 2004, Castro shut down 118 factories, including steel plants, sugar mills and paper processors to compensate for the crisis due to fuel shortages,[346] and in 2005 directed thousands of Cuban doctors to Venezuela in exchange for oil imports.[347]
Cuba and the Pink Tide: 2001–2008[link]
"As I have said before, the ever more sophisticated weapons piling up in the arsenals of the wealthiest and the mightiest can kill the illiterate, the ill, the poor and the hungry, but they cannot kill ignorance, illness, poverty or hunger."— Fidel Castro, 2002[348]
Cuba and Panama restored diplomatic ties in 2005 after breaking them off a year prior when Panama's former president pardoned four Cuban exiles accused of attempting to assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro in 2000. The foreign minister of each country re-established official diplomatic relations in Havana by signing a document describing a spirit of fraternity that has long linked both nations.[349] Cuba, once shunned by many of its Latin American neighbors, now has full diplomatic relations with all but Costa Rica and El Salvador.[349]
Although the relationship between Cuba and Mexico remains strained, each side appears to make attempts to improve it. In 1998, Fidel Castro apologized for remarks he made about Mickey Mouse which led Mexico to recall its ambassador from Havana. He said he intended no offense when he said earlier that Mexican children would find it easier to name Disney characters than to recount key figures in Mexican history. Rather, he said, his words were meant to underscore the cultural dominance of the US.[350] Mexican president Vicente Fox apologized to Fidel Castro in 2002 over statements by Castro, who had taped their telephone conversation, to the effect that Fox forced him to leave a United Nations summit in Mexico so that he would not be in the presence of President Bush, who also attended.[351]
At a summit meeting of sixteen Caribbean countries in 1998, Castro called for regional unity, saying that only strengthened cooperation between Caribbean countries would prevent their domination by rich nations in a global economy.[352] Caribbean nations have embraced Cuba's Fidel Castro while accusing the US of breaking trade promises. Castro, until recently a regional outcast, has been increasing grants and scholarships to the Caribbean countries, while US aid has dropped 25% over the past five years.[353] Cuba has opened four additional embassies in the Caribbean Community including: Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Suriname, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. This development makes Cuba the only country to have embassies in all independent countries of the Caribbean Community.[354]
Castro was known to be a friend of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and was an honorary pall bearer at Trudeau's funeral in October 2000. They had continued their friendship after Trudeau left office until his death. Canada became one of the first American allies openly to trade with Cuba. Cuba still has a good relationship with Canada. In 1998, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien arrived in Cuba to meet President Castro and highlight their close ties. He is the first Canadian government leader to visit the island since Pierre Trudeau was in Havana in 1976.[355]
The European Union accuses the Castro regime of "continuing flagrant violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms".[356] In December 2001, European Union representatives described their political dialogue with Cuba as back on track after a weekend of talks in Havana. The EU praised Cuba's willingness to discuss questions of human rights. Cuba is the only Latin American country without an economic co-operation agreement with the EU. However, trade with individual European countries remains strong since the US trade embargo on Cuba leaves the market free from American rivals.[357]
In 2005, EU Development Commissioner Louis Michel ended his visit to Cuba optimistic that relations with the communist state will become stronger. The EU is Cuba's largest trading partner. Cuba's imprisonment of 75 dissidents and the execution of three hijackers have strained diplomatic relations. However, the EU commissioner was impressed with Fidel Castro's willingness to discuss these concerns, although he received no commitments from Castro. Cuba does not admit to holding political prisoners, seeing them rather as mercenaries in the pay of the United States.[358]
Castro is seen as an icon by leaders of recent socialist governments in Latin America. Hugo Chávez of Venezuela is a long-time admirer and reached agreements with Cuba to provide subsidized petroleum in exchange for Cuban medical assistance. Evo Morales of Bolivia has described him as "the grandfather of all Latin American revolutionaries".[359]
Speculation on illness: 1998–2005[link]
Due to the issue of presidential succession and Castro's longevity, there have long been rumors, speculation and hoaxing about Castro's health and demise. In 1998 there were reports that he had a serious brain disease, later discredited.[360] In June 2001, he apparently fainted during a seven-hour speech under the Caribbean sun.[361] Later that day he finished the speech, walking buoyantly into the television studios in his military fatigues, joking with journalists.[362]
In January 2004, Luis Eduardo Garzón, the mayor of Bogotá, said that Castro "seemed very sick to me" following a meeting with him during a vacation in Cuba.[363] In May 2004, Castro's physician denied that his health was failing, and speculated that he would live to be 140 years old. Dr. Eugenio Selman Housein said that the "press is always speculating about something, that he had a heart attack once, that he had cancer, some neurological problem", but maintained that Castro was in good health.[364]
On October 20, 2004, Castro tripped and fell following a speech he gave at a rally, breaking his kneecap and fracturing his right arm.[365] He was able to recover his ability to walk and publicly demonstrated this two months later.[366]
In 2005, the CIA said it thought Castro had Parkinson's disease.[367][368] Castro denied such allegations, while also citing the example of Pope John Paul II in saying that he would not fear the disease.[369]
Transfer of duties, speculation on illness 2006–2007[link]
On July 31, 2006, Castro delegated his duties as President of the Council of state, President of the Council of Ministers, First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party and the post of commander in chief of the armed forces to his brother Raúl Castro. This transfer of duties was described at the time as temporary while Fidel recovered from surgery he underwent due to an "acute intestinal crisis with sustained bleeding".[370] Fidel Castro was too ill to attend the nationwide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Granma boat landing on December 2, 2006, which also became his belated 80th birthday celebrations. Castro's non-appearance fueled reports that he had terminal pancreatic cancer and was refusing treatment,[371] but on December 17, 2006 Cuban officials stated that Castro had no terminal illness and would eventually return to his public duties.[372]
However, on December 24, 2006, Spanish newspaper El Periódico de Catalunya reported that Spanish surgeon José Luis García Sabrido had been flown to Cuba on a plane chartered by the Cuban government. Dr. García Sabrido is an intestinal expert who further specializes in the treatment of cancer. The plane that Dr. García Sabrido traveled in also was reported to be carrying a large quantity of advanced medical equipment.[373][374] On December 26, 2006, shortly after returning to Madrid, Dr. García Sabrido held a news conference in which he answered questions about Castro's health. He stated that "He does not have cancer, he has a problem with his digestive system", and added, "His condition is stable. He is recovering from a very serious operation. It is not planned that he will undergo another operation for the moment."[375] Although most Cubans acknowledge that they are aware Castro is seriously ill, most also seem worried about a future without Castro.[376]
On January 16, 2007, the Spanish newspaper, El País, citing two unnamed sources from the Gregorio Marañón hospital —who employs Dr. García Sabrido— in Madrid, reported Castro was in "very grave" condition, having trouble wound healing, after three failed operations and complications from an intestinal infection caused by a severe case of diverticulitis. However, Dr. García Sabrido told CNN that he was not the source of the report and that "any statement that doesn't come directly from [Castro's] medical team is without foundation."[377] Also, a Cuban diplomat in Madrid said the reports were lies and declined to comment, while White House press secretary Tony Snow said the report appeared to be "just sort of a roundup of previous health reports. We've got nothing new."[378][379][380] On January 30, 2007, Cuban television and the paper Juventud Rebelde showed fresh video and photos from a meeting between Castro and Hugo Chávez said to have taken place the previous day.[381][382]
In mid-February 2007, it was reported by the Associated Press that Acting President Raúl Castro had said that Fidel Castro's health was improving and he was taking part in all important issues facing the government. "He's consulted on the most important questions", Raúl Castro said of Fidel. "He doesn't interfere, but he knows about everything."[383] On February 27, 2007, Reuters reported that Fidel Castro had called into Aló Presidente, a live radio talk show hosted by Hugo Chávez, and chatted with him for thirty minutes during which time he sounded "much healthier and more lucid" than he had on any of the audio and video tapes released since his surgery in July. Castro reportedly told Chávez, "I am gaining ground. I feel I have more energy, more strength, more time to study", adding with a chuckle, "I have become a student again." Later in the conversation, he made reference to the fall of the world stock markets that had occurred earlier in the day and remarked that it was proof of his contention that the world capitalist system is in crisis.[384][385]
Reports of improvements in his condition continued to circulate throughout March and early April. On April 13, 2007, Chávez was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that Castro has "almost totally recovered" from his illness. That same day, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Roque confirmed during a press conference in Vietnam that Castro had improved steadily and had resumed some of his leadership responsibilities.[386] On April 21, 2007, the official newspaper Granma reported that Castro had met for over an hour with Wu Guanzheng, a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party who was visiting Havana. Photographs of their meeting showed the Cuban president looking healthier than he had in any previously released since his surgery.[387]
As a comment on Castro's recovery, U.S. President George W. Bush said: "One day the good Lord will take Fidel Castro away", Hearing about this, Castro, who is thought to be atheist, ironically replied: "Now I understand why I survived Bush's plans and the plans of other presidents who ordered my assassination: the good Lord protected me."[388]
In January 2009 Castro asked Cubans not to worry about his lack of recent news columns, his failing health, and not to be disturbed by his future death.[389] At the same time pictures were released of Castro's meeting with the Argentine president Cristina Fernández on January 21, 2009.[390]
Later years and retirement: 2008-present[link]
"I'm really happy to reach 80. I never expected it, not least having a neighbor – the greatest power in the world – trying to kill me every day."— Fidel Castro, July 21, 2006[391]
In a letter dated February 18, 2008, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of president and commander in chief at the February 24, 2008 National Assembly meetings, saying "I will not aspire to nor accept—I repeat I will not aspire to or accept—the post of President of the Council of State and Commander in Chief,"[392] effectively announcing his retirement from official public life.[393][394][395] The letter was published online by the official Communist Party newspaper Granma. In it, Castro stated that his health was a primary reason for his decision, stating that "It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer".[396]
On February 24, 2008, the National Assembly of People's Power unanimously chose his brother, Raúl Castro, as Fidel's successor as President of Cuba.[397] In his first speech as Fidel's successor, he proposed to the National Assembly of People's Power that Fidel continue to be consulted on matters of great importance, such as defense, foreign policy and "the socioeconomic development of the country". The proposal was immediately and unanimously approved by the 597 members of the National Assembly. Raúl described his brother as "not substitutable".[398] Castro had already given up the post of First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba on July 31, 2006.[399][400]
Since his retirement, Castro has written a regular column in Granma called "Reflections", in which he writes on world affairs, and has occasionally made pre-taped appearances on television greeting visitors such as Hugo Chávez in his room. In July 2010, he made his first public appearance greeting workers at a science center and gave his most prominent television interview since falling ill, on the Cuban program Mesa Redonda speaking for an extended period about tensions between the United States, Iran and North Korea.[401]
On August 7, 2010, Castro gave his first speech to the Cuban National Assembly in four years. He addressed the body for ten minutes on international affairs and then remained to listen and respond to questions for a further 70 minutes. In his comments he urged the United States not to go to war with Iran or North Korea and warning about the dangers of a nuclear holocaust. When asked whether Castro may be re-entering government, Culture minister Abel Prieto told the BBC, "I think that he has always been in Cuba's political life but he is not in the government...He has been very careful about that. His big battle is international affairs."[402][403][404][405]
On April 19, 2011, Castro resigned from the Communist Party central committee,[406] thus stepping down as leader of the party. Raúl Castro was selected as his successor.[407]
Politics[link]
Main article: Politics of Fidel Castro
Castro has proclaimed himself to be "a Socialist, a Marxist, and a Leninist".[408] As a socialist, Castro believes strongly in converting Cuba, and the wider world, from a capitalist system in which business and industry is owned by private individuals and organizations, into a socialist system in which all business and industry are owned by the state on behalf of the populace. In the former, there is a class divide between the wealthy classes who control the means of production (i.e. the factories, farms, media etc) and the poorer working classes who labor on them, whilst in the latter, socialists argue, this class divide would be obliterated as society becomes more egalitarian.
Marxism is the sociopolitical theory developed by German sociologists Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the mid-19th century. It holds as its foundation the idea of class struggle; that society mainly changes and progresses as one socioeconomic class takes power from another. Thus Marxists believe that capitalism replaced feudalism in the Early Modern period as the wealthy industrial class, or bourgeoisie, took political and economic power from the traditional land-owning class, the aristocracy and monarchy. In the same process, Marxists predict that socialism will replace capitalism as the industrial working class, or proletariat, seize power from the bourgeoisie through revolutionary action. In this way, Marxism is believed by its supporters to provide a scientific explanation for why socialism should, and will, replace capitalism in human society.
"What talent and abilities! What thought, what resolve, what moral strength! He formulated a doctrine, he propounded a philosophy of independence and an exceptional humanistic philosophy."
—Fidel Castro on Martí, 2009.[409]
Leninism refers to the theories put forward by Russian revolutionary, political theorist and politician Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party who was a leading figure in the October Revolution that overthrew the Russian capitalist government and replaced it with a socialist alternative in 1917. Taking Marxism as its basis, Leninism revolves around putting forward ideas for how to convert a capitalist state into a socialist one. Castro used Leninist thought as a model upon which to convert the Cuban state and society into a socialist form.
Castro has described two historical figures as being particular influences on his political viewpoints; the Cuban anti-imperialist revolutionary José Martí (1853–1895) and the German sociologist and theorist Karl Marx (1818–1883).[410] Castro has taken a relatively socially conservative stance on many issues, opposing alcohol, drugs, gambling and prostitution, which he viewed as moral evils. Instead he has advocated hard work, family values, integrity and self-discipline.[411]
Personal and public life[link]
In his biography of the Cuban leader, entitled The Real Fidel Castro (2003), the Briton Leycester Coltman described the Cuban as being "fiercely hard-working, dedicated[,] loyal... generous and magnanimous" but also noted that he could be "vindictive and unforgiving" at times. He went on to note that Castro "always had a keen sense of humor and could laugh at himself" but could equally be "a bad loser" who would act with "ferocious rage if he thought that he was being humiliated."[412] Similarly, another of Castro's biographers, Peter Bourne, noted that Castro "suffers fools poorly" and that in his younger years he was "intolerant" of those who did not share his views for Cuba's future.[413] In her book, Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder and the Cold War in the Caribbean (2011), the British historian Alex Von Tunzelmann commented that "though ruthless, [Castro] was a patriot, a man with a profound sense that it was his mission to save the Cuban people", contrasting him strongly to his Haitian contemporary François Duvalier.[414]
Castro was known for his busy working hours, often only going to bed at 3 am or 4 am in the morning.[415] He described Ernest Hemingway as his favorite writer,[416] and enjoyed reading but was uninterested in music, and also spent much of his time trying to keep fit, undertaking regular exercise.[340] He took a great interest in gastronomy, as well as wine and whisky, and as Cuban leader was known to wander into his kitchen to discuss ingredients and cookery with his chefs.[340]
Fidel Castro's religious beliefs have been a matter of some debate. Castro was baptized and raised a Roman Catholic as a child but did not practice as one. He has publicly stated that "I have never been a believer", and has total conviction that there is only one life.[417] Pope John XXIII excommunicated Castro in 1962 after Castro suppressed Catholic institutions in Cuba.[418] Castro has publicly criticized what he sees as elements of the Bible that have been used to justify the oppression of both women and people of African descent throughout history.[419] In his 2009 spoken autobiography, Castro said that Christianity exhibited "a group of very humane precepts" which gave the world "ethical values" and a "sense of social justice", before relating that "If people call me Christian, not from the standpoint of religion but from the standpoint of social vision, I declare that I am a Christian."[420]
Family and friends[link]
By his first wife Mirta Díaz-Balart, whom he married on October 11, 1948, Castro has a son named Fidel Ángel "Fidelito" Castro Díaz-Balart, born on September 1, 1949. Díaz-Balart and Castro were divorced in 1955, and she remarried Emilio Núñez Blanco. After a spell in Madrid, Díaz-Balart reportedly returned to Havana to live with Fidelito and his family.[421] Fidelito grew up in Cuba; for a time, he ran Cuba's atomic-energy commission before being removed from the post by his father.[422] Díaz-Balart's nephews are Republican U.S. Congressmen Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Mario Diaz-Balart, vocal critics of the Castro government.[citation needed]
Fidel has five other sons by his second wife, Dalia Soto del Valle: Antonio, Alejandro, Alexis, Alexander "Alex" and Ángel Castro Soto del Valle.[422] While Fidel was married to Mirta, he had an affair with Natalia "Naty" Revuelta Clews, born in Havana in 1925 and married to Orlando Fernández, resulting in a daughter named Alina Fernández-Revuelta.[422] Alina left Cuba in 1993, disguised as a Spanish tourist,[423] and sought asylum in the United States. She has been a vocal critic of her father's policies.[citation needed] Alina was assisted by Elena Diaz-Vernon Amos, wife of AFLAC founder John Amos. Alina lived with Elena in Columbus, Georgia, for several years. By an unnamed woman he had another son, Jorge Ángel Castro. Fidel has another daughter, Francisca Pupo (born 1953) the result of a one night affair. Pupo and her husband now live in Miami.[424][425]
His sister Juanita Castro has been living in the United States since the early 1960s. When she went into exile, she said "I cannot longer remain indifferent to what is happening in my country. My brothers Fidel and Raúl have made it an enormous prison surrounded by water. The people are nailed to a cross of torment imposed by international Communism."[426]
While in power, Castro's two closest male friends were the former Mayor of Havana Pepin Naranjo and his own personal physician, René Vallejo. [427] From 1980 until his death in 1995, Naranjo headed Castro's team of advisors[428] He also had a deep friendship with fellow revolutionary Celia Sanchez, who accompanied him almost everywhere during the 1960s, and controlled almost all access to the leader.[429]
Public image[link]
By wearing military-style uniforms and leading mass demonstrations, Castro projected an image of a perpetual revolutionary. He was mostly seen in military attire, but his personal tailor, Merel Van 't Wout, convinced him to occasionally change to a business suit.[430] Within Cuba, Castro is often nicknamed "El Caballo", meaning "The Horse", a label that was first attributed to Cuban entertainer Benny Moré, who on hearing Castro passing in the Havana night with his entourage, shouted out "Here comes the horse!" The name itself is an allusion to Castro's well known womanizing during the 1950s and early 1960s.[415][431] During this period, Castro himself was widely recognized as a sex symbol within Cuba, and a minor sensation was caused when footage was publicly broadcast showing that he had skinny legs.[427]
Large throngs of people gathered to cheer at Castro's fiery speeches, which typically lasted for hours. Many details of Castro's private life, particularly involving his family members, are scarce as the media is forbidden to mention them.[432] Castro's image appears frequently in Cuban stores, classrooms, taxicabs, and national television.[433] Despite this, Castro has stated that he does not promote a cult of personality.[434]
In the United States, Castro achieved a very different public image from that in Cuba. After his leftward turn, the U.S. media began considering Castro to be "a dangerous eccentric" who posed a threat to the U.S. with his "radical, subversive thinking."[435]
Recognition and legacy[link]
"What will be his legacy? ... The answers to those questions are mixed. Castro first and foremost is and always has been a committed egalitarian. He despises any system in which one class or group of people lives much better than another. He wanted a system that provided the basic needs to all—enough to eat, health care, adequate housing and education. The authoritarian nature of the Cuban Revolution stems largely from his commitment to that goal. Castro was convinced that he was right, and that his system was for the good of the people. Thus, anyone who stood against the revolution stood also against the Cuban people and that, in Castro’s eyes, was simply unacceptable. There is, then, very little in the way of individual freedoms – especially freedom of expression and assembly. And there are political prisoners ... (However) before 1959, Cuba was considered as something of a banana republic. It played virtually no role in the international arena. But under Castro, it has played a prominent role, indeed at times a role that often resembled that of a world power. Wherever Castro has gone in the hemisphere over the past few years, he has been received with warm applause. Why? Because he stood up to the United States, has defied Washington and gone his own way. That is something virtually all Latin Americans respect and admire."
Various leftist governments across the world have granted Castro awards for his work in promoting socialism and providing international humanitarian aid. The Juche government of North Korea for instance awarded him "the Golden Medal (Hammer and Sickle) and the First Class Order of the National Flag",[437] whilst Muammar Gaddafi's Arab socialist government of Libya bestowed upon him a "Libyan human rights award".[438] On a visit to South Africa in 1998 he was warmly received by President Nelson Mandela.[439] President Mandela gave Castro South Africa's highest civilian award for foreigners, the Order of Good Hope.[440]
In Harlem, Castro is seen as an icon because of his historic visit with Malcolm X in 1960 at the Hotel Theresa.[441]
After the fall of apartheid and the independence of Namibia, the country's capital, the city of Windhoek, renamed many streets, including one that now bears the name of Fidel Castro Street.[442][443]
Honors and awards[link]
- Hero of the Soviet Union[444]
- Order of Lenin, three times; (Soviet Union) 1963, "for their successful struggle for freedom and independence of heroic Cuban people, who has made a worthy contribution to the great cause of peace and socialism and his great role in strengthening and development of the fraternal Soviet-Cuban";[445] 1972;[446] 1986 "for his contribution to the promotion of fraternal relations between the USSR and Cuba".[447]
- Lenin Peace Prize for Strengthening International Peace Among Peoples (Soviet Union, 1961)
- Jubilee Medal "Thirty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945" (Soviet Union, 1975)[448]
- Order of the October Revolution (Soviet Union, 1976)[449]
- Star of the Republic of Indonesia, Fourth Class
- Guerrilla Star (Indonesia, 1960)
- Order of the Star of the Romanian Socialist Republic, First Class (1972; "for special merits in the revolutionary struggle for national liberation and social development of Cuba, for the defense of national independence and sovereignty of the motherland socialism against imperialism, for the special contribution made to the expansion of multilateral relations of cooperation, international friendship and solidarity between the Communist Party of Cuba and the Romanian Communist Party, between the Republic of Cuba and the Socialist Republic of Romania, between Cuba and the Romanian people".[450]
- Order of the White Lion, First Class (Czechoslovakia, 1972)[451]
- Order of Georgi Dimitrov (Bulgaria, 1972)[452]
- Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1973)[453]
- Order of Courage (Libya) (1977)
- Somali Order, First Class (1977)[454]
- Order of Jamaica (1977)[455]
- Order of Merit of Jamaica[456]
- Great Order of the Star Honor of Socialist Ethiopia (1978), for Cuban aid to victory in the Ogaden War[457]
- Jorge Dimitrov Prize for Peace (Bulgaria, 1980)[458]
- Order of the Gold Star (Vietnam, 1982)
- Hero of the People's Republic of Korea[459]
- Order of National Flag, First Class (North Korea, 1986)[459]
- Order of Karl Marx (German Democratic Republic)[460]
- Collar of the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico, 1987)
- Gold Medal of the Senate of Spain (1988)
- Order of Klement Gottwald (Czechoslovakia, 1989) "for outstanding personal merits for the expansion of fraternal and friendly partnership and cooperation between Cuban and Czechoslovak Communist parties, the two countries and their peoples".[461]
- Order Agostinho Neto (Angola, 1992)[462]
- Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez and Mella, Grand Cross Gold Plate (Dominican Republic, 1998)[463]
- Order of Good Hope, First Degree (South Africa, 1998)[464]
- Grand Cross of the Order Mali National (July 1998)[465]
- Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise (Ukraine, 2000), for medical assistance to victims of the Chernobyl disaster[466]
- Independence Medal of Qatar (15 September 2000)[467]
- Order of the Republic of Yemen (2000)[468]
- Grand Collar of the Order of the Liberator (Venezuela, October 2000)[469]
- Grand Collar of the Order Agostura Congress (Venezuela, 2001)[470]
- Honorary Medal of the Algerian Liberation Army (May 6, 2001)[471]
- Order of the Crown of the Realm (Malaysia, 11/05/2001)[472]
- Medal of the City of Buenos Aires (2003)[473]
- Hero of Working (North Korea, 2006)[474]
- Order of National Flag First Class (North Korea, 2006) to "promote the reunification of the Korean peninsula and build socialism"[474]
- Amilcar Cabral Medal (Guinea Bissau, 2007) for "having contributed to the establishment and strengthening of Guinea Bissau"[475]
- Sports Merit Medal (Ministry of Sports of Ecuador, 2007)[476]
- Order of the Ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis (Namibia, March 2008) "for his support of African liberation struggles"[477]
- Ubuntu Award (National Heritage Council of South Africa, 2008) "a life dedicated to solidarity and ethics, highlighting the importance of human values and dedication to humanity"[478]
- Medal of Honor of Dominica (November 2008) for "the support provided by Cuba and its leader since independence in Dominica"[479]
- Great Extraordinary Cross of Order of Omar Torrijos Herrera (Panama, January 2009)[480]
- Grand Collar of the Order of the Quetzal (February 2009) "in appreciation for the more than 17 million consultations and more than 40,000 operations of the Operation Miracle Eye, made by Cuban doctors for the benefit of the Guatemalan people"[481]
- Order of Oliver Reginald Tambo, Fellow in Grade Gold South Africa "for his contribution to the eradication of racism, colonialism, apartheid and inequality in human society"[482]
- Order of Honour and Glory (Russian Orthodox Church, October 19, 2008) - for his contribution to strengthening inter-religious cooperation in connection with the consecration of the church of Our Lady of Kazan in Havana
- Order of the Eagle of Zambia, First Degree (Zambia, September 2009) "for having inspired many to fight for dignity and equality"[483]
- Order of Merit, first grade (Ukraine, March 2010) "for his important contribution to restoring the health of the children of Chernobyl, after an accident in 1986 in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic"[484]
- General Eloy Alfaro Award (Ecuador, May 2010) for its "exceptional merit and dignity"[485]
- East Timor Order, Great Collar (November 2010) "for Cuban support in health and education"[486]
Controversy and criticism[link]
Main articles: Human rights in Cuba and Censorship in Cuba
Description as a dictator[link]
Many observers refer to Castro as a "dictator",[487][488][489][490][491][492] and his rule was the longest to-date in modern Latin American history.[489][490][491][492]
Castro publicly refuted allegations that he was a dictator and repeatedly told foreign journalists that under his government, Cuba was more democratic than the liberal democracies in the West, with greater consultation of the populace. He repeatedly emphasized that constitutionally, he held less political power than most heads of state, including that of the U.S. president, although critics nonetheless argued that he held an enormous amount of unofficial influence over the country.[493]
Allegations of human rights abuses[link]
The Human Rights Watch organization has suggested that Castro constructed a "repressive machinery" which "continues to deprive Cubans of their basic rights".[494]
Castro has publicly defended his government from such accusations, using the "standard Marxist answers" to such criticisms; that the state must limit the freedoms of individuals in order to protect the rights of the collective populace, such as the right to employment, education and health care.[495]
Allegations of corruption[link]
In their book, Corruption in Cuba, Sergio Diaz-Briquets and Jorge F. Pérez-López Servando state that Castro "institutionalized" corruption and that "Castro's state-run monopolies, cronyism, and lack of accountability have made Cuba one of the world's most corrupt states".[496] Servando Gonzalez, in The Secret Fidel Castro, calls Castro a "corrupt tyrant".[497]
In 1959, according to Gonzalez, Castro established "Fidel's checking account", from which he could draw funds as he pleased. The "Comandante's reserves" were created in 1970, from which Castro allegedly "provided gifts to many of his cronies, both home and abroad". Gonzalez asserts that Comandante's reserves have been linked to counterfeiting business empires and money laundering.[497]
As early as 1968, a once-close friend of Castro's wrote that Castro had huge accounts in Swiss banks. Castro's secretary was allegedly seen using Zürich banks. Gonzalez wrote that Cuba's paucity of trade with Switzerland contrasts oddly with the National Office of Cuba's relatively large office in Zurich.[497] Castro has denied having a bank account abroad with even a dollar in it.[498]
Allegations of wealth[link]
A KGB officer, Alexei Novikov, stated that Castro's personal life, like the lives of the rest of the Communist elite, is "shrouded under an impenetrable veil of secrecy". Among other things, he asserted that Castro has a personal guard of more than 9,700 men and three luxurious yachts.[497]
In 2005, American business and financial magazine Forbes listed Castro among the world's richest people, with an estimated net worth of US$550 million. The estimates, which the magazine admitted were "more art than science",[499] claimed that the Cuban leader's personal wealth was nearly double that of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, despite anecdotal evidence from diplomats and businessmen that the Cuban leader's personal life was notably austere.[498] This assessment was drawn by making economic estimates of the net worth of Cuba's state-owned companies, and used the assumption that Castro had personal economic control.[500] Forbes later increased the estimates to US$900 million, adding rumors of large cash stashes in Switzerland.[498] The magazine offered no proof of this information,[499] and according to CBS News, Castro's entry on the rich list was notably brief compared to the amount of information provided on other figures.[499] Castro, who had considered suing the magazine, responded that the claims were "lies and slander", and that they were part of a US campaign to discredit him.[498] He declared: "If they can prove that I have a bank account abroad, with US$900m, with US$1m, US$500,000, US$100,000 or US$1 in it, I will resign."[498] President of Cuba's Central Bank, Francisco Soberón, called the claims a "grotesque slander", asserting that money made from various state owned companies is pumped back into the island's economy, "in sectors including health, education, science, internal security, national defense and solidarity projects with other countries."[500]
Authored works[link]
Fully or partially by Fidel Castro
- Capitalism in Crisis: Globalization and World Politics Today, Ocean Press, 2000, ISBN 1-876175-18-4
- Che: A Memoir, Ocean Press, 2005, ISBN 1-920888-25-X
- Cuba at the Crossroads, Ocean Press, 1997, ISBN 1-875284-94-X
- Fidel Castro: My Life: A Spoken Autobiography, Scribner, 2008, ISBN 1-4165-5328-2
- Fidel Castro Reader, Ocean Press, 2007, ISBN 1-920888-88-8
- Fidel My Early Years, Ocean Press, 2004, ISBN 1-920888-09-8
- Fidel & Religion: Conversations with Frei Betto on Marxism & Liberation Theology, Ocean Press, 2006, ISBN 1-920888-45-4
- How Far We Slaves Have Come! South Africa and Cuba in Today's World, by Nelson Mandela & Fidel Castro, Pathfinder Press, 1991, ISBN 0-87348-729-X
- Playa Giron: Bay of Pigs: Washington's First Military Defeat in the Americas, Pathfinder Press, 2001, ISBN 0-87348-925-X
- Political Portraits: Fidel Castro reflects on famous figures in history, Ocean Press, 2008, ISBN 1-920888-94-2
- The Declarations of Havana, Verso, 2008, ISBN 1-84467-156-9
- The Prison Letters of Fidel Castro, Nation Books, 2007, ISBN 1-56025-983-3
- The Strategic Victory: The War Against Batista in the Sierra Maestra [La contraofensiva estratégica: De la Sierra Maestra a Santiago de Cuba], Ocean Press, 2012 [2011], ISBN 0-9870779-0-2
- Time Warrior [Guerrillero del Tiempo], by Fidel Castro Ruz and Katiuska Blanco, Abril, 2012
- War, Racism and Economic Justice: The Global Ravages of Capitalism, Ocean Press, 2002, ISBN 1-876175-47-8
See also[link]
References[link]
Footnotes[link]
- ^ Bardach, Ann Louise. "LOVE, FIDEL Letters From Prison: Castro Revealed." The Washington Post. February 23, 2007. Retrieved on October 15, 2011.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 08.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 01–02.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986. pp. 14–15.
- ^ a b Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 24–29.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 2–3.
- ^ a b c Coltman 2003. p. 03.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986. p. 16.
- ^ "Ancestry of Fidel Castro". wargs.com. http://www.wargs.com/other/castro.html. Retrieved December 25, 2010.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 16–17.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 31–32.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 14.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 23–24.
- ^ a b Raffy, Serge. 2004 Castro el Desleal. Santillana Ediciones Generales, S.L. Madrid. ISBN 84-03-09508-2
- ^ a b Fuentes, Norberto 2005 La Autobiografia de Fidel Castro. Destino Ediciones. ISBN 970-749-001-2
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 04–05.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. pp. 05–06.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 45–48, 52–57.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 59–60.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 29–30.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 06–07.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 64–67.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 08–09.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 09.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 68.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 16.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 91–92.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 31.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 16–17.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 9–10.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 91–93.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 18.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 34–35.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 18–19.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 32–33.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 20.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 21–24.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 34–37, 63.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 23–27.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 39–40.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 83–85.
- ^ Benjamin 1992. p. 131.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 27–28.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 95–97.
- ^ a b Von Tunzelmann 2011. p. 39.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 23–24, 37–38, 46.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 35–36, 54.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 30.
- ^ Von Tunzelmann 2011. pp. 30–33.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 31.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 40–41.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 32–34.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 41–42.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 98.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 34–35.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 42.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 36–37.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 36.
- ^ Von Tunzelmann 2011. p. 40.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 98–99.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 40–45.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 46–52.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 46–49.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 54, 56.
- ^ Von Tunzelmann 2011. p. 41.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 47–48.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 55.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 46.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 54–55.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 49.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 100.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. p. 50.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986. p. 57.
- ^ a b c Coltman 2003. p. 51.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 39.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 89.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 51–52.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 57–58.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 52–53.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. p. 53.
- ^ a b c Von Tunzelmann 2011. p. 44.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 85–87.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 46, 53–55.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 58–59.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. pp. 55–56.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 56–57, 62–63.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 57.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 57–62.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 64–65.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 64.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 63.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 79.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 65.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 68–69.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 66.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 69.
- ^ a b Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 107.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 66–67.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 73.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 72.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 71–72.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 104–106.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 69–70, 73.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 74.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 71, 74.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 76.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 75–76.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 78.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 80–81.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 80–84.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. p. 82.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 83.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 83.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 133–134.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 84.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 87–88.
- ^ Tabío, Pedro Álvarez (1975). "History Will Absolve Me". Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, La Habana, Cuba. http://www.marxists.org/history/cuba/archive/castro/1953/10/16.htm. Retrieved May 11, 2006.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 86.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 86.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 87.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 91.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 88.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 91–92.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 88–89.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 90.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986. p. 93.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 91–92.
- ^ Castro, quoted in Von Tunzelmann 2011 pp. 12–13.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 97.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 93.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 94–95.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 93–94.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 95–96.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 94–95.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 98–100.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 95–96.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 97–98.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 97–99.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 102–103.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 99–100.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 103–105.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. p. 100.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 105.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 110.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 100–101.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 106–107.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 177.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 101.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 109 and 111.
- ^ Castro quoted in Bourne 1986. p. 111.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 102.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 112.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 102–103.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 115–117.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. pp. 172-173.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. pp. 104–105.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 114.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 174.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 105–110.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 117–118, 124.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 121–124.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 109.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 122, 129-130.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 110-112.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 132-133.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 182.
- ^ a b c Coltman 2003. p. 113.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 134.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 134-135.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 114.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 135.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 114-115.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 136.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 114-117.
- ^ Thomas, Hugh (1998). Cuba or The Pursuit of Freedom (Updated Edition). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80827-7.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 137.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 116-117.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 118-119.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 139.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. p. 119.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 144.
- ^ a b Coltman 2003. p. 122.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 138.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 195.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 121-122.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 142-143.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 122-123.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 148–150.
- ^ "Familia Chibás > Raul Antonio Chibás > Manifiesto Sierra Maestra". Chibas.org. http://www.chibas.org/raul_chibas_manifiesto.php. Retrieved January 13, 2010.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 120.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 140-142.
- ^ DePalma, Anthony (April 23, 2006). "Review: The Man Who Invented Fidel". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/books/review/23alter.html. Retrieved September 26, 2011.
- ^ De Palma, Anthony. "Book Excerpt: The Man Who Invented Fidel: Castro, Cuba, and Herbert L. Matthews of the New York Times". historyofcuba.com. http://www.historyofcuba.com/history/havana/Fidel-1.htm. Retrieved May 16, 2006.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 143.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 127-128.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 155.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 129.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 129-130, 134.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 130-131.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 152–154.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 133.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 155.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 131-133.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 132.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 158.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 135.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 158.
- ^ Castro and Ramonet 2009. p. 192.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 136-137.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986. pp. 158–159.
- ^ a b c d Coltman 2003. p. 137.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986. p. 160.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 137-138.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 161–162.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 138-139.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 163.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 140-141.
- ^ Bourne 1986. p. 162.
- ^ "How the NYT presented day-one of the Cuban Revolution". CubaNow.net. January 2 1959. Archived from the original on April 26, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060426195816/http%3A//www.cubanow.net/global/loader.php%3Fsecc%3D5%26cont%3Dstories/num8/3cHnyt59.htm. Retrieved May 16, 2006.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 126, 141-142.
- ^ Bourne 1986. pp. 153, 161.
- ^ Cuba: End of a War, TIME Magazine, January 12, 1959.
- ^ a b Bourne 1986. p. 164.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 144.
- ^ Coltman 2003. pp. 150–154.
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- ^ Windhoek Streets Renamed
- ^ Fidel Castro Street travel guide
- ^ Кастро Рус Фидель Алехандро, Герой Советского Союза
- ^ Concediendo a Fidel Castro Ruz el título de Héroe de la Unión Soviética, La Prensa.
- ^ Fidel Castro
- ^ Un día como hoy: 11 de noviembre
- ^ CASTRO, PCC OFFICIALS RECEIVE SOVIET DECORATION
- ^ Биография Фиделя Кастро
- ^ Castro Speech Data Base
- ^ Castro to keep his state and university distinctions
- ^ Dimitrov Order Presentation to Fidel Castro
- ^ Visita de la delegación del gobierno polaco a Cuba el 25 de abril de 1973.
- ^ The International Who's Who, 2004, Europa Publications
- ^ Discurso pronunciado por Fidel Castro Ruz en el acto en que le fue impuesta la "Orden de Jamaica", la más alta distinción nacional que se confiere a gobernantes de otros países, en Kingston, Jamaica, October 16, 1977.
- ^ Order of Merit (OM)
- ^ «Fidel's visit to Ethiopia», September 24 edition, 1978, p. 2, Granma.
- ^ Breve biografía de Fidel Castro
- ^ a b Confiere la República Popular Democrática de Corea a Fidel, Orden Héroe del Trabajo
- ^ Kuba: Das Ende der Ära Castro. Fidels Finale: Jetzt gibt Castro, schwer krank, die Macht ab
- ^ 1989 Speech Czechoslovak - Jakes Presents Award To Castro
- ^ Discurso pronunciado por el Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz en el acto de imposición de la Orden "Agostinho Neto", efectuado en el Palacio de la Revolución, el 9 de julio de 1992.
- ^ Discurso pronunciado por Fidel Castro Ruz al recibir la Orden del Mérito de Duarte, Sánchez y Mella en el grado Gran Cruz Placa de Oro e imponer al Presidente de la República Dominicana, Dr. Leonel Fernández, la Orden José Martí. Santo Domingo, August 22, 1998.
- ^ Discurso pronunciado por el Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro Ruz, Primer Secretario del Comité Central del Partido Comunista de Cuba y Presidente de los Consejos de Estado y de Ministros, en el acto de imposición de la Orden de Buena Esperanza, efectuado en Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica, el día 4 de septiembre de 1998.
- ^ Breves de Cuba
- ^ Asistencia a los niños en Cuba
- ^ The Amir visit Cuba
- ^ CUBA IN THE MIDDLE EAST: 2000-2002
- ^ La Guerra Sucia Sobra
- ^ Discurso pronunciado al recibir la Orden Congreso de Angostura, en la Plaza Bolívar, Ciudad Bolívar, Venezuela, el 11 de agosto del 2001.
- ^ Reciben condecoraciones Presidentes de Cuba y Argelia
- ^ Rey malasio condecoró a Fidel
- ^ Fidel Castro percibe clima de "optimismo" en Argentina
- ^ a b Fidel Castro recibe condecoraciones de Corea del Norte
- ^ Otorgan medalla "Amílcar Cabral" a Fidel Castro
- ^ Ecuador otorga a Fidel Castro la Medalla al Mérito Deportivo
- ^ Conceden en Namibia condecoración a Fidel Castro
- ^ Otorgado a líder cubano Fidel Castro Premio Ubuntu, de Sudáfrica
- ^ Fidel Castro recibe Medalla de Honor de Dominica
- ^ Torrijos condecora a Fidel Castro y recibe medalla cubana
- ^ Conceden a Fidel Castro la Orden del Quetzal de Guatemala
- ^ Sudáfrica impondrá a Fidel Castro su condecoración de mayor grado
- ^ Distinguen a Fidel Castro con Orden Águila de Zambia
- ^ Yanukóvich condecora a Fidel y Raúl Castro por ayuda consecuencias Chernóbil
- ^ Legislativo ecuatoriano reconoce méritos e impronta de Fidel
- ^ Fidel Castro recibe la mayor distinción de Timor Oriental
- ^ Paul C. Sondrol (1991). "Totalitarian and Authoritarian Dictators: A Comparison of Fidel Castro and Alfredo Stroessner". Journal of Latin American Studies 23 (03): 599–620. DOI:10.1017/S0022216X00015868. JSTOR 157386.
- ^ Jay Mallin. Covering Castro: rise and decline of Cuba's communist dictator. Transaction Publishers. ISBN 978-1-56000-156-0.
- ^ a b D. H. Figueredo. The complete idiot's guide to Latino history and culture. ISBN 0-02-864360-7.
- ^ a b "Farewell Fidel: The man who nearly started World War III". Daily Mail (London). February 20, 2008. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-516539/Farewell-Fidel-The-man-nearly-started-World-War-III.html.
- ^ a b Catan, Thomas (February 20, 2008). "Fidel Castro bows to illness and age as he quits centre stage after 50 years – Times Online". The Times (London). http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3399819.ece. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ^ a b "Fidel's fade-out". http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/feb/24/fidels-fade-out/.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 292.
- ^ "Cuba: Fidel Castro's Abusive Machinery Remains Intact". Human Rights Watch. February 18, 2008. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/02/18/cuba-fidel-castro-s-abusive-machinery-remains-intact. Retrieved October 7, 2009.
- ^ Coltman 2003. p. 247.
- ^ Sergio Diaz-Briquets, Jorge F. Pérez-López. Corruption in Cuba.
- ^ a b c d Servando Gonzalez. The Secret Fidel Castro. ISBN 0-9711391-0-5.
- ^ a b c d e Castro denies huge fortune claim. BBC News.
- ^ a b c Castro: I am not rich. CBS News. Assessed April 24, 2007.
- ^ a b Castro blasts Forbes over wealth report., Associated Press. Retrieved December 13. 2006.
Bibliography[link]
- Benjamin, Jules R. (1992). The United States and the Origins of the Cuban Revolution: An Empire of Liberty in an Age of National Liberation.
- Bohning, Don (2005). The Castro Obsession: U.S. Covert Operations Against Cuba, 1959–1965. Washington, D.C.: Potomac Books, Inc.
- Bourne, Peter G. (1986). Fidel: A Biography of Fidel Castro. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company.
- Castro, Fidel; Elliot, Jeffrey M. and Dymally, Mervyn M. (interviewers) (1986). Nothing Can Stop the Course of History. New York: Pathfinder Press. ISBN 0-87348-661-7.
- Castro, Fidel; Ramonet, Ignacio (interviewer) (2009). My Life: A Spoken Autobiography. New York: Scribner. ISBN 978-1-4165-6233-7.
- Coltman, Leycester (2003). The Real Fidel Castro. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10760-9.
- Von Tunzelmann, Alex (2011). Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean. New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-9067-3.
Further reading[link]
- Castro, Fidel; Deborah Shnookal, Pedro Alvarez Tabío (2005). Fidel: my early years. Ocean Press. ISBN 1-920888-09-8. http://books.google.ca/books?id=8RVaBPGRcUcC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%20Castro&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=true.
- Castro, Fidel; Ignacio Ramonet (2008). Fidel Castro: my life: a spoken autobiography. Scribner Book Company. ISBN 1-4165-5328-2. http://books.google.ca/books?id=Z4H45OczqPYC&lpg=PP1.
- Fuentes, Norberto; Anna Kushner (2010). The Autobiography of Fidel Castro. Norton & Co. ISBN 978-0-393-06899-3. http://books.google.ca/books?id=Fazd9dOLUmUC&lpg=PP1.
- Geyer, Georgie Anne (2001). Guerrilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro. Andrews McMeel. ISBN 0-7407-2064-3. http://books.google.ca/books?id=dRhJGLnJjugC&lpg=PP1.
- Halperin, Maurice (1972). The rise and decline of Fidel Castro: an essay in contemporary history. University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02182-7. http://books.google.ca/books?id=_B9LOCZuDnQC&lpg=PP1.
- Leonard, Thomas M (2004). Fidel Castro: a biography. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-32301-1. http://books.google.ca/books?id=63sFubdrEVcC&lpg=PP1&dq=Fidel%20Castro&pg=PP1.
- Marsico, Katie (2009). Fidel Castro: Cuban President & Revolutionary. ABDO Pub. Co. ISBN 978-1-60453-522-8. http://books.google.ca/books?id=XgP9n-E7oTwC&lpg=PP1.
- Skierka, Volker (2006). Fidel Castro: a biography. Polity. ISBN 0-7456-3006-5. http://books.google.ca/books?id=x9-U3FWiW_UC&lpg=PP1.
External links[link]
| Find more about Fidel Castro on Wikipedia's sister projects: | |
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Images and media from Commons |
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News stories from Wikinews |
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Quotations from Wikiquote |
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Source texts from Wikisource |
- By Fidel Castro
- Archive of Fidel Castro's speeches in 6 languages
- Fidel Castro History Archive at Marxists Internet Archive.
- Collection of Castro's speeches
- "We Don't Hope for Favors from the Worst of Empires"
- "Where Have All the Bees Gone?"
- "In Spite of Everything: Reflections on the Pan-American Games"
- "Time for an Alliance of Civlizations Against Empire"
- Fidel Castro in His Own Words
- Images
- Castro: Early Years (1953–1961) – slideshow by Life magazine
- Fidel Castro: A Revolutionary Life – slideshow by Life magazine
- Fidel Castro: A Life in Pictures – slideshow by BBC News
- Fidel Castro's Five Decades in Power – slideshow by The Washington Post
- Fidel Castro Resigns as President – slideshow by New York Times
- About Fidel Castro
- Fidel Castro: From Rebel to El Presidente – timeline by NPR
- Arthur Miller: A Visit With Castro by The Nation, December 24, 2003
- BBC Video: Fidel Castro Visits Boyhood Home of Che Guevara
- New York Times –- Interactive Feature: Three Days With Fidel
- PBS American Experience Interactive site on Fidel Castro with a teacher's guide
- Guide to the Cuban Revolution Collection, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library
- Deena Stryker Photographs of Cuba, 1963–1964, Duke University Libraries Digital Collections
- NPR Audio: Cuba's Castro an Inspiration, Not a Role Model by Tom Gjelten, September 15, 2006
- The Guardian: "The Fidel I Think I Know" by Gabriel García Márquez, August 12, 2006
- Washington Post: Fidel Castro Will Always Lead Cuba, Locals Say February 22, 2008
- Castro's Legacy by Wayne S. Smith, US Interests Section in Havana Chief from 1979 to 1982
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| New office | First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Incapacitated in 2006 1961–2011 |
Succeeded by Raúl Castro |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by José Miró Cardona |
Prime Minister of Cuba 1959–1976 |
Position abolished |
| Preceded by Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado as President of Cuba |
President of the Council of State of Cuba Incapacitated in 2006 1976–2008 |
Succeeded by Raúl Castro |
| Preceded by Himself as Prime Minister |
President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba Incapacitated in 2006 1976–2008 |
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| Military offices | ||
| New office | Commander-in-Chief of the Revolutionary Armed Forces Incapacitated in 2006 1959–2008 |
Succeeded by Raúl Castro |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Junius Richard Jayewardene |
Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement 1979–1983 |
Succeeded by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi |
| Preceded by Neelam Sanjiva Reddy |
Secretary-General of the Non-Aligned Movement Incapacitated in 2006 2005–2008 |
Succeeded by Raúl Castro |
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| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Castro, Fidel |
| Alternative names | Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz |
| Short description | President of Cuba |
| Date of birth | August 13, 1926 |
| Place of birth | Birán, Holguín Province, Cuba |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
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| Dag Hammarskjöld | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Secretary-General of the United Nations | |
| In office 10 April 1953 – 18 September 1961 |
|
| Preceded by | Trygve Lie |
| Succeeded by | U Thant |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld (1905-07-29)29 July 1905 Jönköping, Sweden |
| Died | 18 September 1961(1961-09-18) (aged 56) Ndola, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland |
| Nationality | Swedish |
| Religion | Lutheran/Church of Sweden |
Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( [dɑːg ˈhamːarɧœld] (help·info)) (29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish diplomat, economist, and author. The second Secretary-General of the United Nations, he served from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 1961. He is one of four people to have been awarded a posthumous Nobel Peace Prize.[1] Hammarskjöld remains the only U.N. Secretary-General to die in office, and his death occurred en route to cease-fire negotiations. American President John F. Kennedy called Hammarskjöld “the greatest statesman of our century".[2]
Contents |
Early life[link]
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2010) |
Dag Hammarskjöld was born in Jönköping, Sweden, but spent most of his childhood in Uppsala. The fourth and youngest son of Hjalmar Hammarskjöld, Prime Minister of Sweden from 1914 to 1917, and Agnes Hammarskjöld (née Almquist), Hammarskjöld's ancestors served the Monarchy of Sweden since the 17th century. He studied first at Katedralskolan and then at Uppsala University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws and a Master's degree in Political economy. During this time he served for a year as the first Curator at Uplands Nation later moving to Stockholm.
From 1930 to 1934, Hammarskjöld was a Secretary on a governmental committee on unemployment. During this time he wrote his economics thesis, "Konjunkturspridningen" ("The Spread of the Business Cycle"), and received a doctorate from Stockholm University. In 1936, he became a Secretary at the Sveriges Riksbank and was soon promoted. From 1941 to 1948, he served as Chairman of the bank.
During this time Hammarskjöld also held political positions. Early in 1945, he was appointed an adviser to the cabinet on financial and economic problems. He helped coordinate government plans to alleviate the economic problems of the post-war period. In 1947, Hammarskjöld was appointed to a position with Sweden’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and in 1949 he became the State Secretary for Foreign Affairs. A delegate to the Paris conference that established the Marshall Plan, in 1948 he was again in Paris to attend a conference for the Organisation for European Economic Co-operation. In 1950, he became head of the Swedish delegation to UNISCAN. In 1951, he became a cabinet Minister without Portfolio. Although Hammarskjöld served in a cabinet dominated by the Social Democrats, he never officially joined any political party. In 1951, Hammarskjöld became Vice Chairman of the Swedish delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in Paris. He became the Chairman of the Swedish delegation to the General Assembly in New York in 1952. On 20 December 1954, he was elected to take his father's vacated seat in the Swedish Academy.
UN Secretary-General[link]
When Trygve Lie resigned from his post as UN Secretary-General in 1953, the United Nations Security Council recommended Hammarskjöld for the post. It came as a surprise to him.[3] Seen as a competent technocrat without political views, he was selected on 31 March by a majority of 10 out of eleven Security Council members. The UN General Assembly elected him in the 7–10 April session by 57 votes out of 60. In 1957, he was re-elected.
Hammarskjöld began his term by establishing his own secretariat of 4,000 administrators and setting up regulations that defined their responsibilities. He was also actively engaged in smaller projects relating to the UN working environment. For example, he planned and supervised in every detail the creation of a "meditation room" in the UN headquarters. This is a place dedicated to silence where people can withdraw into themselves, regardless of their faith, creed, or religion.[4]
During his term, Hammarskjöld tried to smooth relations between Israel and the Arab states. Other highlights include a 1955 visit to China to negotiate release of 15 captured US pilots who had served in the Korean War, the 1956 establishment of the United Nations Emergency Force, and his intervention in the 1956 Suez Crisis. He is given credit by some historians for allowing participation of the Holy See within the United Nations that year.[5]
In 1960, the former Belgian Congo and then newly independent Congo asked for UN aid in defusing the Congo Crisis. Hammarskjöld made four trips to the Congo. His efforts towards the decolonisation of Africa were considered insufficient by the Soviet Union; in September 1960, the Soviet government denounced his decision to send a UN emergency force to keep the peace. They demanded his resignation and the replacement of the office of Secretary-General by a three-man directorate with a built-in veto, the "troika". The objective was to, citing the memoirs of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, “equally represent interests of three groups of countries: capitalist, socialist and recently independent.”[6] Hammarskjöld denied Patrice Lumumba's request to help force the Katanga Province to rejoin the Congo, causing Lumumba to turn to the Soviets for help. He personally disliked Lumumba and felt that he should be removed from office.[7]
Death[link]
In September 1961, Hammarskjöld learned about fighting between "non-combatant" UN forces and Katangese troops of Moise Tshombe. He was en route to negotiate a cease-fire on the night of 17–18 September when his Douglas DC-6 airliner SE-BDY crashed near Ndola, Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia). Hammarskjöld and fifteen others perished in the crash.
A special report issued by the United Nations following the crash stated that a bright flash in the sky was seen at approximately 1:00 am the previous night.[8] According to the UN special report, it was this information that resulted in the initiation of search and rescue operations. Initial indications that the crash might not have been an accident led to multiple official inquiries and persistent speculation that the Secretary-General was assassinated.[9]
Hammarskjöld's death was a memorable event. The Dag Hammarskjöld Crash Site Memorial is under consideration for inclusion as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A press release issued by the Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo stated that, "... in order to pay a tribute to this great man, now vanished from the scene, and to his colleagues, all of whom have fallen victim to the shameless intrigues of the great financial Powers of the West... the Government has decided to proclaim Tuesday, 19 September 1961, a day of national mourning."[8]
Official inquiry[link]
Following the death of Hammarskjöld, there were three inquiries into the circumstances that led to the crash:[10] the Rhodesian Board of Investigation, the Rhodesian Commission of Inquiry, and the United Nations Commission of Investigation.
The Rhodesian Board of Investigation looked into the matter between 19 September 1961 and 2 November 1961[10] under the command of British Lt. Colonel M.C.B. Barber. The Rhodesian Commission of Inquiry held hearings from 16–29 January 1962 without United Nations oversight. The subsequent United Nations Commission of Investigation held a series of hearings in 1962 and in part depended upon the testimony from the previous Rhodesian inquiries.[10] Five "eminent persons" were assigned by the new Secretary-General to the UN Commission. The members of the commission unanimously elected Nepalese diplomat Rishikesh Shaha to head an inquiry.[10]
The three official inquiries failed to determine conclusively the cause of the crash that led to the death of Hammarskjöld. The Rhodesian Board of Investigation sent 180 men to search a six-square-kilometer area of the last sector of the aircraft's flight-path, looking for evidence as to the cause of the crash. No evidence of a bomb, surface-to-air missile, or hijacking was found. The official report stated that two of the dead Swedish bodyguards had suffered multiple bullet wounds. Medical examination, performed by the initial Rhodesian Board of Investigation and reported in the UN official report, indicated that the wounds were superficial, and that the bullets showed no signs of rifling. They concluded that the bullets exploded in the fire in close proximity to the bodyguards.[10] No other evidence of foul play was found in the wreckage of the aircraft.[11]
Previous accounts of a bright flash in the sky were dismissed as occurring too late in the evening to have caused the crash. The UN report speculated that these flashes may have been caused by secondary explosions after the crash. The sole survivor, Sergeant Harold Julien, indicated that there was a series of explosions that preceded the crash.[10][12] The official inquiry found that the statements of witnesses who talked with Julien were inconsistent.
The report states that there were numerous delays that violated the established search and rescue procedures. There were three separate delays: the first delayed the initial alarm of a possible plane in trouble; the second delayed the "distress" alarm, which indicates that communications with surrounding airports indicate that a missing plane has not landed elsewhere; the third delayed the eventual search and rescue operation and the discovery of the plane wreckage, just miles away. The medical examiners report was inconclusive; one report said that Hammarskjöld had died on impact; another stated that Hammarskjöld might have survived had rescue operations not been delayed.[10] The report also said that the chances of Sgt. Julien surviving the crash would have been "infinitely" better if the rescue operations had been hastened.[10]
Alternative theories[link]
Despite the multiple official inquiries that failed to find evidence of assassination, some continue to believe that the death of Hammarskjöld was not an accident.[9]
At the time of Hammarskjöld's death, Western intelligence agencies were actively involved in the political situation in the Congo,[9] which culminated in Belgian and American support for the secession of Katanga and the assassination of former prime minister Patrice Lumumba. Belgium and the United Kingdom had a vested interest in maintaining their control over much of the country's copper industry during the Congolese transition from colonialism to independence. Concerns about the nationalization of the copper industry could have provided a financial incentive to remove either Lumumba or Hammarskjöld.[9] Belgium has since publicly acknowledged and apologized for its negligence in the death of Lumumba.
The involvement of British officers in commanding the initial inquiries, which provided much of the information about the condition of the plane and the examination of the bodies, has led some to suggest a conflict of interest.[9][13] The official report dismissed a number of pieces of evidence that would have supported the view that Hammarskjöld was assassinated.[10] Some of these dismissals have been controversial, such as the conclusion that bullet wounds could have been caused by bullets exploding in a fire. Expert tests have questioned this conclusion, arguing that exploding bullets could not break the surface of the skin.[9][10] Major C. F. Westell, a ballistics authority, said, "I can certainly describe as sheer nonsense the statement that cartridges of machine guns or pistols detonated in a fire can penetrate a human body."[14] He based his statement on a large scale experiment that had been done to determine if military fire brigades would be in danger working near munitions depots. Other Swedish experts conducted and filmed tests showing that bullets heated to the point of explosion nonetheless did not achieve sufficient velocity to penetrate their box container.[14]
Sir Denis A H Wright, the then British Ambassador to Ethiopia, in his annual report for 1961 establishes linkage of UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold’s death on 18 September to British refusal to allow an Ethiopian Military plane carrying troops destined to join the UN mission, landing at Entebbe and over-flying British territory to Congo. Their refusal was only lifted after the death of the Secretary General. A Foreign Office official noting his comments on file, wrote affirming no “skeletons” in British cupboard and suggesting the Ambassador's comments should be removed from the final, official ‘printed’ version of the annual report.[15]
On 19 August 1998, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, chairman of South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), stated that recently uncovered letters had implicated the British MI5, the American CIA, and then South African intelligence services in the crash.[16] One TRC letter said that a bomb in the aircraft's wheel bay was set to detonate when the wheels came down for a landing. Tutu said that they were unable to investigate the truth of the letters or the allegations that South Africa or Western intelligence agencies played a role in the crash. The British Foreign Office suggested that they may have been created as Soviet misinformation or disinformation.[17]
On 29 July 2005, Norwegian Major General Bjørn Egge gave an interview to the newspaper Aftenposten on the events surrounding Hammarskjöld's death. According to General Egge, who had been the first UN officer to see the body, Hammarskjöld had a hole in his forehead, and this hole was subsequently airbrushed from photos taken of the body. It appeared to Egge that Hammarskjöld had been thrown from the plane, and grass and leaves in his hands might indicate that he survived the crash – and that he had tried to scramble away from the wreckage. Egge does not claim directly that the wound was a gunshot wound.[18]
In his speech to the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 23 September 2009, Colonel Gaddafi called upon the Libyan president of UNGA, Ali Treki, to institute a UN investigation into the assassinations of Congolese prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, who was overthrown in 1960 and murdered the following year, and of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld in 1961.[19]
According to a dozen witnesses interviewed by Swedish aid worker Göran Björkdahl in the 2000s (decade), Hammarskjöld's plane was shot down by another aircraft. Björkdahl also reviewed previously unavailable archive documents and internal UN communcations. He believes that there was an intentional shootdown for the benefit of mining companies like Union Minière.[20][21][22] A US intelligence officer who was stationed at an electronic surveillance station in Cyprus stated that he heard a cockpit recording from Ndola. In the cockpit recording a pilot talks of closing in on the DC6 in which Hammarskjold was traveling, guns are heard firing, and then the words "I've hit it".[23]
Honors[link]
- Hammarskjöld posthumously received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961, having been nominated before his death.
- Honorary degrees: The Carleton University in Ottawa (then called Carleton College)[24] awarded its first-ever honorary degree to Hammarskjöld in 1954 when it presented him with a Legum Doctor, honoris causa. The University has continued this tradition by conferring an honorary doctorate upon every subsequent Secretary General of the United Nations. He also held honorary degrees from Oxford University, England; in the United States from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Amherst, Johns Hopkins, the University of California, and Ohio University; in Sweden, Uppsala University; and in Canada from McGill University as well as Carleton.[25]
- On April 6, 2011, the Bank of Sweden announced that Hammarskjöld's image will be used on the 1000 kronor banknote, the highest-denomination banknote in Sweden.[26]
Legacy[link]
- John F. Kennedy: After Hammarskjöld's death, U.S. President John F. Kennedy regretted that he opposed the UN policy in the Congo and said: “I realise now that in comparison to him, I am a small man. He was the greatest statesman of our century.”[2]
- Refusal to resign: One of Hammarskjöld's greatest moments was refusing to give in to Soviet pressure to resign. Dag Hammarskjöld: "It is very easy to bow to the wish of a big power. It is another matter to resist it. If it is the wish of those nations who see the organization their best protection in the present world, I shall do so again."[27]
- In 2011 The Financial Times reported that Hammarskjöld has remained the benchmark against which later UN Secretary-Generals have been judged.[28]
- Historians' views:
- Historian Paul Kennedy hailed Hammarskjöld in his book The Parliament of Man as perhaps the greatest UN Secretary-General because of his ability to shape events, in contrast with his successors.
- In contrast, the right-wing writer Paul Johnson in A History of the Modern World from 1917 to the 1980s (1983) was highly critical of his judgment.
- Libraries:
- The Dag Hammarskjöld Library, a part of the United Nations headquarters, was dedicated on 16 November 1961 in honour of the late Secretary-General.
- Uppsala University:
There is also a Dag Hammarskjöld Library at his alma mater, Uppsala University.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Library in Uppsala
- Buildings and rooms:
- Columbia University: The School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University in New York has a Dag Hammarskjöld Lounge. The graduate school is dedicated to the principles of international peace and cooperation that Hammarskjöld embodied.
- Stanford University: Dag Hammarskjöld House on the Stanford University campus is a residence cooperative for undergraduate and graduate students with international backgrounds and interests at Stanford.[29]
- The Geneva School of Diplomacy and International Relations in Geneva, Switzerland has a room named after him.
- Dag Hammarskjöld Stadium is the main football stadium of Ndola, Zambia. Hammarskjold's ill-fated flight in 1961 crashed in the outskirts of Ndola.
- Streets:
- Dag Hammarskjölds Gade is a street in Aalborg, Denmark
- Dag Hammarskjölds Väg is one of the longest streets in Uppsala, Sweden. There are several other streets in Sweden sharing this name.
- Dag Hammarskjöld's Allé is a street in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- The headquarters of the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL) in Santiago, Chile lies on Avenida Dag Hammarskjöld.
- The headquarters of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (German Society for International Cooperation, GIZ), is on Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg in Eschborn, Germany.
- Dag Hammarskjöldlaan is a street in the town of Castricum, The Netherlands.
- Hammarskjöld Road is a road in the town of Harlow, UK.
- New York City: A Manhattan park near the United Nations headquarters is called the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, as are several of the surrounding office buildings.
- Religious commemoration: He is also commemorated as a peacemaker in the Calendar of Saints of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America on 18 September of each year.
- Schools: A number of schools have been named after Hammarskjöld, including Hammarskjold Middle School in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey; Dag Hammarskjold Middle School in Wallingford, Connecticut; Dag Hammarskjold Elementary School in Parma, Ohio; Dag Hammarskjold Elementary (PS 254) in Brooklyn, New York; Dag Hammarskjold Elementary School in Oakland (now an airport parking business) and Hammarskjold High School in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
- Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation:
In 1962, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation was created as Sweden's national memorial to Dag Hammarskjöld.[30]
The Dag Hammarskjöld centre in Uppsala (housing the secretariat of the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation) - Memorial awards:
- Medal: On 22 July 1997, the U.N. Security Council in resolution 1121(1997) established the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal in recognition and commemoration of those who have lost their lives as a result of UN peacekeeping operations.[31]
- Prize in Peace and Conflict Studies: Colgate University annually awards a student the Dag Hammarskjöld Prize in Peace and Conflict Studies based on outstanding work in the program.[32]
- Postage Stamps: Many countries issued postage stamps commemorating Hammarskjöld.[33] The United Nations Postal Administration issued 5 and 15 cent stamps in 1962. They show the UN flag at half-mast and bear the simple inscription, "XVIII IX MCMLXI". The United States Hammarskjöld commemorative 4-cent value postage stamp, issued on 23 October 1962, was actually released twice. Famous for its misprint, the second issue is often referred to as the Dag Hammarskjöld invert.
[edit] Spirituality and Markings
In 1953, soon after his appointment as United Nations secretary general, Hammarskjöld was interviewed on radio by Edward R. Murrow. In this talk he declared: "But the explanation of how man should live a life of active social service in full harmony with himself as a member of the community of spirit, I found in the writings of those great medieval mystics [Meister Eckhart and Jan van Ruysbroek] for whom 'self-surrender' had been the way to self-realization, and who in 'singleness of mind' and 'inwardness' had found strength to say yes to every demand which the needs of their neighbours made them face, and to say yes also to every fate life had in store for them when they followed the call of duty as they understood it."[34]
His only book, Vägmärken (Markings), was published in 1963. A collection of his diary reflections, the book starts in 1925, when he was 20 years old, and ends at his death in 1961.[35] This diary was found in his New York house, after his death, along with an undated letter addressed to then Swedish Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Leif Belfrage. In this letter, Dag writes, "These entries provide the only true 'profile' that can be drawn ... If you find them worth publishing, you have my permission to do so". The foreword is written by W.H. Auden, a friend of Dag's.[36] Markings was described by a theologian, the late Henry P. Van Dusen, as "the noblest self-disclosure of spiritual struggle and triumph, perhaps the greatest testament of personal faith written ... in the heat of professional life and amidst the most exacting responsibilities for world peace and order."[37] Hammarskjöld writes, for example, "We are not permitted to choose the frame of our destiny. But what we put into it is ours. He who wills adventure will experience it — according to the measure of his courage. He who wills sacrifice will be sacrificed — according to the measure of his purity of heart."[38] Markings is characterised by Hammarskjöld's intermingling of prose and haiku poetry in a manner exemplified by the 17th-century Japanese poet Basho in his Narrow Roads to the Deep North.[39] In his foreword to Markings, the English poet W. H. Auden quotes Hammarskjöld as stating "In our age, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action."[40]
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America commemorates the life of Hammarskjöld as a renewer of society on the anniversary of his death, September 18.
Bibliography[link]
- Durel, Bernard, op, (2002), «Au jardin secret d’un diplomate suédois: Jalons de Dag Hammarskjöld, un itinéraire spirituel», La Vie Spirituelle (Paris). T. 82, pp. 901–922.
- Urquhart, Brian, (1972), Hammarskjold. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.
- Velocci, Giovanni, cssr, (1998), «Hammarskjold Dag», in Luigi Borriello, ocd – Edmondo Caruana, ocarm – Maria Rosaria Del Genio – N. Suffi (dirs.), Dizionario di mistica. Libreria Editrice Vaticana, Città del Vaticano, pp. 624–626.
See also[link]
References[link]
- ^ http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/nomination/nomination_faq.html
- ^ a b Linnér S (2007). "Dag Hammarskjöld and the Congo crisis, 1960-61" (PDF). Uppsala University. p. Page 28. http://www.dhf.uu.se/pdffiler/Dh_lecture_2007.pdf.
- ^ Sheldon, Richard (1987). Hammarskjöld. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. p. 28. ISBN 0-87754-529-4.
- ^ The Meditation Room in the UN Headquarters
- ^ Holy See's Presence in the International Organizations
- ^ http://www.un.org/russian/av/radio/history60/11history60.htm (in Russian)
- ^ Mahoney, R. D. 1980, The Kennedy Policy in the Congo 1961-1963. Ph.D dissertation, Johns Hopkins University.
- ^ a b "Special Report on the Fatal Flight of the Secretary-General's Aircraft" (PDF). United Nations. 1961-09-19. http://un.org/Depts/dhl/dag/docs/s4940ad5ef.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ a b c d e f Hollington, Kris (August 2008). Wolves, Jackals and Foxes. Thomas Dunne Books. ISBN 978-0-312-37899-8.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j United Nations General Assembly session 17 Report of the Commission of investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of Mr Dag Hammarskjold and members of the party accompanying him. on 24 April 1962(direct link: http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/5069)
- ^ Macarthur Job, Air Disaster Volume 4, Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd, 2001 ISBN 1-875671-48-X, p 142
- ^ "1961: UN Secretary General killed in air crash". BBC. 1961-11-18. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/18/newsid_3790000/3790079.stm. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ "Matthew Hughes · Diary: The Man Who Killed Hammarskjöld? · LRB 9 August 2001". Lrb.co.uk. http://www.lrb.co.uk/v23/n15/hugh01_.html. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ a b Arthur Gavshon (1962). The Mysterious Death of Dag Hammarskjold. New York: Walker and Company. p. 58.
- ^ P R O FCO 31/165300 Ethiopia: Annual Review of 1961
- ^ "Notes for Media Briefing By Archbishop" - by Desmond Tutu, Chairperson Of The Truth And Reconciliation Commission - August 19, 1998 - http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/1998/98820_0x1539810364.htm
- ^ "UN assassination plot denied," BBC World, 19 August 1998. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article1087787.ece
- ^ "Gaddafi's address to UN General Assembly". 2009-09-23. http://www.un.org/ga/64/generaldebate/LY.shtml.
- ^ "Dag Hammarskjöld: evidence suggests UN chief's plane was shot down". The Guardian. 2011-08-17. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/17/dag-hammarskjold-un-secretary-general-crash. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
- ^ I have no doubt Dag Hammarskjöld's plane was brought down, Göran Björkdahl, The Guardian, 2011 Aug 17
- ^ Call for new inquiry following emergence of new evidence, The Guardian 2011 Sept 16
- ^ BBC News Magazine, 18 Sept. 2-11, "Dag Hammarskjold: Was His Death a Crash or a Conspiracy?," http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14913456
- ^ Carleton Through the Years. Accessed 2011-03-31
- ^ Mary Cherif, Nathalie Leroy, Anna Banchieri, Armando Da Silva. "Dag Hammarskjöld: The Un Years". Un.org. http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/dag/bio.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ "Sveriges Riksbank/Riksbanken - Sweden’s new banknotes and coins". Riksbank.com. http://www.riksbank.com/templates/Page.aspx?id=46685. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ UPI Audio: Year (1961) in Review
- ^ Alec Russell (2011-05-13). "The road to redemption". The Financial Times. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6ba2edc0-7c3a-11e0-a386-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1LqSIEXQ2. Retrieved 2011-05-14.
- ^ "Hammarskjold House | About". Stanford.edu. http://www.stanford.edu/group/resed/row/hammarskjold/about.html. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ "Convening thinkers and doers: Sweden's Dag Hammarskjold Foundation". Interenvironment.org. 1975-11-25. http://www.interenvironment.org/cipa/dhf.htm. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ United Nations Security Council Verbatim Report meeting 3802 on 22 July 1997 (retrieved 2007-08-21)
- ^ "Colgate University : P-CON Fellowships and Awards". Colgate.edu. http://www.colgate.edu/DesktopDefault1.aspx?tabid=3923. Retrieved 2011-09-19.
- ^ Selection of stamps commemorating the life of Dag Hammarskjöld
- ^ Henry P Van Dusen. Dag Hammarskjold. A Biographical Interpretation of Markings Faber and Faber London 1967 p 47.
- ^ http://www.buzzflash.com/hartmann/05/03/har05003.html
- ^ Auden, with Leif Sjoberg, translated the book into English. Hammarskjold, Dag (1964). Markings. New York: Ballantine Books.
- ^ Henry P Van Dusen. Dag Hammarskjold. A Biographical Interpretation of Markings Faber and Faber London 1967 p 5
- ^ Dag Hammarskjold. Markings Leif Sjoberg and WH Auden (trans) Faber and Faber London 1964 p 63.
- ^ Dag Hammarskjold. Markings Leif Sjoberg and WH Auden (trans) Faber and Faber London 1964 p149
- ^ WH Auden Foreword to Dag Hammarskjold. Markings Leif Sjoberg and WH Auden (trans) Faber and Faber London 1964 p 23.
External links[link]
|
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dag Hammarskjöld |
|
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Dag Hammarskjöld |
- Dag Hammarskjöld archives on UN Archives website.
- Dag Hammarskjöld – biography, quotes, photos and videos
- UNSG Dag Hammarskjold Conference on 9-10 November 2011 at Peace Palace
- Video of Hammarskjöld's funeral in Pathe archive
- UNSG Ban Ki-Moon Lays Wreath Honouring Dag Hammarskjold of 1 October 2009 and UNSG with King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden
- UNSG Kofi Annan, Dag Hammarskjöld and the 21st century, The Fourth Dag Hammarskjöld Lecture 6 September 2001, Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and Uppsala University (pdf)
- About Dag Hammarskjöld (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation)
- United Nations Secretaries-General
- Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-General at the official website of the UN
- Biography
- The Nobel Prize
- Letters say Hammarskjöld's death Western plot
- Media briefing by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
- 18 September 1961 UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld is killed and BBC
- Audio of Dag Hammarskjold's response to Russian pressure From UPI Audio Archives
| Cultural offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Hjalmar Hammarskjöld |
Swedish Academy, Seat No.17 1954-1961 |
Succeeded by Erik Lindegren |
| Diplomatic posts | ||
| Preceded by Trygve Lie Norway |
United Nations Secretary-General 1953–1961 |
Succeeded by U Thant Burma |
|
||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Hammarskjold, Dag |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | 29 July 1905 |
| Place of birth | Jönköping, Sweden |
| Date of death | 18 September 1961 |
| Place of death | Ndola, Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland |
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