title: Lüneburg

text: Lüneburg was first mentioned in medieval records in a deed signed on 13 August, 956 AD, in which Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor granted "the tax from Lüneburg to the monastery built there in honour of Saint Michael" (German: "den Zoll zu Lüneburg an das zu Ehren des heiligen Michaels errichtete Kloster", Latin: "teloneum ad Luniburc ad monasterium sancti Michahelis sub honore constructum"). An older reference to the place in the "Royal Frankish Annals" for 795 states:"ad fluvium Albim pervenit ad locum, qui dicitur Hliuni", i.e. "on the river Elbe, at the location, which is called "Hliuni"") and refers to one of the three core settlements of Lüneburg; probably the castle on the Kalkberg which was the seat of the Billunger nobles from 951. The Elbe-Germanic name "Hliuni" corresponds to the Lombard word for "refuge site".


title: Lüneburg

text: From archaeological finds, it is clear that the area around Lüneburg had already been settled (in the museum of the Principality of Lüneburg, for example, there is a whole range of artefacts that were found here) and the saltworks had already started production.


title: Lüneburg

text: According to tradition, the salt was first discovered by a hunter who observed a wild boar bathing in a pool of water, shot and killed it, and hung the coat up to dry. When it was dry, he discovered white crystals in the bristles — salt. Later he returned to the site of the kill and located the salt pool, the first production of salt on the site took place. In the town hall is a bone preserved in a glass case; legend has it that this is the preserved leg-bone of the boar. It was here that the Lüneburg Saltworks was subsequently established for many centuries.


title: Lüneburg

text: In spite of its lucrative saltworks, Lüneburg was originally subordinated to the town of Bardowick only a few miles to the north. Bardowick was older and was an important trading post for the Slavs. Bardowick's prosperity – it had seven churches – was based purely on the fact that no other trading centres were tolerated. Only when Bardowick refused to pay allegiance to Henry the Lion it was destroyed by him in 1189, whereupon Lüneburg was given town privileges ("Stadtrechte") and developed into the central trading post in the region in place of Bardowick.


title: Lüneburg

text: The Polabian name for Lüneburg is "Glain" (written as "Chlein" or "Glein" in older German sources), probably derived from "glaino" (Slavonic: "glina") which means "clay". In the Latin texts Lüneburg surfaces not only as the Latinised "Lunaburgum", but also as "Selenopolis".


title: Lüneburg

text: As a consequence of the monopoly that Lüneburg had for many years as a supplier of salt within the North German region, a monopoly not challenged until much later by French imports, it very quickly became a member of the Hanseatic League. The League was formed in 1158 in Lübeck, initially as a union of individual merchants, but in 1356 it met as a federation of trading towns at the first general meeting of the "Hansetag". Lüneburg's salt was needed in order to pickle the herring caught in the Baltic Sea and the waters around Norway so that it could be preserved for food inland during periods of fasting when fish (not meat) was permitted.


title: Lüneburg

text: The Scania Market at Scania in Sweden was a major fish market for herring and became one of the most important trade events in Northern Europe in the Middle Ages. Lüneburg's salt was in great demand and the town quickly became one of the wealthiest and most important towns in the Hanseatic League, together with Bergen and Visby (the fish suppliers) and Lübeck (the central trading post between the Baltic and the interior). In the Middle Ages salt was initially conveyed overland up the Old Salt Road to Lübeck. With the opening of the Stecknitz Canal in 1398 salt could be transported by cog from the Lübeck salt warehouses, the "Salzspeicher".


title: Lüneburg

text: Around the year 1235, the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg emerged, ruled by a family whose aristocratic lines repeatedly divided and re-united. The smaller states that kept re-appearing as a result, and which ranked as principalities, were usually named after the location of the ducal seat. Thus between 1267 and 1269 a "Principality of Lüneburg" was created for the first time, with Lüneburg as the seat of the royal "Residenz". In 1371, in the wake of the Lüneburg War of Succession, rebel citizens threw the princes out of the town and destroyed their royal castle on the Kalkberg along with the nearby monastery. The state peace treaty in 1392 granted their demand to become a free imperial town, a status they were able to defend until 1637. The money now stayed in the town, enabling fine houses and churches to be built.


title: Lüneburg

text: In 1392 Lüneburg was accorded the staple right. This forced merchants who travelled through the area with their carts to stop in Lüneburg, unload their wares, and offer them for sale for a certain period. So that merchants could not go around Lüneburg, an impassable defensive barrier was built west of the town in 1397; a similar barrier was built east of the town in 1479.


title: Lüneburg

text: The Lüneburg Prelates' War caused a crisis from 1446 to 1462. This was not a war in the proper sense, but rather a bitter dispute between the town council and those members of the clergy who were also part-owners of the town's saltworks. It was not resolved until the intervention of the Danish King Christian I, the Bishop of Schwerin and the Lübeck Bishop, Arnold Westphal.


title: Lüneburg

text: With the demise of the Hanseatic League – and the absence of herrings around 1560 around Falsterbo in Scania – the biggest customers of Lüneburg's salt broke away and the town rapidly became impoverished. Hardly any new houses were built in central Lüneburg after this time, which is why the historical appearance of the town centre has remained almost unchanged until the present day.


title: Lüneburg

text: The town became part of the Electorate of Hanover in 1708, the Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, the First French Empire in 1810, the Kingdom of Hanover in 1814, and the Prussian Province of Hanover in 1866.


title: Lüneburg

text: In the centuries after the collapse of the League, it was as if Lüneburg had fallen into a Sleeping Beauty slumber. Heinrich Heine, whose parents lived in Lüneburg from 1822 to 1826, called it his "residence of boredom" ("Residenz der Langeweile"). Near the end of the 19th century Lüneburg evolved into a garrison town, and it remained so until the 1990s.


title: Lüneburg

text: In the Lüneburg Special Children's Ward, part of the Lüneburg State Mental Hospital, it is suspected that over 300 children were killed during the Second World War as part of the official Nazi child euthanasia programme.


title: Lüneburg

text: In 1945 Lüneburg surfaced once again in the history books when, south of the town on the hill known as the "Timeloberg" (near the village of Wendisch Evern) the German Instrument of Surrender was signed that brought the Second World War in Europe to an end. The location is presently inaccessible to the general public as it lies within a military out-of-bounds area. Only a small monument on a nearby track alludes to the event. On 23 May 1945 Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler took his own life in Lüneburg whilst in British Army custody by biting into a potassium cyanide capsule embedded in his teeth before he could be properly interrogated. He was subsequently buried in an unmarked location in a nearby forest.


title: Lüneburg

text: Even before the Nuremberg Trials took place, the first war crimes trial, the so-called Belsen Trial ("Bergen-Belsen-Prozess"), began in Lüneburg on 17 September 1945 conducted against 45 former SS men, women and "kapos" (prisoner functionaries) from the Bergen-Belsen and Auschwitz concentration camps.


title: Lüneburg

text: After World War II, Lüneburg became part of the new state of Lower Saxony. But the dilapidated state of its buildings led to various plans to try to improve living conditions. One proposition that was seriously discussed was to tear down the entire "Altstadt" and replace it with modern buildings. The ensuing public protest resulted in Lüneburg becoming the focal point for a new concept: cultural heritage conservation. Since the early 1970s the town has been systematically restored. A leading figure in this initiative since the late 1960s has been Curt Pomp: against much opposition from politicians and councillors he founded and championed the Lüneburg "Altstadt" Working Group ("Arbeitskreis Lüneburger Altstadt") for the preservation of historic buildings. His engagement was rewarded with the German Prize for Cultural Heritage Conservation and the German Order of Merit. Today Lüneburg is a tourist attraction as a result of the restoration and important sectors of the town's economy also depend on tourism.


title: Lüneburg

text: Between Lüneburg and Soltau to the southwest, a large military training area, the Soltau-Lüneburg Training Area (SLTA), was established by the British and Canadian military, which was used from 1963 to 1994. It was governed by the Soltau-Lüneburg Agreement between the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada. The area was located on the Lüneburg Heath and was heavily used particularly by tanks and other armoured vehicles.


title: Lüneburg

text: The salt mine was closed in 1980, ending the thousand-year tradition of salt mining, although small amounts are still mined for ceremonial purposes. Small bags of salt may be purchased in the town hall, and bags are given as a gift from the town to all couples married in the town. After the closing of the salt mines, the town gained new relevance from its university, which was founded in 1989.


title: Lüneburg

text: As part of the restructuring of Defence in 1990 two of the three "Bundeswehr" barracks in the town were closed and the remaining one reduced in size. The "Bundesgrenzschutz" barracks was also closed. Lüneburg University moved to the site of the old Scharnhorst barracks. The university grew out of the new economics and cultural studies departments set up in the 1980s and their amalgamation with the College of Education ("Pädagogischen Hochschule" or "PH") that took place in 1989. Since its move to the former barracks site the university has enrolled increasing numbers of students. The expansion of the university is an important contribution to the restructuring of the town into a service centre.


title: Lüneburg

text: Today an industrial estate, the "Lünepark", has been built on the terrain of the old "Bundesgrenzschutz" barracks with its new industrial premises for entrepreneurs. The promotion of trade and industry has resulted in many firms from the ICT area locating themselves there. In May 2006 the nearby Johannes Westphal Bridge was opened to traffic. This links the newly created "Lünepark" with the suburb of Goseburg on the far side of the Ilmenau. Since 5 October 2007 Lüneburg has been able to call itself a Hanseatic Town; together with Stade it is one of only two towns in Lower Saxony to bear the title.


title: Lüneburg

text: Lüneburg lies on the river Ilmenau, about from its confluence with the Elbe. The river flows through the town and is featured in its song; it was formerly traversed by cogs taking salt from the town to the other, larger, ports of the Hanseatic League nearby.


title: Lüneburg

text: To the south of the town stretches the Lüneburg Heath which emerged as a result of widespread tree-felling, forest fires and grazing. The tradition that the heath arose from centuries of logging undertaken to meet the constant need of the Lüneburg salt works for wood is not historically confirmed. More likely, the heath was originally formed by clearances during the Bronze Age. The old town ("Altstadt") of Lüneburg lies above a salt dome which is the town's original source of prosperity. However, the constant mining of the salt deposits over which the town stands has also resulted in the sometimes gradual, sometimes dramatically pronounced, sinking of various areas of the town. On the western edge of the town is the Kalkberg, a small hill and former gypsum quarry.


title: Lüneburg

text: The motto "Mons, Pons, Fons" ("Hill, bridge, spring") characterised the development of the town from the 8th century as it coalesced from initially three, and later four, areas of settlement. These areas were the refuge castle on the — at that time considerably higher — Kalkberg, together with its adjoining settlement (the "Marktviertel" or "Market Quarter"), the village of Modestorpe between the bridge over the river Ilmenau and the large square, "Am Sande" (the "Sandviertel" or "Sand Quarter"), and the saline with its walled settlement for the work force (the "Sülzviertel" or "Salt Quarter"). Not until the 13th century was the river port settlement (the "Wasserviertel" or "Waterside Quarter") built between the market place and the Ilmenau. The resulting shape of the town thus formed did not change until its expansion in the late 19th century and it is still clearly visible today.


title: Lüneburg

text: Lüneburg's six historic town gates were the "Altenbrücker Tor", the "Bardowicker Tor", the "Rote Tor", the "Sülztor", the "Lüner Tor" and the "Neue Tor".


title: Lüneburg

text: Lüneburg has the following "Stadtteile": Altstadt, Bockelsberg, Ebensberg, Goseburg-Zeltberg, Häcklingen, Kaltenmoor (the largest "Stadtteil", with around 8,000 inhabitants), Kreideberg, Lüne, Moorfeld, Mittelfeld, Neu Hagen, Ochtmissen, Oedeme, Rettmer, Rotes Feld, Schützenplatz, Weststadt and Wilschenbruch.


title: Lüneburg

text: Jüttkenmoor, Klosterkamp, Bülows Kamp, In den Kämpen, Krähornsberg, Schäferfeld, Volgershall and Zeltberg are the names of individual blocks within a single "Stadtteil".


title: Lüneburg

text: The houses in the historic quarter between the Lüneburg Saltworks (today the German Salt Museum) and the Kalkberg were built above a salt dome that was excavated by the saltworks and which extended to just below the surface of the ground. As a result of the increasing quantities of salt mined with improved technical equipment after 1830, the ground began to sink by several metres. This resulted in the so-called "Senkungsgebiet" or "subsidence area". The houses there and the local church (St. Lambert's) lost their stability and had to be demolished. Because of this subsidence, and because salt mining was increasingly unprofitable, the saltworks were finally closed in 1980. Today, only small amounts of brine are extracted for the health spa in the Lüneburg Thermal Salt Baths (the "Salztherme Lüneburg" or "SaLü"). One side of the saltworks now houses a supermarket, while the other is the German Salt Museum.


title: Lüneburg

text: The subsidence has been monitored at about 240 stations since 1946 every two years. The land has not quite stopped subsiding yet, but it is stable enough that new construction has taken place on it, and several historic buildings which had previously been damaged or demolished have been restored. The subsidence can still be clearly seen even today. Those who walk from "Am Sande" to the end of the "Grapengießerstraße" can clearly sense the degree of subsidence for themselves: the hollow in front of them was formerly at the same level as the "Grapengießerstraße". This depression extends as far as the "Lambertiplatz" square.


title: Lüneburg

text: In the "Frommestraße", another sign of earth movements caused by salt mining may be seen: the "Tor zur Unterwelt" ("Door to the Underworld"), where two cast iron doors have been pushed on top of one another.


title: Lüneburg

text: Near the church St. Michaelis, other consequences of the subsidence can be seen in its sloping columns and the west wing of the nave. Current subsidence movements can be seen in the road known as "Ochtmisser Kirchsteig".


title: Lüneburg

text: Lüneburg already had about 14,000 inhabitants in the Late Middle Ages and beginning of the Modern Period and was one of the largest 'cities' of its time, but its population shrank with the economic downturn to just 9,400 in 1757; then rose again to 10,400 in 1813. With the onset of industrialisation in the 19th century, population growth accelerated. If 13,000 were living in the town in 1855, by 1939 there were as many as 35,000. Shortly after the Second World War, refugees and displaced persons from Germany's eastern territories brought an increase in population within just a few months of around 18,000 people so that the total number in December 1945 was 53,000. In 2003 the 70,000 level was exceeded for the first time.


title: Lüneburg

text: The town of Lüneburg, its eponymous district and the neighbouring district of Harburg belong to the few regions in Germany that have experienced such a massive growth. The reasons for this include the growth of areas around the Hamburg Metropolitan Region and the consequent shift of people to those areas. The Lower Saxon State Office for Statistics has forecast that the town of Lüneburg will have a population of 89,484 by the year 2021. More realistic estimates, however, put the future size Lüneburg at between 75,000 and 79,000 in that time frame.


title: Lüneburg

text: On 31 December 2008, according to the Statistics Office, the official census for Lüneburg recorded 72,492 people (those who had their main residence in the town and after adjustments with other states offices) – the highest number in its history. Currently Lüneburg is the eleventh largest centre of population in Lower Saxony. In addition Lüneburg has particularly close relations with its adjacent municipalities which are also growing and with which it is forming an agglomeration. The town, together with the nearby villages of Adendorf, Bardowick, Deutsch Evern, Reppenstedt, Vögelsen and Wendisch Evern, has a total population of about 103,000 and, on that basis, would qualify as a city (in Germany cities or "Großstädte" are defined as settlements with a population of over 100,000). The town council has the plan to extend the population by adding these villages to the town area.


title: Lüneburg

text: The following overview shows the population figures based on the situation at the time. Up to 1813 they were mostly estimates; thereafter based on censuses (*) or official projections by the State Office of Statistics. From 1871 the figures were based on those 'present in the town', from 1925 on those 'living in the town' and since 1987 on the 'population who have their main residence in the town'. Before 1871 the numbers were based on inconsistent survey methods.


title: Lüneburg

text: At one time Lüneburg had over 80 breweries. The "Lüneburger Kronen Brewery of 1485" in "Heiligengeiststraße" brewed beers such as "Lüneburger Kronen-Pilsener" and "Moravia Pilsener" that were very well known in North Germany. These beers are brewed today by the Holsten Brewery in Hamburg, although the original yeast stock ("Hefestämme") was destroyed when the Kronen Brewery was taken over. Only the original "Lüneburger Pilsener" is still produced as before, although it is now made by the Holsten Brewery and only sold on tap. Today there are just two small inn breweries left in Lüneburg. In the Nolte Inn Brewery ("Gasthausbrauerei Nolte") some distance from the centre on the "Dahlenburger Landstraße" and in the "Brau- und Tafelhaus Mälzer" in "Heiligengeiststraße" the tradition of Lüneburger breweries lives on.


title: Lüneburg

text: Recently Lüneburg has increasingly developed into a venue for tourists. Nevertheless, medium-sized and small businesses still play a major role in Lüneburg's economy. The "University of Lüneburg" has also generated changes which, together with its student population, have stimulated the economy of the region.


title: Lüneburg

text: Many small and medium-sized businesses are based in Lüneburg. They include the fashion company "Roy Robson", "DeVauGe Gesundkostwerk" one of the largest German manufacturers of vegetarian food and the dairy, which today is part of "Hochwald Nahrungsmittel-Werke" and makes products, "e.g.", yoghurt, under the "Lünebest" label. (The knitware firm "Lucia", once the biggest employer in the town, went bankrupt in 2008.) In the industrial field there are large local firms like the car interior manufacturers, "Johnson Controls", "H. B. Fuller", "Impreglon" and the electronics company of "Sieb & Meyer". Also based in Lüneburg is the "von Stern'schen Druckerei", founded in 1614, the oldest printing firm still in family ownership in the world. "Werum IT Solutions" is the largest information technology firm based in the town.


title: Lüneburg

text: The town nursery has created a spa park for tourists and visitors with a 'graduation works', ponds, numerous herbaceous borders and herb gardens which is immediately next to the health spa centre ("Kurzentrum"). The spa centre has wave pools, salt baths, wellness and sauna facilities, etc. ("Salztherme Lüneburg"); in addition there is a brine therapy centre which is used for those with skin and respiratory problems. Lüneburg is not an official health spa like e. g. the neighbouring town of Bad Bevensen, but does have special medicinal resources like, for example, Lüneburg brine (containing about 26% salt), which is used especially to relieve those suffering from psoriasis. In addition, since 1978, the headquarters of the conference hotel group "Seminaris" has been based here. Among firms in the technology and service sectors is "Gründungszentrum e-novum", which supports new venture firms.


title: Lüneburg

text: The town of Lüneburg is part of 'State Constituency 49 Lüneburg' and 'Federal Constituency No. 38 Lüchow-Dannenberg – Lüneburg'.


title: Lüneburg

text: Before the Second World War the lord mayor ("Oberbürgermeister") was the full-time head of the town's administration. On the introduction of the North German council constitution by the British occupation forces power was separated: the voluntary lord mayor and chairman of the town body was the political representative of the town who, like all the members of the town council was elected by the people, whilst the administration was headed up by a full-time chief municipal director, who was elected by the town council. Since 1996, as a result of the reform of the local constitution, both functions (again) have been combined in the post of a full-time lord mayor, who is now directly elected by the townsfolk. In addition to the lord mayor there are other mayors (elected by the council) who support and represent the lord mayor in his civic duties.


title: Lüneburg

text: The current mayors are: "Eduard Kolle" (SPD), "Ulrich Löb" (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), and "Christel John" (CDU).


title: Lüneburg

text: The Lüneburg Theatre ("Theater Lüneburg") is one of the smallest, three-stage theatres in Germany. Not only are plays of all styles put on, but also operas, operettas, musicals and ballets. Although the financial means of the Lüneburg Theatre are comparatively limited, it is no 'provincial stage' and can hold its ground successfully against the many theatres in nearby Hamburg. In addition Lüneburg has a large number of amateur theatres, that also produce regular performances. Such a variety in amateur drama is otherwise only found in large cities like Hamburg or Hanover.


title: Lüneburg

text: The historic town is itself a kind of open-air museum (a "Rothenburg of the North"), but there are numerous museums and historic churches (St. Michaelis, St. Johannis, St. Nicolai. The most important museums are the German Salt Museum in the premises of the old Lüneburg Saltworks, in which the significance of salt in the Middle Ages and the extraction of salt is portrayed, and the Museum of the Principality of Lüneburg, in which the town's history and the history of the surrounding area is captured. Also worthy of mention are the East Prussian Regional Museum, the nearby North German Brewery Museum with a gallery of valuable drinking vessels (over 1200 years), the 1485 Kronen Brewery of Lüneburg and the Lüneburg Nature Museum on the edge of the subsidence zone.


title: Lüneburg

text: Lüneburg is one of the few towns in North Germany whose historic centre was not destroyed during the Second World War. Nevertheless, the general neglect of its buildings until the 1960s and the damage in the area of subsidence has led to gaps in the historic architecture of the town. In addition the demolition of ramshackle buildings in the 1950s and 1960s and the construction of shops with a contemporary design broke up the historic appearance of many rows of houses. Since the beginning of the 1970s, however, Lüneburg has been carefully restored. The restoration process revealed hitherto hidden ceiling frescos, medieval pottery workshops and many historic soakaways ("Sickergruben") from which a considerably better picture of life in the Middle Ages resulted.


title: Lüneburg

text: In the Lüneburg "Stadtteil" of Kaltenmoor is St. Stephen's ("St. Stephanus"), the oldest ecumenical building in the town, with Protestant and Catholic churches under one roof. Other buildings worthy of mention are the three remaining town churches: St. Johannis am Sande (completed 1370), St. Michaelis where Johann Sebastian Bach was a choirboy from 1700 to 1702, and the relatively 'modern' St. Nicolai which was built in 1407. The Church of St. Lambertus ("St. Lamberti") was demolished in 1850 due to its dilapidated state; it stood in the subsidence area.


title: Lüneburg

text: In addition there are the "Glockenhaus" ("Bell House", an old armoury) on the "Glockenhof", the "Rathsapotheke" (town chemist's), dating to 1598, in "Große Bäckerstraße" and the historic town hall or "Rathaus" with its famous town council meeting room, the "Gerichtslaube". The Luna Fountain ("Lunabrunnen") in front of the town hall is graced by a bronze statue of the moon goddess with bow and arrow; the original dating to 1532 was stolen in 1970 and melted down; the present statue is a replica dating to 1972. In the area of the old port can still be seen the Baroque façade of the "Old Store" ("Altes Kaufhaus"), most of the rest of which was burned down and had to be replaced by one that was more suitable for a fire station. The port is also home to the "Old Crane" ("Alter Kran"), a wooden, medieval riverside crane that is still in working order today and which has two large wheels inside that enable the crane cable to be raised and lowered. The fire station moved in autumn 2007 to a new building on the edge of the town centre; the "Altes Kaufhaus" has since (2009) been converted into a hotel.


title: Lüneburg

text: On the southern edge of the town centre is the Lüneburg Water Tower which now acts as an observation tower.


title: Lüneburg

text: In front of the gates of the old town is Lüne Abbey, a former Benedictine nunnery. It was built in 1172 and has been restored.


title: Lüneburg

text: About west of Lüneburg, in the villages of Reppenstedt and Vögelsen, is a well-preserved section of the historic Lüneburg Landwehr, a boundary embankment and ditch, that can be walked.


title: Lüneburg

text: In 2012, the festival "Hansetage" took place in Lüneburg. The "Hansetage" is an event which takes place in a different town every year. Nearly 300,000 visitors were attracted by this event.


title: Lüneburg

text: Association football is the most popular sport in Lüneburg, as in Germany in general; ice-hockey and basketball are also popular. Most teams compete in the "Regionalliga", which is highly ranked within Germany.


title: Lüneburg

text: Lüneburg has the following hospitals: Städtisches Krankenhaus Lüneburg and the "Landeskrankenhaus Lüneburg", now known as the Psychiatrische Klinik Lüneburg (Psychiatric Hospital Lüneburg).


title: Lüneburg

text: Lüneburg is part of the transportation company Hamburger Verkehrsverbund. There are 11 bus lines in the urban area of Lüneburg. As well as Lüneburg station, there is a smaller one located in Bardowick. The nearest cities within easy reach by rail are Hamburg, Hanover, Lübeck, Lauenburg, Uelzen and Winsen.


title: Lüneburg

text: The town has one university, the Leuphana Universität Lüneburg (previously known only as the "Universität Lüneburg"). The university has more than 7,000 students.


title: Lüneburg

text: There are 14 high schools in the town: 5 Gymnasien, 4 Realschulen, and 5 Hauptschulen; there is currently 1 Gesamtschule, the "IGS Lüneburg" founded in 2009. In addition, there are 6 vocational schools, 3 special schools, 3 private schools, and 12 elementary schools.


title: Rumen

text: The rumen, also known as a paunch, is the largest stomach compartment in ruminants and the larger part of the reticulorumen, which is the first chamber in the alimentary canal of ruminant animals. The rumen's microbial favoring environment allows it to serve as the primary site for microbial fermentation of ingested feed. The smaller part of the reticulorumen is the reticulum, which is fully continuous with the rumen, but differs from it with regard to the texture of its lining.


title: Rumen

text: The rumen is composed of several muscular sacs, the cranial sac, ventral sac, ventral blindsac, and reticulum.


title: Rumen

text: The lining of the rumen wall is covered in small fingerlike projections called papillae, which are flattened, approximately 5mm in length and 3mm wide in cattle. The reticulum is lined with ridges that form a hexagonal honeycomb pattern. The ridges are approximately 0.1–0.2mm wide and are raised 5mm above the reticulum wall. The hexagons in the reticulum are approximately 2–5 cm wide in cattle. These features increase the surface area of the reticulorumen wall, facilitating the absorption of volatile fatty acids. Despite the differences in the texture of the lining of the two parts of the reticulorumen, it represents one functional space.


title: Rumen

text: Digestion in the reticulorumen is a complex process. Digestion occurs through fermentation by microbes in the reticulorumen rather than the animal "per se". The reticulorumen is one of the few organs present in animals in which digestion of cellulose and other recalcitrant carbohydrates can proceed to any appreciable degree.


title: Rumen

text: The main substrates of digestion in the reticulorumen are non-structural carbohydrates (starch, sugar, and pectin), structural carbohydrates (hemicellulose and cellulose), and nitrogen-containing compounds (proteins, peptides, and amino acids). Both non-structural and structural carbohydrates are hydrolysed to monosaccharides or disaccharides by microbial enzymes. The resulting mono- and disaccharides are transported into the microbes. Once within microbial cell walls, the mono- and disaccharides may be assimilated into microbial biomass or fermented to volatile fatty acids (VFAs) acetate, propionate, butyrate, lactate, valerate and other branched-chain VFAs via glycolysis and other biochemical pathways to yield energy for the microbial cell. Most VFAs are absorbed across the reticulorumen wall, directly into the blood stream, and are used by the ruminant as substrates for energy production and biosynthesis. Some branched chained VFAs are incorporated into the lipid membrane of rumen microbes. Protein is hydrolysed to peptides and amino acids by microbial enzymes, which are subsequently transported across the microbial cell wall for assimilation into cell biomass, primarily. Peptides, amino acids, ammonia, and other sources of nitrogen originally present in the feed can also be used directly by microbes with little to no hydrolysis. Non-amino acid nitrogen is used for synthesis of microbial amino acids. In situations in which nitrogen for microbial growth is in excess, protein and its derivatives can also be fermented to produce energy, yielding ammonia.


title: Rumen

text: Lipids, lignin, minerals, and vitamins play a less prominent role in digestion than carbohydrates and protein, but they are still critical in many ways. Lipids are partly hydrolysed and hydrogenated, and glycerol, if present in the lipid, is fermented. Lipids are otherwise inert in the rumen. Some carbon from carbohydrate or protein may be used for de novo synthesis of microbial lipid. High levels of lipid, particularly unsaturated lipid, in the rumen are thought to poison microbes and suppress fermentation activity. Lignin, a phenolic compound, is recalcitrant to digestion, through it can be solubilized by fungi. Lignin is thought to shield associated nutrients from digestion and hence limits degradation. Minerals are absorbed by microbes and are necessary to their growth. Microbes in turn synthesize many vitamins, such as cyanocobalamin, in great quantities—often great enough to sustain the ruminant even when vitamins are highly deficient in the diet.


title: Rumen

text: Digested food (digesta) in the rumen is not uniform, but rather stratified into gas, liquid, and particles of different sizes, densities, and other physical characteristics. Additionally, the digesta is subject to extensive mixing and complicated flow paths upon entry into the rumen. Though they may seem trivial at first, these complicated stratification, mixing, and flow patterns of digesta are a key aspect of digestive activity in the ruminant and thus warrant detailed discussion.


title: Rumen

text: After being swallowed, food travels down the oesophagus and is deposited in the dorsal part of the reticulum. Contractions of the reticulorumen propel and mix the recently ingested feed into the ruminal mat. The mat is a thick mass of digesta, consisting of partially degraded, long, fibrous material. Most material in the mat has been recently ingested, and as such, has considerable fermentable substrate remaining. Microbial fermentation proceeds rapidly in the mat, releasing many gases. Some of these gases are trapped in the mat, causing the mat to be buoyant. As fermentation proceeds, fermentable substrate is exhausted, gas production decreases, and particles lose buoyancy due to loss of entrapped gas. Digesta in the mat hence goes through a phase of increasing buoyancy followed by decreasing buoyancy. Simultaneously, the size of digesta particles–relatively large when ingested–is reduced by microbial fermentation and, later, rumination. Incomplete digestion of plant material here will result in the formation of a type of bezoar called Phytobezoars. At a certain point, particles are dense and small enough that they may “fall” through the rumen mat into the ventral sac below, or they may be swept out of the rumen mat into the reticulum by liquid gushing through the mat during ruminal contractions. Once in the ventral sac, digesta continues to ferment at decreased rates, further losing buoyancy and decreasing in particle size. It is soon swept into the ventral reticulum by ruminal contractions.


title: Rumen

text: In the ventral reticulum, less dense, larger digesta particles may be propelled up into the oesophagus and mouth during contractions of the reticulum. Digesta is chewed in the mouth in a process known as rumination, then expelled back down the oesophagus and deposited in the dorsal sac of the reticulum, to be lodged and mixed into the ruminal mat again. Denser, small particles stay in the ventral reticulum during reticular contraction, and then during the next contraction may be swept out of the reticulorumen with liquid through the reticulo-omasal orifice, which leads to the next chamber in the ruminant animal's alimentary canal, the omasum.


title: Rumen

text: Water and saliva enter through the rumen to form a liquid pool. Liquid will ultimately escape from the reticulorumen from absorption through the wall, or through passing through the reticulo-omasal orifice, as digesta does. However, since liquid cannot be trapped in the mat as digesta can, liquid passes through the rumen much more quickly than digesta does. Liquid often acts as a carrier for very small digesta particles, such that the dynamics of small particles is similar to that of liquid.


title: Rumen

text: The uppermost area of the rumen, the headspace, is filled with gases (such as methane, carbon dioxide, and, to a much lower degree, hydrogen) released from fermentation and anaerobic respiration of food. These gases are regularly expelled from the reticulorumen through the mouth, in a process called eructation.


title: Rumen

text: Microbes in the reticulorumen include bacteria, protozoa, fungi, archaea, and viruses. Bacteria, along with protozoa, are the predominant microbes and by mass account for 40-60% of total microbial matter in the rumen. They are categorized into several functional groups, such as fibrolytic, amylolytic, and proteolytic types, which preferentially digest structural carbohydrates, non-structural carbohydrates, and protein, respectively. Protozoa (40-60% of microbial mass) derive their nutrients through phagocytosis of other microbes, and degrade and digest feed carbohydrates, especially starch and sugars, and protein. Although protozoa are not essential for rumen functioning, their presence has pronounced effects. Ruminal fungi make up only 5-10% of microbes and are absent on diets poor in fibre. Despite their low numbers, the fungi still occupy an important niche in the rumen because they hydrolyse some ester linkages between lignin and hemicellulose or cellulose, and help break down digesta particles. Rumen Archaea, approximately 3% of total microbes, are mostly autotrophic methanogens and produce methane through anaerobic respiration. Most of the hydrogen produced by bacteria, protozoa and fungi is used by these methanogens to reduce carbon dioxide to methane. The maintenance of low partial pressure of hydrogen by methanogens is essential for proper functioning of the rumen. Viruses are present in unknown numbers and do not contribute to any fermentation or respiration activity. However, they do lyse microbes, releasing their contents for other microbes to assimilate and ferment in a process called microbial recycling, although recycling through the predatory activities of protozoa is quantitatively more important.


title: Rumen

text: Microbes in the reticulorumen eventually flow out into the omasum and the remainder of the alimentary canal. Under normal fermentation conditions the environment in the reticulorumen is weakly acidic and is populated by microbes that are adapted to a pH between roughly 5.5 and 6.5; since the abomasum is strongly acidic (pH 2 to 4), it acts as a barrier that largely kills reticulorumen flora and fauna as they flow into it. Subsequently, microbial biomass is digested in the small intestine and smaller molecules (mainly amino acids) are absorbed and transported in the portal vein to the liver. The digestion of these microbes in the small intestine is a major source of nutrition, as microbes usually supply some 60 to 90% of the total amount of amino acids absorbed. On starch-poor diets, they also provide the predominant source of glucose absorbed from the small intestinal contents.


title: Rumen

text: Ruminal Acidosis: In cattle the ruminal acidosis is characterized by the decreased blood pH and bicarbonate due to the over production of ruminal D-lactate. It can appear as acute rumen acidosis due to lactic acid accumulation to sub-acute acidosis due to accumulation of VFAs in the rumen, although acute acidosis is more fatal than sub-acute rumen acidosis. The decrease in ciliated protozoal population of the ruminal fluid is a common feature of both acidosis and can be a good indicator of the ruminal acidosis. Acidosis in rumen occurs when the cattles consume excessive amount of rapidly fermentable non-structural carbohydrates and high grain-based diets with low fiber content. This leads to rapid fermentation of the organic substrates contributing to massive formation of VFAs and lactic acids leading to lower pH and subsequent reactions by the microbes of rumen.


title: Rumen

text: The feed contained within the reticulorumen, known as "paunch waste", has been studied as a fertiliser for use in sustainable agriculture.


title: Rumen

text: At birth, the rumen organ, rumen epithelium, and rumen microbiota are not fully developed. Developing the rumen after birth is a critical aspect of the overall development of ruminants. This early, sensitive period of rumen development, will have life-lasting effects on the overall health and productivity of the animal. Generally, the most receptive time for rumen development is between the postnatal and weaning periods. Over this period, rumen organ and epithelium growth, along with the establishment of rumen microbiota, will prove to be essential to rumen development.


title: Rumen

text: Papillae, or small, round projections protruding out of the tissue lining, growth in rumen epithelium is essential for rumen functionality. Papillae increase the surface area inside of the rumen. Therefore, papillae allow for a considerable increase in nutrient absorption inside of the rumen. Distinguishing a developed from an undeveloped rumen is simplified by observing the carpeting of tissue surrounding the interior of the rumen. An undeveloped rumen maintains a smooth, papillae-lacking outer surface. A developed rumen possesses thick, papillae-full walls.


title: Rumen

text: Due to ruminants being born with a sterile gastrointestinal tract, the developing rumen must be exposed to an array of microflora at an early stage. This is why a specific diet in which microflora that promote an anaerobic environment in the rumen are favored. Furthermore, feeds must be tailored to the needs of the specific ruminants. Developing ruminants who have been on a strict liquid feed diet will possess different microflora when compared to that of a developing ruminant fed with a combination of a dry and liquid feed. This is due to the nutrients ingested by the animal not entering into the rumen stomach compartment, as it is instead bypassed by the reflexive closure of the esophageal groove.


title: Rumen

text: The most abundant bacteria present in the rumen microbiome include "Prevotella, Butyrivibrio", and "Ruminococcus". This is due to ruminant organisms ingesting high-forage, commonly grass-based diets. Their typical high-forage diets cause this significant demand for cellulose digesting bacteria to be ever-present. Other bacteria, such as "Lachnospira multiparus, Prevotella ruminicola," and "Butyrivibrio fibrisolvens", play essential roles in the creation of volatile fatty acids (VFAs). Specific feeds can stimulate this extensive bacterial growth in the rumen and therefore aid in the production of these volatile fatty acids, which play a major role in rumen epithelium growth, capillary development, and papillae formation. Previous research identified the significant impact of volatile fatty acids on rumen development through the effects of the inter-ruminal insertion of acetate, propionate, and butyrate. The most visually notable and impactful of these volatile fatty acids was butyrate, which is synthesized naturally in ruminants through multiple anaerobic fermentation pathways of dietary substrates. Butyrate, mainly expressed in epithelial tissue lining, is involved in regulating a plethora of ruminant epithelial cell genes. Generally, butyrate regulates gene expression by acting on cell cycle control pathways. In the epithelial wall of the rumen, butyrate regulates epithelial cell gene expression to increase blood flow and papilla proliferation.


title: Rumen

text: Developing feeds to support the microbiome growth of both production and pet ruminant animals is vital; both for the overall health of the maturing animal and for reducing the costs associated with raising that animal. In the production animal realm, feeding can account for up to 75% of the overall cost associated with that animal, making it crucial to identify and satisfy the nutritional demands of the rumen. Sampling microbial DNA from rumen epithelial cells has led to the identification of microbial genes and functional pathways associated with animal growth factors. Microbial clusters in the rumen possess genes associated with many animal growth-related factors. Protein encoding genes that encode for bacterial cell functions, such as "aguA, ptb", K01188, and "murD", also are associated with the animal’s average daily weight gain. Furthermore, vitamin B12 related genes, including "cobD, tolC, and fliN," are also related to the daily feed intake of the animal.


title: Bob Anderson (fencer)

text: Robert James Gilbert Anderson (15 September 1922 – 1 January 2012) was an English Olympic fencer and a renowned film fight choreographer, with a cinema career that spanned more than 50 years and included films such as "Star Wars", "Highlander", "The Three Musketeers", "The Princess Bride", "The Mask of Zorro", "The Lord of the Rings", and "Die Another Day". He was regarded as the premier choreographer of Hollywood sword-fighting, and during his career he coached many actors in swordsmanship, including Errol Flynn, Sean Connery, Antonio Banderas, Viggo Mortensen, Adrian Paul, and Johnny Depp. He also appeared as a stunt double for Darth Vader's lightsaber battles in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi".


title: Bob Anderson (fencer)

text: Anderson was educated at The Royal Hospital School, in Raleigh House. It was here that he began to fence. Anderson joined the Royal Marines and won several combined services titles in the sport of fencing. He served in the Mediterranean during the Second World War.


title: Bob Anderson (fencer)

text: As a competitive fencer, he represented Great Britain at the Helsinki 1952 Summer Olympic Games, and the World Championships in 1950 and 1953 in the sabre event. He finished tied for fifth in the team sabre event at Helsinki in 1952.


title: Bob Anderson (fencer)

text: After his retirement from fencing competition, he studied under Prof. Roger Crosnier and was appointed the first official British National Coach, in charge of the National Training System, the day he was awarded his full Professorship. He succeeded Prof. Crosnier as President of the British Academy of Fencing. During the late 1950s to the 1970s he travelled around Britain, and between fencing courses he combined his official duties with television and film work. Eventually emigrating to Canada, he went on to become technical director of the Canadian Fencing Association in Ottawa. During the 1960s and 1970s he was also the president of the British Academy of Fencing.


title: Bob Anderson (fencer)

text: Anderson's cinema career began in 1953 when he fought Errol Flynn in "The Master of Ballantrae". Patrick Crean staged the fights and coached Flynn, and stated that he called up every fencer he knew to fill out the final battle, which is how Anderson got the job. During rehearsal for a scene he accidentally slashed Flynn on his thigh, leading to notoriety in Hollywood as "the man who stabbed Errol Flynn". He went on to work as a stunt performer and/or fight choreographer in films such as "The Guns of Navarone" and the Bond films "From Russia With Love" and "Casino Royale". His stature in Hollywood was cemented when he was selected by Stanley Kubrick in 1974 to act as the sword master for "Barry Lyndon".


title: Bob Anderson (fencer)

text: Anderson subsequently went on to be involved in all three of the original "Star Wars" films. Anderson did not receive much recognition for his work for years after their initial release. Mark Hamill in 1983 revealed, "Bob Anderson was the man who actually did Vader's fighting. It was always supposed to be a secret, but I finally told George I didn't think it was fair any more. Bob worked so bloody hard that he deserves some recognition. It's ridiculous to preserve the myth that it's all done by "one" man." Anderson in 1994 specified that for "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" he staged the lightsaber duels and also wore the Vader costume in fight scenes. David Prowse, who played Vader, said he did his own swordplay in the first "Star Wars" film but afterward, "having one of the principals do his own stunts made [the filmmakers] very weird from an insurance point of view."


title: Bob Anderson (fencer)

text: Anderson continued to work in cinema for the next 30 years, and was responsible for the swordsmanship in many films, including "Highlander", "The Princess Bride", "The Three Musketeers", "The Mask of Zorro", "" and "The Lord of the Rings" film trilogy. Shortly before his death he was working on "The Hobbit". He had a reputation for being a perfectionist, with director Martin Campbell giving him the nickname "Grumpy Bob". Anderson was interviewed at length for the 2009 documentary on cinematic sword-fighting, "Reclaiming the Blade", where he commented, "I never took up the sword, I think the sword took me up."


title: Bob Anderson (fencer)

text: After his death his widow, Pearl, and daughter, Simone, visited the Royal Hospital School and donated Anderson's swords, medals and movie footage to a museum.


title: Armlock

text: An armlock in grappling is a single or double joint lock that hyperextends, hyperflexes or hyperrotates the elbow joint or shoulder joint. An armlock that hyper-extends the arm is known as an armbar, and it includes the traditional armbar, pressing their elbow into your thigh, and the triangle armbar, like a triangle choke, but you press their elbow into your thigh. An armlock that hyper-rotates the arm is known as an armcoil, and includes the americana, kimura, and omaplata. Depending on the joint flexibility of a person, armcoils can either hyper-rotate only the shoulder joint, only the elbow joint, or both the elbow joint and shoulder joint. Generally, armcoils hurt more than armbars, as they attack several joints at the bone and muscle.


title: Armlock

text: Obtaining an armlock requires effective use of full-body leverage in order to initiate and secure a lock on the targeted arm, while preventing the opponent from escaping the lock. Therefore, performing an armlock is less problematic on the ground, from positions such as the mount, side control, or guard. Armlocks are more difficult to perform when both combatants are standing up, though the stand-up variants are a focus in certain systems such as Chin Na.


title: Armlock

text: Armlocks, considered less dangerous techniques in combat sports allowing joint locks, are the most common joint locks used as submission holds. In training, the method of executing an armlock is generally slow and controlled to give the opponent time to submit prior to any infliction of injury. However, in self-defense applications, or when applied improperly or with excessive force, armlocks can cause muscle, tendon and ligament damage, even dislocation, or bone fractures.


title: Armlock

text: The jūji-gatame (十字固め, rendered as "Ude-Hishigi-Juji-Gatame"), which translates to "cross pin" or "cross hold down" also sometimes used interchangeably with the terms armbar, cross armbar or straight armbar, is a Jujutsu, and thus a Judo, technique also widely used in other grappling martial arts such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ). The English word "bar" is used here to signify the opponent's extended arm, while the Japanese word "jūji" (十字) refers to the armbar's visual resemblance to the number 10 as written in kanji, 十. The word jūji is also found in "jūjika" (十字架), meaning a cross.


title: Armlock

text: In general, the practitioner secures an arm at the wrist of the opponent, trapping it by squeezing the knees together. To initiate the submission one of the legs will be across the chest of the opponent, the second leg's calf will cross face the opponent, with the hips tight into the armpit, with the arm held between the thighs, with the elbow pointing against the thigh or hips. By holding the opponent's wrist to the attacker's chest with the pinky finger on the sternum and the thumb facing up (arm semi-supinated or semi-pronated), the practitioner can easily extend the opponent's arm and hyperextend the opponent's elbow. The attacker can further increase the pressure on the elbow joint by arching his hips against the elbow. This technique is used in various grappling martial arts, including but not limited to Brazilian jiu-jitsu, catch wrestling, judo, jujutsu, Sambo, and shoot wrestling, and is reportedly at least 200 years old.


title: Armlock

text: The flying armbar or tobi-jūji-gatame (飛び十字固め) is a version of the jūji-gatame that is performed from a stand-up position. Without a gi, it is typically applied when the opponent has a collar tie and arm control. By tightly holding the opponent's neck and arm, the practitioner places one of his shins against the opponent's midsection, and leans up on the opponent; at the same time, the attacker swings the leg on the same side as the opponent's collar tie over the opponent's head, into the typical jūji-gatame position. A slight modification of this maneuver can also be made. Instead of initiating the move by placing the shin against the opponent's midsection, the lower leg can be directed through the space between the arm and trunk of the opponent with the knee generally placed close to the opponent's armpit. The advantage of this modification is that the attacking practitioner's hips more closely engage with the defender's shoulders, making the forthcoming armbar submission easier to accomplish. However, the disadvantage of this modification is that the associated risk of injury is increased due to the attacker's increased height above the ground and near-vertical upside-down angle to the ground. (With a gi, it can be performed without needing to hold the neck.) If improperly performed, this technique can allow the opponent to escape, and gain an advantageous position. The flying armbar is considered to be one of the most visually spectacular joint locks, but it is uncommon because of the associated risk of falling into a poor position.


title: Armlock

text: The helicopter armbar is a slightly different version of the armbar, a combination of an armbar and tomoe nage, which is also used by wrestling, Judo and BJJ. When the attacker stands in front of the opponent, he grabs both of his arms and falls backwards, causing the opponent to lean forward. Then the attacker puts his feet on the opponent's stomach or hips and lifts him up with his feet. While securing one of the opponents arms, the attacker will drop one foot (Same side as the secured arm). This will cause the opponent to twist and fall, landing with the secured arm extended by the attacker.


title: Armlock

text: The sankaku-gatame (三角固め) or triangle armlock is a jūji-gatame performed from the "sankaku" position. It is normally used when the "shime" (strangle) is not working. It is an effective competition technique because the opponent's arm became exposed while defending the sankaku-jime and their attention is focused in stopping the strangle.


title: Armlock

text: The "shoulder lock" is a technique used as a method of upper body restraint. It should not be confused with a choke because the lock does not block or interfere with the flow of air or oxygen to the brain. The application is executed by applying pressure between the radial bone and shoulder.


title: Armlock

text: The top shoulder lock, (Also known as the figure-four armlock, bent armlock, americana, keylock, V1 armlock, paintbrush, or ) is a grappling keylock technique in which both of the practitioner's arms isolate and cause flexion to the shoulder, elbow, and to a lesser extent the wrist of the opponent. The technique is generally set in motion by the practitioner, using their opposite side hand (i.e. to target the opponents' right hand he uses his own left hand), pinning the opponent's arm to the ground at the wrist, so that the elbow falls at a right angle with the palm facing upwards. Subsequently, the practitioner will thread his opposite hand under the opponent's biceps, reach through and grasp his own wrist. Doing so creates the signature "figure four", from which one name for this technique was derived. This also gives the practitioner a mechanical advantage over the opponent. To finish the submission the practitioner slides the wrist of the opponent toward the lower body, while simultaneously elevating the elbow and forearm, in a motion resembling using a paintbrush, creating opposition to the joints and causing the necessary flexion in the shoulder and elbow to cause significant pain, and damage if the opponent fails to submit.


title: Armlock

text: While it is feasible to execute this technique from several different positions, the most commonly utilized is the side mount position. This technique also has numerous variations with their own nomenclature, for instance depending on the rotational direction the arm, the addition of the word "reverse" signifying medial rotation as in reverse keylock or reverse ude-garami, in which case the usage of "keylock" indicates lateral rotation only.


title: Armlock

text: Double wristlock / chicken wing (catch wrestling), kimura (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu), or reverse keylock are terms used to specify a medial keylock known in judo as gyaku ude-garami (reverse arm entanglement) or simply as ude-garami. The application is similar to the top wristlock, except that it is reversed. It needs some space behind the opponent to be effective, and can be applied from the side control or guard. Contrary to the top wristlock, the opponent's wrist is grabbed with the hand on the same side, and the opposite arm is put behind the opponent's arm, again grabbing the attacker's wrist and forming a figure-four. By controlling the opponent's body and cranking the arm away from the attacker, pressure is put on the shoulder joint, and depending on the angle, also the elbow joint (in some variations the opponent's arm is brought behind their back, resulting in a finishing position resembling that of the "hammerlock" outlined below).


title: Armlock

text: The name "kimura" started circulating in Brazil after a judoka and a professional wrestler Masahiko Kimura used it to defeat one of the founders of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hélio Gracie. This variation of the name gained more prominence in MMA after the introduction of UFC, and the role Gracie had in its early history. Although a top wristlock is technically a reverse double wristlock, UFC announcer Bruce Buffer still announces fights won by top wristlock as "by tap-out due to a kimura".


title: Armlock

text: The double wristlock is considered in catch wrestling to be the bread-and-butter part of their style. Professional wrestler Terry Funk credits Lorigo "Tony" Morelli with introducing the hold to wrestling "in the '20s", and expressed light frustration with the term "kimura" gradually replacing "double wristlock". He says Morelli set it up by giving opponents (either in fixed matches or legitimate challenges) his back, while standing, throughout his thirty-year career. A reporter for "The Spokesman-Review" used the term in June 1925 to describe a submission by Jim "Cyclone Thompson" Corrigan over the deputy sheriff of Worley, Idaho, without elaborating on the mechanics. "The Wichita Eagle" did likewise that April, for Dick Daviscourt's first fall on strongman Henry "Milo" Steinborn.


title: Armlock

text: The 1928 National Collegiate Athletic Association rulebook noted, "Attention is called to the fact that if the double wristlock is brought up to a twisting hammerlock, it becomes an illegal hold and must be stopped by the Referee...". Elsewhere, it prohibits preventing an opponent from escaping with a bodylock, with low-quality photographic illustration. It also noted concern for the danger of a legally applied double wristlock. Robin Reed had used the move to force pins on his way to an Olympic gold medal in 1924.


title: Armlock

text: The omoplata (referred to in judo as ashi-sankaku-garami, 三角緘, "triangular entanglement" and in catch wrestling as coil lock) is another bent arm shoulder lock. The locking mechanism is similar to the kimura bent arm lock, but instead of using a figure-four, it is applied using a leg. The omoplata can be applied from the guard, by placing one leg under the opponent's armpit and turning 180 degrees in the direction of that leg, so that the leg moves over the back of the opponent and entangles the opponent's arm. By controlling the opponent's body and pushing the arm perpendicularly away from the opponent's back, pressure can be put on the opponent's shoulder. It is also possible to put pressure on the elbow joint by bending the leg entangling the arm, and twisting it in a specific manner. In order to secure the opponent and prevent him from rolling out of the lock, the inner arm can be thrown over the opponent's waist as a "seatbelt" securing the opponent. Though an effective lock, it is more difficult than other armlocks to successfully apply. The technique called a monoplata is a similar armlock that resembles jūji-gatame or spiderweb position yet has a mechanism like an omoplata.


title: Armlock

text: Tsunetane Oda, a judo groundwork specialist who died in 1955, was shown on video to have demonstrated the technique.


title: Armlock

text: A hammerlock is a shoulder lock similar to the double wristlock where the opponent's arm is held bent against their back, and their hand forced upwards towards the neck, thereby applying pressure to the shoulder joint. This version of the rotational armlock has been present in wrestling circles for centuries and its earliest appearance is in a 16th century German book detailing techniques for European Wrestling. In BJJ circles, this is sometimes referred to as "chicken wing". In recent years, its popularity with North Caucasian wrestlers like Khabib Nurmagomedov has garnered the lock the nickname "Dagestani Handcuffs".


title: Nusa Penida

text: Nusa Penida () is an island located in the southeastern Indonesian island of Bali and a district of Klungkung Regency that includes the neighbouring small island of Nusa Lembongan and twelve even smaller islands. The Badung Strait separates the island and Bali. The interior of Nusa Penida is hilly with a maximum altitude of 524 metres. It is drier than the nearby island of Bali. It is one of the major tourist attractions among the three Nusa islands.


title: Nusa Penida

text: There are thirteen small islands nearby – Nusa Lembongan, Nusa Ceningan and eleven even smaller – which are included within the district ("kecamatan"). Administratively, the kecamatan of the same name, had a population of 45,110 at the 2010 census, covering 202.8 km, very little changed from 10 years prior.


title: Nusa Penida

text: Nusa Penida, and neighbouring Lembongan and Ceningan islands, are a bird sanctuary. The islands communities have used traditional Balinese village regulations to create the sanctuary. The idea of a sanctuary came from the Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF).


title: Nusa Penida

text: In 2006 all 35 villages (now 41 villages) agreed to make bird protection part of their traditional regulations (). Since then, the FNPF has rehabilitated and released various Indonesian birds, most notably the critically endangered Bali starling which is endemic to Bali but whose numbers in the wild had declined to less than 10 in 2005. After a two-year program by FNPF in which 64 cage-bred birds were rehabilitated and released onto Nusa Penida, their number had increased to over 100 in 2009. Other released birds include the Java sparrow, Mitchell's lorikeet and sulphur crested cockatoo.


title: Nusa Penida

text: Nusa Penida covers a wide area of diving locations, including Penida Bay, Batu Lumbung (Manta Point), Batu Meling, Batu Abah, Toya Pakeh and Malibu Point. The flow through the Lombok Strait is, overall, south-tending, although the strength and direction of the tidal streams are influenced by the monsoon seasons.


title: Nusa Penida

text: During the southeast monsoons, the tidal flow tends south; during the northeast monsoons, the tidal flow tends north. In the area of the strait north of Nusa Penida, the pattern is relatively simple, with a flow, at peaktide, of about three-and-one-half knots. Tidal streams in Badung Strait are semi-diurnal, but the character of the stream is very complicated because its direction runs obliquely to the general south to north direction of Lombok Strait, and the channel has a curved shape.


title: Nusa Penida

text: Based on survey in 2009, there was about 1,419 hectares coral sites with 66 percent covered the sites in 3 metres depth and 74 percent covered the sites in 10 metres depth.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Maxim Maximovich Litvinov (; born Meir Henoch Wallach; 17 July 1876 – 31 December 1951) was a Russian revolutionary and prominent Soviet statesman and diplomat.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: A strong advocate of diplomatic agreements leading towards disarmament, Litvinov was influential in making the Soviet Union a party to the Kellogg–Briand Pact of 1928 and was chiefly responsible in 1929 for adoption of the so-called Litvinov Protocol, a multilateral agreement bringing Kellogg-Briand into force between the Soviet Union and a number of neighboring states. In 1930, Litvinov was named as People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs, the highest diplomatic position in the Soviet state.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: During the subsequent decade, Litvinov emerged as a leading voice for the official Soviet policy of collective security with the Western powers against Nazi Germany.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Meir Henoch Wallach was born into a wealthy, Yiddish-speaking Lithuanian Jewish banking family in Białystok, Grodno Governorate of the Russian Empire, formerly part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; he was the second son of Moses and Anna Wallach. His father was arrested in 1881, held in prison for six weeks, then released without charge. Educated at a local Realschule, he joined the army in 1893, but was discharged in 1898 after he disobeyed an order to fire into a crowd of striking workers in Baku. He joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (SDLP) in Kiev in 1898 at a time when the party was considered an illegal organization, and it was customary for its members to use pseudonyms. He changed his name to Maxim Litvinov (a common Litvak surname), but was also known as "Papasha" and "Maximovich". Litvinov also wrote articles under the names "M.G. Harrison" and "David Mordecai Finkelstein".


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: His early responsibilities included carrying out propaganda work in the Chernigov Governorate. In 1900, Litvinov became a member of the Kiev party committee, but the entire committee was arrested in 1901. After 18 months of captivity, he and Nikolai Bauman organised a mass escape of 11 inmates from Lukyanovskaya prison, using ropes and grappling irons to scale the walls, after overpowering a warden. He moved to Geneva, where the founder of Russian Marxism, Georgi Plekhanov, enlisted him as an agent of the revolutionary newspaper "Iskra". He organised a route to smuggle the newspaper into Russia from Germany.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In July 1903, Litvinov was present in London when the RSDLP split, during its second congress; he became a founding member of the Bolshevik faction, led by Lenin, whom he first met in the British Museum Reading Room. Lenin and Litvinov went to Hyde Park to hear some of the speeches, and continued to remain in touch during this period.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: He returned to Russia during the 1905 Revolution, when he became editor of the RSDLP's first legal newspaper, Novaya Zhizn, in St. Petersburg.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: When the Russian government began arresting Bolsheviks in 1906, Litvinov left the country and spent the next ten years as an émigré and arms dealer for the party. Based in Paris, he travelled throughout Europe. Posing as an officer in the Ecuadorian Army, he bought machine guns from the State Munitions Factory in Denmark, and, posing as a Belgian businessman, bought more weapons from Schroeder and Company of Germany, and arranged for the whole consignment to be transported to Bulgaria, where he told the authorities that they were for Macedonian and Armenian rebels fighting for freedom from the Ottoman Empire. He then bought a yacht, and handed it and the weapons over to the Armenian revolutionary Kamo to be smuggled across the Black Sea, but it ran aground, and the weapons were stolen by Rumanian fishermen. Despite this disaster, he had some success in smuggling these arms into Russia via Finland and the Black Sea.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In 1907, he attended the 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party in London. Initially he had to rely on the charity of the Rowton Houses for accommodation in London. However, the party eventually arranged a rented house for him that he shared with Joseph Stalin, who had also been anxious to find more comfortable housing than the Rowton poor hostels.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In January 1908, he was arrested under the name Meer Wallach by French police while carrying twelve 500-ruble banknotes that had been stolen during the 1907 Tiflis bank robbery. The Russian government demanded his extradition, but Minister for Justice Aristide Briand ruled that his crime was 'political', and ordered him to be deported. He went to Belfast in Ireland where he joined his sister Rifka and her family. There, he taught foreign languages in the Jewish Jaffe Public Elementary School until 1910.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In 1910, Litvinov moved to England, where he lived for eight years. In 1912, he replaced Lenin as the Bolshevik representative on the International Socialist Bureau. When the First World War broke out in 1914, the Tsar requested that all Russian émigrés who were in England and liable for Russian military service be returned to fight in the Imperial Russian Army. However, Litvinov was able to convince the English officer who interviewed him that if he returned to Russia he would be tried rather than conscripted.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In February 1915, he gatecrashed a conference of socialists from the Triple Entente, who included Keir Hardie, Ramsay MacDonald, Emile Vandervelde and the Mensheviks Yuri Martov and Ivan Maisky, with a statement prepared by Lenin demanding that every socialist who held a government post should resign, and oppose continuation of the war. The conference chairman refused to allow him to finish speaking. Litvinov regularly spoke in public opposing the war but failed to face up to the fact that if Britain had not declared war, it would have broken a treaty to defend Belgium. At the pinnacle of his power in the 1930s, Litvinov would later constantly stress the importance of abiding by the terms of treaties.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: He addressed the conference of the Entente Labour Parties but they were not persuaded to change course:


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: While holding the olive branch in one hand, we have to hold the sword in the other. We have been forced to take up the sword as the only means of defence. We must not forget we are able to assemble here because the Royal Navy hold the high seas and millions of Allied troops hold the line. If Germany was to succeed, the resolutions we pass would be a mere scrap of paper and of no more value than the Russian bank notes of the Russian state bank.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Later, a mutiny took place on a Russian ship in the Mersey. The police, having been warned of possible trouble, had the ship under surveillance, and when shouts were heard that the crew were threatening to kill their officers, the ship was boarded and the crew were arrested. Shortly before the mutiny a police report confirmed that Litvinov had received the sailors very well. Therefore, at best, Litvinov had failed to try to dissuade the sailors from carrying out the mutiny or condemn it, and at worst, encouraged it.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Litvinov was also seeking interviews with British, American, Australian and Canadian soldiers and inculcating them with Bolshevik ideas, as well as inducing British and American soldiers of Jewish descent to carry on propaganda in their regiments. On one occasion, thirty Royal Engineers, along with some American and Canadian soldiers, were received in Litvinov’s office. It was assumed that Litvinov was similarly encouraging them to state their grievances.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: On the day after the October Revolution of 1917, Litvinov was appointed by the Council of People's Commissars ("Sovnarkom") as the Soviet government's plenipotentiary representative in Great Britain. His accreditation was never officially formalised, and his position as an unofficial diplomatic contact was analogous to that of Bruce Lockhart, Britain's unofficial agent in Soviet Russia.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Litvinov was still allowed to speak freely even after the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, which took Russia out of the war.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In January 1918, Litvinov addressed the Labour Party Conference, praising the achievements of the Revolution:


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: The land has been given to the peasants. The factories are under the supervision of their shop steward committees. Superfluous apartments of the rich have been made available to provide shelter for the homeless. The banks have been nationalised, and in short, a nationalisation policy has been carried out in all the services of the community. The Army has been democratised and self-determination has been guaranteed to all nationalities of Russia.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: The Russian worker has been fighting an unequal battle against the imperialists of all the world for democratic principles honestly applied. They have begun the proceedings for a general peace, but it is obvious they cannot finish it alone. I would say to the representatives of British Labour, 'Speed up your peace.'


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Alexander Kerensky, the leader of the democratic Provisional Government that had replaced the Tsar and was overthrown by Lenin, was welcomed by the British Government on a visit to London and addressed the Labour Party Conference by criticising the dictatorship of Lenin’s government:


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: They have dispersed the Constituent Assembly, abolished freedom of speech, have made human life the easy prey of every red guardsman, have destroyed the liberty of the elections, even in the Councils of the Workmen, that have made an end of all institutions of self-government that have been elected by universal suffrage. The Bolsheviks claim that the present state of Russia is a dictatorship of the proletariat, although the most ruthless repression is applied against the democratic and socialist parties. War has been organised against the helpless population and every Russian citizen who refuses to recognise this method of government as perfect is declared counter-revolutionary.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: The continuance of the government in time of Revolution, for eight months without a standing army, except voluntary detachments, without police and press censorship and indeed with greater freedom of speech and the press than exists in any other country immediately disproves allegations to the contrary. Kerensky and his friends, having convinced themselves of the futility of any counter-revolutionary revolts in Russia, are now coming abroad to seek foreign military intervention for the overthrow of the Soviets under the pretext of fighting Germany. Further, if Kerensky is successful in overthrowing the Bolshevik regime, it will not be replaced by a socialist or even a democratic government but by the most brutal and barbaric military dictatorship resting on foreign bayonets, with the inevitable restoration of Tsarism. Clearly, the reception given to Kerensky indicated that the vast majority of the British Labour movement believed that a safer route to improve the prosperity of the working class was through the parliamentary route rather than by revolution."


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Litvinov was able to secure the release of Georgy Chicherin from Brixton prison, but later in 1918, was himself arrested by the British government, ostensibly on a charge of having addressed public gatherings held in opposition to British intervention in the ongoing Russian Civil War. Litvinov was held until exchanged for Lockhart, who had been similarly imprisoned in Russia.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Following his release, Litvinov returned to Moscow, arriving there at the end of 1918. There, he was appointed to the governing collegium of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs "(Narkomindel)" and immediately dispatched on an official mission to Stockholm, Sweden, where he presented a Soviet peace appeal. Litvinov was subsequently deported from Sweden, but spent the next months as a roving diplomat for the Soviet government, helping to broker a multilateral agreement allowing the exchange of prisoners of war from a range of combatants, including Russia, Great Britain, and France. This successful negotiation amounted to "de facto" recognition of the new revolutionary Russian government by the other signatories to the agreement and established Litvinov's importance in Soviet diplomacy.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: However, Litvinov undoubtedly tried to intervene in Britain's internal politics agreeing at the request of the "Daily Herald", a newspaper supporting the Labour Party, to ask the Soviet government to give it financial assistance saying:


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: If we do not support the "Daily Herald", which is now passing through a fresh crisis, the paper will have to turn to a Right trade union. On Russian questions it acts as if it is our organ. After Lansbury’s journey to Moscow earlier in the year, the "Herald" has moved considerably to the Left and decidedly advocates direct action in support of the Soviet regime. It needed £50,000 in six months, after which once again it hoped to be on firm ground. I beg for an early and favourable answer because there is no hope of establishing a purely Communist newspaper at this time.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In February 1921, the Soviets were approached by their fellow outlaw government in Dublin with proposals for a treaty of mutual recognition and assistance. Despairing of early American recognition for the Irish Republic, the President of the Dáil Éireann, Éamon De Valera, had redirected his envoy, Patrick McCartan, from Washington to Moscow. McCartan may have assumed that Litvinov, with his Irish experience, would be a ready ally. Litvinov, however, was to tell him that Soviet priority was now a trade agreement with Britain.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In March 1921, the Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement was signed, authorising trade between the two countries so that gold sent to Britain to pay for goods could not be confiscated, but the British Government, and even more the British press, began almost immediately to complain about Moscow-directed subversion. In June the British government published the proposed treaty between the Dáil government and the Soviets, and related correspondence, and the question of Communist intrigue in the Irish War of Independence exploded in the headlines.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Finally, the British Foreign Secretary sent a note of protest to the Soviet Government, charging it with responsibility for a range of intrigues against the British Government and its imperial interests. Litvinov replied:


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: The British Foreign Office has been misled by a gang of professional forgers and swindlers, and had it known the dubious sources of its information, its note of 7 September would never have been produced. The British Government's complaints of anti-British activities in India, Persia, Turkistan, Angora and Afghanistan to a certain extent are based on the above-mentioned fictitious reports and speeches, but the Russian Government wishes to state most emphatically that, after the conclusion of the Anglo-Russian agreement, it had given strict instructions to its representatives in the East to abstain from any anti-British propaganda. True to the principle of self-determination, the Soviet Government and its representatives exercise the greatest respect for the independence of the Eastern countries in giving up the privileges and concessions forcibly extorted from them by the Tsarist Government.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: The Russian Government, on its part, feels compelled to place on record that the attitude of the British Government has lately been far from friendly towards Russia.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: The imprisonment by British authorities in Constantinople of a number of Russian trade agents and their expulsion without any charge having been preferred against them, the co-operation with the French Government in the so-called ‘Russian question’, the continued support given to French schemes tending to frustrate every effort on behalf of various countries and international bodies to bring some help to the famine-stricken population of Russia, and lastly the presentation of the British note itself of 7 September with its grave charges based merely on imaginary facts and unchecked loose information obtained from dubious sources at a time when France was inciting Poland and Rumania to make war on Russia, do not belong to the category of facts that would induce the Russian Government to believe that it is the sincere desire of the British Government to foster friendly relations between the governments and peoples of the two countries.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In 1921, Litvinov was appointed First Deputy People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs, second in command to People's Commissar Georgy Chicherin (1872–1936). Although both were unflinchingly loyal to the Soviet regime, Litvinov and Chicherin proved to be temperamental opposites and ultimately emerged as rivals. Chicherin was cultivated and polished in personal style and taste but held a strongly anti-Western political orientation. He sought to hold Soviet Russia aloof from diplomatic dealmaking with capitalist powers. As diplomatic historian Jonathan Haslam has observed, Litvinov was precisely the reverse: less erudite and more coarse, but willing to deal in good faith with the West for peace and a breathing space for Soviet Russia to pursue its own internal development.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In 1924, full diplomatic relations had been restored under the Macdonald Labour Government. The Conservative Party and the business community continued to be hostile to the Soviet Union partly because the Soviet Union had not honoured Tsarist debts and partly because of the fear of Bolshevism spreading to Britain, and considered that therefore the Bolshevist Government should be militarily overthrown. This was exacerbated by the Soviet Government supporting the 1926 General Strike and criticising the British Trades Union Congress for calling off the strike. The Soviet Government offered a gift of £25,000 to the TUC which was refused and £200,000 to the Cooperative movement which was accepted.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: However, Litvinov was still anxious to prevent this deterioration of relations and suggested that he should have talks with Hodgson, Britain's "chargé d'affaires" in Moscow. Hodgson, who privately was sympathetic to some of Litvinov’s complaints, communicated with the Foreign Office, giving four reasons for criticising Britain's position:


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In the first place we had signed a trade agreement as long ago as 1921 and in 1923 we went a step further by conferring on the Soviet Government "de jure" recognition.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Secondly, it be known upon several occasions in the past six months that HM Government have every intention of maintaining its relationship with the Soviet Government unless the latter do something quite intolerably offensive.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Third, the outbursts of enthusiasts carried away by their legitimate emotions are liable to prejudice our position in dealing with problems which, being in relation with the Soviet Government, we have to solve by discussion with that Government.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Fourth, the Soviet Union whatever her political complexion, is a market and we badly need markets. The red bandit battle cry may conceivably serve a useful purpose in the political warfare at home. On this question I can offer no opinion. I can, however, lay it down as a proposition that in so far as our relations with Russia are concerned, the expressions of resentment which it epitomises are definitely detrimental to our essential interest. That we should be alarmed at the activity of Soviet agitators is an admission of weakness which is hailed with delight over here.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Yet the most pressing aspect is the commercial one and here the anti-red campaign does positive and immediate harm which it is impossible to calculate in Pounds Sterling. It creates a policy of insecurity which makes the Soviet Government hesitant about placing orders in Britain, causes British firms to fight shy of Russian orders and frightens British banks from financing them.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Nevertheless, under pressure from Conservative MPs on the uncorroborated evidence of a dismissed employee that the Soviet Trade Mission had stolen a missing war office document the Conservative Government successfully asked Parliament to sever diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Although Chicherin advocated caution, Litvinov, presumably with Stalin’s support, decided to go on the attack:


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: The decision was no surprise to the Soviet Government. It had already for long been aware that a rupture of diplomatic relations with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was being prepared by the whole policy of the present British Conservative Government, which has declined all proposals of the Soviet Government for the settlement of mutual relations by means of negotiations. The lack of results of the search of the Trade Delegation premises, which was carried out with utmost thoroughness over several days, is the most convincing proof of the loyalty and correctitude of the official agents of the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics. The Soviet Government passes over with contempt the insinuations of a British Minister regarding espionage by the Trade Delegation and considers it beneath its dignity to reply to them. The Soviet Government places on record that the British Government had no legitimate ground for a police raid on the extra-territorial premises of the official Soviet agent.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Hodgson, the British "chargé d'affaires", agreed with Litvinov that the Arcos Raid was deplorable. He said so in a letter to "the Times" fourteen years later in 1941 showing his pleasure at Litvinov’s appointment as ambassador to the United States.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: When the Labour Party were the largest party in the 1929 British General election, Ramsay Macdonald who became Prime Minister set about restoring relations with the Soviet Union provided the Soviet Union refrained from initiating propaganda in Britain. Whereas Litvinov was in favour of being conciliatory we now know from published letters between Stalin and Molotov, that Stalin decided to overrule Litvinov’s conciliatory attitude having the result that British Foreign Secretary Arthur Henderson, instead of trying to come to an effective agreement on propaganda, papered over the cracks so in effect achieved unconditional recognition.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Litvinov was a strong supporter of the principle of disarmament and favored Soviet participation in the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928, which pledged signatories to the elimination of the use of war as a tool of foreign policy—a position directly at odds with that advocated by his nominal superior, Chicherin. He was frustrated by the failure of the Kellogg Pact's signatories to ratify the treaty. So he proposed the Litvinov Protocol, in which signatories formally proclaimed themselves in mutual compliance with the pacifistic goals of the Kellogg-Briand Pact. It was signed in Moscow in February 1929 by the Soviet Union, Poland, Romania, Latvia, and Estonia, and later by several other countries.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: He was also an enthusiastic supporter and actively attended the Preparatory Commission of the Disarmament Conference from 30 November 1927 until it was replaced by the actual disarmament Conference in 1932 advocating total Disarmament.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Supposing you had total disarmament; if there was no international organisation taking charge of security, if you had no international force to ensure the maintenance of this security, if you had no international law such as we are endeavouring to lay down here, a powerful and populous nation would always have the power when it wished to do so on a small nation equally disarmed, less populous and less well equipped to resist an attack which might be made upon it.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Would small nations be less insecure after their powerful neighbours who have disarmed than they are now when, in addition to economic, financial, territorial and other superiorities possessed by the great powers, the latter also enjoy the immense advantage of greater armaments.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: However, the proposals despised by most of the delegates to the Disarmament Conference won Litvinov favourable publicity in radical circles in the Western countries eager for disarmament and which were already impatient at the slow progress of the commission.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: The national joint Council of the Labour Party, the Parliamentary Labour Party and the Trades Union Congress passed a resolution expressing their sense of great importance of the proposals of general and simultaneous disarmament which was put forward by the USSR delegation at the Preparatory Disarmament Commission in Geneva on 30 November 1927.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In 1930, Joseph Stalin appointed Litvinov People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs. A firm believer in collective security, Litvinov worked very hard to form a closer relationship with France and the United Kingdom, a policy seemingly at odds with the "class against class" line of the so-called Third Period being advocated by the Communist International. Litvinov remained the only leading official of Narkomindel in the mid-1930s who had direct personal access to Stalin and who could deal with Stalin's inner circle on terms approaching equality, in marked contrast to other top foreign affairs officials such as Litvinov's protégé Boris Stomonyakov and rival Nikolay Krestinsky, for whom access was limited to the level of occasional supplication.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Stalin was largely detached from and uninterested in foreign policy throughout the first half of the 1930s, largely leaving the general operations of Narkomindel and the Comintern to their designated chiefs. This left Litvinov with fairly wide latitude to pursue policy objectives subject only to broad review and approval from the centre, with Stalin frequently delegating even that aspect of leadership to members of his personal secretariat, including Karl Radek, until the summer of 1936. As a result, Litvinov's Narkomindel was able to pursue a moderate foreign policy line, emphasising stable relations between governments leading towards general disarmament, which was, as one historian has called it, a "curious mismatch" with the revolutionary militance then vocalised by the Comintern.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: On 6 February 1933, Litvinov made the most significant speech of his career, when he endeavoured to define aggression. He stated that the internal situation of a country, alleged maladministration, possible danger to foreign residents or civil unrest in a neighbouring country was no justification for war. This speech became the authority when war was justified. Eden had originally argued that ‘to try to define aggression was a trap for the innocent and protection for the guilty.' However, in 1946 the British Government supported Litvinov’s definition of aggression by accusing the Soviet Union of not complying with Litvinov’s definition of aggression. Finland made similar criticisms against the Soviet Union in 1939.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Litvinov was initially derided by many delegates such as Lord Cushendun, the British delegate, who said the failure of the Disarmament Conference would be gratifying to the Soviet delegation. By the soundness of Litvinov’s argument and eloquence his standing greatly increased. In 1933 the Greek Chairman of the Political Commission of the League of Nations stated: 'It was with special pleasure he paid this tribute to the Soviet delegation since it demonstrated beyond doubt that when men rose above the contingences of day-to-day politics and allowed themselves to be guided by the more general ideas which should lead the civilised world, it was found that there was a community of ideals which was capable with a little goodwill of bringing to fruition the noblest and most difficult enterprises.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In 1933, Litvinov was instrumental in winning a long-sought diplomatic plum: formal diplomatic recognition by the United States of the Soviet government. US President Franklin Roosevelt sent comedian Harpo Marx to the Soviet Union as a goodwill ambassador. Litvinov and Marx became friends and even performed a routine on stage together. Litvinov also actively facilitated the acceptance of the Soviet Union into the League of Nations, where he represented his country from 1934 to 1938.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: In 1935, Litvinov negotiated treaties of mutual assistance with France and with Czechoslovakia with the aim of containing Nazi Germany's aggression.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Writing in "A History of the League of Nations" in 1952, F. P. Walters expressed "astonished admiration", praising Litvinov's farsighted analysis:


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: Litvinov has been considered to concentrate on taking strong measures against Italy, Japan and Germany and being little interested in other matters. However, he did praise the achievements of the Soviet Union, although he may not have agreed with collective farming. At the time of the Moscow Trials, Litvinov was appointed to a committee deciding the fate of Bukharin and Rykov, voting for them to be expelled and tried without application of the death penalty, although in the end they were handed over to the NKVD. During the Great Purge, the Foreign Commissariat lacked ambassadors in nine capitals, which Litvinov reported to Stalin, noting the damage without criticising the cause. Indeed, Litvinov publicly endorsed the Purges and the campaign against the Trotskyites, although this may have been for reasons of self-preservation.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: After the Munich Agreement, German state media derided Litvinov about his Jewish ancestry, referring to him as "Finkelstein-Litvinov." On 15 April 1939 Litvinov sent a comprehensive proposal to Stalin for a tripartite agreement with Britain and France. On 16 April Litvinov saw Stalin to discuss his draft. The Soviet leader approved it. Two matters appear clear. First, it was because of Litvinov’s initiative that the tripartite pact proposals were submitted to Stalin. The Soviet records indicate that Litvinov submitted detailed arguments in favour of the proposed pact, which Stalin accepted. Litvinov stated that they ought not to wait for the other side to propose the very thing that the Soviets wanted. Litvinov summarised his proposals, which were for mutual assistance in case of aggression against the Soviet Union, Britain or France and support for all States bordering the Soviet Union, including Finland and the Baltic States. It also provided for rapid agreement on the form that such assistance would take. Furthermore, there would be an agreement not to conclude a separate peace. As late as 16 April it appears that Stalin still had faith in his Foreign Commissar and had no immediate plans to remove him. Nor had any concrete proposals been initiated for a Nazi-Soviet Pact by either the Soviet Union or Germany. Litvinov said: ‘We can expect urgent and complex negotiations with the French and especially the British. We need to monitor public opinion and try to influence it.’ Now that the new proposals had the support of Stalin, Litvinov appeared to have been so enthusiastic that he summoned Seeds while he was enjoying a play at the theatre with his wife. Litvinov was surprised that Seeds appeared annoyed at having his evening entertainment unnecessarily interrupted, and wished to return to his wife, who was still at the theatre. Presumably Litvinov could have had the proposals conveyed to the Embassy with a request for Seeds to visit Litvinov urgently in the morning.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: It's easy to imagine, in view of his poor opinion of Neville Chamberlain, Litvinov was not surprised that Russia’s proposal for an alliance would not be welcome, but he may have been taken aback by the attitude of the Foreign Office. Cadogan, in his diary, described Litvinov’s proposals as ‘mischievous.’ A Foreign Office report to the Foreign Affairs Cabinet Committee termed them ‘inconvenient.’ There is a strong case for arguing that if Litvinov’s proposals had been quickly and favourably considered, the Second World War might not have taken place. Churchill, on 7 June 1939, stated he ‘much preferred the Russian proposals. They are simple. They are logical and conform to the main groupings of common interest.’ Churchill further stated that the Soviet claim that the Baltic States should be included in the triple guarantee was well founded. Three years later, Britain agreed a similar pact of assistance with the Soviet Union. In the meantime, its major ally France had been defeated, many of Britain’s cities and towns devastated by German bombing and Britain’s financial reserves decimated by the cost of the war. Litvinov’s proposals were also conveyed to the French Ambassador.


title: Maxim Litvinov

text: As soon as the proposals reached the French Government, Bonnet’s first reaction was entirely different from that of the British Government and Foreign Office. Bonnet saw the Soviet Ambassador, Suritz, who cabled that ‘the first impression of the French is very favourable.’ However, Britain successfully persuaded the French Government to take no action until a common policy had been formulated. Although there were talks between the French and the British Governments, they both failed either to accept or reject the proposals until after Litvinov’s dismissal on 4 May. However, Molotov proceeded with negotiations for a pact and a military mission left for Moscow