1.
Municipalities of Belgium
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As such, only Antwerp, having over 500,000 inhabitants, became subdivided into nine districts. The Belgian arrondissements, a level between province and municipality, or the lowest judicial level, are in English sometimes called districts as well. The municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants were grouped in so-called canton municipalities, in 1800, these canton municipalities were abolished again and the number of autonomous municipalities became 2,776. Not much changed during the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, only a number of municipalities were merged. In 1831, Belgium was divided into 2,739 municipalities, New municipalities were created until 1928. There were 2,528 municipalities in 1850,2,572 in 1875,2,617 in 1900 and this also includes the municipalities of the East Cantons that were added to Belgium following the First World War. In 1961, the so-called Unitary Law, of which the chapter was dedicated to the territorial organisation of the municipalities, was adopted. The authority to abolish municipalities was entrusted to the branch for a period of 10 years. Municipalities could be merged on financial grounds or on grounds of a geographical, linguistic, economic, in 1964 and in 1969 and 1970, roughly 300 municipalities ceased to exist and were subsumed into other municipalities. The number of municipalities was reduced from 2,663 in 1961 to 2,586 in 1965, article 4 of the constitution states that each municipality must belong to only one of the four official language areas that were established in 1962–63. In the three officially unilingual language areas, a couple of municipalities in the vicinity of another language area must provide limited facilities for speakers of that other language. Lucien Harmegnies, Minister of the Interior in the government of Gaston Eyskens decided to continue the process of reorganization of Belgium. In 1971, the provisions of the Unity Law were extended and modified to apply to large agglomerations and it was another Minister of the Interior, Joseph Michel, who managed the process. On December 30,1975, the law regarding the merger of the municipalities was adopted, the merger became effective on January 1,1977. The merger of 1977 further reduced the number of municipalities in Belgium from 2,359 to 596, because of the specific nature of the reorganization in Antwerp, the law of December 30,1975 didnt enter into force for Antwerp until January 1,1983. The formerly independent municipalities were called districts and were given an advisory function, however, on January 1,2001 they were given an administrative function again. The Mayor is not only the head of the municipality, he or she is also the representative of the Regional, in that capacity, he or she is responsible for the execution of laws, decrees, ordinances and orders. The Mayor is also responsible for the maintenance of order in his or her municipality
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Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
4.
Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium
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Belgium is a federal state comprising three communities, three regions, and four language areas. For each of these types, the subdivisions together make up the entire country, in other words. The language areas were established by the Second Gilson Act, which entered force on August 2,1963. The division into language areas was included in the Belgian Constitution in 1970 and this is a schematic overview of the basic federal structure of Belgium as defined by Title I of the Belgian Constitution. Each of the entities either have their own Parliament and Government or their own Council, the language areas have no offices or powers and exist de facto as geographical circumscriptions, serving only to delineate the empowered subdivisions. The institutional communities are thus equally geographically determined, Belgian Communities do not officially refer directly to groups of people but rather to specific political, linguistic and cultural competencies of the country. There is no subnationality in Belgium, the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each comprise five provinces. The Brussels-Capital Region is not a province, nor does it contain any, the three regions are further subdivided into 589 municipalities, which in general consist of several sub-municipalities. These sub-municipalities were independent municipalities in the past, but no longer serve an official purpose, the Federal State retains a considerable common heritage. This includes justice, defence, federal police, social security, public debt and other aspects of public finances, nuclear energy, the State is responsible for the obligations of Belgium and its federalized institutions towards the European Union and NATO. It controls substantial parts of public health, home affairs and foreign affairs and they supervise the provinces, municipalities and intercommunal utility companies. In several fields, the different levels each have their own say on specificities, each level can be involved in scientific research and international relations associated with its powers. Communities were created in 1970 as cultural communities with limited power, in 1980, more power was transferred from the federal state to these entities and they became simply communities. Both the Flemish and French Community have jurisdiction over the area of the Brussels-Capital Region, consequently, they do not have a defined number of inhabitants. The German-speaking Community is the community with an area over which they have sole jurisdiction as a community. It is located within the Walloon Region, which has transferred some regional powers to the German-speaking Community with regards to its area. The Flemish Region or Flanders occupies the part of Belgium. It has an area of 13,522 km2, or 44. 29% of Belgium
5.
French Community of Belgium
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In Belgium, the French Community refers to one of the three constituent constitutional linguistic communities. The name French Community refers to Francophone Belgians, and not to French people residing in Belgium, as such, the French Community of Belgium is sometimes rendered in English as the French-speaking Community of Belgium for clarity. The Community has its own parliament, government, and administration and its official flag is identical to the Walloon Flag, which is also the official flag of the Walloons of Wallonia. Wallonia is home to 80% of all Francophone Belgians, with the remaining 20% residing in Brussels, the French Community of Belgium includes 4.5 million people, of whom,3.6 million live in the Walloon Region,900,000 living in the Brussels-Capital Region. French speakers who live in the Flemish Region are not included in the numbers for the French-speaking Community. Their number is unknown, given the absence of sub-nationality status, estimates of the French-speaking population of Flanders vary from 120,000, around 200,000, to around 300,000. The French Community of Belgium makes up about 41% of the population of Belgium, 58% of the population belongs to the Flemish Community. For years there have been hints that the Community wanted to demonstrate the link between Wallonia and Brussels, the two main territories where the French speakers are in the majority. The independent/private media uses both the alternative and the original designation, in September 2011, the Community adopted a new logo that incorporates its new name. The French Community of Belgium is governed by the Parliament of the French Community, which selects the executive branch, the Parliament of the French Community is the legislative assembly of the French Community of Belgium based in the Quartier Royal. These members are elected for a term of five years, the current President of the Parliament of the French Community is Philippe Courard. Note, Government coalition parties are denoted with bullets The Cabinet of the French Community of Belgium is the branch of the French Community. It consists of a number of ministers chosen by the parliament and is headed by a Minister-President, following the 25 May 2014 election, the PS and CDH parties formed a coalition. A few days later, Milquet was replaced by Marie-Martine Schyns, Schyns took over the Compulsory Education portfolio, which she was already in charge of during the previous legislature. Greoli took over Culture and Child Care from Milquet and also received the Sports portfolio from René Collin, Brussels-Capital Region Commission communautaire française Communities and regions of Belgium Wallonia French Community of Belgium, official website. Parliament of the French Community of Belgium, official website
6.
Wallonia
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Wallonia is a region of Belgium. Wallonia is primarily French-speaking, and accounts for 55% of the territory of Belgium, unlike Flanders, the Walloon Region was not merged with the French Community of Belgium which is the political entity that is responsible for matters related mainly to culture and education. The German-speaking minority in the east forms the German-speaking Community of Belgium, during the industrial revolution, Wallonia was second only to the United Kingdom in industrialization, capitalizing on its extensive deposits of coal and iron. This brought the wealth, and, from the beginning of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century. Since World War II the importance of industry has greatly diminished. Wallonia now suffers high unemployment and has a significantly lower GDP per capita than Flanders. The economic inequalities and linguistic divide between the two are major sources of conflict in Belgium and is a major factor in Flemish separatism. The capital of Wallonia is Namur but the city with the greatest population is Charleroi, most of Wallonias major cities and two-thirds of its population lie along the Sambre and Meuse valley, the former industrial backbone of Belgium. To the north lies the Central Belgian Plateau, which, like Flanders, is relatively flat, in the south-east lie the Ardennes, hilly and sparsely populated. Wallonia borders Flanders and the Netherlands in the north, France to the south and west, Wallonia has been a member of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie since 1980. The term Wallonia can mean different things in different contexts. One of the three regions of Belgium is still constitutionally defined as the Walloon Region, but the regions government has renamed it Wallonia. In practice, the difference between the two terms is small and what is meant is usually clear, based on context, the root of the word Wallonia, like the words Wales, Cornwall and Wallachia, is the Germanic word Walha, meaning the strangers. Wallonia is named after the Walloons, the population of the Burgundian Netherlands speaking Romance languages, in Middle Dutch, the term Walloons also included the French-speaking population of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège or the whole population of the Romanic sprachraum within the medieval Low Countries. Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in 57 BC, the Low Countries became part of the larger Gallia Belgica province which originally stretched from southwestern Germany to Normandy and the southern part of the Netherlands. The population of territory was Celtic with a Germanic influence which was stronger in the north than in the south of the province. The ancestors of the Walloons became Gallo-Romans and were called the Walha by their Germanic neighbours, the Walha abandoned their Celtic dialects and started to speak Vulgar Latin. The Merovingian Franks gradually gained control of the region during the 5th century, the language border began to crystallize between 700 under the reign of the Merovingians and Carolingians and around 1000 after the Ottonian Renaissance
7.
Provinces of Belgium
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The country of Belgium is divided into three regions. Two of these regions, the Flemish Region or Flanders, and Walloon Region, the third region, the Brussels-Capital Region, is not divided into provinces, as it was originally only a small part of a province itself. Many of the provinces evolved from earlier duchies and counties of the name and similar location. At the time of the creation of Belgium in 1830, only nine provinces existed, including the province of Brabant and these divisions reflected political tensions between the French-speaking Walloons and the Dutch-speaking Flemish, the Brussels-Capital Region is officially bilingual. The division into provinces is fixed by Article 5 of the Belgian Constitution, the provinces are subdivided into 43 administrative arrondissements, and further into 589 municipalities. These each had their own identities and governments, though in the modern period almost all the Belgian states became part of larger entities. Each of the provinces of Belgium takes its name from one of these predecessors. At the time of the independence of Belgium from the Netherlands in 1830, the first article of the Belgian Constitution said, Belgium is divided into provinces. These provinces are Antwerp, Brabant, West Flanders, East Flanders, Hainaut, Liège, Limburg, Luxembourg, Namur, in 1839 half of the province of Limburg became part of the Netherlands, which consequently has its own province of Limburg. In 1920, following the First World War, Belgium annexed the Eupen-Malmedy territory, during the second half of the 20th century, Belgium transitioned from a unitary state to a federal state with three Communities and three Regions. As part of the reforms, the province of Brabant was split in 1995 three ways, into two provinces and into the Brussels-Capital Region. The two new Brabant provinces became part of the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region respectively, the remaining eight provinces became part of these regions as well, so the Flemish Region and the Walloon Region each contain five provinces. The Provincial Councils are the bodies of the population of the provinces. This is the equivalent of the States-Provincial in the Netherlands, the numbers of seats in the Provincial Councils are proportional to the population of the province, the numbers were reduced in both Flanders and Wallonia, starting 2013. They are directly elected each six years, at the time of the municipal elections. Before 1994, the elections instead coincided with the national elections. Until then, the provincial councils also appointed Provincial Senators to the Belgian Senate, the executive branch was previously called the Permanent Deputation. In the Flemish Region it is now called the Deputation and it consists of the Governor
8.
Arrondissements of Belgium
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Arrondissements of Belgium are subdivisions below the provinces of Belgium. There are administrative, judicial and electoral arrondissements and these may or may not relate to identical geographical areas. The 43 administrative arrondissements are a level between the municipalities and the provinces. Brussels-Capital forms a single arrondissement for all 19 municipalities in the region by that name, Belgium had 27 judicial arrondissements until April 1,2014. Until 1999 the electoral districts for the election of the parliaments were electoral arrondissements, the arrondissement of Brussels-Capital is not part of any province and consequently forms its own electoral district
9.
Arrondissement of Verviers
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The Arrondissement of Verviers is one of the four administrative arrondissements in the Province of Liège, Belgium. It is also a judicial arrondissement, however, only the municipalities in the French Community belong to this judicial arrondissement. The municipalities of the German-speaking Community constitute the separate Judicial Arrondissement of Eupen, the Administrative Arrondissement of Verviers consists of the following municipalities
10.
Population density
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Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume, it is a quantity of type number density. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and most of the time to humans and it is a key geographical term. Population density is population divided by land area or water volume. Low densities may cause a vortex and lead to further reduced fertility. This is called the Allee effect after the scientist who identified it, commonly this may be calculated for a county, city, country, another territory, or the entire world. The worlds population is around 7,000,000,000, therefore, the worldwide human population density is around 7,000,000,000 ÷510,000,000 =13.7 per km2. If only the Earths land area of 150,000,000 km2 is taken into account and this includes all continental and island land area, including Antarctica. If Antarctica is also excluded, then population density rises to over 50 people per km2, thus, this number by itself does not give any helpful measurement of human population density. Several of the most densely populated territories in the world are city-states, microstates, cities with high population densities are, by some, considered to be overpopulated, though this will depend on factors like quality of housing and infrastructure and access to resources. Most of the most densely populated cities are in Southeast Asia, though Cairo, for instance, Milwaukee has a greater population density when just the inner city is measured, and the surrounding suburbs excluded. Arithmetic density, The total number of people / area of land, physiological density, The total population / area of arable land. Agricultural density, The total rural population / area of arable land, residential density, The number of people living in an urban area / area of residential land. Urban density, The number of people inhabiting an urban area / total area of urban land, ecological optimum, The density of population that can be supported by the natural resources. S. States by population density Selected Current and Historic City, Ward & Neighborhood Density
11.
Municipalities with language facilities
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There are 27 municipalities with language facilities in Belgium which must offer services to residents in Dutch, French or German, in addition to their official languages. All other municipalities – with the exception of those in the Brussels region which is bilingual – are unilingual and only offer services in their official languages, either Dutch or French. Belgian law stipulates that,12 municipalities in Flanders must offer services in French, of these 12, Wallonia contains two language areas, In the French-speaking part of Wallonia, four municipalities offer services in Dutch and another two offer services in German. All municipalities in the German-speaking part of Wallonia offer services in French, in Brussels, Dutch and French are co-official. At the federal level, Dutch, French and German are all official languages, there were three language areas as from the 31 July 1921 law, the Dutch-speaking Flemish area, the French-speaking Walloon area, and the bilingual area of Brussels. These language areas of 1921 actually had no institutional translation in the structure of the Belgian state, thence a French-speaking unilingual municipality could, for instance, be part of the province of West Flanders. A municipality could ask the government to change its status by a royal decree only after a census showed a passage over the 30% or 50% threshold. The German- and Luxembourgish-speaking minorities in Eastern Wallonia were not mentioned in the 1921 or 1931 laws, there was, and still is, a Luxembourgish-speaking minority in some municipalities bordering the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In 1962–1963 four language areas were determined, the Dutch-language area, the bilingual area of Brussels-Capital, the French-language area. The language border appears quite stable and peaceful, except for the municipalities of Voeren and, to a lesser extent. During the 1970s, many municipalities were merged into a municipality in order to lessen administrative overhead. However, the situation of the municipalities with language facilities had the effect that no other municipalities liked to merge with those. As a result, many of the smallest municipalities in Belgium today are municipalities with language facilities, S. a. the least populated municipality and the smallest municipality with a city title. This revision of the Constitution was widely seen by French speakers as a recognition that language facilities had a permanent status, currently, both Dutch and French speakers complain about poor or absent respect by certain authorities for their linguistic rights. Belgian and European courts are frequently solicited to arbitrate, related political debates often take place in the various Belgian assemblies i. e. the federal, regional and community Parliaments. Annual subvention, nearly 10 million Euros, the French-speaking Community finances a Dutch-speaking nursery and primary school for Dutch speakers in Mouscron. In 2011, the French-speaking Community finances 152 nursery and primary schools and 101 secondary schools providing such type of education in Wallonia,8 secondary schools with Dutch language immersion in Mouscron, Comines-Warneton and Enghien. Apart from the above, there are also,1 small private Dutch-speaking nursery and primary school in the Walloon municipality of Comines-Warneton, since the above legal criteria to establish such a school had not been met, it is financed by the Dutch-language Community
12.
Waimes
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Waimes is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Liège, in Belgium. On January 1,2006, Waimes had a population of 6,728. The total area is 96.93 km² which gives a density of 69 inhabitants per km². Waimes is one of two mostly French-speaking municipalities in the East Cantons, the other being Malmedy, german as a minority language is also still widely spoken in Waimes to this day. The other surrounding municipalities in the area are part of the main German-speaking Community of Belgium, the municipality consists of the following sub-municipalities, Waimes proper, Faymonville, and Robertville. List of protected sites in Waimes Reinhardstein Castle Media related to Waimes at Wikimedia Commons Castle Reinhardstein
13.
Warche
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The Warche is a river in eastern Belgium. From its source at Losheimergraben on the Belgian-German border, it flows roughly west about 50 kilometres and it passes through the town of Malmedy, and the artificial lakes of Robertville and of Bütgenbach are formed by dams on the Warche. It is a tributary of the river Amblève, which it joins east of Stavelot. In the past the Warche used to flow northward from Bévercé, following the current Trô Maret valley and this last valley is much larger than can be expected from such a small flow, still representing the original Warche valley. In that time the Warche confluenced with the Amblève at Stavelot, later on, probably during the last ice age the Warche adopted its current position, flowing through the Malmedy graben. Eastbelgium. com, « sentier de découverte » dans la vallée de la Warche
14.
Saint Remacle
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Saint Remaclus was a Benedictine missionary bishop. He grew up at the Aquitanian ducal court and studied under Sulpitius the Pious, Remaclus became a monk in 625 and was then ordained a priest. He was the first to head the monastery of Solignac after being appointed by Saint Eligius and he was an advisor to Sigebert II of Austrasia and convinced him to establish the double-monastery of Stavelot and Malmedy in 648. Remaclus served as abbot of Stavelot and Malmedy and he was appointed missionary bishop of Maastricht in 652 and served until 663. Inhabitants of this troubled diocese had murdered some of his predecessors, however, Remaclus successfully spread monasticism in the region. He served as the teacher to Saint Trudo, Saint Babolen, Saint Theodard of Maastricht. He subsequently retired to the abbey of Stavelot, where he died and his feast day is September 3
15.
Clergy
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Clergy are some of the main and important formal leaders within certain religions. The roles and functions of clergy vary in different religious traditions but these usually involve presiding over specific rituals, some of the terms used for individual clergy are cleric, clergyman, clergywoman, clergyperson and churchman. In Islam, a leader is often known formally or informally as an imam, mufti. In Jewish tradition, a leader is often a rabbi or hazzan. Cleric comes from the ecclesiastical Latin clericus, for belonging to the priestly class. This is from the Ecclesiastical Greek clericus, meaning appertaining to an inheritance, Clergy is from two Old French words, clergié and clergie, which refer to those with learning and derive from Medieval Latin clericatus, from Late Latin clericus. Clerk, which used to mean one ordained to the ministry, in the Middle Ages, reading and writing were almost exclusively the domain of the priestly class, and this is the reason for the close relationship of these words. Now, the state is tied to reception of the diaconate. Minor Orders are still given in the Eastern Catholic Churches, and it is in this sense that the word entered the Arabic language, most commonly in Lebanon from the French, as kleriki meaning seminarian. This is all in keeping with Eastern Orthodox concepts of clergy, which include those who have not yet received, or do not plan to receive. A priesthood is a body of priests, shamans, or oracles who have religious authority or function. Buddhist clergy are often referred to as the Sangha. This diversity of monastic orders and styles was originally one community founded by Gautama Buddha during the 5th century BC living under a set of rules. The interaction between Buddhism and Tibetan Bon led to a uniquely Tibetan Buddhism, within which various sects, similarly, the interaction between Indian Buddhist monks and Chinese Confucian and Taoist monks from c200-c900AD produced the distinctive Chan Buddhism. In these ways, manual labour was introduced to a practice where monks originally survived on alms, layers of garments were added where originally a single thin robe sufficed and this adaptation of form and roles of Buddhist monastic practice continued after the transmission to Japan. For example, monks took on administrative functions for the Emperor in particular secular communities, again, in response to various historic attempts to suppress Buddhism, the practice of celibacy was relaxed and Japanese monks allowed to marry. This form was then transmitted to Korea, during later Japanese occupation, as these varied styles of Buddhist monasticism are transmitted to Western cultures, still more new forms are being created. This broad difference in approach led to a schism among Buddhist monastics in about the 4th century BCE
16.
Ministate
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A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or very small land area, and usually both. According to a definition, microstates are, modern protected states. In line with this and most other definitions the examples of microstates include, Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, the smallest political unit recognized as a sovereign state is Vatican City, with 842 citizens as of July 2013 and an area of only 44 hectares. Microstates are distinct from micronations, which are not recognized as sovereign states, most scholars identify microstates by using a quantitative threshold and applying it to either one variable or a composite of different variables. With the exceptions of Singapore and Bahrain, all the above have fewer than 500,000 people, with the exceptions of Samoa, Vanuatu, Iceland, Bahamas, Belize, and Brunei, all the above have a non-sea area less than 1,000 km2. While employing simple quantitative criteria may seem straightforward, it can also be perceived as potentially problematic, newer approaches have proposed looking at the behaviour or capacity to operate in the international arena in order to determine which states should deserve the microstate label. Yet, it has argued that such approaches could lead to either confusing microstates with weak states or relying too much on subjective perceptions. Examples of microstates understood as modern protected states include such states as, Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco, Niue, Andorra, a small number of tiny sovereign political units are founded on historical anomalies or eccentric interpretations of law. One example is the Republic of Indian Stream, now the town of Pittsburg, revolutionary War, and claimed by both the U. S. and Canada. Between 1832 and 1835, the residents refused to acknowledge either claimant. Another example is the Cospaia Republic, which became independent through a treaty error and its independence made it important in the introduction of tobacco cultivation to Italy
17.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
18.
Congress of Vienna
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The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace plan for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off, the leaders were conservatives with little use for republicanism or revolution, both of which threatened to upset the status quo in Europe. France lost all its recent conquests, while Prussia, Austria and Russia made major territorial gains, Prussia added smaller German states in the west, Swedish Pomerania and 60% of the Kingdom of Saxony, Austria gained Venice and much of northern Italy. The new Kingdom of the Netherlands had been created just months before, the immediate background was Napoleonic Frances defeat and surrender in May 1814, which brought an end to twenty-five years of nearly continuous war. Negotiations continued despite the outbreak of fighting triggered by Napoleons dramatic return from exile, the Congresss Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat at Waterloo on 18 June 1815. However, others praise it for having created relatively long-term stable, the Congress of Vienna settlement, despite later changes, formed the framework for European international politics until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. The Treaty of Chaumont in 1814 had reaffirmed decisions that had made already. The Treaty of Chaumont became the cornerstone of the European Alliance which formed the balance of power for decades, other partial settlements had already occurred at the Treaty of Paris between France and the Sixth Coalition, and the Treaty of Kiel which covered issues raised regarding Scandinavia. The Treaty of Paris had determined that a general congress should be held in Vienna, the opening was scheduled for July 1814. The Four Great Powers had previously formed the core of the Sixth Coalition, as the Congresss sessions were in Vienna, Emperor Francis was kept closely informed. Great Britain was represented first by its Foreign Secretary, Viscount Castlereagh, then by the Duke of Wellington, in the last weeks it was headed by the Earl of Clancarty, after Wellington left to face Napoleon during the Hundred Days. Tsar Alexander I controlled the Russian delegation which was led by the foreign minister. The tsar had two goals, to gain control of Poland and to promote the peaceful coexistence of European nations. He succeeded in forming the Holy Alliance, based on monarchism and anti-secularism, Prussia was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, the Chancellor, and the diplomat and scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. King Frederick William III of Prussia was also in Vienna, playing his role behind the scenes, France, the fifth power, was represented by its foreign minister, Talleyrand as well as the Minister Plenipotentiary the Duke of Dalberg. Talleyrand had already negotiated the Treaty of Paris for Louis XVIII of France, Sweden – Count Carl Löwenhielm Denmark – Count Niels Rosenkrantz, foreign minister. King Frederick VI was also present in Vienna, the Netherlands – Earl of Clancarty, the British Ambassador at the Dutch court, and Baron Hans von Gagern Switzerland – Every canton had its own delegation. Charles Pictet de Rochemont from Geneva played a prominent role, mecklenburg-Schwerin – Leopold von Plessen Virtually every state in Europe had a delegation in Vienna – more than 200 states and princely houses were represented at the Congress
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