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Washington & Atlanta 4-4-0, the "General", makes a pit stop at Momence, Illinois in 1962. Train is northbound and the view looks S/W from the roof of the passenger station shed across from the depot on the C&EI. Train is stopped on the 4th street crossing and has 2 passenger cars. Robert W. McQuown photo.
W&A 4-4-0 #3 was built by Rogers as W&A #39 in 1855.
All over the country, even if there is no electricty for the people, the propaganda frescos still have some light. same for the giant statues...The Dear Leaders are not alone in the dark!
© Eric Lafforgue
You can read more about my $2 Portrait Project here.
"Hey you think you can give me 25 cents so I can catch the bus here," was the opening line as I ran into The General at the intersection where McCoppin and Otis meet in San Francisco's Mission District. "How about a better idea," I suggested. How about I give you $2 for your portrait for my $2 portrait project?" I asked The General. But I don't have $2 to pay you he said. No, I told him I pay *you*.
Well The General liked this idea and agreed to pose. When I asked him his name he proudly blurted out "The General!" Why do they call you The General I asked. "Because I've always been The General, El General, of whatever street I'm on. From San Francisco to Oakland. They all know me as the General.
"You got kids?" I asked the General. Two he answered back. But they're older now. They still live in the Bay Area. My son lives down in Hayward. Where you from originally, I asked him. El Paso Texas, he answered back.
I stopped taking photos and we talked a bit more and The General told me that he'd been in two episodes of the show Nash Bridges. He told me that he played a drug dealer who gets killed. I asked him if he made a lot of money doing that and he said, no, that they never paid him. They never paid you, I asked. How'd that happen?
The General told me that a railroad cop had caught him in a railroad yard over in Oakland and told him that either he could give him a ticket or he could drive him over to the set for Nash Bridges and he could be in the show. It seemed like an easy choice for him.
I asked The General if he was still married. Nah, he said, I'm an alcoholic.
With that I told the General that I had to get going on my way and wished him well. Thanks man he said. Hey, one more photo he said as I started to leave. Sure thing General I said, turning to shoot one last shot of him. Take it Easy General I said. You too man you too.
Propaganda fresco in Hyangsan hotel, the kind you find in every lobby. This was in may, but the weather was cold. No heating system in the lobby, only in the rooms. You felt like entering in a giant decorated fridge!
I had a lot of compassion for the girl staying behind her icy desk for the 5 tourists who were there!
© Eric Lafforgue
Exhibition for the Presidents' birthdays.
The flowers exhibited in this hall are the : Kimilsungias and the Kimjongilias. These breeds of orchid are named after the two leaders of DPRK : Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung. The flowers you can see have been chosen after a competition for the best flowers across the entire country.
© Eric Lafforgue
I shot the generell before, but I didn't had anything else around and I was to busy to get out today, so a bit more fun with grids.
... this photo is brought to you by the Letter - L - press it and enjoy!
70mm - f8 - 1/250 - ISO 100
Strobist Info:
Sunpak 120J (diffusor - 1/4) with grid from the left, flashes tiggered via PocketWizard Plus II and optical trigger.
© Image by Daniel Schneider | rapturedmind.com - All rights reserved
Images may not be used, copied or multiplied without my written permission!
Vintage Ray-Ban Classic Metals "The General" 50th anniversary edition, rare 24K gold Ray Ban 50, 1937-1987, Limited Edition, Bautsch&Lomb. The general was a limited Ray Ban sunglasses edition released by Bausch & Lomb USA, in 1987 to commemorate their 50th anniversary.
Vintage B&L Ray-Ban Classic Metals "The General" 50th anniversary edition is a collector item must have not to mention beautiful to wear, featuring highly reflective Bausch & Lomb RB-50 lenses, pearlized "General" brow bar, and an Arista 24k gold plated frame inscribed with all the anniversary limited edition marks. It's one of the classics, but they're still so fashionable and distinctive that they look cool, modern, and far from an antique. This is an original Limited Edition "The General" commemorating the 50 year anniversary, incorporating the Arista 24k gold plated frame that has thicker than the norm eyewire and ear stems and B&L RB-50 lenses provide full control over glare and ultraviolate radiation. In fact, the vintage B&L Ray-Ban RB-50 lens is one of the finest, most advanced lenses you can buy. A graduated mirror coating is applied to the base lens to create the mirrored finish and add extra glare blocking power for strong glare conditions, a unique general purpose specialty lens for moderate to extreme glare conditions. For general use, the light absorption ranges from 80% to 90% but it extends to 95% under cold, bright conditions to make it excellent for skiing and other high glare snow sports. RB-50 features include "100% ultraviolet protection comfort zoned for moderate to bright glare with an absorption" and an ability to "filter out scattered blue light to enhance contrast and sharpen details with true color recognition. The exclusive, anti-reflective coating on vintage RB 50 lenses reduces back glare and sunburn problems associated with traditional mirrored lenses. The frame is a good unisex size measuring approximately 5.5" temple to temple, and the 62mm Bausch & Lomb RB 50 lenses measure approximately 2.5" x 2.125" at the widest points with both lenses laser etched BL near the hinges and the right lens laser etched Ray-Ban 50. The Arista gold frame is marked B&L Ray-Ban USA above the nose bridge and B&L Ray-Ban 62 [] 14 below the bridge all impressed in the metal. The inside of one gold ear stem is marked 1937 - 1987 while the inside of the other arm is marked The General, all impressed in the metal.
The Andrews Raid or "The Great Locomotive Chase" of 1862 came to an end here, just 2 miles north of the station in Ringgold, Georgia. With Western & Atlantic Railroad officials and a small posse of Confederate Troops closely pursuing them from Kingston on north, the Federal Raiders were unable to further damage the railroad, nor disrupt communications. They also didn't have time to fuel or water their locomotive, the "General." Eventually, they ran out of fuel and options.
As the "General" slowly lost steam pressure, Andrews instructed his men to flee into the woods and fend for themselves. All 20 of them were eventually caught and tried as spies, since they were all in civilian clothing. Andrews and 7 others were eventually hanged, while the remainder either escaped Confederate custody and made it back to Federal lines, or were exchanged for Confederate prisoners. Most of the military members of the raiding party were decorated, receiving the very first Congressional Medals of Honor ever awarded. Sadly, James Andrews, the leader of the group, was ineligible for the Medal of Honor because of his civilian status.
This image depicts the monument to the raiders, which is located at the spot where the General was abandoned. The names of all of the raiders are engraved on the bronze plaque.
You can clearly see on this picture that the frames of the Dear Leaders have a special angle on the wall, to be perfectly seen by the people.
© Eric Lafforgue
The General, as we see it today, bears only a passing resemblance to the locomotive that was the subject of the "Great Locomotive Chase" in 1862. For one thing, it is questionable how much, if anything, you see in this photo was actually present that day. After the chase, this engine went on to serve the Confederacy for another 2+ years. Unfortunately, in 1864, as Sherman's troops moved in on Atlanta, General John Bell Hood's Confederates elected to destroy the railroad equipment left in the city to prevent its use by the Federal Army. The General was driven headlong into several boxcars of ammunition and the resulting explosions left her severely damaged. One historic photo of the wreck does exist and is perhaps the only evidence left of what she actually looked like in Civil War service. After the war, she was repaired and later totally rebuilt, including a boiler replacement. Even after her retirement, she was "restored" a number of times, the last of which was by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, just before the centennial of the Civil War.
Although The General, in its current state, is a beautiful example of a 4-4-0, the last restoration did not attempt to re-create her Civil War look. The 1862-era General likely sported a diamond-shaped Radley & Hunter spark arrestor stack vs. the Yankee-style balloon stack she has now. Historic photos show her with a somewhat different shaped boiler, having 3 domes vs. the 2 we see now. They also show full-length running boards on both sides, that were set down low, just above the center of the drivers. The current configuration of the General has a large, wooden, cowcatcher pilot. The historic photo from 1864 in Atlanta depicts a smaller, strap-iron cowcatcher. As displayed here, The General has injectors on both sides, whereas back in the war era, she would have only had crosshead pumps. Although you cannot see it because it is on the other side, she now has an air pump, and of course, air brakes hadn't yet been invented in 1862. The wood that you see stacked in the tender is just ornamental. The woodpile covers an oil tank that was installed when she was converted to oil-burning in 1959. Last but not least, her tender has a Janney-type knuckle coupler, because the old link and pin couplers would not have been acceptable for running on Class 1 track in the 1960s. So, although some may argue that she's more a replica than an original, die-hard railroad historians understand that during the course of their working "lives" steam engines often underwent lots of changes. Most of the parts you see are at least 120 years old, so it is arguable that the soul of the original General lives on in this exhibit in Kennesaw, GA.
Although the crowd fences around The General make her a little more difficult to photograph than we'd all like, it is possible to get some alternate views, such as this one, taken from the stairs to the balcony in the room. At this spot, there's really no place for a tripod, so you need to crank the ISO and use a fast lens. Unfortunately, the balcony (visible on the upper right side of the image) faces the rear of the engine, so the images you can shoot from up there aren't particularly interesting.
Like in every public place or privtae house, the portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
© Eric Lafforgue
The General. This is one of the trains from the Great Locomotive Chase during the Civil War. It's housed at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, GA.
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Heinrich Maria Davringhausen, Aachen 1894 - Nizza 1970
Der General / The General
Rheinisches Landesmuseum, Bonn
Heinrich Maria Davringhausen war ein Maler der Neuen Sachlichkeit und des Magischen Realismus, seine frühen Werke entstanden noch im Stil des Expressionismus. Ein großer Teil seiner Werke galt als entartete Kunst und ging während der Nazi-Zeit verloren.
Historic Prairie Village, Madison, South Dakota. Former Duluth & Northeastern 0-6-0 No. 29 was returned to service on the museum's Prairie Village, Herman, & Milwaukee Railroad during "Railroad Days," held July 12-13, 2014. She's seen here at the roundhouse with an ex-US Army BLH diesel.
Visiting a school or kindergarden in North Korea is always a strange time, as you know everybody's waiting for you, and you know that everything is planned for any seconds you'll be inside. So it's like a race that starts: you have to stay for 2 minuts there, then 5 there (for a show for example), then again 2 minutes, just to see a sample of a a lesson about the glorious life of Kim Il Sung...
On this picture, the kids were playing to guess the name of the animals. It was forbidden to help the one who was trying to find the answer, that's why the teacher is acting like this.
The best pupil wins a badge with..a red star!
© Eric Lafforgue
Teachers are very proud to explain that kids learn to speak, read and sing with the names of Kim il Sung and Kim Jong Il. School in North Korea.북한 Chongsan-ri Farm school
© Eric Lafforgue
The General came for a visit. Or perhaps for the food I leave out. I'm trying to entice him to move back home. It's not working.
This picture is most of the time with the 2 officials portraits, very famous. I do not know why they choose this picture as it is technically bad, with agressive flash...Perhaps to show them working? And they only had this picture...
© Eric Lafforgue
As you tour the Southern Museum of Civil War & Locomotive History, The General is the last exhibit you see before exit. I liked the arched entryway seen in this shot, because it reminds me so much of the historic photos showing The General on display in the depot at Chattanooga, TN.
This part is one of my favourites of the history of Portugal. We struggle to have our independence.
Wikipedia
History of Portugal (1777–1834)
The history of Portugal from the beginning of Queen Maria I's reign in 1777, to the end of the Liberal Wars in 1834, spans a complex historic period in which several important political and military events led to the end of the absolutist regime and to the installation of a constitutional monarchy in the country.
In 1807, Napoleon ordered the invasion of Portugal and subsequently the Royal Family migrated to Brazil. This would be one of the causes for the declaration of Brazilian independence by Peter I of Brazil in 1822, following a liberal revolution in Portugal.
The liberal period was stormy and short as Prince Michael of Portugal (Peter's brother) supported an absolutist revolution endeavoring to restore all power to the monarchy. Peter would eventually return to Portugal and fight and defeat his brother in the Liberal Wars in which liberalism was completely installed and Portugal became a constitutional monarchy.
Queen Maria I
The death of King Joseph in 1777 forced the accession of Infanta Maria Francisca, his eldest daughter, to the throne of Portugal; she succeeded her father as the first Queen regnant of the 650-year-old country, which was still recovering from the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. Queen Maria and her husband, the Infante D. Pedro, lived on the sidelines of politics, but were clearly unsympathetic to her father's former Prime Minister, Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, the Marquis of Pombal, who had been the de facto ruler of the Kingdom for the past 27 years. During her father's last few years, she had been the Marquis' fiercest detractor; once in power, she eagerly dismissed him and then exiled him to Pombal.
But the Queen maintained many of the Marquis' other ministers, restored many of the privileges of the nobility and clergy, and released many of Pombal's political prisoners.[4][5] The economy was reorganized and Pombalinan monopolies were abandoned. However, international conditions favored the economic situation in Portugal; the balance of trade was positive, helped by wine exports and a decrease of British imports.[6] The period was, while tainted by political instability, a time of cultural renovation, marked by the completion of the Palace at Queluz, the beginnings of the Ajuda Palace, the São Carlos Theatre, the Estrela Basilica and the immense Convent of Santa Clara in Vila do Conde.
In 1789, the French Revolution caused upheaval in Europe. The Portuguese reaction was to land forces in Catalonia, and together with the Spanish forces attack the French in the Pyrenees in 1794 (Rossilhão campaign).[8] The war did not go well, and by 1795, Spain had privately sued for peace, signed an alliance and aligned its external politics against Great Britain.[9] Even as Portugal was politically divided between continuing its old alliance with Britain, its people were also split. The French Revolution, as seen by intellectuals and progressives, was romanticized: Bocage, and the partido francês believed the French could usher in a liberal revolution. To traditionalists, the French were a threat, to a nobility returning to prominence, and they were very willing to fight them externally or internally.
It was at about this time that Queen Maria, who suffering from religious mania and melancholia, began to show signs of mental illness.[11] When she was incapable of handling state affairs (after 1799), her son, Infante John of Braganza, began to use the title of Prince-Regent. But, the adversaries of France, did not look to John, but rather his wife D. Carlota Joaquina to support the traditionalists, who at one point attempted a coup against the Prince.
Continental blockade
John VI's regency was a complex political period when Portugal attempted to remain neutral in light of combative intransigence of its neighbors and forces within the country that favored liberal or traditional politics. Between 1795 and 1801, it was a struggle to maintain the peace in the face of the French Continental blockade, Portugal's traditional ally Great Britain and the demands of the merchant classes who wanted peace and were prospering economically between the two powers. Meanwhile, Spain a former ally had signed the Second Treaty of San Ildefonso, was under pressure from France to coerce Portugal, even if it meant invasion. Although Manuel de Godoy was initially hesitant about invading Portugal, due to the Royal Families' relations in either country, the French remained anxious to break the Anglo-Portuguese alliance in order to close Portuguese ports to British shipping.
War of the Oranges
On the 29 January 1801, an ultimatum from Spain and France forced Portugal to decided between France or England, even as the government had tried to negotiate favorable conditions with the powers, rather than abrogate the Treaty of Windsor (1386).[15] The French, ultimately, sent a five-point statement to Lisbon demanding that Portugal:[16]
abandon its traditional alliance with Great Britain and close its ports to British shipping;
open its ports to French and Spanish shipping;
surrender one or more of its provinces, equal to one fourth part of her total area, as a guarantee for the recovery of Trinidad, Port Mahon (Minorca) and Malta;
pay a war indemnity to France and Spain;
review border limits with Spain.
If Portugal failed to accomplish the five provisions of this ultimatum, it would be invaded by Spain, supported by 15,000 French soldiers. The British, could not promise any effective, even as the Prince John appealed to Hookham Frere, who arrived in November 1800. In February, the terms were delivered to the Prince-Regent, but, although a negotiator was sent to Madrid, war was declared. At the time, Portugal had a poorly-trained army, with less than 8,000 cavalry and 46,000 infantry troops. Its military commander, João Carlos de Bragança e Ligne (2nd Duke of Lafões), who contracted Prussian General, von Goltz, had barely raised 2,000 horse and 16,000 troops.[17] Spanish Prime Minister, and Commander-in-Chief, Manuel de Godoy had some 30,000 troops, and the French, under General Charles Leclerc (Napoleon's brother-in-law), who would arrive in Spain too late to assist Godoy, could provide additional troops.
On May 20, Godoy finally entered Portugal; it was a precursor of the Peninsular War that would engulf the Iberian Peninsula. The Spanish army quickly penetrated the Alentejo, in southern Portugal, and occupied Olivença, Juromenha, Arronches, Portalegre, Castelo de Vide, Barbacena and Ouguela without resistance, while Campo Maior resisted for 18 days before surrendering with military honors, and Elvas successfully resisted the invaders. In Elvas, Godoy celebrating his generalship in the conflict, plucked two oranges from a tree and immediately sent them to the Queen Maria Luisa of Spain, mother of Carlota Joaquina and supposedly his lover,[18] with the message:
I lack everything, but with nothing I will go to Lisbon.
—Manuel de Godoy, H.V.Livermore (1976), p.247
This act, gave origin to the name War of the Oranges. The conflict would quickly end by negotiations, at the Treaty of Badajoz on June 6, when the defeated and demoralized Portuguese were forced to accept the tenants of the 1801 ultimatum.[19] As part of the peace, Portugal recovered all of the strongholds previously conquered by the Spanish, with the exception of Olivença, other territories on the eastern margin of the Guadiana, and the prohibition of contraband near the borders of the two countries. The treaty was ratified by the Prince-Regent on 14 June, while the King of Spain promulgated the treaty on 21 June. Yet, the Treaty was costly: in addition to the five points, Portugal was required to pay indemnities of 25 million francs[20] and surrender lands north of Brazil to France. This treaty was initially rejected by Napoleon, who wanted the partition of Portugal, but accepted once he concluded peace with Great Britain at Amiens.
Napoleonic invasions
But, in 1806, after Napoleon's victory over the Prussians, he once again looked to the problem of English resistance, who had broke the peace in 1803 to challenge the Continental system imposed by the French.[22] Once again, Portuguese ports were ordered closed to British shipping, but after a tentative of neutrality, the Portuguese reluctantly succumbed to French demands and declared war on United Kingdom.[23] But time was up: Napoleon had realized that Portugal impeded his desire for reform in Europe.
On 27 October 1807, France and Spain signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau which would partition Portugal. In this pact, Northern Lusitania, a territory between the Minho and Douro rivers would be a governing principality of the sovereign of the extinct Kingdom of Etruria (then Maria Luisa, daughter of Charles IV of Spain). The Algarve and all Portuguese territory located south of the Tagus would be governed by Manuel de Godoy, who would be compensated for his role in bringing the Spanish onside with France. The rest of Portugal, the area between the Douro and the Tagus, a strategic region because of its ports, would be administered by the central government in France until general peace. As for its colonial possessions, including Brazil, they would be divided between Spain and France.
First invasion
By the end of the year, a French battalion, commanded by General Jean-Andoche Junot, entered Portugal.[24] Ironically, their arrival was preceded by the newspaper O Monitor, which was presented to the Prince-Regent by the British ambassador, informing him of Napoleon's plan to conquer Portugal.[25]
On 27 November 1807, the Prince-Regent, Queen and the entire Royal Family boarded ships concentrated on the Tagus, accompanied by many rich merchants, the administration, judges and servants, on fifteen ships and escorted by English ships.[26][27] Approximately 10,000 people, including the entire governmental apparatus, joined the Royal Family as theGeneral Jean-Andoche Junot and his troops had entered Spain on 18 October 1807 and had crossed the peninsula to reach the Portuguese border on 20 November. Junot encountered no resistance and reached Abrantes by 24 November, Santarém on 28 November, and the Portuguese capital at the end of the month, arriving a day after the Court had fled to Brazil. Before the Prince-Regent departed, he left orders with the Regency Junta to greet the French in peace.[28] Once he arrived, Junot promoted himself as a reformer, in Portugal to liberate the oppressed, promising progress, the construction of roads and canals, efficient administration, clean finances, assistance and schools for the poor.[29][30] But, Junot set about removing the vestiges of the Portuguese monarchy, declaring that the House of Braganza had ceased to reign in Portugal, suspending the Council of Regency, the Portuguese militia suppressed, officers billeted in the richest houses and the treasury plundered for the continuing French reparations.[31] Meanwhile 50,000 Spanish and French troops roamed the countryside arresting, killing, plundering and raping.[32]
By 1808, as Junot was busy redesigning Portuguese society, Napoleon decided to revise his alliance with Spain, forced the abdication of Charles IV of Spain, and his son, and installed his brother, Joseph Bonaparte as King. A popular uprising in Spain immediately spread to Junot's forces, which were accompanied by Spanish troops. It further instigated a popular uprising by the Portuguese that was brutally put-down, after minor successes.[33]
The following year, a British force commanded by Arthur Wellesley (future Duke of Wellington) disembarked in Galiza with the intent of supporting the Spanish, but later advanced on Porto and disembarked at Figueira da Foz on 1 August.[34] Quickly the British-Portuguese advanced on the French, defeating them at the Battle of Roliça (17 August) and later the Battle of Vimeiro (21 August).[35] A two-day armistice was held as negotiations proceeded, and the belligerents formally signed the Convention of Sintra (30 August), without Portuguese representation.[36] As part of the accord, the British transported the French troops to France, with the product of sacks made in Portugal. The Convention benefited both sides: Junot's armies, incapable of communicating with France, could make a safe getaway; and the Anglo-Portuguese forces gained control over Lisbon. The Portuguese populace was left to avenge itself on francophile compatriots for their brutality and depredations they moved to Brazil: a de facto colonial possession of Portugal, establishing the capital of the Portuguese Empire in Rio de Janeiro.
Second invasion
As Napoleon began dealing with the Spanish in earnest, he sent Marshall Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult to re-occupy Portugal. As word spread of the abdication of the Spanish Royal family, many Spaniards revolted, gaining support from the British stationed in Portugal. Under the command of John Moore, British forces crossed the northern Portuguese border but were defeated at A Coruña by Marshal Soult, and were forced to retreat in the middle of January.[38] The French immediately occupied northern Portugal and advanced on Oporto by 24 March.
Unlike the first invasion, there was a popular revolt against French occupation by farmers, merchants and the poor, that almost border on zeal.[39] Many of the citizen soldiers and farmers fought against the French aggression, going so far as to see tactical retreats as a betrayal or treason by the Portuguese officers.[40][41]
But, Soult occupied Chaves on 12 March, a defense of Braga was unsuccessful and the French cavalry forced entry into Porto by 29 March. Soult forces encountered a popular resistance in Porto, that included militia and local residents whom barricaded the streets.[42] But, Francisco da Silveira recovered Chaves and ultimately, it was Wellesley, again, at the head of the British-Portuguese forces who expelled the French from the north of the country. He was aided by William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford[43] and supported by a stronger Portuguese contingent, trained, equipped and command by British officers. The Anglo-Portuguese Army defeated Soult at the Second Battle of Porto, re-conquering the city of Porto on 29 May, and forcing the French retreat to Galicia. Wellesley intended to pursue the French, but with French forces crossing from the Spanish Extremadura, he moved his base to Abrantes.[44] From here his forces then marched up the Tagus valley, entered Spain and won the victory at Talavera, after which he was made Duke of Wellington. He could not penetrate further, owing to Soult's forces joining Victor, to bar the way to Madrid, and so withdrew to Torres Vedras to plan for the defense against a third invasion by the French.[45]
Meanwhile, in the Portuguese colony of Brazil, Portugal was successful in capturing French Guiana in 1809.
Third invasion
The third invasion, the last effort of the Peninsular War on Portuguese soil, was commanded by Marshall André Massena, and divided into three parts under Jean Reynier, Claude-Victor Perrin and Jean-Andoche Junot, and comprised 62,000 men and 84 canon. Entering by way of Beira in August, they quickly defeated the defenders in the Fort of Almeida in August,[46] then marched in the direction of Lisbon. Against the wishes of his council, Messena attacked the Anglo-Portuguese Army on 26 September in Buçaco, losing 4500 troops.[47] Yet, Wellsely's forces withdrew in front of the oncoming French, until his troops entered the prepared positions in Torres Vedras.[48]
But, the French were impeded along the Lines of Torres Vedras, a system of 152 fortifications north of Lisbon, planned by Wellington, supervised by Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Fletcher constructed by Portuguese laborers, manned by 40,000 Portuguese troops and members of the local population.[49] Marshal Massena and his forces reached the lines by 14 October, but were unable to penetrate the defenses, and he was forced to retreat in April 1811. Supplies were running low, and Massena sent a request to Bonaparte for new instructions, but was compelled to withdraw before the instructions arrived, and he retreated to Santarém.[50] Although Napoleon finally sent Soult, it was too late for Massena, who could not hold Santarém and withdrew towards Coimbra by March 6.[51] Successively, the French were defeated in several smaller battles: the Battle of Sabugal, Fuentes de Onoro, Battle of Condeixa, Battle of Casal Novo, and the Battle of Foz de Arouce, in addition to Michel Ney's rear-guard action at the Battle of Pombal. With winter quickly approaching, his forces starving, they were again defeated at the Battle of Redinha and with Anglo-Portuguese forces in pursuit, Massena crossed the border into Spain; the War would continue until March 1814, but not on Portuguese territory.[52]
A series of battles in Spain followed, until a final victory was reached on French soil in the Battle of Toulouse on April 10, 1814, putting an end to the Peninsular War. However, in numerous coastal, interior and border towns there were bodies bayoneted and left on the ground; several frontier towns were pillaged and ransacked for treasure or vandalized by retreating troops (both British and French); reprisal killings were common in the local populations for sympathizers (the total number of casualties in the war reached 100,000 by one account);[53] while famine and social deprivation was common.[54]
Furthermore, the instability in Spain and the abdication of the king, resulted in declarations of independence in the Spanish colonies of America, which in turn was responsible for a tense political climate in Brazil.
In 1816, and as a result of the increasing influence of the Liga Federal, the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves invaded and conquered the Banda Oriental, annexing it under the name of Província Cisplatina in 1821.
Liberal Revolution
Between 1808 and 1821, Portugal was both a British protectorate and a colony of Brazil, as the Portuguese Crown remained in Rio de Janeiro.[55] The moving of the Portuguese capital to Rio de Janeiro had accentuated the economic, institutional and social crises in mainland Portugal, which was administered by English commercial and military interests, under William Beresford's rule, in the absence of the monarch. The aftermath of the War, influences from both American and French Revolutions, a discontent for absolutism, and a general indifference shown by the Portuguese Regency for the plight of its people, strengthened liberal ideals.[56]
At the end of the Peninsular War, the government of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves[1] returned French Guiana to France on 30 May 1814, and was given an indemnity of two million francs. Brazil's new importance aggravated the situation in continental Portugal: politically it became the Portuguese capital (shedding the pretext of colony), and economically, the former colony was now able to trade directly with other European powers (28 January 1808). But, even after 1807, the limitations and subordinations inherent in Brazil's colonial status were being chipped-away: the prohibition on transformative industries was rescinded, incentives for the creation of factories, the importation of British machinery, the establishment of Commerce Commissions, exchanges and money-houses, the formation of the Bank of Brazil, insurance companies, shipping construction, road building, the formation and construction of public schools and the military academies. This damaged Portugal's commercial interests and exaggerated social conditions, while benefiting the United Kingdom (as the country was governed by William Beresford in the absence of the Cortes).
A report was sent on 2 June 1820, from the Regency to John VI, stating:
"Portugal has arrived at a crisis in which, it will suffer a revolution of fortunes, of order, an anarchy, and other ills that it will bring a complete reduction of public credit...".[57]
Its neighbor Spain, during its Napoleonic resistance had approved a liberal Constitution, when King Ferdinand VII was in-exile, but quickly it was abrogated on his return, and he reigned as absolute monarch. But, the Spanish model also served as an example for the Portuguese: a popular uprising in the provinces against absolutism, forced the Spanish monarch to reinstate the 1820 Constitutional monarchy.
The events in Spain were not lost on a small group of Portuense politically like-minded bourgeoisie; two years earlier, Manuel Fernandes Tomás, José Ferreira Borges, José da Silva Carvalho and João Ferreira Viana, had founded the Sinédrio, a liberal clandestine group whom debated the political evolution of Spain and Portugal, and that would influence subsequent events. The Sinédrio's members were a mix of merchants, property-owners, the military and noblemen, and whose liberalism was not based on economic circumstances but international literature and philosophies consumed during university or in the masonic lodges.[58] The common people were rural, almost totally illiterate and lived in a culture of tradition and religion, guided by the clergy. The difference between the idealogues, the doctrinairism of the liberal movement and dogma of religion would bring the two groups into conflict eventually.[59] But, for now, the liberal intellectuals would influence soldiers in the Northern garrisons on 24 August 1820, beginning in Porto, to proclaim a revolution against the absolute monarchy of Portugal; a colonel read out the "peoples" declaration:
"Lets join our brothers-in-arms to organize a provisional government that will call on the Cortes to draw-up a Constitution, whose absence is the origin of all our ills."[60]
The Regency in Lisbon attempted to gather forces to oppose the revolt, but on 15 September they too joined the movement.
Quickly, the administration of William Beresford was replaced by a Provisional Junta, and the General Extraordinary and Constituent Cortes of the Portuguese Nation were summoned, on 1 January 1821, whose deputies were filled from indirect election to draft a written Constitution. The roles of the constituent assembly were filled with doctrinaires or diplomats, many were merchants or agrarian burghers, University-educated representatives were usually lawyers, but mostly ideological romantics, that would later come to be referred to as Vintistas, for the audacious and ideological radicalism. Press and book censorship and the Portuguese Inquisition were lifted, and an amnesty to those involved in anti-liberal movements was ordered.[4] On 26 April 1821,[61] John VI departed for Lisbon, arriving on 3 July of the same year, and communicated to the Cortes the establishment of a Regency in Brazil in the name of his heir-apparent, Prince Peter. The deputies did not recognize the King's authority to designate Regents, nor supported the Bragança Agreement, that Prince Peter should take the Crown if Brazil came to be independent.
Empire of Brazil
Talk of separatism had dominated the economic and intellectual circles of Brazil. With a population of 3 .5 million, all of it Portuguese and economically prosperous, the opinion had become whether Brazil should return to being a colony of Portugal, but whether the reverse should be the case. While most Portuguese-born believed in one united empire, most local politicians and natives aspired for some form of independence.[62] Everything indicates that, irrelevant of the evolution Portuguese politics, Brazil would have proclaimed independence after the return of King John VI to Portugal.[63] But, its separation arose from the conflict between the Regency of Prince Peter[64] and Portuguese Cortes.
In September 1821, the Portuguese Cortes, with a handful of the Brazilian delegates present, voted to abolish the Kingdom of Brazil and the royal agencies in Rio de Janeiro, thus subordinating all provinces of Brazil directly to Lisbon. Troops were sent to Brazil to muzzle resistance, and local units were placed under Portuguese command.[65] On 29 September, the Cortes ordered the return of Prince Peter to Europe (in order to initiate a voyage of study in Spain, France and England), but governmental junta in São Paulo, as well as the Senate Chamber of Rio de Janeiro implored the Prince to remain. He was moved by petitions from Brazilian towns and fears that his departure, and the dismantling of the central government, would trigger separatist movements.[66]
Peter formed a new government headed by José Bonifácio de Andrade e Silva, a former royal official and professor of science at the University of Coimbra, was a formative figure in Brazilian nationalism, indeed, the "Patriarch of Independence".[5] Following Prince Peter's decision to defy the Cortes, Portuguese troops rioted then concentrated in the area of Mount Castello, which was soon surrounded by thousands of armed Brazilians. Peter "dismissed" the Portuguese commanding general, General Jorge Avilez, and ordered him to remove his soldiers across the bay to Niterói, where they would await transportation to Portugal.[67] Blood was also shed in Recife, Province of Pernambuco, when the Portuguese garrison was forced to depart in November 1821. In mid-February 1822, Brazilians in Bahia revolted against the Portuguese forces there, but were driven into the countryside, where they began guerrilla operations, signaling that the struggle in the north would not be without loss of life and property.
Seeking to secure support throughout the country, Peter began a series of initiatives to strengthen his position, even as the Portuguese Cortes ridiculed and diminished his importance. In Minas Gerais, where there were no Portuguese garrisons stationed, some doubts lingered, especially from the junta of Ouro Preto. But, with only a few companions and no ceremony or pomp, Peter plunged into Minas Gerais on horseback in late March 1822, receiving enthusiastic welcomes and allegiance everywhere. On 13 May, in Rio de Janeiro, Peter was proclaimed the "Perpetual Defender of Brazil" by the São Paulo legislative assembly and he took the opportunity to called for a Constituent Assembly. To deepen his base of support, he joined the freemasons, who, led by José Bonifácio de Andrade e Silva, were pressing for parliamentary government and independence. More confident, in early August he called on the Brazilian deputies in Lisbon to return, decreed that Portuguese forces in Brazil should be treated as enemies, and issued a manifesto to "friendly nations", that read like a declaration of independence. Seeking to duplicate his triumph in Minas Gerais, Peter rode to São Paulo in August to ensure his support there.
But, returning from an excursion to Santos, Peter received messages from his wife and Andrade e Silva that the Portuguese Cortes had declared his government traitorous, and were dispatching more troops. Peter then had to choose between returning to Portugal in disgrace, or breaking the last ties to Portugal; in a famous scene in front of the Ipiranga River, on 7 September 1822, he tore the Portuguese white and blue insignia from his uniform, drew his sword, and swore: "By my blood, by my honor, and by God: I will make Brazil free." With this oath, that was repeated by the assembled, he announced: "Brazilians, from this day forward our motto will be...Independence or Death
Civil War
The death of King John VI created a constitutional problem, as his rightful successor, Prince Peter, was the Emperor of Brazil. To absolutists, the proclamation of Brazilian independence, created a foreign nation, revoking Peter's citizenship and, therefore, his rights to the throne.[74] Of course, King John had left his daughter Princess Isabel Maria as regent, expecting that Peter would return to Portugal and reunite Brazil with its former colonial power. Prince Miguel, was also, an undesirable option; had been exiled due to several attempts to overthrow his own father, and was supported by the extremist politics of the Queen, who most liberals and moderates feared.[75] Peter accepted the throne of Portugal as King Peter IV, on 10 March 1826, after the regency considered him the legitimate heir to the throne and sent a delegation to offer him the Crown.[76]
In Brazil, Peter faced other challenges in his new-born country; the people clearly did not wish to return to a colonial situation and subservience to the politics and economy of the much smaller Kingdom. The Brazilian constitution prohibited the Emperor from subsuming another crown, and this forced Peter to choose between Portugal or Brazil.[77] Peter, a pragmatic politician, tried to find a solution that would reconcile the desires of the liberal, moderate and absolutists elements in the debate, and eventually chose to abdicate as king of Portugal (28 May 1826) in favour of his eldest daughter Princess Maria da Glória, who was seven years old at the time. However, the abdication was conditional: that Portugal should receive a new Constitution (1826 Charter), and his brother Miguel, exiled in Vienna was to marry the Princess when she became of age.[78] The Constitution was not popular with the absolutists (who wanted Prince Miguel to govern as an absolute monarch), but the liberal Vintistas also did not support the Charter (which was imposed by the King), whilst moderates slowly watched as a counter-revolution was building.
War of the Two Brothers
But things began to change in 1830. In Brazil, a popular opposition to Peter's reign, in the aftermath the dismissal of his several ministers, in the amidst a growing economic crisis, forced the Emperor to abdicate his throne in Brazil in favour of his son, Peter II on 7 April 1831.[82] He then returned to Europe, but found little support from England or France, to obtain the throne and, instead, collected arms, money and mercenaries to install his daughter on the throne. He then departed for Terceira, in the Azores, from where his government-in-exile organized an expeditionary force that disembarked in Mindelo, not far from Porto, on 8 July 1832.[83]
With the backing of liberals from Spain and England, and substantial Anglo-French contingents, Peter landed near Porto, which the Miguelist forces abandoned without combat. After fighting the inconclusive Battle of Ponte Ferreira Porto was besieged by Miguelite forces, which engaged in sporadic skirmishes. Throughout the year, most of the battles of the Civil War concentrated around Porto, whose population had whole-heartedly supported Peter's cause.[84] In June 1833, the liberals, still encircled at Porto, sent out a force commanded by the Duke of Terceira to Algarve, supported by a naval squadron commanded by Charles Napier, using the alias Carlos de Ponza. The Duke of Terceira landed in Faro and marched north through Alentejo to conquer Lisbon on 24 July 1833.[85] Meanwhile, Napier's squadron encountered the absolutist fleet near Cape Saint Vincent and decisively defeated it at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
The liberals were able to occupy Lisbon, making it possible for Peter to repel the Miguelite siege in Porto. A stalemate of nine months ensued. Towards the end of 1833, Maria da Glória was proclaimed Queen regnant, and Peter was made regent. His first act was to confiscate the property of all who had supported Michael. He also suppressed all religious orders and confiscated their property, an act that suspended friendly relations with the Papal States for nearly eight years, until mid-1841. The liberals occupied Portugal's major cities, Lisbon and Porto, where they commanded a sizable following among the middle classes.
Meanwhile, the absolutists controlled the rural areas, where they were supported by the aristocracy and a peasantry galvanized by the Church. But operations against the Miguelists recommenced in early 1834; they were defeated at the Battle of Asseiceira. The Miguelite army was still a force to be reckoned with (about 18,000 men), but on May 24, 1834, at the Concession of Evoramonte peace was declared under a convention by which Miguel formally consented to renounce all claims to the throne of Portugal, was guaranteed an annual pension, and was banished from Portugal, never to return. Peter restored the Constitutional Charter and died soon after, on 24 September 1834, while his daughter assumed the throne as Maria II of Portugal.
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BRIEFING WITH ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR EAST ASIAN AND PACIFIC AFFAIRS DANIEL RUSSEL
Good morning, and welcome to the Foreign Press Center. We’re honored to welcome today Assistant Secretary for East Asian Pacific Daniel Russel. After the assistant secretary’s remarks, we’ll have a time for some Q&A. We do request that you state your name and media affiliation, and we’ll also be taking questions from Washington, D.C. by a digital video conference. Thank you very much.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Thanks. Well, hello, everybody. It’s great to be back in New York, as always; I’m a New Yorker. And hello to our friends and colleagues in Washington, D.C.We’ve had a very busy and I think a very productive week here at the UN with the opening of theGeneral Assembly. It’s been a productive series of days with respect to our diplomacy in the Asia Pacific region. The President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, top State Department officials, myself, have all been working here with our partners in Asia and the Pacific on the issues that are of greatest concern to the American people. And this reflects the continued evolution and vitality of the rebalance.
We’re addressing challenges and concerns thatmatter, frankly, to all of us. Let me give you, if I can, a quick snapshot of some of the work that we’ve engaged in. In terms of addressing global challenges, the President participated in several important leader summits and multilateral summits on peacekeeping, on countering ISIL and violent extremism. And theseare meetings that included the active participation and the significant contribution of a number ofcountries from the Asia-Pacific region. The peacekeeping summit, for example, included quite a few countries from East Asia and the Pacific who I think in aggregate pledged in excess of 10,000 peacekeepers and made very significant financial contributions.In the summit of the counter-ISIL and counter violent extremism members, countries from the East Asia and the Pacific region renewed their commitment to make progress, including and importantly, by engaging civil society, engaging religious leaders throughout the region and in undertaking projects. One that’s under active consideration is the stationing of a messaging center in Malaysia, for example.
And the goal is to try to give voice to those voices of moderation who need to be heard in the face of a flawed and dangerous ideology.On the regional front, the Secretary had a very productive meeting with the 10 foreign ministers from the ASEAN countries. This is a regular feature of what the Secretary of State does during UNGA, and it’s valuable in a number of respects. The Secretary and the foreign ministers were able to dig down on important issues like maritime security, particularly the situation in the South China Sea. They were able to discuss in some depth issues regarding the oceans and the challenges that will be taken up next week in Santiago at the Oceans Conference – things like illegal and unreported, unregulated fishing; things like, of course, the big project that we’re all engaged in in the run-up to the Paris Climate Conference addressing global warming. And they also were able to consult on the recurring problem of irregular migration – the problem of migrants from Bangladesh and from Myanmar – from Burma – which the region dealt with earlier in the year in May, and which, unfortunately, it appears we may have to deal with yet again when the rainy season ends.We also held a meeting that I attended with Todd Stern, our special envoy on climate, and Ambassador Samantha Power, UN perm rep, with the foreign ministers and representatives of the Pacific Island states.
These are nations with whom the United States has very close partnerships, but nations also that are most directly and grievously affected by the consequences of global warming. They’re also important stakeholders in the global effort to preserve our oceans and to deal with the problems really regarding – that I’ve mentioned regarding illegal andunregulated fishing.There were a large number of trilateral meetings this year, and I think that reflects America’s support for a kind of flexible geometry of collaboration among countries that share important goals and common values. First and foremost is another session of the trilateral that the Secretary chaired with the Japanese and the Korean foreign ministers. This is one of the regular trilaterals. It’s also one of the most important and one of the most productive. It allows for very close coordination among our closest allies in Northeast Asia.
And it enabled the three ministers to compare notes and to consult closely on the issues regardingNorth Korea, particularly North Korea’s continued violation of the UN Security Council resolutions, its ongoing efforts to develop nuclear and missile capabilities in defiance of those regulations1, and also the problematic human rights situation in North Korea as well. There wereother regional and global issues that the three ministers were able to touch upon. They’re in regular touch, and I know that the two foreign ministers from Japan and Korea followed up with – the next day with their own bilateral meeting. For the very first time, Secretary Kerry participated in a trilateral with both the Japanese and the Indian foreign minister. That focused, among other things, on the convergence among three of the world’s largest democracies, particularly in the Asia Pacific region. The vehicle for our closepolitical and security coordination on matters pertaining to East Asia is, of course, the East Asia Summit. And they were able to exchange views both about what the professionals call architecture – the structure of interaction with ASEAN at the center, but also some of the issues that are high on the agenda of the East Asia Summit.
At a slightly less exalted level, we held the trilateral meeting among Australia, Japan, and the United States – what we call the Trilateral Security Dialogue or TSD – which sometimes meets at the secretarial level, sometimes meets at my level, and on occasion meets at leaders level as well. This meeting included the participation of Ambassador Tom Shannon, the counselor of the State Department, who President Obama has nominated to succeed Wendy Sherman as our new under secretary of state for political affairs. So in this meeting and elsewhere, Tom, who’s not
(1 The Assistant Secretary intended to say “resolutions,” “not regulations.” ).
only a dear friend of mine but one of America’s most distinguished diplomats, was able to participate, and that’s something that we value a great deal.I co-chaired a meeting with my Japanese counterpart and with the foreign minister of Mongolia, a U.S.-Japan-Mongolia trilateral. Here again, three important democracies and what I call Mongolia’s two best second neighbors – third neighbors, I guess I should say. We were able to have a very, very fruitful and productive exchange on a range of issues there. And then lastly on the bilateral front, I joined Vice President Biden and others, including our Trade Representative Mike Froman, earlier in the week for a very valuable consultation with the Japanese prime minister, Prime Minister Abe, that allowed for a full discussion across a range of political and trade issues. And I joined, of course, Secretary Kerry’s meetings. He had bilateral meetings with the Sultan of Brunei, an important TPP partner, a member of ASEAN, of course, and a good friend of the United States.
He met bilaterally this morning with the foreign minister of Myanmar, Wunna Maung Lwin, and was able to get an update on preparations for the Burmese elections as well as consult on important issues like the irregular migration problem andhuman rights.Other U.S. officials – Deputy Secretary Tony Blinken and a variety of others, including myself – separately had bilateral meetings with the foreign ministers or the vice foreign ministers or, in some cases, the presidents of a number of countries in the region – Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Australia, Laos, Malaysia, Palau, Republic of Marshall Islands –and in addition, I certainly had opportunities for contact, as I know did the Secretary and, for thatmatter, President Obama, with a number of other representatives from Asia.
Now, there’s a lot going on. We had a very productive week, as I said. This week comes directlyon the heels of the important, in-depth conversations that President Obama and other top officialshad with the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, in Washington late last week. And we’re not slowingdown. Our Deputy Secretary, Tony Blinken, is leaving this weekend for consultations in Northeast Asia – first in Tokyo, then in Seoul, then in Beijing. I will be leaving myself next week to go out to Malaysia for the senior officials meeting organized by ASEAN, in which I’ll have a chance to meet not only with my counterparts from the 10 Southeast Asian nations but also counterparts from China, from Japan, from India, from Australia, New Zealand, the ROK – the countries that are represented in the East Asia Summit.
And one of the important things we will be doing is preparing for November, when our leaders, after having attended APEC in Manila, go to Kuala Lumpur for the EAS. We in October are alsopreparing in Washington for – and elsewhere for visits: the visit of the Korean president, the visitof the Indonesian president. We’re expecting consultations with our Australian counterparts at the secretaries level. There’s a lot on the agenda as pertains to Asia, and with that, let me open the floor for questions.
QUESTION: Thank you for briefing. I am Moeko from Tokyo Broadcasting System. I have a question on the trilateral meeting with Japan and Mongolia. Was there DPRK on the table to be discussed, and if so, could you give us a little bit more detail on what has been talked?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Let me dip down into my memory bank, because we had quite a few – we had quite a few meetings. I was recently in Mongolia, and I had bilateral consultations there and was able to discuss with Foreign Minister Purevsuren and other senior officials a number of regional issues, including the challenge that is presented by North Korea. If my memory serves me right, we may have touched on North Korea as a regional matter, but I wouldn’t describe it as the focus.
We talked about the challenges that Mongolia faces both strategically and economically. We hadan extensive discussion about how as major investors and economies, the United States and Japan can support reforms, can support the improved investment climate in Mongolia. We commended Mongolia’s just unremitting fidelity to democracy and discussed what the Mongolians do and how valuable we see it in democracy promotion around the world. Now, it’llbe a long time before we see democracy promotion in North Korea, but – unfortunately – but we are seeing an important contribution made by the Mongolians, who stand as a great model of political reform with countries like Myanmar who are approaching their own elections and have a lot to learn from the Mongolians.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: Sorry, just one thing. Thanks. Reportedly, United States and Japan, they are seeking Mongolia to be kind of mitigator in the North Korean issues. Is that true?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: No. The United States and Japan each have our own respective channels for communicating with the DPRK. The problem isn’t that we lack a vehiclefor communicating with the North Koreans. The problem is that the North Koreans refuse either to negotiate on the nuclear issue or to honor the commitments that they have already made in previous rounds of negotiations.
Now that’s not to say that there isn’t a constructive role for Mongolia as a democracy, as a neighbor, and as hopefully a role model for the DPRK. But it’s not as – it’s not as a mediator. Now, I know that President Elbegdorj visited North Korea some time ago, and I think there’s great value in the direct – if not blunt – message that he conveyed, speaking as someone who knows, after an extended period of communist dictatorship, that reform – both political and economic reform brings immense benefits and brings greater security. I hope the North Koreans were listening.
QUESTION: Hi. Thank you. Thanks for coming to New York. Jane with China Sina News. First of all, yesterday in UN, Russia has trying to clear all the error from the U.S. on the accusation of the airstrike. How do you answer that people are saying that Putin’s military actionis a diversionary strategy to take attention away from Ukraine and could it expect any sort of cooperation between U.S. and Russians on – in Syria? And I have to ask about President Xi’s visit. Chinese ambassador noticed that each stop will have some surprises. Did you see the surprises from his visit, and – or it’s all go under your predicted? Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Well, on the first question, I will respectfully defer to my esteemed colleague, Admiral John Kirby, the spokesman of the State Department. I’m not the official responsible for either Russia or Syria, so I don’t have any light to shed on that.I’ll also ask Ambassador Cui Tiankai to speak for himself as to what he had in mind in terms of surprises at each juncture.As someone who was actively involved in the preparations for the visit by President Xi, I can attest to the fact that we worked very hard to avoid surprises. And for that purpose, as did other officials, I traveled to China at the very beginning of this month, and I spent considerable time inBeijing meeting with the foreign ministry officials, various counterparts, talking through the agenda and working on the substance of what it is that we thought that the two leaders should be discussing in which meeting; what sorts of messages we thought it would be desirable for President Xi to articulate in his various public engagements; and the outcomes and deliverables, the results, the accomplishments that our respective agencies and bureaucracies had been working on that could be brought to conclusion and ratified by our two presidents.We got a lot done.
In my view, the most important aspect of the consultations that our leaders held in Washington last Thursday and Friday was the opportunity for the two presidents to speak directly, candidly, constructively on the problem areas. The two sides worked hard on our differences, because we are not reconciled with simply agreeing to disagree. There are significant friction points in the interaction between China and the United States. Whether they are bilateral issues or whether they are global issues, those friction points need to be addressed forthrightly by both sides. On the issue of cyber, as you saw, the Chinese leader made very important commitments, and wehave now an expanded mechanism whereby we can pursue those issues and help to ensure by working together that those commitments are fulfilled. The Chinese president took home, I know, new and clearer awareness of the deep concerns on the part of not only the U.S. Government but also of the U.S. business community and the NGO, think tank, journalistic, and academic community about the possible impact that some draft legislation, like the NGO management law or other draft laws and policies, would have on our citizens, on our organizations, on our companies, and frankly, on the U.S.-China relationship. And as a result, it is certainly my hope that we will see our concerns taken into account in the way that the Chinese authorities treat U.S. companies and their proprietary information and technology and the way that journalists and academics and others are treated inside China.A third really important area of difference and concern has been the behavior of China in the South China Sea.
And while we have made very clear consistently that the U.S. takes no position on the underlying sovereignty of claims – in other words, we don’t say that land feature X belongs to China or belongs to Vietnam or Philippines, because we don’t make judgments about the merits of a country’s claims – that mustn’t be confused with not having any position onthe behavior of the countries in a sensitive region like the South China Sea. We have very strongviews. That shouldn’t be confused with not having a position on international law and universal rights such as freedom of navigation and overflight. That is a right that’s inherent to every state, not a right that is granted, and certainly not something that should be denied by any one country – similarly, the right of unimpeded lawful commerce.
It also shouldn’t be confused with the fact that we do take a position that all claims by all claimants should be made in ways that are fully consistent with international law, including and particularly the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Now, President Xi Jinping made what I consider to be important statements in his press availability with President Obama on Friday in the Rose Garden. He affirmed China’s commitment to peaceful and diplomatic resolution of problems. That’s an important commitment. The issue of the nine-dash line, for example, is a matter of consideration by the tribunal under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and there will be a decision forthcoming on jurisdiction. Should that decision affirm that the tribunal has jurisdiction over the case brought by the Philippines then the parties will be heading towards an arbitral decision. That decision under the treaty is equally binding on China and on the Philippines, and as a matter of international law the United States and the international community expects both countries to honor their treaty obligations.
The last point I would make is that we, of course, heard an important statement by President Xi Jinping when he said that China has no intention of militarizing islands or outposts in the South China Sea, in the Spratlys. That, I believe, offered reassurance and encouragement to China’s neighbors, none of whom want to see a continuation of Chinese large-scale construction on theseoutposts, let alone the deployment of military assets.
If in fact, as President Xi has said, China’s committed to a peaceful resolution of any dispute and has no intention of militarizing its outposts, I believe that the room for settlement and for the conclusion of agreements, whether they’re bilateral agreements or wherever they’re a code of conduct, will rapidly expand. And naturally, we will, as others will, be discussing in detail with the Chinese the steps that they are taking and will take to ensure that they are in no way militarizing the land features that they are – that they have built by dredging sand from the SouthChina Sea.
MODERATOR: Let’s take a question from Washington. Go ahead, Washington.
QUESTION: Hi. Thank you very much for having this briefing. My name is Alicia Rose with NHK. The U.S. and China, as you mention, recently came to an agreement that neither government will conduct cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property. My question is on what ledto this agreement. In particular, there have been reports that Ambassador Rice met with Chinese counterparts in Beijing, where she warned that approximately 25 Chinese state-owned enterprises were under threat of U.S. sanctions for conducting cyber theft against U.S. companies. Is that correct?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Well, I’m not the right person to brief on the confidential discussions that our national security advisor had in Beijing. But I myself have discussed the problem of state-sponsored, cyber-enabled theft by China of proprietary corporate information from U.S. companies that is then transferred and in some cases marketized. That is aproblem that the President and the Secretary of State and other senior officials have been very direct in flagging for the Chinese as unacceptable behavior.
In response to the strong concerns that we have conveyed consistently about that behavior, and inadvance of the visit to Washington by the President Xi, the Chinese Government proposed to send to Washington a very senior official, their secretary that – who oversees their law enforcement and intelligence activities, Meng Jianzhu, and the U.S. side agreed. Secretary Mengled a high-level delegation with a broad spectrum of senior representatives from relevant agencies to Washington, and over the course of two-plus days had in-depth conversations with a U.S. team led by the Secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, but that – meetings that also included conversations with Secretary Kerry and with Susan Rice.
I think you can see from the agreements that were announced during President Xi’s visit that the Chinese side took American concerns seriously. They had heard in Seattle as well from high-tech business leaders, from industry representatives, and from the Secretary of Commerce, PennyPritzker, more concerns about the negative impact that cyber intrusions and particularly cyber-enabled economic threat – theft was having on our bilateral relationship.
I can’t top what President Obama himself said on this issue, so I won’t try. But I flag for you the fact that he stated very clearly to President Xi as they stood together at the podium that the United States is watching closely to see that, in fact, China is honoring the obligations that they have undertaken in this new agreement.
QUESTION: Thank you.
QUESTION: My name is Manik Mehta. I’m syndicated in Asia, also in Malaysia, India, et cetera. You are headed for Malaysia next week. Could you give some details of what you intenddoing there, and whom are you meeting? Also, could you clarify what this messaging center is about in Kuala Lumpur?If I may also add another question – this is in regard to the trilateral meeting between U.S., Japan, and India. Is this a precursor to the formation of an alliance in the future? Thank you.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Great. Thank you. I am going to Kuala Lumpur to attend the ASEAN and East Asia Summit senior officials meetings. This is part of the regular preparatory process that we’re engaged in year-in and year-out in preparing for the annual leaders summit. So in the multilateral meetings we will discuss the agenda for the U.S.-ASEAN Leaders Meeting. We’ll discuss the agenda for the East Asia Summit meeting. And we’ll also talk more about the substance and how – for example, on the issue of the South China Sea, how the member states of the EAS – which, of course, importantly include all of the claimants and particularly China, but also include important security partners such as the United States – how collectively we can help to ensure that the tensions are resolved expeditiously and that the disputes also are managed in a way that’s fully compliant with international law and with good diplomatic and good neighborly principles.
I will also have the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with many of the partner and ASEAN countries. The – I was able to meet with a number of the vice foreign ministers or senior official counterparts in New York, but I’ll pick up on meetings with the others. Now, when I’m in Malaysia, ordinarily I will meet with a range of senior government officials as well as representatives of civil society, consult with our outstanding embassy in KL, and meet with political leaders from the opposition and try to get in contact with a broad section of Malaysia society.
Now, as it happens, I have had the opportunity to be in meetings and to speak at considerable length in Washington and now in New York with Foreign Minister Anifah and with Prime Minister Najib as well. And so I don’t think I necessarily need to repeat those meetings, but I will certainly meet with civil society and with representative members of the political spectrum in Malaysia.
There is no decision, no final decision on a messaging center, but Malaysia is a leading candidateto serve as the host2. There already is a messaging center in the UAE, and what it offers I think is a hub for the regions in which likeminded countries – and particularly civil society leaders andreligious leaders – can ensure that via traditional and social media means, a moderate and more credible set of messages is delivered to the broad public that counter the distorted messaging being broadcast by ISIL.
On your last question, the United States and Japan already have an alliance, and the consultation among these three great countries and three great democracies – India, Japan, and the United States – do include discussions of some security issues. But those issues are those that are fully appropriate for countries that have common interests as we do in addressing disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, and otherwise enhancing our ability to respond to disasters. That’s one of the reasons that, although the U.S. and India don’t have a military alliance, we do have an important annual exercise, the Malabar Exercise – hence we invited Japan to participate in that.
But this represents only one fraction of the breadth and the depth of our collective interests, and the discussions touched on a wide range of issues pertaining to good governance, promotion of universal rights and law, the broader trends in the Indo-Asia Pacific region, the economy, regional connectivity, and multiple ways in which we can support Prime Minister Modi’s Act East policies and work to the common interest. Thank you.
MODERATOR: Okay, I think this will have to be our last question. Do you want to give it to Rong?
QUESTION: Rong Shi from Voice of America. We don’t see a joint statement issued after the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit, after the summit with President Obama, only see a achievement list. Is that because of lack of a positive result or cannot solve the difference between the two country?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: No, to the contrary. The United States issued a fact sheet. The Chinese, via their official press, gave a full readout. We issued a joint statement on climate. We signed a memorandum of understanding on coordinating humanitarian assistance. No, there was without a doubt a very rich menu of accomplishments on the issues that I just mentioned, as well as on the economic front, where again there was yet another statement; on ourmilitary-to-military relations, which included out of this visit a further step forward in the form of an annex covering air-to-air encounters to the MOU that was previously signed. We announced significant progress in our people-to-people relationship, both in terms of tourism promotion and in terms of language training. So without a doubt, this was a very rich and fruitful set of meetings.
( 2 The Assistant Secretary intended to add that Malaysia is a leading candidate to host a hub for the region.).
If there’s a non-China question, I think we will take one last one.
MODERATOR: Do we have any non-China questions? (Laughter.) Washington? China-related?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: No? No. All right. Well, in that case, let’s declare victory.
MODERATOR: All right. Thank you for attending.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY RUSSEL: Thank you. Thank you all. Glad you could come.
# # #
U.S. PRIORITIES IN EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC FOR UNGA 70
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015, 11:00 A.M. EDT
NEW YORK
FOREIGN PRESS CENTER, 799 UNITED NATIONS PLAZA, 10TH FLOOR
On the east wall of the old Western & Atlantic RR depot in Adairsville, GA, there's a large mural depicting the final moments of the "Great Locomotive Chase" in Northern Georgia, on April 12th of 1862. Although it was a relatively minor incident in the four-year Civil War and it ended up having little military significance, it is something that Georgians have never forgotten. Although the painting is quite beautiful, it does appear to contain some historical inaccuracies. First and foremost, it shows the locomotive "General" running light, when most available evidence indicates that she still had one, battered box car left behind her. Secondly, it shows the raiders apparently shooting at their pursuers with long rifles, when in fact, no shots were fired during the raid and the raiders only weapons were the pistols they were issued by the US Military.
Western & Atlantic Railroad "3" named General is a 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive built in 1855 by the Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor in Paterson, New Jersey for the Western & Atlantic Railroad, best known as the engine stolen by Union spies in the Great Locomotive Chase, an attempt to cripple the Confederate rail network during the American Civil War. Today, the locomotive is preserved at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Georgia, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
On April 12, 1862, on a breakfast stop at the Lacy Hotel in Big Shanty, GA, the General was stolen by Andrew’s Raiders. The engine was recovered just north of Ringgold, GA.
Shortly after midnight on September 1, 1864, cavalrymen under the command of the retreating Confederate General J.B. Hood set fire to 81 ammunition train cars parked outside the mill to prevent them from being acquired by General Sherman. The ensuing explosions destroyed the mill and destroyed or greatly damaged structures within 1/4 mile including the General that sustained major damage in the yards of the Georgia Railroad when the engine was burned with cars of ammunition near the Schoefield and Markham Rolling Mill (located in Cabbagetown, Atlanta, Georgia).
It's a kind of running gag everytime i go in Pyongyang, i have to visit the Grand People's Study House. They are supposed to keep 30 millions books, so you ask to see some french ones (i'm french).
This time they showed me a cook book "The Greedy Switzerland" (La Suisse Gourmande).In a country that suffere so much from starvation...
Last year it was a Spa Guide in Romania!
© Eric Lafforgue
ift.tt/1n3vNPL If you ain't hip you drunk at the fuckin bar liiiike shit!!!!.... #TENTENBANGZ #killinEm #GETEMGOTEM #GetMeDontShitMe #MyOwnBoss #linkuptv #freestyled #linkup #OffToppinShit #GOAT #PaymeEnt #freejackal #TheGeneral #BeastMode follow me on snap I'm heavy and I fucks with the instant wazzup !!!!....SC:HoodLifeBangz ASAP!!!
Located in the Chattanooga National Cemetery is this 1890 monument to Andrew's Raiders from the Great Locomotive Chase in the Civil War. Atop the monument is a bronze scale model replica of the steam locomotive The General from the chase. Surrounding the monument, Medal of Honor recipients from the Union raid are buried here.
Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History. During the Civil War on April 12, 1862, The General was commandeered by Northerners led by James J. Andrews at Big Shanty (now Kennesaw, Georgia), and abandoned north of Ringgold, after being pursued by William Allen Fuller and the Texas. Low on water and wood, the General eventually lost steam pressure and speed, and slowed to a halt two miles north of Ringgold, where Andrews and his raiders abandoned the locomotive and tried to flee.
Owner: London Jay of London, Ontario, Canada
Playing Now: Susan Flowers - Dick Damron
Photographed @ the Goodguys Summit Nationals in Columbus, Ohio.
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U.S. Army M4A3(75) Sherman Tank with T1E3 Mine Roller on 42` flat car w/wood plank deck & die-cast 3 axle trucks. "War Weary" damaged version shown. Tarp covered muzzle included. From "Battle of the Bulge" Campaign Series.
Model Number AV3E-FC3.2B
Scale: 1/50 scale die-cast load, Flat Car: 3-rail O gauge version
Photo No. 3675
U.S. Army Transportation Corps 40` 1st Cavalry Division Stock Car with real straw floor bedding for cavalry horses during the pre-WWII era. Battle weathered version shown. Die-cast sprung trucks.
Model Number SC12.2USA
Scale: 1/48 scale Stock Car: 2-rail O scale or 3-rail O gauge versions available
Photo No. 2785
Here we go again with how I prefer some of the 200X MOTU designs to their Classics remakes. This Rattlor is just plain awesome... even if the toy doesn't quite look as good as the cartoon design (mostly due to coloration). The upcoming MOTUC Rattlor is all right, but it just isn't the same.
Go Snakemen!
U.S. Army Transportation Corps 40` 1st Cavalry Division Stock Car with real straw floor bedding for cavalry horses during the pre-WWII era. Battle weathered version shown. Die-cast sprung trucks.
Model Number SC12.2USA
Scale: 1/48 scale Stock Car: 2-rail O scale or 3-rail O gauge versions available
Photo No. 2789