Sunday, September 30, 2007

In a Silent Way
In a Silent Way is a 1969 album by jazz trumpeter Miles Davis. Although previous Davis records and live performances had already begun the shift to jazz fusion, In a Silent Way featured a full-blown electric approach. For this and other reasons, it is usually regarded as the first of his fusion recordings. It is also the first recording by Davis that was largely constructed by the editing and arrangement of producer Teo Macero. Macero's editing techniques are said to have incorporated elements of classical sonata form in Davis' recordings for In a Silent Way. Both of the extended tracks on the album consist of three distinct parts that could be thought of as an exposition, development and recapitulation. The last six minutes of the first track are actually the first six minutes of the same track repeated in exactly the same form. With this "trick" the track took on a more understandable structure.
The album featured virtuoso guitarist and newcomer John McLaughlin, who had one month prior to the February 18th In a Silent Way session recorded his classic debut album Extrapolation. At the request of Tony Williams, McLaughlin moved in early February from England to the US to play with The Tony Williams Lifetime. Williams brought McLaughlin to Davis' house the night before the scheduled session for In a Silent Way. Davis had not heard the guitarist before, but was so impressed that he told him to show up at the studio the next day. McLaughlin would go on to great fame in the 1970s as leader of the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
Davis' next fusion album, Bitches Brew, showed him moving even further into the area that lay between the genres of rock and jazz. The dark, fractured dissonance of Bitches Brew ultimately proved to be instrumental in its success; it far outsold the more mellow In a Silent Way.
In 2001, Columbia Legacy/Sony Music released The Complete In a Silent Way Sessions, a three-disc box set which included the unedited recordings used to produce the original album, In a Silent Way as originally edited, and additional tracks.
The Penguin Guide to Jazz has included In a Silent Way in its suggested "Core Collection."

All Music Guide 5/5 stars link
UNCUT 4/5 stars 11/2002, p. 139
Penguin Guide to Jazz 4/4 stars Personnel

Saturday, September 29, 2007


Pierre-Félix Guattari (April 30, 1930August 29, 1992) was a French militant, institutional psychotherapist and philosopher, a founder of both schizoanalysis and ecosophy. Guattari is best known for his intellectual collaborations with Gilles Deleuze, most notably Anti-Oedipus (1972) and A Thousand Plateaus (1980).

Biography
Born in Villeneuve-les-Sablons, Oise, France.
Guattari would later proclaim that psychoanalysis is "the best capitalist drug" because in it desire is confined to a couch: desire, in Lacanian psychoanalysis, is an energy that is contained rather than one that, if freed, could militantly engage itself in something different. He continued this research, collaborating in Jean Oury's private clinic of La Borde at Court-Cheverny, one of the main centers of institutional psychotherapy at the time. La Borde was a venue for conversation amongst innumerable students of philosophy, psychology, ethnology, and social work. La Borde was Félix Guattari's principal anchoring until he died of a heart attack in 1992.

Félix Guattari Clinic of La Borde
From 1955 to 1965, Félix Guattari animated the trotskyist group Voie Communiste ("Communist Way"). He would then support anticolonialist struggles as well as the Italian Autonomists. Guattari also took part in the movement of the psychological G.T., which gathered many psychiatrists at the beginning of the sixties and created the Association of Institutional Psychotherapy in November 1965. It was at the same time that he founded, along with other militants, the F.G.E.R.I. (Federation of Groups for Institutional Study & Research) and its review research, working on philosophy, mathematics, psychoanalysis, education, architecture, ethnology, etc. The F.G.E.R.I. came to represent aspects of the multiple political and cultural engagements of Félix Guattari: the Group for Young Hispanics, the Franco-Chinese Friendships (in the times of the popular communes), the opposition activities with the wars in Algeria and Vietnam, the participation in the M.N.E.F., with the U.N.E.F., the policy of the offices of psychological academic aid (B.A.P.U.), the organisation of the University Working Groups (G.T.U.), but also the reorganizations of the training courses with the Centers of Training to the Methods of Education Activities (C.E.M.E.A.) for psychiatric male nurses, as well as the formation of Friendly Male Nurses (Amicales d'infirmiers) (in 1958), the studies on architecture and the projects of construction of a day hospital of for "students and young workers".
Guattari was involved in the events of May 1968, starting from the Movement of March 22. It was in the aftermath of 1968 that Guattari met Gilles Deleuze at the University of Vincennes and began to lay the ground-work for the soon to be infamous Anti-Oedipus (1972), which Michel Foucault described as "an introduction to the non-fascist life" in his preface to the book. Throughout his career it may be said that his writings were at all times correspondent in one fashion or another with sociopolitical and cultural engagements. In 1967, he appeared as one of the founders of OSARLA (Organization of solidarity and Aid to the Latin-American Revolution). It was with the head office of the F.G.E.R.I. that he met, in 1968, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Jean-Jacques Lebel, and Julian Beck. In 1970, he created C.E.R.F.I. (Center for the Study and Research of Institutional Formation), which takes the direction of the Recherches review. In 1977, he created the CINEL for "new spaces of freedom" before joining in the 1980s the ecological movement with his "ecosophy".

1980s to 1990s

Bibliography
In collaboration with Gilles Deleuze:
Other collaborations:

Molecular Revolution: Psychiatry and Politics (1984). Trans. Rosemary Sheed. Selected essays from Psychanalyse et transversalité (1972) and La révolution moléculaire (1977).
Les Trois écologies (1989). Trans. The Three Ecologies. Partial translation by Chris Turner (Paris: Galilee, 1989), full translation by Ian Pindar and Paul Sutton (London: The Athlone Press, 2000).
Chaosmose (1992). Trans. Chaosmosis: an ethico-aesthetic paradigm (1995).
Chaosophy (1995), ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Collected essays and interviews.
Soft Subversions (1996), ed. Sylvere Lotringer. Collected essays and interviews.
The Guattari Reader (1996), ed. Gary Genosko. Collected essays and interviews.
Ecrits pour L'Anti-Œdipe (2004), ed. Stéphane Nadaud. Trans. The Anti-Œdipus Papers (2006). Collection of texts written between 1969 and 1972.
Chaos and Complexity (Forthcoming 2008, MIT Press). Collected essays and interviews.
Capitalisme et Schizophrénie 1. L'Anti-Œdipe (1972). Trans. Anti-Oedipus (1977).
Kafka: Pour une Littérature Mineure (1975). Trans. Kafka: Toward a Theory of Minor Literature (1986).
Rhizome: introduction (Paris: Minuit, 1976). Trans. "Rhizome," in Ideology and Consciousness 8 (Spring, 1981): 49-71. This is an early version of what became the introductory chapter in Mille Plateaux.
Capitalisme et Schizophrénie 2. Mille Plateaux (1980). Trans. A Thousand Plateaus (1987).
On the Line (1983). Contains translations of "Rhizome," and "Politics" ("Many Politics") by Deleuze and Parnet.
Nomadology: The War Machine. (1986). Translation of "Plateau 12," Mille Plateaux.
Qu'est-ce que la philosophie? (1991). Trans. What Is Philosophy? (1996).
Les nouveaux espaces de liberté (1985). Trans. Communists Like Us (1990). With Antonio Negri.
Micropolitica: Cartografias do Desejo (1986). Trans. Molecular Revolution in Brazil (Forthcoming October 2007, MIT Press). With Suely Rolnik.
The Party without Bosses (2003), by Gary Genosko. Features a 1982 conversation between Guattari and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the current President of Brazil. Works untranslated into English

Éric Alliez, La Signature du monde, ou Qu'est-ce que la philosophie de Deleuze et Guattari (1993). Trans. The Signature of the World: Or, What is Deleuze and Guattari's Philosophy? (2005).
Gary Genosko, Félix Guattari: An Aberrant Introduction (2002).
Gary Genosko (ed.), Deleuze and Guattari: Critical Assessments of Leading Philosophers. Volume 2: Guattari (2001). ISBN 0415186781.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Armin Meiwes
Armin Meiwes (born December 1, 1961) is a German who achieved international notoriety for killing and eating a voluntary victim he had found via the Internet. After jointly attempting to eat the detached penis, Meiwes killed his victim, and continued to eat a large amount of his flesh. Because of his deeds, Meiwes is also known as the "Rotenburg Cannibal" or "Metzgermeister" (The Master Butcher).

Murder and cannibalism
Meiwes was arrested in December 2002, after a man in Innsbruck phoned the police after seeing new advertisements for victims and details about the killing on the Internet. Investigators searched his home and found body parts and the videotaped killing.
Meiwes was later convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight and half years in prison. The case attracted considerable media attention and led to a debate over whether Meiwes could be convicted at all, given that Bernd Jürgen Brandes had voluntarily and knowingly participated in the act; there were also complications as cannibalism itself was not illegal in Germany at the time.

Armin Meiwes Similar case
The song "Mein Teil" by German Tanz-Metal band Rammstein was inspired by the case. "Teil" translates literally to "part" or "member," but is German slang for penis. The chorus of "Mein Teil" (My Part) includes the line, "Denn du bist was du isst und ihr wisst was es ist ," which translates to "You are what you eat and you know what it is."
Other songs inspired by Meiwes' story include "The Wüstenfeld Man Eater" by American death/thrash metal band Macabre, "Eaten" by Swedish death metal band Bloodbath
Feature film Butterfly: A Grimm Love Story (aka Rohtenburg) was scheduled for German release in March 2006. However, it was banned in that country after Meiwes complained that his "personality rights" had been violated. The American film, which is fictionalized, stars Keri Russell and, in the role inspired by Meiwes, Thomas Kretschmann. The film won multiple awards at the 2006 Festival de Cine de Sitges, including Best Director, Best Actor for the two male leads, and Best Cinematography.
Other films based on the case include Rosa von Praunheim's 'Dein Herz in Meinem Hirn' (Your Heart in My Brain); Marian Dora's Cannibal; and Uli Lommel's Cannibal. The 2005 Australian horror/thriller film Feed (film) contains a short scene depicting Meiwes and his victim sitting in a blood-filled bathtub together.
In 2005, the French author and actor Olivier Lejeune penned and acted a farce entitled Dévorez-moi (Devour me), loosely based on the case.
Hit British comedy The IT Crowd parodied this story as part of a plot for the third episode of series 2.

Thursday, September 27, 2007


A natural satellite is an object that orbits a planet or other body larger than itself and which is not man-made. Such objects are often called moons. Technically, the term could also refer to a planet orbiting a star, or even to a star orbiting a galactic center, but these uses are rare. Instead, the term is normally used to identify non-artificial satellites of planets, dwarf planets, or minor planets.
There are 240 known moons within the Solar System, including 165 orbiting the planets, 4 orbiting dwarf planets, and dozens more orbiting small solar system bodies. Other stars and their planets also have natural satellites.
The large gas giants have extensive systems of natural satellites, including half a dozen comparable in size to Earth's moon. Of the inner planets, Mercury and Venus have no moons at all; Earth has one large moon (the Moon); and Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos. Among the dwarf planets, Ceres has no moons (though many objects in the asteroid belt do), Eris has one, Dysnomia, and Pluto has three known satellites, Nix, Hydra, and a large companion called Charon. The Pluto-Charon system is unusual in that the center of mass lies in open space between the two, a characteristic of a double planet system.

Orbital characteristics
Most regular natural satellites in the solar system are tidally locked to their primaries, meaning that one side of the moon is always turned toward the planet. Exceptions include Saturn's moon Hyperion, which rotates chaotically because of a variety of external influences.
In contrast, the outer moons of the gas giants (irregular satellites) are too far away to become 'locked'. For example, Jupiter's moon Himalia, Saturn's moon Phoebe and Neptune's moon Nereid have rotation period in the range of 10 hours compared with their orbital periods of hundreds of days.

Natural satellite Tidal locking
No "moons of moons" (natural satellites that orbit the natural satellite of another body) are known. It is uncertain whether such objects can be stable in the long term. In most cases, the tidal effects of their primaries make such a system unstable; the gravity from other nearby objects (most notably the primary) would perturb the orbit of the moon's moon until it broke away or impacted its primary. In theory, a secondary satellite could exist in a primary satellite's Hill sphere, outside of which it would be lost because of the greater gravitational pull of the planet (or other object) that the primary satellite orbits. For example, the Moon orbits the Earth because the Moon is 370,000 km from Earth, well within Earth's Hill sphere, which has a radius of 1.5 million km (0.01 AU or 235 Earth radii). If a Moon-sized object were to orbit the Earth outside its Hill sphere, it would soon be captured by the Sun and become a dwarf planet in a near-Earth orbit.

Satellites of satellites
Two moons are known to have small companions at their L4 and L5 Lagrangian points, which are about sixty degrees ahead of and behind the body in its orbit. These companions are called Trojan moons, because their positions are comparable to the positions of the Trojan asteroids relative to Jupiter. Such objects are Telesto and Calypso, which are the leading and following companions respectively of Tethys; and Helene and Polydeuces, which are the leading and following companions of Dione.

Trojan satellites
The discovery of 243 Ida's moon Dactyl in the early 1990s confirms that some asteroids also have moons. Some, like 90 Antiope, are double asteroids with two equal-sized components. The asteroid 87 Sylvia has two moons. See asteroid moon for further information.

Asteroid satellites
The largest natural satellites in the Solar System (those bigger than about 3000 km across) are Earth's moon, Jupiter's Galilean moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto), Saturn's moon Titan, and Neptune's captured moon Triton. For smaller moons see the articles on the appropriate planet. In addition to the moons of the various planets there are also over 80 known moons of the dwarf planets, asteroids and other small solar system bodies. Some studies estimate that up to 15% of all trans-Neptunian objects could have satellites.
The following is a comparative table classifying the moons of the solar system by diameter. The column on the right includes some notable planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, and Trans-Neptunian Objects for comparison. It is normal for natural satellites to be named after mythological figures, (predominately Greek), however Uranus's moons are named after Shakespearean characters.



Natural satellites of the Solar System
The first known natural satellite was the Moon (luna in Latin). Until the discovery of the Galilean satellites in 1610, however, there was no opportunity for referring to such objects as a class. Galileo chose to refer to his discoveries as Planetæ ("planets"), but later discoverers chose other terms to distinguish them from the objects they orbited.
Christiaan Huygens, the discoverer of Titan, was the first to use the term moon for such objects, calling Titan Luna Saturni or Luna Saturnia – "Saturn's moon" or "The Saturnian moon", because it stood in the same relation to Saturn as the Moon did to the Earth.
As additional moons of Saturn were discovered, however, this term was abandoned. Giovanni Domenico Cassini sometimes referred to his discoveries as planètes in French, but more often as satellites, using a term derived from the Latin satelles, meaning "guard", "attendant", or "companion", because the satellites accompanied their primary planet in their journey through the heavens.
The term satellite thus became the normal one for referring to an object orbiting a planet, as it avoided the ambiguity of "moon". In 1957, however, the launching of the artificial object Sputnik created a need for new terminology. The terms man-made satellite or artificial moon were very quickly abandoned in favor of the simpler satellite, and as a consequence, the term has come to be linked primarily with artificial objects flown in space – including, sometimes, even those which are not in orbit around a planet.
As a consequence of this shift in meaning, the term moon, which had continued to be used in a generic sense in works of popular science and in fiction, has regained respectability and is now used interchangeably with satellite, even in scientific articles. When it is necessary to avoid both the ambiguity of confusion with the Earth's moon on the one hand, and artificial satellites on the other, the term natural satellite (using "natural" in a sense opposed to "artificial") is used.

Terminology
There has been some debate about the precise definition of a moon. This debate has been caused by the presence of orbital systems where the difference in mass between the larger body and its satellite is not as pronounced as in more typical systems. Two examples are the Pluto-Charon system and the Earth-Moon System. The presence of these systems has caused a debate about where to precisely draw the line between a double body system, and a main body-satellite system. The most common definition rests upon whether the barycentre is below the surface of the larger body, though this is unofficial and somewhat arbitrary. At the other end of the spectrum there are many ice/rock clumps that form ring systems around the Solar System's gas giants, and there is no set point to define when one of these clumps is large enough to be classified as a moon. The term "moonlet" is sometimes used to refer to extremely small objects in orbit around a larger body, but again there is no official definition.

The definition of a moon

Asteroid moon
Co-orbital moon
Extrasolar moon
Inner satellite
Irregular satellite
List of natural satellites
List of natural satellites by diameter
Naming of natural satellites
Quasi-satellite
Timeline of discovery of Solar System planets and their natural satellites
Trojan moon See also

Earth's natural satellite; see Moon
Mars' natural satellites
Jupiter's natural satellites
Saturn's natural satellites
Uranus' natural satellites
Neptune's natural satellites
Pluto's natural satellites
Eris' natural satellite; see Dysnomia Natural satellites of planets and dwarf planets

2003 EL61's natural satellites Natural satellites of small Solar System bodies

Saturn's moons

Neptune's new moons (discovered in 2003)

Wednesday, September 26, 2007


A Resident, or in full Resident Minister, is a state official of certain representative -diplomatic and/or colonial- types, required to take up permanent residency abroad officially.

Resident Ministers
These were official representatives of a European colonial power practicing indirect rule, usually diplomats and/or (sometimes former) military officers, who lived and worked in smaller self-governing colonial entities or various protectorates and vassal states as a political advisor to the (usually native) ruler(s) and acted like an Ambassador of their own Government, but at a lower level since even large and rich native states were usually seen as inferior to Western nations. Instead of to a single ruler, a single resident could be posted to a native grouping, or even simply to a number of native states the colonial power conveniently bunched together in an imposed artificial, at best geographical unit, which could have a name such as residency X (as in some parts of British India).
Similar positions could carry alternative titles, such as Political Agent and Resident Commissioner; see also specific histories in this and the following section. In some cases, the intertwining of colonial and traditional establishment went as far as to repeatedly employ members of the native princely houses is such posts, either in other polities (sometimes princes of the blood realistically in line for their ancestral throne) or even (especially further relatives, unlikely ever to succeed) within their own state; on the other hand, trusted residents could became de facto (prime) ministers to the native rulers.
Their real role varied enormously, depending upon the underlying power report between both parties and the personalities of the Resident and the ruler(s). Some were little more than observers and diplomatic go-betweens, others met hostility as 'face of the oppressor' or on the contrary won enough trust with the ruler to exercise great influence, on occasion even become his de facto prime minister, or even nominated by the equivalent native title such as vizier. An example that hosting a residency could really be seen as desirabla protection be the native rulers, is from 1887, when both Boers and gold prospectors of all nationalities were overrunning his country, the Swazi paramount chief Umbandine asked for a British resident, which request was refused.
This section only lists solo-Residents; see Residents-general for those organized under a thus titled superior; however those here may still work under some other higher official, such as a Viceroy or Governor(-general)

Colonial Residents
Examples of Commonwealth governments represented by Residents with such British colonies or (not always British) protectorates include:

Residents in (British) Africa
For those working in the Malay states, see the British Residents(-general) section below as they came under the authority of a Resident-general
British Residents were posted in various Princely states -major ones or groups- in British India, the jewel in Britain's colonial crown, often individually, as in Lucknow, the capital of Oudh; to the Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda; to the Maharaja Sindhya of Gwalior; to the Nizam al-Molk of Hyderabad; to the Maharaja Rana of Jhalawar; to the restored Maharaja of Mysore; to the Maharaja Sena Sahib Subah of the Mahratta state of Nagpur; to the (Maha)Raja of Manipur; to the (Maha)Raja of Travancore; to the Maharana of Mewar in Udaipur. Even when Lord Lake had broken the Mahratta power in 1803, and the Mughal emperor was taken under the protection of the East India Company, the districts of Delhi and Hissar were assigned for the maintenance of the royal family, and were administered by a British resident, till in 1832 the tract was annexed to the North-Western Provinces.
A resident could however also be posted to a group of princely states, usually because they were considered rather unimportant (or except one), as a geographical and/or otherwise linked group.
British residents were also posted in major states considered connected with India, neighbouring or on the sea route to it, notably:
And elsewhere:
Even in overseas territories occupied ('preventively' or conquered) to keep the French out of strategic trade and waters, residencies could be established, e.g. at Laye on Sumatra, an island returned to the Dutch East Indies

in Aden (while subordinated to Bombay), the only part of Yemen made a colony in full British possession, the last of three British Political Agents since 1939 stayed on as first Resident since 1859, the last again satying on in 1932 as first Chief Commissioner; he was the only diplomatic representative to the various Arabian rulers who over time accepted British protectorate, but since the 1935 legal separation from British India was followed in 1937 by a reorganisation in an Eastern - and a Western Aden Protectorate (based at Mukallah and Lahej; together covering all Yemen), the British representatives in each were styled British Political Officers
in Afghanistan, a kingdom entitled to a gun salute of 21 guns (the highest rank among princely states, not -then- among Sovereign monarchs): first British Residents (1837 - 2 November 1841 Sir Alexander Burnes; 7 August 1839 - 23 December 1841 William Hay McNaghten; December 1841 - 6 January 1842 Eldred Pottinger), then four native Vakils acted on behalf of Britain (1856 - April 1859 Nawab Foujdar Khan, April 1859 - 1865 Ghulam Husain Khan Allizai, February 1864 - January 1868 Bukhiar Khan (acting), January 1868 - 1878 Attah Muhammad Khan Khagwani), then two more British Residents (24 July 1879 - 3 September 1879 Louis Napoleon Cavagnari, 1880 Henry Lepel-Griffin), next came two Military Commanders (8 October 1879 - 11 August 1880) and 10 native British Agents (one served two non-consecutive terms) till 1919
Hiram Cox was the first British Resident to the King of independent Burma October 1796 - July 1797, and there were more discontinuous posting to that court, in the 19th century, never satisfactory to either party; after colonization there were two separate British Residents in a border zone of that country: in the Northern Shan States and in the Southern Shan States (each several tribal states, usually ruled by a Saopha=Sawbwa) in 1945 - 1948 (each group had been under a Superintendent from 1887/88 till 1922, then both jointly under a Resident Commissioner till the 1942 Japanese occupation)
after five military governors since the British East India Company started chasing the Dutch out of Ceylon in August 1795 and occupying the island (completed in 16 February 1796), their only Resident there was Robert Andrews, 12 February 1796 - 12 October 1798, who was subordinate to the presidency of Madras (see British India), afterwards the HEIC appointed Governors as it was made a separate colony
to the Sultan of the Maldives archipelago since he formally accepted British protection on 16 December 1887 (informally since 1796, after the British took over Ceylon from the Dutch), but in fact this office was filled ex officio by the colonial Governors of until 4 February 1948, abolished on 26 July 1965
in Nepal since 1802, accredited to the Hindu Kings (title Maharajadhiraja), since 15 March 1816 exercing a de facto protectorate - the last staying on 1920 as Envoy till the 1923 emancipation
with the Imam/Sultan of Oman, 1800-1804, 1805-1810 and 1840 (so twice interrupted by vacancy), then located with the African branch of the dynasty on Zanzibar island, since 1862 his role was handed over to a Political Agent
in Transjordan (present Jordan) April 1921 - 17 June 1946 four incumbents accredited to the Hashemite Emir/King Residents in (British) Asia
Since on 5 November 1815 the United States of the Ionian Islands became a federal republic of 7 islands (Corfu, Cephalonia, Zante, Santa Maura, Ithaca, Cerigo and Paxos), as a protectorate (nominally of the allied Powers; de facto UK protectorate; the highest office was the -always British- Lord High Commissioner), until its 1 June 1864 incorporation into independent Greece, there were British Residents, each posted with a local Prefect, on seven individual islands, notably: Cephalonia (Kephalonia), Cerigo (Kythira), Ithaca, Paxos, Santa Maura (Leucada/Lefkada) and Zante (Zakynthos)

Residents in (British) European protectorates

in the early colonial settlement phase on New Zealand (where the Polynesian Māori declared independence on 28 October 1835 as the Confederation of the United Tribes, under British protectorate), from 10 May 1833 James Busby (b. 1801 - d. 1871; from 1834 jointly with Thomas McDonnell as co-Resident) till 28 January 1840, then two Lieutenant governors (as part of New South Wales, in Australia) and many Governors since 3 January 1841
at Rarotonga since the 1888 establishment of the British protectorate over the Cook Islands; the third and last incumbent stayed on as first Resident Commissioner since 1901, at the incorporation in the British Western Pacific Territories (under a single High Commissioner, till its 1976 dissolution, in Suva or Honoria), until the abolition of the post at the 1965 self-government grant as territory in free association with New Zealand, having its own cabinet (still under the British Crown, which after the 1976 appoints a special King's/Queens Representative as well as a High Commissioner). Residents on (British & dominion) Ocean Island states

Sikkim, where the Maharaja had been under a British protectorate (1861 - 15 August 1947; the crown representative was styled Political Agent), became immediately afterwards a protectorate of newly independent India (formally from 5 December 1950; in the meantime the Indian representative was again styled Political Agent, the first incumbent actually being the former British Political Agent- India was a dominion, still under the British crown, till 26 January 1950) until 16 May 1975, it was annexed as a constituent state of India. Residents in protectorates of decolonised Commonwealth states
In the Dutch East Indies, European residents and lower ranks such as assistant residents were posted alongside a number of the many native princes in present Indonesia, compare Regentschap.
For example on Sumatra, there were Dutch Residents at Palembang, at Madan in Deli sultanate; another was posted with the Sultan of and on Ternate, one on Bali etc.*

Dutch colonial Residents
France also maintained Residents, the French word being Résident.
However the 'Jacobine' tradition of strict state authority didn't agree well with indirect rule, so often direct rule was preferred.
Many were part of a white colonial hierarchy, rather than truly posted with a native ruler or chieftain. Those under the authority of a Resident general are treated in that section, below.
In the following sub-sections are only other (solo-)residencies.

French colonial Residents

A single post of Resident was also created in Côte d'Ivoire, i.e. Ivory Coast (from 1881 subordinated to the Superior Commandant of Gabon and the Gulf of Guinea Settlements; from 1886 subordinated to the Lieutenant Governors of Guinea), where in 1842 France had declared protectorates over the Kingdoms of Nzima and Sanwi (posts at Assinié 1843-1870, and Grand Bassam, Fort Dabou 1853-1872, part of the Colony of Gorée and Dependencies in Senegal]):

  • 1871 - 1885 Arthur Verdier (to 1878 Warden of the French Flag) (b. 1835 - d. 1898)
    1885 - 1886 Charles Bour -Commandant-particular
    1886 - 9 March 1890 Marcel Treich Leplène (b. 1860 - d. 1890)
    9 March 1890 - 14 June 1890 Jean Joseph Étienne Octave Péan (acting)
    14 June 1890 - 1892 Jean Auguste Henri Desailles
    1892 Eloi Bricard (acting)
    1892 - 12 November 1892 Julien Voisin (acting)
    12 November 1892 - 10 March 1893 Paul Alphonse Frédéric Heckman; therefater it had its own Governors
    On the Comoros, in the Indian Ocean, several Residents were posted with the various native sultanates on major islands; they were all three subordinated to the French administrators of Mayotte island protectorate (itself constituting the native Maore or Mawuti sultanate) :

    • On Ngazidja (Grande Comore island, divided in eleven sultanates, some of which on occasian had the superior title of Sultani tibe): November 1886 - 1912
      On Ndzuwani (Anjouan island) with the Phany (sole Sultan): only two incumbents 188x - 189x
      On Mwali (Mohéli island) from 1886; then 1889 - 1912 filled by the above résidents of Anjouan
      On Wallis and Futuna, after a single French Representative styled chargé de mission (7 April 1887 - 26 June 1888, Maurice Antoine Chauvot), there was a long list of Residents from 7 April 1887; since 3 October 1961, when both islands were joined as the Wallis & Futuna overseas territory, their successors were styled Administrateur supérieur 'Administrator-superior', but the native dynasties remain; they represented the French government by virtue of the protectorate treaties with the Tui (ruler) of `Uvea (Wallis island, 5 April 1887; 27 November 1887 administratively attached to New Caledonia) and on 16 February 1888 with the two kingdoms on Futuna - Tu`a (also called Alo) and Sigave Resident (title) Style Résident
      This French title, meaning "Superior" (i.e. Senior) Resident, suggests he may have had junior Residents under him, but we have seen no data yet.

      In Upper Volta (present Burkina Faso), which has had its own Lieutenant governor (before) or Governor (after) and intermediately has been part of one or (carved up) more neighbouring French colonies, there has been one Résident-Superieur of "Upper Ivory Coast", 1 January 1938 - 29 July 1940, while it was part of the Côte d'Ivoire colony: Edmond Louveau Résident supérieur
      In the German colonies the title was also Resident; the post was called Residentur.

      in Wituland: Ahmed ibn Fumo Bakari, the first mfalume (sultan) of Witu (on the Kenyan coast), ceded 25 square miles of territory on 8 April 1885 to the brothers Clemens and Gustav Denhardt's "Tana Company", and the remainder of the Wituland became the German Schutzgebiet (Protectorate) of Wituland (Deutsch-Witu) on 27 May 1885. The Reich was represented there by the German Residents: Gustav Denhardt (b. 1856 - d. 1917; in office 8 April 1885 - 1 July 1890) and his deputy Clemens Andreas Denhardt (b. 1852 - d. 1928) until on 1 July 1890 imperial Germany renounces its protectorate, ceding the Wituland to Great Britain which had on 18 June 1890 declared it a British protectorate).
      in German East Africa

      • Resident of Ruanda: 1906 - 15 November 1907 Werner von Grawert (d. 1918), formerly the last military district commander of Usumbura (the other district being Ujiji)
        Resident of Urundi (present Burundi): 15 November 1907 - June 1916, starting with the same as above; formally accredited to the native Mwami (King; on 8 October 1905 the Germans recognized the already ruling Mwezi IV Gisabo as "Sultan" of Burundi and its only supreme authority)
        Resident of Bukoba west of Lake Victoria overseeing an area of 32 200 km²;
        in German Kamerun

        • Resident of Garua
          Resident of Mora
          Resident of Ngaundere
          in German South-West Africa (present Namibia)

          • Resident of Schuckmannsburg for the Caprivi Strip. German colonial Residents

            In Cabinda (in present Angola), five incumbents from 1885 (18 July 1885 Portuguese Congo district created after 14 February 1885 confirmation by the Berlin Conference of the 1883 Portuguese protectorate over "Portuguese Congo") to 1899 (end of autonomy under the Governors of Congo district which had its seat in Cabinda since 1887) Portuguese colonial Residents

            Residents-general (& their subordinate Residents)

            British Residents(-general)
            At the "national" level of British Malaya, after the post of High Commissioners had been filled (1 July 1896 - 1 April 1946) by the governors of the Straits Settlements (see Singapore), Britain appointed the following Residents-general:
            Then there were various British Chief Secretaries 1911-1936 and two Federal Secretaries until 31 January 1942; after three Japanese Military governors, the British Governor (1 April 1946-1 February 1948) stayed on as first of four High Commissioners as de facto Governor-general of the Federation of Malaya until independence on 31 August 1957 saw the creation of an elective federal Paramount ruler styled Yang Dipertuan Agong (since 16 September 1961 with the addition bagi Malaysia).
            There were specific Residents accredited in most constituent Malay states:
            A similar position, under another title, was held in the other Malay states:
            In the Straits Settlements, under direct British rule:
            On Northern Borneo, contrary to the Malay peninsula, in Sabah and Sarawak no such officials were appointed, as there were white rulers or governors;
            but to the still sovereign Sultans of Brunei, lying between those larger states, British Residents were appointed 1906 - 1959 (interrupted by Japanese commander Masao Baba 6 January 1942 - 14 June 1945), afterwards only High Commissioners for the matters not transferred under autonomy (and 1971 Self-government) until full independence went in force 1 January 1984.

            1 July 1896 - 1901 Frank Athelstane Swettenham (b. 1850 - d. 1946; from 1897, Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham)
            1901 - 1904 William Hood Treacher (b. 1849 - d. 1919)
            1904 - 1910 Sir William Thomas Taylor (b. 1848 - d. 1931)
            1910 - 1911 Arthur Henderson Young (b. 1854 - d. 1938)
            1885-1911 British Residents were appointed to the Sultans (until 1886 styled Maharaja) of Johore, an unfederated state until 1946; thereafter the British crown was represented by General Advisers until the Japanese occupation, finally by Commissioners 1945-1948
            1888-1941 to the Yang Di Pertuan Besar (state's elective ruler) of the nine member-confederation Negeri Sembilan, which accepted a British protectorate in 1888 and acceded in 1896 to the Federation; again British Commissioners after the Japanese occupation

            • 1883-1895 additional British Residents were appointed to the Yang Di-Pertuan Muda (ruler) of Jelebu, a major member principality
              1875-1889 additional British Residents were also appointed to the Undang Luak Sungai Ujong (ruler) of Sungai Ujong, another major member principality
              1888-1938 British Residents were appointed to the Sultans (until 1882 styled Bendahara Seri Maharaja) of Pahang from the start of the British protectorate; again British Commissioners after the Japanese occupation
              1874-1941 British Residents to the Sultans of Perak as written in the Pangkor Treaty of 1874, since they exchanged Thai sovereignty for a British protectorate; since 1 July 1896 part of the Federated Malay States; after the Japanese occupation a single British Commissioner
              1875-1941 British Residents to the Sultans of Selangor during the Klang War, a year after accepting British protectorate (never under Thailand), 1 July 1896 part of Federated Malay States; after the Japanese occupation British Commissioners
              1909-41 British Advisers replaced the Thai king's Advisers in the sultanate of Kedah, an unfederated state; after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed
              1903-41 British Advisers replaced Thai ones in the sultanate of Kelantan, an unfederated state; after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed
              1909-1941 British Advisers replaced Thai ones with the Rajas of Perlis, since the acceptance of British protectorate as an unfederated state in stead of the Thai sovereignty (since the secession from Kedah) and were appointed again after Japanese and Thai occupation, until 1 April 1946 it joins the Malay Union (from 16 September 1963, Malaysia)
              1904-25 British Agents were appointed to the Sultans of Terengganu, i.e. even before the 9 July 1909 exchange of Thai sovereignty for a British protectorate as unfederated Malay state, then Advisers 1919-1941 (overlap merely both titles for the same incumbent); after Japanese and Thai occupation, British Commissioners were appointed.
              in Singapore, after two separate British Residents (7 February 1819 - December 1822 William Farquhar, then John Crawfurd), the Governors of the Straits Settlements filled the post 1826 - 15 February 1942; after four Japanese Military Administrators and two Japanese Mayors, a British Military Administrator 12 September 1945 - 1 April 1946, then four British Governors and the second incumbent stayed on as first of two gubernatorial 'Heads of state' styled yang di-pertuan negara, his Malay successor also becoming the first President after independence
              In Malacca (Melaka), a former Dutch colony, seven consecutive British Residents were in office 1795-1818, followed by three Dutch governors; after the final inclusion in the British Strait Settlements, 1826, most were titled Resident Councillor, except the periode 1910-1920 reverting to the style Resident; after the Japanese occupation, Resident Commissioners took their place until the 1957 independence installed Malaysian Governors and Chief Ministers
              In Penang (Pinang), after three Superintendents for the British East India Company (1786-1799; only Prince of Wales Island had yet been ceded to the British by the Sultan of Kedah), then two Lieutenant-governors (in 1801 Province Wellesley on the mainland was added) and many Governors after 1805 (since 1826 as part of the Strait Settlements), only Resident Councillorss were in office 1849-1941 (name Penang assumed in 1867); after four Japanese and since 1945 two British military governors, four Resident Commissioners 1946-1957, since then Malaysian-appointed 'heads of state' In the British Malay states and possessions
              (The French word is Résident-général)

              French

              In Morocco, accredited with the Sultan: Residents-general 28 April 1912 - 2 March 1956 (first incumbent previously military governor)
              In Tunisia, accredited with the Basha Bey Residents-general 23 June 1885 - 31 August 1955; first incumbent was the last of the two previous Resident ministers
              On Madagascar: 28 April 1886 - 31 July 1897 In Africa

              In present Vietnam&Laos: Residents-general for Annam -Tonkin (at Hué) 11 June 1884 - 9 May 1889

              • Residents-Superior for Annam (also at Hué) 1886 - 1950s (at least 1953)
                Residents-Superior for Tonkin (at Hanoi; subordinated to Annam until 1888) 1886 - 1950s (at least 1953) - But none in Cochinchina
                Residents-superior for Laos September 1895 - 5 April 1945
                In Cambodia Residents-general 12 August 1885 - 16 May 1889;

                • later downgraded (under Hué?) to Residents-superior 16 May 1889 - 15 October 1945
                  several regional Résidents In Indochina
                  (Belgium mainly used French in the colonies; the word in its other official language, Dutch, is Resident-generaal)

                  Burundi (cfr. German above; there were Belgian Residents ): 1960 - 1 July 1962 Jean-Paul Harroy (b. 1909 - d. 1995), staying on after being its Belgian last Governor (and Deputy Governor-general of the Belgian Congo) Belgian
                  In the protectorate Korea, accredited to the Choson Monarch (rendered as King or Emperor) 21 Dec 1905 - 1 Oct 1910 three incumbents, all Japanese peers (new western-type styles, rendered as: Marquess/Duke or Viscount); the last stayed on as the first Governor-General after full annexation to Japan

                  Japanese (original title?)
                  On occasion, residents were maintained, notably by former colonial powers, in territories in a transitional process to a new constitutional status, such as full independence. Such function could also be performed under another title, such as Commissioner or High Commissioner.
                  Thus after World War I, there were Residents in some mandate territories:
                  Also after World War II, and not only in former mandate territories; e.g. in parts of Libya, a former Italian colony, put under UN administration since 1946 prior to their unification as a Libyan kingdom, Britain maintained a Resident in Tripolitania April 1949 - 24 December 1951 and another in Cyrenaica 17 September 1949 - 24 December 1951, and France one in Fezzan 1950 - 24 December 1951.
                  In a later phase a former colony could itself appoint such Residents, as India did 5 December 1950 - 16 May 1975 in its Himalayan protectorate Sikkim, then still an independent monarchy (afterwards absorbed into India as an additional constitutive state) where Britain had obtained a protectorate over the Maharaja in 1861, see above.

                  after the French and British occupation of the former German colony Kamerun (since 26 September 1914), Britain started appointing a long line of Residents (some were District Officer or Senior D.O., others Deputy Resident or Senior Resident) in its zone from 1916, even before the 28 June 1919 formal division into French - and British Cameroons and the 20 July 1920 British Cameroons- League of Nations mandate; they continued in the 13 December 1946 created British Cameroons United Nations trust territory, until 31 December 1949; next a single Special Resident was appointed (although in 1949 Southern Cameroons was divided into two provinces: Bamenda, capital Bamenda, and Southern, capital Buea) until 1 October 1954 when British Cameroons became an autonomous part of Nigeria; next two Commissioners were appointed in stead, until on 1 October 1961 Southern British Cameroons was incorporated into the Republic of Cameroon (the former French Cameroun), the northern part was already united with Nigeria on 1 June 1961.
                  Present Jordan was part since 12 May 1920 of the British mandate of Palestine (under a British High Commissioner), but in August 1920 the British create autonomous local administrations in Ajlun, Salt, and Karak -with limited success, and 11 April 1921 the Emirate of Transjordan is (under British mandate); 26 May 1923 Transjordan formally separated from Palestine; 28 Feb 1928 Britain recognizes Transjordan mandate as independent, but maintains military and some financial control; 25 May 1946 proclamation of the Hashemite Kingdom (style Malik) of Transjordan (present Jordan); the 17 June 1946 formal independence from Britain finally ends the term of the last of four British Residents:

                  • April 1921 - 21 November 1921 Albert Abramson (b. 1876 - d. 19..)
                    21 November 1921 - April 1924 Harry St. John Bridger Philby (b. 1885 - d. 1960)
                    August 1924 - March 1939 Henry Cox (from 1937, Charles Henry Cox) (b. 1880 - d. 1953)
                    March 1939 - 17 June 1946 Alec Seath Kirkbride (b. 1897 - d. 1978) Postcolonial Residents

                    Government Resident: in Australia:

                    • in the Northern Territory, under the authority of the Governor of New South Wales, after having been merely under Military Commanders: 3 March 1864-1 January 1911, at which date it became a separate territory but the last incumbent stayed on as first of 6 Administrators; then again 1 February 1927 Robert Hunter Weddell was Government Resident for North Australia, until from 12 June 1931. Administrators were (and still are) appointed, even after on 1 July 1978 self-government was granted.
                      1 March 1927-12 June 1931, while the above was split, there were two consecutive incumbents for Central Australia
                      during the late 1860s, the title was often used in reference to Robert John Sholl, the chief government official in the North District of the Colony of Western Australia. Sholl, who was based in Roebourne, was officially responsible for all government matters in the northern part of of the Colony. (His position was later downgraded to that of Resident Magistrate for Roebourne.)
                      Resident Administrator: in Australia: on Lord Howe Island, repeatedly:

                      • at least two incumbent 1869-1882 (the first before the settlement started in 1834 was included in New South Wales; in 1878 the island was declared a forest reserve, reclassified botanic reserve in 1883; since 1913 this had a Local Advisory Committee); next came non-resident Magistrates and non-resident Chairmen of a Control Board in Sidney, then two Superintendents August 1940-1945;
                        again (incumbents not known) 1945 - 1953, then again Chairmen of the newly created Lord Howe Island Board; since 1982 the island is a UNESCO World Heritage site Other Uses

                        Resident Commissioner

Tuesday, September 25, 2007


The United States military budget is that portion of the United States discretionary federal budget that is allocated for the funding of the Department of Defense. This military budget finances employee salaries and training costs, the maintenance of equipment and facilities, support of new or ongoing operations, and development and procurement of new equipment. The budget includes funding for all branches of the military: Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.
For 2007, the budget was raised to a total of US$532.8 Billion.

Military budget of the United StatesMilitary budget of the United States Budget for 2007
The federally budgeted (see below) military expenditure of the United States Department of Defense for fiscal year 2007

Monday, September 24, 2007

Philipp Blom
Philipp Blom (b.1970) is a historian, novelist, journalist and translator. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, and studied in Vienna and Oxford. After living and working in London and Paris he now lives in Vienna.
His historical works include To Have and To Hold (2002), a history of collectors and collecting, and Encyclopédie (2005, US edition: Enlightening the World), a history of the Encyclopédie by Diderot and d'Alembert. A cultural history of the era 1900 to 1914 in the Europe and the United States is due to be published in 2008. He has also published two novels: The Simmons Papers (1995) and Luxor (2006); an English translation of Geert Mak's Amsterdam (1999); and a book on Austrian wines The Wines of Austria (1999, reissued 2006).
As a journalist, Blom has written mainly for the Times Literary Supplement, the Financial Times and The Independent in Britain, various German-speaking publications (Neue Züricher Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Die Zeit, Süddeutsche Zeitung) and Vrij Nederland in the Netherlands, as well as for other magazines and journals and for German and Austrian broadcasting stations.

Sunday, September 23, 2007


The United States Steel Corporation (NYSEX) is an integrated steel producer with major production operations in the United States and Central Europe. The company is the world's seventh-largest steel producer ranked by sales (see list of steel producers). It was renamed USX Corporation in 1991 and subsequently United States Steel Corporation again in 2001 when the shareholders of USX spun off its steel-making assets following the acquisition of Marathon Oil in 1982. It is still the largest domestically owned integrated steel producer in the United States, although it produces only slightly more steel than it did in 1902.
U.S. Steel is a former Dow Jones Industrial Average component listed from April 1, 1901 to May 3, 1991. It was removed under its USX Corporation name with Navistar International and Primerica Corporation.

U.S. Steel History
U.S. Steel maintained the labor policies of Andrew Carnegie, which called for low wages and limited unionization. The Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers union that represented workers at the Homestead, Pennsylvania plant was, for many years, broken after a violent strike in 1892. U.S. Steel defeated another strike in 1901, the year it was founded. U.S. Steel built the city of Gary, Indiana in 1906, and 100 years later it remains the location of the largest integrated steel mill in the Northern Hemisphere. U.S. Steel did reach an impasse with unions during World War I, when under pressure from the Wilson Administration it relaxed its opposition to unions enough to allow some to operate in certain factories. It returned to its previous policies as soon as the war ended, however, and in a 1919 strike defeated union organizing efforts by William Z. Foster of the AFL, later a leader of the Communist Party of the United States of America.
During the 1920s, U.S. Steel, like many other large employers, coupled paternalistic employment practices with "employee representation plans" (ERPs), which were company unions sponsored by management. Ironically, these ERPs eventually became an important factor leading to the organization of the United Steelworkers of America. The Company dropped its hard-line, anti-union stance in 1937, when Myron Taylor, then president of U.S. Steel, agreed to recognize the Steel Workers Organizing Committee, an arm of the CIO led by John L. Lewis. Taylor was an outsider, brought in during the Great Depression to rescue U.S. Steel, and had no emotional investment in the Company's long history of opposition to unions. Watching the upheaval caused by the United Automobile Workers' successful sit-down strike in Flint, Michigan, and convinced that Lewis was someone he could deal with on a businesslike basis, Taylor sought stability through collective bargaining.
The Steelworkers continue to have a contentious relationship with U.S. Steel, but far less so than the relationship that other unions had with employers in other industries in the United States. They launched a number of long strikes against U.S. Steel in 1946 and 1959, but those strikes were over wages and benefits and not the more fundamental issue of union recognition that led to violent strikes elsewhere.
In 1959, a 116-day strike had a significant long-term effect on union-versus-management relations at U.S. Steel by shutting down 90 percent of total U.S. steel production. This strike opened the door to steel imports, which had been a negligible factor before then, and the long decline of the United States steel industry had begun. By the end of the 20th century, thousands of unionized steelworker jobs would be permanently lost due to the effects of lower-cost imported steel.
The Steelworkers union attempted to mollify the problems of competitive foreign imports by entering into a so-called Experimental Negotiation Agreement (ENA) in 1974. This was to provide for arbitration in the event that the parties were not able to reach agreement on any new collective bargaining agreements, thereby preventing disruptive strikes. The ENA failed to stop the decline of the steel industry in the U.S.
U.S. Steel and the other employers terminated the ENA in 1984. In 1986, U.S. Steel locked out thousands of its employees when it shut down a number of its facilities as a result of a drop in orders on the eve of a threatened strike. In addition, U.S. Steel and other steel producers demanded extensive concessions from their employees in the early 1980s through the direction of J Bruce Johnston, U.S. Steel executive vice president. In a letter to striking employees in 1986, J. Bruce Johnston warned, "There are not enough seats in the steel lifeboat for everybody." In addition to reducing the role of unions, the steel industry had sought to induce the federal government to take action to counteract dumping of steel by foreign producers at below-market prices. Neither the concessions nor anti-dumping laws have restored the industry to the health and prestige it once had.

Labor
U.S. Steel is the second-greatest corporate producer of air pollution in the United States; the company releases more than 1.26 million kg (2.8 million lbs.) of toxins annually, chiefly ammonia, hydrochloric acid, ethylene, zinc compounds, methanol, and benzene, but including manganese, cyanide, and chromium compounds.
It should be noted, however, that with the exception of the Fairless Hills facility, the lawsuits concern facilities acquired via U.S. Steel's purchase of National Steel Corporation in 2003.

Dividends
U.S. Steel has multiple domestic and international facilities. Of note in the United States is Clairton Works and Edgar Thomson Works, both members of Mon Valley Works and just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Clairton Works is the largest and most environmentally friendly coking facility in North America. Edgar Thomson Plant is one of the oldest steel mills in the world. The Company acquired Great Lakes Works and Granite City Works, both large integrated steel mills, in 2003 and is partnered with Severstal North America in operating the world's largest electro-galvanizing line, Double Eagle Steel Coating Company, at the historic Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan.
U.S. Steel's largest domestic facility is Gary Works, in Gary, Indiana; Gary is also home to the U.S. Steel Yard baseball stadium.
U.S. Steel operates Fairfield Works in Fairfield, Alabama (Birmingham), employing 1500 people, and still operates a sheet galvanizing operation at the Fairless Works facility Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, employing 75 people.
Recently, U.S. Steel added facilities in Texas with the purchase of Lone Star Steel Company and is in a venture in Pittsburg, California with Pohang Iron & Steel of South Korea.

Saturday, September 22, 2007


bâton, patate, plaque, brique (10,000₣)
฿¢$ƒ £LmPRруб S/.R$$¥
Former signs I/.
The franc (represented by the franc sign ₣ or more commonly just F) is a former currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It was re-introduced (in decimal form) in 1795 and remained the national currency until the introduction of the euro in 1999 (for accounting purposes) and 2002 (coins and banknotes).

History
The franc was introduced by King John II in 1360. Its name comes from the inscription reading Johannes Dei Gratia Francorum Rex ("Jean by the grace of God King of the Franks") and its value was set as one livre tournois (a money of account). Francs were later minted under Charles V, Henri III and Henri IV.
Louis XIII of France stopped minting the franc in 1641 (replacing it with the Écu and Louis d'Or), but use of the name "franc" continued in accounting as a synonym for the livre tournois.

Before the French Revolution
The franc was established as the national currency by the French Revolutionary Convention in 1795 as a decimal unit (1 franc = 10 decimes = 100 centimes) of 4.5 g of fine silver. This was slightly less than the livre of 4.505 g but the franc was set in 1796 at 1.0125 livres (1 livre, 3 deniers), reflecting in part the past minting of sub-standard coins.
In 1803, the "franc germinal" (named after the name of the month in the revolutionary calendar) was established, creating a gold franc containing 9/31 g (290.32 mg) of fine gold. From this point, gold and silver-based units circulated interchangeably on the basis of a 1:15.5 ratio between the values of the two metals (bimetallism). This system continued until 1864, when all silver coins except the 5 franc piece were debased from 90% to 83.5% silver without the weights changing.
The currency was retained during the Bourbon Restoration.

French Revolution
France was a founding member of the Latin Monetary Union (LMU) in 1865. The common currency was based on the franc germinal, with the name franc already being used in Switzerland and Belgium, whilst other countries used their own names for the currency. In 1873, the LMU went over to a purely gold standard of 1 franc = 9/31 g gold.

Latin Monetary Union
The outbreak of World War I caused France to leave the gold standard of the LMU. The war severely undermined the franc's strength, as war expenditure, inflation and postwar reconstruction, financed partly through the printing of ever more money, reduced the franc's purchasing power by 70% from 1915 to 1920 and a further 43% from 1922 to 1926. After a brief return to the gold standard (1928 to 1936) the currency was allowed to resume its slide, until it was worth in 1959 less than a fortieth of its 1934 value.

World War II
After World War II, France devalued its currency within the Bretton Woods system on several occasions. Beginning in 1945 at a rate of 480 francs to the British pound (119.1 to the U.S. dollar), by 1949 the rate was 980 to the pound (350 to the dollar). This was reduced further in 1957 and 1958, reaching 1382.3 to the pound (493.7 to the dollar).

Post-War period
In January 1960 the French franc was revalued at 100 existing francs. Old one and two franc pieces continued to circulate as centimes (none of which were minted for the first two years), 100 of them making a nouveau franc (the abbreviation NF was used on banknotes for some time). Inflation continued to erode the currency's value but at a greatly reduced rate compared to other countries. The one centime coin never circulated widely. Only one further devaluation occurred, in 1968, before the Bretton Woods system was replaced by free floating exchange rates. Nonetheless, when the euro replaced the franc on January 1, 1999, the franc was worth less than an eighth of its original 1960 value.
The old franc pieces were gradually withdrawn and demonetized. None were valid at the time of the euro's introduction.
Interestingly, after revaluation and the introduction of the new franc, many French people continued to speak of old francs (anciens francs), to describe large sums. For example, lottery prizes were often advertised in amounts of centimes, equivalent to the old franc. This usage continued right up to the time when franc notes and coins were withdrawn in 2002.
In his series of books about Provence, author Peter Mayle relates that that some people there continued to cite prices in old francs into the 1990s.

The new franc
From January 1, 1999, the value exchange rate of the French franc against the euro was set at a fixed parity of 1 EUR=6.55957 FRF. Euro coins and notes replaced it entirely between January 1 and February 17, 2002.

European Monetary Union
The first coins were issued in denominations of 1 and 5 centimes, 1 and 2 decimes (in copper), quarter, half, 1, 2, and 5 francs (in silver), and 20 and 40 francs (in gold). Copper coins were not issued between 1801 and 1848, leaving the quarter-franc as the smallest coin being minted. During this period, copper coins from the previous currency system circulated, with a one-sou coin being valued at 5 centimes.
Bronze coinage was introduced from 1848, and coins worth 1, 2, 5 and 10 centimes were issued from 1853. The quarter-franc was discontinued, with silver 20-centime coins issued between 1849 and 1868. The gold coinage also changed at this time, with 40- franc coins no longer produced and 5-, 10-, 50- and 100-franc coins introduced. The last gold 5-franc pieces were minted in 1869, and silver 5-franc coins were last minted in 1878. Nickel 25-centime coins were introduced in 1903.
The First World War brought substantial changes to the coinage. Gold coinage was suspended and holed 5, 10 and 25 centimes minted in nickel or cupro-nickel were introduced. In 1920, production of bronze and silver coinage ceased, with aluminium-bronze 50-centime, and 1- and 2-franc coins introduced. Until 1929, these coins were issued by the Chambers of Commerce of France. During the same period, local Chambers of Commerce also issued small change coins. In 1929, silver coins were reintroduced in 10- and 20-franc denominations.
The Second World War also affected the coinage substantially. Zinc 10- and 20-centime pieces were introduced, along with aluminium coins of 50 centimes, and 1 and 2 francs. Following the war, rapid inflation caused denominations below 1 franc to be withdrawn and coin denominations up to 100 francs were introduced by 1954.
In 1960, the new franc was introduced, worth 100 of the old francs. Stainless steel 1- and 5-centime, aluminum-bronze 10-, 20- and 50-centime, nickel one-franc and silver 5-franc coins were introduced. Silver 10-franc pieces were introduced in 1964, followed by aluminum-bronze 5-centime and nickel half-franc coins in 1966.
Nickel clad cupro-nickel 5-franc and nickel-brass 10-franc coins replaced their silver counterparts in 1970 and 1974, respectively. Nickel 2 francs were introduced in 1979, followed by bimetallic 10 and 20 francs in 1988 and 1992, respectively. The 20-franc coin was composed of two rings and a centre plug.
A nickel 10-franc piece was issued in 1986, but was quickly withdrawn and demonitized due to confusion with the half-franc and an unpopular design. The aluminum-bronze pieces continued to circulate until the bimetallic pieces were developed and additional aluminum-bronze coins were minted to replace those initially withdrawn. Once the bi-metallic coins were circulating the aluminum-bronze pieces were withdrawn and demonitized. A silver 50-franc piece was issued from 1974-1980, but was withdrawn and demonitized after the price of silver spiked in 1980. A 100-franc piece, in silver, was issued, and circulated to a small extent, until the introduction of the euro. All French franc coins were demonitized in 2005 and are no longer redeemable at the Banque de France.
At the time of the changeover to the euro, the coins in circulation were
Coins were exchangeable until February 17, 2005 [1]

1 centime (0.152 cent) stainless steel, rarely circulated
5 centimes (0.762 cent) aluminum-bronze
10 centimes (1.52 cent) aluminum-bronze
20 centimes (3.05 cent) aluminum-bronze
½ franc (7.62 cent) nickel
1 franc (15.24 cent) nickel
2 francs (30.49 cent) nickel
5 francs (76.22 cent) nickel clad copper-nickel
10 francs (€1.52) bimetallic
20 francs (€3.05) bimetallic
100 francs (€15.24) silver, rarely circulated Coins
The first franc paper money issues were made in 1795. They were assignats in denominations between 100 and 10,000 francs. These followed in 1796 by "territorial mandate promises" for 25 up to 500 francs. The treasury also issued notes that year for 25 up to 1000 francs.
In 1800, the Bank of France began issuing notes, first in denominations of 500 and 1000 francs. In the 1840s, 100- and 200-franc notes were added, while 5-, 20- and 50- francs were added in the 1860s and 70s, although the 200-franc note was discontinued.
The First World War saw the introduction of 10- and 5000-franc notes but, despite base metal 5-franc coins being introduced after the war, the banknotes were not removed.
In 1944, the liberating Allies introduced paper money in denominations between 2 and 1000 francs. Following the war, 10,000-franc notes were introduced, while 5-, 10- and 20-franc notes were replaced by coins, as were the 50- and 100-franc notes in the 1950s.
The first issue of the new franc consisted of 500-, 1000-, 5000- and 10,000-franc notes overprinted with their new denominations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 new francs. This issue was followed by notes of the same design but with only the new denomination shown. 500-new franc notes were also introduced at this time. 5- and 10- franc notes were withdrawn in 1970 and 1979, respectively.
Banknotes in circulation when the franc was replaced were [2]
Banknotes of the current series as of euro changeover may be exchanged with the French central bank or services like GFC until February 17, 2012. Most older series are exchangeable for 10 years from date of withdrawal.

20 francs (€3.05) : Claude Debussy Brown
50 francs (€7.62) : Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Blue
100 francs (€15.24) : Paul Cézanne Orange
200 francs (€30.49) : Gustave Eiffel Red
500 francs (€76.22) : Pierre and Marie Curie Green Powers of the President of the United States Banknotes

Main article: Reserve currency Andorran franc (ADF)

Livre tournois
French euro coins
Economy of France