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Vietnamese National Army The First Indochina War (also known as the French Indochina War, the Franco-Vietnamese War, the Franco-Vietminh War, the Indochina War and the Dirty War in France and in contemporary Vietnam, as the French War) was fought in French Indochina from 19 December 1946 until 1 August 1954 between the French Union's French Far East Expeditionary Corps, led by France and supported by Bao Dai's Vietnamese National Army against the Viet Minh, led by Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap. Most of the fighting took place in Tonkin in Northern Vietnam, although the conflict engulfed the entire country and also extended into the neighboring French Indochina protectorates of Laos and Cambodia.
The Viet Minh launched a rebellion against the French authority governing the colonies of French Indochina. The first few years of the war involved a low-level rural insurgency against French authority. However, after the Chinese communists reached the Northern border of Vietnam in 1949, the conflict became a conventional war between two armies equipped with modern weapons supplied by the two superpowers.
French Union forces included colonial troops from the whole former empire (Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, African, Laotian, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Vietnamese ethnic minorities) and professional troops (European of the French Foreign Legion). The use of metropolitan recruits was forbidden by the governments to prevent the war from becoming even more unpopular at home. It was called the "dirty war" (la sale guerre) by the French communists and leftist intellectuals (including Sartre) during the Henri Martin affair in 1950.
While the strategy of pushing the Viet Minh to attack a well defended base in a remote part of the country at the end of their logistical trail (a strategy that worked well at the Battle of Na San) was sound, the lack of building materials especially concrete, tanks because of lack of road access and air cover precluded an effective defense. The French were defeated with significant losses among their most mobile troops.
After the war, the Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954, made a provisional division of Vietnam at the 17th parallel, with control of the north given to the Viet Minh as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam under Ho Chi Minh, and the south becoming the State of Vietnam under Emperor Bảo Đại. A year later, Bảo Đại would be deposed by his prime minister, Ngô Đình Diệm, creating the Republic of Vietnam. Diem's refusal to enter into negotiations with North Vietnam about holding nationwide elections in 1956, as had been stipulated by the Geneva Conference, would eventually lead to war breaking out again in South Vietnam in 1959 - the Second Indochina War.
France 
State of Vietnam
Cambodia
Laos
United States
USSR
ChinaPhilippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque (1945-46)
Jean-Étienne Valluy (1946-8)
Roger Blaizot (1948-9)
Marcel-Maurice Carpentier (1949-50)
Jean de Lattre de Tassigny (1950-51)
Raoul Salan (1952-3)
Henri Navarre (1953-4)
Nguyen Van Hinh (1950-4) Background
Vietnam had been absorbed into the colony of French Indochina in stages between 1858 and 1883. With Western influence and education, Vietnamese nationalism grew until World War II provided a break in French control.
In 1905, the Vietnamese resistance centered on the intellectual, Phan Boi Chau. Chau looked to Japan which had modernized itself and was one of the few Asian nations to resist colonization, (Thailand being another). With Prince Cuong De, Châu started two organizations in Japan, the Duy Tân Hội (Modernistic Association) and Vietnam Cong Hien Hoi. Due to French pressure, Japan deported Phan Bội Châu to China. Witnessing Sun Yat-Sen's 1911 nationalist revolution, Chau was inspired to commence the Việt Nam Quang Phục Hội movement in Guangzhou. From 1914 to 1917, he was imprisoned by Yuan Shi Kai's counterrevolutionary government. In 1925, he was captured by French agents in Shanghai and spirited to Vietnam. Due to his popularity, Châu was spared from execution and placed under house arrest, until his death in 1940.
In 1940, shortly after Phan Bội Châu's death, Japan invaded Indochina, coinciding with their ally Germany's invasion of France. Keeping the French colonial administration, the Japanese ruled from behind the scenes in a parallel of Vichy France. As far as Vietnamese nationalists were concerned, this was a double-puppet government. Emperor Bảo Đại collaborated with the Japanese, just as he had with the French, ensuring his lifestyle could continue.
1858-1944
Further information: Vietnamese Famine of 1945, Empire of Vietnam, August Revolution, and French Far East Expeditionary Corps
Due to a combination of Japanese exploitation and poor weather, a famine broke out killing approximately 2 million. The Viet Minh arranged a relief effort and won over some people in the north. When the Japanese surrendered in Vietnam in August 1945, they allowed the Viet Minh and other nationalist groups to take over public buildings without resistance, so so cause more trouble for the French. This started the August Revolution. In order to further help the nationalists, the Japanese kept Vichy French officials and military officers imprisoned for a month after the surrender.
Ho Chi Minh was able to persuade Emperor Bao Dai to abdicate on August 25, 1945. Bao Dai was appointed "supreme adviser" to the new Viet Minh led government in Hanoi, which asserted independence on September 2. The Viet Minh were not the only nationalist group active during this period as a variety of groups took over various towns and fought each other.
With the fall of the short lived Japanese colony of the Empire of Vietnam, the Provisional Government of the French Republic wanted to restore its colonial rule in French Indochina as the final step of the Liberation of France process. An armistice was signed between Japan and the United States on August 20. France signed the armistice with Japan onboard the USS Missouri on behalf of CEFEO Expeditionary Corps header General Leclerc, on September 2nd.
On September 13, a Franco-British Task Force landed in Java, capital of Sukarno's Dutch Indonesia, and Saigon, capital of Cochinchina (southern part of French Indochina) both being occupied by the Japanese and ruled by Field Marshal Hisaichi Terauchi, Commander-in-Chief of Japan's Southern Expeditionary Army Group based in Saigon.
1945 events
Timeline
The Indochinese conflict broke out in Haiphong after a conflict of interest in import duty at Haiphong port between Viet Minh government and the French. On November 23, the French fleet began a naval bombardment of the city that killed over 6,000 Vietnamese civilians in an afternoon according to one source The Viet Minh quickly agreed to a cease-fire and left the cities. There was no intention among the Vietnamese to give up though, and General Vo Nguyen Giap soon brought up 30,000 men to attack the city. Although the French were outnumbered, their better weaponry and naval support made any Việt Minh's attack impossible. In December, hostilities broke out in Hanoi between the Viet Minh and the French and Ho Chi Minh was forced to evacuate the capital in favor of remote mountain areas. Guerrilla warfare ensued with the French in control of almost everything except very remote areas.
1946
Further information: Operation Lea
General Võ Nguyên Giáp moved his command to Tân Trào. The French sent assault teams after his bases, but Giáp refused to meet them in battle. Wherever the French troops went, the Việt Minh disappeared. Late in the year the French launched Operation Lea to take out the Việt Minh communications center at Bac Kan. They failed to capture Hồ Chí Minh and his key lieutenants as they had hoped, but they killed 9,000 Việt Minh soldiers during the campaign which was a major defeat for the Việt Minh insurgency.
1947
Further information: State of Vietnam
France began to look for some way to oppose the Việt Minh politically, with an alternative government in Saigon. They began negotiations with the former Vietnamese emperor Bảo Ðại to lead an "autonomous" government within the French Union of nations, the State of Vietnam. Two years before, the French had refused Hồ's proposal of a similar status (albeit with some restrictions on French power and the latter's eventual withdrawal from Vietnam), however they were willing to give it to Bảo Ðại as he had always cooperated with French rule of Vietnam in the past and was in no position to seriously negotiate any conditions (Bảo Ðại had no military of his own, but soon he would had one).
1948
Further information: Generals' Affair and Vietnamese National Army
France officially recognized the "independence" of the State of Vietnam within the French Union under Bảo Ðại. However, France still controlled all defense issues and all foreign relations as Vietnam was only an independent state within the French Union . The Việt Minh quickly denounced the government and stated that they wanted "real independence, not Bảo Ðại independence". Later on, as a concession to this new government and a way to increase their numbers, France agreed to the formation of the Vietnamese National Army to be commanded by Vietnamese officers. These troops were used mostly to garrison quiet sectors so French forces would be available for combat. Private Cao Dai, Hoa Hao and the Binh Xuyen gangster armies were used in the same way. The Vietnamese Communists also got help in 1949 when Chairman Mao Zedong succeeded in taking control of China and defeating the Kuomintang, thus gaining a major ally and supply area just across the border. In the same year, the French also recognized the independence (within the framework of the French Union) of the other two nations in Indochina, the Kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia.
1949
Further information: Henri Martin Affair, Battle of Dong Khe, Battle of Route Coloniale 4, and Piastres Affair
The United States recognized the South Vietnamese state, but many nations, even in the west, viewed it as simply a French puppet regime and would not deal with it at all . The United States began to give military aid to France in the form of weaponry and military observers. By then with almost unlimited Chinese military supplies entering Vietnam, General Giáp re-organized his local irregular forces into five full conventional infantry divisions, the 304th, 308th, 312th, 316th and the 320th.
The war began to intensify when Giáp went on the offensive, attacking isolated French bases along the Chinese border. In February 1950, Giáp seized the vulnerable 150-strong French garrison at Lai Khe in Tonkin just south of the border with China.
Then, on May 25, he attacked the garrison of Cao Bang manned by 4,000 French-controlled Vietnamese troops, but his forces were repulsed. Giáp launched his second offense again against Cao Bang again as well as Dong Khe on September 15. Dong Khe fell on September 18, and Cao Bang finally fell on October 3.
Lang Son, with its 4,000-strong French Foreign Legion garrison, was attacked immediately after. The retreating French on Route 4 were attacked all the way by ambushing Việt Minh forces, together with the relief force coming from That Khe. The French dropped a paratroop battalion south of Dong Khe to act as a diversion only to see it surrounded and destroyed. On October 17, Lang Son, after a week of attacks, finally fell.
By the time the remains of the garrisons reached the safety of the Red River Delta, 4,800 French troops had been killed, captured or missing in action and 2,000 wounded out of a total garrison force of over 10,000. Also lost were 13 artillery pieces, 125 mortars, 450 trucks, 940 machine guns, 1,200 submachine guns and 8,000 rifles destroyed or captured during the fighting.
China and the Soviet Union recognized Hồ Chí Minh as the legitimate ruler of Vietnam and sent him more and more supplies and material aid. 1950 also marked the first time that napalm was ever used in Vietnam (this type of weapon was supplied by the U.S. for the use of the French Aeronovale at the time).
1950
Further information: Battle of Vinh Yen, Battle of Mao Khe, and Trinh Minh The
The military situation began to improve for France when their new commander, General Jean Marie de Lattre de Tassigny, built a fortified line from Hanoi to the Gulf of Tonkin, across the Red River Delta, to hold the Viet Minh in place and use his troops to smash them against this barricade, which became known as the "De Lattre Line". This led to a period of success for the French.
On January 13, 1951, Giap moved the 308th and 312th Divisions, made up of over 20,000 men, to attack Vinh Yen, 20 miles northwest of Hanoi which was manned by the 6,000 strong 9th Foreign Legion Brigade. The Viet Minh entered a trap. Caught for the first time in the open, they were mowed down by concentrated French artillery and machine gun fire. By January 16, Giap was forced to withdraw having lost over 6,000 killed, 8,000 wounded and 500 captured. The Battle of Vĩnh Yên had been a catastrophe.
On March 23, Giap tried again, launching an attack against Mao Khe, 20 miles north of Haiphong. The 316th Division, composed of 11,000 men, with the partly rebuilt 308th and 312th Divisions in reserve, went forward and were repulsed in bitter hand-to-hand fighting, backed up by French aircraft using napalm and rockets as well as gunfire from navy ships off the coast. Giap, having lost over 3,000 dead and wounded by March 28, withdrew.
Giap launched yet another attack on May 29 with the 304th Division at Phu Ly, the 308th Division at Ninh Binh, and the main attack delivered by the 320th Division at Phat Diem south of Hanoi. The attacks fared no better and the three divisions lost heavily. Taking advantage of this, de Lattre mounted his counter offensive against the demoralized Việt Minh, driving them back into the jungle and eliminating the enemy pockets in the Red River Delta by June 18 costing the Viet Minh over 10,000 killed.
On July 31, French General Chanson was assassinated during a kamikaze attentat at Sadec that was blamed to the Viet Minh. Since some argued Cao Dai nationalist Trinh Minh The could be involved in its planning.
Every effort by Vo Nguyen Giap to break the line failed and every attack he made was answered by a French counter-attack that destroyed his forces. Viet Minh casualties rose alarmingly during this period, leading some to question the leadership of the Communist government, even within the party. However, any benefit this may have reaped for France was negated by the increasing opposition to the war in France. Although all of their forces in Indochina were volunteers, their officers were being killed faster than they could train new ones.
1951Further information: Battle of Hoa Binh, Operation Lorraine, Battle of Na San, and Operation Bretagne
On November 14, 1951, the French seized Hòa Binh, 25 miles west of the De Lattre line, by a parachute drop and expanded their perimeter. But Việt Minh launched attacks on Hòa Binh forcing the French to withdraw back to their main positions on the De Lattre line by February 22, 1952. Each side lost nearly 5,000 men in this campaign and it showed that the war was far from over.
At the start of the year, General de Lattre fell ill from cancer and had to return to France for treatment; he died there shortly thereafter and was replaced by General Raoul Salan as the overall commander of French forces in Indochina.
Within that year, throughout the war theater, the Việt Minh cut French supply lines and began to seriously wear down the resolve of the French forces. There were continued raids, skirmishes and guerrilla attacks, but through most of the rest of the year each side withdrew to prepare itself for larger operations.
On October 17, 1952, Giáp launched attacks against the French garrisons along Nghia Lo, northwest of Hanoi, breaking them off when a French parachute battalion intervened. Giáp by now had control over most of Tonkin beyond the De Lattre line. Raoul Salan, seeing the situation as critical, launched Operation Lorraine along the Clear river to force Giáp to relieve pressure from the Nghia Lo outposts.
On 29 October 1952, in the largest operation in Indochina to date, 30,000 French Union soldiers moved out from the De Lattre line to attack the Viet Minh supply dumps at Phu Yen. Salan took Phu Tho on 5 November, and Phu Doan on 9 November by a parachute drop, and finally Phu Yen on 13 November. Giap at first did not react to the French offensive. He planned to wait until their supply lines were over extended and then cut them off from the Red River Delta.
Salan correctly guessed what the Viet Minh were up to and cancelled the operation on 14 November, beginning to withdraw to the de Lattre line. The only major fighting during the operation cam during the withdrawal, when the Viet Minh ambushed the French column at Chan Muong on 17 November. The road was cleared after a bayonet charge by the Indochinese March Battalion and the withdrawal could continue.
Though the operation was partially successful, it proved that although the French could strike out at any target outside the De Lattre line, it failed to divert the Viet Minh offensive or serious damage its logistical network.
1952
Further information: Operation Castor
On April 9, Giáp after having failed repeatedly in direct attacks on the French changed strategy and began to pressure the French by invading Laos. The only real change came in May when General Navarre replaced General Salan as supreme commander in Indochina. He reports to the government "…that there was no possibility of winning the war in Indo-China" saying that the best the French could hope for was a stalemate. Navarre, in response to the Việt Minh attacking Laos, concluded that "hedgehog" centers of defense were the best plan. Looking at a map of the area, Navarre chose the small town of Ðiện Biên Phủ, located about 10 miles north of the Lao border and 175 miles west of Hanoi as a target to block the Việt Minh from invading Laos.
Ðiện Biên Phủ had a number of advantages; it was on a Việt Minh supply route into Laos on the Nam Yum River, it had an old Japanese airstrip built in the late 1930s for supply and it was situated in the T'ai hills where the T'ai tribesmen, still loyal to the French, operated. Operation Castor was launched on November 20, 1953 with 1,800 men of the French 1st and 2nd Airborne Battalions dropping into the valley of Ðiện Biên Phủ and sweeping aside the local Việt Minh garrison.
The paratroopers managed control of a heart-shaped valley 12 miles long and eight miles wide surrounded by heavily wooded hills. Encountering little opposition, the French and T'ai units operating from Lai Châu to the north patrolled the hills. The operation was a tactical success for the French.
However Giáp, seeing the weakness of the French position, started moving most of his forces from the De Lattre line to Ðiện Biên Phủ. By mid-December, most of the French and T'ai patrols in the hills around the town were wiped out by Việt Minh ambushes.
The fight for control of this position would be the longest and hardest battle for the French Far East Expeditionary Corps and would be remembered by the veterans as "57 Days of Hell".
1953
Further information: Operation Condor and Operation Vulture
By 1954, despite official propaganda presenting the war as a "crusade against communism",
The prisoners taken at Dien Bien Phu were the greatest number the Viet Minh had ever captured: one-third of the total captured during the entire war.
One month after Dien Bien Phu, the composite Groupe Mobile 100 (GM100) of the French Union forces evacuated the An Khe outpost and was ambushed by a larger Viet Minh force at the Battle of Mang Yang Pass from June 24th to July 17th.
The Viet Minh victory at Dien Bien Phu led to the 1954 Geneva accords on July 21.
In August began Operation Passage to Freedom consisting of the evacuation of catholic and loyalist Vietnamese civilians from communist North Vietnamese prosecution.
1954
Further information: Geneva Conference (1954) and Partition of Vietnam
Negotiations between France and the Viet-minh started in Geneva in April 1954 at the Geneva Conference. During this time the French Union and the Viet Minh were fighting the most epic battle of the war at Dien Bien Phu. In France, Pierre Mendès France, opponent of the war since 1950, had been invested on June 17, 1954, on a promise to put an end to the war, reaching a ceasefire in four months:
"Today it seems we can be reunited in a will for peace that may express the aspirations of our country... Since already several years, a compromise peace, a peace negotiated with the opponent seemed to me commanded by the facts, while it commanded, in return, to put back in order our finances, the recovery of our economy and its expansion. Because this war placed on our country an unbearable burden. And here appears today a new and formidable threat: if the Indochina conflict is not resolved — and settled very fast — it is the risk of war, of international war and maybe atomic, that we must foresee. It is because I wanted a better peace that I wanted it earlier, when we had more assets. But even now there is some renouncings or abandons that the situation does not comprise. France does not have to accept and will not accept settlement which would be incompatible with its more vital interests [applauding on certain seats of the Assembly on the left and at the extreme right]. France will remain present in Far-Orient. Neither our allies, nor our opponents must conserve the least doubt on the signification of our determination. A negotiation has been engaged in Geneva... I have longly studied the report... consulted the most qualified military and diplomatic experts. My conviction that a pacific settlement of the conflict is possible has been confirmed. A "cease-fire" must henceforth intervene quickly. The government which I will form will fix itself — and will fix to its opponents — a delay of 4 weeks to reach it. We are today on 17th of June. I will present myself before you before the 20th of July... If no satisfying solution has been reached at this date, you will be freed from the contract which would have tied us together, and my government will give its dismissal to Mr. the President of the Republic."
The Geneva Conference on July 21, 1954 recognized the 17th parallel as a "provisional military demarcation line" temporarily dividing the country into two zones, Communist North Vietnam and pro-Western South Vietnam.
The Geneva Accords promised elections in 1956 to determine a national government for a united Vietnam. However, the United States and the State of Vietnam refused to sign the document. From his home in France Emperor Bảo Ðại appointed Ngô Ðình Diệm as Prime Minister of South Vietnam. With American support, in 1955 Diệm used a referendum to remove the former Emperor and declare himself the president of the Republic of Vietnam.
When the elections were prevented from happening by the Americans and the South, Việt Minh cadres who stayed behind in South Vietnam were activated and started to fight the government. North Vietnam also invaded and occupied portions of Laos to assist in supplying the guerilla fighting National Liberation Front in South Vietnam. The war gradually escalated into the Second Indochina War, more commonly known as the Vietnam War in the West and the American War in Vietnam.
Geneva Conference and Partition
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Iranian plateau can refer to either a geological formation in Eurasia or a historical region in western Asia home of ancient civilizations.
In BritannicaThis plateau in central Iran, Southern, Western and Central Asia, was home of ancient civilizations, and a geological area of Eurasia north of the great folded mountain belts created by the collision of the Arabian plate with the Eurasian plate.
In geology, the plateau region of Iran primarily formed of the accretionary Gondwanan terranes between the Turan platform to the north and the Main Zagros Thrust, the suture zone between the northward moving Arabian plate and the Eurasian continent, is called the Iranian plateau. It is a geologically well-studied area because of general interest in continental collision zones, and because of Iran's long history of research in geology, particularly in economic geology (although Iran's major petroleum reserves are not in the plateau). In addition geologists have been able to use archaeological and historical records of major earthquakes to study the geology of the region due to the length of civilization in the area, and because of the long history of a written language in Persia.
In classical times the region was called Arana(Ariana), meaning "land of the Aryans", which in Middle-Persian was "Eran", which became Iran in English. The old-Persian form of the word was Aryānām Xšaθra.(see also Haryana, Aria and Arran) It is bordered in the east by the Indus and by the Hindu Kush. The northern limit is in central Asia, while the southern edge is at the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. Today the region corresponds to the States of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, as well as parts of Iraq, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The Iranian plateau comprises about 1.45 million square miles (3.7 million square kilometers).
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
- For the eighteenth-century Somerset archaeologist and antiquarian, see John Skinner (archaeologist)
John Skinner (1721 - 1807), historian and song-writer, son of a schoolmaster at Birse, Aberdeenshire, was educated at Marischal College.
Brought up as a Presbyterian, he became an Episcopalian and ministered to a congregation at Longside, near Peterhead, for 65 years. He wrote The Ecclesiastical History of Scotland from the Episcopal point of view, and several songs of which The Reel of Tullochgorum and The Ewie wi' the Crookit Horn are the best known, and he also rendered some of the Psalms into Latin. He kept up a rhyming correspondence with Robert Burns.
He died at the home of his son, John Skinner, Bishop Coadjutor of Aberdeen on June 16, 1807.
This article incorporates public domain text from: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London, J.M. Dent & sons; New York, E.P. Dutton.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Problems with defining American cuisine
One important characteristic of American cooking is the fusion of multiple ethnic or regional approaches into completely new cooking styles. The cuisine of the South, for example, has been heavily influenced by immigrants from Africa, France, and Mexico, among others. Asian cooking has played a particularly large role in American fusion cuisine.
Similarly, while some dishes considered typically American may have their origins in other countries, American cooks and chefs have substantially altered them over the years, to the degree that the dish as now enjoyed the world over may even be considered archetypically American. Hot dogs and hamburgers are both based on traditional German dishes, brought over to America by German immigrants to the United States, but in their modern, popular form they are so altered that they can be reasonably considered American dishes.
Given the United States' large size it is not surprising that its cuisine is typified by distinct regional variations. The cuisine of the East Coast and Pacific Northwest, for example, makes use of fish and seafood to much greater degree than that of the Midwest, where corn and beef were long more readily available. To some degree, easy transportation of perishable foodstuffs has diminished these regional differences in recent years, but many Americans still associate certain foods with specific places, such as steak with Omaha; lobster with Maine; salmon with the Pacific Northwest; and crab and crabcake with Maryland.
American cooking has been widely exported beyond its borders. Tex-Mex, Creole, and barbecue restaurants can be found in cities all around the world, while fast-food burger bars and pizzerias are even more popular.
The origins of American cuisine
Though American cuisine has much regional variation, it is sometimes said . This has led to some controversy with the global spread of such chains, as perceived Americanization of cuisine in other countries is sometimes described with derogatory terms like McDonaldization.
Perceptions of American cuisine
American Chinese cuisine
Barbecue
California cuisine
Euro-Asian cuisine, a kind of fusion cuisine
Fast food
Floribbean
Cuisine of Kentucky
Hawaiian cuisine
Italian American cuisine
Midwestern cuisine
One important characteristic of American cooking is the fusion of multiple ethnic or regional approaches into completely new cooking styles. The cuisine of the South, for example, has been heavily influenced by immigrants from Africa, France, and Mexico, among others. Asian cooking has played a particularly large role in American fusion cuisine.
Similarly, while some dishes considered typically American may have their origins in other countries, American cooks and chefs have substantially altered them over the years, to the degree that the dish as now enjoyed the world over may even be considered archetypically American. Hot dogs and hamburgers are both based on traditional German dishes, brought over to America by German immigrants to the United States, but in their modern, popular form they are so altered that they can be reasonably considered American dishes.
Given the United States' large size it is not surprising that its cuisine is typified by distinct regional variations. The cuisine of the East Coast and Pacific Northwest, for example, makes use of fish and seafood to much greater degree than that of the Midwest, where corn and beef were long more readily available. To some degree, easy transportation of perishable foodstuffs has diminished these regional differences in recent years, but many Americans still associate certain foods with specific places, such as steak with Omaha; lobster with Maine; salmon with the Pacific Northwest; and crab and crabcake with Maryland.
American cooking has been widely exported beyond its borders. Tex-Mex, Creole, and barbecue restaurants can be found in cities all around the world, while fast-food burger bars and pizzerias are even more popular.
The origins of American cuisineThough American cuisine has much regional variation, it is sometimes said . This has led to some controversy with the global spread of such chains, as perceived Americanization of cuisine in other countries is sometimes described with derogatory terms like McDonaldization.
Perceptions of American cuisine
American Chinese cuisine
Barbecue
California cuisine
Euro-Asian cuisine, a kind of fusion cuisine
Fast food
Floribbean
Cuisine of Kentucky
Hawaiian cuisine
Italian American cuisine
Midwestern cuisine
- Chicago
Native American cuisine
New England cuisine
New York City cuisine
Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine
Philadelphia cuisine
Puerto Rican cuisine
Southern cuisine
- Cajun cuisine
Louisiana Creole cuisine
Soul food
Southwestern cuisine
- New Mexican
Tex-Mex American regional and fusion cuisines
American Parfait
Amish Friendship Bread
Animal Crackers
Boston baked beans
Brownies
Buffalo meat (steaks and burgers)
Beignet
Buffalo Wings
Cheeseburger
Cheesesteak
Chicago-style hot dog
Chicago-style pizza
Chicken pot pie
Chili con carne
Chocolate chip cookies
Chop suey
Cincinnati chili
Cioppino
Clam Chowder
Cornbread
Corn dog
Corn chowder
Cotton Candy
Crabcake
Corn on the cob
Cream cheese
Doughnuts
Dirty rice
Eskimo pie
Fortune cookies
Fried chicken
Fudge
Garbage Plate
General Tso's Chicken
Goetta
Grits
Grilled pizza
Gumbo
Hamburgers
Hoagie
Hot dish
Hot dogs
Hot fudge
Hotcakes
Hush puppies
Ice cream cone
Ice cream pop
Jambalaya
Luther Burger
Macaroni and cheese
Moon Pie
Muffuletta sandwich
Onion Rings
Pancake
Peanut butter
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
Pecan pie
Pecan pralines
Po' Boy sandwich
Popcorn
Popsicle
Potato Chips
Pumpkin pie
San Francisco Sourdough
Scrapple
Shrimp & Grits
Shrimp Creole
Shoo-fly pie
Sloppy joe
SPAM
Spiedie
Sweet potato pie
Thanksgiving Dinner (Roast Turkey, Cranberry sauce, etc.)
Twinkie
Whoopie pies Particular American foods
Whatever the definition of American cuisine, American chefs have been influential both in the food industry and in popular culture. American cooking has been exported around the world, both through the global expansion of restaurant chains such as T.G.I. Friday's and McDonalds and the efforts of individual restaurateurs such as Bob Payton, credited with bringing American-style pizza to the UK.
The first generation of television chefs such as Robert Carrier and Julia Child tended to concentrate on cooking based primarily on European, especially French and Italian, cuisines. Only during the 1970s and 80s did television chefs such as James Beard and Jeff Smith shift the focus towards home-grown cooking styles, particularly those of the different ethnic groups within the nation. Contemporary television cooks like Rachael Ray and chefs like Anthony Bourdain now cover a variety of cuisines and styles, both home-grown and foreign, reflecting the increasingly adventurous palate of the modern American. In the catering industry, notable American restaurant chefs include Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, and Alfred Portale.
Further reading
Native American cuisine
Cuisines of other countries
Cuisine of the Southern United States
Cuisine of the Southwestern United States
Christmas food in the United States
New England cuisine
Cuisine of the Midwestern United States
Cuisine of the Northeastern United States
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
- New Mexican
- Cajun cuisine
Frederick John Robinson, 1st Earl of Ripon PC (November 1, 1782 – January 28, 1859), Frederick John Robinson until 1827, The Viscount Goderich 1827–1833, and The Earl of Ripon 1833 onwards, was a British statesman and Prime Minister (when he was known as Lord Goderich).
He was born to Thomas Robinson, 2nd Baron Grantham and his wife, Mary. After studying at Harrow and St John's College, Cambridge, Robinson entered Parliament in 1806. He was made Privy Counsellor in 1812, and served in various minor positions in the government of Lord Liverpool, including joint-Paymaster of the Forces, from which position he sponsored the Corn Laws of 1815, before entering the Cabinet in 1818 as President of the Board of Trade. In 1823 Robinson succeeded Nicholas Vansittart as Chancellor of the Exchequer. While he held this position he was called "Prosperity Robinson" by the sarcastic journalist William Cobbett. William Cobbett also gave him the name "Goody Goderich" during an economic crisis in 1825.
In 1827 he was raised to the peerage as Viscount Goderich, of Nocton in the County of Lincoln, and served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and Leader of the House of Lords in George Canning's short-lived government. On Canning's death Goderich succeeded him as leader of a tenuous coalition of moderate Tories - also known as the Canningites and Whigs, but it only lasted a few months and did not even meet Parliament. Goderich had been an able minister but when it came to leading he was unsure and the government couldn't be run effectively as a number of Tory MPs stepped in to become the unofficial Prime Minister in an effort to help Goderich run the country. It is reported that when Goderich resigned to George IV he burst into tears and George IV had to lend Goderich a handkerchief as he didn't have one. Goderich was succeeded by the Duke of Wellington.
In 1830 Goderich moved over to the Whigs and joined Lord Grey's cabinet, again as Colonial Secretary. In 1833 he was created Earl of Ripon, and became Lord Privy Seal. But the next year he broke with the Whigs over Irish disestablishment.
He later served in Peel's second administration as President of the Board of Trade (1841–1843) and then as President of the Board of Control (1843–1846).
His son, George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, was a noted Liberal statesman and Cabinet Minister.
The Earl of Ripon served as President of the Royal Society of Literature from 1834 to 1845.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Cristovão da Gama (c.1516 - 29 August 1542) was a Portuguese soldier, who led a Portuguese army on a crusade in Ethiopia (1541–1543) against the Muslim army of Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi (also known as Ahmad Gragn). He was victorious against larger forces in four battles, but was defeated in his last battle, after which he was captured and killed. Sir Richard Burton, in his First Footsteps in East Africa, referred to him as "the most chivalrous soldier of a chivalrous age."
The Ethiopian campaignCristovão da Gama was brought to Ahmad Gragn's camp, where the Imam produced the tweezers Da Gama had given him and began to pluck out his beard. He was tortured in an attempt to force him to convert to Islam. Castanhoso's -- and Jerónimo Lobo's account after him -- describe da Gama's fortitude and death in language worthy of a hagiography, complete with miracles.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
The dollar is the currency of Zimbabwe. It is subdivided into 100 cents. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively Z$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies.
History
The first Zimbabwean dollar was introduced in 1980 and replaced the Rhodesian dollar at par. The present ISO 4217 code was ZWD. At the time of its introduction, the Zimbabwean dollar was still worth more than the U.S. dollar, with ZWD 0.68 = USD 1.00. However, the currency's value eroded rapidly over the years. On 26 July 2006, the parallel market value of the dollar fell to one million to the British pound [1].
Second dollar
Rampant inflation and the collapse of the economy have severely devalued the currency, with many organisations using the US dollar, the euro, the pound sterling, or the South African rand instead. Early in the 21st century, Zimbabwe started to experience hyperinflation. Inflation reached 624% in early 2004, then fell back to low triple digits before surging to 1,281.1% in December 2006 [8]. If policies do not change, the IMF has predicted an inflation rate of over 5,000% for the year 2007 [9] and 6,400% for 2008 [10].
The year 2007 has started badly as inflation reached another record high of 3714% (year-on-year) in April [11]. The monthly rate for April exceeded 100%, implying that inflation may soon exceed all forecasts, as 100% monthly inflation over sustained 12 months would produce annual inflation of over 400,000%. Mid year inflation has been breaching records as inflation for May was estimated at 4,530% (year-on-year) [12].
On 2007-06-21, the American ambassador to Zimbabwe, Christopher Dell, told the Guardian newspaper that inflation could reach 1.5 million per cent by the end of the year. The current unofficial inflation rate is above 11,000%, and the black-market exchange rate is Z$400,000 to the pound.
Inflation
On 16 February 2006, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Dr Gideon Gono, announced that the government had printed ZWD 20.5 trillion in order to buy foreign currency to pay off IMF arrears[13]. In early May 2006, Zimbabwe's government announced that they would produce another 60 trillion Zimbabwean dollars [14]. The additional currency was required to finance the recent 300% salary increase for soldiers and policemen and 200% increase for other civil servants. The money was not budgeted for the current fiscal year, and the government did not say where it would come from. On May 29, Reserve Bank officials told IRIN that plans to print about Zim$60 trillion (about US$592.9 million at official rates) were briefly delayed after the government failed to secure foreign currency to buy ink and special paper for printing money.
In late August 2006, it was reported that about ten trillion old dollars (22% of the money supply) had not been exchanged for revalued dollars. These bearer cheques were demonetized.
On 27 June 2007, it was announced that central bank governor Gideon Gono had been ordered by President Robert Mugabe to print an additional $1 trillion to cater for civil servants' and soldiers' salaries that were hiked by 600% and 900% respectively.[15]
On 28 July 2007, it was reported that Mugabe has said that Zimbabwe will go on printing money if there isn't enough for underfunded municipal projects. [16]
Money supply
In 1980, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 dollar. The 1 cent coin was struck in bronze, with the others struck in cupro-nickel. In 1989, bronze-plated steel replaced bronze. A 2 dollar coin was introduced in 1997. In 2001, nickel-plated steel replaced cupro-nickel in the 10, 20 and 50 cents and 1 dollar, and a bimetallic 5 dollar coin was introduced. These coins [17] remain legal tender but, due to their minuscule value, they only function as gambling tokens in Zimbabwean casinos.
Plans by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, for new Z$5,000 and Z$10,000 coins were announced in June 2005 [18]. However, the coins never appeared.
Coins
Banknotes, traveller's cheques and bearer cheques
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