MARTIN LUTHER KING

Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King (1929-1968) is  American black Pasteur  who fought  for the equal rights of the Blacks  to the United States.

Pasteur with Montgomery (in Alabama), Martin Luther King takes in 1955 the defense of a black worker, stopped to have refused to indeed yield his place to a white passenger in the bus At that time, the Blacks do not have the same rights as the White to the United States, in particular in the State of the South which practises  racial discrimination. In order to express his opposition, Martin Luther King organizes the boycott of the municipal buses during more than one year. He is imprisoned a few months, but obtains finally the abolition of the segregation in public transport of the town of Montgomery.

In the line of Gandhi in India, Martin Luther King  defends the non-violent methods  to obtain more reforms. In 1957, it creates the Conference of the Christian leaders of South (SCLC). Then in August 1963, it organizes a significant  peaceful walk on the capital, Washington, for the equal rights. On this occasion, it makes in front of 200 000 people  a speech become famous, in which it evokes its  dream of a levelling company between Noirs and White  (I cuts has dream…, "I make a dream…").

In 1964, Martin Luther King receives  the Nobel Prize of peace. He  is assassinated  in Memphis on April 4, 1968 by a White. Nearly 100 000 people attend its funeral.

TO GO FURTHER

? the United States
? equality
?Mohandas Gandhi

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MANGROVES

mangroves

The mangroves are  particular  forests which one finds on  the marshy coasts  and in  the estuaries  (mouths of the rivers) in all  areas equatorial and tropical  of the world.

The mangroves push on the benches of mud and sediments brought to the sea by the rivers. They are "wetlands". One finds them only on the portions of coasts covered by the sea with high tide and discovered with low tide. They cover approximately  150 000 km ² in the world.

WHICH ARE THE TREES WHICH PUSH IN THE MANGROVES?

The trees which compose the mangroves are primarily  mangroves.  They are recognized with their large roots which are not anchored in the ground but push in the mud, and which is with the free air with low tide. The mangroves and the other plants of the mangroves have the characteristic to be able to push in salted water. The whole of the roots of the trees of the mangrove form  a tangled up network. This network of roots protects the coasts against erosion due to the marine currents, the waves and the wind.

Who are the inhabitants of the mangroves?

The mangroves shelter also  a large variety of forms of life.  The crabs, such as for example the crabs violonists, swarm there. They nourish tiny organizations which live on the surface of the mud or the sheets of the mangroves.

All kinds of fish species   come to lay there, and, between the roots of the mangroves, the young fish are protected from their predatory. In the mangroves of the Indian Oceans and the Pacific, one meets  the périophtalme —a fish able to survive during several days out of water! — and  the fish-archer, who posts himself under the surface of water and cuts down of a jet of saliva the insects or the spiders which venture above.

The mangroves shelter also  reptiles  (alligators, snakes such as for example the anaconda), all kinds of insects,  molluscs  and a multitude of species of birds. In Belize for example (a small country of Central America), approximately  500 different species of birds were identified in the mangroves.

The mangroves thus form  a complete  ecosystem built around the mangroves.

TO GO FURTHER 

? wetlands
? ecosystems

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MAO ZEDONG

Mao Zedong

Mao Zedong (1893-1976), or Mao Tsé-Toung, is  a Chinese statesman. Called the Large Quartermaster, it directed China between 1949 and 1959, then between 1965 and 1972.

Mao is originating in a village of China. Towards the 25 years age, it discovers the theory favorable to the people developed by  Karl Marx; it adheres consequently to the communist thought. In 1921, it takes part in the creation of  the Chinese Communist Party. It propagates the communist ideas in the Chinese campaigns and, in 1935, becomes the head of the movement.

After having overcome the partisans of nationalism, Mao seizes the power and, in 1949,  founds a communist mode in China. Gradually, it isolated the country from the rest of the world. Since 1965, it launches to China  a Great Cultural revolution  of the proletariat. It is the combat against "the four old ones": old habits, old practices, old culture and old manners of thinking. Starting from this date, each Chinese is held to know and to subject themselves to the thoughts of Mao ( Maoism), exposed in  the Small red Book.

Patient, Mao leaves the political life at the beginning of the years 1970.

TO GO FURTHER

? China
? the world since  the xx ^E century
? Karl Marx

?interactivity:  chronology since  the xx ^E century

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THE BATTLE OF MARIGNAN

the battle of Marignan

The battle of Marignan is one of the battles of  the wars of Italy  (1494-1559). It was held in Italy, September the 13, and 14 1515, and opposed the army of the king  François I ^er  of France  to the troops engaged by  the duke of Milan  to defend his territory.

CAUSES OF THE BATTLE

In 1515, François I ^er  becomes king de France. Like its predecessors (Charles VIII and Louis XII), it wishes to continue the wars of Italy and  to extend the kingdom beyond the Alps. At that time, Italy is divided into small principalities, all rivals. François I ^er  decides to attack the duchy of Milan, located in the north of the peninsula.

COURSE OF THE BATTLE

In August 1515, François I ^er  starts the crossing of the Alps with his army. Guided by shepherds, it goes up several valleys to the collar of Argentière (located at nearly 2 000 meters of altitude), which offers a passage towards Italy. The road is long and difficult: to clear a passage, it is necessary to throw bridges above the throats and to make jump of the rocks.

The meeting with the troops of the duke of Milan takes place close to the village of Marignan. To ensure his defense, the duke engaged of  the Swiss mercenaries, who are at the time famous for their military talents. However, after two days of combat, the French Army (helped by the Venetian troops) gains the victory. The battle of Marignan is fatal and makes nearly 15 000 dead.

CONSEQUENCES OF THE BATTLE

? The French victory allows to François I ^er  to become Master of the area of the Milanese.

? At the end of this battle, François I ^er  signs with Swiss "perpetual peace ": by this agreement,  the Swiss ones are committed  to yield troops to France when it needs some and  never not providing soldiers to countries in war against France. This peace is not broken until 1792.

? During his forwarding, François I ^er  discovered the masterpieces of the Italian artists. Several of them, like Léonard de Vinci, follow it to France where they introduce  the art of the Rebirth.

TO GO FURTHER

? François I ^er
? Rebirth

 

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