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628_32 | Carsten Borchgrevink died in Oslo on 21 April 1934. Despite what one biographer describes as his obsessive desire to be first, and his limited formal scientific training, he has been acknowledged as a pioneer in Antarctic work and as a forerunner of later, more elaborate expeditions. A number of geographical features in Antarctica commemorate his name, including the Borchgrevink Coast of Victoria Land, between Cape Adare and Cape Washington, the Borchgrevink Glacier in Victoria Land, and the Borchgrevinkisen glacier in Queen Maud Land. His name is also carried by the small Antarctic fish Pagothenia borchgrevinki and by the extinct arthropod Borchgrevinkium taimyrensis. His expedition's accommodation hut remains at Cape Adare, under the care of The New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust which acts as guardian to this hut and to those of Scott and Shackleton elsewhere on the continent. The Borchgrevink hut was designated by the Trust as Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) No. 159 in |
628_33 | 2002. In June 2005 the Trust adopted a management plan for its future maintenance and accessibility. |
628_34 | References
Sources
PDF format
External links
(The first scientific specimens recovered from mainland Antarctica)
1864 births
1934 deaths
Explorers from Oslo
Norwegian expatriates in Germany
Norwegian expatriates in Australia
Explorers of Antarctica
Norwegian polar explorers
Norway and the Antarctic
Royal Saxon Academy of Forestry alumni
Norwegian people of Dutch descent
Norwegian people of English descent
Sealers |
629_0 | Luis Walter Alvarez (June 13, 1911 – September 1, 1988) was an American experimental physicist, inventor, and professor who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1968 for development of the hydrogen bubble chamber enabling discovery of resonance states in particle physics. The American Journal of Physics commented, "Luis Alvarez was one of the most brilliant and productive experimental physicists of the twentieth century."
After receiving his PhD from the University of Chicago in 1936, Alvarez went to work for Ernest Lawrence at the Radiation Laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley. Alvarez devised a set of experiments to observe K-electron capture in radioactive nuclei, predicted by the beta decay theory but never before observed. He produced tritium using the cyclotron and measured its lifetime. In collaboration with Felix Bloch, he measured the magnetic moment of the neutron. |
629_1 | In 1940, Alvarez joined the MIT Radiation Laboratory, where he contributed to a number of World War II radar projects, from early improvements to Identification friend or foe (IFF) radar beacons, now called transponders, to a system known as VIXEN for preventing enemy submarines from realizing that they had been found by the new airborne microwave radars. Enemy submarines would wait until the radar signal was getting strong and then submerge, escaping attack. But VIXEN transmitted a radar signal whose strength was the cube of the distance to the submarine so that as they approached the sub, the signal—as measured by the sub—got progressively weaker, and the sub assumed the plane was getting farther away and didn't submerge. The radar system for which Alvarez is best known and which has played a major role in aviation, most particularly in the post war Berlin airlift, was Ground Controlled Approach (GCA). Alvarez spent a few months at the University of Chicago working on nuclear |
629_2 | reactors for Enrico Fermi before coming to Los Alamos to work for Robert Oppenheimer on the Manhattan project. Alvarez worked on the design of explosive lenses, and the development of exploding-bridgewire detonators. As a member of Project Alberta, he observed the Trinity nuclear test from a B-29 Superfortress, and later the bombing of Hiroshima from the B-29 The Great Artiste. |
629_3 | After the war Alvarez was involved in the design of a liquid hydrogen bubble chamber that allowed his team to take millions of photographs of particle interactions, develop complex computer systems to measure and analyze these interactions, and discover entire families of new particles and resonance states. This work resulted in his being awarded the Nobel Prize in 1968. He was involved in a project to x-ray the Egyptian pyramids to search for unknown chambers. With his son, geologist Walter Alvarez, he developed the Alvarez hypothesis which proposes that the extinction event that wiped out the non-avian dinosaurs was the result of an asteroid impact.
Alvarez was a member of the JASON Defense Advisory Group, the Bohemian Club, and the Republican Party. |
629_4 | Early life
Luis Walter Alvarez was born in San Francisco on June 13, 1911, the second child and oldest son of Walter C. Alvarez, a physician, and his wife Harriet née Smyth, and a grandson of Luis F. Álvarez, a Spanish physician, born in Asturias, Spain, who lived in Cuba for a while and finally settled in the United States, who found a better method for diagnosing macular leprosy. He had an older sister, Gladys, a younger brother, Bob, and a younger sister, Bernice. His aunt, Mabel Alvarez, was a California artist specializing in oil painting. |
629_5 | He attended Madison School in San Francisco from 1918 to 1924, and then San Francisco Polytechnic High School. In 1926, his father became a researcher at the Mayo Clinic, and the family moved to Rochester, Minnesota, where Alvarez attended Rochester High School. He had always expected to attend the University of California, Berkeley, but at the urging of his teachers at Rochester, he instead went to the University of Chicago, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1932, his master's degree in 1934, and his PhD in 1936. As an undergraduate, he belonged to the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. As a postgraduate he moved to Gamma Alpha. |
629_6 | In 1932, as a graduate student at Chicago, he discovered physics there and had the rare opportunity to use the equipment of legendary physicist Albert A. Michelson. Alvarez also constructed an apparatus of Geiger counter tubes arranged as a cosmic ray telescope, and under the aegis of his faculty advisor Arthur Compton, conducted an experiment in Mexico City to measure the so-called East–West effect of cosmic rays. Observing more incoming radiation from the west, Alvarez concluded that primary cosmic rays were positively charged. Compton submitted the resulting paper to the Physical Review, with Alvarez's name at the top.
Alvarez was an agnostic even though his father had been a deacon in a Congregational church.
Early work |
629_7 | Alvarez's sister, Gladys, worked for Ernest Lawrence as a part-time secretary, and mentioned Alvarez to Lawrence. Lawrence then invited Alvarez to tour the Century of Progress exhibition in Chicago with him. After he completed his oral exams in 1936, Alvarez, now engaged to be married to Geraldine Smithwick, asked his sister to see if Lawrence had any jobs available at the Radiation Laboratory. A telegram soon arrived from Gladys with a job offer from Lawrence. This started a long association with the University of California, Berkeley. Alvarez and Smithwick were married in one of the chapels at the University of Chicago and then headed for California. They had two children, Walter and Jean. They were divorced in 1957. On December 28, 1958, he married Janet L. Landis, and had two more children, Donald and Helen. |
629_8 | At the Radiation Laboratory he worked with Lawrence's experimental team, which was supported by a group of theoretical physicists headed by Robert Oppenheimer. Alvarez devised a set of experiments to observe K-electron capture in radioactive nuclei, predicted by the beta decay theory but never observed. Using magnets to sweep aside the positrons and electrons emanating from his radioactive sources, he designed a special purpose Geiger counter to detect only the "soft" X-rays coming from K capture. He published his results in the Physical Review in 1937. |
629_9 | When deuterium (hydrogen-2) is bombarded with deuterium, the fusion reaction yields either tritium (hydrogen-3) plus a proton or helium-3 plus a neutron (). This is one of the most basic fusion reactions, and the foundation of the thermonuclear weapon and the current research on controlled nuclear fusion. At that time the stability of these two reaction products was unknown, but based on existing theories Hans Bethe thought that tritium would be stable and helium-3 unstable. Alvarez proved the reverse by using his knowledge of the details of the 60-inch cyclotron operation. He tuned the machine to accelerate doubly ionized helium-3 nuclei and was able to get a beam of accelerated ions, thus using the cyclotron as a kind of super mass spectrometer. As the accelerated helium came from deep gas wells where it had been for millions of years, the helium-3 component had to be stable. Afterwards Alvarez produced the radioactive tritium using the cyclotron and the reaction and measured its |
629_10 | lifetime. |
629_11 | In 1938, again using his knowledge of the cyclotron and inventing what are now known as time-of-flight techniques, Alvarez created a mono-energetic beam of thermal neutrons. With this he began a long series of experiments, collaborating with Felix Bloch, to measure the magnetic moment of the neutron. Their result of , published in 1940, was a major advance over earlier work.
World War II |
629_12 | Radiation Laboratory
The British Tizard Mission to the United States in 1940 demonstrated to leading American scientists the successful application of the cavity magnetron to produce short wavelength pulsed radar. The National Defense Research Committee, established only months earlier by President Franklin Roosevelt, created a central national laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the purpose of developing military applications of microwave radar. Lawrence immediately recruited his best "cyclotroneers", among them Alvarez, who joined this new laboratory, known as the Radiation Laboratory, on November 11, 1940. Alvarez contributed to a number of radar projects, from early improvements to Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) radar beacons, now called transponders, to a system known as VIXEN for preventing enemy submarines from realizing that they had been found by the new airborne microwave radars. |
629_13 | One of the first projects was to build equipment to transition from the British long-wave radar to the new microwave centimeter-band radar made possible by the cavity magnetron. In working on the Microwave Early Warning system (MEW), Alvarez invented a linear dipole array antenna that not only suppressed the unwanted side lobes of the radiation field, but also could be electronically scanned without the need for mechanical scanning. This was the first microwave phased-array antenna, and Alvarez used it not only in MEW but in two additional radar systems. The antenna enabled the Eagle precision bombing radar to support precision bombing in bad weather or through clouds. It was completed rather late in the war; although a number of B-29s were equipped with Eagle and it worked well, it came too late to make much difference. |
629_14 | The radar system for which Alvarez is best known and which has played a major role in aviation, most particularly in the post war Berlin airlift, was Ground Controlled Approach (GCA). Using Alvarez's dipole antenna to achieve a very high angular resolution, GCA allows ground-based radar operators watching special precision displays to guide a landing airplane to the runway by transmitting verbal commands to the pilot. The system was simple, direct, and worked well, even with previously untrained pilots. It was so successful that the military continued to use it for many years after the war, and it was still in use in some countries in the 1980s. Alvarez was awarded the National Aeronautic Association's Collier Trophy in 1945 "for his conspicuous and outstanding initiative in the concept and development of the Ground Control Approach system for safe landing of aircraft under all weather and traffic conditions". |
629_15 | Alvarez spent the summer of 1943 in England testing GCA, landing planes returning from battle in bad weather, and also training the British in the use of the system. While there he encountered the young Arthur C. Clarke, who was an RAF radar technician. Clarke subsequently used his experiences at the radar research station as the basis for his novel Glide Path, which contains a thinly disguised version of Alvarez. Clarke and Alvarez developed a long-term friendship. |
629_16 | Manhattan Project
In the fall of 1943, Alvarez returned to the United States with an offer from Robert Oppenheimer to work at Los Alamos on the Manhattan Project. However, Oppenheimer suggested that he first spend a few months at the University of Chicago working with Enrico Fermi before coming to Los Alamos. During these months, General Leslie Groves asked Alvarez to think of a way that the US could find out if the Germans were operating any nuclear reactors, and, if so, where they were. Alvarez suggested that an airplane could carry a system to detect the radioactive gases that a reactor produces, particularly xenon-133. The equipment did fly over Germany, but detected no radioactive xenon because the Germans had not built a reactor capable of a chain reaction. This was the first idea of monitoring fission products for intelligence gathering. It would become extremely important after the war. |
629_17 | As a result of his radar work and the few months spent with Fermi, Alvarez arrived at Los Alamos in the spring of 1944, later than many of his contemporaries. The work on the "Little Boy" (a uranium bomb) was far along so Alvarez became involved in the design of the "Fat Man" (a plutonium bomb). The technique used for uranium, that of forcing the two sub-critical masses together using a type of gun, would not work with plutonium because the high level of background spontaneous neutrons would cause fissions as soon as the two parts approached each other, so heat and expansion would force the system apart before much energy has been released. It was decided to use a nearly critical sphere of plutonium and compress it quickly by explosives into a much smaller and denser core, a technical challenge at the time. |
629_18 | To create the symmetrical implosion required to compress the plutonium core to the required density, thirty two explosive charges were to be simultaneously detonated around the spherical core. Using conventional explosive techniques with blasting caps, progress towards achieving simultaneity to within a small fraction of a microsecond was discouraging. Alvarez directed his graduate student, Lawrence H. Johnston, to use a large capacitor to deliver a high voltage charge directly to each explosive lens, replacing blasting caps with exploding-bridgewire detonators. The exploding wire detonated the thirty two charges to within a few tenths of a microsecond. The invention was critical to the success of the implosion-type nuclear weapon. He also supervised the RaLa Experiments. Alvarez later wrote that: |
629_19 | Again working with Johnston, Alvarez's last task for the Manhattan Project was to develop a set of calibrated microphone/transmitters to be parachuted from an aircraft to measure the strength of the blast wave from the atomic explosion, so as to allow the scientists to calculate the bomb's energy. After being commissioned as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army, he observed the Trinity nuclear test from a B-29 Superfortress that also carried fellow Project Alberta members Harold Agnew and Deak Parsons (who were respectively commissioned at the rank of captain).
Flying in the B-29 Superfortress The Great Artiste in formation with the Enola Gay, Alvarez and Johnston measured the blast effect of the Little Boy bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima. A few days later, again flying in The Great Artiste, Johnston used the same equipment to measure the strength of the Nagasaki explosion.
Bubble chamber |
629_20 | Returning to the University of California, Berkeley as a full professor, Alvarez had many ideas about how to use his wartime radar knowledge to improve particle accelerators. Though some of these were to bear fruit, the "big idea" of this time would come from Edwin McMillan with his concept of phase stability which led to the synchrocyclotron. Refining and extending this concept, the Lawrence team would build the world's then-largest proton accelerator, the Bevatron, which began operating in 1954. Though the Bevatron could produce copious amounts of interesting particles, particularly in secondary collisions, these complex interactions were hard to detect and analyze at the time. |
629_21 | Seizing upon a new development to visualize particle tracks, created by Donald Glaser and known as a bubble chamber, Alvarez realized the device was just what was needed, if only it could be made to function with liquid hydrogen. Hydrogen nuclei, which are protons, made the simplest and most desirable target for interactions with the particles produced by the Bevatron. He began a development program to build a series of small chambers, and championed the device to Ernest Lawrence. |
629_22 | The Glaser device was a small glass cylinder () filled with ether. By suddenly reducing the pressure in the device, the liquid could be placed into a temporary superheated state, which would boil along the disturbed track of a particle passing through. Glaser was able to maintain the superheated state for a few seconds before spontaneous boiling took place. The Alvarez team built chambers of 1.5 in, 2.5 in, 4 in, 10 in, and 15 in using liquid hydrogen, and constructed of metal with glass windows, so that the tracks could be photographed. The chamber could be cycled in synchronization with the accelerator beam, a picture could be taken, and the chamber recompressed in time for the next beam cycle. |
629_23 | This program built a liquid hydrogen bubble chamber almost 7 feet (2 meters) long, employed dozens of physicists and graduate students together with hundreds of engineers and technicians, took millions of photographs of particle interactions, developed computer systems to measure and analyze the interactions, and discovered families of new particles and resonance states. This work resulted in the Nobel Prize in Physics for Alvarez in 1968, "For his decisive contributions to elementary particle physics, in particular the discovery of a large number of resonant states, made possible through his development of the technique of using hydrogen bubble chambers and data analysis."
Scientific detective |
629_24 | In 1964 Alvarez proposed what became known as the High Altitude Particle Physics Experiment (HAPPE), originally conceived as a large superconducting magnet carried to high altitude by a balloon in order to study extremely high-energy particle interactions. In time the focus of the experiment changed toward the study of cosmology and the role of both particles and radiation in the early universe. This work was a large effort, carrying detectors aloft with high-altitude balloon flights and high-flying U-2 aircraft, and an early precursor of the COBE satellite-born experiments on the cosmic background radiation (which resulted in the award of the 2006 Nobel Prize, shared by George Smoot and John Mather.) |
629_25 | Alvarez proposed Muon tomography in 1965 to search the Egyptian pyramids for unknown chambers. Using naturally occurring cosmic rays, his plan was to place spark chambers, standard equipment in the high-energy particle physics of this time, beneath the Pyramid of Khafre in a known chamber. By measuring the counting rate of the cosmic rays in different directions the detector would reveal the existence of any void in the overlaying rock structure.
Alvarez assembled a team of physicists and archeologists from the United States and Egypt, the recording equipment was constructed and the experiment carried out, though it was interrupted by the 1967 Six-Day War. Restarted after the war, the effort continued, recording and analyzing the penetrating cosmic rays until 1969 when Alvarez reported to the American Physical Society that no chambers had been found in the 19% of the pyramid surveyed. |
629_26 | In November 1966 Life published a series of photographs from the film that Abraham Zapruder took of the Kennedy assassination. Alvarez, an expert in optics and photoanalysis, became intrigued by the pictures and began to study what could be learned from the film. Alvarez demonstrated both in theory and experiment that the backward snap of the President's head was consistent with his being shot from behind being called the "jet-effect" theory. Prominent conspiracy theorists attempted to refute his experiment - see Last Second in Dallas by Josiah Thompson, however, doctor Nicholas Nalli, Ph.D supports Alvarez's theory which is consistent with a shot from behind. He also investigated the timing of the gunshots and the shockwave which disturbed the camera, and the speed of the camera, pointing out a number of things which the FBI photo analysts either overlooked or got wrong. He produced a paper intended as a tutorial, with informal advice for the physicist intent on arriving at the |
629_27 | truth. |
629_28 | Dinosaur extinction
In 1980 Alvarez and his son, geologist Walter Alvarez, along with nuclear chemists Frank Asaro and Helen Michel, "uncovered a calamity that literally shook the Earth and is one of the great discoveries about Earth's history".
During the 1970s, Walter Alvarez was doing geologic research in central Italy. There he had located an outcrop on the walls of a gorge whose limestone layers included strata both above and below the Cretaceous–Paleogene boundary. Exactly at the boundary is a thin layer of clay. Walter told his father that the layer marked where the dinosaurs and much else became extinct and that nobody knew why, or what the clay was about—it was a big mystery and he intended to solve it. |
629_29 | Alvarez had access to the nuclear chemists at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and was able to work with Frank Asaro and Helen Michel, who used the technique of neutron activation analysis. In 1980, Alvarez, Alvarez, Asaro, and Michel published a seminal paper proposing an extraterrestrial cause for the Cretaceous-Paleogene extinction (then called the Cretaceous-Tertiary extinction). In the years following the publication of their article, the clay was also found to contain soot, glassy spherules, shocked quartz crystals, microscopic diamonds, and rare minerals formed only under conditions of great temperature and pressure. |
629_30 | Publication of the 1980 paper brought criticism from the geologic community, and an often acrimonious scientific debate ensued. Ten years later, and after Alvarez's death, evidence of a large impact crater called Chicxulub was found off the coast of Mexico, providing support for the theory. Other researchers later found that the end-Cretaceous extinction of the dinosaurs may have occurred rapidly in geologic terms, over thousands of years, rather than millions of years as had previously been supposed. Others continue to study alternative extinction causes such as increased volcanism, particularly the massive Deccan Traps eruptions that occurred around the same time, and climate change, checking against the fossil record. However, on March 4, 2010, a panel of 41 scientists agreed that the Chicxulub asteroid impact triggered the mass extinction. |
629_31 | Aviation
In his autobiography, Alvarez said, "I think of myself as having had two separate careers, one in science and one in aviation. I've found the two almost equally rewarding." An important contributor to this was his enjoyment of flying. He learned to fly in 1933, later earning instrument and multi-engine ratings. Over the next 50 years he accumulated over 1000 hours of flight time, most of it as pilot in command. He said, "I found few activities as satisfying as being pilot in command with responsibility for my passengers' lives."
Alvarez made numerous professional contributions to aviation. During World War II he led the development of multiple aviation-related technologies. Several of his projects are described above, including Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) for which he was awarded the Collier Trophy in 1945. He also held the basic patent for the radar transponder, for which he assigned rights to the U.S. government for $1. |
629_32 | Later in his career Alvarez served on multiple high level advisory committees related to civilian and military aviation. These included a Federal Aviation Administration task group on future air navigation and air traffic control systems, the President's Science Advisory Committee Military Aircraft Panel, and a committee studying how the scientific community could help improve the United States' capabilities for fighting a nonnuclear war.
Alvarez's aviation responsibilities led to many adventures. For example, while working on GCA he became the first civilian to fly a low approach with his view outside the cockpit obstructed. He also flew many military aircraft from the co-pilot's seat, including a B-29 Superfortress and a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter. In addition, he survived a crash during World War II as a passenger in a Miles Master. |
629_33 | Death
Alvarez died on September 1, 1988, of complications from a succession of recent operations for esophageal cancer. His remains were cremated, and his ashes were scattered over Monterey Bay. His papers are in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley. |
629_34 | Awards and honors
Fellow of the American Physical Society (1939) and President (1969)
Collier Trophy of the National Aeronautics Association (1946)
Member of the National Academy of Sciences (1947)
Medal for Merit (1947)
Fellow of the American Philosophical Society (1953)
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1958)
California Scientist of the Year (1960)
Albert Einstein Award (1961)
Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1961)
National Medal of Science (1963)
Michelson Award (1965)
Nobel Prize in Physics (1968)
Member of the National Academy of Engineering (1969)
University of Chicago Alumni Medal (1978)
National Inventors Hall of Fame (1978)
Enrico Fermi award of the US Department of Energy (1987)
IEEE Honorary Membership (1988)
The Boy Scouts of America named their Cub Scout SUPERNOVA award for Alvarez (2012)
Minor planet 3581 Alvarez is named after him and his son, Walter Alvarez. |
629_35 | Selected publications
"Two-element variable-power spherical lens", Patent US3305294A (December 1964)
Patents
Golf training device
Electronuclear Reactor
Optical range finder with variable angle exponential prism
Two-element variable-power spherical lens
Variable-power lens and system
Subatomic particle detector with liquid electron multiplication medium
Method of making Fresnelled optical element matrix
Optical element of reduced thickness
Method of forming an optical element of reduced thickness
Deuterium tagged articles such as explosives and method for detection thereof
Stabilized zoom binocular
Stand alone collision avoidance system
Television viewer
Stabilized zoom binocular
Optically stabilized camera lens system
Nitrogen detection
Inertial pendulum optical stabilizer
Citations
General references
External links |
629_36 | including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1968, "Recent Developments in Particle Physics"
About Luis Alvarez
IEEE interview with Johnston, patentholder of the exploding-bridgewire detonator
Annotated bibliography for Luis Alvarez from the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues
Garwin, Richard L., 1992, "Memorial Tribute For Luis W. Alvarez" in Memorial Tributes, National Academy of Engineering, Vol. 5. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Biography and Bibliographic Resources, from the Office of Scientific and Technical Information, United States Department of Energy
Oral History interview transcript with Luiz Alvarez 14, 15 February 1967, American Institute of Physics, Niels Bohr Library and Archives |
629_37 | 1911 births
1988 deaths
20th-century American inventors
20th-century American physicists
Accelerator physicists
American agnostics
American Nobel laureates
American nuclear physicists
American people of Asturian descent
American people of Spanish descent
American politicians of Cuban descent
American scientific instrument makers
California Republicans
Collier Trophy recipients
Enrico Fermi Award recipients
Experimental physicists
Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Fellows of the American Physical Society
Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences
Hispanic and Latino American scientists
Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel
Manhattan Project people
Members of JASON (advisory group)
National Medal of Science laureates
Nobel laureates in Physics
Particle physicists
People associated with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
People from San Francisco
University of California, Berkeley faculty
University of Chicago alumni |
630_0 | Martin Stapleton (born 9 May 1983 in Rochdale, England), is an English mixed martial artist currently competing in the Lightweight division. A professional competitor since 2007, Stapleton has competed for Bellator, Cage Warriors, BAMMA and was a contestant on The Ultimate Fighter representing Team UK. He is the former BAMMA World Lightweight Champion.
Background
Prior to his professional MMA career, Stapleton served 12 years as a Royal Marines Commando.
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Stapleton who has a background in boxing and Muay Thai, made his professional mixed martial arts career in 2007, and compiled a record of 5-1 before being selected to compete on The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom. After he defeated fellow English fighter Dan James to get into the house, he lost against Team USA's Cameron Dollar in the quarterfinals. |
630_1 | After leaving The Ultimate Fighter, Stapleton won two consecutive fights but did not fight again for almost three years due to his work commitment as a Royal Marine Commando.
Stapleton returned to mixed martial arts on 23 June 2012 where he faced BAMMA veteran Shahid Hussain on Full Contact Contender 3 (FCC) at the Reebok Stadium in Bolton where he defeated Hussain via submission (guillotine choke) 23 seconds into the second round to take his record to 8-1-0. Martin said after the fight that he felt "ring rust" after his three-year absence from the sport.
Less than one month later martin faced Jason Cooledge at OMMAC 14: Bring The Pain. Martin won via unanimous decision. During the fight Stapleton showed much improved stand up, Martin landed head kicks and punches throughout the fight as well as being able to stay out of range from the aggressive Cooledge. |
630_2 | On 1 December 2012, Stapleton took part in an eight-man Lightweight tournament at Cage Contender Fight Stars, where all the tournament fights would take place on the same night. Stapleton defeated Jamie Rogers, Arnold Quero and Tommy Maguire to win the tournament.
Bellator MMA
Stapleton signed with Bellator MMA and made his promotional debut at Bellator 101 on 27 September 2013 in the Bellator Season Nine Lightweight Tournament Quarterfinal, facing Saad Awad. Stapleton lost via rear-naked choke submission in the first round.
Stapleton again competed for at Bellator 107 on 8 November 2013, facing Derek Campos. Stapleton lost via unanimous decision.
Stapleton faced Goiti Yamauchi at Bellator 125 in Fresno, California. He lost the fight via submission in the first round. |
630_3 | Championships and accomplishments
BAMMA
BAMMA World Lightweight Championship (1 Time + 1 Defence)
Cage Contenders
Cage Contender 2012 International Tournament Champion
Voted as MMA Mount UKMMA Fighter of the Year 2012
Clash of Warriors British Champion
Strike & Submit British Champion
Fightzone European Champion
Fightzone British Champion
Mixed martial arts record |
630_4 | |-
| Loss
| align=center| 19–7
| Adam Boussif
| Technical Submission
| ICE FC: Fight Festival
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| N/A
| Manchester, England
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 19–6
| Soren Bak
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| Cage Warriors 88
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 3:51
| Liverpool, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 19–5
| Donovan Desmae
| Decision (unanimous)
| Cage Warriors 85
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Bournemouth, England
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 18–5
| Anthony Dizy
| Decision (unanimous)
| Cage Warriors 80
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| London, England
| Catchweight (150 lbs) bout.
|-
| Win
| align=center| 18–4
| Damien Lapilus
| DQ (illegal knee to a downed opponent)
| BAMMA 25: Champion vs. Champion
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 0:38
| Birmingham, England
| Defended the BAMMA World Lightweight Championship.
|-
| Win
| align=center| 17–4
| Gavin Sterritt
| Submission (rear-naked choke) |
630_5 | | BAMMA 23: Night of Champions
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:15
| Birmingham, England
| Won the vacant BAMMA World Lightweight Championship.
|-
| Win
| align=center| 16–4
| Jeremy Petley
| TKO (head kick)
| BAMMA 19
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 0:23
| Blackpool, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 15–4
| Sebastian Fournier
| Submission (rear naked choke)
| BAMMA 18
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 3:44
| Manchester, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 14–4
| Kostadin Edev
| TKO (punches)
| Full Contact Contender 11
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 3:57
| Bolton, England
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 13–4
| Goiti Yamauchi
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| Bellator 125
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 4:37
| Fresno, California, United States
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 13–3
| Stanislav Enchev
| Submission (guillotine choke)
| Full Contact Contender 3
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 2:05
| Bolton, England
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 12–3
| Derek Campos |
630_6 | | Decision (unanimous)
| Bellator 107
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Thackerville, Oklahoma, United States
|Catchweight (157 lbs) bout; both fighters missed weight.
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 12–2
| Saad Awad
| Submission (rear-naked choke)
| Bellator 101
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 3:46
| Portland, Oregon, United States
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 12–1
| Tommy Maguire
| Decision (unanimous)
| Cage Contender: Fight Stars
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Liverpool, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 11–1
| Arnold Quero
| Submission (heel hook)
| Cage Contender: Fight Stars
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 4:59
| Liverpool, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 10–1
| Jamie Rogers
| Decision (unanimous)
| Cage Contender: Fight Stars
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Liverpool, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 9–1
| Jason Cooledge
| Decision (unanimous)
| OMMAC 14: Bring The Pain
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00 |
630_7 | | Liverpool, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 8–1
| Shah Hussain
| Submission (guillotine choke)
| Full Contender 3
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 0:23
| Bolton, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 7–1
| Ashley Smith
| Decision (unanimous)
| No Way Out
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Nottingham, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 6–1
| Andrew Fischer
| TKO (punches)
| Strike & Submit 11
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 2:03
| Gateshead, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 5–1
| Martin Bengley
| Submission (arm-triangle choke)
| Cage Warriors: USA Unleashed
|
| align=center| 2
| align=center| 2:25
| England
|
|-
| Loss
| align=center| 4–1
| Paul Sass
| Submission (triangle choke)
| Cage Gladiators 8
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 3:18
| England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 4–0
| David Johnson
| Decision (unanimous)
| Cage Warriors: Enter the Rough House 6
|
| align=center| 3
| align=center| 5:00
| Nottingham, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 3–0 |
630_8 | | Ingolf Nielson
| TKO (corner stoppage)
| Pride & Glory: Battle In The Boro
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| N/A
| Middlesbrough, England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 2–0
| Steve Warris
| TKO (punches)
| Fightzone 3
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 0:42
| England
|
|-
| Win
| align=center| 1–0
| Curtis Thompson
| TKO (punches)
| Quannum Fighting Championships 2
|
| align=center| 1
| align=center| 1:00
| Huddersfield, England
| |
630_9 | References
External links
1983 births
Living people
Lightweight mixed martial artists
Mixed martial artists utilizing boxing
Mixed martial artists utilizing Muay Thai
English male mixed martial artists
English Muay Thai practitioners
Sportspeople from Rochdale |
631_0 | The history of Thailand since 2001 has been dominated by the politics surrounding the rise and fall from power of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and subsequent conflicts, first between his supporters and opponents, then over the rising military influence in politics. Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai Party came to power in 2001 and became very popular among the electorate, especially rural voters. Opponents, however, criticized his authoritarian style and accused him of corruption. Thaksin was deposed in a coup d'état in 2006, and Thailand became embroiled in continuing rounds of political crisis involving elections won by Thaksin's supporters, massive anti-government protests by multiple factions, removals of prime ministers and disbanding of political parties by the judiciary, and two military coups. |
631_1 | Thaksin was prime minister from 2001 to 2006, when he was ousted by a coup following protests by the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD, "Yellow Shirts"). However, his supporters were brought back to power in a new election following the enactment of new constitution in 2007. The PAD protested against the government through most of 2008, and the ruling party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court. The opposition Democrat Party, led by Abhisit Vejjajiva, formed a government, but also faced protests by the opposing Red Shirt movement led by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship. This led to a violent military crackdown in May 2010. Another Thaksin-aligned party won the election in 2011, installing his sister Yingluck Shinawatra as prime minister. Renewed anti-government protests began in November 2013, and continued until the military again staged a coup in May 2014. Coup leader Prayut Chan-o-cha took power as prime minister, and oversaw systemic |
631_2 | suppression of political freedom before finally allowing elections in 2019 under a pro-military constitution, which reinstalled Prayut as prime minister. |
631_3 | The conflicts have sharply divided popular opinion in Thailand. Even in exile, Thaksin still commanded strong support, especially among the rural population of the North and Northeast, who widely benefited from his policies and formed the majority of the electorate. They were joined, especially after the 2006 coup, by liberal academics and activists, who opposed his opponents' pushes to achieve a non-elected government. On the other hand, Thaksin's opponents consisted of much of Bangkok's urban middle class and the Southern population (a traditional Democrat stronghold), professionals and academics, as well as members of the "old elite" who wielded political influence before Thaksin came to power. They claim that Thaksin abused his power and undermined democratic processes and institutional checks and balances, monopolizing power and using populist policies to secure his political standing. While Thaksin's opponents claim that elections which resulted in victories for his allies were |
631_4 | not truly democratic because of such interference, his supporters have also accused the courts, which brought down multiple Thaksin-aligned governments, of engaging in judicial activism. Thaksin's influence began to wane following the 2019 election, which separately saw the rise of a progressive youth-oriented movement directed against military interference in politics. |
631_5 | These events took place as the country approached the end of King Bhumibol Adulyadej's reign. The King, who had reigned for 70 years, died in October 2016 after several years of deteriorating health during which he appeared less and less frequently in public. Bhumibol had long been regarded as a uniting figure and guiding moral authority for the country, and commanded a great amount of respect, unlike his successor Maha Vajiralongkorn. The uncertainties surrounding the impending royal succession compounded the political instability. Many anti-Thaksin groups claimed to be loyal to Bhumibol, accusing their opponents of bearing republican sentiments. Prosecutions under the lèse-majesté law sharply increased after 2006, in what has been criticized as politicization of the law at the expense of human rights. Meanwhile, the long-standing separatist movement in the deep South has significantly worsened since 2004, with almost 7,000 having been killed in the conflict. |
631_6 | Economically, the country made its recovery from the 1997 Asian financial crisis and became an upper-middle income economy in 2011, though it was affected by the Great Recession and GDP growth has slowed from the early 2000s. The multiple political crises and coups had little impact on the Thai economy individually, and the country quickly recovered from major disasters including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and widespread flooding in 2011. However, inequality remains high, contributing to the urban–rural divide and potentially fuelling further social and political conflict. The future of the country remains unclear as the 2017 constitution, drafted under junta, paved the way for further military intervention in politics, amidst concerns regarding the return to democratic rule and the changing role of the monarchy under a new reign.
Politics
Premiership of Thaksin Shinawatra |
631_7 | Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai Party came to power through a general election in 2001, where it won a near-majority in the House of Representatives. As prime minister, Thaksin launched a platform of policies, popularly dubbed "Thaksinomics", which focused on promoting domestic consumption and providing capital especially to the rural populace. By delivering on electoral promises, including populist policies such as the One Tambon One Product project and the 30-baht universal healthcare scheme, his government enjoyed high approval, especially as the economy recovered from the effects of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Thaksin became the first democratically elected prime minister to complete a four-year term in office, and Thai Rak Thai won a landslide victory in the 2005 general election. |
631_8 | However, Thaksin's rule was also marked by controversy. He had adopted an authoritarian "CEO-style" approach in governing, centralising power and increasing intervention in the bureaucracy's operations. While the 1997 constitution had provided for greater government stability, Thaksin also used his influence to neutralise the independent bodies designed to serve as checks and balances against the government. He threatened critics and manipulated the media into carrying only positive commentary. Human rights in general deteriorated, with a "war on drugs" resulting in over 2,000 extrajudicial killings. Thaksin responded to the South Thailand insurgency with a highly confrontational approach, resulting in marked increases in violence. |
631_9 | Public opposition to Thaksin's government gained much momentum in January 2006, sparked by the sale of Thaksin's family's holdings in Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings. A group known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), led by media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul, began holding regular mass rallies, accusing Thaksin of corruption. As the country slid into a state of political crisis, Thaksin dissolved the House of Representatives, and a general election was held in April. However, opposition parties, led by the Democrat Party, boycotted the election. The PAD continued its protests, and although Thai Rak Thai won the election, the results were nullified by the Constitutional Court due to a change in arrangement of voting booths. A new election was scheduled for October, and Thaksin continued to serve as head of the caretaker government as the country celebrated King Bhumibol's diamond jubilee on 9 June 2006.
2006 coup d'état |
631_10 | On 19 September 2006, the Royal Thai Army under General Sonthi Boonyaratglin staged a bloodless coup d'état and overthrew the caretaker government. The coup was widely welcomed by the anti-Thaksin protesters, and the PAD dissolved itself. The coup leaders established a military junta called the Council for Democratic Reform, later known as the Council for National Security. It annulled the 1997 constitution, promulgated an interim constitution and appointed an interim government with former army commander General Surayud Chulanont as prime minister. It also appointed a National Legislative Assembly to serve the functions of parliament and a Constitution Drafting Assembly to create a new constitution. The new constitution was promulgated in August 2007 following a referendum. |
631_11 | As the new constitution came into effect, a general election was held in December 2007. Thai Rak Thai and two coalition parties had earlier been dissolved as a result of a ruling in May by the junta-appointed Constitutional Tribunal, which found them guilty of election fraud, and their party executives were barred from politics for five years. Thai Rak Thai's former members regrouped and contested the election as the People's Power Party (PPP), with veteran politician Samak Sundaravej as party leader. The PPP courted the votes of Thaksin's supporters, won the election with a near-majority, and formed government with Samak as prime minister.
2008 political crisis |
631_12 | Samak's government actively sought to amend the 2007 Constitution, and as a result the PAD regrouped in May 2008 to stage further anti-government demonstrations. The PAD accused the government of trying to grant amnesty to Thaksin, who was facing corruption charges. It also raised issues with the government's support of Cambodia's submission of Preah Vihear Temple for World Heritage Site status. This led to an inflammation of the border dispute with Cambodia, which later resulted in multiple casualties. In August, the PAD escalated its protest and invaded and occupied the Government House, forcing government officials to relocate to temporary offices and returning the country to a state of political crisis. Meanwhile, the Constitutional Court found Samak guilty of conflict of interest due to his working for a cooking TV programme, terminating his premiership in September. Parliament then chose PPP deputy leader Somchai Wongsawat to be the new prime minister. Somchai is a |
631_13 | brother-in-law of Thaksin's, and the PAD rejected his selection and continued its protests. |
631_14 | Living in exile since the coup, Thaksin returned to Thailand only in February 2008 after the PPP had come to power. In August, however, amid the PAD protests and his and his wife's court trials, Thaksin and his wife Potjaman jumped bail and applied for asylum in the United Kingdom, which was denied. He was later found guilty of abuse of power in helping Potjaman buy land on Ratchadaphisek Road, and in October was sentenced in absentia by the Supreme Court to two years in prison.
The PAD further escalated its protest in November, forcing the closure of both of Bangkok's international airports. Shortly after, on 2 December, the Constitutional Court dissolved the PPP and two other coalition parties for electoral fraud, ending Somchai's premiership. The opposition Democrat Party then formed a new coalition government, with Abhisit Vejjajiva as prime minister.
Abhisit government and 2010 protests |
631_15 | Abhisit presided over a six-party coalition government, which was formed through the support of Newin Chidchob and his Friends of Newin Group, who had broken away from the previous PPP-led coalition. By then, Thailand's economy was feeling the effects of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 and the ensuing Great Recession. Abhisit responded to the crisis with various stimulus programmes, while also expanding on some of the populist policies initiated by Thaksin. |
631_16 | Relatively early in Abhisit's premiership, the pro-Thaksin group the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) began staging anti-government protests. The UDD, also known as the "Red Shirts" in contrast with the PAD's yellow, was formed following the 2006 coup and had previously protested against the military government and staged counter-rallies against the PAD in 2008. In April 2009, the UDD staged protests in Pattaya, where they disrupted the fourth East Asia Summit, and also in Bangkok, leading to clashes with government forces. |
631_17 | The UDD suspended most of their political activities throughout the rest of the year, but regathered in March 2010 to call for new elections. The protesters later occupied a large area of Bangkok's central shopping district, blocking off areas from Ratchaprasong Intersection to Lumphini Park. Violent attacks, both against protesters and government units, escalated as the situation dragged on, while negotiations between the government and the protest leaders repeatedly failed. Around mid-May, in an attempt to remove the protesters, military forces performed a crackdown on the protest, leading to violent confrontations and over ninety deaths. Arson attacks erupted around the protest site as well as several provincial centres, but the government soon took control of the situation. The protesters dispersed as UDD leaders surrendered.
Yingluck government and 2013–2014 crisis |
631_18 | Abhisit dissolved the House of Representatives the following year, and a general election was held on 3 July 2011. It was won by the Thaksin-aligned Pheu Thai Party (created to replace the PPP in 2008), and Yingluck Shinawatra, a younger sister of Thaksin's, became Prime Minister. Although the government initially struggled in its response to the widespread flooding in 2011, the political scene remained mostly calm throughout 2012 and early 2013. |
631_19 | Continuing on the populist platform, Yingluck's government delivered on election promises, including a controversial rice-pledging scheme, which was later found to have lost the government hundreds of billions of baht. However, it was the government's push to pass an amnesty bill and amend the constitution in 2013 that sparked public outcry. Protesters, whose leadership would later call itself the People's Democratic Reform Committee, demonstrated against the bill, which they perceived as being created to grant amnesty to Thaksin. Although the bill was voted down by the Senate, the protests turned towards an anti-government agenda, and the protesters moved to occupy several government offices, as well as the central shopping district, in a bid to create a "People's Council" to oversee reforms and remove Thaksin's political influence. |
631_20 | Yingluck responded to the protests by dissolving the House of Representatives, and a general election was held on 2 February 2014. The protesters moved to obstruct the election, forcing voting to be postponed at some polling stations. This later became the basis of the Constitutional Court's annulment of the election, since according to the constitution, it had to take place in one day. This left the country still without a working government, amid increasing violent attacks by unnamed factions.
As the political stalemate continued, the Constitutional Court on 7 May ruled on a case concerning the transfer of Thawil Pliensri from his post as Secretary-general of the National Security Council back in 2011. It found that this was done with conflict of interest, and ruled that Yingluck be removed from her role as caretaker prime minister, along with nine other cabinet members. Deputy Prime Minister Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan was chosen to replace Yingluck as caretaker prime minister. |
631_21 | 2014 coup d'état
Amid the ongoing political crisis, the Royal Thai Army under Commander General Prayut Chan-o-cha declared martial law on 20 May 2014, citing the need to suppress violence and maintain peace and order. Talks were held between leaders of various factions, but after these failed, Prayut took power in a coup d'état on 22 May. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) was established as the ruling junta, and the constitution was again repealed. |
631_22 | In contrast to the 2006 coup, the NCPO oversaw a more systemic suppression of opposition. Politicians and activists, as well as academics and journalists, were summoned; some were detained for "attitude adjustment". An interim constitution was eventually promulgated on 22 July, followed by the creation of an appointed National Legislative Assembly, and the appointment of Prayut as prime minister on 25 August. Despite promising a road map for the return to democracy, the junta exercised considerable authoritarian power; political activities, especially criticism of the military, were banned, and the lèse-majesté law was even more heavily enforced than before. After several drafts, a new constitution was passed in a referendum on 7 August 2016. It contained many provisions that allowed the military to assert its influence in politics. After repeated postponements, elections took place on 24 March 2019.
2019 parliament and 2020 protests |
631_23 | Several new parties emerged to contest the 2019 election, including the pro-Prayut Palang Pracharath Party, and the liberal, anti-junta Future Forward Party led by multimillionaire businessman Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. The constitution's provision that also included the junta-appointed Senate in the parliamentary vote for prime minister led to the Palang Pracharath–led coalition successfully installing Prayut as prime minister in June. Meanwhile, Future Forward, which had found success mobilizing support from young people and became the most vocal among the opposition, found itself the target of technicality-based petitions, and the Constitutional Court ruled in February 2020 that a loan the party received from Thanathorn was illegal, dissolving the party. |
631_24 | The ruling was met by student protests in university campuses all over the country, which subsided due to the COVID-19 pandemic (see , below). The protests resumed in July and developed into a sustained movement against the military-dominated government and human rights violations, with several large demonstrations, some of which also included public criticisms of the monarchy. Several protest groups emerged, most prominently the Free People group, who demanded the resignation of the cabinet, dissolution of parliament, and drafting of a new constitution. |
631_25 | On 3 August, two student groups publicly raised demands to reform the monarchy, breaking a long taboo of publicly criticising the monarchy. A week later, ten demands for monarchy reform were declared. A 19 September rally saw 20,000–100,000 protesters and has been described as an open challenge to King Vajiralongkorn. A government decision to delay voting on a constitutional amendment in late September fuelled nearly unprecedented public republican sentiment. Following mass protests on 14 October, a "severe" state of emergency was declared in Bangkok during 15–22 October, citing the alleged blocking of a royal motorcade. Emergency powers were extended to the authorities on top of those already given by the Emergency Decree since March. Protests continued despite the ban, prompting a crackdown by police on 16 October using water cannons. |
631_26 | In November, the Parliament voted to pass two constitutional amendment bills, but their content effectively shut down the protesters' demands of abolishing the Senate and reformation of the monarchy. Clashes between the protesters and the police and royalists became more prevalent, and resulted in many injuries. The protesters were mostly students and young people without an overall leader. Apart from the aforementioned political demands, some rallies were held by LGBT groups who called for gender equality, as well as student groups who campaigned for reforming the country's education system. |
631_27 | Government responses included filing criminal charges using the Emergency Decree; arbitrary detention and police intimidation; delaying tactics; the deployment of military information warfare units; media censorship; the mobilisation of pro-government and royalist groups who have accused the protesters of receiving support from foreign governments or non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as part of a global conspiracy against Thailand; and the deployment of thousands of police at protests. The government ordered university chancellors to prevent students from demanding reforms to the monarchy and to identify student protest leaders. Protests since October, when the King had returned to the country from Germany, resulted in the deployment of the military, riot police, and mass arrests. |
631_28 | In November 2021, The Constitutional Court ruled that demands for reform of the Thai monarchy have abused of the rights and freedoms and harmed the state’s security and ordered an end to all movements, declaring unconstitutional. It has been likened to judicial coup.
Death of King Bhumibol |
631_29 | Throughout most of the 2010s, King Bhumibol Adulyadej underwent a period of deteriorating health, being repeatedly hospitalized and making few public appearances. The King died on 13 October 2016, prompting an outpouring of grief among the people and a year of national mourning. The King had reigned since 1946, and was regarded as a moral authority and a pillar of stability for the nation. He was succeeded by his son Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, who, in a break with tradition, delayed his formal accession until 1 December 2016. King Bhumibol's royal cremation ceremony was held on 26 October 2017, with over 19 million people attending sandalwood flower-laying ceremonies throughout the country. |
631_30 | Conflicts
In the three southernmost Muslim-majority provinces, a long-standing separatist movement flared up in 2004, during Thaksin's premiership. Thaksin's heavy-handed responses escalated the violence, which entailed frequent bombings and attacks on security forces as well as civilians. Almost 7,000 people are estimated to have died. The government held peace talks in 2013, which were unsuccessful. Though the violence has declined since its peak in 2010, sporadic attacks still occur, with little sign of resolution.
Thailand has also seen several terrorist attacks outside of the South, the most significant being a bombing in Bangkok in 2015, which killed 20 and injured over 120. The bombing is suspected to be the work of Uyghur nationalists retaliating against Thailand's earlier repatriation of Uyghur asylum-seekers to China, though the case has not been conclusively settled. Other (unrelated) attacks have also occurred in Bangkok in 2006 and 2012.
Disasters |
631_31 | Thailand saw some of its worst natural disasters during this period. The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami caused over 5,000 deaths, while the 2011 floods resulted in economic losses estimated at 1.43 trillion baht (US$46 billion). Thailand was one of the first countries affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. While it was relatively successful in containing the virus, its tourism-dependent economy was badly affected.
Economy and society
Thailand made its recovery from the 1997 Asian financial crisis, completing repayment of loans from the IMF in 2003. The World Bank re-classified Thailand as an upper-middle income economy in 2011. However, the level of economic disparity remains high, even as absolute poverty levels have continued to decline. A number of government policies have successfully provided a social safety net for the large majority of the population, including a universal healthcare system and free access to primary and secondary education. |
631_32 | The successes of Thaksin's policies have coincided with an increased political awareness among the rural populace, who benefited from them. Following Thaksin's removal, they took on an active political role, and became competing forces with the urban middle class in the subsequent political crises. Thai society has thus become highly polarized along political lines, which for the most part reflected the socioeconomic divide. While military rule since the 2014 coup has for the most part suppressed overt conflict, there is uncertainty over the expected eventual return to democratic rule.
See also
History of Thailand
References
Bibliography
Further reading
History
Thailand |
632_0 | The Mordvins, also Mordva, Mordvinians, Mordovians (/erzät, /mokšet, /mordva), are a people in European Russia, who speak the Mordvinic languages of the Uralic language family and live mainly in the Republic of Mordovia and other parts of the middle Volga River region of Russia.
The Mordvins make up one of the largest indigenous peoples of Russia. They identify themselves as separate ethnic groups:
Erzya
Moksha
Teryukhan
Tengushev (or Shoksha) Mordvins who became fully Russified or Turkified during the 19th to 20th centuries
Less than one third of Mordvins live in the autonomous republic of Mordovia; the rest are scattered over the Russian oblasts of Samara, Penza, Orenburg and Nizhny Novgorod, while others live in Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Bashkortostan, Central Asia, Siberia, the Russian Far East, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and the United States. |
632_1 | The Erzya Mordvins (, Erzyat; also Erzia, Erza), who speak Erzya, and the Moksha Mordvins (, Mokshet), who speak Moksha, are the two major groups. The Qaratay Mordvins live in the Kama Tamağı District of Tatarstan and speak a Tatar language—albeit with a large proportion of Mordvin vocabulary (substratum). The Teryukhan, living in the Nizhny Novgorod Oblast of Russia, switched to using Russian in the 19th century. The Teryukhans recognize the term Mordva as pertaining to themselves, whereas the Qaratay also call themselves Muksha. The Tengushev Mordvins live in southern Mordovia and form a transitional group between Moksha and Erzya.
The western Erzyans are also called Shoksha (or Shoksho). They are isolated from the bulk of the Erzyans, and the Mokshan dialects have influenced their dialect/language.
Names |
632_2 | While Robert G. Latham had identified Mordva as a self-designation, identifying it as a variant of the name Mari, Aleksey Shakhmatov in the early 20th century noted that Mordva was not used as a self-designation by the two Mordvinic tribes of the Erzya and Moksha. Nikolai Mokshin again states that the term has been used by the people as an internal self-defining term to constitute their common origin. The linguist Gábor Zaicz underlines that the Mordvins do not use the name 'Mordvins' as a self-designation. Feoktistov wrote "So-called Tengushev Mordvins are Erzyans who speak [the] Erzyan dialect with Mokshan substratum and in fact they are [an ethnic] group of Erzyans usually referred to as Shokshas. [It] was [the] Erzyans who historically [were] referred to as Mordvins, and Mokshas usually were mentioned separately as "Mokshas". There is no evidence Mokshas and Erzyas were an ethnic unity in prehistory". Isabelle T. Keindler writes:Gradually major differences developed in customs, |
632_3 | language and even physical appearance (until their conversion to Christianity the Erzia and Moksha did not intermarry and even today intermarriage is rare.) The two subdivisions of Mordvinians share no folk heroes in common – their old folksongs sing only of local heroes. Neither language has a common term to designate either themselves or their language. When a speaker wishes to refer to Mordvinians as a whole, he must use the term "Erzia and Moksha" |
632_4 | Early references
The ethnonym Mordva is possibly attested in Jordanes' Getica in the form of Mordens who, he claims, were among the subjects of the Gothic king Ermanaric. A land called Mordia at a distance of ten days journey from the Petchenegs is mentioned in Constantine VII's De administrando imperio.
In medieval European sources, the names Merdas, Merdinis, Merdium, Mordani, Mordua, Morduinos have appeared. In the Russian Primary Chronicle, the ethnonyms Mordva and mordvichi first appear in the 11th century. After the Mongol invasion of Rus', the name Mordvin rarely gets mentioned in Russian annals, and is only quoted after the Primary Chronicle up until the 15th–17th centuries.
Etymologies
The name Mordva is thought to originate from an Iranian (Scythian) word, mard, meaning "man". The Mordvin word mirde denoting a husband or spouse is traced to the same origin. This word is also probably related to the final syllable of "Udmurt", and also in and perhaps even in . |
632_5 | The first written mention of Erzya is considered to be in a letter dated to 968 AD, by Joseph, the Khazar khagan, in the form of arisa, and sometimes thought to appear in the works of Strabo and Ptolemy as Aorsy and Arsiity, respectively. Estakhri, from the 10th century, has recorded among the three groups of the Rus people the al-arsanija, whose king lived in the town of Arsa. The people have sometimes been identified by scholars as Erzya, sometimes as the aru people, and also as Udmurts. It has been suggested by historians that the town Arsa may refer to either the modern Ryazan or Arsk In the 14th century, the name Erzya is considered to have been mentioned in the form of ardzhani by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, and as rzjan by Jusuf, the Nogaj khan In Russian sources, the ethnonym Erza first appears in the 18th century. |
632_6 | The earliest written mention of Moksha, in the form of Moxel, is considered to be in the works of a 13th-century Flemish traveler, William of Rubruck, and in the Persian chronicle of Rashid-al-Din, who reported the Golden Horde to be at war with the Moksha and the Ardzhans (Erzia).
In Russian sources, 'Moksha' appears from the 17th century.
Ethnic structure |
632_7 | The Mordvins are divided into two ethnic subgroups and three further subgroups:
the Erzya people or Erzyans, (Erzya: Эрзят/Erzyat), speakers of the Erzya language. Less than half of the Erzyans live in the autonomous republic of Mordovia, Russian Federation, Sura River and Volga River. The rest are scattered over the Russian oblasts of Samara, Penza, Orenburg, as well as Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Bashkortostan, Siberia, Far East, Armenia and USA.
the Moksha people or Mokshans, (Moksha: Мокшет/Mokshet), speakers of the Moksha language. Less than half of the Moksha population live in the autonomous republic of Mordovia, Russian Federation, in the basin of the Volga River. The rest are scattered over the Russian oblasts of Samara, Penza, Orenburg, as well as Tatarstan, Siberia, Far East, Armenia, Estonia, Australia and USA. |
632_8 | the Shoksha or Tengushev Mordvins constitute a transitional group between the Erzya and Moksha people and live in the southern part of Republic of Mordovia, in the Tengushevsk and Torbeevsk region.
the Karatai Mordvins or Qaratays live in the Republic of Tatarstan. They no longer speak a Volga-Finnic language but have assimilated with Tatars.
the Teryukhan Mordvins live near Nizhny Novgorod had been completely Russified by 1900 and today unambiguously identify as ethnic Russians. |
632_9 | Mokshin concludes that the above grouping does not represent subdivisions of equal ethnotaxonomic order, and discounts Shoksha, Karatai and Teryukhan as ethnonyms, identifying two Mordvin sub-ethnicities, the Erzya and the Moksha, and two "ethnographic groups", the Shoksha and the Karatai.
Two further formerly Mordvinic groups have assimilated to (Slavic and Turkic) superstrate influence:
The Meshcheryaks are believed to be Mordvins who have converted to Russian Orthodox Christianity and have adopted the Russian language.
The Mishars are Mordvins who came under Tatar influence and adopted the language (Mishar Tatar dialect) and the Sunni Muslim religion.
Religion
Erzya practices Christianity (Eastern Orthodox and Lutheranism brought by Finnish missionaries in the 1990s) and Ineshkipaza, a native monotheistic religion with some elements of pantheism. Almost all national-oriented intellectuals practice Ineshkipazia or Lutheranism. |
632_10 | Mariz’ Kemal, well-known Erzyan poetess, is also an organizer of traditional Erzyan religion communities. This phenomenon appeared after formation of Mordovian diocese of ROC in 1990. In those days Erzyan intellectuals were hoping to introduce of Erzyan language into worship ceremonies as well as to revive of Erzyan religious and cultural identity, even within ROC structure. Failure of these hopes made many Erzyan believers more radical and stimulated national-oriented intellectuals to renew their ethnic Ineshkipaza religion.
Appearance
The 1911 Britannica noted that the Mordvins, although they had largely abandoned their language, had "maintained a good deal of their old national dress, especially the women, whose profusely embroidered skirts, original hair-dress large ear-rings which sometimes are merely hare-tails, and numerous necklaces covering all the chest and consisting of all possible ornaments, easily distinguish them from Russian women." |
632_11 | Britannica described the Mordvins as having mostly dark hair and blue eyes, with a rather small and narrow build. The Moksha were described as having a darker skin and darker eyes than the Erzya, while the Qaratays were described as "mixed with Tatars".
Latham described the Mordvins as taller than the Mari, with thin beards, flat faces and brown or red hair, red hair being more frequent among the Ersad than the Mokshad.
James Bryce described "the peculiar Finnish physiognomy" of the Mordvin diaspora in Armenia, "transplanted hither from the Middle Volga at their own wish", as characterised by "broad and smooth faces, long eyes, a rather flattish nose".
Cultures, folklores and mythologies
According to Tatiana Deviatkina, although sharing some similarities, no common Mordvin mythology has emerged, and therefore the Erza and Moksha mythologies are defined separately. |
632_12 | In the Erza mythology, the superior deities were hatched from an egg. The mother of gods is called Ange Patiai, followed by the Sun God, Chipaz, who gave birth to Nishkepaz; to the earth god, Mastoron kirdi; and to the wind god, Varmanpaz. From the union of Chipaz and the Harvest Mother, Norovava, was born the god of the underworld, Mastorpaz. The thunder god, Pur’ginepaz, was born from Niskende Teitert, (the daughter of the mother of gods, Ange Patiai).
The creation of the Earth is followed by the creation of the Sun, the Moon, humankind, and the Erza. Humans were created by Chipaz, the sun god, who, in one version, molded humankind from clay, while in another version, from soil. |
632_13 | In Moksha mythology, the Supreme God is called Viarde Skai. According to the legends, the creation of the world went through several stages: first the Devil moistened the building material in his mouth and spat it out. The piece that was spat out grew into a plain, which was modeled unevenly, creating the chasms and the mountains. The first humans created by Viarde Skai could live for 700–800 years and were giants of 99 archinnes. The underworld in Mokshan mythology was ruled by Mastoratia.
Latham reported strong pagan elements surviving Christianization. The 1911 Britannica noted how the Mordvins:
History
Prehistory
The Mordvins emerged from the common Volgaic group around the 1st century AD.
Proof that the Mordvins have long been settled in the vicinity of the Volga is also found in the fact that they still call the river Rav, reflecting the name Rha recorded by Ptolemy (c. AD 100 – c. 170). |
632_14 | The Gorodets culture dating back to around 500 BC has been associated with these people. The north-western neighbours were the Muromians and Merians who spoke related Finnic languages. To the north of the Mordvins lived the Maris, to the south the Khazars. The Mordvins' eastern neighbors, possibly remnants of the Huns, became the Bolgars around 700 AD.
Researchers have distinguished the ancestors of the Erzya and the Moksha from the mid-1st century AD by the different orientations of their burials and by elements of their costumes and the variety of bronze jewellery found by archaeologists in their ancient cemeteries. The Erzya graves from this era were oriented north-south, while the Moksha graves were found to be oriented south-north. |
632_15 | The Mordvin language began to diverge into Moksha and Erzya over the course of the 1st millennium AD. Erzyans lived in the northern parts of the territory, close to present-day Nizhny Novgorod. The Mokshans lived further south and west of present-day Mordovia, closer to the neighbouring Iranian, Bolgar and Turkic tribes, and fell under their cultural influence.
The social organization of Moksha and Erzya depended on patriarchy; the tribes were headed by elders kuda-ti who selected a tekshtai, senior elders responsible for coordinating wider regions.
Early history
Around 800 AD two major empires emerged in the neighborhood: Kievan Rus in present-day Ukraine and Russia adopted Eastern Orthodox Christianity, the Bolgar kingdom located at the confluence of Kama and Volga rivers adopted Islam, and some Moksha areas became tributaries to the latter until the 12th century. |
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