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Kulaks were a category of relatively affluent farmers in the later Russian Empire, Soviet Russia, and early Soviet Union. The word kulak originally referred to independent farmers in the Russian Empire who emerged from the peasantry and became wealthy following the Stolypin reform, which began in 1906. The label of kulak was broadened in 1918 to include any peasant who resisted handing over their grain to detachments from Moscow.<br/><br/> According to the political theory of Marxism–Leninism of the early 20th century, the kulaks were class enemies of the poorer peasants. Vladimir Ilyich Lenin described them as 'bloodsuckers, vampires, plunderers of the people and profiteers, who fatten on famine'. Marxism–Leninism had intended a revolution to liberate poor peasants and farm laborers alongside the proletariat. In addition, the planned economy of Soviet Bolshevism required the collectivisation of farms and land to allow industrialisation or conversion to large-scale agricultural production. In practice, government officials violently seized kulak farms and murdered resisters; others were deported to labor camps.
Vincent van Gogh painted at least 18 paintings of olive trees, mostly in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence in 1889. At his own request, he lived at an asylum there from May 1889 through May 1890 painting the gardens of the asylum and, when he had permission to venture outside its walls, nearby olive trees, cypresses and wheat fields.<br/><br/> This painting, 'Olive Orchard', is generally considered to have been influenced by Utagawa Hiroshige's 'Maiko Beach' (Harima, Maiko on hama), 1853, and is therefore belongs to Van Gogh's Japonaiserie paintings.
Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (名所江戸百景), actually composed of 118 woodblock landscape and genre scenes of mid-19th century Tokyo, is one of the greatest achievements of Japanese art. The series includes many of Hiroshige's most famous prints. It represents a celebration of the style and world of Japan's finest cultural flowering at the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate.<br/><br/> The series opens with spring (春の部). Scenes 1 though 42 represent the First to the Third Months, which are considered in Japan to be the spring season. Typically, early spring is marked by the festivities celebrated at the New Year, which begins the season. Blossoming plum trees are associated with the middle of spring, signifying the end of the cold weather and the beginning of the warm season.<br/><br/> Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川 広重, 1797 – October 12, 1858) was a Japanese ukiyo-e artist, and one of the last great artists in that tradition. He was also referred to as Andō Hiroshige (安藤 広重) (an irregular combination of family name and art name) and by the art name of Ichiyūsai Hiroshige (一幽斎廣重).
Loei (Thai: เลย) Province is located in Thailand's upper North-East. Neighboring provinces are (from east clockwise) Nong Khai, Udon Thani, Nongbua Lamphu, Khon Kaen, Phetchabun, Phitsanulok. In the north it borders Xaignabouli and Vientiane Provinces of Laos.<br/><br/> The province is covered with low mountains, while the capital Loei is located in a fertile basin. The Loei River, which flows through the province, is a tributary of the Mekong which, together with the smaller Hueang River, forms the northern boundary of the province with neighboring Laos.<br/><br/> Although temperatures in the hot season (April-May) can be more than 40 degrees Celsius, the province is the only one in Thailand where temperatures regularly drops below freezing at night in the cold season (December-January).<br/><br/> Loei is rich in national parks, including especially Phu Kradung, Phu Ruea, Phu Suan Sai (also known as Na Haeo) and Phu Luang Wildlife Sanctuary.<br/><br/> In 1853 King Mongkut (Rama IV) founded the city of Loei to administer the increasing population in what was then a remote area. In 1907 the province was created by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V). The province is also famous for the Phi Ta Khon festival held at Dansai during the 6th lunar month to make merit and honour the spirits of the ancestors - a colourful mix of Buddhism and spirit worship.<br/><br/> The symbol of the province is the stupa (chedi) at Phra That Si Song Rak in Dan Sai, which was built in 1560 by King Maha Chakrapat of Ayutthaya and King Chai Chetha of Lan Xang as a symbol of friendship between the Siamese and Lao kingdoms.
Vietnam’s greatest national holiday is Tet – more properly, Tet Nguyen Dan, ‘Festival of the First Day’ – coinciding with the first day of the lunar New Year. During the week before Tet, Vietnamese pay off their debts, clean the tombs of their ancestors, make a report on the state of the household during the past year to the Jade Emperor, and decorate their houses with sprigs of peach blossom or kumquat trees. The three days of Tet are very much a domestic affair, with all members of the family (including the spirits of the deceased) gathered under one roof.
Vietnam’s greatest national holiday is Tet – more properly, Tet Nguyen Dan, ‘Festival of the First Day’ – coinciding with the first day of the lunar New Year. During the week before Tet, Vietnamese pay off their debts, clean the tombs of their ancestors, make a report on the state of the household during the past year to the Jade Emperor, and decorate their houses with sprigs of peach blossom or kumquat trees. The three days of Tet are very much a domestic affair, with all members of the family (including the spirits of the deceased) gathered under one roof.
Vietnam’s greatest national holiday is Tet – more properly, Tet Nguyen Dan, ‘Festival of the First Day’ – coinciding with the first day of the lunar New Year. During the week before Tet, Vietnamese pay off their debts, clean the tombs of their ancestors, make a report on the state of the household during the past year to the Jade Emperor, and decorate their houses with sprigs of peach blossom or kumquat trees. The three days of Tet are very much a domestic affair, with all members of the family (including the spirits of the deceased) gathered under one roof.
The plum orchard in bloom with its white blossoms and red sky is considered Hiroshige's greatest work and a masterpiece of the ‘ukiyo-e’ (floating world) artistic tradition that was popular during the Edo period under the Tokugawa shoguns from 1603 to 1868.<br/><br/> Utagawa, or Ando, Hiroshige was born in Edo (now Tokyo) and was originally a fire warden like his father. He was first inspired by the work of Katsushika Hokusai to become an ukiyo-e artist, and he was mentored by Utagawa Toyohiro, a renowned painter, as an apprentice. In 1812, Hiroshige took his teacher's name (a sign of graduation), signing his work Utagawa Hiroshige. A rendition of The Plum Orchard was later produced by Vincent Van Gogh, though in amber and yellow hues.
Singapore hosted a trading post of the East India Company in 1819 with permission from the Sultanate of Johor. The British obtained sovereignty over the island in 1824 and Singapore became one of the British Straits Settlements in 1826. Occupied by the Japanese in World War II, Singapore declared independence, uniting with other former British territories to form Malaysia in 1963, although it was separated from Malaysia two years later. Since then it has had a massive increase in wealth, and is one of the Four Asian Tigers. Singapore is the world's fourth leading financial centre, and its port is one of the five busiest ports in the world.