MONETARY SYSTEM OF BULGARIA

The financial items which have been adopted by Bulgaria are the lev (having the worth of 1 franc) and the stotinka (centime), being the hundredth a part of a lev.

For some years after the creation of the Principality, the Authorities discovered it unimaginable to introduce any nationwide cash. It needed to tolerate the circulation of every kind of international cash—Servian, Roumanian, Russian, and many others., cash which inundated the market.

In 1881 the Authorities put into circulation two million francs of Bulgarian copper cash, however these, in addition to the twelve million of silver cash which had been issued in 18831884, proved fairly inadequate to drive away the international cash, in order that the latter continued to be tour packages balkan utilized in all industrial transactions. It was not till 1887 that the Authorities prohibited the circulation of Servian and Roumanian cash,

COMPARATIVE TABLE OF TRANSACTIONS OF THE POST OFFICE

Quantity.             FT           Quantity.             FT.          CL

1*96      eight,186     —           eight,×86     37.336   I.35*,693             6,888     533,5*7                —           —           —           —

1S97      9.390     36           9.554     53.783   three^37.086             *three.434   *461,706             *5           5,640     three,100     7,740

1898      xx,670   120         11.330   75,043   four.663,339            47,**6  three,696,833            40           10,864   *four*zero      13.374

1899      xx,9X7  340         11.377   83.eight*1  5.347,93*            70,333   four,9×6,801            85           *three.893  *.743     18,638

1900      12,eight a 1                494         12.327   90.963   6,346,603             76,309   5»559»**6         80           19.*5®  three.1*5     **,373

1901      *three»*33 652         14,6OX 114.675                eight,195,306             85.741   6^81,9*1             30           449         3403      *6,35*

190a      *7.048  745         16,303   131,503                9439,5*5              96,630   eight,188,560            95           9,374

three.778     33.13*

X903      17.786   846         16,940   139.361                10,446,333          93467    7,943.381            95           35.880   four.079     39.959

X904      30,090   1,131     18,969   176,387                14,866,735          105,87*                »

10403,063           44           four*,S*eight  three,zero33     47,*8o

1903      26,160   1,304     *four.956  198,876                1×eight,zero33,zero33        1*1,330                i*,75*.i5o;          70           54.three*7  three,367                59.654

Complete      150,521                three,558     148,963                1101,850              81,927,960          7H/549 62,538,362          84           236405                33,zero×7   268432

Whereas in 1887 the identical measure was prolonged to the Russian roubles.

The next desk incorporates the years throughout which the assorted Bulgarian cash had been issued:

Ynn.       Lev in gold.         Uf iii silver.         Copper cash. Nickel cash.

1881      —           —           2,100,000            —

1883      —           10,000,000          —           —

1884      —           2,500,000             —           —

1885      —           7,130,000             —           —

1886      —           370,000                —           —

1888      —           —           —           three,000,000

Z89I       —           eight,000,000             —           —

1892      —           5,000,000             —           —

1894      three,000,000             12,000,000          —           —

1901      —           —           1,000,000            —

Complete      three,000,000             45,000,000          three,100,000            three,000,000

Fairly just lately an additional inventory of nickel cash was put in circulation.

The gold cash comprise items of 100, 20, and 10 levs.

The inventory of silver cash consists of cash of 5, 2, 1, and zero*50 francs.

The inventory of copper cash consists of cash of 20, 10, 5,2, and 1 centimes.

The inventory of nickel cash consists of cash of 20,10,5, and a pair of*50 centimes.

The usual of Bulgarian cash is        within the case of the gold cash and the silver cash of 5 francs, and of within the case of the silver cash of two, 1, and zero*50 francs.

The load of the gold and silver cash is identical as that adopted by the Latin financial conference, viz.: 6*4516 grammes within the 20 franc gold items, and 5 grammes for the silver franc.

Customary.—The Bulgarian financial system is predicated on the double commonplace of gold and silver. There’s nearly all the time a distinction between the gold and the silver, to the benefit of the primary. At current, nevertheless, the agio between the 2 has virtually disappeared.

No circulation of international silver or copper cash is allowed on Bulgarian territory. The gold cash of the nations belonging to the Latin Union are acquired at their nominal worth. Thus, a chunk of 20 frs. in gold is accepted in cost of 20 levs in gold. As for the opposite international gold cash, their worth is regulated by the next charge, which has been established by the Authorities:

One pound sterling of 20 shillings            =             25           levs        in gold

Eight Austrian florins      =             20           „              „

One Austrian ducat         = 11 „    „ 60 ct.

Twenty German marks =             24           „              „ 50 „

One pound Turkish         =             22           „              „              60           „

One half Imperial             of^ 5 j   Issued  J

Russian roubles .. I           between             (              =             20           „              „              50           „

One piece of three Russian |               1861 and             f

roubles )              1886       J              =             12           „              „              30           „

One Imperial of 10 Russian roubles

(issued after 1880)          =            40           „              „              —

One Imperial of 15 Russian roubles

(issued after 1897)          =             40           „              „              —

One piece of 10 Russian roubles

(issued after 1897)          =             26           „              „              50           „

The smaller gold cash of those nations are accepted at proportionate values.

All the opposite international cash which aren’t included within the conference of the Latin Union are additionally acquired in cost, supplied they belong to the metric system.

 

Present frontier

Nor might any military past the current frontier by chance be extra favorably located for provides. The herds of Bessarabia, the corn of Wallachia, the Crimea, &c., provide, in these necessities, an inexpensive and enough useful resource. Wine is the frequent produce of a number of of the adjoining provinces. The provisioning of this military ought, with good administration, to value little or no greater than if it had remained in concentrated cantonments. And even have been it remoted upon the Bosporus, it have been nicely well worth the whereas of the Autocrat to incur the hazard and expense of its upkeep on so extraordinary and commanding a place.

The mere naval and army benefits, offensive and defensive, would amply indemnify him. Of the latter, probably the most distinguished is, that it’s going to fully lock up, because it have been, and canopy from all French or British expeditionary assaults,—within the doable occasion of hostility from these states,—the entire of his uncovered, unsettled, insecure, and rebellious conquests within the Caucasian isthmus. Thus, likewise, will probably be protected the communication with the precise flank of the place on the Araxes;—for this military is also mainly equipped with shops, reinforcements, and even a substantial a part of its provisions, by sea.

FOREIGN COMMERCE

AUSTRIA PRUSSIA SPAIN PERSIA SWEDEN

To drive the Muscovite eagles again over the Danube or Prutah is probably not really easy a activity as to have checked their flight ere that they had handed these boundaries. Prevention is mostly simpler and all the time higher than treatment. If, nonetheless, prevention has not on this occasion been suitable both by or via our means, then now we have no extra to do than reconcile ourselves to the abandonment, at no distant interval, of each pretension to the station of an awesome or influential energy—and even finally put together to bow our necks to the yoke;—for, if we’re already so helpless, such should clearly, it’s in useless to disclaim it, in the end of time, be the consequence.

The will of wealth, when allowed to grasp the opposite passions, or to engross too completely the thoughts, has been ever discovered to be some of the tenacious rules of motion. Witness the Armenian and different retailers of Constantinople, who go on hoarding and buying, though conscious that success is the strange precursor of confiscation and loss of life. Witness the rigid fidelity of the banker Jews and goldsmiths, of former days, on this our personal nation.

One day a fresh gang

And Aksionov wrote no extra petitions; gave up all hope, and solely prayed to God.

Aksionov was condemned to be flogged and despatched to the mines. So he was flogged with a knout, and when the injuries made by the knout had been healed, he was pushed to Siberia with different convicts.

For twenty-six years Aksionov lived as a convict in Siberia. His hair turned white as snow, and his beard grew lengthy, skinny, and grey. All his mirth went; he stooped; he walked slowly, spoke little, and by no means laughed, however he usually prayed.

Sufficient jail

In jail Aksionov realized to make boots, and earned just a little cash, with which he purchased The Lives of the Saints. He learn this ebook when there was gentle sufficient within the jail; and on Sundays within the prison- church he learn the teachings and sang within the choir; for his voice was nonetheless good.

The jail authorities appreciated Aksionov for his meekness, and his fellow-prisoners revered him: they known as him “Grandfather,” and “The Saint.” Once they needed to petition the jail authorities about something, they at all times made Aksionov their spokesman, and when there have been quarrels among the many prisoners they got here to him to place issues proper, and to evaluate the matter.

No information reached Aksionov from his residence, and he didn’t even know if his spouse and kids had been nonetheless alive.
One day a fresh gang of convicts got here to the jail. Within the night the outdated prisoners collected spherical the brand new ones and requested them what cities or villages they got here from, and what they had been sentenced for. Among the many relaxation Aksionov sat down close to the newcomers, and listened with downcast air to what was mentioned.

One of many new convicts, a tall, robust man of sixty, with a closely- cropped grey beard, was telling the others what he had been arrested for.

“Nicely, pals,” he mentioned, “I solely took a horse that was tied to a sledge, and I used to be arrested and accused of stealing. I mentioned I had solely taken it to get residence faster, and had then let it go; in addition to, the motive force was a private pal of mine.

So I mentioned, ssss’ssssIt` all proper.ssss’ssss ssss’ssssNo,ssss’ssss mentioned they, ssss’ssssyou stole it.ssss’ssss However how or the place I stole it they may not say. I as soon as actually did one thing fallacious, and ought by rights to have come right here way back, however that point I used to be not discovered. Now I’ve been despatched right here for nothing in any respect. … Eh, however it` lies Issss’ssssm telling you; Issss’ssssve been to Siberia earlier than, however I didn’t keep lengthy.”

Dry local weather of western Uttar Pradesh

The traditional Indians left innumerable materials stays The stone temples in south India and the brick monasteries in jap India nonetheless stand to remind us ‘of the good constructing actions of the previous However the main a part of these stays lies buried within the mounds scattered everywhere in the nation. Just a few have been uncovered to offer us some data of the lifetime of the traditional individuals.

Since most websites have been dug vertically they supply a very good chronological sequence of fabric tradition. Horizontal diggings, being very costly, are only a few in quantity, with the consequence that excavations don’t give us a full and full image of fabric life in lots of phases of historical Indian historical past

Even in these mounds which have been excavated the traditional stays have been preserved in various proportions. Within the dry local weather of western Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and north-western India antiquities are present in a greater state of preservation, however within the moist and humid local weather of the center Gangetic basin and within the deltaic areas even iron implements undergo corrosion and dust constructions turn into tough to detect. It’s only within the section of burnt brick constructions or stone constructions that spectacular and large-scale, stays are present in moist and alluvial areas Excavations have delivered to mild the cities which the individuals established round 2500 B.C. in north-western India.

Equally they inform us in regards to the materials tradition which was developed within the Gangetic basin. They present the structure of the settlements through which individuals lived, the kind of pottery they used, the type of home through which they dwelt, the form of cereals they used as meals, and the kind of instruments and implements they dealt with. Some individuals in south India buried together with the useless, their instruments, weapons, pottery and different belongings within the graves, which had been encircled by huge items of stone.

These constructions are known as megaliths, though all megaliths don’t fall on this class by digging them we now have come to study of the life which individuals lived within the Deccan from the iron age onwards. The science which permits us to dig the previous mounds in a scientific method, in successive layers, and to type an thought of the fabric lifetime of the individuals is named archaeology.

Materials stays recovered on account of excavation and exploration are subjected to numerous sorts of scientific examination. Their dates are mounted based on the radio-carbon technique, for which services exist in India. The historical past of local weather and vegetation is thought by an examination of plant residues, and particularly by pollen-analysis. Thus on this foundation it’s advised that agriculture was practiced in Rajasthan and Kashmir way back to 6000 B.C. The character and elements of steel artifacts are analyzed scientifically, and consequently the sources from the place metals had been obtained are situated and the levels within the growth of steel expertise are recognized. An examination of animal bones permits us to search out out whether or not the animals had been domesticated, and in addition to level out the makes use of to which they had been put.

 

 

Social circles of Constantinople

There were only two or three foreigners among the guests, and the most prominent of them was the Japanese Ambassador, who is quite popular in the social circles of Constantinople. The Italian military attaché was also present as well as a French officer.

A Greek lady whose husband is one of the very few prominent Greeks who have remained openly faithful to the cause of Turkey was also there. Needless to say that she and her husband are very much liked by the Turks who recognize their real friends and show them true gratitude under all circumstances. The rest of the crowd was exclusively Turkish, all most attractive and adventure Bulgaria tour genuinely refined people who had kept, despite their extreme westernization, the good manners and the good breeding characteristic of their race.

Turkish gatherings

When everybody had duly partaken of the delicacies and refreshments offered at the tea table, we adjourned with the slight touch of ceremony prevailing in all Turkish gatherings to two spacious drawing rooms on the same floor. And, as we expected, the informal dancing started to the sound of a gramophone of the latest model imported from America.

It was a surprise for us to see how extremely up to date everybody was. Charming Turkish girls were dancing the newest steps as expertly as debutantes of New York, London and Paris with a ancient Bulgaria tour little more decorum, perhaps, and certainly with less “abandon,” but that did not in any way hurt the effect. Quite on the contrary it gave to modern dances a degree of respectability which is not always found in the West.

One other difference that we found was that the tango still reigned supreme here. It was played at least seven or eight times during the evening. But after seeing the excellence with which everybody danced it my wife and I were quite reluctant to give a demonstration of our own limited abilities. We had to immolate ourselves, however, and although we did our best to come up to expectation, I am not quite certain that we entirely succeeded. Of course I had to explain that I should not be personally taken as an exponent of the American art as I was not and never had been an expert in dancing. My wife saved the day for America by tangoing with the real experts as perfectly as only an American girl can.

 

Mtne Anna Josephoff

Anna Josephoff has won for herself a name as the best painter of flowers, while Mme Hadji Mitcheff (nee Brown) is the only painter of miniatures in Bulgaria. This lady possesses a keen sense of line and delicate colouring, and a sure touch in rendering the details of hair and dress. Another woman artist, Mme Naoumoff, (nee Ostroveka), is well known as portraitist, especially in pastel.

Bulgarian artists

There are few Bulgarian artists who at one time or another have not tried their hand at portraiture. Among the older artists, Ivan Markvitchka obtained considerable success in this department, but the best Bulgarian portraitist is unquestionably Nicolas Mihailoff. He has studied in Sofia, Munich, Paris, and London, and, before taking to portraiture, spent a considerable time in copying old and modem masters. He also made an attempt at large compositions, taking his subjects from Bulgarian folklore. These pictures, which were not devoid of merit, especially in their colouring, were the result of the influence exerted on the young artist by such masters as BScklin, Franz Stuck, and Ludwig von Hoffmann. The scenery and figures, and their general inspiration, had nothing Bulgarian about them. The influence of these Servian artists on Miha&off may be easily traced, even in some of his later productions of the same kind. He appears much more personal and independent in his portraits, although here also the influence of Rubens, Lenbach, Stuck, Hubermann, and F. A. von Kaulbach was for a time manifest. As a portraitist Mihailoff has a distinct talent for catching the most characteristic side of a face and concentrating the expression in the eyes, as well as rendering everything that is typical of the .subject. Much of the work of this talented artist, however, suffers in consequence of overproduction, often at the expense of the execution. Among the best portraits of Mihailoff are those of his wife.

Unique of his kind as portraitist and caricaturist is Alexander Bojinoff, one of the most popular and most imitated artists, not only in Bulgaria but also among the other Southern Slav nations. Bojinoff has met with considerable success as poet, as feuilletonist, as symbolical painter, in landscape and in portraiture; but the general public associates him mainly, if not exclusively, with caricature, in which line he excels equally in inspiration and in execution. Bojinoff himself, however, conscious of this rather onesided reputation, values highest his symbolical pictures and his landscapes. In his caricatures of public men, politicians, poets, writers*, etc., Bojinoff is distinguished by rendering not only what is typical in the face, but also the mental or moral peculiarities and habits of the subject caricatured. The symbolical pictures of Bojinoff are characterised by their spiritual conception. He seldom works in oils, preferring pastel, watercolour, and pen. This comparative neglect of oils is sufficiently accounted for by lack of time and other distractions with which a regular contributor to the daily press is beset. Bojinoff studied for a while at the School of Painting in Sofia. He has spent a considerable time in Munich, but never studied in the Academy there. All that he has been able to do as artist he owes to his hard work and perseverance.

The same may be also said of the best Bulgarian decorative artist, Har(dampy Tatcheff, who graduated at the School of Painting in Sofia, where, however, he could not find a teacher worthy of his talent. He owes everything to private work and the study of the Western masters, and of nature. He is well acquainted with ancient Bulgarian and modem Bulgarian ornamentation, of which he has made free use in his work. Tatcheff is the first Bulgarian artist who has systematically worked on bookcovers, vignettes, and glasspainting.

Sculpture in Bulgaria, owing to the somewhat puritanical attitude of Bulgarian public opinion towards undraped figures, remains in a very backward state. Of the two sculptors who, as students, gave considerable promise, Marin VassUeff has never been able to raise himself above the conventional style, while Yctcho Spirtdonoff, with his unquestionable talent, has thus far produced very little.

Beginning of the Christian era India

Social Structure

We can present a rough picture of the social structure that developed in this period. Society was dominated by princes and priests. The princes claimed the status of brahmanas or kshatriyas though many of them were local tribal chiefs promoted to the second varna through benefactions made to the priests. The priests invented respectable family trees for these chiefs and traced their descent from age old solar and lunar dynasties, This process enabled the new rulers to acquire legitimacy in the eyes of the people.

The priests were mainly brahmanas, though the Jaina and Buddhist monks should also be placed in this category. In this phase priests gained in influence and authority because of land grants. Below the princes and priests came the peasantry, which was divided into numerous peasant castes. Possibly most of them were called sutras in the brahmamcal system. If the peasant and artisan castes failed to produce and render services and payments, it was looked upon as a departure from the established dharma or norm

Such a situation was described as the age of Kali. It was the duty of the king to put an end to such a state pf affairs and restore peace and order which worked in favor of chiefs and priests. The title dhamamaharaja therefore is adopted by the Vakataka, Pallava, Kadamba and Western Ganga kings. The real founder of the Pallava power, Simhavarman, is credited with coming to the rescue of dharma when it was beset with the evil attributes typical of the Kahyuga, Apparently it refers to his suppression of the Kalabhras who upset the existing social order

India’s Cultural Contacts with the Asian Countries

Medieval lawgivers and commentators ordained that a person should not cross the seas. This would imply that India shunned all relations with the outside world. But this is not so, for India maintained contacts with its Asian neighbors since Harappan times. Indian traders went to the cities of Mesopotamia, where their seals belonging to the period between 2400 B.C. and 1700 B.C have been found.

From the beginning of the Christian era India maintained commercial contacts with China, Southeast Asia, West Asia and the Roman Empire. We have seen how the Indian land routes were connected with the Chinese Silk Route. We have also dwelt on India’s commercial intercourse with the eastern part of the Roman Empire. In addition to this India sent its missionaries, conquerors and traders to the neighboring countries where they founded settlements.

Into this, the tempered clay is dumped and the surplus normally smoothed off with the side of the hand. The mound is then lifted and the brick left to dry in the sun. It is this concluding process, which sets a geographical limit to countries in which mud bricks can be used, since cloudless skies and hot sunshine are indispensable to their manufacture. In almost all countries of the Near East such conditions are favorable during at least a part of the year, and up to comparatively recent times, kiln baked bricks have consequently been considered a luxury.

It is for this reason that today, in those countries, a proper understanding of the nature and uses of this material, particularly in Iraq, has become as indispensable to a twentieth century excavator as it was to the architects of antiquity. In neighboring countries where stone is available, a wall may have stone foundations or even be built up to a height of several feet in stone before the brick begins. In Anatolia particularly, the structure above this may be a framework of wooden beams, forming panels, which are filled with mud brick. In all cases the wall is finished inside and out with a plastering of mud and straw. Outside at least, this has to be renewed every year.

Thus to keep the besiegers constantly in a state of alarm

Wcliko’s brother, Milutin, was the first to encounter the Turks ; who appeared near Xladowo, and attacked the peasants as they were busily engaged in carrying off their property into the mountains. Milutin dispersed the enemy; but, from inability to pursue them with his horsemen over the mountain paths, he did not succeed in recapturing all the booty and prisoners they had taken.

On hearing of this, AVeliko determined to scour the country whilst awaiting the enemy. He drove many thousand head of cattle into his citadel of Xegotin, and ventured as far as the gates of Widdin ; where lie was seen, on his Arabian steed, in the plain before the fortress. Xear Bukowtscha he put to flight the first Turkish troops which appeared on the Timok.

But when the Turks arrived, 18,000 strong, he was obliged to shut himself up in Xegotin. It was then his delight to make sallies, day after day, and night after night; and thus to keep the besiegers constantly in a state of alarm. Compared with the losses which he caused them, his own were trivial: though he lost better soldiers, and each diminution of his numbers could not but be seriously felt. At last both parties were obliged to solicit aid   the Turks, from the Grand Vizier; and AVeliko, from Kara George and the Senate.

The Turks were not long unassisted. Ketschep Aga, the Wallachian Prince Karadschia, and the Grand Vizier himself led on a reinforcement. They made their way under cover of the night, and by mining, nearer and nearer to the fortifications.

They battered down with their cannon one tower of Xegotin after another; and lastly the highest, which was the residence of Weliko himself. Still he lost not his courage ; but went down and lived in the vault. Every thing, of lead or tin, which could be found in the place, he melted into balls; not excepting even spoons and lamps ; and one day, wlicn all metal else was exhausted, lie ordered his men to load their guns with pieces of money instead of bullets, and thus successfully kept off the enemy.

If lie could but have received assistance! On receiving AYeliko’s request for aid, Kara George, whose corps of reserve had never been brought into a state of efficiency, sent to Alladen. But Mladcn’s answer was:   “ He may help himself! If is praise is sung to him, at his table, by ten singers; mine is not: let him then keep his ground   the hero!The Senate   to whom AYeliko had written, in the most severe terms, saying that, “at Christmas he would inquire in what manner the country was governed! ”   at length sent a vessel to him with ammunition : but it arrived too late.

Ottoman dominion

The Bulgarians hold their land on a system derived from the days of the Ottoman dominion. In Turkey, as in all Oriental countries, the Sultan is theoretically the absolute owner of all the land, over which he rules by the grace of Allah. In practice, he is a sort of ground landlord, whose tenants, subject to certain specified conditions, have a perpetual lease, which descends as a matter of law to their heirs. In travel Bulgaria the condition of tenure was that the lessees of the land had to pay one-tenth of the gross produce of their farms to the tax-collectors of the Government.

In the event of default of payment of the tithe, or of the lands being left uncultivated for three consecutive years, or of the owner dying without legal heirs, the land reverted to the State. In the old days, this system paved the way for a great amount of abuse. Still in this, as in other matters, the Turks adhered loyally to any contract into which they had entered; and I gather that even under Mahommedan rule the Bulgarian peasantry had practically a good title to their lands.

Bulgaria became independent

When Bulgaria became independent, the State stepped into the place of the Sultan; and the old system of land tenure has not been materially modified. Taxation by tithes is, however, at the best, a very costly, cumbrous, and unsatisfactory arrangement In Turkish days the tithe was mainly paid in kind ; during the last few years, various, more or less successful, attempts have been made to substitute payment in cash for payment in kind. But these reforms have not made so much progress as might have been expected. Owing to the intense conservatism, characteristic of peasant communities, and to their profound distrust of any innovation, even if it can be shown to be conducive to their own advantage, payment in cash is viewed with scanty favour by the mass of the population.

The tithe system tends to check improvement in agriculture or the employment of money in the development of the land. The farmer, as it is, pays one-tenth of his gross produce. If he raises crops valued at ten pounds, according to the market rates, he pays one pound as a tax to the treasury. But if he spends twenty pounds on manure or irrigation, and thereby raises the produce of his land to twenty pounds, he has to pay two pounds in the shape of taxes, without any deduction being made for the capital he has invested in the permanent improvement of his lands.

Thus the action of the tithe system actually augments the natural reluctance of an ignorant and thrifty community of peasant proprietors to spend money on improvements.

In consequence, the Government are anxious to do away with the present mode of estimating the land-tax in proportion to the produce of each particular year, and to substitute for it a fixed rental, payable in coin, irrespective of the rise and fall in the amount of the year’s production. In other words, if the proposed changes should be carried out, the tenant will become a freehold owner, subject only to the payment of a yearly land-tax to the State, in virtue of a perpetual settlement.

 

The fall of Communism and Cuba’s refocus

The fall of Communism in Europe in 1990 brought about a colossal upheaval in Cuba, a country which relied almost exclusively on aid from the USSR. The economic hardship which followed was catastrophic, with the country literally halving its gross domestic production and seeing both its exports, and imports, reduced by three-thirds. Castro finally opened the country up to free enterprise in order to alleviate poverty and, for the first time, allowed the first foreign tourists to visit.

The US-Cuban Cold War continued well into the start of the 21dst century, with dissident missions and subverting broadcasts becoming common occurrences between the two nations. The decades-long US embargo shaped the economy of the country and caused a love-hate relationship between Cubans: those who stayed and stayed true to revolutionary ideals and those who risked life and limb to leave in search of a better life. Cultivating closer ties with countries more to its liking (such as China and North Korea) Cuba would continue to scorn the US in the first decade of the 21st century.

The death of Fidel Castro and a page-turner for Cuba

A Cuba without Fidel Castro was something that was almost impossible to imagine, for so many years. Castro would go down as one of the most significant historical figures who ever lived and although he had technically been insignificant, in Cuba, for well over a decade, his death sent shockwaves the world over. Cuba looked toward a new dawn, one which looked much brighter with the visit by US President Obama, in 2016, and the subsequent easing of the US embargo and tentative influx of US tourists by the start of 2017.

There’s no doubt that Cuba’s history is currently living one of its most important chapters and although it’s still early days to assess the consequences of current President Trump’s tough stance (restricting travel and business in Cuba , once again) history has shown that once the ‘door to modernity, freedom and cooperation’ is opened, closing it again is but a fleeting affair.