Dismissal of ministers in February 1948: The true story

The dismissal of the non-communist politicians was the key event of the February 1948 political crisis in Czechoslovakia. The communists offi cially claimed that there were 12 dismissals even though on the critical day of 25 February 1948 President Beneš signed the total number of 14 dismissals. He could do something completely different in that situation to overcome the political crisis. His unconstitutional decision to support the Prime Minister and Communist Party of Czechoslovakia leader Klement Gottwald aided the communists’ smooth overtake of power, which was actually a coup. There are various speculations as to why he did that. It seems, however, that he was under pressure of Soviet secret agents, who threatened line with the expectations of the Soviet government and, fi rst and foremost, of Stalin himself

Ruské dějiny

The article represents an excerpt of a larger work which describes the continuity of Russian history, concentrating on the links of Bolshevik and imperial regimes and on the necessary multiplied links of the system and the life of large state. Discussions have been held for many years, since Bolsheviks stressed the fact that the new political system represented an entirely new quality of political existence which is not linked with the past. The author underlines the features of Russian politics which characterize the Russian empire throughout its existence. Also the problems are mentoined which have been present but left unsolved as well as the heritage of Russian history that Bolsheviks had to cope with. At present, Russia presents a postcommunist imperial state, not yet democratic, struggling to overcome its political and economic backwardness and to catch up with the West

Phase Transitions and Physical Properties of the Mixed Valence Iron Phosphate Fe3_3(PO3_3OH)4_4(H2_2O)4_4

Iron phosphate materials have attracted a lot of attention due to their potential as cathode materials for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. It has been shown that lithium insertion or extraction depends on the Fe mixed valence and reduction or oxidation of the Fe ions’ valences. In this paper, we report a new synthesis method for the Fe$_3$(PO$_3$OH)$_4$(H$_2$O)$_4$ mixed valence iron phosphate. In addition, we perform temperature-dependent measurements of structural and physical properties in order to obtain an understanding of electronic–structural interplay in this compound. Scanning electron microscope images show needle-like single crystals of 50 μm to 200 μm length which are stable up to approximately 200 °C, as revealed by thermogravimetric analysis. The crystal structure of Fe$_3$(PO$_3$OH)$_4$(H$_2$O)$_4$ single crystals has been determined in the temperature range of 90 K to 470 K. A monoclinic isostructural phase transition was found at ~213 K, with unit cell volume doubling in the low temperature phase. While the local environment of the Fe$^{2+}$ ions does not change significantly across the structural phase transition, small antiphase rotations occur for the Fe$^{3+}$ octahedra, implying some kind of electronic order. These results are corroborated by first principle calculations within density functional theory, which also point to ordering of the electronic degrees of freedom across the transition. The structural phase transition is confirmed by specific heat measurements. Moreover, hints of 3D antiferromagnetic ordering appear below ~11 K in the magnetic susceptibility measurements. Room temperature visible light absorption is consistent with the Fe$^{2+}$/Fe$^ {3+}$ mixed valence

Phase Transitions and Physical Properties of the Mixed Valence Iron Phosphate Fe3(PO3OH)4(H2O)4

Iron phosphate materials have attracted a lot of attention due to their potential as cathode materials for lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. It has been shown that lithium insertion or extraction depends on the Fe mixed valence and reduction or oxidation of the Fe ions’ valences. In this paper, we report a new synthesis method for the Fe3(PO3OH)4(H2O)4 mixed valence iron phosphate. In addition, we perform temperature-dependent measurements of structural and physical properties in order to obtain an understanding of electronic–structural interplay in this compound. Scanning electron microscope images show needle-like single crystals of 50 μm to 200 μm length which are stable up to approximately 200 °C, as revealed by thermogravimetric analysis. The crystal structure of Fe3(PO3OH)4(H2O)4 single crystals has been determined in the temperature range of 90 K to 470 K. A monoclinic isostructural phase transition was found at ~213 K, with unit cell volume doubling in the low temperature phase. While the local environment of the Fe2+ ions does not change significantly across the structural phase transition, small antiphase rotations occur for the Fe3+ octahedra, implying some kind of electronic order. These results are corroborated by first principle calculations within density functional theory, which also point to ordering of the electronic degrees of freedom across the transition. The structural phase transition is confirmed by specific heat measurements. Moreover, hints of 3D antiferromagnetic ordering appear below ~11 K in the magnetic susceptibility measurements. Room temperature visible light absorption is consistent with the Fe2+/Fe3+ mixed valence