Weather and War – Economic and social vulnerability in Switzerland at the end of the First World War

Neutral Switzerland – not embedded in the fighting forces – yet was involved in the Great War mainly in economical terms. Since Switzerland is a landlocked country especially agriculture became an important topic of war economy in regard to food security. Until 1916 national food supply was limited but could be maintained through barter trade. In 1916 a crisis on both supply and production level occurred and led to a decline in food availability and to immense price risings causing social turmoil. This paper aims to outline the factors of vulnerability in respect of food in Switzerland during the First World War and further it will show different coping strategies that were undertaken during that time. The paper takes the work of Mario Aeby and Christian Pfister (University of Bern) into consideration that pointed out to weather anomalies during the years 1916 and 1917 aggravating the already tense food situation. Arguing for an overlap of supply and production crisis the paper focuses on agricultural and economic history including environmental impacts. Further the paper addresses the question of what makes a food system resilient to such unforeseen impacts.

“Delendum est Imperium Ottomanorum“: War Crimes, Crimes against Humanity and the End of the Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman Empire’s status as a full member of the international community of civilized states, which was bound by the rules of international law, had been challenged again and again during the formative period of the international law in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. When the First World War began, it was the first global military conflict, in which these rules of international law were put to the test. In the case of the Ottoman Empire quite a few questions were not yet settled, not least because the country was still bound by unequal treaties and because it had never ratified the renewed Hague Rules of Land Warfare of 1907, which it had only signed under reservations. Against this background the contribution will therefore focus on the debate amongst legal scholars on violations of the laws of war (and humanity) in regard to the Ottoman Empire during the First World War.

[Evaluation of a preschool program to promote phonological awareness and letter-sound correspondence--long-term effects in the prevention of dyslexia at the end of the 3rd and 4th grades]

The present study evaluates the long-term effects of a preschool training in phonological awareness and letter- sound correspondence.

Change in dust variability in the Atlantic sector of Antarctica at the end of the last deglaciation

We present a Rare Earth Elements (REE) record determined on the EPICA ice core drilled at Dronning Maud Land (EDML) in the Atlantic sector of the East Antarctic Plateau. The record covers the transition from the last glacial stage (LGS) to the early Holocene (26 600–7500 yr BP) at decadal to centennial resolution. Additionally, samples from potential source areas (PSAs) for Antarctic dust were analyzed for their REE characteristics. The dust provenance is discussed by comparing the REE fingerprints in the ice core and the PSA samples. We find a shift in variability in REE composition at ~15 000 yr BP in the ice core samples. Before 15 000 yr BP, the dust composition is very uniform and its provenance was most certainly dominated by a South American source. After 15 000 yr BP, multiple sources such as Australia and New Zealand become relatively more important, although South America remains the major dust source. A similar change in the dust characteristics was observed in the EPICA Dome C ice core at around ~15 000 yr BP, accompanied by a shift in the REE composition, thus suggesting a change of atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere.