Traditional historiographies of the Cold War Middle East read into Britain's postwar economic decline a corresponding demise of British regional influence. According to these accounts, the Suez Crisis served to teach Britain new limits to its military capabilities, occasioning a break from independent endeavours to project power in the region. However, the case studies presented in this thesis demonstrate that the Suez Crisis did not mark a precipitous turning point in Britain's political influence in the Middle East in the short- to medium-term. Britain's power in the region rested upon not only its material assets, but other less tangible bases as well. Most importantly, Britain's power in the Middle East during the period examined increasingly included its ability to influence the policies of United States – a country with great resources and an emerging presence in the region.

This doctoral thesis considers the significance of Australian engagement with China within British imperial history between the late-eighteenth and early-twentieth centuries. It sets out to explore the notion that colonial and early-federation Australia constituted an important point of contact between the British and Chinese Empires. Drawing on a long tradition of imperial historiography and recent advances in British World and Anglo-Chinese history, it utilises extensive new archival research to add a colonial dimension to the growing body of scholarship on the British Empire’s relations with Qing China. In doing so, it also seeks to contribute to a better understanding of the internal dynamics and external relations of Britain’s late-Victorian and Edwardian Empire. The following chapters centre around two overarching historical themes. The first is the interconnection between Chinese migration to Australia and the protection of British mercantile and strategic interests in the Far East as imperial issues. The second is the relationship between Australian engagement with China and the development of the idea of a Greater Britain. Each of these themes throws up a range of fascinating historical questions about the evolving character of Britain’s late-Victorian and Edwardian Empire, the inter-relation of its various parts and its ability to navigate the shifting winds of political and economic change. Taken together, they shed new light not only on Anglo-Australian, Anglo-Chinese and Sino-Australian history, but also serve to illuminate a series of triangular relationships, connecting the metropolitan, Far Eastern and Australian branches of the British Empire.

Ayant recours aux théories de la «surconscience linguistique», du «choc des langues» et des «zones de contact» telles que développées par Lise Gauvin, Sherry Simon et Catherine Leclerc, ce mémoire a pour objectif de développer une littérature montréalaise activée par la langue et les langues dans un contexte contemporain. S'inspirant des débats entourant la littérature anglo-québécoise, et la place accordée à l'imaginaire anglo-montréalais et à ses représentants dans l'histoire, deux romans sont analysés du point de vue des langues : La logeuse d'Eric Dupont et Heroine de Gail Scott. À la lumière d'une interdiction formulée par Gilles Marcotte dans « Neil Bissoondath disait… », célèbre brûlot qui prohibe l’analyse conjointe des littératures de langue française et anglaise, l'approche adoptée dans ce mémoire vise par l'intermédiaire des romans à dépasser les propos de Marcotte afin de créer une spécificité montréalaise orientée par des préoccupations linguistiques. Ce mémoire démontre que les propos de Gilles Marcotte sont intenables dans le contexte actuel où les langues ne sont plus une source de division, mais bien un prétexte à joindre dans un propos qui les englobe et les dépasse les corpus de langue anglaise et française dans le contexte montréalais. La logeuse et Heroine témoignent d'un imaginaire et de préoccupations linguistiques comparables et de ce fait, permettent de définir les contours d'une littérature montréalaise activée par les langues. Enfin, ce mémoire se questionne sur l'équation entre langue et culture, mais également entre littérature et culture afin qu'une langue montréalaise, à l'instar d'une littérature montréalaise, prenne forme. / Refering to the theories of Lise Gauvin, Sherry Simon and Catherine Leclerc on «linguistic superconsciousness» (surconscience linguistique), «impact of languages» (choc des langues), and « contact zones» (zones de contact), this thesis produces a Montreal literature which is based on languages, French and English, in a contemporary context. Motivated by the debates around anglo-quebec literature and anglo-quebec writers, this thesis analyses two novels from the points of view of languages : Eric Dupont's La logeuse and Gail Scott's Heroine. The main objective of this study is to show that the concept developed by Gilles Marcotte in « Neil Bissoondath disait » which forbids comparisons between French an English texts, is obsolescent following the reading of the two novels. This thesis shows that in the context of Montreal, languages can create a specificity when they are not anymore a pretext to division, but the sign of a reconciliation.

The French nation has been prolific of consummate diplomatists all through history, but her annals record no more brilliant achievement than that of Theophile Delcassé and Paul Cambon when they brought Great Britain into a French alliance. Even those who disapprove the consequences of their act must admit the skill and the pertinacity with which the two statesmen pursued their purpose. Their difficulties were stupendous; British governments had for years stood aloof from Continental agreements, but precedent was forced to give way before the perspicacity and perseverance of these two French statesmen. Delcassé had contributed the Entente Cordiale to the French cause in 1904. This understanding pledged British diplomatic support to France in her imperialistic venture in Morocco-nothing more; but it also provided a foundation upon which Cambon could exercise his talents in leading Great Britain into a trap. The result of these activities was the equivalent of an Anglo-French alliance. The French, to accomplish their purpose, led the British into a series of military and naval conversations as a means of working out plans of joint operations whereby the latter could assist the former in case of a Franco-German war. The conversations had their official beginning in 1906 and continued until the outbreak of war in 1914, by which time Britain was so completely obligated to France as to make her entry into the war a foregone conclusion.

The phenomenon of the reuse of prehistoric monuments—notably Bronze Age barrows—for early medieval burial has long been recognised as remarkably prevalent in the archaeological record. This systematic study of the landscape context of ‘Early-Middle Saxon’ burial in Wessex assumes a broader outlook, and considers all aspects of the antecedent landscape which may have influenced the siting of funerary locales. Engaging primarily with archaeological evidence, complemented by documentary and place-name sources, it examines the influence of topography, land-use, territorial organisation, and perceptions of ancient features on the location of burial sites, and the role played by burial in the formation of group identities. Moreover, it investigates the emergence and evolution of the practice of monument appropriation, and its exploitation and adaptation by an increasingly defined elite class. The selection of three case study counties—Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset—within a discrete area of southern England which, by the latter part of the period of study, had been incorporated into the kingdom of Wessex, allows the evidence to be examined at local and sub-regional levels, and facilitates supra-regional comparisons. The burial record is scrutinised and analysed with the aid of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in order to construct a detailed picture of the influence of topography and other aspects of the natural and man-made environment on burial location. It also reveals the significant impact that antiquarian and modern archaeological investigation patterns have had on the distribution and nature of the burial record.

Thèse numérisée par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal.

The purpose of this thesis named 'Civil procedure in continental law and the Anglo- American legal system' is to provide an overview of the regulation of civil procedure in both mentioned systems, to compare them, highlight the most significant differences between them, and give the information about their convergence on international, mainly European level. The reason for the choice of this topic was my interest in the field of Civil Procedure, but also my belief in the benefit of comparisons of various legal orders in favour of improving them. Because of the on-going process of introducing uniform arrangements of some institutes of civil procedure on the European level, it is undoubtedly useful to compare national legislations in some respective countries. The research is based on study of legislation in Czech Republic and Germany as representatives of the continental system and in particular England and Wales as representatives of the Anglo-Saxon system. A shorter chapter is also devoted to U.S. law. There are aims of the thesis, methods of research and brief structure described in the introduction. The second chapter deals with the explanation of basics concepts necessary for proper understanding of the research. The third chapter is devoted to brief sketch of the history of civil procedure in...

A review of archaeometallurgical studies carried out in the 1980s and 1990s of early medieval (c. AD410-1100) iron knives revealed several patterns, with clear differences in knife manufacturing techniques present in rural cemeteries and later urban settlements. The main aim of this research is to investigate these patterns and to gain an overall understanding of the early medieval iron industry. This study has increased the number of knives analysed from a wide spectrum of sites across England, Scotland and Ireland. Knives were selected for analysis based on X-radiographs and contextual details. Sections were removed for more detailed archaeometallurgical analysis. The analysis revealed a clear change through time, with a standardisation in manufacturing techniques in the 7th century and differences between the quality of urban and rural knives. Analysis of cemetery knives revealed that there was some correlation between the knife and the deceased. Comparison of knives from England, Dublin and Europe revealed that the Vikings had little direct impact on England's knife manufacturing industry, although there was a change in manufacturing methods in the 10th century towards the mass produced sandwich welded knife. This study also suggests that Irish blacksmiths in Dublin continued their 'native' blacksmithing techniques after the Vikings arrived. Using the data gathered a chaîne opértoire of the iron knife was re-constructed, this revealed that there was a specific order to the manufacture process and decisions were not only influenced by the cost of raw materials, the skill of the blacksmith and the consumer status, but also by cultural stimulus.

M.A. (Social Work) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Tech. (Construction Management) / In this study the environmental aspect of sustainability of the platinum catalysed Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technology (HFCT) in progress in South Africa is examined as two case studies. The first case study is a laboratory-based process of platinum nanophase composite electrode prototype suitable for SPE electrolyser and PEM fuel cell. The second case study is the Anglo American Platinum industrial engineering process of recovering platinum group metals (PGMs). Environmental assessments were achieved using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) standard ISO 14040 series and the Eco-indicator 99 methodology. The energy potential and sustainable development of the South African HFCT initiative as well as the initiative public awareness are also looked into. Emerging as high concerns in the region are South African coal-based and gas supply security for energy supply and sustainability, and the growth of energy demand. The heavy South African carbon footprint and the related global climate change are also high concerns. The South African cabinet adopted hydrogen and fuel cell technology as one of the priority technologies to be developed in a bid to reduce the country’s dependence on coal-fired power generation, oil and gas. The Department of Science and Technology (DST) submitted this proposition initiated from the public and private sectors; and this has been seen as a significant competitive advantage for the global HFCT initiatives in view of the country’s abundant platinum metals deposits, a key raw material in fuel cells. Arguing that the adoption of renewable energy systems as clean technology calls for the achievement of the ecology leg aims of sustainability. An environmental assessment over synthesizing nanophase composite electrode and producing platinum group metals are therefore proved to be pertinent. Results of LCA showed equivalent emissions of carbon dioxide in the preparation process of 119.23g electrode platinum nanophase were evaluated at approximately 8.78 kg CO2eq. Over 90% of all emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent were attributed to energy supplied, produced by emitting resources. Direct emissions which were mostly of chemicals were probably involved in the heating, calcining and drying of materials. The environmental impact assessment by Eco-indicator 99 methodology based on LCA results of the platinum composite electrode determined airborne likely potential emissions such as carbon monoxide, NOX, Ethanol, Formaldehyde, SOX and water vapour with their evaluated impacts as well as other potential emissions to soil/water such as wastewater and HMS matrix which can be recycled. LCA results of the PGMs recovery process showed airborne and waterborne emissions as well as emissions to soil. Emissions observed were both direct and indirect. Direct emissions were from ore composites, chemicals, coal, fuels and water recycled. Over 91% of GHG emissions are indirect from energy supplied. The largest environmental damage impact caused by over 91% of GHG emissions indirect to PGMs production process was estimated to be 8.18 E+9 mPt equivalent to 19,049 Terajoules from electricity purchased. The used electricity is coal-based with damage impact to resources caused by extraction of fossil fuels. The second largest damage impact of 3.43 E+8 mPt was attributed to resources caused by extraction of minerals. The damage impact of 2.48 E-1 mPt by SO2 emissions, which has an impact on human health and the ecosystem quality and the reason behind the motivation to assess the process of recovering PGMs, was relatively minor compared the first two and to some others. The energy potential of the South African HFCT initiative is thought through by its objectives and the capacities to achieve them. The sustainability management of the initiative for the long-term energy supply and sustainability can be determined by specific factors among those, addressing progressively GHG emissions involved in the entire life cycle of PGMs, from mining to recycling. As regards the current state of public awareness to the South African HFCT initiative, this is not well known and has little media attention.