Misplaced Pages

#606393

115-480: Several factors led to the establishment of the works, which were located in an area that was then part of Austria-Hungary : late 19th-century technological development that resulted in increased steel production through new techniques, spurred by the serious need of metal for the Austro-Hungarian Army ; the aged and unprofitable methods used by the area's iron workshops; the building of a railroad; and

230-811: A defensive alliance with Germany in October 1879 and in May 1882. In October 1882 Italy joined this partnership in the Triple Alliance largely because of Italy's imperial rivalries with France. Tensions between Russia and Austria–Hungary remained high, so Bismarck replaced the League of the Three Emperors with the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia to keep the Habsburgs from recklessly starting

345-540: A factory town , an image that would endure through 1999. The plant, known during this period as the Hunedoara Steel Works ( Combinatul Siderurgic Hunedoara ; CSH), employed workers from surrounding villages as well as peasants from Moldavia and Muntenia driven to settle in the city as part of the forced industrialization drive of the decade-old Communist regime . They spurred the city's growth from 4800 residents in 1930 to almost 90,000 in 1990, making it

460-532: A capacity of some 330,000 tons of steel a year, was shut down, as well as three furnaces at steel plant #2. In mid-1999, steel plant #2 was gradually shut down: first sintering was halted, then coking and finally on June 12, 115 years to the day after the works were inaugurated, the cast iron-producing furnaces. A further shutdown occurred in the spring of 2003, and some 5300 workers were laid off. The company became Mittal Steel Hunedoara in September 2003 as part of

575-523: A cast iron mould and a Martin furnace; a 400- hp hydropower plant; a funicular network for carrying materials; a mill; and workshops for agricultural and other types of tools. Starting in 1926, engineers and economists insisted, through proposals they made and carried out, on increased output up to the maximum level. For instance, one plan from that year, by the head mine inspector of the Jiu Valley , called for high growth to be achieved both by using

690-528: A common holding of Cisleithania and Transleithania under the control of the Imperial & Royal finance ministry rather than attaching it to either territorial government. The annexation in 1908 led some in Vienna to contemplate combining Bosnia and Herzegovina with Croatia to form a third Slavic component of the monarchy. The deaths of Franz Joseph's brother, Maximilian (1867), and his only son, Rudolf , made

805-401: A continuous turning mechanism and eccentric bottom tap-holes. There were also two open hearth furnace steel mills. The first had five 100-ton ovens with an annual capacity of 300,000 tons a year, and a rolling mill for up to 450,000 tons of light profiles a year, used for making special products. The second Siemens-Martin steel mill had a production capacity of some 3.2 million tons per year and

920-595: A greater surface on which to spread a mortar bed and for easier handling. Most concrete blocks have two cores, but three- and four-core units are also produced. A core also allows for the insertion of steel reinforcement to span courses in order to increase tensile strength . This is accomplished by grouting the voids of blocks containing rebar with concrete. Thus reinforced, concrete block walls are better able to resist lateral forces such as wind load and seismic forces. Cores may also be filled with expanded-polystyrene (EPS) block foam insulation, substantially increasing

1035-587: A greater than expected loss of men in the invasion of Serbia. Furthermore, it became evident that the Austrian high command had had no plans for possible continental war and that the army and navy were also ill-equipped to handle such a conflict. In the last two years of the war the Austro-Hungarian armed forces lost all ability to act independently of Germany. As of 7 September 1916, the German emperor

1150-416: A high casualty rate, and by the army's composition of multiple ethnicities with different languages and customs. By 1918, the economic situation had deteriorated and governmental failure on the homefront ended popular support for the war. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed with dramatic speed in the autumn of 1918. Leftist and pacifist political movements organized strikes in factories, and uprisings in

1265-606: A large South Slav state in the 1917 Corfu Declaration signed by members of the Yugoslav Committee . The Croatians had begun disregarding orders from Budapest earlier in October. Lansing's response was, in effect, the death certificate of Austria–Hungary. During the Italian battles, the Czechoslovaks and Southern Slavs declared their independence. With defeat in the war imminent after the Italian offensive in

SECTION 10

#1732798391607

1380-703: A month. Transylvania united with Romania in 1918, with the works passing into the ownership of the Romanian government the following year. After 1920, they were now known as the Hunedoara Ironworks ( Uzinele de Fier Hunedoara ; UFH) and continued as a mining and steel-making center, with considerable holdings of raw materials and output capacity: iron ore mines at Ghelari , Arănieş and Vadu Dobrii ; mining concessions at Lunca Cernii de Jos , Alun , Sălciua de Jos , Trascău , Runc and one near Odorheiu Secuiesc ; five tall furnaces producing 119,000 tons

1495-675: A predominantly Muslim special militia known as the Schutzkorps was established and carried out the persecution of Serbs. Some members of the government, such as Minister of Foreign Affairs Count Leopold Berchtold and Army Commander Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf , had wanted to confront the resurgent Serbian nation for some years in a preventive war, but the Emperor and Hungarian prime minister István Tisza were opposed. The foreign ministry of Austro-Hungarian Empire sent ambassador László Szőgyény to Potsdam , where he inquired about

1610-613: A privatization program completed the following April, when it was acquired from the Romanian government by a subsidiary of the Mittal Steel Company . It took on the name of ArcelorMittal Hunedoara in 2006, following the takeover of Arcelor by Mittal to form ArcelorMittal . After the fall of communism, production and employment fell by a factor of ten. As of 2007, the works produced billets for pipes; heavy, medium and light profiles; reinforced concrete ; wire; and special profiles, including mine gallery supports. Later on,

1725-424: A ribbed or solid two-block unit; such factory-produced units are called "split-rib" or "split-face" blocks. Blocks may be scored by grooves the width of a mortar joint to simulate different block modules. For example, an 8-by-16-inch (200 mm × 410 mm) block may be scored in the middle to simulate 8-by-8-inch (200 mm × 200 mm) masonry, with the grooves filled with mortar and struck to match

1840-497: A rolling plant for light profiles (440,000 tons a year), heavy profiles (1,130,000 tons a year) and wire (280,000 tons a year). Stainless steel for bearings was also produced. The Communist regime fell in 1989 , and the transition to a market economy found the works ill-equipped to survive, with their technology not having been upgraded since the late 1970s. In 1991, the works became a state-owned joint-stock company , Siderurgica Hunedoara. The following year, steel plant #1, with

1955-718: A sand base and without mortar or reinforcing (gravity wall), or using blocks (typically an architectural style of block or clad with a veneer such as brick) with a concrete base, steel reinforcing and mortar (piling wall). Other very common, non-structural uses for concrete block walls (especially in American schools) are as interior fire-rated and extremely durable partition walls, and as exterior backup curtain walls for attachment of building envelope systems (rigid foam insulation and an air/vapor barrier) and veneers (stucco, steel, brick, or split-face concrete block). Concrete masonry walls may be ungrouted, partially grouted, or fully grouted,

2070-471: A share in the management of their own affairs by means of a local representative assembly. In performance of this promise a constitution was promulgated in 1910. The principal players in the Bosnian Crisis of 1908-09 were the foreign ministers of Austria and Russia, Alois Lexa von Aehrenthal and Alexander Izvolsky . Both were motivated by political ambition; the first would emerge successful, and

2185-626: A single monarch who was titled both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary . Austria-Hungary constituted the last phase in the constitutional evolution of the Habsburg monarchy : it was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War and was dissolved shortly after Hungary terminated the union with Austria on 31 October 1918. One of Europe's major powers at

2300-688: A small north-western portion of the former kingdom's territory. Eventually, following the Treaty of Passarowitz in 1718, all former territories of the Hungarian kingdom were ceded from the Ottomans to the Habsburgs. In the revolutions of 1848 , the Kingdom of Hungary called for greater self-government and later even independence from the Austrian Empire . The ensuing Hungarian Revolution of 1848

2415-497: A structural system is the Masonry Standards Joint Committee's Building Code Requirements & Specification for Masonry Structures (TMS 402/602-16). The compressive strength of concrete blocks and masonry walls varies from approximately 3.4 to 34.5 MPa (500–5,000 psi) based on the type of concrete used to manufacture the unit, stacking orientation, the type of mortar used to build

SECTION 20

#1732798391607

2530-417: A total capacity of 90,000 tons of steel ingots per year. The alloy loaded into the furnaces was 75% cast iron and 25% scrap iron, and the hall where they were located was fitted with a mixer for 200 tons of liquid cast iron, to be used during production. Second, the 5 ton-per-load electric furnace produced special steels for tools, including alloys of chromium and tungsten , up to 6000 tons a year. Later, this

2645-588: A total force of 450,000 men. However, in the autumn of 1915, the Serbian Army was defeated by the Central Powers, which led to the occupation of Serbia. Near the end of 1915, in a massive rescue operation involving more than 1,000 trips made by Italian, French and British steamers, 260,000 Serb surviving soldiers were transported to Brindisi and Corfu , where they waited for the chance of the victory of Allied Powers to reclaim their country. Corfu hosted

2760-630: A war over Pan-Slavism. The Sandžak-Raška / Novibazar region was under Austro-Hungarian occupation between 1878 and 1909, when it was returned to the Ottoman Empire, before being ultimately divided between kingdoms of Montenegro and Serbia . On the heels of the Great Balkan Crisis, Austro-Hungarian forces occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 1878 and the monarchy eventually annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1908 as

2875-715: A waste product from impurities in minerals such as coal, limestone and iron-ore), also called slag. Concrete blocks are made from cast concrete (e.g. portland cement and aggregate , usually sand and fine gravel , for high-density blocks). In the western United States, where they are easily obtainable, porous lava rock gravels are used for weight reduction. They also have an added decorative effect to certain types of block, such as split-face, due to their distinct red and black colors. Lower-density blocks may use industrial wastes , such as fly ash or bottom ash , as an aggregate. Recycled materials, such as post-consumer glass, slag cement, or recycled aggregate, are often used in

2990-424: A year; a workshop for moulding cast iron pieces with a 1500 ton-a-year capacity; a forge equipped with two steam hammers ; a machine workshop for preparing 500–600 tons per year of moulded or forged pieces; a cinder block workshop putting out up to 1,200,000 bricks each year; a limestone quarry at Bunila ; a number of coal depots manufacturing charcoal for the furnaces; a tall blast furnace at Govăjdia equipped with

3105-410: Is a standard-size rectangular block used in building construction . The use of blockwork allows structures to be built in the traditional masonry style with layers (or courses) of staggered blocks. Concrete blocks may be produced with hollow centers (cores) to reduce weight , improve insulation and provide an interconnected void into which concrete can be poured to solidify the entire wall after it

3220-532: Is built. Concrete blocks are some of the most versatile building products available because of the wide variety of appearances that can be achieved using them. Those that use cinders ( fly ash or bottom ash ) as an aggregate material are called "cinder blocks" in the United States. They are also known as "breeze blocks", a term derived from "breeze", referring to the small cinders and cinder-dust that are created by partially burned coal. However, in

3335-613: Is now city property remains contaminated. Since 2004, Mittal has taken steps to filter exhaust and to treat waste water. The plant's administrative headquarters, which functioned as a school for workers prior to the Communist era, is considered a historic building, but once abandoned in the years after 1990, it entered a state of disrepair. Its stairs, cables, floors and furniture were stolen and sold by local Roma , its interior, sheltering stray dogs, strewn with documents and remaining furniture wrecked by those searching for valuables within,

3450-631: The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 led to the dissolution of the German Confederation (of which the Habsburg emperor was the hereditary president) and the exclusion of Austria from German affairs. These twin defeats gave the Hungarians the opportunity to remove the shackles of absolutist rule. Realizing the need to compromise with Hungary in order to retain its great power status, the central government in Vienna began negotiations with

3565-615: The Bolshevik Revolution and Russians ended their involvement in the war , Germans and Austrians were able to move on the Western and Southern fronts much manpower from the erstwhile Eastern fighting. On 24 October 1917, Austrians (now enjoying decisive German support) attacked at Caporetto using new infiltration tactics; although they advanced more than 100 km (62.14 mi) in the direction of Venice and gained considerable supplies, they were halted and could not cross

Hunedoara steel works - Misplaced Pages Continue

3680-499: The Great Recession . By 2011, there were 820 employees. That year, eight exhaust chimneys, each over 90 m high and built in 1957, were demolished. These had become a symbol of the city, each of the ovens they served producing 400 tons of steel in one charge prior to 1990, but had become degraded. The chimney of blast furnace #4, itself demolished in 2004, remains standing. In the two years preceding this demolition, around 70% of

3795-666: The Isonzo river, hoping to seize Ljubljana, and to eventually threaten Vienna. However, the Royal Italian Army were halted on the river, where four battles took place over five months (23 June – 2 December 1915). The fight was extremely bloody and exhausting for both the contenders. On 15 May 1916, the Austrian Chief of Staff Conrad von Hötzendorf launched the Strafexpedition (" punitive expedition "):

3910-524: The Piave river. Italy, although suffering massive casualties, recovered from the blow, and a coalition government under Vittorio Emanuele Orlando was formed. Italy also enjoyed support by the Entente powers: by 1918, large amounts of war materials and a few auxiliary American, British, and French divisions arrived in the Italian battle zone. Cadorna was replaced by General Armando Diaz ; under his command,

4025-588: The R-value of the resulting wall to be in compliance with the US national energy code. A variety of specialized shapes exist to allow special construction features. U-shaped blocks, or knockout blocks, have notches to allow the construction of bond beams or lintel assemblies, using horizontal reinforcing grouted into place in the cavity. Blocks with a channel on the end, known as "jamb blocks", allow doors to be secured to wall assemblies. Blocks with grooved ends permit

4140-515: The Treaty of San Stefano tried to create a large pro-Russian Bulgaria. This treaty sparked an international uproar that almost resulted in a general European war. Austria–Hungary and Britain feared that a large Bulgaria would become a Russian satellite that would enable the tsar to dominate the Balkans. British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli moved warships into position against Russia to halt

4255-538: The war with Russia . Following the Armistice of 11 November 1918 ending the World War I, in spite of the previous initial total dependence of the kingdom on its sponsors, it ultimately served against their intentions as the cornerstone proto state of the nascent Second Polish Republic , the latter composed also of territories never intended by the Central Powers to be ceded to Poland. The Battle of Zborov (1917)

4370-511: The " German question " in favor of a Lesser German Solution . Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust , who was the foreign minister from 1866 to 1871, hated the Prussian chancellor, Otto von Bismarck , who had repeatedly outmaneuvered him. Beust looked to France for avenging Austria's defeat and attempted to negotiate with Emperor Napoleon III of France and Italy for an anti-Prussian alliance, but no terms could be reached. The decisive victory of

4485-650: The Allies and Germany . The Austro-Hungarian Empire conscripted 7.8 million soldiers during WWI. General von Hötzendorf was the Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff. Franz Joseph I, who was much too old to command the army, appointed Archduke Friedrich von Österreich-Teschen as Supreme Army Commander (Armeeoberkommandant), but asked him to give Von Hötzendorf freedom to take any decisions. Von Hötzendorf remained in effective command of

4600-661: The Allies, but his initiatives were vetoed by Italy. The heavily rural Empire did have a small industrial base, but its major contribution was manpower and food. Nevertheless, Austria–Hungary was more urbanized (25%) than its actual opponents in the First World War, like the Russian Empire (13.4%), Serbia (13.2%) or Romania (18.8%). Furthermore, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had also more industrialized economy and higher GDP per capita than

4715-456: The Allies, whereby the entire war could be ended by compromise, or perhaps Austria would make a separate peace from Germany. The main effort was vetoed by Italy, which had been promised large slices of Austria for joining the Allies in 1915. Austria was only willing to turn over the Trentino region but nothing more. Karl was seen as a defeatist, which weakened his standing at home and with both

Hunedoara steel works - Misplaced Pages Continue

4830-616: The Austrians broke through the opposing front and occupied the Asiago plateau . The Italians managed to resist and in a counteroffensive seized Gorizia on 9 August. Nonetheless, they had to stop on the Carso , a few kilometres away from the border. At this point, several months of indecisive trench warfare ensued (analogous to the Western front ). As the Russian Empire collapsed as a result of

4945-677: The Austro-Hungarian Army, under a unified command with the Germans, participated in the successful Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive. From June 1916, the Russians focused their attacks on the Austro-Hungarian army in the Brusilov Offensive , recognizing the numerical inferiority of the Austro-Hungarian army. By the end of September 1916, Austria–Hungary mobilized and concentrated new divisions, and the successful Russian advance

5060-460: The Balkan rebels and so pressured the tsar's government to declare war on the Ottoman Empire in 1877 in the name of protecting Orthodox Christians. Unable to mediate between the Ottoman Empire and Russia over the control of Serbia, Austria–Hungary declared neutrality when the conflict between the two powers escalated into a war . With help from Romania and Greece, Russia defeated the Ottomans and with

5175-699: The Battle of Vittorio Veneto on 24 October, Czech politicians peacefully took over command in Prague on 28 October (later declared the birth of Czechoslovakia) and followed up in other major cities in the next few days. On 30 October, the Slovaks did the same. On 29 October, the Slavs in both portions of what remained of Austria–Hungary proclaimed the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and declared that their ultimate intention

5290-628: The Bulgarians, who turned instead to Russia and Serbia. Although Austria had no intention to embark on additional expansion to the south, Aehrenthal encouraged speculation to that effect, expecting that it would paralyze the Balkan states. Instead, it incited them to feverish activity to create a defensive block to stop Austria. A series of grave miscalculations at the highest level thus significantly strengthened Austria's enemies. In 1914, Slavic militants in Bosnia rejected Austria's plan to fully absorb

5405-479: The Central Powers formed by the Austro-Hungarian, German, Bulgarian, and Ottoman armies, had defeated the Romanian and Russian armies of the Entente Powers, and occupied the southern part of Romania (including Oltenia , Muntenia and Dobruja ). Within three months of the war, the Central Powers came near Bucharest, the Romanian capital city. On 6 December, the Central Powers captured Bucharest , and part of

5520-458: The Congress of Berlin in 1878 Gyula Andrássy (Minister of Foreign Affairs) managed to force Russia to retreat from further demands in the Balkans. As a result, Greater Bulgaria was broken up and Serbian independence was guaranteed. In that year, with Britain's support, Austria–Hungary stationed troops in Bosnia to prevent the Russians from expanding into nearby Serbia. In another measure to keep

5635-581: The Emperor's formal coronation as King of Hungary on 8 June had to have taken place in order for the laws to be enacted within the lands of the Holy Crown of Hungary . On 28 July, Franz Joseph, in his new capacity as King of Hungary, approved and promulgated the new laws, which officially gave birth to the Dual Monarchy. The Austro-Prussian War was ended by the Peace of Prague (1866) which settled

5750-402: The Emperor's nephew, Franz Ferdinand , heir to the throne. The Archduke was rumoured to have been an advocate for this trialism as a means to limit the power of the Hungarian aristocracy. A proclamation issued on the occasion of its annexation to the Habsburg monarchy in October 1908 promised these lands constitutional institutions, which should secure to their inhabitants full civil rights and

5865-664: The Emperors Wilhelm II of Germany and Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary. This act promised the creation of the Kingdom of Poland out of territory of Congress Poland , envisioned by its authors as a puppet state controlled by the Central Powers , with the nominal authority vested in the Regency Council . The origin of that document was the dire need to draft new recruits from German-occupied Poland for

SECTION 50

#1732798391607

5980-554: The Hungarian political leaders, led by Ferenc Deák . The Hungarians maintained that the April Laws were still valid, but conceded that under the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 , foreign affairs and defence were "common" to Austria and Hungary. On 20 March 1867, the newly re-established Hungarian parliament at Pest started to negotiate the new laws to be accepted on 30 March. However, Hungarian leaders received word that

6095-601: The Italians retook the initiative and won the decisive Battle of the Piave river (15–23 June 1918), in which some 60,000 Austrian and 43,000 Italian soldiers were killed. The final battle at Vittorio Veneto was lost by 31 October 1918 and the armistice was signed at Villa Giusti on 3 November. On 27 August 1916, Romania declared war against Austria–Hungary. The Romanian Army crossed the borders of Eastern Hungary (Transylvania), and despite initial successes, by November 1916,

6210-435: The Kingdom of Hungary comprised only 42% of the population of Austria–Hungary, the thin majority – more than 3.8 million soldiers – of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces were conscripted from the Kingdom of Hungary during the First World War. Roughly 600,000 soldiers were killed in action, and 700,000 soldiers were wounded in the war. Austria–Hungary held on for years, as the Hungarian half provided sufficient supplies for

6325-510: The Kingdom of Italy, which was economically the far most developed actual opponent of the Empire. On the home front, food grew scarcer and scarcer, as did heating fuel. Hungary, with its heavy agricultural base, was somewhat better fed. The Army conquered productive agricultural areas in Romania and elsewhere, but refused to allow food shipments to civilians back home. Morale fell every year, and

6440-417: The Ottomans. The Congress of Berlin in 1878 let Austria occupy (but not annex) the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a predominantly Slavic area. Austria occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina as a way of gaining power in the Balkans. Serbia, Montenegro and Romania became fully independent. Nonetheless, the Balkans remained a site of political unrest with teeming ambition for independence and great power rivalries. At

6555-711: The Prusso-German armies in the Franco-Prussian war and the subsequent founding of the German Empire ended all hope of re-establishing Austrian influence in Germany, and Beust retired. After being forced out of Germany and Italy, the Dual Monarchy turned to the Balkans, which were in tumult as nationalistic movements were gaining strength and demanding independence. Both Russia and Austria–Hungary saw an opportunity to expand in this region. Russia took on

6670-501: The Russians out of the Balkans, Austria–Hungary formed an alliance, the Mediterranean Entente, with Britain and Italy in 1887 and concluded mutual defence pacts with Germany in 1879 and Romania in 1883 against a possible Russian attack. Following the Congress of Berlin the European powers attempted to guarantee stability through a complex series of alliances and treaties. Anxious about Balkan instability and Russian aggression, and to counter French interests in Europe, Austria–Hungary forged

6785-407: The Serbian government in exile after the collapse of Serbia and served as a supply base to the Greek front. In April 1916 a large number of Serbian troops were transported in British and French naval vessels from Corfu to mainland Greece. The contingent numbering over 120,000 relieved a much smaller army at the Macedonian front and fought alongside British and French troops. On the Eastern front ,

6900-487: The United States breeze blocks also refer specifically to decorative blocks used on exterior walls to allow the breeze through, which were an important feature of Mid-Century Modern design, popularised by Edward Durrell Stone . In Australia, they are often known as besser blocks (because the Besser Company was a major supplier of machines that made concrete blocks), and also as grey blocks or concrete masonry units (CMUs). Clinker blocks use clinker (ash created as

7015-430: The advance of Russian influence in the eastern Mediterranean so close to Britain's route through the Suez Canal . The Treaty of San Stefano was seen in Austria as much too favourable for Russia and its Orthodox-Slavic goals. The Congress of Berlin rolled back the Russian victory by partitioning the large Bulgarian state that Russia had carved out of Ottoman territory and denying any part of Bulgaria full independence from

SECTION 60

#1732798391607

7130-555: The area; they assassinated the Austrian heir and precipitated World War I. The 28 June 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo , excessively intensified the existing traditional religion-based ethnic hostilities in Bosnia. However, in Sarajevo itself, Austrian authorities encouraged violence against the Serb residents, which resulted in the Anti-Serb riots of Sarajevo , in which Catholic Croats and Bosnian Muslims killed two and damaged numerous Serb-owned buildings. Writer Ivo Andrić referred to

7245-405: The army had become commonplace. As the war went on, the ethnic unity declined; the Allies encouraged breakaway demands from minorities and the Empire faced disintegration. With apparent Allied victory approaching, nationalist movements seized ethnic resentment to erode social unity. The military breakdown of the Italian front marked the start of the rebellion for the numerous ethnicities who made up

7360-503: The attic ravaged and housing bats, the basement covered with crates and hundreds of gas masks once used by Patriotic Guards to protect themselves from the pollution of the plant. Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary , also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy , was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consisted of two sovereign states with

7475-407: The composition of the blocks. Use of recycled materials within blocks can create different appearances in the block, such as a terrazzo finish, and may help the finished structure earn LEED certification . Lightweight blocks can also be produced using autoclaved aerated concrete ; these are widely used for construction in Finland and other Scandinavian countries, as well as in central Europe, for

7590-413: The construction of control joints , allowing a filler material to be anchored between the un-mortared block ends. Other features, such as radiused corners known as " bullnoses ", may be incorporated. A wide variety of decorative profiles also exist. Concrete blocks may be formulated with special aggregates to produce specific colors or textures for finish use. Special textures may be produced by splitting

7705-431: The country's largest city dependent on a single industry. Unlike other Romanian cities that were just starting to industrialize with the beginning of Nicolae Ceauşescu 's rule in 1965, the process was completed earlier in Hunedoara, which by the 1960s already had the sense of a unified community, and by 1970 had reached the height of its urban and industrial development. Production reached its peak in 1982–84, stalling during

7820-434: The disused buildings were taken down, including a 1950s power plant that took seven years of attempts to destroy and was considered cursed. As of 2010, hundreds of individuals were making a living by carting off and selling iron and copper from disused portions of the works. Metallurgical activity caused substantial air, water and soil pollution in Hunedoara, especially before 1990. Close to 140 ha of industrial land that

7935-437: The diverse nationalities gave up on the Empire and looked for ways to establish their own nation states. Inflation soared, from an index of 129 in 1914 to 1589 in 1918, wiping out the cash savings of the middle-class. In terms of war damage to the economy, the war used up about 20 percent of the GDP. The dead soldiers amounted to about four percent of the 1914 labor force, and the wounded ones to another six percent. Compared all

8050-457: The empire into a federal union to give ethnic groups decentralization and representation. However, on 18 October, United States Secretary of State Robert Lansing replied that autonomy for the nationalities – the tenth of the Fourteen Points – was no longer enough. In fact, a Czechoslovak provisional government had joined the Allies on 14 October. The South Slavs in both halves of the monarchy had already declared in favor of uniting with Serbia in

8165-452: The enlargement of the market due to increased metal consumption in Transylvania's mechanical plants. Building started in August 1882, with two blast furnaces 14.40 m high and 110 m in volume. The third furnace, with a capacity of 40–50 tons per day, started to be built in 1884; the fourth was started in 1885 and could produce 10–150 tons a day; and the fifth, which could generate 80–150 tons a day, in 1903. The first three burned charcoal, while

8280-501: The experimental Bessemer converter were rebuilt, operating for six months. The opening of the third furnace in June 1890 led to a renewed decision to start producing steel; this happened in 1892 after two 12-ton Martin open hearth furnaces and two Bessemer converters were installed. A fourth furnace, 288 m in volume and 3.3 m higher than the others, started production in August 1895, reaching its planned capacity of 109 tons per day within

8395-427: The focus was defined as remaining on steel products and long hot-rolled bars. In 2011, there were plans for the installation of a new rolling machine producing up to 400,000 tons of europrofile cylinder locks a year, starting in 2012. The drastic production reduction was followed by a surge in unemployment—from 20,000 workers in 1993, only less than 700 were counted in 2011-because while some younger workers emigrated,

8510-769: The independence of the First Czechoslovak Republic , the Second Polish Republic , and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , respectively, and most of the territorial demands of the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Italy were also recognized by the victorious powers in 1920. The realm's official name was in German : Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie and in Hungarian : Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia (English: Austro-Hungarian Monarchy ), though in international relations Austria–Hungary

8625-495: The integrity of the monarchy because of Austro-Hungarian support for Germany. The setbacks that the Austrian army suffered in 1914 and 1915 can be attributed to a large extent by the incompetence of the Austrian high command. After attacking Serbia, its forces soon had to be withdrawn to protect its eastern frontier against Russia's invasion, while German units were engaged in fighting on the Western Front. This resulted in

8740-588: The last two ran on coke . Iron ore was extracted from the mine near the Ghelari plant some 16 km away, and was brought there on a ropeway conveyor built at the same time as the first furnace. Increased production of cast iron had led to a greater demand for iron ore, which in turn caused intense extraction of deep deposits in the Poiana Ruscă Mountains . Industrial-scale quarrying began at Ghelari in 1863, followed by shaft mining from 1881. As

8855-485: The latter two enhancing their structural strength. Additionally, steel reinforcement bars (rebar) can be used both vertically and horizontally inside a concrete block wall to maximize its structural performance. The cells in which the rebar is placed must be grouted for the bars to bond to the wall. For this reason, high-seismic zones typically allow only fully grouted walls in their building codes. The American design code that guides design engineers in using concrete blocks as

8970-661: The latter would be broken by the crisis. Along the way, they would drag Europe to the brink of war in 1909. They would also divide Europe into the two armed camps that would go to war in July 1914. Aehrenthal had started with the assumption that the Slavic minorities could never come together, and the Balkan League would never cause any damage to Austria. He turned down an Ottoman proposal for an alliance that would include Austria, Turkey, and Romania. However, his policies alienated

9085-474: The major countries in the war, the death and casualty rate was toward the high-end regarding the present-day territory of Austria. By summer 1918, " Green Cadres " of army deserters formed armed bands in the hills of Croatia-Slavonia and civil authority disintegrated. By late October violence and massive looting erupted and there were efforts to form peasant republics. However, the Croatian political leadership

9200-417: The majority stayed in the city and by 2011 faced serious difficulties in finding new work or took early retirement. In 2008, the number of employees had fallen to 1260, following a wave of compensated early retirements. For several months at the end of that year and into the next, the works entirely stopped production for the first time in 80 years: most of its output went abroad, due to a drop in orders during

9315-424: The material's inherent thermal insulation characteristics, as are expanded clay aggregate blocks. Blocks come in modular sizes, with the most popular typically referred to (by their thickness) as "4-inch", "6-inch", "8-inch", and "12-inch". In the US, concrete blocks are nominally 16 in (410 mm) long and 8 in (200 mm) wide. Their actual dimensions are 3 ⁄ 8 inch (9.5 mm) less than

9430-501: The military forces until Emperor Karl I took the supreme command himself in late 1916 and dismissed Conrad von Hötzendorf in 1917. Meanwhile, economic conditions on the homefront deteriorated rapidly. The Empire depended on agriculture, and agriculture depended on the heavy labor of millions of men who were now in the Army. Food production fell, the transportation system became overcrowded, and industrial production could not successfully handle

9545-460: The military to continue to wage war. This was shown in a transition of power after which the Hungarian prime minister, Count István Tisza, and foreign minister, Count István Burián , had decisive influence over the internal and external affairs of the monarchy. By late 1916, food supply from Hungary became intermittent and the government sought an armistice with the Entente powers. However, this failed as Britain and France no longer had any regard for

9660-482: The monarch's direct authority, as was a third finance ministry responsible only for financing the two "common" portfolios. A third component of the union was the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia , an autonomous region under the Hungarian crown, which negotiated the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement in 1868. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian joint military and civilian rule until it

9775-434: The multiethnic Empire, as they refused to keep on fighting for a cause that now appeared senseless. The Emperor had lost much of his power to rule, as his realm disintegrated. On 14 October 1918, Foreign Minister Baron István Burián von Rajecz asked for an armistice based on President Woodrow Wilson 's Fourteen Points and two days later Emperor Karl I issued a proclamation ("Imperial Manifesto of 16 October 1918") altering

9890-589: The nominal dimensions (to allow for 3 ⁄ 8 -inch mortar joints between blocks in any orientation). In Ireland and the UK, blocks are usually 440 mm × 215 mm × 100 mm (17.3 in × 8.5 in × 3.9 in) excluding mortar joints. In Australia, New Zealand and Canada, blocks are usually 390 mm × 190 mm × 190 mm (15.4 in × 7.5 in × 7.5 in) excluding mortar joints. Block cores are typically tapered so that their top surface (as laid) has

10005-433: The overwhelming need for munitions. Germany provided a great deal of help, but it was not enough. Furthermore, the political instability of the multiple ethnic groups of Empire now ripped apart any hope for national consensus in support of the war. Increasingly there was a demand for breaking up the Empire and setting up autonomous national states based on historic language-based cultures. The new Emperor sought peace terms from

10120-469: The plant to its fullest capacity; and by refining cast iron to a higher degree, first into steel and then into laminated products, by using upgraded equipment. Between 1937 and 1940, a modern steel production and rolling section was built, with machinery imported from Nazi Germany , covering 8500 m and fitted with four special components. First, the four Siemens-Martin open-hearth furnaces, heated by six gas generators, could each fit 25 loads of tons, with

10235-602: The population moved to the unoccupied Romanian territory, in Moldavia , together with the Romanian government, royal court and public authorities, which relocated to Iași . In 1917, after several defensive victories (managing to stop the German-Austro-Hungarian advance), with Russia's withdrawal from the war following the October Revolution, Romania was forced to drop out of the war. Although

10350-427: The regime's last years. Hunedoara was the leading Romanian producer of long steel profiles, made in two electric arc furnaces . The first, with a capacity of 150,000 tons per year, two 50-ton furnaces and two 20-ton ones for alloyed steels shaped into ingots, featured vacuum degasification and electro-slag remelting . The second, turning out up to 400,000 tons a year, had two 100-ton secondary treatment furnaces with

10465-476: The role of protector of Slavs and Orthodox Christians. Austria envisioned a multi-ethnic, religiously diverse empire under Vienna's control. Count Gyula Andrássy, a Hungarian who was Foreign Minister (1871–1879), made the centerpiece of his policy one of opposition to Russian expansion in the Balkans and blocking Serbian ambitions to dominate a new South Slav federation. He wanted Germany to ally with Austria, not Russia. Russian Pan-Slavic organizations sent aid to

10580-503: The ropeway conveyor could no longer handle a significantly enlarged capacity, the 16-km Ghelari-Hunedoara narrow gauge railway was built between 1890 and 1900. Also in the same area were built the 18-km Govăjdia - Bătrâna River funicular for charcoal transport and the 14-km Govăjdia- Bunila one for bringing charcoal and limestone . The latter was also supplied from local quarries and carried in by harnessed pack animals. The works were officially opened on June 12, 1884. The following May,

10695-502: The second blast furnace went into operation, and it was in the years after that Hunedoara became the area's steel-producing center. The factory administration moved there, and the old iron, forging and machine workshops gradually lost their importance, although the Govăjdia Blast Furnace remained active as late as 1918. In 1886, the practice of turning cast iron into steel began at Hunedoara, using new technologies. The cast iron

10810-500: The side of the Entente powers , hoping to gain territory from its former ally. The Austro-Hungarian Empire played a relatively passive diplomatic role in the war, as it was increasingly dominated and controlled by Germany. The only goal was to punish Serbia and try to stop the ethnic breakup of the Empire, and it completely failed. Starting in late 1916 the new Emperor Karl removed the pro-German officials and opened peace overtures to

10925-593: The standpoint of the German Emperor on 5 July and received a supportive response. His Majesty authorized me to report to [Franz Joseph] that in this case, too, we could count on Germany's full support. As mentioned, he first had to consult with the Chancellor, but he did not have the slightest doubt that Herr von Bethmann Hollweg would fully agree with him, particularly with regard to action on our part against Serbia. In his [Wilhelm's] opinion, though, there

11040-665: The time, Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe and the third-most populous (after Russia and the German Empire ), while being among the ten most populous countries worldwide. The Empire built up the fourth-largest machine-building industry in the world. With the exception of the territory of the Bosnian Condominium , the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary were separate sovereign countries in international law. At its core

11155-602: The true joints. Concrete block, when built with integral steel reinforcement , is a very common building material for the load-bearing walls of buildings, in what is termed concrete block structure ( CBS ) construction. One of the common foundation types for American suburban houses is the "crawl space foundation" which consists of a concrete block wall on the perimeter on which dimensional lumber floor joists are supported. Retaining walls , which can also be constructed of concrete blocks, can be constructed, either using blocks designed to be set back each course and used with

11270-441: The urgent counsel of his top advisers. Over the course of July and August 1914, these events caused the start of World War I, as Russia mobilized in support of Serbia, setting off a series of counter-mobilizations. In support of his German ally, on Thursday, 6 August 1914, Emperor Franz Joseph signed the declaration of war on Russia. Italy initially remained neutral, despite its alliance with Austria–Hungary. In 1915, it switched to

11385-489: The violence as the "Sarajevo frenzy of hate." Violent actions against ethnic Serbs were organized not only in Sarajevo but also in many other larger Austro-Hungarian cities in modern-day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Austro-Hungarian authorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina imprisoned and extradited approximately 5,500 prominent Serbs, 700 to 2,200 of whom died in prison. Four hundred sixty Serbs were sentenced to death and

11500-654: The war started out equally poorly. The government accepted the Polish proposal of establishing the Supreme National Committee as the Polish central authority within the Empire, responsible for the formation of the Polish Legions , an auxiliary military formation within the Austro-Hungarian army. The Austro-Hungarian Army was defeated at the Battle of Lemberg and the great fortress city of Przemyśl

11615-771: Was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen . From 1867 onwards, the abbreviations heading the names of official institutions in Austria–Hungary reflected their responsibility: Following a decision of Franz Joseph I in 1868, the realm bore the official name Austro-Hungarian Monarchy/Realm ( German : Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie/Reich ; Hungarian : Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia/Birodalom ) in its international relations. It

11730-594: Was besieged and fell in March 1915. The Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive started as a minor German offensive to relieve the pressure of the Russian numerical superiority on the Austro-Hungarians, but the cooperation of the Central Powers resulted in huge Russian losses and the total collapse of the Russian lines and their 100 km (62 mi) long retreat into Russia. The Russian Third Army perished. In summer 1915,

11845-571: Was crushed by the Austrian military with Russian military assistance, and the level of autonomy that the Hungarian state had enjoyed was replaced with absolutist rule from Vienna. This further increased Hungarian resentment of the Habsburg dominion. In the 1860s, the Empire faced two severe defeats: its loss in the Second Italian War of Independence broke its dominion over a large part of Northern Italy ( Lombardy, Veneto , Modena, Reggio , Tuscany , Parma and Piacenza ) while defeat in

11960-450: Was focused on creating a new state (Yugoslavia) and worked with the advancing Serbian army to impose control and end the uprisings. At the start of the war, the army was divided into two: the smaller part attacked Serbia while the larger part fought against the formidable Imperial Russian Army . The invasion of Serbia in 1914 was a disaster: by the end of the year, the Austro-Hungarian Army had taken no territory, but had lost 227,000 out of

12075-655: Was fully annexed in 1908, provoking the Bosnian crisis . Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I , which began with an Austro-Hungarian war declaration on the Kingdom of Serbia on 28 July 1914. It was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The Kingdom of Hungary and the First Austrian Republic were treated as its successors de jure , whereas

12190-438: Was given full control of all the armed forces of the Central Powers and Austria-Hungary effectively became a satellite of Germany. The Austrians viewed the German army favorably; on the other hand, by 1916 the general belief in Germany was that Germany, in its alliance with Austria–Hungary, was "shackled to a corpse". The operational capability of the Austro-Hungarian army was seriously affected by supply shortages, low morale and

12305-451: Was halted and slowly repelled; but the Austrian armies took heavy losses (about 1 million men) and never recovered. Nevertheless, the huge losses in men and material inflicted on the Russians during the offensive contributed greatly to the revolutions of 1917 , and it caused an economic crash in the Russian Empire. The Act of 5 November 1916 was proclaimed then to the Poles jointly by

12420-406: Was modernized and moved to the foundry. Third, the foundry room with pits for shaping steel into ingots. Fourth, seven sliding bridges: two 50-ton ones; one 3-ton one; one 7.5-ton bridge fitted with electromagnets ; two 7.5.-ton cantilever bridges ; and one featuring a gripping mechanism for transporting finished ingots. By 1957, Hunedoara had more than 36,000 residents and was coming to be seen as

12535-526: Was no need to wait patiently before taking action... The leaders of Austria–Hungary therefore decided to confront Serbia militarily before it could incite a revolt; using the assassination as an excuse, they presented a list of ten demands called the July Ultimatum , expecting Serbia would never accept. When Serbia accepted nine of the ten demands but only partially accepted the remaining one, Austria–Hungary declared war. Franz Joseph I finally followed

12650-521: Was often contracted to the "Dual Monarchy" in English or simply referred to as Austria . Timeline Following Hungary's defeat against the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Mohács of 1526, the Habsburg Empire became more involved in the Kingdom of Hungary, and subsequently assumed the Hungarian throne. However, as the Ottomans expanded further into Hungary, the Habsburgs came to control only

12765-458: Was shipped to steel works at Cugir , Podbrezová and Diósgyőr , but the technical and economic results were unsatisfactory. Experiments within the Hunedoara works had failed due to deficiencies in the craftsmanship of the improvised equipment, and this was purpose-rebuilt in 1887. However, once they started operating again, a fire destroyed them, after which the 1887 cast iron moulding hall and

12880-429: Was the dual monarchy , which was a real union between Cisleithania , the northern and western parts of the former Austrian Empire , and Transleithania (Kingdom of Hungary) . Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and Hungarian states were co-equal in power. The two countries conducted unified diplomatic and defence policies. For these purposes, "common" ministries of foreign affairs and defence were maintained under

12995-585: Was the first significant action of the Czechoslovak Legions , who fought for the independence of Czechoslovakia against the Austro-Hungarian army. In May 1915, Italy attacked Austria–Hungary. Italy was the only military opponent of Austria–Hungary which had a similar degree of industrialization and economic level; moreover, her army was numerous (≈1,000,000 men were immediately fielded), but suffered from poor leadership, training and organization. Chief of Staff Luigi Cadorna marched his army towards

13110-595: Was to unite with Serbia and Montenegro in a large South Slav state . On the same day, the Czechs and Slovaks formally proclaimed the establishment of Czechoslovakia as an independent state. Concrete masonry unit A concrete block , also known as a cinder block in North American English , breeze block in British English , concrete masonry unit ( CMU ), or by various other terms ,

13225-733: Was used (German: Österreich-Ungarn ; Hungarian: Ausztria-Magyarország ). The Austrians also used the names k. u. k. Monarchie (English: k. u. k. monarchy ) (in detail German: Kaiserliche und königliche Monarchie Österreich-Ungarn ; Hungarian: Császári és Királyi Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia ) and Danubian Monarchy (German: Donaumonarchie ; Hungarian: Dunai Monarchia ) or Dual Monarchy (German: Doppel-Monarchie ; Hungarian: Dual-Monarchia ) and The Double Eagle (German: Der Doppel-Adler ; Hungarian: Kétsas ), but none of these became widespread either in Hungary or elsewhere. The realm's full name used in internal administration

#606393