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128-412: Completed in 1964 after nine years of construction, Shihmen was Taiwan's first multi-purpose water project and a major step towards the island's economic independence after World War II . Year-round water releases from the dam enabled additional rice harvests and doubled Taoyuan's annual agricultural output, while the reservoir became a tourist destination due to its scenery and plentiful fisheries. However,

256-637: A Neutrality Pact in April 1941, and Japan adopted the doctrine of Nanshin-ron , promoted by the Navy, which took its focus southward and eventually led to war with the United States and the Western Allies. In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming more aggressive. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria , again provoking little response from other European powers. Encouraged, Hitler began pressing German claims on

384-564: A cautious French probe into the Saarland . The Western Allies also began a naval blockade of Germany , which aimed to damage the country's economy and war effort. Germany responded by ordering U-boat warfare against Allied merchant and warships, which would later escalate into the Battle of the Atlantic . On 8 September, German troops reached the suburbs of Warsaw . The Polish counter-offensive to

512-592: A 2017 Taipei Times report, the amount of sediment flowing into the reservoir was 3.42 million tonnes per year. About 1.17 million tonnes were sluiced through the dam's outlets and another 900,000 tonnes were removed by excavation and dredging. The government has proposed to construct a sediment bypass tunnel, which would prevent another 640,000 tonnes from entering the reservoir. This technology has already been employed at reservoirs in Japan and Switzerland, and would essentially allow river water to be diverted around

640-436: A capacity of 34 cubic metres per second (1,200 cu ft/s). The dam also has two additional flood tunnels which were completed in 1978, in order to allow faster evacuation of reservoir storage prior to typhoons. Each tunnel is 375.4 metres (1,232 ft) long, 1.372 metres (4.50 ft) in diameter, with a combined capacity of 2,400 cubic metres per second (85,000 cu ft/s). The dam's hydroelectric power station

768-413: A combined population of some 3.4 million people and more than 36,500 hectares (90,000 acres) of irrigated land. Each year, Shihmen furnishes 181.6 million m (147,200 acre feet) of water for irrigation and industrial uses and about 127.4 million m (103,300 acre feet) for residential use in downstream areas. In addition, an annual minimum river release of 299.6 million m (242,900 acre feet)

896-576: A dam 190 metres (620 ft) high with a 171 million cubic metre (139,000 acre-foot) storage capacity. This project could be built in conjunction with the Bilin Reservoir (比麟水庫) which would divert some water from the Dahan drainage to the Da'an River , increasing the water supply available for Hsinchu County . The dam projects have been strongly criticized as an expensive, yet only marginally effective solution to

1024-660: A limited effect. This has diminished both the Shihmen Dam's capability to contain floods and provide water during droughts. The Dahan River is the main river in northwestern Taiwan and is one of two tributaries that join in Taipei to form the Tamsui , Taiwan's largest river system. Originating in the Xueshan Range , the river begins life as a fast-flowing mountain stream prone to flooding during typhoons . The Dahan skirts, but does not cross,

1152-510: A nearly 20 percent reduction – and the active capacity was decreased to 233,800 ML (189,500 acre⋅ft). As of a 2017 study, the total capacity had been reduced to 216,000 ML (175,000 acre⋅ft). The Shihmen afterbay reservoir, located below the main dam, regulates the water release into the Dahan River and provides the intake point for the Taoyuan and Shihmen Canals. The afterbay

1280-514: A pretext to initiate the invasion. The first German attack of the war came against the Polish defences at Westerplatte . The United Kingdom responded with an ultimatum for Germany to cease military operations, and on 3 September, after the ultimatum was ignored, Britain and France declared war on Germany. During the Phoney War period, the alliance provided no direct military support to Poland, outside of

1408-765: A pretext to worsen relations. On 29 August, Hitler demanded that a Polish plenipotentiary immediately travel to Berlin to negotiate the handover of Danzig , and to allow a plebiscite in the Polish Corridor in which the German minority would vote on secession. The Poles refused to comply with the German demands, and on the night of 30–31 August in a confrontational meeting with the British ambassador Nevile Henderson , Ribbentrop declared that Germany considered its claims rejected. On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland after having staged several false flag border incidents as

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1536-469: A secret protocol that defined German and Soviet "spheres of influence" (western Poland and Lithuania for Germany; eastern Poland , Finland, Estonia , Latvia and Bessarabia for the Soviet Union), and raised the question of continuing Polish independence. The pact neutralised the possibility of Soviet opposition to a campaign against Poland and assured that Germany would not have to face the prospect of

1664-743: A similar pact and rejected ceding part of its territory to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union invaded Finland in November 1939, and was subsequently expelled from the League of Nations for this crime of aggression. Despite overwhelming numerical superiority, Soviet military success during the Winter War was modest, and the Finno-Soviet war ended in March 1940 with some Finnish concessions of territory . In June 1940,

1792-519: A two-front war, as it had in World War   I. Immediately afterwards, Hitler ordered the attack to proceed on 26 August, but upon hearing that the United Kingdom had concluded a formal mutual assistance pact with Poland and that Italy would maintain neutrality, he decided to delay it. In response to British requests for direct negotiations to avoid war, Germany made demands on Poland, which served as

1920-410: Is 245 metres (804 ft), with a maximum flood level of 249.7 metres (819 ft). The concrete spillway is located to the east of the dam and is controlled by six radial gates , each 10 metres (33 ft) high and 14 metres (46 ft) wide. The maximum water release is 11,400 cubic metres per second (400,000 cu ft/s). There is also a river outlet works used for normal releases, with

2048-416: Is a rolled rockfill embankment dam 133.1 metres (437 ft) high and 360 metres (1,180 ft) long, constructed over a 70-metre (230 ft) high concrete core. The main body of the dam contains some 7.06 million cubic metres (9.23 million yd) of material. At the crest, the dam is 11.5 metres (38 ft) wide, with an elevation of 252.1 metres (827 ft) above sea level. The normal water level

2176-450: Is estimated to be no more than 40 metres (130 ft) deep today. The textbook The Hydraulics of Open Channel Flow by Hubert Chanson describes the dam as having "become a vast sediment trap with an inappropriate storage capacity to act as a flood control or water supply reservoir." In 1981 it was estimated that 2.9 million tonnes of sediment flow into the reservoir each year, or a watershed erosion rate of 3,789 tonnes/km. According to

2304-601: Is formed by a 317.5-metre (1,042 ft) long weir and can store up to 2,200,000 cubic metres (1,800 acre⋅ft). The headworks for the Taoyuan Canal have a capacity of 18.6 cubic metres per second (660 cu ft/s), and the Shihmen Canal can carry up to 18.4 cubic metres per second (650 cu ft/s). Water from Shihmen Dam is distributed to 28 districts in Taoyuan City , Hsinchu County and New Taipei , with

2432-502: Is located on the left bank of the Dahan River at the base of the dam. Two steel 4.57-metre (15.0 ft) diameter penstocks, each 318.8 metres (1,046 ft) long, feed water to two Francis turbines . The maximum water flow through the power plant is 137.2 cubic metres per second (4,850 cu ft/s). Each generator has a capacity of 45,000 kilowatts (KW), for a total capacity of 90,000 KW. The plant produces about 200 million kilowatt hours per year. The impounded water behind

2560-548: Is maintained to provide a baseflow in the lower Dahan River. About 386.3 million m (313,200 acre feet) of the aforementioned releases are utilized for hydroelectric generation. The dam's power station generates roughly 200 million kilowatt hours annually and is integral in meeting peaking power demands in northern Taiwan's electricity grid. Hydroelectric power releases peak in late July and August, largely because of air-conditioning usage in Taiwan's northern cities. Shihmen

2688-666: Is one of several key reservoirs in the Tamsui River system used to cut peak flood flows during typhoon events. Dam releases are coordinated with those from Feitsui Dam to the east in order to reduce the severity of flooding. However, sediment accumulation in the reservoir has reduced its effectiveness on large flooding events. As a result, the "frequency with which the Shih-men Dam discharges water down its spillway ranks first among Taiwan's reservoirs. The phrase 'the Shihmen Reservoir

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2816-409: Is releasing flood water' has become a euphemism for 'your fly is open'." Additionally, large flooding events can cause turbidity levels in the reservoir to increase by over 3,000 times of average, forcing authorities to shut down water supplies. This problem has been exacerbated by the increasing percentage of Shihmen water going to residential and industrial users, who generally demand clearer water than

2944-542: Is virtually non-existent today. These contexts include banking, contracts, or foreign exchange. The currency unit name can be written as 圓 or 元 , which are interchangeable. They are both pronounced yuán in Mandarin but have different pronunciations in Taiwanese Hokkien (îⁿ, goân) and Hakka (yèn, ngièn). The name 仙 in Taiwanese Hokkien and Hakka for cent is a loanword borrowed from English. In English usage,

3072-588: The Anglo-German Naval Agreement and the German–Polish declaration of non-aggression . The situation became a crisis in late August as German troops continued to mobilise against the Polish border. On 23 August the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact with Germany, after tripartite negotiations for a military alliance between France, the United Kingdom, and Soviet Union had stalled. This pact had

3200-592: The Bank of Taiwan issued banknotes as the de facto central bank between 1949 and 1961, and after 1961 continued to issue banknotes as a delegate of the central bank. The central bank began issuing New Taiwan dollar banknotes in July 2000, and the notes issued by the Bank of Taiwan were taken out of circulation. The adjective "new" ( 新 ) is only added in formal contexts where it is necessary to avoid any ambiguity, even though ambiguity

3328-662: The British Empire , with fighting in the Balkans , Mediterranean, and Middle East , the aerial Battle of Britain and the Blitz , and naval Battle of the Atlantic . Through a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany took control of much of continental Europe and formed the Axis alliance with Italy , Japan , and other countries. In June 1941, Germany led the European Axis in an invasion of

3456-566: The German Revolution of 1918–1919 , and a democratic government, later known as the Weimar Republic , was created. The interwar period saw strife between supporters of the new republic and hardline opponents on both the political right and left. Italy, as an Entente ally, had made some post-war territorial gains; however, Italian nationalists were angered that the promises made by the United Kingdom and France to secure Italian entrance into

3584-814: The German invasion of Poland and the United Kingdom and France 's declaration of war on Germany two days later on 3 September 1939. Dates for the beginning of the Pacific War include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the earlier Japanese invasion of Manchuria , on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor , who stated that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously, and

3712-567: The Italian mainland , and Allied offensives in the Pacific—cost the Axis powers their initiative and forced them into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France at Normandy , while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and pushed Germany and its allies westward. At the same time, Japan suffered reversals in mainland Asia, while the Allies crippled

3840-537: The Japanese Navy and captured key islands . The war in Europe concluded with the liberation of German-occupied territories ; the invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the fall of Berlin to Soviet troops; Hitler's suicide ; and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945 . Following the refusal of Japan to surrender on the terms of the Potsdam Declaration ,

3968-817: The Japanese yen , were all derived from the Spanish American silver dollar , which China imported in large quantities from Spanish America through Spanish Philippines in the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade from the 16th to 20th centuries. After the use of the Spanish dollar and silver Chinese yuan in Taiwan , it issued the Taiwanese yen in 1895, followed by the Old Taiwan dollar in 1946. The Bank of Taiwan first issued

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4096-682: The League of Nations as a force to preserve peace. Both Italy and Ethiopia were member nations, but the League did little when the former clearly violated Article X of the League's Covenant . The United Kingdom and France supported imposing sanctions on Italy for the invasion, but the sanctions were not fully enforced and failed to end the Italian invasion. Italy subsequently dropped its objections to Germany's goal of absorbing Austria . When civil war broke out in Spain, Hitler and Mussolini lent military support to

4224-693: The Nationalist rebels , led by General Francisco Franco . Italy supported the Nationalists to a greater extent than the Nazis: Mussolini sent more than 70,000 ground troops, 6,000 aviation personnel, and 720 aircraft to Spain. The Soviet Union supported the existing government of the Spanish Republic . More than 30,000 foreign volunteers, known as the International Brigades , also fought against

4352-677: The Rome–Berlin Axis . A month later, Germany and Japan signed the Anti-Comintern Pact , which Italy joined the following year. The Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against regional warlords and nominally unified China in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allies and new regional warlords . In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Empire of Japan , which had long sought influence in China as

4480-603: The Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers . Nearly all the world's countries —including all the great powers —participated, with many investing all available economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities in pursuit of total war , blurring the distinction between military and civilian resources. Tanks and aircraft played major roles , with

4608-581: The Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941. By contrast, the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, massing forces on the Soviet border. Hitler believed that the United Kingdom's refusal to end the war was based on the hope that the United States and the Soviet Union would enter the war against Germany sooner or later. On 31 July 1940, Hitler decided that

4736-580: The Stresa Front in April 1935 in order to contain Germany, a key step towards military globalisation ; however, that June, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany, easing prior restrictions. The Soviet Union, concerned by Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of Eastern Europe , drafted a treaty of mutual assistance with France. Before taking effect, though, the Franco-Soviet pact

4864-689: The Sudetenland , an area of Czechoslovakia with a predominantly ethnic German population. Soon the United Kingdom and France followed the appeasement policy of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and conceded this territory to Germany in the Munich Agreement , which was made against the wishes of the Czechoslovak government, in exchange for a promise of no further territorial demands. Soon afterwards, Germany and Italy forced Czechoslovakia to cede additional territory to Hungary, and Poland annexed

4992-682: The Tanggu Truce was signed in 1933. Thereafter, Chinese volunteer forces continued the resistance to Japanese aggression in Manchuria , and Chahar and Suiyuan . After the 1936 Xi'an Incident , the Kuomintang and CCP forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan. The Second Italo-Ethiopian War was a brief colonial war that began in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war began with

5120-530: The Taoyuan Plateau , which lacks a reliable water supply of its own. The plateau has been farmed since 1680 using thousands of artificial ponds to capture rainfall; in 1928, when Taiwan was under Japanese rule , the Taoyuan Canal was dug to divert water from the Dahan (then known as the Takekan River) onto the plateau. River water enabled the irrigation of an additional 20,000 hectares (49,000 acres) of land in

5248-466: The Trans-Olza region of Czechoslovakia. Although all of Germany's stated demands had been satisfied by the agreement, privately Hitler was furious that British interference had prevented him from seizing all of Czechoslovakia in one operation. In subsequent speeches Hitler attacked British and Jewish "war-mongers" and in January 1939 secretly ordered a major build-up of the German navy to challenge British naval supremacy. In March 1939, Germany invaded

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5376-506: The Treaty of Craiova . The loss of one-third of Romania's 1939 territory caused a coup against King Carol II, turning Romania into a fascist dictatorship under Marshal Ion Antonescu , with a course set towards the Axis in the hopes of a German guarantee. Meanwhile, German-Soviet political relations and economic co-operation gradually stalled, and both states began preparations for war. In April 1940, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to protect shipments of iron ore from Sweden , which

5504-401: The United Kingdom and France to declare war on Germany. Poland was divided between Germany and the Soviet Union under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact , in which they had agreed on " spheres of influence " in Eastern Europe. In 1940, the Soviets annexed the Baltic states and parts of Finland and Romania . After the fall of France in June 1940, the war continued mainly between Germany and

5632-426: The Wehrmacht rapidly advanced to the Channel and cut off the Allied forces in Belgium, trapping the bulk of the Allied armies in a cauldron on the Franco-Belgian border near Lille. The United Kingdom was able to evacuate a significant number of Allied troops from the continent by early June, although they had to abandon almost all their equipment. On 10 June, Italy invaded France , declaring war on both France and

5760-451: The aftermath of World War I and the rise of fascism in Europe and militarism in Japan . Key events leading up to the war included Japan's invasion of Manchuria , the Spanish Civil War , the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War , and Germany's annexations of Austria and the Sudetenland . World War II is generally considered to have begun on 1 September 1939, when Nazi Germany , under Adolf Hitler , invaded Poland , prompting

5888-483: The old Taiwan dollar , at a rate of 40,000 old dollars per one new dollar. The base unit of the New Taiwan dollar is called a yuan ( 圓 ), subdivided into ten chiao ( 角 ) or 100 fen ( 分 ), although in practice neither chiao nor fen are used. There are a variety of alternative names for the units in Taiwan. The unit of the dollar is typically informally written with the simpler equivalent character as 元 , except when writing it for legal transactions such as at

6016-404: The reunification of East and West Germany to take place and resolved most post–World War   II issues. No formal peace treaty between Japan and the Soviet Union was ever signed, although the state of war between the two countries was terminated by the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration of 1956 , which also restored full diplomatic relations between them. World War I had radically altered

6144-516: The 1990s as Taoyuan County saw significant urbanization; in the meantime, demand for cleaner domestic water has risen. The government allocated NT$ 21 million to develop the Shihmen Reservoir as a recreational area. Boating facilities and about 31 kilometres (19 mi) of new roads were constructed to improve access to the reservoir. The reservoir would also be stocked with game fish, and its shores would eventually be developed with "temples, museums, monuments, pagodas, hostels and residences." After

6272-409: The Allies were attempting to cut off . Denmark capitulated after six hours , and despite Allied support , Norway was conquered within two months. British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the resignation of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain , who was replaced by Winston Churchill on 10   May 1940. On the same day, Germany launched an offensive against France . To circumvent

6400-400: The Axis war against the Soviet Union, in Romania's case partially to recapture territory ceded to the Soviet Union . In early June 1940, the Italian Regia Aeronautica attacked and besieged Malta , a British possession. From late summer to early autumn, Italy conquered British Somaliland and made an incursion into British-held Egypt . In October, Italy attacked Greece , but the attack

6528-421: The Blitz , but largely ended in May 1941 after failing to significantly disrupt the British war effort. Using newly captured French ports, the German Navy enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy , using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic . The British Home Fleet scored a significant victory on 27   May 1941 by sinking the German battleship Bismarck . In November 1939,

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6656-420: The Central Bank of the Republic of China issued a new 100-dollar legal tender circulating commemorative in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China. The red paper note measures 145 × 70 mm and features a portrait of Dr. Sun Yat-sen on the front and the Chung-Shan Building on the back. The design is no different from the ordinary NT$ 100 note, except for the Chinese wording on

6784-556: The Dahan River valley would be displaced by the project; they were relocated starting in 1956 to areas along Taiwan's northwest coast. Although the government built new homes, schools and other infrastructure as well as providing land compensation to families, the resettlement programme was the subject of bitter controversy. The dam was designed by Tippetts-Abbett-McCarthy-Stratton, with construction overseen by Morrison-Knudsen (known previously for its work on Hoover Dam ). Heavy construction began in late 1959 when large equipment arrived at

6912-405: The European Axis declaring war on the US. Japan conquered much of coastal China and Southeast Asia , but its advances in the Pacific were halted in mid-1942 after its defeat in the naval Battle of Midway ; Germany and Italy were defeated in North Africa and at Stalingrad in the Soviet Union. Key setbacks in 1943—including German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and

7040-410: The French possessions of Syria and Lebanon , assisted by the Free French . With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union made preparations for war. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany, and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia , the two powers signed

7168-426: The Germans, and the last large operational unit of the Polish Army surrendered on 6   October . Despite the military defeat, Poland never surrendered; instead, it formed the Polish government-in-exile and a clandestine state apparatus remained in occupied Poland. A significant part of Polish military personnel evacuated to Romania and Latvia; many of them later fought against the Axis in other theatres of

7296-450: The Nationalists. Both Germany and the Soviet Union used this proxy war as an opportunity to test in combat their most advanced weapons and tactics. The Nationalists won the civil war in April 1939; Franco, now dictator, remained officially neutral during World War   II but generally favoured the Axis . His greatest collaboration with Germany was the sending of volunteers to fight on the Eastern Front . In July 1937, Japan captured

7424-416: The New Taiwan dollar in circulation are: Coins are minted by the Central Mint , while notes are printed by the Central Engraving and Printing Plant . Both are run by the Central Bank. The 50¢ coin is rare because of its low value, while the NT$ 20 coin is rare because of the government's lack of willingness to promote it . As of 2010, the cost of the raw materials in a 50¢ coin was more than the face value of

7552-458: The New Taiwan dollar is often abbreviated as NT, NT$ , or NT dollar, while the abbreviation TWD is typically used in the context of foreign exchange rates. Subdivisions of a New Taiwan dollar are rarely used since practically all products on the consumer market are sold in whole dollars. Nevertheless, electronic transactions and bank statements can be expressed to 1 fen ($ 0.01). The various currencies called yuan or dollar issued in China, as well as

7680-419: The New Taiwan dollar on 15 June 1949 to replace the Old Taiwan dollar at a ratio of 40,000 to one. The first goal of the New Taiwan dollar was to end the hyperinflation that had plagued Nationalist China due to the Chinese Civil War . After the communists captured Beijing in January 1949, the Nationalists began to retreat to Taiwan. The government then declared in the Temporary Provisions Effective During

7808-444: The Period of Communist Rebellion that dollars issued by the Bank of Taiwan would become the new currency in circulation. Even though the New Taiwan dollar was the de facto currency of Taiwan, statutes after 1949 still define the silver yuan or silver dollar as the legal currency, worth NT$ 3. Many older statutes have fines and fees given in silver yuan. Its value of NT$ 3 has not been updated despite decades of inflation, making

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7936-452: The Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission after a carrier attack at Taranto , and neutralising several more warships at the Battle of Cape Matapan . Italian defeats prompted Germany to deploy an expeditionary force to North Africa; at the end of March 1941, Rommel 's Afrika Korps launched an offensive which drove back Commonwealth forces. In less than a month, Axis forces advanced to western Egypt and besieged

8064-423: The Soviet Union occupied the entire territories of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as the Romanian regions of Bessarabia, Northern Bukovina, and the Hertsa region . In August 1940, Hitler imposed the Second Vienna Award on Romania which led to the transfer of Northern Transylvania to Hungary. In September 1940, Bulgaria demanded Southern Dobruja from Romania with German and Italian support, leading to

8192-421: The Soviet Union , opening the Eastern Front and initially making large territorial gains. Japan aimed to dominate East Asia and the Asia-Pacific , and by 1937 was at war with the Republic of China . In December 1941, Japan attacked American and British territories in Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific , including Pearl Harbor in Hawaii , which resulted in the US and the UK declaring war against Japan, and

8320-418: The Soviet Union and Mongolia . The Japanese doctrine of Hokushin-ron , which emphasised Japan's expansion northward, was favoured by the Imperial Army during this time. This policy would prove difficult to maintain in light of the Japanese defeat at Khalkin Gol in 1939, the ongoing Second Sino-Japanese War and ally Nazi Germany pursuing neutrality with the Soviets. Japan and the Soviet Union eventually signed

8448-575: The Soviet Union should be eliminated and aimed for the conquest of Ukraine , the Baltic states and Byelorussia . However, other senior German officials like Ribbentrop saw an opportunity to create a Euro-Asian bloc against the British Empire by inviting the Soviet Union into the Tripartite Pact. In November 1940, negotiations took place to determine if the Soviet Union would join the pact. The Soviets showed some interest but asked for concessions from Finland, Bulgaria, Turkey, and Japan that Germany considered unacceptable. On 18 December 1940, Hitler issued

8576-407: The Taoyuan area. Due to the limited storage capacity of the small Taoyuan ponds, there was often not enough water for irrigation in the November–April dry season, demonstrating the need for a large reservoir. A dam at the "stone gates" (Shihmen), a deep canyon formed where the Dahan river exits the mountains, was proposed as early as 1938, but plans were dropped at the beginning of World War II with

8704-402: The US dropped the first atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August. Faced with an imminent invasion of the Japanese archipelago , the possibility of further atomic bombings, and the Soviet declaration of war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria , Japan announced its unconditional surrender on 15 August and signed a surrender document on 2 September 1945 , marking

8832-424: The United Kingdom and France guaranteed their support for Polish independence ; when Italy conquered Albania in April 1939, the same guarantee was extended to the Kingdoms of Romania and Greece . Shortly after the Franco - British pledge to Poland, Germany and Italy formalised their own alliance with the Pact of Steel . Hitler accused the United Kingdom and Poland of trying to "encircle" Germany and renounced

8960-489: The United Kingdom attacked on 3   July in an attempt to prevent its seizure by Germany. The air Battle of Britain began in early July with Luftwaffe attacks on shipping and harbours . The German campaign for air superiority started in August but its failure to defeat RAF Fighter Command forced the indefinite postponement of the proposed German invasion of Britain . The German strategic bombing offensive intensified with night attacks on London and other cities in

9088-401: The United Kingdom. The Germans turned south against the weakened French army, and Paris fell to them on 14   June. Eight days later France signed an armistice with Germany ; it was divided into German and Italian occupation zones , and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime , which, though officially neutral, was generally aligned with Germany. France kept its fleet, which

9216-640: The United States was assisting China and the Western Allies, and had amended the Neutrality Act to allow "cash and carry" purchases by the Allies. In 1940, following the German capture of Paris, the size of the United States Navy was significantly increased . In September the United States further agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases . Still, a large majority of the American public continued to oppose any direct military intervention in

9344-590: The Yellow River ; this manoeuvre bought time for the Chinese to prepare their defences at Wuhan , but the city was taken by October. Japanese military victories did not bring about the collapse of Chinese resistance that Japan had hoped to achieve; instead, the Chinese government relocated inland to Chongqing and continued the war. In the mid-to-late 1930s, Japanese forces in Manchukuo had sporadic border clashes with

9472-476: The agricultural users Shihmen was originally intended to supply. The reduction in storage capacity has also affected Shihmen's ability to provide water during droughts. Demand often exceeds stored water in Shihmen Reservoir during the dry season, forcing frequent water-supply cuts. For several weeks in 1994, the drought-stricken Shihmen Dam service area was limited to one day of running water in three. This has been further exacerbated by global climate change reducing

9600-622: The bank, when it has to be written as the homophonous 圓 . Colloquially, the currency unit is called both 元 ( yuán , literally "circle") and 塊 ( kuài , literally "piece") in Mandarin , 箍 ( kho͘ , literally "hoop") in Hokkien , and 銀 ( ngiùn , literally "silver") in Hakka . The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has issued the New Taiwan Dollar since 2000. Prior to 2000,

9728-507: The capital Nanking in December 1937. After the fall of Nanking, tens or hundreds of thousands of Chinese civilians and disarmed combatants were murdered by the Japanese . In March 1938, Nationalist Chinese forces won their first major victory at Taierzhuang , but then the city of Xuzhou was taken by the Japanese in May. In June 1938, Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding

9856-430: The catchment area of Shihmen Dam have contributed to a severe sedimentation problem in the reservoir. This sediment mainly comes from landslides and other erosion-related issues in the steep, rugged drainage basin , which have been exacerbated by deforestation, land-clearing for agriculture, and the opening of roads into mountainous areas. The reservoir, which originally had a maximum depth of over 100 metres (330 ft),

9984-518: The citizens, such as the post office, the tax authority, or state-owned banks. There is also a conspiracy theory against the Democratic Progressive Party , the ruling party at the time the NT$ 200 and NT$ 2000 denominations were issued. The conspiracy states that putting Chiang Kai-shek on a rarely used banknote would "practically" remove him from the currency while "nominally" including him on

10112-509: The coin. The current series of banknotes for the New Taiwan dollar began circulation in July 2000. This set was introduced when the New Taiwan dollar succeeded the silver yuan as the official currency within Taiwan. The current set includes banknotes for NT$ 100, NT$ 200, NT$ 500, NT$ 1000, and NT$ 2000. Note that the NT$ 200 and NT$ 2000 banknotes are not commonly used by consumers. This may be due to

10240-403: The conflict well into 1941. In December 1940, Roosevelt accused Hitler of planning world conquest and ruled out any negotiations as useless, calling for the United States to become an " arsenal of democracy " and promoting Lend-Lease programmes of military and humanitarian aid to support the British war effort; Lend-Lease was later extended to the other Allies, including the Soviet Union after it

10368-515: The creation of a " New Roman Empire ". Adolf Hitler , after an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the German government in 1923, eventually became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933 when Paul von Hindenburg and the Reichstag appointed him. Following Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler proclaimed himself Führer of Germany and abolished democracy, espousing a radical, racially motivated revision of

10496-477: The currency would not upset supporters on the other side of the political spectrum that much (the Pan-Blue Coalition ) . The year 2000 version $ 500 and 1999 version $ 1000 notes without holographic strip were officially taken out of circulation on 1 August 2007. They were redeemable at commercial banks until 30 September 2007. As of 1 October 2007, only Bank of Taiwan accepts such notes. On 6 January 2011,

10624-555: The dam each year, especially during floodwater releases. The reservoir, its surrounding recreation area and towns are visited by a further 1.7 million people each year. It is said that "after its grand opening to the public in 1964, the Shihmen Reservoir has remained one of the top spots on Taiwan's sight-seeing billboards". Recreational and commercial fishing on the reservoir produces about 80,000 kilograms (180,000 lb) of fish each year, generating an annual revenue of NT$ 29.33 million. Poor land use and construction practices in

10752-447: The dam forms Shihmen Reservoir, one of Taiwan's largest reservoirs with a length of 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) and more than 800 hectares (2,000 acres) of water at full pool. The reservoir had an original total capacity of 309,120 megalitres (250,610 acre⋅ft), with an active or useful capacity of 251,780 ML (204,120 acre⋅ft). Sedimentation reduced the total storage capacity to 251,880 ML (204,200 acre⋅ft) by 1997 –

10880-496: The dam site. Although work was interrupted several times by typhoon flooding, the river was successfully diverted into a tunnel in December 1960. The concrete cofferdam , later to serve as the core of the dam, was finished in 1962; notably, it was the first use of roller-compacted concrete in dam construction. About 120 hectares (300 acres) of nearby farmland were purchased by the government to provide 6,675,000 cubic metres (235,700,000 cu ft) of earth and rock needed to build

11008-493: The dam was completed, it brought prosperity via tourism to this rural area, helping to diversify its economy from one solely reliant on agriculture. However, due to the project's high capital cost, the actual annual return on investment was only 1.5 percent: "It stands as an engineering monument of which the Chinese people may be proud. But it was purchased at far too high a cost in terms of tens of millions of dollars of alternative developmental opportunities foregone." Shihmen Dam

11136-447: The dam. With the dam only partially complete in May 1963, the diversion tunnel was plugged, allowing the reservoir to begin storing water. In July 1963, Typhoon Wendy struck Taiwan, causing massive flooding; the new reservoir was able to reduce the flood crest on the Dahan River by 25 percent. The embankment was topped out in June 1964, at a final cost of NT$ 4.85 billion. The dam

11264-491: The directive to prepare for an invasion of the Soviet Union. New Taiwan dollar The New Taiwan dollar ( code : TWD ; symbol : NT$ , also abbreviated as NT ) is the official currency of the Republic of China . Usually, the $ sign precedes the amount, but NT$ is used to distinguish from other currencies named dollar . The New Taiwan dollar has been the currency of the island of Taiwan since 1949, when it replaced

11392-739: The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian Empires. To prevent a future world war, the League of Nations was established in 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference . The organisation's primary goals were to prevent armed conflict through collective security, military, and naval disarmament , as well as settling international disputes through peaceful negotiations and arbitration. Despite strong pacifist sentiment after World War   I , irredentist and revanchist nationalism had emerged in several European states. These sentiments were especially marked in Germany because of

11520-637: The end of May completed the German conquest of the Balkans. Partisan warfare subsequently broke out against the Axis occupation of Yugoslavia , which continued until the end of the war. In the Middle East in May, Commonwealth forces quashed an uprising in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria . Between June and July, British-led forces invaded and occupied

11648-508: The end of the war. World War II changed the political alignment and social structure of the world, and it set the foundation of international relations for the rest of the 20th century and into the 21st century. The United Nations was established to foster international cooperation and prevent conflicts, with the victorious great powers—China, France, the Soviet Union, the UK, and the US—becoming

11776-447: The existing irrigation system, including the new Shihmen Canal, bringing the total to 175 kilometres (109 mi), and a treatment plant with 30,000 tons per day capacity was constructed to provide municipal water supply. Despite the scale of the project, the increase in agricultural production was estimated to feed 500,000 people, or less than two years of population growth. The importance of the dam for irrigation has been decreasing since

11904-566: The first step of what its government saw as the country's right to rule Asia , staged the Mukden incident as a pretext to invade Manchuria and establish the puppet state of Manchukuo . China appealed to the League of Nations to stop the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Japan withdrew from the League of Nations after being condemned for its incursion into Manchuria. The two nations then fought several battles, in Shanghai , Rehe and Hebei , until

12032-843: The former Chinese imperial capital of Peking after instigating the Marco Polo Bridge incident , which culminated in the Japanese campaign to invade all of China. The Soviets quickly signed a non-aggression pact with China to lend materiel support, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany . From September to November, the Japanese attacked Taiyuan , engaged the Kuomintang Army around Xinkou , and fought Communist forces in Pingxingguan . Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek deployed his best army to defend Shanghai , but after three months of fighting, Shanghai fell. The Japanese continued to push Chinese forces back, capturing

12160-642: The former summer villa of Chiang Kai-shek , the Amuping Stone Bridge and a nearby Earth God shrine. Irrigation was the primary goal of the Shihmen reservoir; about 22,000 hectares (54,000 acres) of new farmland came into production after the dam was built, bringing the total to 57,000 hectares (140,000 acres). The annual crop was more than doubled due to an increased water supply for pre-existing farmland. Individual farmers' income rose by almost 20 percent. About 27 kilometres (17 mi) of canals were added to

12288-512: The invasion of the Ethiopian Empire (also known as Abyssinia ) by the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy ( Regno d'Italia ), which was launched from Italian Somaliland and Eritrea . The war resulted in the military occupation of Ethiopia and its annexation into the newly created colony of Italian East Africa ( Africa Orientale Italiana , or AOI); in addition it exposed the weakness of

12416-726: The latter enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and delivery of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was the deadliest conflict in history, resulting in 70 to 85 million deaths , more than half being civilians. Millions died in genocides , including the Holocaust of European Jews, as well as from massacres, starvation, and disease. Following the Allied powers' victory, Germany , Austria , Japan , and Korea were occupied, and war crimes tribunals were conducted against German and Japanese leaders . The causes of World War II included unresolved tensions in

12544-418: The length of the rainy season in Taiwan, while increasing the intensity of rainfall when storms do strike the island. In 2015, Taiwan recorded its lowest winter rainfall since 1947, and the Shihmen reservoir fell to a record low of 24.5 percent of capacity, again forcing the government to enact water rationing. Among the other benefits of the dam and reservoir is recreation. More than 160,000 tourists visit

12672-503: The main stem alone. The largest 24 sabo dams have collectively prevented some 36 million cubic metres (29,200 acre feet) of sediment from reaching Shihmen Reservoir. Only one, the Junghua Dam , is still collecting sediment, although its 16 million cubic metre (13,000 acre foot) capacity is nearly full. These sediment catching dams have also failed on several occasions causing even more debris and silt to wash into Shihmen. Among these

12800-497: The permanent members of its security council . The Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers , setting the stage for the Cold War . In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia . Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery and expansion . World War II began in Europe on 1 September 1939 with

12928-571: The political European map with the defeat of the Central Powers —including Austria-Hungary , Germany , Bulgaria , and the Ottoman Empire —and the 1917 Bolshevik seizure of power in Russia , which led to the founding of the Soviet Union. Meanwhile, the victorious Allies of World War I , such as France, Belgium, Italy, Romania, and Greece, gained territory, and new nation-states were created out of

13056-583: The port of Tobruk . By late March 1941, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia signed the Tripartite Pact ; however, the Yugoslav government was overthrown two days later by pro-British nationalists. Germany and Italy responded with simultaneous invasions of both Yugoslavia and Greece , commencing on 6 April 1941; both nations were forced to surrender within the month. The airborne invasion of the Greek island of Crete at

13184-509: The problem, and for their effects on local communities. The large amount of sediment flowing into the reservoir has also caused unusually high nutrient levels, which leads to frequent eutrophication and algae blooms in the summer. As a result, Shihmen is often considered to be among the worst in water quality among all Taiwan's reservoirs. A large water-quality monitoring system is in place, installed circa 2005 at two points in Shihmen Reservoir. Called "Vertical Profiling System" or "YSI 6600EDS",

13312-416: The project was criticized for its high cost and its impact on local communities, as more than 2,000 people were displaced to make way for the reservoir. Like some other reservoirs in Taiwan, Shihmen has suffered from sedimentation , reducing its capacity by over a third. Efforts to reduce the rate of sediment accumulation, including dredging , check dam construction and watershed restoration work, have had

13440-462: The project. The initial budget for the dam was NT$ 1.4 billion, with approximately half of that as low-interest aid loans from the United States through the Agency for International Development . Starting in July 1955, access roads and worker facilities were constructed at the dam site, and the area of the future reservoir was prepared to accommodate flooding. About 2,000 people (416 families) living in

13568-693: The remainder of Czechoslovakia and subsequently split it into the German Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and a pro-German client state , the Slovak Republic . Hitler also delivered an ultimatum to Lithuania on 20 March 1939, forcing the concession of the Klaipėda Region , formerly the German Memelland . Greatly alarmed and with Hitler making further demands on the Free City of Danzig ,

13696-411: The reservoir a useful life of at least 71 years without any sediment removal. However, just four months after the reservoir began filling, Typhoon Gloria struck Taiwan, and the resulting floods washed 19 million cubic metres (670 million ft) of sediment into the reservoir – taking 23 years off its expected lifespan. As the reservoir filled, it also inundated several historic landmarks, including

13824-449: The reservoir instead of flowing into it during periods of high sediment runoff, such as after typhoons. A number of measures have been taken to try and reduce the amount of sediment flowing into Shihmen Reservoir. Because of the construction of hundreds of sediment-trapping dams or sabo dams, the upper reaches of the Dahan and its tributaries are now among the most heavily impounded river systems in Taiwan, with at least 123 such dams along

13952-458: The significant territorial, colonial, and financial losses imposed by the Treaty of Versailles . Under the treaty, Germany lost around 13 percent of its home territory and all its overseas possessions , while German annexation of other states was prohibited, reparations were imposed, and limits were placed on the size and capability of the country's armed forces . The German Empire was dissolved in

14080-491: The silt disposal areas was exhausted in 1995. Other measures taken to decrease sediment flow include the construction of retaining walls and the reforestation of clear-cut areas. In more recent years, the Taiwanese government has revived the idea of constructing more mega-dams in the Dahan River to increase water retention capacity and trap silt. The Gaotai Reservoir (高台水庫) near the indigenous community of Jianshi would consist of

14208-565: The silver yuan a purely notional currency a long time ago, inconvertible to actual silver. When the Temporary Provisions were made ineffective in 1991, the ROC lacked a legal national currency until the year 2000, when the Central Bank of China (CBC) replaced the Bank of Taiwan in issuing NT bills. In July 2000, the New Taiwan dollar became Taiwan's legal currency. It is no longer secondary to

14336-497: The silver yuan. At this time, the central bank began issuing New Taiwan dollar banknotes, and the notes issued earlier by the Bank of Taiwan were taken out of circulation. The exchange rate compared to the United States dollar has varied from less than ten to one in the mid-1950s, more than forty to one in the 1960s, and about twenty-five to one in 1992. The exchange rate as of July 2021 is NT$ 27.93 per US$ . The denominations of

14464-494: The start or prelude to World War II. The exact date of the war's end also is not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 15 August 1945 ( V-J Day ), rather than with the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945, which officially ended the war in Asia . A peace treaty between Japan and the Allies was signed in 1951. A 1990 treaty regarding Germany's future allowed

14592-418: The strain on industrial resources. After the war, the Republic of China was faced with food shortages and a rapidly increasing population. By the 1960s, the annual population growth had reached 350,000. In order to improve its economic self-sufficiency, the government initiated the construction of Shihmen Dam, Taiwan's first multi-purpose water project. The Shihmen Development Commission was established to oversee

14720-575: The strong Maginot Line fortifications on the Franco-German border, Germany directed its attack at the neutral nations of Belgium , the Netherlands , and Luxembourg . The Germans carried out a flanking manoeuvre through the Ardennes region, which was mistakenly perceived by the Allies as an impenetrable natural barrier against armoured vehicles. By successfully implementing new Blitzkrieg tactics,

14848-777: The system measures a series of water quality factors by depth at intervals of 5 metres (16 ft). The turbidity , chlorophyll content, pH level, and dissolved oxygen levels in the reservoir are sent to the operator of the dam every three hours. A future plan for the system is to record algae growth, allowing action to be taken to prevent hypoxic events in the water. In 2008, the Taiwanese Environmental Protection Agency allocated NT$ 200 million for eutrophication control projects at Shihmen, Feitsui, Zengwun and Kinmen Reservoirs. World War II Asia-Pacific Mediterranean and Middle East Other campaigns Coups World War II or

14976-478: The tendency of consumers to simply use multiple NT$ 100 or NT$ 500 bills to cover the range of NT$ 200, as well as using multiple NT$ 1000 bills or credit/debit cards instead of the NT$ 2000 bill. Lack of government promotion may also be a contributing factor to the general lack of usage. It is relatively easy for the government to disseminate these denominations through various government bodies that do official business with

15104-623: The two wars became World War II in 1941. Other proposed starting dates for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War   II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939. Others view the Spanish Civil War as

15232-504: The war were not fulfilled in the peace settlement. From 1922 to 1925, the Fascist movement led by Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy with a nationalist, totalitarian , and class collaborationist agenda that abolished representative democracy, repressed socialist, left-wing, and liberal forces, and pursued an aggressive expansionist foreign policy aimed at making Italy a world power, promising

15360-475: The war. Germany annexed western Poland and occupied central Poland ; the Soviet Union annexed eastern Poland ; small shares of Polish territory were transferred to Lithuania and Slovakia . On 6 October, Hitler made a public peace overture to the United Kingdom and France but said that the future of Poland was to be determined exclusively by Germany and the Soviet Union. The proposal was rejected and Hitler ordered an immediate offensive against France, which

15488-503: The west halted the German advance for several days, but it was outflanked and encircled by the Wehrmacht . Remnants of the Polish army broke through to besieged Warsaw . On 17 September 1939, two days after signing a cease-fire with Japan , the Soviet Union invaded Poland under the supposed pretext that the Polish state had ceased to exist. On 27 September, the Warsaw garrison surrendered to

15616-687: The world order , and soon began a massive rearmament campaign . France, seeking to secure its alliance with Italy, allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia , which Italy desired as a colonial possession. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Territory of the Saar Basin was legally reunited with Germany, and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, accelerated his rearmament programme, and introduced conscription. The United Kingdom, France and Italy formed

15744-614: Was invaded by Germany. The United States started strategic planning to prepare for a full-scale offensive against Germany. At the end of September 1940, the Tripartite Pact formally united Japan, Italy, and Germany as the Axis powers . The Tripartite Pact stipulated that any country—with the exception of the Soviet Union—that attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three. The Axis expanded in November 1940 when Hungary , Slovakia , and Romania joined. Romania and Hungary later made major contributions to

15872-411: Was dedicated on June 14, 1964 by Vice President Chen Cheng , to a crowd of more than four thousand people. A total of 7,500 people were employed in the construction of the dam, with as many as 6,000 workers on the site at one time. Thirty-two people were killed during construction; out of 2,881 injured, 87 were left permanently disabled. Engineers estimated that the natural sedimentation rate would give

16000-452: Was postponed until the spring of 1940 due to bad weather. After the outbreak of war in Poland, Stalin threatened Estonia , Latvia , and Lithuania with military invasion, forcing the three Baltic countries to sign pacts allowing the creation of Soviet military bases in these countries; in October 1939, significant Soviet military contingents were moved there. Finland refused to sign

16128-761: Was repulsed with heavy Italian casualties; the campaign ended within months with minor territorial changes. To assist Italy and prevent Britain from gaining a foothold, Germany prepared to invade the Balkans, which would threaten Romanian oil fields and strike against British dominance of the Mediterranean. In December 1940, British Empire forces began counter-offensives against Italian forces in Egypt and Italian East Africa . The offensives were successful; by early February 1941, Italy had lost control of eastern Libya, and large numbers of Italian troops had been taken prisoner. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with

16256-595: Was required to go through the bureaucracy of the League of Nations, which rendered it essentially toothless. The United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August of the same year. Hitler defied the Versailles and Locarno Treaties by remilitarising the Rhineland in March 1936, encountering little opposition due to the policy of appeasement . In October 1936, Germany and Italy formed

16384-476: Was the failure of Baling Dam during Typhoon Wipha (2007) , which caused 10 million cubic metres (8,000 acre feet) of sediment to wash downstream, destroying the village of Baling. Dredging efforts on Shihmen Reservoir have also been only partly successful. Beginning in 1985, seven dredging companies removed more than 10 million cubic metres (8,000 acre feet), but the reservoir continued filling with sediment faster than it could be excavated. The capacity of

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