title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: Despite initially being perceived as an underdog, the film was surprisingly successful at the box office, becoming "the surprise hit of the season" according to "The Baltimore Sun"'s Mike Littwin. The film was widely touted the sleeper hit of the summer. "Sleepless in Seattle" opened theatrically on June 25, 1993, coincidentally the same day as former "Sleepless in Seattle" director Nick Castle's "Dennis the Menace." It premiered in 1,579 venues, earning $17,253,733 in its opening weekend, ranking second in the North American box office behind the third weekend of "Jurassic Park". "Sleepless in Seattle" had the most successful opening weekend for a romantic comedy at the time. The "Los Angeles Times" reported that the opening weekend audience was 60% female and 40% 30 years and older. At the end of its run, the film grossed $126,680,884 in the United States and Canada, as well as $101,119,000 internationally, for a worldwide total of $227,799,884. According to "HuffPost", "Sleepless in Seattle"'s earnings established it as "the most successful traditional romantic comedy of all-time" at the time of its release. Ephron and Foster attribute the film's success to its release being postponed from March 26 to June 25. The film became one of the highest-grossing of 1993, and remains the 13th highest-grossing romantic comedy in the United States. According to The Numbers, "Sleepless in Seattle" is the 21st highest-grossing romantic comedy of all-time.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: In July 1993, "Rolling Stone" journalist Lawrence Frascella predicted that Ephron "is poised to become one of Hollywood's leading women directors" with the success of "Sleepless in Seattle." To commemorate the film's 25th anniversary, Fathom Events and Sony Pictures Entertainment re-released "Sleepless in Seattle" in approximately 400 theatres throughout the United States for two days, on the 2nd and 5 December 2018. Ryan and Foster filmed a new introduction exclusive to the re-issue.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: "Sleepless in Seattle" received positive reviews upon release. Critics particularly praised Hanks and Ryan's performances and chemistry in the lead roles. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale. "Rolling Stone" film critic Peter Travers lauded "Sleepless in Seattle" as "the hippest, frankest and funniest date movie around", praising the leads' performances and Ephron's writing for poking fun at classic romance films "without for a second denying their potency. In "Sleepless", she breaks your heart without making you feel like a jerk. As date movies go, that's the ultimate in compliments".


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" said the film was "as ephemeral as a talk show, as contrived as the late show, and yet so warm and gentle I smiled the whole way through." He added:


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" called it "a feather-light romantic comedy" and wrote, "It's a stunt, but it's a stunt that works far more effectively than anybody in his right mind has reason to expect. Not since "Love Story" has there been a movie that so shrewdly and predictably manipulated the emotions for such entertaining effect."


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: In a mixed review, Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" lauded Hanks performance for anchoring but found "Sleepless in Seattle" itself to be too contrived, writing, "it feels programmed to make you fall in love with it". Criticizing Ephron's reliance on clichés, Gleiberman said the director "mixes old ones from Hollywood with new ones from pop-psych therapy", describing the film as "a '50s tearjerker synthesized by microchip" which lacks the "delicately sexy sparkle" of its predecessors. John Simon of the "National Review" wrote that the "entire picture is a collection of nauseating quotations and references to "An Affair to Remember", both visual and verbal". "The Baltimore Sun"'s Mike Littwin dismissed the film as a "chick flick" geared towards women with little pay off for male audiences, apart from "forc[ing] us to re-examine our values".


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: Retrospective reviews have remained mostly positive. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 75% out of 60 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6.70/10. The consensus states, ""Sleepless in Seattle" is a cute classic with a very light touch and real chemistry between the two leads – even when spending an entire movie apart." According to the same website, "Sleepless in Seattle" is their 146th highest-rated romantic comedy of all-time (out of 200), warning readers that they might find the film's relatively low placement surprising considering its popularity. Rotten Tomatoes also ranked "Sleepless in Seattle" the 53rd best blockbuster of the 1990s decade. On Metacritic, the film has a 72 out of 100 rating, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally positive reviews".


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: Caroline Siede of "The A.V. Club" praised both the lead and supporting cast's performances; the father-son dynamic between Hanks and Malinger's characters during both comedic and heartfelt moments. Praising the performances of Hanks, Ryan, O'Donnell and Reiner, as well as the film's humor, "The Guardian" film critic Peter Bradshaw said Ephron "brought her terrific flair, wit and nous, although she propagates the terrifying fallacy that a widower makes a wonderful romantic catch". Virginia Florey of the "Midland Daily News" said the film "still do[es] a fantastic job of pulling you into their story and their search to find that one person to love". While declaring that "Sleepless in Seattle" remains the best romantic comedy ever released, "Body+Soul" contributor Hannah-Rose Yee said despite being "the kind of movie that gives romantic comedies a bad name ... no film has come close to distilling what "Sleepless in Seattle" does about the ridiculous enterprise that is opening up your heart to someone else". However, she admitted that one's ability to enjoy the film depends "entirely on how on board you can get with a romance in which the two lead characters don't meet until the last five minutes". "The Guardian"'s Luke Walpole, who had avoided watching the film until 2020 in fear that it had aged poorly, ultimately found Ephron's screenplay to be a gorgeous "balance of melancholy and fizzing optimism", but criticized "Sleepless in Seattle"'s "narrowly middle class and privileged" characters. Common Sense Media wrote that the film is successful in Ephron's hands, despite its "frustrating" structure at times.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: Siede noted that in recent years, Annie's actions in pursuit of Sam have been re-evaluated as what some critics perceive as stalker behavior, with Nicole Sperling of "Vanity Fair" feeling Annie's determination "verges into stalker territory". Siede defended the character, writing "Annie's 'romantic' stalking falls well within the purview of creepy real-world behavior we're somehow willing to forgive in a heightened rom-com context. And plenty of beloved rom-com leading men have pulled stunts just as creepy". R. Eric Thomas of "Elle" noted that "in terms of rom-com hijinks and poor decisions that turn out great, nothing beats [Annie's behavior] in Sleepless in Seattle", but relented that the film remains "a jewel". Thomas also found Wilson's "An Affair to Remember" monologue to be deserving of an Academy Award, and one of the film's best scenes. Guy Lodge of "The Guardian" commended Ryan for helping "her character's wildly irrational whimsy ... make sympathetic sense". Upon re-watching the film in 2016, "Bustle"'s S. Atkinson perceived Annie as "a woman who is pretty damn morally dubious with regards to her relationship to her fiancée", explaining that "I'd gone from completely doting on the two leads when watching it first time round as a kid to finding them the absolute worst watching again an adult".


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: The film received two nominations for awards in the 66th Academy Awards (held in 1994). It lost the award to "The Piano" for Best Original Screenplay while the song "A Wink and a Smile" lost out to "Streets of Philadelphia" (from "Philadelphia", another Tom Hanks movie) for Best Original Song. The film was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards: one for Best Actor – Musical or Comedy (Tom Hanks) another for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy (Meg Ryan) and a third for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film earned Ephron her third Academy Award nomination.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: The film won four awards at different ceremonies. Ryan won the award for Funniest Actress in a Leading Role at the American Comedy Awards. At the 1994 Young Artist Awards, Malinger won the award for Best Actor Under Ten in a Motion Picture and the film itself won Outstanding Family Motion Picture for Comedy. The screenplay was also nominated for Writers Guild and BAFTA awards.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: In 2009, development began on a musical version of "Sleepless in Seattle". David Shor was announced as the musical's producer, with a book being written by Jeff Arch, Shor's longtime partner and original story writer for the motion picture. Leslie Bricusse was initially attached to the project, but withdrew due to "creative differences with the show's producer and director". Michelle Citrin, Michael Garin and Josh Nelson were announced to be working on the music and lyrics, with Shor discovering Citrin via YouTube. The musical was initially set to release in 2010, with the premiere date later being moved to 2011 and June 2012. In February 2012, Shor announced that the musical would not premiere until the 2012–13 season and that the show would "undergo a top-to-bottom overhaul" and would have a new creative team. With a new score by composer Ben Toth and lyricist Sam Forman, the musical version premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse in May 2013.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: After being postponed for several years, the musical was due to open in London's Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre on March 24, 2020, under the name "Sleepless: A Musical Romance" for an initial run of 7 weeks until May 3. It will star Jay McGuiness, Kimberley Walsh and Daniel Casey as Sam, Annie and Walter respectively.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: A further delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant the show would not open until August 25, 2020, and run to September 27. The show had a socially distanced audience and used several measures as a result of the epidemic.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: Revered as a classic love story, reviewers deemed "Sleepless in Seattle" a classic almost immediately upon release, crowning it "the ultimate romantic comedy". "Sleepless in Seattle" is widely celebrated as one of the greatest romantic comedy films of all-time, with several media publications ranking it among the best romantic comedies. Collider ranked "Sleepless in Seattle" the 10th best romantic comedy of the 1990s, while S. Atkinson of "Bustle" declared it the decade's "definitive romantic comedy". Some critics consider it to be one of the best romance films. CinemaBlend's Corey Chichizola said few romantic comedies have remained "as iconic and beloved" as "Sleepless in Seattle", attributing its popularity to nostalgia and fans longing for a simpler time. Calling "Sleepless in Seattle" arguably "the last great American romantic comedy", "Flavorwire"'s Tyler Coates said the film also effectively remains "a subtle, serious employment of a genre usually dismissed as frivolous, lighthearted entertainment marketed solely to women" and "a serious contribution of artistic merit" to an otherwise saturated genre. Considered to be one of the all-time great romantic films by the American Film Institute, the organization included "Sleepless in Seattle" on both its best romance and romantic comedy film lists, ranking it 45th and 10th respectively. Television presenter Francine Stock credits "Sleepless in Seattle" with changing the trajectory of romantic comedies. In 2021, "The Hollywood Reporter" associate editor Lexy Perez declared that the film remains "a household name in the world of romantic comedies". "Marie Claire" named "Sleepless in Seattle" one of the 61 definitive films of the 1990s.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: Ryan, who has not watched the film since 1993, believes it is unlikely that a film like "Sleepless in Seattle" would be successful again due to the main characters' lack of scenes together. Foster theorized that the film continues to resonate with audiences due to its sense of magic, specifically the belief that "there's this timeless wish fulfillment that you're going to meet that person somewhere". According to Susan King of "Variety", the Empire State Building scenes have "become an indelible scene in pop culture". Philip Sledge of "Cinema Blend" hailed the ending as one of the greatest in the romantic comedy genre, while Jessica Brajer of MovieWeb called it "one of the most emotional scenes in all of movie history". Crowning "Sleepless in Seattle" "The Best Rom-Com Ending of All Time", Decider contributor Meghan O'Keefe said the ending ultimately saves the film from being dismissed as simply "another inoffensive romantic comedy", writing that its lack of a kiss or wedding scene ultimately distinguished from similar films. O'Keefe concluded, "It's a gorgeous triumph of a moment that's defined by the simple offering of a hand". The ending has also been parodied and recreated several subsequent media, including an episode of "The Mindy Project" in 2014"." The film is also credited with introducing younger generations to "An Affair to Remember," by which "Sleepless in Seattle" was inspired.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: The film's success positively impacted its cast and crew, who went on to have successful entertainment careers. "Vogue" credits Hanks' performance with making him America's favorite person, while Garth Pearce of the "Daily Express" said the film established Ryan as America's sweetheart. For "Vanity Fair", journalist Michael Shnayerson said "Sleepless in Seattle" "crowned [Ryan] as America's screwball darling", shortly after which she began earning at least $15 million per film. While ranking "Sleepless in Seattle" one of the best performances of Hanks' career, "Rolling Stone"'s David Fear credits the film with establishing the actor as a romantic comedy sex symbol. Hanks, Ryan, and Ephron would reunite for one more film, the romantic comedy "You've Got Mail", in 1998. "Sleepless in Seattle" was the second of four on-screen collaborations between Hanks and Ryan, with Kelly O'Sullivan of "The Pioneer Woman" crowning them both "the unofficial king and queen of rom-coms" and "the most iconic rom-com couple of all time". According to "Good Morning America" contributor Luchina Fisher, "Sleepless in Seattle" is one of three Ephron films that "breathed new life into the" romantic comedy genre, alongside its predecessor "When Harry Met Sally..." and successor "You've Got Mail". Despite being her second directorial effort, "Sleepless in Seattle"'s success eclipsed that of her directorial debut, and ultimately established Ephron "as a major directorial force in the rom-com genre". In 2018, "The A.V. Club"'s Caroline Siede said the film remains her finest work as a director. On its 20-year anniversary, "HuffPost" wrote that the film continues to resonate due to "Ephron's sharp dialogue and the inherent goodness and charm projected by both Hanks and Ryan". According to Ariel Levy of "The New Yorker", "Sleepless in Seattle" established Ephron as a famous director. In 2013, co-executive producer Lynda Obst released a book named after the film, "Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales from the New Abnormal in the Movie Business", which explores the decline of romantic comedies during the 2010s. Obst remarked that "Sleepless in Seattle"'s nearly $300 million gross is hardly considered a "smash" as of 2014, explaining, "Studios aren't happy unless it makes close to a billion dollars".


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: "Sleepless in Seattle" is credited with introducing most Americans to tiramisu, which had been a relatively obscure dessert before 1993. Rob Reiner's character Jay mentions "tiramisu" during a conversation with Sam about dating, which Sam mistakes a euphemism for a sexual act. Jay does not clarify that tiramisu is actually an Italian dessert. The conversation caused much interest in the dessert throughout America. According to Josie Delap of "The Economist," few Americans had been familiar with the dessert before "Sleepless in Seattle", despite America's high Italian population at the time. After the film's release, several viewers resorted to calling the studio directly to find out what tiramisu is, with TriStar executive Susan Levin reporting they were receiving 20–30 phone calls per day about the subject by the first Monday after the film's release. Levin claims several callers were either disappointed or refused to believe them when they explained that tiramisu is simply a dessert, although some were relieved by the revelation. Some restaurants and bakeries also reported an increase in tiramisu purchases and orders after the film. Tom Stockley of "The Seattle Times" observed that, by October 1993, "Virtually every Italian restaurant in the Seattle area features [tiramisu], as do several non-Italian eateries. It may be Seattle's hottest dessert, just as it is elsewhere in the country". According to cookbook author Dorie Greenspan, "Sleepless in Seattle" turned tiramisu from simply an Italian dessert into a phenomenon almost overnight, reporting that "Minutes after the movie opened, every morning TV show had some cook making tiramisu", while "The Free Press Journal" said the film resulted in global fame for the desert. Olga Massov of "The Washington Post" said some tiramisu began to suffer in quality due to their popularity, reporting that several restaurants began taking shortcuts in order to keep up with the demand. In a 2014 interview with RogerEbert.com, Reiner dismissed tiramisu as overrated, insisting that he would never order it for himself.


title: Sleepless in Seattle

text: "Elle"'s R. Eric Thomas found the film particularly topical in the wake of the covid-19 pandemic, agreeing that "Sleepless in Seattle" "has become a journey into nostalgia" in the decades since the film's release. Thomas said, "who amongst us isn't rediscovering the telephone during this time, when even small distances seem yawning? Or the simple pleasure of a mailed letter? (Thank you to all the Post Office employees!) After a grueling three years during which the dark underbelly of nostalgia was used to prop up the worst aspects of this country's history and present, it's particularly heartening to be reminded that sometimes, the hallmarks of the past can continue to help us."


title: MultiVersus

text: MultiVersus is a 2022 free-to-play crossover fighting video game developed by Player First Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game is a platform fighter, featuring characters from Warner Bros. Discovery franchises, and is available for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.


title: MultiVersus

text: Officially announced in November 2021 following online rumors and leaks, early access and open beta versions of the game released in July 2022.


title: MultiVersus

text: "MultiVersus" is a platform fighter, with players battling on different stages and attempting to knock the opponent beyond the stage's boundary by dealing sufficient damage. While 1-vs-1 and free-for-all options are available, the game emphasizes battling in teams of two characters; most attacks in the game are designed with this in mind, including other players passively strengthening the move's effect.


title: MultiVersus

text: "MultiVersus" features a perk system, which allows players to customize their characters with passive abilities that will also affect their partners in Teams. These include Signature Perks, which are exclusive to a respective character and directly affect their attributes and abilities. If players in the same team equip the same perks, those perks' effects are enhanced.


title: MultiVersus

text: "MultiVersus" features two currencies: Gold, which is primarily used to purchase characters and train perks; and Gleamium, a premium currency that can be used to buy variants, taunts, banners, and Premium Season Passes in addition to characters. Gold is obtained by normally playing the game through various means, while Gleamium is purchasable with real-world currencies. During certain events, specific tokens can be earned by playing in any mode, and playing with specific character variants doubles the amount. Thes currencies can be used to purchase cosmetic items or, in the case of candy during the Monster Mash event, traded for Gold, with 10 Gold for every 500 candy units.


title: MultiVersus

text: The Season Pass contains two tiers: Normal, which is free for all players; and Premium, which requires Gleamium to purchase. In both tiers, players earn points by completing daily and seasonal missions. Obtainable items include gold, toast and cosmetics such as banners and ring-out effects. Progress in both tiers is tied; if the Premium tier is purchased after progress is made on the Normal tier, all rewards will retroactively be obtained.


title: MultiVersus

text: , "MultiVersus" features 23 playable characters. With one exception, Reindog, these characters originate from the intellectual properties of Warner Bros. Discovery. Voice acting is prominently emphasized, and several voice actors reprise their respective roles from other media. Characters can be any one of five classes—Assassin, Bruiser, Mage, Support, and Tank—and are best suited for covering a specific direction, these being horizontal, vertical, or hybrid.


title: MultiVersus

text: Every character has at least one playable variant, some of which have different voice actors or dialogue from the default variant. Characters can be unlocked through gameplay, or purchased using gold, Gleamium, or Character Tickets included with the Founder's Pack content packages; four specific characters are also playable for all users on a rotating basis. The game's open beta initially launched with 17 characters, with new characters frequently added in subsequent updates.


title: MultiVersus

text: The game is developed by Player First Games. Dedicated servers, rollback netcode, and voice acting have been promoted as prominent features, and the team intend to release new content and characters via constant updates. The game held a closed alpha test from February 25–March 8, 2022.


title: MultiVersus

text: Prior to its announcement in November 2021, the existence of "MultiVersus" was leaked and rumoured to exist by multiple sources online. Initially, a user on the subreddit r/GamingLeaksandRumours claimed that the game came about early 2019 as a result of the release of "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" and Warner Bros. workers being aware of the "Ultra Instinct Shaggy" internet meme. They had claimed the idea of a crossover influenced the filming of "", although the validity of these claims for both products have yet to be confirmed or denied by Player First Games or Warner Bros.


title: MultiVersus

text: On October 27, 2021, professional "Super Smash Bros. Melee" player Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma shared an image on Twitter containing what he alleged was the character selection screen for an upcoming Warner Bros. platform fighter called "MultiVersus". DeBiedma claimed that he had received secret inside information about the game. The image was later deleted after Warner Bros. submitted a DMCA takedown request, which DeBiedma stated was a "hard confirm" of the photograph's veracity. The leak included Gandalf from "The Lord of the Rings" and Rick Sanchez from "Rick and Morty" as playable characters instead of Arya Stark and Garnet. Superman and Steven Universe's designs were updated to be shown in the trailer. Jeff Grubb, a gaming insider, confirmed that "Space Jam" series iteration of LeBron James with would be playable. Internal game design documents for the game were leaked on ResetEra. Following the tech test, gameplay footage was leaked online.


title: MultiVersus

text: On May 26, 2022, the same leaker who leaked the game before its announcement revealed that the game had more characters such as Daenerys Targaryen, Ted Lasso, Morty Smith, and Marvin the Martian.


title: MultiVersus

text: An early access version was released on July 19 for those that participated in the game's closed playtests and/or competing in the game's first 2v2 tournament at the 2022 Evolution Championship Series, and via Twitch's Drops reward system and/or purchasable founder packs, which are available for a limited time.


title: MultiVersus

text: During the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con event, Rick and Morty were both announced together to appear in the game; LeBron James was also announced at the event. Shortly after, the game's open beta was released on July 26, 2022, which was confirmed to serve as a soft launch for the game.


title: MultiVersus

text: The limited-time Founder Pack distribution for PC is done via Steam and Epic Games Store, as well as the Microsoft Store for Xbox consoles and the PlayStation Store for PlayStation consoles. There are three versions: Standard, Deluxe, and Premium.


title: MultiVersus

text: During the game's open beta period, Bugs Bunny players held the number-one ranked slot in both 1-v-1 and 2-v-2 leaderboards. The character's prevalence among top-ranked 2-v-2 players was notable, and nerfs to the character have been scheduled to be implemented after EVO 2022. Buffs to Wonder Woman were also announced.


title: MultiVersus

text: The first season of the title was originally scheduled to launch on August 9, 2022, but was delayed and rescheduled for August 15.


title: MultiVersus

text: Since the game's release, various characters' abilities have been frequently modified. A notable instance is one of Velma Dinkley's abilities; the police car featured in that move was replaced with the Mystery Machine.


title: MultiVersus

text: The game received generally positive reviews during its open beta. "IGN" wrote ""MultiVersus" may not be a must-play at social gatherings, but its refreshing team-based battles make it a great platform fighter online." Play summarized that it was "full of love for the characters, and crunchy to play, you owe it to yourself to give this a go – though the monetisation methods are off-putting."


title: MultiVersus

text: Its launch on Steam was the most successful for a WB Games title, and the biggest launch for a fighting game released on the platform.


title: MultiVersus

text: The game topped the American sales charts for July 2022, falling to number 5 the following month. It was the most downloaded game on the US PlayStation Store for the same month, and number 2 in Europe. It also topped the sales charts in Australia. It was the most popular title on the Steam Deck platform.


title: White supremacy

text: White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine of scientific racism and was a key justification for European colonialism.


title: White supremacy

text: As a political ideology, it imposes and maintains cultural, social, political, historical, and/or institutional domination by white people and non-white supporters. In the past, this ideology had been put into effect through socioeconomic and legal structures such as the Atlantic slave trade, Jim Crow laws in the United States, the White Australia policies from the 1890s to the mid-1970s, and apartheid in South Africa. This ideology is also today present among neo-Confederates.


title: White supremacy

text: White supremacy underlies a spectrum of contemporary movements including white nationalism, white separatism, neo-Nazism, and the Christian Identity movement. In the United States, white supremacy is primarily associated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Aryan Nations, and the White American Resistance movement, all of which are also considered to be antisemitic. The Proud Boys, despite claiming non-association with white supremacy, have been described in academic contexts as being such. In recent years, websites such as Twitter, Reddit, and Stormfront, and the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, have contributed to an increased activity and interest in white supremacy.


title: White supremacy

text: Different forms of white supremacy have different conceptions of who is considered white (though the exemplar is generally light-skinned, blond-haired, and blue-eyed—traits most common in northern Europe, which are pseudoscientifically viewed as being part of an Aryan race), and not all white supremacist organizations agree on who is their greatest enemy. Different groups of white supremacists identify various racial, ethnic, religious, and other enemies, most commonly those of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, Indigenous peoples of the Americas and Oceania, Asians, multiracial people, Middle Eastern people, Jews, Muslims, and LGBTQ+ people.


title: White supremacy

text: In academic usage, particularly in critical race theory or intersectionality, "white supremacy" can also refer to a social system in which white people enjoy structural advantages (privilege) over other ethnic groups, on both a collective and individual level, despite formal legal equality.


title: White supremacy

text: White supremacy has ideological foundations that date back to 17th-century scientific racism, the predominant paradigm of human variation that helped shape international relations and racial policy from the latter part of the Age of Enlightenment until the late 20th century (marked by decolonization and the abolition of apartheid in South Africa in 1991, followed by that country's first multiracial elections in 1994).


title: White supremacy

text: White supremacy was dominant in the United States both before and after the American Civil War, and it persisted for decades after the Reconstruction Era. Prior to the Civil War, many wealthy White-European Americans owned slaves; they tried to justify their economic exploitation of Black people by creating a "scientific" theory of White superiority and Black inferiority. One such slave owner, future president Thomas Jefferson, wrote in 1785 that Blacks were "inferior to the whites in the endowments of body and mind." In the antebellum South, four million slaves were denied freedom. The outbreak of the Civil War saw the desire to uphold white supremacy being cited as a cause for state secession and the formation of the Confederate States of America. In an editorial about Native Americans and the American Indian Wars in 1890, author L. Frank Baum wrote: "The Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few remaining Indians."


title: White supremacy

text: The Naturalization Act of 1790 limited U.S. citizenship to whites only. In some parts of the United States, many people who were considered non-white were disenfranchised, barred from government office, and prevented from holding most government jobs well into the second half of the 20th century. Professor Leland T. Saito of the University of Southern California writes: "Throughout the history of the United States, race has been used by whites for legitimizing and creating difference and social, economic and political exclusion."


title: White supremacy

text: The denial of social and political freedom to minorities continued into the mid-20th century, resulting in the civil rights movement. The movement was spurred by the lynching of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy. David Jackson writes it was the image of the "murdered child’s ravaged body, that forced the world to reckon with the brutality of American racism." Vann R. Newkirk| wrote "the trial of his killers became a pageant illuminating the tyranny of white supremacy." Moved by the image of Till's body in the casket, one hundred days after his murder Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person.


title: White supremacy

text: Sociologist Stephen Klineberg has stated that U.S. immigration laws prior to 1965 clearly "declared that Northern Europeans are a superior subspecies of the white race". The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened entry to the U.S. to non-Germanic groups, and significantly altered the demographic mix in the U.S. as a result. With 38 U.S. states having banned interracial marriage through anti-miscegenation laws, the last 16 states had such laws in place until 1967 when they were invalidated by the Supreme Court of the United States' decision in "Loving v. Virginia". These mid-century gains had a major impact on white Americans' political views; segregation and white racial superiority, which had been publicly endorsed in the 1940s, became minority views within the white community by the mid-1970s, and continued to decline into 1990s polls to a single-digit percentage. For sociologist Howard Winant, these shifts marked the end of "monolithic white supremacy" in the United States.


title: White supremacy

text: After the mid-1960s, white supremacy remained an important ideology to the American far-right. According to Kathleen Belew, a historian of race and racism in the United States, white militancy shifted after the Vietnam War from supporting the existing racial order to a more radical position (self-described as "white power" or "white nationalism") committed to overthrowing the United States government and establishing a white homeland. Such anti-government militia organizations are one of three major strands of violent right-wing movements in the United States, with white supremacist groups (such as the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazi organizations, and racist skinheads) and a religious fundamentalist movement (such as Christian Identity) being the other two. Howard Winant writes that, "On the far right the cornerstone of white identity is belief in an ineluctable, unalterable racialized difference between whites and nonwhites." In the view of philosopher Jason Stanley, white supremacy in the United States is an example of the fascist politics of hierarchy, in that it "demands and implies a perpetual hierarchy" in which whites dominate and control non-whites.


title: White supremacy

text: The presidential campaign of Donald Trump led to a surge of interest in white supremacy and white nationalism in the United States, bringing increased media attention and new members to their movement; his campaign enjoyed their widespread support.


title: White supremacy

text: Some academics argue that outcomes from the 2016 United States Presidential Election reflect ongoing challenges with white supremacy. Psychologist Janet Helms suggested that the normalizing behaviors of social institutions of education, government, and healthcare are organized around the "birthright of...the power to control society's resources and determine the rules for [those resources]". Educators, literary theorists, and other political experts have raised similar questions, connecting the scapegoating of disenfranchised populations to white superiority.


title: White supremacy

text: As of 2018, there were over 600 white supremacy organizations recorded in the U.S. On July 23, 2019, Christopher A. Wray, the head of the FBI, said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that the agency had made around 100 domestic terrorism arrests since October 1, 2018, and that the majority of them were connected in some way with white supremacy. Wray said that the Bureau was "aggressively pursuing [domestic terrorism] using both counterterrorism resources and criminal investigative resources and partnering closely with our state and local partners," but said that it was focused on the violence itself and not on its ideological basis. A similar number of arrests had been made for instances of international terrorism. In the past, Wray has said that white supremacy was a significant and "pervasive" threat to the U.S.


title: White supremacy

text: On September 20, 2019, the acting Secretary of Homeland Security, Kevin McAleenan, announced his department's revised strategy for counter-terrorism, which included a new emphasis on the dangers inherent in the white supremacy movement. McAleenan called white supremacy one of the most "potent ideologies" behind domestic terrorism-related violent acts. In a speech at the Brookings Institution, McAleenan cited a series of high-profile shooting incidents, and said "In our modern age, the continued menace of racially based violent extremism, particularly white supremacist extremism, is an abhorrent affront to the nation, the struggle and unity of its diverse population." The new strategy will include better tracking and analysis of threats, sharing information with local officials, training local law enforcement on how to deal with shooting events, discouraging the hosting of hate sites online, and encouraging counter-messages.


title: White supremacy

text: In a 2020 article in "The New York Times" titled "How White Women Use Themselves as Instruments of Terror", columnist Charles M. Blow wrote:


title: White supremacy

text: The Tuskegee Institute has estimated that 3,446 blacks were the victims of lynchings in the United States between 1882 and 1968, with the peak occurring in the 1890s at a time of economic stress in the South and increasing political suppression of blacks. If 1,297 whites were also lynched during this period, blacks were disproportionally targeted, representing 72.7% of all people lynched. According to scholar Amy L. Wood, "lynching photographs constructed and perpetuated white supremacist ideology by creating permanent images of a controlled white citizenry juxtaposed to images of helpless and powerless black men."


title: White supremacy

text: White supremacy has also played a part in U.S. school curriculum. Over the course of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, material across the spectrum of academic disciplines has been taught with a heavy emphasis on White culture, contributions, and experiences, and a lack of representation of non-White groups' perspectives and accomplishments. In the 19th century, Geography lessons contained teachings on a fixed racial hierarchy, which white people topped. Mills (1994) writes that history as it is taught is really the history of White people, and it is taught in a way that favors White Americans and White people in general. He states that the language used to tell history minimizes the violent acts committed by White people over the centuries, citing the use of the words, for example, "discovery," "colonization," and "New World" when describing what was ultimately a European conquest of the Western Hemisphere and its indigenous peoples. Swartz (1992) seconds this reading of modern history narratives when it comes to the experiences, resistances, and accomplishments of Black Americans throughout the Middle Passage, slavery, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and the Civil rights movement. In an analysis of American history textbooks, she highlights word choices that repetitively "normalize" slavery and the inhumane treatment of Black people. She also notes the frequent showcasing of White abolitionists and actual exclusion of Black abolitionists and the fact that Black Americans had been mobilizing for abolition for centuries before the major White American push for abolition in the 19th century. She ultimately asserts the presence of a "masternarrative" that centers Europe and its associated peoples (White people) in school curriculum, particularly as it pertains to history. She writes that this masternarrative condenses history into only history that is relevant to, and to some extent beneficial for, White Americans.


title: White supremacy

text: Elson (1964) provides detailed information about the historic dissemination of simplistic and negative ideas about non-White races. Native Americans, who were subjected to attempts of cultural genocide by the U.S. government through the use of American Indian boarding schools, were characterized as homogenously "cruel," a violent menace toward White Americans, and lacking civilization or societal complexity (p. 74). For example, in the 19th century, Black Americans were consistently portrayed as lazy, immature, and intellectually and morally inferior to white Americans, and in many ways not deserving of equal participation in U.S. society. For example, a math problem in a 19th-century textbook read, "If 5 white men can do as much work as 7 negroes..." implying that white men are more industrious and competent than black men (p. 99). In addition, little to none was taught about Black Americans' contributions, or their histories before being brought to U.S. soil as slaves. According to Wayne (1972), this approach was taken especially much after the Civil War to maintain Whites' hegemony over emancipated Black Americans. Other racial groups have received oppressive treatment, including Mexican Americans, who were temporarily prevented from learning the same curriculum as White Americans because they were supposedly intellectually inferior, and Asian Americans, some of whom were prevented from learning much about their ancestral lands because they were deemed a threat to "American" culture, i.e. White culture, at the turn of the 20th century.


title: White supremacy

text: With the emergence of Twitter in 2006, and platforms such as "Stormfront" which was launched in 1996, an alt-right portal for white supremacists with similar beliefs, both adults and children, was provided in which they were given a way to connect. Jessie Daniels, of CUNY-Hunter College, discussed the emergence of other social media outlets such as 4chan and Reddit, which meant that the "spread of white nationalist symbols and ideas could be accelerated and amplified." Sociologist Kathleen Blee notes that the anonymity which the Internet provides can make it difficult to track the extent of white supremacist activity in the country, but nevertheless she and other experts see an increase in the amount of hate crimes and white supremacist violence. In the latest wave of white supremacy, in the age of the Internet, Blee sees the movement as having primarily become a virtual one, in which divisions between groups become blurred: "[A]ll these various groups that get jumbled together as the alt-right and people who have come in from the more traditional neo-Nazi world. We're in a very different world now."


title: White supremacy

text: David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, wrote in 1999 that the Internet was going to create a "chain reaction of racial enlightenment that will shake the world." Daniels documents that racist groups see the Internet as a way to spread their ideologies, influence others and gain supporters. Legal scholar Richard Hasen describes a "dark side" of social media:


title: White supremacy

text: There certainly were hate groups before the Internet and social media. [But with social media] it just becomes easier to organize, to spread the word, for people to know where to go. It could be to raise money, or it could be to engage in attacks on social media. Some of the activity is virtual. Some of it is in a physical place. Social media has lowered the collective-action problems that individuals who might want to be in a hate group would face. You can see that there are people out there like you. That's the dark side of social media.


title: White supremacy

text: A series on YouTube hosted by the grandson of Thomas Robb, the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, "presents the Klan's ideology in a format aimed at kids — more specifically, white kids." The short episodes inveigh against race-mixing, and extol other white supremacist ideologies. A short documentary published by TRT describes Imran Garda's experience, a journalist of Indian descent, who met with Thomas Robb and a traditional KKK group. A sign that greets people who enter the town states "Diversity is a code for white genocide." The KKK group interviewed in the documentary summarizes its ideals, principles, and beliefs, which are emblematic of white supremacists in the United States. The comic book super hero Captain America was used for dog whistle politics by the alt-right in college campus recruitment in 2017, an ironic co-optation because Captain America battled against Nazis in the comics, and was created by Jewish cartoonists.


title: White supremacy

text: There has been debate whether Winston Churchill, who was voted "the greatest ever Briton" in 2002, was "a racist and white supremacist". In the context of rejecting the Arab wish to stop Jewish immigration to Palestine, he said:


title: White supremacy

text: I do not admit that the dog in the manger has the final right to the manger, though he may have lain there for a very long time. I do not admit that right. I do not admit for instance that a great wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to those people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher-grade race or at any rate a more worldly-wise race ... has come in and taken their place."


title: White supremacy

text: British historian Richard Toye, author of "Churchill's Empire", concluded that "Churchill did think that white people were superior."


title: White supremacy

text: A number of Southern African nations experienced severe racial tension and conflict during global decolonization, particularly as white Africans of European ancestry fought to protect their preferential social and political status. Racial segregation in South Africa began in colonial times under the Dutch Empire. It continued when the British took over the Cape of Good Hope in 1795. Apartheid was introduced as an officially structured policy by the Afrikaner-dominated National Party after the general election of 1948. Apartheid's legislation divided inhabitants into four racial groups—"black", "white", "coloured", and "Indian", with coloured divided into several sub-classifications. In 1970, the Afrikaner-run government abolished non-white political representation, and starting that year black people were deprived of South African citizenship. South Africa abolished apartheid in 1991.


title: White supremacy

text: In Rhodesia a predominantly white government issued its own unilateral declaration of independence from the United Kingdom during an unsuccessful attempt to avoid immediate majority rule. Following the Rhodesian Bush War which was fought by African nationalists, Rhodesian prime minister Ian Smith acceded to biracial political representation in 1978 and the state achieved recognition from the United Kingdom as Zimbabwe in 1980.


title: White supremacy

text: Nazism promoted the idea of a superior Germanic people or Aryan race in Germany during the early 20th century. Notions of white supremacy and Aryan racial superiority were combined in the 19th century, with white supremacists maintaining the belief that white people were members of an Aryan "master race" that was superior to other races, particularly the Jews, who were described as the "Semitic race", Slavs, and Gypsies, who they associated with "cultural sterility". Arthur de Gobineau, a French racial theorist and aristocrat, blamed the fall of the "ancien régime" in France on racial degeneracy caused by racial intermixing, which he argued had destroyed the "purity" of the Nordic or Germanic race. Gobineau's theories, which attracted a strong following in Germany, emphasized the existence of an irreconcilable polarity between Aryan or Germanic peoples and Jewish culture.


title: White supremacy

text: As the Nazi Party's chief racial theorist, Alfred Rosenberg oversaw the construction of a human racial "ladder" that justified Hitler's racial and ethnic policies. Rosenberg promoted the Nordic theory, which regarded Nordics as the "master race", superior to all others, including other Aryans (Indo-Europeans). Rosenberg got the racial term "Untermensch" from the title of Klansman Lothrop Stoddard's 1922 book "The Revolt Against Civilization: The Menace of the Under-man". It was later adopted by the Nazis from that book's German version "Der Kulturumsturz: Die Drohung des Untermenschen" (1925). Rosenberg was the leading Nazi who attributed the concept of the East-European "under man" to Stoddard. An advocate of the U.S. immigration laws that favored Northern Europeans, Stoddard wrote primarily on the alleged dangers posed by "colored" peoples to white civilization, and wrote "The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy" in 1920. In establishing a restrictive entry system for Germany in 1925, Hitler wrote of his admiration for America's immigration laws: "The American Union categorically refuses the immigration of physically unhealthy elements, and simply excludes the immigration of certain races."


title: White supremacy

text: German praise for America's institutional racism, previously found in Hitler's "Mein Kampf", was continuous throughout the early 1930s. Nazi lawyers were advocates of the use of American models. Race-based U.S. citizenship and anti-miscegenation laws directly inspired the Nazis' two principal Nuremberg racial laws—the Citizenship Law and the Blood Law. To preserve the Aryan or Nordic race, the Nazis introduced the Nuremberg Laws in 1935, which forbade sexual relations and marriages between Germans and Jews, and later between Germans and Romani and Slavs. The Nazis used the Mendelian inheritance theory to argue that social traits were innate, claiming that there was a racial nature associated with certain general traits such as inventiveness or criminal behavior.


title: White supremacy

text: According to the 2012 annual report of Germany's interior intelligence service, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, at the time there were 26,000 right-wing extremists living in Germany, including 6,000 neo-Nazis.


title: White supremacy

text: Fifty-one people died from two consecutive terrorist attacks at the Al Noor Mosque and the Linwood Islamic Centre by an Australian white supremacist carried out on March 15, 2019. The terrorist attacks have been described by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern as "One of New Zealand's darkest days". On August 27, 2020, the shooter was sentenced to life without parole.


title: White supremacy

text: Supporters of Nordicism consider the "Nordic peoples" to be a superior race. By the early 19th century, white supremacy was attached to emerging theories of racial hierarchy. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer attributed cultural primacy to the white race:


title: White supremacy

text: The eugenicist Madison Grant argued in his 1916 book, "The Passing of the Great Race", that the Nordic race had been responsible for most of humanity's great achievements, and that admixture was "race suicide". In this book, Europeans who are not of Germanic origin but have Nordic characteristics such as blonde/red hair and blue/green/gray eyes, were considered to be a Nordic admixture and suitable for Aryanization.


title: White supremacy

text: In the United States, the groups most associated with the white supremacist movement are the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Aryan Nations, and the White American Resistance movement, all of which are also considered to be antisemitic. The Proud Boys, despite claiming non-association with white supremacy, have been described in academic contexts as being such. Many white supremacist groups are based on the concept of preserving genetic purity, and do not focus solely on discrimination based on skin color. The KKK's reasons for supporting racial segregation are not primarily based on religious ideals, but some Klan groups are openly Protestant. The 1915 silent drama film "The Birth of a Nation" followed the rising racial, economic, political, and geographic tensions leading up to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Southern Reconstruction era that was the genesis of the Ku Klux Klan.


title: White supremacy

text: Nazi Germany promulgated white supremacy based on the belief that the Aryan race, or the Germans, were the "master race". It was combined with a eugenics programme that aimed for racial hygiene through compulsory sterilization of sick individuals and extermination of "Untermenschen" ("subhumans"): Slavs, Jews and Romani, which eventually culminated in the Holocaust.


title: White supremacy

text: Christian Identity is another movement closely tied to white supremacy. Some white supremacists identify themselves as Odinists, although many Odinists reject white supremacy. Some white supremacist groups, such as the South African Boeremag, conflate elements of Christianity and Odinism. Creativity (formerly known as "The World Church of the Creator") is atheistic and it denounces Christianity and other theistic religions. Aside from this, its ideology is similar to that of many Christian Identity groups because it believes in the antisemitic conspiracy theory that there is a "Jewish conspiracy" in control of governments, the banking industry and the media. Matthew F. Hale, founder of the World Church of the Creator, has published articles stating that all races other than white are "mud races", which is what the group's religion teaches.


title: White supremacy

text: The white supremacist ideology has become associated with a racist faction of the skinhead subculture, despite the fact that when the skinhead culture first developed in the United Kingdom in the late 1960s, it was heavily influenced by black fashions and music, especially Jamaican reggae and ska, and African American soul music.


title: White supremacy

text: White supremacist recruitment activities are primarily conducted at a grassroots level as well as on the Internet. Widespread access to the Internet has led to a dramatic increase in white supremacist websites. The Internet provides a venue to openly express white supremacist ideas at little social cost, because people who post the information are able to remain anonymous.


title: White supremacy

text: White separatism is a political and social movement that seeks the separation of white people from people of other races and ethnicities. This may include the establishment of a white ethnostate by removing non-whites from existing communities or by forming new communities elsewhere.


title: White supremacy

text: Most modern researchers do not view white separatism as distinct from white supremacist beliefs. The Anti-Defamation League defines white separatism as "a form of white supremacy"; the Southern Poverty Law Center defines both white nationalism and white separatism as "ideologies based on white supremacy." Facebook has banned content that is openly white nationalist or white separatist because "white nationalism and white separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups".


title: White supremacy

text: Use of the term to self-identify has been criticized as a dishonest rhetorical ploy. The Anti-Defamation League argues that white supremacists use the phrase because they believe it has fewer negative connotations than the term "white supremacist".


title: White supremacy

text: Dobratz & Shanks-Meile reported that adherents usually reject marriage "outside the white race". They argued for the existence of "a distinction between the white supremacist's desire to dominate (as in apartheid, slavery, or segregation) and complete separation by race". They argued that this is a matter of pragmatism, that while many white supremacists are also white separatists, contemporary white separatists reject the view that returning to a system of segregation is possible or desirable in the United States.


title: White supremacy

text: The term "white supremacy" is used in some academic studies of racial power to denote a system of structural or societal racism which privileges white people over others, regardless of the presence or the absence of racial hatred. According to this definition, white racial advantages occur at both a collective and an individual level ("ceteris paribus", , when individuals are compared that do not relevantly differ except in ethnicity). Legal scholar Frances Lee Ansley explains this definition as follows:


title: White supremacy

text: This and similar definitions have been adopted or proposed by Charles W. Mills, bell hooks, David Gillborn, Jessie Daniels, and Neely Fuller Jr, and they are widely used in critical race theory and intersectional feminism. Some anti-racist educators, such as Betita Martinez and the Challenging White Supremacy workshop, also use the term in this way. The term expresses historic continuities between a pre–civil rights movement era of open white supremacy and the current racial power structure of the United States. It also expresses the visceral impact of structural racism through "provocative and brutal" language that characterizes racism as "nefarious, global, systemic, and constant". Academic users of the term sometimes prefer it to "racism" because it allows for a distinction to be drawn between racist feelings and white racial advantage or privilege. John McWhorter, a specialist in language and race relations, explains the gradual replacement of "racism" by "white supremacy" by the fact that "potent terms need refreshment, especially when heavily used", drawing a parallel with the replacement of "chauvinist" by "sexist""."


title: White supremacy

text: Other intellectuals have criticized the term's recent rise in popularity among leftist activists as counterproductive. John McWhorter has described the use of "white supremacy" as straying from its commonly accepted meaning to encompass less extreme issues, thereby cheapening the term and potentially derailing productive discussion. Political columnist Kevin Drum attributes the term's growing popularity to frequent use by Ta-Nehisi Coates, describing it as a "terrible fad" which fails to convey nuance. He claims that the term should be reserved for those who are trying to promote the idea that whites are inherently superior to blacks and not used to characterize less blatantly racist beliefs or actions. The academic use of the term to refer to systemic racism has been criticized by Conor Friedersdorf for the confusion it creates for the general public inasmuch as it differs from the more common dictionary definition; he argues that it is likely to alienate those it hopes to convince.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: A urinary tract infection (UTI) is an infection that affects part of the urinary tract. When it affects the lower urinary tract it is known as a bladder infection (cystitis) and when it affects the upper urinary tract it is known as a kidney infection (pyelonephritis). Symptoms from a lower urinary tract infection include pain with urination, frequent urination, and feeling the need to urinate despite having an empty bladder. Symptoms of a kidney infection include fever and flank pain usually in addition to the symptoms of a lower UTI. Rarely the urine may appear bloody. In the very old and the very young, symptoms may be vague or non-specific.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: The most common cause of infection is "Escherichia coli", though other bacteria or fungi may sometimes be the cause. Risk factors include female anatomy, sexual intercourse, diabetes, obesity, and family history. Although sexual intercourse is a risk factor, UTIs are not classified as sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Kidney infection, if it occurs, usually follows a bladder infection but may also result from a blood-borne infection. Diagnosis in young healthy women can be based on symptoms alone. In those with vague symptoms, diagnosis can be difficult because bacteria may be present without there being an infection. In complicated cases or if treatment fails, a urine culture may be useful.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: In uncomplicated cases, UTIs are treated with a short course of antibiotics such as nitrofurantoin or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Resistance to many of the antibiotics used to treat this condition is increasing. In complicated cases, a longer course or intravenous antibiotics may be needed. If symptoms do not improve in two or three days, further diagnostic testing may be needed. Phenazopyridine may help with symptoms. In those who have bacteria or white blood cells in their urine but have no symptoms, antibiotics are generally not needed, although during pregnancy is an exception. In those with frequent infections, a short course of antibiotics may be taken as soon as symptoms begin or long-term antibiotics may be used as a preventive measure.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: About 150million people develop a urinary tract infection in a given year. They are more common in women than men, but similar between anatomies while carrying indwelling catheters. In women, they are the most common form of bacterial infection. Up to 10% of women have a urinary tract infection in a given year, and half of women have at least one infection at some point in their lifetime. They occur most frequently between the ages of 16 and 35years. Recurrences are common. Urinary tract infections have been described since ancient times with the first documented description in the Ebers Papyrus dated to c. 1550 BC.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Lower urinary tract infection is also referred to as a bladder infection. The most common symptoms are burning with urination and having to urinate frequently (or an urge to urinate) in the absence of vaginal discharge and significant pain. These symptoms may vary from mild to severe and in healthy women last an average of sixdays. Some pain above the pubic bone or in the lower back may be present. People experiencing an upper urinary tract infection, or pyelonephritis, may experience flank pain, fever, or nausea and vomiting in addition to the classic symptoms of a lower urinary tract infection. Rarely, the urine may appear bloody or contain visible pus in the urine.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: UTIs have been associated with onset or worsening of delirium, dementia, and neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and psychosis. The reasons for this are unknown, but may involve a UTI-mediated systemic inflammatory response which affects the brain. Cytokines such as interleukin-6 produced as part of the inflammatory response may produce neuroinflammation, in turn affecting dopaminergic and/or glutamatergic neurotransmission as well as brain glucose metabolism.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: In young children, the only symptom of a urinary tract infection (UTI) may be a fever. Because of the lack of more obvious symptoms, when females under the age of two or uncircumcised males less than a year exhibit a fever, a culture of the urine is recommended by many medical associations. Infants may feed poorly, vomit, sleep more, or show signs of jaundice. In older children, new onset urinary incontinence (loss of bladder control) may occur. About 1 in 400 infants of 1 to 3 months of age with a UTI also have bacterial meningitis.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Urinary tract symptoms are frequently lacking in the elderly. The presentations may be vague with incontinence, a change in mental status, or fatigue as the only symptoms, while some present to a health care provider with sepsis, an infection of the blood, as the first symptoms. Diagnosis can be complicated by the fact that many elderly people have preexisting incontinence or dementia.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: It is reasonable to obtain a urine culture in those with signs of systemic infection that may be unable to report urinary symptoms, such as when advanced dementia is present. Systemic signs of infection include a fever or increase in temperature of more than from usual, chills, and an increased white blood cell count.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Uropathogenic "E. coli" from the gut is the cause of 80–85% of community-acquired urinary tract infections, with "Staphylococcus saprophyticus" being the cause in 5–10%. Rarely they may be due to viral or fungal infections. Healthcare-associated urinary tract infections (mostly related to urinary catheterization) involve a much broader range of pathogens including: "E. coli" (27%), "Klebsiella" (11%), "Pseudomonas" (11%), the fungal pathogen "Candida albicans" (9%), and "Enterococcus" (7%) among others. Urinary tract infections due to "Staphylococcus aureus" typically occur secondary to blood-borne infections. "Chlamydia trachomatis" and "Mycoplasma genitalium" can infect the urethra but not the bladder. These infections are usually classified as a urethritis rather than urinary tract infection.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: In young sexually active women, sexual activity is the cause of 75–90% of bladder infections, with the risk of infection related to the frequency of sex. The term "honeymoon cystitis" has been applied to this phenomenon of frequent UTIs during early marriage. In post-menopausal women, sexual activity does not affect the risk of developing a UTI. Spermicide use, independent of sexual frequency, increases the risk of UTIs. Diaphragm use is also associated. Condom use without spermicide or use of birth control pills does not increase the risk of uncomplicated urinary tract infection.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Women are more prone to UTIs than men because, in females, the urethra is much shorter and closer to the anus. As a woman's estrogen levels decrease with menopause, her risk of urinary tract infections increases due to the loss of protective vaginal flora. Additionally, vaginal atrophy that can sometimes occur after menopause is associated with recurrent urinary tract infections.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Chronic prostatitis in the forms of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome and chronic bacterial prostatitis (not acute bacterial prostatitis or asymptomatic inflammatory prostatitis) may cause recurrent urinary tract infections in males. Risk of infections increases as males age. While bacteria is commonly present in the urine of older males this does not appear to affect the risk of urinary tract infections.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Urinary catheterization increases the risk for urinary tract infections. The risk of bacteriuria (bacteria in the urine) is between three and six percent per day and prophylactic antibiotics are not effective in decreasing symptomatic infections. The risk of an associated infection can be decreased by catheterizing only when necessary, using aseptic technique for insertion, and maintaining unobstructed closed drainage of the catheter.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Male scuba divers using condom catheters and female divers using external catching devices for their dry suits are also susceptible to urinary tract infections.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: A predisposition for bladder infections may run in families. This is believed to be related to genetics. Other risk factors include diabetes, being uncircumcised, and having a large prostate. In children UTIs are associated with vesicoureteral reflux (an abnormal movement of urine from the bladder into ureters or kidneys) and constipation.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Persons with spinal cord injury are at increased risk for urinary tract infection in part because of chronic use of catheter, and in part because of voiding dysfunction. It is the most common cause of infection in this population, as well as the most common cause of hospitalization.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: The bacteria that cause urinary tract infections typically enter the bladder via the urethra. However, infection may also occur via the blood or lymph. It is believed that the bacteria are usually transmitted to the urethra from the bowel, with females at greater risk due to their anatomy. After gaining entry to the bladder, "E. Coli" are able to attach to the bladder wall and form a biofilm that resists the body's immune response.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: "Escherichia coli" is the single most common microorganism, followed by "Klebsiella" and "Proteus" spp., to cause urinary tract infection. "Klebsiella" and "Proteus" spp., are frequently associated with stone disease. The presence of Gram positive bacteria such as "Enterococcus" and "Staphylococcus" is increased.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: The increased resistance of urinary pathogens to quinolone antibiotics has been reported worldwide and might be the consequence of overuse and misuse of quinolones.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: In straightforward cases, a diagnosis may be made and treatment given based on symptoms alone without further laboratory confirmation. In complicated or questionable cases, it may be useful to confirm the diagnosis via urinalysis, looking for the presence of urinary nitrites, white blood cells (leukocytes), or leukocyte esterase. Another test, urine microscopy, looks for the presence of red blood cells, white blood cells, or bacteria. Urine culture is deemed positive if it shows a bacterial colony count of greater than or equal to 10 colony-forming units per mL of a typical urinary tract organism. Antibiotic sensitivity can also be tested with these cultures, making them useful in the selection of antibiotic treatment. However, women with negative cultures may still improve with antibiotic treatment. As symptoms can be vague and without reliable tests for urinary tract infections, diagnosis can be difficult in the elderly.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Normal urine pH is slightly acidic, with usual values of 6.0 to 7.5, but the normal range is 4.5 to 8.0. A urine pH of 8.5 or 9.0 is indicative of a urea-splitting organism, such as Proteus, Klebsiella, or Ureaplasma urealyticum; therefore, an asymptomatic patient with a high pH means UTI regardless of the other urine test results. Alkaline pH also can signify struvite kidney stones, which are also known as “infection stones.”


title: Urinary tract infection

text: A urinary tract infection may involve only the lower urinary tract, in which case it is known as a bladder infection. Alternatively, it may involve the upper urinary tract, in which case it is known as pyelonephritis. If the urine contains significant bacteria but there are no symptoms, the condition is known as asymptomatic bacteriuria. If a urinary tract infection involves the upper tract, and the person has diabetes mellitus, is pregnant, is male, or immunocompromised, it is considered complicated. Otherwise if a woman is healthy and premenopausal it is considered uncomplicated. In children when a urinary tract infection is associated with a fever, it is deemed to be an upper urinary tract infection.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: To make the diagnosis of a urinary tract infection in children, a positive urinary culture is required. Contamination poses a frequent challenge depending on the method of collection used, thus a cutoff of 10CFU/mL is used for a "clean-catch" mid stream sample, 10CFU/mL is used for catheter-obtained specimens, and 10CFU/mL is used for suprapubic aspirations (a sample drawn directly from the bladder with a needle). The use of "urine bags" to collect samples is discouraged by the World Health Organization due to the high rate of contamination when cultured, and catheterization is preferred in those not toilet trained. Some, such as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends renal ultrasound and voiding cystourethrogram (watching a person's urethra and urinary bladder with real time x-rays while they urinate) in all children less than two years old who have had a urinary tract infection. However, because there is a lack of effective treatment if problems are found, others such as the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence only recommends routine imaging in those less than six months old or who have unusual findings.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: In women with cervicitis (inflammation of the cervix) or vaginitis (inflammation of the vagina) and in young men with UTI symptoms, a "Chlamydia trachomatis" or "Neisseria gonorrhoeae" infection may be the cause. These infections are typically classified as a urethritis rather than a urinary tract infection. Vaginitis may also be due to a yeast infection. Interstitial cystitis (chronic pain in the bladder) may be considered for people who experience multiple episodes of UTI symptoms but urine cultures remain negative and not improved with antibiotics. Prostatitis (inflammation of the prostate) may also be considered in the differential diagnosis.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Hemorrhagic cystitis, characterized by blood in the urine, can occur secondary to a number of causes including: infections, radiation therapy, underlying cancer, medications and toxins. Medications that commonly cause this problem include the chemotherapeutic agent cyclophosphamide with rates of 2 to 40%. Eosinophilic cystitis is a rare condition where eosinophiles are present in the bladder wall. Signs and symptoms are similar to a bladder infection. Its cause is not entirely clear; however, it may be linked to food allergies, infections, and medications among others.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: A number of measures have not been confirmed to affect UTI frequency including: urinating immediately after intercourse, the type of underwear used, personal hygiene methods used after urinating or defecating, or whether a person typically bathes or showers. There is similarly a lack of evidence surrounding the effect of holding one's urine, tampon use, and douching. In those with frequent urinary tract infections who use spermicide or a diaphragm as a method of contraception, they are advised to use alternative methods. In those with benign prostatic hyperplasia urinating in a sitting position appears to improve bladder emptying which might decrease urinary tract infections in this group.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Using urinary catheters as little and as short of time as possible and appropriate care of the catheter when used prevents catheter-associated urinary tract infections.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: They should be inserted using sterile technique in hospital however non-sterile technique may be appropriate in those who self catheterize. The urinary catheter set up should also be kept sealed. Evidence does not support a significant decrease in risk when silver-alloy catheters are used.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: For those with recurrent infections, taking a short course of antibiotics when each infection occurs is associated with the lowest antibiotic use. A prolonged course of daily antibiotics is also effective. Medications frequently used include nitrofurantoin and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Methenamine is another agent used for this purpose as in the bladder where the acidity is low it produces formaldehyde to which resistance does not develop. Some recommend against prolonged use due to concerns of antibiotic resistance.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: In cases where infections are related to intercourse, taking antibiotics afterwards may be useful. In post-menopausal women, topical vaginal estrogen has been found to reduce recurrence. As opposed to topical creams, the use of vaginal estrogen from pessaries has not been as useful as low dose antibiotics. Antibiotics following short term urinary catheterization decreases the subsequent risk of a bladder infection. A number of vaccines are in development as of 2018.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: The evidence that preventive antibiotics decrease urinary tract infections in children is poor. However recurrent UTIs are a rare cause of further kidney problems if there are no underlying abnormalities of the kidneys, resulting in less than a third of a percent (0.33%) of chronic kidney disease in adults. Whether routine circumcision prevents UTIs has not been well studied as of 2011.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Some research suggests that cranberry (juice or capsules) may decrease the number of UTIs in those with frequent infections. A Cochrane review concluded that the benefit, if it exists, is small; so did a randomized controlled trial in 2016. Long-term tolerance is also an issue with gastrointestinal upset occurring in more than 30%. Cranberry juice is thus not currently recommended for this indication. As of 2015, probiotics require further study to determine if they are beneficial. The role of the urinary microbiome in maintaining urinary tract health is not well understood as of 2015. , one review found that taking mannose was as effective as antibiotics to prevent UTIs, while another review found that clinical trial quality was too low to allow any conclusion about using D‐mannose to prevent or treat UTIs.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: The mainstay of treatment is antibiotics. Phenazopyridine is occasionally prescribed during the first few days in addition to antibiotics to help with the burning and urgency sometimes felt during a bladder infection. However, it is not routinely recommended due to safety concerns with its use, specifically an elevated risk of methemoglobinemia (higher than normal level of methemoglobin in the blood). Paracetamol may be used for fevers. There is no good evidence for the use of cranberry products for treating current infections.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Fosfomycin can be used as an efficacious treatment for both UTIs and complicated UTIs including acute pyelonephritis. The standard regimen for complicated UTIs is an oral 3g dose administered once every 48 or 72 hours for a total of 3 doses or a 6 grams every 8 hours for 7 days to 14 days when fosfomycin is given in IV form.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Those who have bacteria in the urine but no symptoms should not generally be treated with antibiotics. This includes those who are old, those with spinal cord injuries, and those who have urinary catheters. Pregnancy is an exception and it is recommended that women take 7days of antibiotics. If not treated it causes up to 30% of mothers to develop pyelonephritis and increases risk of low birth weight and preterm birth. Some also support treatment of those with diabetes mellitus and treatment before urinary tract procedures which will likely cause bleeding.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Uncomplicated infections can be diagnosed and treated based on symptoms alone. Antibiotics taken by mouth such as trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, nitrofurantoin, or fosfomycin are typically first line. Cephalosporins, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, or a fluoroquinolone may also be used. However, antibiotic resistance to fluoroquinolones among the bacteria that cause urinary infections has been increasing. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends against the use of fluoroquinolones, including a Boxed Warning, when other options are available due to higher risks of serious side effects, such as tendinitis, tendon rupture and worsening of myasthenia gravis. These medications substantially shorten the time to recovery with all being equally effective. A three-day treatment with trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, or a fluoroquinolone is usually sufficient, whereas nitrofurantoin requires 5–7days. Fosfomycin may be used as a single dose but is not as effective.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Fluoroquinolones are not recommended as a first treatment. The Infectious Diseases Society of America states this due to the concern of generating resistance to this class of medication. Amoxicillin-clavulanate appears less effective than other options. Despite this precaution, some resistance has developed to all of these medications related to their widespread use. Trimethoprim alone is deemed to be equivalent to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole in some countries. For simple UTIs, children often respond to a three-day course of antibiotics. Women with recurrent simple UTIs are over 90% accurate in identifying new infections. They may benefit from self-treatment upon occurrence of symptoms with medical follow-up only if the initial treatment fails.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Complicated UTIs are more difficult to treat and usually requires more aggressive evaluation, treatment and follow-up. It may require identifying and addressing the underlying complication. Increasing antibiotic resistance is causing concern about the future of treating those with complicated and recurrent UTI.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Pyelonephritis is treated more aggressively than a simple bladder infection using either a longer course of oral antibiotics or intravenous antibiotics. Seven days of the oral fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin is typically used in areas where the resistance rate is less than 10%. If the local resistance rates are greater than 10%, a dose of intravenous ceftriaxone is often prescribed. Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole or amoxicillin/clavulanate orally for 14 days is another reasonable option. In those who exhibit more severe symptoms, admission to a hospital for ongoing antibiotics may be needed. Complications such as ureteral obstruction from a kidney stone may be considered if symptoms do not improve following two or three days of treatment.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: With treatment, symptoms generally improve within 36hours. Up to 42% of uncomplicated infections may resolve on their own within a few days or weeks.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Some children will develop recurrent urinary tract infection. When urinary tract infection involves the lower urinary tract, it develop cystitis, if urinary tract infection involves the upper tract, pyelonephritis develops. About 10 to 20% of pyelonephritis will go on and develop scarring of the affected kidney. Then, 10 to 20% of those develop scarring will have increased risk of hypertension in later life.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Urinary tract infections are the most frequent bacterial infection in women. They occur most frequently between the ages of 16 and 35years, with 10% of women getting an infection yearly and more than 40–60% having an infection at some point in their lives. Recurrences are common, with nearly half of people getting a second infection within a year. Urinary tract infections occur four times more frequently in females than males. Pyelonephritis occurs between 20 and 30 times less frequently. They are the most common cause of hospital-acquired infections accounting for approximately 40%. Rates of asymptomatic bacteria in the urine increase with age from two to seven percent in women of child-bearing age to as high as 50% in elderly women in care homes. Rates of asymptomatic bacteria in the urine among men over 75 are between 7–10%. Asymptomatic bacteria in the urine occurs in 2% to 10% of pregnancies.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Urinary tract infections may affect 10% of people during childhood. Among children, urinary tract infections are most common in uncircumcised males less than three months of age, followed by females less than one year. Estimates of frequency among children, however, vary widely. In a group of children with a fever, ranging in age between birth and two years, two to 20% were diagnosed with a UTI.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Urinary tract infections have been described since ancient times with the first documented description in the Ebers Papyrus dated to c. 1550 BC. It was described by the Egyptians as "sending forth heat from the bladder". Effective treatment did not occur until the development and availability of antibiotics in the 1930s before which time herbs, bloodletting and rest were recommended.


title: Urinary tract infection

text: Urinary tract infections are more concerning in pregnancy due to the increased risk of kidney infections. During pregnancy, high progesterone levels elevate the risk of decreased muscle tone of the ureters and bladder, which leads to a greater likelihood of reflux, where urine flows back up the ureters and towards the kidneys. While pregnant women do not have an increased risk of asymptomatic bacteriuria, if bacteriuria is present they do have a 25–40% risk of a kidney infection. Thus if urine testing shows signs of an infection—even in the absence of symptoms—treatment is recommended. Cephalexin or nitrofurantoin are typically used because they are generally considered safe in pregnancy. A kidney infection during pregnancy may result in preterm birth or pre-eclampsia (a state of high blood pressure and kidney dysfunction during pregnancy that can lead to seizures). Some women have UTIs that keep coming back in pregnancy. Currently, there is insufficient research on how to best treat these recurrent infections.


title: Chechens

text: The Chechens (; , , Old Chechen: Нахчой, "Naxçoy"), historically also known as "Kisti" and "Durdzuks", are a Northeast Caucasian ethnic group of the Nakh peoples native to the North Caucasus in Eastern Europe. They refer to themselves as Nokhchiy (pronounced ; singular Nokhchi, Nokhcho, Nakhchuo or Nakhtche). The vast majority of Chechens today are Muslims and live in Chechnya, a republic of Russia.


title: Chechens

text: The North Caucasus has been invaded numerous times throughout history. Its isolated terrain and the strategic value outsiders have placed on the areas settled by Chechens has contributed much to the Chechen community ethos and helped shape its national character.


title: Chechens

text: Chechen society has traditionally been egalitarian and organized around many autonomous local clans, called teips.


title: Chechens

text: According to popular tradition, the Russian term "Chechency" (Чеченцы) comes from central Chechnya, which had several important villages and towns named after the word "Chechen". These places include Chechan, Nana-Checha ("Mother Checha") and Yokkh Chechen ("Greater Chechena"). The name "Chechen" occurs in Russian sources in the late 16th century as "Chachana", which is mentioned as a land owned by the Chechen Prince Shikh Murza. The etymology is of Nakh origin and originates from the word "Che" ("inside") attached to the suffix -"cha"/"chan", which altogether can be translated as "inside territory". The villages and towns named Chechan were always situated in the "Chechan-are" ("Chechen flatlands or plains") located in today's central Chechnya.


title: Chechens

text: Although "Chechan" (Chechen) was a term used by Chechens to denote a certain geographic area (central Chechnya), Chechens called themselves "Nakhchiy" (highland dialects) or "Nokhchiy" (lowland dialects). The oldest mention of "Nakhchiy" occurred in 1310 by the Georgian Patriarch Cyril Donauri, who mentions the 'People of Nakhche' among Tushetians, Avars and many other Northeast Caucasian nations. The term "Nakhchiy" has also been connected to the city Nakhchivan and the nation of Nakhchamatyan (mentioned as one of the peoples of Sarmatia in the 7th-century Armenian work "Ashkharhatsuyts") by many Soviet and modern historians, although the historian N. Volkova considers the latter connection unlikely and states that the term Nakhchmatyan could have been mistaken for the "Iaxamatae", a tribe of Sarmatia mentioned in Ptolemy's "Geography", who have no connection to the Chechen people. Chechen manuscripts in Arabic from the early 1820s do mention a certain "Nakhchuvan" (near modern-day Kağızman, Turkey) as the homeland of all Nakhchiy. The etymology of the term "Nakhchiy" can also be understood as a compound formed with "Nakh" ('people') attached to "Chuo" ('territory').


title: Chechens

text: The Chechens are mainly inhabitants of Chechnya. There are also significant Chechen populations in other subdivisions of Russia, especially in Aukh (part of modern-day Dagestan), Ingushetia and Moscow.


title: Chechens

text: Outside Russia, countries with significant diaspora populations are Kazakhstan, Turkey and Arab states (especially Jordan and Iraq): those in Iraq and Jordan are mainly descendants of families who had to leave Chechnya during the Caucasian War, which led to the annexation of Chechnya by the Russian Empire in 1859, while those in Kazakhstan originate from the ethnic cleansing of the entire population carried out by Joseph Stalin and Lavrentiy Beria in 1944. Tens of thousands of Chechen refugees settled in the European Union and elsewhere as the result of the recent Chechen Wars, especially in the wave of emigration to the West after 2002.


title: Chechens

text: The Chechens are one of the Nakh peoples, who have lived in the highlands of the North Caucasus region since prehistory. There is archeological evidence of historical continuity dating back to 3000 B.C. as well as evidence pointing to their ancestors’ migration from the Fertile Crescent c. 10,000–8,000 B.C.


title: Chechens

text: The discussion of their origins is intertwined with the discussion of the mysterious origins of Nakh peoples as a whole. The only three surviving Nakh peoples are Chechens, Ingush and Bats, but they are thought by some scholars to be the remnants of what was once a larger family of peoples.


title: Chechens

text: They are thought to either be descended from original settlers of the Caucasus (North and/or South) or supposedly Nakh-speaking ethnic minorities in the north-eastern regions of the ancient state of Urartu (whose people also spoke a language that was possibly related to the Nakh languages). The two theories are not mutually incompatible, and there has been much evidence that seems to link the two (either by dual origins or the "return" theory, in which the Nakh peoples originally lived in the Caucasus, migrated down to the south, lived there for a long period of time, and then returned to the Caucasus).


title: Chechens

text: According to the opinion of Caucasus folklorist Amjad Jaimoukha, "It is certain that the Nakh constituted an important component of the Hurrian-Urartian tribes in the Trans-Caucasus and played a role in the development of their influential cultures."


title: Chechens

text: Amjad Jaimoukha notes in his book "The Chechens": "Some authorities believe that the Nakh nation was an offspring of the Hurrians and Urartians, builders of the magnificent civilizations of the Near East, that had profound influences upon other cultures of the region." According to some data, Chechens are genetically, linguistically and anthropologically considered the descendants of the Hurrians and Urartians.


title: Chechens

text: Other scholars, however, doubt that the language families are related, or believe that, while a connection is possible, the evidence is far from conclusive. Uralicist and Indo-Europeanist Petri Kallio argues that the matter is hindered by the lack of consensus about how to reconstruct Proto-Northeast-Caucasian, but that Alarodian is the most promising proposal for relations with Northeast Caucasian, greater than rival proposals to link it with Northwest Caucasian or other families. However, nothing is known about Alarodians except that they "were armed like the Colchians and Saspeires," according to Herodotus. Colchians and Saspeires are generally associated with Kartvelians or Scythians. Additionally, leading Urartologist Paul Zimansky rejected a connection between Urartians and Alarodians.


title: Chechens

text: Ancestors of the modern Chechens and Ingush were known as Durdzuks. According to "The Georgian Chronicles", before his death, Targamos [Togarmah] divided the country amongst his sons, with Kavkasos [Caucas], the eldest and most noble, receiving the Central Caucasus. Kavkasos engendered the Chechen tribes, and his descendant, Durdzuk, who took residence in a mountainous region, later called "Dzurdzuketia" after him, established a strong state in the fourth and third centuries BC. Among the Chechen teips, the teip , consonant with the ethnonym Dzurdzuk, live in the Itum-Kale region of Chechnya.


title: Chechens

text: Georgian historian Giorgi Melikishvili posited that although there was evidence of Nakh settlement in Southern Caucasus areas, this did not rule out the possibility that they also lived in the North Caucasus. Prior to the invasion of the Cimmerians and Scythians, the Nakh had inhabited the Central Caucasus and the steppe lands all the way to the Volga river in the northeast and the Caspian Sea to the east.


title: Chechens

text: The mighty state of Durdzuketi has been known since the 4th century BC. "The Armenian Chronicles" mention that the Durdzuks defeated Scythians and became a significant power in the region in the first millennium BC.


title: Chechens

text: The Vainakh in the east had an affinity to Georgia, while the Malkh Kingdom of the west looked to the new Greek kingdom of Bosporus on the Black Sea coast (though it may have also had relations with Georgia as well). Adermalkh, king of the Malkh state, married the daughter of the Bosporan king in 480 BCE. is one of the Chechen tukkhums.


title: Chechens

text: During the Middle Ages, the lowland of Chechnya was dominated by the Khazars and then the Alans. Local culture was also subject to Georgian influence and some Chechens converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. With a presence dating back to the 14th century, Islam gradually spread among the Chechens, although the Chechens' own pagan religion was still strong until the 19th century. Society was organised along feudal lines. Chechnya was devastated by the Mongol invasions of the 13th century and those of Tamerlane in the 14th. The Mongol invasions are well known in Chechen folktales which are often connected with military reports of Alan-Dzurdzuk wars against the Mongols.


title: Chechens

text: According to the missionary Pian de Carpine, a part of the Alans had successfully resisted a Mongol siege on a mountain for 12 years:


title: Chechens

text: This twelve-year-old siege is not found in any other report, however the Russian historian A. I. Krasnov connected this battle with two Chechen folktales he recorded in 1967 that spoke of an old hunter named Idig who with his companions defended the Dakuoh mountain for 12 years against Tatar-Mongols. He also reported to have found several arrowheads and spears from the 13th century near the very mountain the battle took place at:


title: Chechens

text: Tamerlane's late 14th-century invasions of the Caucasus were especially costly to the Chechen kingdom of Simsir which was an ally of the Golden Horde and anti-Timurid. Its leader Khour Ela supported Khan Tokhtamysh during the Battle of the Terek River.


title: Chechens

text: The Chechens bear the distinction of being one of the few peoples to successfully resist the Mongols and defend themselves against their invasions; not once, but twice, though this came at great cost to them, as their states were utterly destroyed. These events were key in the shaping of the Chechen nationhood and their martial-oriented and clan-based society.


title: Chechens

text: The Caucasus was a major competing area for two neighboring rival empires: the Ottoman and Turco-Persian empires (Safavids, Afsharids, Qajars). Starting from 1555 and decisively from 1639 through the first half of the 19th century, the Caucasus was divided by these two powers, with the Ottomans prevailing in Western Georgia, while Persia kept the bulk of the Caucasus, namely Eastern Georgia, Southern Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. The Chechens, however, never really fell under the rule of either empire. As Russia expanded slowly southwards as early as the 16th century, clashes between Chechens and Russians became more frequent, and it became three empires competing for the region. During these turbulent times, the Chechens were organized into semi-independent clans that were loyal to the Mehk-Khel (National Council). The Mehk-Khel was in charge of appointing the Mehk-Da (ruler of the nation). Several of these appeared during the Late Middle Ages such as Aldaman Gheza, Tinavin-Visa, Zok-K'ant and others. The administration and military expeditions commanded by Aldaman Gheza during the 1650-1670s led to Chechnya being largely untouched by the major empires of the time. Alliances were concluded with local lords against Persian encroachment and battles were fought to stop Russian influence. One such battle was the Battle of Khachara between Gheza and the rival Avar Khanate that tried to exert influence on Chechnya. As Russia set off to increase its political influence in the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea at the expense of Safavid Persia, Peter I launched the Russo-Persian War, in which Russia succeeded in taking much of the Caucasian territories for several years. The conflict notably marked the first military encounter between Imperial Russia and the Chechens. Sheikh Mansur led a major Chechen resistance movement in the late 18th century.


title: Chechens

text: In the late 18th and 19th centuries, Russia embarked on full-scale conquest of the North Caucasus in the Caucasian War. Much of the campaign was led by General Yermolov who particularly disliked the Chechens, describing them as "a bold and dangerous people". Angered by Chechen raids, Yermolov resorted to a brutal policy of "scorched earth" and deportations; he also founded the fort of Grozny (now the capital of Chechnya) in 1818. Chechen resistance to Russian rule reached its peak under the leadership of the Dagestani leader Imam Shamil. The Chechens were finally defeated in 1861 after a bloody war that lasted for decades, during which they lost most of their entire population. In the aftermath, large numbers of refugees also emigrated or were forcibly deported to the Ottoman Empire.