title: Yes Minister

text: The opening titles were drawn by artist and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe, who provided distinctive caricatures of Eddington, Hawthorne and Fowlds in their respective roles to represent distortion. He animated them as 'self-drawing' by positioning the camera above his paper, adding parts of lines, and then photographing two frames at a time. The sequence ended with the title of the episode superimposed on a facsimile of an edition of the House of Commons "Weekly Information Bulletin." Curiously, the legend "Compiled in the Public Information Office of the House of Commons Library" was left in the sequence. Scarfe created a second set of graphics for "Yes, Prime Minister", including a different title card for each episode. Derek Fowlds wanted to buy an original drawing but was unable to afford it. The series' performance credits typically only featured those of the actors who appeared in the particular episode, not the names of characters. The typeface used in the credits is Plantin, a common typeface used in the British press at the time. The show title is set in bold condensed and the credits are in bold.


title: Yes Minister

text: The theme music was composed by Ronnie Hazlehurst and is largely based on the Westminster Quarters: the chimes of Big Ben. When asked in an interview about its Westminster influence, Hazlehurst replied, "That's all it is. It's the easiest thing I've ever done.". The theme has a strong similarity to that of "To The Manor Born", which was also composed by Hazlehurst around the same time.


title: Yes Minister

text: A substantially different set of titles and music were produced for the pilot episode, "Open Government", which were never broadcast but appear on the DVD release. The pilot opening and closing title caption cards feature drawings of most of the cast, but far less exaggerated than those of Scarfe, while the music by Max Harris is a more up-tempo piece for brass band. When the pilot was aired as part of series 1, these were replaced by the familiar Scarfe and Hazlehurst credits.


title: Yes Minister

text: The different ideals and self-interested motives of the characters are frequently contrasted. Whilst Hacker occasionally approaches an issue from a sense of idealism and a desire to be seen to improve things, he ultimately sees his re-election and elevation to higher office as the key measures of his success. Accordingly, he must appear to the voters to be effective and responsive to the public will. To his party (and, in the first incarnation of the series, the Prime Minister) he must act as a loyal and effective party member. Sir Humphrey, on the other hand, genuinely believes that the Civil Service, being politically impartial, has the most realistic idea of what "good governance" means, and therefore knows what is best for the country – a belief shared by his bureaucratic colleagues.


title: Yes Minister

text: Hacker sees the job of government as one of "doing good", or more specifically reforming the country according to his own party's policies: which, more often than not, means the initiation of departmental reforms and economies, a reduction of the level of bureaucracy and reduction of staff numbers in the Civil Service. To do so, or to at least look as if he is doing so, is what he considers to be a vote-winner. Conversely, Sir Humphrey sees his role as ensuring that politics is kept out of government as much as possible and that the "status quo" is upheld as a matter of principle. But with the "status quo" notably including the prestige, power and influence of the Civil Service, Sir Humphrey attempts to block any move that seeks either to prevent the further expansion of the civil service or to reduce the complexity of its bureaucracy.


title: Yes Minister

text: Much of the show's humour thus derives from the antagonism between Cabinet ministers (who believe they are in charge) and the members of the British Civil Service (who believe they really run the country). A typical episode centres on Hacker's suggesting and pursuing a reform and Sir Humphrey's blocking of all Hacker's lines of approach. More often than not, Sir Humphrey prevents him from achieving his goal while mollifying Hacker with some positive publicity, or at least a means to cover up his failure. Occasionally, however, Hacker "does" get his way, often by thwarting other arrangements or deals that Sir Humphrey has been making behind the scenes elsewhere with other ministers or civil servants – or in the case of the episode "The Tangled Web", Hacker successfully blackmailing Sir Humphrey into taking his stance. Sir Humphrey occasionally resorts to tactics such as calling a policy "courageous" to remind Hacker to contemplate the view that "a controversial policy will lose votes, whilst a courageous one will lose the election", and thus to hinder the implementation of a particular policy. Sir Humphrey, on the other hand, believes that from the Civil Service's perspective "it makes very little difference who the Minister is".


title: Yes Minister

text: The character of Bernard Woolley is characterized by a significant degree of ambivalence; largely playing the role of an observer of the cold conflict between Hacker and Sir Humphrey, mostly interjecting only to add a comic effect to the drama albeit occasionally playing a decisive part in determining which adversary triumphs ultimately. Initially, he naively sees his job as the disinterested implementation of the Minister's policies, but he gradually finds that this conflicts with his institutional duty to the department, and sometimes (since Sir Humphrey is responsible for formally assessing Woolley's performance) his own potential career development. Consequently, another recurring scenario is one where Bernard must "walk the tightrope" — that is, balance his two conflicting duties by resorting to elaborate verbosity (much like Sir Humphrey) so that he can avoid the appearance of being disloyal to one, in favour of the other. For example, in "The Skeleton in the Cupboard", he sees the importance of notifying Sir Humphrey that Hacker has left his office, whilst still assisting Hacker in his aims. Such is Bernard's success in performing this balancing act, that after the third series, following Sir Humphrey's promotion to Cabinet Secretary, when Hacker becomes Prime Minister he requests that Bernard continue as his Principal Private Secretary, reasserting the perception that he is a "high flier".


title: Yes Minister

text: Sir Humphrey's personal characteristics include his complicated sentences, his cynical views of government, and his snobbery and superciliousness. Hacker's attributes include occasional indecisiveness, and a tendency to launch into ludicrous Churchillian speeches. Bernard is prone to linguistic pedantry. All characters are able to switch to a completely opposite opinion in seconds when convenient.


title: Yes Minister

text: Nigel Hawthorne had worked with Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn before, and he and Paul Eddington claimed they immediately recognized the quality of writing of the series, but Jay and Lynn state that both actors asked for a second episode script (and a third script), after having read the pilot script, before committing to the series. When casting the role of Bernard, Jonathan Lynn met Derek Fowlds at a dinner, and subsequently offered him the role.


title: Yes Minister

text: The first series featured Frank Weisel, Hacker's political adviser (played by Neil Fitzwiliam in the television series, and later by Bill Nighy in the radio series). The first syllable of his surname is pronounced "Wise", but Sir Humphrey and Bernard persistently call him "Weasel". Weisel does not appear after the first series, following his acceptance of a position on a quango (Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation) tasked with investigating the appointment of other quangos, the government's honours system, and "jobs for the boys". The character was dropped because Jay and Lynn thought that the interjection of a character concerned with party political matters distracted from the focus on the tension between the government and the civil service.


title: Yes Minister

text: The first series of "Yes, Prime Minister" introduced Dorothy Wainwright (played by Deborah Norton) as a highly able special political adviser to the Prime Minister. Her experience and insight into many civil service tricks ensure a lasting mutual distrust between her and Sir Humphrey and provide an invaluable second opinion for Hacker. Sir Humphrey frequently annoys Dorothy by addressing her as "dear lady" whereas she occasionally calls him “Humpy”.


title: Yes Minister

text: Hacker's home life is shown occasionally throughout the series. His wife Annie (Diana Hoddinott) is generally supportive, but is sometimes frustrated by the disruptions caused by her husband's political career and is at times somewhat cynical about her husband's politics. In one episode, his sociology student daughter, Lucy (Gerry Cowper), becomes an environmental activist, campaigning against the Department's intention to remove protected status from a wooded area believed to be inhabited by badgers. Sir Humphrey falsely assures her there have not been badgers in the woods for some years.


title: Yes Minister

text: Sir Humphrey often discusses matters with other Permanent Secretaries, who appear similarly sardonic and jaded, and the Cabinet Secretary (whom he eventually succeeds in "Yes, Prime Minister"), Sir Arnold Robinson (John Nettleton), an archetype of cynicism, haughtiness and conspiratorial expertise. Sir Frank Gordon, the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, is a friend and often a rival as they jostle for supremacy within the civil service. The fairly counter-intuitive view of government administration displayed by Sir Humphrey is completely taken for granted by the Civil Service.


title: Yes Minister

text: Almost all the episodes (the exceptions chiefly being the earlier ones of the first series) end with one of the characters (usually Sir Humphrey) saying "Yes, Minister" or once, "Mais oui, Prime Minister," in "A Diplomatic Incident" which centred on negotiations with the President of France. Each episode of the former was more or less self-contained, but the first two episodes of "Yes, Prime Minister" had a loose story arc relating to Hacker's attempts to reform the United Kingdom's armed forces, while the second was mostly devoted to concluding storylines and character arcs that had been seen over the course of "Yes Minister".


title: Yes Minister

text: A total of thirty-eight episodes were made, and all but one are of 30 minutes duration. They were videotaped in front of a studio audience, which was standard BBC practice for situation comedies at the time. The actors did not enjoy filming as they felt that the studio audience placed them under additional pressure. Lynn, however, says that the studio audience on the soundtrack was necessary because laughter is a "communal affair." The laughter also acted as a kind of insurance: Jay observes that politicians would be unable to put pressure on the BBC not to "run this kind of nonsense" if "200–250 people were falling about with laughter." There were occasionally film inserts of location sequences, and some shots of Hacker travelling in his car were achieved by means of chroma key. Each programme usually comprised around six scenes.


title: Yes Minister

text: The pilot was produced in 1979 but not transmitted immediately for fear that it could influence the results of the May 1979 UK General Election. It eventually aired on 25 February 1980. "Yes Minister" ran for three series, each of seven episodes, between March 1980 and 1982. These were followed by two Christmas specials: one 10-minute sketch as part of an anthology presented by Frank Muir, and then the hour-long "Party Games", in 1984. The latter's events led to Hacker's elevation to Prime Minister, dovetailing into the sequel, "Yes, Prime Minister". This ran originally for two series, each of eight episodes, from 1986 to 1988. There was a further six-part series, with a new cast, in 2013.


title: Yes Minister

text: In January 2013, a new series of "Yes, Prime Minister" was launched on the Gold television channel. Jim Hacker is now portrayed as heading a coalition government, while dealing with an economic downturn, his coalition partner having a leadership crisis, and Scottish independence. Like the stage play, on which it was broadly based, it is set at Chequers. Filming took place in September 2012. Both David Haig and Henry Goodman reprised their stage roles as Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey. Haig's Hacker was rather manic, while Goodman's Sir Humphrey was more aloof and supercilious than Hawthorne's had been. The other main characters were Bernard Woolley (Chris Larkin, reprising his role from The Gielgud Theatre run at London's West End) and Claire Sutton (Zoe Telford), the latter with a more prominent role than Hacker's special advisor in the original series. Critical reaction was largely negative. Jay and Lynn revealed that they had offered the show first to the BBC, but that the corporation had asked for a pilot episode which the writers thought was unnecessary in the light of the earlier series. The revived series ended up being produced by the BBC for Gold.


title: Yes Minister

text: The series gained high audience figures, and 90+ on the audience Appreciation Index. Critics, such as Andrew Davies in the "Times Educational Supplement" and Armando Iannucci, have noted that the show had high expectations of its audience. Lynn posits that the public are more intelligent than most situation comedies, often patronizingly, give them credit for. Jay believes that the viewers were just as intelligent as the writers, but that there were some things that they needed to know but didn't.


title: Yes Minister

text: "Yes Minister" won the BAFTA award for Best Comedy Series for 1980, 1981 and 1982, and the "Party Games" special was nominated in the Best Light Entertainment Programme category for 1984. "Yes, Prime Minister" was short-listed for Best Comedy Series for both 1986 and 1987. Nigel Hawthorne's portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby won the BAFTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance four times (in 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1987). Eddington was also nominated on all four occasions. Nigel Hawthorne was awarded Best Actor in Light Entertainment Programme at the 1981 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards.


title: Yes Minister

text: "Yes Minister" came sixth in a 2004 BBC poll to find 'Britain's Best Sitcom'. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted by industry professionals, "Yes Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" were jointly placed ninth. They were also placed 14th in Channel 4's "The Ultimate Sitcom", a poll conducted by people who work in sitcoms.


title: Yes Minister

text: There is a division of opinions by political scientists. Some of them cite the series for their accurate and sophisticated portrayal of the relationships between civil servants and politicians, and are quoted in some textbooks on British politics. However, other political scientists considered it a reflection of the public choice model, which encouraged a "conservative agenda of balanced budgets and reduced government spending". The Washington Post considered its "ideas were at the center of the Thatcher and Ronald Reagan administrations in Britain and the United States, which favored cutting government and shifting its functions to the private sector".


title: Yes Minister

text: The series was praised by critics and politicians, and allegedly the shows were popular in government circles. "The Guinness Television Encyclopedia" suggests that "real politicians ... enjoyed the show's cynical dismissal of Whitehall intrigue and its insights into the machinations of government." Lord Donoughue, an admirer of the series who was head of James Callaghan's policy unit at 10 Downing Street from 1976 to 1979, noticed that, when the Labour Party returned to power in 1997 after 18 years in opposition, a number of junior Ministers took so seriously the relationships with civil servants as depicted by Jay and Lynn that they were unduly wary of senior officials and allowed this suspicion to influence their behaviour.


title: Yes Minister

text: "Yes Minister" and "Yes, Prime Minister" were the favourite programme of then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. She told "The Daily Telegraph" that "its clearly-observed portrayal of what goes on in the corridors of power has given me hours of pure joy." Gerald Kaufman described it as "The Rt Hon. Faust MP, constantly beset by the wiles of Sir Mephistopheles." As a supporter of Thatcher, Jay embraced her appreciation, although the more leftist Lynn was concerned.


title: Yes Minister

text: Thatcher performed a short sketch with Eddington and Hawthorne on 20 January 1984 at a ceremony where the writers were presented with an award from Mary Whitehouse's NVLA, an event commemorated on the cover of the satirical magazine "Private Eye". Authorship of the sketch is unclear. In "Britain's Best Sitcom", Bernard Ingham says that he wrote it; other sources give Thatcher sole credit, while Michael Cockerell says that she wrote it with Ingham's help. Another source gives renegade credit to Charles Powell. The actors, who were starring in separate West End plays at the time, were not enthusiastic at the idea and asked Lynn to "get them out" of it. The writer, however, was not in a position to help. Hawthorne says he and Eddington resented Thatcher's attempts to "make capital" from their popularity. Ingham says that it "went down a bomb", while Lynn brands it a "dreadful sketch" that was only funny because Thatcher was doing it. Accepting the award from the NVLA, Lynn thanked Thatcher "for taking her rightful place in the field of situation comedy." Everyone, except the Prime Minister, laughed.


title: Yes Minister

text: When Paul Eddington visited Australia during the 1980s, he was treated as a visiting British PM by the then Australian leader, Bob Hawke, who was a fan of the show. At a rally, Hawke said "You don't want to be listening to me; you want to be listening to the real Prime Minister", forcing Eddington to improvise. In an interview to promote the first series of "Yes, Prime Minister", Derek Fowlds said that "both political sides believe that it satirises their opponents, and civil servants love it because it depicts them as being more powerful than either. And of course, they love it because it's all so authentic." The series was well received in the United States, running on the A&E Network and repeatedly on public television.


title: Yes Minister

text: The series was remade in Portugal in 1996 as "Sim, Sr. Ministro" by Portuguese channel TVI. The names of characters, locations and institutions were changed to reflect Portuguese reality, but the plot of the episodes follow the originals. A total of 26 episodes were produced and screened between 1996 and 1997.


title: Yes Minister

text: "Not My Department" took joint inspiration from "Yes Minister" and Charles Gordon's The Governor General's Bunny Hop, a contemporary satire of Canadian politics. Unlike "Yes Minister", "Not My Department" was set almost entirely among public servants, with the Minister for Regional Incentive Targets only making occasional appearances by video tape—often because he was hoping to evade the latest scandal by taking protracted tours of the regions. "Not My Department" aired on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1987.


title: Yes Minister

text: "Ji Mantriji" (literally "Yes Minister" in Hindi) is an Indian adaptation of "Yes Minister". It was telecast on STAR TV's channel STAR Plus with permission from the BBC. "Ji Mantriji" features Farooq Sheikh as Surya Prakash Singh, the Minister of Administrative Affairs and Jayant Kripalani as the department's secretary. The plot lines were the same as those of the original, with suitable changes in the Indian context.


title: Yes Minister

text: "" ("Dear Minister" in Turkish) is a Turkish adaptation of "Yes Minister" that ran in 2004. The show featured acclaimed actors Haluk Bilginer, Kenan Isik and Ali Sunal. "Sayin Bakanim" was cancelled after 14 episodes. Although there were rumors that the show was cancelled due to a warning from the government, the producer of the show denied this claim. Instead, he explained that the show was cancelled due to low ratings.


title: Yes Minister

text: The Ukrainian series "Servant of the People" also known as Sluha Narodu takes some inspiration from the show in its plots and themes.


title: Yes Minister

text: The Israeli sitcom "Polishook", also modelled on "Yes Minister", aired for two series on Channel 2's Keshet Broadcasting.


title: Yes Minister

text: A Dutch remake had been made by S&V Fiction for VPRO, lasting 11 episodes, called "Ja, Bewindsman" ("Sorry Minister"). In the Dutch version, Sir Humphrey is a woman and Bernard is a Moroccan called Mohammed.


title: Yes Minister

text: Jay and Lynn collaborated again to produce a stage play which ran from 13 May to 5 June 2010, at Chichester Festival Theatre. This production revived at the Gielgud Theatre, in London's West End from 17 September 2010 until 15 January 2011. The principal cast was David Haig as Jim Hacker, Henry Goodman as Sir Humphrey, Jonathan Slinger as Bernard Woolley and Emily Joyce as Claire Sutton, Hacker's special policy advisor. This production, while following the spirit and tone of the original series in many respects, was set contemporaneously at Chequers, the Prime Minister's country residence, with BlackBerrys frequently in evidence, and even included a topical reference to a coalition agreement which Sir Humphrey had drafted (the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats having formed a coalition government in Britain in May 2010). The plot was a little more provocative and "risqué" than most of those seen previously (including a debate about the ethics of procuring a twelve-year-old as a sexual partner for a visiting dignitary, a proposition which it is suggested might be spun in the national interest as a "euro-job") and included some stronger expletives (reflecting perhaps their widely reported use among New Labour's hierarchy between 1997 and 2010). There was also a higher element of traditional farce.


title: Yes Minister

text: The play began a tour of the United Kingdom in February 2011, with Simon Williams as Sir Humphrey, Richard McCabe as Jim Hacker, Chris Larkin as Bernard and Charlotte Lucas as Claire Sutton. It returned to the West End in July 2011 for a 10-week run at the Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, with Williams and McCabe reprising their roles. The play then went back on a tour of the United Kingdom before returning to the West End with a revised script. Further rewrites took place before the 2012 UK tour and subsequent Trafalgar Studios run, the crucial change having replaced references from underage to multiple partner sex.


title: Yes Minister

text: Reflecting in 2011 on the sustained topicality of "Yes, Minister/Prime Minister", Jonathan Lynn noted that, since the opening of the stage show in Chichester, "all we've added is a couple of jokes about [telephone] hacking and an extra joke about the Greeks [subject at the time to a debt crisis]." He added that the original episodes were written about a year before transmission – "satirical comedy doesn't change" – and that "writing in 1986, we found the same headlines in 1956".


title: Yes Minister

text: Its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, has been also produced internationally in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in May 2014 by the British Theatre Playhouse.


title: Yes Minister

text: The play features a new character, Claire Sutton, who is introduced by the Prime Minister as head of the policy unit at Number Ten. She is a 21st-century successor to Dorothy Wainwright, but less haughty and seemingly more willing to get her hands dirty. She is described by Jay and Lynn as in her late thirties, attractive and intelligent. She calls Hacker by his first name ("Fiscal mechanics, Jim"), whereas Dorothy addressed him as "Prime Minister". In response to a sarcastic interjection about "starving permanent secretaries", Sir Humphrey patronises her as "dear lady" (as he did "that Wainwright female" in the TV series). Emily Joyce, who played Claire both at Chichester and in London, was forty-one when the play opened. The character was retained in the new TV series that followed the play.


title: Yes Minister

text: Sixteen episodes of "Yes Minister" were adapted and re-recorded for broadcast by BBC Radio 4, with the principal cast reprising their roles. Produced by Pete Atkin, they were broadcast across two series, each with eight episodes. The first series aired 18 October to 6 December 1983, with the second originally transmitted 9 October to 27 November 1984. The complete set was released on cassette in February 2000, and on compact disc in October 2002. The series was repeated on the digital radio station BBC Radio 7 in early 2007 and on BBC Radio 4 Extra in November 2013. The series was re-repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra in 2018.


title: Yes Minister

text: In 1997, Derek Fowlds reprised the role of Bernard Woolley to read Antony Jay's "How To Beat Sir Humphrey: Every Citizen's Guide To Fighting Officialdom". It was broadcast in three daily parts by Radio 4 from 29 September to 1 October 1997 and released by BBC Audiobooks on cassette in October 1997.


title: Yes Minister

text: The British Prime Minister of the time, Mrs Margaret Thatcher was so taken by the show that she wrote a sketch herself (together with her Press Secretary Bernard Ingham). In it she played herself as the Prime Minister, Paul Eddington played Jim Hacker and Nigel Hawthorne played Sir Humphrey. It was played on the National Viewers and Listeners Association Awards 1984 (and can be viewed on YouTube).


title: Yes Minister

text: Israel Broadcasting Authority aired both series during the early to mid-1980s where they both gained broad popularity


title: Yes Minister

text: A Chinese translation of the BBC book version of "The Complete Yes Minister" () was published in Beijing in 1991. The Chinese translator was Cheng Hong, whose husband Li Keqiang later became the Prime Minister of People's Republic of China.


title: Yes Minister

text: Both series aired in the United States on some PBS stations during the 1980s, usually in the Sunday night British Comedy Block, and have aired on PBS stations as recently as 2021.


title: Yes Minister

text: In West Germany, all three series of "Yes Minister" were aired in 1987 (German title "Yes Minister"), and the first series of "Yes, Prime Minister" in 1988 (German title "Yes Premierminister") on national public broadcaster ARD; repeats occurred during the 1990s on some of the public regional channels. They were broadcast in bilingual mode, permitting owners of a stereo set to select between German overdub and English original sound. Each episode was shortened by about 5 minutes to allow time for the continuity announcer, as was common practice at the time. The second series of "Yes Prime Minister" was never aired in Germany, thus no German overdub and no German episode titles exist for it. The German DVD release (December 2013) reflects these alterations; it contains the full length episodes, but during the edited portions it throws the German sound back to the English one, and it omits the second series of "Yes Prime Minister". The books "The Complete Yes Minister" and "The Complete Yes, Prime Minister" were also translated into German as "Yes Minister" () and "Yes Premierminister" () respectively.


title: Yes Minister

text: The BBC issued some episodes of "Yes Minister", and all of "Yes, Prime Minister" on VHS. They were re-released and repackaged at various points. The complete collection was released by the BBC through Warner Home Video on Region 1 DVD in October 2003. Warner appears to have added RCE region coding to the individual release of the second series of "Yes Minister", but there are no similar reported problems on playing the complete collection. The BBC, through 2 Entertain Video, also issued several Region 2 DVDs:


title: Yes Minister

text: Netflix streams both series to subscribers. All four series are also available for download purchase from iTunes and similar programs.


title: Yes Minister

text: The series spawned several books. The scripts were edited and transformed into prose, and published by BBC Books in the form of diaries. Scenes that did not involve Hacker took the form of private memos between civil servants, or 'interviews' and written correspondence from other characters. In some instances, the novelizations added extra details, while padding-out some existing details. For example, in the novelization for 'The Official Visit', Sir Humphrey manages to confuse Hacker, by reeling-off a plethora of acronyms—without explaining them, leaving Hacker with nonsense to fathom.


title: Yes Minister

text: The three series of "Yes Minister" were published as paperbacks in 1981, 1982 and 1983 respectively before being combined into a revised hardback omnibus edition, "The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister", in 1984. Two volumes of "Yes, Prime Minister: The Diaries of the Right Hon. James Hacker" were published in 1986 and 1987, before being made available as an omnibus edition in 1988. Both series were published as omnibus paperback editions in 1989:


title: Yes Minister

text: Sir Antony Jay's "How to Beat Sir Humphrey: Every Citizen's Guide to Fighting Officialdom" () was published in April 1997. It was illustrated by Gerald Scarfe and Shaun Williams. It was read by Derek Fowlds on Radio 4 later that year.


title: Yes Minister

text: The script of the play, "Yes, Prime Minister", was published in paperback by Faber & Faber in 2010 ().


title: Yes Minister

text: Graham McCann's 'A Very Courageous Decision: The Inside Story of Yes Minister,' was published by Aurum Books in October 2014 ().


title: Yes Minister

text: A "Yes, Prime Minister" video game was released in 1987 for Amstrad CPC, BBC Micro, Commodore 64, DOS and ZX Spectrum. In the game, the player takes on the role of Prime Minister Jim Hacker for one week as he navigates through meetings with Sir Humphrey, Bernard Woolley and other government officials, making decisions about seemingly minor government policies which regardless have an effect on the PM's approval rating by the end of the week.


title: Yes Minister

text: In 2005, BBC Four launched "The Thick of It", described by director Armando Iannucci as ""Yes Minister" meets "Larry Sanders", and "The Daily Telegraph" called it "a "Yes, Minister" for the Labour years." The style shows many identifiable hallmarks of "Yes Minister", namely the blundering politician virtually entirely dependent on those whose presentational and political nous greatly eclipse his own limited abilities.


title: Yes Minister

text: As an adaptation of "The Thick of It", Armando Iannucci also created and directed "Veep", an American political satire comedy television series. As the United States has a different political system from United Kingdom's parliamentary system, the show instead focuses on a fictional female Vice President of the United States and her staff. Both "Yes, Minister" and "Veep" feature a Prime Minister/President that is never depicted on-screen, but nevertheless highly influential in the plot; and in both series, the unseen Prime Minister/President eventually resigns, with the result that both protagonists later become the Prime Minister/President themselves.


title: Tim Howard

text: Timothy Matthew Howard (born March 6, 1979) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He last played for USL Championship club Memphis 901 FC, a club of which he is a minority owner and sporting director. He is also international ambassador in the US for former club Everton. Howard is widely considered to be one of the greatest goalkeepers in American soccer history.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard began his career with the North Jersey Imperials, before making a move to the MetroStars. His appearances soon attracted the attention of English Premier League club Manchester United, who signed him in 2003. He enjoyed relative success with the club, as they won the 2003 FA Community Shield, the 2003–04 FA Cup and the 2005–06 League Cup. After United signed goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, however, Howard went out on loan to Everton to play more first-team football, and eventually signed permanently with them in February 2007. On January 4, 2012, Howard scored his first professional goal in a Premier League match against Bolton Wanderers, making him only the fourth goalkeeper to score a goal in the Premier League. In 2016, Howard made his return to MLS, signing for the Colorado Rapids. He played for three years for the Rapids before hanging up his gloves in October 2019. Almost immediately, Howard ramped up his front-office role in USL Championship side Memphis 901 FC and was announced as the club's sporting director in January 2020. He later returned to professional soccer in March 2020, signing a playing contract with the club he co-owned.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard is the most capped goalkeeper of all-time for the United States men's national team, with 121 caps since 2002 until his international retirement in 2017. He was an unused substitute for the 2006 FIFA World Cup but later established himself as first-choice keeper of the United States' international tournament games beginning with the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, in which the U.S. ended as runner-up against Brazil. Howard participated at both the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups, starting in all their matches. The team reached the Round of 16 on both occasions, and during the latter Howard set a World Cup record for most saves in a match, with 15 against Belgium.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard was born in North Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of African-American truck driver Matthew Howard and his Hungarian wife Esther (née Fekete), who worked for a container packing distributor. His father moved out "before [Howard] formed [his] first memory" and his parents divorced when Howard was three. Afterwards, Howard lived with his mother. Howard was diagnosed with Tourette syndrome and OCD when he was in the sixth grade.


title: Tim Howard

text: In 1991, before Howard was a teenager, Tim Mulqueen, a one-time assistant coach for the U.S. under-17 soccer team, saw Howard's potential at a single $25 soccer coaching session. He took Howard under his wing, offering him free soccer coaching. When Howard was 14 and 15 years old, Peter Mellor, the former professional goalkeeper who was coaching for the United States Soccer Federation and writing the curriculum for the first U.S. Soccer National Goalkeeping License for coaches, saw the 14-year-old Howard in an Olympic Development Player camp, identified him as a star of the future, and placed him in the Olympic Development Program. Mellor also helped Howard obtain his work permit appeal after he joined Manchester United from the MetroStars in 2003.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard attended North Brunswick Township High School. Howard proved a star not only in soccer as a midfielder, but also on the basketball court, where he averaged 15 points per game and helped bring his team to the state finals in his senior year. During high school, he played for Central Jersey Cosmos. In 1995, Howard was part of the U.S. under-17 squad.


title: Tim Howard

text: In 1997, Mulqueen became the coach of the North Jersey Imperials, a team in the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues (USISL), and served as the goalkeeping coach for Major League Soccer (MLS)'s MetroStars; he considered Howard for a position on the Imperials. Howard signed with the Imperials and played in his first professional game before graduating from high school. He notched six appearances with the North Jersey Imperials.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard was brought up to the MetroStars by Mulqueen, who at the time was the MetroStars' goalkeeping coach.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard was victorious in his MLS debut with the MetroStars on August 18, 1998, making five saves in a 4–1 win over Colorado at Giants Stadium (his only appearance of the year). He later played in one game with the Nike Project-40 Team, a 3–1 win over the Staten Island Vipers at Giants Stadium on May 6, 1998.


title: Tim Howard

text: With the MetroStars during the 1999 MLS season, Howard made eight starts in nine contests. Howard had a 1.58 GAA and won just one match in a season in which the Metros won just seven games. He also spent most of the international season with the United States Under-20 team, leaving the club to compete in the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in April and the 1999 Pan American Games in July.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard posted a 5–2–2 record with a 1.59 GAA in 2000, splitting time between the MetroStars and the United States Olympic team, also winning all three of his U.S. Open Cup starts that season.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard won the 2001 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award, recording 146 saves and finishing the year with a 1.33 GAA, four shutouts, and a 13–10–3 record. He also received the MLS Humanitarian of the Year Award.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard played in 27 of 28 regular season games in 2002 for the MetroStars, recording four shutouts. He was named to the MLS Best XI for the second straight season. Before leaving the MetroStars in 2003, he appeared in thirteen games and had three clean sheets as the club challenged for first place during the season's first half.


title: Tim Howard

text: Manchester United paid a US$4 million transfer fee to sign Howard in the middle of the 2003 MLS season, and he replaced Fabien Barthez as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard started off very well at Manchester United, saving the decisive penalty in the Community Shield against Arsenal. Other notable performances followed, including Bolton Wanderers and a home FA Cup tie victory over Manchester City. In March 2004, however, Howard's poor parry handed a last minute goal to Porto, eliminating United from the UEFA Champions League. The error appeared to shatter Howard's confidence and he was replaced by Roy Carroll. After a period of rest, Howard reclaimed his starting position ahead of Carroll for the 2004 FA Cup Final, picking up a winner's medal. He was the second American player to collect a winner's medal in the FA Cup, after Julian Sturgis of Wanderers in the 1873 final. Howard was also named in the PFA Best XI in his first season at Manchester United.


title: Tim Howard

text: In Howard's second season with Manchester United, he started poorly, making several errors and was dropped again for Carroll. After Carroll made several errors as well, Howard regained the starting position but his performances were unconvincing, leading to Carroll regaining his place again, playing in the FA Cup final defeat to Arsenal.


title: Tim Howard

text: At the end of the 2004–05 season, Howard signed a new contract, which was to run until 2009. In the summer of 2005, Manchester United released both of his competitors for the goalkeeper position – Ricardo López Felipe and Carroll. However, they also bought experienced Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar from Fulham soon after.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard joined Everton on loan for the 2006–07 season and made his debut for the club against Watford on the opening day of the Premier League season. He signed a permanent deal with the club in February 2007 for a fee reported to be worth around £3 million.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard made his 100th appearance for Everton against West Ham United, on November 8, 2008. On April 19, 2009, in the FA Cup semi final, he saved two penalties against his former club Manchester United in a penalty shoot-out to send Everton to the final against Chelsea. During the 2008–09 Premier League season, Howard set the club record for most league match clean sheets in a season. Howard started the 2009–10 Premier League season with four consecutive clean sheets, including away to Portsmouth where he helped his team secure a 1–0 win. Howard saved a Jermain Defoe penalty in injury time to help his side draw 2–2 with Tottenham Hotspur on December 6, 2009. Howard captained Everton for the first time in a 3–3 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on December 12, 2009.


title: Tim Howard

text: During the 2011–12 Premier League season, Howard scored his first goal in professional soccer in a 2–1 defeat to Bolton Wanderers. His wind-assisted 101-yard clearance at Goodison Park made him only the fourth goalkeeper to score in a Premier League match since its formation in 1992. He described his goal as "cruel" and refused to celebrate out of sympathy/respect for his beaten opposite number, Ádám Bogdán.


title: Tim Howard

text: In March 2012, Howard agreed a new contract to keep him at the club until the summer of 2016. On March 2, 2013, Howard's run of 210 consecutive Premier League appearances dating back to September 2007 came to an end as he missed a game against Reading with a finger injury. He was two games short of equalling Neville Southall's club record. In May, Howard kept his 100th clean sheet for Everton in a 0–0 draw against Liverpool in the Merseyside derby.


title: Tim Howard

text: On December 26, Howard was sent off in a 1–0 defeat to Sunderland, which ended Everton's hopes of remaining an entire calendar year unbeaten at home. In April 2014, Everton extended Howard's contract by two years until 2018.


title: Tim Howard

text: On February 19, 2016, Everton manager Roberto Martínez confirmed Howard was expected to serve as the backup to Joel Robles. Howard had recently been affected by a knee injury and a loss of form. Before his final match with the club, Howard made a speech before the fans, stating, "I will remain an Evertonian for life. This will always be my team, my club."


title: Tim Howard

text: On March 20, 2016, it was announced that Howard would return to MLS, signing a three-and-a-half-year deal with the Colorado Rapids and becoming available when the MLS transfer window opens on July 4. On June 28, Howard was given the number 1 jersey as he appeared in his first press conference with the club. On November 6, 2016, Howard saved two penalty kicks – with a third also being sent off the crossbar – against the LA Galaxy to send Colorado to the Western Conference Championship.


title: Tim Howard

text: On January 22, 2019, Howard announced the 2019 Major League Soccer season would be his final season as a professional player. He retired in October 2019.


title: Tim Howard

text: On March 4, 2020, Howard announced his return to professional soccer, signing a playing contract with Memphis 901 FC in the USL Championship, where he also serves as sporting director and minority owner.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard represented the United States under-20 national team at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria, playing in group stage victories over England and Cameroon, before a loss in the Round of 16 against Spain.


title: Tim Howard

text: In July 1999, Howard was called up for the United States under-23 national team for the 1999 Pan American Games tournament. The United States ended the tournament with a bronze medal having overcome Canada in the Bronze medal match.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard was used as a backup to Brad Friedel at the 2000 Summer Olympics. On March 10, 2002, he received his first senior cap, against Ecuador. On May 2, 2006, Howard was named as one of three goalkeepers on the United States roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, but served as a backup to Kasey Keller. Howard became the team's first choice goalkeeper under Bob Bradley and started in the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, a 2–1 win over Mexico.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard was the starting goalkeeper for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, including the semi-final in which the United States upset Spain, then the number one-ranked team in the world. Howard's eight saves earned him his first clean sheet of the tournament and the first shutout of the Spanish side since 2007. Following the United States' second-place finish in the tournament, Howard was awarded the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard was the starting goalkeeper for the 2010 World Cup, in South Africa, and turned in a man of the match performance against England in his World Cup debut. Howard's distribution to Landon Donovan led to the game-winning goal of the final group match against Algeria, giving the United States passage into the round of 16. During the United States' round of 16 game against Ghana, Howard conceded two goals in a 2–1 loss.


title: Tim Howard

text: After Mexico defeated the United States to win the 2011 Gold Cup Final, Howard made a controversial statement regarding the post-match ceremony. The trophy presentation was conducted entirely in Spanish, despite the tournament being held in the United States. Howard went on to say that it was a "disgrace" and commented further that if the final had been in Mexico City and the United States had won, the ceremony would not have been made in English.


title: Tim Howard

text: On June 7, 2014, in the buildup to the 2014 World Cup, Howard received his 100th cap for the United States in a 2–1 defeat of Nigeria. On June 22, Howard was named man of the match for his display during the United States' 2–2 draw with Portugal; his most notable save was a reaction stop to deny Éder, having previously diverted Nani's shot onto the post.


title: Tim Howard

text: On July 1, Howard was again awarded man of the match, despite the United States losing 2–1 to Belgium after extra time in the round of 16. During the match, he broke the record for most saves in a World Cup match with 15. After breaking this record, his performance was celebrated worldwide on the internet, with the hashtag #ThingsTimHowardCouldSave trending on Twitter.


title: Tim Howard

text: Following the World Cup, in August 2014, Howard asked U.S. men's national team coach Jürgen Klinsmann to allow him to take a break from international soccer until September 2015; as a result, he missed the 2015 Gold Cup. He was called up again in August 2015, for the team's friendly against Peru on September 4, at RFK Stadium.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard was a member of the team that won the 2017 Gold Cup. However, following to national team's failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup later that year, after a surprise 2–1 away defeat to Trinidad and Tobago on October 10, he was no longer capped at international level. With 121 appearances, he is the most capped goalkeeper in U.S. men's national team history.


title: Tim Howard

text: Born to a Hungarian mother, Howard also holds a Hungarian passport. He is divorced from Laura Cianciola Howard, with whom he has two children. He is a devout Christian and has said, "The most important thing in my life is Christ. He's more important to me than winning or losing or whether I'm playing or not. Everything else is just a bonus." He is also involved with Athletes in Action, a ministry arm of Campus Crusade for Christ.


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard was named MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2001 for his work with children with Tourette syndrome, and was added to the New Jersey Tourette Syndrome Association Board of Directors in the same year. In 2014, the U.S. Tourette Syndrome Association described him as the "most notable individual with Tourette syndrome around the world" when he was deemed a "Champion of Hope" for the "tremendous courage he displayed in sharing his story on an international platform, educating the public on a disorder that is so seldom talked about, and encouraging young people living with TS to speak out about their experiences".


title: Tim Howard

text: Howard's autobiography, "The Keeper: A Life of Saving Goals and Achieving Them" (), was co-authored with Ali Benjamin and published in 2014. It describes his career and his life with Tourette syndrome and OCD. In the book, Howard says that his neurological makeup gave him an enhanced perception and an ability to hyper-focus that contributed to his success on the field. The "New York Times" book review said that "few are cooler or quicker than Mr. Howard" and that "the story is good, but reading it require[s] a certain tolerance for sports clichés". The "Chicago Tribune" describes Howard as the "rarest of creatures – an American soccer hero", adding that the book has "exciting recollections" and that Howard is a "gracious narrator, though here and there he engages in mild score-settling".


title: Tim Howard

text: In September 2018, Howard became part-owner of English fifth-tier club Dagenham & Redbridge and American second-tier club Memphis 901. It was announced in December 2019 that Howard had taken over as sporting director at Memphis 901, and that he was already handling roster management for the club. Also, in October 2019 it was announced that Howard would be the first international ambassador in the United States for former club Everton.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, major general of the Union Army. The campaign began with Sherman's troops leaving the captured city of Atlanta on November 15 and ended with the capture of the port of Savannah on December 21. His forces followed a "scorched earth" policy, destroying military targets as well as industry, infrastructure, and civilian property, disrupting the Confederacy's economy and transportation networks. The operation debilitated the Confederacy and helped lead to its eventual surrender. Sherman's decision to operate deep within enemy territory without supply lines was unusual for its time, and the campaign is regarded by some historians as an early example of modern warfare or total war.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Sherman's "March to the Sea" followed his successful Atlanta Campaign of May to September 1864. He and the Union Army's commander, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, believed that the Civil War would come to an end only if the Confederacy's strategic capacity for warfare could be decisively broken. Sherman therefore planned an operation that has been compared to the modern principles of scorched earth warfare. Although his formal orders (excerpted below) specified control over destruction of infrastructure in areas in which his army was unmolested by guerrilla activity, he recognized that supplying an army through liberal foraging would have a destructive effect on the morale of the civilian population it encountered in its wide sweep through the state.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: The second objective of the campaign was more traditional. Grant's armies in Virginia continued in a stalemate against Robert E. Lee's army, besieged in Petersburg, Virginia. By encroaching into Lee's rear military positions, Sherman could possibly increase pressure on Lee, allowing Grant the opportunity to break through, or at least keep Southern reinforcements away from Virginia.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: The campaign was designed by Grant and Sherman to be similar to Grant's innovative and successful Vicksburg campaign and Sherman's Meridian campaign, in that Sherman's armies would reduce their need for traditional supply lines by "living off the land" after consuming their 20 days of rations. Foragers, known as "bummers," would provide food seized from local farms for the army while they destroyed the railroads and the manufacturing and agricultural infrastructure of Georgia. In planning for the march, Sherman used livestock and crop production data from the 1860 census to lead his troops through areas where he believed they would be able to forage most effectively. The twisted and broken railroad rails that the troops heated over fires, wrapped around tree trunks and left behind became known as "Sherman's neckties." As the army would be out of touch with the North throughout the campaign, Sherman gave explicit orders, Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 120, regarding the conduct of the campaign. The following is an excerpt from the general's orders:


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: The march was made easier by able assistants such as Orlando Metcalfe Poe, chief of the bridge building and demolition team. Sherman selected Poe as his chief engineer in 1864. Poe oversaw the burning of Atlanta, for which action he was honored by Sherman. Poe directly supervised the destruction of all buildings and structures in Atlanta that could be of any military value to the Confederates once Sherman abandoned the city. Rail depots, roundhouses, arsenals, and warehouses were torn down and the combustible materials were then destroyed by controlled fires. (However, Poe was incensed at the level of uncontrolled arson by marauding soldiers, not of his unit which resulted in heavy damage to civilian homes.) He served in this capacity past the fall of Atlanta to the end of the war. Dozens of river crossings, poor or non-existent roads, and the extensive swamps of southern Georgia would have fatally slowed Sherman's force had not Poe's skills as a leader of the bridge, road, and pontoon-building units kept the army moving. He also continued to supervise the destruction of Confederate infrastructure. Promoted by Sherman by two steps in rank to colonel after the fall of Savannah, he continued in that capacity in the war's concluding Carolinas campaign as Sherman headed northwards from Savannah to link up with Grant and the Army of the Potomac in Virginia and to cut another swath through South and North Carolina.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Sherman, commanding the Military Division of the Mississippi, did not employ his entire army group in the campaign. Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood was threatening Sherman's supply line from Chattanooga, and Sherman detached two armies under Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas to deal with Hood in the Franklin–Nashville campaign. For the Savannah campaign, Sherman's remaining force of 62,000 men (55,000 infantry, 5,000 cavalry, and 2,000 artillerymen manning 64 guns) was divided into two columns for the march:


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: The Confederate opposition from Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee's Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida was meager. Hood had taken the bulk of forces in Georgia on his campaign to Tennessee in hopes of diverting Sherman to pursue him. Considering Sherman's military priorities, however, this tactical maneuver by his enemy to get out of his force's path was welcomed to the point of remarking, "If he will go to the Ohio River, I'll give him rations." There were about 13,000 men remaining at Lovejoy's Station, south of Atlanta. Maj. Gen. Gustavus W. Smith's Georgia militia had about 3,050 soldiers, most of whom were boys and elderly men. The Cavalry Corps of Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler, reinforced by a brigade under Brig. Gen. William H. Jackson, had approximately 10,000 troopers. During the campaign, the Confederate War Department brought in additional men from Florida and the Carolinas, but they never were able to increase their effective force beyond 13,000.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Both U.S. President Abraham Lincoln and General Ulysses S. Grant had serious reservations about Sherman's plans. Still, Grant trusted Sherman's assessment and on November 2, 1864, he sent Sherman a telegram stating simply, "Go as you propose." The march began on November 15. Sherman recounted in his memoirs the scene when he left at 7 am the following day:


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Sherman's personal escort on the march was the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment, a unit made up entirely of Southerners who remained loyal to the Union.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: The two wings of the army attempted to confuse and deceive the enemy about their destinations; the Confederates could not tell from the initial movements whether Sherman would march on Macon, Augusta, or Savannah. Howard's wing, led by Kilpatrick's cavalry, marched south along the railroad to Lovejoy's Station, which caused the defenders there to conduct a fighting retreat to Macon. The cavalry captured two Confederate guns at Lovejoy's Station, and then two more and 50 prisoners at Bear Creek Station. Howard's infantry marched through Jonesboro to Gordon, southwest of the state capital, Milledgeville. Slocum's wing, accompanied by Sherman, moved to the east, in the direction of Augusta. They destroyed the bridge across the Oconee River and then turned south.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: The first real resistance was felt by Howard's right wing at the Battle of Griswoldville on November 22. Confederate Maj. Gen. Wheeler's cavalry struck Brig. Gen. Kilpatrick's, killing one, wounding two and capturing 18. The infantry brigade of Brig. Gen. Charles C. Walcutt arrived to stabilize the defense, and the division of Georgia militia launched several hours of badly coordinated attacks, eventually retreating with about 1,100 casualties (of which about 600 were prisoners), versus the Union's 100.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: At the same time, Slocum's left wing approached the state capital at Milledgeville, prompting the hasty departure of Governor Joseph Brown and the state legislature. On November 23, Slocum's troops captured the city and held a mock legislative session in the capitol building, jokingly voting Georgia back into the Union.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Several small actions followed. Wheeler and some infantry struck in a rearguard action at Ball's Ferry on November 24 and November 25. While Howard's wing was delayed near Ball's Bluff, the 1st Alabama Cavalry (a Federal regiment) engaged Confederate pickets. Overnight, Union engineers constructed a bridge away from the bluff across the Oconee River, and 200 soldiers crossed to flank the Confederate position. On November 25–26 at Sandersville, Wheeler struck at Slocum's advance guard. Kilpatrick was ordered to make a feint toward Augusta before destroying the railroad bridge at Brier Creek and moving to liberate the Camp Lawton prisoner of war camp at Millen. Kilpatrick slipped by the defensive line that Wheeler had placed near Brier Creek, but on the night of November 26 Wheeler attacked and drove the 8th Indiana and 2nd Kentucky Cavalry away from their camps at Sylvan Grove. Kilpatrick abandoned his plans to destroy the railroad bridge and he also learned that the prisoners had been moved from Camp Lawton, so he rejoined the army at Louisville. At the Battle of Buck Head Creek on November 28, Kilpatrick was surprised and nearly captured, but the 5th Ohio Cavalry halted Wheeler's advance, and Wheeler was later stopped decisively by Union barricades at Reynolds's Plantation. On December 4, Kilpatrick's cavalry routed Wheeler's at the Battle of Waynesboro.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: More Union troops entered the campaign from an unlikely direction. Maj. Gen. John G. Foster dispatched 5,500 men and 10 guns under Brig. Gen. John P. Hatch from Hilton Head, hoping to assist Sherman's arrival near Savannah by securing the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. At the Battle of Honey Hill on November 30, Hatch fought a vigorous battle against G.W. Smith's 1,500 Georgia militiamen, south of Grahamville Station, South Carolina. Smith's militia fought off the Union attacks, and Hatch withdrew after suffering about 650 casualties, versus Smith's 50.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Sherman's armies reached the outskirts of Savannah on December 10 but found that Hardee had entrenched 10,000 men in favorable fighting positions, and his soldiers had flooded the surrounding rice fields, leaving only narrow causeways available to approach the city. Sherman was blocked from linking up with the U.S. Navy as he had planned, so he dispatched cavalry to Fort McAllister, guarding the Ogeechee River, in hopes of unblocking his route and obtaining supplies awaiting him on the Navy ships. On December 13, William B. Hazen's division of Howard's wing stormed the fort in the Battle of Fort McAllister and captured it within 15 minutes. Some of the 134 Union casualties were caused by torpedoes, a name for crude land mines that were used only rarely in the war.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Now that Sherman had contact with the Navy fleet under Rear Admiral John A. Dahlgren, he was able to obtain the supplies and siege artillery he required to invest Savannah. On December 17, he sent a message to Hardee in the city:


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Hardee decided not to surrender but to escape. On December 20, he led his men across the Savannah River on a makeshift pontoon bridge. The next morning, Savannah Mayor Richard Dennis Arnold, with a delegation of aldermen and ladies of the city, rode out (until they were unhorsed by fleeing Confederate cavalrymen) to offer a proposition: The city would surrender and offer no resistance, in exchange for General Geary's promise to protect the city's citizens and their property. Geary telegraphed Sherman, who advised him to accept the offer. Arnold presented him with the key to the city, and Sherman's men, led by Geary's division of the XX Corps, occupied the city the same day.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Sherman telegraphed to President Lincoln, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannah, with one hundred and fifty heavy guns and plenty of ammunition and about twenty-five thousand bales of cotton." On December 26, the president replied in a letter:


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: The March attracted a huge number of refugees, to whom Sherman assigned land with his Special Field Orders No. 15. These orders have been depicted in popular culture as the origin of the "40 acres and a mule" promise.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: From Savannah, after a month-long delay for rest, Sherman marched north in the spring through the Carolinas, intending to complete his turning movement and combine his armies with Grant's against Robert E. Lee. After a successful two-month campaign, Sherman accepted the surrender of General Joseph E. Johnston and his forces in North Carolina on April 26, 1865.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Sherman's scorched earth policies have always been highly controversial, and Sherman's memory has long been reviled by many Southerners. Slaves' opinions varied concerning the actions of Sherman and his army. Some who welcomed him as a liberator chose to follow his armies. Jacqueline Campbell has written, on the other hand, that some slaves looked upon the Union army's ransacking and invasive actions with disdain. They often felt betrayed, as they "suffered along with their owners, complicating their decision of whether to flee with or from Union troops", although that is now seen as a post synopsis of Confederate nationalism. A Confederate officer estimated that 10,000 liberated slaves followed Sherman's army, and hundreds died of "hunger, disease, or exposure" along the way.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: The March to the Sea was devastating to Georgia and the Confederacy. Sherman himself estimated that the campaign had inflicted $100million (equivalent to $million in ) in destruction, about one fifth of which "inured to our advantage" while the "remainder is simple waste and destruction". The Army wrecked of railroad and numerous bridges and miles of telegraph lines. It seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 mules, and 13,000 head of cattle. It confiscated 9.5 million pounds of corn and 10.5 million pounds of fodder, and destroyed uncounted cotton gins and mills. Military historians Herman Hattaway and Archer Jones cited the significant damage wrought to railroads and Southern logistics in the campaign and stated that "Sherman's raid succeeded in 'knocking the Confederate war effort to pieces'." David J. Eicher wrote that "Sherman had accomplished an amazing task. He had defied military principles by operating deep within enemy territory and without lines of supply or communication. He destroyed much of the South's potential and psychology to wage war."


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: According to a 2022 "American Economic Journal" study which sought to measure the medium- and long-term economic impact of Sherman's March, "the capital destruction induced by the March led to a large contraction in agricultural investment, farming asset prices, and manufacturing activity. Elements of the decline in agriculture persisted through 1920".


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Union soldiers sang many songs during the March, but it is one written afterward that has come to symbolize the campaign: "Marching Through Georgia", written by Henry Clay Work in 1865. Sung from the point of view of a Union soldier, the lyrics detail the freeing of slaves and punishing the Confederacy for starting the war. Sherman came to dislike the song, in part because he was never one to rejoice over a fallen foe, and in part because it was played at almost every public appearance that he attended. It was widely popular among US soldiers of 20th-century wars.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: Hundreds of African Americans drowned trying to cross in Ebenezer Creek north of Savannah while attempting to follow Sherman's Army in its March to the Sea. In 2011 a historical marker was erected there by the Georgia Historical Society to commemorate the African Americans who had risked so much for freedom.


title: Sherman's March to the Sea

text: There has been disagreement among historians on whether Sherman's March constituted total war. In the years following World War II, several writers argued that the total war tactics used during World War II were comparable to the tactics used during Sherman's March. Subsequent historians have objected to the comparison, arguing that Sherman's tactics were not as severe or indiscriminate. Some historians refer to Sherman's tactics as "hard war" to emphasize the distinction between Sherman's tactics and those used during World War II.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The New Kingdom, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the sixteenth century BC and the eleventh century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth dynasties of Egypt. Radiocarbon dating places the beginning of the New Kingdom between 1570 BC and 1544 BC.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period. It was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of its power.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The concept of a "New Kingdom" as one of three "golden ages" was coined in 1845 by German Egyptologist Baron von Bunsen, and its definition would evolve significantly throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The later part of this period, under the Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties (1292–1069 BC), is also known as the "Ramesside period". It is named after the eleven pharaohs who took the name Ramesses, after Ramesses I, the founder of the Nineteenth Dynasty.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Possibly as a result of the foreign rule of the Hyksos during the Second Intermediate Period, the New Kingdom saw Egypt expand in the Levant, and during this time Egypt attained its greatest territorial extent. Similarly, in response to seventeenth-century BC attacks / raids during the Second Intermediate Period by the Kushites, the rulers of the New Kingdom felt compelled to expand far south into Nubia and to hold wide territories in the Near East.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The Eighteenth Dynasty included some of Egypt's most famous kings, including Ahmose I, Hatshepsut, Thutmose III, Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, and Tutankhamun.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ahmose I is viewed to be the founder of the eighteenth dynasty. He continued the campaigns of his father Seqenenre Tao and of Kamose against the Hyksos until he reunified the country once more. Ahmose would then continue to campaign in the Levant, the home of the Hyksos, to prevent any future invasions on Egypt.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ahmose was followed by Amenhotep I, who campaigned in Nubia and was followed by Thutmose I. Thutmose I campaigned in the Levant and reached as far as the Euphrates, thus becoming the first pharaoh to cross the river. During this campaign, the Syrian princes declared allegiance to Thutmose. However, after he returned, they discontinued tribute and began fortifying against future incursions.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Hatshepsut was one of the most powerful pharaohs of this dynasty. She was the daughter of Thutmose I and the royal wife of Thutmose II. Upon the death of her husband, she ruled jointly with his son by a minor wife, Thutmose III, who had ascended to the throne as a child of about two years of age, but eventually she ruled in her own right as king. Hatshepsut built extensively in the Karnak temple in Luxor and throughout all of Egypt and she re-established the trade networks that had been disrupted during the Hyksos rule of Lower Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, thereby building the wealth of the Eighteenth Dynasty. She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the Land of Punt. After her death, having gained valuable experience heading up the military for Hatshepsut, Thutmose III assumed rule.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Thutmose III expanded Egypt's army and wielded it with great success to consolidate the empire created by his predecessors. This resulted in a peak in Egypt's power and wealth during the reign of Amenhotep III. The term pharaoh, originally the name of the king's palace, became a form of address for the person who was king during his reign (c. 1479–1425 BC).


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Widely considered a military genius by historians, Thutmose III conducted at least 16 campaigns in 20 years. He was an active expansionist ruler. He is recorded to have captured 350 cities during his rule and conquered much of the Near East from the Euphrates to Nubia during seventeen known military campaigns. He was the first pharaoh after Thutmose I to cross the Euphrates, doing so during his campaign against Mitanni. He continued north through the territory belonging to the still unconquered cities of Aleppo and Carchemish and quickly crossed the Euphrates in his boats, taking the Mitannian king entirely by surprise.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The wealthiest of all the kings of this dynasty is Amenhotep III, who built the Luxor Temple, the Precinct of Monthu at Karnak and his massive Morturary Temple. Amenhotep III also built the Malkata palace, the largest built in Egypt.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: One of the best-known eighteenth dynasty pharaohs is Amenhotep IV, who changed his name to Akhenaten in honour of the Aten, a representation of the Egyptian god, Ra. His worship of the Aten as his personal deity is often interpreted as history's first instance of monotheism. Akhenaten's wife, Nefertiti, contributed a great deal to his new direction in the Egyptian religion. Nefertiti was bold enough to perform rituals to Aten. Akhenaten's religious fervour is cited as the reason why he and his wife were subsequently written out of Egyptian history. Under his reign, in the fourteenth century BC, Egyptian art flourished in a distinctive new style (see Amarna Period).


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: By the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, Egypt's status had changed radically. Aided by Akhenaten's apparent lack of interest in international affairs, the Hittites had gradually extended their influence into the Levant to become a major power in international politics—a power that both Seti I and his son Ramesses II would confront during the nineteenth Dynasty.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The last two members of the Eighteenth Dynasty—Ay and Horemheb—became rulers from the ranks of officials in the royal court, although Ay might also have been the maternal uncle of Akhenaten and a fellow descendant of Yuya and Tjuyu.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ay may have married the widowed Great Royal Wife and young half-sister of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun, in order to obtain power; she did not live long afterward. Ay then married Tey, who originally, had been wet-nurse to Nefertiti.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ay's reign was short. His successor was Horemheb, a general during the reign of Tutankhamun, whom the pharaoh may have intended as his successor in the event that he had no surviving children, which came to pass. Horemheb may have taken the throne away from Ay in a coup d'état. Although Ay's son or stepson Nakhtmin was named as his father or stepfather's Crown Prince, Nakhtmin seems to have died during the reign of Ay, leaving the opportunity for Horemheb to claim the throne next.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Horemheb also died without surviving children, having appointed his vizier, Pa-ra-mes-su, as his heir. This vizier ascended the throne in 1292 BC as Ramesses I, and was the first pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The Nineteenth Dynasty was founded by the Vizier Ramesses I, whom the last ruler of the eighteenth dynasty, Pharaoh Horemheb, had chosen as his successor. His brief reign marked a transition period between the reign of Horemheb and the powerful pharaohs of this dynasty, in particular, his son Seti I and grandson Ramesses II, who would bring Egypt to new heights of imperial power.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Seti I fought a series of wars in western Asia, Libya, and Nubia in the first decade of his reign. The main source for knowledge of Seti's military activities are his battle scenes on the north exterior wall of the Karnak Hypostyle Hall, along with several royal stelas with inscriptions mentioning battles in Canaan and Nubia. The greatest achievement of Seti I's foreign policy was the capture of the Syrian town of Kadesh and neighboring territory of Amurru from the Hittite Empire. Egypt had not held Kadesh since the time of Akhenaten. Seti I was successful in defeating a Hittite army that tried to defend the town and erected a victory stela at the site which has been found by archaeologists. Kadesh, however, soon reverted to Hittite control because the Egyptians did not or could not maintain a permanent military occupation of Kadesh and Amurru which were close to the Hittite homelands.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ramesses II sought to recover territories in the Levant that had been held by the 18th Dynasty. In his second year, before confronting the Hittites, Ramesses II had to deal with a raid by the Sherden sea people whom he defeated and incorporated into his army. His campaigns against the Hittites culminated in the Battle of Kadesh, where he led Egyptian armies against those of the Hittite king Muwatalli II. Ramesses was caught in history's first recorded military ambush, although he was able to rally his troops and turn the tide of battle against the Hittites thanks to the arrival of the Ne'arin (possibly mercenaries in the employ of Egypt). The outcome of the battle was undecided, with both sides claiming victory at their home front, and ultimately resulting in a peace treaty between the two nations.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: He campaigned later in the Levant capturing Edom and Moab. New kingdom Egyptian stelae from this period have been found in Jordan. Later, Egyptians conquered Qatna and Tunip where a statue of Ramses II was erected. Thus he recaptured Qadesh and northern Amurru. Nevertheless, like Seti I, he found that he could not permanently hold territory so far from base and after years of conflict, a peace treaty was concluded between the two nations. Egypt was able to obtain wealth and stability under the rule of Ramesses, for more than half a century. His immediate successors continued the military campaigns, although an increasingly troubled court—which at one point put a usurper (Amenmesse) on the throne—made it increasingly difficult for a pharaoh to effectively retain control of the territories.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ramesses II built extensively throughout Egypt and Nubia, and his cartouches are prominently displayed, even in buildings that he did not construct. There are accounts of his honor hewn on stone, statues, and the remains of palaces and temples—most notably the Ramesseum in western Thebes and the rock temples of Abu Simbel. He covered the land from the Delta to Nubia with buildings in a way no king before him had. He also founded a new capital city in the Delta during his reign, called Pi-Ramesses. It previously had served as a summer palace during the reign of Seti I.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ramesses II constructed many large monuments, including the archaeological complex of Abu Simbel, and the Mortuary temple known as the Ramesseum. He built on a monumental scale to ensure that his legacy would survive the ravages of time. Ramesses used art as a means of propaganda for his victories over foreigners, which are depicted on numerous temple reliefs. Ramesses II erected more colossal statues of himself than any other pharaoh, and also usurped many existing statues by inscribing his own cartouche on them.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ramesses II was also famed for the huge number of children he sired by his various wives and concubines; the tomb he built for his sons (many of whom he outlived) in the Valley of the Kings has proven to be the largest funerary complex in Egypt.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The immediate successors of Ramesses II continued the military campaigns although an increasingly troubled court complicated matters. He was succeeded by his son Merneptah and then by Merneptah's son Seti II. Seti II's right to the throne seems to have been disputed by his half-brother Amenmesse, who may have temporarily ruled from Thebes.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Upon his death, Seti II's son Siptah, who may have been afflicted with poliomyelitis during his life, was appointed to the throne by Bay, a chancellor and a West Asian commoner who served as vizier behind the scenes. Siptah died early and throne was assumed by Twosret, who was the royal wife of his father and, possibly, his uncle Amenmesse's sister.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: A period of anarchy at the end of Twosret's short reign saw the enthronement of Setnakhte, establishing the Twentieth Dynasty.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The last "great" pharaoh from the New Kingdom is widely considered to be Ramesses III, a Twentieth Dynasty pharaoh who reigned several decades after Ramesses II.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: In the eighth year of his reign, the Sea Peoples invaded Egypt by land and sea. Ramesses III defeated them in two great land and sea battles (the Battle of Djahy and the Battle of the Delta). He incorporated them as subject peoples and is thought to have settled them in Southern Canaan, although there is evidence that they forced their way into Canaan. Their presence in Canaan may have contributed to the formation of new states, such as Philistia, in this region after the collapse of the Egyptian Empire (In the reign of Ramses III himself, Egyptian presence in the Levant is still attested as far as Byblos). He later was compelled to fight invading Libyan tribesmen in two major campaigns in Egypt's Western Delta in his sixth year and eleventh year respectively.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: The heavy cost of this warfare slowly drained Egypt's treasury and contributed to the gradual decline of the Egyptian Empire in Asia. The severity of the difficulties is indicated by the fact that the first known labour strike in recorded history occurred during the twenty-ninth year of Ramesses III's reign. At that time, the food rations for Egypt's favoured and elite royal tomb-builders and artisans in the village of Deir el Medina could not be provisioned. Air pollution limited the amount of sunlight penetrating the atmosphere, affecting agricultural production and arresting global tree growth for almost two full decades, until 1140 BC. One proposed cause is the Hekla 3 eruption of the Hekla volcano in Iceland, but the dating of this remains disputed.


title: New Kingdom of Egypt

text: Ramesses III's death was followed by years of bickering among his heirs. Three of his sons ascended the throne successively as Ramesses IV, Rameses VI, and Rameses VIII. Egypt was increasingly beset by droughts, below-normal flooding of the Nile, famine, civil unrest, and corruption of officials. The power of the last pharaoh of the dynasty, Ramesses XI, grew so weak that in the south the High Priests of Amun at Thebes became the "de facto" rulers of Upper Egypt, and Smendes controlled Lower Egypt in the north, even before Rameses XI's death. Smendes eventually founded the twenty-first dynasty at Tanis.


title: Karelia

text: Karelia (Karelian and , ; , historically "Korjela"; ), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currently divided between northwestern Russia (specifically the federal subjects of the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast) and Finland (the regions of South Karelia, North Karelia, and the eastern portion of modern-day Kymenlaakso).


title: Karelia

text: Various subdivisions may be called Karelia. Finnish Karelia was a historical province of Finland, and is now divided between Finland and Russia, often called just "Karjala" in Finnish. The eastern part of this chiefly Lutheran area was ceded to Russia after the Winter War of 1939–40.


title: Karelia

text: The Republic of Karelia is a Russian federal subject, including East Karelia with a chiefly Russian Orthodox population.


title: Karelia

text: Within present-day Finland, "Karjala" refers to the regions of South and North Karelia, although parts of historical Karelia also lie within the region of Kymenlaakso (east of the River Kymi), Northern Savonia (Kaavi, Rautavaara and ) and Southern Savonia (Mäntyharju).


title: Karelia

text: Karelia stretches from the White Sea coast to the Gulf of Finland. It contains the two largest lakes in Europe, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega. The Karelian Isthmus is located between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga. The highest point of Karelia, the high Nuorunen, is located in the Russian side of the Maanselka hill region.


title: Karelia

text: The border between Karelia and Ingria, the land of the closely related Ingrian people, had originally been the Neva River itself but later on it was moved northward into Karelian isthmus to follow the Sestra River (), today in the Saint Petersburg metropolitan area, but in 1812–1940 the Russo-Finnish border.


title: Karelia

text: On the other side of Lake Ladoga, the River Svir is usually thought of as the traditional southern border of Karelian territory while Lake Onega and the White Sea mark the Eastern border. The River Kymi marks the historic western border of Karelian territory as it served as the boundary between the Häme Finns and the Karelians during the Middle Ages. The River Kymi is also said to have formed a boundary between the eastern and western cultural spheres by the beginning of the Bronze Age at the latest. In the North lived the nomadic Samis, but there were no natural borders except for large wooded areas (taiga) and the tundra.


title: Karelia

text: In historical texts Karelia is sometimes divided into "East Karelia" and "West Karelia," which are also called Russian Karelia and Finnish Karelia respectively. The area to the north of Lake Ladoga which belonged to Finland before World War II is called Ladoga Karelia, and the parishes on the old pre-war border are sometimes called Border Karelia. White Sea Karelia (sometimes the Finnish or Karelian term "Viena Karelia", or in some English-language sources, "White Karelia", is used) is the northern part of East Karelia and Olonets Karelia is the southern part.


title: Karelia

text: Karelia was bitterly fought over by Sweden and the Novgorod Republic for a period starting in the 13th-century Swedish-Novgorodian Wars. The Treaty of Nöteborg (Finnish: Pähkinäsaaren rauha) in 1323 divided Karelia between the two. Viborg (Finnish: Viipuri) became the capital of the new Swedish province. In the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617 large parts of Russian Karelia were ceded to Sweden. Conflicts between the new Swedish rulers and the indigenous population of these areas led to an exodus: thousands of Karelians, including the ancestors of the Tver Karelians, emigrated to Russia.


title: Karelia

text: The Treaty of Nystad (Finnish: Uudenkaupungin rauha) in 1721 between Imperial Russia and Sweden ceded a portion of Karelia to Russia. The Treaty of Åbo in 1743 between Sweden and Russia then ceded South Karelia to Russia. After Finland had been occupied by Russia in the Finnish War, parts of the ceded provinces (Old Finland) were incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1917, Finland became independent and the border was confirmed by the Treaty of Tartu in 1920.


title: Karelia

text: Finnish partisans were involved in attempts to overthrow the Bolsheviks in Russian Karelia (East Karelia) in 1918–21, as in the failed Aunus expedition. They also wanted to incorporate the rest of Karelia into Finland and cooperated with the short-lived Republic of Uhtua. These mainly private expeditions ended after the signing of the Treaty of Tartu. After the end of the Russian Civil War and the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922, the Russian part of Karelia became the Karelian Autonomous republic of the Soviet Union (ASSR) in 1923.


title: Karelia

text: At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, the Soviet Union attacked Finland, thus starting the Winter War. The Treaty of Moscow, signed in 1940, handed a large portion of Finnish Karelia to the Soviet Union, and over 400,000 people had to be relocated within Finland. During the Continuation War, between 1941 and 1944, the Finns invaded and occupied much of East Karelia for three years. After the war, Soviet expansion caused considerable bitterness in Finland, which lost its fourth biggest city, Viipuri, its industrial heartland along the river Vuoksi, the Saimaa canal that connected central Finland to the Gulf of Finland, and access to the fishing waters of Lake Ladoga (Finnish: Laatokka). One eighth of its citizens became refugees with no chance of return. The whole population from the areas ceded to the Soviet Union was evacuated and resettled in other parts of Finland. The present inhabitants of the former Finnish parts of Russia, including the city of Vyborg/Viipuri and the Karelian Isthmus – are post-war immigrants or their descendants.


title: Karelia

text: The former Karelian ASSR was incorporated into a new Karelo-Finnish SSR from 1941 to 1956, but then it became an ASSR again. Karelia was the only Soviet republic that was "demoted" from an SSR to an ASSR within the Russian SFSR. Unlike administrative republics, Soviet republics (in theory) had the constitutional right to secede. Fear of secession, as well as the Russian ethnic minority in Karelia, may have resulted in its "demotion".


title: Karelia

text: In 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ASSR became the Republic of Karelia. The political collapse brought about an economic collapse and the Republic has experienced massive urban decay. The buildings hastily and poorly constructed during the Soviet era, as well as older houses remaining from the Finnish era, are being abandoned.


title: Karelia

text: Karelia is politically divided between Finland and Russia. The Republic of Karelia is a federal subject of Russia formed in 1991 from the Karelian ASSR. The Karelian Isthmus belongs to the Leningrad Oblast. The Finnish side consists of parts of the regions ("maakunta") of South Karelia, North Karelia and Kymenlaakso.


title: Karelia

text: There are some small but enthusiastic groups of Finns campaigning for closer ties between Finland and Karelia. The political expression of their irredentist hopes is called the Karelian question and concerns Finland's re-acquisition of the ceded Finnish Karelia. These hopes live on, for instance, in the Karjalan Liitto (Karelian League) and ProKarelia. However, ambitions for closer ties with East Karelia no longer include territorial demands.


title: Karelia

text: The Russian side is mostly Russian-speaking. However, there are minorities speaking either Finnish or the Karelian language especially in the Republic of Karelia and in the Karelian villages of the Tver Region of Northwest Russia. The more distantly related Veps language is spoken on both sides of the River Svir. Finnish and Karelian have had varying levels of recognition in Russian Karelia throughout history.


title: Karelia

text: On the Finnish side, the area is Finnish-speaking. The Karelian dialects of the Finnish language (which are different from the Karelian language) are spoken mainly in Finnish South Karelia and form the southeastern dialect group of Finnish. The dialects in Finnish North Karelia belong to the large group of Savonian dialects in Eastern and Central Finland.


title: Karelia

text: Ingrian Finnish dialects are spoken in Ingria, which is an area around St. Petersburg, between the Estonian border and Lake Ladoga. Ingrian Finns settled in the region in the 17th century after the Swedish conquest of the area. The settlers spoke Karelian and Savonian dialects of Finnish. The older inhabitants of the Ingria, the Ingrians, have their own language which is related to the Karelian language and the south-eastern dialects of Finnish.


title: Karelia

text: Karelians evacuated from the part of Finnish Karelia ceded to Russia were resettled all over Finland. Today about one million people in Finland can trace their roots in the area ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II. In Finland, about 5,000 people speak the Karelian language.


title: Karelia

text: Russian Karelia is a regular destination for international tourism due to its unique architectural, cultural and historical sites such as Kizhi and Valaam. The region is visited by tourists in both summer and winter when possible activities include riding in a sled behind a dog team and running from the banya to an ice hole and back. Summer hikers can visit the Kivach waterfall or the Demon's Chair plateau.


title: Karelia

text: In South Karelia, Lappeenranta is a popular destination for Russian tourists, with 1.5 million visiting annually. Imatrankoski in Imatra has been a tourist attraction since the late 18th century, when the Empress of Russia Catherine the Great visited the site in 1772.


title: Karelia

text: Koli National Park in North Karelia began receiving tourists when Karelianism became a major trend. Koli was a source of inspiration for numerous painters and composers such as Jean Sibelius, Juhani Aho and Eero Järnefelt, who in turn contributed to Karelianism through their work. Koli gained national park status in 1991.


title: As above, so below

text: "As above, so below" is a popular modern paraphrase of the second verse of the "Emerald Tablet" (a compact and cryptic Hermetic text first attested in an Arabic source dating to the late eighth or early ninth century), as it appears in its most widely divulged medieval Latin translation:


title: As above, so below

text: That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above.


title: As above, so below

text: The paraphrase is peculiar to this Latin version, and does not render the original Arabic, which reads "from" rather than "like to".


title: As above, so below

text: Following its use by prominent modern occultists such as Helena P. Blavatsky (1831–1891, co-founder of the Theosophical Society) and the anonymous author of the "Kybalion" (often taken to be William W. Atkinson, 1862–1932, a pioneer of the New Thought movement), the paraphrase started to take on a life of its own, becoming an often cited motto in New Age circles.


title: As above, so below

text: Among historians of philosophy and science, the verse is often understood as a reference to the supposed effects of celestial mechanics upon terrestrial events. This would include the effects of the Sun upon the change of seasons, or those of the Moon upon the tides, but also more elaborate astrological effects.


title: As above, so below

text: According to another common interpretation, the verse refers to the structural similarities (or 'correspondences') between the macrocosm (from Greek "makros kosmos", "the great world"; the universe as a whole, understood as a great living being) and the microcosm (from Greek "mikros kosmos", "the small world"; the human being, understood as a miniature universe). This type of view is found in many philosophical systems world-wide, the most relevant here being ancient Greek and Hellenistic philosophy, where notable proponents included Anaximander (c. 610 – c. 546 BCE), Plato (c. 428 or 424 – c. 348 BCE), the Hippocratic authors (late fifth or early fourth century BCE and onwards), and the Stoics (third century BCE and onwards).


title: As above, so below

text: The occultists who were responsible for the popularization of the paraphrase generally understood it in the context of Emanuel Swedenborg's (1688–1772) doctrine of the correspondence between different planes of existence, a strongly elaborated version of the classical macrocosm–microcosm analogy. This interpretation was pioneered by Helena P. Blavatsky (1831–1891), whose works contain some of the earliest occurrences of the phrase as an independent axiom. Generally writing from a perennialist perspective, Blavatsky associated the phrase with a number of historically unrelated thought systems such as Pythagoreanism, Kabbalah and Buddhism.


title: As above, so below

text: His [sc. Swedenborg's] doctrine of correspondence, or Hermetic symbolism, is that of Pythagoras and of the kabalists—"as above, so below." It is also that of the Buddhist philosophers, who, in their still more abstract metaphysics, inverting the usual mode of definition given by our "erudite" scholars, call the invisible types the only reality, and everything else the effects of the causes, or visible prototypes—"illusions".


title: As above, so below

text: There is no prominent character in all the annals of sacred or profane history whose prototype we cannot find in the half-fictitious and half-real traditions of bygone religions and mythologies. As the star, glimmering at an immeasurable distance above our heads, in the boundless immensity of the sky, reflects itself in the smooth waters of a lake, so does the imagery of men of the antediluvian ages reflect itself in the periods we can embrace in an historical retrospect. ""As above, so it is below. That which has been, will return again. As in heaven, so on earth.""


title: As above, so below

text: The spirit of a mineral, plant, or animal, may begin to form here, and reach its final development millions of ages hereafter, on other planets, known or unknown, visible or invisible to astronomers. For, who is able to controvert the theory previously suggested, that the earth itself will, like the living creatures to which it has given birth, ultimately, and after passing through its own stage of death and dissolution, become an etherealized astral planet ? "As above, so below;" harmony is the great law of nature.


title: As above, so below

text: Though retaining the interpretation of the phrase in terms of Swedenborg's doctrine of correspondence, it was somewhat more closely associated with the philosophical mentalism (the primacy of mind as the active cause of things) of the ancient Greek "Hermetica" by the anonymous author of the "Kybalion" (1908, 'Three Initiates', perhaps William W. Atkinson, 1862–1932). What follows are some literal quotes from the book:


title: As above, so below

text: This Principle embodies the truth that there is always a Correspondence between the laws and phenomena of the various planes of Being and Life. The old Hermetic axiom ran in these words: “As above, so below; as below, so above.” [...] This Principle is of universal application and manifestation, on the various planes of the material, mental, and spiritual universe– it is an Universal Law. [...] Just as a knowledge of the Principles of Geometry enables man to measure distant suns and their movements, while seated in his observatory, so a knowledge of the Principle of Correspondence enables Man to reason intelligently from the Known to the Unknown. [...]


title: As above, so below

text: The great Second Hermetic Principle embodies the truth that there is a harmony, agreement, and correspondence between the several planes of Manifestation, Life and Being. This truth is a truth because all that is included in the Universe emanates from the same source, and the same laws, principles, and characteristics apply to each unit, or combination of units of activity, as each manifests its own phenomena upon its own plane. [...]


title: As above, so below

text: [...] The old Hermetic axiom, "As above so below," may be pressed into service at this point. Let us endeavor to get a glimpse of the workings on higher planes by examining those on our own. The Principle of Correspondence must apply to this as well as to other problems. Let us see! On his own plane of being, how does Man create? Well, first, he may create by making something out of outside materials. But this will not do, for there are no materials outside of THE ALL with which it may create. Well, then, secondly, Man pro-creates or reproduces his kind by the process of begetting, which is self-multiplication accomplished by transferring a portion of his substance to his offspring. But this will not do, because THE ALL cannot transfer or subtract a portion of itself, nor can it reproduce or multiply itself— in the first place there would be a taking away, and in the second case a multiplication or addition to THE ALL, both thoughts being an absurdity. Is there no third way in which MAN creates? Yes, there is—he CREATES MENTALLY! And in so doing he uses no outside materials, nor does he reproduce himself, and yet his Spirit pervades the Mental Creation. Following the Principle of Correspondence, we are justified in considering that THE ALL creates the Universe MENTALLY, in a manner akin to the process whereby Man creates Mental Images. [...]