title: Patrician (ancient Rome)

text: According to the late 9th-century , the insignia of the dignity were ivory inscribed tablets. During the 11th century, the dignity of followed the fate of other titles: extensively awarded, it lost in status, and disappeared during the Komnenian period in the early 12th century. The title of (, "first patrician") is also evidenced in the East from 367 to 711, possibly referring to the senior-most holder of the office and leader of the patrician order (). The feminine variant () denoted the spouses of ; it is not to be confused with the title of ("girded "), which was a unique dignity conferred on the ladies-in-waiting of the empress.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; , , often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ramsay have served as the party's co-leaders. The party currently has one representative in the House of Commons and two in the House of Lords, in addition to hundreds of councillors at the local government level and three members of the London Assembly.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party's ideology combines environmentalism with left-wing economic policies, including well-funded and locally controlled public services. It advocates a steady-state economy with the regulation of capitalism, and supports proportional representation. It takes a progressive approach to social policies such as civil liberties, animal rights, LGBT rights, and drug policy reform. The party also believes strongly in non-violence, universal basic income, a living wage, and democratic participation. It is split into various regional divisions, including the semi-autonomous Wales Green Party, and is internationally affiliated with the Global Greens and the European Green Party.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Alongside the Scottish Greens and the Green Party Northern Ireland, the party was established in 1990 through the division of the pre-existing Green Party, which had initially been established as the PEOPLE Party in 1973. The party went through centralising reforms spearheaded by the Green 2000 group in early 1990, and also sought to emphasise growth in local governance, doing so throughout 1990. In 2010, the party gained its first Member of Parliament in its then-leader Caroline Lucas. As the party's support is spread out across the UK, and is rarely found in electorally significant clusters, the party holds only one seat in the House of Commons. The Green Party supports an abolition of the UK's first-past-the-post voting system, and instead supports proportional representation, which would grant it more seats in Parliament.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party of England and Wales has its origins in the PEOPLE Party, which was founded in Coventry in November 1972. It was renamed to the Ecology Party in 1975 and, in 1985, changed again to the Green Party. In 1989, the party's Scottish branch evolved to establish the independent Scottish Green Party, with an independent Green Party in Northern Ireland evolving shortly after, leaving the branches in England and Wales to form their own party. The Green Party of England and Wales is registered with the Electoral Commission, only as "the Green Party". In the 1989 European Parliament elections, the Green Party polled 15% of the vote with 2.3 million votes, the best performance of a "green" party in a nationwide election. This election gave the Green Party the third-largest share of the vote after the Conservative and Labour parties, although because of the first-past-the-post voting system, it failed to gain a seat. Many say the success of the party is due to increased respect for environmentalism and the effects of the development boom in southern England in the late 1980s.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Seeking to capitalise on the Greens' success in the European Parliament elections, a group named Green 2000 was established in July 1990, arguing for an internal reorganisation of the party in order to develop it into an active electoral force capable of securing seats in the House of Commons. Its proposed reforms included a more centralised structure, the replacement of the existing party council with a smaller party executive, and the establishment of delegate voting at party conferences. Many party members opposed the reforms, believing that they would undermine the party's internal democracy and, amid the arguments, some members left the party. Although Green 2000 proposals were defeated at the party's 1990 conference, they were overwhelmingly carried at their 1991 conference, resulting in an internal restructuring of the party. Between the end of 1990 and mid-1992, the party lost over half its members, with those polled indicating that frustration over a lack of clear and effective party leadership was a significant reason in their decision. The party fielded more candidates than it had ever done before in the 1992 general election but performed poorly.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In 1993, the party adopted its "Basis for Renewal" program in an attempt to bring together conflicting factions and thus saved the party from bankruptcy and potential demise. The party sought to escape its reputation as an environmentalist single-issue party by placing greater emphasis on social policies.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Recognising their poor performance in the 1992 national elections, the party decided to focus on gaining support in local elections, targeting wards where there was a pre-existing support base of Green activists. In 1993, future party leader and MP Caroline Lucas gained a seat in Oxfordshire County Council, with other gains following in the 1995 and 1996 local elections.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Greens sought to build alliances with other parties in the hope of gaining representation at the parliamentary level. In Wales, the Greens endorsed Plaid Cymru candidate Cynog Dafis in the 1992 general election, having worked with him on several environmental initiatives. For the 1997 general election, the Ceredigion branch of the Greens endorsed Cynog Dafis as a joint Plaid Cymru/Green candidate, but this generated controversy with the party, with critics believing it improper to build an alliance with a party that did not share all of the Greens' views. In April 1995, the Green National Executive ruled that the party should withdraw from this alliance due to ideological differences.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: As the Labour Party shifted to the political centre under the leadership of Tony Blair and his New Labour project, the Greens sought to gain the support of the party's disaffected leftists.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: During the 1999 European Parliament elections, the first to be held in the UK using proportional representation, the Greens gained their first Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), Lucas (South East England) and Jean Lambert (London). At the inaugural London Assembly Elections in 2000, the party gained 11% of the vote and returned three Assembly Members (AMs). Although this dropped to two following the 2004 London Assembly elections, the Green AMs proved vital in passing the annual budget of former Mayor Ken Livingstone.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: At the 2001 general election, they polled 0.7% of the vote and gained no seats. At the 2004 European Parliamentary elections, the party returned 2 MEPs the same as in 1999; overall, the party polled 1,033,093 votes. In the 2005 general election, the party gained over 1% of the vote for the first time and polled over 10% in the constituencies of Brighton Pavilion and Lewisham Deptford. This growth was due in part to the increasing public visibility of the party as well as growth in support for smaller parties in the UK.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In November 2007, the party held an internal referendum to decide on whether it should replace its use of two "principal speakers", one male and the other female, with the more conventional roles of "leader" and "deputy leader"; the motion passed with 73% of the vote. In September 2008, the party then elected its first leader, Caroline Lucas, with Adrian Ramsay elected deputy leader. In the party's first election with Lucas as leader, it retained both its MEPs in the 2009 European elections.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In the 2010 general election, the party returned its first MP. Lucas was returned as MP for the seat of Brighton Pavilion. Following the election, Keith Taylor succeeded her as MEP for South East England. They also saved their deposit in Hove, and Brighton Kemptown.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In the 2011 local government elections in England and Wales, the Green Party in Brighton and Hove took minority control of the City Council by winning 23 seats, 5 short of an overall majority.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: At the 2012 local government elections, the Green Party gained 5 seats and retained both AMs at the 2012 London Assembly election. At the 2012 London mayoral election the party's candidate Jenny Jones finished third and lost her deposit.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In May 2012, Lucas announced that she would not seek re-election to the post of party leader. In September, Australian-born former journalist Natalie Bennett was elected party leader and Will Duckworth deputy leader in the leadership election took place. Bennett would take the party further to the left, aiming to make it an anti-austerity party to the left of the Labour Party.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The 2013 local government elections saw overall gains of 5 seats. The party returned representation for the first time on the councils of Cornwall, Devon, and Essex. At the local government elections the following year, the Greens gained 18 seats overall. In London, the party won four seats, a gain of two, holding seats in Camden and Lewisham, and gaining seats in Islington and Lambeth.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: At the 2014 European elections, the Green Party finished fourth, above the Liberal Democrats, winning over 1.2 million votes. The party also increased its European Parliament representation, gaining one seat in the South West England region.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In September 2014, the Green Party held its 2014 leadership elections. Incumbent leader Bennett ran uncontested and retained her status as a party leader. The election also saw a change in the elective format for the position of deputy leader. The party opted to elect two, gender-balanced deputy leaders, instead of one. Amelia Womack and Shahrar Ali won the two positions, succeeding former deputy leader Duckworth.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In the 2010 general election, the Green Party contested roughly 50% of seats. The party announced in October 2014 that Green candidates would be standing for parliament in at least 75% of constituencies in the 2015 general election. Following its rapid increase in membership and support, the Green Party also announced it was targeting twelve key seats for the 2015 general election: its one current seat, Brighton Pavilion, held by Lucas since 2010, Norwich South, a Liberal Democrat seat where June 2014 polling put the Greens in second place behind Labour, Bristol West, another Liberal Democrat seat, where they targeted the student vote, St. Ives, where they received an average of 18% of the vote in county elections, Sheffield Central, Liverpool Riverside, Oxford East, Solihull, Reading East, and three more seats with high student populations – York Central, Cambridge, and Holborn and St. Pancras, where leader Bennett stood as the candidate.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In December 2014, the Green Party announced that it had more than doubled its overall membership from 1 January that year to 30,809. This reflected the increase seen in opinion polls in 2014, with Green Party voting intentions trebling from 2–3% at the start of the year, to 7–8% at the end of the year, on many occasions, coming in fourth place with YouGov's national polls, ahead of the Liberal Democrats, and gaining over 25% of the vote with 18 to 24-year-olds. This rapid increase in support for the party is referred to by media as the "Green Surge". The hashtag "#GreenSurge" has also been popular on social media (such as Twitter) from Green Party members and supporters and, , the combined Green Party membership in the UK stood at 44,713; greater than the number of members of UKIP (at 41,943), and the Liberal Democrats (at 44,576).


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Views subsequently fell back as the 2015 general election opinion polls arrived: a Press Association poll of polls on 3 April, for example, put the Greens fifth with 5.4%. However, membership statistics continued to surge with the party attaining 60,000 in England and Wales that April.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: At the 2015 general election, Lucas was re-elected in Brighton Pavilion with an increased majority, but the party did not win any other seats. In part due to the greatly increased the number of contested seats of 538 from the 310 at the 2010 election, the Greens received their highest-ever vote share (over 1.1 million votes), and increased their national share of the vote from 1% to 3.8%. Overnight, the membership numbers increased to over 63,000. However, at the local government elections the party lost 9 out of their 20 seats on the Brighton and Hove council, losing minority control. Nationwide, the Greens increased their share of councillors, gaining an additional 10 council seats while failing to gain overall control of any individual council.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: On 15 May 2016, Bennett announced she would not be standing for re-election in the party's biennial leadership election due to take place in the summer. Former leader Lucas and Jonathan Bartley announced two weeks later that they intended to stand for leadership as a job share arrangement. Nominations closed at the end of June, with the campaign period taking place in July and voting period in August and the results announced at the party's Autumn Conference in Birmingham from 2–4 September. It was announced on 4 September that Lucas and Bartley would become the party's leaders in a job share.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Lucas first suggested "progressive pacts" to work on a number of issues including combating climate change and for electoral reform, following the results of the 2015 general election. She then reiterated the call alongside Bartley as they announced their plan to share the leadership of the party. Following the vote to leave the European Union in June 2016, Bennett published an open letter, calling for an "anti-Brexit alliance" potentially comprising Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru to stand in a future snap election in English and Welsh seats. The Green Party stood in 457 seats in the 2017 general election, securing 1.6% of the overall vote, and an average of 2.2% in seats it stood in. While it was a disappointing result after the 2015 success, this was still the second-best Green result in a general election, and Brighton Pavilion remained Green with an increased majority.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: On 30 May 2018, Lucas announced she would not seek re-election in the 2018 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election and would stand down as co-leader. On 1 June 2018 Bartley announced a co-leadership bid alongside Siân Berry, former candidate for the Mayor of London in 2008 and 2016.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Bartley and Berry were elected as co-leaders in September 2018, winning 6,279 of 8,329 votes. In the 2019 local elections, the Green Party secured their best ever local election result, more than doubling their number of council seats from 178 to 372 councillors. This success was followed by a similarly successful European election where Greens won (including Scottish Greens and the Green Party in Northern Ireland) over two million votes for the first time since 1989, securing 7 MEPs, up from 3. This included winning seats for the first time in the East of England, North West England, West Midlands and Yorkshire & the Humber.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In September 2020, it was announced that Bartley and Berry had won re-election for another two-year term.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In the 2021 local elections, the Green Party gained their first ever councillors in Northumberland and Stockport, as well as making significant gains in Suffolk and Sheffield. In total 88 seats were gained, challenging the Liberal Democrats to become England's third-largest party.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In July 2021, Bartley announced that he would stand down at the end of the month to give the party time to choose new leadership before the next general election. This triggered the 2021 Green Party of England and Wales leadership election. Berry remained as acting leader, but said she would not stand in the leadership election following disagreements within the party.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Bristol councillor Carla Denyer and the former deputy leader Adrian Ramsay were elected as co-leaders on 1 October 2021. Ramsay stated that "People are looking for a positive alternative to the establishment parties, and finding it in the Greens"; in the first national electoral test of the new leadership in the local elections held in May 2022 the Green Party made a net gain of 71 seats - including in both Conservative and Labour "safe seats".


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: On 7 September 2022, it was announced that Zack Polanski had been elected as the party's new deputy leader, defeating three election opponents and replacing Amelia Womack, who chose not to re-stand for the position in the election.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In October 2022, at their national conference the Scottish Greens voted to sever ties with the Green Party of England and Wales, specially over the issues of transphobia.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Sociologist Chris Rootes stated that the Green Party took "the left-libertarian" vote, while Dennison and Goodwin characterised it as reflecting "libertarian-universalistic values". The party wants an end to big government – which they see as hindering open and transparent democracy – and want to limit the power of big business – which, they argue, upholds the unsustainable trend of globalisation, and is detrimental to local trade and economies. There have been allegations of factionalism and infighting in the Green Party between liberal, socialist, and anarchist factions.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party publishes a party platform: a full set of its policies, as approved by successive party conferences, collectively entitled "Policies for a Sustainable Society" (originally "The Manifesto for a Sustainable Society" before February 2010).


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party publishes a manifesto for each of its election campaigns. Separate from this, the Greens have a set of Core Values, a Philosophical Basis and a series of Long-term Goals.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: For the 2015 general election, the party's manifesto outlined many new policies, including a Robin Hood tax on banks and a 60% tax on those earning over £150,000.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: For the 2019 general election, the party's manifesto had four key sections: "remain and transform", which advocated for the UK to reverse its decision to leave the EU and increase cross-border co-operation with the EU; "grow democracy", which aimed to overhaul the UK's current voting system and rebalance government power by lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 and redefining the jurisdiction of local governments; the "green quality of life guarantee", which addressed social issues such as housing, the NHS, education, countryside conservation, discrimination, crime, drug reform, animal rights, and the implementation of a universal basic income; and the "new deal for tax and spend", which outlined the party's economic policies such as simplifying income tax, increasing corporation tax to make big businesses pay their fair share, supporting small business, and ending wasteful spending.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party believes in "an economy that works for all". This includes radical steps to eliminate poverty with ambitious social policies such as increasing the minimum wage in line with the living wage. They also want to introduce a four-day working week; which it is claimed would boost productivity and growth, with Mondays and Fridays being the least productive days in the week.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In November 2019, the Greens pledged to introduce a universal basic income by 2025, which will give every adult in the United Kingdom (unemployed or not) at least £89 a week (with additional payments to those facing barriers to work, including disabled people and single parents). This is in order to tackle poverty, give people financial security, give people more freedom of choice to cut their working hours, start a green new business, take part in the community, or improve their own well-being. The policy also aims to tackle the rising levels of automation that threaten to put millions out of work and fundamentally change British industry.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party wants to raise corporation tax from the current 19%; this is designed to generate more government revenue and ensure large corporations do not become too powerful. The party wants to end subsidies for fossil fuels and replace them with subsidies for renewable energy sources such as wind, solar power and tidal power. Investment in green energy could potentially create more jobs and boost the economy. The environmental economic policy also includes a Green deal that the Green Party say will generate new jobs and reduce Britain's energy costs. The Green Party wants to increase Britain's development and its position on the Human Development Index and free time index. They believe that uncontrolled economic growth has contributed to pollution and global warming and that more steps should be taken to ensure that growth is sustainable and keeps environmental damage to a minimum.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party states that it would phase out fossil fuel-based power generation, and would work toward closing coal-fired power stations as soon as possible. The Green Party would also remove subsidies for nuclear power within ten years and work towards phasing out nuclear energy. The party aims for the UK to become carbon neutral. The Green Party Manifesto states:The UK should base its future emissions budgets on the principles of science and equity and the aim of keeping global warming below 1.5 C. These principles entail the UK reducing its own emissions to net-zero by 2030 and seeking to reduce the emissions embedded in its imports to zero as soon as possible. The urgency of these objectives requires the UK to make overcoming the technological, political and social obstacles a national priority.The Green Party wants to set up an environmental protection committee to ensure the protection of habitats and to enhance biodiversity.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Since at least 1992, the party has emphasised unilateral nuclear disarmament and called for rejection of the UK's Trident nuclear missile programme. To campaign for the latter, it has teamed up with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, Plaid Cymru, and the Scottish National Party. Former Leader Natalie Bennett has advocated replacing the UK Army with a "home defence force", according to "The Telegraph".


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In 2014, Natalie Bennett led an anti-NATO march in Newport. The party support withdrawal from NATO, but not before the end of the Russo-Ukrainian War.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party has opposed the invasion of Iraq, NATO-led military intervention in Libya and British involvement in Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party campaigns for the rights of indigenous people around the world and argues for greater autonomy for these individuals. Furthermore, they support the granting of compensation and justice for historical wrongs, and that the reappropriation of lands and resources should be granted to certain nations and peoples. The party also believes that the cancelling of international debt should take place immediately and any financial assistance should be in the form of grants and not loans, limiting debt service payments to 10% of export earnings per year.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party advocate for a less "bully boy culture" from the Western world and more self-sustainability in terms of food and energy policy on a global level, with aid, only being given to countries as a last resort in order to prevent them from being indebted to their donors.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Amid the toughening rhetoric surrounding immigration at the 2015 general election, the Greens issued mugs emblazoned with the slogan "Standing Up For Immigrants". They claimed to offer a "genuine alternative" to the views of the mainstream parties by promoting the removal of restrictions on the number of foreign students, abolishing rules on family migration, and promoting further rights for asylum seekers.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party has an official drugs group, for drugs policy and research. The party wants to end the prohibition of drugs and create a system of legal regulation in order to minimise the harm associated with drug use as well as the harm associated with its production and supply. The party's view is that people have always used drugs and there will always be people that will use them, and therefore focus should be on minimising the harm associated with drug use and tackling the causes of why people take drugs (e.g. poverty, isolation, mental illness, physical illness, and psychological trauma). This sits alongside the party's belief that adults should be free to make informed decisions about their own drug consumption, while this freedom is also balanced with the government's responsibility to protect individuals and society from harm. The party considers the drugs issue to be a health issue, rather than a criminal one.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party also supports opening overdose prevention centres in towns and cities in order to prevent fatal overdoses, the transmission of HIV, hepatitis C and other illnesses, as well as offering a place for drug users to access health and treatment services. The party supports devolving the decision-making on whether to open these sites to police, health services and local authorities.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Ian Barnett from the Green Party says that: "The Policy of 'War on Drugs' has clearly failed. We need a different approach to the control and misuse of drugs." However, the party does aim to minimise drug use due to the negative effects on the individual and society at large.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The stated aim of the sexual orientation and gender identity group within the party, known as LGBTIQA+ Greens, is to raise awareness on LGBTIQA+ rights and issues affecting the broader LGBTIQA+ community, as well as broader Green politics.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The 2015 and 2017 general election manifestos contained policies on all teachers to be trained on LGBTIQA+ issues (such as "providing mandatory HIV, sex, and relationships education – age appropriate and LGBTIQA+-inclusive – in all schools from primary level onwards"), on reforming the system of pensions, on ending the "spousal veto" (a measure part of the Gender Recognition Act) and on "mak[ing] equal marriage truly equal". Bennett has also voiced support for polygamy and polyamorous relationships.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party supports same-sex marriage and, on Brighton and Hove City Council, considered expelling Christina Summers in 2012 due to opposition to same-sex marriage legislation on religious grounds.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Some issues of trans rights have caused divisions in the Green Party, such as when Siân Berry cited opposition to her support for trans rights as a reason for stepping down as co-leader. In the subsequent leadership election, candidate Shahrar Ali's comments on trans rights led to the Young Greens to call for his expulsion. After being sacked as Speaker for the party, Shahrar Ali sued the Green Party, claiming discrimination under the Equality Act. At the 2021 Conference, the Green Party voted in favour of gender self-identification and voted down a motion that women were discriminated against "solely upon their biological sex", which opponents claimed excluded trans women. The Scottish Greens suspended their cooperation with the Green Party of England and Wales in October 2022 due to their views on trans rights.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green party has called for "A People's Transport System" to help deal with the issues not just to the planet but to local communities as well. The Green Party has an official transport working group, aimed at helping to draw up policies to be voted on at the conference.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party also aims to prioritise accessibility to transport and create equal access irrespective of age, wealth or disability. The party also wants to reduce the total distance people travel and travel journey lengths by encouraging the development and retention of local facilities. It also seeks to reduce the environmental impacts of transport, partly through encouraging transport that makes use of sustainable and replaceable resources. The party would also implement a green transport hierarchy of transport that would need to be followed by all levels of government:


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: One of the flagship and long-standing policies in this field is returning the railways to public ownership along with renationalising other forms of transport.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party opposes High Speed 2 (HS2), in favour of alternative transport strategies. The party regards the currently under construction railway line as a waste of tax payers money and environmentally destructive. The party is, however, in favour of high speed rail in principle, as a means of challenging short haul domestic flights, provided projects meet strict criteria. The party wishes to divert money invested in HS2 towards other infrastructure projects, such as upgrading and improving local public transport.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party supports scrapping university and further education fees. It supports all courses in further education being provided free at the point of use. According to the Green Party:"Under a green government all currently outstanding debts - yet to be paid - held by an individual, for undergraduate tuition fees and maintenance loans, and any resulting interest would be written off. Specifically, those issued by the Student Loans Company (SLC) and currently held by the UK government".


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party campaigns for greater accountability in global governance, with the United Nations made up of elected representatives and more regional representation, as opposed to the current nation-based setup. They want democratic control of the global economy with the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and World Bank reformed, democratised or even replaced. The party also wishes to prioritise social and environmental sustainability as a global policy.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party advocates ending the first past the post voting system for UK parliamentary elections and replacing it with a form of proportional representation.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party states that they believe there is "no place in government for the hereditary principle". In their long-term goals, they advocate that "The monarchy shall cease to be an office of government. The legislative, executive and judicial roles of the monarch shall cease."


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party supports the separation of church and state. It advocates that the Church of England be disestablished from the British state and become self-governing.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In February 2021, the Green Party announced that it supported a referendum on Welsh independence and would campaign in favour of independence if a referendum were to be held. This came after the Wales Green Party's vote at conference in favour of independence "in the event of a referendum."


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party supported the 2016 referendum on the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union, calling it "a vital opportunity to create a more democratic and accountable Europe, with a clearer purpose for the future". The party has criticised the Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy and the "excessive influence" of the European Commission in comparison to the European Council and European Parliament, describing it as "undemocratic and unaccountable". The party favoured a "three yeses" approach to Europe: "yes to a referendum, yes to major EU reform and yes to staying in a reformed Europe". Bennett also added that:


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: 'Yes to the EU' does not mean we are content with the union continuing to operate as it has in the past. There is a huge democratic deficit in its functioning, a serious bias towards the interests of neoliberalism and 'the market', and central institutions have been overbuilt. But to achieve those reforms we need to work with fellow EU members, not try to dictate high handedly to them, as David Cameron has done.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The youth wing of the Green Party, the Young Greens of England and Wales, has developed independently from around 2002 and is for all Green Party members aged up to 30 years old or in full or part-time education. There is no lower age limit. The Young Greens have their own constitution, national committee, campaigns and meetings, and have become an active presence at Green Party Conferences and election campaigns. There are now many Young Greens groups on UK university, college and higher-education institution campuses. Many Green Party councillors are Young Greens, as are some members of GPEx and other internal party organs.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The Green Party rely more on membership income than other parties. In 2014, membership income made up 23% of Green Party income (compared to just 2% of Conservative Party and 9% of Liberal Democrat incomes). As Prof Catherine Rowett, Ethics adviser to the Prime Minister, explains: "Money pays for leaflets, campaigns, staff time. Big parties have huge donors who want a reward in the form of corrupt access to government. We run a clean campaign with money from our members. Little bits of money, whatever you can afford".


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Membership increased rapidly in 2014, more than doubling in that year. On 15 January 2015, the Green Party claimed that the combined membership of the UK Green Parties (Green Party of England and Wales, Scottish Greens, and Green Party Northern Ireland) had risen to 43,829 members, surpassing UKIP's membership of 41,966, and making it the third-largest UK-wide political party in the UK in terms of membership. On 14 January 2015, "The Guardian" had reported that membership of the combined UK Green Parties was closing on those of UKIP and the Liberal Democrats, but noted that it lagged behind that of the Scottish National Party (SNP), which at the time had a membership of 92,187 members but is not a UK-wide party. Membership of the party peaked at over 67,000 members in the summer of 2015 after the general election, but later declined subsequent to Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader of the Labour Party.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: For the year ending 31 December 2019, Green Party income had increased to £3,454,562 and expenditure to £3,177,323.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: According to political scientist Sarah Birch, the Green Party draws support from "a wide spectrum of the population". In 1995, sociologist Chris Rootes stated that the Green Party "appeals disproportionately to younger, highly educated professional people", although he noted that this support base was "not predominantly urban". In 2009, Birch noted that the Green's strongest areas of support were Labour-held seats in university towns or urban areas with relatively large student populations. She noted that there were also strong correlations between areas of high Green support and high percentages of people who define themselves as having no religion.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Birch noted that sociological polling revealed a "strong relationship" between individuals having voted for the Liberal Democrats in the past and holding favourable views of the Green Party, noting that the two groups were competing for "similar sorts of voters".


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party has one member of Parliament, two members of the House of Lords and three members of the London Assembly.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Brighton Pavilion was the Green Party's first and only parliamentary seat to date, won at the 2010 general election and held in 2015, 2017 and 2019. As with other small parties, representation at the House of Commons has been hindered by the first-past-the-post voting system, meaning the party is highly under-represented; it received 835,589 votes accounting for 2.7% of total votes, but only 0.2%, or one, of the seats.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party's first life peer was Tim Beaumont, who defected from the Liberal Democrat group of peers in 1999, spoke frequently in the house and died in 2008. Baroness Jenny Jones became the next peer, 2013–present. Former party leader Baroness Natalie Bennett joined her in 2019. She was appointed on the back of continued strong election results for the party, through Theresa May's resignation honours list.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Since the first UK election to the European Parliament with proportional representation, in June 1999, the Green Party of England and Wales has had representation in the European Parliament. From 1999 to 2010, the two MEPs were Jean Lambert (London) and Lucas (South East England). In 2010, on election to the House of Commons, Lucas resigned her seat and was succeeded by Keith Taylor. In May 2014, Taylor and Lambert held their seats, and were joined by Molly Scott Cato who was elected in the South West region, increasing the number of Green Party Members of the European Parliament to three for the first time. In May 2019, this number rose to seven: Scott Ainslie (London), Ellie Chowns (West Midlands), Gina Dowding (North West England), Magid Magid (Yorkshire and the Humber), Alexandra Phillips (South East England), Catherine Rowett (East of England), and the re-elected Scott Cato.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The party has representation at local government level in England and Wales. From the early 1990s until 2009, the number of Green local councillors rose from none to over 100.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In 2011, the party led a council for the first time when they took minority control of Brighton and Hove City Council following the 2011 Brighton and Hove City Council election.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In 2018, the party won its first seat on Birmingham City Council, leaving Newcastle and Cardiff as the only major UK cities which have never elected a Green councillor.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The 2019 United Kingdom local elections saw 194 gains for the party, with over 9% of the national vote.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: In July 2020, the Green Party again took minority control of Brighton and Hove City Council following the collapse of the Labour Party's minority administration.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: Following the 2021 United Kingdom local elections, the Green Party gained the most elected councillors in its history, bringing its total to 445, leading two councils and joining various coalition administrations running 17 other councils. The party formed an alliance with the Liberal Democrats to create an administration for Oxfordshire County Council.


title: Green Party of England and Wales

text: The 2022 United Kingdom local elections again saw gains for the Green Party with 63 in England and 8 in Wales taking the party to a historic high of 545 councillors on 166 different councils. As of July 2022 The Green Party run Brighton and Hove City Council as a minority administration and lead coalitions running Lancaster and Stroud councils.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Ringer's lactate solution (RL), also known as sodium lactate solution, Lactated Ringer’s, and Hartmann's solution, is a mixture of sodium chloride, sodium lactate, potassium chloride, and calcium chloride in water. It is used for replacing fluids and electrolytes in those who have low blood volume or low blood pressure. It may also be used to treat metabolic acidosis and to wash the eye following a chemical burn. It is given by intravenous infusion or applied to the affected area.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Side effects may include allergic reactions, high blood potassium, hypervolemia, and high blood calcium. It may not be suitable for mixing with certain medications and some recommend against use in the same infusion as a blood transfusion. Ringer's lactate solution has a lower rate of acidosis as compared with normal saline. Use is generally safe in pregnancy and breastfeeding. Ringer's lactate solution is in the crystalloid family of medications. It is isotonic, i.e. it has the same tonicity as blood.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Ringer's solution was invented in the 1880s; lactate was added in the 1930s. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. Lactated Ringer's is available as a generic medication. For people with liver dysfunction, Ringer's acetate may be a better alternative with the lactate replaced by acetate. In Scandinavia Ringer's acetate is typically used.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Ringer's lactate solution is commonly used for fluid resuscitation after blood loss due to trauma, surgery, or a burn injury (i.e. in hemorrhagic shock).


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Ringer's lactate solution is used because the byproducts of lactate metabolism in the liver counteract acidosis, which is a chemical imbalance that occurs with acute fluid loss or kidney failure. In a large-volume resuscitation over several hours, Ringer's lactate solution maintains a more stable blood pH than normal saline.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: The intravenous dose of Ringer's lactate solution is usually calculated by estimated fluid loss and presumed fluid deficit. For fluid resuscitation the usual rate of administration is 20 to 30 mL/kg body weight/hour. RL is not suitable for maintenance therapy (i.e., maintenance fluids) because the sodium content (130 mEq/L) is considered too low, particularly for children, and the potassium content (4 mEq/L) is too low, in view of electrolyte daily requirement. Moreover, since the lactate is converted into bicarbonate, long-term use will cause patients to become alkalotic.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Ringer's lactate and other crystalloids are also used as vehicles for the IV delivery of medications.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Ringer's lactate has an osmolarity of 273 mOsm L and a pH of 6.5. The lactate is metabolized into bicarbonate by the liver, which can help correct metabolic acidosis. Ringer's lactate solution alkalinizes via its consumption in the citric acid cycle, the generation of a molecule of carbon dioxide which is then excreted by the lungs. They increase the strong ion difference in solution, leading to proton consumption and an overall alkalinizing effect.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: The solution is formulated to have concentrations of potassium and calcium that are similar to the ionized concentrations found in normal blood plasma. To maintain electrical neutrality, the solution has a lower level of sodium than that found in blood plasma or normal saline.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Generally, the source of the constituent ions is a mixture of sodium chloride (NaCl), sodium lactate (CHCH(OH)CONa), calcium chloride (CaCl), and potassium chloride (KCl), dissolved into distilled water. Ringer's solution has the same constituents without the sodium lactate, though sometimes it may also include magnesium chloride (MgCl).


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: There are slight variations for the composition for Ringer's as supplied by different manufacturers. As such, the term Ringer's lactate should not be equated with one precise formulation.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Ringer's saline solution was invented in the early 1880s by Sydney Ringer, a British physician and physiologist. Ringer was studying the beating of an isolated frog heart outside of the body. He hoped to identify the substances in blood that would allow the isolated heart to beat normally for a time. The use of Ringer's original solution of inorganic salts slowly became more popular. In the 1930s, the original solution was further modified by American pediatrician Alexis Hartmann for the purpose of treating acidosis. Hartmann added lactate, which mitigates changes in pH by acting as a buffer for acid. Thus the solution became known as "Ringer's lactate solution" or "Hartmann's solution".


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: Ringer's solution technically refers only to the saline component, without lactate. Some countries instead use a Ringer's acetate solution or Ringer-acetate, which has similar properties. This was thought to be helpful when analyzing blood-lactate for signs of anaerobic metabolism (e.g. present with septic shock, hypovolemic shock). Subsequently, it has been shown that lactate is metabolized much faster than infused. Ringers lactate should not cause an elevated blood-lactate level except possibly in the most severe presentations of liver failure.


title: Ringer's lactate solution

text: It is used for the treatment or palliative care of chronic kidney failure in small animals. The solution can be administered intravenously or subcutaneously. Administering the fluids subcutaneously allows the solution to be readily given to the animal by a trained layperson, as it is not required that a vein be located. The solution is slowly absorbed from beneath the skin into the bloodstream of the animal.<ref name="AAHA/AAFP_Fluid_Therapy_Guidelines"></ref>


title: Minister of External Affairs (India)

text: The Minister of External Affairs (or simply, the Foreign Minister, in Hindi Videsh Mantri ) is the head of the Ministry of External Affairs of the Government of India. One of the senior-most offices in the Union Cabinet, the chief responsibility of the Foreign Minister is to represent India and its government in the international community. The Foreign Minister also plays an important role in determining Indian foreign policy. Occasionally, the Foreign Minister is assisted by a Minister of State for External Affairs or the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of External Affairs.


title: Minister of External Affairs (India)

text: India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, also held the Foreign Minister post throughout his 17-year premiership of the country; he remains the country's longest-serving Foreign Minister. Several other Prime Ministers have since held the additional charge of foreign minister, but never has any other cabinet minister held additional charge of the office. There have been a number of Foreign Ministers who went on to become the Prime Minister like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, P. V. Narasimha Rao and I. K. Gujral.


title: Minister of External Affairs (India)

text: The current Minister of External Affairs is Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, succeeding Sushma Swaraj of the Bharatiya Janata Party on 30 May 2019.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The Third Battle of Kharkov was a series of battles on the Eastern Front of World War II, undertaken by Army Group South of Nazi Germany against the Soviet Red Army, around the city of Kharkov between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Known to the German side as the Donets Campaign, and in the Soviet Union as the Donbas and Kharkov operations, the German counterstrike led to the recapture of the cities of Kharkov and Belgorod.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: As the German 6th Army was encircled in the Battle of Stalingrad, the Red Army undertook a series of wider attacks against the rest of Army Group South. These culminated on 2 January 1943 when the Red Army launched Operation Star and Operation Gallop, which between January and early February broke German defenses and led to the Soviet recapture of Kharkov, Belgorod, Kursk, as well as Voroshilovgrad and Izium. The Soviet victories caused participating Soviet units to over-extend themselves. Freed on 2 February by the surrender of the German 6th Army, the Red Army's Central Front turned its attention west and on 25 February expanded its offensive against both Army Group South and Army Group Center. Months of continuous operations had taken a heavy toll on the Soviet forces and some divisions were reduced to 1,000–2,000 combat effective soldiers. On 19 February, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein launched his Kharkov counterstrike, using the fresh II SS Panzer Corps and two panzer armies. Manstein benefited greatly from the massive air support of Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen's Luftflotte 4, whose 1,214 aircraft flew over 1,000 sorties per day from 20 February to 15 March to support the German Army, a level of airpower equal to that during the Case Blue strategic offensive a year earlier.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The Wehrmacht flanked, encircled, and defeated the Red Army's armored spearheads south of Kharkov. This enabled Manstein to renew his offensive against the city of Kharkov proper on 7 March. Despite orders to encircle Kharkov from the north, the SS Panzer Corps instead decided to directly engage Kharkov on 11 March. This led to four days of house-to-house fighting before Kharkov was recaptured by the SS Division Leibstandarte on 15 March. The German forces recaptured Belgorod two days later, creating the salient which in July 1943 would lead to the Battle of Kursk. The German offensive cost the Red Army an estimated 90,000 casualties. The house-to-house fighting in Kharkov was also particularly bloody for the German SS Panzer Corps, which had suffered approximately 4,300 men killed and wounded by the time operations ended in mid-March.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: At the start of 1943, the German Wehrmacht faced a crisis as Soviet forces encircled and reduced the German 6th Army in the Battle of Stalingrad and expanded their Winter Campaign towards the Don River. On 2 February 1943 the 6th Army's commanding officers surrendered, and an estimated 90,000 men were taken prisoner by the Red Army. Total German losses at the Battle of Stalingrad, excluding prisoners, were between 120,000 and 150,000. Throughout 1942 German casualties totaled around 1.9 million personnel, and by the start of 1943 the Wehrmacht was around 470,000 men below full strength on the Eastern Front. At the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht was equipped with around 3,300 tanks; by 23 January only 495 tanks, mostly of older types, remained operational along the entire length of the Soviet–German front. As the forces of the Don Front were destroying the German forces in Stalingrad, the Red Army's command ("Stavka") ordered the Soviet forces to conduct a new offensive, which encompassed the entire southern wing of the Soviet–German front from Voronezh to Rostov.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: On 2 February, the Red Army launched Operation Star, threatening the cities of Belgorod, Kharkov and Kursk. A Soviet drive, spearheaded by four tank corps organized under Lieutenant-General Markian Popov, pierced the German front by crossing the Donets River and pressing into the German rear. On 15 February, two fresh Soviet tank corps threatened the city of Zaporizhia on the Dnieper River, which controlled the last major road to Rostov and housed the headquarters of Army Group South and "Luftflotte 4" (Air Fleet Four). Despite Adolf Hitler's orders to hold the city, Kharkov was abandoned by German forces and the city was recaptured by the Red Army on 16 February.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Hitler immediately flew to Manstein's headquarters at Zaporizhia. Manstein informed him that an immediate counterattack on Kharkov would be fruitless, but that he could successfully attack the overextended Soviet flank with his five Panzer corps, and recapture the city later.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: On 19 February Soviet armored units broke through the German lines and approached the city. In view of the worsening situation, Hitler gave Manstein operational freedom. When Hitler departed, the Soviet forces were only some away from the airfield.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: In conjunction with Operation Star the Red Army also launched Operation Gallop south of Star, pushing the Wehrmacht away from the Donets, taking Voroshilovgrad and Izium, worsening the German situation further. By this time Stavka believed it could decide the war in the southwest Russian SFSR and eastern Ukrainian SSR, expecting total victory.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The surrender of the German 6th Army at Stalingrad freed six Soviet armies, under the command of Konstantin Rokossovsky, which were refitted and reinforced by the 2nd Tank Army and the 70th Army. These forces were repositioned between the junction of German Army Groups Center and South. Known to the Soviet forces as the Kharkov and Donbas operations, the offensive sought to surround and destroy German forces in the Orel salient, cross the Desna River and surround and destroy German Army Group Center. Originally planned to begin between 12 and 15 February, deployment problems forced Stavka to push the start date back to 25 February. Meanwhile, the Soviet 60th Army pushed the German Second Army's 4th Panzer Division away from Kursk, while the Soviet 13th Army forced the Second Panzer Army to turn on its flank. This opened a breach between these two German forces, shortly to be exploited by Rokossovsky's offensive. While the Soviet 14th and 48th Armies attacked the Second Panzer Army's right flank, making minor gains, Rokossovsky launched his offensive on 25 February, breaking through German lines and threatening to surround and cut off the German Second Panzer Army and the Second Army, to the south. Unexpected German resistance began to slow the operation considerably, offering Rokossovsky only limited gains on the left flank of his attack and in the center. Elsewhere, the Soviet 2nd Tank Army had successfully penetrated of the German rear, along the left flank of the Soviet offensive, increasing the length of the army's flank by an estimated .


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: While the Soviet offensive continued, Field Marshal von Manstein was able to put the SS Panzer Corps – now reinforced by the 3rd SS Panzer Division – under the command of the 4th Panzer Army, while Hitler agreed to release seven understrength panzer and motorized divisions for the impending counteroffensive. The 4th Air Fleet, under the command of Field Marshal Wolfram von Richthofen, was able to regroup and increase the number of daily sorties from an average of 350 in January to 1,000 in February, providing German forces strategic air superiority. On 20 February, the Red Army was perilously close to Zaporizhia, signaling the beginning of the German counterattack, known to the German forces as the Donets Campaign.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Between 13 January and 3 April 1943, an estimated 210,000 Red Army soldiers took part in what was known as the Voronezh–Kharkov Offensive. In all, an estimated 6,100,000 Soviet soldiers were committed to the entire Eastern Front, with another 659,000 out of action with wounds. In comparison, the Germans could account for 2,988,000 personnel on the Eastern Front. As a result, the Red Army deployed around twice as many personnel as the Wehrmacht in early February. As a result of Soviet over-extension and the casualties they had taken during their offensive, at the beginning of Manstein's counterattack the Germans could achieve a tactical superiority in numbers, including the number of tanks present – for example, Manstein's 350 tanks outnumbered Soviet armor almost seven to one at the point of contact, and were far better supplied with fuel.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: At the time of the counterattack, Manstein could count on the 4th Panzer Army, composed of XLVIII Panzer Corps, the SS Panzer Corps and the First Panzer Army, with the XL and LVII Panzer Corps. The XLVIII Panzer Corps was composed of the 6th, 11th and 17th Panzer Divisions, while the SS Panzer Corps was organized with the 1st SS, 2nd SS and 3rd SS Panzer Division. In early February, the combined strength of the SS Panzer Corps was an estimated 20,000 soldiers. The 4th Panzer Army and the First Panzer Army were situated south of the Red Army's bulge into German lines, with the First Panzer Army to the east of the 4th Panzer Army. The SS Panzer Corps was deployed along the northern edge of the bulge, on the northern front of Army Group South.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The Germans were able to amass around 160,000 men against the 210,000 Red Army soldiers. The German Wehrmacht was understrength, especially after continuous operations between June 1942 and February 1943, to the point where Hitler appointed a committee made up of Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Martin Bormann and Hans Lammers, to recruit 800,000 new able-bodied men – half of whom would come from "nonessential industries". The effects of this recruitment were not seen until around May 1943, when the German armed forces were at their highest strength since the beginning of the war, with 9.5 million personnel.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: By the start of 1943 Germany's armored forces had sustained heavy casualties. It was unusual for a Panzer division to field more than 100 tanks, and most averaged only 70–80 serviceable tanks at any given time. After the fighting around Kharkov, Heinz Guderian embarked on a program to bring Germany's mechanized forces up to strength. Despite his efforts, a German panzer division could only count on an estimated 10,000–11,000 personnel, out of an authorized strength of 13,000–17,000. Only by June did a panzer division begin to field between 100 and 130 tanks each. SS divisions were normally better equipped, with an estimated 150 tanks, a battalion of self-propelled assault guns and enough half-tracks to motorize most of its infantry and reconnaissance soldiers – and these had an authorized strength of an estimated 19,000 personnel. At this time, the bulk of Germany's armor was still composed of Panzer IIIs and Panzer IVs, although the SS Division Das Reich had been outfitted with a number of Tiger I tanks.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The 4th Panzer Army was commanded by General Hermann Hoth, while the First Panzer Army fell under the leadership of General Eberhard von Mackensen. The 6th, 11th and 17th Panzer Divisions were commanded by Generals Walther von Hünersdorff, Hermann Balck and Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin, respectively. The SS Panzer Corps was commanded by General Paul Hausser, who also had SS Division Totenkopf under his command.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Since the beginning of the Red Army's exploitation of Germany's Army Group South's defenses in late January and early February, the fronts involved included the Bryansk, Voronezh and Southwestern Fronts. These were under the command of Generals M. A. Reiter, Filipp Golikov and Nikolai Vatutin, respectively. On 25 February, Marshal Rokossovsky's Central Front also joined the battle. These were positioned in such a way that Reiter's Briansk Front was on the northern flank of Army Group South, while Voronezh was directly opposite of Kursk, and the Southwestern Front was located opposite their opponents. Central Front was deployed between the Briansk and Voronezh Fronts, to exploit the success of both of these Soviet units, which had created a gap in the defenses of the German Second Panzer Army. This involved an estimated 500,000 soldiers, while around 346,000 personnel were involved in the defense of Kharkov after the beginning of the German counterstroke.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Like their German counterparts, Soviet divisions were also seriously understrength. For example, divisions in the 40th Army averaged 3,500–4,000 men each, while the 69th Army fielded some divisions which could only count on 1,000–1,500 soldiers. Some divisions had as little as 20–50 mortars to provide fire support. This shortage in manpower and equipment led Vatutin's Southwestern Front to request over 19,000 soldiers and 300 tanks, while it was noted that the Voronezh Front had only received 1,600 replacements since the beginning of operations in 1943. By the time Manstein launched his counteroffensive, the Voronezh Front had lost so much manpower and had overextended itself to the point where it could no longer offer assistance to the Southwestern Front, south of it. The 1st Czechoslovak Independent Field Battalion, commanded by Ludvík Svoboda, was also attached to the Soviet forces and subsequently participated in fighting alongside Soviet forces at Sokolov.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: What was known to the Germans as the Donets Campaign took place between 19 February and 15 March 1943. Originally, Manstein foresaw a three-stage offensive. The first stage encompassed the destruction of the Soviet spearheads, which had over-extended themselves through their offensive. The second stage included the recapture of Kharkov, while the third stage was designed to attack the Soviet forces at Kursk, in conjunction with Army Group Center – this final stage was ultimately called off due to the advent of the Soviet spring thaw ("Rasputitsa") and Army Group Center's reluctance to participate.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: On 19 February, Hausser's SS Panzer Corps was ordered to strike southwards, to provide a screen for the 4th Panzer Army's attack. Simultaneously, Army Detachment Hollidt was ordered to contain the continuing Soviet efforts to break through German lines. The 1st Panzer Army was ordered to drive north in an attempt to cut off and destroy Popov's Mobile Group, using accurate intelligence on Soviet strength which allowed the Wehrmacht to pick and choose their engagements and bring about tactical numerical superiority. The 1st and 4th Panzer Armies were also ordered to attack the overextended Soviet 6th Army and 1st Guards Army. Between 20 and 23 February, the 1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH) cut through the 6th Army's flank, eliminating the Soviet threat to the Dnieper River and successfully surrounding and destroying a number of Red Army units south of the Samara River. The SS Division Das Reich advanced in a northeastern direction, while the SS Division Totenkopf was put into action on 22 February, advancing parallel to Das Reich. These two divisions successfully cut the supply lines to the Soviet spearheads. First Panzer Army was able to surround and pocket Popov's Mobile Group by 24 February, although a sizable contingent of Soviet troops managed to escape north. On 22 February, alarmed by the success of the German counterattack, the Soviet "Stavka" ordered the Voronezh Front to shift the 3rd Tank Army and 69th Army south, in an effort to alleviate pressure on the Southwestern Front and destroy German forces in the Krasnograd area.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The Red Army's 3rd Tank Army began to engage German units south of Kharkov, performing a holding action while Manstein's offensive continued. By 24 February, the Wehrmacht had pulled the Großdeutschland Division off the line, leaving the 167th and 320th infantry divisions, a regiment from the Totenkopf division and elements from the Leibstandarte division to defend the Western edge of the bulge created by the Soviet offensive. Between 24 and 27 February, the 3rd Tank Army and 69th Army continued to attack this portion of the German line, but without much success. With supporting Soviet units stretched thin, the attack began to falter. On 25 February, Rokossovky's Central Front launched their offensive between the German Second and 2nd Panzer Armies, with encouraging results along the German flanks, but struggling to keep the same pace in the center of the attack. As the offensive progressed, the attack on the German right flank also began to stagnate in the face of increased resistance, while the attack on the left began to over-extend itself.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: In the face of German success against the Southwestern Front, including attempts by the Soviet 6th Army breaking out of the encirclement, "Stavka" ordered the Voronezh Front to relinquish control of the 3rd Tank Army to the Southwestern Front. To ease the transition, the 3rd Tank Army gave two rifle divisions to the 69th Army, and attacked south in a bid to destroy the SS Panzer Corps. Low on fuel and ammunition after the march south, the 3rd Tank Army's offensive was postponed until 3 March. The 3rd Tank Army was harassed and severely damaged by continuous German aerial attacks with Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers. Launching its offensive on 3 March, the 3rd Tank Army's 15th Tank Corps struck into advancing units of the 3rd SS Panzer Division and immediately went on the defensive. Ultimately, the 3rd SS was able to pierce the 15th Tank Corps' lines and link up with other units of the same division advancing north, successfully encircling the Soviet tank corps. The 3rd Tank Army's 12th Tank Corps was also forced on the defensive immediately, after SS divisions Leibstandarte and Das Reich threatened to cut off the 3rd Tank Army's supply route. By 5 March, the attacking 3rd Tank Army had been badly mauled, with only a small number of men able to escape northwards, and was forced to erect a new defensive line.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The destruction of Popov's Mobile Group and the Soviet 6th Army during the early stages of the German counterattack created a large gap between Soviet lines. Taking advantage of uncoordinated and piecemeal Soviet attempts to plug this gap, Manstein ordered a continuation of the offensive towards Kharkov. Between 1–5 Panzer Army, including the SS Panzer Corps, covered and positioned itself only about south of Kharkov. By 6 March, the SS Division Leibstandarte made a bridgehead over the Mosh River, opening the road to Kharkov. The success of Manstein's counterattack forced Stavka to stop Rokossovsky's offensive.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Richthofen's "Luftflotte 4" played a decisive role in the success of the German counteroffensive. While simultaneously carrying out airlift operations in the Kuban bridgehead, it increased its daily sortie average from 350 in January to 1,000 in February, providing the army with excellent close air support and air interdiction. It relentlessly attacked Soviet troop columns, tanks, fortified positions, as well as supply depots and columns. On 22 February, Richthofen noted with satisfaction that the number of sorties flown that day was 1,500. On 23 February the number was 1,200. Richthofen personally directed the major air attacks in consultation with the army generals and his subordinate air corps commanders. In order to avoid dissipating his strength, he concentrated all available forces in a single "Schwerpunkt", including the concentration of multiple air commands on the same target at the same time. A British government analysis in 1948 praised Richthofen's skill during the Third Battle of Kharkov, singling out his constant use of the principles of "extreme flexibility, coordination and concentration".


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: While Rokossovsky's Central Front continued its offensive against the German Second Army, which had by now been substantially reinforced with fresh divisions, the renewed German offensive towards Kharkov took it by surprise. On 7 March, Manstein made the decision to press on towards Kharkov, despite the coming of the spring thaw. Instead of attacking east of Kharkov, Manstein decided to orient the attack towards the west of Kharkov and then encircle it from the north. The "Großdeutschland" Panzergrenadier Division had also returned to the front, and threw its weight into the attack, threatening to split the 69th Army and the remnants of the 3rd Tank Army. Between 8–9 March, the SS Panzer Corps completed its drive north, splitting the 69th and 40th Soviet Armies, and on 9 March it turned east to complete its encirclement. Despite attempts by the "Stavka" to curtail the German advance by throwing in the freshly released 19th Rifle Division and 186th Tank Brigade, the German drive continued.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: On 9 March, the Soviet 40th Army counterattacked against the "Großdeutschland" Division in a final attempt to restore communications with the 3rd Tank Army. This counterattack was caught by the expansion of the German offensive towards Kharkov on 10 March. That same day, the 4th Panzer Army issued orders to the SS Panzer Corps to take Kharkov as soon as possible, prompting Hausser to order an immediate attack on the city by the three SS Panzer divisions. "Das Reich" would come from the West, LSSAH would attack from north, and "Totenkopf" would provide a protective screen along the north and northwestern flanks. Despite attempts by General Hoth to order Hausser to stick to the original plan, the SS Panzer Corps commander decided to continue with his own plan of attack on the city, although Soviet defenses forced him to postpone the attack until the next day. Manstein issued an order to continue outflanking the city, although leaving room for a potential attack on Kharkov if there was little Soviet resistance, but Hausser decided to disregard the order and continue with his own assault.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Early morning 11 March, the LSSAH launched a two-prong attack into northern Kharkov. The 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment, advancing from the Northwest, split up into two columns advancing towards northern Kharkov on either side of the Belgorod-Kharkov railroad. The 2nd Battalion, on the right side of the railroad, attacked the city's Severnyi Post district, meeting heavy resistance and advancing only to the Severenyi railway yard by the end of the day. On the opposite side of the railroad, the 1st Battalion struck at the district of Alexeyevka, meeting a T-34-led Soviet counterattack which drove part of the 1st Battalion back out of the city. Only with aerial and artillery support provided by Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers and StuG assault guns were the German infantry able to battle their way into the city. A flanking attack from the rear finally allowed the German forces to achieve a foothold in that area of the city. Simultaneously, the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment, with armor attached from a separate unit, attacked down the main road from Belgorod, fighting an immediate counterattack produced over the Kharkov's airport, coming on their left flank. Fighting their way past Soviet T-34s, this German contingent was able to lodge itself into Kharkov's northern suburbs. From the northeast, another contingent of German infantry, armor and self-propelled guns attempted to take control of the road exits to the cities of Rogan and Chuhuiv. This attack penetrated deeper into Kharkov, but low on fuel the armor was forced to entrench itself and turn to the defensive.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: "Das Reich" division attacked on the same day, along the west side of Kharkov. After penetrating into the city's Zalyutino district, the advance was stopped by a deep anti-tank ditch, lined with Soviet defenders, including anti-tank guns. A Soviet counterattack was repulsed after a bloody firefight. A detachment of the division fought its way to the southern approaches of the city, cutting off the road to Merefa. At around 15:00, Hoth ordered Hausser to immediately disengage with "SS Das Reich", and instead redeploy to cut off escaping Soviet troops. Instead, Hausser sent a detachment from SS "Totenkopf" division for this task and informed Hoth that the risk of disengaging with "SS Das Reich" was far too great. On the night of 11–12 March, a breakthrough element crossed the anti-tank ditch, taking the Soviet defenders by surprise, and opening a path for tanks to cross. This allowed "Das Reich" to advance to the city's main railway station, which would be the farthest this division would advance into the city. Hoth repeated his order at 00:15, on 12 March, and Hausser replied as he had replied on 11 March. A third attempt by Hoth was obeyed, and "Das Reich" disengaged, using a corridor opened by LSSAH to cross northern Kharkov and redeploy east of the city.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: On 12 March, the LSSAH made progress into the city's center, breaking through the staunch Soviet defenses in the northern suburbs and began a house to house fight towards the center. By the end of the day, the division had reached a position just two blocks north of Dzerzhinsky Square. The 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment's 2nd Battalion was able to surround the square, after taking heavy casualties from Soviet snipers and other defenders, by evening. When taken, the square was renamed ""Platz der Leibstandarte"". That night, 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment's 3rd Battalion, under the command of Joachim Peiper linked up with the 2nd Battalion in Dzerzhinsky Square and attacked southwards, crossing the Kharkiv River and creating a bridgehead, opening the road to Moscow Avenue. Meanwhile, the division's left wing reached the junction of the Volchansk and Chuhuiv exit roads and went on the defensive, fighting off a number of Soviet counterattacks.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The next day, the LSSAH struck southwards towards the Kharkov River from Peiper's bridgehead, clearing Soviet resistance block by block. In a bid to trap the city's defenders in the center, the 1st Battalion of the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Regiment re-entered the city using the Volchansk exit road. At the same time, Peiper's forces were able to breakout south, suffering from bitter fighting against a tenacious Soviet defense, and link up with the division's left wing at the Volchansk and Chuhuiv road junction. Although the majority of "Das Reich" had, by now, disengaged from the city, a single Panzergrenadier Regiment remained to clear the southwestern corner of the city, eliminating resistance by the end of the day. This effectively put two-thirds of the city under German control.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Fighting in the city began to wind down on 14 March. The day was spent with the LSSAH clearing the remnants of Soviet resistance, pushing east along a broad front. By the end of the day, the entire city was declared to be back in German hands. Despite the declaration that the city had fallen, fighting continued over the next two days, as German units cleared the remnants of resistance in the tractor works factory complex, in the southern outskirts of the city.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Army Group South's Donets Campaign had cost the Red Army over 80,000 personnel casualties. Of these troops lost, an estimated 45,200 were killed or went missing, while another 41,200 were wounded. Between April and July 1943, the Red Army took its time to rebuild its forces in the area and prepare for an eventual renewal of the German offensive, known as the Battle of Kursk. Overall German casualties are more difficult to come by but clues are provided by examining the casualties of the SS Panzer Corps, taking into consideration that the Waffen-SS divisions were frequently deployed where the fighting was expected to be the harshest. By 17 March, it is estimated that the SS Panzer Corps had lost around 44% of its fighting strength, including around 160 officers and about 4,300 enlisted personnel.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: As the SS Panzer Corps began to emerge from the city, they engaged Soviet units positioned directly southwest of the city, including the 17th NKVD Brigade, 19th Rifle Division and 25th Guards Rifle Division. Attempts by the Red Army to re-establish communication with the remnants of the 3rd Tank Army continued, although in vain. On 14–15 March, these forces were given permission to withdraw to the northern Donets River. The Soviet 40th and 69th armies had been engaged since 13 March with the "Großdeutschland" Panzergrenadier Division, and had been split by the German drive. After the fall of Kharkov, the Soviet defense of the Donets had collapsed, allowing Manstein's forces to drive to Belgorod on 17 March, and take it by the next day. Muddy weather and exhaustion forced Manstein's counterstroke to end soon thereafter.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: The military historian Bevin Alexander wrote that the Third Battle of Kharkov was "the last great victory of German arms in the eastern front", while the military historian Robert Citino referred to the operation as "not a victory at all". Borrowing from a chapter title of the book "Manstein" by Mungo Melvin, Citino described the battle as a "brief glimpse of victory". According to Citino, the Donets Campaign was a successful counteroffensive against an overextended and overconfident enemy and did not amount to a strategic victory.


title: Third Battle of Kharkov

text: Following the German success at Kharkov, Hitler was presented with two options. The first, known as the "backhand method" was to wait for the inevitable renewal of the Soviet offensive and conduct another operation similar to that of Kharkov – allowing the Red Army to take ground, extend itself and then counterattack and surround it. The second, or the "forehand method", encompassed a major German offensive by Army Groups South and Center against the protruding Kursk salient. Because of Hitler's obsession with preserving the front, he chose the "forehand method", which led to the Battle of Kursk.


title: Ibex

text: An ibex (plural ibex, ibexes or ibices) is any of several species of wild goat (genus "Capra"), distinguished by the male's large recurved horns, which are transversely ridged in front. Ibex are found in Eurasia, North Africa and East Africa. The name "ibex" comes from Latin, borrowed from Iberian or Aquitanian, akin to Old Spanish "bezerro" "bull", modern Spanish "becerro" "yearling". Ranging in height from and weighing , ibex can live 20 years. Two closely related varieties of goats found in the wild are not usually called ibex: the markhor and the feral goat.


title: Ibex

text: A male ibex is referred to as a buck, a female is a doe, and young juveniles are called kids. An ibex buck is commonly larger and heavier than a doe. The most noticeable difference between the sexes is the larger size of a buck's horns. The doe grows a pair of smaller, thinner horns which develop considerably more slowly than those of a buck. The ibex's horns appear at birth and continue to grow through the rest of its life. Species of wild goats that are called ibex are:


title: Ibex

text: Evidence of the ibex is widely present in the archaeological record, particularly in the Near East and Mediterranean regions. Ibex motifs are very common on cylinder seals and pottery, both painted and embossed.


title: Ibex

text: Excavations from Minoan Crete at Knossos, for example, have yielded specimens from , including one cylinder seal depicting an ibex defending himself from a hunting dog. From the similar age a gold jewelry ibex image was found at the Akrotiri archaeological site on Santorini in present day Greece.


title: Ibex

text: An Iron Age "Capra ibex" specimen was recovered at the Aq Kupruk Archaeological site in present day Afghanistan, illustrating either domestication or hunting of the ibex by these early peoples. However, archaeological records of ibex can be difficult to separate from those of domestic goats.


title: Ibex

text: Earlier evidence of domestication or hunting of the ibex was found identified through DNA analysis of the contents of the stomach of Ötzi, the natural mummy of a Chalcolithic man discovered in the Ötztal Alps in 1991, who lived between 3400 and 3100 BCE. According to DNA reconstruction, the man's penultimate meal contained ibex. There is a myth that says Ibex used to have wings in a time and they used to fly back in dates, by time their wings disappeared and they started climbing the mountain.


title: Ibex

text: In Yemen, the ibex is a longstanding symbol of national identity, representing many positive attributes of the Yemeni people. Numbers of the animal – primarily the Nubian ibex – declined significantly from the late 20th century, due to hunting. In 2022, activists and intellectuals urged the declaration of an annual National Ibex Day, on 22 January, along with calls for greater protection of the animal.


title: Ibex

text: When firearms spread in the 15th century, the large population of ibex that spanned many of Europe's mountains decreased as they became easy targets for hunters. The ibex was often hunted for its meat, with other body parts used for medicine. The ibex horns were highly sought-after as a remedy for impotence, while its blood was used for treating kidney stones.


title: Ibex

text: The relentless hunting of the ibex might have led to its extinction were it not for the foresight of the dukes of Savoy. Charles-Felix, Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia, banned the hunting of the ibex across his estates of the Gran Paradiso after being persuaded by a report on the animal's endangered state. The ban was implemented on 12 September 1821 and its laws was soon extended to the rest of the kingdom. In 1856, Victor Emmanuel II, succeeding Charles-Felix as the king, inducted the Gran Paradiso as a protected hunting estate along with appointed gamekeepers to patrol the area.


title: Onan

text: Onan was a figure detailed in the Book of Genesis chapter 38, as the second son of Judah and Shuah, and the brother of Er and Shelah. After being commanded by Judah to procreate with the late Er's wife Tamar, he instead "spilled his seed on the ground whenever he went in" because "the offspring would not be his", and was thus put to death by Yahweh. This act is detailed as retribution for being "displeasing in the sight of Lord".


title: Onan

text: The story of Onan has varying interpretations, being viewed as a cautionary tale against "coitus interruptus" and masturbation. Other analysts claim he was killed for refusing his father's command to continue the tribe's lineage.


title: Onan

text: 8 "Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.” "


title: Onan

text: "9 But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother. "


title: Onan

text: "8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her, and raise up offspring for your brother.”"


title: Onan

text: "9 But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his. So whenever he went in to his brother’s wife he would waste the semen on the ground, so as not to give offspring to his brother."


title: Onan

text: "8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Have relations with your brother’s wife and perform your duty as a brother-in-law to her, and raise up a child for your brother.”"


title: Onan

text: "9 Now Onan knew that the child would not be his; so when he had relations with his brother’s wife, he wasted his seed on the ground so that he would not give a child to his brother."


title: Onan

text: "8 Then Judah said to Onan, “Go in to your brother’s wife and perform the duty of a brother-in-law to her; raise up offspring for your brother.”"


title: Onan

text: "9 But since Onan knew that the offspring would not be his, he spilled his semen on the ground whenever he went in to his brother’s wife, so that he would not give offspring to his brother."


title: Onan

text: "8 Then Judah said to Onan, "Join with your brother's wife and do your duty by her as a brother-in-law: and provide offspring for your brother.""


title: Onan

text: "9 But Onan, knowing that the seed would not count as his, let it go to waste whenever he joined with his brother's wife, so as not to provide offspring for his brother."


title: Onan

text: After Yahweh slew Onan's oldest brother Er, Onan's father Judah told him to fulfill his duty as a brother-in-law to his brother Er by entering into a levirate marriage with his brother's widow Tamar to give her offspring. Religion professor Tikva Frymer-Kensky has pointed out the economic repercussions of a levirate marriage: any son born to Tamar would be deemed the heir of the deceased Er and could claim the firstborn's double share of an inheritance. However, if Er were childless or only had daughters, Onan would have inherited as the oldest surviving son.


title: Onan

text: When Onan had sex with Tamar, he withdrew before he ejaculated and "spilled his seed on the ground" thus committing "coitus interuptus", since any child born would not legally be considered his heir. The next statement in the Bible says that Onan displeased Yahweh, so the Lord slew him. Onan's crime is often misinterpreted to be masturbation but it is universally agreed among biblical scholars that Onan's death is attributed to his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate marriage with Tamar by committing "coitus interruptus."


title: Onan

text: However, Onan‘s reluctance to give a child to his sister-in-law may reflect a rejection of this custom already present in society. The regulation of levirate marriage in Deut 25:5–10 shows that the custom had encountered some opposition. The law in Deuteronomy allowing a man to refuse his duty was a concession to the reluctance to comply with the custom. Because of Onan's unwillingness to bear a child for his deceased brother, Yahweh was displeased with Onan and slew him also (Gen 38:10).


title: Onan

text: The implication from the narrative is that Onan's act as described is what gave rise to divine displeasure.


title: Onan

text: One opinion expressed in the Talmud argues that this was where the death penalty's imposition originated. Talmud also likens emitting semen in vain to shedding blood.


title: Onan

text: However, the regulations concerning ejaculation in the book of Leviticus, whether as a result of sexual intercourse or not, merely prescribe a ritual washing and becoming ritually impure until the following evening.


title: Onan

text: Early Christian writers have sometimes focused on the "spilling seed", and the sexual act being used for non-procreational purposes. This interpretation was held by several early Christian apologists. Jerome, for example, argued:


title: Onan

text: Epiphanius of Salamis wrote against heretics who used "coitus interruptus", calling it the sin of Οnan:


title: Onan

text: Clement of Alexandria, while not making explicit reference to Onan, similarly reflects an early Christian view of the abhorrence of "spilling seed":


title: Onan

text: The papal encyclical "Casti connubii" (1930) invokes this Biblical text in support of the teaching of the Catholic Church against contracepted sex by quoting St. Augustine, "Intercourse even with one's legitimate wife is unlawful and wicked where the conception of the offspring is prevented. Onan, the son of Juda, did this and the Lord killed him for it."


title: Onan

text: Making reference to Onan's offense to identify masturbation as sinful, in his "Commentary on Genesis", John Calvin wrote that "the voluntary spilling of semen outside of intercourse between a man and a woman is a monstrous thing. Deliberately to withdraw from coitus in order that semen may fall on the ground is double monstrous." Methodism founder John Wesley, according to Bryan C. Hodge, "believed that any waste of the semen in an unproductive sexual act, whether that should be in the form of masturbation or "coitus interruptus", as in the case of Onan, destroyed the souls of the individuals who practice it". He writes his "Thoughts on the Sin of Onan" (1767), which was reproduced as "A Word to Whom it May Concern" on 1779, as an attempt to censor a work by Samuel-Auguste Tissot. In that writing, Wesley warns about "the dangers of self pollution", the bad physical and mental effects of masturbation, writes many such cases along with the treatment recommendations.


title: Onan

text: According to some Bible critics who contextually read this passage, the description of Onan is an origin myth concerning fluctuations in the constituency of the tribe of Judah, with the death of Onan reflecting the dying out of a clan; "Er" and "Onan" are hence viewed as each being representative of a clan, with Onan possibly representing an Edomite clan named Onam, mentioned by an Edomite genealogy in Genesis.


title: Onan

text: Biblical scholars universally agree that the biblical story of Onan is not about masturbation nor about contraception per se or the "wasting of semen" but his refusal to fulfill his obligation of levirate-marriage with Tamar by committing "coitus interruptus".


title: Onan

text: The text emphasizes the social and legal situation, with Judah explaining what Onan must do and why. A plain reading of the text is that Onan was killed because he refused to follow instructions. Scholars have argued that the secondary purpose of the narrative about Onan and Tamar, of which the description of Onan is a part, was to either assert the institution of levirate marriage or present a myth for its origin; Onan's role in the narrative is, thus, as the brother abusing his obligations by agreeing to sexual intercourse with his dead brother's wife, but refusing to allow her to become pregnant as a result. Emerton regards the evidence for this to be inconclusive, although classical rabbinical writers argued that this narrative describes the origin of levirate marriage.


title: Onan

text: John M. Riddle argues that "Epiphanius (fourth century) construed the sin of Onan as "coitus interruptus"". John T. Noonan Jr. says that "St. Epiphanius gave a plain interpretation of the text as a condemnation of contraception, and he did so only in the context of his anti-Gnostic polemic".


title: Onan

text: Bible scholars maintained that the story does not refer to masturbation, but to "coitus interruptus". Bible scholars even maintain that the Bible does not claim that masturbation would be sinful.


title: Onan

text: Although the story of Onan does not involve masturbation, according to Peter Lewis Allen, some theologians found "a common element" in both "coitus interruptus" (also known as onanism) and masturbation, as well as anal intercourse and other forms of nonmarital and nonvaginal sexual acts, which are considered wrongful acts.


title: Onan

text: The term "onanism" has come to refer to "masturbation" in many modern languages – for example Hebrew (אוננות, "onanút"), German ("Onanie"), Greek (αυνανισμός, "avnanismós"), Japanese (オナニー, "onanī"), and Swedish ("onani") – based on an interpretation of the Onan story.


title: Onan

text: The word "onanism" is not based on the biblical story of Onan itself but on an interpretation of that biblical story, nor is the word "onanism" found in any form in the biblical texts. Thus the etymological connection of onanism (in the sense of masturbation) with Onan’s name is misleading.


title: Random House

text: Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann.


title: Random House

text: Random House was founded in 1927 by Bennett Cerf and Donald Klopfer, two years after they acquired the Modern Library imprint from publisher Horace Liveright, which reprints classic works of literature. Cerf is quoted as saying, "We just said we were going to publish a few books on the side at random," which suggested the name Random House. In 1934 they published the first authorized edition of James Joyce's novel "Ulysses" in the Anglophone world. "Ulysses" transformed Random House into a formidable publisher over the next two decades. In 1936, it absorbed the firm of Smith and Haas—Robert Haas became the third partner until retiring and selling his share back to Cerf and Klopfer in 1956—which added authors including William Faulkner, Isak Dinesen, André Malraux, Robert Graves, and Jean de Brunhoff, who wrote the Babar children's books. Random House also hired editors Harry Maule, Robert Linscott, and Saxe Commins, and they brought authors such as Sinclair Lewis and Robert Penn Warren with them.


title: Random House

text: Random House entered reference publishing in 1947 with the "American College Dictionary", which was followed in 1966 by its first unabridged dictionary.


title: Random House

text: In October 1959, Random House went public at $11.25 a share. This move drew other publishing companies, such as Simon & Schuster, to later go public. American publishers Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and Beginner Books were acquired by Random House in 1960 and Pantheon Books in 1961; works continue to be published under these imprints with editorial independence, such as Everyman's Library, a series of classical literature reprints.


title: Random House

text: In 1965, RCA bought Random House as part of a diversification strategy. Random House acquired the paperback book publisher Ballantine Books in 1973. RCA sold Random House to Advance Publications in 1980.


title: Random House

text: In 1988, Random House acquired Crown Publishing Group. Also in 1988, McGraw-Hill acquired Random House's Schools and Colleges division. In 1998, Bertelsmann AG bought Random House and merged it with Bantam Doubleday Dell and it soon went global. In 1999, Random House acquired the children's audiobook publisher Listening Library. Phyllis E. Grann joined Random House as vice-chairman in 2001. Grann was the CEO for Putnam and had grown that house from $10 million in revenue in 1976, to over $200 million by 1993 and without increasing their title output. A publishing insider commented that then CEO Peter Olson was, "I think maybe instead of buying a company he bought a person." Coinciding with the 2007–2008 financial crisis, the publishing industry was hit hard with weak retail sales. In May 2008, Random House CEO Peter Olson stepped down and Bertelsmann replaced Olson with Markus Dohle. By October of that year, Doubleday, a division of Random House announced that they would lay off 16 people or about 10% of its workforce.


title: Random House

text: In early December, what became known as Black Wednesday in publishing circles, many publishers including Random House took steps by restructuring their divisions and laying off employees. The reorganization consolidated and created three divisions—Random House Publishing Group, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group and Crown Publishing Group.Susan Kamil, was named editorial director for Dial Press and editor-in-chief of Random House imprints reporting to Gina Centrello, the president and publisher of the Random House Publishing Group. There were layoffs in the Doubleday imprint (now part of Knopf Publishing Group) and Dial Press, Bantam Dell, and Spiegel & Grau were moved from Doubleday over to the Random House imprints. Random House also has an entertainment production arm for film and television, Random House Studio; one release in 2011 was "One Day". The company also creates story content for media including video games, social networks on the web, and mobile platforms. It is one of the largest English-language publishers, along with the group formerly known as the "Big 6", now known as the "Big Five". In October 2012, Bertelsmann entered into talks with rival conglomerate Pearson plc, over the possibility of combining their respective publishing companies, Random House and Penguin Group.


title: Random House

text: The merger was completed on July 1, 2013, and the new company is Penguin Random House. When founded, Bertelsmann owned 53% of the joint venture while Pearson owned 47%. Pearson sold 22% of its shares to Bertelsmann in July 2017, and since April 2020, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann, making Random House division again wholly owned by German parent. At the time of the acquisition the combined companies controlled 25% of the book business with more than 10,000 employees and 250 independent publishing imprints and with about $3.9 billion in annual revenues. The move to consolidate was to provide leverage against Amazon.com and battle the shrinking state of bookstores. In October 2018, Penguin Random House merged two of its most known publishing lines, Random House and the Crown Publishing Group. According to Madeline McIntosh, chief executive of Penguin Random House U.S., the two lines "will retain their distinct editorial identities.""