title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: On 28 June 2017, Gomis joined the Turkish club Galatasaray for an undisclosed fee. He was convinced to join by their former players and his friends, Didier Drogba and Aurélien Chedjou. He made his debut for the Istanbul-based club on 13 July in the first leg of the second qualifying round of the Europa League away to Östersunds FK, a 2–0 loss. On 14 August, he made his Süper Lig debut as his team opened the season with a 4–1 win over Kayserispor. Gomis scored twice and assisted Younès Belhanda. In a game against Akhisarspor on 9 December, Gomis equalised in a 4–2 comeback win at the Türk Telekom Stadium but was later given a red card.


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: On 23 February 2018, Gomis scored his first hat-trick in Turkey, in a 5–0 home win over Bursaspor. He added four more goals on 3 March in a 7–0 victory at Kardemir Karabükspor, between the 17th and 33rd minutes. He finished the campaign with 29 goals from 33 games, including the sole goal away to Göztepe to win the league title on the last day, making him the Gol Kralı (top scorer).


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: On 24 August 2018, Gomis signed for Saudi champions Al-Hilal, on a two-year deal for a €7 million fee. The club finished as runners-up to Riyadh rivals Al-Nassr due to a dip of form in the final stretch of the season from Gomis and the rest of the team. With 21 goals, he was joint second top scorer behind the rivals' Abderrazak Hamdallah.


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: Gomis scored 11 goals in the 2019 AFC Champions League, finishing the tournament as the top scorer, and contributing to winning the competition for Al-Hilal for the third time in 19 years. In the second leg of the 2019 AFC Champions League Final on 24 November, he scored the second goal in a 2–0 away win over Urawa Red Diamonds, which saw Al-Hilal win the title with a 3–0 aggregate victory; the title also allowed the team to qualify for the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup. Gomis was also awarded with the tournament MVP award for his role in delivering the title to Al-Hilal and became the first European player to be top scorer in the competition.


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: On 14 December, Gomis led Al-Hilal into the semi-finals of 2019 FIFA Club World Cup by scoring the only goal of the match against African champions Espérance de Tunis. On 21 December, he played in the second half of the third place game against CONCACAF champion Monterrey and scored a goal in the 64th minute that leveled the match 2–2. He also scored in the penalty shoot-out, but his team still lost the shoot-out 4–3. Overall, Gomis played three games in the Club World Cup and scored two goals.


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: Born in France, Gomis was also eligible to play for Senegal through his ancestry. On 8 May 2008, he said regarding his international future "I don't have to choose between the French or Senegalese teams, as I have not been called yet. The French team? It would be pretentious to ask for it, but I am not adverse to the French team."


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: On 18 May 2008, Gomis was called up for the provisional French UEFA Euro 2008 squad, ahead of experienced striker David Trezeguet, due to his particularly good form towards the end of Saint-Étienne's season. Gomis scored two goals in 26 minutes in a warm-up match against Ecuador on 27 May. He was the first player to score twice on his debut for the national team since Zinedine Zidane. On 28 May, he was selected in the French squad ahead of Olympique de Marseille striker Djibril Cissé. On 9 June, Gomis won his third cap by coming on as a substitute for Nicolas Anelka in the scoreless draw against Romania. On 7 October 2009, he collapsed in the training for the match against the Faroe Islands.


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: In 2011, after a good start of the season with Lyon, Laurent Blanc called up Gomis for UEFA Euro 2012 qualification matches against Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina.


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: Gomis has a medical condition, suspected to be reflex syncope, which means he is liable to faint during times of stress. This has caused him to faint during a number of matches.


title: Bafétimbi Gomis

text: Gomis' iconic goal celebration is inspired by Salif Keita. It is nicknamed "The Black Panther" and features in the FIFA video game series, first appearing in FIFA 17. An image of Gomis after his goal against Manchester United on 14 August 2015, captured by Getty Images Stuart Forster was nominated for football picture of the year at the Sports Journalism Awards.


title: Gaijin

text: Some feel the word has come to have a negative or pejorative connotation, while other observers maintain it is neutral. is a more neutral and somewhat more formal term widely used in the Japanese government and in media. "Gaijin" does not specifically mean a foreigner that is also a white person; instead, the term hakujin (白人, "white person") can be considered as a type of foreigner, and kokujin (黒人, "black person") would be the black equivalent.


title: Gaijin

text: Here, "gaijin" refers to outsiders and potential enemies. Another early reference is in "Renri Hishō" () by Nijō Yoshimoto, where it is used to refer to a Japanese person who is a stranger, not a friend. The Noh play, "" has a scene where a servant objects to the appearance of a traveling monk:


title: Gaijin

text: The Portuguese in the 16th century were the first Europeans to visit Japan; they were called "nanbanjin" ("southern barbarians"), and trade with them was known as the "Nanban" trade. When British and Dutch adventurers such as William Adams arrived in the early 17th century, they were usually known as "kōmōjin" ("red-haired people"), a term cognate to one used in modern Hokkien Chinese.


title: Gaijin

text: When the Tokugawa shogunate was made to open Japan to foreign contact after two centuries of self-isolation, Westerners were commonly called as "ijin" ("different people"), a shortened form of "ikokujin" ("different country person") or "ihōjin" ("different motherland people").


title: Gaijin

text: The word "gaikokujin" () is composed of "gaikoku" (foreign country) and "jin" (person). Early citations exist from c. 1235, but it was largely non-extant until reappearing in 1838. The Meiji government (1868–1912) further popularized the term, which came to replace "ijin", "ikokujin" and "ihōjin". As the Empire of Japan extended to Korea and to Taiwan, the term "naikokujin" ("inside country people") came to refer to nationals of other imperial territories. While other terms fell out of use after World War II, "gaikokujin" remained the official term for non-Japanese people. Some hold that the modern "gaijin" is a contraction of "gaikokujin".


title: Gaijin

text: While all forms of the word mean "foreigner" or "outsider", in practice "gaijin" or "gaikokujin" are commonly used to refer to foreigners of non-East Asian ethnicities. For example, other East Asians such as ethnic Chinese and Koreans residing in Japan are not referred to as gaijin, but by their nationality directly, such as 星嘉波人 for Singapore or 印度尼西亜人 for Indonesia, however katakana versions are now more widely used ever since the end of World War II. Zainichi (在日), or for ethnic Chinese specifically, kakyō (華僑), are also used.


title: Gaijin

text: The term may also sometimes be applied to Wajin born and raised in other countries. "Gaijin" is also commonly used within Japanese events such as baseball (there is a limit to non-Japanese players in NPB) and professional wrestling to collectively refer to the visiting performers from the West who will frequently tour the country.


title: Gaijin

text: Japanese speakers commonly refer to non-Japanese people as "gaijin" even while they are overseas. Also, people of Japanese descent native to other countries (especially those countries with large Japanese communities) might also call non-descendants "gaijin", as a counterpart to "nikkei". This interpretation of the term as neutral in tone continues for some. However, though the term may be used without negative intent by many Japanese speakers, it is seen as derogatory by some and reflective of exclusionary attitudes.


title: Gaijin

text: In light of these connotations, the more neutral and formal "gaikokujin" is often used as an alternative term to refer to non-Japanese people. Nanette Gottlieb, Professor of Japanese Studies at the School of Languages and Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Queensland, suggests that the term has become controversial and is avoided now by most Japanese television broadcasters.


title: Gaijin

text: "Gaijin" appears frequently in Western literature and pop culture. It forms the title of such novels as Marc Olden's "Gaijin" (New York: Arbor House, 1986), James Melville's "Go gently, gaijin" (New York : St. Martin's Press, 1986), James Kirkup's "Gaijin on the Ginza" (London: Chester Springs, 1991) and James Clavell's "Gai-Jin" (New York: Delacorte Press, 1993), as well as a song by Nick Lowe. It is the title of feature films such as Tizuka Yamazaki's "Gaijin – Os Caminhos da Liberdade" (1980) and "Gaijin – Ama-me Como Sou" (2005), as well as animation shorts such as Fumi Inoue's "Gaijin" (2003).


title: Russell 1000 Index

text: The Russell 1000 Index is a stock market index that tracks the highest-ranking 1,000 stocks in the Russell 3000 Index, which represent about 93% of the total market capitalization of that index. , the stocks of the Russell 1000 Index had a weighted average market capitalization of $608.1 billion and a median market capitalization of $15.1 billion. , components ranged in market capitalization from $1.8 billion to $1.4 trillion. The index, which was launched on January 1, 1984, is maintained by FTSE Russell, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group.


title: Russell 1000 Index

text: The ticker symbol is ^RUI. There are several exchange-traded funds and mutual funds that track the index.


title: MILAN

text: Missile d'Infanterie Léger Antichar (French for "Lightweight Infantry Anti-tank Missile") or MILAN is a Franco-West German anti-tank guided missile system. Design of the MILAN began in 1962; it was ready for trials in 1971, and accepted for service in 1972. It is a wire-guided semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) missile, which means the sight of the launch unit must be aimed at a target to guide the missile. The MILAN can be equipped with a MIRA or MILIS thermal sight to give it night-firing ability.


title: MILAN

text: MILAN is a product of Euromissile, a Franco-West German missile development program dating back to the 1960s. The system entered service in 1972 as a second generation anti-tank weapon and soon became a standard anti-tank weapon throughout NATO, in use by most of the alliance's individual armies.


title: MILAN

text: Consisting of two main components, the launcher and the missile, the MILAN system uses a semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) command guidance system. It tracks the missile either by a tail-mounted infrared lamp or an electronic-flash lamp, depending on the model. Because it is guided by wire by an operator, the missile cannot be affected by radio jamming or flares. However, drawbacks include short range, exposure of the operator, problems with overland powerlines, and a vulnerability to infrared jammers such as Shtora that can prevent the automatic tracking of the missile's IR tail light.


title: MILAN

text: The MILAN 2 variant, which entered service with the French, German and British armies in 1984, uses an improved 115 mm high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) shaped charge warhead. The MILAN 3 entered service with the French army in 1995 and features a new-generation localizer that makes the system more difficult to jam electronically.


title: MILAN

text: The later MILAN models have tandem-charge HEAT warheads. This was done to keep pace with developments in Soviet armour technology: their tanks began to appear with explosive reactive armour (ERA), which could defeat earlier anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). The smaller precursor HEAT warhead penetrates and detonates the ERA tiles, exposing the way for the main HEAT warhead to penetrate the armour behind. Early missile versions used a simple flare to show the launch post their position left–right and above–below the crosshair, which then led to steering commands (SACLOS guidance). This was exploited with IR jammers such as Soviet Shtora that created a strong signal that was always on target, and thus led to wrong steering commands. The later electronic IR beacon used a coded signal sequence (switching between emitting and not emitting) that enabled the launch post to discern the missile's beacon from the jammer.


title: MILAN

text: Both the explosive reactive armour and the guidance jamming provided excellent frontal protection for well-equipped Warsaw Pact main battle tanks against Milan and other 1980's SACLOS-guided anti-tank missiles until both were countered through technical means after the end of the Cold War.


title: MILAN

text: MILAN missile systems were among the numerous weapons sent to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 1980s by the United States to combat Soviet troops. The MILAN had a devastating effect on Soviet armor, having a similar effect on tanks and armored personnel carriers as Stinger missiles had had on Soviet helicopters. In 2010, French troops killed four Afghan civilians in Kapisa Province using a MILAN system during a firefight.


title: MILAN

text: MILAN missiles provided by the French government saw common usage during the war between Chad and Libya where they were used by Chadian forces. Often mounted on Toyota pickup trucks, the missiles successfully engaged Libyan armour in the Aouzou Strip including T-55 tanks.


title: MILAN

text: In 1982, the ruling military junta in Argentina invaded the UK overseas territory of the Falkland Islands, leading to the Falklands War. British forces used MILAN, along with the M72 LAW and Carl Gustaf, in a 'bunker buster' role. The MILAN saw use in the battles for Goose Green, Mount Longdon, Two Sisters and Wireless Ridge.


title: MILAN

text: MILAN was used by both coalition and Iraqi forces during the Persian Gulf War, with a MILAN launcher operated by French forces claiming to have destroyed seven T-55 tanks. Iraqi operated MILAN missiles were supplied by the French government during the 1980s and were used by Iraqi forces during both Gulf Wars.


title: MILAN

text: Syria ordered about 200 launchers and 4,000 missiles in 1977 which were delivered in 1978-1979 and used by the Syrians during the Lebanese Civil War. The Syrian army used Milan missiles against Israeli tanks in Lebanon in 1982. The missiles were in service during the Syrian Civil War, fielded by the Republican Guard. Syrian rebels captured some in depots, as did ISIL. The Kurdish YPG also used Milans supplied by the international coalition.


title: MILAN

text: In 2015, Germany supplied the Peshmerga with 30 MILAN launchers and over 500 missiles. Those missiles were mostly used against ISIS forces, but on 20 October during the 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict, Kurdish forces destroyed an Iraqi M1 Abrams tank and several Humvees using the MILANs.


title: MILAN

text: The first Milan version was delivered to the Special Forces and the antitank platoons in the late 1970s and 1980s at a scale of six launchers per platoon. Each platoon was organised into three antitank sections, with two ATGM launchers and two M40A1 106mm recoilless guns or two rocket launchers.


title: MILAN

text: Six SADF Milan teams were deployed by the Special Forces in support of the Angolan UNITA guerrillas, in the Cazombo Salient in 1985 during Operation Wallpaper.


title: MILAN

text: France has sent MILAN missiles to Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. There have been unconfirmed footage of it being used by the Ukrainian military on Russian targets.


title: Cody Horn

text: Cody Harrell Horn is an American actress and model. She has appeared in films such as "Violet & Daisy" (2011), "Magic Mike" (2012), and "End of Watch" (2012), and guest starred on the NBC sitcom "The Office" as recurring character Jordan Garfield (2011).


title: Cody Horn

text: Horn was born in Los Angeles and is the daughter of Cindy Horn (née Harrell), a former model and actress, and Alan F. Horn, an entertainment executive and former chairman of Walt Disney Studios. She went to Harvard-Westlake School and graduated in 2006. She has appeared on "Rescue Me" and guest starred on three episodes of "The Office". She also played Lynetta Loski in the 2010 movie "Flipped", and she starred as Michelle in the James Wan-produced horror thriller film "Demonic".


title: Burton Cummings

text: Burton Lorne Cummings (born December 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for leading The Guess Who during that band's most successful period from 1965 to 1975, and for a lengthy solo career.


title: Burton Cummings

text: Cummings has been inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, and has been cited as one of the most influential performers in Canadian rock music. He has also been named as an officer of the Order of Canada and Order of Manitoba. The Burton Cummings Theatre in Winnipeg is named in his honour.


title: Burton Cummings

text: Cummings was born and raised in Winnipeg by his mother and maternal grandparents, after his father left the family during his infancy. He attended St. John's High School but dropped out at age 17 to pursue a career in music; the school granted him an honorary diploma in 2010.


title: Burton Cummings

text: In 1964 Cummings joined local R&B band the Deverons (not to be confused with an American group called the Devrons) on piano and vocals. The Deverons released two singles locally in Winnipeg. In early 1966, shortly after his 18th birthday, Cummings joined another regionally successful band, Chad Allan & The Expressions, to replace departed keyboardist Bob Ashley. Cummings also took on lead vocal duties in conjunction with group leader Chad Allan.


title: Burton Cummings

text: This group had been subjected to a record company publicity stunt in which their 1965 hit single "Shakin' All Over" was released anonymously with the message "Guess Who?" to trick listeners into thinking it was by a famous British Invasion band. Disc jockeys announced the single as being by someone called "Guess Who?", forcing the group to accept the nickname; their latest releases had been issued under the name Chad Allan & The Expressions with "Guess Who?" displayed prominently on the covers.


title: Burton Cummings

text: Just a few months after Cummings joined Chad Allan & The Expressions, Allan left his namesake band, leaving Cummings as the sole singer. The band's name was changed to simply The Guess Who, with Cummings becoming one of the band's primary songwriters in conjunction with guitarist Randy Bachman. Their first album under this name was "It's Time" in the summer of 1966.


title: Burton Cummings

text: The band became internationally successful upon the release of their album "American Woman" in 1970, which reached the top ten in several countries and made The Guess Who the first Canadian band to achieve a number one single in the United States. Bachman then left The Guess Who, and Cummings continued to lead the band through several more internationally successful albums. Cummings and drummer Garry Peterson were the only consistent members of the band during this era. Cummings disbanded The Guess Who in 1975 due to songwriting disagreements with guitarist Dominic Troiano.


title: Burton Cummings

text: After leaving The Guess Who, Cummings embarked on a solo career; his self-titled debut solo album was released in 1976 and reached the top ten on the Canadian albums chart. The single "Stand Tall" was an international hit and sold more than one million copies in the United States. In 1977 he was presented with a Juno Award as best male vocalist. Also in 1977 he provided backing vocals for the Eric Carmen album "Boats Against the Current," and released his second solo album "My Own Way to Rock".


title: Burton Cummings

text: His 1978 album "Dream of a Child" sold more than three million copies in Canada, making it one of the country's highest-selling albums up to that point. Due to a dispute with his record label, his 1980 album "Woman Love" was not released in the United States but was another substantial hit in Canada that earned Cummings another Juno Award. The 1981 album "Sweet Sweet" was much less successful. Cummings also dabbled in acting during this period, with an appearance in the film "Melanie" in 1982. Cummings joined a short reunion tour of the classic Guess Who lineup in 1983, which resulted in the live album "Together Again!" (known as "The Best of The Guess Who - Live!" in the United States). The solo albums "Heart" (1984) and "Plus Signs" (1990) were moderately successful in Canada.


title: Burton Cummings

text: After an extended break from recording, Cummings released the live album "Up Close and Alone" in 1997, featuring songs from throughout his career performed on solo piano. Cummings then convened another reunion of The Guess Who for an extensive nostalgia tour from 2000 to 2003. In July 2003 the group performed before an estimated audience of 450,000 at the Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto SARS benefit concert. The show was the largest outdoor ticketed event in Canadian history.


title: Burton Cummings

text: In 2004, Cummings released the one-off single "With God on Our Side", a Bob Dylan cover, which reached no. 29 on the Canadian singles chart. In 2006, Cummings and Randy Bachman started a new duo project backed by the Canadian rock band The Carpet Frogs, but were unable to use the name The Guess Who, which had been trademarked by bassist Jim Kale. The project became known as the Bachman-Cummings Band or simply Bachman-Cummings, and performs occasionally whenever both men are available. They released the covers album "Jukebox" in 2007 and most recently performed live in 2020. They have been selected to perform for a celebration of Manitoba's 150th anniversary, to take place after delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Burton Cummings

text: The Carpet Frogs have also served as Cummings's solo band. In 2008 Cummings released his first all-new solo album in 18 years, "Above the Ground." In 2017 he released a book of poetry titled "The Writings of B. L. Cummings", which sold successfully in Canada. He returned to solo performances in 2019, with shows featuring cover songs and original songs from throughout his career with The Guess Who and as a solo artist.


title: Burton Cummings

text: Throughout his career, Cummings has won five RPM Awards, six Juno Awards, 22 SOCAN Awards, three BMI America Awards, and a Genie Award.


title: Burton Cummings

text: In 2001, Cummings and the rest of The Guess Who received honourary doctorates from Manitoba's Brandon University, which Cummings considered a singular honour as a high school dropout. That year Cummings also won three SOCAN Classic Awards.


title: Burton Cummings

text: On December 30, 2009, Cummings was named an officer of the Order of Canada by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, to mark a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community, and service to the nation. On June 28, 2011, Cummings was awarded with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame; he had previously received a star as a member of The Guess Who in 2001. He was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2016, and received a SOCAN lifetime achievement award in 2018.


title: Burton Cummings

text: Cummings married Cheryl DeLuca on September 22, 1981. He has never had any children. He lived in Sherman Oaks, California, for many years until moving to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, in 2017. He is part owner of the Winnipeg-based restaurant chain Salisbury House. In May 2018 he was involved in a serious car accident in Los Angeles, requiring physical and mental therapy and the cancellation of several weeks of performances.


title: Space station

text: A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station is an artificial satellite (i.e. a type of orbital spaceflight). Stations must have docking ports to allow other spacecraft to dock to transfer crew and supplies. The purpose of maintaining an orbital outpost varies depending on the program. Space stations have most often been launched for scientific purposes, but military launches have also occurred.


title: Space station

text: Space stations have harboured so far the only long-duration direct human presence in space. After the first station Salyut 1 (1971) and its tragic Soyuz 11 crew, space stations have been operated consecutively since Skylab (1973), having allowed a progression of long-duration direct human presence in space. Stations have been occupied by consecutive crews since 1987 with the Salyut successor Mir. Uninterrupted occupation of stations has been achieved since the operational transition from the Mir to the ISS, with its first occupation in 2000.


title: Space station

text: The ISS has hosted the highest number of people in orbit at the same time, reaching 13 for the first time during the eleven day docking of STS-127 in 2009.


title: Space station

text: , there are two fully operational space stations in low Earth orbit (LEO) – the International Space Station (ISS) and China's "Tiangong" Space Station (TSS). The ISS has been permanently inhabited since October 2000 with the Expedition 1 crews and the TSS began continuous inhabitation with the Shenzhou 14 crews in June 2022. The ISS is used to study the effects of spaceflight on the human body, as well as to provide a location to conduct a greater number and longer length of scientific studies than is possible on other space vehicles. China's "Tiangong" Space Station has finished its phase 1 construction by late 2022 with the addition of two lab modules, Wentian ("Quest for the Heavens") launched on 24 July 2022 and Mengtian ("Dreaming of the Heavens") launched on 31 October 2022. In July 2022, Russia announced intentions to withdraw from the ISS after 2024 in order to build its own space station. There have been numerous decommissioned space stations, including USSR's "Salyuts", Russia's "Mir", NASA's "Skylab", and China's "Tiangong 1" and "Tiangong 2".


title: Space station

text: Starting with the ill-fated flight of the Soyuz 11 crew to Salyut 1, all recent human spaceflight duration records have been set aboard space stations. The duration record for a single spaceflight is 437.75 days, set by Valeri Polyakov aboard "Mir" from 1994 to 1995. , four cosmonauts have completed single missions of over a year, all aboard "Mir". The last military-use space station was the Soviet Salyut 5, which was launched under the Almaz program and orbited between 1976 and 1977.


title: Space station

text: The first mention of anything resembling a space station occurred in Edward Everett Hale's 1869 "The Brick Moon". The first to give serious, scientifically grounded consideration to space stations were Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Hermann Oberth about two decades apart in the early 20th century. In 1929 Herman Potočnik's "The Problem of Space Travel" was published, the first to envision a "rotating wheel" space station to create artificial gravity. Conceptualized during the Second World War, the "sun gun" was a theoretical orbital weapon orbiting Earth at a height of . No further research was ever conducted. In 1951, Wernher von Braun published a concept for a rotating wheel space station in "Collier's Weekly", referencing Potočnik's idea. However, development of a rotating station was never begun in the 20th century.


title: Space station

text: In 1971 the Soviet Union developed and launched the world's first space station, Salyut 1. The Almaz and Salyut series were eventually joined by Skylab, "Mir", and Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2. The hardware developed during the initial Soviet efforts remains in use, with evolved variants comprising a considerable part of the ISS, orbiting today. Each crew member stays aboard the station for weeks or months, but rarely more than a year.


title: Space station

text: Early stations were monolithic designs that were constructed and launched in one piece, generally containing all their supplies and experimental equipment. A crew would then be launched to join the station and perform research. After the supplies had been used up, the station was abandoned.


title: Space station

text: The first space station was Salyut 1, which was launched by the Soviet Union on April 19, 1971. The early Soviet stations were all designated "Salyut", but among these there were two distinct types: civilian and military. The military stations, Salyut 2, Salyut 3, and Salyut 5, were also known as Almaz stations.


title: Space station

text: The civilian stations Salyut 6 and Salyut 7 were built with two docking ports, which allowed a second crew to visit, bringing a new spacecraft with them; the Soyuz ferry could spend 90 days in space, at which point it needed to be replaced by a fresh Soyuz spacecraft. This allowed for a crew to man the station continually. The American Skylab (1973–1979) was also equipped with two docking ports, like second-generation stations, but the extra port was never used. The presence of a second port on the new stations allowed Progress supply vehicles to be docked to the station, meaning that fresh supplies could be brought to aid long-duration missions. This concept was expanded on Salyut 7, which "hard docked" with a TKS tug shortly before it was abandoned; this served as a proof-of-concept for the use of modular space stations. The later Salyuts may reasonably be seen as a transition between the two groups.


title: Space station

text: Unlike previous stations, the Soviet space station "Mir" had a modular design; a core unit was launched, and additional modules, generally with a specific role, were later added to that. This method allows for greater flexibility in operation, as well as removing the need for a single immensely powerful launch vehicle. Modular stations are also designed from the outset to have their supplies provided by logistical support craft, which allows for a longer lifetime at the cost of requiring regular support launches.


title: Space station

text: The ISS is divided into two main sections, the Russian Orbital Segment (ROS) and the US Orbital Segment (USOS). The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, was launched in 1998.


title: Space station

text: The Russian Orbital Segment's "second-generation" modules were able to launch on Proton, fly to the correct orbit, and dock themselves without human intervention. Connections are automatically made for power, data, gases, and propellants. The Russian autonomous approach allows the assembly of space stations prior to the launch of crew.


title: Space station

text: The Russian "second-generation" modules are able to be reconfigured to suit changing needs. As of 2009, RKK Energia was considering the removal and reuse of some modules of the ROS on the Orbital Piloted Assembly and Experiment Complex after the end of mission is reached for the ISS. However, in September 2017 the head of Roscosmos said that the technical feasibility of separating the station to form OPSEK had been studied, and there were now no plans to separate the Russian segment from the ISS.


title: Space station

text: In contrast, the main US modules launched on the Space Shuttle and were attached to the ISS by crews during EVAs. Connections for electrical power, data, propulsion, and cooling fluids are also made at this time, resulting in an integrated block of modules that is not designed for disassembly and must be deorbited as one mass.


title: Space station

text: The Axiom Orbital Segment is a planned commercial segment to be added to the ISS starting in the mid-2020s. Axiom Space gained NASA approval for the venture in January 2020. Up to three Axiom modules will attach to the International Space Station. The first module could be launched no later than 2024 and will be docked to the forward port of "Harmony", requiring relocation of the PMA-2. Axiom Space plans to attach up to two additional modules to its first core module, and send private astronauts to inhabit the modules. The modules could one day detach into the Axiom Station in a manner similar to Russia's proposed OPSEK.


title: Space station

text: China's first space laboratory, Tiangong-1 was launched in September 2011. The uncrewed Shenzhou 8 then successfully performed an automatic rendezvous and docking in November 2011. The crewed Shenzhou 9 then docked with Tiangong-1 in June 2012, followed by the crewed Shenzhou 10 in 2013.


title: Space station

text: According to the China Manned Space Engineering Office, Tiangong-1 reentered over the South Pacific Ocean, northwest of Tahiti, on 2 April 2018 at 00:15 UTC.


title: Space station

text: A second space laboratory Tiangong-2 was launched in September 2016, while a plan for Tiangong-3 was merged with Tiangong-2. The station made a controlled reentry on 19 July 2019 and burned up over the South Pacific Ocean.


title: Space station

text: The "Tiangong" Space Station (), the first module of which was launched on 29 April 2021, is in low Earth orbit, 340 to 450 kilometres above the Earth at an orbital inclination of 42° to 43°. Its planned construction via 11 total launches across 2021-22 is intended to extend the core module with two laboratory modules, capable of hosting up to six crew.


title: Space station

text: Two types of space stations have been flown: monolithic and modular. Monolithic stations consist of a single vehicle and are launched by one rocket. Modular stations consist of two or more separate vehicles that are launched independently and docked on orbit. Modular stations are currently preferred due to lower costs and greater flexibility.


title: Space station

text: A space station is a complex vehicle that must incorporate many interrelated subsystems, including structure, electrical power, thermal control, attitude determination and control, orbital navigation and propulsion, automation and robotics, computing and communications, environmental and life support, crew facilities, and crew and cargo transportation. Stations must serve a useful role, which drives the capabilities required.


title: Space station

text: Space stations are made from durable materials that have to weather space radiation, internal pressure, micrometeoroids, and thermal effects of the sun and cold temperatures for very long periods of time. They are typically made from stainless steel, titanium and high-quality aluminum alloys, with layers of insulation such as Kevlar as a ballistics shield protection.


title: Space station

text: The International Space Station has a single inflatable module, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, which was installed in April2016 after being delivered to the ISS on the SpaceX CRS-8 resupply mission. This module, based on NASA research in the 1990s, weighed and was transported whilst compressed before being attached to the ISS by the space station arm and inflated to provide a volume. Whilst it was initially designed for a 2year lifetime it was still attached and being used for storage in August 2022.


title: Space station

text: The space station environment presents a variety of challenges to human habitability, including short-term problems such as the limited supplies of air, water and food and the need to manage waste heat, and long-term ones such as weightlessness and relatively high levels of ionizing radiation. These conditions can create long-term health problems for space-station inhabitants, including muscle atrophy, bone deterioration, balance disorders, eyesight disorders, and elevated risk of cancer.


title: Space station

text: Future space habitats may attempt to address these issues, and could be designed for occupation beyond the weeks or months that current missions typically last. Possible solutions include the creation of artificial gravity by a rotating structure, the inclusion of radiation shielding, and the development of on-site agricultural ecosystems. Some designs might even accommodate large numbers of people, becoming essentially "cities in space" where people would reside semi-permanently.


title: Space station

text: Molds that develop aboard space stations can produce acids that degrade metal, glass and rubber. Despite an expanding array of molecular approaches for detecting microorganisms, rapid and robust means of assessing the differential viability of the microbial cells, as a function of phylogenetic lineage, remain elusive.


title: Space station

text: Like unmanned spacecraft close to the sun, space stations in the inner Solar System generally rely on solar panels to obtain power.


title: Space station

text: Space station air and water is brought up in spacecraft from Earth before being recycled. Supplemental oxygen can be supplied by a solid fuel oxygen generator.


title: Space station

text: Space stations have harboured so far the only long-duration direct human presence in space. After the first station Salyut 1 (1971) and its tragic Soyuz 11 crew, space stations have been operated consecutively since Skylab (1973-1974), having allowed a progression of long-duration direct human presence in space. Long-duration resident crews have been joined by visiting crews since 1977 (Salyut 6), and stations have been occupied by consecutive crews since 1987 with the Salyut successor Mir. Uninterrupted occupation of stations has been achieved since the operational transition from the Mir to the ISS, with its first occupation in 2000.


title: Space station

text: The ISS has hosted the highest number of people in orbit at the same time, reaching 13 for the first time during the eleven day docking of STS-127 in 2009.


title: Space station

text: Many spacecraft are used to dock with the space stations. Soyuz flight T-15 in March to July 1986 was the first and as of 2016, the only spacecraft to visit two different space stations, Mir and Salyut 7.


title: Space station

text: The Mir space station was in orbit from 1986 to 2001 and was supported and visited by the following spacecraft.


title: Space station

text: Research conducted on the Mir included the first long term space based ESA research project EUROMIR95 which lasted 179days and included 35 scientific experiments.


title: Space station

text: During the first 20 years of operation of the International Space Station there were around 3,000 scientific experiments in the areas of biology and biotech, technology development, educational activities, human research, physical science, and Earth and space science.


title: Space station

text: Space stations provide a useful platform to test the performance, stability and survivability of materials in space. This research follows on from previous experiments such as the Long Duration Exposure Facility, a free flying experimental platform which flew from April1984 until January1990.


title: Space station

text: On the International Space Station, guests sometimes pay $50 million to spend the week living as an astronaut. Later, space tourism is slated to expand once launch costs are lowered sufficiently. By the end of the 2020s, space hotels may become relatively common.


title: Space station

text: As it currently costs on average $10,000 to $25,000 per kilogram to launch anything into orbit, space stations remain the exclusive province of government space agencies which are primarily funded via taxation. In the case of the International Space Station, space tourism makes up another chunk of money to run it.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand II (9 July 1578 – 15 February 1637) was Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1619 until his death in 1637. He was the son of Archduke Charles II of Inner Austria and Maria of Bavaria. His parents were devout Catholics, and, in 1590, they sent him to study at the Jesuits' college in Ingolstadt because they wanted to isolate him from the Lutheran nobles. In July that same year (1590), when Ferdinand was 12 years old, his father died, and he inherited Inner Austria–Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and smaller provinces. His cousin, the childless Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, who was the head of the Habsburg family, appointed regents to administer these lands.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand was installed as the actual ruler of the Inner Austrian provinces in 1596 and 1597. Rudolf II also charged him with the command of the defense of Croatia, Slavonia, and southeastern Hungary against the Ottoman Empire. Ferdinand regarded the regulation of religious issues as a royal prerogative and introduced strict Counter-Reformation measures from 1598. First, he ordered the expulsion of all Protestant pastors and teachers; next, he established special commissions to restore the Catholic parishes. The Ottomans captured Nagykanizsa in Hungary in 1600, which enabled them to invade Styria. A year later, Ferdinand tried to recapture the fortress, but the action ended in November 1601 with a defeat, due to unprofessional command of his troops. During the first stage of the family feud known as the Brothers' Quarrel, Ferdinand initially supported Rudolph II's brother, Matthias, who wanted to convince the melancholic Emperor to abdicate, but Matthias' concessions to the Protestants in Hungary, Austria, and Bohemia outraged Ferdinand. He planned an alliance to strengthen the position of the Catholic Church in the Holy Roman Empire, but the Catholic princes established the Catholic League without his participation in 1610.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Philip III of Spain, who was the childless Matthias' nephew, acknowledged Ferdinand's right to succeed Matthias in Bohemia and Hungary in exchange for territorial concessions in 1617. Spain also supported Ferdinand against the Republic of Venice during the Uskok War in 1617–18. The Diets of Bohemia and Hungary confirmed Ferdinand's position as Matthias' successor only after he had promised to respect the Estates' privileges in both realms. The different interpretation of the Letter of Majesty, which summarized the Bohemian Protestants' liberties, gave rise to an uprising, known as the Second Defenestration of Prague on 23 May 1618. The Bohemian rebels established a provisional government, invaded Upper Austria, and sought assistance from the Habsburgs' opponents. Matthias II died on 20 March 1619. Ferdinand was elected Holy Roman Emperor on 28 August 1619 (Frankfurt), two days before the Protestant Bohemian Estates deposed Ferdinand (as king of Bohemia). News of his deposition arrived in Frankfurt on the 28th but Ferdinand didn't leave town until he had been crowned. Bohemia offered their crown (King of Bohemia) to the Calvinist Frederick V of the Palatinate on 26 August 1619.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: The Thirty Years' War began in 1618 as a result of inadequacies of his predecessors Rudolf II and Matthias. But Ferdinand's acts against Protestantism caused the war to engulf the whole empire. As a zealous Catholic, Ferdinand wanted to restore the Catholic Church as the only religion in the Empire and to wipe out any form of religious dissent. The war left the Holy Roman Empire devastated and its population did not recover until 1710.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Born in the castle in Graz on 9 July 1578, Ferdinand was the son of Charles II, Archduke of Austria, and Maria of Bavaria. Charles II, who was the youngest son of Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor, had inherited the Inner Austrian provincesStyria, Carinthia, Carniola, Gorizia, Fiume, Trieste and parts of Istria and Friulifrom his father in 1564. Being a daughter of Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, by Charles II's sister Anna, Maria of Bavaria was her husband's niece. Their marriage brought about a reconciliation between the two leading Catholic families of the Holy Roman Empire. They were devout Catholics, but Charles II had to grant concessions to his Lutheran subjects in 1572 and 1578 to secure the predominantly Protestant nobles and burghers' financial support for the establishment of a new defense system against the Ottoman Turks.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand's education was managed primarily by his mother. He matriculated at the Jesuits' school in Graz at the age of 8. His separate household was set up three years later. His parents wanted to separate him from the Lutheran Styrian nobles and sent him to Ingolstadt to continue his studies at the Jesuits' college in Bavaria. Ferdinand chose Paul the Apostle's words"To Those Who Fight Justly Goes the Crown"as his personal motto before he left Graz in early 1590. His parents asked his maternal uncle, William V, Duke of Bavaria, to oversee his education.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Charles II died unexpectedly on 10 July 1590, having named his wife, his brother Archduke Ferdinand II, their nephew Emperor Rudolph II, and his brother-in-law Duke William V the guardians of Ferdinand. Maria and William V tried to secure the regency for her, but Rudolph II, who was the head of the Habsburg family, appointed his own brothersfirst Ernest in 1592, and then in 1593, Maximilian IIIto the post. The Estates of Inner Austria urged the Emperor to procure Ferdinand's return from Bavaria; Maria resisted this, and Ferdinand continued his studies at the Jesuit university. Ferdinand and his maternal cousin, Maximilian I, were the only future European rulers to have pursued university studies in the late 16th century. He regularly attended classes, although his delicate health often forced him to stay in his chamber. His religiosity was reinforced during his studies: he did not miss the Masses on Sundays and feast days, and made pilgrimages to Bavarian shrines.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand completed his studies on 21 December 1594; Rudolph II permitted him to return to Graz only two months later. Before leaving for his homeland, Ferdinand solemnly promised to support the university and the Jesuits. Maximilian III renounced the regency and the Emperor made the 17-year-old Ferdinand his own regent. Ferdinand chose the Jesuit Bartholomew Viller as his confessor. A burgher from Graz who had converted to Catholicism, Hans Ulrich von Eggenberg, became one of his most trusted courtiers. The weak position of Catholicism in Graz astonished Ferdinand, especially when he realized that only his relatives and most trusted courtiers celebrated the Eucharist during the Easter Mass.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand reached the age of majority in late 1596. He was first officially installed as ruler in Styria in December. He avoided discussion of religious affairs with the Estates, taking advantage of their fear of an Ottoman invasion and the peasant uprisings in Upper Austria. Early the following year, the representatives of the other Inner Austrian provinces swore fealty to him. He left unchanged the traditional system of government, appointing only Catholics to the highest offices. He and his mother then met with Rudolph II in Prague, where Ferdinand informed the Emperor of his plans to strengthen the position of Catholicism. The Emperor's advisors acknowledged Ferdinand's right to regulate religious issues, yet requested he not provoke his Protestant subjects. Rudolph II gave Ferdinand responsibility for the defense of Croatia, Slavonia and the southeastern parts of Hungary proper against the Ottomans. He visited Nagykanizsa and the nearby fortresses and ordered their repair.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand made an unofficial journey to Italy before getting fully involved in state administration. He named his mother regent and left Graz on 22 April 1598. He met with Pope Clement VIII in Ferrara in early May, and briefly mentioned that he wanted to expel all Protestants from Inner Austria, which the Pope discouraged. Ferdinand continued his journey, visiting the Holy House in Loreto. At the shrine, he ceremoniously pledged that he would restore Catholicism, according to his first biography, written after his death by his confessor, Wilhelm Lamormaini.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand returned to Graz on 20 June 1598. Johannes Kepler, who had been staying in the town, noted that the Protestant burghers watched Ferdinand's return with some apprehension. He had already made unsuccessful attempts to appoint Catholic priests to churches in predominantly Lutheran towns prior to his Italian journey. A former Jesuit student, Lorenz Sonnabenter, whom Ferdinand had sent to a parish in Graz, made a formal complaint against the local Lutheran pastors on 22 August, accusing them of unlawfully interfering in his office. Ferdinand's mother and Jesuit confessor urged him to take vigorous measures. He ordered the expulsion of all Protestant pastors and teachers from Styria, Carinthia and Carniola on 13 September, emphasizing that he was the "general overseer of all ecclesiastical foundations in his hereditary lands". When the Protestant nobles and burghers protested against his decree, he replied that the Estates had no jurisdiction in religious affairs. He summoned Italian and Spanish mercenaries to Graz. Due to his firm actions, no riots broke out when the leaders of the Protestant community left Graz on 29 September.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand forbade the Estates of Styria, Carinthia and Carniola to hold a joint assembly. The Styrian nobles and burghers unsuccessfully sought assistance from Rudolph II and their Austrian peers against him. Although he issued new decrees to strengthen the position of the Catholic Church without seeking the Estates' consent, the Estates granted the subsidies that he had demanded from them. After the Styrian general assembly was dissolved, Ferdinand summarized his views of the Counter-Reformation in a letter to the delegates. He claimed that the unlawful prosecution of Catholics had forced him to adopt strict measures, adding that the Holy Spirit had inspired his acts. In October 1599, Ferdinand set up special commissions, consisting of a prelate and a high officer, to install Catholic priests in each town and village, and authorized them to apply military force if necessary. During the visit of the commissioners, local Protestants were to choose between conversion or exile, although in practice peasants were rarely allowed to leave. The commissioners also burnt prohibited books. Ferdinand did not force the Lutheran noblemen to convert to Catholicism, but forbade them to employ Protestant priests.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand married his cousin, Maria Anna of Bavaria, in Graz on 23 April 1600. Their marriage improved the relationship between the Habsburgs and the Wittelsbachs, which had deteriorated because of the appointment of Ferdinand's brother Leopold V to the Bishopric of Passau. Around the same time, the relationship between Rudolph II and his brother, Matthias, deteriorated. Fearing that the Protestant prince-electors could take advantage of his childless brother's death to elect a Protestant emperor, Matthias wanted to convince Rudolph II to name him as his successor. Matthias discussed the issue with his younger brother, Maximilian, and with Ferdinand at a secret meeting in Schottwien in October 1600. They agreed to jointly approach the Emperor, but the superstitious and melancholic Rudolph flatly refused to talk about his succession.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: The Uskoksirregular soldiers of mixed origin along the northeastern coast of the Adriatic Seamade several attacks against the Venetian ships, claiming that the Venetians cooperated with the Ottomans. The Venetians urged Ferdinand to prevent further piratical actions. In 1600, he sent an envoy to the Uskoks, whom the Uskoks murdered. Ottoman raids against the borderlands continued and the expenses of the defence of Croatia, Slavonia and southwestern Hungary were almost exclusively financed from Inner Austria. Ferdinand could never properly manage financial affairs, and the most important fortresses were poorly supplied. The Ottomans occupied Nagykanizsa on 20 October 1600, which left the Styrian border almost defenseless against Ottoman raids. Ferdinand urged the Pope and Philip III of Spain to send reinforcements and funds to him. The Pope appointed his nephew, Gian Francesco Aldobrandini, as the commander of the papal troops. Ferdinand's counselors warned him against a counter-invasion before further reinforcements arrived, but Aldobrandini convinced him to lay siege to Nagykanizsa on 18 October 1601. After his troops were decimated by hunger and bad weather, Ferdinand was forced to lift the siege and return to Styria on 15 November.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: The Ottomans failed to exploit this victory, as Rudolph II's troops managed to defeat them near Székesfehérvár. This victory restored Rudolph's self-confidence, and he decided to introduce severe Counter-Reformation measures in Silesia and Hungary, outraging his Protestant subjects. The Calvinist magnate István Bocskai rose up against Rudolph, and most Hungarian noblemen joined him before the end of 1604. Taking advantage of his relatives' anxiety, Matthias persuaded Ferdinand, Maximilian and Ferdinand's brother, Maximilian Ernest, to start new negotiations concerning Rudolph's succession. At their meeting in Linz in April 1606, the four archdukes concluded that the Emperor was incompetent and decided to replace him with Matthias in Bohemia, Hungary and Upper and Lower Austria. Ferdinand later claimed that he only signed the secret treaty because he feared that his relatives could otherwise accuse him of pursuing the throne for himself. Rudolph did not abdicate the throne, and announced that he was thinking of appointing Ferdinand's brother, Leopold, his successor. In fact, the Emperor authorised Matthias to start negotiations with Bocskai. The resulting agreement was included in the Treaty of Vienna, which granted religious freedom to Hungarian Protestants and prescribed the election of a palatine (or royal deputy) in Hungary on 23 June 1606. The subsequent Peace of Zsitvatorok put an end to the war with the Ottoman Empire on 11 November 1606.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Rudolph II convoked the Imperial Diet to Regensburg and appointed Ferdinand as his deputy in November 1607. At the opening session of the Diet on 12 January 1608, Ferdinand demanded funds from the Imperial Estates on the Emperor's behalf to finance 24,000 troops. The delegates of the Protestant princes stated that they would vote for the tax only if the Catholic Estates accepted their interpretation of the Religious Peace of Augsburg, especially their right to retain the lands they had confiscated from Catholic clerics in their realms. Ferdinand urged both parties to respect the Religious Peace, but without much success. He started negotiations with William V of Bavaria about the formation of an alliance of the Catholic princes, but his uncle wanted to establish it without the Habsburgs' participation. After the Diet was closed in early May, the Electoral Palatinate, Brandenburg, Würtemberg and other Protestant principalities formed an alliance, known as the Protestant Union, to defend their common interests.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand's appointment as the Emperor's deputy to the Diet implied that Rudolph regarded Ferdinandthe only Habsburg who had already fathered childrenas his successor. Matthias made public his secret treaty with Ferdinand, and the Emperor pardoned Ferdinand. Matthias concluded a formal alliance with the representatives of the Hungarian and Austrian Estates and led an army of 15,000 strong to Moravia. The envoys of the Holy See and Philip III of Spain mediated a compromise in June 1608. According to the Treaty of Lieben, Rudolph retained most Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the title of Holy Roman Emperor, but had to renounce Hungary, Lower and Upper Austria and Moravia in favor of Matthias. Both brothers were forced to confirm the privileges of the Estates in their realms, including religious freedom.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand's mother died on 29 April 1608, while he was staying in Regensburg. With her death, as historian Robert Bireley noted, Ferdinand "lost the most important person in his life, the one who more than any other had formed his character and his outlook." He requested the scholar Caspar Schoppe, whom he had met at the Imperial Diet, to elaborate a detailed plan for an alliance of the Catholic monarchs. Schoppe argued that the alliance was to guarantee the Religious Peace, but he also demanded the restoration of Catholicism in all former ecclesiastic principalities and the return of the confiscated Church lands. Ferdinand embraced Schoppe's views and appointed him to start negotiations with Pope Paul V about a "just war" for the defence of the interests of Catholics, but the Pope avoid making a commitment, because he did not want to outrage Henry IV of France. Ferdinand also tried to strengthen his relationship with his Bavarian relatives, because Matthias's rebellion against Rudolph II and his concessions to the Protestants had shocked Ferdinand. However, William V and Maximilian of Bavaria ignored him when they and the three ecclesiastical electorsthe archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologneestablished the Catholic League in February 1610. Only Philip III of Spain, who promised financial aid to the League, could persuade the Catholic princes to accept Ferdinand as a director and the vice-protector of the League in August.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Cooperating with Rudolph II's principal advisor, Melchior Klesl, Bishop of Vienna, Ferdinand persuaded the Emperor to seek a reconciliation with Matthias. Ferdinand and other imperial princes came to Prague to meet with the Emperor on 1 May 1610. He stayed neutral in the family feud, which enabled him to mediate between the two brothers. They reached a compromise, but Rudolph refused to name Matthias as his successor. Instead, he adopted Ferdinand's younger brother, Leopold, who had hired 15,000 mercenaries at his request. Leopold invaded Bohemia in February 1611, but the troops of the Bohemian Estates defeated him. The Bohemian Estates dethroned Rudolph and elected Matthias king on 23 May 1611. Since Rudolph retained the title of emperor, his succession in the Holy Roman Empire remained uncertain. Matthias, Ferdinand and Maximilian III assembled at Vienna to discuss the issue with Philip III's envoy, Baltasar de Zúñiga, in December. They decided to support Matthias's election as King of the Romans (which could have secured his right to succeed Rudolph II), but the three ecclesiastical electors opposed the plan because of Matthias's concessions to the Protestants in Hungary, Austria and Bohemia.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Matthias was elected Holy Roman Emperor only months after Rudolph II died on 20 June 1612. Since Matthias and his two surviving brothers, Maximilian III and Albert VII were childless, his succession in Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire was uncertain. Matthias made Ferdinand the governor of Lower and Upper Austria and appointed him as his representative in Hungary, but Klesl became his most influential advisor. Klesl wanted to forge a new princely alliance in the Holy Roman Empire with the participation of both Catholic and Protestant princes. Ferdinand and Maximilian III regarded his plan dangerous and sent envoys to Rome to convince the Pope about the importance of a pure Catholic alliance. Although the Catholic League was renewed, it declared, in accordance with Klesl's proposal, the defense of the imperial constitution as its principal purpose instead of the protection of Catholicism. Philip III of Spain announced his claim to succeed Matthias in Bohemia and Hungary, emphasizing that his mother, Anna, the sister of Matthias, had never renounced her right to the two realms. Matthias and Ferdinand discussed the issue with Zúñiga in Linz in June and July 1613, but they did not reach an agreement. Maximilian III and Albert VII who preferred Ferdinand to Philip III renounced their claims in favor of him in August 1614, but Klesl made several efforts to delay the decision.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand sent troops against the Uskoks' principal center at Senj to put an end to their piratical raids in 1614. Dozens of Uskok commanders were captured and beheaded, but his action did not satisfy the Venetians who invaded Istria and captured Habsburg territories in 1615. They besieged Gradisca from 12 February to 30 March, but they could not capture the fortress. Ferdinand sought assistance from Spain and the Venetians received support from the Dutch and English, but neither side could achieve a decisive victory in the Uskok War.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Matthias adopted Ferdinand as his son in 1615, but without proposing Ferdinand's election as king of the Romans, because he feared that Ferdinand would force him to abdicate. In early 1616, Ferdinand pledged that he would not interfere in state administration in Matthias's realms. Klesl who regarded Ferdinand as the Jesuits' puppet continued to oppose his appointment as Matthias's successor. On 31 October 1616, Ferdinand and Maximilian III agreed to achieve the removal of Klesl, but Ferdinand wanted to conclude an agreement with Philip III about Matthias's succession before making further steps. Philip's new envoy at Vienna, Íñigo Vélez de Guevara, 7th Count of Oñate, and Ferdinand signed a secret treaty on 20 March 1617. Philip acknowledged Ferdinand's right to inherit Matthias's realms, but Ferdinand promised to cede territories in Alsace, along with Finale Ligure and the Principality of Piombino in Italy to Philip after he succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor. Philip also granted 1 million tallers to Ferdinand to finance the war against the Venetians. The Venetians again laid siege to Gradisca in March 1617. Ferdinand needed further funds, but the Estates did not vote new taxes.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Matthias fell seriously ill in late April 1617. Ignoring Klesl's advice, he convoked the Diet of Bohemia to secure Ferdinand's succession. He announced that his two brothers had abdicated in favor of Ferdinand, but the majority of the Bohemian delegates denied the Habsburgs' hereditary right to Bohemia. After some negotiations, all delegates but two noblemen and two burghers agreed to "accept" Ferdinand as king on 6 June. Ferdinand promised to respect the Letter of Majestya royal diploma that guaranteed religious freedom in the Lands of the Bohemian Crownonly after consulting with the local Jesuits. He was crowned king in the St. Vitus Cathedral on 29 June. Ten regents (seven Catholics and three Protestants) were appointed and they established a censor office in Prague.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand and Matthias met with the Lutheran John George I, Elector of Saxony in Dresden who promised to support Ferdinand at the imperial elections. John George also agreed to convince the two other Protestant electors, Frederick V of the Palatinate and John Sigismund of Brandenburg, to vote for Ferdinand. Ferdinand hired new troops against the Venetians and volunteers also joined his army. The Catholic Bohemian nobleman, Albrecht von Wallenstein, recruited 260 soldiers at his own expense. The Venetians abandoned the siege of Gradisca on 22 September, but peace was restored only in early 1618, after Ferdinand agreed to resettle the Uskoks from the coastline and ordered the destruction of their ships. The Venetians abandoned the territories that they had occupied in Istria and a permanent Austrian garrison was placed at Senj.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Matthias convoked the Diet of Hungary to Pressburg (now Bratislava in Slovakia) in early 1618. After the Hungarian delegates achieved the appointment of a new palatine (or royal lieutenant) and the confirmation of the Estates' privileges, they proclaimed Ferdinand king on 16 May 1618. He appointed the Catholic magnate, Zsigmond Forgách, as the new palatine.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: The application of the Letter of Majesty was controversial in Bohemia. The Protestants argued that it allowed them to build churches on Catholic prelates' lands, but the Catholics did not accept their interpretation. Royal officials arrested Protestant burghers who wanted to build a church in Broumov and destroyed a newly built church in Hrob. The Protestants principally blamed two of the four Catholic royal governors, Jaroslav Bořita of Martinice and Vilém Slavata of Chlum, for the violent acts. On 23 May 1618, Jindřich Matyáš Thurnone of the two Czech magnates who had not accepted Ferdinand's successionled a group of armed noblemen to the Prague Castle. They captured the two governors and one of their secretaries and threw them out of the window. The Second Defenestration of Prague was the start of a new uprising. Two days later, the Protestant Estates elected directors to form a provisional government and started to raise an army.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand was staying in Pressburg when he was informed of the Bohemian events on 27 May 1618. He urged Matthias to send an envoy to Prague, but Matthias' envoy could not reach a compromise. Ferdinand was crowned king of Hungary on 1 July, and he returned to Vienna two weeks later. Ferdinand and Maximilian III decided to get rid of Klesl, although the cardinal supported their demand for a more determined policy against the Bohemian rebels. After a meeting with Klesl at his home, they invited him to the Hofburg, but Ferdinand ordered his arrest at the entrance of the palace on 20 July. Ferdinand was automatically excommunicated for the imprisonment of a cardinal, but Pope Paul V absolved him before the end of the year. Ferdinand started negotiations with the rebels with the mediation of John George I of Saxony. He demanded the dissolution of the provisional government and the rebels' army. Instead of obeying his orders, the rebels concluded an alliance with the Estates of Silesia, Upper and Lower Lusatia, and Upper Austria. Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy hired Ernst von Mansfeld to assist the Bohemians. Mansfeld and his mercenaries captured Plzeň, which was an important center of the Bohemian Catholics, and the rebels made raids into Lower Austria. From September 1618, Pope Paul V paid a monthly subsidy to Ferdinand to contribute to the costs of the war and Philip III of Spain also promised support to him.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Emperor Matthias died on 20 March 1619. Maximilian of Bavaria encouraged Ferdinand to adopt an aggressive policy against the Bohemian rebels, but Ferdinand again confirmed the Letter of Majesty and urged the Bohemians to send delegates to Vienna. The directors ignored Ferdinand's acts and made further preparations for an armed conflict. Wallenstein stormed into Olomouc and seized 96,000 talers from the Moravian treasury on 30 April. He gave the booty to Ferdinand, but the king returned it to the Moravian Estates. The Protestant Estates of Upper Austria demanded the confirmation of their religious and political liberties before recognizing Ferdinand as Matthias' successor. Thurn and his 15,000 troops laid siege to Vienna on 5 June. Since only 300 soldiers were staying in the town, Ferdinand sent envoys to his commander at Krems, Henri Dampierre and entered into negotiations with the Upper Austrian Protestants about their demands. Dampierre and his troops reached Vienna by boat and forced the Protestant delegates to flee from the Hofburg. After Ferdinand's general, Count Bucquoy, defeated the Bohemian rebels in the Battle of Sablat, Thurn lifted the siege on 12 June.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg, Archbishop of Mainz, convoked the electors' meeting to Frankfurt. Ferdinand avoided the rebellious Upper Austria and approached the assembly through Salzburg and Munich. The Bohemians sent envoys to the conference and denied Ferdinand's right to vote as their king, but the electors ignored their demand. The Estates of all Lands of the Bohemian Crown formed a confederation on 31 July. They deposed Ferdinand on 22 August, and four days later, they offered the crown to Frederick V of the Palatinate. Frederick had tried to convince the electors to elect Maximilian I of Bavaria as the new Holy Roman Emperor. Maximilian did not accept the candidacy and Ferdinand was unanimously elected as Emperor on 28 August. The news about


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand's deposition in Bohemia reached Frankfurt on the same day, but he did not leave the town before being crowned on 9 September. Gabriel Bethlen, Prince of Transylvania, made an alliance with the Bohemians and invaded Upper Hungary (mainly present-day Slovakia) in September. After learning of Bethlen's success, Frederick V accepted the Bohemian crown on 28 September.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand concluded a treaty with Maxilimian I in Munich on 8 October 1619. Maximilian became the head of a renewed Catholic League and Ferdinand promised to compensate him for the costs of the war. He was still in Munich when Bethlen and Thurn united their forces and laid siege to Vienna in November. Ferdinand sought assistance from his staunchly Catholic brother-in-law, Sigismund III of Poland. Sigismund did not intervene, however, he did hire mercenaries from the Cossack lands which invaded Upper Hungary and forced Bethlen to hurry back to Transylvania in late January 1620. Ferdinand and Bethlen concluded a 9-month truce, which temporarily acknowledged Bethlen's conquests in Hungary. Abandoned by Bethlen, Thurn was forced to lift the siege. Ferdinand ordered Frederick to abandon Bohemia before 1 July, threatening him with an imperial ban. John George I of Saxony promised support against the Bohemian rebels in exchange for Lusatia, but Bethlen made a new alliance with the Bohemian Confederation and they sent envoys to Constantinople to seek the sultan's assistance.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand continued the negotiations with the Estates of Lower and Upper Austria about his recognition as Matthias' successor in both provinces. After his new confessor, the Jesuit Martin Becanus, assured him that he could grant concessions to the Protestants to secure their loyalty, Ferdinand confirmed the Lutherans' right to practise their religion in Lower Austria, save the towns on 8 July 1620. Five days later, the vast majority of the noblemen swore fealty to him. Before long, Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, who was the commander of the army of the Catholic League, occupied Upper Austria, Bucquoy defeated the last rebels in Lower Austria and John George of Saxony invaded Lusatia. Maximilian I retained Upper Austria as a security for Ferdinand's debts and the local Estates swore fealty to him on 20 August. The Diet of Hungary dethroned Ferdinand and elected Bethlen king on 23 August. The envoy of Louis XIII of France, Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême, tried to mediate a compromise between Ferdinand and his opponents, but Ferdinand was determined to force his rebellious subjects into obedience. The united troops of Maximilian I of Bavaria, Tilly and Bucquoy invaded Bohemia and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Bohemians and their allies in the Battle of White Mountain on 8 November 1620.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Maximilian I of Bavaria urged Ferdinand to adopt strict measures against the Bohemians and their allies, and Ferdinand declared Frederick V an outlaw on 29 January 1621. Ferdinand charged Karl I, Prince of Liechtenstein and Cardinal Franz von Dietrichstein with the government of Bohemia and Moravia, respectively, and ordered the establishment of special courts of justice to hear the rebels' trials. The new tribunals sentenced most leaders of the rebellion to death, and 27 of them were executed in the Old Town Square in Prage on 21 June. The estates of more than 450 nobles and burghers were fully or partially confiscated. Ferdinand demanded further trials, but Liechtenstein convinced him to grant a general pardon, because Mansfeld's troops had not been expelled from western Bohemia. Bethlen also wanted to continue the war against Ferdinand, but the Ottomans did not support him. After lengthy negotiations, Bethlen renounced the title of king of Hungary, after Ferdinand ceded him seven Hungarian counties and two Silesian duchies in the Peace of Nikolsburg on 31 December 1621. By that time, Ferdinand had banned all Protestant pastors from Prague, ignoring John George I of Saxony's protests.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand could not pay off his mercenaries' salaries. Liechtenstein, Eggenberg, Wallenstein and other noblemen established a consortium that also included the Jewish banker, Jacob Bassevi, and Wallenstein's financial manager, Hans de Witte. They persuaded Ferdinand to lease all Bohemian, Moravian and Lower Austrian mints to them for one year in return for 6 million gulden on 18 January 1622. The consortium minted debased silver coins, issuing almost 30 million gulden. They used the bad money to purchase silver and the rebels' confiscated property and also to pay off the lease. The liberal issue of the new currency caused "the western's worlds first financial crisis", featured by inflation, famine and other symptoms of economic and social disruption. Dietrichstein and the Jesuits urged Ferdinand to intervene, and he dissolved the consortium in early 1623.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand met his second wife, the 23-year-old Eleonora Gonzaga, in Innsbruck on 1 February 1622. She was crowned as queen of Hungary in Sopron where the first Italian opera was performed in the Habsburgs' realms during the festivities that followed the coronation. Ferdinand had convoked the Diet of Hungary to Sopron to assure the Hungarian Estates that he would respect their privileges. The Diet elected a Lutheran aristocrat, Count Szaniszló Thurzó, as the new palatine.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: The united imperial and Spanish armies inflicted decisive defeats on the Protestant troops in the Holy Roman Empire in May and June 1622. Tilly conquered the capital of the Palatinate, Heidelberg, on 19 September. Ferdinand convoked the German princes to a conference to Regensburg, primarily to talk about the future of the Palatinate. He reached the town on 24 November, but most Protestant princes sent delegates to the convention. He had secretly promised the transfer of Frederick V's title of elector to Maximilian I and his heirs, but most of his allies did not support the plan. They only agreed to bestow the title on Maximilian personally. Ferdinand had to yield, but assured Maximilian that he had not abandoned their original plan. He invested Maximilian with the electoral title on 25 February 1623, but the envoys of the electors of Brandenburg and Saxony and the Spanish ambassador were absent from the ceremony.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand decided to unite the Habsburgs' hereditary landsInner Austria, Upper and Lower Austria and Tyrolinto a new kingdom. He informed his brothers, Leopold and Charles, about his plan in a letter on 29 April 1623, but they rejected it. Leopold wanted to establish his own principality. He renounced the bishoprics of Passau and Strasbourg in favor of Ferdinand's younger son, Leopold Wilhelm, and retained Further Austria and Tyrol (that he had administered since 1619).


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Deprived of the Palatinate, Frederick V had made a new alliance with the Dutch Republic. Bethlen used Ferdinand's refusal to give one of his daughters to him in marriage as a pretext to join the new coalition. Christian of Brunswick was dispatched to invade Bohemia from the north, while Bethlen attacked from the east, but Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly routed Brunswick in the Battle of Stadtlohn on 23 August 1623. The Ottomans denied support to Bethlen and he was forced to sign a new peace treaty in Vienna in May 1624. The treaty confirmed the provisions of the previous Peace of Nikolsburg.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Becanus who died in late 1623 was succeeded by Lamormaini as Ferdinand's confessor. Lamormaini awakened Ferdinand's determination to adopt strict measures against the Protestants. At his initiative, Ferdinand decided to unite the medical and law faculties of the Charles University in Prague with the theological and philosophical faculties of the Jesuits' local college to strengthen the Jesuits' control of higher education. The new archbishop of Prague, Ernst Adalbert von Harrach did not renounce the control of the university and also wanted to prevent the Jesuits from seizing the estates of the Charles University. Valerianus Magnus, the head of the Capuchins in Bohemia, and the Holy See supported Harrach, but Ferdinand did not relent.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand ceremoniously renewed his oath about the restoration of Catholicism in his realms on 25 March 1624. First, he banned Protestant ceremonies in Bohemia proper and Moravia, even prohibiting the noblemen to hold Protestant pastors on 18 May. Maximilian I of Bavaria, who still held Upper Austria in pledge, proposed a cautious approach in the province, but Ferdinand ordered the expulsion of all Protestant pastors and teachers on 4 October. A year later, he prescribed that all inhabitants were to convert to Catholicism in Upper Austria by the following Easter, allowing only noblemen and burghers to choose to leave the province. The Upper Austrian peasants rose up in a rebellion and took control of the territories to the north of the Danube in May–June 1626. They sent delegates to Ferdinand in Vienna, but he did not give them an audience. Instead, he sent troops from Lower Austria to assist the Bavarian army in the crushing of the rebellion which was accomplished by the end of November. Tens of thousands of Protestants left Upper Austria during the following years.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand also took advantage of his peace with Bethlen to strengthen his position in Hungary. The Diet of Hungary confirmed the right of his son, Ferdinand III, to succeed him in October 1625. Ferdinand also achieved the election of a Catholic magnate, Count Miklós Esterházy, as the new palatine with the support of the Archbishop of Esztergom, Cardinal Péter Pázmány.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: The chief minister of Louis XIII of France, Cardinal Richelieu, started to forge an alliance against the Habsburgs in 1624. French troops were garrisoned along the French frontiers and Richelieu sent envoys to the wealthy and ambitious Christian IV of Denmark and other Protestant rulers to convince them to form a new league. Christian IV raised new troops and stationed them in his Duchy of Holstein (in the Lower Saxon Circle of the Holy Roman Empire) and persuaded the other Lower Saxon rulers to make him the commander of their united armies in early 1625. Initially, Ferdinand wanted to avoid the renewal of armed conflicts, but Maximilian of Bavaria urged him to gather an army against the new Protestant alliance. Wallenstein, who had accumulated immeasurable wealth in Bohemia, offered to hire mercenaries for him, but Ferdinand still hesitated. He authorized Maximilian to invade the Lower Saxon Circle if it were necessary to stop a Danish attack only in July. In the same month, Maximilian ordered Tilly to move his troops into Lower Saxony, and Wallenstein invaded the Archbishopric of Magdeburg and the Bishopric of Halberstadt, but a fierce rivalry between the two commanders prevented them from continuing the military campaign.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: The electors of Mainz and Saxony demanded that Ferdinand should convoke the electors to a new convention to discuss the status of the Palatinate, but Ferdinand adopted a delaying tactic. In a letter, he informed Maximilian of Bavaria about his plan to grant a pardon to Frederick V in exchange for Frederick's public submission and an indemnification for the costs of the war, but he also emphasized that he did not want to deprive Maximilian of the electoral title. The English, Dutch and Danish envoys concluded an alliance against the Catholic League in The Hague on 9 December 1625. Bethlen promised to launch a new military campaign against Royal Hungary and Richelieu agreed to send a subsidy to him. Taking advantage of the peasant revolt in Upper Austria, Christian IV departed from his headquarters in Wolfenbüttel, but Tilly routed his troops in the Battle of Lutter on 26 August 1626. Mansfeld who had invaded Silesia reached Upper Hungary, but Bethlen made a new peace with Ferdinand on 20 December 1626, because he could not wage war alone against the Emperor.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand deprived the dukes of Mecklenburg from their duchies for their support to Christian IV in February 1627. In the same month, Wallenstein occupied Mecklenburg, Pomerania and Holstein, and invaded Denmark.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: His devout Catholicism and negative view of Protestantism caused immediate turmoil in his non-Catholic subjects, especially in Bohemia. He did not wish to uphold the religious liberties granted by the Letter of Majesty signed by the previous emperor, Rudolph II, which had guaranteed freedom of religion to the nobles and cities. Additionally, Ferdinand as an absolutist monarch infringed several historical privileges of the nobles. Given the great number of Protestants among the ordinary population in the kingdom, and some of the nobles, the king's unpopularity soon caused the Bohemian Revolt. The Second Defenestration of Prague of 22 May 1618 is considered the first step of the Thirty Years' War.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: In the following events he remained a staunch backer of the Anti-Protestant Counter Reformation efforts as one of the heads of the German Catholic League. Ferdinand succeeded Matthias as Holy Roman Emperor in 1619. Supported by the Catholic League and the Kings of Spain and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ferdinand decided to reclaim his possession in Bohemia and to quash the rebels. On 8 November 1620 his troops, led by the Flemish general Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, smashed the rebels of Frederick V, who had been elected as rival King in 1619. After Frederick's flight to the Netherlands, Ferdinand ordered a massive effort to bring about re-conversion to Catholicism in Bohemia and Austria, causing Protestantism there to nearly disappear in the following decades, and reducing the Diet's power.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: In 1625, despite the subsidies received from Spain and the Pope, Ferdinand was in a bad financial situation. In order to muster an imperial army to continue the war, he applied to Albrecht von Wallenstein, one of the richest men in Bohemia: the latter accepted on condition that he could keep total control over the direction of the war, as well as over the booties taken during the operations. Wallenstein was able to recruit some 30,000 men (later expanded up to 100,000), with whom he was able to defeat the Protestants in Silesia, Anhalt and Denmark. In the wake of these Catholic military successes, in 1629 Ferdinand issued the Edict of Restitution, by which all the lands stripped from Catholics after the Peace of Passau of 1552 would be returned.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: His military success caused the tottering Protestants to call in Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden. Soon, some of Ferdinand's allies began to complain about the excessive power exercised by Wallenstein, as well as the ruthless methods he used to finance his vast army. Ferdinand replied by firing the Bohemian general in 1630. The leadership of the war thenceforth passed to Tilly, who was however unable to stop the Swedish march from northern Germany towards Austria. Some historians directly blame Ferdinand for the large civilian loss of life in the Sack of Magdeburg in 1631: he had instructed Tilly to enforce the edict of Restitution upon the Electorate of Saxony, his orders causing the Belgian general to move the Catholic armies east, ultimately to Leipzig, where they suffered their first substantial defeat at the hands of Adolphus' Swedes in the First Battle of Breitenfeld (1631).


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Tilly died in battle in 1632. Wallenstein was recalled, being able to muster an army in only a week, and immediately staked a tactical, if not strategic, victory at the September Battle of Fürth, quickly followed by his forces expelling the Swedes from Bohemia. In November 1632, however, the Catholics were defeated in the Battle of Lützen (1632), while Gustavus Adolphus was himself killed.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: A period of minor operations followed. Perhaps because of Wallenstein's ambiguous conduct, he was assassinated in 1634. Despite Wallenstein's fall, the imperial forces recaptured Regensburg and were victorious in the Battle of Nördlingen (1634). The Swedish army was substantially weakened, and the fear that the power of the Habsburgs would become overwhelming caused France, led by Louis XIII of France and Cardinal Richelieu, to enter the war on the Protestant side. (Louis's father Henry IV of France had once been a Huguenot leader.) In 1635 Ferdinand signed his last important act, the Peace of Prague (1635), yet this did not end the war.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: Ferdinand died in 1637, leaving to his son Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor, an empire still engulfed in a war and whose fortunes seemed to be increasingly chaotic. Ferdinand II was buried in his Mausoleum in Graz. His heart was interred in the Herzgruft (heart crypt) of the Augustinian Church, Vienna.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: In 1600, Ferdinand married Maria Anna of Bavaria (1574–1616), daughter of Duke William V of Bavaria. They had seven children:


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: In 1622, he married Eleonore of Mantua (Gonzaga) (1598–1655), the daughter of Duke Vincenzo I of Mantua and Eleonora de' Medici, at Innsbruck. They had no children.


title: Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor

text: "Ferdinand II, by the grace of God elected Holy Roman Emperor, forever August, King in Germany, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Rama, Serbia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Cumania, Bulgaria, Archduke of Austria, Duke of Burgundy, Brabant, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Margrave of Moravia, Duke of Luxemburg, of the Higher and Lower Silesia, of Württemberg and Teck, Prince of Swabia, Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Kyburg and Goritia, Marquess of the Holy Roman Empire, Burgovia, the Higher and Lower Lusace, Lord of the Marquisate of Slavonia, of Port Naon and Salines, etc. etc."


title: BMX XXX

text: BMX XXX is a 2002 sports video game developed by Z-Axis and published by Acclaim Entertainment under their AKA Acclaim label for the Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. While primarily a BMX-based action sports title, the game places a distinct emphasis on off-color and sexual humor, and allows the player to create female characters that are fully topless. The game also features unlockable live-action footage of real-life strippers courtesy of Scores, a New York-based stripclub.


title: BMX XXX

text: "BMX XXX" began development in 2001 as a traditional entry in the "Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX" series, and was announced as "Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3". The executives of Z-Axis and Acclaim — influenced by a crowded action sports game market, a dire financial situation, and the commercial success of the "Grand Theft Auto" series — decided to insert nudity and mature humor into the game to increase publicity and sales. Although Dave Mirra initially supported the pitched concept, his name was eventually dissociated from the title following its unveiling at E3. The development team members were displeased with the change in direction, with some attempting to distance themselves from the production.


title: BMX XXX

text: Despite an aggressive marketing campaign, the game's distribution was impeded by various circumstances; major retailers refused to stock the title, Sony Computer Entertainment's refused to publish the PlayStation 2 version unless the topless female nudity was censored, and the game was initially banned in Australia. Upon release, "BMX XXX" received mixed reviews from critics, who felt that the game lacked innovation despite its content. Although the control scheme and voice acting were complimented, opinions on the soundtrack were mixed, and reviewers faulted the camera, level design, mission objectives, visuals, and humor. As a result of its limited distribution and loss of celebrity endorsement, "BMX XXX" was a commercial failure. It subsequently became a factor in a series of lawsuits against Acclaim by Mirra and the company's shareholders, and was cited as one of a number of failures that contributed to Acclaim's 2004 bankruptcy and liquidation.


title: BMX XXX

text: "BMX XXX" is a freestyle BMX sports game with an emphasis on off-color and sexual humor. The player character can be customized by name, gender, and physical attributes, or selected from a number of pre-made characters; the ability to create topless female riders is enabled when the single-player campaign is fully completed. The player's rider can perform a variety of tricks in midair with the combined input of a direction on the D-pad or left thumbstick and a button. The player can also grind on rails, ledges, or other likely surfaces, and can exit a grind by jumping into the air or falling out of balance. The player is awarded points by performing complete tricks and landing while the bike is properly oriented. The player character will be ejected from their bike if they are not oriented for a successful landing or if they crash into something with a part of the body or bike other than their feet, wheels, or grind pegs during a trick. The player character will also be ejected if they are riding off-balance and hit an obstacle too fast or at a harsh angle. In the event of a crash, the player's score is reset.


title: BMX XXX

text: The single-player campaign is divided into eight levels, six of which are based on a series of challenges that the player must complete to advance to the next level. Challenges are often initiated by interacting with a character within the level, who will give the player an objective to fulfill. Completing ten challenges within a level will grant access to the next level. Scattered within each level are four collectible bike parts; accumulating complete sets of six parts within the campaign unlocks upgraded bikes that enhance the player's performance. Each level also features a series of 45 collectibles such as coins, as well as 20 gaps in the terrain to discover. Completing certain challenges unlocks full-motion video sequences of strippers, with videos unlocked in later levels displaying an increasing amount of nudity. Two of the levels are competitions that require the player to perform a variety of tricks and earn a medal.


title: BMX XXX

text: The game includes three multiplayer modes in which two human players compete against each other. In "Strip Challenge", players aim to achieve the highest-scoring trick combination. When a player breaks the record, the opponent's character loses a piece of clothing, and the game ends when one player renders their opponent naked. In "Skillz", players compete to achieve the highest score over a two-minute run, and in "Paintball", one player must collect all the boomboxes within a level while their opponent attempts to snipe them.


title: BMX XXX

text: In 2001, "Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX" developer Z-Axis began production on the third installment of the series, aiming to expand the technology and include such features as a story, voice-acting, and mission-based gameplay. Lead artist Mark Girouard described the game's original narrative as centering on a BMX team on tour throughout the United States. In January 2002, series publisher Acclaim Entertainment announced "Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3", which would have showcased freestyle BMX rider Dave Mirra alongside sixteen other professionals.


title: BMX XXX

text: Around this time, the action sports genre had become crowded, prompting executives of Z-Axis and Acclaim to ponder new angles for increasing publicity. During a meeting between the parties, someone suggested adding strippers to the game in jest. While this initially elicited laughter, the group began seriously considering the idea, with Acclaim hoping that appealing to an older audience would increase sales. Acclaim marketing coordinator Zach Smith noted that the company's decision to insert nudity in the game was influenced by their dire financial situation at the time, and Acclaim executive producer Shawn Rosen additionally cited the commercial success of the "Grand Theft Auto" series as the catalyst for backing an adult-oriented title. In March 2002, Mirra and Acclaim began discussions about attaching his name to the title, which Mirra felt would be a more tongue-in-cheek and mature game comparable to the parodic film "Airplane!". Rosen claimed that while Mirra found the pitched concept humorous, sponsors warned Mirra that the game would be harmful to his image. Acclaim looked to sex comedies and "Jackass" as inspiration for the game's sexual humor and raunchy dialogue. Acclaim also formed a partnership with the New York-based stripclub Scores, with footage of its employees being included in the game as unlockable content. Lead designer Tin Guerrero postulated that this decision was influenced by the popularity of Howard Stern at the time, with Scores apparently being his favorite stripclub.


title: BMX XXX

text: The game's change in direction required Z-Axis's development team to redesign a significant amount of content they had completed thus far, retooling what would have been "Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3" into "Dave Mirra BMX XXX". The team members were dismayed by the decision, with Girouard recalling it as "the biggest creative shock I've ever experienced in games through all these years". Some members tried to distance themselves from the production by leaving their full names out of the credits, opting to either abbreviate their surnames or use the names of historical figures such as Fletcher Christian. The team was unable to object due to the company management's support of the direction and their multi-game contractual obligation to Acclaim concerning the "Dave Mirra" series. Despite being frustrated by their circumstance, the development team would not work perfunctorily, and remained driven to create a satisfying game. The game runs on the same engine previously used by Z-Axis's "Aggressive Inline".


title: BMX XXX

text: On August 19, 2002, Acclaim announced that Dave Mirra's name had been removed from the title, and that he and the other professional riders, as well as licensed equipment, would not be featured in the game. Jeff Gerstmann of "GameSpot" speculated that the move was made by Acclaim to preserve creative control over the game's content while preventing damage to the images of the previously involved riders and equipment manufacturers. Regardless, Acclaim's licensing deal with Mirra stood intact, with a "Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3" title planned for release. The game would be released for the Game Boy Advance on November 25, 2002.


title: BMX XXX

text: "Dave Mirra BMX XXX" was showcased at E3 in May 2002. "IGN PS2", in its "Best of E3 2002 Awards", named it runner-up in the "Biggest Surprise" category, describing it as "a surprise in every sense of the word" and proclaiming that "any title that's working hard to perfect 'Boob-Jiggle Technology' deserves a questionable double take".


title: BMX XXX

text: In September 2002, a rumor circulated that Sony Computer Entertainment would not approve the PlayStation 2 (PS2) version of the game unless certain sexual content was removed. On November 4, Acclaim representatives Alan Lewis and Tara Blanco confirmed the rumor, stating that the PS2 version would be edited to eliminate the topless nudity. An anonymous Sony representative claimed that the topless female imagery posed a detrimental threat to Sony's console brand, and believed that it was not fundamentally crucial to the gameplay experience.


title: BMX XXX

text: Acclaim launched an aggressive $3–4 million advertising campaign for the game, featuring irreverent jokes and the tagline "This is BMX?". On October 17, 2002, Acclaim unveiled the game's soundtrack, which consists of a mixture of classic and modern rock and hip hop. On November 7, Acclaim launched a "Ms. BMX XXX" competition, in which female contestants submitted a digital photo of themselves or a friend, which was subject to a public vote. The winner was flown to New York City and escorted to Scores by Gary Dell'Abate and K.C. Armstrong of "The Howard Stern Show".


title: BMX XXX

text: On October 14, 2002, "Reuters" reported that Walmart, Toys "R" Us, and KB Toys had refused to stock the title. "BMX XXX" was released in North America for the Xbox and PS2 on November 15, 2002, and for the GameCube on November 29. It would be Z-Axis's last game for Acclaim before their acquisition by Activision, which was announced at the same time as the game's unveiling at E3. Those who pre-ordered the game from EB Games or GameStop received a free t-shirt. In Europe, the game was released on December 6, 2002. The game was initially banned in Australia, but was released in the country after the removal of its sexual content.