title: Fanny and Alexander

text: Cohen-Shalev described cyclical patterns in the story: the family endures seasons of distinct "symbols, myths, and moods", including death in winter and resurrections in the spring; or, a journey in which the protagonist experiences a test in the "Valley of Tears" before achieving "blissful family unification". Edvard is also forgiven with "a kind of humanity", Cohen-Shalev wrote, as Edvard confesses his faith is a mask, and his burning death mirrors his analogy of a mask that cannot be removed unless the flesh is removed as well.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: The story opens with exploring celebrations of the Swedish Christmas, which is expressed through "colors, sounds, movements, music" that "Cineaste" critic Royal Brown called "life-affirming, pagan Christianity". This is starkly contrasted with Edvard's Christianity, which is dictated by asceticism, authoritarianism and concern with death, with Alexander finding his new home a bare, cold prison. Professor Freddie Rokem wrote that, in contrast to Edvard's "rigorous and sterile" Protestantism, the Ekdahl Christmas party can include the Jewish Isak, as he is a dear friend of matriarch Helena Ekdahl, and this friendship is "utopian". While at Isak's, his nephew Aron Retzinsky brings out a puppet of God, or "deus ex machina", to which Alexander reacts with terror; he then tries to play down that fear, and is left to wonder how seriously to take the supernatural. Author Harry Perridon argued that when Alexander declares God "is a shit", he means God in Christianity, associating the deity with suffering in the world. After this point, true miracles in Bergman's universe have to come from a different source, Perridon wrote.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: The depiction of Jews in Sweden revolves around Isak, which academic Rochelle Wright argues is "far more nuanced" than in Bergman's previous "The Touch" (1971). Isak is not completely assimilated, but his presence in Sweden is presented as positive, as he stands for imagination, "magic and mystery", Wright wrote. Erland Josephson, who played Isak, described his performance as a stereotyped portrayal of a Jew, but with mystical and tragic elements, drawing on Jewish people and their history. Hayes argued that with its take on "time and space", the story hinted at Jewish mysticism and the Kabbalah. The light that engulfs Isak when he screams after being beaten by Edvard calls on the light of the Kabbalah to vanquish evil, Hayes hypothesised. The scream may have invited "spiritual intervention", allowing the children's escape by rendering them invisible in Isak's trunk, while the children seemingly appear lying on the floor to Edvard. Törnqvist hypothesised that Jewish pantheism replaces Christian belief in "grace and punishment" in the story. Royal Brown argued that Isak's "cabbalistic magic and animism" is closer to the Ekdahls' Christianity than to Edvard's.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: Törnqvist identified Ismael as "one of the more enigmatic features" of "Fanny and Alexander", commenting on the character as a fusion of elements. Ismael speaks the Finno-Swedish language, and is androgynous, being a male character played by a woman, Stina Ekblad. Ismael also says to Alexander, "Perhaps we are the same person". Author Daniel Humphrey also commented in Ismael's androgyny, conveying "queerness and foreignness" but presented as spiritually identical to Alexander. Additionally, Humphrey commented on the name, with Ishmael of the Bible being a bastard son of Abraham and progenitor of the Arab people, considered "paradigmatic" by Christians and Jews alike. "A Dream Play" author Strindberg had taken interest in the Ishmael character. Törnqvist also identified Ismael as matching Hamlet in education, intelligence, real or feigned insanity and anti-social nature.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: Hayes commented on the way Ismael holds Alexander, remarking it was "Alexander's erotic encounter with a man/a woman/himself". Critic Robin Wood and Richard Lippe argued Ismael directly replaces Oscar, dismissed by Alexander as not serving a purpose; Ismael instead brings danger and sexual ambiguity: Wood and Lippe observed Ismael touching Alexander and kissing Aron. The role of Ismael and Alexander's ritual in Edvard's death is uncertain: Ismael speaks of what will happen in the future in describing Edvard's death, but it can all be logically explained, with a police officer informing Emilie the death is legally accidental.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: While cinematic film stock was used in production, Bergman conceived of the presentation as a television miniseries, and there are different versions, presented as a miniseries and film. The longer version intended for television was the original. After completing production, Bergman had to edit the complete cut to 188 minutes for screenings in theatres, regretting losing much of the fantasy material. He remarked, "This was extremely troublesome, as I had to cut into the nerves and lifeblood of the film". The film premiered in Stockholm on 17 December 1982 in its 188-minute theatrical cut. Distribution rights were sold to 30 other countries in 1982. It subsequently opened in France on 9 March 1983, West Germany on 8 October 1983, and the United States on 17 June 1983.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: The complete version runs 312 minutes. It was released in Swedish theatres in 1983, and screened at the 40th Venice International Film Festival in September 1983. It subsequently aired as a miniseries on Sveriges Television in four segments, and five episodes of unequal length at Bergman's demand. They ran 92, 40, 37, 60 and 90 minutes, beginning 25 December 1984. After debuting at the Swedish Film Institute on 16 September 1984, "The Making of Fanny and Alexander" aired with a television repeat of "Fanny and Alexander" in Sweden on 18 August 1986. In 1991, the Guinness Book of World Records listed the five-hour version as among the longest films in history. The entire miniseries ran on SVT1 in Sweden on 2 August 2007, with a 10-minute news cast interruption, rendering it a two-part version. The screenplay was also published as a book and translated into English in 1983.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: In Region 2, Artificial Eye released the five-hour version on DVD in 2002. In 2011 in Region A, The Criterion Collection published a Blu-ray edition including the theatrical version, the television version, and "The Making of Fanny and Alexander".


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: There were large audiences in Sweden at showings of "Fanny and Alexander", including at the five-hour cut, making it the most popular box-office film Bergman had in his native country. It had 374,208 admissions in France and 165,146 in Germany. This amounted to minimal presence in the French box-office.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: "Fanny and Alexander" finished its run grossing $6,783,304 in North America. According to critic Vincent Canby's analysis, the film did "extremely well" and had its niche audience, but could not match summer blockbuster competition which dominated the top 15 spots in the box office, particularly "Return of the Jedi". In 1992, "Variety" ranked it the 21st highest grossing foreign film in U.S. box office history, and the fifth-highest grossing Swedish film after 1967's "I Am Curious (Yellow)" and "Elvira Madigan", "Dear John" (1964) and "My Life as a Dog" (1985).


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: In Sweden, it received generally positive reviews, with "Expressen" critic Lasse Bergström approving of the portrayal of the Oscarian era. Critic Stig Larsson assessed it as Bergman's ironic take on his past filmography. "Jönköpings-Posten" posted a positive review on 7 February 1983, followed by a second critic in the same paper accusing the film of creating false joy on 21 February. The film ranked 10th on Cahiers du Cinéma's Top 10 Films of the Year List in 1983.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: Vincent Canby's contemporary review in "The New York Times" described it a "big, dark, beautiful, generous family chronicle"; Canby also praised the cast as "uniformly excellent". Roger Ebert awarded it four stars, assessing it as "a big, exciting, ambitious film", relatable to audiences though more specific in its story than Bergman's prior studies of faith and sex, and named it the 4th best film of 1983. "Variety" staff called it "a sumptuously produced period piece" blending "elegance with intimacy". For "The Washington Post", Rita Kempley found the story more cheerful than past Bergman productions, highlighting Ewa Fröling and comparing her to Liv Ullmann. In "The New York Times", Michiko Kakutani compared the film's "generosity of vision" to the comedies of William Shakespeare. "The Nation" critic Robert Hatch compared it to Shakespeare's "The Tempest" as a final life-affirming work, featuring "magic with the casual authority of Prospero himself". Kerry Brougher denied it was Bergman's "magnum opus", but still said it was "a thoughtful, graceful, beautifully filmed work". "National Review" critic John Simon wrote a negative review, calling it "overstuffed", and expressing lack of interest in Fröling and Guve as newcomers to Bergman's filmography.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: Ebert added it to his Great Movies list in 2004, hailing it as "astonishingly beautiful", crediting Sven Nykvist for "color and warmth". In 2010, "The Guardian" ranked the film eighth in its list of 25 greatest arthouse films. Reviewing The Criterion Collection Blu-ray, Andre Dellamorte wrote that despite the five-hour runtime, the story was uncomplicated but always interesting. "The Observer" quoted actor Matthew Macfadyen as saying the film "featured just the most extraordinary acting I'd ever seen". Macfadyen added that as a RADA student, the film was shown as "an example to follow – an example of people acting with each other". Polish film director Agnieszka Holland also praised it in 2012, saying both children and intellectuals could enjoy it and that it gives a very vivid portrait of another era. In his "2015 Movie Guide", Leonard Maltin gave it four stars, identifying its emotions as "exquisitely expressed".


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: Pauline Kael wrote a more mixed review, enjoying the merry atmosphere but writing the "conventionality" is "rather shocking", suggesting Bergman had moved to Victorian times to escape his usual eccentric viewpoints. "The Guardian" critic Alex Cox wrote a negative review in 2006, claiming there was no story for the first two of three hours, and that the analogy to "Hamlet" did not hold up as Alexander knows Edvard is evil, whereas Hamlet is uncertain if the Ghost is a demon and Claudius is innocent. Cox had not seen the longer version, but considered it might be better.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: In 1990, "Fanny and Alexander" was named the best film of the 1980s by "Los Angeles Times" by Sheila Benson, who called it "generous, ribald, reflective and radiantly life-affirming", and Michael Wilmington, and the third best by "Newsweek" critic David Ansen. In 1996, "Fanny and Alexander" was ranked at No. 36 in Movieline Magazine's "100 Greatest Foreign Films". In 2004, "The New York Times" also included the film on its list of "the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made". Xan Brooks, in "The Guardian"s Film Season, chose the film as the eighth "best arthouse film of all time". He described it as "an opulent family saga, by turns bawdy, stark and strange" with a rare abundance of "indelible supporting characters". In 2007, the film was ranked at No. 23 by "The Guardian"s readers' poll on its list of "40 greatest foreign films of all time". The film was Voted at No. 44 on the list of "100 Greatest Films" by the prominent French magazine "Cahiers du cinéma" in 2008. In the British Film Institute's 2012 "Sight & Sound" polls of the greatest films ever made, "Fanny and Alexander" was 84th among critics and 16th among directors. In the earlier 2002 version of the list, the film ranked 35th among critics and 19th among directors. Also in 2002, "Sight and Sound" magazine invited several critics to make a list of the best films of last 25 years and "Fanny and Alexander" was ranked at number three. In 2012 the film was voted at number five on the 25 best Swedish films of all-time list by a poll of 50 film critics and academics conducted by film magazine FLM. In 2018 the film was ranked 28th in BBC's list of The 100 greatest foreign language films. "Fanny and Alexander" has a 100% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 38 reviews, with a weighted average of 9/10. The site's consensus reads: "Ingmar Bergman conveys the sweep of childhood with a fastidious attention to detail and sumptuous insight into human frailty in "Fanny and Alexander", a masterwork that crystalizes many of the directors' preoccupations into a familial epic". On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 100 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: The film received six Academy Award nominations, winning four, including Best Foreign Language Film. While it received the third highest number of nominations of 1984, after "Terms of Endearment" and "The Right Stuff" (both released in 1983), the fact that Sweden chose to submit it for Best Foreign Language Film rendered it ineligible for a Best Picture nomination. The four wins was the most any foreign-language film had received at the Academy Awards to date until it tied the record with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon " (2000), and "Parasite" (2019). "Fanny and Alexander" marked the third and final time Bergman won Best Foreign Language Film, after "The Virgin Spring" (1960) and "Through a Glass Darkly" (1961). Bergman did not personally attend the ceremony, while working on a stage production in Munich, so his award was accepted by his wife Ingrid von Rosen and Jörn Donner. The film won the FIPRESCI Prize at 1983 Venice Film Festival. It also won the French Syndicate of Cinema Critics Award for Best Foreign Film.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: After ostensibly retiring from directing, Bergman completed "After the Rehearsal" in 1984. Bergman also conceived of a biographical project following his parents Erik and Karin Åkerblom, and in a press conference in August 1989, announced he planned a production that could be considered a follow-up to "Fanny and Alexander" and his 1987 autobiography "The Magic Lantern". The resulting 1991–92 miniseries and film "The Best Intentions" was directed by Bille August and won the "Palme d'Or" at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. Bergman selected Bille August as director on condition that "Fanny and Alexander" actress Pernilla Wallgren star as Bergman's mother; she did under the name Pernilla August. Critic Vincent Canby also identified Ingmar's screenplay "Sunday's Children", directed by Daniel Bergman and released in 1992, as "a continuation" of "Fanny and Alexander" and "The Best Intentions", and questioned if Ingmar had truly retired. Whereas Ingmar's recollections of Erik Bergman are damning in "Fanny and Alexander", his study of his father is "far more forgiving" in "The Best Intentions" and "Sunday's Children". After "The Best Intentions", Pernilla August played Ingmar's mother twice more, in the 1996 "Private Confessions" and 1997 "In the Presence of a Clown".


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: Following Bergman's death in 2007, PostNord Sverige decided to honour the director with a postage stamp depicting him directing "Fanny and Alexander". In the two decades following the release, ""Fanny and Alexander"" decorations were also common in Swedish businesses at Jul. In 2017, Hallwyl Museum also exhibited costumes from "Fanny and Alexander" and other Bergman films.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: Stefan Larsson directed a stage adaptation of "Fanny and Alexander" for the Royal Dramatic Theatre, which traveled to Uppsala City Theater in 2012. It played at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. in 2013. In 2010, stage adaptations also played in Finland, directed by Maria Lundström and Tiina Puumalainen, and Norway, where it was the biggest box office success in the National Theatre's history. Later, Stephen Beresford wrote an adaptation for The Old Vic in London, directed by Max Webster and starring Penelope Wilton. It was scheduled to debut February 2018.


title: Fanny and Alexander

text: The film has exercised considerable influence on subsequent filmmaking, not only in Sweden. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho has listed it as one of his favourite films, and stated that it has "the most beautiful ending to a feature film career in the history of cinema". French director Arnaud Desplechin frequently cites "Fanny and Alexander" as a critical touchstone for his own career, and has labelled his own "La Vie des Morts" as "a complete rip-off of that film". He noted that "I saw Fanny and Alexander and then I became a director. Before, I was a technician, and after that film, I became a director." Filmmaker Barry Jenkins listed "Fanny and Alexander" as one of his favourite films. The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited "Fanny and Alexander" as one of his favorite films.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Type 59 (; industrial designation: WZ-120) main battle tank is a Chinese-produced version of the Soviet T-54A tank, an early model of the ubiquitous T-54/55 series. The first vehicles were produced in 1958 and it was accepted into service in 1959, with serial production beginning in 1963. Over 10,000 of the tanks were produced by the time production ended in 1985 with approximately 5,500 serving with the Chinese armed forces. The tank formed the backbone of the Chinese People's Liberation Army armoured units until the early 2000s, with an estimated 5,000 of the later Type 59-I and Type 59-II variants in service in 2002.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Type 59 was modified several times during its service. It was also the basis of several later Chinese tank designs including the Type 69 and Type 79 tanks.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Type 59 is almost identical to the early production Soviet T-54As, but there are some key differences. The Type 59 was not originally fitted with the infrared searchlight or main gun stabilization of the T-54.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Type 59 has a conventional post-war layout with an engine compartment at the rear and a cast dome-shaped gun turret in the centre of the hull. The hull is welded steel varying in thickness between 99 mm on the front lower glacis to 20 mm on the hull floor. The turret varies in thickness from 39–100 mm.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The driver sits in the front left of the hull, and is provided with a hatch immediately above his seat, which opens to the left. The driver has two pop-up vision blocks which give coverage ahead and slightly to the right when buttoned up. The commander sits in the turret along with the gunner and loader. The commander's hatch is on the turret left, with the gunner sitting forward and below him. The loader sits on the right of the turret and has a hatch above him. The turret has a non-rotating floor, which complicated the crew's operations as they would not rotate with the turret.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The turret mounts a rifled 100 mm Type 59 cannon, for which 34 rounds are typically carried. A Type 59T 7.62 mm machine gun is mounted coaxially with the main gun. A Type 54 12.7 mm anti-aircraft machine gun (the Chinese copy of the Russian 12.7 mm M1938/46 DShKM heavy machine gun) is provided above the gunner's hatch for which 200 rounds are carried. A Type 59T 7.62 mm bow-mounted machine gun is fitted and is fired by the driver through a tiny hole in the center of the front glacis plate. 3,500 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition are normally carried.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The turret has a powered traverse mechanism that is probably comparable to the T-54 traverse mechanism which can rotate the turret through 360 degrees in 21 seconds. Very early models of the Type 59 gun had manual elevation gear, later replaced with a powered system which allowed the gun to be aimed at between +17 and −4 degrees (the average depression for Western tanks is -10, which allows for better usage of hull-down tactics). Later models added vertical stabilization to make firing on the move practical. An infrared searchlight based night vision system was retrofitted to the tank with infrared periscope for the commander gunner and driver.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The tank is powered by a Model 12150L V-12 liquid-cooled diesel engine, which develops at 2,000 rpm. The engine feeds a manual gearbox with five forward and one reverse gear. A total of 815 litres of diesel can be carried internally in the tank, with a further 400 litres carried externally giving a maximum road range of 600 kilometers, or approximately 430 km using only internal fuel. The tank has five road wheels on each side with a prominent gap between the first and second road wheel. The track is driven by a drive sprocket at the rear, with an idler at the front. It is notable that there are no return rollers. The suspension is a torsion bar system. Engine exhaust is on the left fender.


title: Type 59 tank

text: Ammunition is stored inside the turret, which increases the odds of a catastrophic secondary explosion should the tank's interior be penetrated by enemy fire. Crew survivability is hence low.


title: Type 59 tank

text: After the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance, and Mutual Assistance, the Soviets agreed to assist China in building a tank manufacturing facility to manufacture the T-54A MBT in 1956. Initially, the tanks were assembled with Soviet-supplied parts, which were gradually replaced by Chinese-made components. The tank was accepted into service by the PLA in 1959, and given the designation Type 59.


title: Type 59 tank

text: Over the years, the Type 59 design was enhanced with various domestically developed and western technologies; when the PLA captured a Soviet T-62 during the Sino-Soviet border conflict in 1969, improvements based on the T-62 were incorporated into the Type 59 design to become the Type 69 MBT. The Type 69 was further upgraded with Western technology and became the Type 79 MBT. The Type 59 was therefore, the first in China's first generation of main battle tanks, the Type 79 being the last. The Type 79 was superseded by the Type 80 second-generation MBT.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Type 59 MBT is also known as WZ-120 by its manufacturer. Over 10,000 were produced between 1959 and the mid 1980s. The Type 59 and its successor, the Type 69, were widely exported, with thousands sold overseas. Today an estimated 5,000 Type 59 MBTs remain in PLA inventory, but it's being supplanted by the more capable Type 96 and Type 99 MBTs.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The first war involving the Type 59 was in Vietnam, where North Vietnam fielded at least several hundreds supplied directly from their Chinese ally against American tanks used by their South Vietnamese enemy, such as the M41 Walker Bulldog light tank and the M48 Patton main battle tank. Against the US tanks in faced in Vietnam, the Type 59, along with the similar T-54 tank of Soviet origin (also widely operated in the war by North Vietnam), achieved at least medium success, if not considerable, against enemy armour. Most of the losses of armour suffered by the US and South Vietnamese forces were to North Vietnamese infantry-based anti-tank weapons, such as the RPG-7, rather than to North Vietnam's own tanks and other armour.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Type 59 was also fielded during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, in the Battle of Longewala and Battle of Chamb, where Pakistani Type 59 tanks faced Indian T-54 and T-55 tanks.


title: Type 59 tank

text: Following the Vietnam War, the Sino-Vietnamese War of 1979 was the next largest use of Type 59 tanks to date in modern Chinese military history. China committed nearly 300 Type 59, Type 62, and Type 63 tanks and armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) into the conflict against their former ally, with 48 of the total listed above lost to Vietnamese anti-tank action. The tanks of 42nd Corps, as the vanguard force responsible for cutting off the northern Vietnamese city of Cao Bằng, bore the brunt of the losses in armour and managed to advance only 30 km within 3 days. The poor performance of tanks and AFVs in this battle was attributed to the mountainous and hilly terrain in much of northern Vietnam that was inherently unsuitable for mechanized warfare, just like in Korea. The light armour on the Type 62 tank (a lighter version of the Type 59 which predominantly served as a combat-reconnaissance vehicle) also proved inadequate in protection against small and light anti-tank weapons, such as anti-tank grenades.


title: Type 59 tank

text: Iran received 300 Type 59 tanks from North Korea and China during the Iran–Iraq War. They were fielded by both the regular Artesh and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The T-72 proved highly superior to the Chinese tank. On the other hand, Iraq received 1,000 Type 59s from China. The Iraqi Type 59 tanks were later used during the 1991 Gulf War.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Sudan also used Type 59 tanks during the Sudanese Civil War. Five were lost to the Sudan People's Liberation Army near Yei in March 1997.


title: Type 59 tank

text: Type 59 tanks were involved in the Chinese government's violent crackdown on the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, a column of which were obstructed in the Tank Man incident.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Type 59s of the Zairian Special Presidential Division saw limited action in 1998 against the rebels of the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo.


title: Type 59 tank

text: In the late 1950s, the PLA submitted requirements for a light tank more suitable for operations in China's southern region. Development on the new Type 62 tank began in 1958, which was a scaled-down Type 59 MBT with simplified equipment. The Type 62 light tank entered batch production in 1963, and approx. 800 were produced by 1978. The Type 62 light tank weights only 21 tons, and is equipped with a Type 62-85TC 85 mm rifled gun, and 3 machine guns. An improved Type 62-I version was produced with better FCS with laser rangefinder, and turret storage racks for added protection. Other versions based on the Type 62 include the Type 79 recovery vehicle (prototype only) and Type 82 earth-mover.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The PLA deployed the Type 62 light tank to Vietnam during the 1979 Sino-Vietnam conflict. They found that the thin armor of the Type 62 tank could be penetrated easily by hand-held anti-tank weapons, such as the 40 mm RPG. The Type 62 tank suffered severe losses during the conflict, which convinced the PLA to develop new second-generation MBTs. The Type 62 tank received a major upgrade in 2000, with new welded turret, vertically stabilized 105 mm rifled gun, fire-control system, night vision device, smoke grenade launchers, and explosive reactive armor (ERA) package. This vehicle is also known as the ZTQ62.


title: Type 59 tank

text: Improved Type 59 MBT built by 617 Factory (Inner Mongolia First Machine Group Co. Ltd). Only saw limited service in the PLA, but was an export success in the 1980s with more than 2,000 sold worldwide.


title: Type 59 tank

text: This armored recovery vehicle is a Type 59 with its turret removed. The vehicle is armed with a single 12.7 mm machine gun. This armored recovery vehicle is not believed to have a winch and is limited to towing operations.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The modernized HIFV model of Type 59 weighs around 40 tons and can carry up to seven passengers. Modifications include moving the engine to the front of the vehicle chassis, increasing tank armor including explosive reactive armor on all sides, and installing a rear door for dismounting infantry.


title: Type 59 tank

text: It is a modernized variant of the Type 59 using the tank's chassis similar to its Russian counterpart the BMPT Terminator. The vehicle was first appeared at the Zhuhai Air Show in China in November 2018, and is armed with two QN-502C anti-tank missiles, ten QN-201 multi-purpose mini missiles, four S-507 loitering munitions, an unmanned 30 mm cannon, a 7.62 mm machine gun, six grenade launchers, and a quadcopter surveillance drone.


title: Type 59 tank

text: The Type 59 Durjoy is a highly modernized version of the Bangladesh Army. The Bangladesh Army's old Type 59 tanks were upgraded similar to Type 59G standard at "902 Central Workshop" of the Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory with Chinese assistance. Bangladesh Army renamed the tank as Durjoy (). Improvements includes:


title: Type 59 tank

text: Pakistan operates Al-Zarrar – Heavy Industries Taxila of Pakistan has introduced the Al-Zarrar Main Battle Tank. The Al-Zarrar series was designed to improve and rebuild the Pakistani army's Type 59 tanks by way of more modern armament, fire control, defensive equipment, etc. Improvements include:


title: Type 59 tank

text: Royal Ordnance designed variants with 105 mm Royal Ordnance L7 gun as an upgrade package for owners of the Type 59. The upgrades incorporated 105 mm L7A3 gun with thermal sleeve and ammunition stowage of 34 rounds, British smoke grenade dischargers on both sides of the turret, Graviner fire-suppression system, Vickers Instruments L50 gunner's sight with laser-rangefinder, Avimo driver's sight night-vision device, Marconi's Centaur weapon system with digital FCS, Mantis commander's sight and solid-state drives. Another upgrade package also installed ROMOR-A reactive armour on the side hulls and ROMOR-B passive appliqué armour on the front hull and turret, along with the aforementioned upgrades. The Type 59 tanks used in the project were acquired from Pakistan, and the upgraded tanks were exhibited in British Army Equipment Exhibition 1984. No Type 59s served with British forces.


title: Type 59 tank

text: Marconi offered their Marksman anti-aircraft system as a conversion to operators of the Type 59. The Marksman consisted of a twin 35 mm autocannon system in a turret that could be fitted to almost any MBT.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The economy of the Netherlands is the 15th largest in the world in 2022 (in terms of Gross domestic product; GDP) according to Forbes. Its GDP per capita was estimated at $68,572 in the fiscal year 2022, which makes it one of the highest-earning nations in the world. Between 1996 and 2000, annual economic growth (GDP) averaged over 4%, well above the European average of 2.5% at the time. Growth slowed considerably in 2001–05 as part of the early 2000s recession. The years 2006 and 2007 however showed economic growth of 3-4% per annum. The Dutch economy was hit considerably by the financial crisis of 2007–2008, and the ensuing European sovereign-debt crisis.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Netherlands has had steady natural gas resources since 1959, when a wellspring was discovered. Currently the Netherlands accounts for more than 25% of all natural gas reserves in the European Union. Over the following decades, the sale of natural gas generated a significant rise in revenue for the Netherlands. However, the unforeseen consequences of the country's energy wealth originally impacted the competitiveness of other sectors of the economy, leading to the theory of Dutch disease, after the discovery of the vast Groningen gas field.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Netherlands has a prosperous and open economy, which depends heavily on foreign trade. The economy is noted for stable industrial relations, fairly low unemployment and inflation, a sizable current account surplus (which, compared to the size of the country, is even more than Germany) and an important role as a European transportation hub. Rotterdam is by far the biggest port in Europe, and Amsterdam has one of the biggest airports in the world. Industrial activity is predominantly in food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, high-tech, financial services, the creative sector and electrical machinery. Its highly mechanised agricultural sector employs no more than 2% of the labour force, but provides large surpluses for the food-processing industry and for exports. The Netherlands, along with 11 of its EU partners, began circulating the euro currency on 1 January 2002.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The stern financial policy was abandoned in 2009, because of the then-current credit crises. The relatively large banking sector was partly nationalised and bailed out through government interventions. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.0% in the summer of 2011, but increased with a sharp rate to 7.3% in May 2013, and 6.8% in 2015. It dropped again to 3.9% in March 2018. The state budget deficit was about 2.2% in 2015, well below the norm of 3.0% in the EU. In 2016, the state budget showed a surplus of 0.4%. It was expected to grow to a surplus of over 1.0% in 2017.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: Historically, the Dutch introduced and invented the stock market, which initially focused on merchandise trading through the Dutch East India Company. The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Union, the OECD and the World Trade Organization.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: After declaring its independence from the empire of Philip II of Spain in 1581, the Netherlands experienced almost a century of explosive economic growth. A technological revolution in shipbuilding and trade knowledge and capital, due to Protestant traders of Flanders who fled to the Netherlands, helped the young Republic become the dominant trade power by the mid-17th century. In 1670 the Dutch merchant marine totalled 568,000 tons of shipping—about half the European total. The main reasons for this were the dominance of the Amsterdam Entrepôt in European trade, and that of the Dutch East India Company (or Verenigde Oost-Indische Companie – VOC) and West India Companies in intercontinental trade. Unique was that the V.O.C. was the first multinational, while its shares were traded at the Amsterdam stock exchange, one of the first in the world. Beside trade, an early "industrial revolution" (powered by wind, water and peat), land reclamation from the sea, and agricultural revolution, helped the Dutch economy achieve the highest standard of living in Europe (and presumably the world) by the middle of the 17th century. Affluence facilitated what is known as the Dutch Golden Age. This economic boom abruptly came to an end by a combination of political-military upheavals and adverse economic developments around 1670. Still the Netherlands kept a high level of prosperity, due to trade and agriculture.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: Towards the 1800s, the Netherlands did not industrialize as rapidly as some other countries in Europe. One explanation for this is that the Netherlands were struggling to come to terms with having lost their dominant economical (based mainly on trade and agriculture) and political position in the world. Griffiths argues that government policies made possible a unified Dutch national economy in the 19th century. They included the abolition of internal tariffs and guilds; a unified coinage system; modern methods of tax collection; standardized weights and measures; and the building of many roads, canals, and railroads.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The rest of Europe in the 19th century saw the gradual transformation of the Netherlands into a modern middle-class industrial society. The number of people employed in agriculture decreased while the country made a heroic effort to revive its stake in the highly competitive industrial and trade business. The Netherlands lagged behind Belgium until the late 19th century in industrialization, then caught up by about 1920. Major industries included textiles and (later) the great Philips industrial conglomerate. Rotterdam became a major shipping and manufacturing center. Poverty slowly declined and begging largely disappeared along with steadily improving working conditions for the population.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: Since 1959, the Netherlands discovered large natural gas fields. The export of natural gas led to large windfall profits. However, as an unforeseen consequence, these were believed to have led to a decline in the manufacturing sector in the Netherlands.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: While the private sector is the cornerstone of the Dutch economy, governments at different levels have a large part to play. Public spending, excluding social security transfer payments, was at 28% of GDP in 2011. Total tax revenue was 38.7% of GDP in 2010, which was below the EU average. In addition to its own spending, the government plays a significant role through the permit requirements and regulations pertaining to almost every aspect of economic activity. The government combines a rigorous and stable microeconomic policy with wide-ranging structural and regulatory reforms. The government has gradually reduced its role in the economy since the 1980s. Privatisation and deregulation is still continuing. With regards to social and economic policy, the government cooperates with its so called social partners (trade unions and employers' organizations). The three parties come together in the Social-Economic Council (‘Sociaal Economische Raad’), the main platform for social dialogue.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Dutch social security is very comprehensive, covering Dutch residents in an encompassing manner and is divided into the national security (")" and the employee insurance (")." Whereas the first covers all living in the Netherlands and the social benefits provided, the latter provides employment-related benefits. All living in the Netherlands are required to pay into the social security system, including residents from outside the Netherlands, with a few exceptions.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Volksverzekeringen is compulsory for all and covers the residents under different forms of national insurance:


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: It is overseen by the Social Insurance Bank (" (SVB))" and financed through earning-related contributions of employers and employees up until a maximum income-ceiling. Whilst employed persons get their contribution deducted automatically from their wage, the unemployed pay by themselves. The AKW is financed by employers, whereas the AOW is financed by the employees. The AOW, additionally, is financed by a small government subsidy.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The "Werknemersverzekeringen" is compulsory for all employed people within the Netherlands. It includes the coverage of employees in the following areas:


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The financing for the "Werknemersverkeringe"n is automatically deducted from the employee's income by the employer.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The unemployment benefits in the Netherlands, as set out under the WW, covers almost all employees, that are employees based on a working-contract. Excluded from the WW are the following: self-employed, nationally employed, persons working less than four days a week, heads of stockholders and voluntary workers that earn up to €150 per year.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: To profit from the benefit the unemployed has to submit an application to the Employee Insurance Agency ("Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen (UWV))" within one week of becoming unemployed and additionally has to register as job-seeker. The WW only covers employees with a sufficient work history, meaning that an applicant has to have been working for at least 26 weeks in the past 36 weeks before becoming unemployed. If so, the working-weeks requirement is met. Moreover, the employee is only eligible to unemployment benefits if the unemployment has not been due to his own fault (e.g. own termination of the job contract).


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The benefits received through the WW are earnings-related and amount to a sum of 75% percent of the previous earnings per day (which is based on 5 working days per week) for the duration of two months. After those two months the benefits amount to 70%. Part-time work is taken into account with a calculation of parts of the working hours. If this benefit is less than the minimum income, the unemployed has the possibility of supplementation through the Additional Allowances Act "(Toeslagenwet)" to sum up the amount. All jobs in the previous twelve months are counted in to the calculation of the benefits, if a change of work has taken place. To obtain the benefits for a continued time, the unemployed needs to be actively looking for work. Moreover, one needs to participate in e-coaching three and twelve months after the start of unemployment. After one year of unemployment one must register with an employment agency.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Dutch labour market has relatively strict regulations for employers on firing employees, although by June 2014 the House of Representatives has agreed to loosen these regulations. Due to the costs of employees and costs of firing them, a big part of the working force (about 15% of the working force) is an independent one person company (ZZP). They are independent and get paid by delivery without higher social costs. Another big part of the workforce is hired as temporary workforce. State unemployment benefits in the form of a 70% benefit of the employee's last-earned salary for up to three years (with a maximum of roughly 2500 euros per month) are available for fired employees, provided that they have worked for a certain minimum time period, usually 26 weeks. Moreover, the self-employed individuals (zelfstandigen zonder personeel (ZZP)) are not automatically covered under the "Werknemersverzekeringen", and are not obligated to enroll into unemployment, sickness or disabilities insurance. Self-employed individuals, hence, are required to enroll themselves with private insurance companies.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: Every Dutch citizen gets according to the AOW act of 1956, a state pension, from the age of 65. The act was amended in 2012 that makes the age in several stages up to 67 years in 2024 . Married couples or those who live together receive 50% of minimum wage per person and a single person receives 70% of minimum wage. Most (about 70%) earn an extra pension from private pension funds. Employees are obliged to take part in the sector pension funds. In total the amount of pension funds were at the end of 2009 some 664 billion euro and at the end of 2019 1560 billion euro for something more than 17 million people. Employees receive on average about 70% of their last salary. During the economic crisis and because of low interest rates, pensions funds have had difficulty keeping up with inflation. The Dutch pension system is regarded as one of the best in the world.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: With a Gini coefficient of 25.1 (2013) the income inequality is relatively low in the Netherlands. However, the inequality when measured in distributions of household wealth is high, where the top 1% owns 24% of all net wealth, and the top 10% own 60%. Moreover, rather large wealth disparities persist in the Netherlands in relation to age, where those under 35 years-of-age own 10% as much as older workers. This is a consequence from the low taxation of home ownership and a generous mortgage interest deductibility, which benefit the wealthier households. Due to the generous pensions the pension-related savings are the most important part of wealth in the Netherlands, yet are not subject to capital income taxation, which increases the inequality.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Netherlands was one of the few countries in the world where the interest paid on mortgages is almost fully deductible from income tax. Since 2013 big changes were made. The conditions allowing a borrowing of more than 116% of the value of the home were reduced to 106% and are still continuously being reduced every year. The deduction is also capped to 50.5% and reducing every year. Together with the after-effects of the financial crisis of 2007–2008 the result was a housing crisis, with a decrease of prices almost 25% percent in some areas. Recent years have shown a recovery of 10% to even 20% per year in the most popular cities.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Service sector accounts for more than half of the national income, primarily in transportation, distribution and logistics, financial areas, software development and the creative industry. The breadth of service providers in financial services and a Protestant work ethic have contributed to the Netherlands achieving a DAW Index score of 5 in 2012. Industrial activity is dominated by the machinery, electronics/high tech industry, metalworking, oil refining, chemical, and food-processing industries. Construction amounts to about 6% of GDP. Agriculture and fishing, although visible and traditional Dutch activities, account for just 2%.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Netherlands continues to be one of the leading European nations for attracting foreign direct investment and is one of the five largest investors in the United States. The economy experienced a slowdown in 2005, but in 2006 recovered to the fastest pace in six years on the back of increased exports and strong investment. The pace of job growth reached 10-year highs in 2007. The Netherlands is the fifth-most competitive economy in the world, according to the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The discovery of the large Groningen natural gas field in 1959 and the massive windfalls accrued over subsequent decades, were believed to have led to a decline in the manufacturing sector in the Netherlands, leading to the theory of Dutch disease.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: While its oil reserves in the North Sea are of little importance, the Netherlands have an estimated 25% of natural gas reserves in the EU. Natural gas reserves of the Netherlands are estimated (as of 2014) to be about 600 billion cubic feet, or about 0.3% of the world total. In 2014–2015 the government decided to reduce the production of gas in the province Groningen significantly due to problems of sinking ground, differential settlement levels and tremors (small earth quakes) causing damages to properties, end 2018 the government decided to completely abandon the gas production in the province of Groningen by reducing the production slightly each year, the production is expected to disappear entirely in 2028


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: To reduce its greenhouse emissions, the government of the Netherlands is subsidizing a transition away from natural gas for all homes in the country by 2050.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: Researchers in the Netherlands began studying nuclear energy in the 1930s and began construction of research reactor Dodewaard in 1955. Researchers’ goal was to introduce nuclear power technology by 1962 and replace fossil fuels. In 1968, a test nuclear reactor was attached to the power grid. This unit was shut down in 1997. In the 1970s, the Dutch chose a policy that required reprocessing all spent nuclear fuel. In 1984, the government decided to create a long-term (100 years) storage facility for all intermediate and low-level radioactive waste and research strategies for ultimate disposal. In September 2003, the Central Organization for Radioactive Waste created an interim storage facility for high-level waste. The Netherlands' only commercial nuclear reactor is Borssele, which became operational in 1973 and produces about 4% of the country's electricity. The older Dodewaard nuclear power plant was a test reactor that later got attached to the national grid but was closed in 1997. A 2MW research reactor is located in Delft, as part of the physics department of Delft University of Technology. This reactor is not meant for energy provision, but used as a neutron and positron source for research.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: In 1994, the States General of the Netherlands voted to phase out nuclear power after a discussion of nuclear waste management. In 1997, the power station at Dodewaard was shut down and the government decided it was planning to end Borssele's operating license in 2003. This has since been postponed to 2034, if it complied with the highest safety standards. After the 2010 election, the new government was open to expanding nuclear power. Both of the companies that share ownership of Borssele are proposing to build new reactors. In January 2012, Delta announced it postpones any decision to start building a second nuclear power plant.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: In 2011, the Netherlands was visited by 11.3 million foreign tourists. In 2012, the Dutch tourism industry contributed 5.4% in total to the country's GDP and 9.6% in total to its employment. With its global ranking of 147th and 83rd place for total contribution to respectively GDP and employment, tourism is a relatively small sector of the Dutch economy. North Holland was by far the most popular province for foreign tourists in 2011. Out of all 11.3 million tourists, 6 million visited North Holland. South Holland took the second place with 1.4 million. Germans, Britons and Belgians made up the majority of foreign tourists, respectively 3, 1.5 and 1.4 million. As of 2020, there are nine World Heritage Sites in the Netherlands. The Netherlands are well known for their art and rich historical heritage.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates in 2022–2027). Inflation under 5% is in green.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: The Netherlands is home to several large multinationals. Well-known multinationals are Heineken, Ahold, Philips, TomTom, Randstad and ING, all of which have their headquarters in Amsterdam. Thousands of companies of non-Dutch origin have their headquarters in the Netherlands, like EADS, LyondellBasell and IKEA, because of attractive Corporate tax levels.


title: Economy of the Netherlands

text: In the Netherlands 22,484 deals were conducted between 1985 and 2018. This sums to an overall value of 2,226.6 billion USD. The year with the most deals has been 2000 with 1,169 deals. However, the most value added up in 2007 with almost 394.9 followed by a drastic slump during the world financial crisis.


title: Deflation

text: In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% (a negative inflation rate). Inflation reduces the value of currency over time, but sudden deflation increases it. This allows more goods and services to be bought than before with the same amount of currency. Deflation is distinct from disinflation, a slow-down in the inflation rate, i.e. when inflation declines to a lower rate but is still positive.


title: Deflation

text: Economists generally believe that a sudden deflationary shock is a problem in a modern economy because it increases the real value of debt, especially if the deflation is unexpected. Deflation may also aggravate recessions and lead to a deflationary spiral.


title: Deflation

text: Some economists argue that prolonged deflationary periods are related to the underlying of technological progress in an economy, because as productivity increases (TFP), the cost of goods decreases.


title: Deflation

text: Deflation usually happens when supply is high (when excess production occurs), when demand is low (when consumption decreases), or when the money supply decreases (sometimes in response to a contraction created from careless investment or a credit crunch) or because of a net capital outflow from the economy. It can also occur due to too much competition and too little market concentration.


title: Deflation

text: In the IS–LM model (investment and saving equilibriumliquidity preference and money supply equilibrium model), deflation is caused by a shift in the supply and demand curve for goods and services. This in turn can be caused by an increase in supply, a fall in demand, or both.


title: Deflation

text: When prices are falling, consumers have an incentive to delay purchases and consumption until prices fall further, which in turn reduces overall economic activity. When purchases are delayed, productive capacity is idled and investment falls, leading to further reductions in aggregate demand. This is the deflationary spiral. The way to reverse this quickly would be to introduce an economic stimulus. The government could increase productive spending on things like infrastructure or the central bank could start expanding the money supply.


title: Deflation

text: Deflation is also related to risk aversion, where investors and buyers will start hoarding money because its value is now increasing over time. This can produce a liquidity trap or it may lead to shortages that entice investments yielding more jobs and commodity production. A central bank cannot, normally, charge negative interest for money, and even charging zero interest often produces less stimulative effect than slightly higher rates of interest. In a closed economy, this is because charging zero interest also means having zero return on government securities, or even negative return on short maturities. In an open economy it creates a carry trade, and devalues the currency. A devalued currency produces higher prices for imports without necessarily stimulating exports to a like degree.


title: Deflation

text: Deflation is the natural condition of economies when the supply of money is fixed, or does not grow as quickly as population and the economy. When this happens, the available amount of hard currency per person falls, in effect making money more scarce, and consequently, the purchasing power of each unit of currency increases. Deflation also occurs when improvements in production efficiency lower the overall price of goods. Competition in the marketplace often prompts those producers to apply at least some portion of these cost savings into reducing the asking price for their goods. When this happens, consumers pay less for those goods, and consequently, deflation has occurred, since purchasing power has increased.


title: Deflation

text: Rising productivity and reduced transportation cost created structural deflation during the accelerated productivity era from 1870–1900, but there was mild inflation for about a decade before the establishment of the Federal Reserve in 1913. There was inflation during World War I, but deflation returned again after the war and during the 1930s depression. Most nations abandoned the gold standard in the 1930s so that there is less reason to expect deflation, aside from the collapse of speculative asset classes, under a fiat monetary system with low productivity growth.


title: Deflation

text: In mainstream economics, deflation may be caused by a combination of the supply and demand for goods and the supply and demand for money, specifically the supply of money going down and the supply of goods going up. Historic episodes of deflation have often been associated with the supply of goods going up (due to increased productivity) without an increase in the supply of money, or (as with the Great Depression and possibly Japan in the early 1990s) the demand for goods going down combined with a decrease in the money supply. Studies of the Great Depression by Ben Bernanke have indicated that, in response to decreased demand, the Federal Reserve of the time decreased the money supply, hence contributing to deflation.


title: Deflation

text: Growth deflation is an enduring decrease in the real cost of goods and services as the result of technological progress, accompanied by competitive price cuts, resulting in an increase in aggregate demand.


title: Deflation

text: A structural deflation existed from the 1870s until the cycle upswing that started in 1895. The deflation was caused by the decrease in the production and distribution costs of goods. It resulted in competitive price cuts when markets were oversupplied. The mild inflation after 1895 was attributed to the increase in gold supply that had been occurring for decades. There was a sharp rise in prices during World War I, but deflation returned at the war's end. By contrast, under a fiat monetary system, there was high productivity growth from the end of World War II until the 1960s, but no deflation.


title: Deflation

text: Productivity and deflation are discussed in a 1940 study by the Brookings Institution that gives productivity by major US industries from 1919 to 1939, along with real and nominal wages. Persistent deflation was clearly understood as being the result of the enormous gains in productivity of the period. By the late 1920s, most goods were over supplied, which contributed to high unemployment during the Great Depression.


title: Deflation

text: Hoarders attempt to save more cash by reducing consumption, leading to a decrease in velocity of money.


title: Deflation

text: Bank credit deflation is a decrease in the bank credit supply due to bank failures or increased perceived risk of defaults by private entities or a contraction of the money supply by the central bank.


title: Deflation

text: Debt deflation is a complicated phenomenon associated with the end of long-term credit cycles. It was proposed as a theory by Irving Fisher (1933) to explain the deflation of the Great Depression.


title: Deflation

text: From a monetarist perspective, deflation is caused primarily by a reduction in the velocity of money and/or the amount of money supply per person.


title: Deflation

text: A historical analysis of money velocity and monetary base shows an inverse correlation: for a given percentage decrease in the monetary base the result is a nearly equal percentage increase in money velocity. This is to be expected because monetary base (, velocity of base money (, price level () and real output () are related by definition: . However, it is important to note that the monetary base is a much narrower definition of money than M money supply. Additionally, the velocity of the monetary base is interest-rate sensitive, the highest velocity being at the highest interest rates.


title: Deflation

text: In the early history of the United States, there was no national currency and an insufficient supply of coinage. Banknotes were the majority of the money in circulation. During financial crises, many banks failed and their notes became worthless. Also, banknotes were discounted relative to gold and silver, the discount depended on the financial strength of the bank.


title: Deflation

text: In recent years changes in the money supply have historically taken a long time to show up in the price level, with a rule of thumb lag of at least 18 months. More recently Alan Greenspan cited the time lag as taking between 12 and 13 quarters. Bonds, equities and commodities have been suggested as reservoirs for buffering changes in the money supply.


title: Deflation

text: In modern credit-based economies, deflation may be caused by the central bank "initiating" higher interest rates (i.e., to 'control' inflation), thereby possibly popping an asset bubble. In a credit-based economy, a slow-down or fall in lending leads to less money in circulation, with a further sharp fall in money supply as confidence reduces and velocity weakens, with a consequent sharp fall-off in demand for employment or goods. The fall in demand causes a fall in prices as a supply glut develops. This becomes a deflationary spiral when prices fall below the costs of financing production, or repaying debt levels incurred at the prior price level. Businesses, unable to make enough profit no matter how low they set prices, are then liquidated. Banks get assets that have fallen dramatically in value since their mortgage loan was made, and if they sell those assets, they further glut supply, which only exacerbates the situation. To slow or halt the deflationary spiral, banks will often withhold collecting on non-performing loans (as in Japan, and most recently America and Spain). This is often no more than a stop-gap measure, because they must then restrict credit, since they do not have money to lend, which further reduces demand, and so on.


title: Deflation

text: In the early economic history of the United States, cycles of inflation and deflation correlated with capital flows between regions, with money being loaned from the financial center in the Northeast to the commodity producing regions of the [mid]-West and South. In a procyclical manner, prices of commodities rose when capital was flowing in, that is, when banks were willing to lend, and fell in the depression years of 1818 and 1839 when banks called in loans. Also, there was no national paper currency at the time and there was a scarcity of coins. Most money circulated as banknotes, which typically sold at a discount according to distance from the issuing bank and the bank's perceived financial strength.


title: Deflation

text: When banks failed their notes were redeemed for bank reserves, which often did not result in payment at par value, and sometimes the notes became worthless. Notes of weak surviving banks traded at steep discounts. During the Great Depression, people who owed money to a bank whose deposits had been frozen would sometimes buy bank books (deposits of other people at the bank) at a discount and use them to pay off their debt at par value.


title: Deflation

text: Deflation occurred periodically in the U.S. during the 19th century (the most important exception was during the Civil War). This deflation was at times caused by technological progress that created significant economic growth, but at other times it was triggered by financial crises – notably the Panic of 1837 which caused deflation through 1844, and the Panic of 1873 which triggered the Long Depression that lasted until 1879. These deflationary periods preceded the establishment of the U.S. Federal Reserve System and its active management of monetary matters. Episodes of deflation have been rare and brief since the Federal Reserve was created (a notable exception being the Great Depression) while U.S. economic progress has been unprecedented.


title: Deflation

text: A financial crisis in England in 1818 caused banks to call in loans and curtail new lending, draining specie out of the U.S. The Bank of the United States also reduced its lending. Prices for cotton and tobacco fell. The price of agricultural commodities also was pressured by a return of normal harvests following 1816, the "year without a summer", that caused large scale famine and high agricultural prices.


title: Deflation

text: There were several causes of the deflation of the severe depression of 1839–1843, which included an oversupply of agricultural commodities (importantly cotton) as new cropland came into production following large federal land sales a few years earlier, banks requiring payment in gold or silver, the failure of several banks, default by several states on their bonds and British banks cutting back on specie flow to the U.S.


title: Deflation

text: This cycle has been traced out on a broad scale during the Great Depression. Partly because of overcapacity and market saturation and partly as a result of the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act, international trade contracted sharply, severely reducing demand for goods, thereby idling a great deal of capacity, and setting off a string of bank failures. A similar situation in Japan, beginning with the stock and real estate market collapse in the early 1990s, was arrested by the Japanese government preventing the collapse of most banks and taking over direct control of several in the worst condition.


title: Deflation

text: The United States had no national paper money until 1862 (greenbacks used to fund the Civil War), but these notes were discounted to gold until 1877. There was also a shortage of U.S. minted coins. Foreign coins, such as Mexican silver, were commonly used. At times banknotes were as much as 80% of currency in circulation before the Civil War. In the financial crises of 1818–19 and 1837–1841, many banks failed, leaving their money to be redeemed below par value from reserves. Sometimes the notes became worthless, and the notes of weak surviving banks were heavily discounted. The Jackson administration opened branch mints, which over time increased the supply of coins. Following the 1848 finding of gold in the Sierra Nevada, enough gold came to market to devalue gold relative to silver. To equalize the value of the two metals in coinage, the US mint slightly reduced the silver content of new coinage in 1853.


title: Deflation

text: When structural deflation appeared in the years following 1870, a common explanation given by various government inquiry committees was a scarcity of gold and silver, although they usually mentioned the changes in industry and trade we now call productivity. However, David A. Wells (1890) notes that the U.S. money supply during the period 1879-1889 actually rose 60%, the increase being in gold and silver, which rose against the percentage of national bank and legal tender notes. Furthermore, Wells argued that the deflation only lowered the cost of goods that benefited from recent improved methods of manufacturing and transportation. Goods produced by craftsmen did not decrease in price, nor did many services, and the cost of labor actually increased. Also, deflation did not occur in countries that did not have modern manufacturing, transportation and communications.


title: Deflation

text: By the end of the 19th century, deflation ended and turned to mild inflation. William Stanley Jevons predicted rising gold supply would cause inflation decades before it actually did. Irving Fisher blamed the worldwide inflation of the pre-WWI years on rising gold supply.


title: Deflation

text: In economies with an unstable currency, barter and other alternate currency arrangements such as dollarization are common, and therefore when the 'official' money becomes scarce (or unusually unreliable), commerce can still continue (e.g., most recently in Zimbabwe). Since in such economies the central government is often unable, even if it were willing, to adequately control the internal economy, there is no pressing need for individuals to acquire official currency except to pay for imported goods. In effect, barter acts as a protective tariff in such economies, encouraging local consumption of local production. It also acts as a spur to mining and exploration, because one easy way to make money in such an economy is to dig it out of the ground.


title: Deflation

text: Increasing competition by internal or external economic liberalisation generally has a price-cutting effect. Measures of deregulation like the abolition of (e.g. state-owned) monopolies or the elimination of price maintenance as well as increased free trade can therefore cause deflation as far as a multitude of sectors is affected.


title: Deflation

text: If a country pegs its currency to one of another country that features a higher productivity growth or a more favourable unit cost development, it must – to maintain its competitiveness – either become equally more productive or lower its factor prices (e.g. wages). Cutting factor prices fosters deflation. Monetary unions have a similar effect to currency pegs.


title: Deflation

text: Some believe that, in the absence of large amounts of debt, deflation would be a welcome effect because the lowering of prices increases purchasing power. However, while an increase in the purchasing power of one's money benefits some, it amplifies the sting of debt for others: after a period of deflation, the payments to service a debt represent a larger amount of purchasing power than they did when the debt was first incurred. Consequently, deflation can be thought of as an effective increase in a loan's interest rate. If, as during the Great Depression in the United States, deflation averages 10% per year, even an interest-free loan is unattractive as it must be repaid with money worth 10% more each year.


title: Deflation

text: Under normal conditions, most central banks, such as the Federal Reserve, implement policy by setting a target for a short-term interest rate the overnight federal funds rate in the U.S. and enforcing that target by buying and selling securities in open capital markets. When the short-term interest rate hits zero, the central bank can no longer ease policy by lowering its usual interest-rate target. With interest rates near zero, debt relief becomes an increasingly important tool in managing deflation.


title: Deflation

text: In recent times, as loan terms have grown in length and loan financing (or leveraging) is common among many types of investments, the costs of deflation to borrowers has grown larger.


title: Deflation

text: Deflation can discourage private investment, because there is reduced expectations on future profits when future prices are lower. Consequently, with reduced private investments, spiraling deflation can cause a collapse in aggregate demand. Without the "hidden risk of inflation", it may become more prudent for institutions to hold on to money, and not to spend or invest it (burying money). They are therefore rewarded by saving and holding money. This "hoarding" behavior is seen as undesirable by most economists. Friedrich Hayek, a libertarian Austrian-school economist, wrote that:


title: Deflation

text: Since deflationary periods disfavor debtors (including most farmers), they are often periods of rising populist backlash. For example, in the late 19th century, populists in the US wanted debt relief or to move off the new gold standard and onto a silver standard (the supply of silver was increasing relatively faster than the supply of gold, making silver less deflationary than gold), bimetal standard, or paper fiat money like the greenbacks issued until 1971.


title: Deflation

text: Deflation causes a transfer of wealth from borrowers and holders of illiquid assets, to the benefit of savers and of holders of liquid assets and currency, and because confused price signals cause malinvestment in the form of underinvestment. In this sense, its effects are the opposite of inflation, the effect of which is to transfer wealth from currency holders and lenders (savers) and to borrowers, including governments, and cause overinvestment. Whereas inflation encourages short term consumption and can similarly overstimulate investment in projects that may not be worthwhile in real terms (for example, the dot-com and housing bubbles), deflation reduces investment even when there is a real-world demand not being met. In modern economies, deflation is usually caused by a drop in aggregate demand, and is associated with economic depression, as occurred in the Great Depression and the Long Depression. Deflation was present during most economic depressions in US history.


title: Deflation

text: A "deflationary spiral" is a situation where decreases in the price level lead to lower production, which in turn leads to lower wages and demand, which leads to further decreases in the price level. Since reductions in general price level are called deflation, a deflationary spiral occurs when reductions in price lead to a vicious circle, where a problem exacerbates its own cause. In science, this effect is also known as a positive feedback loop. Another economic example of this situation in economics is the bank run.


title: Deflation

text: The Great Depression was regarded by some as a deflationary spiral. A deflationary spiral is the modern macroeconomic version of the general glut controversy of the 19th century. Another related idea is Irving Fisher's theory that excess debt can cause a continuing deflation.


title: Deflation

text: During severe deflation, targeting an interest rate (the usual method of determining how much currency to create) may be ineffective, because even lowering the short-term interest rate to zero may result in a real interest rate which is too high to attract credit-worthy borrowers. In the 21st-century negative interest rate has been tried, but it cannot be too negative, since people might withdraw cash from bank accounts if they have a negative interest rate. Thus the central bank must directly set a target for the quantity of money (called "quantitative easing") and may use extraordinary methods to increase the supply of money, e.g. purchasing financial assets of a type not usually used by the central bank as reserves (such as mortgage-backed securities). Before he was Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke claimed in 2002, "sufficient injections of money will ultimately always reverse a deflation", although Japan's deflationary spiral was not broken by the amount of quantitative easing provided by the Bank of Japan.


title: Deflation

text: would cure itself. As prices decreased, demand would naturally increase and the economic system would correct itself without outside intervention.


title: Deflation

text: This view was challenged in the 1930s during the Great Depression. Keynesian economists argued that the economic system was not self-correcting with respect to deflation and that governments and central banks had to take active measures to boost demand through tax cuts or increases in government spending. Reserve requirements from the central bank were high compared to recent times. So were it not for redemption of currency for gold (in accordance with the gold standard), the central bank could have effectively increased money supply by simply reducing the reserve requirements and through open market operations (e.g., buying treasury bonds for cash) to offset the reduction of money supply in the private sectors due to the collapse of credit (credit is a form of money).


title: Deflation

text: With the rise of monetarist ideas, the focus in fighting deflation was put on expanding demand by lowering interest rates (i.e., reducing the "cost" of money). This view has received a setback in light of the failure of accommodative policies in both Japan and the US to spur demand after stock market shocks in the early 1990s and in 2000–2002, respectively. Austrian economists worry about the inflationary impact of monetary policies on asset prices. Sustained low real rates can cause higher asset prices and excessive debt accumulation. Therefore, lowering rates may prove to be only a temporary palliative, aggravating an eventual debt deflation crisis.


title: Deflation

text: With interest rates near zero, debt relief becomes an increasingly important tool in managing deflation.


title: Deflation

text: When the central bank has lowered nominal interest rates to zero, it can no longer further stimulate demand by lowering interest rates. This is the famous liquidity trap. When deflation takes hold, it requires "special arrangements" to lend money at a zero nominal rate of interest (which could still be a very high "real" rate of interest, due to the "negative" inflation rate) in order to artificially increase the money supply.


title: Deflation

text: Although the values of capital assets are often casually said to deflate when they decline, this usage is not consistent with the usual definition of deflation; a more accurate description for a decrease in the value of a capital asset is economic depreciation. Another term, the accounting conventions of depreciation are standards to determine a decrease in values of capital assets when market values are not readily available or practical.


title: Deflation

text: The inflation rate of Greece was negative during three years from 2013 to 2015. The same applies to Bulgaria, Cyprus, Spain and Slovakia from 2014 to 2016. Greece, Cyprus, Spain and Slovakia are members of the European monetary union. The Bulgarian currency, the lev, is pegged to the Euro with a fixed exchange rate. In the entire European Union and the Eurozone a disinflationary development was to be observed in the years 2011 to 2015.


title: Deflation

text: Table: Harmonised index of consumer prices. Annual average rate of change (%) (HICP inflation rate). Negative values are highlighted in colour.


title: Deflation

text: Following the Asian financial crisis in late 1997, Hong Kong experienced a long period of deflation which did not end until the fourth quarter of 2004. Many East Asian currencies devalued following the crisis. The Hong Kong dollar, however, was pegged to the US dollar, leading to an adjustment instead by a deflation of consumer prices. The situation was worsened by the increasingly cheap exports from mainland China, and "weak consumer confidence" in Hong Kong. This deflation was accompanied by an economic slump that was more severe and prolonged than those of the surrounding countries that devalued their currencies in the wake of the Asian financial crisis.


title: Deflation

text: In February 2009, Ireland's Central Statistics Office announced that during January 2009, the country experienced deflation, with prices falling by 0.1% from the same time in 2008. This was the first time deflation has hit the Irish economy since 1960. Overall consumer prices decreased by 1.7% in the month.


title: Deflation

text: Brian Lenihan, Ireland's Minister for Finance, mentioned deflation in an interview with RTÉ Radio. According to RTÉ's account, "Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan has said that deflation must be taken into account when Budget cuts in child benefit, public sector pay and professional fees are being considered. Mr Lenihan said month-on-month there has been a 6.6% decline in the cost of living this year."


title: Deflation

text: This interview is notable in that the deflation referred to is not discernibly regarded negatively by the Minister in the interview. The Minister mentions the deflation as an item of data helpful to the arguments for a cut in certain benefits. The alleged economic harm caused by deflation is not alluded to or mentioned by this member of government. This is a notable example of deflation in the modern era being discussed by a senior financial Minister without any mention of how it might be avoided, or whether it should be.


title: Deflation

text: Deflation started in the early 1990s. The Bank of Japan and the government tried to eliminate it by reducing interest rates and 'quantitative easing', but did not create a sustained increase in broad money and deflation persisted. In July 2006, the zero-rate policy was ended.


title: Deflation

text: In November 2009, Japan returned to deflation, according to "The Wall Street Journal". Bloomberg L.P. reports that consumer prices fell in October 2009 by a near-record 2.2%. It was not until 2014 that new economic policies laid out by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe finally allowed for significant levels of inflation to return. However, the Covid-19 recession once again led to deflation in 2020, with consumer good prices quickly falling, prompting heavy government stimulus worth over 20% of GDP.


title: Deflation

text: During World War I the British pound sterling was removed from the gold standard. The motivation for this policy change was to finance World War I; one of the results was inflation, and a rise in the gold price, along with the corresponding drop in international exchange rates for the pound. When the pound was returned to the gold standard after the war it was done on the basis of the pre-war gold price, which, since it was higher than equivalent price in gold, required prices to fall to realign with the higher target value of the pound.


title: Deflation

text: The first and most severe was during the depression in 1818–1821 when prices of agricultural commodities declined by almost 50%. A credit contraction caused by a financial crisis in England drained specie out of the U.S. The Bank of the United States also contracted its lending. The price of agricultural commodities fell by almost 50% from the high in 1815 to the low in 1821, and did not recover until the late 1830s, although to a significantly lower price level. Most damaging was the price of cotton, the U.S.'s main export. Food crop prices, which had been high because of the famine of 1816 that was caused by the year without a summer, fell after the return of normal harvests in 1818. Improved transportation, mainly from turnpikes, and to a minor extent the introduction of steamboats, significantly lowered transportation costs.


title: Deflation

text: The second was the depression of the late 1830s to 1843, following the Panic of 1837, when the currency in the United States contracted by about 34% with prices falling by 33%. The magnitude of this contraction is only matched by the Great Depression. (See: .) This "deflation" satisfies both definitions, that of a decrease in prices and a decrease in the available quantity of money. Despite the deflation and depression, GDP rose 16% from 1839 to 1843.


title: Deflation

text: The third was after the Civil War, sometimes called The Great Deflation. It was possibly spurred by return to a gold standard, retiring paper money printed during the Civil War.


title: Deflation

text: The fourth was in 1930–1933 when the rate of deflation was approximately 10 percent/year, part of the United States' slide into the Great Depression, where banks failed and unemployment peaked at 25%.


title: Deflation

text: The deflation of the Great Depression occurred partly because there was an enormous contraction of credit (money), bankruptcies creating an environment where cash was in frantic demand, and when the Federal Reserve was supposed to accommodate that demand, it instead contracted the money supply by 30% in enforcement of its new real bills doctrine, so banks failed one by one (because they were unable to meet the sudden demand for cash see Bank run). From the standpoint of the Fisher equation (see above), there was a simultaneous drop both in money supply (credit) and the velocity of money which was so profound that price deflation took hold despite the increases in money supply spurred by the Federal Reserve.


title: Deflation

text: Throughout the history of the United States, inflation has approached zero and dipped below for short periods of time. This was quite common in the 19th century, and in the 20th century until the permanent abandonment of the gold standard for the Bretton Woods system in 1948. In the past 60 years, the United States has only experienced deflation two times; in 2009 with the Great Recession and in 2015, when the CPI barely broke below 0% at −0.1%.


title: Deflation

text: Some economists believe the United States may have experienced deflation as part of the financial crisis of 2007–2010; compare the theory of debt deflation. Year-on-year, consumer prices dropped for six months in a row to end-August 2009, largely due to a steep decline in energy prices. Consumer prices dropped 1 percent in October 2008. This was the largest one-month fall in prices in the US since at least 1947. That record was again broken in November 2008 with a 1.7% decline. In response, the Federal Reserve decided to continue cutting interest rates, down to a near-zero range as of December 16, 2008.


title: Deflation

text: In late 2008 and early 2009, some economists feared the US could enter a deflationary spiral. Economist Nouriel Roubini predicted that the United States would enter a deflationary recession, and coined the term "stag-deflation" to describe it. It is the opposite of stagflation, which was the main fear during the spring and summer of 2008. The United States then began experiencing measurable deflation, steadily decreasing from the first measured deflation of −0.38% in March, to July's deflation rate of −2.10%. On the wage front, in October 2009 the state of Colorado announced that its state minimum wage, which is indexed to inflation, was set to be cut, which would be the first time a state has cut its minimum wage since 1938.


title: Greek words for love

text: Ancient Greek philosophy differentiates main conceptual forms and distinct words for the Modern English word love: "agápē", "érōs", "philía", "philautía", "storgē", and "xenía".


title: Greek words for love

text: Though there are more Greek words for love, variants and possibly subcategories, a general summary considering these Ancient Greek concepts is as follows:


title: Hellhound

text: A hellhound is a mythological hound that embodies a guardian or a servant of hell, the devil, or the underworld. Hellhounds occur in mythologies around the world, with the best known examples being Cerberus from Greek mythology, Garmr from Norse mythology, the black dogs of English folklore, and the fairy hounds of Celtic mythology. Physical characteristics vary, but they are commonly black, anomalously overgrown, supernaturally strong, and often have red eyes or accompanied by flames.


title: Hellhound

text: ' ("Old Red Eyes") or the ""Beast of Flanders"" was a demon reported in Flanders, Belgium in the 18th century who would take the form of a large black hound with fiery red eyes. In Wallonia, the southern region of Belgium, folktales mentioned the ' ("Chained Hound" in Walloon), a hellhound with a long chain, that was thought to roam in the fields at night.


title: Hellhound

text: In France in AD 856 a black hound was said to materialize in a church even though the doors were shut. The church grew dark as it padded up and down the aisle as if looking for someone. The dog then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. On mainland Normandy the "" wanders the streets of Bayeux on winter nights as a phantom dog, gnawing on bones and dragging chains along with it. In Lower Brittany there are stories of a ghost ship crewed by the souls of criminals with hellhounds set to guard them and inflict on them a thousand tortures.


title: Hellhound

text: In Germany, it was believed that the devil would appear as a black hellhound, especially on Walpurgisnacht.


title: Hellhound

text: In Greek mythology, Cerberus, often referred to as the hound of Hades, is a multi-headed dog that guards the gates of the Underworld to prevent the dead from leaving. He was the offspring of the monsters Echidna and Typhon and was usually described as having three heads, a serpent for a tail, and snakes protruding from multiple parts of his body.


title: Hellhound

text: In Norse mythology, Garmr or Garm (Old Norse for "rag") is a wolf or dog associated with both the Goddess Hel and Ragnarök and described as a blood-stained guardian of Hel's gate.


title: Hellhound

text: In Catalan myth, Dip is an evil, black, hairy hound, an emissary of the Devil, who sucks people's blood. Like other figures associated with demons in Catalan myth, he is lame in one leg. Dip is pictured on the escutcheon of Pratdip.


title: Hellhound

text: The myth is common across Great Britain in the form of the "black dogs" of English folklore. The earliest written record of the "hellhound" is in the 11th and 12th Century Peterborough version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which speaks of a "wild hunt" through the forest between Peterborough and Stamford.


title: Hellhound

text: The gwyllgi (compound noun of either gwyllt "wild" or gwyll "twilight" + ci "dog") is a mythical black dog from Wales that appears as an English mastiff with baleful breath and blazing red eyes.


title: Hellhound

text: In Welsh mythology and folklore, Cŵn Annwn (; "hounds of Annwn") were the spectral hounds of Annwn, the otherworld of Welsh myth. They were associated with a form of the Wild Hunt, presided over by Gwynn ap Nudd (rather than Arawn, king of Annwn in the First Branch of the Mabinogi). Christians came to dub these mythical creatures as "The Hounds of Hell" or "Dogs of Hell" and theorized they were therefore owned by Satan. However, the Annwn of medieval Welsh tradition is an otherworldly paradise and not a hell or abode of dead souls.


title: Hellhound

text: In Wales, they were associated with migrating geese, supposedly because their honking in the night is reminiscent of barking dogs. They are supposed to hunt on specific nights (the eves of St. John, St. Martin, Saint Michael the Archangel, All Saints, Christmas, New Year, Saint Agnes, Saint David, and Good Friday), or just in the autumn and winter. Some say Arawn only hunts from Christmas to Twelfth Night. The Cŵn Annwn also came to be regarded as the escorts of souls on their journey to the Otherworld. The hounds are sometimes accompanied by a fearsome hag called Mallt-y-Nos, "Matilda of the Night". An alternative name in Welsh folklore is Cŵn Mamau ("Hounds of the Mothers").


title: Hellhound

text: Black hellhounds with fiery eyes are reported throughout Latin America from Mexico to Argentina under a variety of names including the Perro Negro (Spanish for black dog), Nahual (Mexico), Huay Chivo, and Huay Pek (Mexico) – alternatively spelled Uay/Way/Waay Chivo/Pek, Cadejo (Central America), the dog Familiar (Argentina) and the Lobizon (Paraguay and Argentina). They are usually said to be either incarnations of the Devil or a shape-changing sorcerer.


title: Hellhound

text: The legend of a hellhound has persisted in Meriden, Connecticut since the 19th century. The dog is said to haunt the Hanging Hills: a series of rock ridges and gorges that serve as a popular recreation area and can also be known as a protector of the supernatural. The first non-local account came from W. H. C. Pychon in "The Connecticut Quarterly", in which it is described as a death omen. It is said that, "If you meet the Black Dog once, it shall be for joy; if twice, it shall be for sorrow; and the third time shall bring death."


title: Hellhound

text: The term is also common in American blues music, such as with Robert Johnson's 1937 song, "Hellhound on My Trail"


title: Hellhound

text: Jinn, although not necessarily evil, but often thought of as malevolent entities, are thought to use black dogs as their mounts. The negative depiction of dogs probably derives from their close association with "eating the dead" (relishing bones) and digging out graves. The jinn likewise is often said to roam around graveyards and eating corpses. These characteristics relates them to each other.


title: Hellhound

text: The "Mahākanha Jātaka" of the Buddhist Pali Canon includes a story about a black hound named "Mahākanha" (Pali; lit. "Great black"). Led by the god Śakra in the guise of a forester, Mahākanha scares unrighteous people toward righteousness so that fewer people will be reborn in hell.


title: Hellhound

text: His appearance portends the moral degeneration of the human world, when monks and nuns do not behave as they should and humanity has gone astray from ethical livelihood.


title: Hellhound

text: In Japanese folklore, the (lit. "escorting dog") is a yōkai that resembles a dog. The okuri-inu closely stalks and follows people who are walking along mountain paths in nighttime. If by chance the person falls over they will be immediately eaten up, but if they pretend to be having a short rest they will not be attacked.


title: Hellhound

text: In the "Dungeons & Dragons" fantasy roleplaying game, the hell hound is a hyena-like creature which can breathe fire and hunts in packs. It is classified as an outsider from the Nine Hells.


title: Hellhound

text: The hell hound was introduced to the game in its first supplement, "Greyhawk" (1975). The hell hound appeared in the "D&D Basic Set" (1977), the "D&D Expert Set" (1981, 1983). and the "Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia" (1991). The hell hound appears in the first edition "Monster Manual". The "Monster Manual" was reviewed by Don Turnbull in the British magazine "White Dwarf" #8 (August/September 1978). As part of his review, Turnbull comments on several monsters appearing in the book, noting that the breath weapon of the "much-feared" hell hound has been altered from its previous appearance. The hell hound appeared in second edition in the "Monstrous Compendium Volume Two" (1989), and reprinted in the "Monstrous Manual" (1993). The hell hound appeared in the third edition "Monster Manual" (2000), and in the 3.5 revised "Monster Manual" (2003) with the Nessian warhound. The hell hound appears in the fourth edition "Monster Manual" for this edition, under the Hound entry.


title: Hellhound

text: A hellhound resembles a mangy, skinny, somewhat demonic hyena-like creature with red eyes and draconic ears. It has the ability to breathe fire. However, the Fourth Edition depicts them as nearly skeletal canines wreathed in flame. The hell hound enjoys causing pain and suffering and it hunts accordingly. A favorite pack tactic is to silently surround prey, and then cause two hell hounds to close in and make the victim back into another hell hound's fiery breath. They will attack with their claws and teeth if they have to. If the prey manages to escape, the hell hounds will pursue it relentlessly. Hell hounds are also quick and agile. Another type of hell hound is the Nessian warhound. Nessian warhounds are coal black mastiffs the size of draft horses, and are often fitted with shirts of infernal chainmail. Hell hounds cannot speak, but understand Infernal.


title: Hellhound

text: The hell hound was ranked ninth among the ten best low-level monsters by the authors of "Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies". The authors described them as the "first serious representative of a class of monsters your players will be fighting against for their whole careers: evil outsiders," and that they are interesting because they "introduce players to monsters with an area-effect attack (their fiery breath)."


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed by Los Angeles. Venice is known for its canals, a beach, and Ocean Front Walk, a pedestrian promenade that features performers, fortune-tellers, and vendors.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: In 1839, a region called La Ballona that included the southern parts of Venice, was granted by the Mexican government to Ygnacio and Augustin Machado and Felipe and Tomas Talamantes, giving them title to Rancho La Ballona. Later this became part of Port Ballona.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: Venice, originally called "Venice of America", was founded by wealthy developer Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a beach resort town, west of Los Angeles. He and his partner Francis Ryan had bought of ocean-front property south of Santa Monica in 1891. They built a resort town on the north end of the property, called Ocean Park, which was soon annexed to Santa Monica. After Ryan died, Kinney and his new partners continued building south of Navy Street. After the partnership dissolved in 1904, Kinney, who had won the marshy land on the south end of the property in a coin flip with his former partners, began to build a seaside resort like the namesake Italian city.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: When Venice of America opened on July 4, 1905, Kinney had dug several miles of canals to drain the marshes for his residential area, built a pier with an auditorium, ship restaurant, and dance hall, constructed a hot salt-water plunge, and built a block-long arcaded business street with Venetian architecture. Kinney hired artist Felix Peano to design the columns of the buildings. Included in the capitals are several faces, modeled after Kinney and a woman named Nettie Bouck.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: Tourists, mostly arriving on the "Red Cars" of the Pacific Electric Railway from Los Angeles and Santa Monica, then rode the Venice Miniature Railway and gondolas to tour the town. The biggest attraction was Venice's gently-sloping beach. Cottages and housekeeping tents were available for rent.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: The population (3,119 residents in 1910) soon exceeded 10,000; the town drew 50,000 to 150,000 tourists on weekends.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: Attractions on the Kinney Pier became more amusement-oriented by 1910, when a Venice Miniature Railway, Aquarium, Virginia Reel, Whip, Racing Derby, and other rides and game booths were added. Since the business district was allotted only three one-block-long streets, and the City Hall was more than a mile away, other competing business districts developed. Unfortunately, this created a fractious political climate. Kinney, however, governed with an iron hand and kept things in check. When he died in November 1920, Venice became harder to govern. With the amusement pier burning six weeks later in December 1920, and Prohibition (which had begun the previous January), the town's tax revenue was severely affected.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: The Kinney family rebuilt their amusement pier quickly to compete with Ocean Park's Pickering Pleasure Pier and the new Sunset Pier. When it opened it had two roller coasters, a new Racing Derby, a Noah's Ark, a Mill Chutes, and many other rides. By 1925, with the addition of a third coaster, a tall Dragon Slide, Fun House, and Flying Circus aerial ride, it was the finest amusement pier on the West Coast. Several hundred thousand tourists visited on weekends. In 1923, Charles Lick built the Lick Pier at Navy Street in Venice, adjacent to the Ocean Park Pier at Pier Avenue in Ocean Park. Another pier was planned for Venice in 1925 at Leona Street (now Washington Street). For the amusement of the public, Kinney hired aviators to do aerial stunts over the beach. One of them, movie aviator and Venice airport owner B. H. DeLay, implemented the first lighted airport in the United States on DeLay Field (previously known as Ince Field). After a marine rescue attempt was thwarted, he organized the first aerial police force in the nation. DeLay performed many of the world's first aerial stunts for motion pictures in Venice.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: By 1925, Venice's politics had become unmanageable because its roads, water and sewage systems badly needed repair and expansion to keep up with its growing population. When it was proposed that Venice consolidate with Los Angeles, the board of trustees voted to hold an election. Consolidation was approved at the election in November 1925, and Venice was merged with Los Angeles in 1926.


title: Venice, Los Angeles

text: Many streets were paved in 1929, following a three-year court battle led by canal residents. Afterward, the Department of Recreation and Parks intended to close three amusement piers, but had to wait until the first of the tidelands leases expired in 1946.