title: Relayer

text: Reduced to a four-piece, Yes retreated to Farmyard Studios, owned by drummer Trevor Morais, in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, and started working on new songs. After some material had been written, auditions for a new keyboardist began which involved about eight players, including Jean Roussel, Eddie Jobson, Nick Glennie-Smith of Wally, and Greek musician and composer Vangelis. Others were flown in from the US and Germany. Anderson had become a fan of Vangelis and visited his Paris flat when Yes were in town performing "Tales from Topographic Oceans". Vangelis agreed to an audition, but Yes found he was non-committal to the role and too strong a personality for a group. Phil Carson, an Atlantic Records manager and associate of the band, said that Vangelis "tried out Yes but it didn't really gel ... Vangelis wouldn't get on a plane and wouldn't fly anywhere and Yes were about to go on tour." The possibility of Vangelis joining the band was also affected by a rejection from the Musicians Union. Soon after, "Melody Maker" reporter and band biographer Chris Welch suggested that the band try Patrick Moraz, a Swiss musician and film composer with a background in jazz and classical music, and a member of the progressive and jazz fusion trio Refugee. Less than a week later, Moraz accepted an invitation from Brian Lane, the band's manager, to an audition. Moraz was a fan of the band and had previously met them during their tour of Switzerland in 1969.


title: Relayer

text: Moraz auditioned with Yes during the first week of August 1974. He arrived at Farmyard Studios early and saw each member arrive in his own expensive car. He said: "Coming from Refugee, where we had been walking three miles to and from our rehearsal place ... it was quite a contrast!" Moraz auditioned with Vangelis's keyboards, which were still situated in the studio. After tuning up, he played some parts to display his ability, including a short section of "And You and I" from "Close to the Edge" (1972), causing the band to stop talking and gather around him. Moraz's first task was to devise a section to complement what they had written for the middle section of "Sound Chaser". The band liked what Moraz had played, and the following day, Lane informed him that Yes wished for him to join full-time. Moraz felt some pressure to deliver, and drove from his flat in Earl's Court, near central London to the studio each day to record.


title: Relayer

text: "Relayer" was recorded at Squire's home named New Pipers in Virginia Water, Surrey, which he had purchased in Christmas 1972, and converted his garage into a recording studio. This marked the first time Yes had made an album outside of London, and the location saved the group money as they no longer needed to pay for time in a professional studio which allowed them to concentrate their efforts on the music. It is their last album of the 1970s to feature Eddy Offord as co-producer before he left to work with other bands. Having worked with Yes as their producer, engineer, and live sound mixer since 1970, Offord later stated that his time with the group had become "a bit stale" by the time of "Relayer". As Squire's studio did not yet have the right equipment to record, Offord set up a 24-track recording machine and mixing desk using his own mobile equipment, and had Gennaro Rippo as tape operator. The album's production duties were shared by Offord and the group. After the album was recorded, it was mixed at Advision Studios in London.


title: Relayer

text: Having made "Tales from Topographic Oceans", a double concept album, Yes scaled back their output and presented "Relayer" as a single album with a structure similar to "Close to the Edge", with one track occupying side one and two tracks on side two. According to Anderson, the band wrote two additional tracks during the album's sessions but did not have enough time to record them. He described one of them as "absolutely crazy and intricate". For the majority of his parts recorded for the album, Moraz did not write the music on paper and instead relied on his memory except for some particularly precise sections. Recording sessions would last for as long as eight or nine hours.


title: Relayer

text: Howe uses a 1955 Fender Telecaster on "Relayer", marking a departure from his Gibson ES-175 that he had used since "The Yes Album" (1971). He also uses a pedal steel guitar. Squire uses a Fender Jazz Bass on "To Be Over". Moraz uses a number of keyboards that are not found on other Yes albums.


title: Relayer

text: "The Gates of Delirium" is a 22-minute track that Anderson described as "a war song, a battle scene, but it's not to explain war or denounce it ... There's a prelude, a charge, a victory tune, and peace at the end, with hope for the future." Anderson had originally planned to have the entire album based on "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy, but instead had a side-long track inspired by the novel. Moraz recalled discussing "War and Peace" with Anderson, as they had both read the book, after which Moraz showed Anderson a copy of the French science fiction comic "Delirius" by Philippe Druillet. Moraz said, "He related to it immediately so I think that perhaps as a title 'The Gates of Delirium' came from that". The song originated from an idea that Anderson had come up with and played to the group on the piano "very badly", so he was relieved when his bandmates understood what he was trying to do. Anderson and Howe kept track of its structure by recording sections of it on cassette tapes, leaving Anderson to figure out the next part as the group would develop what was put down prior. The song was recorded in sections at a time, though the group was familiar with the entire piece beforehand and spent several weeks recording takes of each section and selecting the ones the members felt were the strongest. Once picked, the sections were edited together and overdubs were then recorded. The battle section includes crashing sound effects that were created by White pushing over a tower of used car parts that he and Anderson had collected from a scrap yard. Howe remembered Anderson becoming too excited in what he envisaged the battle to be, leading the group to produce one mix that was "too far gone" and another "too safe". Following the battle, the track concludes with a gentle song that later became known as "Soon". Anderson later thought that the song did not come across effectively on record, but fared better in concert.


title: Relayer

text: "Sound Chaser" displays Yes' experiment with jazz fusion and funk influences. During Moraz's audition session with the band, he was asked to play an introduction to the song, which was recorded and used on the album after "one or two takes". He has called his Moog synthesizer solo at the end of the track a highlight moment but felt that the keyboards on the rest of the album were buried in the final mix. Howe thought the track was "an indescribable mixture of Patrick's jazzy keyboards and my weird sort of flamenco electric [guitar]", yet he disliked Moraz's initial choice of chords he played during his guitar solo, causing Moraz to play it differently, which he disagreed with. Band biographer Dan Hedges compared the track to the style of fusion group Return to Forever.


title: Relayer

text: "To Be Over" originated when Anderson spent an afternoon at Howe's house in London. As the two discussed what music to prepare for the album, Anderson told Howe of his fondness for a melody Howe had written and had sung to Anderson before. Anderson also had the initial lyric: "We'll go sailing down the stream tomorrow, floating down the universal stream, to be over". Howe gained inspiration for the track from a boat ride on The Serpentine lake in Hyde Park in London. From the beginning, he thought the song was "really special" and Anderson agreed to develop it further. Howe had come up with the music for this particular section in the late 1960s and took a riff from a track by his earlier group, Tomorrow. Anderson described "To Be Over" as "Strong in content, but mellow in overall attitude ... It's about how you should look after yourself when things go wrong." When the song's lyric was being finalised, Howe suggested having the line "She won't know what it means to me" follow "We go sailing down the calming streams", but Anderson changed it to "To be over, we will see", a change that Howe thought was "creatively disguised" to make a broader lyrical statement. Moraz felt constricted to perform an improvised keyboard solo for the song, so he wrote down a counterpoint solo "exactly like a classical fugue" to blend his keyboards with the guitar and bass. He had written an initial version on paper in an evening, yet the band expressed their wish to change the key of the song for the section, causing Moraz to spend several hours rewriting it overnight.


title: Relayer

text: The album's sleeve was designed and illustrated by English artist Roger Dean, who had designed artwork for the band since 1971, including their logo. In his 1975 book "Views", Dean picked the cover as his favourite for Yes, and the recording he enjoyed the most. He revealed his intention of depicting "a giant 'gothic' cave" for the sleeve, "a sort of fortified city for military monks". The painting originated from a watercolour sketch Dean had done while studying in college. Speaking about the cover in 2004, he said: "I was playing with the ideas of the ultimate castle, the ultimate wall of a fortified city. That was more of a fantastical idea. I was looking for the kinds of things like the Knights Templar would have made or what you'd see in the current movie "Lord of the Rings". The curving, swirling cantilevers right into space." The images depicted in many of Dean's album covers set an otherworldly tone and are an identifiable part of the band's visual style. For "Relayer", the warriors on horseback reflect the lyrical themes of war present in "The Gates of Delirium". The sleeve includes an untitled four-stanza poem by writer Donald Lehmkuhl dated October 1974, and features a band photograph taken by Moraz's former Mainhorse bandmate, Jean Ristori. The album's CD reissue features two additional paintings, and further unused designs are included in Dean's 2008 book "Dragon's Dream". At the 1975 edition of the NME Awards, the album won Best Dressed LP.


title: Relayer

text: Dean has said that "The Gates of Delirium" may be his favourite Yes track and that he felt the album should have been named after it. By 2020, the painting had been on sale for $6 million.


title: Relayer

text: "Relayer" was released in the UK in November 1974 on LP, audio cassette, and 8-track tape, followed by its release in the US on 5 December 1974. It continued the band's commercial success during the 1970s, reaching number 4 on the UK Albums Chart and number 5 on the US "Billboard" Top LPs chart. Less than two weeks after its release in the US, the album reached gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America on 18 December 1974 for over 500,000 copies sold. A single of the closing section of "The Gates of Delirium", titled "Soon" (From "The Gates of Delirium"), was released as a single on 8 January 1975, with an edited version of "Sound Chaser" on its B-side.


title: Relayer

text: "Relayer" received a mostly positive reaction from music critics. Music journalist and author Chris Welch gave a positive review for "Melody Maker", praising the album as "one of the most successful and satisfying Yes albums". He described "The Gates of Delirium" as a "powerful piece ... and benefits by the time structures imposed by this single album." Welch continued to note the band "at their best, creating tension and release with consummate ease, and preparing the way for Jon's crystalline vocals" at the end of the battle section which segues into "Soon". In its December 1974 review, "Billboard" magazine called "Relayer" "another nearly flawless effort" by Yes and noted Moraz "fits in perfectly". It concluded with "one of the simpler, yet at the same time, one of the most workable sets the band has come up with." Those who gave the album a negative review thought it was the follow-up to "Tales from Topographic Oceans" (1973), an album they felt was pretentious and overblown.


title: Relayer

text: In a retrospective review, AllMusic rated the album three stars out of five, stating Yes had "little incentive to curb their musical ambitiousness" at the time, the album "alternated abrasive, rhythmically dense instrumental sections featuring solos for the various instruments with delicate vocal and choral sections featuring poetic lyrics devoted to spiritual imagery."


title: Relayer

text: Howe described the music on "Relayer" as "very modern, European style of music, and Patrick brought in a South American flavour as well. It was a very international record". Squire thought some of the interaction between his bass and White's drums was better than anything heard on previous Yes albums at that point. Moraz summarised the album's recording as "pretty loose, but the energy is there". Upon its release, Wakeman was asked to review it for the BBC and felt pleased that the band had made it as it was "far too jazzy and freeform, which I didn't like". Had the group recorded music more melodic and thematic, he would have felt angry as it would have been the direction that he thought Yes should have adopted. "I'm pleased I made the right decision to leave the band when I did".


title: Relayer

text: "Relayer" was first reissued on CD in 1988 on the Atlantic in Europe and the US. The CD mastering has been attributed to Zal Schreiber, one of Atlantic's in-house CD mastering engineers at the time. In 1998, a mini-sleeve HDCD version mastered by Isao Kikuchi was released in Japan . In 2003, the album was digitally remastered on Rhino and Elektra Records by George Marino at Sterling Sound. This version included single edits of "Soon" and "Sound Chaser" and a studio run-through of "The Gates of Delirium" with less keyboards and alternate song structures in parts but an identical "battle" section as heard in the final version. 2009 saw the album remastered by Isao Kikuchi for the Japanese market. The 2003 remastered edition was included in the band's "The Studio Albums 1969–1987" box set, released in 2013.


title: Relayer

text: In November 2014, "Relayer" was reissued as CD/DVD-Audio and CD/Blu-ray disc packs on the Panegyric label with new stereo and 5.1 surround sound mixes by Steven Wilson. The packs feature bonus tracks including an original master transfer and studio run-through versions of each track. The Blu-ray pack includes an instrumental mix of the album. This remaster does not include the sound effects heard in the middle section of "The Gates of Delirium" as they were not part of the original multi-track masters. Wilson hypothesised that they were added during the final mixdown of the album from a separate tape source.


title: Relayer

text: Yes supported "Relayer" with their 1974–1975 tour of North America and the UK that lasted from 8 November 1974 to 23 August 1975, with the album played in its entirety. The tour culminated with a headline spot at the 1975 Reading Festival. Most dates featured the English band Gryphon as the opening act. Rehearsals lasted for several weeks at Shepperton Studios, Surrey with Offord on sound, stage lighting by their longtime associate Michael Tait, and the set designed by Roger Dean and his brother Martyn.


title: Relayer

text: The tour opened with a 31-date leg of the US, for which Moraz had about six weeks to familiarise himself with the setlist and made use of his 90-minute drive from his London flat to Squire's home to learn it. Ristori assisted by transcribing Yes songs onto paper, forming what Moraz described as "memory sheets", because of the amount and the complexity of some of his parts. He relied on the sheets for the first few shows on the tour, yet by the time the tour reached Madison Square Garden in New York City less than two weeks later, Moraz realised he had learned the set and stopped using them. The show was a highlight for him: "We had a standing ovation for several minutes. The noise was absolutely unbelievable." His rig included 14 keyboards on stage, double the number he had previously worked with. Future Yes singer and producer Trevor Horn, a fan of the band, attended their show on the UK leg and recalled the performance of "The Gates of Delirium": "It got to the end and Jon sang 'Soon' ... I felt like crying. It got me so much. I loved that song so much". Yes took an extended hiatus after the tour for each member to produce a solo album.


title: Relayer

text: Yes originally planned to conduct a European tour in 2020 that continued their Album Series Tour and featured "Relayer" performed in its entirety. In March 2020, both tours were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On 23 March 2021, Yes announced that the "Relayer" tour would be postponed yet again and rescheduled for 2022. By March 2022, the band announced that they would instead dedicate the UK and Ireland leg of the tour to their album "Close to the Edge" in honor of the 50th anniversary of its release. The UK dates were eventually scheduled for June 2023.


title: Flow battery

text: A flow battery, or redox flow battery (after reduction–oxidation), is a type of electrochemical cell where chemical energy is provided by two chemical components dissolved in liquids that are pumped through the system on separate sides of a membrane. Ion transfer inside the cell (accompanied by flow of electric current through an external circuit) occurs through the membrane while both liquids circulate in their own respective space. Cell voltage is chemically determined by the Nernst equation and ranges, in practical applications, from 1.0 to 2.43 volts. The energy capacity is a function of the electrolyte volume and the power is a function of the surface area of the electrodes.


title: Flow battery

text: A flow battery may be used like a fuel cell (where the spent fuel is extracted and new fuel is added to the system) or like a rechargeable battery (where an electric power source drives regeneration of the fuel). While flow batteries have certain technical advantages over conventional rechargeable batteries with solid electroactive materials, such as independent scaling of power ( determined by the size of the stack) and of energy (determined by the size of the tanks), long cycle and calendar life, potentially lower total cost of ownership,


title: Flow battery

text: all flow batteries suffer from inferior cycle energy efficiency (50-80%) compared to lithium-ion batteries. This inferior energy efficiency stems from the need to operate flow batteries at high (>= 100 mA/cm2) current densities to reduce the effect of the internal crossover (through the membrane/separator inside each cell) and to reduce the cost of power (size of stacks).


title: Flow battery

text: Zinc-bromine flow battery is the oldest flow battery chemistry, with John Doyle’s patent US224404 filed on September 29, 1879.


title: Flow battery

text: Zn-Br2 flow batteries have relatively high specific energy, and they were demonstrated as power sources for electric cars in the 1970's. Walther Kangro, an Estonian chemist working in Germany, was the first to demonstrate in the 1950’s flow batteries based fully on dissolved transition metal ions: Ti-Fe and Cr-Fe. After some initial experimentations with Ti-Fe RFB NASA and some other groups in Japan and elsewhere selected Cr-Fe chemistry for further development. In order to reduce the effect of time-varying concentration during RFB cycling, mixed solutions (i.e. comprising both chromium and iron species in the negolyte and in the posolyte) were used. Among disadvantages of the Cr-Fe chemistry are: hydrate isomerism (i.e. the equilibrium between electrochemically active Cr3+ chloro-complexes and inactive hexa-aqua complex, which is can be alleviated by adding chelating amino-ligands) and hydrogen evolution on the negode (which is mitigated by adding Pb salts for increasing the H2 overvoltage and Au salts for catalyzing the chromium electrode reaction).


title: Flow battery

text: In the late 1980’s Sum, Rychcik and Skyllas-Kazacos at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Australia demonstrated the advantages of all-vanadium RFB chemistry, such as the existence of four oxidation states within the electrochemical voltage window of the graphite-aqueous acid interface, and thus the elimination of the mixing dilution, detrimental in Cr-Fe RFBs. UNSW filed several patents related to VRFBs, that were later licensed to Japanese, Thai and Canadian corporations, which tried to commercialize this technology with variable success. In 2022, Dalian, China began operating a 400 MWh, 100 MW vanadium flow battery, then the largest of its type.


title: Flow battery

text: A flow battery is a rechargeable fuel cell in which an electrolyte containing one or more dissolved electroactive elements flows through an electrochemical cell that reversibly converts chemical energy directly to electricity. Electroactive elements are "elements in solution that can take part in an electrode reaction or that can be adsorbed on the electrode." Additional electrolyte is stored externally, generally in tanks, and is usually pumped through the cell (or cells) of the reactor, although gravity feed systems are also known. Flow batteries can be rapidly "recharged" by replacing the electrolyte liquid (in a similar way to refilling fuel tanks for internal combustion engines) while simultaneously recovering the spent material for recharging. Many flow batteries use carbon felt electrodes due to its low cost and adequate electrical conductivity, although these electrodes somewhat limit power density due to their low inherent activity toward many redox couples.


title: Flow battery

text: In other words, a flow battery is an electrochemical cell, with the property that the ionic solution (electrolyte) is stored outside of the cell (instead of in the cell around the electrodes) and can be fed into the cell in order to generate electricity. The total amount of electricity that can be generated depends on the volume of electrolyte in the tanks.


title: Flow battery

text: Various types of flow cells (batteries) have been developed, including inorganic flow battery and organic flow batteries. Under each category, flow battery design can be further classified into full flow batteries, semi-flow batteries, and membraneless flow batteries. The fundamental difference between conventional batteries and flow cells is that energy is stored in the electrode material in conventional batteries, while in flow cells it is stored in the electrolyte.


title: Flow battery

text: Patent Classifications for Flow Batteries have not been fully developed as of 2021. Cooperative Patent Classification considers RFBs as a subclass of regenerative fuel cell (H01M8/18), even though it is more appropriate to consider fuel cells as a subclass of flow batteries.


title: Flow battery

text: The redox (reduction–oxidation) cell is a reversible cell in which redox-active species are in fluid (liquid or gas) media. Redox flow batteries are rechargeable (secondary) cells. Because they employ heterogeneous electron transfer rather than solid-state diffusion or intercalation they are more similar to fuel cells rather than to conventional batteries (such as lead-acid or lithium-ion). The main reason Fuel Cells are not considered to be batteries, is because originally (in the 1800's) fuel cells emerged as a means to produce electricity directly from fuels (and air) via a non-combustion electrochemical process. Later, particularly in the 1960's and 1990's, rechargeable fuel cells (i.e. /, such as unitized regenerative fuel cells in NASA's Helios Prototype) were developed.


title: Flow battery

text: Examples of redox flow batteries are the vanadium redox flow battery, polysulfide bromide battery (Regenesys), iron redox flow battery (IRFB), and uranium redox flow battery. Redox fuel cells are less common commercially although many systems have been proposed.


title: Flow battery

text: Vanadium redox flow batteries are the most marketed flow batteries at present, due to the advantages they provide over other chemistries, despite limited energy and power densities. Since they use vanadium at both electrodes, they do not suffer cross-contamination. The limited solubility of vanadium salts, however, offsets this advantage in practice. More importantly for the commercial success of VRFBs is actually an almost perfect match of the voltage window of carbon/aqueous acid interface with the working voltage range of the vanadium redox-couples. This assures the durability of the low-cost carbon electrodes and low-impact of side reactions, such as H2 and O2 evolutions, resulting in record-long calendar (many years) and cycle(15,000–20,000 cycles) lives, which in turn results in a record low levelized cost of energy (LCOE, i.e. the system cost divided by the usable energy, the cycle life, and round-trip efficiency). The long lifetimes of flow batteries allow for the amortization of their relatively high capital cost (due to vanadium, carbon felts, bipolar plates, membranes). The levelized cost of energy for VRFBs is in the order of a few tens of $ cents or € cents per kWh, much lower than of solid-state batteries and not so far from the targets of $0.05 and €0.05, stated by US and EC government agencies. The major challenges for the broad implementation include: low abundance and high costs of VO (> $30 / Kg), the raw materials for VRFB; parasite reactions including hydrogen and oxygen evolution; and precipitation of VO during cycling. It is the major driving force to develop alternative flow battery technologies.


title: Flow battery

text: Traditional flow battery chemistries have both low specific energy (which makes them too heavy for fully electric vehicles) and low specific power (which makes them too expensive for stationary energy storage). However a high power of 1.4 W/cm was demonstrated for hydrogen-bromine flow batteries, and a high specific energy (530 Wh/kg at the tank level) was shown for hydrogen-bromate flow batteries


title: Flow battery

text: In 2022, DARPA SBIR-funded Influit Energy announced a nonflammable, surface-modified nanoelectrofuel made of a metal oxide suspended in an aqueous solution. The material does not settle out of the solution, even at high concentration and features and energy density higher than Lion batteries. Operating temperatures are -40 to 80 °C. They require no lithium, heavy metals, or rare-earth elements.


title: Flow battery

text: The hybrid flow battery uses one or more electroactive components deposited as a solid layer. The major disadvantage is the loss decoupled energy and power as seen in full flow batteries from using a solid state electrode. The cell contains one battery electrode and one fuel cell electrode. This type is limited in energy by the electrode surface area. Hybrid flow batteries include the zinc-bromine, zinc–cerium, soluble lead–acid, and iron-salt flow batteries. Weng et al. reported a vanadium-metal hydride rechargeable hybrid flow battery with an experimental OCV of 1.93 V and operating voltage of 1.70 V, relatively high values among rechargeable flow batteries with aqueous electrolytes. This hybrid battery consists of a graphite felt positive electrode operating in a mixed solution of and , and a metal hydride negative electrode in KOH aqueous solution. The two electrolytes of different pH are separated by a bipolar membrane. The system demonstrated good reversibility and high efficiencies in coulomb (95%), energy (84%), and voltage (88%). They reported further improvements of this redox couple with achievements of increased current density, inclusion of larger 100 cm electrodes, and the operation of 10 large cells in series. Preliminary data using a fluctuating simulated power input tested the viability toward kWh scale storage. In 2016, a high energy density Mn(VI)/Mn(VII)-Zn hybrid flow battery was proposed.


title: Flow battery

text: A prototype zinc-polyiodide flow battery demonstrated an energy density of 167 Wh/L (watt-hours per liter). Older zinc-bromide cells reach 70 Wh/L. For comparison, lithium iron phosphate batteries store 233 Wh/L. The zinc-polyiodide battery is claimed to be safer than other flow batteries given its absence of acidic electrolytes, nonflammability and operating range of that does not require extensive cooling circuitry, which would add weight and occupy space. One unresolved issue is zinc buildup on the negative electrode that can permeate the membrane, reducing efficiency. Because of the Zn dendrite formation, Zn-halide batteries cannot operate at high current density (> 20 mA/cm) and thus have limited power density. Adding alcohol to the electrolyte of the ZnI battery can help with the problem. The drawbacks of Zn/I RFB lie at the high cost of Iodide salts (> $20 / Kg); limited area capacity of Zn deposition also losing the decoupled energy and power; and Zn dendrite formation.


title: Flow battery

text: When the battery is fully discharged, both tanks hold the same electrolyte solution: a mixture of positively charged zinc ions () and negatively charged iodide ion, (). When charged, one tank holds another negative ion, polyiodide, (). The battery produces power by pumping liquid from external tanks into the battery's stack area where the liquids are mixed. Inside the stack, zinc ions pass through a selective membrane and change into metallic zinc on the stack's negative side. To further increase the energy density of the zinc-iodide flow battery, bromide ions () are used as the complexing agent to stabilize the free iodine, forming iodine-bromide ions () as a means to free up iodide ions for charge storage.


title: Flow battery

text: Proton flow batteries (PFB) integrate a metal hydride storage electrode into a reversible proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. During charging, PFB combines hydrogen ions produced from splitting water with electrons and metal particles in one electrode of a fuel cell. The energy is stored in the form of a solid-state metal hydride. Discharge produces electricity and water when the process is reversed and the protons are combined with ambient oxygen. Metals less expensive than lithium can be used and provide greater energy density than lithium cells.


title: Flow battery

text: Compared to redox flow batteries that are inorganic, such as vanadium redox flow batteries and Zn-Br2 batteries, which have been developed for decades, organic redox flow batteries emerged in 2009. The primary appeal of organic redox flow batteries lies in the tunable redox properties of the active components. As of 2021, organic RFB experience low durability (i.e. calendar or cycle life, or both). For this reason, only inorganic RFB have been demonstrated on a commercial scale.


title: Flow battery

text: Organic redox flow batteries can be further classified into aqueous (AORFBs) and non-aqueous (NAORFBs). AORFBs use water as solvent for electrolyte materials while NAORFBs employ organic solvents. AORFBs and NAORFBs can be further divided into total and hybrid organic systems. The former use only organic electrode materials, while the latter use inorganic materials for anode or cathode. In larger-scale energy storage, lower solvent cost and higher conductivity give AORFBs greater commercial potential, as well as offering safety advantages from water-based electrolytes. NAORFBs instead provide a much larger voltage window and occupy less physical space.


title: Flow battery

text: pH neutral AORFBs are operated at pH7 conditions, typically using NaCl as a supporting electrolyte. At pH neutral conditions, organic and organometallic molecules are more stable than at corrosive acidic and alkaline conditions. For example, K4[Fe(CN)], a common catholyte used in AORFBs, is not stable in alkaline solutions but is at pH neutral conditions.


title: Flow battery

text: AORFBs used methyl viologen as an anolyte and 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl as a catholyte at pH neutral conditions, plus NaCL and a low-cost anion exchange membrane. This MV/TEMPO system has the highest cell voltage, 1.25V, and, possibly, lowest capital cost ($180/kWh) reported for AORFBs. The aqueous liquid electrolytes were designed as a drop-in replacement for current systems without replacing existing infrastructure. A 600-milliwatt test battery was stable for 100 cycles with nearly 100 percent efficiency at current densities ranging from 20 to 100 mA/cm, with optimal performance rated at 40–50mA, at which about 70% of the battery's original voltage was retained. Neutral AORFBs can be more environmentally friendly than acid or alkaline AORFBs while showing electrochemical performance comparable to corrosive RFBs. The MV/TEMPO AORFB has an energy density of 8.4Wh/L with the limitation on the TEMPO side. Viologen-based flow batteries have been mainly developed by Liu’s group at Utah State University. In 2019, the group reported an ultralight sulfonate-viologen/ferrocyanide AORFB stable for 1000 cycles at an energy density of 10 Wh/L, so far the most stable, energy dense AORFB.


title: Flow battery

text: Quinones and their derivatives are the basis of many organic redox systems. In one study, 1,2-dihydrobenzoquinone-3,5-disulfonic acid (BQDS) and 1,4-dihydrobenzoquinone-2-sulfonic acid (BQS) were employed as cathodes, and conventional Pb/PbSO was the anolyte in a hybrid acid AORFB. Quinones accept two units of electrical charge, compared with one in conventional catholyte, implying that such a battery could store twice as much energy in a given volume.


title: Flow battery

text: Another quinone 9,10-Anthraquinone-2,7-disulfonic acid (AQDS), has been evaluated. AQDS undergoes rapid, reversible two-electron/two-proton reduction on a glassy carbon electrode in sulfuric acid. An aqueous flow battery with inexpensive carbon electrodes, combining the quinone/hydroquinone couple with the / redox couple, yields a peak galvanic power density exceeding 6,000 W/m at 13,000 A/m. Cycling showed > 99% storage capacity retention per cycle. Volumetric energy density was over 20 Wh/L. Anthraquinone-2-sulfonic acid and anthraquinone-2,6-disulfonic acid on the negative side and 1,2-dihydrobenzoquinone- 3,5-disulfonic acid on the positive side avoids the use of hazardous Br. The battery was claimed to last for 1,000 cycles without degradation. While this system appears robust, it has a low cell voltage (ca. 0.55V) and a low energy density (< 4Wh/L).


title: Flow battery

text: Hydrobromic acid used as an electrolyte has been replaced with a less toxic alkaline solution (1M KOH) and ferrocyanide. The higher pH is less corrosive, allowing the use of inexpensive polymer tanks. The increased electrical resistance in the membrane was compensated increased voltage. The cell voltage was 1.2V. The cell's efficiency exceeded 99%, while round-trip efficiency measured 84%. The battery offered an expected lifetime of at least 1,000 cycles. Its theoretic energy density was 19Wh/L. Ferrocyanide's chemical stability in high pH KOH solution without forming Fe(OH) or Fe(OH) needs to be verified before scale-up.


title: Flow battery

text: Integrating both anolyte and catholyte in the same molecule has been examined. Such bifunctional analytes or combi-molecules allow the same material to be used in both tanks. In one tank it is an electron donor, while in the other it is an electron recipient. This has relevant advantages such as diminishing the effect of crossover. Thus, quinone diaminoanthraquinone and indigo-based molecules as well as TEMPO/phenazine combining molecules are potential electrolytes for the development of symmetric redox-flow batteries (SRFB).


title: Flow battery

text: Another approach adopted a Blatter radical as the donor/recipient. It endured 275 charge and discharge cycles in tests, although it was not water-soluble.


title: Flow battery

text: Quinone molecules have been used as anolytes in alkaline AROFBs. Another anolyte candidate is fluorenone, reengineered to increase its water solubility. A reversible ketone (de)hydrogenation demonstration cell operated continuously for 120 days over 1,111 charging cycles at room temperature without a catalyst, retaining 97% percent capacity. The cell offers more than double the energy density of vanadium-based systems. The major challenge for alkaline AORFBs is the lack of a stable catholyte, holding their energy densities below 5 Wh/L. All reported alkaline AORFBs use excess potassium ferrocyanide catholyte because of the stability issue of ferrocyanide in alkaline solutions.


title: Flow battery

text: Metal-organic flow batteries use organic ligands to improve the properties of redox-active metals. The ligands can be chelates like EDTA, and can enable the electrolyte to be in neutral or alkaline conditions under which metal aquo complexes would otherwise precipitate. By blocking the coordination of water to the metal, organic ligands can inhibit metal-catalyzed water-splitting reactions, resulting in higher voltage all-aqueous systems. For example, the use of chromium coordinated to 1,3-propanediaminetetraacetate (PDTA), gave cell potentials of 1.62 V vs. ferrocyanide and a record 2.13 V vs. bromine. Metal-organic flow batteries may be known as coordination chemistry flow batteries, which represents the technology behind Lockheed Martin's Gridstar Flow technology.


title: Flow battery

text: Oligomer redox-species RFB have been proposed to reduce the crossover of the electroactive species, while using low cost membranes. Such redox-active oligomers are known as redoxymers. One system uses organic polymers and a saline solution with a cellulose membrane. The prototype underwent 10,000 charging cycles while retaining substantial capacity. The energy density was 10 Wh/L. Current density reached 100 milliamperes/cm.


title: Flow battery

text: Another oligomer RFB employs viologen and TEMPO redoxymers in combination with low-cost dialysis membranes. Functionalized macromolecules (similar to acrylic glass or Styrofoam) dissolved in water are the active electrode material. The size-selective nanoporous membrane works like a strainer and is produced much more easily and at lower cost than conventional ion-selective membranes. It retains the big "spaghetti"-like polymer molecules, while allowing small counterions to pass. The concept may solve the high cost of traditional Nafion membrane, but the design and synthesis of redox active polymer with high water solubility is not trivial. So far, RFBs with oligomer redox-species have not demonstrated competitive area-specific power. It is not clear whether low operating current density is an intrinsic feature of large redox-molecules or not.


title: Flow battery

text: A membraneless battery relies on laminar flow in which two liquids are pumped through a channel, where they undergo electrochemical reactions to store or release energy. The solutions stream through in parallel, with little mixing. The flow naturally separates the liquids, eliminating the need for a membrane.


title: Flow battery

text: Membranes are often the most costly and least reliable components of batteries, as they can be corroded by repeated exposure to certain reactants. The absence of a membrane enables the use of a liquid bromine solution and hydrogen: this combination is problematic when membranes are used, because they form hydrobromic acid that can destroy the membrane. Both materials are available at low cost. The design uses a small channel between two electrodes. Liquid bromine flows through the channel over a graphite cathode and hydrobromic acid flows under a porous anode. At the same time, hydrogen gas flows across the anode. The chemical reaction can be reversed to recharge the battery – a first for any membraneless design.


title: Flow battery

text: One such membraneless flow battery published in August 2013 produced a maximum power density of 0.795 mW/cm, three times as much power as other membraneless systems— and an order of magnitude higher than lithium-ion batteries.


title: Flow battery

text: In 2018, a macroscale membraneless redox flow battery capable of recharging and recirculation of the same electrolyte streams for multiple cycles has been demonstrated. The battery is based on immiscible organic catholyte and aqueous anolyte liquids, which exhibits high capacity retention and Coulombic efficiency during cycling.


title: Flow battery

text: Lithium–sulfur system arranged in a network of nanoparticles eliminates the requirement that charge moves in and out of particles that are in direct contact with a conducting plate. Instead, the nanoparticle network allows electricity to flow throughout the liquid. This allows more energy to be extracted.


title: Flow battery

text: Other flow-type batteries include the zinc–cerium hybrid flow battery, the zinc–bromine hybrid flow battery, and the hydrogen bromine battery.


title: Flow battery

text: In a semi-solid flow cell, the positive and negative electrodes are composed of particles suspended in a carrier liquid. The positive and negative suspensions are stored in separate tanks and pumped through separate pipes into a stack of adjacent reaction chambers, where they are separated by a barrier such as a thin, porous membrane. The approach combines the basic structure of aqueous-flow batteries, which use electrode material suspended in a liquid electrolyte, with the chemistry of lithium-ion batteries in both carbon-free suspensions and slurries with conductive carbon network. The carbon free semi-solid redox flow battery is also sometimes referred to as Solid Dispersion Redox Flow Battery. Dissolving a material changes its chemical behavior significantly. However, suspending bits of solid material preserves the solid's characteristics. The result is a viscous suspension that flows like molasses.


title: Flow battery

text: Flow batteries with redox-targeted solids (ROTS), also known as solid energy boosters (SEBs), is another recent development.


title: Flow battery

text: In these batteries either posolyte or negolyte or both (a.k.a. redox fluids), come in contact with a one or more solid electroactive materials, stored in tanks outside the power stack. The redox fluids comprise one or more redox couples, with redox potentials flanking the redox potential of the solid electroactive material. Such RFBs with Solid Energy Boosters (SEBs) combine the high specific energy advantage of conventional batteries (such as lithium-ion) with the decoupled energy-power advantage of flow batteries. SEB(ROTS) RFBs have several advantages compared to semi-solid RFBs, such as no need to pump viscous slurries, no precipitation /clogging , higher area-specific power, longer durability, wider chemical design space.


title: Flow battery

text: Some types also offer easy state-of-charge determination (through voltage dependence on charge), low maintenance and tolerance to overcharge/overdischarge.


title: Flow battery

text: These technical merits make redox flow batteries a well-suited option for large-scale energy storage.


title: Flow battery

text: Flow batteries have three main disadvantages compared to batteries with solid electroactive materials


title: Flow battery

text: Flow batteries typically have a higher energy efficiency than fuel cells, but lower than lithium-ion batteries.


title: Flow battery

text: Flow batteries are normally considered for relatively large (1 kWh – 10 MWh) stationary applications with multi-hour charge-discharge cycles. Flow batteries are not cost-efficient for shorter charge/discharge times. Some are examples of flow battery market niches are:


title: Mufti

text: A Mufti (; ) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ("fatwa") on a point of Islamic law ("sharia"). The act of issuing fatwas is called "iftāʾ". Muftis and their "fatwas" played an important role throughout Islamic history, taking on new roles in the modern era.


title: Mufti

text: Tracing its origins to the Quran and early Islamic communities, the practice of "ifta" crystallized with the emergence of the traditional legal theory and schools of Islamic jurisprudence ("madhahib"). In the classical legal system, fatwas issued by muftis in response to private queries served to inform Muslim populations about Islam, advise courts on difficult points of Islamic law, and elaborate substantive law. In later times, muftis also issued public and political fatwas that took a stand on doctrinal controversies, legitimized government policies or articulated grievances of the population.


title: Mufti

text: Traditionally, a mufti was seen as a scholar of upright character who possessed a thorough knowledge of the Quran, hadith and legal literature. Muftis acted as independent scholars in the classical legal system. Over the centuries, Sunni muftis were gradually incorporated into state bureaucracies, while Shia jurists in Iran progressively asserted an autonomous authority starting from the early modern era.


title: Mufti

text: With the spread of codified state laws and Western-style legal education in the modern Muslim world, muftis generally no longer play their traditional role of clarifying and elaborating the laws applied in courts. However, muftis have continued to advise the general public on other aspects of "sharia", particularly questions regarding religious rituals and everyday life. Some modern muftis are appointed by the state to issue fatwas, while others serve on advisory religious councils. Still others issue fatwas in response to private queries on television or over the internet. Modern public fatwas have addressed and sometimes sparked controversies in the Muslim world and beyond.


title: Mufti

text: The legal methodology of modern "ifta" often diverges from pre-modern practice. While the proliferation of contemporary fatwas attests to the importance of Islamic authenticity to many Muslims, little research has been done to determine to what extent the Muslim public continues to acknowledge the religious authority of muftis or heeds their advice.


title: Mufti

text: The word mufti comes from the Arabic root "f-t-y", whose meanings include "youth, newness, clarification, explanation." A number of related terms derive from the same root. A mufti's response is called a "fatwa". The person who asks a mufti for a fatwa is known as "mustafti". The act of issuing fatwas is called "iftāʾ". The term "futyā" refers to soliciting and issuing fatwas.


title: Mufti

text: The origins of muftis and the fatwa can be traced back to the Quran. On a number of occasions, the Quranic text instructs the Islamic prophet Muhammad how to respond to questions from his followers regarding religious and social practices. Several of these verses begin with the phrase "When they ask you concerning ..., say ..." In two cases (4:127, 4:176) this is expressed with verbal forms of the root "f-t-y", which signify asking for or giving an authoritative answer. In the hadith literature, this three-way relationship between God, Muhammad, and believers, is typically replaced by a two-way consultation, in which Muhammad replies directly to queries from his Companions ("sahaba").


title: Mufti

text: According to Islamic doctrine, with Muhammad's death in 632, God ceased to communicate with mankind through revelation and prophets. At that point, the rapidly expanding Muslim community turned to Muhammad's Companions, as the most authoritative voices among them, for religious guidance, and some of them are reported to have issued pronouncements on a wide range of subjects. The generation of Companions was in turn replaced in that role by the generation of Successors ("tabi'un"). The institution of "ifta" thus developed in Islamic communities under a question-and-answer format for communicating religious knowledge, and took on its definitive form with development of the classical theory of Islamic law. By the 8th century CE, muftis became recognized as legal experts who elaborated Islamic law and clarified its application to practical issues arising in the Islamic community.


title: Mufti

text: The legal theory of the "ifta" was formulated in the classical texts of "usul al-fiqh" (principles of jurisprudence), while more practical guidelines for muftis were found in manuals called "adab al-mufti" or "adab al-fatwa" (etiquette of the mufti/fatwa).


title: Mufti

text: A mufti's fatwa is issued in response to a query. Fatwas can range from a simple yes/no answer to a book-length treatise. A short fatwa may state a well-known point of law in response to a question from a lay person, while a "major" fatwa may give a judgment on an unprecedented case, detailing the legal reasoning behind the decision. Queries to muftis were supposed to address real and not hypothetical situations and be formulated in general terms, leaving out names of places and people. Since a mufti was not supposed to inquire into the situation beyond the information included in the query, queries regarding contentious matters were often carefully constructed to elicit the desired response. A mufti's understanding of the query commonly depended on their grasp of local customs and colloquial expressions. In theory, if the query was unclear or not sufficiently detailed for a ruling, the mufti was supposed to state these caveats in their response. Muftis often consulted another mufti on difficult cases, though this practice was not foreseen by legal theory, which saw "futya" as a transaction between one qualified jurist and one "unqualified" petitioner.


title: Mufti

text: In theory, a mufti was expected to issue fatwas free of charge. In practice, muftis commonly received support from the public treasury, public endowments or private donations. Taking of bribes was forbidden. Until the 11th or 12th century, the vast majority of jurists held other jobs to support themselves. These were generally lower- and middle-class professions such as tanning, manuscript copying or small trade.


title: Mufti

text: The classical institution of "ifta" is similar to "jus respondendi" in Roman law and the "responsa" in Jewish law.


title: Mufti

text: Islamic doctrine regards the practice of "ifta" as a collective obligation ("farḍ al-kifāya"), which must be discharged by some members of the community. Before the rise of modern schools, the study of law was a centerpiece of advanced education in the Islamic world. A relatively small class of legal scholars controlled the interpretation of sharia on a wide range of questions essential to the society, ranging from ritual to finance. It was considered a requirement for qualified jurists to communicate their knowledge through teaching or issuing fatwas. The ideal mufti was conceived as an individual of scholarly accomplishments and exemplary morals, and muftis were generally approached with the respect and deference corresponding to these expectations.


title: Mufti

text: Judges generally sought an opinion from a mufti with higher scholarly authority than themselves for difficult cases or potentially controversial verdicts. Fatwas were routinely upheld in courts, and if a fatwa was disregarded, it was usually because another fatwa supporting a different position was judged to be more convincing. If a party in a dispute was not able to obtain a fatwa supporting their position, they would be unlikely to pursue their case in court, opting for informal mediation instead, or abandoning their claim altogether. Sometimes muftis could be petitioned for a fatwa relating to a court judgement that has already been passed, acting as an informal appeals process, but the extent of this practice and its mechanism varied across history. While in most of the Islamic world judges were not required to consult muftis by any political authority, in Muslim Spain this practice was mandatory, so that a judicial decision was considered invalid without prior approval by a legal specialist.


title: Mufti

text: Author-jurists collected fatwas by muftis of high scholarly reputation and abstracted them into concise formulations of legal norms for the benefit of judges, giving a summary of jurisprudence for a particular "madhhab" (legal school). Author-jurists sought out fatwas that reflected the social conditions of their time and place, often opting for later legal opinions which were at variance with the doctrine of early authorities. Research by Wael Hallaq and Baber Johansen has shown that the rulings of muftis collected in these volumes could, and sometimes did, have a significant impact on the development of Islamic law.


title: Mufti

text: During the early centuries of Islam, the roles of mufti, author-jurist and judge were not mutually exclusive. A jurist could lead a teaching circle, conduct a fatwa session, and adjudicate court cases in a single day, devoting his night hours to writing a legal treatise. Those who were able to act in all four capacities were regarded as the most accomplished jurists.


title: Mufti

text: The basic prerequisite for issuing fatwas under the classical legal theory was religious knowledge and piety. According to the "adab al-mufti" manuals, a mufti must be an adult, Muslim, trusted and reliable, of good character and sound mind, an alert and rigorous thinker, trained as a jurist, and not a sinner. On a practical level, the stature of muftis derived from their reputation for scholarly expertise and upright character. Issuing of fatwas was among the most demanding occupations in medieval Islam and muftis were among the best educated religious scholars of their time.


title: Mufti

text: According to legal theory, it was up to each mufti to decide when he was ready to practice. In practice, an aspiring jurist would normally study for several years with one or several recognized scholars, following a curriculum that included Arabic grammar, hadith, law and other religious sciences. The teacher would decide when the student was ready to issue fatwas by giving him a certificate ("ijaza").


title: Mufti

text: During the first centuries of Islam, it was assumed that a mufti was a "mujtahid", i.e., a jurist who is capable of deriving legal rulings directly from the scriptural sources through independent reasoning ("ijtihad"), evaluating the reliability of hadith and applying or even developing the appropriate legal methodologies. Starting from around 1200 CE, legal theorists began to accept that muftis of their time may not possess the knowledge and legal skill to perform this activity. In addition, it was felt that the major question of jurisprudence had already been addressed by master jurists of earlier times, so that later muftis only had to follow the legal opinions established within their legal school ("taqlid"). At that point, the notions of "mufti" and "mujtahid" became distinguished, and legal theorists classified jurists into three or more levels of competence.


title: Mufti

text: Unlike the post of "qadi", which is reserved for men in the classical sharia system, fatwas could be issued by qualified women as well as men. In practice, the vast majority of jurists who completed the lengthy curriculum in linguistic and religious sciences required to obtain the qualification to issue fatwas were men. Slaves and persons who were blind or mute were likewise theoretically barred from the post of a judge, but not that of mufti.


title: Mufti

text: The mufti and the judge play different roles in the classical sharia system, with corresponding differences between a fatwa and a "qada" (court decision):


title: Mufti

text: Before the 11th century CE, anyone who possessed scholarly recognition as an Islamic jurist could issue fatwas. Starting around that time, however, the public office of mufti began to appear alongside the private issuing of fatwas. In Khurasan, the rulers appointed a head of the local ulama, called "shaykh al-Islam", who also functioned as the chief mufti. The Mamluks appointed four muftis, one for each of the four Sunni madhhabs, to the appeals courts of provincial capitals. The Ottomans organized muftis into a hierarchical bureaucracy with a chief mufti of the empire called "shaykh al-islam" at the top. The Ottoman "shaykh al-Islam" (Turkish: "şeyhülislam"), was among the most powerful state officials. Scribes reviewed queries directed to Ottoman muftis and rewrote them to facilitate issuing of fatwas. In Mughal India and Safavid Iran the chief mufti had the title of "sadr".


title: Mufti

text: For the first few centuries of Islam, muftis were educated in informal study circles, but beginning in the 11th and 12th centuries, the ruling elites began to establish institutions of higher religious learning known as madrasas in an effort to secure support and cooperation of the "ulema" (religious scholars). Madrasas, which were primarily devoted to the study of law, soon multiplied throughout the Islamic world, helping to spread Islamic learning beyond urban centers and to unite diverse Islamic communities in a shared cultural project.


title: Mufti

text: In some states, such as Muslim Spain, muftis were assigned to courts in advisory roles. In Muslim Spain jurists also sat on a "shura" (council) advising the ruler. Muftis were additionally appointed to other public functions, such as market inspectors.


title: Mufti

text: While the office of the mufti was gradually subsumed into the state bureaucracy in much of the Sunni Muslim world, Shia religious establishment followed a different path in Iran starting from the early modern era. During Safavid rule, independent Islamic jurists ("mujtahids") claimed the authority to represent the hidden imam. Under the "usuli" doctrine that prevailed among Twelver Shias in the 18th century and under the Qajar dynasty, the "mujtahids" further claimed to act collectively as deputies of the imam. According to this doctrine, all Muslims are supposed to follow a high-ranking living "mujtahid" bearing the title of "marja' al-taqlid", whose fatwas are considered binding, unlike fatwas in Sunni Islam. Thus, in contrast to Sunni muftis, Shia "mujtahids" gradually achieved increasing independence from the state.


title: Mufti

text: While most fatwas were delivered to an individual or a judge, some fatwas that were public or political in nature played an important role in religious legitimation, doctrinal disputes, political criticism, or political mobilization. As muftis were progressively incorporated into government bureaucracies in the course of Islamic history, they were often expected to support government policies. Ottoman sultans regularly sought fatwas from the chief mufti for administrative and military initiatives, including fatwas sanctioning jihad against Mamluk Egypt and Safavid Iran. Fatwas by the Ottoman chief mufti were also solicited by the rulers to legitimize new social and economic practices, such as financial and penal laws enacted outside of sharia, printing of nonreligious books (1727) and vaccination (1845).


title: Mufti

text: At other times muftis wielded their influence independently of the ruler, and several Ottoman and Moroccan sultans were deposed by a fatwa. This happened, for example, to the Ottoman sultan Murad V on the grounds of his insanity. Public fatwas were also used to dispute doctrinal matters, and in some case to proclaim that certain groups or individuals who professed to be Muslim were to be excluded from the Islamic community (a practice known as "takfir"). In both political and scholarly sphere, doctrinal controversies between different states, denominations or centers of learning were accompanied by dueling fatwas. Muftis also acted to counteract the influence of judges and secular functionaries. By articulating grievances and legal rights of the population, public fatwas often prompted an otherwise unresponsive court system to provide redress.


title: Mufti

text: Under European colonial rule, the institution of "dar al-ifta" was established in a number of madrasas (law colleges) as a centralized place for issuing of fatwas, and these organizations to a considerable extent replaced independent muftis as religious guides for the general population. Following independence, most Muslim states established national organizations devoted to issuing fatwas. One example is the Egyptian Dar al-Ifta, founded in 1895, which has served to articulate a national vision of Islam through fatwas issued in response to government and private queries. National governments in Muslim-majority countries also instituted councils of senior religious scholars to advise the government on religious matters and issue fatwas. These councils generally form part of the ministry for religious affairs, rather than the justice department, which may have a more assertive attitude toward the executive branch.


title: Mufti

text: While chief muftis of earlier times oversaw a hierarchy of muftis and judges applying traditional jurisprudence, most modern states have adopted European-influenced legal codes and no longer employ traditional judicial procedures or traditionally trained judges. State muftis generally promote a vision of Islam that is compatible with state law of their country.


title: Mufti

text: Although some early theorists argued that muftis should not respond to questions on certain subjects, such as theology, muftis have in practice handled queries relating to a wide range of subjects. This trend continued in modern times, and contemporary state-appointed muftis and institutions for "ifta" respond to government and private queries on varied issues, including political conflicts, Islamic finance, and medical ethics, contributing to shaping a national Islamic identity.


title: Mufti

text: Muftis in modern times have increasingly relied on the process of "ijtihad", i.e. deriving legal rulings based on an independent analysis rather than conformity with the opinions of earlier legal authorities ("taqlid"). While in the past muftis were associated with a particular school of law ("madhhab"), in the 20th century many muftis began to assert their intellectual independence from traditional schools of jurisprudence.


title: Mufti

text: Modern media have facilitated cooperative forms to "ifta". Networks of muftis are commonly engaged by fatwa websites, so that queries are distributed among the muftis in the network, who still act as individual jurisconsults. In other cases, Islamic jurists of different nationalities, schools of law, and sometimes even denominations (Sunni and Shia), coordinate to issue a joint fatwa, which is expected to command greater authority with the public than individual fatwas. The collective fatwa (sometimes called "ijtihād jamāʿī", "collective legal interpretation") is a new historical development, and it is found in such settings as boards of Islamic financial institutions and international fatwa councils.


title: Mufti

text: There exists no international Islamic authority to settle differences in interpretation of Islamic law. An International Islamic Fiqh Academy was created by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, but its legal opinions are not binding.


title: Mufti

text: In the modern era, public "fatwa wars" have reflected political controversies in the Muslim world, from anti-colonial struggles to the Gulf War of the 1990s, when muftis in some countries issued fatwas supporting collaboration with the US-led coalition, while muftis from other countries endorsed the Iraqi call for jihad against the US and its collaborators.


title: Mufti

text: During the era of Western colonialism, some muftis issued fatwas seeking to mobilize popular resistance to foreign domination, while others were induced by colonial authorities to issue fatwas supporting accommodation with colonial rule. Muftis also intervened in the political process on many other occasions during the colonial era. For example, in 1904 a "fatwa" by Moroccan ulema achieved the dismissal of European experts hired by the state, while in 1907 another Moroccan fatwa succeeded in deposing the sultan for failing to defend the state against French aggression. The 1891 tobacco protest fatwa by the Iranian "mujtahid" Mirza Shirazi, which prohibited smoking as long as the British tobacco monopoly was in effect, also achieved its goals.


title: Mufti

text: Some muftis in the modern era, like the mufti of the Lebanese republic in the mid-20th century and the Grand Mufti of the Sultanate of Oman, were important political leaders. In Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini used proclamations and fatwas to introduce and legitimize a number of institutions, including the Council of the Islamic Revolution and the Iranian Parliament. Khomeini's most publicized fatwa was the proclamation condemning Salman Rushdie to death for his novel "The Satanic Verses".


title: Mufti

text: Many militant and reform movements in modern times have disseminated fatwas issued by individuals who do not possess the qualifications traditionally required of a mufti. A famous example is the fatwa issued in 1998 by Osama Bin Laden and four of his associates, proclaiming "jihad against Jews and Crusaders" and calling for killing of American civilians. In addition to denouncing its content, many Islamic jurists stressed that bin Laden was not qualified to either issue a fatwa or declare a jihad.


title: Mufti

text: The Amman Message was a statement, signed in 2005 in Jordan by nearly 200 prominent Islamic jurists, which served as a "counter-fatwa" against a widespread use of "takfir" (excommunication) by jihadist groups to justify jihad against rulers of Muslim-majority countries. The Amman Message recognized eight legitimate schools of Islamic law and prohibited declarations of apostasy against them. The statement also asserted that fatwas can be issued only by properly trained muftis, thereby seeking to delegitimize fatwas issued by militants who lack the requisite qualifications.


title: Mufti

text: Erroneous and sometimes bizarre fatwas issued by unqualified or eccentric individuals acting as muftis has at times given rise to complaints about a "chaos" in the modern practice of "ifta".


title: Mufti

text: Advances in print media and the rise of the internet have changed the role played by muftis in modern society. In the pre-modern era, most fatwas issued in response to private queries were read only by the petitioner. Early in the 20th century, the Salafi reformist Shafi'i jurist Rashid Rida responded to thousands of queries from around the Muslim world on a variety of social and political topics in the regular "fatwa" section of his Cairo-based journal "Al-Manar". In the late 20th century, when the Grand Mufti of Egypt Sayyid Tantawy issued a fatwa allowing interest banking, the ruling was vigorously debated in the Egyptian press by both religious scholars and lay intellectuals.


title: Mufti

text: In the internet age, a large number of websites have appeared offering fatwas to readers around the world. For example, IslamOnline publishes an archive of "live fatwa" sessions, whose number approached a thousand by 2007, along with biographies of the muftis. Together muftis who issue call-in fatwas during radio shows and satellite television programs, these sites have contributed to the rise of new forms of contemporary "ifta". Unlike the concise or technical pre-modern fatwas, fatwas delivered through modern mass media often seek to be more expansive and accessible to the wide public.


title: Mufti

text: As the influence of muftis in the courtroom has declined in modern times, there has been a relative increase in the proportion of fatwas dealing with rituals and further expansion in purely religious areas like Quranic exegesis, creed, and Sufism. Modern muftis issue fatwas on topics as diverse as insurance, sex-change operations, moon exploration, and beer drinking. In the private sphere, some muftis have begun to resemble social workers, giving advice on various personal issues encountered in everyday life. The vast amount of fatwas produced in the modern world attests to the importance of Islamic authenticity to many Muslims. However, there is little research available to indicate to what extent Muslims acknowledge the authority of muftis and heed their rulings in real life.


title: DLF (company)

text: Delhi Land & Finance (DLF Limited) is a commercial real estate developer. It was founded by Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh in 1946 and it is based in New Delhi, India. DLF developed residential colonies in Delhi such as, Model Town, Rajouri Garden, Krishna Nagar, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Kailash Colony, and Hauz Khas. DLF builds residential, office, and retail properties.


title: DLF (company)

text: With the passage of Delhi Development Act in 1957, the local government assumed control of real estate development in Delhi and banned private real estate developers. As a result, DLF began acquiring land at a relatively low cost outside the area controlled by the Delhi Development Authority, in the district of Gurgaon, in the adjacent state of Haryana. In the mid-1970s, the company started developing their DLF City project at Gurgaon. Its plans included hotels, infrastructure and special economic zones-related development projects.


title: DLF (company)

text: The company is headed by Kushal Pal Singh. Kushal Pal Singh, according to the Forbes listing of richest billionaires in 2020, is the 494th richest man in the world with a net worth of US$3.6 billion. The company's 2 billion IPO in July 2007 was India's biggest IPO in history. In its first quarter results for the period ending 30 June 2007, the company reported a turnover of and profit after taxes of .


title: DLF (company)

text: As of 31 March 2012, the company had 1,380 square feet of leased retail space across the country. In 2013–14, it leased out 3 million sq ft of office space in India.


title: DLF (company)

text: In August 2011 a penalty of was imposed on DLF by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) after finding DLF guilty of breaching laws regarding the unfair pricing of goods and services. The complaint was lodged against DLF by buyers in its residential projects Belaire & Park Place, located in Gurgaon. In February 2015, the CCI ordered its investigative arm to probe two more projects of DLF in Gurgaon, namely, DLF Regal Gardens and DLF Skycourt.


title: DLF (company)

text: DLF's first residential project was Krishna Nagar in East Delhi, which was completed in 1949. Subsequently, the company developed 21 colonies in Delhi, including Model Town, Rajouri Garden, Punjabi Bagh, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Kailash Colony and Hauz Khas. The passage of Delhi Development Act in 1957 was the first serious challenge to company's growth. The Act meant that the government would assume control of all real estate development activities in the city.


title: DLF (company)

text: As a result, DLF decided to move beyond Delhi and focused on the suburb of Gurgaon in Haryana. which had the potential for development of residential and commercial properties. As DLF started to acquire land under the leadership of Chairman K.P. Singh, Gurgaon embarked on a period of rapid growth.


title: DLF (company)

text: The land purchase program adopted a humane approach so that the sellers do not feel short-changed. To this effect, DLF partnered with farmers so that they also got a share in profits. DLF acquired and created a land bank and then sold plots to buyers after demarcation. The profits from the sales were subsequently shared with farmers, which encouraged more farmers to come forward and partner with DLF.


title: DLF (company)

text: In 2008, DLF became the title sponsor of the Indian Premier League, a newly formed Twenty20 cricket league. DLF paid close to for the 5-year sponsorship deal. The deal ended in the 2012 version of the season; wherein it was taken over by PepsiCo Inc.


title: DLF (company)

text: Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and DLF, in a 50:50 joint venture, have completed work on a 16- lane, 10.5 km road network in Gurgaon. This stretch from NH8 Toll Plaza to Sector 55/56 in Gurgaon with six underpasses, one flyover and freeways has improved traffic management in the city. To create this infrastructure facility, DLF had engaged Parsons Brinckerhoff for project management consultancy and construction work had been awarded to IL&FS.


title: GBU-28

text: The GBU-28 is a 5,000-pound (2,268 kg) class laser-guided "bunker busting" bomb produced originally by the Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, New York. It was designed, manufactured, and deployed in less than three weeks due to an urgent need during Operation Desert Storm to penetrate hardened Iraqi command centers located deep underground. Only two of the weapons were dropped in Desert Storm, both by F-111Fs. One GBU-28 was dropped during Operation Iraqi Freedom.


title: GBU-28

text: In August 1990, the U.S. military began planning an air offensive campaign against Iraq. Planners noticed that a few command and control bunkers in Baghdad were located deep underground to withstand heavy fire. Doubts were raised about the ability of the BLU-109/B to penetrate such fortified structures, so the US Air Force Air Armament Division at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida was asked to create a weapon that could, and engineer Al Weimorts sketched improved BLU-109 variants. By January 1991, as the Persian Gulf War was well underway, it was determined that the BLU-109/B-equipped laser-guided bombs (LGB) would be unable to penetrate fortified bunkers deep underground.


title: GBU-28

text: The initial batch of GBU-28s was built from modified 8 inch/203 mm artillery barrels (principally from deactivated M110 howitzers), but later examples are purpose-built with the BLU-113 bomb body made by National Forge of Irvine, Pennsylvania. They weigh 5,000 pounds (2,268 kg) and contain 630 pounds (286 kg) of high explosive.


title: GBU-28

text: The GBU-28 C/B version uses the 5,000-pound BLU-122 bomb body, which contains AFX-757 explosive in a casing machined from a single piece of ES-1 Eglin steel alloy.


title: GBU-28

text: The operator illuminates a target with a laser designator and the munition guides itself to the spot of laser light reflected from the target. When the GBU-28 hits the ground, a short-delay time fuze is activated which triggers detonation when it has penetrated deeply enough to completely destroy the target.


title: GBU-28

text: The bomb underwent testing at the Tonopah Test Range, Nevada, a test facility for United States Department of Energy funded weapon programs. An F-111F of the 431st Test and Evaluation Squadron based at McClellan AFB in California dropped the first GBU-28 at Tonopah on February 24th 1991. It proved capable of penetrating over 50 meters (164 ft) of earth or 5 meters (16 ft) of solid concrete; this was demonstrated when a test bomb, bolted to a missile sled, smashed through 22 ft (6.7 m) of reinforced concrete and still retained enough kinetic energy to travel a mile downrange. The GBU-28 is unique in that time between the finalized design being approved to its first use in combat test took only two weeks between the 13th and 27th of February 1991.


title: GBU-28

text: On the night of 27/28 February 1991, just hours before the ceasefire, two General Dynamics F-111Fs, loaded with one GBU-28 each, headed towards a target on the outskirts of Baghdad. The al-Taji Airbase, located 15 mi (24 km) northwest of the Iraqi capital, had been hit at least three times by GBU-27/Bs from F-117 Nighthawks, "digging up the rose garden". The first GBU-28 was dropped off-target due to target misidentification. The second GBU-28 was a direct hit and penetrated the thick reinforced concrete before detonating, killing everyone inside.


title: GBU-28

text: The bomb was used during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999 by USAF F-15Es, notably against Straževica Command Center but without success.


title: GBU-28

text: The bomb was used during Operations Enduring Freedom in 2002 and Invasion of Iraq in 2003 by USAF F-15Es.


title: GBU-28

text: The first foreign sale of the GBU-28 was the acquisition of 100 units by Israel, authorized in April 2005. Delivery of the weapons was accelerated at the request of Israel in July 2006. Delivery was described as "upcoming" in a cable dated November 2009 which suggested that the weapon could be used against Iran's nuclear facilities. Fifty-five GBU-28's were delivered to Israel in 2009. There were unconfirmed reports that Israel used the GBU-28 during the 2008–2009 Gaza War.


title: GBU-28

text: In June 2009 United States agreed to sell the GBU-28s to South Korea, following the nuclear test conducted on 25 May 2009 by North Korea. The bombs were to be delivered between 2010 and 2014.


title: GBU-28

text: According to the "Jerusalem Post" on 23 December 2011 the US Justice Department announced that it had reached a settlement with Kaman Corp. which allegedly substituted a fuze in four lots of fuzes made for the bombs. Under the settlement, Kaman Corp. will pay the government $4.75 million. Israel raised concerns, it had also received GBU-28 bombs fuzed to prematurely detonate before penetration or at other times. In bombardment of Gaza in May 2021, referred to by the Israeli military as the Guardian of the Walls operation, the GBU-28 was used extensively.


title: GBU-28

text: In October 2021, the USAF completed assessments of the GBU-72 Advanced 5K Penetrator (A5K), a penetrator bomb consisting of a BLU-138 penetrator warhead combined with a JDAM GPS guidance kit. In development since 2017, the GBU-72 is expected to cause significantly more damage against hardened, buried targets and is fitted with a more durable and efficient smart electronic fuse that can activate at a preprogrammed location. The Air Force plans to begin buying the weapon in 2022 to replace the GBU-28.


title: Sean Smith (diplomat)

text: Sean Patrick Smith (January 30, 1978 – September 11, 2012) was an American diplomat and information management officer with the United States Foreign Service who was killed during the September 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya.


title: Sean Smith (diplomat)

text: Smith was an only child and grew up in the Clairemont neighborhood of San Diego, California. He graduated from Mission Bay High School in 1995, enlisted in the United States Air Force in July 1995 and served for six years. He was a ground radio maintenance (2E1X3) specialist and was promoted to staff sergeant in August 2000. He completed his military service in 2002. As a Foreign Service employee, he lived in The Hague, Netherlands, with his wife, Heather, and children, Samantha and Nathan.


title: Sean Smith (diplomat)

text: Smith was a leading player and member of the Council of Stellar Management in the "Eve Online" gaming community (under the username "Vile rat") and was a moderator on the Something Awful forums (username "Vilerat").


title: Sean Smith (diplomat)

text: Smith was one of four Americans killed in the Benghazi attack. He was posthumously awarded the U.S. Department of State's Thomas Jefferson Star for Foreign Service on May 3, 2013. On the day of his death, Smith typed a message to the director of his Eve Online gaming corporation that read, "Assuming we don't die tonight. We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures."


title: Sean Smith (diplomat)

text: Spontaneous reactions from the "Eve Online" player base included a mass renaming of outposts throughout its universe. The game's Council of Stellar Management published a tribute to Smith two days after his death. Zack Parsons on the Something Awful forums organized a benefit for Smith's family, raising .


title: Sean Smith (diplomat)

text: The movie "" was filmed in honor of those who died in the attack. Smith was played by actor Christopher Dingli.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: The Volkswagen Atlas is a mid-size crossover SUV manufactured by the German automaker Volkswagen since 2017. Developed mainly for the North American and Chinese market, the vehicle is based on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform. Outside the US and Canadian markets, the vehicle is marketed as the Volkswagen Teramont. It is positioned above the long-wheelbase Tiguan and below the smaller but upscale Touareg.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: The Atlas is marketed as the Teramont outside North America and Chile, including the Middle East (except Israel, where it's sold as the Atlas), Africa, as well as in Mexico, Russia, Colombia and China, where production in Ningbo began in 2017. For markets outside China, the Atlas/Teramont is produced in the Chattanooga plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: The vehicle features a transverse mounted four-cylinder or Volkswagen's narrow angle VR6. Up to the introduction of the China-only Talagon, the Atlas is the largest vehicle produced on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: The CrossBlue previewed the Atlas/Teramont as a concept diesel plug-in-hybrid mid-size crossover SUV in September 2013. The Atlas was introduced at the LA Auto Show in Los Angeles on November 17, 2016. The name Atlas was picked for the region after the proposed Teramont name was rejected by dealers. It went on sale in the United States and Canada in May 2017 as a 2018 model year.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: Features included in the Atlas are the VW Digital Cockpit, up to of rear cargo space, seventeen total cup holders, a second row bench seat with room for three child safety seats or optional second row captains chairs with room for two child safety seats, a third row seating area that can be accessed with child safety seats still in place, standard Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity with Volkswagen CarNet and MirrorLink, seven total stability enhancing systems, and available Volkswagen 4Motion four wheel drive system on most models.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: The 2018 Atlas received the IIHS "Top Safety Pick" rating after earning "Good" ratings in all five crashworthiness tests, and a "Superior" rating on the front crash prevention test. This was in January 2018.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: At the 2020 Chicago Auto Show, Volkswagen unveiled the refreshed Atlas for the model year of 2021. Changes include a new front end, which is based on the Atlas Cross Sport, redesigned wheels, new rear lights, and a new steering wheel. It was facelifted for Mexico on December 1, 2020, alongside the introduction of the Teramont Cross Sport.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: In China, the Teramont was unveiled at the 2016 Guangzhou Auto Show. The Teramont is made in China by the SAIC-Volkswagen joint venture for the Chinese market. The Volkswagen Teramont is available with an 2.0-liter TSI, a 2.0-liter TSI, or with a 2.5-liter VR6. All variants are paired to a 7-speed DSG with the 4MOTION all-wheel drive system. The 2.0-liter engines are locally manufactured in China, while the VR6 engine is manufactured in Germany and shipped over to the factory in Shanghai. It was developed specifically for the Chinese market where engines above 3.0 liters are subject to heavy excise tax.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: At the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show, Volkswagen unveiled the refreshed Teramont for the model year of 2021 in China. Changes include a new front end, redesigned wheels, and new full-width rear lights. It was introduced alongside the introduction of the Teramont X 2021 facelift.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: The Atlas Cross Sport (called Teramont X in China and Teramont Cross Sport in Mexico) is a smaller variation of the Atlas/Teramont. The 4.97 meter long vehicle has the same wheelbase (2.98 meters) as the three-row model, but has a lower roof and angled rear window to give it a sportier appearance and is only available with two rows of seating instead of three.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: The Atlas Cross Sport debuted in North America in early 2020, as a new model for the 2020 model year. Available engines are the same as the original Atlas: a turbocharged four-cylinder and a VR6. The Atlas Cross Sport is offered in S, SE, SEL, SEL R-Line, SEL Premium, and SEL Premium R-Line trims. The Cross Sport was previewed by the concept CrossBlue Coupe in September 2013. This Atlas Cross Sport, known in Mexico as the Teramont Cross Sport, was introduced for the Mexican market on December 1, 2020, alongside the facelifted Teramont. It is only sold in the Highline trim level and it is equipped with the R-Line aerodynamic kit.


title: Volkswagen Atlas

text: The Teramont X was unveiled in April 2019 in 2019 Shanghai Auto Show. It positioned as a coupé version of the Teramont in the Chinese market. The engine options is also shared with the standard Teramont, however all Teramont X models have four-wheel drive as standard. It features a different front fascia compared to the North American Atlas Cross Sport. The Teramont X in China received a facelift for the 2021 model year, and debuted alongside the Teramont 2021 model year facelift.


title: Death growl

text: A death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Death growl vocals are sometimes criticized for their "ugliness", but their unintelligibility contributes to death metal's abrasive style and often dark and obscene subject matter.


title: Death growl

text: Death metal, in particular, is associated with growled vocals; it tends to be lyrically and thematically darker and more morbid than other forms of metal, and features vocals which attempt to evoke chaos, death, and misery by being "usually very deep, guttural, and unintelligible." Natalie Purcell notes, "Although the vast majority of death metal bands use very low, beast-like, almost indiscernible growls as vocals, many also have high and screechy or operatic vocals, or simply deep and forcefully-sung vocals." Sociologist Deena Weinstein has noted of death metal: "Vocalists in this style have a distinctive sound, growling and snarling rather than singing the words, and making ample use of the voice distortion box."


title: Death growl

text: Death growls are also known as death metal vocals, brutal vocals, guttural vocals, death grunts, growled vocals, low pitched vocals, low growls, unclean vocals, harsh vocals, vocal fry, glottal fry, false cord vocals, death cord vocals and disparagingly as "Cookie Monster vocals". To be done properly, death growls require traditional clean/melodic vocal techniques.


title: Death growl

text: In June 2007, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre in the Netherlands reported that, because of the increased popularity of growling in the region, several patients who had used improper growling techniques were being treated for edema and polyps on the vocal folds.


title: Death growl

text: The low, raspy, aggressive pitch of Lemmy Kilmister from Motörhead was not unlike the death growl and may be thought of as a precursor to the current style.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: The Battle of the Frontiers (, , ) comprised battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The battles resolved the military strategies of the French Chief of Staff General Joseph Joffre with Plan XVII and an offensive adaptation of the German deployment plan by Helmuth von Moltke the Younger. The German concentration on the right (northern) flank, was to wheel through Belgium and attack the French in the rear.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: The German advance was delayed by the movement of the French Fifth Army (General Charles Lanrezac) towards the north-west to intercept them and the presence of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the French left. The Franco-British troops were driven back by the Germans, who were able to invade northern France. French and British rearguard actions delayed the Germans, allowing the French time to transfer forces on the eastern frontier to the west to defend Paris, culminating in the First Battle of the Marne.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: Belgian military planning assumed that other powers would assist the Belgian Army to eject an invader and a formal alliance between France and Britain was not solidified by a potential German invasion, despite the Anglo-French Entente (1904). The Belgians judged that the British attitude towards their country had changed and that Belgium had come to be seen as a British protectorate. A General Staff was formed in 1910 but the , Lieutenant-Général Harry Jungbluth was retired on 30 June 1912 and not replaced by Lieutenant-General Chevalier de Selliers de Moranville until May 1914. Moranville began planning for the concentration of the army and met Belgian railway officials on 29 July.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: The Belgian army was to be massed in central Belgium, in front of the National redoubt of Belgium, ready to face any border, while the Fortified Position of Liège and Fortified Position of Namur were left to secure the frontiers. On mobilisation, the King became Commander-in-Chief and chose where the army was to concentrate. Amid the disruption of the new rearmament plan, disorganised and poorly trained Belgian soldiers would benefit from a central position to delay contact with an invader but it would also need fortifications for defence, which were on the frontier. A school of thought wanted a return to a frontier deployment, in line with French theories of the offensive. Belgian plans became a compromise, in which the field army concentrated behind the Gete river, with two divisions further forward at Liège and Namur.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: Alfred von Schlieffen, Chief of the Imperial German General Staff ("Oberste Heeresleitung, OHL") from devised plans for a decisive battle against the French army in Germany, Belgium or France. was a contingency plan for a Franco-German war, in which France (due to fewer numbers) would be on the defensive and Germany would attack by invading Belgium between Antwerp and Namur to advance south and breach the Verdun–Marne–Paris defensive area. The German armies would then pause until railways could be repaired and supplies accumulated for a second offensive operation. Helmuth von Moltke the Younger succeeded Schlieffen in 1906 and became convinced that an isolated Franco-German war was impossible and that Italian and Austro-Hungarian forces would not be available to defend the Franco-German border as had been planned. was abolished but in 1914 Moltke tried to apply the offensive strategy of to the deployment plan for a two-front war,


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: The main German force tried to follow to envelop the French armies on the left (north) and press them back over the Meuse, Aisne, Somme, Oise, Marne and Seine rivers, unable to withdraw into central France. Moltke hoped that the French would either be annihilated or the manoeuvre from the north would create conditions for victory in the centre or in Lorraine, on the common border.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: Under Plan XVII, the French peacetime army was to form five field armies of with groups of Reserve divisions attached to each army and with a group of reserve divisions on the southern and northern flanks. The armies were to concentrate opposite the German frontier around Épinal, Nancy and Verdun–Mezières, with an army in reserve around Ste Menehould and Commercy. Since 1871, railway building had given the French General Staff sixteen lines to the German frontier against thirteen available to the German army; the French could wait until German intentions were clear. The French deployment was intended to be ready for a German offensive in Lorraine or through Belgium. It was anticipated that the Germans would use reserve troops but also that a large German army would be mobilised on the border with Russia, leaving the western army with sufficient troops only to advance through Belgium south of the Meuse and the Sambre rivers. French intelligence had obtained a map exercise of the German general staff of 1905, in which German troops had gone no further north than Namur and assumed that plans to besiege Belgian forts were a defensive measure against the Belgian army.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: A German attack from south-eastern Belgium towards Mézières and a possible offensive from Lorraine towards Verdun, Nancy and St Dié was anticipated. The plan was an evolution of Plan XVI and made more provision for the possibility of a German offensive through Belgium. The First, Second and Third armies were to concentrate between Épinal and Verdun opposite Alsace and Lorraine, the Fifth Army was to assemble from Montmédy to Sedan and Mézières. The Fourth Army was to be held back, west of Verdun, ready to move east to attack the southern flank of a German invasion through Belgium or southwards against the northern flank of an attack through Lorraine. No formal provision was made for combined operations with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) but joint arrangements had been made and in 1911, during the Second Moroccan Crisis, the French had been told that six divisions could be expected to operate around Maubeuge.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: At midnight on the German government sent an ultimatum to Russia and announced a state of during the day; the Ottoman government ordered mobilisation and the London Stock Exchange closed. On 1 August, the British government ordered the mobilisation of the navy, the German government ordered general mobilisation and declared war on Russia. Hostilities commenced on the Polish frontier; the French government ordered general mobilisation and next day the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium demanding free passage, as German troops crossed the frontier of Luxembourg. Military operations began on the French frontier, Libau was bombarded by a German light cruiser and the British government guaranteed naval protection for French coasts. On 3 August, the Belgian Government refused German demands and the British Government promised military support to Belgium should Germany invade. Germany declared war on France, the British government ordered general mobilisation and Italy declared neutrality. On 4 August, the British government sent an ultimatum to Germany and declared war at midnight on Central European Time. Belgium severed diplomatic relations with Germany and Germany declared war on Belgium. German troops crossed the Belgian frontier and attacked Liège.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: Joseph Joffre, who had been Commander-in-Chief of the French army since 1911 and the Minister of War, Adolphe Messimy met on 1 August, to agree that the military conduct of the war should exclusively be the responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief. On 2 August, as small parties of German soldiers crossed the French border, Messimy told Joffre that he had the freedom to order French troops across the German but not the Belgian frontier. Joffre sent warning orders to the covering forces near the frontier, requiring the VII Corps to prepare to advance towards Mühlhausen (Mulhouse) to the north-east of Belfort and XX Corps to make ready to begin an offensive towards Nancy. As soon as news arrived that German troops had entered Luxembourg, the Fourth Army was ordered to move between the Third and Fifth armies, ready to attack to the north of Verdun. Operations into Belgium were forbidden, to deny the Germans a pretext until 4 August, when it was certain that German troops had already violated the Belgian border. To comply with the Franco-Russian Alliance, Joffre ordered an invasion of Alsace-Lorraine for 14 August, although anticipating a German offensive through Belgium.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: On 8 August, General Instruction No. 1 had ordered the Fifth Army to take a position on the left of the Fourth Army, ready to attack the southern flank of German force advancing from Mézières and Mouzon, through the difficult terrain in between. All four corps covered this front until 12 August, when Joffre allowed General Charles Lanrezac to move I Corps north to Givet to oppose a potential German attempt to cross the Meuse between Givet and Namur further north, which extended the army front to . As Lanrezac became aware of the size of the German force in Belgium and wanted to reinforce the left flank by moving to Namur, Joffre refused to allow the army front to be extended to and ordered Lanrezac to keep the army in a central position near Mézières, ready to oppose a German offensive from Mouzon to Namur. On 14 August Joffre and Lanrezac met but Joffre considered that only a few German cavalry and infantry parties had crossed the Meuse. With the BEF moving to Maubeuge and Hirson a redeployment of the Fifth Army would disrupt the deployment of the other armies. On 14 August a new intelligence report showed eight German corps between Luxembourg and Liège and by the next day Joffre allowed the move of the Fifth Army north, to operate beyond the Meuse. The XI Corps was transferred to the Fourth Army and the XVIII Corps was moved from the Third Army to the Fifth Army, which was made responsible for the defence of Maubeuge.


title: Battle of the Frontiers

text: Joffre began to dismiss commanders in early August, beginning with the VII Corps commander Bonneau and by 6 September had removed two army, ten corps and commanders, by transferring them to Limoges (). The VII Corps in the south was reinforced by two divisions, a cavalry division and the First Group of Reserve Divisions. The corps was renamed the Army of Alsace, to relieve the First Army of concern about Alsace during the operations in Lorraine. Two corps were removed from the Second Army and became a strategic reserve. Joffre met Sir John French on 16 August and learned that the British could be ready by 24 August, Joffre also arranged for Territorial divisions to cover the area from Maubeuge to Dunkirk. The German siege of the Liège forts ended on 16 August and the 1st and 2nd armies with twelve corps and the 3rd Army with four corps began to advance behind cavalry screens. On 18 August, Joffre ordered the Fifth Army to prepare for a German offensive on both banks of the Meuse or to meet a small force on the north bank. The Fifth Army began to move towards Namur, in the angle of the Meuse and Sambre rivers on 19 August, which required a march of by some units.