title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Schuyler Colfax Jr. (; March 23, 1823 – January 13, 1885) was an American journalist, businessman, and politician who served as the 17th vice president of the United States from 1869 to 1873, and prior to that as the 25th speaker of the House of Representatives from 1863 to 1869. Originally a Whig, then part of the short-lived People's Party of Indiana, and later a Republican, he was the U.S. Representative for from 1855 to 1869.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax was known for his opposition to slavery while serving in Congress, and was a founder of the Republican Party. During his first term as speaker he led the effort to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery. When it came before the House for a final vote in January 1865, he emphasized his support by casting a vote in favor—by convention the speaker votes only to break a tie. Chosen as Ulysses S. Grant's running mate in the 1868 election, the pair won easily over Democratic Party nominees Horatio Seymour and Francis Preston Blair Jr. As was typical during the 19th century, Colfax had little involvement in the Grant administration. In addition to his duties as president of the U.S. Senate, he continued to lecture and write for the press while in office. Believing Grant would only serve one term, in 1870 Colfax attempted unsuccessfully to garner support for the 1872 Republican presidential nomination by telling friends and supporters he would not seek a second vice presidential term. When Grant announced that he would run again, Colfax reversed himself and attempted to win the vice-presidential nomination, but it was given to Henry Wilson.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: An 1872–73 Congressional investigation into the Crédit Mobilier scandal identified Colfax as one of several federal government officials who in 1868 accepted payments of cash and discounted stock from the Union Pacific Railroad in exchange for favorable action during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. Though he vociferously defended himself against charges, his reputation suffered. Colfax left the vice presidency at the end of his term in March 1873, and never again ran for office. Afterward he worked as a business executive and became a popular lecturer and speechmaker.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax suffered a heart attack and died at a railroad station in Mankato, Minnesota, on January 13, 1885, while "en route" to a speaking engagement in Iowa. He is one of only two persons to have served as both speaker of the House and vice president, the other being John Nance Garner.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Schuyler Colfax was born in New York City on March 23, 1823, the son of Schuyler Colfax Sr. (1792–1822), a bank teller, and Hannah Stryker (1805–1872), both of Dutch ancestry, who had married on April 25, 1820. His grandfather, William Colfax, served in George Washington's Life Guard during the American Revolution and married Hester Schuyler, the second great granddaughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler. and a cousin of General Philip Schuyler. William Colfax became a general in the New Jersey Militia after the Revolution and commanded a brigade during the War of 1812.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Schuyler Colfax Sr. contracted tuberculosis and died on October 30, 1822, five months before Colfax was born. His sister Mary died in July 1823, four months after he was born. After the senior Colfax's death, Colfax's mother and grandmother ran a boarding house as their primary means of economic support. Colfax attended school in New York City until he was 10, when family financial difficulties caused him to end his formal education and take a job as a clerk in the store of George W. Matthews.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Hannah Colfax and George Matthews were married in 1836, and the family moved to New Carlisle, Indiana, where Matthews ran a store which also served as the village post office. There, Colfax became an avid reader of newspapers and books. The family moved again in 1841, to nearby South Bend, Indiana, after Matthews became St. Joseph County Auditor. He appointed Colfax as his deputy, a post which Colfax held throughout the eight years Matthews was in office.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In 1842, Colfax became the editor of the pro-Whig "South Bend Free Press," owned by John D. Defrees. When Defrees moved to Indianapolis the following year and purchased the "Indiana Journal", he hired Colfax to cover the Indiana Senate for the "Journal". In addition to covering the state senate, Colfax contributed articles on Indiana politics to the "New York Tribune", leading to a friendship with its editor, Horace Greeley.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In 1845 Colfax purchased the "South Bend Free Press" and changed its name to the "St. Joseph Valley Register". He owned the "Register" for nine years, at first in support of the Whigs, then shifting to the newly established Republican Party.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: While covering the Indiana Senate as a journalist, Colfax also served as the body's assistant enrolling clerk from 1842 to 1844. In 1843, several South Bend residents formed a debating society in which members researched and discussed current events and other topics of interest, and Colfax became a prominent member. The organization's success led it to create a moot state legislature, in which members introduced, debated, and voted on bills in accordance with the rules of the Indiana General Assembly. As with the debating society, Colfax was a prominent member of South Bend's moot legislature.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax's success in the debating society and moot legislature made him prominent enough to take part in politics, and he was selected as a delegate to the 1848 Whig National Convention, where he was selected as one of the gathering's secretaries and supported Zachary Taylor for the presidency. He was next elected as a delegate to Indiana's 1849–1850 state constitutional convention. Colfax was the 1851 Whig nominee for Congress in the district which included South Bend, but narrowly lost to his Democratic opponent. His loss was attributed to his constitutional convention opposition to a measure that prevented free African Americans from settling in Indiana.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In 1852, Colfax was a delegate to the Whig National Convention and was selected to serve as a convention secretary. He supported Winfield Scott for president, and after Scott was nominated, Colfax took an active part in the campaign, both through making speeches and authoring and distributing newspaper articles and editorials. In 1852, Colfax's political supporters encouraged him to make a second run for the U.S. House, but he declined.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In 1854 Colfax ran for Congress again, this time as nominee of the short-lived Indiana People's Party, an anti-slavery movement which formed to oppose the Kansas–Nebraska Act. Colfax won and was reelected six times, and he represented Indiana's 9th congressional district from March 4, 1855, to March 3, 1869. During his House service, Colfax became a member of the leadership as chairman of the Committee on Post Office and Post Roads, a post he held from 1859 to 1863.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In 1855 Colfax considered joining the Know Nothing Party because of the antislavery plank in its platform. He was selected, without his knowledge, to be a delegate to the party's June convention, but had mixed feelings about the party and subsequently denied having been a member. Although he agreed with many Know Nothing policies, he disapproved of its secrecy oath and citizenship test. By the time of his 1856 campaign for re-election, the new Republican Party had become the main anti-slavery party, and Colfax became an early member.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax was identified with the Radical Republicans in Congress, and was an energetic opponent of slavery. His June 21, 1856 "Kansas Code" speech attacking laws passed by the proslavery Legislature in Kansas became the most widely requested Republican campaign document. Then, as the 1860 presidential election approached, Colfax traveled frequently, delivered many speeches, and helped bind the various Republican and antislavery factions together into a unified party that could win the presidency.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Before Lincoln's inauguration, Colfax's name was put forward by Indiana Republicans for appointment as postmaster general. President Lincoln wrote him a warm letter stating that he considered him qualified and foretelling "a bright future" for the 37-year-old, but that he had already promised a cabinet position to another Hoosier, Caleb Blood Smith.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: At the start of the Civil War Major General John C. Frémont commanded Union Army forces in St. Louis, Missouri. On September 3, 1861 Confederate General Sterling Price defeated Union Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon at the Battle of Wilson's Creek. During the battle, Price's Confederate troops under Leonidas Polk occupied Columbus, Kentucky. Frémont was blamed for not reinforcing Lyon, who had been killed in the fighting. On September 6, Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant, under Frémont's authority, took Paducah without a fight and established a Union supply base in Kentucky. Colfax, concerned over the Confederate Army's occupation of Kentucky and threatened Union security of Missouri, decided to visit Frémont.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: After his arrival in St. Louis, Colfax met Frémont on September 14, 1861, and petitioned him to send troops to cut off Price from capturing Lexington. Colfax believed Frémont had 20,000 troops under his command in St. Louis. Frémont informed Colfax that he only had 8,000 troops in St. Louis and was unable to spare any. In addition Frémont told Colfax that Lincoln and federal authorities in Washington had requested him to dispatch 5,000 of his troops elsewhere. Colfax suggested that Frémont reply that he could not spare any troops or Missouri would be lost to the Confederacy. Frémont declined, recognizing that he had a reputation for being insubordinate because he had earlier imposed a controversial August 30 edict that put Missouri under martial law and emancipated rebel slaves beyond what was included in Lincoln's Confiscation Act, and not wanting to appear unwilling to follow the instructions of his superiors. Price captured Lexington on September 20 and threatened to take the whole state of Missouri. Frémont finally responded on September 29, arriving at Sedalia with 38,000 troops and threatening to trap the rebels against the Missouri River. Price abandoned Lexington, and soon was forced to abandon the state headed to Arkansas and later Mississippi.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: On November 1, seven weeks after Colfax's visit, Frémont ordered Grant to make demonstrations along the Mississippi against the Confederates, but not to directly engage the enemy. The following day Frémont was relieved from command by Lincoln for refusing to revoke his August 30 edict. On November 7, Grant attacked Belmont drawing Confederate troops from Columbus and inflicting Confederate casualties. In February 1862, Grant, in combination with the Union navy, captured Confederate Forts Henry and Donelson, forcing Polk to abandon Columbus. The Confederate army was finally pushed out of Kentucky after Union General Don Carlos Buell defeated Confederate General Braxton Bragg at the Battle of Perryville in October 1862.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax faced a difficult reelection campaign in 1862 due to strong antiwar sentiments in Indiana, but won a narrow victory over Democrat David Turpie. Among the incumbents defeated that year was Speaker of the House Galusha Grow. When the 38th Congress convened in December 1863, Colfax was elected speaker, despite President Lincoln's preference for someone less tied to the Radical Republicans. Altogether, Colfax was elected speaker for three congresses:


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: During his first term as speaker, Colfax presided over the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau, and helped secure congressional passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which, when ratified by the states, abolished slavery. Though it is unusual for the speaker to vote, except to break a tie, Colfax directed the clerk to call his name after the roll call vote had been taken. He then cast the final vote in favor of the amendment to much applause from its supporters in the House.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In 1865, Colfax, along with author Samuel Bowles and Lieutenant Governor of Illinois William Bross, set out across the western territories from Mississippi to the California coast to record their experiences. They compiled their observations in an 1869 book called "Our New West". Included in their book were details of the views of Los Angeles, with its wide panorama of vast citrus groves and orchards, and conversations with Brigham Young.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: On September 17, 1867, Colfax, along with Senator John Sherman, addressed a Republican meeting in Lebanon, Ohio on the political situation in Washington. Colfax said he was firmly against allowing those who participated in the Confederate rebellion to be reinstated in office and control Republican Reconstruction policy. Colfax affirmed that he was not in any way for repudiating the debt caused by the Confederate rebellion. Colfax said Congressional reconstruction would give security and peace to the nation as opposed to President Johnson and his southern Democratic policies. Colfax favored Johnson's impeachment saying Johnson was recreant, a usurper, and was unfaithful in executing the Reconstruction laws of the land in granting a general amnesty to Southerners who had participated in the rebellion. Colfax told Republicans who were tired of Reconstruction to leave the party and join the Democrats.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: During the 1868 Republican Convention the Republicans nominated Ulysses S. Grant for president. Colfax was selected for vice president on the fifth ballot. Colfax was popular among Republicans for his friendly character, party loyalty, and Radical views on Reconstruction. Among Republicans he was known as "Smiler Colfax." Grant won the general election, and Colfax was elected the 17th Vice President of the United States.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: On March 3, 1869, the final full day of the 40th Congress, Colfax, who was to be sworn into office as vice president the next day, resigned as speaker. Immediately afterward, the House passed a motion declaring Theodore Pomeroy duly elected speaker in place of Colfax. In office for one day, Pomeroy's tenure is the shortest of any speaker of the U.S. House.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax was inaugurated March 4, 1869, and served until March 4, 1873. Grant and Colfax, 46 and 45 respectively at the time of their inauguration, were the youngest presidential and vice presidential team until the inauguration of Bill Clinton and Al Gore in 1993.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax and John Nance Garner, the first vice president under Franklin Roosevelt, are the only two vice presidents to have been Speaker of the House of Representatives prior to becoming vice president, and since the vice president is the President of the Senate, they are the only two people to have served as the presiding officer of both Houses of Congress.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: On Friday, January 6, 1871, from Washington, D.C., in a letter published in the "New York Times", Colfax recognized and rejoiced in King Victor Emmanuel II's victory of unifying Italy and setting up a new government in Rome. Colfax encouraged Italy to form a Republican government that protected religious freedom, regardless of faith, and the civil rights of all individuals, including those who lived in poverty. Colfax said, "for out of this new life of civil and religious liberty will flow peace and happiness, progress and prosperity, with material and national development, and advancement as surely as healthy springs flow from fountains of purity."


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Prior to the 1872 Presidential election, Colfax believed that Grant would only serve one term as president. In 1870 Colfax announced he would not run for political office in 1872. Colfax's announcement failed to garner prominent support among Republicans for a presidential bid, as he had planned, while Grant decided to run for a second term. In addition, Liberal Republican interest in Colfax as a possible presidential candidate alienated him from Grant and the regular Republicans. (The Liberal Republicans believed that the Grant administration was corrupt and were against Grant's attempted annexation of Santo Domingo.) Colfax reversed course and became a candidate for the Republican vice presidential nomination by informing his supporters that he would accept it if it was offered. However, Colfax's previously stated intent not to run in 1872 had created the possibility of a contested nomination, and Senator Henry Wilson defeated Colfax by 399.5 delegate votes to 321.5. Grant went on to win election to a second term, and Wilson became the 18th vice-president of the United States.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In September 1872, during the presidential campaign, Colfax's reputation was marred by a "New York Sun" article which indicated that he was involved in the Crédit Mobilier scandal. Colfax was one of several Representatives and Senators (mostly Republicans), who were offered (and possibly took) bribes of cash and discounted shares in the Union Pacific Railroad's Crédit Mobilier subsidiary in 1868 from Congressman Oakes Ames for votes favorable to the Union Pacific during the building of the First transcontinental railroad. Henry Wilson was among those accused, but after initially denying a connection, he provided a complicated explanation to a Senate investigating committee, which involved his wife having purchased shares with her own money, and then later canceling the transaction over concerns about its propriety. Wilson's reputation for integrity was somewhat dampened, but not enough to prevent him from becoming vice president.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax also denied involvement to the press, and defended himself in person before a House investigative committee, testifying in January 1873 that he had never received a dividend check from Ames. Despite his protests of innocence, the congressional investigation revealed that in 1868 Colfax had taken a $1,200 gift check for 20 shares of Crédit Mobilier stock from Ames. Colfax had deposited $1,200 in his bank account at the same time Ames recorded that he had paid Colfax $1,200. Making matters worse for Colfax, the investigation also revealed that Colfax had received a $4,000 gift also in 1868 from a contractor who supplied envelopes to the federal government while Colfax was chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, and so had influence in the awarding of such contracts. Afterward, a resolution to impeach the vice president was introduced in the House, but failed to pass by a mostly party-line vote, mainly because the incidents took place during his tenure as congressman (not as vice president), and because just a few weeks remained in his term.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: His political career ruined, Colfax left office under a cloud at the end of his term, and never ran for office again. His only consolation on that bitterly cold March day was a hand-written letter from Ulysses Grant. In it, the president wrote,


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: After leaving office in March 1873, Colfax began to recover his reputation, embarking on a successful career as a traveling lecturer offering speeches on a variety of topics. His most requested presentation was one on the life of Abraham Lincoln, whom the nation had begun to turn into an icon. With an expanding population that desired to know more details and context about Lincoln's life and career, an oration from someone who had known him personally was an attraction audiences were willing to pay to hear, and Colfax delivered his Lincoln lecture hundreds of times to positive reviews.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In 1875, he became vice president of the Indiana Reaper and Iron Company. On February 12, 1875, having returned to Washington, D.C., to give a lecture, he advised his friends in Congress who were frustrated over the slow pace of action: "Ah! the way to get out of politics is to get out of politics."


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: He had remained popular in his home area, and was often encouraged to run again for public office, but he always declined. Finally, in April 1882, when pressed to consider becoming a candidate for his old U.S. House seat in the upcoming election, Colfax announced in a letter to the "South Bend Tribune" that, while he deeply appreciated how much his friends wanted him to run for public office again, he was satisfied by the 20 years of service he had given during the "stormiest years of our nation's history." He also said that he was enjoying his life as a private citizen, and would neither be a candidate nor accept any nomination for any office in the future, stating, "only ambition now is to go in and out among my townsmen as a private citizen during what years of life may remain for me to enjoy on this earth."


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: On January 13, 1885, Colfax walked from Mankato, Minnesota's Front Street depot to the Omaha depot, about three-quarters of a mile (1 kilometer) in weather, intending to change trains on his way to Rock Rapids, Iowa, to give a speech. Five minutes after arriving, Colfax died of a heart attack brought on by the extreme cold and exhaustion.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: He was buried at City Cemetery in South Bend. A historical marker in Mankato's Washington Park, site of the former depot, marks the spot where he died.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF). In 1850, Colfax and members William T. Martin of Mississippi and E. G. Steel of Tennessee were appointed to prepare a ritual pertaining to the Rebekah Degree and present a report at the 1851 annual meeting. On September 20, 1851, the IOOF approved the degree and Colfax was credited as its author and founder.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: In 1854 Colfax was initiated into the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at DePauw University as an honorary member.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax's 20 years of public service ended in controversy in 1873 due to the revelation that he was involved in the Crédit Mobilier scandal. He never returned to seek political office in part because he believed that it was best to stay out of politics once leaving office, and in part because he was content with his life as a private citizen. Because of his success as a lecturer, his reputation was somewhat restored.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: The Revenue Cutter Service commissioned and named an iron-framed side-wheel steamer after Colfax in 1871, serving along the Atlantic Coast and hosted President McKinley aboard prior to her decommissioning in 1899.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Towns in the U.S. states of California, North Carolina, Illinois, Washington, Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, Texas, and Louisiana are named after him. Schuyler, Nebraska, named after Colfax, is the county seat of Colfax County, Nebraska. The ghost town of Colfax, Colorado, was named after him, as was Colfax County, New Mexico.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax Avenue in South Bend is named in his honor. Colfax's home of his adult years stood on that street, at 601 W. Market St. The city later renamed the street in his honor. The Colfax home was demolished and a Seventh Day Adventist church stands on the spot in 2019. There is another Colfax Avenue in Mishawaka, Indiana, the city just east of South Bend. There is also a Colfax Avenue in the Grant City section of Staten Island, one of the boroughs of New York City. The main east–west street traversing Aurora, Denver and Lakewood, Colorado, and abutting the Colorado State Capitol is named Colfax Avenue in the politician's honor; it is also known as the longest continuous commercial street in the U.S. There also is Colfax Place in the Highland Square neighborhood in Akron, Ohio; in Minneapolis, Minnesota; in Roselle Park, New Jersey; and a Colfax Street on Chicago's South Side. There is a Colfax Street leading up Mt. Colfax in Springdale, Pennsylvania, in Palatine, Illinois, in Evanston, Illinois, and Jamestown, New York. Dallas, Texas, and one of its suburbs, Richardson, each have separate residential roads named Colfax Drive. There is also a Colfax Avenue in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles and in Concord, California, as well as in Benton Harbor, Michigan.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Colfax School was built in South Bend and opened in 1898 just a few blocks from the Schuyler Colfax home. The school building still stands in 2019 at 914 Lincoln Way West, although it is no longer a school and today is known as Colfax Cultural Center. In the '50s and '60s, one of the downtown movie theaters was The Colfax. There is a Colfax Elementary School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Schuyler-Colfax House in Wayne, New Jersey, which was built by Colfax's ancestors, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: The Schuyler Colfax monument in Colfax, California was made in his honor. There is another statue of Colfax in Indianapolis, Indiana.


title: Schuyler Colfax

text: Actor Bill Raymond portrayed Colfax during his time as Speaker in the 2012 Steven Spielberg film "Lincoln". Raymond was in his early seventies when the film was made while Colfax was in his early forties during the period depicted in the film.


title: Lakshya (2021 film)

text: Lakshya () is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language sports drama film written and directed by Dheerendra Santhossh Jagarlapudi. It is produced by Sri Venkateswara Cinemas and Northstar Entertainment. The film stars Naga Shaurya, Jagapathi Babu, Ketika Sharma and Sachin Khedekar. The film was released on 10 December 2021.


title: Lakshya (2021 film)

text: Pardhu is a gifted archer since his childhood. His grandfather notices it and spends all his earnings to admit him to Hyderabad's best archery academy. Pardhu's exemplary performance helps him easily become the state champion. He falls in love with Rithika. Pardhu becomes depressed due to the sudden demise of his grandfather and becomes addicted to drugs. He eventually realizes that someone planned his downfall and introduced him to drugs through his friends. In a subsequent fight, they break his hand and he falls unconscious. However, he reaches the stadium in time to participate in the finals but falls unconscious. He gets suspended after failing in Narcotics test and breaks up with Rithika when he thrashes her father. After losing everything in his life, Parthu becomes an alcoholic but Parthasaradhi enters his life who motivates him to fight back. Pardhu trains hard with the hope that someday his right hand would work. He reunites with Rithika and prepares to participate in World Championship. He learns the shocking truth that his right hand will never fully recover. But Parthasaradhi enlightens him that his left hand is equally competent for archery and he needs to train his mind to cope with it. Pardhu convinces the board and participates in the World championship. He finally wins a medal fulfilling his grandfather's dream.


title: Lakshya (2021 film)

text: The film was tentatively titled as "NS20". On 30 November 2020, the film's official title was unveiled as "Lakshya". Principal photography of the film began on 16 September 2020 and was wrapped up on 30 August 2021.


title: Lakshya (2021 film)

text: Thadhagath Pathi of "The Times of India" rated 3/5 and called "Lakshya" "an interesting sports drama with minor flaws." In addition to the performances, Pathi appreciated the directed for not dwelling into "jingoism or unnecessary commercial elements." While praising Shaurya's acting and archery backdrop, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of "The Hindu" wrote, "The film moves at a snail’s pace and predictable lines; the only engaging factor is archery, a sport we haven’t explored in films." In another mixed review, "The New Indian Express" critic Ram Venkat Srikar stated: "Lakshya surely has the focus, but like the protagonist, who falls prey to substance abuse, the script too falls prey to predictability."


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The Nicaraguan Canal (), formally the Nicaraguan Canal and Development Project (also referred to as the Nicaragua Grand Canal, or the Grand Interoceanic Canal) was a proposed shipping route through Nicaragua to connect the Caribbean Sea (and therefore the Atlantic Ocean) with the Pacific Ocean. Scientists were concerned about the project's environmental impact, as Lake Nicaragua is Central America's key freshwater reservoir while the project's viability was questioned by shipping experts and engineers.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Construction of a canal using the San Juan River as an access route to Lake Nicaragua was first proposed in the early colonial era. The United States abandoned plans to construct a waterway in Nicaragua in the early 20th century after it purchased the French interests in the Panama Canal.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: In June 2013, Nicaragua's National Assembly approved a bill to grant a 50 year concession to finance and manage the project to the HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Group (HKND) headed by Wang Jing, a Chinese businessman. The concession could have been extended for another 50 years once the waterway was operational.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: In 2015, media reports suggested the project would be delayed and possibly cancelled because Wang's personal wealth declined greatly as a result of the 2015–16 Chinese stock market crash. "Major works" such as dredging were to take place after the finishing of a Pacific Ocean wharf, whose construction was planned to start in late 2016. The Nicaraguan government failed to present reliable information about whether or not the project could be financed, thus casting doubt over whether it would be completed. The HKND Group stated that financing would come from debt and equity sales and a potential initial public offering (IPO).


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: By May 2017, no concrete action had been taken toward constructing the canal and further doubts were expressed about its financing. In February 2018, analysts widely viewed the project as defunct, though the head of the project insisted work was on-going and HKND, which vanished in April 2018, retained the legal rights to the concession for the canal and side projects.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Until the beginning of the 20th century, before the opening of the Panama Canal, Nicaragua used to be the main overland trade route and hub of transshipment of goods between ocean-going vessels on the Atlantic side and those on the Pacific. In the meantime, the idea of constructing a man-made waterway through Central America has been thought about throughout history. The colonial administration of New Spain had conducted preliminary surveys. The routes suggested usually ran across Nicaragua, Panama, or the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The history of attempts to build a Nicaragua canal connecting the Caribbean Sea and thus the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean goes back at least to 1825 when the Federal Republic of Central America hired surveyors to study a route via Lake Nicaragua, above sea level. Many other proposals have followed. Despite the operation of the Panama Canal, which opened in 1914, interest in a Nicaragua canal has continued. With emergence of globalization, an increase in commerce and the cost of fuel, and the limitations of the Panama Canal, the concept of a second canal across the American land bridge became more attractive, and in 2006 the president of Nicaragua, Enrique Bolaños, announced an intention to proceed with such a project. Even with the Panama Canal expansion project, which began commercial operation to allow modern New Panamax vessels on 26 June 2016, some ships would be too big for the Panama Canal.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: On 26 September 2012, the Nicaraguan Government and the newly formed Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Group (HKND) signed a memorandum of understanding that committed HKND to financing and building the "Nicaraguan Canal and Development Project". HKND Group is a private enterprise.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The Nicaraguan government subsequently approved the "Master Concession Agreement" with HKND on 13 June 2013 thereby granting "the sole rights to the HKND Group to plan, design, construct and thereafter to operate and manage the Nicaragua Grand Canal and other related projects, including ports, a free trade zone, an international airport and other infrastructure development projects." The agreement would have lasted for 50 years and was renewable for another 50 years. HKND would have paid the Government of Nicaragua US$10M annually for 10 years, and thereafter a portion of the revenue starting at 1% and increasing later.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Stratfor indicated that after 10 years, ownership shares would periodically be handed over to Nicaragua, so that after 50 years Nicaragua would be the majority shareholder.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The HKND Group performed a preliminary study phase of development to assess the technological and economic feasibility of constructing a canal in Nicaragua, as well as the potential environmental, social, and regional implications of various routes. The canal and other associated projects would be financed by investors throughout the world and would generate jobs for Nicaragua and other Central American countries.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Initial findings of the commercial analysis conducted by HKND Group indicate that the combined effect of growth in east–west trade and in ship sizes could provide a compelling argument for the construction of a second canal, substantially larger than the expanded Panama Canal, across Central America. In the 2020s, growth in global maritime trade is expected to cause congestion and delays in transit through the Panama Canal without a complementary route through the isthmus, and by 2030, the volume of trade that a Nicaragua Canal could serve would have grown by 240%.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: On 10 June 2013, The Associated Press reported that the National Assembly's Infrastructure Committee voted nearly unanimously in favor of the project, with four members abstaining. On 13 June, Nicaragua's legislature passed the legislation granting the concession. On 15 June, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and the billionaire chairman of HKND Group, Wang Jing, signed the concession agreement giving HKND Group the rights to construct and manage the canal and associated projects for 50 years. An HKND Group press release read, "HKND Group successfully obtains exclusive right to develop and manage Nicaragua Grand Canal for 100 years." Under the exclusive contract, Wang can skip building the canal (and making any payments to Nicaragua) and instead simply operate lucrative tax-free side projects.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Wang announced at a press briefing in June 2013 that he had successfully attracted global investors to the $40 billion project. In January 2014, Wang and President Ortega issued a statement that the project's construction would begin in December 2014, and that it would be completed in 2019.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: On 7 July 2014, a route for the Nicaragua Canal was approved. The route starts from the mouth of the Brito River on the Pacific side, passes through Lake Nicaragua, and ends in the Punta Gorda River on the Caribbean. The proposed canal would be between wide and deep. The "Toronto Star" noted that Chinese engineer Dong Yung Song said the canal's design called for the creation of a artificial lake. The water to fill the canal's giant locks would come from the artificial lake, not from Lake Nicaragua.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Daniel Ortega whose government approved the agreement within one week in June 2013, reportedly perceived the canal as the second phase of the Nicaraguan Revolution, predicting that it would pull Nicaragua out of poverty and lead to the creation of 250,000 jobs, but HKND said the project would create 50,000 jobs, though about half would come from abroad, mainly China.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: "The Moscow Times" reported in 2014 that Russia was willing to help build the Nicaragua Canal, viewing the project in part as an opportunity to pursue strategic interests in the region. Construction was to begin on 29 December 2014, and officially started a week earlier. However, owing to Nicaragua's volatile climate and seismic activity, feasibility concerns emerged over the project's future. In November 2015, HKND announced that there would be a delay in the construction of locks and excavations until late 2016 in order to fine-tune the design.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The Nicaragua canal project saw business rivalry greatly intensify in late 2014. China Harbor Engineering Company, an experienced construction company, offered to design, construct, and finance a fourth set of locks in Panama, where it opened a regional headquarters. If built to the width of the proposed Nicaragua Canal, it would cut across a far shorter distance, and still cost only $10 billion, according to the firm. Panama is in a much better financial situation than Nicaragua to afford taking on such debt and already has a stream of income from its existing canals.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Alternative motives have been explored and other projects have taken priority against the water transportation venture. Bloomberg reported in 2015 that "conspiracy theories abound" including the project was a land grab by Ortega, an attempt by Ortega to "whip up" support in elections, and part of a Chinese plan to gain influence in the region.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: By November 2016, the president of the canal commission, Manual Coronel Kautz said "According to our schedule, we should initiate major works by the end of the year." However, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, editor of the Confidencial newspaper, said "If the People's Republic of China does not step forward, it won't happen. Wang Jing does not have the reputation to push this through. If it is just him, then the chances of this happening are zero. If the PRC steps in, then it is a big possibility."


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Following financial difficulties, HKND finally closed its headquarters offices in China in April 2018, leaving no forwarding address or telephone numbers to be reached.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Protests against the canal's construction occurred shortly after the official ceremony marking its beginning. Farmers feared it could cause their eviction and land expropriation.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The vast land expropriations () under land expropriation Canal Law 840 enacted in 2013 include a concession for carrying out seven sub-projects, among them ports, oil pipelines, free-trade zones, and developing tourist areas that could be realized in any part of the national territory. In particular, this law denies any right to appeal against the expropriation decision and provides a derisory level of compensation. It also allows the investor (HKND) to buy and sell its rights over the various sub-projects "in parts", which is a highly profitable enterprise. This has been called a "land grab" and it has prompted protests, and some violent confrontations against security forces. Activists noted that the canal contract established that it must be dissolved in 72 months, if the investor has not obtained the money to start the project; that deadline was 14 June 2019, so they assert that the Law 840 must be repealed.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Opposition leader Eliseo Nuñez has called the deal "part of one of the biggest international scams in the world". Legal challenges that the deal violates constitutional rights were rejected by the Supreme Court of Nicaragua and a retrospective rewriting of the Constitution of Nicaragua placed HKND beyond legal challenge. HKND has been granted the right to expropriate land within on each side of the canal and pay only cadastral value, not market value, for property. Wang, however, promised to pay fair market value. The estimates of the number of people who would be displaced range from 29,000 to more than 100,000. There are indications of local opposition to intended expropriations. Thus, according to an activist leader, an unrest in Rivas in December 2014, in opposition to the canal, left two protesters dead, although no evidence was ever produced to justify his claim. The CIDH, Nicaragua's Human Rights Commission, has strongly criticized the government for not looking into the project's effect on citizens, amid claims that citizens were not involved in decision-making. The British firm ERM, who carried out the Environmental Impact Assessment, claims it held consultations with around 6,000 people in the communities along its planned route, and estimated that the property of about 30,000 people would be affected. National opinion polls show that support for the project is about 70%.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Investor Wang had financial setbacks unrelated to the Nicaragua project, losing 80% of his net worth during the 2015–16 Chinese stock market turbulence. In March 2017, the "Havana Times" reported that the public relations agency handling Wang's interests in Nicaragua had been let go, in absence of any developments on the project to report, and Wang had not been in the country in more than two years. In May 2017, the "PanAm Post" indicated that "no concrete action has been taken to begin the project" and suggested that the project was either "paralyzed, or nonexistent." In September 2017 Agence France-Presse reported that the work had been "pushed back indefinitely," although the government renewed the project's environmental permit in April 2017.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: In February 2018, Manuel Coronel Kautz, head of Interoceanic Grand Canal Authority of Nicaragua, told Agence France Presse work on the canal was still ongoing, but by that point analysts and activists widely viewed the canal project as defunct, with China having shifted its investment focus to Panama, the main competitor to a Nicaraguan canal. Following financial difficulties, HKND finally closed its offices in April 2018, leaving no forwarding address or telephone numbers to be reached.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Absent a 60% vote to revoke the legislation, HKND maintains the legal concessions established by the 2013 law, including for other infrastructures projects in Nicaragua, including ports, roads, railway and an airport.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The construction company provided a project description for review on open source, dated December 2014. The canal as planned would have been and would have three sections. The West Canal runs from Brito on the Pacific Ocean up the Rio Brito valley, crosses the continental divide, and after passing through the Rio Las Lajas valley enters Lake Nicaragua; its length would be . The Nicaragua Lake section measures and runs from south of San Jorge to south of San Miguelito. The Eastern Canal would be the longest section at and would be built along the Rio Tule valley through the Caribbean highland to the Rio Punta Gorda valley to meet the Caribbean Sea. A channel would have to be dug in the lake bottom, as it is not deep enough for large vessels to transit the canal.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Both the West Canal and the East Canal would each have one lock with 3 consecutive chambers to raise ships to the level of Lake Nicaragua that has an average water elevation of , with a range between . The western Brito Lock would be inland from the Pacific, and the eastern Camilo Lock would be inland from the Caribbean Sea. The dimensions of each of the locks' chambers are long, wide, and threshold depth. As locks generally define the limit on the size of ships that can be handled, the Nicaragua Canal would have allowed passage for larger ships than those that pass through the Panama Canal. For comparison the Panama Canal, after its 2016 expansion, is only long, wide, and deep.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: No water from Lake Nicaragua was planned to be used to flood the locks; water would have come from local rivers and recycling using water-saving basins. The Camilo lock would have been built adjacent to a new dam of the upper Punta Gorda River that creates a reservoir. This Atlanta Reservoir (or Lake Atlanta) would have a surface area of . West of the Atlanta reservoir, the Rio Agua Zarca would have been dammed to create a second reservoir. This reservoir would have had a surface area of and hold . A hydropower facility would be built at the dam and would have generated over 10 megawatts of power to be used for Camilo Lock operations. Both locks would also be connected to the country's power grid and have back-up generator facilities. It was estimated that each lock would have used about 9 megawatts of power.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: At each oceanic canal entrance, breakwaters and port facilities would have been constructed. The Pacific port would be named Brito Port and the Caribbean one Aguila Port. Initially these two ports would have helped during construction and later become international ports. Their design capacity was 1.68 million TEU/year and 2.5 million TEU/year, respectively. Existing port facilities at Corinto and Bluefields would have been improved to allow for shipment of material to the entry ports under construction. Fuel storage sites would be placed at the two port sites. Four lighthouses would be constructed at the entrances to the East and West Canals. In addition, the channel entrance on sea would have been be marked on both sides with a large sailing buoy about offshore and 2 light buoys would mark the passage through Lake Nicaragua.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: A free trade zone with commercial facilities as well as tourist hotels and an international airport at Rivas were planned to be built when canal construction was advanced.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Appropriate road improvements were planned. The Pan-American Highway would have crossed the canal via a bridge. Nicaragua Route 25 (Acoyapa-San Carlos) on the eastern side of Lake Nicaragua would have gotten a ferry service. Both ports would get public road connections. HKND plans to construct a private gravel maintenance road on both sides of the canal.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The estimate for the workforce in 2020 was 3,700 people, and 12,700 in 2050 when traffic had increased.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Transit time would have been about 30 hours. It was projected that by 2020 3,576 ships would have transited the canal annually. The transit rate was expected to increase to 4,138 by 2030, and to 5,097 by 2050. For comparison, the Panama Canal handled 12,855 transits in 2009.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: No significant construction took place. No "major works" such as dredging were planned to take place until after a Pacific Ocean wharf was built.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: On December 22, 2014, Wang announced construction started in Rivas, Nicaragua. Wang spoke during the starting ceremony of the first works of the Interoceanic Grand Canal in Brito town. Construction of the new waterway would have been by HKND Group—Hong Kong–based HK Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Co Ltd., which is controlled by Wang. According to HKND's announced plans in 2015, the project entailed the canal's development and building, and a supporting infrastructure. There would have been four main phases. The preconstruction phase included getting permits, acquiring land and machinery, and finalizing designs and plans. The early construction phase, started in December 2014, lasted through September 2015; it secured access to construction sites, but it did not provide the critical infrastructure nor mobilized the workforce. During the construction phase from September 2015 to March 2020, the canal would have been dug and the locks built along with accompanying infrastructure. The commissioning phase projected from April 2020 to June 2020 included lock testing and lock and tug boat operator training.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: HKND described the project as the largest civil earth-moving operation in history. Most of this would have consisted of dry excavation to form the canal with an estimate of 4,019 MCM of rock and soil. There would have been 739 MCM of freshwater dredging (Lake Nicaragua) and 241 MCM of marine dredging. Marine dredging of the oceanic access canal would be required on the Pacific side for and on the Caribbean Sea for . Disposal of excavation material would have been done along the canal in designated disposal areas typically within of the canal.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Two concrete plants and a steel plant were planned to support the project. While cement would have likely been imported, construction aggregate would have come from local quarries near the two locks.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: HKND estimates that about 50,000 people would be employed during the five-year construction, about half of them from Nicaragua, 25% from China, and the remainder from various other countries. 1,400 workers would be in office or administrative positions and the rest in the field. The management offices would be rented or purchased near Rivas. Workers would live in one of nine camps, which besides food and shelter would also provide health care and security. These are “closed” camps — that is, workers cannot leave the camp unless part of an organized activity. The work schedule calls for 12 hour shifts for 7 days a week. Domestic workers work two weeks and get one week off, while foreign workers are 6 weeks on and get 2 weeks off (management) or 22 weeks on, 4 weeks off (blue collar workers).


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: On 2 September 2015, Pang Wai Kwok (executive VP of HKND Group) was interviewed by Nicaraguan journalist Carlos Solis and said up to 3,000 people might be employed on the canal project within the year. However, the labor force depends on the contract bid's winner and Kwok said anyone in the world is eligible to work on the canal.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Project costs were estimated in the region of $40 billion to $50 billion Beside private money provided by Wang at the start-up, further influx of financial support was expected from investors. An IPO was reported to be in preparation by the end of 2014. XCMG, a state-owned Chinese construction company would have provided machinery and take 1.5% to 3% of HKND shares in return.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: By the end of 2014, no major investors had been named. There had been speculation that the Chinese government would provide financial backing for the project, but China, as well as Wang, denied this. Wang lost nearly 85% of his wealth during the 2015 Chinese stock market crash, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In addition, Wang has had a string of setbacks for projects around the world since 2014. The economic development potential for the canal project is relatively measurable with Panama; however, the World Bank describes the country of Nicaragua as the second poorest in Latin America and the Caribbean. The World Bank has compiled a data list of projects that the impoverished nation has on record and the majority of the efforts are geared towards infrastructure and agricultural needs, but there is no explicit title project that would support the canal line of effort.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Wang admitted that the project has financial, political, and engineering risks. With the high cost of the project that independently has been estimated to be about $100 billion, it was not fully funded. The project was expected in 2014 to be completed in 2020, but Stratfor, an analyst agency, stated then that was an "unrealistic goal."


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: While the Nicaraguan National Bank reserves served as collateral on the part of Nicaragua, HKND had no such potential liability.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Following financial difficulties, HKND finally closed its Headquarter offices in China in April 2018, leaving no forwarding address or telephone numbers to be reached.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Some of the natural habitat of at least 22 endangered species would be destroyed in the construction. Another major environmental concern is the project's impact on Lake Nicaragua, the largest source of freshwater in Nicaragua. An oil spill would have serious and lasting consequences. Other problems include the possibility of dredging bringing up toxic sediments, the disruption of migration patterns of animal species, and the potential to introduce invasive species to the Lake. Environmental studies had not been released by HKND when the project officially started in December 2014. The Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences noted that hundreds of thousands of hectares of pristine forests and wetlands would be destroyed and pointed out that the environmental study performed for the canal was not independent.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: President Daniel Ortega stated that he is "not concerned about harming the lake because it is already contaminated." Protesters fear that the canal would bring massive environmental destruction to Lake Nicaragua and the Atlantic Autonomous Regions. 400,000 hectares of tropical rain forest and wetlands would be destroyed. It would also encroach upon the habitats of animals such as Baird's tapir, the spider monkey, and the jaguar.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Richard Condit, from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, believes that the project could be used as leverage for forest protection in a country that currently lacks "institutional capacity" to meet conservation needs. A Canadian pilot was the first fatality during the canal project. The pilot was flying alone on the western side of Lake Nicaragua during an aerial survey.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The survey site was on the same side as NicarAgua–Dulce, which is the only ecotourism group in Nicaragua that is affiliated with The International Ecotourism Society, and it is located north of the proposed canal site. Falling in line with ecotourism, Nicaragua's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources has promoted formal workshops at each level of education (primary, secondary, and post-secondary); however, there is no curriculum relevant to the pending canal project. The American-led Foundation for Sustainable Development is another partner that provides training initiatives to Nicaraguans that cannot access formal education. One of FSD's support sites is located at Tola, which is within close proximity of the proposed Brito–Pacific canal opening.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: As the original Panama Canal still has capacity for Panamax-sized shipping and Panama has completed its Panama Canal expansion project, adding more capacity and allowing transit for even larger New Panamax size ships, projections for the Nicaragua Canal's traffic may be optimistic. While the proposed Nicaragua Canal would be wide enough to accommodate Triple E class of mega container ships, which are too wide for the expanded Panama Canal, few ports are able to accommodate these ships at the present time. Further, a coast-to-coast railway line may be built by China in Honduras and could affect use of the Nicaragua Canal. Also, North American overland shipping through Pacific ports in Mexico and the United States will compete in the traffic between Asia and the U.S. east coast. Thus, competition may undermine the Nicaragua Canal's economic viability if it were ever built.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: The canal would affect neighboring economies, like Honduras and El Salvador, as they are part of the commercial treaty known as the Northern Triangle of Central America (Triángulo Norte de Centroamérica). The GDP of each nation would be influenced by expanded export / import operations and trade cooperation through agencies like the promotion authority in El Salvador.


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: According to the official Environmental Impact Assessment carried out by ERM, the canal would require the relocation of around 30,000 people. However, according to human rights group Amnesty International it would "forcibly displace an estimated 120,000 people, including Rama and Creole communities from protected indigenous territories on the Caribbean coast." The report claims that communities established in the area of canals have been visited by foreigners, guarded by Nicaraguan authorities, measuring the lands of the inhabitants, and that laws passed by the Ortega government "authorizes HKND to expropriate whatever land it wants, while denying displaced families the right to appeal."


title: Nicaragua Canal

text: Amnesty International also states that excessive forces and unjust arrests have been performed by Nicaraguan officials. However, the 2015 Nicaraguan government's report on the canal states: "The Nicaraguan government and HKND will guarantee that persons and families on the route of the canal's construction will have living conditions superior to those they currently have [without the canal]."


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: The Larkins is a British comedy drama television series, produced by Objective Fiction and Genial Productions. The series is the most recent adaptation of H. E. Bates novel "The Darling Buds of May".


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: Both the novel and the series are set in rural 1950s Kent and revolve around the life of Pop and Ma Larkin and their six children. The series stars Bradley Walsh as "Pop" Larkin and Joanna Scanlan as "Ma" Larkin. The eldest daughter of the family, Mariette, is played by Sabrina Bartlett (series 1) and Joelle Rae (series 2), while Tok Stephen plays accountant, Cedric "Charley" Charlton.


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: Various locations throughout the south east of England have been used during filming to stand in for the fictional setting of Littlechurch including the villages of West Peckham and Underriver in Kent. Romshed Farm near Sevenoaks served as the Larkins farm and home. According to the Kent Film office some of the other key locations for series 1 are:


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: New locations featured in the 2021 Christmas Special included Underriver Village Hall, a private residence in Underriver and a private cottage in Chiddingstone.


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: James Jackson of "The Times" wrote that "The jollity of the voracious Larkin family is undeniable, bursting with enough warmth to power an entire country village", with the publication awarding it four stars out of five. "The Radio Times" also awarded the episode four stars out of five, particularly praising Bradley Walsh as Pop, and wrote that "The Larkins isn't necessarily anything revolutionary [...] But what it is is a joyous, comforting and homely show which feels like you're getting a big old hug."


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: Benjie Goodhart, writing for "Saga Magazine", wrote that despite his reservations, he "loved it" and praised the cast as "excellent". "The Telegraph"s Vicki Power remarked that "the dialogue fizzes with playful wit" and summarized their review by saying, "Shot in lush golden hues, this is an entertaining hour of warm-bath telly, the perfick autumn antidote".


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: In contrast, "The Telegraph"s Anita Singh gave the episode two stars out of five, criticizing the acting and the racial diversity of the cast they felt was not representative of the time period and setting. Sean O'Grady of "The Independent" described the episode as "an abomination" and "opioid atavistic tosh", panning the portrayal of the setting as "cloyingly class-ridden [...] and bewilderingly archaic to modern eyes".


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: The opening episode was the third most-watched show of the week and second most-watched show of the day. It averaged just over 5.3 million people (including those watching on British television network ITV's +1 channel) and was watched by 35.3% of the audience over the hour. Following a seven-day catch-up period, the figure aggregated to 6.58 million people.


title: The Larkins (2021 TV series)

text: Internationally, the series was acquired in New Zealand by the TVNZ network and premiered on 31 October 2021. It began its first series run in Belgium and The Netherlands on 15 November 2021 via the BBC First channel. In Australia the series was picked up by ABC and broadcast in the prime time Saturday evening slot starting on 27 November 2021. First broadcast rights in the US and Canada have been acquired by the AMC-owned Acorn TV streaming service with the first two episodes available to stream on 13 December 2021.


title: Noah Bean

text: Noah Whipple Bean (born August 20, 1978) is an American actor best known for his roles as Ryan Fletcher on The CW action-thriller series "Nikita", as David Connor on the FX legal drama "Damages" and his leading performance in the independent film "The Pill".


title: Noah Bean

text: Prior to his role on "Damages", Bean had a number of minor and less notable roles on the television series "", "Ed", "Joan of Arcadia", "Numb3rs", and "Crumbs", the films "Williamstowne" and "Stay", and a number of commercials.


title: Noah Bean

text: He labels his signing on the role of David Connor on "Damages", the fiancé of the protagonist, as being "lucky", praising the script of the show and also the fact that it is shot in New York City, where he is currently living. He also says he was aware that his character dies in the first season and was disappointed but "thrilled" for the opportunity to have a full season. He also summarizes working with Glenn Close, Željko Ivanek and Ted Danson as "a dream come true". Bean returned for guest appearances in one episode each of the show's second, third, and fifth seasons.


title: Noah Bean

text: Bean has also been involved in theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway. His first role was in "Philadelphia Here I Come!", a role which he was offered when the originally cast actor left the show four days before the opening. He co-runs a theatre company, Stage 13, with several other actors, directors and playwrights, including Dan Fogler, in New York, and although he prefers screen acting, he says, "I love the theater and would always go back to do a play if it was an exciting project." He appeared as a guest star in the episode "Ability" of the TV series "Fringe". In 2015, he starred as Aaron Marker in Syfy's Science-Fiction series "12 Monkeys".


title: Noah Bean

text: Bean was born in Boston, Massachusetts. As a child, Bean attended Pine Point School and The Williams School in Connecticut. An only child, he describes himself as being so quiet and shy that his school would phone his parents asking whether anything was wrong at home: "I was deathly shy and basically scared of people in general." In high school, his mother encouraged him to become involved in drama, which he says helped him open up, "I found when I had a script in my hand I could speak." He later attended Boston University's College of Fine Arts before he was offered his first theatre role by director Michael Ritchie.


title: Noah Bean

text: The son of Ruth Crocker, an author, and Richard Robert Bean, a housebuilder, Bean hails from Mystic, Connecticut, although he has lived and worked in Los Angeles and is currently living in New York City. He is friends with actor Seth Gabel and director Jack Bender and also says he has come to be good friends with "Damages" co-actor and on-screen fiancée Rose Byrne.


title: Noah Bean

text: Bean began a relationship with his "Nikita" co-star Lyndsy Fonseca in 2013. In February 2016, Fonseca announced their engagement, and they were married on October 2, 2016. They have a two daughters: Greta Lilia Bean (born February 2, 2018) and Evelyn Estella Bean (born June 20, 2022).


The 2016 United States presidential election in Ohio was held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016, as part of the 2016 United States presidential election in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia participated. Ohio voters chose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote, pitting the Republican Party's nominee, businessman Donald Trump, and running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence against Democratic Party nominee, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and her running mate Virginia Senator Tim Kaine. Ohio has 18 electoral votes in the Electoral College.


title: 2016 United States presidential election in Ohio

text: Ohio was won by Trump by a margin of 8.13 points. Prior to the election, most news organizations considered the Buckeye State as leaning Republican, due to Trump's appeal to blue-collar voters in the Rust Belt. Ohio kept its streak of voting for the winner (a bellwether state) since 1964, as it voted for Trump, who won nationally. Having previously voted Democratic in 2012 and 2008, the win margin was the second largest of the states Trump flipped red, after Iowa. It also marked the largest margin of victory since George H. W. Bush defeated Michael Dukakis in the state in 1988. Additionally, Trump became the first Republican to win Ohio without carrying Hamilton County since Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876. Ohio was 11.1 points more Republican in this election than it was in 2012. Trump won 80 of Ohio's 88 counties, the most since Ronald Reagan won 82 in 1984.


text: Ohio was 10.2% more Republican than the national average in 2016, the farthest it had voted from the rest of the nation since 1932. The state had also been one of eleven to vote for Bill Clinton twice in 1992 and 1996, only to be lost by Hillary Clinton in 2016. Despite the state's hard swing to the right in this election, Hillary Clinton remains the most recent Democratic Presidential nominee as of 2020 to carry Lorain and Mahoning counties.


text: This election would mark the end of Ohio's bellwether streak, having voted for the winning candidate in every election from 1964 to 2016, the longest bellwether streak of any state in the nation's history.


text: The Democratic Party's presidential primaries in Ohio were held on March 15, 2016, concurrently with primaries in Florida, Illinois, Missouri and North Carolina. The state's 143 pledged delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention were rewarded proportionally according to the statewide vote total. Three candidates appeared on the ballot for the primary – former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and businessman Rocky De La Fuente.


text: By the time Ohio held its primaries, voters from 21 states and two territories already cast their vote for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party. As of the March 12 elections, Hillary Clinton was projected to have earned 775 pledged delegates to Bernie Sanders' 552. Clinton gained significant victories in the Southern United States, often described as her "firewall", including landslide victories in Mississippi and Alabama and Georgia. In contrast, Bernie Sanders managed to gain victories in the Midwestern United States, where Ohio resides, including an upset victory in neighboring Michigan on March 8. After the fact, Sanders' campaign took advantage of the momentum gained from the Michigan win, by targeting Illinois, Missouri and Ohio in the March 15 elections, hoping to repeat the same result. Sanders stated that "Not only is Michigan the gateway to the rest of the industrial Midwest, the results there show that we are a national campaign."


text: Before the Michigan primaries, Clinton and Sanders had debated over economic policies relating to the industrial Midwest states and the so-called "rust belt". The disagreements centered around trade deals, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership and Clinton's past support of the North American Free Trade Agreement, and its effect on economies such as Michigan and Ohio.


text: Ohio is one of at least seventeen states that has laws allowing voters who are 17 years of age, but will be 18 by the time of the general election, to vote in the presidential primaries. However, Ohio Secretary of State Jon A. Husted had announced in December 2015 that 17 year olds would be outright barred from participating in the 2016 primaries. The rationale for the decision was based on an interpretation of the law in which 17 year olds could "nominate" officials for office, but not "elect". In the case of the presidential primaries, by definition, voters would be electing officials – delegates to each party's presidential nominating convention. The decision was met with criticism by the public, after it was brought to mainstream attention by Representative Kathleen Clyde, after she condemned the rule in a statement released on March 5. Clyde described it as a "underhanded, backroom attack" against young voters. Nine teenagers filed a lawsuit with the Ohio Courts of Common Pleas in Franklin County over the decision, stating that the decision contradicted state law and a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that allowed 17 year olds turning 18 by the general election to vote.


text: Bernie Sanders' campaign, whose voter base includes the majority of young voters, also filed a lawsuit against the decision, accusing Husted of "arbitrarily" and "unconsititutionally" discriminating against young African-American and Latino voters, citing data from the 2010 United States Census that shows younger voters in Ohio were mostly African-American and Latino. Husted, in response to Sanders' lawsuit, said in a public statement that he welcomed the lawsuit, further stating that "I am very happy to be sued on this issue because the law is crystal clear", though, he later spoke out negatively against the lawsuit, claiming that it was "a last-minute political act", designed to "draw attention to his campaign." Many Ohio officials, past and present, such as former Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, came out in support of Sanders' lawsuit, and had attracted protests by not only Bernie Sanders supporters, but also Donald Trump supporters as well. In a decision handed down on March 11, an Ohio state judge ruled in favor of both lawsuits by the teenage group and the Sanders campaign, effectively lifting the ban on 17 year olds from voting in the Ohio presidential primaries. Husted initially announced that he would appeal the ruling, however, after learning that such an appeal would not be heard by the court until the day before the primaries, he retracted his intent to appeal.


text: The ninth forum was held at 8:00 pm EDT on March 13, 2016, at the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and aired on CNN.


text: The tenth forum was held at 6:00 pm EDT on March 14, 2016, at the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, and at the Old State Capitol State Historic Site (Illinois) in Springfield, Illinois. It aired on MSNBC. The first section of the town hall with Bernie Sanders was moderated by Chuck Todd; the second section of the town hall with Hillary Clinton was moderated by Chris Matthews.


text: The Green Party of Ohio participated in the March 15 primaries in Ohio, though they did not hold their presidential primary during the event. Instead, delegates to the Green National Convention were awarded based on presidential preference through a nominating convention in Columbus on April 3. Members of the Green Party of Ohio were able to vote in the convention.


text: Until September 2016, Hillary Clinton won or tied in the vast majority of polls, with Trump only winning 2 polls before September. However, on September 7, Trump won his first statewide poll in 4 months by 46% to 45%. Subsequently, in September, Republican nominee Donald Trump took a lead in Ohio polls, winning every poll but one. In the beginning of October, Clinton regained a narrow lead, but after October 12, every poll except one ended with Trump winning or a tie. The average of the final three polls showed Trump leading 46% to 44%. The final poll showed Trump ahead 46% to 39%, which was accurate compared to the results.


text: From July 17 through the 20th, Cleveland hosted the Republican Convention, which nominated Donald Trump and Mike Pence.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (abbreviated as the ADR; or ) was the first secular democratic republic in the Turkic and Muslim worlds. The ADR was founded by the Azerbaijani National Council in Tiflis on 28 May 1918 after the collapse of the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, and ceased to exist on April 28, 1920. Its established borders were with Russia to the north, the Democratic Republic of Georgia to the north-west, the Republic of Armenia to the west, and Iran to the south. It had a population of around 3 million. Ganja was the temporary capital of the Republic as Baku was under Bolshevik control. The name of "Azerbaijan" which the leading Musavat party adopted, for political reasons,<ref name="Sochineniya, vol II/1"></ref> was, prior to the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918, exclusively used to identify the adjacent region of contemporary northwestern Iran.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Under the ADR, a government system was developed in which a Parliament elected on the basis of universal, free, and proportionate representation was the supreme organ of state authority; the Council of Ministers was held responsible before it. Fatali Khan Khoyski became its first prime minister. Besides the Musavat majority, Ahrar, Ittihad, Muslim Social Democrats as well as representatives of Armenian (21 out of 120 seats), Russian, Polish, and Jewish minorities gained seats in the parliament. Many members supported Pan-Islamist and Pan-Turkist ideas.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Among the important accomplishments of the Parliament was the extension of suffrage to women, making Azerbaijan one of the first countries in the world, and the very first majority-Muslim nation, to grant women equal political rights with men. Another important accomplishment of the ADR was the establishment of Baku State University, which was the first modern-type university founded in Azerbaijan.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: From 1813 to 1828, as a result of Qajar Iran's forced cession through the Treaty of Gulistan (1813) and the Treaty of Turkmenchay (1828), the territory of modern-day Azerbaijan, and in turn what was the short-lived ADR, had become part of the Russian Empire. By 1917, when both Russian revolutions took place the territory, Azerbaijan had been part of the empire's Caucasus Viceroyalty for more than 100 years, alongside the rest of the Transcaucasus, ever since Iran's cession. After the February Revolution, the Special Transcaucasian Committee was established to fill the administrative gap following the abdication of the Tsar. The members of the committee were the members of the State Council and representatives of the Armenian, Georgian and Azerbaijan political elite. The committee announced that in the following months the most important issues were to be solved by the Transcaucasian Constituent Assembly.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: In the course of April and May 1917, several Muslim Assemblies took place. Like many ethnic minorities of Transcaucasia, Azeris aimed at secession from Russia after the February Revolution. Two general opinions were expressed by the representatives of the Muslim community (Mammad Hasan Hajinski, Mammad Amin Rasulzade, Alimardan Topchubashov, Fatali Khan Khoyski, and other founders of the future Azerbaijan Democratic Republic): pan-Turkish, meaning joining with Turkey, and federalization (expressed by M. Rasulzade). The Transcaucasian region decided on federalization. In accordance with the new structure, the Transcaucasian region was to have a fully independent internal policy, leaving only foreign policy, defense, and custom to the new Russian government.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: After the October revolution of 1917, the Transcaucasian government had to change its policy as Russia was now involved in the Civil War. The Transcaucasians did not accept the Bolshevik revolution. In February 1918, the Transcaucasian Council (“Sejm”) started its work in Tbilisi, and this was the first serious step towards complete independence of the Caucasian nations. The “Sejm” consisted of 125 deputies and represented 3 leading parties: Georgian mensheviks (32 deputies), Azerbaijan Muslims (“Mussavat”, 30 deputies), and Armenian “dashnaks” (27 deputies). Bolsheviks refused to join the Sejm and established their own government of the local Soviet in Baku: the so-called Baku Commune (November 191731 July 1918). The Commune was formed by 85 Social Revolutionaries and Left Social Revolutionaries, 48 Bolsheviks, 36 Dashnaks, 18 Musavatists and 13 Mensheviks. Stepan Shaumyan, a Bolshevik, and Prokopius Dzhaparidze, a leftist SR, were elected Chairmen of the Council of People's Commissioners of the Commune of Baku.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The Russian Caucasus Army was degrading after the collapse of the Russian Empire. The Russian forces were substituted by new Armenian bodies, which were not prepared for the war. Given the circumstances, the Transcaucasian Sejm signed the Armistice of Erzincan with the Ottoman Empire on December 5, 1917. On March 3, 1918, the Bolshevik government in Russia signed the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with Germany. One of the terms was the loss of the regions of Kars, Batumi, and Ardahan to the Ottoman Empire. The terms of the Treaty revealed a deep conflict between Georgians and Armenians on one side and the Muslims on another. The peace talks between the Sejm and Turkey started in March 1918, in Trapezond did not have any results. The Ottoman Empire delivered an ultimatum to the Sejm with requirements to accept the terms of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty and initiated an attack to occupy the territories of Kars, Batumi, and Ardahan.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: In March 1918, ethnic and religious tension grew and the Armenian-Azeri conflict in Baku began. The Musavat and Ittihad parties were accused of Pan-Turkism by the Bolsheviks and their allies. The Armenian and Muslim militias engaged in an armed confrontation, with the formally neutral Bolsheviks tacitly supporting the Armenian side. All the non-Azeri political groups of the city joined the Bolsheviks against the Muslims: Bolsheviks, Dashnaks, Social Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, and even the anti-Bolshevik Kadets found themselves for the first time on the same side of the barricade because they were all fighting "for the Russian cause". Equating the Azeris with the Ottoman Turks, the Dashnaks launched a massacre on the city's Azeris in revenge for the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. As a result, between 3,000 and 12,000 Muslims were killed in what is known as the March Days. Muslims were expelled from Baku or went underground. At the same time, the Baku Commune was involved in heavy fighting with the advancing Ottoman Caucasian Army of Islam in and around Ganja. Major battles occurred in Yevlakh and Agdash, where the Turks routed and defeated Dashnak and Russian forces.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The Bolshevik account of the events of March 1918 in Baku is presented by Victor Serge in "Year One Of the Russian Revolution": "The Soviet at Baku, led by Shaumyan, was meanwhile making itself the ruler of the area, discreetly but unmistakably. Following the Moslem rising of 18 March, it had to introduce a dictatorship. This rising, instigated by the Mussavat, set the Tartar and Turkish population, led by their reactionary bourgeoisie, against the Soviets, which consisted of Russians with support from the Armenians. The races began to slaughter each other in the street. Most of the Turkish port-workers (the "ambal") either remained neutral or supported the Reds. The contest was won by the Soviets."


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: On 26 May 1918, the Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic fell and its bodies were dissolved. The Azerbaijani faction constituted itself into the Azerbaijani National Council (NC). The Azerbaijani National Council immediately undertook parliamentary functions and proclaimed the foundation of the ""Azerbaijani Democratic Republic"" on 28 May 1918 and declared the National Charter, which read as follows:


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The council was opposed by ultra-nationalists who accused it of being too left-wing. The council was abolished after the opening of the Parliament on 7 December 1918. This was the first democratic Parliament in the Eastern Muslim world. Alimardan Topchubashov became the chairman of the Parliament while Hasan bey Aghayev was assigned as the deputy chairman. In total, the Parliament held 145 sessions in which more than 270 draft laws were discussed, and 230 of them were adopted. The last emergency meeting of the Parliament was convened on 27 April 1920 after the ultimatum of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan and Baku bureau of the Caucasian Committee of the Russian Communist Party about the surrender of the government to Bolsheviks. Despite the objections of Mammad Amin Rasulzadeh, Shafi bey Rustambayli, and others, the Parliament decided to surrender the government in order not to cause bloodshed. Although they stipulated 7 terms that would guarantee the independence of Azerbaijan, Bolsheviks did not keep their promises, and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was occupied on 28 April 1920 by the 11th Army (Russian Empire).


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Despite existing for only two years, the multiparty Azerbaijani Parliamentary republic and the coalition governments managed to achieve a number of measures on the nation and state-building, education, creation of an army, independent financial and economic systems, international recognition of the ADR as a "de facto" state pending "de jure" recognition, official recognition and diplomatic relations with a number of states, preparing of a Constitution and equal rights for all. This laid an important foundation for the re-establishment of independence in 1991. However, Parliament was in complicated circumstance, education, the enlightenment of the population was crucial factors in its policy. New schools for girls, hospitals in villages, libraries, courses for teachers were founded in different parts of the country by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The foundation of Baku State University on September 1, 1919, demonstrates that education was an essential factor in the policy of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. Although the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic collapsed, Baku State University played great in gaining freedom again in the future. Parliament started to create an opportunity for a young generation to study abroad in order to increase the number of educated people. 100 students were sent abroad with the help of state fund.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Political life in the ADR was dominated by the Musavat Party, the local winner of the Constituent Assembly elections of 1917. The first parliament of the republic opened on December 5, 1918. Musavat had 38 members in parliament, which consisted of 96 deputies, and with some independent MPs formed the biggest faction. The republic was governed by five cabinets (the 6th was being in the process when Azerbaijan was occupied by the Bolsheviks):


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: All cabinets were formed by a coalition of Musavat and other parties including the Muslim Socialist Bloc, the Independents, Ehrar, and the Muslim Social Democratic Party. The conservative Ittihad party was the major opposition force and didn't participate in the cabinet formations, except its member was State Inspector General in the last Cabinet. The premier in the first three cabinets was Fatali Khan Khoyski; in the last two, Nasib Yusifbeyli. The formation of the next cabinet was assigned to Mammad Hasan Hajinski, but he was unable to form it, due to lack of time and majority backing in the parliament, and also the Bolshevik invasion. The Chairman of the Parliament, Alimardan Topchubashev, was recognized as the head of state. In this capacity, he represented Azerbaijan at the Versailles Paris Peace Conference in 1919.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The main direction of Azerbaijan diplomacy was based on friendly relations with the neighbouring countries regardless of their nationalities and religious beliefs. On the wider world stage, the foreign policy of the ADR can be divided into three periods: the period of Turkish orientation (May to October 1918); Western Orientation Period (November 1918, January 1920); the period of struggle for access to a broader and multilateral worldwide cooperation (January–April, 1920). ADR government remained neutral on the issue of the Russian Civil War and never sided with the Red or White Army. Throughout its existence from 1918 to 1920, the Republic of Azerbaijan had diplomatic relations with a number of states. The first peace and friendship treaty of the Republic - Treaty of Batum was signed with the Ottoman Empire. Thus, the Ottoman Empire became the first foreign country to recognize the independence of ADR. Among the representation of the ADR abroad were the Azerbaijani Peace Delegation in Paris, consisting of the chair Alimardan Topchubashev, A.A. Sheykh Ul-Islamov, M. Maharramov, M. Mir-Mehdiyev and advisor B. Hajibayov; Diplomatic Representative to Georgia, Farist Bey Vekilov, to Armenia – Abdurahman Bey Akhverdiyev, advisor Agha Salah Musayev; to Persia – Agha-khan Khiatkhan and his assistant Alakpar Bey Sadikhov; in Constantinople – Yusif Bey Vezirov, his financial advisor, Jangir Bey Gayibov; General Consul in Batumi, Mahmud Bey Efendiyev; Consul to Ukraine, Jamal Sadikhov and Consul in Crimea, Sheykh Ali Useynov. Agreements on the principles of mutual relations were signed with some of them; sixteen states established their missions in Baku.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: A delegation from Azerbaijan attended the Paris Peace Conference, 1919. Upon its arrival, the Azerbaijani delegation addressed a note to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, making the following requests:


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: President Wilson granted the delegation an audience, at which he displayed a cold and rather unsympathetic attitude. As the Azerbaijani delegation reported to its Government, Wilson had stated that the Conference did not want to partition the world into small pieces. Wilson advised Azerbaijan that it would be better for them to develop a spirit of confederation and that such a confederation of all the peoples of Transcaucasia could receive the protection of some Power on the basis of a mandate granted by the League of Nations. The Azerbaijani question, Wilson concluded, could not be solved prior to the general settlement of the Russian question.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: However, despite Wilson's attitude, on January 12, 1920, the Allied Supreme Council extended "de facto" recognition to Azerbaijan, along with Georgia, and Armenia. "Bulletin d'information de l'Azerbaidjan" wrote: "The Supreme Council at one of its last sessions recognized the "de facto" independence of the Caucasian Republics: Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Armenia. The delegation of Azerbaijan and Georgia had been notified of this decision by M. Jules Cambon at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 15th January, 1920".


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Furthermore, in the House of Commons the [British] Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Greenwood, was asked on what date recognition had been extended to Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia, and whether "in accordance with such recognition, official representatives have been exchanged, and the boundaries of the Transcaucasian Republics defined", Mr. Greenwood replied:


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The Allies recognized the Transcaucasian Republics partly because of their fear of Bolshevism, but their activities directed against Bolshevism, at least in Transcaucasia, did not go much beyond words, the strongest of which was "status quo", recognition, "demarche", and a list of standard diplomatic remonstrances. After the Azerbaijani delegation successfully completed its mission at the Paris Peace Conference, the parliament adopted a law on the establishment of diplomatic missions in France, Great Britain, Italy, the United States, and Poland. In addition, the consulates of Azerbaijan started operating in Tabriz, Khoy, Anzali, Rasht, Ahar, Mashhad, Batumi, Kiev, Crimea, Ashgabat, and elsewhere. Baku, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Denmark, Italy, France, Sweden, Switzerland, England, USA, Ukraine, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, and other countries have official representations at different levels.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The name of "Azerbaijan" which the leading Musavat party adopted, for political reasons, was prior to the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 exclusively used to identify the adjacent region of contemporary northwestern Iran.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: On 16 July 1919, the Council of Ministers [of ADR] appointed Adil Khan Ziatkhan, who had up to that time served as Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic representative of Azerbaijan to the court of the Persian King of Kings. A Persian delegation headed by Seyed Ziaed-Din Tabatai came to Baku, to negotiate transit, tariff, mail, customs, and other such agreements. Speeches were made in which the common bonds between Caucasian Azerbaijan and Iran were stressed.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The ADR military was formed through the work of then acting Minister of Defense Khosrov bey Sultanov. By the fall of the ADR by the invasion of the Red Army, the military had grown to consist of the following units.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Much like its other counterparts in the Caucasus, the ADR's early years of existence were plagued with territorial disputes. In particular, these included disputes with the First Republic of Armenia (Nakhchivan, Nagorno-Karabakh, Zangezur (today the Armenian province of Syunik), and Qazakh) and the Democratic Republic of Georgia (Balakan, Zaqatala, and Qakh). The ADR also claimed territories of the Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus (Derbent), but they were not as persistent about these claims as they were about the territories they disputed between Armenia and Georgia.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: In the summer of 1918, the Dashnaks, together with the SRs and the Mensheviks, expelled the Bolsheviks, who refused to ask for British support, and founded the Centro Caspian Dictatorship (1 August 191815 September 1918). The CCD was supported by the British who sent an expeditionary force to Baku to help the Armenians and the Mensheviks. The purpose of the British forces (led by Major General Lionel Dunsterville, who arrived from Persia's Enzeli at the head of a 1,000-strong elite force) was to seize the oil fields in Baku ahead of Enver Pasha's advancing Turkish troops (Army of Islam) or the Kaiser's German troops (who were in neighboring Georgia) and to block a Bolshevik consolidation in the Caucasus and Central Asia.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Unable to resist advancing Turkish troops during the Battle of Baku, Dunsterville ordered the evacuation of the city on September 14, after six weeks of occupation, and withdrew to Iran; most of the Armenian population escaped with the British forces. The Ottoman Army of Islam and its Azeri allies, led by Nuri Pasha, entered Baku on September 15 and slaughtered between 10,000 – 20,000 Armenians in retaliation for the March massacre of Muslims. The capital of the ADR was finally moved from Ganja to Baku. However, after the Armistice of Mudros between Great Britain and Turkey on October 30, Turkish troops were replaced by the Allies of World War I. Headed by British general William Montgomery Thomson, who had declared himself the military governor of Baku, 5,000 Commonwealth soldiers arrived in Baku on November 17, 1918. By General Thomson's order, martial law was implemented in Baku.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The ADR found itself in a difficult position, hemmed in from the north by advancing Denikin forces, unfriendly Iran in the south; the British administration was not hostile but indifferent to the plight of Muslims. General Thomson initially did not recognize the Republic but tacitly cooperated with it. On April 25, 1919, a violent protest organized by Talysh workers of pro-Bolshevik orientation exploded in Lankaran and deposed the Mughan Territorial Administration, a military dictatorship led by Russian colonel T. P. Sukhorukov. On May 15, the Extraordinary Congress of the "Councils of Workers' and Peasants' Deputies" of Lankaran district proclaimed the "Mughan Soviet Republic". By mid-1919 the situation in Azerbaijan had more or less stabilized, and British forces left on August 19, 1919.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: This made the ADR pursue a neutral policy with regard to the Russian Civil War. On June 16, 1919, the ADR and Georgia signed a defensive treaty against the White troops of General Anton Denikin's Volunteer Army who were threatening to start an offensive on their borders. Denikin concluded a secret military pact with Armenia. The Republic of Armenia with its forces formed the 7th corps of Denikin's army and gained military support from the White Movement. This fact increased the tension between the ADR and Armenia. However, the war never materialized as by January 1920, Denikin's army was completely defeated by the XI Red Army, which later started to concentrate its troops on Azerbaijan's borders.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Armenia and Azerbaijan were engaged in fighting over Karabakh for some part of 1919. The fighting increased in intensity by February 1920 and martial law was introduced in Karabakh, which was enforced by the newly formed National Army, led by general Samedbey Mehmandarov.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The Baku secession in 1918 was a sensitive strike for Soviet Russia, and it caused heavy consequences during economic warfare. Moscow's intention to regain control of the vitally necessary region was strong and coherent, and on its way, the Soviet government was ready to accept any concession.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: In 1918 and 1919 Soviet Russia rejected all attempts made by the ADR to establish diplomatic relations between the two. 1920 was marked by a diplomatic dispatch which started with a radiogram sent by Minister of Foreign Affairs Georgy Chicherin, which said: “The government of the Russian Socialist Federative Republic reverts to Azerbaijan with an initiative to immediately launch talks with the Soviet government aiming at acceleration and finishing of the White army bodies in the South of Russia”. In his response, Fatali Khan Khoyski, the head of the Azerbaijan government, insisted on non-interference in the internal affairs of the country. The Soviets considered this position as support rendered by Azerbaijan to the White army led by Denikin, and lobby of the British interests on the Caspian Sea.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: Following the adoption of the name of "Azerbaijan" by the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, a naming dispute arose with Qajar Iran, with the latter protesting this decision. In tandem with this naming controversy however, the young Azerbaijan Republic also faced a threat from the nascent Soviets in Moscow and the Armenians. In order to escape the possibility of a Soviet invasion and an even greater immminent threat of an Armenian invasion, Muslim Nakhchivan proprosed annexing to Iran. The then pro-British government in Tehran led by Vossug ed Dowleh made endeavours amongst Baku's leadership to join Iran. In order to promote this idea, Vosugh ed Dowleh dispatched two separate Iranian delegations; one to Baku and one to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: In 1919 Azerbaijan left parties including the Baku organization of the Russian communist party, “Gummet” and “Adalet”, started consolidating and by the end of the year, the Azerbaijan Communist Party (ACP) was created. The ACP held an active agitation campaign in Baku and its region and was supported by Russia.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: In 1920 the Soviet government established a strong relationship with the new Turkish government headed by Mustafa Kemal. The Soviets were ready to supply Turkey with armaments in exchange for Turkish military support in Azerbaijan. Turkey particularly suggested using military bodies formed in Dagestan to occupy Baku and to avoid exploding its petrol storage reservoirs. Turkish support played an important role and attracted the Bolsheviks the sympathies of the Muslim population in Azerbaijan.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: By March 1920, it was obvious that the economic and political situation in the ADR had reached a crucial point. In accordance with the analysis made by the Bolsheviks, the ADR government received weak support from the people and this should have provided success to the operation. Vladimir Lenin said that the invasion was justified by the fact that Soviet Russia could not survive without Baku oil.


title: Azerbaijan Democratic Republic

text: The Iranian delegation at Baku, at the behest of Zia ol Din Tabatabaee, held intensive negotations with the leadership of the Musavat party during the increasing chaos and instability in the city. During the closing stages, an accord was reached between them; however, before the idea was presented to Vossug ed Dowleh in Tehran, the Communists took over Baku and terminated the Musavat-Ottoman rule. The Iranian delegation at Paris, which was headed by foreign minister Firouz Nosrat-ed-Dowleh III, reached a unity negotiation with the delegation from Baku and signed a confederation agreement, which, in the end, would prove to be of no avail.