title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: The home originally was built as a vacation house for Bob Lee, his wife Margaret and their children, including daughter Jane. Jane Maples, née Lee, told "Coastal Breeze News" about the local attention and controversy the house attracted during its early years.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: I can remember one time we went to the drug store on Marco and some people in the row behind me were saying ‘Have you been by those dome houses?' And the other one said ‘Yeah, but I hear they guard that with machine guns!' Somehow it got a reputation of being a scary place.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: Two years after its completion in 1984, the Lees sold the house to another family. After that family's financial situation declined, the Lees repossessed the home in 1987, after which point it became the family's primary residence. Bob and Margaret Lee lived there as well as Jane, their adult daughter and Jane's daughter. Mike Morgan, their grandson, lived there during the early 1990s. Jane remembered those years:


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: My daughter turned one while we were living there. [Back then], it was totally different. There were two other homes; one on stilts and a pyramid-shaped house. They had horses, dogs and turkeys. How they got a horse out there, I'll never know!


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: They renovated the interior and stayed there until 1992. That year was marked by Hurricane Andrew, which left barely a scratch on the sturdy home's walls and foundations, but utterly destroyed the interior. Mike Morgan, the grandson, noted:


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: Andrew didn't do a ton of damage, really. The main structure's design is very high wind resistant because there's no sharp edges or flat surfaces for the wind to catch on. That was another thought process that my grandfather had when he built them. But the windows, obviously were not, so that was the main damage.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: Before the storm, there were three homes on Morgan Island, including the Lee residence. The other two, one, a house on stilts, and the other, a pyramid house, fared worse in the hurricane. Neither are standing. The Lee family abandoned the home in 1992 as it was no longer habitable.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: By 2004, water levels began to meet the concrete pillars holding up the home. In 2005, Bob Lee sold the house to John Tosto, a Naples resident, for $300,000. Tosto intended to renovate the home, and Lee advised him to construct a sea wall to end the erosion that had been ebbing away at the island for years. Tosto decided against this, and instead hoped to move it, using a crane, from its current location to a higher piece of land on the island on high concrete pillars. He estimated the project to take three or four months.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: A few months after purchasing the property, Hurricane Wilma struck, eroding the coastline and destabilizing the house's foundation. Tosto boarded the home's window openings and continued with his effort to move the house. He faced many regulatory bodies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of Environmental Protection and the Collier County Code Building and Enforcement Departments. He was unable to produce all of the necessary permits, partially due to the hindrance of protected bird nesting seasons.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: In 2007, the Collier County Code Enforcement Board ordered the structure to be demolished by the owners within two years because it was unsafe. Tosto had presented an engineer's certification stating that the house was reparable at the time, but the board still voted against him, citing his lack of proactive measures to protect the house in the past. In November 2009, he was fined $187,000 for not having the house demolished by the proper time. The county offered to drop the fine if Tosto completed the demolition. By 2009, he had invested $500,000 in the project and his estimates put the cost of completion at $900,000. At that time, the house's foundational pillars were permanently underwater. The house officially was abandoned, with occasional visits by teenagers and fishermen. The demolition never occurred.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: In 2013, "Florida Weekly" reporter Cynthia Mott wrote in an article that while snorkeling at the site, she discovered the ruins now served as a reef, with diverse marine life. She remarked as follows:


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: I've snorkeled Grand Cayman, Mexico and Fiji, yet have never witnessed a more diverse, crowded concentration of undersea life than what has taken up residence under the remnants of those domes. It was as if all the fish and rays living along that part of the Collier County coast decided to hang out in one location. To make the sight even more remarkable, swirling like iridescent tornado clouds around the gathering were millions of shimmering, silver baitfish.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: In 2015, a movement was started to move the domes deeper to a location where they could safely become an underwater reef as part of Florida's history, but the movement did not get funded.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: After Hurricane Irma hit the area in September 2017 as a Category 3 storm, two of the westernmost domes collapsed into the ocean, leaving four standing.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: In 2018, the Collier County Code Enforcement division closed the case on the domes and ownership transferred to the state.


title: Cape Romano Dome House

text: On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian destroyed the remaining domes. Only some of the pilings remain standing above water.


title: Pot roast

text: Pot roast is an American beef dish made by slow-cooking a usually tough cut of beef in moist heat. Tougher cuts such as chuck steak, bottom round, short ribs and 7-bone roast are preferred for this technique. These cuts are American terms; different terms and butchering styles are used throughout the Anglophone world and beyond. While the toughness of the fibers makes them unsuitable for oven roasting, slow cooking tenderizes the meat as the beef imparts some of its flavor to the water.


title: Pot roast

text: Browning the roast before adding liquid is an optional step to improve the flavor. Browning can occur at lower temperatures with a longer cooking time, but the result is less intense than a high temperature sear. Either technique can be used when making pot roast. The result is tender, succulent meat and a rich liquid that lends itself to gravy.


title: Pot roast

text: In the US, where it is also known as "Yankee pot roast", the dish is often served with vegetables such as carrots, potatoes and onions simmered in the cooking liquid. Pot roast is a dish with influences from the French dish boeuf à la mode, the German dish sauerbraten, and Ashkenazi meat stews. The more recent "Mississippi Pot Roast" is typically made with chuck, ranch flavored seasoning powder, and pepperoncini.


title: Pot roast

text: According to the food writer James Beard, French immigrants to New England brought their cooking method called "à l'étouffée" for tenderizing meats. Later immigrants from Germany to Pennsylvania and the Mid West cooked sauerbraten and marinated roasts, larded and slow-cooked for taste and tenderness. In New Orleans, daube was a popular dish. Jewish immigrants brought in adaptations from Hungary, Austria, and Russia.


title: Pot roast

text: Boliche is a Cuban pot roast dish consisting of eye round beef roast stuffed with ham browned in olive oil simmered in water with onions until the meat is soft, and then quartered potatoes added.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: Several attacks in Western Russia, primarily in the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod oblasts, have been reported since the start of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began on 24 February 2022.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: Russia has accused Ukraine of responsibility. According to "The Moscow Times", "Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attacks ... while not formally denying being behind them."


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 24 February, during the first day of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was reported that a border checkpoint in Tyotkino in Kursk Oblast was attacked from Ukraine at 9:40. There were no injuries and it was claimed the attack was stopped by the response of Russian border guards, who retaliated.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 25 February, the Millerovo air base was attacked, allegedly with Tochka-U missiles, presumedly by the Ukrainian 19th Missile Brigade.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 1 March, there was an explosion on a military air base in Taganrog in Rostov Oblast, Russia. There were claims it was effectuated by Ukraine.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 23 and 24 March, Governor of Belgorod Oblast Vyacheslav Gladkov reported that Zhuravlyovka and Nekhoteyevka came under shelling from the Ukrainian side. The next day, the Moscow Patriarchate claimed that chaplain died in Zhuravlyovka as a result of a BM-30 Smerch strike by Ukraine.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 29 March, local officials reported a series of explosions outside the Russian city of Belgorod, close to the border with Ukraine. It was later reported that those explosions may have been caused by a fire.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 1 April, according to Russian governor Vyacheslav Gladkov and an unnamed US official, two Ukrainian Mi-24 Helicopters attacked and set fire to a fuel depot in Belgorod, Russia in a low-altitude airstrike with no reported casualties. Ukraine denied and dismissed this event on Russian territory as Russian propaganda. Ukrainian security official Oleksiy Danilov denied Ukraine was behind the helicopter attack, with a joke in which he blamed the "People's Republic of Belgorod" instead. On the same day, a rocket exploded in a different part of the Russian oblast, but its apparent trajectory and model led open-source researchers to suspect it was a failed Russian missile.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 11 April, Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, and Voronezh Oblasts all raised their terror alert system to "yellow", the second tier in a three-class system. The Republic of Crimea and Krasnodar Krai did not raise their alert levels except in certain districts. Authorities in Belgorod ordered a two-week ban on fireworks and firecrackers.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 14 April, the FSB border service reported that on 13 April, a border checkpoint near Novye Yurkovichi in Bryansk Oblast came under mortar fire from Ukraine while a group of around 30 Ukrainian refugees headed for Russia was present there. According to the official claims, two automobiles were damaged but no injuries were documented.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On the same day, regional and municipal authorities stated that Ukraine had shelled the village of Spodaryushino (near Mokraya Orlovka) in Belgorod Oblast, causing several explosions. While no injuries occurred, the village's population was temporarily evacuated, out of concerns about a possible escalation. A neighboring settlement also had its population relocated. Governor of Belgorod Oblast Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the attack "had come from the Ukrainian side." In a separate alleged attack a resident of Zhuravlyovka was injured, according to Gladkov.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On the same day, the Investigative Committee of Russia said Ukrainian attack helicopters had launched six missile strikes on residential areas in the town of Klimovo in Bryansk Oblast, damaging six buildings. Officials at the Russian Health Ministry said that seven people had been injured, two of which had been hurt seriously. According to personnel at the city's hospital, among those injured were a pregnant woman and a two-year-old child. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, an unverified video of a house in Bryansk burning went viral on the internet. The next day, Russian security services claimed they had shot down a Mil Mi-8 helicopter during the incident.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 19 April 2022, Belgorod's governor accused Ukrainian forces of striking the village of Golovchino, damaging more than 30 houses and lightly wounding 3 residents.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 24 April 2022, Russian state media agency TASS reported a village in Belgorod Oblast had been shelled with a projectile launched from Ukraine's direction.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 25 April, according to Belgorod governor, at least two residents, a man and a woman, were injured in Zhuravlyovka as a result of shelling.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On the same day, another attack happened in Bryansk: in the morning, two large explosions and fires occurred at two oil facilities, a civilian one and a military one. Videos and images posted on social media showed large columns of black smoke several hours after the initial explosions. An analyst told "The Guardian" that the fires were likely an act of sabotage by Ukraine, although responsibility remained uncertain. Unconfirmed reports in the Russian media suggested the fires could have been caused by a drone attack; on the same day, two Bayraktar TB2 drones were reportedly shot down in Bryansk Oblast.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 29–30 April, a border checkpoint near Krupets in the Rylsky District in Kursk Oblast was repeatedly shelled, according to the governor. The Bryansk governor said that his region was shelled as well.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 11 May, the Belgorod governor claimed that Solokhi was shelled from the side of Ukraine. According to his statements, one person was killed and seven were injured as a result of the incident. Videos online also showed damage to stores and private houses, local officials reportedly began evacuating the village after the attack. The deceased was identified as Ruslan Nefyodov, aged 18.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 15 May, Gladkov said that one person was injured with a shrapnel wound in after a Ukrainian strike, as 10 shells were reportedly shot down by Russian air defense systems. Another 10 shells fell close to , while another round of eight artillery shells reportedly damaged a power line and a number of farming structures in Zhuravlyovka.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 17 May, he claimed that one more person was slightly injured in Bezymeno as it was shelled from the territory of Ukraine. Kursk governor said that the border checkpoint at Tyotkino had been shelled once again on the same day, no victims were reported. On 18 May, Gladkov declared that Solokhi was shelled again, one person was reportedly injured. Kursk governor Starovoyt reported that , was shelled.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 19 May, Starovoyt claimed that a distillery in Tyotkino was shelled, a truck driver died, at least one civilian was wounded. On the same day, Alekseevka and were reportedly shelled.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 25 May, Gladkov claimed that one person was wounded in Zhuravlyovka as it was shelled "from the territory of Ukraine".


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: Zhuravlyovka and Nekhoteyevka were subject to continuous shelling on 26 May. A woman died from her wounds in the hospital the next day.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 26 May, Starovoyt said that came under shelling "from the Ukrainian side", and a local school teacher was wounded by broken glass.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On June 6, a bridge at Tyotkino was shelled, damaging it. Near the bridge, a block of apartments was badly damaged, a car was burnt out and the local sugar refinery suffered some damage.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: Klintsy and its surrounding regions in Bryansk Oblast were shelled for three days straight beginning in 12 June. The first two days of attacks were more minor incidents targeting military bases, with little to no casualties. On 14 June a helicopter fired missiles at residential areas in the city, damaging dozens of houses and ripping a woman's leg off. Authorities recorded six injuries on 14 June. As a result of the attacks, Klintsy and the surrounding region was left without water and electricity.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 22 June, the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in the Rostov Oblast was reportedly hit by a suicide drone, no casualties were reported.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: Haaretz described bombing of Russian villages on the Ukrainian border as "constant" and attributed them to the Ukrainian army fire.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On July 3, Russian officials said that a group of explosions targeting civilian areas in Belgorod had killed at least five people and injured four, several buildings and private houses were damaged or destroyed, anti-aircraft defense systems reportedly activated, but one projectile hit a apartment building. Russia blamed Ukraine for the attack and Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that Russia had shot down three Ukrainian Tochka U ballistic missiles armed with cluster warheads. Ukraine denied it was responsible.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: A civilian was killed and two hospitalized after shelling hit the town of Valuyki in Belgorod Oblast on September 15, according to regional authorities. Earlier, Russian authorities had reported that a border checkpoint on Nekhoteevka was attacked and that the customs terminal had caught on fire.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On October 11, an explosion was reported at an electric substation in Shebekino, some residents were left without energy as a result of this event.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On October 16, explosions were reported at an airport in Belgorod, videos online show anti-aircraft systems firing and smoke rising on the airport after an apparent missile strike, 2 people were reportedly wounded.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On November 1, the settlement of Krasnooktyabrsky in Glushkovo district was reportedly shelled by Ukrainian forces, no injuries were reported, a five-story building was damaged and several windows were blown; Another attack was also reported in Kozynka, one person was reportedly wounded in the shelling.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On November 2, 5 civilians, including 3 children, were reportedly injured after shells hit the village of Guyevo, Sudhza district, several private houses and stores were also damaged on the attack, the village was also left without electricity as power lines were either destroyed or damaged following the explosions.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On November 15, 2 civilians were killed and 3 injured after shelling in the Russian village of Shebekino, Belgorod Oblast, the shells reportedly hit apartment buildings and a pharmacy nearby. Later, the governor of Belgorod said that a 80 year old woman died of her wounds in the hospital, and that a man was killed and another was injured by parts of a missile that was shot down by air defense.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On November 16, on the village of Stalnoy Kon, Oryol Oblast, an unmanned aerial vehicle reportedly attacked a oil depot, no casualties were reported, earlier that month, on November 14, Russian media had also reported several blasts on the Belgorod region.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On December 5, two Russian airbases reported explosions, allegedly caused by Ukrainian drone attacks. At Engels-2 air base in Saratov Oblast, 2 Tu-95s were reportedly damaged. At Dyagilevo air base in Ryazan Oblast, an oil truck exploded, killing three soldiers and injuring four.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On December 6, Governor of Kursk Oblast Roman Starovoy announced that in the morning, an oil reservoir near the Kursk-Khalino airbase caught on fire as a result of a drone attack; no casualties were reported and the fire was quickly put out.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: Schools in Bryansk Oblast were closed following the attack on 14 April and four regions in Russia increased their security measures. In response to alleged shelling by Ukraine, Russia reportedly began reinforcing its border with Ukraine, including building defense lines and fortifications along the border of the Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk Oblasts with Ukraine. A state of emergency was also declared on some villages and settlements along the border with Ukraine following repeated shelling attacks.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On April 15, Russia launched major missile strikes on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in retaliation for the attacks. The Russian attacks were the largest of their kind to take place since Russia aborted its offensive into Kyiv Oblast. After the December 5 missile strikes, Russian forces launched a new wave of attack against Ukrainian cities. A missile reportedly fell on Moldova as a result of the attack.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: ISW reported that Russian forces could be preparing a large-scale false flag attack to gather popular support for the invasion, with Kremlin propagandists claiming that Ukraine is "preparing to invade" Belgorod Oblast. A senior Ukrainian officer later said that Russia may attempt to escalate the situation on the border and claim "NATO and Ukrainian aggression", he cited recent fake news being spread in pro-Russian Telegram channels about "Ukrainian and NATO plans" to "Attack peaceful Russian and Belarusian territory", as well as recent construction of border defenses along Russian Oblasts bordering Ukraine, the Ukrainian General Staff also claimed that Russia could attempt to force Belarus into the war, and that "10-15 thousand Belarusian forces" were already on the border with Ukraine, citing reports of possible Reconnaissance missions conducted by Belarusian forces.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: Ukraine rejected the claims that it was responsible for the 14 April attacks, instead asserting that Russian intelligence services were trying to "carry out terrorist acts to whip up anti-Ukrainian hysteria" in the country.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: After the attack, the Security Service of Ukraine released what it claimed were intercepted conversations between Russian soldiers showing that Russia deliberately fired on the villages in order to blame Ukraine. One of the alleged soldiers refers to the Russian apartment bombings in 1999 where he says that the "same shit happened in the Chechen war. Apartments were blown up in Moscow, like they were terrorists. In fact, they are FSB officers."


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: In response to accusations regarding the April 13 Bryansk border checkpoint incident by Russia's FSB security service, Ukrainian interior ministry advisor Anton Herashchenko said that something "fell and caught fire" at a Russian military facility, without explicitly confirming or denying Ukrainian responsibility.


title: 2022 Western Russia attacks

text: On 27 April, Mykhailo Podolyak, advisor to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, commented on the recent incidents. Without directly admitting that Ukraine was responsible, he said that it was not possible to "sit out" the Russian invasion.


title: William Blackstone

text: Sir William Blackstone (10 July 1723 – 14 February 1780) was an English jurist, judge and Tory politician of the eighteenth century. He is most noted for writing the "Commentaries on the Laws of England". Born into a middle-class family in London, Blackstone was educated at Charterhouse School before matriculating at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1738. After switching to and completing a Bachelor of Civil Law degree, he was made a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, on 2 November 1743, admitted to Middle Temple, and called to the Bar there in 1746. Following a slow start to his career as a barrister, Blackstone became heavily involved in university administration, becoming accountant, treasurer and bursar on 28 November 1746 and Senior Bursar in 1750. Blackstone is considered responsible for completing the Codrington Library and Warton Building, and simplifying the complex accounting system used by the college. On 3 July 1753 he formally gave up his practice as a barrister and instead embarked on a series of lectures on English law, the first of their kind. These were massively successful, earning him a total of £453 (£ in 2022 terms), and led to the publication of "An Analysis of the Laws of England" in 1756, which repeatedly sold out and was used to preface his later works.


title: William Blackstone

text: On 20 October 1759 Blackstone was confirmed as the first Vinerian Professor of English Law, immediately embarking on another series of lectures and publishing a similarly successful second treatise, titled "A Discourse on the Study of the Law". With his growing fame, he successfully returned to the bar and maintained a good practice, also securing election as Tory Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of Hindon on 30 March 1761. In November 1765 he published the first of four volumes of "Commentaries on the Laws of England", considered his "magnum opus"; the completed work earned Blackstone £14,000 (£ in 2022 terms). After repeated failures, he successfully gained appointment to the judiciary as a Justice of the Court of King's Bench on 16 February 1770, leaving to replace Edward Clive as a Justice of the Common Pleas on 25 June. He remained in this position until his death, on 14 February 1780.


title: William Blackstone

text: Blackstone's four-volume "Commentaries" were designed to provide a complete overview of English law and were repeatedly republished in 1770, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1778 and in a posthumous edition in 1783. Reprints of the first edition, intended for practical use rather than antiquary interest, were published until the 1870s in England and Wales, and a working version by Henry John Stephen, first published in 1841, was reprinted until after the Second World War. Legal education in England had stalled; Blackstone's work gave the law "at least a veneer of scholarly respectability". William Searle Holdsworth, one of Blackstone's successors as Vinerian Professor, argued that "If the Commentaries had not been written when they were written, I think it very doubtful that the United States, and other English speaking countries would have so universally adopted the common law." In the United States, the "Commentaries" influenced Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, James Wilson, John Jay, John Adams, James Kent and Abraham Lincoln, and remain frequently cited in Supreme Court decisions.


title: William Blackstone

text: William's father, Charles Blackstone, was a silk mercer from Cheapside, the son of a wealthy apothecary. He became firm friends with Thomas Bigg, a surgeon and the son of Lovelace Bigg, a gentleman from Wiltshire. After Bigg's sister Mary came to London, Charles eventually persuaded her to marry him in 1718. This was not seen as a good match for her, but the couple lived happily and had four sons, three of whom lived into adulthood. Charles (born August 1719) and Henry (May 1722), both became fellows of New College, Oxford and took holy orders. Their last son, William, was born on 10 July 1723, five months after Charles' death in February.


title: William Blackstone

text: Although Charles and Mary Blackstone were members of the middle class rather than landed gentry, they were particularly prosperous. Tax records show Charles Blackstone to have been the second most prosperous man in the parish in 1722, and death registers show that the family had several servants. This, along with Thomas Bigg's assistance to the family following Charles' death, helps explain the educational upbringing of the children. William Blackstone was sent to Charterhouse School in 1730, nominated by Charles Wither, a relative of Mary Blackstone. William did well there, and became head of the school by age 15. However, after Charles' death the family fortunes declined, and after Mary died (5 January 1736) the family's resources largely went to meet unpaid bills. William was able to remain at Charterhouse as a "poor scholar", having been named to that position in June 1735 after being nominated by Sir Robert Walpole.


title: William Blackstone

text: Blackstone revelled in Charterhouse's academic curriculum, particularly the Latin poetry of Ovid and Virgil. He began to attract note as a poet at school, writing a 30-line set of rhyming couplets to celebrate the wedding of James Hotchkis, the headmaster. He also won a silver medal for his Latin verses on John Milton, gave the annual Latin oration in 1738, and was noted as having been the favourite student of his masters. On 1 October 1738, taking advantage of a new scholarship available to Charterhouse students, Blackstone matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford.


title: William Blackstone

text: There are few surviving records of Blackstone's undergraduate term at Oxford, but the curriculum of Pembroke College had been set out in 1624, and Prest notes that it was probably still followed in 1738, so Blackstone would have studied Greek, science, logic, rhetoric, philosophy, mathematics, geography and poetry. Blackstone was particularly good at Greek, mathematics and poetry, with his notes on William Shakespeare being included in George Steevens' 1781 edition of Shakespeare's plays. Many of Blackstone's undergraduate texts survive, and they include few legal texts, instead being wide-ranging; politics, current affairs, poetry, geometry and controversial theological texts. The last element is understandable, given his family's theological interests, but the more surprising element is the sheer number of texts he owned given his relative poverty as a student.


title: William Blackstone

text: On 9 July 1740, after only a year and a half as a Bachelor of Arts student, Blackstone was admitted to study for a Bachelor of Civil Law degree, civil law being the only legal area recognised by his university. This degree course was seven years long, the first two "supposedly devoted to a broad course of reading in humane studies", which allowed him to study his own interests. On 20 November 1741 he was admitted to the Middle Temple, the first step on the road to becoming a barrister, but this imposed no obligations and simply allowed a legal career to be an option. At the time there was no proper legal education system, and Blackstone read (in his own time) "Coke on Littleton", the works of Henry Finch, and related legal tracts.


title: William Blackstone

text: In addition to his formal studies, Blackstone published a collection of poetry which included the draft version of "The Lawyer to his Muse", his most famous literary work. In 1743 he published "Elements of Architecture" and "An Abridgement of Architecture", two treatises on the rules governing the art of construction. His next work (1747) was "The Pantheon: A Vision", an anonymously published book of poetry covering the various religions in the world. It depicts a narrator's walking dream through the buildings of various religions, which are all (other than Christianity) depicted in a negative light. This followed his election as a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford on 2 November 1743, and his call to the Bar by the Middle Temple on 28 November 1746.


title: William Blackstone

text: His call to the Bar saw Blackstone begin to alternate between Oxford and London, occupying chambers in Pump Court but living at All Souls College. As the central courts only sat for three months of the year, the rest of his time was spent on Assize when his work at All Souls permitted. He regularly acted as a law reporter; his personal notes on cases start with "Hankey v Trotman" (1746). Blackstone's barrister practice began slowly; his first case in the Court of King's Bench was in 1748, and he had only 6 additional motions there through 1751. Two appearances in the Court of Chancery are also noted, and he is known to have been consulted in Roger Newdigate's long-running lawsuit there, but his early court appearances are infrequent. This is considered to have been due to bad luck, with his call to the Bar occurring at the same time as the massive contraction in business by the central courts, along with his singular lack of connections due to his status as an orphan from the middle class; he was described as "unrecognised and unemployed". He filled his time by acting as counsel for Oxford, and from May 1749 with his election as Recorder of Wallingford.


title: William Blackstone

text: While dividing his time, Blackstone became an administrator at All Souls, securing appointment as accountant, treasurer and bursar on 28 November 1746. Completion of the Codrington Library and Warton Building, first started in 1710 and 1720 respectively but not built until 1748, is attributed to his work. In 1749 he became Steward of the Manors, and in 1750 was made Senior Bursar. Records show a "perfectionist zeal" in organising the estates and finances of All Souls, and Blackstone was noted for massively simplifying the complex accounting system used by the college. In 1750 Blackstone completed his first legal tract, "An Essay on Collateral Consanguinity", which dealt with those claiming a familial tie to the founder or All Souls in an attempt to gain preeminence in elections. Completion of his Doctor of Civil Law degree, which he was awarded in April 1750, admitted him to Convocation, the governing body of Oxford, which elected the two burgesses who represented it in the House of Commons, along with most of the university officers. With this and with his continuing work at the university, Blackstone announced on 3 July 1753 his intentions to "no longer attend the Courts at Westminster, but to pursue my Profession in a Way more agreeable to me in all respects, by residing at Oxford [and] to engraft upon this Resolution a Scheme which I am told may be beneficial to the University as well as myself", which was to give a set of lectures on the common law – the first lectures of that sort in the world.


title: William Blackstone

text: This was not entirely out of benevolence; according to Prest, Blackstone was likely aware that an Oxford alumnus, Charles Viner, was planning to endow a professorship of English law. The Regius Professorship of Civil Law had also become vacant in 1753; despite support from Lord Mansfield, Blackstone had been rejected in favour of Robert Jenner, widely considered Blackstone's lesser intellectually but a far greater political mind. In addition, a private lecture series would be extremely lucrative. While his All Souls fellowship gave him £70 a year, records show that the lecture series brought him £116, £226 and £111 a year respectively from 1753 to 1755 – a total of £453 (£ in 2022 terms). A prospectus was issued on 23 June 1753, and with a class of approximately 20 students, the first set of lectures were completed by July 1754. Despite Blackstone's limited oratory skills and a speaking style described by Jeremy Bentham as "formal, precise and affected", Blackstone's lectures were warmly appreciated. The second and third series were far more popular, partly due to the then unusual use of printed handouts and lists of suggested reading. No copies of these handouts exist, but Alexander Popham, later a close friend of Blackstone, attended the lectures and made notes, which survive. These show Blackstone's attempts to reduce English law to a logical system, with the division of subjects later being the basis for his "Commentaries".


title: William Blackstone

text: Following his lecture series, Blackstone became more prominent in convocation and other university activities. Oxford and Cambridge at the time had a strange system of law; due to their unique natures, they had exclusive jurisdiction over both academics and students in a fashion which followed either the common law or their own customs, based on the civil law. With his appointment as assessor (or chief legal officer) of the Chancellor's Court, Blackstone became far more involved in the university's peculiar legal system, and records show him sitting between eight and ten times a year from 1753 to 1759, mainly dealing with small claims of debt. He also wrote a manual on the Court's practice, and through his position gained a large number of contacts and connections, as well as visibility, which aided his legal career significantly. This period also saw Blackstone write his last known piece of poetry, "Friendship: An Ode", in 1756.


title: William Blackstone

text: In 1756 Blackstone published the first of his full legal texts, the 200 page "An Analysis of the Laws of England". Published by the Clarendon Press, the treatise was intended to demonstrate the "Order, and principal Divisions" of his lecture series, and a structured introduction to English law. Prest calls this "a marked advance on any previous introduction to English law ... including constitutional, civil and criminal law, public and private law, substantive law and procedure, as well as some introductory jurisprudential content". The initial print run of 1,000 copies almost immediately sold out, leading to the printing of three more 1,000-book lots over the next three years, which all sold out. A fifth edition was published in 1762, and a sixth, edited to take into account Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England", in 1771. Because of the success of the "Commentaries", Prest remarks that "relatively little scholarly attention has been paid to this work"; at the time, however, it was hailed as "an elegant performance ... calculated to facilitate this branch of knowledge".


title: William Blackstone

text: On 8 March 1758, the group executing Charles Viner's will reported to Convocation that Viner recommended creating a Chair of English Law, with a £200 salary. After much debate, this position was created, and on 20 October 1758 Blackstone was confirmed as the first Vinerian Professor of English Law. On 24 October he gave his first lecture, to "a crowded audience"; the text was soon printed and published as "A Discourse on the Study of the Law". The lecture was tremendously popular, being described as a "sensible, spirited and manly exhortation to the study of the law"; the initial print run sold out, necessitating the publication of another 1,000 copies, and it was used to preface later versions of the "Analysis" and the first volume of the "Commentaries". Within the university, however, Blackstone was not as popular. As soon as the lecture series opened, an anonymously written open letter was published charging that Blackstone had "violated the Statutes of the University, by arbitrarily changing the Day appointed for reading his solemn Lectures". Blackstone suffered a nervous breakdown soon after the first lecture, and on 24 November he launched a suit in the Chancellor's Court against "William Jackson of the City of Oxford Printer" for £500 damages, justified by Jackson "printing and publishing a scandalous Libell notoriously reflecting on the Character of him the said William Blackstone". Jackson had refused to reveal who ordered the anonymous pamphlet, leading to the suit, but it evidently did not proceed further.


title: William Blackstone

text: This suit, along with the struggle over the Vinerian Professorship and other controversies, damaged his reputation within the university, as evidenced by his failure to win election as Vice Warden in April 1759, losing to John White. Prest attributes Blackstone's unpopularity to specific personality traits, saying his "determination...in pursuit of causes to which he committed himself could irritate as well as intimidate those of a more relaxed disposition. While quick to take offence at perceived slights on his own character and motives, he could also show surprising indifference to the effect his words and actions might have on others". This marked the beginning of his break with Oxford, which coincided with his growing influence outside the university. In 1759 Lord Bute, Prince George's official tutor, requested copies of Blackstone's lectures, which he forwarded. Later that year Blackstone was paid £200 by the Prince, who became an "appreciative, loyal, and soon to be incomparably influential patron". This patronage, and Blackstone's purchase of a set of chambers in the Inner Temple, also transferring to that Inn, were significant steps in his departure from Oxford. In 1759 Blackstone published another two works, "The Great Charter and the Charter of the Forest, with other authentic Instruments", described as a "major piece of pioneering scholarship" leading to Blackstone's election to the Society of Antiquaries in February 1761, and "A Treatise on the Law of Descents in Fee Simple", which was later used, almost verbatim, as chapters 14 and 15 of the "Commentaries".


title: William Blackstone

text: With sponsorship from the Prince of Wales and his success with the "Analysis", Blackstone began work as a barrister, although he kept up his lecture series at Oxford. By 1760 he had become "a very eminent figure indeed in the world of letters", and his legal practice grew as a result. Although not considered a great barrister of the period, he maintained a steady flow of cases, primarily in the King's Bench and Exchequer of Pleas. On the death of the third Earl of Abingdon, Blackstone was retained as counsel for the executors and trustees to oversee the family's attempts to pay off debts and meet other obligations. On 5 May 1761 he married Sarah Clitherow, a member of a family of lesser gentry from Middlesex. Their first child, William Bertie Blackstone, born 21 August 1762, did not survive to adulthood. Seven more children were born: Henry, James, Sarah, Mary, Philippa, William, Charles, and George, who also died in childhood. The Blackstones had a large estate in Wallingford in Berkshire, including 120 acres (46 ha) of pastureland around the River Thames and the right of advowson over St Peter's Church.


title: William Blackstone

text: In February 1761 Blackstone was considered as a potential Tory candidate for the rotten borough of Hindon in Wiltshire. After consultation with friends, he agreed to this prospect – at the same time refusing the offer of appointment as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland. On 30 March 1761 he was returned for Hindon, and took his seat. This did not limit his legal work, initially, with the seat being given without a requirement to attend or vote in a particular way, and the grant of a patent of precedence at the same time actually increased the demand on his time. Court records show him pleading before Lord Mansfield in the Court of King's Bench soon after his election, and acting as counsel in "Tonson v Collins", a copyright case, "Thiquet v Bath", an important case on international law, and "R v d'Eon", acting for the prosecution in a feud over Louis XV's newly appointed cross-dressing Ambassador to the United Kingdom.


title: William Blackstone

text: With this increase in his practice, Blackstone also saw an increase in his out-of-court work, writing opinions and recommendations for various Oxford colleges, the MP Jonathan Rashleigh and the fourth Earl of Abingdon, who paid him to draft several private Acts of Parliament. In December 1761, he asked Lord Shelburne, a patron, for his assistance in gaining appointment as Chief Justice of Chester, writing again in July 1762 to "prevail upon Lord Bute to recommend me to his Majesty's Notice", anticipating an upcoming vacancy in the Court of Common Pleas. Parliamentary service was considered a "desirable if never absolutely essential qualification for would-be English judges", something that did not necessarily bode well for Blackstone. Naturally inarticulate and reticent, he was an infrequent and "indifferent" speaker during his first session of Parliament, speaking only 14 times in seven years. His chosen career did lend him to politics, in that the lawyers in the House of Commons were often added to select committees to provide them with technical expertise in drafting legislation. He again applied for a judicial post in December 1762, after an opening in the Exchequer of Pleas came up, but lost to George Perrott, a leading Exchequer barrister. The next five vacancies also failed to go to Blackstone, after the appointment of Lord Camden (a Whig) as Lord Chancellor.


title: William Blackstone

text: In 1765 Blackstone announced his resignation from the Vinerian Chair, effective after his 1766 lectures. These were divided into two 14-lecture series, on "private wrongs" and "public wrongs" delivered between 12 February and 24 April. At this point Blackstone had published nothing new since "A Treatise on the Law of Descents in Fee Simple" in 1759. The decision to resign was most likely due to the increasing demands of his legal practice and the reduced profit from the lectures, which, after peaking at £340 in 1762, dropped to £239 a year later and to £203 for the final round of lectures in 1765–6. In response, Blackstone decided to publish a new book – "Commentaries on the Laws of England". The first volume was published in November 1765, bringing the author £1,600 – the full work would eventually bring in over £14,000. Owen Ruffhead described Volume I as "masterly", noting that "Mr Blackstone is perhaps the first who has treated the body of the law in a liberal, elegant and constitutional manner. A vein of good sense and moderation runs through every page". Every copy was sold within six months, and the second and third volumes, published in October 1766 and June 1768, received a similar reception. The fourth and final volume appeared in 1769, dealing with Criminal Law. With the financial success of the "Commentaries", Blackstone moved in 1768 from his London property in Carey Fields to No. 55 Lincoln's Inn Fields. Neighbours included the Sardinian ambassador, Sir Walter Rawlinson, Lord Northington, John Morton and the Third Earl of Abingdon, making it an appropriate house for a "great and able Lawyer".


title: William Blackstone

text: Blackstone's treatise was republished in 1770, 1773, 1774, 1775, 1778 and in a posthumous edition in 1783. Reprints of the first edition, intended for practical use rather than antiquary interest, were published until the 1870s in England and Wales, and a working version by Henry John Stephen, first published in 1841, was reprinted until after the Second World War. The first American edition was produced in 1772; prior to this, over 1,000 copies had already been sold in the Thirteen Colonies.


title: William Blackstone

text: Even after the publication of the "Commentaries", Blackstone's chances of judicial appointment remained slim. While he was old enough, experienced enough and widely respected, the presence of Lord Camden as Lord Chancellor and Blackstone's lack of aristocratic patrons at the time hindered his chances. In January 1770, however, Lord Grafton's government began to fall, with Camden resigning on 17 January and Solicitor-General John Dunning, following him. George III appointed Lord North as Prime Minister, and North picked Charles Yorke as Lord Chancellor. Yorke's death on 20 January, after holding the position for less than three days, left several important legal positions within the government open. As such, Blackstone, now MP for Westbury, was apparently approached to become Solicitor-General; he refused, not wanting to deal with the complicated duties attached to the position.


title: William Blackstone

text: On 9 February 1770 – apparently with the intervention of the King, and possibly Lord Mansfield – Blackstone became a Justice of the Common Pleas, succeeding Edward Clive, and was made a Serjeant-at-Law on 12 February. After only four days it was announced that Joseph Yates was to move to the Common Pleas, and Blackstone was again sworn in as a judge, this time of the Court of King's Bench. This was apparently due to Yates' poor health; Lord Mansfield ran a busy court as Lord Chief Justice, and it was felt that his transfer to the Common Pleas was for the best. Others commented that it was instead due to political and judicial disagreement, with Yates unwilling to stomach the changes which Mansfield made to English law. Blackstone sat regularly as a judge, despite bouts of ill health, and also served on various circuit courts. Prest describes him as an "exceptionally careful, conscientious and well-respected judge ... his judgments ranging between narrowly framed technicalities [and] broad statements of public commentary". He was, however, considered a poor trial judge, being reversed on appeal more frequently than any of his peers.


title: William Blackstone

text: Blackstone returned to the Common Pleas on 25 June 1770, having spent less than six months in the King's Bench; Jeremy Bentham asserted that this was due to Mansfield's having Blackstone removed similarly to his removal of Yates. Bentham asserted that in the King's Bench, Blackstone was "always in hot water", and that there was "heartburning" between the two; Bentham's account is considered dubious because historically, Mansfield and Blackstone had an excellent relationship, with the third volume of the "Commentaries" describing Mansfield as "a judge, whose masterly acquaintance with the law of nations was known and revered by every state in Europe". There is only one recorded King's Bench case, "R v Proprietors of Birmingham Canal Navigation", in which Blackstone and Mansfield disagreed.


title: William Blackstone

text: In the Common Pleas, Blackstone operated under a civil jurisdiction rather than a mixed civil and criminal one. This played to his strengths, and many of his decisions are considered farsighted; the principle in "Blaney v Hendricks", for example, that interest is due on an account where money was lent, which anticipated Section 3 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1934. Blackstone's decision in "Goldswain's Case" was later repeated by Lord Denning in "Falmouth Boat Construction Co v Howell" in 1950.


title: William Blackstone

text: English jurist Jeremy Bentham was a critic of Blackstone's theories. Others saw Blackstone's theories as inaccurate statements of English law, using the Constitutions of Clarendon, the Tractatus of Glanville and the 1689 Bill of Rights as particularly obvious examples of laws Blackstone omitted.


title: William Blackstone

text: Blackstone had long suffered from gout, and by November 1779 also had a nervous disorder which caused dizziness, high blood pressure, and possibly diabetes. By 3 February 1780 he was too weak to write, and after "some Days almost totally insensible", he died on 14 February at age 56. After a service conducted by Bishop Barrington on 22 February, Blackstone was buried in the family vault under St Peter's Church, Wallingford. His estate at his death was worth less than £15,000; therefore William Eden secured a £400 annual royal pension for Sarah Blackstone. The initial reaction to Blackstone's death was subdued, but in December 1780 the Fellows of All Souls College agreed that "a Statue be erected to the memory of Sr W Blackstone deceased". Constructed by John Bacon, the life-sized statue of Blackstone in his judicial robes cost £539, and has rested in the Codrington Library (now the All Souls College Library) since 1872. His brother-in-law, James Clitherow, also published in 1781 two volumes of his law reports which added £1,287 to the estate, and in 1782 the "Biographical History of Sir William Blackstone" appeared.


title: William Blackstone

text: Blackstone's primary legacy is his written work, specifically the "Commentaries on the Laws of England". Demand for reprinted, abridged and translated versions was "almost inexhaustible" in the 18th and 19th centuries, although the "Commentaries"' emphasis on the sovereignty of Parliament drew ire. Alexis de Tocqueville described Blackstone as "an inferior writer, without liberality of mind or depth of judgment". Other commentators differ; one described him as "the core element in the British Enlightenment", comparing him to Montesquieu, Beccaria and Voltaire. Academics have said that the "Commentaries" were crucial in changing English Law from a system based on actions to a system of substantive law. At the time of publication, the common law of England was still, in some ways, in its infancy, with people uncertain as to what the law was. The "Commentaries" helped to solidify legal thinking. At the same time, legal education had stalled, and Blackstone's work gave the Law "at least a veneer of scholarly respectability". William Searle Holdsworth, one of Blackstone's successors as Vinerian Professor, argued that "if the Commentaries had not been written when they were written, I think it very doubtful that [the United States], and other English speaking countries would have so universally adopted the [common] law".


title: William Blackstone

text: The "Commentaries" had a particular influence in the United States; James Iredell, an original Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States wrote that the "Commentaries" were "Books admirably calculated for a young Student, and indeed may instruct the most learned ... Pleasure and Instruction go hand in hand". When the "Commentaries" were first printed in North America, 1,400 copies were ordered for Philadelphia alone. Academics have also noted the early reliance of the Supreme Court on the "Commentaries", probably due to a lack of US legal tradition at that time. The US academic Robert Ferguson notes that "all our formative documents – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers and the seminal decisions of the Supreme Court under John Marshall – were drafted by attorneys steeped in Sir William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England". So much was this the case that the "Commentaries" rank second only to the Bible as a literary and intellectual influence on the history of American institutions". Even towards the end of the twentieth century, the "Commentaries" were cited in Supreme Court decisions between 10 and 12 times a year.


title: William Blackstone

text: Within United States academia and practise, as well as within the judiciary, the "Commentaries" had a substantial impact; with the scarcity of law books on the frontier, they were "both the only law school and the only law library most American lawyers used to practise law in America for nearly a century after they were published". Blackstone had drawn up a plan for a dedicated School of Law, and submitted it to the University of Oxford; when the idea was rejected he included it in the "Commentaries". It is from this plan that the modern system of American law schools comes. Subscribers to the first edition of Blackstone, and later readers who were profoundly influenced by it, include James Iredell, John Marshall, James Wilson, John Jay, John Adams, James Kent and Abraham Lincoln.


title: William Blackstone

text: In the early 1920s the American Bar Association presented a statue of Blackstone to the English Bar Association; however, at the time, the sculpture was too tall to be placed in the Royal Courts of Justice in London. The sculpture, designed by Paul Wayland Bartlett was eventually cast in Europe and presented back to the US for display. Congress approved the placement of the sculpture in Washington, D.C., on 15 March 1943, and appropriated $10,000 for the installation. The bronze statue is a nine-foot (2.7 m) standing portrait of Blackstone wearing judicial robes and a long curly wig, holding a copy of "Commentaries". It is placed on a tall granite base and stands on Constitution Avenue and 3rd Street NW. The town of Blackstone, Virginia, is named after him.


title: William Blackstone

text: The North Wall Frieze in the courtroom of the Supreme Court of the United States depicts William Blackstone, as one of the most influential legal commentators in world history.


title: William Blackstone

text: Among the most well-known of Blackstone's contributions to judicial theory is his own statement of the principle that it "is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer".


title: William Blackstone

text: While this argument originates at least as far back as Genesis 18:23–32 in the Bible, as well as versions by Maimonides and Sir John Fortescue, Blackstone's analysis is the one picked up by Benjamin Franklin and others, so that the term has become known as "Blackstone's Ratio".


title: William Blackstone

text: Blackstone's Ratio is a maxim of English law, having been established as such within a few decades of Blackstone's work being published. It is also cited in courts and law in the US, and is strongly emphasised to American law students.


title: Vrajesh Hirjee

text: Vrajesh Hirjee (born 16 June 1971) is an Indian film and television actor. He is also a script writer,dubbing artist and doing commentary in vivo pro kabbadi league season 9. He has acted Hindi language films like "Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein", "Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai", "Mujhe Kucch Kehna Hai", "Golmaal Returns" and "Tum Bin".


title: Vrajesh Hirjee

text: Vrajesh was born in London, but brought up in Mumbai, India. He made his debut as a stage artist in the year 1998. "Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein", "Yeh Hai Mumbai Meri Jaan", "Krishna Cottage", "Heyy Babyy", and "Krrish 3" are some of the notable films he acted in. He is best known for his role of Pandurang in "" and Pandu (Nagbaba) in the fourth installment of the Golmaal franchise "Golmaal Again".


title: Vrajesh Hirjee

text: Apart from working as a dubbing artist in Hollywood movies like "Johnny English Reborn" and "Pirates of the Caribbean", Vrajesh has shown up in many television shows like "Sorry Meri Lorry" and "Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin". He was also seen in the sixth season of reality television game show Bigg Boss.


title: Vrajesh Hirjee

text: Vrajesh Hirjee comes from the field of advertising having worked with top advertising agencies like Everest as a copywriter. He has a sister, Pushtiie Shakti, also a television actress. He is an AIESEC Alumnus. Hirjee married actor Rohini Banerjee in 2015, with whom he has a son born in 2019.


title: Buddy film

text: The buddy film is a subgenre of adventure and comedy film in which two people are put together and are on an adventure, a quest, or a road trip. The two often contrast in personality, which creates a dynamic onscreen different from a pairing of two people of the opposite gender. The contrast is sometimes accentuated by an ethnic difference between the two. The buddy film is commonplace in American cinema; unlike some other film genres, it endured through the 20th century with different pairings and different themes.


title: Buddy film

text: A buddy film portrays the pairing of two people, often the same sex, historically men. A friendship between the two people is the key relationship in a buddy film. The two people often come from different backgrounds or have different personalities, and they tend to misunderstand one another. Through the events of the buddy film, they gain a stronger friendship and mutual respect. Buddy films often deal with crises of masculinity, especially related to class, race, and gender. "American Masculinities: A Historical Encyclopedia" explains, "[Buddy films] offer male movie–going audiences an opportunity to indulge in a form of male bonding and behavior usually discouraged by social constraints." Ira Konigsberg wrote in "The Complete Film Dictionary", "Such films extol the virtues of male comradeship and relegate male–female relationships to a subsidiary position."


title: Buddy film

text: A female buddy film is similar to a buddy film except that the main characters are women, and it is centered on their situation. The cast may be mainly female depending on the plot. There are far fewer female buddy films than there are male buddy films; however, notable examples include 1991's "Thelma and Louise", which had a popular impact similar to "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and paved the way for onscreen female friendships such as those in "Waiting to Exhale," "Walking and Talking," and "Fried Green Tomatoes".


title: Buddy film

text: Buddy films are often hybridized with other film genres, such as road movies, Westerns, comedies, and action films featuring cops. The "threats to [the] masculinity" of the male–male relationship depend on the genre: women in comedies, the law in films about outlaw buddies, and criminals in action films about cop buddies.


title: Buddy film

text: The buddy film is more common to cinema in the United States than cinema in other Western countries, which tend to focus on male–female romantic relationships or an individual male hero. Film historian David Thomson observes that buddy films are rare among British and French films, "You just wouldn't see three Englishmen behave the way American men do, who are truly happiest when they are together with other men." Portrayal of male bonding in the United States traces back to 19th-century author Mark Twain's characters Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer as a "good boy-bad boy combo", as well as Huck Finn and the slave Jim in Twain's 1884 novel "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn". Vaudeville acts in early 20th century United States often featured male pairs. Another example could be 1881's "The Prince and the Pauper" with Prince Edward and Miles Hendon.


title: Buddy film

text: From the 1930s to the 1960s in the United States, male comedy duos often appeared in buddy films. Laurel and Hardy and Abbott and Costello were popular in the 1930s and 1940s. Laurel and Hardy starred in films like "Sons of the Desert" (1933), and Abbott and Costello starred in films like "Buck Privates" (1941). Another comedy duo was Wheeler & Woolsey, who starred in "Half Shot at Sunrise" (1930). Bing Crosby and Bob Hope starred together in the 1940 Paramount Pictures film "Road to Singapore", which led to other 1940s buddy films that the "Los Angeles Times" described as "escapist wartime fantasies". Hope and Crosby starred together in a series of films that lasted to the 1960s. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were a popular duo in the 1950s, and Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon were famous in the 1960s, starring in the hit 1968 film "The Odd Couple".


title: Buddy film

text: A major departure from the more comic buddy films of the era was Akira Kurosawa's 1949 Japanese film "Stray Dog", starring Toshirō Mifune and Takashi Shimura. It was a more serious police procedural film noir that served as a precursor to the buddy cop film genre.


title: Buddy film

text: Throughout the 1960s and the 1970s, the feminist movement and "a widespread questioning" of social institutions influenced buddy films. The films explored male friendships more dramatically and encouraged individualism—particularly to be free from women and society. Critics like Molly Haskell and Robin Wood saw the decades' films as "a backlash from the feminist movement." Philippa Gates wrote, "To punish women for their desire for equality, the buddy film pushes them out of the center of the narrative... By making both protagonists men, the central issue of the film becomes the growth and development of their friendship. Women as potential love interests are thus eliminated from the narrative space." The buddy films of these decades were also hybridized with road movies. The decades' buddy films included "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" (1969), "Easy Rider" (1969), "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" (1974), and "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975). The "Los Angeles Times" said films like "Scarecrow" (1973) and "All the President's Men" (1976) reflected the "paranoia and alienation" felt in the era. Beyond Hollywood, a notable buddy road movie of that era was the Bollywood "Curry Western" film "Sholay" (1975), which was the highest-grossing Indian film of all time.


title: Buddy film

text: Biracial buddy films emerged in the 1970s and 1980s; Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder initiated the movement with "Silver Streak" (1976) and "Stir Crazy" (1980). Eddie Murphy was a key actor in biracial buddy films, starring in "48 Hours" (1982) with Nick Nolte and in "Trading Places" (1983) with Dan Aykroyd. Throughout the 1980s, the individual roles in biracial buddy films are reversed. The "racial other... is too civilized" while the white man "is equipped for survival in... the urban landscape".


title: Buddy film

text: The 1980s was a popular decade for action films, and the genre that "blended masculinity, heroism, and patriotism into an idealized image" was hybridized with buddy films. Following the Civil Rights Movement, black advancement was also reflected in more common biracial pairings. In this decade, the buddy cop film took the place of the buddy road movie. Action films with biracial pairings include the 1982 film "48 Hours" starring Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte and the 1987 film "Lethal Weapon" starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. Another combination of the action film and the buddy film in the 1980s and another biracial reversal was the 1988 film "Die Hard" in which Bruce Willis's heroic character John McClane is supported by the black cop Al (played by Reginald VelJohnson).


title: Buddy film

text: In the early 1990s, the masculine figure in films became more sensitive, and some buddy films "contemplated a masculinity that required sensitive relations between men". Such films included "The Fisher King" (1991) and "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994). The decade also saw new approaches to the genre. The 1991 film "Thelma & Louise" featured a female pairing of Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon, and the 1993 film "The Pelican Brief" featured a male–female platonic pairing of Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington. The 1998 film "Rush Hour" featured a nonwhite male pairing of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, which the "Los Angeles Times" said symbolized color blindness in American cinema.


title: Buddy film

text: Biracial buddy films continued in the 1990s and 2000s and were combined with different genres, such as "White Men Can't Jump" (1992), "Bulletproof" (1996), "Gridlock'd" (1997), "National Security" (2003) and "The Bucket List" (2007).


title: Buddy film

text: Also in the 1990s and 2000s, John Woo's Hollywood films imported the "wuxia" "themes of loyalty and trust" from his previous Hong Kong-produced films to create different takes on male bonding. Kin–Yan Szeto writes in "The Martial Arts Cinema of the Chinese Diaspora", "[In] his third Hollywood film, "Face/Off"... Woo manages to deploy and politicize themes of homosociality with the possibility of contesting hegemonic masculinity that consolidates kinship and family." Woo's 2001 World War II film "Windtalkers" depicted two buddy pairs, with each pair indicating inequality through ethnicity (white American soldiers protecting Navajo code talkers but ready to kill the talkers to protect the code). Szeto explains, "Woo uses the twin buddy pairs to explore the shifting meanings and multiple possibilities in interracial bonding, rather than simply recuperating and empowering dominant positions for white heterosexual men."


title: Buddy film

text: "Lethal Weapon" was adapted into a television series which ran from 2016 to 2019. The 2021 series "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" has many of the features of the buddy film genre, and is influenced by films like "48 Hrs.", "The Defiant Ones", "Lethal Weapon" and "Rush Hour".


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel India is the second largest provider of mobile telephony and third largest provider of fixed telephony in India, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services. The brand is operated by several subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel, with Bharti Hexacom and Bharti Telemedia providing broadband fixed line services and Bharti Infratel providing telecom passive infrastructure service such as telecom equipment and telecom towers. Currently, Airtel provides 2G, 4G, 4G+, VoLTE and VoWiFi services all over India and 5G service in selected cities. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband, and voice services depending upon the country of operation. Airtel had also rolled out its VoLTE technology across all Indian telecom circles. Bharti Airtel Limited is part of Bharti Enterprises and is headed by Sunil Bharti Mittal.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel is the first Indian telecom service provider to achieve Cisco Gold Certification. It also acts as a carrier for national and international long distance communication services. The company has a submarine cable landing station at Chennai, with a connection to Singapore. Airtel was named India's second most valuable brand in the first ever Brandz ranking by Millward Brown and WPP plc in 2014.


title: Airtel India

text: On 18 May 2010, the 3G spectrum auction was completed and Airtel paid the Government of India for spectrum in 13 telecom circles of India: Delhi, Mumbai, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, and Jammu & Kashmir. Airtel also operates 3G services in Maharashtra & Goa, Kolkata, Gujarat and Punjab circles through an agreement with Vodafone Idea. This gives Airtel a 3G presence in all 22 out of 22 circles in India. Airtel is fined by DoT 3.50 billion for not stopping offering 3G Services through Roaming Pacts outside its Licensed Zones in Seven Circles.


title: Airtel India

text: On 20 September 2010, Bharti Airtel said that it had given contracts to Ericsson India, Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) to set up infrastructure for providing 3G services in the country. These vendors would plan, design, deploy and maintain 3G–HSPA (third-generation, high-speed packet access) networks in 13 telecom circles where the company had won 3G licences. While Airtel awarded network contracts for seven 3G circles to Ericsson India, NSN would manage networks in three circles. Chinese telecom equipment vendor Huawei Technologies was introduced as the third partner for three circles.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel launched 3G services in Bangalore on 24 January 2011. On 27 January 2011, Airtel launched 3G in Chennai and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. On 27 July 2011, 3G services were launched in Kerala's 3 largest cities – Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel 3G services are available in 200 cities through its network and in 500 cities through intra-circle roaming arrangements with other operators. Airtel had about 5.4 million 3G customers of which 4 million are 3G data customers as of September 2012. Airtel has 3G licence in all 22 circles.


title: Airtel India

text: In October 2017, Bharti Airtel announced its acquisition of Tata Docomo having roughly 40 million subscribers.


title: Airtel India

text: In June 2019, Airtel closed their 3G network in Kolkata. In Kolkata users can only access 4G and 2G networks. In an event, Airtel confirmed that it will shut down their 3G network all over India and re-farm the spectrum towards 4G by the year 2020. Then onwards Airtel will provide only 2G and 4G connectivity in the country.


title: Airtel India

text: On 19 May 2010, the broadband wireless access (BWA) or 4G spectrum auction in India ended. Airtel paid for spectrum in 4 circles: Maharashtra and Goa, Karnataka, Punjab and Kolkata. The company was allocated 20 MHz of BWA spectrum in 2.3 GHz frequency band. Airtel's TD-LTE network is built and operated by ZTE in Kolkata and Punjab, Huawei in Karnataka, and Nokia Siemens Networks in Maharashtra and Goa. On 10 April 2012, Airtel launched 4G services through dongles and modems using TD-LTE technology in Kolkata, becoming the first company in India to offer 4G services. The Kolkata launch was followed by launches in Bangalore (7 May 2012), Pune (18 October 2012), and Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula (25 March 2013). Airtel obtained 4G licences and spectrum in the telecom circles of Delhi, Haryana, Kerala and Mumbai after acquiring Wireless Business Services Private Limited, a joint venture founded by Qualcomm, which had won BWA spectrum in those circles in the 4G spectrum auction.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel launched 4G services on mobile from February 2014. The first city to get the service was Bangalore. Airtel has started their 4G services in Karnal and Yamunanagar in Haryana on 16 June 2015. Airtel 4G trials has been started in Delhi from 18 June 2015. Airtel had 95,173,000 4G subscribers as of June 2019.


title: Airtel India

text: As of June 2019, Airtel provides 4G coverage in all India in 22 circles. Airtel extended its 4G network to 15 km off India's coastline, following a request by the Indian Navy. Airtel started its 4G in Andaman and Nicobar on 15 January 2019. Airtel covered 96% population in Rajasthan till March 2019. Airtel's network now covers approximately 98% of the population in these geographies.


title: Airtel India

text: On 3 November 2016, "The Economic Times" reported that Airtel had awarded a 4.02 billion (US$60 million) contract to Nokia to implement Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology on the operator's network nationwide. Airtel had previously awarded a smaller contract to Nokia for trial of VoLTE technology in select circles in early 2016. Airtel subscribers would be able to place VoLTE calls in areas covered by LTE. If LTE was not available in the area, the call will fall back to 3G or 2G.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel India owns spectrum in 850 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 3500 MHz and 26 GHz bands across the country.


title: Airtel India

text: On 30 November 2015, Airtel announced the launch of a network transformation programme called Project Leap. Under the programme, the company will invest 60,000 crores over the next 3 years to upgrade its network across India. Airtel will deploy over 160,000 base stations nationwide, and also expand its mobile broadband coverage to over 500,000 villages. Under Project Leap, Airtel will introduce several technologies such as small cells, carrier aggregation solutions, Wi-Fi hotspots, and several different spectrum bands to improve network coverage in indoor areas. The company will also deploy more than 5,50,000 km of domestic and international fibre, and upgrade its legacy networks and base stations over the three-year period.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel Broadband will also benefit from Project Leap. The ISP's maximum offered speed will rise from 16 Mbit/s in 2016 to 50 Mbit/s when after the programme is implemented.


title: Airtel India

text: On 14 June 2016, Airtel launched the Open Network initiative under Project Leap. The Open Network service allows users to view Airtel's mobile network coverage and signal strength across India, in addition to network site deployment status. This was first launched on a trial basis in December 2015, before its official launch in June 2016.


title: Airtel India

text: In February 2016, Airtel deployed LTE Advanced carrier aggregation technology in Kerala. Carrier aggregation combines the capacities of TD-LTE (2300 MHz spectrum band) and FD-LTE (1800) enabling better spectrum utilisation and efficiency. The network achieved data speeds of up to 135 Mbit/s.


title: Airtel India

text: Jan 2020 - Announced partnership with Google Cloud Platform to offer Google Workspace to SMBs in India.


title: Airtel India

text: May 2020 - Announced 'Work@Home' solutions for corporate employees, which bundled collaboration tools including Google Meet, Cisco Webex and Zoom (software). Announced “High speed Airtel 4G Corporate Mi-Fi devices with complimentary G Suite pack”.


title: Airtel India

text: A cloud communications suite, which Airtel has announced in Oct 2020, that it will operate as a separate business division.


title: Airtel India

text: Nxtra Data Ltd, a subsidiary of Airtel, which operates data center services to corporate clients in the South Asian region. It currently operates 10 Tier-III Data centers across 7 locations in India.


title: Airtel India

text: Aug 2020 - Announced strategic alliance with Amazon Web Services to offer AWS's services to SMBs in India.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel has started a new mCommerce platform called Airtel Money in collaboration with Infosys and SmartTrust (now Giesecke & Devrient). The platform was launched on 5 April 2012, at Infosys' headquarters in Bangalore. Using Airtel Money, users can transfer money, pay bills and perform other financial transactions directly on the mobile phone.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel launched its V-Fiber service in October 2016. Airtel V-Fiber is available in 103 cities in India with speeds up to 1 Gbit/s. This service was later renamed as Xstream Fibre.


title: Airtel India

text: Airtel Broadband launched its IPtV service in 2009. On 31 August 2016, the company shut down the service, and offered its 50,000 subscribers a free upgrade to Airtel Digital TV. The company stated that the move was part of its strategy to focus on a single television service.


title: Airtel India

text: In April 2015, Airtel launched a marketing platform called Airtel Zero, which allows application providers to pay for the data used by the consumers, enabling consumers to access specific mobile apps at zero data cost. Flipkart, a leading Indian e-commerce firm reportedly was to become the launch partner of "Airtel Zero". The issue triggered debate on net neutrality in India and following protests Flipkart pulled out of Airtel Zero.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: Maria Vladimirovna "Masha" Alyokhina (; born June 6, 1988) is a Russian political activist. She is a member of the anti-Putinist punk rock group Pussy Riot.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: Alyokhina was born on June 6, 1988, in Moscow, Russia. Her mother works as a programmer and her father is a mathematics professor. She was raised by her mother, and only met her father at age 21. During her youth she hated the Russian education system and changed schools four times,


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: They discourage people from thinking and asking questions, they only teach you to follow the rules and submit without explanation or, most importantly, reason... Obviously I didn’t like that. Who would?


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: On August 17, 2012, Alyokhina was convicted of "hooliganism motivated by religious hatred" for a performance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. She has been recognized as a political prisoner by the Union of Solidarity with Political Prisoners. Amnesty International named her a prisoner of conscience due to "the severity of the response of the Russian authorities."


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: At the time of her arrest, Alyokhina was a fourth-year student at the Institute of Journalism and Creative Writing in Moscow, where she participated in a sequence of literature workshops given by the poets Dmitry Vedenyapin and Alexey Kubrik. She is also a published poet. Additionally, she has been involved in environmental activism with Greenpeace Russia, opposing development projects in the Khimki Forest, and was a volunteer at the Children's Psychiatric Hospital in Moscow. She is a vegan and reportedly collapsed from hunger during the trial, as no vegan meals were provided in detention.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: Alyokhina played an active role in the Pussy Riot trial, cross-examining witnesses, and aggressively questioning the charges and proceedings. She said in her closing statement:


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: For me, this trial only has the status of a "so-called" trial. And I am not afraid of you. I am not afraid of lies and fiction, of the thinly disguised fraud in the sentence of this so-called court. Because you can only take away my so-called freedom. And that is the exact kind that exists now in Russia. But nobody can take away my inner freedom.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: Alyokhina was released from prison on December 23, 2013 under an amnesty bill passed by the Russian Duma, allowing the release of several inmates. Following her release, Alyokhina and fellow Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova announced their intention to campaign for prisoner's rights in Russia. On March 6, 2014, she was assaulted and injured at a fast food outlet by local youths in Nizhny Novgorod along with Tolokonnikova.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: In 2013 Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova founded a media outlet, MediaZona, which focuses on the Russian penal and judicial systems.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: In February 2014, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, were detained by police in the Adler district of Sochi in connection with an alleged hotel theft. They were released without charge. On 19 February footage surfaced showing Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina being attacked with horsewhips by Cossacks who were patrolling Sochi during the 2014 Winter Olympics.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: On January 23, 2021, Alyokhina was arrested in Moscow and detained for 48 hours for attending a protest in support of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. She was charged with "violation of sanitary and epidemiological rules", a criminal offence during the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 29, Fellow Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova spoke out on Alyokhina's situation, stating "She faces criminal charges and two years in jail for encouraging people to go to protests on social networks. This is a face of Putin’s Russia. They clearly have nothing else to do, but to put Pussy Riot in jail over and over again.” On March 18 Moscow's Basmanny District Court extended Alyokhina's house arrest until June 23. On June 23 Maria Alyokhina, along with fellow Pussy Riot activists Lucy Shtein and Anna Kuzminykh, were sentenced to 15 days in jail. The activists were found guilty of disobeying police officers. On July 8 Alyokhina was again detained upon her release and given another 15 day prison sentence. In September 2021, a Moscow court sentenced her to one year of “restrictions on freedom” (a parole-like sentence).


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: On February 7, 2022, Alyokhina was arrested again, at her home. On February 27, 2022, Alyokhina was arrested one more time when she was in taxi and transported to police precinct.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: In April 2022, Alyokhina fled Russia after officials announced she would be sentenced to time in a penal colony, instead of remaining on house arrest. With assistance from friends, including Icelandic performance artist Ragnar Kjartansson, Alyokhina travelled through Belarus and Lithuania to reach Iceland.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: She has one son named Filip, born in 2008, with Nikita Demidov. In 2012 Alyokhina stated that she considers herself Christian, but is critical of the Russian Orthodox Church for the harsh response to Pussy Riot's Cathedral of Christ the Saviour performance. She is currently in a relationship with fellow Pussy Riot member Lucy Shtein.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: In 2015, Alyokhina and her Pussy Riot bandmate Nadezhda Tolokonnikova appeared as themselves in Chapter 29 of "House of Cards", a popular American television drama series that airs on Netflix. In the show, Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova heavily criticized a fictionalized version of Vladimir Putin for corruption, while dining in the White House.


title: Maria Alyokhina

text: In 2017 she published a memoir on her trial and time in prison, entitled "Riot Days". A live performance based on the book which accompanies the text with live music and projected video has toured internationally.


title: Military history of France

text: The military history of France encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2,000 years across areas including modern France, Europe, and a variety of regions throughout the world.


title: Military history of France

text: According to historian Niall Ferguson, France is the most successful military power in history. It participated in 50 of the 125 major European wars that have been fought since 1495; more than any other European state. The first major recorded wars in the territory of modern-day France itself revolved around the Gallo-Roman conflict that predominated from 60 BC to 50 BC. The Romans eventually emerged victorious through the campaigns of Julius Caesar. After the decline of the Roman Empire, a Germanic tribe known as the Franks took control of Gaul by defeating competing tribes. The "land of Francia", from which France gets its name, had high points of expansion under kings Clovis I and Charlemagne, who established the nucleus of the future French state. In the Middle Ages, rivalries with England prompted major conflicts such as the Norman Conquest and the Hundred Years' War. With an increasingly centralized monarchy, the first standing army since Roman times, and the use of artillery, France expelled the English from its territory and came out of the Middle Ages as the most powerful nation in Europe, only to lose that status to the Holy Roman Empire and Spain following defeat in the Italian Wars. The Wars of Religion crippled France in the late 16th century, but a major victory over Spain in the Thirty Years' War made France the most powerful nation on the continent once more. In parallel, France developed its first colonial empire in Asia, Africa, and in the Americas. Under Louis XIV France achieved military supremacy over its rivals, but escalating conflicts against increasingly powerful enemy coalitions checked French ambitions and left the kingdom bankrupt at the opening of the 18th century.


title: Military history of France

text: Resurgent French armies secured victories in dynastic conflicts against the Spanish, Polish, and Austrian crowns. At the same time, France was fending off attacks on its colonies. As the 18th century advanced, global competition with Great Britain led to the Seven Years' War, where France lost its North American holdings. Consolation came in the form of dominance in Europe and the American Revolutionary War, where extensive French aid in the form of money and arms, and the direct participation of its army and navy led to the independence of the United States. Internal political upheaval eventually led to 23 years of nearly continuous conflict in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. France reached the zenith of its power during this period, dominating the European continent in an unprecedented fashion under Napoleon Bonaparte. By 1815, however, it had been restored to the same borders it controlled before the Revolution. The rest of the 19th century witnessed the growth of the Second French colonial empire as well as French interventions in Belgium, Spain, and Mexico. Other major wars were fought against Russia in the Crimea, Austria in Italy, and Prussia within France itself.


title: Military history of France

text: Following defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Franco-German rivalry erupted again in the First World War. France and its allies were victorious this time. Social, political, and economic upheaval in the wake of the conflict led to the Second World War, in which the Allies were defeated in the Battle of France and the French government signed an armistice with Germany. Even though the French military was considered the most powerful in the world at the onset of the war. The Allies, including the Free French Forces led by a government in exile, eventually emerged victorious over the Axis Powers. As a result, France secured an occupation zone in Germany and a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. The imperative of avoiding a third Franco-German conflict on the scale of the first two world wars paved the way for European integration starting in the 1950s. France became a nuclear power and, since the late 20th century, has cooperated closely with NATO, the United States and European partners.


title: Military history of France

text: Historian Niall Ferguson argues that France is the most belligerent military power in history. It participated in 50 of the 125 major European wars fought since 1495; more than any other European state. It is followed by Austria which fought in 47 of them; Spain in 44; and England in 43. Out of the 169 most important world battles fought since 387BC, France has won 109, lost 49 and drawn 10.


title: Military history of France

text: In the last few centuries, French strategic thinking has sometimes been driven by the need to attain or preserve the so-called "natural frontiers," which are the Pyrenees to the southwest, the Alps to the southeast, and the Rhine River to the east. Starting with Clovis, 1,500 years of warfare and diplomacy has witnessed the accomplishment of most of these objectives. Warfare with other European powers was not always determined by these considerations, and often rulers of France extended their continental authority far beyond these barriers, most notably under Charlemagne, Louis XIV, and Napoleon. These periods of incessant conflict were characterized by their own standards and conventions, but all required strong central leadership in order to permit the extension of French rule. Important military rivalries in human history have come about as a result of conflict between French peoples and other European powers. Anglo-French rivalry, for prestige in Europe and around the world, continued for centuries, while the more recent Franco-German rivalry required two world wars to stabilize.


title: Military history of France

text: Starting in the early 16th century, much of France's military efforts were dedicated to securing its overseas possessions and putting down dissent among both French colonists and native populations. French troops were spread all across its empire, primarily to deal with the local population. The French colonial empire ultimately disintegrated after the failed attempt to subdue Algerian nationalists in the late 1950s, a failure that led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic. Since World War II, France's efforts have been directed at maintaining its status as a great power and its influence on the UN Security Council. France has also been instrumental in attempting to unite the armed forces of Europe for their own defense in order to both balance the power of Russia and to lessen European military dependence on the United States. For example, France withdrew from NATO in 1966 over complaints that its role in the organization was being subordinated to the demands of the United States. French objectives in this era have undergone major shifts. Unencumbered by continental wars or intricate alliances, France now deploys its military forces as part of international peacekeeping operations, security enforcers in former colonies, or maintains them combat ready and mobilized to respond to threats from rogue states. France is a nuclear power with the largest nuclear arsenal in Europe, and its nuclear capabilities, just like its conventional forces, have been restructured to rapidly deal with emerging threats.


title: Military history of France

text: Around 390 BC, the Gallic chieftain Brennus made his own way through the Alps, defeated the Romans in the Battle of the Allia and sacked Rome for several months. The Gallic invasion left Rome weakened and encouraged several subdued Italian tribes to rebel. One by one, over the course of the next 50 years, these tribes were defeated and brought back under Roman dominion. Meanwhile, the Gauls would continue to harass the region until 345 BC, when they entered into a formal treaty with Rome. But Romans and Gauls would maintain an adversarial relationship for the next several centuries and the Gauls would remain a threat in Italia.


title: Military history of France

text: Around 125 BC, the south of France is conquered by the Romans who called this region "Provincia Romana" ("Roman Province"), which evolved into the name Provence in French. Brennus' sack of Rome was still remembered by Romans, when Julius Caesar conquered the remainder of Gaul. Initially Caesar met with little Gallic resistance: the 60 or so tribes that made up Gaul were unable to unite and defeat the Roman army, something Caesar exploited by pitting one tribe against another. In 58 BC, Caesar defeated the Germanic tribe of the Suebi, which was led by Ariovistus. The following year he conquered the Belgian Gauls after claiming that they were conspiring against Rome. The string of victories continued in a naval triumph against the Veneti in 56 BC. In 53 BC, a united Gallic resistance movement under Vercingetorix emerged for the first time. Caesar laid siege to the fortified city of Avaricum (Bourges) and broke through the defenses after 25 days, with only 800 out of the 40,000 inhabitants managing to escape. He then besieged Gergovia, Vercingetorix's home town, and suffered one of the worst defeats in his career when he had to retreat to suppress a revolt in another part of Gaul. After returning, Caesar surrounded Vercingetorix at Alesia in 52 BC. The townspeople were starved into submission and Caesar's unique defensive earthworks, protruding towards the city and away from it in order to stop a massive Gallic relief force, eventually forced Vercingetorix to surrender. The Gallic Wars were over.


title: Military history of France

text: Gallo-Roman culture settled over the region in the next few centuries, but as Roman power weakened in the 4th and 5th centuries AD, a Germanic tribe, the Franks, overran large areas that today form modern France. Under King Clovis I in the late 5th and early 6th centuries, Frankish dominions quadrupled as they managed to defeat successive opponents for control of Gaul. In 486 the Frankish armies under Clovis triumphed over Syagrius, the last Roman official in Northern Gaul, at the Battle of Soissons. In 491 Clovis defeated Thuringians east of his territories. In 496 he overcame the Alamanni at the Battle of Tolbiac. In 507 he scored the most impressive victory in his career, prevailing at the Battle of Vouillé against the Visigoths, who were led by Alaric II, the conqueror of Spain.


title: Military history of France

text: Following Clovis, territorial divisions in the Frankish domain sparked intense rivalry between the western part of the kingdom, Neustria, and the eastern part, Austrasia. The two were sometimes united under one king, but from the 6th to the 8th centuries they often warred against each other. Early in the 8th century, the Franks were preoccupied with Islamic invasions across the Pyrenees and up the Rhone Valley. Two key battles during this period were the Battle of Toulouse and the Battle of Tours, both won by the Franks, and both instrumental in slowing Islamic incursions.


title: Military history of France

text: Under Charlemagne the Franks reached the height of their power. After campaigns against Lombards, Avars, Saxons, and Basques, the resulting Carolingian Empire stretched from the Pyrenees to Central Germany, from the North Sea to the Adriatic. In 800 the Pope made Charlemagne Emperor of the West in return for protection of the Church. The Carolingian Empire was a conscious effort to recreate a central administration modeled on that of the Roman Empire, but the motivations behind military expansion differed. Charlemagne hoped to provide his nobles an incentive to fight by encouraging looting on campaign. Plunder and spoils of war were stronger temptations than imperial expansion, and several regions were invaded over and over in order to bolster the coffers of Frankish nobility. Cavalry dominated the battlefields, and while the high costs associated with equipping horses and horse-riders helped limit their numbers, Carolingian armies maintained an average size of 20,000 during peacetime by recruiting infantry from imperial territories near theaters of operation, swelling to more with the levies called upon when at war. The Empire lasted from 800 to 843, when, following Frankish tradition, it was split between the sons of Louis the Pious by the Treaty of Verdun.


title: Military history of France

text: Military history during this period paralleled the rise and eventual fall of the armored knight. Following Charlemagne and the breakdown of the Frankish Empire due to civil war and ceaseless Viking incursions, the larger and more logistically difficult to maintain infantry-based armies were abandoned in favor of cavalry supplemented by an improvement in armor: leather and steel, steel helmets, coats of mail, and even full armor added to the defensive capabilities of mounted forces. A smaller and more mobile elite cavalry force quickly grew to be the most important component of armies within French territories and most of the rest of Europe, with the shock charge they provided becoming the standard tactic on the battlefield when it was invented in the 11th century. At the same time, the development of agricultural techniques allowed the nations of Western Europe to radically increase food production, facilitating the growth of a particularly large aristocracy under Capetian France. The rise of castles, which began in France during the 10th century, was partly caused by the inability of centralized authorities to control these emerging dukes and aristocrats. While all vassals and knights were in theory bound to fight for their sovereign when called upon, this period was marked by many feudal local and regional lords using the knights and levied conscripts below them to fight amongst each other, often in defiance or even outright rebellion towards their sovereign. After campaigns designed for plundering, attacking and defending, castles became the dominant feature of medieval warfare.


title: Military history of France

text: During the Crusades, there were in fact too many armored knights in France for the land to support. Some scholars believe that one of the driving forces behind the Crusades was an attempt by such landless knights to find land overseas, without causing the type of internecine warfare that would largely damage France's increasing military strength. However, such historiographical work on the Crusades is being challenged and rejected by a large part of the historical community. The ultimate motivation or motivations for any one individual are difficult to know, but regardless, nobles and knights from France generally formed very sizeable contingents of crusading expeditions. Crusaders were so predominantly French that the word "crusader" in the Arabic language is simply known as "Al-Franj" or "The Franks" and Old French became the lingua franca of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.