prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Who sings Home Alone Tonight with the singer of "I Don't Want This Night to End"?

The following are given passages.
Context 1: Passage 1:
Rockin' You Tonight
Rockin' You Tonight is the second studio album by American country music artist Blaine Larsen  Released in 2006 on BNA Records (in association with Giantslayer Records), the album produced two singles for Larsen on the Hot Country Songs charts: "I Don't Know What She Said" and "Spoken Like a Man", which respectively reached number 24 and number 42  Also included is a cover of Mac Davis's "Baby, Don't Get Hooked on Me", as well as "I'm in Love with a Married Woman", which was previously recorded and released as a single by Mark Chesnutt from his 2002 self-titled album  "Let Alone You" was later recorded by Easton Corbin on his eponymous debut album in 2010 

Track listing
Personnel
Eddie Bayers - drums, percussion
Spady Brannan - bass guitar
Perry Coleman - background vocals
Mickey Jack Cones - background vocals
J T  Corenflos - baritone guitar, electric guitar
Stuart Duncan - fiddle, mandolin
Kevin "Swine" Grantt - bass guitar
Tommy Harden - drums, percussion
Blaine Larsen - lead vocals
Chris Leuzinger - baritone guitar, electric guitar
Bill McDermott - electric guitar
Brent Mason - electric guitar
Jimmy Nichols - accordion, Hammond organ, piano, synthesizer horns, Wurlitzer
Danny Parks - electric guitar
Biff Watson - acoustic guitar, nylon string guitar, hi-string guitar
Gretchen Wilson - duet vocals on "Lips of a Bottle"
Lonnie Wilson - drums, percussion
Glenn Worf - bass guitar

Chart performance
Album
Passage 2:
Saturday Night Footy
In Australia, Saturday Night Footy (formerly as Saturday Night Football) is the broadcasting of Australian Football League (AFL) Saturday night matches on television  Saturday Night Footy is generally considered to be one of the biggest stages and generates publicity for the clubs involved  It is for this reason that clubs involved generally want to perform at their best to avoid large-scale criticism from the media  The Seven Network has held the primary broadcast rights for the AFL since the start of the 2012 season 
The commentary team is led by Basil Zempilas, Cameron Ling, Luke Darcy and Matthew Richardson  Samantha Lane provides reports during the match and also features as a reporter during the pre-match segment, which runs for 45 minutes (or one hour for matches played in Adelaide or Perth) before the match is played  Dr  Peter Larkins provides injury updates during and after the feature match  The show begins at 6:30pm every Saturday night, immediately following Seven News in most markets 
The pre-match show, titled The Kick, is anchored by Darcy and runs for one hour in the lead-up to the feature match  This portion of the telecast includes, among others, segments such as: interviews with players and the coaches involved in the feature match, going behind the scenes of a team's training session, and featuring various celebrity guests  Rachael Finch, Lleyton Hewitt and Redfoo, among others, have featured as guests on Saturday Night Footy The post-match show, anchored by Darcy, reviews the match in detail and includes interviews with the players and coaches from both sides  The team also crosses to Sam McClure, at Footy Central, to recap the rest of the day's matches, and also to provide injury and player updates from those matches 
The original Saturday Night Footy telecast may not air into some states, as the current broadcasting contract requires the local teams to be televised into their respective states (for example, Saturday night matches involving the Brisbane Lions must be televised into Queensland)  The pre-match show may also be omitted from the schedule if a local team's match being played in the twilight timeslot (i e  4:35 pm) is televised and overlaps into the 6:30pm timeslot 
During Seven's exclusively live broadcast of the AFL Grand Final as part of the 2012-2016 Broadcast Deal, the Saturday Night Footy team host both the pre-match show and the post-match show 
In 2018, James Brayshaw will join the Saturday Night Footy team 

See also
Friday Night Football (AFL)
Passage 3:
Lopez Tonight
Lopez Tonight is an American late-night television talk show that was hosted by the comedian George Lopez  The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS   Lopez was the first Mexican-American to host a late-night talk show on an English-language network in the United States  The show featured audience interaction using a high-energy format  The program aired Monday through Thursday at midnight Eastern and Pacific, immediately following Conan  On August 10, 2011, TBS announced that Lopez Tonight would be canceled  The final episode aired the following night 

History
Phillip Kent, the chief executive of TBS, announced in March 2009 that George Lopez had signed a contract to host his own late-night talk show on TBS in November of that year  During interviews, Lopez said that he would bring the change to late-night television and that he wants the show to reach a diverse audience  He also stated that he would become the first Hispanic American to host a late-night talk show  The show debuted on November 9, 2009, with guests Kobe Bryant and Eva Longoria, as well as a special appearance from Ellen DeGeneres and a musical performance from Carlos Santana 

Arrival of Conan O'Brien and cancellation
The 2010 Tonight Show conflict resulted in Conan O'Brien's departure from NBC and The Tonight Show  Jay Leno returned to The Tonight Show, abandoning his prime time experiment, The Jay Leno Show  As a part of his severance deal, O'Brien was given a $32-million payout, a $12-million payout for his show's staff, and the ability to pursue options on other channels after September 1, 2010 
Hours before O'Brien's Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on Television Tour, O'Brien officially announced he had signed with TBS to create his own late-night talk show at 11:00 pm beginning in November 2010, thus pushing Lopez Tonight back to midnight  O'Brien was hesitant at first, saying he didn't want to do that to Lopez after what NBC had done to him, but Lopez himself called him and persuaded him to take the job  On the April 12 edition of Lopez Tonight, George addressed the situation by saying, "I was on Team Coco, now I'm on Team Loco!" 
However, the move caused a steep decline in ratings  On August 10, 2011, TBS canceled Lopez Tonight effective at the end of the week  O'Brien said of the announcement on his show, taping just hours after it was confirmed:

"I want to take one second right now and talk about something serious  Today, not long ago—a couple of hours ago—it was announced that TBS is not renewing George Lopez's show for a third season  I have very strong feelings about this, and I wanted to talk about it  Had it not been for George being so incredibly supportive of me a year and a half ago, I would not have come to TBS and we would not be doing this show right now  I owe that man a lot, and frankly, it makes me very sad that TBS and George could not work this out  I really like being a part of a late-night lineup with George, and I wish that this could've continued  So, tonight, all of our thoughts are with George and his entire staff and crew  We understand, believe me, how hard this is for all of you, and we wish you all the best "

Format
The show followed the established six-piece format established by the likes of Steve Allen and Johnny Carson  The first segment included a monologue by Lopez, sometimes accompanied by several one-liners, or several brief comedy sketches  Most episodes also included a second segment, immediately after the monologue, with a full comedy sketch  An interview with either one or two guests followed, as well as a musical or comedy performance 

Recurring segments
Sketches introduced on the show include Bullet Wound or Not a Bullet Wound, a stereotypical game show similar to Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" where guests must answer seemingly racist questions, Creepy Little White Girl in which a horrific little girl appears on the stage to deliver bad news, The Jersey Shore Presents, a mocking piece where cast members of Jersey Shore star in hit movies, Sweet Tweets where Lopez answers questions submitted from Twitter, WWE Superstars Karoake where many WWE Superstars performed karaoke songs, Justin Bieber's Memories a segment that mocks Justin Bieber and his childhood, and "Eric Estrada" where colored lights flash and various guests, including Benjamin Bratt and Jon Cryer come out of the double doors in a California Highway Patrol motorcycle uniform 

Timeline
November 9, 2009 — Lopez Tonight debuts with guests Eva Longoria and Kobe Bryant as well as a special appearance by Ellen DeGeneres, and a musical performance from Carlos Santana, who performed "Oye Como Va" 
November 12, 2009 — Comedian Larry David appears on the show and takes a DNA test revealing his results to be 63 percent European and 37 percent Native American 
November 25, 2009 — George officially announces that Arsenio Hall would become the permanent guest host of Lopez Tonight 
December 15, 2009 — A special reunion episode, featuring the main cast of George Lopez  Musical guests War performed "Low Rider", the theme song to the former show as well as Lopez Tonight 
January 18, 2010 — Jennifer Lopez performs the opening monologue for Lopez Tonight, addressing the 2010 Tonight Show conflict, beginning with "Welcome to Lopez Tonight, where nobody gets fired"!
April 1, 2010 — As part of an April Fool's Day joke, musician Usher corrected Lopez after incorrectly stating he had two kids, saying that he had three, and went on to say that how upset he was when people didn't get their facts straight, however Usher revealed it to be a joke and that he did indeed have two kids 
April 12, 2010 — George Lopez announces that beginning in November 2010, Conan O'Brien will officially join TBS for his own late-night talk show which will push Lopez Tonight back one hour from 11:00 pm to midnight 
June 24, 2010 – Lopez Tonight celebrates its 100th episode, with guests Kobe Bryant and Louis C K  with special appearances from Arsenio Hall, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Donald Trump, Russell Brand, and Eddie Van Halen  At the end of the show, George alongside his band performed the Van Halen song "Panama" 
August 18, 2010 – George Lopez bets Bow Wow $25,000 to charity that the Los Angeles Lakers would beat the Miami Heat on Christmas Day 
October 19, 2010 – The cast of Jackass 3D appears on the show 
November 3, 2010 – Conan O'Brien officially appears on the show promoting his new talk show, Conan, which moves Lopez Tonight to midnight 
November 4, 2010 – Lopez Tonight celebrates its last show in the 11:00PM time slot as it prepares to move to 12:00AM in order for the arrival of Conan  Guests on the show were Andy Richter, Bret Michaels, and a musical performance from Good Charlotte 
November 8, 2010 – Lopez Tonight airs its first show in the midnight time slot  The show features many changes including a new opening sequence as well as a new set  Guests on the show included Janet Jackson, Antoine Dodson, and a musical performance from Rooney 
August 10, 2011 – Lopez Tonight is canceled by TBS with the series finale airing August 12, 2011 
August 15, 2011 – Repeats of The Office filled in the former Lopez Tonight timeslot after several weeks of his show repeats 
August 18, 2011 – The official TBS Lopez Tonight website was taken down and currently redirects the site to tbs com 

Production
Studio and set design
The show was taped at Warner Bros  Studios in Burbank, California, near The Ellen DeGeneres Show studio  The stage layout followed a street-party theme  The show differed from many other late-night talk shows, most notably for not featuring a desk or background of the city in which the show is taped 

House band
Lopez Tonight's house band was Michael Bearden and the Ese Vato's, who are famous for performances with Michael Jackson and Shakira  The band consisted of leader and keyboard player Michael Bearden, guitarist Tommy Organ, bass player Alex Al, percussionist Lenny Castro, trumpeter Bill Churchville, drummer Robin DiMaggio, and saxophonist Sean Holt  As in common talk show format, Michael Bearden and the Ese Vato's would perform the show's opening and closing theme, bumpers into and out of commercial breaks  The show's opening theme was "Lowrider" by the band War, which was also the theme song for George Lopez 

Reception
The show has been critically panned  Metacritic scored the show with a 39/100 based on six reviews  
Matthew Gilbert of The Boston Globe claims "Lopez has a full-throated energy and a weakness for sophomoric guy humor that can be grating, especially since his show will air Monday through Thursday nights " The New York Times says "Mr  Lopez said he was 'bringing change to late-night TV,' but the only significant change was a coarsening of the already crass atmosphere "

See also
List of Lopez Tonight episodes
Passage 4:
I Don't Want This Night to End
"I Don't Want This Night to End" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Luke Bryan  It was released in September 2011 as the second single from his album Tailgates & Tanlines  The song, written by Bryan, Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson and Ben Hayslip, is a "guy meets girl" love story 
The song received positive reviews from critics who praised the simplistic writing and catchy chorus  "I Don't Want This Night to End" peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, giving Bryan his third number-one country music hit in both charts and starting a streak of eighteen consecutive number one hits for him  This streak ended in 2019 when "What Makes You Country" peaked at number 7 on Hot Country Songs, and number 2 on Country Airplay  It also charted at number 22 on the Hot 100 chart, the same position as his previous single "Country Girl (Shake It for Me)"  The song was certified 4× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and has sold 2,730,000 copies in the United States as of August 2015  The song achieved minor chart success in Canada, peaking at number 48 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart  It also garnered a Platinum certification from Music Canada, selling over 80,000 copies in that country 
The accompanying music video was directed by Shaun Silva and features actress Cameron Richardson as Bryan's love interest 

Content
Bryan told The Boot that the song is about "a guy meeting a girl, and it's the first night that they're hanging out  It's a magical night and he doesn't want it to end  It's got a big fun chorus in it " He co-wrote the song with Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, and Ben Hayslip, collectively known as The Peach Pickers  After Hayslip provided the title, Bryan began playing a melody on a guitar  Hayslip then said that his publisher, Randy Gaston, recommended that he write "a song that talks about putting your hands up in the chorus" The song is set in the key of A minor and has a moderate tempo of approximately 112 beats per minute  The verses use a chord pattern of Am-G-Fsus2 three times, with a C-G-F pattern twice on the chorus followed by the original pattern of Am-G-Fsus2 twice  It ends on the Fsus2 chord 

Critical reception
Billy Dukes of Taste of Country gave the song four stars out of five, calling the chorus "pretty memorable" and saying that the writers "did a nice job of not over-thinking things " Matt Bjorke of Roughstock gave the song three and a half stars of five, writing that the chorus is "infectious and sing-a-long ready" and the song is "strong, well-written" and "sounds great on the radio, just like it will in concerts "Billboard and American Songwriter ranked "I Don't Want This Night to End" at number four and number one, respectively, on their lists of the 10 greatest Luke Bryan songs 

Music video
The music video was directed by Shaun Silva and premiered on November 8, 2011  Bryan portrays a country music star who falls for a new girl (played by actress Cameron Richardson) while he is home from the road  The video is a prequel to the music video for "Drunk On You" which was later released as a single 

Commercial performance
"I Don't Want This Night to End" debuted at number 44 on the U S  Billboard Hot Country Songs chart for the week of September 17, 2011  It debuted at number 90 on the U S  Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week of October 15, 2011  The song was certified five times platinum by the RIAA on August 3, 2020  As of August 2015, the song has sold 2,730,000 copies in the US It debuted at number 80 on Canadian Hot 100 chart for the week of November 5, 2011 

Charts and certifications
Passage 5:
Home Alone Tonight
"Home Alone Tonight" is a song recorded by American country music artist Luke Bryan as a duet with Karen Fairchild of American country music group Little Big Town for his fifth studio album, Kill the Lights (2015)  Upon the release of the album, the song entered the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart at number 33 on the strength of digital downloads  It was serviced to American country radio on November 23, 2015 as the album's third official single  The song was written by Jody Stevens, Cole Taylor, Jaida Dreyer and Tommy Cecil 

Live performances
Bryan and Fairchild performed the song live at the 2015 American Music Awards 

Content
The song is a mid-tempo ballad in which a man and woman meet in a bar and plot revenge on their former lovers together 

Critical reception
An uncredited review from Taste of Country was favorable, stating that it "features more progressive production than 'Strip It Down,' but isn’t quite as edgy as 'Kick the Dust Up ' One would hardly call the arrangement organic, but that fits the mood  The two spontaneous lovers promise they won’t regret what’s to come, even though both know it’s not true  It’s an inevitability that many will relate to "

Commercial performance
The song debuted at number 33 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart dated of August 29, 2015, the week the album was released, selling 13,000 copies in its first week  It debuted at number 55 on the Country Airplay chart dated of November 14, 2015 in anticipation of its official release  After Bryan and Fairchild performed the song on the 2015 American Music Awards, it debuted at number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart dated of December 12, 2015, selling 16,000 copies  It became Bryan's thirteenth consecutive (and fifteenth overall) number one country music single on the Country Airplay chart dated of February 13, 2016  The song has sold 441,000 copies in the US as of April 2016 

Charts
Certifications
Passage 6:
Eliza Biscaccianti
Eliza Biscaccianti (1824 – July 1896) was an American operatic soprano from Boston, Massachusetts  Born Eliza Ostinelli, she was the daughter of pianist Sophia Hewitt Ostinelli, the only woman to have ever been employed as an organist and accompanist by Boston's Handel and Haydn Society and the second musician ever to perform the work of Beethoven in Boston, and Louis Ostinelli, a native of Italy who became a second violinist with, and later a conductor of, the Handel and Haydn Society  Her uncle was composer John Hill Hewitt and her grandfather was conductor, composer and music publisher James Hewitt She was nicknamed "The American Thrush" 

Musical training, marriage and singing career
From 1842 to 1847 Biscaccianti studied singing in Italy, most notably with Giuditta Pasta  She made her professional opera debut at Teatro Lirico in Milan in May 1847 as Elvira in Ernani  While in Italy she married the Italian cellist Count Alessandro Biscaccianti  They returned to the United States in late 1847 when Biscaccianti was offered a contract at the Astor Opera House in New York City  She made her debut at the Astor opera house as Amina in La sonnambula  She was later heard that season in the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor After the Astor Place Riot in 1849, she returned to her native city of Boston where she was lauded for her opera performances  She then toured to San Francisco in 1852 where she was one of the star performers in the fledgling opera scene in that city during 
Madame Biscaccianti received from a large and highly intelligent audience, on the occasion of her re-appearance, last evening, one of the most flattering welcomes that we have ever seen bestowed upon a public favorite  It was her first concert in several weeks, and she had barely recovered from an illness which still left its enfeebling effects upon her frame; but her voice was strong, pure and exquisitely flexible, and her spirits buoyant and animated  She sang with a degree of fervor and expression that called for the most enthusiastic testimonials, in the forms of plaudits, "bravos" and bouquets, from a delighted auditory  Her execution, too, was brilliant and artistic; and we see no reason to change the opinion we expressed many months since, after one of the fair Signora's 'Benevolent Concerts'; that the strength and purity of her tones and her brilliancy of style and execution continually increase, and her increasing success is manifest at every concert given by Madam B  in this city 
According to Verdi historian, George Martin:
Because she had been born in Boston of a New England mother, Biscaccianti was known popularly as "The American Thrush," but she had studied in Europe and sung in Paris, Milan, St  Petersburg, and London, founding a claim to be the first American to sing opera in Europe  In the ten months that she remained in California she sang at least seventy recitals, thirty-five in San Francisco, thirteen in Sacramento, seven in Stockton, and the balance in smaller towns 
In 1853 Biscaccianti performed in operas in South America, including in Lima, Peru  After retiring from the stage she taught singing in Milan  In her elder years she lived in a home for artists in Paris that was supported by a foundation in memory of Rossini 

Death
By the time of her death in 1896, according to Ammer, Biscaccianti was impoverished  She died, aged 72, at the Rossini Foundation Home for Musicians in Paris 

Notes
Passage 7:
Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight
"Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter James Taylor, from his 1972 album One Man Dog  
The song has been included on three of Taylor's greatest-hits collection albums: Greatest Hits (1976), Classic Songs (1987) and The Best of James Taylor (2003)  Taylor re-recorded the song for the 2001 Michael Brecker album Nearness of You: The Ballad Book; this rendition won Taylor the Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 2002 

Personnel
James Taylor – lead vocals, acoustic guitar
Danny Kortchmar – electric guitar
Craig Doerge – piano
Lee Sklar – bass guitar
Russ Kunkel – drums, congas
Michael Brecker – tenor saxophone

Reception
Billboard described "Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" as a "ballad beauty " Record World called it a "superb lilting ballad featuring stunning Peter Asher production work and a terrific saxophone finale "  AllMusic reviewer Bill Janovitz wrote that the song is "a stunning example of the Tin Pan Alley-type of jazzy romantic ballad", and that the song's lyrics, about "a betrayed lover who allows his lonely heart to control his head", were unusual in that songs on that theme were usually performed by female artists  Berwyn Life critic Steve Sparacio said that it "is simply one of the most beautiful ballads in existence "

Chart performance
It was released as the lead single from the album, and peaked at No  14 on the U S  Billboard Hot 100, reaching its peak position on January 13, 1973   It also reached No  3 Easy Listening  In Canada, the song reached No  18 on the Pop Singles chart and No  7 AC 

Covers and samples
The song has been recorded by the following artists:

Johnny Mathis, on Me and Mrs  Jones (1973)
Liza Minnelli, on The Singer (1973), her best-selling album
The Isley Brothers, on their platinum-selling album 3 + 3 (1973)  This version was done in 12/8 time, with a rhythm and blues feel 
Nancy Wilson, on Come Get to This (1975)
Isaac Hayes, on For the Sake of Love (1978), in a 7-minute, funk-infused version with a long instrumental introduction  The instrumental portion has been sampled in songs including "You Keep Leading Me On" by Mona Lisa (1996), "Rhyme No More" by Jay-Z (1997), "It's All Mo' Thug" by Bone Thugs-n-Harmony (1997) and "Lovin You (On My Mind)" by Slim Thug featuring Z-Ro (2013) 
Mary MacGregor, on    In Your Eyes (1978)
Scottish band Wet Wet Wet on their debut album Popped in Souled Out (1987)
Brazilian jazz-bossa nova singer Kenia recorded and released her own revival in 1987 
Oleta Adams, on Evolution (1992)
Michael Brecker, on Nearness of You: The Ballad Book (2001)
Eric Clapton, on Reptile (2001)
Joe Cocker, on Heart & Soul (2005)
Euge Groove, on Livin’ Large (2004)
David Sanborn featuring Lizz Wright on Closer (2005)
Diane Schuur on Schuur Fire (2005)
Jazz saxophonist Boney James, on Send One Your Love (2009)  Vocals were by Quinn, in a style similar to the Isley Brothers' version  It was released as a single, and was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2010, losing to Beyoncé's cover of "At Last" 
Garth Brooks, on The Melting Pot album of the compilation box set Blame It All on My Roots: Five Decades of Influences (2013)
Jazz singer and bassist Kristin Korb on the album What If (2021)

Other cover versions
"Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight" has also been performed live by artists including George Benson, Pat Metheny, and Earth, Wind & Fire 
Passage 8:
Silly Love Songs (Glee)
"Silly Love Songs" is the twelfth episode of the second season of the American musical television series Glee, and the thirty-fourth overall  The Valentine's Day-themed episode was written by series creator Ryan Murphy, directed by Tate Donovan, and premiered on Fox on February 8, 2011  In this episode, Director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) assigns the McKinley High School glee club to perform love songs in honor of Valentine's Day  Club member Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) sets up a kissing booth for the occasion, to take advantage of his rising popularity and raise money for the club  At the Dalton Academy, Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) and the Dalton Academy Warblers make plans to perform a musical number outside of the campus, and Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) confesses his love for Blaine 
"Silly Love Songs" was met with critical acclaim, with much of the praise stemming from the character development and the musical performances  Melissa Maerz of the Los Angeles Times, Emily VanDerWerff of The A V  Club, and Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post all deemed the storyline as entertaining, while Joel Keller of the TV Squad went on to call the episode "the best episode of the season " The episode features cover versions of six songs, including a cover of "P Y T " by Michael Jackson and "My Funny Valentine" from the musical Babes in Arms  Many of the covers and performances were met with positive reception from critics and fans alike, with much of the praise going to the Glee covers of "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen and "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney, respectively  All songs with the exception of "My Funny Valentine" were released as singles and made available for digital download 
Upon its initial airing, the episode was watched by just under 11 58 million American viewers, and it garnered a 4 6/13 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic  Both the total viewership and ratings were significantly down from the previous episode, "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", which aired immediately after the Super Bowl 

Plot
Glee club director Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) gives New Directions a love song assignment  Having fallen for the group's newest member Lauren Zizes (Ashley Fink), Puck (Mark Salling) serenades her with Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls"  Lauren finds his song choice insulting and stands him up on a pre-Valentine's date, but eventually agrees to spend Valentine's Day with him as friends 

Artie Abrams (Kevin McHale) and Mike Chang (Harry Shum Jr ) celebrate their respective relationships by performing Michael Jackson's "P Y T  (Pretty Young Thing)" for their girlfriends, Brittany Pierce (Heather Morris) and Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz)  Tina later begins to sing "My Funny Valentine" to Mike, but is too overcome with emotion, and begins to cry while continuing to sing 
Finn Hudson (Cory Monteith) sets up a kissing booth, to take advantage of his popularity in the hope of kissing his ex-girlfriend Quinn Fabray (Dianna Agron)  He also wants to donate the proceeds to the glee club  Quinn initially refuses to buy a kiss from Finn, but does so at the insistence of her boyfriend Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet), who is suspicious of their relationship  The kiss further re-ignites Finn and Quinn's feelings for one another, and they begin an affair  Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera), angry for having recently had her bad behavior highlighted by the other club members, conspires to give them mono and reveal Quinn's infidelity  Finn's most recent ex-girlfriend Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) is dismayed by his renewed feelings for Quinn, but resolves to concentrate on her career instead of romance, and leads the female New Directions members in a performance of Katy Perry's "Firework" 
At Dalton Academy, a private school attended by former New Directions member Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer), the object of his affection Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) announces his intention to sing a love song to his crush  Kurt believes that Blaine has feelings for him, so is disappointed when his crush turns out to be Jeremiah (Alexander Nifong), the assistant manager at a local Gap store  The Dalton Academy Warblers accompany Blaine as he serenades Jeremiah with Robin Thicke's "When I Get You Alone"  Jeremiah is subsequently fired and rebuffs Blaine  Kurt confesses his feelings to Blaine, who tells Kurt that he cares for him but is terrible at romance, and does not want to risk damaging their friendship  The episode ends with New Directions assembled at Breadstix, a local restaurant, where the Warblers perform the titular "Silly Love Songs" 

Production
"Silly Love Songs" was first announced by Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy in an interview with a German journalist  The name of the episode and its airdate were announced shortly after the announcement of the show getting a short-term hiatus due to various cast members contracting the flu  Inspiration for the episode may be partially related to a lobbying effort by Paul McCartney to have covers of songs by The Beatles incorporated into Glee  In an interview with various reporters at the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, Murphy revealed that he received a mixtape that was sent from McCartney, who is reportedly a fan of the series  Recurring characters who appear in this episode include glee club members Mike Chang (Harry Shum, Jr ), Sam Evans (Chord Overstreet), and Lauren Zizes (Ashley Fink), football coach Shannon Beiste (Dot-Marie Jones), and Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) the lead singer of the Dalton Academy Warblers "Silly Love Songs" features cover versions of six songs: Katy Perry's "Firework", Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls", Michael Jackson's "P Y T  (Pretty Young Thing)", "My Funny Valentine" from the musical Babes in Arms, "When I Get You Alone" by Robin Thicke, and "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney and his band Wings  This was the fourth time a song by Katy Perry was used in a Glee episode, with the previous covers being "I Kissed a Girl" in the pilot, "Teenage Dream" on the episode "Never Been Kissed" and "California Gurls" on the previous episode "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle"  All songs with the exception of "My Funny Valentine" were released as singles and made available for digital download  All five singles were included on Glee soundtrack albums: "Firework", "P Y T  (Pretty Young Thing)", and "Fat Bottomed Girls" were featured in the sixth soundtrack album, Glee: The Music, Volume 5, while "Silly Love Songs" and "When I Get You Alone" were featured on the seventh, Glee: The Music Presents the Warblers 

Reception
Ratings
"Silly Love Songs" was originally broadcast in the United States on Fox on February 8, 2011  It received just under 11 58 million American viewers upon its initial airing, despite airing simultaneously with NCIS on CBS, The Biggest Loser on NBC, No Ordinary Family on ABC, and One Tree Hill on The CW  It garnered a 4 6/13 Nielsen rating/share in the 18–49 demographic, the highest rating of the night  This episode's total viewership and ratings were significantly down from the previous episode, "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", which was watched by over 26 8 million American viewers and received an 11 1/29 rating/share in the 18–49 demographic In Canada, where it also aired on February 8, 2011, the episode was watched by over 2 08 million viewers  It ranked number ten in the most-watched television programs of the week  The total viewership slightly declined from the previous episode, which attained 2 16 million viewers, as well as being the ninth most-watched television program of the week  In Australia, where the episode aired on February 21, 2011, it was viewed by 921,000 viewers upon its initial airing  It was the eleventh most-watched program on the night  The episode's total viewership declined at a marginal rate from the previous episode, which drew 1 13 million viewers, and was the fourth most-watched program of the night and the most-watched in the 18–49 demographic  It placed tenth in the weekly viewership rankings  In the UK, the episode was watched by 2 629 million viewers (2 233 million on E4, and 396,000 on E4+1), becoming the most-watched show on E4 and E4 +1 for the week, and the most-watched show on cable for the week 

Critical response
"Silly Love Songs" was met with critical acclaim from many television critics upon its initial airing  Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone gave a very positive review of the episode, and wrote, "This was our favorite type of Glee episode  Though we enjoy over-the-top spectacles [   ], the show's real cleverness shines when they take songs from across the board and fit them into a cohesive storyline  Sue Sylvester didn't make an appearance and—dare we say it—we didn't even miss her " Bobby Hankinson of the Houston Chronicle enjoyed the episode, going on to write, "I thought it was a strong showing, if a little disjointed  Well, at least it was honest  If this show is one thing, it's disjointed  It's part of its spazzy appeal " Melissa Maerz of the Los Angeles Times gave the episode a positive review: "On Tuesday night, Glee wasn’t only back at its usual time, it was back to doing what it does best: giving us entertaining [   ] storylines involving characters we care about who sing songs that emerge organically and advance the story  It was like a perfect heart-shaped bubble of an episode reminding the show’s fans about all the things we’ve missed about the show these last couple of months "Robert Canning of IGN also gave the episode a positive review, and opined, "With the dissing of glee club temporarily put on hold, Glee the series was able to have a little fun with Tuesday night's episode  And fun it was, with the gang of New Directions taking on Valentine's Day, with flirting, kissing and, of course, singing  Without the bullying, this was a much lighter episode of Glee, and the results gave way to a lot more laughs and story development " He went on to praise Ashley Fink's performance as Lauren Zizes, and said of Puck's falling in love with Lauren, "I can't decide if I want to root for this couple, but I certainly know I'm going to be rooting for Lauren " Canning ultimately gave the episode an 8 5 out of 10  Wyndham Wyeth of Paste went on to praise the episode for its depiction of relationships in high school, as well as the backing vocals for Salling's performance of "Fat Bottomed Girls" by Queen  Emily VanDerWerff of The A V  Club gave the episode a positive review and a grade of "A−": "'Silly Love Songs' is a fine example of the show at what's very nearly its absolute best  There's nothing too heady here, but if the show has one tone that it's nailed almost completely consistently, it's the feeling of teenage romance, the sense that the person you're in love with is the only person you will ever be in love with [   ] followed almost immediately by the crippling feeling of heartbreak, of losing that person too soon  Teenage life moves fast and is filled with heightened emotions  And like most musicals, Glee has always been at its best when it embraces those two sides of its characters' lives  As such, 'Silly Love Songs', which is pretty much just an excuse to play around with the show's many romantic pairings among its glee club characters, is a lot of fun without trying all that hard " In conclusion of her review, she wrote, "The best episodes play that elation and devastation off of each other  The worst episodes flounder about for some sort of emotional foothold  But when Glee just tells small, sweet stories about these kids and the ways they're trying to cope with being in high school when they know they're meant for bigger things, it can be terrific  Tonight was one of those episodes, and tonight's episode was terrific  Here's to a good February sweeps "

Matt Richenthal of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 4 6 out of 5 stars, and went on to describe the episode as "A funny, touching, entertaining Glee episode that didn't feature a single line from Sue Sylvester? I never thought I'd see the day  But that's exactly what transpired on 'Silly Love Songs', as the show stopped feeling like a Public Service Announcement for a week and actually focused on well-paced, well-written relationship developments among its core characters " Joel Keller of TV Squad gave the episode a positive review, and wrote, "'Silly Love Songs' strikes an interesting contrast to Sunday night's post-Super Bowl episode in that tonight was more about the kids and where they are in their stories than about big production numbers and Sue's cartoon evilness  It was also the funniest episode of the season, in no small part because we got some insight into the lives of two New Directions members we rarely get to hang out with for any length of time: Santana and Lauren " James Poniewozik of Time Magazine praised the storyline and the musical performances of the episode  However, Soraya Roberts of the Daily News gave the episode a negative review: "This show sometimes sounds like it was written by a PIT, prime idiot TV writer  It's almost as bad as Tina breaking down into tears for no reason while singing 'My Funny Valentine' to Mike and Blaine attempting to channel Frank Sinatra while singing Paul McCartney's 'Silly Love Songs' in the middle of Breadsticks " Lisa de Moraes of The Washington Post praised the storyline, calling it cohesive 

Musical performances
The musical covers and performances for the episode were mostly well received by critics and fans alike  Sandra Gonzalez of Entertainment Weekly stated that her favorite was "Silly Love Songs" by Paul McCartney, performed by the Warblers  In a review of the performance, she wrote, "This is much more Warbler-esque than 'When I Get You Alone'  I had also been worried we wouldn't get our weekly dose of dorky Warbler dance moves  Plus, major points for the blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment when Blaine sang the love 'won't come at all' line to Santana  It was probably my personal biggest laugh-out-loud moment of the episode " She gave the performance an "A"  She also praised Puck's performance of "Fat Bottomed Girls", and opined, "In general, I'm in love with Mark Salling's voice  He's right up there with Artie [   ] in my book  And this song was smothered in awesome sauce  Bonus points for Puck's sort-of-feminine head bob, Brittany's background groovin', the club's reactions to him singing to Lauren, and Mr  Schu's mild eye-roll " She went on to give the performance an "A−"  Kristin Coachman of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer was a bit more critical of Puck's cover of the song: "This week Mark Salling [   ] is singing Queen's 'Fat Bottomed Girls'  I know this song fits in with Puck's storyline for the episode, but I feel like the song was in the wrong key for him  At times it sounded like he was straining to hit the higher notes  Because of this, I have to wonder if the backing vocals are purposely drowning his voice out  It seems depending on the song selection for him, Salling's vocal performances continue to be very hit or miss this season "Tina's cover of "My Funny Valentine" stirred mixed emotions in Gonzalez  She criticized the ending: "When she started sobbing, it got weird  Then weirder  Then downright uncomfortable " However, she liked the earlier part of the performance, and wrote, "It was übersweet when Tina started getting choked up during her song, because let's face it, it happens  You can love someone so much it hurts  If she would have continued the song with a mild lump in her throat, I think I might have gotten choked up with her "Rachel's cover of "Firework" by Katy Perry was reviewed negatively by Coachman  She wrote, "I'm not loving Michele’s vocals on this track  It was like they wanted to purposely make her sound like Katy Perry  As much as I really like Katy Perry, Michele has more of a tremendous voice  There are parts where I thought she sounded really great, but for the most part this song just wasn't my cup of tea  Michele has such a beautiful voice; I wish she was given songs that would allow her to showcase it to her advantage " Katie Morgan of Billboard gave a positive review of the Warblers' performance of "Silly Love Songs", writing, "Not only do they sound great [   ], but the song brings a sugary sweet end to a super-saccharine episode " The Marquee Blog at CNN gave the music numbers a positive review  A notable segment reads: "I just loved seeing The Warblers get their groove on amidst the jeans and cotton T-shirts  And Kurt was super gracious trying to be supportive of Blaine, in spite of his own feelings  I also totally loved the music [   ] and overall this was one of my favorite episodes this season  Brett Berk of Vanity Fair praised Salling's performance of "Fat Bottomed Girls", as well as the casts' performances of "P Y T " by Michael Jackson and "When I get You Alone" by Robin Thicke  Erica Futterman of Rolling Stone gave Salling's performance a positive review  She wrote, "We were thoroughly entertained by Puck's attempt to win newbie Lauren Zizes over with his tribute to her larger figure  Only in Puck's world would Queen's raucous song qualify as a serenade—and our horror-turned-amusement was mirrored on his fellow New Directions' faces  Puck is no Freddie Mercury, but he handles the melody well and makes up for lack of range with swagger "

Chart history
All five of the cover versions released as singles debuted on the Billboard Hot 100, and appeared on other musical charts  With these new Hot 100 debuts, plus the debut the same week of "She's Not There" from the prior episode "The Sue Sylvester Shuffle", which had aired two days before "Silly Love Songs", the Glee Cast passed Elvis Presley's record of 108 singles on the Hot 100, reaching 113 singles  The cast had nine songs on the Hot 100 that week, a new record for them  The show's rendition of "Firework" debuted at number thirty-four; it was at number thirty-five on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100  The other four songs from this episode on the Hot 100 were "Silly Love Songs" at number forty-five, which also made number fifty-four on the Canadian Hot 100, "When I Get You Alone" at number forty-seven, which also made number sixty-one on the Canadian Hot 100, "Fat Bottomed Girls" at number fifty-six, which also made number fifty on the Canadian Hot 100, and "P Y T  (Pretty Young Thing)" at number fifty-eight, which also made number sixty-nine on the Canadian Hot 100 
Passage 9:
Up All Night (Matt Willis song)
"Up All Night" is the debut solo single by English musician Matt Willis  It was released as a single on 22 May 2006 and appears on his debut album, Don't Let It Go to Waste  The song is about how Willis keeps thinking of a girl, and as a result cannot sleep at night  It debuted at number 52 on the UK Singles Chart on download sales alone  The following week, it peaked at number seven after the physical release  It stayed in the UK chart for a total of four weeks 
The video for "Up All Night" features Willis in a house late at night and flashes back and forth between scenes of Willis having difficulty sleeping and Willis in the midst of a party  Willis's first televised performance of "Up All Night" took place on 7 May 2006 on Top of the Pops  He then performed the song again on the same show on 28 May 2006, three weeks since his TV debut 

Track listings
CD2 contains a free beer mat, with images of a dragon on the front and Willis on the rear 

Charts
Passage 10:
I Don't Want to Go Back Alone
I Don't Want to Go Back Alone (Portuguese: Eu Não Quero Voltar Sozinho) is a 2010 Brazilian short film directed by Daniel Ribeiro  The short won the 2011 Iris Prize 
It was later expanded into Ribeiro's 2014 feature film The Way He Looks 

Plot
Leonardo "Leo" is a 15-year-old blind high school student with his one friend in class, Giovana, sitting next to him  Seated behind Leonardo is the new student Gabriel  After class Giovana invites Gabriel to walk home with herself and Leonardo; she customarily links arms with him for support even though his house is further from the school than hers  Later Giovana teases Leonardo about never confiding in her about romance and suggests he receive math tutoring from Gabriel 
Over time the three grow closer, walking home and playing games together  Leonardo becomes more self-conscious about appearance, asking questions about what he and Gabriel look like  Gabriel volunteers to take over escorting Leonardo so Giovana doesn't have to backtrack, though she possessively says that's not necessary  However, Leo happily agrees  A school project requires same-sex pairs, leading Leonardo to work with Gabriel instead of Giovana  During a more serious conversation about his blindness, Gabriel points out Giovana's attraction to Leonardo, but Leonardo says he does not reciprocate  After school one day, Leo links arms with Gabriel rather than Giovana, much to Gabriel's surprise and Giovana's chagrin 
When they arrive at his house, Leonardo changes shirts in front of Gabriel, who is stunned before removing his own sweatshirt  Gabriel asks Leonardo where the bathroom is to brush his teeth, but Gabriel is standing in the doorway and sees Leonardo smelling his sweatshirt  However he does not mention this to Leo  The next day in class, Gabriel tells Leonardo he left his sweatshirt at Leonardo's house but must leave school early for a dentist's appointment, and so will collect it the next day  After the other students have left, Leonardo admits to Giovana he is in love with Gabriel 
Doubtful about the homosexual romance - and hurt because she has feelings for Leo as Gabriel suspected - Giovana does not provide a positive response before a sudden phone call summons her to her grandmother's birthday, leaving Leonardo to walk home alone with a white cane  At home, when he hears someone come into his room, he chastises Giovana for leaving him and expresses his doubts about confessing his love for Gabriel  However, the visitor is actually Gabriel himself, who smiles to himself at this unintended confession before silently kissing him on the lips, leaving with his sweatshirt  Later, Giovana arrives while apologizing for taking so long  Leonardo is left confused and, after feeling around his room, discovers the sweatshirt is gone  He smiles at the realization that Gabriel was the one who kissed him 

Cast
Ghilherme Lobo as Leonardo
Fabio Audi as Gabriel
Tess Amorim as Giovana

Awards and accolades
Feature film
In December 2012, the film's official Twitter announced that a feature film based on the short film, titled "Todas as Coisas mais Simples", which translates to "All of the Simplest Things", was in production, after over two years of fundraising and preparation of the script  Filming began and completed in early 2013  The film premiered in 2014 In September 2013, director Daniel Ribeiro, announced the final title would be "Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho", which translates to "Today I Want to Go Back Alone"  Ribeiro reported, "Throughout the development of the movie a new plot element arose: Leonardo's independence  It's a naturally common theme in any teen's life, but specially in Leonardo's as, being blind, he's often overprotected by those around him, and he wants to do some things on his own, without depending on others  Therefore, the original title was no longer valid, after all "going back alone" became one of the main character's objectives "
The official English title of the film is "The Way He Looks" 
Passage 11:
Jim Cornelison
James Cornelison (born June 20, 1964) is an American singer who sings "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "O Canada" at the beginning of home games for the Chicago Blackhawks, accompanied by organist Frank Pellico  Cornelison started singing the anthem for the Blackhawks part-time in 1996; he has been singing the national anthem for the Blackhawks full-time since 2007  Cornelison has sung "Back Home Again in Indiana" at the Indianapolis 500 since 2017  He has also performed the anthem before Chicago Bears home games at Soldier Field during the 2010–11 NFL playoffs, as well as the 2011 season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, which fell on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks  He also sang the National Anthem at the home opener of the 2019 season, the opening game of the 100th anniversary of the NFL 
Cornelison also sang at the 2015 NASCAR myAFibRisk com 400 race at Chicagoland Speedway  He performed the National Anthem at the Bears' 2016 home-opener against the Philadelphia Eagles  
He frequently sang the national anthem at the opening ceremonies for the Arlington International Festival of Racing at Arlington International Racecourse in the northwest suburbs of Chicago 
Cornelison graduated from Seattle Pacific University with degrees in music and psychology  He then went on to earn a master's degree in music from Indiana University in 1992  In 1995, he moved to Chicago and joined the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists 

Awards
Cornelison has won several awards for music, including:

The William Matheus Sullivan Foundation Award
First place in the American Opera Society of Chicago's 1997 Vocal Competition
The George London Foundation Encouragement Grant
Passage 12:
The Fox and the Hound
The Fox and the Hound is a 1981 American animated buddy drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by Daniel P  Mannix  The 24th Disney animated feature film, it tells the story of the unlikely friendship between a red fox named Tod and a hound dog named Copper  They struggle to preserve their friendship despite their emerging instincts and the surrounding social pressures demanding them to be adversaries, as they are enemies by nature  After Chief, Copper's mentor and guardian who is owned by the same hunter as him, is hit by a train while chasing Tod and seemingly almost dies, Copper assumes his role as a hunting dog and vows vengeance against Tod  Eventually, they fight each other, but in the end, Copper saves Tod after Tod saves him and his owner from a bear 
The film was directed by Ted Berman, Richard Rich, and Art Stevens, marking the directorial debuts of Berman and Rich  It was produced by Ron Miller, Wolfgang Reitherman, and Art Stevens  The ensemble voice cast consists of Mickey Rooney as Tod and Kurt Russell as Copper, respectively, with Pearl Bailey, Jack Albertson, Sandy Duncan, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, John Fiedler, John McIntire, Dick Bakalyan, Paul Winchell, Keith Mitchell, and Corey Feldman providing the voices of the other characters of the film  Mitchell and Feldman in particular voiced Young Tod and Young Copper  The instrumental musical score to the film was composed and conducted by Buddy Baker, with Walter Sheets performing the orchestration 
Walt Disney Productions first obtained the film rights to the novel by Daniel P  Mannix in 1967, however, actual development on the film would not occur until spring 1977  It marked the last involvement of the remaining members of Disney's Nine Old Men, which included Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston  Though they had involvement in early development of the film, it was ultimately handed over to a new generation of animators following the retirement of the old animators  As such, it was the first film for future directors including Tim Burton, Brad Bird, and John Lasseter  During production, its release was delayed by over six months following the abrupt departure of Don Bluth and his team of animators  Further concerns were raised over the handling of the scene in which Chief is hit by a train, which was originally planned to result in him dying  After debating the handling of the scene, the filmmakers decided to change the death into a non-fatal injury by which he merely suffers a broken leg 
The film was released to theaters on July 10, 1981, by Buena Vista Distribution  It was a financial success, becoming the 14th highest-grossing film of the year and earning $39 9 million in the United States  However, it received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the animation and voice acting of it, but believed that it was not groundbreaking enough  It was nominated for three awards, of which it won one  At the time of its release, it was the most expensive animated film produced to date, costing $12 million  It was re-released to theaters on March 25, 1988  An intermediate follow-up, The Fox and the Hound 2, was released directly-to-DVD on December 12, 2006 

Plot
After a young red fox is orphaned, Big Mama the owl and her friends, Dinky the finch and Boomer the woodpecker, arrange for him to be adopted by a kindly farmer named Widow Tweed, who names him Tod  Meanwhile, her neighbor, hunter Amos Slade, brings home a young hound puppy named Copper and introduces him to his hunting dog, Chief, who is at first annoyed by him, but then learns to love him  One day, Tod and Copper meet and become best friends, pledging eternal friendship  Amos grows frustrated at Copper for constantly wandering off to play, and places him on a leash  While playing with Copper outside his barrel, Tod accidentally awakens Chief  Amos and Chief chase him until they are stopped by Tweed  After an argument, Amos threatens to kill Tod if he trespasses on his property again  Hunting season comes and Amos takes Chief and Copper into the wilderness for the interim  Meanwhile, Big Mama, Dinky, and Boomer attempt to explain to Tod that Copper will soon become his enemy  However, he naively insists that they will remain friends forever 
The following spring, Tod and Copper reach adulthood  Copper returns as an expert hunting dog, who is expected to track down foxes  Late at night, Tod sneaks over to visit him  Their conversation awakens Chief, who alerts Amos  A chase ensues and Copper catches Tod, but lets him go while diverting Amos  Chief catches Tod as he attempts an escape on a railroad track, but an oncoming train strikes him, resulting in him falling into the river below and breaking his leg  Enraged by this, Copper and Amos blame Tod for the accident and vow vengeance  Realizing Tod is no longer safe with her, Tweed leaves him at a game reserve  After a disastrous night on his own in the woods, Big Mama introduces him to Vixey, a female fox who helps him adapt to life there 
Amos and Copper trespass into the reserve and hunt Tod and Vixey  The chase climaxes when they inadvertently provoke an attack from a giant bear  Amos trips and falls into one of his own traps, dropping his rifle slightly out of reach  Copper violently fights the bear, but is almost killed by it  Tod comes to his rescue and battles it until they both fall down a waterfall  As Copper approaches Tod as he lies wounded in the lake below, Amos appears, ready to shoot him  Copper positions himself in front of him to prevent Amos from doing so, refusing to move away  Amos, understanding Tod had saved their lives, lowers his rifle and leaves with Copper  Tod and Copper reconcile their friendship and share one last smile before parting  At home, Tweed nurses Amos back to health, much to his humiliation  As he lies down to take a nap, Copper smiles as he remembers the day when he first met Tod  At the same moment, Vixey joins Tod on top of a hill as they both look down on Amos' and Tweed's homes 

Voice cast
Mickey Rooney as Tod
Keith Mitchell as Young Tod
Kurt Russell as Copper
Corey Feldman as Young Copper
Pearl Bailey as Big Mama
Jack Albertson as Amos Slade
Sandy Duncan as Vixey
Jeanette Nolan as Widow Tweed
Pat Buttram as Chief
John Fiedler as The Porcupine
John McIntire as The Badger
Dick Bakalyan as Dinky
Paul Winchell as Boomer

Production
Development
In May 1967, shortly before the novel won the Dutton Animal Book Award, it was reported that Walt Disney Productions had obtained the film rights to it  In spring 1977, development began on the project after Wolfgang Reitherman had read the original novel and decided that it would make for a good animated feature as one of his sons had once owned a pet fox years before  The title was initially reported as The Fox and the Hounds, but the filmmakers dropped the plural as the story began to focus more and more on the two leads  Reitherman was the film's original director along with Art Stevens as codirector  A power struggle between the two directors and coproducer Ron Miller broke out over key sections of the film with Miller supporting the younger Stevens  Miller instructed Reitherman to surrender reins over to the junior personnel, but Reitherman resisted due to a lack of trust in the young animators In an earlier version of the film, Chief was slated to die as he did in the novel  However, the scene was modified to have him survive with a broken leg  Animator Ron Clements, who had briefly transitioned into the story department, protested, "Chief has to die  The picture doesn't work if he just breaks his leg  Copper doesn't have motivation to hate the fox " Likewise, younger members of the story team pleaded with Stevens to have him killed  He countered, "Geez, we never killed a main character in a Disney film and we're not starting now!" The younger crew members took the problem to upper management, who would also back Stevens  Ollie Johnston's test animation of Chief stomping around the house with his leg in a cast was eventually kept, and Randy Cartwright reanimated the scene where Copper finds his body and had him animate his eyes opening and closing so the audience knew that he was not dead Another fight erupted when Reitherman, in thinking the film lacked a strong second act, decided to add a musical sequence of two swooping cranes voiced by Phil Harris and Charo  These characters would sing a silly song titled "Scoobie-Doobie Doobie Doo, Let Your Body Turn to Goo" to Tod after he was dropped in the forest  Charo had recorded the song and several voice tracks which were storyboarded, and live-action reference footage was shot of her wearing a sweaty pink leotard  However, the scene was strongly disliked by studio personnel who felt the song was a distraction from the main plot, with Stevens stating, "We can't let that sequence in the movie! It's totally out of place!" He notified studio management and after many story conferences, the scene was removed  Reitherman later walked into his office, slumped in a chair, and said, "I dunno, Art, maybe this is a young man's medium " He later moved on to undeveloped projects such as Catfish Bend 

Animation
By late 1978, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, and Cliff Nordberg had completed their animation  Thomas had animated scenes of Tod and Copper using dialogue Larry Clemmons had written and recorded with the child actors  The film would mark the last one to have the involvement of Disney's Nine Old Men who had retired early during production, and animation was turned over to the next generation of directors and animators, which included John Lasseter, John Musker, Ron Clements, Glen Keane, Tim Burton, Brad Bird, Henry Selick, Chris Buck, Mike Gabriel, and Mark Dindal, all of whom would finalize the animation and complete the film's production  These animators had moved through the in-house animation training program, and would play an important role in the Disney Renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s However, the transition between the old guard and the new resulted in arguments over how to handle the film  Reitherman had his own ideas on the designs and layouts that should be used, but the newer team backed Stevens  Animator Don Bluth animated several scenes including of Widow Tweed milking her cow, Abigail, while his team worked on the rest of the sequence, and when she fires at Amos' automobile  Nevertheless, Bluth and the new animators felt that Reitherman was too stern and out of touch, and on his 42nd birthday, September 13, 1979, Bluth, along with Gary Goldman and John Pomeroy, entered Ron Miller's office, and they turned in their resignations  Soon after, 13 more animators followed suit in turning in their resignations  Though Bluth and his team had animated substantial scenes, they asked not to receive screen credit With those animators now gone, Miller ordered all of the resigning animators off the studio lot by noon of that same day and would later push the film's release from Christmas 1980 to summer 1981  New animators were hired and promoted to fill the ranks  To compensate for the lack of experience of the new animators, much of the quality control would rely upon a network of veteran assistant animators  Four years after production started, the film was finished with approximately 360,000 drawings, 110,000 painted cels, and 1,100 painted backgrounds making up the finished product  A total of 180 people, including 24 animators, worked on the film 

Casting
Early into production, the principal characters such as Young Tod, Young Copper, Big Mama, and Amos Slade had already been cast  The supporting roles were filled by Disney voice regulars including Pat Buttram as Chief, Paul Winchell as Boomer, and Mickey Rooney, who had just finished filming Pete's Dragon (1977), as Adult Tod  Jeanette Nolan was the second choice for Widow Tweed after Helen Hayes turned down the role  The last role to be cast was Adult Copper  Jackie Cooper had auditioned for the role, but left the project when he demanded more money than the studio was willing to pay  While filming the Elvis (1979) television film, former Disney young actor Kurt Russell was cast following a reading that had impressed the filmmakers, and completed his dialogue in two recording sessions  The growling vocals for the bear were provided by sound effects artist Jimmy MacDonald 

Soundtrack
The soundtrack album for the film was released in 1981 by Disneyland Records  It contains songs written by Stan Fidel, Jim Stafford, and Jeffrey Patch 

Track listing
Release
Box office
In its original release, the film grossed $39 9 million in domestic grosses, the highest for an animated film at the time from its initial release  Its distributor rentals were reported to be $14 2 million while its international rentals totaled $43 million  It was rereleased theatrically on March 25, 1988, where it grossed $23 5 million  It has had a lifetime gross of $63 5 million across its original release and reissue 

Home media
The film was first released on VHS on March 4, 1994, as the last entry in the Walt Disney Classics line  This release was placed into moratorium on April 30, 1995  On May 2, 2000, it was released on Region 1 DVD for the first time as part of the Walt Disney Gold Classic Collection line, along with a simultaneous VHS re-issue as part of the same video line on the same day  This edition went into moratorium in January 2006  Soon after, a 25th anniversary special edition DVD was released on October 10, 2006 The film was released on Blu-ray on August 9, 2011, commemorating its 30th anniversary as part of a 3-disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack that was bundled as a 2-movie Collection Edition featuring The Fox and the Hound 2 on the same Blu-ray Disc, as well as separate DVD versions of both films  Featuring a new digital restoration, the Blu-ray transfer presents the film for the first time in 1 66:1 widescreen and also features 5 1 DTS-HD Master Audio  The Fox and the Hound 2 is presented in 1 78:1 widescreen and features the same audio channel as the first film  A DVD-only edition of the 2-movie Collection, again featuring both films on separate discs, was also released on the same day 

Critical reception
Initial reviews
Vincent Canby of The New York Times claimed that the film "breaks no new ground whatsoever", while describing it as "a pretty, relentlessly cheery, old-fashioned sort of Disney cartoon feature, chock-full of bouncy songs of an upbeatness that is stickier than Krazy Glue and played by animals more anthropomorphic than the humans that occasionally appear " He further commented that the film "is rather overstuffed with whimsy and folksy dialogue  It also possesses a climax that could very well scare the daylights out of the smaller tykes in the audience, though all ends well  Parents who don't relish chaperoning their tykes to see the movie, but find they must anyway, can take heart in the knowledge that the running time is 83 minutes  That's about as short as you can get these days " Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times praised the animation, but criticized the story for playing it too safe  She acknowledged that the writers were "protecting us from important stuff: from rage, from pain, from loss  By these lies, done for our own good, of course, they also limit the growth that is possible " David Ansen of Newsweek stated, "Adults may wince at some of the sticky-sweet songs, but the movie is not intended for grownups "Richard Corliss of Time magazine praised the film for its intelligent story about prejudice  He argued that it shows that biased attitudes can poison even the deepest relationships, and its bittersweet ending delivers a powerful and important moral message to audiences  Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times also praised it, saying, "For all of its familiar qualities, this movie marks something of a departure for the Disney studio, and its movement is in an interesting direction  The Fox and the Hound is one of those relatively rare Disney animated features that contains a useful lesson for its younger audiences  It's not just cute animals and frightening adventures and a happy ending; it's also a rather thoughtful meditation on how society determines our behavior "

Retrospective reviews
TV Guide gave the film four out of five stars, saying, "The animation here is better than average (veteran Disney animators Wolfgang Reitherman and Art Stevens supervised the talents of a new crop of artists that developed during a 10-year program at the studio), though not quite up to the quality of Disney Studios in its heyday  Still, this film has a lot of 'heart' and is wonderful entertainment for both kids and their parents  Listen for a number of favorites among the voices " Michael Scheinfeld of Common Sense Media gave its quality a rating of 4 out of 5 stars, stating, "It develops into a thoughtful examination of friendship and includes some mature themes, especially loss "In The Animated Movie Guide, Jerry Beck considered the film "average", though he praises the voice work of Pearl Bailey as Big Mama, and the extreme dedication to detail shown by animator Glen Keane in crafting the fight scene between Copper, Tod, and the bear  In his book The Disney Films, Leonard Maltin also notes that that scene received great praise in the animation world  However, he felt the film relied too much on "formula cuteness, formula comedy relief, and even formula characterizations"  Overall, he considered it "charming" stating that it is "warm, and brimming with personable characters" and that it "approaches the old Disney magic at times " Craig Butler from All Movie Guide stated that it was a "warm and amusing, if slightly dull, entry in the Disney animated canon " He also called it "conventional and generally predictable" with problems in pacing  However, he praised its climax and animation, as well as the ending  His final remark is that "Two of the directors, Richard Rich and Ted Berman, would next direct The Black Cauldron, a less successful but more ambitious project "Rob Humanick of Slant Magazine gave the film 31⁄2 out of five stars, noting that it was the transition point between the remaining original animators since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to the new generation, saying that "the results culled the best qualities of both groups " and that "The result is a work of both learned, assured poise and triumphant freshman determination, not far away (in style or quality) from other benchmark-status works, like the aforementioned Snow White or Pixar’s Toy Story " RL Shaffer of IGN wrote a rather mixed review, claiming that it "is just not as impressive as Disney's early work, or their late '80s/early '90s pictures " James Kendrick of Q Network Film Desk stated that it "is not one of the studio's best efforts, but nonetheless it remains a fascinating product of an era of upheaval as well as a meaningful statement about the nature of prejudice " Peter Canavense of Groucho Reviews stated that it "is sweet but a bit dull", nothing that "Overall, the picture is good-hearted and colorful, with an ending that carries a nice touch of ambiguity about the tussle of nature and nurture " John J  Puccio of Movie Metropolis claimed that it "is very sweet and no doubt a delight for children, but I found it quite slow and tedious "The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film received a 70% approval rating with an average rating of 6 5/10 based on 27 reviews  The website's consensus states that "The Fox and the Hound is a likeable, charming, unassuming effort that manages to transcend its thin, predictable plot " Metacritic gave it a score of 65 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews" 

Accolades
The film was awarded a Golden Screen Award (German: Goldene Leinwand) in 1982  In the same year, it was also nominated for a Young Artist Award and the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Film 

Comic adaptations
As well as adaptations of the film itself, comic strips featuring the characters also appeared in stories unconnected to it  Examples include The Lost Fawn, in which Copper uses his sense of smell to help Tod find a fawn who has gone astray;The Escape in which Tod and Vixey must save the Canada goose from the bobcat;The Chase, in which Copper must safeguard a sleepwalking Chief; and Feathered Friends, in which Dinky and Boomer must go to desperate lengths to save one of Widow Tweed's chickens from a coyote A comic adaptation of the film, drawn by Richard Moore, was published in newspapers as part of Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales  A comic-book titled The Fox and the Hound followed, with new adventures of the characters  From 1981 to 2007, a few Fox and the Hound Disney comics stories were produced in Italy, Netherlands, Brazil, France, and the United States 

Follow-up
An intermediate follow-up, The Fox and the Hound 2, was released directly-to-DVD on December 12, 2006  It takes place during Tod and Copper's youth, before the events of the later half of the first film  The story-line involves Copper being tempted to join a band of singing stray dogs called "The Singin' Strays", thus threatening his friendship with Tod  It was critically panned, with critics calling it a pale imitation of its predecessor 

See also
Foxes in popular culture, films and literature
The Belstone Fox, a 1973 British film with similar themes, based on David Rook's 1970 novel, The Ballad of the Belstone Fox

Notes
Context 2: Passage 1:
Siege of Germanicia
The siege of Germanicia or Marash was led by Muslim forces of the Rashidun Caliphate during their campaigns in Anatolia in 638  The city surrendered without much bloodshed  This expedition is important because it marks the end of the military career of the legendary Arab Muslim general Khalid ibn Walid, who was dismissed from the army a few months after his return from the expedition 

Background
The Muslims won a decisive victory at the Battle of Yarmouk fought in August 636, thus the attempt made by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius to roll back Roman Syria failed  Further, unable to send more imperial troops to Syria, Heraclius made yet another attempt to re-conquer Syria by the aid of his Christian Arab allies of Jazira  The army of the Christian Arabs laid siege to Emesa in mid-summer of 638  The Muslims avoided a battle in the open and instead opted for a defensive strategy which led to the Battle at Emesa  All the regiments from outposts in northern Syria were called to Emesa  The Christian Arab Army was forced to withdraw their siege when, by the orders of Caliph Umar, the Muslim army from Iraq attacked Jazira  At this point, the rear elements of the besieging army were attacked by a Mobile guard led by Khalid ibn Walid, which in effect left the Byzantine forces devastated  Caliph Umar then launched a full-scale invasion of Jazira which was completed without much resistance in just a few months  As soon as the western part of Jazira was occupied, Abu Ubaidah ibn al-Jarrah wrote to Umar and asked for Ayadh bin Ghanam, who was operating in western Jazira, to be put under his command so that he could use him in raids across the northern border  Umar agreed to this request, and Ayadh moved to Emesa with a part of the Muslim forces sent from Iraq to Jazira 

The siege
In the Autumn of 638, Abu Ubaidah launched several columns, including two commanded by Khalid ibn Walid and Ayadh, to raid Byzantine territory in Anatolia as far west as Tarsus  Khalid's objective was Germanicia (Arabic: Marash), the city which lies on a plain at the foot of the Taurus Mountains  The region is best known for its production of salep, a flour made from dried orchid tubers  In late 638, the Muslim army laid the siege to the city which contained a Byzantine garrison  Expecting no help from their Emperor, the Byzantine garrison surrendered the city on the usual terms of Jizya offered by the Rashidun army, which included terms stating that the garrison and the populace be spared  As for material wealth, the Muslims could take all they wished 

Aftermath
It is narrated that Khalid returned to Qinnasrin laden with spoils of war that had seldom been seen before  Many Muslim historians commented that Just the spoils of Marash were sufficient to make the soldiers of this expedition rich for life  Khalid ibn Walid, who was at the peak of his military career was unfortunately dismissed by Caliph Umar because of his immense popularity which was a result of his very successful military career  It was a general view that Umar had dismissed Khalid because he was angry with Khalid, though it was clarified later by Caliph Umar that:

I have not dismissed Khalid because of my anger or because of any dishonesty on his part, but because people glorified him and were misled  I feared that people would rely on him, rather than God, for victory  I want them to know that it is God who does all things; and there should be no mischief in the land 
Khalid was urged by many of his companions to retaliate against Umar for this  Khalid did not, although he was powerful enough to launch a coup d'état against Umar and in effect seize the power of the Rashidun Empire  He instead chose to stay away from politics and died four years later in 642 in Emesa  Caliph Umar was said to have felt embarrassed for his conduct against Khalid and was reported to have said at his death that 'he would have appointed Khalid as his successor if he was still alive '
Passage 2:
United Nations Security Council Resolution 862
United Nations Security Council resolution 862, adopted unanimously on 31 August 1993, after recalling resolutions 841 (1993), 861 (1993) and an agreement between the President of Haiti and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Haiti, the Council reaffirmed the international community's commitment to a solution in Haiti and discussed the establishment of a new police force in Haiti under a proposed United Nations Mission in Haiti (UNMIH) The immediate dispatch of an advance team of no more than 30 personnel to assess requirements and prepare for the possible dispatch of both the civilian police and military assistance components of UNMIH  The mandate of the advance team would last for one month with the prospect of incorporating it into the UNMIH peacekeeping mission when established 
The Council awaited a further report by the Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali concerning the proposed establishment of UNMIH and its financial costs, time-frame, projected conclusion and co-ordination with the work of the Organization of American States, further requesting him to enter into a Status of Forces Agreement with the Government of Haiti to facilitate an early dispatch of UNMIH when the Council decided  The mission was formally established in Resolution 867 

See also
History of Haiti
List of United Nations Security Council Resolutions 801 to 900 (1993–1994)
Passage 3:
United Nations General Assembly resolution ES-10/L 22
United Nations General Assembly resolution ES‑10/19 is an emergency session resolution declaring the status of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as "null and void"  It was adopted by the 37th Plenary meeting of the tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly during the tenure of the seventy-second session of the United Nations General Assembly on 21 December 2017  The resolution was drafted by Yemen and Turkey  Though strongly contested by the United States, it passed by 128 votes to 9 against with 21 absentees and 35 abstentions 

Background
On 6 December 2017, US President Donald Trump said that he would recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and begin the process of moving the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem  This was a departure from previous Security Council resolutions and prevailing international norms (where no state either recognises Jerusalem as a national capital nor has an embassy there) 
After a United Nations Security Council resolution was vetoed by the U S  three days earlier, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said that the General Assembly would vote on a draft resolution calling for Trump's declaration to be withdrawn  He sought to invoke Resolution 377, known as the "Uniting for Peace" resolution, to circumvent a veto  The resolution states that the General Assembly can call an Emergency Special Session to consider a matter "with a view to making appropriate recommendations to members for collective measures" if the Security Council fails to act 

Campaign
On 20 December, US President Donald Trump threatened to cut US aid to countries voting against the US's side  The day before the vote, he said: "Let them vote against us   We don't care   this isn't like it used to be where they could vote against you and then you pay them hundreds of millions of dollars  We're not going to be taken advantage of any longer " Ambassador Nikki Haley warned her country would remember and "take names" of every country that voted in favour of the resolution  The governments of Turkey and Iran denounced the threats made by the US as "anti-democratic" and "blackmail"  Haley had sent a letter to dozens of member states that warned Trump had asked her to "report back on those countries who voted against us " Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said "I call on the whole world: Don't you dare sell your democratic struggle and your will for petty dollars" and warned Trump that "he cannot buy Turkey's democratic will with his dollars " He added: "I hope and expect the US won't get the result it expects from there (UN) and the world will give a very good lesson to the United States" Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel rejects this vote before it passes and called the UN a "house of lies" Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO’s Executive Committee, condemned Trump's warning to countries receiving aid from the US: "Trump should know that there are things that are not for sale or subject to blackmail, particularly issues of principle, legality and morality "Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland's spokesman, a country which was seeking re-negotiations of the NAFTA,  confirmed its intention to abstain from the vote and that the resolution should not have come to the General Assembly 

Content
The text of the resolution includes the following key statements:
The General Assembly,

Bearing in mind the specific status of the Holy City of Jerusalem and, in particular, the need for the protection and preservation of the unique spiritual, religious and cultural dimensions of the City, as foreseen in the relevant United Nations resolutions,
Stressing that Jerusalem is a final status issue to be resolved through negotiations in line with relevant United Nations resolutions,
Expressing in this regard its deep regret at recent decisions concerning the status of Jerusalem,
Affirms that any decisions and actions which purport to have altered, the character, status or demographic composition of the Holy City of Jerusalem have no legal effect, are null and void and must be rescinded in compliance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council, and in this regard, calls upon all States to refrain from the establishment of diplomatic missions in the Holy City of Jerusalem, pursuant to resolution 478 (1980) of the Security Council;
Demands that all States comply with Security Council resolutions regarding the Holy City of Jerusalem, and not to recognize any actions or measures contrary to those resolutions;
Reiterates its call for the reversal of the negative trends on the ground that are imperiling the two-State solution and for the intensification and acceleration of international and regional efforts and support aimed at achieving, without delay, a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East on the basis of the relevant United Nations resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, including the principle of land for peace, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Quartet Roadmap and an end to the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 

Motion
The motion was proposed by Yemen and Turkey 

Debate
In introducing the resolution as chair of the Arab Group, Yemen's Ambassador said the US decision was a "blatant violation of the rights of the Palestinian people, as well as those of all Christians and Muslims " He emphasized that it constituted a "dangerous breach of the Charter of the United Nations and a serious threat to international peace and security, while also undermining the chances for a two‑State solution and fuelling the fires of violence and extremism "Turkey, who was the co-sponsor of the draft resolution, also spoke as current chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)  Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Trump's decision was an outrageous assault to all universal values  "The Palestinians have the right to their own state based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital  This is the main parameter and only hope for a just and lasting peace in the region  However, the recent decision of a UN Member State to recognise Jerusalem, or Al-Quds, as the capital of Israel, violates international law, including all relevant UN resolutions "The General Assembly heard from Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, who said that the meeting was "not because of any animosity to the United States of America" but instead the sessions was "called to make the voice of the vast majority of the international community — and that of people around the world — heard on the question of Jerusalem/Al‑Quds Al‑Sharif " He called the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to move its embassy there "an aggressive and dangerous move" which could inflame tensions and lead to a religious war that "has no boundaries " He added that though the decision would have no impact on the city's status, it would nevertheless compromise the role of the United States in the Middle East peace process  He urged member states to reject "blackmail and intimidation "US Ambassador Nikki Haley then said that her country was "singled out for attack" because of its recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel  She added that: "The United States will remember this day in which it was singled out for attack in the General Assembly for the very act of exercising our right as a sovereign nation,” Haley said  "We will remember it when we are called upon to once again make the world’s largest contribution to the United Nations, and so many countries come calling on us, as they so often do, to pay even more and to use our influence for their benefit " She added that: "America will put our embassy in Jerusalem  That is what the American people want us to do, and it is the right thing to do  No vote in the United Nations will make any difference on that   this vote will make a difference in how Americans view the UN "Israel's Ambassador Danny Danon then told the assembly that the vowed that "no General Assembly resolution will ever drive us from Jerusalem "Venezuela's ambassador, speaking for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), expressed "grave concern about Israel’s ongoing violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including attempts to alter the character, status and demographic composition of the City of Jerusalem  [It was] also concerned about the decision to relocate the United States embassy [and] warned that such provocative actions would further heighten tensions, with potentially far‑reaching repercussions given the extremely volatile backdrop Other speakers included Pakistan, Indonesia, Maldives, Syria, Bangladesh, Cuba, Iran, and China Malaysia's Ambassador Datuk Seri Mohammed Shahrul Ikram Yaakob said that, as a member of the OIC and NAM,  "Malaysia joins the international community in expressing our deep concern and rejects the decision by the United States to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel  It is also an infringement of the Palestinian people’s rights and their right to self determination " He called for a peaceful two-state solution and that Malaysia is concerned the situation will only feed into the agenda of extremists "Other speakers included, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and South Africa  The Permanent Observer for the Holy See, Tomasz Grysa, emphasised that Jerusalem was most sacred to the Abrahamic faiths and a symbol for millions of believers around the world who considered it their "spiritual capital " Its significance went "beyond the question of borders, a reality that should be considered a priority in every negotiation for a political solution "  The Holy See, he said, called for a "peaceful resolution that would ensure respect for the sacred nature of Jerusalem and its universal value   reiterating that only international guarantee could preserve its unique character and status and provide assurance of dialogue and reconciliation for peace in the region "After the motion was passed, more speeches continued with Estonia, who also spoke on behalf of other states  Australia's Ambassador then explained her country's government did "not support unilateral action that undermined the peace process [and] it did not believe today’s text would help to bring the parties back to the negotiating table "Other speakers included, Paraguay, whose Ambassador said that the country would abstain because "the question of Jerusalem was a matter for the Security Council, as the primary body responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security " This was followed by El Salvador, Argentina and Romania Canada's Ambassador Marc-Andre Blanchard called the proposal "one-sided" and said: "We are disappointed that this resolution is one sided and does not advance prospects for peace to which we aspire, which is why we have abstained on today’s vote " He, however, added that Canada wanted to emphasise Jerusalem's special significance to the Abrahamic religions of  Jews, Muslims and Christians  "Denying the connection between Jerusalem and the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths undermines the integrity of the site for all  We also reiterate the need to maintain the status quo at Jerusalem’s Holy sites Nicaragua explained its support of the resolution, as it "rebuffed recent unilateral attempts to modify the character and status of Jerusalem  Such unilateral actions were in blatant violation of resolution 2234 (2016) and others   unilateral actions jeopardised peace and stability in the Middle East and drew the international community further away from a solution "Mexico's ambassador then explained the abstention and emphasised that convening an emergency session was a disproportionate response  "The United States must become part of the solution, not a stumbling block that would hamper progress   the international community was further than ever from agreement "The Czech Republic then said that while it supported the European Union position, it had abstained because it "did not believe the draft resolution would contribute to the peace process "Armenia said that is position "remained unchanged  The situation should be resolved through negotiations paving the way for lasting peace and security "Hungary echoed Armenia's stance and said it would not comment on the foreign relations of the United States Latvia then spoke, before Estonia re-took the floor to say it had also spoken on behalf of Albania, Lithuania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 

Result
Reactions
States – UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the U S  will move its embassy to Jerusalem and "no vote in the UN will make any difference on that" and that the US was "by far the single largest contributor to the UN " She also warned that the US might also cut funding to the UN itself  During the 2018 State of the Union Address, Trump said that the countries which voted against the resolution opposed the United States' "sovereign right to make this recognition" and said he would ask Congress to pass legislation which would ensure foreign aid would "only go to America's friends, not enemies of America "
 – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the result shortly after it was announced in call it "preposterous," while he also thanked the states that supported "the truth" by not participating in "the theater of the absurd " He added that: "Jerusalem is our capital  Always was, always will be   But I do appreciate the fact that a growing number of countries refused to participate in this theatre of the absurd  So I appreciate that, and especially I want to again express our thanks to [US] President (Donald) Trump and Ambassador [Nikki] Haley, for their stalwart defense of Israel and their stalwart defense of the truth "  Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, reminded Israelis of the longstanding Israeli disdain for such votes  "Let us just remember that this is the same UN about which our first ambassador to the organization, Abba Eban, once said: 'If Algeria introduced a resolution declaring that the earth was flat and that Israel had flattened it, it would pass by a vote of 164 to 13 with 26 abstentions'  There is nothing new in what just happened at the UN " He also praised the US as "the moral beacon shining out of the darkness " Minister of Strategic Affairs and Public Security Gilad Erdan said: "The historic connection between Israel and Jerusalem is stronger than any vote by the 'United Nations' — nations who are united only by their fear and their refusal to recognize the simple truth that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and the Jewish people "
However, opposition Joint List Chairman and MK Ayman Odeh called the vote a wake-up call for Israel: "In the international arena, there still exists a large and definitive majority that believes that the Palestinian people, like all other nations, deserve a place in this world and the right to self-determination  This evening's vote by the majority of the world's nations against Trump's announcement, in spite of the pressure and threats, flies in the face of Trump's and Netanyahu's diplomatic policy and is a clear statement by the international community in support of peace and the right of the Palestinians to an independent state, whose capital is East Jerusalem "
 – A spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the vote "a victory for Palestine;" Abbas himself thanked the member states who voted in support of the resolution "in spite of the pressures they faced " UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour called the vote "a massive setback" for the US 
 – Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif called the result a "resounding global no" to the Trump administration's "thuggish intimidation "
 – Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said that it was "unhelpful to pick up a fight with Trump over a side issue and urged countries to concentrate on the threat posed by "theo-fascist" Iran instead "
Israel's Foreign Affairs Ministry reacted in writing on Twitter that Khalifa had denounced an Arab boycott of Israel and confirmed Bahraini citizens were free to visit Israel 
Iran responded to this by saying that "Palestine's freedom from the clutches of Israeli occupation remains the Islamic world's highest priority" and that "despite all complex plots, manufactured crises and fictitious threats propagated by the US-Zionism axis, Palestine still is and will remain the Islamic world's number one priority until it is liberated, and no one    can distract Muslims from this serious issue "
 – Jimmy Morales, the president of Guatemala, one of the nine countries which voted against the resolution, announced on 24 December 2017 that he would follow Trump in move his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem MediaHaaretz's Noa Landau, wrote, in citing unnamed diplomatic sourced, that Israel was particularly disappointed with countries like India that have enhanced bilateral relations with it recently  "The main disappointment in Israel was with the countries that have enhanced bilateral relations in recent years, especially those that share a particularly conservative worldview with the Netanyahu government  For example, India – whose Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, visited Israel in July, a tour that was memorable mainly for the pastoral photographs of him and Netanyahu embracing and wading in the waves – voted for the resolution against Israel and the United States "
OthersAt a "Solidarity to Save Jerusalem" rally organised by the Barisan Nasional government in Malaysia, one of the attendees Association of NextGen Christians of Malaysia President Joshua Hong said at the Putra Mosque: "We are here because we feel that the decision made by President Trump on announcing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is merely a political decision  He added that the decision also hurts Christian and Arabic churches in Palestine and not just the Muslims  "To us as Christians, Jerusalem is a city of peace and after that announcement, we feel there is no more peace  I think it is not right and unjust  We believe we should continue pursuing the sustainable peace solution for Palestine and Israel, rather than just a single nation declaring it just like that " He claimed that about 50 members of the group turned up in a show of support for the Palestinian people 

See also
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 43/177
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 67/19
List of United Nations resolutions concerning Israel
List of United Nations resolutions concerning Palestine
United Nations General Assembly resolution
Passage 4:
Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1499–1501)
The First Rebellion of the Alpujarras (Arabic: ثورة البشرات الأولى; 1499–1501) were a series of uprisings by the Muslim population of the Kingdom of Granada, Crown of Castile (formerly, the Emirate of Granada) against their Catholic rulers  They began in 1499 in the city of Granada in response to mass forced conversions of the Muslim population to the Catholic faith, which were perceived as violations of the 1491 Treaty of Granada  The uprising in the city quickly died down, but it was followed by more serious revolts in the nearby mountainous area of the Alpujarras  The Catholic forces, on some occasions led personally by King Ferdinand, succeeded in suppressing the revolts and inflicted severe punishment on the Muslim population 
The Catholic rulers used these revolts as a justification to repudiate the Treaty of Granada and abrogate the rights of the Muslims guaranteed by the treaty  All Muslims of Granada were subsequently required to convert to Catholicism or be expelled, and in 1502 these forced conversions applied to all of Castile  However, they did not apply in the kingdoms of Valencia or Aragon 

Background
Muslims had been present in the Iberian peninsula since the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in the 8th century  By the end of the 15th century, the Emirate of Granada was the last Muslim-ruled area in the peninsula  In January 1492, after a decade-long campaign, Muhammad XII of Granada (also known as "Boabdil") surrendered the Emirate to the Catholic forces led by the Catholic monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile  The Treaty of Granada, signed on November 1491, guaranteed a set of rights to the Muslims of Granada, including religious tolerance and fair treatment, in return for the capitulation At this point, the Muslim population in the former Emirate of Granada was estimated to be between 250,000 and 300,000, making up the majority in the former emirate, and constituting roughly half of the entire Muslim population in Spain Initially, the Catholic rulers upheld the treaty  Despite pressure from the Spanish clergy, Ferdinand and the Archbishop of Granada Hernando de Talavera chose a laissez-faire policy towards the Muslims in the hope that interaction with Catholics would make them "understand the error" of their faith and abandon it  When Ferdinand and Isabella visited the city in the summer of 1499, they were greeted by enthusiastic crowds, including Muslims In the summer of 1499, Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, the archbishop of Toledo, arrived in Granada and began working alongside Talavera  Cisneros disliked Talavera's approach and began sending uncooperative Muslims, especially the noblemen, to prison, where they were treated harshly until they agreed to convert  Emboldened by the increase in conversions, Cisneros intensified the efforts and in December 1499 he told Pope Alexander VI that three thousand Muslims converted in a single day  Cisneros' own church council warned that these methods might be a breach of the Treaty, and sixteenth-century hagiographer Álvar Gómez de Castro described the approach as "methods that were not correct" 

Uprising in the Albayzín
The increasing forced conversions of Muslims triggered resistance, initially among the urban population of the Albayzín (also spelled Albaicín), the Muslim quarter of Granada   The situation was exacerbated by the treatment of elches, former Christians who converted to Islam  Specific clauses in the Treaty of Granada forbade the conversion of the elches back to Christianity against their will, but the treaty allowed for questionings of such converts by Christian clerics, in the presence of Muslim religious authorities  Cisneros used this 'loophole' to summon elches and imprison those who refused to return to Christianity  These efforts were often focused on wives of Muslim men – an emphasis that angered the Muslim population who considered this a violation of their families 

On 18 December 1499, as part of this effort, constable Velasco de Barrionuevo and an assistant were taking a female elche from the Albayzín for such questioning  When they passed through a square, she shouted that she was being forced to become Christian  The officials were then surrounded by a hostile crowd, the constable was killed and the assistant managed to escape after being sheltered by a local Muslim woman This incident escalated into an open revolt  The residents of the Albayzín barricaded the streets and armed themselves  An angry crowd marched to Cisneros' house, apparently for an assault  This crowd later dispersed, but over the following days the revolt become more organized  The population of the Albayzín elected their own officials and leaders  In the standoff that ensued, the archbishop Hernando de Talavera and the Captain-General Marquis de Tendilla attempted to defuse the situation through negotiations and gestures of good-will  After ten days, the uprising ended as the Muslims handed in their weapons and handed over the constable's killers, who were promptly executed Subsequently, Cisneros was summoned to the court in Seville to account for his actions, facing a furious Ferdinand  Cisneros however argued that it was the Muslims, not him, who breached the Treaty by engaging in armed rebellion  He convinced Ferdinand and Isabella to declare a collective pardon to the rebels, on condition that they convert to Christianity  Cisneros returned to Granada, which now nominally became a fully Christian city 

Uprising in the Alpujarra
Although the uprising in the Albayzín appeared to be put down and Granada was nominally transformed to a Christian city, the rebellion spread to the countryside  The leaders of the Albayzín uprising fled to the Alpujarra mountains  The inhabitants of the mountains, almost exclusively Muslims, had only accepted Christian rule reluctantly  They quickly rose up in revolts against what they regarded as the violation of the terms of the Treaty of Granada, and because they feared they would suffer the same forced conversions as the residents of the Albayzín  By February 1500, 80,000 Christian troops were mobilized to put down the rebellion  By March, King Ferdinand arrived to personally direct the operations The rebels were often tactically well led and made use of the mountainous terrain to conduct guerrilla warfare  However, they lacked a central leadership and coherent strategy  This was partly caused by the previous Castilian policy of encouraging and facilitating the Granadan upper class to leave the country or convert and be absorbed into the Christian upper class  The rebels' lack of strategic command allowed the Christian forces to proceed by defeating the rebels in one area separately, then moving on to the next The rebelling towns and villages in the Alpujarra were gradually defeated  Ferdinand personally led the assault on Lanjarón  Rebels who surrendered were generally required to be baptized in order to keep their lives  Towns and villages which had to be taken by assault were treated harshly  One of the most violent episodes occurred in Laujar de Andarax, where the Catholic forces under Louis de Beaumont took 3,000 Muslims prisoner and then slaughtered them  Between two and six hundred women and children who took refuge in a local mosque were blown up with gunpowder  During the capture of Velefique, all the men were killed and the women enslaved  At Nijar and Güéjar Sierra, the whole population was enslaved except children who were kidnapped in order to be brought up as Christians On 14 January 1501, Ferdinand ordered his army to stand down because the uprising seemed to be suppressed  However, further unrest occurred in Sierra Bermeja  An army under Alonso de Aguilar, one of the most distinguished captains of Spain, marched to put down this rebellion  On 16 March, the army's undisciplined troops, eager for pillage, charged the rebels  However, this was met by a fierce counterattack  The result was a catastrophe for the Catholic army; Aguilar himself was killed in battle and the army was nearly annihilated However, the Muslims soon sued for peace, and Ferdinand, aware of the weakness of the army and the difficulty of mountain warfare, declared that the rebels must choose between exile or baptism  Only those who could pay ten gold doblas were given passage, and the majority who could not pay had to stay and be baptized  The insurgents surrendered in waves, beginning from the middle of April, since some waited to see whether the first insurgents who surrendered were safe  The emigrants were escorted under guards to the port of Estepona and given passage to North Africa  The remaining were allowed to return home after converting, surrendering their arms, and forfeiting their property 

Aftermath
By the end of 1501, the rebellion was put down  The Muslims were no longer given their rights provided by the Treaty of Granada, and were given the choice of: (1) remain and accept baptism, (2) reject baptism and be enslaved or killed, or  (3) be exiled  Given the expensive fee exacted for passage out of Spain, conversion was the only realistic option for them  Therefore, only a decade after the fall of the Emirate of Granada, the entire Muslim population of Granada had nominally become Christian A proclamation in 1502 extended these forced conversions to the rest of the lands of Castile, even though those outside Granada had nothing to do with the rebellion  The newly converted Muslims were known as nuevos cristianos ("new Christians") or moriscos  (lit  "Moorish")  Although they converted to Christianity, they maintained their existing customs, including their language, distinct names, food, dress and even some ceremonies  Many secretly practiced Islam, even as they publicly professed and practiced Christianity  In return, the Catholic rulers adopted increasingly intolerant and harsh policies in order to eradicate these characteristics  This culminated in Philip II's Pragmatica of 1 January 1567 which ordered the Moriscos to abandon their customs, clothing and language  The pragmatica triggered the Morisco revolts in 1568–1571 

See also
Expulsion of the Moriscos
Morisco rebellions in Granada
Mudéjar
Reconquista
Passage 5:
Dutch Republic
The United Provinces of the Netherlands, officially the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands (Dutch: Republiek der Zeven Verenigde Nederlanden), and commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795  It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands  The republic was established after seven Dutch provinces in the Spanish Netherlands revolted against Spanish rule, forming a mutual alliance against Spain in 1579 (the Union of Utrecht) and declaring their independence in 1581 (the Act of Abjuration)  It comprised Groningen, Frisia, Overijssel, Guelders, Utrecht, Holland and Zeeland 
Although the state was small and contained only around 1 5 million inhabitants, it controlled a worldwide network of seafaring trade routes  Through its trading companies, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Dutch West India Company (GWC), it established a Dutch colonial empire  The income from this trade allowed the Dutch Republic to compete militarily against much larger countries  It amassed a huge fleet of 2,000 ships, initially larger than the fleets of England and France combined  Major conflicts were fought in the Eighty Years' War against Spain (from the foundation of the Dutch Republic until 1648), the Dutch–Portuguese War (1602–1663), four Anglo-Dutch Wars (the first against the Commonwealth of England, two against the Kingdom of England, and a fourth against the Kingdom of Great Britain: 1652–1654, 1665–1667, 1672–1674 and 1780–1784), the Franco-Dutch War (1672–1678), War of the Grand Alliance (1688–1697), the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713), the War of Austrian Succession (1744–1748) and the War of the First Coalition (1792–1795) against the Kingdom of France 
The republic was more tolerant of different religions and ideas than its contemporary states were, allowing freedom of thought to its residents  Artists flourished under this regime, including painters such as Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer and many others  So did scientists, such as Hugo Grotius, Christiaan Huygens and Antonie van Leeuwenhoek  The Dutch trade, science, military, and art were among the most acclaimed in the world during much of the 17th century, a period which became known in Dutch history as the Dutch Golden Age



ground_truth: Karen Fairchild

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Who led the muslim forces to retake the proposed embassy destination?

The following are given passages.
Context 2: 
The republic was a confederation of provinces each with a high degree of independence from the federal assembly, known as the States General  In the Peace of Westphalia (1648) the republic gained approximately 20% more territory, located outside the member provinces, which was ruled directly by the States General as Generality Lands  Each province was led by an official known as the stadtholder (Dutch for 'steward'); this office was nominally open to anyone, but most provinces appointed a member of the House of Orange  The position gradually became hereditary, with the Prince of Orange simultaneously holding most or all of the stadtholderships, making him effectively the head of state  This created tension between political factions: the Orangists favoured a powerful stadtholder, while the Republicans favoured a strong States General  The Republicans forced two Stadtholderless Periods, 1650–1672 and 1702–1747, with the latter causing national instability and the end of Great Power status 
Economic decline led to a period of political instability known as the Patriottentijd (1780–1787)  This unrest was temporarily suppressed by a Prussian invasion in support of the stadtholder  The French Revolution and subsequent War of the First Coalition caused these tensions to reignite  Following military defeat by France, the stadtholder was expelled in the Batavian Revolution of 1795  This ended the Dutch Republic; it was succeeded by the Batavian Republic 

History
Until the 16th century, the Low Countries—corresponding roughly to the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg—consisted of a number of duchies, counties, and prince-bishoprics, almost all of which were under the supremacy of the Holy Roman Empire, with the exception of the County of Flanders, most of which was under the Kingdom of France 
Most of the Low Countries had come under the rule of the House of Burgundy and subsequently the House of Habsburg  In 1549, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Pragmatic Sanction, which further unified the Seventeen Provinces under his rule  Charles was succeeded by his son, King Philip II of Spain  In 1568, the Netherlands, led by William I of Orange, together with Philip de Montmorency, Count of Hoorn, and Lamoral, Count of Egmont revolted against Philip II because of high taxes, persecution of Protestants by the government, and Philip's efforts to modernize and centralize the devolved-medieval government structures of the provinces  This was the start of the Eighty Years' War  During the initial phase of the war, the revolt was largely unsuccessful  Spain regained control over most of the rebelling provinces  This period is known as the "Spanish Fury" due to the high number of massacres, instances of mass looting, and total destruction of multiple cities and in particular Antwerp between 1572 and 1579 
In 1579, a number of the northern provinces of the Low Countries signed the Union of Utrecht, in which they promised to support each other in their defence against the Army of Flanders  This was followed in 1581 by the Act of Abjuration, the declaration of independence of the provinces from Philip II  Dutch colonialism began at this point, as the Netherlands was able to swipe a number of Portuguese and Spanish colonies, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region  After the assassination of William of Orange on 10 July 1584, both Henry III of France and Elizabeth I of England declined offers of sovereignty  However, the latter agreed to turn the United Provinces into a protectorate of England (Treaty of Nonsuch, 1585), and sent the Earl of Leicester as governor-general  This was unsuccessful and in 1588 the provinces became a confederacy  The Union of Utrecht is regarded as the foundation of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, which was not recognized by Spain until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 
During the Anglo-French War (1778–1783), the internal territory was divided into two groups: the Patriots, who were pro-French and pro-American, and the Orangists, who were pro-British  The Republic of the United Provinces faced a series of republican revolutions in 1783–1787  During this period, republican forces occupied several major Dutch cities  Initially on the defence, the Orangist forces received aid from Prussian troops and retook the Netherlands in 1787  The republican forces fled to France, but then successfully re-invaded alongside the army of the French Republic (1793–1795), ousting stadtholder William V, abolishing the Dutch Republic, and replacing it with the Batavian Republic (1795–1806)  After the French Republic became the French Empire under Napoleon, the Batavian Republic was replaced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Holland (1806–1810) 
The Netherlands regained independence from France in 1813  In the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1814 the names "United Provinces of the Netherlands" and "United Netherlands" were used  In 1815, it was rejoined with the Austrian Netherlands and Liège (the "Southern provinces") to become the Kingdom of the Netherlands, informally known as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, to create a strong buffer state north of France  On 16 March 1815, the son of stadtholder William V crowned himself King William I of the Netherlands  Between 1815 and 1890, the King of the Netherlands was also in a personal union the Grand Duke of the sovereign Grand Duchy of Luxembourg  After Belgium gained its independence in 1830, the state became unequivocally known as the "Kingdom of the Netherlands", as it remains today 

Economy
During the Dutch Golden Age in the late-16th and 17th centuries, the Dutch Republic dominated world trade, conquering a vast colonial empire and operating the largest fleet of merchantmen of any nation  The County of Holland was the wealthiest and most urbanized region in the world  In 1650 the urban population of the Dutch Republic as a percentage of total population was 31 7 percent, while that of the Spanish Netherlands was 20 8 percent, of Portugal 16 6 percent, and of Italy 14 percent  In 1675 the urban population density of Holland alone was 61 percent, compared to the rest of the Dutch Republic, where 27 percent lived in urban areas The free trade spirit of the time was augmented by the development of a modern, effective stock market in the Low Countries  The Netherlands has the oldest stock exchange in the world, founded in 1602 by the Dutch East India Company, while Rotterdam has the oldest bourse in the Netherlands  The Dutch East-India Company exchange went public in six different cities  Later, a court ruled that the company had to reside legally in a single city, so Amsterdam is recognized as the oldest such institution based on modern trading principles  While the banking system evolved in the Low Countries, it was quickly incorporated by the well-connected English, stimulating English economic output The Dutch Republic was a master of banking, often compared to 14th century Florence  When Southern Europe was experiencing poor harvests, surplus grain from Poland was sold by the Dutch for large profits 

Politics
The republic was a confederation of seven provinces, which had their own governments and were very independent, and a number of so-called Generality Lands  The latter were governed directly by the States General, the federal government  The States General were seated in The Hague and consisted of representatives of each of the seven provinces  The provinces of the republic were, in official feudal order:

Duchy of Guelders
County of Holland
County of Zeeland
Lordship of Utrecht
Lordship of Overijssel
Lordship of Frisia
Lordship of GroningenThere was an eighth province, the County of Drenthe, but this area was so poor that it was exempt from paying federal taxes, and as a consequence, it was denied representation in the States General 
Each province was governed by the Provincial States, their main executive official (though not the official head of state) being a raadpensionaris or landsadvocaat  In times of war, the stadtholder, who commanded the army, would have more power than the raadpensionaris  In theory, the stadtholders were freely appointed by and subordinate to the states of each province  However, in practice the princes of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau, beginning with William the Silent, were always chosen as stadtholders of most of the provinces 
Zeeland and usually Utrecht had the same stadtholder as Holland  There was a constant power struggle between the Orangists, who supported the stadtholders and specifically the princes of Orange, and the Republicans, who supported the States General and hoped to replace the semi-hereditary nature of the stadtholdership with a true republican structure 
After the Peace of Westphalia, several border territories were assigned to the United Provinces  They were federally governed Generality Lands  These were Staats-Brabant, Staats-Vlaanderen, Staats-Overmaas, and (after the Treaty of Utrecht) Staats-Opper-Gelre  The States General of the United Provinces were in control of the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch West India Company, but some shipping expeditions were initiated by some of the provinces, mostly Holland and Zeeland 
The framers of the United States Constitution were influenced by the Constitution of the Republic of the United Provinces, as Federalist No  20, by James Madison, shows  Such influence appears, however, to have been of a negative nature, as Madison describes the Dutch confederacy as exhibiting "Imbecility in the government; discord among the provinces; foreign influence and indignities; a precarious existence in peace, and peculiar calamities from war " Apart from this, the American Declaration of Independence is similar to the Act of Abjuration, essentially the declaration of independence of the United Provinces, but concrete evidence that the latter directly influenced the former is absent 

Religion
In the Union of Utrecht of 20 January 1579, Holland and Zeeland were granted the right to accept only one religion (in practice, Calvinism)  Every other province had the freedom to regulate the religious question as it wished, although the Union stated every person should be free in the choice of personal religion and that no person should be prosecuted based on religious choice  William of Orange had been a strong supporter of public and personal freedom of religion and hoped to unite Protestants and Catholics in the new union, and, for him, the Union was a defeat  In practice, Catholic services in all provinces were quickly forbidden, and the Dutch Reformed Church became the "public" or "privileged" church in the republic During the republic, any person who wished to hold public office had to conform to the Reformed Church and take an oath to this effect  The extent to which different religions or denominations were persecuted depended much on the time period and regional or city leaders  In the beginning, this was especially focused on Roman Catholics, being the religion of the enemy  In 17th-century Leiden, for instance, people opening their homes to services could be fined 200 guilders (a year's wage for a skilled tradesman) and banned from the city  Throughout this, however, personal freedom of religion existed and was one factor—along with economic reasons—in causing large immigration of religious refugees from other parts of Europe In the first years of the republic, controversy arose within the Reformed Church, mainly around the subject of predestination  This has become known as the struggle between Arminianism and Gomarism, or between Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants  In 1618, the Synod of Dort tackled this issue, which led to the banning of the Remonstrant faith 
Beginning in the 18th century, the situation changed from more or less active persecution of religious services to a state of restricted toleration of other religions, as long as their services took place secretly in private churches 

Decline
Long-term rivalry between the two main factions in Dutch society, the Staatsgezinden (Republicans, Dutch States Party) and the Prinsgezinden (Royalists or Orangists), sapped the strength and unity of the country  Johan de Witt and the Republicans did reign supreme for a time at the middle of the 17th century (the First Stadtholderless Period) until his overthrow and murder in 1672  Subsequently, William III of Orange became stadtholder  After a 22-year stadtholderless era, the Orangists regained power, and his first problem was to survive the Franco-Dutch War (with the derivative Third Anglo-Dutch war), when France, England, Münster, and Cologne united against this country 
Wars to contain the expansionist policies of France in various coalitions after the Glorious Revolution, mostly including England and Scotland—after 1707, Great Britain—burdened the republic with huge debts, although little of the fighting after 1673 took place on its own territory  The necessity to maintain a vast army against France meant that less money could be spent on the navy, weakening the republic's economy  After William III's death in 1702 the Second Stadtholderless Period was inaugurated  Despite having contributed much in the War of the Spanish Succession, the Dutch Republic gained little from the peace talks in Utrecht (1713)  However, the Dutch had over a period of forty years successfully defended their positions in the Southern Netherlands and their troops were central in the alliances which had halted French territorial expansion in Europe until 1792  The end of the War of the Austrian Succession in 1748, and Austria becoming allies with France against Prussia, marked the end of the republic as a major military power Fierce competition for trade and colonies, especially from France and England, furthered the economic downturn of the country  The three Anglo-Dutch Wars and the rise of mercantilism had a negative effect on Dutch shipping and commerce 

See also
List of countries that gained independence from Spain
Dutch Empire
Dutch East India Company
Passage 6:
Project Daedalus
Project Daedalus (named after Daedalus, the Greek mythological designer who crafted wings for human flight) was a study conducted between 1973 and 1978 by the British Interplanetary Society to design a plausible uncrewed interstellar probe  Intended mainly as a scientific probe, the design criteria specified that the spacecraft had to use existing or near-future technology and had to be able to reach its destination within a human lifetime  Alan Bond led a team of scientists and engineers who proposed using a fusion rocket to reach Barnard's Star 5 9 light years away   The trip was estimated to take 50 years, but the design was required to be flexible enough that it could be sent to any other target star 
All the papers produced by the study are available in a BIS book, Project Daedalus: Demonstrating the Engineering Feasibility of Interstellar Travel,

Concept
Daedalus would be constructed in Earth orbit and have an initial mass of 54,000 tonnes including 50,000 tonnes of fuel and 500 tonnes of scientific payload  Daedalus was to be a two-stage spacecraft  The first stage would operate for two years, taking the spacecraft to 7 1% of light speed (0 071 c), and then after it was jettisoned, the second stage would fire for 1 8 years, taking the spacecraft up to about 12% of light speed (0 12 c), before being shut down for a 46-year cruise period  Due to the extreme temperature range of operation required, from near absolute zero to 1600 K, the engine bells and support structure would be made of molybdenum alloyed with titanium, zirconium, and carbon, which retains strength even at cryogenic temperatures  A major stimulus for the project was Friedwardt Winterberg's inertial confinement fusion drive concept, for which he received the Hermann Oberth gold medal award This velocity is well beyond the capabilities of chemical rockets or even the type of nuclear pulse propulsion studied during Project Orion  According to Dr  Tony Martin, controlled-fusion engine and the nuclear–electric systems have very low thrust, equipment to convert nuclear energy into electrical has a large mass, which results in small acceleration, which would take a century to achieve the desired speed; thermodynamic nuclear engines of the NERVA type require a great quantity of fuel, photon rockets have to generate power at a rate of 3×109 W per kg of vehicle mass and require mirrors with absorptivity of less than 1 part in 106, interstellar ramjet's problems are tenuous interstellar medium with a density of about 1 atom/cm3, a large diameter funnel, and high power required for its electric field  Thus the only suitable propulsion method for the project was thermonuclear pulse propulsion Daedalus would be propelled by a fusion rocket using pellets of a deuterium/helium-3 mix that would be ignited in the reaction chamber by inertial confinement using electron beams  The electron beam system would be powered by a set of induction coils trapping energy from the plasma exhaust stream  250 pellets would be detonated per second, and the resulting plasma would be directed by a magnetic nozzle  The computed burn-up fraction for the fusion fuels was 0 175 and 0 133 producing exhaust velocities of 10,600 km/s and 9,210 km/s respectively  Due to scarcity of helium-3 on Earth, it was to be mined from the atmosphere of Jupiter by large hot-air balloon supported robotic factories over a 20-year period, or from a less distant source, such as the Moon The second stage would have two 5-metre optical telescopes and two 20-metre radio telescopes  About 25 years after launch these telescopes would begin examining the area around Barnard's Star to learn more about any accompanying planets  This information would be sent back to Earth, using the 40-metre diameter second stage engine bell as a communications dish, and targets of interest would be selected  Since the spacecraft would not decelerate, upon reaching Barnard's Star, Daedalus would carry 18 autonomous sub-probes that would be launched between 7 2 and 1 8 years before the main craft entered the target system  These sub-probes would be propelled by nuclear-powered ion drives and would carry cameras, spectrometers, and other sensory equipment  The sub-probes would fly past their targets, still travelling at 12% of the speed of light, and transmit their findings back to the Daedalus' second stage, mothership, for relay back to Earth 
The ship's payload bay containing its sub-probes, telescopes, and other equipment would be protected from the interstellar medium during transit by a beryllium disc, up to 7 mm thick, weighing up to 50 tonnes   This erosion shield would be made from beryllium due to its lightness and high latent heat of vaporisation  Larger obstacles that might be encountered while passing through the target system would be dispersed by an artificially generated cloud of particles, ejected by support vehicles called dust bugs about 200 km ahead of the vehicle  The spacecraft would carry a number of robot wardens capable of autonomously repairing damage or malfunctions 

Specifications
Overall length: 190 metres
Payload mass: 450 tonnes

Variants
A quantitative engineering analysis of a self-replicating variation on Project Daedalus was published in 1980 by Robert Freitas  The non-replicating design was modified to include all subsystems necessary for self-replication  Use the probe to deliver a seed factory, with a mass of about 443 metric tons, to a distant site  Have the seed factory replicate many copies of itself on-site, to increase its total manufacturing capacity, then use the resulting automated industrial complex to construct probes, with a seed factory on board, over a 1,000-year period  Each REPRO would weigh over 10 million tons due to the extra fuel needed to decelerate from 12% of lightspeed 
Another possibility is to equip the Daedalus with a magnetic sail similar to the magnetic scoop on a Bussard ramjet to use the destination star heliosphere as a brake, making carrying deceleration fuel unnecessary, allowing a much more in-depth study of the star system chosen 

See also
Breakthrough Starshot
Project Icarus
Project Longshot
Enzmann starship

Further reading
K  F  Long (2012)  "Project Daedalus"  Deep Space Propulsion: A Roadmap to Interstellar Flight  Springer  pp  190–197  ISBN 9781461406075 
Passage 7:
Kushla
Kushla (Кушла) is a village in southern Bulgaria, Zlatograd municipality, Smolyan Province, located near the border with Greece  In the Ottoman times the town was called Ugurli in Turkish and Kotyli in Greek  In 1918 the village was part of the Satres (bulg  Sinikovo) community  Following Greek and Bulgarian independence, the former town and its 350 families was divided between the countries in the Neuilly treaty in 1922 until 1941 when the Axis powers opened the borders briefly up to 1944 when Greece retook Kotyli and the local Bulgarian Muslims were since schooled in Greek language  The other part of the village lies in the Xanthi regional unit of Greece as Kotyli (Kozludzha)  The villages have a Pomak (Bulgarian Muslim) majority 
Passage 8:
Siege of Jerusalem (636–637)
The siege of Jerusalem (636–637) was part of the Muslim conquest of the Levant and the result of the military efforts of the Rashidun Caliphate against the Byzantine Empire in the year 636–637/38  It began when the Rashidun army, under the command of Abu Ubayda, besieged Jerusalem beginning in November 636  After six months, the Patriarch Sophronius agreed to surrender, on condition that he submit only to the Caliph  According to Islamic tradition, in 637 or 638, Caliph Umar (r  634–644) traveled to Jerusalem in person to receive the submission of the city  The Patriarch thus surrendered to him 
The Muslim conquest of the city solidified Arab control over Palestine, which would not again be threatened until the First Crusade in 1099 

Background
Jerusalem was an important city of the Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima  Just 23 years prior to the Muslim conquest, in 614, it fell to an invading Sassanid army under Shahrbaraz during the last of the Byzantine–Sasanian Wars  The Persians looted the city, and are said to have massacred its 90,000 Christian inhabitants  As part of the looting, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was destroyed and the True Cross captured and taken to Ctesiphon as a battle-captured holy relic  The Cross was later returned to Jerusalem by Emperor Heraclius after his final victory against the Persians in 628  The Jews, who were persecuted in their Christian-controlled homeland, initially aided the Persian conquerors After the death of the prophet Muhammad in 632, Muslim leadership passed to Caliph Abu Bakr (r  632–634) following a series of campaigns known as the Ridda Wars  Once Abu Bakr's sovereignty over Arabia had been secured, he initiated a war of conquest in the east by invading Iraq, then a province of the Sassanid Persian Empire; while on the western front, his armies invaded the Byzantine Empire In 634, Abu Bakr died and was succeeded by Umar (r  634–644), who continued his own war of conquest  In May 636, Emperor Heraclius (r  610–641) launched a major expedition to regain the lost territory, but his army was defeated decisively at the Battle of Yarmouk in August 636  Thereafter, Abu Ubayda, the Rashidun commander-in-chief of the Rashidun army in Syria, held a council of war in early October 636 to discuss future plans  Opinions of objectives varied between the coastal city of Caesarea and Jerusalem  Abu Ubayda could see the importance of both these cities, which had resisted all Muslim attempts at capture  Unable to decide on the matter, he wrote to Caliph Umar for instructions  In his reply, the caliph ordered them to capture the latter  Accordingly, Abu Ubayda marched towards Jerusalem from Jabiyah, with Khalid ibn al-Walid and his mobile guard leading the advance  The Muslims arrived at Jerusalem around early November, and the Byzantine garrison withdrew into the fortified city 

Siege
Jerusalem had been well-fortified after Heraclius recaptured it from the Persians  After the Byzantine defeat at Yarmouk, Sophronius, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, repaired its defenses  The Muslims had so far not attempted any siege of the city  However, since 634, Saracen forces had the potential to threaten all routes to the city  Although it was not encircled, it had been in a state of siege since the Muslims captured the towns of Pella and Bosra east of the Jordan River  After the Battle of Yarmouk, the city was severed from the rest of Syria, and was presumably being prepared for a siege that seemed inevitable  When the Muslim army reached Jericho, Sophronius collected all the holy relics including the True Cross, and secretly sent them to the coast, to be taken to Constantinople  The Muslim troops besieged the city some time in November 636  Instead of relentless assaults on the city, they decided to press on with the siege until the Byzantines ran short of supplies and a bloodless surrender could be negotiated Although details of the siege were not recorded, it appeared to be bloodless  The Byzantine garrison could not expect any help from the humbled Heraclius  After a siege of four months, Sophronius offered to surrender the city and pay a jizya (tribute), on condition that the caliph came to Jerusalem to sign the pact and accept the surrender  It is said that when Sophronius's terms became known to the Muslims, Shurahbil ibn Hasana, one of the Muslim commanders, suggested that instead of waiting for the caliph to come all the way from Madinah, Khalid ibn Walid should be sent forward as the caliph, as he was very similar in appearance to Umar  The subterfuge did not work  Possibly, Khalid was too famous in Syria, or there may have been Christian Arabs in the city who had visited Madinah and had seen both Umar and Khalid, remembering the differences  Consequently, the Patriarch of Jerusalem refused to negotiate  When Khalid reported the failure of this mission, Abu Ubaidah wrote to caliph Umar about the situation, and invited him to come to Jerusalem to accept the surrender of the city 

Surrender
The date of the surrender of Jerusalem is debatable  Primary sources, such as chronicles from centuries closer or further removed from the time of the events, offer the year 638, for instance Theophilus of Edessa (695–785); or 636, 636/37, and 637  Academic secondary sources tend to prefer 638  Encyclopaedia Britannica mentions both options in different articles In early April 637, Umar arrived in Palestine and went first to Jabiya, where he was received by Abu Ubaidah, Khalid, and Yazid, who had travelled with an escort to receive him  Amr was left as commander of the besieging Muslim army Upon Umar's arrival in Jerusalem, a pact known as the Umariyya Covenant was composed  It surrendered the city and gave guarantees of civil and religious liberty to Christians in exchange for jizya  It was signed by caliph Umar on behalf of the Muslims, and witnessed by Khalid, Amr, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and Mu'awiya  Depending on the sources, in either 637 or in 638, Jerusalem was officially surrendered to the caliph  For the Jewish community this marked the end of nearly 500 years of Roman rule and oppression  Umar permitted the Jews to once again reside within the city of Jerusalem itself It has been recorded in the annals of Muslim chronicles, that at the time of the Zuhr prayers, Sophronius invited Umar to pray in the rebuilt Church of the Holy Sepulchre  Umar declined, fearing that accepting the invitation might endanger the church's status as a place of Christian worship, and that Muslims might break the treaty and turn the church into a mosque  After staying for ten days in Jerusalem, the caliph returned to Medina 

Aftermath
Following the Caliph's instructions, Yazid proceeded to Caesarea, and once again laid siege to the port city  Amr and Shurahbil marched to complete the occupation of Palestine, a task that was completed by the end of the year  Caesarea, however, could not be taken until 640, when at last, the garrison surrendered to Mu'awiya I, then a governor of Syria  With an army of 17,000 men, Abu Ubaidah and Khalid set off from Jerusalem to conquer all of northern Syria  This ended with the conquest of Antioch in late 637  In 639, the Muslims invaded and conquered Egypt 
During his stay in Jerusalem, Umar was led by Sophronius to various holy sites, including the Temple Mount  Seeing the poor state of where the Temple once stood, Umar ordered the area cleared of refuse and debris before having a wooden mosque built on the site  The earliest account of such a structure is given by the Gallic bishop Arculf, who visited Jerusalem between 679 and 682, and describes a very primitive house of prayer able to accommodate up to 3,000 worshippers, constructed of wooden beams and boards over preexisting ruins More than half a century after the capture of Jerusalem, in 691, the Umayyad caliph Abd al-Malik commissioned the construction of the Dome of the Rock over a large outcropping of bedrock on the Temple Mount  The 10th-century historian al-Maqdisi wrote that Abd al-Malik built the shrine in order to compete in grandeur with the city's Christian churches  Whatever the intention, the impressive splendor and scale of the shrine is seen as having helped significantly in solidifying the attachment of Jerusalem to the early Muslim faith Over the next 400 years, the city's prominence diminished as Saracen powers in the region jockeyed for control  Jerusalem remained under Muslim rule until it was captured by Crusaders in 1099 during the First Crusade 

Hadith
It is believed in Sunni Islam that Muhammad foretold the conquest of Jerusalem in numerous authentic hadiths in various Islamic sources, including a narration mentioned in Sahih al-Bukhari in Kitab Al Jizyah Wa'l Mawaada'ah (The Book of Jizya and Storage):
Narrated `Auf bin Mali:
I went to the Prophet during the Expedition to Tabuk while he was sitting in a leather tent  He said, "Count six signs that indicate the approach of the End Times: my death, the conquest of Jerusalem, a plague that will afflict you (and kill you in great numbers) as the plague that afflicts sheep   "The siege of Jerusalem was carried by Abu Ubaidah under Umar in the earliest period of Islam along with Plague of Emmaus  The epidemic is famous in Muslim sources because of the death of many prominent companions of Muhammad 

Notes
Passage 9:
Mawdud
Mawdud ibn Altuntash (Arabic: شرف الدولة المودود) (also spelled Maudud or Sharaf al-Dawla Mawdûd) (died October 2, 1113) was a Turkic military leader who was atabeg of Mosul from 1109 to 1113  He organized several expeditions to reconquer lands from the Crusaders and defeated them at  Battle of Al-Sannabra

Biography
Mawdud was an officer of Muhammad I Tapar who sent him to reconquer Mosul from the rebel atabeg Jawali Saqawa  After his conquest of the city, Mehmed entrusted him with several military attempts to push back the Crusaders from the nearby Principality of Antioch and County of Edessa  The first attempt was launched in 1110; having joined forces with Ilghazi, the emir of Mardin, and of Sökmen el-Kutbî, emir of Ahlat, they began by besieging Edessa from April of that year, but Baldwin I of Jerusalem intervened, and forced Mawdud to retreat 
The following year Mawdud marched against Edessa, but as the city walls had been quickly strengthened, he preferred to lay siege to the town of Turbessel, held by Joscelin I of Courtenay  When Ridwan of Aleppo sent news that the Christians under Tancred were on the verge of capturing Aleppo, he moved on to that city  On his arrival, however, he discovered that the capture of the city was not imminent at all, and that Ridwan even refused to open the city's gates for him  He also received the news that a relief army which had been sent by Baldwin I was now marching northwards, so he raised the siege of Turbessel and the subsequent Battle of Shaizar in 1111 proved to be indecisive and a tactical draw 
The 1112 campaign began again with the siege of Turbessel, but was halted when a party of the Mosul army was decimated by Joscelin on June 15  An attempt to capture Edessa with the assistance of its Armenian population was discovered by then count Baldwin II of Jerusalem, resulting in the slaughter of the Armenian participants 
In 1113 Toghtekin of Damascus, tired of the ravages by the Christian forces against his territories, appealed to Mawdud to join him to invade the Kingdom of Jerusalem  The two pillaged Galilee and besieged Tiberias, though without being able to capture it  On June 28, however, the Muslims defeated King Baldwin I of Jerusalem's army at the Battle of Al-Sannabra  Reinforcements saved the Christian forces from total annihilation and prevented the Muslim commanders from exploiting the victory, and ultimately forced them to retreat to Damascus due to a lack of supplies 
It was while in Damascus as a guest of Toghtekin that Mawdud was murdered by the Assassins, possibly with the knowledge of his host (who himself accused Ridwan of the deed)  As Mawdud and Toghtekin returned from prayer an assailant stabbed Mawdud four times, fatally wounding him  The killer was beheaded by nearby guards and his body burned  Mawdud was taken into a nearby house and offered food but, according to Ibn al-Athir, refused to eat as he was in the middle of a fast and died later that day  He was succeeded as atabeg by Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, his representative at Baghdad 
Context 3: Passage 1:
Australian five-dollar note
The Australian five-dollar note was first issued on 29 May 1967, fifteen months after the currency was changed from the pound to the dollar on 14 February 1966  It was a new denomination with mauve colouration – the pre-decimal system had no denomination with a value of £21⁄2  The first polymer version of the note was introduced in 1992  A major design update was issued from 1 September 2016, with a minor update to the signatures in 2019 

Series
The first issue was a paper note which had a gradient of mauve, with a distinct black overprint  It was designed by Gordon Andrews, with Russell Drysdale as the Reserve Bank of Australia's artistic advisor  It featured portraits of Sir Joseph Banks and Caroline Chisholm, as well as elevations of Sydney streets from Joseph Fowles' "Sydney in 1848", the cover of the Shipping Gazette, a watercolour of the Waverley, and a handbill of a meeting of the Family Colonization Loan Society  All of these images were sourced from the State Library of New South Wales 
The first polymer banknote issue, which can be recognised for its mauve colouration and numeral font, was first issued in pale mauve in 1992  A number of people found it difficult to distinguish it from the $10 banknote, especially in poor lighting conditions 
In 1995, a second polymer issue was issued, distinguishable by its deeper shade of mauve and a different font for the numeral 
A federation commemorative was issued in 2001 for that year only  Notes featured Sir Henry Parkes on the obverse and Catherine Helen Spence on the reverse 
On 1 September 2016 Next Generation Banknote (NGB) $5 was issued  The NGB series banknotes contain more security features than the previous series, including a clear top-to-bottom window 

Statistics
According to Reserve Bank statistics, at the end of June 2017 there were two hundred and eleven million five dollar banknotes in circulation, fourteen percent of the total banknotes in circulation; worth one thousand and fifty five million, or one percent of the total value for all denominations Leek has the greatest value, issued for two years only; and the 1990 Fraser/Higgens being issued for less than a year From 1967 to 1974, the title identifying the country was "Commonwealth of Australia" and there were 195,504,000 of these notes issued  The title identifying the country was then changed to "Australia" and from 1974 until the end of the issuance of paper currency for this denomination (in 1992), 978,068,318 of these notes were issued 

Design
On the 1995 design, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia at the time was on the obverse, along with eucalyptus (gum) leaves  There is a number 5 in the right hand corner of both sides  The word "Australia" is written to the bottom left of the Queen  Parliament House appears on the reverse  On the 2001 commemorative design, Sir Henry Parkes appears on the obverse and Catherine Helen Spence on the reverse 
On 12 April 2016, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced a new design for the 5-dollar banknote would be introduced into circulation on 1 September 2016, the fourth polymer $5 banknote issued since 1992  It is the first of a new series of banknotes that will feature a different species of Australian wattle and a native bird  The 5-dollar banknote has the prickly Moses wattle (Acacia verticillata subsp  ovoidea) and the Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris)  It also features an image of the Federation Pavilion  The reverse features Parliament House, showing the mosaic forecourt designed by Kumantje Jagamara, called Possum and Wallaby Dreaming, as well as a plan of Parliament House The 2016 design was slightly updated in 2019, with new signatures for the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the Secretary to the Treasury After the death of Elizabeth II, the Reserve Bank of Australia said that it was discussing with the government before it decides the replacement portrait on the 5-dollar banknote  On 2 February 2023, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced that King Charles III will not appear on the new five-dollar banknote, a design celebrating First Nations peoples to appear instead 

Security features
The paper design included a watermark of Captain James Cook in the white field  The same watermark was also used in the last issue of pound banknotes  A new feature of the decimal currency was metallic strip embedded within the paper of the note, first near the centre of the note, then from 1976 moved to the left side on the obverse of the note 
The polymer issue includes: a shadow image of the Australian coat of arms which is visible under other printing when the note is held up to light; a pointed star with four points on the obverse and three on the reverse that come together under light; a clear window that has a stylised gum flower showing; and raised print and micro printing of the denomination value Some features of the banknote glow under UV light  These features include the serial number and a square patch on the reverse of the note  There is also raised printing around the portraits and major design elements of the note which can be felt by rubbing the finger or fingernail against them 
Passage 2:
The White Princess (miniseries)
The White Princess is a historical drama television miniseries developed for Starz  It is based on Philippa Gregory's 2013 novel of the same name and, to a lesser extent, its 2014 sequel The King's Curse  It is a sequel to the 2013 miniseries The White Queen, which adapted three of Gregory's previous novels, and begins immediately where The White Queen finished 
In the eight episode series, the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York effectively ends the Wars of the Roses by uniting the houses of Lancaster and York  However, their mutual enmity and distrust, as well as the political plots of their mothers, threaten to tear both the marriage and the kingdom apart 

Cast and characters
Main
Jodie Comer as Elizabeth "Lizzie" of York, the Queen of England
Rebecca Benson as Margaret "Maggie" Plantagenet, the Queen's paternal cousin, sister of Teddy
Jacob Collins-Levy as Henry VII, the King of England, Elizabeth's husband
Kenneth Cranham as Bishop (later Cardinal) John Morton, a confidant of the King's mother
Essie Davis as Dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, the Queen's mother
Rossy de Palma as Isabella I of Castile, the Queen of Castile
Richard Dillane as Thomas Stanley, Margaret Beaufort's husband
Anthony Flanagan as Francis Lovell, a Yorkist supporter
Patrick Gibson as Perkin Warbeck, a pretender to the English crown who claims to be Richard of York 
Caroline Goodall as Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, the Queen's paternal grandmother  Goodall was the only actor to appear in both The White Queen and The White Princess 
Amy Manson as Catherine "Cathy" Gordon, wife of Perkin Warbeck
Adrian Rawlins as John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, husband of Eliza de la Pole
Vincent Regan as Jasper Tudor, the King's uncle
Suki Waterhouse as Cecily of York, the Queen's sister
Joanne Whalley as Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy, the Queen's paternal aunt
Andrew Whipp as Sir Richard Pole, husband of Maggie Plantagenet
Michelle Fairley as  Margaret Beaufort, the King's mother

Recurring
Nicholas Audsley as Lord Strange
Rhys Connah (child) and Albert de Jongh (teen) as Edward "Teddy" Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, the Queen's cousin, brother of Maggie
Heidi Ely as Princess Bridget, the Queen's sister
Oliver Hembrough as John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, the Duke of Suffolk's son
Rosie Knightley as Princess Anne, the Queen's sister
Ava Masters as Princess Catherine, the Queen's sister
Rollo Skinner as Ned, a stable boy
Susie Trayling as Elizabeth "Eliza" de la Pole, Duchess of Suffolk, the Queen's paternal aunt
Guy Williams as William Stanley, Lord Thomas's brother
Iain Batchelor as Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor
Dorian Grover as Philip
Zazie Hayhurst as Rettie
Billy Barratt as Prince Arthur, the King's first son
Woody Norman as Prince Harry, the King's second son
Philip Arditti as Rodrigo de Puebla, the Spanish ambassador

Guest
Ned Elliott as Prince Richard, the Queen's brother
Luc Webb as Prince Edward, the Queen's brother
Derek Frood as the Mayor of York
Kitty Smith as Ruth
Emmanuelle Bouaziz as Mary of Burgundy
Max True as Lambert Simnel
Nia Roberts as Catherine "Kate" Woodville, Duchess of Buckingham
Norman Arthur Eshley as the Abbot
Marc Danbury as the Priest
Juan Echenique as Ferdinand II of Aragon, the King of Aragon
Nicholas Gecks as the Wimborne Priest
Alex Sawyer as Kofi, Novice Monk
Mark Edel-Hunt as Thomas Wolsey
Alasdair McLaughlin as Noah Luff

Episodes
Production
Development
The 10-part 2013 television series The White Queen adapted Gregory's previous novels The White Queen (2009), The Red Queen (2010) and The Kingmaker's Daughter (2012)  The series was broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom and on Starz in the United States, and features Freya Mavor as a young Elizabeth of York  Despite initial plans for a second series, on 20 August 2013 the BBC announced they were not commissioning one, possibly because of the lukewarm reception the series received However, in October 2013, The Telegraph reported that Starz was planning to develop a sequel miniseries called The White Princess, based on Gregory's novel  Starz CEO Chris Albrecht announced in January 2014 that the network was working with White Queen screenwriter Emma Frost on the project  Starz would produce the White Princess miniseries without involvement from the BBC  Gregory confirmed that the project was underway in August 2015  On 7 February 2016, Gregory announced on Facebook that the sequel was officially confirmed to be in production, with the scripts being written  The series was confirmed to be eight episodes in May 2016 Jamie Payne, who directed three episodes of The White Queen, directed episodes 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8  Frost was the showrunner and executive producer  Lachlan MacKinnon is served as producer, with Gregory as executive producer  Playground's Colin Callender and Scott Huff also executive produced with Company Pictures' Michele Buck 

Casting
Jodie Comer was cast in the title role of Elizabeth of York in April 2016, with Michelle Fairley added as Margaret Beaufort in May  In June 2016, Starz announced the casting of Essie Davis as Dowager Queen Elizabeth, Jacob Collins-Levy as Henry VII, Suki Waterhouse as Cecily of York, Rebecca Benson as Margaret Plantagenet, and Joanne Whalley as  Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy  The remaining cast includes Caroline Goodall as Duchess Cecily, Kenneth Cranham as Bishop Morton, Vincent Regan as Jasper Tudor and Rhys Connah as Teddy Plantagenet 

Filming
Principal photography began in June 2016, with locations including Bradford on Avon, Bristol, Berkeley Castle, Gloucester Cathedral, Lacock, Salisbury Cathedral, and Wells 

Release
In early January 2017, the producers released a video clip from the series as a teaser trailer  In February 2017, Starz announced that The White Princess would premiere on 16 April 2017  In the UK the series began its satellite and terrestrial broadcasts on the Drama channel on 18 November 2017 

Reception
The miniseries received generally favorable reviews  On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 76% based on reviews from 17 critics, with an average rating of 6 95/10  The website's critics consensus indicated the series was "well-acted and enlivened by its fresh perspective" and "delivers more than enough intrigue to satisfy fans of period British royal court drama " On Metacritic, the show has a weighted average score of 71 based on reviews from 9 critics 

Continuation
On 15 March 2018, Starz announced that it will create a continuation of The White Queen and The White Princess to be titled The Spanish Princess, which will be based on Gregory's novels The Constant Princess and The King's Curse and center on Catherine of Aragon 
Passage 3:
Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022  She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and remained the monarch of 15 realms by the time of her death  Her reign of over 70 years is the longest of any British monarch and the longest verified reign of any female head of state in history 
Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, as the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother)  Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive  She was educated privately at home and began to undertake public duties during the Second World War, serving in the Auxiliary Territorial Service  In November 1947, she married Philip Mountbatten, a former prince of Greece and Denmark, and their marriage lasted 73 years until his death in 2021  They had four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward 
When her father died in February 1952, Elizabeth—then 25 years old—became queen of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon (known today as Sri Lanka), as well as head of the Commonwealth  Elizabeth reigned as a constitutional monarch through major political changes such as the Troubles in Northern Ireland, devolution in the United Kingdom, the decolonisation of Africa, and the United Kingdom's accession to the European Communities and withdrawal from the European Union  The number of her realms varied over time as territories gained independence and some realms became republics  As queen, Elizabeth was served by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms  Her many historic visits and meetings included state visits to China in 1986, to Russia in 1994, and to the Republic of Ireland in 2011, and meetings with five popes and fourteen US presidents 
Significant events included Elizabeth's coronation in 1953 and the celebrations of her Silver, Golden, Diamond, and Platinum jubilees in 1977, 2002, 2012, and 2022, respectively  Although she faced occasional republican sentiment and media criticism of her family—particularly after the breakdowns of her children's marriages, her annus horribilis in 1992, and the death in 1997 of her former daughter-in-law Diana—support for the monarchy in the United Kingdom remained consistently high throughout her lifetime, as did her personal popularity  Elizabeth died aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in September 2022 and was succeeded by her eldest son, Charles III 

Early life
Elizabeth was born on 21 April 1926, the first child of Prince Albert, Duke of York (later King George VI), and his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (later Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother)  Her father was the second son of King George V and Queen Mary, and her mother was the youngest daughter of Scottish aristocrat Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne  She was delivered at 02:40 (GMT) by Caesarean section at her maternal grandfather's London home, 17 Bruton Street in Mayfair  The Anglican Archbishop of York, Cosmo Gordon Lang, baptised her in the private chapel of Buckingham Palace on 29 May, and she was named Elizabeth after her mother; Alexandra after her paternal great-grandmother, who had died six months earlier; and Mary after her paternal grandmother  She was called "Lilibet" by her close family, based on what she called herself at first  She was cherished by her grandfather George V, whom she affectionately called "Grandpa England", and her regular visits during his serious illness in 1929 were credited in the popular press and by later biographers with raising his spirits and aiding his recovery Elizabeth's only sibling, Princess Margaret, was born in 1930  The two princesses were educated at home under the supervision of their mother and their governess, Marion Crawford  Lessons concentrated on history, language, literature, and music  Crawford published a biography of Elizabeth and Margaret's childhood years entitled The Little Princesses in 1950, much to the dismay of the royal family  The book describes Elizabeth's love of horses and dogs, her orderliness, and her attitude of responsibility  Others echoed such observations: Winston Churchill described Elizabeth when she was two as "a character  She has an air of authority and reflectiveness astonishing in an infant " Her cousin Margaret Rhodes described her as "a jolly little girl, but fundamentally sensible and well-behaved"  Elizabeth's early life was spent primarily at the Yorks' residences at 145 Piccadilly (their town house in London) and Royal Lodge in Windsor 

Heir presumptive
During her grandfather's reign, Elizabeth was third in the line of succession to the British throne, behind her uncle Edward and her father  Although her birth generated public interest, she was not expected to become queen, as Edward was still young and likely to marry and have children of his own, who would precede Elizabeth in the line of succession  When her grandfather died in 1936 and her uncle succeeded as Edward VIII, she became second in line to the throne, after her father  Later that year, Edward abdicated, after his proposed marriage to divorced socialite Wallis Simpson provoked a constitutional crisis  Consequently, Elizabeth's father became king, taking the regnal name George VI  Since Elizabeth had no brothers, she became heir presumptive  If her parents had subsequently had a son, he would have been heir apparent and above her in the line of succession, which was determined by the male-preference primogeniture in effect at the time Elizabeth received private tuition in constitutional history from Henry Marten, Vice-Provost of Eton College, and learned French from a succession of native-speaking governesses  A Girl Guides company, the 1st Buckingham Palace Company, was formed specifically so she could socialise with girls her age  Later, she was enrolled as a Sea Ranger In 1939, Elizabeth's parents toured Canada and the United States  As in 1927, when they had toured Australia and New Zealand, Elizabeth remained in Britain since her father thought she was too young to undertake public tours  She "looked tearful" as her parents departed  They corresponded regularly, and she and her parents made the first royal transatlantic telephone call on 18 May 

Second World War
In September 1939, Britain entered the Second World War  Lord Hailsham suggested that Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret should be evacuated to Canada to avoid the frequent aerial bombings of London by the Luftwaffe  This was rejected by their mother, who declared, "The children won't go without me  I won't leave without the King  And the King will never leave " The princesses stayed at Balmoral Castle, Scotland, until Christmas 1939, when they moved to Sandringham House, Norfolk  From February to May 1940, they lived at Royal Lodge, Windsor, until moving to Windsor Castle, where they lived for most of the next five years  At Windsor, the princesses staged pantomimes at Christmas in aid of the Queen's Wool Fund, which bought yarn to knit into military garments  In 1940, the 14-year-old Elizabeth made her first radio broadcast during the BBC's Children's Hour, addressing other children who had been evacuated from the cities  She stated: "We are trying to do all we can to help our gallant sailors, soldiers, and airmen, and we are trying, too, to bear our own share of the danger and sadness of war  We know, every one of us, that in the end all will be well "In 1943, Elizabeth undertook her first solo public appearance on a visit to the Grenadier Guards, of which she had been appointed colonel the previous year  As she approached her 18th birthday, Parliament changed the law so that she could act as one of five counsellors of state in the event of her father's incapacity or absence abroad, such as his visit to Italy in July 1944  In February 1945, she was appointed an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service with the service number 230873  She trained and worked as a driver and mechanic and was given the rank of honorary junior commander (female equivalent of captain at the time) five months later 

At the end of the war in Europe, on Victory in Europe Day, Elizabeth and Margaret mingled incognito with the celebrating crowds in the streets of London  Elizabeth later said in a rare interview, "We asked my parents if we could go out and see for ourselves  I remember we were terrified of being recognised     I remember lines of unknown people linking arms and walking down Whitehall, all of us just swept along on a tide of happiness and relief "During the war, plans were drawn to quell Welsh nationalism by affiliating Elizabeth more closely with Wales  Proposals, such as appointing her Constable of Caernarfon Castle or a patron of Urdd Gobaith Cymru (the Welsh League of Youth), were abandoned for several reasons, including fear of associating Elizabeth with conscientious objectors in the Urdd at a time when Britain was at war  Welsh politicians suggested she be made Princess of Wales on her 18th birthday  Home Secretary Herbert Morrison supported the idea, but the King rejected it because he felt such a title belonged solely to the wife of a Prince of Wales and the Prince of Wales had always been the heir apparent  In 1946, she was inducted into the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod of Wales Elizabeth went on her first overseas tour in 1947, accompanying her parents through southern Africa  During the tour, in a broadcast to the British Commonwealth on her 21st birthday, she made the following pledge: "I declare before you all that my whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong " The oft-quoted speech was written by Dermot Morrah, a journalist for The Times 

Marriage
Elizabeth met her future husband, Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, in 1934 and again in 1937  They were second cousins once removed through King Christian IX of Denmark and third cousins through Queen Victoria  After meeting for the third time at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth in July 1939, Elizabeth—though only 13 years old—said she fell in love with Philip, who was 18, and they began to exchange letters  She was 21 when their engagement was officially announced on 9 July 1947 The engagement attracted some controversy  Philip had no financial standing, was foreign-born (though a British subject who had served in the Royal Navy throughout the Second World War), and had sisters who had married German noblemen with Nazi links  Marion Crawford wrote, "Some of the King's advisors did not think him good enough for her  He was a prince without a home or kingdom  Some of the papers played long and loud tunes on the string of Philip's foreign origin " Later biographies reported that Elizabeth's mother had reservations about the union initially and teased Philip as "the Hun"  In later life, however, she told the biographer Tim Heald that Philip was "an English gentleman" 

Before the marriage, Philip renounced his Greek and Danish titles, officially converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Anglicanism, and adopted the style Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, taking the surname of his mother's British family  Shortly before the wedding, he was created Duke of Edinburgh and granted the style His Royal Highness  Elizabeth and Philip were married on 20 November 1947 at Westminster Abbey  They received 2,500 wedding gifts from around the world  Elizabeth required ration coupons to buy the material for her gown (which was designed by Norman Hartnell) because Britain had not yet completely recovered from the devastation of the war  In post-war Britain, it was not acceptable for Philip's German relations, including his three surviving sisters, to be invited to the wedding  Neither was an invitation extended to the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII Elizabeth gave birth to her first child, Charles, in November 1948  One month earlier, the King had issued letters patent allowing her children to use the style and title of a royal prince or princess, to which they otherwise would not have been entitled as their father was no longer a royal prince  A second child, Princess Anne, was born in August 1950 Following their wedding, the couple leased Windlesham Moor, near Windsor Castle, until July 1949, when they took up residence at Clarence House in London  At various times between 1949 and 1951, the Duke of Edinburgh was stationed in the British Crown Colony of Malta as a serving Royal Navy officer  He and Elizabeth lived intermittently in Malta for several months at a time in the hamlet of Gwardamanġa, at Villa Guardamangia, the rented home of Philip's uncle Lord Mountbatten  Their two children remained in Britain 

Reign
Accession and coronation
As George VI's health declined during 1951, Elizabeth frequently stood in for him at public events  When she visited Canada and Harry S  Truman in Washington, DC, in October 1951, her private secretary Martin Charteris carried a draft accession declaration in case the King died while she was on tour  In early 1952, Elizabeth and Philip set out for a tour of Australia and New Zealand by way of the British colony of Kenya  On 6 February, they had just returned to their Kenyan home, Sagana Lodge, after a night spent at Treetops Hotel, when word arrived of the death of Elizabeth's father  Philip broke the news to the new queen  She chose to retain Elizabeth as her regnal name, and was therefore called Elizabeth II  The numeral offended some Scots, as she was the first Elizabeth to rule in Scotland  She was proclaimed queen throughout her realms, and the royal party hastily returned to the United Kingdom  Elizabeth and Philip moved into Buckingham Palace With Elizabeth's accession, it seemed possible that the royal house would take her husband's name, in line with the custom for married women of the time  Lord Mountbatten advocated for House of Mountbatten, and Philip suggested House of Edinburgh, after his ducal title  The British prime minister, Winston Churchill, and Elizabeth's grandmother Queen Mary favoured the retention of the House of Windsor  Elizabeth issued a declaration on 9 April 1952 that the royal house would continue to be Windsor  Philip complained, "I am the only man in the country not allowed to give his name to his own children " In 1960, the surname Mountbatten-Windsor was adopted for Philip and Elizabeth's male-line descendants who do not carry royal titles Amid preparations for the coronation, Princess Margaret told her sister she wished to marry Peter Townsend, a divorcé 16 years Margaret's senior with two sons from his previous marriage  Elizabeth asked them to wait for a year; in the words of her private secretary, "the Queen was naturally sympathetic towards the Princess, but I think she thought—she hoped—given time, the affair would peter out " Senior politicians were against the match and the Church of England did not permit remarriage after divorce  If Margaret had contracted a civil marriage, she would have been expected to renounce her right of succession  Margaret decided to abandon her plans with Townsend  In 1960, she married Antony Armstrong-Jones, who was created Earl of Snowdon the following year  They were divorced in 1978  She did not remarry Despite the death of Queen Mary on 24 March 1953, the coronation went ahead as planned on 2 June, as Mary had requested  The coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey was televised for the first time, with the exception of the anointing and communion  On Elizabeth's instruction, her coronation gown was embroidered with the floral emblems of Commonwealth countries 

Continuing evolution of the Commonwealth
From Elizabeth's birth onwards, the British Empire continued its transformation into the Commonwealth of Nations  By the time of her accession in 1952, her role as head of multiple independent states was already established  In 1953, Elizabeth and her husband embarked on a seven-month round-the-world tour, visiting 13 countries and covering more than 40,000 miles (64,000 km) by land, sea and air  She became the first reigning monarch of Australia and New Zealand to visit those nations  During the tour, crowds were immense; three-quarters of the population of Australia were estimated to have seen her  Throughout her reign, Elizabeth made hundreds of state visits to other countries and tours of the Commonwealth; she was the most widely travelled head of state In 1956, the British and French prime ministers, Sir Anthony Eden and Guy Mollet, discussed the possibility of France joining the Commonwealth  The proposal was never accepted, and the following year France signed the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community, the precursor to the European Union  In November 1956, Britain and France invaded Egypt in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to capture the Suez Canal  Lord Mountbatten said Elizabeth was opposed to the invasion, though Eden denied it  Eden resigned two months later 

The governing Conservative Party had no formal mechanism for choosing a leader, meaning that it fell to Elizabeth to decide whom to commission to form a government following Eden's resignation  Eden recommended she consult Lord Salisbury, the lord president of the council  Lord Salisbury and Lord Kilmuir, the lord chancellor, consulted the British Cabinet, Churchill, and the chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee, resulting in Elizabeth appointing their recommended candidate: Harold Macmillan The Suez crisis and the choice of Eden's successor led, in 1957, to the first major personal criticism of Elizabeth  In a magazine, which he owned and edited, Lord Altrincham accused her of being "out of touch"  Altrincham was denounced by public figures and slapped by a member of the public appalled by his comments  Six years later, in 1963, Macmillan resigned and advised Elizabeth to appoint Alec Douglas-Home as the prime minister, advice she followed  Elizabeth again came under criticism for appointing the prime minister on the advice of a small number of ministers or a single minister  In 1965, the Conservatives adopted a formal mechanism for electing a leader, thus relieving the Queen of her involvement 

In 1957, Elizabeth made a state visit to the United States, where she addressed the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the Commonwealth  On the same tour, she opened the 23rd Canadian Parliament, becoming the first monarch of Canada to open a parliamentary session  Two years later, solely in her capacity as Queen of Canada, she revisited the United States and toured Canada  In 1961, she toured Cyprus, India, Pakistan, Nepal, and Iran  On a visit to Ghana the same year, she dismissed fears for her safety, even though her host, President Kwame Nkrumah, who had replaced her as head of state, was a target for assassins  Harold Macmillan wrote, "The Queen has been absolutely determined all through     She is impatient of the attitude towards her to treat her as     a film star     She has indeed 'the heart and stomach of a man'     She loves her duty and means to be a Queen " Before her tour through parts of Quebec in 1964, the press reported extremists within the Quebec separatist movement were plotting Elizabeth's assassination  No attempt was made, but a riot did break out while she was in Montreal; Elizabeth's "calmness and courage in the face of the violence" was noted Elizabeth gave birth to her third child, Prince Andrew, in February 1960, which was the first birth to a reigning British monarch since 1857  Her fourth child, Prince Edward, was born in March 1964 On 21 October 1966, the Aberfan disaster in Wales saw 116 children and 28 adults killed when a colliery spoil tip collapsed, engulfing Pantglas Junior School and the surrounding houses in the village  The Queen was criticised for waiting eight days before deciding to visit the village, and her delay in visiting the scene was a mistake that she later regretted 

Acceleration of decolonisation
The 1960s and 1970s saw an acceleration in the decolonisation of Africa and the Caribbean  More than 20 countries gained independence from Britain as part of a planned transition to self-government  In 1965, however, the Rhodesian prime minister, Ian Smith, in opposition to moves towards majority rule, unilaterally declared independence while expressing "loyalty and devotion" to Elizabeth, declaring her "Queen of Rhodesia"  Although Elizabeth formally dismissed him, and the international community applied sanctions against Rhodesia, his regime survived for over a decade  As Britain's ties to its former empire weakened, the British government sought entry to the European Community, a goal it achieved in 1973 Elizabeth toured Yugoslavia in October 1972, becoming the first British monarch to visit a communist country  She was received at the airport by President Josip Broz Tito, and a crowd of thousands greeted her in Belgrade In February 1974, the British prime minister, Edward Heath, advised Elizabeth to call a general election in the middle of her tour of the Austronesian Pacific Rim, requiring her to fly back to Britain  The election resulted in a hung parliament; Heath's Conservatives were not the largest party but could stay in office if they formed a coalition with the Liberals  When discussions on forming a coalition foundered, Heath resigned, and Elizabeth asked the Leader of the Opposition, Labour's Harold Wilson, to form a government A year later, at the height of the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis, the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed from his post by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, after the Opposition-controlled Senate rejected Whitlam's budget proposals  As Whitlam had a majority in the House of Representatives, Speaker Gordon Scholes appealed to Elizabeth to reverse Kerr's decision  She declined, saying she would not interfere in decisions reserved by the Constitution of Australia for the Governor-General  The crisis fuelled Australian republicanism 

Silver Jubilee
In 1977, Elizabeth marked the Silver Jubilee of her accession  Parties and events took place throughout the Commonwealth, many coinciding with her associated national and Commonwealth tours  The celebrations re-affirmed Elizabeth's popularity, despite virtually coincident negative press coverage of Princess Margaret's separation from her husband, Lord Snowdon  In 1978, Elizabeth endured a state visit to the United Kingdom by Romania's communist leader, Nicolae Ceaușescu, and his wife, Elena, though privately she thought they had "blood on their hands"  The following year brought two blows: one was the unmasking of Anthony Blunt, former Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures, as a communist spy; the other was the assassination of her uncle-in-law Lord Mountbatten by the Provisional Irish Republican Army According to Paul Martin Sr , by the end of the 1970s, Elizabeth was worried the Crown "had little meaning for" Pierre Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister  Tony Benn said Elizabeth found Trudeau "rather disappointing"  Trudeau's supposed republicanism seemed to be confirmed by his antics, such as sliding down banisters at Buckingham Palace and pirouetting behind Elizabeth's back in 1977, and the removal of various Canadian royal symbols during his term of office  In 1980, Canadian politicians sent to London to discuss the patriation of the Canadian constitution found Elizabeth "better informed     than any of the British politicians or bureaucrats"  She was particularly interested after the failure of Bill C-60, which would have affected her role as head of state 

Press scrutiny and Thatcher premiership
During the 1981 Trooping the Colour ceremony, six weeks before the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, six shots were fired at Elizabeth from close range as she rode down The Mall, London, on her horse, Burmese  Police later discovered the shots were blanks  The 17-year-old assailant, Marcus Sarjeant, was sentenced to five years in prison and released after three  Elizabeth's composure and skill in controlling her mount were widely praised  That October, Elizabeth was the subject of another attack while on a visit to Dunedin, New Zealand  Christopher John Lewis, who was 17 years old, fired a shot with a  22 rifle from the fifth floor of a building overlooking the parade but missed  Lewis was arrested, but instead of being charged with attempted murder or treason was sentenced to three years in jail for unlawful possession and discharge of a firearm  Two years into his sentence, he attempted to escape a psychiatric hospital with the intention of assassinating Charles, who was visiting the country with Diana and their son Prince William 

From April to September 1982, Elizabeth's son Andrew served with British forces in the Falklands War, for which she reportedly felt anxiety and pride  On 9 July, she awoke in her bedroom at Buckingham Palace to find an intruder, Michael Fagan, in the room with her  In a serious lapse of security, assistance only arrived after two calls to the Palace police switchboard  After hosting US president Ronald Reagan at Windsor Castle in 1982 and visiting his California ranch in 1983, Elizabeth was angered when his administration ordered the invasion of Grenada, one of her Caribbean realms, without informing her Intense media interest in the opinions and private lives of the royal family during the 1980s led to a series of sensational stories in the press, pioneered by The Sun tabloid  As Kelvin MacKenzie, editor of The Sun, told his staff: "Give me a Sunday for Monday splash on the Royals  Don't worry if it's not true—so long as there's not too much of a fuss about it afterwards " Newspaper editor Donald Trelford wrote in The Observer of 21 September 1986: "The royal soap opera has now reached such a pitch of public interest that the boundary between fact and fiction has been lost sight of     it is not just that some papers don't check their facts or accept denials: they don't care if the stories are true or not " It was reported, most notably in The Sunday Times of 20 July 1986, that Elizabeth was worried that Margaret Thatcher's economic policies fostered social divisions and was alarmed by high unemployment, a series of riots, the violence of a miners' strike, and Thatcher's refusal to apply sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa  The sources of the rumours included royal aide Michael Shea and Commonwealth secretary-general Shridath Ramphal, but Shea claimed his remarks were taken out of context and embellished by speculation  Thatcher reputedly said Elizabeth would vote for the Social Democratic Party—Thatcher's political opponents  Thatcher's biographer, John Campbell, claimed "the report was a piece of journalistic mischief-making"  Reports of acrimony between them were exaggerated, and Elizabeth gave two honours in her personal gift—membership in the Order of Merit and the Order of the Garter—to Thatcher after her replacement as prime minister by John Major  Brian Mulroney, Canadian prime minister between 1984 and 1993, said Elizabeth was a "behind the scenes force" in ending apartheid 

In 1986, Elizabeth paid a six-day state visit to the People's Republic of China, becoming the first British monarch to visit the country  The tour included the Forbidden City, the Great Wall of China, and the Terracotta Warriors  At a state banquet, Elizabeth joked about the first British emissary to China being lost at sea with Queen Elizabeth I's letter to the Wanli Emperor, and remarked, "fortunately postal services have improved since 1602"  Elizabeth's visit also signified the acceptance of both countries that sovereignty over Hong Kong would be transferred from the United Kingdom to China in 1997 By the end of the 1980s, Elizabeth had become the target of satire  The involvement of younger members of the royal family in the charity game show It's a Royal Knockout in 1987 was ridiculed  In Canada, Elizabeth publicly supported politically divisive constitutional amendments, prompting criticism from opponents of the proposed changes, including Pierre Trudeau  The same year, the elected Fijian government was deposed in a military coup  As monarch of Fiji, Elizabeth supported the attempts of Governor-General Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau to assert executive power and negotiate a settlement  Coup leader Sitiveni Rabuka deposed Ganilau and declared Fiji a republic 

Turbulent 1990s and annus horribilis
In the wake of coalition victory in the Gulf War, Elizabeth became the first British monarch to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress in May 1991 

On 24 November 1992, in a speech to mark the Ruby Jubilee of her accession to the throne, Elizabeth called 1992 her annus horribilis (a Latin phrase, meaning "horrible year")  Republican feeling in Britain had risen because of press estimates of Elizabeth's private wealth—contradicted by the Palace—and reports of affairs and strained marriages among her extended family  In March, her second son, Prince Andrew, separated from his wife, Sarah, and Mauritius removed Elizabeth as head of state; her daughter, Princess Anne, divorced Captain Mark Phillips in April; angry demonstrators in Dresden threw eggs at Elizabeth during a state visit to Germany in October; and a large fire broke out at Windsor Castle, one of her official residences, in November  The monarchy came under increased criticism and public scrutiny  In an unusually personal speech, Elizabeth said that any institution must expect criticism, but suggested it might be done with "a touch of humour, gentleness and understanding"  Two days later, John Major announced plans to reform the royal finances, drawn up the previous year, including Elizabeth paying income tax from 1993 onwards, and a reduction in the civil list  In December, Prince Charles and his wife, Diana, formally separated  At the end of the year, Elizabeth sued The Sun newspaper for breach of copyright when it published the text of her annual Christmas message two days before it was broadcast  The newspaper was forced to pay her legal fees and donated £200,000 to charity  Elizabeth's solicitors had taken successful action against The Sun five years earlier for breach of copyright after it published a photograph of her daughter-in-law the Duchess of York and her granddaughter Princess Beatrice In January 1994, Elizabeth broke the scaphoid bone in her left wrist as the horse she was riding at Sandringham tripped and fell  In October 1994, she became the first reigning British monarch to set foot on Russian soil  In October 1995, Elizabeth was tricked into a hoax call by Montreal radio host Pierre Brassard impersonating Canadian prime minister Jean Chrétien  Elizabeth, who believed that she was speaking to Chrétien, said she supported Canadian unity and would try to influence Quebec's referendum on proposals to break away from Canada In the year that followed, public revelations on the state of Charles and Diana's marriage continued  In consultation with her husband and John Major, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury (George Carey) and her private secretary (Robert Fellowes), Elizabeth wrote to Charles and Diana at the end of December 1995, suggesting that a divorce would be advisable In August 1997, a year after the divorce, Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris  Elizabeth was on holiday with her extended family at Balmoral  Diana's two sons, Princes William and Harry, wanted to attend church, so Elizabeth and Philip took them that morning  Afterwards, for five days, the royal couple shielded their grandsons from the intense press interest by keeping them at Balmoral where they could grieve in private, but the royal family's silence and seclusion, and the failure to fly a flag at half-mast over Buckingham Palace, caused public dismay  Pressured by the hostile reaction, Elizabeth agreed to return to London and address the nation in a live television broadcast on 5 September, the day before Diana's funeral  In the broadcast, she expressed admiration for Diana and her feelings "as a grandmother" for the two princes  As a result, much of the public hostility evaporated In October 1997, Elizabeth and Philip made a state visit to India, which included a controversial visit to the site of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre to pay her respects  Protesters chanted "Killer Queen, go back", and there were demands for her to apologise for the action of British troops 78 years earlier  At the memorial in the park, she and Philip laid a wreath and stood for a 30‑second moment of silence  As a result, much of the fury among the public softened, and the protests were called off  That November, Elizabeth and her husband held a reception at Banqueting House to mark their golden wedding anniversary  Elizabeth made a speech and praised Philip for his role as a consort, referring to him as "my strength and stay" In 1999, as part of the process of devolution within the UK, Elizabeth formally opened newly established legislatures for Wales and Scotland: the National Assembly for Wales at Cardiff in May, and the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh in July 

Golden Jubilee
On the eve of the new millennium, Elizabeth and Philip boarded a vessel from Southwark, bound for the Millennium Dome  Before passing under Tower Bridge, Elizabeth lit the National Millennium Beacon in the Pool of London using a laser torch  Shortly before midnight, she officially opened the Dome  During the singing of Auld Lang Syne, Elizabeth held hands with Philip and British prime minister Tony Blair In 2002, Elizabeth marked her Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary of her accession  Her sister and mother died in February and March, respectively, and the media speculated on whether the Jubilee would be a success or a failure  She again undertook an extensive tour of her realms, beginning in Jamaica in February, where she called the farewell banquet "memorable" after a power cut plunged King's House, the official residence of the governor-general, into darkness  As in 1977, there were street parties and commemorative events, and monuments were named to honour the occasion  One million people attended each day of the three-day main Jubilee celebration in London, and the enthusiasm shown for Elizabeth by the public was greater than many journalists had anticipated 

In 2003, Elizabeth sued the Daily Mirror for breach of confidence and obtained an injunction which prevented the outlet from publishing information gathered by a reporter who posed as a footman at Buckingham Palace  The newspaper also paid £25,000 towards her legal costs  Though generally healthy throughout her life, in 2003 she had keyhole surgery on both knees  In October 2006, she missed the opening of the new Emirates Stadium because of a strained back muscle that had been troubling her since the summer In May 2007, citing unnamed sources, The Daily Telegraph reported that Elizabeth was "exasperated and frustrated" by the policies of Tony Blair, that she was concerned the British Armed Forces were overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that she had raised concerns over rural and countryside issues with Blair  She was, however, said to admire Blair's efforts to achieve peace in Northern Ireland  She became the first British monarch to celebrate a diamond wedding anniversary in November 2007  On 20 March 2008, at the Church of Ireland St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh, Elizabeth attended the first Maundy service held outside England and Wales Elizabeth addressed the UN General Assembly for a second time in 2010, again in her capacity as Queen of all Commonwealth realms and Head of the Commonwealth  The UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, introduced her as "an anchor for our age"  During her visit to New York, which followed a tour of Canada, she officially opened a memorial garden for British victims of the 9/11 attacks  Elizabeth's 11-day visit to Australia in October 2011 was her 16th visit to the country since 1954  By invitation of the Irish president, Mary McAleese, she made the first state visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British monarch in May 2011 

Diamond Jubilee and longevity
Elizabeth's 2012 Diamond Jubilee marked 60 years on the throne, and celebrations were held throughout her realms, the wider Commonwealth, and beyond  She and her husband undertook an extensive tour of the United Kingdom, while her children and grandchildren embarked on royal tours of other Commonwealth states on her behalf  On 4 June, Jubilee beacons were lit around the world  On 18 December, she became the first British sovereign to attend a peacetime Cabinet meeting since George III in 1781 Elizabeth, who opened the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, also opened the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London, making her the first head of state to open two Olympic Games in two countries  For the London Olympics, she played herself in a short film as part of the opening ceremony, alongside Daniel Craig as James Bond  On 4 April 2013, she received an honorary BAFTA for her patronage of the film industry and was called "the most memorable Bond girl yet" at the award ceremony 

On 3 March 2013, Elizabeth stayed overnight at King Edward VII's Hospital as a precaution after developing symptoms of gastroenteritis  A week later, she signed the new Charter of the Commonwealth  Because of her age and the need for her to limit travelling, in 2013 she chose not to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting for the first time in 40 years  She was represented at the summit in Sri Lanka by Prince Charles  On 20 April 2018, the Commonwealth heads of government announced that Charles would succeed her as Head of the Commonwealth, which she stated was her "sincere wish"  She underwent cataract surgery in May 2018  In March 2019, she gave up driving on public roads, largely as a consequence of a car crash involving her husband two months earlier Elizabeth surpassed her great-great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, to become the longest-lived British monarch on 21 December 2007, and the longest-reigning British monarch and longest-reigning queen regnant and female head of state in the world on 9 September 2015  She became the oldest current monarch after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia died on 23 January 2015  She later became the longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state following the death of King Bhumibol of Thailand on 13 October 2016, and the oldest current head of state on the resignation of Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe on 21 November 2017  On 6 February 2017, she became the first British monarch to commemorate a sapphire jubilee, and on 20 November, she was the first British monarch to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary  Philip had retired from his official duties as the Queen's consort in August 2017 

COVID-19 pandemic
On 19 March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United Kingdom, Elizabeth moved to Windsor Castle and sequestered there as a precaution  Public engagements were cancelled and Windsor Castle followed a strict sanitary protocol nicknamed "HMS Bubble" 

On 5 April, in a televised broadcast watched by an estimated 24 million viewers in the UK, she asked people to "take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again " On 8 May, the 75th anniversary of VE Day, in a television broadcast at 9 pm—the exact time at which her father George VI had broadcast to the nation on the same day in 1945—she asked people to "never give up, never despair"  In October, she visited the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in Wiltshire, her first public engagement since the start of the pandemic  On 4 November, she appeared masked for the first time in public, during a private pilgrimage to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior at Westminster Abbey, to mark the centenary of his burial  In 2021, she received her first and second COVID-19 vaccinations in January and April respectively Prince Philip died on 9 April 2021, after 73 years of marriage, making Elizabeth the first British monarch to reign as a widow or widower since Queen Victoria  She was reportedly at her husband's bedside when he died, and remarked in private that his death had "left a huge void"  Due to the COVID-19 restrictions in place in England at the time, Elizabeth sat alone at Philip's funeral service, which evoked sympathy from people around the world  In her Christmas broadcast that year, which was ultimately her last, she paid a personal tribute to her "beloved Philip", saying, "That mischievous, inquiring twinkle was as bright at the end as when I first set eyes on him" Despite the pandemic, Elizabeth attended the 2021 State Opening of Parliament in May, and the 47th G7 summit in June  On 5 July, the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the UK's National Health Service, she announced that the NHS would be awarded the George Cross to "recognise all NHS staff, past and present, across all disciplines and all four nations"  In October 2021, she began using a walking stick during public engagements for the first time since her operation in 2004  Following an overnight stay in hospital on 20 October, her previously scheduled visits to Northern Ireland, the COP26 summit in Glasgow, and the 2021 National Service of Remembrance were cancelled on health grounds  On Christmas Day 2021, while she was staying at Windsor Castle, 19-year-old Jaswant Singh Chail broke into the gardens using a rope ladder and carrying a crossbow with the aim of assassinating Elizabeth in revenge for the Amritsar massacre  Before he could enter any buildings, he was arrested and detained under the Mental Health Act  In 2023, he pled guilty to attempting to injure or alarm the sovereign 

Platinum Jubilee
Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee began on 6 February 2022, marking 70 years since she acceded to the throne on her father's death  On the eve of the date, she held a reception at Sandringham House for pensioners, local Women's Institute members and charity volunteers  In her accession day message, Elizabeth renewed her commitment to a lifetime of public service, which she had originally made in 1947 Later that month, Elizabeth had "mild cold-like symptoms" and tested positive for COVID-19, along with some staff and family members  She cancelled two virtual audiences on 22 February, but held a phone conversation with British prime minister Boris Johnson the following day amid a crisis on the Russo-Ukrainian border, following which she made a donation to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal  On 28 February, she was reported to have recovered and spent time with her family at Frogmore  On 7 March, Elizabeth met Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle, in her first in-person engagement since her COVID diagnosis  She later remarked that COVID infection "leave[s] one very tired and exhausted     It's not a nice result" Elizabeth was present at the service of thanksgiving for Prince Philip at Westminster Abbey on 29 March, but was unable to attend the annual Commonwealth Day service that month or the Royal Maundy service in April, due to "episodic mobility problems"  She missed the State Opening of Parliament in May for the first time in 59 years  (She did not attend the 1959 and 1963 state openings as she was pregnant with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, respectively ) In her absence, Parliament was opened by the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge as counsellors of state During the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, Elizabeth was largely confined to balcony appearances and missed the National Service of Thanksgiving  For the Jubilee concert, she took part in a sketch with Paddington Bear that opened the event outside Buckingham Palace  On 13 June, she became the second-longest reigning monarch in history among those whose exact dates of reign are known, with 70 years, 127 days reigned—surpassing King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand  On 6 September, she appointed her 15th British prime minister, Liz Truss, at Balmoral Castle in Scotland  This marked the only time she did not receive a new prime minister at Buckingham Palace during her reign  No other British reign had seen so many prime ministers  The Queen's last public message was issued on 7 September to her Canadian people, in the aftermath of the Saskatchewan stabbings Elizabeth never planned to abdicate, though she took on fewer public engagements as she grew older and Prince Charles took on more of her duties  The Queen told Canadian governor-general Adrienne Clarkson in a meeting in 2002 that she would never abdicate, saying "It is not our tradition  Although, I suppose if I became completely gaga, one would have to do something"  In June 2022, Elizabeth met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, who "came away thinking there is someone who has no fear of death, has hope in the future, knows the rock on which she stands and that gives her strength "

Death
On 8 September 2022, Buckingham Palace released a statement which read: "Following further evaluation this morning, the Queen's doctors are concerned for Her Majesty's health and have recommended she remain under medical supervision  The Queen remains comfortable and at Balmoral " Her immediate family rushed to Balmoral to be by her side  She died peacefully at 15:10 BST at the age of 96, with two of her children, Charles and Anne, by her side  Her death was announced to the public at 18:30, setting in motion Operation London Bridge and, because she died in Scotland, Operation Unicorn  Elizabeth was the first monarch to die in Scotland since James V in 1542  Her death certificate recorded her cause of death as "old age" On 12 September, Elizabeth's coffin was carried up the Royal Mile in a procession to St Giles' Cathedral, where the Crown of Scotland was placed on it  Her coffin lay at rest at the cathedral for 24 hours, guarded by the Royal Company of Archers, during which around 33,000 people filed past the coffin  It was taken by air to London on 13 September  On 14 September, her coffin was taken in a military procession from Buckingham Palace to Westminster Hall, where Elizabeth lay in state for four days  The coffin was guarded by members of both the Sovereign's Bodyguard and the Household Division  An estimated 250,000 members of the public filed past the coffin, as did politicians and other public figures  On 16 September, Elizabeth's children held a vigil around her coffin, and the next day her eight grandchildren did the same 

Elizabeth's state funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on 19 September, which marked the first time that a monarch's funeral service had been held at the Abbey since George II in 1760  More than a million people lined the streets of central London, and the day was declared a holiday in several Commonwealth countries  In Windsor, a final procession involving 1,000 military personnel took place, which 97,000 people witnessed  Elizabeth's fell pony, and two royal corgis, stood at the side of the procession  After a committal service at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, Elizabeth was interred with her husband Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel later the same day, in a private ceremony attended by her closest family members 

Legacy
Beliefs, activities, and interests
Elizabeth rarely gave interviews, and little was known of her political opinions, which she did not express explicitly in public  It is against convention to ask or reveal the monarch's views  When Times journalist Paul Routledge asked her about the miners' strike of 1984–85 during a royal tour of the newspaper's offices, she replied that it was "all about one man" (a reference to Arthur Scargill), with which Routledge disagreed  Routledge was widely criticised in the media for asking the question and claimed that he was unaware of the protocols  After the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, Prime Minister David Cameron was overheard saying that Elizabeth was pleased with the outcome  She had arguably issued a public coded statement about the referendum by telling one woman outside Balmoral Kirk that she hoped people would think "very carefully" about the outcome  It emerged later that Cameron had specifically requested that she register her concern Elizabeth had a deep sense of religious and civic duty, and took her Coronation Oath seriously  Aside from her official religious role as Supreme Governor of the established Church of England, she worshipped with that church and with the national Church of Scotland  She demonstrated support for inter-faith relations and met with leaders of other churches and religions, including five popes: Pius XII, John XXIII, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis  A personal note about her faith often featured in her annual Christmas Message broadcast to the Commonwealth  In 2000, she said:
To many of us, our beliefs are of fundamental importance  For me the teachings of Christ and my own personal accountability before God provide a framework in which I try to lead my life  I, like so many of you, have drawn great comfort in difficult times from Christ's words and example 
Elizabeth was patron of more than 600 organisations and charities  The Charities Aid Foundation estimated that Elizabeth helped raise over £1 4 billion for her patronages during her reign  Her main leisure interests included equestrianism and dogs, especially her Pembroke Welsh Corgis  Her lifelong love of corgis began in 1933 with Dookie, the first corgi owned by her family  Scenes of a relaxed, informal home life were occasionally witnessed; she and her family, from time to time, prepared a meal together and washed the dishes afterwards 

Media depiction and public opinion
In the 1950s, as a young woman at the start of her reign, Elizabeth was depicted as a glamorous "fairytale Queen"  After the trauma of the Second World War, it was a time of hope, a period of progress and achievement heralding a "new Elizabethan age"  Lord Altrincham's accusation in 1957 that her speeches sounded like those of a "priggish schoolgirl" was an extremely rare criticism  In the late 1960s, attempts to portray a more modern image of the monarchy were made in the television documentary Royal Family and by televising Prince Charles's investiture as Prince of Wales  Elizabeth also instituted other new practices; her first royal walkabout, meeting ordinary members of the public, took place during a tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1970  Her wardrobe developed a recognisable, signature style driven more by function than fashion  In public, she took to wearing mostly solid-colour overcoats and decorative hats, allowing her to be seen easily in a crowd At Elizabeth's Silver Jubilee in 1977, the crowds and celebrations were genuinely enthusiastic; but, in the 1980s, public criticism of the royal family increased, as the personal and working lives of Elizabeth's children came under media scrutiny  Her popularity sank to a low point in the 1990s  Under pressure from public opinion, she began to pay income tax for the first time, and Buckingham Palace was opened to the public  Although support for republicanism in Britain seemed higher than at any time in living memory, republican ideology was still a minority viewpoint, and Elizabeth herself had high approval ratings  Criticism was focused on the institution of the monarchy itself, and the conduct of Elizabeth's wider family, rather than her own behaviour and actions  Discontent with the monarchy reached its peak on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, although Elizabeth's personal popularity—as well as general support for the monarchy—rebounded after her live television broadcast to the world five days after Diana's death 

In November 1999, a referendum in Australia on the future of the Australian monarchy favoured its retention in preference to an indirectly elected head of state  Many republicans credited Elizabeth's personal popularity with the survival of the monarchy in Australia  In 2010, Prime Minister Julia Gillard noted that there was a "deep affection" for Elizabeth in Australia and that another referendum on the monarchy should wait until after her reign  Gillard's successor, Malcolm Turnbull, who led the republican campaign in 1999, similarly believed that Australians would not vote to become a republic in her lifetime  "She's been an extraordinary head of state", Turnbull said in 2021, "and I think frankly, in Australia, there are more Elizabethans than there are monarchists"  Similarly, referendums in both Tuvalu in 2008 and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in 2009 saw voters reject proposals to become republics Polls in Britain in 2006 and 2007 revealed strong support for the monarchy, and in 2012, Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee year, her approval ratings hit 90 per cent  Her family came under scrutiny again in the last few years of her life due to her son Andrew's association with convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre amidst accusations of sexual impropriety, and her grandson Harry and his wife Meghan's exit from the working royal family and subsequent move to the United States  Polling in Great Britain during the Platinum Jubilee, however, showed support for maintaining the monarchy and Elizabeth's personal popularity remained strong  As of 2021 she remained the third most admired woman in the world according to the annual Gallup poll, her 52 appearances on the list meaning she had been in the top ten more than any other woman in the poll's history Elizabeth was portrayed in a variety of media by many notable artists, including painters Pietro Annigoni, Peter Blake, Chinwe Chukwuogo-Roy, Terence Cuneo, Lucian Freud, Rolf Harris, Damien Hirst, Juliet Pannett and Tai-Shan Schierenberg  Notable photographers of Elizabeth included Cecil Beaton, Yousuf Karsh, Anwar Hussein, Annie Leibovitz, Lord Lichfield, Terry O'Neill, John Swannell and Dorothy Wilding  The first official portrait photograph of Elizabeth was taken by Marcus Adams in 1926 

Titles, styles, honours, and arms
Titles and styles
Elizabeth held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, was sovereign of many orders in her own countries and received honours and awards from around the world  In each of her realms, she had a distinct title that follows a similar formula: Queen of Saint Lucia and of Her other Realms and Territories in Saint Lucia, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and Territories in Australia, etc  In the Isle of Man, which is a Crown Dependency rather than a separate realm, she was known as Lord of Mann  Elizabeth was also styled Defender of the Faith 

Arms
From 21 April 1944 until her accession, Elizabeth's arms consisted of a lozenge bearing the royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom differenced with a label of three points argent, the centre point bearing a Tudor rose and the first and third a cross of St George  Upon her accession, she inherited the various arms her father held as sovereign  Elizabeth also possessed royal standards and personal flags for use in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, and elsewhere 

Issue
Ancestry
See also
Finances of the British royal family
Household of Elizabeth II
List of things named after Elizabeth II
List of jubilees of Elizabeth II
List of special addresses made by Elizabeth II
Royal eponyms in Canada
Royal descendants of Queen Victoria and of King Christian IX
List of covers of Time magazine (1920s), (1940s), (1950s), (2010s)

Notes
Passage 4:
Wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth
The wedding dress of Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) was worn at her wedding to Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh on 20 November 1947 in Westminster Abbey  Given the rationing of clothing at the time, she still had to purchase the material using ration coupons  The dress was designed by Norman Hartnell  Hartnell's signature was said to be embroidery, and he enjoyed "working with soft, floating fabrics, particularly tulle and chiffon, and with plain, lustrous silks"  The dress was made of Chinese silk, with a high neckline, tailored bodice and a short train  Without straps and with long sleeves, it provided a "fit and flare silhouette" 

Design
The wedding was a royal event held following the end of the Second World War  The dress, designed by the Court Designer Norman Hartnell, had a star-patterned fan-shaped bridal train that was 13 feet (4 0 m) in length  The train, symbolic of rebirth and growth after the war, was stated to be inspired by Botticelli's c  1482 painting of Primavera, particularly the elaborate embroidery motifs of scattered flowers on the rich satin dress and the tulle veil worn by the royal bride  The material used was ivory silk and a diamond fringe tiara secured her veil  The dress was decorated with crystals and 10,000 seed pearls, imported from the United States of America  Hartnell, who had been Court Designer since 1938, claimed it as "the most beautiful dress I had so far made" On account of the austerity measures following the war, Princess Elizabeth had to use clothing ration coupons to show her entitlement to the dress  The government allowed her 200 extra ration coupons  She was given hundreds of clothing coupons by brides-to-be from all parts of the country to help her acquire the dress  She had to return these coupons as it was illegal for them to have been given away in the first instance The designs for the dress were approved three months before the wedding  Hartnell's search for suitable designs in London art galleries had led to him to the Botticelli figure  This was the inspiration for the use of ivory silk with flower designs of jasmine, smilax, lilac and white rose-like blossoms added to the train, embellished by white crystals and pearls  These motifs were transferred to drawings to enable embroidery experts to work on them  The dress featured a "heart-shaped neckline and long tight sleeves" The silk cloth was chosen at the specific directive of her mother, the Queen, who desired an "unusually rich, lustrous stiff satin which was made at Lullingstone Castle"  The silkworms to manufacture the silk were bought from Nationalist China, and not from Japan and Fascist Italy, the UK's enemies during the war  Satin was chosen for the train, and a more flexible material of the same tone as the train was chosen for the dress  However, in spite of the careful choice of the silk, the curator of the London Museum observed 30 years later when the dress was on display at the museum that "the choice of silk was not a good one" as the fabric had deteriorated considerably due to being weighted with tin salts, effectively rotting the fabric  It was also noted that the "weight of the embroidery dragged the skirt down, increasing the strain on the weave " Round the hem of the dress, "a border of orange blossom was appliqued with transparent tulle outlined in seed pearls and crystal" The final design of the dress was kept secret, although much speculation surrounded it  It was said the princess feared that if details were published fashion house copies would make it impossible for her to make last-minute design alterations  The dress was taken to the palace a day before the wedding in a 4-foot (1 2 m) box  On the wedding day, the dress glittered, bejewelled with pearls "skilfully combined with flowing lines of wheat ears, the symbol of fertility, and worked in pearl and diamante "

Similarities
Princess Elizabeth's wedding dress has drawn parallels with both the similarly designed dress worn by Grace Kelly in 1956 and the "Westminster décor" wedding dress that Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen designed for Catherine Middleton; particular points of similarity have been highlighted in the pleats and silhouette of the skirt The dress was put on display at St James's Palace and was then exhibited in the major cities and towns of the UK 

See also
Coronation gown of Elizabeth II
List of individual dresses



ground_truth: Abu Ubaidah

prompt_front: Answer the question based on the given passages. Only give me the answer and do not output any other words.

Question: Who is the spouse of the current queen of England?

The following are given passages.
Context 4: 
Gauleiter Erich Koch delayed the evacuation of the German civilian population until the Eastern Front approached the East Prussian border in 1944  The population had been systematically misinformed by Endsieg Nazi propaganda about the real state of military affairs  As a result, many civilians fleeing westward were overtaken by retreating Wehrmacht units and the rapidly advancing Red Army 
Reports of Soviet atrocities in the Nemmersdorf massacre of October 1944 and organized rape spread fear and desperation among the civilians  Thousands lost their lives during the sinkings (by Soviet submarine) of the evacuation ships Wilhelm Gustloff, the Goya, and the General von Steuben  Königsberg surrendered on 9 April 1945, following the desperate four-day Battle of Königsberg  An estimated 300,000 died either in wartime bombing raids, in the battles to defend the province, or through mistreatment by the Red Army or from hunger, cold and disease However, most of the German inhabitants, which then consisted primarily of women, children and old men, did manage to escape the Red Army as part of the largest exodus of people in human history: "A population which had stood at 2 2 million in 1940 was reduced to 193,000 at the end of May 1945 "

History after partition and annexation
Following Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II in 1945, East Prussia was partitioned between Poland and the Soviet Union according to the Potsdam Conference, pending a final peace conference with Germany  Since a peace conference never took place, the region was effectively ceded by Germany  Southern East Prussia was placed under Polish administration, while northern East Prussia was divided between the Soviet republics of Russia (the Kaliningrad Oblast) and Lithuania (the constituent counties of the Klaipėda Region)  The city of Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946  Most of the German population of the province had left during the evacuation at the end of the war, but several hundreds of thousands died during the years 1944–46 and the remainder were subsequently expelled 

Expulsion of Germans from East Prussia after World War II
Shortly after the end of the war in May 1945, Germans who had fled in early 1945 tried to return to their homes in East Prussia  An estimated number of 800,000 Germans were living in East Prussia during the summer of 1945  Many more were prevented from returning, and the German population of East Prussia was almost completely expelled by the communist regimes  During the war and for some time thereafter 45 camps were established for about 200,000-250,000 forced labourers, the vast majority of whom were deported to the Soviet Union, including the Gulag camp system  The largest camp with about 48,000 inmates was established at Deutsch Eylau (Iława)  Orphaned children who were left behind in the zone occupied by the Soviet Union were referred to as Wolf children 

Southern East Prussia to Poland
Representatives of the Polish government officially took over the civilian administration of the southern part of East Prussia on 23 May 1945  Subsequently, Polish expatriates from Polish lands annexed by the Soviet Union as well as Ukrainians and Lemkos from southern Poland, expelled in Operation Vistula, were settled in the area, initially organised as the Masurian District, later replaced by the Olsztyn Voivodeship in 1947, with a few counties incorporated into Białystok Voivodeship and to Gdańsk Voivodeship  The latter counted in 1950 689,000 inhabitants, 22 6% of them coming from areas annexed by the Soviet Union, 10% Ukrainians, and 18 5% of them pre-war inhabitants  It was dissolved in 1975 to form three smaller units: a much smaller homonymous Olsztyn Voivodeship, the bulk of Elbląg Voivodeship and a significant part of the Suwałki Voivodeship 
The remaining pre-war population was treated as Germanized Poles and a policy of re-Polonization was pursued throughout the country Most of these "Autochthons" chose to emigrate to West Germany from the 1950s through 1980s (between 1970 and 1988 55,227 persons from Warmia and Masuria moved to Western Germany)  Local toponyms were Polonised by the Polish Commission for the Determination of Place Names 

Origin of the post-war population
During the Polish post-war census of December 1950, data about the pre-war places of residence of the inhabitants as of August 1939 was collected  In case of children born between September 1939 and December 1950, their origin was reported based on the pre-war places of residence of their mothers  Thanks to this data it is possible to reconstruct the pre-war geographical origin of the post-war population  The same area corresponding to pre-war southern parts of East Prussia (which became Polish in 1945) was inhabited in December 1950 by:

Over 80% of the 1950 inhabitants were new in the region, less than 20% had resided in the province already back in 1939 (so called autochthons, who had German citizenship before World War II and were granted Polish citizenship after 1945)  Over 20% of all inhabitants were Poles expelled from areas of Eastern Poland annexed by the USSR  The rest were mostly people from neighbouring areas located right next to East Prussia (almost 44% came from Masovia, Sudovia, Podlachia and pre-war Polish Pomerania) and southern Poland (≈16%) 

Northern part to the Soviet Union
In April 1946, northern East Prussia became an official province of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic as the "Kyonigsbergskaya Oblast", with the Memel Territory becoming part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic  In June 1946 114,070 German and 41,029 Soviet citizens were registered in the Oblast, with an unknown number of disregarded unregistered persons  In July of that year, the historic city of Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad to honour Mikhail Kalinin and the area named the Kaliningrad Oblast  Between 24 August and 26 October 1948 21 transports with in total 42,094 Germans left the Oblast to the Soviet Occupation Zone (which became East Germany)  The last remaining Germans left in November 1949 (1,401 persons) and January 1950 (7 persons) The Prussian Lithuanians also experienced the same fate 
A similar fate befell the Curonians who lived in the area around the Curonian Lagoon  While many fled from the Red Army during the evacuation of East Prussia, Curonians that remained behind were subsequently expelled by the Soviet Union  Only 219 lived along the Curonian Spit in 1955  Many had German names such as Fritz or Hans, a cause for anti-German discrimination  The Soviet authorities considered the Curonians fascists  Because of this discrimination, many immigrated to West Germany in 1958, where the majority of Curonians now live 
After the expulsion of the German population ethnic Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians were settled in the northern part  In the Soviet part of the region, a policy of eliminating all remnants of German history was pursued  All German place names were replaced by new Russian names  The exclave was a military zone, which was closed to foreigners; Soviet citizens could only enter with special permission  In 1967 the remnants of Königsberg Castle were demolished on the orders of Leonid Brezhnev to make way for a new "House of the Soviets" 

Modern status
Although the 1945–1949 expulsion of Germans from the northern part of former East Prussia was often conducted in a violent and aggressive way by Soviet officials, the present Russian inhabitants of the Kaliningrad Oblast have much less animosity towards Germans  German names have been revived in commercial Russian trade and there is sometimes talk of reverting Kaliningrad's name to its historical name of Königsberg  The city centre of Kaliningrad was completely rebuilt, as Royal Air Force bombs in 1944 and the Soviet siege in 1945 had left it in ruins 
Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, some German groups have tried to help settle the Volga Germans from eastern parts of European Russia in the Kaliningrad Oblast  This effort was only a minor success, however, as most impoverished Volga Germans preferred to emigrate to the richer Federal Republic of Germany, where they could become German citizens through the right of return 
The Polish part of the region, divided in 1975 to form three units: the Olsztyn Voivodeship, the Elbląg Voivodeship, and the Suwałki Voivodeship, has been reestablished as a single entity in 1999 under the name of Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, whose borders correspond closely to those of southern East Prussia  Since 2004, Poland and Lithuania have become European Union member states, and both the Polish part of the region as well as the Lithuanian Klaipėda Region, has thereafter become freely accessible by Germans, in line with the free movement of people policy 

Demographics
Historical ethnic and religious structure
In year 1824, shortly before its merger with West Prussia, the population of East Prussia was 1,080,000 people  Of that number, according to Karl Andree, ethnic Germans were slightly more than half, while 280,000 (≈26%) were ethnically Polish and 200,000 (≈19%) were ethnically Lithuanian  As of year 1819, there were also 20,000 strong ethnic Curonian and Latvian minorities as well as 2,400 Jews, according to Georg Hassel  Similar numbers are given by August von Haxthausen in his 1839 book, with a breakdown by county  However, the majority of East Prussian Polish and Lithuanian inhabitants were Lutherans, not Roman Catholics like their ethnic kinsmen across the border in the Russian Empire  Only in Southern Warmia (German: Ermland) Catholic Poles - so called Warmiaks (not to be confused with predominantly Protestant Masurians) - comprised the majority of population, numbering 26,067 people (≈81%) in county Allenstein (Polish: Olsztyn) in 1837  Another minority in 19th century East Prussia, were ethnically Russian Old Believers, also known as Philipponnen - their main town was Eckersdorf (Wojnowo) In year 1817, East Prussia had 796,204 Evangelical Christians, 120,123 Roman Catholics, 864 Mennonites and 2,389 Jews 

Ethnolinguistic composition by district
As of 1905, the province of East Prussia was divided into three government regions, known as Regierungsbezirke  These were the regions of Königsberg, Gumbinnen and Allenstein 

Administration
The Prussian central government appointed for every province an Oberpräsident ("Upper President") carrying out central prerogatives on the provincial level and supervising the implementation of central policy on the lower levels of administration 
Since 1875, with the strengthening of self-rule, the urban and rural districts (Kreise) within each province (sometimes within each governorate) formed a corporation with common tasks and assets (schools, traffic installations, hospitals, cultural institutions, jails etc ) called the Provinzialverband (provincial association)  Initially the assemblies of the urban and rural districts elected representatives for the provincial diets (Provinziallandtage), which were thus indirectly elected  As of 1919 the provincial diets (or as to governorate diets, the so-called Kommunallandtage) were directly elected by the citizens of the provinces (or governorates, respectively)  These parliaments legislated within the competences transferred to the provincial associations  The provincial diet of East Prussia elected a provincial executive body (government), the provincial committee (Provinzialausschuss), and a head of province, the Landeshauptmann ("Land Captain"; till the 1880s titled Landdirektor, land director) 

Upper Presidents of East Prussia and Prussia
1765–1791: Johann Friedrich von Domhardt, president of the Gumbinnen and Königsberg War and Demesnes Chambers
1791–1808: Friedrich Leopold von Schrötter, president of the Gumbinnen and Königsberg War and Demesnes Chambers, as of 1795 Minister for East and New East Prussia
1808–1814: vacancy?
1814–1824: Hans Jakob von Auerswald, upper president of East Prussia
1824–1842: Heinrich Theodor von Schön, upper president of Prussia, merged from East and West Prussia, since 1816 already upper president of West Prussia
1842–1848: Carl Wilhelm von Bötticher, upper president of Prussia
1848–1849: Rudolf von Auerswald, upper president of Prussia
1849–1850: Eduard Heinrich von Flottwell (1786–1865), upper president of Prussia
1850–1868: Franz August Eichmann, upper president of Prussia
1868–1869: vacancy
1869–1882: Carl Wilhelm Heinrich Georg von Horn, upper president of Prussia, after 1878 of East Prussia
1882–1891: Albrecht Heinrich von Schlieckmann, upper president of East Prussia
1891–1895: Count Udo zu Stolberg-Wernigerode, upper president of East Prussia
1895–1901: Count Wilhelm von Bismarck-Schönhausen, upper president of East Prussia
1901–1903: Hugo Samuel von Richthofen, upper president of East Prussia
1903–1907: Count Friedrich von Moltke, upper president of East Prussia
1907–1914: Ludwig von Windheim, upper president of East Prussia
1914–1916: Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe, upper president of East Prussia
1916–1918: Friedrich von Berg, upper president of East Prussia
1918–1919: Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe, upper president of East Prussia
1919–1920: August Winnig (SPD), upper president of East Prussia
1920–1932: Ernst Siehr (DDP), upper president of East Prussia
1932–1933: Wilhelm Kutscher (DNVP), upper president of East Prussia
1933–1945: Erich Koch (NSDAP), upper president of East Prussia

Elections to the provincial diets
Land Directors and Land Captains of East Prussia
1876–1878: Heinrich Edwin Rickert (NLP, later DFP), titled land director
1878–1884: Kurt von Saucken-Tarputschen (Fortschritt, later DFP), titled land director
1884–1888: Alfred von Gramatzki (DKP), titled land director
1888–1896: Klemens von Stockhausen, titled land director
1896–1909: Rudolf von Brandt, titled land captain
1909–1916: Friedrich von Berg, titled land captain
1916–1928: Manfred Graf von Brünneck-Bellschwitz, titled land captain
1928–1936: Paul Blunk, titled land captain
1936–1941: Helmuth von Wedelstädt (NSDAP), titled land captain
1941–1945: vacancy
1941–1945: Reinhard Bezzenberger, first land councillor, per pro

Cities and towns
See also
Drang nach Osten
Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen
East Prussian Regional Museum
Ostsiedlung

Explanatory notes
Citations
General bibliography
Publications in EnglishBaedeker, Karl, Northern Germany, 14th revised edition, London, 1904 
Beevor, Antony (2002)  "chapters 1-8"  Berlin: The Downfall 1945  Penguin Books  ISBN 0-670-88695-5  Archived from the original on 5 February 2006  Retrieved 6 May 2006  (on the years 1944/45)
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, " Nemesis at Potsdam"  London, 1977  ISBN 0-8032-4910-1 
Alfred-Maurice de Zayas, A Terrible Revenge: The Ethnic Cleansing of the East European Germans, 1944-1950, 1994, ISBN 0-312-12159-8
Carsten, F  L  "East Prussia"  History 33#119 (1948), pp  241–246  JSTOR 24402359  Historiography of medieval and early modern period 
Dickie, Reverend J F , with E Compton, Germany, A & C Black, London, 1912 
Douglas, R M : Orderly and Humane  The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War  Yale University Press, 2012  ISBN 978-0300166606 
von Treitschke, Heinrich, History of Germany - vol 1: The Wars of Emancipation, (translated by E & C Paul), Allen & Unwin, London, 1915 
Powell, E  Alexander, Embattled Borders, London, 1928 
Prausser, Steffen and Rees, Arfon: The Expulsion of the "German" Communities from Eastern Europe at the End of the Second World War  Florence, Italy, European University Institute, 2004 
Naimark, Norman: Fires of Hatred  Ethnic Cleansing in Twentieth-Century Europe  Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 2001 
Steed, Henry Wickham, Vital Peace - A Study of Risks, Constable & Co , London, 1936 
Newman, Bernard, Danger Spots of Europe, London, 1938 
Wieck, Michael: A Childhood Under Hitler and Stalin: Memoirs of a "Certified Jew", University of Wisconsin Press, 2003, ISBN 0-299-18544-3 
Woodward, E L , Butler, Rohan; Medlicott, W N , Dakin, Douglas, & Lambert, M E , et al  (editors), Documents on British Foreign Policy 1919-1939, Three Series, Her Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO), London, numerous volumes published over 25 years  Cover the Versailles Treaty including all secret meetings; plebiscites and all other problems in Europe; includes all diplomatic correspondence from all states 
Previté-Orton, C W , Professor, The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History, Cambridge University Press, 1952 (2 volumes) 
Balfour, Michael, and John Mair, Four-Power Control in Germany and Austria 1945-1946, Oxford University Press, 1956 
Kopelev, Lev, To Be Preserved Forever, ("Хранить вечно"), 1976 
Koch, H W , Professor, A History of Prussia, Longman, London, 1978/1984, (P/B), ISBN 0-582-48190-2
Koch, H W , Professor, A Constitutional History of Germany in the 19th and 20th Centuries, Longman, London, 1984, (P/B), ISBN 0-582-49182-7
MacDonogh, Giles, Prussia, Sinclair-Stevenson, London, 1994, ISBN 1-85619-267-9
Nitsch, Gunter, Weeds Like Us, AuthorHouse, 2006, ISBN 978-1-4259-6755-0
Denny, Isabel (2007)  The fall of Hitler's fortress city : the battle of Konigsberg, 1945  Havertown, Penn : Casemate  ISBN 978-1-61200-058-9  OCLC 783289112 
Tooze, Adam (2006)  The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy  New York: Viking  ISBN 978-0-670-03826-8 Publications in GermanB  Schumacher: Geschichte Ost- und Westpreussens, Würzburg 1959
Boockmann, Hartmut: Ostpreußen und Westpreußen (= Deutsche Geschichte im Osten Europas)  Siedler, Berlin 1992, ISBN 3-88680-212-4
Buxa, Werner and Hans-Ulrich Stamm: Bilder aus Ostpreußen
Dönhoff, Marion Gräfin v  :Namen die keiner mehr nennt - Ostpreußen, Menschen und Geschichte
Dönhoff, Marion Gräfin v : Kindheit in Ostpreussen
Falk, Lucy:  Ich Blieb in Königsberg  Tagebuchblätter aus dunklen Nachkriegsjahren
Kibelka, Ruth:  Ostpreußens Schicksaljahre, 1945-1948
Bernd, Martin (1998)  Masuren, Mythos und Geschichte  Karlsruhe: Evangelische Akademie Baden  ISBN 83-85135-93-6 
Nitsch, Gunter: "Eine lange Flucht aus Ostpreußen", Ellert & Richter Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-8319-0438-9
Wieck, Michael: Zeugnis vom Untergang Königsbergs: Ein "Geltungsjude" berichtet, Heidelberger Verlaganstalt, 1990, 1993, ISBN 3-89426-059-9 Publications in FrenchPierre Benoît, Axelle
Georges Blond, L'Agonie de l'Allemagne
Michel Tournier, Le Roi des aulnesPublications in PolishK  Piwarski (1946)  Dzieje Prus Wschodnich w czasach nowożytnych  Gdańsk 
Gerard Labuda, ed  (1969–2003)  "Historia Pomorza", vol  I–IV  Poznań 
collective work (1958–61)  "Szkice z dziejów Pomorza", vol  1–3  Warszawa 
Andreas Kossert (2009)  PRUSY WSCHODNIE, Historia i mit  Warszawa  ISBN 978-83-7383-354-8 

External links
Pictures of East Prussia Large archive
Brandenburg Prince-Electors co-inheritors 1568, co-regent 1577
East Prussia FAQ
Extensive East & West Prussian Historical Materials Archived 14 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in English and German)
East and West Prussia Gazetteer
Provinz Ostpreußen (in German)
Ostpreußen net (in German)
Ostpreußen Info – East Prussia Information (in German)
East- and West Prussia in Photos
Spuren der Vergangenheit / Следы Пρошлого (Traces of the past) This site by W A  Milowskij, a Kaliningrad resident, contains hundreds of interesting photos, often with text explanations, of architectural and infrastructural artifacts of the territory's long German past (in German and Russian)
German Empire: Province of East Prussia (in German)
"East Prussia"   Encyclopædia Britannica  Vol  8 (11th ed )  1911 
Britannica 2007 article
Growing up in East Prussia An oral history project, documenting the German history of East Prussia with memories and reports by contemporary witnesses (in German and Polish)
East & West Prussia Map Collection
Historical borders of East Prussia (in German)
Passage 7:
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (Russian: Дальний Восток России) is a region in Northeast Asia  It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is administered as part of the Far Eastern Federal District, which is located between Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia and the Pacific Ocean  The area's largest city is Khabarovsk, followed by Vladivostok  The region shares land borders with the countries of Mongolia, China, and North Korea to its south, as well as maritime boundaries with Japan to its southeast, and with the United States along the Bering Strait to its northeast  
Although the Russian Far East is often considered as a part of Siberia abroad, it has been historically categorized separately from Siberia in Russian regional schemes (and previously during the Soviet era when it was called the Soviet Far East) 

Terminology
In Russia, the region is usually referred to as just "Far East" (Дальний Восток - Dal'niy Vostok)  What is known in English as the Far East is usually referred to as "the Asia-Pacific Region" (Азиатско-тихоокеанский регион - Aziatsko-tikhookeanskiy region, abbreviated to АТР - ATR), or "East Asia" (Восточная Азия - Vostochnaya Aziya), depending on the context 

Geographical features
Beyenchime-Salaatin crater
Klyuchevskaya Sopka volcano
Kuril–Kamchatka Trench
Lake Baikal

Fauna
Order Galliformes
Family Tetraonidae
Hazel grouse
Siberian grouse
Black grouse
Black-billed capercaillie
Willow ptarmigan
Rock ptarmigan

Family Phasianidae
Daurian partridge
Japanese quail
Ring-necked pheasant

Order Artiodactyla
Sika deer
Snow sheep
Caribou
Elk
Wild boar
Siberian roe deer
Manchurian wapiti
Siberian musk deer

Order Carnivora
Family Canidae
Eurasian wolf
Tundra wolf
Arctic fox
Red fox

Family Felidae
Amur leopard
Siberian tiger

Family Ursidae
Ussuri black bear
Eurasian brown bear
East Siberian brown bear
Kamchatka brown bear
Ussuri brown bear
Polar bear

Flora
Picea obovata
Pinus pumila
Alnus japonica

History
Russian expansion
Russians reached the Pacific coast in 1647 with the establishment of Okhotsk, and the Russian Empire consolidated its control over the Russian Far East in the 19th century, after the annexation of part of Chinese Manchuria (1858-1860)  Primorskaya Oblast was established as a separate administrative division of the Russian Empire in 1856, with its administrative center at Khabarovsk 

Administrative history
Several entities with the name "Far East" existed in the first half of the 20th century, all with rather different boundaries:

1920–1922: the Far Eastern Republic, which included Transbaikal, Amur, Primorskaya, and Kamchatka Oblasts and northern Sakhalin;
1922–1926: Far-Eastern Oblast, which included Amur, Transbaikal and Kamchatka Guberniyas and others;
1926–1938: Far-Eastern Krai, which included the present-day Primorsky and Khabarovsk Krais Until 2000 the Russian Far East lacked officially-defined boundaries   A single term "Siberia and the Far East" (Сибирь и Дальний Восток) often referred to Russia's regions east of the Urals without drawing a clear distinction between "Siberia" and "the Far East" 
In 2000 Russia's federal subjects were grouped into larger federal districts, one of which, the Far Eastern Federal District, comprised Amur Oblast, the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Kamchatka Oblast with the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, Khabarovsk Krai, Magadan Oblast, Primorsky Krai, the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic, and Sakhalin Oblast  In November 2018 Zabaykalsky Krai and the Republic of Buryatia were added they had previously formed part of the Siberian Federal District  Since 2000, Russians have increasingly used the term "Far East" to refer to the federal district, though the term is often also used more loosely 
Defined by the boundaries of the federal district, the Far East has an area of 6 2 million square kilometres (2,400,000 sq mi)—over one-third of Russia's total area 

Russo-Japanese War
Russia in the early 1900s persistently sought a warm-water port on the Pacific Ocean for the Imperial Russian Navy as well as to facilitate maritime trade  The recently-established Pacific seaport of Vladivostok (founded in 1860) was operational only during the summer season, but Port Arthur (leased by Russia from China from 1896 onwards) in Manchuria could operate all year  After the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895) and the failure of the 1903 negotiations between Japan and the Tsar Nicholas II's government, Japan chose war to protect its domination of Korea and adjacent territories  Russia, meanwhile, saw war as a means of distracting its populace from government repression and of rallying patriotism in the aftermath of several general strikes  Japan issued a declaration of war on 8 February 1904  However, three hours before Japan's declaration of war was received by the Russian government, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the Russian 1st Pacific Squadron at Port Arthur  Eight days later Russia declared war on Japan 
The war ended in September 1905 with a Japanese victory following the fall of Port Arthur and the failed Russian invasion of Japan through the Korean Peninsula and Northeast China; also, Japan had threatened to invade Primorsky Krai via Korea  The warring parties signed the Treaty of Portsmouth on 5 September 1905, and both Japan and Russia agreed to evacuate Manchuria and to return its sovereignty to China, but Japan was allowed to lease the Liaodong Peninsula (containing Port Arthur and Talien, aka Kwantung Leased Territory), and the Russian rail system in southern Manchuria with its access to strategic resources  Japan also received the southern half of the island of Sakhalin from Russia  In 1907 Japan forced Russia to confiscate land from Korean settlers (who formed the majority of Primorsky Krai's population) due to a fear of an invasion of Korea and of the ousting of Japanese troops by Korean guerrillas 

Soviet era
Between 1937 and 1939, the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin deported over 200,000 Koreans to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, fearing that the Koreans might act as spies for Japan  Many Koreans died on the way in cattle trains due to starvation, illness, or freezing conditions  Soviet authorities purged and executed many community leaders; Koryo-saram were not allowed to travel outside of Central Asia for the next 15 years  Koreans were also not allowed to use the Korean language and its use began to become lost with the involvement of the Koryo-mar dialect and the use of Russian 
Development of numerous remote locations in the Soviet Far East relied on Gulag labour camps during Stalin's rule, especially in the region's northern half  After the death of Stalin in 1953 the large-scale use of forced labour waned and was superseded by volunteer employees attracted by relatively high wages 

Soviet–Japanese conflicts
During the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the Soviets occupied Bolshoy Ussuriysky Island, Yinlong Island, and several adjacent islets to separate the city of Khabarovsk from the territory controlled by a possibly hostile power Indeed, Japan turned its military attention to Soviet territories  Conflicts between the Japanese and the Soviets frequently happened on the border of Manchuria between 1938 and 1945  The first confrontation occurred in Primorsky Krai, the Battle of Lake Khasan (July–August 1938) involved an attempted military incursion of Japanese-controlled Manchukuo into territory claimed by the Soviet Union  This incursion was founded in the beliefs of the Japanese side that the Soviet Union had misinterpreted the demarcation of the boundary based on the 1860 Treaty of Peking between Imperial Russia and Manchu China  Primorsky Krai was always threatened by a Japanese invasion despite the fact that most of the remaining clashes occurred in Manchukuo 
The clashes ended shortly before and after the conclusion of World War II (see Soviet–Japanese War) when a war-weakened Japan found its territories of Manchukuo, Mengjiang, Korea, and South Sakhalin invaded by Soviet and Mongolian troops (August 1945) 

World War II
Both the Soviet Union and Japan regarded the Primorsky Krai as a strategic location in World War II, and clashes over the territory were common  The Soviets and the other Allies considered it a key location for the planned invasion of Japan through Korea; Japan viewed it as a key location to begin a mass invasion of Eastern Russia  The Primorsky Krai served as the Soviet Union's Pacific headquarters in the war to plan an invasion for allied troops of Korea in order to reach Japan 
After the Soviet invasion, the USSR returned Manchukuo and Mengjiang to China; Korea became liberated  The Soviet Union also occupied and annexed Japan's Kuril Islands and southern Sakhalin  The planned Soviet invasion of Japan proper never happened 

Cold War
During the Korean War, Primorsky Krai became the site of extreme security concern for the Soviet Union 
Vladivostok became the site of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks in 1974  At the time, the Soviet Union and the United States decided quantitative limits on various nuclear weapons systems and banned the construction of new land-based ICBM launchers  Vladivostok and other cities in Primorsky Krai soon became closed cities because of the bases of the Soviet Pacific Fleet 
Incursions of American reconnaissance aircraft from Alaska sometimes happened  Concerns of the Soviet military caused the infamous Korean Air Lines Flight 007 incident in 1983 

Russian Federation
Russian Homestead Act
In 2016, President Vladimir Putin proposed the Russian Homestead Act to populate the Russian Far East 

Demographics
Population
According to the 2010 Census, Far Eastern Federal District had a population of 6,293,129 
Most of it is concentrated in the southern parts   Given the vast territory of the Russian Far East, 6 3 million people translates to slightly less than one person per square kilometer, making the Russian Far East one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world   The population of the Russian Far East has been rapidly declining since the dissolution of the Soviet Union (even more so than for Russia in general), dropping by 14% in the last fifteen years   The Russian government had been discussing a range of re-population programs to avoid the forecast drop to 4 5 million people by 2015, hoping to attract in particular the remaining Russian population of the near abroad but eventually agreeing on a program to resettle Ukrainian Illegal immigrants 
Ethnic Russians and Ukrainians make up the majority of the population 

Cities
75% of the population is urban   The largest cities are:

Vladivostok
Khabarovsk
Ulan-Ude
Chita
Komsomolsk-on-Amur
Blagoveshchensk
Yakutsk
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky
Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Nakhodka
Ussuriysk

Traditional ethnic groups
The original population groups of the Russian Far East include (grouped by language group):

Mongolic: Buryats
Turkic: Sakha
Eskimo–Aleut: Aleuts, Siberian Yupiks (Yuits)
Chukotko-Kamchatkan: Chukchi, Koryaks, Alutors, Kereks, Itelmens
Tungusic: Evenks, Evens, Nanais, Orochs, Ul'ch, Udegey, Orok, Manchus
Isolate: Yukaghirs, Nivkhs, Ainus

Transportation
The region was not connected with the rest of Russia via domestic highways until the M58 highway was completed in 2010 
Uniquely for Russia, most cars have right-hand drive (73% of all cars in the region), though traffic still flows on the right-hand side of the road 
Railways are better developed  The Trans-Siberian Railway and Baikal–Amur Mainline (since 1984) provide a connection with Siberia (and the rest of the country)  The Amur–Yakutsk Mainline is aimed to link the city of Yakutsk to the Russian railway network  Passenger trains connect to Nizhny Bestyakh as of 2013 
Like in nearby Siberia, for many remote localities, aviation is the main mode of transportation to/from civilisation, but the infrastructure is often poor 
Maritime transport is also important for delivering supplies to localities at (or near) the Pacific and Arctic coasts, and for shipping exports, especially oil, gas and ores 

See also
Bering Strait
Far North (Russia)
Kolyma
List of Russian explorers
Russian Manchuria

Footnotes
Bibliography
Beer, Daniel  The house of the dead: Siberian exile under the tsars (Vintage, 2017) 
Bobrick, Benson/ East of the Sun: the Epic Conquest and Tragic History of Siberia, (NY: Poseidon Press, 1992)
Forsyth, James  History of the Peoples of Siberia, (Cambridge: University Press 1992)
Glebov, Sergei  "Center, Periphery, and Diversity in the Late Imperial Far East: New Historiography of a Russian Region " Ab Imperio 2019 3 (2019): 265–278 
Hartley, Janet M  Siberia, A History of the People, (New Haven: Yale University Press 2014)
Haywood, A J  Siberia: A Cultural History, (Oxford UP, 2010)
Monahan, Erika  The merchants of Siberia: Trade in early modern Eurasia (Cornell UP, 2016) 
Naumov, Igor  History of Siberia, (London: Routledge, 2006)
Reid, Anna  The Shaman's Coat: A Native History of Siberia, (NY: Walker & Comp , 2002)
Stolberg  Eva-Maria  (ed ), Siberian Saga: a History of Russia's Wild East, (2005)
Vajda (ed ),  Edward J Languages and Prehistory of Central Siberia, (Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2004)
Wood, Alan  The History of Siberia, (London: Rutledge, 1991)
Wood, Alan    Russian Far East 1581 -1991, (London:  Bloomsbury Academic, 2011)

External links

Meeting of Frontiers: Siberia, Alaska, and the American West (includes materials on Russian Far East)
Дальневосточный федеральный округ at WGEO



ground_truth: Philip Mountbatten