title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Hamm signed onto the film before he was even given an official offer or script. In September 2018, Manny Jacinto joined the cast. In October 2018, Kara Wang, Jack Schumacher, Greg Tarzan Davis, Jake Picking, Raymond Lee, Jean Louisa Kelly and Lyliana Wray joined the cast; Wray replaced McKenzie who dropped out of the film after signing onto "Lost Girls" (2020). In November 2018, Chelsea Harris joined the cast. Kelly McGillis, Meg Ryan and Aaron and Adam Weis, who each appeared in the original film, were not asked to appear in the sequel.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: According to an interview with "Vanity Fair", Lewis Hamilton was offered a fighter pilot role since he has a close friendship with Cruise but turned down the offer due to his Formula One commitments.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: To create the illusion that the actors were actually piloting the jets during flying scenes, the producers paid the Navy $11,374 per flight hour for F/A-18E (single seat) and F/A-18F (dual seat) Super Hornets and pilots to fly them. For external shots, real navy pilots flew the E version. For shots of the actors in flight, the F version was used with the actual pilot in the front seat. At least one F/A-18F was rigged with special cameras to film an actor in the back seat. Cruise designed a unique three-month "boot camp" to train the actors with flying roles to get them used to aerobatics and high g-forces, and to build the spatial awareness they would need to operate the camera equipment. Some of the training was required by the Navy for passengers in tactical jets, including underwater evacuation. Barbaro said the cast endured aerobatics riding in the Extra 300L flown by Chuck Coleman, including right before flights in the F/A-18F, to ensure their bodies had the required tolerance. The actors also had to learn lighting, cinematography, and editing to properly run the cameras, because, as Bruckheimer put it, "when they're up in the jet they have to direct themselves essentially."


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Preliminary production on the film officially started on May 30, 2018, in San Diego, California. The crew filmed aerial shots at Naval Air Station Fallon. During late August, a 15-person film crew from Paramount and Bruckheimer Films were aboard the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier to shoot flight deck operations. In mid-February 2019, Cruise and the production crew were sighted on board at NAS North Island. In March, filming in the Cascade Mountains was completed at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Oak Harbor, Washington, where routes were scouted by helicopter and the L-39 before filming the F/A-18s. On June 19, 2019, Miles Teller revealed in an interview that he had finished filming two days earlier. Principal photography was scheduled until April 15, 2019, in San Diego, Lemoore, China Lake, Chico, and Lake Tahoe in California; Seattle, Washington; and Patuxent River, Maryland. The low-pass scene with Ed Harris filmed at China Lake involved flying a Blue Angels plane at less than around , which on the 20th and last pass resulted in guard shack roof flying off held only by romex cable. The post-production and editing works were supervised by Kosinski, at his home during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The film was shot in IMAX format using IMAX-certified Sony Venice 6K Full Frame cameras. Kosinski explained that the team spent more than a year with Navy forces to use the IMAX cameras inside the cockpit, with four cameras facing toward the actors and two facing forward, in addition to cameras mounted all over the exteriors of the aircraft. He explained that "the audience should feel the authenticity, strain, speed and gravitational forces, something that cannot be achieved through soundstage or visual effects, which needed a tremendous amount of effort and work." NAVAIR engineers utilized wind tunnel testing and computer modeling to properly rig cameras to the aircraft to withstand the speeds and g-forces sustained during maneuvering and carrier landings while maintaining safety in the event of ejection. The crew shot the aerial footage outside the F/A-18s with gimbal-stabilized cameras on three different platforms: a nose-mounted rig on one of two modified Aero L-39 Albatros that could film at and 3 "g", nose- and tail-mounted cameras on an Embraer Phenom 300, and a nose-mounted rig on an Airbus AS350 helicopter. More than 800 hours of aerial footage was shot for the film, exceeding the combined footage shot for the films in the "Lord of The Rings" trilogy.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The old military bar was constructed in the beach side in Los Angeles. The steel structure was assembled off-site for visual inspection, then dismantled and re-built on set.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: For most of the planes, including the F/A-18E/F, the production crew acquired 20 working aircraft from all over the country. Hindle said that Kosinski had made specifications for every detail to be designed, including the helmets, suits, props and several others.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The fictional "Darkstar" aircraft was designed with the assistance of engineers from Lockheed Martin and its Skunk Works division. A full-scale mockup of the aircraft was built and filmed at China Lake. Kosinski said "The reason we approached Skunk Works is because I wanted to make the most realistic hypersonic aircraft we possibly could. In fact, as you saw, we built it full-scale in cooperation with them. But the reason it looks so real is because it was the engineers from Skunk Works who helped us design it. So those are the same people who are working on real aircraft who helped us design Darkstar for this film." Lockheed explicitly denied that Darkstar is related to the uncrewed Lockheed Martin SR-72, which the company has never confirmed as existing.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Production designer Jeremy Hindle stated that using the F-14 Tomcat from the first film was difficult, as "There are no F-14s that fly because they [have been decommissioned in the U.S.] and all the engines have been taken out of them." He also added that they were not able to use the active F-14 Tomcats present in Iran, the only other country that acquired the aircraft, due to sanctions. The country is also the main reason why the U.S. scuttled or disabled its vast F-14 fleet once they were retired (in order to prevent the illicit export of spare parts). With help from the Navy the production team secured one F-14A from the San Diego Air & Space Museum in California. Hindle described further challenges, including dismantling and shipping the plane's components, and making the aircraft as functional as possible, though still without engines.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In an interview with aviation YouTuber C.W. Lemoine, one of the VFX artists on the special effects team, Fred Lyn, stated that the use of CGI was extensive in the film with the F-14 and Su-57 visualized entirely by computer. Lyn also stated that the F/A-18 scenes predominantly involved a single jet, which was then put through CGI to create the dogfight training scenes that depicted multiple jets. The four-jet strike force at the end of the film was also created through CGI from a single F/A-18.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The film's 700 VFX shots were created by four studios, with Method Studios completing a majority of the work in conjunction with MPC, Lola VFX, and Blind LTD. Previs was carried out by Intelligent Species. Production VFX Supervisor Ryan Tudhope coordinated the integration of various VFX components used in the film. Skywalker Sound worked on sound design and temp mixing for the film. They were tasked with creating aviation sound effects, working closely with GE Aviation, a jet engine manufacturer out of Cincinnati. With final sound editing and mixing handled by London-based Soundbyte Studios and Twickenham Film Studios, which the mix was completed in Dolby Atmos and IMAX during the middle of the pandemic. Recording mixers Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor worked in two theaters with different audio configurations to complete the mixes, which took place from June–July 2020.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Following his treatment and operation for throat cancer, Val Kilmer lost his ability to speak effectively. In 2021, he worked with Sonantic, a UK-based software company that specializes in voice synthesis, to digitally recreate his voice using AI technology and archived audio recordings of his voice. The collaboration with Sonantic led to a successful vocal model program that Kilmer could apply in future projects. For "Top Gun: Maverick", however, this technology was not used. Director Joseph Kosinski clarified in an interview that they used Kilmer's actual voice, digitally altering it to enhance clarity.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Footage from the original film was used in a scene where Maverick watches Rooster playing "Great Balls of Fire" on the piano, invoking memories of Goose's family and death. The footage was used as a flashback, which was not planned in the original script; Kosinski introduced the idea during the film editing phase to help explain the characters' relationship and to deepen the emotional conflicts involved.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: "Top Gun" composer Harold Faltermeyer reprised his role, being joined by Lady Gaga, OneRepublic, and Hans Zimmer. The soundtrack was produced by Lorne Balfe. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 2022, through Interscope Records. It was promoted by two singles, "Hold My Hand" by Lady Gaga and "I Ain't Worried" by OneRepublic. From the first film, the score also incorporates elements of the original ""Top Gun" Anthem", and the song "Danger Zone", composed by Giorgio Moroder and sung by Kenny Loggins.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The film's first teaser trailer premiered during a surprise appearance by Cruise at the 2019 San Diego Comic Con on July 18, 2019. The first trailer received high praise from fans, with many lauding the return of the series and some comparing it to "". "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that some fans noticed that the flag of the Republic of China (the flag used by the government of the Republic of China based on the island of Taiwan) and the Flag of Japan were missing from the flight jacket of Cruise's character and accused Paramount of removing it to appease China-based co-financier Tencent Pictures. However, the Republic of China and Japanese flags were later restored, as Tencent would end up pulling out of the production, leading to them being uncredited in the final film. The second trailer was released in December 2019, and a new Snapchat filter for the film was introduced by Paramount, to engage "young-generation audiences".


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In February 2020, toy manufacturer Matchbox (owned by Mattel) announced that they were releasing a series of "Top Gun" die-cast models and products, including the F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and the P-51 Mustang, as well as role play items. They were scheduled for public release on June 1, 2020, despite the delayed theatrical release. In June 2020, plastic model manufacturer Revell released a series of 1/48 scale "Top Gun" plastic models, including an F-14A Tomcat and an F/A-18E Super Hornet based upon the aircraft in the movie. These are versions of previous Revell offerings with modified decals and markings. In July 2020, Hasbro announced a "Top Gun"-themed Transformers toy, "Maverick", which was released later in the year. Hasbro later re-released the toy as a Walmart exclusive to tie into the film's final release date.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: On August 26, 2021, the first 13 minutes of the film were previewed at CinemaCon along with a new trailer with Tom Cruise marking his presence virtually at the event. In January 2022, CBS Sports released a new clip from the film, coinciding with the final match of Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals on AFC Championship. In February 2022, the final trailer of the film tied to Porsche was aired before Super Bowl LVI. In April 2022, Project ACES, the developers of the "Ace Combat" series, announced the release of an aircraft collaboration DLC for "" with "Top Gun: Maverick", released on May 26, one day before the film's release. A free expansion based on "Top Gun Maverick" was also released for "Microsoft Flight Simulator" on the same day, containing the F/A-18E/F Superhornet and fictional "Darkstar" planes as playable aircraft. An interactive website was also launched on the same month. On May 23, Cruise collaborated with "The Late Late Show" host James Corden for recreating a fighter sequence as a part of promotions.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: A three-week promotional tour was conducted in Mexico City, Tokyo, Cannes, London, San Diego and Los Angeles. Event Cinemas announced "Top Gun: Maverick Collector Combo", featuring a medium large salt-popcorn with refreshments in a collector cup, being marketed with stills featuring Cruise. Other marketing deals were arranged with Applebee's restaurant chains and Vudu.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: "Top Gun: Maverick" was released theatrically by Paramount Pictures in the United States on May 27, 2022, with advance screenings starting the day before. It was originally scheduled to be released on July 12, 2019, but was delayed to June 26, 2020, in order to shoot several complex action sequences. By March 2020, Paramount moved the film up two days early on June 24, 2020, and it was then moved to December 23 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic declared by the World Health Organization. On July 23, 2020, the film was delayed again to July 2, 2021, due in part to scheduling conflicts with Cruise, as well as the recent delays of "Mulan" and "Tenet" due to the rise of COVID-19 cases, and was further delayed to November 19, 2021, before finalizing the May 2022 release date.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The film had its world premiere at CinemaCon on April 28, 2022, followed by a global premiere hosted at the San Diego Civic Theatre in San Diego, California, on May 4, which was also streamed live through YouTube. It also screened at the Cannes Film Festival on May 18 in an Official Selection Screening, where it received a five-minute standing ovation from the audience. The Cannes premiere included a tribute to Cruise and his career. The following day it had its UK premiere at the Royal Film Performance in London's Leicester Square in aid of the Film & TV Charity. ScreenX theaters and AMC Theatres held Early Access Event screenings at limited locations across the United States on May 24, 2022.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Apple TV+ attempted to purchase the distribution rights to "Top Gun: Maverick", but Paramount declined to sell them. When asked at the film's CinemaCon premiere about Apple and other streaming companies attempting to purchase the distribution rights, Bruckheimer said that the film had always had a big-screen destination. At the film's premiere at Cannes, Cruise also denied that the film was going to streaming. Despite the model that most films debut on streaming 45 days after their theatrical releases, Paramount decided to keep "Top Gun: Maverick" in theaters for an extended run due to Cruise's insistence and the successive week-to-week box office results of the film. The film was released digitally in standard definition, high definition and UHD on August 23, 2022, followed by the Ultra HD Blu-ray, Blu-ray, and DVD releases on November 1, 2022, in the United States and October 31, 2022, in the United Kingdom. It includes the expanded aspect ratio of 1.90:1 in select sequences as seen in IMAX screenings, four featurettes on the making of the film, Cruise discussing his career at the 75th Cannes Film Festival and two music videos of the songs featured in the film.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Both Paramount+ and SkyShowtime (under the joint venture between both Paramount Global and Sky Group) will be premiering "Top Gun: Maverick" on demand in December 22, 2022.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: , "Top Gun: Maverick" has grossed $718.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $770 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $1.488 billion. The film became the highest-grossing film of Cruise's career on June 17, 2022, after crossing $800 million worldwide. On June 26, the film crossed $1 billion, becoming the second film to do so during the pandemic era, as well as becoming the highest-grossing film of 2022.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In the United States and Canada, the film grossed $126.7 million in its opening three-day weekend and $160.5 million over the four-day Memorial Day weekend, finishing first at the box office and nearly doubling Cruise's previous career-best. The film also has the largest Memorial Day four-day opening weekend. In its second weekend, it grossed $90 million; the 29% drop was the smallest-ever for a film that had an opening of over $100 million, surpassing "Shrek 2" (33% drop in its second weekend from a $108 million debut in May 2004). The film was dethroned by newcomer "Jurassic World Dominion" in its third weekend, though still grossed $51.9 million. On June 13, 2022, "Top Gun: Maverick" became the first film of 2022 to cross the $400 million mark in the U.S. and Canada. The film remained in the top five at the box office throughout its first ten weeks of release. The film finally dropped out of the top five at the box office in its 11th weekend, finishing sixth with $7 million. In its 12th weekend the film was re-released in over 400 theaters and made $7.1 million, returning to second place. In its 15th weekend, the film made $6 million (and a total of $7.9 million over the four-day Labor Day frame), returning to the top of the box office. Box office analysts attributed the film's longevity at the box office to positive critical reviews and word of mouth.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Outside the US and Canada, the film grossed $124 million from 62 markets in its opening weekend. It was Cruise's biggest opening ever in 32 of those markets and Paramount's best opening for a live-action film in 18 of them. The largest markets in its opening weekend were the United Kingdom ($19.4 million), France ($11.7 million), Australia ($10.7 million), Japan ($9.7 million), and Germany ($6.5 million). The film had the best debut of Cruise's career in the Middle East ($6.3 million), Brazil ($5.3 million), the Netherlands ($2.4 million), Sweden ($2.2 million), Belgium ($1.7 million), New Zealand ($1.4 million), Poland ($1.2 million), Argentina ($1.2 million), Finland ($1.1 million), and Portugal ($770,000). IMAX accounted for $10.4 million of its opening weekend outside the US and Canada. The following weekend, it made $85.8 million, a mere 16% drop that included $18.5 million from IMAX screenings. , the top markets are the United Kingdom ($102 million), Japan ($93.6 million), South Korea ($67.2 million), Australia ($64.3 million), and France ($58.2 million).


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare "A+" grade on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported 96% of audience members gave it a positive score, with 84% saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Pete Hammond of "Deadline Hollywood" called the sequel better than the original movie. "The New York Times"-based critic A. O. Scott called it a "thin, over-strenuous and sometimes very enjoyable movie" and "an earnest statement of the thesis that movies can and should be great". Peter Bradshaw wrote in "The Guardian" "Cruise presides over some surprising differences from his first outing as the navy pilot hotshot in a film that's missing the homoerotic tensions of the 80s original". Alonso Duralde of "TheWrap" called the movie "another cornball male weepie and military recruitment ad that feels like every WWII movie got fed into an algorithm", and wrote that the movie "counts as a worthy sequel in that it succeeds and fails in many of the same ways as the original" and added that "the flying sequences are breathtaking enough to make you forget that these guys and gals are engaging in the kind of combat scenarios that start wars."


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: "Entertainment.ie"'s Brian Lloyd's 4-star review said the film "exceeds with flying colours" and "exists in a world that is all of its own making. There are golden sunsets, perfectly crisp white t-shirts, exquisitely coiffed hair, and long-held flames of romance that make it all impossible to resist." Clarrise Loughery, chief editor of "The Independent," wrote that the film is "as thrilling as blockbusters get. It's the kind of edge-of-your-seat, fist-pumping spectacular that can unite an entire room full of strangers sitting in the dark and leave them with a wistful tear in their eye." Richard Brody of "The New Yorker" wrote, "The new film, less of a sequel than a renovation, infuses the 1986 drama of airborne combat with today's politics." Tomris Laffly of "RogerEbert.com" wrote, "Equally worthy of that big screen is the emotional strokes of "Maverick" that pack an unexpected punch."


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Tatsam Mukherjee of "Firstpost" wrote that the film reminded him of James Mangold's "Ford v Ferrari" (2019), ruminating on the classic predicament of whether man makes machine or the other way round. He added, "At the forefront of this clash is a man named Tom Cruise, who wants nothing less than our jaws on the floor. Proving that no amount of multiverse films or superstar cameos will replace the blood, sweat and adrenaline of an actor legitimately trying to push the boundaries of filmmaking. We can be rest assured that if it's a Tom Cruise film, he will not let us down." Chris Bumbray of "JoBlo.com" called the film as "a thrill ride of the highest order" and wrote, "If you're a fan of the original, this will blow you away – but even if you don't love the 1986 classic (blasphemy), this has a lot to offer."


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: On August 3, 2022, filmmaker Quentin Tarantino stated, "I fucking love "Top Gun: Maverick". I thought it was fantastic ... That and [Steven] Spielberg's "West Side Story" both provided a true cinematic spectacle, the kind that I'd almost thought that I wasn't going to see anymore." As a long-time admirer of the original "Top Gun" director, the late Tony Scott, he added: "There was just this lovely, lovely aspect because I love both Tony Scott's cinema so much, and I love Tony so much that that's as close as we're ever going to get to seeing one more Tony Scott movie ... The respect and the love of Tony was in every frame. It was almost in every decision. It was consciously right there, but in this really cool way that was really respectful." Ridley Scott, Tony's older brother and whom Cruise worked with in the 1985 film "Legend", was given a private screening for "Maverick". Bruckheimer stated, "One of the most heartwarming things I experienced is when we showed the movie to Tony’s brother, Ridley. He was laudatory in his praise for the film, and the kind of care that Tom took to honor Tony throughout the movie. That was foremost in everybody's mind."


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: United States Air Force combat systems officer Mike "Pako" Benitez said that Maverick's plan was plausible given the target's stated difficulty, and used accurate terminology. He recalled training to perform similar low-level supersonic attacks in formation through valleys. Benitez identified the strategy as a "mode 1, below the break, point and shoot attack", in which the laser-guided weapon follows the aircraft's dive angle as a dumb bomb unless it detects buddy lazing. While F-18E is capable of laser-guiding its own weapon, as Maverick does in his demonstration flight, using the trailing F-18F's targeting pod and greater visual angle gives the leading F-18E a few more seconds to attack before greyout. Benitez said that, after Fanboy announces his targeting pod's failure ("deadeye"), Rooster's helmet-mounted display accurately depicts how he hits the target without F-18F aid.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The film was actively supported and influenced by the United States Department of Defense and the United States Navy to present the US military in a positive light, leading some critics, scholars and journalists to criticize the film as propaganda in varying measures.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Chase Hutchinson of the "Inlander" stated the film to be "even more of a propaganda film than its predecessor" and "an extreme endorsement of the military might of the good ol' USA", particularly jingoistic as "[the] enemy can be anyone and justifies force against whoever fits the bill". The identity of the foreign "rogue state" was left deliberately vague, with no identifying symbols, language or mention by name.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Ward Sutton of the "Boston Globe" wrote that, "it's mutual exploitation: Hollywood gets production help and its films look authentic, the military gets free advertising via films that glorify it. The most powerful propaganda is that which is not easily distinguished as propaganda. Movies like "Top Gun: Maverick" shape public perception of war, and the military has a hand in crafting these films." Alan MacLeod from Robert Scheer's blog "Scheerpost" published documents on the aforementioned "quid pro quo" agreements between the US Department of Defense and Paramount.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: According to University of Georgia communication studies professor Roger Stahl, open record requests have revealed that US military officials were allowed to make changes to "Top Gun: Maverick", including the insertion of "key talking points" such as foreign policy and recruitment. The US Air Force also ran recruitment ads before the film's screenings, with a top US military recruiter telling Fox News that "We want to take advantage of the opportunity to connect not just the movie and the idea of a military service, but the fact that we've got jobs and we've got recruiters waiting for them." The Navy's cooperation in the film was motivated by the goals of recruitment, retention, and showcasing military excellence. In an op-ed for the "Los Angeles Times", Stahl criticized the relationship between the Pentagon and the production company, saying that "the film's F/A-18s and other military gear are courtesy of the Pentagon. This is the job of the U.S. Defense Department's Entertainment Media Office, which allows use of such assets in exchange for control of the script. Each military branch — except for the Marine Corps, which operates out of Camp Pendleton in San Diego County — maintains satellite offices along Wilshire Boulevard to do outreach with the entertainment industry. The original 1986 "Top Gun," which was intimately guided by the Navy, has long represented the military’s capabilities when it comes to steering pop culture."


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: Kevin Fox Jr. of "People's World" wrote: "No one in the film doubts the necessity of the mission; this isn't that kind of war movie. The fact that it's a hostile act on foreign soil without a thought given to any sort of Congressional declaration of war is just accepted. [...] No thought is given to the scientists in the alleged nuke facility. Nor to the janitors. Nor to their families and communities. They simply made the mistake of being born in the wrong country."


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: "Top Gun: Maverick" was nominated for six Critics' Choice Movie Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. It received two National Board of Review awards and was named one of the ten best films of 2022 by the American Film Institute.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In June 2022, the family of Israeli author Ehud Yonay, who wrote the "California" magazine article "Top Guns" in May 1983 that inspired the first film, sued Paramount for copyright infringement over the release of "Top Gun: Maverick" and sought damages as well as an injunction against the film's distribution. Jerry Bruckheimer produced the original film, whose screenplay was written by Jim Cash (died 2000) and Jack Epps Jr.; all three men participated in the sequel. According to the lawsuit, Paramount had obtained exclusive film rights to Yonay's article but ignored the 35-year copyright law, wherein the rights reverted to Yonay's widow Shosh and son Yuval in January 2020 after the writer's death in 2012.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: The lawsuit claims that "Maverick" contains elements similar to the original article and that Paramount continued with the filming, even after receiving notice of the copyright's termination. The film distributor considers most of the sequel to have been complete before then, and denies that "Maverick" is derived from Yonay's article.


title: Top Gun: Maverick

text: In May 2022, Miles Teller stated that he had been pitching a follow-up film centered around his character to the studio. The actor referred to his pitch as "Top Gun: Rooster". By July of the same year, he stated that he has been having ongoing discussions regarding a sequel with Tom Cruise.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows users to send text and voice messages, make voice and video calls, and share images, documents, user locations, and other content. WhatsApp's client application runs on mobile devices, and can be accessed from computers. The service requires a cellular mobile telephone number to sign up. In January 2018, WhatsApp released a standalone business app called WhatsApp Business which can communicate with the standard WhatsApp client.


title: WhatsApp

text: The client application was created by WhatsApp Inc. of Mountain View, California, which was acquired by Facebook in February 2014 for approximately US$19.3 billion. It became the world's most popular messaging application by 2015, and had more than 2billion users worldwide by February 2020. By 2016 it had become the primary means of Internet communication in regions including Latin America, the Indian subcontinent, and large parts of Europe and Africa.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp was founded in February 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum, former employees of Yahoo!. It was initially not intended to be used as a messaging app.


title: WhatsApp

text: In January 2009, after Koum purchased an iPhone, he and Acton, keen to jump into what they foresaw as a newly burgeoning multi-million dollar app industry created by the Apple App Store, Koum came up with an idea for an app to provide dynamic information about the people listed in your address book: it would show statuses for each person, for example: "if you were on a call, your battery was low, or you were at the gym." Their discussions often took place at the home of Koum's Russian friend Alex Fishman in West San Jose. They realized that to take the idea further, they would need an iPhone developer. Fishman visited RentACoder.com, found Russian developer Igor Solomennikov, and introduced him to Koum.


title: WhatsApp

text: Koum named the app WhatsApp to sound like "what's up". On February 24, 2009, he incorporated WhatsApp Inc. in California. However, when early versions of WhatsApp kept crashing, Koum considered giving up and looking for a new job. Acton encouraged him to wait for a "few more months".


title: WhatsApp

text: In June 2009, when the app had been downloaded by only a handful of Fishman's Russian-speaking friends, Apple launched push notifications, allowing users to be pinged although not using a relevant app.


title: WhatsApp

text: Koum updated WhatsApp so that everyone in the user's network would be notified when a user's status changed. This new facility, to Koum's surprise, was used by users to ping "each other with jokey custom statuses like, "I woke up late" or "I'm on my way."


title: WhatsApp

text: Suddenly a new kind of instant messaging facility had been born out of the chance capability that users found more useful than the app's intended purpose. Fishman said "At some point it sort of became instant messaging ... We started using it as 'Hey how are you?' And then someone would reply." Jan watched the changing statuses on a Mac Mini at his town house in Santa Clara, and realized he had unintentionally created a messaging service."


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp 2.0 was released in August 2009 with a purpose-designed messaging component; the number of active users suddenly increased to 250,000.


title: WhatsApp

text: Although Acton was working on another startup idea, he decided to join the company. In October 2009, Acton persuaded five former friends at Yahoo! to invest $250,000 in seed funding, and Acton became a co-founder and was given a stake. He officially joined WhatsApp on November 1. After months at beta stage, the application launched in November 2009 on the App Store, exclusively for the iPhone. Koum then hired a friend in Los Angeles, Chris Peiffer, to develop a BlackBerry version, which arrived two months later. Subsequently, WhatsApp for Symbian OS was added in May 2010, and for Android OS in August 2010. In 2010 Google made multiple acquisition offers for WhatsApp, which were all declined.


title: WhatsApp

text: To cover the cost of sending verification texts to users, WhatsApp was changed from a free service to a paid one. In December 2009, the ability to send photos was added to the iOS version. By early 2011, WhatsApp was one of the top 20 apps in the U.S. Apple App Store.


title: WhatsApp

text: In April 2011, Sequoia Capital invested about $8 million for more than 15% of the company, after months of negotiation by Sequoia partner Jim Goetz.


title: WhatsApp

text: By February 2013, WhatsApp had about 200 million active users and 50 staff members. Sequoia invested another $50 million, and WhatsApp was valued at $1.5 billion. Some time in 2013 WhatsApp acquired Santa Clara-based startup SkyMobius, the developers of Vtok, a video and voice calling app.


title: WhatsApp

text: In a December 2013 blog post, WhatsApp claimed that 400 million active users used the service each month.


title: WhatsApp

text: On February 19, 2014, one year after a venture capital financing round at a $1.5 billion valuation, Facebook, Inc. (now Meta Platforms) announced it was acquiring WhatsApp for US$19 billion, its largest acquisition to date. At the time, it was the largest acquisition of a venture-capital-backed company in history. Sequoia Capital received an approximate 5,000% return on its initial investment. Facebook, which was advised by Allen & Co, paid $4 billion in cash, $12 billion in Facebook shares, and, advised by Morgan Stanley, an additional $3 billion in restricted stock units granted to WhatsApp's founders Koum and Acton. Employee stock was scheduled to vest over four years subsequent to closing. Days after the announcement, WhatsApp users experienced a loss of service, leading to anger across social media.


title: WhatsApp

text: The acquisition was influenced by the data provided by Onavo, Facebook's research app for monitoring competitors and trending usage of social activities on mobile phones, as well as startups that were performing "unusually well".


title: WhatsApp

text: The acquisition caused many users to try, or move to, other message services. Telegram claimed that it acquired 8 million new users; and Line, 2 million.


title: WhatsApp

text: At a keynote presentation at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February 2014, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp was closely related to the Internet.org vision. A "TechCrunch" article said about Zuckerberg's vision:The idea, he said, is to develop a group of basic internet services that would be free of charge to use – 'a 911 for the internet.' These could be a social networking service like Facebook, a messaging service, maybe search and other things like weather. Providing a bundle of these free of charge to users will work like a gateway drug of sorts – users who may be able to afford data services and phones these days just don't see the point of why they would pay for those data services. This would give them some context for why they are important, and that will lead them to pay for more services like this – or so the hope goes.


title: WhatsApp

text: Three days after announcing the Facebook purchase, Koum said they were working to introduce voice calls. He also said that new mobile phones would be sold in Germany with the WhatsApp brand, and that their ultimate goal was to be on all smartphones.


title: WhatsApp

text: In August 2014, WhatsApp was the most popular messaging app in the world, with more than 600 million users. By early January 2015, WhatsApp had 700 million monthly users and over 30 billion messages every day. In April 2015, "Forbes" predicted that between 2012 and 2018, the telecommunications industry would lose $386 billion because of "over-the-top" services like WhatsApp and Skype. That month, WhatsApp had over 800 million users. By September 2015, it had grown to 900 million; and by February 2016, one billion.


title: WhatsApp

text: On November 30, 2015, the Android WhatsApp client made links to messaging service Telegram unclickable and uncopyable. Multiple sources confirmed that it was intentional, not a bug, and that it had been implemented when the Android source code that recognized Telegram URLs had been identified. (The word "telegram" appeared in WhatsApp's code.) Some considered it an anti-competitive measure; WhatsApp offered no explanation.


title: WhatsApp

text: On January 18, 2016, WhatsApp's co-founder Jan Koum announced that it would no longer charge users a $1 annual subscription fee, in an effort to remove a barrier faced by users without payment cards. He also said that the app would not display any third-party ads, and that it would have new features such as the ability to communicate with businesses.


title: WhatsApp

text: By June 2016, the company's blog reported more than 100 million voice calls per day were being placed on WhatsApp.


title: WhatsApp

text: On November 10, 2016, WhatsApp launched a beta version of two-factor authentication for Android users, which allowed them to use their email addresses for further protection. Also in November 2016, Facebook ceased collecting WhatsApp data for advertising in Europe. Later that month, video calls between two accounts were introduced.


title: WhatsApp

text: On February 24, 2017, (WhatsApp's 8th birthday), WhatsApp launched a new Status feature similar to Snapchat and Facebook stories.


title: WhatsApp

text: On May 18, 2017, the European Commission announced that it was fining Facebook €110 million for "providing misleading information about WhatsApp takeover" in 2014. The Commission said that in 2014 when Facebook acquired the messaging app, it "falsely claimed it was technically impossible to automatically combine user information from Facebook and WhatsApp." However, in the summer of 2016, WhatsApp had begun sharing user information with its parent company, allowing information such as phone numbers to be used for targeted Facebook advertisements. Facebook acknowledged the breach, but said the errors in their 2014 filings were "not intentional".


title: WhatsApp

text: In September 2017, WhatsApp's co-founder Brian Acton left the company to start a nonprofit group, later revealed as the Signal Foundation, which developed the WhatsApp competitor Signal. He explained his reasons for leaving in an interview with Forbes a year later. WhatsApp also announced a forthcoming business platform to enable companies to provide customer service at scale, and airlines KLM and Aeroméxico announced their participation in the testing. Both airlines had previously launched customer services on the Facebook Messenger platform.


title: WhatsApp

text: In April 2018, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum announced he would be leaving the company. By leaving before November 2018, due to concerns about privacy, advertising, and monetization by Facebook, Acton and Koum gave up $1.3 billion in unvested stock options. Facebook later announced that Koum's replacement would be Chris Daniels.


title: WhatsApp

text: Later in September 2018, WhatsApp introduced group audio and video call features. In October, the "Swipe to Reply" option was added to the Android beta version, 16 months after it was introduced for iOS.


title: WhatsApp

text: On October 25, 2018, WhatsApp announced support for Stickers. But unlike other platforms WhatsApp requires third-party apps to add Stickers to WhatsApp.


title: WhatsApp

text: On November 25, 2019, WhatsApp announced an investment of $250,000 through a partnership with Startup India to provide 500 startups with Facebook ad credits of $500 each.


title: WhatsApp

text: In December 2019, WhatsApp announced that a new update would lock out any Apple users who hadn't updated to iOS 9 or higher and Samsung, Huawei, Sony and Google users who hadn't updated to version 4.0 by February 1, 2020. The company also reported that Windows Phone operating systems would no longer be supported after December 31, 2019. WhatsApp was announced to be the 3rd most downloaded mobile phone app of the decade 2010–2019.


title: WhatsApp

text: In early 2020, WhatsApp launched its "dark mode" for iPhone and Android devices – a new design consisting of a darker palette. In March, WhatsApp partnered with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to provide messaging hotlines for people to get information on the 2019–2020 coronavirus pandemic. In the same month WhatsApp began testing a feature to help users find out more information and context about information they receive to help combat misinformation.


title: WhatsApp

text: In October 2020, Whatsapp rolled out a feature allowing users to mute both individuals and group chats forever. The mute options are ‘8 hours', ‘1 week', and ‘Always'. The ‘Always' option replaced the ‘1 year' option that was originally part of the settings.


title: WhatsApp

text: In January 2021, WhatsApp announced a new Privacy Policy allowing WhatsApp to share data with its parent company, Facebook; users who did not accept by February 8, 2021 would lose access to the app. This would not apply in the EU, since it violates the principles of GDPR. Facing criticism, WhatsApp postponed the update to May 15, 2021, but said they had no plans to limit functionality of or nag users who did not approve the new terms.


title: WhatsApp

text: In March 2021, WhatsApp started rolling out support for third-party animated stickers, initially in Iran, Brazil and Indonesia, then worldwide.


title: WhatsApp

text: In July 2021, WhatsApp announced forthcoming support for sending uncompressed images and videos in 3 options: Auto, Best Quality and Data Saver, and end-to-end encryption for backups stored in Facebook's cloud. The company was also testing multi-device support, allowing Computer users to run WhatsApp without an active phone session.


title: WhatsApp

text: On October 4, 2021, Facebook had its worst outage since 2008, which also affected other platforms owned by Facebook, such as Instagram and WhatsApp.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp has the facility to hide users' online status ("Last Seen"). In December 2021, WhatsApp changed the default setting from "everyone" to only people in the user's contacts or who have been conversed with ("nobody" is also an option).


title: WhatsApp

text: In April 2022, WhatsApp announced undated plans to roll out a Communities feature allowing several group chats to exist in a shared space, getting unified notifications and opening up smaller discussion groups. The company also announced plans to implement reactions, the ability for administrators to delete messages in groups and voice calls up to 32 participants.


title: WhatsApp

text: In May 2022 the file upload limit was raised from 100 MB to 2 GB, and maximum group size increased to 512 members.


title: WhatsApp

text: In August 2022, WhatsApp launched an integration with JioMart, available only to users in India. Local users can text special numbers in the app to launch an in-app shopping process, where they can order groceries.


title: WhatsApp

text: After months at beta stage, the official first release of WhatsApp for iOS launched in November 2009. In January 2010, support for BlackBerry smartphones was added; and subsequently for Symbian OS in May 2010, and for Android OS in August 2010. In August 2011, a beta for Nokia's non-smartphone OS Series 40 was added. A month later, support for Windows Phone was added, followed by BlackBerry 10 in March 2013. In April 2015, support for Samsung's Tizen OS was added.


title: WhatsApp

text: The oldest device capable of running WhatsApp was the Symbian-based Nokia N95 released in March 2007. (As of June 2017, WhatsApp is no longer compatible with it.)


title: WhatsApp

text: On January 21, 2015, WhatsApp launched WhatsApp Web, a browser-based web client that could be used by syncing with a mobile device's connection.


title: WhatsApp

text: On February 26, 2016, WhatsApp announced they would cease support for BlackBerry (including BlackBerry 10), Nokia Series 40, and Symbian S60, as well as older versions of Android (2.2), Windows Phone (7.0), and iOS (6), by the end of 2016. BlackBerry, Nokia Series 40, and Symbian support was then extended to June 30, 2017. In June 2017, support for BlackBerry and Series 40 was once again extended until the end of 2017, while Symbian was dropped.


title: WhatsApp

text: Support for BlackBerry and older (version 8.0) Windows Phone and older (version 6) iOS devices was dropped on January 1, 2018, but was extended to December 2018 for Nokia Series 40. In July 2018, it was announced that WhatsApp would soon be available for KaiOS feature phones.


title: WhatsApp

text: In October 2019, WhatsApp officially launched a new fingerprint app-locking feature for Android users.


title: WhatsApp

text: In August 2021, WhatsApp launched a feature that allows for chat history to be transferred between mobile operating systems. The feature launched only on the Samsung phones with plans to expand to Android and iOS in the future.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp was officially made available for PCs through a web client, under the name WhatsApp Web, in late January 2015 through an announcement made by Koum on his Facebook page: "Our web client is simply an extension of your phone: the web browser mirrors conversations and messages from your mobile device—this means all of your messages still live on your phone". As of January 21, 2015, the desktop version was only available to Android, BlackBerry, and Windows Phone users. Later on, it also added support for iOS, Nokia Series 40, and Nokia S60 (Symbian).


title: WhatsApp

text: Previously the WhatsApp user's handset had to be connected to the Internet for the browser application to function but as of an update in October 2021 that is no longer the case. All major desktop browsers are supported except for Internet Explorer. WhatsApp Web's user interface is based on the default Android one and can be accessed through web.whatsapp.com. Access is granted after the users scan their personal QR code through their mobile WhatsApp application.


title: WhatsApp

text: There are similar solutions for macOS, such as the open-source "ChitChat", previously known as "WhatsMac".


title: WhatsApp

text: In January 2021, the limited Android beta version allowed users to use WhatsApp Web without having to keep the mobile app connected to the Internet. In March 2021, this beta feature was extended to iOS users. However, linked devices (using WhatsApp Web, WhatsApp Desktop or Facebook Portal) will become disconnected if people don't use their phone for over 14 days. The multi-device beta can only show messages for the last 3 months on the web version, which was not the case without the beta because the web version was syncing with the phone.


title: WhatsApp

text: Since April 2022, the multi-device beta is integrated by default in WhatsApp and users cannot check old messages on the web version anymore.


title: WhatsApp

text: On May 10, 2016, the messaging service was introduced for both Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems. Recently, WhatsApp added support for video calls and voice calls from their desktop clients. Similar to the WhatsApp Web format, the app, which will be synced with a user's mobile device, is available for download on the website. It supports OS versions of Windows 8 and OS X 10.10 and higher.


title: WhatsApp

text: iPad users searching for WhatsApp are shown numerous third-party clients. Several top results have names and logos resembling WhatsApp itself, and some users do not realize they are using a third-party client. Per WhatsApp's policy, using third-party clients can result in the account getting permanently banned.


title: WhatsApp

text: In a 2022 interview with "The Verge", WhatsApp chief Will Cathcart acknowledged that "[p]eople have wanted an iPad app for a long time" and said that the team would "love to do it."


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp uses a customized version of the open standard Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). Upon installation, it creates a user account using one's phone number as the username (Jabber ID: codice_1).


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp software automatically compares all the phone numbers from the device's address book with its central database of WhatsApp users to automatically add contacts to the user's WhatsApp contact list. Previously the Android and Nokia Series 40 versions used an MD5-hashed, reversed-version of the phone's IMEI as password, while the iOS version used the phone's Wi-Fi MAC address instead of IMEI. A 2012 update now generates a random password on the server side.


title: WhatsApp

text: Alternatively a user can send to any contact in WhatsApp database through the url codice_2 where codice_3 is the number of the contact including the country code.


title: WhatsApp

text: Some dual-SIM devices may not be compatible with WhatsApp, though non-official workarounds can be used to install the app.


title: WhatsApp

text: In February 2015, WhatsApp introduced a voice calling feature; this helped WhatsApp to attract a completely different segment of the user population. WhatsApp's voice codec is Opus, which uses the modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) and linear predictive coding (LPC) audio compression algorithms. WhatsApp uses Opus at 816 kHz sampling rates. On November 14, 2016, WhatsApp added a video calling feature for users across Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone devices.


title: WhatsApp

text: In November 2017, WhatsApp released a new feature that would let its users delete messages sent by mistake within a time frame of 7 minutes.


title: WhatsApp

text: Multimedia messages are sent by uploading the image, audio or video to be sent to an HTTP server and then sending a link to the content along with its Base64 encoded thumbnail (if applicable).


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp follows a "store and forward" mechanism for exchanging messages between two users. When a user sends a message, it first travels to the WhatsApp server where it is stored. Then the server repeatedly requests the receiver to acknowledge receipt of the message. As soon as the message is acknowledged, the server drops the message; it is no longer available in the database of the server. The WhatsApp server keeps the message only for 30 days in its database when it is not delivered (when the receiver is not active on WhatsApp for 30 days).


title: WhatsApp

text: On November 18, 2014, Open Whisper Systems announced a partnership with WhatsApp to provide end-to-end encryption by incorporating the encryption protocol used in Signal into each WhatsApp client platform. Open Whisper Systems said that they had already incorporated the protocol into the latest WhatsApp client for Android, and that support for other clients, group/media messages, and key verification would be coming soon after. WhatsApp confirmed the partnership to reporters, but there was no announcement or documentation about the encryption feature on the official website, and further requests for comment were declined. In April 2015, German magazine "Heise Security" used ARP spoofing to confirm that the protocol had been implemented for Android-to-Android messages, and that WhatsApp messages from or to iPhones running iOS were still not end-to-end encrypted. They expressed the concern that regular WhatsApp users still could not tell the difference between end-to-end encrypted messages and regular messages.


title: WhatsApp

text: On April 5, 2016, WhatsApp and Open Whisper Systems announced that they had finished adding end-to-end encryption to "every form of communication" on WhatsApp, and that users could now verify each other's keys. Users were also given the option to enable a trust on first use mechanism in order to be notified if a correspondent's key changes. According to a white paper that was released along with the announcement, WhatsApp messages are encrypted with the Signal Protocol. WhatsApp calls are encrypted with SRTP, and all client-server communications are "layered within a separate encrypted channel". The Signal Protocol library used by WhatsApp is open-source and published under the GPLv3 license.


title: WhatsApp

text: On October 14, 2021, WhatsApp rolled out end-to-end encryption for backups on Android and iOS. The feature has to be turned on by the user and provides the option to encrypt the backup either with a password or a 64-digit encryption key.


title: WhatsApp

text: The application can store encrypted copies of the chat messages onto the SD card, however chat messages are also stored unencrypted in the SQLite database file "msgstore.db".


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp Payments (marketed as "WhatsApp Pay") is a peer-to-peer money transfer feature that is currently only available in India. WhatsApp has received permission from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to enter into partnership with multiple banks in July 2017 to allow users to make in-app payments and money transfers using the Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI enables account-to-account transfers from a mobile app without having any details of the beneficiary's bank. On November 6, 2020, WhatsApp announced that it had received approval for providing a payment service, although restricted to maximum of 20 million users initially. The service was subsequently rolled out.


title: WhatsApp

text: On February 28, 2019, "The New York Times" reported that Facebook was “hoping to succeed where Bitcoin failed” by developing an in-house cryptocurrency that would be incorporated into WhatsApp. The project reportedly involves over 50 engineers under the direction of former PayPal president David A. Marcus. This 'Facebook coin' would reportedly be a stablecoin pegged to the value of a basket of different foreign currencies.


title: WhatsApp

text: In June 2019, Facebook formally announced that the project would be named Libra, and that the company planned for a digital wallet named "Calibra" to be integrated into Facebook and WhatsApp. After financial regulators in the US, Europe, and other regions raised concerns, Calibra was rebranded to Novi in May 2020, and Libra was rebranded to Diem in December 2020. Facebook has stated that Novi would require a government-issued ID for verification and the wallet app would have fraud protection.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp has repeatedly imposed limits on message forwarding in response to the spread of misinformation in countries such as India and Australia. The measure, first introduced in 2018 to combat spam, was expanded and remained active in 2021. WhatsApp has stated the forwarding limits have helped to curb the spread of misinformation regarding COVID-19.


title: WhatsApp

text: In July 2018, WhatsApp encouraged people to report fraudulent or inciting messages after lynch mobs in India murdered innocent people because of malicious WhatsApp messages falsely accusing the victims of intending to abduct children.


title: WhatsApp

text: In an investigation on the use of social media in politics, it was found that WhatsApp was being abused for the spread of fake news in the 2018 presidential elections in Brazil. Furthermore, it has been reported that US$3 million has been spent in illegal off-the-books contributions related to this practice.


title: WhatsApp

text: Researchers and journalists have called on WhatsApp parent company, Facebook, to adopt measures similar to those adopted in India and restrict the spread of hoaxes and fake news.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp was initially criticized for its lack of encryption, sending information as plaintext. Encryption was first added in May 2012. End-to-end encryption was only fully implemented in April 2016 after a two-year process. , it is known that WhatsApp makes extensive use of outside contractors and artificial intelligence systems to examine user messages, images and videos; and turns over to law enforcement metadata including critical account and location information.


title: WhatsApp

text: In 2016, WhatsApp was widely praised for the addition of end-to-end encryption and earned a 6 out of 7 points on the Electronic Frontier Foundation's "Secure Messaging Scorecard". WhatsApp was criticized by security researchers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation for using backups that are not covered by end-to-end encryption and allow messages to be accessed by third-parties.


title: WhatsApp

text: In May 2019, a security vulnerability in WhatsApp was found and fixed that allowed a remote person to install spyware by making a call which did not need to be answered.


title: WhatsApp

text: In September 2019, WhatsApp was criticized for its implementation of a 'delete for everyone' feature. iOS users can elect to save media to their camera roll automatically. When a user deletes media for everyone, WhatsApp does not delete images saved in the iOS camera roll and so those users are able to keep the images. WhatsApp released a statement saying that "the feature is working properly," and that images stored in the camera roll cannot be deleted due to Apple's security layers.


title: WhatsApp

text: In November 2019, WhatsApp released a new privacy feature that let users decide who can add them to groups.


title: WhatsApp

text: In December 2019, WhatsApp confirmed a security flaw that would allow hackers to use a malicious GIF image file to gain access to the recipient's data. When the recipient opened the gallery within WhatsApp, even if not sending the malicious image, the hack is triggered and the device and its contents become vulnerable. The flaw was patched and users were encouraged to update WhatsApp.


title: WhatsApp

text: On December 17, 2019, WhatsApp fixed a security flaw that allowed cyber attackers to repeatedly crash the messaging application for all members of group chat, which could only be fixed by forcing the complete uninstall and reinstall of the app. The bug was discovered by Check Point in August 2019 and reported to WhatsApp. It was fixed in version 2.19.246 onwards.


title: WhatsApp

text: For security purposes, since February 1, 2020, WhatsApp has been made unavailable on smartphones using legacy operating systems like Android 2.3.7 or older and iPhone iOS 8 or older that are no longer updated by their providers.


title: WhatsApp

text: In April 2020, the NSO Group held its governmental clients accountable for the allegation of human rights abuses by WhatsApp. In its revelation via documents received from court,


title: WhatsApp

text: the group claimed that the lawsuit brought against the company by WhatsApp threatened to infringe on its clients’ “national security and foreign policy concerns”. However, the company did not reveal names of the end users, which according to a research by Citizen Lab include, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.


title: WhatsApp

text: On December 16, 2020, a claim that WhatsApp gave Google access to private messages was included in the anti-trust case against the latter. As the complaint is heavily redacted due to being an ongoing case, it doesn't disclose whether this alleged tampering with the app's end-to-end encryption or simply Google accessing user backups.


title: WhatsApp

text: In January 2021, WhatsApp announced an update to their Privacy Policy which stated that WhatsApp would share user data with Facebook and its "family of companies" beginning February 2021. Previously, users could opt-out of such data sharing, but the new policy removed this option. The new Privacy Policy would not apply within the EU, as it is illegal under the GDPR. Facebook and WhatsApp were widely criticized for this move. The enforcement of the privacy policy was postponed from February 8 to May 15, 2021, but WhatsApp announced they have no plans to limit the functionality of the app for those who don't approve the new terms or to give them persistent reminders to do so.


title: WhatsApp

text: On October 15, 2021, WhatsApp announced that it would begin offering an end-to-end encryption service for chat backups, meaning no third party (including both WhatsApp and the cloud storage vendor) will have access to a user's information. This new encryption feature adds an additional layer of protection to chat backups stored either on Apple iCloud or Google Drive.


title: WhatsApp

text: On November 29, 2021, an FBI document was uncovered by Rolling Stone, revealing that WhatsApp responds to warrants and subpoenas from the law enforcement within minutes, providing user metadata to the authorities. The metadata includes things like the user's contact information and their address book.


title: WhatsApp

text: In January 2022, an unsealed surveillance application revealed that WhatsApp started tracking 7 users from China and Macau in November 2021, based on a request from the DEA investigators. The app collected data on who the users contacted and how often, as well as when and how they were using the app. This is reportedly not a singular occurrence as federal agencies can use the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to covertly track users without submitting any probable cause or linking a user's number to their identity.


title: WhatsApp

text: At the beginning of 2022, it was revealed that San Diego-based startup Boldend had developed tools to hack WhatsApp's encryption, gaining access to user data, at some point since the startup's inception in 2017. The vulnerability was reportedly patched in January 2021. Boldend is financed, in part, by Peter Thiel, a notable investor in Facebook.


title: WhatsApp

text: In September 2022, a critical security issue in WhatsApp Android's video call feature was reported. The integer overflow bug resulted in malicious users being able to take full control of the victim's application once a video call between two WhatsApp users was established. The issue was patched on the day it was officially reported.


title: WhatsApp

text: In 2018, it was reported that around 500,000 National Health Service (NHS) staff used WhatsApp and other instant messaging systems at work and around 29,000 had faced disciplinary action for doing so. Higher usage was reported by frontline clinical staff to keep up with care needs, even though NHS trust policies do not permit their use.


title: WhatsApp

text: In March 2019, WhatsApp released a guide for users who had installed unofficial modified versions of WhatsApp and warned that it may ban those using unofficial clients.


title: WhatsApp

text: In May 2019, WhatsApp was attacked by hackers who installed spyware on a number of victims' smartphones. The hack, allegedly developed by Israeli surveillance technology firm NSO Group, injected malware onto WhatsApp users’ phones via a remote-exploit bug in the app's Voice over IP calling functions. A "Wired" report noted the attack was able to inject malware via calls to the targeted phone, even if the user did not answer the call.


title: WhatsApp

text: On October 29, WhatsApp filed a lawsuit against NSO Group in a San Francisco court, claiming that the alleged cyberattack violated US laws including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). According to WhatsApp, the exploit "targeted at least 100 human-rights defenders, journalists and other members of civil society" among a total of 1,400 users in 20 countries. On July 16, 2020, a US federal judge ruled that the lawsuit against NSO group could proceed. NSO Group filed a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed, but the judge denied all of its arguments.


title: WhatsApp

text: In April 2020, the NSO Group held its governmental clients accountable for the allegation of human rights abuses by WhatsApp. In its revelation via documents received via court, the group claimed that the lawsuit brought against the company by WhatsApp threatened to infringe on its clients’ “national security and foreign policy concerns”. However, the company did not reveal the names of the end users, which according to research by Citizen Lab include, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Mexico and the United Arab Emirates.


title: WhatsApp

text: In January 2020, a digital forensic analysis revealed that the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos received an encrypted message on WhatsApp from the official account of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The message reportedly contained a malicious file, the receipt of which resulted in Bezos’ phone being hacked. The United Nations’ special rapporteur David Kaye and Agnes Callamard later confirmed that Jeff Bezos’ phone was hacked through WhatsApp, as he was one of the targets of Saudi's hit list of individuals close to "The Washington Post" journalist Jamal Khashoggi.


title: WhatsApp

text: In 2021, an FBI document obtained by "Property of the People, Inc.", a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, through an FOIA request, reveals, that WhatsApp and iMessage are vulnerable to law-enforcement real-time searches.<ref name="propertyofthepeople/21114562"></ref><ref name="jpost/687360"></ref><ref name="rollingstone/1261816"></ref>


title: WhatsApp

text: In January 2022, an investigation by The Wire found that BJP, an Indian political party allegedly used an app called Tek Fog which was capable of hacking inactive WhatsApp accounts en masse in order to mass message their contacts with propaganda. According to the Wire, a whistleblower with app access was able to hack a test WhatsApp account controlled by reporters "within minutes."


title: WhatsApp

text: In December 2015, it was reported that a terrorists organization ISIS had been using WhatsApp to plot the November 2015 Paris attacks. According to "The Independent," ISIS also uses WhatsApp to traffic sex slaves.


title: WhatsApp

text: In March 2017, British Home Secretary Amber Rudd said encryption capabilities of messaging tools like WhatsApp are unacceptable, as news reported that Khalid Masood used the application several minutes before perpetrating the 2017 Westminster attack. Rudd publicly called for police and intelligence agencies to be given access to WhatsApp and other encrypted messaging services to prevent future terror attacks.


title: WhatsApp

text: In April 2017, the perpetrator of the Stockholm truck attack reportedly used WhatsApp to exchange messages with an ISIS supporter shortly before and after the incident. The messages involved discussing how to make an explosive device and a confession to the attack.


title: WhatsApp

text: In April 2017, nearly 300 WhatsApp groups with about 250 members each were reportedly being used to mobilize stone-pelters in Jammu and Kashmir to disrupt security forces' operations at encounter sites. According to police, 90% of these groups were closed down after counselling of admins of these groups. Further, after a six-month probe which involved the infiltration of 79 WhatsApp groups, the National Investigation Agency reported that out of about 6386 members and admins of these groups, about 1000 were residents of Pakistan and gulf nations. Further, for their help in negating anti-terror operations, the Indian stone pelters were getting funded through barter trade from Pakistan and other indirect means.


title: WhatsApp

text: In May 2022, the FBI stated that an ISIS sympathizer, who was plotting to assassinate George W. Bush, was arrested based on his WhatsApp data. According to the arrest warrant for the suspect, his WhatsApp account was placed under surveillance.


title: WhatsApp

text: There are numerous ongoing scams on WhatsApp that let hackers spread viruses or malware. In May 2016, some WhatsApp users were reported to have been tricked into downloading a third-party application called "WhatsApp Gold", which was part of a scam that infected the users' phones with malware. A message that promises to allow access to their WhatsApp friends' conversations, or their contact lists, has become the most popular hit against anyone who uses the application in Brazil. Clicking on the message actually sends paid text messages. Since December 2016, more than 1.5 million people have clicked and lost money.


title: WhatsApp

text: Another application called "GB WhatsApp" is considered malicious by cybersecurity firm Symantec because it usually performs some unauthorized operations on end-user devices.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp is owned by Meta, whose main social media service has been blocked in China since 2009. In September 2017, security researchers reported to "The New York Times" that the WhatsApp service had been completely blocked in China.


title: WhatsApp

text: On May 9, 2014, the government of Iran announced that it had proposed to block the access to WhatsApp service to Iranian residents. "The reason for this is the assumption of WhatsApp by the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is an American Zionist," said Abdolsamad Khorramabadi, head of the country's Committee on Internet Crimes. Subsequently, Iranian president Hassan Rouhani issued an order to the Ministry of ICT to stop filtering WhatsApp.


title: WhatsApp

text: Turkey temporarily banned WhatsApp in 2016, following the assassination of the Russian ambassador to Turkey.


title: WhatsApp

text: On March 1, 2016, Diego Dzodan, Facebook's vice-president for Latin America was arrested in Brazil for not cooperating with an investigation in which WhatsApp conversations were requested. On March 2, 2016, at dawn the next day, Dzodan was released because the Court of Appeal held that the arrest was disproportionate and unreasonable.


title: WhatsApp

text: On May 2, 2016, mobile providers in Brazil were ordered to block WhatsApp for 72 hours for the service's second failure to cooperate with criminal court orders. Once again, the block was lifted following an appeal, after less than 24 hours.


title: WhatsApp

text: Brazil's Central Bank issued an order to Visa and Mastercard on June 23, 2020, to stop working with WhatsApp on its new electronic payment system. A statement from the Bank asserted the decision to block the Facebook-owned company's latest offering was taken in order to “preserve an adequate competitive environment” in the mobile payments space and to ensure “functioning of a payment system that's interchangeable, fast, secure, transparent, open and cheap.”


title: WhatsApp

text: The government of Uganda banned WhatsApp and Facebook, along with other social media platforms, to enforce a tax on the use of social media. Users are to be charged USh.200/= per day to access these services according to the new law set by parliament.


title: WhatsApp

text: The United Arab Emirates banned WhatsApp video chat and VoIP call applications in as early as 2013 due to what is often reported as an effort to protect the commercial interests of their home grown nationally owned telecom providers (du and Etisalat). Their app ToTok has received press suggesting it is able to spy on users.


title: WhatsApp

text: In July 2021, the Cuban government blocked access to several social media platforms, including WhatsApp, to curb the spread of information during the anti-government protests.


title: WhatsApp

text: In December 2021, the Swiss army banned the use of WhatsApp and several other non-Swiss encrypted messaging services by army personnel. The ban was prompted by concerns of US authorities potentially accessing user data for such apps because of the CLOUD Act. The army recommended that all army personnel use Threema instead, as the service is based in Switzerland.


title: WhatsApp

text: In August 2021, the digital rights organization Access Now reported that WhatsApp along with several other social media apps was being blocked in Zambia for the duration of the general election. The organization reported a massive drop-off in traffic for the blocked services, though the country's government made no official statements about the block.


title: WhatsApp

text: In mid-2013, WhatsApp Inc. filed for the DMCA takedown of the discussion thread on the XDA Developers forums about the then popular third-party client "WhatsApp Plus".


title: WhatsApp

text: In 2015, some third-party WhatsApp clients that were reverse-engineering the WhatsApp mobile app, received a cease and desist to stop activities that were violating WhatsApp legal terms. As a result, users of third-party WhatsApp clients were also banned.


title: WhatsApp

text: In September 2017, WhatsApp confirmed rumors that they were building and testing two new tools for businesses.


title: WhatsApp

text: In October 2020, Facebook announced the introduction of pricing tiers for services offered via the WhatsApp Business API, charged on a per-message basis.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp handled ten billion messages per day in August 2012, growing from two billion in April 2012, and one billion the previous October. On June 13, 2013, WhatsApp announced that they had reached their new daily record by processing 27 billion messages. According to the "Financial Times", WhatsApp "has done to SMS on mobile phones what Skype did to international calling on landlines".


title: WhatsApp

text: By April 22, 2014, WhatsApp had over 500 million monthly active users, 700 million photos and 100 million videos were being shared daily, and the messaging system was handling more than 10 billion messages each day.


title: WhatsApp

text: On August 24, 2014, Koum announced on his Twitter account that WhatsApp had over 600 million active users worldwide. At that point WhatsApp was adding about 25 million new users every month, or 833,000 active users per day.


title: WhatsApp

text: In May 2017, it was reported that WhatsApp users spend over 340 million minutes on video calls each day on the app. This is the equivalent of roughly 646 years of video calls per day.


title: WhatsApp

text: By February 2017, WhatsApp had over 1.2 billion users globally, reaching 1.5 billion monthly active users by the end of 2017.


title: WhatsApp

text: In January 2020, WhatsApp registers over 5 billion installs on Google Play Store making it only the second non-Google app to achieve this milestone.


title: WhatsApp

text: India is by far WhatsApp's largest market in terms of total number of users. In May 2014, WhatsApp crossed 50 million monthly active users in India, which is also its largest country by the number of monthly active users, then 70 million in October 2014, making users in India 10% of WhatsApp's total user base. In February 2017, WhatsApp reached 200 million monthly active users in India.


title: WhatsApp

text: Israel is one of WhatsApp's strongest markets in terms of ubiquitous usage. According to "Globes", already by 2013 the application was installed on 92% of all smartphones, with 86% of users reporting daily use. WhatsApp's group chat feature is reportedly used by many Israeli families to stay in contact with each other.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp competes with a number of messaging services. They include services like iMessage (estimated 1.3 billion active users), WeChat (1.2 billion active users), Telegram (500 million users), Viber (260 million active users), LINE (217 million active users), and Signal (over 50 million active users). Both Telegram and Signal in particular were reported to get registration spikes during WhatsApp outages and controversies.


title: WhatsApp

text: WhatsApp has increasingly drawn its innovation from competing services, such as a Telegram-inspired web version and features for groups. In 2016, WhatsApp was accused of copying features from a then-unreleased version of iMessage.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then taking the title of in 1934. During his dictatorship, he initiated World War II in Europe by invading Poland on 1 September 1939. He was closely involved in military operations throughout the war and was central to the perpetration of the Holocaust: the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn in Austria-Hungary and was raised near Linz. He lived in Vienna later in the first decade of the 1900s and moved to Germany in 1913. He was decorated during his service in the German Army in World War I. In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party, and was appointed leader of the Nazi Party in 1921. In 1923, he attempted to seize governmental power in a failed coup in Munich and was imprisoned with a sentence of five years. In jail, he dictated the first volume of his autobiography and political manifesto ("My Struggle"). After his early release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting pan-Germanism, anti-Semitism and anti-communism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. He frequently denounced international capitalism and communism as part of a Jewish conspiracy.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: By November 1932, the Nazi Party held the most seats in the German Reichstag but did not have a majority. As a result, no party was able to form a majority parliamentary coalition in support of a candidate for chancellor. The former chancellor Franz von Papen and other conservative leaders persuaded President Paul von Hindenburg to appoint Hitler as chancellor on 30 January 1933. Shortly after, the Reichstag passed the Enabling Act of 1933 which began the process of transforming the Weimar Republic into Nazi Germany, a one-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. On 2 August 1934, Hindenburg died and Hitler replaced him as the head of state and government. Hitler aimed to eliminate Jews from Germany and establish a New Order to counter what he saw as the injustice of the post-World War I international order dominated by Britain and France. His first six years in power resulted in rapid economic recovery from the Great Depression, the abrogation of restrictions imposed on Germany after World War I, and the annexation of territories inhabited by millions of ethnic Germans, which initially gave him significant popular support.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler sought () for the German people in Eastern Europe, and his aggressive foreign policy is considered the primary cause of World War II in Europe. He directed large-scale rearmament and, on 1 September 1939, invaded Poland, resulting in Britain and France declaring war on Germany. In June 1941, Hitler ordered an invasion of the Soviet Union. In December 1941, he declared war on the United States. By the end of 1941, German forces and the European Axis powers occupied most of Europe and North Africa. These gains were gradually reversed after 1941, and in 1945 the Allied armies defeated the German army. On 29 April 1945, he married his longtime lover, Eva Braun, in the in Berlin. Less than two days later, the couple committed suicide to avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army. Their corpses were burned as Hitler had commanded.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The historian and biographer Ian Kershaw describes Hitler as "the embodiment of modern political evil". Under Hitler's leadership and racist ideology, the Nazi regime was responsible for the genocide of about six million Jews and millions of other victims, whom he and his followers deemed "Untermenschen" (subhumans) or socially undesirable. Hitler and the Nazi regime were also responsible for the killing of an estimated 19.3 million civilians and prisoners of war. In addition, 28.7 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of military action in the European theatre. The number of civilians killed during World War II was unprecedented in warfare, and the casualties constitute the deadliest conflict in history.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler's father, Alois Hitler (1837–1903), was the illegitimate child of Maria Anna Schicklgruber. The baptismal register did not show the name of his father, and Alois initially bore his mother's surname, . In 1842, Johann Georg Hiedler married Alois's mother. Alois was brought up in the family of Hiedler's brother, Johann Nepomuk Hiedler. In 1876, Alois was made legitimate and his baptismal record annotated by a priest to register Johann Georg Hiedler as Alois's father (recorded as "Georg Hitler"). Alois then assumed the surname "Hitler", also spelled , or . The name is probably based on the German word (lit., "hut"), and likely has the meaning "one who lives in a hut".


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Nazi official Hans Frank suggested that Alois's mother had been employed as a housekeeper by a Jewish family in Graz, and that the family's 19-year-old son Leopold Frankenberger had fathered Alois. No Frankenberger was registered in Graz during that period, no record has been produced of Leopold Frankenberger's existence, and Jewish residency in Styria had been illegal for nearly 400 years and would not become legal again until decades after Alois's birth, so historians dismiss the claim that Alois's father was Jewish.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Adolf Hitler was born on 20 April 1889 in Braunau am Inn, a town in Austria-Hungary (in present-day Austria), close to the border with the German Empire. He was the fourth of six children born to Alois Hitler and his third wife, Klara Pölzl. Three of Hitler's siblings—Gustav, Ida, and Otto—died in infancy. Also living in the household were Alois's children from his second marriage: Alois Jr. (born 1882) and Angela (born 1883). When Hitler was three, the family moved to Passau, Germany. There he acquired the distinctive lower Bavarian dialect, rather than Austrian German, which marked his speech throughout his life. The family returned to Austria and settled in Leonding in 1894, and in June 1895 Alois retired to Hafeld, near Lambach, where he farmed and kept bees. Hitler attended (a state-funded primary school) in nearby Fischlham.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The move to Hafeld coincided with the onset of intense father-son conflicts caused by Hitler's refusal to conform to the strict discipline of his school. His father beat him, although his mother tried to protect him. Alois Hitler's farming efforts at Hafeld ended in failure, and in 1897 the family moved to Lambach. The eight-year-old Hitler took singing lessons, sang in the church choir, and even considered becoming a priest. In 1898 the family returned permanently to Leonding. Hitler was deeply affected by the death of his younger brother Edmund, who died in 1900 from measles. Hitler changed from a confident, outgoing, conscientious student to a morose, detached boy who constantly fought with his father and teachers.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Alois had made a successful career in the customs bureau and wanted his son to follow in his footsteps. Hitler later dramatised an episode from this period when his father took him to visit a customs office, depicting it as an event that gave rise to an unforgiving antagonism between father and son, who were both strong-willed. Ignoring his son's desire to attend a classical high school and become an artist, Alois sent Hitler to the in Linz in September 1900. Hitler rebelled against this decision, and in states that he intentionally did poorly in school, hoping that once his father saw "what little progress I was making at the technical school he would let me devote myself to my dream".


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Like many Austrian Germans, Hitler began to develop German nationalist ideas from a young age. He expressed loyalty only to Germany, despising the declining Habsburg monarchy and its rule over an ethnically variegated empire. Hitler and his friends used the greeting "Heil", and sang the "Deutschlandlied" instead of the Austrian Imperial anthem.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: After Alois's sudden death on 3 January 1903, Hitler's performance at school deteriorated and his mother allowed him to leave. He enrolled at the in Steyr in September 1904, where his behaviour and performance improved. In 1905, after passing a repeat of the final exam, Hitler left the school without any ambitions for further education or clear plans for a career.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In 1907, Hitler left Linz to live and study fine art in Vienna, financed by orphan's benefits and support from his mother. He applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna but was rejected twice. The director suggested Hitler should apply to the School of Architecture, but he lacked the necessary academic credentials because he had not finished secondary school.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 21 December 1907, his mother died of breast cancer at the age of 47, when he himself was 18. In 1909, Hitler ran out of money and was forced to live a bohemian life in homeless shelters and a men's dormitory. He earned money as a casual labourer and by painting and selling watercolours of Vienna's sights. During his time in Vienna, he pursued a growing passion for architecture and music, attending ten performances of , his favourite Wagner opera.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: It was in Vienna that Hitler first became exposed to racist rhetoric. Populists such as mayor Karl Lueger exploited the climate of virulent anti-Semitism and occasionally espoused German nationalist notions for political effect. German nationalism had a particularly widespread following in the Mariahilf district, where Hitler lived. Georg Ritter von Schönerer became a major influence on Hitler. He also developed an admiration for Martin Luther. Hitler read local newspapers such as "" that fanned prejudice and played on Christian fears of being swamped by an influx of Eastern European Jews. He read newspapers and pamphlets that published the thoughts of philosophers and theoreticians such as Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Gustave Le Bon and Arthur Schopenhauer.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The origin and development of Hitler's anti-Semitism remains a matter of debate. His friend August Kubizek claimed that Hitler was a "confirmed anti-Semite" before he left Linz. However, historian Brigitte Hamann describes Kubizek's claim as "problematical". While Hitler states in that he first became an anti-Semite in Vienna, Reinhold Hanisch, who helped him sell his paintings, disagrees. Hitler had dealings with Jews while living in Vienna. Historian Richard J. Evans states that "historians now generally agree that his notorious, murderous anti-Semitism emerged well after Germany's defeat [in World War I], as a product of the paranoid "stab-in-the-back" explanation for the catastrophe".


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler received the final part of his father's estate in May 1913 and moved to Munich, Germany. When he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army, he journeyed to Salzburg on 5 February 1914 for medical assessment. After he was deemed unfit for service, he returned to Munich. Hitler later claimed that he did not wish to serve the Habsburg Empire because of the mixture of races in its army and his belief that the collapse of Austria-Hungary was imminent.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In August 1914, at the outbreak of World War I, Hitler was living in Munich and voluntarily enlisted in the Bavarian Army. According to a 1924 report by the Bavarian authorities, allowing Hitler to serve was almost certainly an administrative error, since as an Austrian citizen, he should have been returned to Austria. Posted to the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 (1st Company of the List Regiment), he served as a dispatch runner on the Western Front in France and Belgium, spending nearly half his time at the regimental headquarters in Fournes-en-Weppes, well behind the front lines. He was present at the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras, and the Battle of Passchendaele, and was wounded at the Somme. He was decorated for bravery, receiving the Iron Cross, Second Class, in 1914. On a recommendation by Lieutenant Hugo Gutmann, Hitler's Jewish superior, he received the Iron Cross, First Class on 4 August 1918, a decoration rarely awarded to one of Hitler's rank. He received the Black Wound Badge on 18 May 1918.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: During his service at headquarters, Hitler pursued his artwork, drawing cartoons and instructions for an army newspaper. During the Battle of the Somme in October 1916, he was wounded in the left thigh when a shell exploded in the dispatch runners' dugout. Hitler spent almost two months in hospital at Beelitz, returning to his regiment on 5 March 1917. On 15 October 1918, he was temporarily blinded in a mustard gas attack and was hospitalised in Pasewalk. While there, Hitler learned of Germany's defeat, and—by his own account—upon receiving this news, he suffered a second bout of blindness.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler described the war as "the greatest of all experiences", and was praised by his commanding officers for his bravery. His wartime experience reinforced his German patriotism, and he was shocked by Germany's capitulation in November 1918. His bitterness over the collapse of the war effort began to shape his ideology. Like other German nationalists, he believed the (stab-in-the-back myth), which claimed that the German army, "undefeated in the field", had been "stabbed in the back" on the home front by civilian leaders, Jews, Marxists, and those who signed the armistice that ended the fighting—later dubbed the "November criminals".


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany had to relinquish several of its territories and demilitarise the Rhineland. The treaty imposed economic sanctions and levied heavy reparations on the country. Many Germans saw the treaty as an unjust humiliation. They especially objected to Article 231, which they interpreted as declaring Germany responsible for the war. The Versailles Treaty and the economic, social, and political conditions in Germany after the war were later exploited by Hitler for political gain.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: After World War I, Hitler returned to Munich. Without formal education or career prospects, he remained in the army. In July 1919 he was appointed (intelligence agent) of an (reconnaissance unit) of the , assigned to influence other soldiers and to infiltrate the German Workers' Party (DAP). At a DAP meeting on 12 September 1919, Party Chairman Anton Drexler was impressed with Hitler's oratorical skills. He gave him a copy of his pamphlet "My Political Awakening", which contained anti-Semitic, nationalist, anti-capitalist, and anti-Marxist ideas. On the orders of his army superiors, Hitler applied to join the party, and within a week was accepted as party member 555 (the party began counting membership at 500 to give the impression they were a much larger party).


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler made his earliest known written statement about the Jewish question in a 16 September 1919 letter to Adolf Gemlich (now known as the Gemlich letter). In the letter, Hitler argues that the aim of the government "must unshakably be the removal of the Jews altogether".


title: Adolf Hitler

text: At the DAP, Hitler met Dietrich Eckart, one of the party's founders and a member of the occult Thule Society. Eckart became Hitler's mentor, exchanging ideas with him and introducing him to a wide range of Munich society. To increase its appeal, the DAP changed its name to the (National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP), known colloquially as the "Nazi Party"). Hitler designed the party's banner of a swastika in a white circle on a red background.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler was discharged from the army on 31 March 1920 and began working full-time for the party. The party headquarters was in Munich, a hotbed of anti-government German nationalists determined to crush Marxism and undermine the Weimar Republic. In February 1921—already highly effective at crowd manipulation—he spoke to a crowd of over 6,000. To publicise the meeting, two truckloads of party supporters drove around Munich waving swastika flags and distributing leaflets. Hitler soon gained notoriety for his rowdy polemic speeches against the Treaty of Versailles, rival politicians, and especially against Marxists and Jews.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In June 1921, while Hitler and Eckart were on a fundraising trip to Berlin, a mutiny broke out within the Nazi Party in Munich. Members of its executive committee wanted to merge with the Nuremberg-based German Socialist Party (DSP). Hitler returned to Munich on 11 July and angrily tendered his resignation. The committee members realised that the resignation of their leading public figure and speaker would mean the end of the party. Hitler announced he would rejoin on the condition that he would replace Drexler as party chairman, and that the party headquarters would remain in Munich. The committee agreed, and he rejoined the party on 26 July as member 3,680. Hitler continued to face some opposition within the Nazi Party. Opponents of Hitler in the leadership had Hermann Esser expelled from the party, and they printed 3,000 copies of a pamphlet attacking Hitler as a traitor to the party. In the following days, Hitler spoke to several packed houses and defended himself and Esser, to thunderous applause. His strategy proved successful, and at a special party congress on 29 July, he was granted absolute powers as party chairman, replacing Drexler, by a vote of 533to1.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler's vitriolic beer hall speeches began attracting regular audiences. A demagogue, he became adept at using populist themes, including the use of scapegoats, who were blamed for his listeners' economic hardships. Hitler used personal magnetism and an understanding of crowd psychology to his advantage while engaged in public speaking. Historians have noted the hypnotic effect of his rhetoric on large audiences, and of his eyes in small groups. Alfons Heck, a former member of the Hitler Youth, recalled:


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Early followers included Rudolf Hess, former air force ace Hermann Göring, and army captain Ernst Röhm. Röhm became head of the Nazis' paramilitary organisation, the (SA, "Stormtroopers"), which protected meetings and attacked political opponents. A critical influence on Hitler's thinking during this period was the , a conspiratorial group of White Russian exiles and early Nazis. The group, financed with funds channelled from wealthy industrialists, introduced Hitler to the idea of a Jewish conspiracy, linking international finance with Bolshevism.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: The programme of the Nazi Party was laid out in their 25-point programme on 24 February 1920. This did not represent a coherent ideology, but was a conglomeration of received ideas which had currency in the Pan-Germanic movement, such as ultranationalism, opposition to the Treaty of Versailles, distrust of capitalism, as well as some socialist ideas. For Hitler, though, the most important aspect of it was its strong anti-Semitic stance. He also perceived the programme as primarily a basis for propaganda and for attracting people to the party.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: In 1923, Hitler enlisted the help of World War I General Erich Ludendorff for an attempted coup known as the "Beer Hall Putsch". The Nazi Party used Italian Fascism as a model for their appearance and policies. Hitler wanted to emulate Benito Mussolini's "March on Rome" of 1922 by staging his own coup in Bavaria, to be followed by a challenge to the government in Berlin. Hitler and Ludendorff sought the support of (State Commissioner) Gustav Ritter von Kahr, Bavaria's "de facto" ruler. However, Kahr, along with Police Chief Hans Ritter von Seisser and Reichswehr General Otto von Lossow, wanted to install a nationalist dictatorship without Hitler.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: On 8 November 1923, Hitler and the SA stormed a public meeting of 3,000 people organised by Kahr in the Bürgerbräukeller, a beer hall in Munich. Interrupting Kahr's speech, he announced that the national revolution had begun and declared the formation of a new government with Ludendorff. Retiring to a back room, Hitler, with handgun drawn, demanded and got the support of Kahr, Seisser, and Lossow. Hitler's forces initially succeeded in occupying the local Reichswehr and police headquarters, but Kahr and his cohorts quickly withdrew their support. Neither the army, nor the state police, joined forces with Hitler. The next day, Hitler and his followers marched from the beer hall to the Bavarian War Ministry to overthrow the Bavarian government, but police dispersed them. Sixteen Nazi Party members and four police officers were killed in the failed coup.


title: Adolf Hitler

text: Hitler fled to the home of Ernst Hanfstaengl and by some accounts contemplated suicide. He was depressed but calm when arrested on 11 November 1923 for high treason. His trial before the special People's Court in Munich began in February 1924, and Alfred Rosenberg became temporary leader of the Nazi Party. On 1 April, Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at Landsberg Prison. There, he received friendly treatment from the guards, and was allowed mail from supporters and regular visits by party comrades. Pardoned by the Bavarian Supreme Court, he was released from jail on 20 December 1924, against the state prosecutor's objections. Including time on remand, Hitler served just over one year in prison.