title: Sikhism

text: The Sikh marriage ritual includes the "anand kāraj" ceremony. The marriage ceremony is performed in front of the Guru Granth Sahib by a baptized Khalsa, Granthi of the Gurdwara. The tradition of circling the Guru Granth Sahib and Anand Karaj among Khalsa is practised since the fourth Guru, Guru Ram Das. Its official recognition and adoption came in 1909, during the Singh Sabha Movement.


title: Sikhism

text: Upon death, the body of a Sikh is usually cremated. If this is not possible, any respectful means of disposing the body may be employed. The "kīrtan sōhilā" and "ardās" prayers are performed during the funeral ceremony (known as "antim sanskār").


title: Sikhism

text: Khalsa (meaning "pure and sovereign") is the collective name given by Guru Gobind Singh to those Sikhs who have been fully initiated by taking part in a ceremony called "ammrit sañcār" (nectar ceremony). During this ceremony, sweetened water is stirred with a double-edged sword while liturgical prayers are sung; it is offered to the initiating Sikh, who ritually drinks it. Many Sikhs are not formally and fully initiated, as they do not undergo this ceremony, but do adhere to some components of Sikhism and identify as Sikhs. The initiated Sikh, who is believed to be reborn, is referred to as Amritdhari or Khalsa Sikh, while those who are not initiated or baptised are referred to as Kesdhari or Sahajdhari Sikhs.


title: Sikhism

text: The first time that this ceremony took place was on Vaisakhi, which fell on 30 March 1699 at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab. It was on that occasion that Gobind Singh baptised the Pañj Piārē – the five beloved ones, who in turn baptised Guru Gobind Singh himself. To males who initiated, the last name Singh, meaning "lion", was given, while the last name Kaur, meaning "princess", was given to baptised Sikh females.


title: Sikhism

text: Baptised Sikhs wear five items, called the Five Ks (in Punjabi known as "pañj kakkē" or "pañj kakār"), at all times. The five items are: "kēs" (uncut hair), "kaṅghā" (small wooden comb), "kaṛā" (circular steel or iron bracelet), "kirpān" (sword/dagger), and "kacchera" (special undergarment). The Five Ks have both practical and symbolic purposes.


title: Sikhism

text: Guru Nanak (1469–1539), the founder of Sikhism, was born in the village of "Rāi Bhōi dī Talwandī", now called Nankana Sahib (in present-day Pakistan). His parents were Punjabi Khatri Hindus. According to the hagiography "Puratan Janamsakhi" composed more than two centuries after his death and probably based on oral tradition, Nanak as a boy was fascinated by religion and spiritual matters, spending time with wandering ascetics and holy men. His friend was Mardana, a Muslim. Together they would sing devotional songs all night in front of the public, and bathe in the river in the morning. One day, at the usual bath, Nanak went missing and his family feared he had drowned. Three days later he returned home, and declared: "There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim" (""nā kōi hindū nā kōi musalmān""). Thereafter, Nanak started preaching his ideas that form the tenets of Sikhism. In 1526, Guru Nanak at age 50, started a small commune in Kartarpur and his disciples came to be known as "Sikhs". Although the exact account of his itinerary is disputed, hagiographic accounts state he made five major journeys, spanning thousands of miles: the first tour being east towards Bengal and Assam; the second south towards Andhra and Tamil Nadu; the third north to Kashmir, Ladakh, and Mount Sumeru in Tibet; and the fourth to Baghdad. In his last and final tour, he returned to the banks of the Ravi River to end his days.


title: Sikhism

text: There are two competing theories on Guru Nanak's teachings. One, according to Cole and Sambhi, is based on hagiographical Janamsakhis, and states that Nanak's teachings and Sikhism were a revelation from God, and not a social protest movement nor any attempt to reconcile Hinduism and Islam in the 15th century. The other states that Nanak was a guru. According to Singha, "Sikhism does not subscribe to the theory of incarnation or the concept of prophethood. But it has a pivotal concept of Guru. He is not an incarnation of God, not even a prophet. He is an illumined soul." The second theory continues that hagiographical "Janamsakhis" were not written by Nanak, but by later followers without regard for historical accuracy, and contain numerous legends and myths created to show respect for Nanak. The term "revelation", clarify Cole and Sambhi, in Sikhism is not limited to the teachings of Nanak, but is extended to all Sikh gurus, as well as the words of past, present and future men and women, who possess divine knowledge intuitively through meditation. The Sikh revelations include the words of non-Sikh bhagats, some who lived and died before the birth of Nanak, and whose teachings are part of the Sikh scriptures. The Adi Granth and successive Sikh gurus repeatedly emphasised, states Mandair, that Sikhism is "not about hearing voices from God, but it is about changing the nature of the human mind, and anyone can achieve direct experience and spiritual perfection at any time".


title: Sikhism

text: The roots of the Sikh tradition are, states Louis Fenech, perhaps in the Sant-tradition of India whose ideology grew to become the Bhakti tradition. Furthermore, adds Fenech:


title: Sikhism

text: The development of Sikhism was influenced by the Bhakti movement; however, Sikhism was not simply an extension of the Bhakti movement. Sikhism, for instance, disagreed with some of the views of Bhakti saints Kabir and Ravidas. Sikhism developed while the region was being ruled by the Mughal Empire. Two of the Sikh Gurus, Guru Arjan and Guru Tegh Bahadur, refused to convert to Islam and were tortured and executed by the Mughal rulers. The Islamic era persecution of Sikhs triggered the founding of the Khalsa, as an order for freedom of conscience and religion. A Sikh is expected to embody the qualities of a "Sant-Sipāhī" a saint-soldier.


title: Sikhism

text: After its inception, Sikhism grew as it gained converts among Hindus and Muslims in the Punjab region. In 1539, Guru Nanak chose his disciple Lahiṇā as a successor to the Guruship rather than either of his sons. Lahiṇā was named Guru Angad and became the second Guru of the Sikhs. Nanak conferred his choice at the town of Kartarpur on the banks of the river Ravi. Sri Chand, Guru Nanak's son was also a religious man, and continued his own commune of Sikhs. His followers came to be known as the Udasi Sikhs, the first parallel sect of Sikhism that formed in Sikh history. The Udasis believe that the Guruship should have gone to Sri Chand, since he was a man of pious habits in addition to being Nanak's son.


title: Sikhism

text: Guru Angad, before joining Guru Nanak's commune, worked as a "pujari" (priest) and religious teacher centered around Hindu goddess Durga. On Nanak's advice, Guru Angad moved from Kartarpur to Khadur, where his wife Khivi and children were living, until he was able to bridge the divide between his followers and the Udasis. Guru Angad continued the work started by Guru Nanak and is widely credited for standardising the Gurmukhī script as used in the sacred scripture of the Sikhs.


title: Sikhism

text: Guru Amar Das became the third Sikh Guru in 1552 at the age of 73. He adhered to the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism for much of his life, before joining the commune of Guru Angad. Goindval became an important centre for Sikhism during the Guruship of Guru Amar Das. He was a reformer, and discouraged veiling of women's faces (a Muslim custom) as well as sati (a Hindu custom). He encouraged the Kshatriya people to fight in order to protect people and for the sake of justice, stating this is Dharma. Guru Amar Das started the tradition of appointing "manji" (zones of religious administration with an appointed chief called "sangatias"), introduced the "dasvandh" ("the tenth" of income) system of revenue collection in the name of Guru and as pooled community religious resource, and the famed "langar" tradition of Sikhism where anyone, without discrimination of any kind, could get a free meal in a communal seating. The collection of revenue from Sikhs through regional appointees helped Sikhism grow.


title: Sikhism

text: Guru Amar Das named his disciple and son-in-law Jēṭhā as the next Guru, who came to be known as Guru Ram Das. The new Guru faced hostilities from the sons of Guru Amar Das and therefore shifted his official base to lands identified by Guru Amar Das as Guru-ka-Chak. He moved his commune of Sikhs there and the place then was called Ramdaspur, after him. This city grew and later became Amritsar – the holiest city of Sikhism. Guru Ram Das expanded the "manji" organization for clerical appointments in Sikh temples, and for revenue collections to theologically and economically support the Sikh movement.


title: Sikhism

text: In 1581, Guru Arjan – youngest son of Guru Ram Das, became the fifth Guru of the Sikhs. The choice of successor, as throughout most of the history of Sikh Guru successions, led to disputes and internal divisions among the Sikhs. The elder son of Guru Ram Das named Prithi Chand is remembered in the Sikh tradition as vehemently opposing Guru Arjan, creating a faction Sikh community which the Sikhs following Guru Arjan called as "Minas" (literally, "scoundrels").


title: Sikhism

text: Guru Arjan is remembered in the Sikh for many things. He built the first Harimandir Sahib (later to become the Golden Temple). He was a poet and created the first edition of Sikh sacred text known as the Ādi Granth (literally "the first book") and included the writings of the first five Gurus and other enlightened 13 Hindu and 2 Muslim Sufi saints. In 1606, he was tortured and killed by the Mughal emperor Jahangir, for refusing to convert to Islam. His martyrdom is considered a watershed event in the history of Sikhism.


title: Sikhism

text: After the martyrdom of Guru Arjan, his son Guru Hargobind at age eleven became the sixth Guru of the Sikhs, and Sikhism dramatically evolved to become a political movement in addition to being religious. Guru Hargobind carried two swords, calling one spiritual and the other for temporal purpose (known as "mīrī" and "pīrī" in Sikhism). According to the Sikh tradition, Guru Arjan asked his son Hargobind to start a military tradition to protect the Sikh people and always keep himself surrounded by armed Sikhs. The building of an armed Sikh militia began with Guru Hargobind. Guru Hargobind was soon arrested by the Mughals and kept in jail in Gwalior. It is unclear how many years he served in prison, with different texts stating it to be between 2 and 12. He married three women, built a fort to defend Ramdaspur and created a formal court called Akal Takht, now the highest Khalsa Sikh religious authority.


title: Sikhism

text: In 1644, Guru Hargobind named his grandson Har Rai as the Guru. The Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan attempted political means to undermine the Sikh tradition, by dividing and influencing the succession. The Mughal ruler gave land grants to Dhir Mal, a grandson of Guru Hargobind living in Kartarpur, and attempted to encourage Sikhs to recognise Dhir Mal as the rightful successor to Guru Hargobind. Dhir Mal issued statements in favour of the Mughal state, and critical of his grandfather Guru Arjan. Guru Hargobind rejected Dhir Mal, the latter refused to give up the original version of the Adi Granth he had, and the Sikh community was divided.


title: Sikhism

text: Guru Har Rai is famed to have met Dara Shikoh during a time Dara Shikoh and his younger brother Aurangzeb were in a bitter succession fight. Aurangzeb summoned Guru Har Rai, who refused to go and sent his elder son Ram Rai instead. The emperor found a verse in the Sikh scripture insulting to Muslims, and Ram Rai agreed it was a mistake then changed it. Ram Rai thus pleased Aurangzeb, but displeased Guru Har Rai who excommunicated his elder son. He nominated his younger son Guru Har Krishan to succeed him in 1661. Aurangzeb responded by granting Ram Rai a jagir (land grant). Ram Rai founded a town there and enjoyed Aurangzeb's patronage; the town came to be known as Dehradun, after "Dehra" referring to Ram Rai's shrine. Sikhs who followed Ram Rai came to be known as Ramraiya Sikhs. However, according to rough estimates, there are around 120–150 million (12–15 crore) Guru Har Krishan became the eighth Guru at the age of five, and died of smallpox before reaching the age of eight. No hymns composed by these three Gurus are included in the Guru Granth Sahib.


title: Sikhism

text: Guru Tegh Bahadur, the uncle of Guru Har Krishan, became Guru in 1665. Tegh Bahadur resisted the forced conversions of Kashmiri Pandits and non-Muslims to Islam, and was publicly beheaded in 1675 on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Delhi for refusing to convert to Islam. His beheading traumatized the Sikhs. His body was cremated in Delhi, the head was carried secretively by Sikhs and cremated in Anandpur. He was succeeded by his son, Gobind Rai, who militarised his followers by creating the Khalsa in 1699, and baptising the "Pañj Piārē". From then on, he was known as Guru Gobind Singh, and Sikh identity was redefined into a political force resisting religious persecution.


title: Sikhism

text: Guru Gobind Singh inaugurated the Khalsa (the collective body of all initiated Sikhs) as the Sikh temporal authority in the year 1699. It created a community that combines its spiritual purpose and goals with political and military duties. Shortly before his death, Guru Gobind Singh proclaimed the Gurū Granth Sāhib (the Sikh Holy Scripture) to be the ultimate spiritual authority for the Sikhs.


title: Sikhism

text: The Sikh Khalsa's rise to power began in the 17th century during a time of growing militancy against Mughal rule. The creation of a Sikh Empire began when Guru Gobind Singh sent a Sikh general, Banda Singh Bahadur, to fight the Mughal rulers of India and those who had committed atrocities against Pir Buddhu Shah. Banda Singh advanced his army towards the main Muslim Mughal city of Sirhind and, following the instructions of the Guru, punished all the culprits. Soon after the invasion of Sirhind, while resting in his chamber after the Rehras prayer Guru Gobind Singh was stabbed by a Pathan assassin hired by Mughals. Gobind Singh killed the attacker with his sword. Though a European surgeon stitched the Guru's wound, the wound re-opened as the Guru tugged at a hard strong bow after a few days, causing profuse bleeding that led to Gobind Singh's death.


title: Sikhism

text: After the Guru's death, Baba Banda Singh Bahadur became the commander-in-chief of the Khalsa. He organised the civilian rebellion and abolished or halted the Zamindari system in time he was active and gave the farmers proprietorship of their own land. Banda Singh was executed by the emperor Farrukh Siyar after refusing the offer of a pardon if he converted to Islam. The confederacy of Sikh warrior bands known as "misls" emerged, but these fought between themselves. Ranjit Singh achieved a series of military victories and created a Sikh Empire in 1799.


title: Sikhism

text: The Sikh empire, with its capital in Lahore, spread over almost comprising what is now northwestern Indian subcontinent. The Sikh Empire entered into a treaty with the colonial British powers, with each side recognizing Sutlej River as the line of control and agreeing not to invade the other side. Ranjit Singh's most lasting legacy was the restoration and expansion of the Harmandir Sahib, most revered Gurudwara of the Sikhs, with marble and gold, from which the popular name of the "Golden Temple" is derived. After the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, the Sikh Empire fell into disorder. Ranjit Singh had failed to establish a lasting structure for Sikh government or stable succession, and the Sikh Empire rapidly declined after his death. Factions divided the Sikhs, and led to Anglo-Sikh wars. The British easily defeated the confused and demoralised Khalsa forces, then disbanded them into destitution. The youngest son of Ranjit Singh, named Duleep Singh, ultimately succeeded, but he was arrested and exiled after the defeat of Sikh Khalsa.


title: Sikhism

text: The Singh Sabha movement, a movement to revitalize Sikhism, also saw the resurgence of the Khalsa after their defeat in wars with the British - latterly in the Second Anglo-Sikh War - and the subsequent decline and corruption of Sikh institutions during colonial rule, and the proselytization of other faith groups in the Punjab. It was started in the 1870s, and after a period of interfactional rivalry, united under the Tat Khalsa to reinvigorate Sikh practice and institutions.


title: Sikhism

text: The last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire, Duleep Singh, converted to Christianity in 1853, a controversial but influential event in Sikh history. Along with his conversion, and after Sikh Empire had been dissolved and the region made a part of the colonial British Empire, proselytising activities of Christians, Brahmo Samajis, Arya Samaj, Muslim Anjuman-i-Islamia and Ahmadiyah sought to convert the Sikhs in northwestern Indian subcontinent into their respective faiths. These developments launched the Singh Sabha Movement.


title: Sikhism

text: The first meeting of the movement was in the Golden Temple, Amritsar in 1873, and it was largely launched by the Sanatan Sikhs, Gianis, priests, and granthis. Shortly thereafter, Nihang Sikhs began influencing the movement, followed by a sustained campaign by the Tat Khalsa, which had quickly gained dominance by the early 1880s. The movement became a struggle between Sanatan Sikhs and Tat Khalsa in defining and interpreting Sikhism.


title: Sikhism

text: Sanatan Sikhs led by Khem Singh Bedi – who claimed to be a direct descendant of Guru Nanak, Avtar Singh Vahiria and others supported a more inclusive approach which considered Sikhism as a reformed tradition of Hinduism, while Tat Khalsa campaigned for an exclusive approach to the Sikh identity, disagreeing with Sanatan Sikhs and seeking to modernize Sikhism. The Sikh Sabha movement expanded in north and northwest Indian subcontinent, leading to more than 100 Singh Sabhas. By the early decades of the 20th century, the influence of Tat Khalsa increased in interpreting the nature of Sikhism and their control over the Sikh Gurdwaras. The Tat Khalsa banished Brahmanical practices including the use of the "yagna" fire, replaced by the "Anand Karaj" marriage ceremony in accordance with Sikh scripture, and the idols and the images of Sikh Gurus from the Golden Temple in 1905, traditions which had taken root during the administration of the "mahants" during the 1800s. They undertook a sustained campaign to standardize how Sikh Gurdwaras looked and ran, while looking to Sikh scriptures and the early Sikh tradition to purify the Sikh identity.


title: Sikhism

text: The spiritual successors of the Singh Sabha include the Akali movement of the 1920s, as well as the modern-day Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), a gurdwara administration body, and the Akali Dal political party.


title: Sikhism

text: Sikhs participated and contributed to the decades-long Indian independence movement in the first half of the 20th century. Ultimately when the British Empire recognized independent India, the land was partitioned into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan (East and West) in 1947. According to Banga, the partition was a watershed event in Sikh history. The Sikhs had historically lived in northwestern region of Indian subcontinent on both sides of the partition line ("Radcliffe Line"). According to Banga and other scholars, the Sikhs had strongly opposed the Muslim League demands and saw it as "perpetuation of Muslim domination" and anti-Sikh policies in what just a hundred years before was a part of the Sikh Empire. As such, Sikh organizations, including the Chief Khalsa Dewan and Shiromani Akali Dal led by Master Tara Singh, condemned the Lahore Resolution and the movement to create Pakistan, viewing it as inviting possible persecution; the Sikhs largely thus strongly opposed the partition of India. During the discussions with the colonial authorities, Tara Singh emerged as an important leader who campaigned to prevent the partition of colonial India and for the recognition of Sikhs as a third community.


title: Sikhism

text: When partition was announced, the newly created line divided the Sikh population. Along with Hindus, Sikhs suffered organized violence and riots against them in West Pakistan. As a result, Sikhs moved en masse to the Indian side, leaving behind their property and holy sites. However, the anti-Sikh violence was not one-sided. As Sikhs moved to the eastern side of the partition line, they engaged in reprisals against Muslims there, forcing them into Pakistan. Before the partition, Sikhs constituted about 15% of the population in West Punjab, the majority being Muslims (55%). The Sikhs were the economic elite in West Punjab, however. They had the largest representation in West Punjab's aristocracy, and there were nearly 700 Gurdwaras and 400 educational institutions that served the interests of the Sikhs. Prior to the partition, there were a series of disputes between the majority Muslims and minority Sikhs, such as on the matters of jhatka versus halal meat, the disputed ownership of Gurdwara Sahidganj in Lahore which Muslims sought as a mosque and Sikhs as a Gurdwara, and the insistence of the provincial Muslim government on switching from Indian Gurmukhi script to Arabic-Persian Nastaliq script in schools. During and after the Simla Conference in June 1945, headed by Lord Wavell, the Sikh leaders initially expressed their desire to be recognized as a third community, but ultimately relegated these demands and sought a United India where Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims would live together, under a Swiss-style constitution. The Muslim League rejected this approach, demanding that the entire Punjab should be granted to Pakistan. The Sikh leaders then sought the original partition instead, and the Congress Working Committee passed a resolution in support of partitioning Punjab and Bengal.


title: Sikhism

text: Between March and August 1947, a series of riots, arson, plunder of Sikh and property, assassination of Sikh leaders, and killings in Jhelum districts, Rawalpindi, Attock and other places led to Tara Singh calling the situation in Punjab a "civil war", while Lord Mountbatten stated "civil war preparations were going on". The riots had triggered the early waves of migration in April, with some 20,000 people leaving northwest Punjab and moving to Patiala. In Rawalpindi, 40,000 people became homeless. The Sikh leaders made desperate petitions, but all religious communities were suffering in the political turmoil. Sikhs, states Banga, were "only 4 million out of a total of 28 million in Punjab, and 6 million out of nearly 400 million in India; they did not constitute the majority, not even in a single district".


title: Sikhism

text: When the partition line was formally announced in August 1947, the violence was unprecedented, with Sikhs being one of the most affected religious community both in terms of deaths, as well as property loss, injury, trauma and disruption. Sikhs and Muslims were both victims and perpetrators of retaliatory violence against each other. Estimates range between 200,000 and 2 million deaths of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. There were numerous rapes of and mass suicides by Sikh women, they being taken captives, their rescues and above all a mass exodus of Sikhs from newly created Pakistan into newly independent India. The partition created the "largest foot convoy of refugees recorded in [human] history, stretching over 100 kilometer long", states Banga, with nearly 300,000 people consisting of mostly "distraught, suffering, injured and angry Sikhs". Sikh and Hindu refugees from Pakistan flooded into India, Muslim refugees from India flooded into Pakistan, each into their new homeland.


title: Sikhism

text: In 1940, a few Sikhs such as the victims of Komagata Maru in Canada proposed the idea of Khalistan as a buffer state between an independent India and what would become Pakistan. These leaders, however, were largely ignored. The early 1980s witnessed some Sikh groups seeking an independent nation named Khalistan carved out from India and Pakistan. The Golden Temple and Akal Takht were occupied by various militant groups in 1982. These included the Dharam Yudh Morcha led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Babbar Khalsa, the AISSF and the National Council of Khalistan. Between 1982 and 1983, there were Anandpur Resolution demand-related terrorist attacks against civilians in parts of India. By late 1983, the Bhindranwale led group had begun to build bunkers and observations posts in and around the Golden Temple, with militants involved in weapons training. In June 1984, the then Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi ordered Indian Army to begin Operation Blue Star against the militants. The fierce engagement took place in the precincts of Darbar Sahib and resulted in many deaths, including Bhindranwale, the destruction of the Sikh Reference Library, which was considered a national treasure that contained over a thousand rare manuscripts, and destroyed Akal Takht. Numerous soldiers, civilians and militants died in the cross fire. Within days of the Operation Bluestar, some 2,000 Sikh soldiers in India mutinied and attempted to reach Amritsar to liberate the Golden Temple. Within six months, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards Satwant and Beant Singh assassinated her. The assassination triggered the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. According to Donald Horowitz, while anti-Sikh riots led to much damage and deaths, many serious provocations by militants also failed to trigger ethnic violence in many cases throughout the 1980s. The Sikhs and their neighbors, for most part, ignored attempts to provoke riots and communal strife.


title: Sikhism

text: Estimates state that Sikhism has some 25-30 million followers worldwide. According to Pew Research, a religion demographics and research group in Washington DC, "more than nine-in-ten Sikhs are in India, but there are also sizable Sikh communities in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada." Within India, the Sikh population is found in every state and union territory, but it is predominantly found in the northwestern and northern states. Only in the state of Punjab do Sikhs constitute a majority (58% of the total, per 2011 census). The states and union territories of India where Sikhs constitute more than 1.5% of its population are Punjab, Chandigarh, Haryana, Delhi, Uttarakhand and Jammu & Kashmir.


title: Sikhism

text: Canada is home to the largest national Sikh proportion (2.1 percent of the total population) in the world. Within Canada, Sikhs form 5.9 percent of the total population in the western province of British Columbia, representing the third-largest Sikh proportion amongst all global administrative divisions, behind only Punjab and Chandigarh in India. British Columbia, Manitoba, and Yukon hold the distinction of being three of the only four administrative divisions in the world with Sikhism as the second most followed religion among the population.


title: Sikhism

text: Sikhism was founded in what is now Pakistan. Some of the Gurus were born near Lahore and in other parts of Pakistan. Prior to 1947, in British India, millions of Sikhs lived in what later became Pakistan. During the partition, Sikhs and Hindus left the newly created Muslim-majority Pakistan and mostly moved to Hindu-majority India — with some moving to Muslim-majority Afghanistan — while numerous Muslims in India moved to Pakistan. According to 2017 news reports, only about 20,000 Sikhs remain in Pakistan, and their population is dwindling ( of the country's estimated 200 million population).


title: Sikhism

text: Sikh sects are sub-traditions within Sikhism that believe in an alternate lineage of gurus, or have a different interpretation of the Sikh scriptures, or believe in following a living guru, or hold other concepts that differ from the orthodox Khalsa Sikhs. The major historic sects of Sikhism have included Udasi, Nirmala, Nanakpanthi, Khalsa, Sahajdhari, Namdhari Kuka, Nirankari, and Sarvaria.


title: Sikhism

text: The early Sikh sects were Udasis and Minas founded by Sri Chand – the elder son of Guru Nanak, and Prithi Chand – the elder son of Guru Ram Das respectively, in parallel to the official succession of the Sikh Gurus. Later on Ramraiya sect grew in Dehradun with the patronage of Aurangzeb. Many splintered Sikh communities formed during the Mughal Empire era. Some of these sects were financially and administratively supported by the Mughal rulers in the hopes of gaining a more favorable and compliant citizenry.


title: Sikhism

text: After the collapse of Mughal Empire, and particularly during the rule of Ranjit Singh, Udasi Sikhs protected Sikh shrines, preserved the Sikh scripture and rebuilt those that were desecrated or destroyed during the Muslim–Sikh wars. However, Udasi Sikhs kept idols and images inside these Sikh temples. In the 19th century, Namdharis and Nirankaris sects were formed in Sikhism, seeking to reform and return to what each believed was the pure form of Sikhism.


title: Sikhism

text: All these sects differ from Khalsa orthodox Sikhs in their beliefs and practices, such as continuing to solemnize their weddings around fire and being strictly vegetarian. Many accept the concept of living Gurus such as Guru Baba Dyal Singh. The Nirankari sect, though unorthodox, was influential in shaping the views of Tat Khalsa and the contemporary-era Sikh beliefs and practices. Another significant Sikh sect of the 19th century was the Radhasoami movement in Punjab led by Baba Shiv Dyal. Other contemporary era Sikhs sects include the quasi Hindu 3HO, formed in 1971, which exists outside India, particularly in North America and Europe.


title: Sikhism

text: According to Surinder Jodhka, the state of Punjab with a Sikh majority has the "largest proportion of scheduled caste population in India". Although decried by Sikhism, Sikhs have practiced a caste system. The system, along with untouchability, has been more common in rural parts of Punjab. The landowning dominant Sikh castes, states Jodhka, "have not shed all their prejudices against the lower castes or dalits; while dalits would be allowed entry into the village gurdwaras they would not be permitted to cook or serve langar." The Sikh dalits of Punjab have tried to build their own gurdwara, other local level institutions and sought better material circumstances and dignity. According to Jodhka, due to economic mobility in contemporary Punjab, castes no longer mean an inherited occupation, nor are work relations tied to a single location.


title: Sikhism

text: In 1953, the government of India acceded to the demands of the Sikh leader, Master Tara Singh, to include Sikh Dalit castes in the list of scheduled castes. In the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, 20 of the 140 seats are reserved for low-caste Sikhs.


title: Sikhism

text: Over 60% of Sikhs belong to the Jat caste, which is an agrarian caste. Despite being very small in numbers, the mercantile Khatri and Arora castes wield considerable influence within the Sikh community. Other common Sikh castes include Sainis, Ramgarhias (artisans), Ahluwalias (formerly brewers), Rai Sikh (Raa), Kambojs (rural caste), Labanas, Kumhars and the two Dalit castes, known in Sikh terminology as the Mazhabis (the Chuhras) and the Ravidasias (the Chamars).


title: Sikhism

text: Sikhism is the fifth-largest amongst the world religions, and one of the youngest. Worldwide, there are 30 million Sikhs, which makes up 0.4% of the world's population. Approximately 75% of Sikhs live in Punjab, where they constitute 57.7% of the state's population. Large communities of Sikhs migrate to the neighboring states such as Indian State of Haryana which is home to the second largest Sikh population in India with 1.1 million Sikhs as per 2001 census, and large immigrant communities of Sikhs can be found across India. However, Sikhs only comprise about 1.7% of the Indian population.


title: Sikhism

text: Most Sikhs outside India live in the core Anglosphere, with 771,790 in Canada (2.1% Sikh), 472,498 in the United States (0.1% Sikh), 432,429 in the United Kingdom (0.7% Sikh), 210,397 in Australia (0.8% Sikh), and 40,908 in New Zealand (0.9% Sikh). While these communities are over 125 years old, most Sikhs in the West are first, second, or third-generation immigrants. As of the 2021 Canadian Census, more than half of Canada's Sikhs can be found in one of four cities: Brampton (163,260), Surrey (154,415), Calgary (49,465), and Abbotsford (38,395). Brampton, Surrey, and Abbotsford are 25.1% Sikh, 27.4% Sikh, and 25.5% Sikh, respectively. Gurdwaras, newspapers, radio stations, and markets cater to these large, multi-generational Sikh Canadian groups. Sikh festivals such as Vaisakhi and Bandi Chhor are celebrated in those Canadian cities by the largest groups of followers in the world outside the Punjab.


title: Sikhism

text: Sikhs also migrated to East Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. These communities developed as Sikhs migrated out of Punjab to fill in gaps in imperial labour markets. Smaller populations of Sikhs are found within many countries in Western Europe, especially Italy, as well as other nations such as Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Fiji, Nepal, China, Afghanistan, and Iran.


title: Sikhism

text: These prohibitions are strictly followed by initiated Khalsa Sikhs who have undergone baptism. While the Sikh gurus did not enforce religion and did not believe in forcing people to follow any particular religion in general, the Sikh community does encourage all people to become better individuals by following the Guru's Way (Gur-mat), as opposed to living life without the Guru's code of disciple (Man-mat):


title: German Shepherd

text: The German Shepherd or Alsatian is a German breed of working dog of medium to large size. The breed was developed by Max von Stephanitz using various traditional German herding dogs from 1899.


title: German Shepherd

text: It was originally bred as a herding dog, for herding sheep. It has since been used in many other types of work, including disability assistance, search-and-rescue, police work, and warfare. It is commonly kept as a companion dog, and according to the Fédération Cynologique Internationale had the second-highest number of annual registrations in 2013.


title: German Shepherd

text: During the 1890s, attempts were being made to standardise dog breeds. Dogs were being bred to preserve traits that assisted in their job of herding sheep and protecting their flocks from predators. In Germany this was practised within local communities, where shepherds selected and bred dogs. It was recognised that the breed had the necessary skills for herding sheep, such as intelligence, speed, strength and keen senses of smell. The results were dogs that were able to do such things, but that differed significantly, both in appearance and ability, from one locality to another.


title: German Shepherd

text: To combat these differences, the Phylax Society was formed in 1891 with the intention of creating standardised development plans for native dog breeds in Germany. The society disbanded after only three years due to ongoing internal conflicts regarding the traits in dogs that the society should promote; some members believed dogs should be bred solely for working purposes, while others believed dogs should be bred also for appearance. While unsuccessful in their goal, the Phylax Society had inspired people to pursue standardising dog breeds independently.


title: German Shepherd

text: With the rise of large, industrialised cities in Germany, the predator population began to decline, rendering sheepdogs unnecessary. At the same time, the awareness of sheepdogs as a versatile, intelligent class of canine began to rise. Max von Stephanitz, an ex-cavalry captain and former student of the Berlin Veterinary College, was an ex-member of the Phylax Society who firmly believed dogs should be bred for working. He admired the intelligence, strength and ability of Germany's native sheepdogs, but could not find any one single breed that satisfied him as the perfect working dog.


title: German Shepherd

text: In 1899, von Stephanitz was attending a dog show when he was shown a dog named Hektor Linksrhein. Hektor was the product of few generations of selective breeding and completely fulfilled what von Stephanitz believed a working dog should be. He was pleased with the strength of the dog and was so taken by the animal's intelligence, loyalty, and beauty, that he purchased him immediately. After purchasing the dog he changed his name to Horand von Grafrath and von Stephanitz founded the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde (Society for German Shepherd Dogs). Horand was declared to be the first German Shepherd Dog, and was the first dog added to the society's breed register. In just a few decades of the 's establishment, the breed became one of the world's most popular and numerous, a position it has maintained to this day. By 1923, the claimed 50,000 dues-paying members in more than 500 branches in Germany alone.


title: German Shepherd

text: Horand became the center-point of the breeding programs and was bred with dogs belonging to other society members that displayed desirable traits and with dogs from Thuringia, Franconia, and Württemberg. Fathering many pups, Horand's most prolific was Hektor von Schwaben. Hektor was inbred with another of Horand's offspring and produced Heinz von Starkenburg, Beowulf, and Pilot, who later sired a total of 84 pups, mostly through being inbred with Hektor's other offspring. This inbreeding was deemed necessary in order to fix the traits being sought in the breed. Beowulf's progeny also were inbred and it is from these pups that all German Shepherds draw a genetic link. It is believed the society accomplished its goal mostly due to von Stephanitz's strong, uncompromising leadership and he is therefore credited with being the creator of the German Shepherd Dog.


title: German Shepherd

text: During the first half of the twentieth century, the breed came to be strongly identified with Imperial and Nazi Germany, because of its association with purity and militarism. German Shepherds were coveted as "", being close to the wolf, and became very fashionable during the Nazi era. Adolf Hitler acquired a German Shepherd named "Prinz" in 1921, during his years of poverty, but he had been forced to lodge the dog elsewhere. However, she managed to escape and return to him. Hitler, who adored the loyalty and obedience of the dog, thereafter developed a great liking for the breed. Hitler kept several more of the breed, including Blondi, who was among several dogs in the 'Führerbunker' during the Battle of Berlin at the end of the Second World War. Dogs played a role in Nazi propaganda by portraying Hitler as an animal lover. Preparing for his suicide, Hitler ordered Dr. Werner Haase to test a cyanide capsule on Blondi, and the dog died as a result. Erna Flegel, a nurse who worked at the emergency casualty station in the Reich Chancellery stated in 2005 that Blondi's death had affected the people in the bunker more than Eva Braun's suicide. German Shepherds were also used widely as guard dogs at Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.


title: German Shepherd

text: When the German Shepherd was introduced to the United States it was initially a popular dog. But as the dogs' popularity grew, it became associated as a dangerous breed owned by gangsters and bootleggers. The reputation of the German Shepherds as a dangerous breed had grown to such an extent that it was briefly banned to import them in Australia in 1929. Potential legislation was even considered to require that all German shepherds in South Australia be sterilised.


title: German Shepherd

text: The breed was named , by von Stephanitz, literally translating to "German Shepherd Dog". At the time, all other herding dogs in Germany were referred to by this name; they thus became known as , or old German herding dogs.


title: German Shepherd

text: The direct translation of the name was adopted for use in the stud-book; however, at the end of the First World War, it was believed that the inclusion of the word "German" would harm the breed's popularity, due to the anti-German sentiment of the era. The breed was officially renamed by the UK Kennel Club to "Alsatian Wolf Dog", after the French region of Alsace bordering Germany.


title: German Shepherd

text: Eventually, the appendage "wolf dog" was dropped, after numerous campaigns by breeders who were worried that becoming known as a wolf-dog hybrid would affect the breed's popularity and legality. The name Alsatian remained for five decades, until 1977, when successful campaigns by dog enthusiasts pressured the British kennel clubs to allow the breed to be registered again as German Shepherds. The word "Alsatian" once appeared in parentheses as part of the formal breed name of the American Kennel Club and was removed in 2010.


title: German Shepherd

text: German Shepherds are medium to large-sized dogs. The breed standard height at the withers is for males, and for females. German Shepherds are longer than they are tall, with an ideal proportion of 10 to . The AKC official breed standard does not set a standard weight range. They have a domed forehead, a long square-cut muzzle with strong jaws and a black nose. The eyes are medium-sized and brown. The ears are large and stand erect, open at the front and parallel, but they often are pulled back during movement. A German Shepherd has a long neck, which is raised when excited and lowered when moving at a fast pace as well as stalking. The tail is bushy and reaches to the hock.


title: German Shepherd

text: German Shepherds have a double coat which is close and dense with a thick undercoat. The coat is accepted in two variants: medium and long. The gene for long hair is recessive, and therefore the long-haired variety is rarer. Treatment of the long-haired variation differs across standards; it is accepted but does not compete against standard-coated dogs under the German and UK Kennel Clubs while it can compete with standard-coated dogs, but is considered a fault, in the American Kennel Club. The FCI accepted the long-haired type in 2010, listing it as the variety b, while the short-haired type is listed as the variety a.


title: German Shepherd

text: Most commonly, German Shepherds are either tan/black or red/black. Most colour varieties have black masks and black body markings which can range from a classic "saddle" to an overall "blanket". Rarer colour variations include sable, pure-black, pure-white, liver, silver, blue, and panda varieties. The all-black and sable varieties are acceptable according to most standards; however, the blue and liver are considered to be serious faults and the all-white is grounds for instant disqualification from showing in conformation at All Breed and Specialty Shows.


title: German Shepherd

text: German Shepherds were bred specifically for their intelligence. In a list of breeds most likely to bark as watchdogs, Stanley Coren ranked the breed in second place. Coupled with their strength, this trait makes the breed desirable as police, guard and search and rescue dogs, as they are able to quickly learn various tasks and interpret instructions better than other breeds.


title: German Shepherd

text: German Shepherds are moderately active dogs and are described in breed standards as self assured. The breed is marked by a willingness to learn and an eagerness to have a purpose. They are curious, which makes them excellent guard dogs and suitable for search missions. They can become overprotective of their family and territory, especially if not socialised correctly. They are not inclined to become immediate friends with strangers. German Shepherds are highly intelligent and obedient, as well as protective of their owners.


title: German Shepherd

text: A 2020 literature review in "Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery" found that from 1971 to 2018, of all pure breed dogs in the United States, the German Shepherd was responsible for the most bites severe enough to require hospital treatment.


title: German Shepherd

text: While an Australian report from 1999 provides statistics showing that German Shepherds are the breed third most likely to attack a person in some Australian locales, once their popularity is taken into account, the percentages of attacks by German Shepherds drops to 38th.


title: German Shepherd

text: According to the National Geographic Channel television show "Dangerous Encounters", the bite of a German Shepherd has a force of over (compared with that of a Rottweiler, over , a Pit bull, , a Labrador Retriever, of approximately , or a human, of approximately ).


title: German Shepherd

text: The modern German Shepherd breed is criticised by experts for straying away from Max von Stephanitz's original ideology that German Shepherds should be bred primarily as working dogs and that breeding should be strictly controlled to eliminate defects quickly. He believed that, above all else, German Shepherds should be bred for intelligence and working ability.


title: German Shepherd

text: The Kennel Club, in the United Kingdom, is involved in a dispute with German Shepherd breed clubs about the issue of soundness in the show strain of the breed. Some show strains have been bred with an extremely roached topline (back) that causes poor gait in the hind legs.


title: German Shepherd

text: The debate was catalysed when the issue was raised in the BBC documentary, "Pedigree Dogs Exposed", which said that critics of the breed describe it as "half dog, half frog". An orthopaedic vet remarked on footage of dogs in a show ring that they were "not normal".


title: German Shepherd

text: The Kennel Club's position is that "this issue of soundness is not a simple difference of opinion, it is the fundamental issue of the breed's essential conformation and movement." The Kennel Club has decided to retrain judges to penalise dogs with these problems.


title: German Shepherd

text: The Kennel Club also recommends testing for haemophilia and hip dysplasia, other common problems with the breed.


title: German Shepherd

text: The East-European Shepherd is a variety of the German Shepherd bred in the former Soviet Union with the purpose of creating a larger, more cold-resistant version of the German Shepherd. It lacks the physical deformities bred into western show lines of German Shepherds and has become one of Russia's most popular dog types.


title: German Shepherd

text: The King Shepherd is a variety of the German Shepherd bred in the United States, its breeders hoping to rectify the physical deformities that have been bred into the original breed.


title: German Shepherd

text: The Shiloh Shepherd is a variety of the German Shepherd bred in the United States. It was developed in the 1970s and 1980s to correct behavioural and conformational issues that have been bred into modern German Shepherds, and was bred for its large size, length of back, temperament and soundness of hips. It has been recognised since 1990 by the American Rare Breed Association.


title: German Shepherd

text: The White Shepherd is a variety of the German Shepherd bred in the United States. White-coated German Shepherds were once banned from registration in their native Germany, but in the United States and Canada the coloration gained a following and a breed club was formed specifically for white German Shepherds, calling their variety the White Shepherd. The variety is recognised as a separate breed by the United Kennel Club.


title: German Shepherd

text: The White Swiss Shepherd Dog (, , ) is a variety of the German Shepherd bred in Switzerland. It descends from the American White Shepherds; the first stud dog of what was to become the breed was an American dog born in 1966 and imported to Switzerland. The variety was recognised by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale as a separate breed in 2003, and it is now recognised by a number of national kennel clubs.


title: German Shepherd

text: German Shepherds are a popular selection for use as working dogs. They are known for being easy to train and good for performing tasks and following instructions. They are especially well known for their police work, being used for tracking criminals, patrolling troubled areas and detection and holding of suspects. Additionally, thousands of German Shepherds have been used by the military. These military working dogs (MWD) are usually trained for scout duty, and they are used to warn soldiers to the presence of enemies or of booby traps or other hazards. German Shepherds have also been trained by military groups to parachute from aircraft or as anti-tank weapons. They were used in World War II as messenger dogs, rescue dogs and personal guard dogs. A number of these dogs were taken home by foreign servicemen, who were impressed by their intelligence.


title: German Shepherd

text: The German Shepherd is one of the most widely used breeds in a wide variety of scent-work roles. These include search and rescue, cadaver searching, narcotics detection, explosives detection, accelerant detection and mine detection dog, among others. They are suited for these lines of work because of their keen sense of smell and their ability to work regardless of distractions.


title: German Shepherd

text: At one time the German Shepherd was the breed chosen almost exclusively to be used as a guide dog for the visually impaired. When formal guide dog training began in Switzerland in the 1920s under the leadership of Dorothy Eustis, all of the dogs trained were German Shepherd females. An experiment in temperament testing of a group of Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherds showed that the Retrievers scored higher on average in emotional stability, ability to recover promptly from frightening situations, cooperative behaviour and friendliness; while the German Shepherds were superior in aggression and defensive behaviour. These results suggested that Labrador Retrievers were more suited to guide dog work while German Shepherds were more suited to police work.


title: German Shepherd

text: Currently, Labradors and Golden Retrievers are more widely used for this work, although there are still German Shepherds being trained. In 2013, about 15% of the dogs trained by Guide Dogs of America were German Shepherds, while the remainder are Labrador Retrievers and Golden Retrievers. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in the United Kingdom trains some German Shepherds, while the comparable organisation in the US only trains Labrador Retrievers, Golden Retrievers and crosses between these breeds.


title: German Shepherd

text: German Shepherds are still used for herding and tending sheep grazing in meadows next to gardens and crop fields. They are expected to patrol the boundaries to keep sheep from trespassing and damaging the crops. In Germany and other places these skills are tested in utility dog trials also known as Herdengebrauchshund (HGH) herding utility dog trials.


title: German Shepherd

text: One Mexican German Shepherd, Zuyaqui, was dissected and his body put on display at the Sedena's "Narco Museum" in Mexico. He is regarded to be the dog who has captured the most drugs in Mexican police and military history.


title: German Shepherd

text: When the UK Kennel accepted registrations in 1919, 54 German Shepherds were registered. By 1926 this number had grown to over 8000. The breed gained international recognition after the end of World War I. Returning soldiers spoke highly of the breed and animal actors Rin Tin Tin and Strongheart popularised the breed further. The first German Shepherd Dog registered in the United States was Queen of Switzerland. Her offspring had defects as the result of poor breeding, which caused the breed to decline in popularity during the late 1920s.


title: German Shepherd

text: Popularity increased again after Sieger Pfeffer von Bern became the 1937 and 1938 Grand Victor in American Kennel club dog shows, only to have another decline at the conclusion of World War II, due to anti-German sentiment. Popularity increased gradually until 1993, when they became the third most popular breed in the United States. , the German Shepherd is the second most popular breed in the US. It is typically among the most frequently registered breeds in other countries. It was the third-most registered breed by the American Kennel Club in 2020, and seventh-most registered breed by The Kennel Club in the United Kingdom in 2016.


title: German Shepherd

text: Many common ailments of the German Shepherd are a result of the inbreeding practised early in the breed's life. One such common ailment is hip and elbow dysplasia which may cause the dog to experience pain later on in life and may cause arthritis. A study conducted by the University of Zurich found that 45% of the police working dogs were affected by degenerative spinal stenosis, although a small sample size was used. The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals found that 19.1% of German Shepherd are affected by hip dysplasia. There are, however, ways to help prevent hip dysplasia, including getting a pup from a good breeder, keeping it on a healthy diet, and limiting the amount of jumping or rough play. German Shepherds have low frequency of ear infections, since this breed is well known for hyperactivity of its cerumen-producing glands. According to a recent survey in the UK, the median life span of German Shepherds is 10.95 years, which is normal for a dog of their size.


title: German Shepherd

text: Degenerative myelopathy, a neurological disease, occurs with enough regularity specifically in the breed to suggest that the breed is predisposed to it. A very inexpensive DNA saliva test is now available to screen for degenerative myelopathy. The test screens for the mutated gene that has been seen in dogs with degenerative myelopathy. A small study in the UK showed 16% of young asymptomatic German Shepherds to be homozygous for the mutation, with a further 38% being carriers. Now that a test is available the disease can be bred out of breeds with a high preponderance. The test is only recommended for predisposed breeds, but can be performed on DNA samples from any dog, collected through swabbing the inside of the animal's cheek with a sterile cotton swab. Prospective German Shepherd buyers can now request the test from the breeder or buy from a breeder who is known to test their dogs.


title: German Shepherd

text: German Shepherds have a higher-than-normal incidence of Von Willebrand disease, a common inherited bleeding disorder, and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (EPI), a degenerative disease of the pancreas. It is estimated that 1% of the UK population of German Shepherds has this disease. Treatment is usually provided in the form of pancreatic supplements taken with food.


title: German Shepherd

text: Musculoskeletal disorders are debilitating conditions that are often associated with genetic makeup, malnutrition, and stress-related events. Some breeds like the German Shepherd, are predisposed to a variety of different skeletal disorders, including but not limited to: canine hip dysplasia, Cauda equina syndrome, and osteoarthritis. These conditions can be a result of poor breeding or induced by intense exercise and poor diet.


title: German Shepherd

text: Canine hip dysplasia (CHD) is an orthopaedic condition resulting from abnormal development of the hip joint and surrounding tissue causing the instability and partial dislocation of the hip joint, resulting in pain, inflammation, lameness, and potentially osteoarthritis of the joint. German Shepherds are genetically predisposed to CHD and the University of Veterinary Medicine in Germany found its prevalence estimated to be approximately 35% of veterinary cases associated with the disorder.


title: German Shepherd

text: Osteoarthritis is one of the main contributors of musculoskeletal pain and disabilities that commonly affect German Shepherds. Mechanical stress, oxidative damage and inflammatory mediators combine to induce the gradual degeneration of the articular cartilage in the joint, resulting in reduced muscle mass, pain, and locomotion.


title: German Shepherd

text: Feeding a well-balanced diet designed for large breeds like the German Shepherd to ensure adequate growth rates and proper maintenance of musculoskeletal health is essential. Dietary energy levels should be monitored and controlled throughout all life stages and activity levels of the German Shepherd to assist in the prevention and treatment of musculoskeletal disorder symptoms. Several dietary factors play a crucial role in maintaining skeletal health and are described as follows:


title: German Shepherd

text: Appropriate calcium levels are vital in developing a strong skeletal system and aid in preventing orthopaedic diseases like Canine Hip Dysplasia. Furthermore, the ratio of calcium and phosphorus must be balanced and at a recommended ratio of 1.2:1 to ensure proper bone development and structure. Imbalances in calcium and phosphorus levels can result in various skeletal complications. Excess phosphorus can produce lesions in bones whereas excessive calcium can lead to hypocalcaemia and result in excess bone deposition, interfering with normal bone development. In extreme circumstances of insufficient calcium intake, bone resorption can occur due to the body withdrawing calcium deposits from the skeletal frame as a last resort to fulfill dietary needs.


title: German Shepherd

text: Omega-3 fatty acids such as eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have been shown to be highly effective in the prevention of cartilage catabolism in "in vitro" models, suggesting that its supplementation in food could aid in decreasing the symptoms of osteoarthritis in German Shepherds. Furthermore, EPA and DHA inhibit key regulators of the inflammatory process and suppress their activation which can help alleviate pain and reduce inflamed joints associated with many skeletal disorders. Ensuring an appropriate ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids of approximately 5:1 is very important for inflammation processes. Animals source, specifically marine life such as fish, krill, and mussels, and plant sources such as flaxseed, soybean and canola oil, are particularly rich in omega-3 fatty acids.


title: German Shepherd

text: Glucosamine is an amino-monosaccharide that naturally occurs in all tissues, particularly in articular cartilage of joints and from the biosynthesis of glucose. Natural synthesis of glucosamine occurs in the extracellular matrix of articular cartilage in joints. However, as a result of damage to the joint or cartilage, there is decreased ability to synthesize glucosamine resulting in the deterioration of the joint, and supplementation is required. Clinical trials of long term administration of glucosamine in German Shepherds have reduced symptoms of degenerative joint disease and accelerated cartilage healing. Anti-inflammatory effects of glucosamine are believed to contribute to the reduction of pain, promote joint recovery and mobility, and prevent further cartilage degradation. Similarly, chondroitin supplementation is proposed to have comparable results in inhibiting degradative enzymes within the cartilage matrix to reduce the effects of osteoarthritis, but further research is required to assess long term benefits.


title: German Shepherd

text: Vitamins such as A and D also have crucial roles in bone development and maintenance by regulating bone and calcium metabolism. Adequate levels should be incorporated into a German Shepherd diet to promote a healthy musculoskeletal system.


title: German Shepherd

text: In 1921 Strongheart became one of the earliest canine film stars, and was followed in 1922 by Rin Tin Tin, who is considered the most famous German Shepherd. Both have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


title: German Shepherd

text: Batman's dog Ace the Bat-Hound appeared in the Batman comic books, initially in 1955, through 1964. From 1964 onwards, his appearances have been sporadic.


title: German Shepherd

text: A German Shepherd named Inspector Rex is the star of an Austrian Police procedural drama program of the same name, which won many awards, where German Shepherd Rex assists the Vienna Kriminalpolizei homicide unit. The show was aired in many languages.


title: Martin Short

text: Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, and writer. He has received various awards including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada.


title: Martin Short

text: He is known for his work on the television programs "SCTV" and "Saturday Night Live". Short created the characters Jiminy Glick and Ed Grimley. He also acted in the sitcom "Mulaney" (2014–2015), the variety series "Maya & Marty" (2016), and "The Morning Show" (2019). He has also had an active career on stage, starring in Broadway productions including Neil Simon's musicals "The Goodbye Girl" (1993) and "Little Me" (1998–1999). The latter earned him a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical and the former a nomination in the same category.


title: Martin Short

text: He has starred in comedy films such as "Three Amigos" (1986), "Innerspace" (1987), "Three Fugitives" (1989), "Captain Ron" (1992), "Clifford" (1994), "Mars Attacks!" (1996), "Jungle 2 Jungle" (1997), and "" (2006). Short also provided voice-work for films like "The Pebble and the Penguin" (1995), "The Prince of Egypt" (1998), "Treasure Planet" (2002), "" (2003), "The Spiderwick Chronicles" (2008), "", "Frankenweenie" (both 2012), and "The Wind Rises" (2013).


title: Martin Short

text: In 2015, Short started touring nationally with fellow comedian Steve Martin. In 2018, they released their Netflix special "An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life" for which they received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Since 2021, he has co-starred in the Hulu comedy series "Only Murders in the Building" alongside Martin and Selena Gomez. For his performance he has earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award, the Golden Globe Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award, and the Critics Choice Television Award.


title: Martin Short

text: Short was born on March 26, 1950, in Hamilton, Ontario, the youngest of five children of Olive Grace (née Hayter; 1913–1968), a concertmistress of the Hamilton Symphony Orchestra, and Charles Patrick Short (1909–1970), a corporate executive with Stelco, a Canadian steel company. He and his siblings were raised as Catholics. He had three older brothers, David (now deceased), Michael, and Brian, and one older sister, Nora. Short's father was an Irish Catholic emigrant from Crossmaglen, South Armagh in Northern Ireland, who came to North America as a stowaway during the Irish War of Independence. Short's mother was of English and Irish descent. She encouraged his early creative endeavours. His eldest brother, David, was killed in a car accident in Montréal in 1962 when Short was 12. His mother died of cancer in 1968, his father two years later of complications from a stroke.


title: Martin Short

text: Short attended Westdale Secondary School and graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work in 1971.


title: Martin Short

text: When Short graduated from McMaster University, he intended to pursue a career in social work; however, he became interested in acting once he was cast in a Toronto production of "Godspell" that same year. Among other members of that production's cast were Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, and Andrea Martin; Paul Shaffer was the musical director. Short stated in the documentary "Love, Gilda" that he and Gilda Radner dated each other on and off during that time.


title: Martin Short

text: He was subsequently cast in several television shows and plays, including the drama "Fortune and Men's Eyes" (1972). He worked solely in Canada through 1979. In 1979, Short starred in the US sitcom "The Associates" about a group of young novice lawyers working at a Wall Street law firm. In 1980, he joined the cast of "I'm a Big Girl Now", a sitcom starring Diana Canova and Danny Thomas. Canova was offered the sitcom because of her success playing Corinne Tate Flotsky on ABC's "Soap" and left "Soap" shortly before Short's newlywed wife Nancy Dolman joined it.


title: Martin Short

text: Short was encouraged to pursue comedy by McMaster classmates Eugene Levy and Dave Thomas, whom he joined in the improvisation group The Second City in Toronto, Ontario, in 1977. He came to public notice when the group produced a show for television, "Second City Television" ("SCTV"), which ran for several years in Canada, then the United States. Short appeared on "SCTV" in 1982–83. At "SCTV", Short developed several characters before moving on to "Saturday Night Live" for the 1984–85 season:


title: Martin Short

text: Short joined "Saturday Night Live" ("SNL") for the 1984–85 season. He helped revive the show with his many characters for season ten (the last one produced by Dick Ebersol). "Short's appearance on "SNL" helped to revive the show's fanbase, which had flagged after the departure of Eddie Murphy, and in turn, would launch his successful career in films and television." His "SNL" characters included numerous holdovers from his "SCTV" days, most notably, his Ed Grimley character, depicted on "Saturday Night Live" as a geeky everyman who is obsessed with "Wheel of Fortune", plays the triangle, and often finds himself in bizarre situations rather than a miscast bad actor in several film and TV show parodies ("The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley" used the "SNL" characterization of him rather than the "SCTV" take on him). He also did impressions of such celebrities as Jerry Lewis and Katharine Hepburn.


title: Martin Short

text: Since then he has made multiple appearances on the show including on the "Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special" in 2015.


title: Martin Short

text: In addition to his work on "SCTV" and "SNL", Short has starred in several television specials and series of his own. In 1985, Short starred in the one-hour Showtime special "Martin Short: Concert for the North Americas". This was Short's first live concert, interspersed with studio sketches and a wraparound featuring Jackie Rogers Jr. Co-produced by the CBC, this aired as "The Martin Short Comedy Special" in Canada in March 1986. In 1989, Short headlined another one-hour comedy special, this time for HBO, "I, Martin Short, Goes Hollywood", Short's classic send-up of all things Hollywood. It featured many of his characters including Ed Grimley and Jackie Rogers Jr.


title: Martin Short

text: Short has had three television shows called "The Martin Short Show", including a sitcom, "The Martin Short Show", 1994; a sketch comedy show, "The Show Formerly Known as the Martin Short Show", 1995; and a syndicated talk show "The Martin Short Show", which ran from 1999 to 2000.


title: Martin Short

text: Short starred as Jiminy Glick on Comedy Central's "Primetime Glick" (2001–2003). He interviewed performers and celebrities as the character Jiminy Glick. The "New York Times" in 2002 referred to the character as "the most unpredictable and hilariously uninhibited comic creation to hit TV since Bart Simpson was in diapers."


title: Martin Short

text: In addition to his own series, Short has guest starred on several shows including "Arrested Development" (episode titled "Ready, Aim, Marry Me", 2005), "Muppets Tonight" (1996), "", and "Weeds". He joined the FX drama "Damages" as lawyer Leonard Winstone in 2010.


title: Martin Short

text: Short voiced the Cat in the Hat in the animated TV series "The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!", which aired from 2010 to 2013. He later voiced the character in a number of related TV specials in 2014 and 2016.


title: Martin Short

text: He shot a new comedy special for television in Toronto in September 2011. The special, "I, Martin Short, Goes Home" follows his return to his native Hamilton, Ontario and has a cast that includes Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Joe Flaherty, and Fred Willard. The special aired on CBC Television on April 3, 2012, and garnered Short a nomination for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Program or Series at the 1st Canadian Screen Awards. In 2011, Short joined the cast of "How I Met Your Mother" for its seventh season, playing Marshall's manic boss and was a judge on the first season of "Canada's Got Talent" (2012).


title: Martin Short

text: He, along with Steve Martin and Chevy Chase appeared on an episode of "Saturday Night Live" as part of the "Five-Timers Club", on March 9, 2013, which included those actors who had hosted the show five or more times. However, Short appeared as a waiter, as he had only hosted three times.


title: Martin Short

text: From 2014 to 2015, he starred in the Fox sitcom "Mulaney", as Lou Cannon, the boss and the game show host of the title character John Mulaney.


title: Martin Short

text: On May 31, 2016, Short debuted a new variety show on NBC, "Maya & Marty", which also starred Maya Rudolph.


title: Martin Short

text: His most recent credit is "Only Murders in the Building", a Hulu comedy series, in which he stars and executive produces alongside Steve Martin and Selena Gomez. In July 2022, he received his 13th Emmy nomination for his role in "Only Murders in the Building."


title: Martin Short

text: After doing sketch comedy for several years, Short starred in "Three Amigos", "Innerspace", "The Big Picture", "Captain Ron", "Clifford", "Three Fugitives" (1989), directed by Francis Veber, with Nick Nolte and James Earl Jones; he was the memorable scene-stealing character "Franck" in the 1991 remake of "Father of the Bride" and its sequel; and in "Pure Luck" (1991), directed by Nadia Tass, with Danny Glover and Sheila Kelley.


title: Martin Short

text: In 1996, he appeared in Tim Burton's sci-fi comedy "Mars Attacks!" as lascivious Press Secretary Jerry Ross. In 1997, he appeared as Wall Street broker Richard Kempster in "Jungle 2 Jungle", with Tim Allen.


title: Martin Short

text: In 2004, he wrote and starred in "Jiminy Glick in Lalawood" with Jan Hooks as his wife, Dixie Glick. In 2006, he starred in another movie with Tim Allen, "".


title: Martin Short

text: Short also provided the voices of several animated film characters, such as Stubbs in "We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story", Hubie in "The Pebble and the Penguin", Huy in "The Prince of Egypt", Ooblar in "", B.E.N. in "Treasure Planet", Preminger in "Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper", Thimbletack the Brownie in "The Spiderwick Chronicles", Stefano the sea lion in "", Kurokawa in the English dub of Hayao Miyazaki's "The Wind Rises", and The Jester in "".


title: Martin Short

text: Short was the host of the defunct Walt Disney World attractions "O Canada!", a Circle-Vision 360° film in the Epcot theme park's Canada pavilion, and "The Making of Me" at Epcot's Wonders of Life pavilion, a 15-minute movie about how pregnancy occurs.


title: Martin Short

text: Short resumed work in the theatre, playing a lead role in the 1993 musical version of the Neil Simon film "The Goodbye Girl", on Broadway, receiving a Tony Award nomination and an Outer Critics Circle Award. He had the lead role in the 1999 Broadway revival of the musical "Little Me", for which he received a Tony Award and another Outer Critics Circle Award.


title: Martin Short

text: In 2003, Short took to the stage once again in the critically acclaimed Los Angeles run of "The Producers". Short played the role of the accountant, Leo Bloom, opposite Jason Alexander's Max Bialystock. Although the role of Leo Bloom was originated on Broadway by Matthew Broderick, Mel Brooks first approached Short about doing the part opposite Nathan Lane. On the subject, Short has stated in numerous interviews that, while he was thrilled by the opportunity, the idea of having to move his family from their Los Angeles home to New York for a year was less than ideal and ultimately proved a deal-breaker.


title: Martin Short

text: Short performed in his satirical one-man show, with a cast of six, "Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me", at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre on Broadway. The show toured several cities in the spring of 2006, prior to opening on Broadway in August 2006; the show closed in January 2007. In it, he performed his classic characters Grimley, Cohen, and Glick.


title: Martin Short

text: As Glick, Short brought a member of the audience (usually a celebrity) on stage and interviewed him or her. Jerry Seinfeld was the guest on opening night. The show also featured parodies of many celebrities including Celine Dion, Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Tommy Tune, Joan Rivers, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Renée Zellweger, Jodie Foster, Rachael Ray, and Short's wife, actress Nancy Dolman. The cast album was released on April 10, 2007, and is available from Ghostlight Records, an imprint of Sh-K-Boom Records.


title: Martin Short

text: Short has continued to tour in his one-man show, which features many of his best-loved characters and sketches. In addition to "Fame Becomes Me", some titles that Short has used for his one-man show include "Stroke Me Lady Fame", "If I'd Saved, I Wouldn't Be Here", and "Sunday in the Park with George Michael". Short's memoir, covering his 40-year career in show business, "I Must Say: My Life as a Humble Comedy Legend", was released on November 4, 2014.


title: Martin Short

text: Since 2015, Short has toured with fellow comedian Steve Martin. Together they tours have included "A Very Stupid Conversation" in 2015, "An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life" in 2017, and "The Funniest Show in Town at the Moment" in 2021. With their 2017 tour, it was filmed for Netflix as a special and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.


title: Martin Short

text: Short met Canadian comic actress Nancy Dolman in 1972 during the run of "Godspell". The couple married in 1980. Dolman retired from show business in 1985 to be a stay-at-home mother and raise their family. Short and Dolman adopted three children: Katherine, Oliver, and Henry. Dolman died of ovarian cancer on August 21, 2010.


title: Martin Short

text: Short and his family make their home in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles. He also has a home on Lake Rosseau in Ontario. He is a naturalized US citizen.


title: Martin Short

text: Short has two stars on Canada's Walk of Fame. His brother, Michael, is a comedy writer and twice winner of the Emmy Award for comedy sketch writing.


title: Martin Short

text: Nancy Dolman's brother, screenwriter/director Bob Dolman (who served as a part of "SCTV"s Emmy-winning writing team alongside Short), married their close friend and colleague Andrea Martin, also in 1980. Short is uncle to the couple's two sons, Jack and Joe. Bob Dolman and Andrea Martin have since divorced (2004). Short is a first cousin of Clare Short, a former member of the British Parliament and former British cabinet minister.


title: Martin Short

text: Short appeared in a 2001 episode on the Celebrity "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" hosted by Regis Philbin, winning $32,000 for his charity, Loyola High School.


title: Martin Short

text: Short has actively campaigned for the Women's Research Cancer Fund, and he accepted a "Courage Award" on behalf of his late wife at a 2011 gala by the group.


title: Martin Short

text: Over the course of Short's prolific career in film, television and theatre, Short has received various nominations. He received two Tony Award nominations, winning for "Little Me" in 1999. Short also has received twelve Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning twice for Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series for "SCTV" (1983), and "AFI Life Achievement award: Mel Brooks" (2014). In 2014 Short


title: Martin Short

text: received the Robert Altman Award from Independent Spirit Awards alongside the cast of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Inherent Vice".


title: Martin Short

text: Short has received various honours from his birthplace of Canada, including in 1994, being appointed a Member of the Order of Canada. In 1995, Short received the Earl Grey Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1999, he earned the Sir Peter Ustinov Award at the Banff Television Festival.


title: Martin Short

text: Short was honoured with a star on Canada's Walk of Fame in 2000. In 2015, a stamp of Short was issued by Canada Post. In 2016, he received the Canadian Screen Awards Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2019 Short became an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2001 Short was awarded an honorary Doctor of Literature from McMaster University. Short has also received Medals from Queen Elizabeth II, including in 2002 the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal and in 2012 the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.


title: Canva

text: Canva is an Australian graphic design platform that is used to create social media graphics and presentations. The app includes readymade templates for users to use, and the platform is free and offers paid subscriptions such as Canva Pro and Canva for Enterprise for additional functionality. In 2021, Canva launched a video editing tool. Users can also pay for physical products to be printed and shipped. The company has announced it intends to compete with Google and Microsoft in the office software category, with website and whiteboard products.


title: Canva

text: In June 2020, Canva raised 60 million at a valuation of 6 billion; almost doubling its 2019 valuation. In September 2021, Canva raised US$200 million, with its value peaking that year at US$40 billion. By September 2022 the valuation of the company had leveled at US$26 billion.


title: Canva

text: Canva was founded in Perth, Australia, by Melanie Perkins, Cliff Obrecht, and Cameron Adams on 1 January 2013. In its first year, Canva had more than 750,000 users. In April 2014, social media and technology expert Guy Kawasaki joined the company as its chief evangelist (brand promoter). In 2015, "Canva for Work" was launched, focusing marketing materials.


title: Canva

text: During the 2016–17 financial year, Canva's revenue increased from to , with a loss of . In 2017, the company reached profitability and had 294,000 paying customers.


title: Canva

text: In January 2018, Perkins announced that the company had raised from Sequoia Capital, Blackbird Ventures, and Felicis Ventures, and the company was valued at .


title: Canva

text: During May 2019, the company raised another round of funding of 70 million from General Catalyst and Bond and its existing investors Blackbird Ventures and Felicis Ventures, valuing Canva at 2.5 billion. In October that year, Canva announced that it had raised an additional 85  million at a valuation of 3.2 billion, and launched an enterprise product.


title: Canva

text: In December 2019, Canva announced "Canva for Education", a free product for schools and other educational institutions intended to facilitate collaboration between students and teachers.


title: Canva

text: In June 2020, Canva announced a partnership with FedEx Office and with Office Depot the following month. , Canva's valuation had risen to 6 billion. This valuation grew to A$40 billion in September 2021, with co-founders Perkins and Obrecht announcing their plan to give away much of their fortune to numerous philanthropic causes.


title: Canva

text: In May 2019, Canva experienced a data breach in which data of roughly 139 million users were hacked. The exposed data included real names of users, usernames, email addresses, geographical information, and password hashes for some users. Canva faced criticism for an initial email to customers, which buried the details below self-congratulatory marketing content. Later in January 2020 approximately 4 million user passwords were decrypted and shared online. Canva responded by resetting the passwords of every user who had not changed their password since the initial breach.


title: Canva

text: In 2018, the company acquired presentations startup Zeetings for an undisclosed amount, as part of its expansion into the presentations space.


title: Canva

text: In May 2019, the company announced the acquisitions of Pixabay and Pexels, two free stock photography sites based in Germany, which enabled Canva users to access their photos for designs.


title: Allies of World War II

text: The Allies, formally referred to as the United Nations from 1942, were an international military coalition formed during the Second World War (1939–1945) to oppose the Axis powers, led by Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan, and Fascist Italy. Its principal members by 1941 were the United Kingdom, United States, Soviet Union, and China.


title: Allies of World War II

text: Membership in the Allies varied during the course of the war. When the conflict broke out on 1 September 1939, the Allied coalition consisted of the United Kingdom, France, and Poland, as well as their respective dependencies, such as British India. They were soon joined by the independent dominions of the British Commonwealth: Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Consequently, the initial alliance resembled that of the First World War.


title: Allies of World War II

text: As Axis forces began invading northern Europe and the Balkans, the Allies added the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, Greece, and Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union, which initially had a nonaggression pact with Germany and participated in its invasion of Poland, joined the Allies in June 1941 after Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The United States, while providing some materiel support to European Allies since September 1940, remained formally neutral until the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, after which it declared war and officially joined the Allies. China had already been at war with Japan since 1937, and formally joined the Allies in December 1941.


title: Allies of World War II

text: The Allies were led by the so-called "Big Three"—the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and the United States—which were the principal contributors of manpower, resources, and strategy, each playing a key role in achieving victory. A series of conferences between Allied leaders, diplomats, and military officials gradually shaped the makeup of the alliance, the direction of the war, and ultimately the postwar international order. Relations between the United Kingdom and the United States were especially close, with their bilateral Atlantic Charter forming the groundwork of their alliance.


title: Allies of World War II

text: The Allies became a formalized group upon the Declaration by United Nations on 1 January 1942, which was signed by 26 nations around the world; these ranged from governments in exile from the Axis occupation to small nations far removed from the war. The Declaration officially recognized the Big Three and China as the "Four Powers", acknowledging their central role in prosecuting the war; they were also referred to as the "trusteeship of the powerful", and later as the "Four Policemen" of the United Nations. Many more countries joined through to the final days of the war, including colonies and former Axis nations.


title: Allies of World War II

text: After the war ended, the Allies, and the Declaration that bound them, would become the basis of the modern United Nations; one enduring legacy of the alliance is the permanent membership of the U.N. Security Council, which is made up exclusively of the principal Allied powers that won the war.


title: Allies of World War II

text: The victorious Allies of World War I—which included what would become the Allied powers of the Second World War—had imposed harsh terms on the opposing Central Powers in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919-1920. Germany resented signing the Treaty of Versailles, which required that it take full responsibility for the war, lose a significant portion of territory, and pay costly reparations, among other penalties. The Weimar Republic, which formed at the end of the war and subsequently negotiated the treaty, saw its legitimacy shaken, particularly as it struggled to govern a greatly weakened economy and humiliated populace.


title: Allies of World War II

text: The Wall Street Crash of 1929, and the ensuing Great Depression, led to political unrest across Europe, especially in Germany, where revanchist nationalists blamed the severity of the economic crisis on the Treaty of Versailles. The far-right Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler, which had formed shortly after the peace treaty, exploited growing popular resentment and desperation to become the dominant political movement in Germany; by 1933, they gained power and rapidly established a totalitarian regime known as Nazi Germany. The Nazi regime demanded the immediate cancellation of the Treaty of Versailles and made claims over German-populated Austria and the German-populated territories of Czechoslovakia. The likelihood of war was high, but none of the major powers had the appetite for another conflict; many governments sought to ease tensions through nonmilitary strategies such as appeasement.


title: Allies of World War II

text: Japan, which was a principal allied power in the First World War, had since become increasingly militaristic and imperialistic; parallel to Germany, nationalist sentiment increased throughout the 1920s, culminating in the invasion of Manchuria in 1931. The League of Nations strongly condemned the attack as an act of aggression against China; Japan responded by leaving the League in 1933. The second Sino-Japanese War erupted in 1937 with Japan's full-scale invasion of China. The League of Nations condemned Japan's actions and initiated sanctions; the United States, which had attempted to peacefully negotiate for peace in Asia, was especially angered by the invasion and sought to support China.


title: Allies of World War II

text: In March 1939, Germany took over Czechoslovakia, just six months after signing the Munich Agreement, which sought to appease Hitler by ceding the mainly ethnic German Czechoslovak borderlands; while most of Europe had celebrated the agreement as a major victory for peace, the open flaunting of its terms demonstrated the failure of appeasement. Britain and France, which had been the main advocates of appeasement, decided that Hitler had no intention to uphold diplomatic agreements and responded by preparing for war. On 31 March 1939, Britain formed the Anglo-Polish military alliance in an effort to avert an imminent German attack on Poland; the French likewise had a long-standing alliance with Poland since 1921. The Soviet Union, which had been diplomatically and economically isolated by much of the world, had sought an alliance with the western powers, but Hitler preempted a potential war with Stalin by signing the Nazi–Soviet non-aggression pact in August 1939. In addition to preventing a two-front war that had battered its forces in the last world war, the agreement secretly divided the independent states of Central and Eastern Europe between the two powers and assured adequate oil supplies for the German war machine.


title: Allies of World War II

text: On 1 September 1939, Germany invaded Poland; two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany. Roughly two weeks after Germany's attack, the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east. Britain and France established the Anglo-French Supreme War Council to coordinate military decisions. A Polish government-in-exile was set up in London, joined by hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers, which would remain an Allied nation until the end. After a quiet winter, Germany began its invasion of Western Europe in April 1940, quickly defeating Denmark, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, and France; all the occupied nations would subsequently establish a government-in-exile in London, with each contributing a contingent of escaped troops. Nevertheless, by roughly one year since Germany's violation of the Munich Agreement, Britain and its Empire stood alone against Hitler and Mussolini.


title: Allies of World War II

text: Before they were formally allied, the United Kingdom and the United States had cooperated in a number of ways, notably through the destroyers-for-bases deal in September 1940 and the American Lend-Lease program, which provided Britain and the Soviet Union with war materiel beginning in October 1941. The British Commonwealth and, to a lesser extent, the Soviet Union reciprocated with a smaller Reverse Lend-Lease program.


title: Allies of World War II

text: The First Inter-Allied Meeting took place in London in early June 1941 between the United Kingdom, the four co-belligerent British Dominions (Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa), the eight governments in exile (Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Yugoslavia) and Free France. The meeting culminated with the Declaration of St James's Palace, which set out a first vision for the postwar world.


title: Allies of World War II

text: In June 1941, Hitler broke the non-aggression agreement with Stalin and Axis forces invaded the Soviet Union, which consequently declared war on Germany and its allies. Britain agreed to an alliance with the Soviet Union in July, with both nations committing to assisting one another by any means, and to never negotiate a separate peace. The following August saw the Atlantic Conference between American President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, which defined a common Anglo-American vision of the postwar world, as formalized by the Atlantic Charter.


title: Allies of World War II

text: At the Second Inter-Allied Meeting in London in September 1941, the eight European governments in exile, together with the Soviet Union and representatives of the Free French Forces, unanimously adopted adherence to the common principles of policy set forth in the Atlantic Charter. In December, Japan attacked American and British territories in Asia and the Pacific, resulting in the U.S. formally entering the war as an Allied power. Still reeling from Japanese aggression, China declared war on all the Axis powers shortly thereafter.


title: Allies of World War II

text: By the end of 1941, the main lines of World War II had formed. Churchill referred to the "Grand Alliance" of the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Soviet Union, which together played the largest role in prosecuting the war. The alliance was largely one of convenience for each member: the U.K. realized that the Axis powers threatened not only its colonies in North Africa and Asia but also the homeland. The United States felt that the Japanese and German expansion should be contained, but ruled out force until Japan's attack. The Soviet Union, having been betrayed by the Axis attack in 1941, greatly despised German belligerence and the unchallenged Japanese expansion in the East, particularly considering their defeat in previous wars with Japan; the Soviets also recognized, as the U.S. and Britain had suggested, the advantages of a two-front war.


title: Allies of World War II

text: Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin were The Big Three leaders. They were in frequent contact through ambassadors, top generals, foreign ministers and special emissaries such as the American Harry Hopkins. It is also often called the "Strange Alliance", because it united the leaders of the world's greatest capitalist state (the United States), the greatest socialist state (the Soviet Union) and the greatest colonial power (the United Kingdom).


title: Allies of World War II

text: Relations between them resulted in the major decisions that shaped the war effort and planned for the postwar world. Cooperation between the United Kingdom and the United States was especially close and included forming a Combined Chiefs of Staff.


title: Allies of World War II

text: There were numerous high-level conferences; in total Churchill attended 14 meetings, Roosevelt 12, and Stalin 5. Most visible were the three summit conferences that brought together the three top leaders. The Allied policy toward Germany and Japan evolved and developed at these three conferences.


title: Allies of World War II

text: There were many tensions among the Big Three leaders, although they were not enough to break the alliance during wartime.


title: Allies of World War II

text: In 1942 Roosevelt proposed becoming, with China, the Four Policemen of world peace. Although the 'Four Powers' were reflected in the wording of the Declaration by United Nations, Roosevelt's proposal was not initially supported by Churchill or Stalin.


title: Allies of World War II

text: Division emerged over the length of time taken by the Western Allies to establish a second front in Europe. Stalin and the Soviets used the potential employment of the second front as an 'acid test' for their relations with the Anglo-American powers. The Soviets were forced to use as much manpower as possible in the fight against the Germans, whereas the United States had the luxury of flexing industrial power, but with the "minimum possible expenditure of American lives." Roosevelt and Churchill opened ground fronts in North Africa in 1942 and in Italy in 1943, and launched a massive air attack on Germany, but Stalin kept wanting more.


title: Allies of World War II

text: Although the U.S. had a strained relationship with the USSR in the 1920s, relations were normalized in 1933. The original terms of the Lend-Lease loan were amended towards the Soviets, to be put in line with British terms. The United States would now expect interest with the repayment from the Soviets, following the initiation of the Operation Barbarossa, at the end of the war—the United States were not looking to support any "postwar Soviet reconstruction efforts", which eventually manifested into the Molotov Plan. At the Tehran conference, Stalin judged Roosevelt to be a "lightweight compared to the more formidable Churchill". During the meetings from 1943 to 1945, there were disputes over the growing list of demands from the USSR.


title: Allies of World War II

text: Tensions increased further when Roosevelt died and his successor Harry Truman rejected demands put forth by Stalin. Roosevelt wanted to play down these ideological tensions. Roosevelt felt he "understood Stalin's psychology", stating "Stalin was too anxious to prove a point... he suffered from an inferiority complex."


title: Allies of World War II

text: During December 1941, Roosevelt devised the name "United Nations" for the Allies and Churchill agreed. He referred to the Big Three and China as the "Four Policemen" repeatedly from 1942.


title: Allies of World War II

text: The alliance was formalised in the Declaration by United Nations signed on 1 January 1942. There were the 26 original signatories of the declaration; the Big Four were listed first:


title: Allies of World War II

text: The United Nations began growing immediately after its formation. In 1942, Mexico, the Philippines and Ethiopia adhered to the declaration. Ethiopia had been restored to independence by British forces after the Italian defeat in 1941. The Philippines, still owned by Washington but granted international diplomatic recognition, was allowed to join on 10 June despite its occupation by Japan.


title: Allies of World War II

text: In 1943, the Declaration was signed by Iraq, Iran, Brazil, Bolivia and Colombia. A Tripartite Treaty of Alliance with Britain and the USSR formalised Iran's assistance to the Allies. In Rio de Janeiro, Brazilian dictator Getúlio Vargas was considered near to fascist ideas, but realistically joined the United Nations after their evident successes.


title: Allies of World War II

text: In 1944, Liberia and France signed. The French situation was very confused. Free French forces were recognized only by Britain, while the United States considered Vichy France to be the legal government of the country until Operation Overlord, while also preparing U.S. occupation francs. Winston Churchill urged Roosevelt to restore France to its status of a major power after the liberation of Paris in August 1944; the Prime Minister feared that after the war, Britain could remain the sole great power in Europe facing the Communist threat, as it was in 1940 and 1941 against Nazism.


title: Allies of World War II

text: During the early part of 1945, Peru, Chile, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Syria (these latter two French colonies had been declared independent states by British occupation troops, despite protests by Pétain and later De Gaulle) and Ecuador became signatories. Ukraine and Belarus, which were not independent states but parts of the Soviet Union, were accepted as members of the United Nations as a way to provide greater influence to Stalin, who had only Yugoslavia as a communist partner in the alliance.


title: Allies of World War II

text: British Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain delivered his "Ultimatum Speech" on 3 September 1939 which declared war on Germany, a few hours before France. As the Statute of Westminster 1931 was not yet ratified by the parliaments of Australia and New Zealand, the British declaration of war on Germany also applied to those dominions. The other dominions and members of the British Commonwealth declared war from 3 September 1939, all within one week of each other; they were Canada, British India and South Africa.


title: Allies of World War II

text: During the war, Churchill attended seventeen Allied conferences at which key decisions and agreements were made. He was "the most important of the Allied leaders during the first half of World War II".


title: Allies of World War II

text: British West Africa and the British colonies in East and Southern Africa participated, mainly in the North African, East African and Middle-Eastern theatres. Two West African and one East African division served in the Burma Campaign.


title: Allies of World War II

text: Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing colony, having received responsible government in 1923. It was not a sovereign dominion. It governed itself internally and controlled its own armed forces, but had no diplomatic autonomy, and, therefore, was officially at war as soon as Britain was at war. The Southern Rhodesian colonial government issued a symbolic declaration of war nevertheless on 3 September 1939, which made no difference diplomatically but preceded the declarations of war made by all other British dominions and colonies.