title: Airbus

text: In 2005 the Government Pension Fund of Norway recommended the exclusion of several companies producing cluster bombs or components. EADS and its sister company EADS Finance BV were among them, arguing that EADS manufactures "key components for cluster bombs". The criticism was centred around TDA, a joint venture between EADS and Thales S.A. TDA produced the mortar ammunition PR Cargo, which can be considered cluster ammunition, however this definition has since been successfully battled by EADS. EADS and its subsidiaries are now regarded as fulfilling all the conditions of the Ottawa Treaty. According to the new point of view, no product of EADS or its subsidiaries falls into the category of antipersonnel mines as defined by the Ottawa Treaty ("landmines under the Ottawa Treaty"). In April 2006, the fund declared that the basis for excluding EADS from investments related to production of cluster munitions is no longer valid, however its shareholding of MBDA means the fund still excludes EADS due to its indirect involvement in nuclear weapons production.


title: Airbus

text: On 2 June 2006 co-CEO Noël Forgeard and Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert resigned following the controversy caused by the June 2006 announcement that deliveries of the A380 would be delayed by a further six months. Forgeard was one of a number of executives including Jean-Paul Gut who exercised stock options in November 2005 and March 2006. He and twenty-one other executives are under investigation as to whether they knew about the delays in the Airbus A380 project which caused a 26 % fall in EADS shares when publicised.


title: Airbus

text: The French government's actions were also under investigation; The state-owned bank Caisse des Dépots et Consignations (CDC) bought part of Lagardère's 7.5 % stake in EADS in April 2006, allowing that latter to partially escape the June 2006 losses.


title: Airbus

text: In 2003 Tony Yengeni, former chief whip of South Africa's African National Congress, was convicted of fraud worth around US$5 billion relating to an arms deal with South Africa, in which Airbus (formerly EADS) were major players. It was claimed that Airbus had admitted that it had "rendered assistance" to around thirty senior officials, including defence force chief General Siphiwe Nyanda, to obtain luxury vehicles. In March 2003, South Africa withdrew all charges of bribery against the former head of EADS South Africa, and in September 2004, the prosecutor's office dismissed the bribery charges against Yengeni.


title: Airbus

text: In August 2012 the UK's Serious Fraud Office opened a criminal investigation into an EADS subsidiary, GPT Special Project Management Ltd, regarding bribery allegations made by GPT's former programme director, Ian Foxley. Foxley alleged that luxury cars were bought for senior Saudis, and that millions of pounds sterling were paid to mysterious Cayman Islands companies, possibly to secure a £2 billion contract to renew the Saudi Arabian National Guard's military telecommunications network. Foxley's allegations were supported by two other GPT employees. The later agreement between Airbus and the SFO on 31 January 2020 excluded settlement of this case.


title: Airbus

text: The French National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF), the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) had been jointly investigating irregularities in Airbus marketing practices since 2016, in particular the activities of agents Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, the Philippines, Indonesia and Austria, but also China, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Kuwait, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, India, Colombia and Nepal.


title: Airbus

text: In July 2016, SFO opened a criminal investigation into "suspicions of fraud, bribes and corruption" after Airbus informed British authorities of a failure to disclose the role played by some intermediaries facilitating the sale of aircraft. Airbus was required to provide this information in order to benefit from export credits, which the British, French and German governments had suspended. In March 2017, the PNF subsequently opened a preliminary investigation into "suspicions of fraud and corruption in civil aviation activities" in cooperation with the SFO.


title: Airbus

text: The allegations included that from 2012 onwards Airbus was responsible for recruiting and remunerating intermediaries to influence the award of civil and military contracts. Payments worth hundreds of millions of euros in alleged secret commissions were made and numerous sales including in Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Indonesia, Austria, China and Mauritius were under suspicion of bribery.


title: Airbus

text: The investigation focussed on the Airbus, Strategy and Marketing Organization (SMO), the department responsible for negotiating sales contracts and which, La Tribune reported as having "a network and an incredible influence around the world." Directed successively by Jean-Paul Gut and Marwan Lahoud, the SMO was dissolved in 2016 under the new executive director, Thomas Enders, as part of a “clean hands” operation.


title: Airbus

text: In 2014, in a case referred to as the Kazakhgate affair, a search at Airbus Helicopters by French authorities found emails confirming that Airbus had agreed in principle to pay €12 million in bribes to the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan to facilitate the sale of helicopters. Officers from the Central Anti-Corruption Office (OCLCIFF) then searched the home of Marwan Lahoud on 8 February 2016. This revealed that two Turkish intermediaries had claimed payment of commissions due in connection with the sale of 160 aircraft to China valued at US$10 billion. A message by Lahoud suggested that the commissions could reach US$250 million. The SMO was to conceal these commissions as false invoices for a fictitious Caspian pipeline project.


title: Airbus

text: In January 2020, French, British and American courts validated three agreements between Airbus and the PNF, the UK SFO, and the US DoJ. Airbus recognised the charges and agreed to pay fines of €3.6 billion in France, €984 million in the United Kingdom and €526 million in the United States. The penalties were the highest ever issued by the French and British bodies.


title: Airbus

text: These settlements close the prosecution of Airbus regarding the Kazakhstan case but not allegations of misconduct in Saudi Arabia, China and Turkey, which Airbus denies. Airbus managers may still be pursued as private individuals.


title: Airbus

text: In March 2015, Airbus launched an accelerator program to infuse startup and intrapreneurial innovations called Airbus BizLab.


title: Airbus

text: In May 2022, airline Qantas ordered 12 A350-1000 planes to be used for what was reported to be the world's longest commercial flight from Sydney to London set to begin in late 2025.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer is an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1992. Since 2001, the band has consisted of Rivers Cuomo (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Patrick Wilson (drums, backing vocals), Scott Shriner (bass guitar, keyboards, backing vocals), and Brian Bell (guitar, keyboards, backing vocals).


title: Weezer

text: After signing to Geffen Records in 1993, Weezer released their self-titled debut album, also known as the Blue Album, in May 1994. Backed by music videos for the singles "Buddy Holly", "Undone – The Sweater Song", and "Say It Ain't So", the Blue Album became a multiplatinum success. Weezer's second album, "Pinkerton" (1996), featuring a darker, more abrasive sound, was a commercial failure and initially received mixed reviews, but achieved cult status and critical acclaim years later. Both the Blue Album and "Pinkerton" are now frequently cited among the best albums of the 1990s. Following the tour for "Pinkerton", founding bassist Matt Sharp left the band and Weezer went on hiatus.


title: Weezer

text: In 2001, Weezer returned with the Green Album with their new bassist, Mikey Welsh. With a more pop sound, and promoted by singles "Hash Pipe" and "Island in the Sun", it was a commercial success and received mostly positive reviews. After the Green Album tour, Welsh left for health reasons and was replaced by Shriner. Weezer's fourth album, "Maladroit" (2002), achieved mostly positive reviews, but weaker sales. "Make Believe" (2005) received mixed reviews, but its single "Beverly Hills" became Weezer's first single to top the US Modern Rock Tracks chart and their first to reach the top ten on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Weezer

text: In 2008, Weezer released the Red Album; its lead single, "Pork and Beans", became the third Weezer song to top the Modern Rock Tracks chart, backed by a Grammy-winning music video. "Raditude" (2009) and "Hurley" (2010) featured more "modern pop production" and songs co-written with other artists, achieved further mixed reviews and moderate sales. "Everything Will Be Alright in the End" (2014) and the White Album (2016) returned to a rock style and achieved more positive reviews; "Pacific Daydream" (2017) featured a more mainstream pop sound. In 2019, Weezer released an album of covers, the Teal Album, followed by the Black Album. In 2021, they released "OK Human", which featured an orchestral pop sound, followed by the hard-rock inspired "Van Weezer". In 2022, they plan to release a series of extended plays based around the four seasons. Weezer has sold 10.2 million albums in the US and over 35 million worldwide.


title: Weezer

text: Vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo moved to Los Angeles from Connecticut in 1989 with his high school metal band, Avant Garde, later renamed Zoom. After the group disbanded, Cuomo met drummer Patrick Wilson, and moved in with him and Wilson's friend Matt Sharp. Wilson and Cuomo formed a band, Fuzz, and enlisted Scottie Chapman on bass. Chapman quit after a few early shows; the band reformed as Sixty Wrong Sausages, with Cuomo's friend Pat Finn on bass and Jason Cropper on guitar, but soon disbanded. Cuomo moved to Santa Monica, California, and recorded dozens of demos, including the future Weezer songs "The World Has Turned and Left Me Here" and "Undone – The Sweater Song". Sharp was enthusiastic about the demos, and became the group's bassist and de facto manager.


title: Weezer

text: Cuomo, Wilson, Sharp and Cropper formed Weezer on February 14, 1992. Their first show was on March 19, 1992, closing for Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar. They took their name from a nickname Cuomo's father gave him. Cuomo gave Sharp one year to get the band a record deal before Cuomo accepted a scholarship at the University of California, Berkeley. In November, Weezer recorded a demo, "The Kitchen Tape", including a version of the future Weezer single "Say It Ain't So". The demo was heard by Todd Sullivan, an A&R man at Geffen Records, who signed Weezer in June 1993.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer recorded their debut album with producer Ric Ocasek at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Cropper was fired during recording, as Cuomo and Sharp felt he was threatening the band chemistry. He was replaced by Brian Bell. Weezer's self-titled debut album"," also known as the "Blue Album", was released in May 1994. Described by "Pitchfork" as integrating "geeky humor, dense cultural references, and positively gargantuan hooks", it combined alternative rock, power pop, polished production and what "AllMusic" critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine called an "'70s trash-rock predilection ... resulting in something quite distinctive".


title: Weezer

text: Weezer's first single, "Undone – The Sweater Song", was backed by a music video directed by Spike Jonze; filmed in an unbroken take, it featured Weezer performing on a sound stage with little action, barring a pack of dogs swarming the set. The video became an instant hit on MTV. The song reached No. 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. Jonze also directed Weezer's second video, "Buddy Holly", splicing the band into footage from the 1970s television sitcom "Happy Days". The video achieved heavy rotation on MTV and won four MTV Video Music Awards, including Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Music Video, and two "Billboard" Music Video Awards. "Buddy Holly" peaked at No. 18 on the Hot 100 Airplay and No. 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. The song is included on Rolling Stone's 500 Best Songs Of All Time. A third single, "Say It Ain't So", followed. It was met with critical acclaim and later Pitchfork ranked it #10 on the top 200 tracks of the 90s list. The song reached No. 51 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart and No. 7 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart.


title: Weezer

text: Their debut album gained critical and commercial success. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked it number 294 on The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time. "Weezer" is certified quadruple platinum in the United States as well as Canada, making it Weezer's best-selling album.


title: Weezer

text: In 1994, Weezer took a break from touring for the Christmas holidays. Cuomo traveled to his home state of Connecticut and began recording demos for Weezer's next album. His original concept was a space-themed rock opera, "Songs from the Black Hole, "that would express his mixed feelings about success." The album featured a story in which each member of the band played a character. Other characters were played by Rachel Haden (The Rentals and That Dog), Joan Wasser (The Dambuilders), and Karl Koch. The story was set in 2126, with the spaceship "Betsy II" embarking on a galaxy-wide mission. Cuomo conceived the story as a metaphor for his conflicted feelings about touring in a successful rock band. The ship's name "Betsy II" is taken from Weezer's first tour bus, nicknamed Betsy; M1 represents Weezer's management and record label; Wuan and Dondó represent the part of Cuomo that was excited about success; Jonas represents his doubts and longing; Laurel and Maria represent his relationships with women. Weezer developed the concept through intermittent recording sessions through 1995. At the end of the year, Cuomo enrolled at Harvard University, where his songwriting became "darker, more visceral and exposed, less playful", and he abandoned "Songs from the Black Hole".


title: Weezer

text: While attending Harvard, Cuomo experienced loneliness and frustration while also undergoing an extensive surgery for his left leg. These experiences influenced his songwriting for the next record. The other members of Weezer decided to embark on their own side projects during this time. Sharp started The Rentals who released their debut album, Return of the Rentals, in October 1995. The album also featured Patrick Wilson on drums. Wilson also formed his band, The Special Goodness, during this time. Bell decided to work on his band, Space Twins.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer's second album, "Pinkerton", was released on September 24, 1996. "Pinkerton" is named after the character BF Pinkerton from "Madama Butterfly", who marries and then abandons a Japanese woman named Butterfly. Calling him an "asshole American sailor similar to a touring rock star", Cuomo felt the character was "the perfect symbol for the part of myself that I am trying to come to terms with on this album". It produced three singles: "El Scorcho", "The Good Life", and "Pink Triangle".


title: Weezer

text: With a darker, more abrasive sound, "Pinkerton" sold poorly compared to the Blue Album and received mixed reviews; it was voted "one of the worst albums of 1996" in a "Rolling Stone" reader poll. However, the album eventually gained a cult following and came to be considered among Weezer's best work; in 2002, "Rolling Stone" readers voted "Pinkerton" the 16th greatest album of all time, and it has been listed in several critics' "best albums of all time" lists. In 2004, "Rolling Stone" gave the album a new review, awarding it five out of five stars and adding it to the ""Rolling Stone" Hall of Fame". "Pinkerton" was later certified platinum in 2016.


title: Weezer

text: In July 1997, sisters Mykel, Carli and Trysta Allan died in a car accident while driving home from a Weezer show in Denver, Colorado. Mykel and Carli ran Weezer's fan club and helped manage publicity for several other Los Angeles bands, and had inspired the "Sweater Song" B-side "Mykel and Carli". Weezer canceled a show to attend their funeral. In August, Weezer and other bands held a benefit concert for the family in Los Angeles. A compilation album, Hear You Me! A Tribute to Mykel and Carli, was dedicated to their memory. The album included "Mykel and Carli", as well as songs by Ozma, That Dog, and Kara's Flowers. In 2001, Jimmy Eat World released "Hear You Me" which was dedicated to Mykel and Carli.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer completed the "Pinkerton" tour in mid-1997 and went on hiatus. Wilson returned to his home in Portland, Oregon to work on his side project, the Special Goodness, and Bell worked on his band Space Twins. In 1998, Sharp left Weezer due to differences with the band members. He said of his departure: "I certainly have my view of it, as I'm sure everybody else has their sort of foggy things. When you have a group that doesn't communicate, you're going to have a whole lot of different stories."


title: Weezer

text: Cuomo returned to Harvard but took a break to focus on songwriting. He formed a new band composed of a changing lineup of Boston musicians, and performed new material. The songs were abandoned, but bootlegs of the Boston shows are traded on the internet. Wilson eventually flew to Boston to join Homie, another Cuomo side project. The members of the band were composed of Greg Brown (Cake and Deathray), Matt Sharp, Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughin) and Sulfur), Adam Orth (Shufflepuck), and future Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh. Although a Homie album was being recorded, they ended up only releasing one song called "American Girls" for the 1998 film Meet The Deedles.


title: Weezer

text: In February 1998, Cuomo, Bell and Wilson reunited in Los Angeles to start work on the next Weezer album. Rumors suggest Sharp did not rejoin the band and left the group in April 1998, which Sharp denies. The group hired Mikey Welsh, who had played with Cuomo in Boston, as their new bassist. Welsh was also previously a bassist for Juliana Hatfield. Weezer continued rehearsing and recording demos until late 1998. Frustration and creative disagreements led to a decline in rehearsals, and in late 1998, Wilson left for his home in Portland pending renewed productivity from Cuomo. In November 1998, the band played two club shows with a substitute drummer in California under the name Goat Punishment, consisting entirely of covers of Nirvana and Oasis songs. In the months following, Cuomo entered a period of depression, unplugging his phone, painting the walls of his home black, and putting fiberglass insulation over his windows to prevent light entering. Eventually during this time, Cuomo started experimenting with his music and ended up writing 121 songs by 1999. In the meantime, Wilson continued to work with The Special Goodness while Bell again worked with Space Twins. Welsh continued to tour with Juliana Hatfield.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer reunited in April 2000, when they accepted a lucrative offer to perform at the Fuji Rock Festival. The festival served as a catalyst for Weezer's productivity, and from April to May 2000, they rehearsed and demoed new songs in Los Angeles. They returned to live shows in June 2000, playing small unpromoted concerts once again under the name Goat Punishment. In June 2000, the band joined the American Warped Tour for nine dates.


title: Weezer

text: In the summer of 2000, Weezer went on tour, including dates on the Vans Warped Tour. Eventually, the band went back into the studio to produce a third album, the "Green Album". Due to the mixed reception of "Pinkerton," Cuomo wrote less personal lyrics for the Green Album. The band hired Ric Ocasek who had also produced the band's debut album. Shortly after the release, Weezer went on another American tour. The album was supported by the singles "Hash Pipe", "Island in the Sun", and "Photograph". Executives suggested that "Don't Let Go" should be chosen as the first single. However, Cuomo continued to fight and "Hash Pipe" eventually became the album's first single. "Hash Pipe" peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and No. 6 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. "Island In the Sun" was released as the second single and became a radio hit as well as one of their biggest overseas hits. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. The label tried to postpone the release date of "Weezer" further until June, but they ended up sticking to the album's original release date of May 15 release date. The album debuted at number 4 on the Billboard 200 and has since been certified platinum.


title: Weezer

text: After suffering a breakdown from the stress of touring, undiagnosed bipolar disorder, and drug abuse, Welsh attempted suicide and left Weezer in 2001. He later joined The Kickovers for a short stint before retiring from music. He was replaced by Scott Shriner. During this time, Spike Jonze returned to film a music video for "Island In the Sun". Matt Sharp was originally intended to appear in the video, but it did not end up happening.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer took an experimental approach for the recording process of its fourth album by allowing fans to download in-progress mixes of new songs from its official website in return for feedback. After the release of the album, the band said that this process was something of a failure, as the fans did not supply the group with coherent, constructive advice. Cuomo eventually delegated song selection for the album to the band's original A&R rep, Todd Sullivan, saying that Weezer fans chose the "wackest songs". Only the song "Slob" was included on the album due to general fan advice.


title: Weezer

text: The recording was also done without input from Weezer's record label, Interscope. Cuomo had what he then described as a "massive falling out" with the label. In early 2002, well before the official release of the album, the label sent out a letter to radio stations requesting the song be pulled until an official, sanctioned single was released. Interscope also briefly shut down Weezer's audio/video download webpage, removing all the MP3 demos.


title: Weezer

text: In April 2002, former bassist Matt Sharp sued the band, alleging, among several accusations, that he was owed money for cowriting several Weezer songs. The suit was later settled out of court.


title: Weezer

text: The fourth album, "Maladroit", was released on May 14, 2002, only one year after its predecessor. The album served as a harder-edged version of the band's trademark catchy pop-influenced music, and was replete with busy 1980s-style guitar solos. Although met with generally positive critical reviews, its sales were not as strong as those for the Green Album. Two singles were released from the album. The music video for "Dope Nose" featured an obscure Japanese motorcycle gang, and was put into regular rotation. The song reached No. 8 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. The music video for "Keep Fishin'" combined Weezer with the Muppets, and had heavy rotation on MTV. Both videos were directed by Marcos Siega.


title: Weezer

text: Spin reviewed it as the 6th best album of 2002. A "Rolling Stone" reader's poll also from that year voted it the 90th greatest album of all time.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer released its much-delayed first DVD on March 23, 2004. The "" DVD chronicles the band from its beginnings through "Maladroit"'s Enlightenment Tour. Compiled by Karl Koch, the DVD features home video footage, music videos, commercials, rehearsals, concert performances, television performances, and band commentary. The DVD was certified "gold" on November 8, 2004.


title: Weezer

text: Before working on new material, Cuomo discovered vipassana meditation which became a large influence to his songwriting. He decided to take a more personal approach to his writing once again. One song during this process, "The Other Way", was written for Cuomo's ex-girlfriend Jennifer Chiba after her then-boyfriend, singer-songwriter Elliott Smith, died by suicide. Cuomo said, "I wanted to console her, but I was confused and skeptical about my own motives for wanting to do so, so I wrote that song about that."


title: Weezer

text: Before recording material for their 4th album, Brian Bell and Patrick Wilson worked on their own projects. Bell's Space Twins released "The End of Imagining" which Rolling Stone critic, John D. Lueressen named the 7th best album of 2003. Meanwhile, Wilson's The Special Goodness released Land Air Sea.


title: Weezer

text: From December 2003 to the fall of 2004, Weezer recorded a large amount of material intended for a new album to be released in the spring of 2005 with producer Rick Rubin. The band's early recording efforts became available to the public through the band's website. The demos were a big hit, but none of the songs recorded at this time were included on the finished album. That album, titled "Make Believe," was released on May 10, 2005. The album debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Despite commercial success, "Make Believe" got a mixed reception from critics, receiving an average score of 52 on review collator Metacritic. Although some reviews, such as AMG's, compared it favorably to "Pinkerton", others, among them "Pitchfork", panned the album as predictable and lyrically poor.


title: Weezer

text: The album's first single, "Beverly Hills", became a hit in the U.S. and worldwide, staying on the charts for several months after its release. It became the first Weezer song to hit No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock chart and No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Beverly Hills" was nominated for Best Rock Song at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, the first ever Grammy nomination for the band. The video was also nominated for Best Rock Video at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards. The second single released from "Make Believe" was "We Are All on Drugs". MTV refused to play the song, so Weezer re-recorded the lyrics by replacing "on drugs" with "in love" and renaming the song "We Are All in Love". In early 2006, it was announced that "Make Believe" was certified platinum, and "Beverly Hills" was the second most popular song download on iTunes for 2005, finishing just behind "Hollaback Girl" by Gwen Stefani. "Make Believe"'s third single, "Perfect Situation", reached No. 1 U.S. Billboard Modern Rock chart and No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100. "This Is Such a Pity" was the band's fourth single from the album, but no music video was made for its release. The "Make Believe" tour also found the band using additional instruments onstage, adding piano, synthesizers, pseudophones, and guitarist Bobby Schneck.


title: Weezer

text: After the success of "Make Believe," the band decided to take a break. Cuomo returned to Harvard where he ended up graduating cum laude and as a Phi Beta Kappa in 2006. Cuomo also married Kyoko Ito on June 18, 2006, a woman he had known since March 1997. The wedding was attended by the current members of the band as well as Matt Sharp and Jason Cropper. During this break, Patrick Wilson and Brian Bell appeared in the 2006 film "Factory Girl" playing John Cale and Lou Reed respectively and contributing a cover of the Velvet Underground song "Heroin" for the film. Also during this time, Bell started a new project, The Relationship.


title: Weezer

text: "Weezer" (also known as the Red Album) was released in June 2008. Rick Rubin produced the album and Rich Costey mixed it. The record was described as "experimental", and according to Cuomo, who claimed it at the time to be Weezer's "boldest and bravest and showiest album," included longer and non-traditional songs, TR-808 drum machines, synthesizers, Southern rap, baroque counterpoint, and band members other than Cuomo writing, singing, and switching instruments. Pat Wilson said the album cost about a million dollars to make, contrasting it with the $150,000 budget of the Blue Album. The album was produced by Rick Rubin and Jacknife Lee. The album debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 while receiving generally positive reviews.


title: Weezer

text: Its lead single, "Pork and Beans", topped the "Billboard" Modern Rock Tracks charts for 11 weeks while also peaking at No. 64 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its music video won a Grammy for Best Short Form Music Video. The second single, "Troublemaker", debuted at No. 39 on the "Billboard" Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart and peaked at No. 2. In October 2008, the group announced that the third single would be "The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn)" which was met with critical praise.


title: Weezer

text: On May 30, 2008, the Toledo Free Press revealed in an interview with Shriner that Weezer would be unveiling the "Hootenanny Tour", in which fans would be invited to bring their own instruments to play along with the band. Said Shriner: "They can bring whatever they want... oboes, keyboards, drums, violins, and play the songs with us as opposed to us performing for them."


title: Weezer

text: The band performed five dates in Japan at the beginning of September and then embarked on what was dubbed the "Troublemaker" tour, consisting of 21 dates around North America, including two in Canada. Angels and Airwaves and Tokyo Police Club joined the band as support at each show, and Brian Bell's other band The Relationship also performed at a handful of dates. Shortly before the encore at each show, the band would bring on fans with various instruments and perform "Island in the Sun" and "Beverly Hills" with the band. At a show in Austin, after Tokyo Police Club had played its set, Cuomo was wheeled out in a box and mimed to a recording of rare Weezer demo, "My Brain", dressed in pajamas and with puppets on his hands, before being wheeled off again. This bizarre event later surfaced as the climax to a promo video for Cuomo's second demo album, "Alone 2".


title: Weezer

text: Weezer toured with Blink-182 in 2009, including an August 30 stop at the Virgin Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. Drummer Josh Freese joined Weezer on a temporary basis to play drums on the tour, while Pat Wilson switched to guitar. Wilson said in an interview for Yahoo! Music that Cuomo wanted "to be active and more free on stage and him having guitar on was an impediment." Freese stated he was a Weezer fan and did not want to pass up the opportunity to play with the band.


title: Weezer

text: On August 18, 2009 Weezer released the first single for their upcoming album, "If You're Wondering If I Want You To". The song peaked at No. 81 on the Billboard Hot 100. The title of the album was called "Raditude" which was a suggestion from actor Rainn Wilson.


title: Weezer

text: "Raditude"'s album artwork was revealed on September 11, featuring a National Geographic contest-winning photograph of a jumping dog named Sidney. The record's release was pushed to November 3, 2009, where it debuted as the seventh best-selling album of the week on the "Billboard" 200 chart. The band scheduled tour dates in December 2009 extending into early 2010 to coincide with the new album's release. On December 6, 2009, Cuomo was injured when his tour bus crashed in Glen, New York due to black ice. Cuomo suffered three broken ribs and internal bleeding, and his assistant broke two ribs. His wife, baby daughter, and their nanny were also on the bus, but they escaped injury. Weezer cancelled the remaining 2009 tour dates the following day. The band resumed touring on January 20, 2010.


title: Weezer

text: In December 2009, it was revealed that the band was no longer with Geffen Records. The band stated that new material would still be released, but the band members were unsure of the means, whether it be self-released, released online, or getting signed by another label. Eventually, the band was signed to the independent label Epitaph.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer co-headlined The Bamboozle in May 2010, and performed at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee in June. In August, 2010, Weezer performed at the Reading and Leeds Festival, and performed at the Voodoo Experience festival in New Orleans, LA in October 2010.


title: Weezer

text: The album "Hurley" was released in September 2010 through Epitaph Records. The name comes from the character Hugo "Hurley" Reyes from the television show "Lost". Jorge Garcia, the actor who portrayed Hurley, stated that being featured on the album cover is "one of the biggest honors of [his] career." The first single, "Memories" was chosen as part of the Jackass 3D soundtrack with the music video featuring members of the cast contributing backing vocals.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer used internet streaming service YouTube as a way to promote the album. Weezer loaned itself to 15 amateur online video producers, "going along with whatever plans the creator could execute in about 30 minutes." The band was promoted through popular channels such as Barely Political, Ray William Johnson and Fred Figglehorn. The Gregory Brothers solicited musical and vocal contributions from the band on one of its compositions built around speeches by Rep. Charles Rangel and President Barack Obama. Weezer calls the promotion "The YouTube Invasion".


title: Weezer

text: In November 2010, Weezer released a compilation album composed of re-recorded versions of unused recordings spanning from 1993-2010, "Death to False Metal". The title track, "Turning Up The Radio" was a collaborative effort with many fans on Youtube. On the same day a deluxe version of "Pinkerton", which includes "25 demos, outtakes and live tracks" was also released. A third volume of Cuomo's solo "" series, titled "Alone III: The Pinkerton Years", consisting of demos and outtakes from the "Pinkerton" sessions, was released on December 12, 2011. The band also contributed a cover of the Cars' "You Might Think" for the Disney-Pixar film "Cars 2" as well as a cover of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" for "Shrek Forever After."


title: Weezer

text: Weezer began working on their ninth studio album in September 2010 with the intent of a 2011 release, but the year ended without seeing a release. On October 8, 2011, former Weezer bassist Mikey Welsh was found dead from a suspected heroin overdose in a Chicago hotel room. Weezer performed in Chicago the next day and dedicated the concert to Welsh, who was expected to have attended. Welsh had previously joined Weezer on stage for a few performances between 2010 and 2011.


title: Weezer

text: The band headlined a four-day rock-themed Carnival Cruise from Miami to Cozumel that set sail on January 19, 2012. In July, Weezer headlined the inaugural Bunbury Music Festival in Cincinnati, Ohio. In early 2013 the band brought its Memories Tour to Australia—the band's first Australian tour since 1996. The band played its first two albums in full at several venues. The band also headlined the Punkspring 2013 tour in Japan and later in the year toured Canada and USA. They played multiple nights in cities around the U.S. The first night shows were dedicated to playing their hits, then the Blue album in full, front to back. The second night, they played Pinkerton in the same fashion. Koch did a "Memories" slide show at the Gibson amphitheater in Los Angeles (And most likely many other venues around the U.S.) The slide show consisted of photos of gigs over the years and highlighted the loss of their fanclub team members Mykel and Carli Allan in 1997.


title: Weezer

text: Over 200 tracks were considered for their next album, but they were able to narrow it down to 13. According to the album's official press release, the album is organized thematically around three groups of songs: "Belladonna", "The Panopticon Artist" and "Patriarchia". "Belladonna" includes the songs "Ain't Got Nobody", "Lonely Girl", "Da Vinci", "Go Away", "Cleopatra" and "Return to Ithaka", all of which deal with Cuomo's relationships with women. Tracks under "The Panopticon Artist" include "Back to the Shack", "I've Had It Up To Here" and "The Waste Land" all deal with Cuomo's relationships with fans. The final group of songs, "Patriarchia", are "Eulogy for a Rock Band", "The British Are Coming", "Foolish Father" and "Anonymous", which deal with relationships with father figures, "with a new spin".


title: Weezer

text: In January 2014, Weezer began recording with producer Ric Ocasek, who had produced the "Blue Album" and the "Green Album". A clip of a new song was posted on the band's official YouTube account on March 19, 2014, which confirmed previous rumors of the band being in the studio. On June 12, 2014, it was revealed that the album title would be "Everything Will Be Alright in the End". It was released on October 7, 2014 to generally favorable reviews, becoming the band's best-reviewed release since "Pinkerton". The first single, "Back to the Shack", reached No. 5 on the Alternative Airplay chart.


title: Weezer

text: On October 26, 2015, the band released a new single, "Thank God for Girls", through Apple Music and to radio the same day. The following week, the band released a second single, "Do You Wanna Get High?". Cuomo claimed in an interview with Zane Lowe, that the band was not working on a new album. Later, on January 14, 2016, Weezer released a third single, "King of the World", and announced the "White Album", which continued the critical success of the band's previous release.


title: Weezer

text: While writing the album, Cuomo joined Tinder to meet with people to get inspired for new songs. He also started to explore other songwriting techniques including a cut-up technique, stream-of-consciousness, and writing melodies with a piano instead of guitar.


title: Weezer

text: "Weezer" was officially released on April 1, 2016 and peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. The album is considered a concept album exploring the themes of gender dynamics, modern dating experiences and references to religious iconography. Musically, the album serves as a throwback to the band's first two albums, "Weezer" (1994) and "Pinkerton" (1996), while also serving as a tribute to the Beach Boys.


title: Weezer

text: In support of the album, the band performed on the Weezer & Panic! at the Disco Summer Tour 2016 with Panic! at the Disco in 2016. The band later signed to Atlantic Records as part of a joint venture between Warner Music Group and Crush Management.


title: Weezer

text: Soon after the release of the White Album, Cuomo discussed plans for Weezer's next album, provisionally titled the "Black Album'. Cuomo said the album would tackle "more mature topics" and be "less summer day and more winter night", and suggested the band could return to the recording studio as soon as October 2016. Weezer delayed recording after Cuomo felt his new material was more "like reveries from a beach at the end of the world [... as if] the Beach Boys and the Clash fell in love by the ocean and had one hell of an amazing baby".


title: Weezer

text: To write the album, Cuomo utilized various musical and lyrical fragments he had collected over time. He kept an archive of song ideas and hired programmers to organize a spreadsheet of lyric snippets by beats per minute, syllable, and key to call from whenever stuck. "Instead of trying to force myself to feel inspired, I can just go into the spreadsheet and search [...] I just try them out to see which ones work magically."


title: Weezer

text: On March 16, 2017, Weezer released a new song, "Feels Like Summer", the lead single of the upcoming album. The song drew a mixed reaction from fans but became their biggest hit on Alternative radio in a decade (peaking at number 2 on the Alternative Airplay chart ). On August 16, Weezer announced "Pacific Daydream," released on October 27. On August 17, the promotional single from the album, "Mexican Fender", was released. The following month, "Beach Boys" was released, and the month after, they released "Weekend Woman" to positive reception. "Happy Hour" was chosen as the second official single of the album, peaking at No. 9 on the Alternative Airplay chart.


title: Weezer

text: Following a persistent Twitter campaign by a fan, Weezer released a cover of Toto's song "Africa" on May 29, 2018. Prior to this, the band released a cover of "Rosanna" to "troll" their fans. "Africa" reached number one on the "Billboard" Alternative Songs chart in August 2018, becoming the band's first number-one single since "Pork and Beans" in 2008. Two days later, on August 10, Toto responded by releasing a cover of Weezer's single "Hash Pipe". "Africa" eventually peaked at No. 51 on the Billboard Hot 100. The success of the "Africa" cover led Weezer to record an album of covers, the "Teal Album", a surprise album released on January 24, 2019. The album was a commercial success as it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. In addition, all tracks charted on the Hot Rock and Alternative Songs chart.


title: Weezer

text: On September 20, 2018, Weezer released "California Snow" as a single for the 2018 film "Spell". It was chosen as the closing track for the "Black Album". On October 11, 2018, Weezer released "Can't Knock the Hustle", the lead single from their upcoming album. On November 21, they released the second single, "Zombie Bastards", and announced the "Black Album", produced by Dave Sitek and scheduled for March 1, 2019. An arena tour of the U.S. with the Pixies and supporting and international tour dates were also announced. On February 21, they released "High as a Kite" and "Living in LA" as the next singles. They would later play them on NPR Music to promote the album for their series of Tiny Desk Concerts.


title: Weezer

text: During a Beats 1 interview by Zane Lowe on Apple Music on January 24, 2019, Cuomo announced that Weezer had already recorded the "basic tracks" to the follow-up album to the "Black Album". The album is being produced by Jake Sinclair, who produced the "White Album". Cuomo said the songwriting for the album is piano-based, and that some songs have string parts already recorded at Abbey Road Studios. For the recording process, Weezer departed from the modern "grid music" style (music recorded via modern software using grids to organize and manipulate the individual elements of recorded music) and did not perform to a "click" (i.e., metronome) for a more natural style. Cuomo said the album is tentatively titled "OK Human" and that the inspiration for the album is the 1970 album Nilsson Sings Newman. Furthermore, Cuomo said he is currently working on an album with the working title "Van Weezer" that harkens back to their heavier rock sound after noticing how crowds go nuts for big guitar solos at Weezer shows.


title: Weezer

text: On June 25, 2019, "The New York Times Magazine" listed Weezer among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.


title: Weezer

text: On September 10, 2019, the band announced the Hella Mega Tour with Green Day and Fall Out Boy as headliners alongside themselves, with the Interrupters as an opening act. They also released the opening single, "The End of the Game," off their upcoming fifteenth studio album, "Van Weezer". The song reached No. 2 on the Alternative Airplay chart. Cuomo said that the band would return "back to big guitars". He remarked that when the band would perform "Beverly Hills" live in concert, he would perform a guitar solo that was not present on the recorded version of the song. "We noticed that, recently, the crowd just goes crazy when I do that. So it feels like maybe the audience is ready for some shredding again."


title: Weezer

text: The band recorded a version of "Lost in the Woods" for the 2019 film "Frozen II", which was included on the soundtrack album. A music video was shot for the song, featuring the band and "Frozen" voice actor Kristen Bell.


title: Weezer

text: On May 6, 2020, the band released the single and music video, "Hero", a tribute to essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Simultaneously, they announced the delay of "Van Weezer" for a time to be determined. The song reached No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart. On May 10, Weezer guest-starred on an episode of The Simpsons, "The Hateful Eight-Year Olds", where a snippet of their song "Blue Dream" from "Van Weezer" was played. On August 14, 2020, the band announced that the album had been delayed to May 2021 in order to coincide with the rescheduled Hella Mega Tour. That same day, the third single, "Beginning of the End", was released as a part of the soundtrack for "Bill & Ted Face the Music."


title: Weezer

text: On October 6, 2020, after Eddie Van Halen died, the album was dedicated to him. In addition to Van Halen, the album is also dedicated to Ric Ocasek, who produced the band's debut, "The Blue Album", "The Green Album", & "Everything Will Be Alright in the End", as Ocasek passed away in September 2019.


title: Weezer

text: On January 18, 2021, the band announced their fourteenth studio album, "OK Human", following cryptic promotional floppy discs and links sent to some members of the Weezer Fan Club a few days prior. The announcement came with a release date of January 29. The single "All My Favorite Songs" was released on January 21. The song reached No.1 on the Alternative Airplay chart and was later nominated for Best Rock Song in the 64th Annual Grammy Awards. The album was planned to be released following "Van Weezer", but when the album suffered a year-long delay following the COVID-19 pandemic, the band decided to shift their focus to completing "OK Human" first. Work on "OK Human" began as early as 2017, when the band decided to make an album that combined rock instrumentation with an orchestra.


title: Weezer

text: The band hired a 38-piece-orchestra and recorded the album entirely with analog equipment to achieve their desired baroque sound. The album was additionally inspired by The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" and Harry Nilsson's "Nilsson sings Newman" (1970). The album title is a play on Radiohead's "OK Computer."


title: Weezer

text: The track listing was announced on April 20, 2021, and the fourth single, "I Need Some of That" was released the following day. "Van Weezer" was released on May 7, 2021 along with an animated music video for "All The Good Ones". The album has been compared to their fourth studio album "Maladroit" (2002), and is inspired by 1970s and 1980s hard rock and heavy metal bands such as Kiss, Black Sabbath, Metallica and Van Halen (the last of whom inspired the album's title).


title: Weezer

text: While doing an interview with NPR about the "OK Human" and "Van Weezer" albums, Cuomo hinted that the band were working on a four-album box-set called "SZNZ" (pronounced as "seasons"). Cuomo also described the potential musical styles of "Spring" and "Fall", saying: ""Spring" can be a very breezy, carefree acoustic-type album, whereas "Fall" is going to be dance rock." He later stated that the albums, titled "Spring", "Summer", "Fall", and "Winter" respectively, are planned for release in 2022 on the first astronomical day of each relevant season. Each season is linked to their own emotion. ""Spring" is optimism, "Summer" is anger, "Autumn" is anxiety, and "Winter" is sadness.


title: Weezer

text: On March 11, 2022, Weezer officially announced the project, now titled "SZNZ", would consist of four extended plays, with "Fall" renamed to "Autumn". The first, "", was released on March 20, and the lead single "A Little Bit of Love" was released on March 16. The song reached No. 1 on the Alternative Airplay chart.


title: Weezer

text: On June 20, 2022, Weezer appeared on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", debuting "Records", the lead single from "". The song reached No. 4 on the Alternative Airplay chart. The EP released at midnight on June 21, along with news of a Broadway Theater residency planned for September 2022. In August 2022, the residency was cancelled due to a high budget and poor ticket sales.


title: Weezer

text: On September 19, 2022, the band performed once again under the name Goat Punishment at Troubadour (West Hollywood), where they played "SZNZ: Winter" for the first time. They also debuted the single "What Happens After You?" from , which was released on September 22, 2022.


title: Weezer

text: "What Happens After You?" was later performed on "Jimmy Kimmel Live!". A music video for the single was released on November 29, 2022.


title: Weezer

text: On December 9, 2022 Weezer released "I Want a Dog", the lead single from the last EP in the "SZNZ" series, "". "SZNZ: Winter" is set to be released on December 21, 2022.


title: Weezer

text: Weezer has been described as alternative rock, power pop, pop rock, pop punk, geek rock, emo, indie rock, emo pop, melodic metal, and pop. The members of Weezer have listed influence including Kiss (with direct references in the song "In the Garage"), Nirvana, the Pixies, the Cars (whose member Ric Ocasek produced several Weezer records), Cheap Trick, Pavement, Oasis, the Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day and Wax. Cuomo credited the Beach Boys as a major influence, specifically "Pet Sounds;" Bell described Weezer's sound as "Beach Boys with Marshall stacks". Operas and musicals such as "Madama Butterfly" (1904) and "Jesus Christ Superstar" (1970) influenced "Pinkerton" and "Songs from the Black Hole." The band members' worship for hard rock and heavy metal music was the source of inspiration behind "Van Weezer", including 1970s and 1980s bands like Kiss, Black Sabbath, Metallica, Slayer, Rush, and Van Halen (the last of whom inspired the album's title).


title: Weezer

text: Artists such as Fun., Pete Wentz, Fall Out Boy, Panic! at the Disco, Blink-182, Charli XCX, Real Estate, Dinosaur Pile-Up, Cymbals Eat Guitars, DNCE, Ozma, Wavves, and the Fall of Troy cite Weezer as an influence.


title: Weezer

text: Patrick Wilson started his side-project the Special Goodness in 1996, for which he sings and plays guitar and bass. In May 2012, he released his fourth record with the Special Goodness, entitled "Natural".


title: Weezer

text: Brian Bell started the Space Twins in 1994 releasing an album, "The End of Imagining", in 2003. In 2006, Bell started a new band called the Relationship, and did not contribute any songs for Weezer's "Raditude" in order to save material for the Relationship. The Relationship's self-titled debut was released in 2010, with a follow-up, "Clara Obscura", released in 2017.


title: Weezer

text: Former bassist Matt Sharp started the Rentals in 1994. After releasing "Return of the Rentals" in 1995, Sharp went on to quit Weezer in 1998 to focus more on the Rentals. Sharp has also released work under his own name. Mikey Welsh toured with Juliana Hatfield and played bass for the Kickovers. Scott Shriner played bass for Anthony Green's debut studio album "Avalon".


title: Weezer

text: On December 18, 2007, Cuomo released "Alone - The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo", a compilation of his demos recorded from 1992 to 2007, including some demos from the unfinished "Songs from the Black Hole" album. A second compilation, "", was released on November 25, 2008, and a third, "", on December 12, 2011. The album was sold exclusively with a book, "The Pinkerton Diaries", which collects Cuomo's writings from the "Pinkerton" era.


title: Weezer

text: On March 20, 2013, Cuomo and Scott Murphy of the band Allister released "Scott & Rivers", a Japanese-language album. They released their second album in April 2017. In November 2020, Cuomo released thousands of unreleased songs and demos from throughout Weezer's career on his personal website for purchase and download.


title: Weezer

text: In 1994, Weezer contributed the song "Jamie" to DGC Rarities, Vol. 1, which is a compilation of demos, B-sides, and covers recorded by bands on the label. It was the first appearance of the song until it was released as a B-side for the single of "Buddy Holly" and again on the "Blue Album Deluxe Edition".


title: Weezer

text: In 1999, Weezer contributed a cover of the song "Velouria" by The Pixies to the tribute album "Where Is My Mind? A Tribute To The Pixies".


title: Weezer

text: On July 22, 2003, Weezer contributed an acoustic cover of Green Day's "Worry Rock" to the compilation album "A Different Shade of Green: A Tribute to Green Day".


title: Weezer

text: On December 4, 2008, iOS developer Tapulous released the game "Christmas with Weezer", featuring gameplay similar to "Tap Tap Revenge" and six Christmas carols performed by the band. A digital EP featuring the songs, titled "Christmas with Weezer", was also released on December 16, 2008.


title: Weezer

text: On March 9, 2010, Weezer appeared on an episode of the children's daytime television show "Yo Gabba Gabba!" and performed the song "All My Friends Are Insects". The song appeared on a compilation soundtrack album for the show, "Yo Gabba Gabba! Music Is...Awesome! Volume 2", as well as a bonus track for the Weezer album "Hurley".


title: Weezer

text: On June 11, 2010, the band released a new single, "Represent", as an "unofficial" anthem for the US Men's soccer team to coincide with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Although technically unofficial, the song was embraced by the team, and on June 23, 2010, US Soccer released a music video on their official YouTube channel featuring dramatic footage of the US team spliced with footage of Weezer performing.


title: Weezer

text: In 2010, the band recorded a cover of "I'm a Believer" for the movie "Shrek Forever After". Previously, Weezer had planned to include an early version of "My Best Friend" from "Make Believe" in "Shrek 2", but it was rejected due to the song sounding "too much like it was written for Shrek".


title: Weezer

text: In 2011, the band covered "You Might Think" by The Cars for the Pixar movie "Cars 2". The song appears on the movie's official soundtrack.


title: Weezer

text: In 2011, Weezer recorded a cover of "Rainbow Connection" with Hayley Williams for "", a cover album of Muppets songs which also included OK Go, The Fray, Alkaline Trio, and others.


title: Weezer

text: On September 20, 2018, Weezer released "California Snow" for the film "Spell", which Cuomo also provided voicework for. The song later appeared on the Black Album.


title: Weezer

text: In June 2021, Weezer contributed the song "Tell Me What You Want" to the video game "Wave Break". The song is featured in a special level of the game called "Weezy Mode".


title: Weezer

text: In August 2021, Weezer contributed a cover of Metallica's "Enter Sandman" to "The Metallica Blacklist", a compilation of Metallica song covers by various artists, with each song getting several covers by different artists.


title: Weezer

text: The Grammy Award is an award presented by The Recording Academy to recognize achievement in the mainly English-language music industry. Weezer has received one award from five nominations.


title: Weezer

text: The iHeartRadio Music Award was founded by iHeartRadio in 2014. From 2014 to 2018 the event was broadcast live on NBC, and in 2019 the event was broadcast on FOX.


title: Weezer

text: The MTV Europe Music Award is an award presented by Viacom International Media Networks Europe to honour artists and music in popular culture.


title: Weezer

text: The MTV Video Music Award is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Weezer has received five award from eight nominations.


title: Weezer

text: The Teen Choice Awards were established in 1999 to honor the year's biggest achievements in music, movies, sports and television, being voted by young people aged between 13 and 19.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The Republic of China (ROC), between 1912 and 1949, was a sovereign state recognised as the official designation of China when it was based on Mainland China, prior to the relocation of its central government to Taiwan as a result of the Chinese Civil War. At a population of 541 million in 1949, it was the world's most populous country. Covering , it consisted of 35 provinces, 1 special administrative region, 2 regions, 12 special municipalities, 14 leagues, and 4 special banners. The People's Republic of China (PRC), which rules mainland China today, considers ROC as a country that ceased to exist since 1949; thus, the history of ROC before 1949 is often referred to as Republican Era () of China. The ROC, now based in Taiwan, today considers itself a continuation of the country, thus calling the period of its mainland governance as the Mainland Period () of the Republic of China in Taiwan.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The Republic was declared on 1 January 1912 after the Xinhai Revolution, which overthrew the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, the last imperial dynasty of China. On 12 February 1912, regent Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication decree on behalf of the Xuantong Emperor, ending several millennia of Chinese monarchical rule. Sun Yat-sen, the founder and its provisional president, served only briefly before handing over the presidency to Yuan Shikai, the leader of the Beiyang Army. Sun's party, the Kuomintang (KMT), then led by Song Jiaoren, won the parliamentary election held in December 1912. However, Song was assassinated on Yuan's orders shortly after and the Beiyang Army, led by Yuan, maintained full control of the Beiyang government, who then proclaimed the Empire of China in 1915 before abolishing the short-lived monarchy as a result of popular unrest. After Yuan's death in 1916, the authority of the Beiyang government was further weakened by a brief restoration of the Qing dynasty. The mostly powerless government led to a fracturing of the country as cliques in the Beiyang Army claimed individual autonomy and clashed with each other. So began the Warlord Era: a decade of decentralized power struggles and prolonged armed conflict.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The KMT, under the leadership of Sun, attempted multiple times to establish a national government in Canton. After taking Canton for a third time in 1923, the KMT successfully established a rival government in preparation for a campaign to unify China. In 1924 the KMT would enter into an alliance with the fledgling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as a requirement for Soviet support. General Chiang Kai-shek, who became the Chairman of the Kuomintang after Sun's death and subsequent power struggle in 1925, began the Northern Expedition in 1926 to overthrow the Beiyang government. In 1927, Chiang moved the nationalist government to Nanking and purged the CCP, beginning with the Shanghai massacre. The latter event forced the CCP and KMT's left-wing into armed rebellion, marking the beginning of the Chinese Civil War and the establishment of a rival nationalist government in Wuhan under Wang Jingwei. However, this rival government soon purged the communists as well and reconciled with Chiang's KMT. After the Northern Expedition resulted in nominal unification under Chiang in 1928, disgruntled warlords formed an anti-Chiang coalition. These warlords would fight Chiang and his allies in the Central Plains War from 1929 to 1930, ultimately losing in the largest conflict of the Warlord Era.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: China experienced some industrialization during the 1930s but suffered setbacks from conflicts between the Nationalist government in Nanjing, the CCP, remaining warlords, and the Empire of Japan after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Nation-building efforts yielded to fight the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 when a skirmish between the National Revolutionary Army and Imperial Japanese Army culminated in a full-scale invasion by Japan. Hostilities between the KMT and CCP partially subsided when, shortly before the war, they formed the Second United Front to resist Japanese aggression until the alliance broke down in 1941. The war lasted until the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II in 1945; China then regained control of the island of Taiwan and the Pescadores.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Shortly after, the Chinese Civil War between the KMT and CCP resumed with full-scale fighting, leading to the 1946 Constitution of the Republic of China replacing the 1928 Organic Law as the Republic's fundamental law. Three years later, in 1949, nearing the end of the civil war, the CCP established the People's Republic of China in Beijing, with the KMT-led ROC moving its capital several times from Nanjing to Guangzhou, followed by Chongqing, then Chengdu and lastly, Taipei. The CCP emerged victorious and expelled the KMT and ROC government from the Chinese mainland. The ROC later lost control of Hainan in 1950, and the Dachen Islands in Zhejiang in 1955. It has maintained control over Taiwan and other smaller islands.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The ROC was a founding member of the League of Nations and later the United Nations (including its Security Council seat) where it maintained until 1971, when the People's Republic of China took over its membership. It was also a member of the Universal Postal Union and the International Olympic Committee.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: During the mainland period, the country was known in English as "China" or the "Republic of China". Internally, "Zhongguo" (), "Zhonghua" or "Jung-hwa" (), or "Minguo" () were used as short forms of the official country name "Zhonghua Minguo" () in Chinese. Both "Beiyang government" (from 1912 to 1928), and "Nationalist government" (from 1928 to 1949) used the name "Republic of China" as their official name.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The country's official Chinese name "Chunghwa Minkuo", stemmed from the party manifesto of Tongmenghui in 1905, which says the four goals of the Chinese revolution was "to expel the Manchu rulers, to revive "Chunghwa", to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people.()." The convener of Tongmenghui and Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen proposed the name "Chunghwa Minkuo" as the assumed name of the new country when the revolution succeeded. After the Xinhai revolution overthrew the Qing dynasty in 1911-12, Sun further explained the meaning of the country's Chinese name in detail in 1916:


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Taiwanese politician Mei Feng criticised the official English name of the state "Republic of China" fails to translate the Chinese character "Min" () according to Sun Yat-sen's original interpretations, while the name should instead be translated as "the People's Republic of China," which confuses with the current official name of mainland China under communist rule. To avoid confusion, the ROC government in Taiwan began to put an aside of "Taiwan" next to its official name since 2005.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: A republic was formally established on 1 January 1912 following the Xinhai Revolution, which itself began with the Wuchang uprising on 10 October 1911, successfully overthrowing the Qing dynasty and ending over two thousand years of imperial rule in China. From its founding until 1949, the republic was based on mainland China. Central authority waxed and waned in response to warlordism (1915–28), a Japanese invasion (1937–45), and a full-scale civil war (1927–49), with central authority strongest during the Nanjing Decade (1927–37), when most of China came under the control of the authoritarian, one-party military dictatorship of the Kuomintang (KMT).


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Empire of Japan surrendered control of Taiwan and its island groups to the Allies; and Taiwan was placed under the Republic of China's administrative control. The communist takeover of mainland China in 1949, after the Chinese Civil War, left the ruling Kuomintang with control over only Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu, and other minor islands. With the loss of the mainland, the ROC government retreated to Taiwan and the KMT declared Taipei the provisional capital. Meanwhile, the CCP took over all of mainland China and founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In 1912, after over two thousand years of imperial rule, a republic was established to replace the monarchy. The Qing dynasty that preceded the republic had experienced instability throughout the 19th century and suffered from both internal rebellion and foreign imperialism. A program of institutional reform proved too little and too late. Only the lack of an alternative regime prolonged the monarchy's existence until 1912.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The Chinese Republic grew out of the Wuchang Uprising against the Qing government, on 10 October 1911, which is now celebrated annually as the ROC's national day, also known as "Double Ten Day". Sun Yat-sen had been actively promoting revolution from his bases in exile. He now returned and on 29 December 1911, Sun Yat-sen was elected president by the Nanjing assembly, which consisted of representatives from seventeen provinces. On 1 January 1912, he was officially inaugurated and pledged "to overthrow the despotic government led by the Manchu, consolidate the Republic of China and plan for the welfare of the people". Sun's new government lacked military strength. As a compromise, he negotiated with Yuan Shikai the commander of the Beiyang Army, promising Yuan the presidency of the republic if he were to remove the Qing emperor by force. Yuan agreed to the deal, and the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi, was forced to abdicate in 1912. Song Jiaoren led the Kuomintang Party to electoral victories by fashioning his party's program to appeal to the gentry, landowners, and merchants. Song was assassinated on 20 March 1913, at the behest of Yuan Shikai.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Yuan was elected president of the ROC in 1913. He ruled by military power and ignored the republican institutions established by his predecessor, threatening to execute Senate members who disagreed with his decisions. He soon dissolved the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, banned "secret organizations" (which implicitly included the KMT), and ignored the provisional constitution. An attempt at a democratic election in 1912 ended with the assassination of the elected candidate by a man recruited by Yuan. Ultimately, Yuan declared himself Emperor of China in 1915. The new ruler of China tried to increase centralization by abolishing the provincial system; however, this move angered the gentry along with the provincial governors, who were usually military men. Many provinces declared independence and became warlord states. Increasingly unpopular and deserted by his supporters, Yuan abdicated in 1916 and died of natural causes shortly thereafter. China then declined into a period of warlordism. Sun, having been forced into exile, returned to Guangdong in the south in 1917 and 1922, with the help of warlords, and set up successive rival governments to the Beiyang government in Beijing, having re-established the KMT in October 1919. Sun's dream was to unify China by launching an expedition against the north. However, he lacked the military support and funding to turn it into a reality.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Meanwhile, the Beiyang government struggled to hold onto power, and an open and wide-ranging debate evolved regarding how China should confront the West. In 1919, a student protest against the government's weak response to the Treaty of Versailles, considered unfair by Chinese intellectuals, led to the May Fourth movement, whose demonstrations were against the danger of spreading Western influence replacing Chinese culture. It was in this intellectual climate that the influence of Marxism spread and became popular, leading to the founding of the CCP in 1921.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: After Sun's death in March 1925, Chiang Kai-shek became the leader of the Kuomintang. In 1926, Chiang led the Northern Expedition with the intention of defeating the Beiyang warlords and unifying the country. Chiang received the help of the Soviet Union and the CCP. However, he soon dismissed his Soviet advisers, being convinced that they wanted to get rid of the KMT and take control. Chiang decided to purge the Communists, killing thousands of them. At the same time, other violent conflicts were taking place in China: in the South, where the CCP had superior numbers, Nationalist supporters were being massacred. Such events eventually led to the Chinese Civil War between the Nationalists and Communists. Chiang Kai-shek pushed the CCP into the interior and established a government, with Nanking as its capital, in 1927. By 1928, Chiang's army overthrew the Beiyang government and unified the entire nation, at least nominally, beginning the so-called Nanjing Decade.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Sun Yat-sen envisioned three phases for the KMT rebuilding of Chinamilitary rule and violent reunification; political tutelage; and finally a constitutional democracy. In 1930, after seizing power and reunifying China by force, the "tutelage" phase started with the promulgation of a provisional constitution. Criticized for instituting authoritarianism, Chiang launched the New Life Movement to promote moral behavior and claimed the government was establishing a modern democratic society. Among other things, it created the Academia Sinica, the Central Bank of China, and other agencies. In 1932, China sent its first team to the Olympic Games. Campaigns were mounted and laws passed to promote the rights of women. Addressing social problems, especially in remote villages, was aided by improved communications. The Rural Reconstruction Movement was one of many that took advantage of the new freedom to raise social consciousness. The Nationalist government published a draft constitution on 5 May 1936.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Continual wars plagued the government. Those in the western border regions included the Kumul Rebellion, the Sino-Tibetan War, and the Soviet Invasion of Xinjiang. Large areas of China proper remained under the semi-autonomous rule of local warlords such as Feng Yuxiang and Yan Xishan, provincial military leaders, or warlord coalitions. Nationalist rule was strongest in the eastern regions around the capital Nanjing. The Central Plains War in 1930, the Japanese aggression in 1931, and the Red Army's Long March in 1934 led to more power for the central government, but there continued to be foot-dragging and even outright defiance, as in the Fujian Rebellion of 1933–34.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Reformers and critics pushed for democracy and human rights, but the task seemed difficult if not impossible. The nation was at war and divided between Communists and Nationalists. Corruption and lack of direction hindered reforms. Chiang told the State Council: "Our organization becomes worse and worse... many staff members just sit at their desks and gaze into space, others read newspapers and still others sleep."


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Few Chinese had any illusions about Japanese desires on China. Hungry for raw materials and pressed by a growing population, Japan initiated the seizure of Manchuria in September 1931 and established the ex-Qing emperor Puyi as head of the puppet state of Manchukuo in 1932. The loss of Manchuria, and its potential for industrial development and war industries, was a blow to the Kuomintang economy. The League of Nations, established at the end of World War I, was unable to act in the face of Japanese defiance.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The Japanese began to push south of the Great Wall into northern China and the coastal provinces. Chinese fury against Japan was predictable, but anger was also directed against Chiang and the Nanking government, which at the time was more preoccupied with anti-Communist extermination campaigns than with resisting the Japanese invaders. The importance of "internal unity before external danger" was forcefully brought home in December 1936, when Chiang Kai-shek, in an event now known as the Xi'an Incident, was kidnapped by Zhang Xueliang and forced to ally with the Communists against the Japanese in the Second Kuomintang-CCP United Front.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Chinese resistance stiffened after 7 July 1937, when a clash occurred between Chinese and Japanese troops outside Beiping (Later Beijing) near the Marco Polo Bridge. This skirmish led to open, although undeclared, warfare between China and Japan. Shanghai fell after a three-month battle during which Japan suffered extensive casualties in both its army and navy. The capital, Nanking, fell in December 1937, which was followed by mass murders and rapes known as the Nanking Massacre. The national capital was briefly at Wuhan, then removed in an epic retreat to Chongqing, the seat of government until 1945. In 1940, the Japanese set up the collaborationist Wang Jingwei regime, with its capital in Nanking, which proclaimed itself the legitimate "Republic of China" in opposition to Chiang Kai-shek's government, although its claims were significantly hampered due to its being a puppet state controlling limited amounts of territory.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The United Front between the Kuomintang and the CCP had salutary effects for the beleaguered CCP, despite Japan's steady territorial gains in northern China, the coastal regions and the rich Yangtze River Valley in central China. After 1940, conflicts between the Kuomintang and Communists became more frequent in the areas not under Japanese control. The Communists expanded their influence wherever opportunities presented themselves through mass organizations, administrative reforms and the land- and tax-reform measures favoring the peasants and, the spread of their organizational network, while the Kuomintang attempted to neutralize the spread of Communist influence. Meanwhile, northern China was infiltrated politically by Japanese politicians in Manchukuo using facilities such as the Wei Huang Gong.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: After its entry into the Pacific War during World War II, the United States became increasingly involved in Chinese affairs. As an ally, it embarked in late 1941 on a program of massive military and financial aid to the hard-pressed Nationalist Government. In January 1943, both the United States and the United Kingdom led the way in revising their unequal treaties with China from the past. Within a few months a new agreement was signed between the United States and the Republic of China for the stationing of American troops in China as part of the common war effort against Japan. The United States sought unsuccessfully to reconcile the rival Kuomintang and Communists, to make for a more effective anti-Japanese war effort. In December 1943, the Chinese Exclusion Acts of the 1880s, and subsequent laws, enacted by the United States Congress to restrict Chinese immigration into the United States were repealed. The wartime policy of the United States was meant to help China become a strong ally and a stabilizing force in postwar East Asia. During the war, China was one of the Big Four Allies of World War II and later one of the Four Policemen, which was a precursor to China having a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In August 1945, with American help, Nationalist troops moved to take the Japanese surrender in North China. The Soviet Union—encouraged to invade Manchuria to hasten the end of the war and allowed a Soviet sphere of influence there as agreed to at the Yalta Conference in February 1945—dismantled and removed more than half the industrial equipment left there by the Japanese. Although the Chinese had not been present at Yalta, they had been consulted and had agreed to have the Soviets enter the war, in the belief that the Soviet Union would deal only with the Kuomintang government. However, the Soviet presence in northeast China enabled the Communists to arm themselves with equipment surrendered by the withdrawing Japanese army.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In 1945, after the end of the war, the Nationalist Government moved back to Nanjing. The Republic of China emerged from the war nominally a great military power but actually a nation economically prostrate and on the verge of all-out civil war. The problems of rehabilitating the formerly Japanese-occupied areas and of reconstructing the nation from the ravages of a protracted war were staggering. The economy deteriorated, sapped by the military demands of foreign war and internal strife, by spiraling inflation, and by Nationalist profiteering, speculation, and hoarding. Starvation came in the wake of the war, and millions were rendered homeless by floods and unsettled conditions in many parts of the country.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: On 25 October 1945, following the Surrender of Japan, the administration of Taiwan and Penghu Islands were handed over from Japan to China. After the end of the war, United States Marines were used to hold Beiping (Beijing) and Tianjin against a possible Soviet incursion, and logistic support was given to Kuomintang forces in north and northeast China. To further this end, on 30 September 1945 the 1st Marine Division, charged with maintaining security in the areas of the Shandong Peninsula and the eastern Hebei, arrived in China.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In January 1946, through the mediation of the United States, a military truce between the Kuomintang and the Communists was arranged, but battles soon resumed. Public opinion of the administrative incompetence of the Nationalist government was incited by the Communists during the nationwide student protest against the mishandling of the Shen Chong rape case in early 1947 and during another national protest against monetary reforms later that year. The United States—realizing that no American efforts short of large-scale armed intervention could stop the coming war—withdrew Gen. George Marshall's American mission. Thereafter, the Chinese Civil War became more widespread; battles raged not only for territories but also for the allegiance of sections of the population. The United States aided the Nationalists with massive economic loans and weapons but no combat support.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Belatedly, the Republic of China government sought to enlist popular support through internal reforms. However, the effort was in vain, because of rampant government corruption and the accompanying political and economic chaos. By late 1948 the Kuomintang position was bleak. The demoralized and undisciplined National Revolutionary Army proved to be no match for the Communists' motivated and disciplined People's Liberation Army. The Communists were well established in the north and northeast. Although the Kuomintang had an advantage in numbers of men and weapons, controlled a much larger territory and population than their adversaries, and enjoyed considerable international support, they were exhausted by the long war with Japan and in-fighting among various generals. They were also losing the propaganda war to the Communists, with a population weary of Kuomintang corruption and yearning for peace.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In January 1949, Beiping was taken by the Communists without a fight, and its name changed back to Beijing. Following the capture of Nanjing on 23 April, major cities passed from Kuomintang to Communist control with minimal resistance, through November. In most cases the surrounding countryside and small towns had come under Communist influence long before the cities. Finally, on 1 October 1949, Communists led by Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek declared martial law in May 1949, whilst a few hundred thousand Nationalist troops and two million refugees, predominantly from the government and business community, fled from mainland China to Taiwan. There remained in China itself only isolated pockets of resistance. On 7 December 1949, Chiang proclaimed Taipei, Taiwan, the temporary capital of the Republic of China.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: During the Chinese Civil War both the Nationalists and Communists carried out mass atrocities, with millions of non-combatants killed by both sides. Benjamin Valentino has estimated atrocities in the civil war resulted in the death of between 1.8 million and 3.5 million people between 1927 and 1949, including deaths from forced conscription and massacres.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The first Republic of China national government was established on 1 January 1912, in Nanjing, and was founded on the Constitution of the ROC and its Three Principles of the People, which state that "[the ROC] shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people."


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Sun Yat-sen was the provisional president. Delegates from the provinces sent to confirm the government's authority formed the first parliament in 1913. The power of this government was limited, with generals controlling both the central and northern provinces of China, and short-lived. The number of acts passed by the government was few and included the formal abdication of the Qing dynasty and some economic initiatives. The parliament's authority soon became nominal: violations of the Constitution by Yuan were met with half-hearted motions of censure. Kuomintang members of parliament who gave up their membership in the KMT were offered 1,000 pounds. Yuan maintained power locally by sending generals to be provincial governors or by obtaining the allegiance of those already in power.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: When Yuan died, the parliament of 1913 was reconvened to give legitimacy to a new government. However, the real power passed to military leaders, leading to the warlord period. The impotent government still had its use; when World War I began, several Western powers and Japan wanted China to declare war on Germany, to liquidate German holdings in China.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In February 1928, the Fourth Plenary Session of the 2nd Kuomintang National Congress, held in Nanjing, passed the Reorganization of the Nationalist Government Act. This act stipulated that the Nationalist Government was to be directed and regulated under the Central Executive Committee of the Kuomintang, with the Committee of the Nationalist Government being elected by the KMT Central Committee. Under the Nationalist Government were seven ministries—Interior, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Transport, Justice, Agriculture and Mines, and Commerce, in addition to institutions such as the Supreme Court, Control Yuan, and the General Academy.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: With the promulgation of the Organic Law of the Nationalist Government in October 1928, the government was reorganized into five different branches, or "yuan", namely the Executive Yuan, Legislative Yuan, Judicial Yuan, Examination Yuan as well as the Control Yuan. The Chairman of the National Government was to be the head-of-state and commander-in-chief of the National Revolutionary Army. Chiang Kai-shek was appointed as the first chairman, a position he would retain until 1931. The Organic Law also stipulated that the Kuomintang, through its National Congress and Central Executive Committee, would exercise sovereign power during the period of "political tutelage", that the KMT's Political Council would guide and superintend the Nationalist Government in the execution of important national affairs, and that the Political Council has the power to interpret or amend the Organic Law.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Shortly after the Second Sino-Japanese War, a long-delayed constitutional convention was summoned to meet in Nanking in May 1946. Amidst heated debate, this convention adopted many constitutional amendments demanded by several parties, including the KMT and the Communist Party, into the Constitution. This Constitution was promulgated on 25 December 1946 and came into effect on 25 December 1947. Under it, the Central Government was divided into the presidency and the five yuans, each responsible for a part of the government. None was responsible to the other except for certain obligations such as the president appointing the head of the Executive Yuan. Ultimately, the president and the yuans reported to the National Assembly, which represented the will of the citizens.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Under the new constitution the first elections for the National Assembly occurred in January 1948, and the assembly was summoned to meet in March 1948. It elected the president of the republic on 21 March 1948, formally bringing an end to the KMT party rule started in 1928, although the president was a member of the KMT. These elections, though praised by at least one US observer, were poorly received by the Communist Party, which would soon start an open, armed insurrection.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Before the Nationalist government was ousted from the mainland, the Republic of China had diplomatic relations with 59 countries, including Australia, Canada, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Estonia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Panama, Siam, the Soviet Union, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States, and the Holy See. The Republic of China was able to maintain most of these diplomatic ties, at least initially following the retreat to Taiwan. Chiang Kai-shek had vowed to quickly return and "liberate" the mainland, and assurance that became a cornerstone of the ROC's post 1949 foreign policy.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Under the Atlantic Charter, the Republic of China was entitled to a permanent seat on the UN Security Council (UNSC).


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The Republic of China retained hereditary nobility like the Han Chinese nobles Duke Yansheng and Celestial Masters and Tusi chiefdoms like the Chiefdom of Mangshi, Chiefdom of Yongning, who continued possessing their titles in the Republic of China from the previous dynasties.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: The military power of the Republic of China was inherited from the New Army, mainly the Beiyang Army, which later split into many factions and attacked each other. The National Revolutionary Army was established by Sun Yat-sen in 1925 in Guangdong with the goal of reunifying China under the Kuomintang. Originally organized with Soviet aid as a means for the KMT to unify China against warlordism, the National Revolutionary Army fought many major engagements: in the Northern Expedition against Beiyang Army warlords, in the Second Sino-Japanese War against the Imperial Japanese Army, and in the Chinese Civil War against the People's Liberation Army.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the armed forces of the CCP were nominally incorporated into the National Revolutionary Army, while remaining under separate command, but broke away to form the People's Liberation Army shortly after the end of the war. With the promulgation of the Constitution of the Republic of China in 1947 and the formal end of the KMT party-state, the National Revolutionary Army was renamed the Republic of China Armed Forces, with the bulk of its forces forming the Republic of China Army, which retreated to Taiwan in 1949 after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Units which surrendered and remained in mainland China were either disbanded or incorporated into the People's Liberation Army.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In the early years of the Republic of China, the economy remained unstable as the country was marked by constant warfare between different regional warlord factions. The Beiyang government in Beijing experienced constant changes in leadership, and this political instability led to stagnation in economic development until Chinese reunification in 1928 under the Kuomintang. After this reunification, China entered a period of relative stability—despite ongoing isolated military conflicts and in the face of Japanese aggression in Shandong and Manchuria, in 1931—a period known as the "Nanjing Decade".


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Chinese industries grew considerably from 1928 to 1931. While the economy was hit by the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931 and the Great Depression from 1931 to 1935, industrial output recovered to their earlier peak by 1936. This is reflected by the trends in Chinese GDP. In 1932, China's GDP peaked at 28.8 billion, before falling to 21.3 billion by 1934 and recovering to 23.7 billion by 1935. By 1930, foreign investment in China totaled 3.5 billion, with Japan leading (1.4 billion) followed by the United Kingdom (1 billion). By 1948, however, the capital investment had halted and dropped to only 3 billion, with the US and Britain being the leading investors.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: However, the rural economy was hit hard by the Great Depression of the 1930s, in which an overproduction of agricultural goods lead to falling prices for China as well as an increase in foreign imports (as agricultural goods produced in western countries were "dumped" in China). In 1931, Chinese imports of rice amounted to 21 million bushels compared with 12 million in 1928. Other imports saw even more increases. In 1932, 15 million bushels of grain were imported compared with 900,000 in 1928. This increased competition lead to a massive decline in Chinese agricultural prices and thus the income of rural farmers. In 1932, agricultural prices were at 41 percent of 1921 levels. By 1934, rural incomes had fallen to 57 percent of 1931 levels in some areas.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: In 1937, Japan invaded China and the resulting warfare laid waste to China. Most of the prosperous east coast was occupied by the Japanese, who committed atrocities such as the Nanjing massacre. In one anti-guerilla sweep in 1942, the Japanese killed up to 200,000 civilians in a month. The war was estimated to have killed between 20 and 25 million Chinese, and destroyed all that Chiang had built up in the preceding decade. Development of industries was severely hampered after the war by devastating civil conflict as well as the inflow of cheap American goods. By 1946, Chinese industries operated at 20% capacity and had 25% of the output of pre-war China.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: One effect of the war with Japan was a massive increase in government control of industries. In 1936, government-owned industries were only 15% of GDP. However, the ROC government took control of many industries to fight the war. In 1938, the ROC established a commission for industries and mines to supervise and control firms, as well as instilling price controls. By 1942, 70% of Chinese industry was owned by the government.


title: Republic of China (1912–1949)

text: Following the surrender of Japan in World War II, Japanese Taiwan was placed under the control of the ROC. In the meantime, the KMT renewed its struggle with the communists. However, the corruption and hyperinflation as a result of trying to fight the civil war, resulted in mass unrest throughout the Republic and sympathy for the communists. In addition, the communists' promise to redistribute land gained them support among the large rural population. In 1949, the communists captured Beijing and later Nanjing. The People's Republic of China was proclaimed on 1 October 1949. The Republic of China relocated to Taiwan where Japan had laid an educational groundwork.


title: Orange Is the New Black

text: Orange Is the New Black (sometimes abbreviated to OITNB) is an American comedy-drama streaming television series created by Jenji Kohan for Netflix. The series is based on Piper Kerman's memoir "" (2010), about her experiences at FCI Danbury, a minimum-security federal prison. Produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television, "Orange Is the New Black" premiered on Netflix on July 11, 2013. In February 2016, the series was renewed for a fifth, sixth, and seventh season. Its seventh and final season was released on July 26, 2019.


title: Orange Is the New Black

text: As of 2016, "Orange Is the New Black" was Netflix's most-watched as well as its longest-running original series. It was widely acclaimed throughout its run, and has received many accolades. For its first season, the series garnered 12 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, and Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series, winning three. A new Emmy rule in 2015 forced the series to change categories from comedy to drama. For its second season, the series received four Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, and Uzo Aduba won for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. "Orange Is the New Black" is the first series to score Emmy nominations in both comedy and drama categories. The series has also received six Golden Globe Award nominations, six Writers Guild of America Award nominations, a Producers Guild of America Award, an American Film Institute award, and a Peabody Award.


title: Orange Is the New Black

text: The series begins revolving around Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a 33 year old woman living in New York City who is sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Penitentiary, a minimum-security women's federal prison in Upstate New York. Chapman was convicted of transporting a suitcase full of drug money for her girlfriend Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), an international drug smuggler. The offense had occurred 10 years before the start of the series and in that time Chapman had moved on to a quiet, law-abiding life among New York's upper middle class. Her sudden and unexpected indictment disrupts her relationships with her fiancé, family, and friends. In prison, Chapman is reunited with Vause (who named Chapman in her trial, resulting in Chapman's arrest), and they re-examine their relationship. Simultaneously, Chapman, along with the other inmates, attempt to grapple with prison's numerous, inherent struggles. Episodes often feature flashbacks of significant events from various inmates' and prison guards' pasts. These flashbacks typically depict how an inmate came to be in prison or develop a character's backstory. The prison is initially operated by the "Federal Department of Corrections" (a fictional version of the Federal Bureau of Prisons), and was in a later season acquired by the Management & Correction Corporation (MCC), a private prison company.


title: Orange Is the New Black

text: The fifth season shows the prisoners revolting against the guards, wardens, and the system after MCC's failed handling of an inmate's death at the hands of a guard in the fourth season. The inmate death had followed a peaceful protest and subsequent instigation of an inmate fight by another guard. Fueled by the conditions the inmates are forced to tolerate, as well as grudges against the prison guards, a three-day riot ensues. During the riot, some inmates attempt to negotiate better living conditions and seek justice for the death of the inmate, while others pursue their own interests and entertainment, and a few seek no involvement. At the emergence of the riot, the guard who incited the fight in the prior season is critically wounded by an inmate who took the gun the guard illegally brought into the prison. At the end of the season, SWAT raids the prison to end the riot and remove all inmates from the facility. During this raid, a correctional officer is fatally wounded by a corrupt "strike team", which then conspires to blame the guard's death on a number of inmates who hid in an underground bunker, found by one inmate, and had taken the guard hostage. All inmates are transported to other prisons.


title: Orange Is the New Black

text: The consequences of the riot are shown in the sixth season. A number of the inmates, including Chapman and Vause, are transported to Litchfield Maximum Security. Most of these inmates are interrogated, and several of them charged and sentenced for their involvement in the riot. In max, new inmates are introduced, alliances are made, and a gang-like war emerges between two prison blocks, spearheaded by a longstanding feud between two sisters and a grudge harbored by them toward a former maximum-security inmate who returned as a consequence of the riot (she had been moved to the minimum security prison). Inmates who arrived from the minimum security prison are either caught up or willingly participate in the war between prison blocks. The season portrays further corruption and guard brutality.


title: Orange Is the New Black

text: The seventh season provides an ending to various inmates' stories. Chapman and Vause continue their on/off again relationship. The season shows how some prisoners are able to move beyond their time in prison while others are captured by the system and through their own flaws and/or systemic problems in the structure of US society and its justice system are unable to progress. In addition to the established setting of Litchfield Max, a significant portion of the season takes place in a newly created ICE detention center for detained presumed undocumented immigrants, showing their struggles and lack of access to outside help in large part because of complete or extreme disregard of the law.


title: Orange Is the New Black

text: In each season, the series shows how various forms of corruption, funding cuts by the corporate owner to increase profit by millions, privatization of prison, overcrowding, guard brutality, and racial discrimination (among other issues) affect the prisoners' safety, health, and well-being. One of the show's key conflicts involves the minimum-security prison's Director of Human Activities ( the warden, under privatization nomenclature), Joe Caputo, whose efforts and aims as a warden constantly conflict with the corporate interests of MCC, which acquires Litchfield Penitentiary as it risks closure. This theme is continued when a new forward-thinking and caring warden is hired at Litchfield Maximum Security and unlike Caputo, actually institutes educational programs and positive changes. She is fired for these actions and her attitude toward the corporate corruption, although her short-lived changes have profound results.