title: Arabs

text: Arabic miniatures (Arabic: الْمُنَمْنَمَات الْعَرَبِيَّة, "Al-Munamnamāt al-ʿArabīyah") are small paintings on paper, usually book or manuscript illustrations but also sometimes separate artworks that occupy entire pages. The earliest example dates from around 690 AD, with a flourishing of the art from between 1000 and 1200 AD in the Abbasid caliphate. The art form went through several stages of evolution while witnessing the fall and rise of several Islamic caliphates. Arab miniaturists absorbed Chinese and Persian influences brought by the Mongol destructions, and at last, got totally assimilated and subsequently disappeared due to the Ottoman occupation of the Arab world. Nearly all forms of Islamic miniatures (Persian miniatures, Ottoman miniatures and Mughal miniatures) owe their existences to Arabic miniatures, as Arab patrons were the first to demand the production of illuminated manuscripts in the Caliphate, it wasn't until the 14th century that the artistic skill reached the non-Arab regions of the Caliphate.


title: Arabs

text: Despite the considerable changes in Arabic miniature style and technique, even during their last decades, the early Umayyad Arab influence could still be noticed. Arabic miniature artists include Ismail al-Jazari, who illustrated his own "Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices," and the Abbasid artist, Yahya Al-Wasiti, who probably lived in Baghdad in the late Abbasid era (12th to 13th-centuries), was one of the pre-eminent exponents of the Baghdad school. In 1236-1237, he is known to have transcribed and illustrated the book, "Maqamat" (also known as the "Assemblies" or the "Sessions"), a series of anecdotes of social satire written by Al-Hariri of Basra. The narrative concerns the travels of a middle-aged man as he uses his charm and eloquence to swindle his way across the Arabic world.


title: Arabs

text: With most surviving Arabic manuscripts in western museums, Arabic miniatures occupy very little space in modern Arab culture.


title: Arabs

text: Arabesque is a form of artistic decoration consisting of "surface decorations based on rhythmic linear patterns of scrolling and interlacing foliage, tendrils" or plain lines, often combined with other elements. Another definition is "Foliate ornament, typically using leaves, derived from stylised half-palmettes, which were combined with spiralling stems". It usually consists of a single design which can be 'tiled' or seamlessly repeated as many times as desired.


title: Arabs

text: Arabic Architecture has a deep diverse history, it dates to the dawn of the history in pre-Islamic Arabia and includes various styles from the Nabataean architecture to the old yet still used architecture in various regions of the Arab world. Each of it phases largely


title: Arabs

text: an extension of the earlier phase, it left also heavy impact on the architecture of other nations. Arab Architecture also encompasses a wide range of both secular and religious styles from the foundation of Islam to the present day. Some parts of its religious architectures raised by Muslim Arabs were influenced by cultures of Roman, Byzantine, Persian and cultures of other lands which the Arab conquered in the 7th and 8th centuries.


title: Arabs

text: In Sicily, Arab-Norman architecture combined Occidental features, such as the Classical pillars and friezes, with typical Arabic decorations and calligraphy. The principal Islamic architectural types are: the Mosque, the Tomb, the Palace and the Fort. From these four types, the vocabulary of Islamic architecture is derived and used for other buildings such as public baths, fountains and domestic architecture.


title: Arabs

text: Arabic music, while independent and flourishing in the 2010s, has a long history of interaction with many other regional musical styles and genres. It is an amalgam of the music of the Arab people in the Arabian Peninsula and the music of all the peoples that make up the Arab world today. Pre-Islamic Arab music was similar to that of Ancient Middle Eastern music. Most historians agree that there existed distinct forms of music in the Arabian peninsula in the pre-Islamic period between the 5th and 7th century CE. Arab poets of that "Jahili poets", meaning "the poets of the period of ignorance"—used to recite poems with a high notes. It was believed that Jinns revealed poems to poets and music to musicians. By the 11th century, Islamic Iberia had become a center for the manufacture of instruments. These goods spread gradually throughout France, influencing French troubadours, and eventually reaching the rest of Europe. The English words lute, rebec, and naker are derived from Arabic oud, rabab, and naqareh.


title: Arabs

text: A number of musical instruments used in classical music are believed to have been derived from Arabic musical instruments: the lute was derived from the "Oud", the rebec (ancestor of violin) from the "Maghreb rebab", the guitar from "qitara", which in turn was derived from the Persian Tar, naker from "naqareh", adufe from "al-duff", alboka from "al-buq", anafil from "al-nafir", exabeba from "al-shabbaba" (flute), atabal (bass drum) from "al-tabl", atambal from "al-tinbal", the balaban, the castanet from "kasatan", sonajas de azófar from "sunuj al-sufr", the conical bore wind instruments, the xelami from the "sulami" or "fistula" (flute or musical pipe),


title: Arabs

text: the shawm and dulzaina from the reed instruments "zamr" and "al-zurna", the gaita from the "ghaita", rackett from "iraqya" or "iraqiyya", geige (violin) from "ghichak",


title: Arabs

text: During the 1950s and the 1960s, Arabic music began to take on a more Western tone – artists Umm Kulthum, Abdel Halim Hafez, and Shadia along with composers Mohamed Abd al-Wahab and Baligh Hamdi pioneered the use of western instruments in Egyptian music. By the 1970s several other singers had followed suit and a strand of Arabic pop was born. Arabic pop usually consists of Western styled songs with Arabic instruments and lyrics. Melodies are often a mix between Eastern and Western. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Lydia Canaan, musical pioneer widely regarded as the first rock star of the Middle East


title: Arabs

text: Arab polytheism was the dominant religion in pre-Islamic Arabia. Gods and goddesses, including Hubal and the goddesses al-Lāt, Al-'Uzzá and Manāt, were worshipped at local shrines, such as the Kaaba in Mecca, whilst Arabs in the south, in what is today's Yemen, worshipped various gods, some of which represented the Sun or Moon. Different theories have been proposed regarding the role of Allah in Meccan religion. Many of the physical descriptions of the pre-Islamic gods are traced to idols, especially near the Kaaba, which is said to have contained up to 360 of them. Until about the fourth century, almost all Arabs practised polytheistic religions. Although significant Jewish and Christian minorities developed, polytheism remained the dominant belief system in pre-Islamic Arabia.


title: Arabs

text: The religious beliefs and practices of the nomadic bedouin were distinct from those of the settled tribes of towns such as Mecca. Nomadic religious belief systems and practices are believed to have included fetishism, totemism and veneration of the dead but were connected principally with immediate concerns and problems and did not consider larger philosophical questions such as the afterlife. Settled urban Arabs, on the other hand, are thought to have believed in a more complex pantheon of deities. While the Meccans and the other settled inhabitants of the Hejaz worshipped their gods at permanent shrines in towns and oases, the bedouin practised their religion on the move.


title: Arabs

text: The philosophical thought in the Arab world is heavily influenced by Islamic Philosophy. Schools of Islamic thought include Avicennism and Averroism. The first great Arab thinker in the Islamic tradition is widely regarded to be al-Kindi (801–873 A.D.), a Neo-Platonic philosopher, mathematician and scientist who lived in Kufa and Baghdad (modern day Iraq). After being appointed by the Abbasid Caliphs to translate Greek scientific and philosophical texts into Arabic, he wrote a number of original treatises of his own on a range of subjects, from metaphysics and ethics to mathematics and pharmacology.


title: Arabs

text: Much of his philosophical output focuses on theological subjects such as the nature of God, the soul and prophetic knowledge. Doctrines of the Arabic philosophers of the 9th–12th century who influenced medieval Scholasticism in Europe. The Arabic tradition combines Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism with other ideas introduced through Islam. Influential thinkers include the non-Arabs al-Farabi and Avicenna. The Arabic philosophic literature was translated into Hebrew and Latin, this contributed to the development of modern European philosophy. The Arabic tradition was developed by Moses Maimonides and Ibn Khaldun.


title: Arabs

text: Islamic science underwent considerable development during the 8th to 13th centuries CE, a source of knowledge that later spread throughout Europe and greatly influenced both medical practice and education. The language of recorded science was Arabic. Scientific treatises were composed by thinkers originating from across the Muslim world. These accomplishments occurred after Muhammad united the Arab tribes and the spread of Islam beyond the Arabian peninsula.


title: Arabs

text: Within a century after Muhammed's death (632 CE), an empire ruled by Arabs was established. It encompassed a large part of the planet, stretching from southern Europe to North Africa to Central Asia and on to India. In 711 CE, Arab Muslims invaded southern Spain; al-Andalus was a center of Arabic scientific accomplishment. Soon after, Sicily too joined the greater islamic world. Another center emerged in Baghdad from the Abbasids, who ruled part of the Islamic world during a historic period later characterized as the "Golden Age" (∼750 to 1258 CE).


title: Arabs

text: This era can be identified as the years between 692 and 945, and ended when the caliphate was marginalized by local Muslim rulers in Baghdad – its traditional seat of power. From 945 onward until the sacking of Baghdad by the Mongols in 1258, the Caliph continued on as a figurehead, with power devolving more to local amirs. The pious scholars of Islam, men and women collectively known as the ulama, were the most influential element of society in the fields of Sharia law, speculative thought and theology. Arabic scientific achievement is not as yet fully understood, but is very large. These achievements encompass a wide range of subject areas, especially mathematics, astronomy, and medicine. Other subjects of scientific inquiry included physics, alchemy and chemistry, cosmology, ophthalmology, geography and cartography, sociology, and psychology.


title: Arabs

text: Al-Battani (c. 858 – 929; born Harran, Bilad al-Sham) was an Arab astronomer, astrologer and mathematician of the Islamic Golden Age. His work is considered instrumental in the development of science and astronomy. One of Al-Battani's best-known achievements in astronomy was the determination of the solar year as being 365 days, 5 hours, 46 minutes and 24 seconds which is only 2 minutes and 22 seconds off.


title: Arabs

text: Al-Battānī used al-Marwazi's idea of tangents ("shadows") to develop equations for calculating tangents and cotangents, compiling tables of them. He also discovered the reciprocal functions of secant and cosecant, and produced the first table of cosecants, which he referred to as a "table of shadows" (in reference to the shadow of a gnomon), for each degree from 1° to 90°.


title: Arabs

text: Using these trigonometrical relationships, Al-Battānī created an equation for finding the qibla, which Muslims must face in each of the five prayers they practice every day. The equation he created did not give accurate directions, as it did not take into account the fact that Earth is a sphere. The relationship Al-Battānī used was fairly precise when a person is in Mecca, or close to Mecca, but resulted in more and more inaccurate results as one gets more distant from Mecca. However, it was still a widely used method at the time. The equation is as follows:


title: Arabs

text: Ibn al-Haytham (Alhazen) used experimentation to obtain the results in his "Book of Optics" (1021), an important development in the history of the scientific method. He combined observations, experiments and rational arguments to support his intromission theory of vision, in which rays of light are emitted from objects rather than from the eyes. He used similar arguments to show that the ancient emission theory of vision supported by Ptolemy and Euclid (in which the eyes emit the rays of light used for seeing), and the ancient intromission theory supported by Aristotle (where objects emit physical particles to the eyes), were both wrong.


title: Arabs

text: Al-Zahrawi, regarded by many as the greatest surgeon of the middle ages. His surgical treatise "De chirurgia" is the first illustrated surgical guide ever written. It remained the primary source for surgical procedures and instruments in Europe for the next 500 years. The book helped lay the foundation to establish surgery as a scientific discipline independent from medicine, earning al-Zahrawi his name as one of the founders of this field.


title: Arabs

text: Other notable Arabic contributions include among other things: the pioneering of organic chemistry by Jābir ibn Hayyān, establishing the science of cryptology and cryptanalysis by al-Kindi, the development of analytic geometry by Ibn al-Haytham, the discovery of the pulmonary circulation by Ibn al-Nafis, the discovery of the itch mite parasite by Ibn Zuhr, the first use of irrational numbers as an algebraic objects by Abū Kāmil, the first use of the positional decimal fractions by al-Uqlidisi, the development of the Arabic numerals and an early algebraic symbolism in the Maghreb, the Thabit number and Thābit theorem by Thābit ibn Qurra, the discovery of several new trigonometric identities by Ibn Yunus and al-Battani, the mathematical proof for Ceva's theorem by Ibn Hűd, the first accurate lunar model by Ibn al-Shatir, the invention of the torquetum by Jabir ibn Aflah, the invention of the universal astrolabe and the equatorium by al-Zarqali, the first description of the crankshaft by al-Jazari, the anticipation of the inertia concept by Averroes, the discovery of the physical reaction by Avempace, the identification of more than 200 new plants by Ibn al-Baitar the Arab Agricultural Revolution, and the Tabula Rogeriana, which was the most accurate world map in pre-modern times by al-Idrisi.


title: Arabs

text: The birth of the University institution can be traced to this development, as several universities and educational institutions of the Arab world such as the University of Al Quaraouiyine, Al Azhar University, and Al Zaytuna University are considered to be the oldest in the world. Founded by Fatima al Fihri in 859 as a mosque, the University of Al Quaraouiyine in Fez is the oldest existing, continually operating and the first degree awarding educational institution in the world according to UNESCO and Guinness World Records and is sometimes referred to as the oldest university.


title: Arabs

text: There are many scientific Arabic loanwords in Western European languages, including English, mostly via Old French. This includes traditional star names such as Aldebaran, scientific terms like "alchemy" (whence also "chemistry"), "algebra", "algorithm", "alcohol", "alkali", "cipher", "zenith", etc.


title: Arabs

text: Under Ottoman rule, cultural life and science in the Arab world declined. In the 20th and 21st centuries, Arabs who have won important science prizes include Ahmed Zewail and Elias Corey (Nobel Prize), Michael DeBakey and Alim Benabid (Lasker Award), Omar M. Yaghi (Wolf Prize), Huda Zoghbi (Shaw Prize), Zaha Hadid (Pritzker Prize), and Michael Atiyah (both Fields Medal and Abel Prize). Rachid Yazami was one of the co-inventors of the lithium-ion battery, and Tony Fadell was important in the development of the iPod and the iPhone.


title: Arabs

text: Arabic weddings have changed greatly in the past 100 years. Original traditional Arabic weddings are supposed to be very similar to modern-day Bedouin weddings and rural weddings, and they are in some cases unique from one region to another, even within the same country. The practice of marrying of relatives is a common feature of Arab culture.


title: Arabs

text: In the Arab world today between 40% and 50% of all marriages are consanguineous or between close family members, though these figures may vary among Arab nations. In Egypt, around 40% of the population marry a cousin. A 1992 survey in Jordan found that 32% were married to a first cousin; a further 17.3% were married to more distant relatives. 67% of marriages in Saudi Arabia are between close relatives as are 54% of all marriages in Kuwait, whereas 18% of all Lebanese were between blood relatives. Due to the actions of Muhammad and the Rightly Guided Caliphs, marriage between cousins is explicitly allowed in Islam and the Qur'an itself does not discourage or forbid the practice. Nevertheless, opinions vary on whether the phenomenon should be seen as exclusively based on Islamic practices as a 1992 study among Arabs in Jordan did not show significant differences between Christian Arabs or Muslim Arabs when comparing the occurrence of consanguinity.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Jung Ji-hoon (; born June 25, 1982), better known by his stage name Rain (Korean: 비; IPA: [']), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, actor, and record producer. Rain's musical career includes seven albums (six Korean, one Japanese), 28 singles and numerous concert tours around the world. He achieved breakthrough success with his third Korean album, "It's Raining" (2004), which spawned the number one single of the same name. The album sold a million copies in Asia, and established Rain as an international star.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain made his acting debut in the 2003 drama "Sang Doo! Let's Go To School". His lead role in the pan-Asia hit drama "Full House" (2004) established his status as a Hallyu star. In 2008, Rain made his Hollywood debut in the film "Speed Racer" and starred in "Ninja Assassin" (2009), the latter of which made him the first Korean to win an MTV award. Rain has set up his own company twice, the first being J. Tune Entertainment in 2007, and R.A.I.N. Company in 2015.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain has received numerous accolades for his work in both music and acting, including 6 Mnet Asian Music Awards, 3 Golden Disc Awards, 9 KBS Drama Awards and 2 Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2008, he was ranked 3rd among 100 leaders of the Korean entertainment industry by "Sports Dong-a" and was named one of "Time"'s 100 most influential people in the world in 2006 and 2011.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain was born as Jung Ji-hoon on June 25, 1982, in Seosan, South Korea. His mother died in December 2000 as she struggled with diabetes. In the same year, Rain was recruited as a trainee for JYP Entertainment, led by recording artist and producer Park Jin-young. In a CNN interview and also in a Discovery Channel documentary called "Discovering Hip Korea", he recalled being repeatedly rejected because of his looks: "In fact, I was told after one audition that my singing and dancing was great but I did not make it because I did not have double eyelids." He was eventually recruited into JYP Entertainment, as Park Jin-young saw his drive and persistence. During his early years of training, Rain was a backup dancer.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain, aged 16, debuted as a member of a boy band named Fanclub (팬클럽). Despite releasing two albums, the group failed to be commercially successful. On May 13, 2002, Jung debuted as a solo singer with his first solo album titled "Bad Guy" where he was introduced to the media through his stage name, Rain. Two singles were released from the album—the eponymous title track "Bad Guy" and "Handshake". Following the success of his debut, Rain released his second album, "How to Avoid the Sun" on October 16, 2003 with the lead single "Ways to Avoid the Sun", again to commercial success. From 2002 to 2003, he became a host for KBS's "Music Bank".


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain then released his third album, "It's Raining" on October 8, 2004, which further consolidated his popularity throughout East and Southeast Asia. To promote the release, Rain embarked on his first tour, Rainy Day Tour, which spanned a total of 14 concerts in 8 countries. The album went on to sell over a million copies in Asia, cementing Rain's position as one of the region's top musical acts. According to JYP Entertainment, Rain earned US$35 million in revenue from promotional activities and endorsements throughout 2005.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: As part of his Rainy Day Tour, Rain held a two-day concert at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City in February 2006. It was the largest concert by a Korean artist in the city at the time, attracting over 10,000 people, and was sold out within a matter of days. The concert featured appearances from Park Ji-yoon, as well as JoJo, P. Diddy and Omarion and was promoted by the Asian concert production company Rainstone Live. In April 2006, Rain was included in "Time" magazine's list of "100 Most Influential People in the World". Rain released his debut Japanese album, "Eternal Rain" on September 13, 2006, which peaked at number 14 on the Oricon Albums Chart.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: After his Japanese promotions, Rain followed up with the release of his fourth album, "Rain's World" on October 14, 2006. It was the 9th best-selling album of the year in South Korea, and a repackage of the album was released 2 months later. In support of the record, Rain held a free promotional concert at the Seoul World Cup Stadium one day prior to the album's release in front of 40,000 fans. He subsequently held his second concert tour titled the Rain's Coming World Tour, which began on December 15, 2006 at the Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul. It continued through 2007 to various parts of Asia, Australia, United States, and Canada and was well received. Rain performed two concert dates in Las Vegas, Nevada on December 23–24, 2006, held at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace for a total of 7,600 fans.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In April 2007, Rain topped "Time" Magazine's online user poll, defeating Stephen Colbert by 100,000 votes; Colbert jokingly retaliated by producing a parody of Rain's music video for "Ways to Avoid the Sun" called "He's Singin' In Korean", and challenged Rain to a dance-off or a "cuddle-off", or a "spoon-off". He also made it into "People's" 2007 list of the "Most Beautiful People" in the world. In a press release, Rain stated that he was honored to be on the list, and also noted that it will be a great boost to his efforts to raise his public awareness in the United States. On May 25, 2007, Rain became the first Korean artist to hold a concert at the Tokyo Dome, which attracted nearly 40,000 attendees. Later that year, Rain left JYP Entertainment to start his own company, J. Tune Entertainment, but still retains his collaborative relationship with Park Jin-young. On May 5, 2008, Rain appeared in a surprise guest segment at the end of "The Colbert Report", and proceeded to engage Colbert in a dance-off on a Dance Dance Revolution machine.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In January 2008, Rain was tapped to sing the theme song of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, "Hand in Hand". He also performed at the Beijing Olympic closing ceremony in August, singing the closing theme song “Beijing, Beijing, I Love Beijing”. On October 15, 2008, Rain released his fifth Korean album, "Rainism", which spawned the number one hit single "Love Story". The music video for "Love Story" featured Korean actress Ha Ji-won. A second single, titled "Rainism", was subsequently released. Rain held a comeback showcase for the album, and appeared in a two-day special program where exclusive footage and interviews of the singer was shown.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: On November 24, 2008, the Commission of Youth Protection deemed the album inappropriate for people under 19 years old because the lyrics in the song "Rainism" were considered problematic due to their phallic and sexual references. Rain re-released a "clean version" of "Rainism" shortly after, but instead of changing the original album's contents, a sticker was placed on the album that prohibited its sale to those under 19 years old.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In October 2009, in support of his fifth album "Rainism", Rain kicked off his third concert tour, The Legend of Rainism Tour with two shows at Olympic Gymnastics Arena in Seoul on October 9 and 10. It continued with concerts in various parts of Asia and at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 24–25, 2009. On April 6, 2010, Rain released a special mini-album titled "Back to the Basic", including the singles "Love Song" starring Han Ye-seul in the music video as well as "Hip Song". Once again, Rain topped the Time 100 reader's poll. In October, Rain represented Korea and performed at the 7th Asia Song Festival, organised by Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange, at the Seoul Olympic Stadium.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In 2011, Rain made his third appearance at the top of the Time 100 poll and the second time as a finalist. "Time" describes his win as "The South Korean pop star turned actor Rain, 28, took the top spot in the Time 100 reader poll for the third year, trouncing competitors from Barack Obama to Lady Gaga. That's pretty impressive online power for a guy whose main claim to Western fame is a role in the 2009 film Ninja Assassin." Along with the "Time" honor, Rain went on a farewell tour, The Best Show Tour, before his 21-month compulsory military service. The tour spanned Southeast Asia including his first tour dates throughout South Korea. His last concert, Rain: Last of The Best was deemed as the best event in Gangnam District for 2011.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: On September 17, 2013, it was officially announced that Rain signed with Cube DC, a sub-label of Cube Entertainment After signing with Cube DC, it was announced Rain would be going on his first tour since his discharge. The 2013 Zepp Tour: Story of Rain saw Rain perform 10 dates in four cities in Japan over a few dates in November. In October, Rain held his first fan meeting since his discharge in Seoul.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: As a precursor to his new album, Rain starred in a reality show "Rain Effect", which premiered on December 19, 2013. The new album, titled "Rain Effect", was released on January 2, 2014 with music videos for double title tracks, "30 Sexy" and "La Song". A few months later, Rain released a repackaged version of the album, featuring the ballad single "I Love You". On September 7, 2015, Rain announced through his Facebook page that he and the CEO had come to a mutual decision to not renew his contract with Cube Entertainment. On October 11, he announced through his official website that he had created his own one-man agency with the aid of his longtime manager and other entertainment figures.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: From late 2015 to 2016, Rain embarked on his second world tour, titled The Squall World Tour. On December 12, 2016, R.A.I.N. Company announced that Rain would release a new album in 2017 with a series of promotional activities to accompany his musical comeback. He released the single "The Best Present", produced by Psy on January 14, 2017. In October 2017, Rain appeared as a mentor on KBS' survival audition program, "". On November 7, it was announced that Rain would come back with a new mini album in December with a comeback special titled "2017 Rain is Back" airing December 3 on KBS. The comeback special was followed by a series of variety and music show promotional activities. Rain's album, "My Life" was released on December 1, 2017.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In mid-May 2020, Rain's 2017 music video and song "Gang" from his second EP "My Life" went viral on YouTube in South Korea for its overly bombastic production, choreography and mannerisms, and self-absorbed lyrics after a parody dance video "1 Gang a Day" by a high school student released in late 2019 became a sensation online. Rain embraced his newfound fame with grace and self-deprecation, inviting more interest towards the song and invoking more parody videos. The phenomenon ― consuming, leaving comments, producing parodies ― blew up further after Rain's appearance on MBC's television program "Hangout with Yoo". An official remix version of "Gang" by Sik-K, PH-1, Jay Park, and Haon was released on June 4, 2020 and topped all real-time charts upon its release.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain joined Mnet's survival reality show I-Land, which premiered on June 26, 2020, as a judge and mentor. Rain also featured in Zico's song "Summer Hate" from his third EP "Random Box", which was released on July 1, 2020. In the summer of 2020, through "Hangout with Yoo", Rain, under the stage name B.Ryong, collaborated with Yoo Jae-suk and Lee Hyori to form a summer project co-ed trio SSAK3. The group's song "Beach Again", released on July 18, 2020, topped various music charts upon release and topped the Gaon Digital Chart for five consecutive weeks. SSAK3 also released "Play That Summer" as well as solo songs, including Rain's "Exciting" featuring Mamamoo, on July 25 as part of the group's project. In December 2020, Rain was recognized as one of the ten "2020 Visionary" figures, selected by CJ E&M, who inspired the global public with their pioneering work in Korean pop culture in 2020.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain is set to release a new album after three years. He reunited with his mentor Park Jin-young to release the collaboration song "Switch To Me" on December 31, 2020. Rain also featured Chungha and released the song "Why Don't We", which is the title track for his third EP "Pieces by Rain". On March 3, 2021, Rain released his new EP, which includes five songs, including "Switch To Me" and "Why Don't We".


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain made his television debut in the KBS drama, "Sang Doo! Let's Go To School" (2003). The drama achieved good ratings and he won the Most Popular TV Actor award at the 2004 Baeksang Arts Awards. In 2004, Rain's popularity continued to climb when starred alongside Song Hye-kyo in the hit romantic comedy series "Full House", which drew solid viewership ratings nationwide throughout its run with a peak viewer rating of 42.7 percent. The series was broadcast in various parts of Asia as well as the United States, garnering much popularity and establishing Rain as a Hallyu star. His performance in the drama won him the Best Actor award at the KBS Drama Awards. Rain next starred in action romance drama "A Love to Kill" opposite Shin Min-ah. In 2006, Rain made his big-screen debut in romantic comedy film "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK", directed by Park Chan-wook. The film won the Alfred Bauer Award at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival, and was selected as the opening film for the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Rain was nominated for and won the Best New Actor award at the 43rd Baeksang Arts Awards.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In 2008, he starred in his first English-language film, playing Racer Taejo Togokahn in "Speed Racer", directed by the Wachowskis. He then made his starring role debut in "Ninja Assassin" (2009), as the main character Raizo. "Ninja Assassin" was directed by James McTeigue, and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowskis. The project was inspired by the ninja scenes featured from "Speed Racer", in which Rain had impressed the Wachowskis with his portrayal as a fighter. For his first Hollywood lead role in "Ninja Assassin", Rain trained alongside stuntmen for six hours a day, over six months. He won the Biggest Badass award at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards for his performance.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In 2010, Rain returned to the small screen after five years with KBS action drama "", in which he plays a young, rich and cunning Korean private investigator. This was followed by a leading role in the aviation film "", which was released in August 2012. In 2013, it was announced that Rain would appear alongside Bruce Willis, Jason Patric, and John Cusack in the film "The Prince". Filming took place in the United States, including in New Orleans. The film premiered in select theaters in 2014, and was also released as video on demand.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain made his small-screen comeback after four years in SBS's musical drama "My Lovely Girl" (2014), opposite Krystal of f(x).


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: He also starred in a Chinese romance film, "For Love or Money" alongside Liu Yifei. The film, which is Rain's Chinese film debut, premiered in November 2014. In December 2014, Rain started filming for his first Chinese drama "Diamond Lover", co-starring Tiffany Tang.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: The drama premiered in July 2015 and achieved huge success, earning high ratings throughout its 24-episode run and reaching 3.3 billion views online. Rain next starred in the SBS drama "Come Back Mister", which began airing in February 2016.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In March 2017, Rain was cast in the movie "Uhm Bok-dong" based on a true story that took place during the Japanese colonial rule. He starred as the real-life cyclist hero Uhm Bok-dong alongside Kang So-ra. In 2018, Rain was cast in JTBC's action drama "Sketch" as a detective. In 2019, Rain was cast in MBC drama "Welcome 2 Life". In 2022, Rain starred in TVN drama Ghost Doctor, alongside Kim Bum.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In terms of singing and dancing, Rain has been influenced by Michael Jackson, Usher and Justin Timberlake.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain is considered a "world star" due to his popularity, not only in South Korea and Japan, but throughout Asia, Europe and North America with fans in countries like China, Singapore, Thailand, Canada and United States. Much of his popularity is attributed to his various acting roles (varying from television like "Full House" to indie films like "I'm a Cyborg, But That's OK" to blockbusters like "Ninja Assassin"). Before landing his role in "Speed Racer", he had expressed the desire to expand beyond the Asian market when he stated in an interview, "The reason I am active in Japan, Hong Kong, China and around Asia is that I want to succeed here and then go even more international...I would really like to see, is a top Asian artist emerge strongly from the Asian market, and then go on to succeed in the U.S. market."


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain's appeal to all demographics has made him one of Korea's highest-paid celebrities by endorsers with an asking price of $1 – US$1.5 million per endorsement. Over the years, he endorsed brands such as Hyundai, Lotte, KB Card, Pizza Hut, Thailand dairy company Dutch Mill, Chinese pastry Fu Mu Cakes, Pantech, LG Electronics, SK Telecom and Pepsi. Rain has even done songs to tie-in with endorsement deals. "Still Believe" was used as both an ad and a music video for BMW Korea's "Meet the Truth" campaign with appearances by Rain as well as JYP. "Memory in My Hand" and "Any Dream" were used in campaigns for Pantech and Samsung, respectively, in China. With his booming popularity throughout the world, he has been deemed a "cultural ambassador" as he has represented South Korea in inter-Asian musical events and has appeared in a Thai published textbook.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Six to Five was Rain's first clothing line, since it also was his dream to become a fashion designer. It was launched on December 23, 2008 and was followed by a "fashion show–launch party–mini-concert" to introduce "Six to Five". He designed and modeled for the clothing. The label "Six To Five" is described by Rain as the idea of having an extra sense (i.e. from five senses to six), and is also said to represent his birth date, 6/25. The line was discontinued and the online mall closed by the end of 2010.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In November 2007, Rain told the Korean media that he had left JYP Entertainment and started his own entertainment company, J. Tune Entertainment (formerly known as Rainy Entertainment). He was scheduled to be CEO of the company, but told the media that he still kept in touch with his mentor and long-time trainer Park Jin Young. J. Tune Entertainment's subsidiary, J. Tune Camp debuted MBLAQ, an all-boy group, in October 2009. Rain actively participates in MBLAQ's music, either composing, writing, producing or choreographing dance routines.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In December 2010, Park Jin-Young announced that J. Tune Entertainment would be merged with JYP Entertainment. It has become the largest shareholder in J. Tune Entertainment, and it is viewed as a strategic alliance between the two companies.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: On September 7, 2015, Rain announced through his Facebook page that he had decided to not renew his contract with Cube Entertainment. After much speculation due to his departure from Cube, Rain's official website announced he had created his own one-man agency. In setting up the agency on a U.S.-based system, his Chinese activities will be managed by H Entertainment and Jason Jang while his American agency will still be WME. His music activities will be handled by longtime manager Kim Yong Bae while his acting venture will be handled by Park Jong Sun.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: On December 12, 2020, Rain announced that he will debuting a boygroup known as Ciipher in 2021. The group consists of 7 handpicked trainees by Rain himself, most of whom had been previously on survival shows such as YG Treasure Box, No.Mercy, ProduceX101 and Under Nineteen.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: From 2005 to 2007, Rain donated money to have 50 drinking water wells and playgrounds built in Cambodia. He began taking up causes related to children by participating in the Love Photography Exhibition to help find adoptive parents for children in government care, donating a percent of his 2006 and 2007 World Tour concert proceeds to children orphaned by AIDS and participating in the Green Ribbon Hope Walking Campaign to raise funds for prevention and to help find missing children. Due to his work, he was appointed World Vision HIV/AIDS Ambassador. In recent years, Rain has been an advocate for environmental protection going as far as to volunteer in the Taean oil spill cleanup and donate 300 million won for clean water and clothing for the residents in 2008. In 2009, Rain was involved with MTV EXIT, a campaign against human trafficking in Asia. Over the years, he has performed at concerts for various charitable causes.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: On his World 2007 tour, his scheduled concerts in Shanghai, Toronto, San Francisco, and Hawaii were canceled, followed by the last concert in Los Angeles. The last event at the Staples Center was canceled only two hours prior to opening: Rain's producer blamed the situation on financial problems of the local promoter, while the local promoter blamed Wellmade STAR M calling them too "incompetent to handle the situation".


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: On March 19, 2009, a federal jury in Honolulu found that Rain, his former management agency JYP Entertainment, and two other promotion companies were guilty of breaching a contract and defrauding Honolulu promoter Click Entertainment for $2 million (originally just over $1 million) after the Hawaii concert was canceled and the promoters were not refunded the $500,000 licensing fee. Rain and JYP were ordered to pay $2.4 million each in punitive damages, $1 million for damages related to the fraud, and $2.3 million for breach of contract.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: A separate lawsuit filed by promoters Wellmade STAR M was dismissed by a South Korean court on January 28, 2010. Judge Bae Kwang-Kuk ruled in favor of Rain and blamed the plaintiff for poor preparations surrounding the canceled U.S. tour.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In April 2010, Rain and other J. Tune Creative shareholders were accused of embezzling money from the company by a fabric manufacturing company. The company claimed they suffered financial losses. Rain and the shareholders were acquitted of the charges in December of that year. He was reinvestigated in September 2011 after a discrepancy was found, but was later acquitted again in June 2013.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: Rain fulfilled his mandatory military service from October 2011 until July 2013. He was named the top marksman of the 5th Infantry Division boot camp, and was chosen as the assistant instructor. He was appointed promotional ambassador by the Military Manpower Administration, and appeared in a documentary about the defense industry entitled "Defense Report 2012".


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: In January 2013, Rain confirmed that he was dating actress Kim Tae-hee, which then caused an investigation into whether his dating had broken military rules during his mandatory military service. In 2014, he was baptised with the name Micheal as a Catholic, the same religion as his wife. The couple married on January 19, 2017, after five years of dating.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: On October 25, 2017, Kim gave birth to their first child. She gave birth to their second child on September 19, 2019.


title: Rain (entertainer)

text: On May 5, 2022, Rain donated 100 million won to the G-Foundation Foundation of the International Organization for Development (International Development Cooperation NGO G-Foundation) by donating on the occasion of Children's Day.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the German Armed Forces during wartime. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Cabinet and heads the executive branch. The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag on the proposal of the federal president and without debate (Article 63 of the German Constitution).


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The current officeholder is Olaf Scholz of the SPD, who was elected in December 2021, succeeding Angela Merkel. He was elected after the SPD entered into a coalition agreement with Alliance 90/The Greens and the FDP.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The office of Chancellor has a long history, stemming back to the Holy Roman Empire, when the office of German archchancellor was usually held by archbishops of Mainz. The title was, at times, used in several states of German-speaking Europe. The modern office of chancellor was established with the North German Confederation, of which Otto von Bismarck became "Bundeskanzler" (meaning "Federal Chancellor") in 1867. With the enlargement of this federal state to the German Empire in 1871, the title was renamed to Reichskanzler (meaning "Imperial Chancellor"). With Germany's constitution of 1949, the title of "Bundeskanzler" was revived.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The role of the chancellor has varied during the different eras. From 1867 to 1918, the chancellor was the only responsible minister at the federal level. He was appointed by the "Bundespräsidium", (i.e. the Prussian king; since 1871 called Emperor). The state secretaries ("Staatssekretäre") were civil servants subordinate to the chancellor and similar to ministers. Besides his executive duties, the constitution gave the chancellor only one function: presiding over the Bundesrat (Federal Council), the representative organ of the states (which together with the Reichstag was the Reich's lawmaking body). The chancellor was also nearly always minister president of Prussia. Indirectly, this gave him the power of the Bundesrat, including to dissolve parliament.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Although effective government was possible only in cooperation with the Reichstag, the results of the elections had at most an indirect influence on the chancellorship. Only in October 1918 was the constitution changed to require that the chancellor have the trust of parliament. Some two weeks later, Chancellor Max von Baden declared the abdication of the emperor and, although he lacked the constitutional authority, handed over his office to Friedrich Ebert of the revolutionary Council of the People's Deputies.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: According to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, the chancellor was head of a collegial government. The chancellor was appointed by the Reich president, as were the ministers, on the chancellor's recommendation. The chancellor or any minister had to be dismissed if the Reichstag demanded it. As today, the chancellor had the prerogative to determine the guidelines of government. In reality this power was limited by the needs of coalition governments and the powers of the Reich president.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: When the Nazis came to power on 30 January 1933, the Weimar Constitution was "de facto" set aside. After the death of President Hindenburg in 1934, Adolf Hitler, the dictatorial party leader and chancellor, took over the powers of the president. The new official title became "Führer und Reichskanzler" (meaning "Leader and Imperial Chancellor").


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The 1949 constitution gave the chancellor much greater powers than during the Weimar Republic, while strongly diminishing the role of the president. Germany is today often referred to as a "chancellor democracy", reflecting the role of the chancellor as the country's chief executive.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Since 1867, 33 individuals have served as heads of government of Germany, West Germany, or Northern Germany, nearly all of them with the title of Chancellor.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Due to his administrative tasks, the head of the clerics at the chapel of an imperial palace during the Carolingian Empire was called "chancellor" (from ). The chapel's college acted as the Emperor's chancery issuing deeds and capitularies. From the days of Louis the German, the archbishop of Mainz was "ex officio" German archchancellor, a position he held until the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, while "de jure" the archbishop of Cologne was chancellor of Italy and the archbishop of Trier of Burgundy. These three prince-archbishops were also prince-electors of the empire electing the King of the Romans. Already in medieval times, the German chancellor had political power like Archbishop Willigis (archchancellor 975–1011, regent for King Otto III of Germany 991–994) or Rainald von Dassel (Chancellor 1156–1162 and 1166–1167) under Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: In 1559, Emperor Ferdinand I established the agency of an imperial chancellery ("Reichshofkanzlei") at the Vienna Hofburg Palace, headed by a vice chancellor under the nominal authority of the Mainz archbishop. Upon the 1620 Battle of White Mountain, Emperor Ferdinand II created the office of an Austrian court chancellor in charge of the internal and foreign affairs of the Habsburg monarchy. From 1753 onwards, the office of an Austrian state chancellor was held by Prince Kaunitz. The imperial chancellery lost its importance, and from the days of Maria Theresa and Joseph II, merely existed on paper. After the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince Metternich served as state chancellor of the Austrian Empire (1821–1848), likewise Prince Hardenberg acted as Prussian chancellor (1810–1822). The German Confederation of 1815–1866 did not have a government or parliament, only the Bundestag as representative organ of the states.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: In the now-defunct German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany), which existed from 7 October 1949 to 3 October 1990 (when the territory of the former GDR was reunified with the Federal Republic of Germany), the position of chancellor did not exist. The equivalent position of head of government was called either Minister President "(Ministerpräsident)" or Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the GDR "(Vorsitzender des Ministerrats der DDR)", which was the second powerful position under General Secretary of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (See Leaders of East Germany).


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The head of the federal government of the North German Confederation, which was created on 1 July 1867, had the title "Bundeskanzler". The only person to hold the office was Otto von Bismarck, the minister president of Prussia. The king, as holder of the "Bundespräsidium", appointed him on 14 July.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Under the constitution of 1 January 1871, the king had the additional title of Emperor. The constitution still called the chancellor "Bundeskanzler". This was changed in the new constitution of 16 April 1871 to "Reichskanzler". Since the office remained the same, it was not necessary for Bismarck to be re-appointed.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: In the 1871 German Empire, the "Reichskanzler" ("Imperial Chancellor") served both as the emperor's first minister and as presiding officer of the Bundesrat, the upper chamber of the German parliament. He was neither elected by nor responsible to Parliament (the "Reichstag"). Instead, the chancellor was appointed by the emperor.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Technically, the foreign ministers of the empire's states instructed their states' deputies to the Bundesrat and therefore outranked the chancellor. For this reason, Prince Bismarck (as he was from 1871 onwards) continued to serve as both minister president and foreign minister of Prussia for virtually his entire tenure as chancellor of the empire, since he wanted to continue to exercise the power. Because Prussia controlled seventeen votes in the Bundesrat, Bismarck could effectively control the proceedings by making deals with the smaller states.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The term chancellor signalled the seemingly low priority of this institution compared to the governments of the German states, because the new chancellor of the federal empire should not be a full-fledged prime minister, in contrast to the heads of the states. The title of chancellor additionally symbolized a strong monarchist, bureaucratic, and ultimately antiparliamentary component, as in the Prussian tradition of, for instance, Hardenberg.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: In both of these aspects, the executive of the federation, and then empire, as it was formed in 1867 and 1871, was deliberately different from the Imperial Ministry of the revolutionary years 1848–49, which had been led by a prime minister elected by the National Assembly.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: In 1871, the concept of the federal chancellor was transferred to the executive of the newly formed German Empire, which now also contained the South German states. Here too, the terms of “chancellor” and "federal agency" (as opposed to "ministry" or "government") suggested an (apparent) lower priority of the federal executive as compared to the governments of the federal states. For this reason, neither the chancellor nor the leaders of the imperial departments under his command used the title of Minister until 1918.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The constitution of Germany was altered on 29 October 1918, when the parliament was given the right to dismiss the chancellor. However, the change could not prevent the outbreak of a revolution a few days later.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: On 9 November 1918, Chancellor Max von Baden handed over his office of chancellor to Friedrich Ebert. Ebert continued to serve as head of government during the three months between the end of the German Empire in November 1918 and the first gathering of the Weimar National Assembly in February 1919, but did not use the title of chancellor.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: During that time, Ebert also served as chairman of the "Council of the People's Deputies", until 29 December 1918 together with the Independent Social Democrat Hugo Haase.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The office of chancellor () was continued in the Weimar Republic"." The Weimar Constitution provided for a two-part executive consisting of a Reich president and a government made up of Reich ministers and a Reich chancellor (Article 52) who determined the guidelines of the government's policy (Article 56).


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The constitution stipulated that the president appoint and dismiss the chancellor and ministers. The ministers were appointed by the president on the recommendation of the chancellor (Article 53), and members of the government required the confidence of the Reichstag (Article 54). The provisions gave rise to the question of who in fact was responsible for forming the government.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Constitutional law expert Ernst Rudolf Huber said that the constitution had tacitly assumed that the president would have discussions with party leaders in the Reichstag before he made ministerial appointments. Based on these talks, the president would get a sense of which potential chancellor would be able to build a stable majority in the Reichstag. According to the sense of the Weimar Constitution, the president was thus to have the initiative. The task of putting together the Reich government was nevertheless the responsibility of the chancellor. The president could not appoint anyone as minister whom the chancellor had not proposed.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The chancellor alone had to answer to the Reichstag and the president for the policy guidelines, and he determined whether the conduct of business by the individual Reich ministries conformed to the guidelines. The government's decisions required a majority vote of the ministers, who sitting together were known as the National Ministry (Article 58). The chancellor could therefore be outvoted, as could a department minister. The chancellor presided over the government, and he had to conduct business in accordance with given rules of procedure.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: In practice the Reich chancellor's power to determine political guidelines was limited by his own party as well as the other parties in the governing coalition. The Weimar chancellors were accordingly men whose strength lay in mediation rather than political initiative. Constitutionally, there was also the fact that the president had certain special rights. The actions of the president required the countersignature of the chancellor or the minister or ministers concerned, but the president always had to be informed about matters of foreign and defense policy.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The Reichstag could call for the dismissal of any member of the government, including the chancellor. Under Articles 54 and 59, the Reichstag could also impeach the chancellor as well as the ministers and the president before the State Court for the German Reich (), the Weimar Republic's constitutional court.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor of Germany on 30 January 1933 by Paul von Hindenburg. On taking office, Hitler immediately began accumulating power and changing the nature of the chancellorship. After only two months in office, and following the burning of the Reichstag building, the parliament passed the Enabling Act giving the chancellor full legislative powers for a period of four years – the chancellor could introduce any law without consulting Parliament. The powers of the chancellor continued to grow until August 1934, when the incumbent President Paul von Hindenburg died. Hitler used the Enabling Act to merge the office of chancellor with that of the president to create a new office, "the leader" (or Führer).


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Although the offices were merged, Hitler continued to be addressed as "Führer und Reichskanzler" indicating that the head of state and head of government were still separate positions, albeit held by the same person, although the title of "Reichskanzler" was quietly dropped. This separation was made more evident when, in April 1945, Hitler gave instruction that upon his death, the office of the Führer would dissolve and be replaced by the previous system of administration: that of the office of the President separate from that of Chancellor. On 30 April 1945, when Hitler committed suicide, he was briefly succeeded as Chancellor by Joseph Goebbels and as President of Germany by Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz. When Goebbels also committed suicide, Dönitz appointed Count Schwerin von Krosigk as head of government with the title "Leading Minister".


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The 1949 German constitution, the Basic Law ("Grundgesetz"), invests the chancellor (German, "Bundeskanzler") with broad powers to initiate government policy. For that reason, some observers refer to the German political system as a "chancellor democracy". Even though the office of chancellor is practically the most powerful in the German political system and is seen as such within the German public, it is actually only the third highest office, following the head of state, the President of Germany, and the President of the Bundestag, a position similar to the speaker of the federal parliament.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Whichever major party (CDU/CSU or SPD) does not hold the chancellorship usually calls its leading candidate for the federal election "chancellor-candidate" ("Kanzlerkandidat"). The federal government ("Bundesregierung") consists of the chancellor and cabinet ministers.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The chancellor's authority emanates from the provisions of the Basic Law and in practice from their status as leader of the party (or coalition of parties) holding a majority of seats in the "Bundestag" (federal parliament). With the exception of Helmut Schmidt and Olaf Scholz, the chancellor has also been chairman of their own party. This was the case with Chancellor Gerhard Schröder from 1999 until he resigned the chairmanship of the SPD in 2004.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The first chancellor, Konrad Adenauer, set many precedents that continue today and established the chancellorship as the clear focus of power in Germany. Under the provisions of the Basic Law giving him the power to set guidelines for all fields of policy, Adenauer arrogated nearly all major decisions to himself. He often treated his ministers as mere extensions of his authority rather than colleagues. While his successors have tended to be less domineering, the chancellor has acquired enough ex officio authority (in addition to his/her constitutional powers) that Germany is often described by constitutional law experts as a "chancellor democracy".


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The chancellor determines the composition of the Federal Cabinet. The president formally appoints and dismisses cabinet ministers, on the recommendation of the chancellor; no parliamentary approval is needed. According to the Basic Law, the chancellor may set the number of cabinet ministers and dictate their specific duties. Chancellor Ludwig Erhard had the largest cabinet, with 22 ministers, in the mid-1960s. Helmut Kohl presided over 17 ministers at the start of his fourth term in 1994; the 2002 cabinet, the second of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, had 13 ministers, and the Angela Merkel cabinet as of 22 November 2005 had 15.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Article 65 of the Basic Law sets forth three principles that define how the executive branch functions:


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: As of October 2022, there are two living former chancellors of Germany. The most recent death of a former chancellor was that of Helmut Kohl (1982–1998), on 16 June 2017.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The chancellor is elected by the Bundestag and formally appointed by the president of Germany. A chancellor's election is necessary whenever the office of Chancellor has fallen vacant. This is the case if a newly elected Bundestag meets for the first time, or if the chancellor dies or resigns.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The chancellor's election (in the first two voting phases) is one of the few cases in which a vote in the Bundestag requires a majority of all elected members, not just a majority of those assembled at the time, or the so-called "Kanzlermehrheit" ("chancellor majority"). As with other elections performed by the Bundestag, the chancellor is elected via secret ballot. The process begins with the President of Germany proposing a candidate to the Bundestag (A formality, as they are usually a candidate on which majority parties have agreed to beforehand), who is then voted upon without debate ("1st voting phase"). If this nominee is not elected, the parliamentary groups in the Bundestag may, during the following 14 days, propose their own nominees, who also have to be elected with the "chancellor-majority" ("2nd voting phase"). If no chancellor has been elected within this period, the Bundestag will hold one last ballot on the 15th day after the first ballot, to which (like in the 2nd voting phase) the parliamentary groups may put forward candidates ("3rd voting phase"): If any candidate reaches the "chancellor majority", the President of Germany is obliged to appoint them. If not, the president may either appoint as chancellor the candidate who received a plurality of votes ("de facto" allowing formation of a minority government) or call new elections for the "Bundestag" within 60 days.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Another possibility to vote a new chancellor into office is the constructive vote of no confidence, which allows the Bundestag to replace a sitting chancellor, if it elects a new chancellor with the "chancellor-majority" (see below).


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: As of 2021, all chancellors of the federal republic have been (re-)elected on proposal of the President and on the first ballot with the sole exception of Helmut Kohl, who was elected to his first term via a constructive vote of no confidence against Helmut Schmidt.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Unlike in other parliamentary legislatures, the Bundestag cannot remove the chancellor with a traditional motion of no confidence. Instead, the removal of a chancellor is only possible if a majority of the "Bundestag" members agree on a successor, who is then immediately sworn in as new chancellor. This procedure is called "constructive motion of no confidence" ("konstruktives Misstrauensvotum") and was created to avoid the situation that existed in the Weimar Republic, when it was easier to gather a parliament majority willing to remove a government in office than to find a majority capable of supporting a new stable government.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: In order to garner legislative support in the "Bundestag", the chancellor can also ask for a motion of confidence ("Vertrauensfrage", literally "question of trust"), either combined with a legislative proposal or as a standalone vote. If such a vote fails, the chancellor may ask the president for the dissolution of the "Bundestag".


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The chancellor must appoint one of the cabinet ministers as vice chancellor (Article 69.1 Basic Law). The vice chancellor may deputise for the chancellor, if they are absent or unable to perform their duties. Although the chancellor is theoretically free to choose any cabinet minister, in coalition governments the leadership of the second biggest coalition party usually designates one of their ministers for the position, whom the chancellor appoints accordingly.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: If the chancellor's term in office ends or if they resign, the Bundestag has to elect a new chancellor. The president of Germany may ask the former chancellor to act as chancellor until a new office holder is elected, but if they are unwilling or unable to do so, the president may also appoint the vice chancellor as acting chancellor. This has happened once: On 7 May 1974 Chancellor Willy Brandt resigned as a consequence of the Guillaume affair, an espionage scandal. In his letter of resignation to President Gustav Heinemann he requested, to be not asked to remain in office in an acting capacity and instead to appoint the vice chancellor as acting chancellor. President Heinemann followed the request. Vice Chancellor Walter Scheel was appointed acting chancellor and served for nine days until the election of Helmut Schmidt on 16 May 1974.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Scheel not taken into account, three persons, Ludwig Erhard, Willy Brandt and Olaf Scholz, have held both the office of Vice Chancellor and that of Chancellor of Germany.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The current vice chancellor of Germany is Robert Habeck, who also serves as Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection in the Scholz cabinet.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Since 2001, the official seat of the chancellor is the Federal Chancellery in Berlin ("Bundeskanzleramt"). The former seat of the Federal Chancellery, the Palais Schaumburg in the former capital Bonn, now serves as a secondary official seat. The chancellor's country retreat is Schloss Meseberg in the state of Brandenburg.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The private lodging of the chancellors at Bonn has previously been the "Chancellor's bungalow" built by Ludwig Erhard in the park of Palais Schaumburg, while his predecessor Konrad Adenauer used to live in his private house near Bonn. Under Adenauer, the government had also acquired a villa in Dahlem in 1962, a suburban district of southwestern Berlin, as a "pied-a-terre" of the chancellors in West-Berlin. Gerhard Schröder lived there between 1999 and 2001. Since 2004 it has however served as a private residence for the Presidents of Germany. Angela Merkel preferred to live with her husband in her private apartment downtown.


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: The correct style of address in German is "Herr Bundeskanzler" (male) or "Frau Bundeskanzlerin" (female). In international correspondence, the chancellor is referred to as "His/Her Excellency the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany" (""Seine/Ihre Exzellenz der Bundeskanzler/die Bundeskanzlerin der Bundesrepublik Deutschland"").


title: Chancellor of Germany

text: Holding the third-highest state office available within Germany, the chancellor of Germany receives €220,000 per annum and a €22,000 bonus, i.e. one and two thirds of Salary Grade B11 (according to § 11 (1) a of the Federal Law on MinistersBundesministergesetz, BGBl. 1971 I p. 1166 and attachment IV to the Federal Law on Salaries of OfficersBundesbesoldungsgesetz, BGBl. 2002 I p. 3020)


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride. It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungent smell. It is classified as a strong acid. It is a component of the gastric acid in the digestive systems of most animal species, including humans. Hydrochloric acid is an important laboratory reagent and industrial chemical.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: In the early tenth century, the Persian physician and alchemist Abu Bakr al-Razi ( 865–925, Latin: Rhazes) conducted experiments with sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) and vitriol (hydrated sulfates of various metals), which he distilled together, thus producing the gas hydrogen chloride. In doing so, al-Razi may have stumbled upon a primitive method for producing hydrochloric acid, as perhaps manifested in the following recipe from his ("The Book of Secrets"):


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: However, it appears that in most of his experiments al-Razi disregarded the gaseous products, concentrating instead on the color changes that could be effected in the residue. According to Robert P. Multhauf, hydrogen chloride was produced many times without clear recognition that by dissolving it in water hydrochloric acid may be produced.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Drawing on al-Razi's experiments, the ("On Alums and Salts"), an eleventh- or twelfth century Arabic text falsely attributed to al-Razi and translated into Latin by Gerard of Cremona (1144-1187), described the heating of metals with various salts, which in the case of mercury resulted in the production of mercury(II) chloride (corrosive sublimate). In this process, hydrochloric acid actually started to form, but it immediately reacted with the mercury to produce corrosive sublimate. Thirteenth-century Latin alchemists, for whom the "De aluminibus et salibus" was one of the main reference works, were fascinated by the chlorinating properties of corrosive sublimate, and they soon discovered that when the metals are eliminated from the process of heating vitriols, alums, and salts, strong mineral acids can directly be distilled.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: One important invention that resulted from the discovery of the mineral acids is "aqua regia", a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid in a 1:3 proportion, capable of dissolving gold. This was first described in pseudo-Geber's "De inventione veritatis" ("On the Discovery of Truth", after c. 1300), where "aqua regia" was prepared by adding ammonium chloride to nitric acid. However, the production of hydrochloric acid itself (i.e., as an isolated substance rather than as already mixed with nitric acid) depended on the use of more efficient cooling apparatus, which would only develop in subsequent centuries. Thus, recipes for the production of hydrochloric acid only appear in the late sixteenth century, the earliest being found in Giovanni Battista Della Porta's (1535–1615) "Magiae naturalis" ("Natural Magic") and in the works of other contemporary chemists like Andreas Libavius (c. 1550–1616), Jean Beguin (1550–1620), and Oswald Croll (c. 1563– 1609). The knowledge of mineral acids such as hydrochloric acid would be of key importance to seventeenth-century chemists like Daniel Sennert (1572–1637) and Robert Boyle (1627–1691), who used their capability to rapidly dissolve metals in their demonstrations of the composite nature of bodies.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Because it was produced from rock salt according to the methods of Johann Rudolph Glauber, hydrochloric acid was historically called by European alchemists "spirits of salt" or "acidum salis" (salt acid). Both names are still used, especially in other languages, such as , , , , , , and


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Gaseous HCl was called "marine acid air". The name "muriatic acid" has the same origin ("muriatic" means "pertaining to brine or salt", hence "muriate" means hydrochloride), and this name is still sometimes used. The name "hydrochloric acid" was coined by the French chemist Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac in 1814.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: During the Industrial Revolution in Europe, demand for alkaline substances increased. A new industrial process developed by Nicolas Leblanc of Issoudun, France enabled cheap large-scale production of sodium carbonate (soda ash). In this Leblanc process, common salt is converted to soda ash, using sulfuric acid, limestone, and coal, releasing hydrogen chloride as a by-product. Until the British Alkali Act 1863 and similar legislation in other countries, the excess HCl was often vented into the air. An early exception was the Bonnington Chemical Works where, in 1830, the HCl began to be captured and the hydrochloric acid produced was used in making sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride). After the passage of the act, soda ash producers were obliged to absorb the waste gas in water, producing hydrochloric acid on an industrial scale.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: In the 20th century, the Leblanc process was effectively replaced by the Solvay process without a hydrochloric acid by-product. Since hydrochloric acid was already fully settled as an important chemical in numerous applications, the commercial interest initiated other production methods, some of which are still used today. After the year 2000, hydrochloric acid is mostly made by absorbing by-product hydrogen chloride from industrial organic compounds production.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Gaseous hydrogen chloride is a molecular compound with a covalent bond between the hydrogen and chlorine atoms. In aqueous solutions dissociation is complete, with the formation of chloride ions and hydrated hydrogen ions (hydronium ions). A combined IR, Raman, X-ray, and neutron diffraction study of concentrated hydrochloric acid showed that the hydronium ion forms hydrogen bonded complexes with other water molecules. (See Hydronium for further discussion of this issue.)


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: The p"K" value of hydrochloric acid in aqueous solution is estimated theoretically to be −5.9. A solution of hydrogen chloride in water behaves as a strong acid: the concentration of HCl molecules is effectively zero.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Physical properties of hydrochloric acid, such as boiling and melting points, density, and pH, depend on the concentration or molarity of HCl in the aqueous solution. They range from those of water at very low concentrations approaching 0% HCl to values for fuming hydrochloric acid at over 40% HCl.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid as the binary (two-component) mixture of HCl and HO has a constant-boiling azeotrope at 20.2% HCl and 108.6 °C (227 °F). There are four constant-crystallization eutectic points for hydrochloric acid, between the crystal form of [HO]Cl (68% HCl), [HO]Cl (51% HCl), [HO]Cl (41% HCl), [HO]Cl·5HO (25% HCl), and ice (0% HCl). There is also a metastable eutectic point at 24.8% between ice and the [HO]Cl crystallization. They are all Hydronium salts.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid is usually prepared industrially by dissolving hydrogen chloride in water. Hydrogen chloride can be generated in many ways, and thus several precursors to hydrochloric acid exist. The large-scale production of hydrochloric acid is almost always integrated with the industrial scale production of other chemicals, such as in the chloralkali process which produces hydroxide, hydrogen, and chlorine, the latter of which can be combined to produce HCl.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: As the reaction is exothermic, the installation is called an HCl oven or HCl burner. The resulting hydrogen chloride gas is absorbed in deionized water, resulting in chemically pure hydrochloric acid. This reaction can give a very pure product, e.g. for use in the food industry.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid is produced in solutions up to 38% HCl (concentrated grade). Higher concentrations up to just over 40% are chemically possible, but the evaporation rate is then so high that storage and handling require extra precautions, such as pressurization and cooling. Bulk industrial-grade is therefore 30% to 35%, optimized to balance transport efficiency and product loss through evaporation. In the United States, solutions of between 20% and 32% are sold as muriatic acid. Solutions for household purposes in the US, mostly cleaning, are typically 10% to 12%, with strong recommendations to dilute before use. In the United Kingdom, where it is sold as "Spirits of Salt" for domestic cleaning, the potency is the same as the US industrial grade. In other countries, such as Italy, hydrochloric acid for domestic or industrial cleaning is sold as "Acido Muriatico", and its concentration ranges from 5% to 32%.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Major producers worldwide include Dow Chemical at 2 million tonnes annually (Mt/year), calculated as HCl gas, Georgia Gulf Corporation, Tosoh Corporation, Akzo Nobel, and Tessenderlo at 0.5 to 1.5 Mt/year each. Total world production, for comparison purposes expressed as HCl, is estimated at 20 Mt/year, with 3 Mt/year from direct synthesis, and the rest as secondary product from organic and similar syntheses. By far, most hydrochloric acid is consumed captively by the producer. The open world market size is estimated at 5 Mt/year.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid is a strong inorganic acid that is used in many industrial processes such as refining metal. The application often determines the required product quality. Hydrogen chloride, not hydrochloric acid, is used more widely in industrial organic chemistry, e.g. for vinyl chloride and dichloroethane.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: One of the most important applications of hydrochloric acid is in the pickling of steel, to remove rust or iron oxide scale from iron or steel before subsequent processing, such as extrusion, rolling, galvanizing, and other techniques. Technical quality HCl at typically 18% concentration is the most commonly used pickling agent for the pickling of carbon steel grades.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: The spent acid has long been reused as iron(II) chloride (also known as ferrous chloride) solutions, but high heavy-metal levels in the pickling liquor have decreased this practice.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: The steel pickling industry has developed hydrochloric acid regeneration processes, such as the spray roaster or the fluidized bed HCl regeneration process, which allow the recovery of HCl from spent pickling liquor. The most common regeneration process is the pyrohydrolysis process, applying the following formula:


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: By recuperation of the spent acid, a closed acid loop is established. The iron(III) oxide by-product of the regeneration process is valuable, used in a variety of secondary industries.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Akin to its use for pickling, hydrochloric acid is used to dissolve many metals, metal oxides and metal carbonates. The conversion are often depicted in simplified equations:


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: In industry demanding purity (food, pharmaceutical, drinking water), high-quality hydrochloric acid is used to control the pH of process water streams. In less-demanding industry, technical quality hydrochloric acid suffices for neutralizing waste streams and swimming pool pH control.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: High-quality hydrochloric acid is used in the regeneration of ion exchange resins. Cation exchange is widely used to remove ions such as Na and Ca from aqueous solutions, producing demineralized water. The acid is used to rinse the cations from the resins. Na is replaced with H and Ca with 2 H.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Ion exchangers and demineralized water are used in all chemical industries, drinking water production, and many food industries.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Of the common strong mineral acids in chemistry, hydrochloric acid is the monoprotic acid least likely to undergo an interfering oxidation-reduction reaction. It is one of the least hazardous strong acids to handle; despite its acidity, it contains the non-reactive and non-toxic chloride ion. Intermediate-strength hydrochloric acid solutions are quite stable upon storage, maintaining their concentrations over time. These attributes, plus the fact that it is available as a pure reagent, make hydrochloric acid an excellent acidifying reagent. It is also inexpensive.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid is the preferred acid in titration for determining the amount of bases. Strong acid titrants give more precise results due to a more distinct endpoint. Azeotropic, or "constant-boiling", hydrochloric acid (roughly 20.2%) can be used as a primary standard in quantitative analysis, although its exact concentration depends on the atmospheric pressure when it is prepared.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid is used for a large number of small-scale applications, such as leather processing, household cleaning, and building construction. Oil production may be stimulated by injecting hydrochloric acid into the rock formation of an oil well, dissolving a portion of the rock, and creating a large-pore structure. Oil well acidizing is a common process in the North Sea oil production industry.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid has been used for dissolving calcium carbonate, e.g. such things as de-scaling kettles and for cleaning mortar off brickwork. When used on brickwork the reaction with the mortar only continues until the acid has all been converted, producing calcium chloride, carbon dioxide, and water:


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Many chemical reactions involving hydrochloric acid are applied in the production of food, food ingredients, and food additives. Typical products include aspartame, fructose, citric acid, lysine, hydrolyzed vegetable protein as food enhancer, and in gelatin production. Food-grade (extra-pure) hydrochloric acid can be applied when needed for the final product.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Gastric acid is one of the main secretions of the stomach. It consists mainly of hydrochloric acid and acidifies the stomach content to a pH of 1 to 2. Chloride (Cl) and hydrogen (H) ions are secreted separately in the stomach fundus region at the top of the stomach by parietal cells of the gastric mucosa into a secretory network called canaliculi before it enters the stomach lumen.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Gastric acid acts as a barrier against microorganisms to prevent infections and is important for the digestion of food. Its low pH denatures proteins and thereby makes them susceptible to degradation by digestive enzymes such as pepsin. The low pH also activates the enzyme precursor pepsinogen into the active enzyme pepsin by self-cleavage. After leaving the stomach, the hydrochloric acid of the chyme is neutralized in the duodenum by bicarbonate.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: The stomach itself is protected from the strong acid by the secretion of a thick mucus layer, and by secretin induced buffering with sodium bicarbonate. Heartburn or peptic ulcers can develop when these mechanisms fail. Drugs of the antihistaminic and proton pump inhibitor classes can inhibit the production of acid in the stomach, and antacids are used to neutralize excessive existing acid.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Being a strong acid, hydrochloric acid is corrosive to living tissue and to many materials, but not to rubber. Typically, rubber protective gloves and related protective gear are used when handling concentrated solutions.


title: Hydrochloric acid

text: Hydrochloric acid has been listed as a Table II precursor under the 1988 United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances because of its use in the production of heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was King in Prussia from 1740 until 1772, and King of Prussia from 1772 until his death in 1786. His most significant accomplishments include his military successes in the Silesian wars, his re-organisation of the Prussian Army, the First Partition of Poland, and his patronage of the arts and the Enlightenment. Frederick was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled King in Prussia, declaring himself King of Prussia after annexing Polish Prussia from the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772. Prussia greatly increased its territories and became a major military power in Europe under his rule. He became known as Frederick the Great () and was nicknamed "Old Fritz" ().


title: Frederick the Great

text: In his youth, Frederick was more interested in music and philosophy than in the art of war, which led to clashes with his authoritarian father, Frederick William I of Prussia. However, upon ascending to the Prussian throne, he attacked and annexed the rich Austrian province of Silesia in 1742, winning military acclaim for himself and Prussia. He became an influential military theorist whose analyses emerged from his extensive personal battlefield experience and covered issues of strategy, tactics, mobility and logistics.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Frederick was a supporter of enlightened absolutism, stating that the ruler should be the first servant of the state. He modernised the Prussian bureaucracy and civil service, and pursued religious policies throughout his realm that ranged from tolerance to segregation. He reformed the judicial system and made it possible for men of lower status to become judges and senior bureaucrats. Frederick also encouraged immigrants of various nationalities and faiths to come to Prussia, although he enacted oppressive measures against Catholics in Silesia and Polish Prussia. He supported the arts and philosophers he favoured, and allowed freedom of the press and literature. Frederick was almost certainly homosexual, and his sexuality has been the subject of much study. He is buried at his favourite residence, Sanssouci in Potsdam. Because he died childless, he was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick William II.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Nearly all 19th-century German historians made Frederick into a romantic model of a glorified warrior, praising his leadership, administrative efficiency, devotion to duty and success in building Prussia into a great power in Europe. Frederick remained an admired historical figure through Germany's defeat in World War I, and the Nazis glorified him as a great German leader pre-figuring Adolf Hitler, who personally idolised him. His reputation became less favourable in Germany after World War II, partly due to his status as a Nazi symbol. Regardless, historians in the 21st century tend to view Frederick as an outstanding military leader and capable monarch, whose commitment to enlightenment culture and administrative reform built the foundation that allowed the Kingdom of Prussia to contest the Austrian Habsburgs for leadership among the German states.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Frederick was the son of Crown Prince Frederick William of Prussia and his wife, Sophia Dorothea of Hanover. He was born sometime between 11 and 12 p.m. on 24 January 1712 in the Berlin Palace and was baptised with the single name "Friedrich" by Benjamin Ursinus von Bär on 31 January. The birth was welcomed by his grandfather, Frederick I, as his two previous grandsons had both died in infancy. With the death of Frederick I in 1713, his son Frederick William I became King in Prussia, thus making young Frederick the crown prince. Frederick had nine siblings who lived to adulthood. He had six sisters. The eldest was Wilhelmine, who became his closest sibling. He also had three younger brothers, including Augustus William and Henry. The new king wished for his children to be educated not as royalty, but as simple folk. They were tutored by a French woman, Madame de Montbail, who had also educated Frederick William.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Frederick William I, popularly dubbed the "Soldier King", had created a large and powerful army that included a regiment of his famous "Potsdam Giants"; he carefully managed the kingdom's wealth and developed a strong centralised government. He also had a violent temper and ruled Brandenburg-Prussia with absolute authority. In contrast, Frederick's mother Sophia, whose father, George Louis of Brunswick-Lüneburg, had succeeded to the British throne as King George I in 1714, was polite, charismatic and learned. The political and personal differences between Frederick's parents created tensions, which affected Frederick's attitude toward his role as a ruler, his attitude toward culture, and his relationship with his father.


title: Frederick the Great

text: During his early youth, Frederick lived with his mother and sister Wilhelmine, although they regularly visited their father's hunting lodge at Königs Wusterhausen. Frederick and his older sister formed a close relationship, which lasted until her death in 1758. Frederick and his sisters were brought up by a Huguenot governess and tutor and learned French and German simultaneously. In spite of his father's desire that his education be entirely religious and pragmatic, the young Frederick developed a preference for music, literature, and French culture. Frederick Wilhelm thought these interests were effeminate, as they clashed with his militarism, resulting in his frequent beating and humiliation of Frederick. Nevertheless, Frederick, with the help of his tutor in Latin, Jacques Duhan, procured for himself a three thousand volume secret library of poetry, Greek and Roman classics, and philosophy to supplement his official lessons.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Although his father, Frederick William I, had been raised a Calvinist in spite of the Lutheran state faith in Prussia, he feared he was not one of God's elect. To avoid the possibility of his son Frederick being motivated by the same concerns, the king ordered that his heir not be taught about predestination. In spite of his father's intention, Frederick appeared to have adopted a sense of predestination for himself.


title: Frederick the Great

text: At age 16, Frederick formed an attachment to the king's 17-year-old page, Peter Karl Christoph von Keith. Wilhelmine recorded that the two "soon became inseparable. Keith was intelligent, but without education. He served my brother from feelings of real devotion, and kept him informed of all the king's actions." Wilhelmine would further record that "Though I had noticed that he was on more familiar terms with this page than was proper in his position, I did not know how intimate the friendship was." As Frederick was almost certainly homosexual, his relationship with Keith may have been homoerotic, although the extent of their intimacy remains ambiguous. When Frederick William heard rumours of their relationship, Keith was sent away to an unpopular regiment near the Dutch frontier.


title: Frederick the Great

text: In the mid-1720s, Queen Sophia Dorothea attempted to arrange the marriage of Frederick and his sister Wilhelmine to her brother King George II's children Amelia and Frederick, who was the heir apparent. Fearing an alliance between Prussia and Great Britain, Field Marshal von Seckendorff, the Austrian ambassador in Berlin, bribed the Prussian Minister of War, Field Marshal von Grumbkow, and the Prussian ambassador in London, Benjamin Reichenbach. The pair undermined the relationship between the British and Prussian courts using bribery and slander. Eventually Frederick William became angered by the idea of the effete Frederick being married to an English wife and under the influence of the British court. Instead, he signed a treaty with Austria, which vaguely promised to acknowledge Prussia's rights to the principalities of Jülich-Berg, which led to the collapse of the marriage proposal.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Soon after his relationship with Keith ended, Frederick became close friends with Hans Hermann von Katte, a Prussian officer several years older than Frederick who became one of his boon companions and may have been his lover. After the English marriages became impossible, Frederick plotted to flee to England with Katte and other junior army officers. While the royal retinue was near Mannheim in the Electorate of the Palatinate, Robert Keith, who was Peter Keith's brother and also one of Frederick's companions, had an attack of conscience when the conspirators were preparing to escape and begged Frederick William for forgiveness on 5 August 1730. Frederick and Katte were subsequently arrested and imprisoned in Küstrin. Because they were army officers who had tried to flee Prussia for Great Britain, Frederick William levelled an accusation of treason against the pair. The king briefly threatened the crown prince with execution, then considered forcing Frederick to renounce the succession in favour of his brother, Augustus William, although either option would have been difficult to justify to the Imperial Diet of the Holy Roman Empire. The king forced Frederick to watch the beheading of his confidant Katte at Küstrin on 6 November, leading the crown prince to faint just before the fatal blow.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Frederick was granted a royal pardon and released from his cell on 18 November 1730, although he remained stripped of his military rank. Rather than being permitted to return to Berlin, he was forced to remain in Küstrin and began rigorous schooling in statecraft and administration for the War and Estates Departments. Tensions eased slightly when Frederick William visited Küstrin a year later, and Frederick was allowed to visit Berlin on the occasion of his sister Wilhelmine's marriage to Margrave Frederick of Bayreuth on 20 November 1731. The crown prince returned to Berlin after finally being released from his tutelage at Küstrin on 26 February 1732 on condition that he marry Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Initially, Frederick William considered marrying Frederick to Elisabeth of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the niece of Empress Anna of Russia, but this plan was ardently opposed by Prince Eugene of Savoy. Frederick himself proposed marrying Maria Theresa of Austria in return for renouncing the succession. Instead, Eugene persuaded Frederick William, through Seckendorff, that the crown prince should marry Elisabeth Christine, who was a Protestant relative of the Austrian Habsburgs. Frederick wrote to his sister that, "There can be neither love nor friendship between us", and he threatened suicide, but he went along with the wedding on 12 June 1733. He had little in common with his bride, and the marriage was resented as an example of the Austrian political interference that had plagued Prussia. Nevertheless, during their early married life, the royal couple resided at the Crown Prince's Palace in Berlin. Later, Elisabeth Christine accompanied Frederick to Schloss Rheinsberg, where at this time she played an active role in his social life. After his father died and he had secured the throne, Frederick separated from Elisabeth. He granted her the Schönhausen Palace and apartments at the Berliner Stadtschloss, but he prohibited Elisabeth Christine from visiting his court in Potsdam. Frederick and Elisabeth Christine had no children, and Frederick bestowed the title of the heir to the throne, "Prince of Prussia", on his brother Augustus William. Nevertheless, Elisabeth Christine remained devoted to him. Frederick gave her all the honours befitting her station, but never displayed any affection. After their separation, he would only see her on state occasions. These included visits to her on her birthday and were some of the rare occasions when Frederick did not wear military uniform.


title: Frederick the Great

text: In 1732, Frederick was restored to the Prussian Army as Colonel of the Regiment von der Goltz, stationed near Nauen and Neuruppin. When Prussia provided a contingent of troops to aid the Army of the Holy Roman Empire during the War of the Polish Succession, Frederick studied under Prince Eugene of Savoy during the campaign against France on the Rhine; he noted the weakness of the Imperial Army under Eugene's command, something that he would capitalise on at Austria's expense when he later took the throne. Frederick William, weakened by gout and seeking to reconcile with his heir, granted Frederick Schloss Rheinsberg in Rheinsberg, north of Neuruppin. At Rheinsberg, Frederick assembled a small number of musicians, actors and other artists. He spent his time reading, watching and acting in dramatic plays, as well as composing and playing music. Frederick formed the Bayard Order to discuss warfare with his friends; Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué was made the grand master of the gatherings. Later, Frederick regarded this time as one of the happiest of his life.


title: Frederick the Great

text: Reading and studying the works of Niccolò Machiavelli, such as "The Prince", was considered necessary for any king in Europe to rule effectively. In 1739, Frederick finished his "Anti-Machiavel", an idealistic rebuttal of Machiavelli. It was written in French—as were all of Frederick's works—and published anonymously in 1740, but Voltaire distributed it in Amsterdam to great popularity. Frederick's years dedicated to the arts instead of politics ended upon the 1740 death of Frederick William and his inheritance of the Kingdom of Prussia. Frederick and his father were more or less reconciled at the latter's death, and Frederick later admitted, despite their constant conflict, that Frederick William had been an effective ruler: "What a terrible man he was. But he was just, intelligent, and skilled in the management of affairs... it was through his efforts, through his tireless labour, that I have been able to accomplish everything that I have done since."


title: Frederick the Great

text: In one defining respect Frederick would come to the throne with an exceptional inheritance. Frederick William I had left him with a highly militarised state. Prussia was the twelfth largest country in Europe in terms of population, but its army was the fourth largest: only the armies of France, Russia and Austria were larger. Prussia had one soldier for every 28 citizens, whereas Great Britain only had one for every 310, and the military absorbed 86% of Prussia's state budget. Moreover, the Prussian infantry trained by Frederick William I were, at the time of Frederick's accession, arguably unrivalled in discipline and firepower. By 1770, after two decades of punishing war alternating with intervals of peace, Frederick had doubled the size of the huge army he had inherited. The situation is summed up in a widely translated and quoted aphorism attributed to Mirabeau, who asserted in 1786 that "" ("Prussia was not a state in possession of an army, but an army in possession of a state"). By using the resources his frugal father had cultivated, Frederick was eventually able to establish Prussia as the fifth and smallest European great power.