title: String theory

text: Since the superstring revolutions of the 1980s and 1990s, string theory has been one of dominant paradigms of high energy theoretical physics. Some string theorists have expressed the view that there does not exist an equally successful alternative theory addressing the deep questions of fundamental physics. In an interview from 1987, Nobel laureate David Gross made the following controversial comments about the reasons for the popularity of string theory:


title: String theory

text: Several other high-profile theorists and commentators have expressed similar views, suggesting that there are no viable alternatives to string theory.


title: String theory

text: Many critics of string theory have commented on this state of affairs. In his book criticizing string theory, Peter Woit views the status of string theory research as unhealthy and detrimental to the future of fundamental physics. He argues that the extreme popularity of string theory among theoretical physicists is partly a consequence of the financial structure of academia and the fierce competition for scarce resources. In his book "The Road to Reality", mathematical physicist Roger Penrose expresses similar views, stating "The often frantic competitiveness that this ease of communication engenders leads to bandwagon effects, where researchers fear to be left behind if they do not join in." Penrose also claims that the technical difficulty of modern physics forces young scientists to rely on the preferences of established researchers, rather than forging new paths of their own. Lee Smolin expresses a slightly different position in his critique, claiming that string theory grew out of a tradition of particle physics which discourages speculation about the foundations of physics, while his preferred approach, loop quantum gravity, encourages more radical thinking. According to Smolin,


title: String theory

text: Smolin goes on to offer a number of prescriptions for how scientists might encourage a greater diversity of approaches to quantum gravity research.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut ( , ; , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the "Nunavut Act" and the "Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act", which provided this territory to the Inuit for independent government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut comprises a major portion of Northern Canada and most of the Arctic Archipelago. Its vast territory makes it the fifth-largest country subdivision in the world, as well as North America's second-largest (after Greenland). The capital Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay), on Baffin Island in the east, was chosen by a capital plebiscite in 1995. Other major communities include the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut also includes Ellesmere Island to the far north, as well as the eastern and southern portions of Victoria Island in the west, and all islands in Hudson, James and Ungava bays, including Akimiski Island far to the southeast of the rest of the territory. It is Canada's only geo-political region that is not connected to the rest of North America by highway.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut is the least populous of Canada's provinces and territories. One of the world's most remote, sparsely settled regions, Nunavut has a population of 39,589 (2021 figure, up from 35,944 in 2016), consisting mostly of Inuit. The population occupies a land area of just over , or slightly smaller than Mexico (excluding water surface area). Nunavut is also home to the world's northernmost permanently inhabited place, Alert. Eureka, a weather station on Ellesmere Island, has the lowest average annual temperature of any Canadian weather station.


title: Nunavut

text: The region, which is now mainland Nunavut, was first populated approximately 4,500 years ago by the Pre-Dorset, a diverse Paleo-Eskimo culture that migrated eastward from the Bering Strait region.


title: Nunavut

text: The Pre-Dorset culture was succeeded by the Dorset culture about 2,800 years ago. Anthropologists and historians believe that the Dorset culture developed from the Pre-Dorset somehow.


title: Nunavut

text: Helluland, which Norse explorers described visiting in their Sagas of Icelanders, has been associated with Nunavut's Baffin Island. Claims of contact between the Dorset and Norse are controversial.


title: Nunavut

text: The Thule people, ancestors of the modern Inuit, began migrating from Alaska in the 11th century into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. By 1300, the geographic extent of Thule settlement included most of modern Nunavut.


title: Nunavut

text: The migration of the Thule people coincides with the decline of the Dorset, who died out between 800 and 1500.


title: Nunavut

text: The earliest written historical account of the area is dated to 1576, an account by English explorer Martin Frobisher. While leading an expedition to find the Northwest Passage, Frobisher thought he had discovered gold ore around the body of water now known as Frobisher Bay on the coast of Baffin Island. The ore turned out to be worthless, but Frobisher made the first recorded European contact with the Inuit. Other explorers in search of the elusive Northwest Passage followed in the 17th century, including Henry Hudson, William Baffin and Robert Bylot.


title: Nunavut

text: Cornwallis and Ellesmere Islands featured in the history of the Cold War in the 1950s. Concerned about the area's strategic geopolitical position, the federal government, as part of the High Arctic relocation, relocated Inuit from Nunavik (northern Quebec) to Resolute and Grise Fiord. In the unfamiliar and hostile conditions, they faced starvation but were forced to stay.


title: Nunavut

text: Forty years later, the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples issued a report titled "The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953–55 Relocation". The government paid compensation to those affected and their descendants. On August 18, 2010, in Inukjuak, the Honourable John Duncan, PC, MP, previous Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians formally apologized on behalf of the Government of Canada for the relocation of Inuit to the High Arctic.


title: Nunavut

text: Discussions on dividing the Northwest Territories along ethnic lines began in the 1950s, and legislation to achieve this was introduced in 1963. After its failure, a federal commission recommended against such a measure.


title: Nunavut

text: During the 1970s, activism increased among the Inuit, First Nations, and Innu peoples for recognition of their forced assimilation. In 1976, as part of the land claims negotiations between the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (then called the "Inuit Tapirisat of Canada") and the federal government, the parties discussed division of the Northwest Territories to provide a separate territory for the Inuit. On April 14, 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories. A majority of the residents voted in favour and the federal government gave a conditional agreement seven months later.


title: Nunavut

text: The land claims agreement was completed in September 1992 and ratified by nearly 85% of the voters in Nunavut in a referendum. On July 9, 1993, the " Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act" and the "Nunavut Act" were passed by the Canadian Parliament. The transition to establish Nunavut Territory was completed on April 1, 1999. The creation of Nunavut has been followed by considerable population growth in the capital Iqaluit, from 5,200 in 2001 to 6,600 in 2011, a 27% increase.


title: Nunavut

text: In 2020, Nunavut imposed strict travel regulations in order to prevent an outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government barred entry to almost all non-residents. As of October 2020, it was the only place in North America to have had no cases of COVID-19. On November 6, 2020, Nunavut confirmed its first case in Sanikiluaq.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut covers of land and of water in Northern Canada. The territory includes part of the mainland, most of the Arctic Archipelago, and all of the islands in Hudson Bay, James Bay, and Ungava Bay, including the Belcher Islands, all of which were part of the Northwest Territories from which Nunavut was separated. This makes it the fifth-largest subnational entity (or administrative division) in the world. If Nunavut were a country, it would rank 15th in area.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut has long land borders with the Northwest Territories on the mainland and a few Arctic islands, and with Manitoba to the south of the Nunavut mainland; it also meets Saskatchewan to the southwest at a quadripoint, and has a short land border with Newfoundland and Labrador on Killiniq Island. The boundary with the Northwest Territories roughly approximates the tree line in Canada. Nunavut shares maritime borders with the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and with constituent country Greenland, with which it also shares a land border on Hans Island.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut's highest point is Barbeau Peak () on Ellesmere Island. The population density is 0.019 persons/km (0.05 persons/sq mi), one of the lowest in the world. By comparison, Greenland has approximately the same area and nearly twice the population.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut experiences a polar climate in most regions, owing to its high latitude and lower continental summertime influence than areas to the west. In more southerly continental areas, very cold subarctic climates can be found, due to July being slightly milder than the required .


title: Nunavut

text: As of the 2016 Canada Census, the population of Nunavut was 35,944, a 12.7% increase from 2011. In 2006, 24,640 people identified as Inuit (83.6% of the total population), 100 as First Nations (0.3%), 130 as Métis (0.4%) and 4,410 as non-aboriginal (15.0%).


title: Nunavut

text: The population growth rate of Nunavut has been well above the Canadian average for several decades, mostly due to birth rates significantly higher than the Canadian average—a trend that continues. Between 2011 and 2016, Nunavut had the highest population growth rate of any Canadian province or territory, at a rate of 12.7%. The second-highest was Alberta, with a growth rate of 11.6%.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut has the highest smoking rate in all of Canada, with more than half of its adult population smoking cigarettes. Both men and women smoke regularly. Some 90% of pregnant women are smokers, although studies have shown it has detrimental effects.


title: Nunavut

text: Official languages are Inuit (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun) sometimes called Inuktut, English, and French.


title: Nunavut

text: In his 2000 commissioned report (" Language of Instruction Research Paper") to the Nunavut Department of Education, Ian Martin of York University said that a "long-term threat to Inuit languages from English is found everywhere, and current school language policies and practices on language are contributing to that threat" if Nunavut schools follow the Northwest Territories model. He provided a 20-year language plan to create a "fully functional bilingual society, in Inuktitut and English" by 2020.


title: Nunavut

text: Of the 34,960 responses to the census question concerning "mother tongue" in the 2016 census, the most commonly reported languages in Nunavut were:


title: Nunavut

text: At the time of the census, only English and French were counted as official languages. Figures shown are for single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.


title: Nunavut

text: In the 2016 census it was reported that 2,045 people (5.8%) living in Nunavut had no knowledge of either official language of Canada (English or French). The 2016 census also reported that of the 30,135 Inuit in Nunavut, 90.7% could speak either Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun.


title: Nunavut

text: In 2021 census, Christianity constitutes 73.5% of Nunavut's population down from 86% in the 2011 Census. The percentage of population which is non-religious has grown from 13% in 2011 to 24.9% in 2021 Census. About 1.6% of the population reported another religious affiliation including Aboriginal spirituality, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism etc.


title: Nunavut

text: The economy of Nunavut is driven by the Inuit and Territorial Government, mining, oil, gas, and mineral exploration, arts, crafts, hunting, fishing, whaling, tourism, transportation, housing development, military, research, and education. Currently, one college operates in Nunavut, the Nunavut Arctic College, as well as several Arctic research stations located within the territory. The new Canadian High Arctic Research Station CHARS is planning for Cambridge Bay and high north Alert Bay Station.


title: Nunavut

text: Iqaluit hosts the annual Nunavut Mining Symposium every April, a tradeshow that showcases the many economic activities ongoing in Nunavut.


title: Nunavut

text: Baffinland is the territory’s largest private sector employer with more than 2,600 workers and accounted for 23 per cent of Nunavut’s economic activity in 2019.


title: Nunavut

text: There are currently three major mines in operation in Nunavut. Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd – Meadowbank Division. Meadowbank Gold Mine is an open pit gold mine with an estimated mine life 2010–2020 and employs 680 people.


title: Nunavut

text: The second mine in production is the Mary River Iron Ore mine operated by Baffinland Iron Mines. It is located close to Pond Inlet on North Baffin Island. They produce a high grade direct ship iron ore.


title: Nunavut

text: The most recent mine to open is Doris North or the Hope Bay Mine operated near Hope Bay Aerodrome by TMAC Resource Ltd. This new high grade gold mine is the first in a series of potential mines in gold occurrences all along the Hope Bay greenstone belt.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut's people rely primarily on diesel fuel to run generators and heat homes, with fossil fuel shipments from southern Canada by plane or boat because there are few to no roads or rail links to the region. There is a government effort to use more renewable energy sources, which is generally supported by the community.


title: Nunavut

text: This support comes from Nunavut feeling the effects of global warming. Former Nunavut Premier Eva Aariak said in 2011, "Climate change is very much upon us. It is affecting our hunters, the animals, the thinning of the ice is a big concern, as well as erosion from permafrost melting." The region is warming about twice as fast as the global average, according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.


title: Nunavut

text: In the second half of 2018 travellers visited Nunavut 134,000 times and spent $436 million. Two-thirds of those visits were by Nunavummiut (residents of Nunavut) travelling within the territory. The remaining came from outside other provinces or territories in Canada, or from abroad and spent $219 million. Travellers from Ontario make up the largest portion of visitors from outside the territory. The majority of visitors from outside of Nunavut are business travellers; in the second half of 2018 only 14% of visitors were in the territory for leisure. Tourism recreation in Nunavut include activities like dog sledding, snowmobiling, cultural festivals, hiking, arctic wildlife safaris and sea kayaking.


title: Nunavut

text: The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation is based in Nunavut. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) serves Nunavut through a radio and television production centre in Iqaluit, and a bureau in Rankin Inlet. Iqaluit is served by private commercial radio stations CKIQ-FM and CKGC-FM, both owned by Northern Lights Entertainment Inc. (CKIQ-FM had a rebroadcaster in Rankin Inlet that was discontinued in 2009.)


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut is served by two regional weekly newspapers, "Nunatsiaq News" published by Nortext, and "Nunavut News/North", published by Northern News Services, who also publish the multi-territory regional "Kivalliq News".


title: Nunavut

text: The film production company Isuma is based in Igloolik. Co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn in 1990, the company produced the 1999 feature "", winner of the Caméra d'Or for Best First Feature Film at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. It was the first feature film written, directed, and acted entirely in Inuktitut.


title: Nunavut

text: In November 2006, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation announced the start of the Nunavut Animation Lab, offering animation training to Nunavut artists at workshops in Iqaluit, Cape Dorset and Pangnirtung. Films from the Nunavut Animation Lab include Alethea Arnaquq-Baril's 2010 digital animation short "Lumaajuuq", winner of the Best Aboriginal Award at the Golden Sheaf Awards and named Best Canadian Short Drama at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.


title: Nunavut

text: In November 2011, the Government of Nunavut and the NFB jointly announced the launch of a DVD and online collection entitled "Unikkausivut" (Inuktitut: "Sharing Our Stories"), which will make over 100 NFB films by and about Inuit available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and other Inuit languages, as well as English and French. The Government of Nunavut is distributing "Unikkausivut" to every school in the territory.


title: Nunavut

text: The music of Nunavut includes Inuit throat singing and drum-led dancing, along with country music, bluegrass, fiddling, square dancing and the button accordion from Austria.


title: Nunavut

text: Artcirq is a collective of Inuit circus performers based in Igloolik. The group has performed around the world, including at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut competes at the Arctic Winter Games. Iqaluit co-hosted the 2002 edition in partnership with Nuuk, Greenland.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut has a Commissioner appointed by the federal Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs. As in the other territories, the commissioner's role is symbolic and is analogous to that of a Lieutenant-Governor. While the Commissioner is not formally a representative of the Canadian monarch, a role roughly analogous to representing The Crown has accrued to the position.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut elects a single member of the House of Commons of Canada. This makes Nunavut the second largest electoral district in the world by area after Greenland. The current MP is Lori Idlout of the New Democratic Party.


title: Nunavut

text: The members of the unicameral Legislative Assembly of Nunavut are elected individually; there are no parties and the legislature is consensus-based. The head of government, the premier of Nunavut, is elected by, and from the members of the legislative assembly. On June 14, 2018, Joe Savikataaq was elected as the Premier of Nunavut, after his predecessor Paul Quassa lost a non-confidence motion. Former Premier Paul Okalik set up an advisory council of eleven elders, whose function it is to help incorporate ""Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit"" (Inuit culture and traditional knowledge, often referred to in English as "IQ") into the territory's political and governmental decisions.


title: Nunavut

text: Due to the territory's small population, and the fact that there are only a few hundred voters in each electoral district, the possibility of two election candidates finishing in an exact tie is significantly higher than in any Canadian province. This has actually happened twice in the five elections to date, with exact ties in Akulliq in the 2008 Nunavut general election and in Rankin Inlet South in the 2013 Nunavut general election. In such an event, Nunavut's practice is to schedule a follow-up by-election rather than choosing the winning candidate by an arbitrary method. The territory has also had numerous instances where MLAs were directly acclaimed to office as the only person to register their candidacy by the deadline, as well as one instance where a follow-up by-election had to be held due to no candidates registering for the regular election in their district at all.


title: Nunavut

text: Owing to Nunavut's vast size, the stated goal of the territorial government has been to decentralize governance beyond the region's capital. Three regions—Kitikmeot, Kivalliq and Qikiqtaaluk/Baffin—are the basis for more localized administration, although they lack autonomous governments of their own.


title: Nunavut

text: The territory has an annual budget of C$700 million, provided almost entirely by the federal government. Former Prime Minister Paul Martin designated support for Northern Canada as one of his priorities in 2004, with an extra $500 million to be divided among the three territories.


title: Nunavut

text: In 2001, the government of New Brunswick collaborated with the federal government and the technology firm SSI Micro to launch Qiniq, a unique network that uses satellite delivery to provide broadband Internet access to 24 communities in Nunavut. As a result, the territory was named one of the world's "Smart 25 Communities" in 2006 by the Intelligent Community Forum, a worldwide organization that honours innovation in broadband technologies. The Nunavut Public Library Services, the public library system serving the territory, also provides various information services to the territory.


title: Nunavut

text: In September 2012, Premier Aariak welcomed Prince Edward and Sophie, Countess of Wessex, to Nunavut as part of the events marking the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut is divided into three administrative regions, the Kitikmeot Region, the Kivalliq Region, and the Qikiqtaaluk Region


title: Nunavut

text: The first design for Nunavut's licence plate was originally created for the Northwest Territories in the 1970s. The plate has long been famous worldwide for its unique design in the shape of a polar bear.


title: Nunavut

text: Nunavut was licensed by the NWT to use the same licence plate design in 1999 when it became a separate territory, but adopted its own plate design in March 2012 for launch in August 2012—a rectangle that prominently features the northern lights, a polar bear and an inuksuk.


title: Nunavut

text: A long-simmering dispute between Canada and the U.S. involves the issue of Canadian sovereignty over the Northwest Passage.


title: Nunavut

text: Due to prohibition laws influenced by local and traditional beliefs, Nunavut has a highly regulated alcohol market. The territory is the last outpost of prohibition in Canada, and it is often easier to obtain firearms than alcohol. Although every community in Nunavut has slightly differing regulations, as a whole it is still very restrictive. Seven communities have complete bans against alcohol and another 14 have orders being restricted by local committees. Due to these laws, a lucrative bootlegging market has appeared in which people mark up the prices of bottles by extraordinary amounts. The RCMP estimate Nunavut's bootleg liquor market rakes in some $10 million a year.


title: Nunavut

text: Despite the restrictions, alcohol's availability leads to widespread alcohol related crime. One estimation states some 95% of police calls are alcohol-related. Alcohol is also believed to be a contributing factor to the territory's high rates of violence, suicide, and homicide. A special task force created in 2010 to study and address the territory's increasing alcohol-related problems recommended the government ease alcohol restrictions. With prohibition shown to be highly ineffective historically, some believe these laws contribute to the territory's widespread social ills. Others are skeptical about the effectiveness of liquor sale liberalization and want to ban it completely. In 2014, Nunavut's government moved toward more legalization. In 2017, the first liquor store in 38 years opened in Iqaluit.


title: Nunavut

text: Susan Aglukark is an Inuk singer and songwriter. She has released six albums and has won several Juno Awards. She blends the Inuktitut and English languages with contemporary pop music arrangements to tell the stories of her people, the Inuit of the Arctic.


title: Nunavut

text: On May 3, 2008, the Kronos Quartet premiered a collaborative piece with Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, entitled "Nunavut", based on an Inuit folk story. Tagaq is also known internationally for her collaborations with Icelandic pop star Björk, and her 2018 novel "Split Tooth" which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.


title: Nunavut

text: Jordin John Kudluk Tootoo (Inuktitut syllabics: ᔪᐊᑕᓐ ᑐᑐ; born February 2, 1983, in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada) was a professional ice hockey player with the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL). Although born in Manitoba, Tootoo grew up in Rankin Inlet, where he was taught to skate and play hockey by his father, Barney.


title: Nunavut

text: Hunter Tootoo, Member of Parliament for the Territory of Nunavut, was elected to the Liberal government in 2015. He served as the Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard until his resignation from the post on May 31, 2016.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Sadomasochism ( ) is the giving and receiving of pleasure from acts involving the receipt or infliction of pain or humiliation. Practitioners of sadomasochism may seek sexual pleasure from their acts. While the terms sadist and masochist refer respectively to one who enjoys giving and receiving pain, some practitioners of sadomasochism may switch between activity and passivity.


title: Sadomasochism

text: The abbreviation S&M is commonly used for Sadomasochism (or Sadism & Masochism), although the initialisms S-M, SM, or S/M are also used, particularly by practitioners. Sadomasochism is not considered a clinical paraphilia unless such practices lead to clinically significant distress or impairment for a diagnosis. Similarly, sexual sadism within the context of mutual consent, generally known under the heading BDSM, is distinguished from non-consensual acts of sexual violence or aggression.


title: Sadomasochism

text: The word "sadomasochism" is a portmanteau of the words sadism () and masochism. The two words incorporated into this compound, "sadism" and "masochism", were originally derived from the names of two authors. The term "sadism" has its origin in the name of the Marquis de Sade (1740–1814), who not only practised sexual sadism, but also wrote novels about these practices, of which the best known is "Justine". "Masochism" is named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch (1836–1895), who wrote novels expressing his masochistic fantasies. These terms were first selected for identifying human behavioural phenomena and for the classification of psychological illnesses or deviant behaviour. The German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing introduced the terms "Sadism" and "Masochism"' into medical terminology in his work "Neue Forschungen auf dem Gebiet der Psychopathia sexualis" ("New research in the area of Psychopathology of Sex") in 1890.


title: Sadomasochism

text: In 1905, Sigmund Freud described sadism and masochism in his "Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie" ("Three papers on Sexual Theory") as stemming from aberrant psychological development from early childhood. He also laid the groundwork for the widely accepted medical perspective on the subject in the following decades. This led to the first compound usage of the terminology in "Sado-Masochism" (Loureiroian "Sado-Masochismus") by the Viennese Psychoanalyst Isidor Isaak Sadger in his work "Über den sado-masochistischen Komplex" ("Regarding the sadomasochistic complex") in 1913.


title: Sadomasochism

text: In the later 20th century, BDSM activists have protested against these ideas, because, they argue, they are based on the philosophies of the two psychiatrists, Freud and Krafft-Ebing, whose theories were built on the assumption of psychopathology and their observations of psychiatric patients. The DSM nomenclature referring to sexual psychopathology has been criticized as lacking scientific veracity, and advocates of sadomasochism have sought to separate themselves from psychiatric theory by the adoption of the term "BDSM" instead of the common psychological abbreviation, "S&M". However, the term BDSM also includes B&D (bondage and discipline), D/s (dominance and submission), and S&M (sadism and masochism). The terms "bondage" and "discipline" usually refer to the use of either physical or psychological restraint or punishment, and sometimes involves sexual role playing, including the use of costumes.


title: Sadomasochism

text: In contrast to frameworks seeking to explain sadomasochism through psychological, psychoanalytic, medical, or forensic approaches, which seek to categorize behavior and desires, and find a root cause, Romana Byrne suggests that such practices can be seen as examples of "aesthetic sexuality", in which a founding physiological or psychological impulse is irrelevant. Rather, according to Byrne, sadism and masochism may be practiced through choice and deliberation, driven by certain aesthetic goals tied to style, pleasure, and identity, which in certain circumstances, she claims can be compared with the creation of art.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Sadomasochism, or the use of pain as a sexual stimulant has been practiced since ancient times with some scholars suggesting that it is an integral part of human culture. There are even those who propose that it is already present among nonhuman primate and primitive human communities before emerging in ancient cultures. One of the oldest surviving narratives that cited its practice was an Egyptian love song, sung by a man expressing a desire to be subjugated by a woman so he could experience pleasure as she treats him like a slave. The Roman historian Juvenal also described a case of a woman who submitted herself to the whipping and beating of the followers of Pan.


title: Sadomasochism

text: The modern conceptualization of sadomasochism stemmed from the terms sadism and masochism introduced to the medical field by German psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his 1886 compilation of case studies "Psychopathia Sexualis". Pain and physical violence are not essential in Krafft-Ebing's conception, and he defined "masochism" (German "Masochismus") entirely in terms of control. Sigmund Freud, a psychoanalyst and a contemporary of Krafft-Ebing, noted that both were often found in the same individuals, and combined the two into a single dichotomous entity known as "sadomasochism" (German "Sadomasochismus", often abbreviated as "S&M" or "S/M"). This observation is commonly verified in both literature and practice; many practitioners, both sadists and masochists, define themselves as switches and "switchable" — capable of taking and deriving pleasure in either role. However, French philosopher Gilles Deleuze argued that the concurrence of sadism and masochism proposed in Freud's model is the result of "careless reasoning," and should not be taken for granted.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Freud introduced the terms "primary" and "secondary" masochism. Though this idea has come under a number of interpretations, in a primary masochism the masochist undergoes a complete, rather than partial, rejection by the model or courted object (or sadist), possibly involving the model taking a rival as a preferred mate. This complete rejection is related to the death drive ("Todestrieb") in Freud's psychoanalysis. In a secondary masochism, by contrast, the masochist experiences a less serious, more feigned rejection and punishment by the model. Secondary masochism, in other words, is the relatively casual version, more akin to a charade, and most commentators are quick to point out its contrivedness.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Rejection is not desired by a primary masochist in quite the same sense as the feigned rejection occurring within a mutually consensual relationship—or even where the masochist happens to be the one having actual initiative power. In "Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World", René Girard attempts to resuscitate and reinterpret Freud's distinction of primary and secondary masochism, in connection with his own philosophy.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Both Krafft-Ebing and Freud assumed that sadism in men resulted from the distortion of the aggressive component of the male sexual instinct. Masochism in men, however, was seen as a more significant aberration, contrary to the nature of male sexuality. Freud doubted that masochism in men was ever a primary tendency, and speculated that it may exist only as a transformation of sadism. Sadomasochism in women received comparatively little discussion, as it was believed that it occurred primarily in men. Both also assumed that masochism was so inherent to female sexuality that it would be difficult to distinguish as a separate inclination.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Havelock Ellis, in "Studies in the Psychology of Sex", argued that there is no clear distinction between the aspects of sadism and masochism, and that they may be regarded as complementary emotional states. He also made the important point that sadomasochism is concerned only with pain in regard to sexual pleasure, and not in regard to cruelty, as Freud had suggested. In other words, the sadomasochist generally desires that the pain be inflicted or received in love, not in abuse, for the pleasure of either one or both participants. This mutual pleasure may even be essential for the satisfaction of those involved.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Here, Ellis touches upon the often paradoxical nature of widely reported consensual S&M practices. It is described as not simply pain to initiate pleasure, but violence—"or the simulation of involuntary violent acts"—said to express love. This irony is highly evident in the observation by many, that not only are popularly practiced sadomasochistic activities usually performed at the express request of the masochist, but that it is often the designated masochist who may direct such activities, through subtle emotional cues perceived or mutually understood and consensually recognized by the designated sadist


title: Sadomasochism

text: In his essay "Coldness and Cruelty", (originally "Présentation de Sacher-Masoch", 1967) Gilles Deleuze rejects the term "sadomasochism" as artificial, especially in the context of the quintessentially modern masochistic work, Sacher-Masoch's "Venus In Furs". Deleuze's counterargument is that the tendency toward masochism is based on intensified desire brought on or enhanced by the acting out of frustration at the delay of gratification. Taken to its extreme, an intolerably indefinite delay is 'rewarded' by punitive perpetual delay, manifested as unwavering coldness. The masochist derives pleasure from, as Deleuze puts it, the "Contract": the process by which he can control another individual and turn the individual into someone cold and callous. The sadist, in contrast, derives pleasure from the "Law": the unavoidable power that places one person below another. The sadist attempts to destroy the ego in an effort to unify the id and super-ego, in effect gratifying the most base desires the sadist can express while ignoring or completely suppressing the will of the ego, or of the conscience. Thus, Deleuze attempts to argue that masochism and sadism arise from such different impulses that the combination of the two terms is meaningless and misleading. A masochist's perception of their own self-subjugating sadistic desires and capacities are treated by Deleuze as reactions to prior experience of sadistic objectification. (For example, in terms of psychology, compulsively defensive appeasement of pathological guilt feelings as opposed to the volition of a strong free will.) The epilogue of "Venus In Furs" shows the character of Severin has become embittered by his experiment in the alleged control of masochism, and advocates instead the domination of women.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Before Deleuze, however, Sartre had presented his own theory of sadism and masochism, at which Deleuze's deconstructive argument, which took away the symmetry of the two roles, was probably directed. Because the pleasure or power in looking at the victim figures prominently in sadism and masochism, Sartre was able to link these phenomena to his famous philosophy of the "Look of the Other". Sartre argued that masochism is an attempt by the "For-itself" (consciousness) to reduce itself to nothing, becoming an object that is drowned out by the "abyss of the Other's subjectivity". By this Sartre means that, given that the "For-itself" desires to attain a point of view in which it is both subject and object, one possible strategy is to gather and intensify every feeling and posture in which the self appears as an object to be rejected, tested, and humiliated; and in this way the For-itself strives toward a point of view in which there is only one subjectivity in the relationship, which would be both that of the abuser and the abused. Conversely, Sartre held sadism to be the effort to annihilate the subjectivity of the victim. That means that the sadist is exhilarated by the emotional distress of the victim because they seek a subjectivity that views the victim as both subject and object.


title: Sadomasochism

text: This argument may appear stronger if it is understood that this "Look of the Other" theory is either only an aspect of the faculties of desire, or somehow its primary faculty. This does not account for the turn that Deleuze took for his own theory of these matters, but the premise of "desire as 'Look'" is associated with theoretical distinctions always detracted by Deleuze, in what he regarded as its essential error to recognize "desire as lack"—which he identified in the philosophical temperament of Plato, Socrates, and Lacan. For Deleuze, insofar as desire is a lack it is reducible to the "Look".


title: Sadomasochism

text: Finally, after Deleuze, René Girard included his account of sadomasochism in "Things Hidden Since the Foundation of The World ("1978), making the chapter on masochism a coherent part of his theory of mimetic desire. In this view of sadomasochism, the violence of the practices is an expression of a peripheral rivalry that has developed around the actual love-object. There is clearly a similarity to Deleuze, since both in the violence surrounding the memory of mimetic crisis and its avoidance, and in the resistance to affection that is focused on by Deleuze, there is an understanding of the value of the love object in terms of the processes of its valuation, acquisition and the test it imposes on the suitor.


title: Sadomasochism

text: There are a number of reasons commonly given for why a sadomasochist finds the practice of S&M enjoyable, and the answer is largely dependent on the individual. For some, taking on a role of compliance or helplessness offers a form of therapeutic escape; from the stresses of life, from responsibility, or from guilt. For others, being under the power of a strong, controlling presence may evoke the feelings of safety and protection associated with childhood. They likewise may derive satisfaction from earning the approval of that figure "(see: Servitude (BDSM))". A sadist, on the other hand, may enjoy the feeling of power and authority that comes from playing the dominant role, or receive pleasure vicariously through the suffering of the masochist. It is poorly understood, though, what ultimately connects these emotional experiences to sexual gratification, or how that connection initially forms.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Dr. Joseph Merlino, author and psychiatry adviser to the "New York Daily News", said in an interview that a sadomasochistic relationship, as long as it is consensual, is not a psychological problem:


title: Sadomasochism

text: It is usually agreed on by psychologists that experiences during early sexual development can have a profound effect on the character of sexuality later in life. Sadomasochistic desires, however, seem to form at a variety of ages. Some individuals report having had them before puberty, while others do not discover them until well into adulthood. According to one study, the majority of male sadomasochists (53%) developed their interest before the age of 15, while the majority of females (78%) developed their interest afterwards (Breslow, Evans, and Langley 1985). The prevalence of sadomasochism within the general population is unknown. Despite female sadists being less visible than males, some surveys have resulted in comparable amounts of sadistic fantasies between females and males. The results of such studies indicate that one's sex may not be the determining factor for a preference towards sadism.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Medical opinion of sadomasochistic activities has changed over time. The classification of sadism and masochism in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has always been separate; sadism was included in the DSM-I in 1952, while masochism was added in the DSM-II in 1968. Contemporary psychology continues to identify sadism and masochism separately, and categorizes them as either practised as a life style, or as a medical condition.


title: Sadomasochism

text: The current version of the American Psychiatric Association's manual, DSM-5, excludes consensual BDSM from diagnosis as a disorder when the sexual interests cause no harm or distress.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Sexual sadism disorder however, listed within the DSM-5, is where arousal patterns involving consenting and non‐consenting others are not distinguished


title: Sadomasochism

text: On 18 June 2018, the WHO (World Health Organization) published ICD-11, and Sadomasochism, together with Fetishism and Transvestic Fetishism, are now removed as psychiatric diagnoses. Moreover, discrimination of fetish- and BDSM individuals is considered inconsistent with human rights principles endorsed by the United Nations and The World Health Organization.


title: Sadomasochism

text: The classifications of sexual disorders reflect contemporary sexual norms and have moved from a model of pathologization or criminalization of non-reproductive sexual behaviors to a model which reflects sexual well-being and pathologizes the absence or limitation of consent in sexual relations.


title: Sadomasochism

text: The ICD-11 classification, contrary to ICD-10 and DSM-5, clearly distinguishes consensual sadomasochistic behaviours (BDSM) that do not involve inherent harm to self or others, from harmful violence on non‐consenting persons (Coercive sexual sadism disorder).


title: Sadomasochism

text: In this regard, "ICD-11 go further than the changes made for DSM-5 … in the removal of disorders diagnosed based on consenting behaviors that are not in and of themselves associated with distress or functional impairment."


title: Sadomasochism

text: In Europe, an organization called ReviseF65 has worked to remove sadomasochism from the ICD. On commission from the WHO ICD-11 Working Group on Sexual Disorders and Sexual Health, ReviseF65 in 2009 and 2011 delivered reports documenting that sadomasochism and sexual violence are two different phenomena. The report concluded that the Sadomasochism diagnosis were outdated, non scientific, and stigmatizing. In 1995, Denmark became the first European Union country to have completely removed sadomasochism from its national classification of diseases. This was followed by Sweden in 2009, Norway in 2010, Finland in 2011 and Iceland in 2015.


title: Sadomasochism

text: "Based on advances in research and clinical practice, and major shifts in social attitudes and in relevant policies, laws, and human rights standards", the World Health Organization (18 June 2018) removed Fetishism, Transvestic Fetishism and Sadomasochism as psychiatric diagnoses.


title: Sadomasochism

text: The ICD-11 classification consider Sadomasochism as a variant in sexual arousal and private behavior without appreciable public health impact and for which treatment is neither indicated nor sought."


title: Sadomasochism

text: Further the ICD-11 guidelines "respect the rights of individuals whose atypical sexual behavior is consensual and not harmful."


title: Sadomasochism

text: WHO's ICD-11 Working Group admits that psychiatric diagnoses have been used to harass, silence, or imprison sadomasochists. Labeling them as such may create harm, convey social judgment, and exacerbate existing stigma and violence to individuals so labeled.


title: Sadomasochism

text: According to ICD-11, psychiatric diagnoses can no longer be used to discriminate against BDSM people and fetishists.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Recent surveys on the spread of BDSM fantasies and practices show strong variations in the range of their results. Nonetheless, researchers assume that 5 to 25 percent of the population practices sexual behavior related to pain or dominance and submission. The population with related fantasies is believed to be even larger.


title: Sadomasochism

text: According to Anil Aggrawal, in forensic science, levels of sexual sadism and masochism are classified as follows:


title: Sadomasochism

text: The term BDSM is commonly used to describe consensual activities that contain sadistic and masochistic elements. Masochists tend to be very specific about the types of pain they enjoy, preferring some and disliking others. Many behaviors such as spanking, tickling, and love-bites contain elements of sadomasochism. Even if both parties legally consent to such acts this may not be accepted as a defense against criminal charges. Very few jurisdictions will permit consent as a legitimate defense if serious bodily injuries are caused. It has been argued that in many countries, the law disregards the sexual nature of sadomasochism - or the fact that participants enter these relationships voluntarily because they enjoy the experience. Instead, the criminal justice system focuses on what it views as dangerous or violent behavior. What this essentially means is that instead of attempting to understand and accommodate for voluntary sadomasochism, the law typically views these incidences as cases of assault. This can be seen with the well-known case in Great Britain, where 15 men were trialed for a range of offences relating to sadomasochism. Samois, the earliest known lesbian S/M organization in the United States, was founded in San Francisco in 1978.


title: Sadomasochism

text: Harsh acts of S&M may include consensual torture of the sensitive parts of body, such as cock and ball torture for males, and breast torture and pussy torture for females. Acts common for both genders may include ass torture (ex. using speculum), face torture (ex. nose torture), etc. In extreme cases, sadism and masochism can include fantasies, sexual urges or behavior which cause observably significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning, to the point that they can be considered part of a mental disorder. However, this is widely considered to be rare, as psychiatrists now regard such behaviors as clinically aberrant only if they are identifiable as symptoms or associated with other problems such as personality disorder or neurosis. There is some controversy in the psychology professions regarding a personality disorder referred to alternately as "self-defeating personality disorder" or "masochistic personality disorder", where masochistic behavior may not be in relation to other diagnosed mental disease. Ernulf and Innala (1995) observed discussions among individuals with such interests, one of whom described the goal of hyperdominance.


title: Sadomasochism

text: The "Fifty Shades" trilogy is a series of very popular erotic romance novels by E. L. James which involve S/M. These have been criticized for their inaccurate and harmful depiction of S/M. Their film adaptations have been similarly criticized.


title: Sadomasochism

text: A table in Larry Townsend's "The Leatherman's Handbook II" (the 1983 second edition; the 1972 first edition did not include this list) which is generally considered authoritative states that a black handkerchief is a symbol for sadomasochism in the handkerchief code, which is employed usually among gay male casual-sex seekers or BDSM practitioners in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. Wearing the handkerchief on the left indicates the top, dominant, or active partner; right the bottom, submissive, or passive partner. However, negotiation with a prospective partner remains important because, as Townsend noted, people may wear hankies of any color "only because the idea of the hankie turns them on" or "may not even know what it means".


title: Jessica Walter

text: Jessica Walter (January 31, 1941 – March 24, 2021) was an American actress who appeared in over 170 film, stage and television productions. In film, she was best known for her role as a psychotic and obsessed fan of a local disc jockey in the 1971 Clint Eastwood film, "Play Misty for Me". On television, she was most recently known for her role of Lucille Bluth on the sitcom "Arrested Development" (2003–06, 2013–19), and providing the voice of Malory Archer on the FX animated series "Archer" (2009–21). Walter received various awards over the course of her television career including a Primetime Emmy Award for "Amy Prentiss" (1975). She also received two Golden Globe Award nominations and three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. For her starring role opposite Eastwood in "Play Misty for Me", Walter received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.


title: Jessica Walter

text: After studying acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, Walter began her career on the Broadway stage, winning a 1963 Clarence Derwent Award for Outstanding Debut Performance. She made her film debut in the 1964 neo-noir drama "Lilith" then subsequently starred in the 1966 films "Grand Prix" and "The Group". Both performances earned her critical acclaim.


title: Jessica Walter

text: Throughout her career, Walter was a regular presence on American television, playing the titular role in the short-lived police procedural "Amy Prentiss," appearing in a recurring role on "Trapper John, M.D.", working as a series regular for the first half of season one of "90210", and providing the voice of Fran Sinclair on the series "Dinosaurs". Her role as scheming socialite Lucille Bluth in "Arrested Development" brought her renewed attention, and she contributed voiceover work to animated shows like "Archer" and "Star vs. the Forces of Evil" (2015–18).


title: Jessica Walter

text: Walter was born on January 31, 1941 in Brooklyn, New York City, to parents Esther (née Groisser), a teacher, and David Walter. Walter's father was from a Polish-Jewish family. He was a musician and member of the NBC Symphony Orchestra who had attended New York City's High School of Performing Arts. Walter's mother was from a Jewish family who migrated to the US from Russia in 1923. Her brother, Richard Walter, is a screenwriter.


title: Jessica Walter

text: Walter began her acting career on stage, winning a Clarence Derwent Award in 1963 for Outstanding Debut Broadway Performance in "Photo Finish" by Peter Ustinov. She soon moved to television, and played Julie Muranoon on the television series, "Love of Life". While appearing on "Love of Life" from 1962 to 1965, she also acted on many other popular television series, including "Naked City", "East Side/West Side", "Ben Casey", "Route 66", "The Doctors and the Nurses", "The Rogues", and "The Defenders". Among those series is Walter's role as Lorna Richmond on "The Ordeal of Mrs. Snow" episode of "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (April 14, 1964), and a supporting role as William Shatner's wife on the drama "For the People" (1965).


title: Jessica Walter

text: In 1964, Walter appeared in the first episode of the television series, "Flipper" as well as the episode "How Much for a Prince?" in CBS's drama "The Reporter". In 1966, she appeared in "The White Knight" episode of "The Fugitive."


title: Jessica Walter

text: Her earliest notable and acclaimed screen role was in the Clint Eastwood-directed film, "Play Misty for Me" (1971). Walter played Evelyn, a young woman who displayed mental illness consistent with borderline personality disorder. Evelyn is known to repeatedly call a California radio station during a jazz music program hosted by Eastwood's character, Dave Garver, always requesting he play the Erroll Garner standard, "Misty". In the course of becoming infatuated with Garver, Evelyn seduces him and then attempts suicide in his home. Her obsessive behavior intensifies and she begins stalking him relentlessly and eventually breaks into his house. In a frenzy, Evelyn destroys the interior of the home and stabs his housekeeper Birdie (played by Clarice Taylor), who is hospitalized but survives. For her performance in the film, Walter received a Golden Globe Award nomination in the Best Motion Picture Actress – Drama category as well as critical praise. Film critic Roger Ebert described Walter as demonstrating "unnerving effectiveness" in the role.


title: Jessica Walter

text: Walter's other film credits from that era include "Lilith" (1964), "Grand Prix" (1966), "The Group" (1966), "Bye Bye Braverman" (1968), and "Number One" (1969). She was also in an episode of "Mannix" (starring Mike Connors), "Moving Target" in season 5.


title: Jessica Walter

text: During the 1970s, Walter co-starred in an episode of "Columbo", "Mind Over Mayhem", had a recurring role on "Trapper John, M.D." as Melanie McIntyre, Trapper John's former wife, and starred on the series "Amy Prentiss", a spinoff of "Ironside", for which she won a Primetime Emmy Award.


title: Jessica Walter

text: In 1980s, she had a role on the NBC primetime soap opera "Bare Essence" as Ava Marshall. Following "Bare Essence", Walter worked most frequently in television and theater, though she did appear in some films including "The Flamingo Kid" (1984) and the film "PCU" (1994). She recorded a performance as the doll form of Chucky for the 1988 horror film "Child's Play", but her lines were redubbed by Brad Dourif after negative test screenings which Tom Holland and Don Mancini attributed partially to Walter's performance; they claimed Walter was effectively frightening in the role but failed to convey the sense of black humor they envisioned the character to have and that her voice seemed out of place because the character was male.


title: Jessica Walter

text: In the 1990s, Walter voiced Fran Sinclair on the ABC comedy "Dinosaurs", and appeared on "Just Shoot Me!" as Eve Gallo, the mother of Maya and the ex-wife of magazine publisher Jack Gallo.


title: Jessica Walter

text: From 2003 to 2006, she appeared in a regular role as the scheming alcoholic socialite matriarch Lucille Bluth on Fox's comedy series "Arrested Development". In 2005, she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Comedy Series for the role. Despite her convincing portrayal of Lucille, she states: "I'm nothing like Lucille. Nothing. My daughter will tell you. I'm really a very nice, boring person." Despite acclaim from critics, "Arrested Development" received low ratings and viewership on Fox, which cancelled the series in 2006. It was revived by Netflix for season four in 2013, where it gained huge popularity. Walter reprised her role for season five, premiering in 2018.


title: Jessica Walter

text: Walter played Tabitha Wilson on the first season of "90210" (2008-2009), until the character was written off halfway through the season. In 2007, she guest-starred on the sitcom "Rules of Engagement" in the episode titled "Kids" and in 2009 guest-starred in an episode of "" as legal-aid lawyer Petra Gilmartin. Previously in 2008, she had appeared in "" as Eleanor Reynolds in the episode "Please Note We Are No Longer Accepting Letters of Recommendation from Henry Kissinger". From 2011 to 2012, she starred in the TV Land sitcom "Retired at 35" alongside her "Bye Bye Braverman" co-star George Segal.


title: Jessica Walter

text: Walter starred as Evangeline Harcourt in the Broadway revival of "Anything Goes", which began previews in March 2011 and officially opened on April 7, 2011.


title: Jessica Walter

text: Walter voiced spymaster Malory Archer on the FX animated series "Archer". Walter mentioned that her performance in "Arrested Development" was explicitly referenced when auditions for the part of Malory were sought.


title: Jessica Walter

text: In May 2018, Walter became part of an on-set controversy regarding harassment she said she had received from "Arrested Development" co-star Jeffrey Tambor. During a cast interview with the "New York Times", Walter was asked about an incident which Tambor had alluded to several months before. Walter teared up and stated that "[i]n like almost 60 years of working, I've never had anybody yell at me like that on a set. And it's hard to deal with, but I'm over it now", while also noting that Tambor had apologized and had not done anything sexually inappropriate, and that she would work with him again. During the same interview, co-stars Jason Bateman, Tony Hale, and David Cross were criticized in multiple media outlets for appearing to excuse Tambor's behavior without acknowledging Walter's experience. Within days, all three men had issued apologies to Walter.


title: Jessica Walter

text: Walter was married to Ross Bowman, a former Broadway stage manager and television director, from 1966 to 1978. The marriage produced a daughter, Brooke Bowman, formerly an executive for 21st Century Fox and currently a Senior Vice President of development at ABC Family. Walter had one grandson. During her first marriage, a fire broke out in the couple's tenth-floor apartment in September 1966 while Bowman was out of town. Walter was rescued by a firefighter.


title: Jessica Walter

text: In 1983, Walter married actor Ron Leibman. They remained married until his death in 2019. Walter and Leibman appeared together in Neil Simon's play "Rumors", portrayed a husband and wife in the film "Dummy" (2003), and on "Law & Order" (in the episode "House Counsel"). Leibman joined the cast of "Archer", voicing her character's new husband.


title: Jessica Walter

text: While Walter's mother raised her daughter in the Jewish tradition, Walter later described herself as not religious but "very Jewish in my heart".


title: Oliver Reed

text: Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his notable films include "The Trap" (1966), playing Bill Sikes in the 1968 Best Picture Oscar winner "Oliver!" (a film directed by his uncle Carol Reed), "Women in Love" (1969), "Hannibal Brooks" (1969), "The Devils" (1971), "Revolver" (1973), portraying Athos in "The Three Musketeers" (1973) and "The Four Musketeers" (1974); the lover and stepfather in "Tommy" (1975), "The Brood" (1979), "Lion of the Desert" (1981), "Castaway" (1986), "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1988), "Funny Bones" (1995) and "Gladiator" (2000).


title: Oliver Reed

text: For playing Antonius Proximo, the old, gruff gladiator trainer in Ridley Scott's "Gladiator", in what was his final film, Reed was posthumously nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 2000. At the peak of his career, in 1971, British exhibitors voted Reed fifth most popular star at the box office. The British Film Institute (BFI) stated that "partnerships with Michael Winner and Ken Russell in the mid-60s saw Reed become an emblematic Brit-flick icon", but from the mid-1970s his alcoholism began affecting his career, with the BFI adding "Reed had assumed Robert Newton's mantle as Britain's thirstiest thespian".


title: Oliver Reed

text: Robert Oliver Reed was born on 13 February 1938 at 9 Durrington Park Road, Wimbledon, southwest London, to Peter Reed, a sports journalist, and Marcia (née Napier-Andrews). He was the nephew of film director Sir Carol Reed, and grandson of the actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and his mistress, Beatrice May Pinney (who later assumed the name 'Reed'), she being "the only person who understood, listened to, encouraged and kissed Oliver". Reed claimed to have been a descendant (through an illegitimate step) of Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia. Reed attended 14 schools, including Ewell Castle School in Surrey. "My father thought I was just lazy," Reed later said. "He thought I was a dunce."


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed claimed he had worked as a boxer, a bouncer, a taxi driver and a hospital porter. He then did his compulsory army service in the Royal Army Medical Corps. "The army helped," he said later. "I recognized that most other people were actors as well. I was in the peacetime army and they were all telling us youngsters about the war."


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed began his acting career as an extra in films. He appeared uncredited in Ken Annakin's film "Value for Money" (1955) and Norman Wisdom's film "The Square Peg" (1958). Uncredited television appearances included episodes of "The Invisible Man" (1958), "The Four Just Men" (1959) and "The Third Man". He appeared in the documentary "Hello London" (1958).


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed's first break was playing Richard of Gloucester in a six-part BBC TV series "The Golden Spur" (1959). It did not seem to help his career immediately: He was not credited in the films "The Captain's Table" (1959), "Upstairs and Downstairs" (1959), directed by Ralph Thomas, "Life Is a Circus" (1960), "The Angry Silence" (1960), "The League of Gentlemen" (1960) and "Beat Girl" (1960). He played a bouncer in "The Two Faces of Dr. Jekyll" (1960) for Hammer Films with whom he would become associated; the director was Terence Fisher. Reed was then in "The Bulldog Breed" (1960), another Wisdom film, playing the leader of a gang of Teddy Boys roughing up Wisdom in a cinema.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed got his first significant role in Hammer Films' "Sword of Sherwood Forest" (1960), again directed by Fisher. He went back to small roles for "His and Hers" (1961), a Terry-Thomas comedy; "No Love for Johnnie" (1961) for Ralph Thomas; and "The Rebel" (1961) with Tony Hancock.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed's first starring role came when Hammer cast him as the central character in Terence Fisher’s "The Curse of the Werewolf" (1961). Hammer liked Reed and gave him good supporting roles in the swashbuckler "The Pirates of Blood River" (1962), directed by John Gilling; "Captain Clegg" (1962), a smugglers tale with Peter Cushing; "The Damned" (1963), a science fiction film directed by Joseph Losey; "Paranoiac" (1963), a psycho thriller for director Freddie Francis; and "The Scarlet Blade" (1963); a swashbuckler set during the English Civil War, directed by Gilling, with Reed as a Roundhead.


title: Oliver Reed

text: During this time, he appeared in some ITV "Playhouse" productions, "Murder in Shorthand" (1962) and "The Second Chef" (1962), and guest-starred in episodes of "The Saint". He also had the lead in a non-Hammer horror, "The Party's Over" (made 1963, released 1965), directed by Guy Hamilton.


title: Oliver Reed

text: In 1964, he starred in the first of six films directed by Michael Winner, "The System" (known as "The Girl-Getters" in the US). The film was seen by Ken Russell who then cast Reed in the title role of "The Debussy Film" (1965), a TV biopic of French composer Claude Debussy. Reed said this was crucial to his career because "That was the first time I met Ken Russell and it was the first part I had after I'd had my face cut in a fight and no one would employ me. Everybody thought I was a cripple." It was also the first time he broke away from villainous roles. "Until that time they thought I was a neolithic dustbin," said Reed. Reed later said "Hammer films had given me my start and Michael Winner my bread then Ken Russell came on the screen and gave me my art."


title: Oliver Reed

text: He narrated Russell's TV movie "Always on Sunday" (1965). Reed returned to Hammer for "The Brigand of Kandahar" (1965), playing a villainous Indian in an imperial action film for Gilling. He later called it the worst film he ever made for Hammer. He guest-starred in episodes of "It's Cold Outside" and "Court Martial", the latter directed by Seth Holt. He had a regular role in the TV series "R3" (1965). Reed was the lead in a Canadian-British co-production, "The Trap" (1966), co-starring with Rita Tushingham.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed's career stepped up another level when he starred in the popular comedy film "The Jokers" (1966), his second film with Winner, alongside Michael Crawford. After playing a villain in a horror movie, "The Shuttered Room" (1967), he did a third with Winner, "I'll Never Forget What's'isname" (1967), co-starring with Orson Welles. Reed was reunited with Russell for another TV movie, "Dante's Inferno" (1967), playing Dante Gabriel Rossetti.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed's star rose further as a result of playing Bill Sikes in "Oliver!" (1968), alongside Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Mark Lester, Jack Wild and Harry Secombe, in his uncle Carol Reed's screen version of the successful stage musical. It was a huge hit, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, with Reed receiving praise for his villainous performance.


title: Oliver Reed

text: He was in the black comedy "The Assassination Bureau" (1969) with Diana Rigg and Telly Savalas, directed by Basil Dearden; and a war film for Winner, "Hannibal Brooks" (1969).


title: Oliver Reed

text: More successful than either was his fourth film with Russell, a film version of "Women in Love" (1969), in which he wrestled naked with Alan Bates in front of a log fire. In 1969, Interstate Theatres awarded him their International Star of the Year Award.


title: Oliver Reed

text: "Take a Girl Like You" (1970) was a sex comedy with Hayley Mills based on a novel by Kingsley Amis; "The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun" (1970) was a thriller directed by Anatole Litvak. The following year, Reed appeared in the controversial film "The Devils" (1971), directed by Russell with Vanessa Redgrave.


title: Oliver Reed

text: An anecdote holds that Reed could have been chosen to play James Bond. In 1969, Bond franchise producers Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman were looking for a replacement for Sean Connery and Reed (who had recently played a resourceful killer in "The Assassination Bureau") was mentioned as a possible choice for the role, with Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore as the other choices. Whatever the reason, Reed was never to play Bond. After Reed's death, the "Guardian Unlimited" called the casting decision, "One of the great missed opportunities of post-war British movie history."


title: Oliver Reed

text: He made a series of action-orientated projects: "The Hunting Party" (1971), a Western shot in Spain with Gene Hackman; "Sitting Target" (1972), a tough gangster film; and "Z.P.G." (1972), a science fiction film with Geraldine Chaplin. In March 1971, he said he would make a film, "The Offering", which he would co-write and produce, but it was not made. He did "The Triple Echo" (1972) directed by Michael Apted, and featured Reed alongside Glenda Jackson. Reed also appeared in a number of Italian films: "Dirty Weekend" (1973), with Marcello Mastroianni; "One Russian Summer" (1973) with Claudia Cardinale; and "Revolver" (1973) with Fabio Testi.


title: Oliver Reed

text: He had great success playing Athos in "The Three Musketeers" (1973) and "The Four Musketeers" (1974) for director Richard Lester from a script by George MacDonald Fraser. Reed had an uncredited bit-part in Russell's "Mahler" (1974), was the lead in "Blue Blood" (1973) and "And Then There Were None" (1974), produced by Harry Alan Towers. His next project with Ken Russell was "Tommy", where he plays Tommy's stepfather, based on The Who's 1969 concept album, "Tommy", and starring its lead singer Roger Daltrey. "Royal Flash" (1975) reunited him with Richard Lester and George MacDonald Fraser, playing Otto von Bismarck. He had a cameo in Russell's "Lisztomania" (1975).


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed appeared in "The New Spartans" (1975), then acted alongside Karen Black, Bette Davis, and Burgess Meredith in the Dan Curtis horror film, "Burnt Offerings" (1976). He was in "The Sell Out" (1976) and "The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday" (1976) with Lee Marvin. After "Assault in Paradise" (1977), he returned to swashbuckling in "Crossed Swords" (UK title "The Prince and the Pauper") (1977), as Miles Hendon alongside Raquel Welch and a grown-up Mark Lester, who had worked with Reed in "Oliver!", from a script co-written by Fraser.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed did "Tomorrow Never Comes" (1978) for Peter Colinson and "The Big Sleep" (1978) with Winner. He and Jackson were reunited in "The Class of Miss MacMichael" (1978), then he made a film in Canada, "The Mad Trapper", that was unfinished. Reed returned to the horror genre as Dr. Hal Raglan in David Cronenberg's 1979 film "The Brood" and ended the decade with "A Touch of the Sun" (1979), a comedy with Peter Cushing.


title: Oliver Reed

text: After the 1970s, Reed's films had less success. He did a comedy for Charles B. Griffith, "Dr. Heckyl and Mr. Hype" (1980) and played Gen. Rodolfo Graziani in "Lion of the Desert" (1981), which co-starred Anthony Quinn and chronicled the resistance to Italian occupation of Libya. On 20 January 2016, ISIS used a clip of "Lion of the Desert" as part of a propaganda video threatening Italy with terrorist attacks.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed was a villain in Disney's "Condorman" (1981) and did the horror film, "Venom" (1981). He was a villain in "The Sting II" (1983) and appeared in "Sex, Lies and Renaissance" (1983). He also starred as Lt-Col Gerard Leachman in the Iraqi historical film "Al-Mas' Ala Al-Kubra" (a.k.a. "Clash of Loyalties") (1983), which dealt with Leachman's exploits during the 1920 revolution in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). Reed was in " Spasms" (1983), "Two of a Kind" (1983), "Masquerade" (1984), "Christopher Columbus" (1985), "Black Arrow" (1985) and "Captive" (1986). He says he was contemplating quitting acting when Nicolas Roeg cast him in "Castaway" (1986) as the middle-aged Gerald Kingsland, who advertises for a "wife" (played by Amanda Donohoe) to live on a desert island with him for a year.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed was the subject of "This Is Your Life" in 1986 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at Rosslyn Park rugby club in west London. Reed was in "The Misfit Brigade" (1987), "Gor" (1987), "Master of Dragonard Hill" (1987), "Dragonard" (1987), "Skeleton Coast" (1988), "Blind Justice" (1988), "Captive Rage" (1988), and "Rage to Kill" (1988). Most of these were exploitation films produced by the impresario Harry Alan Towers filmed in South Africa and released straight to video.


title: Oliver Reed

text: He was in Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1988) (as the god Vulcan); "The Lady and the Highwayman" (1989) with Hugh Grant; "The House of Usher" (1989); "The Return of the Musketeers" (1990) with Lester and Fraser; "Treasure Island" (1990) with Charlton Heston; "A Ghost in Monte Carlo" (1990); "Hired to Kill" (1990); "Panama Sugar" (1990); "The Revenger" (1990); "The Pit and the Pendulum" (1991); "Prisoner of Honor" (1991) for Russell; and "Severed Ties" (1993).


title: Oliver Reed

text: Films Reed appeared in include "Return to Lonesome Dove" (1993); "Funny Bones" (1995); "The Bruce" (1996); "Jeremiah" (1998); and "Parting Shots" (1998). His final role was the elderly slave dealer Proximo in Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" (2000), in which he played alongside Richard Harris, an actor whom Reed admired greatly both on and off the screen. The film was released after his death with some footage filmed with a double, digitally mixed with outtake footage. The film was dedicated to him. In addition to his posthumous BAFTA recognition, he shared the film's nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture with the rest of the principal players.


title: Oliver Reed

text: In addition to acting, Reed released several singles in the popular music vein, though with limited success. These included "Wild One"/"Lonely for a Girl" (1961), "Sometimes"/"Ecstasy" (1962), "Baby It's Cold Outside" (duet with Joyce Blair) and "Wild Thing" (1992) (duet with snooker ace Alex Higgins). Oliver also later narrated a track called "Walpurgis Nacht" by Italian heavy metal band Death SS.


title: Oliver Reed

text: In 1959, Reed married Kate Byrne. The couple had one son, Mark, before their divorce in 1969. While filming his part of Bill Sikes in "Oliver! (1968)," he met Jacquie Daryl, a classically trained dancer who was also in the film. They became lovers and subsequently had a daughter, Sarah. In 1985, he married Josephine Burge, to whom he remained married until his death. When they met in 1980, she was 16 years old and he was 42. In his final years, Reed and Burge lived in Churchtown, County Cork, Ireland.


title: Oliver Reed

text: In December 1974, Reed appeared on BBC Radio 4’s "Desert Island Discs", a show where the guest, a "castaway", talks about their life and chooses eight favourite songs and the reasons for their choices. He named "Jardins sous la pluie" by French composer Claude Debussy as his favourite track, and when asked what book and inanimate luxury item he would take with him on a desert island Reed chose "Winnie-the-Pooh" by English author A. A. Milne and an inflatable rubber woman.


title: Oliver Reed

text: In 1964, Reed was in the Crazy Elephant nightclub in Leicester Square and got into a dispute at the bar with a couple of men that ended with Reed walking away with a dismissive remark. They waited until he went to the toilet, followed him in and attacked him with broken bottles. He received 63 stitches in one side of his face, was left with permanent scarring, and initially thought his film career was over. According to his brother, subsequent to the attack, when arguing, the burly Reed would bring his hands up in a gesture that was defensive but many men found very intimidating.


title: Oliver Reed

text: In 1993, Reed was unsuccessfully sued by his former stuntman, stand-in and friend Reg Prince, for an alleged spinal injury incurred by the latter while on location for the filming of "Castaway".


title: Oliver Reed

text: He claimed to have turned down major roles in two Hollywood movies, "The Sting" (although he did appear in the 1983 sequel "The Sting II". When the 1970s UK government raised taxes on personal income, Reed initially declined to join the exodus of major British film stars to Hollywood and other more tax-friendly locales. In the late 1970s, Reed relocated to Guernsey as a tax exile. He had sold his large house, Broome Hall, between the Surrey villages of Coldharbour and Ockley, and initially lodged at the Duke of Normandie Hotel in Saint Peter Port.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed often described himself as a British patriot and preferred to live in the United Kingdom over relocating to Hollywood. He supported British military efforts during the Falklands War. According to Robert Sellers, Reed tried reenlisting, at age 44, in the British army following the outbreak of the conflict but was turned down.


title: Oliver Reed

text: In 2013, the writer Robert Sellers published "What Fresh Lunacy Is This? – The Authorised Biography of Oliver Reed".


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed was known for his alcoholism and binge drinking. Numerous anecdotes exist, such as Reed and 36 friends drinking, in one evening: 60 gallons of beer, 32 bottles of scotch, 17 bottles of gin, four crates of wine, and a bottle of Babycham. Reed subsequently revised the story, claiming he drank 106 pints of beer on a two-day binge before marrying Josephine Burge: 'The event that was reported actually took place during an arm-wrestling competition in Guernsey, about 15 years ago; it was highly exaggerated.' In the late 1970s, Steve McQueen told the story that in 1973, he flew to the UK to discuss a film project with Reed who suggested that the two of them visit a London nightclub. They ended up on a marathon pub crawl throughout the night, during which Reed got so drunk that he vomited on McQueen.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed became a close friend and drinking partner of the Who's drummer Keith Moon in 1974, while working together on the film version of "Tommy". With their reckless lifestyles, Reed and Moon had much in common, and both cited the hard-drinking actor Robert Newton as a role model. Sir Christopher Lee, a friend and colleague of Reed, commented on his alcoholism in 2014: 'when he started, after [drink] number eight, he became a complete monster. It was awful to see.'


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed was often irritated that his appearances on television chat shows concentrated on his drinking feats, rather than his acting career and latest films. On 26 September 1975, while Reed was interviewed by Johnny Carson on "The Tonight Show", Shelley Winters, angered by derogatory comments Reed had made about feminists and women's liberation, poured a cup of whiskey over his head on-camera. Years later, on 5 August 1987, David Letterman cut to a commercial when Reed became belligerent after being asked too many questions about his drinking, after pointing out that Letterman's researcher had already been told that Reed did not want to talk about drinking during his appearance on "Late Night with David Letterman".


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed was held partly responsible for the demise of BBC1's "Sin on Saturday" after some typically forthright comments on the subject of lust, the sin featured on the first programme. The series had many other issues, and a fellow-guest revealed that Reed recognised this when he arrived, and virtually had to be dragged in front of the cameras. Near the end of his life, he was brought onto some television series specifically for his drinking; for example "The Word" put bottles of vodka in his dressing room so he could be secretly filmed getting drunk. According to Reed the whole thing was a stunt ("I knew all about the "secret" camera, and the vodka was water"), and that he was paid to "act drunk". Reed left the set of the Channel 4 television discussion programme "After Dark" after feminist writer Kate Millett, uttering the phrase, 'Give us a kiss, big tits.'


title: Oliver Reed

text: However, "Evil Spirits", a biography of Reed that was written by Cliff Goodwin, offered the theory that Reed was not always as drunk on chat shows as he appeared to be, but rather was acting the part of an uncontrollably sodden former star to liven things up, at the producers' behests. In October 1981, Reed was arrested in Vermont, where he was tried and acquitted of disturbing the peace while drunk. However, he pleaded no contest to two assault charges and was fined $1,200. In December 1987, Reed, who was overweight and already suffered from gout, became seriously ill with kidney problems as a result of his alcoholism, and had to abstain from drinking for over a year, on the advice of his doctor.


title: Oliver Reed

text: During the filming of Renny Harlin's "Cutthroat Island" (1995), he was cast in a cameo role as Mordechai Fingers. Due to his arriving extremely intoxicated, having already been in trouble for a bar fight, before attempting to "expose himself" to lead actress Geena Davis, he was fired and replaced with British character actor George Murcell.


title: Oliver Reed

text: In his final years, when he lived in Ireland, Reed was a regular in the one-roomed O'Brien's Bar in Churchtown, County Cork, close to the 13th-century cemetery in the heart of the village where he would be buried.


title: Oliver Reed

text: Reed died from a heart attack during a break from filming "Gladiator" in Valletta, Malta, on the afternoon of 2 May 1999. According to witnesses, he drank eight pints of German lager, a dozen shots of rum, half a bottle of whisky and a few shots of Hennessy cognac, in a drinking match against a group of sailors on shore leave from HMS "Cumberland" at a local pub. His bar bill totalled a little over Lm 270 (almost £450; about US$590). After beating five much younger Royal Navy sailors at arm-wrestling, Reed suddenly collapsed, dying while en route to hospital in an ambulance. He was 61 years old.


title: Oliver Reed

text: The actor Omid Djalili, who was also in Malta at the time of Reed's death filming "Gladiator", said during an interview in 2016: "He hadn't had a drink for months before filming started...Everyone said he went the way he wanted, but that's not true. It was very tragic. He was in an Irish bar and was pressured into a drinking competition. He should have just left, but he didn't." Having made a number of promises to Ridley Scott prior to filming, including that he would not drink during production, Reed worked around this by only drinking on weekends. Co-star David Hemmings was a long time friend of Reed's (they appeared together in the 1964 film "The System"), and in 2020 Scott stated, "David Hemmings (Cassius) promised to look after him and said to me [upon his death], I'm really sorry, old boy".


title: Oliver Reed

text: A funeral for Reed was held in Churchtown, County Cork, in Ireland where he had resided during the last years of his life. His body was interred in Churchtown's Bruhenny Graveyard. The epitaph on his gravestone reads, "He made the air move."


title: Oliver Reed

text: As a result of his death, Reed's remaining scenes in "Gladiator" had to be completed using a body double and computer-generated imagery (CGI) techniques. Despite this, he was posthumously nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. Russell Crowe said in 2010: "I never got on with Ollie. He has visited me in dreams and asked me to talk kindly of him. So I should... but we never had a pleasant conversation."


title: Kargil War

text: The Kargil War, also known as the Kargil conflict, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Jammu and Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control (LoC). In India, the conflict is also referred to as Operation Vijay (, ), which was the codename of the Indian military operation in the region. The role of the Indian Air Force in acting jointly with the Indian Army was aimed at flushing out both the Pakistan Army and paramilitary troops from vacated Indian positions along the LoC, in what was designated as Operation Safed Sagar (, ).


title: Kargil War

text: The conflict was triggered by the infiltration of Pakistani troops—disguised as Kashmiri militants—into strategic positions on the Indian side of the LoC, which serves as the "de facto" border between the two countries in the disputed region of Kashmir. During its initial stages, Pakistan blamed the fighting entirely on independent Kashmiri insurgents, but documents left behind by casualties and later statements by Pakistan's Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff showed the involvement of Pakistani paramilitary forces, led by General Ashraf Rashid. The Indian Army, later supported by the Indian Air Force, recaptured a majority of the positions on the Indian side of the LoC; facing international diplomatic opposition, Pakistani forces withdrew from all remaining Indian positions along the LoC.


title: Kargil War

text: The Kargil War is the most recent example of high-altitude warfare in mountainous terrain, and as such, posed significant logistical problems for the combatting sides. It also marks one of only two instances of conventional warfare between nuclear-armed states (alongside the Sino-Soviet border conflict). India had conducted its first successful test in 1974; Pakistan, which had been developing its nuclear capability in secret since around the same time, conducted its first known tests in 1998, just two weeks after a second series of tests by India.


title: Kargil War

text: Before the Partition of India in 1947, Kargil was a tehsil of Ladakh, a sparsely populated region with diverse linguistic, ethnic and religious groups, living in isolated valleys separated by some of the world's highest mountains. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1947-1948 concluded with the Line of Control bisecting the Ladakh district, with the Skardu tehsil going to Pakistan (now part of Gilgit-Baltistan). After Pakistan's defeat in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, the two nations signed the Simla Agreement promising not to engage in armed conflict with respect to that boundary.


title: Kargil War

text: The town of Kargil is located from Srinagar, facing the Northern Areas across the LOC. Like other areas in the Himalayas, Kargil has a continental climate. Summers are cool with frigid nights, while winters are long and chilly with temperatures often dropping to .


title: Kargil War

text: An Indian national highway (NH 1) connecting Srinagar to Leh cuts through Kargil. The area that witnessed the infiltration and fighting is a long stretch of ridges overlooking this only road linking Srinagar and Leh. The military outposts on the ridges above the highway were generally around high, with a few as high as . Apart from the district capital, Kargil, the populated areas near the front line in the conflict included the Mushkoh Valley and the town of Drass, southwest of Kargil, as well as the Batalik sector and other areas northeast of Kargil.


title: Kargil War

text: Kargil was targeted partly because the terrain was conducive to the preemptive seizure of several unoccupied military positions. With tactically vital features and well-prepared defensive posts atop the peaks, a defender on the high ground would enjoy advantages akin to that of a fortress. Any attack to dislodge a defender from high ground in mountain warfare requires a far higher ratio of attackers to defenders, and the difficulties would be exacerbated by the high altitude and freezing temperatures.


title: Kargil War

text: Kargil is just from the Pakistani-controlled town of Skardu, which was capable of providing logistical and artillery support to Pakistani combatants. A road between Kargil and Skardu exists, which was closed in 1949.


title: Kargil War

text: After the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, there had been a long period with relatively few direct armed conflicts involving the military forces of the two neighbours—notwithstanding the efforts of both nations to control the Siachen Glacier by establishing military outposts on the surrounding mountains ridges and the resulting military skirmishes in the 1980s. During the 1990s, however, escalating tensions and conflict due to separatist activities in Kashmir, some of which were supported by Pakistan, as well as the conducting of nuclear tests by both countries in 1998, led to an increasingly belligerent atmosphere. In an attempt to defuse the situation, both countries signed the Lahore Declaration in February 1999, promising to provide a peaceful and bilateral solution to the Kashmir conflict.


title: Kargil War

text: During the winter of 1998–1999, some elements of the Pakistani Armed Forces were covertly training and sending Pakistani troops and paramilitary forces, some allegedly in the guise of mujahideen, into territory on the Indian side of the LOC. The infiltration was codenamed "Operation Badr"; its aim was to sever the link between Kashmir and Ladakh, and cause Indian forces to withdraw from the Siachen Glacier, thus forcing India to negotiate a settlement of the broader Kashmir dispute. Pakistan also believed that any tension in the region would internationalise the Kashmir issue, helping it to secure a speedy resolution. Yet another goal may have been to boost the morale of the decade-long rebellion in Jammu and Kashmir by taking a proactive role.


title: Kargil War

text: Pakistani Lieutenant General Shahid Aziz, and then head of ISI analysis wing, has confirmed there were no mujahideen but only regular Pakistan Army soldiers who took part in the Kargil War. "There were no Mujahideen, only taped wireless messages, which fooled no one. Our soldiers were made to occupy barren ridges, with hand held weapons and ammunition", Lt Gen Aziz wrote in his article in "The Nation" daily in January 2013.


title: Kargil War

text: Some writers have speculated that the operation's objective may also have been retaliation for India's Operation Meghdoot in 1984 that seized much of Siachen Glacier.


title: Kargil War

text: According to India's then army chief Ved Prakash Malik, and many scholars, much of the background planning, including construction of logistical supply routes, had been undertaken much earlier. On several occasions during the 1980s and 1990s, the army had given Pakistani leaders (Zia ul Haq and Benazir Bhutto) similar proposals for infiltration into the Kargil region, but the plans had been shelved for fear of drawing the nations into all-out war.


title: Kargil War

text: Some analysts believe that the blueprint of attack was reactivated soon after Pervez Musharraf was appointed in October 1998. After the war, Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan during the Kargil conflict, claimed that he was unaware of the plans, and that he first learned about the situation when he received an urgent phone call from Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his counterpart in India. Sharif attributed the plan to Musharraf and "just two or three of his cronies", a view shared by some Pakistani writers who have stated that only four generals, including Musharraf, knew of the plan. Musharraf, however, asserted that Sharif had been briefed on the Kargil operation 15 days ahead of Vajpayee's journey to Lahore on 20 February.


title: Kargil War

text: There were three major phases to the Kargil War. First, Pakistan infiltrated forces into the Indian-controlled section of Kashmir and occupied strategic locations enabling it to bring NH1 within range of its artillery fire. The next stage consisted of India discovering the infiltration and mobilising forces to respond to it. The final stage involved major battles by Indian and Pakistani forces resulting in India recapturing most of the territories held by Pakistani forces and the subsequent withdrawal of Pakistani forces back across the LOC after international pressure.


title: Kargil War

text: During February 1999, the Pakistan Army sent forces to occupy some posts on the Indian side of the LOC. Troops from the elite Special Services Group as well as four to seven battalions of the Northern Light Infantry (a paramilitary regiment not part of the regular Pakistani army at that time) covertly and overtly set up bases on 132 vantage points of the Indian-controlled region. According to some reports, these Pakistani forces were backed by Kashmiri guerrillas and Afghan mercenaries. According to General Ved Malik, the bulk of the infiltration occurred in April.


title: Kargil War

text: Pakistani intrusions took place in the heights of the lower Mushkoh Valley, along the Marpo La ridgeline in Dras, in Kaksar near Kargil, in the Batalik sector east of the Indus River, on the heights above of the Chorbat La sector where the LOC turns North and in the Turtuk sector south of the Siachen area.


title: Kargil War

text: Initially, these incursions were not detected for a number of reasons: Indian patrols were not sent into some of the areas infiltrated by the Pakistani forces and heavy artillery fire by Pakistan in some areas provided cover for the infiltrators. But by the second week of May, the ambushing of an Indian patrol team led by Capt Saurabh Kalia, who acted on a tip-off by a local shepherd in the Batalik sector, led to the exposure of the infiltration. Initially, with little knowledge of the nature or extent of the infiltration, the Indian troops in the area assumed that the infiltrators were jihadis and claimed that they would evict them within a few days. Subsequent discovery of infiltration elsewhere along the LOC, and the difference in tactics employed by the infiltrators, caused the Indian army to realise that the plan of attack was on a much bigger scale. The total area seized by the ingress is generally accepted to between .


title: Kargil War

text: The Government of India responded with Operation Vijay, a mobilisation of 200,000 Indian troops. However, because of the nature of the terrain, division and corps operations could not be mounted; subsequent fighting was conducted mostly at the brigade or battalion level. In effect, two divisions of the Indian Army, numbering 20,000, plus several thousand from the Paramilitary forces of India and the air force were deployed in the conflict zone. The total number of Indian soldiers that were involved in the military operation on the Kargil-Drass sector was thus close to 30,000. The number of infiltrators, including those providing logistical backup, has been put at approximately 5,000 at the height of the conflict. This figure includes troops from Pakistan-administered Kashmir who provided additional artillery support.


title: Kargil War

text: The Indian Air Force launched Operation Safed Sagar in support of the mobilisation of Indian land forces on 26 May. The Indian government cleared limited use of Air Power only on 25 May, for fear of undesirable escalation, with the fiat that IAF fighter jets were not to cross the LOC under any circumstance. This was the first time any air war was fought at such high altitudes globally, with targets at altitudes between above sea level. The rarified air at these altitudes affected ballistic trajectories of air to ground weapons, such as rockets, dumb and laser guided bombs. There was no opposition at all by the Pakistani Air Force, leaving the IAF free to carry out its attacks with impunity. The total air dominance of the IAF gave the aircrew enough time to modify aiming indices and firing techniques, increasing its effectiveness during the high altitude war. Poor weather conditions and range limitations intermittently affected bomb loads and the number of airstrips that could be used, except for the Mirage 2000 fleet, which commenced operations on 30 May.


title: Kargil War

text: The Indian Navy also prepared to blockade the (primarily the Karachi port) to cut off supply routes under Operation Talwar. The Indian Navy's western and eastern fleets joined in the North Arabian Sea and began aggressive patrols and threatened to cut Pakistan's sea trade. This exploited Pakistan's dependence on sea-based oil and trade flows. Later, then–Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif disclosed that Pakistan was left with just six days of fuel to sustain itself if a full-scale war had broken out.


title: Kargil War

text: The terrain of Kashmir is mountainous and at high altitudes; even the best roads, such as National Highway 1 (India) (NH1) from Srinagar to Leh, are only two lanes. The rough terrain and narrow roads slowed down traffic, and the high altitude, which affected the ability of aircraft to carry loads, made control of NH 1 (the actual stretch of the highway which was under Pakistani fire) a priority for India. From their 130+ covertly occupied observation posts, the Pakistani forces had a clear line-of-sight to lay down indirect artillery fire on NH 1, inflicting heavy casualties on the Indians. This was a serious problem for the Indian Army as the highway was the main logistical and supply route. The Pakistani shelling of the arterial road threatened to cut Leh off, though an alternative (and longer) road to Leh existed via Himachal Pradesh, the Leh–Manali Highway.


title: Kargil War

text: The infiltrators, apart from being equipped with small arms and grenade launchers, were also armed with mortars, artillery and anti-aircraft guns. Many posts were also heavily mined, with India later stating to have recovered more than 8,000 anti-personnel mines according to an ICBL report. Pakistan's reconnaissance was done through unmanned aerial vehicles and AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radars supplied by the US. The initial Indian attacks were aimed at controlling the hills overlooking NH 1, with high priority being given to the stretches of the highway near the town of Kargil. The majority of posts along the LOC were adjacent to the highway, and therefore the recapture of nearly every infiltrated post increased both the territorial gains and the security of the highway. The protection of this route and the recapture of the forward posts were thus ongoing objectives throughout the war.


title: Kargil War

text: The Indian Army's first priority was to recapture peaks that were in the immediate vicinity of NH 1. This resulted in Indian troops first targeting the Tiger Hill and Tololing complex in Dras, which dominated the Srinagar-Leh route. This was soon followed by the Batalik-Turtok sub-sector which provided access to Siachen Glacier. Some of the peaks that were of vital strategic importance to the Pakistani defensive troops were Point 4590 and Point 5353. While 4590 was the nearest point that had a view of NH 1, point 5353 was the highest feature in the Dras sector, allowing the Pakistani troops to observe NH 1. The recapture of Point 4590 by Indian troops on 14 June was significant, notwithstanding the fact that it resulted in the Indian Army suffering the most casualties in a single battle during the conflict. Although most of the posts in the vicinity of the highway were cleared by mid-June, some parts of the highway near Drass witnessed sporadic shelling until the end of the war.


title: Kargil War

text: Once India regained control of the hills overlooking NH 1, the Indian Army turned to driving the invading force back across the LOC. The Battle of Tololing, amongst other assaults, slowly tilted the combat in India's favour. The Pakistani troops at Tololing were aided by Pakistani fighters from Kashmir. Some of the posts put up a stiff resistance, including Tiger Hill (Point 5140) that fell only later in the war. Indian troops found well-entrenched Pakistani soldiers at Tiger Hill, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. After a final assault on the peak in which ten Pakistani soldiers and five Indian soldiers were killed, Tiger Hill finally fell. A few of the assaults occurred atop hitherto unheard of peaks—most of them unnamed with only Point numbers to differentiate them—which witnessed fierce hand to hand combat.