title: Dance in India

text: The classic text of dance and performance arts that has survived is the Hindu text "Natya Shastra", attributed to sage Bharata. He credits the art his text systematically presents to times before him, ultimately to Brahma who created Natya-veda by taking the word from the Rigveda, melody from the Samaveda, mime from the Yajurveda, and emotion from the Atharvaveda. The first complete compilation of "Natya Shastra" is dated to between 200 BCE and 200 CE, but estimates vary between 500 BCE and 500 CE. The most studied version of the Natya Shastra text consists of about 6000 verses structured into 36 chapters. The classical dances are rooted in "Natya Shastra".


title: Dance in India

text: India has a number of classical Indian dance forms, each of which can be traced to different parts of the country. Classical and folk dance forms also emerged from Indian traditions, epics and mythology.


title: Dance in India

text: Classical dance of India has developed a type of dance-drama that is a form of a total theater. The dancer acts out a story almost exclusively through gestures. Most of the classical dances of India enact stories from Hindu mythology. Each form represents the culture and ethos of a particular region or a group of people.


title: Dance in India

text: The criteria for being considered as classical is the style's adherence to the guidelines laid down in Natyashastra, which explains the Indian art of acting. The Sangeet Natak Akademi currently confers classical status on eight Indian classical dance styles: Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu), Kathak (North, West and Central India), Kathakali (Kerala), Kuchipudi (Andhra), Odissi (Odisha), Manipuri (Manipur), Mohiniyattam (Kerala), and Sattriya (Assam). All classical dances of India have roots in Hindu arts and religious practices.


title: Dance in India

text: The tradition of dance has been codified in the Natyashastra and a performance is considered accomplished if it manages to evoke a "rasa" (emotion) among the audience by invoking a particular "bhava"(gesture or facial expression). Classical dance is distinguished from folk dance because it has been regulated by the rules of the Natyashastra and all classical dances are performed only in accordance with them.


title: Dance in India

text: Dating back to 1000 BC, "barathanatyam" is a classical dance from the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, practiced predominantly in modern times by women. The dance is usually accompanied by classical Carnatic music. Bharatnatyam is a major genre of Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temples of Tamil Nadu and neighboring regions. Traditionally, Bharatanatyam has been a solo dance that was performed exclusively by women, and expressed Hindu religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of Shaivism, but also of Vaishnavism and Shaktism.


title: Dance in India

text: Bharatanatyam and other classical dances in India were ridiculed and suppressed during the colonial British Raj era. In the post-colonial period, it has grown to become the most popular classical Indian dance style in India and abroad, and is considered to be synonymous with Indian dance by many foreigners unaware of the diversity of dances and performance arts in Indian culture.


title: Dance in India

text: Kathakali ("katha", "story"; "kali", "performance") is a highly stylized classical dance-drama form, which originated from Kerala in the 17th century. This classical dance form is another "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by its elaborately colorful make-up, costumes and face masks wearing actor-dancers, who have traditionally been all males.


title: Dance in India

text: Kathakali primarily developed as a Hindu performance art, performing plays and mythical legends related to Hinduism. While its origin are more recent, its roots are in temple and folk arts such as "Kutiyattam" and religious drama traceable to at least the 1st millennium CE. A Kathakali performance incorporates movements from the ancient martial arts and athletic traditions of south India. While linked to the temple dancing traditions such as "Krishnanattam", "Kutiyattam" and others, "Kathakali" is different from these because unlike the older arts where the dancer-actor also had to be the vocal artist, "Kathakali" separated these roles allowing the dancer-actor to excel in and focus on choreography while the vocal artists focused on delivering their lines.


title: Dance in India

text: Kathak is traditionally attributed to the traveling bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathakas or storytellers. The term Kathak is derived from the Vedic Sanskrit word "Katha" meaning "story", and "kathaka" in Sanskrit means "he who tells a story", or "to do with stories". Kathak evolved during the Bhakti movement, particularly by incorporating childhood and amorous stories of Hindu god Krishna, as well as independently in the courts of north Indian kingdoms. It transitioned, adapted and integrated the tastes and Persian arts influence in the Mughal courts of the 16th and 17th century, was ridiculed and declined in the colonial British era, then was reborn as India gained independence.


title: Dance in India

text: Kathak is found in three distinct forms, named after the cities where the Kathak dance tradition evolved – Jaipur, Benares and Lucknow. Stylistically, the Kathak dance form emphasizes rhythmic foot movements, adorned with small bells ("Ghungroo"), the movement harmonized to the music, the legs and torso are generally straight, and the story is told through a developed vocabulary based on the gestures of arms and upper body movement, facial expressions, stage movements, bends and turns.


title: Dance in India

text: Kuchipudi classical dance originated in a village of Krishna district in modern era Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It has roots in antiquity and developed as a religious art linked to traveling bards, temples and spiritual beliefs, like all major classical dances of India. In its history, the Kuchipudi dancers were all males, typically Brahmins, who would play the roles of men and women in the story after dressing appropriately.


title: Dance in India

text: Modern Kuchipudi tradition believes that Tirtha Narayana Yati and his disciple an orphan named Siddhendra Yogi founded and systematized the art in the 17th century. Kuchipudi largely developed as a Hindu god Krishna-oriented Vaishnavism tradition, and it is most closely related to Bhagavata Mela performance art found in Tamil Nadu, which itself has originated from Andhra Pradesh. The Kuchipudi performance includes pure dance ("nritta"), and expressive part of the performance ("nritya"), where rhythmic gestures as a sign language mime the play. Vocalists and musicians accompany the artist, and the "tala" and "raga" set to (Carnatic music). In modern productions, Kuchipudi dancers include men and women.


title: Dance in India

text: Odissi originated in the Hindu temples of Odisha – an eastern coastal state of India. Odissi, in its history, was performed predominantly by women, and expressed religious stories and spiritual ideas, particularly of Vaishnavism (Vishnu as Jagannath), but also of other traditions such as those related to Hindu gods Shiva and Surya, as well as Hindu goddesses (Shaktism). Odissi is traditionally a dance-drama genre of performance art, where the artist(s) and musicians play out a mythical story, a spiritual message or devotional poem from the Hindu texts, using symbolic costumes, body movement, "abhinaya" (expressions) and "mudras" (gestures and sign language) set out in ancient Sanskrit literature.


title: Dance in India

text: Sattriya is a classical dance-drama performance art with origins in the Krishna-centered Vaishnavism monasteries of Assam, and attributed to the 15th century Bhakti movement scholar and saint named Srimanta Sankardev. One-act plays of "Sattriya" are called "Ankiya Nat", which combine the aesthetic and the religious through a ballad, dance and drama. The plays are usually performed in the dance community halls ("namghar") of monastery temples ("sattras"). The themes played relate to Krishna and Radha, sometimes other Vishnu avatars such as Rama and Sita.


title: Dance in India

text: Manipuri Raas Leela dance is a unique form of dance drama which has its origin in Manipur, a state in northeastern India bordering with Myanmar (Burma). It is particularly known for its Hindu Vaishnavism themes, and performances of love-inspired dance drama of Radha-Krishna called Ras Lila. However, the dance is also performed to themes related to Shaivism, Shaktism. The Manipuri Raas Leela dance is a team performance, with its own unique costumes notably the "Kumil" (a barrel shaped, elegantly decorated skirt), aesthetics, conventions and repertoire. The Manipuri dance drama is, for most part, marked by a performance that is graceful, fluid, sinuous with greater emphasis on hand and upper body gestures.


title: Dance in India

text: Mohiniyattam developed in the state of Kerala, gets its name from Mohini – the seductress avatar of Vishnu, who in Hindu mythology uses her charms to help the good prevail in a battle between good and evil. Mohiniyattam follows the Lasya style described in "Natya Shastra", that is a dance which is delicate, with soft movements and feminine. It is traditionally a solo dance performed by women after extensive training. The repertoire of Mohiniyattam includes pure and expressive dance-drama performance, timed to sopana (slower melody) styled music, with recitation. The songs are typically in Malayalam-Sanskrit hybrid called Manipravala.


title: Dance in India

text: Folk dances and plays in India retain significance in rural areas as the expression of the daily work and rituals of village communities.


title: Dance in India

text: Sanskrit literature of medieval times describes several forms of group dances such as Hallisaka, Rasaka, Dand Rasaka and Charchari. The Natya Shastra includes group dances of women as a preliminary dance performed in prelude to a drama.


title: Dance in India

text: India has numerous folk dances. Every state has its own folk dance forms like Bihu and Bagurumba in Assam, Garba, Gagari (dance), Ghodakhund & Dandiya in Gujarat, Nati in Himachal Pradesh, Neyopa, Bacha Nagma in Jammu and Kashmir, Jhumair, Domkach in Jharkhand, Bedara Vesha, Dollu Kunitha in Karnataka, Thirayattam and Theyyam in Kerala, Dalkhai in Odisha, Bhangra & Giddha in Punjab, Kalbelia, Ghoomar, Rasiya in Rajasthan, Perini Dance in Telangana, Chholiya dance in Uttarakhand and likewise for each state and smaller regions in it. Lavani, and Lezim, and Koli dance is most popular dance in Maharashtra.


title: Dance in India

text: Tribal Dances in India are inspired by the tribal folklore. Each ethnic group has its own distinct combination of myths, legends, tales, proverbs, riddles, ballads, folk songs, folk dance, and folk music.


title: Dance in India

text: The dancers do not necessarily fall rigidly into the category of "tribal". However, these forms of dance closely depict their life, social relationships, work and religious affiliations. They represent the rich culture and customs of their native lands through intricate movements of their bodies. A wide variation can be observed in the intensity of these dances. Some involve very slight movement with a groovier edge to it, while others involve elevated and vigorous involvement of limbs.


title: Dance in India

text: These dances are composed mostly on locally made instruments. Percussion instruments feature in most of these dances. Music is produced through indigenous instruments. Music too has its own diversity in these tribal dances with the aesthetics ranging from mild and soothing to strong and weighted rhythms. A few of them also have songs, either sung by themselves or by onlookers. The costumes vary from traditional saris of a particular pattern to skirts and blouses with mirror work for women and corresponding dhotis and upper-wear for men. They celebrate contemporary events, victories and are often performed as a mode of appeasing the tribal deities.


title: Dance in India

text: A lot of the dance styles depend upon the regional positioning of the ethnic group. Factors as small as east or west of a river result in a change of dance form even though the over-reaching look of it may seem the same. The religious affiliation affects the content of the songs and hence the actions in a dance sequence. Another major factor affecting their content are the festivals, mostly harvest.


title: Dance in India

text: For example, the ethnic groups from the plain land rabhas from the hilly forested areas of Assam make use of baroyat (plate-like instrument), handa (a type of sword), boushi (adze-like instrument), boumshi (bamboo flute), sum (heavy wooden instrument), dhansi. kalbansi, kalhurang, chingbakak. Traditionally, their dances are called basili. Through their dance, they express their labours, rejoicings and sorrows. Handur Basu their pseudo-war dance expresses their strength and solidarity.


title: Dance in India

text: From a broader point of view, the different tribal dance forms, as they would be classified in the context of territory are:


title: Dance in India

text: Siddi, Tappeta Gundlu, Urumulu (thunder dance), Butta Bommalata, Goravayyalu, Garaga (Vessel Dance), Vira Ntyam (Heroic Dance), Kolatam, Chiratala Bhajana, Dappu, Puli V esham (Tiger Dance), Gobbi, Karuva, and Veedhi Bhagavatam.


title: Dance in India

text: Rasleela, Phag Dance, Phalgun, Daph Dance, Dhamaal, Loor, Guga, Jhomar, Ghomar, Khoria, Holi, Sapela.


title: Dance in India

text: Chambyali dance, ghuraiyan, pahadi nati, Dalshone and Cholamba,jhamakda, Jataru Kayang, Jhoori, Ji, Swang Tegi, Rasa.


title: Dance in India

text: veeragase, Nandi Dhwaja, Beesu Kamshaley, Pata Kunitha, Bana Debara Kunitha, Pooja kunitha, Karaga, Gorawa Mela, Bhuta Nrutya, Naga Nrutya, Batte Kola, Chennu Kunitha, Maaragalu Kunitha, Kolata, Simha Nrutya, Yakshagana


title: Dance in India

text: Thirayattam, Padayani, Ayyappanvilakku, Vattakkali, Theyyam, Mohiniyattom, Kadhakali, Koodiyattam, Thiruvathira Kali, Ottamthullal, Kerala Folk dance, Kalamezhuthum pattum, Oppana, Marghamkali, Chavittunadakam, Mudiyettu, Dhaphumuttu, Parichamuttukali, Kolkali, Arbhanamuttu, Pulikali, Kummattikali, Poorakali, Arjunanirtham, Pettathullal,


title: Dance in India

text: Dadariya, panthi,suaa, kaksar, maria, shaila, gondi, gaur,karma,sarhul,raut nacha, danda nacha, gerhi, thiski, bar, relo, muriya,


title: Dance in India

text: Pang Toed Chaam (Chaam means dance) performed during the Pang Lhabsol festival in honour of the Guardian deity Khang-Chen-Dzonga, Maruni (Nepali Dance) and Tamak.


title: Dance in India

text: Karakam, Puravai Attam, Ariyar Natanam, Podikazhi Attam, Kummi, Kavadi, Kolattam, Navasandhi, Kuravaik Koothu, Mayilaattam, Oyil Kummi, Pavakkuthu


title: Dance in India

text: Contemporary dance in India encompasses a wide range of dance activities currently performed in India. It includes choreography for Indian cinema, modern Indian ballet and experiments with existing classical and folk forms of dance by various artists.


title: Dance in India

text: Uday Shankar and Shobana Jeyasingh have led modern Indian ballet which combined classical Indian dance and music with Western stage techniques. Their productions have included themes related to Shiva-Parvati, Lanka Dahan, Panchatantra, Ramayana among others.


title: Dance in India

text: The presentation of Indian dance styles in film, Hindi Cinema, has exposed the range of dance in India to a global audience.


title: Dance in India

text: Dance and song sequences have been an integral component of films across the country. With the introduction of sound to cinema in the film Alam Ara in 1931, choreographed dance sequences became ubiquitous in Hindi and other Indian films.


title: Dance in India

text: Dance in early Hindi films was primarily modelled on classical Indian dance styles such as Kathak, or folk dancers. Modern films often blend this earlier style with Western dance styles (MTV or in Broadway musicals), though it is not unusual to see western choreography and adapted classical dance numbers side by side in the same film. Typically, the hero or heroine performs with a troupe of supporting dancers. Many song-and-dance routines in Indian films feature dramatic shifts of location and/or changes of costume between verses of a song. It is popular for a hero and heroine to dance and sing a pas de deux (a French ballet term, meaning "dance of two") in beautiful natural surroundings or architecturally grand settings, referred to as a "picturisation".


title: Dance in India

text: Indian films have often used what are now called "item numbers" where a glamorous female figure performs a cameo. The choreography for such item numbers varies depending on the film's genre and situation. The film actress and dancer Helen was famous for her cabaret numbers.


title: Dance in India

text: Often in movies, the actors don't sing the songs themselves that they dance too, but have another artist sing in the background. For an actor to sing in the song is unlikely but not rare. The dances in Bollywood can range from slow dancing, to a more upbeat hip hop style dance. The dancing itself is a fusion of all dance forms. It could be Indian classical, Indian folk dance, belly dancing, jazz, hip hop and everything else you can imagine.


title: Dance in India

text: Since India's independence from colonial rule, numerous schools have opened to further education, training and socialization through dance classes, or simply a means to exercise and fitness.


title: Dance in India

text: Major cities in India now have numerous schools that offer lessons in dances such as "Odissi", "Bharatanatyam", and these cities host hundreds of shows every year. Dances which were exclusive to one gender, now have participation by both males and females. Many innovations and developments in modern practice of classical Indian dances, states Anne-Marie Geston, are of a quasi-religious type.


title: Dance in India

text: Some traditions of the Indian classical dance are practiced in the whole Indian subcontinent, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, with which India shares several other cultural traits. Indian mythologies play significant part in dance forms of countries in South East Asia, an example being the performances based on Ramayana in Javanese dances.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: El Señor de los Cielos (in English: "Lord of the Skies") is an American telenovela created by Luis Zelkowicz, based on an original idea by Mariano Calasso, and Andrés López and it started airing on American broadcast channel Telemundo. Produced by Argos Comunicación and Telemundo Studios, and Caracol Internacional in the first season, and distributed by Telemundo Internacional. The series is based on the life and work of Amado Carrillo Fuentes, the former leader of the Juarez Cartel. It stars Rafael Amaya as the titular character, Aurelio Casillas.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: The series has won several awards including; International Emmy Award for Non-English Language Us Primetime Program. Premios Tu Mundo for Novela or serie of the Year for three consecutive years.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: On 15 February 2022, Telemundo announced that the series had been renewed for an eighth season which is set to premiere on 17 January 2023.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: The series follows the life of Aurelio Casillas (Rafael Amaya), a drug lord who is recognized for knowing how to transfer drug substances to Mexico, Colombia, and the United States. Aurelio and his wife Ximena (Ximena Herrera) have three children, Rutila (Carmen Aub), Heriberto (Ruy Senderos), and Luz Marina (Gala Montes). He also has his faithful brother Chacorta (Raúl Méndez) who helps him in all his illicit businesses. Aurelio ends up being cornered by the authorities after being found as he decides to undergo a face operation in which he supposedly dies, thus causing his empire of power to fall.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: In season two, believed to be dead, Aurelio returns to enact his revenge on police officer Leonor Ballesteros (Carmen Villalobos), who through her fault ends up operating his face in a failed attempt to escape from the authorities. Aurelio meets Victoria Navárez (Marlene Favela), a beautiful woman who throws herself to be the governor of Jalisco. Aurelio, after seeing her actions, falls in love and decides to deceive her by posing as another man and usurping the identity of Danilo Ferro. A character that is then introduced is José María "Chema" Venegas (Mauricio Ochmann), one of the great enemies of Aurelio who decides to take all its power to Aurelio. At the end of the season, Leonor captures Aurelio and lasts several months in prison naval bunker.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: In season three, after several months imprisoned in naval bunker in Mexico, Aurelio receives the mutilated head of his brother Chacorta in a box, implying that his brother has died, who gives him reason to wage a war against all his enemies and to look for the murderer of his brother, to avenge his death. After all the problems with the government and the DEA, Aurelio learns that he suffers from kidney failure and decides to remember his past in order to find his lost son.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: In season four, Aurelio after being cornered by his illness and not finding no relative who lives with him can donate a kidney, decides to undertake a search for all the lovers he had in order to find a lost son who can donate a kidney. After several attempts of searching, Aurelio finds a young man named Ismael (Iván Arana), who can be his salvation. His enemies, after learning of his illness, decide to do everything possible to get Ismael out of the way. When everything seems to take its course and achieve total stability in the world of legal and illegal businesses of Aurelio, Emiliana Contreras (Vanessa Villela) appears a beautiful woman sent by Feyo Aguilera (Leonardo Daniel) to be able to make Aurelio fall, but her mission is to become the lover Of Aurelio to thus be able to finally make the fall of Aurelio's empire.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: In season five, Aurelio, will unleash a new war, but this time it will not be against his former rivals and enemies – this time, it will be against his own family because of the betrayals he had previously experienced on their part. Later, Aurelio (Rafael Amaya), will also face a serious illness, which puts at stake his power and prestige since this man fails to get a donor, so they can make his transplant, necessary to continue living. On the other hand, Mónica (Fernanda Castillo) fights for her life after being rescued from Víctor's hands in the middle of their wedding, since while she fled received a shot that apparently is mortal; After being taken from his side, Víctor (Jorge Luis Moreno) searches everywhere to find Mónica's whereabouts and continue with her wedding plans.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: In season six, Aurelio Casillas recovered all the lost fortune and finally feels the need to retire. But it is time for retribution, the hatred that he sowed since he sold his soul to the drug trafficking demon is now knocking on his door with the face and blood of the many innocent people he destroyed. Aurelio will understand that his riches are an illusion, and that after being the great hunter he was, he will now become the prey. The women he mistreated, the men he betrayed, the political puppets he put in power, and even his own children will turn against him.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: In season seven, to avoid falling into the hands of the American justice, Amado Leal "El Águila Azul", now Amado Casillas (Matías Novoa), has turned himself in to Bernardo Castillo (José Sedek), Secretary of Security of Mexico. The DEA commissioner, Joe Navarro (Guy Ecker), has made every attempt to achieve his extradition. What he does not know is that Baltazar Ojeda (Eduardo Santamarina), a CIA agent, has the plan to eliminate Amado before, since he is the only one who can prove that within the organization in which both worked together, there is a scheme of corruption and murky management that endangers its existence within it and its freedom. He has already been transferred to a jail on the outskirts of the State of Mexico and is about to be taken to the airport, under strict security measures when the Casillas cartel tries to rescue him and Baltazar Ojeda himself tries to kill him. In the midst of this tension and in parallel, under the supervision of Doña Alba (Lisa Owen) and a specialized doctor, they try a risky procedure to revive Aurelio (Rafael Amaya).


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: "El Señor de los Cielos" is known for taking place in the same universe as other famous narconovelas like "El Chema" (a spin-off of "El Señor de los Cielos"), "Señora Acero", "Queen of the South" (the English adaptation of "La Reina del Sur"), "", "Dueños del Paraíso" and "La Doña". In the season 1 of "El Señor de los Cielos", Pablo Escobar (Andrés Parra) from "" appears as a recurring character. In "Señora Acero", Aurelio Casillas (Rafael Amaya), the protagonist of El Señor de los Cielos appeared in three episodes, two of the first season and one in the second season. Aurelio also appears in the English adaptation of "La Reina del Sur", entitled "Queen of the South" in which Aurelio Casillas is a big rival to Teresa Mendoza (Alice Braga), the main protagonist of "Queen of the South" and the head of Mendoza Cartel. Later Aurelio appeared in the sequel of the series "El Señor de los Cielos", titled "El Chema", the character appears in few episodes of the series.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: In the fifth season of "El Señor de los Cielos", there is a crossover with "Dueños del Paraíso" when the main villain of "Dueños del Paraiso", Leandro Quezada (Miguel Varoni), the head of Santa Norma Cartel (or Cartel de Santa Norma) goes to war against Aurelio Casillas for the control of drug trafficking and becomes the fiercest opponent that Aurelio Casillas has ever faced. In the sixth season of "El Señor de los Cielos", there is a crossover with "La Doña" when the protagonist and main character of "La Doña", Altagracia Sandoval or La Doña (Aracely Arámbula) becomes an unexpected ally of the main character and protagonist of El Señor de los Cielos, Aurelio Casillas or Señor de los Cielos (Rafael Amaya) after returning to Mexico after fleeing to France after the events in La Doña. Another crossover between "El Señor de los Cielos" and "La Doña" occurs in the second season when the characters Eunice Lara "La Felina" (Maricela González), and Amado Casillas "El Águila Azul" (Matías Novoa), two of the main characters of El Señor de los Cielos become recurring characters in La Doña


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: During the broadcast of the second season, Telemundo published a comic based on the second season of the series, portraying part of the plot of the series. In September 2014, the character played by Rafael Amaya, appeared in the series "Señora Acero" in the first two episodes of the series as a special guest, in November 2015 returned to have a special participation in the series in an episode with Ana Lucia Dominguez. The character of Aurelio has appeared twice in the adaptation of "La Reina del Sur", titled "Queen of the South.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: Telemundo confirmed on May 15, 2016, that the series would see a Spin-off based upon actor Mauricio Ochmann's character "El Chema". "El Chema" premiered on December 6, 2016.


title: El Señor de los Cielos

text: All songs in the series are composed by Marco Flores and performed by Cardenales de Nuevo León. In the first season the main theme was "El jefe de todos". For the second season, the opening theme song was changed to "El verdadero Jefe de todos". In the third season the song was composed around the main character of the series and is titled "Aurelio Casillas". In the fourth season, the song of the main theme was changed to "El cuarto corrido". In the fifth season the opening theme titled "El quinto corrido", this time performed by Don Chayo, member of the band Cardenales de Nuevo León.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604) was an intermittent conflict between the Habsburg Kingdom of Spain and the Kingdom of England. It was never formally declared. The war included much English privateering against Spanish ships, and several widely separated battles. It began with England's military expedition in 1585 to what was then the Spanish Netherlands under the command of the Earl of Leicester, in support of the Dutch rebellion against Spanish Habsburg rule.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The English enjoyed a victory at Cádiz in 1587, and repelled the Spanish Armada in 1588, but then suffered heavy setbacks: the English Armada (1589), the Drake–Hawkins expedition (1595), and the Essex–Raleigh expedition (1597). Three further Spanish armadas were sent against England and Ireland in 1596, 1597, and 1601, but these likewise ended in failure for Spain, mainly because of adverse weather.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The war became deadlocked around the turn of the 17th century during campaigns in the Netherlands, France, and Ireland. It was brought to an end with the Treaty of London (1604), negotiated between Philip III of Spain and the new king of England, James I. In the treaty, England and Spain agreed to cease their military interventions in the Spanish Netherlands and Ireland, respectively, and the English ended their high seas privateering.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: In the 1560s, Philip II of Spain was faced with increasing religious disturbances as Protestantism gained adherents in his domains in the Low Countries. As a defender of the Catholic Church, he sought to suppress the rising Protestant movement in his territories, which eventually exploded into open rebellion in 1566. Meanwhile, relations with the regime of Elizabeth I of England continued to deteriorate, following her restoration of royal supremacy over the Church of England through the Act of Supremacy in 1559; this had been first instituted by her father Henry VIII and rescinded by her sister Mary I, Philip's wife. The Act was considered by Catholics as a usurpation of papal authority. Calls by leading English Protestants to support the Protestant Dutch rebels against Philip increased tensions further as did the Catholic-Protestant disturbances in France, which saw both sides supporting the opposing French factions.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Complicating matters were commercial disputes. The activities of English sailors, begun by Sir John Hawkins in 1562, gained the tacit support of Elizabeth, even though the Spanish government complained that Hawkins's trade with their colonies in the West Indies constituted smuggling. In September 1568, a slaving expedition led by Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake was surprised by the Spanish, and several ships were captured or sunk at the Battle of San Juan de Ulúa near Veracruz in New Spain. This engagement soured Anglo-Spanish relations and in the following year the English detained several treasure ships sent by the Spanish to supply their army in the Netherlands. Drake and Hawkins intensified their privateering as a way to break the Spanish monopoly on Atlantic trade. Francis Drake went on a privateering voyage where he eventually circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580. Spanish colonial ports were plundered and a number of ships were captured including the treasure galleon "Nuestra Señora de la Concepción". When news of his exploits reached Europe, Elizabeth's relations with Philip continued to deteriorate.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Soon after the Portuguese succession crisis of 1580, English support was provided to António, Prior of Crato who then fought in his struggle with Philip II for the Portuguese throne. Philip in return began to support the Catholic rebellion in Ireland against Elizabeth's religious reforms. Both Philip's and Elizabeth's attempts to support opposing factions were defeated.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: In 1584, Philip signed the Treaty of Joinville with the Catholic League of France to defeat the Huguenot forces in the French Wars of Religion. In the Spanish Netherlands, England had secretly supported the side of the Dutch Protestant United Provinces, who were fighting for independence from Spain. In 1584, the Prince of Orange had been assassinated, leaving a sense of alarm as well as a political vacuum. The following year was a further blow to the Dutch with the capture of Antwerp by Spanish forces led by Alexander Farnese, the Duke of Parma. The Dutch rebels sought help from England, which Elizabeth agreed to as she feared that a Spanish reconquest there would threaten England. The Treaty of Nonsuch was signed as a result – Elizabeth agreed to provide the Dutch with men, horses, and subsidies but she declined overall sovereignty. In return, the Dutch handed over four Cautionary Towns which were garrisoned by English troops. Philip took this to be an open declaration of war against his rule in the Netherlands.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The Anglo-Spanish War broke out in 1585, following the seizure of English merchant ships in Spanish harbors. In response the English privy council immediately authorised a campaign against the Spanish fishing industry in Newfoundland and off the Grand Banks. The campaign was a huge success, and subsequently led to England's first sustained activity in the Americas. In August, England joined the Eighty Years' War on the side of the Dutch Protestant United Provinces, which had declared their independence from Spain. In that same year, the English established their first New World settlement, the short lived Roanoke Colony established by Ralph Lane.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The Queen through Francis Walsingham ordered Sir Francis Drake to lead an expedition to attack the Spanish New World in a kind of preemptive strike. Drake sailed in October to the West Indies, and in January 1586 captured and sacked Santo Domingo. The following month they did the same at Cartagena de Indias and in May sailed North to raid St. Augustine in Florida. When Drake arrived in England in July he became a national hero. In Spain however, the news was a disaster and this now further buoyed a Spanish invasion of England by King Philip. Thomas Cavendish meanwhile set out with three ships on 21 July 1586 to raid Spanish settlements in South America. Cavendish raided three Spanish settlements and captured or burned thirteen ships. Among these was a rich 600 ton treasure galleon "Santa Ana" the biggest treasure haul that ever fell in English hands. Cavendish circumnavigated the globe returning to England on 9 September 1588.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Robert Dudley, The Earl of Leicester was sent to the United Provinces in 1585 with a dignitary party and took the offered governorship of the United Provinces. This, however, was met with fury from Elizabeth who had expressed no desire for any sovereignty over the Dutch. An English mercenary army had been present since the beginning of the war and was then under the command of veteran Sir John Norreys. They combined forces but were undermanned and under-financed, and faced one of the most powerful armies in Europe led by the famed Alexander Farnese, Duke of Parma.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: During the siege of Grave the following year, Dudley attempted its relief, but the Dutch garrison commander Hadewij van Hemert surrendered the town to the Spanish. Dudley was furious on hearing of Grave's sudden loss and had van Hemert executed, which shocked the Dutch. The English force then had some successes, taking Axel in July and Doesburg the following month. Dudley's poor diplomacy with the Dutch, however, made matters worse. His political base weakened and so too did the military situation. Outside Zutphen an English force was defeated and notable poet Philip Sidney mortally wounded, which was a huge blow to English morale. Zutphen itself and Deventer were betrayed by Catholic turncoats William Stanley and Rowland York, which further damaged Leicester's reputation. Finally Sluis with a largely English garrison was besieged and taken by the Duke of Parma in June 1587, after the Dutch refused to help in the relief. This resulted in mutual recriminations between Leicester and the States.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Leicester soon realised how dire his situation was and asked to be recalled. He resigned his post as governorhis tenure had been a military and political failure, and as a result, he was financially ruined. After Leicester's departure, the Dutch elected the Prince of Orange's son Count Maurice of Nassau as the stadtholder and governor. At the same time Peregrine Bertie took over English forces in the Netherlands.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: On 8 February 1587, the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots outraged Catholics in Europe. In retaliation for the execution of Mary, Philip vowed to invade England to place a Catholic monarch on its throne. In April 1587 Philip's preparations suffered a setback when Francis Drake burned 37 Spanish ships in the harbour of Cádiz, and as a result the invasion of England had to be postponed for over a year.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: On 29 July, Philip obtained Papal authority to overthrow Elizabeth, who had been excommunicated by Pope Pius V, and place whomever he chose on the throne of England. He assembled a fleet of about 130 ships, containing 8,000 soldiers and 18,000 sailors. To finance this endeavour, Pope Sixtus V had permitted Philip to collect crusade taxes. Sixtus had promised a further subsidy to the Spanish should they reach English soil.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: On 28 May 1588, the Armada under the command of Duke of Medina Sidonia set sail for the Netherlands, where it was to pick up additional troops for the invasion of England. As the armada sailed through the English channel, the English navy led by Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham, and Francis Drake fought a battle of attrition with the Spanish from Plymouth to Portland and then to the Solent, preventing them from securing any English harbours. The Spanish were forced to withdraw to Calais. While the Spanish were at anchor there in a crescent-shaped defensive formation, the English used fireships to break the formation and scatter the Spanish ships. In the subsequent Battle of Gravelines the English navy inflicted a defeat on the Armada and forced it to sail northward in more dangerous stormy waters on the long way home. As they sailed around Scotland, the Armada suffered severe damage and loss of life from stormy weather. As they approached the West coast of Ireland more damaging stormy conditions forced ships ashore while others were wrecked. Disease took a heavy toll as the fleet finally limped back to port.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Philip's invasion plans had miscarried partly because of unfortunate weather and his own mismanagement, and partly because the opportunistic defensive naval efforts of the English and their Dutch allies prevailed. The defeat of the Armada provided valuable seafaring experience for English oceanic mariners. While the English were able to persist in their privateering against the Spanish and continue sending troops to assist Philip II's enemies in the Netherlands and France, these efforts brought few tangible rewards. One of the most important effects of the event was that the Armada's failure was seen as a sign that God supported the Protestant Reformation in England. One of the medals struck to celebrate the English victory bore the Latin/Hebrew inscription "Flavit יהוה et Dissipati Sunt" (literally: "Yahweh blew and they were scattered"; traditionally translated more freely as: "He blew with His winds, and they were scattered".)


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: An English counter armada under the command of Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norreys was prepared in 1589 to torch the Spanish Atlantic navy, which was refitting in Santander, Corunna, and San Sebastián in northern Spain. It was also intended to capture the incoming Spanish treasure fleet and expel the Spanish from Portugal (ruled by Philip since 1580) in favour of the Prior of Crato. The English fleet departed from Plymouth on April 13 but was then delayed for nearly two weeks by bad weather. Drake, as a result, had to bypass Santander where the majority of the Spanish fleet were being refitted.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: On May 4, the English force eventually arrived at Corunna where the lower town was captured and plundered, and a number of merchant ships were seized. Norreys then won a modest victory over a Spanish relief militia force at Puente del Burgo. When the English pressed the attack on the citadel, however, they were repulsed. In addition, a number of English ships were captured by Spanish naval forces. With the failure to capture Corunna the English departed and headed towards Lisbon, but owing to poor organisation and lack of co-ordination (they had very few siege guns) the invading force also failed to take Lisbon. The expected uprising by the Portuguese loyal to Crato never materialised. With Portuguese and Spanish reinforcements arriving the English retreated and headed North where Drake sacked and burned Vigo. Sickness then struck the expedition, and finally, a portion of the fleet led by Drake headed towards the Azores, which was then scattered in a storm. Drake then took the best part of the fleet and plundered Porto Santo in Madeira before they limped back to Plymouth.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The English Armada was misconceived and ended in failure overall. In the end, Elizabeth sustained a severe loss to her treasury.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Soon after the defeat of the Armada, the Duke of Parma's force stood down from the invasion. In the autumn Parma moved his force North towards Bergen op Zoom and then attempted to besiege the English-held town with a substantial force. The English in a ruse however managed to repel the Spanish and forced Parma's retreat with heavy losses which boosted both Dutch and English morale. The following year Bertie, under orders from Elizabeth I, left for France with a force to help the Protestants in their fight against the Catholic League. Sir Francis Vere assumed command of English forces thereaftera position he retained during fifteen campaigns, with almost unbroken success.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: In 1590 an Anglo-Dutch force under Maurice and Vere respectively launched a campaign with the aim of taking Breda. In a remarkable feat, a small assault force hid in a peat barge before a successful surprise assault that captured the city. With Spanish forces in France supporting the Catholic League as well as in the Low Countries, Maurice was able to take advantage, and thus started a gradual reconquest of the Netherlands, which became known by the Dutch as the 'Ten glorious years'. Soon after Breda the Anglo-Dutch retook Zutphen and Deventer which restored English prestige after their earlier betrayals. After defeating the Spanish under the Duke of Parma at Knodsenberg in 1591 a new confidence in the army took shape. English troops by this time composed nearly half of the Dutch army. The reconquest continued with Hulst, Nijmegen, Geertruidenberg, Steenwijk, and Coevorden all being taken within the next two years. In 1593 a Spanish attempt led by Francisco Verdugo to recapture Coevorden ended in failure when the Anglo-Dutch under Maurice and Vere relieved the place during the spring of 1594. Finally, the capture of Groningen in the summer of 1594 resulted in the Spanish army being forced out of the northern provinces which led to the complete restoration of the seven provinces.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: After these successes, Elizabeth could view the high confidence in the army and renewed the treaty with the States in 1595. English troops having been given high praise by the Dutch were kept at around 4,000 men. They were to be paid for by the States and the Queen would also be repaid on the Crown's expenses in instalments until a conclusion of peace was made.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: In 1595, Maurice's campaign was resumed to retake the cities of the Twente region from the Spanish. This was delayed after Huy was besieged in March but Maurice was unable to prevent its fall. When Maurice did go on the offensive an attempt to take Grol in July ended in failure when a Spanish force under 90-year-old veteran Cristóbal de Mondragón relieved the city. Maurice then tried to make an attempt on the city of Rheinberg in September but Mondragon defeated this move at the Battle of the Lippe. Maurice was then forced to cancel further planned offensives as the bulk of his English and Scots troops were withdrawn to take part in the attack on Cadiz. Under their new commander, the Archduke of Austria, the Spanish took advantage of this lull and recaptured Hulst the following year which led to a prolonged stalemate in the campaign and delayed the reconquest.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: By 1597, Spanish bankruptcy and the war in France gave the Anglo-Dutch an advantage. At the Battle of Turnhout a Spanish force was surprised and routed; Vere and the Earl of Leicester particularly distinguished themselves. With the Spanish distracted by the siege of Amiens in France, Maurice launched an offensive in the summer. This time both Rhienberg and Greonlo were taken by the Dutch. This was followed by the capture of Bredevoort, Enschede, Ootsmarsum, Oldenzaal, and finally Lingen by the end of the year. The offensive's success meant that most of the seven northern provinces of the Netherlands had been recaptured by the Dutch Republic and a significant barrier had been created along the Rhine river.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: In November, 1588, Philip II ordered the construction of 21 new galleons, all of them large. 12 of them were built in Cantabrian ports and stood out due to their number and the names they received; they were known as "The twelve apostles". In addition, 6 were made in Portugal, 2 in Gibraltar and 1 in Vinaroz; all of them entered service in a very short space of time. Philip then established a naval base in Brittany which threatened England and allowed for a sophisticated convoy system and improved intelligence network which frustrated English naval attempts on the Spanish treasure fleet during the 1590s. This was best demonstrated by the repulse of the squadron that was led by Effingham in 1591 near the Azores, who had intended to ambush the treasure fleet. It was in this battle that the Spanish captured the English flagship, the "Revenge", after a stubborn resistance by its captain, Sir Richard Grenville. Throughout the 1590s, enormous convoy escorts enabled the Spanish to ship three times as much silver as in the previous decade.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: English merchant privateers or corsairs known as Elizabeth's "Sea Dogs" enjoyed more qualified success, however. In the three years after the Spanish Armada was defeated, more than 300 prizes were taken from the Spanish with a declared total value of well over £400,000. English courtiers provided money for their own expeditions as well as others, and even Elizabeth herself would make investments. The Earl of Cumberland made a number of expeditions and a few did yield profithis first being the Azores Voyage in 1589. Others failed however due to bad weather and his 1591 voyage ended in defeat with Spanish galleys off Berlengas. Cumberland with Sir Walter Raleigh and Martin Frobisher combined financial strength and force that led to the most successful English naval expedition of the war. Off Flores island in 1592, the English fleet captured a large Portuguese carrack, the "Madre de Deus", and outwitted a Spanish fleet led by Alonso de Bazán. The expedition's reward equalled nearly half the size of the Kingdom of England's royal annual revenue and yielded Elizabeth a 20-fold return on her investment. These riches gave the English an excited enthusiasm to engage in this opulent commerce. Raleigh himself in 1595 went on an expedition to explore the Orinoco river in an attempt to find the mythical city of El Dorado; in the process the English plundered the Spanish settlement of Trinidad. Raleigh would, however, exaggerate the wealth found there upon his return to England. Supporting Raleigh with his expedition was another led by Amyas Preston and George Somers known as the Preston Somers expedition to South America, notable for a daring overland assault that saw the capture of Caracas.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Many of the expeditions were financed by famed London merchants, the most notable of these being John Watts. An expedition Watts financed to Portuguese Brazil led by James Lancaster saw the capture and plunder of Recife and Olindawhich was highly profitable for both. In response to English privateering against their merchantmen, the Spanish monarchy struck back with the "Dunkirkers" devastating English shipping and fishing in the largely undefended seas around England.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: By far the most successful English privateer was Christopher Newport who was backed financially by Watts. Newport set out in 1590 to raid the Spanish West Indies and in the ensuing fight saw the defeat of an armed Spanish convoy but Newport lost his right arm in the process. Despite this Newport continued the venturesthe blockade of Western Cuba in 1591 was the most successful English privateering venture made during the war. Both Drake and Hawkins died of disease on the later 1595–96 expedition against Puerto Rico, Panama, and other targets in the Spanish Main, a severe setback in which the English suffered heavy losses in soldiers and ships despite a number of minor military victories.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: In August 1595, a Spanish naval force from Brittany led by Carlos de Amésquita landed in Cornwall, raiding and burning Penzance and several nearby villages.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: During the summer of 1596, an Anglo-Dutch expedition under Elizabeth's young favourite, the Earl of Essex, sacked Cádiz, causing significant loss to the Spanish fleet, leaving the city in ruins and delaying a projected descent on England. The allies were unable to capture the treasure, as the Spanish commander had time in order to torch the treasure ships in port, sending the treasure to the bottom of the harbour, from where it was later recovered. Despite its failure to capture the treasure fleet, the sack of Cádiz was celebrated as a national triumph comparable to the victory over the Spanish Armada, and for a time Essex's prestige rivalled Elizabeth's own.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Instead of controlling and taxing its subjects, the English crown competed with them for private profit; it failed to succeed at this, as the great naval expeditions were on the whole unprofitable. The last of the great English naval expeditions took place in 1597, led by the Earl of Essex known as the Islands Voyage. The objective was to destroy the Spanish fleet and intercept a treasure fleet in the Azores. Neither was achieved and the expedition ended in costly failure, and Essex on his return was scolded by the Queen for not protecting the English coast.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: While the war became a great drain on the English treasury, it proved to be profitable for a number of English privateers. In its final years, English privateering continued despite the strengthening of Spanish navy convoys – Cumberland's last expedition in 1598 to the Caribbean led to the capture of San Juan, and had succeeded where Drake had failed. Newport struck at Tobasco in 1599 while William Parker successfully raided Portobello in 1601. In 1603 Christopher Cleeve struck at Santiago de Cuba and in the last raid of the war Newport plundered Puerto Caballos. Finally, just days before the signing of the peace treaty in August 1604, future admiral Antonio de Oquendo defeated and captured an English privateer in the Gulf of Cádiz .


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: By the end of the war, English privateering had devastated the Spanish private merchant marine. The most famous pirates lauded by English literature and propaganda tended to attack fishing vessels or boats of small value to the Spanish crown. Spanish prizes though were taken at an attritional rate; nearly 1,000 were captured by the war's end, and there was on average a declared value of approximately £100,000-£200,000 for every year of the war.<ref name ="Hornsby/Hermann17">Hornsby & Hermann p. 17</ref> In addition, for every Spanish prize brought back, another was either burned or scuttled, and the presence of so many English corsairs deterred some Spanish merchantmen from putting to sea. This resulted in much Spanish and Portuguese commerce being carried on Dutch and English ships, which in itself created competition. Nevertheless, throughout the war Spain's important treasure fleets were kept safe by their convoy system.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: In 1598, the Spanish under Francisco Mendoza retook Rheinberg and Meurs in a campaign known as the "Spanish winter of 1598-99". Mendoza then attempted to take Bommelerwaard island but the Dutch and English under Maurice thwarted the attempt and defeated him at Zaltbommel. Mendoza retreated from the area and the defeat resulted in chaos in the Spanish armymutinies took place and many deserted. The following year the Dutch senate led by Johan van Oldenbarneveldt saw the chaos in the Spanish army and decided the time was ripe for a focal point of the war to be concentrated in Catholic Flanders. Despite a bitter dispute between Maurice and van Oldenbarneveldt, the Dutch and a sizeable contingent of the English Army under Francis Vere reluctantly agreed. They used Ostend (still in Dutch hands) as a base to invade Flanders. Their aim was to conquer the privateer stronghold city of Dunkirk. In 1600 they advanced toward Dunkirk and in a pitched battle the Anglo-Dutch inflicted a rare defeat on the tercio-led Spanish army at the Battle of Nieuwpoort in which the English played a major part. Dunkirk was never attempted however as disputes in the Dutch command meant that taking Spanish-occupied cities in the rest of the Republic took priority. Maurice's force thus withdrew leaving Vere to command Ostend in the face of an imminent Spanish siege.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: With the siege of Ostend underway, Maurice then went on the offensive on the Rhine frontier in the summer of 1600. Rheinberg and Meurs were thus retaken from the Spanish yet again, although an attempt on s'Hertogenbosch failed during the winter months. At Ostend in January 1602 after being reinforced, Vere faced a huge Spanish frontal assault organised by the Archduke Albert and in bitter fighting this was repelled with heavy losses. Vere left the city soon after and joined Maurice in the field, while Albert, who drew much criticism from army commanders for his tactics, was replaced by the talented Ambrogio Spinola. The siege dragged on for another two years as the Spanish attempted to take Ostend's strongpoints in a costly war of attrition. Around the same time Maurice continued his campaign, Grave was retaken but Vere was severely wounded during the siege. An attempt by the Dutch and English to relieve Ostend took place in mid-1604 but the inland of port of Sluis was besieged and captured instead. Soon after the Ostend garrison finally surrendered, after a siege of nearly four years and costing thousands of lives – for the Spanish, it was a pyrrhic victory.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Normandy added a new front in the war and the threat of another invasion attempt across the channel. In 1590, the Spanish landed a considerable force in Brittany to assist the French Catholic League, expelling the English and Huguenot forces from much of the area. Henry IV's conversion to Catholicism in 1593 won him widespread French support for his claim to the throne, particularly in Paris (where he was crowned the following year), a city that he had unsuccessfully besieged in 1590. In 1594 Anglo-French forces were able to end Spanish hopes of using the large port of Brest as a launching point for an invasion of England by capturing Fort Crozon.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The French Wars of Religion turned increasingly against the hardliners of the French Catholic League. With the signing of the Triple Alliance in 1596 between France, England, and the Dutch, Elizabeth sent a further 2,000 troops to France after the Spanish took Calais. In September 1597 Anglo-French forces under Henry retook Amiens, just six months after the Spanish took the city, bringing to a halt a string of Spanish victories. In fact, the first tentative talks on peace between the French and Spanish crowns had already begun before the battle and the League hardliners were already losing popular support throughout France to a resurgent Henry after his conversion to Roman Catholicism which was bolstered by his military successes. In addition, Spanish finances were at breaking point because of fighting wars in France, the Netherlands, and against England. Therefore, a deeply ill Philip decided to end his support for the League and to finally recognize the legitimacy of Henry's accession to the French throne. Without Spanish support, the last League hardliners were quickly defeated. In May 1598, the two kings signed the Peace of Vervins ending the last of the religious civil wars and the Spanish intervention with it.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: In 1594, the Nine Years' War in Ireland had begun, when Ulster lords Hugh O'Neill and Red Hugh O'Donnell rose up against English rule with fitful Spanish support, mirroring the English support of the Dutch rebellion. While English forces were containing the rebels in Ireland at great cost in men, general suffering, and finance, the Spanish attempted two further armadas, in 1596 and 1597: the first was shattered in a storm off northern Spain, and the second was frustrated by adverse weather as it approached the English coast. Philip II died in 1598, and his successor Philip III continued the war but with less enthusiasm.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: At the end of 1601, the Spanish sent a final armada north, this time a limited expedition intended to land troops in Ireland to assist the rebels. Only half the fleet arrived because of a storm that scattered it and that which did arrive landed far from Irish rebel forces. The Spanish entered the town of Kinsale with 3,000 troops and were immediately besieged by the English. In time, their Irish allies arrived to surround the besieging force but the lack of communication with the rebels led to an English victory at the Battle of Kinsale. The besieged Spanish accepted the proposed terms of surrender and returned home, while the Irish rebels hung on, surrendering in 1603, just after Elizabeth died.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The new king of England, James I, was the Protestant son and successor to the Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots, whose execution had been a proximate cause of the war. James regarded himself as the peacemaker of Europe, and the ultimate aim of his idealistic foreign policy was the reunion of Christendom. Therefore, when James came to the English throne, his first order of business was to negotiate a peace with Philip III.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: With the end of the war in France, Philip III sought peace with England as well. By 1598 the war had become long and costly for Spain. England and Dutch Republic too were war-weary and both sides felt the need for peace. However, in peace negotiations at Boulogne in 1600, Spanish demands were adamantly rejected by the English and Dutch. Nevertheless, diplomatic routes remained open between the Archduke of Austria and his wife Infanta Isabella (Philip's sister) who differed in their policies to Philip's. Philip wanted to preserve the hegemony of the Spanish empire, whilst the Archduke and Isabella sought peace and friendly relations.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: Soon after victory in Ireland the following year, the English navy under Richard Leveson conducted a blockade of Spain, the first of its kind. Off Portugal, they sailed into Sesimbra bay where a fleet of eight Spanish galleys under Federico Spinola (brother of Ambrogio) and Álvaro de Bazán were present. Spinola had already established his base at Sluis in Flanders and was gathering more with an intent on a potential strike against England. In June 1602 Leveson defeated the Spanish which resulted in two galleys sunk and the capture of a rich Portuguese carrack. Months later in the English channel Spinola's fleet gathered more galleys and sailed through the English channel once more but was defeated again by an Anglo-Dutch naval squadron off the Dover straits. Spinola's remaining galleys eventually reached Sluis. The result of this action forced the Spanish to cease further naval operations against England for the remainder of the war. After the death of Elizabeth I, however, Spain's priority was no longer an invasion of England, but the fall of Ostend.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The treaty restored the status quo ante bellum; the terms were favourable both to Spain and England. For Spain the treaty secured her position as a leading power in the world. Spain's upgrading of the convoy system had allowed it to defend its treasure fleets and retain its New World colonies. English support for the Dutch rebellion against the Spanish king, the original cause of the war, ceased. The Spanish could then concentrate their efforts on the Dutch, in the hopes of bringing them to their knees. A complete abandonment of the Dutch cause, however, was not promised in the treaty. The English-held cautionary towns in Holland on the other hand were not surrendered despite Spanish demands. The sieges of Ostend and Sluis were allowed to continue until the end of those respective campaigns. The Dutch by 1607 had in fact prevailed; the Spanish did not deliver their knock out blow they had hoped for and the Twelve Years' Truce effectively recognized the independence of the Republic.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: For England the treaty was a diplomatic triumph as well as an economic necessity. At the same time, the treaty was highly unpopular with the English public, many of whom considered it a humiliating peace. Many felt that James had abandoned England's ally, the Netherlands, in order to appease the Spanish crown and this damaged James's popularity. The treaty, however, made sure the Protestant reformation there had been protected, and James and his ministers refused the Spanish demand for Catholic toleration in England. After the defeat at Kinsale in 1602, the Treaty of Mellifont was concluded the following year between James I and the Irish rebels. In the subsequent London treaty Spain pledged not to support the rebels.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The treaty was well received in Spain. Large public celebrations were held at Valladolid, the Spanish capital, where the treaty was ratified in June 1605, in the presence of a large English ambassadorial delegation led by Lord Admiral Charles Howard. Nevertheless, some members of the Catholic clergy criticized Philip III's willingness to sign a treaty with a "heretical power".


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The provisions of the treaty authorised merchants and warships of both nations to operate from each other's respective ports. English trade with the Spanish Netherlands (notably the city of Antwerp) and the Iberian peninsula was resumed. Spanish warships and privateers were able to use English ports as naval bases to attack Dutch shipping or to ferry troops to Flanders.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: The war had diverted Tudor colonial efforts, but the English who had invested in privateering expeditions during the war garnered enormous windfall profits, leaving them well placed to finance new ventures. As a result, the London Company was able to establish a settlement in Virginia in 1607. The establishment of the East India Company in 1600 was significant for the growth of England (and later Great Britain) as a colonial power. A factory was established at Banten, Java, in 1603 while the Company had successfully and profitably breached the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly. While the incipient illegal trade with the Spanish colonies was brought to an end, there was deadlock over English demands for the right to trade in the East and West Indies, which Spain adamantly opposed. Eventually the complications resulted in the treaty avoiding any mention of the matter.


title: Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604)

text: For Spain there was hope that England would eventually secure tolerance for Catholics but the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 destroyed any possibility of this. The resulting anti-Catholic backlash following the discovery of the plot put to rest Protestant fears that a peace with Spain would ultimately mean an invasion by Jesuits and Catholic sympathisers, as the Elizabethan recusancy laws were rigidly enforced by Parliament.


title: The Best FIFA Football Awards

text: The Best FIFA Football Awards is an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA.


title: The Best FIFA Football Awards

text: The first awarding ceremony was held on 9 January 2017 in Zürich, Switzerland. The award is aimed at reviving the FIFA World Player Gala.


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: Antony Von Williams, known professionally as the World Famous Tony Williams, is an American singer and songwriter from Oklahoma City. Williams is perhaps best known for his vocals on his first cousin Kanye West's debut album, "The College Dropout" (2004) as well as his subsequent albums. He is currently managed by David Bullock.


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: Williams grew up an only child in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Both his mother and father had musical backgrounds, and Williams was given his first instrument, a saxophone, at the age of eight. He grew up singing in youth choirs at church and played in the marching band through his tenth grade year of high school. Williams love for music continued throughout his early adulthood as he went on to form several bands that ranged in style from funk, rock, alternative, and Christian alternative, and took on the role as lead vocalist.


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: Williams' name appears on Kanye West's albums as Tony "Penafire" Williams which is the pseudonym he uses when crediting himself as a writer. He was a co-writer of two songs on "The College Dropout", the Grammy Award winning 2004 album, following which Williams was invited to write for all of West's subsequent albums.


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: On the 2005 MTV documentary, "Composing History" "The Making of Late Registration", he was featured producing vocals for Brandy on the song "Bring Me Down", which he co-wrote. During that documentary, West described Williams as being "a great writer with a cutting edge voice."


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: Tony Williams first became noticed as a singer when he debuted on Kanye West's Grammy winning album "The College Dropout", singing a version of the gospel hymn "I'll Fly Away". By the second album, "Late Registration", Kanye was giving Williams shout outs on the song, "We Major" which gave rise to the line Kanye fans use in reference to Williams, "I gotta say what's up to Tony Williams". On that same album Tony wrote the hook for the song, "Roses", which featured him singing with Patti LaBelle. This album not only promoted Tony Williams name, but for the first time fans were able to match his voice and name with a face. He was featured on the song and the video for "Drive Slow". Later, he was seen singing with Kanye when West was featured on the MTV television series, "Life and Rhymes of Kanye West".


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: By the time Kanye went on the "Touch the Sky" Tour, Williams was known as the background singer that always accompanied West, including on several world tours.


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: Williams is one of a few performers who have performed at two different Inaugural Balls; the Neighborhood Ball where he performed with Jay-Z on the song, "History", and the Youth Ball where he performed with Kanye West. His voice is recognized on some popular Hip Hop songs, having performed with, for example, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Nas, Game, and Rick Ross.


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: In March 2010, Williams released his first mainstream project in the form of a mixtape, "The World Famous Tony Williams: Finding Dakota Grey" which was released with the GOOD Music stamp. This project was a collection of original music, covers, and remixes, including the "Dreaming of your love remix" with the French rapper Matt Moerdock.


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: In October 2010, Williams released his first single "Everything About You" from his debut studio album, "King or the Fool", which was released on February 14, 2012.


title: The World Famous Tony Williams

text: The first time Williams experienced artistic autonomy was in 2007 when he made an appearance on Kanye's "Can't Tell Me Nothing" mixtape, singing a song he had written and that was produced by Kanye, "Dreaming of Your Love". This legitimized him as a featured artist. It was at that time that Williams added "The World Famous" to his name to differentiate himself from the famous drummer with the same name, and because in the vocal sample of the song "Dreaming of Your Love" the intro says, "You're listening to the world famous". Williams has had songs played on Brazilian airwaves, where he sang some of the vocals in Portuguese, and some musical chart success in France.


title: Ram Manohar Lohia

text: Ram Manohar Lohia ; (23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an activist in the Indian independence movement and a socialist political leader. During the last phase of British rule in India, he worked with the Congress Radio which was broadcast secretly from various places in Bombay until 1942.


title: Ram Manohar Lohia

text: Ram Manohar Lohia was born on 23 March 1910 at Akbarpur, modern-day Uttar Pradesh in a Bania family. His mother died in 1912, when he was just two years old, and he was later brought up by his father Hiralal who never remarried.There was a lady who belonged to the Barber community, who brought him up in his early life. She was his family servant. In 1918 he accompanied his father to Bombay where he completed his high school education. He attended the Banaras Hindu University to complete his intermediate and work after standing first in his school's matriculation examinations in 1927. He then joined the Vidyasagar College, under the University of Calcutta and in 1929, earned his B.A. degree. He decided to attend Frederick William University (today's Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany), choosing it over the educational institutes in Britain, to convey his dim view of British philosophy. He soon learnt German and received financial assistance based on his outstanding academic performance, studying national economy as his major subject as a doctoral student from 1929 to 1933.


title: Ram Manohar Lohia

text: Lohia wrote his Ph.D. thesis paper on the topic of "Salt Taxation in India", focusing on Gandhi's socio-economic theory.


title: Ram Manohar Lohia

text: Lohia was one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party and editor of its mouthpiece "Congress Socialist". In 1936, he was selected by Jawaharlal Nehru as the secretary of the Foreign Department of the All India Congress Committee (A.I.C.C), the highest body of the Congress Party. By the time he quit that responsibility in 1938, Lohia started to develop his own political standpoint by critically examining positions held by the Gandhian leadership of the Congress and the Communists who had poured into the CSP. In June 1940, he was arrested and sentenced to a jail term of two years for delivering anti-war speeches. Already released by the end of 1941, Lohia became one of the leading figures of the Central Directorate which clandestinely tried to organise the Quit India revolt, sparked by Gandhi in August 1942. Captured in May 1944, he was incarcerated and tortured in Lahore Fort. As one of the last high security prisoners, Lohia, together with Jayaprakash Narayan, was finally released on 11 April 1946. He was the one who gave the idea of sapta kranti.


title: Ram Manohar Lohia

text: As a member of the Congress Socialist Party Lohia joined with that party when it left Congress. He remained a member of the Socialist Party when it fused in 1952 with the Kisan Majdoor Praja Party to form the Praja Socialist Party. Unhappy with the new party Lohia led a split from it to reform the Socialist Party (Lohia) in 1956. He lost to Nehru in 1962 general election in Phulpur. In 1963 Lohia became a member of the Lok Sabha after a by-election in Farrukhabad (Lok Sabha constituency) and in 1965 merged the Socialist Party (Lohia) into the ranks of the Samyukta Socialist Party. The two socialist factions merged, split and re-merged several times. In 1967, Lohia played an instrumental role in formation of the first non-Congress government in Uttar Pradesh. This alliance was formed by Lohia and Bharatiya Jan Sangh leader Nanaji Deshmukh He won Lok Sabha general election of 1967 from Kannauj (Lok Sabha constituency), but died a few months later.


title: History of North Korea

text: The history of North Korea began at the end of World War II in 1945. The surrender of Japan led to the division of Korea at the 38th parallel, with the Soviet Union occupying the north, and the United States occupying the south. The Soviet Union and the United States failed to agree on a way to unify the country, and in 1948, they established two separate governments – the Soviet-aligned Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the American-aligned Republic of Korea – each claiming to be the legitimate government of all of Korea.


title: History of North Korea

text: In 1950, the Korean War broke out. After much destruction, the war ended with a stalemate. The division at the 38th parallel was replaced by the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Tension between the two sides continued. Out of the rubble North Korea built an industrialized command economy.


title: History of North Korea

text: Kim Il-sung led North Korea until his death in 1994. He developed a pervasive personality cult and steered the country on an independent course in accordance with the principle of "Juche" (self-reliance). However, with natural disasters and the collapse of the Soviet Bloc in 1991, North Korea went into a severe economic crisis. Kim Il-sung's son, Kim Jong-il, succeeded him, and was in turn succeeded by his grandson, Kim Jong-un.


title: History of North Korea

text: From 1910 to the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was under Japanese rule. Most Koreans were peasants engaged in subsistence farming. In the 1930s, Japan developed mines, hydro-electric dams, steel mills, and manufacturing plants in northern Korea and neighboring Manchuria. The Korean industrial working class expanded rapidly, and many Koreans went to work in Manchuria. As a result, 65% of Korea's heavy industry was located in the north, but, due to the rugged terrain, only 37% of its agriculture.


title: History of North Korea

text: Northern Korea had little exposure to modern, Western ideas. One partial exception was the penetration of religion. Since the arrival of missionaries in the late nineteenth century, the northwest of Korea, and Pyongyang in particular, had been a stronghold of Christianity. As a result, Pyongyang was called the "Jerusalem of the East".


title: History of North Korea

text: A Korean guerrilla movement emerged in the mountainous interior and in Manchuria, harassing the Japanese imperial authorities. One of the most prominent guerrilla leaders was the Communist Kim Il-sung.


title: History of North Korea

text: At the Tehran Conference in November 1943 and the Yalta Conference in February 1945, the Soviet Union promised to join its allies in the Pacific War within three months of victory in Europe. On 8 August 1945, after three months to the day, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Soviet troops advanced rapidly, and the US government became anxious that they would occupy the whole of Korea. On 10 August, the US government decided to propose the 38th parallel as the dividing line between a Soviet occupation zone in the north and a US occupation zone in the south. The parallel was chosen as it would place the capital Seoul under American control. To the surprise of the Americans, the Soviet Union immediately accepted the division. The agreement was incorporated into General Order No. 1 (approved on 17 August 1945) for the surrender of Japan. The division placed sixteen million Koreans in the American zone and nine million in the Soviet zone.


title: History of North Korea

text: Soviet forces began amphibious landings in Korea by 14 August and rapidly took over the northeast, and on 16 August they landed at Wonsan. On 24 August, the Red Army reached Pyongyang. US forces did not arrive in the south until 8 September.


title: History of North Korea

text: During August, People's Committees sprang up across Korea, affiliated with the Committee for the Preparation of Korean Independence, which in September founded the People's Republic of Korea. When Soviet troops entered Pyongyang, they found a local People's Committee established there, led by veteran Christian nationalist Cho Man-sik. Unlike their American counterparts, the Soviet authorities recognized and worked with the People's Committees. By some accounts, Cho Man-sik was the Soviet government's first choice to lead North Korea.


title: History of North Korea

text: On 19 September, Kim Il-sung and 66 other Korean Red Army officers arrived in Wonsan. They had fought the Japanese in Manchuria in the 1930s but had lived in the USSR and trained in the Red Army since 1941. On 14 October, Soviet authorities introduced Kim to the North Korean public as a guerrilla hero.


title: History of North Korea

text: In December 1945, at the Moscow Conference, the Soviet Union agreed to a US proposal for a trusteeship over Korea for up to five years in the lead-up to independence. Most Koreans demanded independence immediately, but Kim and the other Communists supported the trusteeship under pressure from the Soviet government. Cho Man-sik opposed the proposal at a public meeting on 4 January 1946, and disappeared into house arrest. On 8 February 1946, the People's Committees were reorganized as Interim People's Committees dominated by Communists. The new regime instituted popular policies of land redistribution, industry nationalization, labor law reform, and equality for women.


title: History of North Korea

text: Meanwhile, existing Communist groups were reconstituted as a party under Kim Il-sung's leadership. On 18 December 1945, local Communist Party committees were combined into the North Korean Communist Party. In August 1946, this party merged with the New People's Party to form the Workers' Party of North Korea. In December, a popular front led by the Workers' Party dominated elections in the North. In 1949, the Workers' Party of North Korea merged with its southern counterpart to become the Workers' Party of Korea with Kim as party chairman.


title: History of North Korea

text: In 1946, a sweeping series of laws transformed North Korea on Soviet-style Communist lines. The "land to the tiller" reform redistributed the bulk of agricultural land to the poor and landless peasant population, effectively breaking the power of the landed class. This was followed by a "Labor Law", a "Sexual Equality Law", and a "Nationalisation of Industry, Transport, Communications and Banks Law".


title: History of North Korea

text: Kim established the Korean People's Army (KPA) aligned with the Communists, formed from a cadre of guerrillas and former soldiers who had gained combat experience in battles against the Japanese and later Nationalist Chinese troops. From their ranks, using Soviet advisers and equipment, Kim constructed a large army skilled in infiltration tactics and guerrilla warfare. Before the outbreak of the Korean War, Joseph Stalin equipped the KPA with modern medium tanks, trucks, artillery, and small arms. Kim also formed an air force, equipped at first with ex-Soviet propeller-driven fighter and attack aircraft. Later, North Korean pilot candidates were sent to the Soviet Union and China to train in MiG-15 jet aircraft at secret bases.


title: History of North Korea

text: As negotiations with the Soviet Union on the future of Korea failed to make progress, the US took the issue to the United Nations in September 1947. In response, the UN established the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea to hold elections in Korea. The Soviet Union opposed this move. In the absence of Soviet cooperation, it was decided to hold UN-supervised elections in the south only. In April 1948, a conference of organizations from the North and the South met in Pyongyang, but the conference produced no results. The southern politicians Kim Koo and Kim Kyu-sik attended the conference and boycotted the elections in the South. Both men were posthumously awarded the National Reunification Prize by North Korea. The elections were held in South Korea on 10 May 1948. On 15 August, the Republic of Korea formally came into existence. A parallel process occurred in North Korea. A new Supreme People's Assembly was elected in August 1948, and on 3 September a new constitution was promulgated. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was proclaimed on 9 September, with Kim as Premier. On 12 December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly accepted the report of UNTCOK and declared the Republic of Korea to be the "only lawful government in Korea".


title: History of North Korea

text: By 1949, North Korea was a full-fledged Communist state. All parties and mass organizations joined the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, ostensibly a popular front but in reality dominated by the Communists. The government moved rapidly to establish a political system that was partly styled on the Soviet system, with political power monopolised by the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).


title: History of North Korea

text: The consolidation of Syngman Rhee's government in the South with American military support and the suppression of the October 1948 insurrection ended North Korean hopes that a revolution in the South could reunify Korea, and from early 1949 Kim Il-sung sought Soviet and Chinese support for a military campaign to reunify the country by force. The withdrawal of most U.S. forces from South Korea in June 1949 left the southern government defended only by a weak and inexperienced South Korean army. The southern régime also had to deal with a citizenry of uncertain loyalty. The North Korean army, by contrast, had benefited from the Soviet Union's WWII-era equipment, and had a core of hardened veterans who had fought either as anti-Japanese guerrillas or alongside the Chinese Communists. In 1949 and 1950, Kim traveled to Moscow with the South Korean Communist leader Pak Hon-yong to raise support for a war of reunification.


title: History of North Korea

text: Initially Joseph Stalin rejected Kim Il-sung's requests for permission to invade the South, but in late 1949 the Communist victory in China and the development of Soviet nuclear weapons made him re-consider Kim's proposal. In January 1950, after China's Mao Zedong indicated that the People's Republic of China would send troops and other support to Kim, Stalin approved an invasion. The Soviets provided limited support in the form of advisers who helped the North Koreans as they planned the operation, and Soviet military instructors to train some of the Korean units. However, from the very beginning Stalin made it clear that the Soviet Union would avoid a direct confrontation with the U.S. over Korea and would not commit ground forces even in case of major military crisis. The stage was set for a civil war between the two rival régimes on the Korean peninsula.


title: History of North Korea

text: For over a year before the outbreak of war, the two sides had engaged in a series of bloody clashes along the 38th parallel, especially in the Ongjin area on the west coast. On 25 June 1950, claiming to be responding to a South Korean assault on Ongjin, the Northern forces launched an amphibious offensive all along the parallel. Due to a combination of surprise and military superiority, the Northern forces quickly captured the capital Seoul, forcing Syngman Rhee and his government to flee. By mid-July North Korean troops had overwhelmed the South Korean and allied American units and forced them back to a defensive line in south-east South Korea known as the Pusan Perimeter. During its brief occupation of southern Korea, the DPRK regime initiated radical social change, which included the nationalisation of industry, land reform, and the restoration of the People's Committees. According to the captured US General William F. Dean, "the civilian attitude seemed to vary between enthusiasm and passive acceptance".


title: History of North Korea

text: The United Nations condemned North Korea's actions and approved an American-led intervention force to defend South Korea. In September, UN forces landed at Inchon and retook Seoul. Under the leadership of US General Douglas MacArthur, UN forces pushed north, reaching the Chinese border. According to Bruce Cumings, the North Korean forces were not routed, but managed a strategic retreat into the mountainous interior and into neighboring Manchuria. Kim Il-sung's government re-established itself in a stronghold in Chagang Province. In late November, Chinese forces entered the war and pushed the UN forces back, retaking Pyongyang in December 1950 and Seoul in January 1951. According to American historian Bruce Cumings, the Korean People's Army played an equal part in this counterattack. UN forces managed to retake Seoul for South Korea. The war essentially became a bloody stalemate for the next two years. American bombing included the use of napalm against populated areas and the destruction of dams and dykes, which caused devastating floods. China and North Korea also alleged the US was deploying biological weapons. As a result of the bombing, almost every substantial building and much of the infrastructure in North Korea was destroyed. The North Koreans responded by building homes, schools, hospitals, and factories underground. Economic output in 1953 had fallen by 75-90% compared with 1949.


title: History of North Korea

text: While the bombing continued, armistice negotiations, which had commenced in July 1951, wore on. North Korea's lead negotiator was General Nam Il. The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on 27 July 1953. A ceasefire followed, but there was no peace treaty, and hostilities continued at a lower intensity.


title: History of North Korea

text: Kim began gradually consolidating his power. Up to this time, North Korean politics were represented by four factions: the Yan'an faction, made up of returnees from China; the "Soviet Koreans" who were ethnic Koreans from the USSR; native Korean communists led by Pak Hon-yong; and Kim's Kapsan group who had fought guerrilla actions against Japan in the 1930s.


title: History of North Korea

text: When the Workers' Party Central Committee plenum opened on 30 August 1953, Choe Chang-ik made a speech attacking Kim for concentrating the power of the party and the state in his own hands as well as criticising the party line on industrialisation which ignored widespread starvation among the North Korean people. However, Kim neutralised the attack on him by promising to moderate the regime, promises which were never kept. The majority in the Central Committee voted to support Kim and also voted in favor of expelling Choe and Pak Hon-yong from the Central Committee. Eleven of Kim's opponents were convicted in a show trial. It is believed that all were executed. A major purge of the KWP followed, with members originating from South Korea being expelled.


title: History of North Korea

text: Pak Hon-yong, party vice chairman and Foreign Minister of the DPRK, was blamed for the failure of the southern population to support North Korea during the war, was dismissed from his positions in 1953, and was executed after a show trial in 1955.


title: History of North Korea

text: The Party Congress in 1956 indicated the transformation that the party had undergone. Most members of other factions had lost their positions of influence. More than half the delegates had joined after 1950, most were under 40 years old, and most had limited formal education.


title: History of North Korea

text: In February 1956, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev made a sweeping denunciation of Stalin, which sent shock waves throughout the Communist world. Encouraged by this, members of the party leadership in North Korea began to criticize Kim's dictatorial leadership, personality cult, and Stalinist economic policies. Kim consequently purged them in the August Faction Incident. By 1960, 70 per cent of the members of the 1956 Central Committee were no longer in politics.


title: History of North Korea

text: Kim Il-sung had initially been criticized by the Soviets during a previous 1955 visit to Moscow for practicing Stalinism and a cult of personality, which was already growing enormous. The Korean ambassador to the USSR, Li Sangjo, a member of the Yan'an faction, reported that it had become a criminal offense to so much as write on Kim's picture in a newspaper and that he had been elevated to the status of Marx, Lenin, Mao, and Stalin in the communist pantheon. He also charged Kim with rewriting history to appear as if his guerrilla faction had single-handedly liberated Korea from the Japanese, completely ignoring the assistance of the Chinese People's Volunteers. In addition, Li stated that in the process of agricultural collectivization, grain was being forcibly confiscated from the peasants, leading to "at least 300 suicides" and that Kim made nearly all major policy decisions and appointments himself. Li reported that over 30,000 people were in prison for completely unjust and arbitrary reasons as trivial as not printing Kim Il-sung's portrait on sufficient quality paper or using newspapers with his picture to wrap parcels. Grain confiscation and tax collection were also conducted forcibly with violence, beatings, and imprisonment.


title: History of North Korea

text: In late 1968, known military opponents of North Korea's "Juche" (or self-reliance) ideology such as Kim Chang-bong (minister of National Security), Huh Bong-hak (chief of the Division for Southern Intelligence) and Lee Young-ho (commander in chief of the DPRK Navy) were purged as anti-party/counter-revolutionary elements, despite their credentials as anti-Japanese guerrilla fighters in the past.


title: History of North Korea

text: Kim's personality cult was modeled on Stalinism and his regime originally acknowledged Stalin as the supreme leader. After Stalin's death in 1953, however, Kim was described as the "Great Leader" or "Suryong". As his personality cult grew, the doctrine of "Juche" began to displace Marxism–Leninism. At the same time the cult extended beyond Kim himself to include his family in a revolutionary blood line.


title: History of North Korea

text: In 1972, to celebrate Kim Il-sung's birthday, the Mansu Hill Grand Monument was unveiled, including a 22-meter bronze statue of him.


title: History of North Korea

text: Like Mao in China, Kim Il-sung refused to accept Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin and continued to model his regime on Stalinist norms. At the same time, he increasingly stressed Korean independence, as embodied in the concept of "Juche". Kim told Alexei Kosygin in 1965 that he was not anyone's puppet and "We... implement the purest Marxism and condemn as false both the Chinese admixtures and the errors of the CPSU".


title: History of North Korea

text: Relations with China had worsened during the war. Mao Zedong criticized Kim for having started the whole "idiotic war" and for being an incompetent military commander who should have been removed from power. PLA commander Peng Dehuai was equally contemptuous of Kim's skills at waging war.


title: History of North Korea

text: By some analysis, Kim Il-sung remained in power partially because the Soviets turned their attention to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 that fall. The Soviets and Chinese were unable to stop the inevitable purge of Kim's domestic opponents or his move towards a one-man Stalinist autocracy and relations with both countries deteriorated in the former's case because of the elimination of the pro-Soviet Koreans and the latter because of the regime's refusal to acknowledge Chinese assistance in either liberation from the Japanese or the war in 1950–1953.


title: History of North Korea

text: Tensions between North and South escalated in the late 1960s with a series of low-level armed clashes known as the Korean DMZ Conflict. In 1966, Kim declared "liberation of the south" to be a "national duty". In 1968, North Korean commandos launched the Blue House Raid, an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate the South Korean President Park Chung-hee. Shortly after, the US spy ship Pueblo was captured by the North Korean navy. The crew were held captive throughout the year despite American protests that the vessel was in international waters, and they were finally released in December after a formal US apology was issued. In April 1969 a North Korean fighter jet shot down an EC-121 aircraft, killing all 31 crewmen on board. The Nixon administration found itself unable to react at all, since the US was heavily committed in the Vietnam War and had no troops to spare if the situation in Korea escalated. However, the "Pueblo" capture and EC-121 shootdown did not find approval in Moscow, as the Soviet Union did not want a second major war to erupt in Asia. China's response to the USS "Pueblo" crisis is less clear.


title: History of North Korea

text: After Khrushchev was replaced by Leonid Brezhnev as Soviet Leader in 1964, and with the incentive of Soviet aid, North Korea strengthened its ties with the USSR. Kim condemned China's Cultural Revolution as "unbelievable idiocy". In turn, China's Red Guards labelled him a "fat revisionist".


title: History of North Korea

text: In 1972, the first formal summit meeting between Pyongyang and Seoul was held, but the cautious talks did not lead to a lasting change in the relationship.


title: History of North Korea

text: With the fall of South Vietnam to the North Vietnamese on 30 April 1975, Kim Il-sung felt that the US had shown its weakness and that reunification of Korea under his regime was possible. Kim visited Beijing in May 1975 in the hope of gaining political and military support for this plan to invade South Korea again, but Mao Zedong refused. Despite public proclamations of support, Mao privately told Kim that China would be unable to assist North Korea because of the lingering after-effects of the Cultural Revolution throughout China, and because Mao had recently decided to restore diplomatic relations with the US.


title: History of North Korea

text: Meanwhile, North Korea emphasized its independent orientation by joining the Non-Aligned Movement in 1975. It promoted "Juche" as a model for developing countries to follow. It developed strong ties with the regimes of Bokassa in the Central African Republic, Macias Nguema in Equatorial Guinea, Idi Amin in Uganda, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Gaddafi in Libya, and Ceausescu in Romania.


title: History of North Korea

text: Reconstruction of the country after the war proceeded with extensive Chinese and Soviet assistance. Koreans with experience in Japanese industries also played a significant part. Land was collectivized between 1953 and 1958. Many landlords had been eliminated by the earlier reforms or during the war.


title: History of North Korea

text: Recovery from the war was slowed by a massive famine in 1954–55. Local officials had exaggerated the size of the harvest by 50–70%. After the central government took its share, starvation threatened many peasants; about 800,000 died. In addition collectivization was resisted; many farmers killed their livestock rather than turn them over to the collective farm.


title: History of North Korea

text: Although developmental debates took place within the Workers' Party of Korea in the 1950s, North Korea, like all the postwar communist states, undertook massive state investment in heavy industry, state infrastructure and military strength, neglecting the production of consumer goods.


title: History of North Korea

text: The first Three Year Plan (1954–1956) introduced the concept of "Juche" or self-reliance. The first Five Year Plan (1957-1961) consolidated the collectivization of agriculture and initiated mass mobilizations campaigns: the Chollima Movement, the Chongsan-ni system in agriculture and the Taean Work System in industry. The Chollima Movement was influenced by China's Great Leap Forward, but did not have its disastrous results. Industry was fully nationalized by 1959. Taxation on agricultural income was abolished in 1966.


title: History of North Korea

text: North Korea was placed on a semi-war footing, with equal emphasis being given to the civilian and military economies. This was expressed in the 1962 Party Plenum by the slogan, "Arms in one hand and a hammer and sickle in the other!" At a special party conference in 1966, members of the leadership who opposed the military build-up were removed.