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Talk:God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)

Untitled
Wasn't there something about some of the charts having a black line as number one when this came out? -- Jim Regan 19:08, 22 May 2004 (UTC)

 * I suspect that would be chain stores like Woolworths and Boots blacking out the title. Certainly NME, in whose chart the single was listed as number one, published their chart "intact". It's possible that the NME chart was put up in stores having been doctored, I suppose. Bonalaw 12:10, 8 Jul 2004 (UTC)

I've removed this:

 * Fun Fact: "God Save the Queen" is the only song to appear on the top 100 list as two blacked out lines (one for the song, one for the band name).

As I've said before, NME published their chart intact, and I have since seen an actual copy of Record Mirror from the week after, and can confirm that it was printed normally there as well. Some record stores may have blacked it out when they put it on display, but unless a specific example can be given this "fact" is misleading. Besides, who was publishing a Top 100 in 1977 anyway? Bonalaw 16:05, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I seem to recall something from the golden jubilee a couple years ago - wasn't the band actually invited to perform this? Did they? It's a nice ironic postscript to put in, if I do recall this right... Radagast 12:01, Jun 3, 2005 (UTC)

 * Well they reformed in 2002, the Queen's Golden Jubilee, to tour (I think) and they were calling it their Silver Jubilee, even though it was really 26 years since they formed at the time.

It would be great to put in the covers for this and the subsequent singles (I put in the Anarchy cover).

revisionism?
''Although many would believe it was created because of the Jubilee, the band denies it, Paul Cook saying "It wasn't written specifically for the Queen's Jubilee. We weren't aware of it at the time. It wasn't a contrived effort to go out and shock everyone." Johnny Rotten has gone further in explaining the intent behind his lyrics, pointing out that they are actually meant to be sympathetic toward the Queen and critical of both the forces around her and, by extension, the hype surrounding the Jubilee.''

The above claims have always sounded like revisionism on the part of the pistols to me, especially the sycophantic bit about the song being intended as 'sympathetic' to the queen. Yeah right. Lydon should be ashamed of himself for this mealy mouthed back-pedalling. I note he waited around 20 years before 'clarifying' his lyrical intent quercus robur 20:17, 9 December 2005 (UTC)
 * A good look at the lyrics would back up Johnny Rotten's claim that the song wasn't meant to diss the Queen. If you want to call him a liar or hypocrite or whatever, feel free to try doing so to his face, but not until you have a good dental plan, LOL. -- Cjmarsicano 20:49, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

 * the words are open to multiple interpretations, and were indeed probably more of a comment on the state of the UK in general than a specific attack on the royal family. But sympathetic to the queen??? I suspect that Lydon was actually in wind up mode once again (successfully, in my case..) when he made that statement, which was, IIRC, to some tabloid newspaper or other (The Sun I think...). I'm unlikely ever to meet Lydon (though i do have a signed book by him...), but if I did I'd happily put this to him (albeit politely), I doubt he'd be violent, I don't think he ever has been known for being physically aggresive, always very articulate in fact. He could have done with a decent dental plan himself though all those years ago... But maybe a punk spokesman with a Donny Osmond grin wouldn't have been quite so effective (but maybe more subversive in its way...) quercus robur 21:43, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

 * I don't ever seeing something in which he said he was sympathetic toward the queen. In The Filth And the Fury he says "You don't write a song like 'God Save the Queen' because you hate the English race; you do it because you love them and you're tired of seeing them being mistreated."  So obviously he was sympathetic toward the English common people, but I have yet to see him actually state that about the queen.  About the band's denial of the song being specifically written for the jubilee, this was definitely true.  The Paul Cook quote is obviously straight from his mouth, and Lydon has said that he had written the lyrics a while before the band created the music for it.  This doesn't change the fact that the song was played in light of the Jubilee, but they probably didn't originally make the song because of it.

 * Aren't some of you missing the lines that very clear state: "God save the Queen/We mean it maaaan/We love our Queen/God saves" - surely no one here's suggesting we Wikipedians should go beyond the literal reading and introduce concepts like POV, blah blah, to insist what Johnny really meant to say was "We don't mean it maaaan/We hate our Queen..."? ;-) --DaveG12345 03:27, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

 * I'd also suggest the ones claiming "revisionism" give Some Product a spin, particularly "Is The Queen A Moron?" - some contemporary, non-revisionist, 1977 insistence in there that the song is not critical of the Queen, but of "the general public"... :-) --DaveG12345 14:38, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

 * But did the band ever suggest that they were showing "a general resentment for the monarchy" (presumably the author meant to say "general resentment of the monarchy"- although I don't think that "resentment" is the best word to describe the attitude of the so-called working class towards the monarchy).JohnC (talk) 06:20, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

The song was not written for the Silver Jubilee, it was written about a year before that, and entitled "No Future". McClaren decided to rename it "God Save the Queen", and release it to coincide with the Silver Jubilee. So what the band says is true - it was the McClaren publicity machine that ended up linking it with the jubilee, not the band. StanPomeray (talk) 15:44, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

Number 1?
In The Filth and the Fury they say that the song would've been #1 - but there simply was no #1 that week. The 1 spot was instead left blank. Any more info on this?--Wasabe3543 16:54, 6 May 2006 (UTC)

 * We have discussed this before. Actually, the official Barb/BBC chart listed "I Don't Want to Talk About It" by Rod Stewart as number one that week (interesting point: in a Record Collector article about GSTQ, it stated that Rod himself believed this to be a fix, and (feeling, if I can put it this way, that he was being "used") refused to go on Top of the Pops that week. If true, surely worth mentioning, but needs corroboration.)

 * The NME chart (which was still compiled separately from the oficial chart) appeared with GSTQ at number one, with both title and band name printed in full.

 * How the chart was displayed in record shops is another matter - there would be nothing to prevent, say, Boots or Woolworths from simply blacking the names out, or omitting them from their own posters. Likewise newspapers may have omitted the name and title. However, if they did so then it was their own, individual, editorial decision to do so, and did not come from "on high", so to speak. So far I haven't seen any actual evidence of doctored charts, though. Lots of people say they saw them at the time, and they may be right, but where's the documentary proof? --Bonalaw 10:41, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

 * Interestingly, some footage of a chart with a blacked-out number one was included in a BBC Two documentary about the Union Flag this evening. Its origin remains a mystery - clearly it can't have been Music Week as MW never acknowledged GSTQ as a number one in any form. The chart was headed "CHART PLACINGS" and printed in a very clear typeface, if that helps. --Bonalaw 19:47, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

If you ask me, "I Don't Want to Talk About It / The First Cut is the Deepest" was probably a budget single.73.25.20.162 (talk) 03:53, 8 April 2018 (UTC)

I was a 12 year old at the time, and can remember that all of the shops with a "record counter" such as Woolworths, W.H.Smiths, Boots and Rumbelows had their "Top 20" list on the counter with the No.1 simply a blank space, and the Rod Stewart's "First Cut is the Deepest" showing at No.2. This was in the Havant (Hampshire) area. There was also a TV program shown maybe 7 or 8 years ago, I can't remember which channel it was on, but there was a guy interviewed who apparently worked at the time for British Market Research Bureau who was the company that compiled the official UK singles charts at the time. He suggested that the company had been "instructed" by the BBC to switch the No.1 and No.2 entries so that God Save the Queen wouldn't be shown as No.1. Whether he was talking bollocks or not, who knows. Seems a bit pointless - if you're so offended that someone makes a single that is critical of the Queen (which it isn't actually, but that's another story), does it really make things much better to see it at No.2 instead of No.1? No.2 is still pretty good isnt it?!

Various sources state that it was indeed the highest-selling single of the week,[10][11] despite a ban by the BBC and some major retailers.[12] In order to prevent it from reaching the top of the "official" BMRB chart, for one week compilers "decreed that shops which sold their own records could not have those records represented in the chart", and thus sales from Virgin Megastores were not counted. That can't be true either - the first Virgin Megastore (which was in Oxford Street) didn't open until 1979, which is 2 years after God Save the Queen was released!

Merge from Motorhead song article
Discussion at Talk:God Save the Queen (Motörhead song). — Bubba hotep 21:20, 3 March 2007 (UTC)

Motorhead info
i took this out...

Motörhead version

The heavy metal band Motörhead released a cover version of "God Save the Queen" as a single in 2000 to promote their album We Are Motörhead. The cover art gives further reference to the Sex Pistols by using the same cut-out words to form the title as the Sex Pistols' single cover.

A performance of the song recorded during the band's 25th anniversary concert at Brixton Academy on October 22, 2000, appears on their 25 & Alive Boneshaker DVD.

... because i think it unbalances the article terribly - the cover simply isn't relevant or important enough to warrant much article space - i'll follow the above link to the discussion now.... Petesmiles 07:07, 1 May 2007 (UTC)

 * Would it be better to move it back to its own article? – B.hotep u/t• 20:09, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Well I would like to avoid a backwards-forwards here, as I pointed out on other pages, I don't think that these cases are being considered in the wider scheme of things. I see nothing inconsistent between books and productions, and songs and singles, except in the notion that they always have to be on the one page. Songs themselves may merit a page, and we should not worry unduly when it fits other considerations better - like the reader - to have a related item elsewhere, though be only a link away.--Alf melmac 20:22, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Um I did say I wanted to avoid a backwards and forwards here :S --Alf melmac 21:22, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

It's quite clear that the Motorhead element is not wanted in this article so it has been moved back. You can consider this a moment of ignorance to improve the flow of encylclopedic information, if you like. – B.hotep u/t• 21:29, 2 May 2007 (UTC)
 * That's twice material that has been sent here been taken out, once partially, the most recent entirely. It is wanted as an end piece to Motorhead's discography, a sensible solution is to have ....single if it's not wanted here.--Alf melmac 21:33, 2 May 2007 (UTC)

Morgan Fisher covered the song chipmunk-style on his "Hybrid Kids" album, under the pseudonym of "Punky & Porgy" (Hybrid Kids is a fake compilation album, with each track attributed to a fictional band. It sounds like it was influenced by the Residents)80.60.242.12 15:08, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

I note the page was moved yet again, without discussion, by an account that is now blocked indefinitely because CheckUser confirms that the operator has abusively used one or more accounts so much for stopping the backwards and forwards.--163.1.147.64 (talk) 00:43, 21 June 2011 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Andmgodsavethequeen.jpg
Image:Andmgodsavethequeen.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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Fair use rationale for Image:Gstq.PNG
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BetacommandBot 23:17, 6 November 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:God Save The Queen.png
Image:God Save The Queen.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 06:05, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Source Request
Can anyone please provide a primary source for the following quote? "You don't write a song like 'God Save The Queen' because you hate the English race. You write a song like that because you love them, and you're sick of seeing them mistreated." Thanks. HPNYC —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.120.251.239 (talk) 04:05, 28 January 2008
 * Done. --DaveG12345 (talk) 01:31, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Cover versions
"In 2008, on a Music Immersion program run by St. Joseph's College Gregory Terrace in Brisbane, Australia, a band of Year 10 students called Citizens Arrest covered the song."

Not noteworthy, surely? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.97.113.147 (talk) 12:25, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

future
According to the article the song was controversial both for its equation of the Queen with a "fascist regime" and for its claim that England had "no future". But does the text say that England has no future? As I understand the text, it says that the queen has no future. --Oddeivind (talk) 20:47, 17 May 2012 (UTC)

 * IMHO there is no future in England's dreaming pretty well says it. benzband  ( talk ) 08:59, 18 May 2012 (UTC)

They never equated the Queen with a facist regime. The lyrics say "your facist regime, they made you a moron" (i.e. the various governments of the UK have resulted in the Queen becoming pointless). Also, the lyrics do not say that England has no future, they say that "England's dreaming" has no future. The idea being that for most people in the UK, there is no point having dreams or ambitions because you'll never come to anything. http://www.plyrics.com/lyrics/sexpistols/godsavethequeen.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.225.149.5 (talk) 16:28, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Lyrics
It seems to be a rather elephant-in-the-room ommission to write such a substantial article about this song yet fail to provide something as basic and relevant to the article as the lyrics to the song. 121.73.7.84 (talk) 22:08, 5 September 2012 (UTC)
 * We can't include the lyrics of the song on Wikipedia, because that would be a copyright violation. --Metropolitan90 (talk) 07:24, 31 May 2017 (UTC)

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God Save the Quaint
This song's 'shock' references to the Queen sounded quaint and misplaced to this schoolboy already in 1977. It sounds positively Hovis advert today. Acorrector (talk) 14:19, 12 February 2022 (UTC)

Then again, because the song was not aimed school boys, its' true message continues to unset all the reactionary and backward looking supporters of the Royals. For is not this the reason why the defenders of the established order (on Wikipedia Talk and elsewhere) continue to down-play the true meaning of the song in 2023? God Save the Queen - it ain't that Quaint! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.147.153.126 (talk) 22:25, 2 September 2023 (UTC)


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Ouilly-du-Houley

Ouilly-du-Houley is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Ouilly-du-Houley


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Jimmy McShane

James Harry McShane (23 May 1957 – 29 March 1995) was a Northern Irish singer who held both British and Italian citizenship. He achieved recognition as the lead singer of the Italian new wave band Baltimora, most notably with their 1985 hit song "Tarzan Boy".

Early life and Baltimora
James Harry McShane was born in Derry on 23 May 1957. He was educated at Long Tower Primary School and then St Joseph's and St Peter's Secondary Schools. From a young age, he took a great interest in dancing and learned to play the guitar. After his education, he worked at Gransha Hospital and trained as a nurse with the Red Cross.

In the 1970s, McShane relocated to London to attend stage school and performed some small roles in a number of West End musicals. He then began working with English singer Dee D. Jackson and provided the "robotic" backing vocals on her 1978 hit "Automatic Lover". He toured Europe for 18 months as a stage dancer and backing singer with Jackson and her band. During this time, he discovered Italy and, after becoming attracted to the country's underground dance scene, relocated to Milan in 1983. He told Dick Clark on American Bandstand in 1986 that he fell in love with Italy, and would later become fluent in Italian and acquire Italian citizenship.

In 1984, McShane met Italian record producer and keyboardist Maurizio Bassi, with whom he created the band Baltimora. The act found worldwide success with its most popular single, "Tarzan Boy", released in 1985. Some sources state that the lead vocals were performed by Bassi while McShane provided backing vocals, but this still remains uncertain, and McShane appears as the vocalist in the song's music video rather than Bassi. The band released two albums, Living in the Background (1985) and Survivor in Love (1987), before disbanding in 1988.

Final years and death
In 1992, following the death of his partner of nine years, McShane discovered he was HIV positive and returned to live with his family at his childhood home in Derry. On 25 November 1992, he appeared at the Rock Relief concert held at the local venue Rialto, where he provided backing vocals alongside Jeanette Hutton for rock band King Rat's set. On 15 February 1993, he was one of the judges for the Gweedor Bar/Harp Lager Battle of the Bands '93 final, held at the Guildhall. McShane also went on to perform vocals with the local band the Jaywalkers later in the year.

Inspired by the success of Peter Cunnah and his group D Ream, and with encouragement from his friends, McShane booked himself into the local Big River Studios in January 1994 to record some new tracks, with the frontman of the Jaywalkers, Jim Walker, as a collaborator. McShane told the Derry Journal that his new music was "much more funk/soul-influenced" than his previous work with Baltimora. None of the recordings were released to the public. In January 1995, McShane announced his intention to re-record "Tarzan Boy" for release as a charity single. All proceeds were to have gone to the Northern Ireland AIDS Helpline and the AIDS clinic at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. There were also future plans to collaborate with Peter Cunnah and D Ream.

McShane died of an AIDS-related illness at his family's home on 29 March 1995 at the age of 37. A family spokesman said that he "faced his illness with courage and died with great dignity". He is buried in Derry City Cemetery next to his father, who died three years prior in 1992. There is a commemorative plaque in his honour in Derry.

title: Jimmy McShane


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Pokémon Snap

Pokémon Snap (ポケモンスナップ) is a 1999 first-person photography game with rail shooter style gameplay mechanics developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was first released in Japan in March 1999 and was later released in July 1999 in North America and in September 2000 for PAL regions. It is a spin-off game in the Pokémon series, being one of the first console-based games for it, and featuring many Pokémon rendered for the first time in real-time 3D. The game was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console in December 2007, for the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2016, and for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack in June 2022.

Originally announced as a Nintendo 64DD title, the development of Pokémon Snap was moved to the Nintendo 64 due to the 64DD's delays. The gameplay is similar to other first-person games, viewing from the perspective of protagonist Todd Snap as he moves automatically on a rail. The objective of the game is to take pictures of Pokémon with an in-game camera, using items such as apples and "pester balls" to achieve better shots. After each round, players are judged based on the quality of their photos. The Nintendo 64 cartridge could be taken to either Blockbuster or Lawson stores in North America and Japan to have pictures from the game printed on stickers, whereas the Virtual Console version features the ability to send pictures taken in the game to the Wii Message Board and send them to friends.

Its release was promoted heavily by Nintendo, including being featured in more than 86,000 hotels and a contest to send the winner to Australia. By the end of 1999, Pokémon Snap sold 1.5 million copies, and was a strong rental title in 1999 after its release. It was met with a mostly positive reception by critics, described as "addictive" by IGN and Boys' Life, and "innovative" by Electric Playground. It has also been compared to other video games with photography, such as Afrika, Dead Rising, and Beyond Good & Evil. It has also been used as a notable example of video games with photography.

A sequel called New Pokémon Snap was released for the Nintendo Switch on April 30, 2021.

Synopsis and gameplay
Todd Snap (トオル), a Pokémon photographer, is summoned by Professor Oak to Pokémon Island, a place with a variety of climatic and geographic regions where Pokémon live relatively undisturbed by humans. Oak needs quality pictures to accompany his scientific findings and knows from past experience that Todd is the right person for the job. Using a motorized, amphibious buggy named the Zero-One, Todd explores the island and takes photographs of the wide variety of Pokémon that inhabit its environments.

From Professor Oak's research hub, the player can select between the game's levels and features using a menu system. The Zero-One follows a linear path throughout the level, similar to a rail shooter. Up to 60 pictures can be taken per visit. After completing a course, the player selects their best photos of each Pokémon to be rated by Professor Oak and added to the Pokémon Report. Scoring takes into account various aspects of the pictures, such as the Pokémon's size, its pose, and keeping the Pokémon in frame. Extra points are awarded for capturing a "special" pose or Pokémon, such as a surfing Pikachu, and if there are multiples of the same Pokémon within the frame. Scoring well in the Pokémon Report and photographing a wide variety of Pokémon is required to make progress in the game. Players can also use an "Album Mark" to bookmark their favorite pictures; this adds the pictures to a personal in-game album to view at a later date or show to friends.

Players start out with only a camera, but as they progress, Professor Oak will provide them with a number of special accessories used to obtain better photographs. The game features seven levels: Beach, Tunnel, Volcano, River, Cave, Valley, and the special course "Rainbow Cloud". However, the staggered acquisition of accessories ensures that the player must re-explore the courses to discover new material. Levels must be replayed after acquiring new accessories in order to locate hidden Pokémon, alternate routes, or photographic opportunities that yield the best scores. The first accessory, apple-shaped Pokémon food, can be thrown to either stun or attract Pokémon. Another, "Pester Balls", are able to knock out Pokémon or flush them out of hiding. The Poké-Flute object is used in a variety of ways, such as awakening, irritating, or hatching Pokémon. It can also cause Pokémon to dance, and it can play three different songs, resulting in different dances from certain Pokémon. Additionally, players can obtain a Dash Engine for the Zero One, allowing the vehicle to accelerate and move faster than normal.

The game features 63 of the original generation of 151 Pokémon.

Jack and the Beanstalk
Pokémon Snap was developed by HAL Laboratory with assistance from Pax Softnica. It originally started out as a non-Pokémon game called Jack and the Beanstalk. Named after the English fairy tale of the same name, the game was intended for the 64DD, a peripheral for the Nintendo 64. The game was developed at HAL's office on the second floor of the Nintendo Kanda building in Sudachō, Tokyo, by a development team called "Jack and Beans". This name can be seen in the intro video of Pokémon Snap, as well as in the credits. Jack and the Beanstalk was first revealed in February 1995, a year before the Japanese release of the N64, but the game was not heard from again. No screenshots or videos have been publicly released of it, and little is known about what the game looked or played like. However, it is speculated that some gameplay elements ended up in EarthBound 64, which started development in 1994 but was cancelled in 2000. Benimaru Itoh, one of the art designers of EarthBound 64, said in an interview that the game was to feature seeds. When planted, these seeds would grow in real-time, utilising the 64DD's internal clock.

Conversion to Pokémon
On 27 February 1996, Nintendo affiliate Game Freak released Pocket Monsters Red and Green (released in the west as Pokémon Red and Blue). The pair of games became a sleeper hit and were followed the same year by manga and a trading card game. On 1 April 1997, an anime TV series debuted, turning the franchise into a national phenomenon that was later successfully exported to the rest of the world. After progress in the development of Jack and the Beanstalk was deemed unsatisfactory, the idea arose to turn it into a Pokémon spin-off. Satoru Iwata, one of the producers of the game, explained in a 2010 interview: "Originally, Pokémon Snap for the Nintendo 64 system wasn't a Pokémon game, but rather a normal game in which you took photos, but the motivation for playing the game wasn't clear. We wondered what players would enjoy taking pictures of, and later on we made a somewhat forced switch to taking pictures of Pokémon." Masanobu Yamamoto, one of the character designers, initially had a negative reaction to the switch, since it meant that a lot of work he had put into the project had to be scrapped. He eventually realised the change was for the better though: "That time, adopting the Pokémon world clarified what we should do and the direction we should head, and I came to like Pokémon, so I felt like that had saved us."

In 1999, Mother/EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi posted a five-part article series about Jack and the Beanstalk on his site, 1101.com. The series includes interviews with various people involved with the game, including Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto.

Support for 64DD dropped
After turning the project into a Pokémon game, the title initially continued to be developed with support for the 64DD, an accessory for the Nintendo 64 that used magnetic disk cartridges with a bigger storage capacity, and which featured an internet modem and internal clock. The device made its first public appearance at Shoshinkai 1996, but after numerous delays, it eventually received a limited, Japan-only release on 1 December 1999, with only a handful of games. Almost all of the games that would have a 64DD version, including The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Donkey Kong 64, were given an N64-only release. In January 1999, the magazine Dengeki Nintendo 64 announced that Pokémon Snap was also no longer appearing on the 64DD, being published only as an N64 cartridge. Two months later, the game saw its release in Japan.

Release and promotion
Pokémon Snap was released on March 21, 1999, in Japan, July 26, 1999, in North America, and September 15, 2000, in PAL regions.

Nintendo and Japanese convenience store Lawson formed a deal where people could bring their copies of Pokémon Snap to Lawson stores in Japan and have pictures from the game printed as stickers. A similar deal was formed with Blockbuster, which exclusively printed stickers from players' copies of Pokémon Snap in the United States. They hosted a contest called "Take Your Best Shot", where the player who produces the best picture from Pokémon Snap to Nintendo would win a trip to Australia. Nintendo, partnering with LodgeNet, included Nintendo 64s with Pokémon Snap for more than 86,000 hotels with the intent of capitalizing on the Pokémon franchise for the holiday travel season. Nintendo displayed Pokémon Snap at a Pokémon event called "Pokémon League Summer Training Tour". The game's protagonist, Todd Snap, also briefly appeared in the Pokémon anime series shortly before the game's release.

Re-releases
In December 2007, Pokémon Snap was re-released for the Wii as a Virtual Console title. While the original release supported the ability to take the cartridge into Blockbuster or Lawson stores in the United States to have taken pictures printed as stickers, the re-release replaced this with the ability to save photos to the Wii message board and share them with friends.

On April 4, 2016, Pokémon Snap was re-released in Japan for Wii U as a Virtual Console title. This version was released in Europe and Australia on August 18, 2016, and North America on January 5, 2017.

On June 24, 2022, Pokémon Snap was rereleased for Nintendo Switch Online’s Expansion Pack.

Sales
Pokémon Snap was fourth on the chart for top-selling games in Japan for the week of its release, March 18 to March 24. For the week ending May 21, 1999, in Japan, it ranked fifth. In the United States, Pokémon Snap sold in excess of 151,000 copies in the first three days of its release. Since its release, it was the most rented game, up to October 22, 1999. For the month of November, it was featured in the United States' top 10 list of best-selling video games. For the week ending November 27, it ranked as the 10th best-selling video game, while it remained the most-rented video game for the same week. By the end of 1999, Pokémon Snap was the sixth best-selling video game in the United States, having sold in excess of 1.5 million copies. IGN attributed this success with "well targeted promotions" and the tie in with Blockbuster. In the United Kingdom, it sold 6,500 units at launch, reaching No.9 in that week's charts, and replacing Perfect Dark as the top-selling game in the N64 Top Ten chart.

Critical reception
Pokémon Snap received positive reviews from the media, scoring 77/100 on Metacritic. Pokémon Snap was included among a test of video games that are fun, safe, easy to play, and of value for children. Ars Technica editor Frank Caron commented that Pokémon Snap had become a "fan favorite", while author Marina D'Amato called it "famous". Author Amit Dhir called it one of the most popular video games of 1999, alongside Gran Turismo and Final Fantasy VIII. Kotaku described it as a "cash-in branded title". Before its US release, IGN praised it as "strange", yet "fun". Matt Casamassina of IGN called it an "addictive, surprisingly fun" game, noting however that "Pokemaniacs are bound to be disappointed with the selection of Pocket Monsters in the game – roughly 62 out of a possible 151 in all."

GameSpot praised it as a "refreshingly unique game". IGN editors Mark Bozon and Casamassina commented on Pokémon Snap's likelihood of becoming a Virtual Console title; the former called it a "cult classic" as well as a "fresh and entertaining little package". While Casamassina again criticized the lack of Pokémon and length, he noted that a Virtual Console re-release would be appropriate, due to it being "simple and quick". IGN also called it a "wonderful game for kids of all ages", though again bemoaning its lack of length. Official Nintendo Magazine gave the game an 85%. Electronic Gaming Monthly four reviewers gave the game two 8/10 scores and two 8.5/10 scores. GamePro commented that while "for Pokemon fans, this is a wonderful game", others will not find it as fun.

GameRevolution called it "an absolute must-have for Pokemon fans and kids in general" but "for the rest of us, it's actually a decent diversion". The Electric Playground editor Victor Lucas called it "innovative" and "worth taking a look at". Japanese gaming magazine, Famitsu, praised it for its "sense of peace", as well as its reproduction of "the feel of a safari or a theme park." The Detroit Free Press editor Mike Floyd commented that while it has a "lot of initial flash", it "lacks depth to make it a great title". Wired editor Susan Arendt commented that while Pokémon Snap was considered the "Bastard child of the Pokémon franchise" by some, the people in her office loved it. The Denver Post editor David Thomas commented that the concept of Pokémon Snap should have "never worked", but it turned out to be "one of the most creative and entertaining games on the market".

The Los Angeles Times editor Aaron Curtiss commented that while he strongly disliked the Pokémon franchise, Pokémon Snap was a great game. In the book Pikachu's global adventure: the rise and fall of Pokémon, author Joseph Jay Tobin called it "innovative" in how it incorporated elements from the Pokémon franchise. The magazine Boys' Life called it addictive, praising the reactions of the Pokémon as "unique and always entertaining". Allgame editor Scott Alan Marriott commented that while the number of Pokémon was lacking and there were a small number of courses, the game has a "substantial amount of replay value". Game Informer commented that Pokémon Snap was "just as much fun as the main entries" in the series.

At the 3rd Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, Pokémon Snap was awarded Console Children's/Family Title of the Year by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Blockbuster nominated it for best Nintendo 64 game in its "Blockbuster Awards".

Pokémon Snap has been used to describe several other video games, as well as used as an example of photography and aiming in video games; Game Infowire called Beyond Good & Evil an "odd mixture" of Ratchet & Clank, Jak II, Metroid Prime, and Pokémon Snap. Wired compared Sea Life Safaris premise to Pokémon Snaps. They also compared Pokémon Snap to African Safari. An application called Virtual Stakeout was compared by Kotaku to Pokémon Snap. The book Patterns in game design used Pokémon Snap as an example of "aim & shoot" gameplay. Author Raph Koster similarly used Pokémon Snap in order to describe video games with photography. Author Shanna Compton used Pokémon Snap as an example of a video game that required players to produce photographs for judges to determine their quality. Developer Wade Tinney attributed the inspiration for the game design of Snapshot Adventures: Secret of Bird Island to both Pokémon Snap and the video game Spore. The PlayStation 3 video game Afrika was said by both UGO Networks and Shacknews to be Pokémon Snap-like. Dead Risings photography mechanic was also likened to Pokémon Snaps by Kotaku.

The Virtual Console re-release was met with generally mixed reception. Nintendo Life editor Marcel Van Duyn praised it as a "fun and a relaxing break from the other Pokémon titles", but criticized it as "super short". RPGamer editor Anna Marie Neufeld criticized it for having "zero replayability" and "if nothing else, a good way to waste an afternoon or evening with the Wii." IGN editor Lucas M. Thomas called the photo sharing feature a positive of its release, while criticizing its limited selection of Pokémon, similar to the review of the Nintendo 64 version from IGN. He added that a sequel updated to include Wii controls and Pokémon from recent generations would be welcome. IGN included Pokémon Snap in its wish list of Nintendo 3DS remakes, commenting that it could take advantage of the 3DS' ability to produce stereoscopic 3D photos would be an enjoyable feature for Pokémon Snap. IGN also included Pokémon Snap in their retrospective of the Pokémon video game series, praising it as "fun and innovative". IGN praised it for its visual prowess, citing how it allows players in the United States to see Pokémon in three dimensions. In their Pokémon Snap retrospective, Game, Set, Watch editor Danny Cowan commented that it was a "turnoff for fans", calling how overlooked it was "tragic". Retronauts speculated that the popularity of Pokémon Snap was due to being released at the height of Pokémon fandom. However, one of the commentators on the podcast, Justin Haywald, found this odd, calling it "horrible." The podcast discussed briefly the prospects of a Pokémon Snap sequel, feeling that the Nintendo 3DS' gyroscope and augmented reality cards could be used, citing Steel Diver for its use of the former feature. Retronauts member Jeremy Parish commented that if they didn't make such a sequel, it's because they are “stupid and don't like money.” IGN commented that a Pokémon game better than Black and White was Pokémon Snap, stating that "It hasn't become stale", "It has better Pokémon", and "It made the Pokémon world feel real". They commented that none of the past Pokémon games "have managed to make the little critters seem as alive as Pokemon Snap did", and praised the 3D modeling, calling it "glorious". 1UP.com used Pokémon Snap as an example of a game that would use the Wii U controller's gyroscope to look around, calling it "The coolest version of Pokémon Snap ever".

title: Pokémon Snap


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Ouilly-le-Tesson

Ouilly-le-Tesson is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

title: Ouilly-le-Tesson


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Ouilly-le-Vicomte

Ouilly-le-Vicomte is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France.

title: Ouilly-le-Vicomte


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Worldsheet

In string theory, a worldsheet is a two-dimensional manifold which describes the embedding of a string in spacetime. The term was coined by Leonard Susskind as a direct generalization of the world line concept for a point particle in special and general relativity.

The type of string, the geometry of the spacetime in which it propagates, and the presence of long-range background fields (such as gauge fields) are encoded in a two-dimensional conformal field theory defined on the worldsheet. For example, the bosonic string in 26 dimensions has a worldsheet conformal field theory consisting of 26 free scalar bosons. Meanwhile, a superstring worldsheet theory in 10 dimensions consists of 10 free scalar fields and their fermionic superpartners.

Bosonic string
We begin with the classical formulation of the bosonic string.

First fix a $$d$$-dimensional flat spacetime ($$d$$-dimensional Minkowski space), $$M$$, which serves as the ambient space for the string.

A world-sheet $$\Sigma$$ is then an embedded surface, that is, an embedded 2-manifold $$\Sigma \hookrightarrow M$$, such that the induced metric has signature $$(-,+)$$ everywhere. Consequently it is possible to locally define coordinates $$(\tau,\sigma)$$ where $$\tau$$ is time-like while $$\sigma$$ is space-like.

Strings are further classified into open and closed. The topology of the worldsheet of an open string is $$\mathbb{R}\times I$$, where $$I := [0,1]$$, a closed interval, and admits a global coordinate chart $$(\tau, \sigma)$$ with $$-\infty < \tau < \infty$$ and $$0 \leq \sigma \leq 1$$.

Meanwhile the topology of the worldsheet of a closed string is $$\mathbb{R}\times S^1$$, and admits 'coordinates' $$(\tau, \sigma)$$ with $$-\infty < \tau < \infty$$ and $$\sigma \in \mathbb{R}/2\pi\mathbb{Z}$$. That is, $$\sigma$$ is a periodic coordinate with the identification $$\sigma \sim \sigma + 2\pi$$. The redundant description (using quotients) can be removed by choosing a representative $$0 \leq \sigma < 2\pi$$.

World-sheet metric
In order to define the Polyakov action, the world-sheet is equipped with a world-sheet metric $$\mathbf{g}$$, which also has signature $$(-, +)$$ but is independent of the induced metric.

Since Weyl transformations are considered a redundancy of the metric structure, the world-sheet is instead considered to be equipped with a conformal class of metrics $$[\mathbf{g}]$$. Then $$(\Sigma, [\mathbf{g}])$$ defines the data of a conformal manifold with signature $$(-, +)$$.

title: Worldsheet


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Po Bronson

Po Bronson (born March 14, 1964) is an American journalist and author who lives in San Francisco.

Early life and education
Bronson was born in Seattle, Washington. After attending Lakeside School in Seattle, he graduated from Stanford University in 1986, and briefly worked as an assistant bond salesman in San Francisco.

Career
Bronson abandoned finance to pursue writing, publishing short stories and eventually a comedic novel based upon his bond trading experiences. This first novel, Bombardiers (1995), was an international bestseller. Publishers Weekly reviewed the book saying, "Bronson writes with panache, and while his novel finally lacks the depth of feeling that can distinguish a great satire like Catch-22, it's a witty and cutting send-up that marks him as a writer with a likely big and bright future."

Bronson went on to write articles for The New York Times Magazine and others, but perhaps became best known for his work in Wired magazine and other technology-related publications.

Then, during the rise of the internet/high tech in the late 1990s, Bronson became a leading chronicler of Silicon Valley in its heyday, writing two more best sellers. The first, The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest, was a novel sending up technology start-ups. The second, The Nudist on the Late Shift, was a nonfiction portrayal of those who had followed the modern-day gold rush to Silicon Valley.

With the collapse of the internet bubble in 2000, and after creating The $treet, a short-lived television drama for Fox again drawing upon his bond trading days, Bronson began searching for a new direction for his career. Realizing he was not alone in this quest, he began to focus on others in similar quandaries. Bronson spent the next two years working on a new nonfiction book, What Should I Do with My Life? which profiles about 50 people, exploring how each had confronted the question. The hardcover release of the book was a New York Times No. 1 bestseller. It remained on the bestseller list for 22 weeks, and a dozen more in paperback.

Bronson's follow-up to What Should I Do with My Life? is Why Do I Love These People? For that book, Bronson spent three years researching and interviewing over 700 families. The book tells the stories of about 20 people who have had extraordinary experiences with their families.

Partly as a result of the research Bronson did for these two books, he became a columnist for TIME online. His columns frequently draw on his research data to challenge arguments that American society is on a moral decline. For example, he argues against the idea that the institution of marriage has disintegrated from an ideal past filled with stable nuclear families. He also argues that most young adults who live with their parents are not slackers, but are working, attending school, and volunteering full-time.

With co-author Ashley Merryman, he released a book in September 2009 entitled NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children. The book discusses theories and scientific aspects of parenting.

in 2015, Po joined Attention Span Media, a strategy consulting firm, as Futurist / Contributing Editor, where he worked on the "Future of Sports" and "Future of Medicine" projects.

In August 2018, Po joined IndieBio as Strategy Director.

Published works

 * Bombardiers (1995)
 * The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest (1997)
 * The Nudist on the Late Shift (1999)
 * What Should I Do with My Life? (2002)
 * Why Do I Love These People? (2005)
 * NurtureShock: New Thinking About Children (2009) (with Ashley Merryman) ISBN 978-0-446-50412-6
 * 642 Things to Write About (2012)
 * Top Dog: The Science of Winning and Losing (2013) (with Ashley Merryman) ISBN 978-1455515158
 * Future of Sports (2015)
 * Future of Sports 2.0 (2016)
 * Future of Medicine (2017)

Film adaptation
A film loosely based on his second novel, entitled The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest, was released in 2002. It cost almost $20 million to make but was released only in two theaters, then sent to DVD. The script was written by Jon Favreau.

title: Po Bronson


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Bangladesh Liberation War

The Bangladesh Liberation War (মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh, was a revolution and armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which resulted in the independence of Bangladesh. The war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against the people of East Pakistan on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.

In response to the violence, members of the Mukti Bahini—a guerrilla resistance movement formed by Bengali military, paramilitary and civilians—launched a mass guerrilla war against the Pakistani military, liberating numerous towns and cities in the war's initial months. At first, the Pakistan Army regained momentum during the monsoon, but, Bengali guerrillas counterattacked by carrying out widespread sabotage, including through Operation Jackpot against the Pakistan Navy, while the nascent Bangladesh Air Force flew sorties against Pakistani military bases. India joined the war on 3 December 1971, after Pakistan launched preemptive air strikes on northern India. The subsequent Indo-Pakistani War involved fighting on two fronts; with air supremacy achieved in the eastern theatre, and the rapid advance of the Allied Forces of Mukti Bahini and the Indian military, Pakistan surrendered in Dhaka on 16 December 1971, in what remains to date the largest surrender of armed personnel since the Second World War.

Rural and urban areas across East Pakistan saw extensive military operations and air strikes to suppress the tide of civil disobedience that formed after the 1970 election stalemate. The Pakistan Army, backed by Islamists, created radical religious militias—the Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams—to assist it during raids on the local populace. Members of the Pakistani military and supporting militias engaged in mass murder, deportation and genocidal rape, pursuing a systematic campaign of annihilation against nationalist Bengali civilians, students, intelligentsia, religious minorities and armed personnel. The capital, Dhaka, was the scene of numerous massacres, including the Dhaka University massacre. Sectarian violence also broke out between Bengalis and Urdu-speaking Biharis. An estimated 10 million Bengali refugees fled to neighbouring India, while 30 million were internally displaced.

The war changed the geopolitical landscape of South Asia, with the emergence of Bangladesh as the world's seventh-most populous country. Due to complex regional alliances, the war was a major episode in Cold War tensions involving the United States, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. The majority of member states in the United Nations recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign nation in 1972.

Background

Before the Partition of British India, the Lahore Resolution initially envisaged separate Muslim-majority states in British India's eastern and northwestern zones. A proposal for an independent United Bengal was mooted by Prime Minister Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy in 1946 but opposed by the colonial authorities. The East Pakistan Renaissance Society advocated the creation of a sovereign state in eastern British India.

Political negotiations led, in August 1947, to the official birth of two states, Pakistan and India, giving presumably permanent homes for Muslims and Hindus, respectively, after the British departed. The Dominion of Pakistan comprised two geographically and culturally separate areas to the east and the west, with India in between.

The western zone was popularly (and, for a period, also officially) termed West Pakistan and the eastern zone (modern-day Bangladesh) was initially termed East Bengal and later East Pakistan. Although the two zones' population was close to equal, political power was concentrated in West Pakistan, and it was widely perceived that East Pakistan was being exploited economically, leading to many grievances. Administration of two discontinuous territories was also seen as a challenge.

On 25 March 1971, after an election won by an East Pakistani political party (the Awami League) was ignored by the ruling (West Pakistani) establishment, rising political discontent and cultural nationalism in East Pakistan was met by brutal and suppressive force from the ruling elite of the West Pakistan establishment, in what came to be termed Operation Searchlight. The Pakistan Army's violent crackdown led to Awami League leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman declaring East Pakistan's independence as the state of Bangladesh on 26 March 1971. Most Bengalis supported this move, although some Islamists and Biharis opposed it and sided with the Pakistan Army instead.

Pakistani President Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan ordered the Pakistani military to restore the Pakistani government's authority, beginning the civil war. The war led a substantial number of refugees (estimated at the time to be about 10 million) to flood India's eastern provinces. Facing a mounting humanitarian and economic crisis, India actively aided and organised the Bangladeshi resistance army, the Mukti Bahini.

Language controversy
In 1948, Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah declared that "Urdu, and only Urdu" would be Pakistan's federal language. But Urdu was historically prevalent only in the north, central, and western subcontinent; in East Bengal, the native language was Bengali, one of the two most easterly branches of the Indo-European languages. Bengali speakers constituted over 56% of Pakistan's population.

The government stand was widely viewed as an attempt to suppress the culture of the eastern wing. The people of East Bengal demanded that their language be given federal status alongside Urdu and English. The Language Movement began in 1948, as civil society protested the removal of Bengali script from currency and stamps, which were in place since the British Raj.

The movement reached its climax in 1952, when on 21 February, the police fired on protesting students and civilians, causing several deaths. The day is revered in Bangladesh as the Language Movement Day. In memory of the deaths, UNESCO declared 21 February International Mother Language Day in November 1999.

Disparities
Although, East Pakistan had the larger population, West Pakistan dominated the divided country politically and received more money from the common budget.

East Pakistan was already economically disadvantaged at the time of Pakistan's creation yet this economic disparity only increased under Pakistani rule. Factors included not only the deliberate state discrimination in developmental policies but also the fact that the presence of the country's capital and more immigrant businessmen in the Western Wing directed greater government allocations there. Due to low numbers of native businessmen in East Pakistan, substantial labour unrest and a tense political environment, there were also much lower foreign investments in the eastern wing. The Pakistani state's economic outlook was geared towards urban industry, which was not compatible with East Pakistan's mainly agrarian economy.

Also, Bengalis were underrepresented in the Pakistani military. Officers of Bengali origin in the different wings of the armed forces made up just 5% of the overall force by 1965; of these, only a few were in command positions, with the majority in technical or administrative posts. West Pakistanis believed that Bengalis were not "martially inclined", unlike Pashtuns and Punjabis; Bengalis dismissed the "martial races" notion as ridiculous and humiliating.

Moreover, despite huge defence spending, East Pakistan received none of the benefits, such as contracts, purchasing and military support jobs. The Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 over Kashmir also highlighted the sense of military insecurity among Bengalis, as only an under-strength infantry division and 15 combat aircraft without tank support were in East Pakistan to repulse any Indian retaliations during the conflict.

Ideological and cultural differences

In 1947, the Bengali Muslims had identified themselves with Pakistan's Islamic project, but by the 1970s, the people of East Pakistan had given priority to their Bengali ethnicity over their religious identity, desiring a society in accordance with Western principles such as secularism, democracy and socialism. Many Bengali Muslims strongly objected to the Islamist paradigm the Pakistani state imposed.

Most members of West Pakistan's ruling elite shared a vision of a liberal society, but nevertheless viewed a common faith as an essential mobilising factor behind Pakistan's creation and the subsuming of Pakistan's multiple regional identities into one national identity. West Pakistanis were substantially more supportive than East Pakistanis of an Islamic state, a tendency that persisted after 1971.

Cultural and linguistic differences between the two wings gradually outweighed any sense of religious unity. The Bengalis took great pride in their culture and language which, with its Bengali script and vocabulary, was unacceptable to the West Pakistani elite, who believed that it had assimilated considerable Hindu cultural influences. West Pakistanis, in an attempt to "Islamise" the East, wanted the Bengalis to adopt Urdu. The activities of the language movement nurtured a sentiment among Bengalis in favour of discarding Pakistan's communalism in favour of secular politics. The Awami League began propagating its secular message through its newspaper to the Bengali readership.

The Awami League's emphasis on secularism differentiated it from the Muslim League. In 1971, the Bangladeshi liberation struggle against Pakistan was led by secular leaders and secularists hailed the Bangladeshi victory as the triumph of secular Bengali nationalism over religion-centred Pakistani nationalism. While Pakistan's government strives for an Islamic state, Bangladesh was established secular. After the liberation victory, the Awami League attempted to build a secular order and the pro-Pakistan Islamist parties were barred from political participation. The majority of East Pakistani ulama had either remained neutral or supported the Pakistani state, since they felt that the break-up of Pakistan would be detrimental for Islam.

Political differences

Although, East Pakistan accounted for a slight majority of the country's population, political power remained in the hands of West Pakistanis. Since a straightforward system of representation based on population would have concentrated political power in East Pakistan, the West Pakistani establishment came up with the "One Unit" scheme, whereby all of West Pakistan was considered one province. This was solely to counterbalance the East wing's votes.

After the 1951 assassination of Liaquat Ali Khan, Pakistan's first prime minister, political power began to devolve to the new position of President of Pakistan, which replaced the office of Governor General when Pakistan became a republic, and, eventually, the military. The nominal elected chief executive, the Prime Minister, was frequently sacked by the establishment, acting through the President.

The East Pakistanis observed that the West Pakistani establishment swiftly deposed any East Pakistanis elected leader of Pakistan, such as Khawaja Nazimuddin, Mohammad Ali Bogra, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, and Iskander Mirza. Their suspicions were further aggravated by the military dictatorships of Ayub Khan (27 October 1958 – 25 March 1969) and Yahya Khan (25 March 1969 – 20 December 1971), both West Pakistanis. The situation reached a climax in 1970, when the Bangladesh Awami League, the largest East Pakistani political party, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a landslide victory in the national elections. The party won 167 of the 169 seats allotted to East Pakistan, and thus a majority of the 313 seats in the National Assembly. This gave the Awami League the constitutional right to form a government. However, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (a former Foreign Minister), the leader of the Pakistan People's Party, refused to allow Rahman to become the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Instead, he proposed the idea of having two Prime Ministers, one for each wing. The proposal elicited outrage in the east wing, already chafing under the other constitutional innovation, the "One Unit scheme". Bhutto also refused to accept Rahman's Six Points. On 3 March 1971, the two leaders of the two wings along with the President General Yahya Khan met in Dacca to decide the fate of the country.

After their discussions yielded no satisfactory results, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman called for a nationwide strike. Bhutto feared a civil war, therefore, he sent his trusted companion, Mubashir Hassan. A message was conveyed, and Rahman decided to meet Bhutto. Upon his arrival, Rahman met with Bhutto and both agreed to form a coalition government with Rahman as premier and Bhutto as president, but Sheikh Mujib later ruled out such a possibility. Meanwhile, the military was unaware of these developments, and Bhutto increased his pressure on Rahman to reach a decision.

On 7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (soon to be prime minister) delivered a speech at the Racecourse Ground (now the Suhrawardy Udyan). In this speech he mentioned a further four-point condition to consider at the National Assembly Meeting on 25 March:
 * The immediate lifting of martial law.
 * Immediate withdrawal of all military personnel to their barracks.
 * An inquiry into the loss of life.
 * Immediate transfer of power to the elected representative of the people before the assembly meeting 25 March.

He urged his people to turn every house into a fort of resistance. He closed his speech saying, "Our struggle is for our freedom. Our struggle is for our independence." This speech is considered the main event that inspired the nation to fight for its independence. General Tikka Khan was flown into Dacca to become Governor of East Bengal. East-Pakistani judges, including Justice Siddique, refused to swear him in.

Between 10 and 13 March, Pakistan International Airlines cancelled all its international routes to urgently fly "government passengers" to Dacca. These "government passengers" were almost all Pakistani soldiers in civilian dress. MV Swat, a ship of the Pakistan Navy carrying ammunition and soldiers, was harboured in Chittagong Port, but the Bengali workers and sailors at the port refused to unload the ship. A unit of East Pakistan Rifles refused to obey commands to fire on the Bengali demonstrators, beginning a mutiny among the Bengali soldiers.

Response to the 1970 cyclone
The 1970 Bhola cyclone made landfall on the East Pakistan coastline during the evening of 12 November, around the same time as a local high tide, killing an estimated 300,000 people. A 2017 World Meteorological Organization panel considers it the deadliest tropical cyclone since at least 1873. A week after the landfall, President Khan conceded that his government had made "slips" and "mistakes" in its handling of the relief efforts due to a lack of understanding of the magnitude of the disaster.

A statement released by eleven political leaders in East Pakistan ten days after the cyclone hit charged the government with "gross neglect, callous and utter indifference". They also accused the president of playing down the magnitude of the problem in news coverage. On 19 November, students held a march in Dacca protesting the slowness of the government's response. Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani addressed a rally of 50,000 people on 24 November, where he accused the president of inefficiency and demanded his resignation.

As the conflict between East and West Pakistan developed in March, the Dacca offices of the two government organisations directly involved in relief efforts were closed for at least two weeks, first by a general strike and then by a ban on government work in East Pakistan by the Awami League. With this increase in tension, foreign personnel were evacuated over fears of violence. Relief work continued in the field, but long-term planning was curtailed. This conflict widened into the Bangladesh Liberation War in December and concluded with the creation of Bangladesh. This was one of the first times that a natural event helped trigger a civil war.

Operation Searchlight

A planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army—codenamed Operation Searchlight—started on 25 March 1971 to curb the Bengali independence movement by taking control of the major cities on 26 March, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military, within one month. The Pakistani state used anti-Bihari violence by Bengalis in early March to justify Operation Searchlight.

Before the beginning of the operation, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from East Pakistan.

The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last major town in Bengali hands in mid-May. The operation also began the Bangladesh genocide. These systematic killings served only to enrage the Bengalis, resulting in East Pakistan's secession later that year. Bangladeshi media and reference books in English have published casualty figures that vary greatly, from 5,000 to 35,000 in Dacca, and 300,000 to 3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole. Independent researchers, including the British Medical Journal, have put forward figures ranging from 125,000 to 505,000. American political scientist Rudolph Rummel puts total deaths at 1.5 million. The atrocities have been called acts of genocide.

According to the Asia Times:

"At a meeting of the military top brass, Yahya Khan declared: 'Kill 3 million of them and the rest will eat out of our hands'. Accordingly, on the night of 25 March, the Pakistani Army launched Operation Searchlight to 'crush' Bengali resistance in which Bengali members of military services were disarmed and killed, students and the intelligentsia systematically liquidated and able-bodied Bengali males just picked up and gunned down."

Although the violence focused on the provincial capital, Dacca, it also affected all parts of East Pakistan. Residential halls of the University of Dacca were particularly targeted. The only Hindu residential hall—Jagannath Hall—was destroyed by the Pakistani armed forces, and an estimated 600 to 700 of its residents were murdered. The Pakistani army denied any cold-blooded killings at the university, but the Hamoodur Rahman Commission in Pakistan concluded that overwhelming force was used. This fact, and the massacre at Jagannath Hall and nearby student dormitories of Dacca University, are corroborated by a videotape secretly filmed by Professor Nurul Ula of the East Pakistan University of Engineering and Technology, whose residence was directly opposite the student dormitories.

The scale of the atrocities was first made clear in the West, when Anthony Mascarenhas, a Pakistani journalist who had been sent to the province by the military authorities to write a story favourable to Pakistan, instead fled to the United Kingdom and, on 13 June 1971, published an article in The Sunday Times describing the systematic killings by the military. The BBC wrote: "There is little doubt that Mascarenhas' reportage played its part in ending the war. It helped turn world opinion against Pakistan and encouraged India to play a decisive role", with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi saying that Mascarenhas' article led her "to prepare the ground for India's armed intervention".

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was arrested by the Pakistani Army. Yahya Khan appointed Brigadier (later General) Rahimuddin Khan to preside over a special tribunal prosecuting Rahman with multiple charges. The tribunal's sentence was never made public, but Yahya caused the verdict to be held in abeyance in any case. Other Awami League leaders were arrested as well, while a few fled Dacca to avoid arrest. The Awami League was banned by General Yahya Khan.

Declaration of independence
The violence unleashed by the Pakistani forces on 25 March 1971 proved the last straw to the efforts to negotiate a settlement. Following these incidents, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman signed an official declaration that read:

"Today, Bangladesh is a sovereign and independent country. On Thursday night, West Pakistani armed forces suddenly attacked the police barracks at Razarbagh and the EPR headquarters at Pilkhana in Dacca. Many innocent and unarmed have been killed in Dhaka city and other places of Bangladesh. Violent clashes between E.P.R. and Police on the one hand and the armed forces of Pakistan on the other, are going on. The Bengalis are fighting the enemy with great courage for an independent Bangladesh. May Allah aid us in our fight for freedom. Joy Bangla [May Bangladesh be victorious]."

Sheikh Mujib also called upon the people to resist the occupation forces through a radio message. Rahman was arrested on the night of 25–26 March 1971 at about 1:30 am (as per Radio Pakistan's news on 29 March 1971).

A telegram containing the text of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's declaration reached some students in Chittagong. The message was translated into Bengali by Manjula Anwar. The students failed to secure permission from higher authorities to broadcast the message from the nearby Agrabad Station of Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, but the message was read several times by the independent Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro Radio established by rebel Bangali Radio workers in Kalurghat. Major Ziaur Rahman was requested to provide security for the station and also read the Declaration on 27 March 1971. He broadcast the announcement of the declaration of independence on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman:

"This is Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. I, Major Ziaur Rahman, at the direction of Bangobondhu Mujibur Rahman, hereby declare that Independent People's Republic of Bangladesh has been established. At his direction, I have taken the command as the temporary Head of the Republic. In the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, I call upon all Bengalees to rise against the attack by the West Pakistani Army. We shall fight to the last to free our motherland. Victory is, by the Grace of Allah, ours. Joy Bangla."

The Kalurghat Radio Station's transmission capability was limited, but the message was picked up by a Japanese ship in the Bay of Bengal. It was then re-transmitted by Radio Australia and later by the BBC.

M. A. Hannan, an Awami League leader from Chittagong, is said to have made the first announcement of the declaration of independence over the radio on 26 March 1971.

26 March 1971 is considered the official Independence Day of Bangladesh, and the name Bangladesh was in effect henceforth. In July 1971, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi openly referred to the former East Pakistan as Bangladesh. Some Pakistani and Indian officials continued to use the name "East Pakistan" until 16 December 1971.

March–June
At first, resistance was spontaneous and disorganised, and was not expected to be prolonged. But when the Pakistani Army cracked down upon the population, resistance grew. The Mukti Bahini became increasingly active. The Pakistani military sought to quell them, but increasingly many Bengali soldiers defected to this underground "Bangladesh army". These Bengali units slowly merged into the Mukti Bahini and bolstered their weaponry with supplies from India. Pakistan responded by airlifting in two infantry divisions and reorganising their forces. They also raised paramilitary forces of Razakars, Al-Badrs and Al-Shams (mostly members of the Muslim League and other Islamist groups), as well as other Bengalis who opposed independence, and Bihari Muslims who had settled during the time of partition.

On 17 April 1971, a provisional government was formed in Meherpur District in western Bangladesh bordering India with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who was in prison in Pakistan, as president, Syed Nazrul Islam as acting president, Tajuddin Ahmad as prime minister, and General Muhammad Ataul Ghani Osmani as Commander-in-Chief, Bangladesh Forces. As fighting grew between the occupation army and the Bengali Mukti Bahini, an estimated 10 million Bengalis sought refuge in the Indian states of Assam and West Bengal.

June–September

Bangladesh forces command was set up on 11 July, with Col. M. A. G. Osmani as commander-in-chief (C-in-C) with the status of Cabinet Minister, Lt. Col. Abdur Rabb as chief of Staff (COS), Group Captain A. K. Khandker as Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) and Major A. R. Chowdhury as Assistant Chief of Staff (ACOS).

Osmani had differences of opinion with the Indian leadership about the role of the Mukti Bahini in the conflict. Indian leadership initially envisioned a well trained force of 8,000 guerrillas, operating in small cells around Bangladesh to facilitate eventual conventional combat. With the Bangladesh government in exile, Osmani favoured a different strategy:
 * Bengali conventional forces would occupy lodgments inside Bangladesh and the Bangladesh government would request international diplomatic recognition and intervention. Initially Mymensingh was picked for this operation, but Osmani later settled on Sylhet.
 * Sending the maximum number of guerrillas into Bangladesh as soon as possible with the following objectives:
 * Increasing Pakistani casualties through raids and ambush.
 * Cripple economic activity by hitting power stations, railway lines, storage depots and communication networks.
 * Destroy Pakistan Army mobility by blowing up bridges/culverts, fuel depots, trains and river crafts.
 * The strategic objective was to make the Pakistanis spread their forces inside the province, so attacks could be made on isolated Pakistani detachments.

Bangladesh was divided into eleven sectors in July, each with a commander chosen from defected officers of the Pakistani army who joined the Mukti Bahini to lead guerrilla operations. The Mukti Bahini forces were given two to five weeks of training by the Indian army on guerilla warfare. Most of their training camps were near the border area and operated with assistance from India. The 10th Sector was placed under Osmani's command and included the Naval Commandos and C-in-C's special force. Three brigades (eventually 8 battalions) were raised for conventional warfare; a large guerrilla force (estimated at 100,000) was trained.

Five infantry battalions were reformed and positioned along the northern and eastern borders of Bangladesh. Three more battalions were raised, and artillery batteries were formed. During June and July, Mukti Bahini regrouped across the border with Indian aid through Operation Jackpot and began sending 2,000–5,000 guerrillas across the border, the so-called Monsoon Offensive, which for various reasons (lack of proper training, supply shortage, lack of a proper support network inside Bangladesh) failed to achieve its objectives. Bengali regular forces also attacked border outposts in Mymensingh, Comilla and Sylhet, but the results were mixed. Pakistani authorities concluded that they had successfully contained the Monsoon Offensive, which proved a near-accurate observation.

Guerrilla operations, which slackened during the training phase, picked up after August. Economic and military targets in Dacca were attacked. The major success story was Operation Jackpot, in which naval commandos mined and blew up berthed ships in Chittagong, Mongla, Narayanganj and Chandpur on 15 August 1971.

October–December
Bangladeshi conventional forces attacked border outposts. Kamalpur, Belonia and the Battle of Boyra are a few examples. 90 out of 370 border outposts fell to Bengali forces. Guerrilla attacks intensified, as did Pakistani and Razakar reprisals on civilian populations. Pakistani forces were reinforced by eight battalions from West Pakistan. The Bangladeshi independence fighters even managed to temporarily capture airstrips at Lalmonirhat and Shalutikar. Both of these were used for flying in supplies and arms from India. Pakistan sent another five battalions from West Pakistan as reinforcements.

Indian involvement

"All unprejudiced persons objectively surveying the grim events in Bangladesh since March 25 have recognised the revolt of 75 million people, a people who were forced to the conclusion that neither their life, nor their liberty, to say nothing of the possibility of the pursuit of happiness, was available to them."

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi concluded that instead of taking in millions of refugees, India would be economically better off going to war against Pakistan. As early as 28 April 1971, the Indian Cabinet had asked General Manekshaw (Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee) to "Go into East Pakistan". Hostile relations in the past between India and Pakistan added to India's decision to intervene in Pakistan's civil war.

As a result, the Indian government decided to support the creation of a separate state for ethnic Bengalis by supporting the Mukti Bahini. RAW helped to organise, train and arm these insurgents. Consequently, the Mukti Bahini succeeded in harassing Pakistani military in East Pakistan, creating conditions conducive to a full-scale Indian military intervention in early December.

The Pakistan Air Force (PAF) launched a preemptive strike on Indian Air Force bases on 3 December 1971. The attack was modelled on the Israeli Air Force's Operation Focus during the Six-Day War and intended to neutralise the Indian Air Force planes on the ground. India saw the strike as an open act of unprovoked aggression, which marked the official start of the Indo-Pakistani War. In response to the attack, both India and Pakistan formally acknowledged the "existence of a state of war between the two countries" even though neither government had formally issued a declaration of war.

Three Indian corps were involved in the liberation of East Pakistan. They were supported by nearly three brigades of Mukti Bahini fighting alongside them, and many more who were fighting irregularly. That was far superior to the Pakistani army of three divisions. The Indians quickly overran the country, selectively engaging or bypassing heavily defended strongholds. Pakistani forces were unable to effectively counter the Indian attack, as they had been deployed in small units around the border to counter the guerrilla attacks by the Mukti Bahini. Unable to defend Dacca, the Pakistanis surrendered on 16 December 1971.

Air and naval war
The Indian Air Force carried out several sorties against Pakistan, and within a week, IAF aircraft dominated the skies of East Pakistan. It achieved near-total air supremacy by the end of the first week, as the entire Pakistani air contingent in the east, PAF No.14 Squadron, was grounded because of Indian and Bangladeshi airstrikes at Tejgaon, Kurmitola, Lalmonirhat and Shamsher Nagar. Sea Hawks from the carrier INS Vikrant (1961) also struck Chittagong, Barisal and Cox's Bazar, destroying the eastern wing of the Pakistan Navy and effectively blockading the East Pakistan ports, cutting off any escape routes for the stranded Pakistani soldiers. The nascent Bangladesh Navy (comprising officers and sailors who defected from the Pakistani Navy) aided the Indians in the marine warfare, carrying out attacks, most notably Operation Jackpot.

Surrender and aftermath

On 16 December 1971, Lt. Gen Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi, Chief Martial Law Administrator of East Pakistan and Commander of Pakistan Army forces in East Pakistan signed the Instrument of Surrender. At the time of surrender only a few countries had provided diplomatic recognition to the new nation. Over 93,000 Pakistani troops surrendered to the Indian forces and Bangladesh Liberation forces, making it the largest surrender since World War II.

Bangladesh sought admission to the UN with most voting in its favour. China vetoed this as Pakistan was its key ally. The United States, also a key ally of Pakistan, was one of the last nations to accord Bangladesh recognition. To ensure a smooth transition, in 1972 the Simla Agreement was signed between India and Pakistan. The treaty ensured that Pakistan recognised the independence of Bangladesh in exchange for the return of the Pakistani PoWs.

India treated all the PoWs in strict accordance with the Geneva Convention, rule 1925. It released more than 93,000 Pakistani PoWs in five months. Further, as a gesture of goodwill, nearly 200 soldiers who were sought for war crimes by Bengalis were pardoned by India. The accord also gave back 13000 km² of land that Indian troops had seized in West Pakistan during the war, though India retained a few strategic areas, most notably Kargil (which was in turn the focal point of a war between the two nations in 1999). This was done as a measure of promoting "lasting peace" and acknowledged by many observers as a sign of maturity by India. But some in India felt the treaty had been too lenient to Bhutto, who had pleaded for leniency, arguing that the fragile democracy in Pakistan would crumble if Pakistanis perceived the accord as overly harsh.

Reaction in West Pakistan to the war
Reaction to the defeat and dismemberment of half the nation was a shocking loss to top military and civilians alike. Few had expected that they would lose the formal war in under a fortnight, and there was also unsettlement over what was perceived as a meek surrender of the army in East Pakistan. Yahya Khan's dictatorship collapsed and gave way to Bhutto, who took the opportunity to rise to power.

General Niazi, who surrendered along with 93,000 troops, was viewed with suspicion and contempt upon his return to Pakistan. He was shunned and branded a traitor. The war also exposed the shortcomings of Pakistan's declared strategic doctrine that the "defence of East Pakistan lay in West Pakistan".

Atrocities

During the war, there were widespread killings and other atrocities—including the displacement of civilians in Bangladesh (East Pakistan at the time) and widespread violations of human rights beginning with Operation Searchlight on 25 March 1971. Members of the Pakistani military and supporting paramilitary forces killed an estimated 300,000 to 3,000,000 people and raped between 200,000 and 400,000 Bangladeshi women in a systematic campaign of genocidal rape. Pakistan's religious leaders openly supported the crime by labelling Bengali freedom fighters "Hindus" and Bengali women "the booty of war". In fact, more than 80 percent of the Bengali people were Muslims at that time.

A large section of the intellectual community of Bangladesh were murdered, mostly by the Al-Shams and Al-Badr forces, at the instruction of the Pakistani Army. Just two days before the surrender, on 14 December 1971, Pakistan Army and the Razakar militia (local collaborators) picked up at least 100 physicians, professors, writers and engineers in Dacca, and murdered them, leaving the dead bodies in a mass grave.

Many mass graves have been discovered in Bangladesh. The first night of war on Bengalis, which is documented in telegrams from the American Consulate in Dacca to the U.S. State Department, saw indiscriminate killings of students of Dacca University and other civilians. Numerous women were tortured, raped, and killed during the war; the exact numbers are not known and are debated. The widespread rape of Bangladeshi women led to birth of thousands of war babies.

The Pakistan Army also kept numerous Bengali women as sex slaves inside the Dacca Cantonment. Most were captured from Dacca University and private homes. There was significant sectarian violence not only perpetrated and encouraged by the Pakistani army, but also by Bengali nationalists against non-Bengali minorities, especially Biharis. In June 1971, Bihari representatives said that 500,000 Biharis were killed by Bengalis. R. J. Rummel gives a prudent estimate of 150,000 killed.

On 16 December 2002, the George Washington University's National Security Archive published a collection of declassified documents, consisting mostly of communications between U.S. embassy officials and United States Information Service centres in Dacca and India, and officials in Washington, D.C. These documents show that U.S. officials working in diplomatic institutions within Bangladesh used the terms "selective genocide" and "genocide" (see The Blood Telegram) for information on events they had knowledge of at the time. Genocide is the term still used to describe the event in almost every major publication and newspaper in Bangladesh, although in Pakistan, the accusations against Pakistani forces continue to be disputed.

International reactions

Following Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's declaration of independence in March 1971, a worldwide campaign was undertaken by the Provisional Government of Bangladesh to drum up political support for the independence of East Pakistan as well as humanitarian support for the Bengali people.

Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi provided extensive diplomatic and political support to the Bangladesh movement. She toured many countries in a bid to create awareness of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis. This effort was to prove vital later during the war, in framing the world's context of the war and to justify military action by India. Also, following Pakistan's defeat, it ensured prompt recognition of the newly independent state of Bangladesh.

United Nations
Though the United Nations condemned the human rights violations during and following Operation Searchlight, it failed to defuse the situation politically before the start of the war.

After India entered the war, Pakistan, fearing certain defeat, made urgent appeals to the United Nations to intervene and force India to agree to a ceasefire. The UN Security Council assembled on 4 December 1971 to discuss the hostilities in South Asia. After lengthy discussions on 7 December, the United States made a resolution for "immediate cease-fire and withdrawal of troops". While supported by the majority, the USSR vetoed the resolution twice. In light of the Pakistani atrocities against Bengalis, the United Kingdom and France abstained on the resolution.

On 12 December, with Pakistan facing imminent defeat, the United States requested that the Security Council be reconvened. Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was rushed to New York City to make the case for a resolution on the ceasefire. The council continued deliberations for four days. By the time proposals were finalised, Pakistan's forces in the East had surrendered and the war had ended, making the measures merely academic. Bhutto, frustrated by the failure of the resolution and the inaction of the United Nations, ripped up his speech and left the council.

Most UN member nations were quick to recognise Bangladesh within months of its independence.

Bhutan
As the Bangladesh Liberation War approached the defeat of the Pakistan Army, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan became the first state in the world to recognise the newly independent country on 6 December 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first President of Bangladesh, visited Bhutan to attend the coronation of Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth King of Bhutan in June 1974.

US and USSR

The US government stood by its old ally Pakistan in terms of diplomacy and military threats. US President Richard Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger feared Soviet expansion into South and Southeast Asia. Pakistan was a close ally of the People's Republic of China, with which Nixon had been negotiating a rapprochement and which he intended to visit in February 1972. Nixon feared that an Indian invasion of West Pakistan would mean total Soviet domination of the region, and that it would seriously undermine the global position of the United States and the regional position of America's new tacit ally, China.

To demonstrate to China the bona fides of the United States as an ally, and in direct violation of the US Congress-imposed sanctions on Pakistan, Nixon sent military supplies to Pakistan and routed them through Jordan and Iran, while also encouraging China to increase its arms supplies to Pakistan. The Nixon administration also ignored reports it received of the genocidal activities of the Pakistani Army in East Pakistan, most notably the Blood telegram.

Nixon denied getting involved in the situation, saying that it was an internal matter of Pakistan, but when Pakistan's defeat seemed certain, he sent the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise to the Bay of Bengal, a move the Indians deemed a nuclear threat. Enterprise arrived on station on 11 December 1971. On 6 and 13 December, the Soviet Navy dispatched two groups of ships, armed with nuclear missiles, from Vladivostok; they trailed US Task Force 74 in the Indian Ocean from 18 December until 7 January 1972.

The Soviet Union supported Bangladesh and Indian armies, as well as the Mukti Bahini during the war, recognising that the independence of Bangladesh would weaken the position of its rivals—the United States and the People's Republic of China. It gave assurances to India that if a confrontation with the U.S. or China developed, the USSR would take countermeasures. This was enshrined in the Indo-Soviet friendship treaty signed in August 1971. The Soviets also sent a nuclear submarine to ward off the threat posed by USS Enterprise in the Indian Ocean.

At the end of the war, the Warsaw Pact countries were among the first to recognise Bangladesh. The Soviet Union accorded recognition to Bangladesh on 25 January 1972. The United States delayed recognition for some months, before according it on 8 April 1972.

China
As a long-standing ally of Pakistan, the People's Republic of China reacted with alarm to the evolving situation in East Pakistan and the prospect of India invading West Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. On 10 December 1971, Nixon instructed Kissinger to ask the Chinese to move some forces toward the frontier with India. Nixon said, "Threaten to move forces or move them, Henry, that's what they must do now". Kissinger met with Huang Hua, China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, later that evening.

The Chinese did not respond to this encouragement, because unlike the 1962 Sino-Indian War, when India was caught entirely unaware, this time the Indian Army was prepared and had deployed eight mountain divisions to the Sino-Indian border to guard against such an eventuality. China instead threw its weight behind demands for an immediate ceasefire.

When Bangladesh applied for membership to the United Nations in 1972, China vetoed its application because two U.N. resolutions about the repatriation of Pakistani prisoners of war and civilians had not yet been implemented. China was also among the last countries to recognise independent Bangladesh, refusing to do so until 31 August 1975.

Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon) saw the partition of Pakistan as an example for itself and feared India might use its enhanced power against it in the future. Despite the left-wing government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike following a neutral non-aligned foreign policy, Sri Lanka decided to help Pakistan in the war. As Pakistani aircraft could not fly over Indian territory, they would have to take a longer route around India and so they stopped at Bandaranaike Airport in Sri Lanka where they were refuelled before flying to East Pakistan.

Arab world
As many Arab countries were allied with both the United States and Pakistan, it was easy for Kissinger to encourage them to participate. He sent letters to both, the King of Jordan and the King of Saudi Arabia. Nixon gave permission for Jordan to send ten F-104s and promised to provide replacements. According to author Martin Bowman, "Libyan F-5s were reportedly deployed to Sargodha AFB, perhaps as a potential training unit to prepare Pakistani pilots for an influx of more F-5s from Saudi Arabia."

Libyan dictator Gaddafi also personally directed a strongly worded letter to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi accusing her of aggression against Pakistan, which endeared him to all Pakistanis. In addition to these three countries, an unidentified Middle Eastern ally also supplied Pakistan with Mirage IIIs.

title: Bangladesh Liberation War