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Harvard Divinity School

Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, government, and service. It also caters to students from other Harvard schools that are interested in the former field. HDS is among a small group of university-based, non-denominational divinity schools in the United States.

History
Harvard College was founded in 1636 as a Puritan/Congregationalist institution and trained ministers for many years. The separate institution of the Divinity School dates from 1816, when it was established as the first non-denominational divinity school in the United States. (Princeton Theological Seminary had been founded as a Presbyterian institution in 1812. Andover Theological Seminary was founded in 1807 by orthodox Calvinists who fled Harvard College after it appointed liberal theologian Henry Ware to the Hollis Professorship of Divinity in 1805.)

During its first century, Harvard Divinity School was unofficially associated with American Unitarianism.

Harvard Divinity School and Unitarianism
Throughout the 18th century, Enlightenment ideas of the power of reason and free will became widespread among Congregationalist ministers, putting those ministers and their congregations in tension with more traditionalist, Calvinist parties.

When the Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan died in 1803 and the president of Harvard Joseph Willard died a year later, in 1804, the overseer of the college Jedidiah Morse demanded that orthodox men be elected.

Nevertheless, after much struggle, the Unitarian Henry Ware was elected in 1805, which signaled the changing of the tide from the dominance of traditional, Calvinist ideas at Harvard to the dominance of liberal, Arminian ideas (defined by traditionalists as Unitarian ideas). The appointment of Ware, with the election of the liberal Samuel Webber to the presidency of Harvard two years later, led Jedidiah Morse and other conservatives to found the Andover Theological Seminary as an orthodox alternative to the Harvard Divinity School.

Today
Today, students and faculty come from a variety of religious backgrounds: Christian (all denominations), Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, and others. Its academic programs attempt to balance theology and religious studies—that is, the "believer's" perspective on religion with the "secular" perspective on religion. This is in contrast to many other divinity schools where one or the other is given primacy (Yale Divinity School, for example, emphasizes its theological program, while the majority of students at the University of Chicago Divinity School enroll in its "religious studies" master of arts program).

Divinity Hall
Divinity Hall, dedicated in 1826, was the first Harvard building built outside Harvard Yard. It contains classrooms, faculty and staff offices, and Divinity Chapel, also called Emerson Chapel, where Ralph Waldo Emerson gave the Divinity School Address in 1838.

Swartz Hall (formerly Andover Hall)
Completed in 1911 at a cost of $300,000, Andover Hall was designed by Allen and Collens, a firm that focused largely on neo-medieval and ecclesiastical designs, and is the only building at Harvard built in the Collegiate Gothic style of architecture.

Andover Hall was commissioned by Andover Theological Seminary, which, by 1906, saw its enrollment slide and entered an affiliation with the Divinity School in 1908. The Hall contained a chapel, library, dorms, and seminar and lecture rooms. Today, the building still contains a chapel and some classrooms, but it also holds many administrative and faculty offices.

On May 1, 2019, the building's name was changed to Swartz Hall in honor of philanthropists Susan Shallcross Swartz and James R. Swartz.

Jewett House
Jewett House, constructed in 1913, is named for its first occupant, James Richard Jewett, a Harvard University professor of Arabic from 1914 to 1933. Jewett's son had donated the house to Harvard for the use of the Divinity School, but it was instead used by Harvard University Press. In 1956, the house was renovated to serve as the home of the Harvard Divinity School's dean.

Carriage House
The Carriage House of Jewett House is now the home for the Women's Studies in Religion Program. In the past, it served as a home or office for a series of Divinity School faculty and staff, including the family of Brita and former dean Krister Stendahl, who lived in the Carriage House in the 1960s.

Library
Previously housed in Andover Hall, the library moved into its own two-story granite building, designed by Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott in 1960. In September 2001, the library completed an $11.5-million renovation that added two stories, enhanced its technology facilities and study areas, and improved its information systems.

Center for the Study of World Religions building
Constructed in 1960, the Center for the Study of World Religions building was designed by the Catalonian architect Josep Lluis Sert, then dean of Harvard's Graduate School of Design, for what was his first Harvard commission.

Rockefeller Hall
Rockefeller Hall, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes in 1970, featured seminar rooms and a refectory on the ground floor and student housing above. A 2008 renovation by VSBA/Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates, Inc. transformed the upper floors into staff offices, modernized access and created the fourth LEED Gold building at Harvard.

Degrees
Harvard Divinity School is accredited by the Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and approved by ATS to grant the following degrees:

 * master of theological studies (MTS)
 * master of divinity (MDiv)
 * master of religion and public life (MRPL)
 * master of theology (ThM)

In April 2014, the faculty of HDS voted to suspend admission to its doctor of theology (Th.D.) program, although students already enrolled in the ThD program were allowed to complete their degrees. Instead, doctoral students pursue doctor of philosophy (PhD) degrees under the auspices of the Committee on the Study of Religion, which is made up of 50% Arts and Sciences and 50% Divinity faculty members and housed in the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences. While many PhD students in the GSAS take courses at HDS, and both HDS and FAS characterize the PhD as a joint program, PhD students are formally enrolled in the GSAS and not HDS; only the GSAS at Harvard may award the PhD.

Curriculum
Candidates for the MTS choose among 18 areas of academic focus:

 * African and African American Religious Studies
 * Buddhist Studies
 * Comparative Studies
 * East Asian Religions
 * Hebrew Bible / Old Testament
 * Hindu Studies
 * History of Christianity
 * Islamic Studies
 * Jewish Studies
 * New Testament and Early Christianity
 * Philosophy of Religion
 * Religions of the Americas
 * Religion, Ethics, and Politics
 * Religion, Literature, and Culture
 * Religion and the Social Sciences
 * South Asian Religious Studies
 * Theology
 * Women, Gender, Sexuality, and Religion

Candidates for the MDiv are required to take at least twelve courses in scriptural interpretation and histories, theologies, and practices. Those 12 courses must include:
 * Three courses in the theories, methods, and practices of scriptural interpretation
 * Six courses in the histories, theologies, and practices of religious traditions
 * No more than nine courses in the same religious tradition, or listed in no religious tradition(s)
 * At least six courses addressing one or more religious tradition(s); of those six, only three may be in the same tradition

Harvard Divinity School Library (previously Andover-Harvard Theological Library)

Library support for the study of religion at Harvard predates the establishment of the Divinity School; almost three-fourths of the 400 volumes that John Harvard gave to Harvard College in 1638 were theological in nature. Books on religion made up a third to a half of the college's holdings until the Divinity School was established in 1816 and duplicates from the College Library were combined with new purchases to form the beginnings of a specialized library for the school. In 1911, Harvard Divinity School and Andover Theological Seminary formed a partnership and agreed to house their collections together in a common library; when the educational partnership of the schools was dissolved in 1926, Andover Seminary's deposits remained in the library under the terms of a continuing agreement. The library's name changed from "Andover-Harvard Theological Library" to "Harvard Divinity School Library" in 2021.

The library's collections include all religious traditions in order to support the many approaches to the study of religion at Harvard Divinity School. Its historical collection strengths include Protestant Christianity, Unitarian Universalism, and biblical studies. Additional areas of collecting emphasis since the second half of the twentieth century include women's studies in religion, the relation of religion to ethnicity and to LGBTQ studies, the ecumenical movement, interreligious communication, and religion and peace-making. Similarly, the rare book collection has strengths in early Protestant Christianity, Unitarian Universalism and related “nonconforming” traditions, and biblical studies. Notable special collections include the papers of Unitarian preacher and theologian William Ellery Channing, theologians Paul Tillich and H. Richard Niebuhr, and New Testament scholar Caspar René Gregory.

Harvard Divinity School Library is part of Harvard Library, whose resources are available to all faculty, staff, and students at HDS. Harvard Library's collection has over six million digitized items, 20 million print volumes, 400 million manuscripts, one million maps, tens of millions of digital images, and rare and special collections. Harvard Library collects collaboratively with peer institutions and facilitates international open access, multiplying researchers’ access to materials.

The HDS Library also participates in the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium (BTI) library program, which extends borrowing privileges to HDS students and faculty at libraries of other BTI schools.

Center for the Study of World Religions

Founded in 1960 after an anonymous donation in 1957, the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School is a residential community of academic fellows, graduate students, and visiting professors of many world religious traditions. The center focuses on the understanding of religions globally through its research, publications, funding, and public programs. It welcomes scholars and practitioners and highlights the intellectual and historical dimensions of religious dialogue.

The center sponsors a diverse range of educative programs, ranging from public lectures to colloquia and reading groups, student-initiated projects, and "religion in the news" lunches on topics of public interest. The center's meditation room is open to all members of the Harvard community.

Directors of the CSWR have included Robert H. L. Slater (1958–64), Wilfred Cantwell Smith (1954–73), John B. Carman (1973–89), Lawrence E. Sullivan (1990–2003), Donald K. Swearer (2004–10), and Francis X. Clooney (2010–17). , its director is Charles Stang, a scholar of ancient Christianity, focusing especially on Eastern varieties of late antique Christianity.

Women's Studies in Religion Program
The Women's Studies in Religion Program (WSRP) at Harvard Divinity School was founded in 1973 as a response to student requests to include women's perspectives in the sources, methods, and subject matter of the HDS curriculum. The program brings five postdoctoral scholars to HDS as visiting faculty each year. Each research associate works on a book-length research project related to religion and gender and teaches a course related to their research. Since its founding, the program has supported more than 200 scholars from institutions of higher learning in the United States and around the world.

Directors of the Women's Studies in Religion Program include Brinton Lykes (1973–77), Constance Buchanan (1977–97), and Ann D. Braude (1998–present).

Program in Religion and Secondary Education
The Program in Religion and Secondary Education (PRSE) was a teacher education program that prepared students to teach about religion in public schools from a non-sectarian perspective. It began in 1972 as a two-year pilot project known as the "Secondary School Teaching Certificate Option," and by 1983, it had evolved into a collaboration between Harvard Divinity School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Students in the master of theological studies or master of divinity degree programs integrated their work in religion with courses on education and public policy to understand the relationship between religion and education and to advance religious literacy within their fields of licensure. The program stopped admitting new students in the 2009–10 academic year, although students who were already in the PRSE were able to finish their degrees in normal fashion.

Summer Leadership Institute
The Summer Leadership Institute (SLI) was a two-week training program that sought to establish theological instruction and grounding for individuals engaged in community and economic development. It was offered by Harvard Divinity School from 1998 to 2008.

The program of study was divided into four modules: Theology, Ethics, and Public Policy; Organizational Development and Management; Housing and Community Development; and Finance and Economic Development. Participants also developed individual plans of action, on a case-study model, applicable to the local work in their communities. It was a full-time residential program, holding classes five days a week, with an emphasis on faith-based case studies of corporations and communities.

More than 450 participants completed the program. About 50 people were selected each year from around the United States and internationally to participate in lectures, seminars, and field visits with faculty from across Harvard and other recognized experts.

Directors of the program were Preston N. Williams (1998–2008) and Charles Gilchrist Adams (2008–09).

Notable professors

 * James Luther Adams, ethicist and most influential theologian among American Unitarian Universalists in the 20th century
 * Leila Ahmed, professor of women's studies and scholar of Islam
 * Charles Gilchrist Adams, William and Lucille Nickerson Professor of the Practice of Ethics and Ministry (2006–2011)
 * François Bovon, professor emeritus, prolific scholar in New Testament and Christian Apocrypha
 * Sravana Borkataky Varma, lecturer on Hindu traditions, historian, educator, and social entrepreneur
 * Frederick Buechner, American theologian and author. Buechner's Harvard sermons, delivered at the Noble Lecture series in 1969, were published in 1970 under the title The Alphabet of Grace. He also spent time lecturing on homiletics at the school.
 * Davíd Carrasco, scholar of Latin American religion and culture
 * Francis Xavier Clooney, comparative theologian and scholar of Hinduism
 * Harvey Cox, Hollis Professor of Divinity emeritus, author of "The Secular City"
 * Diana L. Eck, scholar of Hinduism and founder of The Pluralism Project
 * Ephraim Emerton (1851–1935), first recipient of the Winn Professorship of Ecclesiastical History
 * Charles Carroll Everett, professor and dean of the Divinity School (1878–1900), also an alumnus of the school
 * Marla F. Frederick, dean of the school from 2024 to the present, scholar of African American religion
 * Peter J. Gomes (1942–2011), Pusey Minister in the Memorial Church of Harvard University and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals
 * Janet Gyatso, scholar of Tibetan Buddhism, history, and culture
 * William A. Graham, dean of the school from 2002 to 2012, Albertson Prof. of Middle Eastern Studies (Arts and Sciences), comparative historian and scholar of Islam
 * Charles Hallisey, scholar of Therevada Buddhism
 * David N. Hempton, dean of the school from 2012 to 2023, historian of Methodism and Evangelical Protestantism
 * Amy Hollywood
 * Michael Jackson, anthropologist and novelist
 * Baber Johansen, scholar of Islamic law
 * Ousmane Oumar Kane, Alwaleed Professor of Contemporary Islamic Religion and Society
 * Karen King, Hollis Professor of Divinity, author of "What is Gnosticism?" and "The Gospel of Mary Magdala"
 * Gordon D. Kaufman (died 2011), liberal Mennonite pacifist theologian and author of God the Problem
 * Helmut Koester (died 2016), professor emeritus, New Testament scholar
 * Jon D. Levenson, scholar of Hebrew Bible and Jewish studies
 * Arthur Chute McGill, (1926–1980) Bussey Professor of Theology at Harvard from 1971 until 1980
 * Richard R. Niebuhr, Hollis Professor of Divinity emeritus, theologian
 * Henri Nouwen (1983–1985), Professor of Divinity and Horace De Y. Lentz Lecturer
 * Jacob K. Olupona, scholar of Indigenous Religions, Religions in Africa
 * Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza, Krister Stendahl Professor feminist New Testament scholar, author of In Memory of Her, Rhetoric and Ethic, The Power of the Word, and many other titles
 * Francis Schüssler Fiorenza, Charles Chauncey Stillman Professor of Roman Catholic Theological Studies
 * Wilfred Cantwell Smith, former director of the school's Center for the Study of World Religions
 * Ronald Frank Thiemann, Christian theologian and dean of the Divinity School from 1986 to 1998
 * Paul Tillich (1886–1965), Protestant theologian and Christian existentialist
 * Henry Ware Jr., (1794–1843), Unitarian theologian
 * Henry Ware Sr. (1764–1845), prominent early Unitarian theologian
 * C. Conrad Wright (1917–2011), historian of American Congregationalism and Unitarianism
 * George Ernest Wright (1958–1974), Parkman Professor of Divinity; (1961–1974) Curator of the Semitic Museum, Presbyterian, leading Old Testament scholar and biblical archaeologist
 * Cornel West, public intellectual, author, philosopher, political activist, social critic and member of the Democratic Socialists of America

Notable alumni

 * Susan Ackerman, (born 1958), Hebrew Bible scholar
 * Charles G. Adams, Baptist pastor; William and Lucille Nickerson Professor of the Practice of Ethics and Ministry, Harvard Divinity School.
 * Emma Anderson, professor of Classics and Religious Studies at University of Ottawa
 * Chris Adrian, author and medical doctor
 * Horatio Alger, scholar and novelist
 * Paula Arai, Buddhist studies scholar, researcher, and professor
 * Reza Aslan, author and Islamic scholar
 * Charles Bennison, bishop in the Episcopal Church
 * Rebecca Birk, English Liberal Jewish rabbi
 * George Madison Bodge, author, historian, and Unitarian minister
 * George Bradburn, Unitarian preacher and abolitionist from Massachusetts.
 * Neville Callam, General Secretary of the Baptist World Alliance
 * Edward John Carnell, prominent neoevangelical theologian
 * Tom Chappell, founder of Tom's of Maine, large producer of natural personal care products
 * Tom Chick, actor, editor and video game journalist
 * Delman Coates, Senior Pastor, Mt. Ennon Baptist Church, Clinton, MD
 * Moncure D. Conway, Unitarian preacher and abolitionist from Virginia.
 * Mary Leggett Cooke (1852-1938), Unitarian minister and member of the Iowa Sisterhood
 * Janet Cooper-Nelson, Chaplain of Brown University, first woman university chaplain in the Ivy League
 * John Cranley, former congressional candidate in Ohio.
 * Demetrios, Archbishop of America, former primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
 * Gary Dorrien, American social ethicist and theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York and Professor of Religion at Columbia University.
 * Elizabeth Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
 * William Greenleaf Eliot, co-founder of Washington University in St. Louis
 * Ralph Waldo Emerson, philosopher, poet, and essayist
 * Archie Epps, Harvard University Dean of Students 1971–1999
 * Greg Epstein (born 1977), president of the Harvard Chaplains Organization and Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; ordained Humanist rabbi
 * John Figdor, Humanist Chaplain at Stanford University
 * Richard Elliott Friedman (born 1946), biblical scholar and Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia
 * Robert P. George, author, constitutional law scholar, and Princeton professor
 * Ronald Goetz, Niebuhr Distinguished Chair in Christian Theology and Ethics at Elmhurst College
 * Peter J. Gomes, preacher and writer and Chaplain, Harvard University
 * Samuel Swett Green, key figure in the public library movement and the "founding father" of reference librarianship.
 * Aaron Gross, historian of religions who focuses on modern Jewish ethics, the study of animals and religion, and food and religion.
 * Stephen A. Hayner, President of Columbia Theological Seminary, ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church USA, professor, former president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
 * Chris Hedges, author and journalist
 * Iakovos, Archbishop of America, Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America from 1959 to 1996
 * James Franklin Kay, professor of Homiletics and Liturgy at Princeton Theological Seminary
 * Ray Keck, president of Texas A&M International University in Laredo, Texas; was Rockefeller Brothers Fellow at Harvard Divinity
 * Muhammad Kenyatta, professor, civil rights leader and politician
 * Michael Muhammad Knight, author
 * Scotty McLennan, Dean for Religious Life at Stanford University
 * C.E. Morgan, author
 * Tori Murden, the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and to ski to the geographic South Pole
 * William B. Oden, bishop in the United Methodist Church
 * Theodore Parker, prominent Unitarian and transcendentalist Unitarian minister, scholar, abolitionist and author of the line, "...the moral...arc of history...bends toward justice..."
 * Rodney L. Petersen, scholar of history, ethics, and religious conflict, and executive director of the Boston Theological Institute
 * Richard L. Pratt Jr., Professor of Old Testament, President of Third Millennium Ministries
 * Maggie Rogers, musician
 * Letty M. Russell, feminist theologian
 * Edmund Sears, Unitarian theologian
 * Jeffrey L. Seglin, journalist, writer, and John F. Kennedy School of Government senior lecturer
 * Saba Soomekh, professor and essayist
 * Richard Tafel, founder Log Cabin Republicans, lobbyist, executive coach
 * Conrad Tillard (born 1964), Baptist minister, radio host, author, civil rights activist, and politician
 * Ross H. Trower, Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Navy
 * Jones Very, poet and essayist
 * Liz Walker, journalist and pastor
 * Christopher O. Ward, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
 * Sarah Warn, Editor-in-Chief; founder of AfterEllen.com
 * Leland Wilkinson, statistician and computer scientist
 * Thomas Worcester, president of Regis College, Toronto
 * Vanessa Zoltan, atheist chaplain

Harvard Divinity Bulletin
Harvard Divinity Bulletin is a glossy magazine published by Harvard Divinity School two times per calendar year. The magazine features nonfiction essays, opinion pieces, poetry, and reviews about religion and its relationship with contemporary life, art, and culture. The magazine often publishes the text of each year's Ingersoll Lecture on Human Immortality. It is mailed to a subscriber base of approximately 10,000. The magazine is sent free to Harvard Divinity School students, faculty, alumni, staff, and supporters; others are asked to subscribe. Past contributors have included Reza Aslan, Martine Batchelor, Sarah Sentilles, and Christian Wiman.

Harvard Theological Review
Founded in 1908, Harvard Theological Review is a quarterly journal that publishes original research in many scholarly and religious fields, including ethics, archeology, Christianity, Jewish studies, and comparative religious studies.

The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School
Founded in 2006 as Cult/ure, The Graduate Journal of Harvard Divinity School is the print/online, student-run academic journal of Harvard Divinity School and the only graduate journal of religion at Harvard University. It publishes exemplary student scholarship in the areas of religious studies, ministry studies, and theology every year.

Harvard Divinity Today
HD Today was an alumni magazine published three times per year by the HDS Office of Communications. It included original news articles, event listings, an alumni journal, and class notes. It ceased publication in spring 2012.

The Nave
The Nave was a newsletter of HDS student activities and events published from 1975 to 2007 by the HDS Office of Student Life. The newsletter transitioned from paper to online in 2002. The Nave included announcements of lectures, social events, important academic deadlines, and other matters.

The Wick
The Wick was a student-run journal for literary and creative works by the HDS community. The Wick published both published and unpublished writers of fiction, poetry, essays, photography, sermons, and creative non-fiction. It was last listed as a Harvard Divinity School student organization in the 2014–15 academic year.

title: Harvard Divinity School


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Xtra-vision

Xtra-vision was a video, film and music retailer that operated across the island of Ireland. Founded in 1979, it had 200 shops at its peak before running into financial difficulties, changing ownership a number of times, and ultimately closing in 2021.

History
Xtra-vision was founded by Richard Murphy in 1979. At its peak, it operated over 200 shops across both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Murphy later went on to form Chartbusters in 1993.

Xtra-vision went into financial difficulties in the early 1990s after aggressive expansion of their retail network caused a massive increase in their stock price on the Irish Stock Exchange, without sufficient liquidity to continue the network expansion, and their books having overestimated the value of their video stock in shops. The company entered examinership and its finances were turned around by businessman Peter O'Grady Walshe in 1993. The company was bought by a venture capital consortium in 1994, with O'Grady Walshe as managing director. In 1996, the company was sold to US giant Blockbuster.

The chain was run by Blockbuster from 1996. The chain never rebranded in Ireland, citing market research that the Xtra-vision name was better known and more respected than Blockbuster across the island. The few Xtra-vision shops outside Ireland — those in Manchester, London and New Hampshire, were rebranded to Blockbuster after the takeover.

The company had an exclusive deal meaning that any movie with funding from the Irish Film Board would initially be provided for rental and sale solely through their network.

In August 2009, Blockbuster sold its Irish operations to Birchhall Investments. In May 2011, the company went into examinership but successfully exited in August.

On 29 April 2013, the company announced that it was to enter receivership with Luke Charleton and Colin Farquharson, of Ernst & Young. On 7 May 2013, the receivers announced that 20 shops would close throughout Ireland with a loss of up to 120 jobs. These outlets were closed due to trading losses because of fall in revenue. Xtra-vision was sold to Hilco Capital Ireland in June 2013 for an undisclosed sum.

On 30 August 2013, Hilco announced that 26 Xtra-Vision shops would be dual-branded as HMV/Xtra-Vision).

On 27 January 2016, the High Court appointed a provisional liquidator to Xtra-Vision after the company became insolvent and unable to pay their debts, with most of the 580 jobs expected to be lost.

The company thereafter operated as an online business, selling movies, video games and electronics, and also operated vending machines (branded as Xtra-Vision Xpress) for renting movies and video games in SuperValu supermarkets, petrol stations and shopping centres. New movies were added every Friday. The customer selected the item they wished to rent and paid by debit/credit card. No subscription was required, but an e-mail address had to be provided if a receipt was desired. The item had to be returned by 8pm on the return date (between 1-3 nights depending on amount of discs rented). If not returned, the fee was €1.50 daily, up to a maximum of 10 days (€15). After 10 days, the disc was the customer's to keep.

On 7 July 2021, Xtra-Vision Xpress was placed into voluntary liquidation and the business was closed.

2009 Halo 3 Tournament
On October 20, 2009, as a promotion for the upcoming release of Halo 3: ODST, Xtra-vision ran a Halo 3 tournament, in which they held 2 categories, Teams and Doubles, Teams being a 4 player team and Doubles being a 2 player team, in which they would compete in an all Ireland tournament, the winners receiving a free copy of Halo 3: ODST. The campaign turned out a great success, boosting publicity for Xtra-vision and the release of Halo 3: ODST. The winners of the Teams being "Team Axios", a Halo team from County Mayo, and the winner of the Doubles being Dan Vaughan and Marcus Conaghey.

Xbox One release controversy
When the Xbox One was released in November 2013, Xtra-vision gained negative media attention due to their policy of forcing customers who had pre-ordered the console to purchase an additional game in order to get their console. After media attention and backlash on social media websites, Ireland's National Consumer Agency launched an investigation into Xtra-vision's practices. Xtra-vision reversed this policy, and announced that refunds were available for those who had purchased an additional game with their pre-ordered console.

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

title: Xtra-vision


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Fiji national rugby union team

The Fiji national rugby union team represents Fiji in men's international rugby union. Fiji competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations and now competes in its successor tournament Pacific Nations Cup. Fiji also regularly plays test matches during the June and November test windows. They have beaten the major rugby playing sides of Wales, Scotland, Australia, France, Italy, Argentina and England. The only major sides Fiji are yet to beat are New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland.

The "Flying Fijians" as they are nicknamed compete every four years at the Rugby World Cup. Their best performances were the 1987, 2007 and 2023 tournaments when they defeated Argentina, Wales and Australia respectively to reach the quarterfinals.

Fiji is one of the few countries where rugby union is the main sport. There are approximately 80,000 registered players from a total population of around 950,000. One obstacle for Fiji is simply getting their rugby players to play for the national team, as many have contracts in Europe or with Super Rugby teams where the money is far more rewarding. The repatriated salaries of its overseas stars have become an important part of some local economies.

The cibi (pronounced ) war dance is performed by the Fiji rugby team before each Test match. It has been used on the rugby field since 1939, though its origins date back to the country's warring times with its Pacific neighbours.

Early years
Rugby was first played in Fiji by European and Fijian soldiers of the Native Constabulary at Ba, on Viti Levu Island in 1884. In 1913 a Union was founded for the European settlers.

In December 1913, the All Blacks, who had been touring so very successfully in California, were on their way back to New Zealand. The Fiji RFU arranged a game with them at Albert Park, the first representative match to be played in the colony. The Fiji team were Europeans. The All Blacks won 67–3; Fiji's points came from a try scored by their captain and coach, PJ Sheehan. By 1914 a 'native competition' was started and in 1915 a Fiji Native Union was begun and became affiliated to the Fiji RFU.

Inter-war period
Fiji played their first international against Western Samoa in Apia, Samoa on 18 August 1924. Fiji's 20-man squad came exclusively from the five registered native clubs of the time. The match was played at 7 am to allow the Samoans time to get to work afterwards and was played on a pitch with a large tree on the halfway line. Fiji wore black and won 6–0 despite playing barefoot. The return match was won 9–3 by Samoa to draw the series. The first-ever Fiji test team continued their overseas adventure with a nine-match tour of Tonga. Though Fiji lost the first test played in Nukualofa 9–6, they were not to lose again, taking the second test 14–3 then drawing the decider 0–0. They won all six of the matches against non-test opposition.

Auckland University College were the first overseas side to visit Fiji in 1926, The Kiwi students played the Fiji Europeans and finished the three-match series with a win, loss and draw. Tonga also visited Fiji that year and for the first time Fiji played in their present strip of white jersey, palm tree badge and black shorts. The three match series finished level with Tonga winning the first test 9–6; Fiji winning the second 14–3 and the final game a 0–0 draw.

During the 1927 season, a General Meeting was called for the purpose of arranging a return visit to New Zealand at the invitation of Auckland University. Some 30 players expressed their willingness to make the trip, but after all arrangements had been made, there were insufficient players available so management cancelled the trip, much to the regret of Auckland.

Between 1924 and 1938 Fiji and Tonga played three test series every alternate year. During this period this was the only representative rugby union that Fiji played. Matches between the two Pacific nations were hard fought; many have claimed that the ancient feuding wars between the Islanders were transplanted onto the rugby field. Troubles during the third Test of Fiji's 1928 tour to Tonga forced the game to be abandoned with Tonga losing 11–8. The first New Zealand Māori team to visit Fiji came in 1938. Fijians played in boots for the first time but there was still a tendency to take off boots during the match and throw them to the touch-line. On the five-match tour, the Māori beat Fiji 2nd XV and Fiji Europeans before playing a three match series. The first test ended in a 3–3 draw, the second an 11–5 win for the Fijians and the Māori won the final test 6–3 to square the series.

In 1939 Fiji toured New Zealand for the first time. Fiji's captain for that tour, Ratu Sir George Cakobau, decided that his side should have a war dance to rival the haka. He approached Ratu Bola, the high chief of the warrior clan of Navusaradave in Bau, who taught them the cibi which has been Fiji's pre-match ritual ever since. With many players still preferring to play barefoot, the Fijians played with a care-free spirit and created history by becoming the first team to go through a full tour of New Zealand unbeaten, winning seven and drawing one, a record that stands to this day. They played and beat the Māori again 14–4.

Post-war era
Fiji successfully toured New Zealand again in 1951. They beat the New Zealand Māori 21–14. Fiji's first tour of Australia helped the Australian Rugby Union recover from the brink of bankruptcy in 1952. The Test series was drawn 1–1 in front of record crowds. Australia won the first test 15–9 but the Fijians took the second with a 17–15 win.

A second tour of Australia took place in 1954 and again drew record crowds. Again Australia won the first test but only by 22–19. The test series was drawn 1–1 after Fiji won the second test 18–16. The same year Fiji played host to Western Samoa. Fiji toured New Zealand again in 1957 and beat the Māori 36–13 in Dunedin and 17–8 in Wellington, then defeated a strong Auckland team 38–17.

In 1964 Fiji toured Europe for the first time, they played five memorable games in Wales, culminating in a classic encounter in Cardiff that was talked about for years. Wales won 28–22 but conceded six tries for just the second time in their history. In 1970 a rampant Fijian side destroyed the Barbarians 29–9 at Gosforth. A last-minute try saw New Zealand safely through 14–13 over Fiji in Suva in 1974.

In August 1977 the British Lions made a stopover in Fiji on the way home from their tour of New Zealand. Fiji beat them 25–21 at Buckhurst Park, Suva. In 1982 Fiji beat Vancouver XV to begin a 15-match winning streak through to 1984.

Modern era
Fiji played their first full test against Wales in Cardiff in 1985, the home pack dominating in a 40–3 win with two tries to Phil Davies. Fiji were also heavily beaten by Llanelli and Cardiff, but lost by just one point in their test with Ireland.

Wales visited Suva the following year, where captain Dai Pickering's summer tour was to a premature end when he suffered concussion. Richard Moriarty took over and saw his side's 13–0 lead cut to a single point before Wales pulled away for a 15–22 win.

In 1987 Fiji made the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup and seemed close to beating France according to the match referee, at one point even leading 4-3, but were eventually ground down by the French 31-16.

In 1991 Rugby World Cup Fiji lost all three of its matches and finished bottom of its pool. Wales' third test win over Fiji came in Suva in 1994. The tourists fielded a weakened line-up to allow all their squad a game, but they were good enough to run out 23–8 victors.

Fiji had a troubled tour of Wales and Ireland in 1995, losing six of nine games with defeat to Neath, Cardiff and Pontypridd. However, they managed to run Wales close at the Arms Park, losing only 15–19. They failed to qualify for the 1995 World Cup having lost to Tonga and Western Samoa.

Fiji rebuilt ahead of the 1999 World Cup, new coach Brad Johnstone instilling discipline and determination into their set-piece play. They made a winning start by beating Canada and Namibia and again seemed about to beat France in Toulouse when things went wrong. A controversial refereeing performance from Paddy O'Brien was felt to have cost them a win over France, Fiji losing 28–19. They did make the quarter-final play-off but lost 45–24 to the combative games; England at Twickenham. Soon after the tournament Johnstone departed for Italy.

In 2001 Fiji were crowned Pacific Rim champions, defeating Samoa 28–17 in the final in Tokyo. Fiji's played Wales again at the Millennium Stadium in November 2002. Two tries and 21 points from the boot of Stephen Jones helped the home side to a comfortable 58–14 win.

Fiji began their 2003 Rugby World Cup qualifying campaign in June 2002 when the three leading Pacific Island nations faced each other in a round robin in the second round of the Oceania zone qualifiers. The Fijians started with defeats of Samoa and Tonga, but their loss to Samoa on home soil meant that they had to beat Tonga by more than 20 points to finish top of the pool. This they duly did with a 47–20 win in Nadi. At the World Cup they beat Japan 41–13 and narrowly survived a scare against the US Eagles winning 19–18. However a 20–22 loss against Scotland and an 18–61 beating by France saw them finish third in their pool and fail to qualify for the knock-out stage.

Results since have been mixed for Fiji. Although they have traditionally been the strongest of the Pacific Nations, they were beaten 29–27 by New Zealand Maori in 2004 and went down 91–0 by the All Blacks. In July 2005, five Fiji internationals were banned from playing international rugby for the rest of the year following a drunken brawl in Japan after a Pacific Five Nations match.  Their 2007 season started off as one of Fiji's worst seasons. They had a very inexperienced team and lost to both pacific rivals Tonga and Samoa, and suffered heavy defeats to Australia and the Junior All Blacks. The only win for Fiji at the 2007 "Pacific 6 Nations" was against Japan, however they did manage an unexpected 14–14 draw against Australia A. With most of Fiji's more experienced players back in the team Fiji slowly improved in the 2007 world cup to qualify for the quarter finals for the first time in 20 years.

2007 Rugby World Cup
Fiji were placed in Pool B of the 2007 Rugby World Cup along with Wales, Canada, Japan and Australia. After beating Japan and Canada in close matches, Fiji rested several key players against Australia for the crucial game against Wales. Australia defeated Fiji by 55–12. Fiji's fate in the tournament came down to a "winner advances" game against Wales which Fiji won 38–34 and qualified for the quarter-finals for the second time. Former Wallaby great Michael Lynagh described the see-sawing match as one of the best matches "of all time". Fiji lost their quarter final match against South Africa, however their above expectations performance in the tournament resulted in them moving up to 9th in the world rankings – their highest ever position at the time. Shannon Fraser and Gregg Mumm from Australia acted as assistant coaches for the period leading up to the world cup and were accredited for much of the Fijians side's success.

2011 Rugby World Cup
Fiji was placed in Pool D of the 2011 Rugby World Cup along with South Africa, Wales, Samoa and Namibia. Fiji won their first match against Namibia with 49–25. But it could not manage to repeat 2007 World Cup performance. They lost to South Africa, Wales and Samoa with huge margins. Final scores were 3–49 against South Africa, 7–27 against Samoa & 0–66 against Wales.

2023 Rugby World Cup
Fiji was placed in Pool C of the 2023 Rugby World Cup along with Georgia, Australia, Wales and Portugal. Fiji played against Wales in their opening match and ultimately lost to Wales with 32-26. The match was highly controversial due to the decisions of referee Matthew Carley, whose decisions attracted many complaints from Fijian fans, former rugby players and former Fiji 7s coach Ben Ryan, this was due to his decision to not give Wales a yellow card on multiple warnings after multiple penalties in their red zone and giving Fiji a yellow card after one offense in the red zone. Fiji then played against Australia on the 18th of September and it was a historic match for the team as Fiji beat Australia 15-22 and this was Fiji's first ever victory over Australia since 1954.

Wins against Tier 1 nations
Fiji have recorded 15 wins against tier 1 opposition. In addition, Fiji drew with Australia 3-3 on 1 July 1961 at the Olympic Park Stadium, Melbourne, Australia, as well as 16-16 with Wales on 19 November 2010 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales.

Record
Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Fiji national XV at test level up until 16 July 2024.

Pacific Nations Cup
Fiji previously competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations winning 9 tournaments. The Pacific Nations Cup replaced the Tri-Nations tournament in 2006. Fiji have won six tournaments.

Kit history
Fiji traditionally plays with a home kit consisting of a white shirt, black shorts and black and white hooped socks. The away kit traditionally used to be a white and black hooped shirt with white shorts and hooped socks, although since KooGa's tenure as supplier, colours such as light blue or black were used. Since 2010, some jerseys started to have patterns similar to those found on the masi cloths on the jersey designs.

Current squad
On 6 June, head coach Mick Byrne named a 33-player squad for upcoming tests in July.

Head Coach: 🇦🇺 Mick Byrne
 * Caps Updated: 20 July 2024 (after game v New Zealand)

Most caps
Last updated: New Zealand vs Fiji, 19 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries
Last updated: New Zealand vs Fiji, 19 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points
Last updated: New Zealand vs Fiji, 19 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points in a match
Last updated: New Zealand vs Fiji, 19 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries in a match
Last updated: New Zealand vs Fiji, 19 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most matches as captain
Last updated: New Zealand vs Fiji, 19 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Notable players

 * Sireli Bobo
 * Alex Rokobaro
 * Rupeni Caucaunibuca
 * Bill Cavubati
 * Vilimoni Delasau
 * Alivereti Doviverata
 * Sisa Koyamaibole
 * Sunia Koto
 * Maleli Kunavore
 * Kele Leawere
 * Josefa Levula
 * Norman Ligairi
 * Nicky Little
 * Isa Nacewa
 * Noa Nadruku
 * Apenisa Naevo
 * Semisi Naevo
 * Sireli Naqelevuki
 * Timoci Nagusa
 * Napolioni Nalaga
 * Seru Rabeni
 * Simon Raiwalui
 * Kameli Ratuvou
 * Jacob Rauluni
 * Mosese Rauluni
 * Iferemi Rawaqa
 * Apolosi Satala
 * Viliame Satala
 * Waisale Serevi
 * Ilivasi Tabua
 * Netani Talei
 * Setareki Tawake
 * Aisea Tuilevu
 * Joeli Veitayaki
 * Joeli Vidiri
 * Marika Vunibaka
 * Akapusi Qera

Nat Uluiviti, who also played for the Fiji national cricket team.

title: Fiji national rugby union team


text:
Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer

Unico Wilhelm, Count van Wassenaer Obdam (30 October 1692 – 9 November 1766) was a Dutch nobleman who was a diplomat as well as a composer. He reorganized the Bailiwick of Utrecht of the Teutonic Order. His most important surviving compositions are the Concerti Armonici, which until 1980 had been misattributed to the Italian composer Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710–1736) and to Carlo Ricciotti (1681–1756).

Early years
Van Wassenaer was born into a distinguished family of wealth, power and accomplishment—the House of Wassenaer. His grandfather, Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam, was supreme commander of the confederate Dutch navy, and was killed in battle in 1665 in the Second Anglo-Dutch War; his father, Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam (younger), served as a general of the army in the War of the Spanish Succession, but ruined his military reputation in 1703 in the Battle of Ekeren, and spent the rest of his career as a diplomat.

Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer was born in the family castle of Twickel, near Delden, on 30 October 1692, the son of Jacob van Wassenaer Obdam (1645–1714) and Adriana Sophia Raesfelt (died 1694). He grew up in the Hague, where he was taught to play the harpsichord and violin. In 1707-09 he stayed with his father and three sisters in Düsseldorf at the court of Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine. The strong Italian influences at the court had a major influence on his musical development. On 18 September 1710 Unico Wilhelm was admitted to the University of Leiden to study law. In December 1711 he interrupted his studies to go to Frankfurt for the coronation of the Emperor Charles VI. In June 1713, after completing his studies, he returned to Düsseldorf where his father and sisters had settled. He may have accompanied Arent van Wassenaer Duyvenvoorde on a visit to Britain in 1715–16. He made a grand tour of France and Italy in 1717–18.

In 1723 Unico Wilhelm married Dodonea Lucia van Goslinga (the daughter of Sicco van Goslinga), with whom he had three children.

Official positions
Unico Wilhelm had inherited the estate of Twickel from his father in 1714 and three years later was admitted as a knight of Overijssel. He lived in this region from 1719 to 1724, when he accepted a position in Holland. His older brother Johan Hendrik found him a position as water manager of the Rhineland (1723), counsel to the Admiralty (1724) and governor of the Dutch East India Company (1734). These jobs kept him in and around the Hague. After his brother died in 1745 he moved into the Van Wassenaer house in the Kneuterdijk. A year later he was admitted into the Dutch knighthood. Unico Wilhelm continued to spend part of his time at Twickel, and in 1726 he had maps made of this property and the rest of his inheritance.

In 1744 Unico Wilhelm was sent on a diplomatic mission to the French court, and in the autumn of 1744 and again in 1745 he was sent to the court of Clemens August, Elector of Cologne. In 1746 he went again to France, and finally in 1746–47 to Breda for further discussions with the French. Although clearly intelligent, Unico Wilhelm was not a natural diplomat. Unico Wilhelm was a commander of the Bailiwick of Utrecht of the Teutonic Order. He was made coadjutor in 1753, and introduced administrative and managerial innovations. In 1761 he was made Commander of the order. He died in The Hague on November 9, 1766.

Music
While based at the Hague between 1725 and 1740, Unico Wilhelm wrote the six Concerti Armonici. The Concerti armonici, published anonymously in 1740, were printed in London in 1755 as compositions by the violinist and impresario Carlo Ricciotti (c. 1681–1756). It has since been established that these were the work of Unico Wilhelm. There is no evidence that Ricciotti wrote any music. The concerti were dedicated to Wilhelm's friend, Count Willem Bentinck. The slow movements of the concerti have expressive beauty.

The Polish composer Franciszek Lessel (1780–1838) asserted incorrectly that the concertos were written by Pergolesi. Since the style of the concertos is Italian, laid out in typical Roman fashion with four parts for violin and consisting of four parts instead of the Venetian three, they are comparable to works by Pietro Locatelli.

However, in 1979–1980 a manuscript of the six concerti was found in the archives of Twickel Castle (the castle where Van Wassenaer was born)  labeled "Concerti Armonici." Although the handwriting was not by Van Wassenaer, the manuscript did have an introduction in his hand, reading: "Partition de mes concerts gravez par le Sr. Ricciotti". Because of the research done by the Dutch musicologist Albert Dunning, there can be no doubt that the concerti were, in fact, written by Van Wassenaer.

Dunning quotes the composer's Foreword in full--

"Score of my concertos, engraved by Signor Ricciotti. These concertos were composed at different times between 1725 and 1740. When they were ready, I took them along to the musical gathering organized in The Hague by Mr Bentinck, myself and some foreign gentlemen.

Ricciotti played the first violin. Afterwards I allowed him to make a copy of the concertos. When all six were ready, he asked permission to have them engraved. Upon my refusal he enlisted the aid of Mr Bentinck, to whose strong representations I finally acquiesced, on condition that my name did not appear anywhere on the copy and that he put his name to it, as he did. Mr Bentinck wanted to dedicate them to me; I refused absolutely, after which he told Ricciotti to dedicate them to him. In this way these concertos were published against my wishes.

Some of them are tolerable, some middling, others wretched. Had they not been published, I would perhaps have corrected the mistakes in them, but other business has left me no leisure to amuse myself with them, and I would have caused their editor offence."

Concerto Armonico No. 2 in B flat Major (Allegro moderato) was among the works that formed the basis for Igor Stravinsky's Pulcinella, Tarantella, based on works considered at the time to be by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi.

Apart from Concerti Armonici, three sonatas for recorder and continuo were also discovered in the early 1990s.

title: Unico Wilhelm van Wassenaer


text:
Willard Richards

Willard Richards (June 24, 1804 – March 11, 1854) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement. He served as second counselor to church president Brigham Young in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1847 until his death.

Early life
Willard Richards was born in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, to Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe on June 24, 1804. He was the youngest of eleven children. At the age of four, he injured his head in a fall and was left with some residual muscle tremor and paralysis.

As a child, Richards was very inquisitive and would ask questions and read constantly. This was especially the case during the six months the local congregational minister resided in his parents' household. Because of his tendency to ask questions as to why things were how they were, he was denied admission to the local congregational church.

As the injury limited his physical activity, he focused his attention on education and obtained a teacher's certificate at age sixteen. He taught school in Chatham, New York, and in Lanesborough, Massachusetts. In 1823, he moved to Naussau, New York.

Richards pursued additional studies in physical mechanics and science, and studied the clarinet. At age 27, he became an itinerant lecturer, traveling throughout New England giving lectures on various scientific subjects.

At the age of thirty, after the death of his sister Susan, Richards decided to become a medical doctor. He studied at the Thomson Infirmary in Boston, focusing on medication and herbal preparations. He then settled in Holliston, Massachusetts, where he practiced medicine.

In 1836, Richards was introduced to the newly published Book of Mormon by his cousins, Joseph and Brigham Young. Richards read the book twice within ten days and soon made preparations to move to Kirtland, Ohio, to join the Church of the Latter Day Saints; a bout of "palsy", however, prevented him from traveling until a year later. Richards was baptized on December 31, 1836, by Brigham Young and ordained an elder on March 6, 1837.

Early church service
Shortly following his ordination as an elder, Richards was called on a brief three-month mission to the Eastern United States. Immediately upon his return, he was called on a more extended mission to Great Britain. This put him among the first missionaries of the LDS Church to go to Britain. Richards served a total of four years on his mission to Britain. He helped with the Millennial Star 's publication.

With his high level of education, Richards was often counseled by Heber C. Kimball to focus on the basic tenets of the gospel. Richards was the moving force behind establishing the first branch of the church in Manchester. He was appointed first counselor to the president of the European Mission, Joseph Fielding.

Marriage and Family

Richards married Jennetta Richards on September 24, 1838, while on a four-year mission to England. Their first child, named Heber John, was born on July 17, 1839, but died of smallpox just five months later in October. They had two surviving children, a son, also named Heber John, born in Manchester, England, in 1840, and a daughter, Rhoda Ann Jennetta, born in 1843 in Nauvoo, Illinois. Jennetta Richards was in poor health, and after traveling across the Atlantic Ocean in April 1841, Richards took her to live with his siblings in Richmond, Massachusetts, while he went on to Nauvoo, Illinois.

Richards was a close confidant of Joseph Smith, and became a practitioner of polygamy. There is indication that his first plural wife was 26-year-old Marinda Nancy Johnson Hyde, who was already married to Orson Hyde (Hyde was away on a mission at the time). Richards returned to Richmond and retrieved his wife Jennetta, arriving back in Nauvoo on November 21, 1842.

On January 18, 1843, Richards married sixteen-year-old Sarah Longstroth and fourteen-year-old Nanny Longstroth, who were sisters. Joseph Smith officiated the wedding. Richards married eleven wives in total.

Willard and Jennetta Richards were sealed on May 29, 1843, and were among the first couples to be sealed. After struggling with illness all her life, Jennetta died on July 9, 1845, at age twenty-seven.

Apostle
Richards was ordained an apostle on April 14, 1840, by Brigham Young. In 1841, he moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, to be with the body of the church. He was in Warsaw, Illinois, from September to December and did not take up residence in Nauvoo until December 1841. He was in Warsaw on a missionary assignment to found and supervise a settlement of church members there.

Richards was a member of the Nauvoo City Council from 1841 to 1843. He also was a member of the Masonic lodge at Nauvoo. In 1843 he was made recorder of the Nauvoo Municipal Court.

He became Joseph Smith's private secretary in December 1841, when he was also made recorder of the Nauvoo Temple. In December 1842, Richards was called to be the Church Historian and Recorder, a position he held until his death. In these two capacities, Richards maintained Smith's schedule and recorded most of his activities. As church historian, he subsequently wrote a total of 1,884 pages on the history of Smith. This work was later incorporated into The History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, edited by B. H. Roberts.

In July 1842, Richards went on a short mission to New England. In 1844, Richards was made the recorder of the Council of 50.

On May 4, 1842, Richards was one of nine men to whom Smith presented the endowment.

Richards was incarcerated in Carthage Jail with Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and John Taylor on June 27, 1844, when the jail was attacked by a mob and the Smiths were murdered. Taylor was shot four times and severely injured, but survived the attack. Richards was unhurt and so supervised the removal of the bodies of Taylor and the Smiths. Over a year prior to the attack, Joseph Smith had told Richards that "the time would come that the balls would fly around him like hail, and he should see his friends fall on the right and on the left, but that there should not be a hole in his garment." His first-hand account of the event was published in the Times and Seasons.

Richards, his cousin Brigham Young, and other church elders left Nauvoo in February 1846, spending the remainder of the year at Winter Quarters, Nebraska. This first group entered into the Salt Lake Valley on July 24, 1847. They then went back to Winter Quarters, arriving on August 21, 1847, to gather the families for the Mormon Exodus of 1848.

First Presidency
Richards was called as Second Counselor to Brigham Young in the First Presidency on December 27, 1847, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. After moving to Utah, Richards was involved in establishing the Deseret News, serving as its first Editor-in-Chief.

In the provisional state of Deseret, Richards served as both secretary and president of the council. Once Utah was organized as a territory, he served as its secretary. He was also postmaster of Salt Lake City.

Death and legacy
Richards died in Salt Lake City on March 11, 1854, and was buried at Salt Lake City Cemetery. He was 49 years old. He was described as "calm and even minded" despite his physical challenges.

title: Willard Richards


text:
Louis Caldera

Louis Edward Caldera (born April 1, 1956) is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who served as the director of the White House Military Office from January to May 2009, as the 17th United States Secretary of the Army from July 1998 to January 2001 and as a California State Assemblyman from January 1992 to January 1997.

Family and education
The son of Mexican immigrants Soledad and Benjamin Caldera, Caldera was born on April 1, 1956, in El Paso, Texas. His family left Texas for California when he was 4 years old, living briefly in public housing in the Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles before moving to the suburb of Whittier. Caldera graduated from Monte Vista High School in 1974. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1978 from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, then served on active duty from 1978 to 1983, mostly at Fort Dix, New Jersey. He went on to enroll at Harvard University and in 1987, earned a joint J.D./M.B.A. degree from Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School respectively.

While studying at Harvard, he met his wife, Eva Orlebeke Caldera; together they have three daughters - Allegra, Sophia, and Camille, all of whom are Harvard undergraduates.

Law career
After graduating from Harvard, Caldera practiced law from 1987 to 1990 at O'Melveny & Myers, then from 1990 to 1991 at Buchalter, Nemer, Fields and Younger. From 1991 to 1992 he was a Deputy Counsel for Los Angeles County.

California State Assembly
Caldera served as a California State Assemblyman from 1992 to 1997, representing the nearly 400,000 residents of California's 46th State Assembly district, which is located in and around downtown Los Angeles. As an Assemblyman, he served as chairman of the Banking and Finance Committee, the Revenue and Taxation Committee, and the Budget Committee.

Secretary of the Army
Before finishing his third term in the Assembly, Caldera resigned to begin serving as managing director and chief operating officer for President Bill Clinton's Corporation for National and Community Service (1997–1998), a domestic volunteer program.

On May 22, 1998, Clinton announced Caldera as his selection for Secretary of the Army. On July 2, 1998, Caldera was sworn in as the 17th Secretary of the Army by Secretary of Defense William Cohen.

Other positions
He went on to serve as Vice Chancellor for University Advancement in the California State University System, the largest four-year university system in the country.

Caldera became the 18th president of the University of New Mexico (UNM) in August 2003, and left that position in January 2006. Caldera's selection was controversial, considering there was a lack of faculty approval prior to his official selection. The UNM General Faculty took a vote on the appointment of Caldera, and 78% voted against his appointment. Many students pointed out that he did not have a PhD, and would be in a position of overseeing PhD candidates. Still, others chose to point out that Caldera had more than a few conflicts of interest as a former Secretary of the Army and as a member of several corporate boards.

Caldera's contract with the University granted him an appointment as a tenured member of the University of New Mexico School of Law faculty, despite never having taught a law school course prior to his appointment.

Caldera served on the board of directors of IndyMac Bank from 2002 until its failure, and subsequent seizure by the government, in July 2008.

Caldera served on the board of directors for Southwest Airlines until he submitted his resignation, effective January 15, 2009, in connection with his selection to serve as director of the White House Military Office.

In June 2010 Caldera was appointed to the role of Vice President of Programs for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, a non-profit organization that has awarded 1,200 scholarships totaling more than $60 million to high-achieving low-income students, and has given more than $46 million in grants to nonprofit organizations that have similar missions. Caldera left the Cooke Foundation in March 2012.

Caldera is now President of "Caldera Associates", where he "provide(s) consulting services to for-profit and non-profit clients in the national security, education, philanthropic and human services delivery sectors".

Louis Caldera is a Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law and a Senior Affiliate in the Program on Law and Government at American University Washington College of Law (WCL). Prior to joining WCL, Caldera taught courses in Legislation and Legislative Process, Election Law/Law of Democracy, State and Local Advocacy, and Corporate Governance at Loyola Law School, The University of New Mexico, and The George Washington University.

Aircraft photo mission controversy
During his tenure as director of the White House Military Office, Caldera approved a mission conducted on April 27, 2009, where a Boeing VC-25 (a Boeing 747 military variant that is denominated Air Force One when the president of the United States is aboard), followed by an F-16 military fighter jet, performed low-altitude fly-overs of New York City and New Jersey. The mission "was set up to create an iconic shot of Air Force One, similar to one that was taken in recent years over the Grand Canyon."

While the FAA and select local authorities were given some degree of notification in advance, many other officials and the general public were not. The fly-over of the lower Manhattan financial district created a panic. Many feared it was another terrorist attack like the one that destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, or an aborted attack attempt, because of the F-16 following the presidential plane. This led scores of people to leave their desks and large office buildings to be evacuated in a speedy but impromptu fashion.

New York City police stated that "federal authorities" told them not to disclose information about the fly-over to the public in advance. President Obama was also not informed beforehand. Like New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, President Obama only learned of the incident after the disturbance it caused was already being reported by journalists, bloggers, websites and news outlets.

The incident brought intense scrutiny and numerous highly critical comments directed at Caldera. White House officials said President Obama was fuming mad and did not see the need for a new Air Force One publicity photo anyway. Mayor Bloomberg condemned the low flyover and the failure to provide public notice, saying he himself had not been adequately notified, that he was "furious", and that it showed "poor judgment". Senator John McCain stated the flyover photo op was "a fundamentally unsound exercise in military judgment and may have constituted an inappropriate use of Department of Defense resources." The cost of setting up the flyover photo was reportedly $328,835. Observers noted that an expense like this would have been incurred whether or not the photo shoot had been carried out. VC-25 flying time requirements dictate the need for regular training flights. Had the flyover not been ordered, a similar expense would have been incurred in the normal course of VC-25 flight training.

After meeting with White House officials Caldera issued a public apology for the incident, stating: "Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

Following an investigation into how the decision to conduct the flight had been reached, directed by Deputy White House Chief of Staff Jim Messina, Caldera announced his resignation on May 8, 2009, effective May 22, 2009. Notable in the investigation is Caldera's explanation of why he did not read an email from his Deputy Director, George Mulligan: "During our interview, the Director (Caldera) also offered another explanation for his failure to read the email. When he returned from Mexico, he was suffering from severe muscle spasms in his back. Doctors prescribed pain medications, he had difficulty walking around the office, and he went home early a couple days."

title: Louis Caldera


text:
Tonga national rugby union team

The Tonga national rugby union team (timi feohi ʻakapulu fakafonua ʻa Tonga) represents the Tonga Rugby Union in men's international rugby union. The team is nicknamed Ikale Tahi (Sea Eagles). Like their Polynesian neighbours, the Tongans start their matches with a traditional challenge – the Sipi Tau. They are members of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance (PIRA) along with Fiji and Samoa. The Ikale Tahi achieved a historic 19–14 victory over France in the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but having lost to New Zealand and Canada, were unable to achieve what would have been their first-ever presence at the quarter-finals.

History
Rugby was brought to the region in the early 20th century by sailors and missionaries, and the Tonga Rugby Football Union was formed in late 1923. Tonga beat Fiji 9–6 in their first test in 1924 played in the capital Nukualofa. However, Tonga lost the second test 14–3 and drew the decider 0–0.

Between 1924 and 1938 Tonga and Fiji played three test series every alternate year. Matches between the two Pacific nations were hard fought; many have claimed that the ancient feuding wars between the Islanders were transplanted onto the rugby field. Troubles during the third Test of Fiji's 1928 tour to Tonga forced the game to be abandoned with Tonga leading 11–8. In 1954 Tonga played host to a touring Western Samoa.

Tonga beat New Zealand Maori in 1969, but had to wait until 1973 before they played their second test match, a 30–12 defeat against Australia in Sydney. They got their revenge when they beat Australia in Ballymore, Brisbane 16–11, scoring four tries to two in June 1973. The following year they traveled to the Arms Park for a non-cap international against Wales, a game that ended in a 26–7 defeat.

The first Tongan tour to Great Britain was in 1974, when they played 10 games, including those in Wales against East Wales, Llanelli, North Wales, Newport, West Wales and a Wales XV. The only tour victory was by 18–13 in the opener against East Wales. The 'tests' were lost by 44–8 to a Scotland XV and by 26–7 to the Wales XV.

They remained a little-known quantity in Europe until 1986, when Wales embarked on a tour of Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa. Early in the game against Tonga, Welsh flanker Mark Brown was knocked over by three Tongan forwards, leading to a mass brawl involving the entire team except Malcolm Dacey and Mark Titley. Robert Jones describes the event in his book Raising The Dragon as "the worst brawl I have ever seen on a rugby field." At the post-match dinner Jonathan Davies was asked to give a few words in Welsh and as the hosts politely applauded he described them as "the dirtiest team I have ever played against"

Tonga were drawn to play Wales again in the inaugural 1987 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. The previous meeting, plus the decision to rest some of the leading players, led to a poor Welsh performance though they managed to win 29–16. Tonga lost its other two games to Ireland (32–9) and Canada (37–4).

They failed to qualify for the 1991 Rugby World Cup. In 1994 they won the South Pacific championship on try count and so qualified for the Super 10, in which they finished bottom of their pool with only one point.

They qualified for the 1995 World Cup ahead of Fiji on points difference. Tonga managed only two victories in the next two World Cups, against the 29–11 Côte d'Ivoire in 1995 and Italy in 1999. The win over the Côte d'Ivoire brought tragedy when Ivorian winger Max Brito was left paralyzed.

June 1999 brought a 20–16 defeat of France in Nukualofa over a touring France but in 2000 they were defeated 102–0 (including 15 tries) by New Zealand.

After losing their first four matches to Fiji and Samoa, Tonga finished third in the Oceania qualifying group. As a result, they had to play home and away matches against Papua New Guinea, which they won 47–14 and 84–12, followed by a play-off against South Korea, who finished as runners-up in the Asian section. Tonga thrashed them 75–0 and 119–0.

At the 2003 Rugby World Cup Tonga lost all their games and finished bottom of their pool. Although they kept Wales to 20–27, they were again thrashed by New Zealand 91–7.

In 2007 Tonga participated in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, winning two of their pool matches and nearly defeating the eventual champions, South Africa, before losing 30–25.

Tonga achieved one of the most unexpected victories in Rugby World Cup history with their 19–14 win over France in the 2011 World Cup.

On 24 November 2012, Tonga beat Scotland, at Pittodrie Stadium, 21–15 for their first victory over a traditional rugby power on a European pitch.

Sipi Tau
Like several Pacific rugby nations, Tonga has a pre-game war dance, called the Sipi Tau. It is a form of the Kailao, which was originally a war dance that was imported to Tonga from Wallis Island. It is usually performed at both public and private ceremonies.

During the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, in Tonga's match against the All Blacks, the All Blacks began their traditional haka, and then Tonga answered to the haka through the sipi tau whilst the All Blacks were performing, bringing the teams within metres of one another just prior to kick-off.

Wins against Tier 1 nations
Tonga have recorded six wins against tier 1 opposition.

Overall record
Below is table of the representative rugby matches played by a Tongan national XV at test level up until 17 July 2024.

Pacific Nations Cup
Tonga previously competed in the Pacific Tri-Nations winning three tournaments. The Pacific Nations Cup replaced the Tri-Nations tournament in 2006. Tonga have yet to win a tournament.

Current squad
On 21 June 2024, newly appointed head coach Tevita Tuʻifua named a 35-man squad for Tonga's July tests against Spain and Italy.

Head Coach: 🇹🇴 Tevita Tuʻifua
 * Caps Updated: 19 July 2024 (after game v Spain)

Current coaching staff
The current coaching staff of the Tongan national team:

Most caps
Last updated: Tonga vs Italy, 12 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries
Last updated: Tonga vs Italy, 12 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Leading point scorers
Last updated: Tonga vs Italy, 12 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most points in a match
Last updated: Tonga vs Italy, 12 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most tries in a match
Last updated: Tonga vs Italy, 12 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Most matches as captain
Last updated: Tonga vs Italy, 12 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Youngest players
Last updated: Tonga vs Italy, 12 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Oldest players
Last updated: Tonga vs Italy, 12 July 2024. Statistics include officially capped matches only.

Kit history
Tonga usually wears a home kit consisting of a red shirt, white shorts and red socks and an away kit with the reversed colours. In the 1999 Rugby World Cup, Tonga wore an all-red home kit. Since 2007, Tongan traditional designs, similar to the ones found on the tapa cloths, were incorporated on the jersey design.

Kit manufacturers:
 * Tonga wore Samurai Sportswear kits in the matches against Maori All Blacks and Japan in 2008
 * Tonga wore kits manufactured by the local brand Aoniu in the 2008 end-of-year international tours.

Notable former players

 * ‘Otenili Tu‘ipulotu
 * Inoke Afeaki
 * Stanley Afeaki
 * Sona Taumalolo
 * Ipolito Fenukitau
 * Salesi Finau
 * Soane Tongaʻuiha
 * Taufaʻao Filise

 * Aisea Havili
 * Pierre Hola
 * Benhur Kivalu
 * Nili Latu
 * Sililo Martens
 * Maama Molitika
 * Mana Otai
 * Siale Piutau

 * Hale T-Pole
 * Lisiate Tafa
 * Epi Taione
 * Josh Taumalolo

title: Tonga national rugby union team


text:
Common Security and Defence Policy

The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP).

The CSDP involves the deployment of military or civilian missions to preserve peace, prevent conflict and strengthen international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. Military missions are carried out by EU forces established with secondments from the member states' armed forces. The CSDP also entails collective self-defence amongst member states as well as a Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in which 26 of the 27 national armed forces pursue structural integration. The CSDP structure – headed by the Union's High Representative (HR/VP), Josep Borrell, and sometimes referred to as the European Defence Union (EDU) in relation to its prospective development as the EU's defence arm   – comprises:

 * the European Commission's Defence Industry Directorate-General
 * the External Action Service's (EEAS) Crisis Management and Planning Directorate (CMPD) and permanent Operation Headquarters (OHQs) for command and control (C2) at the military/civilian strategic level, i.e. the MPCC and CPCC.
 * a number of Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) preparatory bodies – such as the Military Committee (EUMC)
 * four agencies, including the Defence Agency (EDA)

The EU command and control structures are much smaller than the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Command Structure (NCS), which has been established for territorial defence. It has been agreed that NATO's Allied Command Operations (ACO) may be used for the conduct of the EU's missions. The MPCC, established in 2017 and to be strengthened in 2020, is the EU's first permanent military OHQ. In parallel, the newly established European Defence Fund (EDF) marks the first time the EU budget is used to finance multinational defence projects.

Decisions relating to the CSDP are proposed by the High Representative, adopted by the Foreign Affairs Council, generally requiring unanimity, to be then implemented by the High Representative.

History
The post-war period saw several short-lived or ill-fated initiatives for European defence integration intended to protect against potential Soviet or German aggression: The Western Union (WU, also referred to as the Brussels Treaty Organisation, BTO) and the proposed European Defence Community (EDC) were respectively cannibalised by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and rejected by the French Parliament. The largely dormant Western European Union (WEU) succeeded the WU's remainder in 1955.

In 1970 the European Political Cooperation (EPC) brought about the European Communities' (EC) initial foreign policy coordination. Opposition to the addition of security and defence matters to the EPC led to the reactivation of the WEU in 1984 by its member states, which were also EC member states.

European defence integration gained momentum soon after the end of the Cold War, partly as a result of the EC's failure to prevent the Yugoslav Wars. In 1992, the WEU was given new tasks, and the following year the Treaty of Maastricht founded the EU and replaced the EPC with the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) pillar. In 1996 NATO agreed to let the WEU develop a so-called European Security and Defence Identity (ESDI). The 1998 St. Malo declaration signalled that the traditionally hesitant United Kingdom was prepared to provide the EU with autonomous defence structures. This facilitated the transformation of the ESDI into the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) in 1999, when it was transferred to the EU. In 2003 the EU deployed its first CSDP missions, and adopted the European Security Strategy identifying common threats and objectives. In 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon introduced the present name, CSDP, while establishing the EEAS, the mutual defence clause and enabling a subset of member states to pursue defence integration within PESCO. In 2011 the WEU, whose tasks had been transferred to the EU, was dissolved. In 2016 a new security strategy was introduced, which along with the Russian annexation of Crimea, the British withdrawal from the EU and the election of Trump as US president have given the CSDP a new impetus.

Deployments
The first deployment of European troops under the ESDP, following the 1999 declaration of intent, was in March 2003 in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM, today: North Macedonia). Operation Concordia used NATO assets and was considered a success and replaced by a smaller police mission, EUPOL Proxima, later that year. Since then, there have been other small police, justice and monitoring missions. As well as in the FYROM, the EU has maintained its deployment of peacekeepers in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as part of Operation Althea.

Between May and September 2003 EU troops were deployed to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during "Operation Artemis" under a mandate given by UN Security Council Resolution 1484 which aimed to prevent further atrocities and violence in the Ituri Conflict and put the DRC's peace process back on track. This laid out the "framework nation" system to be used in future deployments. The EU returned to the DRC during July–November 2006 with EUFOR RD Congo, which supported the UN mission there during the country's elections.

Geographically, EU missions outside the Balkans and the DRC have taken place in Georgia, Indonesia, Sudan, Palestine, and Ukraine–Moldova. There is also a judicial mission in Iraq (EUJUST Lex). On 28 January 2008, the EU deployed its largest and most multi-national mission to Africa, EUFOR Tchad/RCA. The UN-mandated mission involves troops from 25 EU states (19 in the field) deployed in areas of eastern Chad and the north-eastern Central African Republic in order to improve security in those regions. EUFOR Tchad/RCA reached full operation capability in mid-September 2008, and handed over security duties to the UN (MINURCAT mission) in mid-March 2009.

The EU launched its first maritime CSDP operation on 12 December 2008 (Operation Atalanta). The concept of the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) was created on the back of this operation, which is still successfully combatting piracy off the coast of Somalia almost a decade later. A second such intervention was launched in 2015 to tackle migration problems in the southern Mediterranean (EUNAVFOR Med), working under the name Operation SOPHIA.

Most of the CSDP missions deployed so far are mandated to support security sector reforms (SSR) in host-states. One of the core principles of CSDP support to SSR is local ownership. The EU Council defines ownership as "the appropriation by the local authorities of the commonly agreed objectives and principles". Despite EU's strong rhetorical attachment to the local ownership principle, research shows that CSDP missions continue to be an externally driven, top-down and supply-driven endeavour, resulting often in the low degree of local participation.

Structure
The CSDP involves military or civilian missions being deployed to preserve peace, prevent conflict and strengthen international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. Military missions are carried out by EU forces established with contributions from the member states' armed forces. The CSDP also entails collective self-defence amongst member states as well as a Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) in which 26 of the 27 national armed forces pursue structural integration. The CSDP structure, headed by the Union's High Representative (HR/VP), Josep Borrell, comprises:
 * the Defence Industry Directorate-General of the European Commission
 * relevant sections of the External Action Service (EEAS) — including the Military Staff (EUMS) with its so-called Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC)
 * a number of Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) preparatory bodies – such as the Military Committee (EUMC)
 * four agencies, including the Defence Agency (EDA)

While the EU has a command and control (C2) structure, it has no standing permanent military structure along the lines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Allied Command Operations (ACO), although it has been agreed that ACO resources may be used for the conduct of the EU's CSDP missions. The MPCC, established in 2017 and to be strengthened in 2020, does however represent the EU's first step in developing a permanent military headquarters. In parallel, the newly established European Defence Fund (EDF) marks the first time the EU budget is used to finance multinational defence projects. The CSDP structure is sometimes referred to as the European Defence Union (EDU), especially in relation to its prospective development as the EU's defence arm.

Decisions relating to the CSDP are proposed by the HR/VP, adopted by the FAC, generally requiring unanimity, and then implemented by the HR/VP.

Strategy
The European Union Global Strategy (EUGS) is the updated doctrine of the EU to improve the effectiveness of the CSDP, including the defence and security of the members states, the protection of civilians, cooperation between the member states' armed forces, management of immigration, crises etc. Adopted on 28 June 2016, it replaces the European Security Strategy of 2003. The EUGS is complemented by a document titled "Implementation Plan on Security and Defense" (IPSD). Deterrence theory is applied to deter aggressors as one of the core mandates of Common Security and Defence Policy, yet lacks credibility due to insufficient resources.

Forces
A new Action Plan on military mobility and cyber resilience was released 10 November 2022.

National
The CSDP is implemented using civilian and military contributions from member states' armed forces, which also are obliged to collective self-defence based on Treaty on European Union (TEU).

Five EU states host nuclear weapons: France has its own nuclear programmes, while Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands host US nuclear weapons as part of NATO's nuclear sharing policy. Combined, the EU possesses 300 warheads, and hosts between 90 and 130 US warheads. Italy hosts 70-90 B61 nuclear bombs, while Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands 10-20 each one. The EU has the third largest arsenal of nuclear weapons, after the United States and Russia.

Expenditure and personnel
The following table presents the military expenditures of the members of the European Union in euros (€). The combined military expenditure of the member states amounted to €223.4 billion in 2018. This represents 1.4% of European Union GDP. European military expenditure includes spending on joint projects such as the Eurofighter Typhoon and joint procurement of equipment. The European Union's combined active military forces in 2016 totaled 1,410,626 personnel.

In a speech in 2012, Swedish General Håkan Syrén criticised the spending levels of European Union countries, saying that in the future those countries' military capability will decrease, creating "critical shortfalls".

Guide to table:
 * All figure entries in the table below are provided by the European Defence Agency for the year 2017, except for Germany's personnel figure, which is for 2016. Figures from other sources are not included.
 * The "operations & maintenance expenditure" category may in some circumstances also include finances on-top of the nations defence budget.
 * The categories "troops prepared for deployed operations" and "troops prepared for deployed and sustained operation" only include land force personnel.

Naval forces
The combined component strength of the naval forces of member states is some 514 commissioned warships. Of those in service, 4 are fleet carriers. The EU also has 4 amphibious assault ships and 20 amphibious support ships in service. Of the EU's 49 submarines, 10 are nuclear-powered submarines while 39 are conventional attack submarines.

Operation Atalanta (formally European Union Naval Force Somalia) is the first ever (and still ongoing) naval operation of the European Union. It is part of a larger global action by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis. As of January 2011 twenty-three EU nations participate in the operation.

France and Italy have blue-water navies.

Guide to table:
 * Ceremonial vessels, research vessels, supply vessels, training vessels, and icebreakers are not included.
 * The table only counts warships that are commissioned (or equivalent) and active.
 * Surface vessels displacing less than 200 tonnes are not included, regardless of other characteristics.
 * The "amphibious support ship" category includes amphibious transport docks and dock landing ships, and tank landing ships.
 * Frigates over 6,000 tonnes are classified as destroyers.
 * The "patrol vessel" category includes missile boats.
 * The "anti-mine ship" category includes mine countermeasures vessels, minesweepers and minehunters.
 * Generally, total tonnage of ships is more important than total number of ships, as it gives a better indication of capability.

Land forces
Combined, the member states of the European Union maintain large numbers of various land-based military vehicles and weaponry.

Guide to table:
 * The table is not exhaustive and primarily includes vehicles and EU-NATO member countries under the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty (CFE treaty). Unless otherwise specified.
 * The CFE treaty only includes vehicles stationed within Europe, vehicles overseas on operations are not counted.
 * The "main battle tank" category also includes tank destroyers (such as the Italian B1 Centauro) or any self-propelled armoured fighting vehicle, capable of heavy firepower. According to the CFE treaty.
 * The "armoured fighting vehicle" category includes any armoured vehicle primarily designed to transport infantry and equipped with an automatic cannon of at least 20 mm calibre. According to the CFE treaty.
 * The "artillery" category includes self-propelled or towed howitzers and mortars of 100 mm calibre and above. Other types of artillery are not included regardless of characteristics. According to the CFE treaty.
 * The "attack helicopter" category includes any rotary wing aircraft armed and equipped to engage targets or equipped to perform other military functions (such as the Apache or the Wildcat). According to the CFE treaty.
 * The "military logistics vehicle" category includes logistics trucks of 4-tonne, 8-tonne, 14-tonne or larger, purposely designed for military tasking. Not under CFE treaty.

Air forces
The air forces of EU member states operate a wide range of military systems and hardware. This is primarily due to the independent requirements of each member state and also the national defence industries of some member states. However such programmes like the Eurofighter Typhoon and Eurocopter Tiger have seen many European nations design, build and operate a single weapons platform. 60% of overall combat fleet was developed and manufactured by member states, 32% are US-origin, but some of these were assembled in Europe, while remaining 8% are soviet-made aircraft. As of 2014, it is estimated that the European Union had around 2,000 serviceable combat aircraft (fighter aircraft and ground-attack aircraft).

The EUs air-lift capabilities are evolving with the future introduction of the Airbus A400M (another example of EU defence cooperation). The A400M is a tactical airlifter with strategic capabilities. Around 140 are initially expected to be operated by 5 member states (Luxembourg, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium).

Guide to tables:
 * The tables are sourced from figures provided by Flight International for the year 2020.
 * Aircraft are grouped into three main types (indicated by colours): red for combat aircraft, green for aerial refueling aircraft, and grey for strategic and tactical transport aircraft.
 * The two "other" columns include additional aircraft according to their type sorted by colour (i.e. the "other" category in red includes combat aircraft, while the "other" category in grey includes both aerial refueling and transport aircraft). This was done because it was not feasible allocate every aircraft type its own column.
 * Other aircraft such as trainers, helicopters, UAVs and reconnaissance or surveillance aircraft are not included in the below tables or figures.

 * Fighter and ground-attack
 * Aerial refueling and transport

Established at Union level
The Helsinki Headline Goal Catalogue is a listing of rapid reaction forces composed of 60,000 troops managed by the European Union, but under control of the countries who deliver troops for it.

Forces introduced at Union level include:
 * The battle groups (BG) adhere to the CSDP, and are based on contributions from a coalition of member states. Each of the eighteen Battlegroups consists of a battalion-sized force (1,500 troops) reinforced with combat support elements. The groups rotate actively, so that two are ready for deployment at all times. The forces are under the direct control of the Council of the European Union. The Battlegroups reached full operational capacity on 1 January 2007, although, as of January 2013 they are yet to see any military action. They are based on existing ad hoc missions that the European Union (EU) has undertaken and has been described by some as a new "standing army" for Europe. The troops and equipment are drawn from the EU member states under a "lead nation". In 2004, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the plans and emphasised the value and importance of the Battlegroups in helping the UN deal with troublespots.
 * The Medical Command (EMC) is a planned medical command centre in support of EU missions, formed as part of the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). The EMC will provide the EU with a permanent medical capability to support operations abroad, including medical resources and a rapidly deployable medical task force. The EMC will also provide medical evacuation facilities, triage and resuscitation, treatment and holding of patients until they can be returned to duty, and emergency dental treatment. It will also contribute to harmonising medical standards, certification and legal (civil) framework conditions.
 * The Force Crisis Response Operation Core (EUFOR CROC) is a flagship defence project under development as part of Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO). EURFOR CROC will contribute to the creation of a "full spectrum force package" to speed up provision of military forces and the EU's crisis management capabilities. Rather than creating a standing force, the project involves creating a concrete catalogue of military force elements that would speed up the establishment of a force when the EU decides to launch an operation. It is land-focused and aims to generate a force of 60,000 troops from the contributing states alone. While it does not establish any form of "European army", it foresees an deployable, interoperable force under a single command. Germany is the lead country for the project, but the French are heavily involved and it is tied to President Emmanuel Macron's proposal to create a standing intervention force. The French see it as an example of what PESCO is about.

Provided through Article 42.3 TEU
This section presents an incomplete list of forces and bodies established intergovernmentally amongst a subset of member states. These organisations will deploy forces based on the collective agreement of their member states. They are typically technically listed as being able to be deployed under the auspices of NATO, the United Nations, the European Union (EU) through Article 42.3 of TEU, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, or any other international entity.

However, with the exception of the Eurocorps, very few have actually been deployed for any real military operation, and none under the CSDP at any point in its history.

Land Forces:
 * The Eurocorps is an army corps of approximately 1,000 soldiers stationed in Strasbourg, France. Based in the French city of Strasbourg, the corps is the nucleus of the Franco-German Brigade.
 * The I. German/Dutch Corps is a multinational formation consisting of units from the Dutch and German armies. Due to its role as a NATO High Readiness Forces Headquarters, soldiers from other NATO member states, the United States, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom amongst others, are also stationed at Münster.
 * The Multinational Corps Northeast, a Danish-German-Polish multinational corps
 * The European Gendarmerie Force, an intervention force with militarised police functions which specializes in crisis management.

Aerial:
 * The European Air Transport Command exercises operational control of the majority of the aerial refueling capabilities and military transport fleets of its participating nations. Located at Eindhoven Airbase in the Netherlands, the command also bears a limited responsibility for exercises, aircrew training and the harmonisation of relevant national air transport regulations. The command was established in 2010 to provide a more efficient management of the participating nations' assets and resources in this field.

Naval:
 * The European Maritime Force (EUROMARFOR or EMF) is a non-standing, military force that may carry out naval, air and amphibious operations, with an activation time of 5 days after an order is received. The force was formed in 1995 to fulfill missions defined in the Petersberg Declaration, such as sea control, humanitarian missions, peacekeeping operations, crisis response operations, and peace enforcement.

Participation, relationship with NATO
Out of the 27 EU member states, 23 are also members of NATO. Another four NATO members are EU applicants—Albania, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Turkey. Two others—Iceland and Norway—have opted to remain outside of the EU, however participate in the EU's single market. The memberships of the EU and NATO are distinct, and some EU member states are traditionally neutral on defence issues. Several EU member states were formerly members of the Warsaw Pact. Denmark had an opt-out from the CSDP, however voted in a referendum in 2022 to begin to participate in the policy area.

The Berlin Plus agreement is the short title of a comprehensive package of agreements made between NATO and the EU on 16 December 2002. These agreements were based on conclusions of NATO's 1999 Washington summit, sometimes referred to as the CJTF mechanism, and allowed the EU to draw on some of NATO's military assets in its own peacekeeping operations.

title: Common Security and Defence Policy


text:
Wczele coat of arms

Wczele is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

History
This coat of arms was passed down from the Silesian Bernard Pretficz (Bernard Pretwicz, Pretwic). He was born in 1500 and was one of the few Silesians to have an elevated position under the Polish King. He became a Polish National Hero due to his success in driving the Tartars (Crimean Muslims) out of Poland, and what is now Ukraine. This is the Prittwitz coat of arms. The story is that his ancestor was taken by a North African King. The King told him that if he was able to beat his daughter in chess he would be set free, if he lost he would be killed. The Prittwitz won and was told that he could take the life of the King's daughter. Instead he cut off her arms so that she could no longer play chess (in other variants of this story, he simply hit her in the head with the chess board so hard that it broke, „Wczele” is similar to Polish „w czoło”, meaning „in the forehead”)

Notable bearers
Notable bearers of this coat of arms include:
 * Władysław Roch Gurowski
 * fictional character Onufry Zagłoba

title: Wczele coat of arms