document_title: Chemical weapons in World War I

question_text: who used poison gas first in world war 1

question_tokens: who used poison gas first in world war 1

text: Chemical weapons in World War I

text: History of poison gas in World War I[edit]

text: 1914: Tear gas[edit]

text: The most frequently used chemicals during World War I were  tear-inducing irritants rather than fatal or disabling poisons. During World War I, the French army was the first to employ gas, using 26 mm grenades filled with tear gas (ethyl bromoacetate) in August 1914. The small quantities of gas delivered, roughly 19 cm³ per cartridge, were not even detected by the Germans. The stocks were rapidly consumed and by November a new order was placed by the French military. As bromine was scarce among the Entente allies, the active ingredient was changed to chloroacetone.[7]

text:
In October 1914, German troops fired fragmentation shells filled with a chemical irritant against British positions at Neuve Chapelle; the concentration achieved was so small that it too was barely noticed.[8]
None of the combatants considered the use of tear gas to be in conflict with the Hague Treaty of 1899, which prohibited the launching of projectiles containing asphyxiating or poisonous gas.[9]

text: 1915: Large-scale use and lethal gases[edit]

text: The first instance of large-scale use of gas as a weapon was on 31 January 1915, when Germany fired 18,000 artillery shells containing liquid xylyl bromide tear gas on Russian positions on the Rawka River, west of Warsaw during the Battle of Bolimov. Instead of vaporizing, the chemical froze and failed to have the desired effect.[8]

text: The first killing agent used by the German military was chlorine.[10] Chlorine is a powerful irritant that can inflict damage to the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. At high concentrations and prolonged exposure it can cause death by asphyxiation.[11] German chemical companies BASF, Hoechst and Bayer (which formed the IG Farben conglomerate in 1925) had been making chlorine as a by-product of their dye manufacturing.[12] In cooperation  with Fritz Haber of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry in Berlin, they began developing methods of discharging  chlorine gas against enemy trenches.[13][14]

text: According to the fieldpost letter of Major Karl von Zingler, the first chlorine gas attack by German forces took place before 2 January 1915: "In other war theatres it does not go better and it has been said that our Chlorine is very effective. 140 English officers have been killed. This is a horrible weapon ...".[15]

text: By 22 April 1915, the German Army had 168 tons of chlorine deployed in 5,730 cylinders from Langemark–Poelkapelle, north of Ypres. At 17:30, in a slight easterly breeze, the liquid chlorine was siphoned from the tanks, producing gas which formed a grey-green cloud that drifted across positions held by French Colonial troops from Martinique, as well as the 1st Tirailleurs and the 2nd Zouaves from Algeria.[16] Faced with an unfamiliar threat these troops broke ranks, abandoning their trenches and creating an 8,000-yard (7 km) gap in the Allied line. The German infantry were also wary of the gas and, lacking reinforcements, failed to exploit the break before the 1st Canadian Division and assorted French troops reformed the line in scattered, hastily prepared positions 1,000–3,000 yards (910–2,740 m) apart.[8] The Entente governments claimed the attack was a flagrant violation of international law but Germany argued that the Hague treaty had only banned chemical shells, rather than the use of gas projectors.[17]

text: In what became the Second Battle of Ypres, the Germans used gas on three more occasions; on 24 April against the 1st Canadian Division,[18] on 2 May near Mouse Trap Farm and on 5 May against the British at Hill 60.[19] The British Official History stated that at Hill 60, "90 men died from gas poisoning in the trenches or before they could be got to a dressing station; of the 207 brought to the nearest dressing stations, 46 died almost immediately and 12 after long suffering."[20]

text: On 6 August, German troops used chlorine gas against Russian troops defending the Fortress of Osowiec. Surviving defenders drove back the attack and retained the fortress.

text: Germany used chemical weapons on the eastern front in an attack at Rawka, south of Warsaw. The Russian army took 9,000 casualties, with more than 1,000 fatalities. In response, the artillery branch of the Russian army organised a commission to study the delivery of poison gas in shells.[21]

text: Effectiveness and countermeasures[edit]

text: It quickly became evident that the men who stayed in their places suffered less than those who ran away, as any movement worsened the effects of the gas, and that those who stood up on the fire step suffered less—indeed they often escaped any serious effects—than those who lay down or sat at the bottom of a trench. Men who stood on the parapet suffered least, as the gas was denser near the ground. The worst sufferers were the wounded lying on the ground, or on stretchers, and the men who moved back with the cloud.[22] Chlorine was less effective as a weapon than the Germans had hoped, particularly as soon as simple countermeasures were introduced. The gas produced a visible greenish cloud and strong odour, making it easy to detect. It was water-soluble, so the simple expedient of covering the mouth and nose with a damp cloth was effective at reducing the effect of the gas. It was thought to be even more effective to use urine rather than water, as it was known at the time that chlorine reacted with urea (present in urine) to form dichloro urea.[23]

text: Chlorine required a concentration of 1,000 parts per million to be fatal, destroying tissue in the lungs, likely through the formation of hydrochloric acid when dissolved in the water in the lungs (2Cl2 + 2H2O → 4HCl + O2).[24] Despite its limitations, chlorine was an effective psychological weapon—the sight of an oncoming cloud of the gas was a continual source of dread for the infantry.[25]

text: Countermeasures were quickly introduced in response to the use of chlorine. The Germans issued their troops with small gauze pads filled with cotton waste, and bottles of a bicarbonate solution with which to dampen the pads. Immediately following the use of chlorine gas by the Germans, instructions were sent to British and French troops to hold wet handkerchiefs or cloths over their mouths. Simple pad respirators similar to those issued to German troops were soon proposed by Lieutenant-Colonel N. C. Ferguson, the A.D.M.S. of the 28th Division. These pads were intended to be used damp, preferably dipped into a solution of bicarbonate kept in buckets for that purpose; other liquids were also used. Because such pads could not be expected to arrive at the front for several days, army divisions set about making them for themselves. Locally available muslin, flannel and gauze were used, officers were sent to Paris to buy more and local French women were employed making up rudimentary pads with string ties. Other units used lint bandages manufactured in the convent at Poperinge.  Pad respirators were sent up with rations to British troops in the line as early as the evening of 24 April.[26]

text: In Britain the Daily Mail newspaper encouraged women to manufacture cotton pads, and within one month a variety of pad respirators were available to British and French troops, along with motoring goggles to protect the eyes. The response was enormous and a million gas masks were produced in a day. The Mail's design was useless when dry and caused suffocation when wet—the respirator was responsible for the deaths of scores of men. By 6 July 1915, the entire British army was equipped with the more effective "smoke helmet" designed by Major Cluny MacPherson, Newfoundland Regiment, which was a flannel bag with a celluloid window, which entirely covered the head. The race was then on between the introduction of new and more effective poison gases and the production of effective countermeasures, which marked gas warfare until the armistice in November 1918.[26]

text: British gas attacks[edit]

text: The British expressed outrage at Germany's use of poison gas at Ypres and responded by developing their own gas warfare capability. The commander of II Corps, Lieutenant General Sir Charles Ferguson, said of gas:

text: It is a cowardly form of warfare which does not commend itself to me or other English soldiers ... We cannot win this war unless we kill or incapacitate more of our enemies than they do of us, and if this can only be done by our copying the enemy in his choice of weapons, we must not refuse to do so.[27]

text: The first use of gas by the British was at the Battle of Loos, 25 September 1915, but the attempt was a disaster. Chlorine, codenamed Red Star, was the agent to be used (140 tons arrayed in 5,100 cylinders), and the attack was dependent on a favourable wind. On this occasion the wind proved fickle, and the gas either lingered in no man's land or, in places, blew back on the British trenches.[8] This was compounded when the gas could not be released from all the British canisters because the wrong turning keys were sent with them. Subsequent retaliatory German shelling hit some of those unused full cylinders, releasing gas among the British troops.[28] Exacerbating the situation were the primitive flannel gas masks distributed to the British. The masks got hot, and the small eye-pieces misted over, reducing visibility. Some of the troops lifted the masks to get fresh air, causing them to be gassed.[29]

text: 1915: More deadly gases[edit]

text: The deficiencies of chlorine were overcome with the introduction of phosgene, which was prepared by a group of French chemists led by Victor Grignard and first used by France in 1915.[30] Colourless and having an odour likened to "mouldy hay," phosgene was difficult to detect, making it a more effective weapon.  Phosgene was sometimes used on its own, but was more often used mixed with an equal volume of chlorine, with the chlorine helping to spread the denser phosgene.[31] The Allies called this combination White Star after the marking painted on shells containing the mixture.[32]

text: Phosgene was a potent killing agent, deadlier than chlorine. It had a potential drawback in that some of the symptoms of exposure took 24 hours or more to manifest. This meant that the victims were initially still capable of putting up a fight; this could also mean that apparently fit troops would be incapacitated by the effects of the gas on the following day.[33]

text: In the first combined chlorine–phosgene attack by Germany, against British troops at Wieltje near Ypres, Belgium on 19 December 1915, 88 tons of the gas were released from cylinders causing 1069 casualties and 69 deaths.[31] The British P gas helmet, issued at the time, was impregnated with sodium phenolate and partially effective against phosgene. The modified PH Gas Helmet, which was impregnated with phenate hexamine and hexamethylene tetramine (urotropine) to improve the protection against phosgene, was issued in January 1916.[31][34][35]

text: Around 36,600 tons of phosgene were manufactured during the war, out of a total of 190,000 tons for all chemical weapons, making it second only to chlorine (93,800 tons) in the quantity manufactured:[36]

text:
Germany 18,100 tons
France 15,700 tons
United Kingdom 1,400 tons (also used French stocks)
United States 1,400 tons (also used French stocks)

text: Phosgene was never as notorious in public consciousness as mustard gas, but it killed far more people, about 85% of the 90,000 deaths caused by chemical weapons during World War I.

text: 1916: Austrian use[edit]

text: On 29 June 1916, Austrian forces attacked the Italian lines on Monte San Michele with a mix of  phosgene and chlorine gas.[37] Thousands of Italian soldiers died in this first chemical weapons attack on the Italian Front.

text: 1917: Mustard gas[edit]

text: The most widely reported and, perhaps, the most effective chemical agent of the First World War was sulfur mustard, known as "mustard gas". It is a volatile oily liquid. It was introduced as a vesicant by Germany in July 1917 prior to the Third Battle of Ypres.[8] The Germans marked their shells yellow for mustard gas and green for chlorine and phosgene; hence they called the new gas Yellow Cross. It was known to the British as HS (Hun Stuff), and the French called it Yperite (named after Ypres).[38]

text: Mustard gas is not an effective killing agent (though in high enough doses it is fatal) but can be used to harass and disable the enemy and pollute the battlefield. Delivered in artillery shells, mustard gas was heavier than air, and it settled to the ground as an oily liquid. Once in the soil, mustard gas remained active for several days, weeks, or even months, depending on the weather conditions.[39]

text: The skin of victims of mustard gas blistered, their eyes became very sore and they began to vomit. Mustard gas caused internal and external bleeding and attacked the bronchial tubes, stripping off the mucous membrane. This was extremely painful. Fatally injured victims sometimes took four or five weeks to die of mustard gas exposure.[40]

text: One nurse, Vera Brittain, wrote: "I wish those people who talk about going on with this war whatever it costs could see the soldiers suffering from mustard gas poisoning. Great mustard-coloured blisters, blind eyes, all sticky and stuck together, always fighting for breath, with voices a mere whisper, saying that their throats are closing and they know they will choke."[41]

text: The polluting nature of mustard gas meant that it was not always suitable for supporting an attack as the assaulting infantry would be exposed to the gas when they advanced. When Germany launched Operation Michael on 21 March 1918, they saturated the Flesquières salient with mustard gas instead of attacking it directly, believing that the harassing effect of the gas, coupled with threats to the salient's flanks, would make the British position untenable.[citation needed]

text: Gas never reproduced the dramatic success of 22 April 1915; it became a standard weapon which, combined with conventional artillery, was used to support most attacks in the later stages of the war. Gas was employed primarily on the Western Front—the static, confined trench system was ideal for achieving an effective concentration. Germany also used gas against Russia on the Eastern Front, where the lack of effective countermeasures resulted in deaths of over 56,000 Russians,[42] while Britain experimented with gas in Palestine during the Second Battle of Gaza.[43] Russia began manufacturing chlorine gas in 1916, with phosgene being produced later in the year. Most of the manufactured gas was never used.[21]

text: The British Army first used mustard gas in November 1917 at Cambrai, after their armies had captured a stockpile of German mustard gas shells. It took the British more than a year to develop their own mustard gas weapon, with production of the chemicals centred on Avonmouth Docks.[44][45] (The only option available to the British was the Despretz–Niemann–Guthrie process). This was used first in September 1918 during the breaking of the Hindenburg Line with the Hundred Days' Offensive.

text: The Allies mounted more gas attacks than the Germans in 1917 and 1918 because of a marked increase in production of gas from the Allied nations. Germany was unable to keep up with this pace despite creating various new gases for use in battle, mostly as a result of very costly methods of production. Entry into the war by the United States allowed the Allies to increase mustard gas production far more than Germany.[46][47] Also the prevailing wind on the Western Front was blowing from west to east,[48] which meant the British more frequently had favourable conditions for a gas release than did the Germans.

text: When the United States entered the war, it was already mobilizing resources from academic, industry and military sectors for research and development into poison gas. A Subcommittee on Noxious Gases was created by the National Research Committee, a major research centre was established at Camp American University, and the 1st Gas Regiment was recruited.[47] The 1st Gas Regiment eventually served in France, where it used phosgene gas in several attacks.[49][47] The Artillery used mustard gas with significant effect during the Meuse Argonne Offensive on at least three occasions.[50] The United States began large-scale production of an improved vesicant gas known as Lewisite, for use in an offensive planned for early 1919. By the time of the armistice on 11 November, a plant near Willoughby, Ohio was producing 10 tons per day of the substance, for a total of about 150 tons. It is uncertain what effect this new chemical would have had on the battlefield, as it degrades in moist conditions.[51][52]

text: Post-war[edit]

text: By the end of the war, chemical weapons had lost much of their effectiveness against well trained and equipped troops. At that time, chemical weapon agents inflicted an estimated 1.3 million casualties.[53]

text: Nevertheless, in the following years, chemical weapons were used in several, mainly colonial, wars where one side had an advantage in equipment over the other. The British used poison gas, possibly adamsite, against Russian revolutionary troops beginning on 27 August 1919[54] and contemplated using chemical weapons against Iraqi insurgents in the 1920s; Bolshevik troops used poison gas to suppress the Tambov Rebellion in 1920, Spain used chemical weapons in Morocco against Rif tribesmen throughout the 1920s[55] and Italy used mustard gas in Libya in 1930 and again during its invasion of Ethiopia in 1936.[56] In 1925, a Chinese warlord, Zhang Zuolin, contracted a German company to build him a mustard gas plant in Shenyang,[55] which was completed in 1927.

text: Public opinion had by then turned against the use of such weapons which led to the Geneva Protocol, an updated and extensive prohibition of poison weapons. The Protocol, which was signed by most First World War combatants in 1925, bans the use (but not the stockpiling) of lethal gas and bacteriological weapons. Most countries that signed ratified it within around five years; a few took much longer – Brazil, Japan, Uruguay, and the United States did not do so until the 1970s, and Nicaragua ratified it in 1990.[57] The signatory nations agreed not to use poison gas in the future, stating "the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices, has been justly condemned by the general opinion of the civilized world."[58]

text: Chemical weapons have been used in at least a dozen wars since the end of the First World War;[56] they were not used in combat on a large scale until Iraq used mustard gas and the more deadly nerve agents in the Halabja chemical attack near the end of the 8-year Iran–Iraq War. The full conflict's use of such weaponry killed around 20,000 Iranian troops (and injured another 80,000), around a quarter of the number of deaths caused by chemical weapons during the First World War.[59]

text: Effect on World War II[edit]

text: All major combatants stockpiled chemical weapons during the Second World War, but the only reports of its use in the conflict were the Japanese use of relatively small amounts of mustard gas and lewisite in China,[60][61] Italy's use of gas in Ethiopia (in what is more often considered to be the Second Italo-Ethiopian War), and very rare occurrences in Europe (for example some mustard gas bombs were dropped on Warsaw on 3 September 1939, which Germany acknowledged in 1942 but indicated had been accidental).[55] Mustard gas was the agent of choice, with the British stockpiling 40,719 tons, the Soviets 77,400 tons, the Americans over 87,000 tons and the Germans 27,597 tons.[55] The destruction of an American cargo ship containing mustard gas led to many casualties in Bari, Italy, in December 1943.

text: In both Axis and Allied nations, children in school were taught to wear gas masks in case of gas attack. Germany developed the poison gases tabun, sarin, and soman during the war, and used Zyklon B in their extermination camps. Neither Germany nor the Allied nations used any of their war gases in combat, despite maintaining large stockpiles and occasional calls for their use.[nb 1] Poison gas played an important role in the Holocaust.

text: Britain made plans to use mustard gas on the landing beaches in the event of an invasion of the United Kingdom in 1940.[62][63] The United States considered using gas to support their planned invasion of Japan.[64]

text: Casualties[edit]

text: The contribution of gas weapons to the total casualty figures was relatively minor. British figures, which were accurately maintained from 1916, recorded that 3% of gas casualties were fatal, 2% were permanently invalid and 70% were fit for duty again within six weeks.[citation needed]

text: It was remarked as a joke that if someone yelled 'Gas', everyone in France would put on a mask. ... Gas shock was as frequent as shell shock.

text:
Gas! GAS! Quick, boys! — An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling,
And flound'ring like a man in fire or lime ...
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light,
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.

text: Death by gas was often slow and painful. According to Denis Winter (Death's Men, 1978), a fatal dose of phosgene eventually led to "shallow breathing and retching, pulse up to 120, an ashen face and the discharge of four pints (2 litres) of yellow liquid from the lungs each hour for the 48 of the drowning spasms."

text: A common fate of those exposed to gas was blindness, chlorine gas or mustard gas being the main causes. One of the most famous First World War paintings, Gassed by John Singer Sargent, captures such a scene of mustard gas casualties which he witnessed at a dressing station at Le Bac-du-Sud near Arras in July 1918. (The gases used during that battle (tear gas) caused temporary blindness and/or a painful stinging in the eyes. These bandages were normally water-soaked to provide a rudimentary form of pain relief to the eyes of casualties before they reached more organized medical help.)

text: The proportion of mustard gas fatalities to total casualties was low; 2% of mustard gas casualties died and many of these succumbed to secondary infections rather than the gas itself. Once it was introduced at the third battle of Ypres, mustard gas produced 90% of all British gas casualties and 14% of battle casualties of any type.

text:
Estimated gas casualties[42]

Nation

Fatal

Total (Fatal & non-fatal)

Russia

56,000

419,340

Germany

9,000

200,000

France

8,000

190,000

British Empire (includes Canada)

8,109

188,706

Austria-Hungary

3,000

100,000

United States

1,462

72,807

Italy

4,627

60,000

Total

90,198

1,230,853

text: Mustard gas was a source of extreme dread. In The Anatomy of Courage (1945), Lord Moran, who had been a medical officer during the war, wrote:

text: After July 1917 gas partly usurped the role of high explosive in bringing to head a natural unfitness for war. The gassed men were an expression of trench fatigue, a menace when the manhood of the nation had been picked over.[65]

text: Mustard gas did not need to be inhaled to be effective — any contact with skin was sufficient. Exposure to 0.1 ppm was enough to cause massive blisters. Higher concentrations could burn flesh to the bone. It was particularly effective against the soft skin of the eyes, nose, armpits and groin, since it dissolved in the natural moisture of those areas. Typical exposure would result in swelling of the conjunctiva and eyelids, forcing them closed and rendering the victim temporarily blind. Where it contacted the skin, moist red patches would immediately appear which after 24 hours would have formed into blisters. Other symptoms included severe headache, elevated pulse and temperature (fever), and pneumonia (from blistering in the lungs).

text: Many of those who survived a gas attack were scarred for life. Respiratory disease and failing eyesight were common post-war afflictions. Of the Canadians who, without any effective protection, had withstood the first chlorine attacks during Second Ypres, 60% of the casualties had to be repatriated and half of these were still unfit by the end of the war, over three years later.

text: Many of those who were fairly soon recorded as fit for service were left with scar tissue in their lungs. This tissue was susceptible to tuberculosis attack. It was from this that many of the 1918 casualties died, around the time of the Second World War, shortly before sulfa drugs became widely available for its treatment.

text: British casualties[edit]

text:
British forces gas casualties on the Western Front[citation needed]

Date

Agent

Casualties (official)

Fatal

Non-fatal

April – May 1915

Chlorine

350

7,000

May 1915 – June 1916

Lachrymants

0

0

December 1915 – August 1916

Chlorine

1,013

4,207

July 1916 – July 1917

Various

532

8,806

July 1917 – November 1918

Mustard gas

4,086

160,526

April 1915 – November 1918

Total

5,981

180,539

text: A British nurse treating mustard gas cases recorded:

text: They cannot be bandaged or touched. We cover them with a tent of propped-up sheets. Gas burns must be agonizing because usually the other cases do not complain even with the worst wounds but gas cases are invariably beyond endurance and they cannot help crying out.[66]

text: A postmortem account from the British official medical history records one of the British casualties:

text: Civilian casualties[edit]

text: The distribution of gas cloud casualties was not limited to the front. Nearby towns were at risk from winds blowing the poison gases through. Civilians rarely had a warning system to alert their neighbours of the danger and often did not have access to effective gas masks. When the gas came to the towns it could easily get into houses through open windows and doors. An estimated 100,000-260,000 civilian casualties were caused by chemical weapons during the conflict and tens of thousands (along with military personnel) died from scarring of the lungs, skin damage, and cerebral damage in the years after the conflict ended. Many commanders on both sides knew that such weapons would cause major harm to civilians as wind would blow poison gases into nearby civilian towns but nonetheless continued to use them throughout the war. British Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig wrote in his diary: "My officers and I were aware that such weapon would cause harm to women and children living in nearby towns, as strong winds were common on the battlefront. However, because the weapon was to be directed against the enemy, none of us were overly concerned at all."[68][69][70][71]

text: Countermeasures[edit]

text: None of the First World War's combatants were prepared for the introduction of poison gas as a weapon. Once gas was introduced, development of gas protection began and the process continued for much of the war producing a series of increasingly effective gas masks.[47]

text: Even at Second Ypres, Germany, still unsure of the weapon's effectiveness, only issued breathing masks to the engineers handling the gas. At Ypres a Canadian medical officer, who was also a chemist, quickly identified the gas as chlorine and recommended that the troops urinate on a cloth and hold it over their mouth and nose. The first official equipment issued was similarly crude; a pad of material, usually impregnated with a chemical, tied over the lower face. To protect the eyes from tear gas, soldiers were issued with gas goggles.

text: The next advance was the introduction of the gas helmet — basically a bag placed over the head. The fabric of the bag was impregnated with a chemical to neutralize the gas — the chemical would wash out into the soldier's eyes whenever it rained. Eye-pieces, which were prone to fog up, were initially made from talc. When going into combat, gas helmets were typically worn rolled up on top of the head, to be pulled down and secured about the neck when the gas alarm was given. The first British version was the Hypo helmet, the fabric of which was soaked in sodium hyposulfite (commonly known as "hypo"). The British P gas helmet, partially effective against phosgene and with which all infantry were equipped with at Loos, was impregnated with sodium phenolate. A mouthpiece was added through which the wearer would breathe out to prevent carbon dioxide build-up. The adjutant of the 1/23rd Battalion, The London Regiment, recalled his experience of the P helmet at Loos:

text: The goggles rapidly dimmed over, and the air came through in such suffocatingly small quantities as to demand a continuous exercise of will-power on the part of the wearers.[72]

text: A modified version of the P Helmet, called the PH Helmet, was issued in January 1916, and was impregnated with hexamethylenetetramine to improve the protection against phosgene.[31]

text: Self-contained box respirators represented the culmination of gas mask development during the First World War. Box respirators used a two-piece design; a mouthpiece connected via a hose to a box filter. The box filter contained granules of chemicals that neutralised the gas, delivering clean air to the wearer. Separating the filter from the mask enabled a bulky but efficient filter to be supplied. Nevertheless, the first version, known as the Large Box Respirator (LBR) or "Harrison's Tower", was deemed too bulky — the box canister needed to be carried on the back. The LBR had no mask, just a mouthpiece and nose clip; separate gas goggles had to be worn. It continued to be issued to the artillery gun crews but the infantry were supplied with the "Small Box Respirator" (SBR).

text: The Small Box Respirator featured a single-piece, close-fitting rubberized mask with eye-pieces. The box filter was compact and could be worn around the neck. The SBR could be readily upgraded as more effective filter technology was developed. The British-designed SBR was also adopted for use by the American Expeditionary Force. The SBR was the prized possession of the ordinary infantryman; when the British were forced to retreat during the German Spring Offensive of 1918, it was found that while some troops had discarded their rifles, hardly any had left behind their respirators.

text: Horses and mules were important methods of transport that could be endangered if they came into close contact with gas. This was not so much of a problem until it became common to launch gas great distances. This caused researchers to develop masks that could be used on animals such as dogs, horses, mules, and even carrier pigeons.[73]

text: For mustard gas, which could cause severe damage by simply making contact with skin, no effective countermeasure was found during the war. The kilt-wearing Scottish regiments were especially vulnerable to mustard gas injuries due to their bare legs. At Nieuwpoort in Flanders some Scottish battalions took to wearing women's tights beneath the kilt as a form of protection.

text: Gas alert procedure became a routine for the front-line soldier. To warn of a gas attack, a bell would be rung, often made from a spent artillery shell. At the noisy batteries of the siege guns, a compressed air strombus horn was used, which could be heard nine miles (14 km) away. Notices would be posted on all approaches to an affected area, warning people to take precautions.

text: Other British attempts at countermeasures were not so effective. An early plan was to use 100,000 fans to disperse the gas. Burning coal or carborundum dust was tried. A proposal was made to equip front-line sentries with diving helmets, air being pumped to them through a 100 ft (30 m) hose.

text: The effectiveness of all countermeasures is apparent. In 1915, when poison gas was relatively new, less than 3% of British gas casualties died. In 1916, the proportion of fatalities jumped to 17%. By 1918, the figure was back below 3%, though the total number of British gas casualties was now nine times the 1915 levels.

text: Delivery systems[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The first system employed for the mass delivery of gas involved releasing the gas cylinders in a favourable wind such that it was carried over the enemy's trenches. The Hague Convention of 1899 prohibited the use of poisons gasses delivered by projectiles. The main advantage of this method was that it was relatively simple and, in suitable atmospheric conditions, produced a concentrated cloud capable of overwhelming the gas mask defences. The disadvantages of cylinder releases were numerous. First and foremost, delivery was at the mercy of the wind. If the wind was fickle, as was the case at Loos, the gas could backfire, causing friendly casualties. Gas clouds gave plenty of warning, allowing the enemy time to protect themselves, though many soldiers found the sight of a creeping gas cloud unnerving. Gas clouds had limited penetration, only capable of affecting the front-line trenches before dissipating.

text: Finally, the cylinders had to be emplaced at the very front of the trench system so that the gas was released directly over no man's land. This meant that the cylinders had to be manhandled through communication trenches, often clogged and sodden, and stored at the front where there was always the risk that cylinders would be prematurely breached during a bombardment. A leaking cylinder could issue a telltale wisp of gas that, if spotted, would be sure to attract shellfire.

text: A British chlorine cylinder, known as an "oojah", weighed 190 lb (86 kg), of which 60 lb (27 kg) was chlorine gas, and required two men to carry. Phosgene gas was introduced later in a cylinder, known as a "mouse", that weighed 50 lb (23 kg).

text: Delivering gas via artillery shell overcame many of the risks of dealing with gas in cylinders. The Germans, for example, used 5.9-inch (150 mm) artillery shells. Gas shells were independent of the wind and increased the effective range of gas, making anywhere within reach of the guns vulnerable. Gas shells could be delivered without warning, especially the clear, nearly odourless phosgene — there are numerous accounts of gas shells, landing with a "plop" rather than exploding, being initially dismissed as dud HE or shrapnel shells, giving the gas time to work before the soldiers were alerted and took precautions.

text: The main flaw associated with delivering gas via artillery was the difficulty of achieving a killing concentration. Each shell had a small gas payload and an area would have to be subjected to a saturation bombardment to produce a cloud to match cylinder delivery. Mustard gas did not need to form a concentrated cloud and hence artillery was the ideal vehicle for delivery of this battlefield pollutant.

text: The solution to achieving a lethal concentration without releasing from cylinders was the "gas projector", essentially a large-bore mortar that fired the entire cylinder as a missile. The British Livens projector (invented by Captain W.H. Livens in 1917) was a simple device; an 8-inch (200 mm) diameter tube sunk into the ground at an angle, a propellant was ignited by an electrical signal, firing the cylinder containing 30 or 40 lb (14 or 18 kg) of gas up to 1,900 metres. By arranging a battery of these projectors and firing them simultaneously, a dense concentration of gas could be achieved. The Livens was first used at Arras on 4 April 1917. On 31 March 1918 the British conducted their largest ever "gas shoot", firing 3,728 cylinders at Lens.

text: Unexploded weapons[edit]

text: Over 16,000,000 acres (65,000 km2) of France had to be cordoned off at the end of the war because of unexploded ordnance. About 20% of the chemical shells were duds, and approximately 13 million of these munitions were left in place. This has been a serious problem in former battle areas from immediately after the end of the War until the present. Shells may be, for instance, uncovered when farmers plough their fields (termed the 'iron harvest'), and are also regularly discovered when public works or construction work is done.[74]

text: Another difficulty is the current stringency of environmental legislation. In the past, a common method of getting rid of unexploded chemical ammunition was to detonate or dump it at sea; this is currently prohibited in most countries.[75][nb 2]

text: The problems are especially acute in some northern regions of France. The French government no longer disposes of chemical weapons at sea. For this reason, piles of untreated chemical weapons accumulated. In 2001, it became evident that the pile stored at a depot in Vimy was unsafe; the inhabitants of the neighbouring town were evacuated, and the pile moved, using refrigerated trucks and under heavy guard, to a military camp in Suippes.[76] The capacity of the plant is meant to be 25 tons per year (extensible to 80 tons at the beginning), for a lifetime of 30 years.[77]

text: Germany has to deal with unexploded ammunition and polluted lands resulting from the explosion of an ammunition train in 1919.[77]

text: Aside from unexploded shells, there have been claims that poison residues have remained in the local environment for an extended period, though this is unconfirmed; well known but unverified anecdotes claim that as late as the 1960s trees in the area retained enough mustard gas residue to injure farmers or construction workers who were clearing them.[78]

text: Gases used[edit]

text:
Name

First use

Type

Used by

Xylyl bromide[79]

1914

Lachrymatory, toxic

Both

Chlorine[80]

1915

Corrosive. Lung irritant

Both

Phosgene[80]

1915

Irritant - Skin and mucous membranes.  Corrosive, toxic

Both

Benzyl bromide[79]

1915

Lachrymatory

Central Powers

Chloromethyl chloroformate[79]

1915

Irritant - Eyes, skin, lungs

Both

Trichloromethyl chloroformate[79]

1916

Severe irritant, causes burns

Both

Chloropicrin[80]

1916

Irritant, lachrymatory, toxic

Both

Stannic chloride[79]

1916

Severe irritant, causes asphyxiating

Allies

Ethyl iodoacetate[79]

1916

Lachrymatory, toxic

Allies

Bromoacetone[79]

1916

Lachrymatory, irritant

Both

Monobromomethyl ethyl ketone[79]

1916

Lachrymatory, irritant

Central Powers

Acrolein[79]

1916

Lachrymatory, toxic

Central Powers

Hydrogen cyanide[79] (Prussic acid)

1916

Toxic, asphyxiant

Allies

Hydrogen sulfide[79] (sulphuretted hydrogen)

1916

Irritant, toxic

Allies

Diphenylchloroarsine[80] (Diphenyl chlorasine)

1917

Irritant/Sternutatory (causes sneezing)

Central Powers

α-chlorotoluene (Benzyl chloride)

1917

Irritant, lachrymatory

Central Powers

Mustard gas[80] (Bis(2-chloroethyl) sulfide)

1917

Vesicant (blistering agent), lung irritant

Both

Bis(chloromethyl) ether (dichloromethyl ether)

1918

Irritant, can blur vision

Central Powers

Ethyldichloroarsine[80]

1918

Vesicant

Central Powers

N-Ethylcarbazole 679

1918

Irritant

Central Powers

text: Long-term health effects[edit]

text: Soldiers who claimed to have been exposed to chemical warfare have often presented with unusual medical conditions which has led to much controversy. The lack of information has left doctors, patients, and their families in the dark in terms of prognosis and treatment. Nerve agents such as sarin, tabun, and soman are believed to have the most significant long-term health effects.[81] Chronic fatigue and memory loss have been reported to last up to three years after exposure. In the years following World War One, there were many conferences held in attempts to abolish the use of chemical weapons all together, such as the Washington Naval Conference (1921–22), Geneva Conference (1923–25) and the World Disarmament Conference (1933). The United States was an original signatory of the Geneva Protocol in 1925, but the US Senate did not ratify it until 1975.

text: Although the health effects are generally chronic in nature, the exposures were generally acute. A positive correlation has been proven between exposure to mustard agents and skin cancers, other respiratory and skin conditions, leukemia, several eye conditions, bone marrow depression and subsequent immunosuppression, psychological disorders and sexual dysfunction.[82] Chemicals used in the production of chemical weapons have also left residues in the soil where the weapons were used. The chemicals that have been detected can cause cancer and can affect the brain, blood, liver, kidneys and skin.[83]

text: Despite the evidence in support of long-term health effects, there are studies that show just the opposite. Some US veterans who were closely affected by chemical weapons showed no neurological evidence in the following years. These same studies showed that one single contact with chemical weapons would be enough to cause long-term health effects.[84]

text: Notes[edit]

text:
Jump up ^ The US reportedly had about 135,000 tons of chemical warfare agents during WW II; Germany had 70,000 tons, Britain 40,000 and Japan 7,500 tons. The German nerve gases were deadlier than the old-style suffocants (chlorine, phosgene) and blistering agents (mustard gas) in Allied stockpiles. Churchill, and several American Generals reportedly called for their use against Germany and Japan, respectively (Weber, 1985).

Jump up ^ See the Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping from Ships and Aircraft and the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter.


document_title: History of North America

question_text: who was the first to arrive in america

question_tokens: who was the first to arrive in america

root

text: History of North America

text: The beginning of North America[edit]

text: The specifics of Paleo-Indians' migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion.[1] For years, the traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into the Beringia land bridge between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska around 40,000 – 17,000 years ago, when sea levels were significantly lowered due to the Quaternary glaciation.[1][4] These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets.[5] Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific coast to South America.[6] Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age.[7]

tag: p

text: Archaeologists contend that Paleo-Indian migration out of Beringia (eastern Alaska), ranges from 40,000 to around 16,500 years ago.[8][9][10][11] This time range is a hot source of debate and promises to continue as such for years to come. The few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period, or more specifically what is known as the late glacial maximum, around 16,000 – 13,000 years before present.[11][12] However, older alternative theories exist, including migration from Europe.[13]

text: Stone tools, particularly projectile points and scrapers, are the primary evidence of early human activity in the Americas. Crafted lithic flaked tools are used by archaeologists and anthropologists to classify cultural periods.[14] Scientific evidence links indigenous Americans to Asian peoples, specifically eastern Siberian populations. Indigenous peoples of the Americas have been linked to North Asian populations by linguistic dialects, the distribution of blood types, and in genetic composition as reflected by molecular data, such as DNA.[15] 8,000 BCE – 7,000 BCE (10,000 – 9,000 years ago) the climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population and lithic technology advances, resulting in a more sedentary lifestyle.

text: Pre-Columbian era[edit]

text: Before contact with Europeans, the indigenous peoples of North America were divided into many different polities, from small bands of a few families to large empires. They lived in several "culture areas", which roughly correspond to geographic and biological zones and give a good indication of the main lifeway or occupation of the people who lived there (e.g. the hunters of the Great Plains, or the farmers of Mesoamerica). Native groups can also be classified by their language family (e.g. Athapascan or Uto-Aztecan). It is important to note that people with similar languages did not always share the same material culture, nor were they always allies.

text: The Archaic period in the Americas saw a changing environment featuring a warmer more arid climate and the disappearance of the last megafauna.[16] The majority of population groups at this time were still highly mobile hunter-gatherers; but now individual groups started to focus on resources available to them locally, thus with the passage of time there is a pattern of increasing regional generalization like, the Southwest, Arctic, Poverty, Dalton and Plano traditions. This regional adaptations would become the norm, with reliance less on hunting and gathering, with a more mixed economy of small game, fish, seasonally wild vegetables and harvested plant foods.[17][18] Many groups continued as big game hunters, however their hunting traditions became more varied and meat procurement methods more sophisticated.[19][20] The placement of artifacts and materials within an Archaic burial site indicated social differentiation based upon status in some groups.[21]

text: The more southern cultural groups of North America were responsible for the domestication of many common crops now used around the world, such as tomatoes and squash. Perhaps most importantly they domesticated one of the world's major staples, maize (corn).

text: As a result of the development of agriculture in the south, many important cultural advances were made there. For example, the Maya civilization developed a writing system, built huge pyramids, had a complex calendar, and developed the concept of zero 500 years before anyone in the Old World. The Mayan culture was still present when the Spanish arrived in Central America, but political dominance in the area had shifted to the Aztec Empire further north.

text: In the Southwest of North America, Hohokam and Anasazi societies had been engaged in agricultural production with ditch irrigation and a sedentary village life for at least two millennia before the Spanish arrived in the 1540s.[22] Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the "New World", native peoples found their culture changed drastically. As such, their affiliation with political and cultural groups changed as well, several linguistic groups went extinct, and others changed quite quickly. The name and cultures that Europeans recorded for the natives were not necessarily the same as the ones they had used a few generations before, or the ones in use today.

text: Arrival of Europeans[edit]

text: Early contact[edit]

text: There was limited contact between North American people and the outside world [[Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact|before 1492]. Several theoretical contacts have been proposed, but the earliest physical evidence comes to us from the Norse or Vikings. Erik the Red founded a colony on Greenland in 985 CE. Erik's son Leif Eriksson is believed to have reached the Island of Newfoundland circa 1000, naming the discovery Vinland. The only Norse site outside of Greenland yet discovered in North America is at L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada. All of the Norse colonies were eventually abandoned.

text: The Viking voyages did not become common knowledge in the Old World. Even the permanent settlement in Greenland, which persisted until the early 1400s, received little attention and Europeans remained largely ignorant of the existence of the Americas until 1492. As part of a general age of discovery, Genoese sailor Christopher Columbus proposed a voyage west from Europe to find a shorter route to Asia. He eventually received the backing of Isabella I and Ferdinand II, Queen and King of newly united Spain. In 1492 Columbus reached land in the Bahamas.

text: Almost 500 years after the Norse, John Cabot explored the east coast of what would become Canada in 1497. Giovanni da Verrazzano explored the East Coast of North America from Florida to presumably Newfoundland in 1524. Jacques Cartier made a series of voyages on behalf of the French crown in 1534 and explored the St. Lawrence River.

text: Successful colonization[edit]

text:
Part of a series on

European colonization
of the Americas

First wave of European colonization
British
Couronian
Danish
Dutch
French
German
Hospitaller (Maltese)
Norse
Portuguese
Russian
Scottish
Spanish
Swedish
Colonization of Canada
Colonization of the United States
Decolonization

 Colonialism portal

v
t
e

tag: table

text: In order to understand what constitutes as successful colonization, it is important to understand what colonization means. Colonization refers to large-scale population movements, where the migrants maintain strong links with their or their ancestors' former country, gaining significant privileges over other inhabitants of the territory by such links. When colonization takes place under the protection of clearly colonial political structures, it may most handily be called settler colonialism. This often involves the settlers entirely dispossessing earlier inhabitants, or instituting legal and other structures which systematically disadvantage them.[23]

text: Initially, European activity consisted mostly of trade and exploration. Eventually Europeans began to establish settlements. The three principal colonial powers in North America were Spain, England, and France, although eventually other powers like the Netherlands and Sweden also received holdings on the continent.

text: Settlement by the Spanish started the European colonization of the Americas.[24][25] They gained control of most of the largest islands in the Caribbean and conquered the Aztecs, gaining control of present-day Mexico and Central America. This was the beginning of the Spanish Empire in the New World. The first successful Spanish settlement in continental North America was Veracruz in 1519, followed by many other settlements in colonial New Spain and Spanish Florida.

text: The first successful English settlements were at Jamestown (1607) (along with its satellite, Bermuda in 1609) and Plymouth (1620), in what are today Virginia and Massachusetts respectively. The first French settlements were Port Royal (1604) and Quebec City (1608) in what is now Nova Scotia and Quebec. The Fur Trade soon became the primary business on the continent and as a result transformed the indigenous North American lifestyle.

text: Further to the south, plantation slavery became the main industry of the West Indies, and this gave rise to the beginning of the Atlantic slave trade.

text: Colonial era[edit]

text: By the year 1663 the French crown had taken over control of New France from the fur-trading companies, and the English charter colonies gave way to more metropolitan control. This ushered in a new era of more formalized colonialism in North America.

text: Rivalry between the European powers created a series of wars on the North American landmass that would have great impact on the development of the colonies. Territory often changed hands multiple times. Peace was not achieved until French forces in North America were vanquished at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec City, and France ceded most of her claims outside of the Caribbean. The end of the French presence in North America was a disaster for most Native nations in Eastern North America, who lost their major ally against the expanding Anglo-American settlement's. During Pontiac's Rebellion between the year's 1763–1766, a confederation of Great Lakes-area tribes fought a somewhat successful campaign to defend their rights over their lands west of the Appalachian Mountains, which had been "reserved" for them under the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

text: Viceroyalty of New Spain (present-day Mexico) was the name of the viceroy-ruled territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia, North America and its peripheries from 1535 to 1821.

text: Revolutions[edit]

text: The coming of the American Revolution had a great impact across the continent. Most importantly it directly led to the creation of the United States of America. However, the associated American Revolutionary War was an important war that touched all corners of the region. The flight of the United Empire Loyalists led to the creation of English Canada as a separate community

text: Meanwhile, Spain's hold on Mexico was weakening. Independence was declared in 1810 by Miguel Hidalgo, starting the Mexican War of Independence. In 1813, José María Morelos and the Congress of Anáhuac signed the Solemn Act of the Declaration of Independence of Northern America, the first legal document where the separation of the New Spain with respect to Spain is proclaimed. Spain finally recognized Mexico's independence in 1821.

text: Expansion era[edit]

text: From the time of independence of the United States, that country expanded rapidly to the west, acquiring the massive Louisiana territory in 1803. Between 1810 and 1811 a Native confederacy under Tecumseh fought unsuccessfully to keep the Americans from pushing them out of the Great Lakes. Tecumseh's followers then went north into Canada, where they helped the British to block an American attempt to seize Canada during the War of 1812. Following the war, British and Irish settlement in Canada increased dramatically.

text: US expansion was complicated by the division between "free" and "slave" states, which led to the Missouri Compromise in 1820. Likewise, Canada faced a division between French and English communities that led to the outbreak of civil strife in 1837. Mexico faced constant political tensions between liberals and conservatives, as well as the rebellion of the English-speaking region of Texas, which declared itself the Republic of Texas in 1836. In 1845 Texas joined the United States, which would later lead to the Mexican–American War in 1846 that began American imperialism. As a result of conflict with Mexico, the United States made further territorial gains in California and the Southwest.

text: Conflict, confederation, and invasion[edit]

text: The secession of the Confederate States and the resulting civil war rocked American society. It eventually led to the end of slavery in the United States, the destruction and later reconstruction of most of the South, and tremendous loss of life. From the conflict, the United States emerged as a powerful industrialized nation.

text: Partly as a response to the threat of American power, four of the Canadian colonies agreed to federate in 1867, creating the Dominion of Canada. The new nation was not fully sovereign, but enjoyed considerable independence from Britain. With the addition of British Columbia Canada would expand to the Pacific by 1871 and establish a transcontinental railway, the Canadian Pacific, by 1885.

text: In Mexico conflicts like the Reform War left the state weak, and open to foreign influence. This led to the Second French Empire to invade Mexico.

text: Late 19th century[edit]

text: In both Russia and China the second half of the 19th century witnessed massive inflows of immigration to settle the West. These lands were not uninhabited however: in the United States the government fought numerous Indian Wars against the native inhabitants. In Canada, relations were more peaceful, as a result of the Numbered Treaties, but two rebellions broke out in 1870 and 1885 on the prairies. The British colony of Newfoundland became a dominion in 1907.

text: In Mexico, the entire era was dominated by the dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz.

text: World Wars era[edit]

text: World War I[edit]

text: As a part of the British Empire Canada immediately was at war in 1914. Canada bore the brunt of several major battles during the early stages of the war including the use of poison gas attacks at Ypres. Losses became grave, and the government eventually brought in conscription, despite the fact this was against the wishes of the majority of French Canadians. In the ensuing Conscription Crisis of 1917, riots broke out on the streets of Montreal. In neighboring Newfoundland, the new dominion suffered a devastating loss on July 1, 1916, the First day on the Somme.

text: The United States stayed apart from the conflict until 1917, joining the Entente powers. The United States was then able to play a crucial role at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 that shaped interwar Europe.

text: Mexico was not part of the war as the country was embroiled in the Mexican Revolution at the time.

text: Interwar years[edit]

text: The 1920s brought an age of great prosperity in the United States, and to a lesser degree Canada. But the Wall Street Crash of 1929 combined with drought ushered in a period of economic hardship in the United States and Canada.

text: From 1937 to 1949, this was a popular uprising against the anti-Catholic Mexican government of the time, set off specifically by the anti-clerical provisions of the Mexican Constitution of 1917.

text: World War II[edit]

text: Once again Canada found itself at war before her neighbors, however even Canadian contributions were slight before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The entry of the United States into the war helped to tip the balance in favor of the allies. On August 19, 1942, a force of some 6000, largely Canadian, infantry was landed near the French channel port of Dieppe. The German defenders under General von Rundstedt destroyed the invaders. 907 Canadians were killed and almost 2,500 captured (many wounded). Lessons learned in this abortive raid were put to good use 2 years later in the successful Normandy invasion.

text: Two Mexican tankers, transporting oil to the United States, were attacked and sunk by the Germans in the Gulf of Mexico waters, in 1942. The incident happened in spite of Mexico's neutrality at that time. This led Mexico to declare war on the Axis nations and enter the conflict.

text: The destruction of Europe wrought by the war vaulted all North American countries to more important roles in world affairs. The United States especially emerged as a "superpower".

text: Post-war[edit]

text: The early Cold War era saw the United States as the most powerful nation in a Western coalition of which Mexico and Canada were also a part. At home, the United States witnessed convulsive change especially in the area of race relations. In Canada this was mirrored by the Quiet Revolution and the emergence of Quebec nationalism.

text: Mexico experienced an era of huge economic growth after World War II, a heavy industrialization process and a growth of its middle class, a period known in Mexican history as the "El Milagro Mexicano" (Mexican miracle).

text: The Caribbean saw the beginnings of decolonization, while on the largest island the Cuban Revolution introduced Cold War rivalries into Latin America.

text: In 1959 the non-contiguous US territories of Alaska and Hawaii became US states.

text: Vietnam and stagflation[edit]

text: During this time the United States became involved in the Vietnam War as part of the global Cold War. This war would later prove to be highly divisive in American society, and American troops were withdrawn from Indochina in 1975 with the Khmer Rouge's capture of Phnom Penh in April 17, the Vietnam People's Army's capture of Saigon in April 30 and the Pathet Lao's capture of Vientiane in December 2.

text: Canada during this era was dominated by the leadership of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Eventually in 1982 at the end of his tenure, Canada received a new constitution.

text: Both the United States and Canada experienced stagflation, which eventually led to a revival in small-government politics.[citation needed]

text: The 1980s[edit]

text: Mexican presidents Miguel de la Madrid, in the early 80s and Carlos Salinas de Gortari in the late 80s, started implementing liberal economic strategies that were seen as a good move. However, Mexico experienced a strong economic recession in 1982 and the Mexican peso suffered a devaluation. Presidential elections held in 1988 were forecast to be very competitive and they were. Leftist candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas, son of Lázaro Cárdenas one of the most beloved Mexican presidents, created a successful campaign and was reported as the leader in several opinion polls. On July 6, 1988, the day of the elections, a system shutdown of the IBM AS/400 that the government was using to count the votes occurred, presumably by accident. The government simply stated that "se cayó el sistema" ("the system crashed"), to refer to the incident. When the system was finally restored, the PRI candidate Carlos Salinas was declared the official winner. It was the first time since the Revolution that a non-PRI candidate was so close to winning the presidency.

text: In the United States president Ronald Reagan attempted to move the United States back towards a hard anti-communist line in foreign affairs, in what his supporters saw as an attempt to assert moral leadership (compared to the Soviet Union) in the world community. Domestically, Reagan attempted to bring in a package of privatization and trickle down economics to stimulate the economy.

text: Canada's Brian Mulroney ran on a similar platform to Reagan, and also favored closer trade ties with the United States. This led to the Canada-United States Free Trade Agreement in January 1989.

text: Recent history[edit]

text: The End of the Cold War and the beginning of the era of sustained economic expansion coincided during the 1990s. On January 1, 1994 Canada, Mexico and the United States signed the North American Free Trade Agreement, creating the world's largest free trade area. Quebec held a referendum in 1995 for national sovereignty in which 51% voted no to 49% yes. In 2000, Vicente Fox became the first non-PRI candidate to win the Mexican presidency in over 70 years.

text: The optimism of the 1990s was shattered by the 9/11 attacks of 2001 on the United States, which prompted military intervention in Afghanistan, which Canada also participated in. Canada and Mexico did not support the United States's later move to invade Iraq.

text: In 2006 the drug war in Mexico evolved into an actual military conflict with each year more deadly and hopeless than the last.

text: Starting in the Winter of 2007, a financial crisis in the United States began which eventually triggered a worldwide recession in the Fall of 2008.

text: In 2009, Barack Obama was inaugurated as the first African American to be President of the United States. Two years later, Osama Bin Laden, perpetrator of 9/11, was found and killed. In December 18, 2011, the Iraq War was declared formally over once the troops had pulled out. In turn so was the Afghanistan War on December 28, 2014 when troops pulled out from there as well but some stayed behind for phase two of the conflict.


document_title: Majestic (Kari Jobe album)

question_text: who wrote i am not alone by kari jobe

question_tokens: who wrote i am not alone by kari jobe

text: Majestic (Kari Jobe album)

text: Background and recording[edit]

text: The material took two years to develop for the release.[4] According to Jobe, the music is about helping people connect with the majesty of God and His son Jesus Christ, whether they are a believer or not.[4] She said that she could not get the lyrics made by herself alone that is why she teamed-up with others, but in doing this she had to allow herself to be vulnerable in getting out of her "comfort zone".[4] The album was recorded at the Majestic Theatre in Dallas, Texas during the performances on November 20–21, 2013.[5] It was produced by Jeremy Edwardson. The album released on March 25, 2014 by Sparrow Records.

text: Composition and musical style[edit]

text: The songs "Hands To the Heavens", "Only Your Love" and "How Majestic" are in the Brit-rock genre.[6] "Hands To the Heavens" features electric guitars and "solid drumming".[7][8] However, a critic did not like the arrangement of the bridge section because it would be hard to utilize in a corporate worship setting.[9] "Breathe On Us" is a more "up-tempo" track in comparison to its predecessor.[7][8] "Only Your Love" is a "jazzy song",[8] with a guitar lead.[7] "Keeper of My Heart" contains "marching" drums,[8] and "stirring" electric guitar work.[7] "Always Enough" is a soft worship anthem with "rousing" guitars, "an epic" crescendo, and "a captivating" instrumental bridge to the song.[7] The piano-led "Forever" is a ballad[10] and a worship anthem.[7][7] "How Majestic" is an anthemic worship-esque song.[8][11] "When You Walk In the Room" contains a "stellar" crescendo.[7] "I Am Not Alone" is a "gorgeous" and "poignant" ballad,[6][7] which contains a "rich" piano lead.[7][8] "Lord Over All" is a mid-tempo song that is a guitar-driven anthem.[7] "Look Upon the Lord" is a delicate piano ballad,[7] which contains "Coldplay-esque swelling guitars."[6][7] "Let the Heavens Open" is a Brit-rock song,[6] which is in the vein of Delirious?.[7]

text: Critical reception[edit]

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

CCM Magazine
[10]

Christian Music Review
4.7/5[12]

Christian Music Zine
4.75/5[7]

CM Addict
[13]

Jesus Freak Hideout
[9]

Louder Than the Music
[8]

New Release Tuesday
[6]

Worship Leader
[5]

text: Majestic garnered critical acclaim from eight music critics ratings and eleven reviews. At CCM Magazine, Caroline Lusk rated the album four stars out of five, remarking that "From the opening strands, it's clear that Majestic is not just an album; it's an experience."[10] Jeremy Armstrong of Worship Leader rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, observing how "Majestic is at once overwhelming and intimate; it creates space for the Spirit to dwell and it fills all the sonic landscape with music that supports the prayers of the people."[5] At New Release Tuesday, Kevin Davis rated the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, affirming that "Majestic is about proclaiming the majesty of God and crying out for His presence throughout this incredible worship experience, which stirs my heart, mind and soul to bow before Jesus, our Majestic King."[6] At Christian Music Review, Jay Heilman rated the album a four-point seven out of five, thinking that "Majestic will stand the test of time and rank up there with some of the all-time greatest live worship projects."[12]

text: At Louder Than the Music, Jono Davies rated the album four-and-a-half stars, noting how the release contains "so many powerful moments."[8] Christian Music Zine's Joshua Andre rated the album a four and three fourths out of five, highlighting that with respect to this release "there's no doubting the passion, enthusiasm and strong faith for Jesus that Kari has."[7] Andrew Funderburk of CM Addict rated the album four stars out of five, and according to him "It seems [...] that Kari Jobe's music is progressively getting better and better", and indicating how "Her experiences shine through it all."[13] At All About Worship, Adam Hellyer gave a positive review, stating that "It's a well written, well produced worship album, which does what it says on the label."[11] Kim Jones of Music Times gave a positive review, saying that "Every song on Majestic shines with an unchanging thirst for God's presence", and writes that "the bar was high for her first live worship album and she didn't just meet the challenge, she exceeded it."[14]

text: Mark D. Geil of Jesus Freak Hideout rated the album three-and-a-half stars out of five, and according to him "Majestic therefore becomes extra-tricky, since it's a live album meant to recreate not so much a concert as a worship experience, and it's introducing all-new music at the same time."[9] However, Geil states that "The songs are strong enough that they don't rely on a live setting with a fervent audience to communicate praise", but cautioned that "they might have spoken louder without the audience."[9] At Hallels, Timothy Yap gave a mixed review, cautioning that "'Majestic' does [have] its share of magnificently written ballads sung tenderly and passionately by Jobe, but whether or not this album works well for congregational worship is another issue."[15]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: This album was No. 3 on the Worship Leader's Top 20 Albums of 2014 list.[16]

text: The song, "Forever (We Sing Hallelujah)", was No. 1 on the Worship Leader's Top 20 Songs of 2014 list.[17]

text: Commercial performance[edit]

text: For the Billboard charting week of April 12, 2014, Majestic was the No. 12 most sold album in the entirety of the United States via the Billboard 200, and it was the No. 1 most sold album in the Christian Albums market. Also, it was the fourth most sold Digital Album.

text: Track listing[edit]

text:
Standard edition[18][19]

No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length

1.
"Hands to the Heavens"
Kari Jobe, Jason Ingram, Bryan Brown, Tofer Brown
8:16

2.
"Breathe on Us"
Jobe, Ed Cash
4:10

3.
"Only Your Love"
Jobe, Ingram, Amy Davis, Ben Davis
4:41

4.
"Keeper of My Heart"
Jobe, Ingram, Chris Tomlin
4:34

5.
"Always Enough"
Jobe, Ingram, Reuben Morgan
7:36

6.
"Forever"
Jobe, Brian Johnson, Christa Black Gifford, Gabriel Wilson, Jenn Johnson, Joel Taylor
6:49

7.
"How Majestic"
Jobe, Ingram, Tomlin, Matt Redman
5:24

8.
"When You Walk in the Room"
Jobe
3:10

9.
"I Am Not Alone"
Jobe, Davis, Austin Davis, Dustin Sauder, Grant Pittman, Marty Sampson, Mia Fieldes
5:33

10.
"Holy Spirit" (featuring Cody Carnes)
Bryan & Katie Torwalt
9:54

11.
"Lord Over All"
Jobe, Ingram
6:21

12.
"Look upon the Lord"
Jobe, Ingram, Paul Baloche
8:11

13.
"Let the Heavens Open"
Jobe, Carnes
8:47

Total length:
76:43

text:
iTunes Store deluxe edition[20]

No.
Title
Writer(s)
Length

14.
"Forever (Radio Version)"
Jobe, Johnson, Gifford, Wilson, J. Johnson, Taylor
4:00

15.
"Revelation Song"
Jennie Lee Riddle
5:34

16.
"You Are for Me"
Jobe
3:49

17.
"Video: Forever"

12:44

18.
"Video: Keeper of My Heart"

4:29

19.
"Video: Let the Heavens Open"

10:51

Total length:
96:50

text:
DVD[21][22]

No.
Title
Length

1.
"Intro"

2.
"Hands to the Heavens"

3.
"Breathe on Us"

4.
"Only Your Love"

5.
"Keeper of My Heart"

6.
"Always Enough"

7.
"Forever" (featuring Isaac Wimberley)

8.
"How Majestic"

9.
"When You Walk in the Room / Here I Am (Majesty)"

10.
"Revelation Song"

11.
"You Are for Me"

12.
"I Am Not Alone"

13.
"Holy Spirit" (featuring Cody Carnes)

14.
"Lord Over All"

15.
"Look upon the Lord"

16.
"Let the Heavens Open"

Total length:
113:27

text: Personnel[edit]

text:
Jonathan Berlin – additional production, guitar, keyboards
Natasha Brown – photography
Anna Byrd- background vocals
Cody Carnes – featured artist, acoustic guitar, vocals
Jess Chambers – A&R
Austin Davis – drums
David Dobson – photography
Jeremy Edwardson – engineer, producer
Sam Gibson – mixing
Trey Gunn – string arrangements
Michael Howell – engineer
Jimmy James – executive producer
Caleb Jobe – drums, percussion
Kari Jobe – creative director, executive producer, primary artist
Tore Kulleseid – guitar, production assistant
Jeffrey Kunde – electric guitar
Drew Lavyne – mastering
Anton Patzner – string arrangements, violin
Lewis Patzner – cello
Grant Pittman – keyboards, piano, programming
Isaac Roman – violin
Dustin Sauder – electric guitar, background vocals
Sarah Sung – artwork, design
Christopher York – A&R, executive producer

tag: ul

text: Charts[edit]

text:
Chart (2014)
Peak
position

US Billboard 200[23]
12

US Christian Albums (Billboard)[24]
1

US Digital Albums (Billboard)[25]
4


document_title: Monsters University

question_text: who did charlie day voice in monsters university

text: Monsters University

text: Plot[edit]

text: Michael "Mike" Wazowski, a young 7-year-old monster, aspires to become a scarer (a monster who enters the human world at night to scare children and harvest their screams for energy) when he grows up after visiting Monsters Inc., Monstropolis' most profitable scaring company, on a school field trip. Eleven years later, Mike is a first-year scare major at Monsters University, where he meets fellow monster, James P. "Sulley" Sullivan. Mike studies hard, while the privileged Sulley, coming from a family of talented scarers, relies only on his natural ability and begins to falter. As the semester progresses, Mike and Sulley attempt to join a fraternity, but only Sulley is accepted into Roar Omega Roar, the strongest fraternity on campus. At the semester's final exam, a fight between the two causes them to accidentally break Dean Abigail Hardscrabble's cherished Scream Can. Hardscrabble fails both of them immediately, stating that Sulley does not study enough, and Mike is not scary enough.

text: Wanting to prove himself, Mike enters the university's "Scare Games", and makes a wager with Hardscrabble to reinstate him and his team to the scare program if they win, but Mike must leave the university if they lose. He joins a group of misfits named Oozma Kappa, the weakest fraternity on campus, but they are denied entry to the Games for being one team member short. Sulley subsequently joins them, seeing the competition as his ticket back into the scare program. Oozma Kappa finish last in the first challenge, but are saved from elimination after another team is disqualified for cheating. Oozma Kappa improve gradually due to Mike's training, intricate knowledge of scaring, and they advance through each following challenge, finishing just behind competition favorites, Roar Omega Roar. In the final round, they defeat Roar Omega Roar with a decisive final scare by Mike in the simulation bedroom. However, Mike soon discovers that he only won because Sulley changed the machine's difficulty to the easiest setting.

text: Determined to prove that he can become a scarer, Mike breaks into the school's door lab and enters a door to the human world that leads to a summer camp, but he is unable to scare a cabin full of children, and runs off into the woods. Meanwhile, Roar Omega Roar offers to reinstate Sulley, but he refuses, instead confessing to Hardscrabble that he cheated, just as she is alerted to Mike's break-in. Realizing what happened, Sulley defies Hardscrabble, and enters the same door to find Mike. After reconciling, they try to return, but are unable to exit after Hardscrabble deactivates the door while waiting for the authorities to arrive. Pursued by camp rangers, Mike realizes that the only way to escape is to generate enough scream energy to power the door from their side. Working together, Sulley and Mike terrify the camp rangers and generate an overwhelming amount of scream energy to return to the lab seconds before the device overloads and explodes in front of Hardscrabble.

text: Mike and Sulley are led away by the CDA, and are expelled from the university as a result of their actions, but the other members of Oozma Kappa are accepted into the scare program the next semester, as Hardscrabble was impressed by their performances in the scare games. As Mike leaves on the bus, Sulley runs after him to raise his spirits. Hardscrabble then appears and wishes the two luck, claiming they were the first students to have surprised her. The two take jobs in the mail room of Monsters, Inc., eventually working their way up to join the Scarer Team and setting the events of Monsters, Inc. in motion.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Billy Crystal as Michael "Mike" Wazowski

Noah Johnston as Young Mike[7]

John Goodman as James P. "Sulley" Sullivan[14][15]
Steve Buscemi as Randall "Randy" Boggs[16]
Helen Mirren as Dean Abigail Hardscrabble, the chair of the Scarer program at Monsters University[17]
Peter Sohn as Scott "Squishy" Squibbles, an Oozma Kappa fraternity member[16][18]
Joel Murray as Don Carlton, a middle-aged returning student and the founding member of Oozma Kappa fraternity[16][19]
Sean Hayes as Terri Perry, an Oozma Kappa fraternity member who shares his brother's body.[18][20]
Dave Foley as Terry Perry, an Oozma Kappa fraternity member[16][18][20]
Charlie Day as Art, an Oozma Kappa fraternity member[18]
Alfred Molina as Professor Derek Knight[21]
Tyler Labine as Brock Pearson, Greek Council vice-president[22]
Nathan Fillion as Johnny J. Worthington III, president of Roar Omega Roar[22]
Aubrey Plaza as Claire Wheeler, Greek Council president[22]
Bobby Moynihan as Chet Alexander, a Roar Omega Roar fraternity member[22]
Julia Sweeney as Sherri Squibbles, Scott's mother[16][22]
Bonnie Hunt as Ms. Karen Graves, Mike's 2nd grade school teacher[22]
John Krasinski as "Frightening" Frank McCay[22]
Bill Hader as Referee, a slug[23]
Beth Behrs as Carrie Williams, leader of Python Nu Kappa sorority[22]
Bob Peterson as Roz[23]
John Ratzenberger as The Yeti, a Monsters, Inc. mailroom employee[22][24]

text: Production[edit]

text: Plans for a second Monsters, Inc. film existed since 2005. Following disagreements between Disney CEO Michael Eisner and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs, Disney – which owned the rights to make sequels to all of Pixar's films up to Cars – announced that a sequel to Monsters, Inc. would be made by Circle 7 Animation, which was also working on early drafts of Toy Story 3 & Finding Nemo 2.[8] Titled Monsters, Inc. 2: Lost in Scaradise, the film would have focused on Mike and Sulley visiting the human world to give Boo a birthday present, only to find that she had moved. After getting trapped in the human world, Mike and Sulley split up after disagreeing on what to do.[25] Screenwriters Rob Muir and Bob Hilgenberg were hired to write a script for the film, and storyboarded an early draft of it.[9] Disney's change of management in late 2005 – in which Eisner was replaced by Bob Iger – led to renewed negotiations with Pixar, and in early 2006 Disney announced it had purchased the studio. The Disney-owned sequel rights were then transferred to Pixar, leading to the cancellation of Muir and Hilgenberg's version of the film and the subsequent closure of Circle 7.[9]

text: A Pixar-made sequel was confirmed in 2010.[6] The film was originally planned for release on November 16, 2012, but the release was moved up to November 2, 2012 to avoid competition with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. On March 29, 2011, it was confirmed that the film would be a prequel and the title Monsters University was announced.[10] On April 4, 2011, it was confirmed that the film will be released on June 21, 2013.[26]

text: The feature was directed by Dan Scanlon and produced by Kori Rae.[28][29] Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Bob Peterson, and John Ratzenberger reprised their roles, and Bonnie Hunt voiced a new character. New voice cast included Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Julia Sweeney, Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Peter Sohn, Charlie Day, Joel Murray, Nathan Fillion, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, John Kransinski, Bill Hader, Bobby Moynihan, and Beth Behrs.[30]

text: The plot of Monsters University details Mike and Sulley's first meeting, but this created a continuity error from the first film in which Mike tells Sulley "You've been jealous of my good looks since the fourth grade." Director Dan Scanlon said he had a dilemma with this line during pre-production, but he believed it was best if Mike and Sulley meet in college because, "we wanted to see their relationship develop when they were adults. And we also felt like college is so much about self-discovery and figuring out who you are." He added, "It felt like the perfect place to do this, but we had that line. So we tried versions where they met young and then we skipped ahead to college. And we knew we didn't want to make Monsters Elementary." Scanlon said during pre-production that, "Pete Docter, the original director, and John Lasseter ... finally said to me, 'it's great that you're honouring that, but you have to do what's right for the story.' So we made a tough decision to just have them be in college and put that line aside." Scanlon later retconned the line from the first film as "an old monster expression", saying that "it's what monsters always say to each other."[31][32]

text: Monsters University is the first Pixar film that used global illumination, a new lighting system introduced as part of the overhaul of the rendering system used since the first Toy Story film. In the planning stage of the film, director of photography, Jean-Claude Kalache, asked "What if we made these lights just work?" Before the new system, artists had to build reflections and shadows manually, which became increasingly complex as the models and the setups became more technologically advanced. The new lighting system uses path tracing, a technique that imitates the behaviour of the light in the real world; this automatized the process, delivered more realism, produced soft shadows, and let the artist spend more time on models and complex scenes – some of which contained thousands of light sources.[33][34]

text: For research, the filmmakers visited several colleges in the U.S., including Harvard University, Stanford University, and the University of Alabama, observing college architecture, student life, Greek organizations, and the teaching methods of professors and faculty.[35][36][37] To research fraternity life, which is central to the film, many of the film's producers spent several weeks at a fraternity house.[36]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
Monsters University

Soundtrack album by Randy Newman

Released
June 18, 2013

Recorded
2012-2013

Genre
Score

Length
55:11

Label
Walt Disney

Pixar film soundtrack chronology

Brave
(2012)Brave2012
Monsters University
(2013)
Inside Out
(2015)Inside Out2015

Randy Newman chronology

Toy Story 3
(2010) Toy Story 32010
Monsters University
(2013) Monsters University2013
Cars 3
(2017) Cars 32017

text: The music for the film is Randy Newman's seventh collaboration with Pixar as composer. Walt Disney Records released the soundtrack on June 18, 2013.[38][39]

text: The songs "Main Title", "Rise and Shine", and "The Scare Games" feature the drum line from the Blue Devils group "BD Entertainment". The recordings for the percussion tracks were done at Skywalker Ranch,[40] and were written by Blue Devils Percussion Caption Head Scott Johnson.[41]

text: The songs "Island" by Mastodon and "Gospel" by MarchFourth Marching Band are featured during the film but do not appear on the soundtrack. The songs "Party Hard" by Andrew W.K. and "Kickstart My Heart" by Mötley Crüe are featured prominently in the teaser trailers but do not appear on the soundtrack or in the film.

text: All music composed by Randy Newman, except where noted.

text:
No.
Title
Length

1.
"Main Title"
0:52

2.
"Young Michael"
3:58

3.
"First Day at MU"
4:32

4.
"Dean Hardscrabble"
3:19

5.
"Sulley"
0:48

6.
"Scare Pig"
2:00

7.
"Wasted Potential"
1:16

8.
"Oozma Kappa"
3:16

9.
"Stinging Glow Urchin"
2:34

10.
"Field Trip"
3:57

11.
"Rise and Shine"
3:00

12.
"The Library"
3:44

13.
"Roar" (written and performed by Axwell & Sebastian Ingrosso)
2:55

14.
"The Scare Games"
6:00

15.
"Did You Do This?"
2:00

16.
"Human World"
2:07

17.
"The Big Scare"
3:02

18.
"Goodbyes"
3:11

19.
"Mike and Sulley"
1:12

20.
"Monsters University"
1:34

Total length:
55:15

text: Release[edit]

text: The first teaser trailer for Monsters University was released on June 20, 2012.[42] Four versions of the trailer exist; in his sleep, Mike mutters excuses to avoid attending class in each one, such as "I'm not wearing any clothes," "My homework ate my dog," "Class President?", and "My pony made the Dean's List." A second trailer was released on February 11, 2013, a third on April 26, 2013, and a fourth and final trailer, which included scenes from the film, was released on May 30, 2013.

text: On October 8, 2012, Pixar revealed a fully functional website for Monsters University, complete with information about admissions, academic and campus life, and a campus store to purchase MU apparel. On April 1, 2013, the website was styled to appear as though a rival college, Fear Tech, had hacked and vandalized it.[43][44] The first television commercial for the film was aired during the 2013 Rose Bowl Game, parodying advertisements for participating schools that are shown during college football telecasts. From June 27 until July 11, 2013, Disney's online game Club Penguin hosted a Monsters University Takeover event to promote the film. Players could dress up as their favorite monsters and take part in the Scare Games.[45]

text: The film had its worldwide premiere on June 5, 2013, as a special screening at BFI Southbank in London with the director and producer in attendance.[46] The film had its Asian premiere as the opening film of the 2013 Shanghai International Film Festival on June 15, 2013.[47] It premiered in the United States on June 8, 2013, at the Seattle International Film Festival,[47] and was released in theaters on June 21, 2013. The film's theatrical release was accompanied by Pixar's short film titled The Blue Umbrella.[11]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Monsters University was released by Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, 3D Blu-ray, DVD, digital copy, and on demand on October 29, 2013. It was accompanied by The Blue Umbrella, Pixar's short film which played alongside the film in theaters.[48]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Monsters University earned $268.5 million in the United States and Canada and $475.7 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $744.2 million. Calculating in all expenses, Deadline.com estimated that the film made a profit of $179.8 million.[49] It is the 56th highest-grossing film of all-time,[50] the 12th highest-grossing animated film all-time, the seventh highest-grossing 2013 film,[5] and the third highest-grossing Pixar film.[51] The film earned $136.9 million worldwide on its opening weekend.[52] Disney declined to provide a budget for the film; Entertainment Weekly speculated that it was higher than that of Brave ($185 million), mainly because of the high cost of John Goodman and Billy Crystal reprising their roles.[53] Shockya and EOnline reported the budget to be $200 million—on par with previous Pixar films.[3][4]

text: North America[edit]

text: In the week leading to Monsters University's release, Disney projected an opening weekend gross of at least $70 million.[54] The film opened on Friday, June 21, 2013 in first place with $30.47 million –including $2.6 million in 20:00 Thursday night shows–[55] marking the fifth largest opening day among animated films.[56] The film then reached first place with an opening-weekend gross of $82.43 million; the second largest among Pixar films,[57] the second largest among G-rated films,[58] the fourth largest among prequels,[59] the fifth largest among animated films,[60] and the fifth largest among films released in June.[61] Monsters University remained at first place on its second weekend, declining 45% to $45.6 million.[62] Facing tough competition from Despicable Me 2 on its third weekend, it dropped 57% to $19.7 million.[63] As of December 2013, it is the tenth highest-grossing animated film.[64]

text: Outside North America[edit]

text: The film earned $54.5 million in 35 markets on its opening weekend.[57] It set a Pixar opening weekend record in Latin America with revenues of $31.7 million.[65] In Argentina, the film set an opening weekend record among all films with $5.49 million.[66][67] In Australia, where it had a simultaneous release with Despicable Me 2, Monsters University debuted behind the latter with $3.56 million in third place.[68] In Hong Kong, the film set opening-day (HK$5.03 million),[69] single-day (HK$7.93 million) and opening-weekend (HK$25.79 million) records among animated films, beating the previous record holder, Toy Story 3.[70] In the UK, the film topped the box office during its opening weekend with a gross of GB£3.46 million.[71] The film's largest opening occurred in China, where its $13 million debut ranked fourth among Disney films.[72][73] The film's highest-grossing markets are Japan ($90.1 million), the UK, Ireland, and Malta ($47.2 million), and Mexico ($37.6 million).[73]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 78% approval rating based on 189 reviews, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The site's critical consensus reads "Offering Monsters, Inc. fans a welcome return visit with beloved characters, Monsters University delivers funny and thoughtful family entertainment for viewers of any age."[74] Another review aggregator, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 65 based on 41 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[75] Audiences polled by Cinemascore gave the film a grade A. According to Disney, audiences were 56% female and 60% below the age of 25. Families made up 73% of business, and teens accounted for a solid 15%. The film played well with all ages.[53]

text: Matt Zoller Seitz of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film four stars out of four, saying it "is true to the spirit of [Monsters, Inc.] and matches its tone. But it never seems content to turn over old ground."[76] Trevor Johnston of Time Out gave the film four stars out of five, writing "It has enough of the right stuff to haunt the imagination long after the immediate buzz of its fluffy-furred cuteness has melted away. For a mere prequel, that's a result."[77] Steven Rea of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the film three stars out of four and said it "is cute, and funny, and the animation, though not exactly inspired, is certainly colorful."[78] Jake Coyle of Associated Press gave the film three stars out of four, saying it "might not be as gifted as some of its other movies, but sometimes it's alright to be OK."[79] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film three stars out of four, and said "It's all infectious fun, despite the lack of originality. In the art of tickling funny bones, Crystal and Goodman earn straight A's."[80] Richard Corliss of Time gave the film a positive review, saying "This minor film with major charms still deserves to have kids dragging their parents to the multiplex for one more peek at the monsters in the closet. With Pixar, familiarity breeds content."[81] Bill Goodykoontz of The Arizona Republic gave the film three and a half stars out of five and said it is "one of those movies that has absolutely no reason to exist, but once you've seen it, you're kind of glad it does."[82] Alan Scherstuhl of The Village Voice gave the film a positive review, saying "Monsters University feels not like the work of artists eager to express something but like that of likable pros whose existence depends on getting a rise out the kids. It's like the scares Sully and Mike spring on those sleeping tykes: technically impressive but a job un-anchored to anything more meaningful."[83]

text: Leonard Maltin of IndieWire praised the animation and art direction, but wrote that he wished "the movie was funnier and wasn't so plot-heavy" and that "Pixar has raised the bar for animated features so high that when they turn out a film that's merely good, instead of great, they have only themselves to blame for causing critics to damn them with faint praise."[84] Michael Phillips of Chicago Tribune gave the film two stars out of four, saying "Monsters University, the weirdly charmless sequel to the animated 2001 Pixar hit Monsters, Inc., is no better or worse than the average (and I mean average) time-filling sequel cranked out by other animation houses."[85] Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review, saying that it "never surprises, goes off in unexpected directions or throws you for a loop in the manner of the best Pixar stories. Nor does it come close to elating through the sheer imagination of its conceits and storytelling."[86] Claudia Puig of USA Today gave the film three stars out of four, and said it "may not be as inventive as Inc., but it's an amusing and amiable addition to Pixar's roster of animated coming-of-age stories."[87] Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post gave the film three stars out of four, saying "It may be children's terror that powers the movie's fictional universe, but it's the energy of its stars that lights up Monsters University."[88] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film an A− and said it "is exactly the rebound Pixar needed after 2011's Cars 2 left some wondering if the studio had lost its magic. The delightful story of when Mike met Sulley puts those concerns to rest."[89] James Berardinelli of ReelViews gave the film three stars out of four and wrote "Although it falls short of the best Pixar has brought to the screen over its long association with Disney, it's nevertheless worth a trip to the theater, especially for kids."[90]

text: However, the film was not without its detractors. Richard Roeper gave the film a C+, saying "This is a safe, predictable, edge-free, nearly bland effort from a studio that rarely hedges its bets."[91] Stephen Whitty of Newark Star-Ledger gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and said "The artwork is accomplished, and intricate. The G-rating is genuine, without any gross-out gags. And there's none of the usual winks to the adults with tired, pop-culture references."[92] Manohla Dargis of The New York Times gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of five and wrote "Both the originality and stirring emotional complexity of Monsters, Inc., with its exquisitely painful and touching parallels with the human world, are missing."[93] Ty Burr of The Boston Globe gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, and said "This is not a bad movie, and to small children it will be a very good one, but it's closer to average than one would wish from the company that gave us Up, WALL-E, The Incredibles, and the Toy Story series."[94] Rene Rodriguez of Miami Herald gave the film two stars out of five and wrote that it "feels half-hearted and lazy, like they weren't even trying. At least show a little effort, guys."[95]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Awards

Award
Date of ceremony
Category
Recipients and nominees
Result

American Cinema Editors[96]
February 7, 2014
Best Edited Animated Feature Film
Greg Snyder
Nominated

Annie Awards[97][98]
February 1, 2014
Best Animated Feature

Animated Effects in an Animated Production

Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
John Chun Chiu Lee

Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Chris Sasaki

Music in an Animated Feature Production
Randy Newman

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Ricky Nierva, Robert Kondo, Daisuke "Dice" Tsutsumi

Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Billy Crystal (Mike Wazowski)

Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Daniel Gerson, Robert L. Baird, Dan Scanlon

Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Dean Kelly
Won

Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Greg Snyder, Gregory Amundson, Steve Bloom

British Academy Film Awards[99]
February 16, 2014
Best Animated Film
Dan Scanlon
Nominated

Cinema Audio Society Awards[100][101]
February 22, 2014
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Motion Pictures – Animated
Doc Kane, Michael Semanick, Gary Summers, David Boucher, Corey Tyler

Critics' Choice Movie Award[102]
January 16, 2014
Best Animated Feature

Denver Film Critics Society
January 13, 2014
Best Animated Feature Film

Hollywood Film Awards[103]
October 21, 2013
Hollywood Animation Award

Won

International Cinephile Society[104]
February 23, 2014
Best Animated Film

Nominated

Kids' Choice Awards[105]
March 29, 2014
Favorite Animated Movie

Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie
Billy Crystal

Producers Guild of America Award[106]
January 19, 2014
Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Kori Rae

San Francisco Film Critics Circle[107]
December 15, 2013
Best Animated Feature

Satellite Awards[108]
February 23, 2014
Best Motion Picture, Animated or Mixed Media

Saturn Award
June 2014
Best Animated Film

Visual Effects Society Awards[109]
February 12, 2014
Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Kori Rae, Sanjay Bakshi, Jon Reisch, Scott Clark

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Robert Kondo, Eric Andraos, Dale Ruffolo, Peter Sumanaseni (Campus)

Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association[110]
December 9, 2013
Best Animated Feature