Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The Core Competence of the Corporation Assignment - 1

The Core Competence of the Corporation - Assignment Example Effectively, the authors stress on the collective learning of the organization, juxtaposed with technical competencies and production technologies as drivers of core competence. They suggest simple tests that can help assess the construct: i) does the competence help the firm in addressing diverse markets, ii) is it easily imitable? and iii) does the customer perceive a benefit from the end product? In the second part of the report, we apply the learnings to a civil engineering situation where there are two organizational actors: BBCL and El Dorado. We find that the potential Joint Venture could lead to development of core competencies. In the current scheme of things, both companies do not have any clear core competencies. We also analyze the firms in terms of the capabilities that they have developed over the years. The Core Competence of the Corporation 1. ... firms that have helped them differentiate their firm’s advantages from others; additionally, these key strengths, which Prahalad & Hamel (1993) term as core competencies have enabled the companies to make their mark in several products. These strengths have led the firms to sustained and profitable growth. 2. Key definitions The authors begin with an introduction to two different companies operating in the telecommunications space: GTE and NEC. The time frame studied is 1980 to 1988. While NEC started small, it ended up bigger in revenues and market share during the end of the period. This provided an impetus for the authors to try and identify what lay behind the scenes at these two telecommunication giants. One of the definitions put forth by the authors is the term ‘core competence’ itself. A core competence could be something similar to a capability developed by a company that could help establish a sustainable, defensible and profitable market position. In a competitive environment, a core competence could be a strategic asset. The next question this leads us to is this: if a capability needs to be defined as a core competence, then what criteria can be used to test it? The authors recommend three tests: 1) Does the capability help the firm compete in several product markets? 2) Can the competence or capability be easily imitated by rivals and 3) Is the customer capable of perceiving a difference because of the company’s competence in a particular domain? If the answers to all three questions are in the affirmative, then the particular competence could be termed a core competence. 3. Key Insights & Takeaways To explain with the help of an analogy, the authors use a tree with its roots, branches and fruits. The roots are akin to the core competence. They

Sunday, October 27, 2019

The Empress Dowager CI XI History Essay

The Empress Dowager CI XI History Essay Empress Dowager Ci Xi was born in 1835. She had two younger brothers. Her father Hui Zheng was a member of the Bordered Blue Banner of the Eight Banners. Bordered Blue Banner was descendant of royal, so she had an excellent familys background. According to annals, she spent her early life in Anhui Province. The earlier period of childhood, she started to learn literature, painting and handwriting. She had been training hard for several years before she moved to Beijing. Ci Xi took apart in a selection program for concubines for the new Xian Feng Emperor. She was a talented girl, so she was one of the few girls selected to be Preparative Concubine. After that, she was promoted to Noble Person after she was selected to serve the Emperors daily life. She was pregnant for the first time in 1855, and she gave birth to Tong Zhi in 1856. Tong Zhi was the only son of the Xian Feng Emperor. So Ci Xi was promoted to Noble Imperial Consort Yi. The Xian Feng Emperor became lazy because of his ba d health, and Ci Xi was good at handwriting, so Xian Feng Emperor looked over the political documents, and asked Ci Xi to write comments on it. So at that time Ci Xi started to contact with politics. British and French troops attacked Beijing in 1860, Xian Feng Emperor took his son and Ci Xi fled Beijing to a safety place called Re He. However Xian Feng was seriously ill at that time, his son Tong Zhi was only 6 years old; its too young to manage the whole country, so Xian Feng Emperor summoned eight of his most prestigious ministers to help his son to manage the country. Xian Feng Emperor died in 1861. After the death of the Xian Feng Emperor, both of his Empress Consort and Noble Consort Yi were elevated to the empress dowager. Tong Zhi became the new emperor and the Eight Regent Ministers tried to reduce the right of the new emperor, but Ci Xi was not satisfied with the Eight Regent Ministers. So she made a plan to arrest them, and killed them with the help of Prince Gong. After that, Ci Xi started to mix in politics. In breaking with tradition, Ci Xi became the first and only Qing Dynasty Empress to rule from behind the curtains. Tong Zhi Emperor died in 1875, Ci Xis nephew Guang Xu became the new Emperor. However, Ci Xi still ruled from behind the curtains. The first Sino-Japanese War was break out in 1894, the result of the defeat the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Empress Dowager Ci Xis policy to the war was negative, so after a series of the wars of invading China, we lost our dominion gradually. Empress Dowager Ci Xi died in the Hall of Graceful Bird on 15 November 1908. Empress Dowager Ci Xi, as an emperor had governed the Qing Dynasty for about forty years. When the Qing Dynasty was found at beginning, the emperor not Empress Dowager Ci Xi had set a ban that the imperial harem or seraglio should not participate in the international affairs. When it was Ci Xis turn to govern the whole country, everything seemed changed. She used her beauty to make Xian Feng believe her and they soon got a baby called Tong Zhi. When Tong Zhi emperor controlled the country, it was a bad time. Britain and France united army went through Beijing and attacked and occupied Beijing. Then Xian Feng emperor escaped to a summer retreat. That was absurd that the high status emperor escaped when facing violence. How could the folks look at him? The only thing they responded was laughing at Xian Feng emperor. Just at that moment, Empress Dowager Ci Xi grasped this chance to become herself a psychologist. She came to comfort Xian Feng emperor. But as a pity, he died soon. However Xian Feng emperor knew well about how good or bad Empress Dowager Ci Xi was. So he left an imperial edict to Empress Dowager Ci Xi to prevent her in case she done something harmful. But out of Xian Fengs prediction, Empress Dowager Ci Xi made the imperial in her own hands by using some kind of means. She made herself to be the emperor. How contemptible s he was! When Tong Zhi was died at the age of 21 with sexual disease, it was obvious that Empress Dowager Ci Xi should take over the political power when Guang Xu was too young to take charge of the country. Empress Dowager Ci Xi always insisted on centralism. She suppressed the Taiping Rebellion which was an appeal for peasants` right. But she made it down. She kept the situation which was called centralism. Making the military power hold in her hand, she would not like anyone else to crab anything from her. In 1904, Japan and tsarist Russia made a war because of the territory of China and Korea. It took place in the northeast of China. To everyones surprise, Empress Dowager Ci Xi held the position standing in the middle. Thus made the people lived in northeast of China suffered in great pain. She even could bear that the people who were under her control were in pain not only in physic but also in mental. She made all rights belong to herself. She designed and snared the ministers, judged them with blank commitments. She smashed others` power into ash. She insisted in holding the main power and making everyone who was under her control listen to her. She made a rule which was that anyone could not challenge her position or doubt her ability because all she wanted was the whole nation and the entire power. As a leader, she failed to care about the folks` emotions and even did not know what they really needed and what they worried. She just knew that she had the responsibility to protect her position from being usurped. Not only in her political aspect had she something that made people dissatisfied with her but also in the life aspect. For example, Empress Dowager Ci Xi had a habit that was: where she went, where the meal went. So she did not have a specifically restaurant which was designed to eat.  Incidentally, the bowls she used were colored in bright yellow, covered with silver lid, and some of them were decorated with dragon patterns, while others printed the Chinese character shou ¼Ã‹â€ Ãƒ ¥Ã‚ ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ¼Ã¢â‚¬ °. The each meal of Empress Dowager Ci Xi was contained about 150 dishes. All the dishes were neatly arranged in rows. One row was a large line of bowls, and another row was a line of small dishes, followed by a row of a small bowl, in this case order.  When the two female officers came into the bedroom and put the table, they were holding a big yellow food container.  Her tea cups were made by pure white jade, and tea trays and lids were gold. Empress Dowager Ci Xi would not eat with other people.  When she began to eat, she always ordered the eunuchs to brought silver chopsticks, spoons, etc., and then said: Im sorry you have to stand up when you are having your meal, but these are the rules set by our ancestors. I can not break the rules, even the Queen can not sit in front. Im sure if the foreigners know how we treat the woman in the palace, they would certainly think that we are barbarians. But you will soon find that I practice in front of them is completely different, they do not see merely who we are. Many people think that Empress Dowager Ci Xi was a bad woman in the Chinese history. However, she also had her success.    First of all, Ci Xis struggles are worth for us to learn. In Qing Dynasty, nobody can be greater than her. When she was a child, she had already known that using money to bribe eunuch to be close to emperor. After she lived in the palace, she could deal with a lot of complicated things in correct and experienced ways. Then, she gave a birth to a child who was the only son of her husband-Xian Feng emperor. She was a really clever woman that no other concubines could have babies for the emperor. Secondly, Empress Dowager Ci Xi could deal with things without hesitation. Before Xian Feng emperor dead, he told 9 ministers to control Ci Xis rights. However, Empress Dowager Ci Xi didnt afraid of them. She used the hatreds between the ministers to turn the scale. Finally, she took helm of the state and she controlled her son, which was called attended to state affairs. In addition, she usually deals with things without hesitation, such as 1898 Reform period. Thirdly, Empress Dowager Ci Xi ended feudal society in a quick way. The feudal society in China had lasted for more than 2000 years. It was too long and serious to China to develop capitalism, which made China poor and fall behind other countries in Qing Dynasty. However, Empress Dowager Ci Xi was a luxurious woman and she leaded a luxurious phenomenon around the country. She reduced the money of the government, which leaded to the feudal society in China was ended almost 30 years in advance. In the position of Qing government, Empress Dowager Ci Xi was a guilty person, but in the position of the development of history, she helped China to end the feudal society in a quick way. Fourthly, Ci Xis luxurious hobbies-the Chinese feast and Peking opera, which developed Chinese culture. She loved the two things and many foreigners were interested in imperial banquet. The Chinese feast finally fixed many different styles of cooking. Its unique in the world. She loved Peking Opera and she often heard opera in her palace. In this way, many foreigners could have chances to come into contact with Peking Opera. The secrets and culture of Peking Opera could be spread. So that, Empress Dowager Ci Xi made contributions to Chinese culture. Fifthly, hobbies of Empress Dowager Ci Xi improved the society in the process of modernization of China. Was Empress Dowager Ci Xi an old-fogy? If we find the answer from the Chinese history book, we may say she was, because she suppressed the Chinese reform. However, the time she was in power was a high communicated period with western countries. During this period, she certainly learned a lot from western countries. She imported many new things from foreign to China. Electric lights, automobiles, photos, movies and so on. We think that all of them were completed by courage from Empress Dowager Ci Xi, so we have to admit that she was a wise woman. At last, Empress Dowager Ci Xi brought us a famous world culture heritage-the Summer Palace. When we travelled in the Summer Palace, guiders usually told us that Empress Dowager Ci Xi spent the expense of navy in building the Summer Palace in1888, which leaded that China had failed in the Sino-Japanese War. Who knew that the Summer Palace would be a famous imperial garden where must be visited by foreigners. So, Empress Dowager Ci Xi was not only a guilty person all the time, she also had her ability and success. There is no perfect man or woman in the world. Anybody has good aspect meanwhile he or she has the bad side. No one is absolute bad or good. So, is Empress Dowager Ci Xi good or bad? Everyone has his or her own idea.

Friday, October 25, 2019

The Importance of Family Tradition in the Film, William Faulkner: A Life on Paper :: Movie Film Essays

The Importance of Family Tradition in the Film, William Faulkner: A Life on Paper William Faulkner’s life was defined by his inability to conduct himself as a true Southern gentleman. He never achieved affluence, strength, chivalry or honor. Therefore, the myth of Southern masculinity eluded him. Faulkner shied away from violence, he never proved himself in battle. He was not a hard worker, nor was he an excellent family man. Seemingly worst of all, he did not follow in the footsteps of his father and the â€Å"Old Colonel.† The code of Southern gentility highly praises family tradition. As a born and bred Southerner I can attest to this fact. Every man in my family for ten generations has been a plumber. It is the utmost honor for a man to follow his father’s example. Faulkner, unfortunately, was incapable of really living like his father. Therefore, I believe Faulkner’s collective failures are rooted in the fact that he could not live up to the standards set by the men in his family. Faulkner’s father and great grandfather could be described as the embodiment of Southern masculinity. The video â€Å"A Life on Paper† made it clear that the Faulkner men were â€Å"manly men.† The â€Å"Old Colonel† was remembered as a valiant war hero and a wonderful storyteller. William’s father continued perfectly in his footsteps. He had an intense work ethic and he served in the military. He provided for his family and he never turned down a good fight. Together they set the mold for the perfect Southern man, a role that William could never hope to fulfill. William did, however, possess the unquenchable pride of a Southern man. He recognized the importance of proving himself to his father. So he spent his time emulating the man he admired. He tried to construct a normal family life but he was self- centered and irresponsible. His lack of steady income prevented him from being a provider like his father. Perhaps worst of all, Faulkner missed an important rite of passage by being denied war experience. The writer never actively participated in battle, so he constructed an elaborate web of lies and vivid stories. This event highlights Faulkner’s own intense determination to reach the Southern ideal. Since he couldn’t really be a war hero, he fabricated himself into one. This struggle proved extremely difficult for Faulkner. Upon reading Faulkner’s The Unvanquished, I drew a parallel between Drusilla’s commentary on life and Faulkner’s own pursuit of masculinity (100).

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Marketing Communications Memo Essay

This year this organization has elected to erect a monument to honor the fallen military heroes of Jacksonville, Florida. Some demographics of this large city are its’ multigenerational and diverse ethnic population, varied socioeconomic span, and of course, the large military representation, both active duty, retired, veterans, and their families. The location of Jacksonville in northeast Florida is a great stopover spot for tourists making their way to Orlando or Tampa and the snowbirds on their journey to southern Florida for the winter. The location of the monument should be centralized and near a major highway, possibly Interstate 95 between Interstate 10 and Interstate 295 South. Jacksonville, Florida is a military town and rich in its military history. According to United States Census Bureau QuickFacts (Jacksonville, 2008-2012) approximately 81,000 veterans live here. This number represents 10.5% of the total Jacksonville population. When including Orange Park and Jacksonville Beach to these numbers the veterans’ total number increases to nearly 85,000. This number is not reflective of the family members surrounding the veterans. The QuickFacts sheet goes on to state that the average household in Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, and Orange Park, is approximately 2.50 persons. The number of individuals living in the greater Jacksonville, Florida area directly related to the military member adds another 127,500 people for a total of 170,000 (QuickFacts Orange Park, QuickFacts Jacksonville Beach & QuickFacts Jacksonville, 2008-2012). We will want to choose a central location for the monument as Jacksonville, Florida has the greatest land mass in the continental United States with 885 square miles (Insider’s Guide to Jacksonville, Florida, 2014). By centralizing the location we can attract as many of Jacksonville’s residents to visit the monument. We must also take into consideration the ease of access to the monument for out of state visitors. If the location is too complicated to get to many people will not visit the site. The monument site will also have a visitor/gift shop with smaller images of the Fallen Heroes Monument for sale, along with military memorabilia of the two naval military installations, Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport, and Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island Command along with military collectables. The various National Guards outfits along with the Coast Guard will be represented as well. The gift store will be maintain and staffed by Naval Air Station Jacksonville and proceeds will help with the upkeep of the monument. We will build the store as part of the monument site. The City of Jacksonville has donated the land in the name of the local fallen heroes. The project hopes to capture national attention with its innovative design and availability of military collectables. We want not just the Jacksonville, Florida residents to take pride in this monument but the State of Florida and our nation. Fundraising will be accomplished by reaching out to local military and veteran organizations. The Veterans of Foreign War, American Legion, Student Veterans of America, and American Veterans are all onboard to help with fundraising events like car washes, cook-outs, and large yard sales. We have also partnered with the local motorcycle clubs in Jacksonville, Florida who have scheduled several Saturday rides throughout the state. Historically the bikers clubs have donated large sums of money to events such as ours. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and Jacksonville Fire Department are also collecting donations to help defray the total cost of the monument. Naval Station Mayport and Naval Air Station Jacksonville will have golf tournaments to support the building of the monument. Grants from the City of Jacksonville and from the State of Florida have been pledged.  There will be a website featuring the future monument and donations can be accepted there as well. Military personnel come from all ages, racial ethnicities, socioeconomic levels, and religious backgrounds; it is a fair assessment to predict that the visitors to the monument will be of the same diversity. The marketing direction will be of one from pride in our nations’ military men and women, the good work they do the world over, and the sacrifices they have given. The local community is fully committed to the project and is evident by the large number of private contributors. References: Insider’s Guide to Jacksonville, Florida. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.insideflorida.com/city/info/Jacksonville QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12000.html QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Jacksonville, Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/1235000.html QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/1235050.html QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. (2008-2012). Orange Park, Florida. Retrieved from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/12/1252125.html

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Improvement of the School Environment Essay

On behalf of the students of SMK Bagan Serai, I, Lee Shun Zhuan, the head prefect would like to draw your attention to certain problems of the students. Our school is the quintessence of schools in Kerian district, but for your information, there is still room for improvement of the school environment. In fact, most of the school buildings are lacklustre which in turn will dampen students’ enthusiasm for study. Human nature makes people feel better about themselves when their surroundings are pleasant. Students who have better attitudes usually learn more and work harder. Therefore, I would like to suggest several ways to ameliorate the overall school environment. First and foremost, we need to beautify our school by planting flower and greenery. If it is possible, the school authorities can have a garden which can create a euphoric ambience for students to relax. Besides that, a biannual â€Å"Gotong-royong† campaign should be held to enhance the environmental awareness among students. Having an immaculate school environment is the onus of every Tom, Dick and Harry. Do not maintain status quo, that is dingy or lacklustre blank walls as in other school. The students should draw some innovative murals on the walls to make the school awe-inspired till the cow come home. Furthermore, the facilities in the school are inadequate and most of them should be improved. Broken chairs and desks should be repaired or replaced because the exposed nails may injure the students. In order to keep the school clean, more dustbins should be placed in the school compound. In additions, I would like to suggest upgrading the classroom. Temperature nowadays is mounting higher and higher. In order to provide a comfortable study ambience, I feel it is a need to install air-conditioners in the classrooms. If it is possible, the school authorities can create a specified reading or rest area. We can rear animals like rabbits and birds, creating a mini zoo with different flora and fauna. As the old saying goes, â€Å"kill two birds with one stone,† students can have a visit to mini zoo to unwind and release tension while studying or resting. I hope the school authorities will take these problems into consideration and take immediate action to improve the school environment.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Owl Pellet Dissection Essays

Owl Pellet Dissection Essays Owl Pellet Dissection Essay Owl Pellet Dissection Essay Owl Pellet Dissection Doing this owl pellet dissection, I learned that owls have to eat their prey whole e because, they do not have the mechanics humans and other animals have to chew foe d. During digestion, owls digest the food by separating the meat from the bones. After this, the o WI regurgitates the remaining hard material such as the bones and anything else it can not digest . For this separation process, the meal must go into the gizzard. Once the digestible material is re moved from the gizzard, the remaining part is formed into a round pellet. Once the pellet is of armed it is pushed out of the gizzard and into the pretentiously. Here the pellet will stay for sever real hours and has to be thrown up before the owl can eat its next meal. Depending on the meal, the pellet will contain either feathers or fur, and bones. Pellets have also been found with s deeds, exoskeleton of bugs, and plant stalks. There has been occurrences where there has been foe ND nonfood items in it. Pellets may be painful for the bird, but the regurgitating process is actually very helpful for birds. This is because it is believed that coughing up the pellet actually cleans t e upper digestive system. In the dissection, the pellet contained a rat skeleton. Rats have a similar skeletal on system as humans do. The bone structures are similar to our human skeleton. Scientists SST often test on rats because their bones are so similar to ours that the scientists can experiment new products and have the ability to see how the product affects them. Depending on how the r tats are affected, it determines if the product will be tested on humans and if the product works I n the way it should or if it harms the rats. Rats are also a lot easier to get than to have people risk themselves to science.

Monday, October 21, 2019

China and Economic and Political Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Coursework

China and Economic and Political Development in Sub-Saharan Africa Coursework China and Economic and Political Development in Sub ï » ¿ 1. Describe China’s interests in Africa and the impact of Sino-African relations on economic and political development in Sub-Saharan Africa. China has emerged as an influential economic power and has expanded its role in Africa. There has been historic political and economic links with China but the recent increase in links with Africa has risen up questions regarding the protection of interests of all stakeholders. Historically, China has supported the independence movement in Africa along with continuous investments in developmental projects. China has been showing such an interest to reach out and gain advantage from African resources and trade opportunities. There has been increasing benefits as a result of increasing African markets for Chinese products as well as arms. Sea routes and Air routes have opened up as a result of a growth in economic deals between the countries. Another reason for such interest is to challenge the economic and other such security interests of US in the region. Such a relationship has resulted in mutual benefits for both countries as Africa has gained huge investments resulting in growth i n various sectors. There has been huge impact on economic as well as political development in sub-saharan Africa. China has engaged economically with Africa in three different forms including investment, aid and trade. China is now the second largest trading partner of Africa with total trade rising to around $2.2 Trillion in the year 2009. In the area of investment, around 3% of direct investment flows from China to Africa. Major Chinese companies including Samsung electronics, Phillips and Sony electronics have been investing in Africa. However, there has been less Chinese investment in the manufacturing sector along with heavy reliance on labor imported from china with the African labor receiving fewer benefits. China has also given huge amounts of aid mostly in the form of concession loans as well as subsidized loans. It has also become an active member of the African Development Bank. 2. Critically assess the impact of China’s relations with sub-Saharan African countries. As a result of a growth in the relationship between China and Africa, there have been gains as well as losses for Sub-Saharan African countries. However, there are increasing concerns regarding the longer term impacts on Africa. There have been researches and some of them suggest that the negative effects of these relations may outweigh the positive ones. Some parts of the sub-Saharan Africa have been experiencing trade surpluses including Sudan, Angola, Congo etc while others have recorded continuous trade deficits. Due to China`s increasing interest for energy, minerals and bio-fuels, the manufacturing sectors have witnessed considerable decline. Along with this, local producers have been facing increasing difficulties regarding in competing with the imported Chinese products especially clothing goods. Cheaper products from China have further resulted in huge loss of jobs for workers in African countries. According to the video, the trade between china and Africa has grown by ten folds and risen to around hundred billion dollars. The video further shows the huge investments made by China for growth in Africa including the supply of hard working Chinese labor. However, it should be noted that in return China has also been receiving hundreds of oil gallons in return for their trade and other investment projects. : 1. "Original Article."Â  The European Journal of Development Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2013. .

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Free IELTS Preparation Online - ESL

Free IELTS Preparation Online - ESL The IELTS (International English Language Testing System) test provides an evaluation of English for those who wish to study or train in English. It is very similar to the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) required by North American universities and colleges. IELTS is a jointly managed test by the University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations, British Council and IDP Education Australia. The test is accepted by many professional organizations in Australia and New Zealand, including  the New Zealand Immigration Service, the Australian Department of Immigration. If you are interested in studying and / or training in Australia or New Zealand, this is the test best adapted to your qualification needs. Studying for the IELTS test usually involves a long course. The preparation time is similar to that of the TOEFL, FCE or CAE courses (approximately 100 hours). The total test time is 2 hours and 45 minutes and consists of the following: Academic Reading: 3 sections, 40 items, 60 minutes Academic Writing: 2 tasks: 150 words and 250 words, 60 minutes General Training Reading: 3 sections, 40 items, 60 minutes General Training Writing: 2 tasks: 150 words and 250 words, 60 minutes Listening: 4 sections, 40 items, 30 minutes Speaking: 11 to 14 minutes Up until now, there have been few resources on the Internet for First Certificate preparation. Luckily, this is beginning to change.   You can use these materials to prepare for the exam or to check to see if your level of English is right for working towards this exam. What Is the IELTS? Before beginning to study for the IELTS, it is a good idea to understand the philosophy and purpose behind this standardized test. To get up to speed on test taking, this guide to taking tests can help you understand general test taking preparation. The best way to understand the IELTS is to go straight to the source and visit the IELTS information site.   Study Resources Now that you know what you will be working towards, its time to get down to work! Read about common IELTS mistakes and check out the following free practice resources on the Internet.   From the IELTS official site: Sample test questions From the excellent IELTS-Blog:  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹A collection of insightful IELTS writing tips From Exam English: IELTS Resources From IELTS Exam Preparation: Practice tests

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Aristotle, Eudaimonia, and Egoistic Hedonism Essay

Aristotle, Eudaimonia, and Egoistic Hedonism - Essay Example This cultivation of excellence is what Aristotle defines as happiness. There is a pleasure that derives from the achievement of living well or living ethically. The ultimate goal of the Nicomachean Ethics is then the establishment of what is good and how it is obtained teleologically, or purpose-driven. As Aristotle proposed, "every art and investigationseems to aim at some good," and that this end was happiness. (Bk. I, Ch. 1). In order to answer what role pleasure plays in a happy life it is necessary to differentiate and define what happiness and pleasure respectively mean first. Happiness and pleasure are not synonymous terms, though pleasure can be obtained through living in accordance to the happy life. In the Nicomachean Ethics, the word that was translated to "happiness" is derived from the Greek word "eudaimonia" that carries with it a connotation meaning excellence and high value. Happiness should not be mistaken, as it is defined in contemporary and popular usage as a relative state characterized by the amount of pleasure received from something or liking to something. Instead happiness is instead living a virtuous life, or as Aristotle wrote, happiness is "the activity of the soul in accordance to virtue." (Bk. I, Ch. VII). Requisite in this is the explanation regarding how the soul can be engaged in accordance to virtue and what virtue itself means. Virtue did not pertain to being highly morali stic as it does today, but rather it pertained to its degree of excellence and value. Virtue was translated from the Greek word "arte" that directly relates to the means excellence. Therefore, something was virtuous if it achieved its goal or end well. For example, a computer was virtuous if it processed information well, and performed the myriad of other tasks with proficiency and skill. For a person, this meant that they were virtuous if they lived and achieved happiness. The arte of man is his ability to reason and the more well or excellently he reasoned, the more virtuous he or she was. Living rationally then is living excellently and doing well, and reason is the activity of the soul, or as Aristotle defined as "the exercise of the soul's faculties in conformity with virtue in a complete life." (Bk. I, Ch VII). Pleasure on the other hand holds a different meaning in the Nicomachean Ethics. Pleasure is the positive feelings one obtains through the actions, as opposed to the aim of the actions themselves. For example, if an individual decides to exercise vigorously daily, they may improve their physical appearance to others as a result. Any compliments by others would make the individual feel good, and that good sensation is pleasure. While the aim of exercising might be something else, that is better health and more energy, and the compliments made by others are secondary. The virtuous act of exercise and physical fitness is to get into better health while the pleasurable act would be the compliments towards a more attractive physical appearance. Aristotle would not consider the intended purpose of receiving compliments because of exercise to of excellent virtue, but rather of hedonistic pleasure. Pleasure should not be the end goal, but part of

Friday, October 18, 2019

Greasy Lake - T. Boyle Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Greasy Lake - T. Boyle - Assignment Example I agree with Boyle in that most of the time people have no idea about the reality of what they admire and aspire to be; only when one experiences something can one know the true meaning thereof. In the beginning Boyle romanticizes the â€Å"bad† or â€Å"dangerous† persona that the narrator and his friends aspire to have as their own, or feel is their own. There is a tendency even now, I feel, to make the bad appear good and attractive, whereby young men want to be rebels or bad. Boyle captures this attitude right in the start of his narrative, stating that it was a time â€Å"when it was good to be bad†. The narrator of the story goes on to list quite a few of the â€Å"bad† qualities that his friends have, and which he admires, and which make him think that they are â€Å"two dangerous characters†. Most often such dangerous characters do not have any inkling of what real danger is, and their image is often based on stories they themselves tell, or on feats that are really not â€Å"dangerous† but merely irresponsible. In the story, for example, the two friends of the narrator are â€Å"bad† because not only can they hold their own at a party, but can also roll joints in extremely difficult circumstances. It seems that this is often the truth of life; if you put yourself out to be as someone, more often than not, people will believe you without any evidence, and soon you will start believing it too, that is until you are faced with an event that challenges your claim. When something comes along that actually challenges the claims that you make, it is only then that the truth is known. Only when you are faced with the task of proving yourself to be who you claim to be can you actually prove the same. I completely agree with Boyle on this, because in my opinion very few people turn out to be who they say they are when it comes to putting their claims into action. When they are forced to scatter, with the narrator finding himself in Greasy

Change management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Change management - Assignment Example People develop new initiatives, new projects, and new technologies, which are all meant for improvement, or for solving problems. Change is experienced at various levels, including the personal and the group level. Therefore, in this case, companies are places where change will be experienced in form of organizational change. Although change is a good concept, this might result in detrimental effects, if it is not well managed. Therefore, the skills and knowledge about change management are important for individuals and organizations today in order to experience a successful transition. This semester, through different class activities, I have learnt and gathered great and diverse knowledge about the concepts of change and change management. I have learnt about these concepts in greater depths, including the different theories of change management. In addition, I have practiced reflections on change and organizational change, based on my personal experiences. All these have been help ed to shape my perspective on change and change management, thus built my personal philosophy of managing change. This essay is a reflection of important insights and knowledge about change management, which I have acquired during this semester. ... Companies today are faced with high competition in the market, thus they have to compete favorably, in order to remain productive. For favorable competition, these have to adopt new strategies, which will make them have a competitive advantage in the market. The new strategies might involve the employees in the company or the business processes, including technology, employee roles, among others, and this will call for the employees to adjust to the new processes. Today, there are cases of employees, who have showed reluctance in adopting changes in their companies, while others have shown adherence. This means that employees will respond to change in a company differently (Hiatt & Creasey 2003). On the other hand, Beerel (2009) notes that some professionals lack sufficient knowledge on change management, thus, have failed to effect change in their companies successfully. People hold different views and perspectives about the academic knowledge and theories of change management. Howe ver, during this I have come to appreciate the importance of the insightful views of various scholars about change and change management. This includes different models and theories, which scholars have developed to help explain the process of change and change management. With regard to the current theories on change and change management, I have taken special interest in the scholarly work of Dr. John Kotter. Being a professor at the Harvard Business School, I consider this to prove that he has diverse knowledge on issues in business, including change management. Among his 18 books about leadership, I find â€Å"Leading Change† (1995) and â€Å"The Heart of Change† (2002) to be more relevant to the topic of change management, as these

Operational Management in Hospitality (A REPORT) Essay

Operational Management in Hospitality (A REPORT) - Essay Example These above mentioned value-added, important activities should always be aligned with the market opportunities in order to have an optimal performance†. (Jacobs, 2001) Operations management also focuses carefully on how to manage the different processes in order to distribute and produce different services and products. Generally, small businesses or enterprises dont usually talk about this term which is known as operations management, but on the other hand, they do carry out different activities that management schools associate with. There are many small businesses that generally follow some basic rules in order to make their business stable so that they can work well. They also know that there are many other companies who work well by following operation management rules and regulations. But no doubt they do use some basic principles in order to compete with all the other companies. All the different activities usually include development, production creation, distribution and production. Other related activities include inventory control, managing all the purchases, storage, quality control, evaluations and logistics. One of a great deal of fo cus is mainly on effectiveness and efficiency of all these above mentioned processes. Therefore, operations management also includes an analysis and substantial measurement of internal process. Restructuring is termed as an important process with the help of which any company can regain its profits and can work better. Restructuring can be classified into various steps. It can be done in any phase or in any process. All the departments of the company require restructuring because it is necessary in order to gain maximum potential. â€Å"With the help of restructuring, operation management can also work well because it is only with the help of it that a company can gain maximum shares†. (Jacobs, 2001) SSP are the leader in providing advice which helps a lot in designing the whole

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Binge Drinking in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Binge Drinking in Britain - Essay Example Binge drinking has been a problem in other countries in Europe like Poland although the recent data shows that the trend has been reducing of late in the country. However unlike in Poland, the trend of binge drinking has been picking up in Britain and it has come with various social and health complications. (Moscalwcz, 2005) Binge drinking has been defined as pattern of drinking alcohol which brings the concentration of alcohol to around 0.08 gram percent or above in the body. In an adult this can be shown as drinkgin more than 5 drinks and about 4 drinks for females in a period of about 2 hours. In the common use, binge dirking is however used to refer to the excessive use of alcohol on a similar time span for example over an evening. It is sometimes referred to as heavy episodic drinking. Binge drinking is also any pattern of drinking which has the sole international of becoming intoxicated. Therefore it is excessive intake of alcohol in one setting. Some people usually take alcohol that they could have taken in one week in just one setting. It can also refer to drinking heavily land continuously over a period of time for day or weeks. It is usually called drinking in order to get drunk. According to the definitions of clinical a binge drink can be explained by the period under which the drinking is e xtended which may be for at least two days in which a person repeatedly becomes drunk and intoxicated. Therefore it's a combination for probing use of alcohol which makes one to give up usual activities. (Woods, 2008) Who are binge drinkers A binge drinker is a person who takes alcohol continuously and in large amount than the recommended level. It is appear show have restrained drinking behavior but how may frequently overindulge in drinking to an extreme level. It is also someone who many not necessary want to drink a lot but who is unsure of the limit that he wants to take where at the end one ends up drinking too much in a short period of tem. (Reach Out, 2008) Most of the binge drinkers are not sure other amount of alcohol they take at one setting. They are drinking to get drunk and at the end they exceed the health recommended limited or drinks. For most people binge drink brings in their minds a self-destructive and understand bout of drinking which may last or several day during which they are likely to consumer a high amount of alcoholic their body. Reasons for binge drinking There are many reasons that have been shows to cause binge drinking. Although many people have shown that there are used under a duress condition when they binge drink, psychologist have shown that this may not be the reason for all people. There are a number of binge drinker how cannot give a particular reason as to why they binge drink. Therefore the numbers of reason that can lead one to binge drink are valid and depend on each individual person. For example among the youth it has been shown that most of the youths binge drink due to peer pressure. They engage in unending drinking sprees with their colleagues as a leisure activity. However it has been shows that among the working class binge drinking may be caused by limited time that they have for the activity. Therefore when they are not at work, there are likely to drinking more because they are not sure the

International Logictics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International Logictics - Essay Example World trade has been increasing at an average rate of six percent for the last 20 years, which is twice the rate of world output. The integration of the world economy with the help of trade has lifted the living standards of the people within these developing nations, which is a positive sign. However for the trade to occur in the first place, it is very significant to understand what goes behind to actually make supply chain management possible. Transportation of goods holds the key in this scenario. Also, sustained and consistent economic growth requires policies that can open trade and investment with the rest of the world. There is proof to it and it is that there has not been a single nation that has achieved economic stability without being open to the world for trade. International trade requires liberalization, i.e., openness to all and sundry within the world no matter what. The living standards are in direct proportion with them. Transportation holds the significance for connection between the channel members at the trading level as it swifts up the whole process of delivering goods from the manufacturer to the distributor who in turn does his best to provide the retailer with the goods after he stores the same for a while. In the end, at certain instances the retailers also give customers with the goods and products that they want through transportation service. There is a high need to promote and liberalize the manner in which trade is carried out within the world eco nomy. It needs to be more generous to everyone and anyone as well as helpful for the developing nations so that more and more trade is carried out between the economic world markets. Agriculture is one such example of being more liberal for the international trade market. Trade liberalization proves very helpful for any country’s economy but it encompasses within itself some negative factors like the increased food

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Binge Drinking in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Binge Drinking in Britain - Essay Example Binge drinking has been a problem in other countries in Europe like Poland although the recent data shows that the trend has been reducing of late in the country. However unlike in Poland, the trend of binge drinking has been picking up in Britain and it has come with various social and health complications. (Moscalwcz, 2005) Binge drinking has been defined as pattern of drinking alcohol which brings the concentration of alcohol to around 0.08 gram percent or above in the body. In an adult this can be shown as drinkgin more than 5 drinks and about 4 drinks for females in a period of about 2 hours. In the common use, binge dirking is however used to refer to the excessive use of alcohol on a similar time span for example over an evening. It is sometimes referred to as heavy episodic drinking. Binge drinking is also any pattern of drinking which has the sole international of becoming intoxicated. Therefore it is excessive intake of alcohol in one setting. Some people usually take alcohol that they could have taken in one week in just one setting. It can also refer to drinking heavily land continuously over a period of time for day or weeks. It is usually called drinking in order to get drunk. According to the definitions of clinical a binge drink can be explained by the period under which the drinking is e xtended which may be for at least two days in which a person repeatedly becomes drunk and intoxicated. Therefore it's a combination for probing use of alcohol which makes one to give up usual activities. (Woods, 2008) Who are binge drinkers A binge drinker is a person who takes alcohol continuously and in large amount than the recommended level. It is appear show have restrained drinking behavior but how may frequently overindulge in drinking to an extreme level. It is also someone who many not necessary want to drink a lot but who is unsure of the limit that he wants to take where at the end one ends up drinking too much in a short period of tem. (Reach Out, 2008) Most of the binge drinkers are not sure other amount of alcohol they take at one setting. They are drinking to get drunk and at the end they exceed the health recommended limited or drinks. For most people binge drink brings in their minds a self-destructive and understand bout of drinking which may last or several day during which they are likely to consumer a high amount of alcoholic their body. Reasons for binge drinking There are many reasons that have been shows to cause binge drinking. Although many people have shown that there are used under a duress condition when they binge drink, psychologist have shown that this may not be the reason for all people. There are a number of binge drinker how cannot give a particular reason as to why they binge drink. Therefore the numbers of reason that can lead one to binge drink are valid and depend on each individual person. For example among the youth it has been shown that most of the youths binge drink due to peer pressure. They engage in unending drinking sprees with their colleagues as a leisure activity. However it has been shows that among the working class binge drinking may be caused by limited time that they have for the activity. Therefore when they are not at work, there are likely to drinking more because they are not sure the

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Hulu Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Hulu - Research Paper Example This paper will discuss the history of Hulu, as from 2007 to 2012. The name or phrase Hulu came from two Mandrin Chinese words, hu and lu meaning interactive recording (Hulu 1). The Hulu venture was made public in March 2007. Its main partners were MSN, AOL, Facebook, MySpace, Comcast and Yahoo. The company’s CEO was and still is Jason. He was made CEO in June 2007 (Barnett 1). The phrase Hulu was selected in August 2007, when the website was made official and started to stream. Hulu first invited its users to give them their email addresses for an upcoming beta test. Hulu began, in October 2007, the private beta testing through invitations (Barnett 1). After that, the network allowed its users also to invite their friends to the website. However, Hulu first launched for public access on 12th March, 2008, in the United States (Hulu 1). The first product to launch was HULU Syndication network. The network was developed and designed by the NBCUniversal team from New York. Hulu.com destinations site was the second product to be launch by Hulu ( Barnett 1). The network started an advertising campaign in NBC’s show of Super Bowl XLIII, with an ad featuring Alec Baldwin. The advertisement was titled Alec in Huluwood. The advertisement, aimed at humorously portraying the shocking secrets behind Hulu, made the site to look like an evil plot planning to destroy the globe. The ad suggested that Baldwin was, in fact, an alien in disguise (Barnett 1). However, advertisements kept on flowing throughout the media with media personalities such as Seth MacFarlane, Will Arnett, Eliza Dushku and Denis Leary. Disney made public, on 30th April, 2009, that it would be joining the venture and purchased a 27% share of Hulu (Hulu 1). During an industry conference, on 21st October, 2009, Deputy Chairman of News Corporation, Chase Carey argued that Hulu needed to advance in order to have a significant subscription

Monday, October 14, 2019

Germanys Proposals on EU Multiannual Financial Framework

Germanys Proposals on EU Multiannual Financial Framework GERMANY’S REFORM PROPOSALS ON THE FUTURE STRATEGIC DIRECTION OF THE MULTIANNUAL FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK Introduction This report is written from the perspective of Germany concerning the EU Multiannual Financial Framework, which is the seven-year structure that regulates its annual budget. The account starts with a review of the existing financial state and standing of Germany within the context of her strength within the network of states. It provides an assessment of the demographic and human resource capabilities of Germany in the areas of education and skills, technology, and research and development. The report proceeds by giving an outline of the reform proposals of Germany on the future strategic direction of the financial framework by highlighting areas of particular interests as regards increasing or decreasing the package, and the potential areas for a rebalancing of the budget. The report concludes by outlining how the proposed spending priorities will give value-added opportunities for the EU as a whole. In writing the report considerations were given to the overall evolution of the budgetary debate over the recent years. 2.1  Reform Proposals Two policy areas which have dominated the overall EU expenditure over the past decades are agricultural and structural policies. The two policy areas are the focus of Germany’s reform proposals. Germany seeks a reordering of spending priorities, maintenance of the overall budget level while exploring other means of revenue generation for the EU budget. The reforms proposed are as follows: 2.2  Proposal 1 Reduce CAP Spending By 10% (Heading 2) According to (EC, 2011), currently over a fourth of the EU budget is expended on subsidies to farmers whether they are involved in any significant economic activity or not. The EC outlines that direct payments to farmers are based on traditional entitlement as opposed to definitive need for social protection in agriculture. Germany proposes that direct payments received by the top 11 EU member states be reduced by 50%. These measures will result in a reduction of CAP spending by 10%, which represents â‚ ¬27.8 billion in the next financial package. 2.3  Proposal 2 Reduce Cohesion Fund Spending by 10% (Heading 1b) According to (Bachtler, 2003), the convergence objective is to correct fiscal and societal disparities amongst EU member states with a GDP less than 75% of the EU average. Currently all regions in EU member states with a GDP above 75% of the EU average are covered under Heading 1b. Germany proposal is that the requirement to have a GDP below 75% should apply to member states only and not the regions. Germany is of the view that restructuring of the eligibility conditions would save a total of â‚ ¬32.5 billion. 2.4  Proposal 3 Increase the EU’s Foreign policy budget by 5 % Heading 4 of the MFF is currently allocated about 6% of the EU budget. (Sà ¶derbaum, 2005) observes that since the institution of the Common Foreign and Security Policy in 1992, the tendency has been to put the heading at the bottom of the budget. He asserts that the poor funding has negatively impacted the management of EU external relations. The 5% additional spending would represent an increase of â‚ ¬2.94 billion. 3. HOW PROPOSED SPENDING PRIORITIES WILL CREATE VALUE-ADDED OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE EU 3.1  Value Added Opportunities Thus, Germany would like to see the savings from the aforementioned proposals reallocated into the following priority areas: 3.2  Youth Employment According to (Eurostat, 2014), there are 7.5 million youth in the EU not in employment, education, and training. Germany’s youth unemployment represents 7.7 % of this figure. Germany believes this problem can be addressed by apprenticeship schemes and initiatives in Germany and across the EU. Companies who engage in the schemes will benefit from net profits on their investment, and the apprentices will learn skills that will increase the prospect of future employability that will result in increased tax revenue and less welfare payments. 3.3  Competitiveness Research and Development According to the (EC, 2011), the EU accounts for 24 % of global research investments. (Van Noorden, 2014) believes that the EU needs a push presently to increase its Research Development spending because it faces the risk of falling behind its international competitors in America and Asia. Additional spending will help to increase collaboration between science and industry and augment the extent to which researches are successfully translated into new technology, ensuring that the EU is prepared to face the challenges of the future. 3.4  Expansion of the Trans Europe Network According to (Spiekermann, 1996) the purpose of the trans-European networks (TEN) is to improve economic and social cohesion through efficient connection of the main economic centres. The savings from the cuts should be reassigned to completion of key transport projects through the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF), the EUs funding system for trans-European transport. This would expedite completion of networks that will improve the inter-operability between the central and outer regions of the union, and bring economic opportunities and beneficial social impact. 3.5  EU Foreign Policy (Euractiv, 2011), outlines that the EU struggles to find a single voice global affairs and is often marginalized by other countries. It presents the argument that the EUs declining influence abroad is proportional to its foreign expenditure and the size of its diplomatic corps. (Emerson, et al, 2011), expresses the need for a restructuring of European diplomacy through the building of a first rate diplomatic corps. The spending will strengthen EU’s influence so it can play an active role in creating peace and well-being in an interdependent world. 3.6  Renewable Energy (105 Words) References Bachtler, J., 2003. Reforming EU Cohesion Policy: An Assessment of the Debate.Intereconomics,38(6), pp. 302-305. Emerson, Michael, Rosa Balfour, Tim Corthaut, Jan Wouters, Piotr Maciej KaczyÅ„ski, and Thomas Renard.Upgrading the EUs Role as Global Actor. Centre for European Policy Studies, 2011. EurActive (2013, January 23) .The EUs role in global governance. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from http://www.euractiv.com/global-europe/eus-role-global-governance-linksdossier-503726 European Commission. (2011). CAP Towards 2020 Impact Assessment. Retrieved February 10, 2014, fromhttp://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/rica/pdf/PO0202_direct_payments.pdfEuropean Commission. (2011). Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2011. Overall picture: Europe’s competitive position in research and innovation. Retrieved March 5, 2014, from http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/pdf/competitiveness-report/2011/overall_picture.pdfEuroStat (2014).Unemployment Statistics. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/index.php/Unemployment_statistics Sà ¶derbaum, F., Van Langenhove, L. (2005). Introduction: the EU as a global actor and the role of interregionalism.European Integration,27(3), 249-262.Van Noorden, R. (2014, January 08). China tops Europe in RD intensity. Retrieved February 14, 2014, from http://www.nature.com/news/china-tops-europe-in-rd-intensity-1.14476. Conclusion Germany considers that the principal means by which the EU can meet its objectives is through innovation, technological advancement, research and development, employment creation, training, new skills development, economies of scale, a modern energy policy, and a comprehensible and participatory foreign policy. In order to achieve these key targets fundamental changes are necessary in the content of the budget, revenues, and the overall spending programs so that budget expenditures can add beneficial value to the EU. Under this budgeting approach, priority would be given to policy areas that are most favourable to long-term competitiveness. Given the traditional budgeting pattern of the past Germany appreciates that this is an ambitious budgeting framework to advocate, but it is one that would provide lasting value by making the EU the most competitive and modern society in the world. Lastly, Germany recognizes the need for other means of revenue to finance future EU budgets. Many options has been proffered, such as an EU tax on financial transactions, revenues from greenhouse gas emission, EU tax linked to air transport, EU VAT, and EU energy tax. The issue of EU own resource is a controversial one because Member States have always shown opposition to the idea of an EU tax. In addition, introducing a new tax in the current economic climate runs the risk of disaffecting citizens and other Member States. However, Germany is of the view that deliberation must continue on the development of viable options through which the EU budget can be financed in order to relieve the donor fatigue on her part and other net contributors.

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Herbert Spencer Essay -- essays research papers

Herbert Spencer The most extreme reflection of nineteenth-century individualism is to be found in the encyclopedic system of Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). Both his paternal and maternal ancestors were of a long English and French nonconformists, dissenters and rebels, and Spencer traces in his "Autobiography" his "conspicuous disregard" of political, religious, and social authority to the tradition of independence and dissent so long cherished by his family. Spencer’s education was informal, unconventional, and highly deficient in the more traditional studies of literature and history. His father encouraged his interest in the science and tecnology, and Spencer became an engineer. However, he practiced his profession for a few years, because he became increasingly interested in political economy, sociology, biology, and philosophy. He was a subeditor of The economist from 1848 to 1853, and then ventured into a full-time career as a free-lance author. As early as 1842 Spencer contributed to the Nonconformist a series of letters called The Proper Sphere of Government, his first major publication. It contains his political philosophy of extreme individualism and Laissez Faire, which was not much modified in his writings in the following sixty years. Spencer expresses in The Proper Sphere of Government his belief that "everything in nature has its laws," organic as well as inorganic matter. Man is subject to laws bot in his physical and spiritual essence, and "as with man individually, so with man socially." Concerning the evils of society, Spencer postulates a "self-adjusting principle" under which evils rectify themselves, provided that no one interferes with the inherent law of society. In discussing the functions of the state, Spencer is concerned with what the state should not do, rather than what it should do. Maintenance of order and administration of justice are the only two proper realms of government activity, and their purpose is "simply to defend the natural rights of man to protect person and property." The state has no business to promote religion, regulate trade and commerce, encourage colonization, aid the poor, or enforce sanitary laws. Spencer went even so far as to deny the state the right to wage war; but as he says in his Autobiogra... ...yond the ethical sanction bestowed on it by the free consent of the citizens: " The function of Liberalism in the past was that of putting a limit to the powers of the king. The functions of true Liberalism in the future will be that of putting a limit to the powers of parliaments." Spencer’s political ideas hardly changed between 1842, when he published his Proper Sphere of Government, and 1903, the year of his death. The constancy of his political thought in the face of rapidly changing social and economic scene explains why the same ideas that were the last word in radical individualism in the eighteen-forties had become the orthodox conservatism by 1900. And Spencer’s appeal to the English Liberals to return to their original individualism remained unheard, but he correctly foresaw that Conservatives would become the defenders of economic individualism. Spencer failed to see that the issue of the state intervention in the economy was essentially one of means and not of objectives, and that Laissez Faire could be progressive, dynamic, and revolutionary at one time –early 19 century-, and conservative, stagnant, and sterile at another time – late 19 century-.

Saturday, October 12, 2019

Technology Against Progress Essay -- Technology Society

Have you ever wonder why you find yourself stuck in an electric breakdown not knowing what to do with your self? Or being compel to look your e-mail or Facebook account everyday day? You are not the only one, our society is depending on an omnipresent source of technology that is affecting every moment of our lives. We are using it as a way to deliver and receive information, to entertain ourselves and express our individuality. It has been growing exponentially since the dawn of time to fulfill humanity’s aspiration. Although, for the new generations, it as been affecting them negatively in crucial aspects of their lives. The lack of physical activities is the number one cause of overweight and obesity for teenagers. Research as proved that, â€Å"For adolescents aged 12 to 17, increases in overweight and obesity rates over the past 25 years have been notable; the overweight or obesity rate of this age group more than doubled, and the obesity rate tripled† (Margot Shileds, 2008, p.2). Of course, technologies might not be the only source of this issue but consider this, â€Å"For children aged 6 to 11 and adolescents aged 12 to 17, the likelihood of being overweight or obese tends to rise as time spent watching TV, playing video games or using the computer increases†. (Margot Shileds, 2008, p.2). In addition, â€Å"According to research, playing video games accelerates the speed at which dopamine, believed â€Å"reinforce behavior that produces pleasure,† is produced. Addictive drugs such as cocaine and heroin cause the brain to produce more dopamine†(Murray McArthur, 2008, p.418). As you can see, entertainment have a price; not only adolescent spend more time in front of technology apparatuses but they can become strongly addicted to them. ... ...eds, Margot. Measured Obesity: Overweight Canadian children and adolescents (2008)p.2: For adolescents aged 12 to 17, increases in overweight and obesity rates over the past 25 years have been notable; the overweight or obesity rate of this age group more than doubled, and the obesity rate tripled. For children aged 6 to 11 and adolescents aged 12 to 17, the likelihood of being overweight or obese tends to rise as time spent watching TV, playing video games or using the computer increases. Stoll, Clifford. High Tech Heretic: Why Computers Don’t Belong in the Classroom and Other Reflections by a Computer Contrarian. New York: Doubleday, 1999. Print. as quoted in: Jane E. Aaron, Murray McArthur (2010). Little, Brown Compact Handbook Fourth Canadian Edition p.418. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Education Press.

Friday, October 11, 2019

Notes on History World Affairs Gce

Peace Treaties Peace Treaties Versailles Aim: punish Germany, prevent war and allow self-determination Territorial Aim: to weaken Germany by taking away territories, to get compensation for cost of war by gaining land, and to allow for self-determination -Germany lost 13. 5% of land, 12. 5% of population, 15% of farm production, 48% iron production and 16% coal production Alsace-Lorraine| France| Eupen, Moresnet, Malmedy| Belgium|North Schleswig| Denmark (through plebiscite) self-determination| West Prussia, Posen, Upper Silesia| Poland (make Poland stronger by having access to Baltic Sea increase trade ^economic growth| Danzig| Free City under LoN| Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania| Independent states self-determination| Memel | Lithuania| Saar| Under LoN for 15yrs, then plebiscite; France allowed use of coalmines| Rhineland| Demilitarised under allied control for 15 years| Anschluss| Forbidden| Colonies -Germany had to renounce all rights to her colonies -became mandates under LoN suppose dly administered by advanced nations who would help them develop into modern states -ended up being used for Allies’ own purposes; equivalent to annexation German East Africa, parts of Togoland, Cameroon| Britain| Togoland, Cameroon| France| German Southwest Africa| South Africa| -Germany also had to give up trade concessions in China and Morocco -The Rhine, Elbe, Oder and upper Danube were placed under International Control Outcome: Germans were upset by the loss of land as it meant reduction in production of agriculture, iron and coal which would weaken Germany MilitaryAim: To keep Germany’s military strength weak so that it could not threaten its neighbours again -army was limited to 100 000 volunteers enlisted for 12 years and there were to be no tanks, armoured cars, heavy artillery or military aircraft -navy was restricted to 6 battleships of limited tonnage, 6 cruisers, 12 destroyers, a handful of smaller vessels and no submarines -left bank of the Rhine and 50k m strip on the right bank were to be demilitarized as a further concession to France -Allied Army of Occupation was to be stationed on German side of Cologne, Coblenz and Trier to ensure the terms were kept, consisted mainly of French troops, to be kept there for 15 years -to prevent German aggression and invasion of France; Britain and US also promised to help if attacked Economic Aim: to seek compensation to victorious powers for loss of lives and damage due to war -Germany had to pay ? 6. 6b over 42 years, with ? 1b paid immediately -bulk of payment went to France; Germany complained reparations were a burden -when Germany defaulted, France invaded Ruhr and seized ? 40m; resulted in economic collapse -Allies felt more gradual scheme was needed Dawes and Young Plan -Dawes: 2 year moratorium, US gave loan of 40m -Young: cut reparations to ? b over 59 years, aborted due to Depression Political -war criminals to be tried; Kaiser fled to Holland -LoN was set up to preserve world peace St Germain Territorial Aim: to weaken Austria by taking away territories, to get compensation for cost of war by gaining land, and to allow for self-determination Bohemia, Moravia(which were wealthy industrial provinces)| Czechoslovakia| Dalmatia, Bosnia, Herzegovina| Yugoslavia| Bukovina| Romania| Galicia| Poland| South Tyrol, Trentino, Istria, Trieste| Italy| Military Aim: To keep Austria’s military strength weak so that it could not threaten its neighbours again -army restricted to 30,000 -only 1 armament factory much of its navy went to Allies and it was now restricted to 4 patrol boats Outcome: Austria would not be able to start another war and even had problems defending itself Economic/Reparations Aim: To get reparations from Austria as compensation for Allied expenses in the war; War Guilt Clause to justify -had to pay reparations but could not pay in cash as republic was too poor -suffered severe economic problems as much of its industry went to Czechoslovakia -Econ omic units were broken up in different countries Outcome: -loss of industrial and agricultural land was insufficient to support urban population -lost role as centre of trade -appeal for union with Germany was rejected Political -Austria to become a member subject to good behaviour Trianon Territorial Slovakia, Ruthenia| Czechoslovakia|Croatia, Slovenia| Yugoslavia| Transylvania, Banat of Temesvar | Romania| Military -army was restricted to 35000 and could only be employed for maintaining internal order and patrolling frontiers Economic -unspecified amount to be paid -unable to pay reparations as economy was too weak -loss of population and raw materials caused its industry to suffer Political -Magyars believed Trianon to be unjust and demanded it to be revised -Hungary was hostile to countries who gained part of its land Sevres Territorial Adrianople, Most of Thrace, Smyrna| Greece| Armenia| Asia Minor| Rhodes, Dodecanese| Italy| Port of Cilicia| France| Constantinople, Straits are a and adj. slands including Lemnos| International Zone of Straits under LoN| Kurdistan| Self-governing| Syria, Lebanon| French Mandate| Iraq, Palestine, Jordan| British Mandate| Arabia| Became independent under a native dynasty| Regained under Treaty of Lausanne: 1. Adrianople 2. Eastern Thrace 3. Smyrna 4. Anatolia 5. Straits 6. Constantinople 7. Aegean Islands 8. Kurdistan 9. Armenia (Turks commanded to produce a safe national home) Neuilly Territorial Strumnitza| Yugoslavia| West Thrace, Aegean Islands| Greece| MilitaryEconomic/Reparations -Army limited to 20,000-90 million pounds to be paid over 38 years but was reduced League of Nations League of Nations Aim: to prevent war/preserve peace and promote international cooperation through collective security (=all members act together to punish any aggressive nation through diplomatic, economic and military sanctions) -to promote disarmament and end secret diplomacy -to improve the quality of life of people around the world -to ensu re economic and social justice Assembly -met annually -contained representatives of all the member states, each of which had one vote -function was to decide general policy; decisions had to be unanimous -it was the debating chamber for the nations and decided on the admission of new members and also the League’s budget Council a smaller body, which met more often, at least 3 times a year -Contained 4 permanent members – Britain, France, Italy, Japan -4 elected members chosen by Assembly for 3 years (increased to 9 by 1926) -function was to deal with specific political disputes as they arose; decisions had to be unanimous Secretariat -looked after all the paperwork so that the decisions of the League could be carried out -provided statistical and information services and translation facilities -the first Secretary-General of the League, Sir Eric Drummond, had a largely successful aim of building up a reliable body of civil servants who owed their main loyalty not natio nally, but internationally Permanent Court of International Justice based at Hague in Holland; consisted of 15 judges of different nationalities -dealt with legal disputes instead of political ones -covered all matters referred to it, especially those relating to the interpretation of international treaties and conventions -submission of disputes to the Court was voluntary Specialised Agencies International Labour Organisation -Objective: to secure economic and social justice -aimed to fix maximum working days and weeks, recommend appropriate wages for workers, lay down minimum entitlements for sickness, injury and old-age benefit and freedom for trade unions -all members of the League were members, and other willing states, like USA, could join Colonies and Mandates Commission Covenant established the Mandate system for former Turkish and German colonies; Allies saw themselves bound by the 5th of Wilson’s 14 points -resulted in a series of trusteeships whereby the territorie s were not annexed, but were held in trust by the victors under the supervision of LoN -each mandatory had to submit annually to the Commission an account of its stewardship -3 different types of mandates * Type A: lands that appeared most ready for future independence, e. g. Iraq * Type B: lands that were more backward, reckoned that 50 years would be needed before the mandate could be ended * Type C: lands that were backward or isolated with no real prospect of independence Refugees Committee originally the High Commission of Refugees to deal with Russian and Armenian refugees displaced by the war -became the Nansen Office in 1930 under the direction of Fridtjof Nansen -solved the problems of thousands of POWs marooned in Russia at the end of the war; half a million were returned home -after 1933, help was given to thousands fleeing Nazi persecution in Germany Disarmament Commission -made no progress in the near impossible task of persuading members states to reduce armaments, tho ugh they had all promised to do so when they agreed to the Covenant Work of the League in 1920s Aaland Islands (1920) Parties Involved: Finland and Sweden Details: -Aaland Islanders wanted to be part of Sweden because of their cultural ties Action taken by LoN: -set up commission to investigate -recommend that Aaland remain part of Finland -proposed that Swedish culture be safeguarded Evaluation: -successful as a lasting solution due to acceptance from both parties Vilna (1920-1923) Parties Involved: Poland and Lithuania Details: both countries claimed the town of Vilna, the capital of Lithuania which had a majority Polish population Action taken by LoN: -negotiated an armistice but was broken by Polish Army which seized Vilna -commission was set up to recommend new border but was rejected -Conference of Ambassadors stepped in and proposed that Vilna be given to Poland Evaluation: -League played significant role, but was overshadowed by CoA, and its weakness when faced with Polish s eizure of Vilna by force had been obvious Upper Silesia (1921) Parties Involved: Germany and Poland Details: each claimed Upper Silesia Action taken by LoN: -set up commission to investigate -plebiscite held majority wanted to return to Germany -LoN awarded most of the area to Germany, but left an important industrial district in Poland Evaluation: -successful in upholding self-determination; did not result in further dispute Corfu (1923) Parties Involved: Albania, Greece and Italy Details: -frontier between Albania and Greece undecided by CA -Italian ambassador, General Tellini was murdered in northern Greece -Mussolini sent an ultimatum to Greece demanding an apology, punishment of culprits and compensation of 50m lira -Greek rejection led to Italian bombardment and occupation of Corfu -Italy thus broke the League Covenant Action taken by LoN: came up with a reasonable scheme; Greeks were to place 50m lire in a Swiss bank pending an enquiry into the murders, and Greeks accepted -h owever, LoN was overruled by CoA; Italians claimed that League had no right to consider the question at all, as it was the agents of the CoA that had been murdered -after Italy threatened to leave LoN, League Council passed the responsibility to CoA -plan was rapidly altered, and Greek money was transferred to Italy Evaluation: -League had allowed the decision to be taken from its hands; its plan was perverted by CoA, where Italian influence was strong -Italian attack, despite many individual condemnations, had not been officially branded as aggression -although war was averted, a Great Power had bullied a small nation -members of the League did not want to risk war however, Mussolini was shaken by the fierceness of the universal attacks on his actions in the Assembly, and was less threatening Greek-Bulgarian Border Dispute (1925) Parties Involved: Greece, Bulgaria Details: -fighting in October 1925 between Bulgarians and Greeks on their border -Bulgaria appealed for help as it had been severely limited by Treaty of Neuilly; it managed to take a few metres of Greek territory, while the Greeks advanced over 5km on a wide front Action taken by LoN: -Council was summoned to a special meeting in Paris; sent neutral officers for negotiations -League threatened economic boycott backed up by a naval ‘demonstration’; Greeks gave way Evaluation: prevention of a Greek-Bulgarian war, which could have spread, was a triumph for the League, which was firm and decisive during this crisis -however, it was noted that this was due to the states involved being minor powers, no Great Power was involved on either side, and the British and French governments had been willing to back the Council’s attitude Northern Chaco Dispute (1928-1936) Parties Involved: Bolivia, Paraguay Details: -Both Bolivia and Paraguay claimed northern Chaco, a huge circle of territory, 400km across between them -minor skirmishes broke out frequently; in 1928 and again in 1932 these turn ed into full-scale war Action taken by LoN: -commission was sent to investigate; produced blueprint for disentanglement and solution -Paraguay refused to accept, as they were winning at the time -imposed arms embargo on both countries, resulted in Paraguay withdrawing from LoN -war eventually petered out with both states exhausted; signed a peace treaty based on League’s plan Evaluation: League could have taken action to impose peace on the countries had its members threatened to use force -situation was clouded by other parties, like other South American countries and US -dispute made many reflect how much more effective LoN would be if US was a member Work of the League in the 1930s Manchuria (1931) Parties Involved: Japan, China Details: -Japan invaded Manchuria and China appealed to the League Action taken by LoN: -commission under Lord Lytton concluded that both sides were at fault and Machuria should be governed by the League -Japan rejected this and withdrew from the L eague in March 1933 -economic and military sanctions were not applied as Britain and France were economically weak and did not want to risk war with Japan, which they were ill-equipped to win Evaluation: Japan successfully defied the League whose prestige was damaged but not fatally -League was seen to be weak as it was unable to stick to its main ideals of collective security against aggressive powers such as Japan -well-being of various League members was seen to be more important than world peace Leticia (1932-1934) Parties Involved: Peru, Colombia Details: -Peruvian soldiers seized Leticia in 1932 -it was important to Colombia as it was her only direct outlet to the Amazon River -Colombia tried to retake Leticia but the Peruvians extended their invasion using aircraft -Colombia then appealed to the League Action taken by LoN: -the League decided in favour of Colombia and persuaded the Peruvians to withdraw -Leticia was under the League for a year and in 1934, was peacefully retu rned to Colombia Evaluation: although it was seen to be a success as collective security was enforced, the League was not truly tested as both countries were minor powers and could not hold their own against bigger members of the world order World Disarmament Conference (1932-1934) Parties Involved: Member states of the League Details: -was a grave disappointment -Germany asked for equality of disarmament with France, but France demanded it to be postponed for 8 years -Hitler used France’s attitude to withdraw Germany from the conference and later from the League in 1933 -In that year, France completed the building of the Maginot Line which fortified her eastern frontier showed that France was rearming instead of disarming Evaluation: Disarmament failed as the powers wanted security over equality of armaments -Britain and France were also militarily weak and were afraid of the USSR and Italy Abyssinia (1935) Parties Involved: Italy, Abyssinia Details: -Italy invaded Abyssinia Action taken by LoN: -the League condemned Italy and introduced economic sanctions, but they were not applied to coal, steel and oil -the sanctions were half-hearted and were soon abandoned as they did not want to antagonize Mussolini to keep him from allying with Hitler Evaluation: -was a complete failure of the League as they were seen to be weak since they backed down from aggressors -Mussolini was annoyed by the sanctions anyway and drew closer to Hitler -small states lost all faith in the LoN -Hitler was encouraged by incompetence of LoN to break ToV LoN was never taken seriously again after 1935 Mussolini Mussolini Fascism = a system of government with centralised authority under a dictator -usually involves terror, censorship, nationalism Rise of Mussolini Cumulative (Long term) Disappointment at ToV -Italy was originally a member of the Central Powers -Allies promised Italy Trentino, South Tyrol, Istria, Trieste, part of Dalmatia, Adalia, some Aegean islands and a protector ate over Albania -Italy given first 4, however, others were allocated to other states, mainly Yugoslavia, with Albania becoming independent -led to Italians feeling cheated as they had fought during WWI and lost close to 700,000 men Fiume Incident whilst not promised Fiume, Italians had failed to capture it during WWI -d’Annunzio and his supporters seized Fiume and held it against the Yugoslavs for 15 months -PM Giovanni Giolitti decided that the Government’s authority should be restored and sent the Army to remove d’Annunzio and his supporters -angered the people as d’Annunzio was regarded a national hero Post-war Economic problems -effects of war on Italy were disastrous -Italy was heavily in debt as it had borrowed heavily from USA -cost of living increased by 5 times due to fall in value of the lira (5 lira to 1 USD in 1914 to 28 lira to 1 USD in 1921) -massive unemployment * Post-war cut backs * Returning servicemen Dissatisfaction at the parliamenta ry system -votes for all men and proportional representation were introduced for 1919 elections -problems of proportional representation: Large number of political points * 9 parties from across the political spectrum * No clean majority – coalition governments and 5 cabinets with shaky majorities * No consistent policies * System seemed to prevent decisive government Contributory (Short term) Strikes of 1919-1920 -industrialisation of Italy led to development of a strong socialist party and trade unions -organised a wave of strikes to protest at Italy’s problems Popularity of Fascists -provided the illusion of strength when Italians were disillusioned with democracy -initially anti-monarchy, anti-church and anti-big-business -poor results in 1919 elections led to changes -Pro-big-business: Mussolini came out as the defender of private enterprise and party * Led to financial support from the big businesses * Formation of communist party in Jan 1921 led to more support -Supported the church: * Made concillatory speech about Roman Catholic Church * Church saw Mussolini as a good anti-communist weapon -dropped republicanism (election of head of state) * King looked favourably upon Mussolini thereafter Ineffective Opposition to Fascists -anti-fascist groups failed to cooperate -communists refused to cooperate with the socialists and vice versa; both groups were also opposed to the nationalists -PM Giolitti wanted the support of the Fascists after the 1921 elections 1921 elections – Fascists only won 35 seats versus 123 won by socialist -socialists refused to cooperate with nationalists -thus allow Fascists to get into power Critical (triggers) Attempted General Strike -socialists called for general strike in 1922 -Fascists claimed that if the government was unable to control the strike, it would do so; undermined authority of government -socialist strike ended by itself due to lack of support -Mussolini claimed credit and made it look as if fa scists stopped it March on Rome -Fascists felt confident enough to stage March on Rome -about 50 000 black shirts converged on the capital while others occupied important towns in the North government wanted to resist, but were overruled by the King -chaos created by governmental crisis, fascist threat and the King’s move created confusion; Italians saw this as further evidence of the government’s inability to rule Actions of the King -King Victor Emmanuel II refused to declare a state of emergency -he instead invited Mussolini to form a new government -Fascists benefitted from the fear and confusion; fostered the myth that they had seized power in a heroic struggle, by seizing many key communication facilities -resulted in widespread overestimation of the fascists’ ability to seize power -King’s role was crucial as he had decided not to use the army to stop the blackshirts the march was a bluff but it succeeded * Feared for a long civil war if the Army f ailed to crush Fascists quickly * Feared he would be forced to step down by nationalists * Generals led him to believe that government forces were not strong enough to put down the revolt; appraisal of the situation was not well-informed The Fascist State Political Accerbo Law (Nov 1923) -changed the rules of the general elections -party which got the most votes in the election would be given two-thirds of the seats in parliament -Apr 1924 elections – Fascists and supporters gained 404 seats as opposed to 107 seats for their opponents -destroyed democracy in ItalyUse of Violence and Intimidation -1923—Fascist Blackshirts were legalized to become the National State Voluntary Militia (MSVN) -1924—use of violence and intimidation to develop Italian government on fascist lines Only Fascist Party was allowed -Opponents of the regime were exiled or murdered -1927—OVRA, secret police Mussolini used to hunt down political enemies, placed them in concentration cam ps on islands off Italian coast -however, when Mussolini felt more secure, the violence was reduced Matteoti Crisis -Mussolini was paralysed by indecision -lost support among fascists and there was widespread parliamentary boycott -eroded Mussolini’s position in Jan 1925 Mussolini announced he was assuming dictatorial powers -only his supporters in Parliament; King presented no threat -signaled the demise of any pretense to democratic rule, ushering end of free speech, free press and toleration of opposition -fascist militia was mobilized political parties were closed down and outlawed, newspapers came under fascist control -desertion of fascists during Crisis led to Mussolini purging the fascist party, to wipe out any independence among them; had to swear oaths of allegiance Constitutional Changes -1925—Prime Minister (Mussolini) was responsible only to the King and not to the parliament -1926—PM could rule by decree which meant that new laws passed did not nee d to be discussed by Parliament -1926—electorate reduced from 10 million to 3 million -all decisions taken by Fascist Grand Council which did as Mussolini told -Mussolini was Il Duce and now had dictatorial powers -Changes in local government: * Elected town councils and mayors were abolished * Towns were run by officials appointed from Rome Economic Employment policies promoted cooperation between employers to end class warfare in a â€Å"Corporate State† -only fascist-controlled unions had the right to negotiate for workers and both unions and employers’ associations were organized into corporations and were expected to work together to settle disputes -strikes were banned -1934—22 separate corporations dealing with separate industries -Mussolini hoped to control workers to direct production and the economy -compensation and benefits – free Sundays, annual holidays with pay, social security, sports and theatre facilities and cheap tours and holid ays Industrial and Agricultural Policies -drive for autarky (self-sufficiency) industry was encouraged with government subsidies – led to doubling of steel production by 1930(was still low compared to other countries), 1937 production of hydro-electric power doubled -Battle for Wheat (1925): Get more farmers to grow wheat so that Italy would not have to spend money importing it; increased wheat production led to wheat import reduced by 75% extra land used led to output of other crops going down -Battle for Land (1926): Removal of wasteland, included draining marshes and swamps, ploughing bare hillsides, clearing woodlands and improving irrigation to increase agricultural production; greatest effort put into draining the Pontine Marshes, a huge mosquito-infested swamp near Rome -Public Works Programme: To reduce unemployment through building of motorways, bridges, blocks of flats, railway stations etc. Battle for Lira (1926): Mussolini revalued the lira far too high, at 90 to the sterling pound instead of 150 in an attempt to show Italy had a strong currency, led to reduced orders as Italian exports were more expensive on the world market workers suffered wage reductions Social Censorship -strict press censorship was enforced -anti-fascist newspapers and magazines were banned -editors were replaced by fascist supporters -radio, films and theatre controlled the same way Education supervised -all education was closely supervised -teachers had to wear uniforms and new textbooks were written to glorify the fascist system -children and teenagers forced to join government youth organisations -indoctrination to obey Il Duce and war was glorified -Total obedience to authority â€Å"Believe, obey, fight! † Understanding with the Pope -papacy had been hostile to the Italian state -initially sympathetic to Mussolini in 1922 Pope Pius XI growingly disapproved of totalitarianism of the Fascists -Mussolini played on fear of Communism by Vatican and signed the L ateran Treaty of 1929 which recognized the Vatican City as a sovereign state and paid the Pope a large sum of money as compensation for all his losses -payment in the form of state bonds Church had vested economic interest in the regime needed to ensure stability and support -Treaty also recognized Catholicism as the official state religion and made religious instruction compulsory in all schools -Vatican recognized the kingdom of Italy Hitler Hitler Weimar Republic/Rise of Hitler Constitution of Weimar Republic 4 August 1919 The constitution established: * A federal government of upper and lower houses * A German republic under a president * The principle that political power ‘derives from the people’ The President: * Was directly elected by the people for a seven-year term * Had the power to appoint/dismiss the chancellor and ministers * Was commander-in-chief of the armed forces * Was given emergency powers under article 48 of the constitution to suspend parliament a nd rule by decree The Parliament: consisted of two houses * Reichsrat: Upper House which had 66 seats representing the states in the German federation * Reichstag: Lower House; the chancellor formed the government in the Reichstag, with 421 deputies, each party was allocated seats in the Reichstag according to their proportion of the total vote -weakness of proportional representation -no one party gained an absolute majority -allowed ‘splinter’ parties, some with extremist policies to gain at least some seats -led to instability in the parliament for a coalition made up of a number of parties was necessary to form a government Events of Weimar Republic Treaty of Versailles (1919)Aim: to signify surrender of Germany and acceptance of war guilt * was humiliating and unpopular, and led Germans to see the Weimar government as working with the enemy * arms limitations, reparations and war guilt clause in ToV being accept by the Weimar government led to it being associated w ith defeat and dishonor Outcome: Weimar started on a weak footing, with little respect for politicians, as Germany was rooted in militaristic tradition with strong leaders like Bismarck Spartacist Rising (1919) Aim: to take over the government inspired by communist revolution in Russia * was a sign of weakness of the Weimar government as it had to depend on private forces, in this case the Freikorps, which it did not itself control to defeat the communists Kapp Putsch (1920) * Right-wing groups tried to seize power * Revealed the chaotic situation * Rebels were also not punished duly * Revealed weakness of Weimar and led to disillusionment with democracy Ruhr Invasion (1923) * Due to German inability to pay reparations Paralysis of Ruhr industry and government’s determination to maintain strike pay and other benefits in retaliation to the French led to hyperinflation * Suffering by the people, poor economic management and inability to deter the French led them to think that W eimar was weak * Public opinion swung in favour of right wing extremists like the Nazis Munich Putsch (1923) Aim: to overthrow the government and seize power Outcome: Evidence of groups wanting to overthrow government showed lack of support from people and even authorities (e. g. judges during Hitler’s trial) as they had little faith in democracy Golden Years (1924-1929) * Relatively stable period led by Gustav Streseman who: * Introduced new currency (retenmark) and called off strikes in Ruhr, as he thought it had caused a severe strain on German economy and led to great political instability * Signed Dawes and Young Plan Locarno Treaties and Kellogg Briand Pact (world’s major nations renounced war as an instrument of national policy) * Restored diplomatic status of Germany by signing above pacts as they gained the goodwill of Western Powers allowed Germany to be admitted into LoN with a permanent seat in the Council Outcome: Relatively stable period due to good leade rship, financial help from the US and reparations being decreased, however, Germany’s prosperity was reliant on US loans to sustain itself Great Depression * World economic crisis due to Wall Street Crash * US seized all the loans and called in short term loans * Plunged German economy into recession again * Unemployment hit 6million Outcome: Government came under great criticism for lack of decisive action Working class sour about unemployment and cutting back of benefits Government on verge of collapse as people gravitated to alternative political groups Nazi Party 1914-1918| WWI—Hitler was a corporal, war developed political ideas later popularized by Nazis e. g. iktat/ repudiate ToV/ ‘ stab in the back’ theory| 1919| Hitler joined German Workers Party in Munich where he was employed by the army to turn soldiers against pacifist democratic ideas; initially small and ineffective, later merged with another and renamed Nazi Party| 1920| Under Hitlerâ€℠¢s leadership, party became more effective:-oratory skills-charisma-fund-raising ability-Rohm instructed to reorganize SA; by 1923, had an organized, private armyWithout Hitler, the Nazis would have been one of dozens of small, disintegrating political parties| 1923| Munich Putsch lessons learned-seize power legally in future-Hitler now a figure of national renown, Nazi ideas publicized| 1924-1929| With economic stability under Stresemanm Nazis’ growth was stunted| 1930| Reichstag elections, Chancellor Bruning headed unstable coalition-invited Hitler to join; declined as uninterested in sharing power| Mar 1932| -elections for President Hitler stood as candidate huge national exposure and publicity for Nazi ideas; polled credibly| Jul 1932| Chancellor von Papen replaced Bruning in May, but coalition became increasingly unstable so elections were called – Nazis were single largest party but Hitler refused invitation to join coalition government| Nov 1932| 196 seats showe d decreasing Nazi popularity as depression eased; coalition government became increasingly unworkable so Hindenburg appointed Schleicher as Chancellor in December; unable to get Reichstag to work with him so Hitler was appointed as Chancellor due to political intrigue by mainly Papen and Schleicher| Nazi beliefs Hitler knew that the Germans were looking for someone to blame for their troubles so he gave them plenty of enemies * For example, the ‘stab in the back’ theory claimed that the German army had never been defeated but had been let down by Jews and communists at home; those who signed the truce were the ‘November Criminals’ * However, this was untrue as it was General Ludendorff who had told the civilians that they must sign a peace treaty as the army could no longer defend Germany * Hitler also blamed ToV for most of Germany’s troubles * He claimed it was an unfair dictated peace which had taken much land from Germany * Hitler’s promis e to ignore the Versailles settlement if he came to power impressed young officers and iron and steel manufacturers, who had much to gain from a rearmed Germany * Demand for Anschluss was supported by many Germans * Denuciated democracy as weak and ineffective pleased many as well * His promise of a few socialist measures gained him many working-class votes * Most importantly, he offered Germans a simple solution; everything would be all right if the Jews were deprived of all money and power, or the communists crushed, or the ‘November criminals’ hanged, or that Germany just had to break ToV to become great again Rapid Growth of Nazis * From 1920-1923, the Nazi party saw rapid growth The party adopted its distinctive characteristics like the emblem and salute, and had a newspaper where Hitler denounced the ToV * Htler also organized the SA to protect the Nazi meetings and disrupt the meetings of other parties Munich Putsch * The French occupation of Ruhr allowed the Naz is to gain new and increased strength by denouncing the ToV * On 8 November 1923, after only 4 years in politics, Hitler attempted a revolution, inspired by the fascists’ March on Rome the year before * However, Hitler had not made sure of the active support of the army, and he had forgotten that he was unknown outside of Bavaria, whereas Mussolini had been a national figure * Hitler was arrested and his party banned * However, many government officials had been in sympathy with him *His exploits at the trials received much publicity, helping him to become well-known outside Germany * He was sentenced the 5 years in prison and allowed parole * During this time, he laid down Nazi ideas in the book Mein Kampf * He also decided that the Nazis needed to gain power through legal means Golden Years under Streseman * Gustav Streseman intended to make Germany great again through peaceful means * Through the Dawes plan, and issuing of a new currency, Germany enjoyed a period of prospe rity * The number of Nazis in the Reichstag dropped from 32 in May 1924 to 14 in December 1924 * Despite poor election results, the Nazi Party showed a sturdy growth during these years * Party membership increased from 27000 to 178000 It also began to have financial support from wealthy industrialists who saw that Nazis were anti-socialist and anti-communist * Hitler also strengthened his control of the party by forming his own bodyguard, the SS Great Depression, Nazi mass support * Weimar government failed to solve any grave economic problems of the day: mass unemployment, inflation and industrial slump * Faced with economic hardship, Germans lost any faith they had in the democratic government * Middle class and working class were the most discontented as they had been ruined by 2 economic collapses within 6 years * Turned to 2 extreme parties for remedies, Nazis and Communists * July 1932 – Nazis won 230 seats, becoming largest party in Reichstag Hitler becomes Chancellor November 1932 – Nazi votes dip, while Communist votes rise alarms influential businessmen and landlords; conservative Nationalists decided that their cause could be served by supporting Hitler * von Paper made a bargain with Hitler, where Hitler would be chancellor and von Papen be made vice-chancellor; Hindenburg agreed as despite his contempt for Hitler, the Nazis seemed to be the only well-supported right-wing party which could protect Germany from communism Reasons for Nazi Success 1. Lack of democratic tradition Weimar Republic was not trusted or respected by the people 2. Weimar failed in both domestic and foreign affairs: a. ToV b. failure of Streseman to remove burden of reparations c. failure to recover lost territories d. little political stability due to coups from extreme right and left e. constitution encouraged formation of too many political parties which led to weak and unstable government 3. Onset of GD led to unemployment; as workers turned to communists, la ndowners, industrialists, middle class and conservative right-wing politicians turned to support Nazis 4.Hitler was an able leader, who convinced Germans he was a man of action and ideals; Nazi programme promised everything to everybody 5. Like the Italian government, the German government lacked confidence to rule the country in times of crisis Consolidation of Hitler’s dictatorship Reichstag Fire -on 27 February 1933, the Reichstag building was burned down and the communists were falsely accused of using the fire as a signal for communist insurrection -under the guise of defending the country from a communist revolution, Hitler asked for emergency powers -suspended civil liberties; Hitler used this to arrest 5000 communists -Hitler banned communist and socialist newspapers and made use of radio stations to broadcast Nazi propaganda Enabling Act despite Nazi influence on the votes, they did not fare well in the elections and only barely obtained a majority with the aid of th e Nationalists -Hitler wanted to transfer all legislative power of the Reichstag to himself, but any change in constitution required a two-thirds majority in the Reichstag -Hitler arrested or excluded 81 communist deputies, and bribed the nationalists and centrists -thus, the Nazis outvoted the social democrats by 444 to 94 which gave Hitler unlimited power -Hitler could draft and pass any laws without the Reichstag -the German constitution was destroyed Elimination of Internal Rivals (Night of the Long Knives) -dealt with political rivals in the party -Ernst Rohm differed from Hitler on 3 important issues: 1. Rohm thought that the SA helped bring the Nazis to power, so Hitler should reward them with government jobs. 2. Rohm wanted the SA and army to be merged 3.Rohm was interested in the socialist aspect of the party’s programme and wanted Hitler to confiscate the property of wealthy people in Germany -Rohm commanded 2m SA troopers, and thus constituted a great threat to Hit ler’s political position -On June 30 1934, many SA leaders as well as other political opponents were killed such as Strasser and Scleicher -Hitler achieve party solidarity Hitler becoming President -Hindenburg died in Aug 1934 -Hitler announced that he would combine in himself the offices of President and Chancellor -Thus, his personal dictatorship was now complete and the Third Reich was officially proclaimed Nazi Germany Political Policies| Social Policies| Economic Policies| Banned all political parties * Created a police state; prevented any opposition to the regime by sending political opponents to concentration camps * Trade unions were abolished, as they were a likely source of resistance, replaced by the German Labour Front; employees were also forbidden to strike| * Education system was closely controlled so that children could be indoctrinated with Nazi ideals; textbooks were rewritten to support Nazi opinions * Was supplemented by youth organisations which aimed to destroy traditional bonds such as loyalty to the family and obey the Fuhrer instead * Dr Joseph Goebbels controlled the media; ensured that opinions fit the Nazi system and thus moulded public opinion and ensured mass support * Wanted to bring the Catholic and Protestant churches under Nazi control * signed concordat with Pope in which Church recognized the regime and renounced all activity aside from purely religious acts in Germany, while Hitler guaranteed the Church of its historic rights, but the promise was soon broken; the Catholics offered serious resistance to Nazi persecution from 1937 * Protestant churches were united under a Reich church which preached Nazi ideals; Protestants which did not follow the new eachings were sent to concentration camps * Nazis encouraged racially pure couples to have more children as birth rate was declining, gained support of mothers who felt that they were contributing; those considered undesirable were discouraged from having children, and some were forcibly sterilized, marriages between Aryans and Jews were also banned| Aims: 1) To reduce unemployment 2) Build Germany’s weapons industry 3) Achieve economic self-sufficiencyEmployment-public works programmes-larger bureaucracy-purge of Jews and anti-Nazis -rearmament Industrial/Economic production-German army was expanded; conscription introduced; gave profitable deals to businessmen, who in turn supported Nazis Autarky-encouraged farmers to increase agricultural yields-telling industrialists what to produce depending on needs However, despite numbers showing that unemployment had been solved, these figures hid certain facts; women and Jews were ousted out of jobs to create vacancies and they were not counted as unemployedrearmament was also again ToV| 1930| Road to War Road to WarGreat Depression continues (1929-approximately mid 1930s)War Aggressive Foreign Policy Rise of Militarism Rise of extremist parties and regimes| | London Naval Conference – redu ction in naval build-up (role of League)| 1931| Mukden Incident, Invasion of Manchuria * Japan had vested economic interest in Manchuria; stationed the Kwantung army in Manchuria to protect its assets gained by wars with China * However, its control of Manchuria was threatened when Chiang Kai-shek took over and set up the National Government * They were worried that the Manchurian warlord, Zhang Zuolin would gang up with Chiang to oppose their domination of Manchuria * Mukden Incident: assassinated Zhang by dynamiting his train * Showed increasing Japanse militarism and weakening Japanese democracy * Strengthened Chinese nationalism as Zhang Xueling wanted vengeance * Great Depression prompted them to take more serious action; foreign conquest would guarantee more trade, more raw materials and more jobs start in Manchuria, since Kwantung Army was in place * 18 September 1931: Kwantung Army occupied town of Shenyang, claiming that Chinese soldiers had tried to blow up the South Manch urian railway * Despite protests by LoN, Japanese soldiers went on to occupy the rest of Manchuria| 1932| Manchukuo established * Japan declared Manchuria independent and put Emperor Puyi on the throne, but he was a figurehead, and the real rulers were officers of the Kwantung Army * Lytton report condemned Japanese invasion and suggested possibility of separate state in Manchuria| | World Disarmament Conference| 933| Japan leave League * League voted on Lytton report; Japanese delegation left the Assembly and later leaves League * League was seen to be powerless when faced with opposition of a great power * Nothing could be done to prevent Japan’s withdrawal or to force the Japanese to accept the Report * Japan had set an example which Hitler and Mussolini were to follow| | Hitler becomes Chancellor * Hitler’s foreign policy was aggressive * Preached German world domination, overthrowing of ToV and conquering living space which ultimately involved the use of force and war| | Germany leaves League and WDC * Hitler openly rejected disarmament clause * No longer bound by LoN and was free to pursue rearmament * Increase possibility of Germany and Japan using force as a foreign policy tool * Countries also started rearming heightening chances of war| 1934| Poland and Germany sign non-aggression pact * Settled previous disputes over Danzig and territorial boundaries, and was seen by Britain and France as Hitler’s first step to building diplomatic relations * Hitler’s bluff worked – Britain and France got a false sense of security and pursued appeasement policy * Polish neutrality was also assured if Germany annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia| | Geneva Conference collapses| Attempted Anschluss * ToV forbade Austria’s union with Germany * In 1934, Austrian Nazis assassinated the Chancellor and asked for German help * The new chancellor appealed to Mussolini, who did not want a strong Austria-Germany on his frontier * Italian troops were rushed to Brenner Pass and Hitler called of his plans * Peace was maintained only by threat of force and Mussolini’s dislike of Hitler * Hitler’s aggressive foreign policy was revealed * Revealed need to work with Italy| 1935| Saar plebiscite – voted to return to Germany * Rich in coalfields and other industries helped German rearmament * Boosted Hitler’s confidence in xpanding the Third Reich announced conscription and rearmament| | German rearmament – Hitler announces conscription * Was not seen as an aggressive move but rather an economic policy to rebuild Germany’s shattered economy * 1st successful breach of ToV * Vital step towards preparation for war and world domination| | Stresa Front * Joint effort by Britain, France and Italy to resist attempt to revise ToV and issued strong protests at Hitler’s actions to breach ToV * Fact that these powers came together showed that the League was ineffective * Did not last due to Anglo-German naval agreement showing British condoning German rearmament and Italian aggression through Abyssinia invasion| | Anglo-German Naval Agreement * Made sure that Germany did not become stronger than Britain * Ensure a strong Germany to keep communism at bay; Hitler was firmly anti-communist * Treaty was a breach of ToV; showed hollowness of the Front * Diplomatic triumph for Hitler as Britain recognized German right to rearm| | Italian invasion of Abyssinia * Showed weakness of LoN; no longer an effective peacekeeping organization * Stresa Front was weakened as Italy drew closer to Germany * Hitler was more confident of using force to achieve his foreign policy aims as Britain and France could be seen to be unwilling to resist aggression| 1936| Hitler reoccupies the Rhineland * Hitler took a gamble as German forces were outnumbered by better-armed French troops * Successful reoccupation and remilitarization due to lack of British and French action; the region was descr ibed as only his own backyard and neither country were prepared for war * Britain and France were occupied with Abyssinia * Hitler’s confidence to use force was boosted| | Spanish Civil War begins * Valuable practice for troops and air crew e. g.German Luftwaffe air raids in Madrid and Guernica * Britain was horrified with the destructive power of the air force and was determined not to intervene as Spain was remote * Due to appeasement policy, Hitler was convinced that Britain and France would not act against aggression * Strengthened German-Italian alliance, fostered closer ties| | Rome-Berlin Axis * Formalized political and military relations form Abyssinia invasion which had German support and Spanish civil war| | Anti-Comintern Pact * United front to stand up against and destroy communism between Italy, Germany and Japan * Closer relations between aggressive nations who were no longer in LoN * Led to growing confidence| 1937| Second Sino-Japanese War begins * Beginning o f Japanese expansion into Asia through aggression * War in China * Will later expand to SEA * Purely instigated by Japanese military in China and was condemned by democratic government * Showed that military held the most power * LoN failure to act gave Japan the impression that US would also do nothing; however, trade embargo was impose| | Italy joins Anti-Comintern Pact| 938| Anschluss * Seyss-Inquart led an Austrian Nazi attempt to seize power, which was prevented by Chancellor Schuschnigg * Hitler threatened war unless Schuschnigg was made Minister of the Interior * Plebiscite was proposed to see if Austrians wanted Anschluss * Fearing negative results, Hitler rushed troops to the border, threatening an invasion and forcing Schuschnigg to resign, resulting in Seyss-Inquart becoming Chancellor * Hitler was invited to occupy Austria and ward off communist threat, and Austria became a province of Germany on 14 March * While a plebiscite showed that 99% of Austrians favoured the uni on, the remaining opposition was crushed * Hitler’s act of expansion/aggression went unchecked * Appeasement policy by Britain and France increased the likelihood of further aggression| | Czechoslovakia: Munich Conference and Czechoslovakian Crisis * Another case where expansionism was achieved without bloodshed * Czechoslovakia lost 70% of her heavy industry and all her military fortifications * Provided Germany with mineral deposits and heavy industry boosted rearmament efforts * Hitler would be emboldened to retrieve all lost territory under ToV and even take on more land as part of his scheme to achieve world domination| 1939| Memel reclaimed by Germany * Hitler was determined to restore all lost territory under ToV| | Germany makes demands on Poland| | Britain and France guarantee Poland’s safety| | Italy invades Albania * Revealed Italy’s ambition for empire and power * Increasingly felt like he paled in comparison to Hitler * Thus, he was pressured to kee p up – later declared war on Britain and France in 1940s to gain spoils of war| | Pact of Steel * Formalized military cooperation and alliance * Pledged to assist each other if one became involved in a military conflict * Mussolini’s close alignment is reflective of his esire not to lose out in territorial gains * An attest to Hitler’s plans to invade Europe * Doom for Italy that could not match Germany’s military might as Hitler could not keep his end of bargain (to wait 3 years as Italy prepared for war)| | Nazi-Soviet Pact * Germany would not have to fight on 2 fronts as in WWI * Germany would conquer all of Western Europe and then strike Eastern Europe when lest expected * Bought time for USSR to build up its military * Without this pact, Germany would not have invaded Poland * Allowed Britain and France to see that Hitler was a trickster| | Poland invaded; beginning of war in Europe| I. The Russian Revolutions: Fall of the monarchy & the provisional government The Russian Revolutions: Fall of the monarchy & the provisional government February 1917 Revolution i. Causes of the Revolution Numerous defeats in World War I and crucial losses in important battles * Caused troops & police to mutiny – left no one to defend the autocracy * War revealed the incompetent & corrupt organisation and the shortage of equipment * Tsar had also appointed himself Supreme Commander of the Russian Army, but made tactical blunders and, on the whole, was unable to inspire the troops * Army morale dwindled due to consecutive defeats in important areas * People could now blame the Tsar for Russia’s decline * Thus, the Tsar’s incompetent leadership of the war resulted in numerous defeats, loss of lands, and a horrendous death toll, leading the army to rise up against the government to overthrow it to end the war * Famine and poverty due to the state of the Russian economy, which had been ravaged by war * Wages could not keep up with the rise in prices of food due to inflation and the depreciation of the Russian rouble * Caused many people queuing for food to be turned away, creating dissatisfaction among the Russians, especially among the peasants * Tsar proved to be hopelessly inadequate at dealing with the economic problems the war created, and the suffering of the people eventually caused them to rise up against him in a bid for a better life * Poor governance and repressive, autocratic rule Tsar’s failure to keep promises such as land reforms * Duma kept changing – Russia had 4 Dumas between 1905 to 1917 alone, which resulted in the situation whereby new-and-improved policies were unable to be implemented * All these hence led to greater hostility against the Tsar * Workers & soldiers later set up the Petrograd Soviet, a council of workers & soldiers taking control of the city * Tsar was eventually persuaded and forced to abdicate by his generals * Fall of autocratic government ii. Outcome of the February Revolution * A provisional government was set up by the Duma, headed by Prince Lvov as Prime Minister * Petrograd Soviet & the workers’ councils rivaled the provisional government’s right to rule and insisted on its prerogative to run the government II. October 1917 Revolution iii. Problems & Failures of the Provisional Government (PG) * Continuation of WWI Kerensky’s June offensive was a disastrous failure * Lost the support of the Russian people, who thought the war was draining precious resources * Caused the collapse of army morale & discipline * Hundreds of thousands of troops deserted the army and abandoned the front lines * Dual power existed as the PG was challenged by the power held by the Petrograd Soviets, who tried to rule the city and commanded all the soldiers, leaving the PG without any military backup * The Petrograd Soviet was more popular amongst the people, and later the even the Army lent its support to them * PG also depended on the Petrograd Soviet for its legitimacy * Hence, when the Petrograd Soviet ordered all soldiers to obey only the Soviet, it meant that in the last resort, the PG could not rely on the support of the Army * PG delayed elections promised earlier, leading to loss of support * PG had assumed power, but had not been officially elected by the people of Russia * Claimed it would hold elections after the war as the troops would have returned and then be eligible to vote after fighting * However people did not elieve in it and felt that it was too long a duration to wait before the war ended as no one knew when the war would end * Promise of elections were hence not carried out, adding to unpopularity * Since they had not been voted in, the PG also had no legal power to give land away or start land reforms for the benefit of the peasants, who had earlier demanded land and sought the approval of the PG to provide land reforms * This thus angered the peasants, who began to seize land – another incident which highlighted the fact that the PG had no control of the people * Allowed Bolsheviks to use peasant discontent to win support * Return of Lenin * Lenin returned to Russia from exile in Switzerland with German aid * April Theses urged that the Bolsheviks should cease to support the PG, that all power should be taken by the Soviets, and that Russia should withdraw from the war * Promise of â€Å"Peace, Bread & Land† gave hope t and appealed to the masses against the increasing economic chaos * Posed a new challenge to the provisional government * July Days Massive demonstrations of workers, soldiers & sailors, to demand for the PG to give up their power to the Soviet * PG brought in troops to restore order; later condemned the Bolsheviks for trying to stage an uprising * Also made false claims that Lenin was a German spy * Led to a rapid decline in support for the Bolsheviks, eventually causing Lenin and other important leaders to flee for their safety int o Finland * After this incident, Lenin decided it was too early to revolt as the Bolsheviks had to gain more support from the people and realize his mistakes * Better and more careful planning for the next attempt at Revolution was also required as Lenin now also realized that the PG was well aware of their rising power and would take efforts to bring it down and deter its attempts at Revolution * Prince Lvov, head of the Provisional Government at that time, finally resigned and was replaced by Kerensky over his failure to deal with the instability * Kornilov Affair Severely embarrassed the PG as it showed that they did not have control over their own soldiers * Kornilov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, had originally viewed the Bolsheviks as traitors and had decided to move against the Soviets , but his soldiers mutinied * Army discipline was on the verge of collapse, public opinion swung against the war and in favour of the Bolsheviks, who was the only party to talk openly about making a separate peace * Kerensky had initially ordered Kornilov’s arrest, but his army refused to cooperate, and Kerensky had to rely on the Petrograd Soviet for help against the uprising * PG was therefore seen as weak * By this time the Bolsheviks were seen favourably and were garnering increasing support iv.In October Trotsky and the rest of the Bolshevik Red Guard launched a silent, bloodless attack against the PG in the middle of the night, seizing key power blocs and resulting in the birth of the first Communist Government * This attack was planned by Trotsky himself, highlighting his true brilliance as the plan was a success War Communism I. Popularity i. In a nutshell, war communism was a military success, but an economic failure ii. It was simply harsh economic measures and labour control to serve war needs iii. Nationalization of the segments & industries of the economy that effectively controlled & supported the others, such as oil, railroads, banking & st eel – the Commanding Heights iv. Rationing of basic goods & services v.However, the Bolshevik government eventually resorted to coercion when exhortation & persuasion failed II. Aims vi. To prevent the total collapse of the economy vii. Mobilize resources to defend communism from its enemies during the Civil War, eventually channeling sufficient resources for a Bolshevik victory over the Whites viii. Strict labour control ix. Putting the Marxist ideal of a state-controlled economy into practice III. Agriculture x. Grain requisitioning * Peasants were forced to give up their excess grain so that the workers in the factories & soldiers at the warfront could be fed Peasants vehemently objected to this * Uncooperative peasants were thus shot and killed A few peasants even destroyed their crops and harvest rather than have them seized, as many felt that it was unfair to them * As a result, a few peasants planted fewer crops the following season so that they would have less crops i n excess * Significance was that food production decreased, causing the bulk of the population to be affected by starvation, and this remained a problem throughout the Civil War xi. Land Nationalisation * 1917 Decree * Broke up larger estates * Land, together with the tools & livestock, were to be distributed to the peasants * 1918 Decree * Declared that the land, originally taken away from the kulaks, now officially belonged to the state * Peasants had the right to cultivate it * The next step the Bolsheviks took was to collectivize the land, but this failed in the end IV. Industry xii. Commanding Heights nationalized Met with great resistance, causing supporters to revolt * Jun 1918: all large-scale industry was nationalized without compensation * End 1918: all enterprises employing more than 10 workers were nationalized * Local soviets later extended this to all enterprises in their area V. Labour/ Workers xiii. Rationing * Those not producing their own food were allotted rations according to their usefulness * Workers & soldiers got the most, since they contributed the most to the Russian society * Professionals got significantly lesser rations than the workers * Class enemies got nothing Incurred the wrath of many people, as many found it discriminating & unfair * Workers were made to work in return for their ration cards – no work, no rations * Strikes were made illegal, hence people could only suffer in silence and could not complain * Eventually, people bartered their possessions in the black market in a desperate bid to gain more food and essentials xiv. Labour Conscription (1920) * Many workers had fled/ returned to the countryside to look for food after being convinced that the city had nothing more to provide for them * Hence, the Bolsheviks needed to bring them back to work in the factories, since a lack of manpower meant a sharp decline in production, and this in turn entailed a turbulent period for the state * Thus, they resorted to consc ription * All unions were state-controlled Ensured no strikes took place, since strikes meant production also stalled * Membership was compulsory as Russia needed to increase production * Workers had to volunteer an extra day of unpaid work for the sake of building Socialism xv. Wage incentives * Payments would gradually increase for every year that person worked VI. Trade xvi. No private trade was allowed * Black market thrived during the Civil War xvii. Bolsheviks made a rather beneficial move by abolishing the monetary system as they had known that during the war their currency would depreciate because of the uncertainty VII. Failures of Collectivization xviii.Widespread resistance to collective & soviet farms * Significant as 80% of the population was still living in the countryside, generating more than 50% of the national income * Resistance thus served as a warning to the government that if they did not do anything to improve the situation soon, the Russian economy would almo st certainly collapse * Peasants, seeing no point in working hard to produce food which was taken away from them without compensation, simply produced enough for their own needs xix. Depopulation of cities/ Food shortages * Workers were leaving in droves to the countryside to look for food and other prospects * Industry came to a standstill * Some attempted to buy and/or beg for food, but most failed to even make ends meet * Thus in Aug 1920, Moscow lost ? f its population, while Petrograd nearly 2/3 in the same period * Those who stayed in the cities had little, if any, food to survive on * As a result, in 1921 7 million in the cities starved to death * Significance: Bolsheviks lost their main source of supporters – the workers xx. Workers’ Strike * In January 1921 the already-meager bread rations to large population centres were once again cut by 1/3 * The workers of 64 large factories in Petrograd could withstand the suffering no longer, and went on strike * Demande d larger food rations * Wanted the restoration of the Workers’ Council & trade unions as their representatives * Soon became disillusioned with the Bolsheviks, and many thought the trade unions would be able to do a better job in looking after them xxi. Peasant Uprisings Russia was hit by plenty of natural disasters during the period of Civil War, such as droughts, dust, locusts, destroying much of the peasants’ crops and their main source of food * With the introduction of war communism, this took away everything from them, even grain seed * Culminated in large-scale peasant uprisings from 1920-1921 * E. g. In Feb 1921 there were 118 major peasant uprisings in various parts of the country xxii. Sailors’ Mutiny * Sailors at the Kronstadt naval base near Petrograd mutinied * Demanded an end to the Communist Party dictatorship * Wanted freedom of speech & fresh elections Suppressed only through prompt action by Trotsky, who sent troops across the ice on the frozen sea * They had been significant Bolshevik supporters, rooting for them from the very beginning * Thus their rebellion was a serious warning to the government * As a