European Studies Essays Inter-War Period

European Studies Essays Inter-War Period What conditions existed in the countries of central and Eastern Europe in the inter-war period that allowed the Communists to take power there after 1945? Various factors contributed to the emergence of communist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe after 1945, some arguably in the Inter-war period. These factors differed in effect and contribution from country to country. The factors will be discussed in greater detail below. Individual countries within the central and Eastern European region had communist parties with various levels of support and capabilities. Above all the situation in the Inter-war period presented internal and external factors that allowed for the implementation of communist regimes aligned to the Soviet Union, the debate being whether these factors contributed to the communist takeovers after 1945. Some of the countries in the region, most notably Poland had suffered under Nazi occupation whilst other countries such as Romania and Hungary had been allied to Germany. Politically much of the region could have been described as backward at the start of the Inter-war period (excepting the Czechoslovaks and Hungaria ns) and not as advanced as their western neighbours. Political backwardness was not a stumbling block to the communists obtaining power as Lenin and Trotsky had proved in Russia in October 1917. Aside from a short-lived Soviet Republic in Hungary during 1919 the communists had failed to gain power in the region prior to 1945.   Socialists rather than communists dominated the Hungarian Soviet Republic. Indeed the removal of the Soviet Republic led to the counter revolutionary if not fascist regime of Horthy who violently repressed the radical socialists and communists. The communists were ousted but they were not destroyed and were able to survive their persecution.   Lenins hopes of a revolution in Germany that would spread to her neighbours to the west and east were also dashed with the defeat of the Sparticus Putsch in 1919.   Communists throughout the region expected revolutions to occur quite rapidly, believing that the tide of history would move in their favour. In the 1920s especially after Stalin gained power the Soviet Union concentrated on building Socialism in one country ‘ instead of actively promoting revolution in the rest of Europe. The Soviet regime had too much to concentrate on internally without promoting revolution.   However the Soviet leaders were always looking for opportunities to cause revolutionary agitation abroad and funded communist parties in Germany, France, the United States and China as well as central and eastern Europe.   The Kremlin’s money certainly maintained the position of the various communist parties even if they were unable to gain power during the Inter-war period.  Ã‚   Communism was not particularly popular in parts of Central and Eastern Europe. Czechoslovak forces had actively fought against the Red Army during the Russian Civil War whilst the Poles had taken advantage of the collapse of the Tsarist empire (combined with German and Austrian defeat) to gain independence.   While P oland was in theory a democracy for most of the inter-war years it was virtually a dictatorship under Pilsudski and his successors most of it’s population being anti-German, anti-Russian and anti-Communist. Poland’s victory in the war of 1919-21 with the Soviet Union ended the threat of the Soviets providing military aid to communist revolutionaries or coups throughout the region during the 1920s and much of the 1930s. For the majority of the 1930s Stalin was more interested in collectivization, industrialization and carrying out the purges then actively seeking to promote revolution in central and Eastern Europe.   It was only after it became clear Hitler was a serious threat did Stalin seek allies in central and eastern Europe and giving their communist parties more instructions.   Poland’s communists had remained weak as they seen as too close to Moscow and had not been enthusiastic in campaigning for independence.   Across the region most of the commun ist parties would be banned at some stage during the Inter-war period and had to learn to survive as underground movements.   Experience of surviving underground proved beneficial during the war when communists became involved in resistance and partisan movements.  Ã‚   Future success would follow from gaining support amongst the peasantry. For much of the period communist parties were hampered by their image as been internationalist rather than nationalist in outlook, but conversely the communists also nurtured Yugoslav and Czechoslovak identities instead of rival ethnic nationalities.   It is worth noting how both states disintegrated rapidly after the end of communist rule.   The emergence of communism in Central and Eastern Europe was aided by the apparent failure of liberalism during the inter-war period. The states that appeared in the region in 1918 were to varying degrees economically backward. Only Czechoslovakia had a semblance of large-scale heavy industry and was also the closest to democracy. Poland and Hungary had industrial bases as well but also had large agricultural sectors. In the immediate aftermath of the First World War the region like the rest of Europe suffered from increasing unemployment and inflation that in turn produced social, political and industrial unrest. These conditions certainly gave the communists the opportunity to gain influence if not power. They largely missed this opportunity but not by the fascists and the far right when the situation deteriorated in the 1930s. The apparent economic recovery of the mid 1920s offered more stability. There was little or no economic co-operation between these countries and all suffere d after the Great slump of 1929. The economic dislocation was not as great as that of Germany that assisted the Nazi rise to power but it was bad enough to disrupt the capitalist system. In the 1930s the region laid between the two powers that offered a viable alternative to liberal democracy, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Communists also made some ground in the region by emphasizing collective security and popular fronts with other parties as a counter for fascism, Nazism, and the ruling right wing authoritarian regimes. The concept of collective security was undermined by appeasement. Communists also had difficulty in explaining the Nazi – Soviet pact. Stalin had been prepared to defend Czechoslovakia but then eagerly partitioned Poland. The communists were however able to redeem themselves in the role they played resisting the Germans.   The use of popular fronts was a useful way of gaining popular support and obtaining power without people realising they voting for a communist regime. That strategy would prove most successful in Bulgaria.   The adoption of popular fronts came too late to prevent Hitler gaining power in Germany, without that the communists could have made further ground in the region during the Inter war years. The communists of central and eastern Europe like many of their counterparts in Comintern did not see fascism as a serious threat rather more as a portent of capitalisms demise. If they had have done perhaps the regions convergence to communism would have happened earlier. The same conditions that helped undermine liberal democracy favoured the fascists and the right wing authoritarian parties as much if not more than they favoured the communists.   Fascists might gain power but (the communists hoped) inadvertently accelerate the victory of Marxist Leninism in the process. In a roundabout way that is what happened in much of the region eventually.   Social and economic developments during the Inter-war years meant there was a radicalisation of the working and peasant classes across the region sometimes mixed with ethnic and nationalist tensions in countries such as Poland, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia.   Yugoslavia suffered not only German occupation but a civil war based on ethnic divisions. In reality for large parts of the region the communists seized power after 1945 due to the close proximity of the Soviet army rather than the success or otherwise of the national communist parties during the Inter-war period.   Defeating the Germans gave Stalin the opportunity to establish communist regions friendly or submissive towards the Soviet Union. Communists gained power with help from Moscow and with the understanding that the Soviet army would ultimately back them up. The only exception was Yugoslavia were Marshall Tito and his partisans seized power themselves after defeating the Germans and winning the civil war. Those opposed to the new communist regimes also realised that the Soviet Union was given a free hand in central and Eastern Europe in return for Britain and the United States having the main influence in the west were ironically the communists enjoyed mass support in France, Italy and Greece.   Stalin was not bothered by how enthusiastic the peoples of the ce ntral and Eastern Europe were towards having communist regimes, what mattered to him was the Soviet Union’s security.   Stalin clearly understood that without Soviet military intervention only Yugoslavia and Albania would have turned communist on their own, and they would prove unwilling to be told what to do from the Kremlin.   The Hungarian communists had not done particularly well since the crushing of the Soviet Republic but they did start to recover during the war. The Czechoslovak communists were only outlawed after absorption into the German Reich but their patriotism was important in gaining support. The Poles and Hungarians proved most reluctant to accept communism and only hard bargaining and the threat of Soviet intervention would keep their regimes in power. Although communist regimes were also forced on Romania and Bulgaria they were eventually more enthusiastic. Therefore the communist parties within central and Eastern Europe were able to lay some if not all the foundations for their gaining of power during the Inter war period. The strength and success of the communists differed from country to country.   The communists laid the strongest foundations in Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia despite facing right wing regimes, being allied to or occupied by the Germans.   In some ways the communists best success in the Inter-war period was presenting themselves as patriots in a time of impending war and as a force of resistance once it had started. The communists realised too late the possibility of popular fronts in preventing Hitler seizing power but their adoption in central and Eastern Europe proved useful at the end of the Inter-war period.   It was the prominent role that the Czechoslovak and Yugoslav communists played in resisting the Germans during the war that contributed most to their gaining of power.   They were success ful in portraying themselves as patriots and freedom fighters. In Bulgaria the popular front tactic in favour at the end of the Inter-war period was revived to gain power by stealth after 1945.   In other countries such as Poland, Hungary and Romania the communists had never been that popular and their main achievement was to survive the Inter –war period and the war in enough numbers to be installed in power in the wake of the Soviet army’s liberation of their various homelands.   Communists throughout the region would argue that they did not need to have mass support just the ability to seize control of their states, then the superiority of communism would win the public over any way.   Communists could also claim in the Inter-war years that liberal democracy could not survive the depression and fascism would not survive the forthcoming war to the death with communism. Bibliography Bideleux Jeffries   A History of Eastern Europe Crisis and Change (1998) Routledge, London Brendon, P. The Dark Valley a Panorama of the 1930s (2000) Jonathan Cape, London. Crampton, R .J Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century (1994) Routledge, London and New York Harvey, R. – Comrades The Rise and Fall of World Communism (2003) John Murray, London Matthews, A   Nationalism in Europe 1789 1945 (2000) Hodder Staughton, London. Roberts, J M   History of Europe (1996) Schopflin, G. The Politics of Central Europe (1993) Blackwell, Oxford Service, R    A History of Modern Russia from Nicholas II to Putin (2003) Penguin, London Vadney, T.E The World Since 1945 (1992) Penguin, LondonVolkogonov, D. The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire – Political Leaders from Lenin to Gorbachev (1998) Harper Collins Publishers, London

Traditions in A Moment Before the Gun Went Off and The Lottery :: Shirley Jackson Lottery

In the stories "A Moment before The Gun Went Off" and "The Lottery," there is the situation in which a group of people cling to traditions very blindly. In both stories the traditions are so dug into the people's way of life that questioning them is considered sacrilege within these communities. Furthermore, the members of the community no longer even remember why the traditions were set up in the fist place. They follow the traditions simply because their predecessors followed the traditions. Another similarity between the communities in both stories is, even though these traditions are firmly entrenched in these communities, they are rapidly losing there grip in other communities. This detail is not only mentioned in both stories, but looked down upon by communities that still follow the traditions. In the story "The Lottery," the tradition is to hold a lottery on a specific summer day, but instead of winning a cash prize or some other good thing, the winner gets to be stoned to death by the members of the community. The character that is mentioned most in this story is one by the name of Mrs. Hutchinson. Mrs. Hutchinson is a devoted mother and housewife. She is the one who eventually gets singled out to win the lottery. So it is Mrs. Hutchinson who is impacted the most brutally by the lottery. However the other people of the village are affected differently by the lottery. It is very unlikely that the people of the village kill people for the sake of killing people. More likely there is a deeper reason. One possibility is that the people of this village of this village are looking for a scapegoat. A person to take the blame for mistakes and sins of others, so one person dies for a community and saves the community from whatever sins that had been committed. The society can be affected in many ways by the lottery. Other neighbor societies have been affected by the lottery, many have abandoned the tradition of the lottery. Even in the community where the story takes place many of the rituals that go along with the lottery are fading into the past to be forgotten forever. An example of this would be the chant that originally went with the

Use of Symbolism in Cynthia Ozick’s the Shawl:

In The Shawl, Cynthia Ozick uses descriptive details to engage the reader. The story describes the horror of Nazism. The setting of the story is a concentration camp. The three main characters are Rosa, who was a mother of two daughters, Stella who was fourteen and Magda who was fifteen months. The plot of the story surrounds a magic shawl. The shawl is a major part of the complication, climax and resolution of the story. The magic shawl is the only thing the three starving women have keeping them alive and eventually leads to their demise. The plot of The Shawl ends with a camp guard tossing the infant Magda onto an electrified fence. Ozick's use of symbolism is very important to the story. The author uses symbolism abundantly to help the reader envision the setting. In the beginning of the story, Ozick refers to the baby Magda as, â€Å"someone who is already a floating angel† (Jacobs 299). Ozick refers to Magda as an angel throughout the story, â€Å"smooth feathers of hair nearly as yellow as the Star sewn into Rosa's coat† (Jacobs 300). Other symbolism within the story, talks of the shawl as the â€Å"milk of linen† (Jacobs 300). Beyond the concentration camp, outside of the steel fence, â€Å"there were green meadows speckled with dandelions and deep-colored violets: beyond them even father, innocent tiger lilies, tall, lifting their orange bonnets† (Jacobs 301). Past the steel fence was beauty or maybe heaven. , but not the poor conditions of the death camp. Of the three characters in The Shawl, Stella is a flat character. She is only part of the story to allow the author to get to the climax. The climax comes when Stella becomes cold, and takes the shawl for warmth. Again, the author uses symbolism, Stella is cold or cruel. Magda is the most dynamic character. She is presented to us first as a quite baby, who is hungry and does not cry. Magda simply sucks on the shawl. When her shawl is taken, she cries and walks wobbly into the yard. In the yard of the concentration camp, she is picked up and thrown by a guard to her death. Rosa is a flat character, she does not change throughout the story. As the mother of the two girls, she tries to keep her family from their impending death. When Magda is killed, she does not run into the yard, knowing she will be shot. **** There are false statements in this article. Stella is NOT Rosa's daughter, she is her niece. – Megan â€Å"Use of Symbolism in Cynthia Ozick's The Shawl. † 123HelpMe. com. 03 Apr 2010 .

Chinese Book Report essays

Chinese Book Report essays (Note: This book is not described in full depth and detail but is just explained in a very general way, therefore Mahmoud Abdelkader uses The Modernization of China by Gilbert Rozman (Editor) excerpts to support his views) The book China Since 1945, written by author Stewart Ross, opens in a description of the Chinese Empire in the 1900s. There it describes the terrain of the Chinese lands and thoroughly states the fact of having the Great Wall of China to keep out the barbarians at 221 B.C. The author uses a very admiring tone of the Chinese Empire and seems to think its one of the very few best empires that have ever formed. In fact, Rozman states, ...the cultural and scientific achievements of the Chinese had been immense, including the invention of paper, printing and gunpowder, and the creation of the most exquisite paintings and by most Empire Critics China was one of the best Civilizations around. The author starts the book by Revolution and disintegration incident that happened in 1911, where the British and Japanese fought over control of China. Chinese prisoners were being led away for execution during the revolution where they would be beheaded with swords, which the author states is very popular. It mentions the presidency of Sun Yatsen and his reforms which he could not control that he made himself in 1912. Around this time, warlords took over China controlling it and ruining its economy. The author moves on to war that involved China and its neighbors. It describes the Communist Revolution and Mao Zedong, an the Autumn Harvest. The author then relates to Maos victory in 1945-1949 and the Japanese forces pulling out. The authors view toward Chinese views is very critical and then goes to analysis of the bo ...

Social media

Social media Throughout the world, more and more people are using the Internet and have registered accounts on social networks, for example Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Social network is an incredibly powerful tool. At the click of mouse, one can get entertainment, information, news or data about almost anything in the world. Besides that, we can connect to anyone in the world via social networks across the world instantly. The distance of thousands of miles does not matter. This is amazing. It is very useful especially for parents with children studying abroad as they can save the cost of long distance calls. However, we are facing some issues when using social media.From my experience, the most common issue that people might face when using social media is privacy issue. People may get all sorts of confidential information from us via the social networks. They can track information about us and perhaps use the information to cheat us.English: CrazyFriendz is the free onli ne social ne...Many of the struggles and strengths faced by young people as digital natives are caused by a lack of awareness, communication and sometimes a lack of outside influences such as parents or caregivers.Undoubtedly the Internet has vast positive benefits and influences in widening the knowledge of young people, as it keeps young people who are computer literate informed with everything in their lives and the lives of others by the simple click of the mouse. The Internet and social networking opens young people up to a world of information at their fingertips faster and easier than ever before; with access to the likes of online libraries and databases increasing education (Morimoto, Friedland, 2011). Studies show that the primary use of the internet is communication, as increasingly young people are using the internet and particularly social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to communicate with people...

Leadership and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership and Management - Essay Example With the definition on hand, it can be inferred that there are differences and similarities present in leadership and management. Specifically, the main similarity of leadership and management is that both aim for long term positive results. With this, leaders and managers put more weight on the intangible aspect of the organization, such as the vision and mission of the organization. They also look beyond the boundaries of the organization and influence people outside and within the organization. Also, they both act as the link between the followers and the head management while both greatly depend on the followers (R.C Swansburg and R.J. Swansburg 405). On the other hand, leadership and management also exemplify differences. In the context of management, it is the execution of the ability and task of the administrator to control, coordinate, organize, and plan for the organization. Management is the ability to foresee events and plan for such events. Organization in management also means linking the structure and manpower in order to execute the plans. In addition, managers must have the intellectual capacity and principles to be objective on tasks and decisions. Therefore, management is the act of accomplishing the objectives and the goals of the organization by efficiently using the available resources. ... Influence is what drives the relationship of a leader and a follower. Also, with the influence, leaders are able to attain the trust and confidence of their followers. In addition, a leader is effective when he or she influences his or her followers to be ethical in their work and conduct within and outside the organization. For this to occur, leaders must equip their members with the direction that aims toward the goals and objectives of the organization. With the appropriate direction and influence, leaders will be able to create change for the betterment of the organization. Effective leaders are able to realize the need for change and are capable of executing the change needed. Leaders are considered as risk takers and open minded individuals who are willing to take the challenge. Moreover, in totality, leadership can be summed up to the person’s ability to lead people towards a specific goal or change. Leaders are people who are comfortable and enjoy working with follower s (Lussier and Achua 7-8). Moreover, it is vital to note that a leader is important in an organization because a leader is one of the most essential factors that lead an organization to succeed. Also, companies and organizations must mold their own leaders, and build home-grown leaders that are rooted to maneuver the organization towards success. With this on hand, leaders are very important in any industry or organization. In relation to this, it must be noted that leaders are not born or made, but leaders are born and made. It is vital to understand that effective leaders already have the innate ability to lead people; however, these abilities must be enhanced and developed in order for it to be effective. Nonetheless, this does

California Should Have Stricter Divorce Laws Essay

California Should Have Stricter Divorce Laws - Essay Example This skyrocketing number of divorces has resulted in greater numbers of children being separated from one of their parents and cast into an uncertain future. More importantly, California has made divorce such an easy process that it now suffers from a culture of divorce that is void of personal commitment, places career and finance ahead of relationships, and needs to be reformed to make divorces in California a more deliberate process. A major breakdown in marriage that is caused by easy divorce is the breakdown in the trust and commitment that a couple needs to exist as equal partners. This breakdown begins way before a problem in the marriage surfaces. The easy dissolution of a marriage dilutes the traditional marriage vows and leaves them as little more than a casual agreement. When both spouses live with the anxiety created by the knowledge that the marriage can end at any time, and for no good reason, couples are less likely to invest in their relationship. They may be more reluctant to invest in property or children. A difficult, and more thoughtful approach, to divorce could help restore the belief necessary to remove the uneasiness of living with the thought that your spouse is in no way contractually bound to the you. I think it would also be a significant sign to the children that commitment, promises, and sacred vows have a purpose. It is generally held true that children suffer the most in a divorce. Initially they are impacted by the separation from one of their parents and a confused notion that it may have been their fault. Divorced couples that I have known have greater financial problems that directly impact the children. These parents sharing custody, or with single custody, find less time to involve themselves in the child's life. The child may participate in fewer outside the home activities and have less connection with their social environment. I don't believe that remarriage and step-parenting can ever replace the bond of the biological parents in the minds of the children. These difficulties will follow the child through their life and result in alienation and very little faith in the institution of marriage. While children are taught that commitment has less value in a relationship than the convenience of easy separation, the easy divorce laws reinforce the idea in the minds of adults. Making a career choice or a wish to make a geographical move may break up a marriage. If personal fulfillment outweighs the trust that the partner has invested in the relationship, the jilted spouse will be left with the haunting fear of intimacy. They have come into the institution of marriage with uncertainty and leave it with the certainty of mistrust and betrayal. I think that these issues could be addressed by making the laws on divorce stricter in its requirements that lead into the legal finalities. I think stricter laws on divorce would help insure that the intent of marriage is not at the mercy of whimsical personal preferences. Often, these career or personal preferences are a short-term divergence outside the relationship. They may offer a future that appears to be rosier than it will eventually be. Thoughts of infidelity may wane with time, counseling, or reexamination. However, a quick and easy divorce eliminates any possibility of