Kristin Landeros Essays (662 words) - Economic Ideologies

Kristin Landeros Essays (662 words) - Economic Ideologies Kristin Landeros S. Gran HIST M180 Western Civilization 09/24 /2016 Industrial Revolution The industrial revolution had a great impact on Europe, especially when it comes to social and economic aspects, since they underwent a great change during the period. Still, whether the industrial revolution was positive or negative as a whole depends on if you focus on either of these two aspects. Optimists will say that it was good, and they'll focus on the favorable consequences on economy. Pessimists, however, will focus on social aspects, since society suffered a decline as to way of life. When it comes to economy, most of the consequences of the industrial revolution on it were quite positive. Wages rose, and people had enough money to buy goods. Industry developed, making it more efficient to produce products with the help of machines. These made it more profitable for industries, since work was done faster and without a need for a big human work force , thus creating mass production. It was cheap to make goods, and they were produced at a large scale, which in turn led to consumers being able to afford more products. Another thing was the creation of banks, which favored economy as they lent money to set up even more industries. Mercantilism also helped European countries, since they had a market for their goods. Also, industries were favored by the construction of better roads and canals, and with the invention of the steam engine, as well as with the construction of turnpike trusts. Goods were transported in faster, safer and cheaper ways, which had a positive effect on industry and economy. The improvement of the transport system also had positive effects on social aspects. Now that people had more money, they could use it to go on day holidays to the coast, since they could use the railroad. Improvement in transportation also eventually led to the creation of national sport leagues, as teams could move around from place to place. Another positive consequence of the improvement of transport reflected on people's diets. Fresh food could be transported faster and cheaper into urban areas, thus making it available for consumers, who, with the improvements in economy, now had money to buy it, as well as some mass produced clothes. Still, even if people had more money, standards of living didn't rise as much. To get money, people had to work for long shifts, and housing was also more expensive. This made people pack together in small houses. Over-crowding inevitably led to the quick spread of diseases and illnesses as pollution from industries and wastes filled the cities, affecting people who lived very close together. People working in the city also had bad working conditions. They worked for long shifts under unhealthy conditions, and accidents were common due to the over-tiredness of the workers after so many hours of work. Also, for a family to meet monthly expenses, children had to work. Child labo r was common, and children had harsh jobs, working all day instead of being able to go to school and get an education. Another negative consequence of the industrial revolution was the sharp increase of crime in cities. As industries and large farms prospered, small farmers and peasants suffered. Many were left without a job and thus migrated into the cities. Population increase in urban areas, however, didn't always match the increasing need for workers in industries; many people were left without a job and thus had to resort to crime to be able to survive. It is clear that the Industrial Revolution had a great impact on people's lives throughout Europe. A capitalist economy flourished, while workers suffered unhealthy conditions as they struggled to survive in a changing society. Western Civilization Seventh Edition Beyond Boundaries Volume II Si nce 1560 ) Chapter 20: The Mechanical Age ( Noble. Strauss, Osheim, Neuschel, Accam po, Roberts and Cohen 01/28/2013 )

Rudolf Hess, Nazi Who Claimed to Be Bringing Peace Offer

Rudolf Hess, Nazi Who Claimed to Be Bringing Peace Offer Rudolf Hess was a top Nazi official and close associate of Adolph Hitler who shocked the world in the spring of 1941 by flying a small plane to Scotland, parachuting to the ground, and claiming when captured that he was delivering a peace proposal from Germany. His arrival was met with astonishment and skepticism, and he spent the rest of the war in captivity. Fast Facts: Rudolph Hess Birth: April 26, 1894, Alexandria, Egypt.Death: August 17, 1987, Spandau Prison, Berlin, Germany.Known for: High-ranking Nazi who flew to Scotland in 1941, claiming to bring a peace proposal. Close Hitler Associate There has always been considerable debate about Hesss mission. The British concluded he had no authority to negotiate peace, and questions about his motivations and even his sanity persisted. There was no doubt that Hess had been a longtime associate of Hitler. He had joined the Nazi movement when it was a tiny fringe group on the edge of German society and during Hitlers rise to power he became a trusted aide. At the time of his flight to Scotland, he was widely known to the outside world as a trusted member of Hitlers inner circle. Hess was ultimately convicted at the Nuremberg Trials, and would outlive the other Nazi war criminals who were convicted alongside him. Serving a life term in grim Spandau Prison in West Berlin, he ultimately became the prisons sole inmate for the last two decades of his life. Even his death in 1987 was controversial. By official account, he had committed suicide by hanging himself at the age of 93. Yet rumors of foul play circulated and still persist. After his death the German government had to deal with his grave in a family plot in Bavaria becoming a pilgrimage site for modern day Nazis. Early Career Hess was born as Walter Richard Rudolf Hess in Cairo, Egypt, on April 26, 1894. His father was a German merchant based in Egypt, and Hess was educated at a German school in Alexandria and later at schools in Germany and Switzerland. He embarked on a business career which was quickly interrupted by the outbreak of war in Europe when he was 20 years old. In World War I Hess served in a Bavarian infantry unit and eventually trained as a pilot. When the war ended with Germanys defeat Hess was embittered. Like many other disgruntled German veterans, his deep disillusionment led him to radical political movements. Hess became an early adherent of the Nazi Party, and forged a close association with the partys rising star, Hitler. Hess served as Hitlers secretary and bodyguard in the early 1920s. After the abortive coup in 1923 in Munich, which became famous as the Beer Hall Putsch, Hess was imprisoned with Hitler. During this period Hitler dictated to Hess part of what became his notorious book Mein Kampf. As the Nazis rose to power, Hess was given important posts by Hitler. In 1932 he was appointed head of the partys central commission. In the following years he continued being promoted, and his role in the top Nazi leadership was evident. A front-page headline in the New York Times in the summer of 1934 referred to his likely position as Hitlers closest subordinate and successor: Hitler Understudy Likely To Be Hess. In 1941, Hess was officially known as the third most powerful Nazi, after only Hitler and Herman Goering. In reality his power had probably faded, yet he was still in close contact with Hitler. As Hess hatched his plan to fly out of Germany, Operation Sea Lion, Hitlers plan to invade England the previous year had been postponed. Hitler was turning his attention eastward and making plans to invade Russia. Flight to Scotland On May 10, 1941, a farmer in Scotland discovered a German flier, wrapped in a parachute, on his land. The flier, whose Messerschmitt fighter plane had crashed nearby, first claimed to be an ordinary military pilot, giving his name as Alfred Horn. He was taken into custody by the British military. Hess, posing as Horn, told his captors he was a friend of the Duke of Hamilton, a British aristocrat and noted aviator who had attended the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. The Germans, or at least Hess, seemed to believe the Duke could help broker a peace deal. While detained in a hospital shortly after his capture, Hess got to meet the Duke of Hamilton and revealed his true identity. The Duke immediately contacted Prime Minister Winston Churchill and informed him that he had met Hess years earlier and the man who had landed in Scotland was indeed the high-ranking Nazi. British authorities expressed astonishment as the peculiar story of Hesss arrival in Scotland made headlines around the world. The earliest dispatches about Hesss flight from Germany to Scotland were full of speculation about his purpose and motives. One theory in the early press accounts was that Hess feared a purge was coming of top Nazi officials and Hitler might be planning to have him killed. Another theory was that Hess had decided to abandon the Nazi cause and help the British. The official story which was ultimately put out by the British was that Hess claimed to be bringing a peace proposal. The British leadership did not take Hess seriously. In any event, less than a year after the Battle of Britain the British were in no mood to discuss peace with Hitler. The Nazi leadership, for its part, distanced itself from Hess and put out the story that he had been suffering from delusions. For the rest of the war Hess was held by the British. His mental state was often questioned. At one point he seemed to attempt suicide by jumping over the railing of a staircase, breaking a leg in the process. He seemed to spend most of his time staring into space and began to habitually complain that he believed his food was being poisoned. Decades of Captivity Following the end of World War II, Hess was put on trial at Nuremberg along with other leading Nazis. Throughout the ten months of the 1946 war crimes trial, Hess often seemed disoriented as he sat in the courtroom along with other high-ranking Nazis. At times he read a book. Often he stared into space, seeming to have no interest in what was happening around him. Rudolf Hess, with arms extended, at the Nuremberg Trial. Getty Images   On October 1, 1946, Hess was sentenced to life in prison. Twelve of the other Nazis on trial with him were sentenced to be hanged, and others received sentences of 10 to 20 years. Hess was the only Nazi leader to be sentenced to a life term. He escaped the death penalty mainly because his mental state was questionable and he had spent the bloodiest years of the Nazi terror locked up in England. Hess served his sentence in Spandau Prison in West Berlin. Other Nazi prisoners died in prison or were released as their terms ended, and from October 1, 1966, onward, Hess was Spandaus only prisoner. His family periodically sought to have him released, but their appeals were always refused. The Soviet Union, which had been a party to the Nuremberg trials, insisted that he serve every day of his life sentence. In prison, Hess was still mostly a mystery. His peculiar behavior continued, and it wasnt until the 1960s that he agreed to have monthly visits from family members. He was in the news at times when he was taken to a British military hospital in Germany for treatment of various ailments. Controversy After Death Hess died in prison on August 17, 1987, at the age of 93. It was revealed that he had strangled himself with an electrical cord. His jailers said he had left a note indicating a desire to kill himself. Rumors circulated that Hess had been murdered, supposedly because he had become a figure of fascination for neo-Nazis in Europe. The Allied powers released his body to his family, despite fears that his grave would become a shrine for Nazi sympathizers. At his funeral in a Bavarian graveyard in late August 1987 scuffles broke out. The New York Times reported that about 200 Nazi sympathizers, some dressed in Third Reich uniforms, scuffled with police. Hess was buried in a family plot and the site did become a gathering place for Nazis. In the summer of 2011, fed up with visits by Nazis, the cemetery administration exhumed Hesss remains. His body was then cremated and his ashes scattered at sea in an unknown location. Theories about Hesss flight to Scotland continue to emerge. In the early 1990s, files released from Russias KGB seemed to indicate that British intelligence officers had lured Hess to leave Germany. The Russian files included reports from the notorious mole Kim Philby. The official reason for Hesss flight remains as it was in 1941: Hess believed he could, on his own, make peace between Germany and Britain. Sources: Walter Richard Rudolf Hess. Encyclopedia of World Biography, 2nd ed., vol. 7, Gale, 2004, pp. 363-365. Gale Virtual Reference Library.Rudolf Hess Is Dead In Berlin; Last of Hitler Inner Circle. New York Times 18 August 1987. A1.