The Ancient Hitler

Why the ancient Hitler? Well, because even though Hitler and Napoleon did not follow exactly the same policies, they did commit the same mistakes in war. Hitler also attacked Russia, and opened up a two front war which gave an advantage to the allies during World War two. Hitler’s armies also had no supplies to survive general winter and general mud in Russia, so they had to retreat. Both Napoleon and Hitler tried to unite Europe, and both followed a type of Blitzkrieg tactic in war. Clearly Hitler and Napoleon were two different persons in different times, yet they wanted to accomplish many of the same things, and they made several of the same mistakes. Basically, if you are trying to take over Europe, never go after Russia!

Napoleonic Complex

Throughout the ages Europe has been filled with conflicts, and warring armies. In the nineteenth century Napoleon took hold of power in France and begun a campaign which would redefine Europe and shape it into what it is today.

Napoleon was born in the small island of Corsica off of the coast of southern France. He was later trained as an artillery officer in mainland France. When the French revolution broke out he was called upon by the first French republic. He successfully defeated the first and second coalition, armies sent by Prussia and other European countries which wanted to restore the French monarchy. The people admired Napoleon, and later when the republic was in decay Napoleon successfully undertook a coup d eta and secured the French government. Later he crowned himself emperor of France, and begun his dictatorship.

Napoleon was a military man, so in turn one of his first decrees as emperor was to take over Europe. He led great armies into ancient empires which could not defend themselves against mighty France. Napoleon spread the new ideas of equality, opportunity, and brotherhood which were main ideals of the French revolution.

The biggest mistake that Napoleon committed was invading Russia. Throughout history the Russians have been known for their great tactics for defense. With an army of more than a million men Napoleon invaded Russia and seized Moscow. The only problem was that Moscow had been deserted; the nobles and the Czar had fled to St. Petersburg. The weak French army had to survive the unbearable Russian winter, and men began to die. Of the one million men Napoleon had only twelve thousand had returned to France in defeat.

The countries of Europe saw this defeat as their chance to get back at Napoleon. They invaded France with large armies that the weakened French could not oppose. Napoleon was sent on Exile to an island off the coast of Italy, and then after an attempt to take back his position in France he was defeated again and sent to a far away island in the middle of the Atlantic were he finally died.

Impacts of the American Revolution

France: Tennis Court Oath

America: Signing of Declaration of Independence

The American Revolution did not only cause change in Europe, but it also affected Europe, but mostly France. Since the beginning of the war France had stated that it was an ally of the Americans. They sent troops, guns, ammunition, and monetary aid to the rebelling country. They did this to get back at the English for the French and Indian war. This expending caused inflation in France and really hurt its economy.

France now had greater debts than before. The wars fought earlier had amounted a great debt, and now the American Revolution added to that debt. The French government did not know how to solve its great financial problems. This inflation caused food prices to soar, which in turn caused the lower classes to revolt. Basically the American Revolution in a way caused the French revolution, and greatly affected Europe in many ways.

The French Revolution

The French revolution was an event that impacted all of Europe, and saw the end of a long established social order in the country. The poor were sick and tired of the lack of food, and increase of taxes. There were three estates or social groups in France before the revolution. The first was the clergy which had a huge piece of the land and paid no taxes. The second estate was the nobility, which also had a huge part of the land and paid no taxes. The third and last estate included the middle class and the poor. It paid all the taxes, and did almost most of the work.

The third estate was tired of this unfair system, and revolted. Early in the revolution the peasants took over government, and Paris. They seized the Bastille and attacked the king at Versailles. They incarcerated the royal family, and after a couple of years sent Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI to the guillotine. The National assembly established by the third estate was in charge of government and made the laws. They drafted a constitution and established a new order. The national assembly, after several splits and differences, gave way to a dictatorship. After a coup de tat Napoleon took over government and the revolution had ended.

Cottage for everyone

The cottage industry in the late eighteenth century grew quickly out of the new ideals of mercantilism, and of the enlightenment. The cottage industry was a way for families to earn their living away from the fields. Families would come together and manufacture products, usually textiles, to make a profit. First a merchant would come and provide raw materials. Then the family would work together and make a finished product which they would sell back to the merchant at a reasonable price.

This cottage industry allowed for a massive population growth, and a decrease in poverty in Europe. It was also a step closer to forming the capitalistic ideals of the late nineteenth and early eighteenth centuries.

The messed up adults

In the the past children were seen as young adults with problems. Parents were told not to become to emotionally attached to them, because of their high mortality rates. So children were treated as adults, and very harshly. They were beaten, misunderstood and undesired. There were many ways to discipline these “messed up adults,” but the most common was beating.

Beating children has been a big issue in recent times, but in the past it was the most normal thing to do. Children behaved bad, they got beaten. Even up to the early nineteen hundreds school teachers were allowed to beat their students. The question is, is beating wrong? For some people it is, but for others it is the best way to discipline children. What do you think?

Voltaire

Voltaire, whose real name was François-Marie Arouet was born November 21, 1694; He was a great writer of the enlightenment period who not only criticized government, but also his fellow philosophies. After the earthquake of Lisbon in 1775 many thinkers of the era begun to contemplate on the event, and why it had occurred. In Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne ("Poem on the Lisbon disaster") Voltaire attacked the idea that god had created the earthquake to rid the city of sinners. He gave such a negative view on the earthquake that even his fellow Philosophies begun to write letters to him, because they were appalled by his view.

Clearly Voltaire was a singular character in his era. He followed his own views and many of them were right. He was of great influence to modern society, and even influenced the creation of the United States. We should all try to learn more about the enlightenment thinkers which laid the basis for modern society.

Nuremberg Trials

On November 20th 1945 the Nuremberg trials began in Nuremberg Germany. Up until this day high ranking German officials had not answered for their actions during wartime. During The Trial of the Major War Criminals from November 21, 1945 to October 1, 1946 the 22 highest ranking officials which were captured were tried. Heads of concentration camps, of the German air force, and of Hitler’s own government were tried. Many were sentenced to death by hanging, but almost all committed suicide before their sentence was carried out.

This trial showed the restoration of peace, and the unification of law. The United States, Britain, Russia, and France all sent judges to sentence the war criminals. It showed a new world order with Russia and the United States as world powers in the post-World War II era.

The Enlightenment

The enlightenment which took place during the eighteenth century was a period of new scientific discoveries and advancements. The great minds like those of Sir Isaac Newton, and Voltaire contributed and were shaped by this period. These great minds tried to change the way people viewed the world, so the Catholic Church objected, since the view of the people was based on Christian teachings and beliefs.

This era shaped the modern world, and how the universe works. We learned that the Sun and not the Earth was the center of the universe. Great thinkers developed the scientific method and new ways of viewing the world. Philosophers analyzed the systems of government and criticized them. Clearly this era was of great importance for human kind, and it formed the basis for modern society.

Suleiman the Magnificent

Harems, beautiful women, and luxury items filled the great Ottoman Empire since it had become the great power in Asia and Europe. The ancestors of the rulers of Turkey were great warriors, and Suleiman was the last of the “warrior kings.” Suleiman expanded his empire, and added new peoples of different cultures and beliefs to the Ottoman holdings. Sadly, the rulers who came after him were complete failures.

The later rulers of the Ottoman Empire lived with such a great amount of luxury that leaving their palaces and harems to tend to matters of the state was a grotesque task. Later rulers allowed the empire to decay, and they were distracted by the luxuries of their lives. Once the rulers of the Empire had been brave warriors, but now they had become weak, careless rulers. The Ottoman Empire began to lose land, until all that was left of it was Turkey. The luxuries and riches which the empire, had ultimately brought its downfall.

Charles VII

The great dynamic king of Sweden Charles VII came from being a young sweet boy to be called the “madman of Europe”. He would attack superior armies with a tiny force and he would win! Charles took the throne of Sweden when he was only fifteen years old; he had a formidable army and great territory. Right after he took the throne Charles was attacked by the combined forces of Russia, Poland, and Denmark who were trying to take the crown from him. Using the element of surprise Charles attacked those countries taking key positions. The Russians, Polish, and Danish armies had to retreat to defend their countries.

Charles was winning the war, which later became known as the Great Northern War with an iota of men under his command. Charles began invading Russia, stating that he would not stop until he got to Moscow. He did not get to Moscow… Right after he began invading the Russians used their scorched earth tactic to weaken Charles’ army. In the end Charles had to retreat to Turkey were he convinced the Ottomans to invade Russia. Peter the Great of Russia fought back, and they signed a peace treaty. Charles had to flee back to Sweden, because the Ottomans had grown tired of him and were about to arrest him.

In Sweden Charles grew tired of not being at war, so he invaded Norway. He did this in order to recover land lost in the Northern War. In one of the battles a bullet from one of his own men went right through Charles’ head and killed him instantly. He lived only until the age of thirty six without an heir. In the end Sweden lost much of its land and its economy suffered under the “madman of Europe”.

Prussia’s Giant Army

King William the first of Prussia was a great powerful monarch which was close to becoming an absolutist monarch. In the era of absolutism kings could do as they pleased, and that is exactly what king William did. Louis the fourteenth had his great palace, Versailles, and Philip the Second had his religion, but King William had something else. He had an army of giant men.

This small army of giants was a select part of the army. William recruited the men which had to be taller than six feet, and then he dressed them with costly clothing and advanced weaponry. Sometimes when the King felt sick he had his giants march through his bedroom with their pet mascot, a bear…

The funny part of this story is that king William never used his army in battle. He just made his men march through the palace sometimes directing the marches by himself. This army of giants was of such great significance for King William that to be Prussia’s ally one had to befriend the king by sending him tall men for his select army.

The Kings Great Matter...

The Tudors: Henry VIII

Ann Boleyn---------------Catherine of Aragon -------------Jane Seymour

Henry VIII was the great king of England during the sixteenth century. The man was so powerful he was able to behead anyone he pleased. He controlled Britain as if it was his playground and did as he pleased with his subjects. He had six wives had two daughters and one sickly son. His first wife Catherine of Aragon was a strict catholic, and only had a daughter called Mary (bloody Mary). Catherine was not capable of having a son, so Henry decided to divorce her and marry Ann Boleyn. The Catholic church did not agree to the divorce and after several tries Henry grew frustrated. He decided to separate from the Roman Catholic Church.

England had now its own church called the Anglican Church which ran much like the Roman Catholic church. Anne and Henry married and Anne later had a daughter, but she never had a son which she had promised to give to Henry. Henry was now tired of Anne and because of rumors of adultery decided to behead her. His third wife was Jane Seymour which finally gave him a son, Prince Edward, but she died during childbirth. Henry had three more wives (he executed two of the last three) which did not have any children.

Basically Henry VIII reign was mostly focused on his personal life, yet he was a great king in England. He helped England in several ways, most of which used the money from Catholic land that had been sold, which included monasteries, and churches.

Blame them too....

World War two was one of the most significant wars of the modern era. Hitler’s Germany and his plans for an ideal race were radical and inhumane. But still some blame for the war has to go to the United States and England for allowing Germany to expand. During the first few years of the war Germany was unopposed in Europe, the allies fearing a second great war did not want any trouble, but through their actions they actually allowed the war to occur.

The Germans began by annexing Austria to their country and then began to move through Europe defiant of the threats of other countries. Germany took more than half of Europe before England and the United States began to notice they were in trouble. England finally entered the war in 1939, but France had already been captured, and the small island was being bombed by the German air force called the Luftwaffe. Then for the United States to notice that they had to go to war they had to be attacked in their homeland, and that is exactly what the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor did, it awoke the “sleeping giant.” With more than Two thousand deaths and the almost completely destroyed pacific fleet in Pearl Harbor the United States entered the war.

If both countries had entered the war before Hitler had gotten to France, the war would have had ended before, and with fewer casualties. The two countries must also be blamed for the war, because of their unwillingness to fight Hitler before he became too strong.

Neo-Expressionism

Neo-Expressionism is an art form which began in the 1970s in response to the new abstract movements like Minimalism. The art form allows the artist to express what he is feeling at the moment, and also it shows spontaneous feelings rather than formal concepts. It displays aggressiveness and distortion through colors and incomprehensible forms.

My favorite art piece of the movement is Kiefer's Nuremberg. It shows the pain the Nazi period left on the Germans. It is my favorite, because I find the World War II era quite interesting, and the painting is clear in demonstrating the scar through its deep contrasting colors.

History

History is the past that was once our future. We must not forget the past for the oblivion of our ancestors is regrettable. We as human beings tend to have a need for attention. Throughout life we seek ways to try to never be forgotten, and the study of history achieves this. If we study the past we learn about our interesting ancestors and the ways in which they lived. The sadness of forgetting is increasing in modern day society through new generations of uninterested and thoughtless kids.

Kids in the twenty first century are more interested in the new hip stuff, and gradually care less for the past, and how hard their ancestors worked to allow them to have what they have. The other day during PSAT I heard two kids talking about their futures. One of them said that he was not going to college, because he did not care. Then the two kids began talking about their ipods, and cell phones. I felt anger. How could these ungrateful children expect to have the new technologies of the future, and maintain the economic status their parents had, if they did not work hard and prepare for their futures. I see a dark future for humanity, if children like these are the parents or even the leaders of tomorrow.

But i still have hope. There are still several kids out there who care. There are many children who worry about their grades, and their futures. They work hard so they can get into good colleges, and surpass their ancestors who worked so hard for the advancement of their families, and of society. I hope that these caring children will be the dominant force of humanity in the future, and that once the future becomes the past we will view the past generations with as much appreciation as I view my ancestors today.