Sunday, January 26, 2020

Why Did Germany Lose The First World War History Essay

Why Did Germany Lose The First World War History Essay The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was a trigger to World War One, but according to many historians, they claim that Germany is responsible for the war. Prior to the war, tension built up among nations. With the race for superiority a war was bound to happen. Most European countries made alliances with each other, thus pulling Germany with its allies: Austria Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire into the war. By the end of the war, Germanys economy was bankrupted. Germany and its allies lost the war with the Treaty of Versailles, by signing it on June 28, 1919. Given that Germany was the cause of the war, it was more at risk of losing the war. Germany failed to succeed in World War One because of three main reasons, the failure of the Schlieffen plan, nationalism, and the allies effective use of attrition warfare. The failure of the Schlieffen plan caused Germanys plan to fight a two front war almost impossible. The Schlieffen plan was thought of by Alfred Von Schlieffen, and modified by von Moltke (who was in charge of this operation), and it was a strategic plan for victory while fighting two fronts. Germany under Kaiser Wilhelm II fought a two-front war against French, British, Belgian, and Americans on the Western Front and at the same time Germany was fighting the Russians on the Eastern Front, until Russias participation in the war ended on March 3, 1918 with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Germany did not have a sufficient amount of troops to be sent to both fronts, and food was limited. Another factor that caused the failure of the Schlieffen plan was Belgian resistance and the entrance of Britain into the war. One August 4th 1914, Britain declared war on France when they invaded Belgium. Germany did not expect Britain, the great empire to join and therefore were worried. Moreover the spe ed of Russian mobilization was unexpected and they gained land in Eastern Prussia sooner than planned. At the beginning of the war, Russia was not a huge threat to Germany and its allies because of their humiliation at the failure of the Russo-Japanese war. However, Russia gained territory quickly and moved closer towards Berlin. Before World War One, Germany believed that they were a great power, and therefore nationalism was at its highest point, however between 1916 and 1917, nationalistic views were starting to take a downturn. In these two years, a lot of lives were lost and the term stalemate was present. The Battle of Jutland was the largest sea battle of the entire war. It occurred in 1916 and it was one of Germanys only chance to weaken Great Britains royal navy, hence the wars nickname; the Battle of Lost Opportunities. The German counterattack failed because their plans were discovered by Russians, thus this battle was a disaster for the Germans, which caused their fleet to not leave the German ports until 1918, as a result giving the British navy domination of the seas. This disappointed the Germans, and lowered German nationalism. Another battle in 1916 named the Battle of Verdun was a disastrous battle fought by the Germans. A win after this battle was impossible after a loss of 430,000 soldiers . In this battle, the French effectively sent the Germans back to their starting point. The French were delighted from their success while German nationalism continually decreased. In 1917, the third battle of Ypres was a huge success for the Germans, despite this success the German self-confidence was already low, and the accomplishment did not increase nationalism significantly. Furthermore, the fact that Germany sent the Zimmerman note to Mexico in 1917, created a strong enemy for Germany and its allies. The telegram stated that if Germany and the United States were to go to war, Mexico would ally with Germany and as a result of this alliance Germany would aid Mexico into regaining the territories of Arizona, Texas and New Mexico. While some historians thought it was intended for America to join the war others thought of it as a method to distract America. As soon as the people realized that Germany lured America into joining the war, German morale vanished. The allies effective use of attrition warfare throughout the war wore out German troops which forced them to surrender. The term attrition warfare is a strategic concept that to win a war, ones enemy must be worn down to the point of collapse by continuous losses in personnel and materiel.  [1]  One method of wearing out the enemy that the British used was The British Naval Blockade. The blockade of German ports starting in 1914 soon resulted in shortages of food, oil, rubber, and fertilizers. This restricted maritime supply of raw materials and foodstuffs to Germany and its allies. Starvation was a key issue for the Germans during the Great War, soldiers and people in Germany starved and possibly died. This continued to the point until strikes were made in German industries in the winter of 1918 which pressured the government to break the blockade or end the war. After the war, claims are made by historians that the North Sea naval blockade was a primary factor in the collapse o f the Central Powers.  [2]  Furthermore the Ludendorff Offensive of 1918 was Germanys final chance for victory, but failed because Germany and its allies were too worn out to continue. This offensive was a series of attacks along the Western Front. The Ludendorff Offensive marked The United States entrance into World War One. Each month, America sent in new troops to face the central powers. After a length of time Germany was unable to fight back because, unlike the Americans it could not send a new group of soldiers to Paris. Consequently, Germany and its allies were too worn out to continue the war because of the British naval blockade, and the new supply of Americans every month. In conclusion, three factors affected the downfall of Germany during the Great War, the Schlieffen plan, nationalism, and the use of attrition warfare. The Germans were not able to fight on two fronts, and therefore could not fully participate during the rest of the war because of their stoppage in the beginning of the war. As battles were lost, the people of the Central Powers were disappointed and worried which contradicted their views from the beginning of the war. This lowered nationalism, especially in Germany greatly. Lastly, Germany could not handle the blockade and the entrance of the U.S.A. This tired German troops to the extent that they were incapable of continuing. If these factors had not been present it could have been possible for Germany and its allies to win the Great War.

Friday, January 17, 2020

Maternal Stress and the Effects of Childhood Development Essay

In conducting my research on developmental studies, I had the chance to review many academic journals with many different studies. I chose to read, â€Å"The Role of Prenatal Maternal Stress in Child Development,† by Janet A.DiPietro in the, Current Directions in Psychological Science journal. The title of the study itself does identify the independent and dependent variable. The independent variable is the effect of stress, and the dependent variable is the child’s development. In reading the introduction, I learned that throughout history people have thought that the emotions and experiences of a pregnant woman impinge on her developing fetus. (DiPietro, 2004) I also learned that there are no direct neural connections between the mother and fetus. (DiPietro, 2004) The journal went on to describe the physiological processes involved in mother to fetus bio-chemical and hormonal functions. The main studies used in determining theoretical explanations throughout history, have been in animal studies. According to DiPietro (2004), â€Å"the most compelling evidence between maternal physiological functioning and later development in offspring is found in animal studies.† (p. 1). The hypothesis of this study suggests that maternal stressors are more far-reaching on child behavior than previously suspected. (DiPietro, 2004). The main way that this hypothesis has been studied is by utilizing animal research. In a series of studies done with rhesus monkeys, when the mothers were exposed to loud noises throughout pregnancy, the offspring showed delayed motor development and reduced attention. (DiPietro, 2004) It does seem that most of the studies conducted on animals have reported negative consequences. Although reports of either no effects or beneficial ones make it clear that much is left to be learned about the specific characteristics of stressors that either accelerate or retard development. (DiPietro, 2004) The subjects used in the methods section were humans. Although, according to the article, this is difficult to study in the human because of the physiological differences during the pregnancies of the different species, and the fact that researchers are unable to control events that transpire after birth in humans. (DiPietro, 2004) Therefore, there are no graphs, charts or statistical measures seen in this article. There were several methods used to analyze the data in this article. One was the survey. Surveys were done with mothers who had witnessed a catastrophic even such as the World Trade Center disaster, or an earthquake. Although the study was able to show that the mother was indeed stressed during pregnancy, there was no study conducted on the outcome of the child. (DiPietro, 2004) Another method had mothers report about their stress incurred during pregnancy, and then an observer and not a parent rated the infant’s behavior. The article suggests that even the resulting information in this study may be skewed, because the studies relied on the Mother’s reports of their children’s problems. It finally became apparent through this study that the only way for the researchers to examine the effects of stressors on the fetus was to subject women to a non-invasive stressor and then measure fetal response. (DiPietro, 2004) They gave these women a standardized test called the, Stroop Color-Word Test. (DiPietro, 2004) The test caused the women to feel cognitively challenged, therefore inducing increased physiological responses in mother, but interestingly, not in the fetus. Fetal motor activity was actually suppressed, according to the study. (DiPietro, 2004) The final results of the study showed that higher maternal anxiety midway through pregnancy were strongly associated with better motor and mental development scores on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. (DiPietro, 2004) Interestingly, the research conducted on humans, showed that the effects on the developing child are opposite of the effects on animals. The article ends with this statement, â€Å" Too much or too little stress may impede development, but a moderate level may be formative or optimal. It seems that there is really too little research on this area of study to come to a conclusion. I found this study to be very interesting and relevant to today’s issues within society, and especially the question of nature versus nurture. It makes me think about children who are displaying such violent behaviors such as shooting their classmates and parents. It makes me ask the question of what was going on in the mother’s environment during pregnancy? Did she have an easy, stress free, supported pregnancy, or was there fighting and unrest during the pregnancy? Could factors such as these affect the child and develop into what we label as sociopathic? It would be interesting to conduct a study of pregnant women in a prison setting versus pregnant women in an ideal pregnancy situation, and to study the offspring from birth to five years old. Would the affects of the pregnant woman in prison create certain developmental issues in the children? Does it even matter? These questions and many more within the psychology realm are what make this a fascinating discipline to study. It truly is the nature of ourselves that we get to ask questions about, and find the deeper, hidden meanings. References DiPietro, J. A. (2004, April). The role of prenatal maternal stress in child development. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 13(2), 71-74. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/20182913

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Marketing Plan For The Digital Camera Industry - 3865 Words

James Cook University SMART CAMERA COMPANY BUSINESS PLAN SUBMITTED BY: RONI TOM PHILIP (13052725) AMARJIT SINGH (12849535) QI LU (12896294) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The digital camera industry is growing at very fast pace. Therefore, there is a very good potential for the companies in this industry. Mike, a young engineering graduate is planning to start a digital camera company after obtaining experience from the other company. He plans to form a proprietorship form of business organization as this is the best business structure according to his needs. There are various giant competitors in the digital camera market. However, he has already conducted market research and based on that, he has identified target customer group. The company will be able to attract customers on the basis of its competitive advantage. The company has decided not to fix price of its products very high. The manufacturing facility of the company will be built in the suburb of the city. This will help the company to reduce its facility cost and consequently cost of production of goods. The labour will be easily available in this area. However, there will be some staffing problems which the company plans to solve through proper management of people. The company will use promotional methods to promote its products and services. This will help the company achieve its target sales. The company will be able to grow annually with the help of quality products and promotion activities. The companyShow MoreRelatedPhotography : Kodak And Kodak876 Words   |  4 PagesFor a multitude of years Kodak remained synonymous with photography. Kodak developed the first handheld camera in 1900, called the Brownie (Thompson, 2014). The Brownie was inexpensive and designed for the average consumer with no professional training to take their own pictures. After capturing the pictures one would mail the film into Kodak and Kodak would develop the pictures and send return them. 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Wednesday, January 1, 2020

The Female Characters Of The Film, By Pan s Labyrinth

Patriarchy is described as a general structure where men hold the position of power over women. This could include being the head of the household, ‘upper level’ in the workplace, or leader in society. Cinema serves this patriarchal institution by constantly constructing ideological images of women. Since the beginning, women in film are â€Å"made to conform to the ideal image that the man has of them† (Smelik, 496). Essentially, Hollywood cinema is structured for the male audience, and therefore majority of films are classified as patriarchal. A lot has to do with how female characters are portrayed and if there is a male gaze in the film. Although Pan’s Labyrinth is constructed through the classic narrative mode, the film has a female lead and focuses on women. Del Toro demonstrates the female characters overcoming obstacles and stigmas. Ofelia and Mercedes are the two strong female protagonists who are good-natured and act to what they think is right, d ifferent from the passive or aggressive protagonists found in traditional fairytales. So, how do these two women subvert and problematize the patriarchal stereotype? In the paper, I will analyze the mise-en-scene of the two different worlds and the inclusion of the male gaze to establish how these women subvert and problematize the patriarchal stereotype. To start off, there are two worlds depicted within the film; a hostile fascist government in Spain and an enchanted fantasy world. In the real world, the form is strictlyShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Pan s Labyrinth By Guillermo Del Toro Essay1846 Words   |  8 PagesPan’s Labyrinth set in 1940s deals with the end of the Spanish civil war and Franco’s fascist Spain. It also about escaping into the world of magic and imagination to avoid the cruel realities of the beginning of a fascist regime. On another level it focuses on gender equality and empowerment for females in a setting of male controlled society. The film i s written by a male writer Guillermo del Toro who portrays power and strength possessed by male characters which at the end of the film, the rolesRead MoreA Remarkable Film Composed And Directed By The Accomplished1498 Words   |  6 PagesA remarkable film composed and directed by the accomplished Guillermo Del Toro; Laberinto del Fauno, upholds an impressive reputation, winning many Academy and Goya Awards such as; Best Cinematography, Best Special Effects and Best Editing! Significantly and unlike numerous other children s’ fables, LDF â€Å"Presents a much more ominous take on the fairy tale† (Fairy tale films, section 3, Pg.60). This film tells a tale that is ironically and most definitely not suitable for children, similar to the