Werner Heisenberg
One cannot fully appreciate the work of Werner Heisenberg unless one examines his contributions in the context of the time in which he lived. Werner Karl Heisenberg was born in Wuerzburg, Germany, on December 5, 1901, and grew up in academic surroundings, in a household devoted to the humanities. His father was a professor at the University of Munich and undoubtedly greatly influenced young Werner, who was a student at the Maximilian Gymnasium.
Heisenberg had the opportunity to work with many of the top physicists in the world including Niels Bohr and Max Born. Like many of the top physicists of the time Heisenberg received his doctorate at an early age. In Heisenberg's case he received it at the young age of twenty three. Heisenberg was not just a researcher. He was also a professor and author. During his career he taught at many prestigious universities, including the Universities of Leipzig, Goettingen, and Berlin. He also wrote many important books including, Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory, Cosmic Radiation, Physics and Philosophy, and Introduction to the Unified Theory of Elementary Particles. In 1932 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in Quantum Mechanics.
With the Nazi's in power, and World War two on the horizon it was inevitable that his German heritage would play a crucial role in his career. Before Germany's blitzkrieg on Poland Heisenberg decided to make one final visit of his friends in the West. Many tried to convince him to stay and accept a professorship at Columbia, but Heisenberg declined. He felt that it was his duty to preserve the foundation of science in Germany during the war. He also believed that by staying in Germany during the war, he could help individual German scientists. In fact, he did offer jobs to Jewish scientists when they were fired from their posts at other universities. As time passed, Heisenberg found that he was powerless to protect his friends. Heisenberg himself was personally attacked, and his appointment at the University of Munich was blocked. For over a year Heisenberg was attacked in the SS newspaper, which referred to him as a "white Jew." The attack became so threatening that Heisenberg's mother, who had a slight connection to Himmler's family, wrote to Himmler's mother asking Himmler to intercede. Himmler personally cleared Heisenberg of the charges leveled against him a year later, but he was told to study science and avoid discussing scientists. The strain of the investigation surely affected Heisenberg's creativity.
During the war Heisenberg worked on the German A-bomb project along with a number of other German scientists. It has been proposed in the novel Heisenberg's War, written by Thomas Powers, that Heisenberg deliberately sabotaged this project to keep the bomb out of Hitler's hands. After the war was over, all of the scientists in Germany working on the A-bomb project, including Heisenberg, were interned in England to be questioned about their work on the project.
Heisenbergs nationalism eventually ruined many of his academic friendships. His close relationship with Neils Bohr was destroyed by his decision to remain in Germany during the war. His failure to be more specific about his stand in whether or not to seriously work to develop a German bomb played an important part in his inability to reestablish ties with friends who moved to the West. The creative interaction with many leading scientists prior to the war was not resumed at the war's end.
Heisenberg's most important finding, the Uncertainty Principle is the corner stone of Quantum Mechanics. However, many advances in Quantum Mechanics had to be made before Heisenberg found it. Everything started with Rutherford's model of the atom. Consisting of a positively charged central nucleus, surrounded by orbiting planetary electrons. Around the same time that Rutherford was discovering the basic structure of the atom, Plank did some important work also. Finding that energy from an oscillating particle is emitted not continuously, but in packets of energy he developed the Quantum Theory of Radiation. From this came the universal constant h which played a large role in Heisenbergs uncertainty principle. Neils Bohr then made a new model of the atom, which combined both Rutherford's and Plank's work. This new model accounted for known patterns of atomic radiation as seen in spectra. However, what Bohr wrote on paper about the electron activity and what other physicists were observing were two different things. Bohr had developed his quantum theory of the atom by discarding the idea of a classical frequency associated with the orbit of an electron, but he still retained the concept of the classical orbit. Heisenberg went one step further and discarded the concept of the orbit itself. Rather than the classical idea of the position and the motion, or momentum, of the electron at each instant in time, Heisenberg introduced his square arrays or matrices, which depict the electron as existing simultaneously in all possible Bohr orbits. After Heisenberg's discovery, the classical concept of the electron as a particle was no longer justifiable.
Heisenberg was led to these revolutionary ideas by his insistence on utilizing only those quantities in a theory that are directly observable. Since the orbit of an electron is not observable, it can have no place in a theory. Only the spectral lines are observed, and, since these involve pairs of orbits, all quantities that are used to describe the electron inside the atom should be associated with such pairs.
Such thinking led to Heisenberg's matrices. One of the important features of matrices is that it is not commutative. If the array representing the position of an electron is q and an array representing its momentum is p, then the product pq is not the same as the product qp.
This showed Heisenberg that the uncertainty relationship is purely an algebraic consequence of his matrix theory. If you picture the product pq as representing a measurement of the position of the electron followed by a measurement of its momentum; qp, on the other hand, represents the measurement of the momentum of a particle followed by at the measurement of its position. That these two sets of measurements give different results simply means that the measurement of the momentum of a particle destroys our knowledge of its position, and vice versa. It follows that it is impossible to obtain or to have precise knowledge of the position and the momentum of a particle simultaneously; this is the essence of the uncertainty principle.
Its significance for the structure of the atom is that we have no way of determining the orbit of an electron inside the atom observationally. As Heisenberg pointed out in his analysis of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory, an electron can be observed inside an atom only with a gamma-ray microscope which, because of the short wavelength of gamma rays, has a high resolving power. This microscope shows us where the electron is at any moment, but at least one gamma-ray photon must be reflected from the electron. In this very process the electron is knocked out of the atom. It is senseless then to speak of its orbit.
Although the uncertainty relations can be derived mathematically from theory, it is much more instructive to derive them from the physical picture. This method shows clearly the interrelationship between the wave and the particle. In fact, it is clear from Heisenberg's analysis that wave and particle are complementary aspects, as are position and momentum. It was from considerations such as these that Bohr developed his theory of complementarily, which is essential for an understanding of modern atomic theories.
The uncertainty relations completely change our ideas of causality. If we cannot determine the position and the momentum of a particle simultaneously to any desired degree of accuracy, we cannot determine its future course. We can solve equations for the motion of the particle. However, these solutions can tell us its future history only if at some moment in the past or at the present instant we know its position and momentum. The farther we try to look into the future, the less accurate our predictions become because our present uncertainty, however small leads to greater deviations from the predicted pattern of the motion as the time increases. We can understand this situation by considering the lunar missile probes carried out by the United States and Soviet Union. To hit a target as gar away as the moon involves extreme accuracy in aiming the rocket and giving it the correct initial momentum; if we wish to hit targets at greater distances, our accuracy will have to be increased considerably because the further the distance, the greater the multiplication of any initial error.
Today we use the term quantum mechanics for the entire mathematical scheme that is used to treat problems in atomic, nuclear, elementary-particle, and field physics. The mathematics of quantum mechanics stems directly from Heisenberg's matrix mechanics and is a consequence of his uncertainty principle. If anyone were to prove his uncertainty principle wrong the foundations of quantum mechanics would fall.
Heisenberg spent the final years of his career trying to derive the properties of such elementary particles as electrons, protons, and so on, from a departure from quantum field theory by having the field itself construct its own particles. Unfortunately, this approach led to a very complex mathematical formulation which some say spoiled the great beauty of quantum mechanics.
Sunday 1 September 2013
Werner Heisenberg 4
Werner Heisenberg
One cannot fully appreciate the work of Werner Heisenberg unless one examines his contributions in the context of the time in which he lived. Werner Karl Heisenberg was born in Wuerzburg, Germany, on December 5, 1901, and grew up in academic surroundings, in a household devoted to the humanities. His father was a professor at the University of Munich and undoubtedly greatly influenced young Werner, who was a student at the Maximilian Gymnasium.
Heisenberg had the opportunity to work with many of the top physicists in the world including Niels Bohr and Max Born. Like many of the top physicists of the time Heisenberg received his doctorate at an early age. In Heisenberg's case he received it at the young age of twenty three. Heisenberg was not just a researcher. He was also a professor and author. During his career he taught at many prestigious universities, including the Universities of Leipzig, Goettingen, and Berlin. He also wrote many important books including, Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory, Cosmic Radiation, Physics and Philosophy, and Introduction to the Unified Theory of Elementary Particles. In 1932 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in Quantum Mechanics.
With the Nazi's in power, and World War two on the horizon it was inevitable that his German heritage would play a crucial role in his career. Before Germany's blitzkrieg on Poland Heisenberg decided to make one final visit of his friends in the West. Many tried to convince him to stay and accept a professorship at Columbia, but Heisenberg declined. He felt that it was his duty to preserve the foundation of science in Germany during the war. He also believed that by staying in Germany during the war, he could help individual German scientists. In fact, he did offer jobs to Jewish scientists when they were fired from their posts at other universities. As time passed, Heisenberg found that he was powerless to protect his friends. Heisenberg himself was personally attacked, and his appointment at the University of Munich was blocked. For over a year Heisenberg was attacked in the SS newspaper, which referred to him as a "white Jew." The attack became so threatening that Heisenberg's mother, who had a slight connection to Himmler's family, wrote to Himmler's mother asking Himmler to intercede. Himmler personally cleared Heisenberg of the charges leveled against him a year later, but he was told to study science and avoid discussing scientists. The strain of the investigation surely affected Heisenberg's creativity.
During the war Heisenberg worked on the German A-bomb project along with a number of other German scientists. It has been proposed in the novel Heisenberg's War, written by Thomas Powers, that Heisenberg deliberately sabotaged this project to keep the bomb out of Hitler's hands. After the war was over, all of the scientists in Germany working on the A-bomb project, including Heisenberg, were interned in England to be questioned about their work on the project.
Heisenbergs nationalism eventually ruined many of his academic friendships. His close relationship with Neils Bohr was destroyed by his decision to remain in Germany during the war. His failure to be more specific about his stand in whether or not to seriously work to develop a German bomb played an important part in his inability to reestablish ties with friends who moved to the West. The creative interaction with many leading scientists prior to the war was not resumed at the war's end.
Heisenberg's most important finding, the Uncertainty Principle is the corner stone of Quantum Mechanics. However, many advances in Quantum Mechanics had to be made before Heisenberg found it. Everything started with Rutherford's model of the atom. Consisting of a positively charged central nucleus, surrounded by orbiting planetary electrons. Around the same time that Rutherford was discovering the basic structure of the atom, Plank did some important work also. Finding that energy from an oscillating particle is emitted not continuously, but in packets of energy he developed the Quantum Theory of Radiation. From this came the universal constant h which played a large role in Heisenbergs uncertainty principle. Neils Bohr then made a new model of the atom, which combined both Rutherford's and Plank's work. This new model accounted for known patterns of atomic radiation as seen in spectra. However, what Bohr wrote on paper about the electron activity and what other physicists were observing were two different things. Bohr had developed his quantum theory of the atom by discarding the idea of a classical frequency associated with the orbit of an electron, but he still retained the concept of the classical orbit. Heisenberg went one step further and discarded the concept of the orbit itself. Rather than the classical idea of the position and the motion, or momentum, of the electron at each instant in time, Heisenberg introduced his square arrays or matrices, which depict the electron as existing simultaneously in all possible Bohr orbits. After Heisenberg's discovery, the classical concept of the electron as a particle was no longer justifiable.
Heisenberg was led to these revolutionary ideas by his insistence on utilizing only those quantities in a theory that are directly observable. Since the orbit of an electron is not observable, it can have no place in a theory. Only the spectral lines are observed, and, since these involve pairs of orbits, all quantities that are used to describe the electron inside the atom should be associated with such pairs.
Such thinking led to Heisenberg's matrices. One of the important features of matrices is that it is not commutative. If the array representing the position of an electron is q and an array representing its momentum is p, then the product pq is not the same as the product qp.
This showed Heisenberg that the uncertainty relationship is purely an algebraic consequence of his matrix theory. If you picture the product pq as representing a measurement of the position of the electron followed by a measurement of its momentum; qp, on the other hand, represents the measurement of the momentum of a particle followed by at the measurement of its position. That these two sets of measurements give different results simply means that the measurement of the momentum of a particle destroys our knowledge of its position, and vice versa. It follows that it is impossible to obtain or to have precise knowledge of the position and the momentum of a particle simultaneously; this is the essence of the uncertainty principle.
Its significance for the structure of the atom is that we have no way of determining the orbit of an electron inside the atom observationally. As Heisenberg pointed out in his analysis of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory, an electron can be observed inside an atom only with a gamma-ray microscope which, because of the short wavelength of gamma rays, has a high resolving power. This microscope shows us where the electron is at any moment, but at least one gamma-ray photon must be reflected from the electron. In this very process the electron is knocked out of the atom. It is senseless then to speak of its orbit.
Although the uncertainty relations can be derived mathematically from theory, it is much more instructive to derive them from the physical picture. This method shows clearly the interrelationship between the wave and the particle. In fact, it is clear from Heisenberg's analysis that wave and particle are complementary aspects, as are position and momentum. It was from considerations such as these that Bohr developed his theory of complementarily, which is essential for an understanding of modern atomic theories.
The uncertainty relations completely change our ideas of causality. If we cannot determine the position and the momentum of a particle simultaneously to any desired degree of accuracy, we cannot determine its future course. We can solve equations for the motion of the particle. However, these solutions can tell us its future history only if at some moment in the past or at the present instant we know its position and momentum. The farther we try to look into the future, the less accurate our predictions become because our present uncertainty, however small leads to greater deviations from the predicted pattern of the motion as the time increases. We can understand this situation by considering the lunar missile probes carried out by the United States and Soviet Union. To hit a target as gar away as the moon involves extreme accuracy in aiming the rocket and giving it the correct initial momentum; if we wish to hit targets at greater distances, our accuracy will have to be increased considerably because the further the distance, the greater the multiplication of any initial error.
Today we use the term quantum mechanics for the entire mathematical scheme that is used to treat problems in atomic, nuclear, elementary-particle, and field physics. The mathematics of quantum mechanics stems directly from Heisenberg's matrix mechanics and is a consequence of his uncertainty principle. If anyone were to prove his uncertainty principle wrong the foundations of quantum mechanics would fall.
Heisenberg spent the final years of his career trying to derive the properties of such elementary particles as electrons, protons, and so on, from a departure from quantum field theory by having the field itself construct its own particles. Unfortunately, this approach led to a very complex mathematical formulation which some say spoiled the great beauty of quantum mechanics.
One cannot fully appreciate the work of Werner Heisenberg unless one examines his contributions in the context of the time in which he lived. Werner Karl Heisenberg was born in Wuerzburg, Germany, on December 5, 1901, and grew up in academic surroundings, in a household devoted to the humanities. His father was a professor at the University of Munich and undoubtedly greatly influenced young Werner, who was a student at the Maximilian Gymnasium.
Heisenberg had the opportunity to work with many of the top physicists in the world including Niels Bohr and Max Born. Like many of the top physicists of the time Heisenberg received his doctorate at an early age. In Heisenberg's case he received it at the young age of twenty three. Heisenberg was not just a researcher. He was also a professor and author. During his career he taught at many prestigious universities, including the Universities of Leipzig, Goettingen, and Berlin. He also wrote many important books including, Physical Principles of the Quantum Theory, Cosmic Radiation, Physics and Philosophy, and Introduction to the Unified Theory of Elementary Particles. In 1932 he won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work in Quantum Mechanics.
With the Nazi's in power, and World War two on the horizon it was inevitable that his German heritage would play a crucial role in his career. Before Germany's blitzkrieg on Poland Heisenberg decided to make one final visit of his friends in the West. Many tried to convince him to stay and accept a professorship at Columbia, but Heisenberg declined. He felt that it was his duty to preserve the foundation of science in Germany during the war. He also believed that by staying in Germany during the war, he could help individual German scientists. In fact, he did offer jobs to Jewish scientists when they were fired from their posts at other universities. As time passed, Heisenberg found that he was powerless to protect his friends. Heisenberg himself was personally attacked, and his appointment at the University of Munich was blocked. For over a year Heisenberg was attacked in the SS newspaper, which referred to him as a "white Jew." The attack became so threatening that Heisenberg's mother, who had a slight connection to Himmler's family, wrote to Himmler's mother asking Himmler to intercede. Himmler personally cleared Heisenberg of the charges leveled against him a year later, but he was told to study science and avoid discussing scientists. The strain of the investigation surely affected Heisenberg's creativity.
During the war Heisenberg worked on the German A-bomb project along with a number of other German scientists. It has been proposed in the novel Heisenberg's War, written by Thomas Powers, that Heisenberg deliberately sabotaged this project to keep the bomb out of Hitler's hands. After the war was over, all of the scientists in Germany working on the A-bomb project, including Heisenberg, were interned in England to be questioned about their work on the project.
Heisenbergs nationalism eventually ruined many of his academic friendships. His close relationship with Neils Bohr was destroyed by his decision to remain in Germany during the war. His failure to be more specific about his stand in whether or not to seriously work to develop a German bomb played an important part in his inability to reestablish ties with friends who moved to the West. The creative interaction with many leading scientists prior to the war was not resumed at the war's end.
Heisenberg's most important finding, the Uncertainty Principle is the corner stone of Quantum Mechanics. However, many advances in Quantum Mechanics had to be made before Heisenberg found it. Everything started with Rutherford's model of the atom. Consisting of a positively charged central nucleus, surrounded by orbiting planetary electrons. Around the same time that Rutherford was discovering the basic structure of the atom, Plank did some important work also. Finding that energy from an oscillating particle is emitted not continuously, but in packets of energy he developed the Quantum Theory of Radiation. From this came the universal constant h which played a large role in Heisenbergs uncertainty principle. Neils Bohr then made a new model of the atom, which combined both Rutherford's and Plank's work. This new model accounted for known patterns of atomic radiation as seen in spectra. However, what Bohr wrote on paper about the electron activity and what other physicists were observing were two different things. Bohr had developed his quantum theory of the atom by discarding the idea of a classical frequency associated with the orbit of an electron, but he still retained the concept of the classical orbit. Heisenberg went one step further and discarded the concept of the orbit itself. Rather than the classical idea of the position and the motion, or momentum, of the electron at each instant in time, Heisenberg introduced his square arrays or matrices, which depict the electron as existing simultaneously in all possible Bohr orbits. After Heisenberg's discovery, the classical concept of the electron as a particle was no longer justifiable.
Heisenberg was led to these revolutionary ideas by his insistence on utilizing only those quantities in a theory that are directly observable. Since the orbit of an electron is not observable, it can have no place in a theory. Only the spectral lines are observed, and, since these involve pairs of orbits, all quantities that are used to describe the electron inside the atom should be associated with such pairs.
Such thinking led to Heisenberg's matrices. One of the important features of matrices is that it is not commutative. If the array representing the position of an electron is q and an array representing its momentum is p, then the product pq is not the same as the product qp.
This showed Heisenberg that the uncertainty relationship is purely an algebraic consequence of his matrix theory. If you picture the product pq as representing a measurement of the position of the electron followed by a measurement of its momentum; qp, on the other hand, represents the measurement of the momentum of a particle followed by at the measurement of its position. That these two sets of measurements give different results simply means that the measurement of the momentum of a particle destroys our knowledge of its position, and vice versa. It follows that it is impossible to obtain or to have precise knowledge of the position and the momentum of a particle simultaneously; this is the essence of the uncertainty principle.
Its significance for the structure of the atom is that we have no way of determining the orbit of an electron inside the atom observationally. As Heisenberg pointed out in his analysis of the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum theory, an electron can be observed inside an atom only with a gamma-ray microscope which, because of the short wavelength of gamma rays, has a high resolving power. This microscope shows us where the electron is at any moment, but at least one gamma-ray photon must be reflected from the electron. In this very process the electron is knocked out of the atom. It is senseless then to speak of its orbit.
Although the uncertainty relations can be derived mathematically from theory, it is much more instructive to derive them from the physical picture. This method shows clearly the interrelationship between the wave and the particle. In fact, it is clear from Heisenberg's analysis that wave and particle are complementary aspects, as are position and momentum. It was from considerations such as these that Bohr developed his theory of complementarily, which is essential for an understanding of modern atomic theories.
The uncertainty relations completely change our ideas of causality. If we cannot determine the position and the momentum of a particle simultaneously to any desired degree of accuracy, we cannot determine its future course. We can solve equations for the motion of the particle. However, these solutions can tell us its future history only if at some moment in the past or at the present instant we know its position and momentum. The farther we try to look into the future, the less accurate our predictions become because our present uncertainty, however small leads to greater deviations from the predicted pattern of the motion as the time increases. We can understand this situation by considering the lunar missile probes carried out by the United States and Soviet Union. To hit a target as gar away as the moon involves extreme accuracy in aiming the rocket and giving it the correct initial momentum; if we wish to hit targets at greater distances, our accuracy will have to be increased considerably because the further the distance, the greater the multiplication of any initial error.
Today we use the term quantum mechanics for the entire mathematical scheme that is used to treat problems in atomic, nuclear, elementary-particle, and field physics. The mathematics of quantum mechanics stems directly from Heisenberg's matrix mechanics and is a consequence of his uncertainty principle. If anyone were to prove his uncertainty principle wrong the foundations of quantum mechanics would fall.
Heisenberg spent the final years of his career trying to derive the properties of such elementary particles as electrons, protons, and so on, from a departure from quantum field theory by having the field itself construct its own particles. Unfortunately, this approach led to a very complex mathematical formulation which some say spoiled the great beauty of quantum mechanics.
Ted Hughes Britains Poet Laureate
Edward James Hughes is one of the most outstanding living British poets. In 1984 he was awarded the title of the nation's Poet Laureate. He came into prominence in the late fifties and early sixties, having earned a reputation of a prolific, original and skilful poet, which he maintained to the present day.
Ted Hughes was born in 1930 in Yorkshire into a family of a carpenter. After graduating from Grammar School he went up to Cambridge to study English, but later changed to Archaeology and Anthropology. At Cambridge he met Sylvia Plath, whom he married in 1956. His first collection of poems Hawk in the Rain was published in 1957. The same year he made his first records of reading of some Yeats's poems and one of his own for BBC Third Programme. Shortly afterwards, the couple went to live to America and stayed there until 1959. His next collection of poems Lupercal (1960) was followed by two books for children Meet My Folks (1961) and Earth Owl (1963). Selected Poems, with Thom Gunn (a poet whose work is frequently associated with Hughes's as marking a new turn in English verse), was published in 1962. Then Hughes stopped writing almost completely for nearly three years following Sylvia Plath's death in 1963 (the couple had separated earlier), but thereafter he published prolifically, often in collaboration with photographers and illustrators. The volumes of poetry that succeeded Selected Poems include Wodwo (1967), Crow (1970), Season Songs (1974), Gaudete (1977), Cave Birds (1978), Remains of Elmet (1979) and Moortown (1979).
At first the recognition came from overseas, as his Hawk in the Rain (1957) was selected New York's Poetry Book Society's Autumn Choice and later the poet was awarded Nathaniel Hawthorn's Prize for Lupercal (1960). Soon he became well-known and admired in Britain. On 19 December 1984 Ted Hughes became Poet Laureate, in succession to the late John Betjeman.
Hughes has written a great deal for the theatre, both for adults and for children. He has also published many essays on his favourite poets and edited selections from the work of Keith Douglas and Emily Dickinson (1968). Since 1965 he has been a co-editor of the magazine Modern Poetry in Translation in London. He is still an active critic and poet, his new poems appearing almost weekly (9:17)
Judging from bibliography, Ted Hughes has received a lot of attention from scholars and literary critics both in the USA and Britain. However, most of these works are not available in Lithuania. Hence my overview of Hughes' criticism might not be full enough. The few things I have learned from reading about Ted Hughes could be outlined as follows.
Some critics describe Hughes as "a nearly demonic poet, possessed with the life of nature", "a poet of violence" (4:162), his poetry being "anti-human" in its nature (12:486). According to Pat Rogers, his verse reflect the experience of human cruelty underlying the work of contemporary East European poets such as Pilinszky and Popa, both admired by Hughes. Hughes' concern with religion gave inspiration to his construction of anti-Christian myth, which was mainly based on the famous British writer and critic Robert Ranke Graves' book The White Goddess (1948) and partly on his own studies of anthropology (12:486).
Speaking of his early poems, the critics note that at first they were mistakenly viewed as a development of tradition of English animalistic poetry (6:414) started by Rudyard Kipling and D.H. Lawrence. G. Bauzyte stresses that Hughes is not purely animalistic poet, since in his animalistic verse he seeks parallels to human life (4:163). In I. Varnaite's words, "nature is anthropomorphised in his poems" (5:61). Furthermore, G. Bauzyte observes that Hughes' poetics are reminiscent of the Parnassians and in particular Leconte de Lisle's animalistic poems. She points out, however, that the latter were more concerned with colour, exotic imagery and impression, while Hughes work is marked by deeper semantic meaning. His poetical principals are fully displayed in the poem Thrushes - "spontaneous, intuitive glorification of life, akin to a bird's song or Mozart's music" (4:162).
The four main sources of Hughes's inspiration mentioned are Yorkshire landscape, where he grew up as a son of a carpenter, totemism studied by the poet at Cambridge and theories of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer (4:161, 6:414). The main themes, as singled out by I. Varnaite, are: nature, the world of animals, man, the relationships between man and nature (5:61).
Hughes often defies traditional poetical cannons, imploring stunning contrasts and surreal imagery (4:162). He was also noted for his language and laconism of style. According to V. A. Skorodenko, Hughes uses contrasting images, unexpected free associations and "sometimes vulgar words" (6:416). I. Varnaite describes Crow and it sequels as "repetitive, sometimes too naturalistic and even vulgar" (5:62).
Like Hughes's animals, man is also cruel and predatory already in his early poetry (5:62). As I. Varnaite put it, to Hughes, "the most admirable beings are the most ferocious and violent ones." Similarly, the critic Edwin Muir points out the ferociousness of Hughes' imagery by calling it "admirable violence" (9:9).This might be an argument in favour of those, who see some fascist tendencies in Hughes's verse (4:63, 5:62).
G. Bauzyte observes that in his negativism, Hughes is close to the American poet Emily Dickinson. In his Manichaean vision of the world darkness often prevails over light, cold over warmth, hatred over love (4:163).
Speaking of predecessors, Hughes is said to be kindred to Dylan Thomas in the way that they both celebrate the natural and their images are taken from the nature (6:414). Hawk in the Rain, for instance, has the feel of D. Thomas's and M. Hopkins poetry, where the man becomes the joining link between the earth and the "fulcrum of violence", the hawk figuring in the poem, thus responding to the Thomas poetical credo "the man is my metaphor" (4:163). The critics also note differences between the two poets. By contrast with Thomas, Hughes's world is indifferent to suffering and pain it is filled with (6:415) and, while Thomas is purely anthropomorphistic, in Hughes's work, the human being is viewed as a part of animalistic world. For Hughes, there is no great difference between a man and a beast, inasmuch as stoicism and rational will are the only qualities distinguishing people from animals and enabling them to resist the universal chaos.
In the opinion of A. Skorodenko, Hughes's concept of the world fully unfolds in his books published in the seventies Crow, Cave Birds and Gaudete!, where he collaborated with the American sculptor Leonard Baskin, who drew the pictures, which inspired the poems. Hughes' vision of the world in those cycles approach the quality of a myth. Blood there figures as the ultimate metaphor and goes through all stages of life - from the archetypal pulsation in primal unity to its complete opposite, Littleblood. The principal idea in the latter books is that blood rules the world, the governing motif for all actions being sexual drive to ensure the output of offspring. Along other new tendencies, V. A. Skorodenko also observes a shift in the poets outlook reflected in the poems written in the eighties, where the man is no longer metaphysically solitary as in the earlier books, but "becomes a part of nature and through it of the whole of Universe" (6:417).
I. Varnaite points out the influence of Arthur Schopenhauer's philosophy on Hughes's verse. According to her, "many poems translate a number of Schopenhauer's theses into the language of modernistic poetry" (4:61). Robert Stuart interprets Hughes' works in the light of Nitzscheanism, while other critics find some of Hughes' poems being under Heidegger's influence (ibid.). I. Varnaite also notes that the poet's worldoutlook is a complex one and cannot be one-sidedly simplified to one philosophical school. Among possible influences she mentions folklore, myths and religions other than Christianity. However, drawing parallels between Hughes's work and Schopenhauers's philosophy, she writes that, to both of them, "animate and inanimate nature have the same essence and contain the element of the Will of the Universe". I.Varnaite concludes with the statement that "Hughes is a nihilist" speaking of "inner emptiness, the dead universe, bleakness, the nothing, nothingness, brutal will..." and his vision of future seems to be no more optimistic than the present and past (4:67).
Bibliography
1. Thom Gunn and Ted Hughes Selected Poems.
London: Farber and Farber Ltd., 1962.
2. Ted Hughes. Lupercal. London: Faber and Faber, 1985.
3. Ted Hughes. The Hawk in The Rain. London: Farber and Farber, 1986.
4. XXa. Vakarø Europos Literatûra. II dalis (1945-1985). Vilnius: Vilniaus Universiteto leidykla, 1995.
5. Literatûra Nr 36 (3). Vilnius: ISSN 0202-3296, 1994.
6. Anglijskaya Literatura 1945-1980 (ed. by Saruchanyan, A. P.). Moscow: Nauka, 1987.
7. Anglijskaya Poeziya v Russkich Perevodach. XX Vek. Moscow: Raduga, 1984. - 848 p.
8. Ivasheva, Valentina Vasiljevna. Literatura Velikobritaniji XX Veka. Moscow: Visshaya Shkola, 1984.
9. Walder, Dennis. Ted Hughes. Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1987.
10. Walder, Dennis. Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.
Great Britain: The Open University Press, 1976.
11. Stuart, Robert. English Poetry 1960-1970. England: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
12. The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature (ed. by Rogers, Pat). New York: University Press, 1990. - p. 486-489.
13. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (ed. by Ousby, Ian). USA: Cambridge University Press, 1991. - p. 484-485.
14. Hopkins, John. Guide to literary Theory and Criticism. Baltimore: University Press, 1994. -775 p.
15. Lotman, Jurij Michailovich. Struktura Chudozhestvennogo Teksta. Moscow: Isskustvo, 1970.
Ted Hughes was born in 1930 in Yorkshire into a family of a carpenter. After graduating from Grammar School he went up to Cambridge to study English, but later changed to Archaeology and Anthropology. At Cambridge he met Sylvia Plath, whom he married in 1956. His first collection of poems Hawk in the Rain was published in 1957. The same year he made his first records of reading of some Yeats's poems and one of his own for BBC Third Programme. Shortly afterwards, the couple went to live to America and stayed there until 1959. His next collection of poems Lupercal (1960) was followed by two books for children Meet My Folks (1961) and Earth Owl (1963). Selected Poems, with Thom Gunn (a poet whose work is frequently associated with Hughes's as marking a new turn in English verse), was published in 1962. Then Hughes stopped writing almost completely for nearly three years following Sylvia Plath's death in 1963 (the couple had separated earlier), but thereafter he published prolifically, often in collaboration with photographers and illustrators. The volumes of poetry that succeeded Selected Poems include Wodwo (1967), Crow (1970), Season Songs (1974), Gaudete (1977), Cave Birds (1978), Remains of Elmet (1979) and Moortown (1979).
At first the recognition came from overseas, as his Hawk in the Rain (1957) was selected New York's Poetry Book Society's Autumn Choice and later the poet was awarded Nathaniel Hawthorn's Prize for Lupercal (1960). Soon he became well-known and admired in Britain. On 19 December 1984 Ted Hughes became Poet Laureate, in succession to the late John Betjeman.
Hughes has written a great deal for the theatre, both for adults and for children. He has also published many essays on his favourite poets and edited selections from the work of Keith Douglas and Emily Dickinson (1968). Since 1965 he has been a co-editor of the magazine Modern Poetry in Translation in London. He is still an active critic and poet, his new poems appearing almost weekly (9:17)
Judging from bibliography, Ted Hughes has received a lot of attention from scholars and literary critics both in the USA and Britain. However, most of these works are not available in Lithuania. Hence my overview of Hughes' criticism might not be full enough. The few things I have learned from reading about Ted Hughes could be outlined as follows.
Some critics describe Hughes as "a nearly demonic poet, possessed with the life of nature", "a poet of violence" (4:162), his poetry being "anti-human" in its nature (12:486). According to Pat Rogers, his verse reflect the experience of human cruelty underlying the work of contemporary East European poets such as Pilinszky and Popa, both admired by Hughes. Hughes' concern with religion gave inspiration to his construction of anti-Christian myth, which was mainly based on the famous British writer and critic Robert Ranke Graves' book The White Goddess (1948) and partly on his own studies of anthropology (12:486).
Speaking of his early poems, the critics note that at first they were mistakenly viewed as a development of tradition of English animalistic poetry (6:414) started by Rudyard Kipling and D.H. Lawrence. G. Bauzyte stresses that Hughes is not purely animalistic poet, since in his animalistic verse he seeks parallels to human life (4:163). In I. Varnaite's words, "nature is anthropomorphised in his poems" (5:61). Furthermore, G. Bauzyte observes that Hughes' poetics are reminiscent of the Parnassians and in particular Leconte de Lisle's animalistic poems. She points out, however, that the latter were more concerned with colour, exotic imagery and impression, while Hughes work is marked by deeper semantic meaning. His poetical principals are fully displayed in the poem Thrushes - "spontaneous, intuitive glorification of life, akin to a bird's song or Mozart's music" (4:162).
The four main sources of Hughes's inspiration mentioned are Yorkshire landscape, where he grew up as a son of a carpenter, totemism studied by the poet at Cambridge and theories of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer (4:161, 6:414). The main themes, as singled out by I. Varnaite, are: nature, the world of animals, man, the relationships between man and nature (5:61).
Hughes often defies traditional poetical cannons, imploring stunning contrasts and surreal imagery (4:162). He was also noted for his language and laconism of style. According to V. A. Skorodenko, Hughes uses contrasting images, unexpected free associations and "sometimes vulgar words" (6:416). I. Varnaite describes Crow and it sequels as "repetitive, sometimes too naturalistic and even vulgar" (5:62).
Like Hughes's animals, man is also cruel and predatory already in his early poetry (5:62). As I. Varnaite put it, to Hughes, "the most admirable beings are the most ferocious and violent ones." Similarly, the critic Edwin Muir points out the ferociousness of Hughes' imagery by calling it "admirable violence" (9:9).This might be an argument in favour of those, who see some fascist tendencies in Hughes's verse (4:63, 5:62).
G. Bauzyte observes that in his negativism, Hughes is close to the American poet Emily Dickinson. In his Manichaean vision of the world darkness often prevails over light, cold over warmth, hatred over love (4:163).
Speaking of predecessors, Hughes is said to be kindred to Dylan Thomas in the way that they both celebrate the natural and their images are taken from the nature (6:414). Hawk in the Rain, for instance, has the feel of D. Thomas's and M. Hopkins poetry, where the man becomes the joining link between the earth and the "fulcrum of violence", the hawk figuring in the poem, thus responding to the Thomas poetical credo "the man is my metaphor" (4:163). The critics also note differences between the two poets. By contrast with Thomas, Hughes's world is indifferent to suffering and pain it is filled with (6:415) and, while Thomas is purely anthropomorphistic, in Hughes's work, the human being is viewed as a part of animalistic world. For Hughes, there is no great difference between a man and a beast, inasmuch as stoicism and rational will are the only qualities distinguishing people from animals and enabling them to resist the universal chaos.
In the opinion of A. Skorodenko, Hughes's concept of the world fully unfolds in his books published in the seventies Crow, Cave Birds and Gaudete!, where he collaborated with the American sculptor Leonard Baskin, who drew the pictures, which inspired the poems. Hughes' vision of the world in those cycles approach the quality of a myth. Blood there figures as the ultimate metaphor and goes through all stages of life - from the archetypal pulsation in primal unity to its complete opposite, Littleblood. The principal idea in the latter books is that blood rules the world, the governing motif for all actions being sexual drive to ensure the output of offspring. Along other new tendencies, V. A. Skorodenko also observes a shift in the poets outlook reflected in the poems written in the eighties, where the man is no longer metaphysically solitary as in the earlier books, but "becomes a part of nature and through it of the whole of Universe" (6:417).
I. Varnaite points out the influence of Arthur Schopenhauer's philosophy on Hughes's verse. According to her, "many poems translate a number of Schopenhauer's theses into the language of modernistic poetry" (4:61). Robert Stuart interprets Hughes' works in the light of Nitzscheanism, while other critics find some of Hughes' poems being under Heidegger's influence (ibid.). I. Varnaite also notes that the poet's worldoutlook is a complex one and cannot be one-sidedly simplified to one philosophical school. Among possible influences she mentions folklore, myths and religions other than Christianity. However, drawing parallels between Hughes's work and Schopenhauers's philosophy, she writes that, to both of them, "animate and inanimate nature have the same essence and contain the element of the Will of the Universe". I.Varnaite concludes with the statement that "Hughes is a nihilist" speaking of "inner emptiness, the dead universe, bleakness, the nothing, nothingness, brutal will..." and his vision of future seems to be no more optimistic than the present and past (4:67).
Bibliography
1. Thom Gunn and Ted Hughes Selected Poems.
London: Farber and Farber Ltd., 1962.
2. Ted Hughes. Lupercal. London: Faber and Faber, 1985.
3. Ted Hughes. The Hawk in The Rain. London: Farber and Farber, 1986.
4. XXa. Vakarø Europos Literatûra. II dalis (1945-1985). Vilnius: Vilniaus Universiteto leidykla, 1995.
5. Literatûra Nr 36 (3). Vilnius: ISSN 0202-3296, 1994.
6. Anglijskaya Literatura 1945-1980 (ed. by Saruchanyan, A. P.). Moscow: Nauka, 1987.
7. Anglijskaya Poeziya v Russkich Perevodach. XX Vek. Moscow: Raduga, 1984. - 848 p.
8. Ivasheva, Valentina Vasiljevna. Literatura Velikobritaniji XX Veka. Moscow: Visshaya Shkola, 1984.
9. Walder, Dennis. Ted Hughes. Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1987.
10. Walder, Dennis. Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.
Great Britain: The Open University Press, 1976.
11. Stuart, Robert. English Poetry 1960-1970. England: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
12. The Oxford Illustrated History of English Literature (ed. by Rogers, Pat). New York: University Press, 1990. - p. 486-489.
13. The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English (ed. by Ousby, Ian). USA: Cambridge University Press, 1991. - p. 484-485.
14. Hopkins, John. Guide to literary Theory and Criticism. Baltimore: University Press, 1994. -775 p.
15. Lotman, Jurij Michailovich. Struktura Chudozhestvennogo Teksta. Moscow: Isskustvo, 1970.
President Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the thirty-seventh president of the United States and the only
president to have resigned from office. He was on his was to success after receiving his law
degree from Duke University Law School in 1937.
California Republicans persuaded Nixon in 1946 to be their candidate to challenge Jerry
Voorhis, the popular Democratic Congressman, for his seat in the United States House of
Representatives. He accuses Voorhis of being "soft" on Communism. This was damaging to him
because the Cold War rivalry between the United States and USSR was just beginning. Voorhis
was forced into a defensive position after the two men confronted each other in a series of
debates. Nixon's campaign was an example of the vigorous and aggressive style characteristic of
his political career that led him to win the election.
Nixon gained valuable experience in international affairs as a new member of the United
States Congress. He helped establish a program known as the Marshall Plan, in which the US
assisted Europe rebuild itself following the war. He also served on the House Education and
Labor Committee to develop the National Labor Relations Act.
In 1948, writer and editor Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss, a high State
Department official, of being a Communist. Nixon, a member of the Un-American Activities
Committee, personally pressed the investigation. Hiss denied further charges that he had turned
classified documents over to Chambers to be sent to the USSR. Alger Hiss was later convicted
and indicted for perjury after sufficient evidence was discovered. Nixon was reelected to
Congress after winning both the Republican and Democratic nominations as a result of gaining a
national reputation as a dedicated enemy of Communism.
In 1950, Nixon was chosen as candidate for the US Senate from California by the
Republicans. Again, he won this election by linking his opponent to being pro-Communist.
Nixon was selected to be the running mate of the Republican presidential nomination,
General Eisenhower, in 1952. Many of Eisenhower's advisors wanted Nixon to resign his
candidacy shortly after his vice-presidential nomination because of accusations that he misused
his senator expenses fund. No evidence was found to prove this, and, in response, Nixon replied
on national television with the "Checkers" speech, which contained sentimental reference to
Nixon's dog, Checkers. The speech was his attempt to prove his innocence.
In the following campaign, Nixon once again attacked the Democratic presidential
candidate as being soft on Communism.
Nixon and Eisenhower's victory led them both to being reelected in 1956, after surviving
Republican attempts to replace Nixon.
As vice-president, much of Nixon's time was spent representing the president before
Congress and on trips abroad as a goodwill ambassador, where he was occasionally the target of
anti-US feelings.
As Eisenhower neared the end of his second term as president, he endorsed Nixon, who
received an impressive vote in party primaries and all but ten of the delegates votes on the first
ballot at the Republican National Convention. An unusual feature of the campaign was a series of
face-to-face discussions between Nixon and his Democratic opponent, Senator John F. Kennedy,
who was widely regarded as the winner of the debates, which helped him win the election.
In 1962, Nixon returned to California after losing the presidential election and became
Republican candidate for governor. It was another bitter campaign, revolving around
Communism and law enforcement, but this time his strategy did not work. Most political
observers believed Nixon's political career had ended by the was he handled the loss.
Nixon moved and joined a large law firm in New York City after his defeat, and remained
in close relations with national Republican leaders and campaigned for Republican candidates in
two elections. By 1968, he had sufficiently recovered his political standing to announce his
candidacy for president.
He had two major problems in seeking nomination in 1968. He had not won an election
in eighteen years and he had no state in which to base his candidacy. He also could count on few
Republican governors for support, though he did have support in Congress and other politicians
whom he helped campaigned.
He easily won the nomination on the first ballot at the convention and chose the governor
of Maryland as his running mate. Vice-president Humphrey, his Democratic opponent, was
placed under stress by Nixon from the unsuccessful war in Vietnam's effects. Nearly thirty-two
million votes gave him a clear majority in the electoral college.
The most important issue Nixon faced when he became president was the Vietnam war.
The conflict between North Vietnam and South Vietnam began in 1959, and in 1964 there were
reports that North Vietnam had attacked US vessels. Congress and President Johnson authorized
the bombing of North Vietnam and to increase US military involvement.
Nixon campaigned against the war, and brought US soldiers back home. He developed
the Nixon doctrine, stating that the United States would continue helping Asian nations combat
Communism, but would no longer commit US troops to land wars in Asia.
However, in 1970, Nixon expanded the war by allowing an invasion and several bombing
missions.
Into the second half of 1972, secret peace meetings were held between the assistant to the
president for national security affairs and a North Vietnamese delegate. A breakthrough was
achieved when a peace plan was agreed on, but abruptly collapsed when Nixon ordered further
massive bombing.
Nixon was more successful in other foreign policy areas, such as improving relations with
China and USSR. Both countries signed trade agreements and treaties.
He adopted conservative domestic policies by appointing appeals judge Burger to the
Supreme Court in 1969, federal judge Blackmun, Virginia lawyer Powell, and Assistant Attorney
General Rehnquist in 1971; to shift the Supreme Court toward more conservative positions.
Also, Nixon tried to slow the pace of integration of black students into white schools. In
1957, the Supreme Court declared the practice illegal. Nixon then opposed the use of public
buses to transport students to integrated schools.
Other problems arose, such as inflation and high unemployment. His tactic to slow
inflation with high interest rates failed, so he began wage and price controls. He also devalued
the dollar to promote US exports and discourage imports.
Nixon won easily over his Democratic opponent in the election of 1972 due to improved
economy and temporary peace between the US and Vietnam.
During the campaign, five men connected with Nixon's reelection committee were
discreetly arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party's national headquarters in the
Watergate apartment complex in Washington D.C., attempting to steal documents and place
wiretaps on the telephones.
Secret peace meetings continued between the Untied States and Vietnam. Once an
agreement was met, Nixon announced an official cease-fire over national television. At this time
Nixon's popularity was at it's peak, but not for long.
Severe inflation once again affected the economy, so Nixon devalued the dollar a second
time. In addition to this he cut government spending on domestic social programs, such as
education, urban renewal, and antipoverty programs, while resisting attempts by the Congress to
reduce military spending.
Nixon's prestige crumbled as a result of the Watergate scandal. Persistent questioning led
to an investigation. In the trial of the Watergate burglars had shown that a cover-up had
concealed their activities and their connections with high government officials and the
president's closest aids. A Senate committee on Watergate and the Justice Department revealed
that this was one of many scandals involving Nixon and his loyalists. The actions of Watergate
has been directed against the Democrats, and all but one of Nixon's aids and officials were
forced to resign. These discoveries raised questions about Nixon's knowledge and participation
in their cover-up. He issued inconsistent statements claiming the importance of presidency
allowed him to withhold documents even if they were demanded by the courts.
The public was outraged that Nixon fired special investigator Cox over the question of
access to his records. This ordered the House Judiciary committee to look into possible
impeachment. Nixon then agreed to produce the withheld documents as a result of the threat, but
soon after it was revealed that some tapes were missing.
All of this caused other investigations to begin focusing on Nixon, such as possible
income tax evasion and misuse of government funds. Nixon's top two aids and two other men
were indicted in connection with the Watergate cover-up in 1974, and Nixon refused to hand
over additional tapes that were demanded
The tapes supplied to the courts would be made public in the trials, so Nixon released
edited transcripts that concealed any evidence of his involvement. In early 1974, the Court ruled
against Nixon's claims of executive privilege in an eight to zero decision. He was also accused of
obstructing justice, abusing presidential power, and refusing to comply with the House's
demands. This caused the Judiciary committee to introduce three impeachment articles.
His supporters in Congress felt betrayed when he released tapes that year that showed he
had participated in the Watergate cover-up as early as 1972. It was clear that he would be
impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate, so on August 8, 1974, Nixon announced -
without admitting guilt - that his resignation would take effect the following day and Vice -
President Ford would take his place as president.
One month later, President Ford issued a pardon for all federal crimes Nixon may have
committed while president. Through traveling and writing, he gradually regained his public
respect.
president to have resigned from office. He was on his was to success after receiving his law
degree from Duke University Law School in 1937.
California Republicans persuaded Nixon in 1946 to be their candidate to challenge Jerry
Voorhis, the popular Democratic Congressman, for his seat in the United States House of
Representatives. He accuses Voorhis of being "soft" on Communism. This was damaging to him
because the Cold War rivalry between the United States and USSR was just beginning. Voorhis
was forced into a defensive position after the two men confronted each other in a series of
debates. Nixon's campaign was an example of the vigorous and aggressive style characteristic of
his political career that led him to win the election.
Nixon gained valuable experience in international affairs as a new member of the United
States Congress. He helped establish a program known as the Marshall Plan, in which the US
assisted Europe rebuild itself following the war. He also served on the House Education and
Labor Committee to develop the National Labor Relations Act.
In 1948, writer and editor Whittaker Chambers accused Alger Hiss, a high State
Department official, of being a Communist. Nixon, a member of the Un-American Activities
Committee, personally pressed the investigation. Hiss denied further charges that he had turned
classified documents over to Chambers to be sent to the USSR. Alger Hiss was later convicted
and indicted for perjury after sufficient evidence was discovered. Nixon was reelected to
Congress after winning both the Republican and Democratic nominations as a result of gaining a
national reputation as a dedicated enemy of Communism.
In 1950, Nixon was chosen as candidate for the US Senate from California by the
Republicans. Again, he won this election by linking his opponent to being pro-Communist.
Nixon was selected to be the running mate of the Republican presidential nomination,
General Eisenhower, in 1952. Many of Eisenhower's advisors wanted Nixon to resign his
candidacy shortly after his vice-presidential nomination because of accusations that he misused
his senator expenses fund. No evidence was found to prove this, and, in response, Nixon replied
on national television with the "Checkers" speech, which contained sentimental reference to
Nixon's dog, Checkers. The speech was his attempt to prove his innocence.
In the following campaign, Nixon once again attacked the Democratic presidential
candidate as being soft on Communism.
Nixon and Eisenhower's victory led them both to being reelected in 1956, after surviving
Republican attempts to replace Nixon.
As vice-president, much of Nixon's time was spent representing the president before
Congress and on trips abroad as a goodwill ambassador, where he was occasionally the target of
anti-US feelings.
As Eisenhower neared the end of his second term as president, he endorsed Nixon, who
received an impressive vote in party primaries and all but ten of the delegates votes on the first
ballot at the Republican National Convention. An unusual feature of the campaign was a series of
face-to-face discussions between Nixon and his Democratic opponent, Senator John F. Kennedy,
who was widely regarded as the winner of the debates, which helped him win the election.
In 1962, Nixon returned to California after losing the presidential election and became
Republican candidate for governor. It was another bitter campaign, revolving around
Communism and law enforcement, but this time his strategy did not work. Most political
observers believed Nixon's political career had ended by the was he handled the loss.
Nixon moved and joined a large law firm in New York City after his defeat, and remained
in close relations with national Republican leaders and campaigned for Republican candidates in
two elections. By 1968, he had sufficiently recovered his political standing to announce his
candidacy for president.
He had two major problems in seeking nomination in 1968. He had not won an election
in eighteen years and he had no state in which to base his candidacy. He also could count on few
Republican governors for support, though he did have support in Congress and other politicians
whom he helped campaigned.
He easily won the nomination on the first ballot at the convention and chose the governor
of Maryland as his running mate. Vice-president Humphrey, his Democratic opponent, was
placed under stress by Nixon from the unsuccessful war in Vietnam's effects. Nearly thirty-two
million votes gave him a clear majority in the electoral college.
The most important issue Nixon faced when he became president was the Vietnam war.
The conflict between North Vietnam and South Vietnam began in 1959, and in 1964 there were
reports that North Vietnam had attacked US vessels. Congress and President Johnson authorized
the bombing of North Vietnam and to increase US military involvement.
Nixon campaigned against the war, and brought US soldiers back home. He developed
the Nixon doctrine, stating that the United States would continue helping Asian nations combat
Communism, but would no longer commit US troops to land wars in Asia.
However, in 1970, Nixon expanded the war by allowing an invasion and several bombing
missions.
Into the second half of 1972, secret peace meetings were held between the assistant to the
president for national security affairs and a North Vietnamese delegate. A breakthrough was
achieved when a peace plan was agreed on, but abruptly collapsed when Nixon ordered further
massive bombing.
Nixon was more successful in other foreign policy areas, such as improving relations with
China and USSR. Both countries signed trade agreements and treaties.
He adopted conservative domestic policies by appointing appeals judge Burger to the
Supreme Court in 1969, federal judge Blackmun, Virginia lawyer Powell, and Assistant Attorney
General Rehnquist in 1971; to shift the Supreme Court toward more conservative positions.
Also, Nixon tried to slow the pace of integration of black students into white schools. In
1957, the Supreme Court declared the practice illegal. Nixon then opposed the use of public
buses to transport students to integrated schools.
Other problems arose, such as inflation and high unemployment. His tactic to slow
inflation with high interest rates failed, so he began wage and price controls. He also devalued
the dollar to promote US exports and discourage imports.
Nixon won easily over his Democratic opponent in the election of 1972 due to improved
economy and temporary peace between the US and Vietnam.
During the campaign, five men connected with Nixon's reelection committee were
discreetly arrested for breaking into the Democratic Party's national headquarters in the
Watergate apartment complex in Washington D.C., attempting to steal documents and place
wiretaps on the telephones.
Secret peace meetings continued between the Untied States and Vietnam. Once an
agreement was met, Nixon announced an official cease-fire over national television. At this time
Nixon's popularity was at it's peak, but not for long.
Severe inflation once again affected the economy, so Nixon devalued the dollar a second
time. In addition to this he cut government spending on domestic social programs, such as
education, urban renewal, and antipoverty programs, while resisting attempts by the Congress to
reduce military spending.
Nixon's prestige crumbled as a result of the Watergate scandal. Persistent questioning led
to an investigation. In the trial of the Watergate burglars had shown that a cover-up had
concealed their activities and their connections with high government officials and the
president's closest aids. A Senate committee on Watergate and the Justice Department revealed
that this was one of many scandals involving Nixon and his loyalists. The actions of Watergate
has been directed against the Democrats, and all but one of Nixon's aids and officials were
forced to resign. These discoveries raised questions about Nixon's knowledge and participation
in their cover-up. He issued inconsistent statements claiming the importance of presidency
allowed him to withhold documents even if they were demanded by the courts.
The public was outraged that Nixon fired special investigator Cox over the question of
access to his records. This ordered the House Judiciary committee to look into possible
impeachment. Nixon then agreed to produce the withheld documents as a result of the threat, but
soon after it was revealed that some tapes were missing.
All of this caused other investigations to begin focusing on Nixon, such as possible
income tax evasion and misuse of government funds. Nixon's top two aids and two other men
were indicted in connection with the Watergate cover-up in 1974, and Nixon refused to hand
over additional tapes that were demanded
The tapes supplied to the courts would be made public in the trials, so Nixon released
edited transcripts that concealed any evidence of his involvement. In early 1974, the Court ruled
against Nixon's claims of executive privilege in an eight to zero decision. He was also accused of
obstructing justice, abusing presidential power, and refusing to comply with the House's
demands. This caused the Judiciary committee to introduce three impeachment articles.
His supporters in Congress felt betrayed when he released tapes that year that showed he
had participated in the Watergate cover-up as early as 1972. It was clear that he would be
impeached by the House and convicted in the Senate, so on August 8, 1974, Nixon announced -
without admitting guilt - that his resignation would take effect the following day and Vice -
President Ford would take his place as president.
One month later, President Ford issued a pardon for all federal crimes Nixon may have
committed while president. Through traveling and writing, he gradually regained his public
respect.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau 3
Pierre Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, was once described as
"A French Canadian proud of his identity and culture, yet a biting critic
of French-Canadian society, determined to destroy its mythology and
illusions". He has also been identified as "A staunch, upholder of
provincial autonomy holding the justice portfolio in the federal
government". Such cumulative appraisal and observation made by past fellow
bureaucrat provides high testimonial for the ex-Democratic Socialist. This
critique will establish and dispute the prime directives that Trudeau had
advocated in his own book written during the years 1965 to 1967. The
compilation of political essays featured in his book deal with the diverse
complexities of social, cultural and economical issues that were
predominant in Canadian politics during the mid 1960's. However, throughout
my readings I was also able to discover the fundamental principles that
Trudeau would advocate in order to establish a strong and productive
influence in Canadian politics.
Born in 1921, Trudeau entered the world in a bilingual/bicultural home
located in the heart of Montreal, Quebec. His acceptance into the
University of Montreal would mark the beginning of his adventures into the
Canadian political spectrum. Early in his life, Trudeau had become somewhat
anti-clerical and possessed communist ideologies which were considered
radical at the time. Graduating from prestigious institutions such as
Harvard and The School of Economics in England, Turdeau returned to Canada
in 1949 and resumed his social science endeavors. At this time in Quebec,
the province was experiencing tremendous cultural and political differences
with the rest of the country. The Union Nationale had taken possession of
political matters in Quebec and was steadily dismantling the socialist
essence imposed on the province by the Federal government. The current
Prime Minister, Maurice Duplessis, found himself battling a religious
nationalist movement that corrupted the very fabric of political stability
in Quebec. The Duplessis faction maintained their conservative approach
towards political reform but failed to sway the majority of the population
into alleviating with the demands of the Canadian government. The citizens
of Quebec revered their clerical sector as holding 'utmost importance'
towards preserving French cultural values and this did not correlate with
the Federal government's policies and ideals. Francophones were under the
impression that their own Federal government had set out to crush and
assimilate what had remained of their illustrious heritage in order to
accommodate economic and political tranquility. Trudeau himself had decided
to join the nationalist uprising with his advocation of provincial
autonomy. Ultimately, he and other skilled social scientists attempted to
bring down the Duplessis party in 1949, but failed miserably in their
efforts. Duplessis buckled underneath the continuous pressure of French
patriotism and was rewarded for his inept idleness by winning his fourth
consecutive election in 1956. Although nothing of significance had been
accomplished, Quebec has solidified its temporary presence in confederation
at such a time. This prompted Trudeau to involve himself in provincial
diplomacy as he would engage in several media projects that would voice his
displeasure and disapproval with the ongoing cultural predicament in Canada
(this included a syndicated newspaper firm, live radio programs). "If, in
the last analysis, we continually identify Catholicism with conservatism
and patriotism with immobility, we will lose by default that which is in
play between all cultures...". By literally encouraging a liberal, left-
wing revolution in his province, Trudeau believed that Democracy must come
before Ideology. Gradually, his disposition would attract many politicians
and advocates of Socialism, and thus it allowed him to radiate his ideology
onto the populace of Quebec. Trudeau makes it clear in his book that during
the early years of the Duplessis government, he was a staunch admirer of
provincial autonomy, but with the archaic sequence of events following the
conflicts that arouse between Federal and Provincial matters in Quebec, he
had taken a stance on Federalism that involved security, economic
prosperity and centralized authority. It wasn't until 1963 when the newly
appointed Premier of Quebec, Rene Levesque, warned that there must be a new
Canada within five years or Quebec will quit confederation. It was not
until 1965 that a man named Pierre Trudeau entered politics.
It is at this point in his anthology that I was able to surmise the
radical and unorthodox political convictions that the soon-to-be Prime
Minister would incorporate into Canada. His thesis is focused around
pertinent issues which demanded attention at the time. After he elaborates
on the importance of Federalism and how it is associated with Quebec, the
reader begins to interpret the resolutions he offers and then finds himself
comprehending the dilemma that French Canadians face in Canada. In the wake
of a constitutional referendum, such knowledge can be viewed as ironically
significant. A defender of civil rights and freedoms, Trudeau, even as a
teenager, was adamantly opposed to supporting any political theory based on
ethnic tendencies; he makes this clear on an essay in the book entitled:
"Quebec and the Constitutional Problem". He was convinced that not only the
divided jurisdiction of a federal state helped protect the liberty of its
citizens but also that in fact the economic, social and cultural goods of
Quebec can best be achieved with a Canadian federal state. It seemed that
an archetypal Trudeau Federal infrastructure would be one where each level
of government would function on its own jurisdiction. In doing so, Trudeau
would voice his admiration for the Bill of Rights and how he would
concentrate on developing a Federal government for the individual. It was
not until 1962 that Trudeau actually began defending Federalism for what it
represented to the average labourer, but the fact that Quebec seemed to
convert provincial autonomy into an absolute forced him to reconsider his
political stance. Joining the struggling Liberal party in 1965, his only
coinciding proposition with that of his party was the advocation of an open
Federal system. Nonetheless, it marked the beginning of a political career
that would take him to the heights of power in his dominion.
"My political action, or my theory - insomuch as I can be said to have
one - can be expressed very simply: create counter-weights". The measure of
a man can be traced to his ideological convictions, and in doing so, I have
only started to realize the prominent role that Trudeau has played in
Canadian politics. He was heralded as a radical, somewhat of a usurper and
definitely a socialist mogul, but what was clear about Trudeau was his
respect and admiration for liberties of the common man and how they were
preserved from the clutches of Federal policies. This respect would not be
replaced at any cost during his tenure and as he forecasted the ensuing
constitutional dilemma with a very impartial, non-partisan outlook, he
would primarily concentrate on two factors (economic and linguistic) which
offered practical conclusions without chaotic implications. Trudeau
envisioned himself in power, speculating two choices he would offer to
Quebec; full sovereignty or maximized integration into the American
continent. But what Trudeau avoided treading upon was the infringement of
state policies on the individual's rights and freedoms. Many members of the
Federal government believed that Trudeau did not speak on behalf of French
Canadians but that he substituted their cultural plight with his own
theories. This generated the following response: "If the party does not
agree with my opponents, it can repudiate me; if my constituents do not,
they can elect someone else". Trudeau maintains that he dedicated his
anthology in order for others to understand the problems that French
Canadians faced in terms of cultural progress, and I am compelled to
conclude that his involvement with the Federal regime may have saved the
country for twenty years...unfortunately, he was unable to complete the
affirmation of his ideology into the French Canadian scope and thus Canada
today is contemplating the outcome of another constitutional referendum.
His failure to absolve the constitution of any future repercussions with
the masses should not be viewed as a political error, but as an ideological
truth which he exhibited since 1965 (the addition of the "notwithstanding"
clause).
Trudeau's book covers an immense amount of historical and idealistic
content. Published in 1965, it is fascinating to read and discover how
intently and closely he would follow his ideologies as he would eventually
ascend to the position of Prime Minister. His reliability would be
questionable at the time (based on limited experience as a politician) but
the fact that he had submerged himself into a field which required
innovative and pragmatic thought led me to believe that his Federalist
stance would eventually be justified in Canadian history. With a
superlative writing style, his use of vocabulary and terminology aided the
reader in understanding his convictions. Not even this reader expected such
a barrage of political jargon.
Recent events in Canada have somewhat curtailed the ambience dealing
with this critique in respects to the opinions exhibited on behalf of the
author and reviewer. Trudeau takes obvious pride in his ideological
perspective of multicultural Canada, and in doing so one might expect a
partisan, biased array of resolutions. This, however, is not the case. This
book leaves room for educational prowess without any noticeable weaknesses.
Federalism and the French Canadians is an insightful, ideological anthology
that could be found especially useful to other politics students who wish
to examine the importance of cultural and social values in a country
missing a stable political doctrine (and perhaps a leader, no less).
----------------
"A French Canadian proud of his identity and culture, yet a biting critic
of French-Canadian society, determined to destroy its mythology and
illusions". He has also been identified as "A staunch, upholder of
provincial autonomy holding the justice portfolio in the federal
government". Such cumulative appraisal and observation made by past fellow
bureaucrat provides high testimonial for the ex-Democratic Socialist. This
critique will establish and dispute the prime directives that Trudeau had
advocated in his own book written during the years 1965 to 1967. The
compilation of political essays featured in his book deal with the diverse
complexities of social, cultural and economical issues that were
predominant in Canadian politics during the mid 1960's. However, throughout
my readings I was also able to discover the fundamental principles that
Trudeau would advocate in order to establish a strong and productive
influence in Canadian politics.
Born in 1921, Trudeau entered the world in a bilingual/bicultural home
located in the heart of Montreal, Quebec. His acceptance into the
University of Montreal would mark the beginning of his adventures into the
Canadian political spectrum. Early in his life, Trudeau had become somewhat
anti-clerical and possessed communist ideologies which were considered
radical at the time. Graduating from prestigious institutions such as
Harvard and The School of Economics in England, Turdeau returned to Canada
in 1949 and resumed his social science endeavors. At this time in Quebec,
the province was experiencing tremendous cultural and political differences
with the rest of the country. The Union Nationale had taken possession of
political matters in Quebec and was steadily dismantling the socialist
essence imposed on the province by the Federal government. The current
Prime Minister, Maurice Duplessis, found himself battling a religious
nationalist movement that corrupted the very fabric of political stability
in Quebec. The Duplessis faction maintained their conservative approach
towards political reform but failed to sway the majority of the population
into alleviating with the demands of the Canadian government. The citizens
of Quebec revered their clerical sector as holding 'utmost importance'
towards preserving French cultural values and this did not correlate with
the Federal government's policies and ideals. Francophones were under the
impression that their own Federal government had set out to crush and
assimilate what had remained of their illustrious heritage in order to
accommodate economic and political tranquility. Trudeau himself had decided
to join the nationalist uprising with his advocation of provincial
autonomy. Ultimately, he and other skilled social scientists attempted to
bring down the Duplessis party in 1949, but failed miserably in their
efforts. Duplessis buckled underneath the continuous pressure of French
patriotism and was rewarded for his inept idleness by winning his fourth
consecutive election in 1956. Although nothing of significance had been
accomplished, Quebec has solidified its temporary presence in confederation
at such a time. This prompted Trudeau to involve himself in provincial
diplomacy as he would engage in several media projects that would voice his
displeasure and disapproval with the ongoing cultural predicament in Canada
(this included a syndicated newspaper firm, live radio programs). "If, in
the last analysis, we continually identify Catholicism with conservatism
and patriotism with immobility, we will lose by default that which is in
play between all cultures...". By literally encouraging a liberal, left-
wing revolution in his province, Trudeau believed that Democracy must come
before Ideology. Gradually, his disposition would attract many politicians
and advocates of Socialism, and thus it allowed him to radiate his ideology
onto the populace of Quebec. Trudeau makes it clear in his book that during
the early years of the Duplessis government, he was a staunch admirer of
provincial autonomy, but with the archaic sequence of events following the
conflicts that arouse between Federal and Provincial matters in Quebec, he
had taken a stance on Federalism that involved security, economic
prosperity and centralized authority. It wasn't until 1963 when the newly
appointed Premier of Quebec, Rene Levesque, warned that there must be a new
Canada within five years or Quebec will quit confederation. It was not
until 1965 that a man named Pierre Trudeau entered politics.
It is at this point in his anthology that I was able to surmise the
radical and unorthodox political convictions that the soon-to-be Prime
Minister would incorporate into Canada. His thesis is focused around
pertinent issues which demanded attention at the time. After he elaborates
on the importance of Federalism and how it is associated with Quebec, the
reader begins to interpret the resolutions he offers and then finds himself
comprehending the dilemma that French Canadians face in Canada. In the wake
of a constitutional referendum, such knowledge can be viewed as ironically
significant. A defender of civil rights and freedoms, Trudeau, even as a
teenager, was adamantly opposed to supporting any political theory based on
ethnic tendencies; he makes this clear on an essay in the book entitled:
"Quebec and the Constitutional Problem". He was convinced that not only the
divided jurisdiction of a federal state helped protect the liberty of its
citizens but also that in fact the economic, social and cultural goods of
Quebec can best be achieved with a Canadian federal state. It seemed that
an archetypal Trudeau Federal infrastructure would be one where each level
of government would function on its own jurisdiction. In doing so, Trudeau
would voice his admiration for the Bill of Rights and how he would
concentrate on developing a Federal government for the individual. It was
not until 1962 that Trudeau actually began defending Federalism for what it
represented to the average labourer, but the fact that Quebec seemed to
convert provincial autonomy into an absolute forced him to reconsider his
political stance. Joining the struggling Liberal party in 1965, his only
coinciding proposition with that of his party was the advocation of an open
Federal system. Nonetheless, it marked the beginning of a political career
that would take him to the heights of power in his dominion.
"My political action, or my theory - insomuch as I can be said to have
one - can be expressed very simply: create counter-weights". The measure of
a man can be traced to his ideological convictions, and in doing so, I have
only started to realize the prominent role that Trudeau has played in
Canadian politics. He was heralded as a radical, somewhat of a usurper and
definitely a socialist mogul, but what was clear about Trudeau was his
respect and admiration for liberties of the common man and how they were
preserved from the clutches of Federal policies. This respect would not be
replaced at any cost during his tenure and as he forecasted the ensuing
constitutional dilemma with a very impartial, non-partisan outlook, he
would primarily concentrate on two factors (economic and linguistic) which
offered practical conclusions without chaotic implications. Trudeau
envisioned himself in power, speculating two choices he would offer to
Quebec; full sovereignty or maximized integration into the American
continent. But what Trudeau avoided treading upon was the infringement of
state policies on the individual's rights and freedoms. Many members of the
Federal government believed that Trudeau did not speak on behalf of French
Canadians but that he substituted their cultural plight with his own
theories. This generated the following response: "If the party does not
agree with my opponents, it can repudiate me; if my constituents do not,
they can elect someone else". Trudeau maintains that he dedicated his
anthology in order for others to understand the problems that French
Canadians faced in terms of cultural progress, and I am compelled to
conclude that his involvement with the Federal regime may have saved the
country for twenty years...unfortunately, he was unable to complete the
affirmation of his ideology into the French Canadian scope and thus Canada
today is contemplating the outcome of another constitutional referendum.
His failure to absolve the constitution of any future repercussions with
the masses should not be viewed as a political error, but as an ideological
truth which he exhibited since 1965 (the addition of the "notwithstanding"
clause).
Trudeau's book covers an immense amount of historical and idealistic
content. Published in 1965, it is fascinating to read and discover how
intently and closely he would follow his ideologies as he would eventually
ascend to the position of Prime Minister. His reliability would be
questionable at the time (based on limited experience as a politician) but
the fact that he had submerged himself into a field which required
innovative and pragmatic thought led me to believe that his Federalist
stance would eventually be justified in Canadian history. With a
superlative writing style, his use of vocabulary and terminology aided the
reader in understanding his convictions. Not even this reader expected such
a barrage of political jargon.
Recent events in Canada have somewhat curtailed the ambience dealing
with this critique in respects to the opinions exhibited on behalf of the
author and reviewer. Trudeau takes obvious pride in his ideological
perspective of multicultural Canada, and in doing so one might expect a
partisan, biased array of resolutions. This, however, is not the case. This
book leaves room for educational prowess without any noticeable weaknesses.
Federalism and the French Canadians is an insightful, ideological anthology
that could be found especially useful to other politics students who wish
to examine the importance of cultural and social values in a country
missing a stable political doctrine (and perhaps a leader, no less).
----------------
Pierre Elliot Trudeau 1
THE POLITICS OF MY WAY
Unlike the United States, with its generalissimo politics-Washington, Jackson,
Grant, Eisehower- the martial arts have been conspicuously absent from Canadian
politics. But there in one exception: in 1968 Pierre Elliot Trudeau became the first
Canadian leader to bring the gunslinger-Lone Ranger ethos to Canadian politics.
Trudeau introduced to Canada the refined art of single combat; it was the
politics of "Doing It My Way"-the politics of going my way or being left behind.
Single-combat confrontation implied much mor than the loner or renegade in power, and
far far less than the shaman black tricks of Mackenzie King. Trudeau was always far
more the solo Philosopher King engaged in intellectual trial by combat than the Magus
Merlin conjuring up solutions by puffs of smoke, sleight of hand or divine
intervention. Ouijaboard politics was the occult domain of Mackenzie King, a man
virtually devoid of policy, a political palm reader forever checking the whims and
moods of his powerful baronial-Ralston Howe, St. Laurent-and sometimes Byronian
colleagues to see how best he could placate them, or calm them, or Heap his beatitudes
upon them.
Trudeau, from day one , was always more samurai than shaman. Even in his pre-
leadership days, Trudeau's love of trial by combat was predominant. Mackenzie King
would have never touched the unholy trinity of divorce, abortion and homosexuality:
each one of these issues is a sleeping dog best left to lie; each could only infuriate
conservative Canada from coast to coast. Since King dared not touch them seriatim
he certainly would not have touched them together-in an omnibus bill.
This, Trudeau did joyously. The myths-makers have it at this was Trudeau's
first deliberated joust, the kingship being the final prize. But Trudeau had no
leadership aspirations at the time; all that he had, still has, was the love of combat
for the sake of combat and religious scruples be damned. Trudeau the Catholic zealot
tackle divorce, abortion and homosexuality active Prime Minister in this country's
history, liberated the homosexual practitioners of black acts totally abhorrent to
him; ironically, in the process, Trudeau gave irrational Canada a pretext for branding
him a homosexual too.
P.E.T. has always hated the consensus building of Mackenzie King; even the
populist following of a Diefenbaker was an anathema to Trudeau. The single-combat
warrior "doing it my way" is always alone; he leads the people but is not of them;
like the prophet he wanders either in dessert or lush green pastures and often, like
the prophet, he watches his people march into the Promised Land without him. For
Trudeau, being alone is to be free; victory is a consequence of solitude;
companionship an act of weakness, cronyism even wise.
It is ironic that Trudeau, a devout Jansenist Roman Catholic, emotionally and
philosophically opposed to both divorce and abortion, should grant Canadians greatly
expanded divorce rights and their first right to legale abortion.
Trudeau took the unholy trinity then disturbing the bedrooms of the nation
because all three were trial combat, all three required one strong man to push them
through. In this minefield Canada's political loner had walked alone and apparently
loved it.
Canada's other solo flyer, John Diefenbaker, may or may not have been a renegade
in power, but the input his holitics received from Senate cronies and Kitchen cabinets
was enormous. The letters and advice that daily poured in to the chief were a
populist input that Diefenbaker slavishly adhered to. Trudeau was no Diefenbaker;
he was neither a populist nor a renegade. Trudeau was simply a man who brilliantly
massaged and manipulated others so that his single will appeared to be the will of
many, so that his will be always done.
The theme of my-way politics sheds much light on the vrai Trudeau, the Trudeau
that is, rather than the Trudeau people think there is. Trudeau has never been the
privacy-demanding recluse, the reluctant leader that herdsmen of Canadian journalism
insist he is.
In secular life Trudeau is no trinitarian; he has chosen his oneness because,
from the earliest politics, oneness worked for him so spectacular. Trudeau's personal
handling of the constriction crisis was a "my way" all the way. Trudeau, the self-
proclaimed socialist prophet of his people, waxed ever so eloquently against the sins
of conscription, and yet Trudeau seemingly could not see in War measures that
potential greater evil of a Canadian fascism that surly meant permanent conscription
and enslavement of all. Equally puzzling is the referral of Trudeau's nationalist
compatriots and colleagues in the years since to give him any credit for fighting in
1942 a good nationalist fight on behalf of the anti-conscription, quasi-separatist
candidacy of Jean Drapeau; not so puzzling in the refusal of Angelo Saxon patriots
to give Trudeau any credit at all for joining a reserve regiment before the war.
There was both a typical Trudeau "a plague on both your houses" in all this, and even
more of the gunslinger spraying bullets on both side of the saloon bar.
The style of the lone gunslinger was already apperant in Trudeau's early radical
posture. Cite libre was a radical editorial collective run completely by Trudeau.
Trudeau the then internationalist and socialist shared ideological bed and board with
David Lewis, Frank Scott, Eugene Forsey and Theresa Casgrain, but only Trudeau's CCF
and NDP membership cards mysteriously do not exist today. Even that minor bit of
collectivist discipline, the proud possession of a party card, was abhorrent to the
free-wheeling independent Trudeau.
The ideologically committed gunslinger found little in the democratic process
to nourish him. The social democratic Trudeau first entered the electoral lists only
only in the safest Liberal seat in the country. Trudeau knew that group dynamic,
group participation, in not ideologically and politically effective as when the few
shape the many.
This single-warrior syndrome explains many shifts and patterns in the Trudeau
character. Diefenbaker revelled in the democratic panorama; Diefenbaker failed to
keep urban Canada aboard his carousel and never really got french Canada aboard in
the first place, but the Chief's strengths and weakness flowed from the ordinary
people who loved him and the sophisticates and big city people who hated him. P.E.T.
never did deal in democratic norms; instead, the elitist Trudeau gave Quebec's
elitists the first crack at the bilingual club and transformed the federal
bureaucracy, at least on its highest levels, to be a bilingual workplace in which the
frankphone would be supreme.
INTRO
Canada, and its record of careful middle-of-the-road politics has
produced leaders who were careful and middle-of-the-road as well, until
1968 when Canada and the world was introduced to Prime Minister Pierre
Elliot Trudeau.
He had walked and cycled through Europe, and been on the wrong
side of the bars in foreign jails. Not your average guy. Not your
average Prime Minister.
The future Prime Minister was the second child and the elder son
of the family. He was born on October 18th, 1919. At a very young age
Trudeau was the current, attacking authority and not giving a "DAMN"
for the public opinion.
In 1940 Prime Minister Trudeau entered the law faculty at the
University of Montreal. He says that he hesitated between law &
psychology, but had to settle for law since Montreal didn't offer
psychology and the war kept him in Canada.
As a student he enlisted in the Canadian officers Training Corps.
He was given a commission on a lieutenant, a rank he held until his
retirement in 1947. LIFE
Joseph Philippe Pierre Elliote Trudeau to say his names in order
was born an October 18, 1919. Pierre wasn't the sort of person that
you think would become one of Canada's longest in office Prime
Ministers.
At home Pierre's mother spoke mainly English, although she was
fluent in french. His mother provided the English balance. Charles-
Emily Pierre's father taught him sports as Pierre was very good at
them. Pierre practised the art of KARATE and soon became a brown belt,
one below black belt. He also knew how to skin dive and could descend
150 feet off a cliff and come out without a scratch. Other than
teaching Pierre sports, Charles-Emile also put together a franchise of
gas stations that grew to include 15,000 members and filling $1,400,000
for his stations.
As a boy, living in Montreal, he favoured the English instead of
the French and when his friends were unhappy of the French losing,
Pierre was celebrating. Many of his teachers in primary school said
that Pierre was a headstrong individualist who involved himself
frequently in fights and practical jokes. In 1924 or 1925 Charles-
Emily, Pierre father died, and Pierre was only fourteen years old at
the time. Since his parents were so rich he got driven to school by a
chauffeur and ran with a crowd called LES SNOBS. As a student Pierre
joined the COTC, Canadian Officers Training Corps. Pierre lack of self
discipline got him into trouble a lot and he was soon kicked out of the
COTC. Pierre didn't always get into trouble actually as he was a very
smart kid and one of his teachers commented that Pierre was a pupil who
was good at every subject. In 1940 Pierre entered the law faculty at
the University of Montreal.
Unlike the United States, with its generalissimo politics-Washington, Jackson,
Grant, Eisehower- the martial arts have been conspicuously absent from Canadian
politics. But there in one exception: in 1968 Pierre Elliot Trudeau became the first
Canadian leader to bring the gunslinger-Lone Ranger ethos to Canadian politics.
Trudeau introduced to Canada the refined art of single combat; it was the
politics of "Doing It My Way"-the politics of going my way or being left behind.
Single-combat confrontation implied much mor than the loner or renegade in power, and
far far less than the shaman black tricks of Mackenzie King. Trudeau was always far
more the solo Philosopher King engaged in intellectual trial by combat than the Magus
Merlin conjuring up solutions by puffs of smoke, sleight of hand or divine
intervention. Ouijaboard politics was the occult domain of Mackenzie King, a man
virtually devoid of policy, a political palm reader forever checking the whims and
moods of his powerful baronial-Ralston Howe, St. Laurent-and sometimes Byronian
colleagues to see how best he could placate them, or calm them, or Heap his beatitudes
upon them.
Trudeau, from day one , was always more samurai than shaman. Even in his pre-
leadership days, Trudeau's love of trial by combat was predominant. Mackenzie King
would have never touched the unholy trinity of divorce, abortion and homosexuality:
each one of these issues is a sleeping dog best left to lie; each could only infuriate
conservative Canada from coast to coast. Since King dared not touch them seriatim
he certainly would not have touched them together-in an omnibus bill.
This, Trudeau did joyously. The myths-makers have it at this was Trudeau's
first deliberated joust, the kingship being the final prize. But Trudeau had no
leadership aspirations at the time; all that he had, still has, was the love of combat
for the sake of combat and religious scruples be damned. Trudeau the Catholic zealot
tackle divorce, abortion and homosexuality active Prime Minister in this country's
history, liberated the homosexual practitioners of black acts totally abhorrent to
him; ironically, in the process, Trudeau gave irrational Canada a pretext for branding
him a homosexual too.
P.E.T. has always hated the consensus building of Mackenzie King; even the
populist following of a Diefenbaker was an anathema to Trudeau. The single-combat
warrior "doing it my way" is always alone; he leads the people but is not of them;
like the prophet he wanders either in dessert or lush green pastures and often, like
the prophet, he watches his people march into the Promised Land without him. For
Trudeau, being alone is to be free; victory is a consequence of solitude;
companionship an act of weakness, cronyism even wise.
It is ironic that Trudeau, a devout Jansenist Roman Catholic, emotionally and
philosophically opposed to both divorce and abortion, should grant Canadians greatly
expanded divorce rights and their first right to legale abortion.
Trudeau took the unholy trinity then disturbing the bedrooms of the nation
because all three were trial combat, all three required one strong man to push them
through. In this minefield Canada's political loner had walked alone and apparently
loved it.
Canada's other solo flyer, John Diefenbaker, may or may not have been a renegade
in power, but the input his holitics received from Senate cronies and Kitchen cabinets
was enormous. The letters and advice that daily poured in to the chief were a
populist input that Diefenbaker slavishly adhered to. Trudeau was no Diefenbaker;
he was neither a populist nor a renegade. Trudeau was simply a man who brilliantly
massaged and manipulated others so that his single will appeared to be the will of
many, so that his will be always done.
The theme of my-way politics sheds much light on the vrai Trudeau, the Trudeau
that is, rather than the Trudeau people think there is. Trudeau has never been the
privacy-demanding recluse, the reluctant leader that herdsmen of Canadian journalism
insist he is.
In secular life Trudeau is no trinitarian; he has chosen his oneness because,
from the earliest politics, oneness worked for him so spectacular. Trudeau's personal
handling of the constriction crisis was a "my way" all the way. Trudeau, the self-
proclaimed socialist prophet of his people, waxed ever so eloquently against the sins
of conscription, and yet Trudeau seemingly could not see in War measures that
potential greater evil of a Canadian fascism that surly meant permanent conscription
and enslavement of all. Equally puzzling is the referral of Trudeau's nationalist
compatriots and colleagues in the years since to give him any credit for fighting in
1942 a good nationalist fight on behalf of the anti-conscription, quasi-separatist
candidacy of Jean Drapeau; not so puzzling in the refusal of Angelo Saxon patriots
to give Trudeau any credit at all for joining a reserve regiment before the war.
There was both a typical Trudeau "a plague on both your houses" in all this, and even
more of the gunslinger spraying bullets on both side of the saloon bar.
The style of the lone gunslinger was already apperant in Trudeau's early radical
posture. Cite libre was a radical editorial collective run completely by Trudeau.
Trudeau the then internationalist and socialist shared ideological bed and board with
David Lewis, Frank Scott, Eugene Forsey and Theresa Casgrain, but only Trudeau's CCF
and NDP membership cards mysteriously do not exist today. Even that minor bit of
collectivist discipline, the proud possession of a party card, was abhorrent to the
free-wheeling independent Trudeau.
The ideologically committed gunslinger found little in the democratic process
to nourish him. The social democratic Trudeau first entered the electoral lists only
only in the safest Liberal seat in the country. Trudeau knew that group dynamic,
group participation, in not ideologically and politically effective as when the few
shape the many.
This single-warrior syndrome explains many shifts and patterns in the Trudeau
character. Diefenbaker revelled in the democratic panorama; Diefenbaker failed to
keep urban Canada aboard his carousel and never really got french Canada aboard in
the first place, but the Chief's strengths and weakness flowed from the ordinary
people who loved him and the sophisticates and big city people who hated him. P.E.T.
never did deal in democratic norms; instead, the elitist Trudeau gave Quebec's
elitists the first crack at the bilingual club and transformed the federal
bureaucracy, at least on its highest levels, to be a bilingual workplace in which the
frankphone would be supreme.
INTRO
Canada, and its record of careful middle-of-the-road politics has
produced leaders who were careful and middle-of-the-road as well, until
1968 when Canada and the world was introduced to Prime Minister Pierre
Elliot Trudeau.
He had walked and cycled through Europe, and been on the wrong
side of the bars in foreign jails. Not your average guy. Not your
average Prime Minister.
The future Prime Minister was the second child and the elder son
of the family. He was born on October 18th, 1919. At a very young age
Trudeau was the current, attacking authority and not giving a "DAMN"
for the public opinion.
In 1940 Prime Minister Trudeau entered the law faculty at the
University of Montreal. He says that he hesitated between law &
psychology, but had to settle for law since Montreal didn't offer
psychology and the war kept him in Canada.
As a student he enlisted in the Canadian officers Training Corps.
He was given a commission on a lieutenant, a rank he held until his
retirement in 1947. LIFE
Joseph Philippe Pierre Elliote Trudeau to say his names in order
was born an October 18, 1919. Pierre wasn't the sort of person that
you think would become one of Canada's longest in office Prime
Ministers.
At home Pierre's mother spoke mainly English, although she was
fluent in french. His mother provided the English balance. Charles-
Emily Pierre's father taught him sports as Pierre was very good at
them. Pierre practised the art of KARATE and soon became a brown belt,
one below black belt. He also knew how to skin dive and could descend
150 feet off a cliff and come out without a scratch. Other than
teaching Pierre sports, Charles-Emile also put together a franchise of
gas stations that grew to include 15,000 members and filling $1,400,000
for his stations.
As a boy, living in Montreal, he favoured the English instead of
the French and when his friends were unhappy of the French losing,
Pierre was celebrating. Many of his teachers in primary school said
that Pierre was a headstrong individualist who involved himself
frequently in fights and practical jokes. In 1924 or 1925 Charles-
Emily, Pierre father died, and Pierre was only fourteen years old at
the time. Since his parents were so rich he got driven to school by a
chauffeur and ran with a crowd called LES SNOBS. As a student Pierre
joined the COTC, Canadian Officers Training Corps. Pierre lack of self
discipline got him into trouble a lot and he was soon kicked out of the
COTC. Pierre didn't always get into trouble actually as he was a very
smart kid and one of his teachers commented that Pierre was a pupil who
was good at every subject. In 1940 Pierre entered the law faculty at
the University of Montreal.
Napoleon I
NAPOLEON I
Napoleon's life was a very interesting one. Starting a poor boy, hated by most, rising to rule a huge empire, and then finally being destroyed by his own arrogance and ending his life humbled, remembering what he had doe, and leaving it all in his memoirs for the world to read.
Napoleon was born in 1769, on the Island of Corsica. His parents, Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte, were poor nobles. When Napoleon was just 10 years old, his father helped to get him a mathematical scholarship to a military school at Brienne. In the school, Napoleon was hated and considered a foreigner. With no friends, Napoleon concentrated on academics, but still only graduated 42nd in us class of 58. he then continued his education at the Military academy of Paris. After one year there, he became second Lieutenant of artillery, at the age of 17. As a Lieutenant, Napoleon did a lot of reading, mainly in the subjects of history, geography, economic affairs, and philosophy.
Napoleon was assigned to a post at the Valence garrison when he became a Lieutenant, but spent most of his time in Corsica, without permission. During one of these visits, Napoleon had trouble with a Corsican nationalist, named Pasquale Paoli, and Napoleon and his family fled to Marseille in 1793.
Later in 1793, the beginning of the French revolution, Napoleon led an artillery brigade to push out a British fleet that the Royalists had allowed in. Napoleon's mission was a success, and he was promoted to general, and was assigned to the army in Northern Italy.
During the early part of the revolution, Napoleon had supported Maximilien Robespierre's revolutionary group, and when Robespiere was overthrown in 1794, Napoleon spent two months in jail for being associated with him.
When he was released from jail, Napoleon refused to fight a rebellion in Vandee, and he lost his military position for it.
In 1795, Paul Barras, the military leader of a soon to be implemented government, asked Napoleon to fight a revolt in Paris, Napoleon accepted, and quickly ended the revolt. When the directory, the government Barras was part of, came into power, they rewarded Napoleon by appointing him the commander of the army of the interior in 1796. He also married Josephine de Beauharrais in the same year.
Later in 1796, Napoleon launched a campaign to push the Austrian and Sardinian armies out of Northern Italy. Napoleon quickly defeated the Sardinians at Mandovi (about 25 miles from current French borders). In a treaty with the Sardinians, France was given Nice and Savoy. He then went further into Italy, pushing into the Lombardy region. He took the stronghold at Mantua after a long siege, and was heading toward Venice with little resistance when the Austrians surrendered, and Napoleon negotiated the treaty of Campo Formio, which ended what is now called the war of the first coalition. While in Italy, Napoleon took large amounts of money and art to bring to France.
When Napoleon returned from Italy, it was suggested that he invade England. Instead, he decided to invade British-owned Egypt. After sneaking by the British navy, Napoleon landed in Egypt, and quickly carried out the occupation. While Napoleon as inland, the British destroyed the French fleet, leaving Napoleon stuck in Egypt.
In early 1799, the Ottoman empire declared war on France. To stop the Ottoman's from invading Egypt, Napoleon invaded Syria, but was turned back by Turkish troops. By mid-1799, the second coalition (formed by the Ottoman's and Austrians) were defeating French forces in Europe, so Napoleon decided to return to France.
When Napoleon arrived in Paris, he began a conspiracy to overthrow the government. He succeeded, and created a new government called the consulate, of which Napoleon became the first consul.
As consul, Napoleon made many good changes in France. He created the Napoleonic code, which set up a complex code of civil law in the nation. He worked with the Pope to reestablish the Roman Catholic faith in France. He also stabilized the French economy, balancing the budget, established a national bank, and restored the value of French bonds.
In the mean time, Napoleon defeated Austria in Marengo, Italy, and signed the treaty of Luneville, ending the war of the second coalition. He also made peace with Britain with the treaty of Amiens. For his accomplishments in his first years in office, Napoleon was made consul for life in late 1802.
In this time of peace, Napoleon began to try to gain more territory, and exert influence on Europe. He started to attempt control in Holland, Switzerland, and an area called Savoy-Piedmont.
In 1804, a failed assassination attempt on Napoleon drove the senate to tell Napoleon to begin a hereditary dynasty, making him emperor. At his crowning, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope and crowned himself. This shows the arrogance that Napoleon was capable of. As an emperor, he began to value family ties, and he put much of his family in high positions, and had many of them marry people of power. Even Napoleon himself divorced Josephine and Married the daughter of Emperor Francis of Austria, Marie Louise, who he quickly had a male heir with.
In 1803, Britain once again became angry with Napoleon's actions, and war began again. Napoleon took the offensive and took an army of 170,000 to invade Britain. He failed to draw the British navy away from Britain, and didn't have enough power to face them. This, combined with Austria renewing war, forced Napoleon to return to France. Toward the end of 1805, the fleet Napoleon had taken was destroyed by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar, ending the threat of a French invasion of Britain.
After this victory, Britain formed the third coalition and was preparing revenge for the attempted invasion of Britain. However, Napoleon had created the extremely powerful grand army, and, after easily pushing through southern Germany, crushed the Austrians and Russians at Ulm.
After taking Ulm, Napoleon went on to occupy Vienna, one of his largest victories came soon after. The Austrian and Russian forces attacked Napoleon in Austerlitz, in an attempt to cut him off from Vienna. However, Napoleon easily defeated the combined forces in what is now called the battle of Austerlitz. In the treaty of Pressburg, the Austrians gave Venice and Dalmatia to the kingdom of Italy, owned by France.
In 1806, not long after the defeat of the third coalition, Prussia organized the fourth coalition. In the battles of Jena-Auerstadt, Eylau, and Friedland, Napoleon completely annihilated the Prussians and Russians, forcing them to surrender and sign the treaties of Tilsit, giving more land to France.
Angry at the power and defiance of Britain, Napoleon decided to eliminate their economic influence on the mainland. His plan was called the continental system. It was a blockade of British trade. Portugal refused to follow this policy, and France sent troops into the Iberian Peninsula, starting the Peninsular war.
Austria took advantage of the conflict in Portugal and started the fifth coalition. Napoleon quickly won many battles and finally defeated the Austrians at Wagram. The treaty of Schonbrunn ended the fifth coalition in 1809, only four months after it had begun.
In 1802, Napoleon made the decision to invade Russian, in spite of the raging war in Iberia. The Russians fell back and allowed Napoleon to take Moscow with little resistance. While in Moscow waiting for a Russian surrender, Russian reinforcements surrounded the city while arsonists set much of it on fire. Famine and the onset of winter made Napoleon's only option to break out of the city and retreat. Napoleon's army narrowly escaped, and he quickly went to Paris to renew his forces.
The nations of Europe once again took advantage of Napoleon's time of weakness. The Prussians, Russians, British, and Swedes organized the sixth coalition in 1813. Napoleon had foreseen such an attempt, and had rebuilt his grand army. Napoleon's victories at Lutzen and Bautzen brought about a short peace, but later in the year, Austria joined the coalition, and war began again. Napoleon won the battle of Dresden, but was defeated while outnumbered two to one in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. He then fled to Paris, refusing to give up any territory, fearing that doing so would result in an overthrow.
In 1814, the coalition invaded France. Napoleon tried to take advantage of the distance between the armies approaching Paris by picking them off one by one, but was eventually outnumbered. Napoleon gave up his rule and was exiled to the island of Elba, and giving small amounts of governmental power there. Louis XVII took the crown of France. Aware of the French peoples dissatisfaction with Louis XVII's rule, Napoleon returned to France in 1815. Napoleon marched toward Paris, going through areas in which he was popular, and King Louis fled the nation.
Napoleon said that he wished to return in peace, but the allies prepared to push him out. Napoleon won several early victories against the rush of allied attackers, but was defeated for the last time at the battle of Waterloo. Fleeing back to Paris, Napoleon once again stepped down, and surrendered to the British ship Bellerophon. The British exiled him to the Island of Saint Helena.
Napoleon spent the remaining six years of his life living with his secretary and a few friends. There, he dictated his memoirs. He died on May 5, 1821.
Napoleon's life was a very interesting one. Starting a poor boy, hated by most, rising to rule a huge empire, and then finally being destroyed by his own arrogance and ending his life humbled, remembering what he had doe, and leaving it all in his memoirs for the world to read.
Napoleon was born in 1769, on the Island of Corsica. His parents, Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte, were poor nobles. When Napoleon was just 10 years old, his father helped to get him a mathematical scholarship to a military school at Brienne. In the school, Napoleon was hated and considered a foreigner. With no friends, Napoleon concentrated on academics, but still only graduated 42nd in us class of 58. he then continued his education at the Military academy of Paris. After one year there, he became second Lieutenant of artillery, at the age of 17. As a Lieutenant, Napoleon did a lot of reading, mainly in the subjects of history, geography, economic affairs, and philosophy.
Napoleon was assigned to a post at the Valence garrison when he became a Lieutenant, but spent most of his time in Corsica, without permission. During one of these visits, Napoleon had trouble with a Corsican nationalist, named Pasquale Paoli, and Napoleon and his family fled to Marseille in 1793.
Later in 1793, the beginning of the French revolution, Napoleon led an artillery brigade to push out a British fleet that the Royalists had allowed in. Napoleon's mission was a success, and he was promoted to general, and was assigned to the army in Northern Italy.
During the early part of the revolution, Napoleon had supported Maximilien Robespierre's revolutionary group, and when Robespiere was overthrown in 1794, Napoleon spent two months in jail for being associated with him.
When he was released from jail, Napoleon refused to fight a rebellion in Vandee, and he lost his military position for it.
In 1795, Paul Barras, the military leader of a soon to be implemented government, asked Napoleon to fight a revolt in Paris, Napoleon accepted, and quickly ended the revolt. When the directory, the government Barras was part of, came into power, they rewarded Napoleon by appointing him the commander of the army of the interior in 1796. He also married Josephine de Beauharrais in the same year.
Later in 1796, Napoleon launched a campaign to push the Austrian and Sardinian armies out of Northern Italy. Napoleon quickly defeated the Sardinians at Mandovi (about 25 miles from current French borders). In a treaty with the Sardinians, France was given Nice and Savoy. He then went further into Italy, pushing into the Lombardy region. He took the stronghold at Mantua after a long siege, and was heading toward Venice with little resistance when the Austrians surrendered, and Napoleon negotiated the treaty of Campo Formio, which ended what is now called the war of the first coalition. While in Italy, Napoleon took large amounts of money and art to bring to France.
When Napoleon returned from Italy, it was suggested that he invade England. Instead, he decided to invade British-owned Egypt. After sneaking by the British navy, Napoleon landed in Egypt, and quickly carried out the occupation. While Napoleon as inland, the British destroyed the French fleet, leaving Napoleon stuck in Egypt.
In early 1799, the Ottoman empire declared war on France. To stop the Ottoman's from invading Egypt, Napoleon invaded Syria, but was turned back by Turkish troops. By mid-1799, the second coalition (formed by the Ottoman's and Austrians) were defeating French forces in Europe, so Napoleon decided to return to France.
When Napoleon arrived in Paris, he began a conspiracy to overthrow the government. He succeeded, and created a new government called the consulate, of which Napoleon became the first consul.
As consul, Napoleon made many good changes in France. He created the Napoleonic code, which set up a complex code of civil law in the nation. He worked with the Pope to reestablish the Roman Catholic faith in France. He also stabilized the French economy, balancing the budget, established a national bank, and restored the value of French bonds.
In the mean time, Napoleon defeated Austria in Marengo, Italy, and signed the treaty of Luneville, ending the war of the second coalition. He also made peace with Britain with the treaty of Amiens. For his accomplishments in his first years in office, Napoleon was made consul for life in late 1802.
In this time of peace, Napoleon began to try to gain more territory, and exert influence on Europe. He started to attempt control in Holland, Switzerland, and an area called Savoy-Piedmont.
In 1804, a failed assassination attempt on Napoleon drove the senate to tell Napoleon to begin a hereditary dynasty, making him emperor. At his crowning, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope and crowned himself. This shows the arrogance that Napoleon was capable of. As an emperor, he began to value family ties, and he put much of his family in high positions, and had many of them marry people of power. Even Napoleon himself divorced Josephine and Married the daughter of Emperor Francis of Austria, Marie Louise, who he quickly had a male heir with.
In 1803, Britain once again became angry with Napoleon's actions, and war began again. Napoleon took the offensive and took an army of 170,000 to invade Britain. He failed to draw the British navy away from Britain, and didn't have enough power to face them. This, combined with Austria renewing war, forced Napoleon to return to France. Toward the end of 1805, the fleet Napoleon had taken was destroyed by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar, ending the threat of a French invasion of Britain.
After this victory, Britain formed the third coalition and was preparing revenge for the attempted invasion of Britain. However, Napoleon had created the extremely powerful grand army, and, after easily pushing through southern Germany, crushed the Austrians and Russians at Ulm.
After taking Ulm, Napoleon went on to occupy Vienna, one of his largest victories came soon after. The Austrian and Russian forces attacked Napoleon in Austerlitz, in an attempt to cut him off from Vienna. However, Napoleon easily defeated the combined forces in what is now called the battle of Austerlitz. In the treaty of Pressburg, the Austrians gave Venice and Dalmatia to the kingdom of Italy, owned by France.
In 1806, not long after the defeat of the third coalition, Prussia organized the fourth coalition. In the battles of Jena-Auerstadt, Eylau, and Friedland, Napoleon completely annihilated the Prussians and Russians, forcing them to surrender and sign the treaties of Tilsit, giving more land to France.
Angry at the power and defiance of Britain, Napoleon decided to eliminate their economic influence on the mainland. His plan was called the continental system. It was a blockade of British trade. Portugal refused to follow this policy, and France sent troops into the Iberian Peninsula, starting the Peninsular war.
Austria took advantage of the conflict in Portugal and started the fifth coalition. Napoleon quickly won many battles and finally defeated the Austrians at Wagram. The treaty of Schonbrunn ended the fifth coalition in 1809, only four months after it had begun.
In 1802, Napoleon made the decision to invade Russian, in spite of the raging war in Iberia. The Russians fell back and allowed Napoleon to take Moscow with little resistance. While in Moscow waiting for a Russian surrender, Russian reinforcements surrounded the city while arsonists set much of it on fire. Famine and the onset of winter made Napoleon's only option to break out of the city and retreat. Napoleon's army narrowly escaped, and he quickly went to Paris to renew his forces.
The nations of Europe once again took advantage of Napoleon's time of weakness. The Prussians, Russians, British, and Swedes organized the sixth coalition in 1813. Napoleon had foreseen such an attempt, and had rebuilt his grand army. Napoleon's victories at Lutzen and Bautzen brought about a short peace, but later in the year, Austria joined the coalition, and war began again. Napoleon won the battle of Dresden, but was defeated while outnumbered two to one in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. He then fled to Paris, refusing to give up any territory, fearing that doing so would result in an overthrow.
In 1814, the coalition invaded France. Napoleon tried to take advantage of the distance between the armies approaching Paris by picking them off one by one, but was eventually outnumbered. Napoleon gave up his rule and was exiled to the island of Elba, and giving small amounts of governmental power there. Louis XVII took the crown of France. Aware of the French peoples dissatisfaction with Louis XVII's rule, Napoleon returned to France in 1815. Napoleon marched toward Paris, going through areas in which he was popular, and King Louis fled the nation.
Napoleon said that he wished to return in peace, but the allies prepared to push him out. Napoleon won several early victories against the rush of allied attackers, but was defeated for the last time at the battle of Waterloo. Fleeing back to Paris, Napoleon once again stepped down, and surrendered to the British ship Bellerophon. The British exiled him to the Island of Saint Helena.
Napoleon spent the remaining six years of his life living with his secretary and a few friends. There, he dictated his memoirs. He died on May 5, 1821.
Napoleon I 4
NAPOLEON I
Napoleon's life was a very interesting one. Starting a poor boy, hated by most, rising to rule a huge empire, and then finally being destroyed by his own arrogance and ending his life humbled, remembering what he had doe, and leaving it all in his memoirs for the world to read.
Napoleon was born in 1769, on the Island of Corsica. His parents, Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte, were poor nobles. When Napoleon was just 10 years old, his father helped to get him a mathematical scholarship to a military school at Brienne. In the school, Napoleon was hated and considered a foreigner. With no friends, Napoleon concentrated on academics, but still only graduated 42nd in us class of 58. he then continued his education at the Military academy of Paris. After one year there, he became second Lieutenant of artillery, at the age of 17. As a Lieutenant, Napoleon did a lot of reading, mainly in the subjects of history, geography, economic affairs, and philosophy.
Napoleon was assigned to a post at the Valence garrison when he became a Lieutenant, but spent most of his time in Corsica, without permission. During one of these visits, Napoleon had trouble with a Corsican nationalist, named Pasquale Paoli, and Napoleon and his family fled to Marseille in 1793.
Later in 1793, the beginning of the French revolution, Napoleon led an artillery brigade to push out a British fleet that the Royalists had allowed in. Napoleon's mission was a success, and he was promoted to general, and was assigned to the army in Northern Italy.
During the early part of the revolution, Napoleon had supported Maximilien Robespierre's revolutionary group, and when Robespiere was overthrown in 1794, Napoleon spent two months in jail for being associated with him.
When he was released from jail, Napoleon refused to fight a rebellion in Vandee, and he lost his military position for it.
In 1795, Paul Barras, the military leader of a soon to be implemented government, asked Napoleon to fight a revolt in Paris, Napoleon accepted, and quickly ended the revolt. When the directory, the government Barras was part of, came into power, they rewarded Napoleon by appointing him the commander of the army of the interior in 1796. He also married Josephine de Beauharrais in the same year.
Later in 1796, Napoleon launched a campaign to push the Austrian and Sardinian armies out of Northern Italy. Napoleon quickly defeated the Sardinians at Mandovi (about 25 miles from current French borders). In a treaty with the Sardinians, France was given Nice and Savoy. He then went further into Italy, pushing into the Lombardy region. He took the stronghold at Mantua after a long siege, and was heading toward Venice with little resistance when the Austrians surrendered, and Napoleon negotiated the treaty of Campo Formio, which ended what is now called the war of the first coalition. While in Italy, Napoleon took large amounts of money and art to bring to France.
When Napoleon returned from Italy, it was suggested that he invade England. Instead, he decided to invade British-owned Egypt. After sneaking by the British navy, Napoleon landed in Egypt, and quickly carried out the occupation. While Napoleon as inland, the British destroyed the French fleet, leaving Napoleon stuck in Egypt.
In early 1799, the Ottoman empire declared war on France. To stop the Ottoman's from invading Egypt, Napoleon invaded Syria, but was turned back by Turkish troops. By mid-1799, the second coalition (formed by the Ottoman's and Austrians) were defeating French forces in Europe, so Napoleon decided to return to France.
When Napoleon arrived in Paris, he began a conspiracy to overthrow the government. He succeeded, and created a new government called the consulate, of which Napoleon became the first consul.
As consul, Napoleon made many good changes in France. He created the Napoleonic code, which set up a complex code of civil law in the nation. He worked with the Pope to reestablish the Roman Catholic faith in France. He also stabilized the French economy, balancing the budget, established a national bank, and restored the value of French bonds.
In the mean time, Napoleon defeated Austria in Marengo, Italy, and signed the treaty of Luneville, ending the war of the second coalition. He also made peace with Britain with the treaty of Amiens. For his accomplishments in his first years in office, Napoleon was made consul for life in late 1802.
In this time of peace, Napoleon began to try to gain more territory, and exert influence on Europe. He started to attempt control in Holland, Switzerland, and an area called Savoy-Piedmont.
In 1804, a failed assassination attempt on Napoleon drove the senate to tell Napoleon to begin a hereditary dynasty, making him emperor. At his crowning, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope and crowned himself. This shows the arrogance that Napoleon was capable of. As an emperor, he began to value family ties, and he put much of his family in high positions, and had many of them marry people of power. Even Napoleon himself divorced Josephine and Married the daughter of Emperor Francis of Austria, Marie Louise, who he quickly had a male heir with.
In 1803, Britain once again became angry with Napoleon's actions, and war began again. Napoleon took the offensive and took an army of 170,000 to invade Britain. He failed to draw the British navy away from Britain, and didn't have enough power to face them. This, combined with Austria renewing war, forced Napoleon to return to France. Toward the end of 1805, the fleet Napoleon had taken was destroyed by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar, ending the threat of a French invasion of Britain.
After this victory, Britain formed the third coalition and was preparing revenge for the attempted invasion of Britain. However, Napoleon had created the extremely powerful grand army, and, after easily pushing through southern Germany, crushed the Austrians and Russians at Ulm.
After taking Ulm, Napoleon went on to occupy Vienna, one of his largest victories came soon after. The Austrian and Russian forces attacked Napoleon in Austerlitz, in an attempt to cut him off from Vienna. However, Napoleon easily defeated the combined forces in what is now called the battle of Austerlitz. In the treaty of Pressburg, the Austrians gave Venice and Dalmatia to the kingdom of Italy, owned by France.
In 1806, not long after the defeat of the third coalition, Prussia organized the fourth coalition. In the battles of Jena-Auerstadt, Eylau, and Friedland, Napoleon completely annihilated the Prussians and Russians, forcing them to surrender and sign the treaties of Tilsit, giving more land to France.
Angry at the power and defiance of Britain, Napoleon decided to eliminate their economic influence on the mainland. His plan was called the continental system. It was a blockade of British trade. Portugal refused to follow this policy, and France sent troops into the Iberian Peninsula, starting the Peninsular war.
Austria took advantage of the conflict in Portugal and started the fifth coalition. Napoleon quickly won many battles and finally defeated the Austrians at Wagram. The treaty of Schonbrunn ended the fifth coalition in 1809, only four months after it had begun.
In 1802, Napoleon made the decision to invade Russian, in spite of the raging war in Iberia. The Russians fell back and allowed Napoleon to take Moscow with little resistance. While in Moscow waiting for a Russian surrender, Russian reinforcements surrounded the city while arsonists set much of it on fire. Famine and the onset of winter made Napoleon's only option to break out of the city and retreat. Napoleon's army narrowly escaped, and he quickly went to Paris to renew his forces.
The nations of Europe once again took advantage of Napoleon's time of weakness. The Prussians, Russians, British, and Swedes organized the sixth coalition in 1813. Napoleon had foreseen such an attempt, and had rebuilt his grand army. Napoleon's victories at Lutzen and Bautzen brought about a short peace, but later in the year, Austria joined the coalition, and war began again. Napoleon won the battle of Dresden, but was defeated while outnumbered two to one in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. He then fled to Paris, refusing to give up any territory, fearing that doing so would result in an overthrow.
In 1814, the coalition invaded France. Napoleon tried to take advantage of the distance between the armies approaching Paris by picking them off one by one, but was eventually outnumbered. Napoleon gave up his rule and was exiled to the island of Elba, and giving small amounts of governmental power there. Louis XVII took the crown of France. Aware of the French peoples dissatisfaction with Louis XVII's rule, Napoleon returned to France in 1815. Napoleon marched toward Paris, going through areas in which he was popular, and King Louis fled the nation.
Napoleon said that he wished to return in peace, but the allies prepared to push him out. Napoleon won several early victories against the rush of allied attackers, but was defeated for the last time at the battle of Waterloo. Fleeing back to Paris, Napoleon once again stepped down, and surrendered to the British ship Bellerophon. The British exiled him to the Island of Saint Helena.
Napoleon spent the remaining six years of his life living with his secretary and a few friends. There, he dictated his memoirs. He died on May 5, 1821.
Napoleon's life was a very interesting one. Starting a poor boy, hated by most, rising to rule a huge empire, and then finally being destroyed by his own arrogance and ending his life humbled, remembering what he had doe, and leaving it all in his memoirs for the world to read.
Napoleon was born in 1769, on the Island of Corsica. His parents, Carlo and Letizia Bonaparte, were poor nobles. When Napoleon was just 10 years old, his father helped to get him a mathematical scholarship to a military school at Brienne. In the school, Napoleon was hated and considered a foreigner. With no friends, Napoleon concentrated on academics, but still only graduated 42nd in us class of 58. he then continued his education at the Military academy of Paris. After one year there, he became second Lieutenant of artillery, at the age of 17. As a Lieutenant, Napoleon did a lot of reading, mainly in the subjects of history, geography, economic affairs, and philosophy.
Napoleon was assigned to a post at the Valence garrison when he became a Lieutenant, but spent most of his time in Corsica, without permission. During one of these visits, Napoleon had trouble with a Corsican nationalist, named Pasquale Paoli, and Napoleon and his family fled to Marseille in 1793.
Later in 1793, the beginning of the French revolution, Napoleon led an artillery brigade to push out a British fleet that the Royalists had allowed in. Napoleon's mission was a success, and he was promoted to general, and was assigned to the army in Northern Italy.
During the early part of the revolution, Napoleon had supported Maximilien Robespierre's revolutionary group, and when Robespiere was overthrown in 1794, Napoleon spent two months in jail for being associated with him.
When he was released from jail, Napoleon refused to fight a rebellion in Vandee, and he lost his military position for it.
In 1795, Paul Barras, the military leader of a soon to be implemented government, asked Napoleon to fight a revolt in Paris, Napoleon accepted, and quickly ended the revolt. When the directory, the government Barras was part of, came into power, they rewarded Napoleon by appointing him the commander of the army of the interior in 1796. He also married Josephine de Beauharrais in the same year.
Later in 1796, Napoleon launched a campaign to push the Austrian and Sardinian armies out of Northern Italy. Napoleon quickly defeated the Sardinians at Mandovi (about 25 miles from current French borders). In a treaty with the Sardinians, France was given Nice and Savoy. He then went further into Italy, pushing into the Lombardy region. He took the stronghold at Mantua after a long siege, and was heading toward Venice with little resistance when the Austrians surrendered, and Napoleon negotiated the treaty of Campo Formio, which ended what is now called the war of the first coalition. While in Italy, Napoleon took large amounts of money and art to bring to France.
When Napoleon returned from Italy, it was suggested that he invade England. Instead, he decided to invade British-owned Egypt. After sneaking by the British navy, Napoleon landed in Egypt, and quickly carried out the occupation. While Napoleon as inland, the British destroyed the French fleet, leaving Napoleon stuck in Egypt.
In early 1799, the Ottoman empire declared war on France. To stop the Ottoman's from invading Egypt, Napoleon invaded Syria, but was turned back by Turkish troops. By mid-1799, the second coalition (formed by the Ottoman's and Austrians) were defeating French forces in Europe, so Napoleon decided to return to France.
When Napoleon arrived in Paris, he began a conspiracy to overthrow the government. He succeeded, and created a new government called the consulate, of which Napoleon became the first consul.
As consul, Napoleon made many good changes in France. He created the Napoleonic code, which set up a complex code of civil law in the nation. He worked with the Pope to reestablish the Roman Catholic faith in France. He also stabilized the French economy, balancing the budget, established a national bank, and restored the value of French bonds.
In the mean time, Napoleon defeated Austria in Marengo, Italy, and signed the treaty of Luneville, ending the war of the second coalition. He also made peace with Britain with the treaty of Amiens. For his accomplishments in his first years in office, Napoleon was made consul for life in late 1802.
In this time of peace, Napoleon began to try to gain more territory, and exert influence on Europe. He started to attempt control in Holland, Switzerland, and an area called Savoy-Piedmont.
In 1804, a failed assassination attempt on Napoleon drove the senate to tell Napoleon to begin a hereditary dynasty, making him emperor. At his crowning, Napoleon took the crown from the Pope and crowned himself. This shows the arrogance that Napoleon was capable of. As an emperor, he began to value family ties, and he put much of his family in high positions, and had many of them marry people of power. Even Napoleon himself divorced Josephine and Married the daughter of Emperor Francis of Austria, Marie Louise, who he quickly had a male heir with.
In 1803, Britain once again became angry with Napoleon's actions, and war began again. Napoleon took the offensive and took an army of 170,000 to invade Britain. He failed to draw the British navy away from Britain, and didn't have enough power to face them. This, combined with Austria renewing war, forced Napoleon to return to France. Toward the end of 1805, the fleet Napoleon had taken was destroyed by the British at the Battle of Trafalgar, ending the threat of a French invasion of Britain.
After this victory, Britain formed the third coalition and was preparing revenge for the attempted invasion of Britain. However, Napoleon had created the extremely powerful grand army, and, after easily pushing through southern Germany, crushed the Austrians and Russians at Ulm.
After taking Ulm, Napoleon went on to occupy Vienna, one of his largest victories came soon after. The Austrian and Russian forces attacked Napoleon in Austerlitz, in an attempt to cut him off from Vienna. However, Napoleon easily defeated the combined forces in what is now called the battle of Austerlitz. In the treaty of Pressburg, the Austrians gave Venice and Dalmatia to the kingdom of Italy, owned by France.
In 1806, not long after the defeat of the third coalition, Prussia organized the fourth coalition. In the battles of Jena-Auerstadt, Eylau, and Friedland, Napoleon completely annihilated the Prussians and Russians, forcing them to surrender and sign the treaties of Tilsit, giving more land to France.
Angry at the power and defiance of Britain, Napoleon decided to eliminate their economic influence on the mainland. His plan was called the continental system. It was a blockade of British trade. Portugal refused to follow this policy, and France sent troops into the Iberian Peninsula, starting the Peninsular war.
Austria took advantage of the conflict in Portugal and started the fifth coalition. Napoleon quickly won many battles and finally defeated the Austrians at Wagram. The treaty of Schonbrunn ended the fifth coalition in 1809, only four months after it had begun.
In 1802, Napoleon made the decision to invade Russian, in spite of the raging war in Iberia. The Russians fell back and allowed Napoleon to take Moscow with little resistance. While in Moscow waiting for a Russian surrender, Russian reinforcements surrounded the city while arsonists set much of it on fire. Famine and the onset of winter made Napoleon's only option to break out of the city and retreat. Napoleon's army narrowly escaped, and he quickly went to Paris to renew his forces.
The nations of Europe once again took advantage of Napoleon's time of weakness. The Prussians, Russians, British, and Swedes organized the sixth coalition in 1813. Napoleon had foreseen such an attempt, and had rebuilt his grand army. Napoleon's victories at Lutzen and Bautzen brought about a short peace, but later in the year, Austria joined the coalition, and war began again. Napoleon won the battle of Dresden, but was defeated while outnumbered two to one in the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig. He then fled to Paris, refusing to give up any territory, fearing that doing so would result in an overthrow.
In 1814, the coalition invaded France. Napoleon tried to take advantage of the distance between the armies approaching Paris by picking them off one by one, but was eventually outnumbered. Napoleon gave up his rule and was exiled to the island of Elba, and giving small amounts of governmental power there. Louis XVII took the crown of France. Aware of the French peoples dissatisfaction with Louis XVII's rule, Napoleon returned to France in 1815. Napoleon marched toward Paris, going through areas in which he was popular, and King Louis fled the nation.
Napoleon said that he wished to return in peace, but the allies prepared to push him out. Napoleon won several early victories against the rush of allied attackers, but was defeated for the last time at the battle of Waterloo. Fleeing back to Paris, Napoleon once again stepped down, and surrendered to the British ship Bellerophon. The British exiled him to the Island of Saint Helena.
Napoleon spent the remaining six years of his life living with his secretary and a few friends. There, he dictated his memoirs. He died on May 5, 1821.
Mohandas Gandhi
Mohandas Gandhi
Born into a merchant family in 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was
under the influence of powerful people. Members of his family had served as
prime ministers of an Indian state for several generations. His parents
were strong in their religion, being devout and earnest Hindus. They were a
part of a Hindu sect that worshipped Vishnu and promoted non-violence.
Apparently, he was most influenced by his mother, a gentle and
intelligent person. According to Hindu custom, he married at an early age
and grew to love his wife greatly. Together, they had four children and
adopted a fourth.
Later, in 1888, he travelled to England to become a barrister-at-law.
There were several important influences that he encountered here: the
Western material style of life, which he decided not to follow, and in the
simple Russian way of living he found: the New Testament, and the
Bhagavadgita, the bible of the Hare Krishna movement. It was here that he
developed a sense of the presence of God in his life and the lives of men.
Gandhi then returned to India and studied law in Bombay, but he
quickly denounced it, feeling that it was immoral and could not satisfy
one's conscience. Despite this, he used his schooling to help plead for
Indian settlers in South Africa that were being oppressed by the white
population. His personal experiences, including being ejected from a train
in Maritzburg, of not being allowed the same rights as others lead him to
begin a movement to help his people.
While in South Africa, Gandhi made himself poor so that he could
identify with his the peasants. He then proceeded to start a colony that
consisted of abused labourers. The colony became very large and many cities
were crippled by the lack of labourers. The government reacted to this by
jailing Gandhi several times along with many other of his followers. The
war he fought was one without weapons, already Gandhi was on his way to
starting his career of non-violent campaigns.
The main idea behind Gandhi's teachings was non-violence. The words of
the Sanskrit language: ahinsa and sayagraha clearly express Gandhi's
beliefs. The former means non-killing, non-destructive and the latter means
the force of universal truth. He believed that the killing of man or beast
is an unforgivable sin. Many who promoted these teachings of Gandhi simply
believed that it was their only option for resisting imperialism rather
than having a moral conviction towards his teachings. He taught that the
weapon that could be used was the conscience of the aggressor. This ahimsa
is, to some degree, in the tradition of Hinduism.
Hinduism teaches to stay away from temptation through various
exercises that test one's ability to perform a difficult task, this
devitalizes a person and causes him to act on a non-violent level.
In addition, he taught that one should act rather be held under
subservience. Gandhi himself once stated, "Mere knowledge of right and
wrong will not make one fit for salvation...the Gita says: 'No one has
attained his goal without action...' From this quotation, we learn that his
teachings are influenced by the Bhagavadgita and that he believes that one
must act to reach a goal. But, he believed that one should denounce the
rewards and simply devote one's life to acting on the behalf of others and
that life should be lived near the soil, away from the influence of
machines.
Also, Gandhi strongly believed in upholding the caste system,
believing that a person of one caste should stay a part of that caste. He
also upheld the old Hindu tradition of segregation of castes, indicating
that, "Interdining and intermarraige have never been a bar to disunion,
quarrels or worse." According to Hinduism, the caste system lies in respect
for one another's individuality.
Gandhi is well known for his efforts in fighting imperliasm in India
and South Africa. His methods were, unique in that they did not involve the
use of weapons.
During the South African War of 1899-1902 and during the Zulu
rebellion in 1906, Gandhi organised an ambulance corps consisting of
Indians to help the British fight. He believed that duty dictated that the
Indian population had a responsibity to help the British when they were in
a time of need. Perhaps he was trying to show them that the Indians put an
effort into helping the British forces just like everyone else and deserved
the same rights as everyone else.
It is interesting to note that Gandhi did not promote fighting, but he
helped those who were in need of assistance.
After the law was passed that all Indians were required to carry an
identity card with them at all times, Gandhi organised a group that
resisted the government. In 1914, Gandhi and his followers recieved their
first victory, the South African Government took away many of the laws that
had no real purpose except to humiliate the Indian people.
When Gandhi returned to India in 1914, the Indian population had heard
of his accomplishments and he was given the name Mahatma, which means 'a
man of great soul'. For the next little while, he examined the situation
here and, while doing so, attained a few victories in his fight against
oppression. Several times in 1917, he unhardened the spirits of peasants
and motivated them to rebel without the use of violence.
In 1919, Gandhi called upon all Indians to engage in non-violent
disobedience against the British Government by withdrawing from Government
jobs and from schools and colleges. The magnitude of this act showed when
many cities were held at a standstill as the governmental system was unable
to act. Such was the power of non-violent protest.
When, in 1920, Gandhi became the leader of the Congress, more Indians
gave up their governmental jobs to join the movement. After many of his
follower's were put into prison and cruelly dealt with, some people engaged
in violence. Gandhi's distaste for this reaction showed, yet he blamed
himself calling it a 'Himalayan miscalculation' to have failed to teach the
people how to react non-violently before asking them to protest. As a
result of his 'mistake', he called off the entire movement, thinking it had
been a failure. On the contrary, the movement had been a great success, no
longer did the Indians fear the British jails or the British guns. It was
evident now, that the British Government in India was inevitably going to
fall.
After many failures to reach an agreement with the British Government
and after a short 'Individual Civil Disobedience' movement where many were
imprisoned, the British finally gave the power to the Indians in 1946. But,
the question remained as to whether or not the area should be separated
into two on a communal basis. As a result, many riots broke out between the
different interests of the people.
Gandhi himself was opposed to separation and to the violence that had
broken out. He went from village to village trying to get the people to
understand the benefits of unity, but it wasn't working. He was forced to
agree with his comrades in the Congress who promoted partition into two
areas: India and Pakistan, which came about in 1947.
In 1948, Gandhi was fatally shot by a Hindu fanatic. All over the
globe, there was a certain sadness as many realized that the man whom they
had looked up to and followed was now dead. As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the
Prime Minister of India, put it, "The light has gone out of our lives and
there is darkness everywhere and I do not quite know what to tell you and
how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu, as we call him the father of our
nation, is no more.
Gandhi's influence certainly spreads the globe. He has been the role
model for many famous, influential people. One of these persons is Martin
Luther King, Jr (1929-1968) who was famous for leading a non-violent
movement for racial equality in the U.S.A.. Another person is Joan Baez
(1941- ) who became famous as a folk-singer, a composer, and a guitarist.
She lead many antiwar and civil rights movements in the U.S.. A third
person could be Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister of India. He was
deeply saddened by Gandhi's death and could not have become Prime Minister
without Gandhi's efforts.
Indeed, Gandhi was a influential man who helped father the nation of
India as we know it today. Without him, the Indians might still be held
under British rule. Without him, many might not have been inspired to fight
racism or imperialism non-violently.
Born into a merchant family in 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was
under the influence of powerful people. Members of his family had served as
prime ministers of an Indian state for several generations. His parents
were strong in their religion, being devout and earnest Hindus. They were a
part of a Hindu sect that worshipped Vishnu and promoted non-violence.
Apparently, he was most influenced by his mother, a gentle and
intelligent person. According to Hindu custom, he married at an early age
and grew to love his wife greatly. Together, they had four children and
adopted a fourth.
Later, in 1888, he travelled to England to become a barrister-at-law.
There were several important influences that he encountered here: the
Western material style of life, which he decided not to follow, and in the
simple Russian way of living he found: the New Testament, and the
Bhagavadgita, the bible of the Hare Krishna movement. It was here that he
developed a sense of the presence of God in his life and the lives of men.
Gandhi then returned to India and studied law in Bombay, but he
quickly denounced it, feeling that it was immoral and could not satisfy
one's conscience. Despite this, he used his schooling to help plead for
Indian settlers in South Africa that were being oppressed by the white
population. His personal experiences, including being ejected from a train
in Maritzburg, of not being allowed the same rights as others lead him to
begin a movement to help his people.
While in South Africa, Gandhi made himself poor so that he could
identify with his the peasants. He then proceeded to start a colony that
consisted of abused labourers. The colony became very large and many cities
were crippled by the lack of labourers. The government reacted to this by
jailing Gandhi several times along with many other of his followers. The
war he fought was one without weapons, already Gandhi was on his way to
starting his career of non-violent campaigns.
The main idea behind Gandhi's teachings was non-violence. The words of
the Sanskrit language: ahinsa and sayagraha clearly express Gandhi's
beliefs. The former means non-killing, non-destructive and the latter means
the force of universal truth. He believed that the killing of man or beast
is an unforgivable sin. Many who promoted these teachings of Gandhi simply
believed that it was their only option for resisting imperialism rather
than having a moral conviction towards his teachings. He taught that the
weapon that could be used was the conscience of the aggressor. This ahimsa
is, to some degree, in the tradition of Hinduism.
Hinduism teaches to stay away from temptation through various
exercises that test one's ability to perform a difficult task, this
devitalizes a person and causes him to act on a non-violent level.
In addition, he taught that one should act rather be held under
subservience. Gandhi himself once stated, "Mere knowledge of right and
wrong will not make one fit for salvation...the Gita says: 'No one has
attained his goal without action...' From this quotation, we learn that his
teachings are influenced by the Bhagavadgita and that he believes that one
must act to reach a goal. But, he believed that one should denounce the
rewards and simply devote one's life to acting on the behalf of others and
that life should be lived near the soil, away from the influence of
machines.
Also, Gandhi strongly believed in upholding the caste system,
believing that a person of one caste should stay a part of that caste. He
also upheld the old Hindu tradition of segregation of castes, indicating
that, "Interdining and intermarraige have never been a bar to disunion,
quarrels or worse." According to Hinduism, the caste system lies in respect
for one another's individuality.
Gandhi is well known for his efforts in fighting imperliasm in India
and South Africa. His methods were, unique in that they did not involve the
use of weapons.
During the South African War of 1899-1902 and during the Zulu
rebellion in 1906, Gandhi organised an ambulance corps consisting of
Indians to help the British fight. He believed that duty dictated that the
Indian population had a responsibity to help the British when they were in
a time of need. Perhaps he was trying to show them that the Indians put an
effort into helping the British forces just like everyone else and deserved
the same rights as everyone else.
It is interesting to note that Gandhi did not promote fighting, but he
helped those who were in need of assistance.
After the law was passed that all Indians were required to carry an
identity card with them at all times, Gandhi organised a group that
resisted the government. In 1914, Gandhi and his followers recieved their
first victory, the South African Government took away many of the laws that
had no real purpose except to humiliate the Indian people.
When Gandhi returned to India in 1914, the Indian population had heard
of his accomplishments and he was given the name Mahatma, which means 'a
man of great soul'. For the next little while, he examined the situation
here and, while doing so, attained a few victories in his fight against
oppression. Several times in 1917, he unhardened the spirits of peasants
and motivated them to rebel without the use of violence.
In 1919, Gandhi called upon all Indians to engage in non-violent
disobedience against the British Government by withdrawing from Government
jobs and from schools and colleges. The magnitude of this act showed when
many cities were held at a standstill as the governmental system was unable
to act. Such was the power of non-violent protest.
When, in 1920, Gandhi became the leader of the Congress, more Indians
gave up their governmental jobs to join the movement. After many of his
follower's were put into prison and cruelly dealt with, some people engaged
in violence. Gandhi's distaste for this reaction showed, yet he blamed
himself calling it a 'Himalayan miscalculation' to have failed to teach the
people how to react non-violently before asking them to protest. As a
result of his 'mistake', he called off the entire movement, thinking it had
been a failure. On the contrary, the movement had been a great success, no
longer did the Indians fear the British jails or the British guns. It was
evident now, that the British Government in India was inevitably going to
fall.
After many failures to reach an agreement with the British Government
and after a short 'Individual Civil Disobedience' movement where many were
imprisoned, the British finally gave the power to the Indians in 1946. But,
the question remained as to whether or not the area should be separated
into two on a communal basis. As a result, many riots broke out between the
different interests of the people.
Gandhi himself was opposed to separation and to the violence that had
broken out. He went from village to village trying to get the people to
understand the benefits of unity, but it wasn't working. He was forced to
agree with his comrades in the Congress who promoted partition into two
areas: India and Pakistan, which came about in 1947.
In 1948, Gandhi was fatally shot by a Hindu fanatic. All over the
globe, there was a certain sadness as many realized that the man whom they
had looked up to and followed was now dead. As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the
Prime Minister of India, put it, "The light has gone out of our lives and
there is darkness everywhere and I do not quite know what to tell you and
how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu, as we call him the father of our
nation, is no more.
Gandhi's influence certainly spreads the globe. He has been the role
model for many famous, influential people. One of these persons is Martin
Luther King, Jr (1929-1968) who was famous for leading a non-violent
movement for racial equality in the U.S.A.. Another person is Joan Baez
(1941- ) who became famous as a folk-singer, a composer, and a guitarist.
She lead many antiwar and civil rights movements in the U.S.. A third
person could be Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister of India. He was
deeply saddened by Gandhi's death and could not have become Prime Minister
without Gandhi's efforts.
Indeed, Gandhi was a influential man who helped father the nation of
India as we know it today. Without him, the Indians might still be held
under British rule. Without him, many might not have been inspired to fight
racism or imperialism non-violently.
Mohandas Gandhi 4
Mohandas Gandhi
Born into a merchant family in 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was
under the influence of powerful people. Members of his family had served as
prime ministers of an Indian state for several generations. His parents
were strong in their religion, being devout and earnest Hindus. They were a
part of a Hindu sect that worshipped Vishnu and promoted non-violence.
Apparently, he was most influenced by his mother, a gentle and
intelligent person. According to Hindu custom, he married at an early age
and grew to love his wife greatly. Together, they had four children and
adopted a fourth.
Later, in 1888, he travelled to England to become a barrister-at-law.
There were several important influences that he encountered here: the
Western material style of life, which he decided not to follow, and in the
simple Russian way of living he found: the New Testament, and the
Bhagavadgita, the bible of the Hare Krishna movement. It was here that he
developed a sense of the presence of God in his life and the lives of men.
Gandhi then returned to India and studied law in Bombay, but he
quickly denounced it, feeling that it was immoral and could not satisfy
one's conscience. Despite this, he used his schooling to help plead for
Indian settlers in South Africa that were being oppressed by the white
population. His personal experiences, including being ejected from a train
in Maritzburg, of not being allowed the same rights as others lead him to
begin a movement to help his people.
While in South Africa, Gandhi made himself poor so that he could
identify with his the peasants. He then proceeded to start a colony that
consisted of abused labourers. The colony became very large and many cities
were crippled by the lack of labourers. The government reacted to this by
jailing Gandhi several times along with many other of his followers. The
war he fought was one without weapons, already Gandhi was on his way to
starting his career of non-violent campaigns.
The main idea behind Gandhi's teachings was non-violence. The words of
the Sanskrit language: ahinsa and sayagraha clearly express Gandhi's
beliefs. The former means non-killing, non-destructive and the latter means
the force of universal truth. He believed that the killing of man or beast
is an unforgivable sin. Many who promoted these teachings of Gandhi simply
believed that it was their only option for resisting imperialism rather
than having a moral conviction towards his teachings. He taught that the
weapon that could be used was the conscience of the aggressor. This ahimsa
is, to some degree, in the tradition of Hinduism.
Hinduism teaches to stay away from temptation through various
exercises that test one's ability to perform a difficult task, this
devitalizes a person and causes him to act on a non-violent level.
In addition, he taught that one should act rather be held under
subservience. Gandhi himself once stated, "Mere knowledge of right and
wrong will not make one fit for salvation...the Gita says: 'No one has
attained his goal without action...' From this quotation, we learn that his
teachings are influenced by the Bhagavadgita and that he believes that one
must act to reach a goal. But, he believed that one should denounce the
rewards and simply devote one's life to acting on the behalf of others and
that life should be lived near the soil, away from the influence of
machines.
Also, Gandhi strongly believed in upholding the caste system,
believing that a person of one caste should stay a part of that caste. He
also upheld the old Hindu tradition of segregation of castes, indicating
that, "Interdining and intermarraige have never been a bar to disunion,
quarrels or worse." According to Hinduism, the caste system lies in respect
for one another's individuality.
Gandhi is well known for his efforts in fighting imperliasm in India
and South Africa. His methods were, unique in that they did not involve the
use of weapons.
During the South African War of 1899-1902 and during the Zulu
rebellion in 1906, Gandhi organised an ambulance corps consisting of
Indians to help the British fight. He believed that duty dictated that the
Indian population had a responsibity to help the British when they were in
a time of need. Perhaps he was trying to show them that the Indians put an
effort into helping the British forces just like everyone else and deserved
the same rights as everyone else.
It is interesting to note that Gandhi did not promote fighting, but he
helped those who were in need of assistance.
After the law was passed that all Indians were required to carry an
identity card with them at all times, Gandhi organised a group that
resisted the government. In 1914, Gandhi and his followers recieved their
first victory, the South African Government took away many of the laws that
had no real purpose except to humiliate the Indian people.
When Gandhi returned to India in 1914, the Indian population had heard
of his accomplishments and he was given the name Mahatma, which means 'a
man of great soul'. For the next little while, he examined the situation
here and, while doing so, attained a few victories in his fight against
oppression. Several times in 1917, he unhardened the spirits of peasants
and motivated them to rebel without the use of violence.
In 1919, Gandhi called upon all Indians to engage in non-violent
disobedience against the British Government by withdrawing from Government
jobs and from schools and colleges. The magnitude of this act showed when
many cities were held at a standstill as the governmental system was unable
to act. Such was the power of non-violent protest.
When, in 1920, Gandhi became the leader of the Congress, more Indians
gave up their governmental jobs to join the movement. After many of his
follower's were put into prison and cruelly dealt with, some people engaged
in violence. Gandhi's distaste for this reaction showed, yet he blamed
himself calling it a 'Himalayan miscalculation' to have failed to teach the
people how to react non-violently before asking them to protest. As a
result of his 'mistake', he called off the entire movement, thinking it had
been a failure. On the contrary, the movement had been a great success, no
longer did the Indians fear the British jails or the British guns. It was
evident now, that the British Government in India was inevitably going to
fall.
After many failures to reach an agreement with the British Government
and after a short 'Individual Civil Disobedience' movement where many were
imprisoned, the British finally gave the power to the Indians in 1946. But,
the question remained as to whether or not the area should be separated
into two on a communal basis. As a result, many riots broke out between the
different interests of the people.
Gandhi himself was opposed to separation and to the violence that had
broken out. He went from village to village trying to get the people to
understand the benefits of unity, but it wasn't working. He was forced to
agree with his comrades in the Congress who promoted partition into two
areas: India and Pakistan, which came about in 1947.
In 1948, Gandhi was fatally shot by a Hindu fanatic. All over the
globe, there was a certain sadness as many realized that the man whom they
had looked up to and followed was now dead. As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the
Prime Minister of India, put it, "The light has gone out of our lives and
there is darkness everywhere and I do not quite know what to tell you and
how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu, as we call him the father of our
nation, is no more.
Gandhi's influence certainly spreads the globe. He has been the role
model for many famous, influential people. One of these persons is Martin
Luther King, Jr (1929-1968) who was famous for leading a non-violent
movement for racial equality in the U.S.A.. Another person is Joan Baez
(1941- ) who became famous as a folk-singer, a composer, and a guitarist.
She lead many antiwar and civil rights movements in the U.S.. A third
person could be Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister of India. He was
deeply saddened by Gandhi's death and could not have become Prime Minister
without Gandhi's efforts.
Indeed, Gandhi was a influential man who helped father the nation of
India as we know it today. Without him, the Indians might still be held
under British rule. Without him, many might not have been inspired to fight
racism or imperialism non-violently.
Born into a merchant family in 1869, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was
under the influence of powerful people. Members of his family had served as
prime ministers of an Indian state for several generations. His parents
were strong in their religion, being devout and earnest Hindus. They were a
part of a Hindu sect that worshipped Vishnu and promoted non-violence.
Apparently, he was most influenced by his mother, a gentle and
intelligent person. According to Hindu custom, he married at an early age
and grew to love his wife greatly. Together, they had four children and
adopted a fourth.
Later, in 1888, he travelled to England to become a barrister-at-law.
There were several important influences that he encountered here: the
Western material style of life, which he decided not to follow, and in the
simple Russian way of living he found: the New Testament, and the
Bhagavadgita, the bible of the Hare Krishna movement. It was here that he
developed a sense of the presence of God in his life and the lives of men.
Gandhi then returned to India and studied law in Bombay, but he
quickly denounced it, feeling that it was immoral and could not satisfy
one's conscience. Despite this, he used his schooling to help plead for
Indian settlers in South Africa that were being oppressed by the white
population. His personal experiences, including being ejected from a train
in Maritzburg, of not being allowed the same rights as others lead him to
begin a movement to help his people.
While in South Africa, Gandhi made himself poor so that he could
identify with his the peasants. He then proceeded to start a colony that
consisted of abused labourers. The colony became very large and many cities
were crippled by the lack of labourers. The government reacted to this by
jailing Gandhi several times along with many other of his followers. The
war he fought was one without weapons, already Gandhi was on his way to
starting his career of non-violent campaigns.
The main idea behind Gandhi's teachings was non-violence. The words of
the Sanskrit language: ahinsa and sayagraha clearly express Gandhi's
beliefs. The former means non-killing, non-destructive and the latter means
the force of universal truth. He believed that the killing of man or beast
is an unforgivable sin. Many who promoted these teachings of Gandhi simply
believed that it was their only option for resisting imperialism rather
than having a moral conviction towards his teachings. He taught that the
weapon that could be used was the conscience of the aggressor. This ahimsa
is, to some degree, in the tradition of Hinduism.
Hinduism teaches to stay away from temptation through various
exercises that test one's ability to perform a difficult task, this
devitalizes a person and causes him to act on a non-violent level.
In addition, he taught that one should act rather be held under
subservience. Gandhi himself once stated, "Mere knowledge of right and
wrong will not make one fit for salvation...the Gita says: 'No one has
attained his goal without action...' From this quotation, we learn that his
teachings are influenced by the Bhagavadgita and that he believes that one
must act to reach a goal. But, he believed that one should denounce the
rewards and simply devote one's life to acting on the behalf of others and
that life should be lived near the soil, away from the influence of
machines.
Also, Gandhi strongly believed in upholding the caste system,
believing that a person of one caste should stay a part of that caste. He
also upheld the old Hindu tradition of segregation of castes, indicating
that, "Interdining and intermarraige have never been a bar to disunion,
quarrels or worse." According to Hinduism, the caste system lies in respect
for one another's individuality.
Gandhi is well known for his efforts in fighting imperliasm in India
and South Africa. His methods were, unique in that they did not involve the
use of weapons.
During the South African War of 1899-1902 and during the Zulu
rebellion in 1906, Gandhi organised an ambulance corps consisting of
Indians to help the British fight. He believed that duty dictated that the
Indian population had a responsibity to help the British when they were in
a time of need. Perhaps he was trying to show them that the Indians put an
effort into helping the British forces just like everyone else and deserved
the same rights as everyone else.
It is interesting to note that Gandhi did not promote fighting, but he
helped those who were in need of assistance.
After the law was passed that all Indians were required to carry an
identity card with them at all times, Gandhi organised a group that
resisted the government. In 1914, Gandhi and his followers recieved their
first victory, the South African Government took away many of the laws that
had no real purpose except to humiliate the Indian people.
When Gandhi returned to India in 1914, the Indian population had heard
of his accomplishments and he was given the name Mahatma, which means 'a
man of great soul'. For the next little while, he examined the situation
here and, while doing so, attained a few victories in his fight against
oppression. Several times in 1917, he unhardened the spirits of peasants
and motivated them to rebel without the use of violence.
In 1919, Gandhi called upon all Indians to engage in non-violent
disobedience against the British Government by withdrawing from Government
jobs and from schools and colleges. The magnitude of this act showed when
many cities were held at a standstill as the governmental system was unable
to act. Such was the power of non-violent protest.
When, in 1920, Gandhi became the leader of the Congress, more Indians
gave up their governmental jobs to join the movement. After many of his
follower's were put into prison and cruelly dealt with, some people engaged
in violence. Gandhi's distaste for this reaction showed, yet he blamed
himself calling it a 'Himalayan miscalculation' to have failed to teach the
people how to react non-violently before asking them to protest. As a
result of his 'mistake', he called off the entire movement, thinking it had
been a failure. On the contrary, the movement had been a great success, no
longer did the Indians fear the British jails or the British guns. It was
evident now, that the British Government in India was inevitably going to
fall.
After many failures to reach an agreement with the British Government
and after a short 'Individual Civil Disobedience' movement where many were
imprisoned, the British finally gave the power to the Indians in 1946. But,
the question remained as to whether or not the area should be separated
into two on a communal basis. As a result, many riots broke out between the
different interests of the people.
Gandhi himself was opposed to separation and to the violence that had
broken out. He went from village to village trying to get the people to
understand the benefits of unity, but it wasn't working. He was forced to
agree with his comrades in the Congress who promoted partition into two
areas: India and Pakistan, which came about in 1947.
In 1948, Gandhi was fatally shot by a Hindu fanatic. All over the
globe, there was a certain sadness as many realized that the man whom they
had looked up to and followed was now dead. As Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the
Prime Minister of India, put it, "The light has gone out of our lives and
there is darkness everywhere and I do not quite know what to tell you and
how to say it. Our beloved leader, Bapu, as we call him the father of our
nation, is no more.
Gandhi's influence certainly spreads the globe. He has been the role
model for many famous, influential people. One of these persons is Martin
Luther King, Jr (1929-1968) who was famous for leading a non-violent
movement for racial equality in the U.S.A.. Another person is Joan Baez
(1941- ) who became famous as a folk-singer, a composer, and a guitarist.
She lead many antiwar and civil rights movements in the U.S.. A third
person could be Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister of India. He was
deeply saddened by Gandhi's death and could not have become Prime Minister
without Gandhi's efforts.
Indeed, Gandhi was a influential man who helped father the nation of
India as we know it today. Without him, the Indians might still be held
under British rule. Without him, many might not have been inspired to fight
racism or imperialism non-violently.
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