Comparre and Contrast Essay

Over the years the U.S had underwent tremendous changes socially, politically, and economically making the U.S what it is today. Many classes began to develop with industrialization. Rich factory owners were able to set themselves out from the rest of the group by growing in wealth, and there were many lower-class unskilled workers who took jobs where ever they could find them. By 1800, many political leaders were convinced that slavery was undesirable, and should eventually be abolished, and the slaves returned to their natural homes in Africa. Women had no rights at all men had the upper hand in everything , women couldn’t even get an education they had to stay home cleaning , cooking , and taking care of the kids but eventually a law was passed and women could participation in politics, get an education , and get a job just like men. With various inventions such as the typewriter, the mechanical reaper, the oil drill, and the light bulb, work was able to be done at a much faster and efficient rate, which made things cheaper, which then in turn helped the economy because people were able to buy more things. The Federal Reserve was established. Early American currency went through several stages of development in the colonial and post-Revolutionary history of the United States. Because few coins were minted in the thirteen colonies that became the United States in 1776, foreign coins like the Spanish dollar were widely circulated. Many political machines were run through tenant owners where immigrants were able to sign up for a job in a factory if they vowed to vote for a candidate of the land lord’s choice. Ratification of the 14th amendment was established standardizing what an American citizen was. The 13th amendment was established abolishing slavery. The 15th amendment was passed after the Civil War that guaranteed blacks the right to vote. This amendment affected not only freed slaves in the South, but also blacks living in the North, who generally had not been allowed to vote. As you can see the U.S had underwent a lot of socially, politically, and economically changes. If it wasn’t for all these changes being made the U.S wouldn’t be where it is today.

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Essay

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer and polymath back in the 1800s. Goethe is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. Although he was alive so long ago, the ideas he put out there are still pertinent to the modern world: such as my personal life, recent movies, and current events. Goethe came up with this viewpoint on life: Until one is committed there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation) there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help that would never have otherwise occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision rising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen, incidents and meeting and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, proven and magic in it. Begin it now! Goethe’s quote is a universal truth. His philosophy is even proven in my life. A project was given to me that I grew abhorrence for. Procrastinating until a couple days before the due date, I became upset and overwhelmed. I started convincing myself I could not do it. My mother said, â€Å"you’re making it harder than what it is. Do your research. Let the ideas come to you. It will all come together once you start. Stop putting it off and just do it. â€Å" With that in mind, I centered my concentration to my project and nothing but my project. Ideas kept coming to me as I let my mind and words flow. I became the person I needed to pretend to be for the project. I completed it to my best ability. I even made the appearance of my project outstanding. My teacher was so impressed with my work that she presented it to the class, and it was passed around the room. It all happened because I focused my mind on that specific goal. The movie Forrest Gump is an all-time favorite. The main character was committed to every task he was given. One day he decided to run, and he ran across the United States. It took him 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours until he felt he was finished. Furthermore, while he was at camp in the army, all he did was play ping-pong. All he thought about was ping-pong. He even played ping-pong in his sleep. He was so good a whole crowd would come to watch him play. Even when he was in the army and went to save his â€Å"best good friend† Bubba, he didn’t stop until he found him. He saved his whole platoon that day while searching for Bubba. Every time he was on a mission or had a goal, he would direct all his focus to that particular objective. He had the ability to focus on anything and do it to his full potential. In the world today, we are in an economic crisis. Companies lay off workers; therefore, there are loads of unemployed people. Since they have no jobs, they are not receiving money. Companies aren’t selling much because people have no money to buy things that are not necessities. There is no flow of money. Everyone is afraid to put their cash out there because they are frightened by the fact that they might not be successful and wouldn’t have enough to buy necessities anymore. There is ineffectiveness and hesitancy in the world. No one wants to take a risk and be committed to one thing. Once people devote themselves to fixing the economy, it will happen. However, everyone is waiting on someone else to do it. Just like in the great depression, everyone was afraid to do something about the problem, until everyone said enough is enough and were devoted to fixing the problem; and look what happened because of that. We solved the crisis. In my final analysis, many people are not focused and are worried about too much. Focus on one thing and commit yourself to it. Everything a person does should be there center of attention. By doing this, one will achieve their goal and maybe even more than expected. Goethe’s philosophy shows how to reach a goal: Focus, commit, and do it. Just like Nike, a successful shoe company, says, â€Å"Just do it† and whatever you want to happen, will happen.

The study of Jeffrey Weeks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The study of Jeffrey Weeks - Essay Example Jeffrey Weeks has been a well known man for quite some time, and the beginning of this notoriety truly began once his literary works began to come out, as they were more open and more revealing than most others had ever been. His work discusses primarily the issues of homosexuality, however at the same time it discusses much more than that, as he is able to discuss such matters as homosexual identity, finding homosexual identity, the history of homosexual identity, homosexuality in politics, homosexuality and its influence on the world, and much more. He has been both praised and criticized for his work, but overall his work is taken on a most positive note, as it has not only explained and universalized many of the most important issues that are evident in the present day world, but as well it has led to the onset of not only present but future forms of research and contemplation in the areas of his work. In order to better understand Weeks, and in particular that of his contributio ns and his significance to the world overall, we must do several things. First, we must discuss more about Weeks and his life in general, and as well we must then discuss his relevance and how his approach and his contribution to theory building have been influential in general. ... This is what will be dissertated in the following. Jeffery Weeks was born in Rhondda, Wales in 1945, and he was educated at both the University College in London and the University of Kent at Canterbury. In regards to his work he actually basically began as a lecturer in sociology at the University of Kent, and in the year 1980 he became the Simon Senior Fellow at the University of Manchester. He was also professor of social relations at Bristol Polytechnic, continuing his work on throughout this time. Weeks is considered as being "among the academics in the early period of gay men's studies in Britain emerging from the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) which he joined in 1970 and the Gay Left Collective of which he was a founder member. He began by chronicling the development of homosexual politics from the late nineteenth century to the gay liberation movement in Coming Out, (1977)" (The Knitting Circle, 2002). Following his work as a professor at Bristol Polytechnic, he then became Professor of Sociology at South Bank University in the year 1994, and the he was Head of School of Education, Politics and Social Science from 1995-1998, and finally he became Dean of Humanities and Social Science in August, 1998. He spent most of the beginning of his education at select places, as he would stay in one location and then concentrate his work there, and move on once he felt the time was right. Thus he did not scatter from place to place, but rather, as he worked, and as his work became more and more accepted and noted, he basically made his way up the ladder, until he reached where he is today, which he has been at for several years now. Weeks is a man who is incredibly

The accounting Profession Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The accounting Profession - Assignment Example The article provides an analysis of the SWOT analysis for Deloitte. It provides information on the performance of the company in the auditing field of business. The analysis is very helpful for the reader in the sense than one gets to understand both the internal and external environments of the company that influence its performance. The internal environment relate to strength and weaknesses whereas the external environment relates to issues such as opportunities and threats. Litigation support and fraud accounting are both areas in the field of forensic accounting. However, there exists a difference between the two areas. Litigation support involves the forensic accountant giving opinion about existing facts or facts that are yet to be uncovered. On the other hand, fraud accounting involves making investigations to unmask cases of fraud on the company books of accounts. The difference arises from the fact that a forensic accountant only provides an opinion in the case of litigation support whereas he gets involves in making investigation in the case of fraud accounting. This means that a forensic accountant has a passive role in litigation support and an active role in fraud accounting. The most important skill is working experience gained from everyday accomplishment of forensic accounting tasks. This skill is very crucial because the longer a forensic accountant has been in the profession, the greater the ability to handle various challenges related to everyday tasks. Experts comment that despite an accountant gaining knowledge in internal controls, accounting and auditing, taxation, and business operations the most important thing is maturing in the profession. Maturing is achieved by a forensic accountant spending a great deal of time performing tasks related to his or her profession. A forensic accountant should also have adequate training in relevant fields to his or her profession

Compare and Contrast an Alligator vs. Crocodile Essay

Compare and Contrast an Alligator vs. Crocodile - Essay Example Alligators are generally categorized as belonging to the alligatoridae family of crocodilians that is seen to also include the caimans. Perhaps on the most distinguishing characteristic aspects of the alligator is the fact that the noses of alligators are generally shaped to have a rather wide U-shaped, and rounded snout that can be deemed as having the appearance of a shovel (Barnes-Svarney and Svarney187-188). This broad design of an alligators snout can be perceived to have been designed mainly for strength and is designed to ensure that the animal can be able to easily withstand the stress to its bone structure caused when it applies massive force in cracking the rather hard shells of invertebrates such as turtles that form a significant part of its diet. As a result of an alligator’s upper jaw being significantly larger than its lower jaw, its jaws completely overlap when its mouth is closed with the teeth on the lower jaw becoming completely hidden as they neatly fit int o small depressions located in the upper jaw (Barnes-Svarney and Svarney187-188; Tan 40). This aspect can be seen to be especially pronounced in relation to the large fourth tooth of the animal located in the lower jaw. The salt glands situated on the tongues of alligators are less effective as compared to those of crocodiles and generally appear to have lost their innate ability of enabling the animal to excrete significant amounts of salt (Tan 40). Alligators can be able to grow and attain a length of about 14 to 16 feet a length that is considerably larger that of some crocodile species (Smith 205). With a V-shaped snout, the snout of a crocodile is basically found to be more pointed as compared to an alligator. The shape of its snout is seen to cause the animal to become more generalized and much better adapted for a wider range of prey. A crocodile’s upper and lower jaws are fundamentally the same width

Berman vs dept of interior case Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Berman vs dept of interior case - Assignment Example United States, subsequently, filed a civil suit in United States District Court for District of Columbia, where it asserted that Berman and POGO violated the 19 U.S.C & 18 U.S.C. Â § 209 that prevents private parties and government for making compensations and people or employees from receiving the compensation while in government service. In 2008, the jury found out that Berman and POGO violated the law. Nevertheless, Berman and POGO appealed seeking for review by Court of Appeal in United States for District of Columbia Circuit (Ralph, 2002). However, the government opposed the move by saying that the two parties violated 18 U.S.C. Â § 209 that prevents any person from giving or receiving supplementation of salary or contribution as compensation for services during an employee of the officer at the executive branch. Furthermore, Berman was charged with Unjust Enrichment (UE) and Breach of Fiduciary Duty (BFD). District Court granted the motion by government for summary judgment for violating 18 U.S.C. Â § 209(a). The court reversed and remanded the matter to District Court for more proceedings to come up with a resolution of the disputed facts of the existence of intentional direct link between the official responsibilities of Berman and payments made by POGO. On remand, District Court accepted the argument by government of 18 U.S.C. Â § 209(a) being a strict legal statute and termed the parties’ intent as irrelevant. The court kept the briefing schedule for the case pending with the disposition in the United State vs. POGO, 616 F.3d 544. The Court of Appeal, in the decision for District of Columbia Circuit, remanded and vacated in part for a new trial. This concluded the intent of the required element of the violation of 209 of the failure of the jurys instruction from District Court in instructing on intent element (Cooper, 2006). According to Berman,

The Legacy of Womens Soccer in the United States Research Paper

The Legacy of Womens Soccer in the United States - Research Paper Example In the early years of 80’s, teams of girls in colleges started playing soccer and popularized the game. It was in the year 1985 when the first national squad of women’s soccer was established. It took another ten years to launch National Women’s League for the first time and after the Women’s soccer team won the World Cup in 1999, professional women’s league was introduced in 2001. United States was late to initiate the Women’s Soccer, but as it took off there was no looking back. It had a huge participation in amateur level from the youth and a craze to be the best. This spirit made them victorious both in the World Cup and the Olympics. There was a spirit of vengeance in the team which won two World Cups. Today US dominates the rest of the world in all women’s games and the interest for women’s game grew among sports-lovers along with the media attention. The phenomenal success of women’s soccer has a story behind it1. Earlier organized soccer which is played all over the world was mostly male dominated and women were not used to participate in it, but there is some information about women’s participation which is before the organization of modern soccer. It is believed that there was participation of women in ‘mob’ games, played between neighboring villages, which was suppressed by the government. The information also reveals that in those games use of legs are the main features and they were used to be Rugby/Soccer type games. So, this suppression of women in those days must have some impact on today’s passion that is showed by women in sports of US. The topic of argument among the US officials at that time was whether women should be allowed to play a male-oriented game like soccer or not. These debates got suppressed with the phenomenal success of the women’s soccer team but it caught

Optional to choose from the 4 different topics below Essay

Optional to choose from the 4 different topics below - Essay Example government to the government of ancient Athens. Ancient Democracy and Modern Democracy One similarity is the degree of nationalism or positive national sentiment espoused by the government and the people. For instance, the people of ancient Athens greatly valued their rights and power. As Pericles claimed, â€Å"Remember, too, that the reason why Athens has the greatest name in all the world is because she has never given in to adversity, but has spent more life and labor in warfare than any other state†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Euben et al. 106) The same as this deep-rooted sense of patriotism, determination, and achievement, the American government has also been recognized for displaying honor and integrity and it has also confronted periods of misfortune and hardships. Another comparison between ancient Athenian government and American government is observed when an absence of representation is evident. In American democracy, there are instances where the citizens are prohibited from the pr ocess of decision-making. This apparently is found in ancient Athenian government where only adult males were permitted to take part in the decision-making process within the government (Richard 75). At present, the United States implements a representative democracy where in it chooses ‘representatives’ through the process of election. ... Besides these similarities, there are also numerous differences between ancient Athenian government and the U.S. government. First, ancient Athens’s legal system was tough because people usually do not hire a lawyer to represent them; these people usually represent themselves without any official representative to handle the case. The opposite is true in the U.S. government. Second, distinctions between non-citizens and citizens were firmly established (Euben et al. 102). According to Richard (1994), â€Å"Greeks were intensely concerned with differences among individuals—differences between humans and animals, between males and females, between free people and slaves, between men who owned property and men who did not, and of course between Greeks and non-Greeks† (Richard 123). At present, the U.S. government opposes and tries to eliminate such distinctions or inequalities. Moreover, citizenship was established differently in ancient Athens. In ancient Athenian government, citizenship was not established by socioeconomic standing; however, class relations and the power to choose were strongly determined by democratic citizenship (Richard 123-124). Lastly, Athenian democracy, unlike American democracy, was restricted. Immigrants, children, slaves, and women were barred from citizenship and were prohibited from voting (Euben et al. 113). They did not possess any political power during this period. The American form of government specified in the U.S. Constitution is not in fact a ‘democracy’ as that concept was identified in the 18th century. Indeed, almost all of the founding fathers of the American nation regarded ‘unadulterated’ democracy similar to that implemented in ancient Athens—where the citizens governed themselves through

Understand the concept and process of marketing Assignment

Understand the concept and process of marketing - Assignment Example ntify the needs and wants of its customers to have a competitive advantage in the market and be able to provide the services or products to the customers which best suits the needs and wants of the customers. It is necessary to satisfy the specific needs and wants of the customers because it would ultimately help to generate more revenues and achieve the overall mission, vision and objectives of a particular company. Customer’s Value Customer value can be defined as the values gained by him as a result of owning and utilising a particular service or product in excess of how much it had cost to him in the process of acquiring such service or product. Customer satisfaction is dependent on the extent up to which the expectations of the buyer matches with the performance of the product or service as perceived by him. If in any case the product performance does not match or falls below the expectation levels of a customer he becomes dissatisfied with the service or product offered to him. Marketing actually takes place when people takes the decision of satisfying their wants and needs through exchange. Exchange is thus a process through one obtains the desired product from someone and in return offers something back to the person. Thus a company offers its products or services to its customers in exchange of money. However the concept of marketing is changing rapidly and is no longer limited to the exchange process only. Relationship is also vital to the marketing process and the companies are now focussed on relationship marketing which helps to create, maintain and build a strong long term relationship with the stakeholders of the company including its customers (Palmatier, 2008). Evolution of Marketing The concept of marketing has evolved over time and customer is... Understand the concept and process of marketing The other important sectors of UK include agricultural and fishing, tourism and finance. Social – The social factors include trends in demographics such as population size, age, cultural factors and consumer activities. The culture of UK refers to the idiosyncratic cultural norms. UK generally speaks English as the native language. It is characterized by the existence of different types of consumers in the market. Technological – Technological factors include rate of new product development, increase in process automation and other technical infrastructures such as technology inducements, technology transfer, impact of internet and R & D activity. In UK technology is one of the central parts of any business. They make heavy use of technology in almost every sector. Marketing objectives of a firm are designed in such a way that ultimately it leads to the attainment of the overall objectives of the business firm. The marketing objectives actually set out path for an organisation towards achieving the marketing activities that are needed to be performed by the company. Some of the marketing objectives of Vodafone include retaining the leadership of the company in the market measured on the basis of revenues earned per customer, customer satisfaction and network quality.

The Schlieffen plan Essay Example for Free

The Schlieffen plan Essay Explain how the Schlieffen plan was meant to work. The Schlieffen plan was the strategy Germany planned to adopt in the event of a war in 1914. It was intended to bring a fast, effective victory for Germany, and was devised by Count Alfred von Schlieffen who was the Chief of the General Staff of the German Army. If a war broke out, Germany would be faced with a war in the west against France, and a war on the east against Russia. German generals knew that they could not sustain this war on both fronts, and the Schlieffen plan was devised to deal with this. It was calculated that if a war started, Russia would take a long time to mobilize, and therefore Germany planned to defeat France before Russia had enough time to mount an invasion. They would do this by sending the majority of the German forces to attack France, leaving the eastern boarder vulnerable to attack. This was a risky strategy, as if Russia mobilized quickly, than Germany could be easily invaded. As a result of the Franco-Prussian war, ending in 1871, France had built strong defences around the French-German boarder to prevent another German invasion. Rather than invading through the heavily defended boarder at Alsace-Lorraine, the German army was to attack France through neutral Belgium. By using overwhelming force, it was planned that the German army would surround Paris within six weeks, thus causing France to surrender. Afterwards, the German army could be turned around back to Germany and concentrate their force on the Russian army to the East. The Schlieffen Plan was a huge gamble on the German behalf, as for it to work several assumptions would have to remain correct. It was predicted that Belgium would not resist against a German invasion, and British intervention was completely unaccounted for. It was also assume that  the capture of Paris would lead to the defeat of France. However, the success of the plan pivoted on the time Russia spent to mobilize, and was the fundamental assumption required for the plan to work. For the Schlieffen plan to be successful, all these assumptions would have to remain correct, showing that even before it was put into practise, it was already fundamentally flawed. b). Why did a stalemate develop on the Western Front? At the beginning of the war, both sides predicted that the fighting would be based upon a war of movement. With more devastating technology and effective weaponry, it was harder for either side to advance with resulting in heavy casualties, which contributed towards the establishment of the trench system. No one had predicted the effects modern technology would have on warfare, and is partly responsible for the stalemate that developed on the Western Front. However, there were other factors and contributing events that also lead towards the stalemate. Perhaps the most significant cause of the stalemate was the failure of the Schlieffen plan. This was because many of the assumptions that the plan depended on were wrong. Firstly Germany had not accounted Belgium resistance or the involvement of the British Army in the fighting. However, the intervention of these two counties slowed the German advance into France, which reduced the likelihood of Germany defeating France within the allotted six weeks. The Belgium army was outnumbered ten to one, however they managed to slow the rapid German advance, which was essential for the success of the Schlieffen Plan. British involvement was also unexpected, as the British-Belgium treaty dated back to 1839. The Kaiser did not believe that Britain would go to war over a scrap of paper. However, Britain did uphold their alliance with Belgium, and on 4th August 1914 declared war on Germany and sent 120,000 troops across the channel to meet the German advance. Also Russian army mobilized quicker than Germany had anticipated, resulting  in many German soldiers being withdrawn from the west to be used to stop the Russian invasion in the east. This considerably weakened the German invasion into France, and as a result the German troops were forced to advance east of Paris, away from their original goal. This over-stretched the German supply lines, and after weeks of fighting, eventually exhausted the German army. The German 1st Army encountered French troops returning from the failed Plan XVII at the Battle of the Marne on 6th September 1914, resulting in around 250,000 casualties for both sides. Although the German army were not beaten, all hopes for a quick decisive victory had been dashed. As a result, German forces retreated to higher ground, where they dug a series of trenches to protect themselves. The British and French forces soon followed suit, however they were forced to construct their trenches in the flood-prone lower ground. This was the start of the trench warfare that would dominate the Western Front for the next four years. As both fatigued armies rested, their trench systems became more intricate and fortified, and eventually both Allied and German troops were to heavily dug in to be forced out of their trenches by a single attack or offensive. As a result, little ground was gained by either side. This was the start of the stalemate that would remain throughout the duration of the war, until the final German offensive in March 1918. c). Why was the stalemate broken on the Western Front? The German surrender on 11th November 1918 was due to a number of different factors and events. Each contributed to the final end of the war, and were all of significant importance. Some factors contributed towards the armistice more than others however combined they resulted in the end of the war. The first contributing factor was the introduction of modern technology, such as gas shells and tanks. This was of vital importance, as with improved  methods and machinery, it was hoped that the stalemate would be broken more easily. It was hoped this would happen in 1916, where tanks were first used in the Battle of the Somme. However, although the appearance of tanks took the Germans by surprise, there were not enough to have the intended effect. Many tanks broke down in no-mans land or became stuck in shell holes, and were generally very unreliable. As they were a new aspect of warfare, the Allied commanders had no experience of how to command tanks, and as a result they were not used effectively, resulting in hundreds being destroyed. However, by 1918 the design of the tanks had been greatly improved, and the importance of them on the battlefield had been widely recognised. Tanks were being used to break German lines whilst protecting troops from machine gun fire. This was illustrated at the Battle of Cambrai on 20th November 1917, where 378 tanks advanced six kilometres into German territory. However, the use of tanks had not yet been perfected by the Allies, as there was often not enough infantry to follow behind a tank assault, leaving gaps in the Allied lines. However, even though Cambrai was not without losses, it clearly demonstrated how the effective use of tanks could play a decisive role in a battle. Trench warfare had begun in 1914, and was the ultimate cause of the stalemate, with both sides only making small advances at a time. The war was expected to be a war of movement, however this prediction was evidently prove incorrect after only a few weeks of fighting. However, as new weapons and technology were introduced, it became easier for either side to advance and to capture the enemy trenches. An example of this would be the introduction of the gas shell. They were first used by the Germans in the Second Battle of Ypres on 22nd April 1915. At first, only mild tear gas was used, however it was not long before chlorine and mustard gas shells were being used. By using gas attack, it was hoped the enemy would be forced out of their trenches, proving a dangerous yet deadly form of weaponry. With such effective methods being used to a greater extent, it became evident that trench warfare could not sustain such forms of fighting, thus contributing towards the overall breaking of the stalemate. America entering the war was another important aspect in the breaking of the stalemate. For most of the war, America had not intervened with the fighting in Europe. However, Germany had decided to attempt to force Britain out of the war by cutting off all its supplies, and hoping to force the British into submission. This involved the sinking of American cargo ships, which crossed the Atlantic delivering resources to Britain. The German high command knew that this decision was a gamble, and would ultimately result in America entering the war, but hoped that a German victory would be achieved before America had the chance to play a significant role in the fighting. In February 1917, Germany began unrestricted submarine warfare, which authorised German U-boats to sink any ships suspected of carrying supplies to Britain. This was yet another risk taken by Germany in the course of the war, which failed, as America joined the war earlier than expected. On 6thApril 1917, America declared war on Germany before a German victory could be achieved. America took a long time to mobilize, but eventually over 250,000 American troops were being sent to the Western Front by March 1918. This was a disastrous event for Germany as America was strong military and economically, and its participation in the war proved a huge threat to Germany, and seriously jeopardised the likelihood of a German victory. The role of the British Navy in the war also helped to bring about the end of the stalemate. The Navys primary responsibility was to enforce a naval blockade around German ports that would cut off supplies reaching Germany, thus weakening the country both economically and military. Without sufficient resources, Germany would not be able support its soldiers on the Western Front, as a restriction of food and munitions would cut off the vital resources needed to sustain the German army in France. The Allies planned to take full advantage of the blockade, and combined with the new American force, were in a position to weaken the German army, and  swing the war into their favour. The Naval blockade also provoked angry riots in Berlin and other German cities, as the inhabitants began to starve as a result of the limited food supplies reaching Germany. It is estimated that over a quarter of a million Germans starved to death as a result of the British Naval blockade. This pressurised the authorities to take action, and relieve the strain the blockade was causing on Germany, before they were forced into a state of collapse. As a responsive to the growing number of Allied forces on the Western Front, and the strain of the Naval blockade, Germany mounted a huge offensive. Russia had recently pulled out of the war as Lenin took power, resulting in the end of the fighting on the Eastern front, and also leaving thousands of spare soldiers that could be used to fight in the west. In their unusually strong state, the German commanders believed they could drive back the Allies in the west before the port blockades and extra American troops begun to take effect. General Ludendorff ordered the training of many stormtrooper units. These were troops specialized in close range fighting, and were used to attack the length of the Allied line. In March 1918, the Germany army began a huge assault on the Western Front, involving the majority of its military force. This was a gamble on the German behalf, however there were no alternative strategies that would achieve a fast victory, as the port blockade and increase in Allied soldiers were already starting to weaken Germanys military strength. The stormtrooper attacks worked well, and within a week the German front line had advanced by 60km, and by April the Germany army was only 80km away from their original goal of Paris. The Allies ended up retreating over the ground they had spent years trying to gain. However, their rapid advance cause the German lines to over extended  themselves, and coupled with the limited food imports, few supplies were reaching the German army at such a distance into France. As a result, the German advance came to a halt, prompting a vicious counter-attack from the combine British, French and American forces. The Germans fell back to their heavily fortified Hidenburg line, however this was taken by the overwhelming force of the Allies on 26th September 1918, resulting in over 400,000 German soldiers being captured. The offensive had backfired tremendously, and left over 1 million German soldiers dead. Faced with the extinction of their whole army, Germany asked for peace, and the Kaiser fled to Holland. The Armistice was signed and the war came to an end on 11th November 1918. This was a result of a series of cumulative events and factors. Ultimately, it was the German offensive in 1918 that was the event which lead to the end of the stalemate, as the German attacks and British counter-attacks broke the trench system, and for the last few week before the armistice, the war was again a war of movement. However, the German offensive would have never taken place if it were not for the other contributing factors already discussed. The impacts of new technology, as well as the strain put on Germany by the American entry into the war and the port blockades forced the German commanders to respond with the offensive, which resulted in the end of the war. Although the offensive was the most important factor, the stalemate would have never been broken if it wasnt for the effect of the other factors, proving that they were all significant contributors to the breaking of the stalemate in 1918.

Urban Regeneration And Social Exclusion In Sheffield Geography Essay

Urban Regeneration And Social Exclusion In Sheffield Geography Essay GEO 151: Assessment I In this essay we will be discussing urban regeneration and social exclusion in Sheffield. The research for this essay was conducted as a series of 2 walks and information comes from observation of these areas. The walk chosen was walk 3 which included Netherthorpe, Kelham Island and the Inner City but the focus of this essay is on one section of the walk Kelham Island. Like many areas in Sheffield, Kelham Island was originally an industrial area, particularly in the manufacture of steel. There are still numerous factories and workshops still standing and their proximity to the River Don suggests the river would have once been used to power the industry in this area. To me, these buildings portray the traditional origins of Sheffield as being a highly industrial city, vast non-descript buildings with many large windows which could accommodate the large space required for heavy industry. From observations made whilst undertaking the walk, it becomes clear that these original buildings can now be divided into different types due to urban regeneration. The first of these is residential. Around Kelham Island many of these former factories have been converted into modern flats and apartments. It is great that the developers are choosing to retain the original look of these buildings whilst totally changing their function as I believe it is important to t ry and retain the historical character of a city. The second main usage of these factory buildings is business- mainly offices, although one of the factories is still used for its original function as a factory, and another has been converted into the â€Å"Kelham Island Museum† which contains many historical artefacts from the area and gives visitors the chance to experience the heritage of Kelham Island. This shows 2 other new land uses in the area business and tourism. The remainder of these factories are currently derelict but in the future may be redeveloped or demolished to be replaced by modern apartments or office blocks. Elsewhere in Kelham Island there are a number of large, highly modern looking apartment and office blocks; this area is known as â€Å"Kelham Riverside† and is described by the   Kelham Island website as â€Å"a stylish mixed use development in a picturesque waterside setting† (http://www.kelhamriverside.com). This area is more aesthetically pleasing and in total contrast to the factories nearby it is strange to see these 2 types of buildings sitting side by side. This is the main site of urban regeneration, but also evokes images of social exclusion. It is clear that this entire area has been totally redeveloped recently; all of the buildings looking less than 10 years old and the focus of employment here has shifted from primary to tertiary. The new apartment blocks which overlook the river are very modern, even futuristic looking incorporating chrome and glass into the design it could be said that these buildings, however, have little ‘character whilst the older factory buildings do. From simple observation, this area looks like a particularly nice area to live, but it becomes apparent that social exclusion comes into play here. Firstly, there are no gardens and very little green space at all and there were no parks or even many benches in this area. Facilities included a small number of pubs and upmarket bars and restaurants, a museum for tourists, and little else other than office blocks. The apartments look expensive and seem to be targeted at affluent young professionals without children as there are no apparent facilities that cater towards the needs of children or the elderly (not â€Å"family orientated†). This idea was backed up during walk by the absence of any youths- the only people to be seen were men and women in suits and a few builders who were working on more developments on the riverside. The presence of the builders did however indicate that further development of this area was underway, which may in the future lead to more facilities for other social groups in order to incorporate them more into this area. The atmosphere in this area was one of peacefulness, although I believed this to be due to the fact that the only people that lived in this area were at work, considering it was in the middle of the day. There was a significant lack of any old or young people- just middle aged people in suits. In the most modern part of Kelham Island it seemed eerily quiet and the environment almost sterile due to the large modern yet plain buildings and lack of any graffiti, litter and advertising. It also gave the impression of being a relatively safe area with the availability of secure underground car parks and high CCTV presence. In my opinion, however, such a high CCTV presence could lead to oppression and fear due to constant surveillance by an unknown authority. Many people are very against this form of security and so is another example of social exclusion against those who do not wish to be recorded constantly. One important thing which was noted during the walk was that on one of the walls of the new buildings in Kelham Island was a large plaque which had the name â€Å"European Regional Development Agency† on it. This agency belongs to the EU and is involved in allocation of the European Regional Development Fund; according to the EU website (http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/funds/feder/index_en.htm): â€Å"The ERDF aims to strengthen economic and social cohesion in the European Union by correcting imbalances between its regions. In short, the ERDF finances: direct aid to investments in companies (in particular SMEs) to create sustainable jobs; infrastructures linked notably to research and innovation, telecommunications, environment, energy and transport; financial instruments (capital risk funds, local development funds, etc.) to support regional and local development and to foster cooperation between towns and regions; Technical assistance measures. So, based on this information it seems that the EU thought of South Yorkshire as being less developed as neighbouring regions and have therefore directed a proportion of the ERDF at Kelham Island in order to fulfil the points described above. There were limitations to this study. Firstly, the 2 visits we made were possibly not at the most suitable times, particularly for this area where most of the people living here would have been at work, and any children that do live in the area would have been at school. Another thing was that in this observational walk there was little importance put on personal emotion, or how individuals felt whilst in that particular area. There was also no record of any smells along the walk which is one thing that could possibly be investigated further in any subsequent walks. Word count: 1111 GEO 151: Assessment II Part I For this part of the assessment a series of photos were taken along a route (walk 3) which intended to represent the feel or sense of place in the area regarding social exclusion and regeneration. The 2 photos chosen to be analysed can be seen on the next page (figures 1 and 2). They were both taken at the same time of day (Around 1pm on a Thursday afternoon) and show 2 contrasting areas which are actually only 1-2 minutes walk away from each other, in the area of Sheffield known as Kelham Island. Fig 1 shows one of the more modern looking areas of Kelham Island and demonstrates very obvious urban regeneration as the apartment block buildings on the right hand side of the image are clearly very new. In fact, this whole area looks very clean and tidy, although the lack of people makes the area seem as if it is not inhabited. Behind the apartment buildings and to the left of the image are old factory buildings. It is not clear from the image whether these buildings are currently in use or not but some of the factories in this area have been converted into offices and apartments so it is very likely that being so close to other new developments, urban regeneration would have taken place within these buildings too. I like the fact that these buildings and even a chimney from an old industrial furnace are still standing regardless of the ultra-modern apartments right next to them, it acts to retain the character of the area- being able to market this area to a whole new audience wi thout totally destroying the history ingrained in the factories and workshops which once would have employed the majority of people living here.   The river which runs through the centre of the image would once have been used to power these factories, but has now been developed into a feature and the new pathways and hand railings provide the opportunity to look at the river and brings much character to the area. Social exclusion also comes through in this image, as there is no green space or playing areas for children, no benches or shops very little facilities to support a community. This excludes those who thrive off the community around them which are children and the elderly. Children need other children and spaces to play to fulfil their childhood whilst the elderly require a range of facilities including those which promote sociability with others in the community as they often lead lives of loneliness. This area is not accommodating for either of these types of people. I chose to take a picture of this particular area as I believe it incorporated several elements which were important in portraying Kelham Island the modern apartments, the factories and the river. I also thought this image was an accurate representation of the area during my visit, that being very quiet with few people to be seen.   If a person who was not from Sheffield i believe this image would give them a good idea of what Kelham Island was like, which in my opinion can be described as a cultural mix of historical factories and modern apartments and offices developed to be functional whilst staying true to the heritage of Sheffield. This would be a good image to show to people to give a good idea of what Sheffield looks like a combination of old industry and new development. The second image (Fig 2) shows a totally different scene to that of Fig 1. This is a large industrial looking building which was probably once used as some sort of factory in the past when Sheffields steel industry was booming. Now this building lies empty and disused with windows broken and doors boarded up. Given the fact that this building is disused, the exterior (except the windows) is still in relatively good condition, presumably because these types of buildings were built to be strong and resilient. It is strange in this area how quiet it was considering when this building would have been in use, the sound coming from it and the many other factory buildings in the area would have filled the area. This is a contrasting image as it shows a totally different type of building to Fig 1. Here, it looks as if there has not been any urban regeneration whatsoever as the road is empty apart from one car, the building is disused and the pathways are old and damaged. It does not look lik e a particularly â€Å"run down† area, although it is clear that little if any money has been spent on this site in a long time. If this image were to be shown to a person who was not from Sheffield it would probably serve to confirm the perception that many people have that Sheffield is still a highly industrial city with many ugly buildings. This perception of Sheffield is based on history but is now an outdated view with the amount of money that has and is currently being spent on new development in the area. This image fails to show any of the modern developments which are visible all around the city. GEO 151: EXERCISE 2, PART 2 In the workshop we discussed how the images we took differed from those which we were shown from the pages of tourist guides of Sheffield, local magazines and adverts for places around the city. There were many differences between these images and the photos we took our self, some of them were very obvious (such as the image itself and what it included, what activities were happening and what people were included) and others were more subtle (such as the angles the photos were taken, the time of day, the lighting, etc). We discussed the way that people would perceive these images, particularly if they had never been to Sheffield before and the impression they would get of the city based on these images. The reason why these differences were so apparent was because of the intention of the image and what it was trying to portray. For example, the photos we took ourselves were trying to capture images of social exclusion and urban regeneration so the imagery reflected this. Although they were taken with an aim in mind they were totally natural images as they were not staged, and they were not taken with the intention of implying anything in particular- rather they were accurate representation if the things we saw on our walks which we personally felt reflected urban regeneration and social exclusion. The difference between this and the images we were shown is that most of these had some sort of intention. Those that were on printed materials from organisations such as the Sheffield City Council and Travel South Yorkshire were obviously aimed at attracting tourists to the area.   They were taken by people who are looking to give a good impression of Sheffield and their target audience would be those people who may never have visited Sheffield before and wanted to find out more before they decided to visit. These images focused mainly on either the new, vibrant, modern developments in Sheffield such as the millennium galleries; or the beautiful rugged countryside of Sheffields surrounding areas such as the peak district. The images looked as if they could have been digitally altered to make colours appear more vibrant for example and to give the impression of Sheffield being a clean, modern city which it is in certain areas, but chose not to portray the more deprived areas of Sh effield such as those from the photos we took ourselves. The images on the next page are a sample of those taken from the recommended websites. They show a range of images from around Sheffield and were taken by different people/organisations for different reasons. The 4 large landscapes came from www.creativesheffield.co.uk which is described as â€Å"Creativesheffield is the UKs first ever city development company, charged with delivering Sheffields economic transformation†. The images come from different pages which have individual aims, the headings of which I have written on the images. The first, ‘Live in Sheffield portrays an idyllic, quite countryside area with most of the focus on a family taking a bike ride. The image itself is quite simple and the colours used are earthy and green, again conveying the idea of nature and countryside. There is little going on in the picture, suggesting peace and quiet in the countryside, where families can enjoy a nice day out to escape the hustle and bustle of city living, yet this a rea would not be too far away from Sheffields city centre. This image is aimed at families, such as the one in the image who may be looking to relocate to a city nearby idyllic countryside this image shows that Sheffield can be that place as the peak district is on your doorstep. On the CreativeSheffield page this image is shown at the top of a page where it lists the many benefits of living in Sheffield, and is obviously aimed at people looking to move to Sheffield but maybe wanting some more information. The ‘Develop in Sheffield image is the most obvious image of urban regeneration as it shows a whole landscape of Sheffield showing development. I believe this is an accurate representation of Sheffield as it is currently undergoing a huge amount of regeneration and it is evident that there is a lot of money being spent on the heart of the city redevelopment which is making huge changes to the centre. It shows Sheffield as a sprawling metropolis, but one which is currently b eing given a total makeover, with a vision of the future. The next image, ‘Locate in Sheffield is aimed at businesses looking to locate in Sheffield. It shows an area of Sheffield which looks extremely clean and modern, almost futuristic with the large stainless steel balls dotted around. The large inclusion of glass and steel complements this idea of modernism as they are 2 materials which make a building look sharp and modern. The inclusion of people moving (blurred) in the image is trying to give the impression of Sheffield being a busy commercial centre with people constantly on the go, with a lot going on around Sheffield. All of these images have one thing in common a target audience. Each of them have been taken specifically with a certain audience in mind, rather than randomly as my photos were taken.   Even though the photos which I took had a purpose, which was to portray social exclusion and urban regeneration in different areas around Sheffield, they were taken in a totally natural way and were a reflection of what I saw. I did not intentionally omit anything from the images, however I did intentionally try to incorporate all aspects of what I could see in my surroundings into my images- as a photo is just a snapshot of what I was surrounded by. Also, the images from the website (in most cases) had the intention of marketing Sheffield to a specific market, be that families looking to relocate, or new businesses deciding where to locate their offices. GEO 151 Assessment 3 Part 1 To prepare for the interview i made sure i had all the main questions that i was going to ask the subject ready. I typed these out and left large gaps underneath the questions so that i had enough space to write plenty of notes from the interview. I contacted the subject and arranged a time that was convenient for them, and so that i could get their consent to conduct the interview. I then met up with the subject in my flat so that it would be in a comfortable, quiet environment that was convenient for the subject. I took notes on the interview rather than recording it, which i would probably not do in the future. The conversation flowed well as the questions were well structured and i made a point of using prompts to promote further conversation into a certain topic (for example, â€Å"what do you mean by† or â€Å"can you tell me a bit more about†) However, because i was taking notes the conversation became slightly disjointed as i was having to make notes on intervie w whilst asking questions, so at points i had to pause to catch up on my notes before i could ask the next question. Also, this meant i didnt have a full record of the interview, just brief notes. If i were to do this in the future i would record the interview and make a transcript as this would be more useful for analysis of the data. GEO 151 Assessment 3 Part 2 The data we were provided in the transcribed interviews followed the themes already being analysed throughout this course urban space (and regeneration) and social exclusion; but they also touched on issues of crime and disorder- particularly among the youth and talked extensively about housing and other projects which were being implemented into the community in order to improve the social wellbeing of the people living in these places. In addition to the theme of community, the theme of family was also discussed often in both the interviews and how families help shape a community. The 2 interviewees were from different areas in Scotland one a deprived anonymous area (EDDEP), the other an affluent anonymous area (EDAFF), but looking at similar issues throughout, therefore giving 2 different perspectives. The process of analysis and coding involves carefully reading through material transcribed from an interview and selecting labels to associate with specific parts or whole sections of data. This can apply to single words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs and the codes relate to certain themes or ideas expressed through the text. It may also relate to specific words and phrases. The coding itself involves marking specific part of the text based on these themes or ideas to make it easier to compare and analyse parts of the text that may be relative (for example, sections that discuss similar ideas). This also makes it easier to search the data and find any patterns emerging throughout so that this can be further investigated. To code the interview i was provided, i read through the text twice to make sure I had a complete grasp of the text, and the concepts involved in the interview. After this, i carefully went through the text, picking out common words or themes which i then annotated at the side of the page by hand. Some of these tags were of particular words or simple sentences or references to a theme, but often the tags applied to whole sections of the text and often these tags overlapped. My interpretation of the first interview is that the subject is someone who lives in a deprived area of Edinburgh (EDDEP), talking about their experiences working as a project staff member in this area of Scotland. Throughout the interview, she talks about housing and new developments in the area and the effect this has on social and community problems. In particular the topics included alcoholism and their exclusion from society, however the subject felt that although these alcoholics were excluded from conventional society, they had created their own community and had their own issues and conflicts within this segregated community. Topics also included youth crime and disorder. The subject felt that this crime and disorder among the youth population maybe a result from social exclusion, as EDDEP is a deprived area which offers little to stimulate the youth.   They also mention how family can greatly influence the community in which they live due to the way they deal with youth an d the elderly. The second interview is taken with a councillor for the more affluent area of Edinburgh (EDAFF) and also touched upon housing issues in Edinburgh, with reference to families. In this interview the subject talks more about   the boundaries between the affluent and deprived areas of Edinburgh, and the fear in the community of some of the people living in the deprived areas due to the division between them. Again there is a lot of emphasis on crime and disorder, particularly among the youth of the area, however the problems in this area seem more trivial, as oppose to the serious crime mentioned by the subject in the first interview The strengths of my analysis and interpretation are that I believe that from reading through the interviews several times I managed to get a firm grasp of the issues being covered throughout and was able to find patterns of topics throughout through coding the transcripts. In the future I think I could code the transcripts slightly better as i feel that my labels may be slightly superficial many of them simply describe the topics being discussed in that part, and could be more in depth.   However, i think this form of data is quite valuable as a lot of the topics featured can be explored a lot more in depth than with other methods such as questionnaires. GEO 151 Assessment 3 Part 2 The data we were provided in the transcribed interviews followed the themes already being analysed throughout this course urban space (and regeneration) and social exclusion; but they also touched on issues of crime and disorder- particularly among the youth and talked extensively about housing and other projects which were being implemented into the community in order to improve the social wellbeing of the people living in these places. In addition to the theme of community, the theme of family was also discussed often in both the interviews and how families help shape a community. The 2 interviewees were from different areas in Scotland one a deprived anonymous area (EDDEP), the other an affluent anonymous area (EDAFF), but looking at similar issues throughout, therefore giving 2 different perspectives. The process of analysis and coding involves carefully reading through material transcribed from an interview and selecting labels to associate with specific parts or whole sections of data. This can apply to single words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs and the codes relate to certain themes or ideas expressed through the text. It may also relate to specific words and phrases. The coding itself involves marking specific part of the text based on these themes or ideas to make it easier to compare and analyse parts of the text that may be relative (for example, sections that discuss similar ideas). This also makes it easier to search the data and find any patterns emerging throughout so that this can be further investigated. To code the interview i was provided, i read through the text twice to make sure I had a complete grasp of the text, and the concepts involved in the interview. After this, i carefully went through the text, picking out common words or themes which i then annotated at the side of the page by hand. Some of these tags were of particular words or simple sentences or references to a theme, but often the tags applied to whole sections of the text and often these tags overlapped. My interpretation of the first interview is that the subject is someone who lives in a deprived area of Edinburgh (EDDEP), talking about their experiences working as a project staff member in this area of Scotland. Throughout the interview, she talks about housing and new developments in the area and the effect this has on social and community problems. In particular the topics included alcoholism and their exclusion from society, however the subject felt that although these alcoholics were excluded from conventional society, they had created their own community and had their own issues and conflicts within this segregated community. Topics also included youth crime and disorder. The subject felt that this crime and disorder among the youth population maybe a result from social exclusion, as EDDEP is a deprived area which offers little to stimulate the youth.   They also mention how family can greatly influence the community in which they live due to the way they deal with youth an d the elderly. The second interview is taken with a councillor for the more affluent area of Edinburgh (EDAFF) and also touched upon housing issues in Edinburgh, with reference to families. In this interview the subject talks more about   the boundaries between the affluent and deprived areas of Edinburgh, and the fear in the community of some of the people living in the deprived areas due to the division between them. Again there is a lot of emphasis on crime and disorder, particularly among the youth of the area, however the problems in this area seem more trivial, as oppose to the serious crime mentioned by the subject in the first interview The strengths of my analysis and interpretation are that I believe that from reading through the interviews several times I managed to get a firm grasp of the issues being covered throughout and was able to find patterns of topics throughout through coding the transcripts. In the future I think I could code the transcripts slightly better as i feel that my labels may be slightly superficial many of them simply describe the topics being discussed in that part, and could be more in depth.   However, i think this form of data is quite valuable as a lot of the topics featured can be explored a lot more in depth than with other methods such as questionnaires. GEO 151 Assessment 4 The first section of this module was based on observational methods in qualitative data research. This visual method involved observing the â€Å"real world† the built and natural environment whilst walking a route through Sheffield, specifically taking note of scenes which represent social exclusion and urban regeneration. Although mainly focused on the visual observation of a place, this can also include observation of sounds and smells. The task was to undertake this walk and observe the surroundings, while keeping the themes of social exclusion and urban regeneration in mind, and recording the observations in an appropriate manner. During this walk I mainly focused on the built environment of the area when thinking about urban regeneration, and the people in the area and the facilities available to them for social exclusion. I then had to do a write up of these observations and discuss. I believe this method is an important way to get a good impression of an area, so woul d be an effective way to start a research project about an area. It provides good basic ideas about an area, such as those mentioned. The negatives of this method are that it is not a particularly ‘in-depth method, and much further investigation into an area would be required via other methods. The second section involved visual methods. The task for this section was to photograph scenes of urban regeneration and social exclusion from the walk, so that they could be referred to at a later date and used to compare to other images of Sheffield taken from various sources (magazines, websites, etc). From these photos we could also analyse the impressions that these photos gave of Sheffield, especially to someone who had never visited Sheffield before.  Ã‚   I felt that this method was fairly effective, and a very good way of conveying ideas of urban regeneration more so than urban exclusion to other people through showing them photos that were took. I do feel however that a weakness of this method is that it is highly variable, as the photos represent one snapshot of an area and are not totally representative of a whole area. Also, the images taken would be very different depending on the time of day and even the weather, as poor weather in images can often convey a sense of unwelcoming. In the future I would try to take some panoramic photos which would include far more of the surrounding than by a standard size photograph, and would therefore be more representative of the area. The third method used was â€Å"in depth interviewing†. To prepare for this the task we were asked to carefully read through a transcribed interview and then use coding in order to analyse themes and patterns throughout the text. This gave me an idea about how in depth interviews would slow, and about how I would go about analysing it afterwards. To conduct my own interview, I first had to write a framework for the interview, and contact the subject to make sure I had permission to conduct the interview and to arrange a suitable time and place. Throughout the interview I made sure I used plenty of prompts as well as just questions when I wanted to discuss a poin