Does Haig deserve the title The Butcher of the Somme Essay Example

Does Haig deserve the title The Butcher of the Somme Essay Example Does Haig deserve the title The Butcher of the Somme Paper Does Haig deserve the title The Butcher of the Somme Paper Essay Topic: History In this essay, I will try to figure out what historians all over the world have been talking about for years: Does Sir Douglas William Haig deserve the title The Butcher of the Somme? I will start by correctly defining the term, butcher, before analysing the case for and against this statement. I will finally conclude my essay by weighing up the two cases and comparing the definitions of butcher to his actions. To say that Haig was the hero of the victory at the Somme, although the opinion of the people of the time, must now be looked back on with great scepticism. You cannot deny that Haig made the correct tactical decision to make an offensive at the Somme, in order to take the pressure of Verdun, and it is true to say that he achieved his target objective in doing so. However, it is inexcusable, whatever the gain, to throw away life so carelessly as Haig did. It is also to be noted, that Haigs attitude after the Somme, was that it was a worthy sacrifice, and an honourable way for a man to die. In other words, he didnt care about the loses, as long as he got the praise at the end of it all. It is obvious that to tell the men to walk across no-mans land must be looked at as the ultimate cause for the slaughter of the Somme. It was Haig who gave the order to walk and formulated the strategy for the offensive. His plan was flawed. Firstly he didnt consider all possibilities, the only outcome that he had planned and accommodated for was that everything went according to plan. This was clearly not the case as he didnt consider that the Explosions under the German line were all going to be synchronized, or that the Germans might survive in their dugouts. Also, and even more disastrous, he didnt have a plan B. What this means is, suggesting that not everything goes well, and say the Germans did survive in their dugouts, he didnt have any alternative plan to revert to, he just kept on with the same disastrous strategy, and judging by the fact that he continued with the same plan for 2 months, it seems unlikely that he had a plan B for any outcome, which means that he was relyin g on everything going according to plan a very bad tactical decision. Haig could have easily changed his plans when he realized they werent having any affect and he was throwing lives away, for example (and this is my plan): Began the bombardment again and this time ran across, the barbed wire was a problem but the Irish got through the first time when they ran, so it was definitely possible. And also, the whole objective of the Somme was to take the pressure off Verdun, so once the Germans had dragged half their army up to deal with the Somme, the British had no need to attack them, they could just sit and wait, the Germans werent going anywhere because they knew that they would be vulnerable and could be attacked at any time with all the British soldiers just waiting, the last thing the Germans were going to do was just leave and go back to Verdun, and if they did, (which would be crazy) then the offensive could begin, and attack the weakened lines. However, these plans were obviously made when looking back on the battle, Haig wouldnt have had the lu xury of hindsight. Although, he is to blame for not changing his tactics when the 1st day had been such a failure. When something you try clearly doesnt work, why keep doing it at the cost of lives? After all, the only reason that Haig gave the order to walk was because he was under the false impression that all the Germans had been killed in the bombardment and the men would be walking straight through the trenches to Berlin. It is for this reason that the men were carrying 30 pounds of pack on their shoulders, and were told that they were walking towards empty trenches. However, when this clearly wasnt the case, and it was obvious that they were not walking towards empty trenches, why carry on walking if the only reason for doing so is now void? Haigs mentality is also to be questioned, as his attitude towards human life is simply shocking. His attacking initiative ideas where men are simply thrown over the top on little raiding parties of 10 or 15 people, were madness. Every group died and was just another target for the Germans to shoot down. They had absolutely no hope of succeeding and he knew it. He was just throwing away lives when he knew all who went over the top would die. This may or may not have created an attacking spirit, but what good is an attacking spirit when the men are sent over the top to die? I cant see how the deaths of their friends could possibly create an attacking spirit, the only thing it would create was the impression that there General was a complete maniac. There is no use in raising the morale of troops who are going to die anyway, and surely victories would create a better morale boost for the men than constant casualties. Imagine this: You are a middle aged lady in England and you are proud to say to all your friends that your husband has gone to fight for his country. You are then informed that he has been killed in action. After the war, you find out that he was killed in a raiding party, all to raise the morale slightly of men on the front line. You think to yourselfoh, wont they be happy! Im sure his life was a worthy sacrifice and the other men had high spirits for the next week, to know that another 15 people had been sent over the top and died. Haig said, the day before the offensive: The men are in splendid spirits. Several have said that they have never before seen so instructed and informed of the nature of the operation before them. The barbed wire has never been so well cut, nor the artillery preparation so thorough. All the commanders are full of confidence. This statement in itself tells the story. Haig was either miss-informed or delusional, and despite the fact that the wire was clearly not cut, he sent the men out anyway.

Navajo Code Talkers

Navajo Code Talkers In United States history, the story of Native Americans is predominantly tragic. Settlers took their land, misunderstood their customs, and killed them in the thousands. Then, during World War II, the U.S. government needed the Navajos help. And though they had suffered greatly from this same government, Navajos proudly answered the call to duty. Communication is essential during any war and World War II was no different. From battalion to battalion or ship to ship - everyone must stay in contact to know when and where to attack or when to fall back. If the enemy were to hear these tactical conversations, not only would the element of surprise be lost, but the enemy could also reposition and get the upper hand. Codes (encryptions) were essential to protect these conversations. Unfortunately, though codes were often used, they were also frequently broken. In 1942, a man named Philip Johnston thought of a code he thought unbreakable by the enemy. A code based on the Navajo language. Philip Johnstons Idea The son of a Protestant missionary, Philip Johnston spent much of his childhood on the Navajo reservation. He grew up with Navajo children, learning their language and their customs. As an adult, Johnston became an engineer for the city of Los Angeles but also spent a considerable amount of his time lecturing about the Navajos. Then one day, Johnston was reading the newspaper when he noticed a story about an armored division in Louisiana that was attempting to come up with a way to code military communications using Native American personnel. This story sparked an idea. The next day, Johnston headed to Camp Elliot (near San Diego) and presented his idea for a code to Lt. Col. James E. Jones, the Area Signal Officer. Lt. Col. Jones was skeptical. Previous attempts at similar codes failed because Native Americans had no words in their language for military terms. There was no need for Navajos to add a word in their language for tank or machine gun just as there is no reason in English to have different terms for your mothers brother and your fathers brother - as some languages do - theyre just both called uncle. And often, when new inventions are created, other languages just absorb the same word. For example, in German a radio is called Radio and a computer is Computer. Thus, Lt. Col. Jones was concerned that if they used any Native American languages as codes, the word for machine gun would become the English word machine gun - making the code easily decipherable. However, Johnston had another idea. Instead of adding the direct term machine gun to the Navajo language, they would designate a word or two already in the Navajo language for the military term. For example, the term for machine gun became rapid-fire gun, the term for battleship became whale, and the term for fighter plane became hummingbird. Lt. Col. Jones recommended a demonstration for Major General Clayton B. Vogel. The demonstration was a success and Major General Vogel sent a letter to the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps recommending that they enlist 200 Navajos for this assignment. In response to the request, they were only given permission to begin a pilot project with 30 Navajos. Getting the Program Started Recruiters visited the Navajo reservation and selected the first 30 code talkers (one dropped out, so 29 started the program). Many of these young Navajos had never been off the reservation, making their transition to military life even more difficult. Yet they persevered. They worked night and day helping to create the code and to learn it. Once the code was created, the Navajo recruits were tested and re-tested. There could be no mistakes in any of the translations. One mistranslated word could lead to the death of thousands. Once the first 29 were trained, two remained behind to become instructors for future Navajo code talkers and the other 27 were sent to Guadalcanal to be the first to use the new code in combat. Having not gotten to participate in the creation of the code because he was a civilian, Johnston volunteered to enlist if he could participate in the program. His offer was accepted and Johnston took over the training aspect of the program. The program proved successful and soon the U.S. Marine Corps authorized unlimited recruiting for the Navajo code talkers program. The entire Navajo nation consisted of 50,000 people and by the end of the war 420 Navajo men worked as code talkers. The Code The initial code consisted of translations for 211 English words most frequently used in military conversations. Included in the list were terms for officers, terms for airplanes, terms for months, and an extensive general vocabulary. Also included were Navajo equivalents for the English alphabet so that the code talkers could spell out names or specific places. However, cryptographer Captain Stilwell suggested that the code be expanded. While monitoring several transmissions, he noticed that since so many words had to be spelled out, the repetition of the Navajo equivalents for each letter could possibly offer the Japanese an opportunity to decipher the code. Upon Captain Silwells suggestion, an additional 200 words and additional Navajo equivalents for the 12 most often used letters (A, D, E, I, H, L, N, O, R, S, T, U) were added. The code, now complete, consisted of 411 terms. On the battlefield, the code was never written down, it was always spoken. In training, they had been repeatedly drilled with all 411 terms. The Navajo code talkers had to be able to send and receive the code as fast as possible. There was no time for hesitation. Trained and now fluent in the code, the Navajo code talkers were ready for battle. On the Battlefield Unfortunately, when the Navajo code was first introduced, military leaders in the field were skeptical. Many of the first recruits had to prove the codes worth. However, with just a few examples, most commanders were grateful for the speed and accuracy in which messages could be communicated. From 1942 until 1945, Navajo code talkers participated in numerous battles in the Pacific, including Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Peleliu, and Tarawa. They not only worked in communications but also as regular soldiers, facing the same horrors of war as other soldiers. However, Navajo code talkers met additional problems in the field. Too often, their own soldiers mistook them for Japanese soldiers. Many were nearly shot because of this. The danger and frequency of misidentification caused some commanders to order a bodyguard for each Navajo code talker. For three years, wherever the Marines landed, the Japanese got an earful of strange gurgling noises interspersed with other sounds resembling the call of a Tibetan monk and the sound of a hot water bottle being emptied.Huddled over their radio sets in bobbing assault barges, in foxholes on the beach, in slit trenches, deep in the jungle, the Navajo Marines transmitted and received messages, orders, vital information. The Japanese ground their teeth and committed hari-kari.* The Navajo code talkers played a large role in the Allied success in the Pacific. The Navajos had created a code the enemy was unable to decipher. * Excerpt from the September 18, 1945 issues of the San Diego Union as quoted in Doris A. Paul, The Navajo Code Talkers (Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing Co., 1973) 99. Bibliography Bixler, Margaret T. Winds of Freedom: The Story of the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. Darien, CT: Two Bytes Publishing Company, 1992.Kawano, Kenji. Warriors: Navajo Code Talkers. Flagstaff, AZ: Northland Publishing Company, 1990.Paul, Doris A. The Navajo Code Talkers. Pittsburgh: Dorrance Publishing Co., 1973.

Social Learning Theory Research Project Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Social Learning Theory Research Project - Essay Example The perception of the benefits of the mentoring experience is not a purely quantitative measure, because it measures emotion and feelings , therefore verbal measures are likely to provide the best results. Data Collection: The data collection method I propose to use is a Likert style AIM questionnaire which will have several variables measuring verbal responses in numerical values in the range of 1 to 3, each response signifying a particular level of response. I propose to get these survey questionnaires completed by the students after they have been exposed to the demonstration on the art project. The numerical values collected can then be subjected to statistical analysis to determine results. Threats to validity that are inherent in my design are history, testing, selection and experimenter bias. I propose to address these by matching subjects so that maximum homogeneity is introduced, using random sampling to address selection validity, using control and experimental groups and undertaking of this study on a blind bind basis, without prejudice or bias about the results. I will also perform regression analyses on the results obtained in order to eliminate outliner

Immigration to US from Latin America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Immigration to US from Latin America - Essay Example nomy predominantly resulting from free-trade strategies employed by the North American Free Trade Agreement and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The rampant corruption within the Mexican government has also contributed significantly to the collapse of the Mexican economy. Due to IMF policies regarding Mexico, its economic output dropped 33 percent in the past two decades. During this period, its foreign debt rose 359 percent because of widespread looting of the national coffers. These factors caused the â€Å"collapse of all areas of productive economic activity and employment, is the primary driver of the flood of emigrants desperate to leave Mexico, to find some livelihood for themselves and their families in the United States† (Small, 2005). Illegal immigrants receive more from public monies than they contribute which lowers the standard of living for legal citizens. Illegal immigrants contribute greatly to the overall population growth and health care, education and employment are the most impacted. Salaries are driven down by illegal immigrants willing to work for much less while their children, illegal and legal, overcrowd the schools. It’s the U.S. taxpayer who is sent the bill for their health care services as well. In addition, the large influx of illegal aliens burdens the already inadequate number of units classified as affordable housing and other welfare resources such as energy, water and land usage (â€Å"Illegal Immigration†, 2003). Illegal immigrants have already broken the law upon arrival into the country and a considerable number break more including selling drugs, theft, murder, rape, etc. while in the country. The cost to the federal court and prison system alone in 2002 attributed to illegal aliens was $1.6 billion. This does not include the costs to state judicial and penal institutions. It costs Arizona, for example, $80 million to jail illegal aliens yearly. According to a 2002 report by Heather MacDonald of the City

Myra Hindley :: essays research papers

A sadistic temptress, the aid and probable prompt of an evil and cold blooded killer. Or a 'political prisoner being used as a scapegoat by politicians and the media'? This is a very sensitive subject and people often respond with fear and anxiety when we decide to examine things like the Moors murders. We are told that our curiosity is 'unhealthy', and that wanting to know,or openly debate about a matter which is 'naturally' closed, can only be the desire of a sick mind. We are encouraged to turn a blind eye and leave well alone. It is obvious to me that to wish to examine something is not to condone it. Yet when somebody tries to ask questions about taboo subjects today, they are assumed to be sympathetic to the subject, maybe even a little deranged, and certainly suspect. They become an outcast, and this coming adrift from the herd is also something which many fear. Many say better to be seen to be part of the lynch-mob than to become its quarry but these are the people who don't have the strength of character to even attempt to be the quarry. During their trial, neither Hindley nor Brady showed remorse. Both were sentenced to life. They are still in prison at this time. The judge has stated that she will indeed spend the rest of her days in prison with no chance of ever being paroled, so why does she still argue against the judges decision ? A lot of pressure is put on Governments to keep Hidley inside and whether or not she is to be released is now often stated in party political statements prior to elections, as it is feared that the overriding pubic opinion could win or lose elections. On November the twenty - first supporters of Hindley called for a review of sentencing procedures after Jack Straw reaffirmed the decision of his predecessor, Michael Howard, of never releasing Hindley from prison. The ruling came under immediate attack from penal reformers and civil liberties campaigners. Myra Hindley is still petitioning for her release On October the seventh, 1998 Hindley concluded a hearing at the Court of Appeal trying to overrule her "whole-life tariff." In her new attempt at overturning her life sentence and win the right to a parole hearing, Hindley claimed that she can prove that she took part in the Moors murders only because Brady abused her, and threatened to kill her mother, grandmother and younger sister if she did not comply with his wishes.

American Industrialization And Immigration

This song, written for the Yiddish theatre around 1900 by Hyman Prizit and Abe Schwarz, is a fairly good summation of the essay The Uprooted, written about 50 years later by Oscar Handlin. The second great wave of immigrants during the last half of the nineteenth century consisted of peasant farmers from Eastern and Southern Europe as well as Scandinavia, forced off of lands that had sustained them for generations, no longer able to extract a living from it, or fleeing persecutions and repressive, quasi-feudal governments.The had heard of â€Å"Amerika,† where the streets were paved with gold and land was there for the taking. Often spending all they had, those who survived the crossing arrived and found the streets paved not with gold, but with the blood, sweat and toil of those who were exploited to create gold for elite ruling classes that were often more oppressive than those they had fled. The difference was in the nature of the exploitation and oppression. Whereas in the â€Å"Old Country,† physical violence had most often been the tool of oppression – Cossacks, private police, etc.– in the industrial-capitalistic U. S. , the oppression was economic. Those who controlled the means of production, then as now, though only of maximizing and internalizing profits while minimizing and externalizing costs. Human life meant nothing to the industrial capitalist overlords. Had not the 13th Amendment outlawed slavery, they would have happily enslaved the newcomers in order to keep themselves in luxury. A few of the immigrants were able to escape the cities, and even fewer managed to acquire land and establish farms.Most however found themselves trapped in a system that not only cut them off from the land, entrapping them in a virtual jungle of concrete, brick and stone, but found their very lives subject to economic cycles, manipulations and machinations they could neither understand nor control. When employment was available, the demand s of the corporate leeches robbed the immigrant laborers of the comforts of family, culture and even religious faith, since workers were often required to work seven days a week.In Ethnic Enclaves and the Worker’s Saloon, Roy Rosenzweig describes how the workers of one city were able to take back some power from their corporate overlords, and how the unique character of this city made it even possible. Worcester Massachusetts was unusual in a number of ways. Unlike many industrial towns, it was not located near a navigable river nor a source of raw materials. Additionally, during the wave of corporate mergers and acquisition that took place during the first â€Å"Robber Baron† era around the turn of the 20th century, most of the factories in Worcester managed to remain under local control.â€Å"Control† was the operative word, here; the families who started Worcester’s industries virtually controlled the community. As in large port cities such as Baltimor e, New York and Boston, the immigrant workforce was a mixed lot who often could not see beyond their own ethnic and religious differences to realize that as workers, they shared many of the same problems. In addition, the control of city politics by the industrial capitalists made it difficult for working-class people to get involved in the system in any sort of active way. This, combined with â€Å"the carrot of paternalism† (i. e., â€Å"faith-based initiatives,† charity organizations, educational programs) and the â€Å"stick of repression† (threat of firings if workers were suspected of union activity, tracking of personal information and the use of company spies) helped the elite classes maintain control over the workforce (88). As the ethnic landscape grew more diverse, the individual ethnic communities began to â€Å"circle the wagons,† metaphorically speaking; the results were an â€Å"interweaving of church, fraternal lodge and family† tha t allowed built a support system for the various communities – who were, often as not, at odds with each other.This in combination with the more structured, disciplinarian and authoritarian structure in the workplace that inhibited socialization, gave rise to the saloons – literal drinking establishments as the working class began to have more leisure time. Whereas in earlier times, drinking and socializing on the job (primarily in artisan and agricultural industries) was permissible, in the more mechanized industrial workplace, it was not (more because the bosses wanted more control over their workers rather than out of any real concern for their safety, one suspects).This also had the effect of separating the male from home and family to a greater degree (89). U. S. history appears to run in cycles, with a pendulum that swings from an egalitarian, socialistic economic model in which the economy serves the people, to a quasi-feudal, hyper-capitalistic, laissez-faire s ystem in which a few ruthless individuals claw their way to the top of the socio-economic ladder and become economic leeches, literally feeding off of the blood and sweat of honest laborers while contributing little, if anything to the betterment of society (cases in point – the Walton (Wal-Mart) family, Paris Hilton and the Bush dynasty).Like today, the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a period of capitalism run amuck, justified by a sick, twisted perversion of Christianity preached by a murderous sociopath over four hundred years before in Geneva, Switzerland. Like the medieval Catholicism, Calvinism has been used to justify authoritarianism dominance by a patriarchal, self-appointed aristocracy, whose only interests are in the accumulation of wealth and power over society.Human needs and even lives mean nothing to these predators (although their Congressional lap-dogs and lickspittles are not above moralizing about a â€Å"culture of life† – as long as it involves people who are either still in the womb, are vegetative, or anyone else for whom they themselves don’t need to take any direct responsibility). The tragedy is that the concept of the sweatshop and worker exploitation has never completely disappeared, despite the efforts of the â€Å"saloons† and the union movements that ultimately grew from them.In the 1930’s, Franklin Roosevelt literally â€Å"saved capitalism from itself† with the New Deal that among other things, strengthened worker protections and the right to form a union. For about four decades, these policies resulted in the establishment of a solid middle class – corresponding to the â€Å"yeomanry† that Thomas Jefferson himself said was the bedrock of a democracy. Like the first middle class of the U. S. , which existed between 1790 and 1840, this middle class was politically savvy and involved.When this activism forced an end to their highly profitable war in Vietnam, the politicians and their corporate backers in the war industries responded with a â€Å"new† brand of conservatism which was really the same kind of predatory, â€Å"robber baron† economics that FDR had tried to end. The ultimate goal of today’s neo-conservatism is to end democracy and replace it with feudalism by destroying the middle and working classes – something Reagan and his three successors have been doing quite effectively.Since the labor laws that would have permitted a return to child labor, sweatshops and twelve-hour, seven-day-a-week work schedules would be hard to overcome, this labor was simply shipped overseas to nations where such things were permitted. This not only allowed corporate capitalists to maximize profits to obscene levels on the backs of these workers, it also robbed American workers of their livelihoods, and has put much of the middle class in such economic insecurity, they have little time or inclination for activ ism.This was made possible by a number of things: Reagan’s intentional failure to enforce the Sherman Act, and the elimination of the tariffs that financed a great deal of the federal government for 200 years. This was followed by â€Å"Free Trade† agreements that are in fact â€Å"free† for large corporate interests, but exact a heavy price on everyone else, and the transfer of the â€Å"commons† – that which the citizens of a nation hold in ownership collectively – to private, predatory, profit-driven corporations.The results are clear, if not generally spoken of my a bought-and-paid-for corporate media: 46 million U. S. citizens with no access to health care, the destruction and continuing neglect of a major port city, the rape of a foreign country on behalf of private corporate oil interests (being protected in large part by a private, well-paid mercenary army while U. S. ground troops go without the most basic necessities), the deterior ation of public education, the sell-out of U. S.industry and infrastructure to foreign interests, the near-destruction of the middle class as wealth is stolen through regressive taxes and transferred to economic parasites such as the Walton family. Handlin paints an accurate picture of a time that not only was, but is in great danger of returning. The only hope for the U. S. is suggested by Rosenzweig, which is actually being seen today on the Internet. Today’s Progressive on-line blogs and chatrooms are the new â€Å"Saloons,† where the issues outlined above – long ignored or misunderstood by a citizenry lulled by the panen et circensem of today – are finally being discussed.While the majority of â€Å"Republicrats† and â€Å"Demopublicans† in Congress continue to thumb their noses at the citizens they claim to represent as they continue to enable a dysfunctional, sociopathic, twice-unelected â€Å"president† and his fascist-leaning cohorts, today’s technology has made it impossible to hide the corruption and decay completely. History runs in cycles. Just as the last quarter-century has seen the return of exploitive Robber Baron capitalism, so has the Internet provided â€Å"Saloons† where the working class can once again take back what is rightfully theirs and create an economy that serves people – not the other way around.

Transitional Justice Is Necessary For A Nation - 2574 Words

No nation has ever started off with a clean sheet. Even some of the great nations had issues along the road of their growth. For example, when the United States first form of a government system was the Articles of Confederation, prior to the democratic form of government we have now. It is why I argue upon the basis that transitional justice is needed in order for a nation to function properly. Two nations that went through a major transitional justice change are Rwanda and Argentina. Transitional justice are judicial/non-judicial methods implemented in order to restore acts against of human rights abuses. Such methods consist of criminal prosecutions, truth commissions, reparations programs, and numerous kinds of institutional†¦show more content†¦Furthermore, to satisfying these needs, the states have responsibilities to guarantee that the violations will not occur again, so a special obligation to modify institutions that were involved in the violations and were incapabl e of preventing the acts against human rights. A past of ignored human rights violations is more than likely to cause social conflict in the later future. Results can consist of distrust between social groups and institutions of the state, and the decrease of national security and specific goals. Then questions about rule of law surfaces, which can lead to an endless cycle of human rights violations in various forms. Based on what has been seen in countries effected my human rights violations, the feeling of justice was never present, according to the victims. Victims began taking matters into their own hands in order to protect what they held there to themselves. For example, the genocide in Rwanda and the Trials of Juntas in Argentina. From April to July 1994, members of the Hutu tribe, who thrived in the east-central African nation of Rwanda, murdered approximately 800,000 people, a majority of them natives of the Tutsi tribe. It began with Hutu extremist in the capital of Kig ali, the genocide spreading throughout Rwanda at drastic speeds. Regular citizens were encouraged by Rwandan local officials and the Hutu government to bear arms against their own