China After World War II

China After World War II Civil war is raging in China. Across the plains of Manchuria troops of Chiang Kai-shek's central government are battling for supremacy against the military forces of the Chinese Stalinists. With the generous aid of American imperialism, Chiang Kai-shek succeeded, in May, in capturing the strategic town of Szepingkai. Next, the Stalinists were ousted from Changchun, the Manchurian capital. The fall of Kirin followed. At this writing (early June) Chiang's forces are being deployed for an assault on Harbin, the last important Manchurian urban center in Stalinist hands. All these cities had been invested by the Stalinists when they swept into Manchuria from North China in the wake of withdrawing Soviet troops. Chiang's easy victories over the Stalinists are testimony to the military superiority of his forces, thanks largely to the supply of modern weapons and munitions furnished by the American imperialists, who, moreover, placed ships and transport planes at Chiang's disposal for the deployment of his troops to Manchuria. The weapons of the Chinese Stalinists, although augmented by arms seized from surrendering Japanese troops, are no match for the war equipment at Chiang's disposal. This disparity of weapons compels the Stalinists to withdraw from the cities to the wide open spaces, to avoid head-on battles, and in general to adhere to the methods and

  • Word count: 5503
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill Focusing on his Political Career

Sir Winston Churchill A biography of Sir Winston Churchill is almost a history of 20th century Britain. Churchill was involved in every important event of his country from the Boer War to World War II. He served six British monarchs, from Queen Victoria to Elizabeth II. Through his life he was a statesman, soldier, author, journalist and twice prime minister, Churchill's career has no parallel in modern history. The Early Years Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, on November 30, 1874. His father, Lord Randolph Churchill, was a brilliant politician. His mother was the American Jennie Jerome. One of his ancestors was John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, a great military hero. Winston Churchill himself showed no early signs of greatness. He was in fact a stubborn, red-haired boy and a poor student. He spent four years at Harrow School at the very bottom of his class. However during this time he showed that he had a remarkable memory similar to his father's. He particularly enjoyed English. From early childhood soldiers and warfare fascinated Churchill and he often played with a large collection of lead soldiers in his nursery. His later years at Harrow were spent preparing to enter the Royal Military College at Sandhurst. Young Churchill graduated eighth in his class, with honours. In early 1895 his father died. A few

  • Word count: 5437
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice is a tale of love and marriage in eighteenth-century England.

Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice is a tale of love and marriage in eighteenth-century England. It centers on the elder sisters of the Bennet family, Jane and Elizabeth. Their personalities, misunderstandings and the roles of pride and prejudice play a large part in the development of their individual relationships. The spirited Elizabeth and softhearted Jane have to deal with not only their own feelings but also the status of their family, both of which affect the outcomes of their marriages. The struggle is very believable and realistic because the story takes place a long time ago. The way people interact with each other today is quite different than how they would interact with each other back then. Pride and Prejudice is an appropriate name for the book. These notions permeate the novel thoroughly, especially in the views of Elizabeth and Darcy. Jane's temperance does not allow for these qualities to exist in her personality. Mr. Darcy is characterized as a proud, haughty, arrogant man and ends up almost immediately alienating himself from the townspeople. This opinion arises after he refuses to dance with the young ladies who have attended the ball and his obvious reluctance to talk to anyone. His pride was said to come from his extreme wealth. Our first introduction to pride and prejudice is at a ball Mr. Bingley throws. His sisters and a

  • Word count: 5425
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Explain why the USA withdrew its forces from Vietnamin 1973.

Explain why the USA withdrew its forces from Vietnam in 1973 In this essay I will show you how and why the US withdrew its forces from Vietnam in the period of 1963 to 1973. They fought for SV against the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the Vietcong (VC) to try and stop the spread of Communism and the continuation of the Domino Theory. As the horrors went on the US realised they had more reason to leave rather than to stay in Vietnam. I will cover all the points which eventually made the USA begin vietnamization. When the US joined the war they believed they could easily win by using the well trained marines and the most advanced weapons of the time, mainly relying on their superior air power and dominance over the NVA and VC to bomb them into submission. Yet the US soon learned that weapons alone could not beat the guerrilla tactics used by the VC, who also had the advantage of fighting on home soil. It would take some time before the young marines could get used to the gruesome conditions they had to fight in. The VC avoided direct contact with the US soldiers (and therefore dodging the advanced US weapons) by moving in small groups throughout North Vietnamese (NV) villages, keeping no strongholds and thus using their primitive weaponry in the best way they could. This forced the US to start Search and Destroy missions (S&D), where US soldiers would be

  • Word count: 5392
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The Not So Free.

The Not So Free Prologue On Sunday the 14th of October 1962 an American U-2 spy plane flew over Cuba, it took detailed and disturbing photographs of missile sites in Cuba. It appeared that Cuba was supporting Soviet Union in a missile program, the missiles were close enough to put the lives of millions of American civilians at risk. The American's had little time to react and crucially they did not react quickly enough. The little island of Cuba with USSR support launched an attack on the USA. The Americans were completely caught by surprise with major cities of America destroyed by the nuclear weapons on Cuba. Chapter 1 General Williams a tall, broad shouldered and intelligent man walks into the large elevator, the elevator was just a metal box but at the top of the elevator were blinding lights. He presses the button which will take them to the floor that he wanted. Now briskly walking down the long corridor to the living quarters, he shows his family the living quarters and tries desperately to cheer them up, they weren't stupid it was 4 in the morning and they were in a military base, it didn't take very long even at that hour in the morning to put 2 and 2 together. After saying goodbye and I will see you later he continues his walk down the long wide corridor to the control room, which was located at the end of the corridor. The General walks into the dark room

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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How did World War II affect the lives of civilians in Wales and Britain?

HISTORY - BLITZ COURSEWORK HOW DID WORLD WAR II AFFECT THE LIVES OF CIVILILIANS IN WALES AND BRITAIN? ) Q. What can you learn from sources 4-6 about the home life of some of the working class evacuees? What problems do you think may have resulted, both from the point of view of the evacuees and their hosts? Evacuation was when the British government feared that Hitler's bombing of major cities would mean the death of thousands of men women and children between the years of 1939 and 1945. It was because of this slaughter that it was decided that many men, women and children would have to be re-housed in the country. During the course of the war, over 33,000 people were re-housed in the Rhondda area alone. And it is from sources 4 -6 that you can tell what life at home in the city was like for the poorer, working class evacuees. Source 4, (extracts made on evacuation by the women's institute) tells us many vivid descriptions of the evacuees that they were hosting at the time. 'Verminous little children lacking any knowledge of clean habits' tell us that the children did not have any former experience of washing on a regular basis. Words and phrases such as 'scabies', 'dirty septic sores' and ' ragged little garments' are all words that back up these points. 'Many of the mothers and children were bed wetters.' This line tells us of how traumatised they were after being

  • Word count: 5365
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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The role of foreign policy on democratic transitions in Armenia and Azerbaijan

THE ROLE OF FOREIGN POLICY ON DEMOCRATIC TRANSITIONS IN ARMENIA AND AZERBAIJAN Introduction Armenia and Azerbaijan, two former Soviet Republics have since 1991 been undergoing a political transition from an authoritarian system towards a democratic system. Ten years after these transitions began, it is still questionable whether these states have made much progress. Aside from examining political, economic and social reforms undertaken, it is also important to consider the historical tradition of the region, which can be a factor in determining what kind of regime will emerge. Iran, Russia, and Turkey have always had immense influence over the area, thus in order to understand the process of democratization occurring it is necessary to examine their foreign policies. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than a decade ago, the newly formed successor states have undergone many changes and transformations. Though the initial enthusiasm of change has long dissipated it is only now possible to truly evaluate the actual developments that have occurred in the newly independent states (NIS) for the past ten years. Perhaps one of the most telling regions that can be assessed, in the former Soviet empire, is the southern Caucasus, more specifically the states of Armenia and Azerbaijan. This historically rich region, ripe with cultural tradition as well as ethnic rifts in many

  • Word count: 5299
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Indian History. To what extent did large dams built before 1990 fulfil Nehru's ambitions?

To what extent did large dams built before 1990 fulfil Nehru's ambitions? After gaining independence from the British Empire in 1947, India had two opposite development alternatives: the village economy model of Ghandi and the modernization scheme of Nehru. Nehru prevailed, running for office with the slogan 'Industrialize - or perish!' (Visvanathan, 2007, p. 5).1 In 1951 introduced the concept of Five Year Plans - developmental plans for a period of five years formulated by the newly established Planning Commission (htt1). Described as the 'architect of Indian planning' (Khan, 1989, p. 4), Nehru was the principal driver of economic change in independent India. He instituted policies based on the idea that India had to emulate the West in its development and follow a path to modernity. In 1954, Nehru even stated: 'We are trying to catch up, as far as we can, with the Industrial Revolution that occurred long ago in Western Countries' (Nehru, 1954, p. 93). He emphasized the need for 'mother' or 'key' projects: large-scale productions such as steel factories, power plants, agriculture and, most significant, dams (Khilnani, 2004, p. 72). These were essential because of their contribution to the development of other economic sectors. This concept of planning the basic industries with market forces taking care of the rest, summarised in the famous Nehru-Mahalanobis2 model, became

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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'Propaganda Was an Essential Weapon In the War Against Germany’ - To What Extent Do You Agree With This Opinion On the Role of Propaganda As Used By the British Government During World War One?

Introduction During the First World War there were many aspects which effected the result of the war. Apart from the obvious confrontational conflict which took place, these took the form of fighting on the fronts war at sea and conflicts in the air. However there was also a great weapon which was utilised during the First World War by the British Empire. Propaganda was generally used in Britain to influence someone's decision about particular issues related to the war. This seemingly subtle way of influencing people's opinions was actually quite an effective way of influencing people's general views. The aims of propaganda are therefore: * influence people what they think, how they think and why the think in this fashion * to maintain the support of the people * to recruit volunteer soldiers * to justify subscription to the armed forces after 1916 when subscription to the armed forces was made mandatory * to convince people that the British will win * to convince people that it is right and necessary to fight by generating ideas that the enemy is supremely evil and that getting rid of radicating this enemy is worth the cost of lives in war. * to support people in times of suffering and hardship * to instil a sense of national pride in the country, the men who were going to fight, the monarchy and the government. * Propaganda contained information on crucial

  • Word count: 5186
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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‘In origins andoutcome, the Spanish Civil War was a Spanish and not a European affair’ - Discuss.

'In origins and outcome, the Spanish Civil War was a Spanish and not a European affair.' Discuss. The essay question concerned considers the nature and character of the Spanish civil war from its early development to the fall of Madrid on March 28 1938, effectively ending the conflict. In attempting to answer the essay question proficiently it is fundamental to first of all divide the assessment into two sections. The first segment aims to deal with the origins of the conflict, considering the extent of European intervention leading up to the outbreak of war. The second section is concerned with the development of the civil conflict, specifically concentrating on the disposition of European involvement. Almost seventy years after the Spanish Civil War there is no consistency in the historiography of events which many believe influenced the outbreak of the Second World War. A backward almost forgotten country became the focus of a world problem. Many believe 'the Spanish conflict was only the latest and fiercest battle in a European civil war which had been raging intermittently for the previous twenty years.1'Ardent debate persists with regards to not only the foreign weight on the preparations, process and outcome, but also towards the time, interests and the scale of foreign intervention. The reality of the matter is that intervention from the Great Powers had significant

  • Word count: 5169
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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