What in your view was the short term significance of Malcolm X?

History coursework: Part A What in your view was the short term significance of Malcolm X? Malcolm X was much different from any other civil rights activists who were participating in the civil rights movement. His violent policies often led him into trouble, none more so when he was assassinated by members of his own organisation at the age of 39. Before his assassination he was well known for being a strong speaker and for his attempts at raising the awareness of the situation blacks faced in the ghettos of the USA. This led to X becoming a significant figure within the civil rights movement in the short term. A primary source taken from a quote from The New York Times newspaper states how Malcolm X 'had the ingredients for leadership', although his 'ruthless and fanatical belief in violence' prevented X from becoming the sort of leader which he had hoped. However the source is from around X's time and therefore the relevant information has not been yet gathered to perhaps evaluate his leadership skills, it does prove to be a rather accurate take on X's leadership. Malcolm firstly did take a violent approach within the civil rights movement, and as the source goes on to comment he was then met by 'a violent end'. Malcolm's end came at the hands of his own people, which proves that he was perhaps too far involved with the violent side of the civil rights movement, and his

  • Word count: 2013
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Wilson's Peace Conquest

"Even after he asked Congress for a declaration of war, President Wilson could argue that his foreign policy was still committed to peace." Assess the validity of this statement. Wilson's Peace Conquest President Wilson's foreign policy was committed to peace throughout WW1, even after he requested a declaration of war from Congress. Although some might argue that the very action of asking for a declaration of war opposes the argument that Wilson was steadfast in his search for peace, such is not the case. For one, it took a combination of repeated offences for the United States to formally break off relations with Germany and proclaim that the United States had entered the war. Furthermore, idealist President Wilson hoped for a uniform peace, one without the winning country punishing the defeated, and made a list of "Fourteen Points" that he believed would help in creating an everlasting peace in the world. Contrary to the belief that he was all talk, Wilson valiantly lobbied for the inclusion of his "peace without victory" ideals and his "Fourteen Points" in the Treaty of Versailles. Before the United States joined WW1, President Wilson's policies leaned toward peace. He did everything in his power to try and prevent the United States from entering the First World War. Wilson did not support Germans interference with the right of American merchants to sell goods not

  • Word count: 1233
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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How can we explain why the holocaust happened?

Why would the Jews accept a leader like Hitler, who seemed so cruel? It was partly because of the way they suffered after the First World War; Germany was crippled with debt and had reparations to pay to the countries it had attacked. The Germans were miserable after 1918 and thought longingly about the time when they had a strong leader-Bismarck. Hitler was that up and coming leader. He grew up in Austria with his mother. From an early age Hitler hated the Jews, he grew up in poverty while his next door neighbors, the Jews, were rich and successful. He hated them and wanted everyone else to agree with him. They made him feel inferior and he disliked that, so as he grew up, he had a strong desire to rid the earth of them. Hitler made films of the Jews as rats, swarming and plaguing everything and everyone, he wanted people to hate the Jews like him. He got together lots of amazing propaganda that like brain washed the public, so that everyone would side with him. Hitler's excuse to everyone was that he was a Christian and that it was the Jews fault that Jesus died, so he hated them. In his biography Mein-Kemp he described the new world order he would create after he annihilated the Jews. It was strange to think the Germans would accept a person like Hitler, but they were hungry for a leader. The German people were ready and willing to accept Hitler's mighty machine, which

  • Word count: 567
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Throughout his presidency (1912 " 1920) Woodrow Wilson(TM)s foreign policy was a failure Explain why you agree or disagree with this opinion

"Throughout his presidency (1912 - 1920) Woodrow Wilson's foreign policy was a failure" Explain why you agree or disagree with this opinion Wilson faced many big events in his time in office. He had to deal with a Mexican civil war, the first world war and the peace talk after this. In my opinion the statement is partially correct as he failed to complete many of his aims. In 1913, Mexico fell into a bloody revolution when Mexican general Victoriano Huerta overthrew the nation's government and declared himself its military dictator. Wilson immediately denounced Huerta, declaring that the United States could not and should not recognise violent dictators. The President attempted to initiate peaceful negotiations between Huerta and the old government, but both sides refused to submit to his proposal. Unsure how to proceed, Wilson permitted Huerta's enemies, the Constitutionalists, to purchase military equipment and arms in the U.S. in order to stage a counterrevolution. With America's help, the conflict was eventually resolved. Huerta fled the country, and a new government was established in 1915 under the leadership of Constitutionalist President Venustiano Carranza. Soon after Carranza was instated as Mexico's new president, one of his chief generals, Pancho Villa, led a second revolution to depose Carranza. A second bloody civil war erupted in Mexico barely after the first

  • Word count: 1013
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Hindenburg and the Causes of Mullers government collapse.

This time period was a crucial one for Germany because it is the time when democracy ended and authorial rule became about once again. President Hindenburg played a major roll in this change in Germany mainly due to the fact that he was the one with all the power, in the position of president he could appoint and dismiss chancellors at will with also the power to decide legislation. However he wasn't the only one at fault for the breakdown of politics, with several others who had a major part and even some contributing factors all the way back from the end of the First World War. Hindenburg had some weaknesses to him such as that he was growing old and senile which affected his judgement. Causes of Muller's government collapse There is one main reason which comes from several factors of why Muller's government collapsed. This is the problem of money which generates all the way back from the First World War, which is of money. These problems started with the reparations Germany had to pay to the allies which was enforced in the Treaty of Versailles. The next problem was the impact of the hyperinflation which further damaged the economy. The last impact was the Wall street crash of 1929 which brought on the great depression via the fact that the war loans had stopped being paid to Germany. This put Muller under great pressure and forced him to resign. This was the end of the

  • Word count: 1677
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Mussolini(TM)s rise to power up to 1922 owes more to the failures of others than to his own strengths. To what extent is this true?

Mussolini's rise to power up to 1922 owes more to the failures of others than to his own strengths. To what extent is this true? In the 1922 general election, Mussolini won no more than 2% of the parliamentary seats yet, by the end of the year the leader of the Fascist Party had become dictator of Italy. He had nowhere near enough electoral backing to establish a government and, had his march on Rome gone ahead his squads could easily have been crushed. He was handed the position by a few governing élites; there was no election, little resistance and no seizure of power. The issue of who was to blame for this unelected success in Italy's so-called democracy is highly controversial and undecided amongst historians. While most historians accept that there were numerous contributing factors, there is disagreement as to the significance of each factor. In his book 'Modern Italy', Martin Clark1 places the emphasis on the failure of the King and the elite. However E. Tannenbaum primarily blames the governmental failure to rebuild a strong Italy after the unification2. In my opinion both are important, as are other factors such as Mussolini's own skills, the political system and the politician's failure to work together in strong coalitions. In this essay I will discuss the argument that the failures of others played a greater role in Mussolini's rise to power than his own

  • Word count: 4560
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Why and with what consequences did Italy go to war with Abyssinia in 1955?

Why and with what consequences did Italy go to war with Abyssinia in 1955? In 1935 Mussolini Italy invaded Abyssinia with consequences that affect both the international and domestic scene. But why would Mussolini attack Abyssinia and what consequences did this cause? The reason why Mussolini invaded Abyssinia can be explained with a mixture of long term and short term international and domestic factors. In the long term internationally Mussolini had a long held nationalist dream to re-create the glories of Ancient Rome consisted of central Europe and was a great power. Mussolini wanted to consolidate East African territories. Italy already controlled the Eritrea and the Italian Somaliland in Africa and between these two territories was Abyssinia. If Italy could control Abyssinia they can be a major power in Africa. Mussolini wanted to avenge the humiliating defeat at Adowa in 1896. He wanted to prove that Italy was a great power in the world and by invading Abyssinia he could prove to Britain and France the Italy is a strong country and would increase Italian prestige. The Mutilated victory played a part in why Mussolini invaded Abyssinia because Italy felt hard done by because they felt they didn't get land which they felt was rightfully theirs so Mussolini was avenging the Versailles treaties. In the medium term Mussolini wanted to develop the cult of the Duce, being

  • Word count: 1034
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Mussolini comes to power, October 1922.

Mussolini comes to power, October 1922 Since September 1922, rumours of an imminent fascist march on Rome had been circulating. This followed a general surge of support for the fascist movement after the taking over of local government and dispersing of socialist councils by the fascists during the summer. Liberal politicians had been giving serious consideration to the incorporation of Mussolini into a new government, but Mussolini had rejected this, stating that he would assume the position of Prime Minister or not be a part of government at all. On the 16th of October, Mussolini and other leading fascists agreed to stage an insurrection. On the 24th, a fascist congress decided to organise a march on Rome with the intention of seizing power. Fascist squads were to take over key buildings and areas in north and central Italy, and others were to assemble on the 27th outside of Rome, to march into the city the following day. Mussolini made it abundantly clear that the fascists would either be offered control of the country or take it by force. Mussolini was initially doubtful with regards to the march, and hoped that he might be appointed through peaceful, legal means. These fears were countered however by the need to retain the support of the more aggressive fascist element within the movement and the idea that the threat of a fascist march might intimidate the king

  • Word count: 1234
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Why Did the British Mass Media support the appeasement of Hitler in the years 1933-1939?

History of Journalism - Essay 2 Why Did the British Mass Media support the appeasement of Hitler in the years 1933-1939? Appeasement was the conciliatory policy adopted by Britain and France towards the aggressive foreign policy of Nazi Germany in the years preceding the Second World War. In Britain it is normally associated with the Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain but was also followed by Stanley Baldwin. It has been argued by historians such as Richard Cockett that the press in Britain was manipulated by Whitehall - especially during Chamberlain's years as Prime Minister - to publish only pro-appeasement articles and news and therefore "no alternative to the policy of appeasement was ever consistently articulated in the press."1 It is indeed partly true that Chamberlain was a master of press manipulation and the BBC broadcasts were closely monitored by the Foreign Office. However it would be incorrect to assume that all of the press was pro-appeasement and there were dissenting voices. One must also examine in part the role that Hitler played in attempting to control the news that foreign correspondents in Germany sent back to their publications. In order to examine why some publications such as The Times followed a policy of appeasement one needs to look why at why politicians, like Chamberlain, were convinced that it was necessary. The actual policy of appeasement

  • Word count: 1041
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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Consider the following causes of the October 1917 Russian Revolution:

QUESTION 1 (Assessment of Causation) Consider the following causes of the October 1917 Russian Revolution: Poor Living and Working Conditions Effects of the First World War The Appeal of Lenin and the Bolsheviks The Limitations of the 1917 Provisional Government Was any one of these causes more important than the others to the Bolsheviks' seizure of power in 1917? Explain your answer. A1. When the Bolsheviks seized power in the October Russian Revolution, the country was in complete turmoil. Every one was unhappy about something and things weren't going so well for the Royal family and the aristocracy. The ongoing First World War with Russia was despised by the army, the terrible working conditions were unbearable for the industrial workers in the cities and the rich had all the best farming land which was hated by the peasants. This was the situation when the Bolsheviks, given Lenin as their leader, seized power and made to form a Communist nation from the philosophy of Karl Marx. In the cities, under the tall exhaust masts of factories laid millions of industrial workers who lived in atrocious conditions. They worked for up to 14 hours a day and received extremely low wages. Also, the Russian factories were not up to date and were not efficient at all. After a day like that, they hardy had any time for entertainment or any money left for the basic needs. The workers

  • Word count: 846
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: History
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