Decision Points by George W. Bush and A Journey by Tony Blair. Are political diaries and memoirs useful contributors to the historical record
Are political diaries and memoirs useful contributors to the historical record? The use of a diary or memoir and its usefulness in contributing to the historiography of an event is a topic that is much debated by historians as whilst they do provide one with the motives behind the decision taken by a politician there are many unforeseen problems that a historian must comprehend before a true understanding can be gleaned. These problems can include bias and also the stance taken by an author who is most likely to have been a key influence on the event. This is especially true if the author was a former leader. If for example the decision that they took was criticised then it is likely that the stance the author adopts would be defensive thus jeopardising the truthfulness of the event as the author portrays them. Likewise, this would also be the case if the decision taken by a politician proved to be popular as it has the potential for the author to expand on the truth so that they seem to be an even bigger influence than they actually were. With this in mind, a project has been undertaken to determine the effectiveness of political diaries or memoirs in its contribution to the historical record with an analysis made of two more recent memoirs - "Decision Points" by George W. Bush and "A Journey" by Tony Blair - so that an understanding can be provided for the decision to
To what extent were ethnic tensions the primary cause of the Rwandan genocide?
To what extent were ethnic tensions the primary cause of the Rwandan genocide? This essay will explore the history of relations between the Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda in order to determine whether or not ethnic rivalries were the primary cause of the 1994 genocide. The impact of colonialism and racism will be investigated along with the importance of French interests in the country following independence. It will be shown how financial interests had a profound influence on events as did the rousing of ethnic tensions for political pragmatism by both the Belgian colonizers and their Rwandan successors. Propaganda also played a prominent role in which the Tutsis were dehumanized and the Hutus were radicalized in order for them to carry out the genocide. This paper will conclude that as Habyarimana's regime and the interests of his foreign supporters was threatened by the power-sharing agreement contained in the Arusha Peace Accords; genocide was instigated in order to remove the opposition posed. First of all, a brief outline of the genocide itself will be given. The genocide began within hours of the presidential assassination of Presidents Habyarimana of Rwanda and Ntaryamira of Burundi. Their plane was shot down with a surface-to-air missile on 6 April 1994 as they were returning from an international meeting in Dar-es-Salaam at which Habyarimana "had finally agreed
History Extension Major Work Postmodernism . It is the feature of postmodernism and examples of texts or artistic pieces that encompass these techniques that is the basis of my essay. I have chosen to refer the techniques to art, novels, poems, music an
Title Contents Synopsis 3 Essay 4 Source Evaluation 15 Pulp Fiction Analysis: 15 Fight Club Analysis: 16 French Lieutenants Woman Analysis: 17 History Extension Project Proposal 19 Enquiry Questions: 20 Preliminary Research: 20 Research Intentions: 21 Bibliography 24 Internet Sites: 24 Films: 25 Novels and Poems: 26 Video Games: 26 Synopsis There is a dynamic relationship between postmodernism's development through societal events and its affect on art and text. I intend to examine the techniques postmodernists use to compose postmodern works as well as the history behind these techniques. It is the feature of postmodernism and examples of texts or artistic pieces that encompass these techniques that is the basis of my essay. I have chosen to refer the techniques to art, novels, poems, music and films. I have chosen to focus most heavily on films as film has existed mainly in the postmodern era unlike the others. I also feel film is currently the most widely experienced form of textual expression as well as the most obvious way to express postmodern techniques. Film also contains within it the story of novels and music thus adding to its ability to express postmodernisms affect on text and art. The essay will outline the key techniques used by postmodernism to shape art and text as well as the history behind these techniques and their effect on society in
Is History a Science
Examination number: HJ427 Is History a science? Recently uses of the term "science" have in the 21st century been applied to fields of which are not canonically sciences. One of which being history. The idea of history being considered a science is one, which has been debated since the concept of science historiography was derived by historians such as Niebuhr, F. A. Wolf and Ranke. In order to evaluate whether history is a science or not, it is important to assess how both of these studies work. The question, what is history? Seems straightforward enough an enquiry, but it is often a concept hard to define. History, in the broadest sense of the word can be easily vaguely defined as simply the study of the past. This study is concluded by dates and facts that are put together to creative a piece of narrative history. For example it is a historical fact that the Battle of Hastings took place in 1066. This is a fact that we accept without question. E.H Carr defines these dates, facts and figures as the "backbone" of history. History would be nothing without them, they are essential factors in the piecing together of a historical narrative. Whether history can be considered a science or not is debatable. History can however be defined simply as accounts of what happened in the past. This is an absolute truth. It can also be more generally identified as an academic
Is History a Nightmare
'History' Stephen said, 'is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake' (James Joyce, Ulyssess). Is history a 'nightmare' and, if so, is it possible to awake? History has been represented by some as a triumphal march. As a progressive, unlinear, emancipating process. Fukyama, for instance, has heralded liberal democracy as the 'end of history'; while orthodox Marxism also posits a liberating 'end goal' in the form of 'communism'. History is understood as teleological and determined; a dream. It will be argued that history is more accurately understood as a 'nightmare'; as contingent and determined by conflict or struggle within specific networks of power-relations. In this respect, crude, reductive, teleological understandings of history are rejected, in favour of those that analyse history as based on contingent inter-relationships between structure, agency and discourse. Paradigms such as historical materialism, post-structuralism and critical-discourse analysis will be drawn on to show how relations of power and domination are constructed through conflict. It is these relationships which are the 'nightmare' of history; the nightmare of 'power' and the 'conflict' over it.1 Historical scholarship in historicising social relationships, de-naturalises relationships of power and showing the agency of historical actors can act as a critique to past and present
Is Reality For Historians
Is it misleading to speak of the 'peasant community'? Community studies point to forms of peasant organisation; self-regulation, mutual support, resistance, ceremony, collective piety, but it also implies remoteness, insularity and shared assumptions.1 In this respect, communalism is frequently associated with specific 'cultural' or 'normative' peasant values, which can be distinguished from Marxian categories of analysis. As Scott notes 'the proletariat has to create its class subculture in a new environment while the peasantry, like traditional artisans, inherits a far greater residue of custom, community, and values which influence its behaviour'.2 It will be argued that 'communalism' provides a useful conceptual tool for understanding how peasant communities had 'agency' in producing and reproducing social relationships. In particular, how the self-activity and self-regulation of the peasants provides a challenge to approaches emphasising their passivity and domination. The concept of 'communalism' also suggests a more flexible and accommodating understanding of social- relationships than in presented in frameworks of class-analysis. Anthropologist Bailey note that 'the small politics of everyone's everyday life is about reputations; about what it mean to 'have a good name'; about being socially bankrupted; about gossip and insult and 'one-upmanship'; in short, about
Is there such thing as a Peasant Community
Reality is just a word that begins with r and ends in y' (Carol Shields) should Historians expunge the word 'reality' from their vocabulary? The concept of 'reality' in historical studies is a contested one: 'history's anxiety now hovers over the status and meaning of the word 'reality''.1 Much historiography is grounded in 'realist' or 'foudationalist' methodology; that is scholarship that explicity attempts to reconstruct a past 'reality'. Indeed, history was given 'scientific' status by a number of scholars. Bury's inaugural lecture as Regius Professor at Cambridge reflects this now outdated positivism: history is a 'science' that has particular 'claims' and 'laws'.2 Historical reality, in this view, is attainable; it can be described and analyzed. However, the notion of 'reality' has been convincingly challenged by scholars influenced by the linguistic turn.3 Scholars such as Jenkins and Harlan have adopted the tenants of post-structuralism and have undermined the epistemological and ontological assumptions guarding the concept of 'reality'.4 History becomes a 'shifting, problematic discourse' unable to make claims of veracity.5 Scholars such as Jenkins dissolve the distinction between 'historical narrative' and 'fictional narrative' undermining the distinction between 'honest' scholarship and propaganda. In Chariter's words, 'all capacity to choose between the
The Nuclear Arms race between the USA and the USSR
The nuclear arms race has, with quite considerable justification, been looked upon as the most dangerous characteristic of the Cold War; certainly, to see it as the defining event of that conflict would not be far removed from the truth. For the first time in history, nuclear weapons threatened the extinction of the entire human race; their sheer magnitude of destruction meant that millions of years of history could be wiped out in the event of a nuclear war. Yet it was precisely because of this magnitude that the nuclear arms race remained an arms race: two nations competing for nuclear supremacy, without trying to hurt the other. They did come close to doing to - the Cuban crisis in 1961 and the Yom Kippur war in 1973 - but in the end the bluster of leaders on both sides about nuclear war remained largely rhetoric. Thus we have to look at how the arms race managed to bring about this potential for destruction and the forces which moved the arms race along. In examining the nuclear arms race and why it precipitated such a "mad momentum", there are four areas of study to be considered: the conception of an arms race, the principle of action-reaction, the strategic and political concerns of the superpowers and the nuclear arms race in the larger context of the Cold War. Once President Truman ordered the atomic bomb to be dropped on Hiroshima, the nuclear arms race started
What does the celebration of heroes reveal about attitudes to the past?
On What the Celebration of Heroes Reveals About Attitudes to The Past The historical figures of Ludwig van Beethoven, Captain Scott and Genghis Khan, would not be a grouping one would typically consider, but they do have something critical in common, they all, to differing degrees, have a fan base and are considered heroes to some people. Seldom has the annals of history recorded the lives of regular people, instead prefers to look at specific notable individuals. Throughout human history there has been an apparent urge to revere certain people. Though the original definition meant bold, heroic has come to encompass a myriad of criteria; perhaps a set of moral standards people like such as Jesus’ preaching of “love thy neighbour” or Oscar Schindler’s selfless acts, perhaps martyrs like Joan of Arc or Martin Luther King, perhaps militaristic leaders like Lord Nelson and General Custer - it is clear the term heroic can mean a vast array of positive attributes to a historical figure. Great difficulty arises when using a hero as a model of his or her time because as much myth can surround individuals as fact. As such, the hero is a deeply problematic entity in historiography, as they are not a realistic insight into the life of regular people (social history). Instead, hero celebration is a valuable historical tool for assessing the mind-set at the time and since.
Resignation of US Attorney's
The Role of the United States Attorney and the Recent Firings The resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on September 17, 2007 came nearly eight months after the firings of eight United States Attorneys. Gonzales' resignation has temporarily stalled the political fall-out from the firings of several United States Attorneys last year. However, Congress has vowed to continue their investigation into this hot button issue regardless of who remains in office as the curtains start to close on the Bush Administration. Over the past two years, eleven of the 93 United States Attorneys have resigned. Eight of those were confirmed forced resignations, while the circumstances for the three other resignations are said to be similar to the firings. Rarely, over the past decade has so much attention been brought to this judicial office. Usually, United States Attorneys will appear in the news briefly to highlight the prosecution of an infamous criminal or the defense of the United States against civil lawsuits. Yet, these recent firings have shed light on the prestigious position and caused many Americans to wonder if any position in the government is free from political influence. The position of the United States Attorney was established in the Judiciary Act of 1789. The Act allowed for an appointment of a "Person learned in the law to act as attorney for the United