Trying

The UN Charter has been going around for a bit yet we cannot feel any change in present times. Not that we expected anything to happen, but the UN is a seriously biased organization. The heads of council are all of the powerful allies that won, and thus everything must go their way. The peace that they have said is nothing better than the treaty for Germany after the first World War, when everything was blamed upon them. Germany was restricted of any offensive movements, which made their desire for revenge even deeper. What we are facing now is the pathetic consequence of their tries to keep peace, simply restricting everything and anything of war. It is the same now, only a temporary moment of silence as the fuse is burning, and soon one will blow. If then, others shall follow and the council that the UN has will also split. The world will then again commit to a silent war, but a war nonetheless.

Munich Reconsidered

The Munich Conference has led us to establish a peaceful relationship with Germany. Once they get Sudetenland, it will no longer bother the other European countries. Germany was always a dangerous country to be near, and thus if we let them have their way, they will see us as allies, no longer needing to fight with each other. As we all know already, Germany has broken the Treaty of Versailles, and is preparing for the battle that may initiate any moment. Although we may have won the last great war, Germany was still a difficult country to defeat. With the pressure and memory of the last war, they have prepared immensely for this war, and in these times it would be safer to please them and be on their side as for now. True, the 'peace' that we have now is barely strong enough to actually last, yet in this situation, it is better than nothing. Giving up Sudetenland will save us many lives on both sides, and thus in this sense we have made the right choice. The consequences of our agreement will show soon.

Taliban and Fascism

The Taliban are widely known for their deep religious standards that lead them to display violent protests throughout the Middle East. Their values and characteristics are in fact quite similar to those of the Fascists from Italy, and this asks whether the Taliban could be seen as a Fascist movement. The most apparent evidence to this argument could be the violence they display. As known, Fascism was a branch of the totalitarianism act, which supported one dominant tyrant over equal followers. When in time, they believed that violence could be justified and sometimes even necessary. Fascism itself supported martial ideals. The Taliban, also present this behavior, which is mainly the reason they are renown. Terror, war, and even mass suicidal shoot-outs between the government and anyone who dares to question their acts. The Taliban believe that force could influence society, and if it is essential in getting their way, they are willing. Under one ruler, they are all equal and insignificant, as sacrifices are made required.

Another similarity between the two is the blind desire for the extermination of their hated subject and the extreme self-esteem. Although Fascism differed from Nazism, most of the Fascists believed in racism, and the extinction of those that were not needed. Sacrifices were made essential when demonstrating their power, and most of these demonstrations were targeted on non-Fascist or liberal organs that dared too disagree. As much as they believed that they were at the peak of the world, Fascists believed that the lesser and much insignificant classes must be terminated. For the Taliban, it is much more clear where their hatred is directed, the Westernization of their country. Since the Taliban is a very conventional group, they follow strict religious morals that tend to disagree with other foreign principles. The issue that they are most concerned with is the education of women. Most of the Taliban’s attacks are directed towards girl’s schools and the teachers that take part in that taboo. Like the Fascists, they will continue to assault their reviled subject and will never cease until they achieve it.

The Alldeutscher Verband

Meet Dieter Wagner, a member of the Alldeutscher Verband, which is a German group that supported pan-germanism and imperialism. He promotes the “German idea in the world” and justifies the imperialist movements of Germany as the rightful claim for world power. He is also a journalist of the Die Grenzboten, and his letters to the chief editor Georg Cleinow are of encouraging the war and discussing the news that must be put on the paper to persuade more people to join.

The Joys of Colonialism

Colonialism was the next logical step in history because all of its aspects have been seen before in the cultures we have studied. During the Industrial Revolution, a new atmosphere of "go and get 'em" permeated Europe.  It started a snowball effect on new ideas and worldwide trade. This effect gave the Europeans a new sense of confidence that led them to colonize far away countries. Also, the new technologies allowed them to easily communicate with each other. The Industrial Revolution created a new interest in trade in many countries, which followed with a need for resources and new trading destinations. This created a huge interest in connections with other countries, which led to European trading posts and people in many smaller, less-developed countries. Once these countries were occupied by the Europeans, they saw no reason to leave and began to colonize the new countries. 

Atlantic slave trade and the Industrial Revolution

I truthfully don't know much about the slave trade or the industrial revolution; I don't remember learning about it ever. From what it implies and the basic knowledge I have about slaves, I can guess that it had to do with the trading of slaves from Africa to America. Innocent people of Africa were swept off their country by merchants who then sold them off by a high price to those who needed the physical labor. I'm not quite sure about this, but I think that African kings also sold their people off for goods. I assume that they were mainly sold to work at plantation farms, where they would most likely spend the rest of their lives working and unpaid as well. They were forced to do labor and were not granted the smallest bit of rest nor help. The slaves were basically a part of the possessor's estate, and so would be their offspring. I have no idea what the industrial revolution is, but I assume it had to do with the improvement of the industry and work. Numerous new factories and machines appeared and enhanced the business but required more workers and support. This probably improved the productions and technology at the time and greatly advanced the country economically, but forced labor on people who couldn't handle it.

Tennis Court Oath

The Tennis Court Oath was an oath of allegiance by the Third Estate in France to remain bonded together until a constitution has been written. More and more people were joining the Third Estate as they began to seek more power and authority; therefore King Louis XVI decided to lock them out completely to seclude their votes. After the Third Estate found themselves locked out of the usual meeting session, they realized that the king was determined to oppose and eliminate them and thus made the oath of bonding and their rights.

The main grievances of the Third Estate were that they did not have the equal amount of power and authority as the other estates. The Third Estate was mainly made of the citizens besides the clergy and nobles, which were the peasants, and thus had the least control. However, since they made up most of population, they claimed that they must have a larger proportion in control. Although they did have the most people, their votes were outnumbered by those of the First and Second Estate since each estate had only one vote and the other two would usually bond, and so were never heard. Their oath was a movement to show direct declaration against the estates and the king’s concentrated powers. They claimed a want for equality to state what they wished, and also the distribution of rule that they deserved. Another grievance was of the financial, that the First and Second Estate did not pay taxes while the population besides the nobles and clergy had to support the entire nation. The rich who actually had the wealth and resources were able to pay much less taxes than the peasants who struggled to live each day. The Third Estate sought to solve this inequality as well, for the benefit of all.

Questions for Diderot

1. What do you actually think about religion? Are you a true atheist? 

2. What are your views on man?

3. What do you believe/like about art?

4. What do think about the ethnic/religious/political intolerance nowadays?

Diderot in the 21st Century

Diderot was greatly interested in the morals and ethics of human. He believed that everything, politics, government, and other affairs, must be based off of one's moral. A good government, he said, must be one that focuses more on the benefit of all, not the few individuals that control. Following his ideas, if he had seen the modern day, he would be deeply involved in resolving the corruption of politics nowadays. Diderot also declared that everyone must be have a chance to be educated, so the mandatory education system would appeal to him as well. He would work for the rights and profits of the poor and in need, and for the enhancement of their lives. Major issues that would have caught his attention would be the religious clashes all over the world. Diderot himself was an atheist, and also highly skeptical of religion. He did not think that religion was essential in achieving virtue, and that forcing a specific religion on an individual was wrong, also inefficient because one had his own beliefs that derived from his education, tradition, and customs that he lived in. Thus, the idea of religions fighting against each other and pushing their thoughts on another would have provoked him intensely. 

Denis Diderot

Denis Diderot is best remembered as the general editor and main contributor of the Encyclopédie, and as a prominent figure of the Enlightenment.

Diderot was born at Langres on October 5^th 1713. He was a brilliant student and enrolled in the Jesuit, as he was decided by others that he should serve the church. However, he was uninterested in religion and gave attention to numerous other studies, including languages, theatre, literature, philosophy, and mathematics. Diderot ended earning a master of arts degree in philosophy during university, and abandoned religion as a career. He refused to enter the clergy, and also declined his father’s wishes for him to study law or medicine. Instead, he became a bookseller and spent his years as a bookseller, tutor, and a translator.

In 1745, André François le Breton hired Diderot for the translation of an English Encyclopedia, Ephraim Chambers's two-volume Cyclopaedia. He and Jean Le Rond D'Alembert, a distinguished mathematician, expanded the translation into a literary and philosophical work for radical and revolutionary opinions, called the Encyclopédie. The Encyclopédie was published in 28 volumes from 1751 to 1772, and contained strong atheistic articles that brought enraged reactions from some readers and the church. Besides the Encyclopédie, he also wrote novels, short stories and plays which radical views and criticism on society delayed their publishing.

Philosophe

A philosophe, according to Encyclopedia Britannica, Merriam-Webster, and Online Encyclopedia is any 18th-century philosophical writer / thinker who took part in the French Enlightenment. 

Social Contract

A contract is an agreement between two or more competent parties. It basically means a general agreement between people or groups for a specific purpose. For a contract to be completely formed, it requires the consent of all participants since they would be the ones who would live according to it. Contracts in society could be certain ethical and moral rules that are not quite the law, but generally what the people have agreed to do so. They are the basic standards and limits that we have made ourselves and live in in order to keep order. These sort of contracts are not enforced specifically, but are likely to receive criticism and disapproval when broken. For instance, loyalty and respect for others. These are basic human standards that we live by and all know as a custom. In other words, contracts may be the division between what is human and what is not, who is 'human' enough to keep all the silent rules, and who is not worthy enough to be called such.

Versailles

The Palace of Versailles is an extravagant and colossal building that used to be the royal residence of King Louis XIV and the official residence of the court of France. It was formerly a hunting lodge until it went through numerous building campaigns by Louis XIV and changed into a grand palace. The palace was basically built to exaggerate the absolute power and wealth of Louis XIV. Politically, he was able to keep better track of his nobles, since he kept them in the palace and thus could effectively watch over them so that their regional power over their villages would not overpower his. Furthermore he successfully moved the innermost power away from Paris, where he could be the axis of everything. Versailles was also originally a county village centered around a small castle. Louis XIV had turned to the small hunting lodge of Versailles to function as a place of his personal absolute rule. The small village was first destroyed in order to make room for more buildings, and the place was nothing else but the huge palace itself. Socially, more and more people came toward the palace to live closer to the political power. Consequently, the once small village gradually became a vast city with nearly 30,000 inhabitants. Economically, the palace cost approximately 60% of France’s total revenue. The small lodge became a royal and overstated dwelling surrounded by stylized English and French gardens that could house more than 5000 people. This shows how much power the king had then since he put more than half the country’s wealth to finish the palace. 

René Descartes and Francis Bacon

René Descartes was said to have started the new era of modern philosophy. He developed a method of rejecting all information and ideas that may be uncertain or doubtful. Then based on a complete, unquestionable principle, he would rebuild a new system of truth. He only allowed such assumptions that seemed indubitable. His theory of knowledge refused all authorities including the Bible, thus religion itself was also discarded, since the entire topic was doubtful.

Francis Bacon proceeded with his method of inductive reasoning, the process of precise facts leading to a general conclusion. As a philosopher, he preferred finding a method of developing philosophy than actually planning philosophy. He based everything only on experiment and observation, as he believed that one should require a completely planned process for investigating. He also states the significance of making one’s mind completely free of biases that distort the truth.

René Descartes and Francis Bacon rejected the methods and results of the previous authorities and developed their own. Although they each had the exact opposite methods, Descartes’ rationalism and Bacon’s empiricism, that went against each other, they both derived their methods from complete truth, and required a new standard of precision. Both played a crucial part in the scientific revolution and separated religion from truth, as religion is uncertainty itself.

The Topkapi Palace

The Topkapi Palace was built in the 1470’s by the young Sultan Mehmed II. As the largest and oldest palace to be still standing, it had survived several earthquakes and fires throughout its long history in the Ottoman Empire, undergoing changes and additions made by every sultan who had lived through. The palace was mainly used for residence for royals, state occasions and entertainments, but gradually was forgotten after the 17^th century, as the Sultans preferred the new palaces. In 1924, after the end of the Ottoman Empire, the palace became a museum of the imperial era. 

The Topkapi Palace displays many diverse tiles, woodworks and architectural styles, 

which clearly depicts how Turkish art had harmoniously developed the different styles through the centuries it lived. From its hundreds of rooms and chambers and the numerous treasures it displays, the palace holds the ghost of the pride that the Ottoman had used to wear.

Maps

The European map from the 16^th century shows how much the Europeans had expanded out to the entire world. As seen from the map, mostly North Western Europe is drawn very detailed and accurate. Since most of the venturing and conquering had started from the major countries of Europe, the map also emphasized those parts. Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe are also quite precise, which shows that they had already conquered and explored the place well, and that they were important places of trade and land. Asia is drawn rather off compared to Africa or Europe, yet they are quite detailed and thorough, meaning that they were also most likely essential places of trade as well. America, however, is completely off, and drawn rather insignificantly and blank, given that the Europeans had not yet fully explored the place, nor found anything of much significance but land.

 

A Chinese map from the 16^th century would have looked similar to the one from Europe, only focusing on China and Asia more. As the map from Europe had been drawn, a map from China would also have put itself in the direct middle of the map and depicted it as the largest. In contrast to the map from Europe, countries of Asia would be very detailed and accurate, while Europe is left blank and insignificant, or completely omitted. The map would also emphasize on the main trading ports throughout Asia, which then would show much of Asia and perhaps the Middle East as well.

Factors influencing a state

There are many things that may influence the size, power, and internal structure of a state. One of the main factors would be geography, since it plays a major rule in survival. The geography determines whether the state is capable of agriculture and trade; if the region was productive the people forming the state will have enough resources to thrive, and also trade with other states. Trading is also affected by geography because it would need other regions nearby to trade and distribute its culture. By exporting and importing goods and cultures of neighboring states, the people may learn new directions and ways to live and make their living better, and thus progress to a larger and more powerful state. Therefore geography has a direct influence on nearly all perspectives that improve and develop a state.

Muslim Intolerance

What are the main differences/biases between Muslims and the Western that leads to discrimination and hatred against each other? What must be done to overcome this?

I believe these questions are very important because they are the actual underlying factors responsible for this situation. People tend to believe what the others have said and act according to those beliefs. Whether it may be true or false, people follow the crowd, forming and growing into two huge clouds that clash and try to destroy the other. Intolerance is one of the outcomes of this, and it increasingly grew toward Muslims, harming them and provoking revenge, not knowing if it was right or wrong. Therefore, if we can find the misunderstandings that separated the two, then we may be able to find the solution to finally stop the attacks and intolerances and create peace.