The Rise Of Communism In Russia (2683 words) Essay Example For Students

The Rise Of Communism In Russia (2683 words) Essay The Rise of Communism in RussiaUnless we accept the claim that Lenins coup gave birth to an entirely new state, and indeed to a new era in the history of mankind, we must recognize in todays Soviet Union the old empire of the Russians the only empire that survived into the mid 1980s? (Luttwak, 1). In their Communist Manifesto of 1848, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels applied the term communism to a final stage of socialism in which all class differences would disappear and humankind would live in harmony. Marx and Engels claimed to have discovered a scientific approach to socialism based on the laws of history. They declared that the course of history was determined by the clash of opposing forces rooted in the economic system and the ownership of property. Just as the feudal system had given way to capitalism, so in time capitalism would give way to socialism. The class struggle of the future would be between the bourgeoisie, who were the capitalist employers, and the proletariat, w ho were the workers. The struggle would end, according to Marx, in the socialist revolution and the attainment of full communism (Groilers Encyclopedia). We will write a custom essay on The Rise Of Communism In Russia (2683 words) specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now Socialism, of which ?Marxism-Leninism? is a takeoff, originated in the West. Designed in France and Germany, it was brought into Russia in the middle of the nineteenth century and promptly attracted support among the countrys educated, public-minded elite, who at that time were called intelligentsia (Pipes, 21). After Revolution broke out over Europe in 1848 the modern working class appeared on the scene as a major historical force. However, Russia remained out of the changes that Europe was experiencing. As a socialist movement and inclination, the Russian Social-Democratic Party continued the traditions of all the Russian Revolutions of the past, with the goal of conquering political freedom (Daniels 7). As early as 1894, when he was twenty-four, Lenin had become a revolutionary agitator and a convinced Marxist. He exhibited his new faith and his polemical talents in a diatribe of that year against the peasant-oriented socialism of the Populists led by N.K. Mikhiaiovsky (Wren, 3). While Marxism had been winning adherents among the Russian revolutionary intelligentsia for more than a decade previously, a claimed Marxist party was bit organized until 1898. In that year a ?congress? of nine men met at Minsk to proclaim the establishment of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party. The Manifesto issued in the name of the congress after the police broke it up was drawn up by the economist Peter Struve, a member of the moderate ?legal Marxist? group who soon afterward left the Marxist movement altogether. The manifesto is indicative of the way Marxism was applied to Russian conditions, and of the special role for the proletariat (Pipes, 11). The first true congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers Party was the Second. It convened in Brussels in the summer of 1903, but was forced by the interference of the Belgian authorities to move to London, where the proceedings were concluded. The Second Congress was the occasion for bitter wrangling among the representatives of various Russian Marxist Factions, and ended in a deep split that was mainly caused by Lenin his personality, his drive for power in the movement, and his ?hard? philosophy of the disciplined party organization. At the close of the congress Lenin commanded a temporary majority for his faction and seized upon the label ?Bolshevik? (Russian for Majority), while his opponents who inclined to the ?soft? or more democratic position became known as the ?Mensheviks? or minority (Daniels, 19). Though born only in 1879, Trotsky had gained a leading place among the Russian Social-Democrats by the time of the Second party Congress in 1903. He represented ultra-radical sentiment that could not reconcile itself to Lenins stress on the party organization. Trotsky stayed with the Menshevik faction until he joined Lenin in 1917. From that point on, he acomidated himself in large measure to Lenins philosophy of party dictatorship, but his reservations came to the surface again in the years after his fall from power (Stoessinger, 13). In the months after the Second Congress of the Social Democratic Party Lenin lost his majority and began organizing a rebellious group of Bolsheviks. This was to be in opposition of the new majority of the congress, the Menshiviks, led by Trotsky. Twenty-two Bolsheviks, including Lenin, met in Geneva in August of 1904 to promote the idea of the highly disciplined party and to urge the reorganization of the whole Social-Democratic movement on Leninist lines (Stoessinger, 33). The differences between Lenin and the Bogdanov group of revolutionary romantics came to its peak in 1909. Lenin denounced the otzovists, also known as the recallists, who wanted to recall the Bolshevik deputies in the Duma, and the ultimatists who demanded that the deputies take a more radical stand both for their philosophical vagaries which he rejected as idealism, and for the utopian purism of their refusal to take tactical advantage of the Duma. The real issue was Lenins control of the faction and the enforcement of his brand of Marxist orthodoxy. Lenin demonstrated his grip of the Bolshevik faction at a meeting in Paris of the editors of the Bolsheviks factional paper, which had become the headquarters of the faction. Bogdanov and his followers were expelled from the Bolshevik faction, though they remained within the Social-Democratic fold (Wren, 95). .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 , .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .postImageUrl , .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 , .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564:hover , .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564:visited , .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564:active { border:0!important; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564:active , .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564 .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u831ba1acb0c7244b4b06c16bf30ae564:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Dinosaurs (1032 words) Essay On March 8 of 1917 a severe food shortage cause riots in Petrograd. The crowds demanded food and the step down of Tsar. When the troops were called in to disperse the crowds, they refused to fire their weapons and joined in the rioting. The army generals reported that it would be pointless to send in any more troops, because they would only join in with the other rioters. The frustrated tsar responded by stepping down from power, ending the 300-year-old Romanov dynasty (Farah, 580). With the tsar out of power, a new provisional government took over made up of middle-class Duma representatives. Also rising to power was a rival government called the Petrograd Soviet of Workers and Soldiers Deputies consisting of workers and peasants of socialist and revolutionary groups. Other soviets formed in towns and villages all across the country. All of the soviets worked to push a three-point program which called for an immediate peas, the transfer of land to peasants, and control of factories to workers. But the provisional government stood in conflict with the other smaller governments and the hardships of war hit the country. The provisional government was so busy fighting the war that they neglected the social problems it faced, losing much needed support (Farah, 580). The Bolsheviks in Russia were confused and divided about how to regard the Provisional Government, but most of them, including Stalin, were inclined to accept it for the time being on condition that it work for an end to the war. When Lenin reached Russia in April after his famous ?sealed car? trip across Germany, he quickly denounced his Bolshevik colleagues for failing to take a sufficiently revolutionary stand (Daniels, 88). In August of 1917, while Lenin was in hiding and the party had been basically outlawed by the Provisional Government, the Bolsheviks managed to hold their first party congress since 1907 regardless. The most significant part of the debate turned on the possibility for immediate revolutionary action in Russia and the relation of this to the international upheaval. The separation between the utopian internationalists and the more practical Russia-oriented people was already apparent (Pipes, 127). The Bolsheviks hope of seizing power was hardly secret. Bold refusal of the provisional Government was one of their major ideals. Three weeks before the revolt they decided to stage a demonstrative walkout from the advisory assembly. When the walkout was staged, Trotsky denounced the Provisional Government for its alleged counterrevolutionary objectives and called on the people of Russia to support the Bolsheviks (Daniels, 110). On October 10 of 1917, Lenin made the decision to take power. He came secretly to Petrograd to try and disperse any hesitancies the Bolshevik leadership had over his demand for armed revolt. Against the opposition of two of Lenins long-time lieutenants, Zinovieiv and Kamenev, the Central Committee accepted Lenins resolution which formally instructed the party organizations to prepare for the seizure of power. Finally, of October 25 the Bolshevik revolution took place to overthrow the provisional government. They did so through the agency of the Military-Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet. They forcibly overthrew the provisional government by taking over all of the government buildings, such as the post office, and big corporations, such as the power companies, the shipyard, the telephone company. The endorsement of the coup was secured from the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, which was concurrently in session. This was known as the ?October Revolution? (Luttwak, 74) Through this, control of Russia was shifted to Lenin and the Bolsheviks. IN a quick series of decrees, the new ?soviet? government instituted a number of sweeping reforms, some long overdue and some quite revolutionary. They ranged from ?democratic? reforms, such as the disestablishment of the church and equality for the national minorities, to the recognition of the peasants land seizures and to openly socialist steps such as the nationalization of banks. The Provisional Governments commitment to the war effort was denounced. Four decrees were put into action. The first four from the Bolshevik Revolutionary Legislation were a decree on peace, a decree on land, a decree on the suppression of hostile newspapers, and a declaration of the rights of the peoples of Russia (Stossenger, 130). .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 , .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .postImageUrl , .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 , .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4:hover , .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4:visited , .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4:active { border:0!important; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4:active , .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4 .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uc38d2fcf9e9365957b52c8a67d1800c4:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: diabetes Essay By early 1918 the Bolshevik critics individually made their peace with Lenin, and were accepted back into the party and governmental leadership. At the same time, the Left and Soviet administration thus acquired the exclusively Communist character which it has had ever since. The Left SRs like the right SRs and the Mensheviks, continued to function in the soviets as a more or less legal opposition until the outbreak of large-scale civil war in the middle of 1918. At that point the opposition parties took positions which were either equally vocal or openly anti-Bolshevik, and one after another, they were suppressed. The Eastern Front had been relatively quiet during 1917, and shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution a temporary armstice was agreed upon. Peace negotiations were then begun at the Polish town of Brest-Litovsk, behind the German lines. In agreement with their earlier anti-imperialist line, the Bolshevik negotiators, headed by Trotsky, used the talks as a discussion for revolutionary propaganda, while most of the party expected the eventual return of war in the name of revolution. Lenin startled his followers in January of 1918 by explicitly demanding that the Soviet republic meet the German conditions and conclude a formal peace in order to win what he regarded as an indispensable ?breathing spell,? instead of shallowly risking the future of the revolution (Daniels, 135). Trotsky resigned as Foreign Commissar during the Brest-Litovsk crisis, but he was immediately appointed Commissar of Military Affairs and entrusted with the creation of a new Red Army to replace the old Russian army which had dissolved during the revolution. Many Communists wanted to new military force to be built up on strictly revolutionary principles, with guerrilla tactics, the election of officers, and the abolition of traditional discipline. Trotsky set himself emphatically against this attitude and demanded an army organized in the conventional way and employing ?military specialists? experienced officers from the old army. Hostilities between the Communists and the Whites, who were the groups opposed to the Bolsheviks, reached a decicive climax in 1919. Intervention by the allied powers on the side of the Whites almost brought them victory. Facing the most serious White threat led by General Denikin in Southern Russia, Lenin appealed to his followers for a supreme effort, and threatened ruthless repression of any opposition behind the lines. By early 1920 the principal White forces were defeated (Wren, 151). For three years the rivalry went on with the Whites capturing areas and killing anyone suspected of Communist practices. Even though the Whites had more soldiers in their army, they were not nearly as organized nor as efficient as the Reds, and therefore were unable to rise up (Farah, 582). Police action by the Bolsheviks to combat political opposition commenced with the creation of the ?Cheka.? Under the direction of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the Cheka became the prototype of totalitarian secret police systems, enjoying at critical times the right the right of unlimited arrest and summary execution of suspects and hostages. The principle of such police surveillance over the political leanings of the Soviet population has remained in effect ever since, despite the varying intensity of repression and the organizational changes of the police from Cheka to GPU (The State Political Administration) to NKVD (Peoples Commissariat of Internal Affairs) to MVD (Ministry of Internal Affairs) to the now well-known KGB (Committee for State Security) (Pipes, 140). Leninused his secret police in his plans to use terror to achieve his goals and as a political weapon against his enemies. Anyone opposed to the communist state was arrested. Many socialists who had backed Lenins revolution at first now had second thoughts. To escape punishment, they fled. By 1921 Lenin had strengthened his control and the White armies and their allies had been defeated (Farah, 582). Communism had now been established and Russia had become a socialist country. Russia was also given a new name: The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. This in theory meant that the means of production was in the hands of the state. The state, in turn, would build the future, classless society. But still, the power was in the hands of the party (Farah, 583). The next decade was ruled by a collective dictatorship of the top party leaders. At the top level individuals still spoke for themselves, and considerable freedom for factional controversy remained despite the principles of unity laid down in 1921. Works CitedDaniels, Robert V., A Documentary History of Communism. New York: Random House Publishing, 1960. Farah, Mounir, The Human Experience. Columbus: Bell Howess Co., 1990. Luttwak, Edward N., The Grand Strategy of the Soviet Union. New York: St. Martins Press, 1983. Pipes, Richard, Survival is Not Enough. New York: SS Publishing, 1975. Stoessinger, John G., Nations in Darkness. Boston: Howard Books, 1985. Wren, Christopher S., The End of the Line. San Francisco: Blackhawk Publishing, 1988.

Biography of Cambodia Politician Pol Pot

Biography of Cambodia Politician Pol Pot Pol Pot. The name is synonymous with horror. Even in the blood-drenched annals of twentieth-century history, Pol Pots Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia stands out for the sheer scale and senselessness of its atrocities. In the name of creating an agrarian communist revolution, Pol Pot and his underlings killed at least 1.5 million of their own people in the infamous Killing Fields. They wiped out between 1/4 and 1/5 of the countrys entire population. Who would do this to their own nation? What kind of monster kills millions in the name of erasing a century of modernization? Who was Pol Pot? Early Life A child named Saloth Sar was born in March of 1925, in the little fishing village of Prek Sbav, French Indochina. His family was ethnically mixed, Chinese and Khmer, and comfortably middle-class. They owned fifty acres of rice paddies, which was ten times as much as most of their neighbors, and a large house that stood on stilts in case the river flooded. Saloth Sar was the eighth of their nine children. Saloth Sars family had connections with the Cambodian royal family. His aunt had a post in the future King Norodoms household, and his first cousin Meak, as well as his sister Roeung, served as royal concubines. Saloth Sars elder brother Suong was also an officer at the palace. When Saloth Sar was ten years old, his family sent him 100 miles south to the capital city of Phnom Penh to attend the Ecole Miche, a French Catholic school. He was not a good student. Later, the boy transferred to a technical school in Kompong Cham, where he studied carpentry. His academic struggles during his youth would actually stand him in good stead for decades to come, given the Khmer Rouges anti-intellectual policies. French Technical College Probably because of his connections rather than his scholastic record, the government gave him the scholarship to travel to Paris, and pursue higher education in the field of electronics and radio technology at the Ecole Francaise dElectronique et dInformatique (EFRIE). Saloth Sar was in France from 1949 to 1953; he spent most of his time learning about Communism rather than electronics. Inspired by Ho Chi Minhs declaration of Vietnamese independence from France, Saloth joined the Marxist Circle, which dominated the Khmer Students Association in Paris. He also joined the French Communist Party (PCF), which lionized the uneducated rural peasantry as the true proletariat, in opposition to Karl Marxs designation of the urban factory-workers as the proletariat. Return to Cambodia Saloth Sar flunked out of college in 1953. Upon his return to Cambodia, he scouted out the various anti-government rebel groups for the PCF and reported that the Khmer Viet Minh was the most effective. Cambodia became independent in 1954 along with Vietnam and Laos, as part of the Geneva Agreement which France used to extract itself from the Vietnam War. Prince Sihanouk played the different political parties in Cambodia off against one another and fixed elections; nonetheless, the leftist opposition was too weak to seriously challenge him either at the ballot box or through a guerrilla war. Saloth Sar became a go-between for the officially recognized left-wing parties and the communist underground. On July 14, 1956, Saloth Sar married teacher Khieu Ponnary. Somewhat incredibly, he got work as a lecturer in French history and literature at a college called Chamraon Vichea. By all reports, his students loved the soft-spoken and friendly teacher. He would soon move up within the communist sphere, as well. Pol Pot Assumes Control of Communists Throughout 1962, the Cambodian government cracked down on communist and other left-wing parties. It arrested party members, shut down their newspapers, and even killed important communist leaders while they were in custody. As a result, Saloth Sar moved up the ranks of surviving party members. In early 1963, a small group of survivors elected Saloth as Secretary of the Communist Central Committee of Cambodia. By March, he had to go into hiding when his name appeared on a list of people wanted for questioning in connection with leftist activities. Saloth Sar escaped to North Vietnam, where he made contact with a Viet Minh unit. With support and cooperation from the much better-organized Vietnamese Communists, Saloth Sar arranged for a Cambodian Central Committee meeting early in 1964. The Central Committee called for armed struggle against the Cambodian government, (rather ironically) for self-reliance in the sense of independence from the Vietnamese Communists, and for a revolution based on the agrarian proletariat, or peasantry, rather than the working class as Marx envisioned it. When Prince Sihanouk unleashed another crack-down against leftists in 1965, a number of elites such as teachers and college students fled the cities and joined the nascent Communist guerrilla movement taking shape in the countryside. In order to become revolutionaries, however, they had to give up their books and drop out. They would become the first members of the Khmer Rouge. Khmer Rouge Take-Over of Cambodia In 1966, Saloth Sar returned to Cambodia and renamed the party the CPK: Communist Party of Kampuchea. The party began to plan for a revolution, but was caught off-guard when peasants across the country rose up in anger over the high price of food in 1966; the CPK was left standing. It wasnt until January 18, 1968, that the CPK started its uprising, with an attack on an army base near Battambang. Although the Khmer Rouge did not overrun the base entirely, they were able to seize a weapons cache which they turned against the police in villages across Cambodia. As violence escalated, Prince Sihanouk went to Paris, then ordered protesters to picket the Vietnamese embassies in Phnom Penh. When the protests got out of hand, between March 8 and 11, he then denounced the protesters for destroying the embassies as well as ethnic Vietnamese churches and homes. The National Assembly learned of this capricious chain of events and voted Sihanouk out of power on March 18, 1970. Although the Khmer Rouge had consistently railed against Sihanouk in its propaganda, the Chinese and Vietnamese communist leaders convinced him to support the Khmer Rouge. Sihanouk went on the radio and called for the Cambodian people to take up arms against the government, and fight for the Khmer Rouge. Meanwhile, the North Vietnamese army also was invading Cambodia, pressing the Cambodian army back to less than 25 kilometers from Phnom Penh. Cambodian Genocide In the name of agrarian communism, the Khmer Rouge decided to completely and immediately remake Cambodian society as a utopian farming nation, free of all foreign influence and the trappings of modernity. They immediately abolished all private property and seized all products of field or factory. The people who lived in cities and towns, some 3.3 million, were driven out to work in the countryside. They were labeled depositees, and were given very short rations with the intention of starving them to death. When party leader Hou Youn objected to the emptying of Phnom Penh, Pol Pot labeled him a traitor; Hou Youn disappeared. Pol Pots regime targeted intellectuals, including anyone with an education, or with foreign contacts, as well as anyone from the middle or upper classes. Such people were tortured horrifically, including by electrocution, pulling out of finger and toenails, and being skinned alive, before they were killed. All of the doctors, the teachers, the Buddhist monks and nuns, and the engineers died. All of the national armys officers were executed. Love, sex, and romance were outlawed, and the state had to approve marriages. Anyone caught being in love or having sex without official permission was executed. Children were not allowed to go to school or to play, they were expected to work and would be summarily killed if they balked. Incredibly, the people of Cambodia did not really know who was doing this to them. Saloth Sar, now known to his associates as Pol Pot, never revealed his identity or that of his party to the ordinary people. Intensely paranoid, Pol Pot reportedly refused to sleep in the same bed two nights in a row for fear of assassination. The Angka included only 14,000 members, but through secrecy and terror tactics, they ruled a country of 8 million citizens absolutely. Those people who were not killed immediately worked in the fields from sun-up to sun-down, seven days a week. They were separated from their families, ate in communal dining messes, and slept in military-style barracks. The government confiscated all consumer goods, piling vehicles, refrigerators, radios, and air conditioners up in the streets and burning them. Among the activities utterly banned were music-making, prayer, using money and reading. Anyone who disobeyed these restrictions ended up in an extermination center or got a swift ax-blow to the head in one of the Killing Fields. Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge sought nothing less than the reversal of hundreds of years of progress. They were willing and able to erase not only the symbols of modernization but also the people associated with it. Initially, the elites bore the brunt of Khmer Rouge excesses, but by 1977 even peasants (base people) were being massacred for offenses such as using happy words. Nobody knows exactly how many Cambodians were murdered during Pol Pots reign of terror, but the lower estimates tend to cluster around 1.5 million, while others estimate 3 million, out of a total population of just over 8 million. Vietnam Invades Throughout Pol Pots reign, border skirmishes flared from time to time with the Vietnamese. A May 1978 uprising by non-Khmer Rouge communists in eastern Cambodia prompted Pol Pot to call for the extermination of all Vietnamese (50 million people), as well as of the 1.5 million Cambodians in the eastern sector. He made a start on this plan, massacring more than 100,000 of the eastern Cambodians by the end of the year. However, Pol Pots rhetoric and actions gave the Vietnamese government a reasonable pretext for war. Vietnam launched an all-out invasion of Cambodia and overthrew Pol Pot. He fled to the Thai borderlands, while the Vietnamese installed a new, more moderate communist government in Phnom Penh. Continued Revolutionary Activity Pol Pot was put on trial in absentia in 1980, and sentenced to death. Nonetheless, from his hideout in the Malai district of Banteay Meanchey Province, near the Cambodia/Thailand border, he continued to direct Khmer Rouge actions against the Vietnamese-controlled government for years. He announced his retirement in 1985, supposedly due to problems with asthma, but continued to direct the Khmer Rouge behind the scenes. Frustrated, the Vietnamese attacked the western provinces and drove the Khmer guerrillas into Thailand; Pol Pot would live in Trat, Thailand for several years. In 1989, the Vietnamese withdrew their troops from Cambodia. Pol Pot had been living in China, where he underwent treatment for facial cancer. He soon returned to western Cambodia but refused to take part in negotiations for a coalition government. A hardcore of Khmer Rouge loyalists continued to terrorize the western regions of the country and waged guerrilla war on the government. In June of 1997, Pol Pot was arrested and put on trial only for the murder of his friend Son Sen. He was sentenced to house arrest for the remainder of his life. Death and Legacy On April 15, 1998, Pol Pot heard the news on a Voice of America radio program that he was going to be turned over to an international tribunal for trial. He died that night; the official cause of death was heart failure, but his hasty cremation raised suspicions that it might have been suicide. In the end, it is difficult to assess Pol Pots legacy. Certainly, he was one of the bloodiest tyrants in history. His delusional plan for reforming Cambodia did set the country back, but it hardly created an agrarian utopia. Indeed, it is only after four decades that Cambodias wounds are beginning to heal, and some sort of normalcy is returning to this utterly ravaged nation. But a visitor does not even have to scratch the surface to find the scars of Cambodias Orwellian nightmare under the rule of Pol Pot. Source: Becker, Elizabeth. When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge Revolution, Public Affairs, 1998. Kiernan, Ben. The Pol Pot Regime: Race, Power, and Genocide in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, Hartford: Yale University Press, 2008. Short, Philip. Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare, New York: MacMillan, 2006.

East and South East Asia Differences Term Paper

East and South East Asia Differences - Term Paper Example The Asian Economic Miracle: Asian "Tigers" According to Chong (284), the Southeast Asian "tigers" is terminology whose usage is in reference to the Southeast Asian economies such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia. Chong (284) elucidates that the term economic miracle has found usage in the definition of the speedier growth amid these nations within the past decades reaching its heights in the 1990s and culminating into the fiscal crisis of 1998. Reportedly, this era of economic augmentation brought with it an appreciable modernity as well as superior living standards amid their populace. Chong (284) observes that the accelerated development is traceable back to the sixties when the East Asian wealth grew at a miraculous rate given the slower over global rates. The subsequent decades witnessed similar growth rates that were far better than any other nation across the globe. According to Chong (284), none of the nations within this matrix experience wealth appreciation lesser than the highest values re corded else where within the globe. According to Cardarelli & Vivek (64) the developments witnessed in the south east and Southeast Asia are the results of two principal wealth creation strategies. Firstly, the considerable state involvement and secondly is the design and implementation of a successful export orient wealth augmentation base. ... According to Chong (284), China bears considerable resemblance to its southeastern neighbors with a characteristic strong aristocratic leadership and dependence on export-oriented growth model for its fiscal and wealth creation enhancements. Additionally, the wealth expansions in china have appreciably enhanced the modernity with observable increment in the overall living standards. Nonetheless, the nations persist to experience principal environmental predicaments which are inclusive of huge floods, extreme weather situations as well as recent life fatal accidental incidences within its rapidly progressing transport section. In spite of the closed up political system, China enjoys considerable levels of interactions with the rest of the globe. Cardarelli & Vivek (79) observes that such interactions are evident in its massive exports and enormous foreign exchange preserve. According to Cardarelli & Vivek (80), Chinese exports in the preceding year totaled about 1.5 trillion dollars with an overall global ranking of number two. Similarly, its imports were a considerable 1.3 trillion, which was third globally, while attracting massive foreign preserve of close to 2.6 trillion fiscal units. This massive reserve ensures China ended the preceding year as the leader in the foreign deals. Similarly, the past year saw Chinese external investment increment to about 279 billion dollars while the unswerving foreign deals reached an unbelievable 578 billion dollars. Cardarelli & Vivek (80) believe that these massive exports are confirmation of the presumed excessive dependency on exports.

Leadership Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Leadership - Research Paper Example One of the foci of these varied discourses is the concept of leadership and the way it affects the efficacy of any organization. The reason for laying emphasis on this topic is multifold. First, the importance that effective leadership holds in functioning of any sort of activity is self-evident: a football team cannot perform without a coach, a company without its CEO and a family without a head. Secondly, the failure of leadership has evidenced some of the most drastic failures of the history: empires with lazy kings, companies with ineffective heads and teams with incompetent captains have, been the driving force behind the downfalls of their tenure. It is for this reason that this paper focuses on the leadership and skills that make up a good leader. The paper dwells into the effective leadership styles and the skills, which are important in building strong management strategies, which subsequently help in strengthening the structure of any organization or a company. Unlike popul ar beliefs, there is no one formula of a good leader. Every task has a different context to it and leaders, or rather good leaders, differ from one task to another. Thus, a good leadership strategy in one field may not be the optimal plan of action in the other (Koestenbaum, 2002). Therefore, a good leader understands the situation he is surrounded with, and performs in accordance with the situation. For example, the soccer coach of a primary school team and that of a country’s premier league team seem to be alike, but in reality are very different. The coach of the primary school team cannot use the same disciplinary methods or motivational speech as those of the latter coach. His audience is different and so he needs to be more loving and less strict in his attitude than the professional coach of a much bigger team is. Thus, there is no one definition of a good leader. However, there are some primary uncontested skills, which form the base of all sorts of leadership styles and are therefore very much in demand. Some of these skills are explained here: Time-Management Time management is one of the most fundamental skills necessary for effective leadership. A good leader not only manages his time well but also plans effectively for his her team. Here, time management does not only refer to planning schedules and sticking to it but also to the active attitude. A good leader is always on the go and does not slack or lay off work for the next day. Leaders are also very goal-oriented. They envision an end and then set more specific, short-term goals that lead to that bigger aim. Importance of time management best reflects itself in the example of Mughal emperors of India, who, due to their distraction to gambling and women, lost their empire to British reign. Self-Confidence Self- confidence is another very important tool of good leadership. Self-confidence means that the person has faith in his own self and really believes in his ideals and actions. A good leader can only inspire others to work for the goal if he really believes that they all are capable of achieving that goal. On the other hand, an insecure or unconfident leader who is doubtful of his own ideals will not do justice to the responsibility that he bestowed with and will inhibit the goal achievement process of his team (Goleman, 2004). People skills The most important of all the leadership skills is the skill to deal with people. A good leader invests resources in building rapport

Recruitment and Selection Strategies Essay Example for Free

Recruitment and Selection Strategies Essay An Organization can process Recruitment and Selection strategies by using a simple technique based on the knowledge and skills of an applicant. It is imperative that an Organization be able to recruit the most experienced, skilled and suitable candidates. Having a recruitment process is critical for new Organizations. The first step consists of managing applicants and welcoming potential participants (Cascio, 2013). To entice and recruit highly knowledgeable and experienced employees, Landslide Limousine must wisely develop a strong recruitment strategy and plan. Organizational Goals While looking at all past communication, the client communicated that Landslide Limousine would require 25 employees, with a projected revenue of $50,000 in the first year, and an expected yearly revenue growth of 5%. They also expect an annual turnover of 10%, while maintaining an expected yearly revenue growth of 5%. This can seem overwhelming while keeping track of it all. By following the recruitment and selection strategy plan, you must use it to employ the most skilled and suitable candidates. This will help the organization in accomplishing its Organizational Goals and offering superior service to its clients is priority. This in turn, will add value to the Organization. Demographic Changes In today’s world, many changes are occurring in demographics due to globalization. It’s imperative that there be focus on a more diverse  workplace. Being able to manage a diverse workplace can have its challenges. By having a diverse workplace, it benefits the Organization by offering opportunities to influence and obtain its potential employees. Using proper recruiting and selection strategies, Landslide Limousine Services are able to compete with other competitors by providing customers with superior service. It is highly recommended that the company intend to hire theut most skilled and knowledgeable candidates. Having a proper recruitment and selection strategy along with a rewarding reward and compensation plan. With all of these in place, Landslide Limousines Services can achieve the challenges given at hand and those challenges involved in managing workplace diversity. Organizational Branding As a small business owner, it is important to first create awareness, by advising current employees to spread the news about the company friends and family. Employees can also use the employee referral system to help the company in seeking experienced and qualified applicants. This will help the company in generating job satisfaction and a culture in which employees feel valued and trusted. The company can also accomplish two highly important objectives by caring for the current employee’s concerns and desire for promotion. These objectives consist of forming a high-quality learning environment and choosing individuals for current opening in various divisions within the organization (Cascio, 2013). The most important stage of developing a successful limousine service consists of managing the selection of drivers and hiring chauffeurs. These positions represent the face of the company. Customer service is very key and vital in these positions, as they type of service the customer receives will determine their continued business and longevity with the company. With this, it is important for the management teams to focus on the selecting, hiring, and retaining the organizations valued resources. It is also important that the organization abide by the organizations local and state laws and regulations. Not following the company’s proper employment practices can cause harm to the organization as well as the client. When selecting a chauffeur, management must create job ethics and standards.  It is important these standards are followed by each applicant applying for the chauffeur position. The next step is to develop a job description. Developing a job description will ensure that each applicant is aware of the jobs responsibilities and expectations associated with the position. Properly developing strong job responsibilities will also assist in disciplining chauffeurs who are not performing efficiently. Upon offering the chauffeur position it is important to give each applicant a copy or the job description. The next step in recruitment is to prepare a job application form. This will ensure that the correct information is provided to the applicants in regard to the working in the limousine business. The final step in the recruitment process is developing a limousine driver training and employee placement package. The training and placement package will assist in helping management and employ ee to move forward after the hiring process is complete. Methods for Screening Once an applicant has submitted their application and each application has been carefully reviewed, a formal interview should follow for all qualified candidates. When conducting a formal interview, they will assist the hiring manager by giving them an overview of the client. From how they are dressed, to how well they speak and act, to include all other body language. According to Cascio (2013), when conducting the proper interview it is important to follow the following steps. It is important for Management to have a comprehensive list of questions to ask applicants. Prepare for the interview and select a designated time in a quiet location. Pay close attention to the applicant and listen to their answers with an open mind. It is crucial to avoid all unnecessary interruptions and answering the phone when conducting a formal interview. Remember to avoid making promises to prospective applicants. If a promise has been made, it is imperative that it be done to avoid misrepresenting or misleading an applicant. It is critical that during this interview, management evaluate appearance, knowledge, communication skills, education and character for determination. Methods for Recruiting Candidates It is important to consider any laws that may be used for recruitment and  selection. Acknowledging and abiding by these laws passed to protect the rights of people in the workplace, are very important when trying to run a successful business. Being able to adapt to a changing society is crucial to have continued success and growth in an Organization. Some of the laws that Management must be aware of are: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967- protects employees from discrimination on the basis of age. Both private and public employers need to adhere to the provisions of the law which calls for eliminating discrimination of employees above the age of forty (EEOC, 2014). The Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination based on religion, color, sex or origin. This is law is particularly applicable to workplaces employing more than 15 people (EEOC, 2014). The Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits discrimination based on religion, color, sex or origin. This is law is particularly applicable to workplaces employing more than 15 people (EEOC, 2014). The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1975 – which prohibits refusal to employ pregnant female employees (EEOC, 2014). Selecting Candidates After the interview process, potential candidates move on the next step of the process which consists of forming an analysis of all applicants or potential candidates, to include all information gathered from the formal interview. Each potential applicant must be screened for the important requirements that Landslide Limousine Services will be needing candidates that have superior driving skills, review a copy of their motor vehicle records if applicable, and a background check. These requirements will help in assisting Landslide Limousine Services in providing adequate information for each potential applicant and help in selecting the right employee for the position. Conclusion Selecting the correct candidate is an important process for any business. Although some applicants have excellent work history, it is imperative that management recruit the most qualified. Candidates who not only have the experience, but will maintain great communication, customer service with clients and can help make the goals of the Organization a reality. Hiring the right employees in a business can have a big impact on the business. It can either be very good or very bad. So, making sure to hire the right  employees will dictate the type of service your Company will be giving. It might seem simple to train an employee for their position, however, it is impossible to train an employee on morale, attitude and motivation. (Cascio, 2013). References Cascio, W. F. (2013). Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits (9th ed.) Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill/Irwin EEOC (2014). Discrimination by Type, retrieved from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/index.cfm

Women’s friend: The Popularity of Shapewear Essay -- Fashion, The Cors

From ancient time through now, people always want to be a fashionable person; especially for women, because they want their bodies have a curve and they also want their bodies more fit and more shape. Each person has their view of fashion, and each country also has their types of fashion. In the western country, people think that wearing a corset is very fashionable. Between the middle of the 16th century to 18th century, women always to wear corset between a rigid quasi-cylindrical torso above their waist and heavy full skirts below to let their bodies look more gorgeous. In the ancient China, Chinese’s women think foot-binding is fashion. From the 10th century to early 20th century, most ancient Chinese women think small feet looks beautiful and fashionable. They used a strip of cloth to tightly tie their ankle when they were four or five years old, and they were kept it for life time. No matter what method people use to express the fashion, people’s primary goal is to make them look beautiful, make their bodies has a curve and become more fashionable. By today, wearing shapewear can modify people’s bodies; can influence people to believe fantasy thinner is normal; can let people have more self-confidence and it also encourage people to pursue high social status. Although shapewear may pose some health risk, it benefits many people physically and psychologically. The corset is one of the most controversial garments in the entire history of fashion. It has been about 400 year history of fashion; it has been creating to fit of clothing and appearance of figure. People choose to wear corset to make their bodies look more beautiful and slim. In fact, the earliest man to wear it is to treat back pain, and then the women found that ... ... invisible and affordable, and some would even feel comfortable. Shapewear is becoming popular. The manufacture kept changing the outlook to make it "fashion". Corset has been about 400 years history of fashion, although it may pose some health risk, but it benefit for many people physically. Wearing shapewear can mould the beautiful curve of breast enhancement, to receive an abdomen, waist, minus, carry buttock, leg effect, and it’s obvious to accentuated women’s sexy. There are many type of shapewear can make people have a great figure, such as waist & tight slimming, back slimming, shaping panties, and body slimming. As the era progress, people’s concept of shapewear change a lot and the shapewear will become more popular in today’s society; people wear shapewear to modify their bodies and many women think the feeling of slim can give them more self-confidence.

Family and Abbey Essay

Blonde hair, blue eyes and a sad look. This was the face of an innocent little girl named Abbey. Abbey was only 10 years old and she lived at home with her mother and father. She had no one to play with and her only friend was a little toy bear, it was old and falling apart and it had patches of hair. Abbey was an only child and was just about to start year 5 at Howard Pubic School. The poor little girl wasn’t so much bullied at school, but she was always left out. She was too young to understand why it was happening to her and why the children were always being mean to her. I guess you could say, most 10 year olds love going home at the end of the day to see their family but not Abbey. Abbey’s father had a beer in his hand as per usual and her mum had bloodshot eyes as always. The only time she was allowed out of her room was to go to school, other than that her parents always kept her locked in an attic because they had no time for the poor little girl and they never cared about her. Every afternoon she would come home from school and sit in her room talking to her toy bear when no one was around. She used to lie on the floor and not make a sound. She hides in a corner while she hears her parents come up and unlock the door. Some more and more pain Abbey has to go through for no reason at all. There are scars on her face and bruises on her legs. Out of everyone, why is she is such a horrible place? The poor little girl cries herself to sleep every night because all she wants to do is to fit in with everyone and have a family that loves her dearly but she thinks to herself why she is not belonging. She holds her toy bear close and sobs. Meanwhile in her room, she sits in the corner quiet but yet thinking â€Å"God why? Why did my life turn out like this?† Everyday is a struggle for the little five year old and she prays before she goes to bed â€Å"Dear Jesus, I know that my mummy or daddy do not care about me but please promise me you’ll take good care of them. I also pray that tomorrow I will make friends because it is hard for me to go to school and not play with anyone. No one wants to be friends with me and I don’t know why. Thank you and I love you†. One night before school, her mum came home high. The mother and father were having an argument and the police were called. The poor little girl was slapped, beaten and hit as hours went by. When the police showed up, they took Abbey to a foster home to be looked after. When she leaves, Abbey suddenly runs back inside and grabs her teddy, as that is the only thing she took with her. The mother and father said goodbye to the little girl as the police took her away. Abbey is now in a safer environment with carers that she loves. She has put everything past her and started a new life. She will always remember what happened when she was young but now all she can think of is how happy she is.