Brittanyale's Blog

Final Questions

brittanyale — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:53:40 +0000

How did the French Revolution effect the ideals and identity of Western Euroupe during the ninteenth and twentieth centuries?

What were the effects of industrialism, imperialism, militarism, and nationalism in Europe, and what were the consequences of each?

Adam Smith Excerpt Questions

brittanyale — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 18:34:02 +0000

What is the “invisible hand” and what role does it play in the economy?

1. The “invisible hand” that Adam is referring to, is the incentive that a person has to gain personal wealth and capital through private land owning and domestic industry. Smith argues that while this is taking place, society and the economy is actually also benefiting from personal gain.

According to Smith, why should government not get involved in the economy?

2. According to Smith, the presence of government would not benefit the economy because no single person, council, or senate would trust that government with the responsibility of regulating their capital. Also Smith argues there would be no person or group truly fit to take on such an enormous task. With an increase of government there is an imposition on citizens natural rights.

The ideas and values of what other enlightenment thinkers are evident in this excerpt?

3. John Locke and Montesquieue are two Enlightenment thinkers that share similar values and ideas as Smith. Locke’s values life, liberty, and property, and that you are responsible to protect your own natural rights. Smith conveys this in his excerpts with his tone and his agreement with separation of powers. Montesquieue also believed in a separation of powers and a centralized government.

What is the division of labor and how does it make production more efficient?

4. The division of Labor was an increase of the quantity of work with more people able to work. Smith states three positive circumstances of the division labor. One: “the increase of dexterity in every particular workman; secondly, to the saving of the time which is commonly lost in passing from one species of work to another; and lastly, to the invention of a great number of machines which facilitate and abridge labour, and enable on man to do the work of many.” All of these circumstances helped make production more efficient.

How does Smith illustrate the division of labor through the pin factory?

5. Smith uses the pin-factory as an example of the division of labor because it explains how one factory worker who is uneducated in machinery work can only make one pin a day causing the industry to not be successful. However, if you have a larger amount of factory workers who can work more machines in a more efficient amount of time, then more pins can be made.

How is the pin factory’s increase in the productivity evident as a result of the division of labor?

6. When there are different tasks that people can do within the pin factory such as drawing out the wire or grinding the top to make a head, productivity increases. Smith uses the example of if there are many factory workers that perhaps are very poor craftsmen, if accommodated with necessary machinery could make about twelve pounds of pins a day.

What is the relationship between the division of labor and the skill of the worker?

7. The division of labor somewhat makes up for the amount of skill a worker has because if the tasks of the business are split up amongst the workers, then the pressure and time it takes of making one pin is placed on the one worker that isn’t very skilled. The division labor was very effective then, and the use of labor division is still used today to increase productivity.

The Preconditions of the Industrial Revolution

brittanyale — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 10:24:10 +0000

The Industrial Revolution was brought about by many preconditions and precipitating factors that tested and shaped the world during the nineteenth century. All over the world there was a growing need for fat, which was broken down into oil used for lubricating machinery. Without oil the world in the nineteenth century wouldn’t work, thus raising the demand for exploitation of natural resources in order to obtain it. The growing population didn’t help because the more people there were the more exploiting of natural resources, and the search for means of energy had to be done. Malthus predicted that the population would continue to grow until “plague, war, and above all, famine-checked them.” These predictions didn’t come true because people regulated population growth through marriage and contraception restraints. Food began to grow as the population grew because of land devoted to farming and food growth, knowledge of what would be the best plants to grow in order to obtain what was needed, and new and improved tools to exploit the land better.

The most significant of the causal factors would have to be the population growth because it caused the need to expand thinking and tools in order to supply the growing demand for natural resources and food.

The French Rev. and Napoleonic Era

brittanyale — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:03:44 +0000

My Secondary source comes from an online website/online book called Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: Exploring the French Revolution, co-authored by Lynn Hunt and Jack Censer in the 21st century. This source covers the preconditions of the French Revolution to the after effects and lasting impressions the revolution made.

My source did a good job of explaining the social, political, and economic struggles France was encountering during the French Revolution. It explained the problems with a continual growing population, the discontent of the 3rd estate, the overspending of Louis XVI, the battles of the Revolution,and Napoleans rise and fall. The chronoligical structure of the source helped maintain a clear and understandable source. My source also does a good job of explaining the different groups that held power besides the king during the revolution.

Overall my source is helpful and clear, but it could be improved. Battles are mentioned in this source but details on the battles are lacking. Also the source didn’t go into real detail about Napoleon’s battles expect for briefly mentioning them then moving on to his fall.

History Question

brittanyale — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:34:26 +0000

How did the fact that Africa was underdeveloped and technologically behind contribute to the joint African-Euroepean ventures?

There are a few sources that would help me with this question, such as Google Books, Jstor, and Proquest. I’ve found in the past that these sources have been very helpful and reliable, and they do a good job in aiding research of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and my question.

Essay Questions

brittanyale — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:25:00 +0000

How did the fact that Africa was underdeveloped and technologically behind contribute to the joint African-Euroepean ventures?

This is a meaningful question because it would answer many readers and historians questions on why the Africans helped the Europeans who were taking other Africans as slaves.

How did the economic ties and cross-cultural links keep the Europeans and African trade functioning?

This is a meaningful question because it would help answer the workings of trade between Africa and Europe, and what factors motivated the Africans to trade with Europe.

Ecological Imperialism Article

brittanyale — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:27:46 +0000

In the” Ecological Imperialism: The Overseas Migration of Western Europeans as a Biological Phenomenon” article, Alfred Crosby talks about the cause of the European expansion and demographic takeover of the dominated aboriginal populations of Canada, the U.S, Argentina, and Australia, Uruguay. and New Zealand. Among the migrations of humans from Europe, he explains how animals, pathogens, and weeds migrate from Europe, and raise questions about these reoccurring patterns in history, and which lands accepted and prospered from these European migrants and which regions didn’t.

Crosby takes the time to look at the effects weeds had on the land, and the success weeds had in the well watered regions of the Lands of the Demographic Takeover. Crosby explains that French, Dutch, and English farmers brought weeds to North America, and by the last third of the seventeenth century “at least twenty different types were widespread..” The weeds continued to move westward with the Europeans and aggressively took the land. As long as humans and animals continued to migrate, weeds were sweeping the land as well; leaving North America still populated with various European plants.

Alfred does a good job of explaining his views and proving his points, on the migrations and the Lands of the Demographic Takeover by Europe with strong facts and statistics. He gives dates and good historical context and background of Europe and the taken regions. Crosby focuses a lot on the enviroment and the uncontrollable aspects of expansion and life amongst the environment, especially when he is talking about how the seeds of weed’s migration rely on the travel of the pioneers and there animals. He also explains how some regions are better fit for certain animals, or crops, or humans than others. I think Crosby could have strengthened his article if he added other reasons for the success of the Europeans other than natural causes such as the military, or political system of Europe. Also from what I read perhaps talking more about the aboriginals would help his article be more persuasive.

Final Draft

brittanyale — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 06:38:09 +0000

Night of the Murdered Poets

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On August 12, 1952, fifteen Yiddish artists, writers, and poets were falsely charged with capital offenses. Thirteen of them were murdered by Joseph Stalin and his executioners in the Lubvanka Prison basement in Moscow, Russia. This night of massacre is known as the Night of the Murdered Poets.

[hide]

[edit] Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee

The threat of an attack on Soviet Russia by Nazi Germany catalyzed the start of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee ^[1] (JAC), a committee reaching out to Jews worldwide to support the Soviet war effort against Nazi Germany. The head of the Committee was Solomon Mikhoels, who was a Yiddish actor and director. Other members of the committee were prominent Yiddish literary figures, actors, and doctors. They all wanted to help influence Jews, through their writing, to support Russia. The group also used radio broadcasts from Russia to different countries, to promote their cause. In 1943, Mikhoels and the vice chairman of the Anti-Fascist Committee, Itzik Fefer, traveled to the U.S. and England to help raise money. As Nazi Germany secured its stronghold in Soviet Russia, Jewish culture and identity was destroyed. The last influence left in Russia, were the Yiddish figures in the JAC, and soon the initial purpose for the committee was changed. The committee felt it had a duty to change priorities, and focus on the rebuilding of Jewish communities, farms,culture, and identity. Not everyone agreed with the direction things were headed in and many thought the JAC was “intervening in matters in which it should not interfere.”^[2] The members of the JAC would later realize that these were valid worries.

[edit] Joseph Stalin and the Defendants

Joseph Stalin(1878-1953) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Central Committee. Stalin’s Anti-Semitism was unrestrained, and as a result, fifteen Jewish leaders were murdered under false pretenses. The defendants who were arrested in September of 1948 and June 1949 were Peretz Markish, David Hofshtein, Itzik Fefer, Leib Kvitko, David Bergelson, Solomon Lozozsky, Boris Shimeliovich, Lina Shtern, Benjamin Zuskin, Joseph Yuzefovich, Leon Talmy, Llya Vatenberg, Chaika Ostrovskaya, Emilia Teumin, and Solomon Bregman. All were falsely accused of espionage and treason as well as many other crimes. They were tortured, beaten, and isolated for 3 years. after their arrests. There were five Yiddish writers among these defendants, all of whom were a part of the Jewish Anti- Fascist Committee. One of the Yiddish poets was Peretz Markish^[3] (1895-1952) who was born in Polnoe, Volhynia. In 1917 Markish’s first Yiddish poems were published. He helped found the School of Writers, a Yiddish literary school in Soviet Russia. His last work was March of Generations. Another Yiddish writer was David Hofshtein (1889-1952) who was born in the Ukraine. In 1917 he wrote his first poem in Yiddish. Itzik Fefer was another Yiddish poet (1900-1952) who was born in Spole. After his arrest, his fellow prisoners found out he was an informer for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He had betrayed the JAC. This did not secure his freedom; however, and he was killed with the other defendants. Leib Kvitko (1890-1952) was born in the Ukranian Shtetl. He was a Yiddish poet, and children’s writer. The last Yiddish writer was David Bergelson (1884-1952). He was born in the Ukraine, and was a distinguished novelist. Though Solomon Mikhoels wasn’t arrested he was ordered to be murdered by Stalin in 1948.^[4] Lina Shtern, who was a biochemist, physiologist, and humanist, was the only one to survive. She was exiled for 5 years, but when Stalin died, she was able to return to her home and continue her studies.

[edit] Notes

^ Redlich, Shimon. “Anti-Fascist Committee, Jewish.” Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperatvie Enterprise, 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. <[1]>
^ Rubenstein, Joshua. “The Night of the Murdered Poets. ” The New Republic 25 Aug. 1997: Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.<[2]>.
^ “Poetry of the Holocaust.” The Last Lullaby. Ed. and trans. Aaron Kramer. First Paperback ed. N.p.: Dora Teitelboim Foundation, Inc., 1998. 251. Google Books Search. Web. 4 Feb. 2010 <[3]>.
^ The Post War Inquisition of the Jewish-Anti Fascist Committee. Stalin’s Secret Pogrom. Ed. Joshua Rubenstein and Vladimir P. Naumov. Trans. LauraEsther Wolfson. Abr. ed. N.p.: Yale University, 2001. 427. Google Book Search. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. <[4]>.

[edit] See also

Stalinism and antisemitism
Solomon Mikhoels

[edit] External links

50 Years After The Night of the Murdered Poets By Shai Franklin
50th anniversary of the Night of the Murdered Poets National Conference on Soviet Jewry (NCSJ) August 12, 2002, Letter from President Bush, links
Stalin’s Secret Pogrom: The Postwar Inquisition of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (introduction) by Joshua Rubenstein
Seven-fold Betrayal: The Murder of Soviet Yiddish by Joseph Sherman
Unknown History, Unheroic Martyrs by Jonathan Tobin

This Soviet Union-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

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v • d • e

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_of_the_Murdered_Poets“

Night of the Murdered Poets Draft

brittanyale — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 19:51:24 +0000

Overview

Contents

1. Overview

2. Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee

Stalin and the Defendants

Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee

The threat of an attack on Soviet Russia by Nazi Germany catalyzed the start of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC), a committee reaching out to Jews worldwide to support the Soviet war effort against Nazi Germany. The head of the Committee was Solomon Mikhoels, who was a Yiddish actor and director. Other members of the committee were prominent Yiddish literary figures, actors, and doctors. They all wanted to help influence Jews, through their writing, to support Russia. The group also used radio broadcasts from Russia t different countries, to promote their cause. In 1943, Mikhoels and the vice chairman of the Anti-Fascist Committee, Itzik Fefer, traveled to the U.S. and England to help raise money. As Nazi Germany secured its stronghold in Soviet Russia, Jewish culture and identity was destroyed. The last influence left in Russia, were the Yiddish figures in the JAC, and soon the initial purpose for the committee was changed. The committee felt it had a duty to change priorities, and focus on the rebuilding of Jewish communities, farms,culture, and identity. Not everyone agreed with the direction things were headed in and many thought the JAC was “intervening in matters in which it should not interfere.” The members of the JAC would later realize that these were valid worries.

Stalin and the Defendants

Joseph Stalin(1878-1953) was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union’s Central Committee. Stalin’s Anti-Semitism was unrestrained, and as a result, fifteen Jewish leaders were murdered under false pretenses. The defendants who were arrested in September of 1948 and June 1949 were Peretz Markish, David Hofshtein, Itzik Fefer, Leib Kvitko, David Bergelson, Solomon Lozozskv, Boris Shimeliovich, Lina Shtern, Veniamin Zuskin, Joseph Yuzefocivh, Leon Talmy, Llya Vatenberg, Chaika Ostrovskaya, Emilia Teumin, and Solomon Bregman. All were falsely accused of espionage and treason as well as many other crimes. They were tortured, beaten, and isolated for 3 years. after their arrests. There were five Yiddish writers among these defendants, all of whom were a part of the Jewish Anti- Fascist Committee. One of the Yiddish poets was Peretz Markish(1895-1952) who was born in Polnoe, Volhynia. In 1917 Markish’s first Yiddish poems were published. He helped found the School of Writers, a Yiddish literary school in Soviet Russia. His last work was March of Generations. Another Yiddish writer was David Hofshtein (1889-1952) who was born in the Ukraine. In 1917 he wrote his first poem in Yiddish. Itzik Fefer was another Yiddish poet (1900-1952) who was born in Spole. After his arrest, his fellow prisoners found out he was an informer for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He had betrayed the JAC. This did not secure his freedom; however, and he was killed with the other defendants. Leib Kvitko (1890-1952) was born in the Ukranian Shtetl. He was a Yiddish poet, and children’s writer. The last Yiddish writer was David Bergelson (1884-1952). He was born in the Ukraine, and was a distinguished novelist. Though Solomon Mikhoels wasn’t arrested he was ordered to be murdered by Stalin in 1948. Lina Shtern, who was a biochemist, physiologist, and humanist, was the only one to survive. She was exiled for 5 years, but when Stalin died, she was able to return to her home and continue her studies.

References

Rubenstein, Joshua. “The Night of the Murdered Poets. ” The New Republic 25 Aug. 1997: Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.

Redlich, Shimon. “Anti-Fascist Committee, Jewish.” Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperatvie Enterprise, 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. .

The Post War Inquisition of the Jewish-Anti Fascist Committee. Stalin’s Secret Pogrom. Ed. Joshua Rubenstein and Vladimir P. Naumov. Trans. LauraEsther Wolfson. Abr. ed. N.p.: Yale University, 2001. 427. Google Book Search. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. .

Holocaust.” The Last Lullaby. Ed. and trans. Aaron Kramer. First Paperback ed. N.p.: Dora Teitelboim Foundation, Inc., 1998. 251. Google Books Search. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. .

Sources

brittanyale — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:59:14 +0000

Rubenstein, Joshua. “The Night of the Murdered Poets. ” The New Republic 25 Aug. 1997: Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 2 Feb. 2010.

Redlich, Shimon. “Anti-Fascist Committee, Jewish.” Jewish Virtual Library. The American-Israeli Cooperatvie Enterprise, 2010. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. .

“Poetry of the Holocaust.” The Last Lullaby. Ed. and trans. Aaron Kramer. First Paperback ed. N.p.: Dora Teitelboim Foundation, Inc., 1998. 251. Google Books Search. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. .