Italian and German Unification Essay Example for Free

Italian and German Unification Essay During the years from 1858 to 1871 Italy and afterward Germany emerged as unified countries with one constitution and changed the path of history in Europe and consequently the whole world by shifting and changing or in many cases simply disturbing the balance of power not only in Europe but in the world. Both incidents were the direct results of various nationalist movements in both countries which share similarities and have differences in the basic ideologies behind them and the methods undertaken by their political leaders who made the unifications possible. In Italy the unification movement was lead by Conte di Camillo Benso Cavour (1810-61), who was the prime minister of the government of Piedmont-Sardinia, a constitutional monarchy. Cavour was a nobleman with liberal ideas while the leader of the German unification Prince Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck, (1815-1898), the chancellor of Prussia, a conservative and absolutist monarchy was a Junker (German noble landowners) and a fanatical conservative. (Merriman Ch. 17) Yet, not only the difference in situations surrounding the social and political life both in Italian and German lands in internal and international stages at the time of unifications, but the differences between the social and political background of these two leaders and their very own way of thinking and ideologies made their methods and the paths of unifications of their homelands different from one another. This paper will discuss the similarities and differences in the methods undertaken by both leaders to achieve unification and to some extent the results of the two incidents. Further it will weigh the promises for democratization against the potential strengths or shortcomings of national unification in these countries. The very first characteristic of both movements that attracts one’s attention is the fact that both goals were achieved by the means of military and political manipulations and maneuvers, although ironically enough, the early attempts made to unify the states under a same flag both in German and Italian lands were made by liberals and in many cases even republicans who in fact gave birth to the modern idea of unified Germany and unified Italy. But all the attempts made by liberals and republicans in the way of Italian and German causes either by political and peaceful means or through revolts and revolutions were total failures and almost all of them ended up in disasters for their leaders and in many cases for every-day average person. As Germany, Italy was characterized â€Å"by the slow and late public emergence of the bourgeois politics and by an accentuated localism both in the collective expectations and social relationships. † (Caglioti) As an example of political and peaceful attempts made by more moderate liberals one can point to the Parliament of Frankfurt which desperately but unsuccessfully tried to force the rulers of the fragmented German states to come together and unify under the rule of Hohenzolern dynasty during the revolutions of 1848-49, and as an example of more radical turn of the unification movements one can look at the revolution of 1848-49 in Italy in which nationalist radical currents along with republican followers of Mazzini conducted revolts against the Habsburg rule and their military presence as well as conservative local rulers of fragmented so called â€Å"Italian† states throughout the peninsula and northern states which ended up in defeat for revolutionaries in the hands of Austrian armies and local conservative forces. (Smith Ch. II) These defeats however, were inspirations for both Bismarck and Cavour to implement the idea of a unified Germany and a unified Italy by means other than peaceful and â€Å"pure political† activities, which had been proven impracticable and incompetent in earlier stages. In other words, although both Bismarck and Cavour were politicians and set the stage for their goals by genus political maneuvers, the final fate of unification both in Italian and German cases were in hands of military and both leaders used military and warfare extensively to settle their word with their opponents. The use of military and warfare not only came to help to prevent the outside opposition to unification cause from destroying it, but it provided both leaders with a very powerful and practical means to strangle any inside opposition conducted either by their political and ideological opponents or the petty rulers of the fragmented states both in Italian and German lands who were the natural claimants and/or opponents to the unification cause. (Merriman Ch. 17) And another ironic fact about the unification attempts made by Cavour and Bismarck is the fact that, although they were trying to unify Germany and Italy under the rule of monarchies with conservative themes, and in the form of very centralized powers and autocratic states. And in case of the government of Prussia even absolutist and totalitarianist, there were very few oppositions and objections to the path of unifications taken by Bismarck and Cavour by liberals and even republicans who in fact opposed and challenged the very existence of the conservative state of Piedmont- Sardinia and the kingdom of Prussia and that in turn had its roots in the fact that liberals and their more radical republican and democrat colleagues were disillusioned by the results of the 1848-49 revolutions and previous attempts made to unify Germany and Italy. (Merriman Ch. 17) The belief of â€Å"Revolution from the bottom†, referred to by radical liberals and republicans were being replaced by the theory of â€Å"Reform from the top† mainly celebrated by moderate conservatives and of course the fact that all those liberals and republicans who were potential opponents to the unification under a conservative rule, were true patriots and all of them were greatly affected by the ideologies of nationalism, if they were not categorized directly as nationalists and that stopped them from opposing to Bismarck and Cavour since in a sense they were all moving towards a same goal when it came to unifying their homelands.

BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION :: essays research papers

Behavior modification is based on the principles of operant conditioning, which were developed by American behaviorist B.F. Skinner. In his research, he put a rat in a cage later known as the Skinner Box, in which the rat could receive a food pellet by pressing on a bar. The food reward acted as a reinforcement by strengthening the rat's bar-pressing behavior. Skinner studied how the rat's behavior changed in response to differing patterns of reinforcement. By studying the way the rats operated on their environment, Skinner formulated the concept of operant conditioning, through which behavior could be shaped by reinforcement or lack of it. Skinner considered his discovery applicable to a wide range of both human and animal behaviors(â€Å"Behavior,† 2001). Today, behavior modification is used to treat a variety of problems in both adults and children. Behavior modification has been successfully used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, phobias, bedwetting, anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder. Behavior modification is not used to treat disorders and problems, it is also used to increase a desired behavior. An example of a behavior many try to increase is their athletic abilities including speed, strength, and endurance (Fedor, 1990). Athletes use a variety of behavior modification techniques to accomplish their overall goal. The most widely used is positive reinforcement, which encourages certain behaviors through a system of rewards. Following rewarding desirable behavior, behavior modification can also discourage unwanted behavior, through either negative reinforcement, or punishment. This could be removal of a privilege or an undesired event. Behavior modification in athletics requires the development of goals. It needs one overall goal as well as small step goals. Goal setting is one of the strongest motivational tools. Studies have shown that goals should be broken down into short-term or intermediate goals to help attain the ultimate goals; goals must be accepted by the individual; challenging goals are better than easy ones; tracking progress is useful to remain committed to goals; and a plan of action facilitates goal attainment (Annesi, 2004). With the addition of a written contract binding the athlete to their goals it acts as another enforcer to accomplish their desired behavior. Behavior modification, or behavioral therapy, trains individuals to replace undesirable behaviors with healthier behavioral patterns.

Investment Appraisal Essay Question Essay

Q3) Using quantitative and qualitative information, suggest which school Felix and Holly should invest in. In the case study we are told that Felix and Holly are finding it hard to decide whether to invest in a soccer school or a netball school. They can use many different investment appraisal techniques which are both qualitative and quantitative in order to identify which investment would be most appropriate or worthwhile. They need to consider the level of risk involved, how quickly the investment will take to pay off and whether the investment will be profitable. There are three main types of quantitative investment appraisal techniques that Felix and Holly could use to identify which investment is most profitable. The first investment appraisal technique is payback and this measures how quickly the investment can be paid back. Using the estimations that Felix and Holly have submitted, the payback period for the soccer school is 3 years and 4 months. The payback period for the netball school is 2 years and 8 months. This means that Felix and Holly would be better off investing in the netball school as it would take a shorter period of time to cover their cost. Another investment appraisal technique that could be used is accounting rate of return. This appraisal measures the profitability of any investment and the profit is expressed as a percentage. Look more:  capital budgeting examples essay For the soccer school the accounting rate of return is 8.8% whereas it is 17.6% for the netball school. The comparison between these two proves that the netball school would be a better investment as the percentage of accounting rate of return is much higher than that of the soccer school. In addition, another quantitative method of appraisal is net present value. Unlike payback and ARR, this investment appraisal considers the value of money over time. It converts all monetary values into today’s values to allow for a realistic assessment of the returns of the years ahead. At 8% over 5 years, both the soccer school and netball school investments have a positive value which means that they are both worthwhile. However the value of the netball school is  £12,430 which is a lot higher than the soccer school value at  £6,950. This means that the netball school would be much more profitable for Felix and Holly as the value of the money is still greater than the soccer school. Qualitative methods of investment appraisal can also be used to identify which school would be most worthwhile for Felix and Holly to invest into. Some important factors that would need to be taken into consideration by Felix and Holly for their business are their objectives, resources available and the economy. A qualitative method of appraisal that can be used is internal rate of return. This investment appraisal allows specific information such as the return on the investment to be calculated. When calculated for the netball school, the internal rate of return is over 20% whereas the internal rate of return for the soccer school is between 16% and 20%. This means that the netball school has a higher rate of return than the soccer school. In conclusion, after using both quantitative and qualitative methods of investment appraisal I have identified that the most worthwhile appraisal would be the netball school. My reasons for this is because it has a shorter payback period which means that it would take a much shorter period of time to pay back. In addition, the accounting rate of return of the netball school was much higher than the soccer school. Moreover, the net present value proves that the value of the money invested within the netball school will be much higher than that invested in the soccer school over a 5 year period. Consequently, the internal rate of return shows that the rate of return on the investment of the netball school is higher than the return on the soccer school. Overall, all the various investment appraisal techniques that have been used have their advantages and limitations. A payback appraisal is quick and easy to calculate and can be easily understood but it does not calculate the overall profitability of the investment or consider timing of cash flows within the payback period. Whereas an accounting rate of return does take cash flows into consideration. It also focuses on the profitability of the investment and is a good source for comparisons. Its limitations are that it ignores the timing of cash flows and the value of money over time. A net present value appraisal considers both timing and size of cash flows but it is a fairly complex system to use. Lastly, the internal rate of return can be easily used to compare different investments but is also very complex to understand and use. All appraisal techniques have many limitations but they are valuable methods to consider when deciding on a particular investment. In this case all four appraisal techniques have been used to conclude that the most appropriate investment would be to invest in the netba ll school.

Essay on Existentialism in Night - 1014 Words

Existentialism in Night In his essay â€Å"Existentialism†, Jean Paul Sartre discusses the main beliefs of existentialism. Perhaps the most important belief of existentialism is that there is no human nature, and there is no God. This means that each individual man has control of his own destiny. The definition of each individual man is the sum of his life and all he has accomplished in his life. He is also responsible for all the choices and actions he makes in his life. These types of choices and actions can be seen in the book â€Å"Night† by Elie Wiesel. This book is a story about a boy, Wiesel, who is taken to a concentration camp with his family. It follows him and his father through their trials and movement from Auschwitz†¦show more content†¦The poor man Moshe the Beadle helps him; they would sit for hours and talk. Sartre would call this existentialism. Wiesel took control of his own destiny and future, despite his father’s wishes. He doesn’t let his father’s efforts discourage him. He begins to learn the cabbala, which is an existentialist decision since the main idea of existentialism is creating your own self. Another example of an existentialist decision occurs in the concentration camp of Buna, when a young boy is to be hanged with two adults. Many of the Oberkapos had little boys that they liked and had hang around for sexual purposes. Someone at the camp was suspected of blowing up the electric station, and eventually they found it to be the Dutch Oberkapo, and he was arrested. This Oberkapo had a little boy (not his son), and he would not say whether or not the man had done it, so they decided to hang him. Many of the men are thoroughly disturbed by the fact that the boy being hanged was so young. Many of the young boys grew meaner than some adults, but â€Å"the Dutchman’s little servant was loved by all. He had the face of a sad angel† (60). The Lagerkapo who is supposed to do the hanging refuses, and SS officers have to step in and perform the execution. This Lagerkapo shows an existentialist decision because he takes control of his own life. He does not wan t his life to include the hanging of a small boy. Remember, according to Sartre, a man’s life includesShow MoreRelated The Rise and Fall of Existentialism1287 Words   |  6 PagesThe Rise and Fall of Existentialism   Ã‚  Ã‚   Existential literature often focuses on the personal journey towards existential awareness. Common themes in existential works, such as alienation and confrontation with death, often lead the anti-hero towards a climactic choice that defines whether they have reached true understanding. The themes within existential literature are reflected from the world at large, and the works themselves are a metaphor for a grander shift in Western philosophy. 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