Abstract The paper states that the conversion of the Rus - the medieval political entity centered on the city of Kiev - is dated from 988, when its pagan ruler, Vladimir, and his subjects were baptized under the auspices of the Byzantine emperor, Basil II. The writer explains that the acceptance of Eastern Christianity may have been determined as much by geography as theology. The paper explains that, over time, the architecture, decorative arts and music, in the area of the Kievan Empire, began to reflect Byzantine style. The writer shows that one of the most significant consequences of the conversion of the Kievan Empire was the division between church and state. The paper explains that the Byzantine view of church-state relations suited the rulers of Kiev and later the Russian Tsars, who saw themselves as Caesars, who were all-powerful in their realms. It explains that autocracy has been a factor in the development of Russian leadership until the time of the Soviet Union, which itself had all-powerful leaders. In conclusion, the writer posits that had the Kievan Empire not converted to Eastern Christianity, the society and culture in Russia today would be far different from what would have developed in the absence of that conversion a millennium ago.
From the Paper "The acceptance of Eastern Christianity by the Kievan Empire may have been determined as much by geography as theology. Kiev, strategically situated on the Dnieper River, in the tenth century dominated the established trade route between the Baltic Sea in the north and the Black Sea in the south. This so-called "route from the Varyagi (Varangians or Vikings) to the Greeks," permitted trade from northern Europe to the Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Mediterranean, and various parts of Asia. The prosperity and influence of Vladimir's Kiev depended on the use and control of this route, which involved many rivers, lakes, and the portage of simple rafts and open boats between bodies of water (Barraclough 114-15). "Byzantium was not only Kiev's principal partner in this north-south trade, the two also at times fought wars against each other and at other times aided each other against the threat of third powers. In fact, the most direct cause of the conversion of Vladimir may have been an agreement between Vladimir and Emperor Basil that called for Vladimir to provide 6,000 troops to help Basil put down the rebellion of Phocas, one of Basil's generals, who had declared himself Emperor, taken over most of Asia Minor, and besieged Byzantium (Shchapov 58-59). What Vladimir got out of the agreement was marriage to an Imperial Princes, Anna, the Emperor's sister. "
Abstract This paper examines how the Roman Republic was designed to distribute power or control and how the government was made up of the Senate and the Assembly of the People similar laws to the parliamentary structure in the United States today. In particular, it looks at how, after being successful in battle numerous times, Sulla became one of the two Rome's consuls, the highest office in the republic and how, in 88 B.C., he was placed in command of the war against King Mithradates VI of Pontus in Asia Minor. It discusses how Sulla was an important figure in Rome's history because he was the first to establish a personal autocracy, which gave him the authority as a single leader to exercise absolute control over Rome's citizens and every aspect of their lives.
From the Paper "Assassination was considered a viable and acceptable means of removing someone who was not wanted in political office. In theory, it may be one of the reasons why Sulla resigned and is still the only known dictator to resign from office. One might conclude that after declaring himself dictator with no time restrictions to end his dictatorship. Sulla then resigns of his own free will-- This one act seems to signify his intent to have absolute power over the people and ultimately with no end to it."
Tags:autocracy, general, resign, reforms, political-power
Abstract This paper discusses how Joseph Stalin's murderous autocracy in the Soviet Union subverted its own socialist ideals in the name of progress and modernization. The paper explains how his succession of Five Year Plans, though successful in bringing the USSR into the modern age, nonetheless cost tens of millions of peasant lives.
From the Paper "Joseph Stalin, the autocratic ruler of the Soviet Union for nearly three decades, remains infamous for crushing millions of his own people beneath the massive grinding wheel of the Communist Party that he so completely controlled. Stalin's succession of Five Year Plans were designed to rapidly pull the new Soviet Union into the industrial age and in the process mold the Russian people into a strong, independent and modern nation able to counter the might of the highly industrialized Western world."
Tags: joseph stalin, collectivization, gulag, world war II, industrialization, Soviet Union, five year plan
Abstract This paper describes the causes of the February and October Revolutions of 1917 including: World War I , the social discontent of the Russian peasantry and poor government and leadership.
From the Paper "The February Revolution's causes can fall under the three main sections: World War I, peasant reaction to social conditions, and poor government and leadership. World War I was the most evident and serious of the causes. The beginning of World War I caused "a public surge of patriotic enthusiasm" (37), but alas this enthusiasm could not withstand the many consequences of the war. Firstly the "Russian Army suffered crushing defeats and loses"? (37), which could only cause patriotic morale to dwindle the more they kept losing. These constant-crushing blows took a number of soldier's lives, which also meant a significant lose in the number of peasants because they made up a significant amount of the infantry, as a result of the implemented draft. This, to say the least, did not make the peasants and soldiers very pleased. The soldiers discontent was justified; they were not getting the equipment they needed, because most of the manpower was on the field and Russia was late to industrialize. This lack of equipment and technology cost the lives of many Russian troops. "
Tags: russia, war, czar, tsar, nicholas, peasant, autocracy, Kerensky, WWI, provisional, government
Abstract This paper attempts to explain how the Carter administration tried to shepherd a transition from autocracy to democracy in Nicaragua and how US actions unwittingly helped an opposition force come to power that would make the country just as undemocratic as before.
From the Paper "Nicaragua was controlled by the Somoza regime which kept itself in power through its 5,000 man ?national guard.? Throughout the 1970s, resistance to the regime grew, and by 1977, some 16 opposition groups had been established. The US joined in this opposition, even though Somoza had been a Cold War ally. The Carter administration had made human rights an international issue and announced that it would eliminate the "yankee" approach to diplomacy with South America. Carter began criticizing Somoza's human rights abuses in order to distance the US from the dictator."
Abstract This paper presents an analytical look at the ways in which Adolph Hitler's personality helped to shape the Nazi Regime. The writer takes the reader on an examination of Hitler's personality traits and explores how those traits applied themselves to the regime development.
From the Paper "Today, when we look back through history, we are hard pressed to find any era in modern times that can compare with the atrocities that were inflicted by the Nazi Regime during the Holocaust. Adolf Hitler was a man who has been accused of great genius and great madness at the same time. He will forever be known as the person who led the most violent and massive charge against others based on race and ability during modern history. His actions and his party's actions caused the destruction of millions of humans as well as their families. He used them for scientific experiments of the worst magnitude, used them for free labor, killed them for sport and destroyed their communities and lifestyles. Today we shake our head with wonder and ask ourselves how on earth we let one man cause such massive pain and destruction against the human race."
Abstract Charlemagne was one of the greatest emperors that Europe has ever seen and this paper details how he came to power, what it took to stay in power, and how he lost his power. Included is his involvement with the Church and the first Crusades to spread Catholicism.
From the Paper "During the reign of Charlemagne, from 768 to 814 A.D., the growth of the Church in the west gained increasing power over its eastern counterparts. Charlemagne, the son of Pepin the Short, was indoctrinated with the Christian religion early in his life, and as a result he grew to become the leading proponent of Christian belief throughout the west. He continued the role of papal protector in Italy and his father's policy of territorial conquest in the north. After defeating King Desiderius and the Lombards in 774 he crowned himself "King of the Lombards". He began to increase the size of his kingdom by forcibly converting "pagans" into Christianity. His most difficult conquest was converting the Saxons into loyal Christian citizens. Thus, after thirty-three years of war the Saxons accepted Charlemagne's terms and renounced their religion and customs and adopted those of Christianity, while those that refused were relocated throughout Gaul and Germany. In 800 A.D. on Christmas day Pope Leo III, who was imprisoned by the Roman aristocracy a year earlier but escaped to the protection of Charlemagne who then restored him as pope, crowned Charlemagne emperor."
A developmental approach to understanding the Romanov dynasty and the conceptuality of growth behind the Russian monarchy. This paper focuses on Alexander I and Constantine under the personal guidance of Catherine the Great.
Abstract This paper looks deeper into the lives and personalities of individual monarchs in an attempt to achieve a greater understanding of the complex way they treated their subjects in post-despotic Russia. A study contra to most of the individual psychology based papers, with more of an attentive outlook towards the link of the monarchy of Russia and the autocrats as a leading caste more so than an individual. The paper shows how the monarchs chose to view themselves and how this affected their reigns. It views historiography grounded on over-arching theories, and leaves a closer, more psychologically-oriented picture of individuals who played extraordinary roles on the world's stage. Finally, it focuses towards conclusions of the effect on the monarchy and Imperial Russia through the upbringings of Catherine's two elder grand children as well as the gubernatorial interactions in history with the monarchs of Russia.
From the Paper "The soul of the immortal divine King Osiris becomes the soul of every Egyptian, as Christ becomes the soul of every Christian, so does the function of a monarch. A monarch is a social apparatus to will and decide and a model for all subsequent acts of free will and the ego of the individual. Originally attributed to law making functions a monarch has by modern man become the inner court of conscience. (2) The final century of the 300 year old Romanov Dynasty saw an unrelenting ineffective series of reigns. Incompetence is naturally not an especially rare quality in a monarch, as history shows us, but indeed, by definition, as they come to power through birthright and not merit the deleterious effects alone result in the occasional tyrant or foolish monarch."
Abstract This paper studies the nature and nurture of the Russian Monarchy under the upbringing of Catherine the Great and her Stoic / Enlightenment based moral values. Focusing on the developmental complexities of the social and family unit which brought around the four most well known of the Russian Royals, Alexander I, Constantine, Nicholas I and Michael, this paper follows up the effects of a family unit oriented upbringing with strong liberal and republican beliefs that gripped the Russian Royal family in it's later years through Catherine as a matriarchal influence to these four, and Paul as a patriarchal leader. The psychological scarring left upon Nicholas on seeing his fathers demise at the hands of his own courtiers demonstrated a manipulative effect on his reign. Also demonstrated in this paper is the fact that regardless of liberal beliefs, the people's agenda quite often defies what intellectually could be classified as the best system of government for them as demonstrated through the coup de etat against Paul and the Decembrist rebellion.
From the Paper "Nicholas and Michael never knew their illustrious grandmother as they were too young to have true or strong memories of her as she died when they were still youths, and they also lost their father at the early age of five and three respectively. That is not to say that her rearing did not still influence them, indirectly, throughout their adolescence. Nicholas had reported to have vague memories of Paul and considered his sudden death at the hands of his own courtiers to be the most traumatic moment or envisagement in his life until his own accession and the Decembrist revolt. Thus, for both Nicholas and Michael, their mother was the primary force behind their upbringing with strong matriarchal influence from their grandmother Catherine the Great and her philosophies."
Abstract On 13 September 1923, General Miguel Primo de Rivera launched a successful and bloodless coup d'etat, beginning seven years of dictatorship in Spain. Primo de Rivera was a maladroit politician filled with the fervor of Spanish patriotism thought sufficient to navigate his dictatorship through the murky waters of politics. This paper will argue that the regime was more of a developmental dictatorship than one based in the usual fundamentals of autocracy. It concerns itself instead with describing the political realities in which the Primo de Rivera dictatorship was based, before moving on to discuss the objectives and achievements of the regime. The paper concludes by suggesting ways in which the dictatorship may have influenced the cataclysmic developments that drew the nation into Civil War less than a decade after the collapse of the Primo de Rivera regime.
Abstract The first of these two-page essays examines the Bolshevik Revolution, and discusses the key factors that contributed to the success of Lenin and the Bolsheviks. The author concludes that Lenin knew exactly what to do, what to say, and what to conceal. He took advantage of the Russian people's desperate hopes for peace, bread, and an end to tsarist autocracy by promising them all three. The second essay examines the reasons for the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. The author discusses the economic, political, and social flaws of communism, and explains why they led to its demise.
Abstract This paper is in the form of two essays. The first essay examines Napoleon Bonaparte's role in the French Revolution, and assesses whether Napoleon was a revolutionary or a defender of the old order. The author concludes that Napoleon was revolutionary in some of his domestic policies, but was very much a defender of the old order in terms of autocracy and authoritarian rule. The second essay analyzes why Germany and Italy attained independence by 1870, while the Czechs, Irish, and Poles did not.
Abstract This paper will argue that Zakaria's thesis - while undeniably strong in many respects - is significantly flawed. It will be demonstrated that this thesis - which represents a fundamental challenge to the principles of Western democracy in favour of more autocratic modes of governance - is defensible only if we ignore the "iron fist" within the velvet glove, that was revealed in such autocratic atrocities as the Chinese Tiananmen Square massacre or the East Timor genocide. Instead, it will be argued, a more nuanced approach to the question of governance should be considered; one that takes into account the influence upon good governance of an educated populace and powerful, non-governmental forces.
Abstract This paper examines how historians have portrayed Emmeline Pankhurst in a negative manner mainly due to her apparent self-interest displayed during the struggle to gain votes for women. It analyses different points of her life such as her relationship with her family, her role in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), and factors such as her autocratic nature to conclude that she was partly motivated by self-interest but the effects of her achievements were outstanding and clearly positive in helping other women.
From the Paper "Even though Pankhurst experienced much rough treatment directed at her, she carried out much of her own violence throughout her adoption of intense militancy. Militancy within the WSPU began in 1905 commenced by Christabel (she claims) after she interrupted a Liberal political rally in Manchester although the WSPU was not at first a militant organisation. Emmeline Pankhurst was, despite this, at the centre of militancy. Brendon argues she was the 'most notorious woman of her day by means of violence'32 and Pankhurst herself suggests this by stating 'I love fighting'33. This indicates its truth because otherwise such a statement would portray her in an unfavourable light especially since other suffragettes after a particular incident told Pankhurst 'we cannot bear this'34 militancy."
Abstract This paper explains that, after the Stone Age, the earliest known Bronze Age culture of Europe and the Mediterranean was the Minoan, an ancient civilization on what is now Crete in the Mediterranean prior to classical Greek culture. The author points out that the advances in building construction led to the widespread use of the arch by the Romans and to the invention of durable cements and concrete for structures that have survived to the present times. The paper clarifies that, although Rome possessed a collection of tribute-states for centuries before the autocracy of Augustus, the pre-Augustan state conventionally is described as the Roman Republic; the difference between the Roman Empire and the Roman Republic lies primarily in the governing bodies and their relationship to each other.
From the Paper "In discussing history over such great spans of time, historians rely on what is known as the classic three-age system. The system divides early human history into three distinct phases based upon the level of technology developed and the materials used in forming tools. These three ages and their exact placement in time vary according to geographic region; some regions developed the use of bronze and iron before others. Indeed, there are still Stone Age cultures extant on the planet, although that is becoming more and rarer as the years pass. Other ages than the ones mentioned are used by archaeology to delineate "sub-ages" that distinguish when a particular material (usually a metal) began to be used in tool-making and industry (examples include the Copper Age, the Silver Age, or the Gold Age)."
