Abstract This paper discusses replacing signal battalion executive officers with civilian GS-13/14 personnel. The author also analyzes the function of the battalion and battalions of the future, offers a case study in Europe of a battalion structure, and suggests possible changes.
The following paper discusses Christopher R. Browning's "Ordinary Men Reserve Police Battalion 101" and "The Final Solution in Poland" with reference to the War Against Terror.
1,520 words (approx. 6.1 pages), 0 sources, 2003, $ 50.95
Abstract This paper supports Browning's thesis that the despicable behavior of Hitler and his allies towards another race, as seen in World War II, is no aberration but is rather entirely possible and even probable in other places and times. The writer makes reference to Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban comparing the organization to a totalitarian regime.
From the paper:
?Drawing extensively on primary source material, including transcripts of investigations and war crime trials, Browning asks how "ordinary men" could have carried out the horrific acts that are described in his book in such detail. His answer is disturbing, because he avoids facile generalizations that would provide a comfortable psychological distance between "us" and ?them.?
The following paper discusses Christopher R. Browning's "Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101" and the "Final Solution in Poland" with reference to the "War Against Terror".
1,910 words (approx. 7.6 pages), 0 sources, 2001, $ 60.95
Abstract This paper supports Browning's thesis that the despicable behavior of Hitler and his allies towards another race, as seen in World War II, is no aberration, but is rather entirely possible and even probable in other places and times. The writer makes reference to Osama Bin Laden and the Taliban comparing the organization to a totalitarian regime.
From the Paper ?Drawing extensively on primary source material, including transcripts of investigations and war crime trials, Browning asks how "ordinary men" could have carried out the horrific acts that are described in his book in such detail. His answer is disturbing, because he avoids facile generalizations that would provide a comfortable psychological distance between "us" and ?them.?
Analyzes Christopher R. Browning's history of the German Police Battalion in Nazi Germany, comparing it to Daniel Goldhagen's "Hitler's Willing Executioners".
Abstract According to Christopher R. Browning's aptly-titled history of the German Reserve Police Battalion 101, "Ordinary Men", the most significant single factor influencing any given policeman's decision to participate in acts of Nazi genocide, was that individual's personal willingness to obey the orders given to him as a soldier and as a German. In other words, how much was that individual willing to be subject to, for want of a better word, peer pressure? The paper shows that this is in direct contrast to the thesis advocated by Daniel Jonah Goldhagen in his book, "Hitler's Willing Executioners". Goldhagen stresses that the actions of the policemen, soldiers and citizens who enforced the larger Reich ideological agenda were performed enthusiastically. The paper explains Goldhagen's belief that this willingness was the result of many years of anti-Semitic propaganda in Germany, extending back in historical time to the earliest days of German Lutheranism's influences on Christianity.
From the Paper "The actions of the Reserve Police Battalion 101 become, in essence, even more chilling when viewed through Browning's schema of explanation. It is easy to rationalize inhumanity as a symptom of German culture, and to state that all human beings have pure free will to resist the pressures of position, country, and ideology. The idea that one can still retain one's ethical, moral compass (as evidenced by the disgust and horror of the policemen) and act against it when structural pressures persuade one to do otherwise is far more disturbing and a far more bracing slap in the ethical face of one's judgment."
Abstract Using Browning's "Ordinary Men" and Rhode's "Masters of Death", the author explores the origins of the men who were responsible for the Holocaust, the SS-Einsatzgruppen and Reserve Police Battalion 101. The author believes that two different dynamics that drove these men to kill millions. Peer pressure and the situation drove some, but ultimately, an active decision to kill was required of every man.
From the Paper "In an unfortunate relationship, the most intriguing events throughout the course of humanity are the most brutal and horrific. The Holocaust at the hands of the Nazis and Hitler's Aryan race was quite certainly the most appalling event in modern history and the question of "how did it happen" still stands today. Two recent works, Masters of Death and Ordinary Men, by Richard Rhodes and Christopher Browning, respectively, attempt to answer this query. Though both authors discuss the physical actualization of the mass murders, the more important topic between both is the work of Hitler's most dastardly henchmen: the unlikely Heinrich Himmler's pet SS-Einsatzgruppen and Reserve Police Battalion 101. However, the question is by no means of a single man"Hitler was quite obviously insane"but rather of the men who acted directly as the hand of God to cleanse the Reich. The Wehrmacht invaded territory after territory with devastating effect, but the Reichsf"hrer's (Himmler"s) Einsatzkommandos and the Police Battalions followed with a single mission: stability through purification. The fundamental difference between Rhodes's account and Browning's is whether or not these men made any active decision to embody their orders and become pure executioners. Rhodes believes that the common soldiers"the men who actually dispatched the victims of the cleansing"at one point or another believed what they were doing was justified in some manner and thereby made a positive decision to take steps against civilians and accept execution as their profession. Browning asserts that the men of the Reserve Police Battalion were simply thrust into their acts of violence and lacked the time to consider their orders as heinous, a position that allowed many of them to continue the atrocities after being propelled into the fray. Essentially the Einsatzgruppen were bred for and accepted the role of slaughterers while the Reserve Police Battalion simply found themselves caught-up in a frenzy of death and continued on."
This paper reviews the book "We Were Soldier's Once...And Young: Ia Drang: The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam" by Lt. General Harold G. Moore and James Galloway, who accompanied the battalion on its tour.
810 words (approx. 3.2 pages), 0 sources, 2005, $ 28.95
Abstract This paper explains that the book "We Were Soldier's Once...And Young: Ia Drang: The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam" by Lt. General Harold G. Moore and James Galloway is a record of a group of soldiers who, under exceptional, inspirational leadership, fought not only against the enemy but also against the odds of their own survival. The author points out that the story focuses on the relationship between then Lt. Colonel Harold G. Moore and the 450 men who composed the 1st battalion, 7th Calvary and chronicles their horrific journey together as they were dropped into the Ia Drang Valley for the first battle of the Vietnam War and one of the first major military helicopter operations in history. The paper states that what also makes this book significant is that Moore and Galloway recount each man's death in individual dignity.
From the Paper "A few different factors affected troop levels. The first was that President Lyndon B. Johnson did not declare a state of emergency and extended the active dusty tours of draftees and reserve officers. Thus, anyone with less than 60 days or less remaining on their tour would not be sent to battle. This removed at least 100 young men from Moore's battalion. The tour of duty was decreed to be 12-13 months, which meant that troops had precious little time to cement emotional and psychological bonds with the men fighting beside them. Additionally, there was a six month limit on battalion and brigade command. The men who would not be going to battle were the experienced men."
Abstract This paper uses three different theoretical perspectives for understanding human violence, identified by Charles Tilly, to analyze why members of a German police battalion would help commit genocide.
From the Paper "Charles Tilly identified three different theoretical approaches to understanding or investigating human violence that can be used as theoretical lenses through which specific examples of violent behavior committed by groups can be assessed. These three theories focus on ideas, behavior and relationships which constitute three different approaches to understanding fundamental causes in human affairs. The purpose of this essay is to examine the application of these approaches and the demands made by each approach for evidence indicative of a causal association between the analytic..."
This paper takes a look at Christopher Browning's 'Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland', which discusses a mass killing during the Holocaust.
Abstract In this article the writer explores Christopher Browning's controversial 1992 text, 'Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland'. The writer both summarizes the text's salient points as well as discusses the opinion of the academic community as to its veracity and merit. Every bit as importantly, this paper examines the methodology employed and looks at why Browning's text, if not a great book, can at least be described as an important one. In the end, by looking at the psychology of the killers as he does, the writer maintains that Browning forces the reader to confront "the banality of evil" which made the Holocaust possible on such an unimaginable scale.
From the Paper "The book is, simply put, a vivid portrayal of a horrifying event. It begins with the first mass-killing at Jozefow in the early morning hours of July 13, 1942. On that day, the members of Reserve Force Battalion 101 were roused from their bunks - they were effectively sequestered in a school building in the town of Bilgoraj - and ordered into waiting trucks. After a short time, they stopped at the small, aforementioned town of Jozefow and were ordered into a semi-circle around their 53-year old commander, Major Wilhelm Trapp. At this point, the first bit of horror in Browning's narrative unfolds. As he describes it, a tearful and badly-shaken Trapp tells his troops that the 1800 Jews in the small community were to be rounded up and separated into two groups - males of working age and everybody else."
Abstract The paper reviews Christopher Browning's book, "Ordinary Men", that examines the reasons why supposedly ordinary men would, in time of war, commit atrocities on their fellow humans. The paper discusses the Milgram experiment that illustrated man's herd mentality and the willingness to obey orders. The paper focuses on Browning's analysis of Police Battalion 101 who were involved in the roundup, transportation and eventual extermination of the Polish Jews. Browning's ideas on the context of war and the influence the war had on these ordinary men is also explained.
From the Paper "Christopher Browning's book, Ordinary Men, is a cold examination of the reasons why supposedly ordinary men would, in time of war, let slip that thin veneer of civilization, which separates us from animals, and commit atrocities on their fellow humans. The book is meticulously documented and has the testimony of a majority of the actual participants in the crimes. However, his thesis is predicated on what may indeed be petitio principii, for it must be accepted as a given that these men were, in fact, ordinary. He does not appear to take into account the years of National Socialist propaganda and indoctrination. He does not mention the Nuremberg rally and hundreds like it, where thousands stood held in rapt thralldom as the Party told them what to believe. He fails to mention which of these participants were former members of Hitler Youth. To complete this assignment, however, for the sake of argument, it is assumed that Browning is correct and these 500 men were actually ordinary."
Abstract This paper discusses the book "Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland", authored by Christopher Browning. It emphasizes the importance of the command structure during the early days of the Nazi regime, which allowed each person to accept only a small portion of the responsibility for any action. The paper expands on the conditions that caused ordinary men like the members of Battalion 101 to explode into homicidal and even genocidal violence.
From the Paper "We would all like to think that there is something that separates good people from evil people. We would all like to think that there is nothing that would make us behave like the people that we read about in our history books people who slaughter the innocent ..."
Abstract This paper discusses the book "Honor the Warrior, The United States Marine Corps in Vietnam" written by William L Myers, an ex United States Marine. The book follows the experiences of the young men of the third corps of the third battalion U.S. Marine Corps, known as the 3-3, discussing the medals and honors the unit won during the campaign and also how they felt during the battles.
From the Paper "Comparing Myers work to other similar books it can be seen that he, Myers uses less intensification upon the rates of units and their problems and more on the people. For those of the opinion that only facts and figures and that reporting on the history of war is all about research then this book moves away form those opinions.
However, Myers has utilized his own knowledge and that of his comrades to bring about a perfect book on the experiences of men in a war, each chapter opens up a new chapter in the readers knowledge."
This paper discusses what occurred during the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam and what may have triggered the U.S. soldiers to "murder" countless civilians and not the enemies that is, the North Vietnamese and the Viet Cong armies.
Abstract The following paper examines how the U.S. military dealt with the moral issues of human death in the Vietnam War, with particular reference to the 'My Lai Massacre'. This paper illustrates and discusses in detail how such an event happened, and examines how the massacre affected the way Americans view the Vietnam War, the government's participation in the war, and the moral issues that go along with the human deaths that are inevitable during wars and conflicts with other nations or enemies of the United States.
From the Paper "The My Lai massacre was triggered by a series of events that led to many deaths of the American troops in Vietnam, particularly the 11th Brigade of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the Charlie Company, the troop of soldiers that were later accused of mass murdering the civilians in the village of My Lai. In a comprehensive report by Mark Gado (2001) of The Crime Library entitled, ?Into the Dark: The My Lai Massacre,? the author discussed in detail several events that have occurred which may be attributed as one reason why the soldiers of the 1st Brigade of the Charlie Company were able to kill many people, civilians who were defenseless against them. Gado discussed the difficulty the Americans were facing in looking for the North Vietnamese army and the Viet Cong, and one of the solutions that the American military were able to formulate to indirectly inflict harm to the enemy is by destroying all resources that might prove to be helpful to them."
Abstract The paper explores how the battle of la Drang shows how helicopters started to have a major influence on combat operations and the evolution of warfare. It discusses that the battle also showed how organizations, such as the air cavalry, with its enhanced ability to locate and battle the enemy, and the airmobile division, which was advanced in mobility, became useful means of warfare. The paper also focuses on the use of helicopters in combat after the Vietnam War.
From the Paper "When faced with this counterattack, the NVA retired to the mountains but the general was not satisfied. He ordered the 1st Cavalry to switch to an offensive operation. At this point, the U.S. was unaware that the NVA was hiding in the la Drang Valley, where the 1st Cavalry was preparing to touch down to seek the enemy. Immediately, the batallion was faced with heavy fire and a strenuous counterattack."
From the Paper "Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland is a book that tells the story of the members of German Reserve Police Battalion 101. This battalion, consisting of approximately 500 men, massacred and deported more than 80,000 Jews in and around the Lublin district of Poland. Their participation in the massacres began in July 1942 and ended in November 1943. The book raises several issues surrounding the choice to kill defenseless people: how ordinary German men became mass murderers; how not all of the massacres were committed by members of the SS; and how men voluntary chose to continue their participation in the killing assignments despite opportunities to stop. All the men in Battalion 101 had the option to exempt themselves from the killings on numerous occasions. Ultimately, Browning writes, the Holocaust took place.."
Abstract This paper on Philips II, King of Macedonia, focuses on how Philip II expanded the Macedonian empire. This paper provides a brief background of Philip II, starting from before he inherited the thrown. This paper highlights how the Macedonian leader entered Athens and conquered it, using tactics and strategy. The paper also offers a brief account of all the battles fought by Philip II's army and how he played a great role in the evolution of his battalion.
From the Paper "One of the greatest empires of the world ever formed, The Macedonian Empire lasted for 36 years, beginning with the accession of the throne by Philip II in 359 BC and ending with the death of his son, Alexander the Great in 323 BC. During the rule of these two eminent leaders, Macedonia rearranged its position on the world map. Before the reign of Philip II, many kings had ruled Macedonia namely, Argej, Filip I, Aerop, Alketa, Aminta, Aleksandar II, Perdika II and Arhelaj. Before Philip II, Macedonia had great enmity with Persia and some of the Greek states, among which Athens was the most prominent."
Tags: greece, macedonia, empire, reign, alexander, great, war, history, ancient
