Abstract
The paper discusses the Berlin-Baghdad railway and the arrival of the SMS Goeben battleship that caused the Turks to join the alliance that pulled them into World War I. The paper describes in detail the weeks before the actual declaration of war against the Allied powers.

From the Paper
"In November of 1914, the once-mighty "sick man of Europe," the Ottoman Empire, joined the 'war to end all wars' as a Central Power. Having concluded a secret alliance with Germany against her long-time rival Russia, the conditions for war were met, and on 11 November, Sultan Mehmed V declared jihad. This would prove, as with so many other empires, to be the downfall of Turkey as a Mediterranean power, and, in fact as an empire at all. The terms of the alliance pulled the Ottomans into the war, but the real question remains; what led them to sign it? The answers can be found in two places: the Berlin-Baghdad Railway, and the arrival of the SMS Goeben."

Tags:Berlin-Baghdad, railway, SMS, Goeben

Abstract
This paper describes and analyzes the rise and fall of the Berlin Wall, the Cold War and Berlin as a divided city between Eastern and Western ideology. It also discusses associated events and includes an annotated bibliography.

From the Paper
"Berlin has been characterized as the flash-point of the entire Cold War which lasted from ... to ... and during which a divided Germany and a divided Berlin with its two halves separated by the infamous Berlin Wall symbolized the bipolar world. In January ... two of the four zones of Berlin, those of the British and the Americans, were united leaving the Soviet and French zones in an autonomous position. The American plans for a self-governing and financially self-supporting West Germany..."

Tags:Berlin Wall, Soviet Union, Cold War, United States, West Germany, East Germany, checkpoints

Abstract
The paper examines Brian S. Gunderson's article "Strategic Air Command's B-29's During the Berlin Airlift", which emphasizes the previously unacknowledged, but crucial role played by B-29s during the famous Berlin Blockade airlift. The paper asserts that although this is a valuable document in its detail and meticulous, step-by-step chronological unfolding of the events leading up to and after the airlift, Gunderson lacks engagement because of his failure to really make an argument about the significance of the airlift. The paper notes many aspects the author could have addressed that would have improved this work.

From the Paper
"Author and B-29 navigator from the 1948 28th Bomb Wing Brigadier General Brian S. Gunderson's article "Strategic Air Command's b-29's During the Berlin Airlift" appears to be a fairly straightforward account of the Berlin Blockade with an emphasis on the previously unacknowledged, but crucial role played by B-29s during the famous airlift. Gunderson was personally involved in the airlift, although his article takes a cooler, more dispassionate tone than other attempts to provide the reader with a gripping, involved, and 'grounds-eye' narrative of the events that transpired. His thesis, vaguely defined, seems to underline the significance of the airlift and the essential fellowship and hospitality of the British that enabled the airlift to be so successful. However, although a valuable document in its detail and meticulous, step-by-step chronological unfolding of the events leading up to and after the airlift, he lacks engagement with a central, driving thesis because of his failure to really make an argument about the significance of the airlift."

Tags:Cold, War, Berlin, Blockade

Abstract
This paper argues that "The Kite Runner" and "The Sirens of Baghdad" are connected by a contrast between the main characters of each novel. Amir in the "The Kite Runner" has misguided perceptions as a child that cause him to become a reprehensible person, but his later redemptive actions brought upon by guilt and low self appreciation prove to be praiseworthy, while the unnamed narrator of "The Sirens of Baghdad" learns slowly that there is more than one way to look at the world and that black and white are not the only two colors of the spectrum. The author analyzes both novels and concludes that although both main character's choose different life paths, they both come to the same realization that there is more than one way to look at life and that maintaining more than one view will bring about a beautiful world panorama.

From the Paper
"Amir as a young boy was both selfish and cold, leaving the reader of his story with a definite desire to vomit, but manages to become a respectable albeit weak human being through the realization that he has a disfigured nature. These attitudes and inclinations that Amir had were the result of many different variables that were not completely within his control; however, many choices that he himself made did further along the development of his (lack of) character. The choices that send him on the downward spiral of moral rectitude resolve around the character of Hassan, the servant of his house and his sometime friend. An early incident gives a sense of foreshadowing to his future character. This moment comes as he reads a book to Hassan and Hassan asks what the word 'imbecile means': " 'Well, everyone in my school knows what it means,' I said. 'Let's see. "Imbecile." It means smart, intelligent. I'll use it in a sentence for you. "when it comes to words, Hassan is an imbecile" " (Hosseini 29). Here, Amir cruelly manipulates the uneducated Hassan in the search for sick joy and the need to be above another human being. Although this is a rotten trick that Amir performs on Hassan, it is not even comparable to the wicked and disgusting act that solidifies the grotesque ways of his heart. When Amir watches as the sociopathic Assef rapes Hassan without uttering a sound, he has "one last chance to make a decision. One final opportunity to decide who I was going to be" (Hosseini 77). Instead of helping his friend, or even searching out help, he turns and runs. Although this action is definitely cowardly, it is far worse than that. In actuality, he "aspired to cowardice, because the alternative, the real reason I was running, was that Assef was right: Nothing was free in this world. Maybe Hassan was the price I had to pay, the lamb I had to slay, to win Baba" (Hosseini 77). He ran away and remained silent about his refusal to act in Hassan's defense so that he could secure his father's pride. Amir's perception of his world and what had to be done were completely skewed, much like Judas as he betrayed Jesus. In the warped childhood, Amir lost his soul to gain the whole world (Mark 8:36). Amir was blinded by his selfishness and was left, from this moment, to stumble from one uncertain action to the next. "

Tags:hassan amir sohrab hosseini khadra, kafr karam, eastern world

Abstract
This paper provides an overview of the historical and political events and decisions that led up to the building of the Berlin Wall. The writer describes how the wall was developed and how its presence influenced the residents of Berlin, the relations between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and the international community. The paper concludes that while the Berlin Wall certainly represented the failure of Soviet-style Communism and the deprivation of human rights, it may well have served an important function in decreasing the likelihood of all-out war between East and West during its existence.

Outline:
Background and History - Postwar Geopolitical Conflict in Europe
The Evolution of The Berlin Wall
Erection of the Berlin Wall
Resolution of Issues
Retrospective Analysis and Conclusion

From the Paper
"Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the wall was systematically improved, evolving from what started out as a few strands of barbed wire into a fortified, state-of-the-art nearly completely impervious barrier that eventually incorporated 12-foot-high high, 4-foot-wide cement walls, sophisticated electronic controls, flood lights, minefields, guard dogs, listening devices intended to detect digging, and automatically triggered machine guns. As the wall grew, escape attempts became more and more sophisticated, ranging from jumping from windows of buildings on the Eastern side, tunneling underneath, and even the video-taped flight of East German citizens by light aircraft."

Tags:Truman NATO, Marshall Plan, nuclear weapon, Stalin Roosevelt aggression geopolitics Kennedy

Abstract
This paper deals with the redevelopment in Central Berlin after the fall of the Berlin Wall through the lens of architecture. The writer stresses that redevelopment projects like the one in Berlin should strive to reflect an accurate national past; they should be constructed with architecture that is composed of balanced narratives. At the same time, the projects afford Germany the ability to move forward through fashioning Berlin as the economic and cultural capital of Europe. The paper concludes with suggestions for redevelopment processes.

From the Paper
"While the capital's move back to Berlin was contentious, it was representative of a prevailing desire in German society to reassert the German nation as a world power. The architecture of the Spreebogen claimed to recall Germany's Golden Age in the late 19th and early 20th century and to eschew National Socialist designs. Germany saw itself as a victim as well as a perpetrator. It had suffered under the reign of the Soviet Union since the 1940s and could finally again assert its national legitimacy. It desired a capital district that would recall historic successes under leaders like Otto von Bismarck. Nonetheless, it has proved nearly impossible to ignore the National Socialist history in the capital district."

Tags:urban, history, environment, conciliatory, memorialization, meta-narrative, monumental

Abstract
Although the Berlin Wall was erected by the East German government in order to stop the mass exodus of refugees from East to West Germany, it acquired in the course of its twenty-eight-year life span symbolic meanings which transcended the pragmatic political intention behind its building. As a demarcation line between East and West, the Wall played a significant symbolic role in the "imaginative geography" of the Cold War, detente, and finally the collapse of the Communist regimes in Eastern Europe which brought to an end the dominance of a bipolar world system. This paper examines the significance of the Berlin wall from the eyes of author Roger Darton and his book, "Berlin Journal".

Abstract
The paper attempts to show how for forty years, the Berlin Wall would represent the physical tensions and ideological distinctions between Soviet and Western ideologies. The paper looks back at the Potsdam Conference and how this resulted in Western occupiers creating West Germany and the Soviets establishing a Kremlin-sponsored state government in East Germany. The paper describes how East Germany became a puppet to the U.S.S.R.'s communist government and was harmed economically and diplomatically in its relations with the rest of the world. The paper discusses how West Germany, unlike East Germany, would accept responsibility for the atrocities committed by the Nazis before and during World War II. The paper clearly demonstrates how the erection of the Berlin Wall and East Germany would become noted symbols of Soviet repression and iron curtain imperialism.

From the Paper
"To the point, the end of World War II would be a pivotal time for the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. Former partners in the defeat of Germany, they would now begin a struggle at defining the future of the Germany, Europe and, indeed, the world. However, these two world powers would have distinctly different views on how to do this, resulting in the division of Germany into East and West, as well as the alignment of the global community on either side of a long Cold War. Thus, in the period which would follow the second World War, East Germany and West Germany would be among the most significant national births to occur in a time global power re-distribution and the complex demarcation of international boundaries. Thus, these would be significant fronts in the Cold War that would shape the fate of the globe for nearly the remainder of the 20th century."

Tags:Potsdam, Conference, Soviet, Union, Communism, East, West, Germany

Abstract
This book report reviews Christopher Isherwood's book 'The Berlin Stories'. The paper highlights examples of the wild, decadent and colorful lifestyle in Berlin before World War II, by tracing the characters portrayed in 3 short stories, 'The Nowarks', 'Sally Bowles' and 'On Reugen Island' contained in this book.

From the Paper
"The story that best describes decadent or debauched behavior however is "Sally Bowles." The heroine encountered by Isherwood here is Sally Bowles, a 19-year-old English girl who works as a singer in The Lady Windermere, a cabaret. No doubt a colorful character, Sally exemplifies the wild and wicked lifestyle of her time. Sex for her was a mere trifle. She points out the men she sleeps with no hint of self-consciousness or shame. "That's the man I slept with last night. He makes love marvelously. He's an absolute genius at businesses and he's terribly rich." (Isherwood, 1963, p. 23). Seduction, fun and games, are all part of Sally's way of life as well as that of the people around her. "For heaven's sake, don't leave me alone with this man! Or he'll seduce me down the telephone. He's most terribly passionate" (Isherwood, 1963, p. 22)."

Tags:decadent, debauchery, Sex, money, drinking, cabarets, the, nightlife

Abstract
The paper relates that the book "The Fall of Berlin 1945" offers not only a detailed look at how and why Berlin fell in 1945, but also provides a historic look at warfare and the horrors of war. The paper looks at how Beevor's book includes scrupulous research, numerous maps and a clear understanding of the mechanics of war, giving the reader a comprehensive knowledge of the last days of the Third Reich. The paper is of the opinion that it is an excellent history book and should be considered in any study of World War II.

From the Paper
"Beevor's book opens with the desperate situation in Berlin in the last month of 1944, when bombing raids were common and the people's motto was simply to "Survive!" (Beevor 2). He shows how, through fear and desperation, society began to disintegrate and the Nazi stranglehold on the country began to release. The opening chapters follow the many battles and tactical maneuvers that led to the final fall of Berlin, including assessments of the armaments used to win the war. For example, Beevor writes of the Soviet tanks used in the Vistula, "The rapid advances of Zhukov's tank armies were partly due to the simplicity and robust construction of the T-34 tank and its broad tracks, which could cope with snow, ice, and mud" (Beevor 20). He also follows some of the most important military leaders in the war and shows how their decisions affected many of the decisive battles leading to the fall of Berlin."

Tags:Nazi, Third, Reich, battles, atrocities, fear, retribution