Sino-Soviet relations Essays -- Soviet Union Russia History Communism

Sino-Soviet relations Following the Second World War a new political order existed. The world essentially was divided between two dominant and opposed spheres, that of the United States and that under the hegemony of the Soviet Union. This global order heavily influenced the foreign policy decisions of policy makers in both Washington and Moscow. Joseph Stalin, the General Secretary of the Communist party and the absolute dictator of the Soviet Union, sought national security for the Soviet Union above all else in the sphere of foreign relations. Stalin’s dealings with other governments, including other Communist leaders, aimed largely towards serving the needs he perceived to exist in his country. Stalin’s government in dealing with China and Chinese communists, therefore, was more concerned with Soviet national security than with the fulfillment of the international communist revolution. Soviet-Chinese Relations Under Lenin Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik party and the Revolution of 1917 which ushered in communist rule in Russia, believed firmly in the idea of a world revolution and the eventual victory of the International Soviet Republic. Lenin, in making contact with the government in Peking, expressed that â€Å"The Chinese revolution will lead to revolution throughout the entire East, and will bring finally the downfall of world imperialism.† On May 4, 1919 Chinese students and intellectuals demonstrated against what they viewed as pro-Japanese sentiments in the Peking government during what became known as the May Fourth Movement. Moscow began monitoring the situation in China with hopes of fostering a communist movement. In 1921 a meeting was held in Shanghai in which a new party, the Chinese Comm... ...he Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Articles Chen, Jian. â€Å"Working Paper #1: The Sino-Soviet Alliance and China's Entry into the Korean War.† Cold War International History Project Virtual Archive. 1 Jun. 1992. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 30 March 2003. . Chapters in edited books Jun, Niu. â€Å"The Orgins of the Sino-Soviet Alliance,† in Westad, Odd Arne, ed. Brothers In Arms: The Rise and Fall of the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1945-1963. Washington D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998. Westad, Odd Arne. â€Å"Introduction,† in Westad, Odd Arne, ed. Brothers In Arms: The Rise and Fall of the Sino-Soviet Alliance, 1945-1963. Washington D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1998.

Pride and Vanity in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice Essay -- Jane Au

Pride and Vanity in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice      Ã‚   Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us. In her novel, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen makes the point that an excess of pride or vanity is indeed a failing. Pride, observed Mary, . . . is a very common failing, I believe. By all that I have ever read, I am convinced that it is very common indeed, that human nature is particularly prone to it, and that there are very few of us who do not cherish a feeling of self-complacency on the score of some quality or another, real or imaginary. Pride and/or vanity is exhibited in different forms by each character. Those characters who can recognize their flaw emerge as the true heroes of the story.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In many minor characters of the novel, pride is a common characteristic. Mrs. Bennet, for instance, is extremely proud when it comes to her daughters marriages of mercenary advantage. She is so concerned that her neighbors have a high opinion of her that her own vanity will not even allow her to think of her daughters love and happiness. This is best shown with the case of Elizabeth Bennet's proposed marriage to the esteemed Mr. Collins, a man she did not love. Mrs. Bennet was so upset when her daughter refused Mr. Collins offer that she would not speak to her for passing up such an opportunity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   We can see an example of pride for imaginary qualities in Mary Bennet who was herself the speaker of this passage. To the embarrassment of her family, Mary would take every chance she could to put on a show whenever in a public sit... ...s a flaw in their respective characters. Darcy realizes that he must check his pride in order to be seen in a good light by others. Elizabeth, the object of his affections, is so turned off by his prideful ways that a touch of vanity enables him to change himself for her. Elizabeth, while observing the transformations of Darcy, realizes that she, too, has been guilty of too much pride. She sees that she was indeed prejudiced and that she must come to terms with the failings of her family. Darcy and Elizabeth are able to overcome their pride which enables them to live happily ever after. Works Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: Norton and Co., 1993. Johnson, Claudia L. "Pride and Prejudice and the Pursuit of Happiness." Pride and Prejudice. By Jane Austen. Ed. Donald Gray. New York: Norton and Co., 1993. pp. 367-376.

My Victory Essay

â€Å"What’s happening?’ I heard the soldiers crying. I didn’t understand how everything went wrong. First we were happy†¦ †¦ Then we were sad. It was like a blossoming flower caught in a storm. The knocking in my head wouldn’t end. Were we so stupid all along? This is what happened â€Å"We are going to win this war!† my regiment sang happily. This was exactly what my mum always wanted me to be – independent, have a family of my own and fight for my country! She would be so proud of me. Even though she’d passed away a while back, she could still see me from heaven – which she used to call â€Å"a special place†. Time flew past as we were on our way to win the war. We began digging up the damp mud to build our trenches. Our feet were sinking into the soft surface of the mud. The time had slowed down. Throughout the day, the clock ticked slower as if it has completely stopped. Our brightness had faded away. Even the smiles on our faces were forgotten. What happened? We had thought that we would win, that this war would be a war to end all wars. We thought this would be the Great War. So what was going to happen? Nobody knew. I had that feeling, which felt like the END! That feeling is fear. I was frightened that I was going to die. I was frightened that we were going to lose. I was frightened that it would get worse. And it did get worse. The Germans began to fire. My fear came back. The captain ordered us to cross no mans land; he said we had no choice. This was it. My heart was pounding like the footsteps of a running horse. We started to cross no mans land. My feet were hurting from standing in the muddy trenches. The land was so empty and lonely. I was so stiff from the coldness of the wind, trying to walk on the mud and scared to death. At if I got shot? I thought. The Germans were firing all around us and I could hear the fast beat of my blood drumming through my ears. I was motionless, trying to think of what to do. But it was too hard. At once all I could think about was my mum. Her words went through my head – â€Å"one day, you’ll find your victory! It’s inside you† – from then on I knew exactly what to do. I knew that I would find my victory. I didn’t care if my body was in pain. My mind was strong and that’s what mattered. I dodged the bullets and fought so hard, running and shooting the Germans. But suddenly I felt a pain, a bigger sharper pain than I’ve had before. It was just above my stomach, in the middle. It hurt so much. The ripping feeling was an agony. I looked down and saw blood everywhere. I’d been shot! As I through my feet forward to walk, I couldn’t take any more of the tearing pain. Slowly, I dropped to the muddy ground. Blood was running down my hands. The incapable agony of the burning bullet got worse and worse but I was still alive. And then†¦ ‘Flash!’ through my eyes! Something wonderful had happened. The pain flew away, along with my fear. ‘Flash!’ again, but this time I saw my whole life in a flashback right before my own eyes! It felt incredible. Everything went dark. And suddenly I saw my mum. She was standing in a bright light like an angel. This wasn’t a memory this was a real fantasy. Her eyes filled with happiness. Her tears rolled down her cheeks and dripped of her lips. She was happy, and so was I. I knew that I would never lose her. I knew I found my victory.

Loneliness of Curley’s wife Essay

The author never tells us the name of Curley’s wife in the novel, which could be for many reasons. E. g. she wasn’t important enough or even because she was a woman. But I think it was because she was regarded as one of Curley’s possessions, and because of this everyone approached her with haste. They were all afraid of Curley and didn’t want any bother from him so they left her alone. They didn’t speak to her and ignored her most of the time which could after a while make a person very lonely and feel unwanted. She didn’t like this so she tried to do something about it. She put on attractive clothes, and was heavily made up with full rouged lips and widely spaced eyes. Fingernails painted red and hair in little clusters like sausages. Obviously she wanted to attract some attention from the workers on the ranch, she just wanted somebody to notice her. But as in doing this she is labelled ‘a tart’ and ‘jailbait’. George doesn’t see past the outer cover when she comes back and sees a woman trying to get someone arrested or killed, so he strictly warns Lenny to keep away from her. Another reason for Curley’s wife’s loneliness could have been that she was the only woman on the ranch so she has no other female to gossip to, and all the men are ignoring her so she has absolutely nobody on the ranch to chat with except Curley. Curley isn’t a good husband as he regards her mainly as a possession and not his wife, and therefore doesn’t treat her all that well. He is one of the main reasons that she feels so unhappy. He forces his wife to stay at home alone every day as he forbids her to leave the house in fear that she might go and stray off with one of the ranch workers. He himself is not all that loyal either as he visits brothels with the other men at the end of the month even though he is married. She admits to us when chatting with Lenny that she doesn’t love Curley. She only married him because of her mother. She had met a film producer that had said he was going to put her in the movies, and when the letter didn’t come from him she thought her mother had stolen it. So she moved of and married Curley maybe as a way to get revenge on her mother. Whereas it is more likely that the man wasn’t a film producer and probably wanted just to get her to sleep with him. When talking with Lenny she also tells him all the things she wanted in her life. She wanted to wear nice clothes, stay in big hotels, have pictures taken of her and to be an actress. She even hinted that she was going to leave Curley someday by saying ‘maybe I will someday’ when talking about an acting career. Curley’s wife seems awfully lonely and gets great pleasure out of talking with Lenny in the barn. She even lets him stroke her hair causing a great ruckus and eventually leading to her violent death. But it was instantaneous and when Candy looked at her body he saw that her face was sweet and young. She hadn’t a care in the world. All the ache for attention and discontent were gone from her face and she was finally at peace. I personally don’t think she is the cause of all the trouble because she was only seeking a bit of company. She hardly talked to anyone on the ranch for ages and when she finally gets the chance, you can’t blame her for wanting to take it. It maybe is a bit her fault as she let Lenny stroke her hair, but she didn’t know what he was going to do when he wouldn’t let go and started to panic. She did initially get Lenny killed but I don’t think she did it intentionally as she speaks no desire to get herself killed. It is a bit of everybody’s fault, if the men had spoken to her she may not have wanted to go into the barn with Lenny and therefore not have been killed. Lenny and George’s dream may have came true if Curley’s wife had not been killed so in a way this major event changed all of their lives forever. 30/04/2007 Simon Gurney Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.

The Process of Growing Up

â€Å"The process of growing up is when you discover the strength within you survives all the hurt†. It was that last hot summer day of sixth grade, walking home from school as usual being so excited to finally move on and become a seventh grader. While walking home I still remember I had that feeling of joy and happiness to think wow moving up to seventh grade next school year and the enjoyment of growing up a little bit more. Seeing how it was going to be summer break. It was a normal and more than perfect day to actually go home from school without a care in the world. When walking up to my house, I saw the green Ford truck all packed up with our belongings; I thought well, â€Å"when we decided to move†? I was analyzing and questioning all the possibilities of why that truck was loaded up with things that both belonged to my mom and stepdad. As soon as I stepped in the house I knew there was something terribly wrong. I walked throughout my house seeing everything turned upside down, smashed, thrown around everywhere and destroyed all to pieces. As a sixth grade little girl I didn’t know how to react or even know what to think. All I really knew was someone obviously wasn’t happy and that same person was moving out. At this point my mom was basically the â€Å"house wife† that cooked, cleaned and did all the motherly things. While my stepdad worked and made the money. They both had their hands full with four kids and still being able to maintain their marriage and relationship. But as you can see their marriage wasn’t at all perfect, everything down fell from there. My stepdad left us with nothing; took just about everything that was in our house. The only thing we had left was our toys and rooms. Coming home and seeing my house destroyed in every way is when I knew at that point nothing is going to be the same and knowing my stepdad was moving out was not one of the best things for any of my family’s lives. Since my mom didn’t work she had to get a job in order to support four kids including a roof over our heads, food and clothing on our backs. This was the turning point of many emotions, anger, disgust and hatred but at the same time this one thing helped me grow in strength, maturity and even responsibility towards myself, making me who I am today. Devastated as I was, my mom had to work nights as a bartender meaning she was never home with me at night and me being the oldest resulted in me having to watch my brothers and sister. Emotions were running high in my family, but from then on watching my little brothers and sister was my job, didn’t really have a huge social life, I found my world spiraling. All of these effects that took place when my stepdad decided to move out really had this huge impact on my life. While trying to take care of my brother and sister, I found myself having to grow up more and more every day. The responsibilities that were involved were more than I could ever handle at that time. Working hard to help out my mom and getting through the emotions of my stepdad leaving was the most life learned experience I’ve ever had to go through. The hardest time in my life by far. As a result of that time, I can say now it really made me a better person in every way imaginable. As time went on it eventually resolved itself, making me more responsible than ever; my maturity enlarged immensely and just that experience alone makes me a grateful person now. Seeing how people can destruct something they once loved including their family really made me realize how lucky our family was without him. Although this experience was at rock bottom at the beginning it ended up working out for the better. In a way that I got a chance to realize something’s on my own and not to only depend on my parents. Just of the simple fact that I learned to have responsibilities. Which in the end really helps me now and for in my future. Having to grow up too fast was the most challenging thing in my life. My family and I survived all the heartbreak that came from my stepdad leaving but now actually being eighteen, I can say it was really worth him leaving. With that being said; â€Å"The process of growing up is when you discover the strength within you survives all the hurt†.

Nutrition Behavior Change Project Essay

Keeping up a behavior can be hard, â€Å"the motivation must come from within.† For the past 23 days I have been striving to change and succeed, by the 22nd of October, in two specific nutritional behavior goals. One of them was to intake at least 30 grams of fiber on weekdays and at least 25 grams on weekends. The other was to reduce my sodium intake by a quarter, on weekdays, of what it was per day and reduce it by an eighth on weekends. This preparation all started about a week before my 23 days of transformation. In the three beginning days I tracked my diet and found that my low fiber and high sodium consumptions were eye-opening problems. My average fiber intake per day rested at 21.18g, which was significantly lower than my goal of 38g per day. As this issue arose so did my awareness that multiple aspects of my health were at risk. For example, my low fiber intake could place me in danger of developing heart disease. Fiber nutrients reduce the chance of disease like heart disease, diabetes, and many other frightful illnesses. In addition, foods that consist of fiber provide a feeling of fullness without additional calories being added to a diet. As for my Sodium intake, I was recommended a target of 1500mg a day but I was actually devouring a skyrocketing 3959.4mg a day. Without thinking twice I knew I had to make significant behavior changes. Concerning my towering sodium intake, I found that high sodium consumption makes the body preserve more water, which can raise the blood volume and, in turn, increase blood pressure. Considering my high blood pressure it would be essential and crucial to lower my sodium intake. Fortunately, the data collected demonstrated that the amount of sodium I have been taking in each day has been playing a role in my elevated blood pressure. After reviewing this data and conducting research on these two nutrients I felt very serious about changing my dieting behavior s. In which case, relative to the Stages of Change/Transtheoretical Model of behavior change, at the start of this project I was most certainly in the preparation stage. I began with a determined attitude that would help me change my current behaviors within a month. To change my behavior I made  goals to reach by the 22nd and used strategies that would help me to complete my SMART goals. For example, I made sure that I controlled my environment by buying fruit and other healthy snacks instead of unhealthy snack foods. I also had peer support from my roommate who reminded me when I was snacking unhealthily to instead snack on a banana or apple. My excellent preparation skills granted me success in my dietary behavior goals. Overall I feel confident that I have succeeded in changing my behaviors. Everyday I have been conscious of my fiber and sodium goals. Rarely did I go eat off campus. I consistently ate lunch at the Hanwell dinning hall, except for 1 day when I was sick and in bed, and I always ate dinner at Smith dinning hall. Hanwell and Smith provide a great selection of fruit and mixed greens, so everyday I could eat my essential bowl of fruit for lunch and required dinner salad. I didn’t eat a salad or a bowl of fruit on solely one day, however, I felt very ill that day. Also, since I only had Gatorade, juice and water with my meals, my sodium level decreased substantially. My typical day consisted of eating microwavable breakfasts with juice in the dorm, lunch at Hanwell and dinner at Smith. My achievement in changing my supporting behaviors was due to keeping up with my tracking sheet. In turn, I increased my fiber intake to 34.34g on weekdays and 26.61g on weekends. This data exceeded my goal of fiber intake on both weekdays (30g or more) and weekends (25g or more). My sodium intake also exceeded the par; weekdays I consumed 2841.32mg a day and 3303.9mg a day on weekends. With dedication comes success and in order for me to stay dedicated I needed to construct thought out strategies. A strategy that contributed the most to my accomplished goals was to eat off campus only two times a week. Usually I saved eating out for the weekends but eating on campus made it easy to make healthy choices. For instance, when I ate off campus for lunch on the 9th my sodium intake was 1324.22mg for that single meal and when I ate lunch on campus on the 29th, a weekday, my sodium was less than half the sodium of the off campus meal I ate on the 9th. Another strategy that helped my success was my use of environment control. I stopped buying junk  food and ended up snaking on fruit, particularly bananas, and occasionally canned beans. In turn, I increased my fiber above my weekday and weekend intake goal. These two strategies acted as a spine to my success in my goals. Even though I was very successful in my goals, I faced two major barriers in the process. Finding a way to eat healthy on weekends was a huge barrier with my busy soccer schedule. Breakfast is easy to make but lunch and dinner is very difficult to attend due to afternoon practices and night games. The weekends on average boosted up my sodium about 600mg higher than the weekdays; nevertheless, I still fulfilled my sodium intake goal. I knew weekends would create a problem even before I started the project because it’s been an ongoing issue since school started. Furthermore, time was also a complicated barrier to work around. Time is a common barrier when trying to eat healthy, be more active or simply going about a routine. When I was in a rush to class or hurrying around campus taking care of things, I would sometimes compromise for quick microwavable products, which I learned contain more sodium than the normal. Out of the barriers I faced there was one that I did not predict, my ADHD medicine. This medication minimized my hunger, sometimes to the point where I did not want to eat. When this happened I force-fed myself but with smaller portions. I tended to eat more salad greens instead of the heavy, filling food. Despite these obstacles, after one week I made only one change to my behavior. I developed better shopping skills that helped me obtain superior quality microwavable foods and I started to keep fruit in my bag in case I felt crunched for time. This change helped me to complete my activities and thrive in my goals. During this project three major issues emerged regarding my nutrition. One was that some foods that I thought were healthy aren’t. For example, I always ate flavored instant oatmeal thinking it was very healthy and nutritious, however, oatmeal that has flavoring in it, I learned, usually has more than 12 grams of sugar in it per serving. As I learned more about this product I found that this oatmeal was not whole oats which are far more healthier and can be just as quick to make as instant oatmeal. Choosing an alternative for this food was important to decrease my intake of sugar.  Another major issue that emerged was what food I took in when traveling with the soccer team. It had nothing to do with the organization. It was my personal choice of snacks that I decided to bring on the bus rides; like popcorn or as surprising as it sounds, yogurt. Yogurt is healthy as long as its kept simple, however, my yogurts were loaded with flavoring and coloring that boosts up the sugar c ontent. In result I made alternative choices (apples, bananas) that would improve my game and boost my energy healthily. Lastly, I experienced a major issue with my roommate. As much as he helped me to make healthy decisions, hypocritically, he seemed unable to make healthy decisions for himself. He usually always has a bag of chips and an immense amount of candy laying around which didn’t help in contribution to my goals; my sodium intake goal. Although I learned that in order to get in a habit of eating better and more healthy, I spent less time in the room. Now I am pretty good about saying â€Å"NO† when fatty junk food in in my presence. Overall I learned many things about changing a health behavior. I learned that changing a behavior takes time and effort in order to succeed. Most of all, changing a health behavior takes determination because without that it is impossible to change. After completing this project I am proud to say I have moved form the preparation stage at the beginning of the project, to the action stage in the Transtheoretical model. This came with the help of my commitment, in accepting the responsibility of change, goals, to keep me motivated, rewards, when I completed my goals I bought a redskins jersey I’ve been wanting, and lastly environment control, where I only bought healthy foods like fruit and vegetables. Currently I am successfully changing my negative behaviors and adopting new healthy behaviors in my quest to stage number 5, the maintenance stage.

Effects if the Columbian Exchange on Europe Essay

The Columbian Exchange refers to the interchange of diseases, crops, and ideas between the New and Old World after Christopher Columbus’s initial voyage to the Americas in 1492. These biological exchanges changed the way of life for both Native Americans and the Europeans, impacting the social and cultural makeup of both sides. The discoveries of valuable metals and crops are perhaps the biggest findings for the Old World, and these encounters helped countries like Europe get out of the Middle Ages and into the years of Enlightenment. However, the exchange not only brought gains, but also losses. The years of exploration and exchange following Columbus’s landing helped European nations in many ways, especially contributing to the development of the economy and population. Before Columbus’s expedition to the distant lands, Western Europe was an agrarian society, in which the people lived in family households. The feudal lords ruled the land strictly, causing living conditions to be poor for the majority of the Europeans. Most peasants and lowerclassmen survived on bread and porridge, seasonal vegetables, and rarely a piece of meat. In addition, one-third of Europe’s population died from starvation and diseases like Black Death. Still, however, productivity was increased by water mills, iron plows, and other new technologies. Under the Roman Catholic Church, and the pope, Europeans lived strictly religious lives. The Columbian Exchange helped bring Europe’s economy out from the depths and also aided food production, protecting Europeans from famine. The seemingly long years of these exchanges helped Europe’s economy for the better, even though much more money was being put into circulation. The introduction of new staple crops like corn and potatoes brought in large sums of money and surpluses. Slave labor saved the European a lot of money, too. Trade and raiding the I ndians, on the other hand, brought in valuable metals like gold or silver, furs, raw materials, and other goods. Additionally, these trades caused for the advancement of ships and other large vessels, which created more jobs and opportunities, helping the economy grow even more. Tobacco, another crop from the New World, was so widely accepted that it became a substitute for currency in some areas of Europe. All of these social and agricultural enhancements assisted in the specialization of labor, eventually leading European countries into the Renaissance. Many of the exchanges that transformed the economy also reformed the population. Surpluses from growing crops saved the  peasants and lowerclassmen from starvation. Since more people were able to survive, rather then dying from malnourishments, the population of European countries rose. The shipment of slaves, although not too large, also caused the population figures to go up. At this point, European countries started to send people to the New World due to overcrowding; however, some diseases like syphilis arrived at Europe from returning the Englishmen. Although syphilis caused many deaths, it did not effect the overall population of Europe, and it was in no way comparable to the epidemics that were caused by immigration to the New World. Europe truly gained from trading and exploring the unexplored, virgin soil of the New World. They gained materials and crops, which helped boost the economy; be that as it may be, the Europeans also lost lives due to diseases like syphilis. All in all, the Columbian Exchange helped the economy, reformed the way of agriculture and education, and started the age of Enlightenment.