The Precise Essays - Politics Of France, European People

The Precise Q: If you had to identify the most significant causes of the Revolution, what would they be? A:First and foremost, it would be most important to analyse the political situation of France before the Revolution. The long reign of Louis the XIV (1643-1715) marked absolute monarchy at its peak in France. When Louis XIII died the next in line to take the throne was only 5 years old, Louis XIV. His mother ruled for him along side the new Chief Minister, Mazarin, who had been trained by Richelieu. Mazarin was easily hated because of his overbearing attempts to raise taxes. In the 1640's a group of courageous nobles backed by peasants led a series of revolts against the crown. The revolts alarmed the young king into believing that only a country with absolute monarchy could prevent civil war. Louis believed that his power came from God and no one should question it since he had the ?divine right.? After Mazarin's death in 1661, Louis XIV ruled as an absolute monarchy. "L'etat c'est moi" in French, meaning "I am the state", was Louis' description of his power, which shows just how insane France was becoming. Louis worked hard to build up France's glorious monarchy while his people suffered from oppression. Because of his reign's splendor, he was called the "Sun King." Louis spent fortunes on lavish palaces and opulent city buildings. The most magnificent was Versailles, near Paris, where the royal family resided. Louis ordered many officials to live with him. Those who were against him spent their time pampering King Louis XIV in hopes that he would give them pensions or higher positions in his court. In 1665 Louis the XIV named Jean Baptiste Colbert as his minister of finance to strengthen France's economy. Colbert improved taxation, supported shipbuilding and the navy, and helped industry. These times did not last very long, though. Louis' luxurious lifestyle and France's frequent wars drained the treasury. France, unlike England, had no law that could halt the amount of money that the king could spend. Another reason for the decline was Louis' religious intolerance. Louis was worried that the "Huguenots" would cause rebellion, so he forced them to convert to Catholicism. When that did not work he reverted to persecution. Many of the Huguenots fled to Protestant countries and North America. After the end of the Thirty Years War Louis wanted to expand French lands to the north and east to give France a border that was easier to defend. To make this wish a reality Louis reorganised the French army. Other European states, afraid of what his actions would be, formed alliances to resist him. Between 1667 and 1714 France went to war 4 times. The most destructive of these was the "War of the Spanish Succession". The war went poorly for France, but the war ended before France suffered great losses, which resulted in more oppression of the French people. The Peace of Utrecht, made up of several treaties, restored the balance in Europe. By the end of Louis the XIV's reign, the treasury was almost empty. Wars and careless spending had left France in debt. These troubles were made worse by the wars during the reign of Louis XV. Financial problems helped weaken the monarchy and bring on the French Revolution in 1789. Another significant reason of conflict was the incredibly stupid Three Estates system. In France, preceding the Revolution, the citizens of the country were split up into three groups or estates. The first estate was divided into two groups: the lower clergy and the higher clergy. The higher clergy came from wealthy families and the lower clergy consisted of parish priests. In the second estate were the nobles. They held the highest offices in government and paid little or no taxes. The third estate, which was the largest, consisted of peasants, city workers, and the middle class. The people in the third estate were the merchants, bankers, lawyers, doctors, & government workers. Of the three estates, the first, second, and third, the first two of these groups had all the political power, though they were a mere two percent of the total population. They also had control over the majority of the land. To add to this the nobles, the second estate, forced the peasants of the third estate to do labor and give goods to them, at no charge. This abuse of power against the lower class gave the peasants a reason to despise their "superiors." And to top

Resocialization Definition, Discussion and Examples

Resocialization Definition, Discussion and Examples Resocialization is a process in which a person is taught new norms, values, and practices that foster their transition from one social role to another. Resocialization can involve both minor and major forms of change and can be both voluntary or involuntary. The process ranges from simply adjusting to a new job or work environment, to  moving to another country where you have to learn new customs, dress, language, and eating habits, to even more significant forms of change like becoming a parent. Examples of involuntary resocialization include becoming a prisoner or a widow. Resocialization differs from the formative, lifelong process of socialization in that the latter directs a persons development whereas the former  redirects their development. Learning and Unlearning Sociologist Erving Goffman defined resocialization as a process of tearing down and rebuilding an individual’s role and socially constructed sense of self. It is often  a deliberate and intense social process and it revolves around the notion that if something can be learned, it can be unlearned. Resocialization can also be defined as a process that subjects an individual to new values, attitudes, and skills defined as adequate according to the norms of a particular institution, and the person must change to function adequately according to those norms. A prison sentence is a good example. The individual not only has to change and rehabilitate their behavior to return to society, but must also accommodate the new norms required of living in a prison. Resocialization is also necessary among people who have never been socialized from the start, such as feral or severely abused children. It is also relevant for people who havent had to behave socially for long periods, such as prisoners who have been in solitary confinement. But it can also be a subtle process not directed by any particular institution, such as when one becomes a parent or goes through another significant life transition, like a marriage, divorce, or the death of a spouse. Following such circumstances, one must figure out what their new social role is and how they relate to others in that role. Resocialization and Total Institutions A total institution is one in which a person is completely immersed in the environment which controls every aspect of day-to-day life under a singular authority. The goal of a total institution is resocialization to completely alter an individual and/or group of peoples  way of living and being. Prisons, the military, and fraternity houses are examples of total institutions. Within a total institution, resocialization is comprised of two parts. First, the institutional staff attempts to break down the residents identities and independence. This can be accomplished by making individuals give up their possessions, get identical haircuts and wear standard-issue clothing or uniforms. It can be further achieved by subjecting individuals to humiliating and degrading processes such as fingerprinting, strip searches, and giving people serial numbers as identification rather than using their names. The second phase of resocialization is attempting to build a new personality or sense of self which is usually accomplished with a system of reward and punishment.  The goal is conformity which results when people change their behavior to accommodate the expectations of an authority figure or those of the larger group. Conformity can be established through rewards, such as allowing individuals access to a television, book or telephone. Updated by Nicki Lisa Cole, Ph.D.

European Law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5750 words

European Law - Coursework Example & M. Coleman (1998). Preceding decades have witnessed enormous variations in the mode progressing nations administer their economy. It is observable that most regimes are drifting away from central planning toward underpinning a free fall market economy and enhancing the expansion of remote, independent owned commerce. Most state economies have become rather reliant on the abilities of personal companies that have been decisive regarding manufacturing of goods as well as services oriented on bazaar indicators. A gesture of liberalization across the globe has seen regimes pull out, in great aspect, from offering goods as well as structures and social amenities for their persons, Wilberforce, Richard (1996). National variations have taken place at the same interlude as enormous changes have swept the universal economy. Commodities commerce has become liberalized and more capital is accessible. Companies ubiquitously are advice to export while coupled with greater competition from imports no longer subject to high tariffs as well as foreign forms that construct commercial operations locally. More so, corporate organizations found in developing nations are progressively related with trading overseas by means of authorization, outsourcing, or long term purveying dealings. Conversely the bazaar is never completely liberal. Hindrances can emerge from the state that endeavors to secure its people. Privatized services and structure utility purveyors are controlled guarantee first rate coverage as well as eminent utility; financial structures are subject to prudential as well as other restrictions to guarantee constancy as well as good concert; health service suppliers have to meet regime-set specifications of care and conduct; and manufacturers of goods and utility have to abide by quality, functionality and safety specifications. A subsequent aspect of moderation emerges within the bazaar and is immensely objected at exploiting and over-taxing clients and regimes. Hush-hush companies conglomerate to agree on artifacts costs as well as utility, disagree to compete with each o ther or to outwit new entrants or in the case of mammoth companies, fundamentally exploit their supremacy in the bazaar. With the advents of globalization emerge the probability that these restriction enhance for the diffusion of proceeds as well as earnings overseas. Regimes are not always blameless in this subsequent form of restraint; inadequately developed control, inadequate supervision, opaque bidding traditions, as well as unqualified dishonesty all hamper with rivalry. Myriad legal structures and edicts do subsist to contradict this latter form of temperance. Collectively acknowledged as competition regulation, as well as policy, they have also been known as antitrust or antimonopoly set of laws. Divergent terms depend enormously on mores and practices rather than the substance of the edicts and policies themselves.Dominion has been viewed as a profligate and as closing off prospects for rival companies to sell off their artifacts. The affinity for proficiency and to enhance entry and novelty have supported much of the

Diplomatic negotiation and conflict resolution in the Asian Essay

Diplomatic negotiation and conflict resolution in the Asian multilateral arena - Essay Example One of the first such associations to come into existence was the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation), which still symbolizes the earliest notions of multilateralism in the region. Earlier, nations in Southeast Asia had formed the ASEAN (Association of South east Asian nations), which was however limited in terms of influence, thereby falling short of addressing economic and political issues from a broader Asian perspective (Kent Calder, 2008). During the recent years, political events in the former Soviet Union resulted in dramatic changes and the formation of new republics that made up the larger part of Central Asia. All these countries along with Russia and China as the other Asian partners make up the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The amount of diplomacy that has gone into creating associations such as the APEC and SCO has been unprecedented and have thus helped bring cast and diverse parts of Asia into a common fold. Such associations have little to do with any kind of pedigree. Further, there are no weak instincts whatsoever that have resulted in any surrender of sovereignty on the part of member states in achieving the much need foothold in multilateralism (Stewart Patrick, 2002). Further, there have been several areas of friction among members states in such associations such as in the case of China and Taiwan. However, most of these gatherings have had to do a lot with economic ambitions and as such have endured the test of time. Taiwan and China, which are viewed as foes, continue to remain members of APEC on a common platform, which has been one of the ways of preventing both from indulging in diplomatic standoffs with each other. Although the final mandate of the APEC, ASEAN and SCO is largely limited to fighting terrorism and liberalization of trade, many have mutually created opportunities for bilateral negotiations at a lower level. This is also one of the reasons due to which countries try to resolve differences on

Confessions of St. Augustine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Confessions of St. Augustine - Essay Example To know God, one needs to substantiate the inner awareness about God. The humans are the hearers of the Word of God; God communicates to us. The Word of God does not hard and fast refer to the divine, holy, and religious books; but for this it needs to establish a relationship between human beings and God. This relationship is nothing but that what we call "prayer." Praying to God exhibits our intention to hear and respond to God who is well coexisted within the souls of all of us. The prayer asks for surrender to the faith associated with the path full of suffering toward God. St. Augustine says "For Thou hast made us for Thyself and our hearts are restless till they rest in thee"with reference to these sufferingsor in other words the "spirituality" which is like an opportunity forinternal emotional growth. The terms "heart" in a broader sense refers to the soul or spirit with adding to its limited meaning of affections andsensations. This heart remains filled with restlessness in terms of desire for, with real consciousness and an urge toward, the unconditional, ultimate, and unrestrictedTruth. The life of Augustine, until he found the internal relationship with God, remained full of miseries, sins, lusts, wicked thoughts, etc. These words of Augustineindicate that the true essence oflife lies at"conversion" of human with God, the Creator. The image of God is coexisted withinallhumans ever since the onset;but due toour sins that image gets lost causing a barrier between us and God. Since there isthis barrier, in between, wecontinue to be restless and unh appy; when the reunion is establishedthrough the conversion we feel the ecstasy. The early life of Augustine was highly influenced by negative episodes that filled hislife with sinfulness. He viewed the human nature as wicked and proneto doingnothing good. If anything good comes, it comes from and through the power of God; Augustine praises the power of God. This is the reasonwhy he was led to the knowledge ofhuman nature and finally to achieve true happiness when he found God.The carving for something beyond is a natural tendency in all of us. We just cannot feel the peace of mind through the experiences of our life for which we pose questions to meaning. There always remains a thirst for satisfying light and some inner security with regard to the mysterious world around. This process starts from the birth till the moment we die. If we start surrendering ourselves to the mystery of life, at least then onward, we happen to be on the way of searching for something indefinable; and this search find us to arrive at the greater realities that surround us. The definit ion of spirituality could be given as to be the response to man's awareness of God whenhuman sees God as present and responds to Him. The method of this may vary among different religions. To converse the path of life made of "materialistic" success into the path of "spiritualistic" gains, we needthe awareness ofGod. Augustine was, maybe, the greatest man in this regard who found his triumph tosolve the queries and mysteries of life with mastery over the awareness of God.This is the result why his "confession" standsunique with no comparison in spite of

The School For Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

The School For Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan The aim of satiric comedy was to subvert the social structures, according to the Glossary, satiric comedy ridicules political policies or philosophical doctrines, or else attacks deviations from the social order by making ridiculous the violators of its standards of morals or manners (Abrams 39). Thus the first aim of satire in general is to deconstruct the social and political constructions; this was practiced by Aristophanes, and in the Renaissance by Ben Jonson. The comedy of manners originated by Menander, paved the way for Restoration comedy which was ripened by the French dramatist Moliere. After the popularity of Restoration comedy in England in eighteenth century, the sentimental comedy started to dominate the stage as a reaction against what was supposed as immorality of Restoration comedy, but still two major dramatists continued writing in Restoration comedies: Oliver Goldsmiths She Stoops to Conquer and his contemporary Richard Brinsley Sheridans The School for Scandal. A mong the two, Sheridans play satirizes not only the upper-class social structure but also the contents of sentimental drama itself. The play shows a dichotomy of good and bad in eighteenth century society and that how the sentimental codes of behavior has limited the good/evil binary into a flat pretension: this dichotomy is depicted as the Surface brothers: as their names suggest they are judged only according to their exterior and surface behavior: in the first scene Miss Verjuice describes the two brothers, Joseph and Charles Surface, this way: here are two young mento whom Sir Peter has acted as a kind of Guardian since their Fathers death, the eldest possessing the most amiable Character and universally well spoken of, the youngest the most dissipated and extravagant young Fellow in the Kingdom, without Friends or character (I:i) through the next lines it is revealed that the elder brother, Joseph, who has apparently the most amiable Character has conspired a plot with lady Sneerwell to come between the love relationship of Charles and Maria (Sir Peters ward) so that Joseph can marry Maria and Lady Sneerwll, a widow, can possess the young Charles who is now bankrupt. Lady Sneerwell explains about Joseph: His real attachment is to Maria or her Fortune/but finding in his Brother a favoured Rival, He has been obliged/to mask his Pretensionsand profit by my Assistance. And then confesses her desire for Charles: must I confess that Charlesthat Libertine, that extravagant, that Bankrupt in Fortune and Reputationthat He it is for whom I am thus anxious and malicious and to gain whom I would sacrifice-everything (I:i) From these confessions the reader knows that Joseph who is universally well spoken of is a fraud, but since he is a good pretender and knows what the society demands to act as an honorable man, so he is seen by everybody even those who know he is pretending as a man of sentiment. LADY SNEERWELL. I have found out him a long time since, altho He has contrived to deceive everybody besideI know him to be artful selfish and malicious while with Sir Peter, and indeed with all his acquaintance, He passes for a youthful Miracle of Prudencegood sense and Benevolence. VERJUICE. Yes yesI know Sir Peter vows He has not his equal in England; and, above all, He praises him as a MAN OF SENTIMENT. LADY SNEERWELL. True and with the assistance of his sentiments and hypocrisy he has brought Sir Peter entirely in his interests with respect to Maria and is now I believe attempting to flatter Lady Teazle into the same good opinion towards himwhile poor Charles has no Friend in the Housethough I fear he has a powerful one in Marias Heart, against whom we must direct our schemes. In the next scene, Rowley informs Sir Peter that Sir Oliver has arrived from the West Indies and is in the town; Sir Oliver, the brothers uncle wants to choose his hair, thus he is to come and visit his nephews whom has not seen him since childhood and thus cannot recognize him by appearance. From their discussion it is clear that it is only Rowley that sees through the two gentlemen: ROWLEY. You know Sir Peter I have always taken the Liberty to differ with you on the subject of these two young GentlemenI only wish you may not be deceived in your opinion of the elder. For Charles, my life ont! He will retrieve his errors yettheir worthy Father, once my honourd master, was at his years nearly as wild a spark. (I:ii) But even Sir Peter cannot deny the importance of the codes of sentiment for a young man Joseph is indeed a model for the young men of the AgeHe is a man of Sentimentand acts up to the Sentiments he professesbut for the other, take my word fort if he had any grain of Virtue by descenthe has dissipated it with the rest of his inheritance. (I:ii) Changing appearances once again enables the characters: this time Sir Oliver, who has decided to put his nephews on a trial, is set to meet Charles as Premium, a broker. When they meet, Charles proposes selling his ancestors portraits to the broker for gaining money; this makes Sir Oliver furious, but Charles denial of selling Sir Olivers own portrait even for eight hundred pounds; under the mask of a broker, Sir Oliver understands the kind nature of his nephew: CHARLES. No, hang it! Ill not part with poor Noll. The old fellow has been very good to me, and, egad, Ill keep his picture while Ive a room to put it in. SIR OLIVER. [Aside.] The rogues my nephew after all! Contrary to the supposed social values of an honorable man in eighteenth century, here Sheridan lets the audience have faith on a lax man who contrary to a man of sentiment, loves wine and women and puts his ancestors on an auction for money. He shifts the binaries of good/evil, moral/immoral, gentleman/rogue by giving attributes of one to the other and vice versa. Just as appearances can be useful for pretenders such as Joseph, Sheridan makes a comic scene in unveiling of appearances in the famous library scene in act 4 scene three; Joseph who secretly woos Sir Peters young wife, Lady Teazle, hides her behind a screen when Sir Peter enters unexpectedly, telling Joseph that he thinks his wife has an affair with Charles, the next visitor is Charles himself, Sir Peter also hides in the closet to hear his reaction to what he is accused of. Sir Peter comes out of the closet when he understands that Charles is innocent and when Joseph goes out, tells Charles that Joseph has a girl, a French Milliner, with himself who is now in this room; Charles gets curious to see her and unveils the screen: to their astonishment it is Lady Teazle standing there. Charles asks each of them to explain the situation: CHARLES. Sir PeterThis is one of the smartest French Milliners I ever saw!Egad, you seem all to have been diverting yourselves here at Hide and Seekand I dont see who is out of the Secret! Shall I beg your Ladyship to inform me!Not a word!Brother! will you please to explain this matter? What! is Honesty Dumb too? Sir Peter, though I found you in the Darkperhaps you are not so nowall mute! Well tho I can make nothing of the Affair, I make no doubt but you perfectly understand one anotherso Ill leave you to yourselves.[Going.] Brother Im sorry to find you have given that worthy man grounds for so much uneasiness!Sir Petertheres nothing in the world so noble as a man of Sentiment!-(IV:iii) Charles comparison of the situation to a game (hide and seek) is a subversive look at the upper-class society of the time; suggesting the fact that all these people of sentiment all playing roles in the game, and that when being found out by others they lose the game since their supposed nobility is gone. They are decent, righteous fellows as long as they are hidden, and when they are found the game is over and simultaneously their dignity is over. This is the deconstructive view of a supposed noble society and this is what Sheridan predicts for pretenders of his time. The irony found in Charles witty comment to Sir Peter: theres/nothing in the world so noble as a man of Sentiment! hints the audience as well as Sir Peter and people who thinks like him, that the statement is a void pretension, just a tool for villains to act out as a nobility. The main center of the structure of social ethics and principles which is sentiment is totally decentered and deconstructed when Sir Oliver encounters this time Joseph: But now I am no more/a Broker, and you shall introduce me to the elder Brother/as Stanley. Once again borrowing another identity, (of Stanley a poor relative of the brothers mothers), Sir Oliver is to test Joseph, who unaware of the true identity of his companion, does not act his sentiments and declares that his uncle Oliver has done nothing for him: SURFACE. My dear Siryou are strangely misinformedSir Oliver is a worthy Man, a worthy mana very worthy sort of Manbut avarice Mr. Stanley is the vice of ageI will tell you my good Sir in confidence:what he has done for me has been a merenothing; tho People I know have thought otherwise and for my Part I never chose to contradict the Report. SIR OLIVER. What!has he never transmittedyouBullionRupees Pagodas! SURFACE. O Dear SirNothing of the kindnonoa few Presents now and thenchina, shawls, congo Tea, Avadavatsand indian Crackerslittle more, believe me. SIR OLIVER. Heres Gratitude for twelve thousand pounds! Avadavats and indian Crackers. (V:i) Joseph even refuses giving money to the supposed Mr. Stanley who has come for borrowing money and instead flatters himself for what he has done for that unfortunate young man and accuses Charles of being extravagant. Later Sir Oliver and Rowley, knowing what Joseph has done to Sir Peter tease his ideas of sentiment. SIR OLIVER. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I come only to tell you, that I have seen both my Nephews in the manner we proposed. SIR PETER. A Precious Couple they are! ROWLEY. Yes and Sir Oliveris convinced that your judgment was right Sir Peter. SIR OLIVER. Yes I find Joseph is Indeed the Man after all. ROWLEY. Aye as Sir Peter says, Hes a man of Sentiment. SIR OLIVER. And acts up to the Sentiments he professes. ROWLEY. It certainly is Edification to hear him talk. SIR OLIVER. Oh, Hes a model for the young men of the age! But hows this, Sir Peter? you dont Join us in your Friend Josephs Praise as I expected. SIR PETER. Sir Oliver, we live in a damned wicked world, and the fewer we praise the better. (V:ii) The supposed binaries of good/evil that are now broken and it is not easily appropriate to call one as good and the other as bad explains how the transcendental signified of sentiment was decenterd by Sheridan at the time. As Jacque Derrida proposed the binaries can be meaningful in a relation of difference that is we know red is red because it is different from blue. In this drama, Sheridan pictures that the difference between good and evil, honest and dishonest, moral and immoral has turned into a deceptive play of appearances. For eighteenth century people, a person was good, because he did not gamble, drink, and did not court women. At the same time a person is evil since he did not behave morally and according to the defined sentiments. Sheridan wishes to change the attitude of the audience; to suggest that the criterion of difference for judging between good and evil is not right. Joseph is depicted as the epitome of the societys hypocrisy, he is known by his friends who act in the same way LADY SNEERWELL. O Lud you are going to be moral, and forget that you are among Friends. SURFACE. Egad, thats trueIll keep that sentiment till I see Sir Peter. It seems that being hypocritical is the fashion of the era and if one does not follow this fashion he is ruined as Charles was going to be ruined before his uncles arrival. The set of persons whose major task is to talk behind people and ruin characters create this school for scandal whose president as Sir Peter declares is Lady Sneerwell. Sir Peters astonishment implies how dangerous the result of their assembly could be: SIR PETER. Mercy on mehere is the whole set! a characters dead at every word, I suppose. (II:ii) Mrs. Candour, Benjamin Backbite and Crabtree assist her in this joyful business; they have time to include everybody in their malevolent conversations; as Mrs. Candour says the world/is so censorious no character escapes. They know that Charles is no man of pretending, and because of this they call him a miserable scandal in comparison to his brother. As Derrida studies the binaries, he claims that each binary opposition is a hierarchy, because always one term in the pair is privileged or considered superior to the other (Tyson 254). Hence, if one finds the binary oppositions in a culture and at the same time identifies the privileged one in the pair, one can discover something about the ideology of that culture. In this case in the binary of good/evil, the privileged is good, but the problem is that, good and evil are arbitrary concepts. What the eighteenth century upper-class society understood as good were just a set of sentiments that were practiced through appearances. And what they recognized as evil, were again a set of behaviors that were announced universally as evil by the ideological apparatuses. What Sheridan does in his play, is to challenge the mind of the audience to rethink about the structure of these pre-established binaries and their ideological hierarchies hidden behind them and to try to deconstruct these structures in every individuals comprehension. Drinking and flirting women and borrowing money from usurers cannot be an appropriate criterion for judging people as evil and immoral while good sticking to the fashionable norms of behavior of the time and the moral sentiments cannot be a correct measure for estimating a character as good. He also compares the situation of a so-called good person to an actor who plays games and acts out roles by changing appearances and thus is a deceiver and a pretender. This is the great deconstruction of social ideologies perfectly done by Restoration comedies such as The School for Scandal.

The First World War (WWI) :: World War 1 I One

Chapter 1: The Right to Make War Since 1795, when Immanuel Kant published in his old age his treatise on "Perpetual Peace," many have considered it an established fact that war is the destruction of all good and the origin of all evil. In spite of all that history teaches, no conviction is felt that the struggle between nations is inevitable, and the growth of civilization is credited with a power to which war must yield. But, undisturbed by such human theories and the change of times, war has again and again marched from country to country with the clash of arms, and has proved its destructive as well as creative and purifying power. It has not succeeded in teaching mankind what its real nature is. Long periods of war, far from convincing men of the necessity of war, have, on the contrary, always revived the wish to exclude war, where possible, from the political intercourse of nations. This wish and this hope are widely disseminated even today. The maintenance of peace is lauded as the only goal at which statesmanship should aim. This unqualified desire for peace has obtained in our days a quite peculiar power over men's spirits. This aspiration finds its public expression in peace leagues and peace congresses; the Press of every country and of every party opens its columns to it. The current in this direction is, indeed, so strong that the majority of Governments profess--outwardly, at any rate--that the necessity of maintaining peace is the real aim of their policy; while when a war breaks out the aggressor is universally stigmatized, and all Governments exert themselves, partly in reality, partly in pretense, to extinguish the conflagration. Pacific ideals, to be sure, are seldom the real motive of their action. They usually employ the need of peace as a cloak under which to promote their own political aims. This was the real position of affairs at the Hague Congresses,[1] and this is also the meaning of the action of the United States of America, who in recent times have earnestly tried to conclude treaties for the establishment of Arbitration Courts, first and foremost with England, but also with Japan, France, and Germany. No practical results, it must be said, have so far been achieved. We can hardly assume that a real love of peace prompts these efforts. This is shown by the fact that precisely those Powers which, as the weaker, are exposed to aggression, and therefore were in the greatest need of international protection, have been completely passed over in the American proposals for Arbitration Courts.