Churchill, hitler, and the unnecessary war Term Paper

Churchill, hitler, and the unnecessary war - Term Paper Example Germany was also barred from building up large army. Tanks, aircrafts and submarines were also not allowed to be held by Germany. All these steps were deemed to be taken to prevent Germany from initiating any other war. Germany abided by the restrictions imposed by this treaty only by the end of second decade of the 20th century. In January 1933, Adolf Hitler was powered up by the disgruntled and poor people of Germany to take over the throne. The basis of their belief in Hitler was that they wanted a person who might empower Germany again and pull to pieces the unjust and unfair treaty. As a result, Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany. Soon after he became the Chancellor, he started the building up of German forces. He also empowered the German army by equipping it with modern weapons. Initially, all this was done secretly but soon it came to light. However, the Great Britain and France took it lightly. They were of the view that these actions will strengthen and will be helpful in stopping the flourish of Communism in Europe. After having built up the German forces for 2 years, Hitler gave them order to enter into Rhineland in 1936. The reason provided by Germany for this invasion is the threat that Germany was facing as a result of treaty with Russia. So, it became very important for Germany to post its troops in Rhineland. It is also considered by many historians reasonable that as Rhineland was a part of Germany, so, there is no bar if German troops are posted there. However, Germany was very weak at this point and little intervention by Britain or France could have defeated them. However, neither of these two intervened as they did not want to start another war with Germany. Meanwhile, Hitler also stepped forward to make allies with two important countries of Japan and Italy. Later on, Hitler advanced to take back the land of Austria. In March 1938, Hitler ordered German army to march in Austria to occupy the land. Austrian leader was then forced to c onduct a poll to decide whether the people of Austria wanted union with Germany. The results showed the favor of 99% of the citizens of Austria to live with Germany. The Austrian leader asked for help but, on been satisfied from Hitler side, none of Britain and France came to help Austria. Adolf Hitler promised that the union of Austria with Germany will end the aims of expansion of Hitler and he will not move further on. However, breaching his own words, Hitler insisted that the region of Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia should be handed over to Germany. Neville Chamberlain, the then British Prime Minister, met Hitler thrice in September, 1938. Chamberlain was himself of the view that Treaty of Versailles was not just and equitable for Germany. So, he took a soft corner for Germany. Finally, it was decided in Munich Agreement that the region of Sudetenland would be handed over to Germany on the provision of Hitler’s assurance that he would not make claims for any further territ ories. The agreement was mutually decided and signed by German, British, French and Italian leaders. However, Czech government was not involved in the agreement upon which they recorded their protest. However, Hitler occupied whole of the Czechoslovakia in 1939 March. Czechoslovak government asked for help but none of Britain and France intervened in the invasion. However, both of these countries promised that they would take military action against Hitler if the German forces advanced towards Poland. On September 1 1939, German forces occupied Poland

Democratization processes and rise of corporate power Essay

Democratization processes and rise of corporate power - Essay Example In this respect, the government must respect a citizen's right to associate freely, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of expression and the freedom to criticize their leaders. Members of a democratic society have the right to know the goings on in their country; they ought to be able to stand for any civic or parliamentary post within their country or vote for a leader of their choice. Such governments must not discriminate women or other groups from participating in government. Citizens have a right to choose whatever political party they prefer and to involve themselves in campaigns .Lastly, the rule of law must apply in a democratic state. This means that no one can take away another's right and be left unpunished. The law keeps powers of government under check and no one should think they are above the law including the head of state. Citizens in a democratic state should not use their powers within their offices to infringe others. Imprisonment, torture or other un fair treatments have no place in democracy (Anderson, 2000) Corporate power is not a new issue in the world today. There are numerous ways in which corporations demonstrate their far reaching political abilities. Corporations have dominated economies of the world and have the ability to surpass common law to the detriment of the common man. Consequently, the process of democracy has been affected by the influence exerted by these corporations. The relationship between these two aspects is what shall be examined in detail in the next section of the essay. Unlimited power on the part of corporations also causes a huge impact on the social and environmental aspects of people's lives. (Anderson, 2000) Democracy and the rise of corporate power Decision making ability The rise of corporate power has transferred the right to make decisions from citizen's lives to big time corporations thus demeaning the major principles of a true democracy. This type of influence enables corporations to make decisions about what technology a country should adopt and what kind of production should be adopted within a certain country. Corporations use their power to determine the kind of methods used for production. Because these large corporations market, employ and deal with majority of the country's population, they cause a large effect on them. Corporate influence surpasses the law because corporations are regarded as private entities in most countries of the world. In this sense therefore, they cannot be questioned when they make their choices. Corporations also participate in politics. They do so by lobbying and giving politicians treats such as a dinner or luncheons. In such cases, they have direct influence in the way things are done Political contributions Corporations have been known to participate in political processes through the monetary contributions which they have made. A research done by the Institute for Policy Studies in the year 2000 showed that there are about eighty two companies that made contributions in the United States during their last election. The sum total of money contributed by these corporations was about thirty three million dollars. This was the largest contribution made by any entity in the election. Compared to the next highest contributor in the elections; Labor Unions, Corporations exceeded the