The Cold War - 2194 Words

At the conclusion of World War II, the United States of America emerged as the savior of Europe and became one of the leading global political powers of the subsequent age. Behind the â€Å"iron curtain† of Easter Europe, however, another superpower, the Soviet Union, which was seemingly the exact opposite of the United States in every way imaginable, exerted its force to instill and defend communism in its surrounding satellite states. The ideologies of these two countries displayed myriad incompatibilities, and over a period spanning the next four decades, the Soviet Union and the United States of America attempted to gain military, political, and social advantages over each other in order to preserve their systems of life. Especially with†¦show more content†¦The first leader of this nascent nation was Vladamir Lenin, who guided the country briefly until his death in 1924. Lenin’s successor, Joseph Stalin, led the Soviet Union through World War II until 1952. It was during Stalin’s reign that the tensions between the Soviet Union and the United States of America began to escalate. Starting with the signing of the non-aggression pact between The Soviets and Nazi-Germany, the United States grew cynical about the intentions of the U.S.S.R. This pact, formally entitled the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, essentially declared that Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union would be allies for the remainder of the war, and that neither country would make any sort of offensive on the other. Hitler, however, broke the terms of this pact when he invaded the U.S.S.R. in 1941 (Newman and Schmalbach 550). Since, Germany now posed as an enemy to the Soviets, the Soviet Union naturally joined the Allied forces. The first major summit between the leaders of the three main powers of the Allied forces, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin for The United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union respectively, was the Tehran Conference, which took place in November of 1943. Although numerous peaceful agreements were made, primarily that the UnitedShow MoreRelatedThe War Of The Cold War1644 Words   |  7 PagesThe Cold War was a state of political and military tension stemming from World War II fought primarily between the United States and the Soviet Union. Although the start and end dates of the Cold War are frequently disputed over, it is generally accepted that the conflict started at the conclusion of the Second World War and stemmed from the social climate and lingering tensions in Europe and the increasing power struggles between the Soviet Union and the United States. Along with economic separationRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War Essay1525 Words   |  7 PagesOne major war ended and another to begin. The Cold war lasted about 45 years. There were no direct military campaigns between the United States and Soviet Union. However, billions of dollars and millions of lives were lost. The United States emerged as the greatest power from World War 2. (Give Me Liberty 896) The country boasted about having the most powerful navy and air force. The United states accounted for about half of the world’s manufacturing capacity, which it alone created the atomic bombRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War757 Words   |  4 PagesAs tensions continued to augment profoundly throughout the latter half of the Cold War period, they brought forth a movement from a previous bipolar conflicting course, to one of a more multipolar nature. These tensions were now not only restricted to the Soviet Union and United states, but amongst multiple other nations of the globe. It became a general consensus that a notion of ‘peace’ was sought globally, hence, the emergence of dà ©tente. The nature of this idea in the short term conveyed itselfRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War1636 Words   |  7 PagesThe U.S. learned greatly after having been declared the victor of the Cold War. Retired four-star U.S. Army general Colin Powell said, â€Å"The long bitter years of the Cold War are over. America and her allies have won; totally, decisively, and overwhelmingly† (Reed 343). The Cold War started after World War II in 1947 and ended in 1991. The U.S. underwent a political war with the Soviet Union in hopes of advancing more rapidly in certain fields, such as nuclear weapons and space crafts. Avoiding nuclearRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War886 Words   |  4 Pagesin an infamous battle against ideologies: The Cold War. Even though war took place during this time, both powers were not involved in battle directly, hence the name cold war. The war mainly consisted of assumed and implied threats of nuclear attacks and political control over states in Europe. Even before 1945, the beginning of the Cold War, tension brewed between the U.S and the U.S.S.R. Both sides had differing views on Europe s state after the war. For instance, programs like the Marsha ll PlanRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War961 Words   |  4 Pages1945, beginning year of the Cold War. The development of cold war just started after the end of world War ||. The cold war was the result of conflict between two powerful country Soviet Union and United State. The war was regarding to the lead the world after the World War ||. The Soviet Union wanted to emerge its power to the world and so do the United States too. The research paper mainly focused on various reasons of opposition of two great power of the world Soviets and United States of AmericaRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War Essay1075 Words   |  5 PagesDuring World War II, the United States, Britain, and Russia all worked together to take down Hitler. Although after the war, the coordination between the U.S. and Russia became extremely tense which inevitably lead to the Cold War. The U.S. was worried that Russia would spread communism after World War II. Russia was concerned with the U.S. arms increase and int ervention in international affairs. The distrust between the two nations resulted in the Cold war which lasted until 1991. In 1946, WinstonRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War1052 Words   |  5 PagesThe Cold War was a result of what happened at the end of World War 2. At the end of World War 2, the Soviets held a grudge against the U.S for their delayed entrance in the World War resulting in deaths of thousands of Russians resulting in the appearance of the Cold War .The Cuban Missile Crisis was a significant flashpoint in the Cold War because it was the moment two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. This crisis, while posing the very real threat of global annihilation, also led toRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War1737 Words   |  7 Pages Cold War The Cold War, which is often dated from 1945 to 1989, was a constant state of political and military tension between powers in the West, dominated by the United States with NATO among its allies, and powers in the East, dominated by the Soviet Union along with the Warsaw Pact. The development of Nuclear Weapons and long range shooting missiles by the United States gave a lot of fear and caused mass destruction. The Cold War came about after World War II when America used their atomic bombsRead MoreThe War Of The Cold War1123 Words   |  5 PagesThe Cold War consist of tensions between the Soviets and the U.S. vying for dominance, and expansion throughout the world. Their complete different ideologies and vision of the postwar prevented them from working together. Stalin wants to punish Germany and make them pay outrageous sum of money for reparation. However, Truman has a different plan than Stalin. Truman believes that industrialization and democracy in Germany and throughout th e world would ensure postwar stability. Stalin also wanted

Essay The Maya Civilization - 904 Words

The Maya Civilization The ancient Maya once occupied a vast geographic area in Central America. Their civilization inhabited an area that encompasses Mexicos Yucatan peninsula and parts of the states of Chiapas and Tabasco, as well as Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and El Salvador. From the third to the ninth century, Maya civilization produced awe-inspiring temples and pyramids, highly accurate calendars, mathematics and hieroglyphics, and a complex social and political order (Collapse... 1). Urban centers were important to the Maya during the Classic period; they offered the Mayans a central place to practice religion. The Mayan culture can be traced back to 1500 BC, entering the Classic period about 300 AD and†¦show more content†¦The priestly class lived in the cities, while the general population lived away in small farming villages. The priests would carry out daily religious duties, particularly sacrifices, and the peasants would gather periodically for religious ceremonies and festival s. They built the ceremonial centers in a specific design for religious practices. They constructed tall pyramid temples, warren-like single story palaces, and a ball court that was surrounded by a broad central plaza. The architectural features of the Mayan pyramids include towering roofs, corbel vaults, and elaborate embellishment with stucco reliefs (Palfrey 2). It is amazing to imagine the detail that the Mayans were able to create in their architecture with only primitive tools. For the Mayans, science and religion were linked. Time was extremely important and their agriculture and religious ceremonies required a system that could record time. That need for structure is probably the reason that the Mayans developed such an amazingly accurate calendar. They also developed a complex style of hieroglyphic writing that we have not fully deciphered. Through their knowledge of astronomy and mathematics they calculated the lunar cycle, predicted eclipses, and formulated a uni que calendar system was very accurate. Their calendar was only one day off every 6000 years. That makes it more accurate than our calendar today (Hooker 6). Two fundamentalShow MoreRelatedThe Maya And Aztec Civilizations866 Words   |  4 PagesThe Maya and Aztec civilizations were both indigenous people that flourished in Mesoamerica. Maya s classic period dates from 250 to 900 AD, which was considered to be the peak of their civilization. They covered much of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico and were centered in what is now known as Guatemala. The Aztecs dominated in the post classic period from 1325 to 1521 AD, in what is now modern day Mexico. Although, the Aztec and Maya s were from different time periods they shared cultural similaritiesRead MoreMaya And The Ancient Civilizations1283 Words   |  6 PagesTo this day, historians still discuss when exactly the Maya civilizations started but the most commonly accepted date is 1800 BCE in the Soconusco Region. Unlike other Mes oamerican civilizations, Maya was not confined to one area of land but rather stretched out over Central America. To historians today, the Maya civilization reached its peak during the Classic Period between AD 250 and 900. At its peak, the Maya population was over 2,000,000 people. Excavations of Mayan cities have uncovered plazasRead MoreMaya Civilization Collapse1311 Words   |  6 PagesThe example of societal collapse in which I will be making reference to throughout this essay is the Maya civilization. The Maya civilization is, â€Å"probably the best known of all early American civilizations.† (Fagan, 1995) It was at its strongest point between AD 300 AND 900. Around AD 900 was the time of its collapse. This civilization was developed in a densely, tropical forest on either highlands or lowlands. Today to visit a Mayan site, people would go to the modern Mexican state, capital cityRead MoreThe Maya And The Mayan Civilization1439 Words   |  6 PagesThe Maya were a p eople from Middle America, which includes modern Guatemala, Southern Mexico, and Northern Belize (Editors). The Maya civilization was considered to be â€Å"one of the most dominant indigenous societies of Mesoamerica,† (Maya). â€Å"The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making, and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork,† (Maya). They also gave mankind the modern calendar (Jarus, Maya). The MayansRead MoreThe Maya Civilization Of The Aztec And The Inca835 Words   |  4 PagesAround 2000 B.C, small farming villages started to appear across Central America (â€Å"Maya Civilization†). This was the start of the Maya civilization. There were other civilizations in the area, like the Aztec, who were in Mexico, and the Inca, who were in the Peru area of South America. The Maya were a greater civilization than the Aztec or the Inca because their achievements in astronomy, ma th, language, architecture, and engineering. These achievements in those areas set them apart from the AztecRead MoreThe Mayan Civilization And The Maya Empire1677 Words   |  7 Pages The Mayan civilization or the Maya Empire, centered in the tropical lowlands of what is now Guatemala, reached the peak of its power and influence around the sixth century A.D. The Maya excelled at agriculture, pottery, hieroglyph writing, calendar-making and mathematics, and left behind an astonishing amount of impressive architecture and symbolic artwork. Most of the great stone cities of the Maya were abandoned by A.D. 900. The Maya civilization was one of the most dominant indigenous societiesRead MoreResearch Paper on Maya Civilization4670 Words   |  19 PagesResearch Paper on Mayan Civilization The Maya Introduction All remnants of the distant past are romantic, but ancient Maya civilization has a special fascination. It is a lost civilization, whose secrets lie deep in the mysterious tropical forest. The style of Maya architecture and sculpture seems alien and bizarre. The breathtaking splendor of ornate cites, the beautifully constructed grand temples, and the ingeniously developed and advanced caledretics, mathematics, and astronomy easily markRead MoreRitual Use of Cacao in Maya Civilization1903 Words   |  8 PagesRitual Use of Cacao in Maya Civilization This paper aims to explore and confirm the ceremonial and ritual importance of Theobroma cacao to the Maya civilization and its various uses therein. Firstly, I will provide a brief overview of the cultural history of cacao, which is known as kakaw in the Maya language. Next, I will examine the connection between cacao and ancient Maya religion, which is the basis for its importance to the Maya culture. I will then discuss the ritual and ceremonial significanceRead MoreEconomy in Early American Civilizations: Maya, Aztecs and Inca865 Words   |  4 Pagesas cacao beans. Another American civilization was the Aztec civilization. They were located in the Valley of Mexico around the 13th to 16th century CE, and they used slash-and-burn farming to plant crops to trade. The Inca Empire existed from the 13th to the 16th century CE along the Pacific coast of South America near the Andes Mountains. The Inca used terrace farming and irrigation to grow crops such as corn. The economies of the se early American civilizations were heavily based on trade and agricultureRead MoreHow The Maya Civilization Was A Major Social Entity From Approximately 2600 B.c1316 Words   |  6 Pages Mesoamerica Essay The Maya civilization was a major social entity from approximately 2600 B.C.E. to 1521 C.E. The Maya civilization was never a fully unified society; it was primarily made up of numerous small states, in and around what is now known as the Yucatan Peninsula. These states, each apparently centered on a city, were ruled by individual kings. Sometimes, a stronger Maya state would dominate a weaker state and be able to exact tribute and labor from it. The development of agriculture

Sara lee free essay sample

1. What is Sara Lee’s corporate strategy? How has its retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup? The original corporate strategy was acquiring businesses and adding to the corporate bottom line. The corporate strategy changed from acquiring businesses to divesting from non-core lower producing businesses and creating a more focused company along its product lines of food, beverages and household products. How has its retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup? The company has changed from a huge conglomerate to a business narrowly focused on a few product lines, specifically foods. Sara Lee’s planned and executed an exit of businesses they deemed to be nonstrategic. 2. What is your assessment of the long-term attractiveness of the industries represented in Sara Lee Corp. ’s business portfolio? Each industry that Sara Lee executives chose to remain within their portfolio of products is consistently a top producer with several brands that are number one in their category and others that have significant increasing revenues so the long term outlook is better with the remaining businesses. 3. What is your assessment of the competitive strength of Sara Lee Corp. ’s different business units? The competitive strengths will be in the narrow focus on food products and not trying to run a business with many different units in several industries. With the narrow focus of food products Sara Lee can look for opportunities to reduce cost and improve margins along the primary and secondary activities of the value chain. 4. What does a 9-cell industry attractiveness/business strength matrix displaying Sara Lee’s business units look like?5. Does Sara Lee’s portfolio exhibit good strategic ? t? What value-chain match-ups do you see? What opportunities for skills transfer, cost sharing, or brand sharing do you see? Yes, the retrenchment strategy has allowed Sara Lee to return to its core expertise, the food industry. There are several possible value chain match-ups from using the same facilities to produce multiple lines of similar products to skill transfer of work ers within different but similar production facilities. There are also opportunities in the operations as well as the distribution sections of the value chain to supply the materials for the finished products as well as using the same distribution methods to deliver multiple product lines. 6. What is your assessment of Sara Lee’s ? nancial and operating performance in ?scal years 2008-2010, the period following the divestitures that were the core of Sara Lee’s retrenchment strategy? The overall performance could be characterized as weak; operating profit margin was expected to reach 12 percent but only increased to 8.5 percent. Although operating income increased for the period, the loss from discontinued operations grew significantly. Also Project Accelerate was started in 2008 to jump start the retrenchment initiatives and did save considerable money to help offset the losses. 7. What is your overall evaluation of Sara Lee’s retrenchment plan? What evidence and/or reasons support a conclusion that Sara Lee’s shareholders have or have not benefited from the company’s retrenchment strategy? The retrenchment plan did not work as expected. It appears from reading the case that a thorough evaluation of existing businesses that Sara Lee executives were planning to divest was not undertaken. Possibly if the executives would have considered the economic environment at the time, more accurate sale projections would have been created so not to burden Hanes with so much debt as the division split from the company. Also management’s estimation of reaching $14 billion in revenues by 2010 was considerably off target, only achieving $10. 8 billion in 2010. Sara Lee executives did create a more food, original core business line up of products divesting of non-core unrelated businesses which were successful as the remaining products received more planning attention. The remaining divisions were also top or number one products in their respective categories though. Sara Lee did create a much more focused business but at the expense of approximately $3 billion in revenue and nowhere near the $14 billion expected or heading toward the $19 billion in revenue in 2004. 8. What actions do you recommend that Sara Lee management take to improve the company’s performance and boost shareholder value? Your recommended actions must be supported with convincing, analysis-based arguments. I agree with the divesting of non-core businesses to create a more singular, less confusing focus for the business. The problem with this strategy is that it is at significant expense to the top and bottom line and devalues shareholders stock value. After the retrenchment and a divesting of non-core businesses were completed Sara Lee should have and should now look at acquiring businesses again. Businesses that are relational to the core food businesses in the Sara Lee portfolio. Now that Sara Lee has consolidated its operations it needs to go into expansion mode; mergers and acquisitions to grow shareholder value. Another way to grow shareholder value would be for Sara Lee to expand current product lines and also bring existing and new lines into new markets. The case study mentioned several global markets not covered by Sara Lee products. There is a significant amount of new market opportunity to increase revenues and ultimately shareholder value.

Lorraine Hansberry Rejected The Limitations Of Her Race And Gender And

Lorraine Hansberry rejected the limitations of her race and gender and through her written works, became a social activist and expanded the role of a black woman in America. Lorraine Hansberry wrote many works that allowed her to explain her views. She also explored these ideas through playwrights. Lorraine Hansberry was said to be a spearhead of the future. She was a woman who refused to be confined by the categories of race and gender (Tripp 3). Lorraine Hansberry was born in 1930. Both of her parents' were activists challenging discrimination laws. Many famous black people frequently visited her home because of her parent's authority (Tripp 2). Two of these famous black Americans that often visited Lorraine's home were Paul Robeson and Langston Hughes. They were her "shining light" so to speak. Especially when it came time for her to find her own place in the New York literary world (Cheney 36). Paul Robeson provided great inspiration for Lorraine's writings. On the other hand, Langston Hughes gave her a social consciousness of her poetic possibilities of her own race. He also gave her an appreciation of the black American culture. She had also learned from Hughes that in spite of obstacles, black people remained a powerful force in America (Cheney 46-53). Although the Hansberry family was comfortably settled as middle-class economic status, they were still subject to the racial segregation and discrimination characteristic of the period, and they were most active in opposing it (Smith 147). Lorraine's writing career was started in the area of magazines. She was writing for Paul Robeson's Freedom magazine. At this time, Lorraine would always say, "I was born black and female," these were the twin identities that would dominate her life and her work. This was her source of motivation, by retelling this statement to herself and the others around her. Another concern of hers was the human conditions as blacks experienced it. She spent much of her life making an effort to change these conditions (Cheney 140; Tripp 2). Lorraine Hansberry's first play was named, "The Crystal Stair." It was named after a line in the Langston Hughes poem, "Mother to Son." Lorraine later changed the title of her play to, "A Raisin in the Sun." This was as well taken from one of Langston Hughes' pieces, "A Dream Deferred" (Draper 951). Lorraine's second play was named "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window." This play never matched the success of her first play "A Raisin in the Sun." This play did use a realistic format that was drawn from her own life (Magill, Great Women...201). Lorraine wrote at least five plays. All of which revealed the depth of her concern for the black race and for all of the downtrodden races in America and abroad (Cheney 52). Lorraine Hansberry used a realistic style and had a stress on the possibilities for heroism. This stress for heroism within each of her characteristics had everything to do with the purpose that she saw in drama (Magill, Great Women...200) The majority of Lorraine's works were about the black family of her time. She showed many important characteristics in each piece. Some of which were the importance of African roots, the equality of women, and the vulnerability of marriage (Draper 953). The play "The Crystal Stair," later changed to "A Raisin in the Sun", was about a man with a plea for racial tolerance over the incentive society in his time (Draper 950). This was merely based on Lorraine's childhood experiences of the disintegrating of white neighborhoods. It also portrayed slavery as uncontrollable and completely the work victimizing institutions designed to exploit cheaper labor. This play also focuses on the problem of what a family should do with $10,000 that a mother receives as an insurance payment after the death of her husband. Lorraine got the idea for that part of the play directly out of her own home, in the way that this was the same problem Lorraine's mother faced at the time of her husband's death. (Magill, Gre4at Women...200). "Because the play explores a universal theme-the search for the freedom and better life- the majority of its first audience loved the work (Draper 951)." "A Raisin in the Sun" won the award