The Korean conflict of 1950 to 1953 Essay Example for Free

The Korean conflict of 1950 to 1953 Essay To what extent was the Korean conflict of 1950 to 1953 a turning point in the Cold War? The beginnings of the Cold War, the period between 1945 and 1949, were fraught with a mutual tension and distrust sustained chiefly by the bold, economically expansionist policies of the USA and the defensive, albeit retaliatory, responses of the Soviet Union. Until 1950, America had relied upon her own currency in curtailing what she perceived as the spread of communist influence. The start of the Korean War, however, saw the revampment of American policy and the globalisation, as well as the exacerbation, of the existing superpower tension. As such, to a large extent, the Korean conflict was a departure from previous trends in the American-Soviet conflict. In reaffirmation of my stand is the fact that the battlefield had expanded beyond the borders of continental Europe into the environmentally hostile regions of Korea, and that the participants of this new Cold War were no longer confined to the superpowers themselves. At the same time, though only to a slight degree, the Korean War was still reminiscent of the old, European Cold War, as manifested by Trumans citing of the Domino Theory in the face of an invasion of South Korea by the communist North, a typical instance of American failure to fully grasp the situation with which they are dealing. Of foremost importance to the turning point of the superpower enmity is the implementation of NSC 68. As aforementioned, before the conflict extended to Asia, the USA had capitalised upon its financial power by channelling economic aid to client states in combating Soviet communism. This policy of economic expansion was no longer adhered to in Korea, as demonstrated by the NSC 68 which marked the militarisation of the Cold War in essence. Under internal pressure, the Truman administration propounded an expansion of American military forces and atomic stockpile, as well as the hastened development of a thermonuclear bomb to remain a step ahead of the Soviets in the nuclear field. This new policy of rollback is evident from the period of 1950 to 1953, during which the USA had increased its military output sevenfold and was in a state of preparedness for war. Believing in the necessity for the US military to outnumber or be on par with the large Soviet army in terms of number, Truman advocated an increase in military spending and managed to extract billions of dollars from Congress to be spent on the expansion of American armed forces, the rendering of military succour to potential allies, and the development of the hydrogen bomb. The presidents belief in the importance of armed and nuclear supremacy also resonated with Washington as a whole. In addition, in response to North Korean invasion of the democratic South, Truman had called for international involvement in the regional conflict in forming an attack force consisting of the South Korean army, as well as contingents from fifteen other countries not including America herself. The expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was also a deviation from American action in post-war Europe. NATO was immediately given a larger secretariat and a more unified command structure. A total of four US divisions were sent to Europe to act as reinforcements and, in 1951, the organisation was enlarged to accommodate new members, namely Turkey and Greece. Acting opportunistically to threaten the USSR, the USA had made use of Turkey, which lay in close proximity with Soviet Russia, as a military base on which American Jupiter missiles could be established. Due to the excellent geographical location of Turkey, these missiles could be aimed and fired at the Soviet Union, and acted as a deterrence against the Soviet invasion of Middle Eastern oilfields. To strengthen NATO and assist its member allies, the USA had been in favour of an increase in military spending and had channelled economic aid to its allies. Previously, in 1949, before the superpower conflict expanded beyond its regional borders, the organisation was set up with only the intention of acting as a disincentive against a communist attack on the capitalist West. While it was still meant to deter potential communist aggression, the new, expanded NATO had also posed a direct military threat to the Soviets, as demonstrated by the placing of US Jupiter Missiles in Turkey and American exhortation of increasing military spending, and had thus contributed to the militarisation of the conflict as a whole. American advocacy for West German rearmament and sovereignty differed significantly from earlier policy as well. In the past, after German defeat in World War II, the USA had feared the recrudescence of German aggression. With the outbreak of the Korean War, however, the fear of a revived Germany was transcended by an intense paranoia of communist expansion. The rearmament and procurement of full-fledged independence of West Germany was deemed a necessity as a result; the resurrection of Russias former wartime adversary would rekindle old fears of German expansion and deter Soviet aggression. After the occurrence of war in Korea, in hopes of putting up a stronger attack front against the Soviets, the USA had begun to favour the idea of West German rearmament, which the French strongly opposed. Ultimately, to dispell French fears, the USA agreed to the French Pleven Plan to allow West Germany to be part of a European Defence Community. This, however, was met with disapproval from the Germans, most of whom were opposed to the idea of military rearmament and preferred instead to be independent of foreign control. Seeing as how the political and economic reconstruction of West Germany was a long-term goal, the USA agreed to remove all occupation controls and grant Germany full statehood. The Korean War was indubitably a turning point in the Cold War, as seen in the fact that its occurrence galvanised the Americans to rearm and grant independence to Germany, something that would previously have been regarded with doubt and apprehension. American signing of the ANZUS pact and recognition of Japan as a post-war ally varied from previous policy too. Like in the case of Germany, the USA had erstwhile been wary of future Japanese expansion and was not likely to grant Japan freedom from foreign supervision. The Korean War had changed American attitude entirely and had accelerated the political and economic recovery of Japan, which was confirmed in the signing of the San Francisco peace treaty in 1951. The treaty restored Japanese sovereignty and ended American occupation in Japan in the following year. In exchange for independence, Japan had to sign a Mutual Security Agreement, under which the Japanese islands were to act as a breakwater against the currents of communist expansion. The USA had also signed the ANZUS pact with New Zealand and Australia and, in so doing, agreed to defend Asia and Australia from Japanese aggression. In return, the two countries would assist in the deterrence of communist expansion in the Pacific. Similarly in the case of Germany, Japan would not have received its sovereignty if it were not for the Korean War, especially since the granting of Japanese independence might have been at the expense of the security of Australasia. American policy in Southeast Asia revealed the sudden central importance of the continent to the USA and this, in itself, was another departure from existing Cold War trends. In the early years prior to the start of war in Korea, the scope to which American policy functioned was limited only to continental Europe and parts of the Middle East. However, with the globalisation of the conflict, American operations in favour of confining the spectre of communist influence within the sphere from which it originated spanned from Europe to Asia. The USA provided relentless economic and military support to the French in their war with the Vietminh led by communist Ho, whom the Americans viewed as an agent of the Kremlin. In American eyes, both the non-communist countries of Southeast Asia and Japan were of pivotal significance in guaranteeing prosperity and hence freedom from communist influence. Before 1950, American intervention in communist acivities were confined only to Europe. However, with the outbreak of war in Korea, the scope of its policy had extended across the oceans to a foreign continent. This is revelatory of the far-reaching impacts of the Korean War on the superpower conflict. To an extent of lesser significance, however, the Korean War was an affirmation of the trends of the European Cold War. For instance, the USA had intervened in the regional conflict thinking that North Korean crossing of the 38th parallel was premeditated by Stalin. Such misrepresentations of global communist activities as being a result of the sole manipulation of the Soviet leader, and not the local leaders themselves, are a quintessence of American paranoia and oversight. Truman had also misread the situations in Greece and Turkey, unwavering in his erroneous view of communism as inherently monolithic. Trumans misunderstanding of the situation in Korea was further reinforced by his citing of the Domino theory in response to the North Korean invasion. The president stated that Asia would fall to Soviet communism should there be no action taken by America. As can be seen from this misinterpretation that was so typical of the irrational fear of the USA, the conflict in Korea does prove to be a confirmation of Cold War trends that were already in existence in post-war Europe. American response to the establishment of the Peoples Republic of China was another typical instance of the trends of the Cold War before 1953. On a basis of reasoning that was largely gratuitous by nature, Truman surmised that the Chinese communists were agents of Moscow sent by Stalin to communise the Asian periphery, referring to the communist takeover as the fall of China. America had responded ambivalently to the formation of the Chinese Communist Party, outwardly declaring the formation of diplomatic relations with the new regime, yet ordering the cessation of economic aid to Chiang Kai Shek. Hence it would seem that Truman had not only inherited Roosevelts title as president of America but also his intrinsic uncertainty and diplomatic ambiguity displayed at Yalta in 1945. Trumans ambiguous response to the fall of China reflected an inconsistency in American policy that was already exhibited earlier in the days when the Cold War was confined only to continental Europe. Even so, the events in Korea from 1950 to 1953 largely marked a turning point in the Cold War. This is seen in the extent of change in American policy thereafter, as well as the fact of international involvement in the conflict. Though only regional by nature, the Korean War had had far-reaching effects on foreign politics, like those of Japan and Germany, playing a major role in influencing American decision to grant full-fledged independence to these countries. Also, the Korean War marked the globalisation of what was once a regional conflict, as well as a departure from earlier American policy, from the provision of economic succour to the building up of armed forces and military and nuclear arsenal. As such, to a large extent, the Korean War was a turning point for the superpower enmity.

Homelessness in the Jane and Finch Area of Toronto :: Struggle for a Community

Many individuals would define leisure as time free from paid work, domestic responsibilities, and just about anything that one would not do as part of their daily routine. Time for leisure and time for work are both two separate spheres. The activities which people choose to do on their spare time benefit their own personal interests as well as their satisfactions. While some people may enjoy one activity, others pay not. Leisure is all about personal interests and what people constitute having a good time is all about. Some may say that the process of working class leisure can be seen to contribute their own subordination as well as the reproduction of capitalist class relations. Self-produced patterns of working class leisure can lead to resistance to such reproduction. This leads to social class relations and inequalities, and the fact that it they can never be completely reproduced in the leisure sphere. This film Home Feeling: Struggle for a Community, gives some examples of the role of leisure within a capitalist society dealing with issues such as class inequalities, and how they are different among various societies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One might define the relations between police and community relations in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto to be very discriminating. The start of the film already gives some insight on the issue which the film is trying to portray. A coloured man’s is being harassed because the police do not think that he has ownership for the van to which he claimed he owned. The police were violating his rights and treating him in an impolite manner simply because of the standard that has been set, claiming that all coloured individuals are violent and dangerous. This is also the case because the film has been recorded in the Jane and Finch area; where people are looked down upon and regarded as dangerous, violent and unemployed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The video Home Feeling: A struggle for Community covers the lives and individual stories of the residents of the Jane and Finch area, primarily the Indians who make up at least 15% of the immigrants who reside in the area. The residents of the Jane and Finch area have strong feelings against the police who constantly wander their community looking for trouble or trying to cause some of their own. Many blame the police for their frustrations claiming that they feel they have no privacy because they are always being watched.

Causes of Road Accidents in Malaysia Essay

The Causes Of Road Accidents In Malaysia Time to time, half a million of Malaysians died because of road accidents and the highest cases of road accidents are caused by the drivers’ behaviour, equipment failure and the road conditions and infrastructure. Because of the road accidents many people have lose their family member or close friend. Besides, the road accidents also may effected to government when they have to repair for the broken infrastructure that caused by the accident like lamp stand, road divider, cleaning people blood from the road, and many more.It also will give a traffic jam for a while to all drivers. According to Road Transport department research (2002)Accident casualty and deaths by vehicles for Malaysia 2000-2006, the number of road accidents increased to 400 cases and it decreased in 2006 that was only about 600 cases (21,600 cases) had been reported. The first thing that contributes to the reason for the road accidents that happen in Malaysia is the d rivers’ behaviour. Humans are always do mistake and not careful. When a problem or unwanted thing happens, they tend to blame somebody or something else for what they have done.Most people that get an accident believe the other party involved could have done something different to avoid the accident. According to The Royal Malaysian Police, PDRM (2006) report saying that 90% of accidents happen from this reason. Moreover they also mentioned that speeding also has caused quite a number of accidents. Actually, until recently many drivers, especially male driver took the chance of night time in driving in federation and state roads. PDRM, (2006) reported the faster speed of a vehicle, the greater the risk of an accident.Speeding, even if the vehicle going five miles per hour over, in the wrong place at the wrong time, it can bring death to somebody. Speeding is also based on the traffic on an area, road conditions, weather and lighting. When driver speeding, they had to risk the ir lives when had to alert about what condition will they face. Despite all major highways have speed trap, it still cannot prevent drivers to speed and get into trouble, such an accident. In addition, careless driver are another drivers’ behaviour that caused the road accidents.This factor is the highest factors that drivers get involved in road accidents. Some drivers not only speeding but also drive recklessly, breaking road rules, does not have their vehicle license and beating traffic lights. Moreover, drivers either man or women cannot prevent to be careless driver. The main cause that driver become un careful while driving on roads are talking on a cell phone, eating, falling asleep, tiredness, driving under the influence of alcohol and so on. Because of the small mistake can caused a big problem to others who using the road o involved in the accidents.However, the most important cause of an accident is aggressive driver behaviour and selfish attitudes. From e-how, des cribed, safe standards are manufactured for modern cars by engineer to minimize the effect of accident. The aggressive driver behaviour and selfish attitudes are the most impossible thing to change. The examples of aggressive driver behaviour and selfish attitudes are aggressive tailgating, failure to signal, and failure to use the right way side. Aggressive tailgating happen when you follow in front of other vehicle too close.With two vehicle drive too close in high speed, there will be a huge accident if unexpected thing happen on the road, such as animal crossing the road and required front vehicle stop immediately or evade from being crush into the animal. Furthermore, failure to signal when taking left or right road at the corner of the road. When this happen, other vehicle does not know which way you want to go either left or right. Especially heavy vehicles, they do not see where you want to turn if you does not turn on the signal light from your vehicle.There also a lot of p roblem happen if driver do not use the right way side, it will make other driver mad. When they angry, they will flash light at the back of your vehicle, because of you drive to slow also in wrong way side of the road. Other example is every festive season, like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya Aidilftri ,Deepavali, Christmas including New Years, Malaysians especially, always excited of going back to their village or better known as ‘balik kampung’. With the excited feeling of going back to their home towns, we can see many of them and their family trying their best to reach home quickly as they can.Thus they will become selfish and does not care about their safety. Some of them will take express bus to arrive at their home to avoid driving a car at night. But they will be unlucky if they get selfish and careless driver bus attitudes that always take the wrong side of the road which should not used by heavy vehicle just want to reach the destination early. The most the endan ger transportation is heavy vehicle like bus and lorry because they are big and easy to smash small vehicle.Other than that, many selfish motorcyclists who did not followed traffic rules and fastened safety helmets properly. Another factor that listed as one of the causes of road accident is equipment failure of a vehicle. From smartmotorist. com, it state that the most important types of equipment failure are loss of brkes, tire blow outs or tread separation, and suspension failure. Thus, with all exception of the recent rash of Firestone light-truck tire failures, calculated the totals that less than 5% of all motorvehicle accidents have reported equipment failure accounts.All drivers should drive with perfect car condition. So, before drive any vehicle, they have to do some conformation. They need to check their vehicle to make sure if it safe to drive or not. As example, they must check the condition of water, brake, battery and lamp always be in good condition. There are some d rivers that never take care of this problem. They feel it is a small matter to think about the problem and can do it later at any time. They do not care about the safety factor of their car.Such as they do not change the worn out tires, when it was worn out, the vehicle absolutely cannot grasp tightly the road surface perfectly. So, it will be more dangerous if in rainy day situation, it because the stranglehold between tires and road surface will be more weak than sunny day condition. There are so clear that worn out tires can caused the accident easily. Besides, there are many people cannot accept a fact that almost nine million vehicle in this country involved in road accident because the using of illegal equipment which gain the worst level.The amount of that vehicle is about 80 percent from the 11 million of the vehicle in our country. The president of Persatuan Pemilik kenderaan Bermotor Malaysia (MOVA), Ahmad Zaki Arifin said that more than half from the driver in our country face the risk to involved in accident and death about this behaviour. Although, the other reason that caused the accident is the road conditions and infrastructure. Usually, the road will become danger in rainy day. It will make the road become more slippery for the vehicle to handle.In addition, many potholes could endanger motorist (Road Transport Department, 2002). It because, deep hole can make motorist cannot control their vehicle and will cause the accident. It become worst if it involved with the motorcyclist. The un flat surface of road also can make a nightmare for road user. It because, the road user cannot see the hole while driving. Most accidents that involved pothole problem happen during night time, because at that time many driver could not recognize the hole when they driving.Other than that, insufficient and improper of street light, also caused the accident. Usually, The street lights are hard to find in village area. So, the authorities should take care the vill age area too. In some place, the street light cannot be used by people because the street light is already broken and not repaired by authorities. In other case, the insufficient of traffic light also lead us to road accident, interstate highways remain safest road because their flow of traffic is in one direction and complete with traffic light.Many case of accident caused by insufficient of traffic light such as there are no traffic light at one road that always full with vehicle and the effect is it will produce a huge traffic jam. It will become worst when some drivers do not think about other road user and drive in high speed when taking a corner or change to the other side of road. However, roadway identifications sign also play the role to make the road safe for road user. It useful to inform road user to locate and know the road condition, such as the location of landslide, school location, hospital and many more.If the driver was informed properly the accident will not happ en easily. It is possible that motorcyclist also need specific lane for them. They should be separate from other ‘big’ user like car, lorry, bus and other type of transport that bigger than motorcycle. It will make them more safe and secure from unwanted accident. In conclusion, driver behaviour and the equipment failure of a vehicle, as well as the road conditions and infrastructure seem to be causes of road accidents in Malaysia.To reduce the total amount of road accident, first thing that should we do are change our attitude. In addition, we also need to be alert about our vehicle condition and always check them. The rate of road accident in our country today has become a nightmare for all of us. So, the authorities may need to do a drastic step to overcome this worst problem. They need to use their power to serve the best road conditions and infrastructure for us. We need to realize that our live is most valuable thing. ‘Drive safety and safe our soul’.

How to Celebrate French Candlemas (Jour des Crêpes)

The Catholic holiday of Candlemas, celebrated every year on February 2, is a feast of crà ªpes thats meant to commemorate the purification of the Virgin Mary and the presentation of baby Jesus. In France, this holiday is called la Chandeleur, Fà ªte de la Lumià ¨re  or Jour des crà ªpes. Note that this holiday bears no relation to  Lyons Fà ªte des lumià ¨res, which takes place December 5 to 8. A Bit of Fortune-Telling Not only do the French eat a lot of crà ªpes on la Chandeleur, but they also do a bit of fortune-telling while making them. It is traditional to hold a coin in your writing hand and a crà ªpe pan in the other, then flip the crà ªpe into the air. If you manage to catch the crà ªpe in the pan, your family will supposedly be prosperous for the rest of the year. French Proverbs and Sayings for Chandeleur There are all kinds of French proverbs and sayings for Chandeleur; here are just a few. Note the similarities to the Groundhog Day predictions made in the US and Canada:À la Chandeleur, lhiver cesse ou reprend vigueurOn Candlemas, winter ends or gets worseÀ la Chandeleur, le jour croà ®t de deux heuresOn Candlemas, the day grows by two hoursChandeleur couverte, quarante jours de perteCandlemas covered (in snow), forty days lostRosà ©e à   la Chandeleur, hiver à   sa dernià ¨re heureDew on Candlemas, winter at its final hour The Crà ªpe-Throwing Game Heres a fun way to celebrate la Chandeleur in French classes. All you need are a  crà ªpe recipe, ingredients, paper plates and a small prize, such as a book or a $5 bill. Thanks to a fellow French teacher for sharing this. The day before, ask a couple of students to make a pile of crà ªpes and bring them into class (or make them yourself). For the sake of an even playing field, the crà ªpes need to be the same size, about 5 inches in diameter.Give each student a paper plate and write his or her name on the bottom. The object of the game is to catch a crà ªpe in the very center of the plate.Stand on a chair about 10 feet away from the students and throw a crà ªpe, frisbee-style, for students to catch. Once they catch the crà ªpe, they cant jiggle or flip it to try to reposition it on the plate.After each student has caught a crà ªpe, ask two adults, such as fellow teachers, to come into the  room and judge which crà ªpe is the most perfectly centered.  The winner gets a prize.Then you can all celebrate by eating crà ªpes with an assortment of fillings and/or toppings, which can be  sweet  or  savory.