International History

Did domestic considerations dictate Gorbachev’s foreign policy approach?

Andrew Thomas Park • Jul 31 2011 • Essays

This essay argues that Gorbachev’s foreign policy approach was determined, to a high degree, by the domestic considerations the Soviet Union faced at that time. The idea that these domestic considerations simply ‘dictated’ Gorbachev’s foreign policy approach is, however, too simple.

Hitler and Mussolini: A comparative analysis of the Rome-Berlin Axis 1936-1940

Stephanie Hodgson • Jul 29 2011 • Essays

This paper will argue that Germany and Italy had little in common but common enemies and more significantly the shared aim of both wanting to assert themselves as revisionist powers of the interwar period. Thus, their alliance was one of convenience in that both powers were aware that they needed an ally within Europe as a means of achieving their ambitious and aggressive foreign policies.

Why did Britain fight a war against the Mau Mau movement in Kenya?

anon • Jul 28 2011 • Essays

The central cause to the instigation of the tragic seven years of rebellion, or emergency, in Colonial Kenya between 1952 and 1959 has to be due to Britain’s terrible management of its territorial holdings. By protecting a hugely unfair and unjust settler economy, the British provoked a seemingly vile resistance movement in the form of the Mau Mau.

Collective Memory: the Holocaust and the genocide in Rwanda

Rebecka Tagt • Jul 27 2011 • Essays

Collective memory depends on the existence and upholding of hegemonic discourses that in these contexts create conditions of victimisation. Pictures often simplify events and narratives to the extent that we might misinterpret them. It has been argued that Holocaust pictures have, at least in the West, served as a template for images of other genocides.

The Role of Intelligence in the 2003 Invasion of Iraq

Daniel Sutherland • Jul 27 2011 • Essays

This essay examines the events leading up to the Iraq War in 2003, including the evidence from the intelligence community which was presented to the international community as justification to begin military action in Iraq, as well as numerous documents and publications during the Iraq War which highlight the importance of intelligence, particularly in shaping the decision to go to war.

Cold War containment: the role of the military

Simon Schoon • Jul 26 2011 • Essays

The policy of containment led directly to a radical change in the global positioning of the U.S. In the early period of Truman’s presidency U.S. armed forces were undergoing a large-scale programme of demobilisation, yet by its end in 1953 military and economic alliances were held with states in virtually every continent of the globe.

What Did Abdulhamid II Identify as the Principal Threats to his Caliphate?

Rupert Black • Jul 11 2011 • Essays

The prestige that was vested in the seat of Caliph rested on the physical strength and success of the Empire. Unlike his ancestors, Abdulhamid was unable to guarantee either. War with Russia and the partition of the Empire at the Congress of Berlin had brought his main basis of authority into question.

British and French Colonial Attitudes Towards the Arab World

Cameron Payne • Jul 9 2011 • Essays

Britain and France were influenced by their own special interests, which, for the British, was principally the maintenance of peace, trade and oil; whilst the French interest was one of maintaining a presence in the area. These would provide the framework towards the mandated territories both respectively administered.

Why Was India Partitioned at Independence?

Asma Ali Farah • Jul 9 2011 • Essays

India was partitioned at Independence on 15th August 1947 into two distinct nations: a newly-established and principally Muslim state of Pakistan, and a Hindu dominated India. The fact that such a division occurred on religious lines means that partition was the logical and inevitable outcome of the irreconcilable opposition between Hindus and Muslims.

Why is ‘historical memory’ still so significant in understanding German foreign and security policy?

IJ Benneyworth • Jul 8 2011 • Essays

From the Holocaust memorial, to the deliberately unrecovered foundations of Gestapo headquarters, to rare war-era buildings bearing the scars of Red Army gunfire, links to the Nazi-era and the associated ‘historical memory’ has maintained a grip on the German psyche.

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