Russian History free essay sample

This was due to Peter I (Peter the Great) because of his accomplishments forced the West to take notice of his nation. Peter The Great When Peter I came into power in 1689, he had two basic goals for his country: †¢Modernize his country in the western fashion. †¢Gain warm water ports to access to the west, thus, bringing more trade, recognition, and respect by the other European powers. Dealing with the West Peter set out his plans by sending a grand embassy to the European powers in 1697 to enlist their help against Turkey. He went along too, pretending to be a ships carpenter, and worked in English and Dutch shipyards. He studied everything from anatomy and engraving to European industrial techniques in order to gain as much information as possible. He was determined to give Russia an outlet to the sea, both on the Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea. He brought European shipbuilders to Russia. We will write a custom essay sample on Russian History or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Then in 1696, with a new fleet, he was able to capture Azov, the chief Turkish fortress on the Sea of Azov. As Captain Peter Alekseevich, he commanded from the Principium – a ship built by his own hand. In 1700, he felt ready to attack Sweden. With Poland and Denmark as allies, he started the Great Northern War, which lasted until 1721. Peter defeated the Swedes and gained an outlet to the Baltic Sea. The Treaty of Nystad (1721) ended the war and gave Russia the prized Swedish provinces on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. Sweden became a second-rate military power, and Poland was reduced in status. As a result of the victory, the Russian Empire was formed on October 22, 1721. On that day Peter was acclaimed Father of the Fatherland, Peter the Great, and emperor of all the Russia’s, by the Russian Senate, in gratitude for victory in the war. Internal Affairs Peter was organizing and modernizing his country internally as well as externally. He was ruthless when he ruled Russia as he was so determined for his country to be recognised. He forced his subjects to conform to his ideas, founded a navy, introduced factories, and organized a modern army. He also created a new Russian capital, St Petersburg. In 1703, Peter began construction a fortress on territory that he had won – which became the new capital city of St Petersburg – and moved his imperial court there in 1712. In order to populate St Petersburg, Peter forced all upper-class Russians to move there. One problem was that the country had no proper means of transportation. What roads there were only ran east to west, and even then, they were difficult to traverse, especially during the Russian winter. Peter westernized his subjects by using taxation and implementing new laws. Some examples are: †¢He put a high tax on beards and Oriental dress to force the people to adopt Western dress. †¢He modernized the calendar, simplified the alphabet, unified the currency, and introduced universal taxation

Prehistoric Life During the Paleocene Epoch

Prehistoric Life During the Paleocene Epoch Although it didnt boast as wide an array of prehistoric mammals as the epochs that succeeded it, the Paleocene was notable for being the geologic stretch of time immediately following the extinction of the dinosaurswhich opened up vast ecological niches for surviving mammals, birds, reptiles and marine animals. The Paleocene was the first epoch of the Paleogene period (65-23 million years ago), the other two being the Eocene (56-34 million years ago) and Oligocene (34-23 million years ago); all these periods and epochs were themselves part of the Cenozoic Era (65 million years ago to the present). Climate and geography. The first few hundred years of the Paleocene epoch comprised the dark, frigid aftermath of the K/T Extinction, when an astronomical impact on the Yucatan peninsula raised enormous clouds of dust that obscured the sun worldwide. By the end of the Paleocene, however, the global climate had recovered, and was nearly as warm and muggy as it had been during the preceding Cretaceous period. The northern supercontinent of Laurasia had yet to completely break apart into North America and Eurasia, but the giant continent Gondwana in the south was already well on its way to separating into Africa, South America, Antarctica and Australia. Terrestrial Life During the Paleocene Epoch Mammals. Contrary to popular belief, mammals didnt suddenly appear on the planet after the dinosaurs went extinct; small, mouselike mammals coexisted with dinosaurs as far back as the Triassic period (at least one mammalian genus, Cimexomys, actually straddled the Cretaceous/Paleocene boundary). The mammals of the Paleocene epoch werent much larger than their predecessors, and only barely hinted at the forms they would later attain: for example, the distant elephant ancestor Phosphatherium only weighed about 100 pounds, and Plesidadapis was an extremely early, extremely small primate. Frustratingly, most mammals of the Paleocene epoch are known only by their teeth, rather than well-articulated fossils. Birds. If you were somehow transported back in time to the Paleocene epoch, you might be forgiven for concluding that birds, rather than mammals, were destined to inherit the earth. During the late Paleocene, the fearsome predator Gastornis (once known as Diatryma) terrorized the small mammals of Eurasia, while the very first terror birds, equipped with hatchet-like beaks, began to evolve in South America. Perhaps not surprisingly, these birds resembled small meat-eating dinosaurs, as they evolved to fill that suddenly vacant ecological niche. Reptiles. Paleontologists still arent sure why crocodiles managed to survive the K/T Extinction, while their closely related dinosaur brethren bit the dust. In any case, prehistoric crocodiles continued to flourish during the Paleocene epoch, as did snakesas evidenced by the truly enormous Titanoboa, which measured about 50 feet from head to tail and may have weighed more than a ton. Some turtles, too, attained giant sizes, as witness Titanoboas contemporary in the swamps of South America, the one-ton Carbonemys. Marine Life During the Paleocene Epoch Dinosaurs werent the only reptiles that went extinct at the end of the Cretaceous period. Mosasaurs, the fierce, sleek marine predators, also disappeared from the worlds oceans, along with the last straggling remnants of plesiosaurs and pliosaurs. Filling the niches vacated by these voracious reptilian predators were prehistoric sharks, which had existed for hundreds of millions of years but now had the room to evolve to truly impressive sizes. The teeth of the prehistoric shark Otodus, for example, are a common find in Paleocene and Eocene sediments. Plant Life During the Paleocene Epoch A huge number of plants, both terrestrial and aquatic, were destroyed in the K/T Extinction, victims of the enduring lack of sunlight (not only did these plants succumb to darkness, but so did the herbivorous animals that fed on the plants and the carnivorous animals that fed on the herbivorous animals). The Paleocene epoch witnessed the very first cactuses and palm trees, as well as a resurgence of ferns, which were no longer harassed by plant-munching dinosaurs. As in preceding epochs, much of the world was covered by thick, green jungles and forests, which thrived in the heat and humidity of the late Paleocene climate. Next: the Eocene Epoch

Formation and Types of Irregular Galaxies

Formation and Types of Irregular Galaxies The word galaxy brings to mind images of the  Milky Way  or perhaps  the Andromeda galaxy, with their spiral arms and central bulges. These  spiral galaxies  are what people commonly imagine all galaxies look like. Yet, there are many types of galaxies in the universe and theyre not all spirals. To be sure, we live in a spiral galaxy, but there are also elliptical (rounded without spiral arms) and lenticulars (sort of cigar-shaped). Theres another set of galaxies that are rather shapeless, dont necessarily have spiral arms, but do have a lot of sites where stars are forming. These odd, blobby ones are called irregular galaxies.  Sometimes they get lumped in with the so-called peculiar galaxies due to their unusual shapes or other characteristics. Hubble Space Telescopes deepest view of the cosmos. There are hundreds of galaxies of all shapes and sizes in this image. NASA/ESA/STScI As many as a quarter of known galaxies are irregular.  With no spiral arms or central bulge, they dont seem to visually share much in common with either spiral or elliptical galaxies. However, they have some characteristics in common with spirals, at least. For one thing, many have sites of active star formation. Some may even have black holes at their hearts. Formation of Irregular Galaxies So, how do irregulars form? It seems that they are typically formed through gravitational interactions and mergers of other galaxies. Most,  if not all of them began life as some other galaxy type. Then through interactions with each other, they became distorted and lost some, if not all of their shape and features. Hubble Space Telescope looked at a pair of colliding galaxies that are tangling as they interact. The shock of the collision has produced blue streamers that look like clouds. They are actually giant starburst regions, where clusters of hot, massive young stars are being born. In the future, this may end up being an irregular galaxy for a time. NASA/ESA/STScI Some may have been created simply by passing near another galaxy. The gravitational pull of the other galaxy would tug on it and warp its shape. This will happen particularly if they pass near larger galaxies. This is likely what happened to the Magellanic Clouds, the smaller companions to the Milky Way. It appears that they were once small barred spirals. Because of their close proximity to our galaxy, they were distorted by gravitational interactions into their current unusual shapes. The Large Magellanic Cloud (middle left) and Small Magellanic Cloud (upper center) over Paranal Observatory in Chile. European Southern Observatory Other irregular galaxies seem to have been created through mergers of galaxies. In a few billion years the Milky Way will merge with Andromeda galaxy. During the initial time of the collision, the newly formed galaxy (which is nicknamed Milkdromeda) may look to be irregular as the gravity of each galaxy pulls on the other and stretches them like taffy. Then, after billions of years, they may eventually form an elliptical galaxy. This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image shows the massive elliptical galaxy Messier 60 (also called M60, or NGC 4649). M60 is 120 million light-years across and contains an estimated 400 billion stars. Highlighted in the inset is the dwarf galaxy M60-UDC1 which orbits the giant elliptical.M60-UCD1 is a tiny galaxy with a diameter of 300 light-years - just 1/500th of the diameter of the Milky Way! Despite its size it is pretty crowded, containing some 140 million stars.The dwarf galaxy may actually be the stripped remnant of a larger galaxy that was torn apart during a close encounter with Messier 60. Circumstantial evidence for this comes from the recent discovery of a monster black hole, which is not visible in this image, at the centre of the dwarf. The black hole makes up 15 percent of the mass of the entire galaxy, making it much too big to have formed inside a dwarf galaxy. NASA/ESA/STScI Some researchers suspect that large irregular galaxies are an intermediate step between the merger of similarly sized spiral galaxies and their eventual final forms as elliptical galaxies. The most likely scenario is that two spirals either mingle together or simply pass very near each other, resulting in changes to both partners in the galactic dance.   There is also a small  population of irregulars that dont fit into other categories. These are called dwarf irregular galaxies. They also look a lot like some galaxies as they existed early in the history of the universe, without a definite shape and looking more like a shred of a galaxy. Does this mean that the irregulars that are observed today are more like early galaxies? Or is there some other evolutionary path that they take? The jury is still out on those questions as astronomers continue to study them and compare younger to the ones they see that existed many billions of years ago. Types of Irregular Galaxies Irregular galaxies come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. This is not surprising considering  they may have started out as either spiral or elliptical galaxies  and simply distorted through the merger of two or more galaxies, or perhaps by nearby gravitational distortion from another galaxy. However, irregular galaxies can still all into a number of sub-types. The distinctions are usually associated with their shape and features, or lack thereof, and by their size. Irregular galaxies, particularly the dwarfs, are still not well understood. As weve already discussed, their formation is at the heart of the issue, particularly as we compare old (distant) irregular galaxies to newer (nearer) ones. Irregular Sub-types Irregular I Galaxies (Irr I): The first sub-type of irregular galaxies are known as Irr-I galaxies (Irr I for short) and are characterized by having some structure, but not enough to classify it as a spiral or elliptical galaxies (or any other type). Some catalogs break this sub-type down even further into those that exhibit either spiral features (Sm) - or barred spiral features (SBm) - and those that have structure, but not structure associated with spiral galaxies such as a central bulge or arm features. These are therefore identified as Im irregular galaxies.   Irregular II Galaxies (Irr II): The second type of irregular galaxy does not have any feature what so ever. When they were formed through gravitational interaction, the tidal forces were strong enough to eliminate all identified structure of what galaxy type it may have been previously. Dwarf Irregular Galaxies: The final type of irregular galaxy is the dwarf irregular galaxy mentioned above. As the name suggests, these galaxies are smaller versions of the two sub-types listed above. Some of them contain structure (dIrrs I), while others have no trace of such features (dIrrs II). There is no official cut-off, size-wise, for what constitutes a normal irregular galaxy and what is a dwarf. However, the dwarf galaxies tend to have low metallicity (that means that they are mostly hydrogen, with low amounts of heavier elements). They may also form  in a different way than normal-sized irregular galaxies. However, some galaxies currently classified as dwarf Irregulars are simply small spiral galaxies that have been distorted by a much larger nearby galaxy. Edited and updated by Carolyn Collins Petersen.

Religion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Religion - Coursework Example Smith further said that religion is indeed, nothing more than an outcome of the study of many scholars, who utilize it as a means to carry out analysis of various social aspects, otherwise, it does not exist outside the academic world. Smith’s generalization of religion as an academic myth is an overt expression of his association with the school of thought that negates the existence of religion in practical world. Another scholar who belongs to the same school of thought but came up with a more philosophical explanation of the reason of its people’s belief in religion is Edward Burnett Taylor who visualized the religion as an animated concept developed by humans in an attempt to conceive the physical world around them in a better way while Sigmund Freud said religion exists simply because people want to believe in it. (Anon., 2010). However, there are other scholars that do believe in religion and make reasonable arguments for the purpose of the existence of religion and acknowledge its role and impact in the society. One such scholar has been Mircea Eliade who believed in religion and expressed the opinion saying that religion is something too special to be limited to social, cultural or psychological concerns alone. (Anon, 2010). In addition to them, there have been scholars who simply referred to religion as an outcome of some phenomenon. For example, James George Frazer explained that religion surfaced when magic failed to address people’s longing for spiritual satisfaction. (Anon., 2010). Frazer said that the psychology of some people caused them to trust spiritual beings and seek help from them. This resulted in the formation of religion. An in-depth analysis of the opinions of various scholars in the history of literature suggests that many saw religion as a man made concept. A vast majority of philosophers and educationalists denies the belief in religion and refers to it as an animated

Critical Analysis of the problems facing manners Europe Coursework

Critical Analysis of the problems facing manners Europe - Coursework Example The challenges are often worsened even more with lack of knowledge about such differences or sensitivity to such differences, which may impact interactions and the manner in which business is done. Sometimes even those who do understand the significance of the national differences, often mistakenly their way of doing things is the best and most successful. Every country at least has some differences in the way business is done, human resource is planned, people are motivated, and even labour laws practised (Plessis, 2010:180; Mead, 2009). The varying values, behaviours, and beliefs that people hold are critical to the success of human resource management of an international business. This paper analyses the various human resource challenges and problems that Manners Europe faces in its Netherlands office. It will do so using various a numbers of theoretical frameworks such as Hall’s High Low context theory and Hofstede’s five dimensions theory to critically understand t hese problems. Case analysis Problems facing Manners Europe Based on the case experience of Manners Europe, it can be noted that the company division is faced with operational and people management problems. This can be attributed to the different ways that the Dutch carry about their business operations and the export of the parent company’s United States management style in the Netherlands business operations management. The key problems noted from Manners Europe situation include: Problems in motivational tactics used Problems in reward management Communication problems Problems in effective recruiting and retention of employees Problem with management style Problem as to whether a European or American as Tom Steiger’s successor These problems are as analysed below: Problems in motivational tactics used Different people value different things and it is these things valued that often impact the kind of motivation strategies. This implies that motivation is highly imp acted by culture as it is culture that impacts the values that people hold. It is imperative that what employee value and what motivates be clearly understood so that effective working motivation strategies can be employed (Hofstede, 2011). This denotes that in order to understand the problems as to why the pay for performance motivation tactics currently used in Manners Europe are not working it is imperative to understand what the Dutch value and what motivates them based on their cultures. Analysing case based on the Dutch culture using Gert Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions (Mead, 2009; Brewster, Sparrow, and Vernon, 2011), it can be noted that the Dutch are more individualistic persons who places prefer a loosely knit social network and place high value in taking care of their own needs and those of their immediate families only rather than groups. This is clearly noted in the employees’ emphasis on meeting their social needs and the needs of their families rath er than feeling obliged to meet the needs of the organisation (Verburg et al, 1999:397; Hofstede, 2011). The Dutch are less aggressive and competitive but rather place great emphasis on the quality of life and a good work life balance, and also place a high value on codes of beliefs (Tod, 2004:28; Hofstede, 2011). The business ethics between the Dutch and Americans are different. While

Doris Lessing :: Biography Biographies Essays

Doris Lessing Doris Lessing is considered a South African writer, although Africa is not the place of her birth. She was, in fact, born in Persia (now Iran) to British parents in 1919. As a child, she and her parents moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she lived until 1949 (Sage, 15). White colonists had not previously settled in the part of Africa to which her family moved (Charters 894). In 1949 she moved to London where she still, apparently, resides. Lessing's life appears characterized by displacement. Charters tells us that "Lessing left school at the age of fourteen in rebellion against her mother" (894). Although neither Charters nor Lessing tell us for certain, it seems she may have been pushing against a representative of the colonialist mindset and way of life that she fought as an adult. Her unease with her status as a British national in Africa can be clearly seen in an event related by her biographer Lorna Sage in a quote from Lessing's "Being Prohibited," a piece written for The New Statesman. At the age of 16, Lessing was waiting in a train at a border crossing between Southern Rhodesia and South Africa. The forms she had been given to fill out at the border required her to declare nationality, birthplace, and other information. In this quotation, Lessing relates her discomfort at being one of the "Herrenvolk" (Sage 16): I had written on the form: Nationality, British, Race, European; and it was the first time in my life I had to claim myself as a member of one race and deny the others . . . The immigration man . . . looked suspiciously at my form for a long time before saying that I was in the wrong part of the train. I did not understand him. (I forgot to mention that where the form asked, Where were you born?, I had written, Persia.) "Asiatics," said he, "have to go to the back of the train†¦" "But," I said, "I am not an Asiatic." (Sage 16) For Lessing, this incident seemed to display her lack of a secure "place" in the world. Insecure in the role of British national, unable to be a "real" national of her adopted homeland, she is further separated by the place in which she was born. According to Sage, in the same piece Lessing investigates the idea that maybe "it was her Persian birth rather than her 'red' anti-racist politics that made her a prohibited alien" (16).

How Accurate Is the Label “Era of Good Feelings”?

Prior to the war of 1812, the United States was riddled with domestic political conflicts between the Federalist and Republican parties and diplomatic conflicts with Britain and France. The Federalist and Republicans’ opinions differed in every subject and diplomatic policies against Britain and France divided the nation. At one point, disunion was so apparent that during the Hartford Convention in 1814, New England almost seceded from the Union. After the war of 1812, from 1815 to 1825, some Historians claimed that the nation embraced an Era of Good Feelings due to the destruction of the Federalist Party (but not its ideas) and the numerous nationalistic improvements. However, a better name for the post war years of 1815 to 1825 is an Era of Mixed Feelings because although there were improvements stimulated by nationalism, there were also conflicts created by sectionalism. After the war of 1812, the people of the United States felt enormous pride in winning a war against the almighty Britain and used their nationalism to inspire improvements. Beginning with James Monroe’s election in 1816, Monroe (Republican) won the election with an outstanding ratio of 183 electoral votes to his opponent Rufus King’s (Federalist) 34 votes. Then in 1820, Monroe had no formidable opponent and acquired every vote expect, thus marking the end of the Federalist Party. The nation was more untied than the pre-war era due to the emergence of the National Republican Party which had a hybrid of both Federalist and Republican beliefs. During Monroe’s presidency, the Monroe Doctrine was created and Florida became U. S. territory, both of which bolstered U. S. supremacy in the Western Hemisphere. In 1819, the U. S. acquired Florida from Spain for $5 million, which basically secured U. S. power in North America. Then in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine constituted U. S. supremacy in the Western Hemisphere by stating that European powers have no right to interfere in Western affairs, and are not allowed to have further colonization within the Americas. The doctrine was especially important because it helped to proclaim U. S. independence since Monroe chose to not align U. S. with Britain and took a firm position against the potent European powers. (Doc. H) Both of these events created positive vibes in the country as the U. S. ecame more and more of a superpower. At a cultural level, people rejoiced with nationalism and celebrated national holidays such as Independence Day with vanity. (Doc. C) Francis Scott Key’s Star Spangled Banner gained ubiquitous popularity and became the national anthem and many great works of literature such as Washing Irving’s short stories illu strated American culture and values. In addition, the nation’s economy prospered due to Henry Clay’s American System, which promoted protective tariffs to protect and create industry and internal improvements such as roads, turnpikes, and canals to enhance internal commerce and unity. The internal improvements were especially important because as Calhoun puts it, â€Å"the extent of the republic exposes us to the greatest of calamities—disunion,† thus by binding â€Å"the republic together with a perfect system of roads and canals†, the U. S. can economically grow in unity. (Doc. B) By examining the prevalent post-war accomplishments and improvements, it is evident that from the period of 1815 to 1825, the U. S. enjoyed a period of nationalism and prosperity. On the contrary, although the years 1815 to 1825 had numerous improvements due to nationalism, sectionalism and the 2nd B. U. S. ilemma caused many conflicts for the United States. First off, despite the fact that President Monroe won the elections of 1816 and 1820 with little to no opposition, by 1824, there were four candidates from the north, south and west; Andrew Jackson from Tennessee, John Q. Adams from Massachusetts, Henry Clay from Kentucky, and William Crawford from Georgia were representing different sections of the United States with unalike interests. (Doc. I) One of the main differences in interests was the issue of slavery, which Thomas Jefferson had predicted that one day it would be â€Å"the [death] knell of the Union. (Doc. E) The North’s economy had little to no use for slavery while the South’s economy depended on the slavery; especially after Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin, which allowed the production of cotton thus increasing demand for slaves. The Missouri Comprise of 1820 was a chief example of how slavery separated the people. The Missouri Comprise allowed Missouri to enter as a slave state and Maine to enter as a free state in order to fashion a balance of power and created a 36-30 latitude line border that unofficially established the North as anti-slavery states and the South as pro-slavery states. Undoubtedly, the compromise damaged the nationalistic feelings of the nation and created sectionalism since the North and the South refused to give up political power that would put their region’s interests at stake. Economically, the nation’s wealth did increase but the issue of protective tariffs brought disunion because the North supported it while the South opposed it. Many people of the South shared John Randolph’s view that it was â€Å"unjust, to aggravate the burdens of the people for the purpose of favoring the manufactures. † (Doc. A) Furthermore, the Panic of 1819, which was chiefly the fault of the 2nd Bank of the United States, hindered the nation’s growth. Initially, the 2nd B. U. S. was run by William Jones who issued more banknotes than there were species and allowed employees to steal from the bank. When Jones was replaced by Cheeves, Cheeves stopped issuing bank notes so he could stop the distressing inflation. This course of action damaged businesses and farms throughout the country thus people could not pay their loans. As a result banks foreclosed people’s properties but even then, banks could not sell the mortgages. This dominoes effect destroyed the nation’s economy and stymied the national pride. Due to the sectionalist conflicts of slavery and economic issues, it is palpable that the years 1815 to 1825 was not completely an Era of Good Feelings but bad feelings as well. Shortly after the war of 1812, the United States experienced many improvements culturally, economically, politically, and diplomatically. The nation celebrated its culture and virtues, adopted Henry Clay’s American System, was united politically until the years prior to the election of 1824, and made auspicious declarations with European powers. However, disregarding the accomplishments and improvements were the sectionalist conflict of slavery that divided the north and the south, the 2nd B. U. S. internal improvements such as roads, turnpikes, and canals to enhance internal commerce and unity predicament that caused the devastating Panic of 1819, and the issue of protective tariffs. In the end, because the years 1815 to 1825 had both good and bad feelings, improvements and conflicts, it is best to label the period as an Era of Mixed Feelings characterized by nationalism and sectionalism.