...So what caused the prolonged and bloody stalemate of World War I that an estimated 35 million plus casualties occurred? It could be argued that new military technology changed the dynamics of the battlefield, ignoring Clausewitz principle on war. Clausewitz saw defensive war stronger than offensive war, thereby the inability to quickly adapt offensive war to new defensive technology and tactics led to the stalemate of World War I. This essay will look at Clausewitz principles on war as it pertains to offensive and defensive war. How new defensive weaponry began the transformation of warfare in World War I. Finally, defensive tactics used in trench warfare limited the mobility of the offensive attack. II Prior to World War I the European...
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...Can Xu BUSML 3380 Thomas J. Goldsby February 24, 2015 Influences of West Coast Ports Stalemate Beginning in May 2014, dockworkers in west coast ports started slowing their work and therefore causing cargo delay significantly. As a main ports area of United States, it links Asia and West Coast, unloading thousands of tons of goods every day from fruits to manufacturing parts. A number of producers rely on west coast ports to supply their production. However, disruptions in 29 west coast ports have delayed productions and affected the U.S. economy. Finally, on February 20, the negotiations between west coast ports’ dockworkers and their employers were ended up with a tentative labor agreement, while the story doesn’t finish. This paper mainly focuses on impacts the conflict has on logistics as well as on related businesses. On the one hand, the slowdown in west coast ports currently causes a longer lead time for both shippers and customers, forcing them to find alternative ways to handle the difficulty. Jackie Northam, a correspondent in National Public Radio reported that, because of the stalemate in west coast ports, some producers have diverted their imports to ports in west Canada and East Coast (2015). The fact is that, however, these ports don’t have the capability to transport and unload such a large volume of cargo as those in west coast ports. Therefore, people need more time to get their products even dockworkers at other ports work an excessive time. Moreover,...
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...powers were divided into two alliances: the Allies, also known as Triple Entente (Russia, France and Britain) and the Central Powers known as Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy). Many countries - such as Germany and Britain - considered that the war would be over by Christmas 1914. However, the unexpected duration of the fight led to terrible consequences in 1918, such as the death of over 10 million combatants and more than 6 million civilians; a worldwide economic and political destabilization and bad relationships between the countries. What made the war last more than four years? In order to answer to this question, I will put forward the « Triple Stalemate », which were the main reasons why the war wasn’t « over by Christmas ».! ! One of the reasons the war lasted so long was the military stalemate. In 1906, after the alliance between the Allies was built, Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen, Chief of the Imperial German General Staff, developed a procedure called the Schlieffen Plan. It was a plan that presumed the war and its main goal was to avoid having to fight against two forces at the same time, Russia in the East and France in the West. Schlieffen wanted to prevent a fight where Germany would be in military disadvantage. He wrote a military plan for Germany, which excluded political, diplomatic...
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...Sources E and F would be significantly useful for a historian studying attempts to break the stalemate on the Western front, as they can provide different mediums, visual shots and a quote by someone with a notable authoritarian role in World War 1, and different perspectives. Source E, a photo depicting the road into Verdun and the French army, has a lack of knowledge when it comes to perspective, as the photographer was unknown, however it may have been from a French perspective, meaning that it would not be very useful for a historian studying the attempt to break the stalemate on the western front in this sense, as it is difficult to differentiate the view or perspective of the photo and understand the context behind it. Source E has a high sense of reliability, despite having a low level of perspective and context, due to the lack of author. This can be seen in the time that it was taken, 1916, as it was in the middle of the attempt to break the stalemate on the western front, making it relevant. It is also reliable as whoever the photographer was, they were of a close proximity to the event, as they were there to take the photo, which would be linked to a position of high authority, however it also creates a sense of bias, as it could have been created as propaganda and appealed to an intended audience of Germany, or the allied forces, lowering the level of reliability....
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...the outcome of the war? The USA’s entry to the war was the final blow to the German Empire after fighting three years against Britain and France. It accelerated the progress of the war in 1918 and broke the stalemate. However, American was not the reason why German lost the war itself. Other factors, such as British blockade and two front war, were equally important with American’s entry to the war. Agitated by the Zimmerman cable, sent from Germany to Mexico, American government found an excuse to enter the war and broke the isolationism, which was the idea that kept American away from the European affair. The American government cut down the debts that were owned by British government toward American companies. They send supplies and troops to the British and French army on the Western Front, which were exhausted by trench warfare and attrition tactic. One of the German tactic was the attrition that aimed to “bleach French white”. Severe battles like the Battle of Somme caused over 400,000 casualties to Britain and Imperial force and nearly 700,000 casualties to German army. After fighting the war for three years, both Allies’ government and German government was nearly bankrupted. Since both sides suffer similar losses, the balance of power and the stalemate was maintained between 1915 to 1917. However, due to the isolationism, American didn’t interfere the war until 1917. Therefore, America was capable of producing adequate supplies and weapons. Under this condition...
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...any other point in history. The war was exceptionally brutal, and not at all what the participants had eagerly jumped into. One explanation for why World War I was so vastly different than any other conflict in history is the massive innovations in technology used in warfare. Trench Warfare and stalemate caused fear of an unending war with countless causalities, and so various powers worked diligently in order to gain an advantage. A major contribution of technology to warfare in World War I was Artillery. The newly developed and used weapons altered the way the war was fought. The artillery was the main reason for the massive amount of casualties, because it was a more effective way to exterminate people for example Machine guns had a dramatic effect on the way infantry was ordered. high velocity rifles, aerial bombing, armored tanks, long rang artillery, poison gas, flame throwers were utilized by German solders as an attempt to force British and French soldiers from the trenches. Flame throwers, land mines, and other such weaponry was the reason for the wide spread destruction that was seen all across Europe. The adoption of poison gas by Germany was an attempt to break the stalemate of trench warfare that had been occurring. This only had a brief strategic advantage and had no real impact on the outcome of war; however it caused casualties and affected the way war was fought. Railroads also had a significant contribution to the way world war one was fought. The utilization...
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...World War One saw the beginning of a new era in warfare. It put an end to static war and created mobile warfare. It also was the beginning of the concept of total war as battles began to be fought in civilian areas and an entire nation’s economy had to be dedicated to winning the war. World War one turned into a bloody stalemate because of trench warfare and the large amounts of soldiers needed to break the defence ratio but in an attempt to break the stalemate the many nations fighting invented various technologies such as the tank, flamethrower, and poisonous gasses to bring about a faster end to the Great War. Trench warfare was used during this time period to be able to protect soldiers from enemy artillery and machinegun fire. This resorted in static defences spanning the entire French-German border. Because of the trenches spanning such great distances there was no room for flanking maneuvers to be made against the opposing army. This left only the possibility of a frontal point attack to try to break the trench line. Soldiers had to run from their trench to the opposing trench across an open field known as no-man’s land while also being fired upon by machine guns, artillery, and gas weapons. Due to there being little to no cover in no-man’s land many soldiers would be gunned down by the thousands in a feeble attempt to break the enemy defence. With casualties mounting the British navy began to develop a new concept as to how to protect soldiers as they cross no-man’s...
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...This book Focuses on the Peninsular Campaign since this particular military fiasco was General McClellan's attempt to do an end run around the Confederate army. Because there is only one book on this topic, Ronald H. Bailey could not go into much depth due to the amount of battles that took place, so you don’t get as much information as you do in the books that are about specific battles in history for instance, Shiloh or Gettysburg. In Chapter 1, "A Young Napoleon," talks about some of the experiences that the Union Army's commanding general as well as the struggles that he went through when he was training his troops. Chapter 2, "Clash at Ball's Bluff," relates the second defeat in battle suffered by the Federals (after First Manassas) because...
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...the Korean War- China entered the Korean War once they had knowledge of the American forces being in proximity of their border. The American forces were outnumbered which prevented them from winning the battle against China. * Truman’s refusal to allow direct conflict with China- Truman didn’t want any conflict with China due to the fear of a new world war. Truman wanted to resolve this conflict, but General MacArthur refused to comply. * MacArthur’s going public in arguing war with China- A public letter was written by MacArthur to Joseph W. Martin explaining his position on the war. President Truman tried to silence MacArthur because he didn’t agree with his decisions. * Negotiation over POWs and stalemate- The War basically ended up as a stalemate. Although negotiations were made on July 1951, the War continued until 1953. * Threatens nuclear bombs- In 1949 the...
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...Allies stood alliance called Central powers, which consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy (which fought for Allies then) later joined by Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria. Both Allies and Central powers expected the war to be very short and quick as for being regional (between Austria-Hungary and Serbia). The common belief in United Kingdom in the year 1914 was the war would last “till Christmas” (under half year). The Germany foresaw the war to last similarly short as they put their stakes on short and no diversionary war according to Schlieffen Plan. The most significant factors in term of prolonging the war were the failure of Schlieffen Plan together with the determined attitude of both camps to win. This resulted in the tactical stalemate of trench warfare, which again contributed to the length of the war. All factors mentioned above were essential in prolonging the war. First of all, Germany gambled on a quick victory with the Schlieffen Plan that did not pay off and resulted in the trench warfare. Schlieffen Plan was a warfare strategy whose main aim was not to create diversionary war on Western front with France and Eastern front with Russia. The key strategy was to outtake the France earlier through the undefended boarder with Belgium before the Russia mobilizes all its units. This strategy anticipated Belgium to be unprepared and pass through in a couple of days to France. But Belgium proved itself determined and unwilling to give up easily, as it took 2 weeks...
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...Who Can Stem Cell Research Save? Human stem cell research is a widely controversial topic in the United States. Most controversy concerns are religious, moral, and legal contestations regarding human embryos. Research on human embryos have been approved in other countries such as Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Greece, Britain, Denmark, and the Netherlands, it remains a controversy issue in the United States. In the United States the States are split on whether it’s enforcing a complete ban or allowed funding in some States for stem cell research. President Clinton passed Dickey Amendment which cut off all Department of Health and Human Services and all federal funding for stem cell research on human embryos. Private funding was still aloud for the research. In 2001 President George Bush approved limited funding because of the great outcomes it could one day give us with cures for diseases and disorders. On the first issue, are these embryos human life? Well, one researcher told me he believes this five-day-old cluster of cells is not an embryo, not yet an individual but a pre-embryo. He argued that it has the potential for life, but it is not a life because it cannot develop on its own. An ethicist dismissed that as a callous attempt at rationalization. "Make no mistake," he told me, "that cluster of cells is the same way you and I, and all the rest of us, started our lives. One goes with a heavy heart if we use these," he said, "because we are dealing with the seeds of...
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...with a spectacular rate. In that time many ground-breaking tools and devices were invented such as steam engine, telegraph, usage of electricity or telephone. Besides these inventions that were used to improve the every-day life, there were also many others that were used in the World War I. To this group belong machine guns, barbed wire, tanks, dreadnoughts, submarines or mines. The usage of the technology had a big impact on the proceedings and the result of the World War I, because they virtually represented the power of each side participating in the conflict, influenced the morals of both soldiers and civilians and, what is vital, played a big role in the most important events of the War such as the creation and the breach of the stalemate on the West, the naval warfare, or Gallipoli campaign. Machine guns and barbed wire were very important for the course of the War due to the fact that they were part and parcel of the trenches, which were the direct cause of the failure of the Schlieffen Plan. The trenches formed a line from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier with France. That closed the door on free proceedings on the Western front, because barbed wire and machine guns enabled very effective defense, whilst the capturing of the trench was virtually impossible. The attackers had serious troubles with passing both the no-man’s land and the barbed wire. The defenders could easily kill all of them with machine guns. The best example of the trench warfare and the usage of...
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...Don Marquis, “Why Abortion is Immoral” Marquis’ claim is that abortion is prima facie wrong because abortion deprives somebody (the fetus) of its future of value. Marquis observes that there is a stalemate in the arguments that both anti-abortionists and pro-choicers put forward about abortion: 1. The anti-abortionist argument 1) It is always prima facie wrong to take a human life. 2) A fetus is a human life from the moment of conception. 3) Abortion involves taking a human life, and is therefore prima facie wrong. A Problem with this argument: i) A cancer cell culture is also a human life (it is both living and human), but we don’t think it wrong to destroy cancer cell cultures. The anti-abortionist can try to overcome this problem by changing her argument to: 1) It is always prima facie wrong to kill human beings. 2) A fetus is a human being from the moment of conception. 3) Abortion involves killing human beings, and is therefore prima facie wrong. 2 problems with this argument: i) Are fetuses really human beings? ii) What is so special about human beings that makes it wrong to kill them? Why is killing human beings wrong, while killing rats or chickens is not? 2. The pro-choice argument 1) It is prima facie wrong to kill only persons.. 2) A fetus is not a person. 3) Therefore, abortion does not involve killing persons, and is not prima facie wrong. Problems with this...
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...The Cold War and Korean War The outcome of a war is not decided by the number of men one’s army has, but the powers driving the plan to success. The Cold War and Korean War are a perfect example of a war that is not decided by either. Sometimes, it is not the intentions that matter, but the execution of the plan. This war exemplified the term ‘stalemate’ as neither side won. This war resulted in millions of casualties, but none of them helped the cause of either side. Although one’s intentions may be civil, the outcome of a war does not necessarily go according to plan as proven by the consequences faced by the events of the Cold War and its subsequent Korean War. The Cold war was a running problem between the Soviet Union and the USA, which...
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...One of the greatest military leaders is also a record holder; the first and only man to be awarded the rank of General of the Armies while alive. John “Black Jack” Pershing was the General of the American Expeditionary Force, or AEF, which was the American force for the Allies during World War I. The AEF was a deciding factor for the Allies, who were on the losing side for a majority of the war. Pershing is etched in the history books as one of the greatest, and his career exemplifies that. Pershing was president and first captain of the West Point class of 1886. Returning to the military academy as a tactical officer in 1897, he was nicknamed “Black Jack,” by cadets who resented his iron discipline. He was part of the Spanish-American War, where, he went up San Juan Hill with his troopers, proving himself “as cool as a bowl of cracked ice” under fire from Spanish sharpshooters who killed or wounded 50 percent of the regiment’s officers. Next came three tours in the Philippines, mostly in Mindanao, where Pershing displayed an ability to combine force and diplomacy to disarm the island’s fierce Moro warriors. In 1905 Pershing married Helen Frances Warren, daughter of the chairman of the Senate Military Affairs Committee. Pershing’s friendship with President Theodore Roosevelt combined with this marital connection to vault him from captain to brigadier general in 1905, over the heads of 862 more senior officers. Eleven years later, his Philippines experience made him a natural...
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