Causes of the Collapse of the Weimar Republic

Causes of the Collapse of the Weimar Republic Collapse of the Weimar Republic To what extent can it be said that the Great Depression and the overburdening of the German welfare State were the main causes of the Collapse of the Weimar Republic? When considering the importance and extent to which the Great Depression and the overburdening of the German welfare state were the main causes of the collapse of the Weimar, it is necessary to assess other factors which also added to its failure. This essay intends to argue, the Great Depression and overburdening of the welfare state were prominent reasons in the latter stages of the Weimars collapse, they accelerated its failure in 1929 and by 1932 arguably the Weimar Republic was realistically unworkable. Despite this, the main cause of the collapse was the continuous poor economic state of Germany which hindered the success of democracy and finally resulted in the failure of the Weimar. The legacy of the First World War, the effects of the Treaty of Versailles and the 1923 hyperinflation crisis significantly worsened Germanys economic problems. The Great Depression and the overburdening of the welfare state derived from this constant financial strain that the government suffered under and eventually spiralled the situation out of control which proved unmanageable for the government. This created a cut back in support from those who were in favour of democracy and produced resentment amongst the radical Right and Left wing party members themselves. Finally, much attention will be given to the Weimars inability to deal with the crisis via unsuccessful decision making and the long term traditional attitudes of the elites within the government that were also highly important contributions to the collapse of the Weimar. Consequently with detrimental ongoing economic crisis and contributing political factors, the Weimar Republic was doomed from the outset[1], resulting in its collapse. Arguably the Great Depression and the overburdening of the welfare state played a vital role in the collapse of the Weimar but was not the main reason. The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic crisis that began in the United States with the Wall Street Crash on October 29th, 1929. International trade, incomes, and profits plummeted. The Depression had massive repercussions on Germany as they relied on loans from America to facilitate their prosperity, pay off their reparations and revive their economy. Arguably the Depression was prominent in the very last stages of the Weimars life as it was not until after 1929, the economic outlook changed from gloomy to distinctly stormy[2]. The use of the word gloomy indicates that previous to the Depression, Germany was already struggling economically and thus this statement adds weight to the notion that the Depression acted as a catalyst to the eventual breakdown of the government. Furthermore, the outburst of the Depression in 1 929 had a disastrous impact on the German economy [3] as almost one third of German production was exported by 1920. However after this time, exports had decreased. As imports had fallen by two thirds, this had linkage effect on German workers as many lost their jobs between 1929-1933. Official figures in January in 1928 stood at 1,862,000 unemployed and by 1930 when the Depression had taken real effect in Germany, this increased to 3,218,000.[4] These statistics indicate that even before the Depression Germanys unemployment rate was high, thus Germany was in a financial crisis before the Depression and the Weimars reputation was already on the verge of failure. Although the government attempted to resolve the problem of unemployment for example, chancellor Heinrich Brunning who introduced a series of policies to deal with this fiscal crisis. He cut down wages, salaries and prices in an effort to restore confidence in the German financial and industrial system.[5] His efforts were unsuccessful and ineffective as subsequent to this by 1931 there were nearly 4.5 million people out of work, thus illustrating the Weimars inability to deal with the crisis contributing to its own collapse. This initiated further opposition and bitterness towards the Republic. Clearly the depression contributed to the Weimars unpopularity and more so its collapse. Additionally both liberal parties, the DVP(Germans People Party) and DDP (German Democrat Party) witnessed a decrease in votes during the 1930 election as much of their support rested on the middle class; these white collar workers with status, who were monetary advantageous to the average class man felt humiliated, betrayed and angry towards the Weimar Government.[6] Consequently faced with insoluble economic problems many people turned to force and coercion[7], (the Nazi party) in hope of a radical solution to their troubles. This strengthens the argument that economics was central to the collapse of the Weimar, the Depression added the final touches. Furthermore with large firms dependent on USA loans and German banks that also had taken out loans to invest in businesses, when the depression struck it destroyed the relative stability of the financial system and hence placed an overwhelming burden on the welfare state. The welfare States purpose was to provide benefits for the unemployed, pensioners and disabled. In 1927 the welfare state introduced the unemployment insurance Act. By 1929 as a result of the depression it was unable to provide unemployment insurance for the amount of unemployed people. Arguably these two factors were linked as without the Great Depression the welfa re state would not have suffered an overwhelming burden. This is evident as the percentage of unemployed supported by the unemployment insurance declined from 80 per cent at the beginning of 1929 (before the Depression) to 30 per cent in January 1932 when six million people were unemployed. The welfare states failure to deliver this unemployment Insurance during this crucial period reflected the weakness of the Weimar system itself. Henig agrees with the concept that the welfare state played a key role in the collapse of the Weimar arguing, ironically this major achievement of the unemployment insurance threatened to engulf the government in a major financial crisis.[8] Additionally as people expected a great deal from the welfare state, when these expectations were not met they became sour and anti-democratic.[9] On the other hand Bookbinder challenges this argument that economic crisis was the main reason to the Weimars failure proclaiming, in times of crisis such as the 1923 hyperinflation, these difficulties endangered the order and resilience of the Weimar but did not make the Republics failure inevitable.[10] However one may say the fact that these economic problems persistently occurred, suggests that this was the Weimars governments downfall and resulted in its failure; the Great Depression and overburdening of the welfare state were just the last straw. Evidently economic instability was the main reason of the Weimars collapse as the inflation problem was announced before the First World War had ended.[11] More so, on top of the colossal debt incurred from financing the war of around 150 milliard marks, Germany was even more devastated when they received their reparations bill of 6.600 million pounds.[12] With the country already in social and political ruin, the economic reparations ultimately destroyed the foundations of the Weimar. This proved too much for the Government to handle and by 1922 they declared themselves unable to make payments.[13] Additionally due to heavy taxation which, was also an effect of inflation meant students, pensioners and people with savings lost all their money; thus the governments status deteriorated amongst these groups.[14] Even more, German agriculture was fiancially tarnished as farmers suffered from the fatiguing effort to supply Germany during the war and by 1920 they were experiencing low crop yields and diminished number of livestock.[15] Heavy industrial owners were also financially effected as they witnessed a decline in their profits and what is more they were a vital part of the anti- republican bloc and made life difficult for the republic.[16] Peukart also holds economics responsible for the main cause of collapse arguing, these problems hindered the new Republic from guaranteeing their survival.[17] Post-war inflation further affected German political parties, for example the liberal parties who struggled to afford paper and stamps by 1920 and suffered extreme financial difficulties.[18] The First World War deteriorated the economic situation in Germany even more, as Weitz argues, the legacy of World War One was the republics greatest obstacle. It hobbled developments at every turn and gave the enemies of democracy endless rounds of ammunition.[19]Bookbinder strengthens this opinion stating, before the war Germany was a strong nation producing 13.1 million tons of pig iron and 13 million tons of steel. Arguably it was there involvement in the war which initiated their national debt and an inflated currency.[20] Germanys decision to finance the war through borrowing money instead of increasing taxations accelerated their economic downturn even more , this programme of war financing precipitated the monitory inflation which was to continue through to 1923.[21] Subsequently wages increased but for some people this did not match the increase in the cost of their living.[22] White collar workers, who in pre war years had great prestige, were now experiencing economic har dship due to the war and inflation.[23] The Treaty of Versailles was also a result of the First World War and had disastrous impact on the German economy contributing to the Weimars failure. The government accepted responsibility of the war and signed the War Guilt Clause (article 231), this encouraged social unrest in Germany and resentment especially amongst the Right wing nationalists. Mckenzie claims that Versailles presented the Nationalists with a persuasive pretext for mounting the blame of Germanys troubles on the Republic, they felt betrayed and stabbed in the back[24]. During this time, the fact that the Weimar was a newly established democracy meant it was vulnerable and under threat. It is important to remember that for a newly established democracy to survive, it must have the support of the people in especially in turbulent the most times. However the Weimar government lacked this assistance as Mommsen notes, German people did not really support democracy from the beginning, instead they viewed it as the onl y possible outcome for the new state. [25] On the other hand it could be argued that German people were in favour of democracy but lacked the principle foundations of it, as many envisioned a progressive reform of their previous monarch system. Never the less it is clear that the Weimar was never whole heartedly supported even before it came into practice. Additionally Right wing groups also attacked democracy mainly because of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, because their members were incredibly powerful being were highly integrated into the major institutions of state, society, business, civil service, army, universities and churches.[26] This highlights a flaw in the Weimar government, because the coalition parties were not united with a common goal this was proved difficult to implement policies and deal with opponents. Attacks from the Left wing radicals also endangered democracy. In January 1919 an attempt was made from the Left wing group, the Spartacuss who attempted to overthrow the government, however this was crushed by the army and the Freikorps. Although the Weimar did survive these attacks, arguably these uprisings only failed not because these opposition groups lacked clear aims and an alternative system. Even more the economic burden created by the Treaty, made continued reforms and tax policies difficult.[27] Thus Germany was now economically weaker then previously in 1914 as they had increased national debts, inflated currency and reparation stood at the value of 132 billion marks.[28] On the other hand Hobsbawm disagrees with the view that the radical Right wing oppositions came about due to the resentment of the Treaty of Versailles and states, The rise of radical Right after the First World War, was undoubtedly a response to the danger.of social revolution and working class power in general, to the October revolution and Leninism in particular. Without these, there would have been no fascism[29]. Despite this, it is evident that the Right wing movements were an outcome of the First World War. Hyperinflation in 1923 another crucial disaster brought the inflationary situation to its final crisis phase[30]. The economic effects of the occupation were catastrophic. Kolb also agrees with this opinion describing it as a miracle[31] the Weimar survived. However, chancellor Stresemann rescued Germany and introduced new currency and borrowed loans from America to facilitate Germanys finances, following on from this it could be argued that the German economy did experienc e a period of prosperity. However the solution was temporary and one that depended on international loans.[32] Again reflecting a grave decision made by the government as having provided a permanent solution, this would have prevented the severity Great Depressions impact on Germany. Stresemann himself described this period of affluence as dancing on a volcano[33] , this exemplifies that too was aware that depending on American loans was risky. Still in 1929 when the Depression hit, Germany was once again faced with economic problems. Economic historian Borchhardt believes that even without the occurrence of the Depression Germanys economy was abnormal and would not have been able to continue in the same way.[34]This reinforcing the view that economics was the main cause of the collapse of the Weimar. Clearly, the Weimar governments failure to take firm action played a vital role to the collapse of the Weimar. This is particularly evident with invasion of the Ruhr, as previous to this the SPD (Social Democrat Party) had the backing of the working class who were protected from the inflation via trade unions and also the support of large landowners who were able to pay of their debts which if made the efficient decisions could have excelled on this support. However in 1923 their misguided efforts to print money steered them in to hyperinflation. Hinton and Hite strengthen this argument claiming, although some of the problems were beyond Germanys power to control, the collapse came about due to the Weimars weak policies and lack of decisive action.[35] Consequently endless economic disasters became too unmanageable for the government to keep combating, as with any government this repeated economic crises would too inevitably lead to their failure. Another equally significant factor w hich contributed to the collapse of the Weimar Republic, was the traditional attitudes of the ruling elites and a lack of bureaucratic culture. Furthermore because democracy was introduced the most inauspicious circumstances[36] , the old elites such as the DVP and the DNVP ( German National Peoples Party) were monarchs at heart and never fully fledged their support to the Republic or the notion of democracy [37] , consequently they wanted a reversion back to the old system. However the KPD (communist party) and the NSDAP (The Nazi Party) was determined to unify the people of Germany. Germany had always been an imperialist country and headed by constitutional monarch, this meant the long term values of democracy were deficient in order for the Weimar to be successful. Subsequently by 1930 there was a powerful current of opinion in Germany demanding a more authoritarian government.[38] The elites could not regard the new republic as a rightful descendant to the pre-war imperial regim e,[39] thus if the ruling class were not in favour democracy how was the rest of the country going to support it? The Weimar was unable to accomplish unconditional support of these traditional elites such as the Junkers and army officers.[40] Kocka reinforces this notion and believes the failure of the Weimar was due to the bourgeoisie who seemed relatively weak and unbourgeois .[41] Consequently with the combination of old and new political forces present in the government, this halted the triumph of democracy. In conclusion it is clear that economics was the foremost reason to why the Weimar collapsed as even before the Great Depression which was followed by the overburdening of the welfare state, Germany was constantly faced with financial constraints that was caused by the damage of the First World War, this meant straight away the Weimar was forced to introduce a new democratic way of life in the most unpromising conditions. Even more, the reparations of the Treaty of Versailles and the exacerbated the governments financial pressures, thus resulting in a decline of support of the Weimar and the rise of radical Right and Left wing parties which threatened democracy. Lastly the major hyper inflation crisis in 1923 meant money completely lost its value, subsequently as demand rapidly decreased many people lost their jobs. However the introduction of a new currency and loans form the America temporarily revitalised their economy. Yet when the depression hit, America could no longer assist t hem and as Germany had no money of its own to aid its finances, this resulted in the unemployment of six million people. This placed a overwhelming burden on the welfare state and led to severe poverty as by 1932 people who had worn out their entitlement to state benefit and were thrown on the streets to beg for food.[42] The Depression tore apart the fragile political compromise that the Weimar had made via the welfare state and placed an enormous burden on to it. No doubt, the actions of the government themselves contributed to their own downfall as incremental thoughtlessness decisions decreased their popularity and status amongst Germany. Alongside this attribute lies the ruling elites for example the DNVP as their failure to support the vulnerable democratic meant the regime itself lacked confidence. Together these were a vital contribution to the collapse of the Weimar Republic. It is evident t .hat economic hurdles occurred throughout the Weimars life and led to abnormalities within the system and eventually its collapse. This concludes me to suggest that the Weimar Republic itself was the special path that Germany followed (the Sonderweg), as this failed experiment of democracy ultimately caused Germany to propel towards the Nazi regime. BIBLIOGRAPGHY: Hobsbawm .E, The Age of Extremes 1919-1941 (London 1995) Baldeston .T, The Origins and Course of the German Economic Crisis, (Berlin, 1993) Jones .L, German Liberalism and the Dissolution of the Weimar party system, 1918-1933, (Chapel Hill, 1988), Kocka .J, Asymmetrical Historical Comparison: The case of the German Sonderweg, History and theory, 38, (1999), p.40-50 Henig. R, The Weimar Republic 1919-1933 (London, 1998) Mckenzie P. R. J,Weimar Germany 1918-1933 (London 1971) Bookbinder . P, Weimar Germany, The Republic of the Reasonable, (Manchester, 1996) Weitz E.D, Weimar Germany Promise and Tradgedy, (New Jersey 2007) Hidden .J, The Weimar Republic 2nd Edition (London 1969) Hinton .C and Hite . J , Weimar and Nazi Germany, (London, 2001), Kolb .E The Weimar Republic, Second Edition (New York, 2005) Childs .D, Germany Since 1918, (London 1971) Stachura .D P (ed.), Unemployment and the Great depression in Germany, (London, 1986) Mazower. M, Dark Continent, (London, 1999) Evan. J. R, and Geary D (eds), The German Unemployed, (London, 1987) To what extent can it be said that the Great Depression and the overburdening of the German welfare State were the main causes of the Collapse of the Weimar Republic? [1] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.78 [2]Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.61 [3] P. Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, The Republic of the Reasonable, (Manchester, 1996), p.178 [4] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p. 174 [5] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p. 146 [6] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p. 167 [7] E. Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes,(London, 1995), p.136 [8] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.60 [9] J. Kocka, Asymmetrical Historical Comparison: The case of the German Sonderweg, History and theory, 38, (1999), p 46 [10] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p. 161 [11] J. Hidden, The Weimar Republic 2nd Edition (London 1969)p.30 [12] Hidden, The Weimar, p.30 [13] Hidden, The Weimar, p.31 [14] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p.166 [15] Hidden, The Weimar, p. 34 [16] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p. 171 [17] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.83 [18] L. Jones, German Liberalism and the Dissolution of the Weimar party system, 1918-1933, (Chapel Hill, 1988), p. 165. [19] E. D. Weitz, Weimar Germany Promise and Tradgedy, (New Jersey 2007)p.127 [20] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p.163 [21] Bookbinder:164 [22] Bookbinder: 164 [23]Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p. 166 [24] J. R. P. Mckenzie,Weimar Germany 1918-1933 (London 1971)p.71 [25] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.78 [26] Weitz, Weimar Germany Promise and Tradgedy, p92 [27] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p.164 [28] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p.164 [29] E. Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes 1919-1941 (London 1995)p.124 [30] Bookbinder, Weimar Germany, p.167 [31] E. Kolb, The Weimar Republic, Second Edition, (New York, 2005), p.35 [32] Hidden, The Weimar, p.32 [33] C. Hinton and J. Hite, Weimar and Nazi Germany, (London, 2001), p.74 [34]C. Hinton and J. Hite, Weimar and Nazi Germany, p.75. [35] Hinton and John , Weimar and Nazi Germany, p.103. [36] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.78 [37] Weitz, Weimar Germany Promise and Tradgedy, p.92 [38] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.62 [39] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.79 [40] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.84 [41] Kocka, Assymetrical Histroical Comparison, p. 42 [42] Henig, The Weimar Republic, p.67

Technological Development

The primary purpose off gas mask is to prevent deadly gases or poisonous material from accessing the lungs and attacking the person. It does not deliver its own oxygen supply, but cleans out the particles. They can also shield the face from any interaction poisons or gases. Machine Guns:Until the machine gun was created, we only had rifles which was slow. You could only shoot one bullet at a time and then you had to load another bullet into the chamber using the bolt. When you used the bolt, it would refuse the consumed container shell and load the next one into the chamber. This had to be done for every shot fired, and was cumbersome and took time. The machine gun is designed to shoot continuously hundreds of ammunitions per minute. The outcome it had been was to execute a lot of soldiers and far more than ever could be killed by soldiers equipped with rifles.An additional thing that help making the machine gun so effective was with the way the soldiers were trained to bring attack on the target. All of them would run toward the waves. This was in effect means when the adversary was only armed with rifles where you had to aim to shoot the enemy. But, when an army of running men encountered machine guns they were trimmed down effortlessly. These particular firepower might even have even played a part of bringing the war to an end. Telephone: The aim of the harmonic telegraph is to perceptibly connect with people ho are without reach straightaway.Before the telephone, long distance messages were through telegraph machines that were less efficient and took longer to get messages across because only dots and dashes at the time could be communicated. Telephones are predominantly used for fast communication and crises. The vital thing to medical survival in many bad conditions is for the wounded person to get medical assistance quickly. Back then before when the telephone wasn't invented, it was hard for people to get assistance quickly. Telephones allow for rapid i mmunization during normal catastrophes as well.That way it is likely for the government to give warning to people of imminent disaster before they come. The telephone also has the function of easy conversation in average day's circumstances like calling to order items such as pies, cabs, pizza or flowers. People may talk in an ordinary way to discuss their lives Just as they would if they were at the same places. Radio: radio came out when televisions didn't exist, but it was used in a similar function as we use a TV currently, like being attentive to comedy shows and music.When the TV was created, the radio lost its fame and popularity as a result of folks favored the TV more. However, radios were convenient that they became mainly used primarily for music shows and speaking. And, that their purpose nowadays. In today's world radio is free and this is a good thing because we are usually paying for some sort of entertainment. Moreover, if you are driving you can turn on the radio an d get updated news on traffic Jams or being on the lookout and music that you can enjoy while driving.

Colonized and Exploited People of Dune

Frank Herbert’s science fiction classic, Dune, is a stand-alone novel which introduces the world to the desert planet of Dune and the novels which follow, detailing the history of the people of a distant place and time. Dune is the only spot in the universe where the spice, Melange, is found. Dune has been colonized for 80 years by the House of Harkonnen. Dune is inhabited by the native Fremen and the soldiers and underlings of the Baron Harkonnen. The Fremen are lords of the desert and masters of the giant sand worms that live in the deep desert, but servants to the evil overlords.It is the presence of the worms that makes any travel or movement across those deserts very dangerous. The title of this paper refers to the Fremen and the Harkonnnen soldiers and people whose duty it is to keep Fremen in bondage. It is a paper on the colonized and exploited people of the novel Dune. The ongoing topic theme in the novel is the subjugation of the Fremen and how they are used, as the natives of most colonies are used, by their colonial masters. However, Herbert quickly shows the reader a different side of the Fremen.There is much more to them than what the Harkonnens or anyone else in the universe thinks. The Fremen are not the docile people it is thought that they are. They have secret stashes of weapons and water hidden in the desert and they are able to ride on the backs of the giant sand worms. It is made clear that they are waiting only for a leader who will organize them and send them against their evil overlords, the Harkonnens. Paul Atreides will be a holy warrior and a god to the native inhabitants.He will take their army and mold it to his will. This, in turn, will bring the Emperor of the universe and all of the leaders of the great houses to Arrakis, which is the real name of the planet Dune. They will come to protect their interest and the spice. They will underestimate the young Duke Paul Atreides and he will seize the Emperor’s crown for hi mself. Paul and the once exploited Fremen will rule the universe by overthrowing the House Harkonnen and forcing the abdication of the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV.The Fremen, led by Paul Atredeides, prove that oppressed peoples, in bondage to colonial powers, can hope to overthrow those tyrants and control their own lives if they never accept their slavery. The House Harkonnen, ruled by the evil Baron, pretend to give up their colony on Dune and turn it over to the House Atreides and its benevolent Duke, Leto, though they plan in secret to overthrow the duke and return to retake Dune as soon as House Atreides gets too comfortable in their new role. They are patient and they pretend they have left the planet peacefully and have turned over everything on the planet to House Atreides.Instead they have left spies and traps everywhere in the palace they have abandoned. Their plan is to return in force, murder the duke, his wife and heir and regain control of the spice. Their plan almost succeeds and they think they have retaken the planet. What they have not taken into consideration is that the Duke’s son and his wife escaped them, fled to the desert and took refuge with the Fremen. So while they managed to kill Duke Leto, his son, who is now Duke Paul, is alive and under the protection of the wild unexploited and dangerous Fremen of the deep desert.They also have not considered that Duke Paul’s arrival has been predicted by the Fremen holy women for generations and they accept Paul as their leader immediately. It is not long until they come to accept him as their god. The shield walls of the fortress are breached by the use of the Atreides family atomic weapons. With the shield-walls down the Fremen can enter, riding on the backs of giant sand worms and fight the Emperor’s Sardaukar army hand-to-hand in their favorite method of killing enemies.â€Å"Onward toward the Emperor’s hutment they (Fremen) came while the House Sardaukar stood awed for the first time in their history by an onslaught their minds found difficult to accept,† (451). The Emperor retreated for his life as his praetorian guard fought to the death to save him. He and Baron Harkonnen believed they held Alia, the young sister of Paul Atreides, as their hostage, while in reality she was almost as powerful as her older brother and never in any danger from them in any way. It was she who then kills the evil Harkonnen with a poisoned needle that she jabs into his hand.He dies instantly and House Harkonnen is without a leader. â€Å" (The barron’s) eyes bulged as he stared at a red slash on his left palm. †¦He rolled sideways in his suspensors, a sagging mass of flesh, supported inches off the floor with head lolling and mouth hanging open,† (450). Paul himself kills the last Harkonnen in a knife duel in front of the Emperor he is about to depose. The Emperor becomes a prisoner of Duke Paul and his Fremen, who were once the exp loited indigenous peoples of Dune, enslaved by their Harkonnen colonial overlords.To make the Emperor’s punishment complete Paul Atreides demands the hand of Shaddam IV’s daughter, and the crown of empire which he wears. â€Å"The Emperor turned a stricken look upon his daughter. She touched his arm, spoke soothingly: ‘For this I was trained, Father,’†(473). Paul not only takes the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV’s daughter in marriage, and the crown that he wears, he also exiles the Emperor to a remote planet. â€Å"You shall have a throne on Salusa Secundu,† Paul tells him at the meeting immediately after the battle, as Paul was dictating the terms (472).Paul also takes away the Emperor’s source of wealth and divides it up among his loyal servants. He leaves the former Emperor with little but a palace and a throne chair on which he could sit and think about the past when he ruled the universe. â€Å"(Get for me) the Emperor†™s entire CHOAM company holdings as dowry, â€Å" Paul tells his mother (473). Paul Atreides, the young son of Duke Leto Atreides, begins his slow path to becoming a god of the Fremen of Dune in an odd way, as if anyone has ever become a god in a routine way.Along with his mother he is taken prisoner when House Harkonnen betrayed the House Atreides and overthrew their rule of the planet Dune. They are to be killed by being taken deep into the deserts of Dune in a flying ship, and there they are to be abandoned without food, water or shelter. They will either die of the elements, starvation, dehydration or become the prey of marauding giant sand worms which prowl the deep deserts and are attracted to the noise of people walking across the sand. Paul’s mother, the Lady Jessica, concubine to the Duke, is a Bene Gesserit witch with many powers.She is able to bend the minds of most men to her will by using her hypnotic voice. As she and Paul are bound and gagged and in a flying machine headed into the dessert Paul tries to use his own limited powers on the two Harkonnen men. Jessica understands what he is trying to do and helps him. He is able to get them to ungag his mother and she is able to use her full voice powers to convince them to unbind her son. Paul is able to overpower the two men and bring down the ship in the middle of the desert.He and his mother seek refuge in a rock outcrop when leads into a cavern. There they find the Fremen of the desert, the natives of Dune, the people they are exploiting. These Freemen are seen as a non-violent group, mostly serving their Harkonnen masters as servants and doing menial tasks for them. But they are cunning and adept at surviving. They spy on the Harkonnens and do all they can to upset the trade and livelihood of their masters. Deep in the remote deserts of Dune there are far more of them then anyone realizes and they are militant.They plan to change the face of their world because they have no free water . They envision creating rivers and lakes and even rain. They have spent years trapping reservoirs of water which they plan to release when the time is right. They are a very religious people and their holy women, those who can see visions by ingesting the spice, Melange, have prophesied that a man will come to them and lead them in a holy war across the face of the planet and even beyond. He will be what they call the ‘Kwisatz Haderach’ and he will be able to see the future.Paul and his mother join up with the Fremen and Jessica becomes their Reverend Mother. Paul quickly moves to lead in all areas. He fulfills the prophesies and they begin to recognize his abilities. The Water of Life is a fluid in which a baby sandworm has been soaked and preserved (423). It is deadly poisonous to humans unless they have the training and the power to convert this elixir to a harmless by-product inside their bodies. It is drank by women who wish to become holy and take their place as Reverend Mothers. No man has ever survived drinking it.Jessica drank of the liquid, and it changed her to a Reverend Mother, but she was pregnant with Paul’s sister, Alia, at the time. It also changed her as well and so she was born premature and a full Reverend Mother, with all the knowledge possessed by all of the Reverend Mothers who had gone before her. Paul then decided that if he was really the chosen one he could survive the drinking of the water. He did survive and he came out of the experiences as the Kwizatz Haderach (424), a much more powerful being than a Reverend Mother, and fulfills all of the prophesies of the Fremen.They call him Muad Dib and begin a cult that results in his deification (350). As the leader and god figure of the Freman, Paul Atreides begins a holy war across the face of the universe. His Fremen are religious fanatics. Graves wrote that Claudius I said that religious fanaticism is the most dangerous form of insanity. Paul was aware of his godhe ad and he understood that he lost friends when he became more god-like. As the Freman began to worship him they no longer could love him as a human being. â€Å"I’ve seen a friend become a worshipper,† he (Paul Atreides) thought (455).The truth-sayer and Reverend Mother of the Padishah Emperor understands what happened and she understands Paul’s godhead. She sees what will happen if this group of Fremen warriors were ordered into space to swarm across the universe in a holy war for the sake of spreading the religion of Paul Muad Dib. â€Å"She glimpsed the jihad and said: ‘You cannot loose these people upon the universe! ’ (473). The circle becomes complete. In the beginning the Fremen are the exploited natives of a planet that had the potential to rule the universe. All it needs is the right leader, which it finds in Paul Atreides.It is also equally clear that the leader who is prophesied to arrive is the son of their new overlord, Duke Leto Atrei des. It is proven that 15-year-old Paul is the chosen one, the man who will come and lead the Fremen in a jihad against the evil Harkonnens. Although he arrives on Dune as the rich son of the ruling Duke, he quickly moves to identify with the natives and become one of them. Paul overthrows the House Harkonnen and deposes the Emperor. He gains control of all spice production and becomes a god in the eyes of the Freman, who throw off the colonial yoke of servitude.These warriors spread his religion across the universe and he is worshipped as god and Emperor. Bibliography Graves, R. I, Claudius New York: Vintage Press 1989 Herbert, F. Dune New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons 1999 Answers. com Fremen Retrieved 3-32-07 from: http://www. answers. com/topic/fremen Farsector. com 2003 Desert Power Retrieved 3-30-07 from: http://www. farsector. com/media/4_2003. htm wikipedia. org Paul Atreides Retrieved 3-29-07 from: http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Paul_Atreides

Essay about Natural and Sexual Selection. - 678 Words

Natural and sexual selection One of the first and central mechanisms proposed by Darwin during his life was that of natural selection. Some may refer to this as survival of the fittest, whereby species that produce offspring have been successful in doing so because they have produced random individual features which have lead them to live longer and pro-create offspring with the same inheritable desired features. Not all individuals will be able to reproduce, therefore only the fittest willÂ…multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die, (Darwin, Charles (1968, 1859)) Origin of the Species. Therefore, different desired traits are passed down through generation-to-generation, and those traits, which are not so†¦show more content†¦One example is that of language. Darwin (1871) wrote that humans might have been prepared for language by sexual selection reinforcing the most expressive, articulate non-verbal vocalists in so doing creating a song making ability in humans that could later be interpreted into language. So sexual and natural selection may have not just been about physical attractiveness 500,000 years ago, but rather, sexual attractiveness which was more focused on physical abilities and unique qualities. This idea of natural and sexual selection has paved a way over the years into todays society, where our choice of partner is still influenced primarily on sexual, physical and mental attributes, however, it has been a made a little more accessible and easier for us at present thanks to our homo sapien ancestors. Happy Forager Calling all single menÂ… Are youÂ…  · Intelligent?  · Strong?  · Protective?  · Healthy?  · Fit? Then dont waste any more time and come down to the Cave Hall for a healthy dose of speed dating every day after sunset for 7 daysÂ…You must act now in order to attract a female mate to make sure your fortunate and desired traits are not lost and are preserved through your offspring! This is about survival of the fittestÂ…Get your spears, your furs, go all out and find your soulmateÂ… Plenty of willing female participants who are looking for suitable mates to invest their futures inÂ…you cant goShow MoreRelatedSexual Selection and Natural Selection546 Words   |  3 Pages Selection is the functional relationship between phenotypes and fitness. Natural selection is the production of organisms according to their physical attributes whereby off springs of the younger generations takes the strong, desired and inheritable aspects of their parents. 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