Louis XIVs foreign policy Essay Example for Free

Louis XIVs foreign policy Essay Assess to what extent was Louis XIVs foreign policy less successful after 1684. Up to 1684, Louis XIVs foreign policy had allowed him to acquire strategically important territory which made France more secure. In doing so, he also defended the reputation of the House of Bourbon on the battlefield and thus increased its gloire. However after 1684, his foreign policy enjoyed less success due to a combination of factors. The latter half of Louis reign was marked by two major wars: the Nine Years War and the War of Spanish Succession. Both of these wars emphasized a decline in France after its peak in 1684. For instance, the results of the Nine Years War suggest that France had clearly lost most of the territory gained at the Treaty of Nymegen in 1678. Meanwhile, the War of Spanish Succession did not result in as much success as Louis previous wars. This indicates a less successful foreign policy after 1684. In terms of territory, Louis only real gain was Spain from the War of Spanish Succession. On the other hand, Louis surrendered all possessions gained since Nymegen, with the exception of Strasbourg, such as Trier, Breisach, Philippsburg and most of Lorraine. Plus, the Spanish Empire had to been carved up, with parts of it going to other European powers. These losses imply that Louis no longer possessed a dominating influence over Europe; the North-Eastern border was yet again vulnerable to attacks from other nations. To add insult to injury, France and Spain could not unite to become one country. Prior to 1684, the French had been undefeated since Louis took his majority in 1661. However post-1684, there were several defeats for the French army, most notably at Blenheim in 1704 and Oudenarde in 1708 after which France was invaded. These defeats weakened the gloire of the French army, which had been feared prior to these defeats. Frances gloire was further diminished when the Allies invaded her during 1708 and 1709. These defeats suggest poor leadership and a deteriorating army which no longer held its former feared reputation. Other setbacks include destruction of the French navy at the Battle of Cap de la Hogue in 1692. This ended any chances of restoring James II as King of England. Restoring James would alter the balance of power in Europe in favour of Louis. The balance of power was extremely important because the balance of power had been in favour of France from 1661 1688. Despite these setbacks, both Louis and France were still able to gain some gloire. Firstly, gaining the Spanish Succession implied that the Bourbons had the upper hand in the dynastic struggle with the Hapsburgs. Secondly, although the French were defeated on several occasions, it did win some important battles, namely at Brihuega and Villa Victoba in 1710. Plus, the results of the Treaty of Utrecht suggest that France was still the dominating power in Europe. It would appear that the achievements of the latter half of Louis reign did not match the first half. This is reflected in the French gains in terms of territory and gloire. While the former half of the reign was characterised by territorial acquisitions such as Franche-Comtà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, Aire, Ypres, etc, the latter half was highlighted by losing land gained since the Treaty of Nymegen. These losses weakened Frances north-eastern and eastern border, which Louis had worked so hard to protect in the first half of his sovereignty. This loss also meant diminished gloire and reduced hegemony. Compared with the initial half of his reign, Louis appears to achieve less in the second half. This decline can be attributed to a combination of factors. Louis foreign policy before 1684 had created plenty of enemies in Europe, namely England, United Provinces, Spain, Holy Roman Empire and the German Princes. While before the Holy Roman Emperor had to deal with the Turks in the east, Leopold now had a free hand to intervene in the west. Louis foreign policy prior to 1684 had united Europe in hatred of him and France. The Dutch opposed him because he had fought them in the Dutch War, which resulted in sever disruption to Dutch trade. German Princes opposed him because Louis had taken land from them via the Policy of Reunion. Leopold also wanted revenge because Louis had illegally seized Strasbourg. Compared to the beginning of Louis reign, the European balance of power has shifted against France; whereas before there was disunity in Europe, now Europe was unified in hatred of France. This unity is very important because it shifts the balance of power against France. Whereas in previous wars France was able to isolate enemies, now she had to fight against the whole of Europe. Previous wars had used up Frances resources. Even by 1680 France was already in debt. On the other hand, her enemies enjoyed better provisions for finance, for example the William III was able to borrow money at low rates from of interest from the Bank of England. The minister and generals in the latter part of the reign did not have the same standard as at the beginning. This is particularly true of the army; Villeroi and Villars were mere shadows of their predecessors. The Allies, on the contrary, had excellent and able generals such as the Duke of Marlborough, Prince Eugene of Savoy and Heinsius. Whereas before France had the dream team of ministers and army generals, now the Allies have superior personnel. France was further weakened by the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, which forced plenty Huguenots to leave the country. This had a devastating effect on the French economy since many of the Huguenots were merchants, industrialists, engineers, etc. Frances loss was the Allies gain as many of these Huguenots moved to Allied countries. As a result, the Allied human resources grew at the expense of France. Although the change in the balance of power in Europe is importantly, ultimately the loss of resources was a more important factor in explaining why France was less successful after 1688. Hugue de Lionne was able to alienate opponents during the War of Devolution and Dutch War, whilst his successors were not able to do that in the Nine Years War or War of Spanish Succession. If French diplomats had been able to alienate opponents, then she wouldnt have had to fight the whole Europe. While Conde and Turenne remained undefeated, Villeroi and Villars suffered frequent defeats in the hands of the Allies. Had the French army stayed undefeated during the Nine Years War and War of Spanish Succession, then no doubt her gains would have been much more than what she actually received. Part of Louis success in the former half of his reign was due the fact that there was a power vacuum in Europe for France to explore. However, by the second half of the reign, that power vacuum had disappeared. Emperor Leopold had dealt with the Turks on his eastern frontier and could turn his full attention onto the west. While Charles II didnt want to be involved in expensive European warfare, there was no question of that after William III became King of England. This suggests that other European countries no longer had internal problems and were able to take part in European affairs. Another reason for the less successful latter half is the foreign policy of the former half of his reign had caused deep resentment and anger from other powers in Europe. Many countries had been offended by French actions; particularly regarding French aggression during the Policy of Reunions. This resulted in them wanting revenge against France. It would appear that Leopolds availability to intervene in the west was a more important factor than other countries wanting revenge against France. Leopold can be seen as Louis nearest contemporary. So, if any nation or coalition was going to match France, then Leopold had to be in it. This can be seen in the Grand Alliance of the Hague. Therefore, one of the main reasons for a less successful foreign policy post-1688 is because of Leopolds availability to intervene in the west. There is a combination of reasons as to why Louis was less successful after 1688. Some reasons are more than important than others; for example, the hatred of France from the Policy of Reunion drove other nations together against France and so the power vacuum, which was there at the beginning of the reign, disappeared. However, ultimately it was the combination of these reasons which caused French foreign policy to be less successful following 1688. Unity in Europe alone wouldnt have stopped French aggression. Similarly loss of French resources alone wouldnt have had as much effect had Europe been in disarray. In conclusion, the foreign policy in the latter half of Louis reign was clearly less successful than pre-1684. In terms of achievements she had secured her status in Europe by acquiring the Spanish Succession, which ensured that she was no longer surrounded by Hapsburgs; Louis had built a Bourbon base in Western Europe which would secure and strengthen both France and Spain. He also left behind a legacy of unprecedented French supremacy during which France was arguably the most powerful country in the world. However, there were failures from his foreign policy as well. The North-Eastern and Eastern frontiers was yet again weakened by the loss of lands which he had worked so hard to acquire before 1684. Furthermore, he left his successor with a Europe united in hatred of France who wanted to curb French power and hegemony.

Child Abuse Case Study: Peter Connelly Essay -- Toddler Peter Connell

Child abuse does not discriminate against a child because of age, sex, religion, or socioeconomic background. Every child is vulnerable to abuse. Parents today face the possibility that someone they know or a stranger may hurt or take advantage of their children. Research indicates that as many as one out of every four children will be the victims of some kind of abuse (National Child Abuse Statistics). Furthermore, one of the biggest ironies of child abuse is that the family, a child’s primary source of care, love, and security, can also be their most taunting experience. This was the case of 17 month old baby, Peter Connelly. Throughout his short life span, he suffered from neglect and physical abuse that ultimately caused his death. Child abuse is a serious problem that is being taken too lightly. Peter Connelly was born March 1st, 2007 in Haringey, London. In a two month period Peter’s father moved out of the house, while his mother Tracey Connelly met a new guy Steven Baker at a club. On October 13th Peter was taken to the doctor’s office with bruises to the side of his head. His mother told the authorities that he fell out of his crib. Sometime around December Peters mothers thirty-two year old boyfriend, Steven Baker, moves into the home. Within the same month he was rushed to the emergency room with head injuries, bruising to the bridge of the nose, sternum, right shoulder and buttocks. Peter’s mother said he fell off of his seat. Ultimately, his case was referred to social services. Peter was given temporarily to a friend of the family. Pursing this further, on January 26th Peter is returned to his mother, even though Tracey Connelly was still on bail for assaulting and neglecting the baby. Time... ...Baby P Death Named." BBC News - Home. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . Hughes, Mark. "Baby P's Killers: the Untold Story - Crime, UK - The Independent." The Independent | News | UK and Worldwide News | Newspaper. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . Layman, Richard. Child Abuse. Detroit, MI: Omnigraphics, 1990. 15+. Print. "National Child Abuse Statistics | Childhelp." Prevention and Treatment of Child Abuse | Childhelp. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . "Timeline Leading to Toddler Peter Connelly's Tragedy | The Sun |News." The Sun | The Best for News, Sport, Showbiz, Celebrities | The Sun| The Sun. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. .

Greek And Roman Arches :: History, Art, Architecture

Greek and Roman Arches and Architecture Architectural designs changed greatly since the ancient times. Most famous architectures and sculptures today originated from the Greek and Roman civilizations. Moreover, some of the inventions from those civilizations are also being used today, such as the arch, which originated from Roman architecture, and the columns, which originated from the Greek architecture. Throughout history, these architectures and inventions have become the foundations for our buildings, churches, and much more.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Greek architecture used mainly columns in most of their temples. The shape of the column was the most significant architectural factor. There were three types of columns, which were Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian. On these columns would lay a magnificent centerpiece, which displayed Greek gods or any sort of decorations. On the other hand, the Romans’ architecture used mainly arches, which could hold much more pressure than a column. Romans also used columns in their buildings, but only in a decorative form. Arches were made of stones or bricks and placed on top of each other in a way that it can form an arch and hold weight upon itself. In most Roman architectures, such as the Colosseum, there would be a dome over the top to protect from rain, sun, or any other weather. The dome has a massive weight, so there has to be something to support it up, and this is where the job of the arch takes place. In these Greek and Roman buildings or temples, there would be sculptures of famous gods and warriors. The Greek sculptures were also different than the Romans’.

Compare/Contrast of the Movie and the Book Night of the Twisters

There were many differences between the book and movie. One of the differences in the movie is there is a tornado tracker guy gets information on the tornado, but in the book there isn’t a tornado tracker guy. In the movie, Stacey doesn’t help get Dan ad Arthur out of the basement out of the basement, but in the book, she does. In the movie, the Mom doesn’t give instructions to Dan and Arthur, but in the book she does. In the movie, when Mom leaves the house, she’s checking if Grandmas okay, but in the book, she checks on Mrs. Smiley. In the book, Mrs. Smiley is one of the characters, but in the movie, she isn’t one of the characters. In the book, Dan drives the police car, but in the movie, Dan drives through roadblocks to get to Grandma. In the movie, the Dad got stuck under a car and got rescued, but in the book, the Dad never got stuck under a car. In the movie, Dan sneaks into the car when the Dad is looking for the Mom, but in the book, that doesn’t happen. In the movie, Dan has an earring, but in the book, he doesn’t. In the movie, Grandma dies, but in the book, Mrs. Smiley dies. In the movie, when the family meets, another tornado is upon them, but in the book, when they meet, there are no more tornadoes. Even though the movie and book were different, I still liked both of them a lot. The movie and book were similar in many different ways. The movie and book had the same date, setting, and title. They both talk about red and black letter days. The movie and book had mostly the same characters. They both had Dan doing bike races. In the movie and the book, Dan likes Stacey. They both had tornados in it. In the book, and the movie, Dan and Arthur are friends. In both, the movie and the book, Arthur has a lot of sisters and brothers and moved from California. In both, the movie and the book, when the tornado starts to destroy the house, Dan struggles to get Ryan to the basement. In the movie and the book, they hide in the basement and then get into the shower. In the movie and the book, so many things get destroyed, but no one died from the tornado. There were a lot of similarities between the book and movie.

Are humans still evolving essays

Are humans still evolving essays In order to figure out if humans are still evolving scientists have to ask, do humans have variety in their gene pool, and is there a differential fitness to these variants? Everybody, whether or not they believe humans are still evolving, agree that we have variety. Between genetic drift and when Eyre-Walker and Keightley claimed in 1999 that humans, on average, had 4.2 amino acid altering mutations every generation since humans separated from chimpanzees it is unreasonable to claim that we dont have variety between humans. People who dont believe humans are still evolving are basing their theory on selective pressure. They believe with all the modern technology, medicine, food distribution, heating and cooling, etc, there are no longer any selective pressures in our lives to separate the fit from the unfit. They believe that the capabilities within our modern society and speed with which our culture adapts to change has completely overruled the process of natural selection and ther efore stopped natural selection. However, there are several problems with these claims that could prove these people wrong. These problems are placed into 4 different classes of error including: 1. Misunderstanding the nature and power of natural selection, 2. Forgetting other forms of selection, such as sexual selection, 3. Assumptions about the entire world from the specific first world lifestyles of the very people claiming this, and 4. Mistakenly taking the term current evolution to mean that evolution must happen before our eyes. The first class comes from the assumption that selection only works on the more obvious visible traits and little else. We perceive certain things as good attributes (sharp teeth, strong muscles, speed, and intelligence) and others as bad attributes (obesity, skin prone to sunburn, and uncoordination) and we decide that anything t ...

BOB

BOB The effectiveness of leaders depend on how appropriate leadership style is to the situation in which they operate. Given that the effectiveness of a leader depends on the situation, it naturally follows that certain leadership behaviors will be effective of ineffective in certain situations. BOB's International Entertainment Conglomerate, although for the most part a financially successful organization, is an organization that is ran by ineffective leaders.This case study will attempt to derive a solution to the many problems cited in the case. Although there are numerous problems, many of these if not all can be resolved through the implementation of several key concepts to be explained in greater detail.All organizations are occasionally confronted with problems that need to be solved. Unlike a decision-making process which centers its energy on selecting the best alternative from several choices, the intention of the problem-solving process is to find the root cause of a problem, or in the case of BOB's , the problems.Michael PhelpsThis distinction is crucial, as we tend to lump decision making and problem-solving together, and treat them much the same way, when in fact they are distinct processes.In an attempt to solve the problems, it is vital that we restate many of the problems that BOB's has had to endure and is currently confronted with. BOB's is an International Entertainment Conglomerate consisting of, bars, opera houses, and ballet houses. My role in this organization is that of Regional Vice President of Operations. Under me, I have three operation managers. Each are in charge with overseeing either the bars, ballets, or operas within my region. Each operations manager has reporting to them, district managers who then in turn, have facility mangers underneath them. The facility managers are supported by their own respective staff members.The current situation has...

The Cratchits all worked Essays

The Cratchits all worked Essays The Cratchits all worked Paper The Cratchits all worked Paper In A Christmas carol, how does Dickens make the reader aware of the conditions of the poor in the 19th century? In what ways does he make his message palatable? The story of A Christmas Carol is set in Charles Dickens home town of London. In the Victorian period Londoners were split in two categories, the rich and poor and the streets were filled with diseases and many poor children died at young ages. There were many big families who had small but affordable meals throughout the year, but for one day in the year they attempted to earn as much money as they could so families could have a special meal. This day was Christmas and in my essay I am going to be describing how Dickens get across the Christmas spirit people have. Dickens knew London well and he saw all the poverty on the streets and the diseases. Dickens cared immensely about poor peoples welfare and started writing his books to help people understand the hard lives poor people had to live, to earn enough money and make enough food for their families to survive. He hoped that someone would listen to what he had seen and change London to make the poor and rich an equal community. Many businessmen in Dickens lifetime were making their money from the Royal Exchange. Like them Scrooge was a very wealthy businessman who is selfish and only cares for himself. Scrooge rarely spoke to people as he kept himself to himself and didnt like expressing his feelings to other people. He showed his attitude to people when he said, every idiot who goes about with Merry Christmas on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should. Businessmen were supported by their clerks who worked very hard for an amount of money that could only afford to rent a house and support a small family. This would usually be about i 80 a year. But Bob Cratchit who worked for Scrooge as a clerk was treated even worse then most poor workers who were never treated with dignity. He was paid below the average pay for a regular poor worker, so struggled to pay for food and his family bills. He had to work in terrible conditions, for example Scrooge looked after the coal box and wouldnt give Cratchit fclerk put on his white comforter, and tried to warm himself at the candle; in which efforts, not being a man of strong imagination, he failed. Bob Cratchit really loved Christmas and when he applauded Scrooges nephew talking to Scrooge about how great Christmas was, Scrooge said, Let me hear another sound from you and youll keep your Christmas by losing your situation. Scrooge had threatened to sack Bob Cratchit so close to Christmas and just shows how mean he was and how poorly workers were treated in Victorian times. In Dickens time workers were paid poor money but they had to rely on this income so much because if a poor person didnt have this small amount of money they would surely have to live on the streets begging for food and would find it difficult to get another job which is why Bob Cratchit cant argue with Scrooges dismal treatment of him and he just has to cope with it. Cratchit had to work everyday in the year, except Christmas which was the one day the Cratchit family would have a proper meal with a goose and lots more treats they wouldnt be able to afford on an ordinary day. Christmas was a day that poor people didnt care about the expense of all the food or presents, it was a day that all families came together. The Cratchits all worked together to make their Christmas dinner, Mrs Cratchit made the gravy, hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour; Mrs Belinda sweetened up the apple sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates. Christmas was a great day for all poor people but they all knew the next day was just another ordinary day and so they would have to go back to the usual boring diet which usually consisted of bread and potatoes but this is why the Crachits were so happy at Christmas as it was the one day they would have a good meal and would be very happy. In the Victorian times population in London was at its peak. This meant there were more illnesses mainly young people but it was usually only the richer families that got treatment. If a poor person got ill they wouldnt stand much chance of surviving.