Cuban Missile Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Cuban Missile Crisis - Essay Example The first team of negotiations comprised of Moscow while the second side comprised of a prominent team of high ranging advisors, with the inclusion of â€Å"the exclusive committee of the national security council†. Though his advisers took part in the discussions or negotiations, it was only the trusted ones that were updated on vital missile concessions.This information was kept a secret from the public, in order to fuel fast resolution of the Cuban missile crisis, president J.F. Kennedy usually engaged in talks with two parties or sides in purse of a quick and lasting solution. The first team of negotiations comprised of Moscow while the second side comprised of a prominent team of high ranging advisors, with the inclusion of â€Å"the exclusive committee of the national security council†. Though his advisers took part in the discussions or negotiations, it was only the trusted ones that were updated on vital missile concessions. The executive committee almost put a dent on the diplomatic solution towards finding a solution to the Cuban missile crisis, their attempt ranged from cold strikes to forming blockages, despite of all these the president was still willing to fight for the resolution. Kennedy went a step further and authorized the secretary of state D. Rusk to publicly make an announcement during the United Nations meeting; this was meant to be if the secret agreement was not to be honored by the soviets but Kennedy was quickly relieved after Moscow accepted to honor the deal and keep it as a top secret.

PESTAL for china airlines Essay Example for Free

PESTAL for china airlines Essay PESTLE analysis would be used in order to figure out external macro environment of China Airlines. by examining political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental issues and trends of Taiwan within 1959 and 2009 time period. http://www. oxlearn. com/arg_Marketing-Resources-PESTLEMacro-Environmental-Analysis_11_31 Political Republic of China was established in 1911 and took under its control territory of China. After World War 2 it took Taiwan Island, which earlier belonged to Japan. However, during Civil War Republic of China lost its power and had to settle down in Taiwan. But it did not want to be under control of People’s Republic of China, moreover, it maintained that it was the valid government of Taiwan and mainland China as well. So, the relations between mainland China and Taiwan were frozen until 2007. Things became worth, when United Nations (UN) officially accepted the communist People’s Republic of China as Taiwan’s government. First, it lost its membership in International Civil Aviation Organization. (Why it was important? What caused? ). Also, due to the tight political relationships of People’s Republic of China with some countries, CAL lost international carrier contracts with Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Canada and Australia. One more example of political tension between Taiwan and mainland China happened when China Airlines accused mainland China of internationally attacking the plane with the missile. In 1991, CAL had to enter into joint venture with Koos Development Corporation and form Mandarin Airlines, in order to have an opportunity to operate in Canada and Australia. The other wise decision was to rebrand the company. There was a Republic of China’s national flag on the symbol of CAL at the beginning. First, it could seem that CAL supports ROC, and trying to participate in political dissension and it can cause resentment from the civilian population, secondly, it might countries which sympathize PRC or countries which wanted to keep neutrality. So, in order to avoid the influence of political situation of Taiwan on the airline as much as it is possible, CAL decided to change its symbol into pink plum blossoms and create new slogan-â€Å"blossom every day†. Thus, neutral brand image helped CAL to cooperate with several European cities as Amsterdam, Rome, Frankfurt and Vienna. Only in 2008, when Ma Ying-jeou became the president of Taiwan, significant steps on improvement of relationships between mainland China and Taiwan were taken. Improvement of the political situation positively influenced CAL. Eight Taiwan and five mainland China’s airports opened for flight operations. This helped to minimize the flight time of CAL carriers, which caused the reduction of operational costs and increase in passenger flow due to the direct flights, which were undoubtedly cheaper than traveling by transit. Eleven airlines from mainland China and Taiwan started to operate 18 flights in each direction, be October 2008. Good political relationships with mainland China allowed CAL to enter into agreements with Chinese airlines. It agreed with China Cargo Airlines and China Southern Airlines to exchange cargo space, which produced win-win outcomes for all three airlines (ann rep, 2008), besides, CAL got an opportunity to join SkyTeam alliance. (Which what). CAL started to cooperate with Chunghwa Post Co. in delivery of daily mail and postal goods to China. Expanded cross-strait flight agreement, signed on April 2009, allowed to increase passenger flights from 108 in 2008 to 270, and cargo flights from 30 in 2008 to 112 return services per month in 2009. CAL started 55 scheduled direct flights to 13 cities in mainland China. However, improvement of the political situation with mainland China and opening cross-strait routs allowed expansion not only for CAL, but for Chinese airlines as well, which means that CAL experienced strong competition. From the low cost mainland China airlines. Economic The Chirman of China Airlines Philip Wei states that â€Å"about 1 million of Taiwanese business people doing business in China. They constantly go back and forth between the two sides†. The other point is that, when people have jobs, they have money, wich they can spend on flights. Thus, unemployment rate of Taiwan is directly correlated with the passenger flow. National Statistics, Republic of China reports that starting from the 1978 to 2010 unemployment in Taiwan had an upward trend, http://www. tradingeconomics. com/taiwan/unemployment-rate, and the averageunemployment within this period was 2. 95 %. unemployment in Taiwan within this period reached its highest point in 2009 and lowest in 1981, which accounted for 6. 13% and 0. 86% respectively. In general unemployment rate of Taiwan had an upward trend, which means that, first, less and less people had an opportunity to travel by plane, because of absence of work and as a result absence of money; and second, less people are doing business in China and travel there. So, it can be said that unemployment rate of Taiwan within 1978-2010 time period negatively influenced airline businesses as a result China Airline Ltd. Despite the fact that political situaion and unemployment rate of Taiwan was not positive GDP of Taiwan during 1950-2010 had an upward going trand. An average economic growth of Taiwan over 1950-2010 was 8,10%, http://brage. bibsys. no/nhh/bitstream/URN:NBN:no-bibsys_brage_23799/1/Braaten%202010. pdf, during almost the half of the century Taiwan transformed from having a poor, agrarian to a developed economy. It can be seen from figure 2, that Taiwan’s growth rates exceed world economy almost in all years within 1951-1999 time period, however, in 1973 and 1979 it dropped dramatically, mainly because of the oil price shocks. As it was mentioned in the case, rising profits of CAL were paused because of oil crisis in 1973. However, oil shocks negatively influenced not only CAL, but the whole Taiwan. Increase in price for oil, deceased the revenue for airlines, because it can be seen from the financial statistics that operating revenues minus operating expenses give operating profits of the company. Increase of price for fuel increase operating expenses of CAL and other airlines, thus, reducing operating profits. And taxes for government are taken from the operating profits, which means that the less CAL got in operating profit, the less amount of money could be got from tax. Annual report of CAL in 2009 defines that in recent years aviation again suffered from the rising of fuel prices (Annual rep. 2009). For instance, in 2007 when competitors from mainland China presented profits, CAL suffered from loss of NT$2. 52billion due to the increasing costs for fuel and certain situational factors (Ann rep. 2007). Social Since the establishment of CAL in 1959, population of Taiwan had grown to 23000000 people by 2010 (figure 1), which means that potential market for sale had also grown. http://www. iatss. or. jp/common/pdf/en/iatss/composition/7CountriesReport_en_03Taiwan. pdf The more people in the country the better for the companies, because there are more chances to gain profits when population accounts for the 23000000 (figure 3), than when it is 15927167as it was in 1974 (http://www. iatss. or. jp/common/pdf/en/iatss/composition/7CountriesReport_en_03Taiwan. pdf) Life expectancy of Taiwanese citizens increased as well (figure 5), for instance, the average life expectancy of Taiwanese person reached for 78. 15 years by 2010. http://www. indexmundi. com/g/g. aspx? c=twv=30 This means that the number of retired people had increased. Most often, people in retirement spent their time for leisure, traveling. (find what old taiwaneese do) That is why; people in retirement are potential clients for CAL. On the other hand, there was a decrease in birth rate (http://uk. reuters. com/article/2010/04/02/us-taiwan-economy-birthrate-idUKTRE6310LD20100402 ). High per cent of retired citizens in accordance with the small birth rate meant that there were little workforce in Taiwan, so, the cost for labour increased with the increase in life expectancy rate and decrease in birth rate. Besides, it can influence not only workforce of the country, but the brainpower. Old people are less able for innovations, for development of new abilities, concentration is also, lower , than young generation. From this point of view, company could experience difficulties with the workforce for the company. CAL is actively involved in charity programs, mainly to support children, indigent families and young students (Ann. rep 2009). For instance, in 2009 CAL and the ROC Red Cross Society held fund-raising activity called â€Å"Making Dreams Come True†. China Airlines donated more than NT$1. 39 million, obtained from in-flight duty-free sales, to support poor families and subsidize living cost of young students (Ann rep 2009). Such actions tiny, but help to increase the level of life of Taiwanese, and indirectly can influence increase in number of educated people in the country, which is important for CAL itself, because it is a huge company, which need a lot of qualified employees. http://www. everyculture. com/Sa-Th/Taiwan. html Taiwan has diversified culture, †¦ CAL always tried to support cultural heritage and share it with other nationalities. That is why, CAL involve itself in social-benefit activities, helps to promote tourism, culture, arts and sports events (Ann. Rep 2009). For example, in 2009 CAL in accordance with Taiwan’s biggest bicycle brand, named Giant, promoted the â€Å"Cycling Paradise Taiwan† campaign in order to attract overseas travelers and share warm friendship of Taiwanese people and their diverse culture (Ann rep 2009). Moreover, Taiwanese government launched a project on increase of the number of tourists in the country (ann rep, 2007). China Airlines actively support this project and offers its resources to attract international tourists and media. (ann rep, 2007). This social involvement of CAL, beneficial for both: government and the company itself, because on the one hand, the flow of tourist can increase the GDP of the country, as they are potential on the other hand, tourists are potential clients of CAL, and the more number of tourist visit the county, the higher can be profits if CAL. It, also, support sport events, than as well can increase tourism in the country, which beneficial for CAL (ann rep 2007). Technological Much of Taiwan’s achievement in science and technology is attributable to public support for applied scientific development. Government-sponsored agencies, such as the Industrial Technology Research Institute and the National Applied Research Laboratories, have played important roles in advancing Taiwan’s scientific and technological development by conducting research, aiding RD in the private sector and exploring new technologies. To maintain Taiwan’s competitive edge in information technology, the government, industry and universities are active in efforts to develop cloud computing by rolling out new designs and supporting the creation of a Taiwan Cloud Valley For many years, Taiwan has ranked among the top five countries for the number of patents issued by the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office. It was the No. 3 recipient of all types of U. S. patents over the period 1977 to 2011. In terms of output of scientific papers, Taiwan ranked 16th worldwide in 2010 for the number of papers published in journals tracked in Thomson Reuters’ Science Citation Index, and ninth for those published in journals tracked in the organization’s Engineering Index. CAL owns world biggest-capacity 120000 pound engine test cell which allows maintaining its own aircraft engines and those of other aerospace companies and airline fleets in East Asia. Additionally, it is valuable and well organized because it shortens maintenance time, improves quality and helps with the recruitment of clients and the reduction of flight safety costs. The latest technology and high cost make this resource rare and hard to imitate. One more technological invention added by CAL is located at the High-Speed Rail Taoyuan Station. It offers flight check-in, baggage check-in and boarding pass insurance, which saves passenger’s time and relieves from lugging his/her baggage around. Besides, it provides 25% discount on the rail ticket, which is purchased together with CAL ticket. First of all this resource provides travelers with insurance, discount on tickets and convenience while making check-in if they have heavy luggage. Secondly, it is rare, as no other Taiwanese company can offer such service to their customers. Thirdly, it is difficult to copy this resource as other companies will have to make contract with such train stations in order to cooperate with them and finally it will be costly. Concerning organizational part of VRIO framework, this process is planned and well organized. http://www. ey. gov. tw/en/cp. aspx? n=437415b51c1b5b5a Environmental With the high development of Taiwan, it suffers big environmental problems. With the beginning of usage of mountain resources of Taiwan, it started to suffer from pollution of water, soil erosion, landslides, forest fires, sedimentation of reservoirs. (http://twgeog. geo. ntnu. edu. tw/english/environment/environment_problems. htm ) Airline business seriously pollutes the environment, because plains need a lot of fuel, and the testing machines and other equipment also, bring damage to the environment. Big cities as Taipei and Kaohsiung mostly suffer from

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There is a higher incidence of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy in Black women than in White women. This is possibly related to lower socioeconomic status, their lifestyle and prior undiagnosed preexisting hypertension. Black women have greater risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy and preeclampsia than nulliparous White women. Irwin D et al. researched the relationship between race and risk of hypertension disorder of pregnancy in a cohort of active duty military women. Researchers assessed the sociodemographic and reproductive characteristics of Black and White women. It is explained from the results that White women are more likely to be married (75% vs 56%), over the age of 35 (3.4% vs 1.6%), were higher ranked officers (9% vs. 2%) and had education post high school (21% vs 17%). Moreover, it was also suggested that nulliparous have higher risk of hypertensive disorder of pregnancy (Relative risk (RR)= 2.2, 95% Confidence Interval (CI)=1.8 ,2.7), Transient gestational hype rtension (RR= 2.0, 95% CI= 1.5, 2.7) and preeclampsia (RR=2.8, 95% CI=2.0,3.9). Among parous women thi...

abraham lincoln :: essays research papers

Abraham Lincoln As the sixteenth American President, determined to end slavery, Abraham Lincoln finally put an end to his hard work by writing the Emancipation Proclamation. Abraham Lincoln had no intention on freeing slaves when he became president of the U.S.. Although Lincoln always believed slavery was wrong, he always believed in white supremacy. He said, â€Å"If slavery is not wrong, then nothing is wrong.† When the war started he thought of it only as a way of saving the union. Later, this opinion would change. There are many pressures faced while being the president. Lincoln faced many of these pressures. Pressure for abolition came into the country. This is how he came up with the idea for writing the emancipation proclamation. This made southern leaders reject Lincoln’s presidency. The pressures forced him to do what he did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Lincoln wrote the Emancipation because of the pressures he was facing. â€Å"On September 22, 1862, five days after Union forces won the battle of Antietam, Lincoln issued a preliminary proclamation. It stated that if rebelling states did not return to the Union by January 1, 1863, he would declare their slaves to be â€Å"forever free.† The south rejected Lincoln’s policy, and so he issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863.† This caused the southern leaders to turn against Lincoln completely. The emancipation proclamation finally came into effect. On this day Lincoln read his proclamation. This would change the world dramatically. â€Å"By the end of the war, more than 500,000 slaves had fled to freedom behind northern lines. Many of them joined the Union Army or Navy or worked for the armed forces as laborers. By allowing blacks to serve in the Army and Navy, the Emancipation Proclamation helped solve the North’s problem of declining enli stments. About 200, 000 black soldiers and sailors, many of them former slaves, served in the armed forces. Even when the proclamation came into effect it still did not free many slaves.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Very few black men were freed from the emancipation, but it caused another huge point to come forth. It showed that the civil war was not being fought to save the union, but once and for all, put an end to slavery. Finally, the civil war ended with the north victorious. With all of the blacks joining the army and Navy, the Unions power was twice as strong, which helped the Union tremendously in winning the war.

Feudalism and Court Services Vassals

Feudalism began in France around A. D. 900 and spread. The feudal hierarchy was an arrangement of rank resembling a pyramid. At the top of the pyramid was the king. In the feudal relationship the king was the suzerain, or lord, of a group of dukes and counts who were his vassals. Each of these vassals was in turn lord to lesser vassals, who had even less important vassals. At the bottom of the pyramid were the knights, who had no vassals. Lord and vassal owed certain obligations to each other. The vassal pledged to perform certain services for his lord, and in return the lord granted him a fief, or fee. A fief was anything that was considered useful or valuable. Usually, a fief was a piece of land, jurisdiction over the peasants who lived on the land, and ownership of the goods they produced. All fiefs were technically owned by the king, but a vassal held, in effect, all the rights of ownership of the fief as long as he performed the services required by his lord. The entire kingdom was divided into fiefs, except for the land held by the king personally. Feudal tenure was hereditary. When a vassal died, his heir did homage for his fief and swore an oath of fealty to his lord, promising to be faithful and render service. In the ceremony of investiture, the lord handed his vassal some symbol—such as a sword or a clod of earth—in token of title, and promised to defend the vassal's fief. If a vassal died leaving a minor heir, the lord usually became the guardian of the fief and managed it. If the heir was an unmarried daughter, the lord could select a husband for her because only a male could perform the services of the fief. Feudal services were the services that a vassal owed his lord varied. Military or Knight Service: A vassal was expected to serve his lord in war. Usually he served 40 days a year at his own expense if engaged in an offensive action against his lord's enemy. In a defensive action the term of service was unlimited. A knight was expected to furnish only his horse and armor, but great vassals had to supply hundreds of knights and men-at-arms. With Court Services vassals had to serve, when summoned, in the lord's court. They were called upon to give the lord advice. They also met in assembly to settle disputes between vassals. This was the origin of the principle of trial by a jury of peers, or equals. Vassals were also summoned for ceremonial occasions, such as investitures. Financial Obligations included: A relief, or gift, to the lord when the fief passed to an heir. It amounted usually to a year's income. Aids, payments made by vassals when their lord needed additional resources. A common aid was to help ransom the lord when he was taken prisoner in war. Other aids were given when the lord's eldest daughter was married and when his eldest son became a knight. They were obligated to entertain the lord when he paid a visit. During feudal warfare a powerful vassal who did not fulfill his obligations could usually withstand his lord's wrath if he owned a strong castle, since medieval castles were almost impossible to overrun. Forty days' service—the usual limit for knights in the attacking force—left insufficient time for siege operations. Private warfare between nobles who were neither lord nor vassal to each other was common in France, since the king could not control the vassals of his vassals. The church sought to limit strife by forbidding warfare on certain days of the week and during church festivals. Chivalry developed as a code of conduct for knights. Feudalism came to an end as the kings increased their power and forced the lesser landowners to obey their orders. Feudalism was introduced in England in 1066 following the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest. The Normans, led by William the Conqueror who was crowned King William I of England were responsible for introducing feudalism to England. Feudalism was based on the exchange of land for military service. William the Conqueror claimed all the land in England and divide the land between himself (about 20%), the church (about 25%) and the remainder of English land was given to Norman soldiers and nobles (barons). Following the Norman Conquest William the Conqueror ordered a full survey of England which was called the Doomsday Book. It gave the new King of England full details of the land, the people and how much taxes and dues would be paid to the Normans. Under the Feudal system the vassals who were awarded land swore an Oath of Fealty to their lord and provided fully equipped soldiers under the Feudal Levy. Medieval Serfs were peasants who worked his lord's land and paid him certain dues in return for the use of land, the possession (not the ownership) of which was heritable. When the land changed owners during the time of feudalism the peasants were obliged to work for the new owners – the Normans. The decline of feudalism in England occurred due to many events including the Black Death, changes from a land-based economy to a money based economy and the establishment of Centralized government. Feudalism began in 410 AD with the fall of Rome. Feudalism in Germany was different from that of France and England. The old Germanic tribes which plagued the Roman emperors emerged again after Charlemagne's successors lost power. Four stem duchies eventually emerged as the most powerful in Germany: Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, and Bavaria. One strong duke, Otto of Saxony (936-973) tried to establish lordship over the other dukes. He invaded Italy, starting a long tradition of German interference in that peninsula, and made himself King of Italy. He was then crowned emperor by the pope himself (962). The strong points were; l) fragmentation of political power; 2) public power in private hands; and 3) armed forces secured through private contracts. Feudalism is, therefore, a method of government, and a way of securing the forces necessary to preserve that method of government. It is also an extreme form of decentralization. There many centers of power. Power does not reside at a center, or at the top, even though there a pyramidal structure in theory, with the emperor at the top and the simple knight at the bottom. The weak points were weak central power and realizing that a strong defense relied on a single leader. Napoleon was a leader during that time. Feudalism in Germany ended in the 15th century at about the same time England's Feudalism ended, as well as the rest of Europe's feudalism.

French Listening Comprehension and Practice Exercises

French Listening Comprehension and Practice Exercises If youd like to improve your French listening comprehension skills, the exercises below can help you better grasp the language. They  include  a French sound file with a study guide, quiz, transcript and translation. Altogether, there are more than 100 listening exercises  on this site, ranging from simple dialogues to in-depth listening comprehension exercises. The most popular pages offer practical advice or discuss someone or something famous. The French Language Accents de FranceFrench varies from country to country and from region to region. Learn about some of the accents you might encounter in France in this audio report from  LaGuinguette. French in France Introduction to French in France (dialects and standard French) and the  Dictionary of French Regionalisms. PatoisDiscussion about dialects in France and the two main points of view on their linguistic status. The Patois of Vendà ©ePresentation of some characteristics of the French patois spoken in Vendà ©e. Patois and Regional CharacteristicsDo regional differences in dialect reflect regional differences in mentality? Beginning French DialoguePractice your French listening ability with this beginning-level French dialogue featuring greetings and introductions and your choice of speeds: regular and slow. (Camille Chevalier Karfis) The Scary HouseBeginning level of  Les portes tordues, a bilingual audiobook for beginning to intermediate students. (Kathie Dior) The Twisted DoorIntermediate level of  Les portes tordues, a bilingual audiobook for beginning to intermediate students. (Kathie Dior) The CemetaryIntermediate level of  Les portes tordues. (Kathie Dior) Greetings and IntroductionsPractice your French listening ability with this beginning-level French dialogue featuring greetings and introductions and your choice of speeds: regular and slow. (Camille Chevalier Karfis) Number Practice Learning to count in French is one thing - its fairly easy to memorize  un,  deux,  trois. Its another matter entirely to be able to think of a number without counting up to it, or to understand individual numbers when you hear them. Fortunately, practice makes perfect, and these sound files can help you to get better at understanding and using French numbers with random number generators. (Laura K. Lawless) Who said no? Intermediate level of  Les portes tordues. (Kathie Dior) Politics and Social Issues Riots in FranceOn 27 October 2005, riots began in a Parisian suburb and quickly spread across France and even to neighboring countries. In this three-part discussion, a reporter discusses the riots with two neighborhood elders in Clichy-sous-Bois who are trying to calm down the situation. Sà ©golà ¨ne Royal - prà ©sidente?Sà ©golà ¨ne Royal is a socialist who  worked hard to become Frances first female president. Learn about her platform and her struggle in this discussion. LETA et le Pays BasqueIntroduction to the history behind the ETA, the Basque separatist movement. Le CPEIn January 2006, the French government passed a labor reform law that sparked off protests around the country. Learn about the CPE and why it was so distasteful to French students and workers. MitterrandJanuary 2006 marked the 10-year anniversary of the death of Franà §ois Mitterrand, the first and so far only socialist president of France. Learn about Mitterrand and some of the people who loved him. French Culture Graffiti Graffiti does not necessarily equal vandalism. Its a means of personal and even artistic expression. Learn about some of the people and techniques behind graffiti. Le jardin des TuileriesLearn about the famous Parisian park, le jardin des Tuileries, as you work on your listening comprehension with this three-part discussion. Cest de lamour và ©ritable!Old age does not have to mean the end of living, or even loving. In this interview, a 90-year-old man shares his thoughts on how to get the most out  of life and love, at any age. La loi EvinLearn about the regulation of advertising of alcohol in France, and the reasoning behind it. Tourism, Shopping,  Travel Dining Out lhà ´tel ~ At the Hotel  Beginning-level French dialogue between a hotel receptionist and guest.   Le viaduc de Millau  Le viaduc de Millau  was completed in 2004. Learn about its construction and safety mechanisms. Au magasin ~ At the storeBeginning-level French dialogue between a customer and storekeeper. Au restaurant ~ At the Restaurant  Beginning-level French dialogue between a waiter and customer. Breakfast ~ Le petit dà ©jeuner  Beginning-level dialogue between a customer and waiter at breakfast.

Jozefow essays

Jozefow essays There is no doubt that during Hitlers reign in Germany, someone killed Jews. Someone ordered the killings, someone organized the killings and someone killed them. Is there a difference in these someones? For many years there has been controversy surrounding the extermination of the Jews during the Nazi era. People were tried and convicted for their involvement: some of them denied their contribution, others appeared neutral, and still others were proud of their involvement. These killers came from numerous nationalities, mixed political backgrounds, varied social/economic statuses, and age range. In the article ONE DAY IN JOZEFOW, Initiation to mass murder, the author, Christopher R. Browning, gives his reader an intriguing perspective into the mindset of men who were actually given a choice of whether or not to kill the Jews. Because his perspective only focuses on one specific event, his conclusions are, for the most part, not completely convincing. It is reasonable to be lieve that there was a stronger underlying force which caused otherwise normal people to become killers during the Nazi era, but Brownings use of minimal sources, skewed numbers and somewhat vague statements, causes the reader to feel they have been subjected to a micro-study with macro conclusions. Brownings article provides insight into a specific occasion in Jozefow, Poland, where Jews were murdered at point blank range by ordinary policemen. Of these policemen, some were drafted and some volunteered for one reason or another. This group, called Reserve Police Battalion 101, consisted of men around the age of 39 with only about 25 per cent of them belonging to the Nazi Party. (Browning, 304) After studying the court records of interrogations and trials of certain members of this police battalion, Browning discovered that these men were given a chance to reject the task of killing the Jews, yet the majority of t...