The Rwandan Genocide - 899 Words

In today’s world, it is of the utmost importance to learn from mistakes of the past. Certain events, especially tragedies that could have been avoided, hold within them the lessons and wisdom that should be used to prevent similar disasters. The 1994 Rwandan genocide resulted in over 800, 000 deaths of the Tutsi people, at the hands of the Hutu; the genocide, and the international response to it, is a lesson about the humanitarian responsibilities, successes, and shortcomings of the United Nations. The events leading up to the Rwandan genocide began decades earlier. There has been a long history of â€Å"ethnic† tensions, though it is really a matter of social class. The classification began with the German and Belgian colonizers in the early†¦show more content†¦It is estimated that 200,000 Hutus participated in the brutal massacre. (Genocide in Rwanda) Along with Tutsis, many moderate Hutus were also killed. Any Hutus who attempted to assist or protect Tutsis were also murdered. The international response to the crisis was more of an international denial. The United Nations withdrew their troops from Rwanda, leaving innocent civilians defenseless against the Hutu soldiers. (Genocide in the 20th Century: Rwanda 1994). After ten United Nations soldiers were killed, the United Nations made the decision to pull their troops from the country. By the end of April 1994, only 200 United Nations soldiers remained in Rwanda (Genocide in the 20th Century: Rwanda 1994). The remaining soldiers were given no orders to intervene, and often watched as innocent Tutsis were killed. (Genocide in the 20th Century: Rwanda 1994) In the United States, officials were banned from using the word â€Å"genocide†, as that would require immediate action and intervention. In 2004, reports were released showing that U.S. senior officials identified the situation in Rwanda as genocide within the first sixteen days. These documents, from May 1994, said, â€Å"Be careful, ‘genocide’ finding could commit the U.S. government to actually do something.† (Welsh) These reports prove that President Clinton and his officials were, in fact, aware of the â€Å"final solution to eliminate all Tutsis†. Unlike previous genocides around the world,Show MoreRelatedThe Genocide Of The Rwandan Genocide Essay1711 Words   |  7 PagesThe Rwandan Genocide took place in 1994 and involved members of the Hutu mass killing Tutsi and Tutsi sympathizers who were Hutu. The genocide resulted in the deaths of around 800,000 people, majority Tutsi. The separation of classes came from Belgian internationals creating the two ethnic classes and giving power to the Tutsi who were taller and had lighter skin, and generally appeared more European. In response to this, after the country gained independence from Belgium, Hutu extremists gatheredRead MoreThe Rwandan Genocide And The Genocide1654 Words   |  7 PagesMiranda Shearer Mrs. Sohal/ Mrs. Love Period 3 17 October 2014 The Rwandan Genocide A genocide is defined as the deliberate killing of a group of people, especially of a certain ethnicity. By that definition and almost any other a dictionary could define, the killing of the Tutsis was certainly a genocide.The Rwandan Genocide occurred in 1994, in an African country called Rwanda. A long history of building friction between the Hutus and the Tutsis undeniably caused the mass murder of over 800,000Read MoreThe Genocide Of The Rwandan Genocide1421 Words   |  6 PagesThe Rwanda Genocide was an unfortunate case where thousands of deaths could have been prevented, but because of irresponsibility and selfishness of global governments’ innocent lives were lost. The Genocide began on April 6, 1994 and was, â€Å"initiated by the Hutu political elite and extremists and its military support, their prime targets were the Tutsi, as well as Hutu moderates.† (Hain 2) The Hutu made up majority of the population and government officials and enforced a government-ass isted militaryRead MoreThe Rwandan Genocide Essay959 Words   |  4 PagesThe problems of today can often be traced in the beginnings of yesterday. The Rwandan Genocide was a divisive division of two groups that culminated in the mass murder of nearly 500,000 Rwandans, three-fourths of the population. The tactful subterfuge by the ruling party fueled the separation of two ethnic groups that reminisce the events in Europe 55 years earlier. Naturally, the question becomes, how? Simply speaking it was the indifference of global elites and political demagoguery that incitedRead MoreThe Rwandan Genocide And The Genocide866 Words   |  4 PagesThe Rwandan genocide occurred during the period of April to July of 1994. This genocide was as a result of the Hutu ethnic majority slaughtering the Tutsi minority. During this period as much as 800,000 Tutsis were killed. The genocide was started by Hutu extremists in the capital of Kigali and the genocide soon spread across the country. Despi te all of this there were several survivors of the genocide. Immaculee Ilibagiza is one of those people. Immaculee Ilibagiza was born in 1972. She is theRead MoreThe Rwandan Genocide1335 Words   |  5 PagesRwanda is a country made up of a population with three ethnic communities, the two main communities, the Hutu and Tutsi and an additional community of Twa (or pygmies) who all spoke the same language, Kinyarwanda or Rwandan (Clapham, 1998). There is a stereotype of appearance attributed to these two main communities, with Tutsi being seen as tall and having an aquiline shaped nose, and the Hutu as being short and flat-nosed (Clapham, 1998). In the pre-colonial state of Rwanda, it was the TutsisRead MoreThe Genocide Of The Rwandan Genocide2458 Words   |  10 PagesGenocide has been plaguing the world for hundreds of years. Millions of innocent lives have been taken all for the sake of prejudice. One of the most atrocious aspects of genocide is that a large percentage of them are sponsored by the state in which they are taking place. Over the years scholars have studied just wha t motivates a state to engage in such awful behavior. What motivates them? Why would they do such horrendous things to their own citizens? Is it solely for some economic incentive, orRead MoreThe Genocide Of The Rwandan Genocide Essay2042 Words   |  9 Pagespeople that commit genocide; we are all capable of it. It’s our evolutionary history† (James Lovelock). According to the Oxford dictionary, genocide is defined as â€Å"the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular nation or ethnic group.† Although it may be hard to believe, genocides have occurred all over the world and all throughout time. There have been well documented genocides such as the Holocaust. Additionally, there have also been genocides that have barelyRead MoreThe Rwandan Genocide1188 Words   |  5 PagesRwandan Genocide The Rwandan Genocide began on April 6, 1994 and lasted for about 100 days (History). The two groups involved, the Hutus and Tutsis, were in a massive conflict after their president was killed. The Hutus brutally killed about 800,000 Tutsis and supporters. This tragic genocide was not stopped by other countries during its peak, leaving the world wondering why. As we commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, it is important to be informed about the tragedy. The wayRead MoreThe Rwandan Genocide And The Genocide1637 Words   |  7 PagesWith over eight hundred thousand to one million deaths, the Rwandan genocide is undoubtedly one of the most sad and shocking examples of the lack of intervention by not only the US and the UN, but by other countries as well. The ongoing tensions between the Hutu, the largest population in Rwanda, and the Tutsi, the smaller and more elite population is what eventually lead to the Rwandan genocide. The killings began quickly after President Habyarimana s plane was shot down. After hundreds of thousands

The Romantic Period and Edgar Allan Poe Essay - 529 Words

The Romantic Period is characterized as an artistic and intellectually stimulating literary movement. Writers of this genre and time are considered to be those who fused the elements of romance in their writings to enhance the human experience. Edgar Allan Poe, known as the father of the modern short story, epitomizes this notion in his writings. In â€Å"Annabel Lee,† and â€Å"The Oval Portrait,† Edgar Allan Poe uses romance to illustrate the essence of death and misery and to illustrate elements in which the reader can actually feel that was is happening in the story is happening to them. In â€Å"The Oval Portrait†, Edgar Allan Poe creates a setting in an abandoned castle where the main character and his valet are forced to take shelter in after†¦show more content†¦In the story, the painter loves his art more than he loves his wife, and while the wife feels that art is a rival that she will never be able to beat, she agrees to let her beloved portray her but the painter is unaware that with each brushstroke he makes, he gives life to the painting and takes away life from his wife and upon placing the painting on the canvas, his wife dies. The irony of the story is that the painter loves his art so much that he doesn’t realize that his wife slowly slips away into oblivion while he makes his masterpiece. This story is saturated with elements which refer to the sensorial world . . . . [and] nonverbal signs . . .(Anspach, Silvia Simone. Poes Pictoric Writing. Estudos Anglo-Americanos 9-11 1985-1987: 17-28.) In â€Å"Annabel Lee†, Edgar Allan Poe, like in many of his stories, describes the death of a beautiful woman. He describes for the reader that the love of him and Annabel Lee was so strong, that the angels in Heaven envied them and this was the cause of her death. It is disputed that the woman named Annabel Lee in this poem, is in real life, Edgar Allen Poe’s wife, Virginia. â€Å"Annabel Lee† is a perfect example of how Edgar Allen Poe used romance to illustrate the essence of death. He describes how the love that he had for her was so strong and it ended up causing envy in the angels and they in return took her away from him. The poem illustrates the misery that can beShow MoreRelatedThe Romantic Period Of Edgar Allan Poe976 Words   |  4 PagesEdgar Allan Poe is an important poet from the Romantic period. His work reflects his life in so many ways. It shows his fears, his ideas and how his life was. His work gives you an idea how the life and the circumsta nces of the time where during the 19th century. Poe used his own imagination, his life and the people around him as an inspiration for his work. The era between 1750 and 1870 is called Romanticism. This movement began in Germany and France and developed over England and whole Europe overRead MoreEssay on The Romantic Side of Edgar Allan Poe 1061 Words   |  5 PagesAnyone who enjoys literature or movies has the Romantics of the 19th century to thank. The romantic ideals are now so engraved in this societies thinking that most don’t even realize that it is romantic thinking at all. Almost every movie or book nowadays has a trace of romanticism in it. Romanticism started around the 1800’s as a contradiction to rationalism. Rationalism was a thinking that attempted to use rational thinking and reason to solve the problems being faces at its time. Romanticism isRead MoreThe Life and Work of Edgar Allan Poe Essay550 Words   |  3 PagesEdgar Allan Poes style of writing is typical of the styles of writing during the Age of Romanticism. His poems and short stories were heavily influenced by his life experiences fr om a young boy to a well renowned writer. He lived his life in poverty, moving from one job to the other and from city to city, yet he is still one of the most widely read American authors today. Edgar Allan Poe was born on January 19, 1809 in Boston, Massachusetts. Poes home life was very unstable. His father, DavidRead MoreThe Romantic Age Of American Literature1725 Words   |  7 Pages The Romantic Age took place in the middle of the 1800s. During this period the middle class began to rise in society. Many reforms started to take place which included slavery and woman s rights. This age brought about American literature which was free from European influence and ties. The writers during the Romantic Age wrote mainly about the person, they included clear and concise descriptions of people and nature. Many writers like Poe wrote about supernatural events like the devil, evil,Read MoreAnalysis Of Poe s The Falls Of The House Of Usher 1391 Words   |  6 PagesI studied the writings of Poe in 7th grade. We studied a series of his short stories and what intrigued me about his work, is how dark and somber are his stories. After reading an Edgar Allan Poe literature, it lin gers in the back of your mind for days and sometimes longer. I think his stories help me to understand some of my own feelings at that time when I was young. I had lost my grandfather, whom I was so close too and loved very much. When he became ill, I prayed so hard, but he passed awayRead MoreEdgar Allan Poe Research Paper931 Words   |  4 PagesEnglish 10 Honors 13 February 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe was a sick man that went through a troubling life full of tragedies. For Poe to deal with this he drank and poured his feelings into his works. Honestly as horrible it is that he had to go through all of that we should be grateful because without his suffering these masterpieces wouldn’t have been fabricated. While intensifying his philosophy for short stories Edgar Allan Poe wrote â€Å"The Fall of the House of Usher† reflecting theRead MoreFamous American Authors: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Edgar Allan Poe, and Nathanial Hawthorne554 Words   |  3 PagesThe period of the late eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth was cosidered the Romantic era in Europe and in America. This movement was a large scale rebellion against the Englightment period ideas where science and logic ruled the literary arts. Authors took several approaches on how to convey to the readers social and metaphysical opinions through the tone in a series of novels published. Ton e is apparent in much of the American Romantic era writing including that of Ralph Waldo EmersonRead Moreâ€Å"The Falls Of The House Of Usher† Is A Dark Short Story,1239 Words   |  5 Pagesreturn to good health. I enjoyed the descriptions of the house and how he Roderick is so tormented by fear and fear alone. This was written in the romantic period. The Romantic period began in 1785 through 1832. This period was short, but it introduced many new literary visions and some considered this the most important period. During this period, Romanticism stressed self-expression and to be unique and spiritual. Writers borrowed themes from the Middle ages and expanded their imaginations inRead MoreNature s Influence On The Development Of Literature1236 Words   |  5 PagesNature’s Influence on the Development of Literature Romanticism is a movement in the artistic world that originated from the eighteenth century with emphasis on inspiration and naturalness. The Romantic Movement’s beginning may be drawn back to the events of folklore and popular art which emerged as a result of the German Grimm brothers, Jakob and Wilhelm collecting tales and other academic professionals like Joseph Addison and Richard Steele, whose writings catered to clarity, it was time to departRead MoreRomantic Literature Essay872 Words   |  4 PagesRomantic Literature in Modern Day Movie? Many people do not realize that Romantic Literature, even though it is a little over 200 years old, is still relevant in Contemporary Literature today. In the 1990 film Joe Vs. the Volcano, Gothicism is included throughout the movie. Edgar Allan Poe used Gothicism in many of his poems and short shorties, such as The Raven and The Fall of the House of Usher. The characteristics of Gothicism would be, dark, depressing, decay of mental or physical being, and

Compansation Management free essay sample

But he decided to stay on as he had promised several things to the management in the interview. He wanted to please and change the attitude of management through his diligent performance, firm commitment and dedication. He started maximizing his contributions and the management got the impression that Mr. Sashidhar had settled down and will remain in the company. After some time, the superiors started riding rough- shod over Mr. Sashidhar. He was over- loaded with multifarious jobs. His freedom in deciding and executing was cut down. He was ill- treated on a number of occasions before his subordinates. His colleagues also started assigning their responsibilities to Mr. Sashidhar. Consequently there were imbalances in his family life, social life and organizational life. But he seemed to be calm and contented. Management felt that Mr. Sashidhar had the potential to bear with many more organizational responsibilities. So the General Manager was quite surprised to see the resignation letter of Mr. Sashidhar along with a cheque equivalent to a month’s salary one fine morning on 18th January, 2004. The General Manager failed to convince Mr. Sashidhar to withdraw his resignation. The General Manager relieved him on 25th January, 2004. The General Manager wanted to appoint a committee to go into the matter immediately, but dropped the idea later. Questions: 1. What prevented the General Manager from appointing a committee? 2. What is wrong with the recruitment policy of the company? IIBM Institute of Business Management 3 Examination Paper: Personnel Management Caselet 2 When Adite Technologies Ltd (ATL) moved one of their divisions to Bangalore, the branch manager in Mumbai decided to transfer those employees who did not wish to go to Bangalore to other local divisions. Ten of the thirty chose to stay and to be transferred to another division. Madhuri was one of those. She was assigned to the computer moving-head division. When Madhuri reported to the new job, Narender Kumar, her new supervisor told her he did not know whether or not he would have a permanent position for her. For three days Madhuri sat and watched other employees do their work. One Friday, Narender announced that their division had received another big contract and he would brief Madhuri on her new assignment on Monday. Madhuri arrived at 9:00 am Monday morning and waited anxiously to learn about the new job. Narender did not arrive until 10:30. He was being briefed on the new contract; he said and would not be able to meet Madhuri before lunch. At 1:30 pm Narender returned to show Madhuri the operation, ‘we are reworking model 10-D and it only requires changing two spot welds. With this jig, you can turn one out in about three to five minutes’. Narender added,’ By the way will be the quality control supervisor on this job. Just double Madhuri was given no idea how important the checks might be. ‘Please watch me’, said Narender Madhuri, taking up the welding torch. ‘Any one can do it easily’. He repeated the operation five or six times. Madhuri tried it and experienced no difficulty. Neither of them checked their reworked pieces with the blue print to see if they would pass the quality check and as a result, Madhuri never checked any pieces after that demonstration. Narender did not see again until Friday. During the week several things happened. More than half the motors did not work correctly by the time they reached the final assembly. It could not be determined whether the faulty motors were the result of Madhuri’s work or the result of a lack of quality checks. A box of 20 parts had been approved by Madhuri since her initials were on the inspection card, but she had not made the necessary alterations. That was when Narender found time to talk to Madhuri again. Questions: 1. What incidents showed that Narender was not performing a good job as a trainer? 2. How do you think Madhuri feels about Narender and about her new job? END OF SECTION B IIBM Institute of Business Management 4 Examination Paper: Personnel Management Section C: Applied Theory (30 Marks) †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ This section consists of Applied Theory Questions. Answer all the questions. Each question carries 15 marks. Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 200 to 250 Words) 1. What do you understand by the term ‘Performance Appraisal’? Discuss the various methods of performance appraisal in detail. 2. What is Training? Why is training necessary for organization performance and success? END OF SECTION C IIBM Institute of Business Management 5 Examination Paper: Personnel Management IIBM Institute of Business Management Examination Paper Compensation Management Section A: Objective Type (30 marks) †¢ †¢ †¢ This section consists of Multiple Choice questions short note questions. Answer all the questions. Part one questions carry 1 mark each Part Two questions carry 5 marks each. MM. 100 Part One: Multiple Choices 1. A ________ is a hierarchy of jobs to which wage rates have been attached. a. Wage Level b. Wage Structure Page 7 c. Wage Index d. Wage Policy 2. It is the wage which is above the minimum wage but below the living wage. a. Basic wage b. Overtime page 40 c. Fair wage d. Compensation 3. It is the process of minimizing the physical and perceptual loads imposed on people engaged in any type of work. a. Motion Economy page 149 b. Human Engineering c. Value Analysis d. Task Identity 4. It is the method which lists frequency of critical behaviors in an employee. a. Performance Appraisal b. Performance Matrix Page 210 c. 360 degree feedback d. Management by Objectives 5. A map to illustrate behavioral parameters requires in competent performance is: a. Competency Mapping b. Balanced Score Card c. Behavioral Observation Scale d. Key Results Areas Page 210 IIBM Institute of Business Management 6 Examination Paper: Personnel Management 6. In this type of team, team members are temporarily assigned some tasks to accomplish: a. Cross functional Team b. Hybrid team c. Process Team Page 224 d. Parallel Team 7. The practice of comparing compensation with other competing to offer a competitive pay package to employees, is refer as: a. Broadband Policy b. Bench Marking Page 253 c. Retention Policy d. None of the above 8. Any wage cost not directly connected with the employees’ productive effort, performance service, is called: a. Allowances Page 267 b. Incentives c. Fringe Benefits d. Bonus 9. It is a company’s expenditure spent directly on employees excluding the cost of infrastructure: a. Basic Salary b. Cost to company Page 343 c. Allowances d. Bonus 10. Strategy that provides overall guidelines for the organization is refer as: a. HR Strategy b. Functional strategy c. Corporate strategy Page 366 d. Operational strategy Part Two: 1. Discuss the terms ‘wages’ and ‘salary’. What factors determine the wage structure in an industrial enterprise? 2. Define job design. Briefly explain various technique of job design. 3. What is a balanced Score Card.? What are its different perspectives? 4. Write a short note on 360-degree performance feedback. END OF SECTION A IIBM Institute of Business Management 7 Examination Paper: Personnel Management Section B: Caselets (40 Marks) †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ This section consists of Caselets. Answer all the questions. Each Caselet carries 20 marks. Detailed information should form the part of your answer (Word limit 150 to 200 words). Caselet 1 page 344 In 2001, a Chennai- based two- wheeler major introduced a bonus scheme for its employees. Employees covered under this bonus scheme are evaluated through a three-tier process- (1) meeting production schedules, 2) maintaining machines, and (3) reducing overtime, scrap and shipping errors. In 2002, productivity surged, and some employees even added as much as 15 per cent to their paychecks. The two- wheeler company started facing competition from international players and also was riddled in patent issues. A court order forced them to stop production of many models, causing significant manpower restricting successive drop in sales, the company was forced to withdraw the bonus scheme, and asked employees to be prepared for a financial structure, which would mean a reduction in their benefits and perks. This message had a highly demoralizing effect on the employees and many efficient designers and engineers left their jobs to join the competitors. The trade unions also took up the matter as the workers only faced pay- cut while the senior management remuneration remained unchanged. A portion of the employee compensation is paid as variable pay, of which bonus is a major part. Other variable incentives are based on allocated weight age on group target achievement. To rationalize the compensation cost, the company decided to further switch over to individual performance track record. A formal announcement to this effect made the workers furious and led to workers protest, resulting in production loss an a regular basis. The company made it clear to the employees that their behavior would lead to the closure of the company, which would put them in financial and went on an indefinite strike. A few months later, the company obtained clearance from the court and the production of all the premium high- selling brands, which was stopped earlier, could be resumed, as the patent issue was found to be untenable. The company feels that the whole issue was masterminded by competitors to poach valuable employees from the company. Question: 1. Study the case and provide an alternative compensation design, which would redress the problem faced by the two- wheeler major in Chennai. Caselet 2 You are a Manager, the Financial Analysis department of Mendelssohn’s Insurance. Your assistant, Denzil Worsnip, has worked for you two years. He is 24 years of age and joined Mendelssohn’s as an ‘A’ level entrant. He progressed through the support functions, from junior clerk to section head. He showed such promise that the company sponsored him at evening classes to study for the accounting technicians exams. He is over half way through this at the moment and is due to take his final exams in 9 months time. His aim in joining your team was to use the job as a stepping tone to one of the sales teams. You were not bothered that Denzil looked on the job in this way a you are all in favor of encouraging people to get on. IIBM Institute of Business Management 8 Examination Paper: Personnel Management In nay case, you know it is exceptionally difficult to get onto one of these sales teams, particularly these days with the company placing so much emphasis on its graduate recruitment. You know he was put out recently when the Unit Trust team hired a graduate trainee, as he had put a lot of effort into chatting them up. Nevertheless, Denzil does not accept that the new recruit had an advantage in that he is a qualified actuary. Until a few months ago, Denzil had been an above average employee. He was always cheerful, enthusiastic and willing. He also picked things up quickly. You used to have regular weekly team meetings. You used to use these meetings to get suggestions on your new procedures. Denzil used to make an excellent contribution to these meetings; he was always full of ideas. It is a shame that there is now so little time for these meetings. You often used to give Denzil some one-off projects to do. He always handled them well and he was always able to squeeze in the extra work. He was also quite prepared to work late time for these meetings. You often used to give Denzil some one-off projects to do. He always handled them well and he was always able to squeeze in the extra work. He was also quite prepared to work late without overtime pay. In the last few months, he seems to have really changed. The other day, he refused to take on a job you wanted him to do. You remember that about four months ago, a similar thing happened. He complained that he had enough to do and could not take on any more and that he was fed up of working every day until 8’o clock. You were annoyed at this because you felt Denzil could take on the extra work, he would just have to assess his priorities better. Anyway, it was only additional routine work you wanted him to do. You knew he was too busy to do ant projects so you were doing this yourself to keep the pressure off Denzil. As for all the overtime, partly, Denzil does go in for long lunch breaks. Networking he calls it. The loss of one person has put additional pressure on the team, but you feel you should most of it. The others just need to find more efficient working practices. Denzil has also recently taken to being very off-handed to people. You have overheard him several times being rude, both on the ‘phone and in person’ to people from the business teams who ask him for information or help. He has been very rude to you too and obviously completely fails to appreciate the extreme pressure you are under. Last week, for instance, you got your team together to tell them about the new procedure, you are implementing, Denzil sat there fuming and then started carrying on at you for having drawn up this new procedure in secret and also claimed the procedure to be unworkable and pointed out some faults.

Mexican War of Independence free essay sample

Mexico still remains a society of divisions that were never addressed through Mexico’s independence because the final leader of the war of independence avoided it. * In the 300 years of Spanish reign, they instilled a social hierarchy and economic ideal, which became impossible to overcome with the passing of time. Since the Conquista, the Spanish based their relationship with the native Indians on brutality, exploitation, and prejudice. This became the basis of the society. The Spanish inability to integrate the Indians into society became the start of the Spanish down fall, and a reason that Mexico still suffers today. Mexico was divided into three social groups: at the bottom were the native Indians, blacks, and the castes; then came the creoles (Mexican-born Spaniards), and then at the top where the peninsulares, the Spaniards. Creoles, although economically equal to the peninsulares, were discriminated against for being white Europeans born in the new world, and therefore they were deprived of positions of power in New Spain. The social barriers were immense between the races making the culture and the economy rely mostly on the work of the poor. While Indians were made to pay tribute but the whites were not expected to. Henderson describes the system as â€Å"intended to perpetuate inequality, in accordance with the Spanish conviction that God designed human society along hierarchical lines. † The Indians were mistreated and deprived in all aspects of life by the governing Spanish, although they were still educated by Catholic missionaries, who came to the New World to convert the Indians, teaching them a loose version of the Catholic Bible and Spanish ideals. While badly mistreated, according to Henderson, the Indians â€Å"may have despised the Spaniards in general, but they revered the distant king, a figure no less abstract or perennially popular than god†. The peninsulares were the royalty of New Spain, but with the decline of Spanish power the peninsular population diminished. With fewer peninsulares the creoles came to power in New Spain, buying their way into powerful positions. As Spain itself was declining rapidly, under both Charles III and his son Charles IV, Spain ended up in the hands of Ferdinand VII. Under Charles III, Spain learned how underutilized its colonies were and implanted the Bourbon reforms to raise the Royal revenues substantially in Spanish America. The reforms only deepened the social prejudices by kicking out the Jesuits (depriving education to the creoles), raising taxes only on the Indians then including the creoles, not allowing Mexicans to dress like Spanish, and finally taking away from the poor entertainment (bullfighting) and cheap alcohol (pulque). The Bourbon reforms ended up most importantly lowering the creoles to minority status. Then Charles IV, who became hated by Spain and her colonies, only enforced the Bourbon reforms; he raised the taxes on the Mexican aristocracy because he would not tax the Spanish. He then decreed the Law of Consolidation of 1804, which ordered the Mexican church to sell its land and give its earnings to the crown also call in most loans it had with creoles and Indians. Napoleon made Charles IV abdicate, and instated Charles’ son Ferdinand VII, and then quickly replaced Ferdinand VII with his brother Joseph. All of Spain and Mexico was in agreement that â€Å"Ferdinand VII was their rightful King and that they would reject any decree or representative from the French usurper†. Which shows the loyalty Spain and its colonies had to their king. With the social injustices occurring and their constant change in governmental authorities, the people showed they disapproval. Rallies of rebels (mostly creoles) would cry, â€Å"Long live the King! Death to bad government! † Which represents the support for the king but they were disgusted towards the local authorities that controlled them on a daily basis. With many failed conspiracies only the conspiracy of Queretaro turned the corner to the start of a revolution. The Conspiracy was built to appeal to the Indians by making it a war against their local Spanish overlords as opposed to â€Å"their (creoles) true motivation†¦ to put political power in the hands of creoles like themselves. They also knew that few of those Indians and castes would fight in the name of independence from Spain: the poor, while they hated Spaniards, had great reverence for King and church†. The creoles promised the Indians that they would get rid of their insanely high tribute payments and they would fight in the name of the King Ferdinand VII. The creoles knew that alone that would not be able to beat the Spanish armies in Mexico, they would need the masses of Indians and poor to fight with them. The Conspiracy was to be led by a rebel priest named Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla. Hidalgo was a man who â€Å"seemed to offer something for everyone†, born a wealthy creole but none a less as a priest appealed to the Indians and the fellow conspirators. Miguel Hidalgo and his fellow conspirators were fighting under one common cause to â€Å"denounce the policies that seemed to perpetuate the glaring and growing divisions in class. The crises unfolding in both Spain and Mexico seemed to offer them a brilliant opportunity to correct those divisions by making a revolution†. At Dolores, early in the morning on September 16, 1810, Miguel Hidalgo, fearing the conspiracy to rebel would be discovered, quickly acted by ordering the church bells to ring calling for a crowd to gather, where he then gave his historic speech of El Grito de Dolores. As Henderson states, â€Å"that he (Hidalgo) told the people of Mexico that the Mexico city junta was actively planning to surrender Mexico to the French, and they must rise up to defend church and king; most likely he promised the Indians an end to tribute payments; and he probably assured that all who joined the cause would be paid wages. He closed his oration with the cry, ‘Long live Fernando VII! Long live America! Long live religion, and death to bad government! ’† So the revolution had begun. * With the poor behind Hidalgo, a charismatic leader he, was â€Å"woefully deficient as a military leader†. Once his army of creoles, castes, and Indians, reached San Miguel, his army ransacked all Spanish stores for â€Å"food and vengeance†. Without enough funding Hidalgo said â€Å"sacking and plundering, were the rights of war and unless the common folk were permitted to do such things they would have no incentive to support the rebellion. † Ignacio Allende, Hidalgo’s second in command, disagreed, for Allende knew that without more discipline was needed. Yet â€Å"Hidalgo defended the mayhem on the grounds that Spaniards had abused the Indians for centuries†. After a rather easy unorganized victory in San Miguel Hidalgo was therefore to be known as Captain General of America and headed for Guanajuato. Guanajuato ended up being a blood bath in which almost all the creoles and Spaniards protecting the treasury were killed without mercy, â€Å"revealing the burning hatred and mutual incomprehension that prevailed between rich and poor†. Hidalgo’s lack of control over his army, as described by Aleman, a famous Mexican historian, depicts Guanajuato as being â€Å"the most lamentable aspect of disorder, ruin and desolation (on the part of Father Hidalgo). † Even though Hidalgo was shocked, he did nothing to stop the looting. The mass savagery performed at Guanajuato became * â€Å"a Pyrrhic victory†¦ not only did the rebels lose many men in the siege, but the sacking of Guanajuato soon became†¦ a cautionary tale that, to moderate and conservative creoles, revealed the horrors that would ensue should they place their fate in the hands of the unwashed masses†. * Henderson 81-82 * After Guanajuato, Hidalgo gave so many military commissions that it became army run by criminals. His newly appointed officers would carry out 350 executions of Spanish prisoners by beheading and mutilating them. With the appointments of unworthy officers and mob-like behavior of his growing army, Hidalgo started to lose creole supporters. * Despite the brutality and the haphazard military direction, his army’s successes improved his fortunes, which allowed him to start produce propaganda to attract Indians and reflect his sympathy for the oppressed. In El Despertador Americano, Miguel Hidalgo claimed that the Spanish â€Å"trampled the rights of the Mexican people†¦desecrating their religion†¦ and he threatened to put to the sword any Spaniard or Mexican who spoke against or opposed the rebellion, refused to free his slaves or gave shelter to a Spaniard. † The propaganda was a realization that he had lost creole support and had to rely on the poor to finish the war. * With a disastrous defeat at Guadalajara, Allende â€Å"was incensed that he had lost every debate over military tactics, even though Hidalgo’s plans had proved consistently catastrophic. Allende then took over the army. He failed to acquire the United States support to fight against the Spanish, and both Hidalgo and Allende were captured by the Royalist army, the tried, executed and were displayed on spikes at the treasury of Guanajuato which the previously plundered. In anyway one looks at Hidalgo’s rebellion, one can not blame him for the huge differences in the social classes, but can be held accountable for his poor military leadership and loss of control over his army, which devastated the land, increased hatreds between Mexicans and Europeans, and delayed Mexico’s independence from Spain. Jose Maria Morelos, a general under Hidalgo, became his successor in 1811. Morelos was a much more capable military leader than Hidalgo having early success in the revolution, and became the â€Å"rebellions most successful general†. Yet, he still failed through major military blunders and a movement that was still unorganized without a unifying ideology. While he is successful in southern Mexico, his first mistake was not taking Puebla, which would have led him to Mexico City. Instead he was stuck in Cuautla, where he was outnumbered, two to one, by royalist forces that laid siege on the town for several months. In desperation he sacrificed all 3000 of his troops for a chance to escape. â€Å"The carnage inflicted upon the insurgents was so terrible that even some Royalist officers were sickened by it†. Morelos denies military advice to attack Mexico City at its vulnerable, and instead insists on taking Acapulco, a port that was no longer significant to the Spanish. While the rebel armies had control over most southern Mexico and portions of central and north Mexico, the rebels declared Independence from Spain in September 1813 and producing a â€Å"viable constitution†. The Declaration of Independence was short sited, â€Å"it declared Mexico Independent, but beyond that it gave little hint as to what the new nation would be like†. It did not take into consideration the difference between classes and would not address it, making the whole war fought for just a change in ruling party. During this time, the royalist army rebuilt itself from being in a demoralized state, with the declaration of Independence, Morelos set his sights on recapturing Valladolid. The Royalist army led by Colonel Agustin Iturbide, a pivotal figure in the war, beat Morelos at Valladolid. Once captured and traded several times between the government and the church then finally trialed and sentenced to death. * With the death of Morelos, the rebellion was slowed down and disorganized with out a prominent leader with a cause. The period during 1816 to 1820, the revolution â€Å"merely became dispersed and disorganized, the domain not of prominent commanders†¦ but rather of freelancers leading small bands of raiders†. It became a war â€Å"more for the lust for booty or vengeance than a desire to free Mexico from foreign domination and create a just society†. Meanwhile in Spain itself was going through her own revolution, trying to push Ferdinand VII back off the throne and bring back the Constitution of 1812 which very much more liberal. * With the situation in Spain developing Colonel Agustin Iturbide, a creole royalist military commander, saw an opportunity, in which would not only benefit him but Mexico as a its own independent country with out anymore bloodshed. Iturbide although Mexican born believed in the Spanish ideals, but * Iturbide had grown favorable to the idea of Mexican independence, though the reasons for his conversion (to the rebel forces) are a bit murky. Some on the grounds might well been cynical an self serving†¦ he had no doubt that leading a successful movement for independence could bring new financial prospects. And he felt that his service to the Spanish crown had been insufficiently appreciated. * Henderson 165 * Iturbide thought the Spain was not deserving of his support and he changed his alliance to his birth land of Mexico. Iturbide wrote, â€Å"my country was about to be drenched in blood; I was led to believe that I had the power to save her, I did not hesitate to undertake so sacred a duty. He then though a matter of dealings with Vicente Guerrero, the rebellions most fit leader, united forces. Iturbide suggested the Plan of Iguala, and as Henderson suggest â€Å"it was ingenious, albeit highly imperfect; neither liberal or revolutionary nor counterrevolutionary; and in the end it said much about the condition of Mexico’s fractured society†. Iturbide now the new leader of the rebel army, brought wit h him a new cause to push for the end of the war, although it being different principles from what they fought for. The Plan of Iguala offered three main ideas/cause to fight for, first that Mexico would only accept the Roman Catholic Church as it’s main religion, second that Mexico would be it’s own independent country, and third that Mexico would be a constitutional monarchy (hopefully still run by Ferdinand VII or a European Royalty). The plan satisfied all the people involved and making no one party the main beneficiary, supplying everyone with a short term result, but creating the same problems they were trying to break away from for down the road. The plan still ensured â€Å"poisonous division in race, class, region, culture, abd ideology were part of the wrap an woof of Mexican society and a mere statement that such divisions were no longer acceptable was unlikely to about the needed transformation. † But Iturbide ideals were inclined to see â€Å"legal equality more as a means of protecting the rights of European Spaniards than elevating the dark skinned masses†. * With no suitable heir to take the Mexican throne, Iturbide becomes the first Mexican Emperor. With the power Iturbide had, he became more and more tyrannical until he was finally exiled then he returned where then he was killed. * Hatred of European Spaniards had fueled the Hidalgo rebellion and much of the popular violence of the revolutionary decade; the superficial paean to fellowship in the Plan of Iguala did nothing at all to diminish that hatred, which was in fact a key element in the Mexico’s incipient nationalism. Henderson, 188 * This is where Iturbide failed by not even trying to change the social trenches that affect Mexico today. The Mexican Wars for Independence by Timothy J. Henderson gives a rather dull view on what pride an entire nation today. The war for independence ended up being a just a change in government performing no other need social change that would fix the issues that still affect Mexico to this day. Hidalgo, although starting out with the right ideals, eventually only supported the poor’s causes, trying to hard to inflict change. U nder Morelos, he was lacking one unified nations state with equality for everyone. Iturbide unlike his predecessors wanted independence from Spain but did not want to take away the prejudice in the social groups, he in the end tried to change the least with the immense opportunity he had in front of him. None of them were able to correct or address the social division created by 300 years of Spanish rule. By doing too little or doing too much. But it was ridiculous to even conceive that 10 years of war could undo 300 years of Spanish colonial rule. * * * * * Bibliography. Timothy J. Henderson, The Mexican Wars of Independence.