Great Powers In The 17th And 1 :: essays research papers

Great Powers in the 17th and 18th Centuries In the 17th and 18th centuries, Great Britain, France, and the Hapsburg Empire were all competing for the fate of Europe. France, in particular, was caught between being a continental power or a world power; taking control of the Rhine and most of Central Europe, or taking control of The New World. France’s primary goal at the time was for control of the Rhine, but this goal was not without obstacles. Great Britain’s main concern was to keep the balance of power in Europe on their side, while expanding overseas. The Hapsburg Empire’s goals were dealing with conquering the Holy Roman Empire and the Germanic states, in turn taking over the entire continent from the inside out. All 3 of these great powers were being opposed from their pursuits, and survival was always the top concern. Also, after 1660, a growing multipolar system of European states made decisions within each state based more on national interest than before, when most conflicts and militaristic deci sions were based on religion. Louis XIV(1661-1715) is responsible for a considerable gain in the power of France. He had huge armies, (at some points reaching up to half a million troops), that were organized with barracks, hospitals, parade grounds, and depots to support them. Along with an organized enormous fleet at sea, France became a true hybrid power. Its energies were diverted between continental aims and maritime and colonial ambitions. For two decades with no real competition, France was successful, but other powers soon built up enough recourses and power to challenge it. By 1713, and the Treaty of Utrecht, France’s boundaries were established covering the Saint Lawrence River valley, the Ohio and Mississippi river valleys, the West Indian islands of Saint Domingue, Guadeloupe, and Martinique. Constantly defending these territories with the navy, and wars on land with Italy and other states, split French energy into the navy and military. Never putting enough effort into just one of these two di visions, French strategy was described as a constant â€Å"falling between stools†, with no direction. If one of the two divisions were solely concentrated on, French success within that division would have been much more successful. Also, France’s economy was not strong. France was much wealthier than countries such as England, but the weak economical structure, tax strategy, interest policies, and lack of a proper system of public finance in France made less money per capita than in than most states.

Pablo Picaso “Olga”

The portrait of Olga is a naturalistic depiction of Picasso’s wife. I think that the missing arm chair, the shadow, the darkness, and the paleness of Olga are a sign from Picasso that their relationship was not always so good. I assume this because from the site http://www. sapergalleries. com/PicassoWomen. html I found that their marriage had its ups and downs and they were two different people. This painting is well painted. It gives me a feeling that Olga was present when Picasso painted this portrait. This woman is beautiful and I think that Picasso would paint his wife beautifully.The imperfections in the Olga portrait remind me of Picasso’s first Cubism painting, Les Demoiselles d'Avignon because of the shadow in the back ground that does not seem to fit Olga’s shape. If you look at the Cubism painting Picasso uses a lot of shadow and fuzzy lines in the back ground behind the women. I believe that when you look at the Olga painting long enough you can tell that is was not meant to be a perfect portrait of his wife therefore I believe that it is more of a cubist painting. That is very interesting because I thought that is looked as if the painting was done in person.Now that I know that he painted Olga from a photograph of her does not change my mind that the piece reflects the cubism paintings. In the other painting the women that Picasso pained the women look distorted and not human like. I believe that these women probably were not painted by picture but by imagination and emotion of Pablo Picasso. All in all, I believe that Picasso had a talent of portraying women in many different ways. His work is fascinating and very different than a lot of other artists work.

Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself Free Essay Example, 1250 words

She could neither endure the torture nor leave their children behind and run away. So, their only way was to submit to their fate. But when other women would let themselves collapse under the crushing torture of slavery, Linda retains her mental strength to oppose Mr. Flint’s desire. Linda’s mental strength is evident in a speech: â€Å"When he told me that I was made for his use, made to obey his command in every thing; that I was nothing but a slave, whose will must and should surrender to his, never before had my puny arm felt half so strong† (Jacobs 46). Indeed, this simple comment of Linda tends to summarize the gist of the whole narrative as well as of the evil of slavery in American society during the early nineteenth century. It can be viewed from different perspectives and angles. As a mother, Linda violently fights against slavery. She wants to save her children from the evil of slavery. She plays hoax on Mr. Flints in order to attain freedom for her c hildren, Benny and Elena. She had to spend innumerous sleepless night in the tight attic in which she can hardly stand. We will write a custom essay sample on Harriet Jacobs, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now But her only pleasure is that she can see her run around her Aunt Martha’s house freely. Indeed, for any male reader, such sacrifice may seem to be something mere, but the pains, sufferings and angst she undergoes during those days of slavery are not anything mere for a woman who is familiar with a mother’s feeling at the core of her existence. Even Linda’s motherhood is in complete contrast with Mr. Sands’ fatherhood. Even though he is the father of two children with Linda, his concerns about his children are nothing. Rather his indifference to the children raises the doubt in the reader’s mind that he may sell his and Linda’ children (Benny and Elena). Such contrast between fatherhood and motherhood clearly show the difference between a man’s and a woman’s views about slavery. In slavery, a woman not only undergoes the brutal practice of whoredom, but also has to suffer from the most terrible experience of seeing her children being tortured, sold to another brute slave-owners or even being killed. Such the terribleness of such experiences is exclusively a mother’s own. In fact, Jacob is quite aware of the fact that women were profitable for a number of reasons to the slave owners. Since slave-traders could, no longer, meet the demand of slaves on the plantations in the South, sexual overtures with slave girls proved to be profitable primarily because such sexuality could reproduce more slaves, as Kim Wells says in this regard, â€Å"Surely it is obvious that the practice of slave "breeding, " was necessary for the continued existence of slavery since the U. S.