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I think that there is a lot to consider when exploring the question of how the Germans could have allowed a man like Hitler to rise to power. In fact, this precise question was featured in the Dachau concentration camp museum, which I had the opportunity to visit a few years ago. It was a fascinating experience to learn how this could happen.One of the best online reads of the life of Hitler (and to understand how he gained the power he did) is found at http://spartacus-educational.com/GERhitler.htm ; it was informative to me, and perhaps others will find it informative as well.
Hitler essentially used the “oppressive” measures of the Treaty of Versailles to help rally Germans behind him. When a country is down on itself after losing a war, leaders are sought and given power to bring the country out of chaos. Hitler had the right combination of charisma, attitude, and ruthless power to appeal to Germany of the 1930s. It's a lesson for modern-day wars; if we beat up on a country, we'd better be willing to help in the reconstruction efforts as well.
Good point – the guerilla warfare nature of Vietnam also probably had something to do with it. This would likely cause much more paranoia by soldiers than, say, a war where fronts were fairly well established, like in the two world wars.
I see. The reason for my first post was that in my studies of art history, especially of times prior to the 20th Century, commissioning was more of the norm. During these times, the common man had much more contact with art than we have today. Obviously, other media replace the fine arts, such as TV, movies, and the internet, but there is still the opportunity for high public contact with the fine arts in public spaces. I think that by enticing artists to create that which is demanded by the public, the public will appreciate the fine arts and there will be less controversy over their funding.
I lived in Manassas and then in the D.C. area last year around this time. It's about a 40 minute drive along I-66 from Manassas to D.C. without traffic. I too had heard about that window of opportunity to press into Washington. I'm not sure how long that would have taken the Confederate Army to travel that distance…perhaps two or three days?
But I guess what I'm trying to say is that I don't recall the same reaction about post-war stress occurring with vets from World War II. Perhaps this has something to do with the jungles in which the Vietnam War was fought.
Are you saying that you hope the commission system would not be brought back? I think that the problem with government sponsorship of the arts (e.g. NEA funding) is that it violates the law of supply and demand, because works are supplied that are not related to public demand for them. With policies to promote commissioning, not only would you have art which is more desired, but it would likely produce higher quality art because it would have to conform to the likeness of the benefactor. I do not think that this would infringe on the artists' expression; to claim this one would have to claim that Michelangelo or Raphael's freedom was infringed upon.
Stumpfoot, this was not always the case. I believe that the Abolitionist movement in the North rivals or exceeds any action taken by people in regards to any political issue today. The arrest of Shadrach Minkins comes to mind.
I don't know enough about this to give a good answer, but why wouldn't you choose the Second Battle of Bull Run? In my understanding, the First Battle didn't turn into much, and Second Bull Run was much larger.
I have heard that builders regularly uncover ancient Roman artifacts when they are digging for the foundations of buildings in Rome. What they do with these is usually to put pot fragments or whatever into the foundations of the new buildings. I imagine that this is the case unless there's something really special (i.e. solid gold funeral mask, etc.).
Stumpfoot, to quote just a portion of someone's post, you just need to click on “quote” on their post, and then you'll see their entire post with the [ quote= and the /quote ] brackets surrounding the words. You just need to delete all the words of their post that you don't want to quote, leaving the words and/or sentences within the brackets that you want to quote. Just make sure that when you type your response, that you do it after the last bracket (i.e. after the /quote] portion). It's actually not that hard and you should be able to pick it up with a little practice.
I'm sorry to hear about your father. I had heard about the difficult times of Vietnam War vets after they returned home. Agent Orange, post-war syndrome…..a psychology teacher in high school told us a story about someone who I think was probably a Vietnam War vet. His wife didn't dare wake him when he was sleeping unless she pushed at him with a broom stick. Apparently he could react violently if someone were to shake him from really close. I wonder why these things endure for such a long time after a war.
If this was a Church law, it would have ruled over nations on both sides of a war (just as the code of chivalry likely ruled over opposing nations as well). Even today we have codes of war (i.e. Geneva Conventions) that nations are bound to abide by in times of conflict. If a nation breaches that code, it might get punished by an international tribunal, or it might not get help with its rebuilding after the war is done.
My collection is not anywhere as big as yours…you have a pretty extensive library, it seems. I have found that it is difficult moving when you keep such a large collection, so for people in transition like myself, large libraries don't always fare well. My interests lie in art history, philosophical history, and classic literature (i.e. Greek, Roman, etc.) so those are the main history books that I have. I have found that reading philosophy has given me a pretty good understanding of history of particular times, as it brings me to a better understanding of the zeitgeist (if you will) of a particular age.
