Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Libertarianism

2007-05-23T08:39:26Z

Shadowthedog: /* External links */

'''Libertarianism''' is a political philosophy emphasizing ''liberty'' and ''property''. A libertarian believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in all aspects of life; including economic, personal and in foreign policy matters. <ref>"Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.
Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml] </ref>
Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of '[[classical liberal | classical liberalism]]'.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society. They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

There are more libertarians than members of the [[Libertarian Party]]. Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to [[anarcho-capitalism]], as first named by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as [[minarchists]]. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by [[paleolibertarians]]. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism.

Neither the [[Democratic]] or the [[Republican]] [[parties]] are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. They are generally also opposed to the [[Iraq War]], unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally gives praise on the [[United States Constitution]], regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstep the limits that are in placed in the constitution. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very means in which the national government is the size it is today.

== Notable Libertarians ==
The Christian libertarian Lord Acton referred to the philosopher/theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] as "the first Whig" or classical liberal. Other libertarian-oriented historic figures would include [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], Thomas Paine, [[John Locke]], [[Patrick Henry]], George Mason, [[Carl Menger]], [[C.S. Lewis]], [[Ludwig von Mises]], [[James Madison]], H. L. Mencken, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, [[Frédéric Bastiat]], [[Herbert Spencer]], Richard Cobden, [[Henry David Thoreau]], and [[Hugo Grotius]].

[[Ron Paul]], 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.

The psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, opponent of the therapeutic state and compulsory mental institutionalization.

Nobel Laureate economists [[Milton Friedman]], [[F.A. Hayek]], [[Ronald Coase]], Gary Becker, James Buchanan, [[George Stigler]], and Vernon Smith.

The novelist [[Ayn Rand]] advocated a philosophy of ''Objectivism'', embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as ''Atlas Shrugged'', have become icons of some people in the libertarian movement, while others find her materialism/atheism incompatible with moral ethics and natural rights and law.

[[Murray N. Rothbard]] was nicknamed "Mr. Libertarian." He brought life to the anarcho-capitalist movement. Rothbard was an economist of the [[Austrian School]].

[[Robert A. Heinlein]], science fiction author.

[[Penn & Teller]], stage magicians turned libertarian evangelicals preaching atheism and promoting libertarian philosophies, including controversial positions such as legalization of prostitution and drugs in their Showtime series, which sports a name that cannot for reasons of good taste be expressed here.

The Canadian rock band Rush, which has been together since 1968, often explores libertarian themes in their lyrics.

Humorist Dave Barry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter [[John Stossel]], and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party.

== External links ==
* [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/ Libertarian FAQ]
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Politics/Liberalism/Libertarianism/ Open Directory libertarian links ]
* [http://chelm.freeyellow.com/black_index.html Black Libertarians]
* [http://libertarianwiki.org/Main_Page Libertarian Wiki]
* [http://www.l4l.org/ Libertarians for Life]
* [http://www.independent.org/ The Independent Institute]
* [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute]
* [http://www.fee.org/ Foundation for Economic Education]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html World's Smallest Political Quiz]

[[Category:Politics]]

Libertarianism

2007-05-23T08:37:21Z

Shadowthedog: /* Notable Libertarians */

'''Libertarianism''' is a political philosophy emphasizing ''liberty'' and ''property''. A libertarian believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in all aspects of life; including economic, personal and in foreign policy matters. <ref>"Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.
Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml] </ref>
Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of '[[classical liberal | classical liberalism]]'.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society. They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

There are more libertarians than members of the [[Libertarian Party]]. Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to [[anarcho-capitalism]], as first named by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as [[minarchists]]. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by [[paleolibertarians]]. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism.

Neither the [[Democratic]] or the [[Republican]] [[parties]] are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. They are generally also opposed to the [[Iraq War]], unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally gives praise on the [[United States Constitution]], regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstep the limits that are in placed in the constitution. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very means in which the national government is the size it is today.

== Notable Libertarians ==
The Christian libertarian Lord Acton referred to the philosopher/theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] as "the first Whig" or classical liberal. Other libertarian-oriented historic figures would include [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], Thomas Paine, [[John Locke]], [[Patrick Henry]], George Mason, [[Carl Menger]], [[C.S. Lewis]], [[Ludwig von Mises]], [[James Madison]], H. L. Mencken, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, [[Frédéric Bastiat]], [[Herbert Spencer]], Richard Cobden, [[Henry David Thoreau]], and [[Hugo Grotius]].

[[Ron Paul]], 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.

The psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, opponent of the therapeutic state and compulsory mental institutionalization.

Nobel Laureate economists [[Milton Friedman]], [[F.A. Hayek]], [[Ronald Coase]], Gary Becker, James Buchanan, [[George Stigler]], and Vernon Smith.

The novelist [[Ayn Rand]] advocated a philosophy of ''Objectivism'', embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as ''Atlas Shrugged'', have become icons of some people in the libertarian movement, while others find her materialism/atheism incompatible with moral ethics and natural rights and law.

[[Murray N. Rothbard]] was nicknamed "Mr. Libertarian." He brought life to the anarcho-capitalist movement. Rothbard was an economist of the [[Austrian School]].

[[Robert A. Heinlein]], science fiction author.

[[Penn & Teller]], stage magicians turned libertarian evangelicals preaching atheism and promoting libertarian philosophies, including controversial positions such as legalization of prostitution and drugs in their Showtime series, which sports a name that cannot for reasons of good taste be expressed here.

The Canadian rock band Rush, which has been together since 1968, often explores libertarian themes in their lyrics.

Humorist Dave Barry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter [[John Stossel]], and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party.

== External links ==
* [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/ Libertarian FAQ]
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Politics/Liberalism/Libertarianism/ Open Directory libertarian links ]
* [http://chelm.freeyellow.com/black_index.html Black Libertarians]
* [http://libertarianwiki.org/Main_Page Libertarian Wiki]
* [http://www.l4l.org/ Libertarians for Life]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html World's Smallest Political Quiz]

[[Category:Politics]]

Libertarianism

2007-05-20T22:03:24Z

Shadowthedog: /* Notable Libertarians */

'''Libertarianism''' is a political philosophy emphasizing ''liberty'' and ''property''. A libertarian believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in all aspects of life; including economic, personal and in foreign policy matters. <ref>"Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.
Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml] </ref>
Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of '[[classical liberal | classical liberalism]]'.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society. They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

There are more libertarians than members of the [[Libertarian Party]]. Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to [[anarcho-capitalism]], as first named by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as [[minarchists]]. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by [[paleolibertarians]]. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism.

Neither the [[Democratic]] or the [[Republican]] [[parties]] are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. They are generally also opposed to the [[Iraq War]], unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally gives praise on the [[United States Constitution]], regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstep the limits that are in placed in the constitution. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very means in which the national government is the size it is today.

== Notable Libertarians ==
The Christian libertarian Lord Acton referred to the philosopher/theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] as "the first Whig" or classical liberal. Other libertarian-oriented historic figures would include [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], Thomas Paine, [[John Locke]], [[Patrick Henry]], George Mason, [[Carl Menger]], [[C.S. Lewis]], [[Ludwig von Mises]], [[James Madison]], H. L. Mencken, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, [[Frédéric Bastiat]], [[Herbert Spencer]], Richard Cobden, [[Henry David Thoreau]], and [[Hugo Grotius]].

[[Ron Paul]], 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.

The psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, opponent of the therapeutic state and compulsory mental institutionalization.

Nobel Laureate economists [[Milton Friedman]], [[F.A. Hayek]], [[Ronald Coase]], James Buchanan, [[George Stigler]], and Vernon Smith.

The novelist [[Ayn Rand]] advocated a philosophy of ''Objectivism'', embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as ''Atlas Shrugged'', have become icons of some people in the libertarian movement, while others find her materialism/atheism incompatible with moral ethics and natural rights and law.

[[Murray N. Rothbard]] was nicknamed "Mr. Libertarian." He brought life to the anarcho-capitalist movement. Rothbard was an economist of the [[Austrian School]].

[[Robert A. Heinlein]], science fiction author.

[[Penn & Teller]], stage magicians turned libertarian evangelicals preaching atheism and promoting libertarian philosophies, including controversial positions such as legalization of prostitution and drugs in their Showtime series, which sports a name that cannot for reasons of good taste be expressed here.

The Canadian rock band Rush, which has been together since 1968, often explores libertarian themes in their lyrics.

Humorist Dave Barry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter [[John Stossel]], and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party.

== External links ==
* [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/ Libertarian FAQ]
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Politics/Liberalism/Libertarianism/ Open Directory libertarian links ]
* [http://chelm.freeyellow.com/black_index.html Black Libertarians]
* [http://libertarianwiki.org/Main_Page Libertarian Wiki]
* [http://www.l4l.org/ Libertarians for Life]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html World's Smallest Political Quiz]

[[Category:Politics]]

Libertarianism

2007-05-20T22:03:08Z

Shadowthedog: /* Notable Libertarians */

'''Libertarianism''' is a political philosophy emphasizing ''liberty'' and ''property''. A libertarian believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in all aspects of life; including economic, personal and in foreign policy matters. <ref>"Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.
Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml] </ref>
Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of '[[classical liberal | classical liberalism]]'.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society. They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

There are more libertarians than members of the [[Libertarian Party]]. Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to [[anarcho-capitalism]], as first named by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as [[minarchists]]. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by [[paleolibertarians]]. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism.

Neither the [[Democratic]] or the [[Republican]] [[parties]] are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. They are generally also opposed to the [[Iraq War]], unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally gives praise on the [[United States Constitution]], regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstep the limits that are in placed in the constitution. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very means in which the national government is the size it is today.

== Notable Libertarians ==
The Christian libertarian Lord Acton referred to the philosopher/theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] as "the first Whig" or classical liberal. Other libertarian-oriented historic figures would include [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], Thomas Paine, [[John Locke]], [[Patrick Henry]], George Mason, [[Carl Menger]], [[C.S. Lewis]], [[Ludwig von Mises]], [[James Madison]], H. L. Mencken, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, [[Frédéric Bastiat]], [[Herbert Spencer]], Richard Cobden, [[Henry David Thoreau]], and [[Hugo Grotius]].

[[Ron Paul]], 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.

The psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, opponent of the therapeutic state and compulsory mental institutionalization.

Nobel Laureate economists [[Milton Friedman]], [[F.A. Hayek]], [[Ronald Coase]], James Buchanan, ''George Stigler'', and Vernon Smith.

The novelist [[Ayn Rand]] advocated a philosophy of ''Objectivism'', embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as ''Atlas Shrugged'', have become icons of some people in the libertarian movement, while others find her materialism/atheism incompatible with moral ethics and natural rights and law.

[[Murray N. Rothbard]] was nicknamed "Mr. Libertarian." He brought life to the anarcho-capitalist movement. Rothbard was an economist of the [[Austrian School]].

[[Robert A. Heinlein]], science fiction author.

[[Penn & Teller]], stage magicians turned libertarian evangelicals preaching atheism and promoting libertarian philosophies, including controversial positions such as legalization of prostitution and drugs in their Showtime series, which sports a name that cannot for reasons of good taste be expressed here.

The Canadian rock band Rush, which has been together since 1968, often explores libertarian themes in their lyrics.

Humorist Dave Barry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter [[John Stossel]], and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party.

== External links ==
* [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/ Libertarian FAQ]
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Politics/Liberalism/Libertarianism/ Open Directory libertarian links ]
* [http://chelm.freeyellow.com/black_index.html Black Libertarians]
* [http://libertarianwiki.org/Main_Page Libertarian Wiki]
* [http://www.l4l.org/ Libertarians for Life]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html World's Smallest Political Quiz]

[[Category:Politics]]

Libertarianism

2007-05-20T22:01:42Z

Shadowthedog: /* Notable Libertarians */

'''Libertarianism''' is a political philosophy emphasizing ''liberty'' and ''property''. A libertarian believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in all aspects of life; including economic, personal and in foreign policy matters. <ref>"Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.
Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml] </ref>
Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of '[[classical liberal | classical liberalism]]'.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society. They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

There are more libertarians than members of the [[Libertarian Party]]. Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to [[anarcho-capitalism]], as first named by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as [[minarchists]]. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by [[paleolibertarians]]. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism.

Neither the [[Democratic]] or the [[Republican]] [[parties]] are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. They are generally also opposed to the [[Iraq War]], unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally gives praise on the [[United States Constitution]], regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstep the limits that are in placed in the constitution. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very means in which the national government is the size it is today.

== Notable Libertarians ==
The Christian libertarian Lord Acton referred to the philosopher/theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] as "the first Whig" or classical liberal. Other libertarian-oriented historic figures would include [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], Thomas Paine, [[John Locke]], [[Patrick Henry]], George Mason, [[Carl Menger]], [[C.S. Lewis]], [[Ludwig von Mises]], [[James Madison]], H. L. Mencken, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, [[Frédéric Bastiat]], [[Herbert Spencer]], Richard Cobden, [[Henry David Thoreau]], and [[Hugo Grotius]].

[[Ron Paul]], 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.

The psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, opponent of the therapeutic state and compulsory mental institutionalization.

Nobel Laureate economists [[Milton Friedman]], [[F.A. Hayek]], [[Ronald Coase]], James Buchanan, and Vernon Smith.

The novelist [[Ayn Rand]] advocated a philosophy of ''Objectivism'', embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as ''Atlas Shrugged'', have become icons of some people in the libertarian movement, while others find her materialism/atheism incompatible with moral ethics and natural rights and law.

[[Murray N. Rothbard]] was nicknamed "Mr. Libertarian." He brought life to the anarcho-capitalist movement. Rothbard was an economist of the [[Austrian School]].

[[Robert A. Heinlein]], science fiction author.

[[Penn & Teller]], stage magicians turned libertarian evangelicals preaching atheism and promoting libertarian philosophies, including controversial positions such as legalization of prostitution and drugs in their Showtime series, which sports a name that cannot for reasons of good taste be expressed here.

The Canadian rock band Rush, which has been together since 1968, often explores libertarian themes in their lyrics.

Humorist Dave Barry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter [[John Stossel]], and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party.

== External links ==
* [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/ Libertarian FAQ]
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Politics/Liberalism/Libertarianism/ Open Directory libertarian links ]
* [http://chelm.freeyellow.com/black_index.html Black Libertarians]
* [http://libertarianwiki.org/Main_Page Libertarian Wiki]
* [http://www.l4l.org/ Libertarians for Life]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html World's Smallest Political Quiz]

[[Category:Politics]]

Vietnam War

2007-05-20T05:31:37Z

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[[Image:SaigonFall.jpg|thumb|South Vietnamese residents flee [[Saigon]], as North Vietnamese forces enter the city.]]
The '''Vietnam War''', officially the '''Second Indochina Conflict''', was initiated by the [[United States]], in response to a poll conducted that suggested given the planned democratic election after the reduction of the demilitarized zone upheld until [[1956]] since the war would lead to a certain [[communist]] victory.

The 1954 Geneva agreement provided for a cease-fire between communist and anti-communist nationalist forces, the temporary division of Vietnam at approximately the 17th parallel, provisional northern (communist) and southern (noncommunist) zone governments, and the evacuation of anti-communist Vietnamese from northern to southern Vietnam. The agreement also called for an election to be held by July 1956 to bring the two provisional zones under a unified government. However, the South Vietnamese Government refused to accept this provision. On October 26, 1955, South Vietnam declared itself the Republic of Vietnam. <ref>U.S. State Department, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4130.htm Vietnam], December 2006. </ref>

A frustrated [[Ho Chi Minh]] eventually decided to militarily move into South Vietnam with his [[Viet Minh]] (later [[Viet Cong]]) as the increasingly unpopular US controlled government employed stronger tactics to maintain the South Vietnamese people under Diem. In retaliation the US sent 'advisers' to help Diem keep the situation under control before stepping up to a full scale ground war. The war was the longest in American history, lasting approximately 16 years. It was also the first war fought by America in which the stated military goals of the Americans were not met and it is now widely agreed that it is the first war America actually lost failing to win the hearts and minds of both the Vietnamese and the people back home. America left the war in 1973 under an arrangement that was supposed to keep South Vietnam free from the Communist north, but in 1975 the north invaded and quickly conquered the country. Today Vietnam has a communist government.

==Opposition to the Vietnam War==

The Vietnam War is remembered as creating massive opposition in the [[United States]]. Much of the [[hippie]] movement was based in opposition to the Vietnam War and a belief in [[pacifism]] more broadly. This opposition inspired such songs as "The I Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die Rag," by [[Country Joe McDonald]], "Give Peace a Chance," by [[John Lennon]], "Run Through the Jungle," by [[Creedence Clearwater Revival]], and "War," by [[Edwin Starr]]. This opposition also manifested itself in the form of protests. One of the most famous protests of this era occurred at Kent State University in [[Ohio]], during which four students were shot and killed by the Ohio State National Guard following several days of rioting and the firebombing of the ROTC building. The shooting was later determined to be justified when a federal court dismissed the case against the eight guardsmen indicted.[http://dept.kent.edu/sociology/lewis/LEWIHEN.htm]

It wasn't until the Reagan era that popular culture, and society, began to embrace Vietnam veterans as heroes by creating characters like John Rambo and John "Hannibal" Smith.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==

*Larry Berman, [http://hnn.us/articles/37934.html ''Perfect Spy: The Incredible Double Life of Pham Xuan An''], Time Magazine (Smithsonian Books/HarperCollins, 2007). [http://www.harpercollins.com/books/9780060888381/Perfect_Spy/index.aspx]
*[http://www.fas.org/irp/nsa/almanac-saigon.pdf SIGINT and the Fall of Saigon, April 1975].
*[http://www.independent.org/events/transcript.asp?eventID=6 "Secrecy, Freedom and Empire: Lessons for Today from Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers"].
*[http://www.onpower.org/foreign_regional_Asia.html#10 Vietnam War].

[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:United States History]]

Abraham Lincoln

2007-05-20T05:26:23Z

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{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:Ncoln2.jpg|250px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: blue no-repeat scroll top left;"|Abraham Lincoln
Sixteenth President of the United States
|-
|Born
|February 12,1809
|-
|Died
|April 15,1865
|-
|}

'''Abraham Lincoln''' was the 16th [[President of the United States of America|President]] of the United States, and a man who led the country through its darkest chapter, the [[American Civil War]]. His humble origins, from his birth in a [[Kentucky]] log cabin, his early life of poverty, through his struggle with life in a frontier society gave him an all-too human, and humane, personality, which he used to great effect in his law practice, his politics, and ultimately the presidency. And despite a severe lack of a formal education, Lincoln is the author of some of the most profound and eloquent writings ever to have come from the pen of an American.

==Early life==
''“I was born Feb. 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Kentucky. My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished families-- second families, perhaps I should say. My mother, who died in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some of whom now reside in Adams, and others in Macon Counties, Illinois.”'' [http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/autobiog.htm]

Abraham Lincoln was born in a backwoods cabin some three miles south of Hodgenville, Kentucky. His father was Thomas Lincoln, who himself was a descendant of a weaver’s apprentice who had migrated to Massachusetts from England some years after the Mayflower landed. Thomas was a sturdy man, committed to pioneering in the new lands of Kentucky and Indiana, despite his lack of prosperity. He married Nancy Hanks on June 12, 1806, and together they had three children: Sarah, Abraham, and Thomas, who did not survive infancy. Young Abraham’s earliest memories of his days in Kentucky were his helping his father plant some seeds of corn and sunflower, and of a flood that washed them away.

In December 1816 Thomas had to pack up his family and leave for southwestern Indiana to avoid a lawsuit which had threatened him with a takeover of his property. There he built what was a “half-faced” camp, just a crude log structure with one side open to the elements, and there the family stayed as squatters on public land until Thomas had finished a permanent cabin, and later would buy the land outright on which it stood. Helping Thomas clear the land and plowing the fields was Abraham, who would also take care of the crops but developed a dislike for tasks which put additional food on the table, hunting and fishing. The poverty, Lincoln recalled, was “pretty pinching” at times, and by the age of nine he was a tall, lanky boy dressed rather ragged and unkempt.

Then the fall of 1818 brought the hardest blow: Nancy had died of the “milk sickness”, leaving Abraham without the mother whom he deeply loved. Some time later, Thomas had taken the buckboard and the mule, and left Abraham and Sarah on their own for two weeks; when he returned, he was with a new wife, Sarah Bush Johnson; she immediately made up for the absence of Nancy by replacing Abraham’s corn husk mattress with one of down, winning him over the first day. The new step-mother treated both children with an even hand (she herself was a widow with three children, whom she had brought), but she became very fond of Abraham, and he in turn was fond of her, referring to her as his “angel mother” for the rest of his life.

===Education===
Both of Abraham’s parents were nearly completely illiterate, and he himself had not much more than one year of formal education. When he did go to school, it was by “littles” – a little here, a little there – and he would call it “blab” school, which meant that they had to recite their lessons constantly due to lack of paper, pencils, and chalk. “Of course, when I came of age I did not know much. Still, somehow, I could read, write, and cipher to the rule of three; but that was all.”

His step-mother encouraged his reading as much as possible, and although Abraham did not have access to a large number of books, he would read as much of what was there, and read voraciously. He read John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, ''Aesop’s Fables'', Daniel DeFoe’s ''Robinson Crusoe'', Parson Weems's ''Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington'', Edward Gibbon’s ''Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', and undoubtedly he read many times the only book his family actually owned, the Bible. He would walk for miles to borrow a book he heard about, and after his chores he would collapse into a heap in front of the fire and read for hours. He would say years later that his best friend was the man who let him borrow a book he hadn’t read yet.

===The Rail-Splitter===
[[Image:Railsplitter.jpg|thumb|200px|right|An artist's impression of a young Abe Lincoln, the ''Rail-Splitter''.]]
The Lincolns moved to Illinois in March, 1830, with Abraham driving the team of oxen himself, a young man of 21, rawboned and lanky at six feet four inches tall. But the years working on the Indiana farm have also made him physically powerful, and on his arrival in Illinois he was soon to demonstrate the skill with which he could wield an axe, putting it to good use by clearing the trees and laying the fence on his father’s new farm; the speed with which he could take tree trunks and split them into the rails needed for the fencing just by using his axe earned him the nickname “rail-splitter.” He could make an axe flash and bite deep; one neighbor saying “He could sink an axe deeper into wood than any man I ever saw.” And after a good deal of chopping, he could take the axe by its handle and hold it straight out away from his body, without a single quiver. (Sandburg, pg. 14) Good-natured as well, he would make friends easily, despite his awkward-looking stride and backwoods language.
[[Image:Lincoln hair.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Fearing that his friends wouldn't recognize him "without a bad tousle", Lincoln messed his hair up in this picture before the photographer closed the shutter.]]
Soon, he signed on as a deckhand on a flatboat, and made a voyage down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. When he returned he settled in a small town on the Sangamon River called New Salem, working as a store keeper, surveyor, or a postmaster, the later of which allowed him to be the first to read the arriving newspapers. Then talk went about town of Lincoln’s utter honesty, how he would walk six miles to return a few cents to a customer he had accidentally overcharged, or the woman that had bought some tea, and having used the wrong weight for the purchase, Lincoln made the correction and walked the many miles to her house to ensure she got the right order (Sandburg, pp 24-25).

In 1832 he enlisted in the Black Hawk War, and was elected captain of his company, but the only fighting he admitted seeing action in was the “many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes.” After he was mustered out of his company, he aspired for the state legislature, losing the contest the first time he ran, then getting elected and re-elected several times afterward. He had briefly thought about practicing the trade of blacksmithing, but his craving of reading led him to law books, which caused some serious studying. Lincoln passed the bar in 1836, and began a new career practicing law.

==Springfield==
The following year he moved to the new state capital of Illinois, Springfield, becoming law partners with John T. Stuart, Stephan T. Logan, and finally William H. Herndon in 1844, who, although junior in age to Lincoln by a decade, made a good, balanced partner. Few records exist of their law business, and when they got paid for their services they split the cash, no matter who was paid. Lincoln would earn $1,200 - $1,500 annually within just a few years; by comparison circuit judges earned $750. But to earn it he kept busy and worked hard; often he would climb into his buggy and travel the circuit of neighboring counties and practice before the courts there. And often the cases he would be involved in were petty

Years before he had tried, and failed, to push legislation through the state assembly to have the Sangamon River made navigable to New Salem; by 1850 the railroads were bringing business and prosperity to Illinois, and Lincoln, by virtue of the ease the railroad made in traveling to his courts, profited more. He had served as a lobbyist for the Illinois Central Railroad, enabling it to get a state charter; he would defend the company against McClean County’s unsuccessful efforts to tax it. He handles cases for other railroads, banks, manufacturing, and other large companies in the state; he handled some patent suits and a few criminal trials. And he also saved the first bridge to cross the Mississippi River from demolition, when river interests demanded the bridge be taken down.

===The moonlight murder===
In Lincoln’s New Salem days he was introduced to the Clary’s Grove Boys, a group of rowdy men from that nearby town would come into New Salem to bully some of the male townsfolk. The leader of the group was Jack Armstrong, who’s challenge to wrestle the Salem men usually resulted in Armstrong throwing the unfortunate man to the ground in a very short time; when he saw Lincoln, Armstrong would dismiss the lanky young man as a pushover. It was when they fought that Armstrong discovered just how hard it was to throw Lincoln – in fact, it was impossible. The battle ended in a draw, and the good-natured Lincoln made a new friend. Armstrong would later be one of the men to elect Lincoln to lead the company of volunteers in the Black Hawk War.

In 1856, Jack Armstrong’s son, William (or “Duff”), was charged with murder. A witness had claimed that he had seen Duff and another kill a New Salem man late at night by the light of full moon. Lincoln pulled out an almanac and proved that the witness could not have seen anything at all, as the moon was at its quarter and had actually set over an hour before. Duff was acquitted, and Lincoln won the case.

==Politics==
Andrew Jackson, the hero of New Orleans in the War of 1812 and a Democrat from Tennessee, was in the White House when Lincoln first entered politics. He shared with Jackson the sympathies for the common man, but differed in the role of government as related to it; Jackson stated the government should be separated from the economic enterprise, while Lincoln was of the view that “the legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot do so well, for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities.” Lincoln most associated himself with the Whig Party, as among their members Henry Clay and Daniel Webster both advocated a government should be encouraging business, and the development of the country to that end. It was an easy choice for Lincoln: he saw Illinois as needing such aid to improve the development of its own economy.

In the Illinois State Legislature Lincoln found that politics could be detrimental and harsh, as well as rewarding. An example of the former occurred in 1836, just as he gave a speech in support of his re-election. Democrat John Forquer, also seeking election, used his response and acid tounge to denounce him. "This young man needs to be taken down" he said, pointing to Lincoln, "and I'm afraid the task devolves upon me." The success of Forquer's speech convinced some of Lincoln's own allies that his career was over.

But when Lincoln rose to make his rebuttal, he thought of Forquer, and what he had done recently in conniving with President Jackson to change parties; in reward for doing so he was made Government Land Register with a $3,000 annual salary. Forquer was then able to construct a fine new house in Springfield, complete with a curiosity residents had heard about from science but had never seen before: a lightning rod. Before he entered the state house building that day, Lincoln spent a few minutes at Forquer's house staring at the thing, and having heard Forquer's speech later on, he thought of what he saw. Lincoln's reply was blistering, and sealed Forquer's fate.

:''"Among other things he said, the gentleman commenced his speech by saying that 'this young man,' alluding to me, 'must be taken down.' I am not so young in years as I am in the tricks and the trades of a politician, but, live long or die young, I would rather die now than, like the gentleman, change my politics, and with the change receive an office worth $3,000 a year, and then feel obliged to erect a lightning-rod over my house to protect a guilty conscience from an offended God!"'' (Sandburg, pg.49)

Lincoln also proposed state funding to construct a network of roads, railroads, and canals. Both Whigs and Democrats would join in for the passing of this omnibus bill, but a business depression was created by the panic of 1837, and as a result most of the provisions in the bill were abandoned. 1837 was also marked by the murder of Elijah Lovejoy, a newspaperman from Alton who was killed by a mob due to his anti-slavery views. The legislature introduced resolutions defending Southern slavery while condemning abolitionist societies, as per the U.S. Constitution. In protest of the resolutions Lincoln, with a fellow legislator, drew up a declaration [http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al02.htm] which stated that slavery was “founded on both injustice and bad policy,” while also declaring that “the promulgation of abolition doctrines tends rather to increase than to abate its evils.”
[[Image:Lawyer Lincoln.jpg|thumb|200px|left|Lincoln in the late 1850's, about to debate his rival Stephen A. Douglas.]]
He only served one term in the United States Congress, 1847 to 1849, during which time he did little on legislative matters. He did introduce a bill calling for a gradual emancipation of slaves within the District of Columbia, but since it hinged on the approval of the white citizens there, it only caused mild anger from abolitionists as well as slave holders, and was quietly dropped. His one main issue was over the Mexican War, in which he condemned the American entry into it on false pretenses, particularly blaming current president James K. Polk. He worked toward the nomination of Zachary Taylor for the presidency, and when Taylor had won, Lincoln expected to be rewarded with the job of land commissioner, but failed. He was voted out of office by his constituents, as they felt he was too critical of the war. Disillusioned, he left politics and reentered his law practice.

==Return to politics==
He stayed out for five years, winning several cases before the courts, then in 1854 he had read in the papers that Stephan A. Douglas, his political rival and Democratic senator from Illinois, had placed before Congress a bill which would reopen the territory of the Louisiana Purchase to slavery, as well as allow settlers in the Kansas and Nebraska territories to vote for themselves whether or not they wanted it, a concept which was called “popular sovereignty” by Douglas. The resulting Kansas-Nebraska Act would do nothing more than provoke violent opposition; a border war would result between Kansas and Missouri as both pro and anti-slavery forces would cause much bloodshed; and voters in the Old Northwest, Illinois among them, would react vehemently against it, resulting in the destruction of the Whigs as a political party, and the birth of the Republicans, of which Lincoln quickly became a member. The [[Dred Scott]] decision of 1856, in which a black man who sued for his freedom only to be told that he was never a citizen and had to remain a slave, only added more fuel to the fire, as the states were aligning slave versus free, North versus South.

As the leading member of the Republican Party in Illinois, Lincoln was nominated for the Senate seat held by Douglas at the Republican State Convention in Springfield on June 16, 1858. The acceptance speech he gave has been called the [[Lincoln's "House Divided" Speech|House Divided]] speech, after the opening lines, which were based upon Matthew 12:25:

:''If we could first know where we are, and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do, and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object, and confident promise, of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased, but has constantly augmented. In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached and passed. "A house divided against itself cannot stand."  I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing, or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become alike lawful in all the States, old as well as new -- North as well as South.'' [http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/divided.htm]

August through October, 1858 saw seven Illinois towns witnessing the [[Lincoln-Douglas debates]]; Douglas the national figure defending the choice of voters whether to accept slavery or not, and the little-known Lincoln taking a stand against slavery on political, social, and moral grounds. Douglas never wavered from defending popular sovereignty, and he also played on the voters' fears of [[black integration]]. Stating blacks were inferior to whites, he appealed to racists by declaring that the government was "established upon the white basis. It was made by white men, for the benefit of white men." (TL 1, pg 106). Lincoln on the other hand knew Douglas was in a war of his own with President [[Franklin Buchanan]]'s administration over acceptance of the Kansas constitution which barred slavery from the state, further alienating Southern Democratic support; the fear was that Douglas would be more appealing to moderate Republicans in the east. Lincoln's strategy therefore was to point out and use the vast difference between the moral indifference to slavery as embodied by Douglas's popular sovereignty, and the moral wrong that slavery actually was as embodied by Republican opposition to it. Douglas was, Lincoln insisted, a man who did not care whether slavery was "voted up or voted down." By his last debate, Lincoln would narrow the differences between himself and Douglas as the basic principle of right and wrong.

:''"That is the real issue. That is the issue that will continue in this country when these poor tongues of Judge Douglas and myself shall be silent. It is the eternal struggle between these two principles -- right and wrong -- throughout the world. They are the two principles that have stood face to face from the beginning of time; and will ever continue to struggle. The one is the common right of humanity and the other the divine right of kings. It is the same principle in whatever shape it develops itself. It is the same spirit that says, "You work and toil and earn bread, and I'll eat it." No matter in what shape it comes, whether from the mouth of a king who seeks to bestride the people of his own nation and live by the fruit of their labor, or from one race of men as an apology for enslaving another race, it is the same tyrannical principle."'' [http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al11.htm]

Douglas for his part knew how formidable his foe was, and declared that if he won, “it would be a hollow victory.” He did win, retaining his Senate seat, but by a narrow margin.

==The presidency==
[[Image:Lincoln and beard.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Soon after his election, a little girl named Grace Bedell wrote to Lincoln, telling him his face would be softened by the addition of a beard; here he just started on her advice.]]
:''My friends, no one, not in my situation, can appreciate my feeling of sadness at this parting. To this place, and the kindness of these people, I owe everything. Here I have lived a quarter of a century, and have passed from a young to an old man. Here my children have been born, and one is buried. I now leave, not knowing when, or whether ever, I may return, with a task before me greater than that which rested upon Washington. Without the assistance of the Divine Being who ever attended him, I cannot succeed. With that assistance I cannot fail. Trusting in Him who can go with me, and remain with you, and be everywhere for good, let us confidently hope that all will yet be well. To His care commending you, as I hope in your prayers you will commend me, I bid you an affectionate farewell.'' Lincoln's Farewell Speech to the citizens of Springfield, February 11, 1861.

On May 18, 1860 at the Republican National Convention held in Chicago, Lincoln was nominated on the third ballot. He then set aside his law practice and gave full time to the direction of his campaign, with the object of first uniting the Republicans from anything with which the party could disagree over. The Democrats were already divided, having nominated Douglas in Baltimore on the Northern platform of popular sovereignty, and John C. Breckenridge who was elected on a platform of states’ rights and slavery by Southern Democrats. Lincoln won the election of 1860, winning a clear majority in popular votes as well as electoral votes, despite winning no votes in the South.

The state of South Carolina proclaimed its secession from the Union in December, 1860, soon after Lincoln’s victory. To try to prevent other states from following, compromises were hurriedly pushed through Congress, one of which, the [[Crittenden Amendment]], guaranteed the existence of slavery in perpetuity where it already existed, and dividing the territories between slave and free; Lincoln, however, was opposed to it, as he believed that despite this slavery would still expand south of the U.S. border. Six more states seceded, joining with South Carolina to form the Confederate States of America.

A crisis was thus forced upon Lincoln before he even entered the White House. Fort Sumter, in South Carolina’s Charleston Harbor, was claimed by the Confederacy and ordered to be turned over; the commander, Major Robert Anderson, refused. Lincoln, still in Springfield, asked Winfield Scott, general in chief of the U.S. Army, to be prepared “to either hold, or retake, the forts, as the case may require, at, and after the inauguration.”

On the 4th of March, 1861, a few weeks after Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as president of the Confederacy, Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated as the nation's 16th president. In his address he reiterated his stance, and what he believed the stance of the nation should be, namely non-interference with slavery where it existed, and preventing slavery to spread in the territories, and above all was his stand to preserve the Union. The substance of what he said was conciliatory, but it also mentioned the obvious

:''"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-countrymen, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of civil war. The Government will not assail you. You can have no conflict without being yourselves the aggressors. You have no oath registered in heaven to destroy the Government, while I shall have the most solemn one to "preserve, protect, and defend it."'' [http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/war/lincoln_address1.html]

However, communications between the fort and Charleston broke down, and General P.G.T. Beauregard, believing Fort Sumter had a supply ship on the way, ordered the fort shelled on April 14, 1865. The Civil War had begun.

==Civil War==
Lincoln’s goal was to preserve the Union; he would have been happy to preserve the peace as well, but he was willing to engage in a war to preserve it as well, a war he thought would be short. After Fort Sumter he proclaimed a blockade of Southern ports and called for thousands of volunteers to enlist for ninety days. He also believed that an overland war was inevitable, and he ordered forces on a march on the Virginia front, resulting in the first great defeat for the Union at Bull Run (July 21, 1861). Shortly afterward, Lincoln issued a set of memorandums for the military, of which his basic thought was that armies in the field must advance concurrently and on several fronts.

Finding himself as the leader of a country now at war, Lincoln used a description of himself in which he let events control him, and then react to the problem. It was something of himself that was used with success as a politician. In this sense he was being practical, ready to employ an action or decision which would help the cause, and ready to abandon it and use another if the first failed. But his first insight with which he held fast to, that of taking the fight to the enemy’s army, failed many times when successive generals tried to take the fight to the enemy’s capitol and failed, or failed in following up on a rare victory. He had George McClellan on the Peninsula, but was beaten back during the Seven Days battles. His replacement, John Pope, lost in a repeat of Bull Run. McClellan was back again, winning a victory at Antietam, but failed to follow through in capturing the enemy’s army afterwards. Then Ambrose Burnside, followed by Joseph Hooker, led the Army of the Potomac to massive defeats at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, respectively. Then George Gordon Meade was put in, just in time for the Battle of Gettysburg; Meade would not finish off the enemy either. Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, commented on the frequent changes in generals. “I’m afraid they’re going to find a general I cannot understand.”

Having seen what he done at Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Chattanooga, Lincoln found the fighting general he was looking for in Ulysses S. Grant. In March 1864 he promoted Grant to lieutenant general and gave him command of all Federal armies. Grant would have his headquarters in the field with Meade’s Army of the Potomac, and his subordinates William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan, and George H. Thomas would each lead an army to take the fight to the enemy. Halleck would be given a new title, chief of staff, and remain in Washington as the presidential liaison. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton would be responsible for the procurement of men and supplies. By this reorganization Lincoln created the structure of the high command in which all the energies of and resources of the country were mobilized into a grand strategy for the completion of the war. It was all the more remarkable as prior to 1861, he had no knowledge of military theory or affairs; he threw himself into studying the subject that by 1864, he was considered to be something of a military genius.

==Personal life==
Ann Rutledge played a part in stories as being the first woman Lincoln may have fallen in love with. However, evidence is scant, and what surviving letters and documents there are indicate they were close friends. She died in 1835 at the age of 22, and the entire community grieved with Lincoln.
[[Image:Lincoln and tad.jpg|thumb|200px|left|The irrepressible Tad Lincoln, striking a typical pose next to his father, who could barely restrain a smile.]]
The one true love of Lincoln’s life was a well-educated woman with a quick wit, [[Mary Todd]], from a well-to-do family in Springfield. Lincoln endured a courtship that lasted two years (and was broken once), before they were married on November 4, 1842. Together they would have four boys: Robert Todd, Edward Baker (“Eddie”, who died at age 4), William Wallace (“Willie”), and Thomas (“Tad”). Willie and Tad were the first children in the White House, and the halls and gardens were filled with childish romps, especially from the rambunctious, uncontrollable Tad, who once took a group of office seekers there to see the president on a trip through a confusing maze of hanging laundry; drove a herd of goats inside; got into the attic and rang the servants’ bells for hours; and succeeded in getting his doll executed for sleeping on watch.

The Lincolns also had their share of quarrels, and stories passed through the years tended to exaggerate them, but existing letters between the two indicate they were like any other married couple. They were devoted to each other’s company, and when apart they missed each other. "I have fallen in love with her," Lincoln would write to a friend about Mary, "and have never fallen out." Mary did have fits of temper and a sense of insecurity; while in the White House she had spells of simple jealousy which she staged in front of guests; sometimes the scene would be quite embarrassing. She also rang up large bills for her personal wardrobe and redecorating the White House; Lincoln, when he found out one such bill which totaled near $20,000 and coupled with a request for Congress to appropriate the money needed to pay for it, displayed a rare occurrence of pure anger:

:''"It would stink in the nostrils of the American people to have it said the President of the United States had approved a bill overrunning an appropriation of $20,000 for flub dubs, for this damned old house, when the soldiers cannot have blankets!"'' [http://www.historyswomen.com/1stWomen/marytoddlincoln.htm]

The early deaths of Eddie in 1850 and Willie in 1863 may have played a role in Mary’s eccentricity. Lincoln did what he could to support her, even pointing out the presence of a nearby building which housed a sanitarium, hinting that Mary could be placed there if she didn't control herself over Willie's death.

==On slavery==
In 1841, Lincoln had a flatboat trip down the Mississippi, and he saw sitting on board another boat a group of slaves chained together. He described the sight in a letter to Joshua Speed in 1855: “You may remember, as I well do, that from Louisville to the mouth of the Ohio there were, on board, ten or a dozen slaves, shackled together with irons. That sight was a continual torment to me; and I see something like it every time I touch the Ohio, or any other slave-border.”

Lincoln hated slavery. “I hate it because of the monstrous injustice of slavery itself,” he declared. “I hate it because it deprives our republican example of its just influence in the world; enables the enemies of free institutions with plausibility to taunt us as hypocrites.” [http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al05.htm] In 1855, writing to his friend Joshua Speed, he recalled a steamboat trip the two had taken on the Ohio River14 years earlier. “You may remember, as I well do,” he said, “that from Louisville [Kentucky] to the mouth of the Ohio there were, on board, ten or a dozen slaves, shackled together with irons. That sight was a continual torment to me; and I see something like it every time I touch the Ohio, or any other slave-border.” [http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al03.htm]

Lincoln often penned fragments on slavery. He would begin it by starting a hypothetical vested interest in slavery, and end it with the only logical conclusion, that is was a great moral wrong.

:''If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right, enslave B.—why may not B. snatch the same argument, and prove equally, that he may enslave A?''

:''You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a fairer skin than your own.''

:''You do not mean color exactly? You mean the whites are intellectually the superiors of the blacks, and, therefore have the right to enslave them? Take care again. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with an intellect superior to your own.''

:''But, say you, it is a question of interest; and, if you can make it your interest; you have the right to enslave another. Very well. And if he can make it his interest, he has the right to enslave you.'' (Fragment on Slavery, April, 1854)

Lincoln was elected on a platform which pledged no interference with slavery where it had already existed, and he was hesitant to adopt an abolitionist policy. He was concerned about the reaction of the border states should such a policy be enacted. He was concerned about four million newly-freed blacks being incorporated into the country’s social, economic, and political life. Some individuals, such as General John C. Freemont, made it a point to proclaim freedom in districts which they had conquered; Lincoln revoked those proclamations. In a letter to Horace Greely, Lincoln plainly stated
:''"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that."''

Lincoln was willing to play a major part in removing slavery altogether during the war. He first proposed an idea in which slaves were to be freed gradually by the actions of the states, with the federal government sharing the cost of compensation. None of the border states were willing to implement it, and no prominent African-American leader was willing to see newly-freed blacks sent to Africa, as part of the idea called for.

But with the victory at Antietam in September 1862, Lincoln brought out an idea which he read before his cabinet, that slaves held in the Confederate States were declared to be free. He would declare it formally with his Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. Although it did not include those areas under Union control, and officially it was a war measure, it had a great deal of significance as a symbol, and European countries who had toyed with the idea of recognizing the Confederacy abandoned it and supported the Union.

Lincoln also felt that the freed slaves would be put back in chains at war's end, as the Proclamation itself was not constitutional. But Lincoln was prepared for something else: he drafted the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which stated slavery was illegal except for crimes committed. He also urged the Republican Party to add the proposed amendment as a plank to the 1864 presidential campaign, stating slavery was the cause of the war, and that the Proclamation had aimed “a death blow at this gigantic evil;” only by a constitutional amendment could slavery be rendered extinct. After the election, Lincoln did not wait for the new Congress. He got the two-thirds needed for ratification before the year was over, and rejoiced when his state of Illinois led the way.

:''"In giving freedom to the slave, we assure freedom to the free - honorable alike in what we give, and what we preserve. We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just - a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless."'' Annual Message to Congress, December 1, 1862.

==Religion==
Abraham Lincoln, like many other people of his day, believed that "Religion is a private affair between a man and his God." Doubts about Lincoln's faith have arisen mainly because he never officially joined a church, which his political opponents used sometimes to accuse him. He had a love of the Bible and memorized parts of the Bible. Lincoln said once that:
''"I doubt the possibility or propriety of settling the religion of Jesus Christ in the models of man-made creeds and dogmas. I cannot without mental reservations assent to long and complicated creeds and catechisms."''

He also said on another occasion:
:''"That I am not a member of any Christian church is true, but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures, and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general or of any denomination of Christians in particular."''

He also made statements that suggest a strong faith, such as when his father was ill:
:''"Tell father to remember to call upon and confide in our great, and good, and merciful Maker who will not turn away from him in any extremity. He notes the fall of a sparrow and numbers the hairs of our heads; and he will not forget the dying man who puts his trust in him. If it is to be his lot to go now, he will soon have a joyous meeting with many loved ones gone before; and where the rest of us, through the help of God, hope ere long to join them."''

Rumors still circulate. Many Christians believe that he was a strong Christian. Others believe he was not one. Another opinion is that he became one while in office. After he was shot at Ford's theater two clergy claimed that he had made a secret trip from Washington to be baptized. Also a Roman Catholic Priest claimed that Lincoln received the sacrament of baptism in secret. Neither of these claims have any proof in White House records or his personal diary.<ref> [[God and the Oval Office]], by John C. McCollister, W Publishing, 2005. </ref>

==Lincoln's style of writing==
[[Image:Lincoln seated.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Lincoln in November, 1863, about to leave for Pennsylvania. The reason for his confident look may have been within the envelope lying on the table, believed to contain his draft of the Gettysburg Address]]
A White House visitor, Orville Browning, told Lincoln's personal secretary John Nicolay one day that he had spoke to Lincoln sometime in 1861 on the subject of slavery; that if the right thing about slavery wasn't done, God just couldn't be on the side of the Union. Browning remembered Lincoln's reply: "What if the Almighty takes a different view of slavery than we do?", and right then and there Browning realized that Lincoln had thought very deep on the subject, much deeper than Browning did. [http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/books/wilson.htm]

Lincoln was known to think long and deep on various topics, and often he would take notes, write them on little scraps of paper, and stuff them into his tall stovepipe hat for later use. When it was time for use, such as his "House Divided" speech, he pulled them out, laid them on a table, and would commence to writing. He would sift through the subject, adding this, removing that, and sometimes he would stand in his empty room and deliver it out loud to an imaginary audience, testing the effects of what he spoke, and altering it as needed. According to author Garry Wills, Lincoln brought to bear the rhetorical tone of the Greek Revival and Transcendental movements, in which spoken oratory was practiced in government and on the stage. The leading speakers of this time, and whom Lincoln looked upon, were Danial Webster and Henry Clay, both of the Senate, and Edward Everett, a speaker much in demand.

The training he had given himself also enabled him to write a simple letter or a speech on the spot. Words would flow clear when Lincoln wrote in his later years, and he didn't have to do twice one of his finest personal letters, one of consolation to Mrs. Bixby of Boston, who had lost five sons in the war.

:''Executive Mansion,''
:''Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.''

:''Dear Madam,''

:''I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.''
:''I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.''
:''I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.''

:''Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,''

:''A. Lincoln''

What many consider his masterpiece is the [[Gettysburg Address]]. Here Lincoln, going through perhaps a dozen writes and re-writes of what he had thought on the subject, entirely changed the meaning of the war itself in a mere 272 words, and in so doing, according to Wills, remaking America.

==Politics in war==
That there had to be a certain degree of support to win the war was a given, and Lincoln strove to have unity for that effort in the North. Politics was required, and Lincoln had a special knack for appealing to his fellows and talking to them at their own level and language. He would smooth over lingering differences, and held the loyalty of those who were antagonistic to one another.

But the Democrats remained strong, and frequently clashed. Its member included both war and peace Democrats; the peace side was called “Copperheads”, after the snake which strikes without warning while hidden. Lincoln tried conciliating with both, but with the latter he had to resort to arrest at times, most famously to an Ohio Congressman, Clement L. Valandigham, who was arrested after he had repeatedly exhorted soldiers to desert. He justified his actions on the grounds that the suspension of ''habeas corpus'' was necessary only in times of rebellion, insurrection, or when the public safety may require it, as stated in the Constitution; certainly the Civil War had met those specific conditions. Many would dissent, and openly criticize Lincoln for arbitrarily violating the Constitution that he had sworn to preserve. In response to the criticism in general, and the case of Valandigham in particular, Lincoln wrote:
:''"Must I shoot a simple-minded soldier boy who deserts, while I must not touch a hair of a wiley agitator who induces him to desert? This is none the less injurious when effected by getting a father, or brother, or friend, into a public meeting, and there working upon his feeling, till he is persuaded to write the soldier boy, that he is fighting in a bad cause, for a wicked administration of a contemptable government, too weak to arrest and punish him if he shall desert. I think that in such a case, to silence the agitator, and save the boy, is not only constitutional, but, withal, a great mercy."'' [http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=lincoln;cc=lincoln;type=boolean;rgn=div1;q1=soldier;op2=and;q2=deserts;op3=and;q3=agitator;singlegenre=All;view=text;subview=detail;sort=occur;idno=lincoln6;node=lincoln6%3A569]
Lincoln faced reelection against Democrat George McClellan in 1864, who promised a restoration of the Union, but waffled on many of its points, even abandoning the Democratic platform of armistice and peaceful separation. Lincoln was able to beat him in the election, assisted by the timely victories of Sheridan in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, and Sherman in Georgia. Overtures of peace from Confederates were not wholly rejected. On February 3, 1865, Lincoln met with Confederate commissioners, among them Vice President Alexander Stephens, on a steamship in Hampton Roads, Virginia. There would be peace, he insisted, if the South would quit the war, abandon slavery, and accept re-unification, and once these conditions were met he would gracious with pardons. But his terms satisfied neither the Confederacy nor the Radical Republicans in Congress.
His postwar policy was one of compassion. As he explained to his top leaders on board a riverboat, the City Queen, he wanted peace above all else. His Second Inaugural Address expressed his point of healing the wounds caused by the war.
:''With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."''

When asked specifically, he related the following, according to General Sherman, one of those present:
:''Mr. Lincoln was full and frank in his conversation, assuring me that in his mind he was all ready for the civil reorganization of affairs at the South as soon as the war was over; and he distinctly authorized me to assure Governor Vance and the people of North Carolina that, as soon as the rebel armies laid down their arms, and resumed their civil pursuits, they would at once be guaranteed all their rights as citizens of a common country; and that to avoid anarchy the State governments then in existence, with their civil functionaries, would be recognized by him as the government de facto till Congress could provide others.''
:''I know, when I left him, that I was more than ever impressed by his kindly nature, his deep and earnest sympathy with the afflictions of the whole people, resulting from the war, and by the march of hostile armies through the South; and that his earnest desire seemed to be to end the war speedily, without more bloodshed or devastation, and to restore all the men of both sections to their homes. In the language of his second inaugural address, he seemed to have "charity for all, malice toward none," and, above all, an absolute faith in the courage, manliness, and integrity of the armies in the field.'' [http://www.sonshi.com/sherman24.html]

==Final curtain==
Lincoln received the news of Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Virginia, on April 9, and he was called out to the balcony of the White House that night by a large crowd gathered in celebration. When asked to make a speech, Lincoln noticed a band among them, and made an unusual request.
:''"I have always thought ‘Dixie’ one of the best tunes I have ever heard. Our adversaries over the way attempted to appropriate it, but I insisted that we fairly captured it. I presented it to the Attorney General, and he gave it as his legal opinion that it is our lawful prize. I now request the band to favor me with its performance."''
He entered Richmond the following day, to the joyous delight of free blacks, who welcomed the arrival of "Father Abraham" as they called him, and he paid a visit to the Confederate White House, and sat at the desk of Jefferson Davis. The only thing he asked for was a glass of water.

Just four days later on April 14 he attended a play at Ford's Theater. It was called ''Our American Cousin'', with well-known stage actress Laura Keane and comedian Harry Hawke in the title role. Unseen to the audience was another actor making his way quietly up the stairs to the president's private box, [[John Wilkes Booth]], a Southern sympathizer who had hatched a conspiracy with a few others to kill the president and other leading officials. Booth entered the box, shot Lincoln in the head, stabbed a guest, and dropped to the stage, escaping behind the curtains. Taken across the street to a boarding house, the mortally-wounded Lincoln was laid across a small bed in humble surroundings, similar it seemed, to where he was born. He died at sunrise a few hours later.

"Now he belongs to the ages" Edwin Stanton was heard to say.

==References==
*McCollister, John C. ''God and the Oval Office'', W Publishing Group, Nashville, Tennessee(2005)
*Sandburg, Carl. ''Abraham Lincoln'', Harcourt, Brace and Company, New York (1954)
*Walsh, John E. ''Moonlight'', St. Martin's Press, New York (2000)
*Goodwin, Doris Kearns. ''Team of Rivals: the Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln'', Simon and Schuster, New York (2005)
*Hanchett, William. ''The Lincoln Murder Conspiracies'', University of Illinois (1983)
*Donald, David Herbert. ''Lincoln'', Jonathan Cafe (Random House), London (1995)
*Wills, Gary. ''Lincoln at Gettysburg: the Words that Remade America'', Simon and Schuster, New York (1992)
*White, Ronald C. Jr. ''The Eloquent President: A Portrait of Lincoln Through His Words'', Random House, New York (2005)
*Carwardine, Richard. ''Lincoln: A Life of Purpose and Power'', Alfred A. Knopf, New York (2003)
*Time-Life Books ''The Civil War'', vol. 1 (''Brother Against Brother''), Time Inc, New York (1983)

==Links==
*[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/ Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln]
*[http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln.html Abraham Lincoln Online]
*[http://www.abrahamlincolnarchive.com/Home.aspx Lincoln Archive of original newspaper articles]
*[http://www.historyplace.com/lincoln/ History Place: Lincoln timeline]
*[http://www.nps.gov/liho/index.htm Lincoln's Home National Historic Site]
*[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/al16.html White House site; short bio on Lincoln]
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=28&articleID=326 "The Great Centralizer: Abraham Lincoln and the War between the States," by Thomas DiLorenzo]
*[http://www.mrlincolnandfriends.org/inside.asp?pageID=112&subjectID=1 Mr. Lincoln and Friends]
*[http://www.independent.org/events/transcript.asp?eventID=9 "The Real Abraham Lincoln: A Debate Between Harry Jaffa and Thomas DiLorenzo"]
*[http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al02.htm Declaration against slavery, Illinois State Legislature, March 3, 1837]
*[http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al03.htm Lincoln's letter to Joshua Speed, August 24, 1855]
*[http://www.nps.gov/archive/liho/slavery/al05.htm Speech in Peoria, Illinois, October 16, 1854]
*[http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1161 "The Bloody Hinge of American History," by Robert Higgs]
*[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=lincoln;cc=lincoln;q1=erastus;q2=corning;op2=and;op3=and;rgn=works;idno=ACK7441.0001.001;didno=ACK7441.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000227 Letter to Erastus Corning and Others, June 13, 1863, in which Lincoln explains his suspention of ''habeas corpus'']
*[http://www.sonshi.com/sherman.html Memoirs of William T. Sherman ]

[[Image:DcLincMor.JPG|right|thumb]]

== See also ==

*[[Democracy]]
*[[John F. Kennedy]]
*[[Andrew Jackson]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lincoln, Abraham}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Abraham Lincoln]]

Global warming

2007-05-20T05:20:14Z

Shadowthedog: /* External links */

'''Global warming''' is the term ascribed to an increase in global average surface temperature. Average [[Earth]] surface air temperature has risen just over one degree since 1850.
<ref>Hansen's group at the Goddard Institute wrote, "Global warming is now 0.6 °C [1.0 °F] in the past three decades and 0.8 °C [1.4 °F]in the past century." http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/2005/</ref>

Scientists such as [[Richard Lindzen]] of [[MIT]], [[Sallie Baliunas]] of [[Harvard]] and [[Fred Singer]] (independent) say that the patterns of global warming are naturally caused (see [[climate cycles]]).

Assessments by the [[United Nations]] promote the world view that the warming since around 1850 is mostly human-caused.
In February, 2007, the [[Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change]], a body of climate change scientists<ref>http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0704280477apr29,1,4275902.story?coll=chi-newsnationworld-hed</ref> established by the [[United Nations]], released their fourth assessment report on climate change. That report concluded that recent global climate change was "very likely" caused by human activity, <ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6321351.stm</ref>.

Politicians who support the [[Kyoto Protocol]] have made the claim that there is a cause and effect relationship between increases in atmospheric concentrations of [[greenhouse gas]]es and air temperature.

==Natural variability of the climate system==

Secular scientists think that the Earth has experienced numerous [[Ice Age|ice age]]s over two million years, during which global temperatures dropped approximately 6 degrees Celsius and then returned to normal. The frigid temperatures allowed ice sheets to expand southward, covering much of [[Asia]], [[Europe]], and [[North America]]. The cooling associated with ice ages is gradual, while the terminations are relatively rapid. However, even the rapid terminations of ice ages take centuries to millennia.

==Global Warming on other Planets==

And it's not just the earth that has variations. Since the [[Viking spacecraft]] reached [[Mars]] in the 1970's until recent readings were taken, the average temperature on Mars has risen 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit just as the average temperature on the earth has risen. Since human industrialization is probably not to blame for the change on Mars, other causes are being considered. One possibility is that dust storms are changing the albedo of the planet, allowing it to warm, while another possibility is that solar variations from the sun are causing the warming.<ref>http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070404_gw_mars.html</ref><ref>http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17977</ref>

Recently, it has also been found that similar to the Earth and Mars, that [[Neptune]] is undergoing global warming as well. Measurements taken at the Lowell observatory in [[Arizona]] have shown an increase in Neptune's brightness and temperature since 1980 following the same pattern found on the earth, and Mars. The researchers who discovered this warming suggest there may be a correlation between the warming and solar variations.<ref>http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2007.../2006GL028764.shtml</ref>

[[Pluto]] has also been found to be undergoing global warming.<ref>http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/pluto_warming_021009.html</ref>

==Politics of global warming==

The global average surface temperature warmed about 0.5 °C (0.9 °F) over the second half of the 20th Century, and to some the warming appears to be related to increases in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. The possibility of adverse consequences has become a major concern for environmentalists.

Assessments of climate science by the United Nations (see [[IPCC]] - ''Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change'')
have claimed that scientists are 90% sure that over 50% of the observed global warming in recent decades is human-caused, and that continued global warming should be expected over at lease the next century. Science published a literature search by Naomi Oreskes concluding that "scientific consensus" supports the IPCC reports. <ref>http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1686]</ref>

Several prominent scientists have pointed out the [[politicized science]] of the UN's assessment methods. The scientific reports are submitted to a panel of representatives appointed by each country in the IPCC. Several scientists have complained about their work being misrepresented by the U.N.

There is wide agreement among the American public that Global Warming is a reality. A poll conducted March 11-14 of 2007 found that the majority of the American public (59%) believes we are already seeing the effects of Global Warming, an additional 3% and 8% respectively believe they will see the effects with in a few years or within their lifetime, and 19% believe that Global Warming will be seen, not in their lifetime, but in future generations—only a small minority 8% believe that Global Warming will never happen. <ref>Poling report on Gallup poll for March 11-14, 2007[http://www.pollingreport.com/enviro.htm]</ref>.

== Scientists ==

[[Image:Rogerrevelle.jpg|thumb|right|100px|Roger Revelle]]

{|
| valign="top" width="35%"|
* [[Roger Revelle]]
* [[Achim Steiner]]
* [[Fred Singer]]
* [[Richard Lindzen]]
* [[Sallie Baliunas]]
* [[Lonnie Thompson]]
| valign="top" width="33%"|
* [[James E. Hansen]]
* [[Michael Mann]]
* [[Charles Keeling]]
* [[Edwin A. Hernández-Delgado]]
|}

==External links==

*[http://schwinger.harvard.edu/~motl/global-temperature-not-exist.pdf Does a global temperature exist?], ''Journal of Non-Equilibrium Thermodynamics'', June 2007.
*[http://www.magma.ca/~hurleyp/FightingTheHoax.htm Fighting the Hoax]
*[http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,2032821,00.html The appliance of science] by Mike Hulme.
*[http://www.climatecrisis.net/ ''An Inconvenient Truth''], Film by [[Al Gore]]
*[http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2332531355859226455&q=great+global+warming+swindle ''The Great Global Warming Swindle'' - Documentary Film]
*[http://www.physics.harvard.edu/%7Emotl/iris-effect.pdf Climate Sensitivity and Observed Negative Feedbacks], lecture by Richard Lindzen and Roberto Rondanelli.
*[http://www.physics.harvard.edu/%7Emotl/lindzen-nature-of-arguments.pdf Nature of Arguments for Anthropogenic Global Warming], by Richard Lindzen
*[http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=42 ''Hot Talk, Cold Science: Global Warmings's Unfinished Debate'', by S. Fred Singer]
*[http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv15n2/reg15n2g.html Global Warming: The Origin and Nature of the Alleged Scientific Consensus] - [[Richard S. Lindzen]], Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=47&articleID=604 "Should We Have Acted Thirty Years Ago to Prevent Climate Change?", by Randall G. Holcombe].
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=25&articleID=296 "After Kyoto: A Global Scramble for Advantage," by Bruce Yandle].
*[http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20030825-090130-5881r.htm Global warming smear targets]
*[http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=2319 The physical evidence of earth's unstoppable 1,500-year climate cycle]
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1714 "Is There a Basis for Global Warming Alarm?", by Richard Lindzen]
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/policy_reports/detail.asp?type=full&id=5 "New Perspectives in Climate Change: What the EPA Isn’t Telling Us"]
*[http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=17181 Survey Shows Climatologists Are Split on Global Warming]

==References==

<references/>

[[category:earth science]]
[[category:Liberal Falsehoods]]

Franklin D. Roosevelt

2007-05-20T05:06:59Z

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{{rewrite|too much about decision to run for a third term, not enough about his depression-era economic ideas, not enough about the Second World War, too much attention paid to the Bible}}
{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="250" style="margin-left:5px"
|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:509px-FDR in 1933.jpg|200px]]
|-
!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; height: 30px; background: Indigo no-repeat scroll top left;"|Franklin Roosevelt;
Thirty-second President of the United States
|-
|Born
|January 30, 1882
|-
|Died
|April 12, 1945
|-
|Term
|1933-1945
|-
|}
'''Franklin Delano Roosevelt''' was the 32nd president of the United States of America, following [[Herbert Hoover]] and preceding [[Harry Truman]]. Roosevelt was a member of the [[Democratic Party]]. He was elected four times and served a few months longer than 3 terms, from 1933-1945, the longest any one man has been president of the United States. He was elected amidst the uncertainty of the [[Great Depression]].

On April 12, 1945, Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage, due partly to the crippling disease, [[polio]]myelitis, which physically disabled him during his presidency.<ref>http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/fr32.html</ref>

Although Mr. Roosevelt was very popular in his time, it has been argued by scholars and analysts then and now that many [[New Deal]] relief efforts actually helped to prolong the [[Great Depression]]. Mr. Roosevelt started the second wave of the massive expansion of the Federal Government and greatly increased American foreign aid. Some of these policies were viewed as necessary due to the incredibly high level of unemployment in the 1930s and later US involvement in WWII.<ref>http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/32_f_roosevelt/printable.html</ref>.

== Reflections on Christianity ==

Franklin D. Roosevelt, commonly known as "FDR", said this about the Bible in an address on October 6, 1935:

:We cannot read the history of our rise and development as a nation, without reckoning with the place the Bible has occupied in shaping the advances of the Republic ...

:Where we have been the truest and most consistent in obeying its precepts, we have attained the greatest measure of contentment and prosperity.<ref>Quoted in DeMar, ''The Untold Story'', p. 60 and Gabrial Sivan, ''The Bible and Civilization'' (New York: Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Co., 1973), p. 178.</ref>

FDR became famous for delivering "fireside chats" over the new medium of radio, and on March 9, 1937 he declared:

:I hope that you have re-read the Constitution of the United States in these past few weeks. Like the Bible, it ought to be read again and again.

As [[World War II]] broke out in Europe, FDR warned:

:Those forces hate democracy and Christianity as two phases of the same civilization.

== Decision to run for a third term ==
[[Image:Dcrosmor.jpg|right|thumb|330px]]
It is highly questionable whether FDR would have chosen to run for a third term had the [[Nazis]] not experienced such great success early in World War II, particularly in overrunning [[France]], which had been expected to hold out longer. Historian [[Doris Kearns Goodwin]] has explored the implications of triumphant Naziism for FDR's decision in her book ''No Ordinary Time''. While FDR had inaugurated the first system of peacetime [[conscription]] just after France fell, Congress had agreed to conscript men for one year only, and the frontrunner for the [[Republican]] Presidential nomination in 1940, [[Wendell Willkie]], was an isolationist. It was therefore entirely possible that both conscription and the war would end in 1941 with the Nazis in control of all [[Western Europe]] except for [[Britain]], which would be dangerously isolated. FDR's [[Democratic]] [[heir apparent]], [[Vice President]] [[John Nance Garner]] of [[Texas]], was at best lukewarm on both the war and the [[New Deal]]. To avoid this outcome, FDR probably decided to enter the war at the same time he decided to run again, although he was politically unable to do so until the [[Japanese]] attacked [[Pearl Harbor]] in December 1941.

Had FDR chosen not to run in 1940, he would quite likely have lived longer (the impact of the presidency on its occupants' health is infamous, and FDR eventually confided at least to his wife [[Eleanor Roosevelt]] that he wished to live beyond his term). The [[22nd Amendment]] to the [[U. S. Constitution]], if any, would have dealt with something besides term limitation of the President. FDR's reputation would, however, have been determined by the same factors that determined it in real life: the outcome of World War II, the ability of his party to cement its majority, and in the short term, the willingness of his successor to follow his policies. One of these, the close alliance with the [[Soviet Union]], was repudiated almost immediately by Truman, and as a result, Roosevelt is remembered by [[conservatives]] as at best a qualified success. A Republican 33rd President, however, would most likely have appointed anti-New Deal Justices to the [[U. S. Supreme Court]] (particularly had he been elected in 1940), with the result that Roosevelt today would be roundly condemned as a [[demagogue]], notwithstanding his decision to respect [[George Washington]]'s two-term precedent. Since the Republicans did not actually retake the [[White House]] until the [[1952 Presidential election]] (and then through a candidate who was perceived as being above politics), the New Deal had time to be embraced by a new generation of politicians and constitutional scholars of both parties, although not universally (see [[Constitution in exile movement]]). This may have been an equally important factor in Roosevelt's decision.

== Wartime record ==

The following year, on May 27, 1941, FDR stated in one of his radio addresses:

:The Nazis are as ruthless as the Communists in the denial of God.

At the most dificult point in the War, when American boys were landing on the beaches of Normandy, FDR led the nation in prayer publicy during a radio broadcast. <ref>Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, [http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/odddayp.html Franklin Roosevelt's D-Day Prayer], June 6, 1944.</ref>

"In his second inaugural address, FDR pledged to do his utmost by 'seeking Divine guidance.' He took that self-appointed mandate further on January 25, 1941, when he wrote a personal prologue to a special edition of the New Testament, which was distributed to millions of U.S. soldiers. 'As Commander-in-Chief,' Roosevelt wrote, 'I take pleasure in commending the reading of the Bible to all who serve in the armed forces of the United States.' He believed that all American soldiers should have the opportunity to read the words of Christ in preparing for battle. Once, when joining those soldiers aboard a warship with Winston Churchill, FDR asked the crew and prime minister to join him in singing the hymn 'Onward Christian Soldiers.' In his final inaugural address, FDR affirmed, "So we pray to Him for the vision to see our way clearly ... to achievement of His will.' "<ref>God and George W. Bush (New York: Regan Books, 2004), p. 176</ref>

== Handicap ==

Although FDR had difficulty walking and spent most of his time in a wheelchair, filmed images of his speeches hid this fact by focusing on his body from the waist up.

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=176 "The Mythology of Roosevelt and the New Deal," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_greatdepression.html/ Great Depression]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=12&articleID=139 "On the Brink of World War II: Justus Doenecke’s ''Storm on the Horizon''," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499 "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=113 "How War Amplified Federal Power in the Twentieth Century," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=65 ''Depression, War and Cold War'', by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=138 "Wartime Prosperity?", by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/issues/article.asp?id=1431 Pearl Harbor]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roosevelt, Franklin}}
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II]]

Great Depression

2007-05-20T05:00:03Z

Shadowthedog: /* Recovery */

The '''Great Depression''' was a severe, worldwide economic downturn which lasted from 1929 until around the beginning of [[World War II]] in the early 1940s.

Advocates of different economic systems have traded blame for the depression. Socialists tend to call it a failure of the [[free market]] system, while advocates of [[free market]]s blame the depression on government efforts to transform the U.S. economy into [[Socialism]].

*As documented so well by free-market economists Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, and Murray Rothbard, during the 1920s, the Federal Reserve Board, exercising its power to expand the money supply, caused an inflationary binge — an action which created a false aura of prosperity. When the political authorities — faced with this inflationary threat and restrained by the gold standard — finally ceased the monetary expansion near the end of the decade, the inevitable economic hangover was reflected in the 1929 stock market crash and in generally depressed economic conditions. In other words, contrary to the indoctrination which the American people have received from their political authorities, the Great Depression was not the failure of America's free-enterprise system — it was the failure of political manipulation of money and credit.
*Faced with the Great Depression — a depression which had been caused by government itself — Roosevelt's "solution" was to implement the socialist-fascist economic system under which Americans now suffer. Under the banner of "saving America's free-enterprise system," FDR was directly responsible for the abandonment of America's 150-year history of free enterprise. [http://www.fff.org/freedom/0891a.asp]

== Disaster in the Making ==

The Great Depression has central place in twentieth century economic history. In its shadow, all other depressions are insignificant. Whether assessed by the relative shortfall of production from trend, by the duration of slack production, or by the product-depth times duration-of these two measures, the Great Depression is an order of magnitude larger than other depressions: it is off the scale. All other depressions and recessions are from an aggregate perspective (although not from the perspective of those left unemployed or bankrupt) little more than ripples on the tide of ongoing economic growth. The Great Depression cast the survival of the economic system, and the political order, into serious doubt.

As early as 1925, then-[[Secretary of Commerce]] Hoover had warned President Coolidge that stock market speculation was getting out of hand. Yet in his final [[State of the Union Address]], Coolidge saw no reason for alarm. "No Congress...ever assembled has met with a more pleasing prospect than that which appears at the present time"...said Coolidge early in 1929. "In the domestic field there is tranquility and contentment...and the highest record of prosperity in years."

[[Al Smith]]'s campaign manager, [[General Motors]] executive John J. Raskob, agreed. In an article entitled "Everybody Ought to be Rich" Raskob declared, "Prosperity is in the nature of an endless chain and we can break it only by refusing to see what it is." President-elect Hoover disagreed. Even before his inauguration he urged the [[Federal Reserve]] to halt "crazy and dangerous" gambling on [[Wall Street]] by increasing the discount rate the Fed charged banks for speculative loans. He asked magazines and newspapers to run stories warning of the dangers of rampant speculation.

Once in the office, the new president ordered a reluctant [[Andrew Mellon]], his holdover secretary of the treasury, to promote the purchase of bonds instead of stocks. He sent his friend Henry Robinson, a Los Angeles banker, to convey a cautionary message to the financiers of Wall Street--and received in return a long, scoffing memorandum from Thomas W. Lamont of [[J.P. Morgan]] and Company. When the [[Federal Reserve Board]] that August did take steps to check the flow of speculative credit, New York bankers defied Washington, the National City Bank alone promising $100 million in fresh loans. An angry Hoover let the president of the New York [[Stock Exchange]] know that he was thinking of regulatory steps to curb stock manipulation and other excesses. Yet he undercut his own threat by placing ultimate responsibility for such measures on New York State's new governor, [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], who was already contemplating running against Hoover.

Presidents in 1929 were not supposed to regulate Wall Street, or even talk about the gyrating market for fear of inadvertently setting off a panic. Hoover had his own reasons for keeping quiet. His conscience was pained after a friend took his advice to buy an issue that later nosedived. "To clear myself," the president told intimates, "I just bought it back and I have never advised anybody since."

By early September, 1929 the market was topping out, some eighty two points above its January plateau. In eighteen months, General Electric had tripled in value, reaching $396 per share. Other blue chips, fueled by more than $8 billion in brokers' loans, enjoyed similar rises. The last week of October, however, brought a terrible reckoning. On October 24 alone, radio stocks lost 40% of their paper value. [[Montgomery Ward]] surrendered thirty-three points. Big bankers tried and failed to stem the dizzying decline in [[U.S. Steel]], a bellwether stock.

== A Day of Reckoning ==

On Black Tuesday, the twenty-ninth, the market collapsed. In the words of a gray haired Stock Exchange guard, "They roared like a lot of lions and tigers. They hollered and screamed, they clawed at one another collars. It was like a bunch of crazy men. Every once in a while, when Radio or Steel or Auburn would take another tumble, you'd see some poor devil collapse and fall to the floor."

In a single day, sixteen million shares were traded--a record--and thirty billion dollars vanished into thin air. [[Westinghouse]] lost two thirds of its September value. DuPont dropped seventy points. The "Era of Get Rich Quick" was over. Jack Dempsey, America's first millionaire athlete, lost $3 million. Cynical New York hotel clerks asked incoming guests, "You want a room for sleeping or jumping?"

Refusing to accept the "natural" economic cycle in which a market crash was followed by cuts in business investment, production and wages, Hoover summoned industrialists to the White House on November 21, part of a round robin of conferences with business, labor, and farm leaders, and secured a promise to hold the line on wages. [[Henry Ford]] even agreed to increase workers' daily pay from six to seven dollars. From the nation's utilities, Hoover won commitments of $1.8 billion in new construction and repairs for 1930. Railroad executives made a similar pledge. Organized labor agreed to withdraw its latest wage demands.

The President ordered federal departments to speed up construction projects. He contacted all forty-eight state governors to make a similar appeal for expanded public works. He went to Congress with a $160 million tax cut, coupled with a doubling of resources for public buildings and dams, highways and harbors. In December of 1929, Hoover's friend Julius Barnes of the [[U.S. Chamber of Commerce]] presided over the first meeting of the National Business Survey Conference, a task force of four hundred leading businessmen designated to enforce the voluntary agreements. Looking back at the year, the "[[New York Times]]" judged Commander Richard Byrd's expedition to the South Pole-- not the Wall Street crash-- the biggest news story of 1929.

Praise for Hoover's intervention was widespread. "No one in his place could have done more," concluded the ''"New York Times"'' in the spring of 1930, by which time the Little Bull Market had restored a measure of confidence on Wall Street. "Very few of his predecessors could have done as much." concluded the Times. On February 18 Hoover announced that the preliminary shock had passed, and that employment was again on the mend. In June, a delegation of bishops and bankers called at the White House to warn of spreading joblessness. Hoover reminded them of his successful conferences with business and labor, and the explosion of government activity and public works designed to alleviate suffering. "Gentlemen," he concluded, "you have come six weeks too late".

== Even a Panic Is Not Altogether a Bad Thing... ==

The first instinct of governments and central banks faced with this gathering Depression began was to do nothing. Businessmen, economists, and politicians (memorably Secretary of the Treasury Mellon) expected the recession of 1929-1930 to be self-limiting. Earlier recessions had come to an end when the gap between actual and trend production was as large as in 1930. They expected workers with idle hands and capitalists with idle machines to try to undersell their still at-work peers. Prices would fall. When prices fell enough, entrepreneurs would gamble that even with slack demand production would be profitable at the new, lower wages. Production would then resume.

Throughout the decline--which carried production per worker down to a level 40 percent below that which it had attained in 1929, and which saw the unemployment rise to take in more than a quarter of the labor force--the government did not try to prop up aggregate demand. The Federal Reserve did not use open market operations to keep the money supply from falling. Instead the only significant systematic use of open market operations was in the other direction: to raise interest rates and discourage gold outflows after the United Kingdom abandoned the gold standard in the fall of 1931. The Federal Reserve thought it knew what it was doing: it was letting the private sector handle the Depression in its own fashion. It saw the private sector's task as the "liquidation" of the American economy. And it feared that expansionary monetary policy would impede the necessary private-sector process of readjustment.

Contemplating the wreck of his country's economy and his own political career, Herbert Hoover wrote bitterly in retrospect about those in his administration who had advised inaction during the downslide:

The 'leave-it-alone liquidationists' headed by Secretary of the Treasury Mellonfelt that government must keep its hands off and let the slump liquidate itself. Mr. Mellon had only one formula: 'Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers, liquidate real estate'.He held that even panic was not altogether a bad thing. He said: 'It will purge the rottenness out of the system. High costs of living and high living will come down. People will work harder, live a more moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people'

But Hoover had been one of the most enthusiastic proponents of "liquidationism" during the Great Depression. And the unwillingness to use policy to prop up the economy during the slide into the Depression was backed by a large chorus, and approved by the most eminent economists.

For example, from [[Harvard]] [[Joseph Schumpeter]] argued that there was a "presumption against remedial measures which work through money and credit. Policies of this class are particularly apt to produce additional trouble for the future." From Schumpeter's perspective, "depressions are not simply evils, which we might attempt to suppress, butforms of something which has to be done, namely, adjustment to change." This socially productive function of depressions creates "the chief difficulty" faced by economic policy makers. For "most of what would be effective in remedying a depression would be equally effective in preventing this adjustment."

From London, [[Friedrich Hayek]] found it:

*''...still more difficult to see what lasting good effects can come from credit expansion. The thing which is most needed to secure healthy conditions is the most speedy and complete adaptation possible of the structure of production.If the proportion as determined by the voluntary decisions of individuals is distorted by the creation of artificial demand resources [are] again led into a wrong direction and a definite and lasting adjustment is again postponed.The only way permanently to 'mobilise' all available resources is, thereforeto leave it to time to effect a permanent cure by the slow process of adapting the structure of production...''
Hayek and company believed that enterprises are gambles which sometimes fail: a future comes to pass in which certain investments should not have been made. The best that can be done in such circumstances is to shut down those production processes that turned out to have been based on assumptions about future demands that did not come to pass. The liquidation of such investments and businesses releases factors of production from unprofitable uses; they can then be redeployed in other sectors of the technologically dynamic economy. Without the initial liquidation the redeployment cannot take place. And, said Hayek, depressions are this process of liquidation and preparation for the redeployment of resources.

As Schumpeter put it, policy does not allow a choice between depression and no depression, but between depression now and a worse depression later: "inflation pushed far enough [would] undoubtedly turn depression into the sham prosperity so familiar from European postwar experience, [and]... would, in the end, lead to a collapse worse than the one it was called in to remedy." For "recovery is sound only if it does come of itself. For any revival which is merely due to artificial stimulus leaves part of the work of depressions undone and adds, to an undigested remnant of maladjustment, new maladjustment of its own which has to be liquidated in turn, thus threatening business with another [worse] crisis ahead"

This doctrine--that in the long run the Great Depression would turn out to have been "good medicine" for the economy, and that proponents of stimulative policies were shortsighted enemies of the public welfare--drew anguished cries of dissent from those less hindered by their theoretical blinders. British economist Ralph Hawtrey scorned those who, like Robbins and Hayek, wrote at the nadir of the Great Depression that the greatest danger the economy faced was inflation. It was, Hawtrey said, the equivalent of "Crying, 'Fire! Fire!' in Noah's flood."

[[John Maynard Keynes]] also tried to bury the liquidationists in ridicule. Later on [[Milton Friedman]] would recall that at the Chicago University where he went to graduate school such dangerous nonsense was not taught--but that he understood why at Harvard-where such nonsense was taught-bright young economists might rebel, reject their teachers' macroeconomics, and become followers of Keynes. ''Friedman thought that Keynesianism was wrong--but not crazy.''

However, the "liquidationist" view carried the day. Even governments that had unrestricted international freedom of action--like France and the United States with their massive gold reserves--tended not to pursue expansionary monetary and fiscal policies on the grounds that such would reduce investor "confidence" and hinder the process of liquidation, reallocation, and the resumption of private investment.

== Boom or Bust ==

For most of our history Americans have been resigned to the "boom and bust" school of economics. When the economy got overheated and speculation ran rampant, a crash was unavoidable. Under such circumstances the best government could do was to do nothing that might make a bad thing worse. "Panics" had occurred in the 1830's under President [[Martin Van Buren]], in the 1850s under [[James Buchanan]], during [[Ulysses S. Grant]]'s term in the 1870s and, most notably, under [[Grover Cleveland]] in the 1890s.

None of these presidents did much to stem the deflation in prices, contraction of investment, and loss of jobs that resulted--for the simple reason that standard economic theory held there was little if anything they could do. Then, in 1921, a post war slump led President [[Warren Harding]] to name Hoover as chairman of a special conference to deal with unemployment. "There is no economic failure so terrible in its import," Hoover declared at the time, "as that of a country possessing a surplus of every necessity of life in which numbers...willing and anxious to work are deprived of dire necessities. It simply cannot be if our moral and economic system is to survive.

This view explains President Hoover's vigorous counterattack in the wake of Wall Street's initial tumble. Not all of his advisers were so willing to abandon Boom and Bust theories. As late as 1930, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon held that a panic might not be such a bad thing. "It will purge the rottenness out of the system," he added. "High costs of living...will come down. People will work harder, live a moral life. Values will be adjusted, and enterprising people will pick up the wrecks from less competent people." Mellon lost out, however, and was packed off by President Hoover to the [[Court of Saint James]].

== Why the "Great" Depression? ==

Economists are still divided about what caused the Great Depression, and what turned a relatively mild downturn into a decade-long nightmare. Hoover himself emphasized the dislocations brought on by World War I, the rickety structure of American banking, excessive stock speculation and Congress' refusal to act on many of his proposals. The president's critics argued that in approving the [[Smoot-Hawley Tariff]] in the spring of 1930, he unintentionally raised barriers around U.S. products, worsened the plight of debtor nations and set off a round of retaliatory measures that crippled global trade.

Neither claim went far enough. In truth Hoover's celebration of technology failed to anticipate the end of a postwar building boom, or a glut of 26,000,000 new cars and other consumer goods flooding the market. [[Agriculture]], mired in depression for much of the 1920's, was deprived of cash it needed to take part in the consumer revolution. At the same time, the average worker's wages of $1,500 a year failed to keep pace with the spectacular gains in productivity achieved since 1920. By 1929 production was outstripping demand.

The United States had too many banks, and too many of them played the stock market with depositors' funds, or speculated in their own stocks. Only a third or so belonged to the Federal Reserve System on which Hoover placed such reliance. In addition, government had yet to devise [[insurance]] for the jobless or income maintenance for the destitute. When unemployment resulted, buying power vanished overnight. Since most people were carrying a heavy debt-load even before the crash, the onset of recession in the spring of 1930 meant that they simply stopped spending.

Together government and business actually spent more in the first half of 1930 than the previous year. Yet frightened consumers cut back their expenditures by ten percent. A severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland beginning in the summer of 1930. Foreign banks went under, draining U.S. wealth and destroying world trade. The combination of all these factors caused a downward spiral, as earning fell, domestic banks collapsed, and mortgages were called in. Hoover's hold the line policy in wages lasted little more than a year. Unemployment soared from five million in 1930 to over eleven million in 1931. A sharp recession had become the Great Depression.

Nevertheless, a large part of the puzzle remains: roughly half of Depression unemployment was concentrated among long-term unemployed who could not take advantage of subsidized relief-work schemes.

This form of unemployment, principally long-term and somewhat of a residual category is, in the eyes of Eichengreen and Hatton and their contributors, the key to the persistence of the Depression. Long-term unemployment was strongly present in those countries that suffered worst from the Depression, including non-European nations like [[Australia]], [[Canada]], and the United States and European nations like [[Britain]], [[Germany]], [[Italy]], and the gold block nations of [[France]] and [[Belgium]]. Of these only Germany achieved a strong recovery from the Depression in the 1930's.

Long-term unemployment means that the burden of economic dislocation is unequally borne. Since the prices workers must pay often fall faster than wages, the welfare of those who remain employed frequently rises in a depression. Those who become and stay unemployed bear far more than their share of the burden of a depression. Moreover the reintegration of the unemployed into even a smoothly-functioning market economy may prove difficult, for what employer would not prefer a fresh entrant into the labor force to someone out of work for years? The simple fact that an economy has recently undergone a period of mass unemployment may make it difficult to attain levels of employment and boom that a luckier economy attains as a matter of course.Once an economy had fallen deeply into the Great Depression, devalued exchange rates, prudent and moderate government budget deficits (as opposed to the deficits involved in fighting major wars), and the passage of time all appeared equally ineffective ways of dealing with long-term unemployment. Highly centralized and unionized labor markets like Australia's and decentralized and laissez-faire labor markets like that of the United States did equally poorly in dealing with long-term unemployment. [[Fascist]] "solutions" were equally unsuccessful, as the case of Italy shows, unless accompanied by rapid rearmament as in Germany.

Even today, economists have no clean answers to the question of why the private sector could not find ways to employ its long-term unemployed. The very extent of persistent unemployment in spite of different labor market structures and national institutions suggests that theories that find one key failure responsible should be taken with a grain of salt.

But should we be surprised that the long-term unemployed do not register their labor supply proportionately strongly? They might accurately suspect that they will be at the end of every selection queue. In the end it was the coming of World War II and its associated demand for military goods that made private sector employers wish to hire the long-term unemployed at wages they would accept.

== The Banking Crisis ==

In the last weeks of his term, Hoover faced a desperate crisis of confidence as uncertain investors sought reassurance that the new administration would defend the [[gold standard]]. On February 17, 1933, the president wrote president-elect Roosevelt, seeking assurances that Roosevelt would balance the budget, combat inflation, and halt publication of loans made by the [[Reconstruction Finance Corporation]]. Roosevelt, sensing that his discredited predecessor was trying to tie his hands, kept silent.

Soon banks in two dozen states began to totter. Hoover denounced corrupt bankers as worse than [[Al Capone]] ("He apparently was kind to the poor.") He proposed that the Federal Reserve guarantee every depositor's account in the nation. The idea of deposit insurance would eventually become law, but in February, 1933 the Reserve's governors preferred a general bank holiday instead. Hoover refused to take such a drastic action without Roosevelt's agreement. And FDR had his own agenda.

Twice on the night of March 3, Hoover telephoned the president-elect trying to persuade him to join in concerted action. FDR replied that governors were free to do what they wished on a state by state basis. A little after one in the morning, the Governors of New York and Illinois unilaterally suspended banking operations in their states. "We are at the end of our string," President Hoover remarked to his secretary that morning, "there is nothing more we can do."

== The Drought ==
The drought hit first in the eastern part of the country in 1930. In 1931, it moved toward the west. By 1934 it had turned the Great Plains into a desert. "If you would like to have your heart broken, just come out here," wrote Ernie Pyle, a roving reporter in Kansas, just north of the Oklahoma border, in June of 1936. "This is the dust-storm country. It is the saddest land I have ever seen."

The [[Dust Bowl]] got its name on April 15, 1935, the day after Black Sunday. Robert Geiger, a reporter for the [[Associated Press]], traveled through the region and wrote the following: "Three little words achingly familiar on a Western farmer's tongue, rule life in the dust bowl of the continent - if it rains." The term stuck, spreading to radio broadcasts and publications, in private letters and public speeches.

The [[Soil Conservation Service]] used the term on their maps to describe "the western third of [[Kansas]], Southeastern [[Colorado]], the [[Oklahoma]] Panhandle, the northern two-thirds of the [[Texas]] Panhandle, and northeastern [[New Mexico]]." The SCS Dust Bowl region included some surrounding area, to cover one-third of the Great Plains, close to 100 million acres, 500 miles by 300 miles. It is thought that Geiger was referring to an earlier image of the plains coined by William Gilpin, who had compared the great plains to a fertile bowl, rimmed by mountains. Residents hated the label, which was thought to play a part in diminishing property values and business prospects in the region.

The Drought alone did not cause the black blizzards. Although dry spells are unavoidable in the region, occurring roughly every 25 years, it was the combination of drought and misuse of the land that led to the incredible devastation of the Dust Bowl years. Originally covered with grasses that held the fine soil in place, the land of the southern plains was plowed by settlers who brought their farming techniques with them when they homesteaded the area. Wheat crops, in high demand during [[World War I]], exhausted the topsoil. Overgrazing by cattle and sheep herds stripped the western plains of their cover. When the drought hit, the land just blew away in the wind.

A letter from an Oklahoma woman, later published in [[Reader's Digest]] magazine, recalls June of 1935. "In the dust-covered desolation of our No Man's Land here, wearing our shade hats, with handkerchiefs tied over our faces and vaseline in our nostrils, we have been trying to rescue our home from the wind-blown dust which penetrates wherever air can go. It is almost a hopeless task, for there is rarely a day when at some time the dust clouds do not roll over. 'Visibility' approaches zero and everything is covered again with a silt-like deposit which may vary in depth from a film to actual ripples on the kitchen floor."

Beginning in 1935, federal conservation programs were created to rehabilitate the Dust Bowl, changing the basic farming methods of the region by seeding areas with grass, rotating crops, and using contour plowing, strip plowing, and planting "shelter belts" of trees to break the wind. Farmers were defensive when outsiders criticized their farming methods. Only when they were paid did they begin to put the new farming techniques into practice. The dollar per acre they earned often meant the difference between being able to stay a bit longer or having to abandon their land. As historian Robert Worster wrote, "The ultimate meaning of the dust storms of the 1930s was that America as a whole, not just the plains, was badly out of balance with its natural environment. Unbounded optimism about the future, careless disregard of nature's limits and uncertainties, devotion to self-aggrandizement - all these were national as well as regional characteristics."

== The New Deal ==

== Recovery ==

[http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/hh31.html] [http://www.stock-market-crash.net/1929.htm] [http://econ161.berkeley.edu/TCEH/Slouch_Crash14.html][http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/dustbowl/peopleevents/pandeAMEX07.html] [http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/Hooverstory/gallery07/gallery07.html] [http://www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Enc/GreatDepression.html][http://us.history.wisc.edu/hist102/lectures/lecture18.html][http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/herbert_hoover.php] [http://www.econlib.org/LIBRARY/Enc/GreatDepression.html] [http://www.suffolk.lib.ny.us/youth/jcssgreatdepression.html] [http://www.auburn.edu/~polisci/U102/spin-sp95/depress8.html][http://www.coe.uh.edu/courses/cuin6373/idhistory/index.html] [http://www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi/jb/wwii/stockmrkt_1][http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/research.html]
[[category:United States History]]
[[Category:Great Depression]]

== External Links ==
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=26&articleID=320 "The Great Depression Revisited," by Roger Garrison]
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_greatdepression.html/ Great Depression]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=34&articleID=430 "Regime Uncertainty: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?articleID=30&issueID=6 "Reflections on Reflections: A Consensus about the Great Depression?," by Roger Garrison]
* [http://www.mises.org/store/Americas-Great-Depression-P63C0.aspx ''America's Great Depression'', by Murray Rothbard]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=176 "The Mythology of Roosevelt and the New Deal," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=65 ''Depression, War and Cold War'', by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.mises.org/story/2344 "Prophet of the Great Depression: Ludwig von Mises," by Frank Shostak]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=23&articleID=280 "Review of ''The Political Economy of the New Deal'', by Jim F. Couch and William F. Shughart II", reviewed by Gene Smiley]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=138 "Wartime Prosperity?", by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1836 "Our Economic Past: When the Government Took Over U.S. Investment," by Robert Higgs]

World War II

2007-05-20T04:41:49Z

Shadowthedog: /* External Links */

'''World War II''' was a global conflict fought between the [[Allies|Allied]] powers including the [[United States]], the [[Soviet Union]], [[Britain]], [[France]], Australia, Canada and many other nations and the [[Axis (WWII)|Axis]] powers (mainly [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[Germany]], [[Fascism|Fascist]] [[Italy]], and Imperial [[Japan]]). The war is usually considered to have started on September 1, 1939 with the invasion of [[Poland]] by Nazi Germany. During the war, eight major world powers fought, along with several lesser states joining with one side or the other. On the side which lost were the Axis Powers Germany, [[Japan]], and [[Italy]]. Against them were the Allied Powers [[United States]], [[Great Britain]] and the Commonwealth, the [[Soviet Union]], [[France]], and [[China]] (which was friendly to the West at the time.) Russia entered the war on the side of the Allies after Germany launched an attack codenamed [[Operation_Barbarossa|Barbarossa]], while Britain declared war in reaction to Germany's aggression against [[Poland]].

==Causes==
The causes of World War II are complicated. The immediate causes of World War II are generally held to be the Japanese attacks on China, the United States, the British and Dutch colonies; and the German invasion of Poland on the 1st September 1939. Following the two day deadline for the withdrawl of German forces, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on Germany, followed quickly by France, South Africa, Canada and Nepal.

One major cause of German aggression may be the fervent [[Nationalism]] that became the norm in Germany post-[[World War I]]. Germans were eager to reaffirm their position as a major player on the world stage.{{fact}}

The state of Germany in the aftermatch of World War I is also considered to be a contributing factor. Due to the harsh terms of the treaty ending the first World War, Germany was not only humiliated, but pushed into economic ruin. The German currency which used to trade at 4 to a dollar eventually became over 1 trillion to the dollar. (Yes, that's not a typo). Under such deplorable conditions, anyone who could make them rise again would be viewed almost as a savior. The scene was set for Hitler.

== German Tactics ==
The major tactical innovation of the war was the use of combined arms warfare, typified by the German doctrine of [[blitzkrieg]]. In this style of warfare armor, infantry, artillery and air power (see [[Luftwaffe]]) all coordinate to achieve overwhelming superiority at point on the enemy lines. Armor and fast-moving infantry units then exploit the gap and penetrate deep behind enemy lines. The objective is to cause a widespread collapse of the enemy's ability to fight. It was particularly effective during the early stages of the war, before the Allies developed effective countermeasures.

==War in Europe 1939-1941==
The French and British were initially reluctant to honour promises to the Polish government, avoiding serious consideration of an invasion of Germany. The British failed to send land forces in time to support the Poles (see [[Western betrayal]]). The French mobilized slowly and then launched a token offensive in the Saar. The Meanwhile, on September 8, the Germans reached Warsaw, having slashed through the Polish defenses.

Following the completion of the invasion of Poland, German forces regrouped and Allied forces remained defensive, leading US commentators to dub it the [[Phoney War]]. This perception was not shared in [[Finland]], which fought a Soviet invasion started on November 30 1939. Despite the overwhelming numbers of the [[Red Army]], the Finnish resistance was strong and the battle was hard fought before the Soviet army took control.

May 10 1940 marked the end of any accustion of a phoney war, with the invasion of France by Germany, via [[The Netherlands]], [[Luxembourg]] and [[Beligium]]. Resistance by the British armies and French armies proved weak and the occupation of France began. British troops were able to evacuate mainland Europe at Dunkirk. France was divided into the northern [[Occupied France]] and the collaborationist [[Vichy regime]] in the south of France, including [[Corsica]].

The collapse and occupation of France, together with Germany's alliance with the Soviet Union, fascist Italy, benevolent neutrality of fascist Spain and Portugal, with little of Europe outside of Axis hands led many to assume that the United Kingdom had been defeated. Indeed it would appear that the, seemingly foolish, decision of the relatively weak United Kingdom to continue the war took the Axis powers off guard. This decision ensured the remaining British Empire was still involved in the war, with Japan threatening many British possessions in Asia.

In 1940 [[Denmark]] and [[Norway]] were invaded by German forces, to preempt a British occupation of Norway. Norway also contained a source of [[Heavy water]], possibly crucial in the construction of an atomic weapon. This was soon followed by the British invasion of neutral [[Iceland]] (the invasion of [[Denmark]] by German forces marks the start of an independent Iceland).

With Britain the sole opposing European nation, the [[Battle of Britain]] commenced. The [[Luftwaffe]] attempted to achieve aerial dominance over the south of Britain, in order to allow a sea based invasion of Britain to proceed. For many months the [[Royal Air Force]] and Luftwaffe fought for dominance, with the resilience of the RAF, with British, Canadian and Polish pilots forced a rethink of [[German]] tactics. The period that followed is known as the [[Blitz]], where the RAF and Luftwaffe attempted to undermine the infrastructure of the opposing country. This was a period of great economic devastation, which took both countries a considerable period to recover from. More seriously it led to huge numbers of civilian deaths.

1941 marked the major turning point in the war in Europe, when the Germans put aside plans for an invasion of Britain and undertook [[Operation Barbarossa]] - the invasion of the Soviet Union. In a war of major turning points, this was the most significant in Europe. This miscalculation diminished the German army's capacity. The war against the Soviet Union (known as the [[Great Patriotic War]] in the Soviet Union) demanded a huge dedication of resources and later in the war permitted an invasion of mainland Europe by Allied Forces on [[D-Day]].

==United States Enters the War==
The [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attack on Pearl Harbor]] officially brought the United States into World War Two. Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]] of the Japenese Imperial Navy was against engaging with the United States, due to fear of "waking a sleeping giant". The United States recovered from the shell shock of the initial attack and plunged into the war with the slogan "Remember Pearl Harbor!".

==United States War in the Pacific==
At first the United States was on the defensive, losing Burma, the Phillpines, and other countries under U.S. military protection. The battle of the Coral Sea was the first major engagement with the Japanese that resulted in a draw and set the stage for the battle of Midway a month later. That one battle changed the direction of the war forever, crushing Japanese offensive sea power in one strike. After that, the Japanese were forced to be on the defensive for the rest of the war and never seriously threatened the American military again. In order to shorten the war, the U.S. military chose to adopt a policy of Island Hopping that including bypassing most of the extensive Japanese holdings to instead focus on a relatively straight path leading right to Japan.

==The End of World War II in Asia==
On August 6, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. Then, on August 9, a B-29 dropped the second atomic bomb. On August 20 the Japanese government told the United States they were ready to accept the terms which the Allies proposed. The next day, the Allies replied, saying the authority of the emperor would be "subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers." On August 14 the Japanese government agreed to this.

Then, September 2, 1945, the Japanese government, along with all its military forces, formally surrendered to the United States. This happened in a ceremony aboard a United States battleship, the ''Missouri'', on [[Tokyo Bay]], where the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender]] was signed. This was the ending of World War II, after six years almost to the day.

==Fallout From World War II==

*[[Iron Curtain]]

*British Empire
The war effectively bankrupted Britain, which started the process of dismantling its empire. It was not until 2007 Britain finished paying off the loans to the USA which it had taken to fight Nazi Germany.

*Supremacy of the USA in the Western World
Whilst most countries had seen their economies demolished by the war, the USA had industrialised heavily and made financial gains from sales of arms to other Allied countries.

*Supremacy of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.

*Vietnam War
During the war the French lost their colony of Vietnam to the Japanese. At the end of the war they decided to reassert their colonial mastery, but the Vietnamese now had other ideas. The battle with the French would eventually lead into the Vietnam war after the French defeat and American intervention ensued to prevent the spread of Communism.

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
* United States Department of the Navy/Navy Historical Center's [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq36-4.htm Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz]
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_wwii.html/ World War II]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=12&articleID=139 "On the Brink of World War II: Justus Doenecke’s ''Storm on the Horizon''," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499 "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=113 "How War Amplified Federal Power in the Twentieth Century," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=65 ''Depression, War and Cold War'', by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=138 "Wartime Prosperity?", by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/issues/article.asp?id=1431 Pearl Harbor]
[[Category:World War II| ]]
[[Category:Wars]]

World War I

2007-05-20T04:38:33Z

Shadowthedog: /* External links */

'''World War I''', also known as '''The Great War''', was waged primarily in [[Europe]] from 1914 to 1918. World War I also saw the first use of [[chemical warfare|poisonous gas]], large artillery, and armored [[tank|tanks]]. It was a "[[total war]]" because the governments involved took control over the economy and factories, giving first priority to the goods needed for war. Wage and price controls were imposed, there was rationing of goods for civilians, and free speech was limited. The governments put out [[propaganda]] to maximize support for the war and dislike of the enemy.

On one side of the war were the [[Central Powers]], [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[Second German Empire]], [[Bulgaria]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The [[Allies]] consisted of the [[Britain|British]] and [[France|French Empires]], the Tsarist [[Russian Empire]](until 1917), [[Italy]], [[Japan]], and after 1917, the [[United States]].

=== A Spark Leads to a Fire ===
----
On June 28, 1914, teenage [[Serbia|Serbian]] [[nationalism|nationalist]] [[Gavrilo Princip]] assassinated the Austrian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] and his wife in [[Sarajevo]]. This action led to Austria-Hungary giving an ultimatum [http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/mmontgomery/world_history/world_war1/ultimatum.htm] to Serbia. Serbia refused to comply with the list of demands, and due to a number of military alliances throughout Europe, a full scale war was soon in progress. Serbia requested support from its ally, [[Russia]], which mobilized its military forces. This mobilization led to [[Germany]] invading both Russia and [[France]] (which had an existing alliance with Russia), which was a part of Germany's [[Schlieffen Plan]] of war on two fronts. En route to France, German forces passed through neutral [[Belgium]]. The violation of this neutrality led [[Britain]] to declare war on Germany. Italy had an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but refused to join the war.

=== Great Battles of World War I ===
----
World War I consisted mostly of [[trench warfare]]. This method of waging war was very slow and messy. Soldiers might wait in their trenches for weeks, only to advance a few feet and wait in a new trench. There were four important battles which were fought before America joined the war.

'''[[Battle of Gallipoli]]'''

In April 1915, an amphibious Allied force landed on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in a misguided attempt to knock Turkey out of the war. Although the Allies greatly outnumbered the Turks, the extremely tenacious Turkish fighters held their ground. The Allies did not understand the terrain adequately and suffered from limited knowledge of their enemy. Nine months later the Allies had to withdraw, after suffering 46,000 deaths among over 250,000 casualties.

'''[[Battle of Verdun]]'''

In 1916, the Battle of Verdun between the French and Germans may have been the most demanding battle in world history. The struggle started when the Germans attacked [[Verdun]], France, a city surrounded by a ring of underground forts. At least 220,000 soldiers died, and at least 480,000 were wounded in this 10-month struggle that accomplished nothing. At the end the front lines were in nearly the same locations as at the beginning.

'''[[Battle of the Somme]]'''

Also in 1916, and also in France, the British and French armies met at the Somme River and began a massive attack on the Germans in order to distract them from [[Verdun]]. This became the Battle of the Somme, and the fighting was even heard across the British channel in England. First the Allies shelled the Germans to weaken them, and then 100,000 British soldiers charged the enemy. But the shelling did not have its intended effect, as the Germans were dug in too deeply to be affected by it. On July 1, 1916, the Germans killed 20,000 of the British soldiers and wounded over 40,000, making it the single worst day in British military history. This battle, which did not succeed in moving trench lines, eventually involved over 2 million men along a 30-mile front. The British and French lost nearly 750,000 men.

'''[[Third Battle of Ypres]]'''

For 18 months the British hid 19 huge land mines underneath the German lines southeast of Ypres, Belgium, a location that had already seen battles in 1914 and 1915. The British then detonated those massive mines, and charged the German positions in July 1917. At first the strategy worked, as the Germans were confused and disorganized. But the British did not pursue the Germans as quickly as they should have. Rain began to drench the area in one of the wettest fall seasons there in years. Soon the British forces were stuck in a mountain of mud, and this Allied plan was yet another failure.

=== The United States Joins the War ===
----
For the first three years of World War I, the United States attempted to stay out of the war. The United States had friends and citizens on both sides of the war, and the wise move was not to move, to remain neutral. When the Germans used a [[U-boat]] to sink the ''[[Lusitania]]'' in 1915, killing over one thousand people, the Americans were outraged. Later, when Britain implemented a naval blockade of Germany, the Germans announced they would sink any ship entering or leaving Britain. They held true to their word and sunk three ships from America with the U-boats. The Germans had taken ads out in most American newspapers, warning Americans that they travelled on British ships at their own risk. However, only the [[Des Moines]] Register ran the ads.<ref> Morgan, Hal. ''More Rumor''. New York: Paradox Press, 1987. </ref>America now had many reasons to fight back, but she was still not ready to join the war.

The German Foreign Minister [[Arthur Zimmermann]] sent an encrypted [[Zimmerman Note|telegram]] to the German ambassador in [[Mexico]] which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States. British intelligence intercepted and deciphered the telegram, however, and gave it to the United States to help the British cause. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made the contents of the telgram public. The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had lost to the United States in the [[Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]] which ended the [[Mexican War]] if it would declare was on the United States. At first, the Americans doubted if the telegram was real and thought it had been forged by the British to make America favor them. But then Zimmermann was foolish enough to promise the pledge to Mexico in a public speech.

The Germans had gone too far. On April 2, 1917, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] spoke in favor of declaring war on Germany in an address to the joint houses of [[Congress]]. Congress then formally declared war on April 6, 1917.<ref>http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/usofficialawardeclaration.htm</ref>

=== Russia ===
----
As the United States was entering the war on the side of the Allies, Russia suffered two successive internal Revolutions which would later caused it to withdraw from the side of the Allies and leave the war altogether. The [[February Revolution]] overthrew the centuries-old monarchy of the Tsar; the [[October Revolution]] installed the [[communist]] [[Bolshevik Party]] under [[V.I. Lenin]]. The lack of success against the German and Austrian Empires, and the hyperinflation caused by unsustainable military spending by the Russian government led to much internal discontent and economic chaos.

Losses and hardship of the war had weakened Russian [[Czar Nicholas II]]. He abdicated the throne in March 1917 in favor of a provisional government headed by [[Alexander Kerensky]]. Hopes for a democratic revolution still existed at this time. But in October 1917, [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], and the [[Communist Party]], which was never strong enough to challenge the Czar, overthrew the fledgling provisional government. The Communists later executed every member of the Czar's family including the children.

Lenin became the founder of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] state. He was both a writer and a revolutionary, a rare combination. He was the brother of the "bomb thrower" [[Alexander Ulyanov]] who was hanged for his involvement in terrorist activity and an assassination attempt on Czar Alexander III in 1887. An atheist, he became a [[Marxism|Marxist]] in 1889. He obtained a law degree shortly afterwards, and by 1895 was a subversive who was arrested and sent to the Tsarist gulag along the Lena River in frigid Siberia where he adopted the name Lenin after the place of his internment. Once he served his time he left for Zurich, where he developed his ideas further and became a leader of the [[Bolsheviks]]. He was returned to Russia by the Germans in the wake of chaos during the [[Kerensky]] regime with the hope to led the Bolsheviks to power and negotiate a peace settlement with the Germans. After the [[Treaty of Versailles]] failed to recognize the settlement between Germany and the Soviet Union in the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], he then ruled the Soviet Union and imposed a system of [[Marxism-Leninism]] (communism) that remained in force there until the [[Stalin]]'s rise to power.

=== The Western Front ===
----
The exit of Russia allowed Germany to shift a majority of their troops from the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|eastern front]] to the [[Western Front (World War I)|western front]]. This gave them a final chance to try and break the Allies before the Americans arrived. Known as [[Operation Michael]], the German offensive began in March of 1918.

The Germans launched five major campaigns in a four month period in 1918 on the [[Western Front]]. The Germans had technology and lots of energy. They had elite storm-troopers with automatic rifles, light machine guns, flame-throwers and artillery fire. They used poisonous [[mustard gas]] lavishly. They easily defeated the [[British Fifth Army]]. The Germans were advancing and taking property.

But fresh American troops entered the scene. In the [[Second Battle of the Marne]] in July 1918, the Allies started winning. Nine American divisions fought in this battle about 75 miles northeast of Paris. The Germans started this battle on another one of their offensives, but the Americans turned the tables and enabled the Allies to win it. Casualties were enormous for everyone, including the Americans. Former President [[Teddy Roosevelt]]’s son Quentin was killed in this battle.

American Capt. Jesse Woolridge, 38th Inf., 3rd Division described the battle as follows: “It’s God’s truth that one Company of American soldiers beat and routed a full regiment of picked shock troops of the German Army ... At ten o’clock ... the Germans were carrying back wounded and dead [from] the river bank and we in our exhaustion let them do it - they carried back all but six hundred which we counted later and fifty-two machine guns... We had started with 251 men and 5 lieutenants...I had left 51 men and 2 second lieutenants."

=== The War Ends ===
----
As the Americans and the Allies advanced toward Germany, the Ottoman Turks and Bulgarians surrendered. There was a revolution in Austria-Hungary that overthrew its government, and Germany would not recognize that new government. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne in Germany on November 1918, and the Germans formed a new republic. Members of the German republic signed an armistice (agreement to stop fighting) on November 11, 1918. The "war to end all wars", was over.

=== Aftermath ===
----
Austria-Hungary was dismantled, mostly along ethnic lines. The Ottoman Empire was also dismantled. For the first time in over 1000 years Palestine was not under Muslim control, as Britian assumed control of the area as a colony. Germany was forced to sign the [[Treaty of Versailles]] accepting full responsibility for the war and had to pay for the entire cost of the war. This led Germany into economic collapse and sowed the seeds for anyone who could get them out of this collapse and restore their pride to be view as almost a savior. Italy felt they were shortchanged in their portion of the spoils and led to a bitterness that would cause them to side with Germany in the years ahead. The initial causes of the war, alliances and imperialism, were not dealt with. Only 20 years after the Treaty of Versailles, [[World War II]] would start.

==Further reading==
*''War By Time-Table: How the First World War Began'', A.J.P. Taylor, New York: American Heritage, 1969.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:World War I| ]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_wwi.html/ World War I]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1345 "American Foreign Policy: The Turning Point, 1898–1919," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499 "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard91.html "War Collectivism in World War I," by Murray N. Rothbard]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=40&articleID=506 "The Great War Retold," by Ralph Raico]

World War II

2007-05-20T04:35:38Z

Shadowthedog: /* External Links */

'''World War II''' was a global conflict fought between the [[Allies|Allied]] powers including the [[United States]], the [[Soviet Union]], [[Britain]], [[France]], Australia, Canada and many other nations and the [[Axis (WWII)|Axis]] powers (mainly [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[Germany]], [[Fascism|Fascist]] [[Italy]], and Imperial [[Japan]]). The war is usually considered to have started on September 1, 1939 with the invasion of [[Poland]] by Nazi Germany. During the war, eight major world powers fought, along with several lesser states joining with one side or the other. On the side which lost were the Axis Powers Germany, [[Japan]], and [[Italy]]. Against them were the Allied Powers [[United States]], [[Great Britain]] and the Commonwealth, the [[Soviet Union]], [[France]], and [[China]] (which was friendly to the West at the time.) Russia entered the war on the side of the Allies after Germany launched an attack codenamed [[Operation_Barbarossa|Barbarossa]], while Britain declared war in reaction to Germany's aggression against [[Poland]].

==Causes==
The causes of World War II are complicated. The immediate causes of World War II are generally held to be the Japanese attacks on China, the United States, the British and Dutch colonies; and the German invasion of Poland on the 1st September 1939. Following the two day deadline for the withdrawl of German forces, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on Germany, followed quickly by France, South Africa, Canada and Nepal.

One major cause of German aggression may be the fervent [[Nationalism]] that became the norm in Germany post-[[World War I]]. Germans were eager to reaffirm their position as a major player on the world stage.{{fact}}

The state of Germany in the aftermatch of World War I is also considered to be a contributing factor. Due to the harsh terms of the treaty ending the first World War, Germany was not only humiliated, but pushed into economic ruin. The German currency which used to trade at 4 to a dollar eventually became over 1 trillion to the dollar. (Yes, that's not a typo). Under such deplorable conditions, anyone who could make them rise again would be viewed almost as a savior. The scene was set for Hitler.

== German Tactics ==
The major tactical innovation of the war was the use of combined arms warfare, typified by the German doctrine of [[blitzkrieg]]. In this style of warfare armor, infantry, artillery and air power (see [[Luftwaffe]]) all coordinate to achieve overwhelming superiority at point on the enemy lines. Armor and fast-moving infantry units then exploit the gap and penetrate deep behind enemy lines. The objective is to cause a widespread collapse of the enemy's ability to fight. It was particularly effective during the early stages of the war, before the Allies developed effective countermeasures.

==War in Europe 1939-1941==
The French and British were initially reluctant to honour promises to the Polish government, avoiding serious consideration of an invasion of Germany. The British failed to send land forces in time to support the Poles (see [[Western betrayal]]). The French mobilized slowly and then launched a token offensive in the Saar. The Meanwhile, on September 8, the Germans reached Warsaw, having slashed through the Polish defenses.

Following the completion of the invasion of Poland, German forces regrouped and Allied forces remained defensive, leading US commentators to dub it the [[Phoney War]]. This perception was not shared in [[Finland]], which fought a Soviet invasion started on November 30 1939. Despite the overwhelming numbers of the [[Red Army]], the Finnish resistance was strong and the battle was hard fought before the Soviet army took control.

May 10 1940 marked the end of any accustion of a phoney war, with the invasion of France by Germany, via [[The Netherlands]], [[Luxembourg]] and [[Beligium]]. Resistance by the British armies and French armies proved weak and the occupation of France began. British troops were able to evacuate mainland Europe at Dunkirk. France was divided into the northern [[Occupied France]] and the collaborationist [[Vichy regime]] in the south of France, including [[Corsica]].

The collapse and occupation of France, together with Germany's alliance with the Soviet Union, fascist Italy, benevolent neutrality of fascist Spain and Portugal, with little of Europe outside of Axis hands led many to assume that the United Kingdom had been defeated. Indeed it would appear that the, seemingly foolish, decision of the relatively weak United Kingdom to continue the war took the Axis powers off guard. This decision ensured the remaining British Empire was still involved in the war, with Japan threatening many British possessions in Asia.

In 1940 [[Denmark]] and [[Norway]] were invaded by German forces, to preempt a British occupation of Norway. Norway also contained a source of [[Heavy water]], possibly crucial in the construction of an atomic weapon. This was soon followed by the British invasion of neutral [[Iceland]] (the invasion of [[Denmark]] by German forces marks the start of an independent Iceland).

With Britain the sole opposing European nation, the [[Battle of Britain]] commenced. The [[Luftwaffe]] attempted to achieve aerial dominance over the south of Britain, in order to allow a sea based invasion of Britain to proceed. For many months the [[Royal Air Force]] and Luftwaffe fought for dominance, with the resilience of the RAF, with British, Canadian and Polish pilots forced a rethink of [[German]] tactics. The period that followed is known as the [[Blitz]], where the RAF and Luftwaffe attempted to undermine the infrastructure of the opposing country. This was a period of great economic devastation, which took both countries a considerable period to recover from. More seriously it led to huge numbers of civilian deaths.

1941 marked the major turning point in the war in Europe, when the Germans put aside plans for an invasion of Britain and undertook [[Operation Barbarossa]] - the invasion of the Soviet Union. In a war of major turning points, this was the most significant in Europe. This miscalculation diminished the German army's capacity. The war against the Soviet Union (known as the [[Great Patriotic War]] in the Soviet Union) demanded a huge dedication of resources and later in the war permitted an invasion of mainland Europe by Allied Forces on [[D-Day]].

==United States Enters the War==
The [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attack on Pearl Harbor]] officially brought the United States into World War Two. Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]] of the Japenese Imperial Navy was against engaging with the United States, due to fear of "waking a sleeping giant". The United States recovered from the shell shock of the initial attack and plunged into the war with the slogan "Remember Pearl Harbor!".

==United States War in the Pacific==
At first the United States was on the defensive, losing Burma, the Phillpines, and other countries under U.S. military protection. The battle of the Coral Sea was the first major engagement with the Japanese that resulted in a draw and set the stage for the battle of Midway a month later. That one battle changed the direction of the war forever, crushing Japanese offensive sea power in one strike. After that, the Japanese were forced to be on the defensive for the rest of the war and never seriously threatened the American military again. In order to shorten the war, the U.S. military chose to adopt a policy of Island Hopping that including bypassing most of the extensive Japanese holdings to instead focus on a relatively straight path leading right to Japan.

==The End of World War II in Asia==
On August 6, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. Then, on August 9, a B-29 dropped the second atomic bomb. On August 20 the Japanese government told the United States they were ready to accept the terms which the Allies proposed. The next day, the Allies replied, saying the authority of the emperor would be "subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers." On August 14 the Japanese government agreed to this.

Then, September 2, 1945, the Japanese government, along with all its military forces, formally surrendered to the United States. This happened in a ceremony aboard a United States battleship, the ''Missouri'', on [[Tokyo Bay]], where the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender]] was signed. This was the ending of World War II, after six years almost to the day.

==Fallout From World War II==

*[[Iron Curtain]]

*British Empire
The war effectively bankrupted Britain, which started the process of dismantling its empire. It was not until 2007 Britain finished paying off the loans to the USA which it had taken to fight Nazi Germany.

*Supremacy of the USA in the Western World
Whilst most countries had seen their economies demolished by the war, the USA had industrialised heavily and made financial gains from sales of arms to other Allied countries.

*Supremacy of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.

*Vietnam War
During the war the French lost their colony of Vietnam to the Japanese. At the end of the war they decided to reassert their colonial mastery, but the Vietnamese now had other ideas. The battle with the French would eventually lead into the Vietnam war after the French defeat and American intervention ensued to prevent the spread of Communism.

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
* United States Department of the Navy/Navy Historical Center's [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq36-4.htm Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz]
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_wwii.html/ World War II]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=12&articleID=139 "On the Brink of World War II: Justus Doenecke’s Storm on the Horizon," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499 "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=113 "How War Amplified Federal Power in the Twentieth Century," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=65 ''Depression, War and Cold War'', by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=138 "Wartime Prosperity? ", by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/issues/article.asp?id=1431 Pearl Harbor]
[[Category:World War II| ]]
[[Category:Wars]]

World War II

2007-05-20T04:27:39Z

Shadowthedog: /* External Links */

'''World War II''' was a global conflict fought between the [[Allies|Allied]] powers including the [[United States]], the [[Soviet Union]], [[Britain]], [[France]], Australia, Canada and many other nations and the [[Axis (WWII)|Axis]] powers (mainly [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[Germany]], [[Fascism|Fascist]] [[Italy]], and Imperial [[Japan]]). The war is usually considered to have started on September 1, 1939 with the invasion of [[Poland]] by Nazi Germany. During the war, eight major world powers fought, along with several lesser states joining with one side or the other. On the side which lost were the Axis Powers Germany, [[Japan]], and [[Italy]]. Against them were the Allied Powers [[United States]], [[Great Britain]] and the Commonwealth, the [[Soviet Union]], [[France]], and [[China]] (which was friendly to the West at the time.) Russia entered the war on the side of the Allies after Germany launched an attack codenamed [[Operation_Barbarossa|Barbarossa]], while Britain declared war in reaction to Germany's aggression against [[Poland]].

==Causes==
The causes of World War II are complicated. The immediate causes of World War II are generally held to be the Japanese attacks on China, the United States, the British and Dutch colonies; and the German invasion of Poland on the 1st September 1939. Following the two day deadline for the withdrawl of German forces, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand declared war on Germany, followed quickly by France, South Africa, Canada and Nepal.

One major cause of German aggression may be the fervent [[Nationalism]] that became the norm in Germany post-[[World War I]]. Germans were eager to reaffirm their position as a major player on the world stage.{{fact}}

The state of Germany in the aftermatch of World War I is also considered to be a contributing factor. Due to the harsh terms of the treaty ending the first World War, Germany was not only humiliated, but pushed into economic ruin. The German currency which used to trade at 4 to a dollar eventually became over 1 trillion to the dollar. (Yes, that's not a typo). Under such deplorable conditions, anyone who could make them rise again would be viewed almost as a savior. The scene was set for Hitler.

== German Tactics ==
The major tactical innovation of the war was the use of combined arms warfare, typified by the German doctrine of [[blitzkrieg]]. In this style of warfare armor, infantry, artillery and air power (see [[Luftwaffe]]) all coordinate to achieve overwhelming superiority at point on the enemy lines. Armor and fast-moving infantry units then exploit the gap and penetrate deep behind enemy lines. The objective is to cause a widespread collapse of the enemy's ability to fight. It was particularly effective during the early stages of the war, before the Allies developed effective countermeasures.

==War in Europe 1939-1941==
The French and British were initially reluctant to honour promises to the Polish government, avoiding serious consideration of an invasion of Germany. The British failed to send land forces in time to support the Poles (see [[Western betrayal]]). The French mobilized slowly and then launched a token offensive in the Saar. The Meanwhile, on September 8, the Germans reached Warsaw, having slashed through the Polish defenses.

Following the completion of the invasion of Poland, German forces regrouped and Allied forces remained defensive, leading US commentators to dub it the [[Phoney War]]. This perception was not shared in [[Finland]], which fought a Soviet invasion started on November 30 1939. Despite the overwhelming numbers of the [[Red Army]], the Finnish resistance was strong and the battle was hard fought before the Soviet army took control.

May 10 1940 marked the end of any accustion of a phoney war, with the invasion of France by Germany, via [[The Netherlands]], [[Luxembourg]] and [[Beligium]]. Resistance by the British armies and French armies proved weak and the occupation of France began. British troops were able to evacuate mainland Europe at Dunkirk. France was divided into the northern [[Occupied France]] and the collaborationist [[Vichy regime]] in the south of France, including [[Corsica]].

The collapse and occupation of France, together with Germany's alliance with the Soviet Union, fascist Italy, benevolent neutrality of fascist Spain and Portugal, with little of Europe outside of Axis hands led many to assume that the United Kingdom had been defeated. Indeed it would appear that the, seemingly foolish, decision of the relatively weak United Kingdom to continue the war took the Axis powers off guard. This decision ensured the remaining British Empire was still involved in the war, with Japan threatening many British possessions in Asia.

In 1940 [[Denmark]] and [[Norway]] were invaded by German forces, to preempt a British occupation of Norway. Norway also contained a source of [[Heavy water]], possibly crucial in the construction of an atomic weapon. This was soon followed by the British invasion of neutral [[Iceland]] (the invasion of [[Denmark]] by German forces marks the start of an independent Iceland).

With Britain the sole opposing European nation, the [[Battle of Britain]] commenced. The [[Luftwaffe]] attempted to achieve aerial dominance over the south of Britain, in order to allow a sea based invasion of Britain to proceed. For many months the [[Royal Air Force]] and Luftwaffe fought for dominance, with the resilience of the RAF, with British, Canadian and Polish pilots forced a rethink of [[German]] tactics. The period that followed is known as the [[Blitz]], where the RAF and Luftwaffe attempted to undermine the infrastructure of the opposing country. This was a period of great economic devastation, which took both countries a considerable period to recover from. More seriously it led to huge numbers of civilian deaths.

1941 marked the major turning point in the war in Europe, when the Germans put aside plans for an invasion of Britain and undertook [[Operation Barbarossa]] - the invasion of the Soviet Union. In a war of major turning points, this was the most significant in Europe. This miscalculation diminished the German army's capacity. The war against the Soviet Union (known as the [[Great Patriotic War]] in the Soviet Union) demanded a huge dedication of resources and later in the war permitted an invasion of mainland Europe by Allied Forces on [[D-Day]].

==United States Enters the War==
The [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attack on Pearl Harbor]] officially brought the United States into World War Two. Admiral [[Isoroku Yamamoto]] of the Japenese Imperial Navy was against engaging with the United States, due to fear of "waking a sleeping giant". The United States recovered from the shell shock of the initial attack and plunged into the war with the slogan "Remember Pearl Harbor!".

==United States War in the Pacific==
At first the United States was on the defensive, losing Burma, the Phillpines, and other countries under U.S. military protection. The battle of the Coral Sea was the first major engagement with the Japanese that resulted in a draw and set the stage for the battle of Midway a month later. That one battle changed the direction of the war forever, crushing Japanese offensive sea power in one strike. After that, the Japanese were forced to be on the defensive for the rest of the war and never seriously threatened the American military again. In order to shorten the war, the U.S. military chose to adopt a policy of Island Hopping that including bypassing most of the extensive Japanese holdings to instead focus on a relatively straight path leading right to Japan.

==The End of World War II in Asia==
On August 6, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress, the Enola Gay, dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima. Then, on August 9, a B-29 dropped the second atomic bomb. On August 20 the Japanese government told the United States they were ready to accept the terms which the Allies proposed. The next day, the Allies replied, saying the authority of the emperor would be "subject to the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers." On August 14 the Japanese government agreed to this.

Then, September 2, 1945, the Japanese government, along with all its military forces, formally surrendered to the United States. This happened in a ceremony aboard a United States battleship, the ''Missouri'', on [[Tokyo Bay]], where the [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender]] was signed. This was the ending of World War II, after six years almost to the day.

==Fallout From World War II==

*[[Iron Curtain]]

*British Empire
The war effectively bankrupted Britain, which started the process of dismantling its empire. It was not until 2007 Britain finished paying off the loans to the USA which it had taken to fight Nazi Germany.

*Supremacy of the USA in the Western World
Whilst most countries had seen their economies demolished by the war, the USA had industrialised heavily and made financial gains from sales of arms to other Allied countries.

*Supremacy of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe.

*Vietnam War
During the war the French lost their colony of Vietnam to the Japanese. At the end of the war they decided to reassert their colonial mastery, but the Vietnamese now had other ideas. The battle with the French would eventually lead into the Vietnam war after the French defeat and American intervention ensued to prevent the spread of Communism.

==References==
<references/>

== External Links ==
* United States Department of the Navy/Navy Historical Center's [http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq36-4.htm Fleet Admiral Chester William Nimitz]
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_wwii.html/ World War II]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=12&articleID=139 "On the Brink of World War II: Justus Doenecke’s Storm on the Horizon," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499 "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=113 "How War Amplified Federal Power in the Twentieth Century," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=65 ''Depression, War and Cold War'', by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=138 "Wartime Prosperity? ", by Robert Higgs]
[[Category:World War II| ]]
[[Category:Wars]]

C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy

2007-05-20T03:55:25Z

Shadowthedog: /* See also */

'''C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy''' is a trilogy of books called [[Out of the Silent Planet]], [[Perelandra]], and [[That Hideous Strength]]. The main character of the books is Dr. Elwin Ransom, a philologist, who finds himself in a battle of good vs. evil.

==[[Out of the Silent Planet]]==
{{spoiler}}
The first in the space trilogy. It introduces the main character, Ransom. While hiking one day he is kidnaped and taken into outer space <ref>The kidnappers are Professor Edward Weston, and Dick Devine. </ref> He is taken to a planet called Malacandra <ref> We learn later it is the planet, Mars. </ref> where he must be handed over to some strange alien creatures called ''sorns''. He escapes and meets other aliens on the planet called ''hrossa''<ref> There is a third race called pfifltriggi but they aren't in the story much. </ref> He eventually goes to see the ruler of Malacandra, Oyarsa. He also meets his captors again and is sent back (freely of his own will) to his own planet. He comes back and according to the story lets a fictional Lewis in on the secret. They decide to publish his time on Malacandra as a fictional novel. <ref> [[Out of the Silent Planet]], by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan publishing, 1965. </ref>

==[[Perelandra]]==
{{spoiler}}
The second in the space trilogy. It has Ransom sent to Perelandra <ref> We learn later it is the planet, Venus. </ref.> to stop an evil that the devil has put into action there. He represents good against evil, which is represented by one of his kidnappers, Professor Weston. He manages to help stop Perelandra from becoming another fallen world. Perelandra ascends to perfection. <ref> [[Perelandra]], by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan publishing, 1944. </ref>

==[[That Hideous Strength]]==
{{spoiler}}
The third and last in the space trilogy. It involves the final battle of good vs. evil. It includes Ransom the least of the three books. It also involves the return of Dick Devine from [[Out of the Silent Planet]] as the Lord Feverstone. <ref> [[That Hideous Strength]], by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan publishing, 1946. </ref>

==Notes and References==
<references/>

==See also==
* [[Out of the Silent Planet]]
* [[Perelandra]]
* [[That Hideous Strength]]
[[category:book]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]
* [http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/ Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/scientism.php "C. S. Lewis: Science and Scientism," by Henry F. Schaefer III]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/view.php "The View from Other Worlds—Seeing Ourselves with God’s Eyes," by Luci Shaw]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1649 "C. S. Lewis on Mere Science," by Michael D. Aeschliman]
* [http://www.cslewis.org/ C.S. Lewis Foundation]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/ Into the Wardrobe]

That Hideous Strength

2007-05-20T03:51:38Z

Shadowthedog: /* See also */

[[Image:That Hideous Strenth.jpg|thumb|The cover art of That Hideous Strength.]]

'''That Hideous Strength''' is the third novel in what is called [[C. S. Lewis]]'s "space trilogy," although this one takes place on Earth and has fewer science-fiction elements. The philologist Ransom appears in this novel but is not the main protagonist; most of the novel follows a young Oxford don, Mark Studdock, who is lured and manipulated into joining a government-sponsored scientific institution, the National Institute for Co-ordinated Experimentation (or N. I. C. E.) The novel is different in tone from the other two in the space trilogy. It is overtly satirical, taking a jaundiced view of Oxford academic politics, the workings of bureaucracies, and [[Oxford]] life in the 1940s. It includes the subtitle "A modern fairy-tale for grown-ups and is dedicated to J. McNeill.

The N. I. C. E. superficially appears to be an alliance between materialistic scientists attempting to promote a technocracy, with political backing, but it transpires that they are actually consciously in league with supernatural forces of evil. While claiming to have no regard for religion whatsoever, as Mark is lured into the inner circle of the group he is asked to undergo training containing overtly anti-Christian elements. Meanwhile, his wife, Jane, has been recruited by the forces of good, led by Ransom.

Some of the characters in the novel may be caricatures of real people. The public face of the N. I. C. E., its nominal head, is "a distinguished novelist and scientific popularizer" who speaks in a high-pitched voice and has other points of similarity with [[H. G. Wells]]. The real head of the Institute is quite literally a head: a severed human head (with its brain hypertrophied in the manner of some of the beings in [[Olaf Stapledon]]'s ''First and Last Men.'') The head is kept alive, apparently by technological means, although later events lead the reader to suspect a supernatural element, and is literally idolized by some of the scientists of the inner circle, a situation reminiscent of [[J. B. S. Haldane]]'s interest in some Soviet experiments with discorporated canine heads.

==See also==
*[[Out of the Silent Planet]]
*[[Perelandra]]
*[[C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy]]

[[Category:Book]]
[[Category:Science fiction]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]
* [http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/ Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/scientism.php "C. S. Lewis: Science and Scientism," by Henry F. Schaefer III]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/view.php "The View from Other Worlds—Seeing Ourselves with God’s Eyes," by Luci Shaw]
* [http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12308 "''That Hideous Strength'', by C.S. Lewis," reviewed by Peter Schakel, ''The Literary Encyclopedia'']
* [http://www.cslewis.org/ C.S. Lewis Foundation]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/ Into the Wardrobe]
* [http://www.solcon.nl/arendsmilde/cslewis/reflections/e-orwellths.htm "The Scientist Takes Over: Review of ''That Hideous Strength'', by C.S. Lewis," reviewed by George Orwell]
* [http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=2581 "Review of ''That Hideous Strength'', by C.S. Lewis," reviewed by Phillip E. Johnson]

Perelandra

2007-05-20T03:44:56Z

Shadowthedog: /* See also */

'''Perelandra''' is a book by [[C.S. Lewis]] and the second in his space trilogy. It was originally published in 1944 and dedicated to "Some Ladies at Wantage."

[[Image:Perelandra.jpg|right|thumb|This cover art is here for the purpose of clarifying this review.]]
The three books in the trilogy, which are only loosely connected, are ''Out of the Silent Planet,'' ''Perelandra,'' and ''That Hideous Strength.'' They take place on Mars, Venus, and Earth respectively. This book for the first two chapters takes place on earth the rest occurs on Venus or Perelandra. <ref> Perelandra, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1944. </ref>

==Summary==
In this book Dr. Elwin Ransom, hero of the last book ''Out of the Silent Planet'', is given un unknown mission to Perelandra or Venus. The first part of the book is taken from the point of view of a fictional Lewis who aids Ransom's departure and return. The rest of the book occurs from the point of view of Ransom on Perelandra. He finds a fresh and young world and the Queen of that world. He also finds his old nemesis, Dr. Edward Weston, who is the devil's agent and part of a plot to let evil into Perelandra. He tries to tempt the Queen into disobeying Maleldil's (the ruler of the heavens) orders. Ransom battles it with little success. He finally battles with the devil and succeeds in stopping the evil from coming to Perelandra. The book ends with his seeing the people of Perelandra ascend to perfection unlike what happened in his own planet, Thulcandra. <ref> Perelandra, Macmillan Publishing Co., 1944. </ref>

==Notable Facts==
*Dr. Elwin Ransom has great similarities with Lewis' friend and fellow writer, [[J.R.R. Tolkien]]. The book mentions that Ransom, like Tolkien, fought at the battle of the Somme. Tolkien and Ransom are also both philologists. However Ransom is only a fictional character.
*This book is set to the time period during World War II during the bombings of London. This is not the only book by Lewis to be set to that time period.

==See also==
*[[Out of the Silent Planet]]
*[[That Hideous Strength]]
*[[C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy]]

[[Category:Book]]
[[Category:Science fiction]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]
* [http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/ Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/scientism.php "C. S. Lewis: Science and Scientism," by Henry F. Schaefer III]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/view.php "The View from Other Worlds—Seeing Ourselves with God’s Eyes," by Luci Shaw]
* [http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12306 "''Perelandra'', by C.S. Lewis," reviewed by Peter Schakel, ''The Literary Encyclopedia'']
* [http://www.cslewis.org/ C.S. Lewis Foundation]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/ Into the Wardrobe]

Out of the Silent Planet

2007-05-20T03:41:47Z

Shadowthedog: /* See also */

'''Out of the Silent Planet''' is the first book by [[C. S. Lewis]] in his famous [[space trilogy]]. It is dedicated to his brother, Warnie H. Lewis. It was first published in 1943.
[[Image:Out of the Silent Planet.jpg|thumb|Cover art used for book review]]
The three books in the trilogy, which are only loosely connected, are ''Out of the Silent Planet,'' ''Perelandra,'' and ''That Hideous Strength.'' They take place on Mars, Venus, and Earth respectively. They are sometimes referred to as the "Ransom trilogy," because a philologist<ref>A philologist is a professor specializing in the historical relationships of languages</ref> named Elwin Ransom appears in all three. C. S. Lewis' friend J. R. R. Tolkien was a philologist, while to some the word "ransom" evokes the atonement of Christ.

One of the ideas that C. S. Lewis was trying to present in these novels is that the word "space" is wrong, charged with the notion of emptiness, and that it should be thought of as ''heaven.'' Earth, which in these books is called Thulcandra, "the silent planet," is under the influence of evil. It has been sealed off from the rest of the universe to prevent it from infecting the rest. In Perelandra, Lewis refers to "the vast astronomic distances which are God's quarantine regulations." Lewis appears to be suggesting that God intends for humans to remain confined to the Earth, and that human attempts to travel between the planets are blasphemous.

==Summary==
In the book a philologist called Dr. Ransom is kidnapped while hiking. His kidnappers, Dr. Weston and Devine, take him aboard a space ship to a planet whose inhabitants call it Malacandra.<ref>The reader eventually learns that Malacandra is Mars.</ref> They intend to hand him over to some mysterious aliens called ''sorns.'' He escapes once they land on Malacandra and runs far away until he meets other natives of the planet called ''hrossa.'' He lives with them for a while until Weston and Devine kill some of the hrossa. He then leaves to go to the ruler of the planet, Oyarsa, so that the hrossa are out of danger. He meets the other aliens of the planet who turn out to be no more a harm than the hrossa were. He talks to the ruler of the planet, Oyarsa, about his whole journey from his planet to Malacandra. Weston and Devine are captured shortly afterwards and brought before Oyarsa. Oyarsa allows Weston and Devine to leave with Ransom on the space ship but won't let them return to Malacandra again. They return to earth where Ransom then lets a fictional Lewis in on the story. They want to warn people of what Weston and Devine may try to do. They see the only way to do it is through writing a fictional book! <ref> [[Out of the Silent Planet]] by C. S. Lewis, Macmillan Publishing Company, 1965 (reprint).</ref>

==Notes and references==
<references/>

==See also==
*[[Perelandra]]
*[[That Hideous Strength]]
*[[C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy]]

[[Category:Book]]
[[Category:Science fiction]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]
* [http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/ Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/scientism.php "C. S. Lewis: Science and Scientism," by Henry F. Schaefer III]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/view.php "The View from Other Worlds—Seeing Ourselves with God’s Eyes," by Luci Shaw]
* [http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=12301 "''Out of the Silent Planet'', by C.S. Lewis," reviewed by Peter Schakel, ''The Literary Encyclopedia'']
* [http://www.cslewis.org/ C.S. Lewis Foundation]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/ Into the Wardrobe]

The Chronicles of Narnia

2007-05-20T03:32:45Z

Shadowthedog: /* References */

[[Image:Narnia books.jpg|right|thumb|300px]]
The ''Chronicles of Narnia'' are a series of seven books written by [[C.S. Lewis]]. These books were written as a mythological retelling of the Bible and published yearly from 1950 to 1956. [[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]] was written based on the Gospels, [[The Magician's Nephew]] is a telling of Genesis, and [[The Last Battle]] as a telling of Revelations.

The books were renumbered in recent years to reflect the passage of time in the stories. Thus ''The Magician's Nephew'' now comes first. A debate between Chronological order and Cannonlogical order is still progressing.

Walt Disney and Walden Media have begun producing film's based on these books. The first [[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]] was released on December 9, 2005. <ref> [[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]], Directed by Andrew Adamson, Produced by Mark Johnson, Philip Steuer, 2005. </ref>

'''ATTENTION: Spoilers Below!'''

==Book 1:[[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]]==
This book is the first published of the seven Chronicles of Narnia(1950), written by Clive Sinclair Lewis, a noted Irish Christian writer. It introduces prominent characters to the series such as Aslan, Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Four children (Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy) enter Narnia and with the help of Aslan, talking beasts, and other mythical creatures overthrow the evil White Witch. It is no easy task and Aslan even puts his life on the line to save Edmund from the justice of the Witch. In the end the four children are crowned Kings and Queens and eventually return to our World (namely England during World War II.)<ref> [[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]] by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan Publishing Co, 1970.</ref>

==Book 2:[[Prince Caspian]]==
This book involves the return to Narnia by the four children from [[The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe]] and how they again have to free Narnia from tyranny. They appear at their former castle which is now a ruin and meet the Dwarf Trumpkin. Trumpkin (thimbles and thunderbolts!) retells the history of young Prince Caspian whose Uncle Miraz holds the usurped throne. Caspian flees Miraz, joins the good Narnian creatures and engages in a war with the massive armies of his uncle. The children and the dwarf rush to Caspian's aide and meet Aslan on the way. They conquer Miraz's forces and reinstate Caspian as true king of Narnia. The children return their own world. The older children, Peter and Susan, are told they will not return to Narnia. <ref> [[Prince Caspian]] by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan Publishing Co. 1970.</ref>

==Book 3:[[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]]==
Lucy, Edmund and their cousin, Eustace, return to Narnia (or more specifically to the seas of Narnia.) They meet Caspian who is sailing on the ship, Dawn Treader. King Caspian is exploring new seas and searching for the seven Narnian lords whom his Uncle Miraz had forced to sail away into exile. Caspian hopes to sail to the world's end. They sail across the seas finding new lands, some Lords, and survive many dangers. They sail to the end of the world, leaving the mouse, Reepicheep. Aslan sends the children home, telling Edmund and Lucy they won't return. <ref> [[The Voyage of the Dawn Treader]] by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan Publishing Co.1970. </ref>

==Book 4:[[The Silver Chair]]==
Eustace and his school friend, Jill Pole, go to Narnia where Aslan gives them the task of finding Old Caspian's son, Prince Rillian. Aslan gives them specific instructions to follow so they might find the Prince. They, along with the marshwiggle, Puddleglum, search the lands sometimes following, sometimes forgetting Aslan's instructions. They eventually find the Prince underground and held prisoner. They free him and fight a battle with a dangerous serpent. They return to Narnia where Rillian arrives in time to see his father Caspian die. Aslan then sends the children home.<ref> [[The Silver Chair ]] by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan Publishing Co. 1970.</ref>

==Book 5:[[The Horse and His Boy]]==
This story is set back in the time when the original 4 children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) rule in Narnia as kings and queens. The setting is to the south of Narnia, Calormene, where we meet Shasta, a young boy who is treated as a slave by his 'father.' When he learns that the old man isn't really his father, he makes a daring escape with the talking war horse Bree. Later on he meets up and travels with Aravis, a young royal girl running from a forced marriage, and her talking mare, Hwin. They travel across the deserts of Calormene and end up racing to Narnia and their ally, Archenland, to warn them of a Calormene invasion. They arrive in time and conquer the invaders. To his surprise, Shasta finds he is a twin son of the king of Archenland, and marries Aravis "so as to go on (arguing and making up) more conveniently."<ref> [[The Horse and His Boy]] by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan Publishing Co.1970. p.216. </ref>

==Book 6:[[The Magician's Nephew]]==
This story goes back to the original creation of Narnia and how the White Witch first came (she is called Queen Jadis.) It includes two children, Digory and Polly, who are tricked into entering other worlds by Digory's Uncle Andrew. They release the witch from her own world and bring her (along with Uncle Andrew, a London cabby, and a horse) into what would become Narnia. Aslan creates Narnia and commands Digory to heal the hurt he has started. In the end, Aslan returns the children to England and gives Digory some medicine to heal his dying mother. <ref> [[The Magician's Nephew]] by C.S. Lewis, Macmillan Publishing Co. 1970. </ref>

==Book 7:[[The Last Battle]]==
The end of Narnia comes in this book. A evil monkey, Shift, convinces a gullible donkey, Puzzle, to dress up in a lion's suit and pretend to be Aslan. The beasts of Narnia are thus deceived and enslaved by Shift, allowing the Calormenes to invade Narnia. The king is imprisoned but is freed by Jill and Eustace, who mount a last ditch attack on the ape and the Calormenes. They are outnumbered and the evil Calormene god, Tash, enters the scene in the stable where Eustace, Jill and the King are thrown. Fortunately Tash is cast out by High King Peter, who has appeared with Edmund, Lucy, Diggory, and Polly (Susan has forgotten about Narnia) to witness Narnia's end. Aslan ends Narnia and leads all good creatures to a new land. The children then learn that they all died in a railway accident and that they will remain there happily ever after. <ref> [[The Last Battle]] by C.S. Lewis, Macmillam Publishing Co. 1970.</ref>

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chronicles of Narnia, The}}
[[Category:Book]]
[[Category:Narnia]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]
* [http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/ Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College]
* [http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/051212/12lewis.htm "God’s Storyteller: The Curious Life and Prodigious Influence of C. S. Lewis, the Man Behind The Chronicles of Narnia, by Jay Tolson," by Jay Tolson]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/papers/7sins.html "Narnia and the Seven Deadly Sins," by Don W. King]
* [http://personal.bgsu.edu/%7eedwards/baynes.html "The Woman Who Drew Narnia: Pauline Baynes," by Charlotte Cory]
* [http://www.cslewis.org/ C.S. Lewis Foundation]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/ Into the Wardrobe]
* [http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/newman200601030820.asp "Stay Out of Our Wardrobe! The Libertarian Narnia State," by R. Andrew Newman]
* [http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/ Chronicles of Narnia official films site]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/mcdonald.php "The Childlike in George MacDonald and C. S. Lewis," by Don W. King]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/view.php "The View from Other Worlds—Seeing Ourselves with God’s Eyes," by Luci Shaw]

C. S. Lewis

2007-05-20T03:17:55Z

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[[Image:Jhcfju6.jpg|right|thumb|C. S. Lewis, 1947.]]
C.S. Lewis (full name: '''Clive Staples Lewis''') (1898-1963) [[Christian]] apologist and intellectual known for taking complex theological issues and writing about them plainly for the masses to follow. He was raised in the Church of [[Ireland]] before becoming an atheist as a teenager. Only as an adult when he was already a professor at [[Oxford]] and [[Cambridge]] did he come "kicking and screaming" to understand that God did exist. From there it was an easier step to embrace the realization of [[Christianity]].<ref>Barnes, Peter, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/5052 C.S. Lewis and evolution] (Creation Ministries International), 2007.</ref> He and [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] were friends, both belonging to the group known as "the Inklings." and Lewis credits Tolkien with influencing his conversion. He fought in the trenches during [[World War I]], and was extremely sceptical of those who did not either smoke or drink. <ref name="HOTF">[[Heroes of the Faith C.S.Lewis]] By Sam Wellman, Barbour Publishing, Inc. 1997.</ref>

Lewis' fictional works include seven books for children known collectively as ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]],'' and three books for adults that fall broadly in the science-fiction genre: ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]],'' ''[[Perelandra]],'' and ''[[That Hideous Strength]].'' Like Tolkien's fiction, these works have a Christian subtext, but it is more noticeably apparent in Lewis than in Tolkien.

C.S. Lewis also wrote ''[[The Screwtape Letters]]'', ''[[Miracles]]'',
''[[The Problem of Pain]]'' , ''[[The Abolition of Man]]'' , ''[[The Great Divorce]]'' and ''[[Mere Christianity]]''.<ref name="HOTF" /> Over 200 million copies of his books have sold and they continue to sell many millions of copies a year. {{fact}}

C.S. Lewis wrote in ''Mere Christianity'', <blockquote>"All that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. {{fact}}"</blockquote>

C.S. Lewis also wrote in ''Mere Christianity'', <blockquote>"That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. ... is a religion you could not have guessed. ... [I]t is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=xaiKVRqfSlsC&pg=RA1-PA27&lpg=RA1-PA27&dq=%22it+is+not+the+sort+of+thing+anyone+would+have+made+up%22&source=web&ots=8Ur9Pe1rBL&sig=7ctGd17k8AUy6akHehmevOzsiLk#PRA1-PA27,M1 A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works]</ref></blockquote>

Although not an ardent anti-evolutionist, he wrote on the futility of [[materialism]]:
{{QuoteBox|If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents—the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else’s. But if their thoughts—i.e. of materialism and astronomy—are merely accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents. It’s like expecting that the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milkjug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset.<ref>''The Business of Heaven'', 1984, p.7 (quoted in Barnes, Peter, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/5052 C.S. Lewis and evolution].</ref>}}

Lewis died the same day that [[John Kennedy]] was assassinated, cutting down on the press of his passing. More than ever he is still considered a pillar of Christian thought.

==Reference==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, C. S.}}
[[Category:Authors]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]
* [http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/ Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/lewisbio.php "C. S. Lewis: A Modest Literary Biography and Bibliography," by Bruce L. Edwards]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1566 "Finding the Permanent in the Political: C. S. Lewis as a Political Thinker," by John G. West]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/packer.php "Still Surprised by Lewis," by J.I. Packer]
* [http://www.cslewis.org/ C.S. Lewis Foundation]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/ Into the Wardrobe]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1565 "C. S. Lewis and the Materialist Menace," by John G. West]
* [http://www.nycslsociety.com/ New York C.S. Lewis Society]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/ ''The Question of God'', PBS series]
* [http://www.pseudobook.com/cslewis/ C.S. Lewis and the Inklings]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1649 "C. S. Lewis on Mere Science," by Michael Aeschliman]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1669 "Truth in the Fire: C. S. Lewis and Pursuit of Truth Today," by Dallas Willard]

Jesus Christ

2007-05-20T03:12:31Z

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[[Image:Christ.jpg|thumb|right|700px|The Christ Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.]]

'''Jesus Christ''' is the only Son of [[God]] who, in the fullness of time, was sent by God the Father to be the expiation for our sins and to ransom us from death.<ref>1 John 4:10; 2 Corinthians 5:19.</ref> By the power of the [[Holy Spirit]], Jesus was conceived in the womb of the [[Virgin Mary]], and became man in an event known as the Incarnation, as possibly referred to in Isaiah 7:14. Indeed, the calendar itself reflects this truth, with the traditional calculation of Jesus’ birth marking the first century A.D., that is, "''in the year of Our Lord…''".

When he was about thirty, Jesus was baptized by [[John the Baptist]], inaugurating his ministry. Jesus was the Christ (Greek: Χριστός), or Messiah ([[Hebrew]]: 'משיחא'), prophesied in the Old Testament; he proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.”<ref>Mark 1:14-15.</ref> As signs of these truths, Jesus performed various miracles.

Jesus founded the [[Christian]] religion, choosing twelve apostles to participate in his mission, and commissioning them to “preach the Kingdom of God and to heal”.<ref>Luke 9:2.</ref>

However, not all who heard the Lord believed in him, and, because he “was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God”, some sought to put him to death.<ref>John 5:18.</ref> Jesus was handed over to the Roman governor [[Pontius Pilate]] and crucified. But it was through his redemptive death, as the scriptures had foretold, that Jesus reconciled mankind with God.<ref>Romans 5:10.</ref> And so, on the third day, in a truly historical event, Jesus physically rose from the dead, making possible salvation and eternal life for those who believe in him. Indeed, his very name (Hebrew 'יהושע', Joshua) means ‘[[YHWH]] is [[salvation]]’. After appearing to his disciples on various occasions, Jesus ascended to Heaven, where he acts as our mediator, assuring, by his constant intercession, the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

''For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. '' (John 3:16).

==Jesus' Life==

In the [[Gospels]] of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]], Jesus was born in [[Bethlehem]] ([[Judea]]) to [[Virgin Mary|Mary]], who at the time was a virgin, by the [[Holy Spirit]]. The [[Gospel of Luke]] relates that the angel [[Gabriel]] visited Mary in order to announce to her that she had been chosen to bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26–38). An order of [[Augustus|Caesar Augustus]], that a survey of the [[Roman Empire]] should be made caused Mary and [[Joseph (father of Jesus)|Joseph]] to leave Nazareth and go to the home of Joseph's forebears - to the house of [[David|King David]]. After Jesus' birth, they were forced to use a manger for a crib because the town's inn was full. According to Luke 2:8–20, an [[Angel|angel]] spread word of Jesus' birth to several shepherds who came to visit the newborn. Matthew also tells of the "Magi", ([[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] priests), who brought many gifts to the infant Jesus (among which were [[gold]], [[frankincense]], and [[myrrh]]; this has led to the incorrect assumption that three Magi were present, whereas the actual number is not given) after following a star which they believed was an indication that the [[Messiah]], or King of the Jews, had been born.

Jesus' early home is stated to have been in the town of Nazareth in [[Galilee]], and except for an escape to [[Egypt]] in early childhood, to avoid [[Herod the Great|Herod's]] massacre of the other male infants, all other events in the Gospels take place in ancient Israel. Luke's Finding in the Temple (Luke 2:41–52), where Jesus impressed the priests by discoursing in [[Old Testament|scripture]] with them, is the only detailed event between Jesus' infancy and adult life mentioned in any of the canonical Gospels.

The Gospel of Mark begins with the [[baptism]] of Jesus by [[John the Baptist]], which appears to be the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus came to the [[Jordan River|River Jordan]], where John was preaching and baptizing people in the crowd. After Jesus had been baptized, and had risen up out of the water, Mark states Jesus 'saw the heavens torn apart and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from [[heaven]], 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased' (Mark 1:10–11). Luke adds the chronological anchor that John the Baptist had begun preaching in the fifteenth year of [[Tiberius]] Caesar, approximately in 28 AD (Luke 3:1) and that Jesus was thirty years old when he was baptized (Luke 3:23).

After this baptism, according to Matthew, Jesus was brought into the desert by God where he fasted for forty days nights. During this period, the [[Satan]] appeared before him and tried three times to tempted Jesus into demonstrating his supernatural powers as a proof of his divine status; each temptation was refused by Jesus, with a scriptural quote from the Book of [[Deuteronomy]].

Jesus then began to preach. [[Gospel of John|John]] describes three different [[passover]] feasts that Jesus attended, thus implying that his ministry lasted three years.

The larger part of this was directed towards his closest followers, the [[Apostles]], although all of his followers were considered [[disciples]]. At the highest point of his ministry, Jesus attracted disciples and audiences numbering in the thousands; in particular in the area of Galilee. Many of Jesus' most well-known teachings were given during the [[Sermon on the Mount]], such as the [[Beatitudes]] and the [[Lord's Prayer]]. Jesus often used parables in his rhetorical technique, such as the [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]] and the [[Parable of the Sheep and the Goats]]; these teachings encouraged unconditional self-sacrificing [[Shema|love for God]] and [[Agape|for all people]]. During these sermons, he also discussed service and humility, forgiveness of sins, how faith should be applied, the [[Golden Rule]], and the necessity of following the spirit of the law as well as its wording.

Jesus also often conversed with social outcasts, such as the publican ([[Rome|Roman]] tax collectors who were unpopular for their practice of extorting money).

Throughout his ministry, Jesus performed many miracles including healing the sick and possessed, feeding 5000, and even raising from the dead.

As He preached, Jesus ran afoul of the [[Sanhedrin]] the recognized Jewish religious authorities who were allowed to have considerable religious, political and monetary influence under Roman rule. Jesus chastised them, accusing them of making laws for the people to follow that were the laws of men, not God. The Sanhedrin tried to set traps for Jesus by asking Him questions to either discredit Him with the people or get Him in trouble with the Roman authorities, but all of their efforts failed and they gave up. They lacked the means to stop Jesus until [[Judas Iscariot]] came to them and offered to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He would tell them where Jesus would be that night so they could seize Him.

Jesus knew that His time was short and that He was about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. He had His last supper with his disciples and went with them to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed vehemently knowing what was about to come.

[[Image:Jesus5.jpg‎|right|thumb|300px|Jesus Christ (Conceptualization)]]

Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Jewish religious authorities who took Him away and secretly put Him on trial during the night, trying to find justification for their desire to have Him killed. Finally, they convicted Him of blasphemy. As they did not have the authority to put a man to death, they took him to [[Pontius Pilate]], the Roman governor of Palestine, with their charges and demand his execution. Pilate avoided the issue by sending him to [[Herod Antipas|King Herod]] since Jesus was a Galilean, but Herod sent him back to Pilate. Pilate at first tried to release Jesus with a flogging, but ultimately condemned Jesus to [[crucifixion]]. Jesus died after suffering and giving up his spirit. The Bible goes on to record His resurrection on the third day, appearing before his disciples, and his later ascension into heaven as His disciples watched.

==The Historical Jesus==

Modern historians generally place the actual date of Jesus' birth between 7 and 4 B.C. due to problems reconciling the Roman and Jewish calendars with the [[Gregorian Calendar]] which is in use today throughout the industrialized world.

Occasionally non-historians deny the [[Historicity of Jesus|existence of Jesus]], <ref>"Book Article Denies the Existence of a Historical Jesus Figure" [http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/12694/ NewswireToday ] </ref>
<ref>"David H. Lewis [debates] the historicity of Jesus, arguing that New Testament and contemporaneous writings give very little evidence that Jesus actual ever lived." [http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s1517040.htm Escaping the Gravitational Pull of the Gospels] </ref>
but few scholars take this seriously.
[[Tacitus]], the Roman historian, wrote about Jesus in A.D. 115<ref>http://www.digisys.net/users/ddalton/evidence_of_jesus_outside_the_bible.htm</ref>, and [[Josephus]], a Jewish historian who did not believe in Jesus' divinity, wrote about him. <ref>http://www.christian-thinktank.com/jesusref.html</ref>. Dr. [[Gary Habermas]] wrote an extensive analysis of the historicity of the existence of Jesus in his work ''The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ'' which discusses many historical sources which mention Jesus.

[[Lee Strobel]]'s book ''The Case for Christ'' contains a number of interviews with experts on the historical Jesus and a defense of Jesus's resurrection, and is a good resource on this subject.

== Defense of the resurrection of Jesus ==
The [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ|resurrection of Jesus Christ]] is critical to the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14). Traditionally, Christianity has believed in a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. <ref>http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt</ref>

In recent history [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologists]] Gary Habermas is considered the foremost apologist for defending the resurrection of Jesus. <ref>http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm</ref><ref>http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html</ref><ref>http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection1-CTR.pdf </ref><ref>http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection2-CTR.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm</ref><ref>http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html</ref> Dr. Habermas had a debate against the philosopher [[Anthony Flew]] regarding the resurrection which was chronicled in the work ''Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate'' and the debate had a panel of debate judges. J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. in his essay ''Evidences for the Resurrection'' wrote: "The decision of the judges were as follows. The panel of [[Philosophy|philosophers]] judging content cast four votes for Habermas who argued for the fact of the resurrection, none for Flew, and one draw. The panel of professional debate judges voted three to two, also in favor of Habermas, this time regarding the method of argumentation technique." <ref>http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=639</ref>

In recent history some notable defenders of the resurrection include: [[William Lane Craig]], [[Lee Strobel]], [[Josh McDowell]], [[Edwin M. Yamauchi]], [[N.T. Wright]] and [[Michael Horner]]. <ref>http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html</ref><ref>http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm</ref><ref>http://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html</ref>

Legal scholars such as [[Simon Greenleaf]], [[John Warwick Montgomery]] and many others have asserted that western legal standards argue for the resurrection of Christ. <ref>http://www.bibleteacher.org/sgtestimony.htm</ref><ref>http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissart1.htm</ref><ref>http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_lawreligionculturereview_archive.html</ref><ref>http://www.trinitysem.edu/journal/philjohnsonpap.html</ref> Defenders of the resurrection of Christ also cite many distinguished legal authorities regarding the historicity of the resurrection of Christ. <ref>http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0302W3.htm</ref>

Another reason to believe the resurrection is the fact that many people who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus voluntarily preached the news of this despite extreme persecution, and died for their efforts. Unlike the early members of most religions, these people had the opportunity to be direct eyewitnesses to what verified the claims of Christianity.

== See also ==

*[[Byzantine Empire]]
*[[Andrew the Apostle]]
*[[Lazarus (brother of Mary)]]
*[[Lazarus (Parable)]]
*[[Judaism]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.ccci.org/wij/ Who is Jesus? Is Jesus Christ God?]
*[http://www.farsinet.com/christmas/nativity_church.html Church of Nativity - Birth Place of Jesus Christ] Bethlehem.
*[http://www.bible-history.com/links.php?cat=19&sub=302&cat_name=Jesus&subcat_name=Background Jesus Background] Bible History on line.
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08374c.htm Jesus Christ]Catholic Encyclopedia.
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/ C. S. Lewis Society of California].
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/bodily.php The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus, by William Lane Craig].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Problem.htm Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus: The Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Problem, by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/resurrection.php Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, by William Lane Craig].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Justice_Jesus.htm Doing Justice to Jesus: A Response to J.D. Crossan: "What Victory? What God?", by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Jesus.htm The Historical Jesus and Christian Theology, by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=37 The Wright Quest for the Historical Jesus, by Ben Witherington, III].

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Jesus]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Christian History]]
[[Category:Religion]]

Libertarianism

2007-05-20T03:11:14Z

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'''Libertarianism''' is a political philosophy emphasizing ''liberty'' and ''property''. A libertarian believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in all aspects of life, including economic, personal, and in foreign policy matters. <ref>"Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.
Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml] </ref>
Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of '[[classical liberal | classical liberalism]]'.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society. They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

There are more libertarians than members of the [[Libertarian Party]]. Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to [[anarcho-capitalism]], as first named by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as [[minarchists]]. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by [[paleolibertarians]]. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism.

Neither the [[Democratic]] or the [[Republican]] [[parties]] are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. They are generally also opposed to the [[Iraq War]], unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally gives praise on the [[United States Constitution]], regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstep the limits that are in placed in the constitution. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very means in which the national government is the size it is today.

== Notable Libertarians ==
The Christian libertarian Lord Acton referred to the philosopher/theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] as "the first Whig" or classical liberal. Other libertarian-oriented historic figures would include [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], Thomas Paine, [[John Locke]], [[Patrick Henry]], George Mason, [[Carl Menger]], [[C.S. Lewis]], [[Ludwig von Mises]], [[James Madison]], H. L. Mencken, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, [[Frédéric Bastiat]], [[Herbert Spencer]], Richard Cobden, [[Henry David Thoreau]], and [[Hugo Grotius]].

[[Ron Paul]], 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.

The psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, opponent of the therapeutic state and compulsory mental institutionalization.

Nobel Laureate economists [[Milton Friedman]], [[F.A. Hayek]], [[Ronald Coase]], and Vernon Smith.

The novelist [[Ayn Rand]] advocated a philosophy of ''Objectivism'', embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as ''Atlas Shrugged'', have become icons of some people in the libertarian movement, while others find her materialism/atheism incompatible with moral ethics and natural rights and law.

[[Murray N. Rothbard]] was nicknamed "Mr. Libertarian." He brought life to the anarcho-capitalist movement. Rothbard was an economist of the [[Austrian School]].

[[Robert A. Heinlein]], science fiction author.

[[Penn & Teller]], stage magicians turned libertarian evangelicals preaching atheism and promoting libertarian philosophies, including controversial positions such as legalization of prostitution and drugs in their Showtime series, which sports a name that cannot for reasons of good taste be expressed here.

The Canadian rock band Rush, which has been together since 1968, often explores libertarian themes in their lyrics.

Humorist Dave Barry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter [[John Stossel]], and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party.

== External links ==
* [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/ Libertarian FAQ]
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Politics/Liberalism/Libertarianism/ Open Directory libertarian links ]
* [http://chelm.freeyellow.com/black_index.html Black Libertarians]
* [http://libertarianwiki.org/Main_Page Libertarian Wiki]
* [http://www.l4l.org/ Libertarians for Life]
* [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute]
* [http://www.independent.org/ The Independent Institute]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html World's Smallest Political Quiz]

[[Category:Politics]]

Austrian School of Economics

2007-05-20T03:06:55Z

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The '''Austrian school of economics''' is the [[libertarian]] philosophy applied to the field of economics: reduce government involvement in everything. It views all value as subjective, and that efficiency consists of maximizing value as sought by each individual. It avoids mathematics because it does not feel math can capture the complexities of the economic world, which it thinks are due to trial-and-error processes. Like [[libertarian|libertarians]], Austrian economists are very much in favor of the individual and against government, even to the point of opposing tariffs and [[Antitrust law]]s.

The Austrian school of economics opposed the inflationary approach of [[Keynesian economics]], and thus is favored by many conservatives on that basis. But Austrian economists also typically oppose government attempts to maintain or defend morality, as in traditional marriage.

The founder of the Austrian school of economics was [[Carl Menger]], who published in German in 1871 its leading text, ''Principles of Economics''. In the 1920s through 1940s, [[Ludwig von Mises]] and [[Friedrich A. Hayek]] advanced the movement by declaring the impossibility for socialism to succeed and also explaining the nature of the business cycle.

[[Category:Economics]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.fee.org/ Foundation for Economic Education]
* [http://www.independent.org/ The Independent Institute]
* [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute]
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/enc/AustrianEconomics.html "Austrian Economics," by Deborah L. Walker]
* [http://it.stlawu.edu/sdae/ Society for the Development of Austrian Economics]

Jesus Christ

2007-05-20T03:04:06Z

Shadowthedog: /* External links */

[[Image:Christ.jpg|thumb|right|700px|The Christ Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.]]

'''Jesus Christ''' is the only Son of [[God]] who, in the fullness of time, was sent by God the Father to be the expiation for our sins and to ransom us from death.<ref>1 John 4:10; 2 Corinthians 5:19.</ref> By the power of the [[Holy Spirit]], Jesus was conceived in the womb of the [[Virgin Mary]], and became man in an event known as the Incarnation, as possibly referred to in Isaiah 7:14. Indeed, the calendar itself reflects this truth, with the traditional calculation of Jesus’ birth marking the first century A.D., that is, "''in the year of Our Lord…''".

When he was about thirty, Jesus was baptized by [[John the Baptist]], inaugurating his ministry. Jesus was the Christ (Greek: Χριστός), or Messiah ([[Hebrew]]: 'משיחא'), prophesied in the Old Testament; he proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.”<ref>Mark 1:14-15.</ref> As signs of these truths, Jesus performed various miracles.

Jesus founded the [[Christian]] religion, choosing twelve apostles to participate in his mission, and commissioning them to “preach the Kingdom of God and to heal”.<ref>Luke 9:2.</ref>

However, not all who heard the Lord believed in him, and, because he “was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God”, some sought to put him to death.<ref>John 5:18.</ref> Jesus was handed over to the Roman governor [[Pontius Pilate]] and crucified. But it was through his redemptive death, as the scriptures had foretold, that Jesus reconciled mankind with God.<ref>Romans 5:10.</ref> And so, on the third day, in a truly historical event, Jesus physically rose from the dead, making possible salvation and eternal life for those who believe in him. Indeed, his very name (Hebrew 'יהושע', Joshua) means ‘[[YHWH]] is [[salvation]]’. After appearing to his disciples on various occasions, Jesus ascended to Heaven, where he acts as our mediator, assuring, by his constant intercession, the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

''For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. '' (John 3:16).

==Jesus' Life==

In the [[Gospels]] of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]], Jesus was born in [[Bethlehem]] ([[Judea]]) to [[Virgin Mary|Mary]], who at the time was a virgin, by the [[Holy Spirit]]. The [[Gospel of Luke]] relates that the angel [[Gabriel]] visited Mary in order to announce to her that she had been chosen to bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26–38). An order of [[Augustus|Caesar Augustus]], that a survey of the [[Roman Empire]] should be made caused Mary and [[Joseph (father of Jesus)|Joseph]] to leave Nazareth and go to the home of Joseph's forebears - to the house of [[David|King David]]. After Jesus' birth, they were forced to use a manger for a crib because the town's inn was full. According to Luke 2:8–20, an [[Angel|angel]] spread word of Jesus' birth to several shepherds who came to visit the newborn. Matthew also tells of the "Magi", ([[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] priests), who brought many gifts to the infant Jesus (among which were [[gold]], [[frankincense]], and [[myrrh]]; this has led to the incorrect assumption that three Magi were present, whereas the actual number is not given) after following a star which they believed was an indication that the [[Messiah]], or King of the Jews, had been born.

Jesus' early home is stated to have been in the town of Nazareth in [[Galilee]], and except for an escape to [[Egypt]] in early childhood, to avoid [[Herod the Great|Herod's]] massacre of the other male infants, all other events in the Gospels take place in ancient Israel. Luke's Finding in the Temple (Luke 2:41–52), where Jesus impressed the priests by discoursing in [[Old Testament|scripture]] with them, is the only detailed event between Jesus' infancy and adult life mentioned in any of the canonical Gospels.

The Gospel of Mark begins with the [[baptism]] of Jesus by [[John the Baptist]], which appears to be the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus came to the [[Jordan River|River Jordan]], where John was preaching and baptizing people in the crowd. After Jesus had been baptized, and had risen up out of the water, Mark states Jesus 'saw the heavens torn apart and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from [[heaven]], 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased' (Mark 1:10–11). Luke adds the chronological anchor that John the Baptist had begun preaching in the fifteenth year of [[Tiberius]] Caesar, approximately in 28 AD (Luke 3:1) and that Jesus was thirty years old when he was baptized (Luke 3:23).

After this baptism, according to Matthew, Jesus was brought into the desert by God where he fasted for forty days nights. During this period, the [[Satan]] appeared before him and tried three times to tempted Jesus into demonstrating his supernatural powers as a proof of his divine status; each temptation was refused by Jesus, with a scriptural quote from the Book of [[Deuteronomy]].

Jesus then began to preach. [[Gospel of John|John]] describes three different [[passover]] feasts that Jesus attended, thus implying that his ministry lasted three years.

The larger part of this was directed towards his closest followers, the [[Apostles]], although all of his followers were considered [[disciples]]. At the highest point of his ministry, Jesus attracted disciples and audiences numbering in the thousands; in particular in the area of Galilee. Many of Jesus' most well-known teachings were given during the [[Sermon on the Mount]], such as the [[Beatitudes]] and the [[Lord's Prayer]]. Jesus often used parables in his rhetorical technique, such as the [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]] and the [[Parable of the Sheep and the Goats]]; these teachings encouraged unconditional self-sacrificing [[Shema|love for God]] and [[Agape|for all people]]. During these sermons, he also discussed service and humility, forgiveness of sins, how faith should be applied, the [[Golden Rule]], and the necessity of following the spirit of the law as well as its wording.

Jesus also often conversed with social outcasts, such as the publican ([[Rome|Roman]] tax collectors who were unpopular for their practice of extorting money).

Throughout his ministry, Jesus performed many miracles including healing the sick and possessed, feeding 5000, and even raising from the dead.

As He preached, Jesus ran afoul of the [[Sanhedrin]] the recognized Jewish religious authorities who were allowed to have considerable religious, political and monetary influence under Roman rule. Jesus chastised them, accusing them of making laws for the people to follow that were the laws of men, not God. The Sanhedrin tried to set traps for Jesus by asking Him questions to either discredit Him with the people or get Him in trouble with the Roman authorities, but all of their efforts failed and they gave up. They lacked the means to stop Jesus until [[Judas Iscariot]] came to them and offered to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He would tell them where Jesus would be that night so they could seize Him.

Jesus knew that His time was short and that He was about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. He had His last supper with his disciples and went with them to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed vehemently knowing what was about to come.

[[Image:Jesus5.jpg‎|right|thumb|300px|Jesus Christ (Conceptualization)]]

Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Jewish religious authorities who took Him away and secretly put Him on trial during the night, trying to find justification for their desire to have Him killed. Finally, they convicted Him of blasphemy. As they did not have the authority to put a man to death, they took him to [[Pontius Pilate]], the Roman governor of Palestine, with their charges and demand his execution. Pilate avoided the issue by sending him to [[Herod Antipas|King Herod]] since Jesus was a Galilean, but Herod sent him back to Pilate. Pilate at first tried to release Jesus with a flogging, but ultimately condemned Jesus to [[crucifixion]]. Jesus died after suffering and giving up his spirit. The Bible goes on to record His resurrection on the third day, appearing before his disciples, and his later ascension into heaven as His disciples watched.

==The Historical Jesus==

Modern historians generally place the actual date of Jesus' birth between 7 and 4 B.C. due to problems reconciling the Roman and Jewish calendars with the [[Gregorian Calendar]] which is in use today throughout the industrialized world.

Occasionally non-historians deny the [[Historicity of Jesus|existence of Jesus]], <ref>"Book Article Denies the Existence of a Historical Jesus Figure" [http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/12694/ NewswireToday ] </ref>
<ref>"David H. Lewis [debates] the historicity of Jesus, arguing that New Testament and contemporaneous writings give very little evidence that Jesus actual ever lived." [http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s1517040.htm Escaping the Gravitational Pull of the Gospels] </ref>
but few scholars take this seriously.
[[Tacitus]], the Roman historian, wrote about Jesus in A.D. 115<ref>http://www.digisys.net/users/ddalton/evidence_of_jesus_outside_the_bible.htm</ref>, and [[Josephus]], a Jewish historian who did not believe in Jesus' divinity, wrote about him. <ref>http://www.christian-thinktank.com/jesusref.html</ref>. Dr. [[Gary Habermas]] wrote an extensive analysis of the historicity of the existence of Jesus in his work ''The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ'' which discusses many historical sources which mention Jesus.

[[Lee Strobel]]'s book ''The Case for Christ'' contains a number of interviews with experts on the historical Jesus and a defense of Jesus's resurrection, and is a good resource on this subject.

== Defense of the resurrection of Jesus ==
The [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ|resurrection of Jesus Christ]] is critical to the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14). Traditionally, Christianity has believed in a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. <ref>http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt</ref>

In recent history [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologists]] Gary Habermas is considered the foremost apologist for defending the resurrection of Jesus. <ref>http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm</ref><ref>http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html</ref><ref>http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection1-CTR.pdf </ref><ref>http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection2-CTR.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm</ref><ref>http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html</ref> Dr. Habermas had a debate against the philosopher [[Anthony Flew]] regarding the resurrection which was chronicled in the work ''Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate'' and the debate had a panel of debate judges. J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. in his essay ''Evidences for the Resurrection'' wrote: "The decision of the judges were as follows. The panel of [[Philosophy|philosophers]] judging content cast four votes for Habermas who argued for the fact of the resurrection, none for Flew, and one draw. The panel of professional debate judges voted three to two, also in favor of Habermas, this time regarding the method of argumentation technique." <ref>http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=639</ref>

In recent history some notable defenders of the resurrection include: [[William Lane Craig]], [[Lee Strobel]], [[Josh McDowell]], [[Edwin M. Yamauchi]], [[N.T. Wright]] and [[Michael Horner]]. <ref>http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html</ref><ref>http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm</ref><ref>http://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html</ref>

Legal scholars such as [[Simon Greenleaf]], [[John Warwick Montgomery]] and many others have asserted that western legal standards argue for the resurrection of Christ. <ref>http://www.bibleteacher.org/sgtestimony.htm</ref><ref>http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissart1.htm</ref><ref>http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_lawreligionculturereview_archive.html</ref><ref>http://www.trinitysem.edu/journal/philjohnsonpap.html</ref> Defenders of the resurrection of Christ also cite many distinguished legal authorities regarding the historicity of the resurrection of Christ. <ref>http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0302W3.htm</ref>

Another reason to believe the resurrection is the fact that many people who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus voluntarily preached the news of this despite extreme persecution, and died for their efforts. Unlike the early members of most religions, these people had the opportunity to be direct eyewitnesses to what verified the claims of Christianity.

== See also ==

*[[Byzantine Empire]]
*[[Andrew the Apostle]]
*[[Lazarus (brother of Mary)]]
*[[Lazarus (Parable)]]
*[[Judaism]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.ccci.org/wij/ Who is Jesus? Is Jesus Christ God?]
*[http://www.farsinet.com/christmas/nativity_church.html Church of Nativity - Birth Place of Jesus Christ] Bethlehem.
*[http://www.bible-history.com/links.php?cat=19&sub=302&cat_name=Jesus&subcat_name=Background Jesus Background] Bible History on line.
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08374c.htm Jesus Christ]Catholic Encyclopedia.
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/ C. S. Lewis Society of California].
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/bodily.php "The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus," by William Lane Craig].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Problem.htm "Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus: The Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Problem," by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/resurrection.php "Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ," by William Lane Craig].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Justice_Jesus.htm "Doing Justice to Jesus: A Response to J.D. Crossan: 'What Victory? What God?'," by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Jesus.htm "The Historical Jesus and Christian Theology," by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=37 "The Wright Quest for the Historical Jesus," by Ben Witherington, III].

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Jesus]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Christian History]]
[[Category:Religion]]

World War I

2007-05-20T02:56:01Z

Shadowthedog: /* External links */

'''World War I''', also known as '''The Great War''', was waged primarily in [[Europe]] from 1914 to 1918. World War I also saw the first use of [[chemical warfare|poisonous gas]], large artillery, and armored [[tank|tanks]]. It was a "[[total war]]" because the governments involved took control over the economy and factories, giving first priority to the goods needed for war. Wage and price controls were imposed, there was rationing of goods for civilians, and free speech was limited. The governments put out [[propaganda]] to maximize support for the war and dislike of the enemy.

On one side of the war were the [[Central Powers]], [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[Second German Empire]], [[Bulgaria]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The [[Allies]] consisted of the [[Britain|British]] and [[France|French Empires]], the Tsarist [[Russian Empire]](until 1917), [[Italy]], [[Japan]], and after 1917, the [[United States]].

=== A Spark Leads to a Fire ===
----
On June 28, 1914, teenage [[Serbia|Serbian]] [[nationalism|nationalist]] [[Gavrilo Princip]] assassinated the Austrian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] and his wife in [[Sarajevo]]. This action led to Austria-Hungary giving an ultimatum [http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/mmontgomery/world_history/world_war1/ultimatum.htm] to Serbia. Serbia refused to comply with the list of demands, and due to a number of military alliances throughout Europe, a full scale war was soon in progress. Serbia requested support from its ally, [[Russia]], which mobilized its military forces. This mobilization led to [[Germany]] invading both Russia and [[France]] (which had an existing alliance with Russia), which was a part of Germany's [[Schlieffen Plan]] of war on two fronts. En route to France, German forces passed through neutral [[Belgium]]. The violation of this neutrality led [[Britain]] to declare war on Germany. Italy had an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but refused to join the war.

=== Great Battles of World War I ===
----
World War I consisted mostly of [[trench warfare]]. This method of waging war was very slow and messy. Soldiers might wait in their trenches for weeks, only to advance a few feet and wait in a new trench. There were four important battles which were fought before America joined the war.

'''[[Battle of Gallipoli]]'''

In April 1915, an amphibious Allied force landed on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in a misguided attempt to knock Turkey out of the war. Although the Allies greatly outnumbered the Turks, the extremely tenacious Turkish fighters held their ground. The Allies did not understand the terrain adequately and suffered from limited knowledge of their enemy. Nine months later the Allies had to withdraw, after suffering 46,000 deaths among over 250,000 casualties.

'''[[Battle of Verdun]]'''

In 1916, the Battle of Verdun between the French and Germans may have been the most demanding battle in world history. The struggle started when the Germans attacked [[Verdun]], France, a city surrounded by a ring of underground forts. At least 220,000 soldiers died, and at least 480,000 were wounded in this 10-month struggle that accomplished nothing. At the end the front lines were in nearly the same locations as at the beginning.

'''[[Battle of the Somme]]'''

Also in 1916, and also in France, the British and French armies met at the Somme River and began a massive attack on the Germans in order to distract them from [[Verdun]]. This became the Battle of the Somme, and the fighting was even heard across the British channel in England. First the Allies shelled the Germans to weaken them, and then 100,000 British soldiers charged the enemy. But the shelling did not have its intended effect, as the Germans were dug in too deeply to be affected by it. On July 1, 1916, the Germans killed 20,000 of the British soldiers and wounded over 40,000, making it the single worst day in British military history. This battle, which did not succeed in moving trench lines, eventually involved over 2 million men along a 30-mile front. The British and French lost nearly 750,000 men.

'''[[Third Battle of Ypres]]'''

For 18 months the British hid 19 huge land mines underneath the German lines southeast of Ypres, Belgium, a location that had already seen battles in 1914 and 1915. The British then detonated those massive mines, and charged the German positions in July 1917. At first the strategy worked, as the Germans were confused and disorganized. But the British did not pursue the Germans as quickly as they should have. Rain began to drench the area in one of the wettest fall seasons there in years. Soon the British forces were stuck in a mountain of mud, and this Allied plan was yet another failure.

=== The United States Joins the War ===
----
For the first three years of World War I, the United States attempted to stay out of the war. The United States had friends and citizens on both sides of the war, and the wise move was not to move, to remain neutral. When the Germans used a [[U-boat]] to sink the ''[[Lusitania]]'' in 1915, killing over one thousand people, the Americans were outraged. Later, when Britain implemented a naval blockade of Germany, the Germans announced they would sink any ship entering or leaving Britain. They held true to their word and sunk three ships from America with the U-boats. The Germans had taken ads out in most American newspapers, warning Americans that they travelled on British ships at their own risk. However, only the [[Des Moines]] Register ran the ads.<ref> Morgan, Hal. ''More Rumor''. New York: Paradox Press, 1987. </ref>America now had many reasons to fight back, but she was still not ready to join the war.

The German Foreign Minister [[Arthur Zimmermann]] sent an encrypted [[Zimmerman Note|telegram]] to the German ambassador in [[Mexico]] which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States. British intelligence intercepted and deciphered the telegram, however, and gave it to the United States to help the British cause. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made the contents of the telgram public. The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had lost to the United States in the [[Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]] which ended the [[Mexican War]] if it would declare was on the United States. At first, the Americans doubted if the telegram was real and thought it had been forged by the British to make America favor them. But then Zimmermann was foolish enough to promise the pledge to Mexico in a public speech.

The Germans had gone too far. On April 2, 1917, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] spoke in favor of declaring war on Germany in an address to the joint houses of [[Congress]]. Congress then formally declared war on April 6, 1917.<ref>http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/usofficialawardeclaration.htm</ref>

=== Russia ===
----
As the United States was entering the war on the side of the Allies, Russia suffered two successive internal Revolutions which would later caused it to withdraw from the side of the Allies and leave the war altogether. The [[February Revolution]] overthrew the centuries-old monarchy of the Tsar; the [[October Revolution]] installed the [[communist]] [[Bolshevik Party]] under [[V.I. Lenin]]. The lack of success against the German and Austrian Empires, and the hyperinflation caused by unsustainable military spending by the Russian government led to much internal discontent and economic chaos.

Losses and hardship of the war had weakened Russian [[Czar Nicholas II]]. He abdicated the throne in March 1917 in favor of a provisional government headed by [[Alexander Kerensky]]. Hopes for a democratic revolution still existed at this time. But in October 1917, [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], and the [[Communist Party]], which was never strong enough to challenge the Czar, overthrew the fledgling provisional government. The Communists later executed every member of the Czar's family including the children.

Lenin became the founder of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] state. He was both a writer and a revolutionary, a rare combination. He was the brother of the "bomb thrower" [[Alexander Ulyanov]] who was hanged for his involvement in terrorist activity and an assassination attempt on Czar Alexander III in 1887. An atheist, he became a [[Marxism|Marxist]] in 1889. He obtained a law degree shortly afterwards, and by 1895 was a subversive who was arrested and sent to the Tsarist gulag along the Lena River in frigid Siberia where he adopted the name Lenin after the place of his internment. Once he served his time he left for Zurich, where he developed his ideas further and became a leader of the [[Bolsheviks]]. He was returned to Russia by the Germans in the wake of chaos during the [[Kerensky]] regime with the hope to led the Bolsheviks to power and negotiate a peace settlement with the Germans. After the [[Treaty of Versailles]] failed to recognize the settlement between Germany and the Soviet Union in the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], he then ruled the Soviet Union and imposed a system of [[Marxism-Leninism]] (communism) that remained in force there until the [[Stalin]]'s rise to power.

=== The Western Front ===
----
The exit of Russia allowed Germany to shift a majority of their troops from the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|eastern front]] to the [[Western Front (World War I)|western front]]. This gave them a final chance to try and break the Allies before the Americans arrived. Known as [[Operation Michael]], the German offensive began in March of 1918.

The Germans launched five major campaigns in a four month period in 1918 on the [[Western Front]]. The Germans had technology and lots of energy. They had elite storm-troopers with automatic rifles, light machine guns, flame-throwers and artillery fire. They used poisonous [[mustard gas]] lavishly. They easily defeated the [[British Fifth Army]]. The Germans were advancing and taking property.

But fresh American troops entered the scene. In the [[Second Battle of the Marne]] in July 1918, the Allies started winning. Nine American divisions fought in this battle about 75 miles northeast of Paris. The Germans started this battle on another one of their offensives, but the Americans turned the tables and enabled the Allies to win it. Casualties were enormous for everyone, including the Americans. Former President [[Teddy Roosevelt]]’s son Quentin was killed in this battle.

American Capt. Jesse Woolridge, 38th Inf., 3rd Division described the battle as follows: “It’s God’s truth that one Company of American soldiers beat and routed a full regiment of picked shock troops of the German Army ... At ten o’clock ... the Germans were carrying back wounded and dead [from] the river bank and we in our exhaustion let them do it - they carried back all but six hundred which we counted later and fifty-two machine guns... We had started with 251 men and 5 lieutenants...I had left 51 men and 2 second lieutenants."

=== The War Ends ===
----
As the Americans and the Allies advanced toward Germany, the Ottoman Turks and Bulgarians surrendered. There was a revolution in Austria-Hungary that overthrew its government, and Germany would not recognize that new government. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne in Germany on November 1918, and the Germans formed a new republic. Members of the German republic signed an armistice (agreement to stop fighting) on November 11, 1918. The "war to end all wars", was over.

=== Aftermath ===
----
Austria-Hungary was dismantled, mostly along ethnic lines. The Ottoman Empire was also dismantled. For the first time in over 1000 years Palestine was not under Muslim control, as Britian assumed control of the area as a colony. Germany was forced to sign the [[Treaty of Versailles]] accepting full responsibility for the war and had to pay for the entire cost of the war. This led Germany into economic collapse and sowed the seeds for anyone who could get them out of this collapse and restore their pride to be view as almost a savior. Italy felt they were shortchanged in their portion of the spoils and led to a bitterness that would cause them to side with Germany in the years ahead. The initial causes of the war, alliances and imperialism, were not dealt with. Only 20 years after the Treaty of Versailles, [[World War II]] would start.

==Further reading==
*''War By Time-Table: How the First World War Began'', A.J.P. Taylor, New York: American Heritage, 1969.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:World War I| ]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_wwi.html/ World War I]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1345/ "American Foreign Policy: The Turning Point, 1898–1919," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499/ "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard91.html/ " War Collectivism in World War I," by Murray N. Rothbard]

World War I

2007-05-20T02:52:22Z

Shadowthedog: /* External links */

'''World War I''', also known as '''The Great War''', was waged primarily in [[Europe]] from 1914 to 1918. World War I also saw the first use of [[chemical warfare|poisonous gas]], large artillery, and armored [[tank|tanks]]. It was a "[[total war]]" because the governments involved took control over the economy and factories, giving first priority to the goods needed for war. Wage and price controls were imposed, there was rationing of goods for civilians, and free speech was limited. The governments put out [[propaganda]] to maximize support for the war and dislike of the enemy.

On one side of the war were the [[Central Powers]], [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[Second German Empire]], [[Bulgaria]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The [[Allies]] consisted of the [[Britain|British]] and [[France|French Empires]], the Tsarist [[Russian Empire]](until 1917), [[Italy]], [[Japan]], and after 1917, the [[United States]].

=== A Spark Leads to a Fire ===
----
On June 28, 1914, teenage [[Serbia|Serbian]] [[nationalism|nationalist]] [[Gavrilo Princip]] assassinated the Austrian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] and his wife in [[Sarajevo]]. This action led to Austria-Hungary giving an ultimatum [http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/mmontgomery/world_history/world_war1/ultimatum.htm] to Serbia. Serbia refused to comply with the list of demands, and due to a number of military alliances throughout Europe, a full scale war was soon in progress. Serbia requested support from its ally, [[Russia]], which mobilized its military forces. This mobilization led to [[Germany]] invading both Russia and [[France]] (which had an existing alliance with Russia), which was a part of Germany's [[Schlieffen Plan]] of war on two fronts. En route to France, German forces passed through neutral [[Belgium]]. The violation of this neutrality led [[Britain]] to declare war on Germany. Italy had an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but refused to join the war.

=== Great Battles of World War I ===
----
World War I consisted mostly of [[trench warfare]]. This method of waging war was very slow and messy. Soldiers might wait in their trenches for weeks, only to advance a few feet and wait in a new trench. There were four important battles which were fought before America joined the war.

'''[[Battle of Gallipoli]]'''

In April 1915, an amphibious Allied force landed on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in a misguided attempt to knock Turkey out of the war. Although the Allies greatly outnumbered the Turks, the extremely tenacious Turkish fighters held their ground. The Allies did not understand the terrain adequately and suffered from limited knowledge of their enemy. Nine months later the Allies had to withdraw, after suffering 46,000 deaths among over 250,000 casualties.

'''[[Battle of Verdun]]'''

In 1916, the Battle of Verdun between the French and Germans may have been the most demanding battle in world history. The struggle started when the Germans attacked [[Verdun]], France, a city surrounded by a ring of underground forts. At least 220,000 soldiers died, and at least 480,000 were wounded in this 10-month struggle that accomplished nothing. At the end the front lines were in nearly the same locations as at the beginning.

'''[[Battle of the Somme]]'''

Also in 1916, and also in France, the British and French armies met at the Somme River and began a massive attack on the Germans in order to distract them from [[Verdun]]. This became the Battle of the Somme, and the fighting was even heard across the British channel in England. First the Allies shelled the Germans to weaken them, and then 100,000 British soldiers charged the enemy. But the shelling did not have its intended effect, as the Germans were dug in too deeply to be affected by it. On July 1, 1916, the Germans killed 20,000 of the British soldiers and wounded over 40,000, making it the single worst day in British military history. This battle, which did not succeed in moving trench lines, eventually involved over 2 million men along a 30-mile front. The British and French lost nearly 750,000 men.

'''[[Third Battle of Ypres]]'''

For 18 months the British hid 19 huge land mines underneath the German lines southeast of Ypres, Belgium, a location that had already seen battles in 1914 and 1915. The British then detonated those massive mines, and charged the German positions in July 1917. At first the strategy worked, as the Germans were confused and disorganized. But the British did not pursue the Germans as quickly as they should have. Rain began to drench the area in one of the wettest fall seasons there in years. Soon the British forces were stuck in a mountain of mud, and this Allied plan was yet another failure.

=== The United States Joins the War ===
----
For the first three years of World War I, the United States attempted to stay out of the war. The United States had friends and citizens on both sides of the war, and the wise move was not to move, to remain neutral. When the Germans used a [[U-boat]] to sink the ''[[Lusitania]]'' in 1915, killing over one thousand people, the Americans were outraged. Later, when Britain implemented a naval blockade of Germany, the Germans announced they would sink any ship entering or leaving Britain. They held true to their word and sunk three ships from America with the U-boats. The Germans had taken ads out in most American newspapers, warning Americans that they travelled on British ships at their own risk. However, only the [[Des Moines]] Register ran the ads.<ref> Morgan, Hal. ''More Rumor''. New York: Paradox Press, 1987. </ref>America now had many reasons to fight back, but she was still not ready to join the war.

The German Foreign Minister [[Arthur Zimmermann]] sent an encrypted [[Zimmerman Note|telegram]] to the German ambassador in [[Mexico]] which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States. British intelligence intercepted and deciphered the telegram, however, and gave it to the United States to help the British cause. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made the contents of the telgram public. The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had lost to the United States in the [[Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]] which ended the [[Mexican War]] if it would declare was on the United States. At first, the Americans doubted if the telegram was real and thought it had been forged by the British to make America favor them. But then Zimmermann was foolish enough to promise the pledge to Mexico in a public speech.

The Germans had gone too far. On April 2, 1917, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] spoke in favor of declaring war on Germany in an address to the joint houses of [[Congress]]. Congress then formally declared war on April 6, 1917.<ref>http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/usofficialawardeclaration.htm</ref>

=== Russia ===
----
As the United States was entering the war on the side of the Allies, Russia suffered two successive internal Revolutions which would later caused it to withdraw from the side of the Allies and leave the war altogether. The [[February Revolution]] overthrew the centuries-old monarchy of the Tsar; the [[October Revolution]] installed the [[communist]] [[Bolshevik Party]] under [[V.I. Lenin]]. The lack of success against the German and Austrian Empires, and the hyperinflation caused by unsustainable military spending by the Russian government led to much internal discontent and economic chaos.

Losses and hardship of the war had weakened Russian [[Czar Nicholas II]]. He abdicated the throne in March 1917 in favor of a provisional government headed by [[Alexander Kerensky]]. Hopes for a democratic revolution still existed at this time. But in October 1917, [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], and the [[Communist Party]], which was never strong enough to challenge the Czar, overthrew the fledgling provisional government. The Communists later executed every member of the Czar's family including the children.

Lenin became the founder of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] state. He was both a writer and a revolutionary, a rare combination. He was the brother of the "bomb thrower" [[Alexander Ulyanov]] who was hanged for his involvement in terrorist activity and an assassination attempt on Czar Alexander III in 1887. An atheist, he became a [[Marxism|Marxist]] in 1889. He obtained a law degree shortly afterwards, and by 1895 was a subversive who was arrested and sent to the Tsarist gulag along the Lena River in frigid Siberia where he adopted the name Lenin after the place of his internment. Once he served his time he left for Zurich, where he developed his ideas further and became a leader of the [[Bolsheviks]]. He was returned to Russia by the Germans in the wake of chaos during the [[Kerensky]] regime with the hope to led the Bolsheviks to power and negotiate a peace settlement with the Germans. After the [[Treaty of Versailles]] failed to recognize the settlement between Germany and the Soviet Union in the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], he then ruled the Soviet Union and imposed a system of [[Marxism-Leninism]] (communism) that remained in force there until the [[Stalin]]'s rise to power.

=== The Western Front ===
----
The exit of Russia allowed Germany to shift a majority of their troops from the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|eastern front]] to the [[Western Front (World War I)|western front]]. This gave them a final chance to try and break the Allies before the Americans arrived. Known as [[Operation Michael]], the German offensive began in March of 1918.

The Germans launched five major campaigns in a four month period in 1918 on the [[Western Front]]. The Germans had technology and lots of energy. They had elite storm-troopers with automatic rifles, light machine guns, flame-throwers and artillery fire. They used poisonous [[mustard gas]] lavishly. They easily defeated the [[British Fifth Army]]. The Germans were advancing and taking property.

But fresh American troops entered the scene. In the [[Second Battle of the Marne]] in July 1918, the Allies started winning. Nine American divisions fought in this battle about 75 miles northeast of Paris. The Germans started this battle on another one of their offensives, but the Americans turned the tables and enabled the Allies to win it. Casualties were enormous for everyone, including the Americans. Former President [[Teddy Roosevelt]]’s son Quentin was killed in this battle.

American Capt. Jesse Woolridge, 38th Inf., 3rd Division described the battle as follows: “It’s God’s truth that one Company of American soldiers beat and routed a full regiment of picked shock troops of the German Army ... At ten o’clock ... the Germans were carrying back wounded and dead [from] the river bank and we in our exhaustion let them do it - they carried back all but six hundred which we counted later and fifty-two machine guns... We had started with 251 men and 5 lieutenants...I had left 51 men and 2 second lieutenants."

=== The War Ends ===
----
As the Americans and the Allies advanced toward Germany, the Ottoman Turks and Bulgarians surrendered. There was a revolution in Austria-Hungary that overthrew its government, and Germany would not recognize that new government. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne in Germany on November 1918, and the Germans formed a new republic. Members of the German republic signed an armistice (agreement to stop fighting) on November 11, 1918. The "war to end all wars", was over.

=== Aftermath ===
----
Austria-Hungary was dismantled, mostly along ethnic lines. The Ottoman Empire was also dismantled. For the first time in over 1000 years Palestine was not under Muslim control, as Britian assumed control of the area as a colony. Germany was forced to sign the [[Treaty of Versailles]] accepting full responsibility for the war and had to pay for the entire cost of the war. This led Germany into economic collapse and sowed the seeds for anyone who could get them out of this collapse and restore their pride to be view as almost a savior. Italy felt they were shortchanged in their portion of the spoils and led to a bitterness that would cause them to side with Germany in the years ahead. The initial causes of the war, alliances and imperialism, were not dealt with. Only 20 years after the Treaty of Versailles, [[World War II]] would start.

==Further reading==
*''War By Time-Table: How the First World War Began'', A.J.P. Taylor, New York: American Heritage, 1969.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:World War I| ]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_wwi.html/ World War I]
* [http://independent.org/pdf/tir/tir_09_3_8_raico.pdf/ "The Great War Retold," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499/ "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard91.html/ " War Collectivism in World War I," by Murray N. Rothbard]

World War I

2007-05-20T02:50:03Z

Shadowthedog: /* External links */

'''World War I''', also known as '''The Great War''', was waged primarily in [[Europe]] from 1914 to 1918. World War I also saw the first use of [[chemical warfare|poisonous gas]], large artillery, and armored [[tank|tanks]]. It was a "[[total war]]" because the governments involved took control over the economy and factories, giving first priority to the goods needed for war. Wage and price controls were imposed, there was rationing of goods for civilians, and free speech was limited. The governments put out [[propaganda]] to maximize support for the war and dislike of the enemy.

On one side of the war were the [[Central Powers]], [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[Second German Empire]], [[Bulgaria]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The [[Allies]] consisted of the [[Britain|British]] and [[France|French Empires]], the Tsarist [[Russian Empire]](until 1917), [[Italy]], [[Japan]], and after 1917, the [[United States]].

=== A Spark Leads to a Fire ===
----
On June 28, 1914, teenage [[Serbia|Serbian]] [[nationalism|nationalist]] [[Gavrilo Princip]] assassinated the Austrian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] and his wife in [[Sarajevo]]. This action led to Austria-Hungary giving an ultimatum [http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/mmontgomery/world_history/world_war1/ultimatum.htm] to Serbia. Serbia refused to comply with the list of demands, and due to a number of military alliances throughout Europe, a full scale war was soon in progress. Serbia requested support from its ally, [[Russia]], which mobilized its military forces. This mobilization led to [[Germany]] invading both Russia and [[France]] (which had an existing alliance with Russia), which was a part of Germany's [[Schlieffen Plan]] of war on two fronts. En route to France, German forces passed through neutral [[Belgium]]. The violation of this neutrality led [[Britain]] to declare war on Germany. Italy had an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but refused to join the war.

=== Great Battles of World War I ===
----
World War I consisted mostly of [[trench warfare]]. This method of waging war was very slow and messy. Soldiers might wait in their trenches for weeks, only to advance a few feet and wait in a new trench. There were four important battles which were fought before America joined the war.

'''[[Battle of Gallipoli]]'''

In April 1915, an amphibious Allied force landed on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in a misguided attempt to knock Turkey out of the war. Although the Allies greatly outnumbered the Turks, the extremely tenacious Turkish fighters held their ground. The Allies did not understand the terrain adequately and suffered from limited knowledge of their enemy. Nine months later the Allies had to withdraw, after suffering 46,000 deaths among over 250,000 casualties.

'''[[Battle of Verdun]]'''

In 1916, the Battle of Verdun between the French and Germans may have been the most demanding battle in world history. The struggle started when the Germans attacked [[Verdun]], France, a city surrounded by a ring of underground forts. At least 220,000 soldiers died, and at least 480,000 were wounded in this 10-month struggle that accomplished nothing. At the end the front lines were in nearly the same locations as at the beginning.

'''[[Battle of the Somme]]'''

Also in 1916, and also in France, the British and French armies met at the Somme River and began a massive attack on the Germans in order to distract them from [[Verdun]]. This became the Battle of the Somme, and the fighting was even heard across the British channel in England. First the Allies shelled the Germans to weaken them, and then 100,000 British soldiers charged the enemy. But the shelling did not have its intended effect, as the Germans were dug in too deeply to be affected by it. On July 1, 1916, the Germans killed 20,000 of the British soldiers and wounded over 40,000, making it the single worst day in British military history. This battle, which did not succeed in moving trench lines, eventually involved over 2 million men along a 30-mile front. The British and French lost nearly 750,000 men.

'''[[Third Battle of Ypres]]'''

For 18 months the British hid 19 huge land mines underneath the German lines southeast of Ypres, Belgium, a location that had already seen battles in 1914 and 1915. The British then detonated those massive mines, and charged the German positions in July 1917. At first the strategy worked, as the Germans were confused and disorganized. But the British did not pursue the Germans as quickly as they should have. Rain began to drench the area in one of the wettest fall seasons there in years. Soon the British forces were stuck in a mountain of mud, and this Allied plan was yet another failure.

=== The United States Joins the War ===
----
For the first three years of World War I, the United States attempted to stay out of the war. The United States had friends and citizens on both sides of the war, and the wise move was not to move, to remain neutral. When the Germans used a [[U-boat]] to sink the ''[[Lusitania]]'' in 1915, killing over one thousand people, the Americans were outraged. Later, when Britain implemented a naval blockade of Germany, the Germans announced they would sink any ship entering or leaving Britain. They held true to their word and sunk three ships from America with the U-boats. The Germans had taken ads out in most American newspapers, warning Americans that they travelled on British ships at their own risk. However, only the [[Des Moines]] Register ran the ads.<ref> Morgan, Hal. ''More Rumor''. New York: Paradox Press, 1987. </ref>America now had many reasons to fight back, but she was still not ready to join the war.

The German Foreign Minister [[Arthur Zimmermann]] sent an encrypted [[Zimmerman Note|telegram]] to the German ambassador in [[Mexico]] which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States. British intelligence intercepted and deciphered the telegram, however, and gave it to the United States to help the British cause. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made the contents of the telgram public. The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had lost to the United States in the [[Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]] which ended the [[Mexican War]] if it would declare was on the United States. At first, the Americans doubted if the telegram was real and thought it had been forged by the British to make America favor them. But then Zimmermann was foolish enough to promise the pledge to Mexico in a public speech.

The Germans had gone too far. On April 2, 1917, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] spoke in favor of declaring war on Germany in an address to the joint houses of [[Congress]]. Congress then formally declared war on April 6, 1917.<ref>http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/usofficialawardeclaration.htm</ref>

=== Russia ===
----
As the United States was entering the war on the side of the Allies, Russia suffered two successive internal Revolutions which would later caused it to withdraw from the side of the Allies and leave the war altogether. The [[February Revolution]] overthrew the centuries-old monarchy of the Tsar; the [[October Revolution]] installed the [[communist]] [[Bolshevik Party]] under [[V.I. Lenin]]. The lack of success against the German and Austrian Empires, and the hyperinflation caused by unsustainable military spending by the Russian government led to much internal discontent and economic chaos.

Losses and hardship of the war had weakened Russian [[Czar Nicholas II]]. He abdicated the throne in March 1917 in favor of a provisional government headed by [[Alexander Kerensky]]. Hopes for a democratic revolution still existed at this time. But in October 1917, [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], and the [[Communist Party]], which was never strong enough to challenge the Czar, overthrew the fledgling provisional government. The Communists later executed every member of the Czar's family including the children.

Lenin became the founder of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] state. He was both a writer and a revolutionary, a rare combination. He was the brother of the "bomb thrower" [[Alexander Ulyanov]] who was hanged for his involvement in terrorist activity and an assassination attempt on Czar Alexander III in 1887. An atheist, he became a [[Marxism|Marxist]] in 1889. He obtained a law degree shortly afterwards, and by 1895 was a subversive who was arrested and sent to the Tsarist gulag along the Lena River in frigid Siberia where he adopted the name Lenin after the place of his internment. Once he served his time he left for Zurich, where he developed his ideas further and became a leader of the [[Bolsheviks]]. He was returned to Russia by the Germans in the wake of chaos during the [[Kerensky]] regime with the hope to led the Bolsheviks to power and negotiate a peace settlement with the Germans. After the [[Treaty of Versailles]] failed to recognize the settlement between Germany and the Soviet Union in the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], he then ruled the Soviet Union and imposed a system of [[Marxism-Leninism]] (communism) that remained in force there until the [[Stalin]]'s rise to power.

=== The Western Front ===
----
The exit of Russia allowed Germany to shift a majority of their troops from the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|eastern front]] to the [[Western Front (World War I)|western front]]. This gave them a final chance to try and break the Allies before the Americans arrived. Known as [[Operation Michael]], the German offensive began in March of 1918.

The Germans launched five major campaigns in a four month period in 1918 on the [[Western Front]]. The Germans had technology and lots of energy. They had elite storm-troopers with automatic rifles, light machine guns, flame-throwers and artillery fire. They used poisonous [[mustard gas]] lavishly. They easily defeated the [[British Fifth Army]]. The Germans were advancing and taking property.

But fresh American troops entered the scene. In the [[Second Battle of the Marne]] in July 1918, the Allies started winning. Nine American divisions fought in this battle about 75 miles northeast of Paris. The Germans started this battle on another one of their offensives, but the Americans turned the tables and enabled the Allies to win it. Casualties were enormous for everyone, including the Americans. Former President [[Teddy Roosevelt]]’s son Quentin was killed in this battle.

American Capt. Jesse Woolridge, 38th Inf., 3rd Division described the battle as follows: “It’s God’s truth that one Company of American soldiers beat and routed a full regiment of picked shock troops of the German Army ... At ten o’clock ... the Germans were carrying back wounded and dead [from] the river bank and we in our exhaustion let them do it - they carried back all but six hundred which we counted later and fifty-two machine guns... We had started with 251 men and 5 lieutenants...I had left 51 men and 2 second lieutenants."

=== The War Ends ===
----
As the Americans and the Allies advanced toward Germany, the Ottoman Turks and Bulgarians surrendered. There was a revolution in Austria-Hungary that overthrew its government, and Germany would not recognize that new government. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne in Germany on November 1918, and the Germans formed a new republic. Members of the German republic signed an armistice (agreement to stop fighting) on November 11, 1918. The "war to end all wars", was over.

=== Aftermath ===
----
Austria-Hungary was dismantled, mostly along ethnic lines. The Ottoman Empire was also dismantled. For the first time in over 1000 years Palestine was not under Muslim control, as Britian assumed control of the area as a colony. Germany was forced to sign the [[Treaty of Versailles]] accepting full responsibility for the war and had to pay for the entire cost of the war. This led Germany into economic collapse and sowed the seeds for anyone who could get them out of this collapse and restore their pride to be view as almost a savior. Italy felt they were shortchanged in their portion of the spoils and led to a bitterness that would cause them to side with Germany in the years ahead. The initial causes of the war, alliances and imperialism, were not dealt with. Only 20 years after the Treaty of Versailles, [[World War II]] would start.

==Further reading==
*''War By Time-Table: How the First World War Began'', A.J.P. Taylor, New York: American Heritage, 1969.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:World War I| ]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_wwi.html/ World War I]
* [http://independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=40&articleID=506/ "The Great War Retold," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499/ "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard91.html/ " War Collectivism in World War I," by Murray N. Rothbard]

World War I

2007-05-20T02:48:50Z

Shadowthedog: /* References */

'''World War I''', also known as '''The Great War''', was waged primarily in [[Europe]] from 1914 to 1918. World War I also saw the first use of [[chemical warfare|poisonous gas]], large artillery, and armored [[tank|tanks]]. It was a "[[total war]]" because the governments involved took control over the economy and factories, giving first priority to the goods needed for war. Wage and price controls were imposed, there was rationing of goods for civilians, and free speech was limited. The governments put out [[propaganda]] to maximize support for the war and dislike of the enemy.

On one side of the war were the [[Central Powers]], [[Austria-Hungary]], the [[Second German Empire]], [[Bulgaria]], and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The [[Allies]] consisted of the [[Britain|British]] and [[France|French Empires]], the Tsarist [[Russian Empire]](until 1917), [[Italy]], [[Japan]], and after 1917, the [[United States]].

=== A Spark Leads to a Fire ===
----
On June 28, 1914, teenage [[Serbia|Serbian]] [[nationalism|nationalist]] [[Gavrilo Princip]] assassinated the Austrian Archduke [[Franz Ferdinand]] and his wife in [[Sarajevo]]. This action led to Austria-Hungary giving an ultimatum [http://teachers.sduhsd.k12.ca.us/mmontgomery/world_history/world_war1/ultimatum.htm] to Serbia. Serbia refused to comply with the list of demands, and due to a number of military alliances throughout Europe, a full scale war was soon in progress. Serbia requested support from its ally, [[Russia]], which mobilized its military forces. This mobilization led to [[Germany]] invading both Russia and [[France]] (which had an existing alliance with Russia), which was a part of Germany's [[Schlieffen Plan]] of war on two fronts. En route to France, German forces passed through neutral [[Belgium]]. The violation of this neutrality led [[Britain]] to declare war on Germany. Italy had an alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary, but refused to join the war.

=== Great Battles of World War I ===
----
World War I consisted mostly of [[trench warfare]]. This method of waging war was very slow and messy. Soldiers might wait in their trenches for weeks, only to advance a few feet and wait in a new trench. There were four important battles which were fought before America joined the war.

'''[[Battle of Gallipoli]]'''

In April 1915, an amphibious Allied force landed on the Turkish peninsula of Gallipoli in a misguided attempt to knock Turkey out of the war. Although the Allies greatly outnumbered the Turks, the extremely tenacious Turkish fighters held their ground. The Allies did not understand the terrain adequately and suffered from limited knowledge of their enemy. Nine months later the Allies had to withdraw, after suffering 46,000 deaths among over 250,000 casualties.

'''[[Battle of Verdun]]'''

In 1916, the Battle of Verdun between the French and Germans may have been the most demanding battle in world history. The struggle started when the Germans attacked [[Verdun]], France, a city surrounded by a ring of underground forts. At least 220,000 soldiers died, and at least 480,000 were wounded in this 10-month struggle that accomplished nothing. At the end the front lines were in nearly the same locations as at the beginning.

'''[[Battle of the Somme]]'''

Also in 1916, and also in France, the British and French armies met at the Somme River and began a massive attack on the Germans in order to distract them from [[Verdun]]. This became the Battle of the Somme, and the fighting was even heard across the British channel in England. First the Allies shelled the Germans to weaken them, and then 100,000 British soldiers charged the enemy. But the shelling did not have its intended effect, as the Germans were dug in too deeply to be affected by it. On July 1, 1916, the Germans killed 20,000 of the British soldiers and wounded over 40,000, making it the single worst day in British military history. This battle, which did not succeed in moving trench lines, eventually involved over 2 million men along a 30-mile front. The British and French lost nearly 750,000 men.

'''[[Third Battle of Ypres]]'''

For 18 months the British hid 19 huge land mines underneath the German lines southeast of Ypres, Belgium, a location that had already seen battles in 1914 and 1915. The British then detonated those massive mines, and charged the German positions in July 1917. At first the strategy worked, as the Germans were confused and disorganized. But the British did not pursue the Germans as quickly as they should have. Rain began to drench the area in one of the wettest fall seasons there in years. Soon the British forces were stuck in a mountain of mud, and this Allied plan was yet another failure.

=== The United States Joins the War ===
----
For the first three years of World War I, the United States attempted to stay out of the war. The United States had friends and citizens on both sides of the war, and the wise move was not to move, to remain neutral. When the Germans used a [[U-boat]] to sink the ''[[Lusitania]]'' in 1915, killing over one thousand people, the Americans were outraged. Later, when Britain implemented a naval blockade of Germany, the Germans announced they would sink any ship entering or leaving Britain. They held true to their word and sunk three ships from America with the U-boats. The Germans had taken ads out in most American newspapers, warning Americans that they travelled on British ships at their own risk. However, only the [[Des Moines]] Register ran the ads.<ref> Morgan, Hal. ''More Rumor''. New York: Paradox Press, 1987. </ref>America now had many reasons to fight back, but she was still not ready to join the war.

The German Foreign Minister [[Arthur Zimmermann]] sent an encrypted [[Zimmerman Note|telegram]] to the German ambassador in [[Mexico]] which sought to induce Mexico to declare war on the United States. British intelligence intercepted and deciphered the telegram, however, and gave it to the United States to help the British cause. President [[Woodrow Wilson]] made the contents of the telgram public. The telegram promised that Germany would help Mexico regain land it had lost to the United States in the [[Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo]] which ended the [[Mexican War]] if it would declare was on the United States. At first, the Americans doubted if the telegram was real and thought it had been forged by the British to make America favor them. But then Zimmermann was foolish enough to promise the pledge to Mexico in a public speech.

The Germans had gone too far. On April 2, 1917, President [[Woodrow Wilson]] spoke in favor of declaring war on Germany in an address to the joint houses of [[Congress]]. Congress then formally declared war on April 6, 1917.<ref>http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/usofficialawardeclaration.htm</ref>

=== Russia ===
----
As the United States was entering the war on the side of the Allies, Russia suffered two successive internal Revolutions which would later caused it to withdraw from the side of the Allies and leave the war altogether. The [[February Revolution]] overthrew the centuries-old monarchy of the Tsar; the [[October Revolution]] installed the [[communist]] [[Bolshevik Party]] under [[V.I. Lenin]]. The lack of success against the German and Austrian Empires, and the hyperinflation caused by unsustainable military spending by the Russian government led to much internal discontent and economic chaos.

Losses and hardship of the war had weakened Russian [[Czar Nicholas II]]. He abdicated the throne in March 1917 in favor of a provisional government headed by [[Alexander Kerensky]]. Hopes for a democratic revolution still existed at this time. But in October 1917, [[Vladimir Ilyich Lenin]], and the [[Communist Party]], which was never strong enough to challenge the Czar, overthrew the fledgling provisional government. The Communists later executed every member of the Czar's family including the children.

Lenin became the founder of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] state. He was both a writer and a revolutionary, a rare combination. He was the brother of the "bomb thrower" [[Alexander Ulyanov]] who was hanged for his involvement in terrorist activity and an assassination attempt on Czar Alexander III in 1887. An atheist, he became a [[Marxism|Marxist]] in 1889. He obtained a law degree shortly afterwards, and by 1895 was a subversive who was arrested and sent to the Tsarist gulag along the Lena River in frigid Siberia where he adopted the name Lenin after the place of his internment. Once he served his time he left for Zurich, where he developed his ideas further and became a leader of the [[Bolsheviks]]. He was returned to Russia by the Germans in the wake of chaos during the [[Kerensky]] regime with the hope to led the Bolsheviks to power and negotiate a peace settlement with the Germans. After the [[Treaty of Versailles]] failed to recognize the settlement between Germany and the Soviet Union in the [[Treaty of Brest-Litovsk]], he then ruled the Soviet Union and imposed a system of [[Marxism-Leninism]] (communism) that remained in force there until the [[Stalin]]'s rise to power.

=== The Western Front ===
----
The exit of Russia allowed Germany to shift a majority of their troops from the [[Eastern Front (World War I)|eastern front]] to the [[Western Front (World War I)|western front]]. This gave them a final chance to try and break the Allies before the Americans arrived. Known as [[Operation Michael]], the German offensive began in March of 1918.

The Germans launched five major campaigns in a four month period in 1918 on the [[Western Front]]. The Germans had technology and lots of energy. They had elite storm-troopers with automatic rifles, light machine guns, flame-throwers and artillery fire. They used poisonous [[mustard gas]] lavishly. They easily defeated the [[British Fifth Army]]. The Germans were advancing and taking property.

But fresh American troops entered the scene. In the [[Second Battle of the Marne]] in July 1918, the Allies started winning. Nine American divisions fought in this battle about 75 miles northeast of Paris. The Germans started this battle on another one of their offensives, but the Americans turned the tables and enabled the Allies to win it. Casualties were enormous for everyone, including the Americans. Former President [[Teddy Roosevelt]]’s son Quentin was killed in this battle.

American Capt. Jesse Woolridge, 38th Inf., 3rd Division described the battle as follows: “It’s God’s truth that one Company of American soldiers beat and routed a full regiment of picked shock troops of the German Army ... At ten o’clock ... the Germans were carrying back wounded and dead [from] the river bank and we in our exhaustion let them do it - they carried back all but six hundred which we counted later and fifty-two machine guns... We had started with 251 men and 5 lieutenants...I had left 51 men and 2 second lieutenants."

=== The War Ends ===
----
As the Americans and the Allies advanced toward Germany, the Ottoman Turks and Bulgarians surrendered. There was a revolution in Austria-Hungary that overthrew its government, and Germany would not recognize that new government. Kaiser Wilhelm II abdicated his throne in Germany on November 1918, and the Germans formed a new republic. Members of the German republic signed an armistice (agreement to stop fighting) on November 11, 1918. The "war to end all wars", was over.

=== Aftermath ===
----
Austria-Hungary was dismantled, mostly along ethnic lines. The Ottoman Empire was also dismantled. For the first time in over 1000 years Palestine was not under Muslim control, as Britian assumed control of the area as a colony. Germany was forced to sign the [[Treaty of Versailles]] accepting full responsibility for the war and had to pay for the entire cost of the war. This led Germany into economic collapse and sowed the seeds for anyone who could get them out of this collapse and restore their pride to be view as almost a savior. Italy felt they were shortchanged in their portion of the spoils and led to a bitterness that would cause them to side with Germany in the years ahead. The initial causes of the war, alliances and imperialism, were not dealt with. Only 20 years after the Treaty of Versailles, [[World War II]] would start.

==Further reading==
*''War By Time-Table: How the First World War Began'', A.J.P. Taylor, New York: American Heritage, 1969.

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Wars]]
[[Category:World War I| ]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.onpower.org/history_wwi.html/ World War I]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=40&articleID=506/ "The Great War Retold," by Ralph Raico]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/working_papers/article.asp?id=1499/ "Government and the Economy: The World Wars," by Robert Higgs]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard91.html/ " War Collectivism in World War I," by Murray N. Rothbard]

Jesus Christ

2007-05-20T02:35:21Z

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[[Image:Christ.jpg|thumb|right|700px|The Christ Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.]]

'''Jesus Christ''' is the only Son of [[God]] who, in the fullness of time, was sent by God the Father to be the expiation for our sins and to ransom us from death.<ref>1 John 4:10; 2 Corinthians 5:19.</ref> By the power of the [[Holy Spirit]], Jesus was conceived in the womb of the [[Virgin Mary]], and became man in an event known as the Incarnation, as possibly referred to in Isaiah 7:14. Indeed, the calendar itself reflects this truth, with the traditional calculation of Jesus’ birth marking the first century A.D., that is, "''in the year of Our Lord…''".

When he was about thirty, Jesus was baptized by [[John the Baptist]], inaugurating his ministry. Jesus was the Christ (Greek: Χριστός), or Messiah ([[Hebrew]]: 'משיחא'), prophesied in the Old Testament; he proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent, and believe in the gospel.”<ref>Mark 1:14-15.</ref> As signs of these truths, Jesus performed various miracles.

Jesus founded the [[Christian]] religion, choosing twelve apostles to participate in his mission, and commissioning them to “preach the Kingdom of God and to heal”.<ref>Luke 9:2.</ref>

However, not all who heard the Lord believed in him, and, because he “was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God”, some sought to put him to death.<ref>John 5:18.</ref> Jesus was handed over to the Roman governor [[Pontius Pilate]] and crucified. But it was through his redemptive death, as the scriptures had foretold, that Jesus reconciled mankind with God.<ref>Romans 5:10.</ref> And so, on the third day, in a truly historical event, Jesus physically rose from the dead, making possible salvation and eternal life for those who believe in him. Indeed, his very name (Hebrew 'יהושע', Joshua) means ‘[[YHWH]] is [[salvation]]’. After appearing to his disciples on various occasions, Jesus ascended to Heaven, where he acts as our mediator, assuring, by his constant intercession, the permanent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

''For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. '' (John 3:16).

==Jesus' Life==

In the [[Gospels]] of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] and [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]], Jesus was born in [[Bethlehem]] ([[Judea]]) to [[Virgin Mary|Mary]], who at the time was a virgin, by the [[Holy Spirit]]. The [[Gospel of Luke]] relates that the angel [[Gabriel]] visited Mary in order to announce to her that she had been chosen to bear the Son of God (Luke 1:26–38). An order of [[Augustus|Caesar Augustus]], that a survey of the [[Roman Empire]] should be made caused Mary and [[Joseph (father of Jesus)|Joseph]] to leave Nazareth and go to the home of Joseph's forebears - to the house of [[David|King David]]. After Jesus' birth, they were forced to use a manger for a crib because the town's inn was full. According to Luke 2:8–20, an [[Angel|angel]] spread word of Jesus' birth to several shepherds who came to visit the newborn. Matthew also tells of the "Magi", ([[Zoroastrianism|Zoroastrian]] priests), who brought many gifts to the infant Jesus (among which were [[gold]], [[frankincense]], and [[myrrh]]; this has led to the incorrect assumption that three Magi were present, whereas the actual number is not given) after following a star which they believed was an indication that the [[Messiah]], or King of the Jews, had been born.

Jesus' early home is stated to have been in the town of Nazareth in [[Galilee]], and except for an escape to [[Egypt]] in early childhood, to avoid [[Herod the Great|Herod's]] massacre of the other male infants, all other events in the Gospels take place in ancient Israel. Luke's Finding in the Temple (Luke 2:41–52), where Jesus impressed the priests by discoursing in [[Old Testament|scripture]] with them, is the only detailed event between Jesus' infancy and adult life mentioned in any of the canonical Gospels.

The Gospel of Mark begins with the [[baptism]] of Jesus by [[John the Baptist]], which appears to be the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Jesus came to the [[Jordan River|River Jordan]], where John was preaching and baptizing people in the crowd. After Jesus had been baptized, and had risen up out of the water, Mark states Jesus 'saw the heavens torn apart and the Holy Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from [[heaven]], 'You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased' (Mark 1:10–11). Luke adds the chronological anchor that John the Baptist had begun preaching in the fifteenth year of [[Tiberius]] Caesar, approximately in 28 AD (Luke 3:1) and that Jesus was thirty years old when he was baptized (Luke 3:23).

After this baptism, according to Matthew, Jesus was brought into the desert by God where he fasted for forty days nights. During this period, the [[Satan]] appeared before him and tried three times to tempted Jesus into demonstrating his supernatural powers as a proof of his divine status; each temptation was refused by Jesus, with a scriptural quote from the Book of [[Deuteronomy]].

Jesus then began to preach. [[Gospel of John|John]] describes three different [[passover]] feasts that Jesus attended, thus implying that his ministry lasted three years.

The larger part of this was directed towards his closest followers, the [[Apostles]], although all of his followers were considered [[disciples]]. At the highest point of his ministry, Jesus attracted disciples and audiences numbering in the thousands; in particular in the area of Galilee. Many of Jesus' most well-known teachings were given during the [[Sermon on the Mount]], such as the [[Beatitudes]] and the [[Lord's Prayer]]. Jesus often used parables in his rhetorical technique, such as the [[Parable of the Good Samaritan]] and the [[Parable of the Sheep and the Goats]]; these teachings encouraged unconditional self-sacrificing [[Shema|love for God]] and [[Agape|for all people]]. During these sermons, he also discussed service and humility, forgiveness of sins, how faith should be applied, the [[Golden Rule]], and the necessity of following the spirit of the law as well as its wording.

Jesus also often conversed with social outcasts, such as the publican ([[Rome|Roman]] tax collectors who were unpopular for their practice of extorting money).

Throughout his ministry, Jesus performed many miracles including healing the sick and possessed, feeding 5000, and even raising from the dead.

As He preached, Jesus ran afoul of the [[Sanhedrin]] the recognized Jewish religious authorities who were allowed to have considerable religious, political and monetary influence under Roman rule. Jesus chastised them, accusing them of making laws for the people to follow that were the laws of men, not God. The Sanhedrin tried to set traps for Jesus by asking Him questions to either discredit Him with the people or get Him in trouble with the Roman authorities, but all of their efforts failed and they gave up. They lacked the means to stop Jesus until [[Judas Iscariot]] came to them and offered to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. He would tell them where Jesus would be that night so they could seize Him.

Jesus knew that His time was short and that He was about to be betrayed into the hands of sinners. He had His last supper with his disciples and went with them to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed vehemently knowing what was about to come.

[[Image:Jesus5.jpg‎|right|thumb|300px|Jesus Christ (Conceptualization)]]

Jesus was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Jewish religious authorities who took Him away and secretly put Him on trial during the night, trying to find justification for their desire to have Him killed. Finally, they convicted Him of blasphemy. As they did not have the authority to put a man to death, they took him to [[Pontius Pilate]], the Roman governor of Palestine, with their charges and demand his execution. Pilate avoided the issue by sending him to [[Herod Antipas|King Herod]] since Jesus was a Galilean, but Herod sent him back to Pilate. Pilate at first tried to release Jesus with a flogging, but ultimately condemned Jesus to [[crucifixion]]. Jesus died after suffering and giving up his spirit. The Bible goes on to record His resurrection on the third day, appearing before his disciples, and his later ascension into heaven as His disciples watched.

==The Historical Jesus==

Modern historians generally place the actual date of Jesus' birth between 7 and 4 B.C. due to problems reconciling the Roman and Jewish calendars with the [[Gregorian Calendar]] which is in use today throughout the industrialized world.

Occasionally non-historians deny the [[Historicity of Jesus|existence of Jesus]], <ref>"Book Article Denies the Existence of a Historical Jesus Figure" [http://www.newswiretoday.com/news/12694/ NewswireToday ] </ref>
<ref>"David H. Lewis [debates] the historicity of Jesus, arguing that New Testament and contemporaneous writings give very little evidence that Jesus actual ever lived." [http://www.abc.net.au/religion/stories/s1517040.htm Escaping the Gravitational Pull of the Gospels] </ref>
but few scholars take this seriously.
[[Tacitus]], the Roman historian, wrote about Jesus in A.D. 115<ref>http://www.digisys.net/users/ddalton/evidence_of_jesus_outside_the_bible.htm</ref>, and [[Josephus]], a Jewish historian who did not believe in Jesus' divinity, wrote about him. <ref>http://www.christian-thinktank.com/jesusref.html</ref>. Dr. [[Gary Habermas]] wrote an extensive analysis of the historicity of the existence of Jesus in his work ''The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ'' which discusses many historical sources which mention Jesus.

[[Lee Strobel]]'s book ''The Case for Christ'' contains a number of interviews with experts on the historical Jesus and a defense of Jesus's resurrection, and is a good resource on this subject.

== Defense of the resurrection of Jesus ==
The [[Resurrection of Jesus Christ|resurrection of Jesus Christ]] is critical to the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul wrote, "if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain" (I Cor:15:14). Traditionally, Christianity has believed in a physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. <ref>http://www.iclnet.org/pub/resources/text/cri/cri-jrnl/crj0056a.txt</ref>

In recent history [[Christian apologetics|Christian apologists]] Gary Habermas is considered the foremost apologist for defending the resurrection of Jesus. <ref>http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/dialog_rexperience/dialog_rexperiences.htm</ref><ref>http://www.tektonics.org/books/lichabrvw.html</ref><ref>http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection1-CTR.pdf </ref><ref>http://faculty.gordon.edu/hu/bi/Ted_Hildebrandt/NTeSources/NTArticles/CTR-NT/Habermas-Resurrection2-CTR.pdf</ref><ref>http://www.garyhabermas.com/articles/crj_explainingaway/crj_explainingaway.htm</ref><ref>http://www.apologetics.com/default.jsp?bodycontent=/articles/historical_apologetics/habermas-nt.html</ref> Dr. Habermas had a debate against the philosopher [[Anthony Flew]] regarding the resurrection which was chronicled in the work ''Did Jesus Rise from the Dead? The Resurrection Debate'' and the debate had a panel of debate judges. J. Hampton Keathley, III , Th.M. in his essay ''Evidences for the Resurrection'' wrote: "The decision of the judges were as follows. The panel of [[Philosophy|philosophers]] judging content cast four votes for Habermas who argued for the fact of the resurrection, none for Flew, and one draw. The panel of professional debate judges voted three to two, also in favor of Habermas, this time regarding the method of argumentation technique." <ref>http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=639</ref>

In recent history some notable defenders of the resurrection include: [[William Lane Craig]], [[Lee Strobel]], [[Josh McDowell]], [[Edwin M. Yamauchi]], [[N.T. Wright]] and [[Michael Horner]]. <ref>http://www.leaderu.com/offices/billcraig/menus/historical.html</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/josh2.html</ref><ref>http://www.leaderu.com/everystudent/easter/articles/yama.html</ref><ref>http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Early_Traditions.htm</ref><ref>http://www.michaelhorner.com/articles/resurrection/index.html</ref>

Legal scholars such as [[Simon Greenleaf]], [[John Warwick Montgomery]] and many others have asserted that western legal standards argue for the resurrection of Christ. <ref>http://www.bibleteacher.org/sgtestimony.htm</ref><ref>http://www.mtio.com/articles/bissart1.htm</ref><ref>http://lawreligionculturereview.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_lawreligionculturereview_archive.html</ref><ref>http://www.trinitysem.edu/journal/philjohnsonpap.html</ref> Defenders of the resurrection of Christ also cite many distinguished legal authorities regarding the historicity of the resurrection of Christ. <ref>http://www.ankerberg.com/Articles/apologetics/AP0302W3.htm</ref>

Another reason to believe the resurrection is the fact that many people who claimed to be eyewitnesses to the resurrected Jesus voluntarily preached the news of this despite extreme persecution, and died for their efforts. Unlike the early members of most religions, these people had the opportunity to be direct eyewitnesses to what verified the claims of Christianity.

== See also ==

*[[Byzantine Empire]]
*[[Andrew the Apostle]]
*[[Lazarus (brother of Mary)]]
*[[Lazarus (Parable)]]
*[[Judaism]]

== External links ==

*[http://www.ccci.org/wij/ Who is Jesus? Is Jesus Christ God?]
*[http://www.farsinet.com/christmas/nativity_church.html Church of Nativity - Birth Place of Jesus Christ] Bethlehem.
*[http://www.bible-history.com/links.php?cat=19&sub=302&cat_name=Jesus&subcat_name=Background Jesus Background] Bible History on line.
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08374c.htm Jesus Christ]Catholic Encyclopedia.
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/ C. S. Lewis Society of California].
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/bodily.php/ "The Bodily Resurrection of Jesus," by William Lane Craig].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Problem.htm/ "Christian Origins and the Resurrection of Jesus: The Resurrection of Jesus as a Historical Problem," by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.lewissociety.org/resurrection.php/ "Contemporary Scholarship and the Historical Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ," by William Lane Craig].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Justice_Jesus.htm/ "Doing Justice to Jesus: A Response to J.D. Crossan: 'What Victory? What God?'," by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Historical_Jesus.htm/ "The Historical Jesus and Christian Theology," by N. T. Wright].
*[http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=37/ "The Wright Quest for the Historical Jesus," by Ben Witherington, III].

==References==

<references/>

[[Category:Jesus]]
[[Category:Christianity]]
[[Category:Christian History]]
[[Category:Religion]]

Supply-side economics

2007-05-20T02:25:39Z

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'''Supply-side economics''' is a [[macroeconomics|macroeconomic]] concept developed in the 1970's as a counter to the dominant Keynesian macroeconomic theory during the years of [[stagflation]]. Before the early 1980's Keynesian views predominated. Economist [[John Maynard Keynes]] believed that "demand creates supply". This concept drove many of the ideas behind the recovery from the Great Depression. Government played a role in subsidizing individuals by giving them jobs and therefore an income to have to spend on goods. This "demand-side" theory posited that demand would create supply, and feedback to in turn create more demand.

Supply-side theory is based on Say's law, which, paraphrased, states that supply creates its own demand. A simplified version of these ideas were taken up as a popular political movement during the 1980 election campaign, with [[Ronald Reagan]] advocating for a modified policy of supply-side economics (although critics of this idea more often used the term "trickle-down" economics). This involved a very different kind of government involvement in the economy, with decreased regulation and decreased taxes (especially capital gains taxes). It was theorized that this would create more wealth among those who created supply, such as manufacturers, and drive demand, thereby improving a stagnant economy. Wealth would be given to the wealthier producer class, and would then "trickle down" to the poorer classes via a general stimulation of the economy. The idea gained wide popular support, and eventually became known as "Reaganomics".

Major criticisms of the theory came from the Left, but the Right was skeptical as well. [[George H.W. Bush]] during a campain speech famously referred to this conception as "[[voodoo economics]]", due to the hopeful but untested nature of the idea. On the Left, it was seen as hostile to the poor, shifting wealth "upward" by government policy, then ''hoping'' for a trickle down effect.

The economy did improve gradually during the two decades following the Carter administration but no single factor can be given credit for this upswing. It has been theorized that supply-side economics helped start the recovery, however, the vast increase in military spending during the Reagan administration may also have had a Keynesian effect. The simple optimism that Reagan imparted on the American people is even thought to have played a role. The economic upturn during the [[William Jefferson Clinton|Clinton]] years can be partially attibuted to the decreased military spending allowed by the end of the [[Cold War]].

[[Category:Economics]]

==Reaganomics==

"Reaganomics" includes the idea of tax cuts proposed and enacted by President [[Ronald Reagan]]. It usually refers to the idea of "trickle down theory" in which lowering taxes on capital gains and those with higher incomes will stimulate the economy, thereby improving the economic situation of everyone.<ref>'Supply-side economics is better known to some as "Reaganomics", or the "trickle-down" policy espoused by former U.S. president Ronald Reagan. He popularized the controversial idea that greater tax cuts for investors and entrepreneurs provides incentives to save and invest and produce economic benefits that trickle down into the overall economy.' [http://www.investopedia.com/articles/05/011805.asp Understanding Supply-Side Economics], David Harper </ref>

Reagan's own vice-president, George H. W. Bush, referred to Reaganomics as "voodoo economics."

Rothbard wrote:
*Specifically, Reagan called for a massive cut in government spending, an even more drastic cut in taxation (particularly the income tax), a balanced budget by 1984 (that wild-spender, Jimmy Carter you see, had raised the budget deficit to $74 billion a year, and this had to be eliminated), and a return to the gold standard, where money is supplied by the market rather than by government. In addition to a call for free markets domestically, Reagan affirmed his deep commitment to freedom of international trade. [http://www.mises.org/story/1544]

==External Links==
*[http://www.mises.org/story/1544 The Myths of Reaganomics], by Murray N. Rothbard
*[http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:ZQm_5SG3WwQJ:www.davidsmick.com/WSJ070881.pdf+%22Reaganomics%22+includes+the+idea+of+tax+cuts&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=us&client=firefox-a What Reaganomics Is All About]
*http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/k/keynes/john_maynard/k44g/
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=15&articleID=89/ "My Time with Supply-Side Economics"], by Paul Craig Roberts
*[http://www.independent.org/publications/tir/article.asp?issueID=20&articleID=231/ "What Really Happened in 1981"], by Alan Reynolds and Paul Craig Roberts

Anarcho-capitalism

2007-05-20T02:19:41Z

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'''Anarchocapitalism''' is the belief that [[capitalism]] without laws and regulations is the key to an effective economy. The idea is that supply, demand and competition would keep corporations from committing crimes.

[[category:Politics]]
[[category:Economics]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=67/ ''Anarchy and the Law: The Political Economy of Choice'', edited by Edward P. Stringham]
* [http://www.lewrockwell.com/hoppe/hoppe5.html/ "Anarcho-Capitalism: An Annotated Bibliography," by Hans-Hermann Hoppe]
* [http://www.mises.org/rothbard/newliberty.asp/ ''For a New Liberty'', by Murray N. Rothbard]
* [http://www.independent.org/store/book_detail.asp?bookID=17/ ''The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society'', edited by David T. Beito, Peter Gordon, and Alexander Tabarrok]

Libertarian economics

2007-05-20T02:10:19Z

Shadowthedog:

The [[libertarian]] position on economics is that private monopolies cannot exist in a true free market economy; antitrust laws are ineffective and since they represent government intrusion on private business, should not exist. Libertarian economics is based very often on the discussion of wealth and how it is created in [[Adam Smith]]'s book ''Wealth of Nations,'' although the books is famous as being one that many people discuss, but few people have actually read. Adam Smith, in fact, devotes considerable discussion to monopolies, and the effects of them on pricing and the consumer.

Mises Institute website highlights statement about its leader, Murray Rothbard:

"Thus, for Rothbard there is no social 'problem' associated with monopoly in a free market."<ref>http://www.mises.org/story/1800</ref>

Another page of the Mises Institute it defends exclusive contracts.<ref>http://blog.mises.org/archives/005459.asp</ref>

In this book featured by the Mises Institute, the author advocates the "total abolition of antitrust" laws.<ref>http://www.mises.org/store/Antitrust-and-Monopoly-Anatomy-of-a-Policy-Failure-P296C1.aspx</ref>

'''Sources:''' <references/>
[[category:economics]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.fee.org/ Foundation for Economic Education]
* [http://www.independent.org/ The Independent Institute]
* [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute]

Austrian School of Economics

2007-05-20T01:58:46Z

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The '''Austrian school of economics''' is the [[libertarian]] philosophy applied to the field of economics: reduce government involvement in everything. It views all value as subjective, and that efficiency consists of maximizing value as sought by each individual. It avoids mathematics because it does not feel math can capture the complexities of the economic world, which it thinks are due to trial-and-error processes. Like [[libertarian|libertarians]], Austrian economists are very much in favor of the individual and against government, even to the point of opposing tariffs and [[Antitrust law]]s.

The Austrian school of economics opposed the inflationary approach of [[Keynesian economics]], and thus is favored by many conservatives on that basis. But Austrian economists also typically oppose government attempts to maintain or defend morality, as in traditional marriage.

The founder of the Austrian school of economics was [[Carl Menger]], who published in German in 1871 its leading text, ''Principles of Economics''. In the 1920s through 1940s, [[Ludwig von Mises]] and [[Friedrich A. Hayek]] advanced the movement by declaring the impossibility for socialism to succeed and also explaining the nature of the business cycle.

[[Category:Economics]]
== External links ==
* [http://www.fee.org/ Foundation for Economic Education]
* [http://www.independent.org/ The Independent Institute]
* [http://www.mises.org/ Ludwig von Mises Institute]
* [http://www.econlib.org/library/enc/AustrianEconomics.html/ "Austrian Economics," by Deborah L. Walker]
* [http://it.stlawu.edu/sdae/ Society for the Development of Austrian Economics]

C. S. Lewis

2007-05-20T01:51:55Z

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[[Image:Jhcfju6.jpg|right|thumb|C. S. Lewis, 1947.]]
C.S. Lewis (full name: '''Clive Staples Lewis''') (1898-1963) [[Christian]] apologist and intellectual known for taking complex theological issues and writing about them plainly for the masses to follow. He was raised in the Church of [[Ireland]] before becoming an atheist as a teenager. Only as an adult when he was already a professor at [[Oxford]] and [[Cambridge]] did he come "kicking and screaming" to understand that God did exist. From there it was an easier step to embrace the realization of [[Christianity]].<ref>Barnes, Peter, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/5052 C.S. Lewis and evolution] (Creation Ministries International), 2007.</ref> He and [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] were friends, both belonging to the group known as "the Inklings." and Lewis credits Tolkien with influencing his conversion. He fought in the trenches during [[World War I]], and was extremely sceptical of those who did not either smoke or drink. <ref name="HOTF">[[Heroes of the Faith C.S.Lewis]] By Sam Wellman, Barbour Publishing, Inc. 1997.</ref>

Lewis' fictional works include seven books for children known collectively as ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]],'' and three books for adults that fall broadly in the science-fiction genre: ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]],'' ''[[Perelandra]],'' and ''[[That Hideous Strength]].'' Like Tolkien's fiction, these works have a Christian subtext, but it is more noticeably apparent in Lewis than in Tolkien.

C.S. Lewis also wrote ''[[The Screwtape Letters]]'', ''[[Miracles]]'',
''[[The Problem of Pain]]'' , ''[[The Abolition of Man]]'' , ''[[The Great Divorce]]'' and ''[[Mere Christianity]]''.<ref name="HOTF" /> Over 200 million copies of his books have sold and they continue to sell many millions of copies a year. {{fact}}

C.S. Lewis wrote in ''Mere Christianity'', <blockquote>"All that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. {{fact}}"</blockquote>

C.S. Lewis also wrote in ''Mere Christianity'', <blockquote>"That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. ... is a religion you could not have guessed. ... [I]t is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=xaiKVRqfSlsC&pg=RA1-PA27&lpg=RA1-PA27&dq=%22it+is+not+the+sort+of+thing+anyone+would+have+made+up%22&source=web&ots=8Ur9Pe1rBL&sig=7ctGd17k8AUy6akHehmevOzsiLk#PRA1-PA27,M1 A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works]</ref></blockquote>

Although not an ardent anti-evolutionist, he wrote on the futility of [[materialism]]:
{{QuoteBox|If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents—the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else’s. But if their thoughts—i.e. of materialism and astronomy—are merely accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents. It’s like expecting that the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milkjug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset.<ref>''The Business of Heaven'', 1984, p.7 (quoted in Barnes, Peter, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/5052 C.S. Lewis and evolution].</ref>}}

Lewis died the same day that [[John Kennedy]] was assassinated, cutting down on the press of his passing. More than ever he is still considered a pillar of Christian thought.

==Reference==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, C. S.}}
[[Category:Authors]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]
* [http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/ Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/lewisbio.php/ "C. S. Lewis: A Modest Literary Biography and Bibliography," by Bruce L. Edwards]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1566/ "Finding the Permanent in the Political: C. S. Lewis as a Political Thinker," by John G. West]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/packer.php/ "Still Surprised by Lewis," by J.I. Packer]
* [http://www.cslewis.org/ C.S. Lewis Foundation]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/ Into the Wardrobe]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1565/ "C. S. Lewis and the Materialist Menace," by John G. West]
* [http://www.nycslsociety.com/ New York C.S. Lewis Society]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/ ''The Question of God'', PBS series]
* [http://www.pseudobook.com/cslewis/ C.S. Lewis and the Inklings]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1649/ "C. S. Lewis on Mere Science," by Michael Aeschliman]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1669/ "Truth in the Fire: C. S. Lewis and Pursuit of Truth Today," by Dallas Willard]

Libertarianism

2007-05-20T01:46:17Z

Shadowthedog: /* Notable Libertarians */

'''Libertarianism''' is a political philosophy emphasizing ''liberty'' and ''property''. A libertarian believes in minimizing or entirely eliminating government interventionism in all aspects of life; including economic, personal and in foreign policy matters. <ref>"Libertarians are neither. Unlike liberals or conservatives, Libertarians advocate a high degree of both personal and economic liberty. For example, Libertarians advocate freedom in economic matters, so we're in favor of lowering taxes, slashing bureaucratic regulation of business, and charitable -- rather than government -- welfare. But Libertarians are also socially tolerant. We won't demand laws or restrictions on other people who we may not agree because of personal actions or lifestyles.
Think of us as a group of people with a "live and let live" mentality and a balanced checkbook." [http://www.lp.org/article_85.shtml] </ref>
Libertarianism is closely related to liberalism, if this word is interpreted according to its original meaning of '[[classical liberal | classical liberalism]]'.

Libertarians support an expansive view of liberty as the proper basis for organizing civil society. They tend to define liberty as the freedom to do whatever one wishes up to the point that one's behavior begins to interfere with another's person or property through coercive means. At the point of interference, each party would become subject to certain principled rules for adjudicating disputes, generally accepting that one who has demonstrated a proven lack of respect for the rights of others should be subject to sanctions, including possible constraints on their freedom. They believe that liberty is the right of every individual.

Libertarians generally defend the ideal of freedom from the perspective of how little one is constrained by authority, i.e., how much one is allowed to do (also referred to as negative liberty). This ideal is distinguished from a view of freedom focused on how much one is able to do (also called positive liberty).

There are more libertarians than members of the [[Libertarian Party]]. Libertarians tend to use the word "libertarian" (small "l") to refer to the philosophy, and "Libertarian" (capital "L") to refer to the party. Two general factions exist in the libertarian movement. The first are those libertarians who apply the principles of right to person and property to an absolute. They believe that no person, group, or government is above the right to violate these two things. They thus believe that government itself is illegitimate because it violates person and property. These libertarians subscribe to [[anarcho-capitalism]], as first named by [[Murray N. Rothbard]]. They believe that law and security can be handled by private means in the free market. The other faction believes in a very limited government. They are often referred to as [[minarchists]]. Libertarian minarchists want the state to only enforce law and order but generally nothing else.

Libertarians tend to view liberalism as a philosophy advocating less government interference in private morality and more government control of business, and view conservatism as a philosophy advocating more government interference in private morality and less government control of business, while they view libertarianism as advocating less government control in all areas. However, there have been fusionist attempts to mix libertarianism and with social conservatism. This is noted in particular by [[paleolibertarians]]. They believe that social conservatism is a natural entity in a free society, but do not believe that it can be enforced by state interventionism.

Neither the [[Democratic]] or the [[Republican]] [[parties]] are particularly well aligned with libertarian thought. While the Republican Party sometimes adopts libertarian-sounding rhetoric of small government in economic affairs, many libertarians see it as being a force that has increased government interventionism in these affairs. Libertarians generally, for example, are opposed to the [[USA PATRIOT Act]], which they believe increases government power and removes protections on the liberty and privacy of the public. Most conservatives, on the other hand, view it as a necessary government program and believe security to be more important than personal liberty and privacy. They are generally also opposed to the [[Iraq War]], unlike the majority of conservatives.

While all libertarians agree in general on the principles of the desirability of maximizing individual liberty and avoiding excessive government interference with the operation of the free market, individual libertarians have opinions that differ wildly within these general principles.

The libertarian movement generally gives praise on the [[United States Constitution]], regarding it as the proper scope of the national government. They believe that the Democratic and Republican parties have overstep the limits that are in placed in the constitution. Anarcho-capitalist libertarians, on the other hand, view the implementation of the constitution as the very means in which the national government is the size it is today.

== Notable Libertarians ==
The Christian libertarian Lord Acton referred to the philosopher/theologian [[Thomas Aquinas]] as "the first Whig" or classical liberal. Other libertarian-oriented historic figures would include [[Adam Smith]], [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[Alexis de Tocqueville]], Thomas Paine, [[John Locke]], [[Patrick Henry]], George Mason, [[Carl Menger]], [[C.S. Lewis]], [[Ludwig von Mises]], [[James Madison]], H. L. Mencken, Rose Wilder Lane, Albert Jay Nock, [[Frédéric Bastiat]], [[Herbert Spencer]], Richard Cobden, [[Henry David Thoreau]], and [[Hugo Grotius]].

[[Ron Paul]], 2008 Republican Party presidential candidate.

The psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, opponent of the therapeutic state and compulsory mental institutionalization.

Nobel Laureate economists [[Milton Friedman]], [[F.A. Hayek]], [[Ronald Coase]], and Vernon Smith.

The novelist [[Ayn Rand]] advocated a philosophy of ''Objectivism'', embodying some libertarian thought, although differing from libertarianism in many ways. Some of her novels, such as ''Atlas Shrugged'', have become icons of some people in the libertarian movement, while others find her materialism/atheism incompatible with moral ethics and natural rights and law.

[[Murray N. Rothbard]] was nicknamed "Mr. Libertarian." He brought life to the anarcho-capitalist movement. Rothbard was an economist of the [[Austrian School]].

[[Robert A. Heinlein]], science fiction author.

[[Penn & Teller]], stage magicians turned libertarian evangelicals preaching atheism and promoting libertarian philosophies, including controversial positions such as legalization of prostitution and drugs in their Showtime series, which sports a name that cannot for reasons of good taste be expressed here.

The Canadian rock band Rush, which has been together since 1968, often explores libertarian themes in their lyrics.

Humorist Dave Berry, actor/comedian Drew Carey, actor Denis Leary, former MTV VJ Lisa "Kennedy" Montgomery, actor Kurt Russell, investigative reporter [[John Stossel]], and the late rocker Frank Zappa have all referred to themselves as being aligned with or openly supporting the Libertarian Party.

== External links ==
* [http://www.faqs.org/faqs/libertarian/faq/ Libertarian FAQ]
* [http://dmoz.org/Society/Politics/Liberalism/Libertarianism/ Open Directory libertarian links ]
* [http://chelm.freeyellow.com/black_index.html Black Libertarians]
* [http://libertarianwiki.org/Main_Page Libertarian Wiki]
* [http://www.l4l.org/ Libertarians for Life]
* [http://www.theadvocates.org/quiz.html World's Smallest Political Quiz]

[[Category:Politics]]

C. S. Lewis

2007-05-20T01:14:03Z

Shadowthedog:

[[Image:Jhcfju6.jpg|right|thumb|C. S. Lewis, 1947.]]
C.S. Lewis (full name: '''Clive Staples Lewis''') (1898-1963) [[Christian]] apologist and intellectual known for taking complex theological issues and writing about them plainly for the masses to follow. He was raised in the Church of [[Ireland]] before becoming an atheist as a teenager. Only as an adult when he was already a professor at [[Oxford]] and [[Cambridge]] did he come "kicking and screaming" to understand that God did exist. From there it was an easier step to embrace the realization of [[Christianity]].<ref>Barnes, Peter, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/5052 C.S. Lewis and evolution] (Creation Ministries International), 2007.</ref> He and [[J.R.R. Tolkien]] were friends, both belonging to the group known as "the Inklings." and Lewis credits Tolkien with influencing his conversion. He fought in the trenches during [[World War I]], and was extremely sceptical of those who did not either smoke or drink. <ref name="HOTF">[[Heroes of the Faith C.S.Lewis]] By Sam Wellman, Barbour Publishing, Inc. 1997.</ref>

Lewis' fictional works include seven books for children known collectively as ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]],'' and three books for adults that fall broadly in the science-fiction genre: ''[[Out of the Silent Planet]],'' ''[[Perelandra]],'' and ''[[That Hideous Strength]].'' Like Tolkien's fiction, these works have a Christian subtext, but it is more noticeably apparent in Lewis than in Tolkien.

C.S. Lewis also wrote ''[[The Screwtape Letters]]'', ''[[Miracles]]'',
''[[The Problem of Pain]]'' , ''[[The Abolition of Man]]'' , ''[[The Great Divorce]]'' and ''[[Mere Christianity]]''.<ref name="HOTF" /> Over 200 million copies of his books have sold and they continue to sell many millions of copies a year. {{fact}}

C.S. Lewis wrote in ''Mere Christianity'', <blockquote>"All that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy. {{fact}}"</blockquote>

C.S. Lewis also wrote in ''Mere Christianity'', <blockquote>"That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. ... is a religion you could not have guessed. ... [I]t is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have." <ref>[http://books.google.com/books?id=xaiKVRqfSlsC&pg=RA1-PA27&lpg=RA1-PA27&dq=%22it+is+not+the+sort+of+thing+anyone+would+have+made+up%22&source=web&ots=8Ur9Pe1rBL&sig=7ctGd17k8AUy6akHehmevOzsiLk#PRA1-PA27,M1 A Year with C. S. Lewis: Daily Readings from His Classic Works]</ref></blockquote>

Although not an ardent anti-evolutionist, he wrote on the futility of [[materialism]]:
{{QuoteBox|If the solar system was brought about by an accidental collision, then the appearance of organic life on this planet was also an accident, and the whole evolution of Man was an accident too. If so, then all our present thoughts are mere accidents—the accidental by-product of the movement of atoms. And this holds for the thoughts of the materialists and astronomers as well as for anyone else’s. But if their thoughts—i.e. of materialism and astronomy—are merely accidental by-products, why should we believe them to be true? I see no reason for believing that one accident should be able to give me a correct account of all the other accidents. It’s like expecting that the accidental shape taken by the splash when you upset a milkjug should give you a correct account of how the jug was made and why it was upset.<ref>''The Business of Heaven'', 1984, p.7 (quoted in Barnes, Peter, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/5052 C.S. Lewis and evolution].</ref>}}

Lewis died the same day that [[John Kennedy]] was assassinated, cutting down on the press of his passing. More than ever he is still considered a pillar of Christian thought.

==Reference==

<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, C. S.}}
[[Category:Authors]]

== External links ==
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/ C.S. Lewis Society of California]
* [http://www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter/ Marion E. Wade Center, Wheaton College]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/lewisbio.php/ "C. S. Lewis: A Modest Literary Biography and Bibliography," by Bruce L. Edwards]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1566/ "Finding the Permanent in the Political: C. S. Lewis as a Political Thinker," by John G. West]
* [http://www.lewissociety.org/packer.php/ "Still Surprised by Lewis," by J.I. Packer]
* [http://www.cslewis.org/ C.S. Lewis Foundation]
* [http://cslewis.drzeus.net/ Into the Wardrobe]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1565/ "C. S. Lewis and the Materialist Menace," by John G. West]
* [http://www.nycslsociety.com/ New York C.S. Lewis Society]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/questionofgod/ "The Question of God," PBS series]
* [http://www.pseudobook.com/cslewis/ C.S. Lewis and the Inklings]
* [http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1649/ "C. S. Lewis on Mere Science," by Michael Aeschliman]
* [http://www.independent.org/publications/article.asp?id=1669/ "Truth in the Fire: C. S. Lewis and Pursuit of Truth Today," by Dallas Willard]