World War I Essay Example for Free

World War I Essay The economy of Christiania steadily grew until before World War I. When the First World War broke out in 1914, Norway declared its neutrality. However, Christiania benefited economically from the war by carrying British cargoes inspite of the loss of Norwegian lives and ships that were caught in the war (Compton 610). After the war Christiania settled back to its normal life. In 1924, Christiania was renamed back to Oslo (â€Å"Oslo: City† 2006). Second World War On April 9, 1940 Oslo was defeated by the Germans almost with only a slight resistance due to the betrayal by Norwegian Officer and Fascist politician Vidkun Quisling who collaborated with the Nazis. As a result, the city was only slightly damaged during the war (Halsey 239). In 1942, Germany installed a puppet government in Norway under National Union leader Vidkun Quisling. However, the Norwegians resisted the Germans and its puppet regime. Oslo became a place of opposition strikes. Other citizens were secretly involved in the large-scale industrial sabotage and espionage on behalf of the allied powers. (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). During their occupation of the city the Nazis used Akershus as a prison and place of execution for those convicted of allied conspiracy and today its the site of Norways Resistance Museum, which provided a detailed account of German takeover and the Norwegian struggle against it (Thodock 2003). The German forces that overran Norway surrendered in May 8, 1945 enabling the exiled King Hakon VII to return to Norway from London in June. Oslo then began to rebuild its ruin buildings while at the same time prosecuted â€Å"about 90,000 alleged cases of treason and defection†. Convicted traitors faced execution foremost of which was Vidkun Quisling (â€Å"Oslo† 2006). When it came to The Cold War, that is the postwar to World War II, two major alliances were created. Although, in World War I a system of alliances did not work, the systems of alliances that formed after World War II were bigger and they werent buddy-buddy alliances. These two alliances were formed to bring peace throughout the world, to end The Cold War, and to prevent anymore future high scale wars. Toward the end of the war, hostility between Norwegians and the German occupying forces grew considerably stronger. A prime cause was the German withdrawal from all fronts. Retreating German units from the fronts in the north, the USSR and Finland, withdrew to Norwegian territory. In the autumn of 1944, the Red Army followed the Germans into Finnmark, where it liberated Kirkenes and the northeastern areas. As the occupying troops retreated, they ordered an evacuation of the entire Norwegian population in Finnmark and in Troms south to Lyngen. In Lyngen, three German army corps dug in. Then the entire region north of Lyngen was burned and destroyed. The destruction included 10,400 homes, bridges, power stations, factories, fishing vessels, telephone facilities and other types of infrastructure. The scorched earth area was much larger than all of Denmark. After the Soviet Red Army crossed into North Norway, a Norwegian military mission and a small number of Norwegian soldiers from Great Britain and Sweden followed. The Russians withdrew from Norway in September 1945, a few months after the German capitulation. When the costs of the war were estimated in Norway, the tally showed that 10,262 Norwegians had been killed, including 3,670 seamen. The Germans had executed 366 and tortured 39 to death. Among political prisoners and members of the underground, 658 died at home and 1,433 abroad. After the war, legal proceedings were initiated against those who had betrayed their country. About 46,000 persons were punished for treason. Among these, 18,000 were sentenced to prison terms, 28,000 were fined and deprived of their rights as citizens. A total of 45 Norwegians and Germans received death sentences, 37 of the executions were carried out. It did not take long for the country to recuperate from the effects of World War II. Industrial production and the gross domestic product were greater in 1946 than in 1938. Three years later, the countrys national wealth had also returned to its pre-war level. Part 3: Major Event in the modern Era of the City The world over there is no other coveted price that comes even in comparison to the Nobel peace prize. It is one of a kind and its importance and value can not be underrated. Oslo helped to promote the preservation of worldwide peace when it was chosen to be the place for the annual awarding of the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize in 1901. Alfred Nobel, a renowned Swedish inventor of the dynamite, left in his will dated November 27, 1895 the order to use some of his fortune as a prize for any individuals, irregardless of his race, who helped promote peace in the world. The Nobel peace was to be specifically awarded to person or persons who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding of peace congresses. In 1901 the first Nobel Prize was awarded to International Red Cross founder Henry Dunant and International Pacifist Frederic Passy. In succeeding years Nobel Peace Prize according to an Oxford Dictionary of Twentieth Century World History, became The worlds most prestigious prize. † The prize was to be awarded by a committee of five persons to be elected by the Norwegian Storting†. The members of the committee are all Norwegians and for more than a hundred years the committee members were able to generally make a respectable and decent selection although controversies were also present. The criteria for choosing the recipients have enabled the world to get acquainted with Norwegian perception or definition of peace. In the study of the recipients of the award, it can be said that the values that Nobel Prize committee members adhered to represented the â€Å"Norwegian version of Western liberal internationalism. Thus, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has been a strong believer in international organizations, from the Inter-Parliamentary Union to the League of Nations and the United Nations†. Moreover, Norwegians believed that â€Å"small nations almost instinctively prefer international law to the might they do not possess, and they believe in the arbitration, mediation and peaceful solution of international disputes†. In this context, the Nobel Prize actively encouraged and awarded humanitarian assistance to the weak and the poor especially with the exercise of their human rights as well as the control of military power that may threatened the peace and order of the world. In a more personal level, Nobel left no explanation as to why he chose the Norwegians to award the Nobel Peace Prize. Educated inferences were presented to explain his action. Nobel may have been aware of the close ties between Sweden and Norway since the latter was once ruled by the former. Aside from that he may have admired Norway’s participation in settling international disputes of the 1890’s. Perhaps he may have regarded Norway as a more peace-oriented and more democratic country than

On the Rainy River Essay -- Literary Analysis, OBrien

Life can bring unexpected events that individuals might not be prepared to confront. This was the case of O’Brien in the story, â€Å"On the Rainy River† from the book The Things They Carried. As an author and character O’Brien describes his experiences about the Vietnam War. In the story, he faces the conflict of whether he should or should not go to war after being drafted. He could not imagine how tough fighting must be, without knowing how to fight, and the reason for such a war. In addition, O’Brien is terrified of the idea of leaving his family, friends and everything he loves behind. He decides to run away from his responsibility with the society. However, a feeling of shame and embarrassment makes him go to war. O’Brien considers himself a coward for doing something he does not agree with; on the other hand, thinking about the outcome of his decision makes him a brave man. Therefore, an individual that considers the consequences of his acts is nobler than a war hero. The Vietnam War was a conflict that many people did not comprehend. In fact, the war was atrocious and bloody. According to The Vietnam War: a History in Documents, 58,000 US soldier died and more than 700,000 came back with physical and emotional marks (Young, Fitzgerald & Grunfeld 147). For many Americans this war was meaningless. In the same way, O’Brien admits, â€Å"American war in Vietnam seemed to me wrong; certain blood was being shed for uncertain reason† (40). O’Brien believes the war was not significance. Furthermore, the lack of logic in the matter makes him confused about going to war. That’s why, he does not understand why he was sent to fight a war for which causes and effects were uncertain. The author continues by saying, â€Å"I was too good for... ...hermore, going to war was an act of cowardice. He had to put aside his morals and principles and fight a war he did not believe in. Overall, the author showed us the courageous and coward s acts of O’Brien the character. The fact that he was a coward made him do a heroic act. O’Brien made the valiant decision to go to war. It would have been easier and cowardly to jump and swim away from all his fears. However he decided to turn back, and fight for something he did not believe in. Thinking about the consequences of running away makes him a hero. He went to war not because he wanted to fight for his country, but for his own freedom. Either choice he could have made would take some kind of courage to carry out. Going to war required some sort of fearlessness. In other words, running away from the law would have been brave; but going to war was even tougher.

HRM policies in support of organizational objectives Essay

Employee role for achieving organizational objectives is based on several factors. Each factor is either interrelated to other or may have direct impact on employee performance considering strategic HRM policies. Rewards play a very important role in influencing employee behavior towards meeting organizational goals and increasing their motivational level that positively supports organizational commitment. Different jobs have diversifying demands for the offering of benefits to employees depending on the constituencies of each benefit system. However, employees focus on goals achievement behavior and thus adopt a comprehensive policy for providing benefits to employees. These benefits include on-service perks and bonuses off-service compensation packages in the form of different pension plans. Benefits and rewards system affect a set of individual factors that in combine enable the organization to implement their strategic HRM policies as for supporting organizational objectives. It must be ensured that these benefits and compensation system complies the equity principle thus increasing the harmony and address the recognition, employee rights, motivation, behavioral control, and employee performance management issues. These benefits are directly dependant on the type of the job and employee demands. Younger employees are seem to be more oriented towards higher pay earnings whereas old employees show long term return concern in terms of pension and retirement packages. Implementation of strategic HRM policies in organization becomes great challenge due to resistance by employees as such policies also concern change management in uncertain market conditions. Companies offer numerous benefits such as annual bonuses, perks, overtime allowances, plussage, premia, and other incentives either based on individual performance or group performance. Such bonuses are essential if companies aim at getting benefit from the skills and services of employees for longer term, due to unique skills and potential capability to grow in organization in future. Overtime allowances and premia are essential to motivate the employees for working in odd working timings or more than the usual working hours. In order to support short run operations of firm such allowances enable policy makers to achieve objectives through effective utilization of HRM policies. In order to classify the performance of employee in manufacturing concern firms performance based bay deem appropriate facilitating rewarding the employees based on the results and goals achieved. Concerning the goal based approach, performance based pay is productive to regulate and motivate employees towards achieving higher productive outcomes measured in terms of quantifiable objectives. In contrast to that, skill based pay supports the strategic HRM policy implementation when organizations are unable to classify the objectives in real terms; objectives are set based on the viability of employees to achieve through utilizing their skills qualitative in nature. It must be ensured that skills based rewards require assessing the monetary rewards considering the impact of business growth expansion. Positively valuing the competency of employee increases the motivation level and subsequently results in greater organization commitment. However, this pay system is not suitable to achieve organization objectives in rapidly changing working environment as specific skills become obsolete due to inadequacy to conform latest business requirement. Strategic HRM policies aimed at assessing the potential opportunities for firm in long term by involvement of employees in decision making thus setting the common goal set as corporate objective. Pension plans offer more convenience to firms when they need to retain employees for longer duration; thus in order to profound the policies on regulating employees, pension plans convey the focus towards increasing employee performance aligning to organizational objectives. Occupational pension schemes in addition to state pension scheme offers employee recognition based on their service duration; proper conveying the return outcome to employees especially who are more oriented towards organization goals achievement and shows higher level organizational commitment. Group personal schemes in addition to state pension scheme increases the capability of organization for delivery of HRM policies to sustain in market for longer duration; employees involvement in such programs shows the willingness of employees to understand the organization objectives and potential capability associating to aligning behavior and driving the employees in a particular directional objectives of organization. In addition to pension benefits to permanent employees of organization, adjoining compensation packages and rewards giving the allowances such as sick pay, overtime allowances, and fringe benefits in the form of premia, special compensation for higher research studies, and providing utility facilities such as company maintained cars, employee health insurance, medical allowance, providing company maintained house for specific number of employees. These rewards affect the intrinsic motivational factors of employees due to trust of company being shown in employees by offering various forms of rewards and benefits; classifies the ability to deliver strategic HRM policies based on the situation need and ability of employees of conform. Flexible benefits given to employees are more suitable due to its convenience in practical implication in driving employees’ behavior pertaining to the objectives setting and long term goals achievement. HRM policies must deliver the clear information to employees for the related expectation and demands that address the organization goal setting and strategies adopted to achieve such goals.

The Importance of Epidural Analgesia in the Management of Pain in Postoperative Patients Free Essay Example, 3000 words

Perception is the process through which harmful stimuli get to consciousness in the human brain (Bressler, 2010). Perception takes two shapes in the human brain; attention and cognition. With regard to attention, Mr Johnston can reduce the level of his pain by concentrating on a separate image other than his condition (Motoc Vasca, 2010). The cognitive aspect of pain, on the other hand, would be anchored on Mr Johnston s ability to relate his pain to another event. As an illustration, a setting of depression is likely to make Mr Johnston s pain more severe compared to when he can be in a pleasant environment (Mathsen Smith, 2007). The postoperative pain of Mr Johnstone has made him suffer from a number of adverse effects ranging from urinary, cardiovascular, and pulmonary dysfunction. The body of Mr Johnson s response to pain is the root of all these harmful effects. Ideally, the pain and stress associated with surgery trigger regular and distinct metabolic response that includes the release of cytokines and neuroendocrine hormones that culminates in these toxic effects (Almeida et al, 2011). Stress, in particular, has far-reaching consequences on surgical patients; it raises the level of active catabolic hormones, glucagon, growth hormone, and adrenocorticotropin. We will write a custom essay sample on The Importance of Epidural Analgesia in the Management of Pain in Postoperative Patients or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Such inhibition by these muscles causes retention of urine and subsequently, the urinary tract is infected. Clearly, these complications have resulted in Mr Johnston being subjected to an indwelling catheter (Mathsen Smith, 2007). Johnston s heart rate is indicated as HR 62 regular. Although it is regular, it is clearly below that of a normal person, which is HR 72 regular.