Primo Levi

One of the most interesting parts of Levi's book I thought was the chapter where they were all lined up and watched the hanging of a fellow prisoner. With all the death in the camps, and all of the horrible things that happened in them, this death stood out to me because of the commentary Levi and his fellow prisoners made about it. He mentioned how they had managed to survive the camp, and that he thought they had done a good job. I have to agree with him, his continued existence shows that he has adapted to the strenuous life of the camp and has managed to survive. However, he mentions that the man who was hung must have been something spectacular. He felt that he was fighting the system by staying alive, but this man must have done something profound to deserve to be hung in front of the other prisoners to instill fear in them. I found this to be a meaningful death and I think it would have had a profound impact on the prisoners in the camp.

Fascism

I really enjoyed our drawn out talk about fascism the other day. I feel like we hit on most of the key components of fascism, but I just wanted to reexamine them. I think that the charismatic leader is the most important component to fascism. The charismatic leader knows how to rally people to a cause, knows how to arouse their emotions, and knows how to turn a problem to his advantage. The second most important component is the "intangible threat." This threat could come in many forms, such as Socialism (with Mussolini), or a disease (like in V for Vendetta). The most important feature about this threat is that it cannot be seen or touched. Its effects may be seen, but the fact that it is impossible to see the threat itself makes it that much more dangerous and volatile. The charismatic leader is able to distort this threat and alter the public's perception of it in his favor. The leader can create panic, chaos, or a multitude of other issues, and use all of these to get the people to rally behind him.

Overall, fascism seems like an incredibly well-oiled machine. Without all of the limitations that most forms of government create, fascism allows a leader to enact swift reform for the benefit of the people. However, I believe that there is a saying, "absolute power corrupts absolutely." So I would have a hard time believing that any fascist leader could maintain their ethics (if that was their intention in the first place). While at first they may have been looking out for the interest of the people (and the people probably believed him), he most certainly would slip into the quest for self gain, etc. The people would eventually realize this, and then the fascist government would really be forced to oppress the dissidents, and violence in the state would drastically increase.

Tactics in WWI

I have been really interested in our discussion of the changing in tactics used in WWI. As we've mentioned in class, new technologies have made it very difficult to continue using Napoleonic Warfare tactics. Formerly, troops would line up roughly 20 yards away, and fire at one another with (mostly) smooth bore muskets. These muskets were inaccurate past a distance of ~25yards, and even at that range you would miss your target. So, even with the close proximity the soldiers were in, casualties were not catastrophic due to inaccurate weapons, fewer rounds fired per minute, and other details. The invention of the bolt action rifle was the beginning of the end of these tactics. A bolt action rifle (especially one with a clip) allowed a soldier to fire, in ten seconds, the same number of shots it formerly took him one minute to fire. The machine gun even complicated this further. With soldiers firing ~10 rounds per second, gallant charges and massive lines of troops were just no longer a viable option.

The American Civil War saw what should have been the end of Napoleonic tactics. Two specific battles, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg, were home to gallant charges against an entrenched enemy and resulted in the slaughter of thousands of men. Still, the weapons used during the Civil War were muskets, and even the casualties resulting from these charges are nothing compared to the casualties inflicted in some of the WWI battles. The addition of poison gas and tanks even further threw confusion into the tactics that were formerly used. A tank, or anything remotely resembling its capabilities had never been seen before, and thus difficulties arose in countering it.

(On a side note, J.R.R Tolkien wrote most of Lord of the Rings in the trenches of WWI)

The Renovations of Paris

I found the idea of who "owned" the city to be interesting. I think that the prowler and the reformer seem like obvious choices. The new attraction of large cities to people who wanted to explore the city anonymously was sure to draw crowds of new people. I think that this attraction also may have attracted the more questionable characters as well. While some people enjoyed exploring the city anonymously for fun, I'm sure that there were others who depended on their anonymity. Some people, like Jack the Ripper, were able to take advantage of the anonymity a city provided, and have "fun" in their own ways. I don't think that this would have been possible previously, as in smaller communities, everybody seems to know everybody, and someone could hardly go into a new town and start killing people w/o some townsperson noticing this new arrival.

While the prowler is definitely an interesting character in the life of the city, I found the changing role of women to be of the most interest. Formerly, women were hardly seen roaming the city, and if they were, it was for work related reasons. I found it interesting that before this time, you knew what kind of person a woman was if she was walking the street. Now, women who walk the street could be working, but they could also be an upper class woman going to shop. I'm sure this may have made it difficult for some men to distinguish between "high end" prostitutes, and the bourgois women. It may have made for some awkward situations.

(Sorry this is late, I was busy celebrating the birth of our nation and forgot to blog).