West European Studies

    Christianity has got historic relationship with witchcraft. Many ancient cultures attributed witches and supernatural powers to bring harm to animals, crops, and possessions. Primitive cultures even had laws that give suitable punishment to different witchcraft-related offenses. Hebrews always denounced witchcraft. This is evident in the Mosaic Law. Following the steps of Judaism, the early Christian Churches also condemned witchcraft practices.

    While we look into the history of the cultures (even after the advent of Christianity) we understand that beliefs in witchcraft never disappeared from the minds of human beings. Witchcraft was also not always severely persecuted. For example, Synod of Reisbach (in 799) formally ordered penance as the punishment for females who are convicted of witchcraft practices. He however prohibited any sort of capital punishment for witchcraft cases. For a certain period, the official authority (rhetoric) of the Church even attempted to reduce the beliefs on witchcraft by labeling it as a delusion or false superstition.

    Christianity belief says that God is in heaven, far away from human society. The Church encouraged believers understand this and live a contented life enduring miseries, struggles and problems. Poverty, sickness, troubles and pain were considered as gifts of God. These gifts were considered as helping people to live a holy life, focusing their eyes on heaven and loosening their interest on earthly life. They were asked to shun physical pleasures and comforts. Life was expected to be endured, not enjoyed. Common people werent easily convinced to meekly adopt this philosophy  many hung on tenaciously to a belief in magic (Godbeer, 1992). They thus started believing that witchcraft can help them to deal with the harsh realities and struggles of their lives. The belief in magic, instead of subsiding, started growing. Certain heretical groups and few churchmen believed that witchcraft was much more than the illusions of the Devil. Many got convinced that witchcraft has got great power, triggered by the denizens of hell.

    Witches were reported to carry people along the air and having meetings where they performed lust-filled orgies with evil powers or demons. Mention is given to these activities in the The Bishops Canon, which appeared first in the 10th century and was later incorporated by  Franciscus Gratianus, a lawyer from Bologna, in his collection of canon law in 1150 (Karlsen, 1987). Women even confessed that they flew through the air. Though many like considered it as mere illusions, Chartres  John of Salisbury (English author, diplomat and bishop) considered this as the illusions performed by Devil. Englishman  Walter Map believed that wild orgies were real with Devil behind all the actions. Philip Schaff said that the daughter of a count traveled through air every night.

    In the year 1275, a lady of Toulouse, who was under torture, said that she had participated in sexual intercourse with an evil power (demon) for many years and had even begotten a part serpent, a wolf, a monster. Pope Gregory IX even issued a bull in the year 1231 recommending the use of laws of civil punishment to punish witchcraft. Dominican theologians spread the belief that incubi and succubi were mating with peoplea belief that was rooted in Augustines   City of God, xv23., as well as in the Genesis account of  angels mating with humans (Aronson, 2003).  Gregory IX, in the year 1233 said that Devil was appearing in different forms, in the shapes of a ghost, a black cat, a pallid etc. His papal bull, the Vox Rama, shockingly and graphically detailed what was taking place during witchs satanic, sexual orgies, and with the stroke of his pen launched an official, large-scale persecution of witches (Aronson, 2003). Thomas Aquinas, in the year 1274, admitted that human beings do live with demons. According to him old ladies can induce a devil spirit in young people with a mere glance. According to the leading theologian,   Gerson, witchcraft does have powers and it is impious to doubt the work of the demons. Eugenius IV is of the opinion that there are human beings who have made pacts with evil powers and made sacrifices unto them. All this made witchcraft to be considered as a heretical cult. It was also heretical to trust not in the powers of the Devil. A proper knowledge about witchcraft encouraged clear cut laws and punishment for witchcraft practices. The punishments and laws against witchcraft were thus clear laid out. The methods for trying, detecting and delivering witches were also defined. The powers that work behind witchcraft were thus considered as tricks of Satan, who is all set to attack and destroy Christianity.

    According to Early Modern European tradition, evil forces or demons are stereotypically (though not fully) been women. European pagan belief considered witchcraft as the work of goddess Diana. This has however been considered as a fantasy by Christian authors. The familiar witch of witchcraft stories,  o Superstition superstitions and folklores is a combination of several influences. The characterization of the demons as an evil magic power developed in the latter years. Early Christians (Catholics) looked to Christian clergy and other major churchmen to perform magic more effectively than the traditional methods of witchcraft followed by Roman Paganism. They also defined a special methodology for this, including saints and relics. This is similar to the gods and powers of the pagan beliefs. The Protestant Christian justification for witchcraft (like that specified in the confessions of the Witches Pendle Witches) generally includes a Diabolical pact diabolical pact or some petition to the intervention of the powers of the evil. The witches, evil powers or demons who participated in such practices were alleged to reject Jesus, his teachings and sacrament. Those who reject this sacraments were found to be following witch Sabbath, doing infernal rites and rituals that parodied the major sacraments of the Church. They gave divine honor to   o Satan the evil power (Prince of Darkness) and obtained  Preternatural preternatural powers in return. There existed a folkloric belief that a Devils symbol (resembling a brand on cattle) was made on the body of the witch by the devil to identify the pact with which the witch is involved. Witches were considered as females. They were doubted to collapse societal institutions like marriage.
    Witch hunt was widely practiced in those days. A witch hunt is a search for  Witch witches or evidence of  Witchcraft witchcraft, often involving Moral panic moral panic,  Mass hysteria mass hysteria and  Lynching lynching, but in historical instances also legally sanctioned and involving official witchcraft trials (Roach, 2002). The periods when witchcraft was popular include the Early Modern period Early Modern period (or the period 1480 to 1700). Witch-hunt refers to the terror-induced attempts for tracing the culprits other than the witches. The most popular example of witch hunt is the  McCarthyist McCarthyist search for tracing communists during the Cold War period. Salem witch trials are yet another major incidents to be mentioned there. The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings before local magistrates followed by county court  Trial (law) trials to prosecute people accused of  Witchcraft witchcraft in County, Massachusetts Suffolk, and  o Middlesex County, Massachusetts Middlesex counties of  o Province of Massachusetts Bay colonial Massachusetts, between February 1692 and May 1693 (Roach, 2002). Many literary works portray the witchcraft practices prevailed in early New England. Entertaining Satan Witchcraft and the Culture of Early New England present before the readers a broad view of witchcraft and examine its influence in the world, from primitive days to the modern days. This celebrated work of John Putnam Demos provides a new outlook of American witchcraft. Through examining the existing historical documents of more than a hundred real witchcraft cases, Demos restructured the world of New England in the period of the witchcraft trials. This account of John Putnam Demos is a detailed depiction of the psychological history of the people who are portrayed. In the book we read a cultural history in which the author explains, interprets and analyzes the community (which he mentioned) as a power or force that is able to create or frame its historical destiny. In the book the cultural history is analyzed in the realm of witchcraft practices that prevailed in early New England. The author analyses the culture of the period in the sociological, psychological and cultural phenomenon. Demos say that the witch trials that prevailed in Salem were not the only type of witch trials that existed in America in those days. He further explains the psychodynamic structures of the 17th century society. He also provides a list of psychoanalytic tools, in particular projection, while trying to explain what triggered the fear of witchcraft. By psychology in the background of his understand about the history of witchcraft that prevailed in New England in the 17th century, the author gave a wonderful presentation of the cultural scenario that existed during that time. The author is studying about a society considering their characteristics. He is thus able to explain what resulted in the practice of witchcraft. In part four the author says that the Salem witch trials were not isolated events. Witch trials were very much prevalent during those days. The author studies the witchcraft process along the towns like Hampton. He also examines the records that are related to its inhabitants. In the closing chapters of the book the author emphasizes how a good part of them (the inhabitants who were accused of witchcraft) were Puritan. By studying about Hampton as well as the town of Wethersfield, the author presents a good history about the communities in New England   (Demos, 1983). He further explains what afflictions, agonies and miseries they encountered that witchcraft became a common practice for them. The last part of the book brings several well-argued biographical images and the sociological and psychological sketches of the community that existed during those days. The detailed explanation given by the author also provided the general history of the communities and the real consequences of witchcraft in their lives. Learning the history of these communities will make us understand why they became easily liable to witchcraft. The cultural background of the communities prepared the way for the birth and growth of witchcraft.

     A creative playwright like Euripides may or may not imagine the purposes his or her play would eventually serve.  It is for spectators and readers to decide whether a play serves any purpose whatsoever beyond its essential literary merit.  To the ancient Greeks, Medea by Euripides was another Greek tragedy.  They were accustomed to this genre.  Besides, Medea spoke of ancient Greek gods and goddesses  referred to as myths in modern writings about ancient Greek religion  as did various other writings of the time, including Euripides works.  Hence, Medea must have been another addition to Greek tragedies speaking of gods and goddesses, thereby adding value to literature of the time whilst allowing the spectators and readers of the play to make connections between Medea and other Greek tragedies speaking of gods and goddesses.   

     Medea, the passionate woman in Euripides play of the same name, is divine enough to ride the sun god of the pagans, Helios chariot.  Yet she is wicked and ruthless, and she understands that she is a barbarian.  She tells Jason, I am the mother of your children.  Whither can I fly, since all Greece hates the barbarian (Euripides).  She is a murderess, too, a woman who is capable of killing her own children.  Thus, she is in no position to teach ethics, morality or values to ancient Greek society where this play was aired the first time.  Then again, her divine persona serves as an excuse for her barbaric mindset and behavior.  Should ancient Greek women take her for a model to emulate  If so, the entire ancient Greek society would turn barbaric seeing that all mothers would be contemplating murders of their children.  Because all ancient Greek writings do not show barbaric women, as oppressive and cold-blooded as Medea, however, it must be assumed that Medea is an example not to follow.  If she had been perceived as a good character, or a pardonable one, other ancient Greek writings would most likely show the effect or ancient Greek history would reveal that most women took Medea as a model to emulate.  But, this did not happen. 

     In fact, Medea, the play, makes a mockery of ancient Greek gods and goddesses.  It also takes a critical look at ancient Greek culture.  Jason has betrayed his wife, Medea, and yet he claims that he has done what he considered was best.  He even claims that he has behaved like a civilized man rather than the barbaric ones that Medea would be exposed to in her own place of origin.  Medea, the play, considers the fact that people who claim to be civilized  as did the ancient Greeks  do not necessarily behave like cultured people with ethics.  Perhaps Euripides knew that this was happening in every other rich home in ancient Greece.  Regardless, the play looks upon ancient Greek society realistically.  Ethical problems are everywhere, which is why ancient Greece created great philosophers of morality such as Socrates.

     Thus, the main purpose of the play, Medea, in the time that it is set is truth telling or exposure of societal realities.  Euripides could have written about a refined woman instead  one who handled her emotional problems in a peacable manner.  What is more, Medea could have been a model to emulate given her divine persona.  However, Euripides would like to expose the flaws in ancient gods and goddesses, just as he allows truth to be told when it comes to ancient Greek culture.  Jason could have been a sophisticated man behaving ethically.  But, Euripides knows that all men who claim to be civilized do not always behave ethically.  Hence, the exposure of incivility in ancient Greek civilization must have been thought-provoking for the people of the time.  Many spectators and readers of Medea in ancient Greece must also have identified with the main characters of the play.  

     To modern readers, Medea is not really a divine figure, and ancient Greek religion is only paganism.  Nobody looks up to Medea as a goddess.  Modern civilization also does not make high priests of morality such as Socrates.  Furthermore, nobody believes that people in the civilized world are always mindful of morality and ethics.  Imagine if Bill Clinton had addressed Hillary Clinton with the words of Jason once his affair with Monica Lewinsky had been publicized
         It is not now I first remark, but oft ere this, how unruly a pest is a harsh temper. For
         instance, thou, hadst thou but patiently endured the will of thy superiors, mightest have
         remained here in this land and house, but now for thy idle words wilt thou be banished. Thy 
         words are naught to me. Cease not to call Jason basest of men but for those words thou
         hast spoken against our rulers, count it all gain that exile is thy only punishment. I ever   
         tried to check the outbursts of the angry monarch, and would have had thee stay, but thou
         wouldst not forego thy silly rage, always reviling our rulers, and so thou wilt be banished
         (Euripides)

Passionate women, both adulteresses and murderesses, abound in modern literature and films.  Thus, Medeas mindset and behavior is not as shocking to the modern reader as it may have been to ancient Greeks.  Modern civilization also does not frown upon criticism of rulers or political leaders.  If societal flaws are exposed through films, literature or modern media, viewers and readers are expected to learn their lessons from this exposure, that is, to refrain from following the example of individuals such as Medea and other criminals.  Even the likes of Jason and Bill Clinton are not expected to serve as models to emulate in every way, seeing that these individuals pretend to be cultured when, in fact, their moral flaws have been exposed.  Assuming that the ancient Greeks did not appreciate Jason and Media as models to emulate either, public reaction to the play, Medea, in the context of ethics and values must be the same then and now.  Then again, Jason and Medea are not divine characters for modern-day readers.  The play does not mortify the modern civilization as it did the ancient Greeks.

     Lastly, modern civilization has developed feminist theories around facts of gender inequality in literature, arts, economics, sociology, philosophy, anthropology and all other areas of knowledge with elements of feminist politics.  Feminist philosophy was unheard of at the time Medea was first published.  The woman, Medea, is reacting to Jasons insult.  Although women continue to be abused in modern-day literature and films, there are plenty who fight back as well.  More importantly, they know that they cannot easily fly away from social control, including laws, after behaving brutishly like Medea.  After all, Medeas divine nature was only fictional.  Women have to deal with modern-day realities as they tackle injustice.  Nevertheless, many readers of Medea would identify with the characters of Euripides play.  Female readers may even experience the sprinkling of salt on their wounds as they peruse this play.

    As the book bears the name of its author, the book Twilight of the Habsburgs The Life of Emperor Francis Joseph was written by Alan Warwick Palmer. Author of several other history books including The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, Palmer is a prolific writer of European history for the general readers.

    A retired school master, Alan Palmer has also written biographies of great individuals like Bismarck, Kaiser William II, Kemal Ataturk and of course that of emperor Francis Joseph of Austria. According to Palmer himself as he wrote in one of his book, his military and diplomatic histories are concerned with the Balkans and Eastern Europe (Palmer 1996, p. 10) but he also cited that he was also interested in the interested in US Affairs. His most recent work was the Dictionary of the British Empire and Commonwealth. Palmer has been a fellow of Royal Society of Literature since 1990.

What is the situation being described
The situation being described by the author was the turns of events that took place in Eastern Europe before, during, and after the birth of Emperor Francis Joseph. Among the complicated scenarios that the author discussed were the inter marriages of the Hapsburg, the political maneuverings to the throne, and the fears that gripped the most part of Europe not only the wealthy families, but particularly the Habsburg because of the great epidemic that struck the region.

The situation that the author discussed before the birth of Emperor Francis Joseph was climate of inter marriages with the Habsburg families that had significant impact not only on political aspect but also on the quality of the offspring that were produced by these intermarriages. Because such marriages were within close family relationships, Palmer noted that sons and daughters that were born relatives couple barely survived the infancy stage affecting future succession. Palmer wrote, For although fifty-two Habsburg archdukes and archduchesses had been born in the past hundred years, the future succession remained in doubt (p. 3). Palmer cited the disastrous genetic consequences of such marriages as the reason for such doubts. Thus, when Francis Joseph was about to be born, everyone was very anxious and gripped with fear that the child may not be without physical deformities.

The most notable situation however was the emergence of  a killer disease known as cholera that brought so much  fear even among the wealthy people an the house of the  Habsburg. Palmer asserted that the killer that swept throughout the Eastern Europe particularly into Russia killing even some of the prominent members some of the Royal families. Based on Palmers description, the extent of cholera was very alarming that the imperial family gathered at the Schonbrunn palace, cordoned off from the evil-evil-smelling River Wien in an effort to protect the life of the future Emperor.

    Palmer also took note of the economic situation prior to his ascension to the throne and after he has ascended the throne in which he mentioned that there were two phases of migrations of peasantry into towns and cities in search of economic fortune. According to Palmer, the situation in 1880s in the Austria-Hungary relations were a situation in which prosperity and social discontent played a created serious impact in the economic development that lead to popular resentment and prejudice that threatened the parliamentary politics. Generally however, the situation described in the book were more on the issues and events concerning within the Hapsburg family. 

What specific things are they offering as specific evidence
While the first two situations described earlier concerns on the events before and immediately during the birth of Francis Joseph which cultivated the ground for his succession to the throne, the question above is hereby treated as asking the specific things offered as specific evidence of Francis Josephs almost sixty-eight years reign as sovereign emperor of Austria.

    One of the specific things offered as evidence of the influence of his nearly seventy years of sovereign rule was the architectural style of official buildings on the imperial capital. According to Palmer, Francis Joseph left on the imperial capital and indirectly on provincial centre which looked to Vienna for inspiration (p. 229), as he was consulted over the setting of official buildings on the Ring. Palmer emphasized that the elegant spaciousness of inner Vienna owes much to him.

What is the authors, argument, thesis or main idea
    The argument raised by the author in this book was that Emperor Francis Joseph was the greatest ruler in the history of Eastern Europe despite that he ascended to the throne through the initiatives and efforts of military officers. The thesis of his book has to do with this argument emphasizing on his long years of sovereign rule. The thesis of the book seemed to be that, the Emperors great foresight and his overwhelming sense of dynastic responsibility has made him a cautious reformer that enabled him to exercise sovereign rule in Austria and much of Eastern Europe for the next 70 years.

    The Third Reich is a term used to refer to the Nazi Germany, a regime that ruled Germany between 1933 and 1945. Adolf Hitler was the leader of the Third Reich under the umbrella of the National Socialist Germany Workers Party (NSDAP). While serving as the Germany Chancellor, the Nazis Germany invaded various countries in Europe including Holland Poland. This triggered the Second World War and the holocaust when millions of minorities and Jews were exterminated and persecuted .In addition, anti-Nazi groups and individuals were not spared. Women played a very critical role in opposing and supporting the Third Reich and some of the women who made great impact during the Third Reich regime and the World War II included Corrie Ten Boom, Anne Kappius and Magda Goebbels.The roles and actions of these three women were different. In this paper, the roles of these women and their support for or against the Third Reich will be discussed. The reasons for their actions and the cost of their actions will also be discussed.

Discussion
General Overview of women in Third Reich
    During the Third Reich, Jewish women experienced great physical and emotional suffering. They were tortured just like their husbands and they became victims of extreme violence and rape perpetrated by Nazi police officers .Relocation to ghettos before being moved into concentration camps had them undergo naked body searches and public humiliation and forced sterilization and killing of their children prior or at birth was devastating. German non-Jewish women were considered to be the preservers of biological inheritance, domestic virtue and racial fountainhead. Women were expected to be married because marriage was seen to be a productive relationship. They were graded on their ability to bear many children hence fulfillment of happiness in love and birth were seen to be heroic deeds in female life.However, the Nazi family policy began advocating for kinderreich family (Pine, p.181).Children were seen to be a victory for the existence of the nation and women were expected to maintain a good family image. Because women were perceived to be unintelligent, inferior they were discouraged from acquiring education and instead expected to bear children and take care of the families. Women were very important during elections because they formed a larger percentage of the electorate than men. Some women however managed to go to school despite the Third Reich efforts to deny them education. For example, the Ursuline Convent of Sacre Couer offered education to girls.Not all German women fit into the framework developed by the Third Reich about women. Although German women get married and have children, they have succeeded in acquiring education and becoming professionals.Furthemore, they hold political office positions. Although   many women got married, not all women conformed to the. . Any women who failed to conform to the roles given to women were considered to be deserter and a person who was not interested in the well being of the nation. Women who did not follow the social and racial criteria set were excluded from Volksgemeinschaft.This meant that one was denied welfare benefits and experienced discrimination and persecution.

  Role of Magda Goebbels in Third Reich and World War II   
    Magda was born in 1901 as Magda Ritschel and went to school. The divorce of her parents led to her mothers marriage to a Jewish man known as Richard Friedlander. She married   millionaire Harald  Quandt in 1921 and later got divorced in 1929.After meeting Josef Goebbels,she became engaged in 1930 and later married him .Josef was the Third Reich Propaganda Minister who campaigned against the presence of Jews in Germany. Magda assumed the role of entertaining the wives of foreign heads of state who visited Germany hence her contacts with the foreign heads of states made her a prominent personality in Third Reich. Because of her husbands position in the Nazi Germany and her support for Adolf Hitler, Magda earned a high status and personal benefits from their close relations with Hitler.Magda was fascinated by the Nazi Party and became a member of the Nazi Germany upper echelons. During the early years of the World War II played an active role of   supporting her husbands work as a propagandist. Magda was a great supporter of the Nazi Party and became a very close political supporter of Adolf Hitler due to her husbands high position in the Third Reich. After marrying Josef, she planned for Nazi meeting, gatherings and entertaining places in her household. Due to Josefs infidelity, Magda approached Hitler and asked him to support her divorce, a request that Hitler did not accept. Instead, she was expected to maintain the reputation of ideal family of Third Reich by remaining married to Joseph Goebbels. Her close association with Hitler made her to be considered as the First Lady of the Third Reich.

    Magda believed in Hitlers political ideologies and together with her husband Joseph Goebbels, she supported the spread of pro-Nazi propaganda .In addition, she publicly supported Hitler and his decisions (Meisner, p.268).Although Magda Goebbels had earlier shown little interest in political matters, she began supporting the Nazi propaganda after attending political rallies held by Josef Goebbels. For instance, it was at the sport Palast massive Nazi meeting that she got captivated by Joseph Goebbels who she later married. Magda supported Adolf Hitlers political ideology and showed great interest in Hitlers political opinion after reading Hitlers book Mein Kampf. Magda was always captivated by the Nazi regime charismatic leader Josef Goebbels and his propaganda and her support for her husband Joseph in his work of spreading propaganda played a vital role in combating local communist and socialist parties. This was done through the media outlets that supported the Third Reich. Just like her husband, Magda was able to have some influence in the Third Reich government by portraying an ideal German family image through her marriage.

    The support Magda gave to the Third Reich and her failure to oppose the actions taken by the Third Reich caused great suffering for German Jews and anti-Nazi socialists or communists. For example, in 1938, the Kristallnacht which was the first unrestrained pogrom against the German Jews by the Nazis resulted from Goebbels fierce attacks on the German Jews through propaganda .Josef Goebbels supported the governance of the Third Reich by controlling information that was released to the media. He at one time ordered that all anti-Nazi and Jewish books to be burned. Goebbels propaganda campaign was also characterized by the edition of a Berlin Nazi newspaper that was referred to as the Der Angriff. Goebbels became the Gauleiter of Berlin and became a defacto leader in Berlin. Many German Jews received constant pressure from Goebbels who forced them out of their professional and business life. More obstacles were put into place by Goebbels to prevent the Jews from living a normal life. For example, the banning of Jews from using public and transport facilities promoted discrimination and stereotyping of Jews.

    Magda and Josef Goebbels believed that the Jews contributed to the German economic and spiritual catastrophe and their influence led to the production of propaganda films such as Triumph of Will and the Eternal Jew, the Jews were portrayed as a bad race. The films also emphasized the might of Hitler and the undying power of German skills. Deportation of Austrian and German Jews to unknown destinations was coordinated  by Josef Goebbels.Relocation of German Jews to ghettos and concentration camps led to the death of Magdas step father hence  Magdas failure to oppose  this move  caused the suffering of German Jews. Goebbels advocated that Jews living in Vienna, Berlin and Prague be deportated.This occurred despite the difficulties that were encountered in transporting them. Through editorials on the Das Reich, a weekly paper, Goebbels managed to convince the public to consider Jews as a threat in the German society. With Goebbels appointment as the General Plenipotentiary for Total war in July 1944, more suffering of the Jews continued even during the World War II.

    Magdas support for the Third Reich led to the death of her whole family. After the Nazi regime was defeated on April 1945, Magda and her husband sought refuge in Hitlers place. She is alleged to have murdered her six children when the Red Army got victory over Berlin during the end of the World War II.  Magda Goebbels together with her husband then committed suicide. The cost of her actions was the death of her husband, children and her own life.Magdas failure to defend her step father and other Jews from suffering and death removed any opposition to the actions taken by the Hitler and her husband. With her high position in the regime, speaking out against the actions may have reduced discrimination and suffering of the people. Her relations with Hitler put her at a good position of convincing Hitler and her husband to handle the Jew problem in a humane manner and end discrimination of women.Magda should have empowered women to acquire education instead of assisting him to convince women to conform to the Reich form of family.
Role of Corrie Ten Boom in Third Reich and World War II

    Corrie Ten Boom was born in 1892 in a Christian family that was recognized for its act of social commitment and generosity. Her ability to save Jews from persecutions was due to her occupation as a watch maker in her grandfathers shop that was located in Haarlem in Holland. Corrie was in her late forties when persecution of Jews under the national socialist regime of Hitler during the Third Reich regime and World War II occurred. The hiding place is estimated to have measured 0.7m in width and 2.5m in length. About six or seven people could fit into the hiding hue. It is estimated that Corrie managed to  save about 800 Jews, numerous members of Dutch resistance and students who refused to cooperate with the Nazis from persecution 

     After Germany invaded Holland in 1940, Boom and her family members assisted the Jews to escape persecution and suffering caused by the Gestapo  during the Third Reich and the World War II(Sherrill et al,p.45 ).This was because Boom and his family members were devoted Christians. Because she worked as a watch maker in her house familys house located in Harlem, Boom would hide many Jews in a small room that had been built behind her houses walls. Because Corrie was a watch maker, she worked in her grandfathers shop and this helped to prevent any suspicions about her actions .As a result, Boom managed to save many Jews from great suffering or death. Corrie was a Christian holocaust survivor and her most critical role was the saving of Jews lives and facilitating the escape of Jews who were escaping the Nazi Germany. Furthermore, Corrie was involved in efforts that provided a place for hiding refugees to stay. The major reason why Corrie was committed to saving lives and ending suffering of the German Jews was her Christianity and belief in that Jews were the Gods chosen people. Corrie also hid other members of the resistance movement that were being sought by Gestapo who were German Secret State Police officers
    She became a heroin of the Dutch resistance and because The Third Reich invasion of Holland led to the persecution of Jews, Corrie hid Jews who would have been arrested or deported as a way of minimizing the suffering and death of many people.Corrie and her other family members belonged to the Dutch reformed church which rejected the persecution of the Jews hence to her what the Nazi Germany was doing was an injustice to other human beings and a defiance of divine authority. For example, in the religious motivations that Corrie cited to justify hiding Jews, she showed her strong family belief in the tenets of religion. Corrie believed in the equality of all people or human beings in the eyes of God and with her other family members had established good Jewish-Christian relations. Another vital role that Corrie played was to assist the Jews whom she hid to establish contacts with the persons of their choice (Boom, p.72).

    The Nazis also sought young men to provide forced labor and therefore Corrie provided shelter to the young men who were escaping forced labor. From the shop, Corrie build contacts with various resistance workers and these workers assisted Corrie o provide ration and a hiding place for the Jews.Corrie and her sister Betsie never got married and they risked their lives to save those of others who were being persecuted. The invasion of Holland by Germans   made it difficult for Corrie to hide refugees and to provide a hiding place for the Jews without being noticed. After they were discovered and arrested in February 1944, Corrie and her family members were taken to a concentration camp. While there, Corrie and her sister encouraged other prisoners through evangelism (Boom, p. 26).A nurse used to give he a bible during the naked inspections and supervised showers they would undergo in prison. As a result, she managed to give the other captives new hope and new life. In addition, her endurance to hardship and humiliation inspired other people who were suffering. Her book which was referred to as The Hiding Place became an inspiration to many. Due to her actions, Corrie and her family members were arrested. She lost her family members before she was released on December 31st 19944 due to a clerical error .Corrie became a motivational speaker and an evangelist. If at that time Corrie did not offer a hiding place to the people who were being persecuted, people who managed to escape would have lost their lives. If more people had offered to help like Corrie, many lives would have been saved. Her courage and belief in God despite what she went through was inspiring.

Role of Anne Kappius
    Anne Kappius was married to Jupp Kappius, a German national who was the became the first Office of Strategic Services agent. She became a secret agent was worked as a Red Cross nurse. Jupp Kappius was a German migrs who lived in London and   in September 1944 parachuted into Germany (Delattre, p.187). The United States in 1944 had returned to the German territory to assist the Allies and their efforts hence established the Office of Strategic Services to infiltrate into the Nazi Germany. The Office of Strategic Services was formed in 1942 and was vital in providing vital information to the Allies about the Third Reich and its preparation for the World War II. Through agents like Anne Kappius and her husband, the Allies were able to get into Nazi Germany, gather intelligence information and establish resistance networks.

     Anne assisted her husband to obtain vital information about the Third Reich and the living conditions of its people. She collected information during her journeys to Germany and Switzerland. For example, her journeys enabled her to write a thirteen page account that explained how resistance was increasing in Germanys Ruhr region during the Third Reich. Anne Kappius husband Jupp Kappius worked to ensure the Faust Mission Downed was successful. The mission engaged the first OSS agents to provide valuable information about the Third Reich. Jupp Kappius first work was in the northwest Germany Industrial Ruhr region and because together with Anne got   engaged in anti-Nazi efforts. Her husband created an underground organization to resist Nazi regime internally and because Anne was trained as a secret agent together with Hilde Meisel, she was able to deliver the information collected by Jupp. Other efforts that Anne supported against the Nazi included subversion and acts of sabotage against the Nazi Germany.

    Office of Strategic Services ability to infiltrate into Nazi Germany allowed Anne and Jupp Kappius to carry out their work of gathering important information about the Third Reich. Through the Labor Branch, also referred to as the Bach section, forging of documents, creation of cover stories, preparation of agents that would gather information as well as creation of resistance networks in Third Reich was possible .Anne was intelligent and brave hence it was easy for her to carry out her work. She became an agent of her husband after he found it difficult to get information from the OSS handlers. At that time there were few forms of sending information and Kappius had to find a way of communicating with his OSS officers. Anne would get into Germany on foot through the Swiss border and together with Hilde Meisel would meet with Kappius in Ruhr and return to Switzerland with information. On the way back, Anne Kappius would acquire information from the other labor resistance members. She assisted the OSS and her husband to get crucial information about manufacturing, troops movements, underground groups and industrial strength of the Nazi Germany .Because their importance during the World War II led to the establishment of a network of internal saboteurs and spies, they assisted the OSS and the Labor Branch to plan for onslaught infiltration missions.

    Anne Kappius played a vital role in the downfall of the Third Reich during the Second World War. Because she enabled the Labor branch to succeed in infiltrating the Third Reich, the information she together with her husband collected was very vital in planning for the war. For example, the information of home front morale, troops location and war material production was utilized by the Allies to identify targets for bombing attacks. The Allies also were able to prepare for Germany counteroffensives. They also developed a very good understanding about the enemys homeland. The OSS actions because of the information that was delivered by the Anne Kappius are considered to have shortened the duration of the World War II because the information was also vital in reducing the number of casualties during the Second World War and bringing down the Third Reich. The Office of Strategic services (OSS) and Labor branches were located in Switzerland, Bair, London and Algiers. Through cooperation and connection with the other labor groups in Europe, OSS assisted the Allies to get into Germany early during the war. Anne Kappius no doubt played an important role to end the suffering of German Jews and members of minority groups that were discriminated in Nazi Germany. The Third Reich led to the suffering of many people through persecution and discrimination (Sax, and Kuntz, p.82).Together with her husband Jupp Kappius, she enabled the American OSS to have access to vital information about the Third Reich and the situation in Germany. This led to the collapse of the Third Reich after the end of the war.

    Magda Goebbels,Anne Kappius and Corrie Ten Boom are women who played a vital role  during the Third  Reich regime and the World War II.Magda caused suffering to many people by supporting the  Third Reich which persecuted the German Jews.In addition, the leadership executed socialists in Germany.Magda  failed to save his step father who was a Jew from death and murdered her six children with the help of her husband Josef Goebbels.Josef Goebbels had a high position in Hitlers administration and his work concentrated on  spreading propaganda that was pro-Nazi. Anne Kappius provided valuable information to the American OSS while collaborating with her husband.Corrie Ten Boom has been admired for her role in saving German Jews who were escaping persecution by the Nazi Germany. Through a hiding place in her house, she hid many Jews who later managed to escape.

The author of the book
    As the book bears the name of its author, the book Twilight of the Habsburgs The Life of Emperor Francis Joseph was written by Alan Warwick Palmer. Author of several other history books including The Decline and Fall of the Ottoman Empire, Palmer is a prolific writer of European history for the general readers.

    A retired school master, Alan Palmer has also written biographies of great individuals like Bismarck, Kaiser William II, Kemal Ataturk and of course that of emperor Francis Joseph of Austria. According to Palmer himself as he wrote in one of his book, his military and diplomatic histories are concerned with the Balkans and Eastern Europe (Palmer 1996, p. 10) but he also cited that he was also interested in the interested in US Affairs. His most recent work was the Dictionary of the British Empire and Commonwealth. Palmer has been a fellow of Royal Society of Literature since 1990.

What is the situation being described
The situation being described by the author was the turns of events that took place in Eastern Europe before, during, and after the birth of Emperor Francis Joseph. Among the complicated scenarios that the author discussed were the inter marriages of the Hapsburg, the political maneuverings to the throne, and the fears that gripped the most part of Europe not only the wealthy families, but particularly the Habsburg because of the great epidemic that struck the region.

The situation that the author discussed before the birth of Emperor Francis Joseph was climate of inter marriages with the Habsburg families that had significant impact not only on political aspect but also on the quality of the offspring that were produced by these intermarriages. Because such marriages were within close family relationships, Palmer noted that sons and daughters that were born relatives couple barely survived the infancy stage affecting future succession. Palmer wrote, For although fifty-two Habsburg archdukes and archduchesses had been born in the past hundred years, the future succession remained in doubt (p. 3). Palmer cited the disastrous genetic consequences of such marriages as the reason for such doubts. Thus, when Francis Joseph was about to be born, everyone was very anxious and gripped with fear that the child may not be without physical deformities.

The most notable situation however was the emergence of  a killer disease known as cholera that brought so much  fear even among the wealthy people an the house of the  Habsburg. Palmer asserted that the killer that swept throughout the Eastern Europe particularly into Russia killing even some of the prominent members some of the Royal families. Based on Palmers description, the extent of cholera was very alarming that the imperial family gathered at the Schonbrunn palace, cordoned off from the evil-evil-smelling River Wien in an effort to protect the life of the future Emperor.

    Palmer also took note of the economic situation prior to his ascension to the throne and after he has ascended the throne in which he mentioned that there were two phases of migrations of peasantry into towns and cities in search of economic fortune. According to Palmer, the situation in 1880s in the Austria-Hungary relations were a situation in which prosperity and social discontent played a created serious impact in the economic development that lead to popular resentment and prejudice that threatened the parliamentary politics. Generally however, the situation described in the book were more on the issues and events concerning within the Hapsburg family. 

What specific things are they offering as specific evidence
While the first two situations described earlier concerns on the events before and immediately during the birth of Francis Joseph which cultivated the ground for his succession to the throne, the question above is hereby treated as asking the specific things offered as specific evidence of Francis Josephs almost sixty-eight years reign as sovereign emperor of Austria.

    One of the specific things offered as evidence of the influence of his nearly seventy years of sovereign rule was the architectural style of official buildings on the imperial capital. According to Palmer, Francis Joseph left on the imperial capital and indirectly on provincial centre which looked to Vienna for inspiration (p. 229), as he was consulted over the setting of official buildings on the Ring. Palmer emphasized that the elegant spaciousness of inner Vienna owes much to him.

What is the authors, argument, thesis or main idea
    The argument raised by the author in this book was that Emperor Francis Joseph was the greatest ruler in the history of Eastern Europe despite that he ascended to the throne through the initiatives and efforts of military officers. The thesis of his book has to do with this argument emphasizing on his long years of sovereign rule. The thesis of the book seemed to be that, the Emperors great foresight and his overwhelming sense of dynastic responsibility has made him a cautious reformer that enabled him to exercise sovereign rule in Austria and much of Eastern Europe for the next 70 years.

The reign of terror permeates itself into the war by creating inner conflict within the constituents of the French Revolution who confronted religious movements,  uprising, and awakening with so much fervor. Taking cues from different historical facets and literatures, it can be said that the reign of terror is the product of rebellion which resulted from disparities in social and political upbringing. When the Revolution was headed to the deviation from facts and moral rectitude, the nation shifted from its compliance with the law and mobilized toward varying purposes.
    The reign of terror was not the aberration course itself, but rather, it was the effect of the symbolic conflict that pitched Revolution and ancient regime in an open republic. In particular,  it was noted that the French Departments germinate a miscellany of rebellious documents named Proclamations, Resolutions, Journals, or Diurnals of the Union for Resistance to Oppression. In the statement, resistance to oppression through the avoidance of danger and likelihood of arrestment could be rooted out from the reign of terror within people in minority levels and those endowed with position and power. In the reign of terror, sovereign authority was not fully exercised and leading to fall of the western and southern to civil war (Palmer 5). It was in this phase that Revolution was disrupted and broken down.  Recounting this scenario, anarchy within invasion and a republic cracking due to external pressure and disintegrating from internal conflict heightened Revolution. The Revolution was at its peak with the occurrence of war, inflation, violence, sabotage, hunger and oppression (Palmer 5).
     The Revolution had its collection of noble figures that deeply translated to the energized society of French gearing up for any kind of uprising. A notable figure which history detailed was Charlotte Corday (Schama 730). Her description said that she was a Republican before the Revolution and had never desired for any kind of energy, until the radical shift within the Revolution happened. Corday wanted to see the republic flourish (Schama 730). It was showed that the ills of Revolution Fever had withered the noble pursuit of the nation and resulted to the Vendee War (March-December 1793). This war caused the finite terror of the people and made them confront their won risks and obtain salvation through any kinds of civil disturbances. It was stated that the Vendee War the bloodiest and longest symbolic conflict prior to the revolt against the dictatorship of Paris which happened on June-July 1793 (Furet et al. 165).
     The scuffle between the Revolution and Ancient Regime was divided into two one composed of soldiers carrying the flag of the republic and the other composed of peasants from the Vendee population who lifted the banner of God and king. This antagonistic set-up fo the revolt sprouted from the negation to conscription and the terror that overshadowed the entire nation. The testimony of the the Ancient Regime was neglected by the Revolution that did not listen to other voices, and instead, divulged  its movement from the right track to the crooked one. The arrival of resistance, sidetracked by methods of monarchy, aroused every battle in the countryside. The revolt had turned into insurrection in which the resistance had became a geographical conflict grounded on  quadrilateral band consisting of the  generalites  Poitiers and Tours (referring to the nomenclature of the ancient regime) (Furet et al. 165).
    The reign of terror was an integral part of the Revolution because this was the solid basis for violence. It was implied by the history that the Revolution  mostly moved by the  military Vendee,  had slipped entirely from the control and jurisdiction of Paris for several months and had not been an area morally at odds with the rest of republic in 1789 (Furet et al. 166). This notion explained why terror was an effect of violence. In explicating the relationship among reign of terror, violence, and the Revolution, it could be stated that the chain started with the aberration of the Revolution in which it drifted away from the right track.
    With the existence of aberration, violence penetrated within regions causing internal and external conflicts ranging from the differing views on morals, ethics, politics and society. Such external and internal conflicts, in turn, paved the way for the reign of terror to sink in. With this terror came the want for freedom from violence and fulfilment of each wishes. Then, this course led to war and divisions in the entire nation.
    The very gap between the republic and its representation in politics is what allows the variation in a large society to declare its singular voice (Bates 138). This gap often results to error that manifests itself throughout the longstanding history of the Revolution. The government creates and preserves a space for national unity, a space that is also meant to protect a country as much as possible from that so-called error that penned out the translation of imminent identity into a firm decision and will of the republic (Bates 138). This political logic was an aberration in a broad sense interpreted using the term  terror. 
    In this kind of interpretation, the Revolution tried to erase that gap between the people of France and state. It has been said that the Jacobin dictatorship declared an extreme transparency between the state and French men which in reality, interpreted that the people were pulled out from the reality itself to rhetorical figure because the only way absolute transparency could be ensured was by eliminating the relationship between the two discordant entities which were the state and the nation (Bates 138).
    The complete establishment of the political power could only be achieved through dissolving one of entities and in the case of the Revolution, people of France were displaced through oppression and violence. In applying the subject of terror, theb government became the people and any traces of opposition to the state, both external and internal, as tagged as enemy (qtd. in Bates, 139).
    It was true that revolutionary violence was not limited to the basis of terror alone. Apart from the relationship established among violence, terror and war, what identified the violence of the terror from the past facets of the Revolution was its systematic nature and the constructed fact that the state had instituted it (Bates 139). In the earliest periods of the Revolution, it was evident that the there was a need for specific discipline aiming to the development of stability which was the main goal of political leaders.
    The search for discipline had encompassed radical inassurance and instabilities brought by violence.  In the late periods of the Revolution, it was viewed that monopoly was a specific discipline which politicians used to control radical violence. As the state permitted Revolution, terror may imply that it tried to erase the gap between people and the state by reigning over revolutionary violence into the state and monopolizing it (Bates 139).
    The need to limit and control violence was an aspect that consumed the totality of revolutionary consciousness. Such need aroused the issue on the amibiguity regarding resistance and order. It was inculcated that the defining  disorder  in the revolutionary context was a vexing task, knowing that Revolution itself was a disordering event (Bates 145).
    Sociologist Auguste Comte had his own historical justification on Revolution in his work Cours de Philosophie Positive. He said that the  absence of any sound political philosophy makes it easy to imagine what empirical temptation must have determined such an aberration. (qtd. in Aron 306). It was prominent Comtes writings that he was being assertive of anachronism of war  and he was able to focus on the contradictory views between the modern society and the military and warlike phenomenon  All truly philosophical minds must readily acknowledge with complete intellectual and moral satisfaction that the age has finally come in which serious and lasting war must utterly disappear among the elite of humanity  (qtd. in Aron 133). Comte was able to reiterate that the philosophical minds of the polticians who shaped the Revolution had drifted from its established principles and resorted to aberration with no logic support but to limit and control violence to the extent of violating even the nations rights.
    Comte went on to explicate more of the philosophy of knowledge in which aberration could be attributed to.
         Sound philosophy...regards all real laws as constructed by us from external materials. Evaluated objectively, their accuracy can never be anything but approximate. But since they are created only for our needs, especially our active needs, these approximations become quite sufficient when they are well established according to the practical requirements which habitually determine appropriate precision. Beyond this principal standard there often remains a normal degree of theoretical freedom.  (qtd. in Aron 142)
The quotation above justified the differing philosophies of those who constituted aberration.  Comte thought of theoretical freedom as a means to justify why political leaders resorted to aberration that became a conduit for the the reign of terror.
    The reign of terror must had been rooted out from the violence which came from the drift from established rules. The integral role of the reign of terror in the Revolution was made stronger with aberration which was a current that shaked the relationship between the nation and the state. History may prove that the strength of violence imposed by the Revolution still lingered on the people of France just like an aftermath of war. The end of the war did not mark the Vendees reconciliation with the Republic (Furet et al. 169) was stated that the violence that shocked and shaped Vendee is all a matter of national and political imagination in which ancient regime and the Revolution were assembled to argue (Furet et al. 170).
    The reign of terror was made complicated when the constructed relationships  within the  Revolution were deemed in flux. There seemed to be no end to the oppression of the people if there were no establishment of administrative questions that could fix the constitution and allow for sovereign republic. Sovereignty was nowhere in the picture as the search for unity within the nation grew more as a complex problem that was connected to the ambiguity of the term  error of the citizen  from the crime of the counter-revolutionary, for the admission of error by politicians and citizens under the boundaries of revolutionary politics (Bates 140). Revolutionary politics imposed a fundamental gap between the abstract and genuine legitimacy which came from the unity of the nation and any evident manifestation of sovereignty even if that specified manifestation was a famous act, legislation, executive directives, or emergency measure.
    Mentioned in this paper was the scope of error and mistake that ignited violence. It was identified that the Revolution had to scuffle with the overt opponents of the nation and the mistakes which had to be completely eradicated to protect against internal errancy. In this notion, error was a thing that had been philosophized as a possibility which was greatly understood by the most revolutionaries since the existence of the National Assembly. This comprehension opened up politics to render a space where that kind of error would be lessened (Bates 140).
    The conceptualized space was visualized by critic Maximilien Robespierre who reconceptualized that space for error reduction situated at the very heart of the politics. But Robespierre only touched the issue on leaving space for error reduction and it was in contrast to the perspectives of other political leaders who envisioned such space as constitutional or institutional one rather than what Robespierre called an internal and moral space (Bates 140).
    According to Robespierre, the politics of aberration could be grounded on virtue, not reason, as it was the necessary preparation for insight into the national voice and that the finite terror was based on the desire to construct a space where an important identity might be exuded (140). In addition, the discontinuity was the radical change from established measures to highly moral ones and this decisive shift, according to Robespierre, crucially involved error to revolutionary politics.
         The Vendee encounter was a catalyst in structuring  Frances old society which was mainly inhabited by  peasants, priests and nobles that were connected through culture and tradition. When violence  was deemed as an insurrection, it starked perceptions in which any acts against the Jacobin dictatorship was identified as  disloyalty to tradition. Aberration in this sense was viewed as an enemy of the ancient regime. The Vendee war ennobled the ancient regime by adding essential factors of which its inglorious end would otherwise have deprived it popular passion and the heroism instigated by resistance (Furet et al. 170).
    In conclusion, it was illustrated in this paper that the reign of terror spurred out from aberration politics which was considered as the radical shift from established morals to the ones dictated by peoples active needs. The relationship among violence, aberration and terror could be identified through the Vendeer encouter which represented oppression and violation of tradition. It was important to know that reign of terror was the effect of the conflicts brought by violence and disparities in identifying which said greatly attributed to the aberration in the Revolution era.

    According to the arguments presented by Karl Max, the society was a complex and a hostile environment to be in. The society comprised of a moving equilibrium of opposing forces which generated societal change through their struggle and tension. He pointed out that struggle as opposed to peaceful growth acted as an engine of development. The father of everything was strife. In addition, social disagreement was core to historical progress. The motivating power in the past was the way in which men relate to each other in their constant fight to wrest their living from nature. Human society was also characterized by perpetual dissatisfaction by men as Max put it, man is a perpetually dissatisfied animal. When primary needs have been met, this leads to new needs and the production of new needs is the first historical act1 He believed capitalism created egoistic people and required to be damaged because of what it did to human beings.

   Human environment under capitalism was not fulfilling to man. Therefore, for man to be fulfilled, capitalism needed to be ruined.  Particularly he contemplated that religion personal property, merchandise, private enterprise as well as money ought to be detached from society so as to free man of their control which has alienated him from himself and other people.

To be truly human according to Marx meant being liberated, self-determining, part of a community, and social.  To be liberated man ought to control his creations and being a supreme being, overthrow religion.
Evolution of living things including human beings according to Charles Darwin
  Darwin holds that all living things are related descended from a common ancestor The birds and the fruits, the fish and the flowers  are all related. Darwins theory presumes the growth of life out of non-life and it stresses on a purely undirected (naturalistic) descent with alteration. 2This is to imply that composite creatures evolve from simpler ancestors naturally and over time. In short, as random hereditary mutations take place within any organisms genetic system beneficial mutations are conserved because they help in survival. This process is called natural selection. These beneficial (valuable) mutations are passed to the following generation.  Beneficial mutations build up over time and eventually result into completely different organism (not only a variation from of the original, but also a completely different creature). 2
 Social Darwinists apply Darwins theory to human society

Social Darwinists used biological ideas of Darwin in an attempt to apply them to social sciences. Their interest was mostly to apply the survival of the fittest idea to social context because this could excuse the existing issues of racism, optimism as well as capitalism. It was a tool for arguing that governments was not supposed to interfere with human competition that government ought to take no interest to regulate the economy, for example, reducing poverty,  introducing and providing socialized medicine. In a nutshell, they have the policy called laissez faire which is a policy whereby everybody does want they wish because there is no ruling authority which is supreme to regulate human behavior in the society.

1. What Hitler believed about the natural law of human society
Hitler believed that rule of nature was founded on strong people using terror and fear to control the weak.  According to him, only the strong and the mighty could control the weak and the poor in the society and inflict fear, intimidation and terror to make them follow the commands without asking any questions or demanding justice.  Hitler held that it was natural that he was in power and all his subjects were under him and he could deal with them as he pleased since he possessed supreme authority over them.

How the Jews threatened the survival of civilization
Hitler alleged that the Aryan superiority was threatened chiefly by the Jews who, as he argued, were lazy, contributed very little towards world civilization. He ignored that a number of his favorite musicians and composers were Jews. He asserted that the Jewish youth stay waiting upon end satanically conspicuous at,  spying on unconscious girls whom they plan to seduce, contaminating  her  with the ultimate thoughts of bastardizing the whites that  they hate and  lowering its culture and political level to ensure that they dominate

 Comparison between Hitlers and Benito Mussolinis political philosophy
Their political philosophy was based on complete domination by the government over all phases of political, cultural, social and economic life. They operated their government with supremacy and without question. They did not believe in equal human rights for all subjects in their governments but rather believed that natural law dictated the fate of people without interference.  These two rulers used dictatorship and intimidation to inflict fear and command to the Germans and Italians of their time. In nutshell, they used the iron rule