Absolute Destruction

Absolute Destruction PDF Author: Isabel V. Hull
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 080146708X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 399

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Book Description
In a book that is at once a major contribution to modern European history and a cautionary tale for today, Isabel V. Hull argues that the routines and practices of the Imperial German Army, unchecked by effective civilian institutions, increasingly sought the absolute destruction of its enemies as the only guarantee of the nation's security. So deeply embedded were the assumptions and procedures of this distinctively German military culture that the Army, in its drive to annihilate the enemy military, did not shrink from the utter destruction of civilian property and lives. Carried to its extreme, the logic of "military necessity" found real security only in extremities of destruction, in the "silence of the graveyard."Hull begins with a dramatic account, based on fresh archival work, of the German Army's slide from administrative murder to genocide in German Southwest Africa (1904–7). The author then moves back to 1870 and the war that inaugurated the Imperial era in German history, and analyzes the genesis and nature of this specifically German military culture and its operations in colonial warfare. In the First World War the routines perfected in the colonies were visited upon European populations. Hull focuses on one set of cases (Belgium and northern France) in which the transition to total destruction was checked (if barely) and on another (Armenia) in which "military necessity" caused Germany to accept its ally's genocidal policies even after these became militarily counterproductive. She then turns to the Endkampf (1918), the German General Staff's plan to achieve victory in the Great War even if the homeland were destroyed in the process—a seemingly insane campaign that completes the logic of this deeply institutionalized set of military routines and practices. Hull concludes by speculating on the role of this distinctive military culture in National Socialism's military and racial policies.Absolute Destruction has serious implications for the nature of warmaking in any modern power. At its heart is a warning about the blindness of bureaucratic routines, especially when those bureaucracies command the instruments of mass death.

Absolute Destruction

Absolute Destruction PDF Author: Isabel V. Hull
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 080146708X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 399

Get Book Here

Book Description
In a book that is at once a major contribution to modern European history and a cautionary tale for today, Isabel V. Hull argues that the routines and practices of the Imperial German Army, unchecked by effective civilian institutions, increasingly sought the absolute destruction of its enemies as the only guarantee of the nation's security. So deeply embedded were the assumptions and procedures of this distinctively German military culture that the Army, in its drive to annihilate the enemy military, did not shrink from the utter destruction of civilian property and lives. Carried to its extreme, the logic of "military necessity" found real security only in extremities of destruction, in the "silence of the graveyard."Hull begins with a dramatic account, based on fresh archival work, of the German Army's slide from administrative murder to genocide in German Southwest Africa (1904–7). The author then moves back to 1870 and the war that inaugurated the Imperial era in German history, and analyzes the genesis and nature of this specifically German military culture and its operations in colonial warfare. In the First World War the routines perfected in the colonies were visited upon European populations. Hull focuses on one set of cases (Belgium and northern France) in which the transition to total destruction was checked (if barely) and on another (Armenia) in which "military necessity" caused Germany to accept its ally's genocidal policies even after these became militarily counterproductive. She then turns to the Endkampf (1918), the German General Staff's plan to achieve victory in the Great War even if the homeland were destroyed in the process—a seemingly insane campaign that completes the logic of this deeply institutionalized set of military routines and practices. Hull concludes by speculating on the role of this distinctive military culture in National Socialism's military and racial policies.Absolute Destruction has serious implications for the nature of warmaking in any modern power. At its heart is a warning about the blindness of bureaucratic routines, especially when those bureaucracies command the instruments of mass death.

A Scrap of Paper

A Scrap of Paper PDF Author: Isabel V. Hull
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801470641
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
In A Scrap of Paper, Isabel V. Hull compares wartime decision making in Germany, Great Britain, and France, weighing the impact of legal considerations in each. She demonstrates how differences in state structures and legal traditions shaped the way the three belligerents fought the war. Hull focuses on seven cases: Belgian neutrality, the land war in the west, the occupation of enemy territory, the blockade, unrestricted submarine warfare, the introduction of new weaponry, and reprisals. A Scrap of Paper reconstructs the debates over military decision-making and clarifies the role law played—where it constrained action, where it was manipulated, where it was ignored, and how it developed in combat—in each case. A Scrap of Paper is a passionate defense of the role that the law must play to govern interstate relations in both peace and war.

Books on Fire

Books on Fire PDF Author: Lucien X. Polastron
Publisher: Lucien X. POLASTRON
ISBN: 9781594771675
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Almost as old as the idea of the library is the urge to destroy it. Author Lucien X. Polastron traces the history of this destruction, examining the causes for these disasters, the treasures that have been lost, and where the surviving books, if any, have ended up. Books on Fire received the 2004 Societe des Gens de Lettres Prize for Nonfiction/History in Paris.

A World Divided

A World Divided PDF Author: Eric D. Weitz
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691205140
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 574

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Book Description
A global history of human rights in a world of nations that grant rights to some while denying them to others Once dominated by vast empires, the world is now divided into some 200 independent countries that proclaim human rights—a transformation that suggests that nations and human rights inevitably develop together. But the reality is far more problematic, as Eric Weitz shows in this compelling global history of the fate of human rights in a world of nation-states. Through vivid histories from virtually every continent, A World Divided describes how, since the eighteenth century, nationalists have established states that grant human rights to some people while excluding others, setting the stage for many of today’s problems, from the refugee crisis to right-wing nationalism. Only the advance of international human rights will move us beyond a world divided between those who have rights and those who don't.

The Art of Immortality

The Art of Immortality PDF Author: Igor Artemjew
Publisher: T/O "Neformat"
ISBN:
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
The first ring of force is the first book from “The Art of immortality” series. The book is devoted to the focal point of a human being: life and death. Three major types of magical arts are depicted in the book closely: 1.​ Art of perfection of the first attention’s ring 2.​ Art of perfection of the second attention’s ring 3.​ Art of unification of attentions to the first ring of force The book breaks the secrets of Toltec magic and a path of the warrior. The following subjects are considered in the book: 1.​ Freedom. Depiction of the world of Force, illusion of a choice and a path of the warrior 2.​ Internal Force, yin and yang, harmony of external and internal force of the human being 3.​ Myth about luminous ketatkoatle 4.​ Two ways of transformation and the new intention – of the second attention 5.​ Force – the dark ocean of realization 6.​ Parasites and energy dependence 7.​ Heart – the main center of human energy. Heart’s wings – opportunities that are opened by the heart. 8.​ Cross is the symbol of art of the energy entirety attainment 9.​ Breath moves the sun 10.​ Angel of death and realization of time – control’s force to act and change 11.​ Fear is the first enemy of a human being, seven human intentions 12.​ Four power tests – losses, difficulties, uncertainty and resistance 13.​ To be the loser, the judge and the victim! 14.​ Abstract core of the Force’s display 15.​ Eagle is the symbol of the Force 16.​ Action is the key to the change 17.​ Circle is a symbol of the stalker’s force: to restrict yourself and to track down, Toltecs were drawing two circles – of intention and of action. Action’s circle of Toltec is an order for the warrior! 18.​ The path of a warrior is individual! Always! For this reason, the warrior has no name! There are only the force, the party and the way. Fixation of oneself is a trap and a warrior has to avoid traps! Of individuality! To become a luminous creature, it is necessary to get gradually rid of anything personal and fixed! 19.​ The path of the warrior is the way of changing yourself (not the reality) These arts depict the secrets of human’s psyche in detail and give a description of an individual interlink between us and the Force of the Universe that guides all of us. Studying these arts uncovers an effective system of hidden magical capabilities development in each of us. Mastering these arts gives a human being an opportunity to realize himself as a part of the great evolutionary design and prepare himself for the acceptance of the “IMMORTALITY GIFT” that is obtained by each of us at the moment of meeting death. Value of the work, offered to the reader, consists in the deep research of the spiritual order system of the human, who has entered the path of the “warrior of an absolute freedom”.

Warfare and Culture in World History, Second Edition

Warfare and Culture in World History, Second Edition PDF Author: Wayne E. Lee
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479842214
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
An expanded edition of the leading text on military history and the role of culture on the battlefield Ideas matter in warfare. Guns may kill, but ideas determine when, where, and how they are used. Traditionally, military historians attempted to explain the ideas behind warfare in strictly rational terms, but over the past few decades, a stronger focus has been placed on how societies conceptualize war, weapons, violence, and military service, to determine how culture informs the battlefield. Warfare and Culture in World History, Second Edition, is a collection of some of the most compelling recent efforts to analyze warfare through a cultural lens. These curated essays draw on, and aggressively expand, traditional scholarship on war and society through sophisticated cultural analysis. Chapters range from an organizational analysis of American Civil War field armies, to an exploration of military culture in late Republican Rome, to debates within Ming Chinese officialdom over extermination versus pacification. In addition to a revised and expanded introduction, the second edition of Warfare and Culture in World History now adds new chapters on the role of herding in shaping Mongol strategies, Spanish military culture and its effects on the conquest of the New World, and the blending of German and East African military cultures among the Africans who served in the German colonial army. This volume provides a full range of case studies of how culture, whether societal, strategic, organizational, or military, could shape not only military institutions but also actual battlefield choices.

Destroy Them Gradually

Destroy Them Gradually PDF Author: Andrew R. Basso
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 1978831307
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
Perpetrators of mass atrocities have used displacement to transport victims to killing sites or extermination camps to transfer victims to sites of forced labor and attrition, to ethnically homogenize regions by moving victims out of their homes and lands, and to destroy populations by depriving them of vital daily needs. Displacement has been treated as a corollary practice to crimes committed, not a central aspect of their perpetration. Destroying Them Gradually examines four cases that illuminate why perpetrators have destroyed populations using displacement policies: Germany’s genocide of the Herero (1904–1908); Ottoman genocides of Christian minorities (1914–1925); expulsions of Germans from East/Central Europe (1943–1952); and climate violence (twenty-first century). Because displacement has been typically framed as a secondary aspect of mass atrocities, existing scholarship overlooks how perpetrators use it as a means of executing destruction rather than a vehicle for moving people to a specific location to commit atrocities.

The Violence of Law

The Violence of Law PDF Author: Jens Meierhenrich
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108425399
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 769

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Book Description
""Lawfare" describes the systematic use and abuse of legal procedure for political ends which, in post-genocide Rwanda, contributed to the making of dictatorship. Jens Meierhenrich explains how and why Paul Kagame's Tutsi-led government in the period 1994-2019 learned to substitute law for war in its consolidation of authoritarian rule"--

Derrida and the Future of Literature

Derrida and the Future of Literature PDF Author: Joseph G. Kronick
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791443361
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 236

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Book Description
Presented here is the fullest account to date of Derrida's unconventional understanding of literature and its importance to the development of a poststructural ethics. Kronick explains why Derrida has had such a great impact upon literary studies, and at the same time, he demonstrates how different Derrida's conception of literature is from the literary critic's. Focusing on such key topics as singularity, justice, law, aporia, and the event, this book explores the unexpected ways literature appears in Derrida's works and is tied to his major concepts.

Dirty Wars

Dirty Wars PDF Author: Simon Robbins
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0752479016
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 568

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Book Description
‘Who is the enemy?’ This is the question most asked in modern warfare; gone are the set-piece conventional battles of the past. Once seen as secondary to more traditional conflicts, irregular warfare (as modified and refashioned since the 1990s) now presents a major challenge to the state and the bureaucratic institutions which have dominated the twentieth century, and to the politicians and civil servants who formulate policy.Twenty-first-century conflict is dominated by counterinsurgency operations, where the enemy is almost indistinguishable from innocent civilians. Battles are gunfights in jungles, deserts and streets; winning ‘hearts and minds’ is as important as holding territory. From struggles in South Africa, the Philippines and Ireland to operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Chechnya, this book covers the strategy and doctrine of counterinsurgency, and the factors which ensure whether such operations are successful or not. Recent ignorance of central principles and the emergence of social media, which has shifted the odds in favour of the insurgent, have too often resulted in failure, leaving governments and their security forces embedded in a hostile population, immersed in costly and dangerous nation-building.