North German Confederation

War I, and citizens found themselves to be fighting for both the Germans and the Russians. In order to swing the Polish to the Central Powers, the Germans fueled by political agenda “wanted to increase Polish support for their cause ain in the Act of 5th November 1916, declared the creation of a new state called the Kingdom of Poland” (WSJ). Although this was giving independence to the colony, again in order to gain power, the German Empire, impacted the government of Poland creating a puppet…

of the two weeks the only obstacle that continuously reminded us that we were from different “places” of the world was language. Louisa’s mother and one of her sisters were not too fluent in their English and unfortunately I hardly speak a word of German. We had to rely on Louisa as a translator in order to have an effective conversation. Somehow, I was able to feel close with Louisa’s mother and sister despite never having a one-on-one conversation with them. After sharing several experiences…

A language is a powerful tool for expressing thoughts, ideas, and feelings. Language also serves as one of the primary contextual clues in determining where any one person is from in the world or region. Moreover, language also serves as the driving force for culture development within societies. The concept that language directly affects culture development is the prominent hypothesis within the anthropological community. The primary language taught to any person during their early growth and…

Speak My Language, Please! Through physiology and natural, cultural phenomena, everyone learns to communicate soon after one is born so they can survive in the culture in which one has to live; however, when they leave our culture and language behind, they are forced to learn a new language. Communication is key to surviving in any culture and if they do not learn the language of our new culture they will be dependent on others for succeeding at the smallest tasks, like finding a restroom or…

Werner Sombart was a German economist and social scientist who was born in 1863. He was interested in the relationship between capitalism and religion, applying Marxist and Social Darwinist theories in his writings. He was interested in class hierarchies and the evolution of society, particularly in the progress of the German race. Sombart’s book Händler und Helden (Merchants and Heroes), published in 1915, reflects ideas of German racial superiority. The book was published after the failure of…

the movie’s mockery of contemporary Germany’s inability to rid itself of the reign of authoritarian powers. The changes in the form of governance, or regime, are rendered effortless by the film, as regardless of what government now gains control, Germans are forever bound to…

In his essay "In Plain English: Let's Make It Official," Charles Krauthammer mentions English being the key to unifying a multicultural society like the United States. There is no doubt that the United States is a nation composed of immigrants from all over the world. However, it is not a nation composed of immigrants trying to ostracize themselves to create their own territory. We are a melting pot of many linguistic, cultural, and ethnic groups that are constantly interacting and coming…

Sir Henry Parkes is known as the father of federation, this was due to his large push for federation of Australia. Sir Henry Parkes was 5 time premier of New South Wales and had a large impact on Australia. Parks wanted a united country and a united government. He wanted Australia to be one country, working together. One of Parkes’ main reasons for his push for federation was the defect systems in Australia. Each colony had its own small armies and navies which sometimes even fought against…

Russia (who also had a military alliance with Serbia), and was naturally opposed by Austria-Hungary (which had alliances with Germany and Italy), since it would actually weaken their empire. Conversely, nationalism helped unite and strengthen the German speaking territories of Central Europe and the Italian speaking nation-states of the southern peninsula.…

This day will go down in history as Gavrilo Princip, a 19 year old Serbian student, kills both Archduke Franz-Ferdinand and his wife, commoner, Sophia Chotek. Franz-Ferdinand and Sophia Chotek were married in 1900. Sophia who was a commoner had children and the children were deemed ineligible for the throne of Austria-Hungary. This time was a time of tension between the two rivaling nations as Austria-Hungary had just annexed the neighboring country Bosnia. Serbia was furious as…