War is a horrific experience made worse by those who try to control it for their own advantage. In Famous Last Words, Timothy Findley creates a world of intrigue as he describes the tales of conspiracy and corruption for world domination. That made World War II far worse than it otherwise would have been. This is shown through the relationships of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Joachim von Ribbentrop, and Benito Mussolini.
The Duke and Duchess of Windsor are prominent people in society, who want more power. The people in the Duke’s alliance invited Mr. Coty to join the alliance because, in the Duke’s words, "From time to time, Monsieur Coty and his friends are useful to us." (141) Although the Duke dislikes this man, he pretends to like him because he needs this man in order for his own selfish schemes to work. The Duke and Duchess of Windsor use their own alliance to gain leadership over the people in Europe, and truly believing they are the right leaders. The Duke says Europe needs, "…a new kind of leader--someone like a flag, whose very presence makes us rise. Not a Mussolini, of who we are afraid. Not a Hitler who drives us to our feet. But an emblem whose magnetism pulls us upward." (180) The Duke sees himself as being more powerful and influential, more of a leader, than either Hitler or Mussolini. He compares his potential leadership to that of a country’s flag- someone people will respect and admire. He truly believes he can be their new leader and puts himself on a pedestal. The Duke and Duchess posses many secrets. Findley explains how, "…an agent of Churchill’s [was]-- playing on David’s [Duke’s] drunkenness to discover how deep his treason ran." (198) The Duke has become very manipulative in his schemes and people want to know what he plans to do next. Thus, the Duke of Windsor was very manipulative and created an alliance where many secrets were kept and where the only benefit of the war and alliance was all his own.
Joachim von Ribbentrop is one of Hitler’s workers and whom Hitler has much trust in. He creates his own alliance to ensure that he will dominate the world. He does not care what he has to do to get things done his way. Von Ribbentrop explains the impor...
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...eir fascist Party, who’s name was derived from the groups of workers know as fasci--brought together under the hand of Mussolini to agitate for a change in social order." (159) Mussolini’s change of social order was to rule over several nations so he could be a powerful leader. He is willing to turn everything upside down. Mussolini is a heartless man or "god" who creates his own party so that he can rise to power.
Throughout this novel the characters get themselves caught in webs of betrayal and corruption so that, at the end of the war, they may prevail and gain total world domination. Through the experiences of the characters it is learned that nobody can get ahead without causing someone else’s downfalls. Most importantly, this novel illustrates the selfishness of individuals and shows how people are willing to do whatever they need to ensure that they are solely benefited. This is clearly shown in the novel. Although the Duke, von Ribbentrop and Mussolini employed different schemes and methods, they each tried to achieve the same thing: total world domination. As a result, many peoples’ lives were lost or changed forever.
to deteriorate the human spirit. Starting out leaving you're home and family and ready to fight for you country, to ending up tired and scarred both physically and mentally beyond description. At the beginning of the novel nationalist feelings are present through pride of Paul and the rest of the boys. However at the end of the war it is apparent how pointless war really is.
Fascism is one of the great political ideology in the 20th century. It is a kind of authoritarian government that, according to Wikipedia, “considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole.” Two of the most successful and to be in the vanguard of fascism government is Italian fascism – led by Benito Mussolini, and Nazi Germany – led by Adolf Hitler. Fascism in Italy and Germany, though in many regards very similar - have the same political ideologies, still have many aspects to them that make them different from each other.
Hitler, Adolf. “Mein Kampf.” The Human Record . By Alfred J. Andrea and James H. Overfield. Vol. 2. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2011. 2 vols. 401-404.
Adolph Hitler once said, “Whoever lights the torch of war in Europe can wish for nothing but chaos.” Many of Hitler’s generals realized the truth of that statement. Multiple times they attempted to keep him from wreaking havoc on the German way of life. Their repeated warnings went unheard, resulting in Germany’s downfall. The German war effort was vastly influenced by the Anti-Nazi tendencies of Hitler’s senior officers.
The Versailles Treaty is the root of all evil and had to be denounced. The Jewish capitalists and the Jewish communists are the mortal enemies of the German people. The Germans are a superior race destined to rule the World; the Fuhrer is infallible in all matters of life and death and the destiny of Germany is in his hands. The message was well received, Hitler was telling the Germans what they wanted to hear. Immediately after becoming Germany's Chancellor, Hitler started an extensive process of consolidating his power, using the stick and carrot method.
Benito Mussolini was brought up in one the poorest regions in Northeastern Italy. When he was in school, he always kept to himself and very quiet. He wasn’t a class clown, never cried or rarely laughed. He always sat in the back of the classroom and read a book. He rather do that than play with the other children in his class. He got kicked out his first boarding school. When he was growing up he was surrounded by many political philosophies. There was anarchism, socialism, and others. Both Benito and his father Allesandro had very bad violent tempers.
The 1940’s was a time of great conflict between the United States and Europe. This led to World War II, which began on June 14th, 1940 when German troops were sent to France to occupy Paris (Nash 500). Before the United States entered World War II many conflicts erupted throughout Europe such as the advancement of German troops into various countries (Nash 501-502). The main source of these conflicts was a man by the name of Adolf Hitler. Hitler was a power hungry man who had the drive to become a political leader (Nash 492). But, the ways by which he obtained leadership were repulsive. He struck fear into the eyes of those in which opposed his teaching and killed whoever stood in his way (Nash 493). Germany faced troubling times after World War I. Hitler looked at this as the perfect opportunity to rise to power. He turned a party that consisted of a small amount of workers into the National Socialist German Workers’ party, which later became known as the Nazi party. During the 1920s, Hitler performed many speeches in order to make the Nazi party better known. In his speeches he talked about eliminating the differences between the rich and poor in order to prevent divided social classes. This made his party strong, attractive, and it quickly gained many supporters (Nash 494). By August 1934, Hitler became the Dictator of Germany and began mass takeover of Europe and World War II began (Nash 495). It was at this point when he began mass takeover of Europe and World War II began (Nash 500). He sent Nazi troops to take over nearby land, which made neighboring countries nervous. One of these countries, Russia, made a non-aggression pact with Hitler as a way to try to protect their country. Even though H...
Many a successful wordsmith has mastered voice, Winston Churchill included. He start off his speech in a jovial way, after all, summertime has hit Britain. But Winston mainly concerns himself with the prospect of Germany hitting England, and so, as he delves deeper into his speech, his voice becomes less jovial and more ironic and grave. In his last three paragraphs, he speaks as though with a straight face, getting into the nutshell of the current events. “If Herr Hitler does not make war, there will be no war. No one else is going to make war. Britain and France are determined to shed no blood except in self-defense or in defense of their Allies…we must strive to frame some system of human relations in the future which will bring to an end this prolonged hideous uncertainty.” (Churchill, Paragraph 9; 11) So there: he has laid down the gauntlet for America. The US must come to the aid of their Allies, or only more uncertainty will abound. Using voice, a most powerful weapon, Winston Churchill successfully, eventually, helped cajole America into World War
The story of Winston Churchill’s upbringing and life through politics and war did not begin as one might expect. More often than not, fictional stories usually portray our main character as a man of little things who climbs the social ladder through their own achievements and intelligence. Instead, Churchill began and ended his extensive life as a privileged being, but it is in the middle where the most interesting facts lay. Winston Churchill is the most influential man in European History. Beginning as a boy who hated school to a man who could sway another with a single speech, his personal change was drastic; but so was the change that he brought to the world and Great Britain.
He is portrayed as whining and a believer in his own importance. Ribbentrop was considered in a far different light by his fellow contemporaries. Ribbentrop was far worldlier than his fellow Nazi’s and obtained his power through his connections with von Papen as well as being the consummate “yes man” for Hitler.
It supports a totalitarian single-party state. Unlike Marxism, Fascism does not believe that class conflict can bring about a change, instead fascism believes that class conflict can hurt the integrity of a country. Fascism emerged in Italy in the 20th century to stop the rapidly growing workers movement which was pushing up wages and threatening revolution. Led by Mussolini they were funded by various wealthy big businesses (the rich minority) in order to smash picket lines and attack left-wing
"The manner in which Mussolini and the Fascist Party gained possession of the government was regarded in most foreign circles as an illegal act of violence." (3) As the nation of Italy began to suffer great debts, Mussolini had been summoned by the King to form a government to aid in the economic needs. This marked the birth of the Fascist Party in Italy. In the beginning of his rise to the top, Mussolini was popular amongst his people. His popularity was high, and people began to trust in his judgment and ideas. (4) He was, in essence, saving the people from the turmoil that had ensued the nat...
Benito Mussolini was the premier-dictator of Italy from 1922 to 1943. He was the founder and leader of Italian Fascism. Mussolini, along with his Facets government, was able to successfully suppress the Mafia during the time of World War II. However, after the war ended in 1945, the Mafia emerged and ruled once again. Over the next thirty years, the Sicilian Mafia was not only able to gain control Sicily, but all of Italy as well.
...s the real Joseph Stalin wanted, Napoleon in the story want to rule and want to obtain as much power as he can. The main theme of this is corruption of absolute power as Napoleon gains full powers. This book is based upon Joseph Stalin and how he gains power, which he later abuses.
Mussolini came into power in 1922 and sought to make Fascism the only party in Italy, because he believed it was superior to all other parties. Both Mussolini and Hitler wanted to create a better economy for their countries, and had big plans to change the way their countries viewed things. Mussolini abolished democracy, and would not listen and shunned any ideas or citizens who opposed his political views. Although the men were quite similar in the ways they set goals for their countries, Hitler was extreme in his plans for future Germany. According to the lecture, Hitler’s plans were to make it known the Germans were the superior race, Jews and Gypsies were subhuman, Hitler promised to take back the land taken from the after the war, and Lebensraum. Both men had their countries became a part of the Axis powers, and along with Japan became Fascist nations. Mussolini’s rise to power came through his influence on the fascists people. According to the lecture it was fascists that marched to Rome in October 1922, and the people demanded that the king put Mussolini in charge of the government. It was through fear that Mussolini gained his power. Hitler on the other hand was