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On the second documentary on the Kingdoms of Africa, historian Gus Cacely-Hayford makes his way to the southern part of Africa to learn about the fierce kingdom of the Zulu Nation. He starts by saying that on January 22nd, 1879, 200 British troops were defeated by the Zulus as he was expressing how influential the Zulu nation was as they were one of the most powerful kingdoms in Africa. In the 1700’s, there was once a cattle farmer that had a vision on how to unite the neighboring chiefdoms and transformed it into a great empire, and his name was Shaka.
It was fascinating for me to hear that the founder of the Zulu Nation, Shaka created a militarian society for his people by forming Zulu regiments called the amabutho and teaching young boys how to fight and become warriors. Because of this, the Zulus believed that in order to be a man in life, one needs to be a warrior, and one can start a family when their military services are completed. Seeing the concepts, however, of how the Zulus live reminded me of how the Spartans operated their militaristic ways in Greece. Even though the ...
...litary end even the women in Sparta would have been affected by the military ways of life almost as much as the young men. From childhood they were being primed to raise a family, they were taught in the ways of mid wifery, learning the correct manner in teaching the future young men of Sparta and keeping themselves fit to produce fit children.
In reading this chapter I came to acknowledge a lot facts that I didn’t realize about the British Zulu war. The battle at Rorke’s drift, and the battle at Isandhlwana are the chapter main focus in book Carnage and Culture. It gave multitudes of information that went well in detail about the battles. After reading the chapter, and researching the information on the war, and comparing the information presented by Victor Davis Hanson I found the information insightful and correct. He backs up his statements with facts and explains how western military forces were so dominate because of tactics, discipline and technology.
The Warrior Ethos, by Steven Pressfield depicts the warrior’s mentality from ancient times to the present through a variety of different aspects and stories. In The Warrior Ethos, Pressfield states that men are not born with the certain qualities that make a good warrior, but instead are inculcated through years of training and indoctrination, stating at an early age. He shows how different societies have been able to instill the same or very similar ideals throughout history while maintaining their own unique characteristics. Things have changed from ancient Sparta, where parents would be enthusiastic about their children going to war, and even more elated upon learning they died valorous in battle. These days, most parents are a lot
whether ill or benign, on the military endeavors of the peoples in the age of the Ancient Greeks.
Spartan culture is a great example of how a society’s infrastructure will directly affect both, its social structure and superstructure. It also serves as a warning that any society that becomes too rigid in its structure and too static in its values will not last long when confronted with more agile and adaptable cultures. This paper will explore why Sparta became the Hellenic army par excellence, how this worked to create a very specific social structure founded on martial values, and, finally, how that social structure would ultimately be the undoing of the culture.
In the South Pacific, men tie vines around their ankles and jump from a 100-foot-tall crude wooden tower, diving far enough to touch their shoulders to the ground to prove their bravery. In the Brazilian Amazon, young boys wear gloves for ten minutes filled with stinging bullet ants. In America it can mean wolfing down a Big Mac in sub-30 seconds. But in order to obtain the status of “warrior” in Umuofia, Africa, one must maintain these essential indicators of wealth: a strong warrior-nature, a thriving farm, many subservient wives, and an abundance of yams. Lacking any of these conveyed a sense of
...in. “The Cultural Imperative for Professional Military Education and Leader Development.” Parameters: US Army War College 39.4 (2009): 20-31. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Apr. 2010.
The concept of a warrior has changed little in history; one who fights to defend his or her ideals or society. Yet the methods and tools of a warrior have evolved into something more complex and dynamic today. From the three novels—The Nibelungenlied, Njal’s Saga, and Beowolf—readers are exposed to the concept of a warrior in vastly different contexts. First, the philosophy of the warrior in the novels and modern day will be examined in the essay, such as the goals and code of conduct. Furthermore, who is a warrior today as opposed to warriors then? And lastly, the key difference lies in the technology and the battlefield. Knights fought for honor and idealized death in battle in order to gain admission to Valhalla, the Hall of the Fallen. Knights of legend used weapons from the familiar swords and spears to phenomenal ones such as an invisibility cloak. Furthermore, knights and warriors seldom worried about legal disputes or the law; they were more concerned with alliances, honor, and love. Women were also forbidden from engaging in battle since it was deeply looked down upon and even deemed wretched. However in modern society, the concept of the warrior remains the same but has grown several layers of complexity. Technology has taken weapons to a whole new height from rifles to unmanned predator drones. Battles are fought not only on land and sea, but also in the air and the cyber domain. In fact, honor has taken a smaller role in modern society and replaced with the concept of patriotism, pride, and family tradition. Furthermore, it is now common for women to be in the military. There ...
...and are known as one of the oldest tribes there is. They are very well respected and have traditionally been a very dominating tribe in South Africa. The total Zulu population is about 10 million people in eastern South Africa and Shaka Zulu. Their language is called Zulu and has been derived from Bantu. Most Zulu people practice Christianity but a lot of people like to practice their traditional form of animism.
The Warrior’s Honour by Michael Ignatieff conveys the harsh realities of ethnic war to the reader. It opens a window to pictures and experiences that most cannot, and do not , think of on a daily basis. Michael Igantieff has experienced there realities as he travelled around the world in his work as a journalist, and it is in this book that he shares with us his thoughts and ideas about these war torn countries. In this paper I will review the book and discuss major themes and arguments, as well as the downfall and shortcomings of it.
Colonel Malham M. Wakin, in his evening address, asks whether Plato's claim that "knowledge is virtue" is true. Much contemporary experience suggests otherwise. To some extent, such an observation could apply to the military as well. Col Wakin argues that we do have some basic knowledge about human conduct, but that we live in a highly pluralistic society in which some practices reject that basic knowledge. Nonetheless, even though we draw members of the military from that pluralistic society, the uniqueness of the military function will always keep its leading practitioners apart from the mainstream of civilian society. The military profession swears to defend the values, the lifestyle that incorporates the minimal conditions for human dignity. After examining the convergence of the values that are functionally necessary for the military and those that we know are fundamental to social existence, he concludes that a competent military profession can serve as a moral anchor for its parent society.
...e of the auxiliaries – the warrior class. This is a worthy goal to pursue but may never truly exist because while man has the ability to reason, that reason is always bound to become misguided over time and degrade into the four different political constitutions discussed earlier in this paper.
Located on the south-west coast of Africa surrounded by water and one of the oldest deserts in the world, lies a place most people do not recognize by name. its a place that is full of vibrent people with extreme pride in there culture and ways of life.
In the 1820's, during a period of social unrest and warfare, the Zulu clan, a Bantu people, rose to political prominence under the great King Shaka in present-day South Africa. This period is called mfecane, or "crushing" because it was characterized by Shaka's tyrannous reign during which he conquered neighboring peoples and established a kingdom for the Zulu people on South Africa's eastern coast. The word "zulu" was used in 1824 to refer to " a war-like race of South African Blacks". (Ngubane, 1977) The British characterization of Shaka as a monster, however, is now seen as a propagandist attempt to disguise their own interests in procuring land and labor in the region. In fact, much of the violent disruption and displacement of people was probably due to European intervention with the slave trade and their demands for land, cattle. Nonetheless, Shaka is called by many the "Black Napoleon" because of his short-lived, but impressive, period of glory. This period of greatness came to an end with the eventual defeat of King Shaka and the annexation of the Zulu kingdom to Natal, the British state on the eastern coast. (Ngubane, 1977)
The Zulu people are a tribe in South Africa that form part of the greater Nguni speaking people. The brunt of their number is situated in the Kwa-Zulu Natal Province of South Africa on its Eastern Coast.