Profile of World War II Colonel General Ludwig Beck

Profile of World War II Colonel General Ludwig Beck Early Career Born at Biebrich, Germany, Ludwig Beck received a traditional education before entering the German Army in 1898 as a cadet. Rising through the ranks, Beck was recognized as a gifted officer and was tapped for staff service. With the outbreak of World War I, he was assigned to the Western Front where he spent the conflict as a staff officer. With the German defeat in 1918, Beck was retained in the small postwar Reichswehr. Continuing to advance, he later received command of the 5th Artillery Regiment. Becks Rise to Prominence In 1930, while in this assignment, Beck came to the defense of three of his officers who were charged with distributing Nazi propaganda on post. As membership in political parties was forbidden by Reichswehr regulations, the three men faced a court-martial. Angered, Beck passionately spoke on behalf of his men arguing that the Nazis were a force for good in Germany and that officers should be able to join the party. In the course of the trials, Beck met and impressed Adolf Hitler. Over the next two years, he worked to write a new operations manual for the Reichswehr entitled Truppenfà ¼hrung. The work earned Beck a great deal of respect and he was given command of the 1st Cavalry Division in 1932 along with a promotion to lieutenant general. Eager to see German prestige and power returned to prewar levels, Beck celebrated the Nazi ascent to power in 1933 stating, I have wished for years for the political revolution, and now my wishes have come true. It is the first ray of hope since 1918. With Hitler in power, Beck was elevated to lead the Truppenamt (Troop Office) on October 1, 1933. Beck as Chief of Staff As the Treaty of Versailles prohibited the Reichswehr from having a General Staff, this office served as a shadow organization that fulfilled a similar function. In this role, Beck worked to rebuild the German military and pushed to develop new armored forces. As German rearmament moved forward, he was officially titled Chief of the General Staff in 1935. Working an average of ten hours a day, Beck was known as an intelligent officer, but one that often became obsessed by administrative details. A political player, he worked to expand his posts power and sought the ability to directly advise the Reich leadership. Though he believed that Germany should fight a major war or series of war to restore its place as a power in Europe, he felt that these should not occur until the military was fully prepared. Despite this, he strongly backed Hitlers move to reoccupy the Rhineland in 1936. As the 1930s progressed, Beck became increasingly concerned that Hitler would force a conflict before the military was ready. As a result, he initially refused to write plans for the invasion of Austria in May 1937 as he felt it would provoke a war with Britain and France. Falling Out with Hitler When the Anschluss failed to cause international protest in March 1938, he quickly developed the needed plans which were dubbed Case Otto. Though Beck foresaw a conflict to eliminate Czechoslovakia and officially advocated for action in the fall of 1937, he retained worries that Germany was not prepared for a major European war. Not believing Germany could win such a contest prior to 1940, he openly began advocating against a war with Czechoslovakia in May 1938. As the armys senior general, he challenged Hitlers belief that France and Britain would allow Germany a free hand. The relationship between Beck and Hitler rapidly began to deteriorate aided by the latters preference for the Nazi SS over the Wehrmacht. While Beck lobbied against what he believed would be a premature war, Hitler chastised him stating that he was one of the officers still imprisoned in the idea of the hundred-thousand-man army imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. Through the summer Beck continued to work to prevent a conflict while also attempting to reorganize the command structure as he felt it was Hitlers advisors that were pushing for war. In an effort to increase pressure on the Nazi regime, Beck attempted to organize a mass resignation of senior Wehrmacht officers and issued instructions on July 29 that as well as preparing for foreign wars the army should be ready for for an internal conflict which need only take place in Berlin. In early August, Beck suggested that several Nazi officials should be removed from power. On the 10th, his arguments against war were relentlessly attacked by Hitler at a meeting of senior generals. Unwilling to continue, Beck, now a colonel general, resigned on August 17. Beck Bringing Down Hitler In exchange for resigning quietly, Hitler had promised Beck a field command but instead had him transferred to the retired list. Working with other anti-war and anti-Hitler officials, such as Carl Goerdeler, Beck and several others began planning to remove Hitler from power. Though they informed the British Foreign Office of their intentions, they were unable to prevent the signing of the Munich Agreement in late September. With the beginning of World War II in September 1939, Beck became a key player in various plots to remove the Nazi regime. From the fall of 1939 through 1941, Beck worked with other anti-Nazi officials such as Goerdeler, Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, and Ulrich von Hassell in planning a coup to remove Hitler and make peace with Britain and France. In these scenarios, Beck would be the leader of the new German government. As these plans evolved, Beck was involved in two aborted attempts to kill Hitler with bombs in 1943. The following year, he became a key player, along with Goerdeler and Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, in what became known as the July 20 Plot. This plan called for Stauffenberg to kill Hitler with a bomb at the Wolfs Lair headquarters near Rastenburg. Once Hitler was dead, the conspirators would use the German reserve forces to take control of the country and would form a new provisional government with Beck at its head. On July 20, Stauffenberg detonated the bomb but failed to kill Hitler. With the plots failure, Beck was arrested by General Friedrich Fromm. Exposed and with no hope of escape, Beck elected to commit suicide later that day rather than face trial. Using a pistol, Beck fired but only managed to critically injure himself. As a result, a sergeant was forced to finish the job by shooting Beck in the back of the neck. Selected Sources World War II Database: Ludwig BeckJVL: Ludwig BeckGerman Resistance Memorial Center: Ludwig Beck

Buddhist Influence essays

Buddhist Influence essays During the Five Dynasties period, between the fall of the Tang and the beginning of the Song Dynasties (960c.e.), conditions of political and military decline greatly affected Chinese artwork. Many artists began associating much of their artwork to scenic and monumental images in nature. Guo Xi, acclaimed one of the greatest Chinese artists of this style, demonstrated these scenic and monumental images in his hanging scroll painting of Early Spring. Xis use of mist, trees, valleys, waterfalls and depth of an overwhelming mountain, which encompasses the piece, is greatly discussed in many of his writings. These historical writings set the framework for much of Xis scenic images. Although Xis images can only be seen through the creativity of his artwork, his writings explain the methods of creating these lifelike scenes. Some of Xis most important methods of creating lifelike pieces are the visual effect of his paintings, which is eminent in his writings on atmosphere and spatial recession. Xi explains three types of distances high distance, deep distance and level distance- that contribute to the continuity and realistic attributes of Early Spring. He also describes the different techniques of drawing from each distance. Looking from the base of the mountain, which Xi describes as high distance (figure 1.1) the viewer can appreciate the grandeur features of the houses, valleys and mountain above. The clear and bright features of the trees, rocks and water at the base give the viewer a sense of closeness. Deep distance (figure 1.2), which is viewed from the front of the mountain, gives the viewer a glance of the mountain from a distance. The mist in the middle of the piece obscures the intricate details of the houses and covers much of the valley entrance. This method of deep distance accom panied by the obscurity of the mist in relation to surrounding objects; giv ...

Ionic Radius Trends in the Periodic Table

Ionic Radius Trends in the Periodic Table The ionic radius of the elements exhibits trends in the periodic table. In general: Ionic radius increases as you move from top to bottom on the periodic table.Ionic radius decreases as you move across the periodic table, from left to right. Although ionic radius and atomic radius do not mean exactly the same thing, the trend applies to atomic radius as well as to ionic radius. Key Takeaways: Ionic Radius Trend on Periodic Table The ionic radius is half the distance between atomic ions in a crystal lattice. To find the value, ions are treated as if they were hard spheres.The size of an elements ionic radius follows a predictable trend on the periodic table.As you move down a column or group, ionic radius increases. This is because each row adds a new electron shell.Ionic radius decreases moving from left to right across a row or period. More protons are added, but the outer valence shell remains the same, so the positively charged nucleus draws in the electrons more tightly. But, for the nonmetallic elements, ionic radius increases because there are more electrons than protons.While the atomic radius follows a similar trend, ions may be larger or smaller than neutral atoms. Ionic Radius and Group Why does radius increase with higher atomic numbers in a group? As you move down a group in the periodic table, additional layers of electrons are being added, which naturally causes the ionic radius to increase as you move down the periodic table. Ionic Radius and Period It might seem counterintuitive that the size of an ion would decrease as you add more protons, neutrons, and electrons in a period, yet, theres an explanation for this. As you move across a row of period of the periodic table, the ionic radius decreases for metals forming cations, as the metals lose their outer electron orbitals. The ionic radius increases for nonmetals as the effective nuclear charge decreases due to the number of electrons exceeding the number of protons. Ionic Radius and Atomic Radius The ionic radius is different from the atomic radius of an element. Positive ions are smaller than their uncharged atoms. Negative ions are larger than their neutral atoms. Sources Pauling, L. The Nature of the Chemical Bond. 3rd ed. Cornell University Press, 1960.Wasastjerna, J. A. On the radii of ions.  Comm. Phys.-Math., Soc. Sci. Fenn.  vol. 1, no. 38, pp. 1–25, 1923.

Hedgehog concept Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Hedgehog concept - Essay Example ls (family) conducted their business, the respect that they commanded, and the success that came with their leadership provoked my clandestine passion of becoming a leader at whatever capacity of the society. Later I came to discover from whatever small capacity I was given opportunity to lead, I did it diligently to an extent that I realized the passion was beyond inspiration and just in-born. The desire to excel drives my economy. I want to be in a better economic position than I hold at present through better leadership. The success that come with or will come with my good leadership skills is what drives my economical wheel. I am superb in penmanship. My genetic ability is more on authorship. I have more of article writing that have received a lot of acclaims and positive comment. I have not yet fully exploited my inborn ability. In the event that I focus on it and put more energy on it, I have a feeling that it can be best done and in a profitable way. I have focused more on my passion and given a blind eye to my in born ability that came naturally without the influence of people that surround me. Ironically, I have a feeling that Im not that good in writing since the positive comments after penning a piece of article from my friends they are the one that make me feel that I good in the world of authorship. My first step in moving forward is doing something that relates to my passion and skills. I should stop being persuaded by my passion and instead put more effort in making what I can do best in great heights. This particular step can be achieved in a number of ways. The only thing to be known on this scenario is to focus from being good to greatness. One way to achieve this goal is to concentrate on field of penmanship since it where I am good already (Collins 25). I should put concerted effort to improve my strength other than to concentrate on my passion where I am likely to be weak. It will take more energies to better my weakness where my passion is

Performance Management And Reward System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Performance Management And Reward System - Essay Example A lot of organisation managers neglect these important performance management functions since they are terribly time overwhelming and need some competent skills. However, that should not be a barrier. There are lots nice; reasonable performance management applications offered that automates the full method, and even offer tools that help to create it and make it easier to align goals, write feedback and select development activities. Grouping package is one amongst the leading suppliers; however there are many others as well.Reward systems will and sometimes do have associate influence on the effectiveness of structure modification efforts. Once the impact of a modification program on the reward system is not taken into consideration, the reward system will become a crucial impediment to people accepting the modification. On the opposite hand, once the reward system is taken into account and made a part of the modification strategy, it will create a positive contribution to a modific ation effort. It is exactly due to the general nature of organizations that nearly any modification effort has implications for the reward system.The capability of the employees is improved through motivation and rewarding hard work. For an organisation to retain motivated workers and achieve high performance there should be development programs which has motivational reward strategies and challenging work. This will enhance career development and progressive job satisfaction.

Business plan outline Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business plan outline - Assignment Example With Eglinton Avenue being a major road that joins various municipalities, the shop would form a quick drop by joint for travelers and other residents of Midtown Toronto, who are interested in sportswear, especially the young and active, and athletes. The lease rate that I am working with is that of $22.64 per square foot, with restoration provisions requiring a payable cost of $6 per square foot at completion of the lease. This is in view of the current 21 percent average rentals rate for properties of class A, B, and C (Dalglish, 2012). With my business dealing mostly with athletic shoes, the market holds great potential for me as a quarter of the total sales made in shoes within the entire Canada come from athletics shoes. In 2013, the total sale of athletics shoes around the entire country was a $1.3 billion (NPD Group, 2014). The major competitors that Chic&Fun has include Shoeland Discount Store and Foot Solutions, both of which are located along Eglinton Avenue and have annual revenue of $75,456 and $275,690 respectively. Nevertheless, given that I have my shoe production company, I would reduce the cost of production to offer quality shoes at a lower price than my competitors so as to attract more customers and gain a large market share. Given that Chic&Fun will put in a stock of $50,000 in its first year, with a markup of 50% employed on all the products, and assuming that all the products will be sold, then the sales forecast is as below. To protect my business property from any liability, I will seek insurance coverage for corporate liability and property insurance, all of which would sum up to a total of $5000. This would protect my business from any lawsuits. The business will offer different brands of shoes of varying sizes and quality, according to the consumer affordability. The Store’s point of different will include offering the products at reduced cost, given that I have a company that produces the shoes;

Cancer Pain in End of Life Cancer Patients Essay

Cancer Pain in End of Life Cancer Patients - Essay Example This will be considered a supplementary strategy to the existing official request process. I will also need support from my peers particularly in project review and data collection. I will also need to describe the significance of the project to my peers in order to win their support. Current Problem/ Deficit Pain treatment is a significant aspect in the end of life care. Different people develop different pain symptoms and hence the need for differentiated pain management strategies. Unfortunately, the current pain management strategies concentrate on pain symptoms rather than the source of pain. For example, a doctor will concentrate on symptoms of pain such as headache and backache, rather than the actual cause of the pain. The second issue relates to the definition and scope of pain. The mainstream pain management strategies underestimate the significance of other dimensions of pain such as social and spiritual pain. A comprehensive pain management strategy needs to incorporate t he other aspects of pain. The project proposes a standardized scale to assess pain, using four basic approaches to pain relief, which include: modify the source(s) of pain(s), alter the central perception of pain, modulate transmission of pain to the central nervous system and block transmission of pain to the central nervous system (Ferrel, Levy and Paice, 2008, p.577). Moreover the project proposes an interdisciplinary intervention integrating â€Å"physical, physiological, social and spiritual well-being of the patient so that the patient experiences comfort and dignity at the end of life. The process will involve counseling and use of pain relieving medication. Medication is primarily intended to relieve physiological pain without inflicting additional... The paper throws light on pain treatment as a significant aspect in the end of life care. Different people develop different pain symptoms and hence the need for differentiated pain management strategies. Unfortunately, the current pain management strategies concentrate on pain symptoms rather than the source of pain. For example, a doctor will concentrate on symptoms of pain such as headache and backache, rather than the actual cause of the pain. The second issue relates to the definition and scope of pain. The mainstream pain management strategies underestimate the significance of other dimensions of pain such as social and spiritual pain. A comprehensive pain management strategy needs to incorporate the other aspects of pain. The project proposes a standardized scale to assess pain, using four basic approaches to pain relief, which include: modify the source(s) of pain(s), alter the central perception of pain, modulate transmission of pain to the central nervous system and block t ransmission of pain to the central nervous system. Moreover the project proposes an interdisciplinary intervention integrating â€Å"physical, physiological, social and spiritual well-being of the patient so that the patient experiences comfort and dignity at the end of life. The process will involve counseling and use of pain relieving medication. Medication is primarily intended to relieve physiological pain without inflicting additional complications on the patient.