There is little question that Hobbes's Leviathan and Behemoth are largely responding to the civil conflicts that were tearing seventeenth-century England apart, but scholars disagree in their interpretations of Hobbes's diagnosis and prescription for the civil war. Complementing previous interpretations, my MA thesis suggests that Hobbes also traces the source of the civil conflicts to Western philosophical tradition (WPT) itself both methodologically and substantially. Methodologically, ancient Western philosophers do not start their ratiocination process with definitions of the terms used, and Hobbes argues that this lack of adequate method leads to all kinds of absurdities and consequently a whole false reference world. This critique is largely based on Hobbes's materialist accounts of philosophy and mind. Substantially, Hobbes suggests that Aristotle's natural, moral and civil philosophies in particular contribute to the chaotic opinions and the civil conflicts. After detecting this source, Hobbes undertakes perhaps the most ambitious endeavor to exorcise the demon of the tradition in Western history, by radically scientizing the philosophical tradition and establishing a science of politics.

In scholarship on the Civil War there is generally a lack of emphasis placed upon the significance of transatlantic diplomacy. However, much of the literature that is devoted to this subject does little to draw the importance of diplomatic and domestic histories together. This thesis uses British Foreign Office papers to discuss the role of Her majesty’s consuls, and the importance of resident persons of British nativity, especially within the Confederacy, during the war. It argues that the struggle between the Union and the new Confederacy affected diplomatic relations not only in the geo-political sense, but directly and personally through the fate of foreign individuals residing within America. Political theory and the semantics of ideology will be cross-examined against British, Confederate and Union government documents and correspondence in order to develop a deeper understanding of the flexibility and malleability of the concept of sovereignty, and its role in Civil War diplomacy.

This dissertation complicates conventional understandings of the emergence of modernism in Canadian cultural production, proposing instead a multiplicity of modernist practices that emerge through direct engagement with leftist politics. By examining various genres—poetry, fiction, theatre, and reportage—“Writing Left” uncovers a set of organizational principles that frame several modes of modernist production within the interwar period. Steeped in the work of recovery, this project examines critical narratives of modernism and analyzes theoretical approaches that inform a revitalized understanding of modernism in Canada. Furthermore, this dissertation offers a series of strategies for reading the ways in which Canadian modernism and political modernity are deeply intertwined. Following an introduction that situates the uneven development of Canadian modernism’s emergence in the larger field of transnational modernism, six theoretically linked case studies show the multiplicity of Canadian modernism’s emergence in relation to leftist political organization. While the first case study discusses the modernist experimentations that came out of the largely antimodernist coterie who produced The Song Fishermen’s Song Sheets (1928–1930), the second case study explores the particularly modernist tensions between representations of art and collective action in the strike novels of Douglas Durkin and Irene Baird. A re-reading of F.R. Scott’s early poetry in the third case study shows the coextensive emergence of a modernist poetics of institutional critique and the development of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation, while the fourth case study examines the modernist theatricality of leftist responses to Section 98 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The fifth case study looks to the ways in which the Spanish Civil War prompted modernist developments in the journalism and reportage of Norman Bethune, Hazen Sise, Jean Watts, and Ted Allan. Finally, the sixth case study reads across Charles Yale Harrison’s alternative strategies of anti-war modernism, ending with his characterization of the North American leftist imaginary in his fourth novel, Meet Me on the Barricades (1938). Together, the six case studies question teleological accounts of the development of modernism in English Canadian Literature.

Who was Fulvia? Was she the politically aggressive and dominating wife of Mark Antony as Cicero and Plutarch describe her? Or was she a loyal mother and wife, as Asconius and Appian suggest? These contrasting accounts in the ancient sources warrant further investigation. This thesis seeks to explore the nature of Fulvia’s role in history to the extent that the evidence permits. Fulvia is most famous for her activities during Antony’s consulship (44 BC) and his brother Lucius Antonius’ struggle against C. Octavian in the Perusine War (41-40 BC). But there is a discrepancy among the authors as to what extent she was actually involved. Cicero, Octavian and Antony, who were all key players in events, provide their own particular versions of what occurred. Later authors, such as Appian and Dio, may have been influenced by these earlier, hostile accounts of Fulvia. This is the first study in English to make use of all the available evidence, both literary and material, pertaining to Fulvia. Modern scholarship has a tendency to concentrate almost exclusively on events towards the end of Fulvia’s life, in particular the Perusine War, about which the evidence is much more abundant in later sources such as Appian and Dio. However, to do this ignores the importance of her earlier activities which, if studied more fully, can help to explain her later actions in the 40’s BC. This thesis is divided into five chapters. The first provides an introduction to the topic and a biography of Fulvia. The second is a review of the modern scholarship on Fulvia. The third focuses on the contemporary sources, both the literary evidence from Cicero, Cornelius Nepos and Martial, as well as the surviving material evidence, namely the sling bullets found at Perusia and a series of coins that may depict Fulvia in the guise of Victoria. The fourth is a discussion of those authors born after Fulvia’s death in 40 BC, of whom the most important are Plutarch, Appian, and Dio. The fifth provides a conclusion to the thesis, and returns to the questions posed above in light of the analysis of the sources provided throughout the thesis. It concludes that Fulvia played a significant role in events, particularly from Antony’s consulship onwards, and that her actions were deliberate and politically motivated. Moreover, while these actions were done on her husbands’ behalf, she nevertheless exhibited a remarkable degree of independence. / Thesis (Master, Classics) -- Queen's University, 2007-12-17 15:08:34.021

<p>The 20th century has witnessed several wars and genocides worldwide. Notable examples include the Armenian and Jews genocides which took place during World War I and World War II respectively. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 is a more recent example. These wars and genocides have impacted on the socio-economic and demographic transition with resounding crisis. The present study focused on the Rwandan genocide which affected households and families by reducing the fertility rate. Hence the fertility transition in Rwanda was analyzed for the period before, during and after genocide.</p>

<p>The 20th century has witnessed several wars and genocides worldwide. Notable examples include the Armenian and Jews genocides which took place during World War I and World War II respectively. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 is a more recent example. These wars and genocides have impacted on the socio-economic and demographic transition with resounding crisis. The present study focused on the Rwandan genocide which affected households and families by reducing the fertility rate. Hence the fertility transition in Rwanda was analyzed for the period before, during and after genocide.</p>

This thesis examines Quebec public opinion towards the Spanish Civil War. It is based on a systematic analysis of editorials and articles from ten Montreal-based newspapers, representing divergent points of view. It suggests that, contrary to the popular interpretation, Quebec francophones did not unanimously support General Franco during the war; nor did all of the province's anglophones endorse the cause of the Spanish Popular Front. Support for General Franco and the Spanish Republic in Montreal transcended linguistic lines, and cleavages other than language, such as religion, ideology and social class, influenced public opinion towards the war.

The major purpose of this study is to present a narrative account of the activities of the Society of Friends, or Quakers, in Indiana during the American Civil War. It is also an attempt to undo a myth that has persisted among many historians for over one hundred years. The Friends' adherence to the belief that all wars were unlawful in the eyes of God has caused many historians to take Quaker nonparticipation in the War Between the States for granted. Much historical writing has focused upon Friends' pacifism refusal to perform military service and the suffering they received as a result. Also mentioned in the historical literature concerning the Society is the benevolent work of Friends for the Blacks, both during and after the war, and in caring for sick and wounded soldiers. Virtually no major work, however, chronicles the nonpacifistic labors of this religious sect.Quaker activities including performance of military service, civilian support of the war, as well as opposition to the Civil War are recounted in this dissertation. Inextricably intertwined with the preceding topics are discussions of Quaker motivation for joining military companies, reactionto military life, and treatment of military Friends by the monthly, or local, meetings.Utilizing church records, Friends' manuscript collections, and cemetery records, the major finding of this work is that far more Quakers from Indiana took up arms in the Civil War than was generally known. Quakers also supported the war effort by donating money, food, clothing, and other accouterments of military life to the soldiers and in a variety of activities not approved by the monthly meetings. So widespread were these war-related gestures that, at least in Indiana, few Friends suffered recriminations because of their pacifism. In general, then, Friends who remained faithful to the peace testimony were able to preserve their conscientious beliefs without fear of reproach.

World history has been punctuuted by cycles of violence, regardless of time, region or race. Genocide. which is the worst form of violence has always led to horrible impacts of a social, economic and environmental nature. The last decade of the 20th Century was the most turbulent Rwanda has ever seen. The country was ravaged by civil war,genocide, mass migration. economic crisis. diseases, return of refugees and deforestation. Almost all Rwandan families were affected wherever they were and at multiple levels, by outcomes such as death, disease, disability, poverty, loss of dignity and imprisonment. Fortunately, the people of Rwanda have chosen the path of peace. but arc still faced with a huge task of dealiing with the impacts or the genocide and prior conflicts in the region. This dissertation attempts to investigate the socio-economic impacts of the genocide on current development in Rwanda using primClry and secondary data obtained from fieldwork undertaken in Cyangugu and Rutare Towns. The conceptual basis for the study was the Geography of Conflict, The general conclusion reached was that the causes and consequences of the Rwandan genocide are multidimensional. The Rwandan genocide did not originate from the "ancient hatred" between Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups, but from the manipulation of history and bad leadership. Also. the main impacts of genocide in Rwanda are the destruction of human resources. social and cultural structures in the country, especially the relationship between the Hutus and Tutsis ethnic groups. In the same way the genocide resulted in destruction of infrastructure. development facilities and natural resources, However. the effort for reconstruction and development undertaken after the genocide shows that rcconciliation is possible in long term despite what happened. The lasting solution for Rwanda is definitely national reconciliation and its success will depend mainly on good governance, human resource development and poverty alleviation. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2008.

At the beginning of the American Civil War, the United States (the Union) already had international diplomatic status, whereas the Confederate States of America wanted foreign recognition of its independence. The two governments sent agents and propagandists across the Atlantic, in particular to Great Britain to support their objectives. The Confederacy and the Union used various avenues, including rallies, talking with members of Parliament, and publications to convince the British that supporting the Confederacy was the correct action to take. The Union’s most well-known weapon emerged in January 1863: the Emancipation Proclamation. From the moment President Abraham Lincoln announced in September 1862 that he would emancipate slaves in the rebelling states, the nature of the American Civil War as viewed by the British changed. It could no longer be viewed simply as a war for southern independence, for it became more explicitly about the maintenance or abolition of slavery. For the British, slavery was a moral issue that they would never countenance. &lt;br&gt;The propagandists battled not just over slavery and its moral implications but also over supplies, and the propaganda battle climaxed over a material issue, that of the 1862 Florida and Alabama incidents when the Confederacy sneaked the ships out of Britain. The Union had tried desperately to convince the British government to stop the ships from sailing, but the British government allowed them to sail. Union outrage over the ships, subsequent military victories and the Emancipation Proclamation ultimately outweighed the efforts of Confederate diplomats and propagandists to gain open international recognition and support. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / History / MA / Thesis