What Effect Did the Huns Have on Europe

In 376 CE,  the great European power of the time, the Roman Empire, suddenly faced incursions from various so-called barbarians peoples such as the Sarmatians, descendants of the Scythians; the Thervingi, a Gothic Germanic people; and the Goths. What caused all of these tribes to cross the Danube River into Roman territory? As it happens, they were probably driven westward by new arrivals from Central Asia—the Huns. The exact origins of the Huns are under dispute, but it is likely that they were originally a branch of the Xiongnu, a nomadic people in what is now Mongolia who often battled the Han Empire of China. After their defeat by the Han, one faction of the Xiongnu began to move west and absorb other nomadic peoples. They would become the Huns.   Unlike the Mongols of almost a thousand years later, the Huns would move right into the heart of Europe rather than remaining on its eastern fringes. They had a major effect  on Europe, but despite their advances into France and Italy,  much of their true impact  was indirect. Approach of the Huns The Huns did not appear one day and throw Europe into confusion. They moved gradually westward  and were noted first in Roman records as a new presence somewhere beyond Persia. Around 370, some Hunnic clans moved north and west, pressing into the lands above the Black Sea. Their arrival set off a domino effect as they attacked the Alans, the Ostrogoths, the Vandals, and others. Refugees went streaming south and west ahead of the Huns, attacking the peoples in front of them if necessary, and moving into the Roman Empires territory. This is known as the Great Migration or the Volkerwanderung. There was not yet any great Hunnic king; different bands of Huns operated independently of one another. Perhaps as early as 380, the Romans were beginning to hire some Huns as mercenaries  and granted them the right to live in Pannonia, which is roughly the borderland between Austria, Hungary, and the former Yugoslav states. Rome needed mercenaries to defend its territory from all of the peoples moving into it after the Huns invasion. As a result, ironically, some of the Huns were making a living defending the Roman Empire from the results of the Huns own movements. In 395, a Hunnic army began the first major attack on the Eastern Roman Empire, with its capital at Constantinople. They moved through what is now Turkey and then attacked the Sassanid Empire of Persia, driving almost to the capital at Ctesiphon before being turned back. The Eastern Roman Empire ended up paying large amounts of tribute to the Huns to keep them from attacking; the Great Walls of Constantinople were also built in 413, probably to defend the city from potential Hunnic conquest. (This is an interesting echo of the Chinese Qin and Han Dynasties construction of the Great Wall of China to keep the Xiongnu at bay.) Meanwhile, in the west, the political and economic bases of the Western Roman Empire were gradually being undermined throughout the first half of the 400s by the Goths, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, and other peoples who streamed into Roman territories. Rome lost productive land to the newcomers, and also had to pay to fight them, or to hire some of them as mercenaries to fight one another. The Huns at Their Height Attila the Hun unified his peoples and ruled from 434 to 453. Under him, the Huns invaded Roman Gaul, fought the Romans and their Visigoth allies at the Battle of Chalons (Catalaunian Fields) in 451, and even marched against Rome itself. European chroniclers of the times recorded the terror that Attila inspired. However, Attila did not achieve any lasting territorial expansion or even many large victories during his reign. Many historians today agree that although the Huns certainly helped bring down the Western Roman Empire, most of that effect was due to the migrations prior to Attilas reign. Then it was the collapse of the Hunnic Empire following Attilas death the delivered the coup de grace in Rome. In the power vacuum that followed, the other barbarian peoples vied for power across central and southern Europe, and the Romans could not call upon Huns as mercenaries to defend them. As Peter Heather puts it, In the era of Attila, Hunnic armies surged across Europe from the Iron Gates of the Danube towards the walls of Constantinople, the outskirts of Paris, and Rome itself. But Attilas decade of glory was no more than a sideshow in the drama of western collapse. The Huns indirect impact upon the Roman Empire in previous generations, when the insecurity they generated in central and eastern Europe forced Goths, Vandals, Alans, Suevi, Burgundians across the frontier, was of much greater historical importance than Attilas momentary ferocities. Indeed, the Huns had even sustained the western Empire down to c. 440, and in many ways their second greatest contribution to imperial collapse was, as we have seen themselves to disappear suddenly as a political force after 453, leaving the west bereft of outside military assistance. Aftermath In the end, the Huns were instrumental in bringing down the Roman Empire, but their contribution was almost accidental. They forced other Germanic and Persian tribes into Roman lands, undercut Romes tax base, and demanded expensive tribute. Then they were gone, leaving chaos in their wake. After 500 years, the Roman Empire in the west fell, and western Europe fragmented. It entered what has been called the Dark Ages, featuring constant warfare, losses in the arts, literacy, and scientific knowledge, and shortened lifespans for the elites and peasants alike. More or less by accident, the Huns sent Europe into a thousand years of backwardness. Sources Heather, Peter. The Huns and the End of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, English Historical Review, Vol. CX: 435 (Feb. 1995), pp. 4-41. Kim, Hung Jin.  The Huns, Rome and the Birth of Europe, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Ward-Perkins, Bryan.  The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Theme of Privacy in 1984 Essay examples - 1353 Words

In 1984 George Orwell describes how no matter where you go in Oceania there is a telescreen right there watching you. Everything you do say or sometimes even think, Big Brother will know. 1984 was written in 1949 and Orwell hinted at technology which never even existed. Perhaps he saw it coming because of how popular the television was becoming. There are many ideas in this novel that Orwell predicts. Some came true in 1984, some did not, but today in United States there is an issue of privacy similar to the one that is described in 1984. Of course technology didnt develop exactly the way Orwell predicted it would, but he wasnt too far off. In Oceania, Big Brother was in control. No one knew who he†¦show more content†¦This is not the way anyone wants to be woken up, but in Oceania it is for the party to decide how it will get its subjects to work on time and get them in shape. At 7:15 in the morning Winston can barely get out of bed, and has a coughing fit, from which he can barely recover by lying on his back and taking deep breaths, after which he has to exercise in front of the telescreen which controls his life. Thank god that we dont have telescreens at this day and age, or do we? Its a common believe in America that we, the people, are free. But now is becoming more like the novel Unlike the malignant state agency of Orwells fiction, though, the new millennium has democratized surveillance. Anyone can spy. That is particularly evident in the plummeting price and widening availability of covert audio and video surveillance devices. (Wood) The use of false identities has emerged as a cultural phenomenon.-Writes James Gleick in his essay Big Brother Is Us (362). With the dawn of the internet age it is now very easy to share information with other people and prove who you are electronically, or is it? 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Gothic Elements in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights free essay sample

Examines the similar gothic settings and themes in both Bronte sisters novels. This paper looks at the many similarities in Emily Brontes Wuthering Heights, and Charlotte Brontes novel, Jane Eyre. The author discusses the gothic elements present in both books: the dark, the hidden, the secrets, and the brooding characters like Heathcliff and Mr. Rochester. The paper examines the element of the occult in both novels: ghosts, visions, the dead Catharine, and insane Bertha Mason Rochester. From the Paper: Traditionally, Gothic elements were constituted by the ambiguous, the chaotic, the unenlightened, the supposedly irrational, the dark, the hidden, and the secret. According to literary handbooks, Gothic is a matter of d?cor and mood, of an obscurely pleasurable terror, of the nostalgic melancholy of ruins and of remote times and places. Conventions familiar in Gothic narratives include a vulnerable/curious heroine, a wealthy/enigmatic hero/villain, and a grand, mysterious dwelling concealing violent secrets. We will write a custom essay sample on Gothic Elements in Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page

Outline some of the ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement Essay Essay Example

Outline some of the ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement Essay Essay Material want is when people have deficient physical resources to prolong life. and is common among low-class families. It affects educational accomplishment in many ways. including a non-nutritious diet and unequal lodging. Howard ( 2001 ) claimed that hapless nutrition leads to moo accomplishment at school because poorer places have a lower consumption of vitamins. minerals and energy which reduces children’s wellness and lowers their energy degrees. and will besides weaken their immune system. Malnourished kids will hold more clip off school due to illness. and their academic success will endure as a consequence. Attendance is affected by resort area strong-arming excessively. and this is sometimes caused by kids non having stylish or popular points ( for illustration. expensive trainers ) . If being stigmatised. kids may forge unwellness in order to jump school. and once more their classs will endure. We will write a custom essay sample on Outline some of the ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement Essay specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Outline some of the ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Outline some of the ways in which material deprivation may affect educational achievement Essay specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Some kids may non hold clip to revise at place if they have to assist their parents with jobs and child care while they’re at work- many parents can’t afford to give up work or cut down their hours if their income is low. so tasks frequently fall on the older kids. Their alteration and prep completion can besides be affected by overcrowding in the family. as a survey infinite is needed for each kid in order to accomplish academic success. Overcrowding can take to illnesses distributing around the family easier every bit good. which once more affects attending. Many parents can non afford to travel location to be in a school’s catchment country. as a consequence a batch of kids aren’t able to travel to the better schools and have to do bash with those in propertyless countries. The opportunities of person from a propertyless household go oning instruction to degree degree is made improbable by the fright of debt installed in them from their poverty-stuck up bringings. University fees have become so high that many people can’t afford to travel and. even with loans. commutation and adjustment can do university excessively expensive. Peoples are hence put off the thought of go oning instruction and most lack aspiration for their hereafters. An of import effect of material want is that kids leave school at 16 to get down working. This allows them to go an economic plus through supplying money to their household. alternatively of necessitating school resources for another two old ages. Hasley wanted to happen out why so many kids from working-class households leave school at 16. and looked at stuff and cultural want. They found that the chief cause was really material want. which says that it’s non a deficiency of civilization and intelligence that prevents children’s academic accomplishment. but economic jobs alternatively. These two signifiers of want are linked. as both are at least partly caused by deficiency of income. Cultural want includes a deficiency of educational activities within the household. For illustration trips to the theatre may be common in middle-class households. whereas the working-class opt for cheaper option of entertainment- such as telecasting. This inability to afford socially acceptable agencies of amusement purportedly affects educational accomplishment as the kids don’t learn complex linguistic communication.