The European Convention On Human Rights - 1492 Words

- Anything that is italicized needs to be rewritten The European Convention on Human Rights. Exactly what is it and what are its aims? Its an international treaty which only member States of the Council of Europe may sign. The Convention lays a basic groundwork of all rights and guarantees which the States have to be held to. These rights include the freedom of though, expression, conscience, religion, effective remedy, peace enjoyment of possessions, and the right to vote and to stand for election. However, there are some limitations within these rights that need mentioning: Qualified, Absolute and Limited Rights. Absolute rights refer to the prohibition torture and inhuman and degrading treatment (Article 3). The State can never withhold or take away these rights. Limited rights, such as the right to liberty (article 5) may be limited under explicit and finite circumstances. Qualified rights are those which require a balance between the rights of the individual and the needs of the wider community or state interest. These include th e right to respect for private and family life (article 8), to manifest one’s religion or beliefs (Article 9), expression (Article 10), freedom of assembly and associations (article 11), the right to peaceful enjoyment of property (protocol 1, article 1), and to some extent, the right to education (protocol 1 Article 2) The Council of Europe is a regional intergovernmental organization which promotes human rights, democracy, and in the rule ofShow MoreRelatedThe European Convention Of Human Rights1657 Words   |  7 PagesThe European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR) can be defined as an international agreement initiated within the Council of Europe, which was established in 1949 in Strasbourg in France in order to unify Europe after the Second World War (Harries et al., 2014; O Boyle, 2014). According to Donald et al., (2012), United Kingdom was among the first countries to adopt and has played an important role in ECHR creation at that time. In 1966, the petition and jurisdiction of UK’s citizens was voluntaryRead MoreThe European Convention On Human Rights1704 Words   |  7 PagesThe European Convention on Human Rights was drafted in 1950. The UK and other 47 states have signed up. It is based on a series of articles and each of them protects a basic human right, allowing people to liv e free and respected lives. All the signatory states have to respect the fundamental civil rights which include: the right to life (article 2); prohibition of torture(article 3); the prohibition of slavery and forced labour(article 4); the right to liberty and security(article 5); the rightRead MoreThe European Convention On Human Rights2782 Words   |  12 Pagesholocaust, where humans were exploited was seen by many. To prevent this from happening in the future, the European Countries had come together in order to devise a strategy. The outcome of this was that Council of Europe, was created in order to draft a European convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to safeguard human rights and the basic freedoms in Europe. Human Rights (HR) is considered to be a minimum legal protection and freedom to which every citizen is entitled by virtue of human beings. EachRead MoreThe European Convention Of Human Rights Act1490 Words   |  6 PagesThe European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), outlines the various rights of citizens in European nations, giving explicit power to the European courts (ECtHR), as well as domestic courts, with regard to the violation of these rights in the member states of the European Union. One thing to note is that the ECHR cannot be enacted without referring to the Human Rights Act (HRA) of 1998, which was inspired by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) at Geneva in 1948. The aim of this essayRead MoreThe European Convention on Human Rights Act 1998968 Words   |  4 Pagesstatement The European Convention on Human Rights exists to guarantee legal protection to fundamental rights. It will examine how rights are protected in law and the way the UK approaches th e protection of these rights. Explanation will be made of the way that the UK addresses the implementation of the rights in the English legal system. Issues such as conflicting rights and legal limitations will also be considered. An evaluation will be made of whether or not The Human Rights Act 1998 protectsRead MoreSources Of Law And European Convention On Human Rights Essay1160 Words   |  5 Pages Starting with the fact that sources of law in Wales and England are similar, there are 4 sources of law, which are: Statute Law, Common Law, European Law and European Convention on Human Rights. First of all, Statute law is a written law passed by a legislature on the state of federal level. An example of it would be  «Theft Act 1968 ». It is the first and primary source of law and it is created by proposing a Bill in Parliament. After three readings of the bill in House of Commons and House of LordsRead MoreDefinition Of Media Freedom Of Expression Under Article 10 Of The Human Rights Act And The European Convention On1676 Words   |  7 PagesChapter 3 - Explanation of Media Freedom of Expression under Article 10 of the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights On the 2nd October 2000, the Human Rights Act 1998 came into force as the most important privacy statute to further strengthen the UK domestic law by affording the rights introduced by the European Convention on Human Rights. The HRA 1998 have been introduced with a wide and comprehensive scope as it applies to most domestic public authorities and bodies including:Read MoreThe European Convention On Human Rights1978 Words   |  8 PagesWith a number of recent high profile court rulings and a major new Regulation in the works, data privacy has become a cause cà ©là ¨bre within the European Union (EU). The size and connectivity of the European market means that shifts in its regulatory framework ripple with major consequences for global business. The EU’s latest attempts to legislate in this area are a consequence of shortcomings in the design and implementation of the existing system of data collection, retention and safeguarding.Read MoreChallenges Facing The European Convention On Human Rights1820 Words   |  8 Pagescitizenship enabling migration and cultural clashes, whilst also looking at the statute that enables free movement of goods and people, resulting in mass immigration and the Eu ropean Convention on Human Rights. This paper will evaluate EU principles that affect the UK constitution, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the Costa v ENEL (1964) CMLR 425 case being evidence proving that the EU will face challenges concerning its law being more superior than national law, Van Gend en loos (1963)Read MoreChallenges Facing The European Convention On Human Rights1823 Words   |  8 Pagescitizenship enabling migration and cultural clashes, whilst also looking at the statute that enables free movement of goods and people, resulting in mass immigration and the European Convention on Human Rights. This paper will evaluate EU principles that affect the UK constitution, such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the Costa v ENEL (1964) CMLR 425 case being evidence proving that the EU will face challenges concerning its law being more superior than national law, Van Gend en loos (1963)

Late Term Abortion On Abortion Essay - 1827 Words

Monique Robinson Professor Samulowitz ENG 200 December 6, 2016 Late Term Abortion Late term abortion, whereby of twenty weeks an unborn fetus is injected with Dignoxin, giving the fetus a painful fatal heart attack and allowing the women’s body to undergo physical repercussions. The procedure takes the women through three to four days of painful incisions and contractions until the abortion’s complete. The procedure may not always succeed which can lead to unexpected live births. The mother may also experience some effects after the abortion, such as minor spotting to serious complications like a hemorrhage. Women, who have abortions, increase the chances of having future pregnancy complications. George Tiller, a late term abortionist, created the technique used across the states known as the MOLD Technique. MOLD, an acronym for the four ingredients utilized during the procedure: Misoprostol, Oxytocin, Laminaria and Digoxin. The use of this technique can occur as early as twenty weeks to as far as thirty-five weeks into the pregnancy. When a woman can have an abortion depends on the state the woman decides to have the procedure done (â€Å"Operation Rescue,† 2016). U.S. Supreme Court stands firm on the idea of restricting a woman s right to an abortion according to the individual state. Forty-three states ban abortions after a certain time period in pregnancy. Nineteen of those states prohibits abortions at fetal viability, while three states ban the procedure in the thirdShow MoreRelatedPartial And Late Term Abortion1688 Words   |  7 Pages Partial and Late-Term Abortion At the present time, abortion has become a hot topic that has sparked many heated debates in the recent presidential election, with both parties feeling strongly about the subject. Partial-birth abortion can be defined as the removal of a fetus that has already died and a late-term abortion is an abortion that occurs during a late stage of the pregnancy. I chose this topic in order to not only learn more and become better informed about this issue that has sparkedRead MoreLate Term Abortion Essay1410 Words   |  6 Pagesin our nation today abortion is illegal when the fetus becomes a viable human being, meaning that it can survive outside of its mothers womb. This is often referred to as a late-term abortion, which usually occurs between the 24th and 28th weeks of a pregnancy. One of the problems associated with the ban on late term abortions in the United States is that viability is not defined. That is, there is no set week of gestation where a fetus is said to be viable. Late te rm abortions are performed for severalRead MoreThe Cost Of Late Term Abortion2159 Words   |  9 Pages Late Term Abortion By Kelsey Holm The Cost of Late-Term Abortion We have seen a monumental amount of political and social activism coming from Pro-life and Pro-choice proponents in the 25 years following the Supreme Court s landmark decision in Roe v. Wade. Far from settling the issue of a woman s constitutional right to an abortion, the Roe decision galvanized pro-life and prochoice groups and precipitated many small battles in what many on both sides view to be a war betweenRead MoreA Brief Note On Late Term Abortion Procedure Essay1750 Words   |  7 PagesLate Term Abortion In the United States, the late term abortion procedure, Dilation and Evacuation, inhumanely terminates the unborn human fetus and causes harmful side effects to the woman. The medical procedure has been legalized although the actions performed during the process raises ethical concerns for the way the physician executes the fetus. George Tiller, a late term abortionist, created the technique used across the states known as the MOLD Technique. MOLD, an acroynym for the four ingredientsRead MoreThe Issue That Donald Trump And Hillary Clinton Disagree On Is Abortion1001 Words   |  5 Pagesand Hillary Clinton disagree on is abortion. Let us take a look at Mr. Trump’s position on this topic. He is quoted as saying, â€Å"Public funding of abortion providers is an insult to people of conscience at the least and an affront to good governance at best† (Trump). He believes that â€Å"life is the most fundamental right.† Donald Trump actively opposes Planned Parenthood and disapproves of using government funds to pay for abortions. He is opposed to abortion except for rape, incest, and in casesRead MoreAbortion Should Not Be Legal974 Words   |  4 PagesAllowing late term abortion is taking away the rights of life to healthy babies. An abortion can be carried out any where from thirteen to thirty-nine weeks. Some doctors say that late term abortions are only done when medically necessary. However, there is evidence to prove that this is not always the case. In order to save healthy babies lives, late term abortion needs to be illegal unless it is truly a medical emergency. There are supposed to be laws in place to make sure that late term abortionsRead MoreAbortion : An Act Of Population Reduction920 Words   |  4 PagesAbortion: Legalized Murder A resounding tune states that people make the world go around. It is understandable that old age, illnesses, accidents, wars, and many other disasters bring on reductions within the population. Yet, abortion as an act of population reduction is often a topic that many people would rather not discuss. Abortions account for 1.3 million deaths among unborn children yearly (â€Å"Abortion: Late-Term/Partial Birth 2). The purpose of this research is to argue that, with the exceptionRead MoreThe Abortion Shouldn t Be Banned919 Words   |  4 Pagesgeneral public can receive a late term abortion which can be carried out up to twenty-four weeks, that is six months into a pregnancy. The article â€Å"Late Term Abortion Shouldn’t be Banned† by the Abortions Rights Coalition of Canada, supports and commends the idea of late term abortion. They state that late term abortion are only used when medically necessary. There are multiple ways to prevent pregnancy that can eliminat e the need for abortions. The process of late term abortion is horrific and immoralRead MoreAbortion And The Second Presidential Debate Essay1334 Words   |  6 PagesI have chosen to write about abortion and its role in the third presidential debate of 2016. To begin, we need to understand abortion and how it is received in the United States before we try to understand how the current candidates addressed abortion. Abortion has been a hot button topic in the United States since Roe vs. Wade in 1973 when criminalizing abortion was considered unconstitutional under the Due Process clause of the 14th amendment. This trial created a nationwide debate on not onlyRead MoreEssay on Abortion is Death1566 Words   |  7 Pagesother? Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, rather, to use violence to get what they want† -- Mother Theresa If the people who have worked on finding a cure for cancer had been aborted, where would the world be at today? Abortion could be the cause of a lot

Culturally, We Are Becoming More Similar Across the Globe Free Essays

â€Å"Culturally, we are becoming more similar across the globe† Introduction Apart from complicated definitions of the term â€Å"globalization†, the matter requires focusing on a simple explanation of this concept. Indeed, globalization is recognized as an ongoing process that accompanies with it, noticeably, certain challenges, such as a wide range of integrated communities, regional economics, and cultures, through a wide range of communication and trading. However, still the argument by all experts is corresponding to the theme whereas globalization provides similarity for individuals or not, at the cultural space. We will write a custom essay sample on Culturally, We Are Becoming More Similar Across the Globe or any similar topic only for you Order Now This paper articulates an in-depth discussion of this theme. 1- Globalization Even though, globalization may be defined economically as a new integration of the entire global economies through the capital flows, migration, trading, technical spread, and basically foreign direct investment. 2- Culture and Globalization Despite the fact that there are recently ongoing political, economic and even cultural uniformitarian of the world, relativism has been raised to the very urgent issues of a philosophical agenda, along with many other various disciplines. There is still the question, which is puzzling that all thoughts related to the concept of whether there is an extension of cultural diversity influence the products and activities of social and philosophizing science or not (Steger, 2009). The opponents of global similarity built their vision on the importance of citizenship, even though the entire world became such a small village. To maintain citizenship reflects the fact of regular movements in many countries, simply to gain rights, and those different rights from other nations. National citizenship has its power and calls for the rights of citizens (Aronowitz, 2003). Lechner (2004), states that one can consider the year 1989 as a representation of citizenship. Even recently, many national movements call for acquiring the full citizenship, which reflects more rights, responsibilities, and dignities. An example of the global movements is the Arab Spring Revolutions. Globalization, it has took off in 1989 when the exponential growth in the analyses of the global universe began to call for a putative global reconstitution of political, economic, and cultural relationships as well. It has reflected the fact that people were living in a global village, as the struggles for citizenship have brought instantaneously and was living into their various homes (Krishna, 2008). Indeed, the struggles for the citizenship has been seen in the fall of the Berlin Wall along with the crushing of the Pro-Democracy movement in China, were transmitted through the communication systems of global media. 3- Role of Media Indeed, this term, â€Å"New Media† has been defined according to many theories and opinions. Notwithstanding, there are regular debate over its impact and the convergence. To sum up, both â€Å"New Media† and â€Å"Digital Revolution† have been employed interchangeably. Looking at the first term, new media, simply, indicates to profound changes, especially in the electronic communications, which back to 1980s, whereas digital revolution indicates to the influence of this rapid drop in the involved cost and as well this rapid expansion of digital devices’ power, such as telecommunications and computer. Additionally, this change brought with it certain increasing globalization, social and technological transformations, and mainly, these changes in the way by which persons can see themselves and the surrounded world. Most importantly, this rapid change of technological revolution brings with it many challenges, especially which are corresponding with generating social changes focusing on these implicit virtues, values, and vices that are possessed by this rapid changed technology. With the highest change of technological revolution, U. S. A. could evolve with cultural relativism along with being included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. One more critical point here needed to be clarified. This challenge indicated to the transformation of the elements of cultural relativism. From this theme, U. S. A could expand its power to justify its universalistic ideology. This in turn, involved enhancing, civilizing, and as well liberating the indigenous human in an imperious extension. This is seen obviously in the economical policy of United States in Middle East. Despite all of the dark events and contradicts faced by cultural relativism, it must be put into consideration and again, with in-depth awareness that unlike any of the old generals, the arguments of cultural relativism neither fade away nor die (Dascal, 1991). Again, according to Dascal (1991), there is a necessity of deriving the new future of the theory from the frequently committed fallacy of confusion of cultural relativism with any other cultural diversity or variability. The second can be derived from the clear fact that recently there is not just one type of cultural relativism, but instead there are three types. These types must be considered widely when we are interested in adding to the future of cultural relativism. Those types of descriptive, epistemological and normal must be re-designated under the same term to avoid any further confusion. Those three types are not mere analytical acts that are separated, but they are considered historically distinct. The latter element must explicate any adverted results of epistemological relativism to assist this contemporary type of the theory, cultural relativism for more acts anthropologically and full of researches as well (Dascal, 1991). Again, apart from hard criticism of the wrong attitude of this ad, there is still hopefully, a positive evidence that old prejudices are fading with the introduction of each new generation to the rightful thinking, slowly eliminating old habits, thoughts, and actions that have been accepted for far too long. Back to the human rights’ principles, still media needs to play strongly, its role in clarifying those principles obviously. Even though, cultural relativism included certain methodological and epistemological claims, which could be found easily in the aforesaid ad; the principle of cultural relativism should not be confused with the ideas of moral relativism, which advocated the theme of claiming relatively to historical, cultural, social, or personal circumstances. Internet, the global money markets, the world travel, the globally recognized brands, the globally organized corporations, and the global celebrities’ living, etc†¦all have spoken of new modes of the social experience, which transcend each nation-state plus to its constitution of the national citizen (Mittelman, 2004). When everyone is seeking to be an actual citizen of the existing national society or to establish his own national society, the term globalization has appeared to be changing what it is supposed to be a citizen (Ritzer Atalay, 2010). Globalization appears to involve certain weakening of the social power and such a corresponding development of what is called ‘post-national’ citizenship. Most of the national citizenships are nowadays losing their required grounds to the model of membership, which should be universal and unique. Such a model should include membership, which is located within the increasing of territorialized nations of the extra universal rights of individuals. This post-national citizenship is, particularly, connected with the uest working’s growth across various societies, greater global interdependence, which can overlap the memberships of different categories of citizenship. The emergence of universalistic conceptions and rules regarding all human rights have been formalized by all international laws and codes (Smith, 2002). Even though, according to Aronowitz (2003), the contemporary citizenship is known as loosely ‘post-modern’. In fact, there is no modern rati onal-legal state at all, particularly with any clear monopoly of power, which can be able to deliver unambiguous duties and rights to its citizens who may appear such a nation of strangers. Most importantly, and as mentioned by Krishna (2008), the global processes restructure certain social inequalities, while they are transforming many states into those ‘regulators’ of flows. In addition, brands, corporations, NGOs and many of multi-national ‘states’ have emerged more powerful than mere nation-states. Communities, such as Chinese, have developed no coterminous with the nation states’ boundaries. This huge growth of post-national citizenship stem from a wide processes and many institutional arrangements, which are stretching within completely different communities. The result is there is huge variety of citizenships that are emerging in the present world (Lechner, 2004). Many examples of developing of that putative global citizenship, which can be articulated from the global media attitudes. Looking at the global mass media, one can figure out its consideration of citizenship as having necessitated certain symbolic resources, which have been distributed through different means of communication. There is an obvious theme of cultural citizenship, which is corresponding to the rights of all social groups, such as age, ethnic, gender, and sexual to full cultural participation within their communities. As to responsibilities and duties of global world, there is a theme, which demonstrates a stance of cosmopolitanism towards many other cultures, environments, and other citizens (Ritzer, 2010). Such cosmopolitanism involves either consuming such environments across the globe completely or even refusing to so consume those environments. Media plays its role professionally in this regard, while it is producing certain images as well as information, which provide solid means by which nature has come to be recognized as seriously threatened has become such a widely shared belief recently. Dramatically, the existence of the global networks and the huge flows can involve curious hybrids of the once-separate private and public spheres. The result will be an increase overlap between the private and public spheres, therefore on the other hand, between great issues of citizenship along with the nature of the contemporary consumerism (Macionis Plummer, 2012). Most preciously, culture and cultural policies that crisscross the private and public spheres are however, representing challenges of citizenship. Conclusion Globalization accompanies new themes, which may be contradicted with original culture and principles of citizens. Many appeals within the recent global media are interested strongly with the development of a sense of planetary responsibility, instead of that responsibility for certain locales. This is considered, relatively a new notion and, particularly one, which appears to distinguish all humans from other known species. The previous citizenships have been focused on antagonism between humans who are inside and those others who are outside, upon defining those non-citizens, the other, or those enemies. This reflects, simply, the fact that no similarity through the globe at all. References Aronowitz, S. (2003) Implicating empire: globalization and resistance in the 21st century world order, Basic Books. Dascal, M. (1991) Cultural Relativism and Philosophy: North and Latin American Perspectives, Leiden: BRILL. Krishna, S. (2008) Globalization and postcolonialism: hegemony and resistance in the twenty-first century, Rowman Littlefield. Lechner, F. (2004) The globalization reader, Wiley-Blackwell. Macionis, J. Plummer, K. , 2012, Sociology: A Global Introduction. th Edition, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, pp 165-169. Mittelman, J. (2004) Whither globalization? : the vortex of knowledge and ideology, Routledge. Ritzer, G. 2010, Globalization: A Basic Text, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, pp243-276. Ritzer, G. Atalay, 2010, Readings in Globalization: Key concepts and Debates, Malden: Wiley-Blackwell, pp307-424. Smith, J. (2002) Globalization and resistance: transnational dimensions of so cial movements, Rowman Littlefield. Steger, M. 2009: Globalization: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp71-83. How to cite Culturally, We Are Becoming More Similar Across the Globe, Essay examples

History Individual Study Essay Example For Students

History Individual Study Essay How far did the policies of Olivares represent realistic solutions to the problems ofSpain?Introduction‘The view is rapidly gaining currency that not only did Olivares’ policies forSpain and its empire not differ markedly from those of earlier Spanish statesmen, but thatby and large the results of his manifold endeavours were both few and modest.’This understanding of the historiography of Olivares’ effectiveness from Israel,makes Olivares look unoriginal and ineffectual. However other historians, such as Elliotthave been far more sympathetic. ‘†¦the first and the last ruler of Hapsburg Spain who had the breadth of visionto devise plans on a grand scale for the future of a world-wide monarchy: a statesmanwhose capacity for conceiving great designs was matched only by his consistent incapacityfor carrying them through to a successful conclusion.’Were Olivares’ policies a realistic way out of Spain’s difficulties or did theyagg ravate the situation? To understand this I am going to look at both Olivares’foreign policy and domestic policy. Within foreign policy I propose to see how farOlivares pushed the reputaci?n of the state before domestic crises forced him to seekpeace. Among others the best areas to examine would be Olivares’ policies during theThirty Years War from 1622; the Mantuan War 1628-31 and the great revolts of Catalonia andPortugal in 1640. As for domestic policy I will need to look at Olivares’ initialreforms of 1623, why they fell through and the effect this had. Furthermore it isimportant to look at the areas where domestic policy coincides with foreign policy (in adefensive sense) in the Great Memorial, including the Union of Arms. I will also have tofind out if Olivares’ policies were consistent, or whether they became more and moredrastic during his term of office. Firstly though, to understand if the policies wererealistic or not, I will have to look into t he real problems of Spain. Where exactly didthese problems lie and what areas required alteration to keep Spain afloat? From thispoint I will go on to see the policies in action and from this I will gather whether ornot they were realistic. 1. The problems with SpainOn an international scale, Spain between 1580 and 1620 was at the crest of her wealth andpower. Her supremacy was the dread of all other nations, and therefore its destruction wasthe cherished object of statesmen for a century. Her galleons ruled the seas and herarmies were feared. Yet due to the internally bad reputation that industry and commercehad, Spain’s economy was faltering. In comparison with her European neighbours, Spainwas industrially, agriculturally and commercially stagnant and wallowing in herold-fashioned militarism. With a vast and newly acquired empire, Spain was rapidlypropelled to the front of the world stage, but the costs of maintaining this empire provedcrippling. She manufactured very little that her neighbours required, apart from treasure. Yet with the mass influx of gold and silver from the colonies, treasure prices collapsedand in the long term led to rampant inflation. Table adapted from a graph in Years Imports of treasure in millions of pescos Indexnumbers of prices in silver (taken from the first year i.e. 1580, 1585, 1590 etc.) Index numbers of money wages (taken from the first year i.e. 1580,1585, 1590 etc.)1580-1584 29.5 98 1001585-1589 24 105 1091590-1594 35 108 1191595-1599 34.5 118 1211600-1604 24.5 132 1311605-1609 31 138 1601610-1614 24 129 1651615-1619 30.5 128 1641620-1624 27 129 1631625-1629 24.5 121 1621630-1634 17.5 132 1701635-1639 16 124 1751640-1644 14 133 179Yearly Spain had to acquire more and more wealth to maintain equilibrium and so yearly shespiralled closer and closer to bankruptcy. When silver mines had nothing more to yield ortreasure fleets were lost at sea, Spain was forced to borrow on a tremendous scale withforeign bankers. Taxes were raised on an already overtaxed private sector. In some years,all the merchants’ profits were seized in order to pay off debts, which either ruinedthe merchants or forced them to leave the country. Therefore Olivares came to his ministry at a time when there was anexpress need for reform. During this time, ideas for reform were mostly forwarded by thearbitristas; literally proposers of reform. However the bulk of their proposals criticisedwhat was directly in front of them. To find the real source of Spain’s problems amore global perspective is required. It was not the corrupt pensions and favours sappingCastile of its life and blood; it was military expenditure. The protection of such largeand scattered territories was the heart of Castile’s difficulties. From the above one can identify four areas in which reform wasdesperately required. These areas were: internal corruption; finance; trade and the burdenof the empire and military expenditure upon Castile. 2. What were Olivares’ attempts to curb Spain’s problems, andwere they realistic? Inevitably, under the influence of the arbitristas, Olivares saw thedesperate need for change in order to preserve Spain as a world power. Reform wasgenerally seen as a means to this end, but if reform threatened to upset the balance ofpower within Spain it would probably be dropped. It was very easy for Olivares to come upwith grand-scale plans for reform, but he found it impossible to implement them. Furthermore attempting to implement reformaci?n, while still trying to win reputaci?nthrough war, was impracticable. There were definite limits as to how far one could reforman early modern government, steeped in imperfection that had become a habitual part oflife. Many historians have illustrated that Olivares’ inability to see this limit,due greatly to his energy and impatience, was the key reason for his failure both as areformer and a maintainer of Spain’s reputacion. ‘†¦he tried to take shortcuts to objectives which required a more elaborateapproach. His vision of a greater Spain was too ambitious for the period of recession inwhich he lived.’ ‘(Olivares was) very inclined to novelties, without taking into account where theymay lead him.’Olivares’ first attempt at reform is a chief example of his over-ambitious nature, aswell as his grandiose plans. The Junta Grande de Reformacion had given variousrecommendations; a Junta re-es tablished by Olivares and his uncle, Zuniga, in August 1622. Its main aim was to eradicate corruption. Some of the recommendations, embodied in aletter of October 1622, were: the abolition of municipal offices; a national bankingscheme, to be funded by 5% of all wealth; abolition of the milliones and alcabala taxes,to be replaced by the institution of a single consolidated tax. Lynch believes thatOlivares may have used Juntas to side-step the councils. However Olivares called theCortes to seek approval, when the proposals for reform became Twenty-three Articles forReformation in February 1623. It was evident by their actions that the proposals hurt toomany vested interests, for example the abolition of offices was naturally opposed sincethe members of the Cortes were all officeholders. Furthermore closing all the brothels andpreventing emigration was simply impractical. These areas of reform show that Olivares waswell aware of many domestic problems which needed addressing. However domestic reform wasnot Olivares’ first priority. Ã¢â‚¬Ë œHis prime concern was the preservation of Spain as a world power, and this heconceived as a problem not of internal resources but of foreign and military policy.’Hence when the need for money became absolute, Olivares simply retreated on manyproposals. A good example of this was the reversion to the Milliones in 1624; the end ofOlivares’ attempts to put the crown finances into a sounder state. Olivares returned to the idea of reform again in the Great Memorial, given on Christmasday 1624. Many of his previous ideas were resurrected with a vital new angle; that ofunity. Olivares saw the monarchy as too varied within Spain, and that the other kingdomswere not pulling their weight. In the Great Memorial, Olivares advised the king to†¦Ã¢â‚¬ËœÃ¢â‚¬ ¦reduce these kingdoms†¦to the style and laws of Castile, with nodifferentiation in the form of frontiers, customs posts, the power to convoke the Cortesof Castile, Aragon and Portugal†¦ if Your Majesty achieves this, you will be the mostpowerful prince in the world.’ Taken out of context this may seem like an attempt to get rid of the privileges (jueors)held by the non-Castilian kingdoms. However it seems Olivares’ intentions in thiscase were to have a mutual and integrated partnership with benefits for all the kingdoms. Cerebral Palsy Essay ConclusionDue to the financial strain of war there was a desperate need to find new and more stablesources of revenue. Since the councils were becoming more obstructive, Olivaresincreasingly relied on the Juntas or sub-committees to aid his policymaking. In 1634 theJunta de Ejecaci?n effectively replaced the council of state as a policy making body. Within these Juntas Olivares placed able and loyal men who were responsible forimplementing various new taxes. For example there was a new salt tax in 1631; in 1635 thejuros was attacked. This was the annual interest that was paid off on loans. For all thejuros held by natives, half of the yield was confiscated, while for any foreign juros theentire yield was taken. This method was continually employed throughout the followingyears. In 1637 all legal or official documents had to be written on a stamped paper, whichwas taxed. In the same year 487,000 ducats of American silver was seized and incompensation juros were distributed. There was a great deal of office selling, and areturn to feudal dues, where the nobles were expected to provide men and their arms. Earlyon, it seems that Olivares’ schemes worked very well in the short run. In 1634,Hopton, the British ambassador, stated that the Spanish crown’s revenue had doubledover the past four years. However the practicalit y of Olivares’ policies wasbeginning to wane, since there was a limit as to how far one could keep draining theresources of the nobility. Though he was very effective at squeezing money out of Castile,there was fast coming a time when it would be squeezed dry. Many of his measures, such asthe mass office selling, were only successful in the short-term. Therefore a steadiersource of income was required. For Olivares, the only conceivable way of doing this was by making amore concerted effort to make the Union of Arms work. Following various successes inFrance and Germany, the war was rapidly degenerating again with the loss of Breda 1637 andBreisach in December 1638. The loss of Breisach meant that the Spanish road was severedand the only way to get reinforcements in to the Spanish Netherlands was by sea. InOctober 1639, Tromp, the Dutch admiral, defeated the fleet of Don Antonio de Oquendo, atthe Battle of the Downs. This took out Spain’s naval capability in one blow. Furthermore control of Brazil was lost to the Dutch after a joint Portuguese and Spanisheffort failed in 1638. From all these events Olivares felt that all of his gargantuanefforts were doomed to failure. His contempt for the nobility was clear. He felt there wasa distinct lack of leadership from any of the nobles, despite his efforts to train men inthe Imperial College of Madrid. It was this lack of leadership that pushed Olivares tolook for peace in 1640. However this was to be difficult since Richelieu was unlikely tomake any reasonable agreement, while France was in a stronger position than Spain. Howeverthe war effort simply could not go on, since Castile was drained of men and resources, aswell as the economic situation being grave. Due to the seizing of silver, the tradebetween Seville and America had collapsed, as merchants had lost confidence. This lastsource of income was now crushed and the principle foundations of Spain were slippingaway. To make the Union work, the kingdoms of Portugal and Catalonia would have to pull theirweight a great deal more, due to their increasing reluctance to grant economic andmilitary assistance to the king. However, Olivares would need to alter the constitutionsof both the kingdoms; this would be especially hard within Catalonia. It seems thatPortugal held the best scope for manoeuvre, and in 1634 Princess Margaret of Savoy becamegoverness of Portugal. Through Margaret, Olivares hoped both to quench the lamentations ofRoyal neglect and achieve greater control over Portugal, by infiltrating the governmentwith Castilians disguised as advisers. Unfortunately for Olivares, the Portugueseimmediately saw through the ‘advisor’ scheme, leading to constant argumentwithin the government. The populace had never favoured the union with Castile, andalthough the taxes were going towards the defence of her possessions in Brazil, it didnothing to reconcile the population. In 1637 the aristoc racy still felt isolated from theCrown, and minor riots broke out. Although these came to little, they were an ominousindication of the potential for revolt. When France declared war upon Spain in 1635,Catalonia was in a strong bargaining position, since her eastern border was with France,thus opening the possibility of co-operation with France. Olivares decided to challengethe Catalans head on by using their boarder in the war against France, bringing Cataloniain to the war whether she liked it or not. Therefore he hoped to force Catalonia in theUnion by more covert means, because all prior attempts for direct action had failed. However Olivares’ plan backfired, seemingly because he failed to recognise the deephatred of Madrid, the viceroy and all royalty among the Catalan people. Following thefailure of a six-month siege against the French at Salses, Olivares was furious andordered the royal ministers of the principality to ignore the Catalan constitution sincedefence of the realm outweighed it. This confirmed to many Catalans, the suspicions ofOlivares’ ultimate motives the Castilianisation of Catalonia. Hence the peoplebecame more and more reluctant to stop the French. The fundamental agitators for revoltwere the Catalan clergy, lead by Pau Claris, who appealed to the peasants to hold fast toCatalonia’s historic liberties. In February, Olivares planned to meet with the Cortesof Catalonia to discuss the Union, with the shadow of the army backing him. However theCortes never met and between February and March 1640, the Catalonians clashed with thearmy. The pace of the revolt increased as prisoners were taken, notably Tamarit, acolleague of Claris. It was only on learning that Claris had been freed and Barcelona hadbeen marched on, that Olivares woke up to the fact that he was facing a large-scalerebellion. From that point he reversed his policies and on the 27th May, he ordered stepsto be taken to re-conciliate the Catalans. However his actions were just too late and ariot on 7th June, put the diputcio in control following the brutal murder of the Count ofSanta Coloma. Meanwhile the events within Catalonia had severe repercussions on Portugal leading to arevolt on 1st December 1640, when the Duke of Braganza was proclaimed King John IV. Olivares, seeing that total anarchy was a close possibility, looked to make peace with theDutch and the Catalans. However the Catalans were not interested since Spain’s troopswere still advancing towards Barcelona. On 23rd January, it was stated that Catalonia wasallied to the King of France. Immediately French forces aided the rebels and the Spanisharmy under Los Velez, was thwarted at Montjuich. This defeat set the seal of the 1640 disasters. Following years of neglect andexploitation the economy and political system were now in a state of disintegration. Although the process of disintegration had begun before Olivares, he can be seen toundermine the Castilian economy and furthermore cause the implosion of the Americaneconomy. Montjuich spelled the end for Olivares, although he made superhuman attempts toraise more men to form an army. However the opposition to him was too strong. He was hatedas a tyrant in Castile, and even nobles within his family were plotting against him. Philip IV was very reluctant to part with his valido since he had brought him up frombirth. However Olivares’ worsening of the economy through his meddling with thevellon currency, and failure to prevent the French from taking Rousillon in Septemberdisplayed that he was simply incompetent. The Count of Castrillo was working in Madrid toundermine the valido’s position, and on Olivares’ return it was made clear thathis time in office was limited. On 17th January 1643 the decision was taken to giveOlivares his leave, and on 23rd January he left for exile following twenty years in Madridunder his king. A statesman whose capacity for conceiving great designs was weakened only by hisconsistent incapacity in carrying them through to a successful conclusion.