Police Brutality misc2 Essay Example For Students

Police Brutality misc2 Essay It was April 29, 1992 and it was my twelve birthday. My mom gave me a little chocolate cake with a plastic surfer riding a wave on top of it. We were watching television while I was getting ready to blow out my candles. There was a disturbance in South Central Los Angeles that the news helicopters were covering on every channel. There were crowds of people flooding the intersection of Florence and Normandy acting rowdy and getting aggressive toward passing cars. They stopped cars and pulled people out of them. The news cameras were right on top of it all of the way. Reginald Deny was taken out of his semi-truck and severely beaten. You could see people enthused about beating this defenseless man. One man grabbed a brick and threw it at Denys head then began to dance with enthusiasm. The majority of the crowd were black and they were harassing any other race that happened to go through their neighborhood. The crowd got out of control setting fire to cars and the violence was quickly spreading to other blocks around the neighborhood. I continued to eat my cake as I watched the news broadcasting the surging violence. The crowd was reacting to the acquittal, just hours earlier, of the four police officers in the beating of Rodney King2 . People couldnt believe the outcome. The beating of Rodney King was videotaped and shown over and over to the public. People believed that finally there was going to be justice. They believed that there was clear-cut evidence showing what has been complained about for years. Finally people who had never believed the accounts of police brutality existed witnessed it for themselves. Finally the public as a whole could react and try to control the officers that abuse their power. But instead, the officers were acquitted, and the public felt betrayed. Especially the black community who was fed up with their complaints falling on deaf ears. They were fed up and they resorted to rioting. For five days the violence persisted and spread further and further out of the ghetto reaching across the borders of the black communities of South Central and into adjacent neighborhoods. The subject of police brutality was thrown into the eyes of the public. People could no longer ignore the problem and the city of Los Angeles was made the example of citizens frustrations in clouds of smoke and looted communities . Police brutality is defined as the unauthorized exercise of police discretion where the policeman acts without the formal capacity to impose legal sanctions (Rucheelman 133). The officers are given the power to use their best judgment in all situations. The main complaint is that the police often use force that is unnecessary. The police argue that they use force in order to protect themselves. The Law Enforcement Code of Ethics (International Association of Chiefs of Police) begins as follows: As a Law Enforcement Officer, my fundamental duty is to serve mankind; to safeguard lives and property; to protect the innocent against deception, the weak against oppression or intimidation, and the peaceful against violence and disorder; and to respect the Constitutional rights of all men to liberty, equality, and justice (Ruchelman 17). It later addresses prejudices and violence stating: I will never act officiously or permit personal feelings, prejudices, animosities or friendships to influence my decisionsI will enforce the law courteously and appropriately without fear or favor, malice or ill will, never employing unnecessary force or violence and never accepting gratuities (Ruchelman 17). The line between police brutality and the proper force used in any situation is not always clearly drawn. Police officers are in constant danger and need to control people in order to handle certain situations. Police officers need to calculate the amount of force needed as their situations develop. .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c , .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .postImageUrl , .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c , .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c:hover , .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c:visited , .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c:active { border:0!important; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c:active , .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uf28d71a31fb2013a23bc7da1cd88c82c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Are we illiterate Essay Their are two kinds of police brutality. One occurs when emotions run high for example, during mass demonstrations or riots. The other kind is carried out systematically and regularly in the line of duty and is often times fueled by stress, frustration, racial intolerance or for intimidation. The second type of misconduct is deliberate and calculating and is potentially more disturbing to .

Whats Really Going on with Best Term Paper Writing Service Reviews

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Writing An Essay On Controversial Topics

Writing An Essay On Controversial TopicsIn order to write an essay that is lively and interesting, the topic must be controversial. Don't be scared or embarrassed because of this. The most crucial part of an essay is the topic; the content of the essay is less important than the topic itself. The topic is important because the topic will help you to come up with an interesting subject that has a lot of interest.In order to write an essay about controversial topics, the subject should be something that has been recently debated or heard a lot. A recent topic can be anything from slavery to a new fad in the media. If you choose something new and fresh, it would add a whole new dimension to your topic. For instance, if your topic is history, a whole new paragraph could be written on how important it is that people learn from the past and how we all have to learn from each other's mistakes.The one thing that is a bit tricky to write an essay on controversial topics is that people will be looking for interesting topics. It will be difficult to get all the facts right if you are not able to write about something that people want to read about. This means that the topic of your essay should really be in an interesting form.To help you come up with an interesting form, look at articles that are published in magazines and in newspapers. Look at various parts of the articles and see what the topic of the article was. Use that as a starting point when you are planning out your topic.Once you know the topic, start making some alterations to it. Remember that you will be writing an essay. Make sure that it doesn't sound too dull. It should be easy to read and everyone can understand it.One thing that you should avoid doing in writing controversial topics is to use fancy words. Look for plainer terms to use. If your topics have special or subtle terms in them, use those in your essay.Having said that, you should make sure that your topic is straight-forward and easy to under stand. Make sure that it doesn't make a person doubt your abilities. For instance, if you know some Latin words and phrases, use them in your essay. Just make sure that it is not hard to read.Essay writing is all about speaking your mind and having your opinion heard. If you allow yourself to express yourself, you will come up with the best essay. Keep it simple and get it out there.

International Law Ethics Topics For Research Paper

International Law Ethics Topics For Research PaperWhile the general concept of international law is quite clear, there are international law ethics topics for research paper for many different fields. Most of these topics that students learn in law school have nothing to do with international law and may never have much relevance to law students in their practice of law or to lawyers who have a special interest in international law. However, students who learn these important topics will be able to enjoy both practical and theoretical study in a wide variety of fields.Students who pursue a degree in international law may also find this subject to be very interesting because of the types of legal challenges that it can bring to their profession. International law takes place in nations that include Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. Not only are they members of the United Nations, but some are also members of the Commonwealth of Nations, or several other international organizations , like the Asian Development Bank. Many nations in the developing world rely on these international institutions for financial assistance. Some countries that are not members of these international institutions, however, have had more problems with the international laws that have been enacted.The topics that students should choose from the international law ethics topics for research paper range from the domestic and international aspects of immigration law to the dispute resolution process in trade disputes. They can include in the study topics issues such as child protection and labor rights in the same assignment. Students should make sure that they cover a number of different areas, so that they are covered in the coursework they need to take as well as in their practicing practice in the future.International trade, development, and international security can all have an impact on foreign policy, whether a nation is involved in a war or not. Some of the International Relations coursework might have to include some discussion of non-violence, for example. Other topics may include the legal status of nuclear weapons technology. Others might deal with maritime law, environmental law, and civil litigation innon-civil cases.A major focus of the study of international legal doctrines, though, will have to do with the rules that govern the international exchange of goods. These include customs and tariff laws. Customs tariffs are ways that governments set their own laws about the flow of goods into or out of their country. In a sense, they are saying that there is a certain minimum amount of the good or service that any given product must have in order to be imported. For example, American cars have a certain amount of tax on them, which comes from the American government.When international trade agreements are enacted, many countries join in because they will benefit from being part of these agreements. However, other countries are concerned that if they aren't given the benefits of these agreements, then their country may be at a disadvantage because of these international laws. If other countries have to pay more for their goods, for example, then their products will cost more, too. It's a strange sort of win-lose situation, and some of these countries will make international treaties that eliminating tariffs and other trade barriers.The topics that international law ethics topics for research paper covers can also include matters of international law in relation to the resolution of refugee and immigration concerns. There are many new conventions concerning refugees that are coming up all the time. International law ethics topics for research paper might include issues like the definitions of torture and the right to political asylum. These are just a few examples of the topics that a student should pick from.

Essay Samples For Business School - What Can You Learn From This Book?

Essay Samples For Business School - What Can You Learn From This Book?Business essay samples for business school can be an invaluable resource to those new to the profession. When you have a strong foundation, you can start to write an essay that will impress your professors and readers alike.Essay samples for business school are invaluable because they will provide you with the basic information you need to craft an effective college-level composition. Whether you are writing a short business or essay, your writer's journal is one of the most powerful tools available to you. Here are some tips on using them to your advantage.While you are composing an essay for college, it is important to remember that your essay needs to be strong. You do not want to rush through it. This is especially true if you are writing a business or research paper. But a good writing guide will help you generate ideas that will help to keep your topic interesting.You will find that your business essay sample s for business school will contain material that has already been tested in an actual college course. This includes information that you will be familiar with and methods that have been tested by your professor or fellow students. Not only will this make the work more likely to be successful, but it will give you the confidence that you are using the methods correctly. Plus, the information you receive from other writers will give you a foundation for your essay.Business essay samples for business school are full of information that you can use to your advantage. As mentioned earlier, this information will also be tested in actual college course. If you think that a particular method of writing would be difficult, you should simply write another one using the same information and techniques.Using this information to your advantage will be easy when you use the business essay samples for business school that are listed here. If yousimply change the format, you will have a more effect ive project than one using your own ideas.These are just a few tips on how to use the business essay samples for business school that are available. By making use of the information provided here, you will be able to come up with the best essay that you can.

The Three Different Types of Hatred and Discrimination Essay Example

The Three Different Types of Hatred and Discrimination Essay Shakespeare gives us the example of that in his book of Romeo and Juliet. In this book, there are two families who hate each other due to past conflicts. The Montague and the Caplet family. In this book, the son of the Montague falls in love with the daughter of the Capsules. A love so deep that they get married In privacy. Because them getting married biblically, would cause their parents to greatly punish them. One night, Juliet tells Romeo Deny thy father and refuse thy name; or If thou will not, be but sworn my love, and Ill no longer be a Caplet. (Shakespeare 34-36. Her father wants her to get married to a man who she does not want to marry. The day of her marriage, she fakes her death. Romeo believing she is dead kills himself out of grief of losing her. All this hardship because the parents hate each others names and cannot bear their kids being together. This is Just one example of misjudging one by the name. In this case judging one by his name has resulted in death. Osama is another example. This name is stereotyped because Osama Bin Laden the most wanted man in the world carries it. It does not signify a lion jumping on its prey. And et that is how It Is seen In todays society around the world. We will write a custom essay sample on The Three Different Types of Hatred and Discrimination specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Three Different Types of Hatred and Discrimination specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Three Different Types of Hatred and Discrimination specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer And so if a boy or a man were to carry this name, he would have much difficulty In getting a Job. Just for carrying that name. Therefore Judging one by his name affects everyone In one way or another. In Harper Lees book To Kill a Mockingbird, the author puts in evidence the amount of racism that was present in the southern Alabama state of America; back in the sass. In this book, the most part of the white community of Macomb mistreats the black community by firstly by calling them Negroes and secondly by accusing one of them falsely. In this case, the accused is Tom Robinson. A black man accused of violently abusing and raping a white woman. Although his lawyer Tactics Finch defends him with strong evidence, the jury goes against him by Judging him guilty. The white society did not stand up for him, but Just let It pass. They forgot all about this case within two days. After his death due to a failed escape from Enfield Prison Farm, a member of the white community Judges him as Typical of a Niger to cut and run. Typical of Ruggeris mentality to have no plan, no thought for the future. Just run blind the first chance he saw. (Lee page 24) Lee just shows us one example of racism. Still today In southern part AT ten USA tanner are groups AT ten ASK won are still advocating white supremacy. This causes many deaths of non-white people. The Arab race is another example. Arabs are now stereotyped as terrorist ever since the 911 incident. If one person of any race is wrong, it does not mean that all the people of that race are wrong as well. One should not be Judged by his race but by his character. Racism causes many problems to individuals that are part of a stereotyped race or people that are simply discriminated due to their skin color. Therefore racism must take a stop. Often, people with physical disabilities or differences are misjudged or underestimated by those who have none. Either if they have an extra toes, half a finger or are shorter than average. That can cause not getting hired at a Job. Gender can also be a problem. For instance if a girl would want to work in construction, she would be made fun of and greatly under estimated because she might not have the physical strength for the work or the roughness of a man. In todays society in North America, gender has become a minor problem. Men get to work in fashion and girl tortes, Just as women can work at a garage or as police officers. However physical disabilities are still discriminated. In John Handsaws book The Chrysalis, he talks about a girl named Sophie who is believed to be a blasphemy or deviation of some kind because she has six toes. The inspector in the story warns David (the main character) not to be friends with Sophie because she is made by the devil. She has no soul. David is forced to report her to the authorities so they can send her to Finchs land. Muff know, David concealment of a Blasphemy not reporting a human aviation is a very very serious thing. People go to prison for it. It is everybodys duty to report any kind of offence to me even they arent sure so that I can decide. Its always important, and very important indeed is it is a Blasphemy. And in this case there doesnt seem to be any doubt about it unless young Ervin was mistaken. Now he says she has six toes. Is that true? (Yamaha page 51) Those who are physically disabled could be very qualified for something. For instance many people who see a physically disabled person would most likely Judge him as mentally ill. And that is a problem in our society. Employers could miss the chance of having a top quality employee such as a sales manager Just because he is in a wheelchair. The fact of discriminating on physically disabled people can cause us to lose chances of meeting very valuable people. They should not be underestimated and should be considered. Therefore ignoring them can affect many people. The various aspects of misjudging, discriminating or underestimating one by his name, race or physical ability can truly affect everyone in various ways. One must learn to accept others the way they are. And if one would Judges someone else, he should Judge him by his character and not by his appearance. This goes for the same with the famous expression Dont Judge a book by its cover. Shakespeare, Harper Lee and Yamaha have each covered one of these aspects and put it in a scenario. The examples are set and so are the lessons. Now all one can do is read and learn. Bibliography I en occasionally. London: a Penguin KICK, BIBB, pup SSH William. Romeo and Juliet. Toronto: Harcourt Shakespeare series, 1999, IPPP LEE, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New York: Warner Books Edition, 1982, IPPP

Causes of the Russian Revolution Part 2

Causes of the Russian Revolution Part 2 Causes Part 1. Ineffective Government The ruling elites were still mostly land owning aristocracy, but some in the civil service were landless. The elites ran the state bureaucracy and sat above the normal population. Unlike other countries the elites and the landed depended on the tsar and had never formed a counter to him. Russia had a strict set of civil service ranks, with jobs, uniforms etc., where advancement was automatic. The bureaucracy was weak and failing, losing the experience and skills needed in the modern world, but refusing to let people with those skills in. The system was a vast overlapping chaos, full of confusion, tsarist divide and rule and petty jealousy. Laws overrode other laws, the tsar able to override all. To the outside it was arbitrary, archaic, incompetent and unfair. It stopped the bureaucracy from becoming professional, modern, efficient or as a counter to as medieval looking monarch.Russia had got like this by making a choice. An influx of professional civil servants produced the Great Re forms of the 1860s, to strengthen the state through western reform after the Crimean War. This included ‘freeing’ the serfs (of a sort) and in 1864 created zemstvos, local assemblies in many areas leading to a form of self-rule sandwiched between nobles, who resented it, and peasants, who often did too. The 1860s were liberal, reforming times. They could have led Russia towards the west. It would have been costly, difficult, prolonged, but the chance was there.However, the elites were divided on a response. Reformists accepted the rule of equal law, political freedom, a middle class and opportunities for the working class. Calls for a constitution led Alexander II to order a limited one. The rivals of this progress wanted the old order, and were made up of many in the military; they demanded autocracy, strict order, nobles and church as dominant forces (and the military of course). Then Alexander II was murdered, and his son shut it down. Counter reforms, to centralize control, and strength the personal rule of the tsar followed. Alexander II’s death is the start of the Russian tragedy of the twentieth century.    The 1860s meant Russia had people who had tasted reform, lost it and looked for†¦ revolution.Imperial government ran out below the eighty nine provincial capitals. Below that peasants ran it their own way, alien to the elites above. Localities were under governed and the old regime was not a hyper powerful all seeing oppression. Old government was absent and out of touch, with a small number of police, state officials, who were co-opted for more and more by the state as there wasn’t anything else (for instant checking roads). Russia had a small tax system, bad communications, small middle class, and a serfdom which ended with the landowner in charge still. Only very slowly was the Tsar’s government meeting the new civilians.Zemstvos, run by locals, became key. The state rested on landowning nobles, but they were in decline post emancipation, and used these small local committees to defend themselves against industrializing and state government. Up to 1905 this was a liberal movement pushing for safeguards and provincial society, e.g. peasant versus landowner, calling for more local power, a Russian parliament, a constitution. The provincial nobility were the early revolutionaries, not workers. Alienated Military The Russian military was full of tensions against the Tsar, despite it supposedly being the man’s biggest supporter. Firstly it kept losing (Crimea, Turkey, Japan) and this was blamed on the government: military expenditure declined. As industrialization was not as advanced in the west, so Russia became poorly trained, equipped and supplied in the new methods and lost. The soldiers and self-aware officers were being demoralized. Russian soldiers were sworn to the Tsar, not the state. History seeped into all aspects of the Russian court and they obsessed over little details like buttons, not fixing a feudal army lost in a modern world.Also, the army was being used more and more to support the provincial governors in suppressing revolts: despite the facts much of the lower ranks were peasants too. The army began to fracture over demand to stop civilians. That was before the condition of the army itself where people were seen as serfs, sub civilian slaves by officers. In 1917, ma ny soldiers wanted a reform of the army as much as of the government. Above them were a group of new professional military men who saw the faults through the system, from trench technique to supply of arms, and demanded effective reform. They saw the court and the tsar as stopping it. They turned to the Duma as an outlet, beginning a relationship which would change Russian in early 1917. The Tsar was losing the support of his talented men. An Out of Touch Church The Russians were involved in a foundation myth of being at one with and defending the Orthodox Church and orthodox Russia, which began at the very start of the state. In the 1900s this was stressed this over and over. The Tsar as political-religious figure was unlike anywhere in the west and he or she could damn with the church as well as destroy with laws. The church was vital for controlling the mostly illiterate peasants, and priests had to preach obedience to the Tsar and report objections to police and to state. They allied easily with the last two Tsars, who wanted a return to medieval times.But industrialization was pulling peasants into secular cities, where churches and priests lagged behind the vast growth. The church did not adapt to urban life and a growing number of priests called for reform of it all (and the state too). Liberal clergy realized reform of church only possible with a move away from the tsar. Socialism was what answered the workers new needs, not old Chri stianity. Peasants not exactly enamored of priests and their actions harked to a pagan time, and many priests were underpaid and grasping. A Politicized Civil Society By the 1890s, Russia had developed an educated, political culture among a group of people who were not yet numerous enough to truly be called a Middle Class, but who were forming between the aristocracy and the peasants / workers. This group were part of a ‘civil society’ which sent their youth to be students, read newspapers, and looked towards serving the public rather than the Tsar. Largely liberal, the events of a severe famine in the early 1890s both politicized and radicalized them, as their collective action outlined them to them both how ineffective the Tsarist government now was, and how much they could achieve if they were allowed to unite. The members of the zemstvo’s were chief among these. As the Tsar refused to meet their demands, so many of this social sphere turned against him and his government. Nationalism Nationalism came to Russia at the end of the nineteenth century and neither Tsars government nor liberal opposition could cope with it. It was the socialists who pushed regional independence, and socialist-nationalists who did best among the different nationalists. Some nationalists wanted to stay in the Russian empire but get greater power; the Tsar inflamed this by stamping on it and Russifying, turning cultural movements into fierce political opposition. Tsars had always Russified but it was now much worse Repression and Revolutionaries The Decembrist uprising of 1825 triggered a series of reactions in Tsar Nicholas I, including the creation of a police state. Censorship was combined with the ‘Third Section’, a group of investigators looking into acts and thoughts against the state, which could exile to Siberia suspects, not just convicted of any transgression, but just suspected of it. In 1881 the Third Section became the Okhranka, a secret police fighting a war using agents everywhere, even pretending to be revolutionaries. If you want to know how the Bolsheviks expanded their police state, the line started here.The revolutionaries of the period had been in harsh Tsarist prisons, hardened into extremism, the weak falling away. They started as intellectuals of Russia, a class of readers, thinkers and believers, and were turned into something colder and dark. These derived from the Decembrists of the 1820s, their first opponents and revolutionaries of the new order in Russia, and inspired intellectuals in succeeding generations. Rejected and attacked, they reacted by turning to violence and dreams of violent struggle. A study of terrorism in the twenty first century finds this pattern repeated. A warning was there. The fact that western ideas which had leaked into Russia ran into the new censorship meant they tended to be distorted into powerful dogma rather than argued into pieces like the rest. The revolutionaries looked to the people, who they were usually born above, as the ideal, and the state, who they reviled, with guilt driven anger. But the intellectuals had no real concept of peasants, just a dream of the people, an abstraction that led Lenin and company to authoritarianism.Calls for a small group of revolutionaries to seize power and create a revolutionary dictatorship to in turn create a socialist society (including removing enemies) were around far before the 1910s, and the 1860s were a golden age for such ideas; now they were violent and hateful. They didn’t have to choose Marxism. Many didn’t at first. Born in 1872, Marx’s Capital was cleared by their Russian censor as they though to too hard to understand to be dangerous, and about an industrial state Russia didn’t have. They were terribly wrong, and it was an instant hit, the fad of its day – the intelligentsia had just seen one popular movement fail, so they turned to Marx as a new hope. No more populism and peasants, but urban workers, closer and understandable. Marx seemed to be sensible, logical science, not dogma, modern and western.One young man, Lenin, was thrown into a new orbit, away from being a lawyer and into being a revolutionary, when his older brother was executed for terrorism. Lenin was drawn into rebellion and expelled from university. He was a fully blown revolutionary derived from other groups in Russia’s history already when he first encountered Marx, and he rewrote Marx for Russia, not the other way round.   Lenin accepted the ideas of the Russian Marxist leader Plekhanov, and they would recruit the urban workers by involving them in strikes for better rights. As ‘legal Marxists’ pushed a peaceful agenda, Lenin and others reacted with a commitment to revolution and creating a counter Tsarist party, strictly organised. They created the newspaper Iskra (the Spark) as a mouthpiece to command the members. The editors were the First Soviet of the Social Democratic Party, including Lenin. He wrote What Is To Be Done? (1902), a hectoring, violent work that set out the party. The Social Democrats split into two groups, the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, at the second Party Congress in 1903. Lenin’s dictatorial approach pushed the split. Lenin was a centraliser who distrusted the people to get it right, an anti-democrat, and he was a Bolshevik whereas the Mensheviks were prepared to work with the middle classes. World War 1 Was the Catalyst The First World War provided the catalyst for Russia’s revolutionary year of 1917. The war itself went badly from the start, prompting the Tsar to take personal charge in 1915, a decision which placed the full responsibility for the next years of failure on his shoulders. As demand for ever more soldiers increased, the peasant population grew angry as young men and horses, both essential for the war, were taken away, reducing the amount they could grow and damaging their standard of living. Russia’s most successful farms suddenly found their labour and material removed for the war, and the less successful peasants became ever more concerned with self-sufficiency, and even less concerned with selling a surplus, than ever before.Inflation occurred and prices rose, so hunger became endemic. In the cities, workers found themselves unable to afford the high prices, and any attempt to agitate for better wages, usually in the form of strikes, saw them branded as disloyal to Ru ssia, disaffecting them further. The transport system ground to a halt due to failures and poor management, halting the movement of military supplies and food. Meanwhile soldiers on leave explained how poorly supplied the army was, and bought first hand accounts of the failure at the front. These soldiers, and the high command who had previously supported the Tsar, now believed he had failed them.An increasingly desperate government turned to using the military to curb the strikers, causing mass protest and troop mutinies in the cities as soldiers refused to open fire. A revolution had begun.