Ganguro Girls Essay Example for Free

Ganguro Girls Essay Many of the world’s greatest technologies are Japanese technologies. Many of the world’s best selling cars are Japanese cars. Japanese fashion, especially Tokyo fashion is among the most diverse and dynamic fashion in the world. The Japanese are known fashion lovers that Japanese girls always surprise the world with new and interesting trends not only in fashion but also in accessorizing. In fact, many of the Japanese, including the men, have high sense of fashion that typical Japanese in the streets of Tokyo would look like a magazine front cover model who just turned to life. From the looks of glamorous geishas, to the teenage school girls wearing short skirts, the Japanese teenager is now again making headlines as the Ganguro girl. The Ganguro is setting new trends, and earning criticisms not only from the foreigners but even from the Japanese population. Ganguro Girls According to Funch, Japanese teenagers are a continuing source of strange but interesting fashion trends. Today, almost everyone in Japan are talking about the Ganguro look (Watrous) especially with the fact that the Kugaro, the Ganguro and the Yamanaba are continuously growing in numbers and are becoming more visible in the streets, in shopping districts and in bars. Watrous added that with their rather attractive colorful outfits, the Ganguro, with their towering shoes and skimpy clothes, face piercing and hair bleached and teased, are easy to spot and easy to dismiss as those Americans like in the 1980s who forced their bangs into towering crispy hair dos above their faces. From this view, Watrous intimated that the Ganguro girls can easily be figured out as those teenage Japanese girls obsessed with black and American fashion and culture. Ganguro literally means black. So the Ganguro look refers to the heavily tanned face and the very black-faced Japanese girls (Masaichi). The Ganguro Look Funch described the Ganguro look to have hair dyed to blonde or brown, plucked eyebrows, tan skin (sometimes beyond tan), the mini-skirts and the cool towering shoes. In a web page entitled, â€Å"Ganguro†, Ganguro is defined as that fashion trend among Japanese girls that literally means ‘face-black’, an outgrowth of the chapatsu hair dyeing. Perhaps, one of the reasons that Ganguro is so named is the fact that ganguro girls cover and paint their faces with black or brown make-up to hide their rather white complexion. The most basic look for a typical Ganguro gril include the blonde-bleached hair; perm and willed to a towering hairpiece; and set for amore than half a day and costs about $400 dollars (â€Å"Gnaguro†). The Ganguro look is also not complete without the deep tan, an artificial tan obtained from tanning salons and make up (â€Å"Ganguro†). The intention of having their skin tanned is to attain a look similar to their American idols TLC and Lauryn Hill, known for their black American look (Watrous). In order to have the tan that they want, Ganguro girls frequent tanning salons, purchase sun lamps and cover their face with brown make ups (†Ganguro†). .Sometimes, a Ganguro, with limited income and fund resorts to cheaper and conventional way of tanning, like covering their entire face with brown magic marker (Watrous). Meanwhile, those with enough money would prefer Tokyo’s hippest salons and hair stylists for their trendy afro perms and tans (Watrous). Moreover, in the article, â€Å"Ganguro†, it is mentioned that the purpose of the tanned look is to achieve the blonde California beach girl look. It cannot be denied that the Ganguro look is influenced by the American fashion and American fashion icons and trend setters. For the Japanese, the attraction of having that tanned skin as opposed to the normal white complexion of Japanese women, as portrayed by the geishas, is a great challenge and interesting to try and experiment on. In fact, according to the article, â€Å"Ganguro†, the Ganguro look â€Å"goes against the grain of the usual Japanese standard of female beauty, which calls for skin as white as possible†. This brings to life the Ganguro look, which is believed to have started sometime in the 1990s, with the famous Okinawan singer, Amuro Namie (â€Å"Ganguro†). The look is also attributed to super model Naomi Campbell wherein the teenage girls imitated her make up and clothing style (Masaichi). The Japanese population recognizes the white complexion as standard for its women. For this reason, the Japanese are not actually fond of dark skin. Many Japanese are fond of the white skin which is known as Shirohada (Masaichi). The white skin- face according to them makes the face fuller. Because of these preferences, the typical Japanese will not actually go out of her way to have a tan (Masaichi). According to Masaichi, this prevailing standard can also be attributed to the emergence of the ganguro fashion so much so that the customary proscriptions against the dark skin encouraged the girls to getr really tan and dark. Masaichi also stated that the ganguro girls wanted to be in the minority. This makes them more exotic and unique unlike the majority of the Japanese ladies. Masaichi finally stated that â€Å"the fresh-looking Ganguro seem to offer hope – a fresh current of air flowing through the stale homogeneity of Japanese society†. One of the most apparent characteristics of the Gangaru look is the used of extraordinary accessories to go with the unique clothes. Important accessories include the platform shoes or boots, the photo stickers and cellular phones with the centerpiece of the total ganguro look being the 15 centimeter of higher platform shoes and sandals that make them look taller than the usual Japanese teenager (â€Å"Ganguro†). Many believed that the Ganguro look is wanting in attention that is why the Ganguro girls use the attractive hairs, clothes, shoes and accessories. According to the article, â€Å"Ganguro†, the Ganguro look â€Å"lets them look down on the world or to have the world look up to them†. The Ganguro enjoys the attention and to be regarded as a unique way of expressing Japanese fashion and art. The center of the Ganguro fashion can be found in major fashion districts in Tokyo like Shibuya and Ikebukuro (â€Å"Ganguro†). Some stated that Ganguro is also known as Yamanaba, but some consider Ganguro as merely a division of Yamanaba, together with Kugaro look. According to Watrous, another name for Ganguro is Yamanaba, which in Japan, means mountain grandmother – a name given to a mythical hag who is believed to haunt the Japanese mountains in the Japanese folklores. Yamanaba In â€Å"Ganguro†, the Yamanaba is considered to be one step beyond the Ganguro because besides the Ganguro look, the Japanese girls wear more outrageous outfits and make-up. For example, the Yamanaba wears white lipstick, white eye shadow, silvery hair with touch of glitter and fake tear drops on the cheek. More than these, they also have their own outrageous ways of talking and laughing as you see them on the streets and bars of Japan. According to Funch, the Yamanaba includes the Ganguro and the Kugaro. The Ganguro gal, according to him, are the brown-skin gals; while the gonguro gals are those in deep-brown skin. The Yamanaba girl is characterized by her white or brown hair, brown face, the heavy make up ore the panda make up (Funch). The Yamanaba girl according to â€Å"Ganguro†, also her hair with brown or gold and uses blue contact lenses to attain that â€Å"California beach girl look without the bikini† (â€Å"Gangaru†). Soemtimes, the Yamanaba also wears fake flowers in their hair (â€Å"Ganguro†). An outsider, according to Watrous, a foreigner for example, will have a hard time identifying a kogaru from a gangaru because of their similarities. However, Watrous emphasized that despite their clear similarities and shared predilection on platform shoes and body piercing, these two subcultures of Yamanaba are completely different with their differing fashion aspirations (Watrous). According to the Encyclopaedia Dramatica, the Ganguro phenomenon is more of a matriarchal subculture because it depicts the aggressiveness of the Japanese women. The Ganguro look is sometimes compared to the British punk primarily because of the hair and the outrageous fashion sense. Menkes described this similarity as the â€Å"elaborate attention to an extraordinary, even grotesque, appearance†. However, the Ganguro is g\from beyond compared to Punk. According to Menkes, Punk had its origin on a sociological perspective and phenomenon, that is, a disaffected and nihilistic youth is thumbing its nose as a convention; while the Gangaru fashion is more upbeat and is about consumerism with Prada and Louis Vuitton backpacks as integral aspect of the entire Gangaru look (Menkes). As have been mentioned earlier, the Gangaru look is also distinguished by the use of accessories. But the Ganguro do not use simple and ordinary accessories. Sometimes, the accessories are more expensive than the clothes. For example, the use of cellular phone, its cost can be very expensive. The same goes with the backpacks used for accessories that should necessarily come from brands like Prada and Louis Vuitton to achieve the ideal Ganguro look. The Encyclopaedia Dramatica provided that aside from the influences of the United States seafront retirees, the Ganguro also come from a variety of influences like the images of women in R B bands and music icons. According to Liu, the ganguro phenomenon as an imitation of the black culture did not happen over night in Japan. In fact, Liu noted that as early as the year 1840, blackface performers started to appear in Japan. With the seemingly outrageous and out of this world fashion statements, many have speculated on the motivations of the Japanese girls to have become Ganguro. According to Liu, some speculate that the ganguro girls are â€Å"using hip hop image to rebel against wearing traditional school uniforms to express individuality†. While the most obvious and popular speculation, some believe that the Ganguro is in clear imitation of celebrities (Liu); many also believe that the ganguro phenomenon is a way of self expression and to gain self identity. Liu, also added that despite the apparent opposition to the traditional Japanese fashion and social standards, the ganguro became popular with the non-ganguro that readily accepted the phenomenon. However, it cannot be avoided that there have been some exclusions. The ganguro has, in its entire history has consistently been criticized. Criticisms on Ganguro Look According to the Encyclopaedia Daramatica, apparently, the typical woman considers the Ganguro as ‘freaks’ although their fashion sense resembles that of the women in Florida. Expectedly, with the outrageous fashion sense, the Gangaru look faced various criticisms. It even faced hostility from among Japanese. According to Watrous, despite the growing number of Japanese teenagers embracing the Ganguro fashion, both the kogaru and the Ganguro encountered hostility in Japan. Watrous described how a recent publication in Kansai Time Out, through the eminent novelist Haruku Murakami, called the Ganguro as â€Å"big problem fro Japan†. Murakami also added that he â€Å"feels sadness and disgust when he passes these bleached and flamboyantly outfitted young ladies on the streets of his neighborhood† (Watrours). Many Japanese, like Murakami consider the Ganguro fashion as a disgrace for the Japanese fashion and that it devoid the Japanese women of the respect and the glamour that had long been associated to her since the time of the geishas. According to them, the Japanese women, known to have standard white complexion, should preserve the same as the true Japanese look. However, this should not serve to undermine the Ganguro fashion as it only relates to carry out influences from major fashion trends, particularly in America. The biases and prejudices against the Ganguro fashion even grew and spread into the legislature when in February of 2002, in Osaka, a laws was enacted prohibiting women to drive wearing tall boots (Watrous). This is obviously in direct prohibition among the Ganguro ladies, whose centerpiece costume includes the towering shoes and sandals. According to the legislature, the law was enacted to prevent major road accidents as a result of the driver failing to break fast enough with the platform soles (Watrous). In view of this law, the legislature proposed a maximum allowable platform height to only a few centimeters for anyone driving a vehicle (Watrous). Taking the law as a clear incident of the police power of the state, it can not be directly be considered as a clear prejudice against the Ganguro because the law is founded upon a valid ground and responsibility of the state to protect its people. IT does not intend to discriminate or unduly prejudice the Ganguro. Instead the prohibition only imposed an incidental limitation to the Ganguro fashion as a result of the intention to avoid road accidents. This is in accordance to a battery of tests conducted with drivers wearing different sole heights (Watrous) and the conclusion that the sole height can be attributed to the driver’s ability to break fast in case of road emergencies. Conclusion The Ganguro fashion, however criticized and praised remains a fact of Japanese history, particularly of japans fashion history along side with the Geishas and the popular Japanese school girl in uniform fashion. It should be respected and considered as a valid expression of fashion sense. Although the Ganguro look is believed to have come from the American fashion culture, it cannot be denied that the touch of Japanese culture is embedded in it. In fact, without the known fact that the fashion was a clear expression of obsession to black and American fashion, the Ganguro look is purely Japanese. The Ganguro is clearly a Japanese sense of fashion. It should not be viewed as something resorted to by some Japanese teenage girls in order to receive attention. Works Cited Emcyclopaedia Dramatica. â€Å"Ganguro. † 12 Oct. 2007 http://www. encyclopediadramatica. com/Ganguro. Funch, Flemming. â€Å"Ming the Mechanic: Ganguro Girls. † 2003. 12 Oct. 2007 http://ming. tv/flemming2. php/__show_article/_a000010-000633. htm. â€Å"Ganguro. † 12 Oct. 2007 http://www. livemusicstudio. com/mac/pages/ganguro. html. Liu, Xuexin. â€Å"The Hip Hop Impact on Japanese Youth Culture. † 12 Oct. 2007 http://www. uky. edu/Centers/Asia/SECAAS/Seras/2005/Liu. htm. Masaichi, Nomura. â€Å"Driving My Body. † 2000. 12 Oct. 2007 http://brokenstones. at. infoseek. co. jp/fashion/dmv. html. Menkes, Suzy. â€Å"Tokyo Is Now World Capital of Street Style: In the City and on the Catwalk, Japan Cultivates Its Roots. † 2000. 12 Oct. 2007 http://www. iht. com/articles/2000/11/14/menkes. t. php. Watrous, Malena. â€Å"Hello Kitties. † 2000. 12 Oct. 2007 http://archive. salon. com/people/feature/2000/03/08/kogaru/.

Brazil :: essays research papers fc

The similarities between the societies found in Brazil and those found in the Andean Highlands are relatively few. The Andean Highland dwellers were mostly Incas, found in greatest numbers in Peru. The inhabitants of Brazil were mainly concentrated around the Amazon River Basin area. The Andean Highland people consisted in large part of the Inca civilization (the name of the ruling family, not an ethnicity). However, the geographic location of these societies is not the only disparity that exist between these groups of people. Perhaps the most striking of the differences is the characteristics of these societies and the advancements, or lack of, that where achieved in each. With each group having distinct characteristics in the way of life, government, and labor, this affected the colonizing groups in significantly different ways and ultimately lead to the prosperity or decline of the colony at that specific time. The forms of rule in the Amazon Basin and the Andean Highlands were of great contrast. At the time of European discovery of the New World, there existed very little political hierarchy in the areas of the Amazon River Basin. At most, and this was fairly uncommon, there was a local tribal chief. However, the government did not extend any further. There was no network of higher ruling. This may have stemmed from the fact that villages were scattered around the Amazon, divided by dense forest. The tribal chiefs would make some village decisions and be a liaison with other local villages. Still, territorial war was a major aspect of the Amazon Basin dwellers' lives. This is in sharp contrast to the political system that existed in the Inca civilization. The Inca had a profoundly intricate political system that was based on rule that was inherited through blood lines. There were local, regional, and empire ruling leaders. These statesmen demanded tribute from the lower classes and also force labor upon them, but they did provide services for the good of the people and the empire. The leaderships had relatively few physical duties other than overseeing the domain that he ruled. Territorial war was also a characteristic of the Inca society. This society has often been labeled either a socialist empire or a welfare state. Specifically, the people of the Amazon Basin lived in small villages around the Amazon River and relocated often (when the soil became fallow). They were a tribal society maintained itself through shifting agriculture and hunting and gathering. The staple of their diet was of the tuber variety, a kind of potato. The society had no classes that differentiated between the rich and poor because the people had very little or no private property.

John Locke Short Introduction Essay

John Locke, who is widely known as the Father of Liberalism, is a great writer, philosopher and physician of the 17th century. He was born on 29 August 1632 and died on 28 October 1704 when he was 72. He was baptized on the same day as he was born. He was a gifted man and David Hume once described him as â€Å"wrote like a water-drinking local councilor, his style ungainly, his idioms commercial, his imagination puritanical, his humor labored, his purposes wholly practical. † As he is a talented thinker and uses different perspectives to see and think on certain things, he revolutionized the Theory of Mind to the world in his masterpiece, â€Å"An Essay Concerning Human Understanding†. On the other hand, he also developed the idea of liberty among people in society. His contributions to the world are incredible as his ideas of social contract and state of nature laid the theoretical foundation of the Constitutions of the United States of America. In Locke’s life, he came from a very intelligent and faithful Baptist family that gave him a good education and took him to a good school — Christ Church, Oxford. Though he studied medicine but not philosophy or other critical thinking courses, he met prominent people (e. g. Robert Boyle, Thomas Wills) who inspired him immensely in every perspective. One eminent scholar was Thomas Sydenham, who imposed a huge impact on the idea of how man accumulates knowledge. Thanks to Sydenham, Locke wrote one of his famous works – â€Å"An Essay Concerning Human Understanding†. Thomas Sydenham gave advice to Locke in treating Shaftesbury’s liver cancer. Locke realized in the file of Shaftesbury that knowledge in a book could be different from the circumstances Locke was facing. Hence, he raised the pivotal question in his essay: â€Å"Is the foundation of knowledge based on theory or experience? † This essay stimulated several fresh ideas to philosophers in the 17th century. One of the famous philosophers who were greatly influenced by Locke was David Hume, who described John Locke as a magnificent man. After Shaftesbury survived from the liver cancer, he became Lord Chancellor and led Locke to be involved in the field of politics. In the political struggle of Shaftesbury, Locke assisted him by writing another famous work – â€Å"Two Treatises of Government†. It is believed that the ideas mentioned in the essay were influenced by Hobbes’ thinking, but Locke never referred or mentioned the name of Hobbes. Locke countered the statements raised by Hobbes in the book of Leviathan that â€Å"everyone is living in terror† and â€Å"war of every man against every man†. Locke raised a counter statement that everyone is created equally and everyone in society has rights to fight for their life, freedom and property. To accomplish it, we shall hold together and grant greater power to protect ourselves. This also explains how civilization works. The original purpose of this piece is an argument to attack Shaftesbury’s opponents (supporters of Absolute Monarchy). However, the ideas of natural rights and a new reformation of government mentioned inside the essay are recognized as the most influential ideas on the political system in the 17th century. The basis of liberty was widely used by the founding fathers of the United States of America to write the American Declaration of Independence and the Constitutions. The influences of John Locke did not just stop in the 17th century. They still last today. Every time we hear about liberty and freedom, the basis of these concepts had been defined by Locke clearly. Besides, the issue of free religion which is still discussed nowadays was also originated by Locke. The theory of religious tolerance was one of the most controversial ideas during Locke’s lifetime. In this perspective, some historians even regarded the European War as the war between religions. In some statements made by Locke, he argued human knowledge was possibly false unless there was definite proof. By the same token, he considered that religion, which did not have clear proof, was possibly false. Because of this, religious tolerance was necessary. Religious tolerance is still being debated nowadays and it has greatly changed the outlook of modern society after this idea was promulgated. Locke’s life was a legend. He was born in a Baptist family and his writings are full of elements related to Christianity. From the statement of â€Å"All men are created equally†, it clearly shows Locke’s belief in the perspective of equality. Besides, he was also greatly influenced by the idea of knowledge. He questioned the fundamental of knowledge and questioned whether knowledge is true as always. I believe he wrote such ideas because of his experience in the treatment of Shaftesbury’s cancer that led him to start questioning that the things he had learned from the medical books were not really practical. Instead, to him, they were much more proper to be described as imaginary notions. From this perspective, he was inspired to write the essay concerning human understanding. Besides, Locke also influenced the world and created waves of revolutionary ideas in many fields. The great philosophers Voltaire and Rousseau were deeply inspired by Locke’s theories. Ultimately, Locke – Father of Liberalism – was not simply a gifted person born to be the father of liberalism, but also because of circumstances, situations which he encountered in his life to make him the father of liberalism.

Why the October Revolution Failed - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1727 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/08/02 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Utopia Essay Did you like this example? Unquestionably, the October Revolution failed to produce the utopian society that was envisioned by Vladimir Lenin.   There are reasons that it failed and intellectual curiosity begs to answer the following questions.   What did the Soviets do wrong and how did their mistakes derail the revolutions expectations?   Before spending too much time delving into the reasons for its failures, it seems logical to first define what constitutes a utopian society in the context of Lenins Bolshevik Revolution.   Lenin was influenced by Karl Marxs ideology, thus he advocated a society which benefited the workers, known as the proletariats.   Ideally, he wanted to institute a Russian government where the workers/people shared ownership of the natural resources, industrial output, agricultural harvests, the military complex and the scientific discoveries and accomplishments that transpired in their nation.   In other words, the people would ultimately share and administer the re sources; therefore, they could not be exploited by an elite, upper class.  . Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Why the October Revolution Failed?" essay for you Create order In volume six of Lenins Collected Works, he expressed, We want to achieve a new and better order of society: in this new and better society there must be neither rich nor poor; all will have to work. Not a handful of rich people, but all the working people must enjoy the fruits of their common labour. Machines and other improvements must serve to ease the work of all and not to enable a few to grow rich at the expense of millions and tens of millions of people. This new and better society is called socialist society. The teachings about this society are called socialism (Lenin 366).   In theory, the socialism that Lenin wrote about was going to form an egalitarian society where the whole population enjoyed fundamental fairness, but instead, the revolution produced an intolerant, Communist Party dictatorship.   Lenins desire to eliminate competing political parties, Stalins campaign to modernize the USSR and outside pressures from competing political ideologies all contributed to the revolutions failure to produce a truly, classless society.   Today, theres a well-established adage, timing is everything, and it applies the October Revolutions failure to produce a utopian society.   The October Revolution was not a spontaneous uprising.   The proletariats didnt collectively unify to overthrow an industrialist sector that was exploiting them.   Instead, Lenin made a command decision in the fall of 1917, that the timing was perfect for the Bolsheviks to make their move.   He believed it was imperative for them to seize control from the provisional government that was established after the Tsars abdication of the throne.   He goaded Leon Trotsky, who was better known among the workers, into organizing a Bolshevik attack on the provisional government on October 24-25 (November 6-7), 1917 (Cole, Symes 842).   The opposition did not quietly go away nor did the Bolsheviks extend an olive branch to them; therefore, a bloody civil war ensued that was rife with acts of violence on all sides.   In November of 1917, the B olsheviks held an election that was previously planned by the provisional government.   They didnt win the election, but they didnt relinquish control. Instead, they tightened their stranglehold on power by further terrorizing any individual or groups they deemed to be a threat.   One measure of the shattered solidarity was the rise of the Cheka and Red Terror.   The Cheka was an internal security police which grew to number 50,000 operatives during the Civil War.   Its attempts to maintain order, suppress opposition, and root out counter-revolution seems to have claimed about 50,000 victims (Faulkner 232-233).   Lenins revolutionist party eventually prevailed, but they had not won the hearts and minds of all the citizens.   They were fearful of losing power and they instituted an elite political party that controlled almost every aspect of the populations lives.   The Communist Party essentially filled the power void that was once occupied by the Tsar.   They decided who the police or army would move against and what privileges people would or wouldnt experience.   Lenin died on January 24, 1924 after suffering multiple strokes.   A true dictatorship of the proletariat (workers) never existed under his guidance.   Instead, he left behind a p olice state that protected himself, the Communist party and their authority to rule the country.   The single party system would further subjugate the population under the leadership of Lenins successor, Joseph Stalin. Once Stalin assumed leadership, he began implementing his agenda.   He recognized that the Soviet Union was considerably less productive than the worlds leading economic and industrial powers.   He badly wanted to close the gap, so he instituted a series of five year plans to help the USSR catch up. He ended Lenins hybrid socialist/capitalist NEP (New Economic Policy) that allowed people to own property, farm their land and conduct a reasonable amount of capitalist trade.   His vision was to collectivize farming and to industrialize the country.   Peasants were reluctant to give up their property and peacefully join in the collectivization effort, so the Politburo ordered the military to force them into submission.   The party was successful in breaking the kulaks (peasants who opposed collectivization); however, their success was costly.   Displacing the peasants for the sake of collective farming proved to be counterproductive, because they were not incentivized to work hard and produce adequate food for a society that mistreated them.   In 1932 the country was in chaos.   The collectivization policies of the Stalin Revolution had uprooted society, destroyed formerly prominent social groups and classes, and abolished private property and markets in favor of a new, untested, and constantly changing form of socialism.   Millions of peasants and urban proprietors were angry and confused; millions of others had been killed or had died of starvation (Getty, Naumov 573).   The October Revolution had taken place fifteen years earlier, but the utopian, classless society Lenin described was not yet close to existing in the Soviet Union.   The USSR was not a dictatorship of the proletariat, it was a dictatorship of the Communist party and whomever was leading it at the time.   Lenin built a police state to ward off counterrevolution attempts and maintain the Bolsheviks power.   Stalin used that apparatus to purge his perceived enemies by killing or imprisoning them.   He capitalized on the states power and arrested approximately 3.5 million people and forced them to perform free labor for his series of 5 year plans.   Horrible acts of terror took place during Stalins reign, but there were some positive things that occurred as well.   The industrialization effort was greatly successful and the USSR was rapidly transformed from an agrarian society into a relevant, world power.   Another stand out achievement was the populations improvement with respect to education. Fortunately, the Soviet Union industrialized, because the country would soon find itself embroiled in World War Two.   They signed a pact with Hitler early on, but ended up joining with the Allies to defeat Germany.   They successfully stalled the Nazis advance on the eastern front and forced them to retreat while the United States and other allies assaulted the German army from the western flank.   Once the Axis powers surrendered and the war was over, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as the worlds superpowers.  Ã‚   A long, and expensive Cold War between the two countries began and continued for the next four decades.   Each side wanted to exert their influence on post war Europe and the eventually the entire globe.   In Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union used a combination of diplomatic pressure, political infiltration, and military power to create peoples republics sympathetic to Moscow (Cole, Symes 938-939).   The satellite countries formed a shield tha t protected the Soviet Unions borders from external assaults.   Maintaining a powerful sphere of influence made sense from an ideological and military perspective, but it was extremely taxing on their economy.   For decades, they participated in arms races and fought proxy wars against their western ideological enemies. Oftentimes, that meant too many resources were committed elsewhere while severe economic conditions were taking place internally.   By the 1980s, groups in the satellite countries started protesting the Soviet Union and the Communist Partys control over their lives.   The Soviets didnt use military power to suppress their protest and the Soviet USSR eventually collapsed in 1991.   That was the end of the Bolsheviks October revolution. It successfully replaced the Tsars monarchy with a world class, military power, but it never produced a classless society.   The leadership always imposed their will on the people and they enjoyed a better lifestyle than the rank and file citizens.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   According to author Mervyn Matthews, The Bolsheviks proclaimed aim was to create a new egalitarian society, free from the blatant injustices of capitalism, and devoid of any specifically privileged group. The Soviet people, whose fate is the concern of everyone of humanitarian views, suffered a massive deprivation of liberty in the name of this ideal.   Dreams of popular control of government were finally repressed when the Constituent Assembly was closed (Matthews 166).   The workers never self-governed, owned and administered the resources, nor did they enjoy a utopian society.   They were not exploited by big corporations or wealthy industrialist, but they were under the control of the Communist Party leadership.   Lenin, Stalin and the succeeding leaders of the Communist Party all had agendas that were dictated by their present circumstances.   Lenin knew the fledgling Bolshevik government faced many internal threats from rival political entities; therefore, he was moti vated to do what he deemed necessary to secure the viability of the revolution.   Stalin believed that the Soviet Unions long-term success was predicated on its ability to stand up to external threats; therefore, he was willing to perpetrate atrocities to make the country a relevant, world power.   The remaining leaders were entangled in a cold war with the United States and other ideological enemies, so they were not concerned with implementing the ideals of the revolution.   Instead, they were concerned about retaining power and spreading communism.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Works Cited Cole, Joshua, and Carol Symes. Western Civilizations: Their History Their Culture. combined, W.W. Norton Company, 2014. Faulkner, Neil. The Revolution Besieged. A Peoples History of the Russian Revolution, Pluto Press, London, 2017, pp. 223-236. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1k85dnw.17. Matthews, Mervyn. Privilege in the Soviet Union (Routledge Revivals): A Study of Elite Life-Styles under Communism Routledge, 2012. Getty, J.Arch, and Oleg V. Naumov. The Road to Terror: Stalin and the Self-Destruction of the Bolsheviks, 1932-1939. Yale University Press, 1999. Lenin, Vladimir Ilich.To the Rural Poor, Lenin Collected Works.Progress Publishers, Moscow 1964.