Microeconomic Policy Essay Example for Free

Microeconomic Policy Essay The article identifies the major reasons why oil prices have become high and will remain high. Lynn Westfall, chief economist for Tesoro (TSO), suggests that the increase in the cost of crude per barrel leads to an increase in the prices of gasoline. The chief economist also suggests that the cost of investment for a new refinery would be at least $16 billion and would depend on several factors like pollution control, the cost of human labor, and the maintenance cost for the refineries. Moreover, the huge increase in global consumption levels has led to an increase in consumer demand and a lengthy process of extracting and refining of crude oil. In essence, the article conveys that the pending situation of high gasoline prices will not be resolved overnight and that the existing social conditions especially the presence of legal sanctions and proscriptions will suppress the possibility of maintaining the status quo or of lowering todays dizzying oil prices. Primary Economic Elements Mechanical enthusiasm scaling from simple lawn mowers to complex factory engines, as well as the trend for travelling and other interests of the like has thoroughly mounted the demand for gas. Given with such instances, the production of gas has been failing to meet that demand, so the anticipated and foreseeable price ceiling is not able to reach the ideal economic state of equilibrium. According to the analysis discussed in the article, it is evident that the catastrophically-triggered instances in the past few years have gravely affected the circulation of natural resources and minerals. The statement given by the chief of Tesoro Corporation (a company engaging in marketing and refining petroleum products in the United States) that the rapid increase of gas prices, ranging from a shoot up of over $3. 20/gallon, commenced the problem which is now taking occurrence in the arena of gas production. Moreover, the fact that consumers have spent approximately $20 billion in this year alone, making the parallel cost of crude somewhere between $30 and $70, is a manifestation that production has depleted at the rate of 2. 5 refineries every two years. Because of the disproportionate rise and fall of demand and supply, the problem is burdening contemporary consumers. Hence, the predicted remedy for such an imbalance in the economic symmetry is taken from the idea of the construction of new refineries. However, constructing new refineries is rather costly in terms of materials, labor, and time. Gas companies are reluctant to take such risks. As for recent analysis of supply and demand, analysts have suggested that there are still 150 grades of gasoline fit enough for use in various states. However, the fear of running down the supply by using these grades is legitimate since refineries need the precise ratio to continue operation. Importing more oil only increases the problem because of the 13% tax on importation. Conclusion Prices on fuel outrageously mount, while the production of supply is belligerently met. It is evident that there is an economic imbalance. the government should seek economic stability to assuage societys fear of a scarcity of resources. However, that scarcity will most likely occur. Such scarcity will lead to poverty (Why Gas Prices Will Stay High, 2007). therefore, the government should take action as soon as possible. Economic stability depends on a balance between production and consumption they should increase and decrease in proportion. What one takes, one must sustain. With that equilibrium, there will still be more for the future. Another issue in this mix is the sustainability of resources. Numerous government agencies are now focusing on the environment and on natural threats that are beyond human control (McPhee) in an effort to determine the appropriate amount for the restoration of lost or damaged properties, specifically when it comes to mineral resources destroyed by natural catastrophes. The change of the price of oil is dependent upon the trade specifications or laws stated in a states contract on import and export. Its primary goal is to stabilize the exchange of goods or energy for the benefit of the benefactor. The changes also depend on the providers ability to produce. The less a resource is available, the higher its cost in the market.

How Motherhood Impacts On Womens Career Choices Social Work Essay

How Motherhood Impacts On Womens Career Choices Social Work Essay In most contemporary industrialised nations, womens participation rates have been rising. Since the 1980s, womens employment has become more continuous, even among mothers with children. (Lewis, 2009:27) However, despite of the optimistic rising employment rate among women, the career break due to motherhood still has a major impact on womens careers. Some women opt for part-time jobs after giving birth to child/children while some might exit the labour till their children reach school ages. This essay aims to examine the impact of motherhood on womens career in terms of womens work and care decision and type of works mothers do under different contingencies. As Windebank (2001:269) points out that there are great variations in mothers employment participation rates and career patterns across countries, this essay mainly focuses on mothers career choices and patterns in two countries, namely Sweden (a generous welfare country which striving for womens equality) and the United Kingdom . The first part of the essay briefly talks about the general impacts of motherhood on womens career followed by the descriptions of womens career choices (e.g. work or care decision) and career patterns (e.g. full-time VS. part-time, types of work mothers do) in the two countries mentioned. In the final part, the possible explanations to the patterns found in both countries will be addressed, such as the economic incentive, social norms, institutional context, and womens education level. And the essay will be concluded by summarizing the impacts of motherhood on womens career and discussing its implications for policy makers. Motherhoods Impact on Womens Career The evidence (Vlasblom and Schippers, 2006:335) shows that motherhood could have impacts on womens participation rate both before and after the childbirth. In their article, the female participation rates in all three countries, namely the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom, have declined since 12 months before the childbirth and never return to the original level 24 months after the childbirth. Hewlett (2005) also states that 37% of women take some kind of break from work to achieve appropriate work-life balance. Although 93% of those women who taken a break after give a birth to children want to re-enter the job market, only 74% are successful, among these only 40% return to full time work. The statistics suggests that motherhood does affect womens career to a different degrees and it could last over a long period of time. In general, motherhood itself presents four choices for women. First, women could remain in their full-time jobs after giving birth to their child/children. Second, they could choose a more flexible job or a part-time work to achieve work life balance after becoming a mother. Third, women could choose to exit the labour force permanently for their families. Forth, women could leave the labour market temporarily and return to work after a while (e.g. when their child/children reach school age) (Vlasblom and Schippers, 2006:330). However, women who take the last option might find difficult to return to the labour market. As Joshi et al (1996) point out that losing of tie with the labour market due to the complete exit could depreciate womens human capital and make future entrance difficult. Therefore, the longer a mother is out of the labour force, the harder it is for her to return to work. Mothers Career Choices and Patterns in Sweden Being one of the most generous welfare states, Sweden is often regarded as a role model in terms of striving for equal women rights. In fact, most Swedish women work fulltime prior to give birth and the majority of women do return to paid work (either long part-time or full-time) after the maternity leave. According to the Statistics Sweden (a leading Swedish official statistics website), there are more than 80 percent of Swedish mothers in the labour market by the year of 1999. The high return rate is probably attributed to its long paid parental leave. According to the Swedish Law, all parents (employed prior to give birth) are entitled to 12 months leave with approximately 3,600 Pounds income replacement (up to 80% of their income before childbirth) plus 90 days of Guaranteed days with 6 pounds per day. Besides, parents rights to return to labour market are guaranteed by Swedish labour regulations. (Bjornberg, 2002:34) These policies not only help women to reconcile the work and c are balance during the most difficult period (with small child under 1 year old), but also encourage women to take part in workforce after maternity work by ensuring them better chances of being employed. As a result, child under 1 year is usually taken care at home by their parents (mainly mothers). And among children aged 1-6 years, institutional care instead of home care is commonly chosen by Swedish parents as that most mothers could return to their jobs afterwards. The statistics (Statistics Sweden, 2008) shows that 86% of children aged 1-6 years are in municipal day care in the year 2007. Based on the observations, Bjornberg (2002:39) suggests that the traditional male breadwinner model with mothers as housewives is not supported in Sweden rather a dual-earner model is more common and acceptable in Sweden. The high return rate does not occur among mothers with one child but among mothers with more than one child as well. As the Swedish policy states that the parent is able to enjoy the same insured income level if the next child-birth is within 30 months of the previous child. Thus, it makes possible for mothers with more than one child to return to labour market after maternity leave without worrying about the costs and losing their working rights. It is interesting to note that many returned mothers in Sweden choose to start work as part-timers. Traditionally, part-time work often associated with characteristics such as low pay, no benefits and low status, however, part-time work in Sweden has a different meaning. The long working hours (e.g. 30 hours per week) gives part-time a non-marginalized feature in Sweden. And part-time working mothers are generally treated similarly to their full-time colleagues and able to have more autonomy in their time (Sundstrom and Duvander, 2000). Fagan and Lallement (2000:45) indicate that part-time workers have integrated into Swedish labour market and received equal treatment in labour law and wage structures. Mothers Career Choices and Patterns in the United Kingdom Pursuing to be a liberal welfare state, the U.K. government has also come up with explicit policies to reconcile paid work and family life in terms of childcare services, childcare leave and flexible working hours since 1997. (Lewis and Campbell, 2007:4) Evidence shows that the newly introduced family-friendly initiatives do have certain effects in changing the British labour market situations. The mother participation rate in the market has increased from 24% in 1979 to 67% in 1999 (Dench et al., 2002) although among returned mothers, many engage in part-time rather than full-time jobs. Statistics (Social Trends, 2005) shows that 40% of women aged sixteen to fifty-nine with children are in a part-time job. However, the part-time work has a different definition in UK compare to that of Sweden in terms of the working hours. Part-time mothers only work about 16 hours per week in U.K. (Bishop, 2004) which is much shorter than 30+ hours in Sweden. In the aspect of public childcare system , it is not as popular as that of Sweden due to the poor qualification of childcare staff in UK and a lack of funding. (Lewis and Campbell, 2007) In general, instead of the traditional male breadwinner model or Swedish dual-earner model, Britain parents are taking a one-and-a-half earner model, which fathers work long hours (48+ hours per week) while mothers work short hours (about 16 hours). (Christine and Tang, 2004) Therefore, atypical job (e.g. part-time work) and shift parenting are common in UK. (Lavalle et al., 2002) Explanations to the Patterns Found Based on the findings of both Sweden and UK, it is clear that motherhood affects womens career not only in the form of career breaks during childbirth but also in terms of the after-effects on balancing work and childcare. There are several similarities found among working mothers in both countries, for instance, both countries have a relatively high mother return rate. However, part-time mothers in Sweden are seemingly to enjoy a better benefit coverage, status and pay compared to mothers in U.K. In the following part of the essay, the reasons account for the different patterns observed will be discussed and whether the high return rate reflects womens true preference between work and family will be explored. According to Hakim (2000), the difference in work and care decision made by mothers is determined by each womans preference. However, many researchers criticize Hakims statement by showing other factors which restricting womens decisions, such as the income level of the household, institutional context, social norm and womens education level. Household Income Level Household income level directly limits mothers decision on work and care. According to Vlasblom and Schippers (2006), mothers are more likely to go back to labour market if the benefit for participation is larger than its opportunity costs. For instance, most mothers in Sweden choose to work as womens income in a household is as important as their partners in order to maintain a high living standard as close as possible to those of households without children.( Bjornberg, 2002:36) In the case of U.K., the decrease in family subsidy in tax system during the 1990s has made childcare more costly, (Sainsbury, 1999) as a result, many British mothers chose to return to workforce during that time. However, unlike Sweden, high quality and affordable public childcare is not widely spread in U.K. According to Taylors survey (2003), there are only 8 % of organizations offering financial assistance with childcare costs and 3% organizations providing childcare for their employees. Thus, the lack of childcare service and the high costs associated with childcare outsourcing for working parents has explained the increasing number of part-time working mothers and the shifting childcare arrangement between parents in U.K. Social Norms Under the traditional male breadwinner model, mothers are expected to become housewives while fathers will be the only income source for the household. However, as time passes by, the social norm has been changed and working mothers are more acceptable in both countries (Vlasblom and Schippers, 2006). And in Sweden, women to have a gainful employment before childbirth is essential as the replacement income during 12 months maternity leave is determined by womens salary level prior to giving birth. Those mothers who were housewives do not receive any income benefit during the first year of child care (Bjornberg, 2002). Such policies, to a certain extent, have reinforced the womens importance in the job market and increased the acceptance of womens role as workers in general. However, in both countries, the increasing in women participation rate and social acceptance of working mothers does not match the changes in their male spouses behaviours. Gershuny (2000) points out that mens participation in unpaid work is much lower than womens participation rate in paid work. According to Elvin-Nowak and Thomsson (2001:432), fathers work schedule is considered as fixed and unalterable and mothers concern about childrens well-being more than fathers do, as a result, the negotiations come to rest between the woman and her conscience rather than between the mother and the father. Uneven distribution of domestic chores, especially childcare is still prevalent nowadays. In U.K., the long working hours of men has left the childcare to mothers mainly. Without the help from their spouses, it is more difficult for mothers to combine the work and childcare and thus, full-time work is often not an available option for many British mothers. The situation in Sweden is relativ ely better than that in U.K. due to the introduction of compulsory Daddy Month policy. However, Even in country like Sweden, fathers only spend just half the time in taking care of children as their partners do (Gornick and Meyers, 2008:318). Institutional Context Institutional context is one of the most critical factor in shaping womens work and care decision. Often, the change in mothers behaviour is as a result of change in institutional policies, such as the reduced in family subsidy mentioned above. Both British government and Swedish government are aiming to promote waged labour through its policies, like extension of maternity leave, childcare provision or flexible working-hour practices, in order to attract mothers into workforce and to increase the labour supply and tax base (OECD, 2005). However, these two countries have varied degree of success in obtaining the goal. The difference in institutional policies explains why the part-time mothers in Sweden could focus on their work better than those of U.K. First of all, the public childcare is well-developed and widely used in Sweden, therefore, most Swedish women are able to work long hour part-time or full-time job without worrying lack of proper care for their children. Besides, the introduction of Daddy Month in Sweden has increased the fathers participation in childcare task and thus, reduces the burden from mothers. According to the statistics, 77% of father in Sweden took up the whole month leave in 1995. However, the formal childcare is either too expensive or poorly organized in U.K. which forces most British mothers to care children privately and restricts their career development. Besides, the long working hours for British fathers makes sharing private childcare more difficult and often mothers have to change their working hours in order to suit their partners more rigid schedules for childcare. Thus, mothers career in U.K. is more likely to be disturbed than their counterpart in Sweden. Womens Educational Level Besides the differences in external factors, such as the policies, income and social norms, the educational level among women also affect the degree of motherhoods impacts on their careers. The educational level here not only refers to the initial education (Portela, 2001), but also the working experiences and personal capabilities a woman possesses. Elvin-Nowak and Thomsson (2001:407) suggests that mothers with different social background have different motherhood experiences and interpreted the meaning of the motherhood differently. In general, low-skilled female workers are more likely to exit the labour force for their children than those high-skilled workers (Cantillon at al., 2001). And Hofferth et al.s (1996) study is consistent with Cantillons findings, showing that high-skilled women tend to use formal childcare while low-skilled women tend to provide childcare themselves. As a result, high-skilled women are more likely to commit themselves into their work without worrying about the childcare. At the same time, with the high earnings gained from work, they are able to afford the formal childcare while for the low-skilled women who cannot afford the formal childcare with the low earnings, staying at home to look after their children becomes the only option for them. In UK, 75 percent of highly educated women with children aged under 5 years old are actively participate in paid work while only 24 percent of women without qualifications are in workforce. (EOR, 2001) Similar results are found among Swedish wo men too. Besides, Sundstrom and Duvander (2000) found that parents with higher educational level are more likely to share the domestic tasks including childcare than couples with lower educational level. Therefore, it confirms the view that women whose level of education is high is more likely to take part in work. Conclusion This essay has examined the motherhood impact on womens career choice and patterns in Sweden and the U.K. The findings show that both countries have an increasing mother participation rate. But despite of the optimistic rising working mother numbers in both countries, working mothers careers are still affected by the motherhood. Not only that full-time work option is no longer available for many mothers due to the burden of childcare, part-time working mothers are generally more difficult to concentrate on their jobs, especially in the U.K where formal provision of formal childcare system is not well-developed. Besides, possible factors, such as household income level, social norms, institutional policies and womens educational level, which restrict mothers work and care decision, are explored in the essay. However, there are many other factors which could shape the motherhoods impact on womens career, for instance, the number of children. Women with smaller family size have less car eer breaks and spend less time on childcare, thus they have better opportunity to channel their energy into paid work (Gill et al., 2000). Besides, the rising divorce rate and high teenage pregnancy rate result an increase in singe-mother families. Motherhoods impact on single mother family could be different from normal families. After analyzing the possible factors which affect working mothers careers, how their accessibility to the labour market and status could be increased is the key challenge that should be addressed. Based on Sweden and the U.K. cases, it is clear that institutional policies could a powerful tool for creating a better environment for working mothers. For instance, the Daddy Month introduced by Swedish government has been successful in tackling the unequal division of work among men and women and this policy could be learnt by other countries too. In sum, in order to increase working mothers full-time participation rate and achieve better work-life balance in the society, governments should invest more on the institutional policies. In another word, following the concept of diversity/mainstreaming, government should change the focus from trying to fit working mothers into the society to changing the society/organization/culture to embrace differences by making working mothers issue centr al to every aspect of the policy. Word: 2930

The Brown Wasps Essay -- essays research papers

The Brown Wasps   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Loren Eiseley’s Essay The Brown Wasps, Eiseley shows that humans and animals act in similar ways. He says that humans and animals cling to the things they know very strongly. Sometimes they even act as if nothing even changed. Humans and animals tend to want to return to things that they are familiar to as they grow older. Loren Eiseley shows how humans and animals try to cling or recreate an important or favorite place. This essay is about memory, home, places in time. Loren Eiseley does a great job describing the place that he is talking about to make the reader visualize and make them feel like they are there. Some examples are the old men, the brown wasps, the mice, the pigeons, the blind man, and even himself. He recalls his childhood in Nebraska and how the train stations used to be and how the pigeons would fly around waiting for people boarding the trains to feed them. Loren Eiseley once planted a tree with his father, when he was a boy and he ac ts like it has been there the whole time. Years later he returned to the house where they had planted the tree and realized that the tree he had been imaging all his life was gone.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning Eiseley describes the appearance of the train station and tells of the men that sleep on the benches. The lonely old men come into the train station for shelter and to get some rest. Whether they sleep for an hour or just take up space on the benches, t...

How Miller Uses Reverend Hale in The Crucible Essay -- Arthur Miller T

How Miller Uses Reverend Hale in The Crucible Arthur Miller describes Reverend Hale as nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual. An intellectual is usually thought of as someone with his head in the clouds, who spends so much time thinking great thoughts that he's inept in the real world of human emotions. There is some truth in this image of John Hale. He knows a lot about witchcraft; but he knows almost nothing about the people of Salem or the contention that is wracking the town. How pompous and arrogant he must sound when he says, â€Å"Have no fear now--we shall find [the Devil] out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!† And yet he has every reason to be confident. To Hale, demonology is an exact science, for he has spent his whole life in the study of it. â€Å"We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise.† But he is not just a bookworm, he is a minister of God. His goal is light, goodness and its preservation, and he is excited by being called upon to face what may be a bloody fight with the Fiend himself. All his years of preparation may now finally be put to the test. He fails, and the evil that follows his first appearance totally overwhelms him. Is the fault in his character? Is he not as smart as he thinks he is? Is he a fool, whose meddling lit the fuse to the bomb that blew up the town? Much of the play supports this answer. What looks like success at the end of Act I soon carries Hale out of his depth, and every time he appears after that he is less sure of himself. At the end of the play he has been completely crushed: he, a minister of the light, has come to do the Devil's work. â€Å"I come to counsel Christians they should be... ...ocence. In October 1692 someone accused his wife of witchcraft and where Hale had been rather forward in the prosecution of the supposed witches he now came to believe that spectral evidence was not enough to convict on. He then began to argue against the trials. The effects of Hale’s character and action helped progressed the play and spark off the witch trials. By his arrogance in the beginning of Act 1 where â€Å"he feels the pride of the specialists whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for. This also goes to show that Hale has one of the tragic hero’s flaws, which is arrogance. Hale does try to redeem himself by changing his view about witchcraft. Hale tried to save John Proctor’s life giving him advice and reasoning him, but to avail. Proctor was hung. Hale became the audience’s voice in the end saying the witch trials were wrong. How Miller Uses Reverend Hale in The Crucible Essay -- Arthur Miller T How Miller Uses Reverend Hale in The Crucible Arthur Miller describes Reverend Hale as nearing forty, a tight-skinned, eager-eyed intellectual. An intellectual is usually thought of as someone with his head in the clouds, who spends so much time thinking great thoughts that he's inept in the real world of human emotions. There is some truth in this image of John Hale. He knows a lot about witchcraft; but he knows almost nothing about the people of Salem or the contention that is wracking the town. How pompous and arrogant he must sound when he says, â€Å"Have no fear now--we shall find [the Devil] out if he has come among us, and I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face!† And yet he has every reason to be confident. To Hale, demonology is an exact science, for he has spent his whole life in the study of it. â€Å"We cannot look to superstition in this. The Devil is precise.† But he is not just a bookworm, he is a minister of God. His goal is light, goodness and its preservation, and he is excited by being called upon to face what may be a bloody fight with the Fiend himself. All his years of preparation may now finally be put to the test. He fails, and the evil that follows his first appearance totally overwhelms him. Is the fault in his character? Is he not as smart as he thinks he is? Is he a fool, whose meddling lit the fuse to the bomb that blew up the town? Much of the play supports this answer. What looks like success at the end of Act I soon carries Hale out of his depth, and every time he appears after that he is less sure of himself. At the end of the play he has been completely crushed: he, a minister of the light, has come to do the Devil's work. â€Å"I come to counsel Christians they should be... ...ocence. In October 1692 someone accused his wife of witchcraft and where Hale had been rather forward in the prosecution of the supposed witches he now came to believe that spectral evidence was not enough to convict on. He then began to argue against the trials. The effects of Hale’s character and action helped progressed the play and spark off the witch trials. By his arrogance in the beginning of Act 1 where â€Å"he feels the pride of the specialists whose unique knowledge has at last been publicly called for. This also goes to show that Hale has one of the tragic hero’s flaws, which is arrogance. Hale does try to redeem himself by changing his view about witchcraft. Hale tried to save John Proctor’s life giving him advice and reasoning him, but to avail. Proctor was hung. Hale became the audience’s voice in the end saying the witch trials were wrong.

Interpretating the Title of A Midsummer Nights Dream :: A Midsummer Nights Dream, William Shakespeare

The title of the play A Midsummer Night's Dream can have many interpretations. I will give you my thoughts on the relationship of the title to the different situations that take place in the play. These interpretations give insight and overall meaning to the thematic nature of Shakespeare's work. Although I am only going to describe three interpretations of the title, there are many other meanings to the title. The first interpretation of the title of the play that comes to my mind was the magical dream-like night in the woods, when Robin Goodfellow and Oberon, the king of the fairies, used several kinds of love potions, and messed everything up. When the lovers awoke in the morning they thought all of the ridiculous things that had happened or been said the night before had just all been a dream. However, if Oberon had been more specific in his directions to Robin, "a sweet Athenian lady is in love with a disdainful youth. Anoint his eyes... thou shalt know the man by the Athenian garments he hath on," all of this could have been avoided and everything would have been fine (page 53). This gives insight to the thematic nature of the work by setting a magical like atmosphere for the lovers to be in. The second interpretation could be of the dream Bottom thought he had when Titania, the queen of the fairies, had fallen in love with him when he looked like an ass. He wasn't sure whether it was a dream or real because "the eye of man hath not heard, the ear of man hath not seen, man's hand is not able to taste, his tongue to conceive, nor his heart to report what [his] dream was" (page 135). The thematic nature of this is that there is no real explanation for love. Even Bottom himself said, "Reason and love keep little company together nowadays" (page 79). The third interpretation could have been that the entire play had been a dream. Shakespeare might have written down the play through the eyes of Robin Goodfellow. Since Robin was involved in almost all the scenes, maybe he had just fallen asleep one day in the woods and dreamed up all this love and magic.

To what extent was the Crimean War (1853 †1856) ‘disastrously planned and poorly executed’ (Economist 2014)

Introduction This essay examines the claim that the Crimean War (1853-1856) was ‘disastrously planned and poorly executed’ (Economist 2014). The first section looks at the circumstances out of which the war arose, providing some background to the conflict while suggesting that from its inception the war was characterised by errors in judgment and miscommunication. The next section proceeds to discuss the many naval blunders that took place during the war, looking both at the Crimea as well as the less commonly discussed Far East. This is followed by a consideration of the land operations of the conflict, paying particular attention to actions of the British. The analysis then turns to the provisioning of the Allied and Russian forces, as well as the quality of services such as medical care. Finally, the last section briefly considers the consequences of the war for the parties involved. It is concluded that the Crimean War was characterised by an unusually large number of errors in t erms of planning and execution. Poor planning and organisation can arguably be seen from the outbreak of war. The desire to access the Mediterranean had been a long-standing ambition of Russia’s by the mid-19th century (Economist 2014; Lambert 2011). Thus the weakness of the Ottoman Empire in the period was seized upon, partially concealed, of course, by excuses about the persecution of Christian minorities in the Ottoman Empire. The backdrop to this was a broader dispute about who should rule the Holy Land: Orthodox Russia or Catholic France (Clough 1964). The Turkish-Russian dispute included several lacklustre, abortive attempts at peaceful resolution through diplomacy, after which the Russian Army invaded Moldavia and Wallachia (parts of modern-day Moldova and Romania) on 2 July 1853, sinking the Turkish fleet at Sinope in 1853. This was followed by a Turkish declaration of war on 5 October of the same year (Economist 2014). However, the actions of Russia were to an extent the result of a miscalculation. In spite of a caustic public reaction in Britain and France, the Allied response to the invasion was a cautious one to begin with, characterised by dithering, uncertain diplomacy (Economist 2014). This ‘misled Russia into believing that it could continue its aggression against the Ottomans without consequences’, and Britain and France unexpectedly declared war in March 1854 (Economist 2014). The conflict then escalated when the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont joined the war against Russia the following year. A degree of poor coordination and misunderstanding can therefore be seen from the outset. For Britain and France, this took the form of confused, uncertain policy; for Russia, it was a misinterpretation of the likelihood that other parties would join the war (Lambert 2011). Clough (1964: 917) makes this point succinctly, arguing that war arose from ‘Napoleon’s search for presti ge; Nicholas’s quest for control over the Straits; his naive miscalculation of the probable reaction of the European powers; the failure of those powers to make their position and the pressure of public opinion in Britain and Constantinople at crucial moments’. For Clough (1964), therefore, the war was a disorganised, poorly planned shambles from the very beginning. It was the product not only of confusion but also of the hubris and inflated ambitions of the leaders of Europe at the time. It seems probable that the war arose out of somewhat chaotic circumstances and was therefore tainted from the start, but the question of whether this pattern continued remains. The actual combat side of the war appears to have been shambolic in many cases. This is suggested by the first events of the war. Despite being unyielding in the face of Russian aggression, it seems that Turkey was not prepared for the eventuality of conflict (Economist 2014; Bloy 2002a). When the Russian fleet arrived off Sinope on the southern coast of the Black Sea, the Turkish Admiral was unprepared for battle. His squadron was relatively weak, consisting of only 6 frigates, 3 corvettes, and two small paddle steamers. Additionally, his largest guns were only 24-pounders, and his troops were poorly trained and unready for war. By comparison, the Russian fleet under Admiral Nakhimov was ‘vastly superior in numbers, size and gunpower’ (Brown 1989). The full extent of the imbalance is revealed by the fact that with the exception of one ship the entire Turkish fleet, including 3000 sailors, was destroyed, with the Russians suffering negligible losses. The Turks were not prepared to defend their territories, and probably did not have the ability to do so in any case (Brown 1989). The dramatic outcome of this conflict was a great shock. Few in the navy or elsewhere had anticipated the devastating effect of shells on wooden ships, and as Brown (1989) notes, ‘Naval and public opinion showed surprise, shock and horror at the casualties’. Therefore, even at this early there is evidence of poor preparation and a lack of understanding of how the war would be conducted on the part of the Turks if not the Russians. The same cannot quite be said of the British and French. While many critics expressed shock at the event of Sinope, preparations had been made. The British had tested shells against the Prince George and the French had done likewise at Garve. Moreover, in response to the success of the Russian navy the French began the construction of heavily fortified armament batteries for coastal attack. That this was prior to the declaration of war suggests a degree of naval preparation on the part of the Allies (Lambert 2011). Nevertheless, there were serious shortcomings with the British fleet in particular that suggest both poor execution and planning. In the first place, it was wrongly believed that the Russian Baltic fleet might invade the United Kingdom, which turned out to be unjustified and stalled operations for over a year (Brown 1989). This was a strategic error and what it suggests about execution and planning can be debated. Additionally, when the British fleet went into the conflict it had problems with manpower. For example, admirals were promoted by seniority, which meant they tended to be older than was desirable. More importantly, many vessels were undermanned due to the poor pay and conditions on ships. When Britain declared war these problems had yet to be resolved, which indicates a distinct lack of preparedness (Brown 1989). In recent decades it has been argued by historians that Britain was guilty of extremely poor naval strategy, which would amount to a poor execution of the war on their part. Lambert (1990, cited in Fuller 2014) is among the most famous to put forward this thesis. He argued that ‘the real war could have been decided†¦in the Baltic, and won by the full might of a modern maritime power against a continental one’ (Fuller 2014: 2). When the strength of the British navy at this time, in terms of size and technology, is considered, this argument seems like a strong one. The British navy was notably ahead of its counterparts insofar as it included large numbers mortar vessels and ironclad batteries. Lambert believed that Cronstadt would definitely have fallen to the heavily armed British flotilla, and that the Russian realisation of this fact what forced peace in the end (Fuller 2014). Perhaps, then, the failure of the British to fully utilise its navy’s potential in the Baltic amounts to a strategic blunder. It is doubtful, however, that this part of the war was as poorly executed as Lambert argued. As Fuller (2014) notes, unilateral action (the so-called ‘Great Armament’) against Cronstadt might have alienated the French, who were on poor terms with the British. It might also have driven up the cost of the war to unsustainable levels, stretching the economy to breaking point. This much is suggested by a review in 1856 of the ‘Great Armament’, which noted that Britain could not provide any ‘proof of unabated strength and unexhausted resources’ (Fuller 2014: 38). This warning was echoed by Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Chancellor of the Exchequer in Palmerston’s ministry, who expressed concern that ‘our financial prospect is very bad, a declining revenue, rising prices, a large loan wanted which will be got on bad terms, and more money lent to Sardinia and Turkey’ (Fuller 2014: 38). The so-called missed opportunities in the Baltic, therefore, do not suggest poor planning and execution. Nevertheless, one might make the case that the poor financial prospect of Britain by the end of the war suggests a lack of preparation. Another line of argument, directed once again at the British, focuses on naval operations in the Pacific. Stephan (1969: 257), for example, describes the ‘tragi-comic nature of tactical operations in the Far East’. He notes that despite the overwhelming superiority of the Allied naval forces in around China and the Pacific, almost no headway was made in that sphere. Indeed, the Allies had twenty five ships of war, including six steamers, while the Russians could muster only six which were later reduced to four (Stephan 1969). Poor execution and planning in this case manifested in two ways. In the first place, there was little coordination between the China and Pacific squadrons and the British and French fleets in the area. As Stephan (1969: 258) notes, ‘at the outbreak of war†¦the British Commander-in-Chief of the China Squadron, Rear Admiral Sir James Stirling, was sailing from Singapore to Hong Kong. The rest of the squadron lay scattered among the Chinese treaty ports such as Shanghai, Amoy, and Canton.’ This arose from the folly of dividing command of the fleet, as well as a lack of information about the location of both friend and foe. Indeed, Stephan (1969) suggests that Stirling (who rather tellingly was only appointed Commander-in-Chief on 4 March), probably did not even know the location of Russian warships. There is relatively clear evidence that naval operations were fairly shambolic on the part of both the British and the French. The same is true of events on land. The Battle of the River Alma on 20 Sept 1984, for example, saw the British forces charge headlong against a fortified Russian position, the result of a ‘lack of information and lack of reconnoitre’ which meant that a number of easier routes went undiscovered. The British forces only triumphed because such an imprudent move was considered too unlikely to prepare against. The aftermath, moreover, saw poor execution insofar as the cavalry did not pursue the routing Russians, allowing them instead to fortify Sevastopol and thus draw out the war. This was further compounded when disagreements between the French and British commanders delayed the march to Sevastopol by several weeks, after which the city was heavily defended. The most famous of the blunders was, of course, the Charge of Light Brigade during the Battl e of Balaclava on 25 Oct 1854, in which a brigade of 670 cavalry under Lord Cardigan attacked an extremely heavily fortified Russian redoubt. The now famous calamity during which much of the Light Brigade was destroyed was the product of a simple miscommunication but reflects deeper issues with the British forces related to internal divisions, inexperience, and the unwillingness to question absurd orders. All of this translates to poor execution in warfare. In examining the conduct and organisation of the war more generally it is obvious that there was little sophisticated coordination or planning (Sweetman 2001). At every level of the Allied war effort this was true. Within the British army, for example, the artillery and engineers were commanded by the Master-General of Ordinance while the infantry and cavalry were commanded by the Commander-in-Chief at the Horse Guards, Lord Raglan, which made coordinated planning difficult (Sweetman 2001). Then, of course, the Royal Navy was a separate branch of the military, answerable only to the Lords of the Admiralty. This chaotic set-up hindered the Allied offensive at Sevastopol, as Raglan could not coordinate the British forces on land and sea without undertaking time-consuming and inefficient communications (Sweetman 2001). This is not to mention the fact that there was no overall commander with the authority to coordinate the various national armies of each Allied nation, as had been the ca se during the Peninsula War with the Duke of Wellington. Thus, ‘the entire ramshackle structure palpably lacked coordination’, and it is important to appreciate ‘the constraints that this put on drawing up strategic plans or executing tactical operations’ (Sweetman 2001: 16). The Russians were less culpable in these terms, although there were many shortcomings in their preparations. Urry (1989) has noted how the Russian land forces suffered severely from poor provisioning, something which became particularly damaging in the summer of 1854. By September, there were 50, 000 Russian troops in the Crimean Peninsula, but the Provisions’ Commission was comparatively small and badly managed. Place this in the geographical context and it appears even more serious. Most of the Crimea was barren and sparsely populated, which meant that the troops and animals in the region were more reliant on their supply chain than usual (Urry 1989). The infrastructure necessary to support the Russian war effort was also inadequate in many cases. Roads were of poor quality and transport networks were badly run and unreliable, which contributed to the problem of supplying the troops. Even those supplies that did arrive had often spoiled because of the excessive time it took to transport goods. This situation was improved somewhat when the new Russian Commander, General Prince M. D. Gorchakov, saw the reorganisation of the supply system, but much of the damage was already done (Urry 1989; Curtiss 1979). This is a clear example of poor preparation on the part of the Russians. Poor planning in terms of supplies was also a major problem for the Allies. The most striking example of this occurred on 14 November 1854 when a ‘Great Storm’ sunk 30 ships in Balaclava harbour and destroyed ?3 million worth of supplies, coinciding with the onset of the harsh winter. The Allies, however, had only prepared for a summer campaign, and the results were catastrophic. As Bloy (2002a) put it: ‘The Allies†¦had to make do with summer equipment: tents, light clothes and so on. It took months to re-supply them. Men died of exposure, disease, starvation.’ The situation was compounded by poor organisation and management in the aftermath, as well as the natural barriers of substandard roads and communication networks (Bloy 2002a). As poor as the organisational side of the war was for all sides, the Russian war effort was comparatively impressive. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the Russian were operating under very difficult conditions. Firstly, the defence of Sevastopol was an inherently problematic affair. The size of Russia required a wide distribution of troops, especially in the Baltic to prevent the Allies landing there (Urry 1989). Then there was uncertainty regarding the neutrality of Prussia, and especially Austria, which meant that troops had to be stationed along Russia’s lengthy western border. The barren nature of much of the Russian territory, moreover, especially in the south, was an unfortunate barrier that hampered supply, communication, and the movement of troops (Urry 1989). As Urry (1989) argues, these factors contributed to difficulties experienced by the Russians, and in many cases even good preparation and execution would have made it difficult to overcome such facto rs. On the other, one might argue that the decision to start a war in the face of so many natural barriers should be regarded as a major strategic failure (Jones 2013; Bloy 2002a). One area in which all parties lacked planning was medical provision. The low quality of care afforded to wounded soldiers in British hospitals has become notorious primarily because of Florence Nightingale’s work as Scutari. The quality of French medical care was supposedly slightly better, as is attested by William Howard Russell: ‘Here the French are greatly our superiors. Their medical arrangements are extremely good†¦ and they have the help of the Sisters of Charity†¦. These devoted women are excellent nurses.’ Nevertheless, even this relied on volunteers (Curtiss 1966: 98). The Russians likewise had to rely on volunteers, who operated under the aegis of the Exaltation of the Cross (Curtiss 1966). Testimony from the brace medical volunteers in the Russians forces reveals the shoddy set-up in place, especially with regard to the convoy system designed to transport wounded soldiers. This was supposedly poorly supplied with blankets, had few good driver s, and little in the way of food and water (Curtiss 1979; Curtiss 1966). The Crimean War was concluded peacefully at the Treaty of Paris on 30 March 1856 after the fall of Sevastopol, probably to the advantage of all parties. The conflict itself was of little obvious benefit to any nation, with the possible exception of Turkey, which had captured possessions restored to it by Russia (Bloy 2002a; Seton-Watson 1988). In turn, regions captured by the Allies, such as Sevastopol and Balaclava, were restored. Territories were thus redistributed to the participants in much the same way as before the war had begun. One of the most important effects of war was that it prohibited both Turkey and Russia from establishing a naval or military arsenal on the Black Sea, which weakened the Russian position. However, this turned out to be unenforceable and a few decades later Russia had violated the agreement (Gorizontov 2012; Seton-Watson 1988). The conflict did have important long-term implication insofar as it permanently weakened the position of Tsarist Russia, and sa w the ascendency of the France as the preeminent power in Europe. It therefore saw the end of the Concert of Europe, the balance of power that had existed since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 (Bloy 2002a, 2002b). In conclusion, the Crimean War was both poorly planned and poorly executed. This essay has outlined the numerous strategic, tactical, and logistical failures perpetrated by all sides, but especially by the Allies and Britain in particular. However, as important as these moments were in defining the nature of the conflict and solidifying its reputation, it was problematic from the outset. As Clough (1964: 917) puts it: ‘it was not the result of a calculated plan, nor even of hasty last-minute decisions made under stress. It was the consequence of more than two years of fatal blundering in slow-motion by inept statesmen who had months to reflect upon the actions they took.’ Ultimately, while there are many mitigating factors, moments of triumph, and cases of heroism and coordination – especially in the medical sphere – this is a reputation well-deserved. References Bloy, M. (2002a) The Crimean War: ‘Britain in Blunderland’, The Victorian Web http://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/blunder2.html [Retrieved 10/06/2014] Bloy, M. (2002b) The Crimean War: comment on attitudes in Britain, The Victorian Web http://www.victorianweb.org/history/crimea/attitude.html [Retrieved 10/06/2014] Brown, D. K. (1989) The Royal Navy in the Crimean War: Technological Advances http://www.worldnavalships.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14517 [Retrieved 04/06/2014] Clough, S. B., ed. (1964) A History of the Western World. Boston, Heath: University of Michigan Press Curtiss, J. S. (1979) Russia’s Crimean War, Durham, N.C: Duke University Press Curtiss, J. S. (1966) Russian Sisters of Mercy in the Crimea, 1854-1855, Slavic Review, Vol. 25, No. 1, pp. 84-100 Fuller, H. J. (2014) Could Have, Would Have, Should HaveEngland’s ‘Great Armament’ during the Crimean War, the proposed naval assault upon Cronstadt’s defences and the Peace of 1856: Re-examining the evidence, University of Wolverhampton Gorizontov, L. E. (2012) ‘The Crimean War as a Test of Russia’s Imperial Durability’, Russian Studies in History 51 (1), pp. 65–94 Jones, H. P. (2012) Southern Military Interests in the Crimean War, Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 25, pp. 35–52 Lambert, A. (2011) The Crimean War: British Grand Strategy against Russia, 1853–56, Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Seton-Watson, H. (1988) The Russian Empire 1801–1917. Oxford: Clarendon Press Stephan, J. J. (1969) The Crimean War in the Far East, Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 257-277 Sweetman, J. (2001) The Crimean War: 1854-1856, Oxford: Osprey Publishing The Economist (May 2014) What the original Crimean war was all about, Economist http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/03/economist-explains-5 [Retrieved 11/06/2014] Urry, J. (1989) Mennonites and the Crimean War, 1854 – 1856, Journal of Mennonite Studies, Vol. 7, pp.10-32

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