The Great War was a tragic event with no justified cause and taker of many casualties. It started as an argument between Serbia and Austria-Hungry and escaladed into a war between many nations because of the complex network of alliances that lay in European soil. The Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance were the two hostile coalitions that existed before the dispute and fought the all out war.

The Triple Entente consisted of Great Britain, France and Russia. Formed in 1907, it combined the previous alliances between the three countries and lasted until the end of the war in 1917. The Triple Alliance was a coalition between Germany, Austria - Hungary and Italy. This alliance formed in 1882 to prevent Italy from attacking Austria - Hungary in the event of a war with Russia which seemed possible. They had set the alliances to ensure security from the war if it had broke out and to make sure they were not standing alone for their cause but the emphasis was too much on protection from it than actually preventing it. In closer inspection, the alliances actually pushed the countries to war instead of protecting them.

The air was not clear in Europe. The need for alliances to protect each other was thought necessary by many of the powerful countries of Europe. The earliest alliance that can be attributed to the push towards World War One was the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary and Germany in 1879. This was to protect Austria-Hungary from an attack by Russia. The Three Emperors League was formed two years later that added Russia to the previous alliance of the Dual Alliance. It was an attempt to stabilize the eastern European front. It did not last as the Bulgarian Crisis of 1886-87 caused tension between Russia and Austria-Hungary. The Austro-Serbian Alliance had formed in 1881 between Austria-Hungary and Serbia that was formed on the basis of limiting the influence of Russia on the Balkans. The Triple Alliance was now formed in 1882 to stop Italy from attacking Austria-Hungary and remain neutral in the event of a war with Russia. Now it was the Romanians turn to be added to the mix as Austria-Hungary, Germany and Romania had entered an alliance called the Austro-German-Romanian Alliance to, similarly with Serbia, keep Russians from influencing the Balkans.

After the alliances with Austria-Hungary, Germany and Italy was set, the countries not set in major alliances started to follow the trend. The Franco-Russian Alliance came into play in 1894 with France and Russia because of Germany's suspicious actions with the Triple Alliance and the dropping of a treaty with Russia, the Russian Reinsurance Treaty. In 1902, the Russo-Bulgarian Military Convention was made between Bulgaria and Russia. Bulgaria, fresh from separating from the Ottoman Empire, needed help to prevent aggression from Austria-Hungary, Russia was the answer. The Entente Cordiale was formed in 1904 with France and Great Britain. It showed the healthy relationship between these two countries. The fact that Germany and Great Britain had just finished the Boer War in South America also must have pushed towards an alliance against Germany. This coalition had caught the eye of the Triple Alliance. Great Britain and Russia had settled their disputes and in 1907 had made the Anglo-Russian Entente which led to the Triple Entente. It was issued in 1907 with Great Britain, Russia and France. It was a response to the Germans aggression towards Russia after their loss in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 and the naval arms race with Great Britain. The Two fronts were made in Europe, the lines were clearly drawn. The war seemed to be inevitable. The room was filled with flammable gas; all that was needed was the spark to cause the explosion.

The countries that participated in the war were practically forced to do so against their own will. They were obliged to do so in accordance with the alliances. As the alliances stood, the message of, "An attack on one country is an attack on the others that stood by it," was recognized. This meant that a country which had no intent to declare war on another in a contradiction coalition was forced to because of the alliance it was participating in. It would aid in preventing the war if one side was weaker or not as equally supported, but that was not the case. Both parties involved in the war were allied with other countries, as the Triple Entente was formed in response to the Triple Alliance. So the countries were deadlocked as in the notion of support by other countries. It was an even bout in some sense. This perception would only aggravate war instead of prevent it. The sense of equality and willingness was placed, what was left was the war.

As the argument intensified from the original two countries, Austria - Hungary and Russia, each country had a false sense of security to push for the idea of war. They both had the hidden card to play; their alliances. They both had the security of two other countries part of their coalition. They had the sense that the alliance will protect them in the war. They had their backs watched. They just had to look forward and ensue in a war. They had a team, an unstoppable team that can ensure victory. If they ran low on ammunition or men, the other countries would be ready to help replenish it.

Having an alliance also aggravates the human mind into thinking that something is afoot. It creates a sense of conspiracy towards the other countries not apart of the alliance, especially with those nations with bad relations. Having an alliance gives nations power to act without worrying about the consequences such as when attacking a lone nation. This scared many nations into forming alliances of their own to stop being exposed to alliance attacks. Once the alliances were set and the two major ones see face to face the relations between them deteriorated. A great arms race followed as the alliances were set. The two forces started to arm themselves to protect themselves from the other. Since Great Britain and Germany were in a navy race to build a better navy. France also was part of an arms race with Germany to build a bigger army. As these two duke it out, the other allied nations felt the need to build their army also. There was an effort for a worldwide disarmament at the Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907, but these rivalries were way too big for it to actually take place. So the influence of the countries being in a war in alliances had grown to bringing up their military supplies and getting ready for a war. The alliance had done more than get the countries aggravated to start a war, it had plunged them into one by making the nations of the alliances ready with sufficient number or arms to begin a war with the other nations.

The start of the war started out as Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia in July 28, 1914. This caused a domino reaction as the countries all followed one after the other as they were obliged to on account of the alliances that they formed. Russia declared partial mobilization against Austria-Hungary to support Siberia. This escaladed into a general mobilization. If the Russians were not to demobilize, the Germans were ready to declare war on July 31, 1914. France responded to this and decided to mobilize. On August 1, 1914, Germany had stated war against Russia. France was next on their list two days after they declared war on Russia. To attack France, the Germans had invaded a neutral country, Belgium. This provoked Great Britain to declare war on Germany. That was the final stage for World War One to begin. These gradual steps towards war were greatly influenced by the issue of existing alliances with other nations of Europe. The attack on Serbia and Russia by Germany was an attack on the Triple Entente and similarly the attack on Austria-Hungary by Russia was an attack on the Triple Alliance. The participants of the alliances were, in a sense, shackled together in a sense. Calling one out to war would bring out all three. All the countries had known this.

Alliances were created to bring benefit to a nation but often results in bad circumstances such as that in World War One. The alliances provided false sense of security in the case that a nation needed help. A sense of support from other countries that was also derived from alliances had pushed the possibility of war into action. The arms race had made things worse as the allied forces were arming themselves with weapons, ship, etc� Both forces were ready to scale an all out war. What better setup for a war. Both countries egos had sky rocketed. Alliances had made all this possible. Alliances have evolved from what it was then to the present. Modern alliances have swerved from this path and have focused on peace and economic growth rather than destruction.

It was a decade engulfed in discrimination, fear and deep division. At the same time, it was an awakening, containing great prosperity and advancement. Whether the previous statement was meant to describe the Roaring Twenties, or the Fabulous Fifties, is perplexing, for these two post-war decades developed their ideals on the same concepts: patriotism and technological progression. Essentially, while their political concerns greatly varied, the 20s and the 50s were decades with striking similarities.

Succeeding both the Great War and World War II were economic booms. Technology steered itself in industrial fields other than weaponry. In the 1920s, Henry Ford and his production line revolutionized manufacturing. Soon, affordable automobiles went on the market and were a big hit. Virtually every household in America had its own car, which simplified many lives. The movie industry also took off, and 100 million tickets were being sold every week. People began learning how to have fun. Radio gained popularity in the 20s as well, mostly due to the amelioration in the clarity of transmitted signals. In 1922, the first public radio broadcasting station opened. The 50s had its own method of conveying information and ideas. Early in the decade, more and more people brought televisions in their homes, and it soon became a dominant mass media. Important political events began being televised, 'sitcoms' became Americas' primary source of entertainment, and, of course, advertisers found a new way to sell their products. Even though Herbert Hoover stated at a conference that it was "inconceivable that we should allow so great a possibility for service to be drowned in advertising chatter", it was inevitable. By the end of the 20s, advertisers had come to realize the possibilities of radios. The consumers would not even have to pick up a newspaper to get their message. Evidently, television was also a great opportunity to market products, only this time, there were pictures to go along with the jingle. Marketing schemes were developped, many using Freudian precepts. For both decades, these techonological advancements increased the quality of life, not only because they created jobs and brought in money, but also since they pushed consumers to buy commodities which were once considered luxurious. They increased society's leisure time as well. Until the 1920s, it was primarily the upper class who could afford the money and the time to vacation. Thanks to the automobile and the soaring economy, however, workers were eventually able to take excursions. The 1950s triggered a different sort of travel. The growing commercial airline industry allowed for vacationing much farther away than your local beach. In 1955, Disneyland, the first American theme park, opened in California. One of the main differences between the decades is the fact that the 1920s ended in an economic crash, otherwise known as the Great Depression.

In the 1920s and the 1950s, many began making attempts to break out of the old Victorian ideals.Women in the 1920s, who gained the freedom to work outside their homes during the First World War, decided that they wanted more. Several of them continued to challenge their gender roles and therefore were faced with hostility from men, and even other women, who considered their actions immoral. These brave women, otherwise known as flappers, wore the latest fashions, dressed in daringly "short" skirts, cut their hair into short, bobbed fashion and even smoked in public. It is also during the beginning of the Roaring Twenties that women were finally accorded with the right to vote. Once they won that however, many of their movements, including the mass birth-control one, subdued. Fortunately, it picked up again after the Second World War, with organizations such as the Planned Parenthood and Population Control, which both argued primarily that birth-control promoted family stability and a higher quality of life. Another revolutionary event took place in the 1920s; the Harlem Renaissance. It opened America to Black literature, art and poetry, like never before. In fact, it was even reflected in the decade's dominant, and controversial music style, jazz. Jazz was considered to be the soundtrack of cultural revolution. Using a bizarre instrument called the sax (which sounded too similarly to "sex" for some), it apparently promoted intimate dancing. Famous colored jazz singers, such as Bessie Smith and Duke Ellington, finally proved that their people could do more than just work in a factory. The decade also witnessed the "Second Wave" of immigrants. These strangers not only appeared differently then the rest of America, but held on to different social and religious beliefs as well.

The Fabulous Fifties also had its share of new found diversity and uprising, although it took on a somewhat different nature. Rock n' roll emerged early in the decade, which had developed from African-American blues and folk music. To the youth, it was a form of rebellion against authority and responsibility. It often contained vague sexual references and many of the artists, such as Elvis Presley, became popular not only for their music, but for their physical appeal. Slowly, the topic of sexuality began creeping out from under the bed. While many were outraged by Dr. Kindey's studies on female and male sexuality, his books were a huge success. Hugh Hefner picked up on this sexual revolution and founded Playboy, whose first issue featured Marilyn Monroe, the icon of the decade who was famous for her sensuality. A generation gap was also born in the 1950s. There was a realization that teenagers, a term coined in the 1950s, represented a new market. With their allowances and part time jobs, they possessed purchasing power, and many seeked to take advantage of this. Soon, teenage music, movies and fashion emerged, and the generation began to have an identity of its own. Feminism, which came to a halt with the start of the Second World War, entered the picture once more. Although its movements weren't overly defiant, some important gains came out of it, such as the renown magazine Cosmopolitan. Women were beginning to realize that their lives constituted of more than making babies and pleasing a husband. In the start of the decade, African-Americans had few rights, however, most white individuals hid behind the false idea that there was equality amongst the races. Anti-racism movements soon began, along with the emergence of Martin Luther King

Due to "rebellious" nature of the Fabulous Fifties and the Roaring Twenties, there was great concern about not only a loss of moral and ethical values, but also the change in the American way of life. Traditionalists in the 20s started to realize that society was opening up to new ideas, and became furious. They began pointing fingers on everything from immigration to alcohol. Soon, immigration quotas were set up, in attempt to filter new arrivals. Immigrants who looked like the Americans were much more easily accepted than the others, such as Italians, Poles and Greeks. Even if they managed getting in, they often were faced with hostility and resentment. Fueled by the patriotism, the 1920s also faced the revival of the Ku Klux Klan, whose members used violent methods in an attempt to rid society of those they believed were not true Americans, especially Catholics, Jews and blacks.

Traditionalism and narrow-mindedness also set the stage for the 1950s. Many began returning to more conventional lifestyles, and church attendance rose. Television shows set standards for the "ideal American family". Of course, on TV, women stayed at home to do all the housework, dressed in pearls, dresses and high heels, no less. Their biggest challenge of the day was to greet their husband once he came in the door from work. While feminism had made significant advances, there was still a long way to go. The government did abolish most sexist laws, but society had yet to adapt. As well, racism was evidently still present, even thought it had been 100 years since the end of the Civil War. A significant amount of people were still against integrated institutions and means of transportation. Worst yet, profoundly racist acts, such as the one carried out against Emmett Till, were still occurring frequently, and the government had yet to intervene.

While there are obvious connections between the two decades, there is a giant gap between their political concerns. At the beginning of this 1920s, the government needed to put the blame on something for the "social evil" that was taking place. It was therefore decided that alcohol was guilty of the all the immorality. Prohibition came into play, and the manufacturing and sale of alcohol in the US was made illegal. Not only was this law impossible to enforce, it also caused an increase in the crime rate. Gangsterism evolved from being a way to get by into a million dollar venture. Al Capone, the head of the Chicago Mafia, made 6 000 000$ in one year from the sale of alcohol and beer. In 1929, there was an economic crisis, otherwise known as the Great Depression. This evidently became a major political concern during the end of the decade. There was also a First Wave of anti-communism in the early 1920s, and it hit hard. During this Red Scare, many individuals were accused of being associated with communism and were jailed, harassed and even lynched. The famous Sacco and Vanzetti trial also took place, at which two men were found guilty and sentenced to death for a crime most would say they didn't commit, just because they were associated with an anarchist party. This degree of intolerance towards communists, even when combined with gangsterism and prohibition, was insignificant when compared to the rising of the Cold War in the 1950s.

Even though the Americans and the Soviets were allies during the Second World War, it's no surprise that they would eventually come out on opposite sides. The world was not big enough for two superpowers and America knew that well. Seeing communism spread into other countries, it became fearful that the annihilation of its own democratic system would soon come. This fright elevated as Senator Joseph McCarthy, a Republican from Wisconsin, began making astonishing accusations. He claimed that many of the US State Department employees were actually communist spies. The witch-hunts began and eventually everyone was watching each other, wondering if their co-worker, mother-in-law, and even mailman was a communist. Since the Reds were considered a threat to the nation's security, their rights were ignored. There was even a Hollywood "blacklist" of individuals allegedly associated with the communist part. Once they were on it, actors and directors would never found work again. Along with the American-Soviet tension came the threat of a nuclear war. In the 1920s, people were concerned about gangsters and now they faced the idea that their state can be eradicated by just one bomb. Thankfully, they were soon reassured by propaganda schemes which stated that they could hide under their beds to be saved from a nuclear attack.

The factor that placed the Fabulous Fifties and the Roaring Twenties in same situation economically and socially, was that both were postwar decades. Following the end of the Great War, the twenties gave people the opportunity to concentrate on more than just poverty and war and soon, there were attempts to break many social and economic barriers. While this endeavor was put to a halt with the Second World War, it seemed resumed, with even more force, once the war had ended. The two decades were in severe predicaments ,however, for many did not wish to adapt to the changing society. Politically, there were not many similarities besides the great exaggeration in the government's concerns. While the World Wars had many atrocious consequences, such as the Cold War, on economic and social levels, they seem to have given society the jump start it needed to modernize into today's world.

The study of the origins, or causes, of the Cold War has caused more debate than any war in human history. Exactly why the conflict was initiated, and who the inciter or aggressor was has been actively contested for years. The Cold War was not the result of one person or cause and was unlike any other hostile international confrontation that had occurred before. With no clear instigator or open physical hostilities between the "warring" parties, each side claims that the other was the true aggressor, and that they were only defending their own national security interests. It is generally accepted however, that the Cold War began as a series of conflicts and disagreements between the former Soviet Union, the United States of America and Great Britain.

Relations between the Soviet Union and the United States had never been simple and were driven by a complex interplay of ideological, political, and economic factors. It was this uneasy relationship between the two countries that led to shifts between cautious cooperation and bitter superpower rivalry over the years. It was the distinct differences in the political systems of the two countries that often prevented them from reaching a mutual understanding on key policy issues and, as in the case of the Cuban missile crisis, almost brought them to the brink of an all-out war. Although World War II brought the two countries into an alliance, the Soviet Union's aggressive, antidemocratic policy toward Eastern Europe had created tensions even before the war ended.

After defeating Germany in 1945, Great Britain, the United States and the USSR gathered at the Yalta Conference to reach an agreement about the future of the liberated nations. With the end of World War II, the USSR wanted to make sure that it would be protected. Russia was in no position to fight another battle; the number of casualties they suffered due to the war had been massive, and their resources were drained. In order to protect his country, Joseph Stalin, leader of the USSR, decided to establish Communist pro-Soviet governments in Poland, Hungary and Romania. By 1948, all of the Eastern European countries had Communist governments that were under the control of the Soviet Union. This ensured that Russia was protected from invasion, as the leaders of these nations now reported to Stalin in Moscow. However, through his actions, Stalin broke the agreements made at the Yalta Conference. The leaders of the Unites States and Great Britain were left with little choice. President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill were forced to implement anti-Soviet policies to prevent the expansion of the Soviet Union and Communism, officially making the former allies into enemies.

The start of American and British anti-Communist policies began after Winston Churchill's famous "Iron Curtain" speech on March 5th, 1946 at Westminster College in Missouri, USA. Here Churchill accused the USSR of expansionist policies that would lead to world domination. He suggested an alliance between the United States, the British Empire and the British Commonwealth. President Harry Truman responded to this by stating in a speech in that the United States would promise to aid any country under threat of a Communist takeover. This became known as the Containment of Communism or Truman Doctrine. By 1947, Europe was clearly divided into opposing blocs; the West, led by America and the East, led by the Soviet Union. The "Iron Curtain" had established itself in the minds of political leaders throughout the world. The hostile relationship between these two states formed the substance of the Cold War.

America was determined to contain the spread of Communism, and initially gave great economic support to the countries surrounding Russia, particularly Germany and Turkey. The formation of NATO highlighted the American and European effort to contain Communism. However, the blueprint for fighting the Cold War came with the National Security Council's memo #68. NSC-68 as it was known, was seen as the most important Cold War document. It was the plan to turn the United States into a garrison state, and to increase military expenditure by 400%. This contributed greatly to the arms race.

The arms race centered on the belief that the more nuclear weapons you had, the more powerful you were. Both the USA and USSR were determined to be in possession of the most powerful arsenal and advanced technology. This desire, among others, became central to the Cold War.

With each nation determined to prove their superiority over the other, protect their people, as well as safeguard national security, neither the USSR nor the United States was willing to take the first step. Both were worried it would be perceived as a sign of weakness, and so continued the battle of wills.

In the end, the Cold War was not the result of a single action. The fear of expansion, the arms race, and the overall hostilities between the two countries, were all causes of the Cold War. With neither nation willing to trust the other and always searching for a way to prove their superiority, the world was almost dragged once again to the brink of war. The Cuban Missile Crisis served as a wake up call to both states, as they realized how close they had come to a nuclear war.

On August 2, 1990, Iraqi forces invaded and occupied Kuwait. The primary motivation for the invasion lay in the internal Iraqi politics, economic and geography "The liberation of Kuwait has begun." with that announcement, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater broke the news to the American public that war against Iraq had been launched by armed forces of the United Nations. The war began about 2:40 AM on January 17 Iraq time, or 6:40 PM EST on January 16 in the United States. The economic and political relations between Iraq and Kuwait provided the environment for the conflict to start.

Iraq's first financial disagreement with Kuwait related to oil policy. Iraq objected to Kuwait's production beyond OPEC quotas and the consequent contribution that overproduction made to lowering oil prices internationally. Iraq also claimed Kuwait was tapping out oil from the shared Ar Rumaylah oil field straddling the Iraq-Kuwait border. During the Iran-Iraq War, Iraq ceased production from its side of the field while Kuwait continued operations. Kuwait defended the fact that it had taken oil only from its own side of the field. Another financial disagreement with Kuwait concerned the estimated US$15 billion that Kuwait had lent Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War, a debt that Iraq wished Kuwait to forgive. These financial claims were set in a broader context. The Iraqi government experienced serious financial strains following the war with Iran; nearby Kuwait had apparently sufficient resources. To obtain these resources, Iraq put forward whatever financial claims it could. In addition to economic issues, Iraq also disagreed with Kuwait over borders. Iraq first disputed the location of the border and then reaffirmed its claim to all of Kuwait. The claim rested on the argument that Iraq had once ruled Kuwait. This allegation of historical sovereignty over Kuwait was not solidly grounded. Kuwait had always been a self-governing political entity.

On July 26, 1990, OPEC oil ministers met in Geneva, Switzerland, and agreed to lower production in order to raise prices. Five days later, delegates from Iraq and Kuwait met in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, to settle the border dispute and other Iraqi claims. Meanwhile, Iraq had massed about 100,000 troops on its border with Kuwait. The Kuwaiti army numbered only 20,300, while the overall size of Iraq's military force included one million men under arms. This military intimidation followed a promise made by Hussein in July to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak that Iraq would not use force against Kuwait. On August 1, Iraq's delegation abandoned the negotiations in Jiddah. The next day, Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait. Once inside Kuwait, Iraqi armed forces brutalized the population, stole Kuwaiti bank reserves, looted the museum, and shipped many consumer goods back to Iraq. Late in the autumn, Amnesty International issued a report detailing some of the atrocities committed in Kuwait.

From the moment the world knew of the Kuwaiti occupation until hours before the war started in January, there was furious and fast-paced diplomatic activity aimed at getting Iraq to leave Kuwait. Two main issues were at the heart of the diplomacy: the occupation itself and the matter of hostages. Hussein had detained a large number of foreign nationals who had been working in Kuwait and Iraq at the time of the invasion. There were about 3,100 Americans and approximately 8,000 from other Western nations and Japan. Hussein threatened to use these hostages as "human shields" posted at defense installations in case Iraq was attacked. Nevertheless, groups of hostages were released in stages, as numerous individual and diplomatic missions went to Baghdad to meet with Hussein. In late December those remaining were allowed to leave.

For five and a half months, ever since Iraq invaded and occupied Kuwait on Aug. 2, 1990, the United States had mobilized and led a defensive coalition of United Nations (UN) allied forces in a military action called Operation Desert Shield to protect Saudi Arabia and other Arab states from possible invasion by Iraq. United States President George Bush had declared that the occupation of Kuwait would not be allowed to stand, and he dispatched land, sea, and air forces of the United States to Persian Gulf bases--mostly in SSaudi Arabia. The coalition forces were from Great Britain, France, Canada, Australia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and other nations. Iraq's president, Saddam Hussein, was finally given a deadline of Jan. 15, 1991, to get out of Kuwait. Because he showed no inclination to meet the deadline, Operation Desert Shield turned into the military offensive Operation Desert Storm. Iraq's response was remarkably feeble. It launched Scud missiles against Israel and Saudi Arabia. Most of these were intercepted and destroyed by American Patriot antimissile rockets, though there was some loss of life.

Late in January Iraq released oil into the Persian Gulf, creating a huge pollution problem. As the war was ending, Iraqi forces set fire to more than 600 Kuwaiti oil wells. It would take more than a year to extinguish the fires, which caused severe air pollution. The ground offensive, called Desert Saber, was launched late in the day on February 23 (about 4 AM on the 24th in Iraq). It lasted only four days. By that time nearly the whole infrastructure of Iraq had been destroyed--specifically bridges, highways, electric power systems, water filtration plants, and airports. At the same time, Iraq's ground forces had been terribly battered by the bombing. (Its air force had been grounded by Hussein after the first day of bombing.) With uncounted thousands already killed--the number of military fatalities was unofficially put at 150,000--surviving Iraqi troops surrendered by the tens of thousands, and those who stood to fight were quickly and decisively defeated. By February 27 President Bush was able to announce that he had ordered a cease-fire. Iraq was beaten and Kuwait was liberated. It had been the most massive air bombardment and land offensive since World War II.

The result of the Gulf War was dreadful and the most who suffered in this war were the Iraqi and Kuwaiti people. Saddam Hussein�s actions had caused many reactions in the world, especially to him. This war like many other previous wars was about land and power. This war could have been prevented if Saddam Hussein had not gone to war with Iran in the past and therefore he would not have owed so much money to Kuwait, but Saddam Hussein�s key interest was the total control of Kuwait, Iraq�s political, economic and geographic differences were only excuses to invade Kuwait. Kuwait will always continue to see Iraq as a serious threat, regardless of what happens to Iraq's leadership

The Feminist, the birth control distributor and reformer Margaret Sanger was certainly one of the most controversial and persuasive figures in the 20th century. Born Margaret Louise Higgins on September 14, 1879 in Corning, New York, to Michael and Anne Higgins, she was the sixth out of eleven children in the family. Margaret blamed her mother�s frequent pregnancy as the cause of her death at the age of fifty.

Margaret attended Claverack College and Hudson River institute in 1896 and then entered the Nursing Program at White Plains Hospital in 1900, where before completing the program, met and married an architect named William Sanger in 1902. In 1910, Margaret, William and their children moved to New York City where she decided to go back to nursing to help support the family.

Her work as a nurse fixed her interest in sex education and women�s health. In 1912 she started writing a column for the New York Call on sex education called �What Every Girl Should Know�. Her first encounter with the censors was raised when they suppressed her column on venereal disease and considered it to be obscene. But Family limitation was still an issue and it attracted Sanger�s attention as she worked with poor women in New York�s lower East side who were suffering from the pain of frequent childbirth, miscarriage and abortion. Influenced by Emma Goldman�s ideas she soon started to argue for the need for family limitation which would release women from the burden of unwanted pregnancies.

She believed precise, helpful, adequate and effective birth control was necessary for securing the freedom and independence for working women. Sanger began to challenge the Federal Comstock Law in 1873 that banned the distribution of contraceptive information, when she saw that women were unable to obtain this kind of birth control. In March 1914, Sanger published the first issue of The Woman Rebel, a thorough feminist monthly that showed strong feminism, including the right to practise birth control. Three of her issues were banned for distributing the use of contraception and in August 1914 she was prosecuted for violating postal obscenity laws from which she jumped bail and set sail for England with the help of Bertha Watson. On her way to England she asked a few friends to release 100, 000 copies of Family Limitation, a 16- page pamphlet which provided accurate instructions on the use of many different contraception methods.

Upon reaching England, Margaret Sanger contacted a few British strong feminists and neo- Malthusians who helped Sanger develop a broader explanation for the use of birth control by their social and economic theories. Deeply influenced by the theories of a psychologist named Havelock Ellis on the importance of female sexuality, she expanded her arguments for birth control explaining that it would fulfill a critical psychological need by permitting women to fully enjoy sexual relations free from fear of pregnancy.

In October 1915, Margaret Sanger, determined to attract media attention on her trial and increase support from the public, came back to New York to face the charges from The Woman Rebel. When her daughter, Peggy died suddenly in November, the sympathetic public convinced the government to drop the charges. Soon after Sanger started on a nation wide tour to promote birth control and was arrested in many cities but her aggressive style attracted even more publicity for her cause.

In 1915 a visit to a Dutch birth control clinic convinced Sanger that a new flexible Diaphragm, carefully fitted by medically trained staff, was the most effective contraceptive device. After returning from her tour in 1916, Margaret opened the nation�s first birth control clinic in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The clinic was raided on October 24 1916 where Sanger and her staff were arrested ad she even spent 30 days in prison. Fortunately the publicity concerning the Brownsville also gave Sanger a base of wealthy supporters from which she began to build to an organized movement for birth control reform. She appealed the Brownsville decision and the New York State appeal court freed physicians from the law that prohibited the distribution of contraceptive information to women if prescribed for medical reasons. This allowed Sanger the chance to open a legal, doctor-run birth control clinic in 1923. It was staffed by female doctors and social workers and named the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau; it served as a model for the establishment of other clinics, and became a place that contained critical clinical data on the effectiveness of contraceptives.

After World War 1, Sanger decided to broaden the support for birth control by promoting it on the basis of medical and public health needs. In 1917 she created a new monthly, the Birth Control Review, and in 1921 she started a campaign of education and publicity intended to win support for birth control by opening the American Birth Control League. She focused many of her efforts on gaining support from the medical profession and social workers. She rationalized birth control more and more as a means of reducing genetically transmitted mental or physical flaws, and at times supported sterilization for the mentally disabled.

In 1929 she formed the National Committee on Federal Legislation for Birth Control to create an acceptance for birth control legislation that let physicians the right to legally distribute contraceptives. Yet, most doctors remained hostile to birth control. Also, Sanger faced tough resistance from the Catholic Church. In the end, her legislative campaigns and efforts to secure government support for birth control failed, but did well in courts. In 1936, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that physicians were freed from the Comstock Law's ban on the importation of birth control materials. This decision, gave doctors the right to prescribe or distribute contraceptives.

In 1928 she angrily resigned as president of the American Birth Control League and as Sanger's leadership in the movement was taken over by younger professionals with more ordinary plans. With the merger of the American Birth Control League and the Birth Control Clinical Research Bureau into the Birth Control Federation of America in 1939 (which was later renamed Planned Parenthood Federation of America) Sanger's role in the birth control movement became largely respectable. By 1942, Sanger was living in Tucson, AZ and had retired from active participation in the movement.

Through all her work for birth control, Sanger was consistent in her search for simpler, less costly, and more effective contraceptives. Not only did she help arrange for the American manufacture of the Dutch-based spring-form diaphragms she had been smuggling in from Europe, but in the following years she promoted a variety of research efforts to develop things such as; spermicidal jellies, foam powders, and hormonal contraceptives. Finally in the 1950s, her role in helping to find vital research funding made possible the creation of the first effective anovulant contraceptive which was; the birth control pill.

The 1965 Supreme Court decision, Griswold v. Connecticut made birth control legal for married couples. It was only a few months later, on September 6, 1966, when Margaret Sanger, the founder of the birth control movement, died in a Tucson nursing home at the age of 86.