History on Ivon's Blog

The Power of Non-Violent Actions

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Wed, 28 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0800

Introduction
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100 years ago, India was one of a colonies of The Great Britain. Under the rule of the British, the Indians were discriminated and got massacred. Therefore, in 1919, Mahatma Gandhi started Satyagraha, also known as “Non-cooperation movement” in search of the independence of India.

Mahatma Gandhi. Wikipedia.

The central concept of the movements were non-violent actions of fighting with the British government, such as not paying taxes, not going to public school, etc. Eventually, Gandhi was sent to prison because of these campaigns, but the government was forced to amend new law to let the Indians have more civil rights. Non-violent actions are good methods to win justice and protect people’s rights. Though during the movement of India independence, violent actions still happened a lot in the India. But it was still a good examples of how people fight with the unreasonable power, so did the Martin Luther King perform in the civil rights movements in 1960s. Hence, the successful non-violent actions should be practiced in the first place, which could be performed in many ways and a variety of goals, and these campaigns can help people to gain the power and protect their rights.

Motivation of people
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The first cause of successful nonviolent actions is motivations of people and society. The motivations are originated from people’s willingness. In his article “Agents of Change and Nonviolent Action,” Hardy Merriam (2008) writes that “nonviolent action is based on the insight that power in a society is ultimately derived from people’s consent and obedience” (p. 165). That is, the desire of changing is originating from people’s minds. So, people do nonviolent actions to change the world. Apart from the people’s mind, the power of society is another important cause.

Motivation for the society
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The second cause of successful nonviolent actions is motivations of the society. In this case, people in society are forced to do some non-fierce actions. In her article “Eve’s Daughter,” Miriam Polster (2001) says that “The hero profoundly believes in the value and dignity of human life. The one act that most people would agree is heroic is risking one’s life to save another” (p.161). Though nonviolent activists should not resort to the violence, they may be hurt by the government. But people who participated in the nonviolent actions risk their life to fight the government in soft ways. In short, two of the basic elements of nonviolent actions can ensure the success of the nonviolent actions.

Short term goals
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The fist kind of goal of nonviolent actions is short-term goals. The main goal of this stage is to give pressure the government to compromise. BK Community (2013) writes in his article “30 Examples of Successful Non Violent Action” that the anti-nuclear power groups had campaigns against the start-up of various nuclear power plants across the US. Nonviolent activists should always know that their goal is to make the government to sit and start a conversation. Instead of causing riot, people who participated in nonviolent actions should keep calm. In short, the short term goal of nonviolent action is to negotiate with the government.

Long term goals
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The second kind of goal of nonviolent actions is long-term goals. Apart from forcing the government to make change, the revolution of people’s mind is another important issue. Cassidy Dyce. (n.d) writes in his article “Why Martin Luther King, Jr.’s quotes about nonviolence are relevant” that we can learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition. Knowing that enemy’ views can help people to have a better view of the controversy. That is, the awareness of critical thinking is raised. In conclusion, non-violent actions are great tool to help citizens to sharpen their thinking ability.

Nonviolent action campaigns
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There are many successful non-violent actions campaigns in the history. No matter how big or little impact they had caused, they are good examples for non-violent activists. In his article “Outside View: Liberation by the People,” Jack Duvall (2004) writes that “Gandhi enlisted them in burning their racial registration cards and engaging in mass illegal border crossing(p.169)”. He also writes that “If the dictator is ridiculed in cafes and classrooms, if taxes and fees go unpaid, if public administration is in disarray, then a dictator’s system for keeping control is jeopardized(p.171)”. In order fight against the racial law, Gandhi had done many nonviolent and powerful actions. Most of the time the actions should be goal-oriented, and not to be too fierce. In conclusion, non-violent actions can be performed in various and creative ways.

Conclusion
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Non-violent actions are important and useful for people around the world to protect rights. It doesn’t have to be in violent way, instead the campaigns can be peaceful. People unit and fight for the same goals. Everyone can do their best to practice actions no matter they are rich or poor. So that the government will lower their body and start conversations. With this powerful yet soft weapon, there is nothing can stop the steps of the people. As Martin Luther King once said:” Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness”.

References
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30 Examples of Successful Non Violent Action. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.dailygood.org/story/784/30-examples-of-successful-non-violent-action-bk-community/

Dyce, C. (n.d). Why Martin Luther King, Jr.’s quotes about nonviolence are relevant. Retrieved from: https://borgenproject.org/martin-luther-kings-quotes-about-nonviolence/

DuVall, J. (2004, September 22). Outside View: Liberation by the People. United Press International.

Merriman, H. (2008, April 8). Agents of Change and nonviolent Action. Conservation Biology, Vol. 22, Issue 2.

Polster, M. (2001). Eve’s Daughters. Gestalt Press.

The Comparison and Contrast of A6M Zero and Ki-43 Oscar

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0800

Mitsubishi A6M Zero VS Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar.

Introduction
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In 1937, Imperial Japanese Army and Navy invaded China and start to bomb its cities. In the sky, China relied on volunteered pilots from USSR and the US to fight against Japanese aircraft. However, American were shocked by Japanese aircraft, which were very agile, good at dogfighting. The fastest P-40s could not catch them up in turning fights and always got shot down by Japanese fighters, Zero and Hayabusa. The codenames given by Allied forces were “Zeke” and “Oscar”. Zero and Oscar have some similar characteristics, but they also have significant differences.

Ki-43 Oscar. Wikipedia.

Please look at the following comparison chart:

A6M Zero VS Ki-43 Oscar. Author: Me

Similarities
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One of the similarities between the two aircraft is their air battle tactics. Before the Pacific War, both the Army and the Navy focused on turn-fighting tactics. Due to good battle records of last-generation biplanes in China, pilots preferred agile and light aircraft. It is because that a light and maneuverable aircraft can easily get to enemy aircraft’s six and shoot them down, while the enemy aircraft is hardly to dodge attacks. However, during the diving test of Ki-43, the prototype aircraft disintegrated in the air, so the Army gave up the extreme standard of turning time and strengthened the structure of the aircraft. In comparison, Zero’s designer did not notice the problem above during the test and have the aircraft have many holes on the structure to lighten its weight.

Aircraft Battle Tactic
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Another similarity of these fighters is their design. Because Japanese was good at producing air-cooled engine, few of the aircraft were powered by liquid-cooled engines, which was a mainstream in western countries. Both Zero and Oscar were powered by Nakajima Sakae engine(970 hp). The name differs from code given by the Army and the Navy. The Army called it “Ha-25”, whereas the Navy called it “Sakae”. Though the engine was considered of a copycat of the US Pratt&Whitney R1830 engine, but it was smaller, which is suitable for fighters.

Used for Kamikaze Attack
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Not only the Zeros but the Oscars were used for Kamikaze attacks. After defeat in Philippines, Japanese started asking pilots to do kamikaze, also known as suicide attack. Similarly, Zero and Oscar would carry one to two bombs, get close to US ships and dive into them. Unfortunately, in the late days of the war, Japanese aircraft could not match with the US aircraft due to technology differences. Neither the Army aircraft nor the Navy aircraft could destroy any big ships. Most ships sunk by kamikaze were destroyers and escort aircraft carriers.

Differences
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Despite the similarities in air battle tactics and designs, there are differences between two aircraft. Armaments

One of them is armaments which mounted on the fuselage. Zeros were equipped with two Type 99 20mm cannons on wings and two 7.7 mm machines guns (mg )on cowling. In contrast, Oscar only had two 7.7 mm MGS mounted on the cowling, later upgraded to 12.7mm MGs. Plus, only a prototype Ki-43-III with two 20mm Ho-5 cannons was built. Because of this, Oscar must hit enemy aircraft more to take them down. Additionally, it was impossible for Oscar to intercept U.S. bombers like B-17s or B-29s with his weak guns. However, though 20 mm cannons on Zero were powerful, its muzzle velocity was relatively low, making it hard for pilots to aim and hit targets, so experienced pilots preferred attack enemies with 7.7mm mgs. In short, Zero has better armaments than Oscar, but they were quite bad.

Aircraft survivability
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Zero and Oscar differ from aircraft survivability. In 1939, Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of Zero, was trying to make Zero more agile because he did not have more powerful engine, so he did his best to lighten the structure of the aircraft and have no protecting armor installed. In comparison, due to disintegration during the test, Ki43 designer Hideo Itokawa made the Ki-43 light but has standard strength, and there was a 12.7mm armor plate behind the seat. What is more, unlike early Zero, Oscar did have self-sealing tanks, which could extinguish fire and prevent oil from leaking. But it should be noted that Oscar’s survivability was not that good owing to its tight and small design. According to US pilots’ reports, Oscar might also disintegrate in diving. In short, Oscar had slightly better pilot protection than Zero and almost same body strength.

Conclusion
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In conclusion, Zero and Oscar have many similarities in design and battle tactics. However, the important differences in armaments and survivability should not be ignored. It was interested that Allied pilots always mistaken Oscar for Zero because both of them were very maneuverable, but extremely fragile.

How did the RAF win the Battle of Britain

infoivonblog.nkfjt@aleeas.com (Ivon Huang) — Thu, 09 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0800

This year (2021) is the 81th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. On 15th September 1940, The Battle of Britain Day was officially named by Royal Air Force because they claimed it was a victory over the Luffwaffe (German Air Force). It was the first fight majorly fought by air forces, and the biggest aerial bombing campaign. The victory of the UK can result from the fights of Royal Air Forces and the highly effective air defensive network.

Heinkel He-111. Wikipedia.

Royal Air Force prevented German from invading The United Kingdom. In 1940, Allied and French forces got beat by German Forces. After allied troops has retreated from Dunkrik, Adolf Hitler has made a plan called Unternehem Seelowe in order to invade Great Britain. At first, Luffwaffe delivered many bombers such as Junkers Ju-88, Henkiel He-111, Donier Do-17 to France. Since bombers took off from bases which were closed to Strait of Dover, the mainly raiding targets of Luffwaffe were London and other coastal cities. Though Luffwaffe conducted a lot of air raids against British industrial targets for several months, the British didn’t surrender, especially those fighters — Royal Air Force pilots of Supermarine Spitfire and Hawker Hurricane. Because over a year, Luffwaffe could not gain the air superiority, Führer was forced to canceled his operation of landing on Great Britain.

owever, not only the RAF pilots but also people of the so called Dowding system contributed to the victory of the Battle of Britain. “The battle of France is over, I expected the Battle of Britain is about to begin.” Winston Churchill said in June 18, 1940. Before German started to attack the UK, the British had done many defensive measures for the war by creating home guards and building coast crusts. What’s more, the British brought radars and fighters into a unified defensive system. Hence, there were many causes of the winning of the battle.

One of the main cause of victory was RAF pilots and their fighters. In 1940, Messerschmitt Bf-109 was the backbone of Luffwaffe. It was a fast, single-seat fighter. The E variants, which equipped with two MGFF20mm cannons and two 7.7mm machine guns, were the most advanced aircraft in Europe sky. In contrast, RAF was on the way of fastening the production of newly counterparts of Bf-109, the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.I because most of RAF squadrons were equipped slow, but reliable Hawker Hurricanes. Though British fighters were outnumbered by Luffwaffe, they didn’t give up any chance and keep intercepting German bombers. Pilots from Ukraine, French, Canada and Poland joined the battle, fly with British pilots for they were in the same boats with The British, even though some of them couldn’t speak English.

Another cause of the lost of Luffwaffe was their bad strategies. Bf-109 could escort bombers to London, but its flight length was rather short, that is, fighters could only dogfight with British fighters for 10 minutes. After that fighters must retreat quickly or they would fall into the sea and pilots would be captured by the British. What’s more, although twin-engined heavy fighter Bf-110s were able to escort bombers, they could not dogfight with Spitfires. Thus, without cover from fighters, bombers became lambs to be slaughtered by the British fighters. Because He-111s only had small caliber defensive machine guns, while the Spitfires were equipped with 2 times of machine guns (8x 7.7mm Vickers) and 4 times for the Hurricanes (12x 7.7mm Vickers) As a result of short flight range of escort fighters, more and more bombers were easily got shot down, mostly by Hawker Hurricanes.

The most important cause was British’s radar system. Before World War II, RAF had built many early warning radar stations near the costal. Chain home, the code name of these stations, can track and detect aircraft. Therefore, when German bombers were getting close to the UK, commanding office located at London would start processing datas from the radar stations and predicted the flying routes of the enemies, then called nearest squadrons to intercept them. A squadron had at least sixteen fighters and been spilt into two Flights. A Flight had two section and three aircraft for each. Thus, fighters would fly in Vic formation, attack from bombers’ rear high six in order to break bombers formation. The more maneuverable Spitfire would engage with Bf-110s and Bf-109s thereby giving slow Hurricanes with powerful machine guns chances to kill bombers.

In conclusion, air defensive networks and efforts of RAF people leads to the victory of the battle. First, people around the world helped the British fight against Nazi Germany. Second, German didn’t prepare well for invading the UK. Third, radars played an important role in tasks of intercepting bombers. The Battle of Britain was one of the significant turn points of World War II, and the first big victory for Allied forces. As a wartime speech delivered by Winston Churchill

“Never was so much owed by so many to so few”.

History on Ivon's Blog

The Power of Non-Violent Actions

Introduction #

Motivation of people #

Motivation for the society #

Short term goals #

Long term goals #

Nonviolent action campaigns #

Conclusion #

References #

The Comparison and Contrast of A6M Zero and Ki-43 Oscar

Introduction #

Similarities #

Aircraft Battle Tactic #

Used for Kamikaze Attack #

Differences #

Aircraft survivability #

Conclusion #

How did the RAF win the Battle of Britain

Introduction
#

Motivation of people
#

Motivation for the society
#

Short term goals
#

Long term goals
#

Nonviolent action campaigns
#

Conclusion
#

References
#

Introduction
#

Similarities
#

Aircraft Battle Tactic
#

Used for Kamikaze Attack
#

Differences
#

Aircraft survivability
#

Conclusion
#