Nevertheless, membership of the activity gives rise to a specific form of behaviour which has been created and refined over a lengthy period of time in such a way as to cause people to follow precedents and to punish mavericks who try to break the norms or even change them. These forms of behaviour are interiorized by people to the extent that they may not even be aware of them or question why they should be followed. This is called habitus by Bourdieu. Habitus mean existing power structures are maintained and recreated in new generations and iterations. The uneven distribution of capital leads to a pyramid form of hierarchy and the interiorized behaviours mean the only way to climb up the pyramid is to follow the habitus, the rules of the game.

Bourdieu further argued that it is the constant struggle between different fields of activity that provide the differing nature of various states at different periods of history. A country such as France, for example, is more strongly influenced by philosophical discourse and practice than are the Anglo-Saxon countries, where the field of economics is dominant and therefore provides the principal means of rising to the top of society.

Inevitably, therefore, people and organisations at the top of the pyramid have powerful incentives to maintain the existing power relations and, to do that, they need to persuade people below that there is something ‘natural’ or even ‘virtuous’ about the system they inhabit. Rich people in America, for example, claim that they work harder than other people, create jobs and so forth and that poor people are feckless, lazy, incompetent and so forth (which is why the American people sends so many poor people to prison, so as to back up the lies that support the rich). Clerics in religious-dominated societies demonstrate that they are (often literally) holier than thou and that some invisible big brother living in the sky has appointed them to positions of power and instructs everyone else to do as they are ordered or else going to hell forever.

The real trouble began when on the first of October 1789 women gathered outside of Paris and began a march to Versailles to get the Royalty to come to Paris and effectively be under their control. The made it to Versailles and stormed the area killing all guards in their wake. Eventually Marie Antoinette and King Louis XIV were taken to Paris. At this time the people had a lot of power in what was done and it was this time that people started questioning social systems and brought out radical ideas. The power of the church was greatly diminished and power to the people was brought out. New legislations were being passed and King Louis XIV was literally signing away his power. Eventually the King and Queen attempted to flee France but were caught at Varennes and escorted back to Paris.

Due to the flight of the King and Queen, moral dropped low among the people. Despite all the power the people had there were still many things that weren’t well standing with them. It was on August 10th 1792 that when troops stormed the palace and murdered the guards to the King and Queen that the next phase of the revolution began. At this phase bloodied battles where held across France and it all ended with the ultimate execution of the King and Queen. This shows that France has completely abolished a Monarchy (both absolute and constitutional) and started a Republic.

So in conclusion, the reason the French Revolution was so Revolutionary was that in a small period of time so much of France’s Political and Social System changed that marked the beginning of a new era for France. From a Monarchy to a Republic, from a poor minority with no say in legislations to an equal say in all, from a greatly deprived constitution to one that promoted equality and from one National Ideal to a completely different one. These are what make the French Revolution so Revolutionary.

The ERC (Emergency rescue committee) which was started in New York sent a man called Varian Fry over to France, because the president’s wife had allowed 200 refugees to come into the country.

Two months after the German victory, at the age of 32, Varian Fry arrived in Marseilles, and started writing to those on the list of 200. Very soon, he realized that there were far more than 200 that needed help.  In less than a day of his arrival in France, he had totally committed to helping Jews and other refugees get out of the country. The Americans would not let him take any more refugees, so he decided to work independently. If Fry was caught he would have been arrested. But nothing stopped him.

He joined some other people, some refugees, others not, and together they helped 50+ people per day. He even paid substantial amounts to his workers. In her memoir, Miriam Davenport Ebel (one of those who helped him) wrote “He could only pay me 3,000 francs a month, 750 a week in other words. He seemed to think that very little; to me it was riches. It was the salary of a lycée professor, more than twice that of a saleslady”

Varian helped the refugees in many, many ways. He smuggled many of them to America disguised as soldiers, and enlisted a cartoonist to create forge documents. He also created fake visas to many different countries, including Czechoslovakia, Spain, Mexico, and others. Day after day after day he kept coming to the office he had rented and helping more people. Guggenheim wrote: “The American Government was perpetually trying to get him to go back to America to avoid difficulties with the Vichy Government. However, he stuck it out to the bitter end.”

By December, the French finally arrested him after 3 months of solid work. He was arrested, and kept on a prison ship in the Marseille harbor. But he soon got back to his work and kept persevering and pushing forward, whatever the risk. Nothing could stop him now. He remained until August 1941, 1 year after he had started, when he was forced to return to America. Among the people he saved were Marc Chagall, Siegfreid Kracauer, Max Ernst and Jacques Lipchitz.

Once he got back home, sadly his friends and colleagues that he had before his trip disliked him and avoided him. He lived in America making a living as a Latin teacher until 1967, when he died at the age of 60. Varian Fry truly was a great man and definitely deserved a lot of thanks and recognition.

In 1994, 27 years after his death, the Israeli foundation called Yad Vashem awarded the title Righteous among the Nations. There are many, many reasons why this occurred.

Firstly, Varian was a Gentile (a non-Jew). He was from America and lived in New York. Yad Vashem does not award the title to Jews, as they were expected to help other Jews anyway.

Also, the MFA website, the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, states that one of the criteria the recognition of the righteous is based on is “Aid was extended by non-Jews in situations where Jews were helpless and threatened with death or deportation to concentration camps.” Varian Fry assisted or smuggled out of France over 4000 Jews and refugees, who claimed that they were in great danger. While some of them could have been lying and weren’t in danger, a large percentage of them were telling the truth and were actually being hunted down by the Gestapo.  Although he wasn’t sure who really needed help, he assisted everyone that asked. He saved countless numbers of lives.

Fry also deserved the title because he knew his life was at great risk while doing this. The police were always trying to catch him, and helping the great numbers made it hard to keep the operation a secret. He eventually did get arrested and after that deported back to America.

Fry also wanted or asked for no reward whatsoever. Fry said, “I stayed because the refugees needed me.” This quote shows that Fry did it for the Jews and not for the reward. He described departure from France: “It was grey and rainy as I boarded the train. I looked out of the windows and innumerable images crowded my mind. I thought of the faces of the thousand refugees I had sent out of France, and the faces of a thousand more I had had to leave behind”.  Fry didn’t want to leave France at all. He wanted to keep helping the Jews, even if it gave him no reward.

Also Fry did not nominate himself for the award, but someone else did. In fact, he probably did not even know about the award, because the foundation was started only 4 years before his death. We know about his work from the memoirs of the people he worked with, including Miriam Davenport Ebel, and by some people he saved. Miriam wrote about Fry As it turned out, a better man could not have been chosen for the job. Committed, self-righteous, and publicly imperturbable, Also photos were taken of him doing the work and many talked about his work. There is strong evidence of Varian Fry’s  kindness.

Varian Fry truly deserved his title of Righteous. He was a Gentile, he saved over 4000 Jews, he knew his life was a risk, he accepted no reward, and there is so much proof.

Although Varian Fry was dead when he was awarded Righteous, he received the official certificate with his name he also received the medal. A tree was planted in his honor by his son in 1996 and his name was inscribed in the official memorial garden. Warren Christopher, a U.S state secretary, posthumously apologized to Fry about the American’s bad treatment towards him at the ceremony. He was the first American to ever be awarded Righteous among the Nations. 3 Americans have been honoured (Martha & Waitsill Sharp were the others.) 21,000 have so far been awarded. 

As well as this, he was awarded the Chevalier of Legion de’ honour by the French Government soon before he died.

 He saved over 4000 people for absolutely no reward at all, and those people would have had children and grandchildren. He is an absolutely amazing, exceptional and compassionate man. 

These are the sources I used to get the information I needed to write this:

Varian Fry Foundation, 1997, Varian Fry, Last viewed 28th April 2010, http://www.almondseed.com/vfry/

Varian Fry Institute, 2009, Last viewed 27th April 2010, http://www.varianfry.org/

Yad Vashem, 2010, An American in Marseille, last viewed 28th April 2010,

http://www1.yadvashem.org/righteous_new/usa/fry.html

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When he was 18, his home caught fire and he was badly burned. One leg was left paralyzed and his left hand was badly hurt, with the third and fourth fingers unusable. It would take him almost a year to walk again, and the two fingers never regained full function. Despite this setback, Django re-learned the guitar, doing all the solo work with only two fingers.

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In 1934 the Quintette du Hot Club de France was formed with Stephane Grappelli on violin, as well as two more guitars and a bass player. This five piece ensemble would play together until the outbreak of World War II in Europe, when Django went to France to stay for the entirety of the war,  while Stephane Grappelli spent the war in England. Django revived the quintet in France by replacing Grappelli with clarinetist Hubert Rostaing and a more traditional rhythm section. In 1946 Django reunited with Grappelli and the Quintette du Hot Club de France returned to its original five piece strings only arrangement. This final lineup of the quintet would continue to perform and record until 1948.

After the dissolution of the quintet, Django retired to France and spent the remainder of his days playing sporadically around France. He developed a reputation for being late for concerts or even skipping them entirely. He recorded what would be his final album in 1949, Djangology, with Stephane Grappelli and a three other musicians on bass, drums and piano. In his final years he would start playing an electric guitar, and his music started showing progression to a newer style.

Cover of Djangology

In 1953, after performing in a Paris club, Django Reinhardt collapsed, the result of a brain hemorrhage. He died before doctors could arrive. He was 43. His music would go on to inspire countless musicians, among them Jeff Beck, Willie Nelson, Chet Atkins, and Tony Iommi.

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The Strait of Dover was the only other location that fit these characteristics. Eisenhower bluffed the Germans into thinking that the main invasion would take place at Dover and that the Normandy landing would be a fake.

On D-Day (June 6, 1944) the first wave of Allied troops hit the beaches at Normandy under a tremendous cover of naval and air bombardment. Allied aircraft destroyed bridges, railways, and roads leading to Normandy in order to delay the arrival of German reinforcements. The remaining Allied invasion force entered the field and began pushing the Germans out of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

Those were the days: Doctors at a protest in March 2003 in Paris. In 2012, they have hopes for higher fees written off.

Since founded in 1946, 1976, the French Sécurité Sociale has almost compulsory social security every year been in the red.

Now the insurance company must reduce not only their legacy, but also help to pay off the debt general of France – a double burden, meet the doctors and patients.

2010 France has issued a total of 234 billion euros of Health, nearly 76 percent were (176.5 billion or 9.1 percent of gross national product) by the Sécurité Sociale taken.

In the first half of the 2000s, the expenditures were capped, since 2008, writes the Sécurité Sociale again deep red. End 2009 pointed to the social security deficit of 23.9 billion euros, including 11.4 billion euros for health insurance and 10.8 billion euros for the pension, the second of the four pillars of insurance.

Savings of twelve billion euros by the end of 2012

The Joint Social Security is financed for the most part from employee and employer contributions, and therefore depends on the labor market. Is unemployment in 2010 as again, it automatically decrease the revenue.

A year ago, the government deficit and the legacy of previous planning for and eliminate by 2015. In August 2011 Prime Minister Francois Fillon but had an emergency plan to introduce, as France was asked under pressure from the EU Commission to reduce its debt faster than planned.

By the end of 2012, France in addition to the savings already planned savings further twelve billion euros, of which almost six billion will come from health insurance. This is to halve the deficit of health insurance.

A few weeks later, saw France but required to save because of poor growth forecasts an additional 500 million euros.

In France, since 1995, health spending increased at an annual rate, the so-called “Objectif National d’Assurance Maladie of Dépenses” (ONDAM) set by Parliament. Last summer, the Parliament and the government agreed to an increase rate for outpatient and inpatient services of 2.8 percent for 2012.

Because of the pressure to increase savings rate was then reduced to 2.5 per cent – a policy which will remain in force until 2016 at least.

Doctors are frustrated

The frustration is high – even among doctors. “If I were to describe the current condition of my colleagues is to me only this description: We are powerless and disillusioned,” says the established pulmonary physician, Dr. Charles Pascal, who represents many years as president of the Alsatian medical association established his colleagues.

“In the spring of 2011 we signed a new contract with health insurance, the fee increases from the end of 2012 provides under certain conditions. Meanwhile, no one believes in these increases,” he says. Physicians should – like all other citizens – paying the price for the financial crisis, Charles regrets,

The negotiations with the insurance companies were under the worst possible one star. “There is definitely no more money to improve the financial situation of the doctors. Citizens would understand neither support nor a medical rebellion.” The only way for doctors to earn more money was provided by the demographic development.

As more and more physicians were retired, the growing labor for the remaining colleagues, Charles expected. “In five to seven years, there is a lack of physicians,” said Charles, “and if not then to France to improve working conditions of our younger colleagues, it is all very close,” he warns.

Physicians were more than twice as entrepreneurs in a bind. If the government lowers the fee as is currently about for technical services, they pay for a one in sales.

At the same time take the fixed costs, in parallel, the government turns on the control screw. What is left? “Doctors can do nothing else than to continue to work in the interest of their patients,” says Charles.

The Germans tried another maneuver. They struck northward toward the English Channel to cut off the flow of supplies coming from England. The Belgians had other ideas. They opened the dikes (walls along waterways, built to prevent floods), flooded the battlefield, drowned many Germans, and stopped the attack.

By the winter of 1914-15, the Schlieffen Plan had obviously failed. The Germans had lost their attempt to crush France quickly. Germany had misjudged the strength of the French and British forces. The war was deadlocked. Two lines of opposing trenches were dug that stretched across about 600 miles of France from Belgium to Switzerland. Between the trench lines was an area called “No Man’s Land.”

On the eastern front, Russian forces attacked Prussia and were beaten back. But a Russian force in the south soundly defeated Austro-Hungarian forces. These Russian attacks forced Germany to defend its eastern borders, which relieved some of the pressure on France in the west.

British and German battle fleets confronted each other in the North Sea. German ships retreated, and Britain tightened a sea blockade on Germany that lasted throughout the war. Germany’s only superior vessels were its submarines.

Germany and France could complete their mobilizations in about two days. Italy and Austria-Hungary took four or five days. Russia took about 15 days. Each country had a separate war plan for every possible enemy. If one nation began mobilization, all others mobilized, too.

The second basic cause of the war was a gradual breakdown of agreements among the European nations and a breakdown in the balance of power among them. This was due to a lack of strong political leadership in Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary. The governments of these nations were being run by incompetent civilian ministers. Nations could no longer depend on each other and so became suspicious of each other. New alliances were made. France and Russia in particular pledged to help each other in case of war with Germany.

Once the fighting began, other nations entered the field of battle. Turkey and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers. The Allied Powers were joined by Japan, Italy, Portugal, Rumania, United States, Greece, Cuba, Panama, Siam (now Thailand), Liberia, China, Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Haiti, Costa Rica, and Honduras.

The important land battles were fought on two main fronts. On the western front, most of the fighting took place in northern France, where German forces faced the armies of France, Great Britain, Belgium, and the United States. On the eastern front, most of the fighting took place in what is now Poland, the eastern part of Germany, Austria and the lands of the Russian Empire, where German and Austro-Hungarian troops faced the Russian army.

Naval warfare was primarily between Germany and Great Britain. The British navy was the most powerful in the world. During the war, the British navy was able to keep the whole German battleship fleet bottled up in the Baltic and North Seas. But Germany had built a sizable fleet of U-boats (now called submarines). German U-boats concentrated on destroying shipments in the Atlantic Ocean.

PARIS – The Paris prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation into the grounding off the Italian coast of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that killed at least 17 people.

The prosecutor’s office said Thursday it has asked police to investigate claims filed in France. The Ministry of Justice had already asked the Paris office to handle all of the complaints, regardless of where they were originally filed.

More than 450 French citizens were aboard the Concordia when it ran aground Jan. 13 off the Tuscan island of Giglio after the captain deviated from his planned route and struck a reef. The captain risks being charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all those aboard were evacuated.

Seventeen people, including four from France, have been confirmed dead. Two French are among the 15 still missing and presumed dead.

The capsize of the giant luxury liner is also posing an environmental hazard to pristine Italian waters. A thin film of oil has spread from the cruise ship as waves battered the wreckage Wednesday.

The ship contains about 500,000 gallons (2,400 tons) of heavy fuel and other pollutants, and fears have grown that those chemicals could damage an area that is home to dolphins, whales and other marine life.

Authorities hoping to pump fuel soon from the ship but bad weather has prevented those efforts from beginning.

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Paris Exposition: Eiffel Tower, Paris, France, 1900 (Photo credit: Brooklyn Museum)

Ship grounded on Dog Island by 1899 hurricane (Photo credit: State Library and Archives of Florida)