Evita Peron, Saint or Devil?

Maria Eva Duarte de Peron (Evita) is possibly the most famous woman to come out of Latin America. Looking at Evita's life, it is clear that she was a woman driven by the desire to increase her wealth and power. She also became very interested in her wish to improve the position of the "descamisados"(the shirtless ones), who were the poor workers of Argentina. To do this she would have to damage the position of the oligarchs whom she had long detested. She was portrayed as an illegitimate child born out of wedlock, uneducated, and used her looks to make a living. Photos that would seem harmless today were scandalous to the Argentinean elite then. She had a determined personality and took advantage of what life gave her. ''There are some oligarchs who make me want to bite them just as one crunches into a carrot or a radish,'' Evita said. Many Argentineans worship her as a saint, while others think of her as devilish.
Eva Peron, depending on who you ask, was either a saint or a devil. To the oligarchs and bourgeois she was so detested that they referred to her as "that woman". On the other hand, to the poor Argentineans, she was the embodiment of all of their hopes and dreams. Many events in Evita's life show her as a humorless and ruthless tyrant with a single-minded quest for power. However, there are also many incidents where she shows her tireless efforts to help the poor, to gain some freedom for Argentinean women, and her efforts at international charity.
Eva met a man named Colonel Juan Domingo Peron. When they met she was 24 and he was 48. After Eva involved herself with Peron and his political events, she became an important woman but politically and socially. They got married and she convinced him to retire from the Army and run for office. At this point, Peron got arrested by his ex-mates and put in jail. She maneuvered large protests and got him freed. They went to the elections and won in October 1944. She had successfully reached her goal to become someone important. Eva and Juan Peron did not have an intimate relationship. An important part of their relationship was their shared ideas and politics. They seemed to understand and complement each other well. This relationship was an important part of their image as the leaders of the country.
Was Eva a saint or devil? I think that even though Eva fought her way from poverty to being the president’s wife, she had good intentions. She took advantage of people to get what she wanted, but it was for the good of the people of the country. She wanted to donate to the poor and start charities across the country. She was against the oligarchs and took care of the poor people. Eva designated much of her day to helping distribute funds and services to the poor. She individually met with needy families and treated them with as much or more respect than her own peers. 511

Bombing of Nagasaki

Was the second bomb that was dropped on Nagasaki needed for the decision of Japan to surrender? On August 6th, 1945, the world entered the atomic age: The first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima without warning. The explosion destroyed more than four square miles of the city center and killed more than 90,000 people immediately. Another 40,000 people were injured and many were killed from radiation sickness. Three days later, another atomic bomb was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. This bomb killed 37,000 people and injured 43,000. It is estimated that the bombs together killed over 200,000 Japanese civilians.
Before the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there had been thoughts in the Japanese government about trying to find a way to end the war. The US had been intercepting and decoding many Japanese diplomatic communications. The US learned that the Japanese would not surrender, but would try to work out a “negotiated peace” with many conditions. After twelve years of military aggression against China and over three and a half years of war with the US, begun with the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, American leaders would settle for nothing less than surrender.
Were the bombings militarily necessary? Japan had already been defeated militarily by June 1945. There was almost nothing left of their Imperial Army and Japan’s air force was nearly destroyed. US warplanes kept dropping bombs on Japan, reducing cities to rubble. What was left of Japan’s factories were struggling to create weapons and other goods from inadequate raw materials. By July, nearly a quarter of all Japanese homes were destroyed, and Japan’s transportation system was falling. Food had become so scarce that many people were living off a sub-starvation diet.
The US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki because Japanese generals would not accept defeat and were hoping that the US would not accept a million or more casualties while invading the home islands of Japan. The nuclear bombs showed that the US did not need invade Japan. Also, the US wanted to drop the bombs because they had spent so much money building the bomb with the Manhattan Project, that it was unheard of not to use it. The US did try several times to ask the Japanese to surrender, but they never did because of the militarists that led the country. After dropping the first bomb on Hiroshima, the Japanese government met and decided to try to hold out until the ground invasion of Japan started. The Japanese thought that if they could inflict so many casualties on the allies, that they may be able to negotiate some sort of “negotiated peace”. When the bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, the military leaders met and decided that they would surrender. On August 10th, Japan offered to surrender to the Allies. If the US never dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, the Japanese government would have waited for a ground invasion by the US. On August 12th, the US announced that it would accept the Japanese surrender.
Was the bombing of Nagasaki necessary for Japan to surrender? Yes, I believe that the Japanese government would never have surrendered if the bomb on Nagasaki was not dropped. The US did not want to start a ground invasion of Japan and have many casualties. Japan wanted to try to negotiate peace after the US invaded, but the Nagasaki bomb made the Japanese emperor surrender and accept defeat. 569