Maximus seems to ride off before the battle begins. where is he going? what is his strategy?

in 'popular history' of europe in america it's common to blame the rise of the nazis (and of coursewwii, too) mainly on the treaty of versailles. despite the harshness of the treaty and despite the inflation of 1919-23 germany did benefit from the economic buoyancy of the roaring twenties. in the general election in 1928, the nazis only managed to get 12 (out of about 584) seats in the reichstag. the nazis were widely seen as a laughing-stock led by a funny little man given to yelling and wild gesticulation. of all european countries, none was hit harder than germany by the stockmarket crash of october 1929. germany had borrowed very large sums from american banks, with much of the money repayable either on demand or at short notice. these loans were of course recalled, and bankruptcies in germany rose sharply from the start of 1930 (or earlier). unemployment rose sharply, too. the german constitution of 1919 contained much that was utopian, including the right to paid employment. the realities of the situation made a mockery of the weimar constitution. one of german's great weaknesses at the time was the lack of a broadly based, popular right-wing party comparable to, say, the republicans in the us or the conservatives in britain. the obvious candidate, the german nationalists (the dnvp), had lost its grip and was hopelessly out oftouch with many of its supporters especially in rural areas. germany became increasingly hard to govern.

from about the middle of 1930 onwards the new chancellor, br�ning, had to govern by decree. in the absence of mainstream right-wing party, the nazis - who ruthlessly exploited genuine grievances - suddenly became the largest single party in the reichstag. with the growing effects of the great depression, unemployment reached about 27% (or more) in 1932. acting on bad advice (from the dnvp) hindenburg dismissed brüning in july 1932. in the general election that followed, the nazis won 37% of the seats. the other party that did well was the communist party (kpd) with 14%. fresh elections were held in november 1932: the nazi vote fell slightly, but the communist vote rose to 17%. in the streets of berlin and other major cities violence between left and right and their paramilitary wings grew. by late 1932, the effects of the great depression in germany had passed their peak, but this wasn't obvious at the time. the steady rise in communist vote triggered panic among most of the mainstream parties. after trying various solutions to the political crisis, hindenburg again took very bad advice - again from the dnvp. on the basis of this advice, he appointed hitler reichs chancellor on 30 january 1933 who promised to form a coalition with the german nationalists (dnvp). he did so, but at the same time almost immediately unleashed the sa (stormtroopers) who started a reign of terror within two months germany became a dictatorship, complete with concentration camps. joncey

explanation:

1. temperance, abolitionist, suffragist

athenian democracy developed around the fifth century bc in the greek city-state (known as a polis) of athens, comprising the city of athens and the surrounding territory of attica, and is often described as the first known democracy in the world. other greek cities set up democracies, most following the athenian model, but none are as well documented as athens'.

it was a political system of direct democracy, in which participating citizens voted directly on legislation and executive bills. participation was not open to all residents: to vote one had to be an adult, male citizen, i.e., not a foreign resident, a submissive or a woman, and the number of these was "probably no more than 30 percent of the total adult population."[1]

the longest-lasting democratic leader was pericles. after his death, athenian democracy was twice briefly interrupted by oligarchic revolutions towards the end of the peloponnesian war. it was modified somewhat after it was restored under eucleides; the most detailed accounts of the system are of this fourth-century modification rather than the periclean system. democracy was suppressed by the macedonians in 322 bc. the athenian institutions were later revived, but how close they were to a real democracy is debatable. solon (594 bc), cleisthenes (508/7 bc), and ephialtes (462 bc) contributed to the development of athenian democracy. cleisthenes broke up the power of the nobility by organizing citizens into ten groups based on where they lived rather than on their wealth.

hope this !