Monday, January 27, 2020

An analysis of internal controls

An analysis of internal controls Internal control as a process, effected by an entitys board of directors, management and other personnel, designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the achievement of objectives in Three categories: 1. Effectiveness and efficiency of operations 2. Reliability of financial reporting, and 3. Compliance with applicable laws and regulations 1.Internal control our EDP System Internal controls are a vigorous part of accounting and data processing systems. It is important that the auditor be aware with the functions and uses of internal controls with respect to both manual and automatic systems. The controls of an electronic data processing system (EDP) and their identification, evaluation, and importance to the external auditor 1.1.1. Importance of Internal Control Internal controls are a important part of accounting and data processing systems. It is important that the auditor be familiar with the functions and uses of internal controls with respect to both manual and automatic systems. 1.1.2. What are Internal Controls? In a broad sense, internal control comprises controls which embrace the organizational plan and the methods used to protection the assets, create the dependability of financial data and records, endorse working efficacy and loyalty to managerial policies. Internal control is categorized by independence between departments and lines of vicarious duty and authority. It is important that these internal controls verify the dependability and correctness of the data supportive all transactions using control total techniques, sanctions and approvals, contrasts, and other tests of data accuracy. Committee on Auditing Procedure. Auditing Standards and Procedures, Statements on Auditing Procedure No. 33. New York: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 2008, p. 27. 1.1.3. Why Internal Controls are Important? Before management can make judgments to maximize the long run profit of a firm, it must first have dependable accounting data on which to base these decisions. This info should be timely, accurate, complete, and reliable. The protection of the assets of the firm against losses from misappropriation, robbery, failure to take discounts, inadequacy, and unjustified delays of credit are some functions of internal control that should be sufficiently interweaved in any good accounting system. These controls are necessary to assure management that the agreed procedures and orders are obeyed to since the management of large companies are not usually involved in personal supervision of their employees. Therefore, controls add reliability to accounting and financial data. Internal controls are important to deliver appropriate segregation of functional responsibilities and to create a system of authorization and sanction to provide reasonable safety over these assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses. Sound practices shadowed in the performance of duties with in the organization and the allocations of persons of a quality appropriate with responsibilities are two additional necessary and correct functions of internal controls in any system. 1.1.4. Why the Auditor is Concerned with Internal Controls? Management identifies the needs and importance of internal controls as valuable tools to assure that events and transactions are properly carried out. The use and attendance of sufficient internal controls loans reliance and credibility to accounting records and consequently, reduces the length and detail of the audit. These internal controls reduce monotonous, routine, mechanical checks and verifications of bookkeeping accuracy, authorizing replacement of less time consuming approaches that involve judgment, reasoning, and common sense. 1.2. Internal Control Over Financial Reporting The internal control system of an entity is severely interconnected to the structure used by management to supervise the activities of the organization, or to what is defined as the entitys corporate governance. Good corporate governance should deliver proper inducements for the board and management to follow purposes that are in the interest of the company and shareholders and should ease effective monitoring, thereby encouraged firms to use resources more proficiently (OECD Principles of Corporate Governance). The Board of Directors is thus accountable for providing governance, supervision and oversight for senior management and guaranteeing that a suitable internal control system is in place and effective, meaning it ensure that foreseeable objectives are attained. Financial reporting is the connection between the company and its external environment. One of the main features which contributed to these failures relate to the internal control system established around the disclosure of information to stakeholders. It seemed that not attaining the objective of effective internal control system over financial reporting demoralizes the status of a company, even at the attendance of many other control components, making it problematic or impossible for a company to be dependable on the market, to be able to collect financing resources, to be believable to shareholders and stakeholders in general. 1.2.1. Role of the Internal Auditor in Evaluating Internal Controls The Internal auditor should scrutinize and contribute to the continuing effectiveness of the internal control system through evaluation and commendations. Though, the internal auditor is not lodged with managements primary obligation for designing, applying, maintaining and documenting internal control. Internal audit functions add value to an organizations internal control system by transporting an orderly, disciplined approach to the evaluation of risk and by making commendations to strengthen the effectiveness of risk management struggles. The internal auditor should emphasis towards improving the internal control structure and promoting better corporate governance. The role of the internal auditor consists of: Evaluation of the efficiency and effectiveness of internal control à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Commending new controls where essential or stopping unnecessary controls à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Using control framework à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Developing Control self-valuation The internal auditors assessment of internal control includes: Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Determining the significance and the compassion of the risk for which controls are being measured; Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Measuring the vulnerability to misuse of resources, failure to reach objectives concerning moralities, economy, efficiency and effectiveness, or failure to accomplish accountability obligations, and non-obedience with laws and regulations. Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Identifying and understanding the design and operation of related controls. Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Determining the grade of control effectiveness through testing of controls. Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Measuring the sufficiency of the control design. Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Reporting on the internal control evaluation and debating the essential corrective actions. The comprehensive areas of review by the internal auditor in assessing the internal control System are: Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Mission, vision, ethical and organizational worth system of the entity. Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Personnel allocation, evaluation system, and growth policies Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Accounting and financial reporting policies and obedience with applicable legal and regulatory standards Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Objective of dimension and key performance pointers Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Documentation standards Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Risk management structure Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Operational framework Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Processes and procedures followed Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Degree of management administration Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Information systems, communication channels Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Business Continuousness and Disaster Recovery Procedures The internal auditor should get an understanding of the important processes and internal control systems adequate to plan the internal audit engagement and develop an effective audit tactic. The internal auditor should use professional finding to assess and evaluate the adulthood of the entitys internal control. The auditor should obtain an understanding of the control environment sufficient to evaluate managements attitudes, consciousness and actions regarding internal controls and their importance in the entity. Such an understanding would also help the internal auditor to make an initial assessment of the sufficiency of the accounting and internal control systems as a basis for the preparation of the financial statements, and of the likely nature, timing and magnitude of internal audit procedures. The internal auditors measures the as is internal control system within the organization. The internal auditor should become an understanding of the internal control. Procedures adequate to develop the audit plan. In obtaining that understanding, the internal auditor would consider knowledge about the attendance or absence of control procedures obtained from the understanding of the control environment, business processes and accounting system in determining whether any additional understanding of control procedures is essential. The internal auditor should document and understand the design and operations of internal controls to assess the effectiveness of the control environment. When attaining an understanding of the business processes, accounting and internal control systems to plan the audit, the internal auditor obtains information of the design of the internal control systems and their operation. For example, an internal auditor may perform a walk-through test that is; present a few transactions through the accounting system. When the transactions selected are typical of those transactions that pass through the system, this procedure may be treated as part of the tests of control. The internal auditor should deliberate the following aspects in the evaluation of internal control system in an entity: Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Discovering the entity has a mission statement and written goals and objectives. Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Evaluating risks at the activity (or process) level. Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Completing a Business Controls worksheet for each important activity (or process) in each function or department with documentation of the attendant controls and their degree of effectiveness (partial or full); arranging those activities (or processes) which are most critical to the success of the function or department Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Ensuring that all risks identified at the entity and function or department level are addressed in the Business Controls worksheet along with the combined documentation of the operating controls. Æ’ËÅ"â‚ ¬Ã‚  Discovering from the Business Controls worksheet, those risks for which no controls exist or existing controls are insufficient. 1.2.2. The assessment of internal control over financial reporting The total assessment gives a complete opinion of the effectiveness of entitys internal control system across internal control components. To facilitate the comparability with other entities and give complete assessment of the effectiveness of an entitys internal control system as such, universal system for evaluations is needed. Assessments and audits of internal control system should be tailor-made to the size, business, operations, risks, and procedures of each company, not directed by standardized lists (Heuberger 2009). This should more exactly identify possible problems, promote more efficient allocation of resources to higher-risk areas, and encourages a focus on outcomes rather than on processes. Internal control over financial reporting can be judged effective when reasonable assurance subsists that financial statements are being prepared reliably. Quantitative assessments are intended to measure the level of confidence that can be placed on the internal control systems ability to perform effectively (Perry 2010). Perry and Warner (Ibid: 52-55) have suggested a five-step model for quantitative assessment of internal control system, which is described on figure 1.1. The most important feature to note in this framework is scoring individual control objectives against the selected model. Using a suitable framework as a basis of the evaluation helps to attain a complete and structured assessment without missing important features of internal control. Figure 1.1. Quantitative assessment of internal controls. Perry 2010: 52-55. A framework can be deemed suitable as the fundamental for evaluation, when it is free from bias; it permits reasonably consistent qualitative and quantitative measurements; it is adequately complete so that those related factors that would modify a conclusion about the effectiveness of a companys internal control over financial reporting are not mislaid; and it is related to the evaluation (PCAOB 2009: 11). There are two key components of quantitative scoring: establishing how the maximum score will be assigned within the model and determining what percentage of the total allotted score to award to each control components. The initial COSO cube provides insight into the importance of the five internal control components in relative to each other, emphasizing the great importance of control environment and observing. However, Perry. (2010:54) note that those performing the assessment should apply their own experience with and information of internal controls and use this in combining with COSO guidance. COB IT model describes numerous different levels of dependability or maturity of an internal control system. Levels may range from initial, the lowest level of dependability, to optimized, the highest. COBIT Internal control reliability model is drawing the evaluators consideration to different features of the effectiveness of internal control, which would otherwise go unobserved, e.g. documentation and perceived value of controls. At the same time, this model is incomplete with respect to COSO internal control framework, because control environment and risk assessment are not comprised. Also, difficulties may arise greatly in small and medium-sized enterprises, where documentation regarding internal control system is limited and control procedures informal, but consciousness, communication and observing functioning might still be at high level. The Internal Control Institute in the US features six categories in rating internal control components. Groups range from reactive controls to world class system pronounced in table 1.3. Each category is worth a percentage that is proportionate with the attained level of control (Perry 2005: 54). Specifically, category 1 is worth 162/3 percent (1/6) and category 6 is the highest level of maturity and is worth100 percent. The points for each control principle should be assigned according to the evaluated percentage of proposed maximum score, then concise and an assessment report prepared. In this system, the evaluators score the internal control over financial reporting according to the fulfillment of the principles of internal control through numerous criteria. The total evaluation of internal control is attained through summarizing the scores across objectives and components. Perrys model allows giving an total numerical opinion of the effectiveness of the internal control system, taking into account the distinct features of every organization by assigning different percentages for different control principles and components according to the entitys size, ownership and business activities. The assessment of the efficiency of internal control over financial reporting in an entity is closely associated to the concept of fraud. The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) defines fraud as those intentional misrepresentations of financial statements and other records which are carried out to conceal the misappropriation of assets or otherwise for gain (Pickett 2000: 550). For a person to commit fraud, three factors need to be in place: incentive or burden, chance and rationalization (Rittenberg 2005: 301; Pickett 2000: 550).

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Scandal at Abu Ghraib

The abuse scandal of prisoners at Abu Ghraib occurred during the Iraq war. From 2003 to 2006 AbuGhraib prison was a US Army detention center for captured Iraqis. An investigation into the treatment of detainees at the prison was prompted by the discovery of graphic photos depicting guards abusing detainees in 2003. The facility was located nearBaghdad on 280 acres. At the height of the scandal, the prison held up to 3,800 detainees.Most of the detainees lived in tents in the prison yards(CNN Library).Spec. Joe Darbywas a U.S. Army Reservist serving as a Military Police (M.P.) at the Abu Ghraib prison, when, in January of 2004 he blew the whistle on several of his colleagues that were involved in the abuse scandal. He said he received the now-notorious abuse photos on computer disks(CDs)from Cpl. Charles Graner at the beginning of December(Associated Press). He turned them over to the Army investigators Jan. 12, testifying that he knew Graner was a ringleader in the abuse and would be returning to the prison soon from another assignment.Darby was right in disclosing the abuse and blowing the whistle because the duty of preventionof further illegal abuse of prisoners by U.S. Army personnel outweighed any other duty or loyalty that he may have felt bound to. In addition, withholding evidence and knowledge of something as fundamentally wrong as torture could have led to more problems for Spec. Darby overall because the abuse could have escalated and eventually have been found outanyway. In James 2this case, justified legal action against him as a co-conspirator, for withholding evidence, and failure to disclose illegal activity could have been usedagainst him. Furthermore, feeling as distressed as he did about finding the photos of the abuse, living with the knowledge of having ignored inhumane acts performed by Army personnel could have led to tremendous psychological stress due to feelings of guilt. Why did Joe Darby wait several weeks to turn the CDs in? In a situation where whistleblowing becomes a very real possibility for someone, two, possibly more,loyalties start conflictingwithin the person having to decide on whether to blow the whistle or not,Most oftenthisis a conflict between a public or common moralinterestthat the actor feels he has to protectand hisfeeling of duty, commitment , and loyalty to an organization and/or one or several individuals. This conflict of loyalties can be agonizing for the potentialwhistleblowerbecause hewill havetodisregardone loyaltyin favor of another(both of which are of equal moral importance to him)if he blows the whistle.In Spec. Darby's case there were several conflicts. First, the loyalty to the institution of the Army;secondthe loyalty to his colleagues;third, public interest intheprevention of harm and illegal activities,and finally thefear of retaliation, the threat to his own person as well as his family. In one interview, about disclosing the abuse at Abu Ghraib, Darby is quoted assaying it was†the right decision and it had to be made†(Norris). While he was hailed as a hero by some, he was also facing a lot of opposition for his actions as a whistleblower. After returning to the U.S. he was placed in protective custodyfor an extended amount of time, and later had to move from his hometown to escape harassment and threats against him and his family. According to Kantian deontology, which is the best moral theory to apply here,Darby had a duty to blowthe whistlebecause the concept of duty is the essential or central point of James 3deontology, and rather than being worried about the consequences of an action, the important thing is the way actors think when they make choices.The act should come from respect for the moral law. The only inherently good thing, according to Kant, is the good will, and the will is good when one acts out of duty and not out of inclination (to gain something material or gain a feeling of self-satisfaction). Darby made the decision to blow the whistle for the sole reason of preventing further wrongdoing by fellow soldiers, and further harm to prisoners at Abu Ghraib. He acted out of good will; he had neither material gain nor did the act of whistleblowing make him feel good. He perceived it as his moral duty to disclose the information. While an opponent of whistleblowing may argue that deontology cannot justifyintroducing as universal law theexternal or public disclosure in all cases of alleged wrongdoing, it can be countered here that it is equally not justifiable to establish as a universal law for a person to keep quiet about knowledge of intentional wrongdoing forever or indefinitely. Additionally, the duty to blow the whistle,as suggested bydeontology,is already being upheld in several professions, and in many of the States.For example,teachers,and physicians are required to report suspicions of abuse, nurses are required to report mistakes in the medical treatment of patients, and thereare laws that punish the failure to report a felonyin numerous states. Even in the Military there are clauses that obligate a soldier to refuse an order that is not legal. These are all examples of deontological theory supporting whistleblowing as the duty of a good citizen. While blowing the whistle externally is still often a controversial concept, internal whistleblowing has long been encouraged or been made obligatory by management in corporatecodes of ethics (Paddget). Considering that many U.S. soldiers were in the explicit pictures that were taken of the abuse, one stands to reasonably pose the question if Darby was the only person who was James 4disturbed by the actions of the soldiers involved in the torture of detainees. Spec. JeremySivits, who is also mentioned in case 6.2, was the first soldier to be tried. In his defense, his attorney insisted that Sivits was merely following orders, as he had been trained, to photograph the abuse. He claimed that followingorders was the right thing to do for Sivits(Clancy, Vaught and Solomon). This defense did not hold up in court, and Jeremy Sivits was tried and convicted, possibly because his invoking the defense of obedience was flawed. â€Å"Strict† obedience, which is what Sivits obedience to superiors essentially was, cannot excuse participation in a case involving unlawful actions as using torture and abuse on detainees of the U.S. Army. The Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) 809[890]. ART.90(20), makes it clear that military personnel need to obey the â€Å"lawful command of his superior officer,† 891.ART.91 (2), the â€Å"lawful order of a warrant officer†, 892.ART.92 (1) the â€Å"lawful general order†, 892.ART.92 (2) â€Å"lawful order†. In each case, military personnel have an obligation and a duty to only obey lawful orders and indeed have an obligation to disobey Unlawful orders, including orders by the president that do not comply with the UCMJ. The moral and legal obligation is to the U.S. Constitution and not to those who would issue unlawful orders, especially if those orders are in direct violation of the Constitution and the UCMJ (Mosqueda).

Friday, January 10, 2020

Greek and Hellenistic Civilization, The Byzantine Empire

The Minoans are Bronze Age the civilization that arose In Crete In third and second millennia BCC. There called after their legendary King Minis. Their reign is divided into 3 main periods: Early, Middle and Late Minoans. Their art and architecture was very distinctive and glorious showing scenes of peace and melancholy, however they didn't have strong walls which were built for defense. Excavation on these sites have revealed some clay tablets that were written on, on some even in a writing that is considered as an early Greek language.The Mycenaean are people who used metal, built houses and traded with Crete and other Islands. These people lived on the Creek mainland. It Is not known where they came from, they did not even speak a language that was Indo-European. Excavators show signs of later invasions of Greeks. The Mycenaean were warriors ruled by powerful kings and had fortresses built on hills with sorting defensive walls. Unlike Minoans', their murals are showing scenes of w ars and hunting. They are mentioned in the archives of the Hitter Kings of Asia Minor and in Egyptian records.They probably destroyed Troy, which later was a basis for Homer's Iliad and the Eyes. Around 1200 BCC, this civilization shows signs of struggle and they disappeared. After their disappearance, which Is considered the fault of the Dorian, Greece entered the dark middle ages, about which is not much known. Homer's poems provide the best insight into these dark ages. They are based upon oral poetry and tradition that has come from that very time. Polls in the Expanding Greek World It Is the most characteristic Greek Institution representing a city-state.All of polices were initially villages or towns with flourishing agriculture. A polis was a community of relatives: the citizens have come from one coaster, so they all present subgroups which were brotherhoods, clans or tribes. Later on, agar – a marketplace and CIVIC – center appeared In polls, It became a place of social interaction and major conversations. The hoppled phalanx has become an invitational war technique. From 8th to 6th century BCC, Greek period of colonization began – they successfully placed polis all the way from Span to the Black Sea.They Inhabited Macedonia, and had many colonies In Sicily and Italy later called Magna Grackle. Colonization gave them sense of belonging, of having a culture (phenylalanine). It also encouraged trade and industry. Many of the new wealth citizens were not of aristocratic blood, they were not politically Included, so they rebelled and many of those conflicts resulted In tyranny. Tyrants (700-500 BCC) were monarchs who gained power unorthodoxly and ruled 1 org only to gain more power and be more popular among the citizens. They cultivated arts, literature and technology. The last of them are remembered as oppressive and aggressive.Archaic Greece Aristocrats lead privileged lives, the others farmed the land. The religion played important role in those times. Like most ancient nations, the Greeks were polytheists. The art and literature and general life of polis were tightly connected with religion. The 12 deities that lived on Mount Olympus were considered to behave like humans. The early Greek traders learnt many techniques in Syria. They borrowed the writing system from a Semitic script and added vowel to create the first real alphabet ever, which was easy to learn. Due to that, the Greece became a widely literate society.During the 6th century, the lyric has become a new genre of poetry. The poets wrote about personal issues that can be implied in life, like love and political state and opinions. Polis and Persian Wars Each polis developed in a unique way. Athens and Sparta have become the most powerful city-states with unusual histories. The wars with Persia have ended the lambasting freedom of polis. Spartan conquered Messiah due to population increase and hunger. The Helots of Messiah now had to work for the Spartan, so they rebelled. To keep them DOD, Spartan turned the state to a military camp.In that way they turned the center of Helots' devotion from family to polis. Athens was governed by a council of nobles. Due to degenerating crisis and socioeconomic change, the Athenians elected Solon. He cancelled debts, forbade bet slavery and brought Athenians who were enslaved abroad. He forbade the export of some major goods, but encouraged the production of olive oil and wine for sale. He changed the way of government by improving the economy of Athens. In 6th century BCC, some of the coastline polis in Asia Minor fell under the control of King Crosses of Lydia and the powerful Persian Empire.The situation was calm enough, no one rebelled until a tyrant Aristocrat of Milieus ended the calm. Persians conquered island Nanas. Later Aristocrat tried to raise a rebellion in Ionian and turned to the mainland polios. Athenians burned Saris, the seat of Persian governor. Persia countered by destr oying Milieus and ending the rebellion in Ionian. In 490 BCC, Persian king Diaries decided to punish Athens. The Persians were defeated at Marathon. In 481 BCC, Xeroxes gathered an army of 150, 000 men and Ana of 600 ships and attacked Athens, which defeated the Persians again with only 200 ships.On mainland, the Spartan tried to sop the Persian invasion, but failed. The war was won by Greece, due to their great fight on the sea. Classical Greece After the Persians retreated, Greece be+entered its classical period, which has aridly ever been surpassed in cultural achievement by any other civilization. It is also 150 years of conflict between the polis, which resulted in them being weakened and vulnerable. As the strongest and best equipped polis in Greece. Common, the leader of Athens wanted to aggressively attack Persia and stay in friendly relations with Spartan.Prices however, wanted to change that state. They eventually all arranged Common's exile, and formed an ally with Argos, Sprat's enemy. A conflict emerged between Sprat's and Athens allies known as the First Polynesian War. The Athenians remained undefeated during the early years of the war. In 454 BCC, Athenian fleet was destroyed and the revolts broke inside the Delia League. Sparta and Athens agreed on 30 years of peace in Greece, at that time, divided into 2 parts. The peace only lasted for 10 years. This war was long and sit destroyed the foundation of whole civilization.After years of fighting and ruining, no one won. The Athenian Empire lost its power and collapsed. Through the years, the Spartan intervened in many conflicts with Persia and won, later even controlling the Mesopotamia. They became very aggressive and lawless, which, in their future battles caused them to ruin themselves. Greece has once again come to the pre-wars period of disorientation. Hellenic Culture A period of 3 centuries in which Greek culture had spread itself to Egypt and into the far eastern Asia. The Hellenic civili zation was combination of Asian and Greek elements.It arose with the rise of power of Macedonia, which conquered Greece and Persia in two generations. Macedon Kingdom was in the between Greece and barbaric tribes of the North. For Greeks, Macedonian were semicircular. Philip II of Macedon unified Macedon in 359 BCC he created his people as a strong fighting force. In 338 BCC, he defeated Athens and Thebes. Phillip was murdered, but his son, Alexander the Great, succeeded in his father's plans to conquer Persia. His battles were quick and short, he wanted them like that decisively because he needed supplies of minor Persian strongholds.He fought intelligently, marching straight through Syria and defeating the Persian army, causing king Diaries Ill to flee. He easily conquered Egypt and was met with ovations and considered the Son of God Re, savior and pharaoh. Diaries Ill offered him alliance to end the invasion. He refused. In Mesopotamia, he again tactically defeated the Persians, Diaries fled again. He entered Babylon and was declared a king and a savior one more. He burned Prolepsis, after taking all the money he needed to circulate in his empire, as a symbol of final destruction of Persia.He later found Diaries dead, so he captured Diaries' replacement, Busses, and headed to India. Near Samaritan, in one of towns named after him, he married a Bacteria princess. He conquered Pakistan, going even further to see the river Ocean for which Greeks thought was the end of the world. His tired men refused to go further, so they went back to Persian Gulf. He had great plan for future, but in his 33rd year, he died. Overall, the Hellenic heritage provided us an insurmountable quantity of culture and teachings, from medicine, mathematics and astronomy to arts, literature an philosophies.Chapter 11 The Byzantine Empire and Western Europe The Fall of Western Roman Empire In fifth century CE Italy and Rome endured several sieges and attacks by barbarian fragmented Wester n Empire fell in hands of the barbarians. Rome officially fell in 457; emperor Divorce declared Zone, the Eastern Roman emperor, as the only emperor of the whole Roman Empire. The barbarians culturally separated Europe from its Classical Age. Rupee's development was stagnating due to the political and economical fragmentation, while other civilizations were improving their assets.China was securing its borders from foreign invasions between 8th and 10th century. They were more cosmopolitan and politically and technologically unified than Europe at the time. They even had movable type printing machines in 10th century, which the West became knowledge with in 1 5th century. The rulers' authority was extended greatly upon the people, while in Europe the power the rulers had was mainly inside the government centers. India was blossoming under the reign of Guavas in 4th and 5th centuries, until the Arab expansion to Spain and India in 8th century.Japan was fragmented in similar means Jus t like Europe. The Byzantine Empire In the 4th century, the imperial power shifted to the eastern part of empire. Emperor Justinian reign for the greatest period of Constantinople glory. The strength of the empire could be seen in the tight central control of over 1,500 powerful cities all around the Byzantine, some of which had about 50,000 citizens, while Constantinople had about 350,000 inhabitants – the most populated city of the oral at the time. Let has been a crossroads between Europe and Asia.Justinian policy was to centralize governments by imposing legal and doctrinal conformity – codification of existing Roman Law – Corpus Jurist Civil (studied and used even today). At the time, church and rulers were closely tied, in the means that the ruler had power over the church. Barbarian Invasions of Western Roman Empire The Germanic tribes had coexisted peacefully with the Romans for several centuries, until appearance of Hung. Therefore, the Germanic fled we stward to the Roman Empire and there were faced with famine, disease, high taxes and poor litany – they've easily gained control over the land.Justinian tried to regain Western Roman Empire, but only partially succeeded for some time. Avers, Slavs and Bulgaria invaded North and West lands around Constantinople in 6th and 7th centuries. Slavs covered to Eastern Orthodoxy (Byzantine Christianity) by two saints, Cyril and Methodism, who invented the Greek-based alphabet of Slavic language. It was later revise by Bulbar influence and today is known as Cyclic. Heraclites was the first emperor who spoke only Greek, not Latin. He spent his life resisting Persian and Islamic invasions.Eventually, in 7th century, Islamic armies overran the empire and they steadily progressed, until emperor Leo Ill who repelled Arabs. He succeeded to take back most of Asia Minor, but the Mediterranean was forever lost. Constantinople was of great importance and very interesting to non-Christians as the centre of the world. In time, there were not only Fresh, Paisa and Venetian quarters, but Muslim and Jewish ones as well. The period of strong imperial rule was in 10th century. Former military reforms (7th and oh centuries) allowed better resistance to the enemy invasions.Macedonian Bulgaria were halted by Basil II, the fiercest emperor of the dynasty. All in all, Macedonian reign was age of art, literature and culture – a revival period. It was a period of state-controlled growth and military peace. The peace was broken in 1071, first with the loss of the last stronghold of Byzantine Empire in the West: Barb, a town in Italy; it fell to the Norman kings of France, and second with the coming of Muslim Seller Turks. They destroyed the imperial army in the battle of Amazement and overran Anatolia, from where the Byzantine Empire recruited its soldiers.Empire had to fight the enemies on two fronts, all the while it served a purpose of religious and cultural heritage center of he West. After more than 20 years of steady Turkish advances, emperor Alexis I called for help from the West. The Pope launched the first Crusade. In 1204, the 4th Crusade was stopped in Constantinople on their way to Jerusalem. Even though their purpose should have been the rescuing of the Byzantine capital, they inflicted more damage upon Jerusalem than all the previous invaders of other religions. Religious Diversity Religious belief was of great servitude to political unity.In 391 the officially declared faith of Eastern Empire was Christianity, while other religions and sects were forbidden and proclaimed as heresy. Patriarchs were those who crowned the emperors and they were highly respected and generously endowed. A lot of Jews lived in the empire and they were protected by Roman Law. Some emperors tried to convert them to Christianity boot forcefully and indirectly, but those methods proven themselves unsuccessful. In 4th century, the Nice Creed was concluded, claiming that the Holy Spirit proceeded from Father only, not from the Son.Some scholars believe that the Creed has been of political concern: by protecting the majesty of Father, they were actually protecting the position of the emperor, for whom was believed to have all et power of he worlds. In 8th century, Leo Ill forbade the use of icons in worship, iconoclasm. That served to furtherer divide the East and West parts of the empire by shocking the Roman Popes who allied with Freakish kings. Eastern church also denied the existence of Purgatory, allowed marriage to the priests and allowed liturgies to be held in other languages, not only in Greek or Latin.This all lead to the great schism in 1054. These privileges the Western Christians didn't gain until the Protestant Reformation in 16th century. Impact of Islam on East and West Unlike other invaders, Arabs imposed their culture and religion whatever land hey conquered. In 8th century, they gained access to Spain – that was the beginnin g of 700-year reign of today's Andalusia. South and East Mediterranean coastline were also under their control. On the other side, other Muslim armies, Seller and Ottoman Turks, proceeded over Mesopotamia and Persia toward Byzantine.The Muslims tolerated Christians and Jews – they made no efforts to convert them to Islam, however they made sure the conquered people pay special taxes which itself encouraged the conversion to Islam. Leo Ill stopped them at the time from developing further, until 1453. Franks stopped the Arabs from their expansion to the very center of Europe on Christians and Muslims continued in the means of trade. Caliphates of Islamic empire found the Byzantine as a perfect model, the courts and architecture were all having impact on the Islamic conquerors and the art became a foundation for later Arab illuminations.Arab rulers wanted to see their faith in intellectual terms and associate themselves with an older powerful tradition. This wish influenced Musl im interest in Ancient Greek culture and learning, especially in medicine, astronomy, philosophy and logic. They translated all of the now studies from Greek. Arab scholars noted that Christian emperors suppressed the Greek studies on purpose due to political reasons. The Western civilization gained the most from Muslim teachings, the Greek famous works were thankless to Latin thanks to the Arabs in Spain, who allowed mixed communities.Roman Church Development Through all of this, while the Western Empire was slowly crumbling, the church gained in power. On, the church became a great substitution of sometime emperors of the Western Romans. Church and the Pope gained the control over Rome and became a center of all that left in the empire. They gained strength, special privileges, great lands and wealth. The church had a religious message to help in the worst time and rituals that united people beyond the barriers, all the while acting as a central administrations power.The Monastic culture was widely spread, resulting in the appearance of monks, who later became willing to serve the needs of the infirm and poor people by caring for them. As the problems for Eastern Roman Empire continued, the Pope took the opportunity and declared himself as a Christ visceral on Earth hiving him absolute power in secular and other sectors of the Empire, too. The Kingdom of the Franks Their territory include the land of today's France, western Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. Innervations' counts had become territorial rulers for their own benefit, which resulted in the weakening of the Innervations.Later on, the Carolingian gained power and took the crown of Freakish kings after their strong army of counts who held the lands defeated the Arabs on the west frontier. The Carolingian used the power of church to pacify the tribes – Bars, Frisian and Saxons, who were the greatest enemies of the Franks. The church helped them to take the title of the crown dynasty. Toget her, they formed an alliance after the Nice Creed against the Eastern emperor. The Franks protected the church and king Pepping was declared as a father-protector of the Roman, which was , by that time, only emperor's title.Franks defeated the Lombardi and gave the lands to the church around Rome. This land are known as the Papal States. Throughout the time, peasants were classified as free on unfreeze bob their lord considering their heritage and property. Many of them escaped in search of better places. The Carolingian empire was divided in three parts and became fragmented due to the war between three brothers who owned the parts. The empire as itself would not be whole again until the 16th century. Feudalism It is the social, political and economic system that emerged from rich freemen who ruled the smaller, poorer freemen.This conditions prevailed due to constant threats people require firm assurance that others can be depended on in time of dire need. It is a system of mutual rights and responsibilities. The rich freemen, the masters had their own lands, own armies and courts, and the smaller ones were their vassals. The origins of the feudal society can be found in conflicts inside the Moravian dynasty and it lasted through the Carolingian, as well. Chapter 20 The Last Great Islamic Empires, 1500-1800 The Islamic vitality from 1450 to 1800 was proven by three great states of Ottomans, Savvied and Musicals.They built great militaries and civil states and revived Islamic culture and social life. Ottoman Empire Ottomans were a Turkish dynasty who originated from one of the groups of western Chough Turks in Central Asia. They came to Anatolia as Muslims. In the time, the first Turks that were residents of Byzantine were Useless. They had reign over dome parts of modern-day Turkey. He Ottoman power shifted to Dire on the Balkan Peninsula, slowly extending toward Anatolia. Constantinople finally fell Eden Ottoman control in 1453. By the reign of Sultan Mohame d II, The Conqueror. It became Ottoman capital after it was renamed to Istanbul.Ottomans allowed Christian patriarch to remain there and rule the Eastern church. The Ottoman expansions continued toward the center of Europe, often Justified in the name of Islam. Sultan Sells I conquered the lands of southeastern Europe, north of the Black Sea and majority of Ukraine, Egypt, annexed Syria and Palestine, as well as Mecca and Medina. Furthermore, Sultan Salesman Ã'›the Magnificent† expanded the empire over Sardinian, Georgia, Mesopotamia, Iraq and more of eastern Europe, as well as big part of Hungary and nearly Vienna. The entire empire was organized as a military institution.All member had ranks and positions, no matter their function. Grand Mufti or Sheikh of Islam, was a single religious authority who ruled the llama as a significant part of government. It was supposed to be only for Muslim men and had an entire system of courts and Judges and it held the supremacy of Shari' s, Muslim law Which was recognized by the Sultan himself. However, the empire had its strictly organized administrative law, Quean. After Salesman's death, his son Sells II gained control over the empire. It was weakened by military corruption, government decentralization and various other setbacks.Economically, inflation and agricultural failures have been sufficient to endure, but intellectual, the empire was vitality by cultural accomplishments. Savvied of Iran took control over Sardinian and Mesopotamia in 1603. The military was weakened from fighting on two fronts, with the addition of Rupee's progress in technology. In 17th century, the Janissaries became corrupt, meddling into politics and dynastic issues. Later on, Maraud IV from 1623 to 1640 tried to revivalist the reign, but he died leaving weakly centralized authority with taxes rising, paying the Janissaries, weakened all aspects of government to his successors. Epitomized majestically, ant the cultural exchange flourish ed, but at the same time, the llama became increasingly corrupt. There are some notable writers and historians such as Katie Chilled, Evilly Chilled, Minima the traveler, and greatest Ottoman poet, Ended. The greatest was the architect Asian. The empire had become influenced highly by Europeans and Jews and progressed as a multivalent, literature and multitudinous state. After the failure in 1683 to take Vienna, they came back from Hungary and Belgrade and never threatened Europe again.From 17th to 18th century, the empire was increasingly becoming dependent on international markets, in contrast to its self-sufficient growth and control of conquered lands. The European economics- based system was going toward industrialization and capitalism and the empire collapsed under their growing interest in 1918. The Safaris Empire and the West Asian World The Savvied originate from Turkish spiritual leaders of a Sunnis Suffix order in Azerbaijan. They officially appeared in 14th century. Soo n, their order evolved Shiite ideology.Throughout the years they had many conflicts and battles with neighboring nations and empires. A strong central rule of Shiite conformity was applied by Shah Somali, which caused even greater tensions with the neighbors. Ottoman sultan Sells I defeated the Safaris army in 1514, which caused wars on the Safaris- Ottoman border for about two centuries. Thanks to their religious feelings, the Savvied endured the constant attacks ender Somalia's successor, Thomas l. The next and the most able Safaris ruler, Shah Bass brought a first real type of leadership to Iran.He regained the provincial lands and used the men force in order to support Iranian troops as a counterweight to other problematic lands. He pushed the Ottomans out of Azerbaijan and Iraq and sought alliances with Ottoman's western enemies. This is the tactic that eventually caused many fatal divisions in both politics and economics in the assumed unity of Islamic world. Bass broke down t he monopoly of the Portuguese in trade on Persian shores and made deals with Dutch and English commerce in India. The grandeur capital he brought to Iran could best be seen at Safaris.However, the Savvied' power had a lambasting after-effect: the central faith of majority, Sunnis Islam, was replaced for Shiite Islam. The llama, society+TTY of scholars leaned the legitimacy to government and they discouraged the pilgrimage to Mecca, instead they encouraged visits to Kraal and the shrine of Hussar. By the 17th century, llama withdrew from any political participation. After Shah Bass, the empire didn't see able reign again. Pressure on two fronts, economics weakening and the increasing power of llama were the reasons the empire increasingly corrupted and eventually declined.Afghan leader forced Hussar I to abdicate. The lands of the empire were shared among the neighbors, only kept reign over western Iran. In 1747, the reign of Nadir Shah ended brutally. The Musicals The name is a Pers ian variation of the Mongols. They were Chatty Turks and they invaded India from the northwest starting a new era for India, by reuniting the fragmented states. The founder of the dynasty, Baber, marched to India, replaced However, the greatest ruler of India, since Osaka, was Kafka â€Å"the Great†. He gained his success with impressive military force, adding great lands to the empire.More important were his government reforms, his handling of cultural and religious differences. He organized the government and the tax system. Hindu-Muslims tensions were eased at the time when he married the Ragout princess. He also organized debates between various spiritual leaders, showing tolerance for all religions. Saba's successors had great achievements,too, but the problem in sustaining an Indian empire gradually became too much. Janitor and Shah Johan were rulers who accomplished most when it's about culture, particularly in architecture and painting.Shah Johan was strained with eco nomic problems, though. His building projects were too expensive, like Tax Mall, which he built for his beloved Mutual. Rearrange, Khan's son, was religiously conservative in more an more internally conflicted India. He persecuted non-Muslims, destroyed Hindu temples, reimbursed the poll tax and estranged the Ragout leaders. He denied and ruined everything Kafka ever fought for. Arranger's reign and methods were helping a lot to various movements, which include nationalism as well, and religions to culminate and eventually divide India religiously and nationally even more.