Machiavelli For One Year example essay topic

'An Outline and Arguments on The Prince by Machiavelli' Niccolo Machiavelli was a very knowledgeable man. He was born in Florence in 1469 and when he was of the age 43 he wrote The Prince. His first admission into politics happened in 1498 with the title as Secretary to the Second Chancery of the Signoria. He held this job through the year 1512 right before the Medici took over Florence. He was very faithful to his elders and to the policies of the government. In 1502 he became assistant to Soderini who was elected chief magistrate of the Republic.

One of his finest accomplishments came in the year 1509 when he made Pisa acquiesce after a 15 year struggle. He was mostly credited because he directed the land and sea blockade that brought about Pisa's submission. Three years later the Spaniards attacked Prato. They broke the walls, attacked the defenders, and totally destroyed the town. A couple days later Soderini resigned and went into exile. The Medici took control of Florence and six weeks later dismissed and banished Machiavelli for one year.

Early in 1513 he was suspected of plotting to overthrow the Medici government. He was first arrested, then tortured, and then released after his innocence was satisfactorily proven. He then went to a small farm near San Casciano where he was restless and bored. There he wrote the book called The Prince. There are a lot of ideas and teachings mentioned in the book.

It as a whole discusses what a principality is, what kinds there are, how they are won, how they are maintained and why they are lost. He first states that there are either republics or principalities (inherited or new). Principalities that are inherited are more easily to keep because the citizens already know and are familiar with the family in power. So the new prince should not keep away from the methods of his predecessors. This theory holds value because if the people are already familiar with the law and are acquainted with family then the heir to the throne will be loved and taken in as a brother.

If a new state is conquered then it will be hard to keep because of all the injuries that took place while occupying the new principality. Therefore, he will probably lose it. But, after one has conquered a territory a second time it will be easily lost because the ruler can use the rebellion as an excuse. Once one conquers a territory he must kill the ruling family; and then neither alter the taxes nor the laws. Machiavelli is devoted to the theory that once one takes a state over one must kill the existing leaders or else he will have trouble.

This is a great argument because people on the other side of this theory will believe that it would be a totally immoral act. But Machiavelli believed this to be logical in order to attain and sustain a new state. When one acquires a state that was used to living in freedom one must first destroy it; the second is to go live there; lastly let the citizens continue to live under their own laws. If one has acquired a principality with one's own arms and ability then it will be easier to overcome and remain then if the principality came because of fortune. Those who become princes by virtue of their abilities acquire the principality with difficulty, but then maintain it with ease.

But when somebody is given a state either for money or as a gift then they are probably in trouble. They lack knowledge of how to run a state and they also lack arms and a defense that will not respect and be loyal to him. This argument is mentioned because he does not want anybody in power that has no clue in what he is doing. One can not be put into power knowing nothing about ruling a state or about conquering other states. He has to have had experience or he has to learn real quickly once thrown into power. Machiavelli states that any prince that solely depends on mercenaries or on auxiliary forces will never have any peace or security.

Mercenaries have no loyalty towards the prince. They are fighting because they are paid to do so. When war comes around, as it inevitably does which Machiavelli states, they will either flee or desert. They of course will not die for the country because they have no reason to. He states that a prince needs to have his own troops or he will not accomplish great things.

Auxiliary troops are also horrid because if one loses the war then he is ruined and if one wins then he becomes inferior to them and will probably be put under their power. Machiavelli has a lot of heart and he argues this point because he does not want anybody to fight for Italy that does not care for it. There is no point in fighting if one does not care about his leaders or his country. Machiavelli's main point of the whole book is that 'A prince must have no other objective... but that of war...

'. Having military knowledge is so invaluable that it will keep a prince of hereditary in power for a great length of time. One should devote himself to war even in times of peace. One should scout the land of his country and should know how what to do in every realistic situation.

He should know how to locate his enemy, how to choose living space, how to attack the enemy, how to deploy his men and to attack cities that have an advantage over his. He also wants to get across that the state of Italy is waiting for somebody to save her. Like Moses who saved the Israelites from the Egyptians. Somebody that will rescue her from barbarians and cruelty. He states that for the past twenty years every all-Italian army involved in a war has made a bad showing.

One must have the security of one's own troops, not of someone else's. He wants the state of Italy to rise up with virtue and to cut down the barbarian insolence. Machiavelli shows through out the whole book that he loves his country. He did not mainly write it to get back into power but to inform the present prince in how to make a great country and how to make other states part of Italy's without losing them. In the letter that he wrote to Francesco Vet tori only shortly before a year when living on the farm near San Casciano it feels that he screams out to the world that he has loyalty to the government and that he will always feel that way.

For there is no reason now to lose it. He states that for 43 years he has been faithful and that his present poverty is a witness to his honesty and goodness. He is helping the prince out in how to be loved and be a great ruler. He describes very explicitly in how to attack the enemy or how to plan to attack the enemy, either in times of war or peace. In the last chapter he states why Italy has lost in the past decades and how the prince could perfect the future. He is an Italian at heart and he definitely tells it in this book.

The book is very logical in how to run a government when one runs one without morals and ethics. Machiavelli believed that moral and politics had no place in dealing with politics. He measured the success of the Prince by how much he has taken over and kept. He is a person that feels the need to take over states. Through out the whole book there is an underlying theme, if not explicitly stated, that the only thing a prince has to worry about is if he can conquer and hold states. When he states which countries are easier to conquer than others or which ones are easier to hold on to he is specifically doing this for the prince in telling him how to be the best he could be.

Machiavelli thought a 'Moses' was going to come and save Italy and he was trying to say indirectly that if the prince did all the basics that were written in the book and built upon them that he would become the savior of the country. Italy would become a state worthy of praise. Machiavelli was truly an Italian at heart at which he clearly states throughout the book. He was an experienced man who traveled to Rome, France, Germany on behalf on the Republic to deal in difficult matters. He came to an acquaintance with leaders of his time.

He had a lot of knowledge of history and how to avoid some of the things in the past and to do some things that were greatly accomplished. He advised the prince to read and study the actions of great leaders: Moses, Cyrus, Theseus. This would help him in foreign affairs and in wars and in life. Machiavelli overall loved his country more than his soul..