The Prince2

7/31/2019 The Prince2

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Analysis of Machiavelli

The PrinceChristy Gray Sarah Richard Chai Yong LimChunxi Zhang Yasmin Elgamel


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Introduction

The Prince was written to analyze how to obtain andmaintain a political power. Machiavelli did so trying toplease the Medici family.

He opens his book with a dedication to the MagnificentLorenzo.

Instead of gaining the favor of the prince by giving him gifts,he decided to offer the prince his knowledge of the conductof great men.

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Chapters 1-5

Machiavelli argues that all states are either republics ormonarchies. By good fortune or special ability, the prince is able toacquire his dominions by the force of his own army or the arms ofothers.

Machiavelli describes republics that they are governed by theircitizens, and monarchies which are governed by the same family.

Machiavelli starts his book with a clear description of the differentstates that exist. He starts with a concise and detailed information,to enable himself to easily present his ideas later in the book.

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Continued

In chapter 2, Machiavelli does not mention the republics andfocus more on the methods that govern a monarchies state.

Machiavelli uses his knowledge from the French, Romans,and the Greeks to provide the prince with information thatwill help him maintain and control his state.

Machiavelli explains the difficulties a ruler may encounter; heargues that people would try to change rulers if they do not

like their current one; also the prince will always have troublesupporting all who helped him gain power, and at the time he

can not rule against them.

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Continued

Machiavelli suggested ways to help the prince with theproblems he might encounter, specially the ones related tolinguistic and culture differences.

Living in a state that has different languages and customsfrom that of the prince, is one way to address any problemsmore efficiently. Another method is to establish colonies inthe new state, which is less expensive than using militaryforces.

Machiavelli focuses on whats good for the state, he pays moreattention to the different methods that will help control thestate, and is less concern for the welfare of the people.

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Continued

Machiavelli mention that all monarchies have two ways to govern astate: to have ruler chosen by the minister, or to be governed by the

ruler and nobles.

Machiavelli claims that it is hard to take over a state ruled by theprince and ministers; however, it might be easier to take over a state

governed by nobles, but it is also very hard to maintain such a state.

Machiavelli proposes three different ways to control a state that isaccustomed to living free under their own law. despoil them, live

with them under their own laws, or govern few of them in the state.

Machiavelli uses smart techniques in order to be able to control thestate; he believes that keeping the old state and their laws is a key to

a successful and strong state.

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Continued

It is not hard to take over countries that were ruled by aprince, because people are used to obeying their ruler,specially if the ruling family is destroyed. Machiavelli isassuming that people are followers by nature.

However, in a republic state it is much harder to controlthem, so it is either to live with them or destroy them.

Machiavellis methods to control a state are by removingany obstacles that comes in his way, or blending in withthem; which depends on the type of the problem andhow powerful or noble are the people he faces.

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Chapter 6-11

" To initiate a new order of things is the most difficult, anddangerous task to carry out for a prince. Doubtful ofsuccess.

" There are two methods of becoming a good prince." Good will and fortune" Ability

" The duke obtained the Romagna and defeated the Colonna.This was prevented by two things in keeping it maintained

and continuing on:" The dukes army; he doubted the fidelity." The will of France.

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Continued

" Duke in regard to present:" Seek fresh alliances and to alternate with France on the

occasion of the expedition that the French wereattempting towards the kingdom of Naples againstSpaniards, who were surrounding Gaeta.

" Duke in regard to future:" Afraid that a new beneficiary to the states of the Church

may not be affable to him, and may look to deprive himof what Alexander had given him, he sought to provide

against this in four ways:" Destroy dispossessed rulers; deprive pope of an opportunity." Gain the friendship of the Roman nobles." Obtain a good relationship with the college." Acquire power before the pope died; resist the first onslaught.

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Continued

" There are another two ways to which a man can become a prince thatcannot be related to fortune or ability:

" Sinful or villainous means." A private citizen taking on such honor through the favor of his

fellow citizens.

" Civic principality." Worth, fortune, cunning assisted by fortune." In every city there are two opposite parties:

" Desire from the populace to avoid the oppression of the great" Desire of the great to command and oppress the people.

" Absolute government, liberty, or license." Two chief cares:

" No foreigner should come into Italy by force of arms" None of the existing governments should extend its dominions.

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Chapter 12

" Mercenaries and auxiliaries are the worst of the types ofarmies to have. They are pretty much useless and extremelydangerous because they arent fighting for the love of theircountry or king/prince but because they are being paid todo so. They are faithless, cowards and disunited.

" The prince should go out into the armies and take theposition of Captain because he is the most capable andknows what he wants to be done and knows exactly how toattain it and the citizens should send their own troops tofight instead of being employed by the Prince and because of

this Princes and armed republics make the most progress.

" In later years the Italians helped set the standards for warfare by not attacking at night, taking prisoners instead ofkilling them, not digging trenches or stockades and didntfight during the winter.

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Chapter 13

" A prince should never ask foreigners to fight or lead theirarmies. They tend to take over control of the army that hired

them because they are more powerful than they are in the

first place holding them hostage in their own victory.

" A true Prince would rather lose with his own men then winwith someone elses men. He should always rely upon his

own men to carry out his requests. These Princes who have

used their own men in their armies have increased their

reputation tremendously because he is the sole owner of hisarmy. Therefore, one should use a men-at-arms and infantry

for their military.

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Chapter 14

" A Prince should only concentrate on studying the artof war and strategies. He should learn about his landand how to defend it in all scenarios. Whether theyare coming in from the hilltops into the valley or

coming out of the woods. A prince should always betalking strategies with his friends to find better andeasier ways to concur those who wish to invade hisland. The Prince should also practice hunting not onlyto keep his own skills in tip top shape but to also know

about his land like the back of his hand. Make use ofthe peaceful times to create new strategies rather thengallivant about.

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Chapter 15

" A prince should understand what wouldmake him a bad Prince in order to keep

himself from making those mistakes. He

should avoid scandals and yet he must

not mind suffering the scandal of those

sins.

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Chapter 16

" It is best to know known as a liberal Prince, whichmeans he should not use all of his own resources, not

impose high taxes on the citizens and not do everything

in his power to get him more money. If a prince doesthis, his residents will surely hate him. When his

citizens are calling him miserly for his methods, fear

not, for in time they will see him as a liberal and his

revenue is great enough to protect them from the

enemies who which to invade their homes and be ableto get everything done that he is supposed to

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Chapter 17

" Generally, every prince wishes to be considered as clement rather than cruel." However, Machiavelli suggested that misuse of clemency would lead to harm." Machiavelli gives an example of Cesare Borgia, he is considered cruel but his

cruelty resulted Romagna in peace. Contrary, Florentines tried to avoid crueltyresulted Pistoia to be destroyed through civil conflict.

" Machiavelli suggested that a prince should not mind if cruelty is necessary tokeep his subjects united and loyal.

"Machiavelli stated that it is safer for a prince to be feared than to be lovedbecause love is link of obligation which men are rotten, will break anytime for

their advantages but Fear, preserved dread of punishment which never fails.

" Machiavelli concluded that a prince should make himself feared but nothated. Moreover, he should only against someone life only he has good reason

to do so; he should abstain from the property of his citizens and his subjects

women.

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Chapter 18

" There are two ways of fighting, the first is by law, proper for humanand the second is by force, belongs to the beasts.

" It is necessary for a prince to rely on the second method because thefirst method is frequently not sufficient. Therefore, a prince shouldstudy laws and force, become half human and half beast.

" A prince needs to adapt from the fox and lion, to be the fox todiscover traps and to be the lion to frighten wolves.

" A prince should not keep his promise when it no longer profits himand when the circumstance in which his promises no longer exists.

This would be a bad practice if men were good, but men were bad." Possessing all kind of virtues is not possible, but a prince needs toknow how to appear virtuously.

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Chapter 19

" A prince must avoid being contempt or hated at all costs, hewill hated by his subjects if he takes their property orwomen, he will be contempt if he has reputation for beingfickle, frivolous, effeminate and cowardly.

" A prince has two fears, internal revolt from his subjects andexternal threats from external powers. Defending fromexternal power requires a strong army and good allies whiledefending against internal revolt requires he is not hated bythe people.

" A prince must try to escape the hatred from the mostpowerful group if he cannot avoid being hatred.

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Chapter 20

" New prince should not disarm his subject; in fact, he should armthem to instill loyalty. However, the opposite applies when aprince annexes a new state.

" Machiavelli suggested that factionalism is not a good way to keeppower on annexed state, it will more easily conquered by enemy, ashappened in Venice.

" Machiavelli argued that the men who are first suspect to the princecan often be trusted more than those who immediately loyal tohim.

" Machiavelli concluded that the best fortress is the support of thepeople and a prince should never rely on fortresses and neglectingthe attitudes of his people.

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Chapter 21

" Great actions and noble examples are two ways for a prince to gainprestige.

" A prince should reward or punish in front of public wheneversomeone did something good or bad.

" A prince should always choose a side on two warring states, neutralityis not a good choice because the victor will think that the neutralprince is a doubtful friend and the loser will think that the neutralprince is a coward.

" A prince should not choose the side that has greater power than hisown unless compelled to do so." Machiavelli concluded that a prince needs to discern which decisions

will bring the most reward and then pursuing them bravely.

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Chapter 22

Machiavelli states that the choice of a princes ministers is amatter of no little importance; they are either good or notaccording to the prudence of the prince.

Machiavelli says that an excellent prince should make anappropriate judgment of the good or the bad from theministers, and be able to encourage and correct theministers.

Machiavelli gives a method for prince to know how theminister is ---the minister who always think himself first, and

always put his own profits before the prince should be nevertrusted and relied on. And the prince should let ministersrealize that they cant stand alone.

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Chapter 23

Machiavelli suggested that a prudent prince shouldchoose some wise ministers, and give them free speaking

right. However, they can only speak the truth for the

questions that the prince concern not anything else.

Then the prince should make decisions by himself.

Machiavelli concludes that wise counsels, from whoeverthey come, must necessarily be due to the prudence of

the prince, and not the prudence of the prince to thegood counsels received.

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Chapter 24

Machiavelli describes some mistakes of the princes in this chapterand give some suggestions.

First, a new prince will receive double glory if he has a good laws,good arms, good friends and good examples. Otherwise, the prince

will get double shame if he depends on his prince born.

Second, like Philip of Macedon, the prince should be a brave manwho knows how to ingratiate himself with the people and makesure of the great.

Third, when adverse times came, the prince should depend onhimself alone and his own ability that make defense instead offleeing.

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Chapter 25

Machiavelli thinks that it may be true that fortune is theruler of half our actions, but that she allows the other half orthereabouts to be governed by us

Machiavelli states that if a prince relies on fortune entirely, hewill be ruined when fortune changes. Also, a prince shouldchange his mode of procedure cautiously and prudentiallywhen the time and circumstance changes, then he willsuccess.

Machiavelli suggests that it is better to be impetuous thancautious, because he insists on that fortune varying andmen remaining fixed in heir ways, they are successful so longas these ways conform to circumstances.

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Chapter 26

Machiavelli gives some suggestions to the potential prince ofItaly, hopes the princes can kick off the foreign rulers in thischapter.

Machiavelli says that everything in Italy is ready to meet anew prince, and it is not difficult for the new prince as longas the prince with great willingness and be ready to fight withthe hostile forces. This princes should set a new laws andmeasures, and own a better army and loyal soldiers and neworganization.

Machiavelli expressed how eager he is that hope a new princecan capture this great opportunity of Italy, lead them takerevenge on envy and raise up the Italy again.

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Documents

The Prince2