Nicole's Global Blog

The Collapse of Communism

2009-05-13T06:04:00.000-07:00

During the Cold War the USSR and the U.S. were the world's leading superpowers. After WW2 these two world powers were competing in a race. Both of them being world powers and armed with atomic weapons they did not get in to any actual fighting. The mere cost of keeping up with each other was high for both countries. For the USSR it was to much. Their economy soon collapsed at the high price of competing with the U.S. With the collapse of the USSR the communist countries that they supported soon also collapsed due to the fact that their main source of money came from Soviet Russia.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

2009-05-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

Apartheid is a word created by the South African Bureau for Racial Affairs (SABRA). They argued about the policy of "separate development" of the races. Nelson is such a hero beacause, he Fought for Unity and Liberation. He hold the future of Africa. Growing under the Apartheid system was tough and harsh. But, Nelson was a fighter. He became a lifelong warrior in the battle to free South Africa. He spent 27 years in the prison and became the symbolic body and blood of the anti-apartheid campaign.He was a man of peace, but he headed a guerrilla group that waged a campaign of violence.

During the 1950s Mandela played a key role in the ANC's non-violent campaign to undermine apartheid, South Africa's system of racial segregation, through strikes, civil disobedience, and demonstrations. After he was released by the white government, Mandela negotiated with the white government to end apartheid. Four years later he was elected president and served for five years.

African Independence

2009-05-06T06:09:00.000-07:00

Africa has changed so much in the 20 year period from 1955 to 1975 by having more independent countries in Africa. The only colonies were the South West Africa and Spanish Sahara. There had been more independent countries in the 20 year period because some countries in Africa fought to be independent against colonists. Africans wanted to show the world and other people that they can run its own country and industrialized Africa. Some of the leaders in Africa was Leopold Senghor who was the first president of Senegal. Another leader was Jomo Kenyatta, who was a nationalist leader of Kenya. Then there was a leader named Mobuto that ruled the country Zaire.

Film Lesson - "The Right Stuff"

2009-04-23T06:25:00.000-07:00

The U.S and the USSR were competing in a race to get to space. This film shows the old days on how NASA was back in the days of the space program. The Russians were able to launch their first satellite in space which was called spudnik. The U.S were terrified about the satellite and they were afraid that the Russians will be one ot two steps ahead of them. The U.S decided to send the first man to space.

The U.S were searching for candidates that were perfect and found test pilots. The U.S tried to test the rockets to see if they were able to launch it in space. Many months have passed and there had been alot of failed test. While trying, they also decided to send a chimp up to space. The first man up was a Russian and the chimp was the first American. The U.S were really behind the Russians. They felt embarrased and threatened.

The U.S tried to send the first American man up to space, but they still used the chimp for testing. There was about seven people who were able to go to space, the others failed the test.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

2009-04-06T12:33:00.000-07:00

NATO stands for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was an organization that involved in the countries of Europe and North America. If any countries were to be under attack, then the other allies will come to their help. The NATO also helped with economic aid of the European nations.

The Warsaw Pact was another mutual defense alliance like NATO but an organization of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was ran by the Soviet Union in the Cold War. The Soviets were able to create a nuclear bomb in Cuba to use while they were in the war. This alliance was created as a response to the NATO.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

2009-03-26T06:29:00.002-07:00

Schindler's list was a great and pretty updated movie on the Holocaust. It was a good idea to make it in black in white, it would easily allow actual footage to be put into the movie, as they were all in black in white. Some of the scenes which i found very disturbing and that i will never forget is when the lady came to the Nazi guards and gave them an idea about what they were constructing. She told them that she was an engineer, when they saw she was trying to show she was smart they shot her in the back of the head.Also the scene when the Nazis came into the hospital where they were keeping Jewish sick people and the Nazis shot them several times just to make sure they were dead.

Another image from the film that will stay with me is when they showed the entrance to Auchwitz, when Schindler's women workers were accidentally transported to the death camp. It was a pretty scary sight from knowing so much of the terrors that occured there. It was also a crazy sight when they showed all the burned bodies being packed up, when the camp was being rid of evidence, as everyone including the Nazis were goin crazy from the killing and smell.

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

2009-03-26T06:29:00.000-07:00

Some of my reactions to "Night and Fog" were overwhelming. I found this film interesting yet scary. It's incredible to see how much people suffered over one person that just felt like getting rid of them for no reason. The black and white images are devastating and powerful. The women's hair all shaved off and thrown in a pile as if it was fur to make clothes out of was a sad image to see. I was shocked to see that the film had been made soon after the war. Resnais' treatment of this subject will still burn the images right onto your head.

I have also seen another film referring to the Holocaust, "Schindler's List". But "Night and Fog" is still the one that will shock you the most. Although, I find "Schindler's List" the better movie when it comes down to the illustration of the Holocaust. It had more action and made you feel more of the horrible circumstances as if you had been there at the time. "Night and Fog" was more of a picture film, which I don't enjoy as much as regular films. Such films as these should give us all the courage to stand up for our rights, understand when something unfair shouldn't be done, and to stand together to stop it.

The Treaty of Versailles (ended WWI)

2009-02-25T14:16:00.000-08:00

The Treaty of Versailles affected Germany because the winning side of the war, put the entire blame on Germany. Land was taken away from Germany, and also all of their colonies. After all that, they even piled up a whole bunch of fines on Germany, but Germany didnt have any money to pay it because all of its colonies were taken away, and they couldnt produce and sell natural resources.

I think that this treaty was unfair because they put the whole blame on Germany. The cause of the war wasn't because of Germany and the Allies put all of the blame on the Germans. The treaty destroyed Germany's economy, causing an huge depression. They were barely able to keep up payments and had to borrow money from America. Everything in Germany was inflated and German money was almost worthless.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

2009-02-24T06:03:00.000-08:00

Mustafa Kemal's main goal was to modernize Turkish life. He wanted them to have a new source of dignity, equality, and happiness. He came up with the "Six Arrows," these six fundamentals consisted of Republicanism, Populism, Secularism, Reformism, Nationalism, and Sadism. Mustafa Kemal, modernized Turkey by first getting rid of the Ottoman dynasty. This made a huge turning point, since the Ottoman dynasty lasted more than six centuries.

He introduced many reforms to his country like politics, and economical aspects. He created a secular system in which the Muslim majority and the small Christian and Jewish minorities were free to practice their faith and what they believed in. He wanted freedom and equality for all, not depending what religion they were involved in.Kemal believed that all the people were supposed to dress and live like the Europeans. He changed the way people dressed. People stopped wearing their religious clothing and began to wear more modern clothes.

There was legal systems where everyone was was equal in front of the law. He improved the agricultural expansion, industrial growth, and technological advancement. Secular means to have reference to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual or scared.

Film Lesson - "Gandhi"

2009-02-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

Gandhi was a great leader in Indian history. Gandhi tried and succeeded in winning India's Independence from Great Britain. Gandhi was imprisoned in 1922, 1930, 1933 and in 1942. While in prison, he went on a hunger strike. Gandhi did not buy British clothes which gave Great Britain a huge loss. Next, he and his people walked 240 miles to the sea cost to make their own salt, this was called the Salt March. This meant another loss for the British because now the Indians would not buy salt from them. These were examples of civil disobedience, which meant going against the law without any violence. His fame was such that his death in prison made international headlines and greatly embarrassed the British. India got its independence in 1947.

Extra Credit:
I think India's Independence was really somewhat about Gandhi but also about his people. This is because thanks to Gandhi the Indians had the strength to revolt against the British. Otherwise the Indians would've probably let the British take over and do anything they wanted to do to them but without the help of the people he wouldn't have been able to do it himself. In Great Britain, around the time of Indian Independence, they were going through big losses; an economic downfall.

The Russian Revolution

2009-01-09T09:05:00.000-08:00

The Russians had a revolution mainly because of the gulf between the peasents who were former serfs and the land owners. They lost WWI against Germany, and there was starvation in the country. The peasants also felt that the czar should not pay attention on war, but should take care of their needs, and the economy was really bad. The major cause of the revolution was the Peasants getting mad at the czar cause he was not taking care of their needs. Also the government never recovered from their past. They lost their money in war, and never really recovered from it, it actuallyl kept getting worse. They didn't have technology that would contribute to the war, or to even lead them into victory. They lost thousands of their young soldiers.

Another reason was that the Russians didn't have an industrial revolution. The peasants wanted to throw out the old government, and wanted to go towards Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto. They wanted a communist country which they eventually did have for 75 years. During the revolution the czar was Nicholas II, who was not a bright man, or an ideal leader to run a country. Lenin was the leader of the Bolsheviks communist party. Lenin promised the Russian people "Peace, Land, and Bread".

Causes of World War I

2009-01-07T09:06:00.000-08:00

World War 1 was a global war fought chiefly in Europe from 1914 to 1918. The war was one of the crucial events in the history of the 20th century. The war was unprecedented in scale and intensity, with more men fighting and more casualties in action than any war before.

There are many things that contributed to World War I.It goes from nationalism to militarism to the assassination of Franz Ferdinand to the collapse of the alliance system. First, it starts with nationalism. in Europe, countries such as France, Germany, Austria and Russia were very nationalistic. As a result of this, the French turned against the Germans and the Russians against the austrians. Through nationalistic speeches and writings, these countries tried to prove their national superiority. This quickened the pace that the war took to envelop. When Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand was assassinated by Serbians Austria took action.

Germany minded their business and didnt get into it. the same cant be said for Russia. Russia defended Serbia and the next thing you know France, Belgium and soon after Great Britain was involved. the alliance systems had alot to do with the world war also. Since the alliances were made secretly, this made it hard for the countries to trust one another. The General suspicion kept the diplomats from doing their job and they didn't fix the crisis.

The Opium Wars

2008-12-10T09:11:00.000-08:00

The Opium war was between China and England. It started in 1839 and ended in 1842. The governments signed a peace treaty that allowed the British to use five ports instead of one. Opium was a type of drug that was very strong and easy to get addicted to. It was used for medications and to take the pain away. The chinese were being sold opium from England. As a result the chinese lost power of an important Island call Hong Kong. Opium can be dangerous, but the British felt the rulers in China had no right to keep opium from their people. Western Civilazation had growen. The chinese rulers were making a lot of money by selling there most popular natural resource which was tea.

The reason why it's called the Opium war is because the chinese were trying to get Opium out of their country, but the British kept bringing it in. As a result the British easily won the Chinese because the British had way more modern technology than the Chinese did. This is one of China's most humiliating losses in history.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

2008-12-03T09:05:00.000-08:00

"Mountains of the Moon" is a historical film about explorers John Speke and Richard Burton. It talks about their journey through Africa's territory and their search for the Nile River. They had to deal with many problems while on their mission because they were unfamiliar with the area. They also had to deal with scorching hot weather and short supply of food and water. The African tribes that lived in Africa weren't very friendly to John and Richard because they never seen white people before and they felt that their territory was being invaded. The tribes attacked them but these fights resulted in retreats. Later on in the movie they dealt had problems with other tribes and animals like lions and insects.

Although the Europeans were new to Africa, they had many advantages. Their strongest advantage was their technology. They had more up-to-date and better weapons such as guns, which are more handy than spears or bows and arrows. The Europeans' technology was so superior that it helped them conquer Africa. This also helped them discover the Nile River, and a lake which they named Lake Victoria after their queen.

The Meiji Restoration of Japan

2008-11-26T09:06:00.000-08:00

Japan is known as an archipelago, what this mean is that Japan is a large group of islands, which are close to each other, or in near by areas. Mathew Perry "bullied" the Japanese into singing the treaty by impressing them with the technologies that the Americans enjoyed. The Japanese were very impressed with the technology that was on the American steam ships. The United States in a way was bulling the Japanese instead of just setting up and arrangement and negotiate. The United States used their military power to scare the Japanese, or just force them to do what ever they say. Japan had been in isolation for many years, so their army was weak and their technology was out dated.
Mathew Perry purposely dropped 26 miles off the coast of Tokyo, just to impress the Japanese, which did work as they plan the Japanese’s were not so impressed with what Perry did in Tokyo. The Japanese were impressed, but dropping miles they were more interested in how far the Americans steam ship was traveling in such short time. Perry also arrived in Tokyo with the sails of the ship down. He did this purposely, to show the Japanese, that with their steam technology, they no longer needed sails. The Japanese felt intimidated. Japan felt that they were so behind from everyone else so in both the Japanese and the United States were interested in opening the ports.
Japanese's economy has changed during the Meiji Era by a production of labor intensive goods, handicrafts, and a lower quality of machine from the absence of the Industrial Revolution. The Japanese modernized and industrialized by having two ports after a treaty was signed and trading helped them to get what they needed.

Karl Marx and Communisim

2008-11-06T09:17:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx never agreed with the idea of capitalism, he didn't agreed with the fact that the rich became more rich and the poor became more poor, there was more benefit for the rich. Karl Marx idea of communism was that communism was created after the end of process of evolution. this evolution began with feudalism and passing through capitalism and socialism. he wanted to make a group all the socialist leaders living in different parts of Europe so they could all reunite. Marx wanted Communism to take over the world because he wanted to help the poor people from the cruelty of the rich people. The Industrial Revolution was a heavy burden on the poor people. The rich people were getting richer and poor people were getting poorer. He wanted to share the money equally over all the people. Marx saw bourgeoisie as the "bad guys" and he saw proletariat as the "good guys", because he did not like the idea of Industrial Revolution. He wanted to bring rights for the poor people. The rich people were taking over the country. They owned land and factories. The poor people had to work hard for the money in order to survive. They couldn't send their children to school because they were sent to the factory to work.

Karl Marx and the Indrustrial Revolution

2008-11-06T09:05:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx did not like the Industrial Revolution. He was disapointed by the treatment of workers in Europe. The conditions in the factories were very harsh and unsafe. He desired for all workers of the world to unite and form a revolution. He wanted workers to control farms and factories instead of the landlords.

The Industrial Revolution inspired Marx to invent Communism as he despized the way capitalism worked. He thought that workers were treated unfairly and in unsafe condition. The landlords became richer, while the workers became poorer. This made Marx unhappy and desired for all the workers to unite and form a revolution to control the farms and factories. He wanted workers to share wealth in this new idea of Communism. He wanted workers to have the power and everyone to be treated equally in Communism.

Nationalism

2008-10-16T09:21:00.000-07:00

Nationalism is when people believe that the country should be ran by a group of people with the same customs and history instead of being ran by only one ruler, known as the King. It is being on a certain country's side or representing it.

An example of me being nationalistic would be by representing the flag of my country, club, or even group. Another example would be me as a U.S. citizen, to stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance. Nationalism was actually started to help create Italy by gathering all the other destroyed empires.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2008-10-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar was a great heroe for many South American countries, such as Colombia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Peru, and Ecuador. He helped organize military forces to liberate the northern part of South American countries from the Spanish rule. He helped many countries to gain their Independence and their rights. Simon Bolivar lived in Caracas, Venezuela and was married to a Spanish woman. He was convinced that it was his country's turn of Independence from Spain, so after a couple of years of fighting for it he finally freed Venezuel in 1821. Bolivia was one of the countries that Simon Bolivar helped to gain its Indepence, which in honor was named after him.

People in Latin American started to hear about all the French Revolutions and American Revolutions that were going on. They liked what they heard about every man being equal and treated the same way. So they started their own revolution. Haita was the first black colony to gain its Indepence with the revolt of about 100,000 slaves. The revolutions of Latin America were pretty quick. The entire continent of South America had won its Independence from European powers, in 20 years.

Robespierre and The Reign of Terror

2008-09-23T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Reign of Terror was a period of violence that occurred a couple of months after the onset of the French Revolution, incited by conflict between rival political factions, the Girondins and the Jacobins, and marked by mass executions of "enemies of the revolution."

Max took control of the government and tried to erase any trace of the old monarchy. Kings, queens, and jacks were removed from playing cards and replaced with the faces of revolutionaries. The calendar was drastically changed. The months were re-named and sundays were removed because the new radicals thought religion was old fashioned. All of the churches in Paris were closed. Max ruled France like a dictator. This rule was called the Reign of Terror , because many people were executed by the government.

People got tired of Max cutting everyone's head off. People who worked in the government did not feel safe, they thought their head might be the next to go. So a conspiracy was organized against Robespierre. He was arrested and his head was cut off. France settled down with a government that had a legislative body and an executive body of five men called the Directory.

French Revolution

2008-09-23T09:04:00.000-07:00

1).Why Many people in France were critical of A).the nobility;B).the king;C).the clergy:
A) the nobility- Owned a large piece of land with no taxes. Had more political power.
B) the King- People thought the king had too much power. The king was being selfish & lazy.
C) The clergy- Little taxes had to be paid, had more political power.

2).What might the french peasent have grumbled about in 1789?
The french peasant might have grumledabout the taxes, because the taxes were crashing them.

3).What point was the cartoonist making?
I think the cartoonist was trying to explain that peasants are caring and providing for the feudal lords and the clergy. The caption is telling what peasants hope for which is an equal and fair system.

4).How does the author of source b describe the lives of french peasants?
It's bad because it talks about how there poor and they have to pay so many things and taxes and they don't have any money so the taxes a re crushing them.

5).Study source A,B and C together. Do these sources explain why poor people in France resented the rich?
The poor people in France resented the rich because the rich had more power than the them.

6).Rousseau (source D) was an influential writer at this time. Along with other writers like Voltaire, he wanted France to have a more democratic form of government. Who would be most influenced by his words and why? (remember to include extracts form the source in your answer.)
The peasants would have been most influenced with his writing because his writing was based on his belief that the people should have more power; and that is what the peasants have been asking for. The title of his writing basically tells it all.

7).The pamphlet which source D came from was banned in 1775. Why do you think this was? Which members of French society would want it to be banned?
I think it was banned because the nobles and clergy; people who have a more extravagant life would be in fear that after the peasants read this piece of writing they would revolt against them and the King.

John Locke and "the Enlightenment"

2008-09-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

In the Declaration of Independence it is assured that all men were created equal. In order to protect those rights Governments were instituted among men. The "Rights" Jefferson is talking about is that "All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." That whenever any form of Government became destructive of those ends, it was the Right of the People to put an end to it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on thos principles and organizing its powers in such form, which seemed most likely to effect their safety and happiness.

John Locke was one of the most influential thinkers. He proposed a positive view of human nature, he felt men were reasonable beings and had a natural ability to rule themselves. Locke proposed that the people had three natural rights: life, liberty, and property.

According to the Declaration of Independence, government comes from the people. The people make up the government.Government gets it's power from Men. "Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."

Copernicus and the Trial of Galileo

2008-09-12T09:04:00.000-07:00

Heliocentrism & Geocentrism
Heliocentrism is the theory that the Sun is at the center of the Solar System. Alot of cosmologists speculated about the motion of the Earth around a stationary Sun. During the 16th century, the Polish mathematician and astronomer Copernicus presented a fully predictive mathematical model of a heliocentric system, which was after defended by Galileo. Geocentrism is the theory that the Earth is the center of the universe and other objects go around it. Most ancient Greeks believed in this theory. It was embraced by both Aristotle and Ptolemy. Most Greek philosophers assumed that the Sun, moon, stars and naked eye planet circle the Earth. Geocentrism was the theory that came first, after Heliocentrism followed. The Heliocentric model was modified and came out during the Scientific Revolution.

The Trial of Galileo
Galileo was called to the Holy Office and was first interrogated on April 1633, and then called in again and detained on May 10 and June 21. While arrested in the Holy Office, Galileo was housed in apartments usually occupied by Inquisition officials, insted of the usual prison cells.

June 1633- Galileo was forced to kneel infront of the Inquisition and refuse his belief about the Copernican planetary system and the motion of the Earth. He was condemned to life in prison, for having disobeyed a law by Cardinal Bellarmino "...not to defend or teach the Copernican doctrine...". The sentence was commuted to perpetual house arrest. Galileo's Dialogue was also put on the Index of Prohibited Books, with the books by Copernicus and Kepler about the heliocentric system. But then again, the Catholics believed in the theory of absolutism, which totally contradicted Galileo's belief.

Scientific Revolution

2008-09-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

The Scientific Revolution was known as a new way of thinking that challenged most people's ideas. The ancient Greeks and the Church taught us that the earth was the center of the universe. We were told that the sun and all of the planets revolved around the earth, but the Scientific Revolution tells us otherwise. Scientists didn't accept any theory, they conducted experiments over and over again just to reach their own conclusions. Isaac Newton explained the laws of gravity and our modern understanding of physics.

The Scientific Method is a process by which scientists, collectively work on to construct an accurate representation of the world. A theory is a framework within which observations are explained and predictions are made.

Create a question/Identify the problem.
Problem: Collect information.
Form a hypothesis.

Test the hypothesis.
Procedure: Experimental design.

Observations Make observations.
& data: Assembles tables & graphs.

Support or reject hypothesis
based on data.
Conclusions: Report & publish results.

An experiment that we would do using the Scientific Method would be to measure your shadow different days of the week at different times. You would make a hypothesis of how tall you think your shadow will be or if it will be the same height everyday at different times.

Evolution Vs. Creation

2008-09-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

The Darwin's Theory of Evolution basically explains that we came from one little organism and grew by multiplying or breeding. He has a few theories about evolution. The one I just wrote about at the top was the basic theory. This slowly but sure theory is that he thinks that evolution took millions of years to create man. The last theory is the theory of crisis. Darwin thinks that if something happens like a line that breaks and instead of going straight it go's up or down. This seems to be Darwin's theory of evolution.

The theory of creation is about that God created man and everything just like that. That there was no evolution what so ever. The theory of Genesis talks about how the young Earth just came to be and everything around it. This created controversy when the United States in 1929 when some states passed a law that made some schools not teach the theory of evolution. In 1960 they took it out of the textbooks.

I think that the theory of Evolution is the best theory it has more proof. Look the earth evolved by creating the o-zone layer. Also little life forms were formed by cells that multiplied. which caused more to be created. The theory of creationism doesn't seem to be correct because there is not that much proof or way this could happen. something has to be there it grow.

Test

2008-09-04T09:26:00.001-07:00

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