Shaila's Global Blog

Mikhail Gorbavech and the Collapse of Communism

2009-05-13T06:57:00.000-07:00

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Soviet Union’s Communist leadership kept tight control over the Soviet people. The Communist Party restricted such basic rights as freedom of speech and worship. Mikhail Gorbachev became the party’s new general secretary after Leonid Brezhnev's death in 1982. In choosing him, Politburo (the ruling committee of the Communist Party) members signaled their support for mild reform in the Soviet Union.

Gorbachev realized that economic and social reforms could not occur without a free flow of ideas and information. In 1985, he announced a policy known as glasnost, or openness. He encouraged
Soviet citizens to discuss ways to improve their society. The government allowed churches to open. It also allowed the publication of books by previously banned authors. Reporters actively investigated social problems and openly criticized government officials. In 1985, Gorbachev also introduced the idea of perestroika , or economic restructuring. In 1986, he made changes to revive the Soviet economy. Local managers gained more authority over their farms and factories, and people were allowed to open small private businesses. Gorbachev’s goal was not to end communism, but to make the system more efficient and productive.

In 1987, Gorbachev revealed a third new policy called democratization. This would be a gradual opening of the political system. Voters could now choose from a list of candidates for each office. In December 1987, he and President Reagan signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. This treaty banned nuclear missiles with ranges of 300 to 3,400 miles. Mikhail Gorbachev opened up the Soviet Union by opening it up to other countries. With all the reforms he made, he slowly paved the way to the end of communism.

The Collapse of Communism

2009-05-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

The collapse of communism was a major turning point in history. Some effects that came as a result to the collapse of communism were that the Cold War finally ended, the Berlin Wall came crashing down, Eastern and Western Germany could form more economic and social ties, and diplomats had an opportunity to enter the Soviet union without military aid. When Communism fell, there was less of a need for concern about nuclear annihilation. During the cold war, people worried about M.A.D.(Mutually Assured Destruction). People also turned against communism. Statues of communist leaders like V.I. Lenin were torn down by angry mobs.

At first the collapse of communism was an economic disaster. While under Communist control, people would be provided for as long as they worked. When capitalism came to Russia and the countries split up, the split caused people to all of a sudden have to do a lot more for themselves. People had to get higher-paying jobs, because farming no longer was a high-paying, recognizable job. The Soviet Union also separated into fifteen different republics, that were formed when the people of these areas revolted. The Soviet red hammer-and-sickle flag was replaced with many separate flags as the newly-founded countries declared independence. Russia itself changed its flag back to the tricolored horizontal stripes.

The Berlin Wall first went up in August of 1961. The gigantic wall was meant to separate communist East Germany from democratic West Germany. Those who tried to make it past the wall were shot. For 28 years East and West Germany were completely blocked off from each other. In November 1989, it was decided that change was needed, and the wall was torn down. At first, the goal was to make a road for private trips between the two sections of Germany. Next, they decided to make several border crossings so more people could travel across. Soon, they were cutting holes for pedestrians. Some people came at the wall with rock hammers to gather souvenirs of the wall. Soon, hundreds stormed the wall. They equipped themselves with sledgehammers and attacked the graffiti-covered structure.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

2009-05-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

Apartheid was a policy of racial segregation made by the government of South Africa that was used from 1948 to 1994. Under this system, non-whites did not share the full rights of citizenship with the white minority. This policy called for a "separate development" of the races. Non-whites could not vote in parliamentary elections, many public facilities were restricted to the use of one race only, mixed marriages were prohibited, and the "pass laws" of 1950 required all black people over the age of 16 to carry identity documents. These measures were further reinforced in 1950 by a forced resettlement policy, in which the government segregated the population into different areas on the basis of ethnic background; and by legislation in education. Organizations opposed to apartheid were banned, including the African National Congress (ANC) and the United Democratic Front (UDF).

Nelson Mandela started out as a leader of ANC, he played a part in many dramatic demonstrations against the white-ruled government. Mandela became a lifelong warrior in the battle to free South Africa. In 1964, however, he was sentenced to life in prison. But even while in prison, Mandela continued to be a symbol of hope for his people who carried on the struggle against Apartheid in his absence. In 1990, after 27 years of imprisonment, Mandela was freed. Antiapartheid movements also sprang up in many countries outside South Africa, and in 1961 criticism of its apartheid policy by other Commonwealth members forced South Africa to withdraw from the Commonwealth.

The South African government's reaction to internal and international pressure had two major effects: it abolished some of the more hated apartheid laws like the ban on interracial marriages and the pass laws; it also sought to replace the term "apartheid" with "plural democracy." In 1985 and 1986, however, states of emergency were declared by the government after further uprisings and riots broke out. Police used force to regain control, causing hundreds of deaths, and from 1986 an official ban on the reporting of the situation was imposed upon the media. Thanks to the self-sacrifice of Nelson Mandela, apartheid was eventually outlawed. Mandela also became president of South Africa. Following his election, South Africa rejoined the Commonwealth in June 1994, and a committee was set up to draft a new nonracial constitution. In 1995 a Truth and Reconciliation Commission was appointed to investigate human-rights abuses that had taken place during the apartheid era.

African Independence

2009-05-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

African soldiers in World War II fought alongside Europeans to “defend freedom.” This experience made them unwilling to accept colonial domination when they returned home. The thinking of the Europeans also changed, they began to question the cost of maintaining their colonies abroad. Eventually many European countries were ready to transfer government to the African people. This led to a great deal of change in Africa in the twenty year period from 1955 to 1975.

The British colony of the Gold Coast, to later be renamed Ghana, became the first African colony south of the Sahara to achieve its independence in 1957. The leader of their largely nonviolent protests was Kwame Nkrumah, a former teacher who spent several years studying in the United States. Nkrumah organized strikes and boycotts and his efforts were eventually successful. He became Ghana's first prime minister and later its president-for-life. Nkrumah also wanted to create an Africa ruled by Africans and helped to develop the Pan-African Congress. This eventually led to the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1963.

In the northern highlands of Kenya, British settlers had taken over prized farmland and fiercely resisted independence for Kenya. Jomo Kenyatta was a Kikuyu educated in London, the Mau Mau was a secret society made up mostly of Kikuyu farmers forced out of the highlands by the British. Due to these two developments Kenya was granted its independence in 1963, and Kenyatta became president of the new nation. The Belgian Congo, later to be renamed Zaire and then back again to Congo, also gained its independence in 1960. Algeria gained its independence from France in 1962. Fearful that rebellion might spread, France also let go of most of its other possessions in Africa. Portugal on the other hand, was unwilling to give up any of its colonies. But after spending a lot of money to put down the rebels in Angola, they finally withdrew in 1975. Slowly but surely, in the twenty year period from 1955 to 1975, almost all African colonies became indpendant countries.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

2009-04-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

"The Right Stuff" is a film about an ongoing competition between the United States and the Russians during a part of the Cold War called "the space race". The United States wanted to advance first than the Russians. Their space program was trying to keep up with that of the Russians who had a successful space program of their own. In 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first artificial Earth satellite. They had beat the US to it. Then in 958, the United States launched its first satellite, Explorer I. They also formed NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). NASA is the federal agency that is devoted to exploring space. The two then began competing to see who would be able to break the sound barrier first. When the United States ended up breaking the sound barrier first than the Soviet Union, they were angered because they had been beat to it.

The competition then moved on to see who would be the first to send a man into space. Since sending a man into space was a risky thing to do, the United States decided to send a monkey to space first. On the other hand, the Russians decided to take the risk and send a man to space, an so they did. The Russians then became the first to send a man to space. This made the United States look bad because they had sent a monkey into space. The film showed the test pilots who were involved in high-speed aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base. Also, those selected to be astronauts for Project Mercury, the United States' first attempt to get a man in space. Those are the scenes that will help me to remember this Cold War event. Many men wanted to be the first in space. They were put through a series of tests to see which men were the strongest, healthiest, and most physically and mentally capable of being astronauts. It was determined that the seven that were chosen fit all of these characteristics, they were called the "Mercury Seven." Chuck Yeager, who was considered by many test pilots to be the most successful and best of them all, was never selected to be an astronaut.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

2009-04-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

The Cold War was the continuing state of conflict, tension, and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union after World War II. The United States was in favor of free elections, democratic governments, capitalism, personal freedom, and freedom of the media. On the other hand, the Soviet Union was in favor of no (or fixed) elections, dictatorships, communism, a society controlled by the NKVD (secret police), and total censorship. This made the two superpowers come to hate each other.

NATO is an organization that was created during the Cold War. NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It includes countries in Europe and North America, 12 nations in total. NATO was officially established on April 4, 1949. The major reason for the formation of this organization was that the countries involved wanted a mutual defense alliance so that if one of them were attacked, all of the other countries in NATO would come to their aide. The Western European powers relied on the massive nuclear arsenal of the United States to stop a Soviet ground invasion. The agreement also helped them with economic aide with the Marshall Plan. After the fall of communism the need for military alliances diminished and NATO was transformed from a military force to a political force.

The Warsaw Pact was an organization of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. The Treaty was signed in Warsaw, Poland on May 14, 1955, six years after NATO. The treaty was an initiative of the Soviet Union in direct respond to the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and was supposed to be another mutual defense alliance. The Soviet Union gained both control over its neighboring European nations and indicated to other nations that it was a major military and political force. Although the ground forces possessed by the Warsaw Pact were far superior to those of NATO, their technology soon fell far behind. In March 1991 all of the joint military functions ceased, and in July of 1991 the leaders of the six countries that were still in the pact decided to dissolve.

Film Lesson- Schindler's List

2009-03-27T07:16:00.000-07:00

Schindler's List is about a man named Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using bribes to win military contracts. By staffing his factory with Jews who have been brought into Krakow's ghetto by Nazi troops, Schindler had a dependable unpaid labor force. Schindler eventually realizes that his factory (which now manufactures ammunition) is the only thing preventing his staff from being shipped to the death camps. Soon Schindler began to demand more workers and started bribing Nazi leaders to keep Jews on his employee lists and out of the camps. By the time Germany fell to the Allies, Schindler had lost his entire fortune, and had saved 1,100 Jews from a likely death. The film Schindler's List illustrated the Holocaust by showing us how the Jews were rounded up and brought to the ghettos. Also, how they were crammed into train carts to be sent to the concentration camps, and how badly they were treated once they got there.

The scenes that were most powerful to me as a viewer were when the children tried to hide from the Nazis to avoid being relocated to the Krakow ghetto. They hid anywhere that there was space to do so, including in the bathroom. Another scene that was powerful to me was when some of the children were being separated from their mothers and they were screaming for each other not to be separated. Also, when the Jews were loaded onto the trains and the Nazis sprayed the train carts with a hose for them to drink from. This shows how the Jews were treated like animals. The images from the film that will stay with me are the ones in which bodies are being carried away in wheelbarrows.

Film Lesson: Night and Fog

2009-03-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

Night and Fog is a 1995 documentary film about the Nazi concentration camps. I found it sickening to see how all of Hitler's victims were treated during their stay at the concentration camps. Most of the victims didn't make it out alive. All of the Jews were rounded up and crammed into trains with little air to breathe. Many died of suffocation before even getting to the concentration camps. Upon their arrival, it was decided who was too weak, too old, or even too young to do any work at the concentration camps, and they were immediately gassed or killed. Those who could work were given a number to be identified by. It was horrible to see the living conditions that the Nazis had the Jews living in, and all the pain and suffering they put them through. This was a very powerful film because it showed actual scenes from the holocaust and how the Jews were worked and starved to death. It also showed the lifeless skeletons of million of innocent people. Thousands of bodies thrown one on top of each other and being bulldozed into mass graves. The crematories where millions of bodies were burned. Altogether it was very hard and shocking to watch. The scenes I watched in Schindler's List were not as powerful as these because there were actual scenes of real people that had to go through all of this at concentration camps, they were not paid actors. I think that this film illustrates the Holocaust more effectively than Schindler's List. The documentary shows more powerful scenes that the Hollywood version just wouldn't be able to recreate.

The Treaty of Versailles (ended WWI)

2009-02-24T06:58:00.000-08:00

The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of WWI. It basically ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on June 28th, 1919, exactly five years after the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, which was the immediate cause of WWI. The Treaty of Versailles affected Germany greatly. Some of the rules of the treaty were that Germany had to accept responsibility for the war and pay compensation to the Allies for starting it. Also, ten percent of German lands were lost and all of their oversees colonies were taken away and shared between the allies. Germany's population decreased by 12.5 percent. I think that this treaty was not fair, because Germany was not the only country to blame for causing the war. Since they had lost the war, they didn't have any money to pay the compensation with. Their economy was ruined, and the unemployment rate was increasing rapidly. They also suffered a loss of status of military power. Germany was limited to a small army and was forbidden to build large ships.

After the Treaty of Versailles, life became very hard for the German people. Germany was forced to borrow big sums of money from America to help pay down its war debt. When the Great Depression hit, America was no longer able to continue lending money to Germany. Germany then became unable to continue paying its war debt to the allies. They ended up going into a severe depression. Some historians say that the Treaty of Versailles led to the rise of fascism and Adolf Hitler because the Germans were very angry with the treaty since they thought it was very unfair. Many Germans believed that with the help of a strong leader, their nation could be turned back to greatness. In 1923, Hitler attempted to overthrow the German government but was unsuccessful. He blamed Germany's problems on its weak government, and he blamed outsiders for causing problems in the nations. By January 1933, Hitler and his NAZI party controlled Germany, he became a dictator.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

2009-02-11T07:09:00.000-08:00

Secular means not pertaining to or connected with religion. Mustafa Kemal (or Ataturk) modernized Turkey and made it more secular. Secularism was one of the "Six Arrows" which summed up his six fundamentals. The other five were Republicanism, Populism, Reformism, Nationalism, and Statism. Mustafa's aim was to modernize Turkish life in order to give his nation "a new sense of dignity, equality, and happiness." Ataturk was seen as a military hero at the Dardanelles in 1915, he became the leader of the Turkish national liberation struggle in 1919. Mustafa was a successful commander who crushed the invaders of his country, and he eventually led his nation to full independence. From the 17th century to the early 20th century, the Ottoman Empire had declined. After more than three centuries of high achievements, they just wouldn't survive in modern times. Ataturk created the Republic of Turkey in 1923, and became its first President.

In his program of modernization, secular government and education played a major role. He made religious faith a matter of the individuals, and created a truly secular system in Turkey. The vast Muslim majority and the small Christian and Jewish minorities were free to practice their faith. Ataturk wanted freedom and equality for all. He also stressed the importance of the peasants, who had been neglected in the Ottoman times: "The true owner and master of Turkey is the peasant who is the real producer." To give his nation a modern outlook, Ataturk introduced many reforms. European hats replaced the fez; women stopped wearing the veil; all citizens took surnames; and the Islamic calendar gave way to the Western calendar. A great transformation took place in urban and rural life.

Mustafa Kemal was President for fifteen years until his death in 1938. He introduced a wide range of reforms to Turkey and had a lot of achievements during his lifetime. He was an extraordinary leader of modern times.

Film Lesson- "Gandhi"

2009-02-10T06:58:00.000-08:00

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , also known as Mahatma (or "great soul") Gandhi, was born in Porbandar in India on October 2, 1869. Gandhi helped his nation of India gain Independence from Great Britain. He did many things to help out his nation. One thing he did was go to University College in London to study law in 1888. He attempted to establish a law practice in Bombay, without much success. He later accepted an offer from Dada Abdulla, an Indian businessman in South Africa, to join him as a legal adviser. Gandhi found himself being treated as a member of an inferior race. He was stunned at the widespread denial of civil liberties and political rights to Indian immigrants in South Africa. In the film, you can see Gandhi being kicked out of a train because he was sitting in first class and refused to move. This began his struggle for basic rights for Indians. Gandhi remained in South Africa for over twenty years, and was imprisoned many times. In 1896, after being attacked and humiliated by white South Africans, Gandhi began to teach a policy of passive resistance to, and non-cooperation with, the South African authorities. In 1910, he founded Tolstoy Farm, a cooperative colony for Indians. In 1914 the government of the Union of South Africa gave in to some of Gandhi's demands, including recognition of Indian marriages and getting rid of the poll tax for them. Now that his work in South Africa was complete, he returned back to India.

Gandhi quickly became the international symbol of a free India. In 1919, Parliament passed the Rowlatt Acts, which gave the Indian colonial authorities powers to deal with "revolutionary activities." A demonstration against the Rowlatt Acts resulted in the Amritsar Massacre in which British soldiers shot at a crowd of Indians for 10 minutes. In 1920, when the British government failed to make changes, Gandhi organized a campaign of non-cooperation. Indians in public offices resigned, government agencies such as courts of law were boycotted, and Indian children were withdrawn from government schools. He encouraged Indians to boycott British goods and buy Indian goods instead. Indians began spinning their own cloth to make their own clothes. Buying British salt was also boycotted. The Salt March, led by Gandhi, saved Indians money by having them make their own salt.Throughout India, streets were blocked by squatting Indians who refused to get up even when beaten by police. Gandhi was arrested in 1922, 1930, 1933 and in 1942, but the British were soon forced to release him.. While in prison, he went on hunger strikes. All-together, Gandhi was greatly weakening the power of the British Government. Since the Indians were practicing civil disobedience and not fighting violence with violence, there was not much that the British could do.

India eventually gained its independence in 1947. Gandhi was trying to unite both religions of India, the Hindus and the Muslims, but was unsuccessful. On January 30th, 1948, he was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic who could not forgive Gandhi for his belief that Muslims had equal value to Hindus and that no-one was better than anybody else. I think that India's independence was not all about Gandhi and it would have happened anyways. This is because WWII was going on at the time and Great Britain's power was already deteriorating. Gandhi's protests and nonviolent movements, though, definitely helped to speed up the Indians gaining their independence.

The Russian Revolution

2009-01-09T06:40:00.000-08:00

The Russian Revolution of 1917 centers around two events- the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The February Revolution removed Czar Nicholas II from power. It developed out of a series of increasingly violent demonstrations and riots on the streets of Petrograd, during a time when the Czar was away from the capital visiting troops on the World War I front. Czar Nicholas II had engaged Russia in World War I. Many lives had been lost and a victory seemed impossible. There were many food shortages during the cold winter of 1916-1917. The people demanded food, but Nicholas instead sent troops in to keep the people from demonstrating. The Czar eventually ended up leaving the throne in February 1917.

In the time that came after the February Revolution, a provisional, or temporary, government ruled Russia from March to November, 1917. The new government talked about civil liberties and promised democratic elections. The government was unable to withdraw Russia from World War I. This government became associated with the destruction of the war. Workers and peasants revolted against the landlords and factory owners. Peasants took over land and factories were closed when workers refused to work. During this chaotic period there were frequent mutinies and many strikes.

In the October Revolution, the Bolshevik party, led by Vladimir Lenin, and the workers' Soviets , overthrew the Provisional Government in Petrograd. Lenin's ideas were very similar to those of Karl Marx. Lenin remained in hiding as an enemy of the government. He encouraged a revolt against landlords and factory owners. The quote, "Peace, land and bread," was something that the Bolshevik party came up with. It was their promise to the people during the Russian Revoltion. On the night of November 6, the Bolsheviks attacked the Russian capital and met little resistance from the provisional government. The Bolsheviks appointed themselves as leaders of various government ministries and seized control of the countryside. They signed a peace treaty with Germany in March 1918. A civil war eventually broke out in Russia. The result was that the Bolsheviks defeated the democratic government in the civil war. Since the violent Bolsheviks believed in the teachings of Karl Marx, Russia was converted to Communism.

Causes of WWI

2009-01-07T06:38:00.000-08:00

There were many causes that led to the Great War, or WWI. The main causes were nationalism, militarism, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, imperialism, and the collapse of the alliance system. The final event, or the immediate cause of the war, took place on June 28, 1914. On that day, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, and his wife were shot dead by a young Serbian nationalist at Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital. Immediately following the assassination, Germany pledged its full support to Austria-Hungary, and pressured them to declare war on Serbia. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914.

Another main cause that led to WWI was the collapse of the alliance system. From the end of the Franco-Prussian War, a system of secret alliances was developed in Europe. This eventually split the continent into two sides. Because so many different powers were involved in defense agreements, when the war did happen, it involved nearly every country of Europe. Due to the alliances, some powers were forced to support policies followed by their partners, which they didn't really approve. Since the European powers had made alliances with one another, a small dispute concerning one power might lead to a war involving all powers. Lastly, the secret alliances led to suspicion and the belief that far more secret agreements existed, and that was in fact, the case.

Nationalism was also another cause that led to WWI. Nationalistic speeches and writings hurried the war by "painting it as the best test for proof of national superiority." Strong nationalist movements and revolutions led to the unification of Italy in 1861 and that of Germany in 1871. Germany rapidly became the strongest economic and military power in Europe. After 1890, Germany was also more aggressive. They wanted to build up their influence in every part of the world. Germany then came into serious conflicts with all other major powers of Europe (except Austria-Hungary) from 1890 to 1914.

The Opium Wars

2008-12-10T06:48:00.000-08:00

The Opium Wars, or the Anglo-Chinese War, were drug wars. The Opium Wars began in China from 1839 and ended in 1842. The war was fought between China and Britain. This was the most humiliating defeat China ever suffered. Until the 18th century, the use of opium in China had consisted mostly of medicinal purposes. However, by the early 1800s, millions of Chinese had become addicted, and the illegal drug did very well in the black market trade.

The Chinese people were satisfied with their way of life and had little interest in the nations of the Western Hemisphere. Tea, which is grown in China, was becoming a very popular drink in Great Britain. China would have rather not traded with the British at all, but they were willing to sell the British their tea only if they used the port in Canton. They did not want to allow western ideas into their society. The British decided they must buy and sell to China, not just buy. They decided to sell Opium. Opium is a drug grown in India, it is used to make morphine and heroin. It was also used to help with treating diseases such as dysentery, cholera, as well as diarrhea. It also helped to relieve pain, sleeplessness, and reduce hunger and thirst. The Chinese government outlawed the import of Opium because of the effects of the drug and because of the silver that was leaving China in order to pay for it. In 1838, China ruled that anyone dealing in Opium would be put to death. Government officials later began to destroy any opium coming into their land.

The Opium War started when the Chinese tried to turn back English merchant vessels in November, 1839. Although this was a small conflict, it inspired the English to send warships in June, 1840. The British made their headquarters in Hong Kong. The Chinese, with their old-style weapons, were no match for the British gunships, which went up and down the coast shooting at forts and fighting on land. The Chinese were very unprepared for the technological superiority of the British, and they suffered many defeats. Finally, in 1842, the Chinese were forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing, which officially ended the war. The treaty handed Hong Kong over to the British, opened new ports, and granted Britain "most favored nation" status. Eventually, China was also forced to legalize the selling of opium. Two years later, China, against its will, signed similar treaties with France and the United States.

Film Lesson: Mountains of the Moon

2008-12-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

Europeans faced many harphips as they explored Africa. The Film "Mountains of the Moon" showed this. Some hardships were being attacked by the native people. The native people had never seen English men in their lives, to them they were all intruders. The source of the Nile River is Lake Victoria, the third largest lake in the world. It is weird that the name of this river is Lake Victoria because it is named after an English Queen, and the lake is located in the middle of Africa. Richard Burton and John Speke decided to name the river after their Queen when they discovered it, this was very common at the time. The primary technological advantage that the Europeans had over African people were guns and compasses. They had many tools that the Africans did not have. For this reason, they were able to conquer Africa so easily. Europe was way more advanced than Africa was at the time, and they also had way more weapons than the Africans did.

The Meiji Restoration of Japan

2008-11-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

An archipelago is a group of many islands in a large body of water. An example of an archipelago would be Japan. Japan thought their race was superior to all other races, so they practiced isolationism. Since they practiced isolationism, Japan was not very advanced in technology. They had no contact with the outside world and were not aware of the great technological advances that were occurring all around them because of the industrial revolution. In 1853, the U.S. sent a fleet of ships under the command of Mathew Perry to Japan in order to end the nation’s self-imposed isolation and open it to trade.

The Meji Restoration was the movement that occurred in 1868, when Emperor Mutsushito decided that in order to withstand the imerialistic might of the West, Japan would need to adopt western ways. Mathew Perry "bullied" the Japanese into signing a trade treaty through a display of military might.When Perry dropped an anchor 26 miles off the coast of Tokyo, capital of Japan, the Japanese were amazed by the movement of ships with no sails.Perry intentionally arrived in port with sails down to intimidate the Japanese with their technological progress.The impressive naval force that Perry brought to Japan was obviously superior to any Japanese warships, this left the Japanese with few options other than to sign the trade treaty. On March 31, 1854 a treaty was signed between the United States and Japan that opened two ports to the United States.

During the Meji Era, the Japanese economy changed. The impact of foreign intervention was tremendous and sent the Japanese economy into a downward spiral. Since they were not a part of the industrial revolution, the Japanese economy had established itself on the production of labor intensive goods. By eliminating tariffs on foreign goods, the United States and the European countries were able to import comparable goods, produced on a large scale, and undersell the local Japanese producers. The resulted in all the small producers being undersold at the market, and often forced into bankruptcy. An unfavorable trade balance was established for the Japanese and their economy was in need of help.

The Japanese modernized and industrialized by first of all, dismantling the old feudal system which had been around since 1600. Japanese scholars were sent abroad to learn as much as possible about the West. The emperor instated a system of mandatory, state funded elementary education. There was also the establishment of modern mechanized armed forces. Western technology was adopted which allowed the Japanese to fully industrialize in less than 50 years. By the end of the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese no longer feared that they would be imperialized. Rather, they set out to practice imperialism themselves.

Karl Marx and Communism

2008-11-06T06:38:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx came up with the idea of Communism during the Industrial Revolution. There were two parts two the current capitalist society, they were the proletariat and the bourgeoisie. The proletariat were the workers who sold their labor to whoever would pay them the most. The bourgeoisie were the factory owners, the ones who offered the jobs. Since the proletariat greatly outnumbered the bourgeoisie, Marx believed that if the proletariat all stuck together and revolted against the bourgeoisie, they would obviously win, "workers of the world unite!" Karl Marx and his friend, Friedrich Engels, made a pamphlet about their communist ideas called "The Communist Manifesto." When people read this pamphlet, many liked and agreed with his ideas, and so he found many followers of communism.

Communism is the idea of a perfect society. A society in which everybody is equal and everybody is payed the same amount of money. In this communist society, there are no social classes, and there is no private ownership. Everything belonged to the government. Workers would share wealth in a communist society. Marx wrote that wealth should be distributed "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs." Workers would also only produce enough goods to survive. Some countries today, such as Cuba and North Korea, still practice communism, but they are not the pure form of communism that Karl Marx had envisioned.

Karl Marx and the Industrial Revolution

2008-11-05T06:41:00.000-08:00

Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, political economist, sociologist, humanist, political theorist, and revolutionary who created communism. Marx created communism as a solution to the problems caused by the Industrial Revolution. He greatly disliked the Industrial Revolution, and thought it was dehumanizing for workers. He thought that Capitalism was going to fail, just as feudalism did. He predicted that the poor were going to get poorer and the rich were going to get richer. The large companies were eventually going to take control and buy all of the small companies.

Marx saw that the conditions in European factories were very harsh and unsafe. Marx thought that workers, rather than landlords, should control factories and farms. He urged the "workers of the world to unite" in a worldwide revolution.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

2008-10-16T06:39:00.000-07:00

Nationalism is your love for country that you originated or were born in. It is belonging to, rooting for, and fighting for, your own country. Nationalism was the most powerful idea of the 1800s. It stretched throughout Europe and shaped countries. Nationalists believed that people with the same history should join together under the same government. They also believed that a nation has its rights to its independence, and that this would allow the nation's identity to develop. This would eventually create a united nation-state. The things that contribute to nationalism in America are having a common language (English), having a common currency(the dollar), living within the same well defined borders, having a common religion (80% is Christian), having a common history (the American Revolution, the Civil War, etc.), having a common culture (fashion, food, etc.), paying taxes to the same government, having symbols that define our nation, and feeling a connection with other Americans.

An example of how I am nationalistic is that I support my country when it is in competition against other countries, like the Olympics. What I do that shows I am nationalistic is that i go to see the fireworks during the Fourth of July, which was the day in which the United States gained its independence. I show off my country's flag, not only for the United States, but for the Dominican Republic as well. I also attend events such as the Dominican Day Parade, in which many Dominicans gather to show their love and pride for their country. These actions show that I am nationalistic.

Nationalism also upset the balance of power set up at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and affected the lives of millions. Even though it destroyed many empires, nationalism also created many nations, such as Italy. After the Congress of Vienna, Austria ruled several Italian provinces. The number of Italians that were no longer happy living under foreign rule kept increasing. In 1832, an idealistic, 26- year old, Italian ruler named Giuseppe Mazzini emerged. He organized a nationalist group called young Italy. He believed that nation-states were the best hope for social justice, democracy, and peace in Europe. The former rulers of the Italian states eventually drove Mazzini into exile. Piedmont-Sardinia was the largest and most powerful of the Italian states. Camillo di Cavour was a wealthy, middle-aged aristocrat who worked to expand Piedmont-Sardinia's power. He ended up achieving that expansion and also uniting Northern Italy. Giuseppe Garibalde began conquering southern areas and uniting them with the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. Italy was united through nationalism. The people shared a common history, culture, language, religion, and territory. This united them, and it united Italy as a country.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2008-10-10T06:37:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar accomplished many things. He organized and led military forces to free the northern portion of South America from Spanish rule in the early nineteenth century. This is why he was called "the Liberator." This direct action of Simon Bolivar resulted in the independence and freedom of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. He organized and motivated a small group of followers to defeat the Spanish through surprise attacks and wise decisions. His military forces never numbered more than a thousand.

After his wife died of yellow fever, Simon Bolivar was brokenhearted, he decided to return to Europe. He traveled extensively to France and Italy. Bolivar studied the philosophies of Rousseau, Locke, and Voltaire. On his way home to South America, Bolivar traveled through the United States, which had recently won their independence from Great Britain. By the time Bolivar returned back to Venezuela, he was convinced that it was time for his country's independence from Spain, and that he was the one that was destined to be the movement's leader.

In 1810, Simon Bolivar joined Fransico de Miranda in a revolt against the Spanish and they quickly occupied Caracas. Bolivar also participated in the events leading to the July 5th, 1811 declaration of Venezuelan independence. He escaped being captured by fleeing to Colombia to continue the independence movement. On August 10th, 1819, Bolivar liberated Bogota, on June 24th, 1821, he liberated Venezuela at the Battle of Carabobo, and in May 1822, he freed Ecuador from the Spanish. He tried to establish a Republic of Colombia, in which he was the president, but this did not work out.In four years, all of the countries that Bolivar had freed, separated themselves from their liberator. By 1828, Bolivar controlled only Colombia. He accomplished a great amount of things before his death in 1830. Bolivar liberated most of an entire continent, and he even had a country named after him. He was the first to take action in freeing South American countries from the Spanish. He fought for their independance and democracy, and succeeded.

Robespierre and the Reign of Terror

2008-09-23T06:41:00.000-07:00

The French Revolution was started to gain peace, power, and rights for the third estate. It also promised democracy, but this did not happen immediately. After the French Revolution was over, the Reign of Terror began. The King, Queen, and Nobles lost power, but the ones who gained the power did not always use it well. France was trying to figure out who would run the country. Street gangs that roamed Paris, sometimes had as much power as the government did. Eventually, the Jacobins took control and and tried to rid France of everyone who was still connected to the Old Regime. Using the guillotine, they cut off the heads of anyone they thought might be against them. They even cut off the heads of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in public. Many people were shocked that the Jacobins had cut off the King's head. Many other groups tried to gain power and take over the government. France was in chaos.

Out of this situation, rose Maximilien Robespierre. Robespierre ruled France like a dictator. He took control of the government and tried to wipe out any trace of the old monarchy. Robespierre's rule was called the Reign of Terror because so many people were executed by the government, and no one was safe. Eventually, a conspiracy was organized against Robespierre. He was arrested and his head was cut off.

The Reign of Terror was finally over with the death of Robespierre. There was finally some stability. France created a government that had a legisltive and an executive body of five men called the Directory. The Directory appointed Napoleon Bonaparte to command France's armies.

The French Revolution

2008-09-22T06:41:00.000-07:00

1. The French population was divided into three estates, or classes. The first estate was made up of the clergy and numbered about 100,000 people. The second estate was made up of the nobility and numbered about 400,000 people. The third and final estate was made up of bourgeoisie (middle class), wage earners, and the peasants.The first and second estates had privileges that the third estate did not. Many people in France were critical of the nobility and the clergy because they had almost complete authority over peasants and did not have to do military services. Also, they were exempt from most taxes and collected tolls from people using roads and markets. Many nobles and clergy lived in great luxury in palaces. People in France were also critical of the king because he ruled absolutely and had complete control over France.

2. What a French Peasant might have grumbled about in 1789 would be having to do military services, and having to pay taxes to their lord, the king, and the church. Even though they were the poorest estate, and made the least amount of money, the peasants were forced to pay the most in taxes. Since France was bankrupt due to previous wars, the solution was simply to have the third estate pay more taxes, while the rich (the first two estates) paid nothing. Also, peasants could not hunt or fish on Noble's estates. They had to use their lord's mill, oven, and winepress, and pay for them.

3. The point that I think the cartoonist was making in Source A was that the peasants made up about 90% of the population and they had to pay taxes for the clergy, their lord, and the king. They basically had to support the other two estates. When France went bankrupt, the simple solution was to make the peasants pay higher taxes. The caption says 'One hopes this will end soon' because the peasants began to grow tired of having to support the nobility, the Clergy, their lord, and the king.

4. The author of source B describes the lives of French peasants as miserable. Peasants were poor and barely owned any land, yet they still had to pay taxes to their lord and the king. All this while the rich ones, such as the clergy, paid no taxes. "The taxes and feudal taxes are crushing us," said one peasant in source B. They had to pay 20 kg of wheat and three chickens as feudal dues to one lord, and 60 kg of oats, one chicken, and five pence to another, even though they only owned a small piece of land, one cow, and a horse.

5. Sources A, B, and C do explain why poor people in France resented the rich. For starters, the French peasants were left with the burden of having to support the clergy, the nobility, their lord, and their king. This can be seen in the illustration from source A. Source B describes how poor the French peasants really were, and how much everyone still wanted out of them. They had to pay a lot of heavy taxes to their king and their lord while the rich paid nothing. One peasant from source B went on to say, "The taxes and feudal dues are crushing us." Source C compares the yearly incomes of different people in France. A master carpenter only made about 200 livres a year while an Archbishop of Paris made 50,000 livres a year. So even though they made less money, more was expected out of them. This is why the poor people of France resented the rich.

6. Rousseu and Voltaire both wanted France to have a more democratic form of government. The people that would be most influenced by his words would be the peasants. This is because they were already growing tired of having no rights. They were growing tired of everyone else being above them and being able to rule them. The pesants wanted to break free of everyone and everything that were holding them down. So Rousseu's words would influence them the most. He wrote, "No man has any natural authority over others; force does not give anyone that right."

7. I think that the pamphlet which source D came from was banned in 1775 because the king, the lord, the clergy, and the nobilty did not want the peasants to think that they were higher than them. They did not want them to think that they, all of a sudden, had rights. They king, the lord, the clergy, and the nobility, would be the members of French society that would want the pamphlet to be banned.

John Locke and "The Enlightenment"

2008-09-18T06:41:00.000-07:00

John Locke was a very famous Enlightenment thinker. His ideas influenced Thomas Jefferson when he wrote the U.S. Declaration of Independence. The rights that Jefferson is talking about in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Also, if any form of government tries to take away these rights, or becomes destructive of these rights, then it becomes the right of the people to alter or abolish it. It also becomes their right to institute a new government which works on principles and which organizes its power in such form that it is in the best interest of the people, and seems most likely to effect their safety and happiness. According to the Declaration of Independence, government comes from, and gets its power from the people.

Copernicus and the Trial of Galileo

2008-09-12T06:37:00.000-07:00

There were two theories about the solar system, heliocentric and geocentric. Heliocentrism is the theory that the sun is at the center of the solar system and that Earth, the planets, and the stars revolve around it. This is the opposite of geocentrism. Geocentrism is the belief that the Earth is at the center of the solar system and that everything else revolves around it. We now know that the correct theory was the heliocentric model. It wasn't until the 16th century that Copernicus presented a fully predictive mathematical model of a heliocentric system. This model was later elaborated and expanded by Kepler and defended by Galileo, becoming the center of a major dispute. Belief in the theory of geocentrism was common in ancient Greece. It was embraced by both Aristotle and Ptolemy. Theo theory of geocentrism came first and was later replaced by the theory of heliocentrism during the Scientific Revolution.

The Trial of Galileo was based on the Copernican Planetary Model. In the Copernican system, the Earth is given three different motions: a daily rotation on its axis, an annual rotation around the Sun, and a third motion related to precession (the slight movement of the Earth's axis). The Trial of Galileo was also based on a book he wrote named Dialouge which concerned the two chief world systems. Galileo believed in the heliocentric model, and this the Romans did not like. On July 25, 1632 the Roman authorities issued an order forbiding further distribution of the book, and recalling copies already distributed. Following Galileo's Trial and condemnation in 1633 the Dialogue was put on the Index of Prohibited Books, where it remained until 1835. On 22 June 1633 Galileo was forced to kneel in front of the Inquisition and recant his belief in the Copernican Planetary System and the motion of the Earth. He was condemned to life imprisonment, for having disobeyed a 1616 order by Cardinal Bellarmino "...not to defend or teach the Copernican doctrine...". The very next day the sentence was changed to perpetual house arrest, which was rigidly maintanied to the end of Galileo's life. Pope Urban had concluded through his interpretation of Scripture that the Earth was at the center of the solar system, and for this reason, they did not like it when Galileo contradicted him in saying that the sun was at the center of the solar system.

Scientific Revolution: The Scientific Method.

2008-09-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

The Scientific Revolution was a new way of thinking that challened outdated ideas. Scientists during the Scientific Revolution relied on the scientific method to gain knowledge and information. The Scientific Revolution of the late Renaissance was significant in establishing a base for many modern sciences as well as challenging the power of the Church. This let scholors look at the world with a different light. "Religion, superstition, and fear were replaced by reason and knowledge.” Some notable figures in the Scientific Revolution were Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, and Galileo. The questioning of everything and how things worked, was what started the Scientific Revolution.

An example of an experiment that uses the scientific method is when Aristotle had a theory that heavy objects fell faster than light objects. For about 1,500 years, people belived him. Then in the late 1500s's Galileo decided to test this theory. He went up to the Leaning Tower of Pisa and dropped stones of different weights to the ground. He found that objects of different weights fall at the same speed and proved Aristotle wrong. This experiment used the scientific method by first, starting off with a theory. With this theory, a hypothesis and an experiment were formed. The experiment was conducted and then the reults were in. Using the results, a conclusion was formed and the theory/hypothesis was either proved or disproved (in this case it was disproved). Isaac Newton also proved Aristotle wrong. Aristotle thought that one set of physical laws goverened Earth and that another set goverened the rest of the universe. Newton, on the other hand, thought that there was a universal law of gravitation that applied equally to Earth and the heavens.

Evolution vs. Creation

2008-09-06T15:53:00.000-07:00

"Evolution is the process of change in the inherited traits of a population of organisms from one generation to the next." Charles Robert Darwin came up with Darwin's theory of evolution. This theory states that all species of life have evolved over time from common ancestors through the process he called natural selection. As random genetic mutations occur within an organism's genetic code, the beneficial mutations are preserved because they help in survival. These helpful mutations are passes on from one generation to the next. Over time, these beneficial mutations add up and you end up with an entirely different organism than what you started with. The inferior or disadvantaged members of the same species would eventually die out. "Natural selection is the preservation of a functional advantage that enables a species to compete better in the wild." Natural selection eliminates inferior species gradually over time. Darwin's theory of evolution is a slow gradual process. We now know that there are tens of thousands of irreducibly complex systems on the cellular level.

"Creationism is the religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in their original form by a deity." In other words, people believe that the earth was created by God, and did not undergo any type or form of evolution. This is the more religious way of looking at how the Earth might have been formed. This belief is based on faith. Creationism originated between the 18th and 19th centuries and was unquestioned during the middle ages because people were so religious at the time.

The theory that I believe in is Darwin's theory of evolution. I believe in this theory because it actually has evidence to back it up. There is actually evidence of animals evolving into completely different species over a very long period of time in order to survive. This theory is also, in my opinion, more logical than creationism. There is also not much proof to back up the theory of creationism, since it is mostly based on faith. I do in a way, though, also believe in creationism to some extent. This is because everything that is evolving had to start off from somewhere, it couldn't just have appeared by itself.