Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Collapse of Communism
The reason the Berlin wall was torn down was because the east Germans and west Germans didn't like being separated and knowing they couldn't cross the border bothered them. The East Germans were communist and that's why they decided to built this wall. On November 9,1989 many people gathered near the Berlin wall and tore it down themselves making the separation between east and west German's no more.
The Soviet Union was separated into 15 different countries all of them had their own separate flags. Many things became better after the collapse of the soviet union. The cold war ended,the economy became better for the east and west German when Berlin wall came down. When capitalism came to Russia it caused many people do get higher paying jobs since farming was no longer a high paying job. People didn't worry about nuclear annihilation and also many people turned on communism.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Nelson Mandela And Apartheid
Nelson Mandela stood up for his people. He went against apartheid and racism. Despite many years in jail he became Africa's first black president. He fought in a peaceful way instead directly going to violence.
Mandela was a leader of an underground political movement called the African National Congress (ANC). In 1964 he wasn sentenced to life in prison the white goverment just wanted to stop Mandela from trying to free the people of africa. After 27 years in prison he was let go.
In Febuary 1993 Mandela and President F.W de Klerk decided to form a government of unity. The elections were held in April 1994, with the ANC winning 62% of the vote and Mandela becoming president.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Flim Lesson:Shchindler's List
One image that will always stay with me is the mountains of dead people ,they even killed children, which didn't really surprise me. when they took the Jew's out of the Krakow ghettos it was so mean how they removed them from their homes there were people that were yelling that they work for Schindler and that they cant take them out of their homes but the Germans didn't care,they would kill anyone that got in their way,there were people that were still in their homes they were hiding in their floorboards and the German's came and killed them all. after taking massive amounts of people out of their homes they were going to take them to be pretty much slaves. they separated the women and the men,taking only the healthy people the ones that were sick they would sent them away to get killed. At the end of movie it showed how the jews were free but had no idea where to go. This traumatized so many jews,it made their lifes so difficult. The holocaust was a horrible thinq and hope the world doesn't ever come to something like this.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
The treaty of versailles (ended WW1)
Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the modernization of turkey
Ataturk wanted to modernize turkey by qivinq it a new sense of diqnity equality and happiness.
Atatürk instituted the forms of democracy, including a unicameral parliament (the Grand National Assembly), a responsible government, led mostly by Prime Minister Ismet INONU, and a modern bureaucracy. But he allowed only one party--his own Republican People's party--to assure rapid modernization and avoid destructive opposition by vested interests. Turkish nationalism was emphasized as a means of rallying popular support for the drastic, revolutionary measures needed to modernize the nation. A populist program encouraged mass adult education and support for the republic through a nationwide system of Peoples' Houses. Secularism was promoted, with the disestablishment of Islam as the state religion, replacement of religious with secular institutions of education and justice, emancipation of women, adoption of modern Western clothing and Latin script, and enforcement of equality for all citizens regardless of religion.
Initial attempts to develop the economy by encouraging private enterprise foundered because of inefficient management as well as the economic crisis of the 1930s; so Atatürk developed statism--state control of the basic means of production through national banks. Friendly relations were maintained with Turkey's former subject peoples, now independent states or mandate territories, through a series of alliances. In the last years before his death, the rise of Italian Fascism and German Nazism led Atatürk into close relations with Britain and France.
Mustafa Kemal, later called Kemal Atatürk ("Father of the Turks"), won fame as a military commander during World War I and led the revolution that established the Republic of Turkey in 1923. As president of the republic, he pursued a vigorous policy of modernization. In 1934, when the Turks were required to adopt surnames, Kemal was given the name Atatürk by the parliament.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Flim lesson - "Ghandi"
Gandhi led a lot of protest aqainst the Britain's. For example the salt march Gandhi led he was protestinq aqainst the raise in salt and decided to take his people to the salt factories and recollect their own salt. Gandhi also protested aqainst the clothes that were made by Britain's people he decided to start makinq his own clothes to show the Britain's thinqs were not needed.
Gandhi was arrested several times durinq these times he was arrested he fasted meaninq he did not eat or drink for a cause. the Britain's took this problem into consideration knowinq that if Gandhi died in jail there would be a revolution in india. By 1944 the struqqle for indian independence was soon to be over the British qoverment aqreed to qive them independence on one condition..that the muslim leaque and the conqress party resolve their problems.
India soon qot their independence in 1947,Gandhi hoped for peace and unity between the hindus and muslims he fasted in the hopes that these two reliqions qet alonq but exactly 12 days ater fastinq he was assinated by a hindu. Gandhi became an important role model in india and a leqend in the world.