Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

When Mikhail Gorbachev was chosen to lead Russia, he wanted to change things. One of the things he did was Glasnot. Glasnot was basically the idea that the goverment would be more open in sharing information with the public about its institutions. Also the censorship of the Russian people came to an end under Gorbachev. Peristrokia was the reformation of the soviet goverment. Mikhail Gorbachev saw that communism as an economic system didnt work well for its people. When the Russian people saw the standard of living for capitalist countries they realized that they wanted to be capitalist. Mikhail Gorbachev over time began to convert the government from Communist to Capitalist. This was not an easy thing to do because Russia was communist for many decades.

The Collapse of Communism

During the cold war the communist and the capitalist clashed. The citizens of communist nations were not happy with the way there economy worked. Also people were tired of thing like the Berlin Wall and they made the communist countries look cruel. The Berlin Wall was a border separating East and West Germany. When Mikhail Gorbachev took office he opened up the Berlin Wall and tried to reform the Russian economic system. He saw the flaws that communism had and realized that people were not happy with the system. Over time the Russian economy was transitioned to be more capitalistic. Since Russia was no longer communist there was no reason for the cold war to exist anymore.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid was a system that separated the people of South Africa into groups based on race from 1948 to 1994. The non-whites such as the Bantu and the Indians didn't have as many rights as the white minority.  The laws also required the blacks to carry identification pass with them at all times. The ANC was a political group that wanted to remove the laws of Apartheid. The campaign fell apart in several months and the leaders of the group were imprisoned. Eventually because of outside pressure some of the harshest laws were abolished such as the ban against interracial marriage in 1985. After Nelson Mandela was voted President he put Apartheid to an end.

Nelson Mandela was a member of the ANC and fought to put end to Apartheid. He was sent to prison in 1964 for life. Even when he was in prison many people looked to him as a source of hope. After he was released 27 later he set out to make sure Apartheid ended. Five years later he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and elected president. Thanks to his sacrifice and hard work, Apartheid was banned in South Africa.

African Independence

After World War 2, many African nations wanted independence for their own countries. They thought that since they fought in the war for "freedom" that they should have the ability to run there own country. One of these leaders was Kwame Nkrumah. He sought to gain independence for his country from Great Britain. He organized strikes and boycotts and was often arrested for his efforts. But in  the end he won independence and was elected as the President of Ghana.

Jomo Kenyatta also fought for independence for Kenya. Also fighting for the independence of Kenya was the Mao Mao. They were a secret society who terrorized white people. Kenyatta was blamed for the Mao Mao activities and was sent to jail. By the time the British granted Kenya independence in 1963, more than 10,000 black Kenyans and 100 white Kenyans had been killed. Kenyatta was then voted the President on Kenya. He ran the country well until he died but his successor wasnt as effective.

Film Lesson : "The Right Stuff"

In the movie "The Right Stuff" the USSR and the United States of America were in a race for space. Each side wanted the bragging rights of saying the did it first. At first the Russians were winning because they sent the first satellite's into space. They also sent the first man into space while the Americans only sent a chimpanzee. The scenes in the movie that i will remember is the scene of the Russian satellite, the many failures of American rockets, when the chimpanzee first returned from space and when one of the politicians said "Our Germans are better than their Germans".

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It was firmed after World War 2. England and France first made the Brussels Treaty but soon realized that it was to weak to defend against the spread of Communism. Soon afterwards NATO was formed to help combat the "Iron Curtain". The treaty was signed on April 4, 1949. In response to this The Warsaw Pack was made. The Warsaw Pact was formed as communist military alliance to keep Communism in Eastern Europe. Each treaty was signed in opposition of each other. NATO wanted to fight Communism from spreading while the nations of the Warsaw Pact wanted to spread Communism.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

The movie "Schindler's List" was a movie based on the events of the holocaust. It starts off with the Jews being sent to the Krakow ghetto. In my opinion the most moving scene was when they liquidated the Krakow ghetto. I didn't not like how they casually killed Jews who showed the slightest bit of resistance. Im not sure how anyone could casually shoot someone without even thinking about it. But I still believe that the documentary "Night and Fog" was much more moving because it showed real footage of the war.

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

The documentary "Night and Fog" showed the Nazi treatment of the jewish people. In my opinion the treatment was cruel and completely uncalled for. I believe that the documentary was more accurate than the Hollywood version because it used real footage from the time these events were taking place. Although some of the footage is gruesome I believe it was necessary to show the treatment of the jews was cruel and inhumane. The movie is a good tool to let people understand what really happened during the Holocaust.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal was a war hero from the Ottoman Empire. After WWI he became the first president of  Turkey. Mustafa wanted a complete overhaul of the social culture in his new country. He wanted it to be completely secular and more western. Secular means being completely irrelevant from religion. Mustafa didn't want to be a completely Islamic government. He also made several cultural changes such as making the fez illegal, as well as making the veil women wore illegal. Mustafa thought it made the country look backwards and ignorant. He also didn't mind other religions in his country such as Jews and Christians.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

Gandhi was an Indian man who was tired of British persecution. He spent many years trying to help India gain its independence and to make a unified India. Gandhi practiced non-violent protesting. He knew that if Indian's tried to use violence they would most certainly have lost to England's more powerful and organized military. Gandhi also knew that if violence was used the Indians would look like the bad guys. Some of the protest he led was refusing to buy English cloths and making their own. Because of Gandhi's efforts India would eventually gain its independence after many years of fighting.

The Russian Revolution

The Russians had a cruel ruler call czar and he treated them horribly. During WW1 the Russian where already struggling but the czar made them join they where they where not prepared for the war. The war destroyed the economy they lost a lot millions of soldiers. The Russians had enough and the revolution began. The old Czar and his family was killed. Lenin was the leader of the revolution he became Russias new leader and changed the economy to a communist one.

Causes of WWI

The roots of WWI began in the early 1990's because of military conflict. A secret alliancewas formed in Europe. They split the continent in two. When the war began it moved to every country in Europe. Because of secret alliances, some powers were obligated to support polices by their partners and each country's military's plans of mobilization. All of the nation's wanted to show their military might. Since countries had different opinions about their nations it brought difficulty among everyone. The war when the Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria- Hungary was assassinated. His death put the countries in alliances and after his assassination war had began. Everyone was prepared for war.

Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

The Opium War is a conflict between England and China. The English wanted trade with the Chinese, but China didn't like this idea. The Chinese finally agreed to trade with England. After a while the English wanted to trade opium with China. China banned the import of opium because of the effects of the drug and sliver because China was paying for it. Later on in the 1838, China exclaimed that anyone buying or selling opium would be put to death. But The English had a very strong army, it was too strong for China. In the end Britain won the war because of their more advanced army and they forced China to legalize opium.