Mikhail Gorbachev and the collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorbachev was a different type of man to the USSR and it's people. At the time, the USSR was tired of communism. People were tired of a corrupted government, with things hidden from them. They were tired of the fact, that they didn't have this fairytale economy that they were first told about. They needed someone to start reforms to make the USSR capitalist. Or at least show that capitalism was a good thing. Mikhail Gorbachev along with partners, started these huge reforms. They were called "Glasnost" and "Perestrokia".

"Glasnost"- Was a reform in the USSR during the Russian Revolution. Which stands for the once secretive Russia, now public.
"Perestrokia"- Was a reform in the USSR during the Russian Revolution. This represents the opening of the Russian economy.

collapse of communism

Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and the USSR because there was no motive for communism. Everyone who lived in a communist nation understood that things would be fair. But those who made more money, started to dislike the fact you got paid as much as someone way lower than you. Leaders also turned communism into dictatorships. Abusing anyone who went against communism. No one thought that communism would turn into something bad. Especially when it started out with Lenin taking away from nobility and giving it to the poor.

Many countries were motivated to leave behind communism. After awhile it all spread around and reached Germany. Where the Berlin Wall was tored down, to represent there was no communism in Germany. West and East Germany were finally united.

With communism's bad side revealing, reforms were started. The person most know for his reforms was Mikhail Gorbachev. They were called glasnost and perestroika. He showed the Russian people elections on TV and starting giving the people more freedom. He had his constitution signed and that was the end of communism.

In the end, communism brought down the USSR, leaving the United States the superpower in the world.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid was a racial-segregation policy. It divided the black, mixed and indian natives from the white.

Nelson Mandela was a man that fought for Africa to have unity and liberty. He wanted to bring down the white man's violence. He was tired of racism and apartheid.

Nelson Mandela, went to jail for 27 years. Throughout his time in prison, he thought about all the freedom he wanted for everyone. These thoughts led to journals of ideas. He allowed to hear different ideas to free any race. He used civil disobedience and and served as president, for the countries he freed. He risked his life for thousands.

He is so admired by the authors of these articles and sites because there is no one out there like him. This man has a powerful uniqueness. No one can be like him.

African Independence

Tradition became a huge thing for West Indians (that originated from Africa) and other Africans. They wanted to express their traditions, Europe was ready to let go of Africa after WWII. Many Africans became well educated. Creating a middle class and following the independence of many other nations. People were sparked by outsiders to make sure Europeans were wiped out of Africa.

Africa had many leaders because there were so many provinces. These leaders were inspired by African-American leaders.

They had Leopold Senghor, who leaded Sengal and later became president. Kwame Nkrumah became Ghana's first prime minister. Marcus Garvey was jamaican born, but his goal was to lead Europeans out of Africa and have Africa ruled by Africans. Jomo Kenyatta led Kenya through a harsh independence. And many others.

The Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis was nuclear weapons that the Soviet Union had installed in Cuba. Cuba was a communist country just like the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union only had missiles that could reach Europe, but Western Europe was not the only capitalist continent. The Soviet Union had to reach America some how. Luckily for the Soviet Union, Cuba was a communist country and only 90 miles away from the shores of Florida.

After seeing pictures of the plans that Cuba had on the U.S., Americans started to get worried. So John F. Kennedy took the time to explain the Soviet Union had to remove their weapons. He also explained that he had built a navy blockade around the country. After seeing no change, Kennedy was ready to order the navy soldiers to attack. Which led to the Soviet Union coming up with a deal. If the U.S. would leave Cuba alone, then Russia would take out all its missiles in Cuba. But when a shot was saw and heard over Cuba, war was about to being. However another proposal was made instead, (although the first one was the one used). Keeping this situation a clean Cold War.

This is why this point in the Cold War is called the hottest point. Through out the whole Cold War no one fought. It was just one situation after another. When this happened and war almost broke out, this was considered the closes physical contact. Which made it the hottest point in the Cold War.

In the end, trust was the only thing left. Russia removed its missiles because they trusted the U.S. would not invade Cuba.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was made up of countries in Europe and North America. These countries together wanted to make a strong mutual defense alliance. If anything all the nations would have each other. The NATO led to the Marshall Plan, which led to the aide of all European nations in need. As the idea of communism increased, the NATO became more important and together by preventing Russia from increasing its communist ideas.

Since the North Atlantic Treaty Organization didn't involve Russia, Russia made its own organization. This Russian organization was made up of countries that could back up Russia. Baiscally, along the border of Russia. They were called the satellite countries. The Soviet Union was the leader of this alliance.

Film Lesson : "The Right Stuff"

"The Right Stuff" is a movie about the race to space, or the Space Race. Russia and America both wanted to have satellites up in Space. Both countries also wanted to have the first man up in Space, not only that but have the first man to land on the moon as well. This was all because of the tension on who had the better technology.

Russia had won the competition. Having the first man in space, but not the first man on the moon. We had the first man on the moon. But we were able to send the first monkey into space. Testing the experience on this innocent animal. Since our rockets kept blowing up.

The scene of trying and failing on so many rockets is something I would never forget. I keep that scene in memory because it helps me remember how hard it was to get into Space.

Film Lesson:"Schindler's List"

"Schindler's List" was a Hollywood version of the holocaust. Most of us know that Hollywood movies usually end with a happy ending. Although in this movie they do show horror and pain, it does end with the satisfaction that some people were able to survive. That was one thing that bothered me. A lot of people don’t believe that the holocaust ever happened and for someone to make a movie that had a little bit of a happy ending, shows they don’t understand the true meaning of the holocaust.

That’s why sometimes the Hollywood version of things isn’t that great. However, I still wanted to see the whole thing of “Schindler’s list” because it showed me what happened in a period of time were genocide was almost completed. It scares me to know that’s almost possible.

For me the most powerful scene was when the children were being taken away. As they rode in the cattle car they waved to their parents with extremely happy faces. Did they not realize that day would be their last? Of course they didn’t. They were just happy to finally have the feeling of seeing their parents. That’s all they cared about it. But they were so innocent and naive to not realize that in a few minutes or hours they would be thrown into a crematoria.

How could this actually be happening? I think watching these two movies I felt like if I was one of them, I would want to go to sleep and never wake up. Or just convince myself that I’m stuck in a nightmare. That none of this could be true...

Film Lesson:"Night and Fog"

What I liked about "Night and Fog" was that it was a documentary. You were able to see everything happen in the real locations of the holocaust, although everything happening in the movie was based on a true story. Many seems were pretty horrific but it was to get the meaning of what happened, at that time, across to the audience. I liked that Alain Resnais, the director of the movie, was not afraid to show things that could offend people.

Although I must agree the movie was powerful, I didn’t like that we had to see it with subtitles and that they didn’t have a translation for it. Unfortunately, for me movies with subtitles can sometimes start to become boring for me. I can even end up getting confused with the voice and the words. This leads me to getting distracted. That’s the only negative for me about “Night and Fog”. But this doesn’t take away from the meaning of the movie.

When you compare this movie to “Schindler’s List”, many say that “Night and Fog” wins by far. I believe that both are very hard hitting movies. I like the fact that “Schindler’s List” was in English though. But some scenes in “Schindler’s List” will probably never match up to those in “Night and Fog”. “Schindler’s List” had the basic shooting scenes with the blood and etc. But the whole point of Resnais documentary was to make you feel like you were there.

I guess that’s the difference between a documentary and a Hollywood movie. With a documentary you can feel Goosebumps because you know that actually happen. On the other hand the Hollywood versions are someone’s thoughts out in a big screen.

The Treaty of Versailles (Ended WW I)

The Treaty of Versailles only helped the countries against Germany. Everyone blamed it on Germany since they believed Germany started the whole war. To pay back for the whole thing, Germany had to give money to the government of each country that they were against. This made the people of Germany feel left out from the League of Nations.

Germany was already behind in their economy, to have to pay more was just going to draw them back by a greater distance. The economy wasn't going to be able to recover in time to catch up with everyone else. The German people were embarrassed by all of this and started to think they didnt have to suffer for something like this. The rules stated in the Treaty were "too harsh". But the other countries weren't going to let them off that easily, so they marched into Germany and killed many soldiers.

Germany had no choice but to give up the money. Leaving people devastated and in shock. Although many are unsure, I have to agree with those that state the Treaty of Versailles was the start of WW II and the holocaust. At the time that the Treaty of Versailles was taking action (1919), there was little boy named Adolf Hitler. I'm sure seeing how embarrassed his family and friends were hurt him a lot. Hitler's goal was to rebuilt Germany for nationalistic reasons. When his country was going down, he propbably was ready to risk anything to bring it back up.

No one would've guessed that a little boy, around the age of 10, was going to hurt millions of people. Especially not because his country was falling apart. Obviously everyone was wrong. Who would've known that this affected him so much?

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

The father of the turks, Mustafa Kemal started his political role in Turkey from his mid 30's. He was a military hero and later on made liberation movements. He was president of Turkey for 15 years, until his death in 1938.

Ataturk's goal was to modernize Turkey to give them dignity. The Ottoman empire was falling apart for three centuries. Ataturk's goal was to see the light and pick up all the pieces of the Ottoman Empire.

He started with secular government and education programs. He made sure that everyone had freedom and equality. He also wanted people to know that this nation was for their them and would be run by them.

He didn't let religion come in the way of his people. Everyone was allowed to practice whatever they wanted to. As long as everyone was treated the same.

To modernize the Ottoman Empire, Ataturk made his people change more about themselves than the government. He changed stuff like the way his people dressed, the last name they took and even their calendar was different. He just wanted Turkey to be like the Western side of the world.

He used similar laws. Ataturk was also very free with things and nicer about stuff. Basically, a leader that many probably liked, instead of having a desire to kill him. He truly is the best "father" the Turks could have.

** secular- of or pertaining to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual, or sacred.

Film Lesson : Ghandi

Ghandi helped India gain Independence from Great Britain by boy cotting all of their rules. He didn't want anyone to use violence so his strategy was to just ignore anything that would help the British. He believed "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". He didn't want to be just as bad as the British he just wanted to have freedom.

The British hit and abused the Indians. But they never fought back because they followed Ghandi. They learned that when you dont fight back, you wont have anything to be threatened by and you can't get in trouble. Although many wanted to fight, Ghandi wouldn't have it. He proved he didnt want violence by going on a hunger strike. When the Indians heard he could almost die, they stopped ALL violence. Even after all the times that their great leader was sent to jail for no reasons, they still didn't fight back.

It was also easier because for the Indians Ghandi had many strategies. However one of his famous strategies was telling the Indians to make their own clothes, that way the British wouldn't profit from them. Another one was a march. The Indians, along with Ghandi, marched all the way to the salt lake and started making their own salt instead of buying government salt. Since government salt would profit the British people.

Ghandi's philosophy of non violence seemed to work out perfectly. He believed that if the Indians provoked the British then it would be a negative effect. But if they kept everything at peace then it would help them become people just working out a deal between two countries not fighting a war.

I think India would've gotten there independence after awhile. I just think Ghandi took the first step towards it. It probably would've taken a while longer. England was going to end up losing their colonies after awhile.

During 1947, Britain had a monopoly with all of the salt lakes in India. I think the Indians were tired of it. This helped make their Independence.

Joseph Stalin and Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a type of society governed by not one ruler but a whole group. Basically, totalitarianism is a dictatorship just with more than one person. Even though it sounds like a democracy it isn't. In a democracy the people that vote have a voice, whereas in a totalitarianism the group of leaders can check all of your information and can over power your voice.

Stalin became a leader after Lenin died. Below Lenin was Joseph Stalin and another friend. Stalin was able to compete and win this other friend becoming the leader of the Soviet Union. Stalin's point was to make the soviet union the most industrialized country in Europe. This is where the Five-Year Plan came in handy.

The whole point of the plan was to make people work in mills and factories. Stalin even forced people to give up their land so they could make it a farm for business. If they didn't give up land they would be killed.

The Great Purges were a huge numbers of murders and people going to labor camps. The economy was doing better but many people's lives were given up for the rise of the Soviet Union. Many people were also sent to exile.

Stalin was going at any risk to make Russia one of the most advanced nations ever. Doing this meant propaganda, censorship and fear. Stalin had to make his people understand that they needed to be proud of their country. Their country had to be the leader of the European world.

Although Stalin went to extremes he meant well. He wanted a world with communism where everything would be equal. No one had to worry because they would be living the good life. Although communism had its good things some people just took it too far and one of those people was Stalin.

Film Lesson: Doctor Zhivago

The film "Doctor Zhivago" depicted the Russian Revolution as the overthrown of Czar Nicholas II and the beginning of the Soviet Union. Showing the challenges of love through out the war. Zhivago starts happily and ends depressed when he returns home. Having a love affair with a beautiful nurse, although he loves his wife very much. The views of the revolution lead them together.

Some of the reasons the Russian people wanted change was because they were being used. The lower class was just being used to make the nation stronger by working in factories and making a lot of technology. That way Russia would be ahead of the other Europe.

Communism was shown as a good thing because the Russians lived a harsh and restricted life. Dr.Zhivago later saw that the poor had to move in with the rich because the rich had more room. This showed him what communism was all about, the rich controlling the poor.

Causes of WWI

WWI is a difficult war to understand the causes of because it wasn't as straight-forward as WWII was. WWII was about power. A lot of people say that Hitler started WWII for the embarrassment that Germany had to go through during WWI. But most of the reasons have to do with many nations. Not just one specifically.

You can say a big thing that was the cause of the war was nationalism. In this case, it was the sort of nationalism where the country wanted to dominant other countries. The horrible side of nationalism. That is the best way to call it.

Germany was pretty smart in spreading out nationalism. The country's plan was to make alliances with many European countries. This way their ideas would be spread out through Europe. But German political leaders decided to expand around the world, they lost many allies. Leaving only Austria-Hungary as their friend.

France was a pretty strong nation like Germany. With Napoleon as your leader, of course you had to be just as strong. But like every other nation land is a priority. This led to the competition with Italy. Who wanted command land and was also full of nationalism.\

Britain wasn't a favorite of dealing with war affairs. Since the country had a industrial advancement. With a huge navy. Also controlling many European countries. Britain just wanted to stay neutral. But when nations started messing with Britain's territory in Africa it was time to fight back.

Materialism was a big factor to the war. Countries were competing for the best weapons and the best armies. After making weapon after weapon, they were going to put it into some use.

The assassination of Franz Ferdinand led to the war because of the backing up each nation had. The Arch Duke was from Austria-Hungary, which was being backed up by Germany. The Arch Duke was shot by a Serbian man. Serbia was being backed up by Russia. Austria-Hungary was obviously hurt by the fact that this one man hurt their Arch Duke. This meant war. And since they each were connected with each other, this meant war with a lot of nations.

It's sort of like each reason connects. Or maybe at the end of the day its just pride.