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.

The Opium Wars

The British had traded with India. But with India it was more like the British had a lot of control.On the other hand, the way the British traded with China was more like the Chinese was making a lot of money off of the British. The British were tired of this so instead of just buying a lot of materials from the Chinese they decided to buy but also SELL.

This isn't a horrible idea. However, the British decided to sell drugs instead of good materials that the Chinese would've wanted. This drug was opium. Plus this also started because of the modernization that was occurring the East. China was a nation that wanted to be kept alone and isolated. But because of the new technology China had to open up to new ideas. Or be left behind.

It was called the opium war because that was the drug being sold to the Chinese. This drug was probably the first drug to be so addicting. And so destructing.

China was completely changed due to the drugs. Things changed a lot for the way China was run economically, relationships between people, and the government. This had to be stopped so a war started.

Britain won. During the war, Britain used gun powder and things like canons. They obviously beat the Chinese since they were advanced. Due to so many years of isolation, China lost a harsh defeat. While the British had ships doubled the size of the Chinese, their ships were also much stronger and not made of wood.

"The White Man's Burden"

The poem "The White Man's Burden" is by Rudyard Kipling. This poem was written due to the Spanish-American war and the way the Americans took over the Philippines. "The White Man's Burden" means all of the trouble that the Americans had to go through to "save" the Philippines. They believed that everything they were doing was helping the people of the Philippines and that it was up to them to help them. Since the Americans were "superior". They believed that they NEEDED to teach everyone how to be like them.


I think that most people understand what Kipling is trying to stay. But dont agree with him. Maybe some do. But thats probably opinions people can fight back and forth about.

The poem was written in 1899 but i think it still connects with today. Most people believe that we are in Iraq to help. That it is a "burden" to have to take care of the people in Iraq. They also believe that our idea works in their society, just as good. But thats not the way it is. It doesnt have to work like that in every society.

I think "The White Man's Burden" will basically be something Americans feel forever. Even when they are wrong. Even when we should be staying in our own territory. I guess we believe, that we are right even we are totally wrong.

"The Scramble for Africa"

Africa wasn't just invaded by Great Britain. Africa was invaded by many European nations. Which is what the title "The Scramble for Africa" is all about. This title means all of the European nations fighting and racing for a lot of African land. Which led to new divisions in Africa. The divisions we see today on the African map are divisions made by the European nations.

The main Europeans nations involved in the scramble were Britain, Belgium, France, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Italy. Britain conquered most of the South and East parts of Africa. Belgium conquered most of the middle of Africa. France conquered most of the northern parts of Africa. Germany was pretty much spread out in the Mideast of Africa, in the west and the south of Africa. Spain conquered a very small part of Africa in the north to the very west. Portugal conquered in the South. Italy conquered northern and eastern parts of Africa. Like the map all the way on top.

All of these nations wanted resources they couldn't get in another places and that they could get for cheaper prices or no prices at all. Just war. They wanted resources like coal, wood and ivory. They also wanted more land. Especially to spread out imperialism. They especially wanted, like any other nation, land. More land for themselves. Since leaders are so greedy.

They were able to conquer Africa so easily because Europe had many advantages in technology. They were able to have more weapons than the Africans. Africans had things like spears, and old weapons. But Europeans had things like gun powder (rifles), canons and other weapons. Even though these were a lot of advantages, they didn't know Africa like Africa's own people. But there was a problem for the Africans. They were dived into their own groups and in the end the English people hurt them badly because they were so divided.

When the English came they divided Africa into their own places. Spain could have divided land with France how they wanted to. Not how the Africans asked them to. Europeans could care less. As long as they had what they wanted. In the end, all of the different traditions each African group had were changed. It wasn't the same anymore. Now it was what the Europeans wanted.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

(The picture to the left is Lake Victoria in Africa.
The source of the Nile River.)

The movie "Mountains of the Moon" is about Europe taking over Africa. Europe needed more materials and space to expand their industrial revolution. Materials such as ivory, wood, coal, land and more. Since Africa was nearby they were able to conquer easily,as well for other reasons. It wasn't very easy but Europe had many advantages and disadvantages. In the end, Europe won.

The hardships that Europeans faced would have scared me not to ever go back. Europe might have been technologically advanced but they had to understand they didn't have the benefit of knowing the land memorized and easily. Its always best to fight in you own territory. Its always best because you know who's around you and you don't have to worry about whats on the other side of the mountain. You can also have allies when your "home". Which makes everything easier.In new territory, you are an enemy to everyone that doesn't recognize you.

In the movie, Richard Burten gets a spear thrown at his face. The spear pierces a hole from cheek to cheek. Making holes in both cheeks. John Speak has two sticks stabbed into both his legs. Not only that but a bug also crawls into his ear. The tactics to help these two man with their problems looked more painful then the problems they went through.To get the bug out of Speak's ear they had to put something like candle wax in his ear.But that was so painful that Speak decided to stab his ear.

Europeans had to deal with Africans traditions.If they got into trouble their African friends had weird ways to help them out.They had to get use to it. They also didn't have that many Africans allies, the Europeans had more enemies than allies. Which made them fight for themselves when Africans invaded their territory.

It isn't strange, that there is an African river named after an British Queen. Well at least if you know enough about history you wouldn't find it strange. Its like asking, "Isn't it a coincidence that there's a place in England called 'York' and a place in America called 'New York'?"It isn't a coincidence, its just when the English took over they named a place in America after a place in England. Just like when Britain invaded Africa they decided to name a river after they "discovered" it, well at least to the Europeans they did.

The advancement in technology helped a lot. This gave the Europeans advantages in a big thing, WEAPONS. The Africans had their spears and things like that. But Europeans had things like gun powder and canons. For transportation they had things like ships. Europeans were decades ahead of Africans. This helped a lot. Not just with the people of Africa but also with the animals of the jungles.

In the end, Britain was able to conquer easily because of their technology. They also spread diseases. Europe wasn't just one nation. It was a lot of nations against Africa. they were able to divide land easily, by hurting those that didn't want to be divided. When the Africans were divided it made it easier for the English to conquer them since they didn't have each other anymore. The Africans were probably scared to trust anyone, since they were probably with different people. From different African groups, with different African traditions.

The Meiji Restoration of Japan

Matthew Perry was a United States naval officer who negotiated with the Japanese for several months. The Americans wanted to open a port, where they could trade with this isolated country. Americans also needed the supplies to run their ships, so they needed help anyways. The Japanese were very impressed by the technology that the Americans had. This opened their eyes to new ideas. Which started the modernization of Japan.

The Americans had things that the Japanese never had seen. They had massive ships, rifles, cannons, a ship run by steam and many other things. To Japan these were like futuristic ideas. Many Japanese people didn't want to open up to these ideas. But their Emperor Meiji realized that his people couldn't stay uneducated forever. He decided he needed to modernize his country.

The Japanese signed the Treaty of Kanagawa which allowed many things between Americans and the Japanese. The Americans benefited a lot from this Treaty. They received a lot of help with their ships from Japan. The Treaty stated:

1. Alliance between the United States and Japan.
2. Opening of two ports to American ships at Shimoda and Hakodate.
3. Help for any American ships around the Japanese coast.
4. Permission for American ships to buy supplies, coal, water, and other necessary provisions in Japanese ports.

Although the Americans benefited a lot so did the Japanese. Japan now had two ways to trade with other countries as well. This helped with the modernization of Japan.

Japan adapted many ideas as well. From the German they adopted the ideas of a centralized government. They also adopted ideas such as education, industrialization, advances in technology and more countries to trade with. This also started battles with neighboring countries. Such as China, Russia and Russia. Japan also now had railway and shipping lines, telegraph and telephone systems, and factories making things like sugar, glass and textiles.

The Meiji Era changed in ways that the society pyramid didn't matter anymore and nationalism sprung out full throttle. Japan now had new industries and technologies. Even when it came to voting Japan now had ideas of letting males vote. But only if they were wealthy. They were becoming a lot like America.

Now Japan is one of the most advanced countries in the world. Probably the most. With inventions that top most of the American inventions. It's ironic how it worked out. Americans gave them the boost to start their modernization and they are now basically ahead of us. Japan also had an advantage that its an archipelago. An archipelago is a large group of islands or chain. Like, Hawaii. Since it has so much water surrounding it, it can have many harbors that help when it comes to trade.

In the end, my opinion is that its good Japan didn't stay isolated. I'm sure they praise the Emperor Meiji. Without him Japan wouldn't be as advanced as it is today.