Steven's Global Blog

Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

2010-05-09T17:58:00.000-07:00

Mikhail Gorbachev was elected as the new leader after Brezhnev's death due to the fact he was young, his energy and political skills. Mikhail Gorbachev led the Soviet into a second Russian Revolution. He made changes in the Soviet Union, one was glasnost which allowed churches, books to be published that were previously banned. This brought many changes reporters were now allowed to look into social problems and criticized government officials in public. He also had another reform called perestroika which restructured the economy. He was trying to revive the Soviet economy. The Soviet Union and the Communist party became more open due to these reforms. Glasnost is one of the reforms by Gorbachev which means openness since the media was open and people can actually say their opinion. The reforms made by Gorbachev led to a series of democratic revolutions in the Eastern Bloc countries and eventually the fall of the Soviet Union and Communism in most countries.

The Collapse of Communism

2010-05-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

Communism was once the dominant economic system in Russia (Former USSR) and eastern Europe. During a series of events during 1989 to 1991 it eventually caused the downfall of Communism. There were many struggles within the Eastern Bloc and were now opposing Communism and went through democratic revolutions. The Soviet Union were unwilling to help the Eastern Bloc countries and just let them have the revolutions. The pressure in East Germany forced the change and a new president was elected. The new president had the Berlin Wall destroyed and ended up unifying Germany. The fall of Eastern Germany led to other countries following suit and the Soviet Union collapsed. The people removed Mikhail Gorbachev from power and most of the Communist countries changed with that. Some of the countries like North Korea, Cuba and China remained communist even after the fall of the Soviet Union.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

2010-04-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

Apartheid is a policy of racial segregation in South Africa reinforced by the South African government. Under Apartheid the non white people living in South Africa didn't have the same rights as a white person living there. This system restricted many things such as non whites having to go to special facilities for them and the non whites were not able to form any organizations against Apartheid and those leaders were killed. Nelson Mandela was a important figure in this time period. When he was freed from prison in 1990 he was the one who fought to get Apartheid abolished. In the end he did reach his goal to get it outlawed and all the non whites gained their rights again. Nelson Mandela led nonviolent protests to fight against Apartheid and led to him being imprisoned. During his imprisonment Apartheid eventually became outlawed and he was released from prison. He was then elected as president of South Africa after being free from prison. Mandela is so admired because he was willing to sacrifice himself for the better of the people of South Africa.

African Independence

2010-04-28T11:07:00.000-07:00

Africa was under British rule for a long time and then change happened in Africa. During 1955 Africa was mostly under British rule and then later on in 1975 Africa was mostly independent. The reason is that the African's were influenced by the African Americans and learned from them by listening to Jazz and reading literature by them. They also got influenced when they went to war during World War II when they fought with the Europeans and then thought that they don't want to be under another country as a colony. Some of the leaders include Jomo Kenyatta, Mau Mau, Mobutu, and Nelson Mandela. Jomo Kenyatta was imprisoned and was later released and led the rebellion for independence for Kenya. The Mau Mau were also fighting for independence along with Kenyatta although they had no connection. Mobutu was the leader for a place called Zaire which later became the Congo after independence.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

2010-04-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

In the film The Right Stuff it was a competition between the Soviet and the Americans. They were competing to be the first to get to space. Then they wanted to send a person in to space after getting to space. The Soviet was winning in the competition since they sent a rocket to space before while the Americans were trying to break the sound barrier. The Americans were trying make a rocket but took several tries to finally have a successful launch while the Soviet had already had a successful launch. The Americans then sent a chimpanzee to space due to the possible risks and not knowing what space is like. The Soviet on the other hand sent a human to space and was winning the race once again. The scenes that will help me remember this Cold War event are the the testing the people had to go through in the Space Program. Another scene is when the Americans got the news about the Soviet sending a rocket called Sputnik to space and then decided to try and send a human to space. Another scene is when the Americans sent a chimpanzee to space and it became to first american in space. These are the scenes that will help me remember this Cold War event.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

2010-04-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a organization formed after World War II to have a mutual alliance so that if a member gets attacked the other members would aid them. NATO was formed by the US and Europe. The USSR also had another alliance called the Warsaw Pact and was created in response to NATO. The Warsaw pact was made up of 8 communist countries. They both played a role in the Cold War one side was communist and the other capitalist. Both were destined to keep each other out for example the Americans wanted to keep the Russians out and vice-versa. They had several things during the Cold War, there were the Arms Race, Space Race, Cuban Missile Crisis, Korean War and the Vietnam War. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the Soviet placed Nuclear Missiles in Cuba since Cuba was a ally with the USSR. The Soviets allowed the missiles to be launched in the event of a invasion which would spark a nuclear war. They then ended up reaching a agreement for dismantling the missiles in exchange for a no invasion agreement.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

2010-03-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Schindler's List illustrated the holocaust by showing what the holocaust was like the hollywood way. It showed the jews being liquidated from the ghetto and board a train to go to the concentration camps to do slave labor. It also showed the mass killing of jews by being being killed in the gas chamber and the bodies were burned so they don't have to burry them. The scene that was powerful was the scene with Auschwitz and showed what the conditions were like there. The images that would stay with me are the ones showing the Jews being burned after the gas chamber. Another image would be when the children were hiding from the nazis. I think the documentary was more powerful since it showed real footage from the concentration camp.

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

2010-03-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

I thought how something like that was possible to try and eliminate the whole Jewish population. I was terrified that humans would do something like that to other humans because all humans are created equal. I found the film to be powerful and a strong piece of evidence that the holocaust is a true event and not a conspiracy. The scenes from Schindler's List was similar to the ones in the documentary because they both showed the Jews boarding the train and went to concentration camps. They both showed the Nazi and the SS killing Jews randomly even though they committed no crime. I think that some scenes in Schindler's List was based on the documentary. I think the documentary illustrates the holocaust better because it shows real footage from the concentration camps and shows how they were like. Both the film and the documentary were great even though the documentary was much better at illustrating the holocaust.

The Treaty Of Versailles (ended WWI)

2010-02-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

After WWI the winner was the Allies so then the loosing side had to agree to a treaty. The treaty was signed in the Palace of Versailles so it was known as the treaty of Versailles. Due to the treaty Germany became responsible for causing the war and had to compensate for the damage. Germany was in trouble and went through many hardships due to a smaller army, no overseas colonies and the economy was bad. The German people also felt insecure due to a small army and having the risk of not being able to protect themselves in the case of an attack. I think the treaty was very harsh on the Germans since they had to pay for the damage in their country and had to pay for the damage in other countries. This also caused Germany to be in a large dept which had a impact on their economy. The Germans needed someone to lead them to greatness again. This then allowed Adolf Hitler to reign and bring Germany to greatness. I think historians say that the treaty caused the rise of Hitler and Fascism because the people were desperate for a leader to make Germany superior again. This then allowed for all the events that happened after WWII, the rise of the Nazis, Concentration Camps, etc.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

2010-02-24T11:12:00.000-08:00

After WWI the Ottoman Empire fell many countries emerged and one of them was Turkey. Mustafa Kemal rose and then led Turkey and modernized it in many ways. Mustafa Kemal helped modernize Turkey by following ideas of the Europeans and Americans rather than continuing to use the Muslim tradition. He also made Turkey more secular by separating religion from things like education, cultural and legal affairs. Mustafa replaced the religious traditions with modern western traditions such as the clothing they wore. This means that they started to wear suits, ties and shoes rather than the traditional clothing. Religion was separated from everything and he banned religious things like the fez which was a hat worn by people of the Muslim faith. He called the fez something that someone who is uncivilized would would wear and he was trying to make Turkey more modern. Mustafa also restructured the economic system and cared for the poor. He said that the real master of the country is the villager. The word secular means to separate religion from other things such as education, culture, etc.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

2010-02-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Gandhi was a influential person in India and helped to gain independence from Great Britain. Gandhi used nonviolence to gain independence. He told people to not fight back when the police and soldiers attack them and just hang in there. He used nonviolence to make the British look bad since they attack the Indians when they didn't use any type of violence, an example would be the massacre where lots of Indians were killed. Gandhi did many things such as boycotting British made cloth and making his own. Gandhi also did marches like the salt march which was nonviolent. Gandhi had a philosophy of using nonviolence to do things. He wanted people to not do anything violent so that the British will look like they are evil by harming people who did no crime. Gandhi was arrested several times but was released eventually and then continued his nonviolent acts. He used this effectively and thought this was the way to gain their independence from Britain by showing that they can support themselves without the British. I think the independence was mostly Gandhi because without him there would be no leadership to lead them to independence. Gandhi also gave hope to the people no matter what class they were, the rich or poor. It could have happened eventually do to the war and they need to spend money on their own country rather than governing another.

The Russian Revolution

2010-01-13T16:32:00.000-08:00

The Russian Revolution was a series of revolutions in Russia during 1917. The Russians wanted a revolution because their czar Nicholas II was preventing any change and the people revolted which led to him abdicating his throne. Then in Russia a temporary government was created due to the czar leaving his throne. Russia still continued to fight in WWI and refused to leave the war. The new temporary government created was a democratic government. But the peasants revolted against the landowners and factory owners. In the revolution there was a clash between the democratic government and the Bolshevik party. This eventually led to a civil war in which the Bolshevik party defeated the democratic government. Then the Bolshevik party then signed a treaty with Germany and left the WWI. The Bolshevik party was led by Vladimir Lenin. The Bolsheviks used Karl Marx's idea of communism and formed their own government. This led to Russia becoming the first communist country. The quote "Peace, Land and Bread" means that the Russians wanted to leave WWI to have peace by signing the treaty with germany. The land part was for communism, the Bolshevik party led by Lenin who wanted all russians to revolt against landlords and factory owners and then take their land. The bread part was due to the czar who let the people in Russia starve.

Causes Of WW I

2010-01-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

There were many causes for the first world war also known as The Great War. The first cause was Nationalism since the Austria-Hungary empire and the Balkans were made up of conflicting national groups such as Serbia. Nationalism also made the nations feel as if they were better than other nations. The next cause is Imperialism because all the European nations needed natrual resources due to the Industrial Revolution which led to them expanding into Africa and Asia. They competed for the economic expansion into Africa and Asia and fought for the land. The next cause was the alliances Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia formed the triple alliance. When one country went to war all the allies were at war also protecting their allies in combat. The next cause is Militarism which was when they build stronger and larger armies which lead to fear and hatred between the other nations. The last cause is the assasination of the Archduke of the Austria-Hungary empire by a Serbian man. This then led to Austria punishing Serbia which led to Russia declaring war and then Germany declared war. All the other allies such as Great Britain then joined the war.

Opium Wars - Imperialism In China

2009-12-18T10:06:00.001-08:00

Tea was a popular drink in China and soon became popular in Europe. The Europeans wanted the tea but China would only trade in one port sine their government didn't want them to adopt ideas. Then Great Britain thought of ideas so that they can buy and sell in China and not just buy. The Europeans then started to sell opium to the Chinese people which was a drug. The Europeans sold opium to the Chinese and they got addicted to it. This ended up making the Chinese trade tea for opium and the government ruled that if anyone is caught trading opium they would be put to death. Then Britain declared war on china for banning opium and attacked China using their gunships while China was unaware of the attack. This is called the opium wars because Britain was trading opium to china which led to China banning opium and led to a war. Great Britain won the war easily while China had a humiliating defeat. This is due to China being behind in technology and had ancient weapon while Britain had more modern weapons due to China restricting trade which prevented new ideas from entering China.

Film Lesson: Mountains Of The Moon

2009-12-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

In mountains of the moon the Europeans sent a crew to Africa to search for the source of the Nile and eventually found it. On their expedition they faced many hardships and most of their crew eventually ended up dyeing. Some of the hardships they face was getting through Africa since most of it was uncharted so they were going into the unknown. Another hardship they faced was meeting other tribes along the way some that attacked them and some became allies. The next hardship was the conditions in the desert insects such as mosquito that carry malaria. It is strange that Victoria Falls is named after a British queen because the land that it is in is Africa and not a European country. The technological advantage they had was that they had better weapons and other utilities than the Africans who used spears and other ancient technology. They were able to conquer Africa easily because the Europeans had better weapons that are more advanced and the Africans relied on ancient weapons.

Imperialism Project

2009-12-07T09:14:00.000-08:00

It was to show the countries that the Europeans conquered in parts of the Americas, and Africa. It was also to show the divisions of the countries in those continents. We also did it to show the shipping routes and what they traded to each other. I learned how many countries were conquered by various European countries such as Great Britain and Spain. I also learned things they traded such as Gold and Silver. I also learned that Great Britain traded China Opium to get tea because China wouldn't open up for trade with foreign countries and so they traded Opium since the Chinese would get addicted and eventually traded tea. This then led to the Opium Wars and Great Britain won easily.

Karl Marx and Communism

2009-11-22T15:07:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx's idea for Communism is where workers share the wealth equally and the workers controlled the government. Communism is a word derived from the word common and it is where people shared the wealth so there was no social class. In communism the workers have the power and not a specific group of people. He wanted it to take over the world so then the worker are treated fairly and would have the same wealth as anyother person. He also wanted a classless society. He wanted the workers to be dominant and the owners would dissapear and workers would eventually be free from the clutches of the rich owners. Karl Marx saw the workers as the good people and the owners as the bad people because the workers work hard and yet they are treated badly and don't have much money while the owners do nothing and keep getting richer while the workers get poorer.

Karl Marx and The Industrial Revolution

2009-11-17T09:47:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx didn't like the Industrial Revolution since working conditions in factories were harsh and unsafe. Karl Marx thinks that workers should control the factories rather than land owners and that the wealth should go to the workers. He also didn't like the fact that the workers had no power. The Industrial Revolution inspired him to create communism since one worker can't do much if all the workers unite they can take over the factory. The Industrial Revolution showed that workers weren't paid equally. The owner got the most and the workers got a small share of the profit. This led to him giving equal pay to all workers.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

2009-11-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

Nationalism is loving the country you reside in and it is the bond between you and other people in that country. An example of how I am nationalistic is through a common language which is English with the same accent they use in America. The thing I do that shows that I am nationalistic is using the same currency which is the United States Dollar. Italy was a nation that formed due to Nationalism in Europe. Italy before was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. They were part of a empire which had several different countries within it. People living in Italy gathered and wanted to break free from forein rule. Guiseppe Mazzini was one of the first leaders who unified parts of Italy and created it Young Italy. Then the Kingdom of Sardinia was formed and united italy again but it was larger. They declared war with Austria and got most of northern Italy. Then a soldier named Guiseppe Garibaldi had a army and claimed Sicily. He then let Sardinia rule and they claimed the rest of Northern Italy from Austria and that was how the nation of Italy was formed.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2009-10-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar helped Latin America get it's Independence from Spain who had a king that was french. He is famous because he led Latin America in the Latin American revolutions and helped gain independence. He also helped form a government like they did in the United States and France. He has a country named after him because he helped gain independence in Latin American. Simon Bolivar helped defeat Spain durring the Latin American Revolution and he was fighting for independence. The thing that influenced him in his quest was the United States who gained their independence from Britain and the French who formed a new government.

John Locke and "The Enlightenment"

2009-10-04T14:26:00.000-07:00

John Locke was one of the influential thinkers during the enlightenment. His ideas heavily influenced Thomas Jefferson when he created the United States Constitution. The rights that Thomas Jefferson is talking about is all men are created equal and they have the rights to Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness. The right to Life is that everyone has the right to live their life. The right to Liberty is that everyone can do what they want according to their will. The right to Pursuit of Happiness is the right to pursue the things you want to do. These are the rights Thomas Jeferson was talking about in the Constitution. According to the Constitution the government comes from the people. The power of the government comes from the people who are being governed.

Copernicus and The Trial of Galileo

2009-09-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

Heliocentric and Geocentric
There were several theories about the earth which were Heliocentric and the Geocentric models. The theory that came out first and was used for years was the Geocentric theory. The Geocentric theory is a theory that says the solar system revolves around the earth. The Heliocentric theory is the theory that the solar system revolves around the sun. The theory that came out of the scientific revolution was the Heliocentric theory. The correct theory is the Heliocentric theory because it was proved to be true later on.
Galileo's Trial
Galileo Galilei was put on trial by the church for saying that Copernicus's theory that the solar system revolves around the earth is wrong and going against the bible. Galileo believed in the Heliocentric theory while the church believed in the Geocentric theory. Galileo said his opinions in public and therefore was put on trial for going against the teachings of the church. Galileo eventually lost the trial and was put on house arrest and eventually died. Then three century's later the Church said that the earth is not in the center of the universe.

The Scientific Revolution: The Scientific Method

2009-09-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

The Scientific Method
The Scientific Method is a way to get an unbiased answer. This then turns into a theory after many tests and observations are done. The tests also must have the same results at the end for anyone who wants to conduct the same experiment for it to be true. The scientific method goes in this order observations, hypothesis, predictions, tests, and then a theory is made. If the other scientists agree to the theory it is believed to be true.
Experiment That Uses The Scientific Method
A Experiment that uses the scientific method was Galileo's experiment from the leaning tower of pisa. This experiment was to prove if you drop something from the same height with one being heavier and one is lighter and to figure out which one will fall first. Galileo did this experiment on the leaning tower of pisa and dropped various objects of different weight. He then saw that no matter what the weight is it will drop at the same speed. This was then tested by other people and got the same results therfore Galileo's theory is correct.

Evolution Vs. Creation

2009-09-15T15:37:00.000-07:00

Evolution

Darwin's theory of evolution is that we evolved from what is know as a common ancestor. We evolved slowly, piece by piece and eventually formed all the different animals today. Darwin's theory explains how we evolved from a common ancestor through natural selection. Natural selection helped organisms to have an advantage in the habitat they live in, for example if a organism lived in a area with tall plants it will adapt and eventually get the traits needed to reach them such as long arms, long neck, height, etc. The organism then survives to pass down traits to offspring.

The organisms without the traits eventually die out and it allows the ones with the necessary trait to survive. This theory also explains that this happened gradually over time. The organisms keep the good traits and gain more traits to eventually form a new organism. The organism also removes unnecessary traits.

Creation

Creation is a religious belief that God had created the world and life which includes the first humans on earth. Creation is based on the Bible in the book of Genesis. This theory is believed by the Christian church and explain that the first humans on earth Adam and Eve and eventually led up to the humans now. Creation also rejects the fact of natural explanations such as the theory of evolution.

I believe in the theory of evolution because it is based on science. This means that there is evidence to back up the theory. Creationism does not have any evidence except for the Bible and it is based on belief. Evolution on the other hand has proof that organisms adapt and change over time which is know as natural selection. Creation in my opinion doesn't show how it created the humans today.