Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the leaders of Russia while it was still Communist, and he helped the country tuen Democratic and Capitalist in a big way. He decided that keeping the country in the dark wasn't helping anyone, so he started the policy of "glasnost". Basically this let people let their ideas be heard, and it stopped the silence of opinions. He also introduced another policy called "perestroika". That basically means that people could speak freely about what they thought about the economy and the country. He also gave the people much more power, he stopped the government from regulating everything that workers and farmers did, and he let them be on their own. He also introduced the policy of letting the people vote for their leader, something that really helped the country become Democratic. Without Mikhail Gorbachev, the people in the Soviet Union would have had a lot less power, and Communism would have gone on for much longer.

The Collapse of Communism

Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe and the USSR because of knowledge. People were realizing that communism wasn't working well, and they wanted a change.The Soviet Union stopped being Communist after many many reforms and years of protesting citizens, the totalitarian government ended, and in its place a democracy was made. Also the Berlin Wall, the wall separating East and West Germany. was destroyed. After seeing the Soviet Union become democratic, other countries took their example and overthrew their governments and became democratic as well. If you think about it, it's like the opposite of containment, instead of Communism spreading, Democracy was.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid was a policy of segregation in South Africa. Basically, in a country where the majority of people were black, the black people were treated worse than the white people. Black people couldn't vote, marry someone who was white, or even use public places for white people. Nelson Mandela is a South African who was in jail for almost 30 years, just because he wanted to help his people. He hated the unequal treatment in South Africa, and fought to change it. But even with him in jail, no one forgot him, and when South Africa finally did become independent, the people voted Nelson Mandela, a man who had just gotten out of 30 years of prison, as their leader. Not even in prison could he be silenced, and he truly changed the world by showing one person really could make a difference.

African Independence

The biggest reason for Africa's change in the 20 year period between 1955 to 1975 was because most African countries had gained their independence in that time. In 1955, only 4 countries in Africa were independent. They were Libya, Ethiopia, the Union of South Africa, and Egypt. Ghana was one of the first countries to succesfully become free of England, they achieved freedom under the leader Kwame Nkrumah. After WWII was when a lot of African countries wanted their freedom, and under the guidance of Kwame, Ghana achieved freedom, and inspired other countries to do the same.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

In the film "The Right Stuff", both the USSR and US were competing against each other trying to make the technology to go into space. Russia was the first country to go into space, much to America's dismay. After that America tried to send many rockets into space, but most of them failed. After a while though, America felt confident, and wanted to send people into space. Because of the slight chance of something going wrong though, America sent a monkey into space. 2 weeks later Russia successfully sent the first man into space. This both made America look bad, and it made Russia look superior to America. The monkey going into space will definitely help me remember the Cold War.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

NATO stand for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO was an alliance between several European and North American countries, where each country promised to help the other countries when they were in need. This alliance was very helpful to some smaller countries in Europe that felt threatened by large Communist countries, such as Russia. The Warsaw Pact was the Communist response to NATO. It was an alliance formed by the USSR and several other Communist countries in Europe. It, like NATO, was an alliance where the countries promised to help each other out when they were in need. Unlike NATO though, the Warsaw Pact slowly disappeared, where NATO is still an active organization today.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

Schindler's List, in my opinion, illustrated the Holocaust in a dramatic way that showed fully how horrible the Holocaust was. For me, the most powerful scene in the movie was when you see the dead body of the little girl in red being carried away, it made me feel sad for all the children that were killed. Another powerful scene was when the little boy was looking for a place to hide, and literally every place was taken, it goes to show just how many people were victims of the Holocaust. I think Schindler's List was the more powerful film. It really showed how sick and indifferent the Nazi's were to the Jewish people.

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

"Night and Fog" is a documentary about the Holocaust that shows some of the atrocities that happened there. The movie both creeped me out and saddened me, like how they showed that the Germans used the remains of dead people to make things like soap, wigs, blankets, and paper. I think that Schindlers List better illustrated the Holocaust. Schindlers List showed the chaos and the violence better than the documentary, although they both showed the horrors that took place during the Holocaust.

The Treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty signed June 28, 1919. It officially ended WWI. The treaty destroyed what Germany had worked so hard to attain, it required that Germany give up 10% of its land, all its colonies, and it required Germany to take sole responsibility for being the cause of the war. This crippled Germany's economy, which inadvertently led to the rise of Fascism and Adolf Hitler. The country was weak and in need of a powerful leader, and Hitler provided just that. He said he would help the country and the countries people. The German people put Hitler in power, and by the time they saw his true sick intentions it was already too late, and he was a dictator.

Mustafa Kemal and the Modernization of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who wanted to make Turkey more secular. Secular means religious, in a nutshell. Mustafa wanted to modernize Turkey to improve its future. He made many reforms, some of which were the freedom to practice your faith, banning the Fez and the Veil that religious people wore, changing the calender, and encouraging western clothes. Without Mustafa Kemal Turkey would not be where it is right now.

Film Lesson "Gandhi"

Mahatma Gandhi was born in 1869 in India. He is famous for being a major factor in India gaining its independence. It all started when Gandhi was kicked off a train in a British controlled area of Africa. He was angry that the Indian people did not have rights, not even in their own country. He said that it was time for Indian people to gain their independence from the British. Gandhi did many things to peacefully protest British rule, for example he would his own clothes instead of buying from the British and encourage others to do so too. He also conducted the famous Salt March. This was where he and his followers marched to the sea to make salt, which was against British laws. He and many of his followers got thrown in prison for that. He was a man of non violence, if any violence was caused by his supporters he would fast, and in fear of his life his supporters would stop the violence.

The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution happened in 1917. It was led by a man named Vladimir Lenin. The Russian Revolution happened during WW1. The leader of Russia kept on sending troops into war. After a while the soldiers got fed up with always being hungry, cold, and badly equipped, so they decided to desert. After Nicholas II's regime was overthrown Vladimir Lenin took over. He created the slogan "Peace, Land, and Bread" and promised to provide those to every man in Russia. He was very popular for that. The Russian citizens were tired of losing at war, not being able to afford land, and starving, so when Lenin started promising these things the majority of the Russian people supported him, which inadvertently ended up going from communism to a dictatorship.

Causes of WW1

There were several reasons that WW1 started in 1914. One of those reasons was nationalism. Nationalism is a strong sense of loyalty and pride for your country. Often times people thought their country was better than another, which helped lead to WW1. Another reason was militarism. Militarism is the belief that a strong military force is essential to your country. Before the war started the governments of europe were building large armies trying to out do the other countries and advance the progress of their own. This led to certain european countries hating each other. The last straw that started WW1 was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. He and his wife were killed by a Serbian nationalist. The serbian people wanted a revolution, and they thought that if the Archduke helped the poor then they would become content and lose their interest in fighting. Austria went to war with Serbia, and after all the allies of each side joined it became a true World War.