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.

Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

The Opium Wars were a series of wars that took place during the mid 1800's. These wars took place over Great Brittan's right to trade with China for opium. Brittan started trading opium to the Chinese people for their goods, and after they were addicted Brittan had a lot of control over China. Eventually China made opium illegal. Brittan then bribed government officials and made an illegal opium trade. This eventually led to war, which Brittan won, because of their technological superiority.

Mountains of the Moon

The movie mountains of the moon is about 2 explorers who set forth to find the source of the Nile River. The European people were far more advanced, but they succumbed to diseases, like malaria from mosquitoes. They also needed some help in communicating with the people in Africa, so they found a guide like person. They named the lake after Queen Victoria because they had found the lake and they wanted to honor their queen. Then they went back to Europe, where one man killed himself, and the other debated on the possible source of the river.