KevinCalle's Global Blog

The Collapse of Communism

2010-05-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

In the 1980s, many countries in Eastern Europe began to reject communism. At the end of the 80's, reforms and democratic revolutions began & it led to the end of the Soviet system. In East Germany, the people forced the old Stalinist government to resign and the new president held free elections. On November 9, 1989, he gave orders for the Berlin Wall & the Iron Curtain to be removed. Encouraged by the successful rejection of communist power in Poland, Hungary and East Germany, the other countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their communist leaders. Then, on New Year’s Eve 1991, the USSR itself collapsed.

Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

2010-05-07T09:32:00.000-07:00

Mikhail Gorbachev had became the new general secretary for the Communist party . In 1985 he annoced a policy called Glasnost; which means openess. He tought Soviet citizens ways to improve their society. The Glasnost policy had brought many changes; it allowed churches to open and allowed publication of books by banned authors. In 1986 he announced changes to bring back the soviet union. Now thw Soviet Union has greater authority over their factorys and farms.

AFRICAN INDEPENDANCE

2010-04-28T09:31:00.000-07:00

Over the years (from 1955 to 1975) parts of Africa were taken by European countries. England took over most of Africa and believed that they were superior than the Africans. Overtime, the Africans saw that the Europeans are not all that powerful. Two of Africa's famous leaders had helped Africa gain independence from England. These famous leaders are Nelson Mandela and Jomo Kenyatta. Around the 1980s, the country "Rhodesia" (named after Cecil Rhodes) was renamed Zimbabue.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

2010-04-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

The film; "The Right Stuff" is a film based off of the Cold War. The Cold War occured after WWII ended. The Cold War was not an actual war; it was basically Russia and then U.S. competing with each other. In the film, Russia and the U.S. were competing about space (reffered as the space race). Both countries were making spaceships. The U.S. had first sent in a monkey to space first but later regretted it when Russia sent in the first man in space. The U.S. succeeded that when they sent a man (Neil Armstrong) to the moon. The scene that had made me remember the Cold War was when the press came and asked the astronauts why they sent in a monkey.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

2010-04-12T09:12:00.000-07:00

NATO and the Warsaw Pact are two alliances formed during the Cold War. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed by North America, Canada, Belgium, United Kingdom, Nederlands, Denmark and several other Eastern European countries. The Warsaw Pact was formed by Eastern Europe: Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Albania, Germany, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union. NATO was formed to stop the spread of Communism. The Soviet Union saw NATO as a threat, so the Soviet Union and most of Western Europe formed the Warsaw Pact. This organization was formed to counter NATO.

Film lesson: Schindler's List

2010-03-24T09:53:00.000-07:00

Schindler's List is a war-drama film released in 1993. It shows a truly historical side; as it shows the film in black-and-white instead of color. In my opinion, one of the most powerful scenes in the movie was when the deceased Jews were being incinerated, and most Nazis realize what they're doing. The sole images of the Nazis coldy shooting the Jews had stayed in my mind. Schindler's List is a more powerful film than Night and Fog; because it LITERALLY brought every historical event to life whereas Night and Fog had simply made recalls of the historical evenyts; similar to flashbacks in a sense.

Film lesson: Night and Fog

2010-03-24T09:36:00.000-07:00

Night and Fog is a French documentary film released in 1955. The film was made 10 years after the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps. Most of the historical scenes were fine, but did not truly capture the historical content. The movie Schindler's List illustrates the Holocaust more effectively because it LITERALLY made the historical events a reality. In Night and Fog, it was more like a recall of memories basically.

The Treaty of Versailles (ended WWI)

2010-02-25T09:26:00.000-08:00

The Treaty of Versailles is the treaty that ended WWI. It was signed in the Palace of Versailles in France. Despite that the Treaty was meant to stop the war, another war erupted because of it. It deeply affected Germany as the treaty stated that Germany should pay for the war's many casualties and also had lost a majority of land. The treaty had many unfair rules which was :
* German army – 100,000 man limit
* Saar coal mining area controlled by France
* German coal to France, Belgium, Italy for 10 years
* German naval fleet to be surrendered to Britain and restricted in size (the Germans surrendered the fleet by sinking in at Scapa Flow Scotland).
* Germany surrendered all colonies, including the overseas colonies
* Alsace and Lorraine restored to France (had been taken by Germany, during the Franco-Prussian War of 1878)
* Poland created with territor from West Prussia. Polish Corridor – Danzig – Baltic (created Germany and East Prussia).
* Allies occupy the west bank of the RhineI to French border for 15 years (would become a demilitarized zone)
* Germany must pay reparations (money and/or goods) to the Allies
* Germany must admit full responsibility or guilt for the war (would be called the war guilt clause).

The Germans viewed it as unfair that they had to take all the blame. This is what eventually lead up to WWII, facism and Adolf Hitler. The Treaty of Versailles was meant to bring peace but instead had caused more war!

Mustafa Kemal and the Modernization of Turkey

2010-02-24T09:32:00.000-08:00

The main reason Turkey is more modern than the other Muslim countries was because of Mustafa Kemal. Mustafa Kemal (1881 - November 10,1938)was the founder and 1st president of Turkey. He created Turkey in 1923. One of the first things he did to modernize Turkey was to prohibity the Fez, a traditional hat the Muslims wear. Mustafa prohibited the fez because he viewed the fez as a symbol of ignorance. Mustafa was refferred as Atturk, meaning "father of the Turks". As President for 15 years, until his death in 1938, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk introduced abroad range of swift and sweeping reforms - in the political, social, legal, economic, andcultural spheres - virtually unparalleled in any other country.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

2010-02-11T09:34:00.000-08:00

Gandhi was born in October 2 in 1869 (died 1948) in Porbandar, Kathiawar in British India. His full name was Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi but all over the world he was mostly known as Mahatma or Gandhi, and Mahatma meant " Great soul". He is also honored in India as "The Father of the nation" bcause of what he did for his country India.

Gandhi went to study law in London in 1888. In 1907, Gandhi took part in passive protests in South Africa on how the Indian settlers were treated. He eventually returned to India, and became one of his country's leaders after joining its congress movement, in 1915.

Gandhi encouraged the Indians to rebel against the British. But he encouraged the Indians to do it without violence. If the Indians use violence, it makes them appear terrible but if the British use violence and the Indians do not do anything, it makes the British look violent and barbaric. Gandhi had been imprisoned several times: in 1922,1930,1933, and 1940. After being released from prison for the last time, he decided that he will fast (not eat anything) to encourage people to use non-violence and until India was at peace. He encouraged the Indians to boycott cotton and salt and grow their own. Gandhi finally achieved peace for his people (Muslims and Hindus) in 1947. Gandhi was assasinated by a religious extremist in 1948, as hen did not want the Hindu and Muslim people to be unified.

Russian Revolution

2010-01-13T10:20:00.000-08:00

The Russian Revolution was a series of revolutions that occured in 1917. When under the rule of Czar Alexander III, he treated the people unfairly with his government. He was eventually replaced by his son; Czar Nicholas II. Nicholas II eventually had to abdicate his throne, and he and his family were killed. The Soviets (a concil(s)) let the Provisional government rule, but they had a right to control various militias and influence the government.

Eventually, another revolution had occured (the February Revolution) during WWI, due to military setbacks. This left Russia in a state of mutiny. There were many rebellions and strikes during this time period. The Provisional government eventually chose to continue to fight with Germany, this caused the Bolcheviks (citizens) and several other socialist to campaign about abandoning the warfare.

Causes of WW I

2010-01-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

One of the main causes of WWI was the assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. Franz Ferdinand, along with his wife were killed in June 28,1914. Because the person who assasinated Ferdinand was Serbian, Germany used this as an excuse to punish Serbia. This caused at chain reaction, thus WWI was formed.
One of the other causes was NATIONALISM. Nationalism spread all around Europe;in the 19th and 20th centuries. Nationalism caused many political and economical rivalries between many European nations. It also caused two hostile military alliances: the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente.

The Opium Wars

2009-12-18T10:28:00.001-08:00

The very first Opium War was in 1839. The reason the wars started was because of a powerful drug in India called opium. Because it wasn't prohibited in Britain, merchants often smuggled the drug from India to China. But the drug was not prohibited in China, either. Eventually, in 1839, the first Opium War had erupted. It ended in 1842. The second Opium War started in 1856 and had ended in 1860. The Chinese eventually won due to the fact Britain was not familliar with China. China declared a truce; making the Treaty of Tianjin. The treaty allowed the British to have an embassy in Beijing.

Film lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

2009-12-10T10:32:00.000-08:00

In the film, "Mountains of the Moon", two British explorers; Richard Burton and John Speke are searching for the source of the Nile River. The British were able to conquer Africa easily because of advancements in technology. The primary technological advancements they had over the Africans was firearms. Burton and Speke eventually find the source of the Nile; a large lake which Speke had named Lake Victoria. It is very strange that Lake Victoria (third largest lake in the world) is named after the British queen. It's strange that its named that because the British do not own the lake, they only discovered it.

Imperialism Project

2009-12-10T10:21:00.000-08:00

The main point of the project was to show examples of imperialism. The project was mainly to show how large countries like Great Britain and Spain would take over smaller countries. Spain had taken over almost ALL OF SOUTH AMERICA (Portugal had taken over Brazil). Many European nations such as Belgium had taken small parts of Africa; such as the Congo.

Karl Marx and Communism

2009-11-19T10:19:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx is a German Jew who created the Communist Society. The general idea of Communism is for everyone to be equal. One example of Communism is that no matter what job you had, you would have the equal amount of pay as anyone else. Another example of Communism is that no one owns their own property or business; the government owns EVERYTHING! Communists also did not have to pay taxes. Karl Marx created communism because he believed that the rich would continue to be rich and the poor would continue to be poor. One of the main reasons Marx created Communism because he did not like how the workers were treated. He viewed the owners of factories and farms as "bad guys" and felt that the workers should have more power.

Karl Marx and the Industrial Revoluiton

2009-11-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

Marx's opinions on how he had felt about the Industrial Revolution had changed the history of Russia. Karl Marx was disappointed on how the workers in the factories were treated. Marx argued that workers should control factories and farms, instead of the landlords. Marx's feelings towards the Industrial Revolution lead to him creating communism. Within a communist society, workers would share their wealth.

Nationalism

2009-10-27T15:15:00.000-07:00

Nationalism is when people show how much they love their nation. This can often be confused with patriotism. Though they are the same, patriotism is more like showing your country in anyway possible. What nationalism is truly is showing that you love your country by doing the most common things of your nation. For example, using your nations currency, wearing your nations clothes. putting the nations flag on your front lawn. We do all these things and everyone abuses it and doesn't recognize it.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2009-10-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

One of the most famous people in Latin America is Simon Bolivar. Simon Bolivar is famous because he was the leader in all the Latin American Revolutions. Bolivar was tired of how Spain was influencing the other countries. Bolivar was inspired by the American and French Revolutions on how they revolted from their "influence". So, Bolivar had the Latin American countries revolt against the king of Spain. Because Simon Bolivar had a country named after him: Bolivia. Years after, Bolivar had been president of the following countries: Peru, Colombia, Venezuela (where he had originated from) and Bolivia.

* Simon Bolivar was the 1st president of Colombia, 2nd and 3rd president of Venezuela, 1st president of Bolivia, and 8th president of Peru.

John Locke and "The Enlightenment"

2009-10-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

John Locke was one of the greatest Enlightenment Thinkers. It was the ideas of John Locke that influenced Thomas Jefferson when he was writing Declaration of Independence. It was the ideas of John Locke that influenced modern democracy.

In the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson talks about many rights the Americans should have. The rights he talks about in particular are: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In the Declaration, Jefferson talks how they should no longer be living in a monarchy anymore. He states how one man should not be having a lot of power as it destroys them ... and such. Jefferson explains how the power should be shared among the Legislative , Executive and Judicial Representations, and how the people should have the power to choose their leaders. So, the power of the government does not come from the president but from the people.

Copernicus and the trial of Galileo

2009-09-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

There were two theories about was in the center of our galaxy. The first theory was created by the Catholic Church. The church said that the earth was in the center of the galaxy. The second theory came after that and was made by Copernicus. Copernicus' theory was that the earth was not in the center of the galaxy, but the sun was the center instead.

Galileo challenged his theory and made the telescope to see for himself. Galileo found out that Copernicus' theory was correct and later began questioning his faith. If Copernicus' theory was correct than the reading of Joshua in the Bible would make sense (Joshua 10:13 "So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven"). Galileo lead a small movement that the theory was right, even the new Pope, Pope Urban VII, had supported him. The Church saw this as a threat and decided to put him on trial. Galileo proved that the theory was correct but allowed the church to do what they could to him. The Catholic Church did nothing and let him go but warned him and made him read 7 psalms once a week for the next 3 years.

Scientific Revolution: Scientific Method

2009-09-17T14:16:00.000-07:00

Scientists during the Scientific Revolution relied on the "Scientific Method" to gain knowledge and information. The "Scientific Method" is a procedure scientists used to discover new things about the world. The first thing you do to in a scientific method is make a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess based on observations. Many experiments use the scientific method. An example of that would be: Einstein's Theory of Relativity. Bit by bit through observations and experiments, Einstein figured out general relativity.

Evolution VS Creation

2009-09-15T10:35:00.000-07:00

Evolution is changes an organism goes through. One of the first people to prove this was Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin was scientist from England who proved how many species evolved. He showed that the species of today developed traits that their ancestors did not have. Darwin wanted to find out what caused evolution and went on a voyage to find out. As Darwin went to the Gallapagos Islands in Ecuador, he noticed something strange. Darwin observed the species of animals on the islands. He noticed that the traits of the animals were suited to their own environment. For example: there were birds whose beaks were longer or shorter; depending on what they ate. In this theory, there is a mistake: who or what created all this life?

Creation (or creationism) is the belief that all of humanity, life, the Earth and all the universe were all created by God. The church believes that God created everything. God had created the first man and woman: Adam and Eve. God had created Adam and Eve to produce more life (AKA have children). This is where a mistake is made: God created Adam and Eve to have children, who did there children have children with? This implies incest (a relationship between siblings) and that everyone is related to each other. There is also another mistake: if God created all life, who created God?

People usually believe one theory or the other: evolution or creation. I don't believe in any one of them; I believe in both. I believe that SOMEONE had to create all life. But God couldn't have done it at an instant. It could have been one cell eventually developing into a organism. That's what I believe.