Thursday, May 21, 2009

African Independence

Africa had went through different dramatic changes for over 20 years from around 1955-1975.The Africans had wanted to have independence and be free. They ended up gaining their independence because some of the African countries had fought against other colonists so they could be able to become independent.The Africans wanted to show others that they run their own country and can industrialize . Leopold Senghor was the leader and first president of Senegal. Jomo Kenyatta was a nationalist leader of Kenya. There also was Mobuto who ruled the country of Zaire. Nkrumah was a leader who organized strikes and boycotts.The Gold Coast adopted the name Ghana. Eventually the OAU (Organization of AfricanUnity) and Pan-African Congress was formed.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Film Lesson "The Right Stuff"

In the film "The Right Stuff" , the USSR and the United States were competing .They were competing on who would make the record of breaking the sound barrier. They would do this by making an airplanes. They were also competing on whether who would b the first country to send a man to space. Automatically Russia started building spaceships making them ahead of the u.s. The u.s had started the search of finding the most smartest and most fit people to become a astronaut. Russia had already sent the first man into space. Were the u.s had later sent a monkey into space. Russia had soon one the competition. A scene that would help me remember about the cold war was when they were testing all the people trying to become astronauts i found it very interesting how many test they had to pass. They had to be very healthy,smart and fit to become an astronaut.At the end only seven people became astronauts and passed the test.

Monday, April 6, 2009

NATO and Warsaw Pact

NATO was a North Atlantic Treaty Organization which was created on April 4, 1949.This organization included Europe and North America.NATO was a defence alliance , If any of them would be attacked they would come to each others aid. NATO made new programs, in 1979. The new programs had helped build up defense and helped stop the Soviet Union, from building up their nuclear weapons. The Intermediate Nuclear Treaty in 1987 began the breakdown of the Warsaw Pact. The soviet union controlled it and kept military personnel in other countries. Czechoslovakia and Hungary were members of the Warsaw pact. They were attacked on 1956 by the Soviet union.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Film Lesson: Schindler's List

The movie Schindler's list is a classic directed by Steven Spielberg. In my opinion one of his best. This movie gave you the actual feeling of how the Jews were treated. This movie was very sad and depressing to watch after a while. One of the scenes that i really remember was when all the Jews were being moved to the ghetto even if they were rich. I remember a part when all the Jews were hiding and the would have secret hiding places.But the Germans were not dumb they would search each home and they would listen carefully to the ceiling to see if they hear any noises. Once they heard a noise they would shoot the ceiling and killed who ever was up there. Another powerful scene to me was when all the children were separated from there family's. This was very sad because the mothers and fathers would never see there children again because they would be killed in the concentration camp. I have a lot of respect for Schindler because he saved many of the Jews. He was a good man and had a good heart, by helping save the Jews by making them work in his factory's.

Night and Fog

The historical documentary film "night and Fog" was shown to us so we would actually see how the Jew's were treated during the holocaust. The Jewish people were sent off to the concentrations camps for example , Auschwitz. They were sent off in crowded trains many of them died from starvation n disease while traveling. They also died in gas chambers. This movie was very sad because it showed how much they discriminated against the Jews. Everyone seemed so heartless as if the Jewish people were not humans. They were very cruel and tortured them harshly.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

The Treaty of Versallies

Germany was fighting a an alliance between France, Italy, Britain, Russia . Germany had ended WWI war on November 11, 1918.They decided to make an agreement and had signed the Treaty of Versailles ,blaming the cause of the war on Germany. The treaty of Versailles was signed in one of the largest places , palace of Versailles in France.The treaty had forced Germany to give up all they had and started a recession. The League of Nations took control of all their colonies. In my opinion i don't think that the treaty of Versailles was not fair because they took everything of Germany's. In many others opinions they believe that the treaty of Versailles why the rise of Adolph Hitler and fascism.He had became the new dictator of Germany.Which he mostly took advantage of because he knew everyone had hope that they he would help bring Germany up again.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

He was the president of Turkey for 15 years, and he goes by the name of "The Father of Turkey". Before being a president Mustafa Kemal was a commander leader because of all his victories and political reformation . Turkey had been formed as a new nation. He believed that there should be a dress code were all the people had to dress and live just like the Europeans. He also established laws which state proper clothing like ties ,pants,shirts, and hats instead of dressing in the certain kind of clothing. they had Legal systems that everyone was equal according to the law. He had improved the agricultural expansion, technological advancement, and industrial growth. His work was very impressive and helped the nation in many different ways.
Secular means to have reference to worldly things or to things that are not regarded as religious, spiritual or scared.