Mikhail Gorbachev and the end of Communism

Glasnost -- the declared public policy within the Soviet Union of openly and frankly discussing economic and political realities: initiated under Mikhail Gorbachev in 1985.

Peristrokia -- the program of economic and political reform in the Soviet Union initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986.

Mikhail Gorbachev open the Soviet union because he wanted to open public policy about economice and political realities which was also known as glasnost. He allowed authors to write books, he open churches and he free dissendents prisoners from jail. He made it a more free for the people to be able to open private business. People were able to speak up for their right and about political and economice problems and they voice were heard. Also people were able to vote for the country's candidates. They had more privilege in the country and they also had a better way of living. Mikhail Gorbachev paved the end of communism because he didn't like the idea of having the government to take control of everything and people to not have the right to speak up. His way of governing was different from other Soviet Union leaders before the didn't want to have control over everything in the country, he think citizens should have certain right in their country and able to do things.

Collapse of Communism

Communism was a major turning point in history.Communism was created from the time of World war, especially from World War II and ended after the cold war. It all started when Russia was trying to keep up with the US in the nuclear arms race and the space race. They were trying to gain more power and build more advanced technology to go against the US. They were popular at first but after the years went by and the US started to developed more advaced technology, communism then collapse. Communism was a much weaker economic system then capitalism. Communism was based on the Maxism economic system which was created by Karl Marx. Communism collapse was started with Mikhail Gorbachev's policies of glasnost and perestroika. These policies tried to open up and reform the old fashioned system of communism. Later Berlin Wall came crashing down and the Eastern and Western Germany could form more economic and social ties. Things were worse at first cause people weren't able to cross the border from east to west Germany. However things got better later when capitalism went to Russia. Things got easier for people and they got bettter jobs with higher pay. They soon turned away from communism because they were worried about M.A.D which was the (Mutually Assured Destruction) because of the neuclear weapons that fell during cold war.

Creation Of Israel

Zionism -- A Jewish movement that arose in the late 19th century in response to growing anti-Semitism and sought to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Modern Zionism is concerned with the support and development of the state of Israel.

Israel was a land there for many years since god had given Abraham. It had three main monotheistic religions which are: Judaism, Islam and Christianity. However as the years went by and the population grew problems also occured. The conflict thats occured when Israel was created was that they were attacked the day after they gain independence by other neighboring countries like Arab states and Palestinians such as Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt.It all happen after World War I when the Jews decided to go back to the holy land which they claim that belonged to them years ago. These countries didn't get along well because the Palestinians think that Israel should get the land while the Jews think they should get the land, this was the reason why they both didn't get along well cause they both were fighting for the same land.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid is a social policy or racial separation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against people who are black and nonwhite. It was a former official policy in South Africa. During the year 1948 to 1994 South Africa was under the apartheid system where the British was ruling. They held the most power of things in Africa and and had had the most power of wealth. They went into Africa to find sources to produce products in Britain and other countries and Africa had a lot of natural resources such as coal, gold, coffee and diamonds. The African didn't have equal rights as the white and they didn't like the idea of having the white in their country to have all the control over things. Certain things were're allow in African for e.g all black people over the age of 16 had to carry identity documents and no mixed marriage were allowed.

However Nelson Mandela spent 26 years in prison and was released in the year 1990 and was in the ANC which means African National Congress, he then began president of the ANC which declared legal in South Africa. He was known as the hero in Africa because he help to fight to gain independence in Africa from the British. He fought for liberation and unity and help to solve the problem of racism in Africa, so that everyone can have equal rights.They wanted to form their own government and have all the control. In February 1993, Mandela and the de Klerk agreed to the formation of a government of national unity, after free nonracial elections. In April 1994, the election was held with the ANC and soon Nelson Mandela began the president of Africa.

African Independence

Africa had changed a lot in 20 years period from 1955 to 1975 because they decided to gave up colonial ruling and wanted to form their own government and indenpendent countries but it wasn't easy for them to do this because during that time Europe had to imperialized Africa and they wanted to take most of Africa resources because they had a lot of products that the European countries wanted to industrilize.

Africa was rule by the European countries and the British had most power over Africa. They went there to find raw materials to make and produce product to other countries. Later in the years, Africa didn't like the idea of having European countries to rule their people because they didn't have equal right as the white. During that time the white held most power in Africa and the black and the mix people didn't have equal right as the white. The white take control of most of the wealth in africa. However later in the years, many African countries gain independence and were able to develop their own government and socities. Some of these countries didn't gain their independence easily especially Ghana which was the first country in Africa to gain independence. Ghana was also known as the Gold Coast. A strong leader named Kwame Nkrumah help to gain their independence for they country, he was similar to Mohandas Gandhi who develop a movement, the lead of non-violent protests. After he gain independence for Africa, he try to industrize and produce product and he was successful at doing this.He aslo improve the way of living and build roads and also proved a better education system for his people.
Not only Ghana had struggle to gain independence but other countries and one of them was Kenya. Kenya was under the Mau Mau and the Jomo Kenyatta which was a secret organization which also practiced non- violent protest. The were able to gain their independence and soon Jomo became the president of the nation.

Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution was the beginning of human lives years ago. It was also known as the "New Stone Age". The Neolithic Revolution was a changed in the way people lived, it shifts from hunting and gathering to agriculture which then led to permanent settlements. It was all about how people were able to developed things from one stage to another. These people were called nomads and nomads are people who travel from one place to another to find food, water, clothes and place to live. Nomads live in groups of 20 to 30 and they spend most of their times hunting and gathering things to live on. Women usually gather fruits and other stuff while men hunt for animals. They developed simple tools such as spears and axes made from bone, wood and stone. These tools help them to hunt and kill animals easier. However as the years go by, people started to get civilized and were able to develop more things in the community which helps them to have better lives. It was a rise of civilization and this became a turning point in history. However later people began to settle down and domesticate certain animals and grow crops. Soon they had changed from cave man to farmers. As they started to farm and domesticate animals they were able to produce more and food and soon their population began to grew. As the population grew and gets bigger people were soon able to formed cities and as cities were formed they decided to have a head leader and allow it to run by Elders in the villages. Most villages had chief elder as a single leader. They then developed a social class and it was divided occurring to how people work, for example priests and warriors were at the top and farmers and craftsmen were at the bottom. They also created a simple calender to keep records of planting and harvesting. They also developed metal tools such as plows to help do their work. And also to protect valuable resources in the village.

However as the years pass by and people got more civilized, they started to develop more advance technologies to go along with the new way of living. They developed more advance tools to help them do the work. As people were producing more and more crops they wanted to have more water, so most of the farmers farm by river valleys because these river valleys had rich soil known as silt which use for farming. There were four important river valleys which are the Nile (Africa), the Tigris Euphrates (Mesopotamia), Yellow ( China) and the Indus. (India) Rivers. These rivers make work easier and faster for farmers and they were able to produce more crops and domesticate animals because they had enough water to use.

The European Union

The European Union is made up of 25 nations and was formed after World War II and began as the economic union. It was formed by six nations in Europe that produce coals and steel, but they were successful and started to produce more things which later joined by other countries. The USSR and the U.S.A were the two superpowers before but after the collapse of USSR in the year 1991, the European Nation then take over and are competing with the U.S. However the European Nation now have political and economic superpower. Before the European Union was formed between these 25 nations they used to use different currency but after they formed as one they share the same currency which is the Euro and was introduced on January 1,2002. The Euro is use more than the U.S dollars and is traded everyday as much as the U.S dollars.

After the European Union was formed, things got much easier than before , people got jobs faster and there weren't much security as before. Now people are able to move around from a country to another without being checked by security as much as before. Its lot easier now for European Nations because before the EU was founded, people had difficult time traveling from a country to another to do business, the reason why was before there was a lot of security and as you enter each country you had to change currency but since the EU, there is only one main currency used which is the Euro. The EU had help business people a lot and make things much easier for them because they were able to live in one country and work in another country, they were also able to buys houses in other places etc. This is similar to the Unites States because its the things that happened here, people from other countries are able to come into America and build and buy places, they are also able to work and move back and forth. The population in EU is also growing larger and there is about 500 millions of citizens which makes it the third largest country in the world after china and India.

Film Lesson "The Right Stuff"

The film "The Right Stuff" was between U.S and the Soviet Union, they were competing with one another to build the best rocket. In this film it shows how Russia and U.S was trying to make better rocket than one another, they both wanted to have the best rocket. Russia was the first to send a rocket in space and when U.S found out about it they wanted to create their own rocket and send it in space. So the U.S decided to build their own rocket, however they wanted to build better rockets than the Soviet Union and rockets that will travel faster. The U.S build a lot of rockets but they fail , most of them went a little in the air but fall back, they didn't work that well. Some of them didn't even move at all. The U.S spent years to build these rockets and they try really hard before they build there first stable rocket and send it in space.

However this movie also shows how the U.S had to find guys that were strong enough to drive these rockets and they had to go through a lot of tests to prove that they were strong and would able to drive it. However the U.S wanted to send the first chimp into space and everyone was angry and disagree about the idea and think it was a stupid thing to send a chimp into space. However the U.S did send a chimp into space while the Soviet union send a man. Later the U.S send their first man into space and they became more advance as the years go by. They were the first that send a man to moon and set America flag on it.

In my opinion, I think the U.S were winning because they later began to build more advance rockets than the Soviet Union, they build rockets that could travel faster and also they were the first to send a man on moon. Some scenes that I remember from this movie were when the U.S started to build rockets and were testing them and most of them just fly a little and then would blow up. I also remember when the U.S were training a chimp to send in space and people were argry because they think it was an crazy idea. Something that was important for me to remember was that The Soviet Union was the first to send a rocket in space then the U.S later did.

Cuban Missile Crisis

In October 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis was the world’s closest nuclear war. The nuclear missiles were installed by the Soviet just 90 miles off the coast of the United States. The Cuban Missile Crisis is part of the cold war, which also included the NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Nuclear weapons were build by the Warsaw while and they were competing with the NATO after world war II. They were trying to build stronger weapons and mutual defense group to go against one another. The Warsaw were related to Cuban Missile crisis because they both wanted strong nuclear weapons.

However, since the island was attack by the US in the year 1961 and had failed, they were looking to find ways to defense themselves from the US. In the year 1962, the Soviet Union tries to work secretly to build missile installation in Cuba so they can defense themselves from US. In October 15, 1962, when the reconnaissance photographs revealed Soviet missiles under construction in Cuba, and President F. Kennedy was informed about the in missile installations, he then quickly organized the EX-COMM group of advisers which are twelve important people who are able to manage the crisis. He wanted to prevent offensive weapons from the Soviet union and try to build their own strong weapons to use against U.S. On October, Kennedy discover and announced the missile installation and said that any nuclear weapons that launched from Cuba would be an attack on the United States. At this time it was known as the "Hottest moment of the Cold War" because if the U.S could have gotten in a bigger war if the Soviet union didn't remove their missiles. However Niketa Khrushchev send several letters to the Soviet Union and had decided to make an agreement to remove all nuclear weapons from Cuba and he had decided to accept the proposal by the Soviet union.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

NATO means the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which was formed between 12 countries from North America to Europe. The countries which were involved in the NATO wanted a mutual defense alliance because they knew if one country is going to involved in a war, the other countries in NATO could back up and help, so in this case they can form a stronger defensive group. After World War II many countries in Western Europe were in a great mess and most of them became weak politically and militarily because they lost hundreds of soldiers and weren’t able to go on war with other countries that quickly. So the NATO decided to help these countries who had suffered a lot after World War II to form a strong defensive group against the spread of communist which is also known as the "iron curtain" which is establish between the Soviet Union and the Western Europe from 1945-1990. Soon the relationship between the Soviet Union and the western had worsened and the NATO importance began to grew. By the year 1979 the NATO wanted to build up a defense by stopping the Soviet Union from building their nuclear weapons, but the Soviet Union didn’t stop they continue to build nuclear weapons. They also created a mutual defense alliance which was similar to the NATO but it was called the Warsaw Pact. The Warsaw pact deals mostly with satellites and it controls the alliances better by keeping the military organize in other countries of the alliance. The Soviet Union gain power quickly and became very powerful, they were also able to keep the socialist government secure.

Film Lesson "Night and Fog"

I think the movie "Night and Fog" is really digusting but very powerful in another way because it has scences that shows how innocent lives were destroyed. This movie shows how innocent Jewish people were hunted down and killed. It shows and explain about the Holocaust and how people were taken out from their homes and send to the concentration camps where they were burned alive. It shows how people got diseases from others and were really sick, they were unhealthy and didn't have enough food to survived on, they also didn't have doctors that could take care and treat these people. It was due to their surrounding because of the people who had die and were about the place. Some scences in this movie were very disturbing, for example when sick and dead people were thrown into a large pit by using a bulldozer to heap the bodies up to burn. It was horrible to see that thousands of innocent people had die during this time just because the Nazi wanted to create more living space for the Jews. I was shocked when I saw this movie cause I still can't believe that this really happen before and to me it was really disturbing to see and know that thousands of people had died without being able to fight back or do something to save their life.

I find the movie "Night and Fog" powerful but not as powerful as the "Schindler List" and the reason why I say this is because in the "Schindler list" it shows and explain more in details like how the Jews were in a lot of pressure during this time and how people were trying to hide but still ended caught and die. The "Schindler List" was much longer and it shows different situation in the Jewish lifes. I also think it also gives more details about the Holocaust than "Night and Fog". I think "Night and Fog" wasn't that powerful as "Schindler List" because it shows more about what the German did to the Jewish dead body and how they burn and try to get rid of the dead bodies. This movie deals more about what happen after the war and the cleaning up of the place, while "Schindler List" deals more about what happen during the wars.

I think the Hollywood version illustrates the Holocaust more effectively than the documentary because its shows more about what was taken place during that time and how these people were struggling a lot, trying to save their lifes and their children lifes. Its shows what they did to hide and places that they try to hide in, but they still were caught and shot to death. While the documentry just give some details about what happen during this time period but didn't provide enough information and didn't show much scences about the Holocaust and what happen in the Jews lifes.

Film Lesson "Schindler's List"

The movie "Schindler's List" is one of the most powerful movie of all time. Its a true story of German Businessman name Oskar Schindler. He went and befriend the Nazi authorities so he can gain control of factories in Krakow. The film "Schindler's list" was horrible and disguisting because it shows how the German were trying to get rid of the Jews. Hilter one goal was to create "living space" for the German and the way he planned to do this was by destroying an entire ethnic of people which was the Jews. When the movie started it shows how the Jewish were treated badly and were forced out of their home and send to train stations. They were loaded in trains with very little space and were sended to Auschwitz which is also known as a "dead camp". On their way to the train station, the German were making fun and teasing the Jews. Its was horrible to see that innocent people were killed, knowing that they didn't do any crime, but the Nazi were just trying to get rid of a them. Some of these people had no idea where they were going and what was happening. Approximately six thousands people were killed in a day at the dead camp brutality, children were separated from their parents and new born babies were killed at the spot. The concentration camps were set up where Jews were starved, shot or gassed to death.

There are few scenes from this movie that are very powerful and horrible, which I just keep thinking about anytime I talk about this movie , like when the women was shot several times in her head and also the old man for doing nothing wrong. Another one was when some of the Jews were trying to hide in the piano , drawers, and under the bed, etc, and they still got caught and were shot several times. Even little children who were separated from their parents were trying to hide and get away, like the little boy who jumped into the latrine just to save his life. Another scene was when the German had all the Jews lock in the trains and was using a water hose to spray water in so they can cool down , while they were laughing and making fun of them. It was horrible because these people had no food or anything to eat except for the little water that was getting in the carts.

US Atomic Bombing of Japan in 1945

I agree with the article about U.S Atomic Bombing of Japan was the #1 news story of the century. I think it was the # 1 news story of century because it was a great and horrible event. Hundred of Thousands of innocent people had die, people were burn alive and die, even little children. When the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki it almost destroy the complete city, houses and trees were burn down, and the place had become dark and hazy. People had lost loved ones, they were wondering out in the dark cold night for food and a place to sleep. It was horrible for those people who had survive because they had ended up having a worse death because they got sick from those dead people and the bad environment which give them diseases. I can't think of any bigger news story than this, because this is a horrible story that happened and it had cause great damages. Some people might think that the Atomic bombing was a good idea because it had ended World War II while others might think its not such a good idea because thousands of people had die during this time.

I would make some changes on the list of top 100 news stories because there are some important stories that were mention around #25 and #7 etc . I would leave U.S Atomic bombing on Japan to be the first top story, I would change #7 Horrors of Nazi Holocaust, concentration camps exposed to be #2 because it was another big event that happen, which thousands of people had die brutally. I would then change #25 which is deadly AIDS disease identified to be # 3 because i think this diesase had spread throughout the world and had cause many people to sick and die. I would change #8 to be #4 World war I begin in Europe, then #16 to be # 5, Russian revolution end: Communists take over.

Germany at War- WW II

Propaganda are information, ideas or rumors that deliberately spread widely to help or harm a movement or nation. Propaganda is like when a governement in a country have an idea and wanted to go aganist another governement, then he would use propaganda to influence his people into starting and entering a war. Propaganda can be both a good and bad idea. It can like help to defend a nation and can also cause harm or any other movement.

The poster say Eucopas Sieq dein WohIstand which means in English "Europe's Victory is Your Prosperity". I think this quote is saying that Europe wants to become a great success in whatever they are trying to do.This poster is showing that Germany was eager to gain more power and they wanted to take control of other countries. It was Hilter one and main desire, to gain control of Europe and it would be a great sucess if it would happen because then he would be able to form a greater army to go against other countries. In the poster it shows the cross which says W. Churchill, which actually is Winston Churchill and its a Prime Minister of Britain. I think they are talking about W. Churchill because Hilter had begun a blitz or a massive bombing, of London by German warplanes and his idea is to continue the War with Britain because he is trying to take control of Britain. The metal fist is showing that Germany is ready for war. Its like when someone is punching another person. Which means that German is ready for war and they are all prepared for it.The factory is showing that the German people were building more weapons and other military materials to go on war such as warplanes, machine gun, deadlier bombs and other powerful materials that are used during wars.

The Treaty of Versailles (ended WW I)

The Treaty of Versailles was signed on 28th of June in 1919. The treaty was an peace agreement after World War I was ended in the year 1918 which was between the Allied and Central Powers and the German empire. The treaty of Versailles was all about German having the responsibility of the damages that happened after World War I. After The end of World War I there was a great lost, and a lot of damages in the country because there were many places that was destroy, many people were died and many of them had lost their jobs, family, homes and also they were very little food during that time to survived on. Germany had to accepted the decision that was made because it was said that they started the war. Germany think it was unfair for them to be responsible and payed for the damages that had happened because it wasn't only them who took part in the war but also other countries in the world. Germany had lost 10% of their territory and lost overseas colonies which was divided and shared to other countries such as France and Britain etc. They couldn't do anything about the situation because they were embarrassed and felt insecure about their inability to defend themselves because they were forbidden to have submarines or an air force in Germany, they were only allow to have a navy of only six battleships and an army of 100,000 men. Germany was forbidden to unite with other countries such as Austria and they were not allow to join the League of Nations. During this time it was very difficult for them to regain their power and wealth easily because they had to pay an amount of money for the damages.The population of people in Germany was decreasing because their land was taken away by other countries and divided into smaller territory.The people outside the new German border felt bad because they were force to follow and obey the new rules of those people.

Many historians said that the Treaty of Versailles had led to the rise of Fascism and Adolph Hilter which i think is true because the Treaty was unfair and had given Germany the blame for all the damages that had happened after World War I and Germany wasn't able to payed off the debts because they already had lost a lot and they wasn't able developed quickly so they decided to choose a strong and powerful leader who were able to gain back their loss. Adolph Hilter was chosen to become the leader of Germany and he was able to payed off their debts and restore the country losses.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

Mustafa was born on March 12, 1881 and died on November 10, 1938. He was the founder of Turkish Republic and became the first President of Turkey. He was selected to be the first President of Turkey because he was a military hero at Dardanelles in year 1915 and became the charismatic leader of the Turkish national liberation struggle in 1919. Mustafa Kemal was a good leader and a good Ottoman commander during World War I because if it wasn't for him and his army, they won't be able to defeat the British. However after Mustafa became the President of Turkey he didn't want the Turcans to be so much in the Islamic religion, he wanted them to be part of the other world, like the way they dress. He wanted to make the Turkish more secular which means not pertaining to or connected with religion that much. So he decided to change some of the rules in Turkey and told the people to change the ways they dress. He told them to wear waistcoat, boots or shoes on their feet, shirts, jacket and hat, etc. He didn't want the Turkish people to look too religious. He wanted to developed Turkey and make a better and stronger country.

Flim Lesson "Gandhi"

Gandhi was the leader of the Indian Nationalist movement against the British rule. He became one of the most respected spiritual and political leaders of the 1900's. Gandhi help to free the Indian people from the British rule through nonviolent resistance and he is honored by his people as the father of the Indian nation. The Indian people called him Gandhi Mahatma which means "Great soul". Gandhi went to South Africa to work, and during that time Africa and India was controlled by British. While he was in Africa he attempted to claim his right as a British subject but he was abused and then he realized that all Indians were suffering the same treatment. He stayed in Africa for 21 years working to secure rights for Indian people. Gandhi then developed a
method called Satyagraha which was based on the principal of courage, nonviolence and truth. He believe the way people behave is more important than what they achieve, that's why he advise all Indian to never rise a hand and fight back the British. Gandhi was a good leader and he try his best to fight for independence for India. He didn't want the British to rule India because he could see that British were taking advantage of them and they were not treated fairly. Gandhi teach his people about nonviolent and civil disobedience which means to disobey unjust law.


Gandhi main idea was to stop the British from ruling India. He decide that if he weave his own clothes he won't have to buy the British ready- made clothes and they won't have to pay taxes. So he told all his people to make their own clothes and stop buying the British cloth. Gandhi spin and weave his own clothes everyday. Not only making his own clothes but he also decide to make their own salt. He realized that they can make their own salt from the India ocean , the "seawater salt". Gandhi and his followers marched 240 miles to the sea to make salt, which was successful done. He knew that if they made their own goods they won't have to buy the British goods and pay taxes and in this case the British government will weaken because they are depending on the taxes that the people payed. India was granted independence in the year 1947. However after India Independence, the Muslims and Hindus wanted to have separated countries but Gandhi didn't approved of it, he wanted both countries to be together peacefully but it didn't happen the way he wanted it. It was then divided into India and Pakistan. I think India independence was all about Gandhi because if it wasn't for Gandhi fighting to have the right of India, the British probably would still control India. During India independence in the year 1947 World War II was ended in British at this time.

Some of Mohandas Gandhi quotes are:
1) "An eye for an eye end up make the whole world blind"
2) "Why change the world when we can change ourselves?"
3) "If love or non-violence be not the law of our being, the whole of my argument falls to pieces."