leslie's global blog

Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

2010-05-07T11:35:00.001-07:00

Mikhail Gorbachev was able to help end communism. He was praised for his youth and his political experience. After a while, he was voted as the the political secretary. At age 54 he one of the youngest Soviet leaders. He lived during the time of Stalin's harsh rule. He had no intention of continuing Stalin's "useless" way of rule. He decided to pursue new ideas. He wanted to encourage the citizens to give him new ways of improving their society. Churches were able to open.Books that were once banned were put in bookshelves. Many of the citizens were finally able to complain about all the economic problems. These were some different ways that Mikhail Gorbachev was able to pave the road to ending communism. The government was very unfair to its people.Glasnost was a policy created by Mikhail. It was a way to get the citizens of the Soviet Union to tell them any way they could try to improve their society.Peristrokia was the idea of economic reconstructing. Mikhail wanted to find new ways to revive the Soviet economy.

The Collapse of Communism

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

Communism collapse because the leader of the Soviet union had all the power.He controled farms and factories.Every worker gained the same amount of money.The workers were treated hashly .Workers who were still poor were no longer motivated to work hard.Not enough products were being made, and not enough food was being grown. People could not buy the things that they needed.People tear down the Berlin wall because the people were tired of having no freedom and not alot of money.Around 239 people died trying to cross the Berlin wall.5000 people were able to escape.The soviet union became bankrupted trying to keep up with the USA.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

2010-04-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

Apartheid is a social policy and racial segregation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against people who are not White.
Nelson Mandela believed that his people deserve right,he was the leader of A.N.C:African National Congress.He didn't bow down to the government.He was charged of sabotage as well as other crimes while he led the movement against apartheid.Mandela served 27 years in jail.When he got out of jail he helped to lead the transition towards multi-racial democracy in south Africa.Nelson Mandela was a hero because he stood up for his people,and for their freedom,he even went to jail.I think all the authors wrote about Nelson Mandela because he is a hero to his people,and he fought for freedom.Mandela fought for his people,and he wasn't scared of standing up and believing. Since the end of Apartheid mandela was praised .

African Independence

2010-04-28T11:10:00.000-07:00

In 1955, Africa was overthrown by the European nations. The only countries that were not under European rule were Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, as well as South Africa. By 1975 almost all the countries that were ruled over, were free from European rule. Before all these countries gained their independence, Europeans marched in to take all the natural resources that Africa was known for. The european people gave the africans schools,and hospitals.An educated middle class had begun to emerge in Africa cities.They formed the Negritude movement which is a movement to celebrate African culture,heritage,and values.This movement viewed black experiece as unique.Leopold Senghor became the first president of Senegal.One of the most memorable leaders of African independence was Jomo Kenyatta.He didn't like how European's were treating his people.He was put into jail for standing up for his people.He became the president of kenya.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

2010-04-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

In the movie "The right stuff" the US(united states) and the USSR(Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) were competing with each other.They wanted to see who will make it to space first,the race was called space race.The Soviets were the first to have a man in space, and they called their explorers cosmonauts, it was based on the Greek words for "universe sailor". NATO called their explorers astronaut . The USSR cosmonauts were the first to reach space. The US send a chimp just to see if it would survive.Then when the chimp did survive the NATO send the astronaut into space. In the end US won the race,since the astronauts landed in the moon.The scene i would remember is the part when both US and USSR send their astronaut's into space. I would also remember when the people that got choosen to go into space had to pass a series of test to see if they were in good shape.This scene's would remind me of the cold war.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

2010-04-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an organization that included countries in Europe and North America. The major reason for the formation of NATO was that the countries involved wanted defence agains their attackers,and all of the countries in NATO will come to help them. The Warsaw Pact was formed as communist military alliance to maintain power over Eastern Europe. The warsaw pact like NATO was the russians defence system.The Warsaw pact was made up of 8 communist countries. They both played a role in the Cold War one side was communist and the other capitalist. Both wanted to keep each other out for example the Americans wanted to keep the Russians out.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

2010-03-23T11:41:00.004-07:00

"Schindler's list" an epic 1993 American War Drama about Oscar Schindler, a businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand Polish Jews refugees during the Holacause by employing them in his factories.The scene that was very powerful that i liked was the children.They were saying goodbye to their parents.They didn't know something bad was gonna happen to them.The parents were all screaming and crying to let their children go.Some children that got away were hiding. The image of the little kid jumping in the hole,were their was waste will always stay with me.It was really disturbing,the children were suffering.Their was no mercy.The movie that was very powerful was "Schindler's list",it showed how children were seperated from their parent,and what some children did to survive. It also showed how Schindler cared for his workers,he saved many jews.

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

2010-03-23T11:09:00.000-07:00

The movie "Night and fog" was a good movie that showed what happen to the jew people in the holocaust. They suffered so much,they were first send to the ghettos,then they send them to work.But when the Nazi's got tired of the huge population.They began to send them to the concentration camp,to work,and be killed.Children and Woman got killed. The movie "Schindler's List" tell the same story,but it shows how Schindler saved Some Jews by making them work in his factorie. "Schindler's list" was a better movie,it showed how Jews suffered.And it had more information,and it made me think a lot about all the Jews that died.

The Treaty of Versailles (ended WW I)

2010-02-25T11:12:00.000-08:00

The treaty of Versailles was created by the league of nations:US,Britain,and Russia.It was made to punish Germany for the outcome of world war 1. Germany was blamed for all the debts of the war. Germany was forced to borrow vast sums of money from America in order to pay its war debt to England and France. Germany had to pay millions of dollars to each of the affected countries.It cause a lot of poverty and Germany lost their over seas land in Africa,and asia. Citizens left to other European countries. Adolf Hitler stepped up he promises to make Germany strong again. Hitler became a dictator of Germany. The German people got tired of hitler he used violence and force to get what he wanted. World war 2 started 20 years later. I don't think the Treaty of Versailles was fair because Germany suffered so much that they had to accept any help. They let Hitler be their leader which made things worse,because of this their was another war:World war 2.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

2010-02-24T11:12:00.001-08:00

Mustafa Kemal wanted to modernize,to have a secular government ,and education played a major role. Mustafa led turkish nationalists in overthrowing the last Ottoman sultan. Kemal because a president of the new Republic of turkey.He abolished religious courts and created a new legal system based on European law. Kemal gave more rights to women.His models were the United States and other European countries,to reach that goal he wanted everyone to dress appropriate. Kemal made a requirement for the government workers to wear Western style business suits and he banned the fez: a brimless red felt hat that was part of traditional Turkish clothing. Kemal also wanted women to stop wearing veil. All citizens took surnames. And the Islamic calendar gave way to the Western calendar.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

2010-02-11T11:07:00.000-08:00

Gandhi was born in Porbander in western India. In 1888, he went to London to study law. He returned to Bombay to work as a barrister but went to South Africa to work . In South Africa, he took part in passive protests against the government's treatment of Indian settlers who were in the minority in the region. In 1915, he returned to India and, after joining the Congress movement, he emerged as one of the party's leaders. Gandhi encouraged indians to boycott british goods and buy indian goods instead. Gandhi believed that violence against British only provoked a negative reaction.Gandhi was imprisoned in 1922, 1930, 1933 and in 1942. While he was in prison, he went on hunger strike. His fame was such that his death in prison would make international headlines and embarrass the British.

The Russian Revolution

2010-01-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

The reason for the Russian Revolution was poor democracy. The peasants were treated poorly for a long time. Russia was a police state: people were watched all the time. Even students were watched all the time. Czar refused to change Russia. They wanted to keep it the way it was.
Some of the short term causes were millions of men were killed, injured or captured for questioning in WW1. This lead to a break down of the Russian army, there army fell apart. There was starvation. And they were freezing in the cities. They had a revolution because the Government had refused to listen to the demands of Russia's people. The revolutions was all about distributing the riches of Russia, they wanted to redistribute it away from the rich an towards the poor. "Peace, land and bread"- Bolshevik. Peace because they were losing millions of men, Land because peasants were treated badly, and Bread because people were starving in the cities.

Causes of WWI

2010-01-11T09:23:00.000-08:00

One reason is The Serbian Black Hand assassinate Archduke Ferdinand because he wanted to convert the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy into a Triple Monarchy. Another reason was the formation of alliances. The alliance system was started by Bismarck, the German Chancellor from 1871 to 1890. Another reason: which contributed to the war was imperialism. Great Britain, Germany and France needed foreign markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. As a result, these countries competed for economic expansion in Africa, looking for spices and other natural resources. Most of the countries did not like another countries imperialism, so they were fighting a lot.

Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

2009-12-18T09:49:00.000-08:00

Opium: is a drug made from the poppy plant.

The Chinese believed they were superior,they also believed that they had nothing to gain by trading with the "barbarians". After China's defeat in the Opium War, it was forced open.Opium, which was not prohibited in the United kingdom was smuggled by merchants into China. Open warfare between Britain and China broke out in 1839. Arguments over the treatment of British merchants in Chinese ports resulted in the Second Opium War.China was defeated in both wars leaving its government having to tolerate the opium trade.Britain forced china to signed the Treaty of Nanjing and the Treaty of Tianjin.

Film lesson:¨Mountains of the moon¨

2009-12-15T19:01:00.000-08:00

We watched a movie called ¨Mountains of the moon¨ featuring Richard Burton and John speke.
Europeans traveled to Africa in search of the source of the Nile River. Europeans had alot of power over Africa, however they faced many hardships in Africa.There were mosquitos that carry around Malaria..They couldn't reach their destination cause of this.John speke had a beetle in his ear,he took a sharp object and tried to kill the bug.He damaged his ear instead,but he killed the bug.Richard Burton could communicate with the people.John speke found the the source of the Nile,Richard Burton didn't believe him.In the end John speke commited suicide.

Imperialism Project

2009-12-10T09:34:00.000-08:00

In the imperialism project we cut out slaves,cotton,and other resources.Then we pasted in the map in the appropriate place. After that we colored it red were england conquered countries. This is imperialism since england took over countries for their natural resources.We used other color to show were other parts of the world were conquered by. This project is suppose to show us how countries wanted to expand so they conquered other countries.Another reason for Imperialism is to get new lands. We also did this project to show the shipping routes and what they traded to each other. Imperialism led to many wars.

Karl Marx and The Industrial Revolution

2009-11-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx felt that the Industrial Revolution allowed the rich to get richer and the poor to get really poor. The industrial revolution inspired Marx to invent communism because he thought the working class was doomed to forever work for low wages.Karl Marx didn't really like the Industrial Revolution. He hated the pollution and the child labor he made a book called "The Communist Manifesto".

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

2009-10-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

Nationalism is a belief that one's greatest loyalty is not the king or queen but the nation of people that share the same culture and history.Italy was one of the countries to form from the territory of the crumbling empires.Austria ruled the italian provinces of Venetia and Lombardy in the north,and several small states.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2009-10-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar is know for organizing the military force . Simon Bolivar was one of South America's greatest generals.His victories over the Spanish won independence for Bolivia, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.The country is named after him since he free Venezuela and the south american countries from the spanish.The american revolution influenced him.

John Locke and "The Enlightenment"

2009-10-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

Thomas Jeffereson was talking about is that all men are created equal. No one person is better than the other person. People are equal in power as well as politically because anyone and everyone could vote and run for the government. According to the Declaration of Independence, the government comes from the people. The people have the power to overthrow the government if they dont agree with it. The government is used to protect the peoples rights.

People must have a valid reason in order to overthrow the government. They cant just go against the government for no reason. The government must be unfair and abusive to its people in order to rebel against their government.

Copernicus and the trial of Galileo

2009-09-20T13:58:00.000-07:00

Heliocentrism is a theory that stated that the sun was the center of the universe. To anyone who stands and looks at the sky, it seems clear that the Earth stays in one place while everything in the sky rises and sets or goes around once every day. Observing over a longer time, one sees more complicated movements. The Sun makes a slower circle over the course of a year.

Geocentrism means Earth-centered. In a geocentric model of the universe, everything revolves around the Earth.Two common observations were believed to support the idea that the Earth is in the center of the Universe: The first observation is that the stars, sun, and planets appear to revolve around the Earth each day, with the stars circling around the pole and those stars nearer the equator rising and setting each day and circling back to their rising point,the second is the common sense perception that as the Earth is solid and stable it is not moving but is at rest.
Galileo was put on trial by the catholic church for stating in a book that the earth was not the center of the universe. Galileo was going agains what the church believed.

Scientific Revolution: The Scientific Method

2009-09-17T09:44:00.000-07:00

A method of investigation involving observation and theory to test scientific hypothesis .

This method consists of making a hypothesis, making an experiment, writing down your observations, and a conclusion.It´s a good way to keep track of your data and see what you did wrong and what you can do next time to make it better.Making a hypothesis is a scientist way to make a educated guess.

Evolution vs. Creation

2009-09-15T09:51:00.001-07:00

Evolution:(Development)change in the genetic material of a population of organisms from one generation to the next.
Creation:(theology) God's act of bringing the universe into existence.
Well i believe that human's have been created by evolution. People have different opinions,i think that people have evolved from primates. Since their is evidence supporting the idea. Other people that believe that the human kind was created by God,and yet their is no evidence for that.