Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

In 1982, a man named Leonid Brezhnev died, and the Politburo (a leading committee of the Communist party) was trying to hold on to the powers of the communist states. However, Brezhnev's successors died after only a year in office. So, Mikhail Gorbachev, with the committee backing him up, became the new general secretary. However, he didn't agree with the original government laws, and decided to pursuit new ideas.

In 1985, he created a policy known as glasnost, which encourages Soviets to discuss ideas that will improve their society. Eventually, the policy reopened the churches, republished the books whose authors were banned, and released political prisoners from jail. In the same year, he introduced the idea of perestroika which allows the economy of the Soviet Union to reconstruct.

The Collapse of Communism

Communism in the eastern side on Europe started to collapse in the 1980s due to their rejection of communism. Democratic revolutions and reforms caused the whole Soviet Union to break up. In East Germany, the people forced the totalitarian government to step down and made the new president to allow free elections. On November 9, 1989, he gave orders to obliterate the Berlin Wall that separated the Western world from the Eastern world during the Cold War. On October 23, 1990, both sides of Germany united together once again.

On New Year's Eve in 1991, the whole Soviet Union collapsed, after the rest of the countries overthrew their communist leaders. However, there were still communist countries in the world. By the beginning of the 21st century, only the countries of China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, and Vietnam were still under Communist rule. They still needed to stimulate growth in the economy, so China, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam reduced state control of the economy.

Nelson Mandela And Apartheid

Apartheid is a policy of the government in South Africa based on segregation that was made in the late 1930s and legislated in 1948. It was coined by the South Africa Bureau for Racial Affairs, or SABRA for short. Under the system, colored people did not share the same rights and privileges as the whites. Apartheid was used to segregate the blacks from the whites. For example, a black cannot marry a white, and vice versa. Plus, any blacks over the age of 16 had to carry identity documents with them. In the 1970s, the Bantu Homelands Citizenship Act revoked the South Africans's citizenship.

One man, Nelson Mandela, was a leading member of the African National Congress, a group in which they opposed the white government and its apartheid. However, the white government outlawed the Congress in 1960 and captured Mandela and sent him to jail in 1962. He spent 27 years as a political prisoner, and in 1990, President F. W. De Klerk released Mandela. He used his position to overthrow the apartheid and create a multi-racial democracy. In 1993, he received the Nobel Prize along with the president, and in 1994, he was elected for the 1st black president of South America. Because of his determination to overthrow the apartheid, he was known as a hero.

African Independence

Many African leaders supported independence of their country from Britain and worked hard to get it. In the 1940s, one of the leaders, Kwame Nkrumah, had led the Africans who live on the Gold Coast to independence. The British nominated more Africans to the Legislative Council. However, the Africans wanted elected representatives, not nominated ones. So, Nkrumah organized strikes and boycotts. Despite being apprehended by the British government, his efforts worked, became the first prime minister, and the country became known as Ghana.

Kenya also gained its independence from the British with the help of Jomo Kenyatta, who is a nationalist. Kenyan farmers were kicked out of their lands by the British, and some of them came together and made a group called the Mau Mau. Their objective was to frighten the British from their lands. Kenyatta opposed to the idea, yet he didn't stop them. He leaded the rest of the civilians to independence, and in 1963, they gained their independence.

Film lesson: The Right Stuff

In the film "The Right Stuff", the Americans tried to beat the Soviets in the Space Race. In the beginning of the film, people were trying to break the sound barrier. One person died trying to attempt the mission. Then, a person with a bad arm tried to break the sound barrier, and he succeeded. A person tried to tell the press, but another person said that the Soviets would find out and try to make it better and more advanced.

One day, the Soviets succeeded in making the 1st rocket. The Americans tried to make a rocket, but the 1st 8 tries failed. (I especially like the eighth attempt, when the rocket popped like a bottle of champagne. Hahahaha!) On the 9th attempt, they succeeded, but then the Soviets sent a man to space. So they decided to send a man, but then they went to send a monkey, just to make sure it's safe.

For me, the reminder of the Cold War in the film would be when the Americans tested the rockets. It was educational, yet it was funny. That scene would totally remind me of the Cold War.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact

NATO, otherwise known as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is an alliance organization that was created on April 4, 1949 by the United States, Canada, and Western Europe (a total of 12 nations). According to the North Atlantic Treaty, they will protect each other from the spread of Communism as long as the countries cooperate each other. After the fall of Communism, NATO turned from a military organization to a political organization.

The Warsaw Pact is a Soviet version of NATO. Like NATO, it promised the Communist countries from Western attacks if they cooperated each other. The Soviets saw NATO as a threat, so 6 years later (on May 14, 1955), they created the Warsaw pact. However, it wasn't as powerful as NATO. After democratic revolutions erupted within the Warsaw Pact, it was labeled as "nonexistent" in 1991.

Film lesson: Schindler's List

In "Schindler's List", a man named Schindler saved some Jews from death camps like Auschwitz and placed them into labor. What I don't get is this: the whole screen is shown in black and white, yet there is a girl with a pink jacket. (Can anybody respond to the question as to why is that possible?) What really moved me in the movie is how the Germans burned the camp and the dying Jews. It really made me cry a little.

To tell you the truth, I really like the documentary better. The whole event is more accurate in the documentary than the movie. However, the documentary was gruesome. Plus, both of them demostrate the horror of being in the Jew's position in the Holocaust.

Film lesson: Night and Fog

"Night and Fog" is a documentary that shows the negative effects of the Holocaust. When I first saw the movie, it fills me with horror to see so many Jews being killed by those evil Germans. The Germans even used the body's remains to make disgusting things like soap and wigs. It all seem like I've been there to see how depressed the Jews are, living in poor conditions. The documentary really had moved me.

What I also hate about the Holocaust is that the women and young kids had to die because they are useless. They shouldn't deserve that type of death. Some parts of the movie made me cry, while others made me feel anger. It is a very powerful movie that teaches them how the Jews suffered throughout the horrible events, from living in ghettos to dying at the death camps, especially at Auschwitz.

The Treaty of Versailles (ended WWI)

The Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, states that Germany was to be blamed completely for all the damages they did (e.g., deaths, destruction of the cities). Germany was to also limit its army and navy. The Allies had confiscated all of Germany's colonies in Africa and parts of the German Empire. Some of Germany's former lands had been shared upon the Allies.

I'm not sure if the treaty was fair. After all, Austria-Hungary declared a war on Serbia. Also, Russia declared war on Austria-Hungary, since Russia and Serbia are allies. Then other countries declared war on each other, trying to defend their allies. Austria-Hungary should also get blamed for starting a war.

Some historians say that the treaty was the cause of Fascism and Adolph Hitler. I agree, because I think that it also started WW2. Germany had a hard time in their time period, being humiliated from the Allies and having financial problems. They needed someone who could lift their spirits and make them believe in the fact that they are still a strong country. That's when Adolph Hitler came into the picture.

Mustafa Kemal and the Modernization of Turkey

Secular means having objects that are not religious in any kind. Mustafa Kemal, otherwise known as the Ataturk, made many secular changes to the country of Turkey. He made the Turkish men wear hats instead of a fez, which is a headgear but with no border to protect the face from sunlight. Men are also to wear clothes like the Westerners (suit and tie, pants, and either boots or shoes). He also made women stop wearing a veil that covers the face. Mustafa believed that wearing the Ottoman clothes is being barbarians, according to a document that I read yesterday.

When it came to voting, Mustafa gave women the right to vote. He replaced the original law of the former Ottoman Empire and replaced it with a secular law. His motto, "Peace at home, peace in the world," signifies that Turkey is avoiding conflicts within the country and in the outside world.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

In the film "Gandhi" (based on history), Mohandas Gandhi used nonviolence to gain independence of India from the British. He had organized marches, like the Salt March, in which he and a group of people has to walk about 240 miles to the Indian Ocean and make their own salt. It was to represent the hatred of the rule that Indians can only buy English salt. He also made the Indians boycott English products and, in the movie, burn the government passes that allowed the Indians to enter the govenment buildings. He showed them how to spin cloth so that they could make their own clothes.

In the movie, he told the Indians not to defend themselves and not to engage in violence. However, in one part of the movie, a protest group chased a group of police officers to the police station andburned the building down. When Gandhi heard of this, he started a fast and didn't ate until the Indians decided not to react in violence.

I think that India's independence was all Gandhi's doing. If he hadn't stepped in to get British rule out of India, the country would have still be under Britain's control. After all, it was the British who got control of India during the time of Imperialism. If India was still under British control, they would have been forced to fight for the British in World War II.

The Russian Revolution

There were many reasons why the Russians created a revolution. For one reason, the Russian Czar Nicholas II had sent troops to fight against Germany in World War I. However, it ended up with many people either dead, wounded, or taken in as Germany's prisoners. The second reason is because of food shortages during the winter period of 1916-1917. Many people were starving and were demanding for food. Unfortunately, the czar sent his troops to prevent the people from protesting. Eventually, Nicholas had to leave his throne and the people executed him.

The phase "Peace, land, and bread" is a slogan that is associated with the Russian Revolution. Lenin had promised the workers peace (via communism), their own land, and food (hence the mention of bread). The workers were willing to overthrow the czarist government, hence the execution of Czar Nicholas II.

Causes of World War I

There were 3 major causes for World War I. One of the reasons is nationalism. Nations want to become the most powerful nation in the world. They will compete for land with other countries, and it usually ends up with a war with the other country. Other countries want to be independent, like the country of Serbia. They don't like to be controlled by Austria-Hungary.

Another main cause of the War is militarism. Many countries went to build an army of solders to protect their native land. They built more railways so supplies can transfer from 1 area to another. They also built modern weapons that can kill more people than if you were to use a rifle. Britain and Germany also made a navy and battleships.

The 3rd main cause is the separation of the alliance systems in Europe. When the Franco- Prussian War ended, secret alliances were formed in Europe. However, it ended up with the alliances feeling suspicious of their fellow countries. They suspect that their allies are being secret allies with other countries, sometimes with their enemies.