Antanas's Global blog

Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse of Communism

2010-05-11T17:54:00.000-07:00

Mikhail Gorbachev was put the final pieces in the puzzle to end communism. He opened up the government, he allowed churches and released dissidents from prison. People could even complain about the economic problems.

Peristroika was an economic experiment and stimulation. It gave local managers higher authority over farmers and faactories. People could even open their own small business. This was originally intended to make communism more efficient, not to destroy it, but it did.

Glasnost was a policy of openness. It allowed churches to open up, it allowed publication of books by previously banned authors. Journalists even criticized the government and government officials.

The Collapse of Communism

2010-05-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

Communism collapsed because Russia opened up to the rest of the world a bit. People started seeing the wonderful life and products the capitalists had. Western Germany started pressuring East Germany to become Capitalist, the Government was weak and the people liked the opportunities in West Germany, and eventually the wall that separated Capitalism and Communism came down. Democratic revolutions started happening all over the USSR and the Satellite Countries after that, like a chain reaction. The USSR fully collapsed on New Years in 1991.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

2010-04-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

Apartheid is the unfair segregation of people that are not the white minority in South Africa, they did not get equal rights. They were segregated and inter-racial marriages were banned. Nelson Mendela is a hero because he got South Africa's independence. He used boycotts, strikes and civil disobedience. He was put in jail for 27 years until the Brits got feed up with all this business and Gave South Africa independence and let him out of jail in 1990. He then became the leader of the country.

African Independence

2010-04-28T11:14:00.000-07:00

Africa changed alot in the 20 year between 1955 and 1975. All of africa gained independence from the overseas European oppressors. They were originally taken over for natural resources. The most well known African leader was probably Jomo Kenyatta. He got a good education in London, he was jailed for not condemning the Mau Mau, an secret organization made to scare the white farmers out of the highlands. The British granted Kenya independence, and Kenyatta became the president.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

2010-04-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

"Schindler's List" illustrated the holocaust as terrifying, and powerfully. The movie has a very powerful message sent to everyone and anyone that watches it.

To me the most powerful scene was when they where liquidating the Krakow ghetto and shooting everyone, then burning them. It was terrible to watch tons of people get killed.

I think alot of terrible images will stay with me from this movie. People getting burned and shot sticks in your mind. I think that "Schindler's List illustrates the Holocaust better than "Night and Fog" mostly because it has more terrible and gruesome images in total, and it lasts longer.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

2010-04-14T11:08:00.001-07:00

In the film "The Right Stuff" The US and the USSR were competing for the dominance of Outer Space. At first, the Soviets sent up the first satellite and man into space. Later on, the Americans caught up and overtook the Soviets. The scenes when the Americans were discussing the first satellite and man in space helped me remember these events.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

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

NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The US formed this alliance with countries in Europe and North America. The organization's main purpose was defending the members from, mainly, the Soviets. The organization would also help out if the country was in need of help with supplies or food.

The Warsaw Pact included the USSR and its Eastern Bloc "Satellite" Countries. It was the Russian response to NATO. In 1980, the organization got weaker. In 1985, it was renewed and in 1991 it finally fell apart.

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

2010-03-23T11:08:00.000-07:00

My reaction to "Night and Fog" was disgustion, I can't believe mankind was able to do, and withstand these kind of things. I think the film was very powerful, it was very moving. I think the movie was more graphic than "Schindler's List" so it was more terrifying.
I think "Night and Fog" tells the story of the holocaust well, and makes you think. In the end though, I think "Schindler's List" tells the story exceptionally well. "Schindler's List" shows the holocaust in much higher detail than "Night and Fog". "Night and Fog" has strong words, and both movies are very good, but "Schindler's List" is slightly better than "Night and Fog"

The Treaty of Versailles (ended WW I)

2010-02-25T11:06:00.000-08:00

The Treaty of Versailles heavily hurt Germany. The treaty took away all of Germany's pre-war colonies. Germany lost a lot of land, as a result of that 12.5% of the German population were no longer in Germany.

I believe that the treaty was EPICLY unfair. Germany didn't even start the whole war. I also believe if the treaty hadn't been so harsh on Germany, there wouldn't have been a World War II. The second world war started because Germany was in an extremely bad state, partially because of the Treaty of Versailles.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

2010-02-24T11:10:00.000-08:00

Mustafa Kemal was the founder of the Turkish Empire and its first president. His main goal was to modernize his empire. He made religion a personal thing, Christians and Jewish could practice their religion all they wanted. Mustafa banned the fez because he believed it made the empire look ignorant. He made the empire secular, which means that everything was based of worldly possessions instead of religious practices like the church.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

2010-02-11T11:11:00.001-08:00

Gandhi helped India gain its Independence by leading non-violent protests and being the leader of the movement. He organized a meeting where the Indians burned the cards that they are required to carry around, he marched to the ocean to make salt instead of buying it from the Brits. Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence is that if you protest and not cause any trouble, and the law comes in and starts to hurt you, they look bad, and you look good, and you gain support of the world.

The Russian Revolution

2010-01-13T09:26:00.000-08:00

The Russians had a Revolution because they got fed up with the oppressive rule of the czars and Russia making a bad decision and entering WWI. The Bolsheviks and Lenin were the leaders of the revolution. The quote "Peace, land, and bread" is a communist shout made by Lenin.

Causes of WW I

2010-01-11T09:13:00.000-08:00

Nationalism was a cause of WWI, Nationalism is the love for your country, many separated states got feed up with being separate and united with a revolution. Militarism was another cause of WWI, Some countries went to solving problems with guns. The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand sparked WWI with a wave of declarations of war by allies

The Opium Wars

2009-12-18T09:27:00.001-08:00

The opium wars was China fighting to stop trading tea for opium with England. They were called the Opium wars because the Chinese want to stop the import of opium. England won by far.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

2009-12-10T09:33:00.000-08:00

In "Mountains of the Moon" some of the problems faced by the Europeans were bugs and native tribes. It is strange that Lake Victoria is named after an English queen because it is located in Africa. The primary technological advantage the Europeans had over the Natives were guns. Europeans were later able to take over Africa because they had guns.

Imperialism Project

2009-12-07T09:21:00.001-08:00

We did the Imperialism Project to learn about Imperialism. I learned that a lot of countries took over other countries, not just England, France, and Spain.

Karl Marx and Communism

2009-11-19T09:32:00.001-08:00

Karl Marx's idea of communism was a equal and fair world, a utopia. Communism is the idea of everyone getting money and property according to their needs. Marx wanted Communism to take over because he was annoyed by the rich factory owners and bosses taking advantage of poor workers. Karl Marx saw bosses and owners of factories as the bad guys, and the workers as the "good guys" since they were the people doing work.

Karl Marx and The Industrial Revolution

2009-11-17T09:37:00.001-08:00

Karl Marx thought the Industrial Revolution was a bad idea, people were employed in factories with horrible working conditions. Children worked 18 hour days in very dangerous places. The Industrial Revolution inspired him to think of a fair working environment where the workers controlled the government and everyone got paid according to their abilities and needs, what we know as communism.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

2009-10-27T09:43:00.001-07:00

Nationalism is rooting, belonging to, and fighting for your own country, something we take for granted today. I am nationalistic because i rooted for Lithuania in the Olympics. I think my country is the best in the world.
The Italians got bored of being ruled by foreign rulers and formed Italy. Italy used to be part of a few empires. The Italians made Italy because they got bored of being ruled by someone who is not Italian, Italian nationalists made revolts and took over the Italian States and unified them.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2009-10-22T09:36:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar lead the Revolutions in South America starting with Haiti. Simon Bolivar is famous because he led most of the South American countries to independence so he is like a savior. Bolivia is named after Simon Bolivar because he freed many Latin American countries so Bolivia was named in his honor.
Simon Bolivar helped defeat the Spanish he was fighting for the independence of Latin America. The French and American Governments and the fact that Spain was ruled by a French king influenced him for Revolution.

John Locke and "The Enlightenment"

2009-10-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

The "Rights" that Thomas Jefferson is talking about are the natural rights of man. The Declaration of Independence says that the government gets its power from the people.

Copernicus and the trial of Galileo

2009-09-19T07:06:00.001-07:00

Heliocentrism is the theory that the sun is the center of the universe and everything revolves around it.
Geocentrism is the opposite and outdated theory that the earth is the center of the universe and everything revolves around it.
The theory of Geocentrism came first, and the theory of Heliocentrism came from the scientific revolution.

The Trial of Galileo was a fight between the Church (Defending Geocentrism) against Galileo (who believed in the Heliocentric theory). The church put Galilieo on trial because they believed that Galileo had gone against the church. In the end Galileo declined his belief in Heliocentrism.

Scientific Revolution: The Scientific Method

2009-09-17T09:41:00.001-07:00

The scientific method is the testing of a proposed hypothesis. One experiment that uses the scientific method was when Galileo drop 2 different sized balls of of a tower and they fell at the same speed.

Evolution Vs. Creation

2009-09-15T13:56:00.000-07:00

I believe in the theory of evolution because i believe that something had to come before the humans, and something had to come before the chicken.