Cain's Global Blog.

Mikhail Gorbachev and The Collapse of Communism

2009-05-17T17:50:00.000-07:00

Mikhail Gorachev was a young leader Russia. His new ideas and theories seemed to have formed a loop-hole around their nations economy problem. He introduced a policy of glasnost which was a policy of openness / freedom of speech. Under the old government, this was impossible. With the thoughts of his people in his mind he had passed the policy of perestroika which gave people to own and open small private businesses. This was the plan of Economical Reconstruction. With this new system, the nation was able to loose satellite states.

The Collapse of Communism

2009-05-17T17:22:00.000-07:00

During the time of the Cold War, the United states and Russia were the worlds main superpowers. After WW2, these two nations were neck-and-neck in various types of competition. Even though they had the largest and strongest armies, they never had a battle during the Cold War. The mere cost of keeping up with each other was high for both countries. However, Russia soon collapsed, along with communism. The collapse of the USSR destroyed many economies around the world. The fall of the Berlin Wall raised the iron curtain that had fallen on Europe ever since WW2. The collapse made the U.S. the world's only leading superpower and reshaped Europe once again.

African Independence

2009-05-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

During European imperialism, the European countries came to Africa and started declaring their own colonies. This upset the African people because their borders were being defined by the will of those new to their countries. The Africans also had no say in their own government. This was one of the more critical parts that had affected the African people because they were supposed to abide by laws that they had no say in. After WW2, the Africans had little money left. This resulted in the formation of many new African nations.
Many African countries demanded thier independence. These countries fought hard. For example, Nelson Mendela was famous for this. He felt it was his duty to free his country, but do this without any means of violence. In the end many of their efforts had worked and their countries were free.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid.

2009-05-05T06:53:00.000-07:00

Apartheid is a policy of legal racial segregation.
Nelson Mandela was raised in South Africa. He lived in a part under the Apartheid system. This meant that he would be treated unfairly just because of the fact that his skin was black. People were treated very unequally. For example, if a white man and a black man had the same job. The white man could possibly make more money in a week than the black man could make in an entire year. Living conditions were harsh in South Africa.
Nelson Mandela lead an underground movement. However, it didnt last long because he was sentencedf to life in prison in 1964. 27 years after his imprisonment, he was freed. Less than five years later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and elected president of South America.
Did you know?
In 2001, Nelson Mandela was diagnosed and treated for prostate cancer.

"The Right Stuff"

2009-04-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

During the Cold war, the United Statesm and Russia competed in different ways. One way was called the 'Space Race'. Both nations were trying to succesfully launch to outer space. Russia was always one step ahead, and won this race. They even made a fool out of the U.S.
The United States were sending chimpanzees in the rockets to go outer space. However, they failed. Russia went into outer space first, and with a human.

On the contrary, the United states did eventually catch up and surpass the Russians by sending the first man in the moon - Neil Armstrong.
Did you know?
The first human to travel in space was Yuri Gagarin, in April of 1961.

NATO and the Warsaw Pact.

2009-04-08T07:07:00.000-07:00

NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is a military alliance. Everyone in this alliance agrees to mutual defense in response to any outside attack. This system was known as 'Collective Defense'. Some countries in NATO today are; United States, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and even the United Kingdom.
However, in response to this alliance, the communists were competing as well. Shortly after, they created a similar group known as the Warsaw Pact. Some members are as followed; Albania, Bulgaria, Poland, and Hungary.
-Did you know?
As of today, NATO has 26 members.

The Treaty of Versailles.

2009-02-24T06:55:00.001-08:00

Historians say that The treaty of Versailles led to the rise of Fascism and Adolf Hitler. I think that this is true only because of the obvious facts, and logical common sense. First off, if the Treaty of Versailles was never enforced, then Germany would have never went through a depression. If they never went through a depression, they probably wouldn't be open for a new leader to guide them. Therefore, Hitler might not have ever been the dictator of Germany- and would you look at that; millions more Jews might actually be alive right now. Germany was in a desperate time of need. They blindlessly followed Hitlers orders, as their new leader.
After the end of World War 1, Germany was greatly affected. They were affected so greatly, that they would never be the same for about another 10 years. The treaty of Versailles basically blamed Germany entirely, for the war. The treaty held Germany responsible for that damages that resulted from the war, iron costs, it limited their army to 100,000 soldiers, and they even took away about 10% of their territory.
This treaty was not fair. It didn't make much sense, and it was just wrong to blame one nation for the entire war. Some of the causes of World War 1 leads to Germany- but not every last one. Therefore it is uncalled for to blame them for the war. It is actually quite childish to do something like that. Also, Germany was struggling to even recover. Germany went into a depression, leaving thousands of citizens unemployed. Their economy dropped, and people were left with no homes. This is an unfair punishment to the Germans.

Did you know?
-Hitler's staff secretly made films for him of torture and execution of political prisoners, which he very much enjoyed viewing. His executive assistants also secured pornographic pictures and movies for him.

Mustafa Kemal and the Modernization of Turkey.

2009-02-11T07:08:00.000-08:00

The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest empires in history. The empire was a Major Muslim dominated empire. However, like every other major empire in history, it eventually reached its downfall. The Ottoman empire was on the losing side of World War 1. They were working with Germany. With this the Ottoman empire broke up and was split up into many countries. One of those was Turkey. Mustafa Kemal became its first president. His principles were stated as the "Six Arrows". This was his drive, his purpose and his values which defined everything he did and was reason behind everything he did. The Six Arrows were republicanism, populism, secularism, reformism, nationalism, and statism. He made sure that all the aspects of the Turkey government was separated. This was called secularism.
Mustafa wanted to give his country a modern look. He made some changes, or 'reforms'. In his ideas, secular government and education played a major role. Also: the fez with European hats, women stopped wearing the veil, every citized took surnames, and the islamic calendar gave wya to the Western calendar.
Secular- Seperation of state and religion.
Did you know?
- In 1905, Mustafa graduated from his military school as 'Staff Captain'

Film Lesson- "Gandhi"

2009-02-10T06:55:00.000-08:00

Gandhi convinced the Indians to fight without using violence. He used non-violent strategies like making his own clothes and boycotting British goods. This proved to be a big sucess against the British Government, and their laws. Even though protesting was illegal, and they werent allowed to have secret meetings, Gandhi still helped the Inidians win their freedom from the Britains. There were many problems to his plans. Gandhi even got arrested for breaking the law. Also, whenever the Indians used violence in any way, Gandhi would fast. He wouldnt eat for long periods of time. This was his way to make the Indians stop being violent.

Gandhi can be related to a peacemaker, because he was 100% against violence. Even after the British treated them terribly, he still did not take violence into action. Instead he used nonviolent ways to trick the government, hence the term 'civil disobedience.' Gandhi did a very good job at doing so. The British had a so called double wammy on the Indians, because they were taking their cloth and materials- and then bringing them to Britian to make clothes. But then, they would take those clothes back to the Indians and sell it to them. Another famous thing he did was called the 'Salt March,' Gandhi along with thousands of followers gathered water from the ocean. They were making salt from the water by boiling it. They did this because the British palced taxes on salt.
I think that Gandhi did contribute a huge part to the Indians independence, because he tried hard to unite the different types of people. Without Gandhi, i think the Muslim and Hindu people would not have worked together. Without standing united, they would have a smaller chance of winning against the British.

Did you know?
-When Gandhi was a little boy, he was afriad of the dark.

The Russian Revolution.

2009-01-09T06:36:00.000-08:00

World War 1 had revolutionized Europe, but not necessarily for the good. It gave the Germans land, Russian land. This caused the people of Russia to be mad and angry with their government which back then was a monarchy and the king who in Russia was know as the Czar. The people were upset, and they stated to revolt. Vladamir Lenin lead the people. Europe lost the Russo-Japanese War. The Germans declared war on Russia after Russia chose to stop Austria-Hungary from invading Serbia. This was a big cause of World War 1. With this war, nearly all of Russia's men were dead. Russia had given up and chose to sign a treaty with Germany- which made them give some of their land to Germany. This was the last straw to the people of Russia. This was when Communism started. The people wanted change, and Lenin was leading exactly that. This allowed him to control the people in anyway he wanted. One thing that he and the Bolshevik party came up with was "Peace, Land and Bread". This was the phrase used most commonly. However, not everyone was for communism- and this sparked a Russian Civil War; by which 15 million Russians had died. The U.S. and other western nations supported the white army. In the end however the Red Army was the victor. This led to a crash in Russia's economy, and the people were going into a depression.

Causes of WWI.

2009-01-07T06:35:00.000-08:00

World War 1 was first known as the Great War. They changed the name after World War 2 happened. A major cause of the war was the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Franz Fernidad. A nationalist murdered him. Also, countries started spending more and more money on their military forces. (Militarism.) Before long, alliances were formed; such as the Three Emporers Lead and the Triple Alliance.

It was basically a chain reaction atfer the assassination of Fernidad. Each country that was allied with another country joined in on the war. Then, almost every major country was active in the war. It was extremley hard to take over another country, mostly because of trenches. After American forces were suddenly attacked, the USA joined the war and helped with the victory of the Triple Alliance.

The Opium Wars.

2008-12-10T06:36:00.001-08:00

The British trades of opium with China started the world's very first drug war. Opium is a preparation made from the juice of poppy seedpods - used to produce heroine. This drug was very highly addictive, and many Chinese citizens were hooked on it. Before long, opium was becoming s big problem in China. Roughly 10% of the Chinese population was addicted to opium. It became a health factor, and it effected their economy. China later prohibited opium, but the British still brought it into the country. China actually accepted bribes from the British.
China was threatening to end ALL trades with Britain. After all, they were an isolated country. But the British didn't want it to end. The only thing they could think of was war. China started an anti-opium campaign, and the British wanted it to end. In 1840, British gunboats attacked the coastline of China. Also, China was behind when it came to modern weapons. Eventually, China was defeated, and was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing; which held the Chinese government responsible for all of the opium destroyed during the anti-opium campaign. Basically, the British won the war; mainly because of their advanced weapons and surprise attack. China was unprepared for the war, therefore they lost.

Mountains of the Moon.

2008-12-03T06:34:00.000-08:00

The Europeans faced several hardships as they explored Africa. Diseases like Malaria were deadly, and the Europeans had no cure for it at that time. Another problem was a lack of geographical boundaries. They had no maps, so they weren't exactly sure where they were going. Also, since the Africans had never seen white people before, some decided to attack the Europeans. They brought some goods and resources to show that they came in peace. Another factor was sleeping in the wilderness. Like in the movie, when the bugs were all over their tents; biting them, and even giving them sicknesses and diseases.
It is strange that Lake Victoria is named after a British Queen, because the Lake is located in Africa. It doesn't make any sense, because the British didn't discover the lake since there was already people living there. You can argue that it does make sense, because Africa had no specific boundaries or border lines. Even today, Africa's countries are mapped out by the British. But then again, you shouldn't be able to name something after your queen if you didn't discover it. It is also strange that the lake is still named Lake Victoria today.
The Europeans had clear technological advances compared to the Africans. The Europeans had magnifying glasses, telescopes, advanced weapons such as guns, etc. The Africans were even surprised to see a white human, let alone their resources, weapons, and goods. The latest weapon the Africans had at that time was the spear. The Europeans had more advanced and developed technology.
The Europeans were eventually able to conquer Africa easily because of their invention of the machine gun. The Africans were surprised from a basic handgun. The machine gun would make it ten times easier to kill people. This allowed the Europeans to easily overtake Africa and conquer it. The Africans had no defense whatsoever. There was no chance of stopping the Europeans from invading and taking over their land.

The Meiji Restoration of Japan.

2008-11-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

Matthew Perry arrived on the coasts of Japan to 'negotiate', but he was actually tricking them. Japan was an isolated country, and they didn't want to trade with anyone. The British and the United States wanted a friendly Pacific port, where trading would take place. Commodore Perry wasn't negotiating, as much as bulling Japan. Japan hadn't seen anything like it before.

The United States bullied Japan through a display of military might. Perry brought an impressive naval force to Japan. The Japanese were amazed that their ships had no sails. Perry intentionally did this, to show Japan how advanced the United Sates were. These ships impressed the Japanese. Also, on March 31, 1854, a trading treaty was signed. The treaty meant that Japan would open two ports for trading.

During the 'Meiji Era', Japan had became industrialized. This was because the country was introduced to trading. Japan was now being exposed to other goods and resources. Their government expanded, and their country became modernized. Japan was an archipelago, which meant that their country was made up of a chain of islands. This was an advantage to them because they had many ports which lead to an impact on their economy.

Karl Marx and Communism.

2008-11-06T06:35:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx's idea of communism changed the way people lived. The Communist Manifesto (a famous work published in 1848) set principals in which communism was supposed to evolve from. Marx wanted communism to take over the world for the better. There would be a classless society. The Industrial revolution came with low wages, dangerous working conditions, and pollution. Marx saw that factory owners were getting more and more rich, whereas the workers stayed poor.

To Karl Marx, the good guys were the factory workers, and the bad guys were the owners. The workers were doing nothing wrong, there was just too many of them. But that's the point. Since there were so many more workers than owners, why should they be treated the way they were? The owners were the bad guys because they received most of the money, and they weren't the ones working. Communism would change all of this. Everyone would make the same amount of money, and no one would be able to own property. Everything belonged to the government.

Karl Marx and the Industrial Revolutuion.

2008-11-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx did not like the Industrial Revolution. He felt that the workers should have more power than they did. Since there were alot more workers than owners, why shouldn't they? He wanted to start a revolution, hence the quote 'Workers of the world unite.' The working conditions in the factory were harsh and dangerous. The pollution shortened people lives who lived nearby. Marx had a theory that the only way there was going to be a change of power, was by a revolution. Marx invented a new system called communism. This theory is also known as Marxist Dialectic.

The Industrial revolution influenced him to invent communism, an improved and classless society. However, it wasn't for the benefits of everyone. Mostly just the factory owners. Marx saw that the Industrial Revolution was making the rich richer, and the poor poorer. He didn't like the fact that there were tons more workers than owners, and that the workers had extremely low wages. His idea of communism would have everyone working for the same amount of money, and society would produce only what it needed. Also, he thought that everything should be owned by the government, and that no one could have private ownership of anything.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2008-10-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar is a famous military leader. It was because of him that many South American countries were set free from Spain. Simon Bolivar was born in Venezuela. He received a decent education after the death of his parents. He was also schooled in Spain, and traveled through Italy and France. There he became inspired by enlightenment thinkers, such as John Locke. He also traveled to the US. The United States convinced him that his nation needed changes as well.

On July 5th, 1811, Simon started a revolution that led to Venezuela's independence. After Venezuela was freed from Spain's ruling, Simon continued to reinforce his army and military power. He controlled more and more countries over time. Then, he established the Republic of Colombia, where he was president. He then continued to free more country's in South America, and by the end freed Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. Simon Bolivar is considered a great revolutionary hero for South America. He liberated almost all of South America from Spain's control. However, he was not as good a political leader than he was a military leader. His Government rule was unbalanced, and there were many civil wars in his own countries. A civil war is a war where both sides are part of the sam country. Simon Bolivar was considered the 'George Washington' of South America.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy.

2008-10-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

Nationalism is a huge part of our lives. In modern times, everyone is so familiar with nationalism, that they take it for granted. If an American gets lost in a completely different place like China, then that person would be clueless. If that person was me, i would be desperate to come into contact with another American. In America, we share a common language, currency, history, religion, and culture. Nationalism is everywhere around us, but once we surpass a certain border-line, everything changes! However, that not how things were about a century ago...

Even though nationalism destroyed nations, it also built new ones. Italy was one of the first nations formed this way. Italians were tired of having foreign rulers, and they wanted a change in their nation. In 1832, Giuseppe Mazzini organized a nationalist group called 'Young Italy'. By 1848, he was droven to exile. Italy used to be made up of city states that were ruled by Austria. Eventually, Italians no longer wanted to live under foreign rulers. They came together and fought for what they wanted and won. This is early evidence of nationalism.

Robespierre and The Reign of Terror.

2008-09-23T06:37:00.000-07:00

The Reign of Terror is a period of violence that occur ed shortly after the French Revolution. (9/5/93 - 7/28/94). During this chaotic period of time, thousands of people were murdered. In fact, the estimated amount is from 16,000 - 40,000. The guillotine was a common form of death. The guillotine is a killing device, where the victims lay their heads in a specific spot. Then, usually with the cutting of a rope, a razor sharp blade comes down and slices your head off. The designers thought that this killed you instantly, but many people believed that your corpse is alive a few moments after.

Maximilien Robespierre was mostly involved. His aim was to raise newer, stronger armies, and to assure food for them. The support from Paris was essential to his plan. Robespierre ruled France like a dictator. He changed the calender, the days of the week, and even the faces of kings and queens on playing cards. Eventually, everyone was scared that they were next to die, so Robespierre was arrested, and later killed by the guillotine.

The French Revolution.

2008-09-22T06:45:00.000-07:00

1) a- The Nobility.

The peasants were most critical to the nobles because they had almost complete control over them. The peasants were very mad and thought that they had no right to take control over them. They believed that man is born free, and no one has natural authority over them.

b- The King.

The king had the best life. He ruled with absolute power, and no one could tell him what to do. He had complete authority over France.

c-The Clergy.

The Clergy were similar to the nobles. They usually lived in great luxury in chateaux and

palaces. They didn't really have to pay taxes, and so people in France were critical to them.

2) Most French peasants were overwhelmed with taxes, especially around 1787-1790. They had to pay almost ten times what they had. One small article says that a woman and her husband owned a small piece of land. They only owned one cow and a poor horse, but had to pay 20Kg of wheat, three chickens, 60Kg of oats, and much more.

3) The authors point was that peasants had most of the work to do. The cartoon shows a peasant carrying the burden of maintaining the feudal lords and the clergy. The person carrying the other two people is a peasant. The people the peasant is carrying represent the feudal lords and the clergy. the caption, "One hopes this will end soon," is important because its showing that the peasants are desperate for a change. They don't want everyone else to have all the power.

4) It is clear that source B shows the downside of a French peasants life. (If there are any good sides) Source B explains that the peasants were taxed heavily, and most couldn't even keep up with them. This particular person owned a small amount of land, and only a cow with a poor horse. He was being taxed way more than what he had. The quote at the end, "The taxes and feudal dues are crushing us," means that they can barley survive with these taxes.

5) Sources A, B, and C do explain why poor people resented the rich because all of them show how hard life is from a peasants point of view. For example, source C shows that all of the people in the higher classes get a yearly income, some more than others. But, the peasants don't make any money.

6) Rousseau was an influential writer during his time. Along with other writers like Voltaire, he wanted a direct democracy government. The peasants were instantly influenced by his writing. Peasants lived a desperate and cruel life. They were taxed to the extent where they weren't able to survive. The wealthy classes ruled over everyone, while in Rousseau's pamphlet he states that power to make laws belongs to the people. He disliked the current government, and so did most of the peasants.

7) The pamphlet made from Rousseau was banned in 1775. It was banned because it opposed the way the government was. The pamphlet influenced peasants, caused a revolt against the government. The wealthy estates would lose their money, power, luxury, and privileges.

The Enlightenment.

2008-09-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

The most known, or most famous thinker of the Enlightenment, was definitely John Locke. Locke had made a huge influence on our government today. He inspired Thomas Jefferson when we wrote the Declaration of Independence. Some of the basic rights were the following; All men are created equal, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Citizens are born with these rights, and no one can take them away from you, no matter what. "Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it." This statement means that if anyone tries to go against your rights, then you have the right to fight back.

One reason why the government has the amount of power it does today, is because it actually works out. Everything is balanced, and runs in a smooth cycle. Locke is the reason for this, because he came up with ideas that eventually effected everyone. The government today gets its power from the people, hence our type of government, democracy. Most importantly is voting. We have the right to vote. Since we have the right to vote, then its basically our choice who runs our government, and who gets to have the power.

Copernicus and the trial of Galileo.

2008-09-12T06:42:00.000-07:00

The Solar System has two theories to it. One theory was the Heliocentric theory. This stated that the sun was located at the center of the solar system. Opposed to this theory was the Geocentric theory, which stated that the Earth was the center of the solar system. At first, everyone believed in the Geocentric theory because it came first. It seemed pretty obvious, because everything in the sky would rise and set, or go around the Earth. It wasn't until the 16th century, when scientists were actually proving this theory wrong. Copernicus presented a mathematical model of the Heliocentric theory. The Heliocentric theory came out of the scientific revolution, where Copernicus studied the movements around the Earth. He came to a conclusion that Earth was only one of a number of planets that are orbiting around the sun. Sure enough, there were big disputes between the two theories, and even sparked a major court case known as the "Trail of Galileo."

The trial was held in 1633 at the Inquisition building. The Catholic church put Galileo on trial because he was teaching things that they didn't believe in, and were against the catholic religion. Galileo believed in the heliocentric theory, and that the Earth was not the center of the universe. The Catholic church was against this because they believed that the Earth was in the center, as stated in the bible. The catholic church won the trial, and Galileo was put on house arrest. He then suddenly went blind, and died shortly after in 1642.

Scientific Revolutiuon

2008-09-11T06:43:00.001-07:00

Before 1500, people had no standard way of finding answers for scientific questions. Some searched for answers in the bible, while others got their ideas from ancient Greeks and Romans. Either way, there was no simple process to figure something out before the scientific revolution occurred. One example is the location of the Earth. Based on religion and the bible, people thought that the Earth was the center of the universe, and that all the other planets revolved around it. However, scientists proved that to be wrong.

Another early experiment of the scientific revolution was the theory that heavy objects fall faster than lighter objects. Aristotle, the founder of the theory, was proven wrong about 1,500 years. Then came along a young Italian named Galileo. Galileo tested his theory by dropping different sized stones off the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Sure enough, they all fell at the exact same rate, and hit the floor at the same time.

One of the most popular and common used methods today, is the Scientific Method. There are many good sides to this method. For example, it is unprejudiced. No one is forced to believe in any scientists results or conclusions. Anyone can redo the experiment and try to prove is wrong. The scientific method consists of various steps such as: the theory, hypothesis, conclusion, experiment, etc.

An example would be something as simple as solving a crime. First comes the investigation. After evidence is collected, detectives then use it as leads for certain suspects. When they find the suspects, they interrogate them, to try and find out more information. That's basically the whole process. This relates to the Scientific method because is follow the same steps. The theory is like the call that reports the homicide. Then, the experiment is like the investigation, etc.

Evolution vs. Creation.

2008-09-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

Evolution and Creation.

Darwin's Theory of Evolution.
Basically, this theory states that our current society is how it is today, because of previous evolutions and mutations. A process called "natural selection" is how we were brought up. (supposedly) Not from slight variations of the original species, (after reproduction) but actually an entire new species. One problem with this theory is that there is no proof as to where it all began. Also, this theory was unplanned. Supposedly, humans just evolved from previous forms of life, without any organized plan for civilized living.

Creationism.
A religious belief that explains the creation of life, earth, and the universe. This topic, just like Darwins theory, is controversial in most public places. Jews and Christians believe that an almighty God created heaven and earth, and all life. They worship this God, and believe in him as their lord and savior. Within a process of "Six days" the world was created. However, each day could be the equivalent of millions and millions of years in human time, or even a few seconds. Either way, God created everything within that time period, and now... here we are. He created all living things with an organized plan in mind for a civilized environment. The bible states that God created specific things on each day, so that at the end of the sixth day Gods plan for the world was completed, and completed in an organized manor.

I believe in creationism. Mainly because as a Christian, the bible states that God created the world. Also, some sort of greater power had to create some kind of organism or living thing in order for there to be life. I dont believe that there was some random explosion, and then life started. There had to have been a planned way for life to be started. Even though there is no actual proof on either side, i still believe in creationism, but basically its just 'my word against yours'.