Juan Carlos's Global Blog

The Collapse Communism

2010-05-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

This was a shock to everyone because people thought communist was building up.
The people of Russia were disapointed with how things were in their communist country and were feed up. So they gathered up and overthrew the communist party for Democrat party. Many of the countries that were in the Warsaw Pack drop communism also, this was because of Russia the most biggest country in the world failed at keeping a communist goverment so they dropped it as well. On New Year's Eve 1991 USSR finally collapsed and at the same time the Berlin Wall fell. Berlin wall was that separated West Berlin from East Berlin. People tore down the Berlin Wall because their wasn't two different system they both were the same. Many countries became capitalism and democratic. The only countries that remained communist is North Korea and Cuba.

Mikhail Gorbachev And Collapse Of Communism

2010-05-07T19:29:00.000-07:00

Peristrokia- economic restructuring people were finally able to open their own small business.
Glasnost- openness, meaning the society had the ability to use speech to the government to improve its society.

Mikhail Gorbachev was elected the President of Russia at the age of 54. Gorbachev was very well educated on economics and politics. Gorbachev wasn't as strict as Joseph Stalin and opposed the idea of Totalitarianism. Knowing that Communism was an ineffective system of government and was bringing down the economy. It was only obvious that communism in Russia was going to collapse. Then Glasnost was made so people can talk about the government and take somewhat part in the government affairs. Peristrokia was a increase of rights they were able to receive they were able to own their own business before they couldn't. By doing this people started not liking communism it made it seem like a bad idea and made the people think about how life was in America and other Democrat countries.

Nelson Mandela and the Aparthied

2010-04-29T11:26:00.002-07:00

The Apartheid was a policy of segregation among the black and white people. This policy was established by the British which were controlling South Africa during 1948-1994. This policy stated that whites were superior than everyone else. This forced the whites and the Bantu to separate. The Bantu was any race that was black colored, or Indian(not white). The Bantu people had no rights what so ever meaning they didn't have citizenship and the right to vote, the British had taking everything from them. Many people went against this policy because it unfairness to colored people and because of this the ANC(African National Congress) formed. ANC was a organization formed to fight for the rights of the Bantu people. Nelson Mandela was one of the ANC member that stood out and went against this policy and fought against the British to gain rights. Nelson Mandela was then arrested and put into jail for 26 years.

After Nelson Mandela was released prison he continued his fight for independence in South Africa from the European. Nelson Mandela had all the support from the Bant people after he got out of jail. Nelson used non-violence methods to fight against the Europeans for their independence of South Africa, just like Ghandhi did for India. Nelson then wrote a book called the Long Walk to Freedom, this inspired many people such as writers and helped him get elected in 1991. After his election he continued fighting for the independence of South Africa. By 1994 South Africa received their Independence from the British.

African Independence

2010-04-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

During 1955 and 1975, African countries have progressed a lot in their independence from European rule. Europe controlled all of Africa for their natural resources during the 1800's. In the past 20-40 years many countries in Africa have started a revolution against the Europeans to gain their independence. The Europeans were very racist and believed they could take over the Africans because they were gonna "domesticate" them. Africans grew tired of being under the country of the Europeans and started fighting against the Europeans. Europeans also named a country after Cecil Rhodes called Rhodesia which is funny. Rhodesia is a example of the the African up rise against Europe and changed their name to Zimbabwe.

There was many African leaders that lead their people to freedom. Jomo Kenyatta was a African leader. Jomo Kenyatta was an African from Kenya, he was a very educated person growing up. Jomo attended school in Europe for his school years and learned many things. The time Jomo spent in Europe he also fought for African Independence. He then returned to Kenya and was arrested after arriving for his actions in Europe. He spent 7 years in prison and when he got out, he was elected president of Kenya just like Nelson Mandela did. After Jomo was elected President of Kenyatta he led his country to a revolution and eventually won the revolution and Kenya gained their independence from the Europeans.

Film Lesson The Right Stuff

2010-04-14T02:29:00.000-07:00

U.S and the USSR were competing in everything during the Cold War. In the movie The Right Stuff it shows how competitive the Americans and Russians got during the Cold War. In The Right Stuff Americans finally broke the sound barrier while the Russians already sent a empty ship up to outer space. This was the beginning of the Space Race, who was going to be the first country to send someone to outer space. Then the Americans started trying to build Space ships to send to outer space but that didn't work out so well. Then the Americans were finally able to send a monkey to outer space, but the Russians beat them by sending the first man to outer space. This really upset the American's but the Americans were finally able to catch up and beat the Russians by sending the first man to the moon Launched on July 16, 1969. A sence from the movie that will remind me its during the Cold War is when they are making all the Astronauts go through crazy funny looking training.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact.

2010-04-12T02:34:00.000-07:00

The NATO was a defensive pact made in the during the Cold War by the USA with European countries that were not communist so they could be able to fight off the communist countries. This was their only way to fight communism if it was to spread by the Russians. Another reason why alliance system was formed to protect each other if one of the countries were attacked by communist countries.

The Russians felt threaten because of the NATO pact and made their own. The Russians created the same defensive pact which was called the Warsaw pact with the eastern communist countries incase NATO was to attack they would be able to fight against them.
Its a good thing they didn't fight but if they were maybe WW111 would have happen because of all the Alliances going on in the time.

Film: Schindler's List

2010-03-25T02:49:00.000-07:00

Schindler's List was somewhat of a powerful movie. It wasn't as bad as Night and Fog but it had its moments. The reason it cant be as powerful as Night and Fog is because its a movie with actors and they have to act it out. In Night and Fog the Jews weren't acting you could really feel the pain in them. Night and Fog had real footage of what happen to them in the Death Camps, just waiting to die. Its the worst thing knowing your gonna die but having to wait until they decided to kill you is worst.

The only part that really affected me in Schindler's List was when the Nazi lined up couple of Jews in a straight line and then shot one bullet to save up ammo, it left me shocked that they cared more about the cost of the bullets then the lives of the Jews they were taking with the one bullet. I though it was a great thing that Oscar Schindler did for the Jews. He wasn't able to save all but he did the best he could and managed to save couple hundred of them.

Night and Fog

2010-03-24T02:14:00.000-07:00

The movie Night and Fog is a documentary about the Holocaust it was made 10 years after WWII ended at Auschwitz. The documentary shows footage of the Nazi mass killing and starving the Jews. When I saw Night and Fog, my reaction was just sickening because if you imagine your self in the shoes of the Jews it sad.The Nazi first just wanted to kill Jews in ghettos, but it wasn't killing them fast enough. Then the Nazi tried shooting them but that was costing too much money then the Nazi started gassing them and was the fastest way. The Nazi would send them to death camps (like Auschwitz) to work with no pay and barely any food.

Night and Fog and Schindler's list shared alot of the same images. But that's because the director of the Schindler list took scenes from Night and Fog for his Movie. The difference between Night and Fog, and Schindler's list is that Night and Fog is a documentary with real footage of Jews suffering. And Schindler's list is a Hollywood version of it. I think that Night and Fog is too grafic but gets right to the point of the Holocaust.

The Treaty of Versailles (end of WWI)

2010-02-25T11:09:00.000-08:00

The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty written by the French and the English. This treaty declared the of ended WWI. This treaty was unfair, because it basically blames Germans for everything that happen in the war. The treaty said that Germans caused WWI and were responsible for all the lives lost. They also added in the treaty that the German are responsible for the expenses of the war and have to pay them. The Germans had no choice and were forced to follow this treaty. The treaty also made the German army to reduce in size only being able to have a limited number of people. After WWI the all of the world went into a depression and many people didn't have or lost their jobs. This also impacted the Americans because the Germans borrowed some money from the Americans and that led to a Great Depression.
In 1923 a man named Adolf Hitler tried to overthrow the government and was sent to prison. During his time in prison he wrote a book. In the book he wrote how they lost the war because of the Jews and they couldn't be trusted and promised he was going to get the people out of the depression. They wanted a strong leader and fast they didn't want to suffer no more. In January 1933 Hitler and his party of Nazi took over Germany. Hitler then became a dictator and eventually this led to WWII and historians say that it was the Treaty of Versailles that led to WWII. i agree with this because with out of the treaty the Germans would have been so desperate for someone to save them in which led them into more trouble. They were broke, starving, with out government, and that was all because of the treaty.

Mustafa Kemal (atartuk) and the Modernization of Turkey.

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

Mustafa Kenmal was a military leader before he became the president. He fought for the independence of Turkey which was known as the Ottoman Empire before World War I. The Ottoman Empire was a country full of religious Muslims before Turkey got its independence. Mustafa became the 1st president of Turkey for 15 years. During the time he wanted to modernize the people of Turkey. He wanted his people to dress more like the Europeans and American. He though his people was behind time and were being ignorant to change in the world. He wanted the people to be more secular meaning and less religious. One thing Mustafa was really know for was banning the Fez. The fez was a hat which Muslims wore and he though it was symbol of not wanting to change because of old religious ways.

Film Lesson Gandhi

2010-02-11T11:10:00.001-08:00

Gandhi was born on Oct 2,1869. Mohandos Gandhi was an Indian philosopher who fought for the independence of India which was under the control of the British for hundreds of years. Gandhi fought against the British using non-violence methods, he believed that violence will only lead to more violence and he didn't want that to happen. He led his people in many boycott against the British, Gandhi told his people to not buy anything from the British. He told his people to stop buying British goods and to make their own cloths and cloths. One of Gandhi's most known Boycott was the salt march. He marched there with thousand of Indians to make their salt because it was against the law. Gandhi did not just want India to be free but for all Muslims and Hindus to get along and be one peaceful country. When India got their independence it separated into the Hindu part which is all of India Pakistan east and west was Muslim but Pakistan east later changed to Bangladesh.

Extra-credit: Do you think India's Independence was all about Gandhi? Or do you think it would have happened anyway? What was happening in Great Britain about the time of Indian Independence (1947) that may have influenced events? I think it was all about Gandhi with out Gandhi India wouldn't have of been able to group up and fight against the British they needed a leader and that was Gandhi.

The Russian Revolution

2010-01-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

The Russian Revolution started because the people of Russia were tired of the czar. Because of the czar they were dragged into WW1 and had a shortage of good and people were starving. Then Lenin and the Bolshevik came into Russia to take over because they saw an opportunity promising peace and bread for people. People were excited Lenin and the Bolshevik came and they took over and put out foundation of communism in Russia who the idea of communism originated form Karl Marks who was a German who hated the Industrial Revolution. Russia was the first country to have communism as a form government with workers controlling the country. Many years later Lenin dies and and Joseph Stalin comes a takes over Russia and becomes the dictator of Russia.

Cause Of WWI

2010-01-15T11:37:00.000-08:00

The cause of the World War One was because of the assassination of the Archduke of Astria-Hungray Franz Ferdinand the Astrianhungrian empire blamed Serbia and declared war on them. And at the time many countries in Europe had alliances. The triple entente had France, Russia and England and they jumped in to help out Serbia. the triple alliance included the Germany, Italy and Austria-Hungary and jumped in for Austria-Hungary. These alliances were just waiting to fight each other and when the Archduke was assassinated it just light the spark and the first biggest war the world has seen happen.

Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

2010-01-11T09:16:00.000-08:00

The Opium War started when the British wanted to trade with China but they refused to trade with westerners. The Chinese were also very isolated and thought they were better than everyone. The British wanted tea from the Chinese and since they refused to trade they came up with a plan to make them trade. The British started giving Opium (drug) to the Chinese which they became addicted and had to trade with the British cause they wanted more.

Later on the British stopped trading Opium and told the Chinese tot trade with them and they refused again. So the British declared war on China and they defeated them because Chinese weren't as advance as the British were military wise.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

2009-12-10T09:40:00.000-08:00

In the movie "Moutains of the Moon" it displays many of the problems englishmen had to face while trying to discover the Nile River. Many tried to find the source by going from the end of the river to the source but were eaten up my the deserts that surrounded it. In the movie the 2 explores try walking at random in hoping they would bump into it. While traveling they had many of their helpers run away with the gear they brought cause they would be able to sell it and make alot of money. Another problem was the disease they would get off the Moskito, Englishmen didn't have a immunity to it and died. Also seeing near by tribes who have never seen a white man before.
It funny that the source of the Nile is called Lake Victoria after a dead white queen because she didn't discover it. Its been discovered along time a go by the native people who already named it. England was finally able to conquer Africa because they invented the vaccine for malaria that was what was killing them. Another benefit they had was around the time the vaccine was invented they created the machine gun which made it even easier for them to take a village of Africans.

Imperialism Project

2009-12-10T09:31:00.000-08:00

We did the Imperialism Project so we could understand better how the world was becomeing imperialist. I noticed that England conquered many countries to get their goods because they were the first to start the industrial revolution and you need many goods. It took England about 20 years to really conquer most of Africa because of it disease they weren't able to go in. Germany, Portugal, Belgium, and France. Spain had some land but they really didn't need it cause they had Central and south America.

Karl Marx and Communism

2009-12-01T14:43:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx was an German philosopher who created the idea of Communism. He didn't believe in the idea of the industrialization so he came up with communism. In the a communist country they share the wealth, by that meaning everyone gets paid the same amount no matter what your job is. Karl Marx believed that if communism would take over the world and it would filled with prosperity. Karl Marx believe that the bourgeoisie (factory owner) were evil and the workers were the good ones being used by the bourgeoisie to get richer and leave the workers poorer. he wanted them to stand up and take over the bourgeoisie and spread the wealth. But Karl Marxs idea of Communism didn't work because in real life everyone is greed and wants more then others.

Karl Marx and the Industrial Revolution

2009-11-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx was a Jewish German who converted to Christianity. Karl was born in Trier, his dad forced the family to become Christian so Karl could get a job because they were poor. He was the man who created the government system, Communism. Communism is a form of government that spreads the wealth and everyone gets the same about. These ideas then evolved into communism and it only sounded good on paper because everyone is even but in real life everyone's greedy. Karl developed the form of government Communism using the idea of Utopia. He was totally against the Industrial Revolution because the rich would get richer and the poor would get poorer. He was also sick and tired of the way workers we get treated and how they would use children in the factory when the concision were so dangerous. He wanted the people in the factories to rebel and take over the factory. After he died, he ideas and ways were known as Marxism. His ideas influenced a lot of people and even influence nations. the first nation that used Marxism was Russia and these form of government failed after 70 years because they were tired of only having one choice and seeing Americans on the TV with so many options to pick from. . So because of the Industrial Revolution Marxism became very popular with nations like China and Russia. Communism still is a from of government in some countries.

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

2009-11-17T09:39:00.000-08:00

Nationalism is everywhere and are expressed in different ways.Nationalism is when people take pride in their country or nationality. What makes a country nationalist is when they all speak a similar language or share common customs or religion. Nationalism can be as simple as having same currency of money. Another way nationalism can be shown is the type of food the people eat and their nations anthem.

Italy is a nation and was formed by nationalism. Before Italy became a country it was first ruled by Austria. In the early and middle years of the 1800's Italians started to disobey the rule of the Australians, and they though that they should be loyal to the ruler. Some revolts broke out, and some failed. A man named Cavour helped unite Italy. Because of Cavour they won several battles, and he also helped nationalistic rebels win. He was able to drive Austrian forces away in order to take over territory and gain power. Cavour was an important person in history for uniting the nation of Italy.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2009-10-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar was born on July 24, 1783 in Caracas Venezuela. He was the son of don Juan Vicente Bolívar y Ponte and doña Maria de la Concepción Palacios y Blanco. Simon was born into a wealthy family, and received a good education. His parenets died when Simon was 9 years old. After their death he was put in the care of his uncle and was sent to Spain to further his education and learned the ideas of the enlightment thinkers. In Spain he meet don Juan Vicente Bolívar y Ponte and doña Maria de la Concepción Palacios y Blanco and married in 1802. She died 3 years later and Simon promised never to marry again.

Soon later he formed little army's to fight for Venezuela's indepences but July 24 had to flee to Colombia. August he recaptured Caracas and proclaimed the second Venezuelan republic. He later had to flee again to Jamaica to rest and reform his army which was reduced from the fight. The Battle of Boyaca of August 7, 1819 ended in Simon having power over Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador and all elected Simon Bolivar to be the first President like George Washington both lead their Revolutions and became Presidents after

John Locke And The Enlightenment

2009-10-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

The Declaration of Independence states that if the a governess is too fail at pleasing the people they are governing they have the right to abolish it and place a new one that is better. That every person have the right of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness, John lock also came up with these ideas for a goverment. That the people rule them selfs and not the government rule them. Every person has one vote to pick who they want to run the country. The government is separated into 3 parts Legislative branch, Executive branch, and the Judaical branch. All three are connected together, one branch is not more powerful than another. For a law to pass it has to pass through all 3. John came up with this beacuse he liked how the English had a Prime Minster, Parliament, and a judicial branch. When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Decoration of Independence he must of heared of the enlightenment thinkers and read about them before writing it. The funny think about it is that one of the greatest influential government ever was influenced by some toughs made up from a different person who doesn't really get the credit for it.

Copernicus and the Trial of Galileo

2009-09-20T17:06:00.000-07:00

The Heliocentric theory is that the sun in the center of the universe and all 9 planets surround the sun. This theory was created my scientist during the Scientific Revolution and may were kill for opposing the Christian church. The Christian Church opposed this because they thought that everything has to surround around them HUMAN are the center of everything because God made us. The geocentric theory is that the earth is the center of the universe and everything surrounds around the earth but this was incorrect but people believed in it because no bothered to see if it was right until Nicolas Copernicus proved it wrong.

Trial of Galileo was about a scientist named Galileo Galileo who wrote a book on the teaching of the Heliocentric theory. He had to face trial against the Holy Church and was forced to say he was wrong. But Galileo refused to say he was wrong because he knew he was right and he couldn't live with a lie. In the end he said he was wrong but when he was walking out the court he said I'm still right and was forced to be housed arrest for the rest of his life.

Scientific Revolution

2009-09-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

The Scientific Revolution was when people started to questioning thing and experiment to get answers, instead of listening to what the church says. Scientist would use the Scientific Method to find out problems they wanted to know. Before the Scientific Revolution people would go to the church for answers and what they said what right in reality it wasn't. Most of the thing the church would say was incorrect and scientist came to prove them wrong.The method or procedure they would follow was Hypothesis, Observation, Collect Data, and Inference.

Hypothesis- is a smart guess a scientist had about something they are going to experiment.
Observation- what they notice, things that happen during the experiment.
Collected Data- results found in the experiment.
Inference- explanation for why results came out how they did.

Evolution Vs. Creation

2009-09-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

The theory of Evolution was created by Charles Darwin in the 1800's. He wrote a book in 1859 on his theory of Evolution called On the Origin of Species. His book express his thoughts on all humans being animals and how everything evolved from an ancestor. Charles Darwin wasn't the first person to come up with this theory of Evolution but he became famous by it cause, he was the first to write a book and have hard evidence to prove it. The only problem with the theory of Evolution is that if everything evolved from one animal, which got more complex over a long period of time then which was what is the animal?

The Christians, Jews, and Muslims all believe in the old testament which is the belief that God created the first man in his image. Its written that it took God 7 days to make the earth. And after he made the earth he took clay and shaped in to a man who was Adam. And put Adam in the Garden of Eden to watch over it. He was able to eat from any tree in the garden but the Tree of Knowledge. Later God made Eve because Adam was getting lonely, and were punished for eating from the Tree of Knowledge.

I myself believe in Creation because i was raised believing about God and the stories in the bible. And the stories may seem unbelievable but religion is based on faith if you don't have faith then how can you have faith in general. And if you really do think about it, it does make scene that we all came from Adam and Eve cause they were the two most perfect beings on the planet, and we all got dumber throughout the year cause some of us rape, kill, steal, hurt, and more isn't that dumb.