Film Lesson "The Right Stuff"

The film lesson "The Right stuff" was based on the history of the United States and the Soviet Union during the “Space Race”. They completed each other to see who would develop the first rocket ship to make it to space. "The Right Stuff" was about the test pilots who are the astronauts and there first attempts in the United States at spaceflight. When Russia sent the first satellite into space, America was infuriated. We wanted to win this race and by them putting the first satellite they looked better than us. The United States needed something more powerful, but putting a person in space was to risky, so instead we decided to send out a monkey into space. Russia decided to take the risk and send a person. In the beginning The Russians were winning the competition because, there were 3 different activities. Russia was the first one to complete 2 activities than the Americans. They launched the first satellite and the rocket. At the end we won the space race because we were able to send the first man to the moon. Russia was a communist country and the United States was Capitalist. Some scenes that will help me remember the cold war event was when Russia and the U.S were competing against each other and when the U.S broke the record of the sound barrier. This scene was important because it showed the frustration of the US trying to break the sound barrier, and also our reaction when we were able to actually break it. They didn’t want the press to write a report on it so that the Russians wouldn’t get ahead of them. Another Scene was when the US wanted to be the first ones to go to space and they got seven of the best pilots to go to space. In order for them to go to space they had to be strong, smart, and healthy. This scene was painful and horrifying because they had to do a lot of events and experiments to see if they were good enough to be astronauts. From all the people that tried out only seven people were able to complete the examination.

NATO and Warsaw Pact

The NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was established April, 4, 1949. It was an agreement which involved 12 nations, that included the United States and the United Kingdom. The NATO was established with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. It was basically a defensive system of alliance for some European countries and North America.
The system was used as defense against the soviets and other countries, stating that if any country in the NATO, had to go to war, the other countries of the NATO would come to their aid. The NATO became very important to the U.S, the Soviets expanded in territory and spread communism. To counter the NATO alliance of its enemies, the Soviet Union created an alliance between itself and its satellite countries. Satellite Countries were bordering countries around Russia. They were a method of protection for the Soviets.

The Warsaw Pact was an organization of communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. The treaty was signed in Warsaw, Poland on May 14, 1955. The treaty was a direct response to West Germany joining the NATO in 1955. The Warsaw Pact was formed as communist military alliance to maintain power over Eastern Europe.
NATO said they would not support any country who signed the Warsaw Pact. With these two alliances, both sides where prepared for war, and tension between them continued to grow. The Soviets kept military in their other countries, this was the Soviets first attempt to strengthen themselves after the war.In 1956, the Soviet Union attacked Czechoslovakia and took military action against Hungary. Both of these countries were members of the Warsaw Pact.

Film Lesson: Schindlers List

"Schindler's List" is a 1993 black and white film directed by Steven Spielberg. This Hollywood version of the holocaust is a true story about a man named Oscar Schindler who saved thousands of lives. He was a business man at the time that employed more then a thousand Jews who slave worked in his factory. By doing this he saved all of his employee’s l from getting killed. He didn’t have to pay them due to the fact that they were Jews. This film was different from the documentary because it was acted out but it still showed us what really happened to the Jews. Many were held in concentration camps where they were tortured, experimented on, killed, and buried in mass graves or cremated in ovens.

The most powerful scenes in the movie were when the families got to Auschwitz and were separated. This scene was the most powerful in the movie, because females and males were separated. Mothers and sons were separated and never to be seen together again because they would have to go there separate ways in the camp. Kids would be taken away from parents and would be killed in other camps. The strong and healthy people survived because they would be able to work and help out, while the weak were killed and thrown away because they were no use and wouldn’t be able to work. Little kids were also killed because they were too young and weren’t able to work. Another scene that shocked me was the way children were killed. They would hide in any place in order to survive. They were terrified of dyeing and being separated from there families. There was a shocking seen through out the movie that showed a little girl in a red dress that was lost from her mother. She ends up in a wheelbarrow with other dead children. Some images that will stay with me are the dead bodies laying on the ground and the kids being killed. It is cruel to see little innocent kids die for something that they shouldn’t be blamed for. These horrifying and terrible scenes are the ones that touched me the most.

Film Lesson : Night and Fog

While watching the documentary film, “Night and Fog” I was shocked and terrified by the brutal and horrifying scenes of the movie. This documentary showed us how the prisoners of World War two were treated during the time of the Holocaust. I found the film very horrible because it showed the discrimination towards Jews and how they were treated .It was shocking to see how much hate and power people had over Jews that they would kill billions and make them work and starve. It was very powerful, because it was really devastating to see people dying from starvation, and suffering from pain for something that they didn’t cause. There were horrible living conditions in the camps. They would put all the Jews in a room that would release gas and would kill thousands. This film was also very impactful because it showed the skeleton bodies, piles of hair, and crematory ovens were millions were killed. There were a lot of dead bodies, cruelty, and unfairness that showed how much pain the Jews had to live with. This film gave us a better understanding of the Holocaust and all the suffering the Jews went through. It showed us the jorney people went throught from begining to end. The Hollywood movie,”Schindlers List” got its point across and showed us how the discrimination towards Jews was but it wasn’t as deep in detail as the documentary was. There were more effective and brutal scenes.

The Treaty of Versailles

After WWI, Europe was left in bad conditions and Germany was blamed for the whole war. Most of Germany's territory was taken from them, and all of their land overseas was lost. The League of Nations took control of all their colonies. The war cost them nearly 10 percent of their land and their overseas colonies, were taken away by allies, who blamed Germany for their losses. On June 28, 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed. The treaty of Versailles was an official peace treaty which officially ended the war. It was signed exactly 5 years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which was the same reason why the war started in the first place. The Treaty put all the blame on Germany for the causes of the war. Germany was responsible for paying the damages that the war had caused. Life for the German people became very difficult after the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty also took control of Germany’s military. Their armies reduced 100,000 men and were now allowed to only have 6 ships. The German army and navy were limited and bans where put on the use of heavy artillery, tanks, and aircrafts. A major result of the treaty was terrible hardships in Germany, they wanted to get revenge. German people felt let down and angry with the treaty of Versailles because it wasn’t fair. They believed that if they had a strong leader Germany would become better.

I don’t think that the treaty of Versailles was fair because all the blame was put on Germany. They had to pay all the consequences due to the war. This ruined Germany's economy. The Treaty of Versailles was a treaty made without thought of fairness or consideration as to what its effects might be. Instead the treaty created an alien system of democracy. Some historians say that the treaty of Versailles led to the rise of Fascism and Adolf Hitler. The Treaty gave Germany many hardships and it lead to the great depression in Germany. Many people lost their jobs and starved. The country was becoming worse and people were desperate for a new ruler that would bring there country back up. Adolf Hitler was able to take control. He blamed outsiders for causing problems in the nation and attempted to over throw Germany’s government. He talked in a way that impressed and convinced the German people. He had absolute power over the entire country.

Mustafa Kemal and the Modernazation of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal was the founder of the Turkish Republic and a great leader in history. His main goal was to modernize Turkish life. He wanted them to have a new source of dignity, equality, and happiness. He came up with the "Six Arrows," which were six fundamentals. These six fundamentals consisted of Republicanism, Populism, Secularism, Reformism, Nationalism, and Sadism. Mustafa Kemal, modernized Turkey by first getting rid of the Ottoman dynasty. This made a huge turning point, since the Ottoman dynasty lasted more than six centuries. He then created the republic of Turkey, in 1923. There he was president for 15 years.

He introduced many reforms to his country like politics, and economical aspects. Transformation took place in the urban and rural life. He created a secular system in which the Moslem majority and the small Christian and Jewish minorities were free to practice their faith and what they believed in. He wanted freedom and equality for all, not depending what religion they were involved in. “The true owner and master of Turkey is the peasant who is the real producer." He believed that the true rulers of Turkey were the peasants who were neglected for many years. Economic and technological developments were a great deal of moderation in Turkey. Secular are things that did not regard or connect with religion, spiritual or scared. He did this by the separation of religion from educational, cultural and legal affairs.

Kemal was able to create a secular government and secular education. He believed that all the people were supposed to dress and live like the Europeans. He changed the way people dressed. People stopped wearing their religious clothing and began to wear more modern clothes. Under his control, the country became better, and more equal. Kemal achieved his goal of Modernizing Turkey in every aspects of life.

Film Lesson "Ghandi"

Gandhi was a hard working and influential person in India who fought for there freedom and independence. He was a lawyer who fought against the racial problems towards the Indians. India wasn't an independent country and at the time was controlled by the British. He wanted to unit people from all religions like Muslim and Hindu. He knew that if he united all religions they would become a strong force and it would be easier to defeat the British. The British had good tactics that could easily defeat them if they weren’t united.

Gandhi had moved to South Africa, where he was a victim of discrimination and unfair laws. He was in 1st class and they told him to move to 3rd class because he was Indian. He refused and was kicked out. The massacre at Amritsar was the act which brought the independence soul from Gandhi. Gandhi was known for fighting using civil disobediences. He taught his people that violence wasn’t going to solve anything. He told the Indians to stop buying goods from the British which would weaken the British government. He made his own clothes and so did his followers.
During the Amritsar Massacre the British were very violent but Gandhi supported peace. So that violence would stop he went on a hunger strike while in prison. He was put into jail many times for his opinion but he came out stronger and more determine to accomplish his goals. Gandhi helped the people protest against British rule and the Salt March on 1930. They were now going to make there own salt so that they wouldn’t have to relay on the British. Gandhi along with hundered men walked 200 miles to the edge of India to the sea and made salt.

In 1947, India won its freedom from Britain. At the end Gandhi was assassinated by an Indian who did not support the idea about Muslims and Hindus living together. Gandhi’s acts of civil disobedience influenced many civil leaders in America like Martin Luther King. In my opinion I believe that India would have reached its freedom due to WWII effect on Britain's power. But Gandhi’s act of civil disobedience was a great way of achieving its independence by using non-violence.