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.

The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution started in 1917 and ended in 1918. It was the first time a nation adopted communism as its political and economic system. The Russian people were tired of fighting and dying during WW I. As a result it had weakened there government and economy. World War I created conditions in Russia that helped trigger a revolution. The effects of the revolution were changing the nature of society in the Russian Empire. The Russians weren’t satisfied and were dejected so they decided to have a revolution. A major problem of the October and November revolution was that they were starving and loosing the battle. Czar Nicholas II brought Russia to World War I. As time went by people started to dislike him and wanted him out of there territory. The negative aspects of the revolution were food shortages, population decrease, and peasants had very high population. Workers and peasants revolted against the landlords and factory owners. The people from Russia were tired of there government and wanted a new one. Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks was inspired by Carl Marx and his belief in communism. He was able to spread it through out Russia. The people were now embraced with the ideas of communism. He encouraged a revolt against landlords and factory owners. One thing that he and the Bolshevik party came up with was "Peace, Land and Bread”. He was a great leader that promised them these things. There were two revolutions the October and November revolutions. The February revolution was when the Russian people removed Czar Nicholas II. The October revolution was led by Vladimir Lenin whose ideas were similar to Karl Marxs. Lenin was able to spread the ideas of communism. Communism was able to last in Russia from 1917 - 1989. The Soviet Union was established; they got rid of the Democratic system, and set up dictatorship in the country.

Causes of WWI

World War I also known as the Great War was from 1914-1918.Causes of World War I were nationalism, Militarism, the Assassination of Frans Ferdinand and the collapse of the alliance system. A major cause of this war was the assassination of Ferdinand in Austria on 1914. He was killed by a Serbian Nationalist. Germany pledged its support to Austria-Hungary, pressuring them to declare war on Serbia. Nationalism on the other hand caused competition among the nations. It turned Frenchman against German and Russian against Austrian. Countries tried to prove their nationalism superior to other countries. This quickened the pace that the war took to develop. They had strong speeches and writings about there pride towards there country. Another strong reason as to why the Great War started was because of Imperialism. Great Britain, Germany and France needed markets after the increase in manufacturing caused by the Industrial Revolution. They competed for economic expansion in Africa. This caused the falling of the Ottoman Empire to Austria-Hungary and Russia. Another reason that started the War was the Alliance, which led to the immediate result of the War. Their were two alliances, they were the triple alliance and the triple entente. The triple alliance consisted of the countries of, Italy, Germany, Austria and Hungary. The triple entente was Russia, France, and Britain. Each country was improving in their military system. They demanded more power for their country. Germany was the strongest country with one of the best military. Each Country prepeared there army to win.

The Opium Wars

The Opium war was between China and England. It started in 1839 and ended in 1842. China was isolated for many years, the British wanted to trade with China for there most popular natural resource which was tea. But China did not want any help from them. So, in order to get the tea, British started to sell Opium to the Chinese people. When the British offered opium the Chinese gladly said yes. Opium was a type of drug that was very strong and easy to get addicted to. It was used for medications and to take the pain away. Opium can be dangerous, but the British felt the rulers in China had no right to keep opium from their people. Western Civilization had grown.

As time went by they decided to make a new product using opium. The governments signed a peace treaty that allowed the British to use five ports instead of one. They mixed tobacco with Opium and promoted smoking Opium in China. Over two million pounds of Opium were being sold to China every year. The British were successful with the new ideas that China was coming up with. In 1838, efforts to trade opium were ended, and anyone who was trying to trade it would be killed. China was forced to sign the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, and the British supplementary Treaty of the Bogue in 1843.This war was called the Opium wars because it was a fight for Opium. China wanted it out while the British wanted it in. The British won this war due to their high technology and powerful army. As a result the Chinese lost power of an important Island call Hong Kong.