Algeria vs. Iran

The revolutions in Algeria and Iran are very similar. Both revolutions have resulted in a government strongly influenced by religion. Religious extremist groups seized power in both cases. Both have suffered economically since their respective revolutions and are still struggling with poverty. Both have been unhappy with the elections of past leaders, and feel that their was fraud involved in the process. Both post revolution governments have attacked their citizens resulting in large death tolls; they show brutal retaliation. Overall, both revolutions were unsuccessful and worsened the state of their countries.

Answering Questions About Zahra's Paradise

I chose to answer two of my classmates questions concerning Zahra's Paradise.

Is the publisher of this article anonymous? How does she maintain her safety?

The creators of Zahra's Paradise remain semi-anonymous. They reveal their first names only for safety reasons. They remain safe by only revealing their first names as well as living in the United States where they are far out of the reach of revolutionary guards. Their names are Amir and Khalil. Amir is an Iranian-American activist and Khalil is an artist hailing from northern Africa.

If the violence was so bad, why didn't outside nations intervene?

Outside nations did intervene, the European Union sent aid to wounded protesters in Iran. Also, many foreign countries opened their embassies to wounded protesters. The embassies served as havens for the wounded because they were places were safety was assured.

Reaction to Zahra's Paradise

For homework we read a comic strip named Zahra's Paradise. The strip was a political cartoon drawn by a two semi anonymous authors named Amir who is an Iranian-American activist and Khalil who is an Arab artist from northern Africa. The cartoon is mostly about the harsh reaction of the Iranian government towards Iranian citizens who protested the results of the last election (it is widely believed that the election was rigged and that the election was a fraud). My first reaction to the cartoon was that it was very dark. The thought of injured citizens being dragged out of hospitals to be beaten by government paid guards is very scary. Also, I sympathized with the protesters being dragged out of the hospital more than with the mother looking for her lost son. Overall, the cartoon was very telling about the Iranian government and has given me a bias against Amadinejad despite not knowing much about him. I was also able to make several connections to other history after reading the cartoon. I connected Freedom square and Tienanmen Square because they both were (coincidentally?) squares, as well as spots for political protest that resulted in bloodshed and government backlash. I connected the retaliation of the revolutionary guards to the retaliation of the Soviets against the Hungarians in the Hungarian revolution because both were swift and excessive.

After reading the cartoon I wondered:

.What was so bad about the policies of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

.Was there a retaliation by the protesters against the revolutionary guards?How Long did the violence last?

.Where did they take the injured protesters?

Incorrectly Comparing Culture

Longevity is the only trait for measuring the success of a culture. Strong culture will be passed down from generation in traditions and other forms, while weak cultures will disappear over time. A strong culture will persevere through rough periods of time and continue to live on, while others may fall to influence from other cultures. It is wrong for anyone to judge culture that is not their own. A foreigner cannot possibly have the same appreciation for culture native to a group or place that they are not familiar with. Some aspects of culture may seem ludicrous to foreigners but are sensible to indigenous peoples. It is fairer to judge other people on their political, economic and scientific facts because those are not up to interpretation. There is no bias in facing facts but there is opinion in judging culture.

Comparing Cold War Rivalries to Other International Rivalries

The Cold War was ridiculous. It was a war of propaganda and stealth as opposed to a physical beat-down. The Cold War was similar to an internet cat-fight; the objective of each side was to tarnish the other sides reputation through propaganda and the support of other countries. If you were looking for a true, hate-filled rivalry, then just look at Japan and China. Those two countries genuinely despise each other and their not subtle about it. For example, the Japanese invaded China then proceeded to rape and murder more than 200,000 innocent people in what is referred to as the rape of nanking. There no rape of anything during the cold war, just empty threats and rumors. Overall, compared to other gruesome international rivalries, the Cold War seems insignificant.

Revised Paragraph

The United Nations brings great things to the table. Yes everyone yearns for world peace, but we cannot achieve it by only caring for our respective countries. The U.N requires stronger countries to help empoverished countries . The U.N also provides organization that previously was unheard of. They provide a structured way to accomplish a goal as large as world peace. This is a huge improvement from wearing Tye-dye shirts and throwing up peace signs. The U.N is finally proposing a plan of action for achieving world peace, allowing its members to check in on the groups progress by checking the different sections of the U.N website. Overall, the good intentions of the U.N make it a good thing, but the organization that accompanies it gives us hope that the U.N can reach their goals with co-operation from all countries.

United Nations Doing Nothing

1. There is a recurring theme in my annotations; they all seem to point out that the united Nations sounds like a good idea, but has no action plan. Not once in the charter is their any mention of action, just obvious ways of keeping the peace.
2. The goals of the Charter are very clear. The charter is aiming to create world peace through allying countries through the United Nations. They hope to prevent the type of all out war that was experienced in the first two world wars.
3. The most glaring problem with the charter is that it has no action plan. It has good ideas but has no hints of ways to implement them. You cannot just snap your fingers and bring world peace.

Geography's Role in the Holocaust

1.Geography was very important in the Holocaust. Geography was utilized by Nazi's to hide the atrocities they were committing by committing them outside of Germany and far away from Berlin.The Auschwitz video shows that reveals that all of the death camps were in Poland instead of Germany. The Nazi's placed these camps outside of Germany in order to hide their evil deeds from German citizens. In the Holocaust video I found another example of Germans using geography to hide their atrocities. To quote the narrator,"The Germans established ghettos in occupied eastern territories, isolating and persecuting the Jewish population". The narrator tells us that the Germans established ghettos in foreign countries, not Germany. this is a prime example of Germans using geography to hide their sins.
2.The museum is definitely attempting to be a memorial with the somber tone of its videos, and thought provoking facts about the Holocaust. The use of pictures also gives the website memorial like qualities. The website clearly is a memorial to the suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust. The information may be presented under the bias of a Jew towards the holocaust. The website assumes that its visitors believe that the Holocaust was a real thing. A website does not count as a monument because it is easily erased from existence; It is much easier to delete a website than a statue. A museum is a monument because it is a physical specimen and more times than not it will be around for a while.

What I Want to Know

For the first part of my project I will be researching the Berlin Wall. Here is a list of questions I want to answer in my research:
. Why is it considered a monument?
. What does it commemorate?
. who commissioned the construction of the Berlin Wall?
. why was the wall built?
. How can the wall be connected to things that we have studied in class?

For the second part of my project I will be studying the Woodside Store. I will be trying to answer these questions.
When was it built?
why was it built?
What does it commemorate?
Why is it significant?
What is its historical context?
Who built it?

The Decision to Drop the Atom Bomb

The video clearly shows the american public's view of the dropping of the atom bomb. I think the reason that this video was shown in 1995 as opposed to earlier is because if it was shown closer to the dropping of the atom bomb, it would have made the dropping of the bomb seem criminal. they were only able to show the movie because it had been a while since the bomb was dropped and it had given people time to adjust and come to piece with the dropping of the bomb. This movie tells us that the history of World War 2 is very dark and deflating. It shows that no one reaped the benefits of the war and that overall, it was an unfortunate happening.

Researching the War

Today in class, we spent time researching questions we had about World War Two. While I was going through the detailed chronology of World War Two, I came to the conclusion that Japan's leaders must have been insane. I had already known about the Kamikazes and their lunacy, but two other tidbits of Information struck me as on par with their craziness. First, I was shocked by the resilience of the Japanese government. The time line shows that Japan was nuked twice, and had the Soviet Union Declare war on them before they finally surrendered. Even after being blitzkrieg-ed by everything the air force had to offer, Japan still asked for a conditional surrender (four days later they unconditionally surrendered). The fact that they didn't immediately surrender after being NUKED shows that their government was either stupid or extremely resilient; either way it is still an interesting that Japan took so long to accept defeat. Another thing that struck me as bizarre was Japan asking there citizens to commit suicide rather than get killed or turn themselves in to the Americans. It describes that around a thousand Japanese citizens either killed themselves or were killed by Japanese soldiers.
Overall, in our research today in class I found exactly how extreme and ridiculous Japan's leadership was during Word War Two. Kamikaze fighter pilots, demanding suicide from their citizens, and the unwillingness to surrender even after it was clear that there was no way to achieve victory shows their true colors.

The Success of the Munich Conference

The Munich Conference was a great success! Finally Europe is on the path to stopping Germany's rapid expansion. The Munich Conference will finally appease Hitler and power hungry Germany. The success of the Munich Conference has shown that diplomacy is an effective way of dealing with Germany. The conference shows that Europe's leaders can come up with an intelligent diplomatic solution in as little as four hours. Also, the Munich Conference did not require much sacrifice from Europe; It is perfectly fine to allow Germany to flex its muscles. Germany has been in a cage due to the Treaty of Versailles and it is not unnatural for Germany to want to expand after being contained for so long. Besides, the Treaty of Versailles crippled Germany to a point where it was treated as unequal to the ret of Europe; The Munich Conference simply gave Germany the equality that all European countries deserve.

The Munchen Conference

Written from the point of view of a British citizen:

The Munchen Conference is seriously disappointing. It seemed like everyone who opposed Germany's subtle expansion into Czechoslovakia slept in and missed the meeting. The conference has changed nothing. Germany will still continue to expand, but now it will do it quietly as opposed to expansion through brute force. The conference was a half-assed attempt at diplomacy. The soul purpose of the conference was to appease Germany for the time being. It is saddening to know that our leadership is so poor that the government cannot put its foot down on an obvious problem. Germany's expansion is obvious sign for concern, and that the fact that Europe either does not realize it, or is not concerned by it, is very disconcerting. It is blatantly obvious that Germany is planning for war; It has already created its own air force,announced its military conscription, and is building its allies at an alarming pace. The Munchen Conference was an opportunity for Europe to kill the momentum of Germany's expansion and conquest; I fear the repercussions for passing up the chance.

Things I Know About WW2

Here is a list of things I think I know about World War Two:
-America was allied with England and France
-Pearl Harbor brought America into the war
-It was as brutal as any other war, My Grandfather never talked about it.
-The war ended when the US dropped the Atomic Bomb and Hiroshima and another Japanese city, don't remember the name.
-Aerial combat became a large part of warfare
-bomb shelters were everywhere, the threat of enemy bombing runs was huge.
-there were blackouts where cities would make all windows black so that bombers could not identify them as targets at night.
-the war was fought on land, sea and air
-The nazis used the jews as scapegoats
-concentration camps were set up in Germany and other Nazi controlled countries
-Sweden was neutral
-Switzerland was neutral
What I hope to learn about WW2

-Why it was started in the first place
- Why did Japan get involved
-What was Austria's role in WW2
-What were the ramifications of WW2
-Why were submarines important in WW2
-What were the new war strategies developed for WW2

Animal Farm Allegory

In the first couple chapters of Animal Farm by George Orwell, it becomes obvious that the story is a historical allegory to Russian Communism after World War One. Orwell cleverly portrays three important communist figureheads as three of the most important pigs of "Animalism". Karl Marx is clearly represented by Old Major, who teaches the other animals the foundation of communism and preaches revolution against the humans. Leon Trotsky is portrayed as Squealer the pig; one of the leaders of Animalism and the pig who is in charge of propaganda. Stalin is portrayed by Napoleon the pig. Napoleon is a bully, he rules with an Iron fist and uses intimidation tactics to keep the animals in order. Napoleon also eliminates Squealer when the disagree on political actions by releasing his own set of trained war dogs on him. The way that Napoleon got rid of Squealer is meant to show the way that Stalin got rid of Trotsky. Napoleon's war dogs are to be seen as the NKGB; Stalin's secret police. It is exceedingly obvious that Animal Farm is a direct reflection of Russian Communism.

Communism vs. Fascism

Communism and Fascism are similar in some regards, but preach different philosophies. Communism is focused on the success of its citizen's, especially the lower to middle classes. Fascism is focused on the country's success and power on a global stage.
Communism emphasizes equality among all citizens, while fascism pretends to do so, yet maintains an elitist upper tier of rulers and nobles that truly have the power.Communists see all as equals while Fascists blame minorities for past failures to create nationalism. Both use nationalism to their advantage but use different strategies to create it.

The French and Russian Revolutions

The Russian Revolution did not model itself after the French Revolution. Though both involved great amounts of violence, the Russian Revolution was different from the French Revolution in a few key ways. The Russian Revolution was different because it was far less bloody; there were less public executions, there was no guillotine. The russian revolution had far less killings. Also, the French revolution was different because it came out of relative peace time; the Russian revolution erupted during the middle of war

Notes from The Cabaret

Berlin Atmosphere:
When I watched the Cabaret, I noticed a couple things about the environment. It took place in Berlin, though the main two characters were British. Berlin was portrayed to be a slum; their were many homeless people on the streets and they referenced lack of money multiple times in the movie. Also, the atmosphere in Berlin was definitely anti- communist, as evidence by the ruined communist propaganda posters. Overall, it seemed like a tense environment. The tense environment can be chalked up to the presence of the Nazis. The Nazi's publicly killed one man and left him in the street and also murdered the manager of the Cabaret for kicking a Nazi out of his building, this goes to show that speaking your mind was dangerous which explains the tense environment.
The Point of the Cabaret:
In the movie, the point of the cabaret is to reflect the actions that are happening outside the Cabaret. For example, when the manager of the Cabaret is being murdered by nazi's a skit inside the Cabaret shows the host slapping the dancing women.
Nazis, Who are they? Where are they?:
In the Cabaret, the Nazi all seem to be young people. This is best shown in the scene in the beergarden where a young Nazi sings a song about grasping the future and the first people to stand up and sing with him are young men and women. That scene also shows that the Nazis are everywhere in Germany; they are in the countryside and in the cities.

Fascism in the Middle East

Fascism in the Middle East
The Taliban consistently demonstrate qualities of a Fascist group. They are similar in many ways to a Fascist regime. The differences between the Taliban and a Fascist regime are miniscule and insignificant. The similarities in the way that the Taliban conduct their business with that of a Fascist regime are the reason that the Taliban can be classified as Fascist.
The first reason that the Taliban is a fascist group is the way they use religion to unite people. For the Taliban, religion is the focus and following Shariah law is the goal, so in society religion is everywhere. This is similar in other fascist regimes. Benito Mussolini embraced the Catholic Church as a way to incorporate religion into society as well as use it to draw more followers and to create an expected role for men and women, the way that the Taliban and Fascist groups treated woman. In Shariah Law women are not seen as equals and are forced to do things that depict them as unequal to men, in Fascist regimes women were not seen as equals either.
The second reason that the Taliban is a fascist group is because it is very violent. The Taliban employ fear in the same way that a fascist regime does. The Taliban are notorious for public beatings and gruesome executions; Fascist regimes are notorious for much of the same. For example, in Mussolini’s rise to power in Italy, his opponents were forced to drink castor oil. Both used fear to scare people into obedience. Also, both have violent tendencies. A fascist regime wants to expand through conquest and is typically bellicose. The Taliban are equally as violent as they believe that war is justified if it is jihad.
Lastly, the Taliban are a Fascist regime because they seek to control everything. The Taliban’s main objective is to make all Muslims live their life by Shariah Law; Shariah Law is a very strict interpretation of Islam that commands Muslims to live a very modest, simple life. Shariah Law affects all parts of life, the way you dress, the food you eat, the jobs you are allowed to take and so on. Fascist regimes also seek to control all aspects of life. Hitler’s rise to power is a great example of how fascist regimes control all aspects of life. Once Hitler got to power, he took command of every aspect of a German citizens life.
Overall, It is clear that the similarities between the Taliban and Fascist groups are not a coincidence. The Taliban incorporate fascist ideas and strategies into their philosophy and actions, which cements their title as a fascist regime.

Analyzing "Green Shirts"

This picture portrays a group of men from a fascist group in Brazil. The man are seen raising their arms in salute while attempting to start a coup and overthrow the current government in Brazil. This picture exemplifies many things that Fascist movements encourage. first off, it shows the majority saluting one man, who seems to be the leader of the movement. Secondly, it shows obedience from the majority, which is essential to Fascism's success.