3 Things I've Learned:
- I have learned so much from this entire chapter, it's hard to choose just three things. But some things that I've never talked to much about before would be the Munich Conference and all of the other ways that appeasement was used after WWI. Hitler gained an excessive amount of power by the other countries practicing appeasement. Another thing that I learned from this chapter was the strength and power of Mussolini. I have learned a lot about Hitler before in many other classes, but surprisingly I didn't know to much about Mussolini. I learned that he was very similar to Hitler in many ways, yet also different from Hitler in many ways as well. The way Mussolini was able to gain power was crazy. It seemed way too easy for him, it wasn't long after he was named Prime Minister or Italy that he became a very harsh dictator. One last thing that I learned from this chapter was the change in art. The Dada movement and surrealism are extremely interesting styles of art that brought a whole new way of looking at life to the people. Bringing dreams "to life" and putting them on paper was a completely new idea that still lasts today. I've seen pictures and artwork from this time period before, without any knowledge of what it was or where it came from, and learning about it now, certainly helped answer the questions that would run through my mind about them.
2 Things I Found Interesting:
Two things that I truly found interesting in this chapter were the changes in women after WWI and the way one simple thing such as a car could change one's life so much. I find the way women cut their hair, wore more revealing clothing, became more promiscuous, and started working in different jobs very interesting. I feel that freedom is something everyone should have, but it should not be taken too far. It's amazing to me how quickly women changed after the war. The other extreme change that took place after the war is very interesting to me as well. In the 20's I'm sure a car was not something as simple as it seems now, but it's amazing how a vehicle can change one's life in so many ways. I find it pleasing to know that the car could help so many people. People had more freedom, they could travel for fun, they could live wherever they wanted and still work. It is very interesting to know that something like this can change one's life so much and so fast.
1 Question I Still Have:
I don't really have any specific questions still running through my mind, but I think I would like to know a little more about the Spanish Civil War. I don't feel that the book talked much about the war and I think it is an important part of history that I should probably know a little more about. Maybe there isn't much information to really know about, and if that is the case, that is okay, but if there is anything more that I should know about it I would like to know. Thanks!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Spotlight On
Spanish Civil War (1936-1939)
In 1936 after elections in Spain resulted in a Popular Front government, a military uprising began. This government was supported by mainly left-wing parties which was the main cause of the military revolt led by Francisco Franco and the Nationalist party. The Republican party, which was the party in control at the time, was supported by middle class workers, militant anarchists, and communists.
During the war, the Nationalists received help from the Nazi's and Fascists and they were sent tanks, airplanes, and troops by Hitler and Mussolini. At the same time, the Republicans were receiving help from the Soviet Union. Gradually, the Nationalists began to gain territory and by April 1939, they successfully split in half. This caused around 250,000 Republican forces to flee to France, leaving the remaining troops no choice but to surrender. By March 28, 1939 the Nationalists had complete control. This was the the start of the dictatorship that lasted until the mid 1970s.
*Over 500,000 people were killed during the Spanish Civil War.
Cites: http://www.answers.com/topic/spanish-civil-war
In 1936 after elections in Spain resulted in a Popular Front government, a military uprising began. This government was supported by mainly left-wing parties which was the main cause of the military revolt led by Francisco Franco and the Nationalist party. The Republican party, which was the party in control at the time, was supported by middle class workers, militant anarchists, and communists.
During the war, the Nationalists received help from the Nazi's and Fascists and they were sent tanks, airplanes, and troops by Hitler and Mussolini. At the same time, the Republicans were receiving help from the Soviet Union. Gradually, the Nationalists began to gain territory and by April 1939, they successfully split in half. This caused around 250,000 Republican forces to flee to France, leaving the remaining troops no choice but to surrender. By March 28, 1939 the Nationalists had complete control. This was the the start of the dictatorship that lasted until the mid 1970s.
*Over 500,000 people were killed during the Spanish Civil War.
Cites: http://www.answers.com/topic/spanish-civil-war
US Events
The Great Depression
The United States was hit horribly with the Great Depression beginning in 1929 with the stock market crash. When the stock market crashed, 40% of the paper values of common stock were cleared. Some other causes of the Great Depression were high overproduction, decrease in demand for goods, and uneven distribution of wealth. The economy was awful. After the stock market crash everything when extremely downhill. 25% of the population were unemployed, almost all of the banks were forced to close, high tariffs were established, and there was major widespread poverty. People lost all of their money when the banks closed, but there was nothing they could do. The Great Depression not only affected the US, but it affected all of the surrounding nations as well. Each nation's economy was demolished and because of this, leaders were evolving. Someone had to step up and try to re-establish the economy. In the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the one to take this responsibility. He began to create reforms and he called his plan the New Deal. This involved many programs that were to be used to revive the economy, create jobs for the unemployed, help the agricultural farms that were destroyed, bring the banks back to life, and bring happiness back into America.
Connection Across Time:
We are currently experiencing a recession in the United States today. This recession is not nearly as awful as the Great Depression in 1929, but many aspects can be related. For example, the unemployment rate has dropped significantly in the past few years and currently stands at 10.4%. There are large amounts of widespread poverty throughout the entire country as well. During the Great Depression banks were forced to close, now however, banks came close but they were bailed out by President Obama. Another similarity between the Great Depression and the recession today is the effort in reforms. A program known as TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) has been to into effect in order to create jobs for the unemployed. The connects extremely well with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) developed as part of the New Deal during the Great Depression. Both of these programs create jobs such as building highways and roads, doing construction work, and any other infrastructural projects that may arise.
Cites: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/overview.htm
http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/tarpinfo.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/wpa/wpa_info.html
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Development of Transportation and Entertainment
After WWI society began to change greatly. Entertainment became a very important part of every day life, as did transportation. In the US things were a little different than they were in Europe. In the US radios and television were run by the people and used completely for their entertainment. Movies and radio stations for people's enjoyment started to develop after the war. Knowing that radios could be used during war for communication, the idea of communication for enjoyment became one of the new brilliant ideas. Transportation was another major change for US citizens after the war because once automobiles got cheaper more people were able to afford them. Cars were bought and people were able to travel leisurely, people could move to the suburbs of the city, and commuting to work was made possible. Because of the ability to travel for fun, the revenue in movies continued to rise. The people started to have more freedom. New ideas were constantly arriving and society continued to change throughout time.
Connection Across Time:
Every day new ideas are being developed. Things are always changing in society. Specifically now, a few major developments in technology can relate pretty well to the changes in technology after WWI. Movies are still being improved today, new things are always being added and experimented with. Currently, 3D movies are very popular. Not only are there 3D movies in theatres, but a new 3D television is available to purchase. Another line of new products that are starting to become popular are the Blu-ray players and discs. This is a line of products that came after the VHS tapes and then after DVDs. Transportation is also another part of every day life that is constantly being improved. Sometimes the new ideas for transportation are not the best ideas, just as everything else that is tried, but the ideas are there. After cars many other way for transportation were developed. There is now a wide variety of vehicles to choose from when searching for a method of transportation. The options range anywhere from cars, trucks, and vans to buses, planes, and trains. Also, more recently becoming popular are motorcycles, mopeds, ATVs, dirt bikes, and scooters. As you can tell, entertainment and transportation (many time used for entertainment) are always being improved. This will probably never change.
Cites: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=3d+television&rlz=1R2GGLL_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14395162538736658150&ei=nuLLS-nmGYH88Ab5l5TPBA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB0Q8wIwAg#ps-sellers
The United States was hit horribly with the Great Depression beginning in 1929 with the stock market crash. When the stock market crashed, 40% of the paper values of common stock were cleared. Some other causes of the Great Depression were high overproduction, decrease in demand for goods, and uneven distribution of wealth. The economy was awful. After the stock market crash everything when extremely downhill. 25% of the population were unemployed, almost all of the banks were forced to close, high tariffs were established, and there was major widespread poverty. People lost all of their money when the banks closed, but there was nothing they could do. The Great Depression not only affected the US, but it affected all of the surrounding nations as well. Each nation's economy was demolished and because of this, leaders were evolving. Someone had to step up and try to re-establish the economy. In the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the one to take this responsibility. He began to create reforms and he called his plan the New Deal. This involved many programs that were to be used to revive the economy, create jobs for the unemployed, help the agricultural farms that were destroyed, bring the banks back to life, and bring happiness back into America.
Connection Across Time:
We are currently experiencing a recession in the United States today. This recession is not nearly as awful as the Great Depression in 1929, but many aspects can be related. For example, the unemployment rate has dropped significantly in the past few years and currently stands at 10.4%. There are large amounts of widespread poverty throughout the entire country as well. During the Great Depression banks were forced to close, now however, banks came close but they were bailed out by President Obama. Another similarity between the Great Depression and the recession today is the effort in reforms. A program known as TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) has been to into effect in order to create jobs for the unemployed. The connects extremely well with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) developed as part of the New Deal during the Great Depression. Both of these programs create jobs such as building highways and roads, doing construction work, and any other infrastructural projects that may arise.
Cites: http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/depression/overview.htm
http://www.federalreserve.gov/bankinforeg/tarpinfo.htm
http://www.indiana.edu/~liblilly/wpa/wpa_info.html
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Development of Transportation and Entertainment
After WWI society began to change greatly. Entertainment became a very important part of every day life, as did transportation. In the US things were a little different than they were in Europe. In the US radios and television were run by the people and used completely for their entertainment. Movies and radio stations for people's enjoyment started to develop after the war. Knowing that radios could be used during war for communication, the idea of communication for enjoyment became one of the new brilliant ideas. Transportation was another major change for US citizens after the war because once automobiles got cheaper more people were able to afford them. Cars were bought and people were able to travel leisurely, people could move to the suburbs of the city, and commuting to work was made possible. Because of the ability to travel for fun, the revenue in movies continued to rise. The people started to have more freedom. New ideas were constantly arriving and society continued to change throughout time.
Connection Across Time:
Every day new ideas are being developed. Things are always changing in society. Specifically now, a few major developments in technology can relate pretty well to the changes in technology after WWI. Movies are still being improved today, new things are always being added and experimented with. Currently, 3D movies are very popular. Not only are there 3D movies in theatres, but a new 3D television is available to purchase. Another line of new products that are starting to become popular are the Blu-ray players and discs. This is a line of products that came after the VHS tapes and then after DVDs. Transportation is also another part of every day life that is constantly being improved. Sometimes the new ideas for transportation are not the best ideas, just as everything else that is tried, but the ideas are there. After cars many other way for transportation were developed. There is now a wide variety of vehicles to choose from when searching for a method of transportation. The options range anywhere from cars, trucks, and vans to buses, planes, and trains. Also, more recently becoming popular are motorcycles, mopeds, ATVs, dirt bikes, and scooters. As you can tell, entertainment and transportation (many time used for entertainment) are always being improved. This will probably never change.
Cites: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=3d+television&rlz=1R2GGLL_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=14395162538736658150&ei=nuLLS-nmGYH88Ab5l5TPBA&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB0Q8wIwAg#ps-sellers
Names in the News
Babe Ruth (1895-1948)In the 1920's George Herman "Babe" Ruth started to become very popular. He hit the news hard in 1927 when he reached his new found record of 60 home runs. This accounted for 14% of all home runs in the American league that year! At this time, Babe Ruth and one of his teammates, Lou Gehrig, were the two hitters that were feared by the others because of their ability to hit home runs. Babe Ruth still remains today as an inspiration for many baseball players.
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Charles Lindbergh (1902-1974)On May 20, 1927 Charles Lindbergh became one of the most important people in the news. He took off in an airplane just outside of New York City and flew across the Atlantic for 33 hours and 30 minutes, nonstop. He landed in Paris to a large crowd of citizens cheering him on, greeting him after his risky flight. He completed his flight using only a magnetic compass, his airspeed indicator, and complete luck to navigate toward Ireland. This flight had citizens waiting nervously by their radios for any information and updates. Lindbergh became the first American to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
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Duke Ellington (1899-1974)After WWI music started to change and the style of music that began to catch the interests of the people was called jazz. However, Duke Ellington and his band liked to refer to their music as "American Music" rather than jazz. Duke Ellington became one of the major names in the news when he and his band made the Cotton Club in New York City their home. The club opened on December 4, 1927 and it lasted for a very long time. Jazz music became a huge hit after Duke Ellington opened this club and jazz is still one of the many styles of music listened to today.
Artwork Post WWI
The image to the left is a surrealistic painting done by Joan Miro in 1937, entitled Still Life with Old Shoe. The years after WWI brought huge changes in both literature and art. One of the styles of writing and painting, as we learned in Ch. 15, was surrealism. Surrealism was movement that was used to link dreams with real life. Artists, like Joan Miro, would take images from their dreams or any other fantasic imagery they had in mind and put them on paper. In Still Life with Old Shoe there is a rotten apple stabbed a lethal six-tined fork, a bottle wrapped with a very old newspaper, a heel of bread, and an untied, old shoe. Miro used bright colors along with black shaddows in shapes that show his brilliance in the way to create such an extraordinary work. The visuals created during the surrealist movement are still very much used and appreciated today.
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The work of art to the right is entitled The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali, completed in 1931. This is another example of surrealistic art. Dali used melting pocket watches to give his idea of memory and what happens over time. The painting itself has many different aspects that bring about many different interpretations. One of the most accepted interpretations of this work is that things that appear strong and always purposeful come to a point where they fade away and become somewhat useless. The fantasy scene is placed over a very realistic, lifelike setting, the ocean, which is one characteristic of the painting that pulls together the unrealistic world of dreams and real life. The painting portrays the ideal surrealistic message.Cites: http://tothewire.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/the_persistence_of_memory_1931_salvador_dali.jpg?w=300
http://simplycharly.wetpaint.com/page/Analysis+of+The+Persistence+of+Memory+by+Salvador+Dali
http://simplycharly.wetpaint.com/page/Analysis+of+The+Persistence+of+Memory+by+Salvador+Dali
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The painting to the left is entitled Road to Nowhere by artist Leonid Shchigel. Shchigel is an artist very dedicated to Dali and his artwork. This visual is extremely similar to the works of Dali and this is because Shchigel is a firm believer of surrealism. This is just one of the many surrealistic works that he has in his art gallery in Wayzata, Minnesota.Another characteristic that can be seen in many surrealistic works is perspective. This paiting is a very detailed painting, showing great perspective and surrealistic images. Every aspect of Shchigel's work relates perfectly to Dali and the surrealism movement after WWI.
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The painting on the right is entitled Manifesto of Surrealism by the founder of surrealism, Andre Breton. The painting was completed after WWI and it is known to be a reaction to the widespread atrocities during the war. Breton discovered the surrealist movement by trying to escape the real, every day life that was directly in front of his eyes. By painting unrealistic, dreamlike images, the horrors of the war were able to be escaped. 
Monday, April 12, 2010
Chapter 15 Introduction
This blog is on Chapter 15 in our book and this chapter is called the Years of Crisis, from 1919 to 1939. These twenty years are full of new ideas, a very sad economy, the strengthening of weak governments (not always for the good), and the rise of Japan and Italy. During the Age of Uncertainty people were trying new things, science was expanding, art and literature were broadening, society was changing, and new technology was being developed. These decades were the beginning of a new era. Also, during the time after WWI was the time of the Great Depression. Not only was the economy of the United States affected but so were the economies of all the nations around the U.S. Attempts were made to try to revive the economy of the U.S., but at the same time Franklin D. Roosevelt was working on America, dictators were being established in the countries surrounding him. He became a leader of democracy in a world threatened by ruthless dictators.
Fascism soon began to arise in Italy and Germany. Benito Mussolini took control of Italy while Adolf Hitler took Germany. The dictators became major allies and worked on killing, threatening, demanding, and invading to get what they wanted. Another major country practicing these same roles was Japan. After WWI they were not happy with the outcome and the Treaty of Versailles, therefore they planned to take care of this in a not so pleasant way. After Japan was taken over by the militarists, they wanted to solve their economic problems by foreign expansion. This lead to the invasion of Manchuria, China, the Marco Polo Incident, and the Rape of Nanking. Japan's goal was to conquer China.
During this time as well, Mussolini attacks Ethiopia and establishes a colonial empire in Africa, Hitler's power increases phenomenally while defying the Treaty of Versailles, a civil war begins in Spain with Francisco Franco as the leader, Isolationism begins in America, the Third Reich expands throughout Austria, and the Nazi's and Soviets become allies after signing the Nonaggression Pact in 1939.
Throughout this blog my goal is to give a good explanation and presentation of the years post WWI. I will have visuals of the changes that are developed after the war, I will give information of important figures after the war, I will make connections across time, and I will give my opinions of what I have learned. I will provide a lot of information of the years after WWI so I hope this is helpful and very interesting!
Fascism soon began to arise in Italy and Germany. Benito Mussolini took control of Italy while Adolf Hitler took Germany. The dictators became major allies and worked on killing, threatening, demanding, and invading to get what they wanted. Another major country practicing these same roles was Japan. After WWI they were not happy with the outcome and the Treaty of Versailles, therefore they planned to take care of this in a not so pleasant way. After Japan was taken over by the militarists, they wanted to solve their economic problems by foreign expansion. This lead to the invasion of Manchuria, China, the Marco Polo Incident, and the Rape of Nanking. Japan's goal was to conquer China.
During this time as well, Mussolini attacks Ethiopia and establishes a colonial empire in Africa, Hitler's power increases phenomenally while defying the Treaty of Versailles, a civil war begins in Spain with Francisco Franco as the leader, Isolationism begins in America, the Third Reich expands throughout Austria, and the Nazi's and Soviets become allies after signing the Nonaggression Pact in 1939.
Throughout this blog my goal is to give a good explanation and presentation of the years post WWI. I will have visuals of the changes that are developed after the war, I will give information of important figures after the war, I will make connections across time, and I will give my opinions of what I have learned. I will provide a lot of information of the years after WWI so I hope this is helpful and very interesting!
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