Mikhail Gorbachev and the end of Communism

During the 1960's and 70's the Soviet Union had a communist

leader called Leonid Brezhnev. But after his death the people

needed some support. Therefore came another leader, Mikhail

Gorbachev. When Russia realized that they were headed for a

Russian Revolution, Mikhail opened up a political system. He

opened up the Soviet Union by becoming a leader and the second

most powerful man in the USSR. Mikhail Gorbachev, paved the way

for political and economic reforms. In 1985 Gorbachev announced

the policy glasnost. Glasnost is a policy of the Soviet Union. It

regarded to discussions of social problems. This allowed the Soviet

citizens to complain about economic problems. In 1985 Gorbachev

also announced perestroika. Perestroika is also an economic reform.

Perestroika is also known as economic reconstructing.

Collapse of Communism

The collapse of Communism was a very interesting

turning point. Communism collapsed in Eastern Europe

and in the USSR. their wasn't political power like other

countries hadfrom communism. They had no political

independent parties. They had no importantor meaningful

elections. The lack of political responsibility for the people,

apparently led to the collapse of communism. Lack of political

power was mainly the cause for the fall for communism. The

main reason theBerlin wall was made was to separate the east

and the west in Germany. Nobody could cross that wall, if they

tried than they were shot down. Many people later gathered an

tore the wall down. That's because no oneliked the wall, they all

wanted to cross both eastan west. They finally attacked the wall

down. Later on in November 9, 1989 the wall camedown. Finally

after 28 years both east an Germany formed new relationsamong

eachother. Later when Communism collapsed the Soviet Union

separated into 15 different republics. People revolted to form these

republics. This split, cause people to have more for themselves. The

world started to change. People started to get better jobs and good

payments. Many peoples lives changed.

Creation of Israel

The Holocaust had a major effect in Palestine. The land
belonged to both the Jews and the Arabs. Palestine belongs
to Jewish because long ago Jewish kings used to conquer the
place. Than, when Jews were driven out of the place the land
belonged to the Palestine's. For the Arabs the land was theirs
for their conquest of the area. There were many Zionists living
in Palestine. They were people who favored the Jews a homeland
in Palestine. Zionism is a movement which was found in the
1890's. It established a Jewish home land in Palestine. After
WWII Palestine became a Palestinian and a Jewish state. But
there were many conflicts. Many Islamic countries voted going
against the new state creation. They said that the UN did not
have the right to partition a country, with out other peoples
opinions. Later, David Ben Gurion had announced the creation
of Israel. It become independent.

Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

Apartheid was a policy that was created in the late

930's. It was a system in which people of race were separated.

There were many policies of the apartheid. People of different

race could not marry. Or have any relationships within each other.
People of different race couldn't even vote. In 1990 there was a man

named Nelson Mandela. He was a leading figure in the ANC. After his

release from prison, Nelson was elected for president. Mandela and de

Klerk both made a formation of a government which was for the national

unity. Mandela was considered such a hero. He brought up human rights.

many people admired Mandela. He had sacrificed his private life for the

Africans. Nelson brought piece to Africa. Many authors and people admire

him. He wrote many freedom books, which had inspired the authors.

Many people liked him because he brought freedom and peace for the

African people.

African Independence

After world War II Africa wanted to change. It wanted
to have it's independence. Only Egypt, Liberia and Ethiopia
were independent at that time. The Africans wanted to be
free from European control. The Europeans wanted Africa's
resources. They thought that by controlling Africa they were
doing the Africans a favor. Africa changed from 1955-1975.
Later, there was a leader named Kwame Nkrumah. He wanted
freedom for Africa. He became a president in Ghana. He made
new roads, new schools and also expanded the health facilities.
Then there was a man named Jomo Kenyatta. He became president
of the new nation Kenya. Kenya gained it's independence. As I told
you before in the year 1955 only Egypt, Liberia and Ethiopia were
independent. But after the ruling of famous presidents, in the year
1975 almost all of Africa gained it's independence.

9th Grade Review - Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution was a very interesting
type of period. It was known as the first agricultural
revolution. The system in fact went from hunting,
gathering to agricultural. It was a time when farming
came about and also production of crops. The neolithic
Revolution was a primary way that changed the way people
lived. People finally had permanent settlements. Before they
moved from place to place. Than there was a rise of civilization.
Worked was divided between men and woman. People developed
new technologies. Many people settled in the fertile valleys.

The European Union

The European Union was very interesting. It was an

economic and political union. It was established in the

year 1993. It expanded the outlook of the political

European economic community. This system was made

to make peace between countries. It was made to unite

France an Italy. The 25 European nations share the same

currency. Everything has become easier for people even

traveling. All of the countries that wanted to fight eachother

later found peace within eachother. This system makes chances

of war between countries less among themselves. This typical

system was very successful after WWII. I believe it was a good

thing because it made things very easy and peaceful.

Film Lesson - "The Righ Stuff"

In the movie "The Right Stuff" both the US and the

USSR were competing against each other. They were mainly

competing on space race. Each one wanted to get to space first,

or before and body else can. Russia was the first one to get a man

in space and satellites. But the US was able to get the first monkey

in space. Mainly, Russia won competition. There were many scenes

from the movie that helped me to remember this. Well, there was a

scene when the Americans were getting ready to send a monkey to

space. Well, they were quite successful. But later found out that the

USSR had already sent a man to space. I also remember all of the tests

the Americans had to go through to got to space. After couple of years

the Americans had sent a man to space. This was very successful.

Cuban Missile Crises.

The Cuban Missile Crises was the one of the dangerous

passage of the cold war. It came very close to a nuclear war.

The United States wanted to invade Cuba. But on the other

hand the Soviet Union wanted to defend Cuba. Premier Nikita

Khrushchev from Soviet got the idea of placing missiles in Cuba.

When John F. Kennedy was informed about that he organized

the EX-COMM. It had groups of advisers who could handle the

Crisis. The Cuban Missile Crisis was considered the hottest moment

of that time. The US was alert at that time. This event didn't occur

since 40 years at that time. People were shocked. The Premier Nikita

Khrushchev did not want the US to invade Cuba. The Soviet Union

was defending Cuba. But John F. Kennedy waned the offensive missiles

removed from Cuba. On October 28 everything got better. The US

decided not to invade Cuba and The Soviet Union decided to remove

their offensive weapons back to the Soviet Union.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

NATO and the Warsaw Pact were both organizations made for
mutual defense alliance. NATO stand for North Atlantic Treaty
Organization Countries involved wanted the defense, so if they were
attacked the other countries in NATO would come to their aide. The
Warsaw Pact was also supposed to be another mutual defense. The
Warsaw pact was really to to maintain power over Eastern Europe.
The 16 nations including the United States, formed the NATO. The

Soviet union formed the Warsaw pact. They also controlled it. These

two organizations were mainly formed for defense from other countries.

Night and Fog was a very interesting type of movie.

It explains everything that happened during the Holocaust.

I had a lot of reactions according to the movie. For me it was

a very disturbing movie too. Seeing millions of Jewish people

die was also very disturbing. Yes I found this movie very

powerful because people were being tortured in a very brutal

way. This movie has many scenes that compared to the movie

Schindler's List. Both movies show the Concentration camp.

They also showed Auschwitz where people were taken to die.

The Hollywood version illustrates the Holocaust more effectively.

That's because it shows every part. It shows people suffering and
dying. It feels as if it really is happening right now. It showed

everything actually happening in details. It also described every detail.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

The Holocaust began in in the year of 1933 to 1949. It was
a really sad time. Basically, the movie illustrates how the Holocaust
started and how Jews were treated. While watching the movie there
were many powerful scenes for me. I thought it was very disturbing
when old people that were Jewish were killed because they were too
weak to work for the Nazis. Also, it was very sad when families were
separated from each other. In the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto,
people were forced to go to the concentration camp. There, families
of the Jewish were separated. Woman were taken to Auschwitz.
There they had to cut off their hair. Their hair later was used to
make blankets. There are images that will stay with me from the film.
The image of men's heads cut off was very disturbing. When families
were being separated was also very disturbing. Many Jews had died
during the Holocaust.

US Atomic Bombing Of Japan in 1945

World War II began in 1941. During this time Japan and
the United States faced many problems with each other. Japan
attacked Pearl Harbor. So the US decided to drop an atomic bomb
in Japan. The two main cities that were hit were Nagasaki and
Hiroshima. Many Japanese people had died at that time.

I think that the atomic bomb was the # 1 news in the century.
I think that because many people started to have new opinions
about everything. People were talking about it all over the world.
It was a very sad time. Most people think that it was a really terrible
thing to do. Some people think that it stopped the war and also saved

many peoples lives. I think that nowadays, the bigger news story or

event is the twin towers. The both towers fell. Airplane's had crashed

into each of the towers. I also think that this event should be added

list to the list. The reason for this is that it was a very large event many

people had died at that time.

Germany At War - WW II

WW II was a very interesting war. It had many
features that started and ended the war. During this time of war
there was a Nazi propaganda poster. This poster represents many
important things. But before I get to that I would like to explain
what a propaganda really is. Propaganda is when it's the public
opinion on a certain thing. Or for example it can be a rumor that
can spread about someone or something. So, this propaganda is about
Germany from the public opinion. As I told you before that this
Nazi propaganda poster reveals many thing that happened during
WW II. First of all this poster tells how Germany had defeated Great
Britain, or in another words destroyed Great Britain. This feature is
included in the poster by showing the graveyard. Well, there is also
a fist which included in the poster. Of course you wonder why a fist
can be included! Well, this fist shows that Germany is turning it's
attention to the east. It also explains that it's a threat to Stalin and the
soviet union. This poster is mainly for the invasion of Russia.The baby
in a cradle represents security and also prosperity. This poster is
reflecting to the Nazi's.

Joseph Stalin and Totalitarianism

Joseph Stalin was a strong leader. Joseph Stalin became a leader after Lenin's death. He wanted to gain control of the government. He also wanted to turn the Soviet Union into a powerful state. He also had many other goals. He wanted to turn the state into an powerful industry and also wanted to increase the production of civilization and farms. He also had a five year plan. The plan was to industrialize Russia. Well to achieve his goals he made a government called totalitarian. Then began totalarism . Totalarism is when someone has total control over something. Then came the great purges. It was from 1937-1938. He started the great Purges he wanted to eliminate all competitions. Entire cities were destroyed. Thousands of people were executed. Many died of diseases at that time.

The treaty of Versailles

The Treaty of Versailles effected Germany in many

ways. Well Germany lost World War 1. It was said

that Germany was responsible for everyone’s loss

and also responsible for the war. This treaty was

really for a peace settlement after world war 1 which

had ended in the year 1918. This treaty was signed in

Vast Versailles palace. The French was disappointed

by the treaty. The main reason was that it had some

rights for Germany. The French wanted more bad

things to happen to Germany. The Russian revolution

ended. Russia actually got out of the war or in another

words, Russia quit. It was facing to many problems for the

country and itself. Germany lost the world war 1. Many lands

of the Germans were lost. Overseas colonies were taken away.

The economy was ruined and was unable to recover itself. They

had lack of food or jobs. Germany felt way out of the League of

Nations. Many historians believe that there was a rise of fascism.

Well, it’s because of all the loss Germany had to face. The historians

did not like the harsh things that happened to Germany. So they

started to disk like the nation that were against Germany. So, I think

that is the main reason of why most historians think that there was

a rise in fascism during that time.

Mustafa Kemal

Mustafa Kemal was a great and strong leader. He was born in the year 1881. Mustafa modernized Turkey and made it more secular. Secular meaning less religious. He wanted to change the ways of clothing, mainly the hat. He wanted to make a social life for everyone. According to his law and religious personalities, religious attire as not to be worn in public. Mustafa gave political and social rights to woman. There, He also gave unity in education. So basically Mustafa wanted to civilize Turkey and make the prove that that they are civilzed lthe Europeans.

Film Review "Gandhi"

Gandhi was a great leader. He wanted peace for every Indian. His leading was non-violence.He wanted to free India from the British.Gandhi told Indians to do everything by themselves.He told them to refuseBritish items. Most of all he made his own cloths and salt! This was called the salt march.Gandhi's philosophy of non-violence was very interesting. He took beatings from the British and continued his rebellion. He and his people wanted to use nothing of the British.

Ex: I think that India's independence was all about Gandhi. That's because people did everything on his order. They listened to him. So, if Gandhi wasn't there to help, India would still probably not
not be free. It wouldn't just happen by itself ,
someone or something would have to put force
to make Iindia a free country.