Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

Tired of the "Old Ottoman Empire", Mustafa Kemal decided that it was the right idea to modernize his nation of Turkey. Upset with the Fez Hats and Long Dresses wore by fellow Muslim men, Kemal strive to modernized Turkey by denying men the right to wear these attires. Additionally, Kemal gave the right for women to vote. Mustafa Kemal had a vision to modernize Turkey like European Nations and he succeeded. The word secular means non religious.

Film Lesson: "Ghandhi"

Mohandas Karamchand Ghandhi helped his nation of India gain independence from Great Britain using an excellent strategy. By Boycotting againist Great Britain and leading in Non - Violent Protesting, Ghandhi gained the support of many Indians. In 1930, Ghandhi lead over thousands of people to Dandi to make salt for themselves. This event is known as "The Salt March". Traveling over 240 miles, Ghandhi had a plan to make Indians rely on themselves for salt as opposed to purchasing salt from Britian. After this long journey to Dandi, salt was successfully made. However, Great Britian disliked what Ghandhi was doing for the Indians. As a result, 60,000 people were arrested.

Additionally, another way Ghandhi attempted to gain India's independence was refusing to purchase clothes from the British. In the film "Ghandi", there was a scene in which Ghandhi ordered some citizens of India to gather all of the clothes they purchased from the British. When the citizens came back, Ghandhi burned the clothes. By doing this, Ghandhi showed the people of India that it doesn't take violence to get rid of Great Britian, however disobidence is the answer.

Ghandhi once said, "I am prepared to die, but there is no cause for which I am prepared to kill." This quote shows that Mohandas Ghandhi was indeed a non violent man. To my opinion, I beleive that without Ghandhi, India would've still lost its independence from Great Britian. During 1947, Great Britian was in reconstruction from World War II. Rather than worrying about another country (India), Great Britian had to worry about themselves.

The Russian Revolution

The Russian Revolution was caused by the dislike of the Russian Czar Nicholas II. Russians weren't too fond of the way the Nicholos II was running Russia. Sending the Russian Army to World War I with little food, and very unprepared upseted many. As a counteract, a Temporary Government ruled Russia from March to November 1917. The temporary governmnet was predicted to be a change due to the fact it promised Democratic Elections and a release from World War I. However, the temporary government was unable to withdraw Russia. The Bolsheviks (Communists) defeated the democratic government lead by Lenin. Lenin promised Russians three important things: Peace, Land and Bread. On the night of November 6, the Bolsheviks attacked the Russian Capital with very little resistance. As a result, Russia became a Communist Country.

Causes of WWI

World War I was a very violent war. There were many causes for World War I. Militarism, Nationalism and the Assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferninand were the main causes for the war. Two different groups were formed due to World War I. The Triple Entente and The Triple Alliance were two rival groups. The Triple Entente included France, Russia, and England. While The Triple Alliance included Germany, Italy, and Austria - Hungary.

Nationalism is a term used to describe one's deep pride for a country. Though Nationalism may seem positive, it can be negative as well. When one has too much pride for a country, this can cause problems. At the settlement of the Congress of Vienna, the principle of nationalism was ignored for preserving peace. Also, the strong feelings of Nationalism turned Frenchmen againist Geramns and Russians againist Austrians.

Militarism is a word meaning preping your nations army. Spending a lot of money on weapons and building a large army were plans of many European Countries. As countries drawn up complete plans for mobilization and worked on strengthen the army, countries were awaiting for one thing, the go ahead signal. The Assassisnation of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferninand brought this wait to an end.

Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

The Introduction of the Opium Wars started when Britian attempted to trade Tea with China. Since China were Isonalists, they weren't too fond of Trading with others or being around other people. Thinking very clever, the British started giving a drug called Opium to China. Opium was a very addictive to the Chinese. After numerous amount of Opium given by the British, Britian finally stopped supplying China with Opium. Britian then made an agreement with China. When China traded Tea with Britian, then Opium will be supplied in China once again. However the Chinese weren't too fond of this.

This event lead to the Opium Wars. It was Britian's destiny to get Tea from China. Since Tea didn't grow in Britian much, the Brtish needed China's Tea. In the Opium War, there were numerous back to back attacks from China and Britian. However at the end, Britian was successful.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

In the movie, "Mountains of the Moon", Europeans faced numerous Hardships. Some hardships were Milleria, running into a "crazy" African Tribes, Several Days of Bad Hyigene, Little Amount of Water, and many more. However, these Hardships still encouarged the European Explorers to find the sources of the Nile River. When the European Explorers John Speke and Richard Burton discovered the source of the Nile River, they were really proud. Speke and Burton then named the lake, Lake Victoria after the Queen of England. It's strange that the Lake is named Victoria because the Lake was found in Africa. Victoria was a Queen in England not Africa. To my opinion it doesn't make sense to name a Lake after a white lady in a Continent where most of the population is Black.

Europeans was technogically more advanced than Africans, hence the reason why they were able to conquer Africa with ease. The machine - powered weapons really assisted he Europeans. Africans weren't really exposed much to Guns. So when Europeans and Africans would clash, Africans would die with ease and their land would be Europe's now.

Imperialism Project

We did the Imperialism Project to get a better understanding of Imperialism. Many students don't actually know what the word Imperialism mean. So this project was a way for students to know more. When we had to color in land, add symbols (such as spices and gold) and draw shipping routes, we got a better understanding of Imperialism.