The Treaty of Versailles (ended WW I)

After the end of World War I, Germany suffered the heaviest burden. Since their side lost the war, Germany had no choice but to sign the horrible Treaty of Versailles. This Treaty declared that everything that happened during the war was Germany's fault. This meant that Germany had to pay for all the damages done to the allies. Germany also lost 10% of their land. The loss of both land and massive amounts of money completely destroyed the economy. One thing that really destroyed Germany is that all the lands they conquered overseas were taken away from them. Everything that belonged to them was taken a divided among the the allies. Since they lost so much land after the war, 12.5% of the German population found themselves outside the German border.

I think this has to be the most unfair treaty i have ever heard of. Come on people! Why the heck would you blame just one country for a whole war. Sure, Germany caused a lot of casualties to the allies and all its supporting troops but they didn't cause all the casualties. The allies also called just as much damage as the Germans. They also killed thousands of innocent German lives. I say they should both be equally punished. They both deserve severe consiquences, not just one.

They say it was the Treaty of Versailles that caused the rise of Hitler. I agree. After such a horrible loss, Germany wanted to redeem themselves. They needed a strong leader. It was Hitler who showed them that. They easily let him grab power and brought them up again but never realized how insane he was until it was to late.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

Mustafa was a very famous young man who led his people to victory and independence . It was him who founded the Turkish Republic and became its first president. Many of his people were surprised with how much he was able to accomplish in such a short amount of time. He was a military hero when he came back from the Dardanelles in 1915. It was then that he decided to lead his nation to liberation. A powerful leader, he crushed all those who opposed them. He put an end to the power of the Ottoman empire. He was president of his nation for an impressive 15 years.

Mustafa's main goal for Turkey was to modernize his nation. He didn't want his people to follow the same old ways of the surrounding lands. He wanted to give his nation a new sense of dignity, equality and happiness. One of the most important things he did was make religion an individual conscience. Christians and Jewish people were free to practice their faith as much as they pleased. He also gave his people modern equality. Even peasants, who were greatly ignored in the Ottoman Empire, were considered important. Even the sense of style became different. They wore European hats instead of the Fez.(which was now prohibited) Citizens even got their own surnames. They even produced their own Western Calendar.

Mustafa created a secular civilization. This meant that everything was based on worldly things instead of the usual worshipping of the church. They distinguished themselves from the usual faith.

Film Lesson: "Gandhi"

Gandhi was a very important figure throughout history. He was the most important person to the Indian nation. It was Gandhi who helped India get its own independence from Great Britain. Some of the things he did to oppose british rule were always acts of non-violence. Gandhi would lead a march to some near factory of some sort. There, he would protest in a peaceful way, with his followers right behind him. Another thing Gandhi did was produce his own supplies. In India, both salt and clothes were costing the people a whole bunch. To save themselves from this, Gandhi declared that all the Indian people would make their own clothes. They should not buy them. He even marched a whole lot of miles to collect his own salt by the ocean. The trip took days but he still managed.
As written above, Gandhi was a peacemaker. He was not one to shoot back at the British with violence. All of his protest were in peace. If any of his people ended up using violence, Gandhi would fast. His people were afraid that he would die so they stopped the violence on their own. Non-violence worked very well against the British. If the British attacked them while they did their peaceful protests, it would make the British look bad and the Indians look good.
I don't think India's independence was based all on Gandhi though. If i remember right, Great Britain was also fighting in another war at the time. Great Britain was getting hammered all over the place. Eventually Great Britain would give India their independence because they had to start worrying about their own country. They could no longer worry about anyone else.