Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

The Apartheid is the racial segregation policy of South America. All people who were considered non-whites did not have the same rights as those who where "white". For example, African Americans were not allowed to vote in the parliament. Public bathrooms and certain places were also reserved for one race only. It literally meant "seperate development of races". Government prohibited mixed marriages. Many of those who opposed Apartheid were banned. It got so bad that even some of the opposition leaders were killed.

Nelson Mandela was one of those blessed people that opposed the horrible rule of the Apartheid. He grew up in the streets of South America, where drinking out of the wrong water fountain could get u in jail. He started out as a leader in the African National Congress. Unfortunately his work was cut short when he was sentenced to death. He continued to give his people hope. After 27 years, he was released from jail and the Apartheid was over. Nelson was awarded the nobel peace prize and voted as president of South America. He is admired greatly for the hope he gave his people while he was in jail. They were happy for the freedom they received from the Apartheid.

African Independence

According to the map that is shown, Africa has changed tremendously in only 20 years. In 1955, Africa was practically overthrown by the European nations. Almost all its countries were ruled by the European people. The only countries that were not under European rule were Libya, Egypt, Ethiopia, as well as South Africa. By the time 1975 came rolling in, Almost all the countries that were ruled over, were free from European rule. Before all these countries gained their independence, Europeans marched in to take all the natural resources that Afreica was naturally known for. Many of the Africans were angry that their own homeland was taken over. They wanted to either chase all the Europeans away. If they had to, they also resorted to killing. A few of the Africans did not really mind the Europeans taking over because the Europeans gave them many new thing. They built hospitals, schools and other helpful places for the Africans. Eventually, the Africans grew tired and worked really hard to gain their independence. They succeeded very well too.

One of the most memorable leaders of African independence was Jomo Kenyatta. He grew up studying very hard and gaining a proper education. He eventually became a carpenter but continued studying politics. When the Europeans invaded his homeland, he realized how unfair they were treating his people. He also realized that they were trying to change their government into that of communism. He went to Europe to try to persuade them to give his people their well deserved freedom. He was put in jail for 7 years. When he got out of jail, Africa was soon freed from the European influence. He was voted as the president of Kenya.

Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

This was has to honestly be one of my favorite films i have watched. This was about the space race to space and into the moon. The United States and Russia were the two countries competing to get into space first. As i was watching this film, i realized that Russia was the one who initially won this space race.The first race was to get the first man into space. We succeeded with sending a monkey into space but a few weeks later (i think it was 2) Russia got the first man into space. It was then that we lost this first race. The second race was to get someone on the moon. This was where we claimed our first victory. We got the first man on the moon so we won right there!

This movie showed a lot of great scenes. One of my favorite scenes was when they broke the sound barrier. America accomplished such a feat that day. This goes to show how advanced our technology was. The other scenes were when both the United States and Russia tried to send different rockets into space. America really failed at sending those rockets up to space. Once Russia sent up their rocket, America tried so hard to send rockets up to space until they finally succeeded. Eventually they caught up and won the space race.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

NATO stood for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This group included countries in both North America and Europe. The main reason for this group was defense. If one of the countries were to be attacked by a nation the other NATO countries could come to their aid. Europe still had many economic problems so the United States were able to help them out and give them supplies. This could help both countries, if their is good cooperation between the two, to rebuild ther cities faster. Many of them felt threatened by an attack from the Soviet so the importance of the NATO grew.

The Warsaw Pact included the Soviet Union and its satllite countries. It was supposed to be another defensive group but was created in response to NATO. Here, they dominated the alliance. They kept their military personnel and kept on running socialist governments. They renewed in 1985 for another 20 years. In the 1980's the organization weakened severely. Troops were being withdraw from countries.In 1991 the Pact decided to disperse.

Film Lesson: "Night and Fog"

"Night and Fog"was also another powerful movie about the holocaust. I found this film to be powerful when it came to describing what took place in the death camp of Auchwits.
It was very similar to the the other film called "Schindler's List". Both of these films are actually very similar. Some scenes are even almost actually alike. There was this one scene where the people were being loaded onto the train. Inboth films, we see the Jews slowly being loaded onto the train by the Nazi guards. Their faces are all filled with a sense of hopelessness. That alone was enough to simply bring tears to ones face.
As powerful as this film was, I must admit that the other film I watched was way more powerful. "Schindler's List" showed how the holocaust took place a lot more effectively. That filmed showed what happened to the Jews when they were being brutally tortured by th Nazis. Innocent people were being shot just for running away from them or disobeying a single stupid order. What really tugged at me the most was the children. They were being taken away from their mothers and families. These children didn't even know that they were being taken away to be killed. Their mother's knew this but not the children. Some children were smart enough to find a secure place to hide. Unfortunately many never made it out alive. I hope something like this will never happen again.

Film Lesson: "Schindler's List"

"Schindler's List" has to be one of the most influencial movies I have ever watched. It sends such a powerful message to those who watch it. This movie displayed the Holocaust perfectly. You saw the Nazis round up all the Jews and take them away to concentration camps. Those who were not needed or disobeyed the Nazi orders were shot on the spot. The others that couldn't work were taken away to be shot, gased, and burned. It was such a horrific sight to see.
For me, the most powerful scene was when they loaded up the useless people and children into the vans to be taken away. They never knew that this would be the last time they would see the light of day. What really pained me the most was when all the mothers saw the children being taken away from them. They desperately tried to reach their children but were held back.
I think all the images i have seen from the movie will stay with. After watching such cruelty unfold, it is really difficult to let any of those images go. Some of the very grusonme images are kind of glued to my head. Just the thought of seeing someones head getting pierced by a bullet is enough to make me want to puke.
This film is way more powerful to me than "Night Of Fog". I say this, because "Night Of Fog" was simply a documentary. It only showed us pictures of those who died and how the death camps looked like. This movie shows people getting shot, burned, and tortured. "Schindler's List" shows so much power that it's hard to even describe.

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.