The Treaty of Versailles (Ended WWI)

The Treaty of Versailles was thought of as many as what caused WWII. Germany lost WWI and was blamed and punished for it. They were forced to pay millions to other countries and lost many resources and land. When the United States stop loaning Germany money, nearly 30% of Germany got unemployed. All hope seemed lost and the German people were looking for a leader to bring Germany back into power. This is when Adolf Hitler got the attention of the German public, he promised to give Germany more living space and bring them back into power. What the German people did not know was that Hitler had plans of his own to dominate the world. The people were so desperate for a new leader that they looked right through Hitler's true plans. Hitler did make Germany more stable, and helped the economy greatly. The more he helped Germany, the more the German people wanted him to have power. This is when facism got involved, and the Hitler started his rampage which resulted in WWII. This is why many historians thinks that the Treaty of Versailles caused WWII.

Mustafa Kemal (Ataturk) and the modernization of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal was one of the first leaders ever to separate religion from government and educational affairs. Ataturk felt that no person, group, or religion was any better then the other. His goal was to make every citizen equally important and that they should work hard everyday to feel united with their country. Ataturk saw the peasants as the true rulers, so he let woman vote in 1934. Kemalism is much like daily life in the United States. This was a revolution that not only modernized Turkey but let the world see how a country can be ruled with fairness, happiness, and in the best interest of the people. It did not matter what religion or race you were, and it did not matter what you practiced, Ataturk made a society where all could peacefully live together in a free world.

Film Lesson "Gandhi"

Gandhi used many methods to help his nation of India gain independence from India. He was most famous for his non-violence ways. He even fasted when he saw his followers using violence, violence ended almost entirely after he fasted Gandhi believed that if they did not fight back, then the British empire would be the ones who look bad. Gandhi told all his followers to make their own cloth and to burn all British cloth. It became a common sight to see a Indian making their own cloth. Many looked up to Gandhi as a new hope for freedom. Gandhi was not just a politician, he was one of them. Gandhi told his followers to boycott all British goods and to only buy Indian goods. He also marched on the beach collecting salt with his followers. It was very important to have salt in order to live in such heat. The British soldiers used violence and hit the Indians with clubs.

Gandhi was put in jail many times to try to prevent him from leading his followers. This did not stop his followers from making their own salt and cloth and from boycotting the British. Gandhi was taken to the round table conference to discuss the independence of India. Independence was finally rewarded to India and was greatly sue to Gandhi. I believe that the independence of India was greatly due to the actions of Gandhi. I also think that even without Gandhi's help, India would have most likely won it own independence sooner or later because history has proved that when the governed does not agree with the government, the government is usually to fall. In this case one man helped trigger a non-violence fight against the government and helped an entire nation gain independence.

Joseph Stalin and Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is when the government controls almost every aspect of public and private behavior. Stalin used Totalitarianism to rule the Soviet Union by killing anyone who were a enemy of the party. Stalin executed nearly half of the entire communist party including the very people who got him into power. Stalin had a "Five Year Plan" for the purpose of making the Soviet Union a major industrial power in five years time. This came at a huge price, workers were forced to work 16-18 hours a day and working conditions were not safe. Stalin became very paranoid during the "Five Year Plan". He killed anyone who rivaled him in political power and it became clear that Stalin was not killing enemies of the party but the party itself. Stalin made atheism the official policy and executed all priests or forced them to work. There was no freedom at all and not even any religion. Living conditions were better and unemployment was down but this did not make up for the 40,000 plus deaths and forcing religion away from the people.

Film Lesson: Doctor Zhivago

Dr. Zhivago did not like the way the Czar was treating the people. The Czar was killing all who opposed him and many were starving. Many people were dieing in war. Dr. Zhivago wanted a change in the government which is why he supported the revolution. At first, Zhivago thought that the revolution was a great idea for a new form of government. Russian people wanted a change because they were sick of the way the Czar unfairly treated people and sick of all the people dieing in war. Soldiers started to ignore their generals in the battlefields and just walked home, this was the start of the revolution. A civil war among the communist and non-communist was created. The communist won the war and soon took over the government. Dr. Zhivago now knows the full extent of the communist government when he came home and saw that his house and all his property was being shared among strangers. He did not like what was going on and thats when he realized that communism was not going to work.

The Russian Revolution

The Czar was not treating everyone fairly and many were starving. When Russia went into WWI, it showed how weak the Czar's military was. Soldiers were dieing by mass numbers each day and they soon they started to just ignore their generals and walk home. This was the start of the Revolution. More and more people started abandoning the battlefields and joined the fight for Communism. Communism appealed to many people because there would no longer be a ruler such as the Czar again, instead the workers would control the government and everything would be shared among everyone equally no matter what your job is. This means that there will be no middle class or upper class, there will just be one class where everyone gets the same money and property. A civil war between communist and non-communist was formed. The communist won the war and took over the Russian government. The communist succeeded in creating a communist country.

Causes of WWI

WWI had many different causes. Nationalism was the cause of the rivalry between the countries. Countries competed with each other in making weapons for war because they didn't want other countries getting too far ahead of them. Each country wanted to expand their land and with Germany having the most power, many countries felt threaten by Germany's goals of taking over countries from all around the world. A German chancellor named Bismarck made the alliance system which included The amount of weapons in the military each country had increased each year. With so many new weapons being made and strong nationalism between countries caused many countries to feel that they must be ready for war at any moment. Years went by and countries were just waiting for a reason to strike. The assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand and his wife gave reason for Austria-Hungary to give an ultimatum to Serbia. Serbia refused the ultimatum and soon Austria-Hungary waged war against Serbia. Allies of both Serbia and Austria-Hungary joined in the war ans soon became a four vs. four country war. The assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand is known as the trigger for WWI.