"Mikhail Gorbachev and the Collapse Of Communism"

Mikhail Gorbachev became the Communist Party's new general secretary. Gorbachev was selected for this position after the death of Brezhnev and was chosen due to his young age, energy, and political skills. The Communist Party saw Gorbachev as a good candidate to lead them.Gorbachev had many new ideas and concepts that he wanted to put into play. During 1985, Gorbachev created a new policy called glasnost. This policy encouraged flexibility to change and reform. After the creation of glasnost, things began to change in the Soviet Union. The government allowed churches to open, they released innocents from prison, and allowed banned authors to write books again. These changes caused people to express their ideas and complaints about the economic and political systems of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev saw many problems and tried to help by introducing another idea called Peristrokia. Peristrokia was basically an idea based on economic restructuring throughout the Soviet Union. During 1986, Gorbachev made a huge reform by allowing private businesses to open up. This interfered with the old ways of the Soviet Union. Communism was beginning to grow weaker throughout the Soviet Union as Gorbachev made more reforms. Gorbachev's goal was to change communism and make it more efficient and productive. Throughout the next few years Gorbachev gave people the right to vote and put a stop to the nuclear arms race with the U.S. Gorbachev had made it possible for the end of communism through all of his reforms and ideas. Communism had been changed dramatically leaving the economic system to become very similar to Capitalism in which private businesses are encouraged. He was a leading cause of the rising economy and progress of the Soviet Union.

"Collapse Of Communism"

Communism collapsed because communism wasn't working well, especially with economy. This was the problem for both the USSR and Eastern Europe. These countries started to run out of money. The reason that the people tore down the Berlin Wall, was because they were bounded to one part of Germany. The Berlin Wall would separate Germany into two. East germany was communist, while West Germany was democratic. The Berlin Wall stoped people from crossing the border for 28 years. The people who did attempt to cross were killed by a shot or were killed with gas. After the countries got their independence, people were getting higher paying jobs because the government didnt have their hand in the economy. Then when the USSR was dissolved, relationships between countries were cooled off. No one had to fear that the Soviet Union would attack their country because they weren't communist any more.

"Creation Of Israel"

Zionism was a worldwide Jewish movement that ended up in the establishment and development of Israel. After the creation of Israel many conflicts began between the new country and its neighboring countries. Israel was surrounded by Arab countries such as Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. In 1948, the independent country was attacked by several countries which included Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. This war lasted almost a year before decisions were made to solve the problem. These decisions ended with the creation of an agreement known as the Rhodes Armistice. An Armistice is a compromise, but even with this in effect the countries still had their differences. The differences among the countries, mostly between Israel and Palestine, was that the Arabs that made up Palestine felt that they should have been given the same things the Jews were given. The Palestinians believe that their God gave them that land , but the Jews had the same belief. These beliefs are one of the main causes of conflict between these countries to this day.

"Nelson Mandela and Apartheid"

Apartheid was a racial segregation policy in South Africa`s government . When this system was in effect, blacks, colored, mixed and Indians didn`t have the same rights that the whites did . When apartheid became a major issue, several organizations were formed to stop it . These organizations included the African National Congress (ANC) and United Democratic Front (UDF) . One of the major members of the ANC was Nelson Mandela . Mandela was put in jail because of his work against Apartheid. Nelson Mandela had helped organize strikes against apartheid but was later sentenced to a life in prison. While in prison Mandela continued to try and stop apartheid.

Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. When he was released he continued his work. He was able to weaken apartheid in 5 years because of his continuious strikes and riots. He was elected president of South Africa and ended Apartheid. People in South Africa saw Mandela as a hero because now he ended apartheid and people could be treated as equals. At this time the blacks could have just as much power as the whites.

"African Independence"

Over a 20 year period, Africa has changed a lot. In 1957 , the Gold Coast received it`s independence and became known as Ghana. It was the first nation to be governed by black Afrikkans to join the British commonwealth. Ghana`s first prime minister and also president for life, Kwane Nkrumah, began development and economic projects, but the cost ruined the country. He also helped to develop the Pan African Congress in England. He later hosted the first Pan African meeting in Africa, which led to the formation of the Organization of African Unity. In 1966, the military took control while Nkrumah was in China. Soon Jerry Rawlings took power in 1979 & 1981. In the year 2000, the first open elections were held.

9th Grade Review- Neolithic Revolution

The Neolithic Revolution was a period a long time ago when the hunter-gatherers learned how to grow food and how to domesticate animals. This development led to the decline of nomadism and led to the early stages of civilization. People could now live in one area and not have to chase animals around and search for food. They could now tame animals such as cows and pigs. They could also grow crops, have an abundance of food, and have their food nearby. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the human race to build civilizations and has laid the foundation for the civilizations we have today.

The European Union

The European Union is alliance of about 25 European countries. It started because of the constant deaths and injuries between many European countries. These wars and battles drained these countries by economically and also dropped the population. European leaderes finally came up with the brilliant idea to unite with each other and become what is known as the European Union. The European Union has helped drop the chance of war between these neighboring European States and has risen their economy greatly. It has become a world superpower, along with the U.S. The European Euro, which is their form of currency, is worth more than the U.S. dollar. The countries of the European Union have made their living situations and money situations better.

Film Lesson-"The Right Stuff"

The competition between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. was something known as the "Space Race". Just like the Arms Race, both countries were trying to develop ways to get into space quicker than the other country. In the movie, the Russians got the first satellite up into space, as well as the first man. The U.S. had accomplished getting the first monkey into space. The U.S. also accomplished making many orbits around the earth. So technically, the U.S.S.R. had won the space race. One scene from the movie that I will remember is the scene when the American astronauts first made it into space and continued making orbits around the earth

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as "Fourteen Days In October", was one of the warmest times of the Cold War. Ironically, it obviously lasted only fourteen days and was settled without anyone firing any missiles. It started when the Soviets realized they were behind in the Arms Race. Soviet missiles only had enough range to fire on other European countries. U.S. missiles had enough range to fire on the entire Soviet Union. This caused the Soviets to worry. Premier Nikita Khrushchev created the plan to import some of their missiles to Cuba, enemies of the United States, so they could be matched up in terms of destroying each other. The U.S. quickly found out about the Soviets plans and major threat that they were proving to be if they had missiles in Cuba. President Kennedy demanded that the Soviets remove their missiles from Cuba. He also issued a naval quarantine to stop from Soviet missiles to continue entering Cuba. Any nuclear launch from Cuba would be recognized as a direct attack from the Soviet Union. Tensions began to build from the U.S. and the Soviets. Low-level reconnaissance missions every two hours. These reconnaisance missions were performed to ensure our safety and that no missiles were planned to be fired.On October 28th, Khrushchev announced that he would remove his missiles from Cuba. The U.S. also agreed not to invade Cuba. The missiles were removed at a lot of tension relieved.

NATO and The Warsaw Pact

NATO was an abbreviation for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The first members at the time of the Cold War were the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Denmark, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg. NATO was developed in order to provide a defensive alliance against any nations that would attack any of the alliance members. Basically, a gang of countries that would defend each other in the event that another country had attacked one of them. In a form of indirect retaliation, Russia had created an alliance known as the Warsaw Pact. It consisted of the Soviet Union, Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. The Soviets developed the Warsaw Pact in retaliation to the development of NATO.

Film Lesson:"Night and Fog"

I believe the movie "Night and Fog", was a bit less disturbing then "Schindler's List". It was real footage of what happened during the Holocaust and the dead bodies. I didn't find it as bad as "Schindler's List" because it didn't show the horror in action, just the aftermath of it. "Night and Fog" seemed to me like a watered down version of "Schindler's List". I really believe that Hollywood version of the Holocaust illustrated it better then the documentary. For example, the scene in "Schindler's List" where the Jews are packed into the train made me feel bad for them. I couldn't imagine how it would feel to be jam packed into a train full of people, dying of thirst and hunger, and about to collapse from a heat stroke. In the documentary, the Jews didn't look like they were going through so much.Both movies were still very dramatic and powerful, making the viewer feel sympathy for the Jews and those who had their lives taken at the Holocaust.

Film Lesson:"Schindler 's List"

The movie "Schindler's List", illustrated the Holocaust as a horrifying massacre and basically a real life view of history. The Nazi's butchered the Jews in a mean but effective way. The way they killed off people was disgraceful and cruel.The scenes that were most powerful was when the Nazi executed people with guns, usually shots to the head. There was one at the working camp and the women was killed because she was an intelligent jew. Another killing that took place at a working camp also was very powerful to me because an old man was killed for no reason. It is scary to know that cruel people have power over your life that way. The images of all the dead bodies and executed people will stay in my mind for a while. The burn and scarred bodies of some people, and the others with a bullet hole in their heads.

US Atomic Bombing Of Japan In 1945

I agree with the newspaper article that says the atomic bombing of Japan is the news story of the century. I believe so because it ended World War II at the cost of many innocents and also demonstrated the power of atomic bombs, which are believed to be able to destroy the world.I cannot think of a bigger news story.I would add the breakthroughs in genetic science such as the start and progress of the Human Genome Project, in which a few companies had the world's top scientists map the human gene.I would leave the rest of the top stories on the list.

The Treaty Of Versailles(ended WWI)

The Treaty of Versailles affected Germany in a negative way. The Treaty blamed Germany for World War I. Due to all of the blame, Germany had to pay composition to all of the opposing countries that lost soldiers and money due to the war. All of Germany's oversea territories were taken away. These punishments and more had dissolved Germany into a weaker country.

Historians believe that the Treaty Of Versailles led to the rise of Adolf Hitler. I believe historians say this because The Treaty Of Versailles crippled Germany. The Germans needed a strong leader. Hitler was cruel and insane, yet he was still a strong and able leader. He was succesful in unifying the Germans.

Mustafa Kemal(Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal, the first president of Turkey, tried to modernize Turkey and make it more secular. One reform he made was getting rid of the fez.The fez was a form of headgear worn by the muslim people of Turkey. He felt that it looked ridculous and it wasn't fitting for modernization. He wanted the men to wear a shirt with a tie, and a new form of headwear, called a hat. The hat had a brim and looked like the hats Americans wore in the 1920-1930. He also felt that the covering of women's faces in public and the custom of hiding away from other men in the street was primitive. He claimed that the people had to get rid of that custom. Secular in the dictionary is defined as "not pertaining to or connected with religion". That is somewhat what Mustafa Kamal tried to use in Turkey.