Zohar's Global Blog

2009-05-14T18:52:00.000-07:00

Mikhail Gorbachev opened up the Soviet Union by adding more churches, he wanted more people to start talking about their society. Things started to become better, one of his ideas was called glasnost. Glasnost was established in 1985, it was when the people talked about Soviet Union's issues, such as economy and political problems. Gorbachev wanted his people to come together and be open about their society, he wanted to hear their opinions too. Another one of Mikhail Gorbachev's ideas which was created was called peristrokia. Peristrokia was an idea to reform the economic system, and also the political system.

The Collapse of Communism

2009-05-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

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-Communism failed in Eastern Europe and in the U.S.S.R because nobody believeed in it anymore after Stalin. Another reason is that not many people were living good and they were struggling to survive. First they tried to knock over the Berlin Wall to make a private road for people that want to go on the other side of the wall. The next thiung they did was thaqt they decided to make a few borders crossing so that more people could travel across, soon after that hundreds of people broke the wall down

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Nelson Mandela and Apartheid

2009-05-05T06:59:00.000-07:00

Apartheid
- Is a racial government system that put the black people in a different class level. They called the blck people "Bantu", black people were not able to vote, until 1990 which is when many public facilities were forced to use only one race. Another principal included the prohibition of mixed marriages and sexual relations between individuals of different race. The "Pass Laws" was created in 1950, which required all black people over the age of 16 to carry identity papers with them.

-Nelson Mandela was such a hero because he fought against racism, he wouldnt respect what the goverment instructed him and told him, his goal was to free South Africa. Mandela played a part in many dramatic demonstrations against the white ruled government. His career was cut in 1964 because he was sent to life in prison, after 27 years in prison he was released and his releasement stated the end of Apartheid. In less than 5 years after his release he was rewarded with the Noble Piece Prize and was elected president.

Mandela played a part in many dramatic demonstrations against the white-ruled government.

African Independence

2009-05-04T07:19:00.000-07:00

African Independance
- Africa had a major change from 1955 to 1975. The reason for this is because in 1955 Africa was moslty full of colinies by 1975 the whole Africa was all independence countries. The only colonies were the South West Africa and Spanish Sahara.
Some leaders of certain nation were Nkrhuma which became the first prime minister of "Ghana"
Another leader was Jomo Kenyyata of Kenya.

Cuban Missle Crisis

2009-04-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

-The Cuban Missile crisis was when the world was very close to having a nuclear was. At this time the united states alert level was the highest of all time, and Cuba was also ready to use battlefield nuclear weapons in case it got invaded. There were two men who saved this war (canceled it), these two men are John F. Kennedy and Nikita Khrushchev.

John F. Kennedy organized the Ex-comm group which was a group of his twelve most important advisor's which handled the crisis. After seven days of guarded and intense debate within the upper echelons of government, Kennedy concluded to impose a naval quarantine around Cuba. He wanted to prevent the arrival of more Soviet offensive weapons on the island.

NATO and Warsaw pact

2009-04-06T07:23:00.000-07:00

NATO-Warsaw pact
- The NATO pact also stood for North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Its a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4, 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brusells, Belgium and the organization constitutes a system of colective defense where its member states agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

Warsaw Pact
- The Warsaw Pact was an organization of Communist states in Central and Eastern Europe. The treaty was signed in Warsaw, Poland on May 14, 1955. The treaty was an initiative of the Soviet Union and was in direct response to west Germany joining the NATO in 1955.

Schindlers List

2009-03-26T07:11:00.000-07:00

- Schindlers list
The hollywood film Schindlers list had extreme detail about what the jewish people were going through at the time of the holocaust. Some of the scenes witch i found very disturbing and that i will never forget is when the lady came to the nazi soldiers/guards and gave them aan idea about the thing they were building. She told them that she was an engineer, when they saw she was trying to act like a smart person they shot her in the back.

Another scene that i will never forget is when the nazis came into the mini hospital where they were keeping jewish sick people and the nazs shot them several bullets in each like they were shooting plastic targets.

Night and Fog

2009-03-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Night And Fog
- The documentary we saw called "Night and Fog" was a very disturbing proccess to see. When you watch the documentary you think to yourself what were all the other countries doing qat this time? watching it on tv and not doing anything even though they had the power.

I think that Night and Fog was a good documantary but not as well as the hollywood version. I think this because Shinlers list showed and explained in detail the everyday life of a jew in germany/poland in the cqamps. How they had to hide in bathrooms, under furniture, under the floor and even in closets just to survive this horror.

The Treaty of versailles

2009-02-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

- The treaty of Versailles made germany take responsibility for World War 1. Some effects of the treaty of Versailles for Germany was that they lost 10% of their land. Also 12.5% of Germany's population actually found themselves living outside germany's new borders because of the loss of land. Some of the Rules of the treaty of Versailles was that it would end World War 1, and that Germany would finish paying for World War 1 at year 2020.

I think the treay of Versailles was not fair because they put the whole case on Germany's head. I think that everybody had to be part of the blame because they all started it. All of them should've also payed for the War. I think Historians say that the treaty led to the rise of hitler because Germany was in trouble mostly economy wise and in debt, so they were looking for someone to recover the country.

Mustafa Kemal and the modernization of Turkey

2009-02-24T06:56:00.000-08:00

Mustafa Kemal
- Mustafa Kemal put an end to the antiquated Ottoman dynasty whose tale lasted more than six centuries. Then he created the Republic of Turkey in 1923 creating a new government which was the nations will. During his presidency Mustafa introduced sweeping reforms in the political, social, legal, economic, and cultural spheres.

The word secular means, denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.

Ganhi

2009-02-11T07:13:00.000-08:00

Gandhi

- Gandhi was a great leader in Indian history. Gandhi tried and succeeded to win India's Independance from Great Britain. Some of the ways that gandhi did this was by stopping to buy British clothes which gave Great Britain a great loss. Next what he did was, he and his people walked 240 miles to the sea cost to make their own salt, this was called the salt march. This means another loss for the British because now the Indians would not buy salt from them. These are examples of civil disobedience, which means going against law without any violence.

Extra Credit: I think that India's Independance came from both Gandhi and his people. The people could not do it without his ideas, and Gandhi cannot do it without the people because it is not a one man job. During this period of time Great Britain was experiencing freat losses and economic downfall.

The Russian Revolution

2009-01-11T06:20:00.000-08:00

Russian Revolution
- The Russian Revolution consisted of 2 events; the February Revolution and the October Revolution. The February Revolution resulted in moving the Tsar Nicholas II from power and developed crazy street riots. The Russians were also part of World War I but then gave up because they had very little gun supply and weak armies. when the people in front of the line with guns died, the people behind them had to go and pick up their guns.

The Russians had a revolution because they did not like their leader too much (Czar). Some of the major causes that led to this Revolution was because of the major defeat of Russia by Germany. This caused food shortages, and loss of land. The Russians had a leader to their revolution, his name was Vladamir Lenin. He had the same idea ask Karl Marx and his communism. Vladamir Lenin was also the leader of the Bolshevik party, which was a communist party. During the Revolution the Russians killed their old king and his family.

Causes of WWI

2009-01-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

-World War I

-Imperialism causes: Africa and parts of Asia were always struggling European countries, because of the raw materials this country provided. The increasing competition and desire for bigger empires, let to more meetings which helped lead into World War I.

-Militarism: By 1914, Germany had their greatest military increase and became stronger. Both Germany & and Great Britian increased their navy forces at this period of time. Germany and Russia's military establishment had a greater influence on the public. The increase of the military power helped lead to World War I.

-Nationalism: A big cause for the World War was because people didnt want slavic people in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be a part of Austria Hungary but to be a part of Serbia.

The Opium Wars

2008-12-10T06:45:00.000-08:00

Opium War
- During the Opium War, what happend was that the British and the Chinese would trade alot. The British wanted the tea from the Chinese, and the Chinese wanted Opium from the British. Soon enough the Chinese people started becoming very ill from the Opium, and the Chinese government didnt like that. So the government requested Britain to stop giving the Chinese Opium, But the British refused because they wanted their tea and money. Thats when they declared war.
The reason why its called the Opium war is because the chinese were trying to get Opium out of their country, but the British kept bringing it in. As a result the British easily won the Chinese because the British had way more modern technology than the Chinese did. This is one of Chinese's most humiliating loss in history.

Mountains of the moon

2008-12-03T06:37:00.000-08:00

Mountains of the moon
-In the film "mountains of the moon" Europeans go to Africa to look for a source river to find gold. It wasnt so easy because they were on foot traveling for 6 months or more and also had a lack supply of food. Another hardship is that people died on the way from malaria, but later on they found a cure for malaria. The travelers got stopped by other Africans that never saw white peopple before, but eventually showed them that they meen no harm. Another hardship they faced was mosquitos at night and also getting their valuble belongings stolen.

It is very unusual that the third largest lake in the world was named after a British queen. The reason for this is because when the Europeans explored, they named certain places even thought it wasnt their country or their land.

The Europeans had a huge advantage over the Africans. The europeans barely had any type of weapon except the spear. Much better than the Africans, the Europeans had machine guns & pistols which is what led to the Europeans to be able to conquer Africa.

The Meiji Restoration of Japan

2008-12-01T14:11:00.000-08:00

Meiji Restoration
- The Meiji Restoration was a chain that led to major effects in Japans Social structure. Matthew Perry was an American and a commodore who traveled ion many ships. He came to tokyo bay threatning to Destroy Japan. Matthew forced or "bullied" Japan to sign a treat by impressing them with new technologies that America had. They sent alot of ships in order for Japan to stop being independent and to start trading. At the time Americas technologies were more advanced than the Japanese.

The Meiji Era had a great effect on the Japanese economy. A new emperor was elected called Meiji. His plan was to reclaim his divine right to rule and restructure Japan. The Meiji Restoration was to turn Japan into a modern country. Japan had been independent (isolated) for so many years that their army and technology were very weak. Matthew Perry dropped 26 miles off the coast of Tokyo, to impress the Japanese.

After a while Japanese became better with trading because of the United States. They stopped being isolated and traded with other countries all over the world. The way they modernized was by establishing a parliament and made a system of transportation and communication.

Karl Marx and Communisim

2008-11-07T06:47:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx and communism
- Karl Marx's purpose and idea of communism was that the government would own all property, houses, and factories. The good result from this would be that everyone would be the same and nobody would have a competition to go to elevate to a higher class because they were all on the same level.
Marx ideas state that the workers are much more than the owners and landlords. Which gives them a big advantage, Marx adviced workers that they should overtake the owners and they sould rule because they are more. That is how Karl Marx wanted communism to take over. Karl Marx believed that the workers were the good guys and the owners and the government were the bad guys.

Karl Marx

2008-11-05T06:42:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx
- Karl Marx was a German whos ideas made a change in history. Karl Marx didnt like what he was seeing at the industrial revolution. The system of it and especially child labor, he says that they were all controled by religion. He brainstormed all of his ideas together and came to a conclusion that there are more workers than lanlords and bosses. This means that since there are more workers than owners then the workers are the ones who should control everything.

Thats when Karl brought communism. Communism is when the state is as one and everybody shares there wealth and social high classes. People started printing out these ideas and started handing it out on the street. People liked it and started getting interested. Today there are some communist places like cuba and north korea, (Russia used to be).

Nationalism and the Creation of Italy

2008-10-16T06:50:00.000-07:00

Nationalism
- Nationalism is a way a person represents his country, or what beliefs he has that represents his/her country. The way I am a nationalist or the way I represent my country is by the language I speak, and the synagogue services that I attend. The country I represent is Israel (Judaism). We too have a political system there with tax payments and we have a national flag and all speak the same language (Hebrew).

Nationalism was also used to create the nation of Italy. Italy, used to be part of the Austria Hungary Empire. After several riots, Italy slowly started to be apart from the Austria Hungary Empire. Italy's nationalism was formed by uniting smaller states with a common national identity.

Before Italy Actually Became Italy it was ruled by the Austria. It was very hard for the people being ruled over by a foreign ruler. In 1832 a 26 year old Italian ruler called Giuseppe Mazzini organized a group of nationalists that was named young Italy. If you were older then 40 years old you were not allowed to join that group. But his plans did not work out, and they were sent to exile. Because of certain nationalists Italy was able to be together because of its pride and thats when it became a country.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2008-10-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar went to Cartagena and joined forces with the colombian patriot, "Atonio Narino". When he returned he had alot of victories against the spanish. In August, 1813, he entered Caracas and was given the title of the liberator! In 1814 the Spanish recaptured Caracas and Simon escaped to Jamaica, when was over there he created a book called La Carta de Jamaica, which means "The Letter from Jamaica." Simon Bolivar led military forces and he never had more than a thousand men. The reason for this is to free the north part of south america from the spanish rule. This resulted in freedom for colombia, venezuela, peru, and ecuador.

The reason why Simon Bolivar was so famous and even had a country named after him, was because he had many victories and freed many countries and states from foreighn rule. Simon Bolivar helped South America fight the Spanish because they were making bad rules for them.

The French Revolution

2008-09-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

1. a) The Nobility- Nobles had almost complete authority over peasants, and nobles did not have to do military service. b) The Kings- Had complete authority over France. c) Clergy- Many nobles and clergy lived in great luxury in chateaux and palaces.
2) Having to pay very heavy taxes.
3) the point that the cartoonist were making was that the peasents were more like slaves to the rich and famous.
4) Very poor and cruel. "Iwas joined by a poor woman"
5) Yes it does, because it shows how slave like they were to the rich.
6) Peasents because it talks about freedom
7) It was banned because it would probably prove people wrong about how they were treating the poor. I think rich people would have this banned.

Robespierre & The Reign Of Terror

2008-09-23T06:38:00.000-07:00

-The "Reign Of Terror" was a time of violnce that occured 15 months after the onset of the French Revolution. Numbers chaqnge between how many people have been killed, with numbers ranging from 16,000 to 40,000 people. The Guillotine became the symbol of a string of executions. During the summer of 1794 the revolutionary government of France got threatened by internal enemies, conspirators and foreign monarchies.

- Maximilien Robespierre dominated the "Committee Of Public Saftey" in order to put an end to internal counter revolutionary activities and raise additional French military forces. The reign of terror achieved nothing and the hatred of Robespierre`s attempts to sanctify the revolution with blood and inspire his supporters the common people started to turn on him as the mortuaries were growing ever more full and Robespierre had his allies executed.

After the French Revolution, Maximiellin Robespierre took control, and he started killing millions of people who were thought to be unloyal to Republic. Eventually France turned on him, and he tried to commit suicide, but he only shot himself in the jaw.

John Locke

2008-09-18T06:42:00.000-07:00

John Locke [29 August 1632 – 28 October 1704] was an english philosepher. John Locke

was concidered to be the first of the british empirisist. His ideas had an enourmous influence on epistemology, and political philosophy. He is also widely regarded as one of the most influential enlightment thinkers, classical thinkers and contributiond to liberal theory.

According to Thomas Jefferson the rights that he is talking about is referred to life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. The power of the government comes from the consent of a government

His ideas had enormous influence on the development of epistemology a

Solar System

2008-09-12T06:47:00.000-07:00

Geocentric Theory:
- The Geocentric Theory states that the earth is the center of the universe. Astronomers found evidence that the rest of the universe moved about a stable. The Astronauts saw the planets, moon, sun, and stars move around earth on certain paths every day (This includes Mercury, Venus, Mars, & Jupiter which was only known at the time). So the astronomers concluded that the earth did not move (stationary). This all took place from the Greeks until the 1500's.

-Heliocentric
Heliocentrism is the theory that the sun is at the center of the solar system. It looks obvious to people the the earth stays in one place and the sun and moon just rise and set and goes around. scientists that studied science for a long time discovered other movements. According to the Heliocentric theory the sun makes a slower circle over the course of a year. The planets also, as well, have similar motions, but they sometimes turn around and move in reverse direction for some time.

-Galileo
- Galileo was sent to court going against his book which was released in 1609 Which stated that the earth revolves around the sun. His book stated something totally opposite from the bible, or at least what the pope believed. Which is that the sun revolves around the earth. Galileo was arrested, tried, & convicted for the crime of disobeying the church & using science instead of religion to explain the universe. The reason Galileo was arrested was because the pope was fearful that people would start to challenge other church teachings. The pope also banned all catholics from reading his book. In 1991 the church admitted that it had been a mistake jailing Galileo.

Scientific Revolution

2008-09-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

Scientific method
- The scientific method is a way of proving theories right or wrong. For example Aristotle had a theory that the heavier an object is the faster it will fall. People believed him for 1,500 years. Then came a young Italian man in the 1500's named Galileo. Galileo wanted to test out Aristotle's theory for himself. So he decided to use the scientific method.

-The Scientific method consists of a couple of procedures. First you need to make an observation which means gather all the information you know about the experiment. second you make a educated guess on what you will think will happen, which is also called a hypothesis. Then comes the real deal, now you may do the experiment and test it out. Last but not least you may make a conclusion about your results.

Evolution vs. Creation

2008-09-05T06:46:00.000-07:00

Evolution
-According to Darwin's Theory of Evolution the human has been created over time by complicated creatures that evolve from simplistic ancestors. Thier random mutations are passed on to the next generation and over time it becomes into a completely different creature (The Human). These random mutations are called "Natural Selection". Natural selection prevents a functional advantage that enables a creature to be better in the wild. For Example: if a creature had a random mutation, grew wings and was able to fly unlike the rest of the generation.

Creation:
-The Word "Creation" is more of a religious word then scientific. It means that a G-D has created you and everything around you. For Example: the Earth, Universe, sky and land. and that you werent just born. In most cases this consists of [Abrahamic G-D For judaism, Jesus for christian, and allah for muslim] The jewish Theory States that G-D created man from dust. As it is stated in the jewish bible "From dust you came and you will go back to dust"

My Belief:

- I believe in creation because it sounds more reasonable. evolution sounds very silly and imaginitive. One of the major reasons I believe in creation is because thats what my religioun states. I think that even the big scientists that believe in the "big bang theory" or Darwins theory believe that there is a G-d. If a scientist looks at something outragous or extrodenary he will say "o my god" like most of us say. So if you believe that there is no G-d so why are you saying" O my god" or "O my lord"?

Test

2008-09-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

Test (zohar)