Joseph Stalin and Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is state regulation of nearly every aspect of public or private behavior. Joseph Stalin was a dictator of the soviet union who eventually used totalitarinism to gain complete control of the union. Stalin used propaganda, censorship, and terror to force his will on the Soviet people.

In 1928, Stalin introduced his five- year plan which was to build steel mills, electric power stations, and any other industries/supplies needed. Also to set up large scale farms for peasants to work on. In the 1930's Stalin initiated a Purge of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, which has become known as the Great Purge. Stalin's rule had long-lasting effects on the features that characterized the Soviet state which ended his rule and its collapse in 1991.

Film Lesson:Doctor Zhivago

In the film"Doctor Zhivago", scenes in the movie depict the russian revolution. It shows how the russians were able to take a stand for their beliefs and going against all of their leaders. The Revolution happened because the Russians were tiredof beingcontrolled and didn't want any thing to do with the czar. The film also depicted communism ,in the scene where he returned back to his home and realized that many people were living there. They all shared the same wealth.

Causes of WWI

World war I began in 1914 and ended in 1918. It was called "The Great War", until other world wars followed it. World War I had many causes, such as nationalism,militarism, and the assassination of Franz Ferdinand.
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. 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.
On June 28Th,1914, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated by a Serbian man, while on their way to attend a meeting.The Serbians wanted to convert the Austria-Hungarian Monarchy into a Triple Monarchy so that they could be included. Serbia didn't like Germany's response and declared war on June 28Th,1914.

The Opium Wars

In the 15Th century, the British decided they wanted to trade goods with china.Mainly tea because it was very poplar among the Europeans and Americans. China refused because they were a very self-sufficient country. Until the British introduced a new medicine to China called opium. Opium was used for curing diarrhea, dysentery, and cholera, until the British mixed it with tobacco so that it could be smoked. Soon the Chinese were strung out on the drug. This weakened a large amount of the Chinese population and even the Chinese economy. The Chinese government soon realized this and banned the drug from being sold and traded in china. This upset the British and they refused to stop selling opium to the Chinese people. In 1840 the opium wars began. China was very unprepared the for the war, and eventually lost the war to the British.

"The White Mans Burden"

The poem "The white Man's burden", written by Rudyard Kipling, speaks about the European rule over the Africans and Asians. The Europeans believed that they were doing the conquered people favor a by teaching them manors and how to be civilized. The "white man" took the burden off of the people by controlling their land and taking all of their responsibility. In return this would also benefit the Europeans. European imperialism would widely spread through Asia and Africa. I do not agree with the justification from the Europeans about imperialism in Africa. The technological advantages of the colonist made it very easy for them to conquer Africa. The white mans burden speaks was written in 1899 about U.S imperialism in the Philippines. I don't believe that one-hundred years later the us is still living the white mans burden. The us does not go to other countries and conquer their people and land. Its not possible!!

"The scramble for africa"

The "Scramble for Africa" began in 1881. When Europeans began to expand their influence in Africa. This was called "The scramble for Africa" because the Europeans would claim or take whatever piece of land they wanted. This scramble effected Africa a lot. When the Europeans mixed up the lands they put enemies together and they even split up families. The main european nations involved in the scramble for africa were Spain, Britian, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, and Belgium. All of these european nations had a huge technological advance over Afruca. They had weapons,food,medicin;etc. These advantages made it easy for the europeans to eventually conquer africa.

Film Lesson:''Mountains of the Moon''

In the film "Mountains of the Moon" when the Europeans went to Africa they faced many hardships. Such as attacks from the wild animals and even from the African people. Weather also effected the journey to find the Nile river. Many slaves would get sick and even die. This slowed down their search for the source of the Nile. The slaves that the Europeans brought along with them also cause many problems. They would steal products and food that the Europeans needed and run away with it.
It is strange that the Nile river (largest river in Africa) is named after a British queen. This is because the Europeans were the first to every make people aware that the Nile was actual there. There were people in Africa already living there, but in the film, the Europeans were making it known for the rest of the world. So, the Europeans named the river after their queen(Victoria).
The Europeans had a huge advantage over the Africans. They had medicine, guns, and other useful products. The guns were used for protection against lions and even Africans. The medicine also came in handy when someone got sick. All of these advantages made it very easy for the Europeans to conquer Africa.