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.