http://memory.loc.gov/frd/cs/germany_east/gx_appnb.html
This is a web page on the Comecon by Library of Congress / Federal Research Division / Country Studies / Area Handbook Series / Germany . We're studying Comecon in class so I thought it would be beneficial to learn more about it. I'm pretty sure this is an Americain government document so I think it would be without too much bias because it's too dry to be intended for pursuading the public.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
In class wrork
Can one talk meaningfully of a historical fact? How far can we speak with certainty about anything in the past?
History is comprised only partly of facts the rest is the meaning historians give to those facts. Historians can only speak with as much certainty about the past as they can about their own assumptions of the facts, even the assumption that the memoir or speech we are reading is a fact is dependent relies on whether or not we believe it's a fact. There would be no point to history if historical facts had no meaning. In IRL 11, a recent discovery has been made that what was once believed to be Hitler's skull, actually belongs to a woman. All this time it has been a historical fact that Hitler committed suicide, this fact has comforted millions of people all over the world. If Hitler had not died but escaped, the world would have been a very different place with this knowledge at hand. Everyone would have been looking for him and perhaps the war might not have ended the way it did. The fact that Hitler died is certainly a meaningful piece of history. IRL 10 talks about the removal of Mao from certain Chinese textbooks. Mao's role in China is certainly a meaningful piece of history, you can still see his face plastered up on walls in schools and the current form of government in China has evolved from the government that Mao established. Mao completely changed the nation of China, and to erase him from a Chinese history book would mean the exclusion of many meaningful historical facts. In IRL 9, the current leader of Russia is attempting to stop a revival of Stalin in certain radical groups in Russia. The memory of Stalin obviously carries some meaning to the people of Russia, especially the ones seeking to revive him. The fact that people make an effort to maintain a piece of history means that they must have some certainty in its validity as a historical fact. And their efforts also symbolize that this historical fact carries some value or meaning to them.
History is comprised only partly of facts the rest is the meaning historians give to those facts. Historians can only speak with as much certainty about the past as they can about their own assumptions of the facts, even the assumption that the memoir or speech we are reading is a fact is dependent relies on whether or not we believe it's a fact. There would be no point to history if historical facts had no meaning. In IRL 11, a recent discovery has been made that what was once believed to be Hitler's skull, actually belongs to a woman. All this time it has been a historical fact that Hitler committed suicide, this fact has comforted millions of people all over the world. If Hitler had not died but escaped, the world would have been a very different place with this knowledge at hand. Everyone would have been looking for him and perhaps the war might not have ended the way it did. The fact that Hitler died is certainly a meaningful piece of history. IRL 10 talks about the removal of Mao from certain Chinese textbooks. Mao's role in China is certainly a meaningful piece of history, you can still see his face plastered up on walls in schools and the current form of government in China has evolved from the government that Mao established. Mao completely changed the nation of China, and to erase him from a Chinese history book would mean the exclusion of many meaningful historical facts. In IRL 9, the current leader of Russia is attempting to stop a revival of Stalin in certain radical groups in Russia. The memory of Stalin obviously carries some meaning to the people of Russia, especially the ones seeking to revive him. The fact that people make an effort to maintain a piece of history means that they must have some certainty in its validity as a historical fact. And their efforts also symbolize that this historical fact carries some value or meaning to them.
Monday, January 11, 2010
SGQ10
Guiding questions:
Analyse the origin of East-West rivalry and explain why it developed into the Cold War.
When and why did the Cold War end?
How did the Cold War develop?
MWH p. 117-140
1. What were the effects of WWII?
a. evidence of enormous destruction?40 million deaths, 21 million uprooted, the Holocaust
b. no all-inclusive peace settlement - what was there?Italy and japan lose territrory, USSR and romania gain territory, trieste is free, ussr refuse to agree on germany and austria
c. examples social changes?
population movements, rebuiling, welfare
d. nuclear weapons - so what?first weapon to wipe out a city
e. European domination of the world ended - why?everyone is weaker
f. emergence of the superpowers - who?usa and ussr
g. decolonization - what happened to the territories?third world is created, neutral and nonaligned
h. the United Nations - so what?succeeds the lon
2. What caused the Cold War?
a. what are the differences of principle?communism v. capitalism
b. what were Stalin's foreign policies?expand ussr
c. what were US and British policies?weve got the atomic bomb
3. How did the Cold War develop between 1945 and 1953?
a. what four things were agreed upon at the Yalta Conference?
i. un
ii.germany divided
iii.free elections in eastern europe
iv.stalin joins war against japan
b. why were Germany and Poland the major concerns at the Potsdam Conference?no longterm futur plan and big disagreement
c. how was Communism established in eastern Europe?iron curtain
d. how did Russia exert its influence in eastern Europe?communism, yugoslavia is a problem
e. what were the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?contain communism and the iron curtain is real
f. what was Cominform?russian communism, molotov plan, comecon
g. what happened to Czechoslovakia?the curtain is complete
h. what happened in Berlin?3 of 4 war zones are western, west introduces new currency
i. what is NATO?north atlantic treaty
j. what happened to Germany?split into german federal republic and " democrtaic "
h. what developed with nuclear weapons?hbomb, communist china
4. To what extent was there a thaw after 1953?
a. why was there a thaw?
i.death of stalin
ii.mccarthy discredited
b. how do we know there was a thaw?
i.first signs
ii.russians make important concession s in 1955
1.finland gets military
2.lifted veto
3.yoguslavia is all better
4.cominform abandoned
c. what evidence suggests only a partial thaw?
i.warsaw pact
ii.russians build more nukes
iii.berlin is more temnse
iv.cuba gets missles
v.berlin wall
5. The nuclear arms race and the Cuban missile crisis
a. how did the arms race accelerate?Icbm by ussr then they lanch satellite
b. what happened in Cuba? how was it resolved? ussr loses lead in icbm, us is threatened, ussr and cuba look like friends, kennedy testyed, ussr is trying to force bargain
c. what happened to the arms race in the 1970s?slbms made, mirvs made, cruise missles in europe
d. how effective were anti-nuclear protests?play part in bringing both sides to the negotiatring tabole
Analyse the origin of East-West rivalry and explain why it developed into the Cold War.
When and why did the Cold War end?
How did the Cold War develop?
MWH p. 117-140
1. What were the effects of WWII?
a. evidence of enormous destruction?40 million deaths, 21 million uprooted, the Holocaust
b. no all-inclusive peace settlement - what was there?Italy and japan lose territrory, USSR and romania gain territory, trieste is free, ussr refuse to agree on germany and austria
c. examples social changes?
population movements, rebuiling, welfare
d. nuclear weapons - so what?first weapon to wipe out a city
e. European domination of the world ended - why?everyone is weaker
f. emergence of the superpowers - who?usa and ussr
g. decolonization - what happened to the territories?third world is created, neutral and nonaligned
h. the United Nations - so what?succeeds the lon
2. What caused the Cold War?
a. what are the differences of principle?communism v. capitalism
b. what were Stalin's foreign policies?expand ussr
c. what were US and British policies?weve got the atomic bomb
3. How did the Cold War develop between 1945 and 1953?
a. what four things were agreed upon at the Yalta Conference?
i. un
ii.germany divided
iii.free elections in eastern europe
iv.stalin joins war against japan
b. why were Germany and Poland the major concerns at the Potsdam Conference?no longterm futur plan and big disagreement
c. how was Communism established in eastern Europe?iron curtain
d. how did Russia exert its influence in eastern Europe?communism, yugoslavia is a problem
e. what were the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?contain communism and the iron curtain is real
f. what was Cominform?russian communism, molotov plan, comecon
g. what happened to Czechoslovakia?the curtain is complete
h. what happened in Berlin?3 of 4 war zones are western, west introduces new currency
i. what is NATO?north atlantic treaty
j. what happened to Germany?split into german federal republic and " democrtaic "
h. what developed with nuclear weapons?hbomb, communist china
4. To what extent was there a thaw after 1953?
a. why was there a thaw?
i.death of stalin
ii.mccarthy discredited
b. how do we know there was a thaw?
i.first signs
ii.russians make important concession s in 1955
1.finland gets military
2.lifted veto
3.yoguslavia is all better
4.cominform abandoned
c. what evidence suggests only a partial thaw?
i.warsaw pact
ii.russians build more nukes
iii.berlin is more temnse
iv.cuba gets missles
v.berlin wall
5. The nuclear arms race and the Cuban missile crisis
a. how did the arms race accelerate?Icbm by ussr then they lanch satellite
b. what happened in Cuba? how was it resolved? ussr loses lead in icbm, us is threatened, ussr and cuba look like friends, kennedy testyed, ussr is trying to force bargain
c. what happened to the arms race in the 1970s?slbms made, mirvs made, cruise missles in europe
d. how effective were anti-nuclear protests?play part in bringing both sides to the negotiatring tabole
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
IRL11
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1216455/Hitlers-skull-really-womans-Fresh-doubts-death-tests-bullet-hole.html
This is an article on the now mysterious death of hitler by the daily mail. We'rew talking about the preWWII scene and its key players, Hitler is one of those key players and I thought the article was funny. Unfortunately, judging by the celeb gossip running down the right hand side of the page, I don't think this source is very reliable for providing all the scientific facts.
This is an article on the now mysterious death of hitler by the daily mail. We'rew talking about the preWWII scene and its key players, Hitler is one of those key players and I thought the article was funny. Unfortunately, judging by the celeb gossip running down the right hand side of the page, I don't think this source is very reliable for providing all the scientific facts.
SGQ9
Why was the time period 1933 to 1939 such a crucial era in world history?
MWH p.69-84
1. Relations between Japan and China
a. Japanese invasion of Manchuria
i. why? control of the valuable trade outlet
ii. who supported them? who was opposed? no one
iii. what was done? nothing
b. Japanese advance from Manchuria
i. explain - they invaded for no apparent reason
c. Further invasions
i. explain - they keep pushing further into china
ii. what did the League of Nations do? nothing
2. Mussolini's foreign policy
a. 1923-1934 (summarize)
i. He attended the Locarno conference
ii. He was friendly to greece, hungary, and albania
iii. he made good relations with england
iv. recognised the ussr
v. anti-german
b. after 1934 - how had Mussolini's attitude changed? examples:
i. joins england and france in condeming the germans
ii. invades abyssinia
1. what did the League of Nations do? disband
iii. helps Franco of spain
iv. rome-berlin axis
v. munich agreement raises popularity
vi. occupy albania
vii. pact of steel
3. Hitler's foreign policy
a. aims
i. destroy versailles treaty
ii. build army
iii. recover territory
iv. bring all germans together
b. successes
i. move cautiously at first
ii. 10 yr nonagression pact with poles
iii. anschluss
iv. take the saar
v. conscription
vi. anglogerman naval agreement
vii. troops to rhineland
viii. join forces with japan and italy
ix. anschluss
4. Appeasement
a. what is appeasement? summarize the two phases:
i. war avoided at all costs
ii. negotiation over force
b. how was it justified?
i. avoid war
ii. germitaly had grievances
iii. personal contact
iv. economic cooperaation of anglogermany
v. fear of russia
vi. brits are unprepared for war
c. what was the role of appeasement leading up to WWII?
i. no stopping germany
ii. anglogerman naval agreement
iii. halfheaarted british action against italy
iv. no mobilisation
v.frabrit doesnt stop the spanish war
vi. united germans
5. Munich to the outbreak of war
a. Czechoslovakia - what were the three steps to the conquest of Czechoslovakia?
i.propoganda
ii.munich conference
iii.its destruction
b. Poland - what were the two steps to the conquest of Poland?
i.return of daanzig
ii.invasion
MWH p.69-84
1. Relations between Japan and China
a. Japanese invasion of Manchuria
i. why? control of the valuable trade outlet
ii. who supported them? who was opposed? no one
iii. what was done? nothing
b. Japanese advance from Manchuria
i. explain - they invaded for no apparent reason
c. Further invasions
i. explain - they keep pushing further into china
ii. what did the League of Nations do? nothing
2. Mussolini's foreign policy
a. 1923-1934 (summarize)
i. He attended the Locarno conference
ii. He was friendly to greece, hungary, and albania
iii. he made good relations with england
iv. recognised the ussr
v. anti-german
b. after 1934 - how had Mussolini's attitude changed? examples:
i. joins england and france in condeming the germans
ii. invades abyssinia
1. what did the League of Nations do? disband
iii. helps Franco of spain
iv. rome-berlin axis
v. munich agreement raises popularity
vi. occupy albania
vii. pact of steel
3. Hitler's foreign policy
a. aims
i. destroy versailles treaty
ii. build army
iii. recover territory
iv. bring all germans together
b. successes
i. move cautiously at first
ii. 10 yr nonagression pact with poles
iii. anschluss
iv. take the saar
v. conscription
vi. anglogerman naval agreement
vii. troops to rhineland
viii. join forces with japan and italy
ix. anschluss
4. Appeasement
a. what is appeasement? summarize the two phases:
i. war avoided at all costs
ii. negotiation over force
b. how was it justified?
i. avoid war
ii. germitaly had grievances
iii. personal contact
iv. economic cooperaation of anglogermany
v. fear of russia
vi. brits are unprepared for war
c. what was the role of appeasement leading up to WWII?
i. no stopping germany
ii. anglogerman naval agreement
iii. halfheaarted british action against italy
iv. no mobilisation
v.frabrit doesnt stop the spanish war
vi. united germans
5. Munich to the outbreak of war
a. Czechoslovakia - what were the three steps to the conquest of Czechoslovakia?
i.propoganda
ii.munich conference
iii.its destruction
b. Poland - what were the two steps to the conquest of Poland?
i.return of daanzig
ii.invasion
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