World History II - Spring 2018

This chapter was definitely bit more interesting to read because it talked about more recent events in history. The 1900s was the time when the European colonial empires were coming to an end, and ultimately gained their independence. What caught my attention the most in this chapter was the fact that South Africa's struggle to freedom was very different than we had seen in other cases, such as India. South Africa was independent from Great Britain since 1910.  The problem for South Africa was the fact that independence had been granted to a government wholly controlled by a white settler minority, which represented less than 20% of the total population. So the other 80% of the population being black African's had absolutely no political rights whatsoever. That's why South Africa's struggle is so different, rather than fighting with a distant colony, they were fighting internally with the white settlers who now were calling themselves "Afrikaners" Afrikane...

Communism promised many things for people, equality and opportunity being the two main things which made it so appealing. The Communists movements of the twentieth century echoes the earlier French Revolution which promised new and better worlds could be constructed by human action. Communism was a movement that rose in many places, but the two most known for it are China & Russia.  "To communist regimes, building socialism meant first of all the modernization and industrialization of their backward societies. They sought, however, a distinctly socialist modernity. This involved a frontal attack on long-standing inequalities of class and gender, an effort to prevent the making of new inequalities as the process of modern development unfolded, and the promotion of cultural values of selflessness and collectivism that could support a socialist society." Communism isn't always seen as a great thing, but it did bring some great things to ...

As I mentioned in class, last summer I had the chance to finally visit the Holocaust Museum in D.C. I make it a point to visit my family in Virginia at least once a year, and last summer I finally had the chance to visit the Holocaust Museum with my cousin. It was something that I had wanted to do for years, and finally did it last year. It was the most rewarding, and sad experience that I've had in a museum, and I'll never forget it. It was very overwhelming, and definitely an emotional experience. I got to read stories of people who had survived the Holocaust, I got to see more behind the thinking of the Nazi's. The things that really just got to me where walking through a hall filled with pictures of people who lived through that time and didn't survive, as well as the hall that was filled with names of people who passed. I've uploaded some my own pictures to this post so that you all can see. It was definitely an experience...

Chapter 20 is filled with events that launched the 20th century. It's filled with events that had a huge impact in history that are  still looked at today as events that we don't want to happen again.  During this time in history events like The Great Depression, the rise of Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, and World War I and II happened. World War I had a huge impact in societies, and The Great Depression lead to our economy crashing down. All of these things happening were definitely effecting the people living in this time. But to me, nothing was worse than the Holocaust. It all started with a new political ideology known as fascism. "Fascism was intensely nationalistic, seeking to revitalize and purify the nation and to mobilize its people for some grand task. Its spokesman praised violence against enemies as a renewing force in society, celebrated action rather than reflection, and placed their father in a charis...

"Two distinct laws passed in Nazi Germany in September 1935 are known collectively as the Nuremberg Laws: the Reich Citizenship Law and the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor. These laws embodied many of the racial theories underpinning Nazi ideology. The would provide the legal framework for the systematic persecution of Jews in Germany." I had definitely heard about the Nuremberg Laws before, but never knew all of it's details in how it defined a Jew. The Reich Citizenship Law identified Jews not by religious affiliation but according to racial antisemitism. Being a Jew wasn't something that could be identified by just looking at a person. Many of the people who were affected by the passing of this law didn't even practice Judaism, but the law stated that  "only people of German or kindred blood could be citizens of Germany." Being Jew isn't a race, but the Nazi's sure did call it that. "According to the Nazi Ger...

Chapter 18 really goes into talking about Europeans conquest for more land and its imperialism. England was hungry for more land to conquer, it just meant more power for them and they were willing to do just about anything to make that happen. On page 790 of the textbook, there is an image that really caught my attention while reading. The picture called, The Devilfish in Egyptian Water . It was known that England was pretty much taking the world, and this picture clearly shows that. The picture shows this octopus waiting to put its tentacle on Egypt, while already holding on to the other many colonies it already had power over. It was just waiting for the right time to to capture Egypt. Although that picture stood out to me a lot, there were other parts of this textbook that stood out more because of how cruel the actions being taken were. It's commonly known that colonial rule affected people living in this time period, it affected them in their way of living, but it affected t...