Communism

Our next blog is from Julio Rodriguez. He writes about the introduction of communism to Russia. This write up describes how communism changes over time with each key leader. Enjoy and thank Julio for sharing with us.

Summary:

 Communism is a form of government in which the citizens control nothing. There is no class, because everyone receives the equal amount of goods and rights. Though, in communism, the government makes all of the choices, giving citizens no right to vote, elect, or make an opinion. This government also disallows religious influences among a population, including churches, chapels, priests, Baptists, and followers. In communism, the government owns all businesses, trades, and organizations; the citizens have control over nothing. In some cases, communist leaders will torture, imprison, or execute any dissidents that are against the government, no matter who they are. Most citizens who live under a communist government have the dread fro democracy.

            Converting from socialism, in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, Russia became the first country to adopt communism, in order to restore their modernization. At the time of the First World War, Russia was leading in the top industrialized countries, following the United States, two or three decades behind. Education and employment was limited, though with great benefits; students were convinced to achieve total literacy within two decades. The absolutism of the crown was one of the many features in the system of government, including the he absence of formal parliamentary institutions and the disordered powers of the undercover police. Fortunately, these problems required no battles or blood-shedding revolutions. Instead, the foundations of a proper parliamentary were presented in 1917.

During the time of socialism in the mid-1800s, Karl Marx, a Prussian Jew from Germany, felt as though communism would bring wealth and property to a society and a government.  The genesis of Russian Communism in the future was engraved with the halt of farm and factory workers, including laborers and managers in 1861, resulting in emigration from the agricultural areas of Russia, which was part of the Industrial Revolution. The rates of poverty and unemployment at that time cleared a passage to the idea of communism. After being defeated by Japan in the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, the devastated state of the Russian Empire created a need for complex changes.

            The “Communist Manifesto”, after Karl Marx’s death, had a great impact on

Vladimir Lenin, a Russian politician. Basing the Bolshevik Party on Marx’s principles of communist ideas, for Lenin was dedicated to carry these principles on in the Communist Revolution in 1917. Communist revolts that occurred throughout Europe following the Second World War were successfully eased by political powers.

            After Lenin’s death in 1925, Joseph Stalin, a military and congress commander, sought to begin a new era in Russia. He focused his intentions on bringing what would become the Soviet Union, to great heights. He adopted Communist ideals as he supported any revolution that arose. From that point forward, Stalin used the excuse of communism to become a totalitarian dictator, causing to become one of the most powerful rulers of the world.

            Along World War II, the Soviet Union advanced massively. Their growing technology and education had reached the highest rate of all nations. Though in communism, doctors had the chance for employment, to aide those whom are hurt or wounded. Hitler opposed the USSR’s ideals for communism, because he felt as those they were in competition with their government, or that they were even making replicas of their ideals. Therefore, Germany declared and attacked on the Soviet Union numerous times; the Soviets were almost always defeated, because they were unprepared, for they were also occupied with the battles on the Eastern Front. Even though around 23 million soldiers were killed during the battles, the Soviet Union remained one of the super leading countries of the world, for they had barely won victory in World War II, against the Soviet Union and its allies.

During the Cold War, after World War II, the Soviet Union was the accelerated in technology, also being the country were the government is the ultimate owner., ordering in judgment on its own. Apparently, Stalin’s Five-Year Plan and Soviet’s divide in production had a great impact on the nation. Unfortunately all private and self-own businesses were forbidden, allowing the government to take full charge in the industry. But the equality of society resulted in advanced aircraft, elite and powerful weaponry, well engineered electrical industrialization, and heavy industry machinery, including being the first to send a man into space. But their ally in World War II, the United States, became their enemy during the Cold War, because of America’s President Truman’s act of containment, which consisted of halting the spread of communism throughout the world. any other nation, whom was Communists, was supported by the Soviet Union, which included North Korea and North Vietnam. South Korea and South Vietnam were for democracy, so they were supported by the U.S. as they both fought their civil war. The Soviet Union was in competition as they tried their best to create the best nuclear weapons and their creation of advanced technology, involving space. Overall, the Soviet Union lost, when Stalin lost his life.

Stalin had died from a cerebral hemorrhage on March 6, 1953, leaving many in tears, for he had his country standing tall. Nikita Khrushchev took power after appointing Stalin’s flaws. In 1958, he had displayed himself as the highest as secretary of the party and the chairman of the council of ministers. But the party congress failed, causing Khrushchev to be replaced by a collective leader, Leonid Brezhnev, becoming the general secretary of the Party by the 1970s. Brezhnev made it possible to gain a Soviet constitution in 1977, eliminating all other parties, but this period was still a stagnant of Khrushchev’s reforms failure. The Soviet Union grew tired of Brezhnev’s efforts which did not move the country back to the top. So instead of falling to the lowest standards, the Communist Party decided to appoint Mikhail Gorbachev as president in 1985.

Still in the Cold War, Gorbachev wanted to shift its government to a brighter direction, by refreshing the economy and advancing its developments. Because they were not going anywhere in international standards, Gorbachev decided that the Soviet Union should call truce with America, by working with U.S. President Ronald Reagan to resolve their conflicts. One way to make peace would be for the Soviet Union to end its communism. In other parts of Europe, such as Germany, communism was dying. Agreements eventually came to terms, when Gorbachev created reforms, including glasnost, a policy permitting sincere discussion of political and social issues and liberated spread of news and information, eliminating propaganda.

When Gorbachev’s term in office came to an end, Boris Yeltsin was elected into presidency in 1990, signifying how democracy was coming true in the Soviet Union. Because the Soviet Union represented communism, it fell in 1991, resurrecting the country: Russia, though now democratic. Russia is now a country with liberty, peace, freedom, and happiness.

 About our Blogger:

My name is Julio Rodriguez. I am a tenth grader in Mrs. Jordan's World History Honors class. My current grade is a "B". To raise my grade, I have decided to write about Russian Communism in this blog, because it was a topic I had to write a research paper about for my English class. This topic is most interesting, because it is relevant to most other events in the twentirnth century. For fun, I enjoy exercising at the gym, reading books, and I love hanging out with fiends, anywhere that is enjoyable, such as the movies. I hope this article is most effective to your understanding of Russian Communism.

The Alamo

My trip to Texas is now coming to a close. I left Austin at 8:30 am and am now in Dallas waiting for my connection to Orange County. Even though the trip was a short 3 days it felt even shorter because of the fun I had with my sister, her husband and two adorable nephews. Across from Target in the plaza, I saw a great example of culinary Cultural Diffusion: Greek, Indian (not just Indian but Cholla Indian- I thought it was interesting since we talk about this small regional kingdom during the rise of the Indian Ocean Basin, Mexican and Mongolian. The topic of focus today is the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas. I hope you are all enjoying your break and see you all soon. Mrs. Jordan

Historical Context:

During the era Global Interactions, European nations began their voyages seeking quicker routes to the East. What ended up happening was a massive period of colonization also known as Old Imperialism (post Columbus 1492). While we know Spain was a major colonizer of Latin America, they also ventured to mainland North America to add to their possessions. Including gathering land and resources from colonial land Spain also wanted to spread Christianity to the indigenous people of the new world. One way they did this was to build missions.

Both Spain and France entered North America along the Southern Coast and had control over this land during different points in time. Spain first arrived in Texas in 1690, and then decided to colonize later in 1689. Native tribes resisted the Spanish presence which caused the missionaries to return to Mexico, abandoning Texas for some time.

The Spanish returned to East Texas in 1716, establishing several missions. Two years later, the first civilian settlement in San Antonio, Texas, was established. Indigenous attacks were a constant occurrence, which greatly discouraged settlers from moving to Texas, and it remained one of the least populated provinces of New Spain. Slowly, the number of missions in the province allowed for a peaceful relationship between natives and Spanish. The transition of power of Texas from France, Spain and Mexico is a bit complicated so remember this take place during Napoleon’s attempt to control Europe and his European diplomacy greatly influenced this piece of America.

During the Mexican Revolution 1810–1821, Texas experienced much turmoil. Spain was forced to relinquish its control of New Spain in 1821, and Texas became part of of the newly formed nation called Mexico. Since many people still were fearful of living in this unsettled land, the Mexican government allowed American citizens to immigrate to Texas and by 1835 many American citizens lived in Texas. The American residents greatly outnumbered the Mexican residents. After Santa Ana dissolved the new Mexican constitution, turmoil spread through the land. The Texans revolted and attempted to leave Mexico to form a new state called the Republic of Texas. In 1845, Texas joined the United States becoming the 28^th State. However keep in mind that from 1846-1848 The Mexican-American war was also occurring over territory in Southern California, New Mexico, Arizona and they also helped the US government helped the Texans win their independence. This war ended with the borders being settled at everything North of the Rio Grande belonging to the US and south of the river belongs to Mexico and that Mexico would give up Texas. In addition the US would pay Mexico $18 million dollars. These outcomes were written in The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Texas history is not finished there because during the civil war era it also played a role. More drama would occur during the civil war period over state vs federal control and Texas would then join the Confederate cause to support greater state control.

Summary:

Back to the Alamo, what was it and how does it fit into this time period? This was the first mission built in San Antonio built by Spain. It was the site where the Texan people revolted against President Santa Ana and sought independence from Mexico to form the Republic of Texas. A 13 day assault happened here with intense gun fire and battles. Many citizens stayed safe in the Alamo during the battle and it was the strong fortress of the city. This was one of the many battles that led to end of the revolution and led to victory for the Texans. It is now one of the most visited tourist sites in Texas because of it revolutionary history. The Alamo’s story has been told and retold through novels, movies and songs.

2012 Open House

What a fantastic night! We had many parents, students and even former students come to see what's going on in AP World History and Honors World History. We had many fun stations for our visitors. First guests were welcomed by Kathy, Alexa and Kaylan. If they were AP, then went to hear about some sample projects from Tien, Sabrina, Jessica and Tiffany. After then learned about our writing and document analysis, from Arlene and Jennifer. If students were honors, the visitors went to Victor to hear about some sample projects and then Adriana showed parents our strategy for learning the language of the discipline. The culminating event was something not to be missed-- The debate. The topic was Should the US have dropped the Atomic Bombs on Japan? It was a competition between Gerard and Jordan's AP World classes and it was intense. The whole class was filled with parents and students ready to hear the arguments. Both sides presented detailed rationale for their argument and appealed to their audience. Outstanding job to everyone! Jessica, Marisa, Quennie and Mike represented our class.

All parents loved hearing from our students and the debate. Great job everyone and keep up the good work.

Early Christianity

Our next topic by Tien is about the early days of Christianity. About 10 years ago, I travelled to Israel as part of a 3 week study tour. We visited all the historically significant locations for Christianity. There we learned archeology, history, church history and the conflicts that this land has endured over time. The pictures posted are of Capernaum a fishing village located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Archaeological excavations have revealed two ancient synagogues built one over the other. The first is one of the oldest to date. This town is also significant to the Christian’s New Testament. The town is cited throughout the New Testament. For example: Gospel of Luke where it was reported to have been the home of the apostles Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John, as well as the tax collector Matthew. In Matthew 4:13 the town was reported to have been the home of Jesus. According to Luke 4:31–44, Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum on Sabbath. Jesus then healed a man who had the spirit of an unclean devil and healed a fever in Simon Peter's mother-in-law. According to Luke 7:1–10, it is also the place where a Roman Centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant. Capernaum is also mentioned in the Gospel of Mark (2:1), it is the location of the famous healing of the paralytic lowered through the roof to reach Jesus. In the pictures you will see me with two of my friends entering the historical part of the city, and the oldest Synagogue (Jewish place of worship) and a home where evidence suggests that Christians had their religious service in secret.
Tien gives you a nice overview emphasizing Christianity's change over time. Thanks Tien and enjoy reading.
Mrs. Jordan

Historical Context: In the Classical period, Roman Empire started to expand and took over Greek lands. Religion in Greece influenced the Roman people. They became polytheistic, which means they who worshipped many gods and goddesses. About 117 C.E., Roman Empire controlled Western European lands: Anatolia, Syria and Jerusalem (which was the origins of Christianity). As Christianity gained popularity, the Roman emperor became very angry and pledged to persecute followers of this new religion. He did not like that Christians put their hope and faith in God and the promise of a heavenly afterlife instead of him.

Summary: Why did people convert? Many people endured great suffering under the Roman Empire and found peace in this new faith. Also the great missionary, Paul, had shared the tenets of his faith and the miracles that Jesus performed with people throughout the empire. The faith’s emphasis on equality and love of all people was something the early people had not encountered. As the religion continued to spread, the persecution began. According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places and tombs, or to distinguish friends from foes. The "Jesus Fish" has become an icon of modern American Protestant Christianity. The dangers faced by the Christians in Rome meant that they had to meet in secret. They usually used underground tombs as these were literally out of sight. Rome had a large number of poor people within its population and Christianity continued to grow.
Despite this, Christians remained in Rome, and by the reign of the next emperor, Nero, the first major incident of Christian persecution took place in 64 AD. The fire that ravaged Rome in that year, and the subsequent building of Nero's golden palace on the destroyed property was wildly unpopular in Rome. Many placed blame directly on Nero, accusing him of intentionally lighting the fire, in order to build his palace. Nero burned his own palace to perfect his poem and then accused the Christians.
At that time, the emperor and his military started to persecute the Christians. The people, who followed Christianity, hid in the cave or underground to protect them. Miles of underground passageways were built outside of the city walls to obey the Roman law of the times that the dead must be buried away from the city. For five centuries the catacombs were used for burial, although very rarely as hiding places during persecution. The catacombs were still visited frequently however, especially by raiding forces from enemies through the eighth and ninth centuries.But when they get caught; Roman soldiers killed or imprisoned them. Oppression, persecution, crucifixion, burning were all that the Christians in ancient Rome had to go through or they could be feed to the hungry lion in front of the crowd. There was no way they could escape; the barbarians enjoyed and laughed at what Christian people had to suffer and die. The death tolls were as high as 100,000 people during that period.
However, Christians felt peaceful when Emperor Constantine claimed Christianity as a main religion. Now in this new government, Christian people played a prominent role. Only people, who were Christians, were able to work in the government and the priest became the advisor and was under the emperor in the social organization. In chapter 13, the schism between Roman and Byzantium Empires divided Christianity into two parts, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. Christianity is important in the Western Europe history. During the exploration and the imperialism, the motive of Europeans was to spread Christianity throughout the world.

Question to ponder:
Why were Christians persecuted?
What made Emperor Constantine claim Christianity as a state religion?



About our Blogger:
My name is Tien Nguyen and I am a sophomore. When I have free time, I usually read book or watch television. One day, I was watching television about traveling to Rome. It was very interesting how the host talked about the buildings, pictures and religions in Rome from the ancient time. It had information about the persecution of Christianity in early Rome but there were not a lot of details that explained why Christian got persecuted. So I was curious and wanted to know more about this event. I hope this information will help you to understand how Christian people suffered in the classical period.

Tennis Anyone?

Our next blog is about the history of tennis. Tennis is famous for its Grand Slam tournaments: Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. When the tournament begins, there is always a great amount of media and publicity about the current "it" players and the prediction of who will be the winner. As time continues on new players and new technology evolve the sport, but it's the legacy/traditions of this great sport that keeps tennis fans glued to the t.v. or internet to find out about each upcoming match and tournament.
Thank you Casey for sharing the history of Tennis. Like you I was once a tennis player and this brings me right back to my tennis days.

Historical Context:

Many people in the world believe that the sport of tennis has been around for a few centuries, but as a matter of fact it dates back several thousand years! During the early years of tennis, the game was first created by European monks to be played for entertainment purposes during religious ceremonies. Unlike modern day tennis, (usually played with a racquet) monks had use their hands to hit the ball across a net with a wooden ball instead of an air-filled rubber ball. Relating to our studies, a fascinating detail about the “historic tennis ball” was that in 1480, King Louis XI of France forbade the filling of tennis balls with chalk, sand, sawdust, or earth, and stated that they were to be made of good leather and stuffed with wool. Monasteries across Europe has cherished this sport so much that it eventually became increasingly popular in France where it was adopted by royal families.

Summary:
Why is the sport called “tennis”? The sport was referred as Jeu de paumme or hand of the palm during the 16^th-18^th century; the French players would start the game by shouting out “Tenez!” which meant play. That term eventually led to the English translation of tennis.
Dating back to several thousands of years, the sport of tennis has upgraded and advanced into becoming one of the most popular sports around the world. The most renowned tennis events are the Open Tournaments that are hosted every year in different stadiums around the world in which the top professional tennis players and new rankers compete in order to win the Grand Slam. Each and every day as I am playing tennis, I will be reminded that hundreds of years ago; people had been playing the sport as I am.

About our Blogger:

My name is Casey Tran and I'm a sophomore. My hobbies are spending time with family and friends and playing tennis. I chose to write about the history of tennis because I am truly amazed of how long tennis has been around. It has changed drastically over the years from using a rough ball to a rubberized ball and playing with your hand instead of a racquet. Tennis interests me because it's a sport that's solely based on skill, hard work, dedication, and motivation.

Trial By Jury!

This morning I found myself sitting in a juror room with 300+ Orange County citizens. We all checked in, found a seat, and then listened carefully to the role of a juror. Then we raised our right hands and took an oath to tell the truth and to abide by the laws of the court. The tone was very serious and we all knew how important our role for the day or days would be.
As I was doing this, I couldn’t help but think about the origins of democracy and how our democratic system has changed over time. I first thought about Socrates and how he strongly believed in man’s ability to reason and that all citizens (which happened to be only land holding men) should be able to participate in government. While he did leave some people out, he was on the right idea. I agree that we are all born was brains that have tremendous ability to analyze and problem solve. The best part of using our brains in a democracy is having different points of views represented. This not only helps create better ideas, but with different points of view any problem can be solved. If we all thought exactly the same, the progress we’ve seen in history would not be as great as it is. His protégé Plato took a different approach and thought that Philosophers should be kings because they wouldn’t get corrupted by wealth or power. Then Aristotle returned back to Socrates’ ideas and expanded them by creating a mixed gov’t that had checks and balances to ensure that one group would not be too powerful.
Meanwhile to the east, the Romans also had a democratic system called a Republic similar to the Greeks. The republic was made up of two counsels (elected by the citizens )who ran the gov’t and was and a senate that advised the two counsels. They also had a written law code, The Twelve Tables, that require all citizens to follow .
Both the Greeks and Romans used many democratic practices still used today like Trial by Jury. This allowed citizens to be tried by a group of their peers to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused. This is done to ensure equality for all citizens. These ancient people groups had some groundbreaking ideas, however these ideas somehow got lost over time and democracy was lost for many many years. Perhaps because of constant battles with neighboring peoples, famines, plagues, Crusades, etc.
However, thankfully with England’s Magna Carta in 1215 democracy returned with the king’s power being limited and shared with Parliment. Also Due Process of law and Trial by Jury returned. From here on, democracy slowly returned and by the 1750s, Enlightenment period, the people had enough of absolute monarchies and their abuse of power. Angry North American Colonist and citizens all around the world sought out revolution seeking greater personal liberties and freedoms.
This brings me back to America. Many of those nations who sought out democracy had a rough time keeping it, and at one point we did too. Thankfully the Union stayed together and our Constitution stood strong. Our country values democracy and natural rights for all citizens of the wrold and we have fought many wars and battles to maintain democracy in our nation and our sister countries. Living in this great democratic nation there are very few things it requires of its citizens: pay taxes, fight in war when needed and be part of the jury system. I’m glad that today I could come and do my part. While the court system is not always perfect, I still think it is fairer than other systems out there. Thankfully, we have system where citizens can come together, participate, think and determine the outcome of a particular problem.

Great Wall of China

The Great Wall of China is one of the great structures I long to visit. The history of this wall starts from the earliest period and even today is a still a major point of interest in China. Tien describes the history of the wall and how it was an important fortification during Mongol invasions.

Historical Context:

The Great Wall was begun around 2000 years ago during the Zhao State period but the main early construction linking existing structures was undertaken during the Qin Dynasty by the Emperor Qin, who was responsible for the Terracotta Warriors from 221 – 206 BC. Qin Shihuangdi unified China by conquering independent states know as the Warring States. In order to defend his new unified country against invading nomads, Qin Shihuangdi built the first long wall in China. According to Chinese legend, more than 800,000 soldiers, peasants and prisoners worked for 10 years to build it. Over the years, the wall fell into ruins and other walls were built by other emperors to keep out invaders wherever they appeared. In 1449, the Mongols attacked China and kidnapped Zhu Qizhen, Son of Heaven, sixth emperor of the Ming dynasty and ruler of all China. Once again, power had shifted to the Mongol invaders and they threatened to invade the Forbidden City in Beijing. The Chinese people were so frightened of the Mongols being in power again that they decided to once again build a wall to keep invaders out.

Summary:

There was no master plan for re-building and adding to this wall during Mongol Invasions. Each leader in a given town built a portion of the wall where they thought the Mongols threat of invasion was the greatest. Construction across northern China continued in this way for 200 years. This way the routes through mountain passes that the Mongols used most often to reach China were blocked with walls. Those walls were then connected with other sections of wall, thus creating the Great Wall of China.
How does it work? In the western part of China, the wall was constructed out of pounded earth. In the eastern part of China, the city of Beijing, workers used bricks and blocks of stone. Many workers were needed to build the wall. Peasants and prisoners were used to make of pounded earth, and stonemasons and brick makers were needed to make of brick and stone. Tens of thousands of men were involved in building the Great Wall of China that ran 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles). The Great Wall was 10 to 15 meters (33 to 49 feet) high. Along the wall, they built forts and watch towers. The Great Wall’s main defensive purpose was as a signaling outpost more than a standing army garrison. Many sections of the wall were in desolate places, and food and quarters had to be supplied via narrow paths to the wall where they are pulled over the side in baskets. Hence, it was not possible to have troops stationed in big numbers to anticipate an attack. The fast riding nomadic horsemen to the north of China could congregate and attack any section of the wall and breach at will. However, with the alarm given at any sector, reinforcement could be sent to counter the attack. Soldiers patrolled the walls sending up smoke signals and cannon shot as communication signals if Mongols approached. The Chinese had a system of smoke signal in which one smoke was for 100 enemies, two smokes for 500 and three smokes for 1000. An attack could thus be communicated for a thousand km within a few hours.
There is a legend of a lady called Meng Jiangnu, who went seeking for her husband at the Great Wall. She made a coat to protect her husband from the northern cold, but then she found that her husband has died while helping to construct the wall, and was entombed under the Great Wall. She cried with so much sorrow that heaven took pity on her. A section of the wall then broke off, exposing her husband’s remains so she could offer him a decent burial.
The wall was built to shape and fit the Chinese landscape it passed through. In the hilly areas, it twisted and turned like a dragon and in the desert, it ran straight. At its eastern end, the Great Wall of China ran into the sea. The Great Wall shows the wealth of China and the technique that they built to be able to protect the country and stop the invaders. William Lindesay who founded the group International Friends of the Great Wall has said, “The Great Wall shows itself as something more than a building, it is a succession of varied landscapes, more than history alone, but part of the country’s geography that has attracted the attention of cartographers for centuries”. In 1987 the Great Wall was added to the World Heritage List, one of the first heritage sites in China.

Questions:
Why did the Chinese people throw the workers who died during the Great Wall project under the wall?
Were there rebellions from the workers who worked on this project during the Ming Dynasty?

About our Blogger:
My name is Tien Nguyen and I am a sophomore. I like to draw and love to read adventure books and watch TV. I really want to travel to China to visit the Great Wall of China. Although I lived in Vietnam for several years, I still didn’t have a chance to go to China. When I was little, I heard someone told me that there were many people buried under the Great Wall. It brought my interest at that time. That’s why I want to learn and understand more about the history of China and the Great Wall