Unit 5: Sum up what you learned in Semester I

Since the semester started, I have learned many things in World History II. I learned about Afghanistan, and how the people aren't bad they just need help. I learned that old rulers in Russia and Germany were really smart about using their knowledge to get their citizens to do stuff for them. I learned that I think going back to the Victorian era would be super, amazing cool. I learned that there are less conventional ways of learning. I learned that making a book for children is really fun and super hard work, but rewarding. I've also learned that people going through the Industrial revolution in the United States must have felt like super heroes coming up with all the new and exciting technology. So in essence I've learned a lot this semester. I've enjoyed my class and classmates, as well as the disscussions that we've had. But, moving on is good and usually best. So, I look forward to the end of Semester I and moving on to new ideas and concepts in Semester II. Until next time.... Bye :)

Unit 4: Nationalism: From Concert to Competition

This blogs' topic is nationalism. For those of you who don't know what the definition of nationalism is... it's a strong feeling of pride in and devotion to one's country. Nationalism began to arise in the early 1800's in France but, really took off in Germany. Europe was affected by nationalism because, the countries of Europe were starting to care about their image, as well as their history as a country, and how they worked together.

I believe that my group effectively discussed the role that nationalism had in the country of Russia. I thought that we did a good job explaining the situation in Russia and what the current czar was trying to accomplish. I thought we did really well in explaining what we were talking about, and what was going on in the story. I thought that our presentation was great and that our puppets looked amazing. Our group as a whole was definitely trying to highlight, that the current czars in Russia didn't not want to help their people, but that they were just confused about how to do it.

In our group our discussion revolved around the first half of section 5 in chapter 10. This section talked about the people of Russia and what they were going through, as well as the nobles and czars and how they were trying to help their country grow and develop, but that in the end they weren't that successful. In section 2 of chapter 10, the book talks about Germany and how after unifying and coming together they become a huge world power in industry. In Russia they grew together as a country but, didn't really move forward together. But, in Germany the country not only grew together but, also moved forward into greater technology.

I think that nationalism as an ideology is great for bringing a country together to act as a unified group. I think that it makes a countries citizens feel proud of where they live and makes them want to help their country in any way, shape or form. I think that nationalism could be reinvented to a belief for all countries and not just one country in particular. If all the countries could come together and be proud and ready to serve every country as opposed to just one country, the world would be able to come together as a group. Who doesn't want that?

Unit 3: Urbanization & Industrialization

During the industrial revolution many new things started changing, that many people had never seen or thought of before. Inventors started coming up with new inventions to help daily life, companies were coming up with more efficient ways to produce goods, and cities were starting to be planned as opposed to just being thrown together. People were starting to move towards the cities for work, and slowly there would start to be fewer people considered poor. In the past, there had been two main classes in society; nobles and peasants, but now because of the cities changes more and more people were able to enter the middle class. There were however some negatives to all the new changes is the city. Because inventors were just now trying out new inventions in factories, some inventions were dangerous and could harm the workers operating them. As I mentioned before though, people in cities were starting to come out of financial poverty, because goods were becoming easier to produce so, companies started lowering their prices; leaving low income families with some wiggle room in their budget since they could now afford essential items.

I think it would be really neat to live in Paris, France. The city looks so beautiful and they have a lot of culture. I love the architecture in this city, every building is unique and special. According to an article off of the website destination 360 France has the best food and wine in the world. In the article it says that when looking for a meal you have to be careful about what time of day it is. Apparently French restaurants are pretty picky about what times they serve food, they only serve complete meals at certain times of the day. From the same website I found an article on the shopping in Paris. I love to shop, and to be in a place like Paris would be amazing for me. For shopping, Paris is the capitol of the world. According to this article shopping in Paris can be done on any budget. You can visit the designer boutiques, the department stores, or even a flea market.The one downfall of Paris would definitely be that I don't speak French. I would more than likely have to have an interpreter with me to make my stay enjoyable, but other than that I think Paris would be awesome!!! :)

http://www.destination360.com/europe/france/food-dining

http://www.destination360.com/europe/france/paris-shopping

Unit 2: Guns, Germs, and Steel

In the Guns, Germs and Steel course of study I learned several new concepts from the great Jared Diamond. In his documentary Guns, Germs, and Steel, it explains his theory that the reason for global inequality isn't that people in different regions of the world aren't as smart but, because they weren't dealt a geographically good hand. This theory says that the people who became successful in later centuries, became successful because of where their civilizations began. For instance, if you were living in a region that was conducive to farming, then it was going to be easier for you to grow food; meaning that you would have more time to do other things like building weapons and improving your housing conditions. This also meant though, that if you did not live in a region that was easy for farming that you were going to spend most of your time trying to stay alive, gathering food and you were not going to have time to work on other things like weapons. Therefore, regions that were conducive to growing crops and had an abundance of animals for food and physical labor, had a better opportunity to grow and advance in other areas.

For my country I chose Ethiopia. After reading about Ethiopia on the website imperialethiopia.org it appears that there were associations with the Portuguese around the mid fifteen hundreds. In 1869, the British sent in troops to subdue a king who was not nationally accepted due to policies that were not completely accepted. This mission was the first serious attempt by the Europeans to subvert Ethiopian sovereignty. After reading an article on Ethiopia on the BBC's website it explained that Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and that aside "from five year occupation from Mussolini's Italy it has never been colonised." According to the CIA World fact book, the Ethiopian economy relies mainly on agriculture with their main export being coffee. The country does have problems with drought though. This fact that the country economy relies mainly on agriculture and that they are vulnerable to weather conditions, shows that Jared Diamonds theory can be applied. The people of Ethiopia have likely spent all of their time trying to grow crops and stay alive, and have not had as much time to do other things as countries with more fortunate geographical conditions.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html

http://www.imperialethiopia.org/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1072164.stm

My thoughts on "geographic luck" is that its a rather sad concept. It doesn't seem fair that a country should suffer because of where their inhabitants live. But, there are also times when it seems that even without the best conditions for a country that certain countries could have done a lot better than what they have. I believe that Jared Diamond was on the right track on his quest to find the source of global inequalities, I do think that he may have taken it a little to literal. Even though it is definitely harder for a country to develop without the proper geography and assets, that country can not blame all of its problems on where they live. I think that there are certain steps that countries could take to help them become stronger, even though they lack "geographic luck". I think the big question for most people would be, is it our job to help them become stronger or not?

Unit 1: Afghanistan

My research on Afghanistan was on social customs. I believe that my research was effective. I was able to find many facts on Afghan social customs that I did not know previously to this assignment. Because there was only so much information available, I was very broad on what type of social customs that I researched. I didn't focus on just one social custom but, rather covered several social customs at once. I think in researching my topic, looking for books on the subject might have been helpful.

In a very recently published article from the New York Times, it appears that though situations in Afghanistan have gotten better since the beginning of the war there are still many things that need to be taken care of including things like: that the Taliban is still disturbing the peace. President Obama has recently released statements on his plans for helping Afghanistan to once and for all become a stable nation. Several government officials in Afghanistan are pleased at the Presidents recent decision and are ready for the changes coming.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/world/asia/03pstan.html

In an article from the Christian Science Monitor there is discussion on the belief that President Obama is sending excess troops not only over for Afghanistan but, also Pakistan and that there has been force pressed on Pakistanis for greater cooperation. http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1202/p02s07-usfp.html

These articles show that there are still turmoils occurring in Afghanistan, and that these turmoils could jeopardize some social customs. The afghan people should be careful to preserve their history and their customs, especially while things are substantially revolving around war and political issues. If the people don't save and embrace their customs now, they could lose them forever.

My opinion of Afghanistan is that it is a country that has had many struggles and obstacles, and that they are working hard to overcome them, however long it many take; even though at this particular time in history it is true that Afghanistan has needed aid from other countries to help regulate and control outside forces I believe the people are looking forward to a day when they can govern themselves. I believe that in the future, however far down the road it may be, that we will see Afghanistan as a country that can stand on it's own two feet. I believe that it would be a benefit to the Afghan government to bring their people together with a spirit of nationalism. I believe that if the people of Afghanistan had a common goal for their country and a sense of pride in what they were trying to accomplish, Afghanistan would be able to come together and beat their struggles and obstacles. It would be a similar situation to what happened in Germany and Italy in the 19th century; how the two countries were able to bring their countries together for a common cause through a sense of nationalism. Why couldn't it be the same for Afghanistan?