Nuremberg Trials

Wow, this movie has been quite interesting so far. First off, I would like to say that I think Alec Baldwin plays the role of Justice Jackson extremely well. The way that he crushed Hermann during the part of the trial that was shown today was absolutely amazing. I was captivated by his performance and I really felt the anger that the real Jackson must have felt during the trials. Now, I would also like to praise the actor who plays Hermann. He pulled the part off perfectly. He was clever, and evil with a menacing grin on his face. I at first did not dislike him because he seemed like he was a good man who was caught in the unfair justice system for the losers of war. However, as the trial went on, I began to realize how obnoxious and arrogant Hermann was acting and I realized that he really is a bad guy. The aspect of a trial usually doesn't interest me much but I was captivated by the Nuremberg Trials. The fact that they were willing to give a fair trial to twenty one Nazis was appalling to people at the time. This was the first time ever that losers of war were granted a fair trial and it was meant to set an example for the rest of the world and for future generations. So far this movie has been an intense ride, I cannot wait to finish it!

Reaction to the Class

So this entire class has been quite a ride. At the beginning of the year I had no idea what to expect from AP Euro and the dreaded "Maz" because of all the things that I had heard. The first few weeks were a little intimidating, I'm not going to lie. I remember having to memorize all of those presidents and important figures along with their titles and countries that they represented. The homework has been a very distinctive part of this class as there was rarely a time when we did not have it, but it was a taste of what college will be like for us. The tests were good because they were just right, not too hard but not too easy either. I can definitely say that I have learned a lot of information in this class. Now when people ask me the president of Egypt, I can say Mubarak instead of my usual response of "iunno". As the year went on, I got used to the workload and managed to get most of my work in on time. I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the roundtable discussions as well as any other activities where we got to debate. It was interesting to see my classmates personify someone from history. Which brings me to the meeting of minds discussion we will be having shortly. I am very excited for that because everyone gets to dress up and it'll be interesting to see each person's take on their character. One of my favorite parts of the course was when we read the power of one. I thought it was a wonderful book and doing the project with my other classmates was fun as well. So overall I thought this class was great and a lot of fun. Even though our work load was more than a typical class, I think it helped me to become more time efficient and also helped me prepare for college.

Connection Across Time

The al-Qaeda attack on September 11, 2001 is very similar to the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor in 1941. Both attacks were defining moments in US history. Both attacks took the country by surprise and rallied its people against a battle against tyranny. Lastly, both of these attacks pushed the United States into declaring war against the country who initiated the attack. These attacks had a strong impact on Americans at the time. It boosted national pride and really brought everyone together. The attacks on 9/11 and at Pearl Harbor were 60 years apart but they were fundamentally the same.

Global Warming

This is a sad painting to say the least. It depicts two penguins holding on while standing on the last piece of iceberg left. After learning about the dangers to the Global Environment such as the greenhouse effect and CFC's, I have a better knowledge about global warming. I think this particular painting symbolizes two things. First of all it symbolizes that global warming is a real issue and must be dealt with. It is imperative that humans help the environment because not only do animals depend on the environment, but humans do as well. Since it was the humans who are responsible for global warming, it should be their duty to reduce or reverse the effects that they have had on the environment. Second, I believe that it symbolizes that nature suffers from man's doing. The penguins are embracing each other, forced to survive on one last hope and that is for man to undo the destruction that he started. This painting is sad but it is a good metaphor for what humans have caused to the natural environment.

Sudanese Girl

This painting titled "Sudanese Girl" depicts a girl presumably in Darfur during the crisis. I think it captures the mood of the natives of Darfur very well and transfers it to the viewer of the painting. Her eyes seem to be staring off into nothingness because what she has seen throughout the war must have caused her to avert her eyes. The expression on her face is solemn and has a tint of disgust at what is occurring in Darfur. Her right arm is wrapped around what seems to be a the arm of a person who is lighter skinned. This could symbolize that just because people are different does not mean they have to fight. They can instead, be there to support each other as the girl is supported by the arm. The use of the color red definitely draws the image of blood to my mind and there was certainly no lack of blood during this crisis. I think overall this painting is a good depiction and symbol for the horrible crisis occurring in Darfur that we must not forget.

9/11 Painting

This painting contains a ton of symbolism. First of all there is a ray of light shining on a group of people consisting of workers, policeman and firemen. I believe that this shows that all the people who died during 9/11, including the policemen and firemen who tried to help, will find salvation. The American flag is being raised in the background and this symbolizes that even though America has just gone through this horrible and traumatic event, Americans will join together and national pride will be stronger than ever before. The Statue of Liberty is in the back to show the ideals that the United States was established on, liberty. 9/11 is the biggest event to occur in the 21st century and will always be remembered. I think this event really defined the United States in the early 21st century. It brought together all the Americans and this painting does a good job of depicting that.

Reflection on the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Last week each person in our class was assigned to be either a historian, a mediator, a Palestinian or an Israelite. We each presented information based on which side or what position we held. Before our whole week on the Arab-Israeli conflict, I really had no idea on what this conflict was about. Sure I had heard about it before but why it occurred and what was happening in this war were questions that I could not answer. However, after much research and debate on the subject, I can now say I have a clear idea about what the reason for this conflict was. I can also understand on how this conflict was able to carry on for so many years because it really is hard to come up with a plan that satisfies both sides. I really enjoyed the part where we got with the other members of our group and stated what our group wanted and what we were willing to give up. After all the research for my own position, Palestine, I had a strong opinion that Palestine was being wronged more in this war. Therefore the debate was heated and everything that the Israelites were saying seemed to make me angry. However, I listened to the proposals by the historians and mediators and I was able to accept the plans if the Israelites do as well. It was really fun and I enjoyed pretending to be a Palestinian. It has also taught me a lot about this war so now I am no longer clueless.

Response to "America held captive to utopian ideology"

After reading this article by Patrick Buchanan I was amazed but not surprised about what the contents said. I actually agree with most if not all of what Buchanan had to say. One of the first things that I found to be very interesting was the fact that China has maintained a 10-12 percent annual growth ever since Deng Xiaoping dispensed with Maoism. 10-12 percent may not seem like much but with China's vast population it is a HUGE increase. The fact that China is building dozens of nuclear power plants and also tying the nation together with bullet trains and highways just boggles my mind. During the summer of my freshman year I visited China during the summer and this was the first time I had done so since I was about eight years old. I don't remember much from my trip when I was eight but I remembered enough to notice the unfathomable change that the country has undergone in the six years that I haven't been there. I had stayed in Beijing for a week or so and was amazed to find that it was very similar to the United States in terms of how industrialized and structured the city had been. Since then, China has taken Germany's title as the world's leading exporter and China is set on a path to overtake Japan as the world's second largest economy this year. One thing that I disagree with Buchanan is that he thinks being captive to a utopian ideology is perilous to the republic. I think this is true to a certain extent. As the leading power in the world, I believe the United States has an obligation to set the example for the rest of the world and it is doing a good job by setting many regulations to help the environment and other areas. At the moment, it is not helping the United States at all as China's economy is growing at such a rapid rate. However, as soon as China catches up and is no longer considered a third world country, I think China will or at least should begin to set up similar regulations seeing as how it will be one of the largest, if not the largest, powerhouses in the world. So Buchanan should not be attacking the United States for doing what is right. Instead, he should dwell on the fact that it will be China's turn to set the example for the rest of the world in the near future.

Connection Across Time

Tsutomu Yamaguchi, pictured on the left, is a survivor of both the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Yamaguchi died a few months ago due to stomach cancer. He was an engineer working in Hiroshima when they dropped the bomb. He was badly burned and returned to Nagasaki two days later and was bombed there as well. He survived both bombings and is the only person recorded who has achieved the same feat. In recent years he has talked openly about his bombing experience and has become a vocal support of nuclear disarmament. After his death, the mayor of Nagasaki said "a precious storyteller has been lost".

Taking Cover By David Fredenthal

I think this painting is a very good depiction of war for many of the soldiers. These soldiers were drafted into war but many of them were still young, and had never been exposed to the atrocities of war before. The soldier depicted in this painting is in a fetal position which could symbolize that he is still a child. He is not ready to take on the burdens of war. Also, his hands are red and bloody, which shows the unnecessary bloodshed in this war. The color used in the majority of this painting is dark and drab. It creates a dark mood and the shading also puts a dampener on the entire painting. The soldier seems to be trying hard to walk away from this affair with his life and that seems like it would be the general situation that most soldiers at the time were going through.

Man Without a Gun By Lawrence Beale Smith

This painting caught my eye because of the vivid colors and wonderful detail that it possessed. When looking at this picture, the facial expression of this soldier really stands out to me. His facial expression is hard to define, it is obviously not a happy one but it does not seem like he is sad either. He seems like he's been through a lot and has seen horrible things throughout this war. It is important to note that the title "Man Without a Gun" and the red cross symbols on his helmet and arm show that this soldier did not kill people on the battle field. Rather he did the opposite; he is a nurse and he tends to the injured. What is so important about this painting is that it portrays a man doing a job that is often overlooked in this war. It portrays those men who are not there to fight but rather to help the injured. The pile of boots to his left is a symbol of death to me. It shows that all of those soldiers have passed and their boots are stripped off and placed in a pile. To the right of him seems to be a pile of bloody towels. This is there because the man's job is to help the injured and he has to change the bloody gauze of the injured. Lastly, the background is a forest and in a way symbolizes how many is traveling into the unknown and disrupting the wilderness by fighting and killing. Smith does a good job of portraying a job that is very respected and yet often overlooked during a time of war.

The Morning After By Ed Reep

One look at this painting and I can tell that it is certainly not a happy scene. The first thing that i noticed was that the men were wearing tattered clothing and helmets. This showed that these men have endured much throughout this war. Second, I noticed that they seem to be staring at a dead tree perhaps. I took this tree to be a landmark of where they could have buried one or more of the friends that they lost during this war. The use of dark colors creates a very solemn and gloomy mood. The title itself, "The Morning After" implies that there must have been a battle of some sort the day before and now these men have come to mourn the deaths of their friends. The artist, Reed, painted this the morning after many of his friends were killed by a German bomb. He said "I painted these men with dazed looks, and clouds up above that seemed to reach like a dragon, like in the Goya's Disasters of War. Everything seemed to be tragic, terrible, and meaningless."

Reflection on Rape of Nanking

The reading we received on the Rape of Nanking was shocking to say the least. I had heard of this event maybe once or twice beforehand but I never knew exactly what it was about. The Rape of Nanking was a brutal attack on the city of Nanking in China by Japanese military forces. Thousands of citizens, including women and even children (as seen in the picture) were murdered and raped in cold blood. One reason for this brutal attack on citizens was the strict military preparation that the Japanese soldiers received. Thousands of Chinese were massacred during this six week period. During this time, the Japanese did unimaginable things. They raped children and women and some even held "killing contests". After reading about this I was sickened to my stomach. I honestly could not believe that something such as this was allowed to happen and no one stopped it. However, even through this dark time some light shone through. John Rabe, a German businessman living in Nanking at the time, helped establish the Nanking Safety Zone. This zone was a small area in Nanking where refugees could find safety from the relentless Japanese soldiers. With his efforts and that of many other people as well, this safety zone helped treat many with injuries and also helped prevent many other injuries. While reading about Rabe, someone who could have easily left Nanking for safety and instead decided to risk his life to help people he did not even know, I was inspired. Rabe is a true hero and many years later the Chinese repaid him by helping him with his financial problems. The Rape of Nanking is one of the worst massacres in history and I am surprised to only just now have been taught about it. I am glad I now know the horrible actions that took place there even though much of it made me sick to my stomach.

Reflection on Foreign Policy Activity

A few weeks ago we did the "Hitler's Foreign Policy" activity. We are supposedly experts in foreign policy and we had to answer the presented issues to our advantage. I thought this activity was not only interesting but also required some thought. For example, the crisis in Czechoslovakia in 1938 was an issue that Hitler had to deal with. The best choice was for Germany to invade Czechoslovakia because one of the primary goals of Mein Kampf was to destroy the Treaty of Versailles. There are three million German speakers in the country of Czechoslovakia and a victory over the Czechs would finally destroy the Treaty of Versailles. Therefore, it was imperative that I choose invasion. I thought this activity was engaging and a great alternative to our usual class periods. After I had counted up all my total scores, I turned out to be a great leader according to the scale. I hope in the future that we will continue to have interactive activities such as this one which challenge our knowledge of history and foreign policy.

Connection Across Time: The Power of the Atom

In 1919 Rutherford showed that the atom could be split and by 1944 seven subatomic particles were identified. During WWII, the atomic bomb was invented after learning that the neutron could be split and chain reactions of unimaginable force was in fact possible. Today we are still worried about the prospect of nuclear warfare and we have invented even bigger bombs than before. However, we are also entering an age of nuclear energy. In fact most of France's energy needs are supplied by nuclear energy. I find that it is amazing how we have evolved in the area of the atom. We at first learned to release the energy within a neutron to destroy things but now we can capture that energy and use it for our own purposes. Because nonrenewable fuels such as gas are running out, nuclear power is a very plausible and efficient way to capture energy. Some day we might even have to rely on nuclear energy entirely as the rest of our fuel sources are depleted.

Three Musicians (1921)

This painting called "Three Musicians" by Picasso is a very eye-catching painting. It is quite obvious that Picasso is using cubism as there are really no smooth transitions but many geometric shapes and forms to display people. The colors are warm and welcoming and your eyes are immediately drawn to the man in the middle who is playing a guitar. All three gentlemen look different and are wearing different colors and styles of clothing and yet here they are together playing music. I think what Picasso was attempting to say through his painting is that people of different backgrounds can come together with the simplest of things, in this case music. Also the fact that the painting is very asymmetrical could mean that life in itself is not perfect but we have to learn to deal with it. Music is usually something that people play for comfort, entertainment or joy. By displaying different people in an asymmetrical setting playing music, Picasso is showing that people with differences can get along, even if life is not going well.

Isaac Soyer: Employment Agency (1937)

Isaac Soyer's Employment Agency is a very representative painting of the time. This painting shows the realities of the Great Depression. All four people in the painting seem to be down in spirit and almost giving up on life. The man in the brown suit especially displays these features. It looks as if he is thinking deep about what he has to do to keep food on the table if he does not get a job. The woman also seems to be pondering about something important. She will obviously have the most trouble getting a job as during this time racism was all too common and so was sexism. The painting captures the mood of the time perfectly. I can almost feel the emotions the people in the painting are feeling. I think Soyer painted this to capture a moment and to show future generations this dark time in the world. The man reading the newspaper does not have much of an expression on his face either. I am not sure what he is reading about but judging from the mood of the painting, he is probably reading about how America continues to go on a decline due to the depression. Lastly, these people seem to have been sitting there for a long time judging from the way they are sitting. There are probably very few openings for jobs and there are probably many people seeking jobs. Once again this painting depicts this time period very well.

Draussen un Drinnen (Outside and Inside) by George Grosz

This is George Grosz's Draussen und Drinnen (Outside and Inside). When I caught sight of this painting at the beginning of the chapter, I was very curious to what it meant. I stared at the picture for a few seconds and then it came to me. On the right side of the picture everyone seemed well dressed, well-fed and wealthy, whereas on the left side people are unhappy, dressed in rags, and one man even has a leg missing. I think the message of this painting is obvious. The "outside" world represents the desolate lower class. The injured man seems to be holding his hand out begging for money but no one seems to notice him. The "inside" represents the wealthy upper class. The wealthy people are shown to be obese, implying that they are well fed, and also very well dressed. One gentlemen is enjoying the luxury of a cigar while a man on the outside seems to be starving. I believe that George Grosz painted this to display the realities of life at the time. He wanted people to be aware of the social inequalities that seem to be right in front of their eyes and yet few people noticed it.

The Jihadist Next Door

During one class period we received an article about Omar Hammami, an Arab American who left the United States, the country he grew up in, to become a high-ranking terrorist leader. I found this article to be very intriguing. Omar was the son of a Baptist mother and had grown up in America. He seemed to be like any other normal teenager and even went to prom with one of the most sought-after girls in his school. The story seemed hard to believe because there seemed to be no motives for his actions. His father had taught Omar moral values and he lived in a good family environment. Why in the world would he want to leave all of that and his dreams of becoming a surgeon to become a leader in a terrorist organization? As I continued to read on about Omar, he states that “It’s quite obvious that I believe America is a target". After finishing the article I was still bewildered at how this could have possibly happened. I suppose Omar must have some strong beliefs and felt that those beliefs were more important than everything he had before.

Reflection on Age of Anxiety Powerpoints

The powerpoint presentations that were presented in class for the Age of Anxiety were really interesting. As we went down the list of topics I began to realize that I surprisingly already had a decent amount of knowledge on many of these people. It was not because I researched them before or that I am just knowledgeable about these kind of topics. Instead, I knew many of these topics and people from many of my other classes and it was a surprise to see all the connections that I could make and all the information that I already possessed on these topics. For example, one of the first topics which I really had a strong knowledge of was Albert Einstein and his theory of relativity. Not only had we studied this in physics this year but I also did my graduation project on this. It was very interesting to see Dan's perspective on this topic as he is very eccentric about all things science related. Another topic that I had pre-existing knowledge for was Frank Lloyd Wright. I had learned about him in my three years of drafting classes and in fact I even drew some of his designs. The topic which I had, Paul Cezanne and Henri Matisse, was all new to me. I had fun learning about these significant players in the world of art. In fact I had already seen some of their art before but I never knew that it was by them. One of these artworks was "Woman with a hat" by Matisse.

Balkan Blunders Reflection

The catalyst or should I say the main reason for the start of WWI was the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand which I must say I have never looked into much before. I never realized that as our handout states it, "The terrorists who took world history in their hands in the summer of 1914 were basically a bunch of kids." I actually found it kind of humerous how the entire assassination was carried out. One of the assassins, Mehmed, chickened out as the plan was about to go into action, and was arrested later because of his bragging about his participation in the assassination. Vaso, another assasin, was sent to jail for sixteen years because he was not old enough for the death penalty. Ironically, he became a history teacher after he got out of jail. Another member of the group called the Black Hand was Cvetko Popvic, who became a museum curator after jail. It seems like these so called assassins were really not much more than confused kids looking to prove themselves. The fourth person in line was Nedelko Cabrinovic, who managed to throw a bomb at the Archduke's car but he missed and harmed the crowd instead. What I thought was funny about Cabrinovic was that he attempted to swallow a cyanide capsule and jump in a nearby canal but not knowing that the pill was expired and the river was ankle deep. He was vomiting while he was pulled out of the river. So there was already four chances to kill the Archduke and the remaining members heard the explosion and thought that Ferdinand was taken care of. However, due to an unfortunate series of events, Ferdinand's driver took a wrong turn on the way to the hospital and ran into another one of the assassins, Princip. It was Princip who finally killed both the Archduke and his wife. So it almost seems to me that the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was destined to happen since he dodged his death so many times but in the end died due to a wrong turn from his driver.

Gassed by John Singer Sargent

This is probably one of the most influential pieces of artwork about World War I that I have ever seen. Sargent drew upon his experiences

from his trip in 1918 to northern france as inspiration for this painting. He saw groups of soldiers who were blinded by mustard gas during that trip. I think that the reason why Sargent uses yellow so much in this painting is to show that the reason for the soldiers' conditions are due to mustard gas. It is a sad depiction of the horrible effects of war but it is real nonetheless. The blinded soldiers are forced to hold on to each other and to walk past their fallen friends. Some of the soldiers seem to be in agony and one particularly is sitting amongst his dead comrades, almost wishing that what he were seeing was not real. The huge open field that they are standing in helps to show that these soldiers are alone on the battlefield. Also in the background there seems to be another group of blind soldiers, showing that many soldiers have been affected by the atrocities of war.

Connection Across Time: The use of mustard gas was new in warfare for the first world war. However, the use of gases in both war and defence has evolved over the years. We received a current event paper not so long ago in class about a new weapon that is being developed. In Gauhati, India, the military plans to use the ghost chili, the world's hottest chili, as a weapon. They will use these peppers to make tear gas-like hand grenades to immobilize suspects. These weapons will stop the intended targets in their tracks but it will not blind them as mustard gas did to the soldiers during WWI. I thought this was interesting because using items found in nature such as plants or peppers as weapons has been going on for a long time.

Explosion by George Grosz

I think that this painting truly depicts the horrors of war. If i were to describe this painting in one word it would be chaos. I have stared at this piece for a few minutes and I still find it difficult to discern the different objects. What is clear however is that there is destruction. At the center of the picture I believe there is a fire. Obviously there are many buildings that are crashed and broken. There is smoke spewing out of many of these buildings which tells us that there must be a huge fire. I think the smoke and fire represent the fighting that was never at such a grand scale before WWI. The fire represents all the soldiers who left their homes for war while the smoke represents the confusion and chaos that was the effect of all the fighting. Grosz was one of many others who saw the cruelties and effects of war and probably painted this in an attempt to show it to those who could not see the horrible effects.

Machine-gun by C. R. W. Nevinson

I found this image while browsing online and it instantly caught my eye. I knew I had seen it elsewhere and surely enough it is the first picture for the chapter that we are currently on. I did a little research on the artist who drew this, Nevinson; and it turned out that he was the son of a famous war correspondent. This shows that Nevinson was affected closely by the war and his painting shows his own feelings as well as the general mood at the time. A quick glance at this painting and one will automatically notice the use of dark, drab colors. These dull colors serve to show that it was a dark and gloomy time in history. The soldiers seem to be unhappy and almost disgusted at what they are doing. They are using a machine gun, a new invention during the time of WWI. This gun could fire many more rounds than weapons preceding it and could therefore take more lives as well. The hard, defined lines that represent the machine gun are also used to depict the soldiers. This shows that the soldiers are turning almost robotic and become one with the killing machine. Another interesting thing that jumped out at me was that the soldier in the middle has red pants on. In a panting where all the other colors are dark and drab, the center of the painting has a splotch of red on it. I believe that this use of the color red is a symbol of the bloodshed that occurred during this gruesome war. It was the largest war up to date and millions of people suffered and died. The background seems to be metal wires, most likely representing the barbed wires that were so common at the time. Overall this painting is a good depiction of the mood of the war, dark and dreary.

Reflection on the Timetable Worksheet

Last Friday we had an activity where we placed the events of World War I in the correct chronological order. The fact that we had the opportunity to get extra credit on the test made me ever more determined to get this right. However, at first glance, the worksheet might as well have been written in a completely different language because I was utterly confused. It seemed to me that all of these events occurred so close to eachother that there was no way for me to put them in the correct order. As I continued to stare intently at the worksheet, and with Dan's help, we were able to work out what order these events had occurred. We figured that M.A.I.N. was the first event to take place because it was those four reasons which provided the catalyst for the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand. The rest of the sheet was not as bad as I initially thought, and we were able to place most of them in the correct order. The only problem was that when we had one of our events placed in the wrong order, the rest of them were all off by one. I think this worksheet helped me get a better grip on what happened during World War I and also proved to be an amusing change from the norm. I definitely would not mind doing activities such as this because not only is it fun but it also helps me learn better.