The Russian Revolution

It all started when the Russians went into WWI. They were not prepared for this war; over four million men have died in the first year of the war against the germans. later on February 1917, Czar Nicholas had dethrone himself because he could not know what to do anymore. The government could get there selves out of the war.Workers and peasants revolted against the landlords and factory owners. Peasants expropriated (or took over) land and factories were closed when workers refused to work. People in the city started to starve and the economy was getting destroyed. The Bolsheviks used this to there advantages and defeat Russia. In the end Russia have turned their government into communism and made the peasants work in the farms and the workers gained control of the factory. This brought peace into Russia.

Causes of WW I

There were multiple factors that caused WW1. One of then was when Francis Fernidad was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia. After that Austria-Hungary was able to find an excuse to make Serbia an enemy and declare war on them. Even the Germans pressured Austria-Hungary. Other factors that caused WW1 was imperialism. The Industrial Revolution forced European nations to go overseas and search for raw materials to make products. European nations got some of their raw materials from Africa, and the European nations competed for land in Africa. Britain and France talked things out, but later on there were tension between Germany, Britain, and France. Even becoming allies were one of the factors. The Triple Alliance was formed which was composed of Austria-Hungary, Germany, and Italy. While they were allies Germany and Italy were suspicious of each other because of the Balkans.

Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

The Opium War began in China, the British wanted China's tea but they didn't want to trade with the British. The British found something that was addicting and knew the Chinese wouldn't get tired of getting. Opium was what the Chinese wanted and the English had it. Opium was very addicting to anyone but since the British were the ones trading it with the China and for them to get Opium they had to trade tea. Soon the government of China didn't like the idea of trading tea for Opium. The government told everyone he would have the person who gets opium from the British would be killed. China also only had one port for the British to come through and even if it wasn't easy for them they still wanted to tea and went threw that port to get their tea. The British used war to get what they wanted. They had very god technology and used their advanced technology to fight against China and won. They made China sign the "Treaty of Nanjing" which allowed the British to come into China in any port they wanted to get the tea. The Chinese didn't want that so asked for another war and once again lost. Which gave the British more power.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

In the movie "Moutains of the Moon" it displays many of the problems englishmen had to face while trying to discover the Nile River. Many tried to find the source by going from the end of the river to the source but were eaten up my the deserts that surrounded it. In the movie the 2 explores try walking at random in hoping they would bump into it. While traveling they had many of their helpers run away with the gear they brought cause they would be able to sell it and make alot of money. Another problem was the disease they would get off the Moskito, Englishmen didn't have a immunity to it and died. Also seeing near by tribes who have never seen a white man before.
It funny that the source of the Nile is called Lake Victoria after a dead white queen because she didn't discover it. Its been discovered along time a go by the native people who already named it. England was finally able to conquer Africa because they invented the vaccine for malaria that was what was killing them. Another benefit they had was around the time the vaccine was invented they created the machine gun which made it even easier for them to take a village of Africans.

The Imperialism Project

In the imperialism project we had a map and a paper with pictures of resources on them. We had to cut out the resources and then put it on places of the map. We also had a paper that determined where the resources went and what countries to color in with the color pencil. The places we colored in determined which country had taken them over. I learned that Africa had a lot of resources like coal, gold and silver. I also learned that the British took over alot of places in Africa.

Karl Marx and Communism

Karl Marx's idea of Communism Was that everyone gets payed "from each according to his skills, to each according to his needs". He believed that the workers should govern their own country so it would be fair to everyone. There will be no private ownership, everyone would "share". Communism is a form of socialism, a classless society with no private ownership. Marx believed that his idea of Communism will stop people from taking advantage of one another, especially the things factory owners did to their workers. They always wanted to pay the workers less and less and have less benefits so they can get richer. So obviously Marx saw the workers as "good guys" and the factory owners/businessman as the "bad guys". Communism was applied to many countries' governments but not as something Karl Marx imagined.

Karl Marx and The Industrial Revolution

Karl Marx did not like The Industrial Revolution because he did not like the conditions that the European factories provided for the workers. They were harsh and unsafe. He believed that the workers should be in charge (control) of the factories rather than the landlords so there is no unfairness to anyone. Everyone is equal. The idea of Communism was born. The word Communism came from the word 'common' since it referred for all people[in that time workers]. Marx believed that everyone should be payed "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs". Another reason Marx did not like the Industrial Revolution was because his father had to convert from Judaism to Christianity in order to get a job. Marx said that "religion is opiate of the people", meaning that religion controls people like a drug. Therefore Marx did not believe in god.