Aim: Cold war ends
In the late 1960s, the United States sent the U-2 spy plane to take images of where Russia keeps their weapons. The American pilot, Gary Powers, was told by the United States to kill himself if his plane gets shot down. The Russians did indeed shoot down his plane, but Powers didn’t kill himself. The Americans claimed that this was a weather plane, but the Russians didn’t believe them. This event damaged the United States’ relationship with Russia.
In the 1960s, the Berlin wall was also built.
In the 1970s, the Cold war began to thaw. Communism began to fall apart because of the economic contrast between communism and capitalism.
1. Communism-
a. China- had the Great Leap Forward, which failed.
b. North Korea had low production of poor quality.
c. In East Germany, everything was gray.
d. Cuba
e. Russia- enormous shortages.
2. Capitalism-
a. The Japanese became the “Asian tiger”- were a strong and rising country.
b. South Korea had a lot of technology.
c. In West Germany, the people had a good quality of life.
d. United States - land of plenty.
Russia had enormous corruption in the government. Communist officials were privileged, while regular people had a poor quality of life. If someone had protectsia, they got luxuries.
By the 1970s, Russia was a nation of alcoholics. People would drink a lot so they could drown out all their problems. People would do anything to get alcohol.
In the 1970s, some refusniks- people who stayed observant were allowed to leave Russia. The majority of the people unfortunately didn’t stay observant.
In the 1970s, Russia was led by Brezhnev, who made efforts to improve relations with the W. This was known as détente- relaxing of the tensions of the Cold war. Ex. The United States finally recognized China as a country. Nixon agreed to have diplomatic relationships with China- he went there to visit. Russia and the United States came up with the SALT (Strategic arms limitation talks) treaty- it was all about limiting arms. By the late 1970s, SALT II- about long-range missiles.
In 1979, détente ended when Brezhnev came up with the Brezhnev Doctrine- Russia has the right to do what it wants to help keep communism alive anywhere in the world.
In Afghanistan there was a small communist group against a Muslim non-communist group. Russia helped the communist group. The fighting lasted in Afghanistan for ten years. Russia lost half of a million soldiers. About one million Afghanis died. Brezhnev wouldn’t stop fighting and Russia fought until 1985, when Mikhail Gorbachev took over.
Aim: Gorbachev’s reforms
In 1985, Gorbachev became the leader of Russia. He took several actions to bring the Cold War to an end.
Gorbachev made it known that he was not as tough in communism.
Gorbachev’s reforms:
1. Glasnost- end of censorship. People can now speak out against the government.
2. Perestroika- introducing capitalism- free market reforms. The result of this was economic chaos because the people didn’t know how to run businesses. There was inflation- people’s money couldn’t get them too far anymore.
These reforms introduced elements of capitalism and some democracy.
At this time, Gorbachev pulled the Russian troops out of Afghanistan. The result of this was that the satellite nations thought that maybe now they could break away. From 1989, the satellite countries began to declare independence and they were all successful.
Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland all declared independence. They set up governments and quickly elected presidents. In November of 1989, East Berlin broke away and the Berlin Wall fell. This symbolized the end of the Cold war and that the Iron Curtain had fallen.
The Soviet Union’s republics began to break away one by one. Gorbachev tried, but then realized he didn’t have the strength to keep the republics. In the end, the only thing left of the Soviet Union was Russia.
Gorbachev faced opposition from:
1. Liberals- they felt Gorbachev should go all the way and make Russia into a democracy.
2. Conservatives- they wanted communism back.
Gorbachev reassigned. The liberals held the elections and Yeltsin became the president of Russia. Yeltsin tried making Russia into a democracy but it was impossible.
Now, Russia is leaning toward communism.
Aim: Independence for satellite nations
After Czechoslovakia broke away, it split in 2:
1. Czech Republic- led by President Vaclav Havel. He was a professional writer.
2. Slovakia
Hungary broke away in 1989.
The Polish people hated being under communism because Poland is a Catholic country and communism doesn’t go for religion. In the 1980s, a group of shipyard workers organized the Solidarity Movement to gain independence from the Soviet Union. The leader of the Solidarity Movement was Lech Walesa. The movement started with about three or four-dozen people but within a few months, millions joined. In 1989, Poland broke away, and Walesa became president. Poland had economic problems and Walesa was blamed. He wasn’t voted in as president again.
Challenges of newly independent satellites:
1. Economic- most of the satellites wanted to become capitalist. As a result there was inflation because people were setting their own prices.
2. Unemployment- the government no longer had to provide jobs so people had to find their own jobs.
3. Crime- many people were engaged in crime because they saw no other way to make a living.
For the first few years, countries had worse economies than under communism. Many applied for NATO- they were hoping to get money. The United States helped and NATO now became stronger.
Aim: Europe post Cold war/ communism collapse
1. Germany- in the early 1990s, East and West Germany were reunited. The west had the difficult challenge of absorbing the east and becoming one. This challenge was particularly different because the west was much more advanced than the east in many areas. There was social unrest and the rise of the neo-nazis (aka skinheads).
By now Germany has integrated successfully.
2. Yugoslavia- is located in the Balkans and was established as a country after World War II. There were many types of Slavic peoples living there. Yugoslavia wasn’t a satellite nation, but was nevertheless communist, and was headed by a dictator named Tito. The strong government was able to prevent fighting among the different peoples. In the 1990s, when communism collapsed, the Yugoslavian people decided to overthrow the communist government. There was an immediate result of division into many different nations:
a. Croatia- consists of Serbs and Croats. The Croats didn’t want the Serbs in their territory and began killing them out. This is known as ethnic cleansing.
b. Bosnia- consists of Serbs (Christian) and Muslims. There was an all out war known as the Bosnian war. The Serbs in Bosnia got help from the Serbs in Serbia.
c. Kosovo- there were Albanians that lived there who wanted their own country. The Serbian leader, Slobodan Milosevic led a fight against the Albanians. He became notorious because he ignored requests to stop the killing. Eventually, he got killed.
Where was the United Nations? The United Nations ignored it. This led to a lot of criticism. About ½ million people were killed by ethnic cleansing before the United States got involved. Eventually, NATO sent troops.
Aim: China introduces capitalism
Communism most likely collapsed because of economic failure.
How was China affected by the collapse of communism? As long as Mau was alive, communism stayed the same. When Mau died in 1976, China was in a disastrous state- there was no agricultural output and people were starving.
Mau was replaced by Deng Xia Oping, who was considered to be like Gorbachev. He introduced some private ownership of business and got rid of the communes. In addition, he introduced four modernizations:
1. Agriculture
2. Industry
3. Science and technology
4. Defense
In order for this program to work, he also introduced the responsibility system- people can make some profit for themselves. For example, farmers were givin individual plots of land and a certain percent of the crop could be sold for a profit. This was motivation. The same thing happened in factories. This is called limited privatization.
In the 1980s, Deng invited foreign investors. They brought in technology, businesses and jobs for the Chinese. At this time, China was compared to a bird and a fish- they were a mixed breed of communism and capitalism.
Impact of these changes:
1. Enormous gap between the rich and the poor- some people were motivated while others didn’t know how to deal with capitalism. This created resentment and people resorted to crime and corruption.
2. Demand for more freedom
In 1989, there was enormous demonstration born out of a desperate attempt for freedom. This event was held at Tiananmen Square and later became known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Thousands of Chinese gathered and demanded freedoms- human rights. The government didn’t know how to react and some hard line communists who were there said to crush the demonstration. The Chinese sent troops and tanks and about three or four thousand people were killed. The world was shocked. This event was a human rights violation.
China is still a strict country.
In 1997, China got Hong Kong back.
Aim: Japanese economic growth post World War II
By the time World War II was over, Japan was in horrible shape:
1. Bad economy
2. People were starving
3. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were in shambles
4. People were demoralized
The United States decided to help Japan set up a democratic capitalist system. They set up a democracy and started setting up a capitalist system.
The United States occupied Japan for a few years to help them.
The great economic challenge of Japan was that they had minimal natural resources. Japan had previously gotten all their resources from their colonies, but they lost all their colonies after the war. Japan had to now pay for resources.
Japan was successful in building up its economy over the next several decades. They built up their economy until they became known as an economic miracle.
How did Japan achieve such economic success?
1. United States occupation
2. Built modern factories based on technology
3. Money was put towards the economy instead of the defense
4. Japan placed high tariffs on imports. This gave Japan a good balance of trade- they were selling more and buying less.
5. Disciplined work force- take work seriously.
6. Education- was very advanced, especially in math and science. There was a 0% illiteracy rate.
By the 1990s, Japan had a recession. They were almost out of it when the global recession hit.
Aim: Western European nations choose democratic socialist system
There are different types of economies:
1. Command- the government makes all the economic decisions.
2. Capitalist- people make decisions. There is also private enterprise/free market- people have their own businesses based on the concept of supply and demand.
3. Democratic Socialist- mixed economy. Many businesses are owned by the government and the people own about 50% of the businesses. Examples are Britain, France and Italy.
Well-fare states- government takes care of the people’s needs. The philosophy behind well-fare states is “cradle to grave”:
1. Social security
2. Pay healthcare
3. Pensions
Challenges of well-fare states:
1. People pay very high taxes- about 50% of people’s incomes went to the government. In the past ten years, people have been living longer and the government has to pay out more money. The population has also declined, so there is less money coming into the system.
2. Inferior healthcare- doctors are getting paid by the government so they aren’t as motivated to become specialists in their fields because they wont get more money. In addition, there are shortages of doctors because they don’t make lots of money. As a result there are delays.
The United States has a capitalist system-most businesses are owned by private people. About three million people, about 1/6, have no health care.
Aim: European nations unite economically
After World War II, several Western European nations organized the European coal and steel community- trade coal and steel with each other without putting tariffs on each other. It was so big a success that a few years later it became the European community- no tax on any of each other’s goods.
In the 1990s, it changed its name to the European Union (EU).
Eastern European countries have been trying to join.
The European money, the euro, is used by every member.
Aim: History of the state of Israel, 1948-2000
Twenty-four hours after the formation of the state of Israel in 1946, there was a war initiated by Egypt known as the War of Independence. Israel managed with what the United States gave them. Unfortunately, Israel lost some land, including part of the Old City and the Kossel.
The Six-Day war was fought in 1967. Israel always got the occupied territories of:
1. Gaza
2. West Bank
3. Sinai Desert
4. Old City- was the most emotional significance of the war.
After the Six- Day war began the rise of terrorism. Most of the Palestinians moved to the outskirts where Israel didn’t have claim on territory. The people lived in refugee camps. This was a training ground for terrorism. It was here that the big terrorist group, the PLO (Palestinian Liberation Organization), formed, headed by Yasir Arafat.
In 1972, the PLO organized the Entebbe attack. They hijacked an airplane going from the United States to Israel, and sent it to Uganda.
In the 1980s, Germany held the Olympics. Israel sent eleven of their top athletes, all of whom were murdered by the PLO.
In 1973 was the Yom Kippur war. This was a surprise attack led by the Egyptians. Israel won and kept their land. The apposing nations retreated.
At this time, people began achieving peace in the Middle East. In 1979, the Camp David Agreement was formed. It was between the prime minister of Egypt, Saddat, and the prime minister of Israel, Begin. Israel wanted recognition in exchange for the Sinai Desert. Egyptians were furious at the results and murdered Saddat.
In 1987 was the first intifada- Palestinians began to act out more openly.
In 1993, in an attempt to stop the intifada, Rabin and Arafat signed the Oslo Accords- Israel gave up parts of Gaza. Rabin was murdered shortly after.
After, the second intifada began- suicide bombings became much more popular.
In 2004, Sharon gave up the rest of Gaza and some of the West Bank, which meant he was uprooting settlements.
Aim: Israel- 2000 to present
In October 2004, the second intifada broke out and it lasted for a couple of years. The terrorist groups that were responsible were Al Aqsa and Hamas. There was constant bombings in hotels, restaurants, busses… Israel reacted by increasing security. They became really good at preventing attacks.
In 2005, Jews were expelled from Gaza settlements. Most people left, but many didn’t want to. Gaza was eventually emptied out.
The Israelis continued to struggle against terrorism. The most recent struggle was Operation Cast Lead. The Israelis marched into Gaza in order to achieve their goal of weakening Hamas.
Aim: Lebanon
In the 1980s, there was a civil war that lasted for ten years. Lebanon had a population made up of both Muslims and Christians. After 1967, many Palestinian refugees moved to Lebanon, creating a Muslim majority. The Muslims didn’t want Christians in their government. This was the cause of the civil war. Many people were killed. The 1990s was spent rebuilding Lebanon.
Aim: Iranian revolution
In the years after WWII, the shah was Reza Pahlevi. He was modern and wanted Iran to be a modern country. He therefore introduced western civilization into Iran. The United States supported him, and Iran was now their friend politically.
In Iran, people wanted the shah out and Khomeini in. Khomeini was very religious. He believed that Iran should be ruled by the Shoria (religious laws from the Koran). The shah exiled Khomeini, making Khomeini more popular. In 1979, the shah escaped to the United States and Khomeini became the new leader of Iran. He had millions of supporters.
Under Khomeini:
1. All western influences were banned
2. Rights were taken away from woman
Iran and the United States now had a terrible relationship. Khomeini took the United States embassy hostage. All the workers were put in jail. They were released after a little more than a year.
Aim: Iran and the spread of Islamic fundamentalism (Muslim extremism)
Under Khomeini, Iran became a very religious country. The term for very extreme Muslims is Islamic fundamentalism. Many people gravitated toward this extremism.
When Khomeini died in 1989, Iran had a very less religious leader who wasn’t appreciated and left a few years later.
Next came President Ahmadinejad. He was a very courageous leader who wasn’t liked by the west. He also openly denied the Holocaust. Now, he is building nuclear weapons and the US isn’t happy with this because he is irrational. (Iran is among the top ten most dangerous countries for the United States.)
Islamic fundamentalism has been spreading to other countries with Muslim populations. Iran attracted Muslims to become more radically religious in countries like Egypt, Saudi Arabia… In Turkey, it is the “in” thing to wear head coverings.
Iran is against everything the western world stands for.
Aim: Afghanistan- Taliban
Afghanistan is mostly a Muslim country.
In the mid 1990s, the Taliban (a very religious group) came to power. The Taliban are a prime example of what such religious people can do to society:
1. Men can’t shave
2. Men have to wear long robes
3. Women have to wear traditional clothing such as the Burka.
4. No art
5. No music or dancing
6. No education for girls, not even with a tutor.
7. Woman can’t go out without related male accompaniment.
Most people didn’t like such strict rules.
If the Taliban felt that people were against them, they would go into that area, close off the whole thing, bring all the people into the streets and kill them all.
A terrorist group formed from the Taliban, known as Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is led by Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden rose to notorious fame after the attack on the twin towers on September 11, 2001.
After the attack, the Taliban became an enemy to the US. Bush and NATO sent troops to Iran and forced the Taliban from power. In a few months, Iran got a free government with no more harsh laws. There are still troops in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan grows 95% of the opium in the world.
Aim: Iraq
Ever since the 1970s, Iraq was led by the dictator Saddam Hussein. The Iraqis had no imposition of religious law, but he was a terrible dictator:
1. Hussein demanded loyalty, and those that he felt were disloyal, were dealt with in torture chambers.
2. Hussein was paranoid and had palaces with many underground tunnels. He lived a few stories below the ground.
In 1980, Iraq started up with Iran- border fights. War lasted for ten years.
Aim: Iraq- Persian Gulf war, 1991
Kuwait is an oil rich country on the tip of Iraq. Iraq was jealous, so they decided to invade. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait, and was successful in getting it in a couple of weeks.
Kuwait had been a modern country, and now the western countries can’t do business with it. This was very serious for the United States.
Hussein said that Israel would be next, and following the capture of Kuwait, Iraq sent long-range missiles into Israel. The Israeli government was scared that the missile heads contained dangerous diseases, so every building had a sealed off room, and everyone wore gas masks. From all the forty missiles that Iraq sent, only one person was killed.
The US had two reasons to get involved:
1. Kuwait
2. Israel
With help from NATO, troops marched into Iraq and forced Iraq out of Kuwait within two months. Bush Sr., who was the president at the time, received a lot of criticism because many people felt he didn’t do the whole job because he didn’t get Hussein.
After September 11, 2001, Bush Jr. decided to target Iraq. What’s the connection?
1. Someone had to pay and it was going to be Iraq.
2. Bush didn’t want other terrorist groups to think that the US was vulnerable.
3. He picked Iraq because he knew that his father was blamed for not getting Hussein.
The United States accused Iraq of having weapons of mass destruction. The United States demanded that Iraq let them send UN inspectors in to check the situation out. If weapons were found, the United States would attack Iraq. The United Nations inspectors were refused, so the United States attacked in 2003 saying that they can’t tolerate such a threat.
The United States first attacked with the air force- “shock and awe”. After a few weeks, the United States marched in with ground troops. There was no Iraqi army to appose them. Most Iraqis were thrilled that Hussein was no longer in power.
After a few months, struggles broke out between the Sunis and Shiites. Saddam’s supporters became terrorists and would target United States troops and United States supporters. There was constant bombing and attacks.
The United States learnt a lesson- you can’t just march in and offer democracy on a silver platter. Bush became really unpopular.
In 2005, the United States found Hussein, but the war still continued. For the past six months or so, the situation in Iraq stabilized.
OPEC (Organization petroleum exporting countries)
The countries that have oil control the prices of oil, such as Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Nigeria… The purpose of this is to have a monopoly or cartel. Then, a couple of countries could control prices and get rid of competition.
OPEC has been tough on the United States. In the 1970s, OPEC didn’t sell oil to us for a few months. About a year ago, they raised the oil prices but they realized that we were beginning to become less dependant on their oil, so they lowered the price.
Aim: Latin America case studies
Some of the common challenges that Latin American nations shared:
1. Single cash crops- only one commodity. Many countries got used to growing one item. This is bad because:
a. No variety
b. It limits the economy- can’t export too much.
c. If the crop doesn’t grow, the country will go under.
2. Unequal land division- largest gap between the rich and poor. The rich own all the land and the poor live on nothing. Many people blame the Europeans for this. Today, they are working on re-dividing the land more evenly.
Illegal immigration- come to America because of the economic opportunities
3. Overcrowded urban areas- because people feel that it’s the only place they can get ahead.
Disagreement between the conservatives and liberals- the liberals want the land to be redistributed and the conservatives want to stick to the status quo. Many of the liberals are priests and it makes them popular when they fight for land redistribution and other things.
Nicaragua- many Latin American nations in the past twenty years have been moving toward democracy because it has more opportunity.
From the early 1800s to the 1970s, Nicaragua had a strong military dictatorship. This dictatorship was supported by the United States. The United States sent financial help and assistance because Nicaragua was removed from Communism.
In the 1970s, a strong communist/Marxist group called the Sandinistas. They overthrew the military dictatorship. Now, Nicaragua was a communist country.
A democratic rebel group called the Contras rebelled against communism and the Sandinistas- the United States helped them. In 1990, the Contras were successful in overthrowing the Sandinistas and Chamorro became president.
Aim: Mexico
As in many Latin American nations, Mexico had a dictator after they got their independence. In the 1880s, when Hidalgo got independence for Mexico, a dictator took over. Under this dictatorship, the minority was wealthy and got things from the government. The poor people were disadvantaged.
In 1910, there was a revolution. Mexico was the first country in Latin America to overthrow their dictator, Diaz. The credit went to the two groups who organized the revolution:
1. Zapata- was a Native American and led the Indians.
2. “Poncho”villa- was considered as a dangerous criminal in the United States.
The first president was Carranza. He was from the only political party in Mexico called the PRI. This political party was so strong that no one else could form another party. In 1917, under Carranza, Mexico set up a constitution, which:
1. Gave woman more rights.
2. Land reforms- gave some land to the poor,
By the 1960s, riots and protests against the PRI broke out because people wanted another political party. In 2000, there were free elections.
1. PRI
2. PAN- Fox.
Fox won and brought an era of much more democracy into Mexico. Under Fox, the United States, Canada and Mexico formed NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). NAFTA got rid of most taxes on items. NAFTA is a positive interaction between the United States and Mexico because it enhanced economic relations.
Mexico had drug lords who were drug trafficking into the United States. The drug lords have their own army. The United States told Mexico to stop the drug trafficking or there would be consequences.
The Zapatistas, a rebel group in Mexico, claim the Native Americans are still ignored and don’t have rights. The Zapatistas are very dangerous. They want land and better healthcare.
Aim: Argentina
Argentina is a country in South America. It is rich in resources such as wheat and beef.
In the early 1900s, there were several civilian governments. In the 1930s, a military coup took over Argentina.
In 1940, Juan Peron became an extremely popular politician. He had the support of:
1. A large division of the army.
2. Many workers- they felt he would change Argentina for the better.
3. Had the popularity of his wife Evita. She spoke to crowds of poor people who understood her because she used to be poor.
1n 1946, Peron became the leader of Argentina. After he won, he became a full-fledged dictator. As a dictator, he bought changes to Argentina:
1. Workers got more rights-
a. Forty-hour work week
b. Paid vacations
c. Pension plans
2. Imports- less imports from foreign countries.
3. Repressive government- extreme censorship. He threatened the people badly, in a way that didn’t allow freedom. There was one newspaper and the government controlled the radios.
He became well exposed to fascism from Hitler, and after World War II, he invited Nazis into Argentina.
4. Less exports= huge economic problems.
Evita somehow kept her husband in power. When she died in 1952, Peron was pushed out by a military coup.
For about the next 30 years, Argentina was ruled by many military coups.
In the 1970s, Argentina had a brutal military government and there were all sorts of military groups against them. The government began reacting strongly- people disappeared off the streets- there were thousands of “desaparecidos”. This was known as the Dirty war.
By the 1980s, democracy was established in Argentina along with Haiti, Al Salvador, Guatemala…Today, there is an unstable democracy.
They have an economic crisis- Argentina was at a low point and then the world economic crisis began.
The government is notoriously anti-Semitic.
Aim: Panama
In the early 1900s, the US built the Panama Canal. It was returned in 2000 in an effort to have better relations with Panama.
In the 1950s, Panama’ s president, Noriega, was sending drugs into the United States. In 1989, the US went into Panama and surrounded his house. He stood trial in the United States and is now in jail in Miami.
Aim: Haves and Have-nots
Characteristics of haves and have-nots:
1. Haves-
a. High GDPs (gross domestic product)- value of what the country produces in a year.
b. Political stability.
c. Modern transportation systems that are sufficient.
d. Abundance of food and nutrition.
e. Capitalist economy.
2. Have- nots (aka LDCs- less developed countries)-
a. Low GDPs.
b. Unstable governments- this makes it hard to make money. There can also be civil wars.
c. Insufficient infrastructure.
d. Famine.
e. Transitioning to capitalism or are communist.
Examples of haves and have-nots:
1. Haves-
a. United States
b. Canada
c. West Europe
d. Japan
e. South Korea
f. Australia
g. New Zealand
h. Israel
2. Have-nots-
a. South Africa
b. Sub-Saharan Africa
c. North Korea
d. China- on the way to becoming a have.
e. India- on the way to becoming a have.
Many countries fall in the middle.
Why do haves help the have-nots? Because of globalization- increased communication among nations. This is sometimes referred to “global village”- world seems smaller because of technology. We care about have-nots because we are more connected with each other. It’s in our best interests to help these places because it helps us and protects us. We help for selfish reasons- their instability affects us.
Aim: Effects of globalization
Globalization is the coming together of countries in this “global village”.
Effects:
1. Cultural diffusion- cultures mix. People respect other people’s cultures. The more we mix with other countries, the more diffusion there will be.
2. Interdependence- countries needing other countries.
a. Resources
b. Trade
3. Outsourcing- sends jobs to other countries. (Ex. Dell in the United States and India)
4. Multinational corporations- big businesses have branches in many countries. This makes the world seem smaller.
Aim: Global hot spots
Hot spots- areas in the world where there is tension.
China has most of its population in the east because there r deserts and mountains in the west. Tibet is located in the mountains- it’s very secluded. The question over the years is if Tibet is part of China or not. China claims so, while the Tibetans say they are not.
The people of China and Tibet are very different. The Tibetans are religious Buddhist. Their leader is called the Dalai Lama; he’s respected worldwide.
Tensions increased in the 1950s when the Chinese became communism and wanted to wipe religion. They invaded Tibet and forced them to under the yolk of communism. Most Tibetans fled to India, including the Dalai Lama. China wanted the Chinese to move to Tibet to absorb the remaining Tibetans into their culture.
In 2008, there was increased violence when China hosted the Olympics. The Tibetans found this as a great opportunity to attract attention to themselves and they began protesting against China. The Chinese gunned many of them down and then made up to talk.
North Korea became a communist country after World War II. Their leader was Kim Sung.
The border between North and South Korea is very important to them, and is therefore untouchable.
There was only one political party- the Democratic People’s party. After Sung died, his son Kim Jung II took over. The people call him “dear leader” even though he’s a brutal tyrant.
Human rights were greatly violated- prison system is the cruelest in the world. There is an organization called the Amnesty International, which makes sure prisoners worldwide are treated humanly. They said that the human rights violations in North Korean prison systems are the worst.
In 1990, there was a famine and thousands of people died from starvation.
North Korea has nuclear weapons. They have made false promises to shut down their weapon programs. North Korea is about the only country that is producing nuclear weapons. They are also trying them out.
Economy:
1. South Korea- “Asian tiger”
2. North Korea- the entire economy collapsed after communism fell because they were getting support from Russia.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Earth Science: Chapter 2
Earth Science- Chapter 2
What is a mineral? A naturally occurring homogenous solid substance that is inorganic. Everything organic has complex carbons; therefore a mineral has no complex carbons.
3 different forms of mineral:
1. Element- mineral is made of 1 element. This is the simplest form of a mineral. Ex. mineral graphite.
2. Compound- more than 1 element is combined chemically in a specific ratio. Ex. Quartz= silicon + oxygen.
3. Mixture- different elements are mixed together, but there is no formula for it.
There are 3,000 different minerals on earth, however 98% of earth (troposphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere) is made up of just 12 basic minerals (see reference table).
Mineral Classification-
1. Color-
a. Distinct colors. Ex. gold.
b. Similar colors. Ex. gold and fool’s gold.
c. Many times, a white or colorless mineral will get discolored because of impurities.
2. Luster- how much of the light is going to be reflected off it.
a. Metallic luster- hard and shiny like metal.
b. Non-metallic- not so much light is reflected
1. Earthy- dull
2. Glassy
3. Pearly
4. Waxy
3. Streak- color of the powder of the mineral. This is very accurate because the streak will keeps its original color no matter what color change the rock may undergo. To find the streak, you take a streak plate (white porcelain plate) and rub the rock against it.
4. Crystal Structure- a crystal structure is atoms that are organized in a specific pattern:
a. Hexagonal- 6 sided crystal structure.
b. Rhombohedral- you can break off pieced in the direction of the two sides and the top.
c. Cubic- the mineral breaks off in cubes or rectangles.
d. Sheets- comes off in sheets.
e. Mineral breaks in to thin fibers.
5. Hardness- minerals may vary in their hardness. Hardness is tested relative to other minerals.
Mr. Moh set up Moh’s scale. It is a scale of 1- 10, where 1 is the softest mineral- talc, and 10 is the hardest mineral- diamond. You take the unknown mineral and scratch it. If it can’t scratch, it’s softer than the unknown mineral and if it does scratch, it’s harder than the unknown mineral.
6. Cleavage and fracture- how does a mineral break? Either with:
a. Cleavage- when a mineral brakes in a specific direction. The direction in which it breaks is the cleavage plane- same direction as the crystal structure.
b. Fracture- doesn’t break along the crystal structure. It’s jagged and splintered.
7. Density-
a. Mass/ density
b. Floatation- we see if it floats in a liquid. If it floats, it’s less dense and if it doesn’t float, it’s denser.
Water is 1 g/cm³. Based on the density of water, you can discover the specific gravity of the mineral.
6 minerals that have specific characteristics:
1. Calcite- colorless mineral. If you look through it, you’ll see words double. It also bubbles in acid.
2. Uranium- Extremely radioactive.
You can check it with a Grieger counter (GM counter)- the more radioactive something is, the greater the increase on the scale.
3. Magnetite- magnetic.
4. Talc- soapy.
5. Graphite- greasy.
6. Halite- salty.
Rocks-
Earth is made up of rocks. Some rocks have organic matter- remains of plants and animals.
Rocks are classified according to their origins. They could’ve been made and formed in 3 different ways:
1. Igneous- result of magma and lava becoming solid. They are the only rocks made from a hot liquid. When the magma or lava cools down to the temperature of solidification (between 600- 1000ºC), it’ll begin to solidify and crystallize. Based on how quickly the magma or lava cools down, you’ll have either smaller or larger crystals.
There are 2 kinds of igneous rocks:
a. Plutonic- intrusive rocks- cool under ground. The magma takes a long time to cool, so there are big crystals. There is 1 exception though- pegmatite has very big crystals because the magma had a lot of water, but it’s not plutonic
b. Volcanic- it’s an extrusive rock- magma is above the ground. It cools quickly so it has small crystals.
Some magma cools so quickly that there are no crystals such as volcanic glass and obsidian.
Sometimes there are gas bubbles in the lava so the rocks are going to form vesicles or air bubbles in the rocks.
We classify igneous rocks according to their crystal size and color- some are light colored and some are dark colored. The color signifies their mineral composition.
Light colored rocks are felsic rocks because they are basically made up of feldspar and silicon. Dark colored rocks are mafic rocks because they are made up of magnesium and ferrum.
2. Sedimentary- formed from the weathered remains of preexistent rocks that are compressed and cemented together. The pieces that sedimentary rocks are usually made up of are rounded by abrasion and deposited in layers. Sometimes there’s a thin layer of sedimentary rocks underground on top of all other kinds of rocks.
a. Clastic/ fragmental- made up of all different size particles. The most common type of sedimentary rocks.
b. Bio clastic- has organic remains. It is rich in fossils:
1. Coal
2. Limestone
c. Crystalline- made up of sediment precipitation. There are chemical reactions in certain liquids that will form precipitates.
3. Metamorphic- form when sedimentary or igneous rocks are changed by intense heat or pressure. Metamorphic rocks never leave the solid state. These are the only rocks that come directly from other rocks.
There are a few things that happen when a rock becomes a metamorphic rock:
a. The layers inside the rock will become distorted or disappear completely.
b. New minerals will form inside the rock.
c. Crystals will begin to grow.
Some metamorphic rocks have foliation- layers have formed inside the rock as the crystals realign themselves. 1 type of foliation- banding- minerals separate into dark and light layers.
2 types of metamorphism that take place:
1. Regional metamorphosis- rocks form deep within the earth. We see these rocks mainly when rocks are pushed up when mountains form. Metamorphic rocks usually form the core of the mountain.
2. Contact metamorphosis- rocks are changed near earth’s surface because of nearby magma and lava. Contact metamorphosis doesn’t change as drastically as regional metamorphosis.
Natural resources- substances that are found within earth, for example metal, minerals, fossil fuels, non-metals…
What are renewable resources? Those that the earth can reproduce, for example trees and water.
Non-renewable resources can’t be recycled or take a long time to reproduce, for example metals aren’t recyclable. Deep in the ocean are stream vents that can create metals but it takes years for metals to reproduce.
Coal and iron are also non-renewable, so we need to find alternate energies:
1. Solar energy- only good for the daytime.
2. Geothermal energy- from the earth. Can only be accessed in certain areas.
3. Wind driven generators- only works in places with strong and steady wind.
4. Hydro- electric power- uses water to create electricity. When they contain a lot of water in 1 area, it caused floods.
5. Nuclear energy- creates tremendous amount of radioactive wastes.
What is a mineral? A naturally occurring homogenous solid substance that is inorganic. Everything organic has complex carbons; therefore a mineral has no complex carbons.
3 different forms of mineral:
1. Element- mineral is made of 1 element. This is the simplest form of a mineral. Ex. mineral graphite.
2. Compound- more than 1 element is combined chemically in a specific ratio. Ex. Quartz= silicon + oxygen.
3. Mixture- different elements are mixed together, but there is no formula for it.
There are 3,000 different minerals on earth, however 98% of earth (troposphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere and lithosphere) is made up of just 12 basic minerals (see reference table).
Mineral Classification-
1. Color-
a. Distinct colors. Ex. gold.
b. Similar colors. Ex. gold and fool’s gold.
c. Many times, a white or colorless mineral will get discolored because of impurities.
2. Luster- how much of the light is going to be reflected off it.
a. Metallic luster- hard and shiny like metal.
b. Non-metallic- not so much light is reflected
1. Earthy- dull
2. Glassy
3. Pearly
4. Waxy
3. Streak- color of the powder of the mineral. This is very accurate because the streak will keeps its original color no matter what color change the rock may undergo. To find the streak, you take a streak plate (white porcelain plate) and rub the rock against it.
4. Crystal Structure- a crystal structure is atoms that are organized in a specific pattern:
a. Hexagonal- 6 sided crystal structure.
b. Rhombohedral- you can break off pieced in the direction of the two sides and the top.
c. Cubic- the mineral breaks off in cubes or rectangles.
d. Sheets- comes off in sheets.
e. Mineral breaks in to thin fibers.
5. Hardness- minerals may vary in their hardness. Hardness is tested relative to other minerals.
Mr. Moh set up Moh’s scale. It is a scale of 1- 10, where 1 is the softest mineral- talc, and 10 is the hardest mineral- diamond. You take the unknown mineral and scratch it. If it can’t scratch, it’s softer than the unknown mineral and if it does scratch, it’s harder than the unknown mineral.
6. Cleavage and fracture- how does a mineral break? Either with:
a. Cleavage- when a mineral brakes in a specific direction. The direction in which it breaks is the cleavage plane- same direction as the crystal structure.
b. Fracture- doesn’t break along the crystal structure. It’s jagged and splintered.
7. Density-
a. Mass/ density
b. Floatation- we see if it floats in a liquid. If it floats, it’s less dense and if it doesn’t float, it’s denser.
Water is 1 g/cm³. Based on the density of water, you can discover the specific gravity of the mineral.
6 minerals that have specific characteristics:
1. Calcite- colorless mineral. If you look through it, you’ll see words double. It also bubbles in acid.
2. Uranium- Extremely radioactive.
You can check it with a Grieger counter (GM counter)- the more radioactive something is, the greater the increase on the scale.
3. Magnetite- magnetic.
4. Talc- soapy.
5. Graphite- greasy.
6. Halite- salty.
Rocks-
Earth is made up of rocks. Some rocks have organic matter- remains of plants and animals.
Rocks are classified according to their origins. They could’ve been made and formed in 3 different ways:
1. Igneous- result of magma and lava becoming solid. They are the only rocks made from a hot liquid. When the magma or lava cools down to the temperature of solidification (between 600- 1000ºC), it’ll begin to solidify and crystallize. Based on how quickly the magma or lava cools down, you’ll have either smaller or larger crystals.
There are 2 kinds of igneous rocks:
a. Plutonic- intrusive rocks- cool under ground. The magma takes a long time to cool, so there are big crystals. There is 1 exception though- pegmatite has very big crystals because the magma had a lot of water, but it’s not plutonic
b. Volcanic- it’s an extrusive rock- magma is above the ground. It cools quickly so it has small crystals.
Some magma cools so quickly that there are no crystals such as volcanic glass and obsidian.
Sometimes there are gas bubbles in the lava so the rocks are going to form vesicles or air bubbles in the rocks.
We classify igneous rocks according to their crystal size and color- some are light colored and some are dark colored. The color signifies their mineral composition.
Light colored rocks are felsic rocks because they are basically made up of feldspar and silicon. Dark colored rocks are mafic rocks because they are made up of magnesium and ferrum.
2. Sedimentary- formed from the weathered remains of preexistent rocks that are compressed and cemented together. The pieces that sedimentary rocks are usually made up of are rounded by abrasion and deposited in layers. Sometimes there’s a thin layer of sedimentary rocks underground on top of all other kinds of rocks.
a. Clastic/ fragmental- made up of all different size particles. The most common type of sedimentary rocks.
b. Bio clastic- has organic remains. It is rich in fossils:
1. Coal
2. Limestone
c. Crystalline- made up of sediment precipitation. There are chemical reactions in certain liquids that will form precipitates.
3. Metamorphic- form when sedimentary or igneous rocks are changed by intense heat or pressure. Metamorphic rocks never leave the solid state. These are the only rocks that come directly from other rocks.
There are a few things that happen when a rock becomes a metamorphic rock:
a. The layers inside the rock will become distorted or disappear completely.
b. New minerals will form inside the rock.
c. Crystals will begin to grow.
Some metamorphic rocks have foliation- layers have formed inside the rock as the crystals realign themselves. 1 type of foliation- banding- minerals separate into dark and light layers.
2 types of metamorphism that take place:
1. Regional metamorphosis- rocks form deep within the earth. We see these rocks mainly when rocks are pushed up when mountains form. Metamorphic rocks usually form the core of the mountain.
2. Contact metamorphosis- rocks are changed near earth’s surface because of nearby magma and lava. Contact metamorphosis doesn’t change as drastically as regional metamorphosis.
Natural resources- substances that are found within earth, for example metal, minerals, fossil fuels, non-metals…
What are renewable resources? Those that the earth can reproduce, for example trees and water.
Non-renewable resources can’t be recycled or take a long time to reproduce, for example metals aren’t recyclable. Deep in the ocean are stream vents that can create metals but it takes years for metals to reproduce.
Coal and iron are also non-renewable, so we need to find alternate energies:
1. Solar energy- only good for the daytime.
2. Geothermal energy- from the earth. Can only be accessed in certain areas.
3. Wind driven generators- only works in places with strong and steady wind.
4. Hydro- electric power- uses water to create electricity. When they contain a lot of water in 1 area, it caused floods.
5. Nuclear energy- creates tremendous amount of radioactive wastes.
Earth Science: Chapter 3
Earth Science- Chapter 3
Earthquakes- the shaking or rapid motion of Earth’s soled layer or crust (aka tectonic plates).
There are about 1,000 earthquakes daily. 30,000 of them are felt yearly. Only 75 of them are significant and cause damage.
How does an earthquake happen? A fault is a zone of weakness or a crack in the crust where previous motion has already happened. This stress builds up in the crust until there is too much stress for the crust to resist. The crust breaks and energy is released.
3 types of stress that build up under the ground:
1. Tension- when there is this kind of stress, two pieces of the earth move apart.
2. Compression- when two pieces of the earth are pushed together and they overlap.
3. Shearing- the earth rubs against each other. At the fault, there will be tension.
The exact place inside the earth where the earthquake occurs is called the focus. Directly above the focus on the surface of the earth is the epicenter. Energy is released from these two areas.
2 ways to measure an earthquake:
1. Intensity scale- measures the effects of the earthquake- how much damage the earthquake did based on what people said. We use the Mercalli Scale- based on Roman numerals from 1 (least)- 12 (most). Depending on how close a person is, that’s how he’ll feel it, so the Mercalli’s scale isn’t that good.
2. Magnitude scale- Richter scale-a seismologist measures the strength of an earthquake using seismometers. The most accurate seismometer is a seismograph. A seismograph measures the vibrations of the earth. There is a heavy weight with a pen. The pen writes on a piece of paper that is attached to the scale. Based on the different movements, there will be different writings. It records the movements of the earthquakes’ waves. Every number on the Richter scale is 10 times the number before it.
Earthquake waves- there are 3 types of waves:
1. P- waves- Primary waves- they travel the fastest and they move in a push- pull motion.
2. S- waves- Secondary waves- they are slower than the P-Waves. They only move through solid material in the ground. They move from side-to-side.
3. Surface waves- includes waves that move in a push-pull and side-to-side manner. These waves cause the most damage to the surface of earth.
Each earthquake has all 3 types of waves.
Locating the epicenter-
We have to record the speed of the P and S waves. In order to locate the epicenter, we see how long it took for the P and S waves to reach the seismograph.
Origin time- time the earthquake began. The origin time can be figured out based on P- waves:
1. The arrival time of the P-waves at the seismograph.
2. Have to know the travel time of the P-waves.
a. What time they got there
b. How long it took
3. Arrival time- travel time = origin time.
Layers of the earth-
A layer is anything under the surface. We live on the surface of Earth.
Layers:
1. Crust- the outermost layer. It’s located right under the surface. There are two parts to the crust:
a. Continental crust- under the continents.
b. Oceanic crust- under the oceans.
Crusts vary in depth from 5-60 km. We know what the crust is made up of based on:
a. Surface rock- same as the crust rock because the surface and the crust are so close together.
b. If you dig down to the curst and see.
The majority of continental crust is made up of granite. The majority of oceanic crust and deep continental crust is made up of rock similar to basil.
2. Mantle- the boundary or interface between the crust and the mantle is called the Moho. The mantle is 2,900 km deep. The earthquake waves move faster through the mantle than through the crust. The mantle contains most of the volume of earth- it’s the densest place. Most of earth is concentrated in the mantle.
Magma (lava that comes out of a volcano) is stored in the mantle. Magma is made up of dense or mafic rocks. The mantle is not only made up of dense mafic rocks, but also olivine and pyroxene.
3. Core- the middle of the earth. The core is made up of the:
a. Inner core- it’s very dense. It’s made up of solid iron and nickel. The inner core is solid because of the intense pressure.
b. Outer core- is very dense. It’s made up of melted iron and nickel. The outer core is liquid and the S-waves can’t pass through it.
Earthquakes and volcanoes usually take place along the Ring of Fire, located in the Pacific Ocean.
Earthquakes are aka seismic.
Dangers of earthquakes/ seismic hazards-
1. Because of the shaking, buildings or bridges may collapse or become unsafe for use.
2. Tsunami
3. Fires
Hazards of volcanoes- when a volcano explodes, 3 things come out:
1. Lava- burning rocks. It flows down the volcano and burns everything in its path;
2. Toxic gases- are very dangerous.
3. Ashes
Volcanoes are also very useful:
1. It produces fertile soil.
2. Created the Hawaiian Islands.
3. We get geothermal energy from volcanoes.
Shadow zones-
When an earthquake occurs, the waves travel all over. The S-waves can’t get to the opposite side of the earth because they can’t pass through the core. Therefore, there is a P-wave only zone.
In this P-wave zone, there are certain areas that have no waves at all. Why? Because when the P-waves go through the core, the rock is extremely hard and it retracts- bends the P-waves to the side. The result is an area without any P-waves either. This area with no waves is known as the shadow zone.
A shadow zone is 102˚- 143˚ from the epicenter of the earthquake. Every earthquake has its own shadow zone, located after the core.
Continental draft-
There is a theory that states that the continents are moving further apart from each other. Originally, they were all connected as one big planet called Pangaea. Proofs that there was once one big continent:
1. All the continents fit together like a puzzle.
2. The sides of the continent of South America and the continents that connect have the same rock formation.
3. The ocean floors- it appears that the ocean is constantly growing through the creation of mid-ocean ridges- ridges under the ground that show us that the age of the ocean crust increases as you get further away from the ridge.
How the mid-ocean ridge formed- under the ground, there is magma. This magma comes up from the ridge and spreads out over the ridge. While the magma is still hot and molten, the iron inside the magma aligns with the earth’s magnetic field. The ocean floor continues to expand because more magma is coming up and pushing the magma away in two opposite directions. (The new magma pushes away the old magma.) Now, the ocean floor is bigger. Earth’s magnetic field is constantly reversing its direction and therefore when the new layer of magma aligns itself it will be in the opposite direction of the old magma.
Plate tectonics- the plates that the earth is made up of. Earth is made up of 12 major plates and many smaller plates.
There are boundaries along the plates called plate boundaries. When there is movement along the boundaries, it causes volcanoes, earthquakes…
Different types of movement along the boundaries:
1. Convergent boundaries- the two boundaries have collided or crashed:
a. Continental crashing into continental
b. Continental crashing into oceanic- the oceanic, which is denser, will sink beneath the continental plate. When this happens, it’s called a subduction zone. These subduction zones have ocean trenches formed. By subduction zones, magma rises up and creates islands called Island arcs.
2. Transform boundary- when two plates slide past each other. This doesn’t cause such a tremendous earthquake.
3. Divergent boundary- plates move apart from each other. This is aka a rift zone.
What makes the tectonic plates move? Because there is a massive amount of heat in the earth. Heat moves from a high concentration to a low concentration, so the heat moves from the center to all the other parts of earth. The heat travels through convection through the earth. When something gets hot, it expands and gets less dense. The heat is traveling and spreading itself out through convection. Any area that receives this heat expands and becomes less dense. Once it’s less dense, it’ll rise and will cool off and eventually sink back down. This movement inside the mantel is called convection cell. (Hear moves in slow motion in the mantle.) Because of these convection cells inside the mantle, which causes the rocks inside to move, the rigid part of the curst (aka lithosphere) is moving as well. The plates are made up of the crust, so the moving in the mantle causes the plates to move.
Convection cells bring hot material up to the surface. If there is a crack in the crust, the hot material will get through.
Sometimes, there’s an area under the crust that’s a source of magma. This source of magma is called a hot spot. As the plates slowly move over this hot spot, the magma rises from beneath the surface and forms a volcano. As the plates move along, new volcanoes are formed.
I left out how to find the epicenter of an earthquake and I did the dangers of seismic hazards very briefly. Hatzlocha Rabba!
Earthquakes- the shaking or rapid motion of Earth’s soled layer or crust (aka tectonic plates).
There are about 1,000 earthquakes daily. 30,000 of them are felt yearly. Only 75 of them are significant and cause damage.
How does an earthquake happen? A fault is a zone of weakness or a crack in the crust where previous motion has already happened. This stress builds up in the crust until there is too much stress for the crust to resist. The crust breaks and energy is released.
3 types of stress that build up under the ground:
1. Tension- when there is this kind of stress, two pieces of the earth move apart.
2. Compression- when two pieces of the earth are pushed together and they overlap.
3. Shearing- the earth rubs against each other. At the fault, there will be tension.
The exact place inside the earth where the earthquake occurs is called the focus. Directly above the focus on the surface of the earth is the epicenter. Energy is released from these two areas.
2 ways to measure an earthquake:
1. Intensity scale- measures the effects of the earthquake- how much damage the earthquake did based on what people said. We use the Mercalli Scale- based on Roman numerals from 1 (least)- 12 (most). Depending on how close a person is, that’s how he’ll feel it, so the Mercalli’s scale isn’t that good.
2. Magnitude scale- Richter scale-a seismologist measures the strength of an earthquake using seismometers. The most accurate seismometer is a seismograph. A seismograph measures the vibrations of the earth. There is a heavy weight with a pen. The pen writes on a piece of paper that is attached to the scale. Based on the different movements, there will be different writings. It records the movements of the earthquakes’ waves. Every number on the Richter scale is 10 times the number before it.
Earthquake waves- there are 3 types of waves:
1. P- waves- Primary waves- they travel the fastest and they move in a push- pull motion.
2. S- waves- Secondary waves- they are slower than the P-Waves. They only move through solid material in the ground. They move from side-to-side.
3. Surface waves- includes waves that move in a push-pull and side-to-side manner. These waves cause the most damage to the surface of earth.
Each earthquake has all 3 types of waves.
Locating the epicenter-
We have to record the speed of the P and S waves. In order to locate the epicenter, we see how long it took for the P and S waves to reach the seismograph.
Origin time- time the earthquake began. The origin time can be figured out based on P- waves:
1. The arrival time of the P-waves at the seismograph.
2. Have to know the travel time of the P-waves.
a. What time they got there
b. How long it took
3. Arrival time- travel time = origin time.
Layers of the earth-
A layer is anything under the surface. We live on the surface of Earth.
Layers:
1. Crust- the outermost layer. It’s located right under the surface. There are two parts to the crust:
a. Continental crust- under the continents.
b. Oceanic crust- under the oceans.
Crusts vary in depth from 5-60 km. We know what the crust is made up of based on:
a. Surface rock- same as the crust rock because the surface and the crust are so close together.
b. If you dig down to the curst and see.
The majority of continental crust is made up of granite. The majority of oceanic crust and deep continental crust is made up of rock similar to basil.
2. Mantle- the boundary or interface between the crust and the mantle is called the Moho. The mantle is 2,900 km deep. The earthquake waves move faster through the mantle than through the crust. The mantle contains most of the volume of earth- it’s the densest place. Most of earth is concentrated in the mantle.
Magma (lava that comes out of a volcano) is stored in the mantle. Magma is made up of dense or mafic rocks. The mantle is not only made up of dense mafic rocks, but also olivine and pyroxene.
3. Core- the middle of the earth. The core is made up of the:
a. Inner core- it’s very dense. It’s made up of solid iron and nickel. The inner core is solid because of the intense pressure.
b. Outer core- is very dense. It’s made up of melted iron and nickel. The outer core is liquid and the S-waves can’t pass through it.
Earthquakes and volcanoes usually take place along the Ring of Fire, located in the Pacific Ocean.
Earthquakes are aka seismic.
Dangers of earthquakes/ seismic hazards-
1. Because of the shaking, buildings or bridges may collapse or become unsafe for use.
2. Tsunami
3. Fires
Hazards of volcanoes- when a volcano explodes, 3 things come out:
1. Lava- burning rocks. It flows down the volcano and burns everything in its path;
2. Toxic gases- are very dangerous.
3. Ashes
Volcanoes are also very useful:
1. It produces fertile soil.
2. Created the Hawaiian Islands.
3. We get geothermal energy from volcanoes.
Shadow zones-
When an earthquake occurs, the waves travel all over. The S-waves can’t get to the opposite side of the earth because they can’t pass through the core. Therefore, there is a P-wave only zone.
In this P-wave zone, there are certain areas that have no waves at all. Why? Because when the P-waves go through the core, the rock is extremely hard and it retracts- bends the P-waves to the side. The result is an area without any P-waves either. This area with no waves is known as the shadow zone.
A shadow zone is 102˚- 143˚ from the epicenter of the earthquake. Every earthquake has its own shadow zone, located after the core.
Continental draft-
There is a theory that states that the continents are moving further apart from each other. Originally, they were all connected as one big planet called Pangaea. Proofs that there was once one big continent:
1. All the continents fit together like a puzzle.
2. The sides of the continent of South America and the continents that connect have the same rock formation.
3. The ocean floors- it appears that the ocean is constantly growing through the creation of mid-ocean ridges- ridges under the ground that show us that the age of the ocean crust increases as you get further away from the ridge.
How the mid-ocean ridge formed- under the ground, there is magma. This magma comes up from the ridge and spreads out over the ridge. While the magma is still hot and molten, the iron inside the magma aligns with the earth’s magnetic field. The ocean floor continues to expand because more magma is coming up and pushing the magma away in two opposite directions. (The new magma pushes away the old magma.) Now, the ocean floor is bigger. Earth’s magnetic field is constantly reversing its direction and therefore when the new layer of magma aligns itself it will be in the opposite direction of the old magma.
Plate tectonics- the plates that the earth is made up of. Earth is made up of 12 major plates and many smaller plates.
There are boundaries along the plates called plate boundaries. When there is movement along the boundaries, it causes volcanoes, earthquakes…
Different types of movement along the boundaries:
1. Convergent boundaries- the two boundaries have collided or crashed:
a. Continental crashing into continental
b. Continental crashing into oceanic- the oceanic, which is denser, will sink beneath the continental plate. When this happens, it’s called a subduction zone. These subduction zones have ocean trenches formed. By subduction zones, magma rises up and creates islands called Island arcs.
2. Transform boundary- when two plates slide past each other. This doesn’t cause such a tremendous earthquake.
3. Divergent boundary- plates move apart from each other. This is aka a rift zone.
What makes the tectonic plates move? Because there is a massive amount of heat in the earth. Heat moves from a high concentration to a low concentration, so the heat moves from the center to all the other parts of earth. The heat travels through convection through the earth. When something gets hot, it expands and gets less dense. The heat is traveling and spreading itself out through convection. Any area that receives this heat expands and becomes less dense. Once it’s less dense, it’ll rise and will cool off and eventually sink back down. This movement inside the mantel is called convection cell. (Hear moves in slow motion in the mantle.) Because of these convection cells inside the mantle, which causes the rocks inside to move, the rigid part of the curst (aka lithosphere) is moving as well. The plates are made up of the crust, so the moving in the mantle causes the plates to move.
Convection cells bring hot material up to the surface. If there is a crack in the crust, the hot material will get through.
Sometimes, there’s an area under the crust that’s a source of magma. This source of magma is called a hot spot. As the plates slowly move over this hot spot, the magma rises from beneath the surface and forms a volcano. As the plates move along, new volcanoes are formed.
I left out how to find the epicenter of an earthquake and I did the dangers of seismic hazards very briefly. Hatzlocha Rabba!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Earth Science- Chapter 4
Earth Science- Chapter 4
Weathering- when rocks are broken down because of physical or chemical changes.
1. Physical weathering- what is physical weathering? The rock will be broken down into smaller pieces or a different shape but there will be no change in its chemical composition.
A few natural ways a rock can be broken down:
a. Frost action- water seeps into the rock thru the cracks, then the water freezes and expands in the cracks and it causes the crack to get larger and the rock expands to accommodate the larger water. When the weather warms up, the ice will melt. The water will evaporate, and the rock is left with large cracks. This cycle will happen over and over again and the cracks will grow larger and larger until the rock splits.
b. Plant roots- happens because of the roots of the plants. The roots reach into the soil and the roots expand as the plant gets bigger. If it finds its way into the cracks of a rock, as the roots expand, they’ll push the rock apart.
c. Animals- when the animals dig into the ground, they bring new rocks up to the surface and these rocks are now exposed to different factors that can cause them to weather.
d. Abrasion- when things knock into each other.
1. When a stream is flowing and with in it there are rocks and some rocks knock against others and knock into the water all. All the collision causes the rocks to break.
2. Wind blows little pieces of rock against exposed rock surfaces and there is a collision and eventually the rock will crack.
3. Moving ice scrapes against the rock, causing the rock to break.
4. Wave action- waves of the sea attack rocks on the shore and cause them to break down.
5. The force of gravity could cause breakage.
From all the weathering we see that some rocks are soft and some are hard- some break easier than others.
a. Quartz- is made of silica. It’s a hard rock that resists physical weathering.
b. Mica- soft rock that breaks easily.
2. Chemical weathering- changes the mineral composition of the rock and forms a completely new substance.
Deep in the crust of the earth there isn’t really and chemical weathering. When rock comes to the surface, it’s exposed to the hydrosphere and atmosphere and chemical weathering can occur.
2 things that speed up chemical weathering:
a. Rain
b. Heat
c. Acid- acid rain is regular rain that absorbed carbon dioxide and pollution Ex. Sulfur and nitrogen absorb organic acid making the rain acid rain. If this acid rain comes in contact with rock, the rock will decompose. Ex. If limestone is combined with acid, chemical weathering will occur.
Examples of chemical weathering:
a. Iron+ oxygen= iron oxide (rust)
b. Feldspar- when exposed to oxygen and water, chemical weathering will occur, and it’ll become clay.
c. Olivine-located deep in the ground. If exposed, it will become clay.
Soil-
What is soil made up of?
1. Weathered rocks
2. Micro-organisms
3. Organic remains
4. Bedrock
Different types of soils are effected by:
1. Climate- the type of climate is going to affect the soil because it’ll affect the amount of moisture in the soil, the amount of air in the soil, and the amount of organic matter in the soil.
2. What the rock is made up of and how much weathering the rocks went through- physical weathering is going to determine the size of the rock fragments. When some rocks undergo chemical weathering, they turn into clay. The amount of clay in the soil is going to be soft or hard depending on the rock pieces inside the soil. If there is a lot of organic matter in the soil, the organic matter is going to decompose. When organic matter decomposes, it produces organic acid. The more organic acid there is, the more chemical weathering there will be.
If there are a lot of animals in the area, the animals are going to bring rocks up to the surface. When rocks are exposed, more weathering can happen. A lot of animals= more organic matter (wastes).
Formation of soil- (Layers of soil are aka soil horizons)
1. Residual soil- soil that rests on top of its original bedrock. All residual soil is going to have 4 layers:
a. There’s bedrock.
b. Broken bedrock- formed from weathered bedrock.
c. Mineral enriched horizon- water with a lot of soil because the ground water hash infiltrated this layer and produced minerals.
d. Humus- dark, black soil, which is full of organic matter. The more organic matter there is, the more fertile the soil is going to be.
2. Transported soil- top layer of soil was brought to another location. This soil won’t have all the layers.
Transported soil moves through the process of erosion- transportation of sediments (rock fragments) from one location to another. There are many ways erosion can happen:
a. Erosion through gravity
b. Erosion by water
c. Wind erosion
Erosion-
1. Erosion through gravity- when gravity moves something from 1 area to another without the help of wind, rain or ice. When this happens, it’s called a mass movement/ mass wasting. The rocks are going to slide, flow or fall down.
It’s more probable that erosion by gravity is going to happen if:
a. There is water within the sediment.
b. There’s freezing and thawing within the rocks.
Examples of erosion by gravity:
a. Landslide
b. Fallen rocks
c. Slow creep
d. Slumping
2. Erosion by water- if there’s a moist place, erosion will probably be erosion by water. There’s a stream flowing and it carries rock sediment with the water. Depending on the size and density of the rock, we can determine what kind of erosion is going to take place:
a. Solution- very small rock particles are going to be carried along the river in solution. These rocks are so small that they can’t be filtered out of the water naturally.
b. Suspension- small particles that won’t settle on the river floor on their own. They are large enough to be filtered out of the water naturally.
c. Floatation- the lightest particles with the lowest density float along the surface of the river. Very often, these are composed of organic matter and they are very light.
d. Traction- heaviest and largest sediments are rolled along the river floor by traction.
Stream velocity- the speed of the stream. Different stream velocities will move along different sized sediments. In order for traction to occur, stream velocity has to be very high. By looking at the size of sediments in a stream, the velocity can be determined.
What effects velocity?
a. Gradient
b. Discharge- amount of water in the stream. The more water, the faster the velocity. The greater the velocity, the more erosion is going to happen. The speed of the stream is a balance between the pull of gravity and friction. The center of the stream has the least friction, so it moves the fastest. There is even friction between the stream and the air.
There are some rivers that have S shaped curves- the river meanders. When the river passes along the curve, it goes very quickly along the outside of the bend. As it passes along the outside of the S, there’s greater erosion. Because the water is going slowly on the inside of the s, there will be deposition.
3. Wind erosion- the wind picks up sediments of rocks and carries them from one place to another, for example clay, sand and silt. Erosion by wind happens in a place where the soil is loose and there are no plants holding the soil down.
4. Erosion by ice- ice transfers sediment from one area to another by glaciers. Glaciers are large blocks of slow moving ice. Glaciers form in a very cold area- the Arctic areas.
How do glaciers form? When the snow piles up faster then it melts, the bottom layer of snow forms into a block of ice.
When the glacier movers, it acts as an abrasion system, causing rocks that it passes along to break or get scratched. Sometimes, a glacier will smooth out the side of a mountain.
Different types of glaciers form different landscapes:
a. Continental glaciers- a glacier that covers a very large area. As it passes over the land, it’s going to deepen and widen valleys and it’s going to grind down any hills in the area. With it it takes along sediment.
b. Valley glacier- it scours rocks away in order to create a U shaped valley with the sides of the mountain almost vertical. Valley glaciers move very slowly. The ice in the center of the glacier moves the fastest.
Identifying agents of erosion- what agent of erosion caused this erosion to look this way?
1. A rough, angular rock- gravity.
2. Round, smooth rock- eroded by water.
3. Rounded and striated rock- eroded by glaciers.
4. Ventifacts (rock that’s angular with facets)- eroded by wind.
5. Talus- angular and rough- eroded by gravity.
Deposition- when sediments are deposited in an area. Aka sedimentation.
What effects deposition?
1. Particle size-
a. Larger particles are deposited first.
b. Small particles are deposited slower.
c. Tiny particles won’t settle unless the solution its in is saturated. Ex. The Persian Gulf has lots of salt. When the weather gets hot, the water evaporates and the Persian Gulf is as saturated with salt as it can be. If more water would evaporate, the water would be oversaturated with salt. The salt will begin to settle and it will crystallize. These salt crystals are called precipitates. The process of the salt crystallizing is called precipitation.
2. Particle shape- the more friction there is between the particle and water, the longer it will take to settle.
a. A flat, angular particle with an irregular shape will take a long time for deposition to occur.
b. A smooth, round rock will be dropped off quicker.
3. Density of the particle- if the size and the shape are the same, the denser particle will be deposited first.
4. Speed of the agents (things that cause deposition)- wind, ice, gravity… If any of the agents are moving quickly, deposition won’t be happening so much. As the agent slows down, deposition is going to increase. Ex. as a stream enters an ocean, it slows down, and deposition will occur.
Sorting of sediments- deposited according to size, shape and density. Sometimes, sediments aren’t deposited according to size, shape and density, for example if wind stops blowing, if it goes according to size, shape and density, it’s called sorting of sediments.
1. Horizontal sorting- near ocean shoreline. First large rocks are deposited, then medium rocks. As the agent of deposition slows down, the rocks will get smaller and smaller.
2. Vertical sorting- as the river slows down, deposition will increase. The smaller rocks will settle on top of the larger rocks.
3. Graded bedding- a few layers of sorting one on top of the other and every layer represents a different event. This usually happens in vertical sorting. Ex. There is a lake at the foot of a mountain. The mountain has a landslide, and all the rocks that tumble down sort on the bottom of the lake. This event happens year after year. Eventually, there will be many layers of sorting on top of each other.
Types of deposition-
1. Deposition by gravity- when it occurs, the sediments aren’t sorted. Rocks fall off a cliff and form one pile of angular, unsorted rocks.
2. Deposition by water- when you look at sediments inside a stream, you can see how fast the stream is going. When the stream is going slow, there will be lots of deposition. In a very slow part of a river, it may have to be dredged (cleaned) because there are so many rocks. As the river enters the ocean, it deposits the sediments in a delta shape.
3. Deposition by wind- sediments carried by the wind. These sediments are fine because the wind can carry heavy sediments. Sometimes, the wind blows the sediment into hills known as dunes. Sand is blown up on the windward side and deposited on the leeward side. This usually happens at the beach or in the desert.
Cross bedding- wind blows the sand into different layers that meet at different angles.
Most deposition in a desert doesn’t come from wind, but rather from flash floods- thunderstorms that occur suddenly and infrequently.
4. Deposition by glaciers- sediments can be deposited by moving ice or by the melted water, and a bunch of unsorted rocks will be left.
Erratic- deposition that occurs by ice. Large boulders are deposited above a stream valley. They are rounded and striated. That that they are high and striated is proof that this deposition occurred by glaciers and not by water.
5. Deposition by melt water- when a glacier melts, the sediments inside the glacier are released and deposited.
NY and the Ice Age- how was NY affected by erosion and deposition of glaciers?
1. When the ice formed- in the N Pole, a big block of ice began to flow to NY. Depending on how much snow gathered with this glacier, it could flow a few cm a day, or a few meters a day.
2. As the glacier flows along, it’s going to cause erosion:
a. Alpine/Valley glaciers- as they flow along, they create a U shaped valley. U shaped valleys in NY were formed by these glaciers.
b. Continental glaciers/ice sheets- also creates landscapes.
c. A glacier causes erosion by smoothing out the rocks- a glacial polish.
3. Deposition by glaciers- the Finger Lakes in NY were formed by deposition.
a. As a glacier moves, it deposits unsorted sediments (aka till).
b. As the ice moves along, it pushes soil and rock in front of it. Eventually, the glacier slides over the pile of soil and rock, creating a drumlin- tear shaped hill. The round part of the tear drop faces the direction that the glacier came from.
c. When the ice stops moving S, it leaves piles of unsorted sediments that are called moraines.
Proof that there are moraines:
1. Long Island is an island that has 2 long fingers poking out that were formed by moraines.
2. There’s a valley that stops the Finger Lakes from continuing onward. This valley was formed by a moraine.
4. Kettle/kettle lakes- when a glacier inside the ground melts, kettle lakes are formed. When the water evaporates, a dry depression known as a kettle is left.
Path of NY glacier- starts from the N pole and moves S. As it goes S, it begins melting. When it moves forward at the same rate that it melts, it’s standing still- at a dynamic equilibrium. When it’s melting quicker than it’s moving, it’s in essence retreating.
How are oceans and coasts affected by deposition and erosion?
1. Oceans- 71% of earth’s surfaces are covered by oceans. The deepest part of the ocean is one mile deeper than Mt. Everest.
A lot of sediments that are deposited on earth will eventually be brought to the ocean and be deposited there. Proof- most fossils are marine fossils.
It is very common for sediments to be deposited in the ocean through salt. A lot of different elements can be mixed into pure salt and brought into the ocean with salt. When there is too much salt in the ocean, it crystallizes on the ocean floor and will eventually turn into sedimentary rocks.
2. Coast- there are 2 ways for erosion and deposition to occur along the coast:
a. Long shore currents- currents that flow along near the shore and cause erosion along the shore.
b. Waves- flow of energy through water. As the waves get closer to the shoreline, they get narrow and tall. The surface water along the waves are moving in ellipses which get smaller and smaller as you get deeper into the ocean.
As a wave gets closer to the shore, there’s an increase in friction because more ocean water is touching the ocean floor. This friction slows down the waves. The other waves catch up and build on top of the original waves, making them taller. When the waves get too tall, they break and crash onto the shore. At this point, a lot of energy is released.
How does this energy effect erosion?
1. Because of the friction that the waves create within the sediment- the energy causes the molecules in the rock to rub against each other until there is so much friction and the rocks break.
2. The energy moves sand from one area of the shoreline to another in the zone of longshore transport. Within this zone, the sand is being moved back and forth.
3. Energy builds shoreline features:
a. Sand bars- ridges that are submerged and run parallel to the shore.
b. Sandspits- long ridges of sand that extend into the mouth of the bay.
c. Baymouth bars- sand bar that blocks the mouth of the bay.
d. Barrier islands- islands made of sand.
e. Wave-cut cliff- cliffs that face the sea along the shore.
f. Marine terrace- a wave-cut platform that is exposed above sea level.
g. Sea arch- an arch formed when two sea cave unite through erosion.
h. Sea stack- when a sea arch crumbles.
There are some people who decided that we must protect the shore because there is so much erosion going on and soon there’ll be no shore left. They built structures:
1. Breakwater- to stop the waves.
2. Seawall- to stop the waves.
3. Jetties- to hold the sand in place.
4. Groins- to hold the sand in place.
After these structures were put into place, the people began to notice that less erosion was happening at one area, but more erosion was happening at another area, so the people decided to leave nature alone.
Landscapes- general shape of the region of the land.
Landscapes are formed by:
1. Landforms- rocks that have the same age and composition.
a. Hills
b. Streams
c. Valleys
2. Topography- shape of the land.
3 major landscapes:
1. Mountains- has the greatest topographic relief (difference between elevations) of all landscapes. Mountains are made up of the greatest variety of rocks. Forces within the earth push up land to form mountains. Mountains have high gradient streams- steep streams. The steeper the river, the quicker the river. Because they go very fast, they cause a lot of erosion.
2. Plateau- the top of the plateau is generally flat. Sometimes plateaus will have rolling hills. Plateaus can have streams. If there are streams on the plateau, there will be a deep valley. A plateau is formed from layers of sedimentary rocks piled one on top of the other. A plateau has a smaller topographic relief than a mountain.
3. Plains- has no elevation above sea level. A plain has the smallest topographic relief. Plains are generally flat, but could have hills. Plains are made up of layers of sedimentary rocks.
Landscape region- a specific area that has a landscape. It can be general or more specific.
Things that affect landscape:
1. Climate- more rain or less rain is going to effect how the landscape looks.
a. Moist, humid climate-
1. Fertile soil
2. Full streams. There isn’t a lot of erosion though because the vegetation holds down the soil.
3. Hills have rounded slopes because of all the rainfall.
b. Arid, dry climate-
1. Thin soil
2. A lot of physical weathering especially in the winter when there is a lot of frost action.
3. Because there is so much physical weathering, the particles are angular and rough.
4. The soil has very big pores so the rain infiltrates quickly and deeply. Therefore, only certain desert plants can survive in this climate because there are very big breaks between rainfalls. When it does rain, there are flash floods. A lot of erosion occurs because there isn’t enough vegetation to hold the sand down.
5. Most streams are dry except when it rains.
3. Geological factors- types of rocks earth is made up of. Even in the same climate, different areas have different landscapes because they are made up of different rocks.
a. Durable rocks- rocks that are and hard. These rocks didn’t have so much physical weathering. If there are durable rocks in the area, mountains, plateaus and escarpments (cliffs) are formed.
b. Soft rocks- can be broken down easily. Streams can run through them and form valleys. They form low areas because the soft rock could be eroded very easily. Soft rocks form smooth hills.
c. Mixed- the landscape is going to have a stepped appearance.
Weathering- when rocks are broken down because of physical or chemical changes.
1. Physical weathering- what is physical weathering? The rock will be broken down into smaller pieces or a different shape but there will be no change in its chemical composition.
A few natural ways a rock can be broken down:
a. Frost action- water seeps into the rock thru the cracks, then the water freezes and expands in the cracks and it causes the crack to get larger and the rock expands to accommodate the larger water. When the weather warms up, the ice will melt. The water will evaporate, and the rock is left with large cracks. This cycle will happen over and over again and the cracks will grow larger and larger until the rock splits.
b. Plant roots- happens because of the roots of the plants. The roots reach into the soil and the roots expand as the plant gets bigger. If it finds its way into the cracks of a rock, as the roots expand, they’ll push the rock apart.
c. Animals- when the animals dig into the ground, they bring new rocks up to the surface and these rocks are now exposed to different factors that can cause them to weather.
d. Abrasion- when things knock into each other.
1. When a stream is flowing and with in it there are rocks and some rocks knock against others and knock into the water all. All the collision causes the rocks to break.
2. Wind blows little pieces of rock against exposed rock surfaces and there is a collision and eventually the rock will crack.
3. Moving ice scrapes against the rock, causing the rock to break.
4. Wave action- waves of the sea attack rocks on the shore and cause them to break down.
5. The force of gravity could cause breakage.
From all the weathering we see that some rocks are soft and some are hard- some break easier than others.
a. Quartz- is made of silica. It’s a hard rock that resists physical weathering.
b. Mica- soft rock that breaks easily.
2. Chemical weathering- changes the mineral composition of the rock and forms a completely new substance.
Deep in the crust of the earth there isn’t really and chemical weathering. When rock comes to the surface, it’s exposed to the hydrosphere and atmosphere and chemical weathering can occur.
2 things that speed up chemical weathering:
a. Rain
b. Heat
c. Acid- acid rain is regular rain that absorbed carbon dioxide and pollution Ex. Sulfur and nitrogen absorb organic acid making the rain acid rain. If this acid rain comes in contact with rock, the rock will decompose. Ex. If limestone is combined with acid, chemical weathering will occur.
Examples of chemical weathering:
a. Iron+ oxygen= iron oxide (rust)
b. Feldspar- when exposed to oxygen and water, chemical weathering will occur, and it’ll become clay.
c. Olivine-located deep in the ground. If exposed, it will become clay.
Soil-
What is soil made up of?
1. Weathered rocks
2. Micro-organisms
3. Organic remains
4. Bedrock
Different types of soils are effected by:
1. Climate- the type of climate is going to affect the soil because it’ll affect the amount of moisture in the soil, the amount of air in the soil, and the amount of organic matter in the soil.
2. What the rock is made up of and how much weathering the rocks went through- physical weathering is going to determine the size of the rock fragments. When some rocks undergo chemical weathering, they turn into clay. The amount of clay in the soil is going to be soft or hard depending on the rock pieces inside the soil. If there is a lot of organic matter in the soil, the organic matter is going to decompose. When organic matter decomposes, it produces organic acid. The more organic acid there is, the more chemical weathering there will be.
If there are a lot of animals in the area, the animals are going to bring rocks up to the surface. When rocks are exposed, more weathering can happen. A lot of animals= more organic matter (wastes).
Formation of soil- (Layers of soil are aka soil horizons)
1. Residual soil- soil that rests on top of its original bedrock. All residual soil is going to have 4 layers:
a. There’s bedrock.
b. Broken bedrock- formed from weathered bedrock.
c. Mineral enriched horizon- water with a lot of soil because the ground water hash infiltrated this layer and produced minerals.
d. Humus- dark, black soil, which is full of organic matter. The more organic matter there is, the more fertile the soil is going to be.
2. Transported soil- top layer of soil was brought to another location. This soil won’t have all the layers.
Transported soil moves through the process of erosion- transportation of sediments (rock fragments) from one location to another. There are many ways erosion can happen:
a. Erosion through gravity
b. Erosion by water
c. Wind erosion
Erosion-
1. Erosion through gravity- when gravity moves something from 1 area to another without the help of wind, rain or ice. When this happens, it’s called a mass movement/ mass wasting. The rocks are going to slide, flow or fall down.
It’s more probable that erosion by gravity is going to happen if:
a. There is water within the sediment.
b. There’s freezing and thawing within the rocks.
Examples of erosion by gravity:
a. Landslide
b. Fallen rocks
c. Slow creep
d. Slumping
2. Erosion by water- if there’s a moist place, erosion will probably be erosion by water. There’s a stream flowing and it carries rock sediment with the water. Depending on the size and density of the rock, we can determine what kind of erosion is going to take place:
a. Solution- very small rock particles are going to be carried along the river in solution. These rocks are so small that they can’t be filtered out of the water naturally.
b. Suspension- small particles that won’t settle on the river floor on their own. They are large enough to be filtered out of the water naturally.
c. Floatation- the lightest particles with the lowest density float along the surface of the river. Very often, these are composed of organic matter and they are very light.
d. Traction- heaviest and largest sediments are rolled along the river floor by traction.
Stream velocity- the speed of the stream. Different stream velocities will move along different sized sediments. In order for traction to occur, stream velocity has to be very high. By looking at the size of sediments in a stream, the velocity can be determined.
What effects velocity?
a. Gradient
b. Discharge- amount of water in the stream. The more water, the faster the velocity. The greater the velocity, the more erosion is going to happen. The speed of the stream is a balance between the pull of gravity and friction. The center of the stream has the least friction, so it moves the fastest. There is even friction between the stream and the air.
There are some rivers that have S shaped curves- the river meanders. When the river passes along the curve, it goes very quickly along the outside of the bend. As it passes along the outside of the S, there’s greater erosion. Because the water is going slowly on the inside of the s, there will be deposition.
3. Wind erosion- the wind picks up sediments of rocks and carries them from one place to another, for example clay, sand and silt. Erosion by wind happens in a place where the soil is loose and there are no plants holding the soil down.
4. Erosion by ice- ice transfers sediment from one area to another by glaciers. Glaciers are large blocks of slow moving ice. Glaciers form in a very cold area- the Arctic areas.
How do glaciers form? When the snow piles up faster then it melts, the bottom layer of snow forms into a block of ice.
When the glacier movers, it acts as an abrasion system, causing rocks that it passes along to break or get scratched. Sometimes, a glacier will smooth out the side of a mountain.
Different types of glaciers form different landscapes:
a. Continental glaciers- a glacier that covers a very large area. As it passes over the land, it’s going to deepen and widen valleys and it’s going to grind down any hills in the area. With it it takes along sediment.
b. Valley glacier- it scours rocks away in order to create a U shaped valley with the sides of the mountain almost vertical. Valley glaciers move very slowly. The ice in the center of the glacier moves the fastest.
Identifying agents of erosion- what agent of erosion caused this erosion to look this way?
1. A rough, angular rock- gravity.
2. Round, smooth rock- eroded by water.
3. Rounded and striated rock- eroded by glaciers.
4. Ventifacts (rock that’s angular with facets)- eroded by wind.
5. Talus- angular and rough- eroded by gravity.
Deposition- when sediments are deposited in an area. Aka sedimentation.
What effects deposition?
1. Particle size-
a. Larger particles are deposited first.
b. Small particles are deposited slower.
c. Tiny particles won’t settle unless the solution its in is saturated. Ex. The Persian Gulf has lots of salt. When the weather gets hot, the water evaporates and the Persian Gulf is as saturated with salt as it can be. If more water would evaporate, the water would be oversaturated with salt. The salt will begin to settle and it will crystallize. These salt crystals are called precipitates. The process of the salt crystallizing is called precipitation.
2. Particle shape- the more friction there is between the particle and water, the longer it will take to settle.
a. A flat, angular particle with an irregular shape will take a long time for deposition to occur.
b. A smooth, round rock will be dropped off quicker.
3. Density of the particle- if the size and the shape are the same, the denser particle will be deposited first.
4. Speed of the agents (things that cause deposition)- wind, ice, gravity… If any of the agents are moving quickly, deposition won’t be happening so much. As the agent slows down, deposition is going to increase. Ex. as a stream enters an ocean, it slows down, and deposition will occur.
Sorting of sediments- deposited according to size, shape and density. Sometimes, sediments aren’t deposited according to size, shape and density, for example if wind stops blowing, if it goes according to size, shape and density, it’s called sorting of sediments.
1. Horizontal sorting- near ocean shoreline. First large rocks are deposited, then medium rocks. As the agent of deposition slows down, the rocks will get smaller and smaller.
2. Vertical sorting- as the river slows down, deposition will increase. The smaller rocks will settle on top of the larger rocks.
3. Graded bedding- a few layers of sorting one on top of the other and every layer represents a different event. This usually happens in vertical sorting. Ex. There is a lake at the foot of a mountain. The mountain has a landslide, and all the rocks that tumble down sort on the bottom of the lake. This event happens year after year. Eventually, there will be many layers of sorting on top of each other.
Types of deposition-
1. Deposition by gravity- when it occurs, the sediments aren’t sorted. Rocks fall off a cliff and form one pile of angular, unsorted rocks.
2. Deposition by water- when you look at sediments inside a stream, you can see how fast the stream is going. When the stream is going slow, there will be lots of deposition. In a very slow part of a river, it may have to be dredged (cleaned) because there are so many rocks. As the river enters the ocean, it deposits the sediments in a delta shape.
3. Deposition by wind- sediments carried by the wind. These sediments are fine because the wind can carry heavy sediments. Sometimes, the wind blows the sediment into hills known as dunes. Sand is blown up on the windward side and deposited on the leeward side. This usually happens at the beach or in the desert.
Cross bedding- wind blows the sand into different layers that meet at different angles.
Most deposition in a desert doesn’t come from wind, but rather from flash floods- thunderstorms that occur suddenly and infrequently.
4. Deposition by glaciers- sediments can be deposited by moving ice or by the melted water, and a bunch of unsorted rocks will be left.
Erratic- deposition that occurs by ice. Large boulders are deposited above a stream valley. They are rounded and striated. That that they are high and striated is proof that this deposition occurred by glaciers and not by water.
5. Deposition by melt water- when a glacier melts, the sediments inside the glacier are released and deposited.
NY and the Ice Age- how was NY affected by erosion and deposition of glaciers?
1. When the ice formed- in the N Pole, a big block of ice began to flow to NY. Depending on how much snow gathered with this glacier, it could flow a few cm a day, or a few meters a day.
2. As the glacier flows along, it’s going to cause erosion:
a. Alpine/Valley glaciers- as they flow along, they create a U shaped valley. U shaped valleys in NY were formed by these glaciers.
b. Continental glaciers/ice sheets- also creates landscapes.
c. A glacier causes erosion by smoothing out the rocks- a glacial polish.
3. Deposition by glaciers- the Finger Lakes in NY were formed by deposition.
a. As a glacier moves, it deposits unsorted sediments (aka till).
b. As the ice moves along, it pushes soil and rock in front of it. Eventually, the glacier slides over the pile of soil and rock, creating a drumlin- tear shaped hill. The round part of the tear drop faces the direction that the glacier came from.
c. When the ice stops moving S, it leaves piles of unsorted sediments that are called moraines.
Proof that there are moraines:
1. Long Island is an island that has 2 long fingers poking out that were formed by moraines.
2. There’s a valley that stops the Finger Lakes from continuing onward. This valley was formed by a moraine.
4. Kettle/kettle lakes- when a glacier inside the ground melts, kettle lakes are formed. When the water evaporates, a dry depression known as a kettle is left.
Path of NY glacier- starts from the N pole and moves S. As it goes S, it begins melting. When it moves forward at the same rate that it melts, it’s standing still- at a dynamic equilibrium. When it’s melting quicker than it’s moving, it’s in essence retreating.
How are oceans and coasts affected by deposition and erosion?
1. Oceans- 71% of earth’s surfaces are covered by oceans. The deepest part of the ocean is one mile deeper than Mt. Everest.
A lot of sediments that are deposited on earth will eventually be brought to the ocean and be deposited there. Proof- most fossils are marine fossils.
It is very common for sediments to be deposited in the ocean through salt. A lot of different elements can be mixed into pure salt and brought into the ocean with salt. When there is too much salt in the ocean, it crystallizes on the ocean floor and will eventually turn into sedimentary rocks.
2. Coast- there are 2 ways for erosion and deposition to occur along the coast:
a. Long shore currents- currents that flow along near the shore and cause erosion along the shore.
b. Waves- flow of energy through water. As the waves get closer to the shoreline, they get narrow and tall. The surface water along the waves are moving in ellipses which get smaller and smaller as you get deeper into the ocean.
As a wave gets closer to the shore, there’s an increase in friction because more ocean water is touching the ocean floor. This friction slows down the waves. The other waves catch up and build on top of the original waves, making them taller. When the waves get too tall, they break and crash onto the shore. At this point, a lot of energy is released.
How does this energy effect erosion?
1. Because of the friction that the waves create within the sediment- the energy causes the molecules in the rock to rub against each other until there is so much friction and the rocks break.
2. The energy moves sand from one area of the shoreline to another in the zone of longshore transport. Within this zone, the sand is being moved back and forth.
3. Energy builds shoreline features:
a. Sand bars- ridges that are submerged and run parallel to the shore.
b. Sandspits- long ridges of sand that extend into the mouth of the bay.
c. Baymouth bars- sand bar that blocks the mouth of the bay.
d. Barrier islands- islands made of sand.
e. Wave-cut cliff- cliffs that face the sea along the shore.
f. Marine terrace- a wave-cut platform that is exposed above sea level.
g. Sea arch- an arch formed when two sea cave unite through erosion.
h. Sea stack- when a sea arch crumbles.
There are some people who decided that we must protect the shore because there is so much erosion going on and soon there’ll be no shore left. They built structures:
1. Breakwater- to stop the waves.
2. Seawall- to stop the waves.
3. Jetties- to hold the sand in place.
4. Groins- to hold the sand in place.
After these structures were put into place, the people began to notice that less erosion was happening at one area, but more erosion was happening at another area, so the people decided to leave nature alone.
Landscapes- general shape of the region of the land.
Landscapes are formed by:
1. Landforms- rocks that have the same age and composition.
a. Hills
b. Streams
c. Valleys
2. Topography- shape of the land.
3 major landscapes:
1. Mountains- has the greatest topographic relief (difference between elevations) of all landscapes. Mountains are made up of the greatest variety of rocks. Forces within the earth push up land to form mountains. Mountains have high gradient streams- steep streams. The steeper the river, the quicker the river. Because they go very fast, they cause a lot of erosion.
2. Plateau- the top of the plateau is generally flat. Sometimes plateaus will have rolling hills. Plateaus can have streams. If there are streams on the plateau, there will be a deep valley. A plateau is formed from layers of sedimentary rocks piled one on top of the other. A plateau has a smaller topographic relief than a mountain.
3. Plains- has no elevation above sea level. A plain has the smallest topographic relief. Plains are generally flat, but could have hills. Plains are made up of layers of sedimentary rocks.
Landscape region- a specific area that has a landscape. It can be general or more specific.
Things that affect landscape:
1. Climate- more rain or less rain is going to effect how the landscape looks.
a. Moist, humid climate-
1. Fertile soil
2. Full streams. There isn’t a lot of erosion though because the vegetation holds down the soil.
3. Hills have rounded slopes because of all the rainfall.
b. Arid, dry climate-
1. Thin soil
2. A lot of physical weathering especially in the winter when there is a lot of frost action.
3. Because there is so much physical weathering, the particles are angular and rough.
4. The soil has very big pores so the rain infiltrates quickly and deeply. Therefore, only certain desert plants can survive in this climate because there are very big breaks between rainfalls. When it does rain, there are flash floods. A lot of erosion occurs because there isn’t enough vegetation to hold the sand down.
5. Most streams are dry except when it rains.
3. Geological factors- types of rocks earth is made up of. Even in the same climate, different areas have different landscapes because they are made up of different rocks.
a. Durable rocks- rocks that are and hard. These rocks didn’t have so much physical weathering. If there are durable rocks in the area, mountains, plateaus and escarpments (cliffs) are formed.
b. Soft rocks- can be broken down easily. Streams can run through them and form valleys. They form low areas because the soft rock could be eroded very easily. Soft rocks form smooth hills.
c. Mixed- the landscape is going to have a stepped appearance.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
SS- 4th test
SS
Aim: Europe at war
In the 1930s, several nations began getting aggressive and they formed an alliance.
In 1938, Germany demanded the Sudetenland- part of Czechoslovakia. They wanted to add it to Germany because many Germans lived there. Czechoslovakia asked Britain and France for help. Britain and France requested that Hitler come to the table to discuss Germany’s demand of the Sudetenland.
They had the Munich Conference. The participants were:
1. Germany- Hitler
2. Italy- Mussolini
3. Britain- Chamberlain
4. France- Deladier
The result of the conference was that Germany can take the Sudetenland, but Hitler must stop right there. Hitler promised to abide by the Munich agreement. Why did they believe him? Britain and France were desperate to avoid war. Chamberlain told people, “ I give you peace in our time”. Only a few months later, this comment would be proven so untrue.
In March 1939, Germany seized the rest of Czechoslovakia. It became clear that Hitler couldn’t be trusted. Britain and France didn’t do anything- they were hoping to avoid war.
In the summer of 1939, the Nazi- Soviet Non Aggression Pact was proposed by Hitler to Stalin- they won’t fight if war breaks out. Stalin was in no shape to go to war in the near future. Hitler was hoping he could avoid 2 front war. .
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. At dawn, the Germans began bombing Poland. The powerful German Luftwaffe (air force) bombed Polish cities for days; the buildings were reduced to rubble. Poland had no way to fight back. This kind of war is known as “ Blitz Kreig”- lightning war- war that is swift and brutal.
On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declare war on Germany because they know that they are next. Italy and Japan joined also, making this a 6-country war.
By the end of September, Poland surrendered to the Germans. Germany took over all the government buildings. Poland is now German territory, and the war against the Jews begins.
In September 1939, the German army is divided in 2:
1. Wehrmact- to take care of the government.
2. SS- to deal with the Jews.
In Germany, the Holocaust begins now. The Germans first spent weeks determining who was Jewish. They forced all the Jews to put on yellow stars. Many Polish gentiles helped find Jews.
Next came the establishment of ghettos in major cities such as:
1. Warsaw- had over a million Jews
2. Lodz
3. Krakow
They condensed all the Jews into small areas. The Germans gave the Jews 24-48 hours to get into the ghettos. The people were terrified. The Germans surrounded the ghettos with barbed wire. There were horrible conditions in the ghettos. Hitler was hoping all the people would die out, which many did. Throughout all this, there were still yeshivas and schools.
No one else in the world knew what was happening.
From October to March, Germany didn’t take one country in Europe. Many people began thinking this was a “phony war”.
In April 1940, the Germans took over:
1. Denmark
2. Norway
3. Netherlands
4. Luxemburg
5. Belgium- now that the Germans have Belgium, they can go into France.
Aim: WWII: Spring 1940- fall 1941
In every country when they tried to find Jews, the gentiles helped the Germans. In Denmark however, the king put on a yellow star as well and many of his people followed. The Danish Jews were sent to safety in Sweden.
Now, in May 1949, the Germans invaded France. They came through the N where the French had few troops because they were all at the other border. Germany invaded France with little resistance. The Germans gained more territory now then they gained in the whole WWI. The French and British troops realized that they couldn’t fight, so they ran away to protect themselves. They ran to Britain along with the French president, Charles de Gaulle, who became the president in exile.
By June of 1940, the people of Paris surrendered to Germany- it was very humiliating for France. The Germans set up Vichy government in France- Nazi government. The Vichy government began to single out Jews and made ghettos. Many Jews sent their children to churches and monasteries to save them, because at this time, the church was very strong.
Britain is next- stands alone. There was no one else left to help fight the Germans. In August 1940, Germany launched a blitz on Britain- bomb day and night. This attack was also known as Operation Sea Lion.
The British had a prime minister- Sir Winston Churchill. He was the right type of leader needed in a situation like this.
In Britain, all the children were sent to the safe countryside areas. This was a traumatizing experience for the children. Some parents sent their kids to Ireland because it wasn’t involved in the war.
The British were attacked for 3 months. Why didn’t they surrender?
1. Churchill- “Blood and toil, sweat and tears”- but we will survive. He told the people never to surrender and gave them morale.
2. RAF (Royal Air Force)- the British sent their own planes up in the sky to battle with the Germans.
3. Radar- at this time, radar was invented. It helped detect when planes were coming.
Aim: WWII: Fall 1940- winter 1942/43
In summer of 1940, Britain was bombed. The bombing lasted for 3 months. The British didn’t give up because of Churchill, the radar and the air force system. Hitler became impatient- he didn’t think it would take so long. Germany got help from Italy, and in fall of 1940, they began taking over territory in N Africa. The British and Germans fought in Egypt, a British mandate. The Germans wanted Egypt because it had the Suez Canal. Hitler sent Erwin Rommell, aka the desert fox, to Egypt, telling him to get Egypt and the land around it. The British and Egyptians fought the Italians and Germans in November of 1942 in the battle of El Alemein. The British and Egyptians won.
In 1942, Italy and Germany took over countries such as:
1. Romania
2. Bulgaria
3. Yugoslavia
4. Hungary
Eventually, together with Greece, these lands, along with Greece, will become part of the German empire.
In June of 1941, Hitler broke the Nazi- Soviet NAP and went into Russia. This was known as operation Barbarossa. Why did the Nazis want Russia?
1. It’s enormous
2. Resources-
a. Coal
b. Iron
3. Ukraine was the breadbasket of Russia- it had lots of grain.
Why did the Nazis specifically want to go into Russia in June? June has good weather. By the time winter arrives, the Nazis will be well entrenched in Moscow.
3 million German troops marched into the Ukraine. Stalin was in a state of shock. In the first few weeks, a couple million Russian soldiers were killed. The Germans were advancing quickly. The Russians decided to use their scorched earth policy. It slowed the Nazis, but didn’t stop their advancing.
By the fall of 1941, the Germans reached the cities of:
1. Moscow
2. Stalingrad
3. Leningrad
These 3 cities were crucial and if the Germans got these cities, they would own the whole Russian empire.
Just as the intense fighting broke out, the winter came. The Germans were not prepared and were freezing.
In Leningrad, the Germans surrounded the city so that no food could enter. Most people didn’t survive. In Moscow and Stalingrad, the Russians put up a big fight.
By winter of 1942, the Russians gained an advantage and began driving the Germans out. The Germans began marching back in defeat. In December of 1941, the US joined, adding pressure to the Germans.
Aim: The Holocaust
The Holocaust has numerous experiences:
1. The people who escaped and fought as partisans in the forest
2. The death camps
3. The people who disguised themselves and worked in gentile homes
4. The people sent into the forest and then shot into mass graves
The most popular Holocaust book is Anne Frank, but it is not a usual Holocaust experience.
The Holocaust began in 1935, with the Nuremberg laws and Hitler’s rise to power. Next came Kristellnacht- Hitler felt he could do what he wanted to the Jews and no one would stop him. Then came the Evian Conference and the invasion of Poland. After that came the yellow stars and the ghettos.
The 1st death camp was established in December of 1941- Chelmno. It was in Poland. It had small tools of killing. Hitler began with small steps- he deported a few people at a time. The people thought they were going to better air. 3 people escaped from Chelmno and everyone thought they were crazy.
In January of 1942, Hitler and the top Nazis got together and held the Wannsee conference. They said if Chelmno is such a success, let’s just kill all the Jews in the “Final Solution”. After this conference, death and concentration camps sprung up all over Poland. Many concentration camps had small death camps on the side.
Deportations- cattle car trains were loaded with people from the ghettos. At first, the people were happy to go, but then they realized they weren’t going anywhere good.
People were dehumanized in the concentration camps.
The Germans used systematic slaughter in the death camps. The Germans decepted people- they made the people think they were going to a regular train station, then they divided the men and woman and sent people to the right and left.
Aim: The Holocaust: 1943-1944
Einsatzgruppen- a group of SS men. When the Germans entered Russian territory, they commanded all the Jews to go into the forest. The Einsatzgruppen then shot all the people into mass graves. The SS men had to be replaced every few days because they couldn’t do such labor for so long.
The killing was a triangular system-
1. The Nazis killed
2. The collaborators helped find Jews, and turned them in
3. The free world was indifferent- thousands of people were being put in the crematorium daily, and what was the rest of the world doing about it? At first, the world didn’t know, but by 1943, the world knew, but they didn’t care. For example, in the US, there were Jews in the government, but they didn’t put pressure on the government to let the Jews come.
Aim: Victory in Europe/ Liberation in camps
1942-1943 was the turning point in the war- the Allies and the 40 other nations on their side begin to win and the Axis powers began to lose. Why?
1. Because Russia begins to defeat the Axis powers.
2. The US joins the war on December 7, 1941. In the morning, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor- the US navy was there. The Japanese kamikaze pilots rammed their planes into the ships, killing thousands of people. The US didn’t actually join until June of 1944, when the US invaded France. Why did it take so long for the US to join? They had to draft and put together an army- the US wasn’t equipped for war.
2000 US troops went to England. They planned a secret invasion of France to get the Germans out. On June 6 (aka D-Day), the US troops reached the beaches of Normandy, France. Britain, France and Canada also sent troops. The Germans didn’t have a large army, but they did have enough troops to fight back. Within a few weeks, the US troops reached Paris, and released France from its German occupation.
Next was Germany. The US was coming from the west, and at the same time, the Russians were advancing toward Germany from the east. The Russians passed through Poland and liberated the death camps. The US reached the concentration camps and liberated everyone. The Germans realized they were being closed in on, so they emptied all the camps on death marches. The liberation was bittersweet- the people were in such a state of shock and were so depleted.
In April 1945, Hitler killed himself. Mussolini was killed by some Italians who hated him.
The Battle of the Bulge was the last attempt of Germany to prevent the Allies from coming into their territory. It lasted for 10 days, and then the Allies marched into Berlin. This day, March 7, was know as VE-Day (victory in Europe).
Aim: VJ-Day/ Costs of the war
VJ-Day- there was no victory in Japan yet. The US was on their own in Japan because it was a personal war. As the US was starting to mobilize to go to France, they sent troops to the islands near Japan, using Australia as their base- their goal was to reach Japan (they went island hopping). Battles were held on these islands:
a. Battle of Olcinawa
b. Battle of Midway
c. Battle of Iwo Jima- was a difficult battle, but the US won.
By summer of 1945, the US troops were poised to go into Japan, which was very risky and difficult.
In July 1945, the atomic bomb was invented based on Einstein’s theory of relativity. Many scientists were involved in the making of the atomic bomb, but the main one was Robert Oppenheimer. The bomb was secretly being invented during WWII. The project was called “Manhattan project”. The bomb was tested in N. Mexico- saw it was destructive.
At this time, President Harry S. Truman had to decide what to do about Japan- soldiers or the atomic bomb? He really didn’t want to mix Japanese civilians into the war, but he was told he would lose a million men if he sent soldiers in to Japan, so he decided to use the bomb.
Japan was givin a warning but the emperor refused to surrender, so on August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in the early morn. Anyone within a 4-mile radius saw a blinding white light. There was an enormous explosion- buildings crumbled, people who were hit by the bomb’s skin slipped off. In the first few seconds, 10s of 1000s of people died. The survivors lost their hair and got sick. The people gathered in schools and parks and drank contaminated water, causing them to die. The radiation was so harmful.
After the destruction, the emperor Hirohito was warned and said he still won’t surrender. On August 10, the US dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. Hirohito realized he had to surrender. VJ-Day is September 2.
The war lasted for 6 full years. 75 million people were killed worldwide.
Aim: Nuremberg trials
After the war, there was the Yalta Conference, held with the “big 3” in February 1945. The meeting was to discuss basics. The “big 3” were:
1. Russia- Stalin
2. Britain- Churchill
3. USA-Roosevelt
They decided here that they would try the Nazis for crimes during the Holocaust- charged for “crimes against humanity”.
The trials were held in November 1945 in Nuremberg. Many Nazis had run away from April to November. Some big Nazis were caught. In court, the Nazis said they weren’t guilty and that they were following orders. The judges said that that is not an excuse- individuals are responsible for their own actions. Many Nazis ended up getting hanged. Many Nazis ran to S. America where they were welcomed.
Simon Wiesenthal died a year ago- his goal was to hunt down Nazis. He founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which found about 11,000 Nazis.
Aim: End of Fascism/ Preventing totalitarism
When people saw what fascism did, it lost all popularity. It became seen as very dangerous. A lot of this had to do with the Allied occupation of Germany and Japan. It was decided at the Yalta Conference that the Allies would occupy these countries and change them so that future governments would be different that the governments of WWII.
The US occupied Japan and set up a democratic government with a constitution. The system of education was revised, telling people that war is bad and not glorious. Japan wasn’t allowed to build up an army- the US will defend them if they need it. Japan began to build themselves up economically, and by the 1980s, Japan was the richest country in Asia. Japan also lost all their colonies- went back to the original owners.
Russia, Britain, France and the US all wanted a big say in the occupation of Germany. It was decided at the Yalta Conference that these 4 countries would occupy Germany. The problem was that all the countries were democratic, aside from Russia, which was communist. Germany and its capital both had to be split in half.
Aim: The UN
How will another WW be prevented from happening? They need the US involved in the UN. The UN was supposed to be an enormous peace keeping organization.
Goals of the UN:
1. Prevent war- how? Using collective action to stop aggression. (political)
2. Fight hunger, disease, poverty, illiteracy (soci-economic)
3. Get people human rights (soci-economic)
The UN is located in Manhattan on 1st Street. About 200 nations belong to the UN. It has many large meeting rooms.
Branches of the UN:
1. General Assembly- the largest room in the UN is for the general assembly- everyone has a seat. The General Assembly is the largest section of the UN. Everyone can get together and vote.
2. Security Council- the Security Council is a smaller group of leaders who are above the rest and they have more of a say. US, France, Britain, China and Russia all have permanent seats in the Security Council. Sometimes, important decisions will only be offered to the Security Council.
3. Secretariat- president of the UN. He supervises and makes some decisions.
4. International Court of Justice- in case 2 nations can’t agree on something.
5. Trusteeship Council- helps nations get independence.
6. Economic and Social Council- established UNESCO (UN Education Scientific Cultural Organization)- helps disadvantaged people worldwide.
The UN started off as an organization to prevent war. That that the US joined gave them more strength.
Did the UN really help prevent war? In its early years it did, but in the past few decades, the UN was more effective on soci-economic issues. Private countries have stepped in to prevent wars.
The Declaration of Human Rights was added because it was right after WWII- nations should aspire to be like this.
Aim: The Cold War begins
As WWII ended, a new war emerged. This was a different form of war- it’s not actual fighting, just tremendous tension. This war occurred between 2 superpowers:
1. US
2. Russia
It began in the 1940s and ended in 1989. The last years of the war were the least stressful.
After WWII, the superpowers changed drastically- the new superpowers are:
1. US- was responsible for most of the fighting with Germany, didn’t fight on their soil and came out of WWII with the atomic bomb.
2. Russia- had the largest territory. The Soviet Union contains 14 countries aside from Russia.
As WWII ended, the SU got more territory- during WWII, Germany invaded the SU. The SU chased the Germans back to Germany, and as they were marching through the eastern European countries that Germany took over, the SU took them. The Russians should’ve liberated them. The Russians made these countries into communist countries, thereby establishing a buffer zone of satellite nations.
Once Stalin made this area into communist countries, he cut all communication with the West, because he thought all the western countries were contaminated. Churchill called this cutting of communication the “iron curtain”. Churchill gave the Iron Curtain Speech- we need to respond to Russia with toughness.
The US played a crucial role in doing anything possible to stop the spread of communism. In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was issued- Russia wanted Greece (who at this time was experiencing a civil war). Russia gave a small group of Greek communists aid, and the US gave the democrats aid. The Truman Doctrine said that the US would give Greece anything they need. It was very successful. The Truman Doctrine also helped Turkey. The Truman Doctrine was such a success, that the Marshall Plan followed it. The Marshall Plan said that every country could have help if they want to be democratic. The Marshall Plan pumped up our economy.
Aim: Cold War events of the 1940s
The Marshall Plan is an example of containment- the US wants to keep communism in Russia and its satellites, and not spread anymore.
Cold War events:
1. Berlin airlift- this was the 1st major challenge of the cold war. It occurred in 1948. Germany was divided between the US and SU. Berlin was in E Germany, which was SU territory, but it was also divided into W and E. There was a little spot of democracy in a sea of communism.
The people in E Germany realized that life in W Germany is better because after WWII, the Allies did their best to build up Germany so they were focusing on the economy and not on war. The people of W Germany were free and began to get successful. The Russians couldn’t care less about building up Germany- the Russians took gravel and other resources from the rubble in Germany and sent it to Moscow. There was also a strict communist government.
Pretty soon, people from the E began escaping to the W. They couldn’t take anything with them so as not to look suspicious. The Russians couldn’t take it that W Berlin was in their territory- people in E Berlin could clearly see how good life was in the W.
The Russian response was to build a blockade around W Berlin. This blockade meant that no one could go in or out of W Berlin. Soon, the people in W Berlin began to get hungry and it was dangerous for them. The US responded with the airlift- they dropped packages from the sky. The US dropped these packages for about a year, and then the Russians lifted the blockade.
2. Alliances form- 1949. The forming of alliances is a prelude to war. The US realized that with the tension mounting, it was possible that war could occur, and they needed to be prepared. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed- Canada, US and 9 W European nations. Russia formed their own alliance group in 1955- Warsaw Pact- USSR and its satellites.
3. Arms race- symbolized the start of the cold war. The US and the SU tried outdoing each other with weapons.
In 1945, the US had the atomic bomb. Russia was desperate and sent troops to the US to find out how the atomic bomb was made. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, 2 Russian secular Jews, are accused of giving Russia information that helped them make the atomic bomb. They were killed by the electric chair. Such a harsh punishment was used because there was a “red scare”.
Churchill called this a “balance of terror”. The arms race was mutually assured destruction- built weapons that could destroy the whole world.
Aim: Cold War competition
1. Arms race- there was terror during the nuclear war. In 1970, arms limitation talks began. The toughest years of the cold war were the 50s-60s.
2. Space race- the Russians were the 1st to have a major triumph during the space race. In 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik- a rocked that could travel around the earth. The US began to concentrate in science- had to compete with Russia. In July 1967, Neil Armstrong (US) landed on the moon. He said, “ 1 small step for man, 1 giant leap for mankind”.
Which superpower will get more nations on their side- communist or non- communist? Don’t most nations know what they want to be? The African nations that were colonized during the age of imperialism are now getting their freedom, and they have to decide what kind of government they want.
Aim: China becomes Communist
After the war, in 1949, China became communist. China had been taken over by spheres of influence in the 1800s. This led to hatred of W governments. After the Manchu dynasty, a civil war developed, and Sun Yixuan took over. He was replaced by Jiang Jieshi vs. Mau Zedong. Mau Zedong got the support of the peasants. During WWII, there was a pause in the civil war because Japan attacked China and took over. After WWII, Japan lost the land and the civil war continued. Jiang Jieshi was a nationalist- he favored the rich. The peasants were upset that they weren’t remembered.
In 1949, the communists were victorious and the nationalists fled to Taiwan. The US announced that for them, “red China” isn’t an official country and doesn’t get a seat in the UN- this lasted until 1971. Taiwan got the seat.
Communism effected China culturally- Confucisim vs. communism. Confucisim valued family- ancestors were honored. Communism states that loyalty to the state surpasses one’s loyalty to his family.
Now, the Chinese people went through brainwashing:
1. Chinese people moved into cities- not in family houses anymore.
2. Mothers now began going to work- the children went to school and got brainwashed. Everyone had to work hard. Collectives were also set up.
Aim: China under Communism
In 1958, there was a great leap forward- Mau Zedong completely transformed China. China was influenced by Russia- Mau copied Stalin in his ideas, and that’s how he ran China.
Mau decided that China needs its own 5- year plan. It focused on agriculture- the great leap forward. As in Russia, farms were merged into collective farms- communes. Thousands of people had to give up their farms and share. Each commune had its own city, factory… They wanted to double their output. The factories were known as backyard industries.
What went wrong? The people had no incentive to work hard, there was bad weather and there was less food. This lead to famine. The great leap forward was a failure because Mau promised food that didn’t happen. Why? Because Mau used too many people for factories.
Mau suffered a loss of popularity. Mau began to worry that because he’s a failure, maybe he’ll lose his job. He felt threatened.
In 1966, Mau introduced the great proletarian culture revolution- solution so Mau could continue ruling China. He organized a revolution of workers to force people to like communism. It was to get rid of anti- communism. The goal was to rejuvenate China over Mau and communism.
How can Mau turn China over to reach his goal?
Aim: Mau Zedong and the Cultural Revolution
Mau formed an army called the red guards. He ordered schools to close and students had to be a part of the Cultural Revolution army. These soldiers were called red guards. They had to find the anti- communists.
They had a book called “The Little Red Book” about communism. The upper class was seen as suspicious and suspects. The biggest mistake was that educated Chinese no longer were in a position to continue.
Mau made the 1 child per family policy- control of government over family.
In the 1970s, Mau died and China changed.
Aim: Korean war- 1950- 1953
During WWII, Japan occupied Korea. After WWII, when Japan lost the war, they also lost Korea. The countries didn’t know what to do with Korea- the US wanted it to be non- communist and the SU wanted it to be communist. The UN offered a compromise: divide Korea. The N will be communist, headed by Sung, and the S will be non- communist and ruled by Rhee. Korea was divided at 38˚ latitude.
In 1950, the N Korean troops invaded S Korea. Their goal was to make the whole Korea communist. The N had a very strong army because they worked on building up their army. This was the 1st real test for the UN- there’s aggressive action. The UN organized an international army and sent to S Korea. They chased the N Koreans up to the border of China; up to the Yalu River. Over 50,00 US died. The Chinese troops helped the N Korean troops. There was a stalemate for several years.
The UN army was headed by General McArthur. McArthur said let’s get the whole China. Truman said no. McArthur went to Congress, thinking they would override Truman, and he was fired.
In 1953, both sides agreed to an armistice- Korea will be divided.
Aim: Russia after Stalin
Stalin died in 1954. In 1956, Khrushchev became the new leader. He was from a peasant family and made his way up. He was a tough person. His challenge was replacing Stalin- the people thought Stalin was everything. Khrushchev told the people that Stalin was bad. He began destalinization- he closed the prison camps.
In 1956 was the Hungarian revolution- Hungary, a soviet satellite, decided to break away from Russia. They established a new government, headed by Imne Nagy. The SU came a few weeks later and crushed the revolt. This showed that Khrushchev was also a tough leader.
In 1961, the SU (under Khrushchev) put up the Berlin wall to stop people from going from E Germany to W Germany. 1st it was made of barbed wire, then they put cinder block. The Berlin wall became a symbol of the Cold War because the Cold War was all about division.
In 1962 was the Cuban missile crisis. This showed that the Cold War was still a tense situation.
In 1964, Brezhnev took over. Khrushchev had resigned because the economy was bad and he had wasted all Russia’s money trying to make Siberia good for planting. Brezhnev was a hard line communist.
In 1968, Czechoslovakia revolted and Dubcek took over. This period in Czechoslovakian history is known as Prague Spring. Within a few weeks, Brezhnev sent half a million troops to Czechoslovakia.
Aim: Cuban missile crisis
This was the closest point the world ever got to WWIII. In 1959, Cuba became communist. The US got scared because Cuba is so close, and maybe other nations in Latin America will also become communist.
Communism was like a dream for the Cuban people. They were under the cruel and corrupt tyranny of Batista. Fidel Castro came along and promoted communism. There was a communist revolution in 1959. For the 1st few years, the people liked communism. It took them a long time to realize that communism wasn’t as good as they thought.
In 1961, the US invaded Cuba in the Bay of Pigs invasion, but it was unsuccessful.
In 1962 was the Cuban missile crisis- the SU liked Cuba because it was so close to their enemy, the US. The SU sent missile to Cuba, who pointed them at the US.
Aim: US backs anti- communism in Latin America
Kennedy (the president of the US at this time) told Khrushchev to take the missiles out of Cuba or they’ll fight. Russia listened to the US.
The US helped fight the communist groups of Chile, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Aim: Suez Canal crisis
There was a tense political situation in the Middle East. The US wanted to be friends with the Middle East because the Middle East has oil. The Middle East has 2 sides:
1. Israel- US
2. Arab nations- SU
The UN’s first major vote was over the formation of Israel in 1948.
A few weeks later, Egypt declared war on Israel and Israel won, getting them some territory.
Israel was a democracy- it became a US ally. The US gave and still continues to give Israel millions of dollars. The Arab nations joined the SU. Egypt was anti-Israel and became an ally of the SU.
The US offered Egypt the Aswan High Dam if they joined the US. The leader of Egypt, Nasser, said he could get the money without the US. In 1956, he nationalized the Suez Canal. Nasser said Israel couldn’t use the canal.
Britain, France and Israel said they need to go to war with Egypt. Israel figured they’ll invade through the Sinai Desert and Britain and France would invade from the canal. The SU said that they would help Egypt. Britain and France asked the US to join them, and the US said they condemn the invasion and won’t help because they don’t want another world war. A cease-fire was arranged.
Now, war was on the brinkmanship.
In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David agreement- made peace.
Aim: The Vietnam War
This was the longest running Cold War event- it lasted from the 50s- 70s.
In the late 1800s, France imperialized Vietnam. During WWII, Vietnam was owned by Japan. The Japanese were brutal to the Vietnamese. The Japanese lost WWII, and as a result, they also lost Vietnam. Vietnam went back to France.
In Vietnam, there were very strong feelings of nationalism. They also had a nationalistic, communist leader by the name of Ho Chi Minh. Minh wanted a strong, unified, communist country.
He began fighting the French. He fought many battles, one of which was the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. After this battle, the French decided that the fighting wasn’t worth their time and they gave Vietnam its independence.
In 1954, the SU and US had the Geneve Conference to decide what to do about Vietnam. They agreed to a divided Vietnam. The dividing line was at 17˚- very close to the equator. The area had a thick and jungle-like climate.
1. N Vietnam was communist and headed by Minh
2. S Vietnam was non-communist and led by Diem. The S had a corrupt government. In the 1950s, there was a demonstration in S Vietnam by Buddhist monks to show the world how bad the government was- they burnt themselves alive.
Minh knew that the new government was problematic, so in 1959, he decided to invade S Vietnam and make it communist.
The US got hysterical because they knew the S Vietnam government wasn’t strong enough to withstand the N Vietnam government. The US thought there would be a domino effect, and then many other Asian countries would become communist.
The US decided to send help to S Vietnam. At first they send assistance and money. In 1964, President Johnson sent troops. To get the US people riled up, Johnson told them that the Vietnamese sunk 2 US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The US troops faced many difficulties in Vietnam:
1. The N Vietnamese booby-trapped S Vietnam.
2. Some S Vietnamese helped N Vietnam, so the US didn’t really know who was on which side.
3. The US weren’t used to the jungles and it was hard for them to get around.
After the people in the US saw what was happening, they told Johnson to bring the troops home. Johnson refused, making him very unpopular. Next, President Nixon took over, and in 1972, he brought the troops home.
After the US left Vietnam, the N was successful in getting the capitol of S Vietnam, and Vietnam became united under communism.
The Domino Theory didn’t play out- Laos and Cambodia became communist but the other Asian countries didn’t.
Aim: Decolonization
Post WWII, African and Asian colonies got their independence. Why now?
1. Nationalism was rising in the colonies.
2. European nations were weak from war.
3. US pressured nations to give their colonies independence.
India was colonized in the 16th century, well before the scramble for Africa in 1885.
India had many attempts at getting the foreign rule out:
1. Sepoy rebellion
2. INC headed by Mohandas Gandhi
In August 1947, India was givin independence and divided- ½ Muslim and ½ Hindu. Now, a refugee crisis emerged- about 10 million people found that they were living in the wrong country. They had to walk to the other side. 1/10 of these refugees died. During this time, Mohandas Gandhi was killed by a Hindu who blamed Gandhi for his problems.
Nehru became the prime minister of India. India had to set up a new government. They set up a democracy that wasn’t so democratic in the beginning. They got a new constitution, which:
1. Gave woman the right to vote.
2. Gave woman the right to own property.
3. Made discrimination against untouchables (harijans) illegal.
Aim: India post independence
Nehru’s challenges:
1. Fighting with Pakistan over the border area of Kashmir.
2. Establishing a stable government- for the 1st 20-30 years, the government was shaky. India was a democratic country that didn’t do democratic things. (Ex. voting booths)
3. Uniting the many diverse peoples of India- there are a lot of minority groups in India- it’s hard to unite them all as 1. There are over 1000 languages in India.
4. Establishing an economy- set up a mixed economy- some businesses are owned by the government and some businesses are owned by the people.
5. Trying to end discrimination- had to enforce equality for untouchables.
Nehru died in the 1960s and his daughter Indira Gandhi took over. She was elected because the people felt insured to have someone from Nehru’s family ruling.
Her main challenge was dealing with the diversity in India, especially the Sikhs. The Sikhs were nationalistic and wanted their own state- Punjab. There was an enormous Sikh demonstration in the golden temple in Amritsar in the 1980s- the Sikhs demanded their own state. Indira commanded her guards to fire into the crowd. Her own bodyguards were Sikhs and they killed her.
Indira’s son, Raju Gandhi was elected next. He had to deal with the Tamil people, who were separatists. They wanted their own country. (Eventually, they got a piece of Srilanka.) Gandhi used violence to crush the violent Tamil, so they killed him.
After the first several years, India got better.
Aim: Asian post independence case studies
The Philippines and Indonesia are both archipelagos- chains of islands.
1. Philippines- during the Spanish- American war in 1898, the Philippines became an American colony. In 1946, the Philippines got their independence. By doing this, the US was hoping to be an example for other countries.
The Philippines attempted a democracy, but the leaders were corrupt and there were many dissatisfied people. As a result, many different groups formed.
In 1965, Marcos launched a military coup and overthrew the government. He had realized that the government needed someone with more strength, so he became the dictator. The US gave Marcos a lot of help.
Marcos was constantly on the lookout for people who were against him. Under Marcos, people would disappear. The Philippines was under martial law- the country was run by the army. Marcos stole billions of dollars from the government.
Aquino wanted to take over the government. He was more of the democratic type. Marcos told Aquino to run away, or he’d disappear. Aquino ran to the US, but then decided to return. As soon as he stepped off the airplane, he was shop.
In 1986, the people pressured Marcos to hold elections. Carazan Aquino, Aquino’s widow, won the elections. Marcos said that he’s still ruling. A revolution broke out known as People’s Power Revolution. Marcos ran for his life- he went to Hawaii. In the airport, he was caught with 24 bags of diamonds and gold. The US sheltered Marcos. Aquino struggled. She was taken over by Ramus.
Now, the Philippines are closer to democracy.
2. Indonesia- it’s right near the Indian Ocean. They had a tsunami a few years ago.
It was formerly a Dutch colony, which was primarily Muslim. During WWII, the Japanese took over. After WWII, Indonesia declared its independence.
The biggest challenge was diversity- there were many diverse peoples.
President Sukarno was the first president. He was weak and didn’t last too long. Suharto took over and set up a democratic (supposedly) government. It was really a dictatorship and was against communism, killing communists with the help of the CIA. Indonesia had a rigid, not free government.
Challenges today:
a. Diversity- geographically
b. Terrorist groups
c. Tsunami
Aim: Decolonization- African case studies
During the late 1800s, almost the whole Africa was colonized- Scramble for Africa. Britain and France both got the lion’s share of Africa.
1. Britain- E Africa
2. France- W Africa
After WWII, the nations decided to break away because they figured their mother countries were probably tired from war and wouldn’t care about them enough to fight for them.
1. Ghana- was the first colony to win independence. Ghana was aka the Gold Coast colony. Ghana was owned by Britain before WWII. The Gold Coast colony was ruled by nationalistic leader Kwame Nkrumah, who was already starting to work for the independence of the Gold Coast colony.
In 1957, the Gold Coast was givin independence and Kwame Nkrumah became the leader and renamed it Ghana- an old African kingdom and a name of pride because Kwame Nkrumah wanted to restore African pride to Ghana. He wore typical African garb and changed his name from Joseph to Kwame Nkrumah.
Following independence was years of government instability.
2. Algeria- in N Africa. Algeria was owned by France. There was a strong connection between them- there were many intermarriages. Over a million French people settled in Algeria.
The people of Algeria wanted their independence and a nationalistic group was formed- NLF (National Liberal Front). They used guerilla warfare.
The French sent troops to Algeria. Why?
a. Many French lived in Algeria- maybe the Algerians will be mean to them.
b. There was oil in Algeria
In the 1950s, the French killed half a million Algerians. The French fought really long and hard and in 1962, they gave Algeria up.
3. Congo- located in the heart of Africa. The Congo was owned by Belgium.
The Belgians got many resources from the Congo. They thought that if they would give the Congo independence, they would still benefit from the resources.
In the 1960s, the Congo was givin its independence.
The first leader of the Congo was Lumumba. He had connections with the SU, which made the US feel threatened so when Mobutu Sese Soko tried to overthrow Lumumba, the US helped him.
Sese Soko led the Congo for over 30 years. He was a military dictator, and the Congo didn’t do well under him.
After Sese Soko came a leader who was shot in the head.
The Congo is a terrible country to live in. People are constantly trying to leave.
4. Kenya- in E Africa. Kenya was owned by Britain. Many British people went to live in Kenya. It’s one of the most beautiful colonies to live in. Kenya has an easy climate.
When the British settled in Kenya, the people of Kenya resented them because the government allowed them to take large tracts of land.
The largest tribe in Kenya, the Kikuyu, was the most instrumental in fighting colonization. The head of the Kikuyu tribe was a nationalistic leader- Jomo Kenyatta. He organized a terrorist style war against the British. The Mau Mau were the guerilla fighters led by Kenyatta. Kenyatta was arrested by the British. The British killed many of the Kikuyu tribe.
Eventually, Kenya got its independence and Kenyatta became the dictator.
Kenya was a stable country until about 4 years ago, when fighting broke out among the tribes. Presently, there is lots of fighting going on in Kenya and it’s not a safe place to visit.
Aim: African case studies
Africa is a massive continent consisting of over 50 countries.
Pan Africanism- effort among African leaders to work together because they recognized that there were going to be so many differences and problems. The main goal was to help colonies get independence. It didn’t work that well, but it was better than nothing.
1. Tanzania= Tanganyika + Zanzibar- got independence from Germany when Germany lost WWII. It was taken over by Britain for a small amount of time. They received independence in 1960.
Tanzania tried socialism, but realized early on that it wasn’t working- food production went down. Because of this, they moved away from socialism and towards capitalism.
2. Nigeria- has the largest population in Africa. Its capital city is Lagos- one of the most populated cities.
Nigeria has many tribes:
a. Ibo- Christian
b. Yoruba- Christian. A large part of the Yoruba claim to be Bnei Yissoschor. In 1492, they went from Spain to Morocco, and then moved to Nigeria. Many assimilated.
c. Hausa- Fulani- Muslim
Nigeria got their independence from Britain in 1960. Britain gave them their independence easily. It was a peaceful transition.
Of all the countries in Africa, Nigeria has the most oil- should’ve become rich. Instead, after they gained independence, there was a civil war- the Ibo with help from the Yoruba (gave help because they were both Christian) against the Hausa.
The Ibo broke away and formed Biafra. It became a terrible country to live in. It went from one government to the next and after a few years, Biafra was lost to the Hausa and the Hausa became the strongest tribe.
Nigeria became a military dictatorship. The government took oil money for themselves. About 8-9 years ago, Nigeria began free elections. Now, Nigeria has a shaky democracy with free elections.
Cause and effect in African nations-
Typical challenge- tribal warfare (ex. Rwanda- Hutus vs. Tutsis- cut arms off)
African leaders became dictators
Have enemies- military coup
Democracy spreading (recently)- AU (African Union) to help spread democracy in Africa.
Aim: S Africa- apartheid struggle
S Africa got independence from Britain in 1910. By the early 1900s, the was a large white population in S Africa because for over hundreds of years, British were moving to S Africa because of its favorable climate and easy way of living. It was for this reason that the British felt comfortable giving S Africa its independence.
S Africa was a white controlled country. It was under a system of apartheid- segregation of blacks and whites. The whites had and easy life, while the blacks worked for the white population.
After WWII, many African colonies got their independence, and were controlled by blacks. In S Africa, the blacks never really got their independence and they felt very resentful. Nationalism among the blacks grew and the ANC (African National Congress) was formed, led by Nelson Mandela. Its goal was to get blacks to have a say in the government and end apartheid.
As a result, the white government became more rigid and made stricter laws to keep the blacks and whites separate:
1. Homelands Act- set aside various areas in S Africa where the blacks could live. The whites got the majority of the land and the good land. This caused lots of resentment.
2. Pass laws- if a black wanted to leave the homeland areas, he needed a pass.
In 1960, there was a huge demonstration known as the Sharpeville Massacre. Many blacks came with their families. The white police officers opened fire. Mandela was held responsible for the demonstration and was put in jail for about 20 years. While he was in prison, Mandela became a martyr.
In the 1980s, international pressure was put on S Africa to end apartheid. Bishop Desmund Tutu sent messages around the world telling countries to put pressure on the S African government:
1. Many nations boycotted the Olympics in the 1980s that were held in S Africa.
2. Many nations put economic sanctions on S Africa.
S Africa began to feel the pinch.
In 1994, President F.W. Deklerk ended apartheid. Blacks were givin the right to vote and Mandela was released from prison. Mandela was voted in as the next president.
S Africa underwent enormous transformation, and it wasn’t easy. The first few months after apartheid ended were very violent. The blacks took revenge on the whites.
Aim: Europe at war
In the 1930s, several nations began getting aggressive and they formed an alliance.
In 1938, Germany demanded the Sudetenland- part of Czechoslovakia. They wanted to add it to Germany because many Germans lived there. Czechoslovakia asked Britain and France for help. Britain and France requested that Hitler come to the table to discuss Germany’s demand of the Sudetenland.
They had the Munich Conference. The participants were:
1. Germany- Hitler
2. Italy- Mussolini
3. Britain- Chamberlain
4. France- Deladier
The result of the conference was that Germany can take the Sudetenland, but Hitler must stop right there. Hitler promised to abide by the Munich agreement. Why did they believe him? Britain and France were desperate to avoid war. Chamberlain told people, “ I give you peace in our time”. Only a few months later, this comment would be proven so untrue.
In March 1939, Germany seized the rest of Czechoslovakia. It became clear that Hitler couldn’t be trusted. Britain and France didn’t do anything- they were hoping to avoid war.
In the summer of 1939, the Nazi- Soviet Non Aggression Pact was proposed by Hitler to Stalin- they won’t fight if war breaks out. Stalin was in no shape to go to war in the near future. Hitler was hoping he could avoid 2 front war. .
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. At dawn, the Germans began bombing Poland. The powerful German Luftwaffe (air force) bombed Polish cities for days; the buildings were reduced to rubble. Poland had no way to fight back. This kind of war is known as “ Blitz Kreig”- lightning war- war that is swift and brutal.
On September 3, 1939, Britain and France declare war on Germany because they know that they are next. Italy and Japan joined also, making this a 6-country war.
By the end of September, Poland surrendered to the Germans. Germany took over all the government buildings. Poland is now German territory, and the war against the Jews begins.
In September 1939, the German army is divided in 2:
1. Wehrmact- to take care of the government.
2. SS- to deal with the Jews.
In Germany, the Holocaust begins now. The Germans first spent weeks determining who was Jewish. They forced all the Jews to put on yellow stars. Many Polish gentiles helped find Jews.
Next came the establishment of ghettos in major cities such as:
1. Warsaw- had over a million Jews
2. Lodz
3. Krakow
They condensed all the Jews into small areas. The Germans gave the Jews 24-48 hours to get into the ghettos. The people were terrified. The Germans surrounded the ghettos with barbed wire. There were horrible conditions in the ghettos. Hitler was hoping all the people would die out, which many did. Throughout all this, there were still yeshivas and schools.
No one else in the world knew what was happening.
From October to March, Germany didn’t take one country in Europe. Many people began thinking this was a “phony war”.
In April 1940, the Germans took over:
1. Denmark
2. Norway
3. Netherlands
4. Luxemburg
5. Belgium- now that the Germans have Belgium, they can go into France.
Aim: WWII: Spring 1940- fall 1941
In every country when they tried to find Jews, the gentiles helped the Germans. In Denmark however, the king put on a yellow star as well and many of his people followed. The Danish Jews were sent to safety in Sweden.
Now, in May 1949, the Germans invaded France. They came through the N where the French had few troops because they were all at the other border. Germany invaded France with little resistance. The Germans gained more territory now then they gained in the whole WWI. The French and British troops realized that they couldn’t fight, so they ran away to protect themselves. They ran to Britain along with the French president, Charles de Gaulle, who became the president in exile.
By June of 1940, the people of Paris surrendered to Germany- it was very humiliating for France. The Germans set up Vichy government in France- Nazi government. The Vichy government began to single out Jews and made ghettos. Many Jews sent their children to churches and monasteries to save them, because at this time, the church was very strong.
Britain is next- stands alone. There was no one else left to help fight the Germans. In August 1940, Germany launched a blitz on Britain- bomb day and night. This attack was also known as Operation Sea Lion.
The British had a prime minister- Sir Winston Churchill. He was the right type of leader needed in a situation like this.
In Britain, all the children were sent to the safe countryside areas. This was a traumatizing experience for the children. Some parents sent their kids to Ireland because it wasn’t involved in the war.
The British were attacked for 3 months. Why didn’t they surrender?
1. Churchill- “Blood and toil, sweat and tears”- but we will survive. He told the people never to surrender and gave them morale.
2. RAF (Royal Air Force)- the British sent their own planes up in the sky to battle with the Germans.
3. Radar- at this time, radar was invented. It helped detect when planes were coming.
Aim: WWII: Fall 1940- winter 1942/43
In summer of 1940, Britain was bombed. The bombing lasted for 3 months. The British didn’t give up because of Churchill, the radar and the air force system. Hitler became impatient- he didn’t think it would take so long. Germany got help from Italy, and in fall of 1940, they began taking over territory in N Africa. The British and Germans fought in Egypt, a British mandate. The Germans wanted Egypt because it had the Suez Canal. Hitler sent Erwin Rommell, aka the desert fox, to Egypt, telling him to get Egypt and the land around it. The British and Egyptians fought the Italians and Germans in November of 1942 in the battle of El Alemein. The British and Egyptians won.
In 1942, Italy and Germany took over countries such as:
1. Romania
2. Bulgaria
3. Yugoslavia
4. Hungary
Eventually, together with Greece, these lands, along with Greece, will become part of the German empire.
In June of 1941, Hitler broke the Nazi- Soviet NAP and went into Russia. This was known as operation Barbarossa. Why did the Nazis want Russia?
1. It’s enormous
2. Resources-
a. Coal
b. Iron
3. Ukraine was the breadbasket of Russia- it had lots of grain.
Why did the Nazis specifically want to go into Russia in June? June has good weather. By the time winter arrives, the Nazis will be well entrenched in Moscow.
3 million German troops marched into the Ukraine. Stalin was in a state of shock. In the first few weeks, a couple million Russian soldiers were killed. The Germans were advancing quickly. The Russians decided to use their scorched earth policy. It slowed the Nazis, but didn’t stop their advancing.
By the fall of 1941, the Germans reached the cities of:
1. Moscow
2. Stalingrad
3. Leningrad
These 3 cities were crucial and if the Germans got these cities, they would own the whole Russian empire.
Just as the intense fighting broke out, the winter came. The Germans were not prepared and were freezing.
In Leningrad, the Germans surrounded the city so that no food could enter. Most people didn’t survive. In Moscow and Stalingrad, the Russians put up a big fight.
By winter of 1942, the Russians gained an advantage and began driving the Germans out. The Germans began marching back in defeat. In December of 1941, the US joined, adding pressure to the Germans.
Aim: The Holocaust
The Holocaust has numerous experiences:
1. The people who escaped and fought as partisans in the forest
2. The death camps
3. The people who disguised themselves and worked in gentile homes
4. The people sent into the forest and then shot into mass graves
The most popular Holocaust book is Anne Frank, but it is not a usual Holocaust experience.
The Holocaust began in 1935, with the Nuremberg laws and Hitler’s rise to power. Next came Kristellnacht- Hitler felt he could do what he wanted to the Jews and no one would stop him. Then came the Evian Conference and the invasion of Poland. After that came the yellow stars and the ghettos.
The 1st death camp was established in December of 1941- Chelmno. It was in Poland. It had small tools of killing. Hitler began with small steps- he deported a few people at a time. The people thought they were going to better air. 3 people escaped from Chelmno and everyone thought they were crazy.
In January of 1942, Hitler and the top Nazis got together and held the Wannsee conference. They said if Chelmno is such a success, let’s just kill all the Jews in the “Final Solution”. After this conference, death and concentration camps sprung up all over Poland. Many concentration camps had small death camps on the side.
Deportations- cattle car trains were loaded with people from the ghettos. At first, the people were happy to go, but then they realized they weren’t going anywhere good.
People were dehumanized in the concentration camps.
The Germans used systematic slaughter in the death camps. The Germans decepted people- they made the people think they were going to a regular train station, then they divided the men and woman and sent people to the right and left.
Aim: The Holocaust: 1943-1944
Einsatzgruppen- a group of SS men. When the Germans entered Russian territory, they commanded all the Jews to go into the forest. The Einsatzgruppen then shot all the people into mass graves. The SS men had to be replaced every few days because they couldn’t do such labor for so long.
The killing was a triangular system-
1. The Nazis killed
2. The collaborators helped find Jews, and turned them in
3. The free world was indifferent- thousands of people were being put in the crematorium daily, and what was the rest of the world doing about it? At first, the world didn’t know, but by 1943, the world knew, but they didn’t care. For example, in the US, there were Jews in the government, but they didn’t put pressure on the government to let the Jews come.
Aim: Victory in Europe/ Liberation in camps
1942-1943 was the turning point in the war- the Allies and the 40 other nations on their side begin to win and the Axis powers began to lose. Why?
1. Because Russia begins to defeat the Axis powers.
2. The US joins the war on December 7, 1941. In the morning, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor- the US navy was there. The Japanese kamikaze pilots rammed their planes into the ships, killing thousands of people. The US didn’t actually join until June of 1944, when the US invaded France. Why did it take so long for the US to join? They had to draft and put together an army- the US wasn’t equipped for war.
2000 US troops went to England. They planned a secret invasion of France to get the Germans out. On June 6 (aka D-Day), the US troops reached the beaches of Normandy, France. Britain, France and Canada also sent troops. The Germans didn’t have a large army, but they did have enough troops to fight back. Within a few weeks, the US troops reached Paris, and released France from its German occupation.
Next was Germany. The US was coming from the west, and at the same time, the Russians were advancing toward Germany from the east. The Russians passed through Poland and liberated the death camps. The US reached the concentration camps and liberated everyone. The Germans realized they were being closed in on, so they emptied all the camps on death marches. The liberation was bittersweet- the people were in such a state of shock and were so depleted.
In April 1945, Hitler killed himself. Mussolini was killed by some Italians who hated him.
The Battle of the Bulge was the last attempt of Germany to prevent the Allies from coming into their territory. It lasted for 10 days, and then the Allies marched into Berlin. This day, March 7, was know as VE-Day (victory in Europe).
Aim: VJ-Day/ Costs of the war
VJ-Day- there was no victory in Japan yet. The US was on their own in Japan because it was a personal war. As the US was starting to mobilize to go to France, they sent troops to the islands near Japan, using Australia as their base- their goal was to reach Japan (they went island hopping). Battles were held on these islands:
a. Battle of Olcinawa
b. Battle of Midway
c. Battle of Iwo Jima- was a difficult battle, but the US won.
By summer of 1945, the US troops were poised to go into Japan, which was very risky and difficult.
In July 1945, the atomic bomb was invented based on Einstein’s theory of relativity. Many scientists were involved in the making of the atomic bomb, but the main one was Robert Oppenheimer. The bomb was secretly being invented during WWII. The project was called “Manhattan project”. The bomb was tested in N. Mexico- saw it was destructive.
At this time, President Harry S. Truman had to decide what to do about Japan- soldiers or the atomic bomb? He really didn’t want to mix Japanese civilians into the war, but he was told he would lose a million men if he sent soldiers in to Japan, so he decided to use the bomb.
Japan was givin a warning but the emperor refused to surrender, so on August 6, 1945, the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in the early morn. Anyone within a 4-mile radius saw a blinding white light. There was an enormous explosion- buildings crumbled, people who were hit by the bomb’s skin slipped off. In the first few seconds, 10s of 1000s of people died. The survivors lost their hair and got sick. The people gathered in schools and parks and drank contaminated water, causing them to die. The radiation was so harmful.
After the destruction, the emperor Hirohito was warned and said he still won’t surrender. On August 10, the US dropped another bomb on Nagasaki. Hirohito realized he had to surrender. VJ-Day is September 2.
The war lasted for 6 full years. 75 million people were killed worldwide.
Aim: Nuremberg trials
After the war, there was the Yalta Conference, held with the “big 3” in February 1945. The meeting was to discuss basics. The “big 3” were:
1. Russia- Stalin
2. Britain- Churchill
3. USA-Roosevelt
They decided here that they would try the Nazis for crimes during the Holocaust- charged for “crimes against humanity”.
The trials were held in November 1945 in Nuremberg. Many Nazis had run away from April to November. Some big Nazis were caught. In court, the Nazis said they weren’t guilty and that they were following orders. The judges said that that is not an excuse- individuals are responsible for their own actions. Many Nazis ended up getting hanged. Many Nazis ran to S. America where they were welcomed.
Simon Wiesenthal died a year ago- his goal was to hunt down Nazis. He founded the Simon Wiesenthal Center, which found about 11,000 Nazis.
Aim: End of Fascism/ Preventing totalitarism
When people saw what fascism did, it lost all popularity. It became seen as very dangerous. A lot of this had to do with the Allied occupation of Germany and Japan. It was decided at the Yalta Conference that the Allies would occupy these countries and change them so that future governments would be different that the governments of WWII.
The US occupied Japan and set up a democratic government with a constitution. The system of education was revised, telling people that war is bad and not glorious. Japan wasn’t allowed to build up an army- the US will defend them if they need it. Japan began to build themselves up economically, and by the 1980s, Japan was the richest country in Asia. Japan also lost all their colonies- went back to the original owners.
Russia, Britain, France and the US all wanted a big say in the occupation of Germany. It was decided at the Yalta Conference that these 4 countries would occupy Germany. The problem was that all the countries were democratic, aside from Russia, which was communist. Germany and its capital both had to be split in half.
Aim: The UN
How will another WW be prevented from happening? They need the US involved in the UN. The UN was supposed to be an enormous peace keeping organization.
Goals of the UN:
1. Prevent war- how? Using collective action to stop aggression. (political)
2. Fight hunger, disease, poverty, illiteracy (soci-economic)
3. Get people human rights (soci-economic)
The UN is located in Manhattan on 1st Street. About 200 nations belong to the UN. It has many large meeting rooms.
Branches of the UN:
1. General Assembly- the largest room in the UN is for the general assembly- everyone has a seat. The General Assembly is the largest section of the UN. Everyone can get together and vote.
2. Security Council- the Security Council is a smaller group of leaders who are above the rest and they have more of a say. US, France, Britain, China and Russia all have permanent seats in the Security Council. Sometimes, important decisions will only be offered to the Security Council.
3. Secretariat- president of the UN. He supervises and makes some decisions.
4. International Court of Justice- in case 2 nations can’t agree on something.
5. Trusteeship Council- helps nations get independence.
6. Economic and Social Council- established UNESCO (UN Education Scientific Cultural Organization)- helps disadvantaged people worldwide.
The UN started off as an organization to prevent war. That that the US joined gave them more strength.
Did the UN really help prevent war? In its early years it did, but in the past few decades, the UN was more effective on soci-economic issues. Private countries have stepped in to prevent wars.
The Declaration of Human Rights was added because it was right after WWII- nations should aspire to be like this.
Aim: The Cold War begins
As WWII ended, a new war emerged. This was a different form of war- it’s not actual fighting, just tremendous tension. This war occurred between 2 superpowers:
1. US
2. Russia
It began in the 1940s and ended in 1989. The last years of the war were the least stressful.
After WWII, the superpowers changed drastically- the new superpowers are:
1. US- was responsible for most of the fighting with Germany, didn’t fight on their soil and came out of WWII with the atomic bomb.
2. Russia- had the largest territory. The Soviet Union contains 14 countries aside from Russia.
As WWII ended, the SU got more territory- during WWII, Germany invaded the SU. The SU chased the Germans back to Germany, and as they were marching through the eastern European countries that Germany took over, the SU took them. The Russians should’ve liberated them. The Russians made these countries into communist countries, thereby establishing a buffer zone of satellite nations.
Once Stalin made this area into communist countries, he cut all communication with the West, because he thought all the western countries were contaminated. Churchill called this cutting of communication the “iron curtain”. Churchill gave the Iron Curtain Speech- we need to respond to Russia with toughness.
The US played a crucial role in doing anything possible to stop the spread of communism. In 1947, the Truman Doctrine was issued- Russia wanted Greece (who at this time was experiencing a civil war). Russia gave a small group of Greek communists aid, and the US gave the democrats aid. The Truman Doctrine said that the US would give Greece anything they need. It was very successful. The Truman Doctrine also helped Turkey. The Truman Doctrine was such a success, that the Marshall Plan followed it. The Marshall Plan said that every country could have help if they want to be democratic. The Marshall Plan pumped up our economy.
Aim: Cold War events of the 1940s
The Marshall Plan is an example of containment- the US wants to keep communism in Russia and its satellites, and not spread anymore.
Cold War events:
1. Berlin airlift- this was the 1st major challenge of the cold war. It occurred in 1948. Germany was divided between the US and SU. Berlin was in E Germany, which was SU territory, but it was also divided into W and E. There was a little spot of democracy in a sea of communism.
The people in E Germany realized that life in W Germany is better because after WWII, the Allies did their best to build up Germany so they were focusing on the economy and not on war. The people of W Germany were free and began to get successful. The Russians couldn’t care less about building up Germany- the Russians took gravel and other resources from the rubble in Germany and sent it to Moscow. There was also a strict communist government.
Pretty soon, people from the E began escaping to the W. They couldn’t take anything with them so as not to look suspicious. The Russians couldn’t take it that W Berlin was in their territory- people in E Berlin could clearly see how good life was in the W.
The Russian response was to build a blockade around W Berlin. This blockade meant that no one could go in or out of W Berlin. Soon, the people in W Berlin began to get hungry and it was dangerous for them. The US responded with the airlift- they dropped packages from the sky. The US dropped these packages for about a year, and then the Russians lifted the blockade.
2. Alliances form- 1949. The forming of alliances is a prelude to war. The US realized that with the tension mounting, it was possible that war could occur, and they needed to be prepared. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was formed- Canada, US and 9 W European nations. Russia formed their own alliance group in 1955- Warsaw Pact- USSR and its satellites.
3. Arms race- symbolized the start of the cold war. The US and the SU tried outdoing each other with weapons.
In 1945, the US had the atomic bomb. Russia was desperate and sent troops to the US to find out how the atomic bomb was made. Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, 2 Russian secular Jews, are accused of giving Russia information that helped them make the atomic bomb. They were killed by the electric chair. Such a harsh punishment was used because there was a “red scare”.
Churchill called this a “balance of terror”. The arms race was mutually assured destruction- built weapons that could destroy the whole world.
Aim: Cold War competition
1. Arms race- there was terror during the nuclear war. In 1970, arms limitation talks began. The toughest years of the cold war were the 50s-60s.
2. Space race- the Russians were the 1st to have a major triumph during the space race. In 1957, the Russians launched Sputnik- a rocked that could travel around the earth. The US began to concentrate in science- had to compete with Russia. In July 1967, Neil Armstrong (US) landed on the moon. He said, “ 1 small step for man, 1 giant leap for mankind”.
Which superpower will get more nations on their side- communist or non- communist? Don’t most nations know what they want to be? The African nations that were colonized during the age of imperialism are now getting their freedom, and they have to decide what kind of government they want.
Aim: China becomes Communist
After the war, in 1949, China became communist. China had been taken over by spheres of influence in the 1800s. This led to hatred of W governments. After the Manchu dynasty, a civil war developed, and Sun Yixuan took over. He was replaced by Jiang Jieshi vs. Mau Zedong. Mau Zedong got the support of the peasants. During WWII, there was a pause in the civil war because Japan attacked China and took over. After WWII, Japan lost the land and the civil war continued. Jiang Jieshi was a nationalist- he favored the rich. The peasants were upset that they weren’t remembered.
In 1949, the communists were victorious and the nationalists fled to Taiwan. The US announced that for them, “red China” isn’t an official country and doesn’t get a seat in the UN- this lasted until 1971. Taiwan got the seat.
Communism effected China culturally- Confucisim vs. communism. Confucisim valued family- ancestors were honored. Communism states that loyalty to the state surpasses one’s loyalty to his family.
Now, the Chinese people went through brainwashing:
1. Chinese people moved into cities- not in family houses anymore.
2. Mothers now began going to work- the children went to school and got brainwashed. Everyone had to work hard. Collectives were also set up.
Aim: China under Communism
In 1958, there was a great leap forward- Mau Zedong completely transformed China. China was influenced by Russia- Mau copied Stalin in his ideas, and that’s how he ran China.
Mau decided that China needs its own 5- year plan. It focused on agriculture- the great leap forward. As in Russia, farms were merged into collective farms- communes. Thousands of people had to give up their farms and share. Each commune had its own city, factory… They wanted to double their output. The factories were known as backyard industries.
What went wrong? The people had no incentive to work hard, there was bad weather and there was less food. This lead to famine. The great leap forward was a failure because Mau promised food that didn’t happen. Why? Because Mau used too many people for factories.
Mau suffered a loss of popularity. Mau began to worry that because he’s a failure, maybe he’ll lose his job. He felt threatened.
In 1966, Mau introduced the great proletarian culture revolution- solution so Mau could continue ruling China. He organized a revolution of workers to force people to like communism. It was to get rid of anti- communism. The goal was to rejuvenate China over Mau and communism.
How can Mau turn China over to reach his goal?
Aim: Mau Zedong and the Cultural Revolution
Mau formed an army called the red guards. He ordered schools to close and students had to be a part of the Cultural Revolution army. These soldiers were called red guards. They had to find the anti- communists.
They had a book called “The Little Red Book” about communism. The upper class was seen as suspicious and suspects. The biggest mistake was that educated Chinese no longer were in a position to continue.
Mau made the 1 child per family policy- control of government over family.
In the 1970s, Mau died and China changed.
Aim: Korean war- 1950- 1953
During WWII, Japan occupied Korea. After WWII, when Japan lost the war, they also lost Korea. The countries didn’t know what to do with Korea- the US wanted it to be non- communist and the SU wanted it to be communist. The UN offered a compromise: divide Korea. The N will be communist, headed by Sung, and the S will be non- communist and ruled by Rhee. Korea was divided at 38˚ latitude.
In 1950, the N Korean troops invaded S Korea. Their goal was to make the whole Korea communist. The N had a very strong army because they worked on building up their army. This was the 1st real test for the UN- there’s aggressive action. The UN organized an international army and sent to S Korea. They chased the N Koreans up to the border of China; up to the Yalu River. Over 50,00 US died. The Chinese troops helped the N Korean troops. There was a stalemate for several years.
The UN army was headed by General McArthur. McArthur said let’s get the whole China. Truman said no. McArthur went to Congress, thinking they would override Truman, and he was fired.
In 1953, both sides agreed to an armistice- Korea will be divided.
Aim: Russia after Stalin
Stalin died in 1954. In 1956, Khrushchev became the new leader. He was from a peasant family and made his way up. He was a tough person. His challenge was replacing Stalin- the people thought Stalin was everything. Khrushchev told the people that Stalin was bad. He began destalinization- he closed the prison camps.
In 1956 was the Hungarian revolution- Hungary, a soviet satellite, decided to break away from Russia. They established a new government, headed by Imne Nagy. The SU came a few weeks later and crushed the revolt. This showed that Khrushchev was also a tough leader.
In 1961, the SU (under Khrushchev) put up the Berlin wall to stop people from going from E Germany to W Germany. 1st it was made of barbed wire, then they put cinder block. The Berlin wall became a symbol of the Cold War because the Cold War was all about division.
In 1962 was the Cuban missile crisis. This showed that the Cold War was still a tense situation.
In 1964, Brezhnev took over. Khrushchev had resigned because the economy was bad and he had wasted all Russia’s money trying to make Siberia good for planting. Brezhnev was a hard line communist.
In 1968, Czechoslovakia revolted and Dubcek took over. This period in Czechoslovakian history is known as Prague Spring. Within a few weeks, Brezhnev sent half a million troops to Czechoslovakia.
Aim: Cuban missile crisis
This was the closest point the world ever got to WWIII. In 1959, Cuba became communist. The US got scared because Cuba is so close, and maybe other nations in Latin America will also become communist.
Communism was like a dream for the Cuban people. They were under the cruel and corrupt tyranny of Batista. Fidel Castro came along and promoted communism. There was a communist revolution in 1959. For the 1st few years, the people liked communism. It took them a long time to realize that communism wasn’t as good as they thought.
In 1961, the US invaded Cuba in the Bay of Pigs invasion, but it was unsuccessful.
In 1962 was the Cuban missile crisis- the SU liked Cuba because it was so close to their enemy, the US. The SU sent missile to Cuba, who pointed them at the US.
Aim: US backs anti- communism in Latin America
Kennedy (the president of the US at this time) told Khrushchev to take the missiles out of Cuba or they’ll fight. Russia listened to the US.
The US helped fight the communist groups of Chile, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Aim: Suez Canal crisis
There was a tense political situation in the Middle East. The US wanted to be friends with the Middle East because the Middle East has oil. The Middle East has 2 sides:
1. Israel- US
2. Arab nations- SU
The UN’s first major vote was over the formation of Israel in 1948.
A few weeks later, Egypt declared war on Israel and Israel won, getting them some territory.
Israel was a democracy- it became a US ally. The US gave and still continues to give Israel millions of dollars. The Arab nations joined the SU. Egypt was anti-Israel and became an ally of the SU.
The US offered Egypt the Aswan High Dam if they joined the US. The leader of Egypt, Nasser, said he could get the money without the US. In 1956, he nationalized the Suez Canal. Nasser said Israel couldn’t use the canal.
Britain, France and Israel said they need to go to war with Egypt. Israel figured they’ll invade through the Sinai Desert and Britain and France would invade from the canal. The SU said that they would help Egypt. Britain and France asked the US to join them, and the US said they condemn the invasion and won’t help because they don’t want another world war. A cease-fire was arranged.
Now, war was on the brinkmanship.
In 1979, Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David agreement- made peace.
Aim: The Vietnam War
This was the longest running Cold War event- it lasted from the 50s- 70s.
In the late 1800s, France imperialized Vietnam. During WWII, Vietnam was owned by Japan. The Japanese were brutal to the Vietnamese. The Japanese lost WWII, and as a result, they also lost Vietnam. Vietnam went back to France.
In Vietnam, there were very strong feelings of nationalism. They also had a nationalistic, communist leader by the name of Ho Chi Minh. Minh wanted a strong, unified, communist country.
He began fighting the French. He fought many battles, one of which was the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. After this battle, the French decided that the fighting wasn’t worth their time and they gave Vietnam its independence.
In 1954, the SU and US had the Geneve Conference to decide what to do about Vietnam. They agreed to a divided Vietnam. The dividing line was at 17˚- very close to the equator. The area had a thick and jungle-like climate.
1. N Vietnam was communist and headed by Minh
2. S Vietnam was non-communist and led by Diem. The S had a corrupt government. In the 1950s, there was a demonstration in S Vietnam by Buddhist monks to show the world how bad the government was- they burnt themselves alive.
Minh knew that the new government was problematic, so in 1959, he decided to invade S Vietnam and make it communist.
The US got hysterical because they knew the S Vietnam government wasn’t strong enough to withstand the N Vietnam government. The US thought there would be a domino effect, and then many other Asian countries would become communist.
The US decided to send help to S Vietnam. At first they send assistance and money. In 1964, President Johnson sent troops. To get the US people riled up, Johnson told them that the Vietnamese sunk 2 US ships in the Gulf of Tonkin.
The US troops faced many difficulties in Vietnam:
1. The N Vietnamese booby-trapped S Vietnam.
2. Some S Vietnamese helped N Vietnam, so the US didn’t really know who was on which side.
3. The US weren’t used to the jungles and it was hard for them to get around.
After the people in the US saw what was happening, they told Johnson to bring the troops home. Johnson refused, making him very unpopular. Next, President Nixon took over, and in 1972, he brought the troops home.
After the US left Vietnam, the N was successful in getting the capitol of S Vietnam, and Vietnam became united under communism.
The Domino Theory didn’t play out- Laos and Cambodia became communist but the other Asian countries didn’t.
Aim: Decolonization
Post WWII, African and Asian colonies got their independence. Why now?
1. Nationalism was rising in the colonies.
2. European nations were weak from war.
3. US pressured nations to give their colonies independence.
India was colonized in the 16th century, well before the scramble for Africa in 1885.
India had many attempts at getting the foreign rule out:
1. Sepoy rebellion
2. INC headed by Mohandas Gandhi
In August 1947, India was givin independence and divided- ½ Muslim and ½ Hindu. Now, a refugee crisis emerged- about 10 million people found that they were living in the wrong country. They had to walk to the other side. 1/10 of these refugees died. During this time, Mohandas Gandhi was killed by a Hindu who blamed Gandhi for his problems.
Nehru became the prime minister of India. India had to set up a new government. They set up a democracy that wasn’t so democratic in the beginning. They got a new constitution, which:
1. Gave woman the right to vote.
2. Gave woman the right to own property.
3. Made discrimination against untouchables (harijans) illegal.
Aim: India post independence
Nehru’s challenges:
1. Fighting with Pakistan over the border area of Kashmir.
2. Establishing a stable government- for the 1st 20-30 years, the government was shaky. India was a democratic country that didn’t do democratic things. (Ex. voting booths)
3. Uniting the many diverse peoples of India- there are a lot of minority groups in India- it’s hard to unite them all as 1. There are over 1000 languages in India.
4. Establishing an economy- set up a mixed economy- some businesses are owned by the government and some businesses are owned by the people.
5. Trying to end discrimination- had to enforce equality for untouchables.
Nehru died in the 1960s and his daughter Indira Gandhi took over. She was elected because the people felt insured to have someone from Nehru’s family ruling.
Her main challenge was dealing with the diversity in India, especially the Sikhs. The Sikhs were nationalistic and wanted their own state- Punjab. There was an enormous Sikh demonstration in the golden temple in Amritsar in the 1980s- the Sikhs demanded their own state. Indira commanded her guards to fire into the crowd. Her own bodyguards were Sikhs and they killed her.
Indira’s son, Raju Gandhi was elected next. He had to deal with the Tamil people, who were separatists. They wanted their own country. (Eventually, they got a piece of Srilanka.) Gandhi used violence to crush the violent Tamil, so they killed him.
After the first several years, India got better.
Aim: Asian post independence case studies
The Philippines and Indonesia are both archipelagos- chains of islands.
1. Philippines- during the Spanish- American war in 1898, the Philippines became an American colony. In 1946, the Philippines got their independence. By doing this, the US was hoping to be an example for other countries.
The Philippines attempted a democracy, but the leaders were corrupt and there were many dissatisfied people. As a result, many different groups formed.
In 1965, Marcos launched a military coup and overthrew the government. He had realized that the government needed someone with more strength, so he became the dictator. The US gave Marcos a lot of help.
Marcos was constantly on the lookout for people who were against him. Under Marcos, people would disappear. The Philippines was under martial law- the country was run by the army. Marcos stole billions of dollars from the government.
Aquino wanted to take over the government. He was more of the democratic type. Marcos told Aquino to run away, or he’d disappear. Aquino ran to the US, but then decided to return. As soon as he stepped off the airplane, he was shop.
In 1986, the people pressured Marcos to hold elections. Carazan Aquino, Aquino’s widow, won the elections. Marcos said that he’s still ruling. A revolution broke out known as People’s Power Revolution. Marcos ran for his life- he went to Hawaii. In the airport, he was caught with 24 bags of diamonds and gold. The US sheltered Marcos. Aquino struggled. She was taken over by Ramus.
Now, the Philippines are closer to democracy.
2. Indonesia- it’s right near the Indian Ocean. They had a tsunami a few years ago.
It was formerly a Dutch colony, which was primarily Muslim. During WWII, the Japanese took over. After WWII, Indonesia declared its independence.
The biggest challenge was diversity- there were many diverse peoples.
President Sukarno was the first president. He was weak and didn’t last too long. Suharto took over and set up a democratic (supposedly) government. It was really a dictatorship and was against communism, killing communists with the help of the CIA. Indonesia had a rigid, not free government.
Challenges today:
a. Diversity- geographically
b. Terrorist groups
c. Tsunami
Aim: Decolonization- African case studies
During the late 1800s, almost the whole Africa was colonized- Scramble for Africa. Britain and France both got the lion’s share of Africa.
1. Britain- E Africa
2. France- W Africa
After WWII, the nations decided to break away because they figured their mother countries were probably tired from war and wouldn’t care about them enough to fight for them.
1. Ghana- was the first colony to win independence. Ghana was aka the Gold Coast colony. Ghana was owned by Britain before WWII. The Gold Coast colony was ruled by nationalistic leader Kwame Nkrumah, who was already starting to work for the independence of the Gold Coast colony.
In 1957, the Gold Coast was givin independence and Kwame Nkrumah became the leader and renamed it Ghana- an old African kingdom and a name of pride because Kwame Nkrumah wanted to restore African pride to Ghana. He wore typical African garb and changed his name from Joseph to Kwame Nkrumah.
Following independence was years of government instability.
2. Algeria- in N Africa. Algeria was owned by France. There was a strong connection between them- there were many intermarriages. Over a million French people settled in Algeria.
The people of Algeria wanted their independence and a nationalistic group was formed- NLF (National Liberal Front). They used guerilla warfare.
The French sent troops to Algeria. Why?
a. Many French lived in Algeria- maybe the Algerians will be mean to them.
b. There was oil in Algeria
In the 1950s, the French killed half a million Algerians. The French fought really long and hard and in 1962, they gave Algeria up.
3. Congo- located in the heart of Africa. The Congo was owned by Belgium.
The Belgians got many resources from the Congo. They thought that if they would give the Congo independence, they would still benefit from the resources.
In the 1960s, the Congo was givin its independence.
The first leader of the Congo was Lumumba. He had connections with the SU, which made the US feel threatened so when Mobutu Sese Soko tried to overthrow Lumumba, the US helped him.
Sese Soko led the Congo for over 30 years. He was a military dictator, and the Congo didn’t do well under him.
After Sese Soko came a leader who was shot in the head.
The Congo is a terrible country to live in. People are constantly trying to leave.
4. Kenya- in E Africa. Kenya was owned by Britain. Many British people went to live in Kenya. It’s one of the most beautiful colonies to live in. Kenya has an easy climate.
When the British settled in Kenya, the people of Kenya resented them because the government allowed them to take large tracts of land.
The largest tribe in Kenya, the Kikuyu, was the most instrumental in fighting colonization. The head of the Kikuyu tribe was a nationalistic leader- Jomo Kenyatta. He organized a terrorist style war against the British. The Mau Mau were the guerilla fighters led by Kenyatta. Kenyatta was arrested by the British. The British killed many of the Kikuyu tribe.
Eventually, Kenya got its independence and Kenyatta became the dictator.
Kenya was a stable country until about 4 years ago, when fighting broke out among the tribes. Presently, there is lots of fighting going on in Kenya and it’s not a safe place to visit.
Aim: African case studies
Africa is a massive continent consisting of over 50 countries.
Pan Africanism- effort among African leaders to work together because they recognized that there were going to be so many differences and problems. The main goal was to help colonies get independence. It didn’t work that well, but it was better than nothing.
1. Tanzania= Tanganyika + Zanzibar- got independence from Germany when Germany lost WWII. It was taken over by Britain for a small amount of time. They received independence in 1960.
Tanzania tried socialism, but realized early on that it wasn’t working- food production went down. Because of this, they moved away from socialism and towards capitalism.
2. Nigeria- has the largest population in Africa. Its capital city is Lagos- one of the most populated cities.
Nigeria has many tribes:
a. Ibo- Christian
b. Yoruba- Christian. A large part of the Yoruba claim to be Bnei Yissoschor. In 1492, they went from Spain to Morocco, and then moved to Nigeria. Many assimilated.
c. Hausa- Fulani- Muslim
Nigeria got their independence from Britain in 1960. Britain gave them their independence easily. It was a peaceful transition.
Of all the countries in Africa, Nigeria has the most oil- should’ve become rich. Instead, after they gained independence, there was a civil war- the Ibo with help from the Yoruba (gave help because they were both Christian) against the Hausa.
The Ibo broke away and formed Biafra. It became a terrible country to live in. It went from one government to the next and after a few years, Biafra was lost to the Hausa and the Hausa became the strongest tribe.
Nigeria became a military dictatorship. The government took oil money for themselves. About 8-9 years ago, Nigeria began free elections. Now, Nigeria has a shaky democracy with free elections.
Cause and effect in African nations-
Typical challenge- tribal warfare (ex. Rwanda- Hutus vs. Tutsis- cut arms off)
African leaders became dictators
Have enemies- military coup
Democracy spreading (recently)- AU (African Union) to help spread democracy in Africa.
Aim: S Africa- apartheid struggle
S Africa got independence from Britain in 1910. By the early 1900s, the was a large white population in S Africa because for over hundreds of years, British were moving to S Africa because of its favorable climate and easy way of living. It was for this reason that the British felt comfortable giving S Africa its independence.
S Africa was a white controlled country. It was under a system of apartheid- segregation of blacks and whites. The whites had and easy life, while the blacks worked for the white population.
After WWII, many African colonies got their independence, and were controlled by blacks. In S Africa, the blacks never really got their independence and they felt very resentful. Nationalism among the blacks grew and the ANC (African National Congress) was formed, led by Nelson Mandela. Its goal was to get blacks to have a say in the government and end apartheid.
As a result, the white government became more rigid and made stricter laws to keep the blacks and whites separate:
1. Homelands Act- set aside various areas in S Africa where the blacks could live. The whites got the majority of the land and the good land. This caused lots of resentment.
2. Pass laws- if a black wanted to leave the homeland areas, he needed a pass.
In 1960, there was a huge demonstration known as the Sharpeville Massacre. Many blacks came with their families. The white police officers opened fire. Mandela was held responsible for the demonstration and was put in jail for about 20 years. While he was in prison, Mandela became a martyr.
In the 1980s, international pressure was put on S Africa to end apartheid. Bishop Desmund Tutu sent messages around the world telling countries to put pressure on the S African government:
1. Many nations boycotted the Olympics in the 1980s that were held in S Africa.
2. Many nations put economic sanctions on S Africa.
S Africa began to feel the pinch.
In 1994, President F.W. Deklerk ended apartheid. Blacks were givin the right to vote and Mandela was released from prison. Mandela was voted in as the next president.
S Africa underwent enormous transformation, and it wasn’t easy. The first few months after apartheid ended were very violent. The blacks took revenge on the whites.
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