Why are capitalist views the most popular views today?

Capitalistic views seem to be most dominant economic system across the globe but why is that? Capitalism promotes motives towards the people under the economy which in favor boosts that country’s economy. Not only will the government be appreciative and like capitalism but so will the people under the rule. Capitalism is primarily the only economic system that actually works for both its people and the government.

This is posted for Sam Binesh

Could true communism exist today?

Some countries to this day claim they are purely communist but obviously have their flaws. Is it possible today to even have a true communist country? An example of an issue that renders a pure communist country impossible would be the no leaders policy. The country is to be run by the people. The problem with this would be the difficulty in exchanging negotiations and trade agreements with other countries. Another problem with it would be finding a representative for the country in events such as UN Meetings or the Olympics. If there is a representative, would that country then still be considered truly communist?

This is posted for Sam Binesh

What if Mao ruled like Stalin?

Mao was a communist leader that is portrayed as less brutal than Stalin. But what if he was worse? Instead of cow sheds, what if he had his own prison like the gulags Stalin had? If Mao were to have a prison, like the Gulag, how would it have affected today’s China and would the prison still be around? I believe China may be in a more true communist state today if Mao enforced his laws more brutally. The more strict laws would impose more obedient citizens and change how we would look at China today.

This is Sam Binesh's

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile Crisis is an event that affected the US/Soviet relations in a really negative way, almost causing these two great superpowers to go to war. The USSR  had just become Allies with Cuba because of the US deciding to invade Cuba in an attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro. Cuba was so close to the US, so they decided to take advantage of it. The USSR sent their missiles to Cuba and gave them first strike capability which scared the US. The US took quick action on this by asking the USSR to take the missiles out of Cuba immediately because that will lead to war. People were really tense because of this and were thinking that war was inevitable. However, the Soviets and the US didn't really want to go to war so the Soviets and the US tried to reach to an agreement. The Soviets said they would take their missiles out of Cuba if the US promised not to attack Cuba. The US agreed and the USSR took their missiles out of Cuba relieving all tension. This was a significant event, but luckily, the US and the USSR didn't go to war.

Non Communist China

Today we have the UN, but before the start of WWII we had the League of Nations. Now we know that the power struggle in China began just before the start of WWII when Japan invaded China. We also know that the League of Nations did nothing to stop Japan. But if the League of Nations was actually able to stop Japan from invading would China have come out a different country then it is today? Also do you believe that because China is communist the worlds economy is better?

British Inventions during WWII

Britain the one country who fought for the entirety of WWI and WWII ( Unlike the Americans), wasn't seen as a super contributor to WWII. People say the only reason the Allies won was because of the US. Yet Britain did a lot more then what people know. One of the first things invented in Britain at the start of WWII was the radar. Yes the British did in fact invent the radar. They used this technology to their advantage during the Battle of Britain in the 1940's. The Brits also built the first computer. And no the well known U.S. company Apple did not, I say did not invent the first computer( so hah ten points for G.B.). The computer first computer was in fact used to crack the German code. So all in all Britain was a huge contributor during WWII.

What If Hitler Didn't Kill The Jews

What if Hitler did not try and exterminate the Jews. Would the war have ended differently if Hitler instead of trying to kill them had them volunteer for his army? Germany most probably could have won WWII if it wasn't for the mass extermination of Jews. Think about how many strong young men where sent of to death camps just because they where Jews. Do you think Nazi Germany could have won the war if they had recruited the jews instead of trying to kill them?

What is Communism

Throughout all of history we have seen many different aspects of Communism through the form of countries, many people and historians can agree that they where not accurate aspects and views of Communism. each and every communist leader had his own view and expression of communism, whether it was a mix of two other isms or their own, for example Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism and so on. What do you think is the proper definition of Communism and have we seen something like this before? Which communist leader was the closest to bringing his country to a true communist state?

Living in the Soviet Union during the Cold War

During the Cold War, the standard of living in the USSR was abysmal. The government put a large portion of its money into the military, instead of its economy. To quote a wise man, they were: "Choosing guns over butter." There was a consistent lack of consumer goods, and the people would have queue for hours, and spent inordinate amount of money on those consumer goods. The wait time to buy a car was seven years. Inflation was also an issue. A 32 cent bar of soap could cost as much as $1.60. It took years, but in 1990, Gorbachev introduced a market economy. What would you have done if you were in Gorbachev's position?

Beginning of the Cold War

In the Cold War, the US and the USSR had two opposing aims which aided the development of tension in their relationship. Russia, being very communist, wanted to spread their ideals among other (weaker) countries in hopes to have superiority over the US, while the US promoted democracy and encouraged other nations to rise against communism. The US basically wanted to smooth out all of the tensions that rose from WW2 and create stability among Europe.

Russia was power-hungry and wanted to leave everything the way it was after the end of WW2, even though it was surrounded by corrupt nations. Russia's main goal was to rebuild its economy, and produce industrial items, as the Cold War begun. 

Both sides were threatened by one another and their opposing views made it more difficult to fix all of the damage created previously. Do you think if they understood each others perspectives, that the Cold War would have played out differently? Who do you think had the most beneficial view for both of them (who was right)? 

Why communism is not ideal

We were able to see Russia's government slowly collapse through the Cold War, as government leaders ran their country under a flawed system. Government leaders saw Lenin as the original revolutionary and wanted to maintain his ideals, although overall, their country was suffering substantially. Government leaders believed that communism was set in place and resisted change, despite the fact that the people opposed it.
Russia was a country filled with resources accessible to provide the people with, but they were never given what they wanted - they were forced with whatever the government allowed them to have possession of. Russia found itself constantly competing with the United States in production for material goods and weapons, as well. Do you think that Russia would have benefited if it was run under a different system? How would it would it be worse than staying with their original government?

Mao's Success

Throughout Chairman Mao's reign, he was very successful and was portrayed as a strong leader. During the Chinese Civil War, he only asked the army to attack if he knew he could absolutely win. Mao said, "When they attack we retreat. When they are tired, we attack." Mao's success on the battlefield made him, as well as his country, strong, and a force to be reckoned with. A huge percent of China was peasants. He believed that if he could gain support of the peasants, he could gain support of the country. Mao promised to the peasants that if they won the war, he would give them two square meals a day. He also staged an intermission of taking from the rich and giving it to the poor(the peasants), which gained support from the majority of the population. Mao also did a good job of eliminating his enemies. During the Hundred Flowers Campaign, he asked for feedback from anyone who had problems with his policies. Those who opposed him, he arrested. Mao's Red Guards helped destroy any other enemies such as people who threatened his authority or power. He used a system of dehumanizing other authorities by calling them "cow demons" and "snake spirits." The Red Guards destroyed all authority, other than Mao, that he dehumanized. After Stalin's death, many people spoke about the flaws of his reign including the Soviet's new leader, Khrushchev. The criticism towards Stalin, a man whom Mao had praised, scared him as he wanted to be known as a strong leader during life as well as after his death. To avoid being disliked later on, he earned praise from the young people of China. He did this by instructing for his red book to be taught that describes Chairman Mao's successes, which essentially made the young people praise him. Although Chairman Mao also had many failures, most people only saw the good in which he had done, making him a very successful, strong leader.

How the Cuban Missile Crisis Added to Tension

Cuba's government, lead by Fidel Castro, released thousands of exiles into the United States, causing a massive invasion at Bay of Pigs. Tension between the United States and Cuba was at its peak, forcing the United States to impede the invasion by mass destruction of Cuban ships and weaponry. Although the US and Cuba had their disputes, the Soviet Union saw Cuba as a reasonable ally to begin the development of missile sites.
The alliance formed by the Soviet Union and Cuba created more exasperation between the US and Soviet relationship. It threatened the United States in a different way than before because it could have given Russia an advantage during a possible nuclear war.
Ultimately, since President Kennedy placed a quarantine on the construction of missiles and offensive weapons, Russia didn't have access to an "advantage," but the tension between the US and Soviet Union was still present.

America's Backyard

Despite Guatemala not being apart of the United States of America, they still like to keep a close watch on them. Politicians these days and in the 60's were mainly funded by big corporations to allow them to take what they want. One of the biggest companies, the Unites Fruit Company owned a lot of land in Guatemala. Well, more than three-hundred thousand acres of land, ports, railroads and even the Telegraph/Telephone company. When President Arbenz takes office, a democratically elected president, the USA decides it needs to intervene. President Arbenz wanted to nationalize the land of Guatemala and give it to the people. This would cause USA companies to lose a lot of money and possibly run out of business.  The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are deployed into Guatemala to overthrow the leadership. Do you believe what the CIA did was justified?

Why was Germany so successful from 1939-1942?

From 1939-1942, Germany was extremely successful on the battlefield. In 3 years, they reclaimed the Rhineland and also took Poland, Denmark, Norway, and large portions of Russia. The German army was so successful because of Blitzkrieg and Hitler’s nationalism. Blitzkrieg was a very successful battle tactic used by Germany during World War II. Blitzkrieg means "lightening war," which is exactly what Hitler wanted to have as it would use less resources and less men would die, keeping Hitler's army strong. Blitzkrieg would start with the Luftwaffe which would bomb a point on the enemy line. The German tanks would then break through the enemy lines. The tanks and infantry caused distracting chaos behind the initial enemy line and would then turn back to encircle, or surround, the enemy. This battle tactic lead to German success because it took advantage of the weaponry, tanks, bombers, and artillery, effectively. Hitler's nationalism to his country allowed Germany to be widely successful. When Hitler came to power, people were excited for change. Hitler quickly improved economy and re-militarized, giving many people jobs. He also united the country by eliminating all political parties other than the Nazi party. People quickly put trust into him as he had done so much to improve Germany. The uniting and rebuilding of the economy gave Hitler the support of the entire country which enabled Hitler the countries permission to go to war. Hitler's Germany, in 1942, only began declining because his ingenious battle techniques were used against him.

Outsourcing

As many countries begin to lose money to bigger corporations such as Walmart or Apple, how will the US economy and others change to compete? One word comes into mind for most and that would be outsourcing. The definition of outsourcing means to obtain (goods or a service) from an outside or foreign supplier, especially in place of an internal source. What this means is to move your company where your paying at least $9.25 an hour to producing your item in China where your paying only a few cent per hour. Despite still needing to ship the items back to America companies are still making an increased profit margin allowing companies to keep their businesses alive and in the black. Even if it means moving only one branch, it can be enough to keep a business open. Outsourcing is great for the country that are having many more jobs opening for their people but can be horrible for the country losing said jobs. What do you think? Do you think outsourcing can actually help maintain more jobs for the ones that are losing them? EX. US loses jobs to China due to cheap labor, can this help maintain jobs in US?

After Mao

On September 9, 1976, Mao Zedong passes away leaving China in a poor state. Next up to bat would be a politician named Deng Xiaoping. Unlike Mao's view on communism, Xiaoping saw things much differently as he visits the United States of America early on in his term. This is very significant as this is something Mao would never do as USA believes firmly in Capitalism. Already people can expect to see a lot of change with this new leader. To allow for the China economy to recover from all of Mao's mistakes that he never admit to, Xiaoping brings the country towards a market economy for the first time. This is not something the normal communist would do as everything should be controlled by the government. He also reformed many other things such as agriculture and industries. By giving the peasants lands under contracts, production was great and overall it was a great idea. Xiaoping encouraged small businesses and yet again another thing communist would never allow. All of these reforms were very successful in helping the economy grow and fix all that Mao had done.

What allows authoritarian and totalitarian governments to come to power?

Although not an ideal government, during the pre-World War II period, authoritarian and totalitarian governments came to power. What exactly allows this type of regime to take power? When individual countries are struggling with economy, famine, or other things, they blame the government. When the people feel as if their government is failing, they find ways to elect a new government either through revolution, such as the Russian Revolution, or other ways. Many of the leaders of these totalitarian and authoritarian governments come to power by promising it’s people a better life. For example, Benito Mussolini of Italy promised to revise the economy. Hitler of Germany promised to create new jobs. When new leaders come to power, they begin their reign by brainwashing/convincing the people that they are doing things to better the country. For example, when Hitler came to reign, his first acts were to reoccupied the Rhineland and created a propaganda. During the pre-World War II period, many countries converted to forms of authoritarian government as they felt strong leaders would make a better life for them.

Was the Cold War inevitable?

Was the Cold War inevitable? During WWII, the US and USSR allied up to take down Germany. But after the end of WWII, their alliance just was not strong enough to survive, ultimately resulting in the Cold War. Even while they were allies, they generally distrusted one another and didn't like each other. The USSR always wanted the US to put forth more effort and push forward faster and the US had always hated communism. Before WWII, the world was very multipolar, but after WWII, the US and USSR seemed to not take much damage and the world was more bipolar, putting these two nations at the top of the hierarchy, putting them both in a situation where they felt threatened by the other. Also, Stalin was very communist. He believed communism was great and wanted to spread it to weak countries. He was very powerful and his views were so different than the US's so they had to do something. The US saw this as a threat and started initiating containment. Because of these reasons I believe the Cold War had to happen sooner or later, but I can't help but wonder if there was anything they could have done differently to prevent this war from ever taking place. Do you think there is anything the US and USSR did wrong that could have prevented the Cold War entirely? Or do you think there are certain details that could have ended the Cold War much sooner than it did?

Why the USSR collapsed.

When Mikhail Gorbachcev was elected the leader of the Communist Party in March 1985 it marked the true beginning of the end of Soviet Union. Gorbachev was set out to help the crashing economy and to widen his hated regimes popularity. Mikhail’s answer to these problems was his two-tiered policy of reform. Part of this reform was initiating a policy of glasnost or freedom of speech.  Gorbachev did not realize was that giving people complete freedom of expression that he was also unleashing emotions and political feelings that had been held in for decades. The soviet people used their freedom of speech to criticize the failing government and nationalistic rebellions began in spring up across east Europe.  These rebellions spread like wildfire burning up in the Soviet Union’s satellite states. These states includes East Germany, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and beyond. They all demanded democratic reform. In 1989 the East German regime fell to a revolution that brought down the Berlin Wall. The Berlin Wall was constructed in 1961 to separate East Germany (communism) from West Germany (capitalism)and reigned over as the symbol for communism. Despite the USSR politically falling it also faced many economic issues that led to their downfall. The economy of the USSR was a command economy. This means that the government has total control of all production and chose what was to be produced and how much was to be made. Eventually overtime the command economy imploded and caused the USSR to collapse. The cold war was also to blame for making the economy worse. The cold war was the tense relationship between the Soviet Union and the United States. One of the main problems of the economy which was caused by the Cold War was that the USSR would focus on heavy industry over consumer goods which left people waiting on long lines and traveling up to 100 miles just to get meat. Together these flaws ended the economy

Why Gorbachev was so ideal in the end of the Cold War

I believe Gorbachev helped end the Cold War. One way he did this was by easing the tensions between the US and USSR. Before Gorbachev, none of the Soviet leaders and US presidents ever got along, and when they did, it was for a very brief moment in time. But once Gorbachev got elected, he actually communicated with the US presidents to ease tension. This was ideal because it got them talking which is so important in finding an agreement. Gorbachev was also open to changing the idea of communism. When Stalin was leader, he had very strict rules on what communism was, and it was very ineffective once he died. Gorbachev knew that communism in the USSR was not working and so he created economic reforms included glasnost and perestroika. Glasnost was an idea of openness that allowed the Soviet people to finally speak their minds, while Perestroika was an idea of economic restructuring. Both of these led to a strong USSR and made the people happier. Do you think the outcome of the Cold War would be the same without the election of Gorbachev? And do you think he made the USSR better?

Life During the Cold War

Considering the Cold War was such a recent event in history, I am always interested in peoples first hand experiences because listening to someone talk about their lives is more relatable than reading about it. My dad had lived through a vast majority of the Cold War. I was interested on how it affected him as a child growing up in Australia, when the Cold War was mainly between the US and USSR. After hearing him explain, life in Australia seemed very similar to the ones in the US. He explained to me that before he was born, there was a fear of communism overtaking Australia which led to the SEATO and ANZUS treaty because they feared the communist party. There was later an attempt to ban the communist party from Australia. I found it interesting that both the US and Australia were trying to keep communism out and contain it. There was also the Petrov Affair which was an incident between Australia and the USSR. It was a spy incident that made the USSR very mad so they closed their embassy in Australia for 5 years. I feel like this is very similar to the Berlin Air Blockade where the USSR cut off west berlin from supplies because they were upset with the Americans. Also, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, he was very young but has memories of being taught to hide under his desks or tables in case of an attack. I remember from a documentary we watched in class, the US was taught the same things even though they knew it wouldn't do much. He later moved to the US and once the wall fell, he said there was a great sense of relief to finally have this thing come to an end. I never really realized how other countries were affected by the Cold War because in class we only learned about the relationships between the USSR and the US. But I find it very interesting that the USSR also had issues with their relationships with Australia and other countries as well and decided to share.

The Massacre of Tiananmen Square

The protests in Tiananmen Square that led to the Massacre of Tiananmen Square on July 4, 1989 were protests of students who felt oppressed by the government and their elders, they felt that they had all their decisions made for them and had no control over their lives. At first the protests were relatively under control as the government allowed them to happen believing that it would help relieve tension among the people. But the protests quickly escalated with the arrival of Gorbachev and the camera crews from every major countries. The Chinese government tried to wait until Gorbachev left to crack down on the protesters, but could not stall for time as on July 4, 1989 the Chinese Republic Army was given orders to clear out Tiananmen Square, they soldiers then followed the orders and shot at the public without discrimination, killing thousands. While no official numbers have been released, many people estimate that the total death and injury toll is to be in the thousands. Many injured people were dragged to hospitals on bikes and on bike carts as there were not enough ambulances to carry all the injured along with the fact that most ambulances were blocked by the army. A popular figure and image of the Tiananmen Square massacre was a man known as "The Tank Man" who stood of incoming tanks and didn't allow them to pass, symbolizing the peoples revolt against the government and its control.

Do you think the massacre of Tiananmen Square was justified by the government?

Who is Mao Zedong?

Mao Zedong (commonly referred to as Chairman Mao) was a communist, and a political and military leader in China who led the Chinese people to a Communist revolution after the Japanese invasion during WW2. He was a great public speaker and persuaded many of his followers to come with him way out west in China so he and his followers could not be touched by the Nationalists nor the invading Japanese. After the war was over he and his followers returned to eastern China where they staged a revolution and overthrew the current Nationalist party who soon fled to Thailand where they still remain. Mao was a big fan of Stalin and his ideology and was gravely disappointing when Stalin died. After Stalin died, the relationships between the USSR and Communist China went south, the USSR and its leaders didn't like Mao and offered no support to China whether China wanted it or not. Mao had many reforms that were in fact quite useless because the country was not ready for them or they didn't do anything useful, for example, Mao wanted China to be the world leader in the production of steel, yet most people didn't even know how to make a proper furnace, much less make steel. Another example is the killing of the sparrows, Mao ordered this as a result of the crop failure which was due to his idea of China becoming the worlds leader in steel production. While the people made poor quality steel, the crops died, Mao blamed the crop failure on the sparrows and ordered the people to kill them, this caused even more problems because after the sparrows died, other animals that the sparrows ate came and ate even more crops came than the sparrows. After all of this Mao became really worried that after he died he will receive the criticism that Stalin did after he died, so Mao ordered a revolution that would eliminate all powerful political leaders and educators that would criticize him or be a threat, thus leaving only the generation that viewed him as a hero and a god. This was to a certain degree was successful but still did more harm then good, even to Mao, as for about 10 years there was wide spread chaos and destruction that further ruined the country. Mao died at 82 and still to a certain degree received criticism for what he did indirectly through Deng Xia Ping who undid nearly everything that Mao did along with condemning 4 of Mao's greatest followers to death through a public trial that was aired on television and printed in all newspapers and magazines. The trial was a public statement that what had happened in Mao's time, along with every change that it made, had to go, China needed a change in its government and politics.

Do you think that what Mao did was right, or was he being selfish and was power hungry?

China Today

Much of what China is today can be attributed to Deng Xiao Ping, who gave many Chinese to have economic freedom and establish a proper economy. If you look at what happened after Deng Xiao Ping gave the people economic freedom, you will see that many people started moving to the cities where they were offered jobs by the incoming capitalistic businesses who were given access to China by Deng's economic reforms. Many people who work in the factories are offered barely anything (up to 50-70 cents an hour) but they still end up making more money than they did as farmers, or whatever they were before. Since there is so much cheap labor in China, it is easy for businesses to make money despite the fact that they have to ship their products around the world. If you look at companies like Walmart, or Apple, you will see that for the price that it takes them to produce 10,000 products in the US, they can produce 1,000,000 products in China yet still sell the products for the same price, the reason for that is: the living conditions in China are lower, people live off of less money so you can pay them less and still expect them to produce the same quality goods in larger amounts. I personally believe that while all of this modernization and economic growth is good, but the people who are working in the factories should be put in better conditions, while they are receiving money that is bettering their lives, they are still living quite close to poverty because they are getting so little pay, whether it is better or not of what they got previously. The workers should get better pay, if not they should at least be put in better living conditions because they are living in such close quarters that if one person gets sick, then that sickness could spread and infect roughly another 10-500 people and could possibly start an epidemic.

Do you think that what is happening in China is good, or that there is some sort of flaw in the system which enable companies and the government to cheat their way into things?

Classroom Simulation Analysis

On March 12, our class did partook in an activity simulating countries with nuclear capabilities. Everyone in the class was divided into different groups, and each group and one component of a nuclear bomb. However, some people were designated as spies. The role of these spies was to sabotage the group by secretly trading their component to another group. I was designated as a spy, and was immediately ousted by my group. As a result, I was moved to a different group. The simulation did not go as I expected it to. I thought that no one would get a nuclear weapon because people would be to scared. In reality, almost every group got a nuclear weapon (except for one, which chose to give up their component). In the end, the two larger groups declared war on each other. I think it's interesting that no one suggested diplomacy. It seemed as though the only route was to acquire a bomb.

After Mao

On Friday in class we watched the video segment “After Mao” and learnt that a trial was held and that Deng Xiao Ping came into power. After Mao’s death at the age 82, there was power struggle over who should be the successor of Mao. Even though Hua Guofeng was Mao's designated successor the Gang of Four (or the four Chinese Communist Party officials) took this as an opportunity to each take control. Due to the aggression of the Gang of Four, Hua and Ye came up with a secret plan to arrest them. After their scheme became a success, the Four was arrested. During this time, while the Gang of Four’s power was declining, Deng Xiao Ping became more influential and came into power. A famous line that Deng said was “it didn't matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches the mice, it is a good cat.” He wanted to imply that whether it was communism or capitalism, as long as it works, it’s good.  Also, during this time the Party ended the Cultural Revolution and the Four Modernization began. After a few years, the trial officially began on November 20, 1980. Deng proposed that the trial should be an open trial and be televised nationwide . This was symbolic of getting rid of communism and it was Deng’s way of educating the public of the wrongness of the Cultural Revolution and to show that a new age has arrived. During the trial, they were accused of their crimes during the Cultural Revolution and while some admitted to it, some declined. Jiang Qing in particular said "I was Chairman Mao's dog. I bit whomever he asked me to bite." Jiang Qing and another were sentenced for life but Jiang eventually committed suicide. Some others were sentenced.

What do you think of the trial and Deng's rise in power?

Classroom simulation connection/analysis

The simulation that we did in class on March 12th was related to the nuclear bombs race in the Cold War. We had to attempt to trade with other countries to gather all the materials we needed to make our nuclear weapon. In reality we were attempting to assemble a flashlight. Despite the fact that we were only racing to assemble a flashlight, other students in my class took racing serious, myself included. Many group made promises with others to make alliances with them after the nuclear weapons were assembled, however they did this only to get what they needed. My group was a prime example of a "democratic country" wanting only what was in its best interest. First off my group only traded one battery with other groups, which was clearly in our best interest to conserve goods to have an advantage, because each group needed two batteries to fully assemble their bomb. The second example was that my group made alliances with other groups to ensure that we got all the goods needed, but we had no unified agreement inside our group to honor those alliances. Lastly, when one dictatorship offered us all of their supplies to make a almost completed bomb, we jumped at the chance because we were only concerned with the well being of our country. The main thing that I would like to be taken away from this is the fact that countries are automatically selfish, and truly only primarily concerned with themselves. In the Cold War we see this many times, to many levels of intensity. When the United States first tested and used an atomic bomb the Russians were quick to follow. A reason behind this would be the fact that Russia had spies in the Manhattan Project. However, when the Russians first tested their nuclear weapon the US was shocked. We then followed with attempting to make a hydrogen bomb. The reason behind all of this was that the countries were trying to race each other, and therefore out do one another. Once this race started, and competition became more aggressive. It is somewhat shocking how Russia and the US were Allies and then turned on each other. It had seemed that the leaders of the US, Russia, and Great Britain were getting along, it almost seemed as though they were friends when FDR nicknamed Stalin "Uncle Joe". However this dynamic flipped quite quickly when these strong powers no longer were fighting the common enemy. This shows how war unites those who in different situations would not get along. These two countries were both strong powers and as soon as they had no real reason to consistently agree against the common enemy, they started disagreeing. If one country has a weapon that makes them strong (US with the atomic bomb) other countries who are strong will want this weapon to surpass them in power. All of these things happened in the Cold War, and were clearly demonstrated in our in class simulation as we observed groups turning on one another to do what was the best for them.

WW2 power struggle

Through learning about World War 2 I had many ideas about what could have made Hitlers quest for world domination better and more successful. I am not supporting Nazis or anything they did, however there are some very obvious mistakes that Hitler made that I think could have been handled differently.
Hitler first went against rulers that had  been created after World War 1 and did nothing to hide what he was doing. You would think that he would attempt to hide the bad things he was doing in hope that he would not be caught, but he had no problem with other countries knowing. This first problem caused other countries to not trust Germany once again, and this lead to the second strategic failure.
If Hitler would have been agreeable and attempted to go under the radar while building up his army, he might have been able to make real allies. If Hitler would have had allies this would have given him the ability to spread war over Europe and weaken his opponents while he prepared his army further. Through doing this Hitler would have been able to then sneak his forces in to steal the land his allies had taken for him in a wonderfully executed and secret attack. The reason I think these strategies would have helped Hitler win is because they would have solved the problems he actually faced in the war.
Hitler really had no willing allies at any point in the war because he had gone against the rules and just invaded Poland for no apparent reason. As he continued to spread across Europe he had no one else helping him except for either those who surrendered for the good of their country, or Russia for the time they stayed allies with Hitler. Realizing the fact that really no one was helping him substantially, this then makes the fact that he decided to turn on his ally and then invade their huge country seem quite stupid. Personally I think that if Hitler had remained allied with various countries and taken over Europe all together, he could have spread forces out, and then surprised his allies by pulling a massive surprise attack. I would have to say that if Hitler succeeded as much as he did in World War 2 that he could do that again, but clearly modified.
Overall Hitler made some detrimental mistakes that cost him the war, and ended his quest of domination.

Space Race

While learning about the space race I became increasingly interested and curious as to why it became such a big deal. There are obvious reasons, such as the fact we would be making huge technological advances. Despite the huge leap in progress, I want to know why the space race was amplified by the leaders in the Cold War.
It all starts with the fact that Russia and the US were in a power hungry fight to be considered the top country. Fight is not the best word for this because no country actually ever did anything. Russia and the US through this war basically just flexed their muscles at each other, but never threw a punch. Once the US created a atomic bomb, and kept that from Russia despite their alliance, jealousy started. Russia thought they had the right to know about this because of the alliance, however Stalin stayed calm and collected because his spies had been informing him. Once the US had finally tested and used this nuclear weapon, soon after Russia tested their first nuclear weapon. This was the first round of flexing their every growing muscles. Then the United States decided they would build up their muscles more by creating a hydrogen bomb. Once they tested the bomb, and it was hugely successful, the United States flexed their muscles once again almost gloating at Russia. Things cooled down slightly for a while, however when FDR made a comment about having better color TV than Russia, it was taken as another challenge. Russia then abruptly sent Sputnik, the first man made object sent into space, out into the sky shocking everyone. Sputnik never really did anything, just simply reminded the United States that they had gotten an object into space before us through sending a beep through our radios. This is where Russia flexed their muscle once more. This further provoked the United States to continue on with this childish fight.
The fact that this went on for so long shows us something very valuable. The two countries were in a power struggle and did not trust the other enough to simply back down and seem week. Both countries had the idea in their head that the other was going to attack them at any point in time, but this clearly was a huge misunderstanding. Russia wanted to build up their country, and the US just wanted to avoid all wars over seas. I find it ridiculous that countries will act like this just to intimidate the enemy or to become even more strong that they already are. This topic once again proves the point that in any type of war each country is only in it to do the best for themselves, and if it comes down to choosing between winning and losing at the cost of an ally, I would believe that they would only think of themselves. Honestly, war just makes people and their government one crazy mess.

Mao Zedong Rise to power

Mao Zedong can be seen as the father of communism in China. However his rise to power was much different than any others. After fleeing into Western China, traveling about 10,000 miles and losing 90% of his troops that followed him; Mao waited for his time to strike. Over time while China nationalists were fighting invaders from Japan. his communist party was becoming stronger and the nationalist become weaker. Mao struck after the brief war and won. Mao followed in Stalin's footsteps when it came to running a nation. He created landforms which took away land from the rich and distributed it equally among the poor. Landlords would be humiliated and put on a fixed trial which would lead them execution. Strict communism was happening just like in Russia. How did Mao really gain power and control over a country that was for nationalism? The answer is Poverty. Poverty was all throughout China. 90% of the Chinese population was poor. Mao came to them with something they had never been offered before, or had. Land. Mao knew that to win he had to win over the power of the people. In his succession to do this, Mao also created loyalty from the people because of his land reforms. Mao was now secure in power, communism infected another country.

Research paper: Prompt 3

For people doing prompt 3, here are some examples of containment that you can write about.

The Korean War: In the Korean War, the U.S. decided to intervene between the North and the South. President Truman decided to send troops in Korea as the importance of keeping Korea increased. The Americans did not want to lose another factor in the cold war and felt that if they did not enter this war, the domino effect would happen and lead to the domination of communism.

The Berlin Wall: After the Americans were successful in their Berlin Airlift plan, a few years later, the Berlin Wall was built. While the Soviets demanded that U.S., Britain and France withdraw their troops from West Berlin with a 6 month deadline, the U.S. refused as they did not want communism to spread to West Berlin. Kennedy believed that not only was it a threat to the west, it was a threat to worldwide. The Americans decided to stand their ground and let their troops stay and prepare for a fight. Instead, the Soviets decided to build a wall making the Americans feel relieved. Though they protested the wall, the Americans were able to contain communism without having the military fight.

Other strategy of containment can be seen in the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam war. In the Vietnam War, containment was not successful but in the Cuban Missile crisis it was.

Prompt 3: The Korean war

When Soviet Union and America decided to divide Korea at the 38th parallel, the Soviets got the North while the Americans got the South. In the South, anti-communist leader Nyngman Rhee created the Republic of Korea and communist Kim II sung created the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the North.  The agreement of the division was fine until the two separate leaders in Korea wanted to rule all of Korea instead. This lead to a civil war and allowed the UN to step in. While Korea was being used by the superpowers, they both rather not have Korea reunified as they did not want Korea to become communist or non communist and lose an ally. However, the UN declared the Republic of Korea to be the government in Korea.  This soon led to an all out war. The Soviet supplied the North with military weapons and soon after, The North invaded the South.  This invasion was to be quick so the U.S. could not intervene and it would not lead to a greater war. Even though Korea was not in America’s defense perimeter, the U.S. decided to intervene. But why did the U.S. decide intervene when officials have implied that the South was not at their interest?  This time, the Americans went to help the South because they feared that the soviets were dominating. From the success in the atomic bomb to the loss in china, the Americans feared for the Domino effect. They believed that if Korea became communism, the communist would take over Asia and eventually Europe. So, the Americans decided that containment in Korea was necessary to stop communism from dominating. This containment was both successful and unsuccessful. It was unsuccessful in the way that it contained war. With the military confrontation it led to deaths which defied the idea of not wanting to go to war. However it was also successful as the Americans were able to contain the North from spreading.

Hungarian Revolt

In October 1956, the Hungarian army joined protesters to overthrow Hungary's Soviet controlled government. They wanted to pick their own leader and have peace. Opposed to Poland's uprising, Hungary's revolt was more intense. Everyone had joined to revolt with Hungarian flags that had the communist hammer-and-sickle emblem cut out. This showed that Hungary was trying to leave the "Iron Curtain"and leave communism and that had upset the Soviets. Another way the Hungarians showed their dislike for communism was that they toppled a statue of Stalin. A Hungarian communist leader named Imre Nagy, promised free elections and demanded that the Soviet troops leave Hungary as he had formed a new government. Soviets tanks invaded Budapest with infantry units, Hungarians responded with pistols and bottles but the Soviets overpowered them. While fighting against the Soviets Hungary had asked the US for help, the US promised to come in 3 weeks as that would give time for the fight to burn out. But the US never came as they did not want to start a WW3. The Soviet invaders had executed Nagy and replaced the Hungarian government with pro Soviet leaders. This opened the eyes to the Soviets as they are understanding that communism is not working for everyone.

MAD

What is MAD? MAD stands for mutual assured destruction. The concept of MAD is the only way to have stable deterrence in the world is for both sides to be able to kill 25% to 50% of the others population. It seems silly now to have nuclear stable power but back then both sides needed to be confident to deter each other or MAD wouldn't have worked. In simpler terms if one side were to attack the other side, that side would be able to retaliate with equal or greater force. This led to more technology being built, the Soviets had built the ABMs which countered missiles that were coming to them. This troubled the US as they themselves were trying to make ABMs but were unsuccessful. Instead the US invented the MIRVs which were a warhead that included multiple missiles that countered the ABMs. I think MAD in a way complicated things for both sides but at the end made it that a nuclear war didn't happen. It made things complicated because both sides had to keep building missiles just to feel safe. They lost a lot of money as $30 million dollars was spent on making air missiles for each side. Both governments were stressing out because no one knew how many missiles each side had or if and when they would be attacked, it was just a problem of trusting each other. If both sides would have worked together, the war could of been over earlier. It seems weird to think but in a way MAD kept the peace.

Cuban Missile Crisis

The Cuban Missile crisis was the closest the US and the Soviets got to a nuclear war in the Cold War. In a span of two weeks, both countries were stressed and overwhelmed with the idea of starting a nuclear war, the US was 6-7 hours away from possibly starting one. What started this? In 1959, Fidel Castro was the new leader brought up by a revolution in Cuba. Castro butted heads with America by nationalizing industries that cost American companies billions of dollars. That caused the US to stop trade with Cuba, only to have Castro adopt communism and become allies with the U.S.S.R. In Cuba the Soviets helped Castro with military aid and brought along medium range nuclear missiles, which gave the U.S.S.R the first strike capability. At this point I think the U.S.S.R was thinking more for themselves rather than actually helping Cuba out. The war has been going on for years and if the Soviets have missiles only 90 miles away from America they have a huge advantage. It also helps that if the US responds to their missiles most of the damage would be done to Cuba. The U.S.S.R was lucky to be allies with Cuba but took advantage of a new born naive communist country. The US did not know what to do, invading Cuba or plan an airstrike on them could lead to war. On the other side the U.S.S.R didn't want to back down because they would look bad, and Cuba did not want America to invade as it could lead to nuclear war on their land. I think another reason the Soviets didn't want to attack was they knew that the US had more missiles than them and that would lead to more damage to the U.S.S.R. Looking at the big picture the Soviets could only do partial damage while the US can do major damage. Finally Khrushchev decided to back down and remove the missiles, later he was replaced as he appeared weak to back down. The U.S.S.R had it all except enough missiles but if they did I think they would have started the war first. To have the first strike capability was a huge advantage and they didn't want to lose it. If everything was on their side they would have started the nuclear war. Do you think the Soviets took advantage of Cuba? If the U.S.S.R had the same amount of weapons as the US would they have attacked first?

Social Psychology Experiments

the social psychology experiments were a series of experiments for example there was one experiment that had smoke seeping under a door with a person on the side of the door with the smoke coming through and he was sitting at a desk taking a test and he saw the smoke and went and got help. When this same exact setting came into place again just with three people the experiment was to find out if you are more likely to run and get help if you are alone or with other people and when the was more than one person in the room know one did anything because if one person keeps there cool everyone else will and visa versa. Another experiment was there was a box with different voltages on it and the voltages went all the way up to 400, there would be a person in a different room hooked up to this box and a person in the next room controlling the box what would happen in the psychologist would ask a question and if the person controlling the box got it wrong he would click the voltage lever and it would go up by 10 volts and every question wrong he would go up, the thing about this experiment is that the guy in the next room was actually a recording and the recording would make sound effect that a real man would make when shocked with these voltages for example at one point it would scream and the person controlling it would want to stop but would not because a man telling him to do it was in a uniform and thats what people grew up to obey is people in uniforms.

In class activity

        In the in class activity there was six groups and these groups would have a part of a flashlight, the flashlight resembled a nuke so during the activity there was rounds and during the rounds u would make trades with other groups but sometimes there was a spy in your group you would know this cause in the beginning of the class there was a card on your desk that had an O or and X and if you had and x you were a spy and an O meant that you were not when you finished trading and had all of the parts to your flashlight (nuke) you would test it which meant that you would sit it on your desk and flash it then after Mr stewart said we could we would shine the light (nuke) a different group and you could do this three times with one flashlight.

The Berlin Wall

When the war came to and end the capital of Germany, Berlin, was split into four sections between Russia, America, Britain, and France.  The eastern half of Berlin was under the Russian name, while the western half was run by all three of the capitalist allies.  The tension between the capitalists and the communists grew as time went on and soon the people of eastern Berlin began moving to western Berlin and never coming back.  This angered the Russians, who didn't want their communist citizens leaving their half of Berlin.  To combat this movement they built a wall around the entire western Berlin to keep the eastern population from crossing over.  This wall was built very abruptly and gave the people little time to escape.  Many families were separated and people were trapped on a side of Berlin they did not want to be on.  Although some places only had small bits of bared wire acting as a wall, soldiers also stood guard, ready to shoot at any who tried to cross.  The public rebelled against it and was astounded that the allies weren't protesting in their favor.  The rise of the Berlin Wall increased the tension between Russia and America as the Cold War continued.      

Under what circumstances can ordinary people commit horrendous crimes?

During World War II the Nazis ran death camps in Poland to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe.  Thousands of workers were needed to run such a large operation and yet none of them stood up against the immoral treatment of human beings through the duration of the Holocaust.  These soldiers were ordinary people, committing terrible acts in the circumstances they were presented with.  A line of human behavior experiments done in the late 1900's gives an idea as to why those people could have been so easily manipulated into participating in a genocide.  The Milgram experiment showed the world to what length people will follow orders.  When a person doesn't see themselves as the one truly responsible for what they are doing they can be coaxed into just about anything.  The Wave experiment demonstrated how people want to be a part of something bigger than them, and how they use self serving bias to convince themselves they are doing what they are doing for good reasons.  Dehumanization was also a factor that caused the Nazis to commit acts of terror.  By making victims seem like less than people, it was easy for them to see the killings as something that had to be done.  

Why can/do people dehumanize others?

 Throughout history, people have treated minorities and such as lesser beings and made them suffer for being different. Americans driving Native Americans from their homes in North America, and enslaving Africans, Germany's massacre of the Jews, Gypsies, and other minorites, and Mao Zedong's genocide of 49,000,000 Cambodians, are all examples of this. However, people always seem to wonder: how can humans treat each other like this? A series of infamous studies known compiled into a book known as The Lucifer Effect suggests a number of answers to this question. Some of the conclusions it reaches are: a self-serving bias, in which it is concluded that people think that they are inherently good and can do no wrong. Furthermore, when one is anonymous or knows they will not be punished, they are more inclined to do something they know is morally wrong. Also, humans are quite obedient beings, especially to authority figures. Now, how do we connect this to genocides in history? Well, if you consider Hitler's mass extermination of the Jews, you may wonder how people could just standby, or even participate in this atrocity. Well, a self-serving bias, anonymity, and obedience would surely make it easier for Hitler to do so. One may say to oneself: "I would never do anything like Hitler did". However, those people are just the kind of people who were more likely to participate.

The Iron Curtain

In a speech delivered by Churchill, the prime minister of Great Britain, he explained Europe's situation following World War II. The Allies had divided Germany up after they had been defeated. The USSR got part, and the rest of the Allies got a different part. The USSR specifically had the entire Eastern part of Europe. With the Allies no longer united against a common enemy, more disagreements developed. With Russia being communist, and the rest of the Allies capitalist, they disagreed on many points, and this divided Europe. Churchill's speech spoke of how it was like an Iron Curtain had been drawn between the USSR and the rest of the Western Europe. In the speech, he made it sound as if the USSR had been the ones to instigate this Iron Curtain, and that they were the ones to blame for it. In 1946, Europe was already very divided between the communists and the capitalists.

Who Is To Blame For The Cold War?

The Cold War was started in equal parts by the US and the USSR. There was much contention on both ends even before World War II, having a lot to do with their opposing views. One factor to starting it on the US part was Containment. They blatantly opposed the communists, trying to keep communism from spreading, which could have rubbed the wrong way with Russia. Also, with the Marshall Plan, it gave aid to the European countries on the Western side of Europe, opposite of Russia. Then on the USSR's part, they tried to threaten Western Europe and the US with the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49. When the other nations wanted to unite Germany, they wanted to keep it separate, so they blocked off Berlin, and cut off all supply lines. The other nations stumped their attempt though, by flying in and giving supplies to the citizens, eventually causing Russia to end the blockade. Both the US and the USSR in equal parts were responsible for the beginning of the Cold War.

The US and the USSR: Unease Before the Cold War

Long before the Cold War began, there was tension between the US and the USSR. Even before World War II, the two countries did not get along very well, and that was made more prominent during the war. When Russia initially made the nonaggression pact with Germany at the beginning of the war, it upset the US. And Stalin blamed the Allies for delaying when they were to invade the German territories. Following the war, their tension grew. The USSR wanted to spread communism, while the US was against it, encouraging democracy instead. On top of that, they both wanted materials from Europe. The USSR wanted to keep Germany divided to avoid another war, and the US wanted to reunite it and stabilize it. Russia had the countries along its borders after they took it from the Germans, and they wanted to shield themselves from another Western attack. In 1946, even Stalin said that communism and capitalism could not continue existing peacefully, and that war between them and the US was inevitable.

Russia, Ukraine and the West

This will make a lot more sense once we complete the class but here are some articles that might help you understand some basics of the conflict (if your are interested).


A brief and informative article for those who might be interested in the background of what is going on...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/02/25/ozy-russia-ukraine-cia/5805815/

As well as a focus on an issue that may escape most Americans but is central to the events of this weekend...

http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/27/opinion/ukraine-crimea-russia/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Blitzkrieg: Behind the Scenes

Who came up with Blitzkrieg?
The idea of Lightning War was actually originally put forth by an English colonel who felt that tanks were not used effectively in World War I. In "Reformation of War", a book by Colonel John Fuller,  he discusses the idea of intense tank offensives, backed by strong air support. Even as head of the British Tank Division, his ideas were mostly ignored in England and France. In Germany, however, they sparked interest. Due to the Versailles treaty, Germany did not have the army for the WWI-style mass trench warfare battles. Instead, the army was broken up into a small number of divisions designed to surprise the enemy. Tanks were built and tested under the League of Nation's assumption that they were "tractors", and fast planes created and flown in "flying clubs". In 1928, General Hans Von Seeckt  of Germany outlined his ideas for a small army, built upon values of quality over quantity. He thought the future of warfare was in "mobile armies", quick units that could overrun slow, undertrained opponents. These ideas were later supported by Hitler, who knew that he would have to be different if he was to take over Europe with a smaller army. The combined military genius and support of these men gave birth to a new era of destructive tactics that proved almost decisive of the war.

Alan Turing: Cracking the Enigma code

The Enigma code was the result of the Nazi-used Enigma machine, a complex rotary device that scrambled various numbers and letters to create unpredictable, random codes, much like a primitive form of encryption. These machines were present in every Nazi sub, boat, and base and allowed the Nazis to communicate for a long time without having their plans intercepted. Early on in the war, the Polish Cipher group was able to decrypt some of the messages. However, the Germans modified and complicated their codes so much that the Polish could not keep up, and asked for the help of the Americans and the British. At the forefront of the British Code-Breakers was Alan Turing, a brilliant mathematician who is considered the father of modern computer science, mainly due to his work on the Enigma code. He was able, with a team, to build the first machine capable of running algorithms, or repeated lines of code or instruction. This machine was able to reduce the number of potential codes significantly, such that the Allies could figure out the rest of the more manageable code. This allowed countless messages to be intercepted and decrypted, boosting the Allied war effort. At the end of World War II, Winston Churchill, the prime minister, said of the codebreaking effort (nicknamed Ultra), “It was thanks to Ultra that we won the war”. Unfortunately, Alan Turing was prosecuted for homosexuality, and given chemicals designed to cure it that led to his young death. He was given a posthumous pardon by the Queen of England last October.

Tiger

It is safe to say that in World War II,  one of the most feared noises for any Allied infantryman to hear was the roaring engine of the 40-ton Anzerkampfwagen, or Tiger tank. This monstrous creation was the combined effort of the leading engineers of Germany in 1940 and 1941, and the beginning of production was Hitler’s birthday present in 1942. He also received a pony. The tank, protected by 4.5 inches of steel, was completely unaffected by the British Sherman tanks, and 75mm shells would bounce off from distances as close as 50 meters. The Tiger was also equipped with an 88mm gun, enough to destroy the T-34 (the most common Russian tank) in one shot. While it did not sacrifice speed, it did use immense amounts of gasoline and was fared poorly in mud and ice. Only about 1300 were ever produced, but each one made its mark. For example, on October 18th, 1943, one Tiger tank, commanded by Sepp Rannel, managed to destroy 18 Russian T-34 tanks. As the Allies advanced in France, four Tigers managed to repel a British offensive in Northern France. Unfortunately for the Germans, the tanks cost oil that they could not afford to spare, and were abandoned in 1944. However, the damage inflicted by these big cats of armored combat was the turning point in many a battle, and the dreaded roar is still in the minds of those who lived to hear anything else.

What the Allies Gave and Why They Were Important

Each member of the big three, the United States, Russia, and Britain contributed important resources that make a victory in Word War II possible.  Although each contribution was different, all were necessary to stop the German power in Europe from expanding.  The Soviet Union pumped millions of soldiers to push the Germans back on the western front in their attempt to take Russia.  They also lost millions of citizens to the cruelty of German soldiers as they stormed Russia in operation Barbarossa.  With an estimated death toll of 29,000,000 people total, the Russians can be said to have given the blood necessary to win the war.  The Americans also contributed a large amount to the war effort, but in money instead of soldiers.  While they remained neutral at the start of World War II, the United States still used things like the Lend-Lease Act to give billions of dollars in food, weapons, and other supplies to their allies in the west.  Even after they entered the war America still provided the technology and donations that gave the allies an upper hand in the later stages of World War II.  Without new tanks supplied by factories in America, victory would have been more challenging.  The most important contribution given by Great Britain was keeping the war alive before its allies began to fight.  When Great Britain first entered the war after the invasion of Poland its allies were no where near ready to come to their aid.  The United State's neutrality and Russia's Anti-Aggression Pact with Hitler left Britain to face the Germans with little support.  And despite their circumstances Great Britain was able to hold off an invasion of their homeland and win the Battle of Britain all before the allies intervened.  Without this big military loss for Hitler, the Germans may have succeeded in conquering all of Europe preventing the other allies from stopping them and making success unreachable.      

Why Germany failed

Germany was on a roll throughout World War 2 and they had not been slowed down by anyone.  Their army was unstoppable and no one could stand up to them.  Despite their success, Germany was becoming overconfident.  They had started expanding their land but they were doing too fast. They wouldn't slow down, and the problem was that their weapon and fuel production couldn't catch up. Germany's supplies were lessening and their speed was increasing.  Germany could not catch up which made them retreat from some fights. The second reason why Germany failed was because they were outnumbered and did not have the man power to defeat the allies. They lost Italy and France and Germany was outnumbered in every single type of warfare.  By the end, the Germans lost many men while being surrounded by all the allies, which had cost them the war.

Costs of Success

Out of all of The Allies, there was one country that was a true power-house: the U.S.S.R. At the peak of the war, the Soviets had roughly seven million soldiers (four-hundred-ninety-one divisions). This massive amount of troops made it one of the strongest of The Allies, and enabled the Soviets to gain back land using sheer brute-force. Not only did it gain back all of their land, but also Poland, and parts of Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Not to mention, towards the end of the war, the U.S.S.R managed to push Germany back to its own borders. Meanwhile, the other allies didn't recover near as much land. However, so much success comes at a cost. By the end of WWII, the U.S.S.R lost and estimate of seventeen million civilians and twelve million soldiers, for a not-so-grand total of twenty nine million casualties. This is roughly five times more than the country with the second-most casualties: Germany (about five-and-a-half million). Which is ironic, considering Germany was on the losing side. Which brings us to the cliché, and yet all important, question: Was it really worth the cost? I would say not, seeing as they lost more than the losing side did.

Why Germany Failed to Conquer Russia

When Germany first started invading Russia, they were unstoppable. They had better equipment, better trained soldiers, and better commanders. In fact, the only thing they didn't have the upper hand in was men. Russia had a seemingly endless supply of manpower, all willing and ready to die for the Motherland. Germany tore across Russia at first, gaining victory after victory after victory. Russia threw everything they had into the war, but they just could not gain a foothold against the invaders. But then mother nature stepped into the picture. The Russian winter decimated the German Army, leaving them with much less manpower. They also were forced to leave a lot of their tanks and other supplies behind. As they drew closer to the city of Stalingrad, things begin to go in favor of the Russians. At one point, the Red Army cut off a division of the German Army called the 6th Army. Surrounded, outnumbered, outgunned, and overwhelmed the 6th Army surrendered. Germany then started it's retreat, and that was the end of Germany's conquest of Russia.

Why was Hitler Sucessful between 39-42- A new war tactic

 Hitler and the Nazi party was very successful in their campaign in Europe during 1939-42.

 Some reasons were the new war tactic of blitzkrieg or '"Lighting war". This new tactic was aimed to defeat its opponents very shortly. This tactic required the concentration of offensive weapons such as tanks and infantry, airpower was also a key part of this tactic. The goal was too drive forces through enemy defense with tanks and roam freely behind enemy lines causing the defense to be very confused. German air power prevented the enemy from resupplying their troops. The troops would now be encircled by enemy troops and forced to surrender or left to die. This war tactic was very effective during Germans campaign because many troops were ordered not to retreat, enabling the encirclement to be easier.

Mussolini's Resignation and its effects

After Mussolini resigned, the allies rethought their strategies and decided to invade the Italian peninsula. This decision disappointed the Americans who had previously intended to attack France. German soldiers began fighting in northern Italy due to the announcement of Mussolini's dismissal. The Italians signed a secret armistice with the allies, leaving everyone against the Germans. The Italian attack strategy was relevant to the trench fighting from WWI, which seemed really successful. This led to the destruction of the Gustav line, the strongest German line of defense and the Battle of Cassino.

The Battle of Stalingrad

The battle environments was in a very poor state due to the melted snow that turned into mud. The Germans were struggling to get their war machines and tanks to move through the mud. As the Germans weakened , it bought time for the Russians to gather up supplies sent from Britain and America. The Russians outnumbered the Germans by at least a million soldiers.Hitler ordered army groups to encircle the Russians in the city of Stalingrad. The Germans bombed the city with their dive bombers and in hours street fights were initiated. While the Russians were surrounded, they came up with a plan to revolt against the Germans. The Russians had to defeat the Rumanian soldiers that stood guard at the German flanks. In only days, the Russians had control over Hitlers's 6th army and it was Germany's first major defeat in WW2

What problems did the Germans face after their great success? 

Most Germans would think...lets keep expanding...when really they are just getting themselves into bigger and more complicated consequences. German forces had expanded so fast that they left their whole infantry behind them, which consisted of soldiers and most of the supplies that were needed to recharge or fix the weapons/tanks. Tanks and the luftwaffe had no where to go until the infantry that was tens of miles away caught up with fuel and made themselves useful in battle. The Germans had been unevenly spread with their forces after having such a huge success in conquering lands. Food for soldiers were also behind so it made them starve for hours until the infantry with resources arrived alongside with the rest of the German army.

Why did Russia fail in the beginning against Germany?

The main question I'm asking after today, is why did Russia fail in the beginning? Russia was the red army, the big army and they were so strong, but how could they lose to Germany? I know Germany was very strong and undefeated at the time, but Russia had homeland advantage, and they should have prepared better. They have vast land, and they probably could have made alliances with the allies for backup, but instead they took no help and got utterly destroyed by Germany. Why hadn't Germany prepared better? Was it really necessary for Stalin to complete the purge on his army officials? Russia had lost its power when it lost its army leaders, and it could not fight Germany. Why did no one help Russia when they were in trouble, they could have used Russia for even an ally?! Russia was hopeless once Germany took over, half their military gone, and half the country now in Germany's possession. My biggest question is why didn't Russia ask for help?

The New Schlieffen Plan

Germany and their Blitzkrieg warfare was unstoppable at this time in world war 2.  No country had a chance to catch up and get close to stopping Germany even if they had the chance and were right in front of them; Germany was too fast.  Were the countries scared of Germany or did they simply know they were no match to them?  Germany had decided to ignore the French and the British when they lined up along the river, and they ended up going through the Ardennes forest which was unexpected. France thought since Germany has big tanks that they would not go through the forest and they would go through France instead.  Germany had put its tanks close together once they got into Belgium without a problem. France and GB had spread its army apart thinking Germany wouldn't be  tight together. Why did they think Germany would be so spread out? They were all coming out of the same place and they weren't going to separate, so why would France and GB think Germany would be in multiple groups? Germany had been able to get away once again due to a stupid and idiotic mistake by the cowardly allies.

1/15- Russia and Germany

In class, we had watched a video that talked about Germany and its rise on becoming the strongest force on Earth.  Why had no one stopped them? Why couldn't all the other countries come together as one and beat Germany? France and Britain had cowered and stayed behind, not attempting to fight Germany as they had disobeyed the treaty of Versailles three times. Yes I understand that the U.S., France, and GB all had wanted peace, but Germany was slowly tearing apart Europe again and taking over countries.  My biggest question would have to be is why Russia, just as strong as Germany, not stopping Germany?  Russia  had its own problems and they must've felt that trying to fight Germany would have drained their country of their army.  Instead of fighting Germany, they signed a treaty with them declaring peace between the two for ten years.  Russia had been mostly passive before this, but they secretly made an agreement that the two countries could split Poland. Why did Russia want Poland, and what was Russia thinking this would do for them?  Russia was very strong but also very disadvantaged at times when it came to war in other countries (Finland Winter War).  Russia ended up fighting Germany in the end!  I am mostly confused that Russia did not become active until later in the war and why had they not attacked Germany sooner.