The Russian Revolution

The russians had a revolution because the czar was a very cruel ruler. He didn't care about his people. Russia was behind all other countries in economy and industry. People couldn't take it anymore after WWI. The war completely destroyed the economy, it sparked up the building up tension between the czar and his people. Lenin was the leader and mastermind behind the revolution. His signature quote was "Peace, Land and Bread", it meant that he wanted everyone to have those things, no one more than the other. He followed the ideas of Karl Marx with ways of controlling the country and economy. Those ideas are called Communism. After he took over the country from the temporary government, with a group of his supporters called the Bolsheviks he tried to fix Russia's economy and eliminate his rivals.

Causes of WWI

The main causes of WWI are Nationalism, Militarism, and Imperialism.  The nations were racing each other in basically everything, every nation thought that they were better than the others. This nationalism created conflicts between nations in Europe. The nations also raced between who gets the most land for their territory. Conflicts were created over colonies in Africa and Asia (imperialism). Also militarism was another cause. The Europe nations were all building up their military to be ready for war. Everything in Europe was very tense and one thing was needed to start the war. The actual spark that set the fire of war was the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary, which started the chain reaction of alliances attacking each other. Soon the whole Europe was at war.

Opium Wars- Imperialism in China

From 1839-1842 the "Opium Wars" was fought between China and Britain. Britain needed tea from China because it has become a very popular drink in Britain. Chinese officials agreed to sell them tea but not buy anything from "western countries". Britain decided that they needed to "balance out their trade" so they sold Opium to chinese so they become addicted to it and keep buying from them in exchange for them buying tea. Chinese officials became furious and a war over opium started thats why its called the "Opium Wars". The Chinese were defeated by the British due to lack of modern technology.

Film Lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

The hardships that the Europeans faced while traveling through Africa were not having knowledge of the terrain, basically the Europeans were going to the middle of Africa to find the source of the Nile River not knowing what they will have to face. Their supplies went by quick because there was almost no source of food or water for most of the time. They also came across African tribes which were violent and didn't want them on their land. But the Europeans overcame that by giving them stuff they have never seen before. 

Its strange that the lake is named Victoria because its Africa's lake not the British. The name still haven't changed till this day.

Europeans technology was way more advanced in any aspect of life and the Europeans dominated in Africa because of the guns. While the Africans had spears the Europeans had handguns that were feared by the natives. 

Imperialism Project

We did the imperialism project to understand what the areas of the world did the Europeans take over and managed and why. The Europeans needed natural resources for their industrial products so they sailed all over the world to other continents (Africa, both Americas, Asia, Australia) and with the help of the newest technology took control of them to obtain the natural resources, capture and send slaves to the New World. What I learned from the project was which countries took over the African, American, Middle-Eastern countries and Australia. Also I learned how each country benefited from taking control of an area.

Karl Marx and Communism

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

Karl Marx and The Industrial Revolution

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