The Cold War- The War of Words

The Cold War was not a war in the tradition sense, including troops, tanks, and bombs. This war was an economic war between the United States and the Soviet Union. The struggles lasted from 1945 to 1989. The two countries engaged in governmental battles, threatening each other with nuclear weapons, cutting off trade and commerce, and creating strong allies in case of a full-fledged war.

The most important event of the Cold War was the Cuban Missile Crisis. The crisis started on October 16, 1962, and was finally resolved on October 28. Although this crisis only lasted thirteen days, it was the closest event leading to a nuclear war. The crisis began after U.S. reconnaissance reported to President Kennedy that the Soviet Union was installing nuclear missiles on Cuba. The crisis ended when Nikita Khrushchev, the leader of the Soviet Union, promised to end the installations and take out the missiles already located at Cuba.

The Atomic Bomb Movie

Today in history class we watched an amazing movie about atomic bombs. The movie was interesting, beyond the dramatic music and awesome titles, and I loved watching the videos of the bombs exploding.

The very first atomic bomb was created in Los Alamos. The earlier models created in Los Alamos used uranium. Later models changed from uranium to platonium. The first test caused the creation of the Trinity Crater, causing the temperature of the area to rise to ten million degrees.

The first real atomic bomb activity were the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In Hiroshima, the bomb killed 70,000 people and injured many more people. In Nagasaki the death toll was slightly less, the deaths numbering 42,000, but there were also many injuries.

Eleven months after the atomic bombs in Japan, Operation Crossroads took place. This was a test of the magnitude of atomic bombs by detonating one bomb in the middle of the ocean. Ships of various sizes were stationed in the ocean, containing animals so as to test the effects of the bomb. This surprised those who saw the explosion from a distance, finally being able to understand the magnitude. The video was amazing as the mushroom cloud expanded in the cloud and an enormous wave swept through the ocean. Another such operation took place two years later. This operation was known as Operation Sandstone, and the bombs X-Ray and Yonke were exploded.

On August 29, 1949 the Russians exploded their first atomic bomb. They were able to construct their bomb only through stolen information from American researchers.

There was still more to the video, but this was as far as we got today.

Cinco De Mayo- The American Holiday

Well, the Mexico Mission Team got back from Mexico yesterday and we had a blast! We spent Cinco de Mayo in Mexico and I noticed that no one was celebrating at all. So I thought that I would blog about it and explain the reason why it is celebrated more in America than it is in Mexico.

Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of the Mexican victory against the French on May 5, 1862. The battle is now known as the Battle of Puebla, with General Ignacio Zaragoza leading the Mexican army. The history concerning the battle began earlier in 1862 when the Mexicans refused to pay taxes to the governments of other countries ruling over them. As a result, Spain, Britain, and France sent troops to Mexico to enforce their dominion over the people. The elected official of Mexico at the time was able to make agreements with Spain and Britain, but not with the French. The armies of Spain and Britain retreated out of the country, but the French army stayed.

The French prepared themselves to make an attack against Mexico City on May 4, but they were met with strong resistance. A small number of Mexicans had become allies to the French at this time and were planning to help the French armies, but they were unable to reach them as they were attacked by Mexican loyalists. Therefore, the French did lose more men than they had planned, but their army was still decent and ready for combat.

Despite the French army's losses, the army of Zaragoza was still incredibly small in comparison. However, Zaragoza's army entered into combat against the French on May 5 and were victorious.

Cinco de Mayo is not the Day of Independence for the Mexicans, theirs being on September 16. Cinco de Mayo celebrates a victory against France, but the Mexicans were more concerned with defeating the Spain, which they succeeded in doing on September 16. Americans tend to celebrate Cinco de Mayo more because it drove French influence out of the Americas, French influences which would have changed many aspects of American culture today.

Just A Brief Look

I am going on a mission trip to Mexico tomorrow, so I thought that I would write about the history of the country. The most prominent cultures between 1800 and 300 B.C. were the Olmec, Teotihuacan, Maya, Zapotec, Mixtec, Huatec, Purepecha, Toltec, and Mexica (also known as the Aztec) civilizations. These people began forming complex societies, advancing in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, writing, agriculture, engineering, and theology. These civilizations were mainly known for their construction of pyramids, highly-accurate calendar systems, and the use of the wheel. Copper and gold were also used in these societies, but these were the only forms of metal. Large cities were built and the culture thrived during this time.

The civilizations of early Mexico changed dramatically after the arrival of Spanish colonists. Spain established their colonies after overtaking the area of Mexico in 1521. The Mexicans were never able to free themselves from Spanish rule until 1821. A Mexican revolution began after Napoleon I invaded Spain. The Mexicans took advantage of Spain preoccupation in their own country to initiate a revolution. Their war against Spain lasted eleven years, but finally ended with a Mexican victory.

The Mexicans were able to establish their first independent government at this time after so many years of Spanish rule. They created a Republic, with Guadalupe as the president. This is only an extremely brief history of Mexico, but it gives you a general idea of what happened. I do find it interesting after finishing my Vietnam project that Mexico was also ruled by a European country. Vietnam certainly was not the only country dealing with a European country taking away their independence in their early history.

Ho Chi Minh, The Backbone for North Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh was a very important character in the Vietnam war. Not only was he apart of the war against America and South Vietnam, but he was in the original protests and battles with the French.

Ho was born in 1890, in Hoang Tru Village where he spent the first five years of his life. He spent most of his childhood in Kil Lien Village, living with his parents, brother, and sister. Ho's was given the name, Nguyen Tat Thanh, when he turned ten according to his Confucian traditions. His father was a Confucian scholar and Ho was sure to be brought up with Confucian based education. Ho was also educated at a French-style secondary school.

In 1911, Ho left his home and boarded a ship headed for Marseilles, France. He worked on this ship as a cabin-boy, spending long hours working many jobs around the ship. After arriving at France, he spent most of his free time reading at the public libraries, reading newspapers or listening to conversations about politics and current events. He later moved to England in 1913 through 1917, but then he returned to France until 1923. During his second stay at France, Ho began to pay special attention to the ideas of Communism. He was determined to free Vietnam from French rule so that he could establish a Communist government, but he could not find any country to support him. He became involved in the establishment of the French Communist Party and then moved to Moscow. He did not stay in Moscow for very long but soon moved to Guangzhou, China. While he was in China, he established the Communist Party of Indochina.

Ho returned to Vietnam in 1941, and it was at this time that he adopted the name, Ho Chi Minh. He helped organize rebellions against the Japanese government when they invaded during World War II, but mainly against the French government. He named himself the leader of the new Democratic Republic of Vietnam, forcing the emperor, Boa Dai, out of command. Ho signed a document that allowed his government to be apart of the French Union, but he was incessantly fighting against them. Even after he controlled North Vietnam, he was not satisfied and fought against South Vietnam and America to control all of Vietnam. He was known for his continual fight for his dreams, even when his dreams seemed impossible to achieve.

Ho died on September 2, 1969, on various health problems. He died at the age of 79 and his embalmed body was put on display in a granite tomb in Moscow. He is still idolized by Communist Vietnamese citizens referring to him as "Uncle Ho."

A Not So Happy Subject

Happy Easter everyone! Easter is such a happy holiday that gives hope to all Christians as we are given the opportunity for forgiveness and salvation. Unfortunately, I must turn the subject away from Easter as it is not the subject that I will be discussing. Today, I would like to discuss the concentration camps used by the Nazis during World War II. In class, we are watching Schindler's List, and so, I thought that I would give some historical background to the movie.

Concentration camps got their name as they were camps used to imprison a mass amount of people. These people were not judged individually, but were placed into the camp because of a general involvement. In the case of the Germans, they used concentration camps to imprison Jews. Jews were proclaimed as being weak and behind the Germans, forcing the Germans to be brought to a lower level. Therefore, Jews were discriminated against and forced to leave their homes.

Most concentration camps were not meant to be used as Hitler and Stalin used their camps, but Hitler and Stalin had a different motive for their camps. The British were the first people to establish the concentration camp, using them during the Boer War. Stalin changed the methods used at his camps by either working or starving his prisoners to death, and Hitler used his camps for "medical experiments," using gas chambers and ovens.

These horrible camps first started after the Nazis took control in 1933. Many of the camps did not remain in use after World War II, but some did continue its work. The Germans also established extermination camps for the mass murdering of Jewish people. These camps were established in 1941, and became known as the Holocaust. Over three million Jews were killed in these camps by the end of the war.

Both the concentration and extermination camps were famous for their horrible treatment of their prisoners and for the terrible conditions. The prisoners were worked under small food rations and very poor sanitary conditions until they could work no longer. At this point the prisoner was killed if he provided no more useful labor. Prisoners were killed either through gas chambers, mass shootings, or severe starvation. The guards at these camps were encouraged to practice their shooting, using humans as targets. Many times we try to forget the awful events that transpired at these camps, not being able to understand how one man could treat another man so terribly.

On This Day in History

On April 7, 1862, the battle of Shiloh in the Civil War was ended. The Union army was able to defeat the Confederates, but only after paying a high price in deaths and wounded men.

The battle began on April 6, lasting two days. General Johnston led his troops to west Tennessee to reorganize after his failures at Forts Henry and Donelson. Johnston was able to pull his troops together with the plan of a surprise attack on the Union army. His plan almost worked, but the Union army discovered that he was advancing with his 55, 000 men just before he was about to attack. The two armies collided and the fighting lasted the entire day. By the end of the day, the Confederate army was able to push the Union army towards the river, but they were unsuccessful of pushing them entirely away from the river.

The fighting continued the following day but to the Union army's advantage. General Grant was able to send for reinforcements and 22,500 more soldiers arrived to fight with the exhausted troops. Unfortunately for the Confederate side, General Johnston was shot in the middle of the afternoon on the second day by a stray bullet. The Confederate army then became weak and unorganized especially as they were now outnumbered. The Union army was able to advance and push the Confederates back to where they began the battle. By the end of the evening, the remaining Confederate soldiers retreated to Corinth.

The numbers of deaths and wounded soldiers was astonishing to both armies as the causality rate was 23,741 men. Out of Grant's original 62, 000 men, 1,754 were killed, 8,408 were wounded, and 2,885 were captured or missing for a total of 13,047 casualties. The Confederate army started out with 45, 000 men and ended with 1,723 killed, 8,012 wounded, and 959 missing for a total of 10,694 casualties. This shocked many people as this was still close to the beginning of the war. Many people were hoping for a short war with very few deaths, but both armies were forced to see reality by the end of this battle.

Amistad- The Facts Behind the Film

The movie, Amistad, is based on the story of African Americans apart of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. This slave trade was an awful business that run by Portugal for two hundred years. The trade began in 1440, and was finally ended in 1640. Europeans were in need of laborers as they desired to expand to the extent that unemployed laborers were sparse. African Americans proved to be perfect for labor as they were strongly built and were familiar with building and tending cattle. Slaves were bought from Africa at the exchange of beads, horses, shells, textile, brandy, and guns. However, many slaves were men and women captured in war.

The slave trade ships were converted from cargo boats for the specific purpose of transporting slaves. The conditions on the ships were horrendous. Disease and malnutrition were extremely common and the death rate was 13% more than for the sailors on the same ship. Proper hygene was not an issue to those who controlled the ships, but provided the least amount of food, clothing, and shelter as possible. The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was characterized by degradation and dehumanization of the slaves. Slaves were not viewed as human beings, but as labor units.

The slaves were usually chained together and then forced into an extremely confined and overcrowded deck. Ships transported hundreds of slaves, squeezing all of them into two decks, and keeping the slaves in the same room for an entire week. These ships were a tragic site that demonstrated man's disregard of human decency simply due to the color of another man's skin. We should all be thankful that such slave trades were abolished and hope that mankind will respect the common human rights of all people, no matter their race or origins.

Franklin D. Roosevelt and His 100 Days

Franklin Delano Roosevelt shocked the American public during his first one hundred days of office as he wielded his political power as no other president had before him. Americans became accustomed to President Hoover's unaffectedness and viewed Roosevelt as a savior. Roosevelt knew that he needed to act quickly to fight against the depression and to maintain the American morale and trust in the government.

In his first one hundred days, Roosevelt launched his New Deal, an effort to quickly counteract the effects of the depression. He established the Utilities Act and the Social Security Act to protect workers in large industries and providing retirement insurance. He declared a "bank holiday" on his first day of office, closing down all banks to provide them with money and regain control of the situation. The Emergency Banking Bill was passed so as to help banks reorganize and be able to reopen. A number of other bills were passed that caused the creation of new organizations, including the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Civilian Conservation Corps, the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Additional power was given to the Federal Trade Commission and Congress abated many mortgages of farmers and homeowners. Other useful organizations that were put into effect were the Agricultural Adjustment Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, organizations to help farming prices and provide jobs for young men.

Roosevelt's strategy in facing the Great Depression was to bring relief to those who needed it most. Sometimes this did mean "taking from the rich to give to the poor," but this was the strategy that would succeed. His second strategy was to reform the economy so as to prevent a future catastrophe. He did this through reorganization and the creation of new agencies. He was sure not to increase the debt even more by giving to others only when it could be taken from another part of the country.

The New Deal was not finished after the end of Roosevelt's first one hundred days. He had a second one hundred days in 1935, famous for the creation of the Works Progress Administration. This new program provided jobs for numerous people, putting them to work building roads, planting trees, and constructing paths for tourists. These jobs may seem insignificant, but it put many unemployed men to work, providing them with at least a small amount of money which they desperately needed.

The actions that Roosevelt took in his first one hundred days of office have proven to still affect Americans today. Some of the organizations that he established are still thriving and providing relief and support to the public. For example, Social Security is still used nation-wide in America today. Roosevelt restored the public's trust in banks and the government. He was said to have saved capitalism and the way of the American people through his actions. Although many historians now see that Roosevelt was slightly illegal in his actions, they still support his actions and recognize that it was the only way to compensate for the depression.

I believe that at least one bad consequence of his actions was that he taught the American people to rely almost completely on the government when they cannot support themselves. I think that it is a good idea that American citizens can trust their government, but they should not become lazy and then believe that the government should take care of them. Many Americans now have the sense that it is their "right" to be taken care of and supported without any work on their part. Despite this, I do believe that Roosevelt took the right course of action. As he took office after Hoover, he had to demonstrate that the president of the United States could be trusted. He showed that he understood the problems that Americans faced and that he was working his hardest to resolve them.

Springing Forward

Daylight Saving Time is coming up again. On Sunday, April 2, at two o'clock in the morning, the clock will spring forward one hour. The purpose of Daylight Saving is to take an hour of daylight away from the morning and transfer it to an hour longer of daylight in the evening. This conserves energy as families will not have to turn on their electrical lights for an additional hour as there will be more sunlight.

The concept of Daylight Saving was introduced by Benjamin Franklin in 1784, while he was a minister to France. He published his idea in an essay titled, "An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light." His idea was not mentioned again until 1907, when an Englishman, William Willet, proposed the idea.

Daylight Saving was put into place in 1918 for the last years of World War I to help conserve money and energy. However, no one seemed to like the idea and the law was repealed. After this, some areas of America continued to use the Daylight Saving technique while other areas abandoned the idea. Obviously, this caused too much confusion and as a result of this, The Uniform Time Act of 1966 was put into place. This law announced that in April, the clock would spring forward one hour and in October the clock would fall back one hour so that no time would actually be lost.

The Facts About St. Patrick

The personage of St. Patrick is well known throughout the world, and yet the details of his story are not completely clear. Patrick grew up in Britain as the son of a deacon. However, when he was only 17 years old, he was captured by the Irish who attacked his village and was taken back as a slave to Ireland. He was placed in the position of shepard where he spent most of his time by himself. It was at this time that he began to return to his father's faith and he became a devout Christian.

Patrick had to endure six years of slavery in Ireland, however he was able to escape. He had a vision which he claimed was from God saying that he was to leave and find a ship that would take him back to Britain. He was able to return to Britain where he studied Christianity more fully but then he returned to Ireland to spread Christianity.

Chocolate, What Would Women Do Without It?!

I have always wondered, who was the incredibly intelligent person to first create chocolate? The first people were actually the ancient cultures from Central America, such as the Aztecs and Mayans. Chocolate is made from grounded cacao seeds, but it was first used by the ancient Central America civilizations to make a spicy, frothy drink. This drink actually played an important role in religious and social affairs. When the Spanish conquistadors invaded Central America, they brought the seeds back with them and spread them throughout Spain. Chocolate at this time was very bitter, but the Spanish added cinnamon and sugar to make it sweet.

The Scoop on the Scopes Trial

The Scopes Trial took place in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925. The trial was soon known as the "monkey trial" as John Scopes was brought to court for teaching evolution in the public classroom. In reality he was a football coach and math teacher, but he had substituted in a biology class for a short time. He did not know very much of evolution or necessarily believe in it himself, but was following the current curriculum. However, several citizens from Dayton were hoping to set up a trial that would bring publicity to their small town. Scopes was the best candidate for a good controversy, the argument between Christianity and evolution in education.

The Dayton citizens certainly got the publicity that they wanted. The well known attorney, Clarence Darrow, came in the defense of Scopes. William Jennings Bryan, the attorney who had ran three times for the presidency, came for the prosecution. Seemingly countless numbers of reporters came to report on the trial and updates were heard on the radio. Publicity reached all the way to Europe and Australia.

The trial turned out to be more for show rather for an actual offence. Scopes was not kept as a prisoner or treated any differently. He did not even have to give an account for his actions during the trial as he did not know very much about evolution and was not actually guilty of teaching evolution in his classes. He was more of a vessel for a "show trial" than a true criminal.

Inherit The Wind was a movie based on the trial, but it brought a very different perspective to the story. The creators of the movie were obviously atheists as the evolutionists were shown as the sensible people and the Christians were shown as silly men and women who only knew how to sing songs and read out of the Bible. William Jennings Bryan, known as Harrison Brady in the movie, is portrayed as a man who only knows the Bible, and yet he does not really understand the Bible. He will accept anything as long as it says it in the Bible, but he does not dig deeper into ideas to understand why it says it in the Bible. He has no desire to read The Origin of Species and knows nothing about it, and yet he is proclaiming that it is wrong and should not be taught. He seems to not really know what he believes in, so he is afraid to think and look into other ideas because he might lead himself astray. Darrow on the other hand, known as Henry Drummond in the movie, is intelligent, knowing both sides of the story and valuing the capacity to think.

The pastor of the local church is portrayed as scaring people into the faith by sending all unbelievers to the lake of fire. He also does not seem to know what to do and always has to turn to God for help, portraying the idea that Christianity cripples a human being. The end of the movie does take an interesting turn as Drummond holds the Bible and The Origin of Species together and seems to be blending the two together. The viewer is left with the feeling that Christians are a hypocritical organization of people that do not even know what they believe in, but the thinking of Darwin and Christianity could combine to produce truth.

The movie and the actual event have many differences as they had different agendas. The movie had the purpose of representing Christianity as a foolish religion that ruins a human being. The real trial, on the other hand, had the purpose of bringing publicity and fame to a small town and have an American trial broadcasted around the world. I would have to say that both achieved their goals.

For pictures from the actual trial click here.

Who Came Up With This Idea?

H.R. Pufnstuf was a children's show which ran between 1960-1977. The producers were two men, Sid and Marty Krofft. The story was based on Jimmy, a young English boy, who would play by the river with his magic flute named "Freddie." Suddenly, a boat comes down the river and beckons Jimmy to come aboard. Jimmy climbs aboard, but then an evil witch, known as Witchiepoo, causes it to be an evil boat. Jimmy jumps out of the side to save himself from the witch and the evil boat and swims to Living Island. On this island, Jimmy was greeted by the mayor, R. H. Pufnstuf. This island is consistent with its name as everything is alive, from the plants to books and everything else you can imagine. In the different episodes, Jimmy continually is attempting to leave the island with the help of Pufnstuf, but the evil Witchiepoo foils their plans as she tries to steal the flute, Freddie. Sid and Marty Krofft also produced Bugaloos and Lidsville. The show is now known for expressing the culture of the sixties.

The Life of Stephen Crane

Since we are learning about the history of Stephen Crane in class, I figured I would write about it. Stephen Crane was born on November 1, 1871, in Newark, New Jersey. He was born, the youngest of fourteen children, to Jonathan Crane, a Methodist minister. Unfortunately, Jonathan Crane died only nine years after Stephen was born, leaving the fourteen children in the care of his wife who was now about fifty-four years old. While Stephen's father was still alive, Stephen took an interest in writing. He began writing at the age of eight and began submitting his work to the New York Tribune at the age of sixteen.

Stephen began his educational career at the Hudson River Institute, a prepatory school in Claverack, New York. In 1890, his mother died and he was left with no parents. In September of that year, he enrolled at Lafayette College to study mining engineering. However, he left before the end of the first semester, but enrolled at Syracuse University in January of 1891. He did not succeed at this college either as he spent most of his time playing Varsity baseball. He failed five out of his six classes, his one class that he passed being English Literature. He left the University without finishing his degree.

After his failure in college, Stephen moved to New York where he lived a Bohemian lifestyle. He lived a carefree life, not worrying about income but allowing himself to freely drink and wander from place to place within New York. He worked as a free-lance writer for a short time, writing ads and newsletters. At this time he began studying for his first novel. He went to the slums of New York and studied the lifestyles of the unfortunate people. The result of his research was his book, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. The story was a realist novel based on a girl forced into prostitution which led to her suicide.

After writing his first novel, Stephen went around the world as a reporter for war. Based on his study he began working on his second novel, The Red Badge of Courage. This novel was a great success and caused Stephen to win a reputation in the literary world. After this success he continued writing short stories that revealed the poor conditions and lifestyles that many people have to endure. He was known for his sympathy of the less fortunate.

Stephen eventually returned to Cuba to study and report on the Spanish-American War. However, while he was in Cuba he developed malaria which worsened his case of tuberculosis. He returned to England due to his health problems but died in Badenweiler, Germany, on June 5, 1900. He died at the young age of twenty-eight.

The Origin of the Al-Qaeda

I never knew the origin of the Al-Qaeda, but the organization has an interesting history. The organization started in a defense of Afghanistan against the Soviet Union. Muslims from Afghanistan came together to protect their country and at first took on the name of mujahideen. By 1980, Osama Bin Laden became the primary benefactor and an influential leader for the organization.
After the Soviet Union left Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden returned to Saudi Arabia and continued the Al-Qaeda as a service to help veterans from the Afghanistan wars. As the Iraq and Kuwait wars began in 1990, Bin Laden may have began organizing the mujahideen into the Al-Qaeda. He became very angry with the United States because they posted soldiers in Saudi Arabia. Due to this fact, Bin Laden began working against America. He established the Al-Qaeda away from Saudi Arabia as he was expelled for acting against the Saudi government. Bin Laden's headquarters were set up in Khartom, Sudan. Bin Laden began working against America by terrorizing U.S. troops in Somalia and many more terrorists acts followed that were suspected to be from the Al-Qaeda. As we now know, this was only the beginning of the terrorists attacks against America from the Al-Qaeda.

The Story of Saddam Hussein's Early Life

The story of Saddam Hussein's early life is a very interesting one. I believe that it explains partially why Saddam acts the way he does now. Hussein was born on April 28, 1937, outside of the small village of Tikrit in Iraq. The story of his childhood is a sad one as his father either died or left the family five months before his birth. Shortly after Saddam's father left the family his brother died of cancer and his mother was left by herself, still being pregnant with Saddam. Saddam's mother chose to name her son Saddam because of its meaning. The name Saddam means "one who comforts." However, one can say that he did not live up to his name as he brought more pain and suffering to his people rather than comfort.
Saddam's mother remarried later on in her life to a man named Ibrahim al-Hassarvn. Unfortunately, Saddam's new step father did not help his life to be any better. Ibrahim treated Saddam terribly, abusing him and forcing him to steal chickens and sheep to be resold. Saddam left home when he was ten years old and went to live with his uncle, Khayrallah Tulfah. His uncle lived in Baghdad and was a Sunni Muslim which was a new set of beliefs that Saddam was introduced to. Saddam said that he learned his most important lessons from his uncle, including the belief that he should never surrender to his enemy, no matter what his situation is. Saddam attended a secondary school of nationalistic views which affected his thinking and beliefs a great deal. At the age of twenty, Saddam excitedly signed himself into the pan-Arab Ba'ath Party under the influence of his uncle. Saddam was beginning to move into the world of adulthood still under the care and teaching of his uncle with the background of brutality, stealing, and not being loved and cared for as a usual child is.

The End of World War I

November 11, 1918 , World War I was finally over. It was at eleven o'clock, on the eleventh day of the eleventh month that Germany surrendered to the Allied Forces. The cease-fire treaty took place at Rethondes, France. The Germans were forced to surrender after the British forces created a strong blockade and the United States entered the war, joining the Allied Forces. The Germans were facing terrible loses in many battles, and many problems were arising in the counrty of Germany due to the war. At the beginning of the war the Germans had such high hopes and they believed that they would be able to win the war in 42 days. Other countries believed that this would be the war to end all wars, but they were quite mistaken as World War II followed soon after this. World War I lasted four years, starting in 1914, with the United States entering the war for the last year of fighting. After the armistice was signed, peace confrences were held in France and Woodrow Wilson made his speech concering his Fourteen Points to Congress. However, there were many problems left unresolved from World War I that lead to start of World War II only twenty years later.

The Story of Anastasia

I find that the Story of Anastasia and her family is very interesting, I just wonder if anyone from the family actually survived. Anastasia was born into a life of royalty as she was the daughter of the Tzar of Russia. She had three elder sisters and one brother in her family, she being the second youngest in her family. Unfortunately, Anastasia's brother was a hemophiliac and Anastasia's mother, Alix, was desperate to find any cure for her son. Alix was willing to try anything which drove her to accept the help of Rasputin, a man known for his evil deeds but also known for having mystic powers to heal sicknesses.
During this time Russia was engaged in World War World and Anastasia's father was having problems keeping control of the Russian people. Men and women from Petrograd and Moscow rioted against the Tzar causing a munity throughout Russia. On March 15, 1917, the Tzar was forced to relinquish his power over Russia and was held captive with his family at his winter castle. The final result of his captivity was that he and his family were brought into the basement of his castle and killed with machine guns.
The interesting twist to this story came when a young woman was found who called herself Anna Anderson. She was found on February 17, 1920, when she jumped off of a bridge in Berlin. She is now suspected to be Anastasia who survived the gun fire and bayonets and lives on today.
The information contained in this article was found at Anastasia and Anna Anderson.

Checking Things Out

Does this thing actually work? Wow, now I have my very own blog!