SPANISH CIVIL WAR

The Spanish Civil War had started on July 18^th, 1936, when some Sergeants under the control of Francisco Franco had power of one third of the country. An important factor was the negligence of the government accepting the situation and the possession of guns among civilians. Also, Spain was in a state of possible anarchy. The British were afraid of the influence possibly developed by the Communists in a country that was very important in business for them.  On September 29^th, Franco was put in charge of the government, and by October, 1^st, he was calling himself as head of the state. His ambitions were clear. 20,000 died in a massacre ordered to execute by Franco.  Then, the battle for obtaining the heart of Spain began. The Nationalists army moved northwest and southwest Spain, and in half month all the towns within 15 miles were under their control. The insurgents were brave, but their inexperience cost then plenty soldiers and territory.  Dolores, also called La Pasionaria, inspired the people of Madrid to keep fighting. She also said “It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees”, “They shall not pass!” to keep inspiring the Madrileños and resist in war. The Republican Madrileños transformed their beloved city into a fortress. The next ten days, Germans and Italians were dropping bombs on Madrid, but even that wasn’t enough to end with the will of the Madrileños. They kept resisting, even kids helped in the war by building barricades in the streets. Also, women helped, they grabbed guns and helped the resistance. For the next 4 months, Madrid became the objective in the battle. On June 19^th, Bilbao fell and the Basque language was prohibited.  The nationalists tried to break into Madrid, but they just couldn’t with the tenacious Madrileños defending it. By this time, the Nationalists had two thirds of the country, and it looked that Franco was starting to win the war. The Republicans needed a spectacular achievement to gain moral encouragement. On January 17^th, 1938, The Republican line finally broke, but the fight kept on going for one more month. The Nationalists army was still being covered by the German airplanes. La Pasionaria said that the Republicans did well, they could go home proudly, and they were legends. On January 1939, Barcelona was in possession of Franco and the Republicans shared the graveyard with some Nationalists. By April 1^st, 1939, the Civil War was won by Franco.

WARTIME LETTER

Dear Natalie,

It has been one week since I left home and I already miss you. I have no idea how much time is going to take for the War to end. We arrived at the trench yesterday and the situation here it’s horrible. As soon as I got here I could smell the horrible smell of dead bodies, smelly soldiers, gas, and smoke. Everyone says I’ll get used to the smell, and I hope so, otherwise I’ll die. Las night was horrible, I was trying to sleep, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Also, I couldn’t sleep because of the constant booming and banging from both sides and I sleep in a very uncomfortable bunk. I have to admit that I’m scared, random bullets firing at us, bombs exploding, every day there are men dying. Every day we are climbing the trenches to attack the enemies’ trenches hoping that I don’t get killed. I’ll always have you in my heart just wait for me to get back.

I love you,
Alan

BOOK REPORT "THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS"

This novel is about the point of view of 9 year-old boy during the World War II. The book starts with Bruno living in Berlin. Bruno was a very curious guy, like most of the kids of his age he liked to explore. He lived in a huge beautiful house where he had lots of fun exploring it every day. He also has a 12 year-old sister named Gretel although she was very annoying. Bruno disliked her attitude because she was not only annoying, but she also acted like someone older, like a 16 year-old girl. Bruno´s parents were total different to each other, his father was an officer that worked for “The Fury” (Adolf Hitler), he liked his job because he always wanted to serve his country, but he also cared a lot about Bruno and Gretel. On the other hand, Bruno’s mom was very nice, and sweet, she wasn’t as strict as the father, but she also lover Bruno and Gretel very much. In the house they lived they were also servants, Bruno liked them very much and sometimes enjoyed spending some time with them.

The interesting part of the book comes when “The Fury” comes to Bruno’s home to have dinner. They all had a nice talk and enjoyed dinner, but later Bruno and Gretel got bored because they were kids and didn’t cared a lot of what the adults were talking about. That night “The Fury” promoted Bruno’s father to Commandant, but they have to move away to a place called Auschwitz. As soon as they moved Bruno got impressed by the house because it was smaller and uglier that the older house, he didn’t like that house at all. Every afternoon Bruno would get really bored because there wasn’t anything that he could explore. One day he made a swing with a tire that got from the help Kurt Kotler. Kotler worked for Bruno’s father and he was very rude, he treated Jews like trash. Bruno hated when Gretel was with him because she wanted to act older, flirt with him and that was the time when she would get the most annoying. After making the swing, it was the first time Bruno was having fun, but it didn’t last long because the rope broke and he fell and got hurt. Then Pavel, the waiter that worked for Bruno’s family, went with him and helped him. He got Bruno in the house and cured his leg that got hurt. Then Bruno’s mother came and found out what happened, most of the Nazis would have done something bad to Pavel for touching Bruno, but because the mother was really sweet she only thanked Pavel for helping Bruno. One day he was bored at his house, and he noticed through the window a group of people wearing the same striped pyjamas but because he was just a kid he didn’t understand who they were and where they were. The reality is that those people were at a concentration camp and they were wearing uniforms. At that camp there were only Jews, and they were treated really bad with no mercy, and there were a lot people killed every day. Even though Gretel also was young she could understand the situation because of their teacher. Gretel and Bruno, they were both doing homeschool with the same teacher, but they only learned some subjects like math, history, geography, and Bruno didn’t like any of them he liked poetry and literature better. That’s why Bruno didn’t learn very much because he wasn’t very interested in those subjects, but Gretel started liking them and then the teacher started telling her about the situation. As Bruno liked to explore, he was very brave and when he saw those people with the striped pyjamas he wanted to find out who they were. So one day he found out a way to escape from his house and he did it. He walked for long time next to a fence but he didn’t find anything. He was like a explorer so he kept on walking until he gave up, it was getting late and he had to get home for dinner so he said he was going back tomorrow. And he did, he walked again next to the fence until he saw this little kid named Schmuel. Bruno was kind of nice to him even though he was Jewish, but of course Bruno didn’t understand that difference between Jews and Nazis. They talked for a long time, Schmuel was the same age as Bruno bur he did understand the whole situation because he was at a concentration camp, and he explained Bruno he and his family got kicked out of his house and got sent here, but what Schmuel wanted was to be with his father. Bruno thought it was fun to live in a concentration camp because there were a lot of kids that he could play with, but he didn’t know they were mistreated only Schmuel knew that. Then Bruno got back to his house because it was getting late, but he felt very happy because he made a new friend and he could have fun talking to him every day. After a lot of meetings between Schmuel and Bruno they became best friends and they started to meet there almost every day. Everything was normal until one day the mother persuades the father to take them back to Berlin. One day before going back to Berlin, Bruno goes as a final adventure with Schmuel but he got in the concentration camp to help Schmuel find his father. Bruno got one striped pyjamas and went with Schmuel to help find his father, but Bruno had no idea he was getting in a concentration camp not even he could get hurt. After looking for him for a long time they got mixed with another group of Jew. It also started raining and they still couldn’t find Schmuel’s father. Bruno wanted to go home because of the rain but because he was a good explorer he was brave and kept on looking for Schumel’s father. Just about he was going to give up and go home, they got in a march and then finally got into a gas chamber, he was very innocent and he assumed it was to keep dry during the rain, but like we all know it was for killing Jews. Then the end comes when Bruno and Schmuel hold hands in the gas chamber, it was very dark and we all know what happened next. Bruno’s father looked for him for a whole year but he only found Bruno’s clothes next to the fence. His mother thought he went back to Berlin by himself and she expected he was going to be there when she got to their home in Berlin but Bruno wasn’t there. Gretel kept crying because she missed his brother very much and no one could find him because he was dead. Bruno’s father got really depressed for losing Bruno and stops caring about his job, the Red Army arrived few months later to liberate the people from the concentration camps, but they also ordered Bruno’s father and other Nazis to go with them. He went without complaining because he didn’t mind what they did to him anymore.

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS

Upstairs, Downstairs is an award-winning television series made in the early 1970s that tells the story of one British family from 1903 to 1930 in 68 hour-long episodes. The family upstairs, the Bellamys, is a wealthy titled family involved in politics; the servants downstairs take care of them. When the series starts, Queen Victoria has been dead a couple of years, and her oldest son is now King Edward VII. This episode takes place in early 1909, and it’s about the King visiting the Bellamy household for a dinner party.

Historical points

Manchester United: With Manchester United you can clearly see that the British were interested in football like always, but it’s not very important in this chapter. It just makes us clear that the British have been interested in football since 1910 and probably before that too.

King Edward VII: A very important historical point of this chapter was the King Edward VII because practically the whole chapter was about him. He was king of the United Kingdom and emperor of India from 1901 until 1910. From this episode we can learn that he was the most important person during that time because the family was very excited to have him eat dinner with them although his mother Queen Victoria though he was a young foolish man.

Hierarchy: I think this is the most important point of the chapter because in the whole episode how there hierarchy everywhere. First of all, the ones that lived upstairs had a higher position that the ones that lived downstairs. Then, there was the noble hierarchy, where the King was in the highest position and just below him the Lords. This episode shows how the hierarchy was at that time because there has always been different ways of hierarchizing people.

MODERNISM IN THE ARTS

Visual Arts

Le dejeuner sur l'herbe

This painting was one done when the Modernism was just starting. I think this picture was too much just to start the Modernism because it shows 2 men with a high social level with 2 hookers although I find very interesting how Eduard Manet (author of the painting) was brave in doing it. What I also find interesting is that the painting is not so much focused in sharp lines; it’s more focused in color and light.

Composition with Yellow, Red, and Blue

This painting was done later when the Modernism had already begun. I think it’s a little silly to consider this as art because it’s just made of lines and colors; I know this is abstract art, but I can’t find what Piet Mondrian (author of the painting) was trying to express. This painting was a part of the Modernism but I think is kind of odd because it looks too simple.


Music

Here I listened some music from the Modernism in the Arts. I found 4th of July from Charles Ives very interesting because I like how it all started very slow and clam but the it turned more enthusiastic and louder. Of course it's very different from the music we listen right now, but I think this was part of the Modernism because they were introducing to music different ryhtms. In 4th of July you can clearly hear how it gets louder, I think it's just like a horror story, it starts calm but as time passes it gets more enthusiastic. 


Poems

Wallace Stevens (1879-1955) United States

From “Sunday Morning”

We live in an old chaos of the sun, 

Or old dependency of day and night, 

Or island solitude, unsponsored, free, 

Of that wide water, inescapable. 

Deer walk upon our mountains, and the quail 

Whistle about us their spontaneous cries;

Sweet berries ripen in the wilderness;

And, in the isolation of the sky, 

At evening, casual flocks of pigeons make

Ambiguous undulations as they sink, 

Downward to darkness, on extended wings.

“The Snow Man”

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

This poems were part of the Modernism, I think that in this part of the Modernism there was not a big difference with poems before. Wallace Stevens (the author of the poems) makes both simple things into something very emotional. In the first one, he wrote about how a sunday morning was like first with the sun, mountains, animals and at the end how at the end of the day the night will come. He turns all of these simple things into something beautiful. In the second one, I think the author talks about how winter is but what he expresses his feeling saying how a snow man feels like, what surrounds a snow man during that time. I find very interesting because when I read that title I thought it was going to be something simple but when I read the whole poem I found how authors expressed their feelings in such a beautiful way.

THE MISSION

CLAPHAM SECT

The Clapham Sect was a leading group of Anglican anti-slavery activists. They ask the Parliament to allow missionaries into India, and in 1813, the Parliament decided to allow this. They wanted to spread Christianism in India, but it didn’t end well; this created a clash of civilizations between Christians and Hindus, and also a rebellion by the Hindus.

DAVID LIVINGSTONE

He was a missionary and explorer. His motto was “Christianity, Commerce, Civilization”. He was shocked to discover that slave trade was still active in East Africa. He wanted to create an active economic exchange between the British and residents of African interior that could help to replace the slave trade as a source of profit. Also, he wanted to Christianize India, but he regretted because of all the bad effects it had. Years later he accomplished his mission changing religion and commerce in Africa.

THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE BRITISH IN AFRICA AND INDIA

There were a lot of differences between the African and India, but the main difference was that the British were able to induce the Africans into Christianity. On the other hand, the British struggled a lot doing the same thing in India because they already had a religion and they didn’t to have a new one. Another differences that impressed the British were African sensuality, tribal practices such as, slave trade, and in India were female infanticide, suttee. 
THE SEPOY MUTINY

The British army in India, British officers and native Indian soldiers are called sepoys. First of all there were a lot of differences between the British and Indians. The British were trying to turn Hindus into Christians, but they didn’t want to; therefore, they started a rebellion. Also, a rumor spread among the sepoys that their new rifle cartridges were sealed with pork and beef fat, which would be unacceptable to both Hindus and Muslims because of religious dietary prohibitions. A lot of Indians were punished and killed during this time; this mutiny was partly caused because the Christianizing process wasnot going very well.

HENRY MORTON STANLEY 

He was an American journalist set out to find Livingstone and finally located him in Tanganyika, greeting him with the famous question, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?” He added another C to Livingstone’s motto, and changed it to “Christianity, Commerce, Civilization, and Conquer” He tried to use Christianity as an excuse to conquer Africa. 

ECONOMICS CONCEPTS

THE GENTLEWOMAN AND THE ROBBER BARON

ROMANTICISM & REALISM

ROMANTICISM
It means being a strong individualist, believing in the rights of other individuals, and expressing deep, intense, and  uplifting emotions. Often, but not always, it means having a deep, spiritual relationship with nature. 


REALISM
It's an attempt to describe human behavior and surroundings or to represent figures and objects exactly as they act or appear in life. 

INDEPENDENCE OF PARAGUAY

Most of the Latin American independence wars started as a result of Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasions to Spain. Meanwhile in one of the colony of Spain, Paraguay, all the citizens of the second category were creoles (Spanish offspring born in the colonies), which were the majority, while all their leaders were the authentic Spanish people. The creoles wanted more rights and more participation in political issues, that’s why the movements of independence started in Paraguay. It all started with battles between the Spanish army and Paraguayans, because Manuel Belgrano wanted to get the governor of Asuncion as prisoner. 

After a battle, the Spanish army got exhausted and less in number, so the Paraguayans began another attack. One of the most important events happened during this battle, the Spanish army under Manuel Belgrano tried to imitate Napoleon’s square strategy, but it was useless, and during the battle a Spanish bullet reached a drummer boy. Therefore, Manuel Belgrano ceased fire and gave up on the battle because he didn’t want any more deaths. Portugal helped Spain because they were going to give Portugal more territory. Spain had few soldiers and they had a bad organization because they were more concerned about what was happening back in Europe with Napoleon than in the colonies. After more encounters and battles, the creoles decided to take over Asuncion and surround the governor; he finally accepted to do what they wanted and Paraguay got its independence. 

FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR

Otto von Bismarck was the Prime Minister of Prussia since 1862, and he was miserable in his way of ruling. He didn’t take care about constitution, the parliament or any other thing that stayed on his way. He was really ambitious and smart, and that made him go for the expansion of Germany with allies that were later betrayed by Bismarck himself. By the end of 1867, Prussia controlled the North German Confederation but not the south. The South German States remained independent mainly because of their religion, which was Catholic.

France was having a tough time, new technological devices and engines were coming really fast and it was the perfect opportunity for Otto von Bismarck to fight the French. He tricked the Prussians to unify both German sides and fight against France. Prussians had breach-loading rifles which gave them a great advantage against the French, but then the Chassepot riffle turned the things against the Prussians when France started using them. At the front line France had powerful guns that would kill anyone who stepped forward, but war is not only about guns, it’s logistic the ability that will give you the victory and that’s why France lost. After this war Germany became unified.

After all that had happened France suffered from a terrible economic disaster. Big factories turned into little workshops and people suffered from hunger and poverty. The consequences of the war left France with an uprising discontent from the working class and the French Commune was established as government, it wasn’t well defined and it wasn’t socialist or communist or anarchist or republic but a great chaos. There was a lot of violence in France, all kinds of work protests happened. Finally the commune was disabled by the remains of the previous regime and they restored the past government.

Who was Otto von Bismarck?

The Prime Minister of Prussia

Why was he important?

He was a very important diplomat because he unified Germany. 

What did he want?

He wanted to expand Germany by unifying it and by fighting France.

How did he trick France?

He made a false telegram in which he pretended to be the King of Prussia and supposedly declared that they will not accept the future successor for the Spanish throne.

What was the result of the Franco-Prussian War for France and Germany?

It took the power that France had in Europe from them and gave it to Germany, of course under Prussia

What was the role of the various guns used – the Dreyse needle gun, the Chassepot rifle, and the mitrailleuse?

It affected drastically the advantage between countries, for example the Dreyse was heavy and had gas problems which affect for bad the aiming. Also the rifles gave advantage because they were faster and produced greater damage, and mitrailleuse lasted more in combat so they had more advantage.

Why are breech-loading weapons superior to muzzle-loading weapons?

The time of reloading is faster because it has a special reload space, unlike the muzzle-loading because you reload from the muzzle by inserting the bullet with a tube.

What was the Paris Commune?

A brief government that ruled Paris 

Why was the period of the Commune a time of great suffering?

Social and economic life was depressing. Living circumstances and there were rumors of a civil war coming

What are some examples of the suffering?

Poverty, hunger, misery; they were in very bad circumstances

What finally happened with the Commune?

It didn’t work out and it fell on May 28, 1871.

GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI

Giuseppe Garibaldi was a great leader from Italy’s history. He was good, loyal and generous since he was a child; he also had a great spirit. The sea was his passion and at the age of 13 he saved some of his friends. He spent all his youth sailing and one day in a harbor he felt the desire to serve his country.

In 1848, he came back from South America because his country needed him. He fought at the head of some volunteers in Lombardy. Garibaldi also ran into the defense of the Roman republic, but then he abandoned Rome and looked for refuge in the Apennines. In 1859, the hero started a second independence war. Lots of volunteers came to him for the Expedition of the Thousand and on May 11 they landed in Marsala. They had their first and tough battle in Calatafimi and Galibardi said “Here is Italy or you will die” to Nino Bixio. They kept going with a good number of victories like Calatafami, Palermo and Milazzo. He goes forward to Naples and does a triumphal entrance, and right after that he fought the final battle. At Carnell, he greets the king of Italy Vittorio Emanuel II. After this a time of peace came, but in 1866 after problems with the king Garibaldi gave the order to stop the war of independence. 
Giuseppe Garibaldi did a great job for his country because kept fighting for it until the last breath.

CRIMEAN WAR

It all started when France forced the Ottoman Empire to declare them the authority of the Holy Lands. When Russia found out about this they forced the Ottomans to declare them the protectors of Orthodox Christians in the Ottoman Empire, also France tried to force the Ottomans to retrieve their decision. Russians moved to the Danube and negotiations between Russia and France began. Britain was also involved in the negotiations and helped to convince the Ottomans to reject the treaty with Russia saying that it decreased Ottoman independence.

 In July 1853, Russia annexed the two Ottoman territories of Moldavia and Wallachia saying that the Ottomans could not protect their Christians there. Britain responded by sending a fleet to join a French fleet and in October 1853, the Ottomans declared war on Russians. On November 30th, 1853; a battle was fought causing the loss of several Ottoman boats, and after this battle Britain and France demanded Russia to stop, but Russia refused so they joined to the battle on March 28th, 1854. The Allies kept fighting until they got to the black sea and then moved to the Azov Sea and tried to attack a Russian port but they failed. However they disrupted Russian operations in the sea. Finally in 1856, negotiations started once again and the Ottoman Empire was declared independent from any other nation in the world. A few important factors that influenced the victory were the use of railways and the telegraph which provided great advantages.

10 FACTS ABOUT NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

1. Napoleon Bonaparte was born Napoleone di Buonaparte and his parents called him Nabulio, he was born on August 15,1769 in Ajaccio, Corsica;  he died on May 5,1821 in St. Helena Island.

2. Autopsy report concluded that Napoleon died of stomach cancer, but some scientists believed he was poisoned with arsenic.

3. Napoleon was one of the greatest military commanders in history. Oftentimes portrayed as a power hungry conqueror, this strong and ambitious man is indeed one of the greatest. Napoleon is considered to have been a military genius, and is known for commanding many successful campaigns but also known for some spectacular failures.

4. Napoleon took the pride and honor for being the first Corsican to graduate from the Ecole Militaire. He was trained as an artillery officer in France and eventually crowned himself the Emperor of France.

5. Napoleon spoke with a marked Corsican accent and was teased by other students for this and he never learned to spell properly.

6. Josephine and Napoleon were married in 1796 but she did notbear Napoleon any children which resulted to a divorced in 1810.


7. Napoleon sold to the United States their French possession – the so-calledLouisiana Purchase for less than three cents per acre or $7.40 per km².

8.Thegreat Napoleon Bonaparte could have won the Battle of Waterloo by attackingearlier in the day, but Napoleon Bonaparte delayed his attack because he suffered greatly from hemorrhoid pain that morning.


9.Napoleon was also a writer, he wrote a romantic novella.


10. Napoleon was Roman Catholic, but did not believein the existence of a living God.