Chapter 23 Visual Sources

Visual Source 23.4

This particular visual was interesting to me because it is a satellite photograph of the world at night during the late 2000. This image shows how the world looks with no lines or boundaries drawn on it. It shows how these landmasses are all places that people live on no matter where and no matter what country. It also shows how certain areas of the world are more developed and have means to electricity while other parts of the world do not. It also shows that were there is more light those areas tend to be more populated. 

Chapter 23: Capitalism and Culture

In chapter 23 Stayer discusses the transformation of the world economy. This particular topic is interesting to me because the transformation of the world economy can be seen in many different ways depending on where you are from. He also talks about how the economic globalization during this time more closely linked the world's peoples. During this time there was an immensely significant process in which there was an acceleration of goods, capital and people. World trade went up dramatically and department stores started to stock up on goods from every part of the globe. Additionally, during this time foreign investment from the United States in China or Mexico became a common occurrence. This brought money and work for the people in these areas even though the labor was not always fair. By having big industries start to carry more products from all over the globe this then related the people of different countries to be more interlinked and knowing about other countries rather than just themselves. I thought this part of the chapter was particularly interesting because this time in history was when nations started to become more globally aware.

Chapter 22: Documents

The document that I looked at was the visual source 22.1
I thought this particular document was intriguing because of the color and power behind the image. It talks about how this image was a power of the newfound freedom that the ANC has found. This poster represents the struggle against the U.S in the sense that it is promoting the newfound freedom of the ANC and how pride in their country has instilled so much belief in its people and reminded them that they should be independent and governing themselves not foreign countries. This visual explodes with color and shows the enthusiasm and emotion behind this revolution and what it means to be free of foreign rule.

Chapter 22: The end of empire

As I read chapter 22 I noticed that as strayer talks about the end of the empire he breaks it up into various section titles. He talks about how countries such as India and Africa are breaking away from the colonial rule that they have been stuck under and are wanting to govern themselves. These countries are trying to gain independence are being a self-governing country that does not have a foreign land ruling and controlling them.  However, did Africa really gain independence? The book talks about it that way, but if you talk to many people from that country and that grew up with that origin would they have the same view? However, stayer goes on to reference a very important figure during this time that was an advocate for peaceful protest and gaining independence through non-violence - Ghandi. Stayer talks about him in this chapter, but what I thought was interesting was stayers point of view on him as compared to the various other points of view that is written by so many different people. This chapter was interesting because in reality the time these were occurring was not that long ago and therefore, many independent countries have not gained their independence until recently (in the perspective of time).

Chapter 21 & Documents

Revolution, Socialism, and Global Conflict
During this chapter Stayer discusses global communism and its effect on the world. Ideas of communism sparked from the philosophical roots in the ninetieth-century European socialism, which were inspired by the teachings of Karl Marx. From these ideas communism developed and was first used by Russia (Soviet Union). By the 19070's, almost one-third of the world's population lived in societies governed by communist regimes. Stayer goes on to go more in-depth about how communism played specific roles in the development of Russia. Then he goes on to talk about how communism also affected China and the way China developed as a country and how it developed with other countries and how alliances made between communist countries and non-communist countries began to develop during this time. It is interesting to see how communism was viewed differently in different countries and was used in similar and different ways within these countries. Communism is often referred to as a bad thing during this time period so to see how it developed and help and had its disadvantages to certain countries was interesting to read about. Stayer then goes on to talk about how these communist governments that were developing in countries affected the entire world and the type of wars and disagreements that then occurred because of theses types of governments being set up. He also talks about how communism affected America and brought America's into conflict with a lot of these communist countries.

Document 21.2 - Stalin on Stalinism
This particular document was interesting to me because I enjoyed reading about the view and position Stalin took when looking about how to fix his country in his 5 year plans. Stalin had big plans to help his country grow by creating massive industries that would provide people with jobs and help the country prosper. It is interesting to see it from his point of view because he wants to help the country but in the eyes of most history, Stalin is seen as a bad and brutal ruler. Therefore, reading the document offers another type of insight into how Stalin viewed what he was doing versus what most history books recorded Stalin as.

Chapter 20 & documents

Collapse at the center
In this chapter we learn about the "Great War" which is also known as the first World War. During the previous years to the war Europe was a very strong country that controlled many things on a global scale. They had the military needs, and they held the first scientific revolution and industrial revolution that changed the world forever. However, after the war, Europe faced a great defeat that contributed to the political collapse of Europe. Following World War 1 and the collapse of Europe was The Great Depression which occurred in the United States. The Great Depression left many people in the U.S hungry and without work. Then between 1919 and 1945 fascism became a political ideology known across Europe. During this time major historical fascists such as Benito Mussolini shared his ideals in Italy. In Germany, Hitler, another major historical fascist tried to get rid of the entire Jewish population. This was around the time that World War II broke out between countries. During this time, the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (in the U.S) and the U.S retaliates by getting involved in the war and dropping the first atomic bombs on Japan. After this the Cold War broke out between the U.S and Soviet Union. In the early 1900's many major historical events took place that we still learn about today. These events are important in learning about the history of our nation and the world. In order to keep from making similar mistakes in the future, we must learn from the past and make sure future decisions are more beneficial to our nation and other nations rather than harmful.

Document - 20.1 - Hitler on Nazism
In this document Hitler discusses his view on how the world should procreate. He uses the example of mother nature and wild animals only mating with the fittest and strongest of their species and how humans should do the same. This is where he got the idea for getting rid of the Jews and having only a german population with certain traits prevail while others do not. It was interesting to see Hitler's train of thought and how he became the extremest that he was. It was insightful to read but also disturbing because I know what he ended up doing to the Jewish population.