The Great Depression site.

I was interested in the area where people expressed their life and time during the depression through poems, stories, and articles. Many themes conveyed their idea as how they survived and passed the harsh times when many families looked for food, shelter, and jobs.The African American theme told us how rich people enjoyed the music and made the crowds dance and perform every conceivable dance move. American scenery was described through pictures and poems with beautiful naturalist’s scenes of rivers, flowers, grass, sky, and colors. Cultural Criticism revealed an idea of dunking which was a method used in “Joe’s Eats” which apparently lost your appetite and also described the service available by managers and workers at restaurants. Fiction stories were published as to different aspects of life. Music and dancing expressed in pictures and poetry showed how men swept women of off their feet and enjoyed the evening. The New York City scenes gave an idea of the busy subway’s, avenues, Harlem River, parts of construction taking place, and a man working as shoe shine man.Pictures conveyed the themes of jobs as station master, collector’s, ditch diggers, butcher and many more. Poetry expressed the feelings of people trying to survive during the great depression with no food, no place to stay, no job and finally no peace or happiness. Overall, the site was an interesting aspect that aided my knowledge of conditions during the Great Depression.

Wed, Feb 28th Notes; 5th Period

First of all, we have a new blog assignment up, due by this coming sunday. Secondly, here are the notes:

CHAPTER 26: THE GREAT DEPRESSION

*Causes

• Stock Market speculation came in the form of buying credit by paying only 10% of the purchase price, encouraging inflamatory stock prices. This is called "buying on margin"
  When confidence collapsed, creditors demanded that loans be repaid
• The Federal Reserve Board made it harder to obtain credit. It decreased the amount of money in circulation and increased interest rates, plunging a credit-starved economy deeper into depression.
• Wealth was unevenly distributed. From 1918-1924 the share of natl. income that went to the wealthiest 20% rose by 10% while the share going to the poorest 60% fell by 13%.
• The Hawley-Smoot tariff raised taxes in both agricultural and industrial products to an all-time high. Angry foreign governments levied retaliatory tariffs and international trade collapsed as a result.

*Hoover Attempts to Solve Economic Depression

• He first turned to voluntary cooperation. He encouraged the organization of farmers, industrialists, and bankers to share information, bolster one another's spirits, and devise policies to aid economic recovery.

*Hoover Realizes That His Plan Isn't Working

• When he realized that his attempts weren't working, he took on more aggressive policies.
• He took out a one-year moratorium on loan payments to American banks from European banks.
• He also made the Glass-Stegall Act of 1932 through Congress to help American banks meet the demands of European depistors who wished to convert paper dollar into gold.
• He set up the RFC to make loans available to ailing banks and to corporations willing to build low-cost housing, bridges, etc.
• His policies did not focus on the individual.

*Hoover was Uncomfortable

• Hoover was uncomfortable with the idea that the government had to be responsible to restore the economy. He was especially reluctant to provide relief to the homeless and unemployed.
• An ironic situation arose when he refused to help feed farmers byt funded food for their livestock.

*Bonus Army

• WWI veterans had receved a $1000 bonus certificate that would mature in 1945, but wanted immediate payment. They headed to Washington D.C. to make their case. They made their camp by the Anacostia (sp?) River.
• The House of Representatives agreed with their wishes, but the Senate declined.
• Hoover refused to meet with the vets.
• After the refusal, he sent the national army under General Doug MacArthur and General George Patton to attack the camp. They set tents and shack afire, and routed the veternas.

*1932: Hooved and Republicans voted out of office.

*Roosevelt Takes Office

• He came into office with the economy in shables.

...This is as far as we got.

We also watched two short videos. The first was of Hoover and his lack of help for those who most needed assistance during the depression. It spoke of Hoovervilles, the Bonus Army, and the condition of the destitute. There were two million homeless looking for work. Between 1929 and 1932, almost 4,000 farms were closed. Drought and overproduction of crops created dust into the East Coast (even NYC). Andrew Mellon and Hoover both believed that the economy would recover itself. Hoover chose a very conservative approach, building the Hooverdam and giving $2 billion in emergency financing to businesses, hoping that the profit would "trickle" down to the poor. Ther was more, but we more or less covered this with G.'s own notes afterwards, so I'll skip that.
The second video was about FDR. His tactics were different from Hoover's lack of interaction with the public. He toured. At the Pittsburg rally, he called for a balanced budget (which he would completely go against), and was also against the bonus government. It's important to know that he spoke of a conservative approach much like Hoover, but his ideas changed as he went into office. I think the info on this video will be pretty important on our timed writes and DBQs, since just about everyone makes this type of mistake.

That's all!

I am not going to be late this time.

I'm really interested in this kind of history now, because we've already learned a little about it and it only happened 70-80 years ago. This site convinced me that the Roosevelts were the best presidential team yet.They both helped the United States in several ways. Eleanor aided the youth portion of Americans by establishing the NYA to help educate the future of America and she helped every race, setting a good example for the rest of the country. She tried to level the playing field by granting opportunities to less fortunate children with the foundation of WPA too. Franklin was obviously a popular president due to the fact that he was the only one to ever serve more than two terms. He also worked to improve the conditions that less fortunate families endured. In his new deal, TVA was an important feature. Franklin understood how hard it was for families who had to live in the Tennessee Valley and by pursuing the TVA project he made life easier when he controlled the flooding waters and provided jobs for many Americans.

okay, done.

period 4 Feb. 28

Today in class we started the notes on Chapter 25. We reviewed the causes of the Great Depression and the attempt (or failure) to fix the economy by President Herbert Hoover.

Causes
-The Stockmarket
-the rise in the popularity of the Stockmarket brought on a wave of people investing in risky enterprises.
-the beginning of the stockmarket crash caused creditors to start demanding repayment. this caused the decline of the market.

-Federal Reserve Board (FRB)
-The FRB contributed to the Great Depression due to it cutting the supply of money down.

-Hawley-Smoot Tariff
- To add to the trouble the Hawley-Smoot Tariff was passed. It raised the tariffs to a new high.
-The raised tariffs caused foreign countries to also raise thier tariffs causing the collapse of international trade.

-Wealth
-the distribution of wealth in the 1920's also helped cause the depression.
-The share of national income that went to the wealthiest 20% of the population rose by more than 10%.
-The share that went to the poorest 60% fell by almost 13%.

Hoover and his Trouble
-Reconstuction Finace Corporation (RFC)
- created by President Hoover in 1932 it was ment to offer jobs to the unemplyed.
-Bonus Army
-Upon returning from WWI, veterans were given a certificate worth $1000 in 1945. with the economic trouble the vets marched to D.C. and protested.
- A bill in Congress would cut the time but failed to pass. after the bill failed President Hoover ordered General Douglas MacArthur to clear them out.

Election of 1932
-the election of 1932 saw President Franklin D. Roosevelt into office in a landslide vote.


this is as far into the notes as we got. hope they help.

Notes for Tuesday, Feb 27; 5th

We got our timed writes back today, but before we actually got to hold them, Mr. G. had a few words to say. He said that we should always read the question thoroughly and be sure to answer the question fully. G. G. also made it known that not everyone in the 1920's had a car and if you wrote about flappers in your essay, that was just a waste of lead because it had nothing to do with the economy (as for the arts...eh that's a stretch). Keep reading and interims come out Friday.

Great Depression Website

On the site I searched through the New Deal Documents and found an article under Propaganda titled "You Have Seen Their Pictures", which was published in a magazine called Survey Graphic on April 1st, 1940. This article discusses the importance of the camera in showing through pictures the poverty that farmers and other people throughout the nation were experiencing during the Great Depression. It also talks about the large part these pictures played through the Farm Security Administration. The purpose of the photographic division of the Farm Security Administration was to take their snapshots to reflect the state of the impoverished farmer, and get newspapers to publish them. One of the leaders in this field was Roy Stryker, who was renowned for using his pictures to show the social and economic troubles of America during the Great Depression. He also was known for saying that it was the responsibility of a photographer to portray the social forces going on in the picture taken.

I thought that this article was an interesting bit of history because I had no idea that pictures were so essential to showing the troubles of our country to the ordinary American. But by the end of reading this article it had made an important point that the power of photos is in showing atrocities or terrible things happening to people and causing motivation because of this for change.

Friday February 23, 2007

Timed Write on the material from chapters 21-24.

*The Dinner Table Party assignment should be completed by Wednesday, March 7th.

Great Depression site comment

I was more interested in the pictures and literary writings of the site. I went to the site called The Magpie Sings the Great Depression. The works on this site gave an insight of the people’s lives during the Depression. I read the poem "Subway Beggar" by Grachow. It made me think about how our society has pushed beggars away when they truly needed it, but how we have accepted help from a stranger before without even thinking twice. The Great Depression caused many beggars to show up on the streets, but President Hoover, and others, would not help them (hints the name Hoovervilles). The drawings on this site illustrated how many people struggled through the times, but how some just kept living their normal lives. There was a drawing about the Harlem Renaissance that showed two boys dancing while a black man was playing the guitar.
The pictures on the main site were divided into several sections. I looked at the posters and prints. All of the public health ones were about cancer and the need to fight it. As it was 60 or more years ago, cancer awareness is still a big part of our society today. I also looked at the transportation photos since it is my group’s theme for our timeline. You can see the changes that transportation underwent in all of the photos, such as highways or bridges. Under the posters and prints section, there was one interesting drawing called the forgotten cow. It made me think about our society nowadays and also the society back then (how there are many forgotten cows out there). I will leave it for you all to ponder about….

The Great Depression

As you read Chapter Twenty Five visit http://newdeal.feri.org. Explore the site and find items that interest you. There is something for everyone. Post your comments by Sunday March 4.

February 23 Notes

We had a timed write.


Homework for the weekend:

Read pages 849-856 and pages 856-865 (assignment for Tuesday)

Feb 22nd Thurs ~4th period

Test on chapters 21-24, multiple choice around 50 questions.
Timed write on friday.

Friday Feb. 23rd (6th pd.)

On Friday Feb. 23rd we took the timed write and it wasn't too bad. Hopefully everybody remembered to use some outside information this time around.
The assignment for Monday is to read Liberty pgs. 849-856 and think about the following questions:
1. What were the causes of the Great Depression?
2. How did President Hoover attempt to resolve the economic depression?

reaction to WWI article

sorry this is late...i just got this to work.
I thought the website that Mr. G chose was pretty interesting. I read the article on the Lusitania. I honestly didnt know that the U-boats were that powerful.
Bianca

Post for 2/20-- Better late than never.

We watched a video reviewing all the criteria we learned in the passed couple weeks. These things included WWI, the introduction of the automobile, and the 1920s. Study for the test on Feb. 22. Turn in note cards tomorrow.

Notes for 2/21

For anyone who wasn't paying attention, we watched a movie that pretty much summed up what we've been doing for the past few weeks.

Remember to study for the test tomorrow and get you're vocab done!

There's also a timed write on Friday and a project due soon(ish).

Notes for 2/21

For anyone who wasn't paying attention, we watched a movie that pretty much summed up what we've been doing for the past few weeks.

Remember to study for the test tomorrow and get you're vocab done!

There's also a timed write on Friday and a project due soon(ish).

Class Notes 2/21/07

Today in class we viewed one of the Schlessinger Videos called "The Roaring Twenties" which was, quite obviously, about the 1920's. Here are some of the most important points.

• By the 1920's the ideas of Progressivism were starting to wear thin, and its ideas were replaced with those of a high living standard, and becoming a consumer nation. This period was also known as the "Jazz Age"
• To appeal to this consumers market, companies began flashy advertising campaigns. The automobile industry introduced yearly models. Soon enough, eight out of every ten cars were owned by Americans.
  
• The 19th Amendment granted women the right to vote. The middle/upper class of these young, white, and independent women were known as "Flappers".
  
• Advertising was used to show off the deficiencies of people, such as lack of beauty, bad breath, yellowed teeth, or body odor, in order to convince buyers they needed certain products to cure these ailments.
  
• The cinema was seen as an assault on traditional American values, but proved to be one of the most influential aspects of mass culture in our country. Jazz also arrived from the South (in New Orleans) to New York City in time for the Harlem Renaissance.
  
• In Harlem, Marcus Garvey spoke out to the African American working class.
  
• Harlem became a renaissance center for African American writing and artistry.
  
• Once prohibition was established, it failed to have a huge effect on inner cities because of the numerous "speak-easys" where gin was served.
  
• A revived Ku Klux Klan gained great strength and by 1923, controlled 3 state governments. The Klan was against Jews, Catholics, blacks, and foreigners/immigrants with any sort of non-white ethnic affiliation. Most Klan members were white protestants from the Mid-West.
  
• The Scopes Trial in Tennessee debated over whether to teach evolution in public schools. The fundamentalist Christians won, meaning evolution was not to be taught. However, William Jennings Bryan walked away feeling defeated after a stinging cross-examination by his former friend, Darrow.
  
• America developed a new fascination with celebrity.
  
• Babe Ruth-Famous baseball player
• Charles Lindbergh-Flew alone across the Atlantic in 1927. Was nicknamed "Lucky Lindy"
  
• The newly formed "Gospel of Business" declared working for prosperity was working to bring about the American Dream.
  
• In October 1929, the decade was closed by a severe Stock Market crash, closing out the twenties, and opening up the Great Depression.
  

Those are the major points the video touched on. I don't know about you guys, but I have to get back to working on those note cards. Good luck on the test tomorrow.

Okay....

February 21, 2007: 4th period

In class:

*we watched a movie on the Roaring 20's....here are some of the notes I took

-President Warren Harding called for a return to "normalcy"

-Jazz Age

-culture was based around spending, leisure, and fun

-the United States had the highest standard of living in the world

-there was a shift from coal to electricity <-- this doubled productivity

-goods and services manufactured became directly available for consumers

-Ford's assembly line- sped up production of cars

*Ford produced the Model T

-companies increased wages to increase buying powers

-binon credit (couldn't quite get that...I think its what people used when they didn't have enough $...I think)

-GM introduced a variety of different cars

-more people in cities than in countryside

-autobmobiles minimized public transportation

-development of drive-in places (such as movies and banks)

-automobiles changed American habits

-1920, 19th Amendment gave right to vote to women

*this led to in increase in numbers of women in education(aka..more women going

school and even at higher levels of education)

-"flappers"...the name for the woman's new image

-electricity enabled people to buy all kinds of appliances...mainly decided by women

-the nature of woman's work was changing

-radio

-host of magazines(seperate magazines for different groups of people) gave advertising industry a chance to promote its products

-by 1920s, movies were the most powerful & influential culture in the US

-Harlem: center of Black community and culture; main center of "New Dwellers"(new, prosperous city dwellers)

-Marcus Gravey: racial pride, economic independence

-Harlem Renaissance

-white musicians also took up Jazz and the Blues

-January 1, 1920: manufacture of alcoholic beverages became illegal

-majority of Americans remained industrialists

-fear of foreigners led to hostility towards foreigners

-KKK was revived; appeal to many Protestant Americans

-new laws were passed that banned immigrants from Asia and it greatly reduced the number of immigrants from Europe

-Scopes Trial

-professional sports players became known

-1927, Charles Lindberg flew a solo, nonstop flight across the Atlantic

-most Americans thought that capitalism led to a better world

-1929, Stock Market crashes

Homework:

-study for CHAPTERS 21-24 TEST!!!!

-Timed Write Friday

-and I'm pretty sure that vocab stuff is due on Friday

Notes for 4th Period, Tuesday, February 20th

We watched a movie on Tuesday in class about WWI and how it affected America. We did not take any notes, but the movie was pretty interesting.

Remember the test on Thursday. Study hard.

-W

Notes from Monday, 5th Period

Today we went over the notes (go to schoolnotes.com to get them because that would take up way too much space to put on this page). Then, Mr. G. handed us another project called "The New Deal Dinner Party" which is ok because who doesn't like to party...let's be honest. Hope everyone had a nice little break! Oh yea, PS. test it Thursday!

Tuesday, Feb. 13th

I was suppose to do the blog on Tuesday for 6th period but we didn't have school. I hope that everyone enjoyed their day(s) off school. If you look at schoolnotes.com there are some notes for Chapter 24. See you when we go back to school. (sorry this is late but i forgot i had to so the blog)

No School on Thursday

Continue to read ch. 24 and plan to check schoolnotes for any updates.
Reminder to start vocabulary for chapters 21-24, for now due on tuesday.

What Happened on Monday, February 12

Sorry this blog is late. Basically, on Monday we got back our DBQ essays and went over them and discussed what a good thesis looked like. Then we took some notes, finishing off chapter 23. So here's the notes we took:

Repression and Contradictions
>wartime repression: CPI's (Committee on Public Info--publicized and popularized war)campaigned against Germans --> Immigration Restriction Act of 1917
>Post-war Radicalism: mine workers and railroad workers called on the government to take over mines and railroads
>Longshoremen: on the Westcoast, refused to load ships with supplies for White Russians fighting the Lenin Bolshevik government

Radicals divided:Russian revolution split socialist party into 3 groups
>"socialists": followed Debs, supported democratic procedures
>"communists": advocating Leninism -- dictatorship of proletariat
>anarchists: called for violence
Americans didn't see the split--> feared communism was gaining a foothold

Red Scare (1919): government and private citizen action to repress radicalism
- 30 states passed sedition laws (punish advocates of revolution)
-try to Americanize ppl through campaigns
-universities fired radical professors
-American Legion: identified seditious ppl, ensured 100% Americanism
CLIMAX of Red Scare: Palmer Raids (New Years day 1920)

• Attourney General Palmer is nervous after a bomb goes off in his yard (or as Winston stated, "his house")
• Palmer's agents broke into homes and meeting places suspected of revolutionaries in 33 cities
• agents found few weapons
• arrested 6,000 ppl--> ppl put in jail without geing charged
• few months later non-citizens were deported, and the citizens were released

- Sacco and Vanzetti: 2 Italian anarchists charged w/ armed robbery and murder, both claimed innocense -convicted and sentenced to death (due to anarchist views) -numerous failed appeals -although the evidence against them was weak because of the Red Scare they were punished harshly

• "New Negro": returning African American soldiers, idea of being independent and proud
• thousands joined NAACP

Post-war discrimination BIG -black workers fired -->make way for returning whites -South lynch mobs targeted black veterans-->don't take insults--> lots of veterans lynched

Race Riots in other places increases death toll

• 1 experience of Race riots: Chicago 1919 black teenager swam too close to whites-only beach--> white mabs go into black neighborhoods and institutions --> blacks fought back -riot lasted 5 days, 38 dead

RAce Riots encourage the rise of Marcus Garvey and black nationalism

• idea: to build a black nation in Africa
• short-term: help African Americans achieve econ. and cultural independence
• created the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), members in 38 states
• black newspaper Negro World, 200,000 members
• movement failed--disputes w/ DuBois
• in 1927 Garvey was deported to Jamaica

End of Chapter 23

Notes for Wed. (14th)

Aww.. shucks! No school because of snow and ice. Have a wonderful day off! Be safe!

Keep reading Chapter 24. Mr. G put up some notes on schoolnotes. Don't forget to start vocab terms!

Class notes for Monday, Feb. 12th.

We started off the class with notes on how to write better DBQ essays.
*Read the question and answer it fully.
*Use more outside information on the DBQ.

A weak thesis- Compares Washington and DuBois but doesn't assess their plans appropriateness.
An okay thesis- Says whether one plan was better than the other.
A strong thesis- Uses outside information, compares and assesses the appropriateness of the plans.


Repression and Contradictions
-Wartime repression had included CPI's campaign against Germans and Immigration Restriction act of 1917.
-Post-War radicalism took for of mine workers and railroad workers calling on the government to take over mines and railroads.
-Longshoremen on the west coast refused to load ships with supplies for white Russians fighting Bolsheviks
-Socialist Eugene Debs received 1million votes for president in 1920 even though he was in prision.

Radicals were divided... However
-Russian revolution had split the American Socialist party into a "socialist" party following Debs and supporting democratic procedures and "communist" party advocating Leninism.
-Beyond these were small groups of anarchists calling for violence.

Americans overlooked differences and feared communism would gain foothold in US.
-In 1919, Red Scare prompted further government and private citizen action.
-30 states pass sedition acts.
-Vigilantes wrech office of socialists
-Universities fire radical professors.
-American Legion- New Verteran's group set out to identify seditious organizations and induviduals.

Climax was Palmer Raids on New Year's Day 1920
-Attorney General Palmer on edge because bomb had gone off in his yard.
-Palmer's agents break into homes and meeting places of thousands of suspected revolutionaries in 33 cities.
-Agents find 3 pistols, no rifels, and no explosives but arrested 6,000 people who were held in jail but not charged.

Reaction to WWI blog

In my opinion, the most interesting part of the site was Who's Who: Adolf Hitler. I had no idea that at such a young age he was a failing artist, faced with poverty or that he enlisted in the Bavarian army because of his hatred for foreigners, especially Slavs. I always assumed Hitler has this stock raving mad person, but he was really pretty normal and just shaped by lots of tiny events, rather than one big one. Throughout history, the most infamous leaders have always been the most complicated and interesting, and Hitler is no exception.

World War One Post

First of all I would like to say sorry for this post being so late. I guess I should pay more attention to schoolnotes. : ( Anyway I really enjoyed looking at the website that Mr. G chose for us. I read the article about the sinking of the Lusitania and I found it to be very interesting. I didn’t realize how powerful U-Boats actually were. I guess the German navy was actually pretty strong. I also enjoyed reading about the German point of view because you hear a lot about the American side and what we believed but you don’t hear a lot about the German side and what they believe. Overall I enjoyed the pictures and the articles and reading about the Lusitania definetly. So thank you Mr. G for the cool website. I totally enjoyed it.
Stephanie S

notes for 4th period for tuesday

Yay for snow and ice! Hope everyone had a good day off and stayed safe on the icy roads. Don't forget to start the terms.

the sinking of the lusitania.

I find it interesting that everyone knew the Germans were going to attack all the ships and there was even a warning, but everyone was still shocked when the Germans sunk the Lusitania. There were also other sinkings and no one contacted the captain of the Lusitania even though they had morse code, I'm sure if they did tell the captain he would have taken more precautionary efforts like zig-zagging, making it more difficult for the U-boats to attack. Its really weird to think that our war allies might have invited this attack upon this boat to get America to enter the war against the Germans, but it would explain the lack of communication about the other ships.

The WWI post

I found it quite interesting to learn the history of Adolf Hitler. The article I read talked about the life of Hitler in which he had Jewish friends at one point. In fact, the article even says he admired Jewish art dealers and other fine arts. I learned that he wanted to attend a fine arts school in Realschule, most likely do to the inspiration of the Jews, (even though the soon-to-be dictator would turn out to be a failed artist). However, that admiration turned into a cold, wet blanket of hatred for Jews because of some of the leaders, who happened to be Jewish, lead a Communist-based insurrection against Germany while he was he was still injured. I had not known the reason behind his reason to hate Jews up until now. This still did not give him the reason or right to take away millions of lives, especially from the Jews. That man really was a horrible man, even after being mercifully sparred his indecent life by Private Tandy, a British soldier. I really found the website to be very informative and interesting at the same time.

WWI Website

Although all of the sections of the site were interesting, I found the article about how Hitler was personally shaped by WWI most intriguing. Everyone knew that the dictator was a failed artist, but the story went much deeper than I originally imagined. Had no idea that he even fought in the first World War, much less fought well. I especially liked reading the parts where the article basically describes Hitler as a political blowhard who would go on rants about politics; after all, he wasn't a very fun person. The worst part was the dramatic irony I experienced while reading about the British soldier who LET HITLER GO instead of shooting him. Overall, it was a very interesting read.

world war site

I found the World War site very informative. It was interesting to learn that the soldiers didn't only endure the hardships of battle itself but trench warfare and rat infestations along with numerous carrying diseases. The songs I came across were inspiring in the sense that they showed the account of the soldiers rather than a propaganda or a story. It seemed more real. All in all, I really enjoyed this site and it's a great source to gain some extra knowledge.

WW1 site

This is an amazing site. Where do you find these sites Mr. G? I really enjoyed reading the article on the sinking of the Lusitania. The site told us how the German submarines went through their day. I found this very interesting. You never really hear the German point of view. I also liked the pictures from the war. Seeing a picture helps me visualize what it was like for the soldiers. Thanks Mr. G for an awesome site.

WW1 site

I found this site to be very interesting and informative. I learned a lot of stuff that I had not previously learned. I would have to say that my favorite part of the site would be the propaganda posters. I found it intriguing to compare the different posters for the separate countries. I liked to see how some countries took emotional appeal in their posters or some used religion to persuade the people. Overall I found this site to be very useful as we do not go very in depth into wars in our class.

WW1 site

I found this site to be very interesting and informative. I learned a lot of stuff that I had not previously learned. I would have to say that my favorite part of the site would be the propaganda posters. I found it intriguing to compare the different posters for the separate countries. I liked to see how some countries took emotional appeal in their posters or some used religion to persuade the people. Overall I found this site to be very useful as we do not go very in depth into wars in our class.

WW1 site

I found this site to be very interesting and informative. I learned a lot of stuff that I had not previously learned. I would have to say that my favorite part of the site would be the propaganda posters. I found it intriguing to compare the different posters for the separate countries. I liked to see how some countries took emotional appeal in their posters or some used religion to persuade the people. Overall I found this site to be very useful as we do not go very in depth into wars in our class.

WWI: Propaganda Posters

I looked at the propaganda posters which empasized on the rationing of food. Some things that were rationed included wheat, sugar, fat and meat. The posters explained how the men in the front lines needed it more than the Americans at home. Also, the posters I looked at showed how loyal the whole USA was to our allies. These poster made me want to ration food so I could only imagine how it was for Americans years ago. The posters basically guilted Americans into conservation. I really enjoyed how artistic these war posters were especially with such low-tech resources. I especially liked the poster that said "Food is Ammunition," I even felt guilty. I enjoyed taking this trip back in time.

First World War Website

I read the article on Hitler and a letter from an American Soldier named Charles S. Normington.
In regards to Hitler, I learned several things that drove him towards anti-semitism. I had no idea Hitler had originally aspired to be an artist, nor did I know of his original lifestyle of working odd jobs and sleeping at railway stations. Although this sheds light on reasons for his twisted thinking, it by no means gives any justification about the actions he committed, particularly with the jewish community.

The letter from Normington to his family was also very interesting, as it gave me a pretty secure idea about the happiness that was spread after the end of the war. To have a first hand account on the parade that immediate followed the armistice. One could only imagine the feelings that were portrayed by the all soldiers after the ending of that war.

WW1 Site

I really enjoyed this site! I read a number of the articles, but then I came across the two songs, Over There! and Keep The Home Fire Burning. The first song talks about the the boys getting their guns and preparing to fight the Yankees until they defeat them. The second talks about even though those at home yearn for their men, they must try and stay strong for their "lads". I felt that these songs were very interesting and it's neat to see how music adapts to what is happening in the world at that time. Basically, I learned alot from the articles and yes, even the songs were informative as to how those at home were supposed to act and those in the midst of battle.

World War Site

I really thought the propaganda posters were interesting, but I already knew to associate such posters with the beginnings of the World War. Actually I know more about World War II and the German propaganda posters. I had to do a diary project on Joseph Goebbels last year in history. It was interesting to see the German side versus the American. It was interesting to see the way weaponry has changed. Normally, weapons and what not doesn’t fascinate me, but the I didn’t know the Brittish created the first tanks. That may sound ridiculous, but I didn’t know. It is also fun to read about places that you’ve seen in person. I can say that I’ve been to places where they actually gassed people and what not. It’s really cool.

WWI Website

I found this website interesting particularly in the use of poisonous gas as a weapon. Although it was initially used as a distraction, such as tear gas, the French first developed a gas capable of being used against German forces. Using these tactics, the French hurled grenades full of a tear gas mixture in order to disrupt the Germans in the fog of trench warfare. After the French had used this new weapon however, Germany picked up on it also, and expanded the level of poisonous gas based warfare. The type of tear gas used by the French, Xylyl Bromide, was the basis for a gas Germans later created, by the name of Zyklon Bromide. In trench warfare, soldiers began wearing gas masks in order to defend themselves from the assault of poison in the air. With the emergence of modern warfare, the use of posionous gas has been declared illegal by international law.
This article seemed particularly interesting because it shows one of the many creative ways that people have found to kill each other during wartime. Not only this, but it also demonstrates how war serves to hasten the development of technologies in a country, and how these technologies can end up being something completely different from anything else that the world has seen before.

Notes from Monday, 5th Period

Today we got our DBQ's back...Mr. G.didn't think they were so hot. So, he said that we need to fully answer the question and that has to be answered fully in the thesis. You must also use outside knowledge or your grade won't be good. We then looked at thesis examples from the class. Ok but here were the actually notes we took: Repression and Contradictions-repression included CPI's campaign against the Germans and the Immigration Restriction Act of 1917. -Postwar Radicalism involved mineworkers and railroad workers who thought that the government must take control. -the Longshoremen on the West Coast refused to load ships with supplies for white Russians who were fighting the Bolsheviks. -Socialist Eugen Debs received one million voted even though he was in prison for giving that speech in Ohio. Radicals were Divided: -Russian revolution split the American socialist party into a "socialist" party following Debs and supporting Democratic procedures and communism, advocating Leninism. -many anarchists called for violence. 1919 Red Scare: -30 states passed sedition laws. -vigilantes wrecked the offices of socialists. -universities fired radical professors. -American Legion (vets of WW1) identified seditious groups. Climax; The Palmer Raids: -Attorney General Palmer was on edge because a bomb exploded in his yard. -broke into homes and work offices of people that were suspected anarchists and revolutionaries but only found three pistols. -6000 were arrested. -these 6000 were not charged. Sacco and Vanzetti: -anarchists charged with murder and robbery. -convicted and sentenced to death. -the sentence would have been a lot lighter if it wasn't during the time of the Red Scare. African American Soldiers: -concept of the New Negro. -wanted to embrace culture and heroism. -1000's joined the NAACP. -came back to postwar discrimination. -blacks and white women were fired from their jobs because white men were coming back from war. -lynch mobs targeted black vets. In July of 1919 in Chicago a black teen swam a little too close to the white only beach at Lake Michigan. They brutally beat and murdered the poor boy. It set off a riot. That's all I got! Pray for snow! Liz Ziek

WWI website

After looking at the website, one thing that i learned was that the Germans used flamethrowers in 1914 and 1915. I didn't know that they used flamethrowers during WWI. It said that the Germans had two types. One could be used by one person and the other needed two people to operate it.
I also looked at the Propaganda posters on the website. I knew that the U.S. used propaganda during WWI but I didn't realize that they developed that many posters. I thought that only WWII used propoganda posters as extensivly as that. Before looking at the site I thought that U.S. did not use propaganda posters in WWI as extensivly as they did in WWII.

WWI site

Overall I thought the site was very informational. One thing that caught my attention was the development of poison gas. Developed by the Germans, it actually started as tear gas to make the opposing enemy go into a violent fit of sneezing. The tear gas theory is very odd in my opinion, but advancements have to start somewhere. The tear gas was used by the Germans on the Eastern Front on January 31, 1915. It was unsucessful due to the fact that the liquid was unable to vaporize. However, the first poison gas, using chlorine, was used at the start of the Second Battle of Ypres on April 22, 1915 ,used by the Germans. (Although, a captured German soldier has revealed the usage of gas on the Western Front.) The warnings were not passed on. So although the Allies had fair warning, they weren't prepared for that kind of attack.
The affects of the Gas were severe. The chlorine gas destroyed the victim's respiratory organs within seconds of inhaling the vapour, which brought choking attacks. The German's use of chlorine damaged relations with the nuetral powers, including the U.S. The gas attacks promoted propaganda for the British. The attack has ended German hesitancy over its use and it was continuously used the rest of the war.
The use of chorine gas is kind of freightning. Being choked to death by a poisonous gas would be terrible. Although chlorine gas may have seemed horrible, compared to some advances in machinery, it is minor. But, by Germany using the chlorine gas and the submarine to sink ships (holding American citizens), Germany damaged thier relationship with U.S.

When in Rome.

As the rest of us did (Besides the slackers), I went to the WWI site. Even though I'm not really that interested in Wars, and such. I did the assignment and it actually wasn't that bad. I looked at all the propaganda posters and those were pretty cool. These were two of my favorites...

Beisides the Propaganda Posters, I read a few of the dairy entries, which REALLY gave a feel on how the war really was and it kind of allowed you to...say... "go behind the scenes". I also like the little "Did ya knows" at the bottom of the pages, some were Quite interesting like the Baby's Head one (it dealt with the Britians and portions of food). Some of the articles were pretty interesting. Being a girl- of course I read the one about Women in WWI and that was cool reading about the coming of women in a "man's society". It's definately a page that if I were doing a research project on WWI I would go to. Other than that, there isn't much more to say.

WWI Blog

Out of all the articles, the article about the R.M.S. Lusitania really interested me the most, since I have always been interested with ships and shipping along with naval architecture and history. I'm glad to finally see something showing both sides of the situation. I like how the Germans weren't just pinned down as immoral, crual, and terrible people who sunk the Lusitania just because it was the enemy ship and because they wanted to kill all those civilians. Yes, there were reasons as to why Captain Schweiger torpedoed the ship, and I can't say that I don't think that the passengers aboard were not properly warned. They were rather foolish in my opinion for travelling across the ocean at that point in time, especially during a war. But of course, civilians were the passengers aboard and they were no soldiers, so the Germans should have at least given them a warning. Nevertheless, I always try to find interesting facts about the situation, and I found it interesting how the article explored the possibility of the British purposely not properly warning Captain Turner so that his ship would be sunk so that the Americans would feel obligated to join the war. As much as I hope that that's not true, there are always tons of hidden skeletons during dark points in history that we can only think and wonder about today.

Sebastian

Notes and Stuff from Friday, February 9th

HEY 4TH PERIOD!

Okay, so here's the deal with notes on Friday (and some of Thursday, I think...).

So relations with Germany have all gone to mud by now. The US had broken all diplomatic ties with Germany. In an act of very, very aggressive "self-defense," Germany decides to go on the "passive-aggressive" kind of stance. Because the US broke ties with Germany, Germany feared the the US might declare war. So Germany sent word to Mexico, by way of the Zimmerman Telegram, and said that if the US attacks Germany in an act of war, that Germany would back Mexico up in attacking the US and attempting to reclaim all US possessions lost by Mexico during the Mexican-American War.

British intelligence intercepted the message and promptly relayed it to the US government, as if to say, "HELP US PLEASE." So now the US is angry, and they declared war on Germany, officially ending US neutrality and officially beginning US involvement in WWI.

So the war went on for a while, and then it's all about to end. When the fighting as stopped, the parties involved meet in Paris to settle a peace treaty. Wilson went to Paris with leading US Democrats (This is important because Congress is controlled by Republicans...) and entered the negotiations.

Wilson is hell-bent on having a League of Nations and his 14 Points. Deliberations go on for a while, and eventually, his 14 Points are all but gone from the treaty, but he bargains them away and gets his League of Nations. The Treaty of Versailles is finalized and it is brought before Congress. That's where the fun began...

Republicans are FURIOUS. Remember, Wilson is a Democrat, and he brought leading Democrats with him to Paris, but no Republicans. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are controlled by Republicans, and Republicans are angry that no Republican leader was invited to go and take part in the negotiations.

So when Wilson brings the Treaty of Versailles before Congress, not much enthusiasm greets it. By the mandate of the Constitution, two-thirds of the Senate must approve of a treaty for the US to be bound to the treaty. There were 48 states, which meant that there were 96 US Senators. Therefore, it would take 64 positive votes to approve of the treaty, but only 33 negatives to disapprove of it.

Many legislators are uneasy because of the language of the treaty, which was worded so that if one member of the League of Nations was attacked, it was to be viewed as an attack on all. That wasn't viewed as fair by most.

Would such an agreement bring the US into unnecessary military conflict? Well, there was a Republican Senator by the name of Henry Cabot Lodge. He did not like not being invited to the peace conference, he did not like the treaty, and he wanted change - NOW. So he proposed 55 amendments to the Treaty of Versailles, some ridiculous, but many legitimate.

In the end, neither the Treaty of Versailles as written, nor the version with Lodge's amendments were passed in Congress. The US therefore never joined the Treaty of Versailles or the League of Nations. The League quickly proved to be a failure without US involvement, and its failure left the world in a sense of disarray. This mess was a strong factor in the build-up to what became WWII two decades later.

So there you have it. Not exactly brief, but oh well.

See you all on Monday, and pray for snow.

Wesley

WWI site

What an interesting website! I absolutely love learning about the World Wars and this website definitely had plenty of information. I really liked the article on the Lusitania, “RMS Lusitania: The Fateful Voyage”. I'm pretty interested in the Lusitania because my great-grandpa came to America, from Ireland, on the Lusitania in 1915. Turns out, on the Lusitania’s voyage back to England, it got torpedoed. So my great grandpa barely missed the “fateful voyage”. It was an interesting article; it described in full detail the events of the torpedoing of the Lusitania. I liked that the article argued for both sides, Germany and Britain, explaining their arguments for the happenings of the day. It really gave a different spin to the story of the Lusitania.

WWl blog

I found the article on Adolf Hitler's military career interesting, it exhibits where many of his prejudice and discriminating views originated. It was surprising how literal Hitler took his oath towards Germany and its leader, and the hate he felt for the Resteiage(not sure how to spell) for surrendering. Despising the common people for attempting to improve their way of life during the war Hitler ironically labels them as unpatriotic. I found his hate towards the labors of Germany particularly interesting.

The Lusitania Article

I read the article about the sinking of the Lusitania and I thought it was very interesting to learn about the German U-Boats and what they did. I knew about the U-Boats prior to us studying them, but I wasn't aware that Germany had quite as deadly a navy as it did back then. It makes you wonder if the US might not have gotten involved in WWI, even with the Zimmerman Telegram, if the ship hadn't been destroyed. There were some Americans on board, but the US feigned its neutrality for a while. I guess we didn't have a choice though. The whole thing was kind of a tragedy... that's a lot of people who died. A lot of innocent civilians who were just sailing along. I wonder if they knew, though, that a limited supply of weapons was on board the ship. If so, I guess they pt themselves in danger. But I'm done rambling on about it. I liked the article. It was interesting to read.

World War One Site

So when i first went on this website i was like overwhelmed because there was so much information and i didnt really know where to begin. But then i clicked on the weapons of war link because i thought it looked interesting. When i got there i clicked on war mortars because i had no idea what they were. It was an older weapon that got a rebirth in WW1. The way they described it reminded me of a grenade launcher. Its history in the war started in 1914 and evovled into the Stokes mortar in which the british were able to catch up to the German intelligence in weaponry. It was relly cool to learn about all of their old war tactics. It was kind of funny though because back then they had to drag around all these huge bulky inventions that they thought were so amazing. And now we have even better weapons that are suitable for bettle in this time period. Its interesting to think that if what we have now came from things such as the trench mortar, what kind of weapons will exist in 30 years from now?

World War 1 Comment

After looking at the website one thing that I really liked was the pictures. The pictures from the tench warfare, the weapons, the propaganda posters and etc. I am a very visual learner and after seeing the pictures I understand more what it was like. The trench warfare was what stuck out to me the most. I knew that trenches were involved in the war a lot but I didn't know all about the rats, frogs, lice and more. Also learning what it was like to live in the trenches. Normally when you learn about the war teachers talk about the fighting and what different sides (nothing against Mr.G, of course) but you never get to learn about what it was like. I feel really bad and I sometimes wish that I could of been back there in time and talk to the leaders of the countries in the war about how they were like in the trenches and make sure they did someting about it. Thanks for the great website Mr.G!! :)

World War Site

This site was actually pretty cool and it had so much information on it. There were links to find more information on every page. I think that if you wanted to know anything about world war one you could find something to answer your question through this site. After i clicked on the link for vintage media I looked at the document that was a part of a memoir of Count Franz von Harrach on the assassination of archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. It was so interesting how they had that on the site. The memoir went into details like what Ferdinand said to Sophie as she was dying. Its so cool to think that we still have records of things from that long ago from a man who was standing right next to the car when the assassination occured. I wish they had had the complete memoir on the website because it would have been interesting to read the whole thing. They even had little video clips of Ferdinand funeral. It was cool to see that media from that long ago can be put onto a website, especially of a man whose death pretty much caused WW1.

WW1 blog

That was a really extensive website. Being an art kid, I chose to look at the propaganda posters. Its interesting to note that all of the countries have their own unique artistic style, and you can almost identify where each poster is from ( aside from reading, the language its in). Some even look like they could be t-shirts, or cd covers.

One of the more interesting German poster i came across was one of Jesus directing german soldiers. I think that its interesting that the german artists used religion as a way to gain support for the war. It almost seems to me like manefest destiny, in the fact that the poster displays german war effort as blessed by God, and almost devinely destined to suceed.

The U.S.A. had tons of propaganda posters. It seemed that most of them emphasized teamwork, and cooperation betweem citizens, laborers, and soldiers. One of my favorite posters that I saw read "Food is Ammunition. Don't waste it." It showed that getting food to the troops was as if not more important than supllying them with the weapons needed to fight. One poster used the image of Joan of Arc to persuade women to buy war bonds.

The artists who made these posters are very good at what they do. The techniques and words that they use remind me alot of what we see in today's advertising. It is interesting to see how American support for the war would have differed if it were not for these posters.

World War Site and Poison Gas

The use of poison gas as a method of offense in warfare was first observed in World War II. Though popular opinion believes Germans were the first users of this deadly aliment, it is in fact not true, the French were the first to utilizes poisonous gas in World War II. The French fired tear-gas grenades at German soldiers, scientifically known as xylyl bromide. Following this event the Germans became the first to develop chemical weapons on a large scale. Germans came back with chlorine gas to surprise the French on the Western Front, this attack left a 4 mile wide gap in the line in which the Germans could have made a decisive move on Allied forces, but they were left unprepared due to their lack of trust in their new found chemical weapon. This German move left neutral powers including the U.S. shocked at the use of such weapons and mass propaganda against gas followed. The British responded with special gas companies, which experienced little success. Phosgene followed chlorine gas and proved somewhat more successful. Mustard gas came last and also experienced the most success. Protection from gas evolved during this period as well, and gas became a less deadly aliment and lost a lot of support. Worldwide bans of the use of poison gas exist today.

This summarizes the poison gas section of the website. I personally thoroughly enjoyed the website, I learned many things, including much on poison gas. The pictures on the site are also quite interesting. The site is put together very well and is a great find. Thanks for the resource G.

-Donald

WWI website

The first thing I thought when I looked at the website was, "man if i ever have to do a project on WWI or have to site something from WWI that i will go here". I thought the site included all aspects of the war and that it was well organized. I wouldn't nessacarily just surf around it for kicks, but if I was looking for something, or had a need for the site than it would be great. The only down side was I thought that some of the information was rather generic and not very original. I felt that alot of the information provided was common knowelegde, you could find easily by looking in a history book or reading All Quiet on the Western Front. But, the website itself was very well organized and designed well.

WWI Website

Well, I agree somewhat with the few that commented the site to be lacking. I thought it would be a tad more interactive, but what it did offer was still quite interesting. I did go to the Propaganda page, firstly (much like my predecessors). I really just went straight for the USA posters, and wow. I was surprised...it would have been an outrage (to me, at least) had that amount been permitted in contemporary times. I really don't think I've seen that much outside of television...people don't walk as much, y'know?

Thenn...I went to the Poetry & Prose section. I wasn't familiar with half of the names on the list, but I did get a chance to reacquaint myself with a few (Housman, mainly). I wasn't sure as to why they didn't display the poetry of the authors, but rather provided a few biographical passages of them...was I doing something wrong? But I DID think the satirical British magazines were funny (I read a few paragraphs and mainly browsed through the bits of cartoons).

All in all, I liked it.

WWI

After reading All Quiet on the Western Front I really didn't have the need to see the war from a soldiers prospective. Already knowing that the war was devastating because of the lack of tactical growth and the new technology that both sides applied, the website gave a good look at the small things. The website broke the war up into different parts that made the war what it was; machine guns, poison gas, trench warfare, etc. So it was a nice look at the specific things that were a part of WWI which we don't see too often.

WWI Site

I thought the site was pretty cool, I guess. I read through the articles and learned a few things, but I thought the site was a little bit lacking. It had good information on modern tech and the propaganda back then, but the maps were poor and I felt the site was kind of stale. I've read books on WWI much more informative and in depth so the site was below par for me.

After looking around the World War I site, the sketchings and paintings section really caught my eye. Even though they are not actual photos, they depict life and actual events that happened during the war. I thought most of the paintings were very realistic and gave me greater insight into the lives of soldiers. The Grim Reaper one was especially interesting. The thing that i like most about the website is the fact that someone who doesn't know much about WWI (like me) could learn a lot from just looking through all the picture selections. You can see what it was like for women working in munitions factories and the dramatic sinking of the 'Falaba'. Even though i'm not really into weapons and planes, it was interesting just to see what they looked like and what kind of weapons were used and their effects. This site made war interesting to me, which doesn't happen too often.

WWI comment

When I first got to the website I thought, "ugh...boring" but after looking through everything it had to offer, my opinion changed. What I found most interesting were the photographs taken of virtually everything in the war. I'm a visual learner, so what's most appealing to me are pictures. They help reinforce what exactly you're learning orally, visually. On this website you get to learn about all the things that happened and all the terrible weapons and outcomes of the war but you never actually get to see it and on the website you can. If I had to choose just one, my favorite photo gallery would be "Camp life & Training". Not only does it give you a firsthand view of what it was like for an American to be in the war, but you also get to see what training was like for foreign soldiers. I really like the black and white photographs and how close-up and dramatic most of them are.

Call of Duty: The Great War

This website is massive and would take forever to see it all. So, I spent time looking at the air battles and propaganda posters.

The history about the fighter planes was really quite interesting. It gave the history of how the fighters developed throughout the war. Considering that this was the first war that the option of using planes was there, it is not surprising that there was a whole lot of innovation, along with the designers trying to find out what would be the best for the planes, and where to put the guns. It was also need how it mentioned The Red Baron (real name Manfred von Richthofen).

The section on the propaganda was also interesting. You could see the difference between the propaganda style between Germany and America. Granted the German propaganda posters were in German but you could tell just by the look.

I think that it is important that there is a website detailing the Great War. Considering it is often shadowed compared to World War II, it needs some publicity. I mean, the History Channel defiantly has more stuff on WWII and you don't see any "Call of Duty: The Great War." So definitely, good website for World War 1 stuff.

WWI Comment

The site was pretty interesting to see as how every movement is captured in pictures and stories during the war for our knowledge. I liked the area of vintage photographs as they showed us every aspect of daily and war life. Most of pictures were clear and understandable as to how soldiers training were progressed, how cathedral and churches looked in those times, also how the propaganda postcards were made or drawn to convey the theme of war. The sketches and paintings also revealed how submarines, infantry man, and motor buses all looked like. Also how the homefront helped out with industry as a means of producing machinery and other equipments needed during the war. Interesting to know that they also used animals during the war as they were advantage for the soldiers to pull batteries(dogs), send messages(pigeons), and horses helped in swimming across through streams, and donkeys helping to supply water. All this is very helpfull to know how materials, animals, weapons, and many other things were used to fight and survive during the war. Overall the vintage photographs page was pretty interesting to see and know information about.

Hitler's Experience in WWI

In this article we see how war can effect people in bad ways. Adolf Hitler being one of the people effected, we see what damage can be done due to those effects. Hitler after being outraged about Germany's loss in the war really affected what he did after. The loss would eventually led him to blame the Jews and the Bolsheviks. When Hitler became the dictator he took that anger and put it into the death to all Jews. War can effect everyone and as we can see, war does not have the best effect on all.

I thought the article was very good in explaining the things Hitler experienced. For example, I thought it was well written how Hitler felt about his homeland and it efforts to modernise and to devolve power. I really enjoyed reading this article.

WWI Post

I was most impressed that the British actually passed on Maxim's machine gun. I bet they were kicking themselves after that one. They originally passed on the tank too, so who ever was in charge of research and development for the Brits definately needed to be fired. Tanks would have been extremely useful once the trenchlines had been formed, like at Cambrai. Try as they might, the British couldn't miss out on every technology from the start, and luckily for them they did have planes at the war's outset. And it turns out the German's zepplins were suprisingly ineffective. If a raid on London only yields seven deaths, the psychological benefits had better be profound. Once British planes starting scoring kills, I would have pulled the plug on that program. Anyway, I was attracted to the technological sections of the website, since that's what our book puts the least emphasis on. I was definately satisfied with the website as a whole.

WW1 Assignment

The first article i read was called "The Forgotten Army", which was about the horses and mules used during world war 1 to pull light artillery limbers, wagons and ambulances, to carry supplies, etc. Over a million horses and mulses was were used by the British and Commenwealth alone. The article mentioned that more horses would have died than they had lost if it weren't for the Vetrinary Corps. I didnt realize that they had had that so I thought it was pretty interesting. The horses and mules were the back bone of the army because there were no jeeps and tanks like the ones today.

The second article i read was "The War in the Air - Naval Warfare", which was about the seaplanes used in world war 1. Since the technology for aircraft carriers wasn't developed yet they lowered seaplanes off of large ships and when the plane came back it would land near the ship and be lifted back up. I thought that was really interesting bacause i had no idea that they did that during ww1. I think it's pretty clever.

I also learned that seaplanes were succesfully used to sink ships. The Sopwith Pup was a plane that was better for combat however bacause it moved quicker and could go higher. They were able to take down then Zeppelins. The could take off from the decks of ships but unfortunately could not land so they had to land in the sea of on shore and the ships would have to come pick them up.

I also looked at some of the vintage videos...that pre-war london peace rally was insanely crowded. I thought that was pretty cool to be able to see that.
-brainne

4th pd class notes 2-6-07

WW1
Descent into the war began on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, Bosnia when a Bosnian national assassinated archduke Franz Ferdinand, Heir to the Austria-Hungrian thron...Austria-Hungary responded by declaring war on Serbia.

A series of treatie(some secret) divided europe in two:

1. Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy---the triple Alliance-were promised to come to each others aid if attacked
2. Triple Entente of Britain, France and Russia

• Russia in another treaty, was bound to defend Serbia against Austria-Hunary

Germany struck @ France and Britain declared war on Germany

• Victory was not swift
• Wilson called it a European war and they wanted to avoid it (proclaimed U.S. neutrality and set to continue trading w/both sides)
• neutrality proved difficult (Britain and France turned to the u.s. for food, clothing, weapins, etc. and the u.s bank began issueing loans to britian and france.)

Germany develops the U-Boat(Submarine)

• on may 7, 1915 the british passenger liner Lusitania was sunk killing 1,198 men, women, and children. (126 Americans died)
• Germany did not act apologetic because there were weapons on the ship.
• Wilson denounces the sinking and tells Germany to make a promise not to kill innocen civilians.
• In 1916 Britain began arming merchant ships with depth charges
• Germany renews the submarine attacks
• Germany sunk the Sussex(French ship), there was a heavy loss of life including Americans

Wilson threatens to break diplomatic realtions with Germany

• Germany comes up with the Sussex Pledge(Promise to stop sinking w/o a warning), but the wanted Britain to allow neutral ships through their bockades so they could get supplies.
• U.S. ignores the request

Wilson made a peace initiative in Jan. 1916 in the House-Grey memorandum, Britain agreed to ask the U.S. to negtiate a settlement of the war

• Britain dropped out of agreement b/c U.S. wasnt going to favor either side.

In 1917 Germany announced the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare on Jan. 31 1917.

Zimmerman Telegram- was a telegram that was intercepted by the British and was from Gerany asking German minister in Mexico to attack the U.S.

• Wilson asks Congress for Declaration of War to make the "world safe for democracy"
• Congress declares war on April 6, 1917

In Russia

• Tzar Nicholas was overthrwn and an interim Liberal-Democratic government established
• November the Bolshevik Revolution brought Lenin to power
• Lenin pulled Russia out of war

In Jan. 1918 Wilson revealed his 14 points- a plan for post-war peace

Blog Assignment; WW1

I enjoyed this blog assignment because I find this time period very interesting. On the site, I looked at the song "Pack Up Your Troubles." It kind of gave me a sense of the glory and honor that the young soldiers expected. It gave the notion of fighting for what you believe in, because no matter what, Private Perks was still smiling. I think this could have been used for recruiting purposes as well as a nice song to play on the home front to keep moral up. I also read "A Letter From A US Serviceman in Paris, November 11, 1918." I have always been drawn towards first hand accounts and memoirs of historical events. In this letter, the soldier named Chas, explains the happiness and relief of the French people. The armistice with Germany had just been signed and there was a parade commemorating the Americans' effort. I find this letter intriguing because, during this time, the French loved us and in the letter, Chas stated that one could not buy an American Flag anywhere because they had already been sold out. Today, France wants nothing to do with the U.S. and our views on war and aiding people in Iraq. Very good website, G.

Liz Ziek

A post about the war the History Channel forgot about

I think that instead of saying the obligatory "nice things" about the website like "It was so informative!" I'll just tell it like it is. Truth be told, I was a bit underwhelmed by the map section. They were difficult to see and you had to go to the maximum enlargement just to get anything out of them. They were also dull and mostly in black and white. But I guess that's really all I have to complain about. I learned that the Red Baron's real name was Manfred von Richthofen (the dude Snoopy wasn't so cool with). I don't know why the Allies called him the Red Baron, but with a name like Manfred, I guess you have to take any nickname you can get. What I really liked was looking through all the old pictures of the revolutionary weapons first used in WWI (tanks, zeppelins, planes, machine guns, gas bombs, etc.) The British Mark 1 tank was pretty kick butt for its day. I know if I was a German soldier plodding along in 1916 and saw one of those bad boys heading my way, I'd start heading in the other direction fast. Overall, it is just amazing to me how far weapons technology advanced over the quarter century leading up to WWI. It really puts into perspective the kinds of changes the world saw at the turn of the 20th century.

5th Period Notes, February 9th

Assuring A Just Peace:
-President Wilson broke with precedent and decided to head the American Delegation to the Paris Peace Conference himself
-Wilson's 14 points were his plan for the post-war world
-the 1st group of points called for all nations to abide by a code of conduct that embraced free trade, freedom of the seas, open diplomacy, disarmament and the resolution of disputes through mediation.
-A 2nd group of points, passed on the principle of self-determination, proposed redrawing the map of Europe to give the subjugated peoples of the Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman, and Russian empires naitonal sovereignty
-The last point called for establishing a League of Nations, an assemly in which all nations wouldbe represented and in which all international disputes would be given a fair hearing and an opportunity for peaceful solutions

Wilson had a tough time in Paris:
-Loyd George of Britain and Clemenceau of France refused to include most of Wilson's 14 points in the peace treaty
-The points having to do with freedom of the seas, free trade, open diplomacy, and disarmament weren't included
-Wilson had a partial victory on issues of self-determination
-Belgium regained its sovereignty, Poland was recognized as a nation, new nations of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were created
-Armenia, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Syria were made trusteeships of the League of Nations with the understanding that they would gain their independence.
-But, former German colonies in Asia were given to Japan, Italy annexed part of Austria, and France took the Saar from Germany
-Wilson was unable to prevent additional harsh treatment of Germany.
-Parts of Germany went to Denmark, Poland, and Czechoslovakia
-Germany's Navy and Air Force were disarmed
-Germany had to accept blame for the war-a "War Guilt" clause-and pay reparations, cash compensation to the victors
-The treaty was signed in June 1917 and in 1921 Germany was notified that they owed $33 billion-way beyond their resources
-While the harsh treatment of Germany and the single-minded pursuit of narrow self-interest disillusioned many liberals and socialists, Wilson seemed unfazed since he got his League of Nations
-To get his League Wilson had to convince the US Senate to ratify the Treaty of Versailles
-The Republicans had a small majority in the Senate
-Many of the Republicans were angry that Wilson didn't take any leading Republicans to Paris with him
-One of those was Henry Cabot Lodge who set out to block ratification of the treay
-There was one group of Republicans known as "Irreconcilables" who were totally opposed to the treaty
-A 2nd, larger group of Republicans were unhappy with the treaty as written and agreed to by Wilson
-The main sticking point for them was Article X of the League of Nations charter. Article X was an "attack on one i s an attack on all" clause that gave the League the power to take military action
-A Senate concern was whether or not Article X was a violation of the US Constitution which gave the Congress the power to declare war-not some international organization

Lodge added nearly 50 Amendments, or Reservations, to the treaty when it came to his foreign relations committee
-Some were valid; many weren't
-Nevertheless, the chances for ratification were good
-Many Republicans wanted a peace treaty and were prepared to vote for it if Wilson would accept some of the Reservations

Wilson stubbornly refused to compromise and announced that he would take his case to the American people. He started a cross-country tour and then suffered a stroke which left him very weak

The treaty was put to a Senate vote with the Reservations attached. Wilson ordered the Deomcrats to vote against
-42 Democrats and 13 Irreconcilables defeated t he treaty

Public opinion was in favor of "A" treaty. Wilson wouldn't compromise. The treaty came to a vote a third time o nce again with the Lodge Reservations
-23 Democrats stayed with Wilson and the treaty was not ratified by the US

Other countries ratified the Treaty of Versailles and it went into effect. The US didn't join the League of Nations and it became a failure. A solid case can be made that the US failure to ratify contributed to the breakdown in world order we know as WWII

WWI

I enjoyed visiting the WWI site and viewing all of the different aspects of the war from dangerous sea warfare to vivid propaganda. Personally, my favorite parts were the poetry, letters, and photos. I read a variety of poems, some were even translated into English, about battles as they directly happened. They painted an accurate image of how life really was and included so many personal thoughts. Many described all of the surroundings and letters included every detail of what happened in only one day. The site gave me a better understanding of what life was like during WWI.

WWI site

I found the site very interesting. I really enjoyed the sections about poetry and the diaries. The diaries allowed you to see what each person's duties were or how they were feeling. Poetry was another way to express their thoughts. I especially liked the poem "The Rainbow" by Leslie Coulson because he talked about how everything was horrible and devastating, but he still found some good. "...Bodies of men who died/Charging at dawn through the dew to be killed or to kill./I thank the gods that the flowers are beautiful still." The other poems truly expressed the feelings of the soldiers during the war.

I liked the did you know's at the bottom of the page:

ex. A "Dixie" (from the Hindi degci) was an army cooking pot.

I also liked the sections on the propaganda posters. There were posters for everything. There were posters to build ships, join the navy, save sugar (which I found odd..), and save food for the armies (always leave a clean plate). It is amazing to see the different tactics used to make people follow the "Uncle Sam" way. The posters tried to pull people in with their big font and colors. They were very 'straight to the point' on what to do or not do.

WW1 Pictures

I really enjoyed looking at the World War 1 "Vintage Photographs". The site offered many photographs for you to look at, and I think the site made it very accessible to view the pictures. For example...After clicking on a subject on the right side of the web page, the site brings up a list of pictures with their descriptions. You are then able to view those pictures in a large image.
The topics of the photographs were very unique, likel Cathedrals & Churches and Postcards. Because the topics range from daily life to the actual war setting, you are able to practically see the war and view the images that the soldiers went through. Overall, I really like the "Vintage Photographs" page.

Notes from 2/8/07

US Entry into WWI WWI was different than earlier, more limited wars. It was a "total" war--all of a country's resources were committed to the war effort. President Wilson asked Congress for a Draft Law that would permit the federal government to raise a multi-million man army (1917). the question of how to organize the economy for war was important Wilson tried a New Freedom approach & delegated mobilization to local defense councils throughout the country This plan failed. Wilson then moved to a New Nationalism approach and created several centralized federal agencies--The War Industries Board, The Nartional War Labor Board, The Aircraft Production Board, US Railroad Administration, The Emergency Fleet Corporation, The Fuel Administration, the Food Administration--each charged with supervising nationwide activity. These centralized federal agencies had varying success. the Food Admin. led by Herbert Hoover was a big success US Railroad Admin. did a good job of shifting the RR to government control and adjusting rail traffic to support the war the Aircraft Production Board and the Emergency Fleet Corporation did a poor job In addition to industry's compliance, the US needed organized labor's cooperation. A loabor shortage of long strike would hurt the war effort. a labor shortage was a real threat as the flow of immigrants dried up In 1918, unemployment dropped to 1.2% white workers felt free to quit a job knowing that they could find a better one strikes were used to press for higher wages and shorter hours Wilson was aware of the potential power of the workers Wilson became the 1st U.S. President to address a conveniton of the AFL added to National War Labor Board's prestige by appointing Taft as co-chair and board members such as Samuel Gompers The federal gov't used its full power when raising an army--Selective Service Act of 1917 few men resisted the draft African Americans joined at the same rate as their % of population Marines did not accept blacks blacks were normally assigned to all black units and barred from combat--this upset blacks New York 369th regiment was an exception. It was loaned to the French and fought on the French front lines with a string of successes. Taxes rose sharply to finance the war the richest in America paid a 67% income tax 1/3 of the government's financial needs were covered by taxes 2/3 were covered by liberty bonds The Committee on Public Information was formed to gain support for the war effort. They used a lot of propaganda. this propaganda had a dark side in arousing hostility towards Germans Congress passed the Immigration Restriction Act of 1917 over Wilson's veto. It denied poeple who failed a reading test and banned immigrants from India, Indochina, Afganistan, Arabia, the East Indies and other Asian countries. Anti Immigration feelings pushed the 18th Ammendment prohibiting the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Espionage, Sabotage and Sedition Acts of 1917 and 1918 were repressive fell on IWW and Socialist Party Eugene V. Debs went to jail 10 years for delivering and anit-war speech

Class Notes February 8

U.S. Entry into WWI

• Total war, each side commits all its resources.
• 1917 Wilson asked Congress for a draft law permitting the government to raise a multi-million dollar army
• First of Wilson's efforts was a New Freedom approach
• Failed
• Second he moved to a New Nationalist approach and created several centralized federal agencies.
• Food and Drug Administration
• Had success
• U.S. Railroad Administration
• Shifted to new traffic well
• Aircraft Production Board and the Emergency Fleet Corporation
• Did a poor job
• Labor shortage was a real possibility as the flow of immigration dried up and the Americans left for duty
• The Great Migration- when the southerners went North.
• Half a million African-Americans (same as whites)
• 40,000 northern women took jobs as well.
• Still the labor pool was stretched
• Unemployment dropped total 2% in 1918
• White male workers felt free to quit a job knowing they could find a better one
• Workers strike for better wages and shorter hours
• Wilson was aware of labor's potential power
• 1st president to address a convention of the AFL
• When it came to raising an army, the federal government used its full power
• Wilson went right to a military draft
• Few men resisted the draft
• Black men joined at the same rate as their percentage

• Black Units
• New York 369th Reg. loaned to the French, entered the French front lines, and had a string of successes

Taxes

• Taxes were raised to pay for the war
• Rich Americans paid 67% income tax
• Taxes covered 1/3 of government needs
• Selling security bond raised the rest

Committee on Public Information

• Propaganda campaign
• Dark side hostility against Germans
• Called patriots to report on neighbors and co-workers

Immigrants

• Many Americans began to fear immigrants
• We begin to see admission of immigrants denied to adults that could not read
• We also create the 18th Amendment of prohibition of alcohol and the distribution of.
  

I found the WWI website really interesting and informative. I really liked the article about Hitler during WWI and how that war contributed to his attitudes about Jews and minorities going into WWII. I found it interesting that he was a failed artist who lived off of the generosity of others and then he would go on to crush the people who put him down. He blamed the Jews for WWI and he blamed others for not seeing his artistic genius. Maybe if someone had just said his art was pretty we could have avoided the Holocaust.

WWI Comment

I thought that the World War I website was really informative. There is so much information on the site about the war and I thought that the "Causes of the War" section was good. It seemed like although the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand was the "cause" of the war, there were many other different issues that brought the different countries into fighting. The relationship between Austria-Hungary and Serbia (Serbia didn't respond to Austria-Hungary's ultimatum) led to a declaration of war, which then brought in Russia, France, Britain, and the US. A war that was meant to be between two countries turned into a 'great war.' The site clearly explained the main cause of the war and then how the other countries were pulled into it because of their relations with other countries. I think this site is great for learning more about World War 1 and what exactly happened.

WW1 website

I like the website, its very simple and was easy to browse through. The website provided many varied links and topics about the war, just about everything was on it. I was impressed by the timelime and at how detailed it was to the day by day events of the war. I was able to find out that on my b-day 90 years ago : the French advanced on Craonna Ridge while British and German destroyers fought in Bight of Heligoland. I also got to browse through the "Visual Photographs" and the images were very dramatic and each had a helpful description of when it was taken. This website definately deserved the two thumbs up rating.

Class Notes 2/6/07: World War One

In class today we mostly discussed the cause of World War One, and how the United States got caught in it. For the start of WWI

• Europe had many treaties (some secret) dividing them into two sides

1. Hungary, Austria, Italy, Germany
   
2. Britain, France, Russia

Respectively, the former was known as the Triple Alliance, and the latter the Triple Entente.

• Russia was forced to protect Serbia against the wrath of Austria-Hungary after the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand
• Germany protected Austria-Hungary from Russia, and launched an offensive on France.
  
• When Germany attacks France, Britain declares war on Germany, and the ball gets rolling.

President Wilson wants to avoid war, and proclaims neutrality.

1. Hopes it'll boost economy by allowing US to trade with all countries involved in the war.

2.But it seems like the US is biased because American bankers loan to Britain and France, but not Germany. This seeming bias is reinforced by the fact US merchants can't ship to German ports because of a British blockade.

3.In this way, the US is compromising it's neutrality, which Germany notices.

4. Germany invents the U-Boat, and announces they'll shoot anyone on sight heading for Britian, including merchant ships.

• May 1915, British passenger ship Lusitania is sunk, killing 2,000, 128 of whom were Americans.
  
• Wilson demands a German pledge for them not to strike back, and threatens to break diplomatic ties with them.
  
• The Sussex Pledge is made, in which Germany promises to stop attacking merchant ships without warning.
  

• Wilson's peace initiative in January 1916 fails because of refusal to favor Britain in a treaty.
  
• In 1916, Wilson runs on as the incumbent for President on the slogan that "He kept us out of war."
  

This was about to change however, by two things.

1. The Germans returned to blowing up ships with Americans on them
2. The Zimmerman Note was intercepted by the British, and it was written by the Germans, stating that in case the United States entered the war on the side of Britain, the Mexican government should consider taking offensive action against us.

Because of these two factors, in April 1917, war is declared.

• In 1918, Wilson goes public with the 14 Points, which show how Wilson wants the world to be following this war.
  
• Spring 1918, Germany launches an offensive into France.
  

• November 1918, an armistice is declared.

A Note About Russia
-During the middle of the first World War, Russia had a change in power, with Czar Nicholas being overthrown, and the government being restructured. Lenin became the leader of Russia, and declared the country to be neutral.