http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeK6spOIVro&NR=1 Death of a Nation
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xK30k2WTxY0http://youtube.com/watch?v=nCGNB47jJ0s&feature=related Wall Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lmj_o1hjIbQhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl3E-cwA6y8 Billy gets mad at the Soviets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhRu9yzlTRI Red Square
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jR-A4QFHZBA Watch this one
http://www.school-for-champions.com/history/start_fire_lyrics.htm - Lyric's
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2786786059639293312 - Joel's Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbwEsu7z6Jw Explain this Cartoon
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1982reagan1.html Evil Empire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do0x-Egc6oA&feature=relatedhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=GEmlQJzw_w0&feature=relatedhttp://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/wellbeing/story/0,,2274010,00.html Ping Pong Diplomacy
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/krushchev-secret.html Krushchev
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKexf166TKk Cold War Videos made by AP Kids
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND4kDezFUk8&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB-0e7xEOSs&feature=related
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/yugotimeline1.html Yugoslavia Time Line
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRzr1QU6K1o Nixon takes us off the Gold Standard
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Modern History Sourcebook: Nikita Khrushchev: Secret Speech, 1956 was a very well thought speech by Khrushchev. He presented the facts and that was it. He did not make a hate speech, but a informative speech. He presented facts of how he acquired a large quantity of materials in the NKVD archives which showed Soviet and economic activists who were branded in 1937-1938 as enemies were actually never enemies, spies, wreckers, etc., but were always honest Communists. He talked about how Lenin only did severe stuff in the most severe situations. This was a smart move because much of the communists respected Lenin because he started communism and life prospered under him. Khrushchev was very smart on how to give a speech on how Stalin was a bad leader.
The Billy Joel blog was also pretty cool because he was able to take vents and sing them in order by event. It also showed the American attitude that nothing is our fault. A lot of the causes of the cold war was caused by America. Nuking Japan without any other countries approval can scare other countries into creating their own nukes for defensive. The song was very interesting with its historic dates and the idea that American can do no wrong.
I thought the Evil Empire Speech was very inspiring. President Reagan knew what facts to use and what quotes to use. He brought out the idea of making Russia a democracy without sounding like a dictator putting his ideas on another country. He simply stated free press and free elections would allow the people to choose for themselves. He was also able to state how Russia was in a depression because of communism. He used the fact that a country which employs one-fifth of its population in agriculture is unable to feed its own people. He also states the fact that all democracies fear that communism is looking for a world revolution. Russia is trying to spread communism and it must be stopped. He also made a smart move by making a bipartisan study of how America can contribute to spreading democracy. This way the parties would not be fighting with each other, but fighting to spread democracy. President Reagan also addressed the idea of the military. He was able to increase military spending without too much difficultly because he stated all he wanted a military was for defense and nothing else. He said the real fighting would be done with wills and ideas instead of bombs and rockets. The last smart thing he did was talk about how Great Britain was and even quoted Winston Churchill. If you are going to start a campaign against communism it is a good idea to have your allies on your side incase the campaign turns into a war. I thought President Reagan’s was very inspiring and strategic.
The fighting in Kosovo between its people and the leaders was interesting because NATO gave for a reason to step in as their responsibility of protecting fellow human beings from crimes against humanity. Since they had never stepped into the middle of a conflict between a sovereign nation and its own citizens. It shows what they are willing to do to keep peace in Europe and also they probably don’t want to see another group of people being abused like before. They would no longer use appeasement to prevent fighting they should they would not be pushed around. It is amazing that the bombing went on for 78 days. The area must have been destroyed after all the bombing. During the fighting 140,000 people ran to Macedonia as a result of the Kosovo crisis. Now the former Yugoslavia is broken into 8 small countries. Nikita Khrushchev Secret Speech in 1956 tells of how Stalin used extreme methods and mass repression at a time when the revolution was already victorious, when the Soviet state was strengthened, when the exploiting classes were already liquidated and Socialist relations were rooted solidly in all phases of national economy, when our Party was politically consolidated and had strengthened itself both numerically and ideologically. That Lenin only used these methods in necessary times. In his speech he insults Stalin as a brutal leader and as a child who would throw a fit if you didn’t see his opinion to be the right idea. He attacked Stalin in a time not much after the death of Stalin so many of Stalin’s main followers would have still be around he must of really believed in the fact that the people where not loyal to him but just scared to stand up against his rule. Cartoon shows Stalin’s brutal way of dealing with issues by having his idea to be to shot the driver for the train stopping. All the members in the train all have different ideas on what to do and known are any good. Shows how USSR is unwilling to communicate and able to work to solve issue. It shows the main problem in the USSR.
The cartoon was really cool because it showed how all four of the russian leaders, Stalin, Kruschev, Brezhnev, and Gorbachev, all faced the same problem and had a particualr way of fixing it that in the end, didnt work.
I feel rather stupid for never realizing what that "We Didnt Stat the Fire" was actually about. I really enjoyed the chronilogical order of it all. I was a 4 minute and 44 second hisory lesson on sterioids.
I really liked Ronald Reagan's "evil empire speech." I thought his commentary on the father who preferred that his daughters died believing in God instead of living in a Godless Communist country was interesting. There are modern parallels, for instance I'd rather die now a Christian than die under an oppressive Islamic regime.
I also liked the Yugoslavia time line. It was interesting and was clear and easy to understand. It gave me a better understanding of Yougo's history and what has taken place in the 20th century.
Finally I also found the concert in Red Square really neat. But I don't know if I believe that many happy and smiling Russians could exist at one time. Russia's a really interesting country but the language is really tough and it's like really...we're not even fighting a war with them. I mean I wish we were, the USSR was a step up from these civilian killing barbarians that we are fighting now. I think I want to take Arabic but I'm afraid I'd do poorly, maybe it's my inferiority complex kicking in...maybe I'm just lazy. Any who, ciao.
"Where did this idea come from that everybody deserves free education, free medical care, free whatever? It comes from Moscow, from Russia. It comes straight out of the pit of hell. And it's cleverly disguised as having a tender heart. It's not a tender heart. It's ripping the heart out of this country." -State Rep. Debbie Riddle R-TX
The Death of a Nation video was very interesting because it brought up some very important questions. Is Russia truly better off without Communism? Obviously the system was failing by the end, and changes needed to happen, but as much as they changed for the better, many things have been worse off for the Russians. When your entire nation depends on the funding of the government, and every citizen is employed by the government, it makes it hard to switch so dramatically to capitalism in such a short time. There couldn't have been enough wealthy investors to buy all of the industry. There should have been at least some type of transition into capitalism, not a huge jump in a few years. Now there is mass poverty in the country, and many people living on the street. Just look at the woman they interviewed! she was 37 and looked 57.
The cartoon seemed interesting as well. Each leader was "solving the Problem" with their method of choice which related back to the decisions they made as leaders. With Stalin, he tried to rule his people with fear and killed all of those that stood in his way. This is reflected in his suggestion to kill the driver. Krushchev suggests rehabilitating the driver, which shows his attempts to make reforms after the Stalin era and attempt to make the country operate sufficiently again. Brezhnev suggests pretending the situation isn't happening, which reflects his choice to believe the Solviet Union was running just fine, and that there were no major problems. Finally Gorbachev suggests going out and pushing the train, which shows his futile attempts to fix the country when it was almost impossible.
We didn't start the fire by Billy Joel is kind of a weird song. He wrote it as the events leading through the years of his life so far, and that is kind of a cool idea. It runs through 40 years super fast and I think all of the things that are referenced are kind of cool, not because any one of them, but because together they make up a long time span. Also, the music video is kind of cool because of the family thing, and the fire going off outside it.
The death of a nation piece was really sad. I never knew that moscow has so many millionaires. It is so weird that Moscow is so rich yet most of the people there are on the street. Though in this show they only gave the point of view of old people. The old people weren't born in a capitalist country and so would not be used to it. It is also freaky that most of the babies are getting infected and will maybe die. The concerts were nice. The Billy Joel's We did Start the Fire video is cool yet a little ridiculus. Some of the stuff shown on the video is a little pointless like children of a little mind. Though some of the key events like the nuclear bomb and all of the dictators was interesting. It is cool that Billy Jeol got all of those things into one song. Though I think that this song would start to get a little repetitive without the video to go along with. The ping pong diplomacy is funny though still as ridiculus as the first time. Though I guess that it is still as effective now as it was then. I find it really funny that they exchanged a Let It Be T-shirt either way that is just funny. That would be a very intense ping pong game between Japan and China.
“We Didn’t Start the Fire” was actually very interesting to read up on. I agree with Tom that it was like a 4 minute history lesson on steroids. I had always listened to that song and retained the names of the people and events, but didn’t actually know what they did or what time periods were being referred to. I think my favorite part about this site and song was how it seems to hit on all aspects of life and what was going on. By this I’m talking about how the song hits on religion, pop culture, politics and other major things going on. Probably the most interesting for me was the one about Joe Dimaggio and how he hit and got on base safely in 56 straight games.
To go along with the lyrics link, I checked out the video link of “We Didn’t Start the Fire”. I thought it was fairly well done considering it was mainly a picture to accompany every single person and event that he said. I still prefer the original Billy Joel video even if it doesn’t represent every single little piece of history that he says.
The third link that I watched was the one about Tearing Down the Borders. I really enjoyed the picture slideshow that played throughout the movie, but I could have done without the music. I understand that the music has deep meaning behind the wall and that it symbolizes the tearing down of the wall, but it was just a little too intense for me. Oh well, I watched some of the other videos and I was pretty impressed with the work that other students put into their projects.
So apparently I've never really listened to the lyrics of "We Didn't Start the Fire", what awesome irony in a title. Songs like this and "Back in the USSR" are perfect examples of how the world changed drastically during the Cold War.
I found it interesting that Russia is the home to the most billionaires, yet has a third world mortality rate. The debate between freedom and direction is important as "Death of a Nation" portrays the astonishing statistics of a whose freedom over the last 18 years has cost them their lives. It is ironic that such a large nation has such a struggling birth-rate problem while their neighbor, China, is in a drastically different state.
The fact that Eisenhower chose the US Navy's plan over the US Army's was interesting. The motives he had for doing it proved how tense the development of space technology was during the Cold War. One wrong move and the Soviets could see it as a plan of attack. The overall outcome of choosing one US military rival over the other - instead of insisting they worked together - ultimately hurt the US. I was unaware that this event was the main reason why the US fell behind the Soviets in the Space Race.
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