http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?http://blogs.nature.com/thescepticalchymist/2008/07/whos_the_greatest_russian_scie.html Who was the greatest Russian?
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1970/solzhenitsyn-autobio.html Solzhenitsyn the great Russian author
http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=HK&hl=zh-TW&v=Xglby1gdDwMHow Hitler lost the War
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_qeCNg8fO0&feature=related - Check this 8th Grade Project out. Does he make any errors?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KgJQUXr2Ws Hitler Speech - Triumph of the Will
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVP3KU-qOzchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58N73cAF97Yhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQIJkgpP1hgMunich Agreement
http://www.ukemonde.com/genocide/margolisholocaust.html Gulag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQIJkgpP1hg Munich Agreement
http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/mdzikovs/golod.html Ukraine Holocaust
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1920keynes.html Keynes Saw It Coming
http://www.pbs.org/treasuresoftheworld/guernica/glevel_1/1_bombing.html Guernica
http://incredibleimages4u.blogspot.com/2010/01/defending-leningrad-ww2.html Leningrad
http://www.moreorless.au.com/killers/franco.html Franco Site
http://www.richeast.org/htwm/SCW/scw.html Lincoln Birgade US troops in Spain fighting for the Communist?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80lLU5-yji8&skipcontrinter=1Triuph of the Will -Final Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F57OG_u2eU0 Beer Hall Putsch- Another Historians account
http://faminegenocide.com/resources/unknown.html Ukrainian Holocaust -Untold Story http://ehistory.osu.edu/wwii/timeline.cfm WWII Time Line
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/VichyRegime.html Vichy French
http://orangeraisin.wordpress.com/2010/06/24/did-the-red-army-defeat-the-third-reich/ Blog USSR killing of the Third Reich
http://www.leni-riefenstahl.de/eng/bio.html Leni
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/dunkirk.htm Dunkirk Evacuation
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/blitz.htm Blitz
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/leningrad.htm Leningrad Siege
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/dday.htm Normandy
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/rommel.htm Rommel's Forced Suicide
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/ww2/Stalingrad.html Battle of Stalingrad
http://www.stalingrad.net/highlights/highlights.htm Stalingrad
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/ussr/6703.shtml BBC Site if it works
12 comments:
It seems like the battle in Leningrad wasn't just fought with bullets and artillery. The siege did horrible things to the Russian's population in Leningrad. Food shortages led to more deaths than the actual fighting. I found it interesting that people knew the conditons because the men began to shave their beards. Resorting to canabalism and eating of animals shows how dire the situation really was. The pictures show how thin the people were getting and the fact that no one smiled. Everyone was afriad for their lives.
I don't agree that the Red Army defeated the Germans single handedly. Though the Russains were fearless fighters and albe to defeat the Germans for the first time on land, then didn't really do it alone. The Allies and especially the United States had been aiding in other ways. The Lend-Lease program led to the strength of Russia. In the earlier days of the campaign they had to resort to scorched-earth tactics. After the program began the Russians could begin pushing back the Germans from thier land.
The first link I looked at was a clip from Triumph of the Will. I was actually very curious to see what Hitler was like when he gave speeches, and how Riefenstahl created such a savior image for him in the film. Even though I did not understand a word he said, Hitler clearly had the dramatic timing and phrasing down in speech-giving to whip the crowd into a frenzy. It was fascinating to watch and see what control he had over the crowd, the charisma he clearly possessed in their eyes. Riefenstahl, of course, helped too, as she put dramatic music along with his speech, and got plenty of shots of cheering people, adoring faces, small things, like swastikas on peoples' jackets, and of course, flattering upward shots of Hitler himself.
The second link I looked at was the bio on Riefenstahl herself. I had wondered during class what background a woman of her time must have had to become a filmaker, and then become involved with the Nazis, so I was eager to read more about her. As a young woman, she was a dancer, an actress, and a film reporter before making her own films. It was interesting because most of her work were documentaries; in fact, Triumph of the Will is considered a documentary, not propaganda, according to her bio. The bio did not say anything about her political leanings, but she worked extensively as a photographer and as a filmmaker creating works about the Nuba people. Apparently she had a great many friends among the natives there, and even when she was in her 90s, she went there during a civil war to get more footage to raise awareness about their issues. To top all of her work off, she lived until she was 101 and died only ten years ago.
The first link I read was about the "Forgotten" Holocaust in Ukraine. Though I was previously aware of this genocide, it is always surprising to me how ignorant we are that this event happened and we only remember the Holocaust of the Jews. Aside from the tremendous death toll of the Ukrainian genocide, two things from the reading stood out to me. To begin with, I thought it was interesting that, though they were aware of what was happening to the Ukrainians, the Allies did not do anything to prevent it like they did with the Jewish Holocaust. Secondly, I thought it was interesting that according to the article, Hitler and Mussolini were the only two European leaders to protest the Ukrainian genocide.
The second link I viewed was Hitler's Triumph of the Will speech. Though I obviously couldn't understand what he was saying, it amazes me how Hitler was able to captivate his audience and rally their support. Also, the way he conducts his speeches is interesting as his starts of sort of slowly and quietly and then progressively picks up speed and volume towards the end. He was clearly effective at using rhetoric to his advantage.
The first link I checked out was the "Who is the greatest Russian scientist." Firstly, I was shocked that the article said that Stalin was leading the pack so easily. It would seem that will all of his negative affects and his millions murdered that he would be very damned, but I guess his mythology has outlive him and his feats greatly. I guess it shouldn't be surprising that the leading scientist was the first man in space. It seems like the space race is so close to the pulse and the imagination of the population at large in both the United States and Russia so it is really no wonder that he is winning. It's fairly surprising to me that Mendeleev is so far down. He seems like he is so important to modern science due to the fact that we always read about him in chemistry classes and such but I suppose he isn't quite common knowledge. I looked at the results of the poll and it had Alexander II coming out on top, with both Lenin and Stalin being in the top 12.
The second link I looked at was Hitler's speech from the propaganda film Triumph of the Will. All I could think of during the speech was Chaplin's closing speech in the Great Dictator. It was evident that Chaplin studied Hitler very closely when he was preparing his film. Hitler, clearly, was very skilled at giving these types of public speeches. He manipulates his voice and his timbre to drive his point home. And just as effective was the filmmaker's use of score, where the music swells as his speech comes to a bravado as well. And the long sweeping shots of the massive hall where this speech is being given really would make downtrodden Germans feel like they are part of something larger than themselves. This scene does its job very effectively, and I don't even speak German!
The first link I looked at was an Eye Witness account of the London Blitz, which was the intense bombing of London and some surrounding towns by the Luftwaffe. The bombing went on for 57 days without intermission while the people of London lived in fear day and night. Ernie Pyle, a popular World War Two correspondent, wrote about when the bombing began and what the scene was like afterward. Initially, Pyle took some friends up to a balcony to watch the devastation to the skyline, which didn't initially scare them. It was an "inspiring" and "beautiful" scene, and only until later did the danger of the situation set in. The engines of the the airplanes grinding above, Pyle commented on St. Paul's Cathedral's Dome rising out of the smoke during a lull in the bombing. Overall, Pyle offers an interesting civilian view of the surprise attack that left him in awe of the savagery around him.
The Second link I looked at was the one on the Ukrainian Holocaust. The writer obviously is a bit indignant and haughty about this article, but it's understandable. He writes about how people don't know enough about the terrors of Stalin's massacre of Ukrainian people. Strangely enough, Hitler and Mussolini were the only ones to recognize this event, but they were generally disbelieved. People were so focused on Nazi evil that they didn't properly remember Stalin's evil. However, it was understandable considering the USSR was still a totalitarian regime after the Ukrainian Holocaust, so they were able to keep that information secret longer, unlike the Nazi's concentration camps. Some of the numbers used in this article are staggering, over 7 million people dead. There were quotas on how many people had to be killed per week, another insane idea. The Ukrainian Holocaust should definitely be recognized more as the terrifying event it was.
First I looked at the link that brought me to a website that talked of the bombing of Guernica. I'm currently in Spanish IV and I learned extensively about Picasso and Guernica. I knew a little information about the actual bombing, but it takes me aback to learn that this was an innocent town filled with innocent people. It was only 3 hours, but left so much destruction to Guernica and is citizens. The heart-wrenching part is that Spain was involved in this bombing and that a country would go against it's own citizens. I was pleased to hear Germany formally apologized for the bombing, but irritated at how Spain did not, hopefully one day the King of Spain will apologize for what happened at Guernica.
The second link I chose was on the Blitz, an event in history that I've found a new-found interest in. I come from a family where my uncle and grandfather served in the Air Force.My grandfather was from Wales and he served in WWII and the Korean War in the Air Force for the United States, so I've always been interesting in the Royal Air Force. I do have to say, the Germans took a great leap in actually invading England, since history shows those who try to invade England were usually unsuccessful, and that's exactly what happened to the Germans. What really surprised me in this eye witness account was how Ernie Pyle was in awe by the beauty in the bombings, but still he knew the destruction going on.
The first link that I chose was all on Francisco Franco and the Spanish Civil War. What stuck out to me was that after Franco took over Spain the rest of the world treated no differently than before. They did not treat Spain under Franco like they treated the other Fascist countries. It may be because Franco was much less like a fascist than Hitler and Mussolini, by loosening his control whenever he thought Spain was getting better. Though Franco came out of a bloody and economically draining war he was able to create some stability for Spain.
The second link I chose was Hitler’s Triumph of the Will speech. This video shows how Hitler was able to get so powerful with his speeches. He was able to inspire the crowd with his words, hand motions and clear show of emotion and heart throughout this speech. The crowd is clearly moved in this video and shows a dedication to Hitler that gets across to the watcher of this video. Hitler is able to make a non-German speaker get the emotions of his speech, the true tell of a great speaker.
The first link I looked at was about the Ukrainian "forgotten Holocaust." I honestly knew barely anything about what Stalin did to the Ukrainians, Muslims, and other ethnic groups. I find it interesting that the U.S., British,and Canadian governments knew about what Stalin was doing, yet they, and other people for that matter, tried to cover it up. Why is it that we don't learn about this when we learn about the Holocaust? What Stalin did was just as horrible and inhumane as what Hitler did, yet why is only what Nazi Germany did to the Jews recognized? As Richard von Weizsacker and Elie Wiesel said, the key to preventing events like this in the future is remembrance, yet we don't even remember, let alone recognize it. I think that what happened in Russia should be more recognized and taught in school.
The second link I looked at was of Rommel's forced suicide. I find it interesting that Rommel was Hitler's favorite general, yet he accused him of high treason and forced his death. I am impressed about how calmly Rommel regarded and dealt with the fact that he was going to die. I can't imagine being his son and just having to accept the fact as soon as he got into the car, he was going to die. It was overall an extremely sad death, especially because it was forced suicide.
I looked at the alternate view of the Beer Hall Pustch. It revealed many of the details I already knew, Hitler storms into a bar screaming about the inferiority of the Wiemar Republic and gets laughed into the streets. Seeing that as a good omen he and his 300 or so followers decide to march on Munich city hall. With Hitler and Ludendorf in front the Nazi revolution quickly met with the Greens, or the Munich police force. The greens fired a shot across the bows, far over the advancing mobs heads. This caused Hitler to drop to the ground and cower in fear around a corner, fearing the Police would shoot him. He and Ludendorf, a WWI general were quickly forced into surrender and sentenced to a brief stay in prison.
Next I read about Rommel untimely end. Being a Military Genius he had quickly realized the futility of Germany's continued fighting with the Allies. He, like many others saw the only way to save Germany was to rid themselves of Hitler. It is unclear if he ever acted on those feelings, but the sentiment was enough that when a plot was hatched and failed on Hitlers life Rommel was associated. While the other conspirators were publicly executed, Hitler couldn't do the same with Germany's favorite and most successful General. Instead he was offered a cyanide pill, so his death would appear a product of war wounds sustained by an RAF strafing run. In return the Nazis promised to leave Rommel's wife and sons in peace, so long as they never spoke of what became of their Father.
Since Alexander Solzhenitsyn is one of those authors who I remember for History Bowl, I thought it would be interesting to read a little bit more about his life, (presumably) in his own words. Although I was aware of the Vermont episode of his life, I was not aware that he himself had been imprisoned in the labor camps which informed his most famous works. His account of his attempts to freely express his thoughts in the face of massive censorship and the consequences that resulted from those attempts provided an interesting inside look at the dangers of creativity in a police state like the Soviet Union.
Although not exactly a scintillating read, the Spanish Civil War article was an informative piece of a bit of history that you don't hear much about. One thing that stood out to me was the apparent dichotomy of "good and evil" between the Loyalists and the rebels, respectively, and the fact that the "good" supporters of democracy and constitution received so little foreign assistance. An obvious exception was the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, which is an interesting story as well. A motley crew of inexperienced foreigners, including the first African American integrated officer, Oliver Law, fighting against the odds and enduring great losses with no person compensation in service of an ideal....pretty inspirational stuff.
As terrible as the Holocaust was, there were many other mass executions that resulted in a larger number of deaths. The Ukraine Holocaust, which started several years earlier, was started by Stalin. In order to stop the Kulaks drive for independence Stalin imposed a system of collectivization. These large quotas were too much for the agriculture capacity in the region. Soon a man made famine broke out in the Ukraine and millions died of starvations. Others were executed when they did not meet the quota. It is interesting how the article compares the Chekists to Mao’s Red Guards. I feel like Hitler’s Holocaust covers genocides in other region and the deaths of these innocent people should be recognized equally or with greater regard.
The Blitz was the German air raid of London. Once Hitler realized an invasion of Great Brittan would be too difficult he started to focus on his planes to drop bombs on London to demoralize its population. I cannot comprehend how terrible and awe inspiring the flames, caused by the bombings, must have been. The first-hand account describes them so brilliantly. You can tell that Hitler’s plan of demoralizing the English failed, because only a greater sense of nationalism was acquired.
Post a Comment