World History Homework Eleven - Model

1. What was the "Great War," and why was it called that? Who was on each side?

The Great War was World War I. This name applies to World War I both geographically, as it was the first true global war, and also, unfortunately, in casualty numbers, as it was the deadliest war yet at that time in history. The two sides were the Allied Powers (Triple “Entente” or alliance of England, France and Russia, plus U.S. intervention later), and the Central Powers (Triple Alliance of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy). Eventually Italy joined the Allies along with Japan, and Russia withdrew from the Allies due to its Revolution. (Addison)

The Great War is now called World War I. World War I was fought between the Central Powers (Austria-Hungary, Germany, Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire) and the Allies of Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Japan, and the United States which joined the fight in 1917. World War I was called the Great War since this was the first global war in history. The Great War lasted from 1914-1918. It was the first war where, airplanes, machine guns, poisonous gas, large artillery, and armored tanks were used. (Sandro)

2. Who won World War I? Explain the outcome.

The Allies won the “Great War” or World War I in 1918. Although the fighting was over, the terms of peace were not resolved. Unfortunately, when the terms were eventually resolved, Germany was treated unfairly. They were not allowed to join the League of Nations and they had to give up all its colonies in Africa and the Pacific. If the Allies had not let revenge blind them, World War II may have never happened. (Jenna N.)

If anyone came out of the war the better for it, it would be America and Japan, and that is only because they managed to remain fairly uninvolved. There were no winners in the war, but there were definite losers. Austria-Hungary entered the war with an empire, and left as a bare shadow of a nation. Russia lost a lot of territory, military strength, and ended with a dysfunctional government. Germany, however, fared the worst. It was disarmed and prohibited from rearming, was heavily fined, forced to give up land, and blamed almost entirely for the war. The Allies lost as well, by setting up perfect conditions for World War II. (Michelle)

The Allies won. America had a great impact on the outcome of the war because Britain couldn’t do it alone. This victory took place in the Second battle of the Marne; America sent troops in to aid the British, but the amount of casualties were colossal for everyone and President Teddy Roosevelt’s son was killed in this battle. (Jonathan R.)

3. Pick your favorite battle of the War and describe it.

The Third Battle of Ypres also known as the Battle of Passchendaele was between Britain and Germany during the year 1917 in Ypres, Belgium. This battle was one of the many major battles of World War I which was fought for the control of a village, Passchendaele, which was very close to the town of Ypres in West Flanders. Each side, especially the Germans, tried to destroy their enemies by suffocating them with poisonous gas. Many lives were taken without any success or progress in the war. The Canadians took Passchendaele in October after a tedious struggle between the two armies, but with great regret because of all the causalities. (Veronika)

I like the Gallipoli battle most because the Allies Immensely outnumbered the Turks in this battle, so the Allies thought it would be an easy battle. But the Turks stood there ground and the Allies ended up withdrawing. (Kirstin)

Verdun was struggle that basically accomplished nothing. It just took the lives of many men. The Germans were attacked Verdun, France. 220,000 soldiers died and double that number was wounded. This battle took about 10 months to finish. (Nate)

My favorite battle in WWI was the battle at Somme. Britain had a great strategy of “shelling” Germany, and then rushing them. Unfortunately, the Germans had built up great defenses and were protected from the bombs and gunfire in the early stages of Britain’s attack. Germany quickly got back on their feet and wiped out the British, causing the worst day in British history. (Leonard)

I like the Battle of the Somme because it was there that the Tank was first introduced. (Isaac)

4. When, where, why, and by whom did the Communist Revolution occur?

Communism took place in Russia around the time of World War One, in 1917. The revolution was inspired by the ideas of Marxism aiming to replace capitalism with communism. Vladimir Lenin also took part in the revolution he brought about Leninism which argues that a communist revolution must be led by a vanguard of professional revolutionaries, which is men and women who are fully dedicated to the communist cause and who can then form the nucleus of the revolutionary movement. (Amanda)

The “Communist Revolution” occurred in 1917 in Russia. It was a coup d’état of the Russian government by the Bolshevik party (a small, radical Communist group; “Bolshevik” means “majority” in Russian, and Bolshevik leaders gave their party that name deceptively, as it was relatively small compared to the larger, less radical Menshevik party.) (Duncan)

5. Pick an aspect of "Science and Art in the Early 20th Century" and describe it, along with your view.

I think the most interesting theory is quantum mechanics. The basic premise of quantum mechanics is that the basic building block is essentially a wave, but when observing the wave it changes into a particle. This is very interesting because by observing something you can change it, even if you do not think you interfered. (Joey)

The Big Bang theory was a great argument in the early 1900’s about the creation of the universe. I believe that the Big Bang theory could be one of many possible explanations of the beginning of the universe. In 1927, Georges Lemaitre, a Catholic priest and a scientist, was the first man to propose the Big Bang theory as a possible explanation for the origin of the universe. Fred Hoyle created the phrase “Big Bang” in 1949, but he did not believe that the theory was a solid possibility of the beginning of the universe. What I found interesting is that its name was formally the name that people used to mock this theory. According to the Big Bang theory, the universe began when an enormous explosion occurred and it started expanding from hot and dense matter that continues to expand to this day. Galaxies are like chocolate chips, expanding and growing larger as the muffin (universe), with the bits of the chocolate, rises and enlarges. I think that the end of the world will happen when the all the matter in the universe looses all its energy and blows up as a light bulb breaks when its wire inside breaks after the bulb has expended all its energy. (Veronika)

Theoretically, a black hole is an almost infinitely small point in space which is so dense that even light cannot escape. Matter which falls into the black hole is compressed until it is literally vaporized, and weirdest of all is black hole theory’s claim about someone standing outside the “event horizon” (point which, if crossed, leads to falling into the black hole) observing someone who has fallen into the event horizon. While the outside observer sees the victim standing still and not falling in, the victim falls into the hole and is vaporized. (That is not the best possible scientific description!) The theory of relativity challenges the standard, apparently logical view of reality itself. I know too little about the pure science to judge it. However, to use the science to justify moral relativism is completely wrong and unscientific. (Addison)

Music and Art. The major contributions that developed the music and art aspect of America was jazz in the 1920s, which used irregular tempo and rhythms and combined African American music with European traditions, and in 1913 The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky which broke with traditional views of music by having different musical instruments play in different keys simultaneously. Architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius emphasized functionalism, both encouraging buildings that supported movement and facilitated the intended use. In Art, expressionism became extremely popular in the form of bold colors and distorted forms, Pablo Picasso was a huge advocate of this style of painting.

I am very thankful that people for hundreds of years have encouraged exploring and pursuing new ideas in art and music, because if they hadn't the world would be a very bland place! (Deborah)

Music. Jazz was first introduced in the 1920s. This is meaningful to me because this was the first genre to break away from classical music. This trend later led to rock n' roll and later to metal - what I listen to today. (John)

6. Describe a European colony in the 20th century, and what happened to it.

Canada was at this time a colony of the U.K. and very much influenced by the United States, and so shared the same views which made the Canadians very unhappy at sending their boys into a European war. (Will)

7. Current events question: Do you think our economic problems today are -- or are not -- similar to the Great Depression? Explain by including some history about the Great Depression.

I think they bear some similarity to the Great Depression. The government obviously has not learned to leave the economy alone, and that stimulus bills will not fix it any more than Roosevelt’s New Deal. I hope, though, that it will not take a war to get us out of this one. (Michelle)

It is basically a second Great Depression. The President spends trillions of dollars on these things to try and help us get out just like FDR. None of it worked then and none of it is working now. (Benjamin)

H1. Concerning "work", which do you prefer, the motto of Captain John Smith or of Leon Trotsky?

I wholeheartedly agree with the motto of Captain John Smith, "He that will not work shall not eat," as opposed to the motto of Leon Trotsky, "Those who do not obey do not eat." Obeying is a controversial term. What, exactly, does one mean, when they say 'obey'? Do they mean, just following an specific order, then being free to do as you wish, or being as a dog, silent and waiting for the next command? Working, on the other hand, is every man for himself, but working as a unit. This is the basis of capitalism, in which every man has an equal chance to make something of himself and be his own master. (Anna)

I prefer John Smith’s motto “He that does not work shall not eat.” over Leon Trotsky’s motto “Those who do not obey do not eat.” I prefer Smith’s motto more because you should work to get your food. You should not make someone else get the food for you. This is not inferring that a baby or young kid should have to work to get their food. I am talking more along the lines of a young adult or adult. Now Trotsky’s motto is kind of loose in the words for he does not state what you must obey while Smith’s motto is you must work or you do not eat. Now to me that is pretty clear on what you have to do. This motto by Captain John Smith was used to motivate the non working class of colonists who came to America. These colonists were not accustomed to hard labor and need a swift kick to realize there was no class privilege here in the New World. The New World would be fruitful to those who worked the land. (Sandro)

H2. What was the best thing that happened in the early part of the 20th century (as covered by the lecture), and what was the worst?

The invention of the airplane was the best, and the worst was WWI. (Anthony)

H3. What is your view of secret alliances among nations? Be sure to address the role of such alliances in starting World War I.

I believe that secret alliances among nations is a terrible idea .... WWI was a direct result of secret alliances, and we lost a whole generation of men. We cannot comprehend what it means to lose such an unthinkable number of human lives, for we are young and the evils of war still live within the fairytales we have created in our minds. However, the fact remains that millions of people died, communism took root, and the first shreds of what would turn into a "Women's Revolution" rather than a "Liberation Movement" could be seen quietly hiding behind the "new found freedom" in the factors. (Jenna S.)

H4. Discuss any aspect of the lecture, such as the type of warfare used in World War I.

M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle wasn't used much because there was fear of it being stolen by the Central Powers. The M1917 Browning machine gun and Lewis Gun were larger guns that needed to be shot from a mount. The Chauchat was a french piece of junk (no two guns were the same). The M1903 Springfield rifle was used a lot. (Aran)

World War I introduced many new military tactics and devices, such as barbed wire, used to defend trenches (makeshift wire was sometimes made by stringing old razor blades on a normal piece of wire), and the machine gun, which had seen slight use in the Boer War and other contemporary conflicts. Machine guns were deadly against charging troops, in one battle, British soldiers who had been ordered to attack “regardless of loss” were repulsed by only several dozen machine guns, with 8,000 casualties. Mines (explosives designed to explode on contact with a person, ship, or vehicle), both naval and land, also entered general use; in fact, in November 1914, the British super-dreadnought (dreadnoughts were a type of battleship) Audacious was sunk by a mine. (Duncan)

The tank was invented in Britain during World War I; it was called the "tank" because its parts were shipped in crates labeled "tanks" so the enemy would not be suspicious. It was created for men to be protected in it as it bowled over trenches and into the dangerous no man's land. However, it was not put to good use as it should have been and not many were made. (Tom)

H5. What is your view of the United States entering World War I?

My view on America entering WWI is split. If I lived back when the war was occurring, I would have not put so many American lives on the line. On the other hand, after seeing all the help the U.S. gave, I believe that America joining the war was a good idea. However, the outcome of the war was not beneficial in any way and casualties were very high. (Leonard)

H6. Was Joseph Stalin the most evil dictator in world history until now? Your view, please.

Yes. He killed millions upon millions of people needlessly. He overworked women, adding onto their housework a job at a factory. he was a ruthless man, and I believe the only worse dictator in history was Adolph Hitler. (Sarah)

H7. Could the mistake of communism have been prevented with better ideas, such as better explanations of why communism is wrong? Discuss.

I think it could have. If people had been more educated and seen through the evil lies of the seemingly genius communistic rulers, and known what the detrimental results could have been, perhaps they would have done more to stop it, and to some these new ideas would not have been so appealing. (Deborah)