The Treaty of Versailles (ended WW1)

The Treaty if Versailles was a piece of paper that Germany had to sign because they lost WW1. It said that the war was all Germany's fault, and that they must pay for all the damage caused. They also lost a lot of the land they also had gotten from the war. They owed so much for the war that there currency was almost worthless. Germany also had to shrink their army to around 100,000 soldiers. Their economy was so terrible that they had to carry a huge bucket of money just to buy 1 loaf of bread because of the very high taxes. I think that it wasn't fair for Germany because they weren't the only country that caused damage in the war. All the countries involved in the war should have helped repair the damage caused in the war, not just Germany. I think the Treaty of Versailles led to the rise of Fascism and Adolph Hitler because since Germany's economy was weak. they needed someone strong to rise into power into Germany to make the country strong again So that is how Hitler and Fascism came to power.

Mustafa Kemal Attaturk and the modernization of Turkey

Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was born in 1881 and became the founder, and first president of the Republic of Turkey. He brought new laws that made Turkey a more modern country such as France and other European nations. He passed laws that made it illegal to wear a hat called fez which sometimes has a tassel over it. He made Turkey look more modern with new clothing like European hats, tuxedos, pants and boots. Women also would stop wearing the veil. Ataturk put into effect an independent dress code for Turkey. He also gave women the right to vote. He made Turkey a secular country. In a secular country, people are governed by the government and its laws, not by religion. He also changed the Turkish calender from Islamic to Western. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk died in 1938 at the age of 57.

Film Lesson: "Ghandhi"

Mohandas Gandhi was a very important person in India. He helped the Indians gain their independence from Britain. He used acts of non-violence to fight against the British, so it made Britain look like a bad country. In order to get his people to practice non-violence, he fasted until the people began listening to him. Eventually his peoples listened to him an made them promise not to fight against them, even though they were taking control over their lives. One aspect Gandhi used to show non-violence is that he told the Indians to make and weave their own cloth instead of buying from the British, because of the heavy taxes on it. Another aspect Gandhi uses to practice non-violence is the salt march. He and his followers marched 240 miles to the sea to collect salt to use for their own purposes.This hurt Britain's economy any more because pretty much nobody was buying their own products. Eventually India had got its independence in 1947, because at the time Britain's economy was weak, they were just recovering from a World War and so they didn't have the money to take care of another country. Gandhi was still upset because Hindus and Muslims were separated from India. Gandhi was a peace maker, he wanted to gain independence without violence and so for this people honor him by calling him the "Great Soul".