A Broken World

World War I which was also known as “The War to End All Wars”, obviously became false. However, the result of “The War to End All Wars” was one of the major impacts that led to World War II. Before the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, imperialism between countries brought tense atmosphere against each other. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand was an event to start WWI which was to imperialize more land. After WWI, our world faced economical problems along with political issues.
In WWII, fascism took over Italy and Nazi in Germany. Italy, France, and Japan were 3 major powers of the Axis. USSR, USA, and UK were 3 major powers of the Allies. The Allies won but the war resulted in 60 million deaths of people. Bombs became powerful enough to blow up the entire country. A bomb which killed 140 thousands of people in Hiroshima became 1000 times stronger. The two main superpowers after the WWII was the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) and United States of America. Threatened and afraid of each other’s bombs and weapons, they did not use them against each other. Instead of using massive nuclear bombs, they threw rocks at each other.

What was the point? Italy was once in the Allied Powers with France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States. In WWII, Italy was in the Axis Powers with Germany and Japan for Mussolini’s decision. In the Cold War, USSR was against United States. The Ottoman Empire chose to fight with Germany in WWI because Ottoman Empire thought that Germany would win and will bring more land to them. Choosing sides and to belong in a group does not bring much advantage. Deaths of thousands and millions of innocent lives were judged by few people such as Mussolini, Stalin, Hitler. In the hands of few people, millions of smaller people suffered.

If about 60 million people died in WWII, what will it cost for the happening of World War 3? War brings loss, not profit.

In the beginning United States and the Soviets were allies because of the World War II, but right after the World War II was over they started to go against each other. Like China did, right after they were done with each others enemies they started to go against each other. So the capitalist countries; France, United States, and Great Britain, took away their border lines in Germany, and had one big capitalist country. And of course the Soviets wouldn’t like that because they were from the same ally “team” and he didn’t get to do this. So already they were going against each other, but who wouldn’t. The capitalists were scared that if the Soviets got any stronger than the communist party could take over Europe, and of course, they didn’t want that to happen.

The thing that showed me that the United States did no want to “lose” to the Soviets was the Berlin Airlift, or air gift. Well anyways, Berlin was divided into 4 parts and each section was owned by one of the winning countries of the war. As you can see on the map you can see that Berlin was in region that the Soviets were owned by.
There were U.S, French and British workers that worked in Berlin because each of them had their own sections too. There was a road that trucks could take to give those workers food and the supplies that they needed, but what the Soviets did was, they blocked off that road so that the workers could not get their food and supplies. And of course the United States would not just stand their watching his own people starve. So what they do is they send off airplanes every three minutes to Berlin and dropped off food and supplies for them. And right now the two big super powers of the world is the United States and the Soviets. And you would think why doest the Soviets send off their own airplanes to attack the United States? Well that was because the United States had just dropped an atomic bomb on Japan and the Soviets were scared that they might get attacked by it. Something that the United States didn’t know was that the Soviets were “secretly” making their own atomic bomb to go against the United States. So after about 11 months of United States airplane dropping off supplies, the Soviets gave up. So it was practically like the Soviets losing.

After this , the United States and the Soviets had what you could call a Cold War. They tried to beat each other in getting people to go to space, and satellites to go to space. And they knew that they couldn’t start bombing each other because they had the bomb that could destroy the whole world, and they couldn’t take a chance on doing this. So this war kept on going until the year that i was born, or maybe a year earlier, 1992.

 Jihyung Moon

           As World War1 broke out, many countries in Europe was divided and divisions of alleys were formed.

France and Great Britain ruled their government in a democratic way. Stalin has made Russia into a communist country and Russia was now called Soviet Union.

Soviet Union was distrusted by France, England, and other alleys of Europe. Stalin has been bargaining with Hitler, and the two dictators sign the Nonaggression pact, never to attack each other.

This treaty was assumed to last for about 10 years, but Hitler soon breaks his vow and attacks Soviet Union.

Stalin was very humiliated and furious about the fact that he was fooled. The funny thing was that Stalin trusted Hitler. I believe that he trusted Hitler because he was such a great leader and a powerful man. Stalin who does not trust anyone did not expect Hitler to attack his country. The capital of Russia, Saint Peter’s Berg was taken over by Hitler.

This made the Soviet Union send their troops to fight against the Germany and defend their country. Soviet was one of the first countries to fight against the Germans and survive.

After France has been taken over by Hitler US, Great Britain, and Soviet Union form an alley to fight against the Germans.

The victory goes to the three unions and Hitler’s army is fallen.

I think that Soviet who fought the longest against the Germans deserve more of Hitler’s conquered land. Instead of US and Britain taking over more just because Stalin is from the communists.

What would have it been like living as a Jew during the Holocaust? What would have it been like to live in the generation of Hitler and Stalin? Last Friday, we learned about the Holocaust in Germany during the World War II. While listening to the presentations, I felt sympathy towards the Jews during those times. Then I remembered one of my favorite books was about the Holocaust. The book is called Hana’s Suitcase which is a true story during the World War II. The book is simply about a girl name Hana, a Jew that lived in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s and 40s. Due to Adolf Hitler—the dictator—was against Jews for his own “personal” reasons, he made concentration camps and death camps not only for adults but for every, single Jew that lived in his areas. Due to the results six million Jews were killed, and one and a half million children were the victims among them. Hana,was also a part of this horrible disaster. Though the war ended in 1945, it was then when the world found out about the concentration camps, and all of the innocent lives that have been killed. This was the WORST situation of mass murder in history.

(Picture of Hana and her Suitcase)

In Japan, a normal brown suitcase was found. It had the name Hana Brady 625, and a date of birth: May 16, 1931. There was also another word Waisenkind which is orphan in German. This suitcase was found at Auschwitz, a concentration camp where millions of people died during the Holocaust. From this suitcase, Japanese children were curious to find out who Hana Brady is at the Tokyo Holocaust Education Center. It was the children who were eager to find out who Hana is, and it was them that encouraged the research.

The children found out that Hana was a girl from Nove Mesto, Czechoslovakia. She had a brother called George, and her parents. She loved skating; when she wore her skating outfit and acted as if she was dancing her family and friends became the audience and clapped for her performance. Though she was still able to enjoy her life, herself and the people around her started to feel war was coming. Though some people convinced to leave Czech, most of the Jews were against this idea since they argued it was their own hometown. As time went by, the Nazi restriction for Jews grew more and more, and Jews practically didn’t have a life AT ALL. All of their “German” friends started to ignore them, and Hana and George only had each other. Soon after spring came, Hana’s mother was caught by the secret state police, and a letter soon came that she had to leave. It was the last time Hana and George saw their mom. At Hanna’s birthday, her mother sent her carved bread as a gift, which was probably all what mother got for the whole day. Then, that day, on Hanna’s birthday, as Hitler’s new present, Jews were ordered to wear yellow cloth stars when they went to public. Soon Father was also taken away, and then it was their turn.

Through out the rest of the book, they explain the tragedy of Hanna at the concentration camp. They explain though it was the worse condition, they carried out their lives, and how they still could live happy in such harsh conditions. On page 81-82 the last paragraph it says,

“Through a wrought iron gate and under the watchful eyes of the surly dogs and uniformed men, Hana and her old roommates were marched off. Hana held on tight to Ella’s hand. They passed huge barracks. Saw the skeleton-like faces of prisoners in their striped uniforms peeking out the doors. They were ordered to enter a large building. The door closed behind them with a frightening bang.”

This part clearly showed at the end, Hana was put into a gas chamber with the rest of her roommates. This book not only shows about the Holocaust but also that every human being is the same and equal. Though we might have different culture, that doesn’t mean that someone is better than others; we just have different colors and looks, inside it’s the same. At the end, George, Hana’s brother is now still alive in Toronto. He –was the only one—survived from the concentration camp among his family and he was seventeen. Though it was his one of the deepest memories in his life, he still can’t forget his dearest sister Hana.

From this book, not only was I able to feel more sympathy towards Jews during those age, but made me think more, why hate Jews? Why turn it all into THEIR fault when it was the Christians that isolated them in the past. Wasn’t Jesus Christ Jew? I don’t want to be in biased point of views, but once more the Holocaust, the War, and everything broke individual’s minds into shattered glasses. Looking at the Holocaust and learning about the wars made me think more. If leaders are fighting for land or power, from now on don’t be hypocritical since it makes nonsense saying it’s for the people when their objective is power for yourself. War, its just nonsense.

(picture of George, Hana’s brother.)

The Cold War was mainly a war between the communists and the capitalists. The strongest countries on each side was the Soviet Union (communist) and the United States (capitalist). Both sides were powerful, but both were afraid to use their power. Using their power could mean the end of the world. Their new nuclear weapons were demonstrated on Japan in Hiroshima, and the last thing a country wants is one of those exploding in their territory. This was a war that did not involve a lot of physical damage. There was a lot of tension between the capitalists and communists. They were even separated by the “iron curtain”.
Because both sides did not want to cause something horrible to their country, they did not attack each other so that the enemy won’t attack. This has been going on about right after WW2 to about 1991.
There were secret operations. The United States had the CIA and the Soviet Union had the KGB. These organizations’ jobs were to find out what the enemy was doing.
The two sides became the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization which was capitalists) and Warsaw Pact (communist). As more technology was made, both sides were afraid. Weapons such as the ICBM and the nuclear bombs could literally destroy a whole country. The war ended which almost no physical damage, but the tension gave fear to everyone.

Although it sound a little silly that one of the most fearful wars didn’t have much physical damage, it would feel very fearful at the time. No one would know if the enemy country might just send a nuclear bomb. The enemy could attack and no one would no about it. They could attack any time. They don’t know what the other side is thinking. At any moment, the world could end. How would you feel if everyday could be the last day of your life?

Think really quickly about the past and today, how our weapons have developed. Look at the picture above to get a clear understanding.

Now with this background, think about the quote above by Robert Oppenheimer, one of the inventors of the Atomic Bomb. The quote means that this man had gotten the control over people in the world’s lives. See how powerful this Atomic Bomb was? It could destroy the Earth!

One object made of steel with chemicals inside it can blow up a whole planet?! Looking back, I can understand how the people during the time of the Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were feeling. They were feeling nothing but FEAR!

This Atomic Bomb changed the whole history of humans. A new concept or a new type of war was created called “Cold War”. Now, countries can aim these POWERFUL missiles at eachother and label it in their media “WAR.” A great example is from “The Cold War” between the United States and the Soviet Union. They were pointing missiles at eachother and yet with no missiles fired, they called it a war, a COLD war. Another thing that changed world was the fact that Atomic bombs can be used as “soldiers.” These new weapons could be fired long range and leave a country into ruins. This example can

be seen through the U.S. attacking and making Japan surrender using this new weapon. The U.S. used this bombs instead of millions of soldiers attacking Japan. The Atomic Bombs were a substite to soldiers. In fact, it was a better substitute for the Americans because they did not have any casualties and it conserved the time of receiving the surrender from the Japanese.
These two things that I have mentioned exists today, making the world become afraid. North Korea’s ballistic missile that were fired on July, 2006 is a good evidence.

I feel sorry for Japan because they were the science lab with the experiment of the Atomic Bombs. Personally, I think that the dropping of two Atomic Bombs were like an official announcement made to the world about this new deadly weapon.

From this week’s presentations, I would have to say the atomic bombings in Japan were the most interesting. First of all, I couldn’t believe someone would even think of inventing a thing like that. In history, there had always been improvements in technology, military, and science, but this had gone too far. Not only did this atomic bomb burn and kill thousands, the radiation from the bomb had caused literally every living thing on earth to die. This included plants; thousands of people had died of starvation because the radiation had gotten into the soil.

What were they thinking? Had they not thought of what would have happened to Japan? Did they only want to destroy and kill? Sure, from the United State’s point of view, the main objective must have been to destroy Japan. But – think about it. Who in the right state of mind would even think of creating something like the atomic bomb? There are several countries today that have control of a nuclear weapon. Like I said before, the history of weapons is continuously improving. Soldiers fought with bows and arrows and guns. Then came the invention of cars, so wars now included tanks. There were also cannons. If you think about it, as the invention of new weapons increases, the number of people that can die also increases. Meaning, it becomes easier and faster to kill more people in less time. This is clearly obvious in the invention of the atomic bomb.

When the bomb was first dropped in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, around 90,000 people died immediately. By the end of the year, thousands more had died from the radiation. Three days later on August 9, the second bombing occurred in Nagasaki. 70,000 people of a total of 24,000 in the city was killed instantly. And as if this weren’t enough, the U.S. was thinking of having more attacks on Japan.

This left me thinking of a lot of things. First, the future can be more important than the present. In other words, the outcome and the results should be thought of first before you act. People today are still worried of nuclear weapons being used. What about the radiation that was caused after the bombing? Thousands of people had lost their lives due to starvation.
I also thought of how people tend to think only of themselves most of the time. Especially during wars, one’s country has to be the best and their country has to win. Their country has to be the strongest, the best, and the most powerful. I personally think wars are stupid. I just wish everyone would get along. People are constantly fighting and arguing. I find it silly when countries fight over land and territory. It just seems ridiculous. Do they have to fight? Do innocent people have to die? Why do they have to kill? Can’t they just talk over it?
There are other ways to solve problems other than using violence. This leads back to the atomic bombings in Japan. Did they have to do it?
Was inventing an atomic bomb the only solution?

http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/days/images/photos/nagasakibomb.jpg
http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/images/hiroshima_bombing_enola_gay.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AL7-Mnojf00

 French Bible Illustration depicting Jews

      Last week, Ji-Yeon and I did a presentation on Holocaust. In the presentation, I talked about the “European hatred against Jews that had deep roots in the European history.” This quote was from the textbook, and even though I knew that Europeans didn’t like Jews, I had no clue why they didn’t. And just as I was afraid, one of my classmates asked me if the textbook tells why Europeans hated Jews so much. Of course, our textbook never had everything we wanted to know and this was one of the things it didn’t have, so Mr.Burell stepped in and answered it for us. He said that even the pope himself apologized for picking on Jews on many crises during the European history. I mean, racism, although it still takes part in our society, is not as bad as it was before, and the idea that Europeans don’t like Jews might not be the case now days.           

       However, let me talk about some sad parts of European history that maybe led to the discrimination and hatred against the Jews. Europeans, or some Christians, believe that Jews killed Jesus because in the Bible, there are some verses that talk about the death of Jesus and Jews.

Matthew 27:25 where the Jewish crowd shouts,
> > “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”

And in 1 Thessalonians 2:15 it says that the Jews
> > “killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets.”

Another reason might be the crusade, dealing with Jerusalem, the Holy Land.           

       But most pro- Jewish people, claim that the reason that Europeans, or all people hate Jews so much is because they’re jealous of the Jews. For a long time in history, Jews had a way of making money. With the banking and getting interest, Jews made a lot of money during the time Christian church and the pope banned people from making money through banking. It might be true that some people are jealous of Jews. Albert Einstein is a Jew, Sigmund Freud is a Jew, the Grim Brothers, Karl Marx, the rich banking people and CEOs of big companies, and many of the UN people are all Jews. It is true that there are hundreds of successful Jewish people out there in the world and that their family focuses on education. But if the “jealousy” causes persecution, that is where people must draw the line.           

        Now, the Jew haters claim that Jews care about money, not people. They hate the so called “Jewish Totalitarianism” and their Bible telling them to rule over the world. Hitler, during the Holocaust, called the Jews communists and began the Holocaust.           

            However one may deny it, it is true that Jews were hated by many people in the history. But what really matters is this. No more persecution. No more discrimination. We cannot bring another Holocaust, and we must learn that racism, however you may justify it, is wrong.

the pictures drawn by Jew haters.

When I was surfing the web today, I found an article about a holocaust survivor refusing to see her long lost son. I have recently learned about the Holocaust so I decided to read closely. The article was about a 60 year old man, named Factor that recently received a letter from his mother refusing a reunion. After succeeding in finding his mother’s location, after 17 years of searching, he was looking forward to a reunion but unexpectedly was refused. Factor expressed his disappointed by saying that these kinds of searches are supposed to end with a happy reunion. I instantly wondered why the mother wouldn’t want to see her son. In the latter of the article, there were some predictions; like not wanting to think about the past.

I asked my mom earlier today, “Did people really fear a nuclear war? And did it change life in any way?”

“Yeah, we really did–we were actually very afraid. We were even taught at school to fear the Soviets. I didn’t really know why at the time, but they [the government] put more emphasis on science and math at schools.” (She was in America, during this time)

The A-Bomb, then the H-Bomb–you were right to have been afraid, Mom. But my mom says ’science and math’ were being heavily focused on in school. I’m sure if I were in that generation, I would also have questioned why science was becoming such an important subject to learn. It would have been strange because now, it seems that in the U.S. education is failing. In contrast, during the Cold War, according to the Modern World History: Patterns of Interaction textbook, “the U.S. government poured huge amounts of money into education” (480).

So how is education in the United States doing at this point?  According to Rep. Berman’s site, “President Bush’s budget for fiscal year 2007 includes major cuts to funding for education from kindergarten through high school in California, according to a new analysis from House Democrats.

 When I was living in America last year, I could sense the major cuts in California public schools. A lot of things were cut: entire schools, electives, teachers. It was a pretty sad sight.  I must ask: must we be in a Cold War for education to improve? It is only getting worse as money is pouring into Iraq.  No wonder American students are falling tremendously behind. From the Central Coast Astronomical Society’s education alert:

“Our nation has been relying heavily on scientifically based manpower trained in the 1940’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, to run our country and power our businesses and economy.  It literally provided our nation’s strength, power and security.  Apollo and Space Shuttle series of manned missions, is quickly reaching exhaustion as the long-standing scientific workforce enters its retirement years. But, the output from our high schools and colleges of young adults educated in mathematics and the sciences is dramatically shy of what is needed.  And it appears to be getting worse, with the number of science-educated graduates proportionately declining every year compared to our nation’s demand for science related industry, products and services.  Our nation’s tremendous needs for workers having science backgrounds is understaffed.  The future picture is very dim.  We have become dependent on skilled foreign labor, which we trained in our colleges and universities, working in our nation’s businesses.“(emphasis added)

What is basically happening is that science and math is on a major decline in the United States, as they are no longer in a Cold War. Other countries are gettting ahead, while the U.S. is falling behind. The Cold War scientist’s generation is retiring, and we are not improving in science and math education. This is a very desperate problem. If we don’t have a generation of scientists, how are we going to combat equally important issues as the Cold War,  such as global warming? A decline in education is one of the worst things to be happening at this time. Rather, in these years, we should be stressing science and math education, just as they did in the Cold War.

I am not secretly wishing that there’d be another Cold War. However, it’s somewhat evident that Americans are getting dumber without it, though. The Cold War sparked a generation that was intelligent in science and math. Space—human’s new frontier was being traveled in. Now there’s no Cold War, students are just resting easy. Interest in science and math are at its all-time low. Shouldn’t the government be doing something about it? Shouldn’t they be bringing change? Or must we have another Cold War for math and science to become significant again?