Ahsanul's Global Blog

The Russian Revolution

2010-01-13T09:30:00.000-08:00

The Russian Revolution was a series of three revolutions. It involved a czar(Russian word for king), the Bolsheviks, and the Provisional government. The Revolution took place because people wanted change to happen for their country. Czar Nicholas engaged Russia to WWI, several lives were lost, and victory seemed impossible. The war destroyed the economy and Russia lost a lot of land, just to get out of the war. Tension sparked and they kick czar out of his throne and killed him and his family.The February revolution was caused because of Tsar Nicholas II was removed from power. This was because he was blamed for all the crisis that had happened in WWI. Some of the major causes of the Russian Revolution was social and economic changes. Also because of political issues. The leaders of the Russian Revolution was Vladimir Lenin, Gregory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev, Anatoli Lunacharsky, and Alexandra Kollontai. They were communist who opposed the war. "Peace, love and bread" was a a quote be Lenin during the October revolution. He promised peace, love and bread to the people of Russia after the war.

Causes of WWI

2010-01-11T09:15:00.001-08:00

On June 28 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne was assassinated by Serbia nationalist Gavrilo Princip while on a formal trip to Sarajevo. Unbeknown at the time, this assassination would be the breaking point between the already tense and nationalistic European countries during this era.
Many countries inside Europe had strong nationilistic feelings, they believed that their country was greater than the next. Countries wanted to prove who was the best, they all wanted to go to war in someway or another. The assisnation of franz Ferdinand gave a reason to Autria-Hungary to go to war with a smaller country(Serbia). Serbia was nationalistic as well, they were upset because of a prior war in which land was lost. The assisnation was not the only cause of the war.

Opium Wars - Imperialism in China

2010-01-11T09:14:00.000-08:00

In the 1830's, the English had become major drug-trafficking criminals. They primarily hit China with the drug Opium. Through merchants the English people smuggled this drug into China to give to all the people, this created a country full of drug-addicts. The Chinese emperor wrote a letter to the queen of England asking her why she was allowing his country to become this way, when frankly she would not tolerate it in her own. The English queen did not respond well, especially after the Chinese choose to block English way ports into their country, this started the Opium wars. In the end the English won, because of their technologically advanced ships and weapons. The Chinese suffered a humiliating defeat and the emperor was forced to sign a treaty legalizing Opium in China.

Film lesson: "Mountains of the Moon"

2009-12-10T09:32:00.000-08:00

When Europeans began to explore Africa they faced many challenges. When the Europeans traveled through Africa the natives who were all dark skinned and who had never before seen "white men" were scared and attacked them. The native tribes also did not like the fact that the Europeans were invading there territory. Europeans employed Africans to join them as workers on there expeditions, but soon some of the Africans took there supplies and fled camp, so the European travelers were stranded sometimes without there necessary supplies.
When the discovery of the source of the Nile river was made, the founders were from England, and there queen was named Victoria, so they thought they would honoring her by naming the 3rd largest lake in the world after her.

Europeans were able to take over Africa easily because of there machine guns, the African tribes only had bows and arrows whilst the Europeans had these machine guns that could kill people by the thousands.

Imperialism Project

2009-12-07T09:30:00.000-08:00

We did the Imperialism project to show how countries took over other countries and how language and agricultural spread through out the world.It also showed which countries were taking over other territories. Europeans had influenced many of the other countries like America, China, Middle East, Africa, Australia, Eastern America etc. I learned that England took over places in Canada. Spain and Portugal took over land in the Caribbean. Europeans are the one that conquered the most. Many people like in South America and Spain speak Spanish now.

Karl Max and Communism

2009-11-19T09:29:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx was the famous man who came up with communism, but the communism that is used today in countries such as Korea, China, and Cuba are practicing it the opposite way he described it to be.He believed that there was a permanent class struggle between workers and the bosses he believed that capitalism would destroy the south.He believed that everyone should have equal pay so then no one would be poor.Karl Marx believed that social change is what needed for a better society and in order to get social change their must be a class conflict. Marx's major concern of social change was economic change . He was well known for dealing with class conflict between the capitalist and the working class.He wanted communism to take over the world because he wanted everyone to be controlled by the government and everyone to have equal amount of money paid and equal work hours.He thought that Capitalism was a bad idea and it was " Evil ". He saw the Capitalist as the " Bad guys ". He didn't like how some workers are treated in the factory.He said that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. So that is why he believed Communism was a better way of living life.

Karl Marx and the Industrial Revolution

2009-11-17T09:55:00.000-08:00

Karl Marx didn't really like the Industrial Revolution , and Engels basically created it. He hated the pollution and the child labor him and Engels made a book called "The Communist Manifesto". He dislike for capitalism, is which drove him to make communism. Communism was a form of socialism that eliminated private ownership, and favored a classless society. The reason he made communism was because of the workers that had to work 16 hour days everyday with poor working habitats and low pay. Karl's plan for communism was genius everyone would be paid the same the government owned everything so there would be know fighting , the thing with communism was that it looked good on paper but it didn't work to well in real life, doctors were being paid the same as wood chippers that's why it never worked. Karl Marx's plan was bound to fail.

Nationalism and The Creation of Italy

2009-10-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

The word Nationalism could mean many things. It could mean supporting your nation, belonging to your nation, and fighting for your nation. However there is one more thing you need to do to be a Nationalistic, you have to love your country. Nationalism is everywhere in the United States. Americans speak the same language (English), support troops in War, celebrate American Holidays (such as the 4th of July), and even root for Americans in the Olympics. One example to show that I am a Nationalistic is that, I always have a BBQ on 4th of July to celebrate America's Independence Day.

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

2009-10-22T09:37:00.000-07:00

Simon Bolivar was born in Caracas,Venezuela on July 24, 1783 when he was older he became none of South America's greatest general. His biggest achievment was that he won independence over the spaniards for six nations (Bolivia,Peru,Ecuador,Panama,Colombia & Venezuela). His parents died when he was a child and he inherited a fortune. He is called "The Liberator" in South America. The Spaniards forced him to retreat from Venezuela to "New Granada" which is now called Colombia. He captured Bogota in 1814 with the help of his colombian force. His victories over the spaniards won independence for Bolivia, Panama, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela.

When Bolivar went to Spain with his friend Esteban Escobar, he met a woman named Maria Teresa Rodríguez del Toro y Alaysa who he married afterwards. When he returned to Venezuela in 1803, his wife died of yellow fever. After that he made a vow that he would never marry again, and he kept that vow for the rest of his life. After the victory of a few more battles,Simon Bolivar traveled to Haiti in 1815 and petitioned their president Alexander Sabes Petión to help the American Spanish cause. With the help of Haiti, Simon Bolivar was led to a great victory in the Battle of Boyaca in August 7, 1819.

John Locke and "The Enlightenment"

2009-10-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

John Locke was an Oxford scholar, medical researcher and physician, political operative, economist and idealogue for a revolutionary movement, as well as being one of the great philosophers of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. He says that all the people has their right, all persons have equal rights, and that government is responsible for taking care of the people. According to the Declaration of Independence, they believe in that all man were created equal, and the government is created among by men. The mens is to derving the power of the government. And people don't want that anymore, he is trying to refuse the laws. Everybody should have the equal rights, they don't want high taxes any more.

Copernicus and the trial of Galileo

2009-09-18T09:33:00.000-07:00

Back then, during Galileo's time, people believed that the earth was the center of the universe. And that everything revolved around the earth. This is called Geo-centrism.
But, Galileo was certain that the earth actually revolved around the sun. This is called heliocentrism. Because Galileo's beliefs were against the churches; the church put him on trial. Just because he believed in the heliocentrism. and sent him to jail. All of his teachings, and the teachings of Kepler and Copernicus were banned.

Scientific Revolution: The Scientific Method

2009-09-17T09:42:00.000-07:00

The Scientific Revolution changed the way people thought. The Scientific Method is a way a person can check if someones theory is right or wrong. Long ago people believed everything they heard, if someone had an idea or a guess about something one would hear it and say that it is true. A lot of people believed in Aristotle and his theory's because it sounded right but people stopped believing around the 1500's. When the scientific method was introduced scientists tested his theory's and proved if he was right or wrong.

The scientific method is still used today.It is used in school when your doing a lab or inside real scientist labs when they're trying to prove a point. There are 4 steps in the scientific method.
1.Observation - When you find a problem or a topic
2. Hypothesis - Just a well thought out guess on what the outcome will be
3. Experiment - Actually conducting an experiment to prove your hypothesis wrong or right.
4. Conclusion - When you gathered your work, and have found an answer.

Evolution Vs. Creation

2009-09-14T12:24:00.000-07:00

The theory of evolution states that man evolved from animals and that we are all related with the same ancestors. This theory came from a man named Charles Darwin from his studies of Finches. His theory was that we all came from the same ancestor, or a common ancestor. And with the process of natural selection, we kept living, and mutating(adapting) to our environment. So basically, we evolve to survive with the changing environment. In evolution, things adapt to the needs of their environment. Here is an example of Darwin's theory of evolution. There are three birds that are from the same habitat and Bird A has a long, skinny beak and that long beak is used for catching insects. Bird B has a fat beak used for eating small insects. And Bird C has a small beak used to eat fruit. Each of these birds adapted to their environment and each of them having a unique trait, that is where the Theory of Evolution came from.
Creationism is another theory that people believe, In this theory people believe that humans and animals are not the same and that we were made by a person/Thing of higher power (god). People also believe that god created everything in this universe such as land,water,trees etc. Many religions believe that we humans came from two people in general; Adam and Eve which is stated in almost every religious book (Quran,Bible,Talmud etc.)
Which one do I believe? Well I really can't tell you that right now, because I'm trying to find out myself. If I were to say which one my family wants me to believe then my answer would be Creationism. The reason why i choose neither sides is because I don't know much about these two topics and everything I've read about them hasn't caught my attention. Sure evolution can show you facts and data's but they can't show you all of it like where did it start? and how did it start?. Creation doesn't really move me either because the only thing that has to show is some book that has been edited over a thousand time. So until I make up my mind my choice is none I don't believe any of them, but when i do I'll be sure to let you know.