Chapter 29 Art ~ Yasuko Yamagata Remembers

Towards the end of World War II, US sent two atomic bombs over to Japan. There were some survivors, and those survivors tell their tale in one form or another. Yasuko Yamagata paints her tale as she remembers being just seventeen years old when the attack happened. "...when she saw the brilliant blue-white "lightning flash" that became a fiery orange ball consuming everything that would burn" (McKay, page 983). I think this painting is the one of the few ways American people can see what we did to Japan when we attacked because the most that America saw during then was the large smoke cloud that shot up into the air after the bombs landed and exploded. It shows those who suffered from the bomb and those who tried to save the young ones who were helpless. I think it is sad seeing this to know that the Japanese government did not tell their citizens about the threat/warning that was made so, if they chose to, they could save their families and themselves.

Connection Across Time 28

At the end of World War I, the Treaty of Versailles was placed to punish Germany for causing a war that involved more than one nation. Although it was some what harsh for blaming everything on Germany, Germany still had to pay for the war and take out loans on other nations. After World War I was over, America went into a Great Depression right before World War II, which did not help anyone because not only did it affect American people, but also Germany who were taking loans. Today we are in War with Iraq and are having financial problems. War is very expensive for both sides, especially if one side is helping another country financially. Money troubles come into play when we need it most for wars, and no one knows when we will come out of it until someone either pulls out of war or the war ends and a country finds a way to benefit off of something to bring their country's stocks back up.

Guernica (1937)

Pablo Picasso's painting of Guernica was painted in 1937, as a reflection off of the Spanish Civil War and the deaths that occurred during the war. Each section of the art you must look very closely at to see what is actually occurring, as if many scenes were put together into one painting. For example, the woman on the far left is crying to the Heavens after the loss of her young child. The person laying on their back looks as though they have committed suicide because of all the marks that could be blood on their arms and the broken sword in their right hand that might have plunged into their heart. This painting is very hard to tell what exactly is happening in each part of the painting. "Picasso wanted his painting to be an unforgettable attack on "brutality and darkness" (McKay, 935). The way each person, animal, and object is created differently and none of them look like they would in reality is very created of Picasso. I think that that is why I like this painting, because it's not your ordinary painting of people who are "picture perfect," so to speak. Picasso went out on a limb as he painted this and I believe he succeeded in an extraordinary painting.

To Bomb Japan or to Not? Chapter 29

Thursday (4/23) during class we divided up into two groups, those for America bombing Japan during WWII to end it and those against it. Although many of us were for bombing Japan, I chose the against side. My formal opinion was for it, and clearly many others opinion matched mine when we got up to move to our sides and only a few students were against it. So, I decided to join the against side to even out the teams (even though the teams were still not even, but that's okay). While collecting our thoughts for our debate that will be held Friday, I realized how many other options we had that would have less killing the innocent and maybe even more land. If America could control the Nazi party and many countries in Europe, how come America could not control Japan, who is smaller in size, without the a-bombs? Emily W. brought this point up in our discussion and I thought it was a very good point to make. Less lives would have been killed, especially the innocent people who live in Japan and want nothing to do with the war their leaders dragged them into. Another point that I brought up was the situation Japan was in when America warned them to surrender. When someone tells you to surrender or give up, you want to fight against them to show you are not weak and will not willingly be picked on by someone bigger or older, like siblings. America told Japan to surrender and they chose to fight instead because they did not want America to think Japan could be controlled so easily. Unfortunately for Japan, they could not defend themselves against an a-bomb, but they refused to surrender. Was America's act of bombing an alpha dog act? I think so because even though America wanted to end the war, the a-bomb would be a 50/50 chance of ending the war since no one could foresee the outcome of the bombings. Today during class was the actual debate, where many of us voiced our opinions. I thought overall it was a success, even though no side won because both sides gave good points. The against side said instead of using an atomic bomb, why not starve them out? The other side said that would take too long, the money would go to waste, and Japan would do nothing for their civilians since they did not exactly care about them when USA sent a "heads up" note saying we were going to bomb them. Our point was that then they would run out of food and have to surrender because we would basically starve them out of options. I said starvation is easier to recover from than radiation poisoning which can be passed down the family line. Even today there are most likely still people suffering in Japan from radiation poisoning from World War II.

Taliesin West designed by L. Wright is a building he made on a hill from his childhood and used it as his house. What many people do not know, is that this is not his original work. In 1914, his wife and 6 other people were murdered in this house by a servant who worked here. After she killed them, she burnt the house down. Years later, Wright decided to rebuild it so his family could use it once again. This house was also used for Wright's many ideas of structures to build around the world, and where he was inspired by the nature around it as a child. It is located in Wisconsin, near Spring Green and is still there today. The house had three wings; living quarters, Wright's office, and the last wing was a farm. The Taliesin Preservation Inc. has gone through the Taliesin and restored it, repairing anything that needed to be fixed so they could preserve Wright's home. This building is apart of America's history because it was Wright's creation and where he thought of the different architects he created during his life time.

Wright's designs are always amazing. I like this building because it's not your typical house. There's different cultures in it, which is why I think I like it. You can tell a lot of Asian in it because of some of the art he has chosen to put there and the way he designed parts of the house. Looking through pictures that were taken after this building was complete, its really neat to see the changes in it now. The Taliesin Preservation Inc. really did a good job at keeping what they could for the house to leave Wright's impression in it, and by updating the house so it could be around longer without rotting away.

Expert in Foreign Policy

Friday, our class did an assignment where we had to be an advisor to the Nazi Party. We were given five questions on what to do in each situation and a "A B C" column that listed our choices. For example, number 1 said "the depression has made Austria weak. Taking over Austria will be very popular in Germany. It will bring many Germans into the Reich. However other countries might oppose you. Your options: A) Try to take over Austria by sending troops to Vienna. B) Try to take over Austria by political pressure. C) Do nothing its not worth annoying France, Britain and Italy" (Hitler's Foreign Policy worksheet). After everyone had chosen, our student teacher told us how many points each option was worth (10, 20, or 30) and in the end we would add up all of our points. The catch to this assignment was the amount of points you had, you would either be rewarded for being a good Nazi or punished for being a terrible Nazi. Once we were done adding up points, she showed us on the slide show who was punished and who was rewarded. 120-150 was punished for being a terrible Nazi and 50-80 were rewarded by being upgraded in their positions as a Nazi advisor. If you had 90-110 (my score was 100), you were a failure as a Nazi but since you had some good ideas, they allowed you to stay in Berlin, Germany. Everyone in the class thought the higher the score, the better. Turned out the less points you had the better Nazi you were. Once we learned what kind of Nazi we were, she told us Hitler's choices and which he did. A lot of my answers were similar to what Hitler did except for two. I really liked this assignment, thought it was fun and a nice break from taking notes from a slide show like we had been doing all week. It was funny when we learned who failed and who was rewarded because of students' reactions. Although, some answers seemed that two options should of had the same amount of points and would have possibly kept some people out of hot water with the Nazi party.

Charlie Chaplin

During class for the past week, students have been giving power points on chapter 28. Seth S. gave his presentation on many different topics, but one was about Charlie Chaplin. Even if you've never heard of Chaplin, it is most likely that you have seen his picture before and just had no clue as to who he was. He was in many silent movies, the old fashioned kind where when someone spoke, there was text across the screen indicating what they were saying. Usually if there was any sound at all in the film, it was just the music they played along with the movie. Mr. Chaplin won two Oscar awards for his films and was the first actor to be on Times Magazine. A famous star still remembered today.

Some facts I found interesting about Charles Chaplin:

- The Queen of England actually made Chaplin into a Knight

- He had eight children and four wives

- Chaplin was the first person to do the "Table Ballet" or "Bread Roll Dance" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoKbDNY0Zwg

- His death was on Christmas Day

- After he was buried, he was kidnapped by Switz who dug up his body for money from his family. They never saw the money though because the police officers caught the people who did it.

Waterfall House

Fallingwater Home was designed Lloyd Wright in 1937. Wright built this home as a vacation home for a family who lived in Pittsburgh, PA, the Kaufman family. The Kaufman family owned a department store, now known as Macy's. They hired Mr. Wright to design this house because of the son in the family, he was very interested in Wright's work. The reason this house is magnificent is because of where it is built. The house hangs 30' over the waterfall and its structure is unbelievable. Today, over 70,000 visitors come to see this amazing house each year. This house is in Bears Run, PA and is one of Wright's master pieces of all time. I really like this house because I think it would be a cool house to live in. Wake up in the mornings and walk out onto the balcony which is hanging over a waterfall and the house is surrounded by nature! That would be pretty nice. And to top everything, I am still puzzled on how he came up with the idea of building a house over a waterfall and the construction was completed. It truly is a masterpiece of Wright's and one that inspired many European workers.

Connection Across Time

April 6, 2009
Many remeber World War I involving many countries and many deaths. Some people do not remember that what started the war was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, his wife and their unborn baby. Just leaving the City Hall in an open top car, Gavrilo Princip shot two bullets at the couple because he felt it would help free his people from Austro-Hungarian Empire. Others were also involved in planning the assassination and were sentenced to prison and some to death. And so begun World War I.
On September 11, 2001, America was attacked by terrorists, leaving many wounded and dead. American people feared for their lives because it started out as a normal day, then planes bgan crashing into important buildings such as the Twin Towers. Family and friends were lost that day, whether from the planes or trying to rescue someone in hope that there were survivors. Ever since that day almost eight years ago, America has had soldiers stationed in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan, trying to find those responsible for the attacks so something like 9/11 would never happen again.
The start of WWI and America stopping terrorists were very similar, both started with deaths and attacks. Another similarity is the deaths that are being taken while fighting this battle so no harm comes to their country ever again. New technology and weapons were developed during both wars and also improving the old weapons. In the end of WWI, America, France, Italy and Great Britain all decided what was going to happen to the countries that were involved in the war, restoring some countries while punishing others. In Iraq, America is sort of doing the same by trying to develop a better government for the people in Iraq. Although some may argue that history does not repeat itself, many similarities occur over and over again through out history. The whole world can learn from these wars and others what tactics worked and which ones failed and should never be tried again.

Christopher Nevinson painting.

April 6, 2009

This painting was done by Christopher Nevinson, I am unsure of what the title is but is on page 886 of our text books. It shows three soldiers during World War I with a machine gun aimed at the enemy waiting to fire. Right above the soldiers' heads is a barbed wire and there is what looks like wood surrounding them. I am assuming these are not German soldiers because German soldiers have the Nazi flag symbol wrapped around their arm and these soldiers do not have that on. Two of the soldiers are spotting the enemies while the third soldier is not looking. It makes me wonder what he is looking at or thinking about that has him distracted from the enemy or is he waiting for the bullets to go off and cannot look at the gun because it might damage his eyes. This painting does show how much of a small amount soldiers had during battles and not much room to move, so if a bomb came and hit them, they would most likely not have enough time to get out of the way. Also, since they are in such a small amount of space, does that make them an easier target for the enemy? Many questions can be asked on how to keep a soldier safer during battle, especially after having an actual image such as the one Nevinson caught in his painting.

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

April 6, 2009
On March 26, the class received an article on the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. It gave some information of Ferdinand and how his wife was treated during their marriage. For example, Sophie Von Chotkovato (his wife) was not allowed to join her husband when he sat in the royal box or carriage.

Many people did not like Ferdinand because they didn't want him in Austro-Hungarian Empire and the fact that Ferdinand would become their Emperor. The only way, some people saw, out was to assassinate Franz Ferdinand at his next visit. The group who planned the assassination were called 'Black Hand' and their opportunity came in June 1914, when Ferdinand visited Bosnia. In the morning of June, Gavrilo Princip, who was only 19 years old, fired two shots at Ferdinand and his wife Sophie but killed three people. Sophie was pregnent the day she died and died instantly after being hit with the bullet. Following her death was her husband's, saying his last words 'Sofia' at his wife right before he too died. Princip was sentenced to twenty years and since he was under 21, he missed the death sentence but died in prision due to tuberculosis on April 28, 1918.

Leaders are assassinated many times through out history because of what they believe in or their posistion in government. Gavrilo Princip was only a year older than I am when he assassinated a family because he felt that he was saving his people from Ferdinand's future for their country. Would the future have been different if this family was not assassinated? I think it would, but whether or not it would be for the better of the people Princip was trying to protect is hard to say. It would be like writing what happened if the Romanov family was not murdered and how Russia changed. No one knows for sure what would have happened to Russia then, we can only assume. Knowing that Princip was only a year older than I am now, it makes me wonder if any of my friends who are 19 could assassinate an entire family if they truly believed in something. Not that many people could, but there are always those few who could if they felt it needed to be done.

Painting by Willy Stower

April 2, 2009
Painting by~

Willy Stower, 1917

During World War I, Germany began to use U-boats or submarines. Most Navy ships were never expecting a ship underneath neath them, especially one that would attack them. Different Navy ships would be attacked while out to sea by the German U-boats, making other countries even more angrier. This painting Stower captured the image of a ship in distress after being hit by the enemy, and the enemy rising to the surface to watch the ship drown. The flag on the ship was an American flag which could have been the time that made them join World War I, after Germany attacked unexpectedly. I really like this painting because of all the colors the painter used for each detail. Also, he has one of the Germans holding up their arm, 'Hail Hitler' sign, after attacking a ship for Germany.

America Not Standing Behind Its Own Leader?

Wednesday, April 1, Maz's class discussed the Versailles Treaty. Mainly who was involved, what they wanted, why they wanted it, and the result of the treaty. Georges Clemenceau, for example, wanted to punish Germany and for them to pay for any damages that occurred during WWI. His main goal was total revenge and some could see it as harsh as Lloyd George did. He too wanted revenge on Germany, but in more of a peaceful way (basically Germany would pay for the damages done and they would be punished for causing the war). United States of America's President Wilson wanted many things out of this treaty, but one he wanted most was the League of Nations. The League of Nations had one basic goal, to prevent a war like this to ever occur again.

Wilson saw the League of Nations as a way to prevent another war like WWI was, but unfortunately not every country agreed with his ideas. There were three countries that did not agree to sign the League of Nations. Germany, naturally, did not want it because they saw it as an insult to their country since everyone was blaming them for starting WWI. Another country was Russia. The final country was one someone might scratch their heads over for not understanding, it was the United States of America. President Wilson created the idea of League of Nations and yet, he cannot get his own country to follow his lead? Other leaders in America did not like Wilson and tried to go against any ideas of his that they could, and so they did when it came to signing the League of Nations.

This came as a shock to me because usually America follows its Commander's lead unless it is harmful for America itself. The League of Nations did not seem like a bad idea if it could really prevent war and less lives loss, but I am sure it had its downsides which could have been the reason why America did not sign it. Was there an actual reason behind not signing it? Or did Senators of the time just really not like President Wilson and decide to go against him as we think they did?