Mustaf Kemal (Ataturk) and the Modernization of Turkey

Mustaf Kemal was the first Turkish president after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. He was able to modernize Turkey in the 15 years he served as president through 6 beliefs. Mustaf believed in Republicanism, Populism, Secularism, Reformism, Nationalism, and Statism. Mustaf Kemal deep belief in Secularism meant that State and Religion were divided. He also divided Religion from other affairs like the legal system and Education. One of Mustafs sayings was "Peace at Home, Peace in the World" Turkey was able to stay out of conflicts during Mustaf and his presidency.

Mustaf made many reforms including a Language reform. In five months Mustaf was able to change the old Arabic Script to the Latin alphabet. This is something that could have easily taken 5 years or more. Mustaf also launched reforms for Womens Rights. He gave them the same opportunities as Men had including political rights.

Mustaf not only led a political reform as president but a full Cultural Revolution in Turkey. He was able to modernize and make Turkey secular in only 15 years.

Film Lesson "Ghandi"

Mahatma Gandhi was a main figure in India's history as he helped shape the future of the country. Gandhi fought for the independence of India from British rule through a series of civil disobedience campaigns. Ghandi advocated a nonviolence which was called Ahimsa. In 1930 he led a march to the sea, where they evaporated the water to produce salt as a protest to the british salt tax. Ghandi had a vast amount of power in india. Many times he fasted as a form of protest as a revolution could easily break out if he died.

Ghandi had a philosophy of non-violence which he followed strictly. He used it very well and easily to his advantage. Ghandi hoped that Britain would also find violence useless and would leave India. He used fasting many times since the British could not let him die.

Even if Ghandi hadn't taken up this cause India would probably be free from british rule today it may have just taken longerand possibly more violent.

Ghandi was assasinated on January 30, 1948 in New Delhi by a Hindu fanatic who disliked Gandhi's idea that Muslims and Hindus were equal.

Causes of World War I

World War I began because of the Assassination of Franz Ferdinand and the rising rivalries between the European nations. Nationalism and Militarism played a big part in starting World War I. Nationalism is when someone is extremely loyal to a nation. This led to many rivalries between countries and conflicts between the nations who wanted to get back their lost territories. Militarism is when a nation is dedicated to maintaining their Armies strong and powerful. Great Britain and Germany competed to have the largest navies.

Alliances played a big part in WWI, Alliances are when a group of nations form a Military Agreement. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy formed the Triple Alliance. Great Britain,France,and Russia formed the Triple Entente.

The Opium Wars

"The White Man's Burden"

The white man's burden is the idea that the Caucasian people were supposed to help and teach the other races how to act and live. I agree that people who are wealthier should help those less fortunate but it should have nothing to do with race.

The scramble for Africa

The scramble for Africa was during the late 1800's and early 1900's when European countries began dividing up Africa. The countries that divided up Africa were France, Britain, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, and Italy. The European countries wanted Africa for its untapped natural resources. The reason that the Europeans were able to conquer the African people was because they has many technologies like guns that the Africans had never seen before. This scramble hurt many African people because it broke alliances between tribes and placed enemies together.

The Meiji Restoration of Japan

The Meiji era of Japan is considered to be their version of the industrial revolution. Matthew Perry was an American Commodore whi in 1853 visited Japan with a fleet of four warships. He had a request from the American government for Japan to open up its ports and allow them to restock their ships with Coal, Water and other things they may have needed. The Japanese had been in isolation for hundreds of years and were both imprssed and scared of the massive ships, because of that fear Matthew Perry was able to bully Japan into signing the treaty.


Durring the Meiji era Japan's econonomy was bumpy. When the foreigners first arrived the economy began to fail as American and European products were being sold at lower prices than Japanese products. The foreign products were also of better quality than the Japanese products. The Japanese were able to finally modernize when the emperor Meiji began his reign in 1868. The Japanese decided to take a the best parts of the strongest modern nations while avoiding the mistakes most of them made. This industrialized and modernized Japan.

An Archipelago is a chain or group of islands