Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Kwame Nkrumah on African Unity

How does Nkrumah's call for African unity rather than fragmentation reflect the tensions between decolonization and the ongoing cold war?

Nkrumah's call for African unity reflects the tensions of decolonization because imperialist power has left Africa with little infrastructure which is necessary in unifying Africa through connected networks of transportation and communication. Also, because the pace of decolonization varies from state to state, many African states are not ready to unite yet because they are plagued in internal conflict such as civil war. Nkrumah also mentions the tensions of the ongoing cold war which provokes violence while he calls for peace in Africa when he says that "greatness is not to be measured in stock piles of atom bombs" (1112). He also mentions that Africa will emerge as a Great Power because its greatness "is not built on fear, envy, and suspicion, nor won at the expense of others" (1112). The "fear, envy, and suspicion" describe how the U.S. and Soviet Union viewed each other. Also, both nations used proxy nations to fight wars for them which connects to "at the expense of others".

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Conclusion of World War II

Does the conclusion of the war address the causes you identified in your activity today?  Please list what the causes were that you identified (or feel free to just post your work from class) and then discuss whether or not the conclusion of the war resolved things or if it left items hanging for later resolution.

Causes of World War II

Unfair conditions of Treaty of Versailles for Germany leads to rise in German Nationalism
Italy wanted to take over Ethiopia as a display of power
Japan imperialized much of Asia and the Pacific

Resolved 

For Germany, the conclusion of the war resolved things because Germany ended up becoming an Ally. For Italy, they were never really an issue in the first place. For Japan, the Allies stripped away its colonies and reformed the government into a democracy.

Unresolved

The war did not solve the conflict between communism and democracy which is seen in the Cold War. The holocaust nearly wiped out an entire demographic in Europe.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Map of the World Before and After World War I


Amit Patel, Shams Shaikh, Gabe Arcaro, Ronak Patel, Mike Ackerman, Tim Sunnerberg
Change over time Before and After World War I

Continuity:
The major world powers remain world powers after the war
Why?
Because the major powers won the war
Evidence:
Britain
France
U.S.
European colonial superiority remained:
The colonial superior powers won the war so they remained superior
Evidence:
France and Britain remained colonial in Africa

Change:
Europe and many other parts of the world (middle east) split up:
Why?
The losing countries fell to nationalism and were split up by the winning countries
Evidence
Treaty of Versailles split up Austrio-Hungary
Map shows new countries and borders