Some videos about Italian Fascism and Nazi Germany

Here you have some short videos about Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany


MUSSOLINI: EARLY LIFE AND RISE TO POWER

MUSSOLINI'S ITALY

Two short videos:

APOCALYPSE: THE RISE OF HITLER

 

APOCALYPSE: THE FÜHRER

 

Novecento

This is a very good film to understand the context in which Fascism appeared in Italy. The name of the film in English is 1900 (Twentieth Century). It was released in 1976 and the main roles were performed by Gerard Depardieu, Robert de Niro and Burt Lancaster.

PART ONE

 PART TWO

And here you have the link to the full version in Spanish, just in case you are interested in watching it: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDYH2AXW3VU

Thursday, 9th June 2016

One more time Lucía is here to explain you what we have done today, so if today you have been sleeping or something, now you can revise!!
First of all, Paqui has said us that we have already finished the contents of the exam, that's, the Russian Revolutions and the USA, so we have started with Fascist Italy. 

Source: http://articulatingideas.blogspot.com.es/2015/06/what-is-fascism.html

After WW1, Italy wasn't satisfied with the territories they had received, so all the Irredentisti asked for more territories (mutilated victory).

Source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irredentismo_italiano

At this time, Italy was a monarchy with Victor Emmanuel III as king, and some postwar problems took place, which were the reason for the beginning of some extremist ideologies during the Two Red Years. The extremists were supported by the bourgeoisie because they feared the revolution.

                 

Source: https://softmorningcity.wordpress.com/tag/dh-lawrence/ 

source: timerome.com

Now we are going to talk about another beautiful person: Mussolini. Mussolini was a former Socialist who had been expelled from the party foor supporting the participation of Italy in the WW1, so he created the Fasci Italini di Combattimento in 1919. It was an extreme right group who had a paramilitary group called thee Blackshirts because they used black shirts to be recognized. They used to use violence for everything, even to threat workers. But they could do this because they were supported by shock troops.

MUSSOLINI, source: wikipedia.org

BLACKSHIRTS, source: pinterest.com

They also had an emblem copied from the Roman Empire. It's the fasces. The name Fascist comes from here.

Source: commons.wikipedia.org

They later created a National Fascist Party (1921), characterized by rejecting every existing ideology. Proposals: antidemocratic, antiparliamentary, anti-communist ideology, defense of the private property, strong State, agressive foreign policy and the use of violence. They got the support of the petty bourgeoisie, big landowners and industrialists abd they were tolerated by the Church and the King, but as the majority of the voters were workers they didn't obtain good results in the elections.

After this, they prepared a demonstration of their force to the State (March on Rome). Fascists demanded power and threatened with using violence against the government. The king feared this and instead sending them to prison, he gave power to the Fascists, (Congrats, Victor, you're stupid).

Source: wikipedia.org

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Apart  from this, we have been talking about the insects plague we have in our houses right now. They go to the light, so close your windows!!!! Take also care if you go to Sout America because as you know, Zika is happening. It can cause microcephaly in babies.

Source: bbc.com

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NEW VOCABULARY:

Mutilated victory: Victoria mutilada.

Bitter: Amargo.

Unredeemed territories: Territorios irredentos.

The Two Red Years: Bienio rojo.

Corporal: Cabo.

Paramilitary: Paramilitar.

Blackshirts: Camisas negras.

Shock troops: Tropas de choque.

Emblem: Símbolo.

March on Rome: Marcha sobre Roma.

Demonstration: Manifestación. 

Cocky: Chulito, gallito.

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RECOMENDATION OF THE DAY: 

FILM: Novecento.

Source: www.filmaffinity.com

Tuesday, 7th of June

Hello mates, I’m María, and I’m going to explain what we have made today. Today in Social Sciences we have learned about the Great Depression: the crisis became worse due to the economic liberalism orthodoxy, that was opposed to the intervention of the State in economy,; the deflationist policy, because they made the prices low in order to improve the consumption; the protectionism, because the USA increased tariffs to protect their industry and international trade contracted, then this crisis was extended to Europe.

Source: http://barbwire.com/2014/06/20/hoover-great-depression/

Paqui has explained us the proposals to solve the crisis, she has said that John Maynard Keynes was a very intelligent man of this period. He was a British economist that proposed solutions like the intervention of the State and the increasing of the public expenses. He though that the State had to create jobs and reduce unemployment and stimulated the production and consumption and reduced the stocks, even when it meant the increasing of the State déficit.

Source: http://quotesgram.com/john-maynard-keynes-quotes/

Also we have learned that Roosevelt’s government launched some emergency laws to reactivate economy, and these decisions were called the three R Program: Reform, Relief and Recovery. The decisions to reactivate economy were, the subsidies for farmers to destroy their stocks and recover prices, the mínimum prices, in order to fight deflaction, and the creation of the Public Works Administration, to build big infraestructures with public Money and create jobs. We have learned about the Social Legislation, which consisted in the Social Security Act,  the National Labour Relations Act, the national mínimum salary, and the abolition of the child labour. Another important reform that was included on the decisions was the Financial Legislation, with the banking reform that was the control of the banks in order to avoid bankrupts; and the creation of the SEC to supervise the Stock Exchange Market and protect investors.

 Paqui has also explained us what’s the meaning of TTIP. It means the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, that were a series of trade negotiations being carried out mostly in secret between the EU and US, and it’s about reducing the regulatory barriers to trade for big business, things like food safety law, environmental legislation, banking regulations and the sovereign powers of individual nations.

Source: http://www.blog.rielcano.org/el-espectador-global-el-ttip-va-frenado/

VOCABULARY

-Bail out: rescatar un banco

-Deflactionist policy: política deflacionista

-Tariffs: aranceles

-New Deal: nuevo reparto

-Relief: alivio

6th of June

Hello! I am Jaime and today is my turn to do the review of the contents which Paqui has explained us.
At the beginning of the lesson, she has given our projects  and the exam to the people who didn't want to do this  project. Then Paqui has said that the people who didn't  pass the project or the exam must  do a project to make up this unit. The new art project is  about the  art of the 18th and 19th century. Paqui has assigned us one example of architecture, another one about sculpture, and one painting and we have to talk about their designer, their style etc.

After this Paqui has started to explain the U.S.A in the interwar periods using the presentation of this unit which you can find here on the blog.
We have started correcting the questions about this content, that  Paqui gave us before the weekend. One question which  my mate Andrei has asked was: What did farmers do to increase  production?
After we has asked some questions Paqui has written a small scheme of this:

- Huge demand for U.S.A products in the USA and also from the European countries
-The American Way of Life became a model for the rest of the world

-Financial bubble and real estate bubble to the increasing demand for stocks and dwellings and the expansion of banking loans.
-The other face of prosperity: Prohibition and development of the mafia and the Ku Klux Klan

-Europe's recovery created an overproduction crisis in the USA: stocks started acumulating farmers and companies, unemployement started increasing in 1927.

-Public evidence of the crisis: Black Thursday (24th october 1929)

Vocabulary:

• Striking: llamativo
• Dwelling: viviendas
• Eviction: desahucio
• Foreclosure: embargo de una propiedad
• Drought: sequía
• Hoovervilles: Poblados chabolistas de Hoover

2nd June 2016

Hi, mates!! Once again it's my turn to do the journal, yeeeiiii (NOPE)

Let's talk about what have we done in class today:
At first we have talked about the "Prosperity and consumer society" and we have connected it with the "American way of life". Then we have continued with " The other face of prosperity" and as example we have Charles Chaplin films, in which most of them he played the role of vagabond. We have had a long discussion with this topic because we have talked about the Prohibition in the USA and Paqui has explained that this caused more problems than solutions. The Prohibition was a moral decission trying to avoid that people become corrupted with the consumption of alcohol. Then María Lucas has asked about the drugs and se have and we have started talking about tobacco and drugs, specially marijuana. Our conclusion is that even though that we know that drugs are bad for us we continue consuming the because the idea of being illegal attract us.

After that Andrei has asked if it was true that the United Kingdom will be separated of the European Union and Paqui has told us about a piece of news in which Gibraltar says that if the United Kingdom leaves the EU it will belong to Spain again. As most of us didn't know where is Gibraltar located we have seen some maps .


This is Gibraltar

Here is Gibraltar

Here you have this link in which you can see different photos of Gibraltar                               

Benjamin, who was there, has told us about the money they use (pounds), their language (Spanish and English) and the monkeys (the unique wild monkeys in Europe) that throw you things.
Paqui has told us that Gibraltar is a tax haven and that there are about 20,000 societies there.


These is the race of monkeys that exist in Gibraltar (Macaca Sylvanus).
And here you have this link that explains why are monkeys in Gibraltar. And if you want more here you can read more about them!

Finally we have talked about the Ku Klux Klan, a racist organization which killed the black people who disappointed white people, specially in the South States.




Do you want to know a curiosity? The Ku Klux Klan has an official page (www.kkk.com) but it's impossible to access!!Why?
But here you have some links which explain these organization:
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Ku_Klux_Klan.aspx
http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan
http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/history.html?LEARN_Cat=ExtremismLEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_Americaxpicked=4item=kkk


I say bye with this video of a Gibraltar monkey attacking a woman!! BYE!!
HOMEWORK
For homework we have to write 10 questions with their answers from the scheme that Paqui gave us last day.

VOCABULARY
Roaring-> rugiente
Roaring twenties-> felices años 20
Tramp-> vagabundo
Prohibition-> ley seca
Lobby-> pasillo
Lobby²-> try to influence politicians to legislate un someone's favour/ group of people who try to do this
Speakeasy-> bar ilegal
Overproduction crisis-> crisis de superproducción
Profitability-> rentabilidad

Two videos about the other face of prosperity in the USA during the Roaring Twenties

These two videos show some negative aspects of the USA during the Roaring Twenties. The first one is about Prohibition and the development of the mafia and the second one is about the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a racist organization appeared in the 19th century which reached 4 million members during the 20s: 

Presentation about the USA in the interwar period and some videos

This is the presentation about the USA during the 20s and 30s. Have a look on it to undertand the contents of the scheme I gave you:

And here you have some documentaries: 

- two chapters of a TV series about the history of the USA in the 20th century (America in the 20th century). The first one is about the Roaring Twenties and the second one about the Great Depression:

- a very good mini-series by ARTE channel about the Great Depression

24th May 2016

Hello ! I'm Benjamin and today is my turn to make the journal, so let's go !

At the beginning of the class we have handed in the project "Art Catalogue", and Jaime and Antonio had made the exam of this unit. Then we have reviewed quickly what we saw yesterday (createion of the USSR and Stalinism).

After that we have continued with the unit.

First we have seen "Cult of Stalin's personality", which was propaganda which presented Stalin as a big leader, as a good person, a man who is always in command, a man who takes care of his people...

http://www.modelgovernment.org/images/great-stalin1.jpg

http://www.modelgovernment.org/images/great-stalin1.jpg

We have also seen "Stalin Purges", which were constant repression against anyone suspected of critizicing the regime. The Communist Party was purged several times and many of its leaders were killed. More than 1,5 million people were arrested and 700.000 were killed in the 1930s

They also eliminated the memebers of the Communist Party that had falled from grace from the official pictures

http://englishrussia.com/images/soviet_photoshop/1.jpg

http://englishrussia.com/images/soviet_photoshop/3.jpg

But they only could erase the photos the had, so there were also a lot of original copies of this photos.

The people who opposed the ideas of Stalinist were carried to Gulag, which were forced labour camps created across the USSR. Millions of people were confined there, accussed of being enemies of the country.

http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l103/VidenteGris/stalin_gulag.jpg

http://www.larepublica.ec/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Gulag.jpg

NEW VOCABULARY

Cult of personality: Culto a la personalidad

In command: al mando

Stalinist purges: purgas estalinistas

NKVD: secret police

Forced labour camps: campos de trabajos forzados

Serve a sentence: cumplir condena

Hello, I am Carlota.
Today in social class, Paqui has started putting dates of the last exams for this course. 
Then she has spoken of the Creation of the USSR: The Union of  Soviet Socialist Republics was created in 1922: federal State formed by 11 republics.
Totalitarian State:
-One/ Single-party system: the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, considered to be the representatives of the proletariat. The Communist Party controlled all the institutions.
- No division of powers: ruled by Supreme Soviet which controlled both, the executive and the legislative powers.
-Those who opposed the government were persecuted and punished.



Structure of power in the USSR
The people elected into two chambers, Soviet of the union and Soviet of the nationalities and this pass to the Supreme Soviet. The General Secretary of the Communist Party was the Presidium.

The New Economic Policy.
Economic policy launched by Lenin in order to recover production after the wars and the awful consequences of food requisition. Lenin defined it as State capitalism:
-privatization of lands and small factories.
- the State kept the control of the big industries, banks and foreign trade.
Results: economy quickly recovered.

Fight for power: STALIN AND TROTSKY.
-Trotsky wanted to export revolution to other countries (proletarian internationalism)
-Stalin wanted to consolidate revolution in the USSR.
Finally Stalin managed to control the Communist Party, eliminated his enemies and became the leader of the USSR in 1927. Trotsky had to exile and was killled by Stalin's order in 1940.

                  


STALINISM (1927 - 1953)
Period under Stalin's government.
He changed the orientation of the foreign policy. His priority was to transform the USSR into an industrial power. He imposed:
-Collectivization of all the private properties: lands, factories, transports and banks became State property.
-Centrally planned economy: the State controlled and planned economy through the Ministry of Planning. They elaborated Five-Year Plans, in which they decided on all the production of the USSR. All the producers had to carry out these plans.
-Priority to heavy industry, to the detriment of light industry.
Results: quick industralization of the USSR but permanent lack of consumers' goods and consolidation of the black market.