Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Armenian Genocide

The Armenian Genocide, also known in Armenia as the "Great Crime", is often referred to as the first genocide of modern times. The Great Crime will be the first time that the term genocide would be used, it described a mass killing of one ethnic group. The Armenian Genocide started off as a hope for a revolution for Armenian People. For years The Armenians were controlled by others, such as: The Greeks, Persians, Romans, and the Ottoman Empire. With the rapid decrease in the Ottoman Empires strength and dwindling land the time was ripe to for a revolution, this revolution was known as the, " Young Turk Movement". The Nationalists won the movement and gained power, they were very discriminative and hateful towards the Armenian people. This is when the Genocide would start three hundred Armenian leaders will be jailed, killed, and tortured in Constantinople. Due to the outbreak of World War I the genocide is silent to the rest of the world. The Turks, continued there blood bath on the Armenians and accused them of aiding the Russians, this fuelled the genocide and the Turks would start to round up thousands of Armenians and kill them on the spot. Once World War I was over the radical Turkish leaders fled in fear of punishment but not after killing over a million and a half Armenian people.




The genocide of the Armenian people can't be summed up in one word, the adjectives such as horrific, malicious, and detesting does nothing to describe the horrendous actions that were carried out on the Armenians.  It is also mind boggling that such heinous crimes can go unnoticed and no justice taken. The Turks were allowed to just leave scot free after decimating a culture, they killed almost one and a half million people, in very grotesque ways yet there was not an ounce of punishment on the Turks. This genocide is seen again in about forty years with Adolf Hitler in the reins. It can also be witnessed today in middle eastern countries, radical leaders still try to kill millions of other racial, religious, or ethnic group of people whom they differ with. It is ridiculous that these actions can still be so prevalent in the twenty first century.  

American Women


With the United States involved in World War I, the men of the United States were off fighting across seas. This caused a shortage in the labour force in the home front of The United States causing the Women to fill the gaps in the factories. There was also a need for increased production of war time goods. However, the work place was not the only place that women would step in and show that they are ready for action, almost 30,000 women  joined the armed forces. Despite trying to help their country, the women who joined the armed forces were still discriminated against, yet they all pulled through and carried out what needed to be done to make their country successful. Without the women of our country the United States would have not faired as well as it did with its entry into WWI.

Political Cartoon




This political cartoon highlights the details found in The Zimmerman Note.
The Zimmerman Note was a note written by Germany and was supposed to go to Mexico,
but was intercepted and translated in between. The note tried to coax Mexico into attacking America
to keep them from entering the War in Europe. Germany promised Mexico the land that they had lost to
America. If this had happened the tide of World War I may have had a far different outcome. This also 
underlined the slyness of Germany.

Wilson's 14 Points



1)Freedom of Navigation amongst the seas- This is the second of Wilson's Fourteen points. For the most part this point is still in existence today. His point stated that every nation should have open transportation of the seas in both peace and wartime.

2) A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. This is Wilson's fourteenth point and is still seen today this association of nations is call The United Nations.


3)His first point was to put an end to secret treaties. Wilson wanted to make all treaties public knowledge. This would prevent possible outbreaks of war. This unfortunately does not happen today at all. Countries make secret alliances with other countries all the time. This is to try an secure power over other nations, so as long as there is a need to be powerful this will never be possible.


4) His fourth point was that national armaments would be reduced to a level needed for domestic safety. During the time of the USSR most nations had large standing armies, however since the break up of the USSR most Nations have decreased their armies.


The most important point of his fourteen, in my opinion was his fourteenth point, the creation of the league of nations. This allowed for a way for all powerful nations to be on the same page with one another.