Rhodes Memorial

I found several journalistic pieces from the late 19th century to earlier 20th century on the NY Times archive website.  One article praises Rhodes effort in trying to unify South Africa regardless of race.  It's quite biased in favor of Rhodes, as evidenced by the comparison between Rhodes and the Count of Monte Cristo.  In another piece, Cecil Rhodes' trial is documented.  Rhodes argues that the President Kruger of the Transvaal asked for it by not keeping promises to his citizens.  He went on to argue that the British were there to protect civili rights.  

Articles Relating to 228 Peace Memorial Park

This article covers the background of the 228 Incident, and its importance to modern-day Taiwan, especially in the way it's remembered and honored.  It is a good piece of unbiased, journalistic writing.  This article is a very opinionized piece in opposition to the reign of Chiang Kai-Shek, a good example of an argumentative piece.  And finally, this article is another unbiased article about an effort by Taiwanese-Americans to get the US government to help promote Taiwan on the world stage and remember the 228 Incident.

The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall

The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall (also known as the "Memorial for compatriots killed in the Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Forces of Aggression), built in 1985 by the municipal government of the city of Nanjing, does what its name suggests. It is a memorial for the estimated 300,000 people (estimation by government of China including civilians; the Japanese government estimates around the range of 200,000 all-military deaths- note the nationalistic bias) who died in the Nanjing Massacre during World War II.

Although the memorial itself is not at the center of such conflicts, the Nanjing Massacre is a source of tension and controversy- especially between China and Japan. One reason the Memorial Hall was created was due to the trend in the 1980s of Japanese politicians and writers attempting to alter Japanese historical textbooks and write the Massacre off as a minor incident; The Chinese government wanted to remind its people and the rest of the world of the event, and that such happenings would not be tolerated.

Visitors to the Memorial Hall often remark that the mood of the Hall is very somber and silent. One such experience is referenced here in a blog-post by a traveller who visited the Memorial Hall. The poster also subtly (and perhaps unconsciously) argues that the previous attempts by Japanese politicians to play down the event were bad (for lack of a better-fitting term), and agrees with the Chinese government's reasons for creating the memorial.

Recently, the Japanese government has begun to offer compensation to those who were directly affected by the Nanjing Massacre. One woman (80 years old) named Xia Shuqin won 4.55 million Yen from the Japanese government in compensation (read about her story and the rest of this story here).

Also recently, a Chinese director named Lu Chuan has started to create a film called The City of Life and Death (also known as Nanjing! Nanjing!) that will document the Massacre from many different historical perspectives (with both fictional and non-fictional characters) and attempt to further explain the struggle of the those living in the city during the Massacre. (Somewhat Off-topic: I found this quote from the article quite amusing:

" The director believes there are three ways to solve China-Japanese relationship problems.

'First, we destroy Japan. Second, Japan destroys us,' he says. 'Or the third way is we try really hard to understand each other.'

'I think we should choose the third way.' "

Seeing as this is a somewhat-recently-constructed memorial (as far as memorials go, at any rate...), there has not been much time for controversial stories to come out about it (as a quick Google-search will show). However, the issue itself- the Nanjing Massacre- is much more controversial than the memorial, and holds more potential for the fluidity of opinions.

El Angel de la Independencia

This monument is located on el Paseo de la Reforma in downtown Mexico City.
Officially known as Columna de la Independencia (cite in Spanish) it was built in 1910 to commemorate to beginning of Mexico’s War of independence, but later it began to represent the most important leaders of the war. It is a victory column signifying law, war, justice, and peace. At the top of the column lays an angel bronze statue holding a crown above Miguel Hidalgo head symbolizing victory. Surrounding the column there are many statues representing the heroes of the war and characteristics such as strength and innocence. This column is a very important traditional gathering place for celebrations, especially soccer victories. In 1986 the celebrations damaged the column so much it had to go under restoration. There have been two major restorations and some have been quite controversial. The first was due to the earthquake in 1957 and the second due to a celebration of the World Cup victory celebrations.
Another article I found that is more recent said that a copy of it was made and sent to Beijing for the Olympics. It was supposed to enhance Mexico’s relationship with China and to wish everybody the best of wishes. This symbol of independence, peace and friendship was able to do just that.

The Mysterious call--Berlin Wall

There was a phone call made just before the fall of the Berlin wall by the Socialist Party, who at the time were the communists' ruling Germany regarding the fall of the Wall. There are also those who believe that the GDR took down the all to make traveling abroad possible. At the time the populating was not allowed to travel abroad so it makes sense that they might have had an uprising that had the end result of t justification he collapse of the wall. There are many theories on how the wall fell, but there is always in the wall having been taken down.

The Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall may be one of the most well known monuments in the world. Its construction, and eventual fall were a symbol to the world of how separation in a country affects its people. In present day, some of the remaining parts of the wall are even being painted on. However, the most interesting article I found was this. It is about whether the fall of the Berlin wall was engineered by the GDR (German Democratic Republic), which was the east side of Germany, the socialist part. The controversy emerges from the statement made by Gunter Schabowski, a representative of the SED, when asked if the citizens of the GDR would be allowed to travel abroad and when it will take effect he said, "That is ... as far as I'm aware ... it is right now, immediately." Some of the press that was present at the conference took this as meaning the end of the Berlin Wall and it is interesting to see how one unclear statement can lead to so much controversy.

The Berlin Wall

After almost 20 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there are still issues surrounding it. It had just received a fresh lick of paint. This summer, the wall is going to repainted by the same people that painted it the first time. This is used to cover up the past. Some might think that by repainting the wall, the wall will stand out more and make people think more about what happened in the past. However, this is incorrect. People do not want to look at one of the country's down points, so they try to cover it up by painting it. The Germans are trying to erase their past. I think that this is an incorrect approach. I think that hiding something under a coat of paint will not erase the memory of the Wall. Instead I think that it should be memorialized as a monument so that the new generation will learn from the mistakes of separation.

Another issue in the world today is whether fall of Berlin Wall due to the GDR backing it up. In my opinion, this was brought up due to the tension that is present between Russia and the United States. The Berlin Wall was build by these countries (yes I know it was the USSR back then). This is a battle for power once more. Those that destroyed the Berlin Wall are seen are the "good guys" and each country wants to be viewed as such.

The monument of the battle of Verdun is of great importance. This battle took place in 1916. The people that were affected by this the most were the French and German families. The monument tries its best not to be one sided. It strives to portray that not only were the French suffering, but the German's were too. The monument does a good job of serving as an educational tool. Physically, the monument is placed in the center of the battle field. Placing it in the center helps commemorate all the soldiers that were lost during battle. All in all, the monument of the battle of Verdun, is a great monument in terms of visuals, and educational facts.

Christ the Redeemer

The name may seem unfamiliar to many but I'm sure that most people have seen the monument. The monument is very well known, but few people actually know much about the monument besides that it looks cool, which I can't argue because it is magnificent looking. Christ the Redeemer is located in Rio De Jainero, Brazil. It was built in 1921 by a group called the Catholic Circle of Rio. Christ the Redeemer stands at the very top of the Corcovado Mountain and is 112.2 feet tall without its base and 132.7 feet with the base. It was build out of reinforced concrete with a soapstone outer layer, because the soapstone can handle extreme weather conditions better.The statue was made as a monument to 100 years of Brazil's freedom from Portugal. In 1990, there was work done to restore some of the chips an cracks to the statue and few years ago,  there were some renovations to the mountain around the statue so that it was easier to assess the statue from the base.

Brandenburg Gate

I've changed my topic for this final project three times so far because I haven't been able to find any information on my past monuments. But I am surprised on the articles I have found and even more surprised on how recently the Brandenburg Gate has been in the news. This article talks about the 20th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan's trip to the gate, where he gave a memorable speech and "dared" Gobachev to "Tear Down this Wall." Press came to so many conclusions about Reagan and not so much about his appeal for freedom, but rather on the legacy he would leave behind. This is a argumentative secondary article and the author of this piece seems to have a positive attitude towards the events of Reagan's trip to Berlin. Unlike the general attitude of the news, the author argues that the president sticks to his "lasting visions" and helped bring freedom to this nation. I also found this article, written less than a year ago, about President Obama's trip to the same monument. A conservative, German chancellor condemns Obama for using the Gate as a "campaign backdrop." Other Berliners say that Obama should feel free to speak at the Brandenburg gate, which is open to anyone. Not only did I not know that this monument has been in the news so much over the past few years, but it is also a very popular spot for our own presidents. Ofcourse the events of Obama and Reagan that took place in Berlin differ, it's interesting to see how people in the same community react so differently to how "public" property is used. 

Memorial to the Victims of Communism

Journalistic:

        So far, I have been able to find some interesting information about the unveiling of this memorial. Entitled "Memorial to the Victims of Communism Unveiled in Prague" One of the major controversies came up when the Czech  government was deciding who to invite to the ceremony, and they discovered that the president at the time,Vaclev Havel, had previous ties to communism, and he was not invited initially. I just find this relevant because it's evident that just the opening of this memorial had some impact on the people. 

There was a lot of controversy going on in terms of women's presence in this memorial. When the sculptor Olbram Zoubek created it, he did not include any women in one of the many sculptures that he created for the monument. This stirred up a lot of feminism, because this women claimed that they had as much right to be honored by this monument as any men who suffered, because they suffered the wrath of communism as well. Just to give one example of a woman who suffered because of communism, this article talks about Milada Horakova and her connections to communism and the memorial.

Chemin Des Dames -- Commemoration and WW1

Chemin des Dames was once the road that the women of Louis XIV's court took to go to their summer homes, but more recently, it earned fame for the fact that it was the location of some of World War I's bloodiest battles. Because of its strategic location as the last ridge before the plains of Paris, lots of fighting occurred along it, and hundreds, if not thousands, of soldiers lived for months on end in an intricate network of caves dug into the hillside.

Even more interesting that this, though, are the soldiers who were used in the front lines of the battle during one of the main offensives when the French tried to reclaim the hill from the Germans: Confused, scared, and disoriented, the soldiers "mutinied" and refused to fight. Although they didn't harm any French, 27 of them were still shot, to set an example for any future mutineers.

It is only now, more than ninety years later, that the descendants of the mutineers were invited to see where their ancestors were shot. This is the first time, too, that they have even been acknowledged. How, in a democratic country, can such a thing happen? How, with the press, and lately, the internet, did these deaths go ignored? In a way, this re-surfacing of hidden events shows us that although we may get mad at other countries, such as Russia, for down-playing their histories, our allies, and ourselves, most definitely, have all done the same things.

However, not much other progress has been made regarding the process of memorializing these soldiers. Every town in France has a monument to soldiers who died in WWI, but the men still aren't put on them. Didn't they give their life to the war too? Don't they count as much as others? How can they be discriminated against because of their political opinion? They lived in a democratic country, right?

Maybe not. In 1998, France's prime minister, Lionel Jospin, said that it was time to re-integrate the mutineers into the country's collective historical memory. However, the president at the time, Jacques Chirac, immediately said that remembering them would be disgracing the soldiers that did die for their country in WWI. No matter your position on this issue, though, here are some relevant sites to look about this (unfortunately, some are in French, but shouldn't be too hard to understand if you're taking French):

This article talks about the mutineers, and commemoration.

This article, from 1917 (and in English!), talks about Chemin des Dames in general.

This pamphlet, published by the French government, talks about Senegalese soldiers' role in WWI, specifically mentions Chemin des Dames. If you don't understand French, it still has some cool pictures of the Senegalese battalions.

Mamayev Hill, Volgograd, Russia

Mamayev Hill is a monument commemorating the battle of Stalingrad, which occured from 1942-1943 in Stalingrad Russia (now Volgograd.) It was arguably the greatest victory for the soviets during World War 2, and Russians felt that the great battle deserved a monument in its commemoration. The linked article comes from "The Voice of Russia," and although not too argumentative, it is interesting to see the underlying pride that seeps through the words describing the intimidating monument. Through this article one will learn that according to the author the Motherland statue commemorating the soldiers of Stalingrad is the pinnacle of Russia, exuding it's superiority and somewhat troublesome past...perhaps indicating that it has overcome these troubles (true? eh not really.)

Now, a once war torn Stalingrad is now the prosperous city of Volgograd, as seen through the lenz of this author. From looking around at several documents, it has come to my attention that Volgograd is quite the "hotspot" for tourism. This would make sense, considering the "reality" of the turmoil this city once went through, the hardship it faced, yet now it is a positive, productive city.

Ironically, today; however, the monument was in need of urgent repairs to prevent it from toppling over. The beloved monument seems to be in danger of decay due to the high winds of Russia. This obviously illustrates how old the monument is, but also how important it is to the Volgogradian people.

l'Arc de Triomphe as a Symbol

The Arc de Triomphe has been and continues to be a major symbol of what France is and strives to be.  This monument dates back to 1806 when Napoleon wanted to build an arc glorifying the French army, Grande Armée.  It was finished in 1836, complete with four towering reliefs along each of the sides.  One of the most significant of these is La Marseillaise.  Similar to the nationalistic song, the artwork symbolizes the calling forth of the people of France.  Not only does the Arc de Triomphe bring us back to the nationalistic roots of France, but it also has continued to be present through out the times.  For instance, during WWI an unidentifiable French soldier lost his life.  By burying him beneath the monument, he symbolizes both the effort and the loss of the war.  In 1961, John F Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy paid their respects to the WWI tomb of the unknown soldier.  Two years later, after his death, his wife requested that an eternal flame, like the one above the tomb, was placed above his grave at the Arlington National Cemetery.  Being one of the major symbols of France, many events have been centered around it. More recently, in 1995 during the time of the Algerian opposition movements, a bomb went off near the Arc de Triomphe, wounding seventeen people.  The Arc de Triomphe is more over a representation of the triumph of France's past, the history through their eyes and what they strive to be.

Rhodes Memorial Sources

First I'll start off with my Journalistic piece.  Unfortunately there aren't very many news articles about my memorial, so for the time being I only have one Journalistic piece.   I found was a Article from the New York Times about not specifically the Rhodes Memorial, but about Cecil Rhodes himself.  When  trying to learn as much as you can about a Memorial it is almost just as useful to research the person or event the memorial is commemorating.  

Also since the Rhodes memorial is located in Cape Town, South Africa, I found the website for the Cape Times.  I found a good article about a recent defacement of a statue of Cecil Rhodes.  This article would have explained a lot about how the public in South Africa viewed Cecil Rhodes.  However, in order to access the article you had to pay and subscribe to the Cape times, so Unfortunately this article didn't end up working out.

Jewish Rescuer's in Yad Vashem

My argumentative article discusses how Yad Vashem honors the non-Jewish rescuers during the Holocaust. Most of these non-Jewish rescuers took in Jewish children and even families while they were on the run from the Nazi's. The question my article raises is why aren't the Jewish rescuers allowed to be honored in Yad Vashem, why are they neglected? The Jewish rescuers consist of the Jews who went by different names on the trains and searching the country for a safe haven to turn to. It sounds like the author of this article brought up this issue to the directors of Yad Vashem and the answer he received was that the Jews were simply "doing their duty" and still Yad Vashem refuses to honor the Jewish rescuers. The group of people who are pushing for the honoring of the Jewish rescuers say that they are not asking for the same major recognition as the non-Jews but would like an acknowledgement of some sort. 

my other journalistic articles are:  

Human Face on the Holocaust

This particular article focuses on the museum's creative way to incorporate history by using film, photographs and artifacts. This article interviews Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and touches on the architecture designed by Moshe Safdi.

Opening of Museum at Yad Vashem 

This article is simply announcing the opening of Yad Vashem's new museum in which leaders from 40 different nations attended. It includes the series of events that took place at the opening of the museum and the meaning behind the events such as the children's choir. The leaders of the different nations are featured with quotes and explanations of how they feel about the opening of the new museum. 

Berlin Holocaust Memorial

Memorial used as public toilet
Berlin's Holocaust Memorial has attracted millions of visitors since it was inaugurated in May 2005. However, some of these visitors have shown little respect for the memorial -- and have used it as a public toilet. The article talks about the various methods undertaken to solve the behavior.

BBC News Memorial Opening
In this article about the opening of the Berlin Holocaust Memorial it talks about the many controversies surrounding the memorial

Almost 8 million visitors since 2005
This article talks about the experiences of visitors within the memorial. It also explains the ongoing evolution the memorial has experienced.

And finally, while looking through different news articles I came across a comment by a holocaust denier that I thought was laughable, but also slightly disturbing that he actually believed what he was saying. From this news site
quote: "This blatant lie named ” The Holocaust” has been exposed, and the world needs to know that fact. Though people still fear the “Scarlet ‘A’” designation when discussing this subject, they should confidently address any medium which chooses to display Holocaust historical information with pointed questions about the lack of physical and anecdotal proof of the event. For example; No Jewish Holocaust ‘expert’ (They are ALL experts on the ‘Holocaust’) will furnish ONE NAME of a Jewish person executed by Zyklon B gas in a concentration camp gas chamber during World War 2. There is a valid why reason Jews are reluctant to provide that name: Because NO ONE, Jewish or otherwise, was executed with Zyklon B gas in a concentration camp gas chamber during World War 2. No one witnessed any gassings of Jews, no training was provided the alleged executioners (And, if one learns of the difficulties encountered with the use of Zyklon B, they would realize the futility of executing people with it)., and no budget wass set aside to fund the executions. It is quite obvious that Jews simply re-circulated their World War 1 atrocity propaganda (virtually word for word..) and gave it the ‘treatment’ to perpetuate a gargantuan lie, which has survived for decades after it was first told."

Monument to Stalin - Prague

Stalin's monument has been replaced with many things, and all of them have been unable to change the fact that for seven years, a 50-meter high monument to the Soviet leader towered over all that passed. There are dark stories surrounding the statue. One news report listed the tragedies surrounding it: the death of the creator, model, and even the driver of the truck that paraded Stalin's massive, decapitated marble head through the streets of Prague after the monument's destruction. Some took these successive unfortunate events as bad omens, which only darkens the clouds hovering over the site where the monument once stood. One blogger rightly points out, however, that different people are going to have different views of Stalin, and these views will affect how they view a monument in his honor. Stalin is within living memory for many, but he is also far before the time of many. The monument is much greater of a controversy for those who lived under and remember Communist government and Stalin's rule.

When I began researching this monument, I expected to find a lot of articles discussing the stain it left on Prague--even after its demolition. I guessed correctly; there are many sources that condemn the statue as "evil" or "hated". However, these sources tend to be from outside of the Czech Republic. A contributor to one travel blog site seems to have a very strong opinion of the monument, but not once does he reference a conversation with a Prague local, whose opinion would be more relevant. Although outside opinions are key when researching how views of a man with such world importance are valid, there is a distinction to be made between opinions of Stalin and opinions of the former monument in his honor. People who view the monument as having left an ugly stain are probably more concerned with who it was commemorating. While reading an article from the New York Times, however, I saw a very different viewpoint. One man protested that monuments are history, and should be kept simply for that purpose (regardless of sour opinions of who they honor). In most sources I found, younger generations were not really concerned with the site or its history. Obviously, different generations are going to have wildly different views on a subject like this, but there is a point where they meet. Everyone in Prague, when planning to meet up at the site of the former monument, says "Meet at Stalin".

Hands of Victory - A Painful Symbol from a Terrible Regime or a Symbol with a Lesson

Although I tried to find articles from the time the Hands of Victory monument in Baghdad, Iraq was erected, I could not. But I did find many interesting articles that were more recent about the debates going on about whether to destroy this monument or leave it up. Some see the monument as a symbol of national pride or a reminder of past mistakes. They believe that it is necessary to preserve these monuments to preserve their history. Many other people see the monument as an exaltation of Saddam's regime and find this to be a painful memory. They believe that to rebuild their country, this monument and others similar to it must be destroyed.
The new Iraqi government agreed with them and in January 2007, they started the demolition. Interestingly, just a few days later the U.S. government demanded that they stop the demolition, which brings up the question of why they would do such a thing. What does it matter to them? I can see no real reason except for the U.S. government believing that this monument will discourage the same thing from happening again. This interference of the U.S. has angered the Iraqi government though.
This debate that has risen in Iraq is not a new one. Several other monuments from authoritarian regimes are being or have been removed. It is a controversial topic, and the answer comes down to the meaning of the monument. The problem is that the monument means different things to different people. Some see it as pride, others as Saddam's vanity. With this monument, they are thinking of reaching a compromise where one of the swords is left, and the rest are melted down and made into a new arch to represent their new country without losing its history.

Two Journalistic Pieces:
Both this article and this article present both sides in the debate of whether the monuments left over from Saddam Hussein's regime should be left as a tribute to history or destroyed.
Opinion Piece:
This opinion piece written by an Iraqi sculptor discusses his view on the removal of Iraq's monuments. It does not reference the Hands of Victory directly, but it is interesting to see how artists view the subject of the destruction of these monuments.
An interesting "article" to see:
Although this article, titled the Seven Wonders of the Totalitarian World, doesn't contain much information about this monument, it is fun article to read. It has pictures of monuments to rulers we have studied and other famous totalitarian rulers. I found the one in Libya especially intriguing.

Peace Park (Children's Monument)

The Children's Peace Monument is part of the Peace Park in Japan, which is located in Hiroshima and dedicated to the A-bomb victims. I chose the Children's Peace Monument (also known as Tower of 1000 Cranes, Statue of the A-Bomb Children...etc) because of its moving story. The statue is specifically dedicated to Sadako, a child affected by the radiation from the bomb. She folded 1000 origami cranes, believing that it would cure her leukemia that she got from the radiation. Unfortunately she did not get to finish her goal (she passed away because the leukemia), but her classmates finished the cranes for her and now her story is well-known in Japan. The monument is surrounded by booths filled with strings and displays of 1000 cranes that students from Japan and around the world have made in memory of Sadako and the other A-Bomb children. This makes the monument an unusual one, and involves active interaction with it to keep the story alive. However, in this article, vandalism seems to be an issue in the Peace Park, although not necessarily a threat to the Children's Peace Monument. There have been several accusations of the criminals, but no one really seems to have been officially blamed. Some say that "the culprits could be deranged and disaffected members of the peace movement itself", which seems almost out of the question. The vandalism in itself is a disgrace, but the fact that it took place in the PEACE park is ridiculous. I still don't understand the motivation behind such an action, any ideas?