Revolution in China

I think that in both of these sources, the people shared a similar goal, to destroy the old ways. In land reform in action, a peasant strikes an official. As the book says, "Not in living memory had any peasant ever struck an official." This is a type of revolution that the people have never seen before, one that involves using violence. This is further displayed in Make Revolution! The Red Guards violently invade the home of the official and one of them begins to smash old cups, which are essentially artifacts from old China. Also, it seems in both of these that Mao is attempting to rile up the lower to middle class. The Red Guards consisted of people from all social classes, however they specifically targeted any "anti-Maoist" elements, which is basically anyone who is rich.

Arc de Triomphe Research Questions

Why is there a gap in between the years that the arc commemorates?  It commemorated the time of Napoleon Bonaparte and the WWI effort, but it completely ignores the segment that connects the two - the colonial era.  Why did France leave out this significant piece of history?  Is it scared that recognizing the full truth will alter the image of France?  What does this show about France?  Because France has changed significantly since these happenings, is L'Arc de Triomphe still a relevant monument that accurately portrays France?

Symbols of Strength

The propaganda posters of Rosie the Riveter greatly increased the role of women in the war effort.  During WWI, women were viewed much differently than during WWII.  Originally, American women were not really seen as involved in the war effort.  When the men left to go fight, the women were left with no choice but to assume the jobs of the men back home.  It was seen as just a temporary thing.  They believed that everything would go back to the way things were when the men got back.  After the war, however, the image of women in society began to shift from being an obedient housewife to being independent and free.  This brought about the 1920's image of the flapper.  During WWII, the image of women continued to change and gain momentum.  For example, Rosie the Riveter was a propaganda poster that portrayed a strong working woman.  This image gave women a newfound strength that allowed them to participate in a wider range of jobs including those that were thought to be traditionally for men.  With new ideals for women, people were now able to freely contribute to the war effort, with out feeling tied back by society.

WWII in Our Culture

Saving Private Ryan

The Sound of Music

The Diary of Anne Frank

A Separate Peace

The Sunflower

Band of Brothers

Valkyrie

Letters from Iwo Jima

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

Maus

The Resolution of Revolutions

In the text book we read about two particular instances where the people of china were starting a revolution against those who are in power.  One thing that struck me while I was reading was how much the past affected the revolution.  For instance in one, the people were afraid to rebel because they thought the government (which at the time were just figure heads), was still backed my military force like it was in the past.  In the other revolution it was interesting how the chinese Red Guards felt that in order to move forward and start a revolution, something new, you must first destroy everything old.  This makes no logical sense if the history you are destroying is porcelain cups.  cups hold virtually no historical value at all so why would they think its important to destroy there history which they spent so much time making in the first place.  Another thing that I began to notice was how unique Martin Luther King actually was, coming up with a non violent way of protesting, and starting his own revolution.  Revolutions thrive of feelings, anger being the strongest a human has, so to have a revolution without anger and in turn without violence is a crazy idea.  The reason this came to mind was because both of the stories of revolutions displayed anger.

Hmmmm.........

Both of these cases seem to have the same end goal: achieve a new form of governement by overthrowing the old. But although this is the case for both of them, the means are very different. The first case begins with a non-violent judicial way to change the way land is distributed, but through coaxing from the soon-to-be government, it soon turns violent. The second case begins as a violent act, much like the ending of the first act. The students, rifled up by the government's propaganda, seek to not only get rid of the past government, but also the culture. They view the destruction of the past culture as the only way to move forward, making the end justify the means.

Hidden Agenda

During the rise of Communism in China, the ideas and rhetoric that sounded beneficial to the country held a hidden agenda that created a corrupt society.  Communism's ideals of trying to create complete equality do not appear to be bad.  However, in practice, the rules and regulations lead to a mob like mentality that caused chaos and a reversal of power, rather than equality.  For example, the first excerpt clearly shows the reversal of power.  Instead of treating everyone equally, there is a complete switch, in which the peasants and government are abusing the former people who held power.  Although the communists say they are just trying to enforce equality and redistribute land, they are in fact creating an extreme imbalance of power in which one group holds complete control over the other.  The excerpt on page 769 also demonstrated the destruction of lives that happened through the rise of the Red Guards.  The Red Guards had a mob mentality - acting impulsively and taking the law into their own hands.  The excerpt reminded me of The Red Scarf Girl, a novel that I read in 8th grade.  In this book, a girl grows up through the time of the cultural revolution in China.  As the Red Guards gain more and more power, a sense of fear is instilled in the society. 

Communism in China is really not anything like the ideals of communism.  It created a way to change the mindset of  the proletarian population, flipping the positions of power.  It also created much chaos, anger, and destruction of social norms, making China dependent on other forms of government.  This gave the Red Guards along with Chairman Mao a chance to assume complete control, taking advantage of the chaotic situation.