Merrick’s posterous

Capitalism:

Capitalism is the complete opposite to Communism. Any money that is gained is not owned by the state, and is privately owned.

Communism:

In communism everyone is equal; any profit that is made is owned by the state. The Soviet Union are communists.

Domino Theory:

First introduced by President Dwight D Eisenhower in a press conference in 1954:

Finally, you have the broader considerations of what might follow what you would call the 'falling domino' principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have the beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences."

In the domino cartoon attached there are a row of dominoes with names of countries that could be influenced by communism. At one side there is a Vietcong Soldier and on the other side there is a U.S Soldier. The Vietcong soldier is attempting to knock the dominoes over whilst the U.S Soldier is trying to keep them stood upright. This cartoon is very biased towards Capitalism; because all the countries that communism is attempting to take over are slanted suggesting that it ruins countries. However all the Capitalist countries are stood upright.

The Cold War:

·     The Cold War was between the Soviet Union and the United States. These two were allies during World War II and both helped in crushing the Nazi Regime.

·     There was no actual conflict, although the USSR and US supplied arms to opposing sides in conflicts; such as South Korea and North Korea in the Korean War.

·     There was a massive expansion in arms on all sides, especially nuclear. Even Britain used strategic nuclear bombers, such as the Avro Vulcan.

·      The difference in political ideology was a main cause of the Cold War.

·     There was such an arms-race that there were enough nuclear missiles to decimate the planet a dozen times.

Links for further Reading:

�  BBC Bitesize: ideological differences - Stalin vs Truman

�  HistoryLearningSite - What was the Cold War?

�  Spartacus - The Domino Theory 

Videos:

British Fighter Jets attacking a Russian Bomber

The Cold War Today and What Could have happened

http://merrickeya.glogster.com/worldwar2effects/

• Short Intro
• Reasons why he is responsible
• Other Factors
• Summary - My Opinion

Some have said that the Nazi-Soviet Pact was the single most important reason for the start of the Second World War. Would you agree with this judgement? Explain your answer. 

Planning

·      short intro

·      reasons for - allowed Hitler to expand, triggered war, SCAB

·      reasons against - appeasement & Neville chamberlain, Hitler's aggressive expansion

·      summary - my opinion

The Nazi-Soviet Pact was signed between Germany and the Soviet Union. The main part of the pact stated that there would be no fighting between the two countries but their was an additional secret section which said that Poland would be divided up between Hitler and Stalin. Some people have said that the Nazi-Soviet Pact was the sole reason for the start of WWII. There are many reasons which agree and disagree with this theory.

The pact was partly a result of the failed talks between Stalin and Chamberlain. They were all extremely suspicious of each other and didn't trust anyone. If Stalin decided to join with Hitler in this pact Stalin would gain half of Poland, no war and power in Eastern Europe. Another cause of the pact was Choice. Stalin had a choice of becoming allied with Britain or with Nazi Germany; he of course being a communist chose whichever one gave him the most profit, the allaince with Nazi Germany. The fact that Chamberlain had been appeasing Nazi Germany also assisted Stalin in decided who he and the Soviet Union would become allies with. Stalin believed that Britain would abandon the Soviet Union and leave them to fight Nazi Germany on their own. In addition to all these reasons, when Britain sent a negotiator to the Soviet Union they sent an official who had almost no power and they sent him on the slowest for of transport to Russia, Stalin got fed up with waiting and cancelled negotiations.

This pact was extremely good for Hitler because it allowed him to expand his empire even further as he now had half of Poland; however he had no intention of staying allied with the Soviets. Hitler planned to invade the Soviet Union, a plan which he carried out with no success. This sparked the beginning of the Second World War. With half of Poland he was now closer to the Soviet Union so could mount a better Offensive against the Communists, and he now had more Lebensraum (Living Space) available to him and the 3rd Reich.

However, Appeasement and Neville Chamberlain could have also caused the Second World War. The way that Hitler had been appeased in the post-war period had made him think that he was indestructible and that no major force worldwide was going to stop him. Appeasement had also made Hitler stronger because he had managed to seize more land before the war, so he could expand the Nazi Regime and forces across the majority of Europe. 

Another major reason of the greatest conflict in human history occurring was the personality of the man who had thrown the world into turmoil, Adolf Hitler. Hitler was very aggressive, and this showed in his invasion of the European Continent. He offered no warning and just took what he pleased. It had become apparent to the Allied Nations that he needed to be stopped, therefore the War began. 

In summary I believe that the Nazi-Soviet Pact did not spark World War II, and infact it was a number of factors that contributed to the overall conflict. But overall I think that the main cause of the war was the Fascist Dictator Adolf Hitler. It was he who decided to invade countries, murder millions to create a perfect race and who decided to make the 3rd Reich. Ultimately he had to be stopped, thus World War II began.    

Links for further reading:

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RUSnazipact.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir1/nazisovietpactrev1.shtml

How Did Hitler Come To Power?

Hitlers plan was rubbish  and hitler was hiding and making speeches to his own supporters                                                                                                                                                

because he wanted to be a dictator and didn't want everyone to have a say on what happened in his country.  

in july 1932 they promised very attractive proposistions and their share of the vote increased, however in November that year the vote for the Nazi Party decreased

The German Parliament building (Reichstag) was set on fire in 1933 just before the election

More people became afraid of the communists therefore voted for the Nazis because they wanted protecting.

Why did people support Hitler?

They wanted a better quality of life

The German people wanted someone to blame for their suffering

He offered new things for all of the classes          

Nazi Beliefs

They were extremely annoyed with Versailles and wanted to strike back with vengeance to reclaim the land lost.

So that everyone would be racially pure, and would be called the master race

Living Space for the German People

Links for further reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler's_rise_to_power

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/hitler_adolf.shtml = BBC website, explaining where Hitler began and how he came to power and what he did to get to power.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/history/mwh/ir1/chamberlainandappeasementrev1.shtml = A BBC Bitesize Website, explaining the definition of appeasement, and also showing examples of appeasement including Neville Chamberlain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causes_of_World_War_II = Wikipedia, Showing all of the causes of World War II. Including all of the conflicts before the war and other things such as the rise of Facism.

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/2WWmunich.htm = Spartacus, explaining what actually happened in the Munich Agreement.