Thursday, April 29, 2010

yugoslavia and soviet union split











How did Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia, keep the split somewhat separate from the Soviet Union and Stalin? What made the separation such a success? If he had done something different would the split not have come out to the same result? Did Tito succeed in what he wanted to accomplish? Tito was formally an ally to Stalin, so Stalin set up a spy in Yugoslavia party as soon as Tito’s leading role in Yugoslavia strengthened his position and gave him the opportunity to give Yugoslavia more room to have its own interests than other leaders and their countries. A couple years before World War II Tito had survived Stalin’s purge of Yugoslav communists in the Soviet Union. In 1946 Tito made his own constitution that resembled the soviet constitution. Tito also refused to make his country like the Soviet bloc; however, Stalin ejected Yugoslavia from the Communist Information Bureau. For the time being, it gave Tito political leadership that soon moved away of the state domination of Stalinism. The conflict between the two leaders Stalin and Josip Brav Tito resulted in the Yugoslavia expulsion from the communist information in 1948. It was also known as the first to break from Stalin’s communist bloc in 1948. Some evidence states that the conflict was because of Josip Brav Tito’s national pride and because he wouldn’t commit Stalin. This had already made some friction between the two countries before World War II. The friction led to a split, eventually leading to Tito’s refusal to Moscow as the supreme communist authority. Stalin was also angry that Tiot wanted to merge Yugoslavia and Bulgaria, an idea that he accepted in theory but then took place without prior Soviet discussion. During 1952 The Sixth Communist Party Congress held a meeting that needed to prove that Yugoslavia could create a form of socialism superior to the Stalinists version which recently split. In the meeting, liberal forces created a constitution the separated party and political functions. They restored political rights to republics and civil rights to individuals. In my opinion the split wasn’t very subtle. The separation was a success because it gave Yugoslavia an opportunity to establish their own party. It gave them the ability to not fallow in the eyes of Stalin and to have their own rights. They are able to experience being their own country. Other than that, what’s the whole point of separating? In my opinion he could have made it more subtle and not get so many people involved, but if he didn’t get people involved would he be as successful? I don’t think so. I think he needed other people to do what he wanted to do. The expulsion eventually banished Yugoslavia from the international of association of socialist states. Between 1948 and 1952, the Soviet Union encouraged its allies to rebuild their military forces especially Hungry which was to be the leading forces in an eventual war against Yugoslavia. Tito got Yugoslavia involved in the Non- Aligned Movement, in which Yugoslavia was the leading force. The event was significant to Yugoslavia and Tito, but also for the global development of socialism, since it was the first major split between communist states.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

German Citizens







How did Germans not realize during World War 2 and The Holocaust that the Nazis were killing many Jews? The Jewish race was being eliminated and it decreased in size. Did they not care that a whole segment of their population was being threatened, dehumanized, and murdered just because Hitler did not think they deserved to live. Did they not seem to care about other people? Were they too selfish, or scared to do the right thing because they thought Hitler would have eventually killed them? Hitler probably would have killed them if they got in his way of destroying and taking over a part of the German population. Most German people trusted Hitler and thought that anything Hitler tried to do for their country was for the best. Many people in Germany loved Hitler and praised him like he was their god. They would not have guessed that Hitler could be the mastermind behind such a horrific tragedy destroying the lives of so many people. They trusted him and thought he was the best thing that ever happened to their country because he saved their country, when they needed a leader the most.
Most German citizens accepted the fact that Jews were being killed. They supported the Nazi movement of anti- Semitism. Most of the anti-Semitism popularity came from the Jewish neighbors. During the Kristallnacht “the night of broken glass,” most Germans supported this tragedy and helped with the burning. Wouldn’t they stand up for what they believed in? Wouldn’t they fight for what’s right and to stop the killing of innocent Jewish citizens? But I do agree that fighting against Hitler and the Nazis would be scary and would probably lead me to believe that what they are doing could eventually help our country. I would think eventually after a few years, Germans would realize that Hitler was killing many Jewish citizens. Wouldn’t they? Other Germans were too scared to speak their mind and didn’t want to be sent to the concentration camps if they didn’t participate in the action to kill the Jews. “The Holocaust was neither a German event nor a Jewish event. It was a human event. The same forces- racism, prejudice, fanaticism- that sent millions to the gas chambers has not disappeared.” (Lace pg. 7) Some say that the Holocaust never happened. Some say that it was the entire Germans fault and that they made it out of control. Some also say that it was the Jews fault. Many Germans claimed that they were only obeying orders when working in the death camps and participating in mass murder. Some were personally refusing what they were forced to do. The Germans would laugh when they used a specific technique to kill the Jews, like when the Jews were tied on to ropes and pulled behind trucks and fell, and then dragged across the ground. The Germans often attempted to say that the Jews and other victims in the Holocaust had brought this on themselves. The Germans also loved the idea of gassing the victims instead of shooting them to have them suffer their last moments alive. Since the Jews came to power, many German citizens had been approached with a stream of anti-Semitism propaganda. Therefore I was normal to whom killed the Jews to not think of killing humans but of exterminating vermin. Some Jews killed themselves, suicide, the Germans hated that. Most of the inmate officials were German Citizens. Many were criminals and were picked for their brutality to rule over the other prisoners. They were served and treated like royalty.