Unit II - The Treaty Of Versailles

The treaty of Versailles was the peace treaty the officially ended the first world war. It took six months for the treaty to be negotiated. It was finally signed on November 11, 1918 by Britain's Prime minister David Lloyd George, United States' President Woodrow Wilson, France's Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau, and Italy's Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando. Having been defeated, Germany, Austria, and Hungary were excluded from the negotiations. This treaty gave Germany full responsibility for causing the war. Germany was forced to give up land and to pay reparations. There was also a limit on the size of military that Germany was allowed to have. Germany however undermined the treaty starting in 1922 and by the mid thirties was ignored completely.

The treaty evoked an angry reception in Germany from the moment it was made known. The They did not feel that they were responsible for starting the war nor did they feel as though they had lost. The Germans thought that the treaty would be one of peace, not one of surrender. German navy sank its own ships in protest of the treaty.

I don't know if the cause of the war should have been placed only on Germany's shoulders. I think that the conditions of the treaty were a little harsh. If the treaty was going to make Germany repay for what they had done, someone should have made sure that Germany was following the rules. Germany started to rebuild its army straight away. I think the treaty of Versailles was a major cause of World War II.

Unit II : Individuals - Mary Pickford

Mary Pickford was named one the the greatest female stars of all time. She was an Oscar-winning star and She was Canadian. Mary Pickford was said to be a pioneer of film in Hollywood, and has a tremendous amount of influence in the development of film acting. Mary Pickford's fame was triggered through her acting in moving images. She became famous in a matter of months. In 1909 alone Mary appeared in more than 51 films, which works out to almost one a week. "Her charisma, range, and comic blend of sweetness and temper made her not only the most important player, but the most popular star of the era."

Because of Mary Pickford, Hollywood rethought it visions of features. They changed their focus on making material that was suited for film, and finding good actors to fill the roles.

Mary was known as America's Sweetheart, Little Mary, and The Girl with The Golden Curls.

Unit II - Innovations : The Frisbee

The origin of the Frisbee goes back to the Frisbie Baking Company around 1820. Frisbie baking company sold many pies to New England Colleges. Students soon began to realize that the pie tins could be tossed and caught. The original name for the was 'Frisbie'. It wasn't until 1948 that the Frisbee became plastic. This was created by Walter Frederick Morrison and Warren Franscioni who happened to be building inspectors. Morrison changed the name of the Frisbie to the Pluto Platter to go with the new popularity of UFOs. Then a company called Wham-O (creators of Hula-Hoop, The Super Ball, and The Water Wiggle) bought out the Pluto Platter. The company then changed the name to Frisbee. Today the Frisbee is owned by Mattel Toy.

Since the invention of the Frisbee many games have been invented that involve this "device".

In 1967, students in New Jersey invented Ultimate Frisbee. A cross between football, soccer, and Basketball. Ten years later a form of Frisbee golf was invented. There are even professional courses and associations for Frisbee golf.

I was actually expecting to come across something along the lines of the Frisbee first being invented a long time ago. I was thinking along the lines of the discus or whatever it's called.

"In 1968, the U.S. Navy spends almost $400,000 to study Frisbees in wind tunnels, following their flights with computers and cameras, and building a special Frisbee-launching machine on top of a Utah cliff to test a prototype launcher."

Unit II - Ideas 1914 - 1929 : Mein Kampf

Mein Kampf is a part autobiography, part ideas of Nazism. It was first published in 1926 by Adolf Hitler. A second volume was published in 1926. The book outlines how Hitler thought that one day the Master race of the world would be Aryan, and that lowest form of human life would be the Jews. Germany and the United Kingdom would join together with Italy and would defeat France and Western Europe, as well as overthrowing the Soviet Union giving Germany "Living Space to the East". In his book, Hitler expresses how he feels that the twins of evil are Communism and Judaism. Throughout the book the idea that all people should be separated based upon ancestry is present. He describes the struggle for world domination as an ongoing racial, cultural and political battle between Aryans and non-Aryans.

Mein Kampf was the back bone for the Nazi party. Though Mein Kampf had very little influence outside of Germany, In Germany the contents of the book were well known. This book sold between six and eight million copies during Hitler's Lifetime, and it translated into many languages.

It is hard to believe that after writting this book that Adolf Hitler was still able to work his way up to the top. Someone must have read this book and said "Wait a minute." Hitler must have been quite the public speaker to be able to convince an entire nation.