Renaissance Florence

Here is a website about Michelangelo Buonarroti:
http://www.all-art.org/early_renaissance/michelangelo1.html

Michelangelo was a famous italian artist, sculptor and architect in 15th and 16th century of Renaissance. He was also considered as the most important artist ever lived. He did many great art works in Florence.

Michelangelo's father was an office, but he didn't want to . He chose to be an artist and became an apprentice in a painting school when he was 13 after graduating from school. Michelangelo learned a lot in the art school, and he even stayed in the academy of Plato and learned with older poets and scholars for a little time. After studying art for three years, he started to create some art works. He showed his talent on art and became famous. Then he was commissioned by church and popes to do many things, like painting the ceiling of chapels, sculpting statues and the tombs of the Medicis in the Medici Chapel.

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The Doni Tondo

by Machelangelo (1503 - 1504)

This is one of the few paintings Michelangelo did on easels. We can clearly see Michelangelo's unique style in the painting. He drew the outlines of people sharply and added a lot of light and shadow on them, separating them from the background. They don't look like real people. Instead, I think they are more alike to sculptures in the picture. Furthermore, we can claerly see the muscles on Mary's arms. She is lifting the baby Jesus on her shoulder, showing her muscles. We can see that Michelangelo liked to draw female models as women. Rather than mixing a variety of colors, it seems that Michelangelo liked to depict the beauty of human in his art works.

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David

by Machelangelo (1504)

This the most famous sculpture made by Michelangelo. It is about the young hero, David, who defeated Goliath the giant Philistine. He is holding a band which can throw stones, ready to fight the formidable giant. He stands confidently and faces his foe sideways. His muscles tense, and the veins in his hands are obviously exposed. He is the boy who stands out to fight for his nation, but he looks like a strong and mature man.

Michelangelo kept David completely nude, showing the beauty of men thoroughly. He not only looks handsome and strong, but also expresses the strength and the faith of a man.

This is the detail of David's face. He looks earnest but confident, concentrated upon a distant place. His regular features show his anger and his bravery. He is staring fiercely at his opponent, not having any fear. He focuses on the adversary, with a stone prepared in his hand, ready to land a deadly hit on him.

Painting of Siena

Here is a website I found about Duccio di Buoninsegna:
http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/bio/d/duccio/buoninse/biograph.html

Duccio was a greatest artist of Siena of Renaissance before Giotto. Duccio's artworks are full of the style of traditional Byzantine. His paintings are less-colored and plain, emphasizing the solemnity and sanctity of God, not the true emotions of humanity. The characters in Ducci's painting are not as lifelike as in Giotto's, but both of their paintings are religious. In Duccio's paintings, the Virgin Mary and Jesus look vague and dreamlike, making people feel a sense of mystery.
Duccio had some problems in his life. He encountered political offense, problems of debts, and accusation of refusing military service. He was considered as an important changer of art because he instilled a new feeling of humanity.

Crucifixion

by Duccio (1308 - 1311)

This painting is about Jesus Christ's heavy penalty of crucifixion. Jesus is crucified in the middle, resigned of the pain. He spread an atmosphere of holiness and dignity. A row of angels are flying above him, as if they're welcoming Him to the heaven. On Jesus' both sides are two crucified criminals. They look very dark and sinful, contrasting sharply between the golden background.

On the left of the painting are the disciples and the Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mary lifts up her eyes to her son, almost can't stand. The disciples stand around her and look at Jesus respectfully, frightened of what their teacher has suffered. They stand calmly, grieving for His critical injury and enormous pain. On the other side of Jesus stands the headsman and a crowd of people who inflict injury on Jesus. They are shouting and discussing agitatedly, look perturbed and afraid.

The harsh contrast between the two sides of the people make the image intense and full of movements. It causes a fervent feeling surging in the audience.

Giotto di Bondone

Here is a website I found about Giotto the famous artist in early Renaissance:
http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/old-masters/giotto.htm

Giotto followed Cimabue as an apprentice when he was only 12 years old. Giotto did many frescos about the life of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Soon he became famous for the expressions of people's emotions in his paintings, and he even surpassed his teacher. Giotto became very famous and rich just when he was in his middle age, and he managed many workshops in Italy. Many influential and rich people commissioned him to paint for them. Giotto's most important deed was that he created a whole new way to paint lifelike people with their true feelings. He really has a subtle insight into human nature.

Giotto was so famous that he even had a biographer to record his life. He was very lucky that he could be so reputed just in his life because many artists became well-known after they had died. He lived a really good life. He was entirely devoted to art in his whole life, and few of us, modern people, couldhave done like him.

Here you can have a complete view of it :http://artchive.com/artchive/G/giotto/giotto.jpg.html

The Mourning of Christ

This is the detail part of The Mourning of Christ. It is a fresco made by Giotto at Cappella dell'Arena in Padua.
In the painting, The Virgin Mary leans to Jesus' dead body, holding his neck and looking at him grievedly. Many women are kneeling around Christ. One is holding Jesus' head in her palms, and some are holding his body tenderly. John the disciple stretches his hands, gazing at Jesus brokenheartedly, showing his feeling of despair for his death. And angels are flying above them.
This painting expresses the grief of Jesus' grave death and people's respect and love to Jesus Christ.

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Here is the website:http://www.artsender.com/artists/Giotto_di_Bondone.htm

It contains many details of Giotto's life, and it also introduces many of Gitto's famous paintings. Giotto was a Florentine painter, sculptor, and architect. He was considered as the first genius of art in the Italian Renaissance. He was very different from other artists because he saved most of the money he earned and became a rich man. Furthermore, Giotto had very good relationship between some famous Popes.

Even though most of Giotto's works were about the stories in the Bible, he still painted the people very emotionally. They are like the real person, and people can get into the painting as if we're one of the audience.

Here is Joachim's Dream by Giotto di Bondone.

Joachim's Dream

This painting is very simple and obvious. In the painting, Joachim is sleeping in front of a small wooden house. The house is just like linking to the rock which Joachim is leaning against. An angel is flying toward him, and the two shepherds look at the coming angel curiously.

The sleeping Joachimgives me a sense of dignity. The angel is staring at Joachim earnestly. I like this painting very much. The people in the painting is realistic, and that was the greatest skill Giotto possessed.

Code Breakers

Here is a website about the German Lorenz cipher system:
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/lorenz/fish.htm

Germany created a new way of enciphering at that time. The pattern of the Vernam cipher is akin to logic, but it isn't random. Therefore, they tried to make it like random, but British still broke it by a mistake the German operator made. The operator sent the same message of about 4,000 letters in it again with the Lorenz machine. However, there were some differences between them. And British decipherers can compare them and recover them and break the code.


This is the Lorenz machine, which is also known as "Tunny Machine"

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Here is a website about enigma:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enigma_machine

The enigma machine was invented in Germany at the end of WWI, but it was used commercially.

The plugboard, keyboard, lamps, and finger-wheels of the rotors emerging from the inner lid of a three-rotor German military Enigma machine

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This is a video shows how enigma works:

The enigma enciphers codes randomly. There are three rotors in it changing the result of typing the same word. Furthermore, there are about 100,000,000,000,000 possibilities of each letter. Therefore, it is difficult for someone to break the enigma code.

The POWs in WWII

Here's a website I found about the American prisoners of war in Germany:http://www.b24.net/pow/default.html

The prisoners were shut in solitary cells which was about 2.5m x 3.5m x 2.5m big. Each prisoner had a cot, a table, a chair and an electric bell to call the guards. They weren't treated very nicely. Some of the prisoners were stripped, or even kept wearing the clothes when they had been caught. Sometimes, the POWs had to prove themselves as airmen rather than spies by telling some technical information about planes, or they would get killed. The POWs had two pieces of bread in the morning and two at night. None of the Red Cross parcels were given to them, but they could get free water from the guards. Many of the POWs didn't have enough care of health. Some of them had the same dirty bandage when they'd got caught. The POWs didn't have a nice time during the war or even after the war ended.

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Here is a website about Prisoner of War Medal:http://www.axpow.org/powmedal.htm



The POW Medal was given to the American soldiers who were taken prisoner and held captive.

The an American bald eagle stabding in the middle with pride dignity, surrounded by a barbed wire. It symbolized that the American prisoners seized the hope to regain their freedom.

The black stripe in the middle of the ribbon means the despair of being prisoned in the war. The two white stripes adjacent to the black one typify hope. And the thin blue, white, and red stripes represent America.

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A Japanese pilot dropped into the ocean from his crashed plane. The US soldier tried to pull him up onto the boat. Instead of being a prisoner and ashamed, he decided to end up his own life by a grenade. However, it seemed that the American soldier had shot the Japanese several times before he died.

Spies in WWII

Here a website of the OSS in WWII made by http://www.americainwwii.com/stories/cloak.html

It talks detailedly about how the OSS started and what they did during the time. At that time, all of Germany's enemies in Europe were eliminated except England. D. Roosevelt worried about the columnists and traitors inside Norway, Belgium, Holland, and France. Therefore, he dispatched Bill Donovan all around Europe to get information of their enemies and search people that could be their allies. The searching was very successful and helpful, but there was no central intelligence office in the US. They established the COI at first. It onlt lasted a for a year. Then it was substituted by the OSS because the information of the COI wasn't including the potential of Japan's Attack in Hawaii. Roosevelt called in some experts and appointed them to make a school for spies, and the OSS was for trainning spies.






This is a photo of Bill Donovan.






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Here is a website which has some videos about the spies in the OSS: http://www.realmilitaryflix.com/public/209.cfm

It shows what is the secret agents in the OSS like. Before a person started his training, they checked his body. A spy in the OSS needs a haircut of the style in the enemies' area. Furthermore, there were many required equipments of a secret agent in the OSS. For example, the stickers on his suitcase, a handful of cigarettes and train tickets, etc. They were very small and common things, just like a hidden uniform. It was really cool to be a secret agent in the OSS.

Pearl Harbor

Here is a site about how Japan attcked Pearl Harbor:http://www.pearlharbor.org/history-of-pearl-harbor.asp

It says about the Japanese's ambition to get mere territories. Japan invaded the southeast of Asia because of its lack of resources, which was caused by the US's embargo on steels and fuel sold to Japan. Japan started planning to declare war to the US. Japanese intended to attack Pearl Harbor because a bult of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which was the key of the war, were there. Japan invaded Pearl Harbor. They fulfilled their purpose of damage to the U.S. Pacific Fleet, but they also killed or harmed about 3,500 people. Nonetheless, the invasion caused a critical situation to Japanese themselves because they didn't have enough fuel to fight with the US.

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Here is a site about Pearl Harbor was under attack:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/timeline/pearl.htm

There are many pictures in this website. Here's one of them.






This is an image of the tragedy in Pearl Harbor. The USS Shaw exploded. The US navy in Hawaii was harmed gravely. More thana thousand and five hundred people died in the raid.



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Here is a website which is full of videos about the raids in Pearl Harbor by Japan:http://www.pearlharbor.org/

Here is one of the videos:

On December 7, 1941, Japan invaded Pearl Harbor. The raids were saperated in two waves. A lot of Americans died and many aircrafts destroyed. After that, Americans got angry and attempted to avenge and warn Japan.

Bombing Raids

Here is a website about German bombing raids on Britain:
http://www.historyonthenet.com/WW2/blitz.htm

Hitler dispatched many bombers to invade Britain, trying to force British to surrender. The Luftwaffe revised their targets from industrial to civilian and the bombing time from day time to night time. Hitler anticipated that the British would be more terrified of the German armies because they wouldn't have enough sleep, and Britain would surrender very soon. On the other hand, Britain also had some ways to defend and revolt against German invasion. The British civilians hid in shelters when they heard the siren before the raids. The "blakout" is really a good way to make the bombers' targeting mission more difficult. Anyhow, Britain still recieved great damage. About 60,000 British died and 2,000,000 homes destroyed! German bombed Britain less and took less attention to Britain because he considered Russia as a more signifcant enimy.








These are people sleeping on London Underground during German's Blitzkrieg.

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This is a special website I found about someone's memory of WWII:http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa051001c.htm

He experienced the terror of the bombing raids in Germany in WWII. He slept in shelters, enduring the thunderous sound of blasts. Then he hoped that he could see his home survive from the bombing. He saw his neighbors' house burnt and understood the shock and the grief of losing their home. In any case, the writer of this article coped with all the difficulties and went past the hard time. He also wrote a book about his experience of the two World Wars, "Laughter Wasn't Rationed". It contains much of his civilian life in Germany. During the horrible period of time, the civilians told jokes to encourage each other. Their difficult lives are so dreadful that I can't even imagine.

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Here's a video about a bombing raid on Germany in 1943:http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/autos_and_vehicles/watch/v6971121WQWzb89s#

The bombers B-17 took off from England and flew above Germany. The bombers flew through the mess of blasts of anti-aircrafts and threw tons and tons of bombs on the territory of Germany. The pilots could barely see the factories and houses they were targeting. However, they could not see that there were civilians' home burnt and destroyed beneath them and the people hiding underground in shelters were trembling in fear. Nevertheless, the motive of their actions was protecting their own home, though they were very sure that they would definitely not come back home again. The war was very brutal and harsh, but not the soldiers themselves as well.

Iroquois Nation

Here is a website I found about the Iroquois Nation:http://www.carnegiemnh.org/exhibits/north-south-east-west/iroquois/index.html

This website tells about the nation of the Iroquois. They were originally living in the southern part of Canada and a part of New York today at the end of 17th century, which had clear four seasons, a plenty of rainfall, fertile lands and everything they needed. The Iroquois lived there very well. All their lives were relied on the great nature environment. They hunted, caught animals, picked fruit, and farmed crops. Everything they did was in harmony with Nature.

To the Iroquois, corn beans and squash are the three sisters. They are the sustainer of not only their phisical, but also spiritual lives. The Iroquois people are very smart. They utlize the different features of corn, beans and squash to make the most yield.

In the society of the Iroquois, women are the managers of farming. Furthermore, women possess the political power. Clan Mother is the leader of the clan, who has the right of choosing the meber of the council members and chiefs.

The Three Sisters

Gregg M. Thomas (1952- ), Nedrow, New York, Wolf clan, Onondaga, 1996

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Here's a website I found about the Mohawk Tribe:http://www.indians.org/articles/the-mohawk-tribe.html

The Mohawk Tribe lived around the Great Lakes and some parts in North America, which are Canada and the state of New York right now. They were just like the protectors of Iroquois from the invasions form the east. They became the allies of Britain later and fought against the United States in the Revolutionary War. A long time later, some the Mohawk have blended into Canadian and American, but there are still many living in the reservations. The hair style of shaved sides and left a stripe of hair in the middle is characteristic of the Mohawk people.

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Here is a website about Joseph Brant, one of the past leaders of the Mohawk Tribe:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Brant

Joseph Brant was the most famous North American Indian at the end of 17th to 18th century when he was alive. He was a Mohawk of the Wolf Clan. He could speak at least three languages, or even all of the six nations' languages. Therefore, he was a translator between the Indians and Britain. He helped his tribe get back many lands from the Americans. That was his most well-known deeds.

This is a parinting of Joseph Brant. I'm not sure if he has Mohawk or not because his feather hat covers his hair.

The Battle of Britain

Here is a website about the battle of Britain:

http://www.raf.mod.uk/Bob1940/background.html

It tells about the background of the battle of Britain. Germany invaded Poland by using tanks, troops, and aircrafts at the same time, which was called Blitzkrieg. Then he attacked France by the same way and won again. At that time, both British and German aircrafts suffered heavy casualties. Fortunately, a bult of British reinforcement in France came back to Britain. Britain trained as many pilots as possible. In July 1940, Brtish air forces, RAF, grew into 600 fighters, but the Luftwaffe had 2600 bombers and fighters. It must be very hard for Britain to fight against Germany.

This is a brief picture of how the Sector Control Rooms of RAF control the fighters, anti-aircraft guns and balloon barrage. They sent the information of the incoming raids to the fighters and bombers and dispatched anti-aircraft guns and balloon barrage to protect the aircrafts.

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Here is another website I found about the battle of Britain:

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/worldwarii/a/wwiiblitz_2.htm

The Luftwaffe invaded Britain more and more inland. Germany wanted to bomb the cities which many civilians lived inside. Nonetheless, Germany was too urgent to destroy Britain, The interval between the fighters came escoting the bombers was too long. The bombers became fragile targets, and many of them were destroyed by that way. Finally, Germany decided to attack the Soviet Union rather than Britain. The RAF successfully protected Britain.

German Military Uniforms

Here's a website I found about the uniforms of German soldiers and officers:
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/german-ww2.htm

It talks about the uniforms of different levels and kinds of German soldiers. There's a variety of uniforms that German soldiers wore. I like the cap of German Luftwaffe (Pic 1) best. It looks very cool! Imagine that I am the pilot of a fighter plane in WWII. I turned left and right in the sky and shot all the enemies off. Bang!

I also like the pattern of a belt buckle of German soldiers in WWI (Pic 2). There is even a swastika, the symbol of the Nazi Party under the bird.





This is the cap that German Luftwaffe in WWII. Isn't it very cool?






The Army's WW1 "God is with us" belt buckle made a
return with a swastika added.



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Here's another website I found about German army uniform:
http://www.grantsmilitaria.com/militariaphotos/militaria_images.asp?key=06

This is a fake WWII German D.A.K. Soldier. It is in the standard tropical uniform of German soldiers of Motor Reconnaissance Unit. The helmet was repainted later.

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Here is a website about German military uniforms:
http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-uniforms/germany.htm

It has a really detailed and clear illustration about different uniforms of different departments, levels and weathers of German armies.

This Waffen-SS uniform is in the "mouse gray" or "mouse brown" color. There are many badges on his uniform. In the left of his chest, ther is a Close Combat clasp (Pic 5) , which is made of gold. There is also a Tank Destroyer badge (Pic 6) on the upper of his right arm. It means that the soldier who earned it destroyed at least one enemy tank.


Pic5



Pic6






This is the uniform of Waffen-SS, in winter camouflage. It can be reversed into snow-white color.

German Occupation

Here's a website I found about German occupation of France in World War II:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/German_occupation_of_France_in_World_War_II
It tells about the resistence of French under German's occupation. German extracted a lot of money from French by the armistice with French signed in June 1940. The power of French was weak. Even though there weren't a lot of French resisted actively, but many of them supported the members of resistence secretly. They also listened to the banned BBC, and even helped lost Americans escape and British airmen go back to British. French organized armed groups underground in late 1942 and 1943. They got aids of weapons from parachute drops and solo landings at night by RAF, too. There were also directions from British radio. After the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, the French armed resistance groups destroyed railway lines, and bridges systematically. They also communicate the intelligence from British.

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Here is a website I found about Hungary under German occupation:
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005458

In Hungary in World War Two, the Jews were deeply harmed by Germans. They were centralized in certain cities, and they were forced to live outdoor with inadequate food and water. Furthermore, German soldiers tortured them very often. Without a week, these cities were eliminated. About 63,000 Jews died in the the German occupation in March 1944. A terrifying amount of people died just in a occupation. Moreover, they weren't soldiers, they were merely innocent citizens, including women and children. We can see how a cruel thing German did.












This is a deserted street in the area of the Sighet Marmatiei ghetto after the deportation of the ghetto population.
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And here's a map of Hungary under the occupation.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/media_nm.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005458&MediaId=346

German occupied most of the near countries, and Hungary was one of them. Some of the countries on the map are neutral: Spain, Switz, Ireland and Sweden.

Blitzkrieg

Here is a website I found about Junkers Ju 87 Stuka: http://science.howstuffworks.com/junkers-ju-87-stuka.htm

Ju 87 Stuka was an important bomber of Germany in WWI and II. It caused a great damage to Poland in 1939, the beginning of WWII, with its horrible noise and terrifying accuracy. Nonetheless, the situation of the war had turned against it when fighting Soviet Union in the East.

There is also a cool video about JU-88A-4 in this website. It was the most important bomber of Germans in WWII. It talks about its advantage and disadvantage, too. Its maximum speed is 295 mph. It doesn't have enough payload and defense armament. When the pilot changed to use the machine guns, the stuka was shot by its enimies. It says that this stuka wasn't good at fighting the east part of Soviet Union, because of the terrain of mountains brought it inferiority. Therefore, it can only be rated as the 8th dive-bombers.











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Here's a website I found about the blitzkrieg:
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/blitzkrieg.htm

After Hitler defeated Poland in 1939 and Norway in April 1940, France thought that they were safe behind Maginot Line. It was able to defend another world war. In May 1940, Germany began the blitzkrieg against the Netherlands and Belgium. Their defending troops kept retreating and retreating, and lots of civilians fled from the front of the attack in haste. The bombers of German were filled in the sky, striking the retreating troops and escaping civilians with machine gun and bomb. Thousands and thousands of people died then. Then, the German invaded France and reached the English Channel. Nonetheless, German stopped there and went to north to secure the coastal ports and destroy the trapped armies. During the two days, British prepared and was ready to defend the German's attack, though Britain was the rest of its allies.

We can see how bold Hiter was that he dared to resist the military doctrine. Germany even planed to cut the resource of iron ore of Sweden, we can see how far Hiter looked forward. Hitler attacked Poland, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium and France, and he even planned to invade Sweden and British later. We can see how huge the ambition Hitler possessed. He did a lot of amazing things.

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Pic 1 The first Junkers Ju 87 Stukas flew in 1935.

Pic 2 German panzer troops reachthe French coast, June 10, 1940

Bomb Shelters and Air Raid of WWII

Here's a website I found about bomb shelters in WWII:

http://www.codoh.com/incon/inconpressac.html

Poison gas was used a lot in WWI, thus people were very afraid of it and tried to prevent it after WWI. German bomb shelters were made to secure from both bombs and poison gas. Nonetheless, poison gas wasn't used much in World War II.

For a better quality:

http://www.codoh.com/gcgv/gcturen.html

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Here's a website I found about the remaining bomb shelter of WWII in Naples:

http://www.larryray.com/images/index_files/air%20raid.htm

The shelters were mostly improvised at that time. They are approximately 200 feet deep underground. Now the shelters are still there and even opened to visit.

This is the shelter in Naples in World War Two.

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Here's a youtube video about WWII Air Raid Siren in the US I found:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7QD-GCae94&feature=related

For no reason, I found myself hate the the sound of the air raid siren instinctively while I was listening to it. The siren gave me an agonizing feeling. My head ached, and I felt very dizzy and wanted to vomit. I can hardly type what I learned from this video. I feel really miserable now.

A World Devided

Fascism: Here's a website I found about some countries like Germany and Italy changed from democratic into fascist: http://www2.ministries-online.org/thenewworldorder/aglobgov.html

Germany was a democratic country before. Hitler gained strong political by propagandas, and he also became the spiritual leader of Germans. Hitler was the belief of Germans. Later, Hitler became the sole leader of Germant, and his Nazi Party took control of the entire Germany. The Nazi Party was the only government of Germany.

The left picture, Fasces, was the symbol of imperial power in ancient Rome. It is a bundle of sticks bound together, which represented the "many bound together as one."

Communism: Here's a website talks about the rise of the Communism of China: http://www.allaboutphilosophy.org/rise-of-communism-in-china-faq.htm

There were lots of people died in Boxer Rebellion in 1900. After that, Chinese were in extreme poverty. Mao Zedong helped many poor farmers, and the people hoped that someone ccould change the political parties and the whole country. Therefore, he strated Marxism and in 1921 its members established the Chinese Communist Party sucessfully. People loved him at the beginning. The communism was basically common ownership and production. Nevertheless, in Soviet communism, both them were forsaken, and only atheism and tyranny remain.

The belief of Marx is that a man's worth is the efforts he has made. If everyone has the state of equality, no one would strive hard to do better. I really agree what he said. The efforts we make are brought up by our believes of making better achievements.

Powwow

Here is a website which has a introduction about the Powwows (or Pow Wows) :
http://www.powwows.com/info/?p=47

A Powwow is a traditional meeting of different tribes of Native American people with dancing and singing. In a Powwow, the singers are the most important part. There couldn't be any dancing if there are no songs. The songs are varied. There are songs about their religion, the wars, and even their societies. During the fusion of different tribes, the words of the old songs even change into vocables with no words. The Powwows nowadays are public to watch, and the flags they carry include the US, the tribes and the Pow. The Powwow starts with the Grand Entry, which goes through the town the Powwow is in. Then the dancers starts to dance. After that, the Indians have a prayer. Then, they begin Round Dances. Their clothes are also changing as time passes, so the costumes they wear are the fashion ones of different Tribes. Then all the Indians from different tribes dances along to the beat of the drums.

And here's a video of a part of a song with a drum of Powwow I found:
http://tv.powwows.com/video/2201/Northern-Cree-At-Toronto-Pow-Wow-2008

Approximately ten people sat around a drum with a kind of special drumsticks, which is thin in the handle and thicker on the tip, in their right hands. They sang the song with turns of singing by one person or together while playing the drum. These songs the Indians sing remind them their old tradition and heritage.

Here is another video I found which has some Powwow dances:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNOMG-TeEDQ&eurl=http://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?p=powwow&vc=&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&fp_ip

There is a variety of their costumes of the dancers. Some of them has several rows of feathers on it, some of them wear clothes with different stripes of colors, and some of them wear a hat with feathers. They dance along to the beat of drums rhythmically.

The Nazi Party

Here is a website I found about the rise of the Nazi Party with timelines from 1918~1933: http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/TIMELINE/nazirise.HTM

It tells about the depression of economy in Germany and the unstable German government after WWI ends. Hitler joined the right-wing political party in 1919 and became the leader of it. He not only encouraged the German nation pride, but also promoted the antisemitic feelings. The Nazi Party gathers approximately 3,000 members in 1920. Hitler went to jail after the attempt at an armed overturn of local authorities. In the prison, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf which shows his radical ideas of German nationalism, antisemitism, and anti-Bolshevism. It also became the basic belief of the members of Nazi Party. He began rebuilding the Nazi Party after he had been freed from the prison. The amount of the members of the Party grows from 27,000 in 1925, to 108,000 in 1929. The Germany goverment was almost collapsing. In the elect in 1932, the Nazi Party won 37% of the vote.

In the rise of the Nazi Party, I can see the Germany's government was filled with arguments, and the economy of Germany was declinong continuously. On the other hand, the Nazi Party grew bigger and stronger during the depression. Even though Hitler went jailed for a short time, it didn't wither away. Instead, more and more people joined the Party. Finally, the Nazi Party pushed the German's government.

Here are some videos I found about the Nazi Party: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/407190/Nazi-Party

We can see there were thousands and thousands of people joined the Nazi Party. They believed in the passive leader, Adolf Hitler, could change thier lives better. They burned lots of books about Jews, and Germans hated Jewish people very much.

In another video on the right side, we can see Germans killing Jewish families, including children, women and old men and women. I think they were really, really brutal. They killed thousands of people without any feelings. Fortunately, I live in this peaceful generation and place. No wars happen around me.

Adolf Hitler's Childhood

Here is a website I found about Hitler's boyhood:
http://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/riseofhitler/boyhood.htm

Hitler went to a primary school when he was 6, and his father, Alois, who was 58 years old, retires at the same time. Hitler was accustomed to the ordes from his strict father, and seemed that Hitler would have the same habit of commanding others as his father. He lived in a crowded farming family of the three sons. Hitler had an elder half-brother, an elder half-sister, and a younger brother. He was in the middle of his brothers and sisters. They had a quite hard life. The oldest son, Alois Jr., was the one who was hit by his father occasionally. In the next year, 1896, Hitler's younger sister was borned. Moreover, Alois Jr. left the family, unable to endure his father. Thus, Hitler became the next one who was hit by his father.

The same time, Hitler's family moved into Lambach. Now he had more free time without farm works. He attended a Catholic Benedictine monastery. He saw many swastikas over there, and he also admired and considered to be a priest, like Abbot, who had held a great power. Hitler read a lot books about a white person who had sheer power and defeated Native Americans. One day, he found a book from his father about military nature with pictures of wars. He was deeply bewitched by it. He believed that wars were very glorious events.


I can see that Hitler borned in a violent family. He had a critical father, and that where how his violence originated. During the time he attended the monastery, his idol was Abbot because he also admired strong authority. Hitler read many books of wars and military later, and they really made him into the wrong way of thinking of wars.

The Meaning Of My Life

I think the meaning of life is dreaming. To find your dream,the biggest wish and the deepest desire that you crave to fulfill and improve, and do your best to accomplish it, and don't let your family, your friends, your own worry and fear, your surroundings or anything else stop you! Just try! Besides, we have to find the strong and stable belief, faith and conscience of ourself and never disobey them. The last thing I think the meaning of life is happiness. We need to be contented of what we have and treasure them, or we can't be happy at all. Sometimes, if we look to far away, we forget the things I possess. We must hold right now first, and then we can plan our future. To enjoy every moment we live and chase our dreams. During the life, there are still many important things we need to learn: to love people and everything around you, to take on duties, to get rid of vexation, to face and conquer any kinds of predicaments, to challenge ourselves, etc... There still many things and meanings of life I have to learn. We should find, or create the meaning of our own lives by ourself. No one can help you about it but yourself.

Here is a website I found about how to accomplish your dream:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2256791_accomplish-dreams-simple-strategies.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

It tells the necessary steps to fulfill a dream, and it also says that the only way to really accomplish your dream is to do it RIGHT NOW.

Now, I must do something for my dream. I need to learn more knowledge which helps me make my dream come true. Therefore, I have to study hard right now. I will be able to fulfill my dream someday.

Farming Myths

Here's a website I found about a goddess of farming, Demeter:
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/religion/demeter.htm

Demeter is the earth goddess for greeks. Her name means the mother of the Earth. She controls every growing things and gives it birth such as grains. Persephone is her daughter, and Demeter is the daughter of Gaia, or the Earth. Demeter is also the sister of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades and Hera.

Here's another myth about Demeter's daughter, Persephone:
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/religion/persephone.htm

Persephone's mother is Demeter, the goddess of harvests. One day, Persephone was abducted by her uncle, Hades. He took her to the Underworld and forced her to marry him and be the Queen of there. Demeter was really sad and looked for her daughter everywhere and finally appealed to Zeus. He told Hades to give Persephone back. However, Hades said if Persephone really eat nothing in th Underworld, he would give her back. Finally, she just ate six seeds of pomegrante. Therefore, Persephone was accepted to go back to the Earth for six months. In the other half year, she has to stay in the Underworld. That's how the seasons come.

Persephone is just like the grains. She grows up in the first six months. Then, she dies and was harvested. The grains go back to the ground, and the farmers put the seeds into the ground. Demeter is very sad and cries, the tears are the rainfalls.

Egyptian myths

Here is a website of Egytian myths:http://www.nekhebet.com/m_myths.html

The Story of Ra : The Creation
There was nothing but chaos of water in the begining of the world. Then, Ra, the god of sun, created the ground, the air, and the sand by naming them. He could create things with merely a call of names. Ra named Shu, his son, the god of the wind, and Tefnet, his daughter, the god of the rain. He also created plants and the animals., and his tears became the first humans. Then Shu and Tefnet made their own children, Geb, the goddess of the earth, and Nut, the goddess of the sky. After the creation, he came down and became the first pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled Egypt for centuries, but His secret name was revealed by Osiris, the son of Nut. Ra was forced to leave. Then Osiris became the next Pharaoh.

I think Ra was kind of strange because his done of the births of his great grandson, Osiris, is contradictory to himself. He was afraid that he would take his place of the Pharoah and forbad his grandson, Nut, to have any children because of a prophecy. However, he had to go back to the sky finally.

The Rise of Horus
Osiris became the new pharoah of Egypt. He had a son named Horus with Isis. Osiris taught people how to grow grain, make bread with it and brew it for beer. People were happy under Osiris' rule. Nonetheless, Osiris' brother, set, was envious of him. He trapped Osiris in a chest to suffocate him and dropped it into the Nile River. Isis fled into wilderness with Horus. She started looking for the chest because Osiris needed a funeral to go on the afterlife. However, Set found the chest and cut Osiris' body to pieces and spread them to many countrysides. Isis found each of them and performed the funeral ceremonies. Horus grew up gradually. He and his armies fought with Set, which transformed into a giant hippo. Horus killed him and became the next pharoah of Egypt. After Horus died, he had a battle with Set in the underworld. They're still fighting right now. If Horus wins, he can go back and regain the place of pharoah.

Isis tried really hard to find Osiris' dead body for that he could pass into the underworld. She didn't fear hardship and finally accomplish that. Horus was really brave to fight with the murderer of his father, and he triumphed at the end.

Myths of Heroes

Here are the myths of the heroes that I found on the Internet:

King Arthur http://www.pbs.org/mythsandheroes/myths.html


King Arthur is born of adultery of Uther Pendragon and Igraine, a duke's wife. Merlin raises Arthur away from his parents and teaches him. Merlin is also the designer of the Round Table of 150 knights. After Uther dies, Merlin tells that the person who can draw a magical sword out from a stone can be the next king. Arthur becomes the new king resorting to drawing it out. He routs the Saxons and becomes a kind and just king.


King Arthur also searches for the Holy Grail with his knights. Sir Galahad, one of his king finds it, but not Arthur.

King Arthur marries Guinevere, which falls in love into another man. She and her new lover run away. During the chasing, Arthur's nephew seizes the power and fights with Arthur. Arthur is heavily wounded, and he goes to Isle of Avalon and rests there.


Even though Arthur was born of a really lowly background, he still became the king of Britain. Futhermore, he was a good and well-loving king. Nevertheless, he was betrayed by his wife and nephew. His nephew fought with Arthur for the power. The power is always making people decayed. People are arguing for stronger power all the time.


Hercules http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/greeks/religion/myths/herakles.htm


Hercules is born of Zeus and Alcmene, so Hera, Zeus' wife, tries to kill him. Hercules becomes the strongest man in the world when he grows up. However, Hera uses her godly power to drive him crazy. He kills his wife and children. In order to astone for his sin, he has to accomplish twelve labors for Eurystheus. After he has done all them, his crime is expiated. Furthermore, he can become a god after he dies for doing all the labors. Nonetheless, he falls into a trap of a centaur, and his whole body is burning by the centaur's blood. Finally, he kills himself to end the pain. In the end, he becomes a God in Mount. Olympos.


Fire proves gold, and adversity proves men. After the twelve labors, Hercules became a real Hero. People are like this. If there are no straits and predicaments, people can't become strong and brave.

Mythology

Here is a website I found about hunting myth, "The Man Who Helped the Eagles":
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/na-mytheagles.html

Pueblo Indians lower an Apache with a rope to a nest of eagles on a cliff, and they pull up the rope of the Apache and leave. He stays with the little eagles and feels thirsty. Then a person a person appears and gives him a small piece of ice and satisfies his thirst. The father eagle comes back home and thanks the Apache,DagônadeL, for taking care of the little birds. And then the eagle calls another group of eagles. They carry the man up to the sky hole? and find their enemies-hornets. DagônadeL puts on the buckskin made by Panther, one of the eagle, to protect himself from fatal stings and uses a quirt to kill the hornets. Then DagônadeL, Panther's grandson?, and other eagles come back their home.

I think this story is about the braveness of the Apache. He stays with the little eagles fearlessly. And then a person laughs below him, and that person jumps up to him and gives him a piece of ice which can satisfy him. The story becomes really strange right here. Anyway, the Apache goes up with the eagles and fights with the enemies bravely. Finally, I have many other questions: What's a "sky hole"? And what is the relationship of the Apache, DagônadeL, Panther, other eagles, and the secret person who gives the ice to the Apache?