18th Century Dance, Music, Art

---> Click Here for Presentation  <---

All Quiet on the Western Front:

Five Talking Points:
1. A novel that shows the affect of war on a soldiers psyche
2. A book without a heroic story plot or a happy ever after ending; but rather the conditions of war
3. A book about how war can change a person to an unrecognizable person, even to their family
4. A novel that shows how war makes an 18 year old BOY grow up to an OLD man so fast
5. "All Quiet on the Western Front" symbolizes the cheapness of human life in a war

All Quiet on the Western Front:

Character Post:

The character I chose is Paul Baumer. He is the main character in this book and is also the narrator. The book is told from him. He is only nineteen years old when he enlisted in the German Army. When he gets to deployed, he is sent to the western front. On the western front, he experiences many issues. Issues that range from psychological effects and to physical effects. Many common issues that war brings to the soldiers. Before he left, Paul was a creative, compassionate and sensitive person. He was passionate and loved his family, but the war slowly changed him. He used to love to write poetry. He started to disconnect himself from his feelings. He learned that he had to disconnect his feelings in order to survive and to keep his sanity. He has feelings of being an outcast where his family is concerned. Paul is unable to mourn the deaths of his fellow soldiers, unable to feel at home, and not able to express his feelings about the war, Paul starts to become a "human animal". But because Paul is truly a sensitive person, he is unable to detach himself 100%. By the end of the book, you see Paul realize that he has lost all his hopes and dreams and he makes the decision that he has nothing more to lose. By the end of the book, Paul is killed.

All Quiet on the Western Front:

Chapter Four Summary:

Chapter four starts like this, the second company is assigned on a dangerous task to the lay-barded wire on the front. As they are driving they pass a house with a lot of geese. They agree to come back later to get them. Kat and Paul hear gunfire. Kat explains to the recruits how to distinguish which guns are firing. Kat thinks that there will be an ambush/bombardment later in the night. This chapter also talks about how soldiers transform themselves into human animals. There senses heighten in order to keep them alive. Then the soldiers carry wire and iron rods to the front. They lay the wire, and try to sleep until the trucks arrive to drive them back. Kat’s prediction that they would be bombarded is correct. Panic arises and creates chaos and run for cover. Paul talks to one of the recruits and how it is normal for a new solider to poop in his pants and tells him it is essentially normal and ok. The men hear the sounds of wounded and dying horses screaming in pain and torture. Detering is horrified because he loves horses. After the wounded men are gathered, those in charge of shooting the wounded animals do their job. Detering declares with disgust that using horses in war is the “vilest baseness.” On the drive back a swarm of bombs land around them. The men take cover. They put their gas mask on and seek shelter for protection. Paul takes a breath on the valve of the mask, hoping that the mask is airtight. The shelling has stopped. They ending of this chapter is a dilemma, where they don’t know if the should kill a soldier to ease his agony or let him be in pain. 

How my group worked on German Parties:

I was unable to make the group meeting when we set everything up due to being sick. But my group members were extremely helpful in e-mailing me the powerpoint and helping me out. They seem to worked well together and the powerpoint seems put together well. I hope everything went swell during our presentation!

Green Party:

The Green Party of Germany

During my study I found out that The Green party is practically a non-violent, environmentalist group that leans to be more pacifists. The pacifism is clearly shown in their opposition toward restrictions on immigration and reproductive rights, support of marijuana legalization, the equality of rights for LGBT peoples, and their "anti-authoritarian" concepts of education and parenting. Principal campaign issues including pollution regulations, the use of nuclear power, NATO military action, and certain aspects of industrialized society proved that The Greens were an environmentalist group. The average person in the group when it first became clear that The Greens existed, were young, rebellious students trying to shake the political establishment. The Greens believe violence can be avoided, while not cooperating with those who commit violence.

The famous Four Pillars of the Green Party:

· Social Justice- the rejection of prejudices based on class, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or culture.

· Ecological Wisdom- a need to reduce the negative impact of human life on the planet and to find alternate ways to cohabitate with Earth’s other life forms.

· Grassroots Democracy - create policies that allow a matter to be handled by the lowest level of authority capable of addressing it effectively.

· Non-violence- a policy of rejecting violent acts as a way to defeat our opponents.

A well-known slogan for one of The Greens’ campaigns was, “turn away from the national and international division of labor” in favor of “consumer-oriented production for local and regional economic markets.” This slogan shows a bit of the environmentalist side of the group as well as their ideals of keeping things localized.

Brief History-

The Greens (Die Grünen) was founded on January 13, 1980 in Karlsruhe. It is thought to have started up because the generation at that time was tired of wars and fighting amongst neighboring countries. At the beginning of the 1980s, the Greens entered a number of state parliaments, and in 1983 they were elected to the federal parliament for the first time. In 1985 Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer became the minister of the German state Hesse, which made him the first ever Green minister. In 1998, the Greens joined the federal government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder. Today, the Greens rank amongst the most supportive of German militarism. The Greens are ready and willing to cooperate in government with the conservatives.

Peter Schwarz, in support of The Greens, wrote “The intensification of militarism, social inequality and attacks on democratic rights can be opposed only by a party that bases itself on the class struggle, unites the working class internationally, and fights on the basis of a socialist program for the abolition of capitalism.”

Sources:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/pers-j13.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_party
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_%2790/The_Greens
http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,5123219,00.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2011/0328/How-Germany-s-Greens-rose-from-radical-fringe-to-ruling-power
http://www.gruene-bundestag.de/service-navigation/english.html

Get to know the 16 German states:

Saarland:

Demographics:
1.      Southwest part of Germany, with France as it’s largest border
2.      Population is 1.063 million people
3.      Smallest state (besides the 3 city-states)
4.      It’s size is 991.9 mi squared or 634,816 acres

Economy:
1.      Main Industries:
a.       Saarstahl AG(Steel),                                         
b.      Villeroy & Bock(Ceramics)
c.       Automotive and Engineering
2.      Trade Partners: The United States is Saarland’s largest trading partner followed by Italy and the rest of Europe
3.      Income Per Capita: In the last three years, Saarland has been second to last with 1.19% GDP  in 2011

Cities:
1.      In the heart of Saarland lies its capital, Saarbrucken. The city is located at the Saar river in southwest Germany close to the border of France.
2.      Saarland also holds Homburg, Neunkirchen, Saarlouis, Völklingen, within its state.

History:
1.      Saarland became Germany’s 10^th  Federal State in 1957
2.In 1871 the Battle of Spichern and annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by the German Reich. 3.Roughly around 1918, the treaty of Versailles assigns the Saar mining area to France, while the adjoining workers’ housing area appending to them is put under the rule of a League of Nations government commission.
4.And in 1948, Saarland becomes part of France and is granted limited self-rule.

Cultural Information:
1.      In 1954 Saarland had their own soccer team and qualified for the World Cup.
2.      Between 1954 and 1959 Saarland had its own currency.
3.      Saarbucken, the capital of Saarland switched six times between France and Germany since the late 17 century.

Resources:

1.      http://www.eupedia.com/germany/saarland.shtml  08/29/12
2.http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=saarland,+saarland,+germany 08/29/12 3.http://www.saarland.de/english.htm 08/29/12 4.http://www.ahkitalien.it/fileadmin/ahk_italien/Dokumente/Wirtschaftstag/NEU_Praesentation_Bologna_30.April_engl_01.pdf  08/29/12
5.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_states_by_GDP  08/29/12
6.http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/Germany/saarland.