Roots of Change
Presentation by Matt McCullough
Part 1-Ancient Trade Rout/Current Trading Partner of the U.S.
Seunghun- Incense Road/ Canada
Chris- Spice Road/ India
Jocelyn- Silk Road/ Europe
Part 2- Conflict
Genocides:
Matt- Holocaust
Seunghun- Bosnia
Chris- Cambodia
Jocelyn- Rwanda
Civil Wars:
Matt- Mexican Cession
Seunghun- Spanish American War
Chris- ???
Jocelyn- World War II
Conflicts Over Ideas:
Matt- Cold War
Seunghun- North and South Korea
Chris- ???
Jocelyn- French Revolution
Terrorism:
Matt- 9/11 Twin Towers Attack
Seunghun- 1985 Pan Am Flight 103
Chris- 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing
Jocelyn- 1977 Moscow Bombings
Part 3- Technologies
Seunghun- Agriculture
Chris- ???
Jocelyn- Medicine
Seunghun
Chris
Cambodia
The Cambodian Genocide refers to the attempt of Khmer Rouge party
leader "Pol Pot" to nationalize and centralize the peasant farming
society of Cambodia virtually overnight, in accordance with the
Chinese Communist agricultural model. This resulted in the gradual
devastation of over 25% of the country's population in just three
short years.
Cambodia, a country in Southeast Asia, is less than half the size of
California, with its present day capital in Phnom Penh. In 1953
Cambodia gained its independence from France, after nearly 100 years
of colonialist rule. As the Vietnam War progressed, Cambodia's elected
Prime Minister Norodom Sihanouk adopted an official policy of
neutrality. Sihanouk was ousted in 1970 by a military coup led by his
own Cambodian General Lon Nol, a testament to the turbulent political
climate of Southeast Asia during this time. In the years preceding the
genocide, the population of Cambodia was just over 7 million, almost
all of whom were Buddhists. The country borders Thailand to its west
and northwest, Laos to its northeast, and Vietnam to its east and
southeast. The south and southwest borders of Cambodia are coastal
shorelines on the Gulf of Thailand.
The actions of the Khmer Rouge government which actually constitute
"genocide" began shortly after their seizure of power from the
government of Lon Nol in 1975, and lasted until the Khmer Rouge was
overthrown by the Vietnamese in 1978. The genocide itself emanated
from a harsh climate of political and social turmoil. This atmosphere
of communal unrest in Cambodia arose during the French decolonization
of Southeast Asia in the early 1950s, and continued to devastate the
region until the late 1980s.
Khmer Rouge Soldiers
The Khmer Rouge guerrilla movement, founded in 1960, was considerably
undermanned in its early days. The movement's leader, Pol Pot, was
educated in France and was an admirer of "Mao" (Chinese) communism -
Pol Pot envisioned the creation of a "new" Cambodia based on the
Maoist-Communist model. The aim of the Khmer Rouge was to deconstruct
Cambodia back a primitive "Year Zero," wherein all citizens would
participate in rural work projects, and any Western innovations would
be removed. Pol Pot brought in Chinese training tactics and Viet Cong
support for his troops, and was soon successful in producing a
formidable military force. In 1970, the Khmer Rouge went to civil war
with the U.S. backed "Khmer Republic," under lieutenant-general Lon
Nol. Lon Nol's government had assumed a pro-Western, anti-Communist
stance, and demanded the withdrawal of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong
forces from Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge guerillas were finally
successful in deposing Lon Nol's government in 1975. Under Pol Pot's
leadership, and within days of overthrowing the government, the Khmer
Rouge embarked on an organized mission: they ruthlessly imposed an
extremist program to reconstruct Cambodia on the communist model of
Mao's China. It was these extremist policies which led to the
Cambodian genocide.
Cambodian Victims
In order to achieve the "ideal" communist model, the Khmer Rouge
believed that all Cambodians must be made to work as laborer in one
huge federation of collective farms; anyone in opposition to this
system must be eliminated. This list of "potential opposition"
included, but was not limited to, intellectuals, educated people,
professionals, monks, religious enthusiasts, Buddhists, Muslims,
Christians, ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Cambodians with
Chinese, Vietnamese or Thai ancestry. The Khmer Rouge also vigorously
interrogated its own membership, and frequently executed members on
suspicions of treachery or sabotage. Survival in Khmer Rouge Cambodia
was determined by one's ability to work. Therefore, Cambodia's
elderly, handicapped, ill, and children suffered enormous casualties
for their inability to perform unceasing physical labor on a daily
basis.
At the onset of the Cambodian civil war in 1970, the neighboring
country of Vietnam was simultaneously engaged in a bitter civil war
between the communist North Vietnamese, and the U.S. backed South
Vietnamese. Under the Khmer Republic of Lon Nol, Cambodia became a
battlefield of the Vietnam War; it harbored U.S. troops, airbases,
barracks, and weapons caches. Prior to the Lon Nol government,
Cambodia had maintained neutrality in the Vietnamese civil war, and
had given equal support to both opposing sides. However, when the Lon
Nol government took control of Cambodia, U.S. troops felt free to move
into Cambodia to continue their struggle with the Viet Cong. As many
as 750,000 Cambodians died over the years 1970-1974, from American
B-52 bombers, using napalm and dart cluster-bombs to destroy suspected
Viet Cong targets in Cambodia. The heavy American bombardment, and Lon
Nol's collaboration with America, drove new recruits to Pol Pot's
Khmer Rouge guerilla movement. Many Cambodians had become disenchanted
with western democracy due to the huge loss of Cambodian lives,
resulting from the U.S.'s involving Cambodia in the war with Vietnam.
Pol Pot's communism brought with it images of new hope, promise, and
national tranquility for Cambodia. By 1975, Pol Pot's force had grown
to over 700,000 men. Within days of the Khmer Rouge takeover of
Cambodia in 1975, Pol Pot had put into motion his extremist policies
of collectivization (the government confiscation and control of all
properties) and communal labor.
Khmer Rouge Killing Fields
Under threat of death, Cambodians nationwide were forced from their
hometowns and villages. The ill, disabled, old and young who were
incapable of making the journey to the collectivized farms and labor
camps were killed on the spot. People who refused to leave were
killed, along with any who appeared to be in opposition to the new
regime. The people from entire cities were forcibly evacuated to the
countryside. All political and civil rights of the citizen were
abolished. Children were taken from their parents and placed in
separate forced labor camps. Factories, schools, universities,
hospitals, and all other private institutions were shut down; all
their former owners and employees were murdered, along with their
extended families. Religion was also banned: leading Buddhist monks
and Christian missionaries were killed, and temples and churches were
burned. While racist sentiments did exist within the Khmer Rouge, most
of the killing was inspired by the extremist propaganda of a militant
communist transformation. It was common for people to be shot for
speaking a foreign language, wearing glasses, smiling, or crying. One
Khmer slogan best illuminates Pol Pot's ideology:
"To spare you is no profit, to destroy you is no loss."
Cambodians who survived the purges and marches became unpaid laborers,
working on minimum rations for endless hours. They were forced to live
in public communes, similar to military barracks, with constant food
shortages and diseases running rampant. Due to conditions of virtual
slave labor, starvation, physical injury, and illness, many Cambodians
became incapable of performing physical work and were killed off by
the Khmer Rouge as expenses to the system. These conditions of
genocide continued for three years until Vietnam invaded Cambodia in
1978 and ousted the Khmer Rouge government. To this point, civilian
deaths totaled well over 2 million.
Cambodia lay in ruins under the newly-established Vietnamese regime.
The economy failed under Pol Pot, and all professionals, engineers,
technicians and planners who could potentially reorganize Cambodia had
been killed in the genocide. Since Cambodia had now fallen under
Vietnamese (Communist) control, foreign relief aid from any western,
democratic state was unlikely. Throughout the 1980s, the U.S. and U.K.
instead offered financial and military support to the Khmer Rouge
forces in exile, who had now sworn opposition to Vietnam and
communism. The Vietnamese occupation and the continual threat of Khmer
Rouge guerilla forces preserved Cambodia in underdeveloped and
prehistoric conditions- until Vietnam's eventual withdrawal in 1989.
In the following military conflicts of 1978-1989, an additional 14,000
Cambodian civilians perished. In 1991, a peace agreement was finally
reached, and Buddhism was reinstated as the official state religion.
The nation's first true democratic elections were held in 1993.
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC)
On July 25, 1983, the "Research Committee on Pol Pot's Genocidal
Regime" issued its final report, including detailed
province-by-province data. Among other things, their data showed that
3,314,768 people lost their lives in the "Pol Pot time." Beginning in
1995, mass graves were uncovered throughout Cambodia. Bringing the
perpetrators to justice, however, has proved to be a difficult task.
The UN called for a Khmer Rouge Tribunal in 1994; the trials finally
began in November of 2007, and are expected to continue through 2010.
Many suspected perpetrators were killed in the military struggle with
Vietnam or eliminated as internal threats to the Khmer Rouge itself.
In 1997, Pol Pot himself was arrested by Khmer Rouge members; a "mock"
trial was staged and Pol Pot was found guilty. He died of natural
causes in 1998. The last members of the Khmer Rouge were officially
disbanded in 1999. Currently, the state of affairs in Cambodia is
relatively tranquil. Today, Cambodia's main industries are fabrics and
tourism; foreign visitors to Cambodia surpassed 1.7 million in 2006.
However, the BBC reports that corruption remains a serious issue in
Cambodian politics. International aid from the U.S. and other
countries is often embezzled by bureaucrats into their private
accounts. This illegal seizure of foreign aid has greatly added to the
widespread income disparity which affects most Cambodian citizens
today.
The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and
the Zulu Kingdom. Following a campaign by which Lord Carnarvon had
successfully brought about federation in Canada, it was thought that
similar combined military and political campaigns might succeed with
the African kingdoms, tribal areas and Boer republics in South Africa.
In 1874, Sir Henry Bartle Frere was sent to South Africa as High
Commissioner for the British Empire to bring such plans into being.
Among the obstacles were the presence of the independent states of the
South African Republic and the Kingdom of Zululand and its army.[6]
Frere, on his own initiative, without the approval of the British
government[7][8] and with the intent of instigating a war with the
Zulu, had presented an ultimatum on 11 December 1878, to the Zulu king
Cetshwayo with which the Zulu king could not comply.[9] Cetshwayo did
not comply and Bartle Frere sent Lord Chelmsford to invade
Zululand.[10] The war is notable for several particularly bloody
battles, including a stunning opening victory by the Zulu at
Isandlwana, as well as for being a landmark in the timeline of
imperialism in the region. The war eventually resulted in a British
victory and the end of the Zulu nation's independence
When in the late 1520s the Catholic authorities of England tried to
buy up and burn all copies of William Tyndale's English translation of
the Bible, they were attempting to stop the spread of what they viewed
as a dangerous plague of heresies spreading out from Luther's Germany.
The plague was the Protestant Reformation, a movement opposed to
crucial aspects of both the belief system and the institutional
structure of Roman Catholicism.
Many of the key tenets of the Reformation were not new: they had been
anticipated in England by the teachings of the theologian and reformer
John Wycliffe in the fourteenth century. But Wycliffe and his
followers, known as Lollards, had been suppressed, and, officially at
least, England in the early sixteenth century had a single religion,
Catholicism, whose acknowledged head was the Pope in Rome. In 1517,
drawing upon long-standing currents of dissent, Martin Luther, an
Augustinian monk and professor of theology at the University of
Wittenberg in Germany, challenged the authority of the Pope and
attacked several key doctrines of the Catholic Church. According to
Luther, the Church, with its elaborate hierarchical structure centered
in Rome, its rich monasteries and convents, and its enormous political
influence, had become hopelessly corrupt, a conspiracy of venal
priests who manipulated popular superstitions to enrich themselves and
amass worldly power. Luther began by vehemently attacking the sale of
indulgences -- certificates promising the remission of punishments to
be suffered in the afterlife by souls sent to Purgatory to expiate
their sins. These indulgences, along with other spiritual and temporal
powers claimed by the Pope, had no foundation in the Bible, which in
Luther's view was the only legitimate source of religious truth.
Christians would be saved not by scrupulously following the ritual
practices fostered by the Catholic Church -- observing fast days,
reciting the ancient Latin prayers, endowing chantries to say prayers
for the dead, and so on -- but by faith and faith alone.
Oklahoma City bombing
The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist bomb attack on the
Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April
19, 1995. It would remain the most destructive act of terrorism
committed in the United States until the September 11 attacks of 2001,
six years later. The bombing claimed 168 lives[1] and injured more
than 680 people.[2] The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings
within a 16-block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered
glass in 258 nearby buildings,[3][4] causing at least an estimated
$652 million worth of damage.[5] Extensive rescue efforts were
undertaken by local, state, federal, and worldwide agencies in the
wake of the bombing, and substantial donations were received from
across the country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
activated eleven of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces,
consisting of 665 rescue workers who assisted in rescue and recovery
operations.[6][7]
Within 90 minutes of the explosion, Timothy McVeigh was stopped by
Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger for driving without a license
plate and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon.[8][9] Forensic
evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Terry Nichols to the attack;
Nichols was arrested,[10] and within days both were charged. Michael
and Lori Fortier were later identified as accomplices. McVeigh, an
American militia movement sympathizer who was a Gulf War veteran, had
detonated an explosive-filled Ryder rental truck parked in front of
the building. McVeigh's co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, had assisted in
the bomb preparation. Motivated by his hatred of the federal
government and angered by what he perceived as its mishandling of the
1993 Waco siege and the Ruby Ridge incident in 1992, McVeigh timed his
attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the deadly fire that
ended the siege at Waco.[11][12]
Air conditioning
The basic concept behind air conditioning is said to have been applied
in ancient Egypt, where reeds were hung in windows and were moistened
with trickling water. The evaporation of water cooled the air blowing
through the window, though this process also made the air more humid
(also beneficial in a dry desert climate). In Ancient Rome, water from
aqueducts was circulated through the walls of certain houses to cool
them. Other techniques in medieval Persia involved the use of cisterns
and wind towers to cool buildings during the hot season. Modern air
conditioning emerged from advances in chemistry during the 19th
century, and the first large-scale electrical air conditioning was
invented and used in 1902 by Willis Carrier. The introduction of
residential air conditioning in the 1920s helped enable the great
migration to the Sun Belt in the US.
It allowed more people to live in the southern US, in Europe and the
Middle East it helped cool down buildings after the summer in Asia it
was used cool things