EXTRA CREDIT: Charles Maier, "The Phases of the Cold War, 1945-1990" (1996)

The theme of this reading is that the author tells that historians say that the Cold War couldn’t have any clearer periodization. Therefore Charles Maier explains the 9 phases of the Cold war into detail so that it is easier to understand. He goes through the events like a timeline to clearly specify different events that went on during that time period. 

Several things that came to mind when I read this I decided that I should maybe do a little research on the Cold War and the NATO. I figured that the NATO must have been really important during this time of the Cold War. The NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization and because of the Korean War, and NATO became enemies with the collaboration of nations under the Warsaw Pact. Also another thing I learned about the Cold War is that because of the relationship between USA and USSR after WWII when both had nuclear weapons, it got the name: Cold War.

After reading this I noticed that among all of the phases, phase 6 stood out to me. “the continuing potential for open conflict almost slipped out of control in the complex series of crises from 1958 through 1962” Here Charles talks about the abrogate four power control of Berlin and the turn over the Soviet sector, and how back in the US John Kennedy was led to reinvigorate Cold War rhetoric to challenge Fidel Castros control of Cuba. Which I find so interesting because even today things are still very difficult in Cuba because Castro is so power hungry. It seemed like just when things may have been getting better in the Cold War, a ton of conflict took place that just kept it going. Crazy to me.

  Reading this story makes me think about how much history I honestly do not know much abut. I did not know much at all about the Cold War before I read this reading. So I actually really enjoyed this reading. I suppose we can relate this reading to the war in Iraq, and how people feel about it, and the different timeline or phases of events that have occurred leading up to it and the effects of it. It’s crazy to think about!

This reading relates to the text because the book talks about the Cold War as well as the tension between the US and the Soviet Union. Our textbook also talks about the NATO. Our text also talks about the significance of the signing of the Helsinki Accords. Plus, most of the readings we have done for this class have all been something that is covered in our text. I like that thought because we are able to learn more about things we have talked about in class. 

Adolf Hitler, Proclamation to the German Nation, February 1, 1933

The theme of this reading is that of WWI and what events occurred that left Germany in shambles under the power of Hitler. Hitler told the people of Germany that he along with God would fix the problems in their economy and society in a 4 year period. He basically took advantage of Germany at a low time which is very sad to see from such a strong, powerful leader.

Several things that came to mind when I read this was that Germany should have seen this economic crisis coming after all of the reparations they owed to other countries, income taxes, debt from spending, and the Great Depression didn’t help either. Therefore it was easy for Hitler to take over and get everyone on his side in such a crisis.

 After reading this I noticed that it was very naive for Germany to even think that this man could really bring the economy back on its feet after such a crisis in just four years guaranteed. That’s crazy to me. I mean thats good they had a positive outlook and were optimistic but you have to be real. Plus during this time Germany was not in leading growth for economy at that time. Hitler obviously had to have some sort of reasoning behind his extreme belief he could change that.

Reading this story makes me think about how Hitler must have been or seemed like a really kind and a nice decent person in Germany....Until he became a Dictator. I feel like people during this time were just searching for answers and something they could turn to and instead of God, they turned to Adolf Hitler, or perhaps they saw him as a sign or an answer to their prayers, kinda like their saving grace. Which kind of makes sense as to why they were so willing to follow him and how easy it was for him to gain immediate control, power, and popularity. Which soon lead to awful things for them and the discrimination of the Jews which no one saw coming because they trusted him so much, they were practically blindsided from one of the most horrific events that ever took place.

  This reading relates to the text because the book talks about events that took place after WWI and what caused or brought about WWII as well. It also discusses the issue of Hitler and his belief that he could single handedly bring Germany out of ruins. I found the reading to actually be very interesting and enjoyed this blog.

Thorstein Veblen Conspicuous Consumption, 1902

The theme of this reading is that of society and how it affects the social status and wealth of the different social classes. Thorstein Veblen feels that people find importance in looking like they have some amount of money in order to have an “acceptable” reputation and feel like by doing so they are put up to a higher social status amongst others. Thorstein expresses that it is only when you have practically nothing left (including food and money) that people will stop focusing on materialistic things and social status know they have to fight to survive another day or week where other things are at stake. Things like family, enough food, or their house, or job. Although because some families have to deal with that poverty, there are still standards that they tend to live by like as Thorstein said, “Conspicuous Consumption”. They try to make the best they can so that for example, a wife who is in charge of house decor may try and make the house look really nice to try to cover up poverty and make themselves have a better reputation. 

Several things that came to mind when I read this. Well, first of all, this reading was kinda long so it took me a little while to really grasp it but I realized that Thorstein really focuses on a disturbingly realistic principle that you're reputation and status in the community is decided by how much time you waste on materialistic items and “free time”. I guess I never really thought about how much people rely on reputation and advancement of technology to where they are almost obsessive and miss out on so much in life. I also found out that “Conspicuous Consumption” is that of spending on goods and services for the purpose of public expressing or showing your wealth. Which is all done to maintain an expected or desired social status. This whole concept came during the time of the Industrial Revolution and how it enabled the middle class to have good jobs which led to a decent, consistent income and people felt it was necessary to show off their wealth due to this occurrence.

After reading this I noticed how he mentioned that even the lower middle class families still find it necessary to gain acceptance of others and almost trick the people around them into seeing that they are of wealthy standards. This is very interesting because no matter what social class you are in, there will always be that “need” to maintain a good reputation and high wealth standards.

Reading this story makes me think about how much time we as a society really waste on nonsense things. It’s also crazy how people have it in their minds that you have to look like or show that you have some sort of wealth and are so consumed by “things” in this world rather than just life. This leads to so much more too, like this is part of the reason why there is so much judgement in our world today, people judge others based on society’s standards which isn’t fair or right. People judge others and make assumptions because of what job they may have, clothes they wear, where they live, the kind of car you have; and a lot of this is for self esteem so that you feel almost “better” than others. I see this all of the time, and after reading this I realized i have done some of those things before, but as a Christian its so difficult to see that people are doing the opposite of what Christ calls us to do. We are supposed to set aside worldly desires and yearn for eternity and put others before ourselves and not get wrapped up in materialistic items but instead turn to God and follow HIS will for our lives. People who are well off and have much wealth see there to be no reason to because they think they have it all together, and then people who are not doing well financially feel like there is no use because they feel that they can’t believe in God when all they have is nothing, so it’s like where can and how can we get people to a point were they realize that all the need is God and that whats most important in this world is what God thinks and how their heart is, not what objects they possess or the money they have. Most of what i just said was more of how i felt and my analysis of what was going through my head when i read this. It is easier said than done, but a great thing to think about for sure.

This reading relates to the text because the book talks about many different societies during different time periods, especially that of the early 20th century.