Wilson's Fourteen Points

I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

This point fails to exist today. Leaders of countries sometimes meet in private and without anyone knowing. They do not have to let the people of their country know what they are doing. Although they are probably frowned upon if they meet about something that is not of a good cause. 

II: Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants. 

This point still exists today. Anyone can set sail and roam around the oceans of the world. Each country, if it is along the water, controls a certain area of the ocean. However, past that it is free land, or in this case water.

XIII: An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.

This point still exists today because when Germany surrendered it gave Poland its independence. Today, Poland remains independent.

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.

Today there is a similar thing to the League of Nations in which this point created. The United Nations is also group of countries committed to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations and promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. This is directly similar to the League of Nations because they are both peace keeping organizations.

I believe that the last point would be the most effective at preventing war because it helps keep peace between different countries all over the world. If there was no United Nations today I feel as though we may have went to war more and possibly be in a huge war in the near future. 

A Political Cartoon

                                                       GERMAN BULL: "I know I'm making a

                                                       rotten exhibition of myself; but I shall tell

                                                       everybody I was goaded into it."

        The Germans are portrayed as a bull running amok in a "neutral china shop." The shop bears the flags of the neutral nations. The point of the cartoon is that the Germans would attack neutral countries, such as Belgium, with the excuse that they had been provoked by the actions of the victims.

        Making Germany the bull is a pun. When people lie they are told what they are saying is "bull". This comic is not exactly an exaggeration because Germany did invade Belgium who wanted to be neutral.

        My opinion of the political cartoon is that it portrays the Germans in their true identity. They were bullies who invaded a country that wanted absolutely nothing to do with the war. Why even ask them if you are just going to go through their country anyway? Germany did the wrong thing and this cartoon portrays their wrong decision in a clearer picture.

Lives of Women During the War

The Great War changed the role of women in the workplace forever. As more and more young men volunteered or were conscripted into the armed forces to fight in the war, women were called to fill their roles in the factories, mines and many other roles traditionally carried out by the men. The number of women employed greatly increased in many industries. Women were also seen as vital resources for wartime aids, and various wartime slogans. Many women, regardless of age and status, were willing to work, either to help their nation to win the war or to sustain the life of their family in absence of their husband and father. The Red Cross organized non-professional women to aid in relief work.  To help the war effort, many women joined the Red Cross as nurses.With so many men fighting in the trenches, there were hundreds wounded every day, Nurses were brought to the front line, to help in the treatment of those wounded. Being on the front line, these women ran the risk of being hit by a stray bullet or even shelled during an enemy bombardment. Many women were killed while carrying out their duties. This take-over of women almost came to a halt went WWI came to an end in 1918. Men returned home and planned on returning to the jobs they had before leaving. The women of this time left such and impact on America that, in the same year,  Woodrow Wilson would eventually have the Senate pass the 19th amendment.



Armenian Genocide

        During World War I, in 1915, the Turkish government decided to have a systematic extermination of most of the male Armenian population, and the forced deportation of mostly women, children, and the elderly. The deportation became a death march. It was extremely violent and deprived people which lead them to the death. By the time the exhausted and traumatized survivors reached refuge in neighbouring countries, up to three-quarters of the entire Ottoman Armenian population had been exterminated.
        The operation was controlled by the "Young Turk" government. The "Young Turks" were racists against the Armenians. The events of World War I, Turkey allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary against Britain, France, and Russia, gave these creators of genocide the opportunity they needed to partake in their plan of wiping out all Armenians. On April 24, 1915, Armenian political leaders, writers, and thinkers were rounded up, deported and killed. Next, were men and teenagers. They were tied together into groups with ropes and taken just outside of their town where they were then shot.  The women, children, and elderly were the last to be killed. Some Armenian women and children were offered the alternative of conversion to Islam and subsequent slavery in Turkish homes, but it is generally held that only a thousand or so accepted. Those who refused were told to bring a few belongings to be relocated to a non-military zone for safety. However, they were actually being taken on death marches toward the Syrian Desert. The Armenian's had to walk there naked. Along the way they starved to death and died of hydration because they were not allowed to have food or water. Once they got to the destination they were shot and killed.
        Primary responsibility for the genocide is on the trio of Enver Pasha, Cemal Pasha, and Talat Pasha, who dominated the Central Committee of the "Young Turk" government. They planned the systematic extermination and expulsion of the Armenian population. The genocide was carried out by many thousands of Turkish officers and soldiers, along with ordinary citizens who thought  the persecution of the Armenians to be an ideal opportunity for plunder, rape, and kidnapping. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were killed.
        My opinion on the Armenian Genocide is that it is horrifically wrong. I will never understand how one race can think that they are, in any way, better than another. We are all created equal. This genocide reminds me of Hitler and the Nazis' extermination of the Jews. In both cases people were gullible enough to believe that these people were taking them to a safe place, when in reality they were taking them to their death. People should not be killed because of their religion or race. We are allowed to believe what we want to believe and we cannot change our race. We are who we are and should not be killed because of that.