Research on RAF

Research the "Rote Armee Fraktion" RAF and provide a second post with your findings of

- the causes

- the three generations of activists

- the end of the RAF

- the similarities between current day's terro attacks and the RAF (similarities and differences)

• The causes:

Red Army Faction was founded in 1970. The group pledged allegiance to communist ideals against capitalist status quo. Baader and other three members set bombs in two department stores in Frankfurt intending to protest the Vietnam War in 1968. Their aim was to escalate the conflict between the state and its opposition, trying to conduct revolutionary across West Germany and Europe.

• The three generations of activist:

There were three generations through 1970 to 1998. The first generation was led by Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof. Later during the 1970s, the RAF was reorganized on the basis of guerrilla, resistance and anti-Imperialist Front. RAF operations were conducted and carried out by RAF commandos. From the 80s to 90s, they were reorganized to their third generation.

• The end of RAF:

On 20 April 1998, RAF sent a typewritten letter and announced that the group RAF had dissolved.

• Similarities:

1. Both use weapons and make lots of attacks
2. Both are very extreme
3. Both make bad impact on society and people
4. Both are well-organized and under leadership
5. Both are not approved by society

• Differences:

1. Terrorists group today killed much more than RAF
2. They have different objectives and goals
3. The causes of their organizations are different
4. RAF did attacks mostly in Germany.
5. RAF was dissolved but some of today’s terrorist groups were not.

Cited:
http://terrorism.about.com/od/groupsleader1/p/RedArmyFaction.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rote_Armee_Fraktion#Background

Response to Baader-Meinhof Complex

1. My personal response to this movie

Truly, I didn’t know this part of Germany history at all without getting access to this movie. Before watching this, I did a research online to know what basically the movie was about and downloaded on my own laptop so that I was able to have a Chinese subtitle for better understanding. This movie is telling us the early years of RAF. I can see how much effort the filmaker put on the representation of what really happened.

The beginning scene really confused me a little. It opens with a relaxing image of a happy family playing on a beach. Then, everything starts to become serious and bloody. I was angry about the scene that the police beat unarmed demonstrators who were protesting. The filmmaker has an obvious and clear mind in layout the whole story line. Later, it shocked me while the RAF members started to take actions on those innocent people. They strongly consider that they can change everything by doing their attacks. Then, horrible attacks start to display. They robbed bank, made bomb attacks, damage department stores and so on. It shows fully how brutal and bloodthirsty the RAF’s actions were during that time.

When they were arrested, their next generation members appear and make the whole situation worse. The attacks and kidnaps make more people injured and death. In my own opinion, they have no sense of responsibility to the society and those victims.

The movie ends with the leaders’ suicides in jail. They finally received the punishment they deserved –death. On the other hand, I found out that the German state also ran on the wrong track sometimes. Both sides of RAF and government need go back to find out where they need revise and improvement. Anyway, this movie is super impressive and strong to tell us what was happening on the later 20 century in Germany.

German inventions and industry in 20th Century

Link to our Powerpoint

Fourth Presentation

The Music- Theatre- Dance Scene

Why the EU will continue to be a pivotal organization for Germany in the 21st century

1. Economy
Germany is the second largest export country in the world. The open and advanced EU market will help German economic become more beneficial and successful.
2. Environment
With the protection and unity of EU, Germany can create and keep good relationship with his neighbors. It proveide a safer and comfortable environment for Germany to develop.
3. Currency
EU has strong strength to make Euro stable and widely used. Euro has been a catalyst for modernization and standardisation. Based on the money they use, it's more convienient and important for Germany to run their business more smoothly.
4. Global Relationship
EU offers a high reputation to help Germany make good relationship and business partership with countries around the world.
5. Market
With a size of 500 million people market, EU leads Germany to enjoy the wonderful business atmosphere.
6. Language and culture
Due to the frequent communication in EU, more and more people will get deeper understand about Germany Culture. On the other hand, German will be a more popular language so that more people are participated to learn it.
7. Nature environment
Germany has a lot of neighbours. As a result of EU well orgnized leadship, it will reduce the cross-boundary pollution and improve Germany nature environment better.
8.Technology
EU orgnization has powerful and strength technology research investment and facilities. It will help Germany improve their technology faser and stronger.
9. Tourism
As a result of the foundation of EU, Europeans from other countries do not worry abou visa and barriers to travel to Germany. It contributes a lot to Germany development tourism benefits. On the other hand, German are able to go travel in the every country in EU conveniently as well.
10. Higher reputation
Germany is play a big part in EU economy. If Europe wants to influence global decison-making, Germany must involve on the world stage. As a result, it makes higher reputation for Germany in the world.
11. Tax
It is a good way to eliminate high tax tariffs between countries for Germany under the EU leadership
12. Jobs
EU will provide more jobs for German and make Germany more diversity.

Work Cited:
Sprecht-Jarvis, Roland. Class handouts. 8 Nov, 2010

Our third presentation

Link for our third presentation "20th Century Rulers"

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Goethe literary work in 18 century

First goup presentation

Here is the link to the powerpoint of our presentation.

My favourite three blogs

                                                                           (http://www.clipartof.com/)
I reviewed all the blogs from members in this class. I found that almost everyone did a perfect job on following our procedures. However, I graded them all on the fomat, the content, the source website quality. And my choices are:
1.Kelsey Kubiak- 95/100
I really enjoy reading her blog. She has a smart mind on lay-out. Most of her opinions are easy to understand but impressing. Secondly, I like her blog background which is a red car. It makes the blog more beautiful to see.
2. Donohue, Patrick- 92/100
Patrick's blog is well-orgnized. I can read the efforts he put on his blog. Everything is covered pretty well following the instruments. Furthermore, he added a lot of pictures which made his blog more interesting to view.
3. Owen, Sion - 88/100
He made his blog professionly. It's easy for me to understand what he tried to present. He also did a good job on citing pictures. However, I suggested him to change the background color brighter so that everyone is able to view it more clearly.

All Quiet on the Western Front Review

“All Quiet on the Western Front” written by Erich Maria Remarque may be the definitive anti-war novel. The author describes very carefully and infectiously on the cruelty of war from both perspectives – the fight scene and soldiers’’ feelings. With 8.5 million dead and 20 million injured through the WW1, Paul lost his soul and his friends. I can see his fear and loneliness through those parts which were describing his feeling inside. The author tried to make us believe that the war is a savage force sacrificing men and boys to a patriotic ideal. More than that, the entire book also reflects a lot of shady facts in the community. On Chapter nine, a dialogue between soldiers when the empire is reviewing troops expressed to us what the author is trying to persuade. Empire and his generals all desired to be famous by conducting wars. Actually, the civilians were the final sufferers and forced to pay for the war by their treasures, land, even lives.

On the other hand, I can realize a vehement and urgent argument against the Germany leaders by Erich Maria Remarque. There was no glory in Remarque’s war. No one can get benefits by conducting a war against another regime. However, this warning doesn't make most people awake in Germany. Couple decades later, the WW2 began and finally made a huge lost and damage to the whole world including Germany. German became one of the most aggressive and guilty in the world dictionary.

Competition Questions and Answers

Group 1 questions and answers

Thuringia Facts

Place
Thuringia is known as the "green heart of Germany". It located in the central part of Germany.
border on  Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Bavaria and Hesse.

How many people live there?
2,290,000 people
rank: fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states.

How does its size relate to Minnesota, or any other US State?
16,171 square kilometers. It is a little bigger than Connecticut.
In population, Thuringia equals to the population of New Mexico.

What's special about that State?
As known as the "green heart of Germany", Thuringia has a high density of trees.
Thuringia was named after the Thuringii tribe who occupied it AD 300.
The capital city is Erfurt. It has the oldest evidence of human settlement dates from the prehistoric era.
After WW2, Thuringia was controled under Soviet. It was restored in 1990 during Germany's reunification.

What was the State historically? A kingdom, a duchy, a free city?
Forming a part of Holy Roman Empire, it came under Frankish domination in the 6th century.
After the war of the War of Thurigian succession, the western half part became independent as Hesse. The remaining Thuringia came under the rule of Wettin Dynasty, the center of the later Kingdom of Saxony.


http://www.itcwebdesigns.com/tour_germany/thuringia.htm
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Tourism-g187415-Thuringia-Vacations.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuringia
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/594417/Thuringia

16 German States Pivotal Facts

1. Baden-Württemberg
On the Southwestern corner of Germany
Neckar River runs centrally through the state
2. Bavaria
Germany's second most populous state with 12.5 million of citizens
Some famous companies headquarted in Bavaria include BMW, Siemens, Adidas, Puma.
3. Saarland
Smallest state in Germany
Locates on the border of France and Germany
4.Rheinland-Pfalz (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Germany's wine state
It has suppied immigrants to many parts of the world
5. Hesse
Home of the Grimm Brothers
The locals speak a Rhine Franconian dialect
6. Thuringia
Known as the "green heart of Germany"
Sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population in Germany
7. Saxony
Has more than  a millennium history
Has the best economy among the former GDR states
8. Nurdrhein-Westfalen (North-Rhine WestPhalia)
is the most populous and economically powerful state among 16 states
the largest city is Köln (Cologne)
9. Saxony-Anhalt
is famous for its good soil
is the largest receiver of foreign direct investments
10. Lower Saxony
is second in area among 16 states
Most of the its territory was part of the historic Kingdom of Hanover
11. Berlin
Capital city of Germany
Largest city in Germany
12. Bremen
Smallest state among 16 states
University of Bremen is very popular and famous
13. Brandenburg
is famous for its well-preserved nature environment
German and sobian are both used in parts of the state
14. Hamburg
Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany
Hamburg State Opera is a leading opera company in Germany
15. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
University of Rostock is the oldest in Europe
Human settlement in the area began after the Ice Age, 10,000 BC
16. Schleswig-Hoistei
the state lies between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea
Wacken Open Air is the largest metal rock festival in the world

Observations about German print media

As far as I know, there are three major types of print media system in the world. The Liberal Model prevails in the U.S and British countries. This model prefers strong norms as "objectivity", balance, and fairness, as well as other ethical norms. And the medias ought  to be seperated from political and parties and it required for high journalistic. And German medias belong to another system model called "democratic corporatize". This model is widely used in Central and Northern European medias. In conrast, this model combined the freedoms with some state intervention which is not allowed in U.S together. It also requried high degree of journalistic and professionlism.
In my observation, I found the U.S newspaper and Germany newspaper are quite similar to each other. Politics, news, sports, news events, and entertainment are all involved. And the classifications of them are pretty much as same as ours in U.S. However, the price of a newspaper in Germany is higher than U.S newpaper. Even so, we can still get access to read it online instead purchase it. What's more, I found that most Germany newspaper was only offerd from Monday to Saturday. But in U.S, the newspaper was being published and printed through the whole week. It's really a good experience for me to know these differences between these two media system.

Observations about the top 20 Radio stations in Germany

Before I got access to the radio, I realized that there is a wide spread in the number of radio stations in Germany. Mostly, maojority of the radio stations are broadcasting all kinds of music, such as Hip Hop, R&B, techno, and some mixed music. Music is a part of universal culture. Although lots of songs don't make sense to me at all, i am still enjoying some of the nice rhythm and beats. As well as in U.S, most popular musics are also being welcomed. In my opinion, the German tastes of music are quite similar to Americans. Furthermore, I also found one children radio music which is broadcasting children's favourite musics.
However, Germany radio media differed from U.S radio on language. For me, both English and German are both my second languages. In my experience, I haven't heard an non-English voice on radio. But in those radio stations, I realized that they are broadcasting both English and German songs and talkshows. At this points, it can't be denied that German respect minority much more than U.S radio stations.

Rugen Introduction

Document

Connect to document about the

Berliner Olympiastadion

List of Topics on Berlin

1. Berlin Buildings
2. Berlin Structures

3. Reichstag
4. Berlin During WWII
5. Berlin After WWII
6. Berlin then and Now
7. Berlin in the 1920's and Today
8. U-Bahn and S-Bahn
9. Berlin Nightlife
10.Berlin Olympiastadion and Haus am Checkpoint Charlie
11.Popular Sights and Activities in Luebeck, Germany
12.Tourism
13.Bradenburg Gate

Berlin then and Now

Berlin Olympiastadion





Conner Otte



Zhi Bie



Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74JyZu3EJxs







http://www.berlin-stadtfuehrung.de/Berlin_Germany.html



Olympic Stadium in Berlin was built for 1936 Summer Olympics Games in Reichssportfeld on behalf of Adolf Hitler. It was designed by Werner March. Construction took place from 1934 to 1936. When the Reichssportfeld was finished, it was 1.32 square kilometers. It consisted of (east to west): the Olympiastadion, the Maifeld (Mayfield) and the Waldbühne amphitheaterIt had to be an imposing structure to express the power of the Nazi regime. Designed to hold 100,000 spectators, this Olympic Stadium was famous for its enormous dimensions and authority. It also possessed a special stand for Hitler and his political associates. During the WW2, it became the symbol of the Nazi power.



1936 Olympics



On August 1, 1936, the 11th Summer Olympics were officially inaugurated by Hitler. Four million tickets were sold for all the events of the 1936 Summer Olympics. This was also the first Olympics with television transmission and radio transmissions in 28 languages. All kinds of Games were playing including soccer, swimming, equestrian events, field hockey and so on. What’s more, one of the most memorable events was the performance of the African-American track and field athlete Jesse Owens, representing the United States of America.







http://www.flickr.com/photos/wolfgangstaudt/3751514021/



1939 to 1945: World War II



During this fierce world war, the Olympiastadion only suffered the impact of gun shots and remained untouched after the World War II.







1945 to 1994



After the victory of Alliance, the Reichssportfeld was used as headquarters of the British military occupation forces.



The British forces settled in the northern buildings designed by the March brothers in the 1920s. Soon, the Occupation started a careful reconstruction of the general facilities. From then until 1994, British forces held an annual celebration of The Queen's Official Birthday in the Maifeld with thousands of spectators from Berlin present. During the 1960s, American military and high school football teams introduced hundreds of thousands of Berliners to American football at the stadium in exhibition games.







http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Berlin_Olympiastadion_nach_Umbau.jpg



1994 to now



A lot of concerts were performed at the stadium including Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, among others from 1994-2005. Furthermore, In 1998, Berliners debated the destiny of the Olympiastadion in light of the legacy it represented for Germany. Later, it was decided to renovate the Olympiastadion. FIFA then chose it as one of the venues of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The State of Berlin hired a consortium composed of WALTER BAU-AG and DYWIDAG to do the renovation.



On July 3, 2000, the renovation began. The project of the renovated stadium respected the original structure of the Thirties. The roof was extended to cover a total of 37,000 square metres, with 20 roof-supporting columns carrying a weight of 3,500 tonnes of steel. 70,000 cubic metres of concrete was used during this reconstruction.



After the renovation and conservation, the stadium took on a brand new look. It has the highest all-seated capacity in Germany at 74,228. The roof rises 68 metres over the seats and is made up of transparent panels that allow sunlight to stream in during the day. Furthermore, The Olympiastadion was also equipped with the latest technology in artificial illumination and sound equipment.



In 2006, the World Cup was hosted by Germany. Millions of euros were spent to modernize the stadium for the FIFA gamesThe Olympiastadion was designated to play the final match of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. And this has taken place exactly 70 years after the 1936 Summer Olympics. Germany's Interior Minister Otto Schily, who attended the opening party, concluded: "The stadium recalls the dark elements present in its creation. But in 2006 the world will look upon to modern, democratic, and open Germany".











Haus am Checkpoint Charlie



Checkpoint Charlie was the monitoring tower used to control the area around the Berlin Wall that divided the city during the Cold War. It was demolished soon after the 1989 revolution. On display at the museum are the photos and related documents of successful escape attempts from East Germany, and also the escape apparatus: hot-air balloons, getaway cars, chairlifts, and a mini-U-Boat.







http://www.control.auc.dk/~dthi02/06-12-2002%20Germany/Berlin/Checkpoint%20Charlie%2002.jpg



“It began as an exhibition by the historian Rainer Hildebrandt on 19 October 1962, just outside the Berlin Wall, in an apartment with only two and a half rooms in Bernauer Straße. The street was divided along its whole length; the buildings in the east had been vacated and their windows were bricked up. The Haus am Checkpoint Charlie opened in its present location in 1963.



The museum is operated by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft 13. August ("13 August Consortium" – the date on which construction of the Berlin Wall began), and the director is Alexandra Hildebrandt, widow of Rainer.



It is one of the most frequently visited museums in Berlin, with 850,000 visitors in 2007. Through its presentation of the many ways in which people tried to escape East Germany, it aims to bring that period of history to life and ensure that it is not forgotten.



In 2008, the museum gave the total number of people killed up until 1989 on the Berlin Wall and the East-West German border as 1,303. However, one source claims that this total includes victims trying to escape via the Baltic Sea, Germans killed on the country's exterior borders, the deaths of East German soldiers and Soviet deserters, suicides of family members of the border troops, and people who successfully escaped from the East but were subsequently captured and killed by the Stasi or the KGB.”







Citation:



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Stadium_(Berlin)



http://www.berlin-sportmetropole.de/english/venues/olympiastadion+berlin/index.html



http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_menu/architecture/stadium_design/berlin_olympiastadion.shtml



http://www.europealacarte.co.uk/blog/2009/07/15/olympiastadion-%E2%80%93-berlin%E2%80%99s-olympic-stadium/



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checkpoint_Charlie_Museum



http://www.berlin.world-guides.com/monuments.html



http://www.control.auc.dk/~dthi02/06-12-2002%20Germany/Berlin/Checkpoint%20Charlie%2002.jpg

Germany World Heritage List

Favorite Five:




The Wartburg Castle
Monastic Island of Reichenau
Cologne Cathedral
The Wadden Sea
Classical Weimar

Introduction

Hello,
My name is Zhi Bie. It's my pleasure to be in the class studying with all of you. I just enrolled German 110 after the first week and missed some homework. I ll make up all of them. Enjoy this wonderful course.