NATO and The Warsaw Pact

After World War II, the countries of Western Europe found themselves too politically and militarilly weak to prevent the spread of the communist "iron curtain" on a national level. Little time passed before the weakness was realized and Western Europe turned to a more inclusive North Atlantic Treaty. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an alliance of 26 countries from North America and Europe commited to fulfilling the goals of the North Atlantic Treaty signed on April 4, 1949. The fundamental role of NATO is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries politically and military means.
Established 6 years after NATO, the Warsaw Pact was formed as a communist military alliance to maintain power over Eastern Europe. The Soviet Union gained control over both neighboring European nations and indicated to other nations that it was a major miliotary and political force. Although the ground forces of possessed by the Warsaw Pact were far supirior to those of NATO, their technology fell far behind. After many democratic revolutions within the Warsaw Pact it was labeled "nonexistant" in 1991.

"The Right Stuff"

In the film "The Right Stuff", the United States and Russia were always competing against each other to become a better country. In the film, the competition started after the United States broke the sound barrier. After this accomplishment made by the United States, Russia launched the first outer spacesatellite, Sputnik. To make themselves better than the Russians, The United Stated tried to put the first man in space, but failed, and ended up putting the first chimpanzee in outer space. The scenes from the film that will help me remember the Cold War event is the scenes in which we see the planes and the sound barrier being broken.

"Schindler's List"

Schindler's List is a very powerful film that represents the Holocaust. This film was made from the perspective of a Nazi, who was trying to help the Jews. I think that the film was a good representation of the Holocaust because it showed all the suffering that the Jews went through, from living in the Ghettos to working in the Concentration Camps.
I think that the whole movie was full of strong scenes, but three of the most powerful scenes were the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto, the labor camp, and the children in the streets. One of the really sad scenes was when the little was walking by herself and then she went inside a house and hid under the bed.
The scene when the guy in control of the concentration camp walks out from his room into the balcony smoking a cigarette, and then he picks up his weapon and shoots a woman down in the ground for no reason is an image that will stay with me. This image was very powerful because it showed how invincible the Nazis were and how they only cared about themselves, it also shows that the only reason he shot the woman was because he was bored and had nothing else to do.

"Night and Fog"

"Night and Fog" is a documentary based on the Holocaust. This documentary was recorded ten years later in the concentration camp of Auschwitz. In the documentary, we saw the barracks, the barbed wires, the crematoria,the watchtowers, and even the bathrooms. It was unbelievable to watch these places, and also to see and listen to the flashbacks. It was harsh to listen to the cries and the screams of the victims. It is amazing and hard to believe that people were able to live and and some of them even strong enough to survive and go on with their lives.
I found the film very powerful, because it didn't only take you through the places where these people spent horrible days, but it also showed flashbacks to show the experiences that people went through while at these camps. The scenes from "Night and Fog" were different from the scenes in "Schindler's List", I think that the scenes from "Night and Fog" were more real, because these images were actually real and they were not made in a Hollywood studio.
But I do believe that the film that explains the Holocaust more effectively is the Hollywood version. I think this becuase in the Hollywood version, unlike in the documentary, we got to see what it was like when the people were in the "Ghettos" and how it was like when they were being evacuated. It also showed the suffering that the people went through while at the concentration camps, things that the documentary did not show because it was just based on the concentration camp, but it still provided a good explanation of the Holocaust.