France and Nuclear Testing

Now. We all know that powerful countries tend to stockpile Nuclear Arms to prepare for war, but don't they know that the nuclear emissions will kill their country too? There have been many disputes on the production of nuclear arms in our world's history but one in particular is the Nuclear Testing in France. France decided in the mid 1990's to test Nuclear Weapons of mass destruction. Although the French were doing the tests, the tests themselves were not taking place in France. The French were testing these weapons in the Sahara Desert where individuals lived! Not only was disrespect for human lives, it was also incredibly impacted the land around the test site.

The site where France was doing most of its testing was in Ekker, Algeria. During the Cold War, France was in a hurry to build a Nuclear Bomb that would destroy the world. At the time, Algeria was a French Colony and was thought to be a ghost town with not many inhabitants. Turns out, thousands of people lived in Ekker and were extremely impacted by the tests. Radiation sickness, widespread disease, and thousands upon thousands killed. This went mostly unnoticed by the world because of the fact that every other country was also stocking up on Nuclear Weapons.

Although the testing was started during the Cold War, it was still being done in Algeria up until the mid 1990's when the people of Algeria decided to take a stand against the French for their horrific decisions. Backed by the Algerian Government, the citizens of Ekker consulted with the French and ordered them to give a formal apology and pay compensation. So what did the French say? The French government said that they tested the levels of radiation and they were well below the levels that could cause sickness and death. So the French did not feel the need to give aid to Algeria. This was only so because the French did not test the area central to the blast sites. Even today in some spots, the radiation is twenty times higher than normal radiation levels.

To this day, the people of Ekker still feel the effects of the testing done by the French. A bitter hatred for the French has developed in Algeria because of the French's seemingly stupid decisions on how to go about their Nuclear Testing. Today, the radiation is still present and will be for years to come. The French Government obviously did not think things through. They thought that their testing would have no impact on humans, but in the end, killed thousands of people with even more sick. I guess this makes you realize that no one is perfect and that we all make mistakes that can spark a bitter hatred towards you. All governments should think things through more properly in order to avoid tense situations like the one presented here with Algeria and France. If these tests were to be done in a place that was certainly barren and had no humans, then conflict could have been avoided and many lives saved, but no, someone had to make a quick decision in a time where everyone was building up arms to destroy the world!

Partition of India

Partition. By definition it means a division or separation of shares or other property. As seen in history, Africa was separated into states. No real boundaries were set. Peoples tribes and villages were split right down the middle. Rivers belonged to a handful of people. No sensible lines were set to really divide up Africa evenly. Well, Africa is not the only area to be partitioned. India has had its fair share of separations as well.

India at the time was led by the British. British control over the area had tightened. Every time the people of India would revolt, the hands of the British would crush down on the area of India even tighter. The Indian people had no cultural identity and could not express their ideas freely. The Muslim League was formed to give muslims more political, social, economic, and religious freedoms. With the rise of nationalism all around, the British felt the need to bring in more communist ideas to avoid losing control of India. So to a degree, the Muslim leagues power was limited due to the British control.

Although many of us may have never heard of this partition, it has impacted thousands to millions of lives. The partition took place in 1947. The partition separated India first with Hindus and Muslims. Their religious beliefs vary in the Gods they worship to their prayer rituals. Although some of their beliefs may be the same, they consider themselves to be opposites of each other. Even though the partition was going on, not many people knew it was happening. The government had covered up this idea and the people of India fell for it. The government of India was taking advantage of their citizens.

Secondly, to the north and south, Pakistan was established. Through the creation of the Muslim league, the Muslims created the land of Pakistan to use as their homeland as a separation from the Hindus. Thousands of people were displaced from their homes and moved to the areas that were of their religions. This created much turmoil in that the people were separating by religion. A ticking time bomb had been set and hatred towards each other was slowly developing.

All of these decisions did not go without problems. Fighting along the borders, a nuclear arms race, and state supported terrorism developed. Countless lives were lost and the disputes continue today.

Through all the bad came some sort of positivity. A reform of art and literature was established in India. Many great stories and paintings were established after the partition, reflecting the hard times that went on during the Partition. Although this may have seemed like a downturn in the history of India, many economic advances were made as well. The British established a railroad system that allowed goods to be transported throughout.

Although many lives were lost in this event, India has become and stronger country and has a deeper history and examples of what not to do in the future. It seems that in history, the worst events can have some positive outcome and countries learn from their mistakes and become stronger and make better decisions in the future. Even though everyone wants to point the finger at someone else, the unstable British control caused a chain reaction with the whole area of India. If India had a leader that the majority of the people liked and supported, the whole partition could have been avoided. History is History. Mistakes will be made.

The Atomic Bomb, Appropriate or not?

Towards the end of WWII, people were on edge and ready for the war to end. Something big needed to happen. Something had to be done that would cause an uproar and controversy. Some event that would ultimately cause the war to come to its last leg. But how was this going to be done? Many lives had been lost and countless battles had been fought. So what drastic action could be taken to make sure that the war would come to a close and not just begin a new set of battles? At the time, Japan was and the USA was on bad terms. Japan had attacked Pearl Harbor and destroyed many United States Navy fleets. The US had been surprised with their backs against the wall and had no definite way of fighting back. President Roosevelt was in shambles and needed to quickly figure out a plan to retaliate at Japan. He needed to kill as many possible people and as quickly as possible. Some new mechanism of warfare that would leave a permanent affect on the Japanese needed to be created. The Japanese had caught the US with their backs against the wall and needed to come back and take them down. The Atomic Bomb; A new form of chemical warfare was developed by chemists, physicists, and math professors, designed to be an absolute killing machine.

On August 6th, 1945, the first of two atomic bombs, nicknamed “Little Boy”, was dropped on a heavily populated area, Hiroshima. The Japanese had attacked a Navy zone, so why would the United States target a civilian area? The civilians themselves had not attacked Pearl Harbor. Only the military had, so why would the Americans kill innocent people? Understanding the fact that the Americans needed to retaliate is one thing, but killing more civilians than military people is unnecessary.

To top things off, the US dropped another bomb “Fat Man” on Nagasaki three days later. As if killing 140,000 people was not enough, the second bomb killed an additional 80,000 people. Permanent damage had been put on the two bomb sites with many lives taken. So was this whole payback revenge idea even worth it in the long run? The United States had taken things to the extreme by killing an absurd amount of people. Not just taking lives, but causing Plutonium damage that can be seen to this day. Who in their right mind would think of taking the lives of so many civilians who were living their own independent lives? The Japanese people had nothing to do with the Pearl Harbor Incident, only the Army. So why would Roosevelt target such a densely populated area? There were too many unanswered questions after this horrific act.

Ultimately, after the second bomb, Japan surrendered and this marked the end of WWII. Some other safer and more life friendly ways could have been taken to preserve the lives of so many that had died in Japan. A treaty could have been signed to prevent warfare or just a simple meeting of countries. Unfortunately, Roosevelt had to take drastic measures due to irrational fear and anger. In the end, many lives could have been saved and things could have gone down a better path. This shows that our government has its failures. No one is perfect. We all make drastic decisions in desperate times.

Hemingway in Paris after World War I

Paris. The Eiffel Tower, beautiful parks, gardens, and outdoor cafes. After the war, many writers chose to migrate to Paris to write truly magnificent works of writing. After all whats not to like? The beautiful people and sights, no reason the writing was so amazing. One writer who really lead the Paris writing was Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway would spend hour after hour in the local outdoor cafe just writing. Not just Hemingway was writing everyday. It was the norm for most writers to go to their local outdoor cafes and express themselves through the power of words. No wonder their writings were so good. All they needed was a little inspiration. As for styles of writing, it was all that was going on in politics. This is why writers decided to stay in Paris. Paris was an absolute madhouse during the 1920's. One of Hemingway's most popular books he wrote while in Paris was A MOVEABLE FEAST. This book is all about Hemingway's experiences and daily life while he was in Paris. Anyone who plans to go to Paris, and wants to know more about the city other than the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower, would be better off to read Ernest Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. The remaining years spent in Paris were a very productive time in Hemingway’s early career, allowing him to experiment with and develop his unique literary style that would become his hallmark. In 1926 his famous novel The Sun Also Rises was published.The wave of American authors who made their voyage to Paris after Word War I was not the first to embrace it as a center for writing and artistic expression. During the years before the war, two American women had already made their mark on the city, surrounding themselves with famous and talented friends. Gertrude Stein and Natalie Clifford Barney hosted two literary areas which, though somewhat uncommon for the times, followed a Parisian tradition dating back three hundred years. Both lesbians and coming from wealthy backgrounds, living their own private lives, they had chosen Paris as much for its atmosphere of tolerance, which did not then exist at home. You see, Paris was sort of a safe area for every walk of life. No matter who or what you were, Paris did not discriminate. This was why writers stayed in Paris. Although beautiful and scenic, Paris provided much more for writers than just a place to write. It was a safe house for free expression.

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