Dada and the end of World War I

After the destruction of World War I, the world was in upheaval. The shock set in about the waste of the war. Throughout Europe, graveyards and memorials were put in order to commemorate the dead. In culture, there were radical changes. Students in AP Euro are learning about the movement called DADA, which means "ridiculous" or "nonsensical." It reflected the enormity of the death toll and the destruction of the war--one could not make sense of it. It criticized the war profiteers, the moral decay, and the physical destruction of the "Great War."

DADA artists painted, sculpted and created seminal images that seem bizarre or ridiculous. I went to a major DADA exhibit in 1978 in London, England. I didn't quite understand what I was seeing, but I will always remember the bizarre images.

Here's a painting by George Grosz, whose art depicted this troubled time. Grosz grew to admire America and eventually left Germany before Hitler's full domination of his homeland.

The Wild Children of Revolutionary Russia

In Social Studies, grade 9, students will be reading the book Wild Children by Felice Holman. It is the story of the orphaned children after the catastrophic famine and upheaval of the Russian Revolution. Millions of children were left orphaned by the disaster. This is their story. Here is the quote from the New York Times in 1932.

Russia's experience with her vagabond youth should prove a warning to us. The shelterless, or bezprizorni, as they were called, came into being after the overthrow of the Russian monarchy in 1917 and increased so rapidly that they were estimated in a few years' time to number from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 boys and girls. This army of children, many of them as young as 10 years, terrorized whole villages and cities and became known for their murders, robberies and other acts of violence. The "wild children of Russia" the press termed them.... - Newton D. Baker The New York Times, December 11, 1932

Princess Mary Gift Box

During the first months of World War I, most of the participants hoped the war would be over by Christmas.

Because it was the first year of the war, 1914, Princess Mary, daughter of King George V and Queen Mary, thought of sending each soldier a special gift. A special brass box was designed with a side profile picture of Princess Mary, along with the names of the various allies, including France, Russia, Belgium, Japan, Serbia and Montenegro. It is interesting to note that the Lusitania carried a large shipment of brass destined to be made for the gift boxes when it was sunk in 1915.

What was in the box? Chocolate, a writing pad, a small pencil, a greeting card and cigarettes. The ingredients varied according to who received them: nurses got chocolates, and soldiers from India received sweets. In 1996 (before the internet!), I came across one in an antique store in Calgary, Alberta where I was teaching school. I was able to buy it for my daughter (named Mary) but also for my students to see.

Students in 9th grade were able to do a brass rubbing from the Queen Mary gift box, a death medal from World War I, and a small piece of trench art (in this case a matchbook holder) during their World War I centers.

Good times at Faye Wright Elementary

In our 11th grade classes, students just finished learning about the circumstances behind the Cuban Missile Crisis. All students were attentive and interested in how close we came to nuclear war.

Of course, as a child of the Cold War, I can remember doing drills that were very different than the average fire drill. We had to line up inside the hallway and get down on our knees and put our hands over our head.

The worst part was that was a time when we girls still wore dresses or skirts to school. I can remember one hand on my head and the other trying to pull my dress down! I was going to protect myself from a nuclear bomb by following the drill, but the drill position was awkward.
I can also remember talking with my two older brothers about whether Salem, Oregon was targeted to have a bomb dropped on it....we were pretty sure it was, if the population of our town got above 100,000.

I am so glad my students don't have to live with the fear of nuclear war!

Viva la Vida! Revolutions 1848 and 2011...

Coldplay's recent album includes the song, Viva la Vida. The lyrics are compelling. In the video on youtube that accompanies the song, we see Chris Martin, the lead singer, performing to the backdrop of two famous revolutionary paintings: Gericault's Raft of the Medusa and Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. As we continue to see the events unfold in Egypt, AP Euro students will be analyzing this song's lyrics and the similarities among the revolutionaries of 1848 and Egypt 2011.

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy's eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a-ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror, my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field

Dead Men do tell Tales

In 9th grade history, students have learned about some fantastic geography stories:
In 1912, Robert Falcon Scott (British) and Roald Admundsen (Norwegian) both set out to conquer the South Pole.
The Norwegians were well-prepared. They also zoomed as fast as they could to the pole, and did not take detailed scientific readings along the way. They got to the South Pole first and planted the Norwegian Flag.
Thirty five days later, Scott and his party showed up--too late!
The return journey was a nightmare. One man died along the way, while the other had a serious foot injury. He eventually went out into the blizzard, rather than slow his companions down--this is depicted in the above painting. Soon, they ran out of food and heating fuel.
The remaining men froze to death in a tent. A year later, their bodies were found along with Scott's diary where he outlined all that happened, and how the men met their doom like stoic Englishmen.
In fact, Scott became more famous that Admundsen. He was seen as a hero, who along with his men, bravely met their deaths in a British way.
The diary is now available on line--and you can read it like a book. Isn't the British library fantastic to put this up for all to read? Here it is: http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/index
Hint: What is it called when you know the outcome of something--and the characters do not? Dramatic Irony. This diary is full of dramatic irony, for we know that Scott and his men will die.

Opium and Imperialism

Before and after Christmas, 9th graders are learning about the benefits and harm of Imperialism.

They even learned a brief account of the Opium Wars. These wars, which occurred in the middle of the 1800's was based on conflicts over the extent of European influence in China.

One of the complaints by China was Britain's continuing export of Indian Opium into China. The British had learned that by exporting opium to China--they could avoid having to pay cash for Chinese goods, thereby addressing the large trade deficit that Britain had with China (sound familiar?). Opium, a highly addictive substance, was desired by the Chinese and it was smoked in Opium dens throughout China, but especially in the port cities of Nanking and Shanghai.

The Opium wars are a sore spot for the Chinese. In 2001, they banned the French fragrance, Opium from being sold in China. The rationale was that the fragrance sought to glorify the "forbidden, sensual aspects of a substance that caused untold suffering for the Chinese." Opium--the fragrance--is still sold at our downtown Macy's. I even have a small bottle that students get to "sniff" in class.

In 1999, coming back from Montana, I was shown a small silver case that was a portable opium smoking kit. I did not have the money to buy it....but I remember the small little drawers where the opium seeds were crushed, oil was place with them, then the smoke traveled through a long tube. It was a fascinating piece of history.