kellie_b

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=English=

BACKGROUND- What life was like in Europe after World War II. It will help you understand the **//world David travels through in order to find his way home. //**  After World War II ended in 1945, much of Europe lay in ruins. Cities, rural areas, communications, and transportation systems were destroyed. Over fifty million people were dead, including over six million Jews, many of whom had been murdered in Nazi concentration camps. Led by the United States, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union, the Allied forces had worked together to defeat dictator Adolph Hitler’s Germany and Germany’s ally, Japan, along with other Axis countries in their bid to take over the world. But almost immediately after the War, relations between Allied countries began to fall apart.

By the end of World War II the Soviet Union had driven German soldiers back to Germany. However, Soviet soldiers were still in many Eastern European countries. The leader of the Soviet Union, dictator Joseph Stalin had promised the Allies that as soon as possible he would allow free elections in these Eastern European nations and withdraw his soldiers. But right after the War, Joseph Stalin broke his promise. The Soviet soldiers did not withdraw, and by 1948, every Eastern European country was under the control of the Soviet Union.

The government of the Soviet Union was //communist //, which comes from the word “communal,” meaning “of the group.” Communists believe that practicing religion and holding private property should be forbidden. The communist government of the Soviet Union did not believe in a free press. Disagreement by citizens with the government was against the law, and people could be put in prison if their beliefs were different from what the government wanted people to believe. The rights of individuals did not matter. In practice, the government of the Soviet Union was a dictatorship of the proletariat ( //proletariat // means “the poorest class of working people”). A very small group of leaders controlled the lives of all citizens. In countries with Communist governments, the government owned all factories and workplaces. There was no independent economy, no independent newspapers, no independent courts, and no independent legislature.

But now, after World War II, on one side was the United States and Great Britain and on the other was the Soviet Union. In fact, on March 5, 1946 the Prime Minister of Great Britain,Winston Churchill, made a famous speech at Westminster College, in Fulton,Missouri.With United States President Harry Truman in the audience,Winston Churchill warned about Eastern Europe becoming separated from the rest of Europe because of what the Soviet Union was doing. To make his point more forcefully, Churchill used the image of a giant iron curtain coming down on Eastern European countries, separating them from the rest of Europe:


 * //“From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, //**
 * //an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. //**
 * //Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient //**
 * //states of Central and Eastern Europe.Warsaw, Berlin, //**
 * //Vienna, and Sofia; all these famous cities lie in what //**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">
 * //<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">I must call the Soviet sphere.” //**

<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">Behind the “iron curtain,” the Soviet Union was establishing repressive governments and labor camps. In labor camps, people who were thought to disagree withvthe government were imprisoned, forced to do hard work, tortured, and sometimes even put to death for their beliefs. In the year 1952, the year in which the film //<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">I Am David //<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> takes place, over two and a half million people were in labor camps in the Soviet Union. In Bulgaria alone, between 1948-1954 there were 99 forced labor camps. This is the backdrop against which the story //<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;">I Am David //<span style="font-size: 90%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"> takes place.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 400%; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: center;">QUESTION S <span style="display: block; font-size: 26px; line-height: 39px; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: center;"> **Due Date: 1st June, 2009** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; text-align: left;"> 1. Over fifty million people died in WW II. 2. A dictator is a person/ruler with unlimited power. 3. The two main dictators in the text are Adolph Hitler from Germany and Joseph Stalin from Russia. 4. The person who used this expression " Iron Curtin" was Winston Churchill. It means a divider between countries. 5. The labor camp is a place where hard work is done. I think they were put in the labor camp, because his or they were a Jew. 6. When did Winston Churchill use this expression "Iron Curtin"? Winston used this 1946 5 of March.

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