U.N. Interventions

Ever since the Suez Crisis Canadians have taken pride in looking at themselves as the world's Peacekeepers.  Over the years this has meant that Canada has been invo9lved in some very important U.N. missions while also being part of some misguided failed interventions.  Recently this has lead Canadians to question our role in international affairs and our support for the United Nations. 

However, before we can understand were we are going we need to have a clear look at where we have been.

Task:  Visit the following link and read the CBC article History of UN Interventions. and read through the list of U.N. sanctioned interventions.  Find one mission that Canada was part of and research our involvement.  Leave a comment on this page summarizing your findings.  Be sure to include the date, location and reason for the mission.  Include and details you can find about Canada's involvement, number of troops, role etc., and if the mission would be considered a success or not.

Lessons from the Holocaust

And I Said Nothing

In Germany they first came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionist, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me and by that time no one was left to speak up.


TASK: Write personal reflection on the atrocities of the Holocaust and how it has (or hasn’t) changed the world.

Keep these questions in mind:
• Who is to blame for the Holocaust?
• Could the Holocaust have been stopped?
• How to the "Stages of Isolation" show the gradual persecution leading to the annihilation of the Jews?
• What would you have done if you lived in Germany during the Third Reich?
• How does the passage "And I Said Nothing" portray the actions of the people in Germany during Third Reich? What is the danger in saying or doing "nothing"?
• What lessons must be learned from the Holocaust?
• How do we, as responsible and aware human beings, ensure that an event such as the Holocaust or any type of racial genocide never occurs again?
• Do you think we have “learned our lesson” from the Holocaust, use examples to support your point of view from more recent history

To view some images from the Holocaust click the following links.
http://www.phdn.org/histgen/schmitz/indexeng.html
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/phototoc.html

Battle Scenes

Explore the images of World War One and choose the one the best represents Canada's role in the War.  Copy and paste the image into a comment and explain why you chose it.  Remember it can be from the air, sea, ground or home front.

Exploring your Political Views

Read the following instructions and complete the activity. These were developed by a friend of mine, Mr. Thielmann, over at DP Todd.

Activity One
Purpose: find out what kind of political views you have and how they compare with world figures and political parties

Instructions:
go to http://www.politicalcompass.org/
read the instructions and complete the quiz
read through your results page to learn about your views
summarize what you learned from the quiz by commenting in response to this posting on the course blog -- http://www.soc11eh.blogspot.com

Tips:
left vs right: left-wing usually means more government control over industry and economy; right-ring usually means less government regulation and intervention (laissez-faire)
authoritarian vs libertarian: authoritarian means powerful government which controls rights and freedoms, sometimes it can be a dictatorship; libertarian means less government control of rights, sometimes less government in general