My great Great Grandfather was in the Civil War

Robert Zubrinsky
by Camille Thrall
My grandfather, Robert Wiley, told me a week ago about my great-great-grandfather, Robert Zubrinsky. He pulled out two old photographs of him. One as a young child, maybe about 14 years old by the look on his baby face, and one of him in his later years with a mysterious mustache and all.

Robert Zubrinsky was a troublemaker, he was always pulling pranks. When the fight of the Civil war was going on, Zubrinsky decided he wanted to join the Army. But the problem was he was too young and his family did not want him to fight, so he ended up running away. the government did not let him into the army. Young Robert Zubrinsky returned home, distraught and disappointed because he did not get into the army.
He ran away once again, and managed to forge his papers and fool the Union army enough to be let in as a musician. In  the picture above, Robert is pictured with the uniform he wore as an official musician in the Union army, as a drummer.
He did live to tell the tale of course, and married and had children and grew up out of his trouble maker ways. My grandfather never knew him, as he had died before he was born, but he still had all of the stories and photographs. It is incredibly humbling to know that my great great grandfather helped fight with the union in the United States Civil War.

Music in world war two!

Jazz music was extremely popular. As many successful jazz musicians were black or Jewish, jazz and swing music was actually banned in Germany in 1939! In America, it continued to prosper and thrive. Patriotic songs and love songs could be heard on different radio stations throughout the war, which helped maintain support for the war. Jazz thrived because after the end of prohibition, it became accessible to people of all ages. High-schoolers and young people could enjoy jazz music. The musicians themselves were very diverse, representing different races, nationalities, and religions. As world war two began, swing musicians were no longer considered outsiders: it was used as a symbol of nationalism for many. Major Glenn Miller even started a military band/orchestra, made up of airforce soldiers. This caused the genre of swing to become more organized, as improvisation was discouraged. The genre of bebop was introduced during world war two, and was practiced by musicians that no longer related to the swing music that represented nationalism. These were musicians who were black or poor, and felt like the music played by a segregated army to represent a country that treated them poorly was no longer accessible to them.

Source: https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/jazz-and-world-war-ii-rally-resistance-catalyst-victory

Women in WW2

What was the role of women during WW2?
It is hard to decide whether or not they were more important with house or field jobs. At home, they would feed, bathe, and get jobs while their husbands were out of the house to fight in the war. However, once the soldiers(men) return back home, women were quickly glossed over and was never given a chance to keep there jobs, though some may not be the case.

On the field however, they were also just as important because of their fearlessness to help those who have been injured during the war. Nurses up to 16 were killed by direct enemy fire when working near the front lines.  They also drove trucks, repaired airplanes, worked as laboratory technicians, rigged parachutes, served as radio operators, analyzed photographs, flew military aircraft across the country, test-flew newly repaired planes, and even trained anti-aircraft artillery gunners by acting as flying targets.

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/women-wwii

Double-agents in WWII

One of the most laughable yet daring double agents in history is Eddie Chapman. Nick named Zigzag later on in his life, did not work his way up from the ground. Instead, he was captured by the Germans for safe cracking, but offered them the chance for him to spy on the British army before he left. Ignoring his offer, the Nazis thought it was the last of him. But it was not long after that he was caught doing the same thing he had done in since the last time. Again, Chapman offered the Nazis for him to spy on the British, and this time, they accepted. 

In the years that follow, the Germans taught Eddie Chapman everything there needs to know as a spying agent. However, what they didn't know was that Eddie was working with the British army as well, M15. Eddie gave false information to the Germans, but not too much information as it could potentially paint him a false agent. He continued with this charade and was even decorated the medal of bravery by the Germans.

After the war, Eddie Chapman did the most hilarious thing a soldier could do after saving hundreds to thousands of lives. Chapman smuggled gold and ran a health spa, among other activities as well. It is unfortunate, but he died in 1997. 

Medicine in WWII

Medicine during World War II underwent several very important advances, advances that led to the saving of thousands of lives. Most importantly were the advancements against bacterial infection and gangrene, some of the worst killers of soldiers during combat.

One immensely important medicine was called sulfanilamide, and it was a powerful antibiotic that was discovered when certain dyes degrade into many products. Sulfanilamides were discovered before the war, however, it was during the war that it became commonplace for soldiers to carry around in their battle packs. Some historians actually claim that the widespread use of sulfanilamides during WWII brought the Allies to victory through all the soldiers’ lives it saved. Another important antibiotic, one more commonly known, was the use of penicillin. Alexander Fleming, the man often associated with the discovery of penicillin, won the Nobel Prize in 1945 along with two other men for their work with penicillin. In the war years, the two other men had engineered ways to extract vast amounts of the drug and issue it out to thousands of troops in the field, allowing them to disinfect their wounds until surgeons could reach them, it often being upwards of 14 hours. Over the course of the war, 400 million doses of penicillin were created.

Painkillers also saw an important advancement, as morphine became a popular tool to ease soldiers out of pain and to calm them down before treatment. Syrettes, a type of injection tool, became popular amongst medical workers, and they would administer doses of morphine with these tools. There was a danger of death if multiple doses were administered to the same patient, however, so medical workers often pinned the used syrette to the collars of soldiers.

One of the most important advancements, however, was the implementation and organization of a blood transfusion system, which utilized the longer-lasting plasma and very efficient organization to be able to get blood to soldiers all over Europe. This was first implemented by the British, but the Americans adopted a blood transfusion organization as well, through the American Red Cross.  

The importance of these medical advances cannot be put into words, as they have probably saved thousands, if not millions of lives. And yet, there’s no telling if these advancements and technologies would have been implemented if not for the desperate necessity of war for innovation. Whether these technologies would have even existed without the war is not known. Perhaps there are silver linings even to war.

http://www.nursegroups.com/article/history-of-wwii-medicine-for-schools.html

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/world-war-two/medicine-and-world-war-two/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-medicine/World-War-II-and-after

Joseph Stalin Bio

Joseph Stalin

 

The leader of Soviet Russia considered one of the most bloodthirsty leaders at the time. Also know as one of the worst villains of the century. He changed his name to be Stalin which means man of steel he lived from 1878 to 1953 as the doctor for Soviet Socialist Republicans (USSR). He reined in power from 1929 till the year he dies in 1953.

Stalin’s childhood was ridden with poverty and to make matters worse carried on into his adult life. He was at a young age attracted to different radical movements. Stalling was imprisoned eight times by the Russian’s secret to police.

His rise to power started after the Russian Revolution began, in 1917. Stalin admired Lenin’s work. But he out maneuvered in order to gain control of Russia. Under stallion Russia’s economy and industrial capabilities grew fast. If you didn’t follow his five year plan for the goods making you would either get sent of to camps or and early execution. 3 billions people died because of his brutal ways. He now was making more food on the bright side but at what cost. Stalins reign of terror included to worst man made starvation ever to hit the books, poverty overtook families. People dies because they simply didn’t have enough energy to work with the working conditions and meet the quotas. They where hungry.

Before WWII Hitler and Stalin signed a non aggression pact which didn’t last very long. The Germans invaded the Soviet union. They underestimate Stalin. There was such few food what would happen is the soldiers would stop to give them a crust of breed and fill there canteens and the Soviet Snipers would shoot the little children. Soviet Union lost 20 million people during this. Due to this he wanted much or Europe when dividing it up. The whole idea was to not have a repeat of WWII with Russia. They where/are seen as a superpower that can infect just as much or even more terror as Germany.

March 5, 1953 people believe that he made Russia into a Superpower from nothing. He is greatly regarded and admired still today In Russia. He was mostly feared though because he created camps, and exceptions yo kill his own people. There is still not a number that we know of to approximate how many lives where lost that where Russian civilians.

Battle of Kursk

Battle of Kursk

The Battle Of Kursk was one if the few unsuccessful bouts for the German’s offensively.  The Germans trying to get around the huge army that is the soviet union is are hard task but when the strategical idea to split what already seemed like small troops against the Soviets, the Nazis went in fighting. They where no match for the Russians because before the German’s could get into the formations necessary and actual carry out the plan, they where ready for them, in a offensive position. Soon after the invasion of Sicily on the Germans, the Italian threat seemed to narrow, Adolf Hitler called the entire operation off. The new learned failure for the Germans shifting the power on to the Eastern Front to fight the Soviets.

After fighting until March 1943 the Nazi’s finally make some positive head way. This move broke the consistent Soviet offensive that had already crushed Sixth Army at Stalingrad. During the spring the conditions where to brutal to do anything more, both sides not knowing what to do. One order from Manstein urged an offensive attack on Kursk salient, just after the ground had once again dried out. The objective was to create as much havoc as humanly possible so the Soviet army wouldn’t be able to come back from it. Hitler agreed with Manstein’s idea but didn’t execute the attack until July,  because  a max number of produced tanks had gotten to the eastern Front. With this time Hitler is able to make sure they will not loose again. He starts planing the routes and laying down minefields, he works on different tactical regards to the plan. Multiple flanks.


July 5 is when the Nazis attacked both sides of the Soviets are and started the biggest battle of WWII so far. Unfortunately for the Germans there Ninth Army, had faced so problems with the insane amounts of Soviet soldiers that where flooding the area. Farther south the Germans attained the success they had been looking for.  So even though the Germans got position they failed to gain the ability to operate freely. Soviet defenses both gain and lost something that day. The Germans took the fighting with the air that day and bombed the Soviet army.

Holy 12, Soviets press forward to attack the Orel salient and challenge the Ninth Army directly. Unfortunately for the Germans because of Sicily the Italian threat was gone so there where no supports for the Ninth Army. This was a major let down for the Germans marking one of the first invasions where the Soviets had out rightly won.

Navajo Code Talkers

Secure communications are a necessity during a war, but for the United States during WWII, this became a huge problem. Many Japanese cryptographers were fluent in both Japanese and English, and were also amazingly adept at breaking codes. This lead to enemy forces knowing about American attacks before they happened, which was quite problematic. The United States had to find a way to combat Japanese codebreaking.

An answer came from Philip Johnston, a civil engineer who lived in Los Angeles and was raised on a Navajo Reservation. He was fluent in Navajo, having grown up speaking it. His idea was to base a secret code on Navajo. This would work very well because the Navajo language is extremely complicated, and because the language did not exist in written form, so it was very hard to understand unless you were already fluent. He recruited a few Navajo men and demonstrated to Marine staff officers how effective his strategy was.

Following this, hundreds of Navajos were recruited to serve as code talkers during the war, and they continued to impress military officials through the accuracy of their communications. The Navajos devised a code in their already confusing language which they communicated in, making the secret code very hard to break. 421 Navajo code talkers completed the training, and they were assigned mostly to combat units overseas. Thanks to these Navajo code talkers, American communications were made secure, which undoubtedly helped us win the war.



http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-navajo-code-talkers.htm

The Soviet Union After WWII

The Soviet Union, along with the Allies, had just come out the war victorious, defeating the Nazi Germans in Europe. However, the victory for the Soviet Union came with a huge price, and they lost 40 million lives in total during WWII. Also, the country was in ruins as well, both physically and economically. Due to the war, a quarter of the country's resources were destroyed, and both agricultural and industrial production took a steep decline following the war.

It did not help much that Stalin and the government did not allow for much aid from other countries, other than small credits from a few of them. The United States even reached out and offered to help, but the offer was declined. Also, the people of the Soviet Union themselves were not too excited to have to start reconstructing infrastructure and their economy, which served a problem for Stalin, who was working to reconstruct.

During the post-war period, Stalin kept a firm grip over the Soviet Union and regulated production to levels he deemed were fit. Opposers of Stalin were killed by the masses which incentivized the people of the Soviet Union to obey. Due to Stalin's iron grip and control over the Soviet Union, they were actually able to recover quite fast from WWII, and they even went on to become one of the world's two superpowers, along with America.





http://factsanddetails.com/russia/History/sub9_1e/entry-4975.html
https://academic.oup.com/past/article-abstract/210/suppl_6/103/1425685

Hedy Lamarr- Actress and Inventor!

"The most beautiful woman in the world", Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler was born on November 9th, 1914 in Vienna Austria.  The stunningly beautiful Austrian American actress was a star during Hollywoods golden age. However, she was far more than a pretty face, as she was also an inventor during WW2.

Prior to living in America, Hedy had lived in Austria married to  Fredrick Mandal, wealthy Austrian ammunition manufacturer. A mere 18 to Mandal's 33, Hedy was restless especially considering the controlling nature of her husband. Mandal "had close social and business ties to the fascist government of Italy, selling munitions to Mussolini, and, although, like Hedy, his own father was Jewish, had ties to Nazi government of Germany as well. Lamarr wrote that Mussolini and Hitler attended lavish parties at the Mandal home. Lamarr accompanied Mandal to business meetings, where he conferred with scientists and other professionals involved in military technology. These conferences with scientists and other professionals involved in military technology." (nbc) These conferences nurtured and fostered Hedy's love of mathematics and science later on. After being no longer able to stand her husband, the young bombshell  secretly moved to Paris where she meet the head of MGM who signed her as a film star back in Hollywood.

 Once in American, she changed her name to Hedy Lamarr, and became a hit on the silver screen. Hedy starred in many films such as "Ziegfeld Girl", "Samson and Delilah" and "White Cargo".

While an actress, at heart Hedy was an inventor and during WW2 developed a torpedo guidance system for the US Navy. However her more recognized work was her co-invention with George Anthiel in which the two patented a "Secret Communication System" which used wireless radios and constant frequency creating a "jamming- proof frequency". This technology she and George developed even became the basis for today what is known as Bluetooth. Most recently in 2014 she and George have been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

Bibliography:
https://www.hedylamarr.com
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/46848978/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/t/hedy-lamarr-hollywoods-secret-weapon-inventor/#.WipYPbaZNp8

Roosevelt's Four Freedoms

On January 6th, 1941, Roosevelt gave a speech regarding his definition of freedom. In his speech, Roosevelt pushed America towards the war, away from neutrality. Roosevelt demonstrated that the European powers were struggling against the Germans and needed the help of the United States. He declared four freedoms to be essential to all humans: freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

In his first freedom, Roosevelt believed that it was necessary for everyone to be able to advocate for their beliefs. Those ideas, Roosevelt thought, could not be suppressed by the government. For freedom to worship, Roosevelt deemed it necessary for any individual to be able to follow whatever religion that they believed in. He thought "every person should worship God in his own way." The third freedom, freedom from want, granted "healthy peacetime for its inhabitants" to all nations. Lastly, freedom from fear meant a "world-wide reduction of armaments," so that there could not be any physical aggression by a nation committed against its neighbors.

In his speech, Roosevelt repeated the words "everywhere/anywhere in the world" to demonstrate that the Four Freedoms were universal freedoms, not just privileges that should be granted to Americans. Since there was currently a war going on, Roosevelt believed that it was the job of the US to help stop German war efforts and foster peace throughout the world.

Roosevelt's Four Freedoms are still relevant even today. Throughout history, his freedoms were used as an effort to support rights to everyone. Eleanor Roosevelt had later used the Four Freedoms to advocate for the passing of the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Other discriminated racial groups, such as the African-Americans, believed that their freedoms had been violated, and they argued to gain more rights. Even today, the Four Freedoms are not granted to everyone in the world.

Sources:
Voices of Freedom 143
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/franklin-d-roosevelt-speaks-of-four-freedoms
https://www.thenation.com/article/why-franklin-roosevelts-four-freedoms-are-still-relevant-today/

Paris Liberation..Only the Beginning!

Paris Liberation:

From June 14th 1940 to 1944 Nazi Germany had taken command over pairs and occupied, for 4 treacherous years. French liberated Paris with its 2nd Armored Division and the U.S. 4th Infantry Division.  The German who where usually know as strong fighters especially in WWII strangely didn’t give them much of a fight.

There where orders from Adolf Hitler to blow up Paris’ landmarks and burn the city to the ground before its liberation. Except General Dietrich von Choltitz, commander of the German garrison, defied his orders. He then signed a formal surrender of Paris August 26th.

Exactly eight days after, France signed an armistice with the Germans, the French state set up with its capital Vichy.  The Resistance didn’t like France falling back under the power of the Germans. They has taken power and occupies France  which then resisted not only the Nazi’s but Vicky rule.

In order to prepare for the allies comping to liberate around the 18th of August workers went on strike. Then the resistance who had been anonymous for the most part came out and started attacking German Fortifications, all over, trying to make it easier for the Allies.

They then delayed the liberation of Paris in order to not waste resources, and give themselves time to get stocked and ready for soon to come D-day.

On August 22 the liberation was to proceed, the 2nd Armored Division ran into heavy German Artillery. Which slathered most of the men.

They didn’t stop though, because on the 25th of August they barley managed to reach Paris suburbs.  Civilians Loved them and thanked them it was a joyful time. Until they past through and had to keep fighting on.

On August 25th the German resistance was gone. 20,000 troops surrendered/fled.

PARIS WAS LIBERATED!

Hoovervilles

The Significance of a Hooverville
By Camille Thrall

There were hundreds of Hoovervilles across the country during the 1930s. During the Great Depression, hundreds of thousands of people lived in these slums. A "Hooverville" was a Shanty Town (Slums)  built during the Great Depression by the hopeless, jobless, and homeless in the United States. They were named after President Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States of America during the onset of the Depression and was widely blamed for it. The term was coined by Charles Michelson, publicity chief of the Democratic National Committee.

Most large cities built municipal lodging houses for the homeless, but the Depression raised demand for cheap housing. The unemployed  and clustered in shanty towns close to free soup kitchens. President Roosevelt's New Deal created special relief programs for the homeless under the Federal Transient Service.

Some of the men who were forced to live in these homeless towns were able to build their houses out of stone. Most people, however, resorted to building their residences out of wood from crates, cardboard, scraps of metal, or whatever materials were available to them. They usually had a small stove, bedding and a couple of simple cooking implements. Men, women and children alike lived in Hoovervilles. Most of these unemployed residents of the Hoovervilles used public charities or begged for food from those who had housing during this era.

Democrats coined many names based on Herbert Hoover: such as "Hoover blanket", old newspaper used as a blanket, "Hoover flag", an empty pocket turned inside out to show that there was no money in it,  "Hoover leather" was cardboard used to line a shoe when the sole wore through, and a "Hoover wagon" was an automobile with horses hitched to it because the owner could not afford fuel.

After 1940 the economy recovered, unemployment fell, and shanty eradication programs destroyed all the Hoovervilles, but their name still lives on as spite for President Hoover, whom many people blamed for the great depression because he did not do enough.
 Poverty in the United States: A – K
http://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/29/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-s-hooverville-life-along-depression-street.html 

Thailand in World War II

Thailand played an interesting role in World War II largely due to the fact that it switched sides between the Axis Powers and the Allies during the war. Thailand started out as a neutral country during the war until it was invaded by Japan on December 8th, 1941 (interesting how it's also currently December 8th). General Phibunsongkhram knew that he could not fight against Japanese forces, and thus, he agreed to cooperate with them. Thailand allowed for Japan to gain full access over their airfields, naval ports, and communication systems. They believed that Japan could win the war and decided to strongly support for their causes. In addition to this, the Thais also saw it as an opportunity to gain more control of territory with the aid of the Japanese.

On January 25th, 1942, Thailand declared war against the Allies, and they officially joined together with the Axis Powers. Phibunsongkhram saw the attack on Burma to be an opportunity for his country, so he commanded troops to help Japan take over Burma. In return, Thailand was rewarded the territory by the Japanese.

However, in 1943, Thailand understood that there was not a guaranteed victory for Japan in the war, and the majority of people in Thailand opposed Japan. They saw their own country being treated as an occupied state, developing a strong anti-Japanese movement. This led to the downfall of Phibunsongkhram's government, and he was replaced by Aphaiwong. Going against Japan, the country started to negotiate with China, a country part of the Allies, and agreed to free some Chinese prisoners that were captured in Burma.

With Aphaiwong taking control as prime minister, he secretly worked with the Allies. He promised to grant Britain and the US territories located in Burma, Malaya, and the French Indies. Because he saw fighting as harmful to his country, Aphaiwong end armed conflict as quickly as possible to reduce the negative effects of the war. Throughout this time, Aphaiwong appeased the Japanese while secretly advocating for underground operations to hurt the Japanese war effort.

At the end of the war, Thailand was considered to have collaborated with the Allies, and the country was supported by the US. The interesting shift in alliances by Thailand marks how many smaller countries primarily wanted to win the war without having too much conflict with any country. Thailand supported Japan in order to not be invaded, and they later supported the Allies, seeing that Japan likely could not win the war.

Sources:
https://ww2db.com/country/Thailand
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Khuang-Aphaiwong
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Luang-Phibunsongkhram

Pohibition and Religion

United States Prohibition and Religion
by Camille Thrall

The United States prohibition was a nationwide ban on alcohol. It was a constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of Alcoholic drinks from 1920-1930. This ban was unsuccessful in it's attempt to get rid of alcohol consumption in the United States. Instead of getting rid of Alcohol, the prohibition gave the Mafia a Captive audience; people who loved to drink in a country where alcohol was forbidden in it's constitution.

But why get rid of Alcohol in the first place? It does seem a bit counter intuitive to get rid of alcohol only for the problem to get worse because of the opening of a high profile black market for even the cheap alcohol, like "Moonshine". well, the answer lies within religion. Alcohol, while not illegal to any law in mainstream catholic or protestant church, was definitely looked down upon because of how it made it's church members look.
 
This brings us to the Temperance movement. Starting as early as the 1820's the consumption of Alcohol to some religious groups was seen as bad, causing men to be violent or unfaithful towards their wives, and many women spoke out against drinking, drunkenness, intoxication,  and violence. A group of women (Woman's Christian Temperance Union. After 1900 it was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League) called for the Unites States to "vote dry". their opposition naturally went with a slogan saying "wet" against the dry.

While many of the temperance movement was made by women, religion played a huge part in this decision. Alcohol was seen as sinful and lead to sins being committed. Although he intentions of this 18th Amendment were good and grand, the outcomes were not as such.

The ban on Alcohol created an opportunity for the Mafia to sell their alcohol to a captive audience who always wanted more, and could never get enough. Organized crime with the mafia became a normal thing, secret knocking coded to get into the bar at the back of a bookstore was also normal, lying to cops or getting arrested for the possession of alcohol was normal. All of these horrible consequences were created by banning alcohol.

The ban that the religious men and righteous women created had the opposite effect than it's intended cause, and the ban was lifted in 1933, although no one had really stopped drinking.