Day 165: WWI -> WWII = Mind Blown

12 fevrier 2010 (Day 165)
Today was such a busy day! I woke up earlier to do my laundry at 7:30. While it was washing I made cookies. This recipe went over much better than the first. The shredded coconut here is really fine so the cookies were amazing. Definitely my new favorite cookie recipe here.
After laundry I went to another entertaining sociology of art class. Today we talked about the difference between artists and artisans (the “gift”, being a genius/depressed/crazy, etc.). Hannah and I went to our musculation class afterwards. By musculation, it really just means gym (or at least what we think of as a gym in the US). I haven’t been to the gym since last spring semester! Boy has it been a while. And it was definitely awkward being in a tiny French gym. They had one treadmill, about 5 or 7 bikes, a couple of weight lifting machines (that all looked older than my dad) and tons of rowing machines. Most of the Frenchies there were just doing aerobic stuff, I was kind of disappointed in them (but not surprised, they are all sticks). Hannah and I started off on the bikes. It was so nice to be on a bike, and at the gym. I definitely had a feeling of euphoria, but it made me miss my gym buddy/roomie Emily Anne. I did a couple of stuff with the free-hand weights (I wasn’t brave enough to figure out the medieval weight machines and figure out how much I used to be able to lift on that kind of machine in kilos). I also found my new favorite exercise…rowing. They have a lot of really nice rowing machines at the school gym. I really really really like rowing because it works on all my weak spots…shoulders and the lower back (and even the abs a little). Hannah and I were like excited little puppies on the floor mats stretching and doing yoga. We haven’t had that much moving space in a long time (you have to modify most yoga positions to do it in our prison cells). I appreciate open space and gyms so much. I could do a sunrise salutation without hitting my arms and do spread eagle and head stands. It was super great. I think Hannah and I will be coming back to the gym a lot.
I took a quick shower (at home) and then went to the store to get some food. I ate lunch quickly and then it was off to history. This semester has been interesting, because his style/focus has been a little different. Today’s lesson was mind-blowing though. We talked about la premiere guerre mondiale (WWI). So…causes of the war: increased nationalism, colonial rivalries (colonies = power..top power holders 1. Great Britan 2. France 3. Belgium, PAYS BAS, Germany), and economic competition (due to the industrial revolution) top econ power countries: GB, France, and Germany.
During the first part of the 1900s there was a triple entente (Russia, France, Great Britain) and a triple alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy). In 1914 Italy was seduced by the British to join their side (Italy just wanted the land that had the Italian speaking people on it [what is now Yugoslovia] and the GB said they’d give it to Italy if they helped in the war (though President Wilson said no to this, which made Italy sad which permitted Mussolinni to come to power later on). Anywho, on the 28th of June in 1916 the archduke (heriter of the Austrian-Hungrian throne) Francois Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo by a Slavic person. This obviously ticked Austria off, so they declared war against Serbia. Serbia asked for help from the Russians who have the same history and culture as them. So Russia declared war against Austria-Hungary which led to everyone in the triple alliance and entente to join in because they all had their own little reasons to join in (France wanted to get back its land from Germany, GB wanted to show Germany that GB ruled the see,the Germans wanted to show that they were powerful to the French, Russia wanted to forget about its loss of a ship to Japan in 1905, etc.). So basically WWI, a war that killed 10 million people, started because one guy got killed by a man whose country was friends with Russia.
The US came to help with this ridiculous war in 1917 for economic reasons (and to spread liberty and democracy of course). The armistice to end the war was signed on November 11 in 1918. The question is though, why did Germany surrender when they were still fighting on French territory. Yes, they may have eventually lost, but it isn’t that. It was what happened two days before in Germany. On the 9th of November there was a Marxist revolution at Berlin by the students and workers. They took the power from Emperor Guillome to have more of an anarchist-socialist-communist sort of thing so they wanted to stop the war. This act later allowed a man named Adolf Hitler to say to the Germans, “We didn’t lose the war. The traitors, the socio-commu-anarchists stabbed us in the back. We could have won and we should seek vengeance.” This discourse worked which led to Nazism, which as we know led to World War II. So, if you followed all those arrows. The assassination of one man ended up causing TWO world wars. It is crazy the stuff they don’t teach you in American high schools.
So after class Hannah and I headed to the church to meet our home teachers. While catching the second tram Hannah got on one that was crammed full of people and I was not going to fit in so I waited for the next, less crowded train. We met up with our home teachers at church, well one of them and his little daughter Rosaline. Our other home teacher moved to Versailles. Rosaline was really cute during the lesson, giving us toys and books from the nursery room. The lesson this month was really nice; we talked about Patriarchial blessings.
Institute was great. We had that sub again so I really enjoyed the class. Kev gave Ramond, Hannah, and me a ride home which was really nice because it saved us so much time. I got a time to meet up with Kev to go to the movies tomorrow and then went with Hannah to get a large pot to make cookies in and then I made these amazing cookies!
No Bake Chocolate Cookies

2 C sugar 1/8 tsp salt
1/2 C milk 1/2 C margarine
2 1/2—3 C quick oats 3 TB cocoa
1 tsp vanilla 1 C coconut
1/2 C nuts (optional)
Combine sugar, milk, butter, cocoa, and salt in pan. Bring to boil, stirring. Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients and stir well. Drop from teaspoon onto waxed paper and allow to set.