4º British: Occupation of Czechoslovakia

On September 30, 1938, Hitler, Mussolini, French Premier Daladier, and British Prime Minister Chamberlain signed the Munich Pact, which sealed the fate of Czechoslovakia, virtually handing it over to Germany in the name of peace.

Although the agreement was to give into Hitler’s hands only the Sudentenland, (that part of Czechoslovakia where 3 million ethnic Germans lived), it also handed over to the Nazi war machine 66% Czechoslovakia’s coal, 70% of its iron and steel, and 70% of its electrical power. Without those resources, the Czech nation was left vulnerable to complete German domination.

No matter what concessions the Czech government attempted to make to appease Hitler (like dissolving the Communist Party or suspending all Jewish teachers in ethnic-German majority schools), rumors continued to circulate about “the incorporation of Czechoslovakia into the Reich.”

In fact, on March 15, 1939, during a meeting with Czech President Emil Hácha (66-year-old, Hácha was an inexperienced politician with a bad heart condition) Hitler threatened a bombing raid against Prague, the Czech capital, unless he obtained free passage for German troops into Czech borders. He got it. That same day, German troops poured into Bohemia and Moravia. The two provinces offered no resistance, and they were quickly made a protectorate of Germany. By evening, Hitler made a triumphant entry into Prague. "Czechoslovakia has ceased to exist!" he announced.

Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia was the end of appeasement:

• It proved that Hitler had been lying at Munich.
• It showed that Hitler was not just interested in a 'Greater Germany' (the Czechs were not Germans).
• On 31st  March, Chamberlain guaranteed to defend Poland if Germany invaded. That happened on 1st September 1939. It was the beginning of the II World War...

Meanwhile, Czechs took an active resistance against the regime. In fact, high-ranking official Reinhard Heydrich was the only leading Nazi assassinated during the war: on May 27, 1942 two Czech parachutists, sent by the Czech government-in-exile in London, hurled a bomb at his car; Heydrich died several days later because of the injuries.

At the beginning of 1945, Praguers openly rebelled against the Germans, as the Soviets arrived to free Prague on May 9, setting the country on a different, though just as bleak and dismal, path that triggered 40 years of Communist terror...

You can read more details about the Czech resistance and also watch a 3-minutes video about the German occupation of Czech territory.

1ºBritish: new dioramas!

Once again (third year consecutive), here you have the pictures of your dioramas, some of them truly spectacular, such as the Roman road, the Bridge of Alcántara or the Pont du Gard...

There are also some well-known monuments, such as the Theater of the Temple of Diana, both in Mérida:

A circus, for chariot races, a Triunphal Arch, the Acueduct of Segovia... and Pompei! with its famous volcano.

They are some other more modest but also valid examples: the Column of Traian and a thermal bath.

3º British: Designing a City

Have you ever think in ruling a city? Now it’s your opportunity! Now you can design your ideal city, growing it from the start up!

First, design and settle your city: name, place (and the natural conditions that can affect it: climate, relief, proximity to sea, etc), communications network (airport, train stations, highway? Distance from capital city...), economical bases (remember not to focus too much in just one sector!), population and services needed (hospitals, schools, university, research center?, parks, etc.)

Second, each group member will become one of the four Sustainability Experts, completing the urban design from an expertise point of view:

Renewable Energy Consultant

Public Transportation Manager

Accesibility Supervisor (also include safety measures for women)

Waste Management Officer

As a group, you must determine the route your community will take in becoming the most environmentally friendly, safe, and sustainable it can be!

Communication, cooperation, collaboration and a bit of creativy are vital to making this research process a success!  

Write a report with the info of your design, as complete as possible. Of course, you should include some pictures, and obviously draw your street plan!. Them, as usual, send it to blogeducativo08@gmail.com when finish. This work will be part of the score at the end of the term. If you fail to finish them or you give it out of date, the mark will be a 0 for this work.

Here are some additional documents and links that can help you get started with your project design:

Transforming cities (several tips from Siemens)

What's a Sustainable City, Anyway? Article by James Elsen, CEO of Sustain Lane

Safe cities for Women (United Nations Program)

European Disability Strategy

Accesibilidad Global (in Spanish): legislation (EU and Spain) and glossary.

Enjoy it! And... good luck! J

4º British: The Spanish Civil War, BBC broadcasting review

The Spanish Civil War was a major conflict that devastated Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939. It began after an attempted coup d'état by a group of Spanish Army generals against the government of the Second Spanish Republic, then under the leadership of president Manuel Azaña.

The nationalist coup was supported by the conservative Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right (C.E.D.A), monarchists known as Carlist groups, and the Fascist Falange (Falange Española de las J.O.N.S.).

Following the military coup, working-class revolutions spread across the country in support of the Republican government, but were all brutally put down by the army. The war ended with the victory of the nationalist forces, the overthrow of the Republican government, and the founding of Authoritarian State led by General Franco. In the aftermath of the civil war, all right-wing parties were fused into the state party of the Franco regime.

The “Nacionales” received the support of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany, as well as neighboring Portugal. The Soviet Union intervened on the Republican side, although it encouraged factional conflict to the benefit of the Soviet foreign policy, and its actions may have been detrimental to the Republican war effort.

The USA government offered no official support for the Republican side, although over two thousand Americans volunteered on the Republican side. Meanwhile american corporations such as Texaco, General Motors, Ford Motors, and The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company greatly assisted the “Nacional” army with their constant supply of trucks, tires, machine tools and fuel.

Episodes included in the full BBC video playlist: 1. Prelude to Tragedy, 2. Revolution, Counter-Revolution and Terror, 3. Idealists, 4. Franco and the Nationalists, 5. Inside the Revolution, and 6. Victory and Defeat.

We should know better our recent History…

3º British: Get a bearing

A bearing is a measurement of direction between two points. Bearings (in Spanish: rumbo, orientación) are generally given in one of two formats, an azimuth bearing or a quadrant bearing.

An azimuth bearing uses all 360° of a compass (brújula) or a Protactor (transportador de ángulos) to indicate direction. 

For quadrant bearings the compass is divided into four sections, each containing 90°. 

So, you’re in the field with your map at point A and want to get to point B… How do you accomplish this? The first thing you need to do is determine the bearing from point A to point B.

The easiest way, is to carry a protractor with you when you’re in the field. If you have a protractor with you, place it on the map so it is oriented parallel to a north-south gridline, with the center of the protractor on point A. Once you have done this, you can simply read the bearing you need to go off of the protractor. In this example, the bearing from A to B is N 20º E.
  

By the way, if you want to do some volunteer review of geographical coordinates or GR (Grid references), you can visit this link. And you can also re-watch the video about calculating gradient.

3º British: Income tax

Spring is also the season of... taxation!. The "Annual Tax Return" contains the earnings and expenditures of the fiscal year. But, how does the Government use our money? According to this graphic (official data from 2013), most part of it is for pensions and other social issues (you can click on the image to enlarge it).

Do you agree with the precentages? Would you change something? Why? Is there anything that susprise you?

3º British: IGCSE 2015

Here you have, finally, the basic information about this year's exams (I've also included an example of each one from November 2012):

• Geo. Paper 1 (Code 0460/12): Tuesday 5 May, 10:00 - 11:45 hours. 
• Geo. Paper 2 (Code 0460/22): Friday 8 May, 10:00 - 11:30 hours. 
• Geo. Paper 4 (Code 0460/42): Tuesday 19 May, 10:00 - 11:30 hours. 

In the meantime, you should read the rules for the Geography's exams and have a look to all the examples explained at class that you can use on the real Igcse...

GOOD LUCK!