The Bosnian War

The Bosnian War, which took place in the early 1990's, was a bloody war that resulted in millions of deaths. There were war criminals, crimes against men, women and children, and there was mass-genocide of Muslims. Taking place in countries that formerly made up Yugoslavia, the Croatians, Bosnians, and Serbs fought in a war that is called by some a most "gruesome mistake." 

(What used to be) Yugoslavia

After Political conflicts in Yugoslavia in the late 80's, ethnic-conflicts that had remained smoothed by the old dictator of the country once again wrinkled. General Tito died in 1980. He had previously held a doctrine of silencing all forms of Nationalism. He would remind every country that they must remain united. However, as soon as he was gone, Nationalistic propaganda began cropping up in Serbia and Croatia. Do to this and a government that was much more tolerant of this idea, issues blossomed. Nationalism is what caused the mass genocide of Muslim-Bosniaks. 

Due to years of these little countries being united in Yugoslavia, there had been a great mixing between the ethnic groups. While traditionally Serbians were Orthodox, Croats were Catholic, and Bosnians were Orthodox and also Muslim, Croats might marry Bosnians, or Serbs might marry Croats, ect. However, during the war, there was a call to remove all of the Muslim-bosniaks from Bosnia. While Serbs consider it a Civil-war, Croats and Bosniaks called it genocide. While Croats recognized it as not-a-civil-war, they still didn't step in to help stop the murder. An estimated 82% of the civilians killed were muslims. Aside from the shootings and battles fought in cities, there were also concentration camps that people were put into. These camps were horrendous in conditions, with women being put into Rape-camps. Personally, the thought of something like this happening is absolutely terrifying. All this was due to the idea spreading idea of extreme Nationalism. 

A city destroyed by the war

The war lasted from 1992-95. The bloodshed continued until finally NATO dropped bombs and stepped to help. It didn't officially end until the leaders of the countries met in Ohio, USA and signed a peace agreement. Still, the effects of the war lingered on. Men who had been in the concentration camps were given money, and land, and a way to recover and get on their feet. However, women had nothing given to them. These women who had everything, including their dignity, striped from them were not recognized by the government. They were not given a way to recover, a way to take care of the children that had come as a result of these camps. In fact, many children were born, and many were abandoned or left at orphanages, while other mothers kept their child but hid the truth from them. It wasn't until many brave women shared stories, or wrote books about the truth, which in turn caused many people to get involved, that the government finally had to grant them help. Likewise, cities were destroyed, and needed to be rebuilt. There were, and still are, lingering problems, like ghosts of the past, that needed to be taken care of. 

The Bosnian war was caused by extreme Nationalism in former Yugoslavian countries that led to a springing up of ethnic issues that eventually turned into a full scale genocide of Muslim-Bosniaks. There were leaders convicted of numerous, terrible war-crimes. There were people broken by the war: civilians who lost loved ones, ethnic groups who were nearly destroyed. However, the people are rebuilding. Twenty year have gone by, and it seems like many are forgiving the old grudges, and once again mixing groups. While Yugoslavia no longer exists, the unity the countries once shared is now overpowering the hatred they all used to have. 

Oral History, Passionate History

History is commonly thought of as boring. This is because the way many students think of history is so and so did such and such on this this date and as a result.... But history is more than dates, names, and consequences. Everything that has happened in the past has changed individual people, and whole societies. Oral history is saving and learning about historical events by interviewing individuals who either caused something to happen, or who was immediately affected by the actions. In the 1980's, there were many events that changed the world, both for better and for worse. 

Chernobyl: 

Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that experienced a devastating accident in 1986. One of the reactors exploded due to an unexpected power surge. There was a series of explosions, and as the dangerous energy escaped, the town of Pripyat was in trouble. Pripyat was home to around 50,000 people; the majority of which worked at Chernobyl. The lives of those people were forever changed, and I got to learn about it through interviews I watched.

The people of Pripyat loved their town. One older women said that it was filled with roses, and because everyone loved the roses so much, no one would pick even a petal from the precious blossoms. The people were happy where they were, and they were proud of their plant. Pretty much everyone from the town was somehow connected to Chernobyl, whether they worked there as an engineer or manager, or delivered food for the workers. Chernobyl and Pripyat were deeply connected, as one relied on the other. The people of the town needed Chernobyl for energy, and Chernobyl needed the people from the town in order to work. After the explosion, and the extremely large amounts of radiation that leaked, it was critical that the residents of Pripyat evacuate. Uprooted, broken, confused and lost, the people needed another place to live. The government constructed a new city for the people, and every year they remember the disaster with a candle lit walk.

Now, as the people interviewed recalled the accident, it brought tears to many of their eyes. The past can be a painful thing. One girl was very young, and her father died because of the accident. One old man was working as an engineer when it happened, and sprang came to eyes as he said he felt broken, and like he no longer had a purpose; that there was no use for him anymore. Now, Pripyat is an abandoned, broken down, ghost city. People are still working on cleaning up the radiation. While they have made great progress, it is not expected to be finished before 2064.

The abandoned ghost town: Pripyat

The Berlin Wall: 

While the Berlin Wall separated East and West Germany, Russia's leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, had a lot to do with bringing it down. The wall was built in 1961 and divided East and West Germany. It seemed to sprout up overnight, with little warning. It left families separated, and East German citizens stuck  with the strict, freedom strangling government. For 28 years, the only way people could get to West Germany was by smuggling their way out. There were many interesting, creative, and dangerous ideas that people come up with in order to escape. One way was to dig tunnels under the wall. Using these cramped, small tunnels, people could smuggle themselves to the other side. I read two stories about men who both used tunnels to escape, and continued to help others make their way to West Germany. However, there were many reasons that this was a bad idea. First, rain and flooding could wash out the tunnels. Second, the tunnels were so small, and sometimes hard to fit through. Finally, in both the stories I read there was someone who was an informer. This resulted in many people being sent to jail for multiple years.

Escaping via tunnels

Oral History: 

There was a difference I noticed between the two Oral Histories I studied. The video documentary allowed me to watch, hear, and sense the peoples reactions to the questions asked. It enabled me to feel the passion, the pain. There is more to communication than simply words. The movement of the hand, the intensity of the gaze and where it is directed. The pounding of a fist on a table, the speaking through tears. Oral history is about understanding and capturing the tormenting agony of painful memories, or the unspeakable joy and happiness the good memories. With this is communication of the past I was able to get more of the realness of Chernobyl. On the other hand, I read the stories about those who suffered the Berlin Wall. When you read, it is difficult to truly understand the emotion behind each word. There was the actual interviews on the side of the stories, and I listened to a little bit of the each. While it was in German, I was surprised with how much it flushed out stories. I could note the inflection in a voice and the pauses of a speaker.

I enjoy Oral History because I can feel each event. I get more than a so and so did this and that and it caused such and such a result. I can better understand the event because it becomes real through Oral History. No longer is Chernobyl just an explosion at a nuclear power plant in 1986. Rather, it was a tragic thing, that caused real people, people just like me, to have there whole lives changed in a matter of minutes. They must live with the burden and consequences for years, and that is the true story. This is why Oral History is important.

Back To the Future

1985. 1955. Both of these years represent the middle of an era; a past era. However, in the movie, Back to The Future, 1985 was the present, and 1955 was the past. This gives people viewing the movie today the unique experience of being able to see two different times in America, and how Hollywood portrayed them.

When studying a the culture of a society in history, one important thing to look at is how a society views itself, both in the past and the present. Back to the Future is a great tool to use when studying our culture in the 1980's because it enables us to see how Americans thought of themselves in the 1950's during the 1980's. Now, thirty years into the future, see we can also see how we they of themselves in the 80's and compare it to how Americans now see that decade. In Back to Future, we can see both the 80's, and also get a humorous look back at the 50's.

Even though the movie takes a satirical approach to the past by poking fun at stereotypes and such, it does get a few things right about the 1950's. One thing that is absolutely correct is the fashion. The style of all the people from the 50's in the movie matches with real, historical fashion. For example, the clothes of Marty's young mom, Lorraine, would have been very trendy in the 50's. The length was at about her knees, and most of her dresses had collars, were simple in pattern, and pastel colors. Likewise, the young George McFly, while timid, also was fashionably dressed for the time. He often wore suspenders with a white dress shirt, and bow tie. Both Lorraine and George's hair was stylish, matching with the fashion of the 50's. However, one thing that perhaps the movie got 'wrong' was that they took some stereotypes to the extreme to make humor out of it. One stereotype that, while hilarious, was not entirely right, was the idea that everyone was fixated on and scared of aliens. In the 1950's, sci-fi was gaining popularity. With the movie The Thing From Another World being arguably the biggest sci-fi hit of the 50's, and Doctor Who beginning it's first season in '53, the idea of life on other planets was just becoming really popular. However, I think it was blown out of proportion in the movie. Ironically, it wasn't until the 1980's, when Star Wars came out, that pop culture really started turning toward the skies and wondering what was out there. 

Life was very different in the 50's as opposed to the 80's, but at the same time, it was very similar. While they may not have had their walkmans, skateboards, nice televisions, and such advances in technology, teenagers still interacted in very similar ways in 1955. There was still school, dances, parties and relationships. In fact, at the beginning of the movie, Lorraine tells her son that in her day, girls never chased after boys. However, Marty finds out that his young mother definitely chased after guys she liked. Life for teenagers, without taking into account technology and the like, was very similar. But, if you do take into account technology, life changes. In the 80's, video game consoles were very popular, and kids started being able to play video games in their free time, along with watching T.V. and listening to music on their personal Walkmans. But in the 50's, kids didn't have this luxury.  So, life in the 50's and the 80's was different, but as far as interactions between people and teenagers, it was very similar. 

Now, between 1985 and 2015, another thirty years, but into the future, we can look back and see the differences in life. There has been more change in this era, than between 1985 and 1955. This is not because we have new ways to spend our free time, but it is because the way we interact with other people has changed has so much. Since the introduction of texting, interaction between teenagers has changed dramatically. Now we don't have to meet up or even use our voices to communicate with each other. We can just type a message to someone and it is instantly available to them. We can ALWAYS reach our friends now-24/7. In the 80's you could call each other, but even that is different than texting. What we do in our free time is still very much the same, play video games, watch movies, ect. But, the way humans interact has changed so much since the 80's, it is mindboggling. 

It's insane.

Back to the Future, an exciting movie in which a teenager from 1985 travels back in time to 1955, offers a humorous look at the differences in life between the three decades. The movie did a great job at portraying the 50's, but at times the stereotypes were to an extreme. It also portrayed the 80's fashion and ideas that a teenager would've participated in. The movie was fun and humorous, and through my laughter I was able to thoroughly enjoy Back to the Future.