Friday, October 19, 2007

Nationalism and The Creation of Italy

Nationalism is when a group of people who share a common culture(language) and history are proud and are willing to sacrifice for their country. I am somewhat nationalistic because I'm proud of the country I'm from, I celebrate American holidays, I follow the American culture, and I recite the pledge of allegiance in school, however I wouldn't join the army.

The Nation Of Italy
Italy was broken up into provinces/small states that were ruled by other foreign countries. The provinces of Venetia and Lombardy were ruled by Austria. The Kingdom of The two Sicilies were ruled by the Spanish. The Italians were growing weary of being ruled by foreign countries so something had to be done. With the help of Camillo di Cavour a Sardinian prime minister who provoked war with Austria and won two victories with the French-Sardinian army gained power over northern Italy. In 1860 a small army of Italian nationalists led by Giuseppe Garibaldi captured Sicily. In an election voters gave Garibaldi the ok to unite the southern areas he conquered with the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia. In 1870 Italian forces took over the last area known as the Papal States and from then on it was part of Italy.

Monday, October 15, 2007

Simon Bolivar and Latin American Revolutions

Simon Bolivar was known as the liberator of South America because he helped countries get their independance from Spain. In 1814 Bolivar captured Bogota,Colombia. On May 14, 1821 Bolivar won Venezula's independance with the help of his revolutionary army. In 1822 Bolivar became dictator of Peru. The upper part of Peru was seperated into a different country and was named Bolivia in Simon Bolivars' honor. Bolivar also helped Ecuador, and Panama to their independence. This was the beginning of the famous "Admirable Campaign." Simon Bolivar was inspired by the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Enlightenment thinkers. He saw how they came together and changed what they felt was unfair treatment. Simon Bolivar wanted liberty and equality that the Americans and French had fought towards for his people.