Chinese Cultural Revolution (1965- 1976): Terms & Definitions

1. Big-Character poster: Are handwritten, wall-mounted posters using large-sized Chinese characters, used as a means of protest, propaganda, and popular communication. 2. Commissar: A Communist party official assigned to a military unit by the CCP to teach party principles and policies and to ensure party loyalty. Today the political commissar is largely responsible for administrative…

Ancient Roman Theater: Comedy, Tragedy, Atellan farce, Pantomime

Roman regarded theatre almost as equal as chariot-racing and gladiatorial contests The two most popular variations were: Comedy & Tragedy Set the foundation for European culture & drama over other forms of ancient entertainment Romans were the only people of classical antiquity to adapt Greek literature into their own language Originally plays were written in…

Essay: Importance of Propaganda in Training Hitler’s Troops

In films of Adolf Hitler’s Nazis marching the streets in military displays, there is a chilling atmosphere of complete conformity and belief in Nazism. The soldiers seem never-ending in number and proudly sing traditional German songs, marching simultaneously as though they were one single entity bent on achieving Hitler’s goals[1]. In the Holocaust, six million…

The Repression of 1934-43 & Stalin’s Political Dominance

The Great Terror that began with Kirov’s death had many far-reaching results. One of the main results was that Stalin’s political dominance was reinforced a thousand fold, but there were other consequences of the purges, both social and economic. These consequences changed the lives of ordinary Russian people to a huge extent – food shortages…

Politics and the Ancient Olympics & Athletics

The Ancient Olympic games brought the polis together for communication and socializing Halted conflict & wars However due to branding of athletes to their specific city states, this created competition and rivalry between city-states Lists were kept of the polis with most victories Athletes would sometimes be hired by cities to represent them (I.e Astylos,…

Ancient Roman: Boxing, Wrestling, Pankration

Greek games were never fully integrated into Roman festival games (i.e ludi and munera) Roman practiced many athletics; running, wrestling, boxing, acrobatic riding, chariot racing (especially from the influence of their Etruscan neighbors) Roman was originally skeptical of nudity, but soon became the norm Most of the roman sports had origins in forms, terminology to…

Ancient Greek Athletic Gymnasion & Education

Athletes trained in gymnasion & palaistra (usually collectively referred to as gymnasion) Vitruvius (Roman architect) defined the ideal palaistra as: 1) large central courtyard (open to the sky; surrounded by roofed colonnades) [known as PERISTYLE (surrounded by columns) -> area was used for boxers, wrestlers, pankration Single colonnades found on three sides; double colonnade on…