JMo

Japanese Militarists

The Japanese Militarists rose to power during the Great Depression. After World War I, Japan's economic situation worsened. It became worse because of the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 as well as the Great Depression. The Great Depression hit Japan hard, and the Japanese government seemed unable to solve its economic crisis. This failure of the parties to provide national leadership gave the militarists their chance to gain power. The [|failure of party governments] was partially due to its own weaknesses: internal disunity, corruption, no mass support, and economic failures. Many people began to turn to the military, and the military then began to set up a military dictatorship in Japan. A small group of [|military leaders] dominated the government, not just one, single leader. The leader’s political movements were militarism. Their beliefs were to have features of a [|totalitarianism], dictatorship, state, and to strengthen Japan by gaining an overseas empire. Having an overseas empire, would give Japan raw materials that they needed such as coal and oil. In the 1930s, this new government arrested critics, imposed censorship in education and media, employed a secret police force to hunt down and punish “enemies” of the state, and assassinations of political enemies occured in Japan.





Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus was from Italy and he made a total of four trips to the Caribbean and South America from 1492 to 1504. Christopher Columbus sailed for Spain because King Fernando and Queen Isabella sponsored his voyage. The first island explored by Columbus was an island that Columbus named [|San Salvador.] Salvador, where he thought he found the Indies, therefore, he called the natives, Indians. When Columbus explored the Caribbean islands, he eventually found gold on his second voyage and was also met by many Indians, which were mostly killed by him later. Columbus sailed across 5,000 miles of ocean and always landed on the same island without the help of tools like a compass. He discovered the New World as well as led the way for other explorers going to the New World.

Analyzing the Painting This painting is //http://violettespage.com/columbus.gif Proverbs// by Pieter Bruegal the Elder. This painting uses various art techniques to talk about [|proverbs], which are http://violettespage.com/columbus.gif that are simple in form yet tell an important general piece of truth or advice. This painting appears like a snapshot, because it depicts one moment in time of a series of active events and displays the scene from a far-away, bird’s eye view. The people in this painting look very animated, as they go about during their various activities, although we are unable to see their faces. In addition, the artist used various [|chiaroscuros] by making the background plain with a few colors and made the characters stand out by giving them distinctive colored outfits that causes a three-dimensional effect. Thus the painting depicts the style of [|realism], with a close observation of the outside appearance of the painting’s characters. The artist also uses [|reverse vanishing points], with the women in the red dress and the women in the long blue cape as the point. The lines from the main road, which starts small and gets wider from the center of the painting, and the lines from the house with the brown roof form the points.

Humanism in Painting The [|Humanism] movement can be found in the painting, //Netherlandish Proverbs// by Pieter Bruegal the Elder. This painting focuses on everyday life and people doing their daily activities in a village. The many activities include: taking the coat of wool off the sheep, washing dishes and clothes, and neglecting the animals. The village shows no religious signs like crosses or a church, rather the painting shows how people of the Renaissance were more devoted to human-based themes. The people are showing practical teachings like proverbs rather than church teachings. The Renaissance was a time when people did not think that the church was the center of all knowledge and power, and moved to a set of knowledge based on art, science, and language: the movement of Humanism in painting was a good example of the Renaissance.