Juan Carlos

Several months ago, I uploaded on my website some material on Olympic Games project:

Cold War and Olympic Games http://www.historiasiglo20.org/JJOO/index.htm

It consists of:

Boicot a los Juegos Olímpicos de Moscú (1980) y Los Ángeles (1984)

http://www.historiasiglo20.org/GLOS/boicot.htm

and a Flash animation in English

Cold War and Olympic Gameshttp://www.historiasiglo20.org/JJOO/jjoo.swf

I hope a link can be put on VS web page.

Several months ago, I uploaded on my website some material on Olympic Games project:

Cold War and Olympic Games http://www.historiasiglo20.org/JJOO/index.htm

It consists of:

Boicot a los Juegos Olímpicos de Moscú (1980) y Los Ángeles (1984)

http://www.historiasiglo20.org/GLOS/boicot.htm

and a Flash animation in English

Cold War and Olympic Gameshttp://www.historiasiglo20.org/JJOO/jjoo.swf

I hope a link can be put on VS web page.

An excellent idea to set up an new web site!

I am sure you will find a good response.

Good luck!

I am Head of History Department in a Secondary School in Alcorcón, near Madrid. I am mainly interested in history teaching on the internet and I have set up my own web site http://www.historiasiglo20.org/ which is focused on 20th century history. I am a member of Virtual School and I have been collaborating in different European projects (Comenius, Spring Day in Europe).

There have been much talk about US exceptionalism. It is more and more evident that there is a growing gap between a majority of US public and most of the European public opinion. These are the main differences:

Religion. Not only Christian fundamentalism, but a general opinion that makes impossible for any politician to confess himself as a atheist or not religious.

Patriotism. Being the only hyperpower, being an immigrants country... the result is a nationalism difficult to find in Western Europe as a general feeling

Individualism. Most of the American public (including working classes!) are suspicious of any welfare policy that involves more taxes.

Guns and death penalty. More that 240 million weapons around the country.

About death penalty, just read what Nicholas Kristof op-ed columnist in the New York Times wrote yesterday:

Bill Clinton won his credibility in the heartland partly by going home to Little Rock during the 1992 campaign to preside over the execution of a mentally disabled convict named Ricky Ray Rector.

There was a moral ambiguity about Mr. Clinton's clambering to power over Mr. Rector's corpse. But unless Democrats compromise, they'll be proud and true and losers.

Obscene, disgusting for most of the European public opinion.

Anyway, if we want to prevent US administration to implement dangerous policies and help American liberal opinion, we cannot exaggerate and affirm statements that only favor Bush and his friends:

United States is a democracy. No matter how chaotic or imperfect is its voting system (Are we going to call Kennedy victory in 1960 into question?)

Bush is not a smirking dumb. The fact that we cannot understand the success of Rove's tactics to mobilise the Christian fundamentalist voters must not lead us to elaborate a caricature of Bush and his voters. At least, if we want to understand US reality and help liberal Americans to win in the next election.

Once we have realised that Bush has a strong support for his unilateral foreign policy, the best thing we can do is to foster European integration. It is evident that US needs a certain counterweight. Europeans are not US foes, we are friends but friends that strongly disagree with some American administration policies.

A good example is all the current chitchat on "moral values". Aren't European MPs moved by "moral values" when they forced Durao Barroso to get rid of Mr. Butiglione? Liberal and left-wing people, we also have "moral values".

Dan Lyndon and myself I working on producing simulations on the issues of the slave trade and the militant tactics used by the suffragettes before the First World War. The materials will be differentiated (my materials will be for the more able and Dan’s will be for the kind of inner-city children he teaches).

One possibility is to use the materials with the E-HELP group at Toulouse. I could combine this with a paper on ICT and active history techniques in the classroom. Maybe, we should collect a range of papers for our E-HELP website.

It is a good idea. I think we have to use the teaching materials we are working on for E-HELP project and website. Later we can organise a series of examples of teaching history on internet that can be used in the future course.

Brussels has just produced a school textbook on the history of Europe for children (Histoires de l’Europe). Each of the 28 members and prospective members of the EU is allocated four pages. British newspapers have been complaining about the omissions from the pages on the UK. This includes the fact that the book fails to mention Britain’s role in the two world wars. However, it does mention the war in the pages devoted to other countries. In the French pages Britain is only because General de Gaulle led the French resistance from London.

The German section does not include the word Nazi. Instead it says “1929 saw a surge in extremist movements… and in 1933 Hitler became chancellor”.

The Sunday Times claimed that the book is an attempt to placate the Germans who have been claiming that they are badly treated in British textbooks.

In my view, it is evident that this sort of politically correct books make politicians feel well, but have nothing to do with teaching history. With all my respect for every European nation, how can you give the same number of pages to France and to Slovenia?

"European" political correctness also makes politicians to miss out controversial periods, tiptoeing about spells of conflict.

I believe that we should stress common features of European history: teaching about Europeans who fought fascism from Germany to Britain from Spain to Russia or teaching about European fascism from Adolf Hitler to Oswald Mosley.

In my view, it is evident that this sort of politically correct books make politicians feel well, but have nothing to do with teaching history. With all my respect for every European nation, how can you give the same number of pages to France and to Slovenia?

"European" political correctness also makes politicians to miss out controversial periods, tiptoeing about spells of conflict.

I believe that we should stress common features of European history: teaching about Europeans who fought fascism from Germany to Britain from Spain to Russia or teaching about European fascism from Adolf Hitler to Oswald Mosley.

In June 2000 I took part in a Council of Europe Seminar Les technologies de l’information et de la communication au service de l’enseignement de l’histoire included in a project on Learning and teaching about the history of Europe in the 20th century

The projects produced different outcomes one of them was a voluminous teachers' handbook on Teaching 20th century European history.

As far as teaching history on the internet, I frankly think that we cannot find many interesting things for our project (four years in ICT and Internet is a long, long time), but it might be a good idea to have a glance at some material.

Some examples:

Teaching 20th century women’s history

Teachers' Training

The European home: representation of 20th century Europe in history textbooks

Don't you think that the fact that history is an optative subject in different countries has provoked that teachers tend to teach some subjects that are attractive for students (violence, evil, passion, massacres...)?

Evidently enough, we have to teach fascism, Hitler, Stalin... new generations should learn what Europe must not do again, but almost sixty years have passed from Hitler killed himself in the bunker. It means a couple of generations. A lot of my students have a quite vague idea about the Soviet Union... Spanish Civil War finished 65 years ago...

I think that the world has changed so dramatically the last fifteen years that we, history teachers, are having serious difficulties to deal with the main point: what sort of historical knowledge is really helfpul and meaningful for our students to understand the current world.

Apart from European integration and women's history I think that other interesting topics are Nationalism in Europe after WWII or Immigration. This last topic opens up an exciting field of debate and research: comparing American and European experience and ways of dealing with immigration.

It seems self-evident but I think that teaching European Integration Process should be stressed in any European curriculum. This is a topic that is taught in every European country.

Should we go on teaching and teaching wars between European nation-states or should we start to elaborate didactic materials that highlight common threads in our history? When I talk with European students I feel that World Wars are far and far away from them and that their image of the world is mainly based on other very different conflicts.

I intend to set up a sort of bilingual didactic unit on line that attempts covering the European Integration Process from the first projects over the Interwar period up to, let's say, European Constitution.

The historical content should try to link European Integration history with World International Relations (mainly Cold War history), in a way that students contemplate EU history as a (relative) success in a not so successful world context.

Most of differet materials used in any history web site (maps, graphics, texts, biographies, glossaries, quizzes, simulations...) should be included in the most interactive way. Flash animation will be the best way to do it.

As Nico says, women's history in the 20th century can be other excellent topic to work on.

I am Head of History Department in a Secondary School in Alcorcón, near Madrid. I am mainly interested in history teaching on the internet and I have set up my own web site http://www.historiasiglo20.org/ which is focused on 20th century history. I am a member of Virtual School and I have been collaborating in different European projects (Comenius, Spring Day in Europe).

I am Head of History Department in a Secondary School in Alcorcón, near Madrid. I am mainly interested in history teaching on the internet and I have set up my own web site http://www.historiasiglo20.org/ which is focused on 20th century history. I am a member of Virtual School and I have been collaborating in different European projects (Comenius, Spring Day in Europe).

My name is Juan Carlos Ocaña and I am History and Geography Head of Department in a Secondary School in Alcorcón-Madrid. I am Ph.D. in Modern History at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Last years my work has been focused on:

Using the internet for teaching Modern History. As a consequence I have set up my own web site Historiasiglo20 - El sitio web de la historia del siglo XX

Developong international collaborative projects, mainly in the framework of the European Union (Comenius Projects, Virtual School, Spring Day in Europe). This summer I have participated in a Fulbright American Studies Institute in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Developing didactical strategies for teaching history in a bilingual context (teaching history in English in a Spanish-speaking context)

It is evident that in spite of UKIP efforts... Europe does exist. My God, one cannot keep his own intimacy

Being aware of my own National Team and its "splendid" record, I have been trying to keep a low profile last weeks. The result has been an utter wash-out. Not only Spain was eliminated in a even more pathetic way than the usual one, but The Guardian spy in Madrid took a historical or historic? (I always miss the right word) photograph of myself.

I could scarcely watch a couple of matches last days. Anyway, I will try to catch up with the Championship. Henceforth, England can count with another supporter. Sorry, Richard, I would support Wales as well.

El Corte Inglés (nothing to do with England), the biggest department store in Spain, has just launched a special offer in their supermarkets: "If Spain wins the Cup, we will give your money back". I have to admit that Spanish firms are not very supportive with our National Team.

However, I think we have quite a bunch of good players and that, sometime and someplace, Spain will work as a team. Will it be in Portugal? Let's hope that our neighbour's weather and cuisine, so similar to Spain, will help our poor millionaire players.

I have read in some foreign newspaper that the main reason of the poor record of Spain in international competition is our internal regional problems. I don't think so. Curiously, the main examples of "Spanish Fury" are Basque players and, nowadays, probably Carles Puyol, one of the few Catalan players in Barcelona, is the best example of a hard-working and fighter player.

Taking into account that this is a massively English-speaking forum... I bet that the teams that will reach semifinals will be Portugal (let's enjoy Figo), England (although Beckham was lately a bit depressed in Madrid), France (the best in the world is playing there) and Spain (Although, I am a Real Madrid supporter, keep an eye on Fernando Torres, a young player of Atlético de Madrid)

My post consists of a protest and a question:

I hate the custom, currently almost compulsory, of the athletes showing off national flags after their victory in most of the sport events. I think that Olympic Games are supposed to achieve just the opposite outcome.

Did this habit start in 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games?

It has been a lot of talk about Spain's government pulling out troops of Irak.

I think that the overwhelming majority support to this decision in Spain has a lot to do with Cold War politics and Spain.

I am going to list a few events:

- Background: Spanish Civil War. Britain and France proposed and held the farce of the Non Intervention Pact. US Congress passed an new Neutrality Act.

- After the beginning of the Cold War, USA and their main allies changed their attitude with regard to Franco's dictatorship: political, economic and military support but not so much... ("Why should we include Spain in the Marshall Plan? Franco is a staunch anticomunist for free" cinically stated a US Senator in that time)

- In 1959, when I was born, Eisenhower visited Madrid and hugged Franco (quite a wonderful view!)

- Even, during the last and picturesque attemp of military coup on 23rd February 1983 (Guardias Civiles occupying the Spanish Congress), the American Secretary of State, Mr. Alexander Haig, affirmed that the coup was "an internal Spanish affair"

This historical background still lingers on the mind of a lot of Spanish democrats... Unfortunately, Mr. Bush is preventing a lot of Spaniards to change their mind about the American foreign policy.

Dalibor, Richard, John, Nico...

Thanks for your prompt reply. Actually, I do not feel so lost

I have just started to work on a Flash film that will encompass most of the Olympic Games from Helsinki 1952 to Barcelona 1992. It will show information (icons and written content) on Cold War and its influence in the differente Games. From the ban on GDR to participate in Helsinki to the South African participation in Barcelona 1992

I am thinking about setting up a Flash film (with a collaboration of a school colleague) on Olympic Games and Cold War. It will be an interactive world map which you can move the mouse on the places where the Olympic Games took place and that, when mouse over, would show the main political problems linked to the Cold War that characterised the different Games. Of course, the main point will be the boycotts to Moscow and Los Angeles games.

Do you consider this sort of resource to be appropriate to the Olympic Games project? As I didn’t attend to Gothenburg, I feel a bit “lost” as far as new projects are concerned.

I would like to have your opinion before proposing to my colleague the elaboration of the Flash film.

20th century:

Museo Reina Sofía (fine 20th century paintings apart from Guernica)

Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (splendid collection with some important 20th century paintings)

Apart from that I would suggest:

After visiting El Valle de los Caídos, you have two possibilities either getting to El Escorial (you can have a stroll to the Silla de Felipe II throug a oak tree forest with a scenic view of the El Escorial) or a half an hour drive to Segovia, one of the finest Castilian towns.

Other possiblity is Toledo one hour away from Madrid.

Although Spain didn't take part directly in the WWII (Franco sent the División Azul to help the Wehrmacht in the Russian front), the course of events was anxiously followed by the Spaniards.

I, myself, remember that my father went, almost clandestinely, to the British embassy to get the BBC report. Nobody believed the official radio and papers.

As Jean Philippe indicated, the main problem is the language. I will try to find some witnesses and "translate" their testimonies.

Spanish soldiers in Iraq don't like the Americans either!! (The Spanish press portrays US soldiers as trigger-happy Rambos.)

I don't agree with this opinion. A lot of Spaniards and a big deal of Spanish newspapers are on the American side in the Irak mess. The point is how quickly America is losing support abroad, even among its closest allies, because of the unilateral and adventurous Mr. Bush's foreign policy. You can have a glance at this yesterday's article on the New York Times A Spanish Lesson URL=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/10/opinion/10KRIS.html?th]http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/10/opinion/10KRIS.html?th[/url]

But are they also Islamo-fascists? Those on the left should not be afraid to describe them as reactionary zealots simply because they are non-white.

The greatest challenge that the left has to face up in this early 21st century is getting rid of Cold War-Third World mentality. It has nothing to do with stopping the fight against inequality, but it has to do with ceasing of repeating and repeating the same old mantras.

Sayyid Qutb, a member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood who stayed in the USA a couple of years and who is accepted as one of the first and most important theorists of Islamic fundamentalism, claimed that the Muslims had to opt between jahiliyya (ignorance), a state of affairs he categorised as the domination of man over man and submission to the law of Allah in its entirety.

Osama bin Laden issuied in 1998 a “Declaration of the World Islamic Front for Jihad against the Jews and the Crusaders”, stating that “to kill Americans and their allies, both civil and military, is the individual duty of every Muslim who is able, until the Aqsa mosque [in Jerusalem] and the Haram mosque [in Mecca] are freed from their grip, and until their armies, shattered and broken-winged, depart from all the lands of Islam...” I am afraid that they include Spain, that is to say Al-Andalus, in the Lands of Islam. Why not the France to the south of Poitiers, where Muslim troops where stopped by the Franks?

Why a part of the European left don't understand what Islamic fundamentalists are meaning?

Mikel Azurmendi, a Basque Spanish chased by ETA by his liberal and antifascist opinions, presided over a Spanish government commission set up after some serious racist incidents in El Ejido (Southern Spain)... His conclussions were similar to Trevor Phillips' Please, stop talking about multiculturalism when it means accepting the Muslim clerics propagate in the mosques their bigotry and intolerance!

From my point of view, Spain must wthdraw troops from Irak, even with a UNO resolution. There is no way to change now what has bee wrongly done from the beginning.

I think that most of us agree on:

The rationale of the attack on Irak was basically a pack of lies.

The war on Irak has not succeeded in preventing Western countries from terrorist attacks.

The occupation has not triggered any positive changed in Middle East, rather the contrary.

As far as Spain is concerned the point is:

Should Spain leave Irak, even though diplomatic efforts bring about a UN mandate?

Should Spain try to work together with other European and Arab countries trying to facilitate a better solution for the Irak mess?

I don't think that we would do any good to the international situation by simply pulling out 1.300 soldiers of Irak. At the same time, I strongly support that the Spanish troops come back home in late June whether there is no UN mandate.

I think Kerry meant it. We have over 100K troops over there right now, and Kerry will want to show that he can lead a community of nations. That means keeping UK, Spain, Italy, Poland etc, and getting greater support from nations such as Germany and France.what complex can international issues be like.

I think having things unravel in Irak would certainly help Kerry since it will make Bush look as if he is losing control of the situation and that his policy has been mistaken.

That would leave Bush in the awkward position of having to convince existing allies to stay put, entice new ones or convince the US electorate that the US can and should go it alone.

Although John Kerry claimed that Spain should not withdraw its troops from Irak, probably he said it without meaning it.

Zapatero's pledge of pulling out the scant 1.300 Spanish troops of Irak is not important by itself, but it can create a general trend that let the governments reconsider, think again all the Irak mess.

Probably, I didn't make myself clear. I think that the Spain next prime minister "threat" of pulling out troops of Irak is in some way useful to Kerry. It can reinforce the option that the Democratic candidate has done for multilateralism and make clear how Bush mismanaged US foreign policy.

I believe that a reasonable new American administration would be glad to count on a UN participation (maybe NATO involvement) in the current Irak mess.

It won't unravel the situation, on the contrary, it will help the US to deal with the current troubles, specially if Arab countries collaborate. On top of that, probably it will be the only way to convince France and Germany to get involved there.