SPANISH ARMADA

Task 1:

How useful do you think this information would be to the English government?

This information was really useful for the English government, because without this information, the English army wouldn’t have been prepared enough for the Spanish invasion

Why were there more soldiers than sailors?

Because thanks to the information received by the letter, the English government knew the number of sailors of the Spanish Armada, and could answer with more men.

Task 2:

How do you think the news that the Spanish Armada had been sighted was able to reach Lord Howard so quickly when he was at Plymouth, over a hundred miles away?

The kings had a private message service, in which delivery courier where distributed in a ordinated kilometer patron so that it can go from courier to courier and cross the map faster that with only one.

Why do you think Howard complained to Walsingham about the wind?

Because his ship took more time because of the wind blowing in the not-wished direction

Howard says that the Spanish fleet was ‘soe strong’. What made it strong?

The impressive galleons, which were big and modern, with a lot of sailors and provisions in it.

Task 3:
According to Hawkins, what was the main problem for the English fleet in the battle near Portland?

Why was the ‘fyring of ships’ a turning point in the fighting?

Because it really hindered the spaniards

Does Hawkins think that the English have a chance to beat the Spanish Armada?
Yes, he thinks that the English showed a great courage and discipline in the fight. He also believes that god is in their favour.

What is causing the biggest problem to the Spanish ships?

A great ship from the galleons of Portugal.

Does Hawkins seem confident that the Spanish have been defeated?

No. Although he counts the numerous losses of the spaniards, he also tells with a little fear their back up.

Why did the English chase the Spanish as they sailed towards Scotland?

They want to see their landing and powder usage.

Task 4:
The Spanish Armada fought the English fleet for two days without losing any ships. What happened next that changed this?

6 of their ships were set on fired because of a cable friction the spaniards caused themselves.

Why was it a good thing that the Spanish plans were stopped?

Because if not, they would probably land in England and attack the cities, apart from the damage they are already dealing to the british ships.

If you could change one thing to give the Spanish a better chance of winning what would it be and why?

I would change the weather into a calm one. The Spanish dealt a lot of damage to the English when the weather was good. They have enough sources to fight incredibly well, but the just got bodied by the bad conditions.

The English celebrated their victory with a medal saying ‘God Blew and they were Scattered’ – how would the Spanish have explained their defeat?

They would probably blame it to the weather and to their partners for being, in some cases, really unconscious and silly on the ship.

Task 5:

• Santa Cruz, the Spanish admiral who was to lead the Armada, died and the man who took over, the Duke of Medina Sidonia, had very little experience: English benefit
• The Armada set sail on 28 May but bad weather forced the ships to go back into port for repairs: God help
• The Armada kept a very strong crescent shaped formation which protected the smaller ships as they sailed up the Channel and the English were unable to make a proper attack: English benefit
• The Armada was supposed to sail up the channel to the Netherlands and collect the Duke of Parma with an army to invade England. However, the Spanish army was attacked and could not get to the ships in time: English benefit
• The weather was very bad during the Battle of Gravelines and the storms got worse as the Spanish sailed towards the North Sea: God help
• The English were constantly complaining that they were short of gunpowder, cannon balls, food etc.: No success-cause reason
• Bad weather continued as the Spanish ships sailed up around the coast of Scotland and down the coast of Ireland on their way home, so that only half the Armada actually got back to Spain: God help

Task 6:

First of all, this was a religious battle, so some events of the fighting, specially the ones that human can’t control, can be interpreted as God acts. The English had a handicap, and the Spanish were fighting quite well and with a lot of powder. However, the weather got worse and made the Spanish lost all of their advantage. As a consequence, God helped the English people defend their religious ideas.

CHARLES V

EUROPEAN PARLAMENT AND STRASBOURG

The European Parlament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union. Together with the Council and the European Comission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU.

It is composed by 751 members. Those members are directly elected  each five years.

The actual president is Martin Schulz and the first meet place is in Strasbourg. The other one is un Brussels.

Strasbourg is the official seat of the European Parlament and it is located close to the border with Germany. Strasbourg is the seat of several European institutions, such as the council of Europe, the Eurocorps, the European Parliament and the European Ombudsman.

As a conclusion, we can say that Strasbourg is one of the most important cities of France and probably the heart of the European Union.

ECONOMIC CYCLE OF THE BITCOIN

Make your own mind maps with Mindomo.

WORLD CONFLICTS

OUR REWARDFUL JOB HAS WON

Today, we have reciebed the noticed that our blog EuroCora has won the contest Euroscola 2016! This contest celebrated the 30th aniversary of Spain in the EU, and consisted on explaining how Spain has evolved in the last 30 years thanks to this and using digital media only.

We worked for over 3 months for this task and interviewed important people such as Ana Pastor, Minister of Development of Spain. Not only the winner class has worked in this project (3th course of secundary education: bilinguals), but also all the school (Colegio Corazón de María de Zamora), every single teacher and student, directly or indirectly.

All that hard work has not been fruitless. We have been one of the top 5 schools, among the 15 prizable; the best blog of Castilla y León and the 2nd best blog in the bilingual class. We are so delighted about this notice!

As a main prize, the 15 students of bilingual and our great Social Studies teacher, Don Miguel Ángel Pinto Sánchez, are going to visit the European Parlament of Estrasburgo.

Please, visit our blog! Thanks! https://eurocora.wordpress.com/

TECHNOCRACY

 I recommend you to watch it on full screen. Just press the icon on the top left and ESC on your computer's keyboard to exit the full-screen view. Thank you!
Sources used:
Nintendo's character R.O.B. Image from Smashpedia
https://www.reddit.com/r/vexillology/comments/2vzi40/the_flag_of_the_peoples_social_technocracy_of/

POLITICS: DICTATORIAL CONTRIES, NORTH KOREA

NORTH KOREAN REGIME

Origin:

On 17 of October of 1926, the teenager Kim II-sung, stablized a political partie to defeat, as the official Korean propaganda says, the Japanese imperalism. However, the real fundation was in 1945, when it was created the Korean Comunist Party.

Kim II-sung became a kind of urban legend. It is said that when he was 24, he commanded a militar unit that captured a Japanese intruder poblation.

The Comunist Partie, supported by the Soviet Communist Partie, started to grow up and finally made a coup.

Source: BBC http://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias/2015/10/151009_corea_norte_comunismo_aniversario_historia_ab

3 Recent notices about North Korea

North Korea releases propaganda film showing Washington under a nuclear attack:

North Korea released a new propaganda video menacingly titled “Last Chance”, showing a submarine-launched nuclear missile laying waste to Washington and concluding with the US flag in flames.

The four-minute video, set to jaunty music, ends with a digitally manipulated sequence showing a missile surging through clouds, swerving back to the earth and slamming into the road in front of Washington’s Lincoln Memorial.

The US Capitol building explodes in the impact and a message flashes up on the screen in Korean: “If US imperialists budge an inch toward us, we will immediately hit them with nuclear (weapons).”

The video was published on the North’s propaganda website DPRK Today and shows images from the Korean War, the capture of US spy ship Pueblo in 1968 and the first crisis over North Korea’s nuclear programme in the early 1990s

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/26/north-korea-releases-propaganda-film-showing-washington-under-nuclear-attack

North Korea releases propaganda video showing destruction of Seul

An official North Korean website has released a new propaganda video portraying a multiple rocket attack on South Korea’s presidential Blue House and other government buildings in Seoul.

It was uploaded on Monday to the DPRK Today website, which had released another video 10 days earlier depicting a nuclear attack on Washington.

The new 88-second video – entitled “If the ultimatum goes unanswered” – shows rockets fired from mobile launchers in the North destroying the buildings in a ball of fire.

It ends with the warning: “Everything will turn into ashes”.

Tensions have been rising on the Korean peninsula ever since the North conducted its fourth nuclear test on 6 January.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/05/north-korea-releases-ultimatum-video-showing-attack-destroying-seoul

North Korea launches a missile as leaders meet in the US to discuss nuclear seccurity.

North Korea appears to have fired another ballistic missile off its east coast on Friday, South Korean officials said, as regional leaders met in Washington to discuss the threat of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme.

South Korea’s defence ministry said the missile was fired at about 12.45pm local time from near Sondok airport in the east. The range and trajectory could not immediately be confirmed, a ministry official said.

It is the latest in a series of North Korean missile launches during what has been an extended period of elevated military tension on the Korean peninsula, triggered by Pyongyang’s fourth nuclear test on 6 January.

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/apr/01/north-korea-missile-leaders-us-nuclear-security

North Korea’s Kim dynasty

The Kim dynasty is a three-generation lineage of North Korean leadership descending from the country's first leader, Kim II-sung, in 1948. Kim came to rule the North after the end of Japanese control in 1945 split the region. He began the Korean War in 1950 in an attempt to reunify the peninsula. His successors are his son Kim Jong-il and his grandson Kim Jong-un, actual leader of the country after the death of his father in 2011.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_dynasty_(North_Korea)

What do they use to keep the regime?

They use a lot of tools to keep the regime “alive”. The main tool is fear, achieved by constant threats. Another tool is to control the citizens’ opinions, liberties and acts by being on them. Finally, I will mention the usage of propaganda regulated by the regime to try to wash the brains of the North Koreans.

“Gulag”

Gulag (Russian word) it was a part of the Soviet Union that had to regulate the penal code for forced labor camps. It has similarities with North Korea, as this country also has this camps and the Regime is communist as the Soviet.

Source: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag

 Main Characteristics of a Dictatorship

·        The leader never mistakes

·        You will love the leader above everything in the world

·        Nothing is private

·        Opinions are invalid

·        If a person is disabled, it is sent to forced labor camps

Comparison between the life of a person living in North Korea and my life in a democratic country

There are a lot of differences between both life conditions. In my country you are free to have your opinion for almost everything without being censured. We have as a leader a president, which we elect by voting and don’t have to praise. In a democratic country, people have Internet and other communication tools and privacy.

On the other hand, in a dictatorial country such as North Korea, everything is controlled by the regime, even history. People must have only one positive opinion of the country and the leader. They have one unique and irreplaceable leader which must be respected and praised. Social inequality is really present. People don’t communications are either forbidden or controlled. Finally, secrets can’t be hidden and privacy doesn’t exist. Finally, if you are a “rebel”, you can be highly punished (forced labor camps, torture or death).

If I were a teenager in North Korea, my schedule would be waking up in the morning for going to school, worshiping the paintings of Kim II-sung and Kim Jong-il I’ve got in my house. After having breakfast, I will dress up and put my badge of the leaders and my school uniform. When going walking to school, I would try not to look into other people’s eyes and stop in front of a statue of the leaders to bow and worship them.

OCEANIA RELIEF