WWII Technology: Dried Plasma

Description: Blood plasma is the liquid part of blood, made up of a salt-protein solution. Plasma is 90% water, and contributes to 55% of the blood volume. Plasma has a variety of functions, including keeping a constant blood pressure and to supply the protein needed in blood clotting. Plasma can be collected by separating the liquid part of blood from the cells. In 1938, Dr. Charles Drew made a breakthrough discovery that plasma can replace whole blood. It was significant because whole blood could not be kept for long. He could mass process plasma from whole blood and played a major role in the development of dried plasma.

Intended Purpose: War was sweeping over Europe around 1940, and soldiers needed blood. Plasma can be kept longer and can replace whole blood, reducing deaths from blood loss.

How It Shaped the War: It shaped the war because it greatly reduced the numbers of casualties that died from blood loss and shock from bleeding. Dried plasma was essential on the battlefields of World War II.

How the War Shaped It: The need of plasma on the battlefields of World War II forced the crews to come up with new ways of administering plasma to wounded soldiers. They developed dried plasma. The high demand for blood plasma also created blood plasma collection and preservation organizations. To supply the soldiers with plasma, the package of plasma was redesigned into two tin cans. One contained the dried plasma, the other contained enough distilled water to completely reconsitute the dried plasma into fresh usable plasma in only a few minutes.

Lasting Effects: Dried plasma was used widely in World War II and saved numerous lives. After the war, the unused plasma from the war was issued for civilian use.

http://home.att.net/~steinert/wwii.htm#THE%20DISCOVERY%20OF%20PENICILLIN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_plasma

Russian Propaganda Posters Project

What is Propaganda?

Propaganda is a specific message aimed at influencing the opinions of people rather than convey the whole truth. Throughout history, propaganda had been used in areas of religions, politics, and economics. The following propaganda posters are examples of propaganda that I have chosen. These were used in the Russian Revolution to influence the general population of Russia to believe in what the government wanted the people to believe. By studying these propaganda posters, we can have more clues on to what the people of that time were thinking, were led to think, or what the government wanted the people to think. These posters represent ideas during that time. We can study these posters to conclude points as on what ideas led to which certain events in history that might follow.

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This picture portrays Stalin as your ordinary grandfather. Stalin was made to look nice and kind, yet somehow mesmerizingly wise and powerful. The poster wanted to make Stalin someone the people can look up to, a truely good leader. The poster also uses a lot of red as the background, making it instantly eye-catching. Red is also the color that symbolizes the revolution.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0651.jpg




This poster shows the words peace in many languages breaking a missile with the words "Made in USA" on it. This poster probably means that in order to achieve peace in Russia, people should stop using products made in the USA and instead support the country's own products. The poster is especially effective because of the use of colors and patterns. The contrasting colors white, blue, and red are eye-catching along with the big and creative style of fonts for the words.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/1216a.jpg





This propaganda poster shows the different republics of Russia all united as one. The purpose of this poster is either to generate the idea that all of Russia is united, or similaryly, to encourage the different people of Russia to unite as one strong country. The poster conveys that very efficiently by the act of puting all the different flags together to form the shape of the sickle and the hammer, the symbols of the USSR. The poster also uses the primary colors and gold color, which gives a glow of royalty and value than the ordinary red and white posters you might find during that time.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/0203.jpg




The picture of a woman protesting and the words "peace bread" (in Russian) on the top of the poster is an efficient way to create propaganda. This propaganda poster is probably trying to urge people to join the revolution. The woman in the poster is also wearing a shirt with the symbols of the revolution (if you observe carefully, there is a picture of the star, the sickle, and the hammer on it. it is also bright red, the color of the revolution). Vaguely behind the lady is a man cheering for the revolution also. In this, the audience can relate to the loyalty represented by the poster. This poster is an effective poster because of the realistic-looking people that is more understood to the audience than most of the posters during that time which mostly used simple symbols.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/1233b.jpg





The details an audience should immediately note are a hand shaking in unity. In the background are the pictures of the globe, the sickle, the hammer, the star, and wheat grains. The hand and the unity encourages people of Russia to be united, so that Russia can become a world power. That is also represented by the symbols of the Soviet Union (hammer and sickle) on the globe. The wheat grains that support the star means that the farmers and workers are the supporters of the country. The poster is in black and white and atracts the attention of the audience with its glowing and warm message of unity and prosperity of the country as a whole.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/1316.jpg





This poster is an excellent poster for promoting nationalism. The propaganda poster shows a loyal Soviet soldier paying respect to the red cloth, which is the symbol of the revolution. There are also many other symbols of the revolution scattered in the poster, such as two stars, a sickle, and a hammer in the background. The poster is eye-catchy because it uses solid colors to convey one big message that can be understood at a glimpse. The poster is also soothing to the eyes, and uses colors that contrast each other just about right.
http://posters.nce.buttobi.net/big/1276.jpg

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From studying these posters, I can conclude that much time was given to influencing the support of the middle class and working people. For a revolution to happen, the support and trust of the population in general are valuable. These are gained through propaganda posters that tell you certain things. For example, the people was led to believe in Stalin, as most posters portray him as "superman." Also, it pressured the people into having a sense of nationalism and loyalty to the country. The poster promoted unity and led the people into thinking that it is their duty to help stage the revolution. And as the poster relates, the loyalty of the people to the revolution is a key in making Russia a world power.

THE DECADE OF WAR (1940-1949)

1940s THE DECADE OF WAR

The 1940s can be considered "The Decade of War" because probably the most destructive events of the century happened in this decade. This includes WWII, the Holocaust, and the dropping of the atomic bombs.

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World War II (1939-1941)

During that time, young men from different countries were recruited to fight in the Second World War. The war was mainly between the Allied Powers and the Axis Powers (The major countries that made up the Allied Powers were the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Soviet Union, and China and the major countries that made up the Axis Powers were Germany, Japan, and Italy). The Allied Powers finally defeated the Axis Powers and they established the UN. An estimate of more than 62 million people lost their lives in World War II, including soldiers, civilians, and victims of the Holocaust.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWII

http://www.filmworld.com.au/clips/archival/WWII%20Soldiers.jpg

The Holocaust

Even though the Holocaust started in the 1930s, it did most damage in the 1940s. The Holocaust is the name given to the government-led persecution and genocide of minority groups in Europe and North Africa, mainly the Jews. The event took place during World War II and was caused by Nazi Germany. The death toll of the Holocaust isn't accurate, but is approximately 11 million people (of that were 6 million Jews), including women and infants. Most victims of the Holocaust were tortured before getting killed. Extermination camps were built as a method for mass killings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust

http://www.holocaust-history.org/hungarian-photos/jpg/12-1142.jpg




The Dropping of Atomic Bombs



On August 6, 1945, the "Little Man" nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by the United States Army Air Forces. Three days later (August 9, 1945), the "Fat Man" nuclear bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. The estimation of death resulting from the bombs are very difficult to agree on, due to victims that may have died months or years after the bombings due to radiation exposure, exaggeration or minimization of the number of victims due to political pressures, and the inaccuracy records due to the confusion of the war that was going on. However, there is an estimate that by December 1945, there was a total of 214,000 deaths, mostly civilians.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombing_of_Nagasaki
http://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2004/winter/images/atomic-bomb.jpg

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Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)



Adolf hitler may be considered one of the most influential people of the century. He was leader of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945, and he was the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party, better known as the Nazi Party. His order for the invasion of Poland triggered the World War II in Europe, and his racial views resulted in the genocide of about 11 million people (see Holocaust).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_hitler
http://www.toysoldiers.com/products-soldiers/images/kingandcountry/lah44.jpg




Mahatma Ghandi (1864-1948)



Mahatma Ghandi fought for the independence of India from British rule. He was a highly respected spritual and political leader, also known as the Father of the Nation in India. Ghandi lived simply, practiced Hinduism, and achieved political changes through non-violence campaigns. His ideas influenced other people such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Aug San Suu Kyi. India became independent in 1947.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghandi




Winston Churchill (1874-1965)



Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was the Prime Mininster of the United Kingdom during World War II and also an accomplished writer. He won the 1953 Nobel Prize for Literature for his many books on history (most of them are more on military tactics and not on culture and society). Churchill played a distinctive role during the Second World War and created tighter bonds with the United States of America (especially when Franklin D. Roosevelt was in office).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winston_Churchill



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ENIAC



ENIAC, short for Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer, was the first computer that could solve a full range of computing problems. It's original purpose was to calculate artillery firing tables for the U.S. Army's Ballistics Research Laboratory. ENIAC was completed in 1946.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ENIAC




Microwave Oven



The microwave oven is now a popular and widely used kitchen appliance used to cook and heat food. Microwave for cooking food was discovered by Percy Spencer in 1945 while building magnetrons at Ratheon. While working, he noticed that the peanut candy bar he had with him started to melt. At first, the microwave wasn't widely popular because of its large size and high price, however, companies made the microwaves smaller and cheaper for domestic use.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven



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Mt. Rushmore



Mount Rushmore National Memorial is near Keystone, Dakota. It is a 60 ft. high carving of four former US presidents --George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. The project was orginally intended to increase tourism in the area, started in 1927 and finished in 1941. It attracts about 2 million people each year.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore

W e L c O m E . . .

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