Cortés - Conqueror of Mexico

When one considers that Cortés conquered Mexico with only a small army of conquistadors, some horses, and some firepower, it is a fantastic and hard to believe story. Cortés was gifted in using any advantage he could find in war. He was an opportunist and a very interesting character to learn more about. This episode was my favorite of this disc because Cortés is often ignored as a conqueror. As an American, our culture focuses more on English and American conquerors than Spanish ones. This episode is perfect to show to my students in World History. It meshes the Aztecs and the New World to Europe and the old world very well. The plague of smallpox and measles that the conquistadors bring with them is also spoken about in this episode. After watching this special, I can still only believe that divine providence allowed Cortés to take complete control of Mexico. Watch this episode because it's superb.

This film is the first part of a Soviet biography of Peter the Great, the Tsar who began the process of modernization and westernization, thus making Russia the first developing country.
Born: May 30, 1672, Moscow, died: January 28, 1725, St. Petersburg.

Crowned Tsar of Russia on April 27, 1682;

Crowned Emperor of Russia on October 22, 1721.

Peter was a grandson of Tsar Michael Romanov who was elected as the first Romanov Tsar in 1613. In 1682 Peter was proclaimed Tsar at the tender age of 10. Due to power struggles between different political forces in the country, the young Tsar was forced to rule jointly with his brother Ivan, under the patronage of their sister Sofia.

In 1689, after a failed coup d'etat, Sofia was overthrown and exiled to a convent. When Tsar Ivan died in 1696, Peter remained monarch and engineered a series of reforms that were to put Russia among the major European powers of the day.

Peter opened Russia to the influences of the West and invited the best European engineers, shipbuilders, architects, craftsmen and merchants to come to Russia and modernize the country. Hundreds of Russians were sent to Europe to get the best education possible and learn the different arts and crafts that would sustain Russia in its future growth.

One of Peter's main goals was to regain access to the Baltic Sea and Baltic trade. In 1700 he started the Northern War with Sweden, which lasted for 21 years, and resulted in a victorious Russia taking the vast lands on the Baltic coast as its spoils of war. During the course of the war St. Petersburg was founded 1703 on the delta of the Neva River and the city rapidly grew to become a major seaport, as Russia gained greater and greater access to European trade routes.

In 1712 Peter the Great moved the Russian capital to St. Petersburg and continued to channel all the country’s energy and resources into the construction of his European "paradise". When the Northern War ended in 1721.

Russia was declared an Empire and Peter the Great proclaimed himself its Emperor. Meanwhile, Peter continued his political and economic reforms. He reorganized the government: established the Senat as the highest government institution and 10 semi-ministries " kollegii". Peter introduced a new poll tax, which brought him funding for an active foreign policy and for boosting national manufacturing and trade. The "Tsar-reformer" was the first leader to organize a Russian regular army and found the Russian deep water navy He was also an experienced shipbuilder, a trade he learned when he was in Holland. Peter the Great is buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

Peter's personality has been the cause of much debate and discussion in the 300 years since his death. He was a big strong man (6' 8'' inches) who, unlike previous Russian monarchs, was not afraid of physical labor. He was an experienced army officer and navy admiral, a skilful shipbuilder and an amazingly energetic personality. It has to be said that Peter was also very cruel. Several coup attempts against him ended with mass executions. He personally interrogated his own son Alexei, whom he suspected of plotting against him, and installed him as the first inmate of a high security political jail in the Peter and Paul fortress. Nevertheless, the scale of Peter's personality and massive reforms have inspired generations of historians, writers and ordinary Russian people.

There are many monuments to Peter the Great in St. Petersburg. Among the most prominent are the"Bronze Horseman" and another equestrian monument in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle.

"Michael the Brave" 1970 Romanian film, English subtitles.  Best Romanian Movie ever -Michael the Brave, prince of Wallachia (1593-1601), prince of Transylvania (1599-1600), and prince of Moldavia (1600).Michael was one of Romania's greatest medieval rulers, as well as a celebrated military commander. Having been obliged to pay a large sum to the Ottoman emperor for his appointment as prince of Walachia, he did away with his Ottoman creditors, who had advanced him the money, by summoning them to his palace and then having them massacred. This act was imitated throughout Walachia and became known as the Wallachian Vespers. Michael repeatedly routed an Ottoman retaliatory army with the help of Sigismund Báthory , prince of Transylvania, and mercenaries; Michael's subjects were oppressively taxed to pay for the victory. In 1596 the sultan made peace, leaving Walachia virtually independent. Michael now turned to the conquest of Transylvania, which he accomplished after defeating (1599) Andrew Cardinal BÃthory, to whom Sigismund had given up his throne. Initially, Michael had the support of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II and he was able to unite all Romanians under his sole rule. However, Rudolf II soon came to suspect Michael's increased power, and when Transylvanian nobles provoked a rebellion against Michael, the imperial army in Hungary under Gen. George Basta came to their aid. Defeated, Michael fled and presented himself at the imperial court in Vienna, where he was pardoned and reinstated as governor of Transylvania. Returning, he defeated Sigismund Bathory, who had renewed his claim to the principality, but Michael was shortly afterward assassinated on the order of General Basta. After his death Walachia and Moldavia reverted to Ottoman control, while Transylvania came under Austrian domination; the union of the three areas became a national ideal in succeeding generations, and Michael himself a national hero.