Process Paper
I decided to choose OXI Day and Greece’s involvement in general in World War II for my turning point in history because I had always been interested in Greece and World War II. As a child, I had grown up listening to stories of the war from my father. Both of my grandparents were involved in the war effort, my grandfather was in the Greek army and my grandmother was involved with the Greek Resistance at Zaknythos, so the story of Greece’s role in the war was one I was both familiar and interested in. I also considered a different project related to the Iranian coup d'état in 1951 but decided to not pursue it further.
I knew the story but not the precise facts, so to begin my research I visited the local library and spent three hours looking at books that were about World War II surrounding me. Then I returned home and went on reliable online databases to find additional facts. Afterwards I spent many days researching potential interview sources. I tried three different people to no avail, but finally the fourth source, a sponsor of the OXI Day Foundation in Washington D.C. named Marissa Chmiola, responded to my email. With all my information, I started to carefully organize my materials. For pictures and videos, I looked online at historically accurate websites. When I was chosen to go to the State competition, I focused a lot on cleaning up my site and making it less repetitive. I also found an additional source, a retired Greek Brigadier General who is knowledgeable in the military tactics used in the Battles of Greece and Crete and World War II military history.
I chose to do a website because I felt that it was the best way to express my thoughts because with a website there are many more options one has available to organize and present content. I could use photographs, videos, quotes, and more. Also, I did not have any other feasible options. I was not comfortable doing a performance and a documentary would be difficult because of the scarcity of accurate footage from that time period. A web site is also suitable for presenting references in a convenient format. Finally, a physical exhibit would be hard to edit and easy to break so I decided on a website.
The efforts of Greece to repel the Axis Powers in World War II relates to the History Day theme of turning points in history because those events were truly a turning point in the war. The Allies had previously had no land victories until Greece defeated Italy in the Greco-Italian War, which boosted the Allie’s morale. Later, Germany invaded Greece causing Germany to use many resources in Greece that they could have used in Russia. This involvement in Greece also delayed the invasion of Russia by a month, which forced Germany to fight Russia during the winter, which proved to be essential in the outcome of the war.
I knew the story but not the precise facts, so to begin my research I visited the local library and spent three hours looking at books that were about World War II surrounding me. Then I returned home and went on reliable online databases to find additional facts. Afterwards I spent many days researching potential interview sources. I tried three different people to no avail, but finally the fourth source, a sponsor of the OXI Day Foundation in Washington D.C. named Marissa Chmiola, responded to my email. With all my information, I started to carefully organize my materials. For pictures and videos, I looked online at historically accurate websites. When I was chosen to go to the State competition, I focused a lot on cleaning up my site and making it less repetitive. I also found an additional source, a retired Greek Brigadier General who is knowledgeable in the military tactics used in the Battles of Greece and Crete and World War II military history.
I chose to do a website because I felt that it was the best way to express my thoughts because with a website there are many more options one has available to organize and present content. I could use photographs, videos, quotes, and more. Also, I did not have any other feasible options. I was not comfortable doing a performance and a documentary would be difficult because of the scarcity of accurate footage from that time period. A web site is also suitable for presenting references in a convenient format. Finally, a physical exhibit would be hard to edit and easy to break so I decided on a website.
The efforts of Greece to repel the Axis Powers in World War II relates to the History Day theme of turning points in history because those events were truly a turning point in the war. The Allies had previously had no land victories until Greece defeated Italy in the Greco-Italian War, which boosted the Allie’s morale. Later, Germany invaded Greece causing Germany to use many resources in Greece that they could have used in Russia. This involvement in Greece also delayed the invasion of Russia by a month, which forced Germany to fight Russia during the winter, which proved to be essential in the outcome of the war.