wold history 1914-present

Cram Packet
1914 to Present
BIG IDEAS:
The 20th Century was a time when the world got “smaller.”
Communication and transportation made it possible to connect to every part of the globe and even into outer space.
The United States came to dominate the world during the 20th century and our culture spread everywhere (McWorld) Not every part of the globe felt comfortable with the Americanization of the world. American values can be interpreted as being based upon consumerism, greed, sex, and violence (remember our movies and music are everywhere). Many societies viewed this as in direct violation of their traditional values.
The United States dominated the world economically and politically. We became the richest country in the history of the world. In many cases our multi-national corporations used cheap labor and cheap natural resources from the underdeveloped world to become extremely wealthy. The 20th Century has been the most violent century in history. The bloodiest official wars:
Dates

War

Military Death Toll

1911-1920
1914-1918
1918-1921
1927-1937
1935-1936
1936-1939
1937-1945
1945-1954
1945-1949
1950-1953
1954-1962
1956-1972
1965-1973
1980-1988
1980-1989

Mexican Revolution
World War I
Russian Civil War
Chinese Civil War
Abyssinian War (Italy vs. Ethiopia)
Spanish Civil War
World War II
French Indo-China
Chinese Civil War
Korean War
French-Algerian War
Sudanese Civil War
Vietnam War
Iran-Iraq War
Afghanistan (Soviets and Afghanis)

200.000
8.500.000
800,000
400,000
75,000
200,000
20,000,000
385,000
1,200,000
1,200,000
160,000
100,000
1,200,000
850,000
150,000

Other atrocities include:
Date
Event
1900-1908
Congo Uprisings
1975-1979
Khmer Rouge in Cambodia
1914-1918
Armenian Genocide
1962-1992
Ethiopian Civil Wars
1971
East Pakistan Massacres
1976-1992
Mozambique Civil War
1994
Rwanda
1975-1994
Angola Civil War
1965-1967
Indonesian Communists
1991-now
Somalia Chaos

Total Estimated
Death Toll (Est.)
1,000,000
21,500,000
8,800,000
3,100,000
710,000
365,000
50,000,000
1,300,000
6,194,000
595,000
675,000
500,000
1,710,000
1,000,000
1,800,000

Death Toll
3 million
1.65 million
1.5 million
1.4 million
1.25 million
.8 million
.8 million
.6 million
.5 million
.35 million

1. Questions of periodization
Continuities and breaks, causes of changes from the previous period and within this period:
1914 – World War I begins; world becomes smaller through communication and transportation;
WWII; end of imperialism; domination of American culture; Cold War; advanced technology; space race; nationalism
2.
Global Event
The World Wars
Holocaust

Impact in General
Reduction of European influence outside of Europe (end of imperialism)
Rise of power of the U.S.
Increase in Zionism – would affect Middle East

The Cold War

Nuclear Weaponry

International
Organizations

3.

Concept of “crimes against humanity”
Globalization of diplomacy and conflict;
Countries were either aligned with the “east” (Soviets -- Communism) or the “west” (U.S. -- capitalism)
Global balance of power achieved because each country recognized the other country had nuclear weapons and they would respond – if the
Soviets dropped a bomb, the U.S. would be able to send just as many bombs to the Soviet Union and we would all be dead!
Diplomacy at different levels
Groups for different causes and issues
League of Nations – world peace
United Nations – world peace
NATO – European and American alliance against Soviets
European Union – economic and political unity of Europe
NAFTA – economic free trade zone in North America
ASEAN – free trade zone in South East Asia
International Red Cross/Crescent – humanitarian
Amnesty International – human rights
Greenpeace – environmental
Organization of African Unity (OAU)
Central American Common Market – economic
Nonaligned Movement – 110 developing nations who seek to cooperate on political, economic, and cultural issues.

THE NATURE OF THE WAR

Even though the causes of World War II were rooted in unsettled business from World I, the nature of the war was far different from any previous conflict in world history. Some distinct characteristics of World War II are:
•

Worldwide participation - The war was truly fought in all corners of the globe. Only eleven countries did not become directly involved in the war: Afghanistan, Greenland, Iceland,
Ireland, Mongolia, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Tibet, and Yemen.

•

Technology - Although airplanes and tanks had been used to some extent in World War I, they came to dominate World War II. For example, in the Pacific, airplanes attacked from giant aircraft carriers that allowed the United States navy to "hop" from one set of island to the next, finally zeroing in on Japan. In Europe airplanes on both sides bombed their opponents with high explosives and incendiaries that killed millions of people and devastated the infrastructure, particularly in large urban areas. Other technologies, such as radar and more accurate and powerful weaponry, helped submarines and warships to target the enemy. the atom bomb was introduced at the end of the war.

•

Widespread killing of civilians - Whereas civilian casualties were not unique to World War
II, the war is characterized by deliberate targeting of non-military people. Because the bombings sought to destroy the industrial infrastructure, they focused on urban areas where many people lived. In some cases the bombs were intended to torment populations so that the enemy would surrender.

Compare new patterns of nationalism: the interwar

Examples

Types of Authority
Used:

Effects of Nationalism

Italy: Mussolini

charismatic

quality of life improves for

years

Spain: Franco
Germany: Hitler

totalitarian state

China: Chiang Kai-shek
Japan: Tojo
Brazil: Vargas

decolonization

Examples:
South Asia: Pakistan,
India, Bangladesh
Africa: Nigeria, Ghana,
Algeria, Kenya, Tunisia,
Angola
Middle East: Egypt,
Israel
Southeast Asia: Vietnam,
Indonesia

new nationalisms in
Eastern
Europe and former Soviet
Union

Gorbachev:
Yeltsin:
Poland:
Czech Republic:
Romania:

Gandhi (charismatic):
Salt March
Nehru (rationallegal=elections)
Nkrumah (charismatic, traditional) FLN (rational-legal)
Mandela (charismatic, rational-legal) Ho Chi Minh
(charismatic, rationallegal) traditional, charismatic then rational-legal when democratic elections are held in
1990s

supporters imperialism -- invasions of others, e.g. Italy invades
Ethiopia; Germany invades
Poland; Japan invades
Manchuria
split between Socialists and
Communists
non-violence used to end British rule; independence in 1947: partition of India/Pakistan
Independence of colonies in
Africa
Diem Bien Phu; French leave
Indochina but conflict with
U.S.A. happens in 1960s

break-up of Soviet Union, new nations new economic and political systems for nations in Eastern
Europe

NEW PATTERNS OF NATIONALISM
Nationalism was as important a force during the 20th century as it had been in the previous era.
People under the control of imperialist nations continued to strive for their own identities, and new, independent nations popped up in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia.
Nationalist movements also were a major cause of the late 20th century breakup of the Soviet
Union, again changing the balance of world power in the post-Cold War era.
NATIONALISM IN AFRICA
By the early 20th century Europeans had colonized most of the African continent. Christian missionaries set up schools that educated a new native elite, who learned not only skills and literacy but western political ideas as well. They couldn't help but notice the contrast between the democratic ideals they were being taught in class and the reality of discrimination that they saw around them. This observation sparked nationalist movements in many places, including:
•

Senegal - Blaise Diagne agitated for African participation in politics and fair treatment by the French army.

•

South Africa - Western-educated natives founded the African National Congress in 1909 to defend the interests of Africans.

•

Ethiopia - Italy took over Ethiopia in the years leading up to World War II, and Emperor
Haile Selassie led Ethiopian troops into his capital city to reclaim his title. Ethiopians, as well as many other people in northern Africa responded to Allied promises of liberation and helped the Allies defeat the Germans that had occupied the area.

POST WORLD WAR II STRUGGLES IN ALGERIA
World War II was a humiliating experience for the French. Their armies had folded under Hitler's blitzkrieg within a few days, and they had to be liberated from German control by the other Allied powers. Both world wars devastated the infrastructure of France, and the weak parliamentary government seemed to have little control over the economy. Despite these hardships (or perhaps because of them), the French were determined to hold on to Algeria and Vietnam in Southeast
Asia after World War II ended. French persistence set off major revolts in both areas. In 1954 war in Algeria broke out with great brutality by both sides. In reaction to the government's inability to fight the war, the French government was totally restructured, with strong man Charles de Gaulle taking the reins of the country as its new president. Algeria finally gained their independence in
1962, but lingering bitterness and retaliation led to a stream of French-sympathizers flooding into
France from Algeria.
DECOLONIZATION IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
None of the wars for independence in sub-Saharan Africa matched the Algerian struggle in scale.
One by one native leaders negotiated treaties with their imperialist masters, so that by the late
1960s, the African continent was composed primarily of independent nations. Kwame Nkrumah, who in 1957 became the prime minister of Ghana, and Jomo Kenyatta, a leader of Kenya, started a Pan-African movement but the focus of nationalism was on independence for the individual colonies. Independence led to many new problems for African nations. Many border disputes occurred, since colonial boundaries often did not follow ethnic lines. The borders of some countries, such as Nigeria and Zaire, encompassed several different ethnic groups that struggled with one another for control of the country. Race conflict became particularly severe in the temperate southern part of the continent, where Europeans clashed with natives for political and economic power. South Africa was left with apartheid, an attempt by European minorities to keep natives in subservient, and very separate, roles in society. The African National Congress, formed in South
Africa in 1912, led a bloody struggle against apartheid, which eventually led to success when
Nelson Mandela became the first native president of South Africa in 1994.
NATIONALISM IN INDIA
Native elite had formed nationalist groups in India before World War I began, and the struggle against British control continued until India finally won its independence in 1947. The movement was fractured from the beginning, largely because the diversity of people on the Indian subcontinent made a united independence movement difficult. Tensions were particularly high between Hindus and Muslims. Muslims constituted only about a quarter of the entire Indian population, but they formed a majority in the northwest and in eastern Bengal.
During World War I Indians supported Britain Enthusiastically, hoping that they would be rewarded for their loyalty. However, Britain stalled on independence, and political tensions mounted. For the next twenty years, Indians and British clashed often and violently, and the colony threatened to descend into chaos. Mohandas K. Gandhi halted the downward spiral, a man known to his followers as "Mahatma," the "great soul." Gandhi, educated as a lawyer in
Britain, had some unusual political ideas. He denounced violence and popular uprisings and preached the virtues of ahisma (nonviolence) and satyagraha (the search for truth.) He demonstrated his identification with the poor by wearing simple homespun clothing and practicing fasting. He was also a brilliant political tactician, and he had a knack for attracting public attention.
His most famous gesture was the Walk to the Sea, where he gathered salt as a symbol of Indian industry, an action forbidden by the British government. Such non-violent persistence landed him in jail repeatedly, but his leadership gave Indians the moral high-ground over the British, who eventually agreed to independence in 1947.

The independence agreement was complicated because Jawaharlal Nehru, leader of the Indian
National Congress, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the leader of the Muslim League, clashed openly.
Violent riots between Hindus and Muslims broke out in Bengal and Bihar, so that the British negotiated with the two organizations to partition India into two states. Most of the subcontinent remained under secular rule dominated by Hindus, but the new Muslim state of Pakistan was formed in the northwest and northeast. Independence celebrations were marred by violence between Muslims and Hindus. The partition led to massive movements of Indians from one area to the other, and a Hindu who was upset because the partition meant that he had to leave his home assassinated Gandhi himself. Religious conflict continued to plague the subcontinent for the rest of the 20th century.
NATIONALIST MOVEMENTS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
In Indonesia, a nationalist leader named simply Sukarno, cooperated with the Japanese during
World War II with the hope of throwing off the colonial control of the Dutch. Despite the Japanese defeat in the war, independence was negotiated in 1949, and Sukarno became the dictator until he was removed by a military coup in 1965. The British granted independence to Burma (now
Myanmar) in 1948, and the United States negotiated independence with the Philippines in 1946.
As in Africa, the French provided the most resistance to decolonization in southeast Asia.
Throughout the area, independence leaders were also drawn to communism, and French
Indochina was no exception. The Communist leader Ho Chi Minh led his supporters against the
French, capturing the colonial stronghold of Dienbienphu in 1954. Ho Chi Minh's government took over in the north, and a noncommunist nationalist government ruled in the south, which eventually came to be heavily supported by the United States. In the 1960s and early 1970s, the
United States waged an unsuccessful war with North Vietnam that eventually ended in the reunification of the country under communist rule in 1975.
NATIONALISM IN LATIN AMERICA
Nationalism in Latin America took the form of internal conflict, since almost all the nations had achieved independence during the 19th century. However, most were still ruled by an authoritarian elite. During the 20th century, many nations experienced populist uprisings that challenged the elite and set in motion an unstable relationship between democracy and militarism. Some teetered back and forth between democratically elected leaders and military generals who established power through force. Coups d'etat became common, and political legitimacy and economic viability became serious issues.
•

Mexico - At the beginning of the century, Mexico was ruled by Porfirio Diaz, a military general who enriched a small group of elites by allowing them to control agriculture and welcoming businessmen from the United States to control industry. The Revolution of
1910 began not with the exploited poor, but with elites that Diaz did not favor, almost all of them military generals. As early as 1911 the revolutionary fervor had spread to peasants, who were led by regional strongmen, such as Emiliano Zapata and Pancho
Villa. Despite the creation of a democratic-based Constitution in 1917, the revolution raged on, with every President assassinated during his term of office until Lazaro
Cardenas took over in 1934. Finally, the country stabilized under an umbrella political party (PRI), which tightly controlled Mexican politics until the 1990s, when some signs of democracy began to appear.

•

Argentina and Brazil - These two countries have many differences in language, ethnicity, and geographical settings, but both were controlled by elites. Early in the century,
Argentina's government represented the interest of landowners that raised cattle and sheep and grew wheat for export, and Brazil's elite was made up of coffee and caco planters and rubber exporters. In both countries, the gap between the rich and poor was great, with the elite spending lavishly on palaces and personal goods. However, the
Great Depression hit both countries hard, and stimulated coups against the governments.

Getulio Vargas took over in Brazil in 1930, and instituted a highly authoritarian regime.
Military revolts characterized Argentina, with Juan Peron, supported by Nazi interests, leading a major coup in 1943. Authoritarian rule in both countries continued on into the second half of the century.
•

The Cuban Revolution and its aftermath - Revolutions against dictators were often inspired by communism, especially after the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro in
1959. Military leaders of Brazil led a conservative reaction by staging a coup of the democratically elected government in 1964. There the "Brazilian Solution" was characterized by dictatorship, violent repression, and government promotion of industrialization. A similar pattern occurred in Chile in 1974 where the socialist president
Salvador Allende was overthrown in a military coup led by General Augusto Pinochet.
Socialist Sandinistas led a rebellion against the dictator of Nicaragua in 1979, where their communist affiliations led them to disfavor with the conservative United States government led by Ronald Reagan. The Reagan administration supported Contras
(counterrevolutionaries) who unsuccessfully challenged the Sandinistas. By the 1990s, most Latin American nations had loosened the control by the military, and democratic elections appeared to be gaining ground. However, they continued to be economically and militarily dominated by the United States.

Compare impact of major global economic developments: the Great Depression
1930s-1930s
Question: What ultimately ended the
Great Depression?

technology

Pacific Rim

multinational corporations Go ahead and name them – think clothing, entertainment, oil, car manufacturing, etc.

Effects in Core/Industrialized
Countries

Effects in Periphery/Developing
Countries

bank closures capital no longer available for investment so no new businesses fewer jobs
By 1932, production drops 30% tariff barriers go up
U.S. could no longer loan money to Europe – European economy has more problems automobiles - increased demand for oil, steel, electrical equipment, radios, television, computers, biomedical engineering Japanese manufacturing overtakes West at first with cars and then with audio equipment; rust belt in U.S.A.
Taiwan, Korea, Singapore -Little Tigers
China after 1980s becomes a textile and other light manufacturing goods exporter
Globalization; wealth to capitalists; loss of jobs to cheaper labor markets

international trade drops off shortages in world markets nations become reluctant to depend on world trade

Dependency on manufactured goods from industrialized countries As labor costs rose in industrialized and newly industrialized countries, factory jobs get shifted to less industrialized areas.
Pacific Rim model for economic development. Globalization; more jobs, but many
“unfair”; watching the west get
“rich” off of the cheap labor they provided 5.
Compare characteristics of social reform and social revolution rise of feminism
Examples:
suffrage movement right to vote granted in most countries after WW2 barriers to higher education and professional jobs lessened for women in the West by the 1970s; but glass ceiling remained through the 1990s
International Conferences on
Women: Mexico City (1969), Nairobi,
Kenya, 1984, Beijing, 1994
Mothers in Argentina protested the disappearance of their children by the government student revolutions
Example of 1968

6.
Characteristics of demographic and environmental changes migrations changes in birthrates and death rates
Demographic Transition Theory new forms of urbanization

deforestation

green/environmental movements

Effects of social reform and social revolution in the 20th century changing gender roles and family structures in
Core/Industrialized Countries:

Periphery/Developing Countries: more access to education changing property rights tension between modernization and tradition

university students use Marxist or Socialist criticism of capitalism and industrialization to protest multinationals' control of aspects of the world economy and corruption in government, e.g. protests against racism and the
Vietnam conflict teenagers and young adults use popular music and culture to distinguish themselves from the previous generation -- "baby boomers" and "generation gap" university students in Czechoslovakia in 1968 and China in 1979 protest repression by Communist governments

Effects establishment of Israel as a nation-state division of India and Pakistan
HIV/AIDS
growth in non-European cities nearly half of the world's population found in cities loss of tropical rainforests rural populations dependent on international market have voice in many Western European parliaments non-profit organizations in U.S.A., e.g. Sierra
Club, Greenpeace

20th Century
Revolutions:
characteristics -Marxist, antiWestern, peasant, religious Russia

Fill in dates for these revolutions… China

Similarities or Differences with 19th century ideas of revolution, including Marx

effects on the roles of women

overthrow of Czar Nicholas II and establishment of provisional government led by the Duma
Lenin's forced, urban (vanguard of elite group of leaders),
Marxist-inspired revolution as beginning of world-wide revolution Stalin's socialism and forced industrialization Gorbachev overthrow of Qing dynasty
Republic of China and warlord period Chiang Kai-shek's fascism
Mao Zedong's peasant and soldier based, forced revolution
Deng Xiaoping

women faced hardship working 13 hours a day women revolutionaries
March 1917: 7,000 women went on strike (placed pressure on provisional government) collectivization wider access to education for women, including professions like medicine and engineering

Cuba

Castro

Iran

overthrow of Mossadeq
Ayatollah Khomeni

areas outside of
Europe
Africa

pre-Communist: arranged marriages, concubines, selling of daughters
May Fourth Movement: women revolutionaries
Communist:
Marriage Law gave women right to choose husband and to divorce
Male children still preferred so female infanticide or female babies given up for adoption women participated in revolution women in government leadership positions but some traditional attitudes about male dominance still present increased opportunities for education for women women supported the Iranian revolution -- getting rid of the Shah. loss of professional jobs for some women a problem; enterntainment industry restricted at first some women felt restricted by enforcement of traditional and religious rules regarding behavior, dress, and social contact. families became a focal point of conflict relating to social reform.

effects of WW1

effects of WW2

effects of the Cold
War

changed attitudes towards colonization; desire for

contact with other colonized people led to

more civil wars and conflicts with

independence

increased demands for independence East Asia
Chinese leaders were excluded from having a voice at Paris
Peace Conference.
Japan got territory from China

Middle
East

Latin
America

division of Ottoman
EmpireAttaturk/Modern Turkey
Armenian Genocide
Balfour Declaration
Husain-McMahon Letters
Lawrence of Arabia increased production during war led to recession afterwards as demand for agricultural and manufactured products decreased from Europe distrust between U.S.A. and
Mexico because of Mexico's role in drawing U.S. into the war

Areas Colonized
(Examples of Colonized and Colonizing Countries,
Dates of Independence)
Africa, mostly 1960s and
1970s

Asia, mostly after WW2

Latin America, mostly in

Japan became an imperialist power.
Korea and China attacked by Japan.

creation of Israel as a nation-state importance of oil for industrialized countries and for OPEC nations

increased production during war led to recession afterwards as demand for agricultural and manufactured products decreased from Europe concern about Vargas making Brazil part of the
Axis led to increased aid from U.S. to Brazil

neighboring countries because of weapons supplied by U.S. or
U.S.S.R.
Japan didn't have to spend money on military, so was able to concentrate on new industrialization. Japan supplied U.S. during Korean and
Vietnam conflicts. non-aligned movement: Nassser,
Nehru, Sukarno importance of oil for industrialized countries and for OPEC nations more civil wars and conflicts with neighboring countries because of weapons supplied by U.S. or
U.S.S.R.

social legacies of colonialism patterns of economic development Social Darwinist philosophies and racist attitudes by
Europeans
education system geared to aid colonial government
Christian missionaries tried to improve status for women and descendants of slaves attraction to Communism partially a result of racism by
Europeans and Japanese

cash crops
Dependency

class system based somewhat

spheres of influence by
Europeans, Americans,
Japanese controlled flow of manufactured goods into China
After 1949, Mao greatly restricted economic relationships, mostly with other
Communist countries.
Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s helped China become a major economic exporter. cash crops

1830s

on family heritage creoles took top positions and
Church controlled educational system Dependency

The notion of “the West” and “the East” in the context of Cold War ideology
Marxist
Philosopher
Karl Marx and
Fredrich Engels

V.I. Lenin

Josef Stalin

Mao Zedong

Fidel Castro

Definition of Marxism

Effects

Scientific Socialism dialectical materialism class conflict (capitalists/bourgeoisie versus the urban proletariat) spontaneous revolt by proletariat in highly industrialized countries (predicted England first) small cadre of committed intellectual elite could force a Communist revolution in any country in the world that was being exploited by the capitalists.
Mostly urban leadership and revolutionary followers socialism in one country – focus on Soviet Union’s communism forced industrialization rural peasantry should be the base for the revolution led by a small cadre of committed intellectual elite

inspired revolutionaries worldwide small group of guerillas in rural areas could organize coalition to overthrow corrupt leader

inspired Chinese and other Communist revolutions worldwide

transformed Russia into an industrialized country and military superpower transformed China into a third superpower
(atomic bomb program) supported Korean and
Vietnamese Communists inspired Communist movements and revolutions in other Latin
American countries served as proxy for
USSR in Angola