Unit 7: A Short Century?
The World from WWI Through the Collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991
30. World War I (1914-1918) and Its Aftermath
Total War, Mobilization, Pan-Slavism, Serbs, Archduke Ferdinand, Central Powers, Allies, Schlieffen Plan, Belgian Neutrality, Trench Warfare, Western Front, Eastern Front, Ottomans, Lawrence of Arabia, Ataturk, Zimmermann Telegram, League of Nations, Collective Security, Short Century, Eric Hobsbawm, Freudian psychology, Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, Isolationism, Return to normalcy, Great Depression, Black Thursday, John Maynard Keynes, New Deal
31. The Legacy of World War I: Rebellion and Revolution in Russia, Africa, the Middle East, South and East Asia
Sergei Witte, October Manifesto, Tsar Alexander II, Tsar Nicholas II, Lenin, Trotsky, Trans-Siberian Railroad, Alexander Kerensky, Provisional government, Duma, Bolsheviks, Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Whites, Reds, New Economic Policy, Comintern, Stalin, Gosplan, Five Year Plans, Proletariat, Nationalist People's Party or Guomindang, May Fourth Movement, Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong, Jiang Jieschi (Chiang Kai-shek), Northern Expedition, Long March, Taisho Democracy, Zaibatsu, Shidehara diplomacy, Manchukuo, Muslim League, Auhammad Ali Jinnah, Indian National Congress, Mohandas Gandhi, Non-Cooperation Movement, March to the Sea, Jawaharlal Nehru, Pakistan, Mustafa Kemal / Ataturk, Zionism, Balfour Declaration, Pan-Africanism, Oswald Spengler
32. Europe in the 1920s and 1930s: The Rise of Nazism and Fascism
Fascism, Socialism, Communism, Hitler, Nazis, German Worker's Party, Fuhrer, Enabling Act, The SA, The SS, Gestapo, Krisallnacht, Rhineland, Appeasement, Anti-Semitism, Mussolini, Socialist Party, Blackshirts, Hannah Arendt, Ethiopia
33. World War II
Non-aggression pact, Blitzkrieg, Dunkirk, Vichy government, Battle of Britain, Luftwaffe, Two-front war, The Final Solution, Arsenal of Democracy, Island-hopping, The Manhattan Project, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, D-Day, VE Day, VJ Day, The WAVES
34. The Cold War
The Cold War, Yalta, Potsdam, Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Containment, East and West Berlin, Berlin Airlift, Korean War, 38th parallel, Vietnam War, Domino Theory, Viet Cong, Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, Tet Offensive, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Khmer Rouge, NATO, Warsaw Pact, Organization of European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), Council of Europe, Common Market, Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), Marshall Tito, Charles de Gaulle, Cuban Missile Crisis, Bay of Pigs Invasion, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, "De-Stalinization", Peaceful co-existence, Leonid Brezhnev, Brezhnev Doctrine, "De-Krushchevization", "Re-Stalinization", Berlin Wall, Velvet Revolution, The Prague Spring, Charter 77, Alexander Dubcek, Imre Nagy, Afghanistan, Benigno and Corazon Aquino, Ferdinand Marcos, Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev, Glasnost, Perestroika, COMECON, Mujahideen, Taliban, Solidarity, Lech Walesa, Pope John Paul II, Helmut Kohl, Vladimir Putin, Eric Hobsbawm
35. Asia After World War II
Mao Zedong, Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek), Taiwan, People's Republic of China, Great Leap Forward, Great Proletariat Revolution, Deng Xiaoping, The Four Modernizations, Tiananmen Square, Hong Kong, Macao, World Trade Organization, Little Tigers, General Chung Hee Park, Keiritsu, Chaebol, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Great Calcutta Killing, Mohandas Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Policy of Non-Alignment, Bandung Conference, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Indira Gandhi, Sikhs
36. The Middle East After World War II
Balfour Declaration, Haganah, jerusalem, East Jerusalem, West Bank, Palestine, Gaza Strip, Six-Day War, Intifadas, Anwar Sadat, Yom Kippur War, Camp David Peace Accords, Menahem Begin, Palestinian Liberation Organization, Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, Oslo Accords, Gamul Abdel Nasser, Operation Litani, Hezbollah, War of the Camps, Amal Militia, Ta'if Agreement, Operation Grapes of Wrath, The League of Nation Mandates in the Middle East, Ba'ath party, Saddam Hussein, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Ayatollah Khomeni, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
37. Latin America in the Post-World War II Era
Raul Prebisch, Getulio Vargas, Lazaro Cardenas, Juan and Eva Peron, The Dirty War, Falkland Islands (or the Malvinas Islands), Military Junta, Augusto Jose, Ramon Pinochet Ugarte, Miracle of Chile, President Jacobo Arbenz Guzman, United Fruit Company, Colonel Carlos Castillo Armas, Genocide, Mayan Indians, Sandanista Liberation Front, Samoza, Sandino, Contras, Panamal Canal Treaty, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Iran-Contra Scandal, NAFTA, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), Banana republics, Favela, Liberation Theology, Zapatistas
38. Emerging Global Trends
Globalism, International Monetary Fund, European Union, ASEAN, NAFTA, Global and multinational corporations, Mass epidemics, AIDS, SARS, Population growth, The Club of Rome, Infant mortality rates, Global inequities, Slobodan Milosevich, Bosnia, Serbia, Herzegovina, Dayton Agreement, Kosovo, Religious Fundamentalism, Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, Terrorism, Hamas, Ethnic conflicts, The Internet, McDonaldization, Samuel Huntingdon
Unit 7 Focus Readings
Malaise in the Arts
The carnage of the First World War wa the worst the world had ever experienced, and it left an indelible imprint on literature and other art forms. Gertrude Stein said that the postwar generation was a lost generation. Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms and Erich maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front expressed the malaise and disillusionment of the post-war era and captured the seemingly meaningless suffering of the Great War. The belief that there were objective measures of good and evil was rejected. Pablo Picasso was a leading exponent of cubism, according to which multiple perspectives on objects were displayed at the same time. Picasso and other artists also incorporated non-European influences into their work, such as from Africa. Salvador Dali and other artists and writers incorporated Freudian psychology into their works, often creating disturbing images of the world that matched the horrors of World War I.
The League of Nations
The League of Nations was the first permanent international security organization. Its purpose was to maintain world peace. it had two basic flaws in its structure. First, it had no means to enforce its decisions, and second, it relied on the notino of collective security to preserve the global peace. "Collective security" essentially meant that a threat to any one country was a threat to all, but since participation by the various powers was essential, the League could never attain its aims. Many important powers were, at one time or another, absent from the League. Wilson had been the driving force for the formation of the League of Nations and for getting a treaty that would promise peace for Europe, but Wilson was unable to deliver American ratification of the treaty. The Senate had not been able to agree with the terms of the League of Nations, but the rejection of the treaty also meant that the United States was not bound by its promise to come to the defense of France. Britain then refused to ratify its defense agreement with France as well. France was left with no defnsive fuffer zone and no promise of aid in the case of German aggression. Germany left the League in 1933, as it believed it to be dominated by the Allies. The Soviet Union joined in 1934 and was expelled in 1940. The League utterly failed to stop World War II and so collapsed in 1940.
"The Decline of the West"
Early in the twentieth century the historian Oswald Spengler wrote an important book, The Decline of the West. He predicted the eventual collapse of Western culture, but argued that the seeds of decline were already becoming visible. In the wake of World War I, many historians believed that Spengler's approach had been generally validated, even if they disagreed about the extent of the decline or the mechanism of it. As we have seen, Europeans experienced difficulties in their colonial empires in Africa and India, while the Middle East began to assert its desire for independence as well. Further, throughout the remainder of the twentieth century, the rate of population growth fell in Western European nations. During the rest of the twentieth century, there would be years of economic troubles, as in the 1930s during the Great Depression. While there is no doubt that Western civilization experienced challenges in the years following World War I, it nevertheless managed to survive. The rise of fascism and Nazism and the coming of World War II, however, posed new threats to stability and added another layer of chaos to a world that had never fully recovered from the Great War.
The Soviet Union from 1920-1927
By the 1920s the Bolshevik revolution in Russia was complete and Lenin could now devote his attention to controlling what remained of the country. Russia lay in ruins. Over half the people were starving due to famine brought on by drought combined with the devastation of war. The economy had been destroyed. The population, stretched to its limits, rioted once more. The Bolsheviks were still rebuilding Russian society when the global depression hit.
Lenin reacted quickly. In 1921 he issued the New Economic Policy or NEP, which allowed for some economic freedom by encouraging cottage industries and small farms to produce and trade. Major industries remained in the hands of the government. Lenin returned industries with less than 20 employees to the private sector. The NEP also allowed peasants to sell surpluses for free market prices. By 1926, the economy had rebounded to its pre-1913 levels.
Lenin died in 1924, leaving the government scrambling to determine his successor. Trotsky was an obvious choice, having been so instrumental in the success of the revolution, but he was not alone. Joseph Stalin's star was rising as well. Stalin, born Joseph Dzhugashvili, was talented, daring, determined, but lacked the style of Trotsky. Still Stalin was able to garner the support needed to become general secretary of the Central Committee, the most important committee in the government, and he used that position to gain even more power, influence and supporters.
Trotsky believed that in order for the revolution in the Soviet Union to last, the revolution had to be taken to the rest of Europe. This position did not sit well with a nation of war-weary people just beginning to dig out of an economic grave. Stalin held the opposite position, believing that the Soviet Union could stand on its own as a socialist nation, a position far more appealing than Trotsky's to party members. Stalin achieved total power by 1927. He succeeded in having Trotsky exiled in 1929 and on August 20, 1940 had Trotsky assasinated. Stalin would ultimately be known as the gravedigger of the October Revolution, and his reign of terror in Russia would result in the death of millions of Russians.
Lenin reacted quickly. In 1921 he issued the New Economic Policy or NEP, which allowed for some economic freedom by encouraging cottage industries and small farms to produce and trade. Major industries remained in the hands of the government. Lenin returned industries with less than 20 employees to the private sector. The NEP also allowed peasants to sell surpluses for free market prices. By 1926, the economy had rebounded to its pre-1913 levels.
Lenin died in 1924, leaving the government scrambling to determine his successor. Trotsky was an obvious choice, having been so instrumental in the success of the revolution, but he was not alone. Joseph Stalin's star was rising as well. Stalin, born Joseph Dzhugashvili, was talented, daring, determined, but lacked the style of Trotsky. Still Stalin was able to garner the support needed to become general secretary of the Central Committee, the most important committee in the government, and he used that position to gain even more power, influence and supporters.
Trotsky believed that in order for the revolution in the Soviet Union to last, the revolution had to be taken to the rest of Europe. This position did not sit well with a nation of war-weary people just beginning to dig out of an economic grave. Stalin held the opposite position, believing that the Soviet Union could stand on its own as a socialist nation, a position far more appealing than Trotsky's to party members. Stalin achieved total power by 1927. He succeeded in having Trotsky exiled in 1929 and on August 20, 1940 had Trotsky assasinated. Stalin would ultimately be known as the gravedigger of the October Revolution, and his reign of terror in Russia would result in the death of millions of Russians.
Social and Economic Changes in the Soviet Satellites
Although the Marxist ideal of a classless society was never truly achieved, nevertheless, the old ruling aristocracy lost its former status while those of the lower class gained in terms of educational levels and economic status. A much lower percentage of the population in Eastern Europe made their living through agriculture by the late twentieth century. Eastern European nations, along with the Soviet Union, changed from being predominantly agricultural societies and entered the industrial era. Educcational levels increased, as many Communist states mandated education and instisted on quotas that allowed for the education of the pesantry and working classes. The more industrialized the nations became, the more they emphasized education in more specialized professions. As the need for specialists grew, many countries dropped their quota system and a new elite class of party members and professionals arose. Women were an important part of the labor force in Eastern Europe, but as in the West, they continued to be paid less and did not achieve the same standing as men. Birth rates also fell in Eastern Europe. Rising alcoholism rates also contributed to social problems.
The Soviet Union rapidly industrialized between the 1920s and 1950s. However, industry was focused on the production of heavy goods rather than consumer goods, and unlike Western Europe, the inhabitants of the Soviet Union never quite entered the age of consumer culture during the Cold War era.
The Soviet Union rapidly industrialized between the 1920s and 1950s. However, industry was focused on the production of heavy goods rather than consumer goods, and unlike Western Europe, the inhabitants of the Soviet Union never quite entered the age of consumer culture during the Cold War era.
Detente
The many difficulties faced by the superpowers during the Cold War eventually led them to agree to detente, or a reduction in hostilities, in the 1960s. In 1973-1974, the So\viet and US he Chinese military in nced the sale of weapons to tleaders began to agre to a number of treaties, the most important being the SALT treaties, growing out of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks. By the end of the 1970s, however, detente was weakening. The U.S. established full diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979 and announced the sale of weapons to the Chinese military in 1980. The diplomatic relationship between China and the United States was directed largely against efforts of the Soviets to expand their power in Asia. These new developments between the U.S. and China created hostility among the Soviets, who were themselves ignoring pledges they had made to respect human rights in the Helsinki Conference (1975).
American President Ronald Reagan (1980-1988) contributed heavily to the deterioration of the Soviet-U.S. relations through his description of the U.S.S.R. as the "evil empire." He supported a massive military budget and the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, a system that allegedly would have provided protection from nuclear attack.
Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan also contributed to the decline of detente, as America once again came to believe in the need for a policy of containment.
American President Ronald Reagan (1980-1988) contributed heavily to the deterioration of the Soviet-U.S. relations through his description of the U.S.S.R. as the "evil empire." He supported a massive military budget and the creation of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, a system that allegedly would have provided protection from nuclear attack.
Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan also contributed to the decline of detente, as America once again came to believe in the need for a policy of containment.
Liberation Theology
The increasing disparity betwen the wealthy and the poor in Latin America, combined with the existence of brutal regimes before the implementation of democracies, resulted in the development of Liberation Theology. Liberation Theology was developed by Roman Catholic priests in Latin America as a response to the needs of their flocks. According to Liberation Theology, Christ did not mean for the poor to suffer injustice and it is the duty of the Church to liberate them from oppression. Clergy such as Archbishop Oscar Romero advocated human rights and the need for reform. Romero was assasinated, and even the Roman Catholic Church was uneasy about the combination of Marxist ideology and Catholic doctrine.
The Little Tigers
The "Little Tigers" of Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan also experienced phenomenal growth. By the 1980s, the Little Tigers were a force to be reckoned with on the international scene. Among the factors that contributed to the rise of the Little Tigers are significant foreign capital and also autocratic governments led by an elite group of people interested in modernization that promoted industry and restricted opposition.
In South Korea the economic transformation was the work of General Chung Hee Park, who instituted a series of five-year plans to develop the private sector, whose growth had been limited while under Japanese rule. Per capita income increased and the economic growth rate also increased. The creation of massive conglomerates called chaebol, such as Hyundai and Samsung, was spurred in part by low wages. The chaebol contributed, though, to corruption, as they often bribed officials for favors. However, Chung Hee Park was a very autocratic ruler, who was eventually assasinated. Kim Young Sam, who was elected president in 1992, attempted to end corruption associated with the chaebol. Nevertheless, the economy continued to be troubled, as the trade deficit increased while the growth rate declined. Unemployment rose.
Taiwan's growth was spurred by a security treaty signed with the United States in 1954, protecting it from a possible invasion from the the mainland Chinese. The government of Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China. As in Japan, the government of Taiwan supported important industries. Taiwan also encouraged foreign investment and enacted land reform provisions. The government purchased large tracts of land over three acres and then sold them to tenant farmers. Private enterprise was encouraged as well. Political tensions, however, have grown in Taiwan, especially following the death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1975. The Democratic Progressive Party favors an independent Taiwan, something China has pledged never to allow.
Singapore gained independence from Britain in 1965. Under Prime Minister Lee Kuan-yew, Singapore has become the hub of the banking industry in Malaysia and beyond. The government also promoted industries here. The most successful industries are shipbuilding, tourism, electronics, and oil. Singapore, as is the case in other Asian states, was ruled by an autocratic regime that contributed to its economic development. Recent leadership, such as that of Goh Chok Tong, has retreated from harsh policies.
Hong Kong was returned to the People's Republic of China in 1997 by the British, and its economy has benefited from tourism and cheap labor. Unlike other Little Tigers, Hong Kong had a system of free enterprise that continues to function even after its return to Chinese rule.
Asia was rocked by a severe financial crisis in 1997, however, whose impact was felt in the West. The crisis began when foreign investors began to pull out of Thailand. The Thai stock market dropped by 75 percent, and the crisis spread to Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, and the Philippines. In an earlier era, the crisis would not have spread so quickly, but globalism has created a vast economic worldwide network.
In South Korea the economic transformation was the work of General Chung Hee Park, who instituted a series of five-year plans to develop the private sector, whose growth had been limited while under Japanese rule. Per capita income increased and the economic growth rate also increased. The creation of massive conglomerates called chaebol, such as Hyundai and Samsung, was spurred in part by low wages. The chaebol contributed, though, to corruption, as they often bribed officials for favors. However, Chung Hee Park was a very autocratic ruler, who was eventually assasinated. Kim Young Sam, who was elected president in 1992, attempted to end corruption associated with the chaebol. Nevertheless, the economy continued to be troubled, as the trade deficit increased while the growth rate declined. Unemployment rose.
Taiwan's growth was spurred by a security treaty signed with the United States in 1954, protecting it from a possible invasion from the the mainland Chinese. The government of Taiwan calls itself the Republic of China. As in Japan, the government of Taiwan supported important industries. Taiwan also encouraged foreign investment and enacted land reform provisions. The government purchased large tracts of land over three acres and then sold them to tenant farmers. Private enterprise was encouraged as well. Political tensions, however, have grown in Taiwan, especially following the death of Chiang Kai-shek in 1975. The Democratic Progressive Party favors an independent Taiwan, something China has pledged never to allow.
Singapore gained independence from Britain in 1965. Under Prime Minister Lee Kuan-yew, Singapore has become the hub of the banking industry in Malaysia and beyond. The government also promoted industries here. The most successful industries are shipbuilding, tourism, electronics, and oil. Singapore, as is the case in other Asian states, was ruled by an autocratic regime that contributed to its economic development. Recent leadership, such as that of Goh Chok Tong, has retreated from harsh policies.
Hong Kong was returned to the People's Republic of China in 1997 by the British, and its economy has benefited from tourism and cheap labor. Unlike other Little Tigers, Hong Kong had a system of free enterprise that continues to function even after its return to Chinese rule.
Asia was rocked by a severe financial crisis in 1997, however, whose impact was felt in the West. The crisis began when foreign investors began to pull out of Thailand. The Thai stock market dropped by 75 percent, and the crisis spread to Malaysia, Indonesia, South Korea, and the Philippines. In an earlier era, the crisis would not have spread so quickly, but globalism has created a vast economic worldwide network.
Iran
In 1953, the United States Central Intelligence Agency, with the help from the British, put Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in power as the Shah of Iran and supported his controversial regime. The shah was an abusive dictator at home who did not respect civil liberties. Under his regime, Iranians were tortured and there were numerous other human rights violations. Eventually, Iranians rebelled and overthrew the regime in 1979. The Ayatollah Khomeni took power and established a strict Shi'ite state, the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 1979 resentment of U.S. support of the shah led to the capture of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. For two years, Shi'ite militants held U.S. hostages. President Jimmy Carter's covert attempt to rescue the hostages was a disaster, and combined with economic and other difficulties at home, the Iranian hostage crisis helped to usher him out of office. The hostages finally returned home during the early presidency of Ronald Reagan. After Khomeni's death in 1989, iran relaxed some of its conservative tendencies. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein, however, the Shi'ite population of Iran has attempted to influence the largely Shi'ite population of southern Iraq
Questions to Consider
Before answering the questions below, be sure to understand the readings by defining unknown words, researching allusions, and using prior knowledge to make connections with the broader strokes of history. This set of excerpts can be used for further study of the Latin American lecture at http://demott.weebly.com/art-as-reflection-lecture.html.
1. Explain the underlined passages. If necessary, supply an additional example in your explanation.
2. How does each passage suggest that each history is uniquely regional?
3. To what extent was the west an unnecessary player on the world stage in the second half of the 20th century?
1. Explain the underlined passages. If necessary, supply an additional example in your explanation.
2. How does each passage suggest that each history is uniquely regional?
3. To what extent was the west an unnecessary player on the world stage in the second half of the 20th century?