AYNTK: Contemporary Period: 1914 – Present

  1. Hegemony of Western Europe broken up by 1945. 2 Superpowers emerged: USA/Soviet Union. Their rivalry, where neither fought each other face to face (fought proxy wars instead), played out during the Cold War (ending in 1991).
  2. International organizations (UN, NATO, COMECON, OPEC, etc.) became more popular.
  3. Nationalism remained important (just as in 1750-1914), but took new forms because of ideas and movements such as fascism, decolonization, racism, genocide, and the breakup of the Soviet Union.
  4. Political revolutions were frequent and took two routes: 1. Democratic route. 2. Radical route.
  5. Social reform/revolution changed gender roles, peasant protests, helped spread Marxism and religious fundamentalism.
  6. Globalization sped up (almost hyper-globalization). Interactions worldwide became more frequent.
  7. Demographic changes featured a decline in Western populations, and environmentally the world continued to change because of industrialization and the post-industrial world.
  8. Civilization changed in the following areas and events:
  9. World War I. 1914-1918. 9 mil soldiers killed. 21 mil injured. TOTAL WAR.
  10. Pre-war buildup: causes!
  11. Nationalism. Rivalries were intensified by it. Rivalry between GB/GER most intense of all EUR nations. Naval arms race increase between the two (and the rest of the world).
  12. Colonial disputes. Scramble for empire pitted many W.EUR nations against one another around the globe. GB/FR = biggest colonial holders. GER = got a late start due to late unification in 1871.
  13. Self-determination. Nationalism supported the idea that people with common national identities (thought of themselves as the same) should form their own sovereign states. Pan-Slavism = belief of cultural kinship amongst Slavic peoples that supported freedom from Austro-Hungarian rule (peoples: Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes)
  14. Entangling Alliances. Franz Ferdinand = heir to AUS/HUN throne, assassinated by a Serb nationalist, causes chain-reaction of war declarations b/c of alliances. Prior to the war – GER allied w/ITA & AUS/HUN; GB allied w/FR & RUS. RUS supported Serbia, GER supported AUS/HUN.
  15. WWI: total war fought between Triple Entente (FR, GB, RUS) & Central Powers (GER, A-H, OTT).
  16. Total war implies high civilian casualties and civilian mobilization to support war efforts globally.
  17. War Fronts: Eastern (RUS & Balkans)/Western fronts (E/NE FRA). Trench warfare prominent. Western front stalemate (no one gaining/losing ground). Unrestricted sub warfare in ATL by GER.
  18. RUS bowed out of war in 1917 as RUS people revolted against Tsar Nicholas II b/c of war casualties/poor leadership. Allowed for LeninBolsheviks to establish Marxist gov’t.
  19. USA joined the war in 1917 b/c of Zimmerman Telegram & sinking of Lusitania.
  20. Outside Europe: GB sent troops from OZ, NZ, IND to fight in EUR theater/worldwide, as did other colonial powers. GB fought GER in AFR. JAP/CHI entered war on GB side, tried to oust GER from JAP/CHI. GB promised Zionists & other middle-eastern nationalists sovereignty to get them to fight alongside GB vs. OTT (ex: Balfour Declaration).
  21. Home front: nations conscripted male citizens to fight, capitalism put on hold in many nations to support war effort. Women worked traditional male jobs in place of husbands
  22. New battlefield tech: chemical warfare, planes, tanks, machine guns, heavier artillery, blimps
  23. End of the War:
  24. RUS out after 1917 Brest-Litovsk Treaty (gave GER lands in western RUS).
  25. Treaty of Versailles.
  26. GER must: pay reparations to Allies, admit guilt, disassemble army, give up gained territories (ex: Alsace-Lorraine).
  27. 14 Points: USA Pres. Wilson. Wanted to make world ‘safe for democracy.’ Only gets 1 of his 14 Points: League of Nations. Irony = US Senate wouldn’t ratify treaty, so USA never joined.LoN = collective security. If one member was attacked, all fought!
  28. Versailles: too punitive on GER. Good propaganda for people like Hitler later in time. GER/FR wanted to punish GER, USA more lenient.
  29. Self-determination fulfilled w/Poland for Poles, Czechoslovakia (Czechs/Slovaks), Yugoslavia (Serbs, Croats, Slovenes), Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania.
  30. Mandate system: antithesis of self-determination. Many Arab territories of OTT & GER colonies in PAC/AFR given over to EUR powers to ‘oversee.’ Upsetting to many, including Arab nationalists. GB – Palestine/Iraq; FR – SYR/Lebanon.
  31. 1923 = Turkey. ITA/GRE tried taking Turk lands,Ataturk resisted & negotiated an free Turkish republic. Most Arab lands not so lucky. Westernized & secularized TUR (highly controversial amongst Muslims).
  32. Europe Between the Wars. 1919-1938.
  33. Economic crises:
  34. GER = in process of repaying war debt. Borrowing $ from US to rebuild country in the process.
  35. Experienced massive hyperinflation due to printing tons of Deutschmarks.
  36. GB, FR = borrowing money from US to rebuild countries.
  37. Most countries promoted high tariffs & protectionism to dig themselves out. Failed.
  38. Political trends:
  39. Totalitarianism: Mussolini (ITA, in power by 1922), Hitler (GER, in power by 1933), Stalin (RUS). Oppression! Stalin – purged all political opponents from RUS by 1938.
  40. Nationalism: never disappeared after WWI. GER bitter b/c of Versailles (Hitler comes to power conveying this message & being anti-Weimar Republic). GER nationalism took form of racism (i.e. persecution of Jews, gypsies, Poles, etc.). Eugenics = scientific racism. Result = Holocaust (6 mil Jews, Gypsies, Poles died)
  41. Fascism: in ITA first. Implied sacrifice of self/private industry for the country. Nazism: extreme form of fascism.
  42. Imperialism: GER (reunited w/AUS – Anschluss!, invaded Sudetenland). ITA (Ethiopia).
  43. Alliances: after GER/ITA began grabbing territory, GB/FR allied once again. JAP joined GER/ITA.
  44. World War II. 1939-1945.2 theaters: Pacific & European.
  45. 1938 – GER takes Sudetenland. Ends GB/FR policy of appeasement towards Hitler.
  46. 1939 – GER invades POL, GB declares war on GER, war starts.
  47. 1940 – GER takes FR. GER Wehrmacht unbelievably efficient/fast. Blitzkrieg = lightning war.
  48. Southern FR = Vichy gov’t (collaborated w/Nazis). Northern FR = occupied by GER.
  49. Battle of Britain. Just GB vs. GER, GER bombing/air raiding GB regularly.
  50. 1941 – GER battles USSR at Stalingrad. JAP attacks US @ Pearl Harbor. USA = in.
  51. 1942 – USA v JAP in Pacific. USA = Island hopping towards JAP. Important wins @ Guadalcanal, Coral Sea, Midway. Europe/Africa = USA/GB fighting GER in N.AFR., then Sicily, then Italy (landings @ Anzio).
  52. 1943 – ITA liberated by USA.
  53. Tehran Conference – allies meet & decide a Western Front must open in EUR. D-Day!
  54. 1944 – D-Day landings in Normandy.
  55. Final counteroffensive by GER during Battle of the Bulge (winter 1944). Fails.
  56. 1945 – Allies close in on Berlin. War ends in EUR w/Hitler’s suicide, unconditional surrender.
  57. Yalta Conference – division of GER into 4 zones of occupation decided upon.
  58. Potsdam Conference–Truman (USA) tells Churchill (GB) about atomic bomb. The two also protested communist govts installed in E. EUR by Stalin.
  59. PAC Theater = big USA battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
  60. PAC war ends after atomic bombs dropped at Hiroshima & Nagasaki.
  61. Rationale: US would’ve lost 1 mil + lives invading JAP.
  62. Aftermath of WWII & Beginning of the Cold War. 1946-1949.
  63. 2 superpowers: USA/USSR. Ideologically opposed (democracy & capitalism v. totalitarian communism).
  64. End of Western European dominance globally.
  65. Decolonization in SE Asia, AFR, & Middle East, especially amongst former GB/FR colonies.
  66. Cold War Origins
  67. GB, FR, USA knew Stalin wouldn’t play nicely after the Yalta conference, disliked him by Potsdam
  68. USA/USSR never fight face to face. Proxy Wars = fighting an enemy through intermediaries.
  69. USA & Soviets engage in an arms race. “He who has the most toys wins.” Soviets had an atomic bomb by 1949. Soviets then developed a hydrogen bomb by 1952.
  70. Berlin = microcosm of Cold War. City divided into American western half, Soviet eastern half.
  71. USA postwar policies = Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, & Containment.
  72. TD = USA will support countries facing outside pressures. Aided GRE & TUR against communist revolutions.
  73. MP = help rebuild western EUR (ITA, FR, W.GER, GB) & forge stable democracies.
  74. Containment = USA Cold War policy vs. Soviets until 1970’s. George Kennan (USA ambassador to USSR). Keep communism where it is, don’t let it spread. The regime, because of the nature of communism (being centrally planned & funded) will mess it up.
  75. Multinational Organizations.
  76. UN – United Nations. Global conference of countries to keep peace, ensure justice.
  77. NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization. USA/CAN/W.EUR defensive alliance.
  78. COMECON–Soviet equivalent of NATO.
  79. The Cold War Proper. 1950-1991.
  80. Proxy Wars & Other Conflicts
  81. Korea – Site of the 1st Proxy war in the Cold War between USA/USSR.
  82. 1948 – Korea split between communist north (controlled by USSR/China), democratic south (controlled by USA).
  83. 1950 – 1953 = Korean War. NK invaded SK, US troops w/UN came to aid of SK, CHI aided NK. A ceasefire ended the conflict in 1953. Korean War = still going!, peninsula divided @ 38th parallel.
  84. 1957 = Space Race begins. Soviets launch Sputnik satellite, US launches its own a few months later. Continued through 1960’s, culminated w/the US moon landing in 1969.
  85. Cuban Missile Crisis. October 1962. Closest the world ever was to nuclear war.
  86. Soviets sent missiles & nuclear warheads via ships to Cuba, 90 mi. off Floridian coast.
  87. Kennedy negotiated w/Nikita Khrushchev (USSR Premier), pulled USA missiles out of Turkey, Khrushchev turned his ships around. Lasted 12 days. INTENSE for both sides.
  88. 1963 = Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Signed by 137 countries, signed by GB, USA, USSR. Banned underwater and atmospheric nuclear testing.
  89. Vietnam – 2nd Proxy war in the Cold War.
  90. 1954 = Ho Chi Minh (w/help of CHI) led revolutionaries to overthrow the French. The Viet Minh gained the North, while non-communist gov’t was in the south. Civil war ensued. US/FR gave support to South Vietnam & its leader Diem. This was part of the US policy of containment. Viet Minh worked w/guerilla forces in South Vietnam (Viet Cong).
  91. 1973 = War ends w/US pulling out of Vietnam.
  92. 1975 = South/North Vietnam unite after communist forces broke the 1973 treaty and took over the country.
  93. Asia – WWI/WW2 – Asia involved. Most Asians concerned w/decolonization, not Cold War, afterwards.
  94. India – British raj still in place. Many INDs knew ENG by this point & had adopted many GB customs. However INDs discriminated in workplace/govt jobs. GB favored Brits over INDs.
  95. 1919 = GB troops killed 370 IND protestors, sparking demonstrations throughout IND.
  96. GB reluctantly afterwards gave Civil Service/military officer jobs to INDs.
  97. Ind. Nat’l. Cong./Muslim League (Led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah) demands slowly met. Public works & education reforms put under IND control.
  98. 1930s = Gandhi led fasts/marches in protest of GB rule. Jailing Gandhi only made him more popular. Civil disobedience, passive resistance. Passed leadership to Jawaharalal Nehru (man credited w/leading IND into independence/modernity).
  99. WWII = GB declared war for IND w/out consulting INDs, who protested. 2 million IND soldiers fought for GB. Starvation in Bengal of over 2 mil INDs.
  100. 1947 = Ind. Nat’l. Cong. Divided IND into 2 sovereign nations: Muslim Pakistan, Hindu India. Disputed territory: Kashmir (very resource-rich, still divided in 2 today). Many refugees fled to be w/people of same faith, violence ensued.
  101. 1948 = Gandhi killed by a Hindu refugee.
  102. Japan – quickly becoming industrial/military power. VERY aggressive in the Pacific.
  103. Economy growing faster than any Western powers.
  104. Industrialization promoted Westernization in JAP. Poor farmers still ½ of population.
  105. WWI: JAP on allied side, traded frequently w/other Allies.
  106. Twenty-One Demands = guaranteed JAP control/access to resource-rich areas of CHI. China boycotted & became very anti-JAP.
  107. Conquered GER colonies in western PAC.
  108. 1930’s = JAP hit hard by Depression. Saw colonial empire as way to regain prosperity, gain resources needed to maintain prosperity.
  109. Result: JAP aims to take Manchuria & does.
  110. 1937-1945 = Sino-Japanese War. JAP troops gained Beijing, Shanghai, other coastal CHI cities. Took Nanjing later, killed 200k CHI civilians, raping 20k CHI women, burned city. Chang Kai-shek’s & Mao Zedong’s forces too weak to deal w/JAP, had to retreat to Western CHI, where Mao set up a communist gov’t.
  111. 1940 = JAP moved to grab French Indochina.
  112. US/GB halted oil, steel, rubber shipments to JAP as a result.
  113. 1941 = Pearl Harbor. JAP retaliation for halted shipments. GER declared war on USA w/in a week.
  114. JAP then occupied Thailand, the Philippines, Malaya, and all of the Dutch East Indies.
  115. 1942 = USA defeated JAP at Coral Sea, Guadalcanal, Midway. Campaign of island-hopping northward from Australia towards JAP. Bombed Tokyo 1942.
  116. 1945 = Atomic bombs dropped at Nagasaki, Hiroshima. 200k JAPs die. JAP surrendered.
  117. By 1975 JAP economy benefitted from Cold War as it concentrated on development of electrical, steel, shipbuilding industries. World economic power!
  118. China – westerners & JAP controlling CHI up until Boxer Rebellion (1911), which resulted in the overthrow of the last Qing emperor. Long struggle in booting out foreigners followed.
  119. May 4th Movement: Protests led by students over JAP control of CHI territories.
  120. Sun Yat-Sen restricted Guomindang w/Leninist ideals. Dies 1925. Heir: Chang Kai-shek.
  121. Chang crushed regional warlords & united CHI, wanted: modernize, crush Communism.
  122. Modernization didn’t happen due to gov’t inefficiency/ineptness.
  123. Communists fled to Mao Zedong. 1934: Long March. Guomindang surrounded communists & escaped on 1 year journey. Thousands of Mao’s people perished.
  124. 1937-1945 = Sino-Japanese War. CHI can’t compete w/JAP army.
  125. 1945 = JAP surrender to USA prompted power vacuum in CHI (which was under JAP control in certain parts). Chang Kai-shek/Mao Zedong battled it out in a 4 year civil war, ends w/Communists winning. Mao’s communist party gained tons of popular support in the process.
  126. 1949 = foundation of the People’s Republic of China by Mao & his communist supporters.
  127. 1949 and onward: China biggest communist player in Asia ( though it received $ from USSR)
  128. 1958-1966 = Mao’s Great Leap Forward. Attempt to make China an industrial power by collectivizing agriculture and village-level industries. HEAVY PARTY DEVOTION! GLF resulted in 30 million deaths via famine, not industrialization, though.
  129. 1966 =Mao’s Cultural Revolution. Tried to mobilize youth to support the gov’t, ended w/factionalism & violence, jailings & executions.
  130. 1971 = CHI reestablished ties w/the USA, gained seat on UN Security Council (diff. from USSR). Pres. Nixon visits Beijing.
  131. 1976 = Mao dies, followers divide into factions: radicals (Mao’s wife), Military, Moderates.
  132. 1978 = Deng Xiaoping in power. Reforms CHI in 3 ways:
  133. “Open Door” Trade Policy. Trade w/everyone, including capitalists like the USA.
  134. Educational reforms. Higher academic standards, expansion of higher education.
  135. Restoring of Gov’t Bureaucracy. Legal system restored, gov’t decentralized, capitalism infused into CHI economy.
  136. Decolonization – Once powerful Western European countries began letting go of colonial control worldwide because of debt and tough financial crises AFTER WORLD WAR II. Happens in SE Asia, SW Asia, AFR.
  137. Africa
  138. Most AFR countries will gain independence in the 1960’s. Earliest = Libya (1951), latest = Namibia (1985).
  139. 2 biggest Colonial powers in AFR = GB, FR. Open to giving independence to AFR colonies.
  140. Belgium & Portugal less willing to give independence for AFR colonial holdings. BEL = didn’t prepare colonies for independence. POR = held onto colonies longer than most EUR countries.
  141. 1956 = FR turns over self-control to most of its colonies in AFR, but kept them in the FR empire.
  142. 1957 = Ghana = 1st country to gain independence. GB colony.
  143. 1959 = Belgium backs out of Belgian Congo & other central AFR colonies.
  144. 1960 = Nigeria. Composed of 3 regions based on ethnicity (Hausa, Yoruba, Ibo). North = majority Islam. South = majority Christianity.
  145. 1960 = Guinea and Djibouti chose independence, but most of FR colonies chose self-control w/FR protection (not entirely free).
  146. 1962 = Ruanda-Urundi (Modern Rwanda/Burundi). Civil violence btwnHutu/Tutsi.
  147. South Africa – 20 % of population = white, 80 % native African.
  148. ANC = African National Congress. Fought on side of native Africans.
  149. 1948 = apartheid. Segregation of the races.
  150. 1964 = Mandela sentenced to life imprisonment.
  151. 1982 = ~1 mil AFRs transferred to Swaziland w/out any say in the matter.
  152. 1990-1991 = Mandela released, elected president of the ANC.
  153. 1993-1994 = Mandela receives Nobel Peace Prize, voted as SoAFR’s 1st black president.
  154. Southwest Asia/North Africa
  155. Arabs & Muslims were promised much by GB & FR during WWI to get them to fight on the GB/FR side. GB/FR went back on these promises after the war & colonized much of Southwest Asia. Independence, like in AFR, came during DECOLONIZATION after WWII.
  156. Iran & Oman = Never colonized.
  157. 1923 = Turkey. Ataturk. Republic. Secular. Westernizing.
  158. 1932 = Iraq, Saudi Arabia.
  159. 1944-1948 = Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, ISRAEL.
  160. 1960s-70s = Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.
  161. Iran
  162. 1925 = Colonel Reza Khanest. himself as Shah. Palavi Dynasty begins. Authoritarian, centralized state & rule.
  163. 1953 = Overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah (Palavi) after democratic elections of MuhmmadMosaddeq (elected prime minister). Shah fled Iran. Mossadeq overthrown & assassinated Mossadeq by USA (CIA) & GB. Shah = reinstalled.
  164. Tons of Iranian resentment towards USA b/c they are seen to support authoritarian rule in Iran, not democratic. Shah = pawn of USA.
  165. Shah = totalitarian, secularized Iran (disliked by religious community), tied to the west (built up Iranian resentment). Iran divided politically: 1. Supporters of modernization & closer ties w/West, 2. Supporters of traditional ways & Shi’a.
  166. 1979 = Islamic Revolution. Diff than political revolutions in CHI, MEX, RUS b/c it was religiously motivated. Iran installed a cleric as gov’t leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. Ayatollah defended Islamic fundamentalism (literal interpretation of texts), social conservatism, political traditionalism, & resentment of the USA (‘great satan’).Velayat-e faqih (jurist’s guardianship) = gave clergy power over Islamic community.
  167. February 1979 = official founding of Islamic Republic of Iran.
  168. Egypt – officially part of OTT Empire, but operated as independent state since days of Muhammad Ali. After WWI = GB economic control over EGY, despite EGY’s independence.
  169. WWII = GB put Wafd, EGY nationalist party, in charge.