CLASS DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS chp 28
Describe the causes of World War I.
A combination of imperialism, arms races, industrial might, and nationalism pushed the Great Powers of Europe into a regional conflict that quickly exploded into a global war of unprecedented devastation. Adding in diplomatic tensions, colonial rivalries, and arms races among the Great Powers of Europe all led to the creation of two opposing groups, each dedicated to out-maneuvering the other.
Describe the effect of World War I on European colonies.
The four years of war caused a disruption in how the European nations administered their colonies. This disruption encouraged nationalist movements that actually began before World War I. In return for assistance in the war, both the British and French made promises of increased self-determination to local elites but reneged on them after the war.
Trace how the Treaty of Versailles led to the rise of totalitarianism in Italy and Germany.
The Treaty of Versailles left its signers dissatisfied. The English and French pushed an agreement that punished the Germans. Germany was forced to pay restitution and admit culpability for starting the war. Territories that Italy had hoped to gain as a result of aiding the Allies were largely ignored and the Italians were pushed out of the negotiations. Ultimately, the Treaty of Versailles failed to bring a lasting peace, for it angered the people of a defeated and
humiliated Germany.
Identify the weapons and technology that led to massive casualties in the war.
Of the estimated 20 million combatants, one-half were either killed or injured. This is because both sides developed weapons that led to mass casualties. Both participated in trench warfare. Although the conditions of life in the trenches brought about many casualties, this fighting style certainly aided in the casualty count. Other weapons included submarines, air warfare, mustard gas, landmines, automatic rifles, tanks, and long-range artillery pieces.
Summarize how the entry of the United States changed the war, both militarily and politically.
The United States introduced hundreds of thousands of men into battle late in the war. The Allies would have eventually won the war as the Germans had little with which to counter. However, the American troops sped up that defeat. Politically, the United States was brought out of its own isolationism and viewed and granted victor’s status.
Appraise the unique techniques used by Gandhi in protesting British colonialism.
First, British authorities consistently underestimated the abilities and broad appeal of Mohandas Gandhi. He appealed to both the masses and the Western-educated nationalist politicians in India. His emphasis on nonviolent but persistent protest weakened British control of India.
CLASS DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS chp 29
Summarize the political, psychological, and economic results of World War I.
Three major patterns emerged: First, western Europe recovered from the war only incompletely; second, the United States and Japan rose as giants in industrial production; third, revolutions of lasting consequence shook Mexico, Russia, and China.
Characterize the Roaring Twenties.
A brief period of stability, even optimism, emerged in the middle of the 1920s. The Kellogg-Briand Pact, outlawing war, was signed by a number of nations. By the latter half of the decade, general economic prosperity and the introduction of consumer items like the radio and affordable automobiles buoyed consumer hopes. Cultural creativity appeared in art, films, and literature.
Women, who lost their economic gains in the war’s factories, attained voting rights and social freedoms in several countries. In science, important advances continued in physics, biology, and astronomy.
Explain why Italy was the first country in western Europe to experience a sweeping change of its governmental form.
Postwar conditions appealed to Italian people. The fascists appealed to the strong sense of nationalism in the Italian people. There was also growing dissension among and within the classes. On top of that, many of the booms of the Roaring Twenties failed to reach Italy.
Discuss evidence of political and social change for women in the West in the 1920s.
Women, who lost their economic gains in the war’s factories, attained voting rights and social freedoms in several countries. Declining birth rates and overall prosperity allowed women to engage in more leisure activities. Women openly dated, smoked, and drank.
Describe how the United States was so successful in its rapid economic advance after the war.
The U.S. economy boomed between World War I and the Great Depression and established itself as an innovator in products, technology, and corporate practices. The nation also exported its culture around the world through music and movies. Primary to this was the fact that World War I left the United States untouched by the war and the factory infrastructure was untouched.
Identify some political and social changes among the settler societies in this era.
Settler societies, such as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, became more autonomous during this era. Canada saw an increasingly strong economy and rapid immigration during the 1920s. Australia emphasized socialist programs like nationalization of railways, banks, and power plants, and experienced rapid immigration as well.
Describe the factors that led to Japan’s shift from a liberal democracy to a military controlled government.
After World War I, Japan became Asia’s leading industrial power. The industrial combines rapidly expanded in areas like shipbuilding. Like Western countries, Japan saw its political institutions challenged by war and depression. In response, the nation developed an aggressive foreign policy pushed by a government controlled by the military.
Was the Great Depression inevitable? Why or why not?
Although depressions occur on a cyclical pattern, the depth and severity of the “Great Depression” could have been lessened if certain factors could have been attended to by the Western Powers. Among those factors are the Treaty of Versailles, government controls for inflation, and knowledge of economic principles within leadership groups in the Western Powers.
Define “totalitarianism” and provide examples.
Totalitarianism is a government that exercises massive and direct control over all activities of its subjects. Totalitarian governments purge opposition, censor news, control movement of citizens, and distribute commodities.
Compare totalitarianism in the U.S.S.R. and Germany.
Both the U.S.S.R. and Germany exercised massive and direct control over all the activities of their subjects. Both governments purged opposition, censored news, controlled movement of citizens, and distributed commodities. Whereas Germany tried to expand its ideals by conquering neighbors, the U.S.S.R. remained highly introverted.
Trace the unique course of the United States in answering the dilemma of the Great Depression.
The United States government offered direct aid to Americans in economic trouble in the form of the New Deal. The Social Security system, government economic intervention and agricultural planning, and banking regulations were all attempts to recover from the depression. Most importantly for Americans, the New Deal restored confidence in the economy and in the government.
Summarize the effects of the Great Depression on the politics in Latin America.
Its economic dependency and weak liberal regimes were made clear by the world financial crisis of the 1930s. Reform movements gained momentum. Corporatism, with its roots in Fascism, sought to create states acting as mediators between different social groups. The most successful example of political change came from Mexico, where land was redistributed and oil wells were nationalized.
Give reasons that Japan embarked on a foreign policy of conquest.
Japan’s policies subdued the effects of the depression. The depression hit Japan hard, but the expansionist policies provided a unifying force and stimulated growth in war industries.
Relate Great Depression to political instability.
The depression weakened western Europe. Political institutions and ideals were brought into question. The desperation that was seen by the average citizen was used as political capital by radical and fringe groups seeking power through the weak parliamentary systems.
Identify ways that the economic crisis affected patterns of social behavior.
Traditional habits were challenged, especially within colonial territories. Western women gained the right to vote.
CLASS DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS chp 30
Was World War II inevitable? Why or why not?
The policies and ideals that spread from the Treaty of Versailles and the Great Depression were the enabling factors that proved World War II was inevitable. There were key points that could have slowed it down or possibly prevented it but with the policies and people in offices around that time it was probably inevitable.
Compare the strategies and tactics of World War I to World War II.
The weaponry of World War I returned to be used in World War II; the only difference was that the weapons were improved. The war basically divided into the same two camps. They both started in Europe, then spread to other continents as a result of colonial holdings. Differences included the tone of the rhetoric that was involved and the callousness for noncombatants in
WWII. Finally, trench warfare was replaced with small unit combat.
Compare the Germans’ policy toward Jews and the Japanese policy toward the Chinese.
Both displayed a callousness toward their subjugated societies. The difference appears to be the planned depravity of the German Holocaust. The Japanese forces took out their frustrations on retreating combatants and innocent civilians. The German plan was a systematic process to purify its society.
Trace the early successes of the Germans and Japanese.
The fact that the Western and Soviet powers were reluctant to rearm or even react to the aggression by Japan or Germany were the main reasons they were so successful.
Why were the Germans and Japanese unable to sustain their level of victories? What role did the U.S.S.R. play in allied victory?
The Soviet steppes were a natural brake for the advancing Axis powers; adding the Soviet policy of slash and burn left little to use for the advancing powers. The United States offered a huge momentum boost to the Allies. The addition of the United States into the mix resulted in a powerful juggernaut that had a vast amount of resources.
Describe how the war conferences contributed to the Cold War.
The split in the wartime allies was apparent by the 1944 Tehran Conference. The Soviet Union clearly wanted compensation in the way of buffer states in eastern Europe. The results of the Potsdam Conference in 1945 confirmed these feelings.
Can you think of any ways that would have kept India from dividing after independence?
This again was inevitability; however, the violence may have been reduced had the British not responded to civil disobedience with violence.
How did the United Nations’ plans for the Middle East differ from what occurred?
The United Nations wanted to divide the territory into two countries. However, all-out warfare ensued. Israel proved to be a more formidable opponent than expected.
CLASS DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS chp 31
Which side, East or West, was more responsible for the start of the cold war? Why?
Both sides hold culpability for the start of the cold war. The West was the first to enter into an alliance (NATO) to prevent Eastern aggression. However, the U.S.S.R. did absorb buffer states at the end of WWII.
Summarize the purposes and outcomes of the Marshall Plan.
U.S. aid to western Europe after World War II helped it recover and concurrently staved off Communist inroads made in the interim. The outcome was a roughly divided Europe, where countries that received aid were quickly rebuilt.
Evaluate the implications of the cold war on western Europe.
It brought new influences from the United States on internal as well as foreign policy. The rearmament of western Germany meant that the U.S. would pull aid if its wishes were not fulfilled.
Generalize the positive and negative outcomes of the implementation of the welfare state.
The welfare state was state-run “cradle-to-the-grave” care that developed in western Europe and spread in varying forms to the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The consolidation of democracy also included a general movement of war decades. Conservatives did not dismantle the welfare state and socialist parties moderated their tone. Power passed from one side to the
other without major disruption. Student protests, especially in the United States and France in the 1960s, had impact on governmental policies. By the late 1970s, politics began to swing back toward the right as economic growth slowed.
Compare the opposing sides in the cold war.
Competition between the West and the Soviet alliance dominated many aspects of world history from 1945 to 1992, playing a key role in decolonization and nationalism. Both governmental forms emphasized science, both sold weapons on the world market, and both promoted new roles for women.
Describe how the changing roles of women affected Western society.
A key facet of postwar change involved women and the family. From the early 1950s onward, the number of married working women rose steadily in the West. Where women had lacked the vote, they now got it. Gains in higher education were dramatic. Access to divorce and birth control, the latter coming through legal abortion and the Pill, were other major developments. Marriage and children came at later ages. Maternal care was widely replaced by day-care centers, as both parents worked. A new wave of feminist political agitation occurred in the 1960s and 1970s. Overall, the family goals established in the Industrial Revolution were less important.
Describe the ways that the U.S.S.R. took advantage of its eastern European neighbors. Opposition to Soviet rule was crushed, except in Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia. Mass education and propaganda outlets were established. Industrialization was pushed. A counter to NATO, the Warsaw Pact, was set up. The new system generated obvious tensions. The Berlin Wall was built to keep East Germans from escaping to the West. Attempts to rebel against Soviet
oppression were crushed in East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.
Identify the ways in which the Communist system was unable to compete with its capitalist
rivals.
The Soviet Union lagged in consumer goods because governmental policy favored heavy industry. Living standards improved compared to pre-war conditions but complaints about poor consumer products and long lines remained throughout the Communist era. A great deal of environmental damage occurred because of the drive to produce at all costs. Problems in agricultural production went unsolved as well.
Outline the successes of the Communist system.
The Soviet leadership continued to build a steady and consistent military, the Soviets led the way in space exploration, and they sustained a prosperous economy and an active sports program.
CLASS DISCUSSION SUGGESTIONS chp 32
Describe the political and economic reasons for the United States’ interventions in Latin America.
After World War I, the U.S. was clearly the dominant power in the Western Hemisphere. In South America, private investments by U.S. companies and loans from the government were the chief means of influence. Military intervention became a common means of protecting U.S. interests. The grounds for these interventions were economic, political, strategic, and ideological.
The U.S. Good Neighbor Policy of the 1930s and the Alliance for Progress of the 1960s sought to ameliorate tensions.
Evaluate the reasons why the Cuban Revolution did not spread to other areas of Latin America.
Cuba has become one of the last bastions of that system, but the model of revolution and successful resistance to U.S. pressure was attractive to rebels in other Latin American nations. However, the United States has either used intervention or containment to deal with the insurrections.
Describe the political, economic, and social factors that placed this region between the developed and third worlds.
United States programs such as the Good Neighbor Program and Alliance for Progress aimed to develop the region and foster a cozy relationship between the countries and the United States. The first world has tried to send aid while neglecting to deal with social issues, or being concerned with how the relationship affected first-world social issues.
Trace the status of women in this region during the 20th century.