Modern World History WW1/Imperialism Test Review (Unit 4/5)

Remember: the bold is for a quick review - but try and make sure you study everything

What is Colonialism?

The system of a country taking control over another country's political and economic affairs and creating policies to control the original population.

It lasted in Africa from 1884 to 1960

What was the Scramble for Africa?

A lot of European countries started trying to get as much land in Africa as possible.

In 1880 80% of Africa was independent. By 1900, the entire continent was under European control except for Liberia and Ethiopia

What caused the Scramble for Africa? - Industrial Revolution

European nations had a huge advantage from the industrial revolution:

- they had more money from the economic boost

- they had professional armies and navies

- they had new weapons, medicine, and transportation that could let them reach into the center of Africa

- they had a population advantage because the slave trade reduced African populations

They also needed more resources like oil for their new machines and technology coming from the industrial revolution, and Africa had lots of these natural resources

What caused the Scramble for Africa? - European Rivalry

European nations were competing for more natural resources, and to establish themselves in Africa and show that they were powerful

They didn't want to fall behind in the race for national prestige (showing off) and the economic growth from more resources

Some European nations claimed territories just so rivals couldn't have them

What caused the Scramble for Africa? - Berlin Conference

The Berlin Conference (set up by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, so it's named after his capital of his country) was in 1884-1885

14 countries came together to decide fate of Africa - no representatives from Africa (no self-representation)

Europeans wanted to divide up Africa fairly, so they said:

1. Countries must have their claims for land approved by a different country

2. And the countries had to actually occupy and put some troops in their land to claim it

Things Fall Apart (by Chinua Achebe)

Not sure if this is going to be on the test, but go over your quizzes just to be sure

Know the basic plot (e.g. starts out focused on the main character in his clan, and only until later do Europeans show up in the story, until the end when the whole book revolves around Europeans)

And also know how it relates to history and the "single story" - Chinua Achebe was trying to write in a different style to show readers a different perspective of the history of colonization

What was the White Man's Burden poem by Rudyard Kipling?

Rudyard Kipling portrayed the "white man" as having to carry the burden of "civilizing" the so-called half-devil and half-child African native people

He also compared the native people to sloth and heathen folly - calling them lazy, foolish, and anti-European

All in all an insulting generalizing poem that compared every African to something "evil" - yet Rudyard Kipling was a famous poet in Britain - meaning much of Britain and Europe believed this

Colonization of Africa - What was the effect of new cultural policies?

Language - European languages replaced the native African languages as the official language

Racism - Europeans believed Africans needed to be "civilized" (but really just wanted Africans to act like Europeans and follow their society)

Women - African women lost rights and power because that's what Europeans believed in

Education - For a small minority of Africans, they were educated by Europeans which meant better jobs/more opportunities - but the rest suffered

Religion - Much of Africa converted to Christianity from the Europeans spreading their faith with evangelists (people who spread Christianity, like missionaries)

Colonization of Africa - What was the effect of new economic policies?

Europeans forced African economies to focus only on cash crops (coffee, oil, peanuts, etc.) or diamonds for export and to sell in Europe instead of growing food that they needed to eat

Europeans bought all the African land and paid low salaries to the workers

Europeans ran the African economy without them getting a say

Colonization of Africa - What was the effect of new political policies?

Europeans ignored previous tribal boundaries together and put together or separated groups

Europeans also put themselves at the top of the new African governments - at home in Europe they were more democratic, but in Africa they wanted control

However, African leaders were still important in some areas and many led resistance movements against the Europeans

What were some elements of Igbo culture and how did it compare to European culture?

- Kola nut: the breaking of the kola nut was a tradition when meeting someone as respect and was eaten at ceremonies or events like weddings

- Palm wine: water/juice collected from the palms and fermented into wine

- Yams: a staple crop for the Igbo, it was very important and seen as the "king of crops"; also the New Yam festival celebrated the Earth Goddess (Ani) as well as yams

- Uli: the tattoos or art drawn on skin/walls of the huts as decoration

- Wrestling: used to show power and prestige by showing a person was better than the other

- Egwugwu: the elders pretended to be ancestral spirits and would judge cases in the clan

Igbo had no ruler and a smaller government; Europeans had a central government

Igbo believed in multiple gods and goddesses; Europeans believed in one God (Christianity usually)

Igbo had elders to settle problems for peace; Europeans had official courts and laws to preserve rights

Imperialism in Africa Map

Not sure what exactly is going on the test since it's just multiple choice + essay but:

The main colonizers/European powers were Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and Spain

The only two countries independent in 1914 were Liberia and Ethiopia

What were the Willy-Nicky telegrams?

The German Kaiser Wilhelm (Willy) and the Russian Tsar Nicholas (Nicky) sent telegrams to each other

They were trying to stop the war after the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Even though both were sending telegrams as friends to try and not go to war against each other, they eventually give up due to their nations needing to help their allies

Over time the telegrams become less and less affectionate until they are both forced to declare war on each other

What were the causes of World War One? (Remember, this is going to be the essay question so make sure you know each of the 5 well)

Remember MANIA:

Militarism

Alliances

Nationalism

Imperialism

Assassination

How was Militarism a cause of World War One?

People started glorifying (making it seem good/the right thing) military power and military values in society

European nations believed their power/prestige was only from having a strong military

Soldiers became respected and had more status in society

This resulted in an arms race where countries tried to get the stronger military, so they spent more and more on the military until everyone had tons of weapons

Germany vs. Great Britain building dreadnoughts (battleships)

Germany vs. Russia/France for largest army

Germany also planned the Schlieffen Plan in case they got attacked to go through neutral Belgium, thinking Great Britain wouldn't care (Great Britain and Belgium were friends)

How were Alliances a cause of World War One?

Eventually two main alliances formed (plus the neutral countries not mentioned here)

- Triple Alliance which was; Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, and Italy (Italy switched sides during the war to fight against the Triple Alliance)

- Triple Entente which was: Great Britain, France, Russia, and later the U.S. which joined in 1917

How was Nationalism a cause of World War One?

Nationalism is the form of celebrating one's own country and national identity while putting down others' countries

This connected to a call for increased military through the willingness to die for the name of one's country

There were songs, anthems, media, and propaganda to boost nationalism (propaganda is the spreading of ideas to promote a cause or damage an opposing cause - not always bad (but usually bad) in some cases)

Nationalism led to overconfidence in each nation because they all thought they were going to win

How was Imperialism a cause of World War One?

Rivalries formed during the scramble for Africa and fighting over colonies in China and Southeast Asia

Led to competition and then bad feelings (British feared Germany in Africa, Austrians feared Serbians/Russians in Southeast Europe)

Germany was late to Imperialism and was trying to catch up

How was Assassination a cause of World War One?

The final spark that lit the tensions between European countries

A Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, shot Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne)

Gavrilo Princip was a member of the Black Hand, a Serbian nationalist group in Sarajevo that wanted Bosnia to be a part of Serbia, not Austria-Hungary

The Balkans (Southeast Europe) were known as the "powder keg" due to the high tension that could explode at any time (which it did)

On July 5 1914, Germany gave Austria-Hungary a "blank check" to do whatever they wanted to punish Serbia in exchange for assassinating their heir to the throne

This led to World War One

How was World War One fought?

It was Total War: everywhere people were indirectly or directly fighting the war

The Home Front (a front is a location where battle happens) started because people living at home were now involved in the war (they worked in factories, they could get bombed, etc.)

Women filled traditionally male jobs to keep the economy going and would eventually get the vote at the end of the war

Trench Warfare started: goal was to stay safe, and going over the top of a trench was the only war to capture more land - but very dangerous

The space between trenches was called "No Man's Land" because no one could survive without getting shot

For 4 years no progress was made because everyone was stuck in their trenches in a stalemate

What were some major battles in World War One?

Battle of the Somme: battle between British+French vs Germany; one of the largest and bloodiest battles of WW1, 1/3 of the people dying on the first day alone

Battle of Verdun: French vs Germany; another very bloody battle with many people dying on both sides and no progress being made after about 800,000 deaths for no reason - longest battle of WW1

Battle of Gallipoli: battle between Allied forces vs. Germany+Ottomans; Allies were trying to capture the supply route that went through the Ottoman empire but failed after losing 200,000+ people for no reason

What were some major events in World War One?

These changed United States feelings on the war from being neutral to wanting to fight:

Sinking of the Lusitania: German submarines sunk a civilian (non-soldier) boat carrying lots of Americans that died

Zimmermann Telegram: Germany sent a telegram to Mexico asking them to fight against the U.S. (neutral at this time) in exchange for their old land back from the U.S. - U.S. intercepted the telegram and got upset Germany was trying to secretly fight

How did World War One start to end?

The United States starts fighting in April 1917

President Woodrow Wilson creates his 14 points for peace which included:

- open diplomacy without secret agreements or treaties

- self-determination (being able to govern themselves) for Austria-Hungary territories

- formation of a League of Nations to control the world peacefully (U.S. didn't join though)

In 1918 Russia is busy with a revolution and wants to leave the war - signs Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany to end their involvement in WW1

What was the end of World War One?

The actual fighting ended at 11:11 on 11 November 1918 (Remember 11:11 11/11 1918)

Germany had to give up a lot since they lost the war:

- End of fighting

- Giving up their weapons, ships, guns, airplanes, etc.

- Return Allied prisoners of war

- Future reparations & payments from Germany later

- Withdrawal of German armies from land

- Allies get to keep blockading and surrounding Germany

- German prisoners don't get to be sent home

What was the Paris Peace Conference in 1919?

Where the Treaty of Versailles was signed

It blamed Germany completely for the war and made them pay a huge amount making them go into a lot of debt

It made Germany angry for many years and would be why they started World War 2 because they were upset over the Treaty of Versailles

What was the League of Nations?

Established at the end of World War One to try and keep peace internationally

Although US President Woodrow Wilson wanted to enter, U.S. didn't end up joining because people in Congress believed U.S. was better by themselves

The League of Nations resolved some conflicts but didn't stop World War 2 from starting and eventually dissolved (it would later come back as the United Nations)