AP World Unit 7

Revolution in Russia

• By early 20th century, Russia was behind the rest of Europe, U.S. & Japan in wealth & power

• Russia didn’t industrialize, grant basic liberties or reform their politics like most of the west

• W/o strong economic base their military became weak

  • Loss in Crimean War in Balkans

  • Loss in Russo-Japanese war in battle for power in East Asia

Bloody Sunday

In 1905, thousands of workers marched peacefully to petition tsar for:

• Better working conditions, higher wages, universal male suffrage

• Tsar’s troops began shooting & killed abt 1,300

• 400,000 people march on Winter Palace in St. Petersburg to protest & the tsar had to respond. Thousands more killed.

  • October Manifesto

October Manifesto

Established the Duma (Parliament) & a Constitution

Feburary Revolution

In 1917, protesters were still protesting similar things from 1905

• That day, Czar Nicholas dissolved the Duma

• Russian army unexpectedly switched support to demonstrators, imperial govt. forced to resign & a provisional govt. was established

• 3 days later, Nicholas formally abdicated his throne, effectively ending nearly 4 centuries of czarist rule in Russia

October Revolution

• Bolsheviks

• Vladimir Lenin was the leader & seized power & set up a communist govt.

• Leon Trotsky as a key leader in this movement

• Communist believed workers should own the means of production & that would lead to prosperity

• Assassination of Nicholas II & Romanov family

Bolsheviks

An organization representing revolutionary working class of Russia

Upheaval in China

Industrialization of Europe & Western influence posed a big threat to China

• Qing Dynasty was facing ethnic tension throughout the country

  • Han (Majority) vs. Manchu (ones in power) tension is at an all time high

• Constant threat of famine was always in peoples’ minds

  • Any drought of flood could cause hundreds of thousands of deaths

• Govt. revenues were very low

  • Couldn’t maintain roads, bridges, canals, etc.

• In 1911, last Chinese dynasty overthrown by a revolutionary movement led by Sun Yat-sen

Three People’s Principles

• Democracy

  • Expel all foreign capitalist & redistribute revenue more fairly

• Nationalism

• Livelihood

• Sun Yat-sen had enough military strength to rule all of China & is policies never get fully implemented

Democracy

Sovereignty for all “able” people

Livelihood

End the extreme unequal distribution of wealth

Self Determination in the Ottoman Empire

• Young Turks emerge as a reform group as the Ottoman Empire is in a rapid decline

  • Advocate for a constitution similar to those in Europe

  • Advocate for Turkification, an effort to make all citizens of the multiethnic empire identity w/ Turkish Culture

  • Blame Christian Armenians for State of failing emire

• Turks resented British & French for their economic policies

• Post WWI, Ottoman empire dissolved & Turkey is created

Power Shift in Mexico

• Mexico started 20th century controlled by a dictator named José de la Cruz Porfirio Díaz Mori

• Extremely poor peasant class. 1% of population controlled 99% of the land

• In 1910, Diaz jailed Francisco Madero, the oppression candidate for president

  • Ignites Mexican Revolution

• In 1911, Modero’s troops defeats Mexican troop & sends Diaz into exile

• Until 1920, Mexico suffered from political instability & devastating violence

• Over 2 million deaths occur in a decade (pop. is 15 million)

• In 1917, Mexico adopts new Constitution

  • Includes land distribution, universal suffrage, & public education

• Institutional Revolutionary Party or PRI was formed in 1929

  • All Mexican presidents until 2000 are PRI members

Trouble in the Balkans

• Ottoman Empire was losing power & influence in the Balkans

• Austria & Hungary unify in attempt to save their empires

  • Austria-Hungary took control of Bosnia, which was part of the Ottoman Empire & home to many Serbs

• During early 1900s, Austria-Hungary used strict military force to control the area

• Russia needed to maintain influence in the Balkans to access Mediterranean Sea & trade

Long-Term Causes of WWI

Tensions between European nations lead to much of the turmoil that caused the war:

M - Militarism

A - Alliances

I - Imperialism

N - Nationalism

Militarism

Aggressive military preparedness

Militarism (MAIN)

• Many European nations in competition to be strongest military on the continent

  • Military strength = Wealth = Power

• Great Britain & Germany had created military spending & build up - Had the wealth to do it

  • Both countries fought for naval dominance

  • As Germany built up its military, Britain responded by doing the same

• Industrialization made it easier for European nations to build up its military forces

Alliances (MAIN)

• Made by European nations to protect themselves from attack - If one nation was attacked, they all attack in response

Triple Entente & Triple Alliance

Triple Entente

Great Britain, France, & Russia

• All were concerned w. growing German power

• Comp. between GB, France, & Germany for colonies

• During WWI, called Allied Powers

Triple Alliance

Germany, Austria-Hungary, & Italy

• Italy remained neutral during war until 1915 (Joins Allied Powers)

• Known as the Central Powers (Ottoman Empire would join)

Imperialism (MAIN)

• Colonization of the world in the 19th century led to increased wealth of home nation, allowing economic & military expansion

• European nations argued over the boundaries of their African & Asian colonies

  • Germany colonized later — Wanted to gain more territory in Africa

Nationalism (MAIN)

• European nations wanted to be the greatest nation in Europe

• In multi nationalist states, this led to problems among groups w/ a strong identity that wasn’t country-based by peoples-based

  • Serbs living in Austria-Hungary had more loyalty to the Serbian people & culture than their nation

  • Many Serbs wanted to rule themselves (Self-Determination)

Immediate Cause of WWI

• Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, visited Sarajevo in Bosnia — Part of Austria-Hungary

• Serbian revolutionaries (the Black Hand) wanted to destroy Austrian-Hungary presence in the Balkans; led assassination plot

• Gaurilo Princip, the leader of the plot, shot & killed the Archduke & his wife

  • Austria-Hungary believed Serbia was involved in the plot

  • Austria-Hungary demanded Serbia to take the blame & added concessions

June 28 (WWI)

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

July 4 (WWI)

Austria-Hungary got a “blank check” of support from Germany

Domino Effect of WWI

• Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand pushes Austria-Hungary to demand to Serbia to gain responsibility

• Serbia allied w/ Russia — Russia began to prep for war (July 25)

July 28 (WWI)

Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia

August 1 (WWI)

Germany declared war on Russia

August 3 (WWI)

Germany declared war on Russia

August 4 (WI)

Germany invaded Belgium — Caused Britain to declare war on Germany

August 6 (WWI)

Austria-Hungary declared war on Russia

Setting the Stage of WWI

• Many Europeans thought war would be over by Christmas.

• European nations sent off soldiers w/ massive parades and celebration.

• Conscription was the main way European countries recruited soldiers. 

• Few people understood how brutal and devastating this war was going to be. 

Changes in Warfare (WWI)

• Poison Gas

  • Chlorine, phosphorus, & mustard gas were used during the war. 

  • After the war international treaties outlaw the use of gas. 

• Modern Machine Guns 

• Submarines 

  • Wreak havoc on the Atlantic Ocean

• Airplanes 

  • Very small and rarely used. Reconnaissance (military observation) was the main use.

• Tanks

• Trench Warfare

Stalemate, 1914-1918

• Schlieffen Plan

• Western Front

  • Four year bloodbath 

  • German victories early on

• German submarines
  

Schlieffen Plan

• Invasion of France through Belgium 

• Crush France, then focus elsewhere 

First Battle of the Marne: Sept 1914

Huge victory for Allies

Battle of Tannenberg: Aug 1914

Russian failures (They pull out of the war early)

Battle of Verdun: Feb 1916

700,000 lost

• Symbolic of the senseless of trench warfare

Gallipoli: Feb 1916

Heavy allied losses in Middle East with nothing to really show

Battle of Somme: July 1916

Deadliest battle in British military history

Second Battle of the Marne: July 1918

Seen as the last stand for the Germans, major loss. 

U.S. Enters WWI

• The Sinking of the Lusitania 

  • a German U-boat torpedoed and sank the Lusitania

  • 1,100 die, including more than 120 Americans. 

• The Zimmerman Telegram

  • British code breakers intercepted an encrypted message from Zimmermann intended for the German ambassador to Mexico. 

  • Germans offered to help Mexico reclaim territory lost to USA in exchange for invading the US to keep them occupied. 

Total War (WWI)

• A nation’s domestic population and military, was committed to winning the war. 

• Millions of civilians, including women, worked in factories to produce war materials. 

• Governments set up the rationing of food and supplies. 

• Media censored those who spoke out against the war. 

Global War (WWI)

• WWI was fought in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. 

• Japan entered the war on the side of the Allied Powers so that they could take German colonies in the Pacific. 

  • Biggest beneficiary of WWI in the Pacific

• The British seized most of the German colonies in Africa.

• Colonial troops reinforced their home countries in many battles. 

  • Canadian troops in Europe, African and Indian troops in Europe and Arab troops aligned with Allied Powers to rid themselves of Ottoman rule. 

Paris Peace Conference

• Arrival of U.S. forces allowed Allies to counterattack in August 1918. 

• German soldiers retreated; an armistice was signed on November 11.

• The leaders at the conference were known as the Big Four

  • Woodrow Wilson: USA

  • David Lloyd George: Great Britain

  • George Clemenceau: France 

  • Vittorio Orlando: Italy

• Italians left in rage; didn’t get land promised to them. 

• Russia not invited b/c of communist revolution.

  • Owed the west war debts and refused to pay so the Bolshevik govt wasn’t being recognized. 

• Wilson said no one country should be punished or given more.

• Clemenceau felt since France suffered the most they deserved most. And Germany should be punished. 

• George was the intermediary between the two. 

Wilson’s Fourteen Points

• Create a League of Nations 

  • Organization that all the nations of the world will convene to discuss conflicts openly. 

  • US Senate votes against joining 

• I- Open covenants of peace, no secret diplomacy. II- Freedom of the seas. III- Fair and equal trade.

• IV- Military arms reduction to just meeting domestic safety. V-  Adjustment of colonial claims.  

• VI-XIII- Redrawing world borders.

• Austria-Hungary and Ottoman Empire broken up

• XIV- League of Nations 

Treaty of Versailles

The treaty, negotiated between January and June 1919 in Paris, was written by the Allies with almost no participation by the Germans. 

Treaty of Versailles Part I

Created the League of Nations, which Germany was not allowed to join until 1926.  (USA never joins?)

Treaty of Versailles Part II

Specified Germany’s new boundaries

Treaty of Versailles Part III

Stipulated a demilitarized zone and separated the Saar from Germany for fifteen years.

Treaty of Versailles Part IV

Stripped Germany of all its colonies.

Treaty of Versailles Part V

Reduced Germany’s armed forces to very low levels and prohibited Germany from possessing certain classes of weapons

Treaty of Versailles Part VIII

Established Germany’s liability for reparations w/o stating a specific figure & began with Article 231, in which Germany accepted the responsibility of itself and its allies for the losses & damages of the Allies “as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.”

Global Depression

• Treaty of Versailles devastates Germany

  • Goes through serious depression in the 20’s. Hyperinflation unlike anything we have seen. 

• In 1929 the rest of the world follows and makes it a true global depression. 

• The Depression affects the Western world and the colonial world.

  • Colonies relied on $ from the west, now there is no $

• Foreign trade is halted and the ramifications are felt throughout the world. 

The New Deal

• FDR proposal to bring the USA out of the depression. 

  • Also focused on the poor, unemployed, minorities and women. 

• Deficit Spending and Keynesian Economics sweep the West. 

  • A rejection of Laissez Faire Economics & a new idea of increased govt spending. 

• The New Deal gave the Federal govt powers to regulate previously unregulated sectors of commerce. 

  • Banking, housing, agriculture, social security, welfare etc… 

Stalin’s Five Year Plan

• Stalin takes over after the death of Lenin in 1922

• Goal was to transform the USSR into an industrial powerhouse. 

• Practiced the collectivized agriculture

  • The seizure of private farms and given to collectives to manage.

  • Collectives were run by the state and forced workers to meet certain quotas. 

  • Millions of people die of starvation or famine. 

• Punished people who disagreed by sending them to Gulags or execution

Fascism in Italy

• Out of revenge from WW1, the Italian govt gets overthrown, they were seen as too weak by many Italians. 

• Benito Mussolini takes power in Italy and brings the first Fascist State.

  • Goal was to totally control society, Totalitarianism. 

• Militarized Italy and rapidly industrialized society. 

• Facism will spread to Spain and Germany in the coming years. 

Effect of WWI

• WWI renewed nationalist movements in Asia and Africa

  • WWI showed that the European powers weren’t invincible 

  • WWI weakened imperialist nations

  • WWI gave colonists experience in war

• Big three were more interested in self-determination for countries in Europe

  • Most colonies transferred to victors

  • Ottoman Empire in Middle East were under mandate system

The Mandate System

• League of Nations Article 22: colonies, formerly part of the Central Powers, were not able to rule themselves. 

• Allied nations increased imperial lands

  • Africa and Middle East mandated to Great Britain and France

  • Japan received mandates in the Pacific

• Middle East - many areas promised independence for helping the allies but became mandates

  • led to Pan-Arabism - Arab reunification of Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Balfour Declaration -The need for Jewish State in the Middle East

Anti-Colonialism in South Africa

• After WWI, Indian National Congress pushed for Indian independence

  • Amritsar Massacre - British colonial forces opened fire on a large peaceful protest

    • Led many moderate members of Congress to support independence

• Gandhi

  • Movement called for acts of civil disobedience against unjust British laws

  • Called for a boycott of British goods

  • Salt March

    • British made it illegal for India to produce its own salt

Amritsar Massacre

British colonial forces opened fire on a large peaceful protest

Long March

• Chinese Communist Party gets decimated by the Nationalist Party in the Chinese Civil War

• Chiang Kai-Shek forces Mao Zedong to retreat - The Long March

  • Traveled 6,000 miles across rural China

  • gained support from peasants and farmers

• National Party govt began to lose favor in the 1930s

  • Chiang supported Confucianism and old Chinese customs

  • Government became corrupt

Japanese Expansion

• Japanese invaded Manchuria in 1931

  • League of Nations condemned Japanese invasion so Japan left the League

  • Set up Manchukuo

• Between 1931 and 1945, Japan had seized the Philippines, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, and many Pacific islands - “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere”

Weimar Republic

• In Germany, a democracy that replaced the monarchical rule of the Kaiser. 

• They had to pay back billions in war reparations.

• Crippled military

• Looked weak and demoralized the people. 

• The unemployment rate was very high. 

• The people were looking for somebody to remedy the situation. 

Rise of Adolf Hitler

• In 1923, Hitler gets arrested in Munich in an attempt to seize power in a coup. 

• While in prison he writes Mein Kampf

• In 1932, The National Socialist German Workers Party, or Nazis, wins a majority of seats in the parliamentary election, but loses the presidency…

• President Von Hindenburg invites Hitler to be his Chancellor in order to get more things done with Parliament. 

  • They say if one dies the other assumes their duty.

• Von Hindenburg dies and Hitler assumes the role of both Chancellor and President. 

Mein Kampf

Describes the process needed to play out for a better Germany and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany.

• Written by Hitler

Nazi Party

• Instilled fear & panic in the German people 

• Staged the burning of the Reichstag, the German parliament building, blamed the communist.

  • Outlaws all other political parties. 

• Hitler promoted scientific racism, claimed the Aryan race was superior to others.  

• He also advanced extreme anti-Semitism. 

  • Blamed the Jews for the failed state of Germany. 

Nuremberg Laws

• Passed in 1935 as part of Hitler’s anti-Jewish campaign

  • Forbids marriage between Jews and non Jews

  • Strips Jews of citizenship

  • A series of decrees that push German Jews to outsiders in society.

• Romania and Bulgaria pass similar Laws against their Jewish populations. 

Kristallnacht 

• “The Night of Broken Glass”

• One November evening in 1938 Nazis turn their hatred into action.

• Nazi leaders engineered riots all across Germany. 

• Riots resulted in the deaths of hundred Jews, the destruction of nearly every synagogue and over 7,000 Jewish owned stores. 

• More than 30,000 Jews were dragged out of their homes and sent to concentration camps. 

The Axis Powers

• Hitler needed allies to help him acquire Lebensraum (Living space) for the new German Empire. 

• His first pact was the Rome-Berlin Axis in 1936.

  • Agreed to help military, economically and politically. 

• They then created the Anti-Comintern Pact.

  • Military alliance with Japan based off their distrust with communism

• These three nations create the Axis Powers. 

Nazi Germany’s Aggressive Militarism 

• Treaty of Versailles limited Germany’s military size. 

  • In 1935 Hitler created an air force and enacted conscription to enlarge the army. 

• Treaty also stripped Germany of their land in the Rhineland and created a 31 mile buffer zone between them and France. 

• Hitler breaks this agreement by sending in troops into the Rhineland in 1936. France and Great Britain protest this but take no action. 

• A lot of people in England believed Hitler was a strong anti communist leader that Central Europe needed & others wanted anything but another war. 

  • Policy of appeasement was adopted.

German - Austrian Unification

• New alliances & revived military allowed Hitler to begin his quest for a Third Reich.

• Hitler set his eyes on his ethnic neighbor & homeland,  pressured Austria to give the Austrian Nazi Party more power. 

• 99.73% of Austrians vote to join the Third Reich.

• In 1938 the Anschluss is passed and Austria officially becomes part of the Third Reich. 

Czechoslovakia

• Fall of 1938 Hitler demanded Czechoslovakia to give back the Sudetenland. 

  • Most people who lived here spoke German; argued that it was a natural extension of his Aryan empire. 

• Hitler meets with the leaders of Britain, France and Italy in Munich. 

• Neville Chamberlain, the British PM, argued that appeasement would keep peace and put an end to Hitler’s demand for more land. 

• The Munich Agreement allowed Hitler to annex the Sudetenland in return to promise they would not take any more Czech land. 

• In 1939 Hitler invades & seizes all of Czechoslovakia. 

Conflict over Poland

• Port of Danzig was a tactical place Hitler needed. 

• Great Britain no longer practiced appeasement & agreed to protect Poland from German aggression. 

• German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact was signed in 1939. 

  • Hitler offered Stalin control eastern Poland & the Baltic States if Stalin would stand by during a German invasion of Western Poland.

• September 1st 1939 the Nazis invade Poland & officially kick off WWII in Europe.  

Japan's Expansion in Asia

• In 1931 Japan invaded Manchuria & set up the state of Manchukuo. 

• The League of Nations condemned this, but the Japanese did not care. 

• In 1937 Japan launched a full scale invasion of China.

  • Japanese capture Beijing, Shanghai & the capital Nanjing. 

  • Japanese commit unprecedented atrocities on the people of China. 

• World War II is truly a global war. 

Causes of WWII

• Diplomatic 

  • Treaty of Versailles

  • Failure of appeasement.

  • Failure of the League of Nations 

• Economic 

  • Global Depression

  • Treaty of Versailles 

• Political 

  • Japan’s militarism

  • Germany's militarism and the rise of Hitler

Setting the Stage for WWII

• European powers used appeasement to allow Germany to take control of the Sudetenland & Rhineland

• Japan took control of Manchuria in China & invaded mainland China

• Breaking the Munich Agreement, Germany took control Czechoslovakia.

• In 1939, Germany invaded Poland

  • Great Britain and France declared war on Germany

American Support of Britain 

• Despite officially remaining out of the war, FDR wanted to support the British

• Destroyer-for-Bases Agreement (1940)

• Lend-Lease Act (1941)

• Atlantic Charter (1941)

Destroyer-for-Bases Agreement (1940)

US promised 50 destroyers in exchange for eight bases on British lands in the Western Hemisphere

Lend-Lease Act (1941)

US began to lending war materials to Britain

Atlantic Charter (1941)

Policy statement that establish the policy for postwar Europe

The Battle of Britain

• German Luftwaffe (airforce) attacked British in Great Britain

  • Hoped to weaken the island for an invasion

• British responded by bombing Berlin

• Germany started bombing British cities

  • Londoners had to survive months of bombing

  • Called their “finest hour”

  • Helped British focus on rebuilding military bases & forces

• British Royal Air Force & Britain's technological superiority began to destroy German planes faster than could be replaced

  • Germany abandoned plan in 1941

Operation Barbarossa

• After the failure of Battle of Britain, Germany attacked the Soviets

  • Goal: Destroy Bolshevism & establish Lebensraum - Room for settlement & development

• Germany invaded in June 1941 - moved through Russian lands easily for the beginning of the attack

  • Germans slowed by the Russian winter

  • German army stopped at Leningrad - Siege of Leningrad

    • Siege lasted 3 years

    • millions of Soviets killed

Japan Overreaches 

• Japan faced economic sanctions from US after invasion of China

• Japan launched a surprise attack on U.S. at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii

  • Japan hoped to force US to negotiate a quick, favorable peace

  • Attack motivated US to war- public opinion supported entering the war against Japan

  • Great Britain & China joined US against Japan

• Japan quickly seized the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, British Malaya, Burma, & nearly all of the Pacific Islands between the US & Japan. 

Conducting WWII

• Germany pushed British army out of mainland Europe (Dunkirk), led air raids against Britain, & took control of France.

• Germany pushed into Russia, & battled the Soviets at Leningrad & outside of Moscow

• Italy sought to control Northern Africa and the Balkans

• Japan had “awoken a sleeping giant” by attacking Pearl Harbor, and drawing the US into the War.
  

Northern Africa

• Axis powers sought to control Northern Africa

• Axis troops went into Egypt to take Alexandria & then to try to take control of the Suez Canal

• In October, 1942, Allied troops defeated the Axis at the Battle of El Alamein

• US forces pushed in from West Africa - forcing the Axis powers back north through Italy

  • Axis forces in North Africa surrender - May 13, 1943
    

European Theatre Eastern Front

• Soviets defeated German Army at the Battle of Stalingrad

  • The largest and bloodiest battle in the history of war

  • Over 2 million people died

  • July, 1943: Soviets pushed Germans back away from Moscow

  • 1944-Jan, 1945: Soviets push into Ukraine, take over Poland

    • Soviets take control/liberate the Balkan states

  • April, 1945: Soviets close in on Berlin

European Theatre Western Front

• July 1943: Allies take control of Sicily

  • Begin to move north up through Italy

• Firebombing of Germany to weaken their moral

• June 6, 1944: Operation Overlord/D-Day

  • About 150,000 troops landed in Normandy, France

    • Largest amphibious invasion in history

  • Casualties were high, but amphibious assault was successful

  • Allies retake Paris by August

Battle of the Bulge 

• Germany led an attack against Allied forces across the Ardenne Forest 

  • The Germans last stand

• Offensive failed & Allies pushed toward Berlin

End of the European War  

• American & British troops approached Germany from the South through Italy

  • Mussolini was captured and executed by rebels

• American & British troops move toward Berlin from the west, while Soviets were pushing in from the east

  • Each side wanted to take Berlin first to control the inevitable peace

  • Soviets reach Berlin first

  • Hitler commits suicide rather than face trail

  • Germans Surrender May 8, 1945

• Operation Paperclip 

Pacific Campaign  

• Battle of Coral Sea (1942)

• Battle of Midway (1942)

• Battle of Guadalcanal (1943)

• US General MacArthur practiced island hopping

• US technology was a huge benefit - aircraft carriers and submarines

Battle of Coral Sea (1942)

First Allied victory, which stopped Japan from taking New Guinea, Solomon Islands, & eventually Australia

Battle of Midway (1942)

Allied forces destroy 4 Japanese aircraft carriers

Battle of Guadalcanal (1943)

Allied forces first offensive battle

WWII Island Hopping

Moving across Pacific islands where Japan was weakest to cut off their ability to control supply lines

End to War of Pacific 

• Allied forces took the islands of Okinawa & Iwo Jima - close to the Japanese mainland

• US began to fire-bomb Tokyo in hopes to force Japan to surrender

  • Killed 100,000 people, about a million homeless

  • Emperor refused to surrender

• Allies made plans to invade Japan, but estimates suggested over a million+ troops would be killed

  • Truman decided to use the atomic bomb to force surrender

  • Dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

• Japan surrendered August 14, 1945.

Armenian Genocide 

• In 1915, Ottoman leaders rounded up & killed Armenian leaders, teachers, doctors & businessmen.

  • They were blamed for the failed state of the Ottoman Empire

• Once leaders were killed, men were executed & women & children were forced out of the country, often on forced marches where they had little hope of survival.

• 1 ½ million were dead, 150,000 Armenians remained. 

• Turkish govt. makes it a criminal offense to discuss the genocide.

• US officially recognized it in 2019

Rape of Nanking

Episode of mass murder & mass rape committed by Imperial Japanese troops against the residents of Nanjing. 

• Hundreds of thousands of civilians are rounded up & brutally murdered, raped, & mutilated.

• “Comfort Women” (in Korea as well)

• If all of China is included, the Japanese killed over 20 million Chinese civilians throughout their takeover of China.

Holocaust 

Occurred as Germany under Hitler & the Nazis attempted to exterminate Jewish people in Germany & German occupied lands.

• Hitler believed that the Aryans were the superior race & that Jews were trying to destroy them.

• Nazis developed The Final Solution to get rid of the Jews & other people they considered inferior.

• Over 6 million Jews were killed (virtually 90% of the Jewish populations of Poland, the Baltic countries, and Germany).

• 12,000,000+ deaths in total. 

USSR Gulag

Was a system of forced labor camps established during Joseph Stalin's long reign as dictator of the Soviet Union.

• 18,000,000 people passed through the Gulag camps.

• Estimates range from 2-6 million deaths over the years. 

The Holodomor

Was a man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine in 1932 & 1933 that killed nearly 4 million of Ukrainians. (13% of the population) 

• Caused when Stalin wanted both to replace Ukraine’s small farms w/ state-run collectives & punish independence-minded Ukrainians who posed a threat to his totalitarian authority.