Chapter 12: Milestones of the Past Century War and Revolution 1900-1950

Triple Alliance

An alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in the years before WWI

Triple Entente

A military alliance between Great Britain, France, and Russia in the years before WWI

causes of WWI

Militarism, alliances, nationalism, imperialism, assignation of Ferdinand,

Why did the United States enter WWI?

German submarines threatened American shipping

long-term outcomes of WWI

1) Cleared populations
2) Was ironic to Enlightenment ideas such as progress, tolerance, and rationality
3) Some doubted the West's power

societal and cultural changes after WWI

1) Men replaced the women in the factory
2) Women gained suffrage in the U.S. and parts of Europe
3) Women were more open sexually
4) Consumerism

national self-determination

A phrase coined by Woodrow Wilson meaning people of unified by a nation should be able to governed themselves

Treaty of Versailles

The 1919 treaty that officially ended World War I; the immense penalties it placed on Germany are regarded as one of the causes of World War II

Which empires fragmented after WWI?

Germany, Russia, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman

Why did Japan strengthen after WWI?

Europeans supported the Japanese's intentions to own parts of Germany and privileges in China

League of Nations

A new international peacekeeping organization that acted to stop any more total wars to ever occur again

Russian Revolution of 1917

The revolution in which citizens drive out Tsar Nicholas II out of his throne and puts the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin, in power

Stalin's rule.

1) A totalitarian regime
2) Depended on the collectivization of agriculture to produce food
3) Rapid industrialization and urbanization
4) Incredibly deadly

collectivization of agriculture

Communist policies that ended private ownership of land and by incorporating peasants from small family farms into large-scale collective farms. Implemented forcibly in the Soviet Union (1928-1933), it led to a terrible famine and 5 million deaths; a similar process occurred much more peacefully in China during the 1950s

Great Purges in Russia

People who had connections to foreign countries or simply chosen by bad luck were sentenced to death or harsh labor camps called gulags

the Great Depression

Worldwide economic contraction that began in 1929 with a stock market crash in the United States and continued in many areas until the outbreak of World War I

effects of the Great Depression

1) Loss of fortunes
2) Banks and businesses closed
3) Investment dried out
4) World trade dropped by 62%
5) Massive unemployment

Which regions were hurt the most from the Great Depression?

Colonies outside of Europe that specialized in one or two products

democratic socialism

Political system in which the government takes over the means of production peacefully; people retain basic human rights and partial control over economic planning

Which nations coped the best during the Great Depression?

Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan

What is fascism?

Political ideology that considered the conflict of nations to be the driving force of history; marked by intense nationalism and an appeal to post-World War I discontent. Fascists praised violence against enemies as a renewing force in society, celebrated action rather than reflection, and placed their faith in a charismatic leader. Fascists also bitterly condemned individualism, liberalism, feminism, parliamentary democracy, and communism.

Why did Mussolini rise to power?

Using his leadership and speaking skills, he promised an alternative to communism, order in the streets, end to party-based politics, and the maintenance of traditional social order

What did Mussolini do?

1) Ended freedom of speech and freedom of the press
2) Banned all political parties except his own
3) Imprisoned, deported, and executed opponents
4) Gave women no equality to men

What was so unique about Nazi fascism?

It instituted scientific racism, antisemitism, and determined race and culture as the class distinctions.

How were Italian and German fascism similar?

Both used propaganda by controlling the entirety of mass media. Believed women should be domestic.

What were some democratic policies in Japan in the 1920s?

1) Universal male suffrage
2) Freedom of expression
3) Gender equality
4) Participation in national culture

What are some tensions during Japan's industrializing process?

1) "Rice riots" in 1918 over the raised price of rice
2) The price to admission to labor unions tripled, leaving workers believing labor unions were greedy and corrupt
3) Feminism emerged, advocating for the end of prostitution and suffrage

What is the Revolutionary Right?

Also known as Radical Nationalism, this was a movement in Japanese political life during the Great Depression that was marked by extreme nationalism, a commitment to elite leadership focused around the emperor, and dedication to foreign expansion

How did early 20th century Japan differ from Italy and Germany?

1) There was no right-wing/fascist party that gained national support
2) No cunning leader emerged
3) Enemies to the state were not executed or exiled, but were forced to formally right their wrongs. called re-socialization

How did Nazi Germany and Japan "survive" the Great Depression?

1) State-financed credit
2) Large scale spending on armaments (weapons)
3) Public work projects caused everyone to work

How was Japan different from Germany in the 1930s?

1) It was less repressive and more pluralistic
2) Japanese independent writing was sometimes published
3) Racial purity was aimed against foreigners, not Jews

Why did Italy, Germany, and Japan fight WW2?

They felt held back by Britain and the US because they sought empires that were essential for their national greatness and economic well-being

How did Japan's imperialist intentions spark a war in Asia?

In response to Japanese intrusion in China, the League of Nations ended many trading relationships. Japan was very resource-reliant and was angered.

Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor? And how did the U.S. respond?

American hostility towards them and fruitless oil negotiations in July of 1941. The U.S. responded by unleashing two nukes in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.

How was WWI different from WW2?

1) Not many men were enthusiastic to enlist, knowing the tremendous casualities in the previous war
2) Different tactics, trench warfare in WWI and blitzkrieg in WW2

What is the Munich Conference?

1938 conference at which European leaders attempted to appease Hitler by turning over the Sudetenland to him in exchange for promise that Germany would not expand Germany's territory any further.

Rape of Nanjing (Nanjing Massacre)

(1937-1938) The mass murdering of Chinese 300,000 civilians by Japanese forces.

How did gender roles change after the Second World War?

Women started to become incorporated into the workforce

What is genocide?

The attempted elimination of entire peoples

Explain Europe's decline after the world wars.

1) The Western half of Europe was operated by the U.S.
2) The Eastern half of Europe was operated by the USSR
3) European colonies began decolonization

What organizations emerged after the world wars and the Great Depression?

The United Nations and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund

Why did Stalin "communize" Eastern Europe?

To add strength in numbers if Western Europe was to expand and if America was going to relieve Europe's monetary issues

Who are the Guomindang?

The Chinese Nationalist Party led by Chiang Kai-shek that governed from 1928 until its overthrow by the communists in 1949

What is the Chinese Revolution of 1949?

An event that marks the coming to power of the Chinese Communist Party under the leadership of Mao Zedong, following a decades-long struggle against both domestic opponents (Bolsheviks in Russia) and Japanese imperialism

Why did the CCP win over China?

1) Solved foreign imperialism and peasant exploitation
2) It was nationalistic and demanded social change
3) Seemed honest unlike the corruption in the Guomindang