History of the Modern World 2025 Final Exam

Flashcards for all terms listed in slideshow

Imperialism

The domination by one country of the political, economic, or cultural life of another country or region.

Motives for New Imperialism

Economic: natural resources + new markets of customers

Political + milt: bases needed around the world. Nationalism = competition among nations + balance of power

Humanitarian + Religious: Missionaries + doctors = duty to spread blessings of Western civ = medicine, law, Christianity

Sphere of Influence

Type of W ctrl = area in which outside power claimed exclusive investment/trading privileges. Ex: China

Social Darwinism

Theory based on natural selection —> survival of the fittest human societies. Eur believed in racial superiority and the justification for imperial expansion = Eur improve human race by dominating weaker races + spread culture

King Leopold II

King of Belgium. Hired Henry Stanley —> explore Congo River basin + arrange trade treaties —> publicly stated “civilization mission” —> conquest profit privately. Br + Fr + Gr —> pressed claims to region. Exploited Congo for Copper, rubber, ivory —> Congolese forced to work for almost nothing —> int. outrage —> colony = Belgian gov’s property( X Leopold)

Berlin Conference

1844, to avoid bloodshed, Eur pwrs met( X Afr) —> recognized Leopold’s private claims to Congo Free State + free trade on Congo/ Nigerian rvrs. Eur X claim any part unless set up gov —> Eur off —> expert pwr. 20 yrs later —> Eur partitioned ~ entire continent w/o regard to for settlement/ethnic borders

Cecil Rhodes

17 y.o —> SA —>40 y.o = rich. Supported Br imperialism in Afr —> extended empire 1 mill sq mi. Colony = Rhodesia(Zimbabwe) + seperate rces in SA

Boer War

Boer = descendants of Dutch settlers

Br vs Boer bc of gold + diamonds —> Boer War 1899-1902 —> Br victory at < cost. United Cape colony + former Boer reps —> Union of SA —> racial segregation

Zulu = Afr (on both sides, more so Boer)

Sepoy Rebellion

N + W Ind

Sepoy = Ind soldiers

Bc:

Ammo greased w/ pork/cow fat → forbidden for Muslims + Hindus, respectively

Sepoy regiments —> Delhi —> massacred. EIC —> X villages. Rebellion = fear, hatred, mistrust. 1858, EIC rule X —> In under Br. Sent troops — In —> taxes. Slowed “reforms” that Hindus wanted.

viceroy

(Br in In). Governed in the name of the queen. Br held top positions in civil service + army. Part of Br Raj colonial rule system

Impact of British Colonial Rule on India

• Markets; railroads; transport; telegraph; jute + coal

• W/ Suez Canal —> cheap textiles —> In; +agr

• Encouraged nomads —> settle —> farmers; pushed farmers —> cash crops + X forests—>farmland

• + healthcare, food —> + pop —> — food —> farmers $ > quality —> famine in 1800s

• Western edu →Enlightenment ideals(nationalism)

• Violating culture/religion

• Conscription

• Nationalism →self-deter

• Westernization

Causes of WWI (Fundamental/short term)

Fundamental:

• MAIN

• Alliances = Triple Alliance = Gr + A-H + It — >1914 = Gr + A-H; Triple Entante = Fr + Russ + Br

• Competition = Br vs Gr(eco + navy); Gr vs Russ(eco); Gr vs Fr(Morocco); Militarism

• Nationalism = Gr proud of empire + milt; Fr bitter about Franco-Prussian war; Russ = largest Slav state —>ready to support Serbia —> S Slav State; A-H worried about nat in empire; Balkans(territory, Ottoman Empire, A-H)

Short-term:

• Archduke Francis Ferdinand(S-A) —> Sarajevo, Bosnia —> angers Serbs + Slavs

• Unity or Death(Black Hand) —> Gavrilo Princip—> X Archduke + wife on June 28, 1914 by

MAIN

Militarism: Glorification of milt —> war = romantic—>young men dreamed of blowing trumpets + dashing cavalry

Alliances: Treaties signed pledging to defend one another; Two huge alliances(Triple Entente vs Triple Alliance)

Imperialism: Competing for global dom + expand empires —> conflict + tension

Nationalism: Euro coveted states + pride in ind + nat + empire + milt; bitter over past conflicts; Balkans want ind —> threaten Otto + A-H

ultimatum

Final set of demands; 0% or 100%; no in-between, all demands must be met

Austria —> Serbia —> X war bc of assassination

Demands:

1. Serbia X anti-Aus agitation

2. Punish any Serb involved in plot

3. Austria allowed to join investigation

4. Austria can march into Serbia

#4 rejected —> July 28, 1914 —> Aus vs Serbia

stalemate

Deadlock in which neither side is able to defeat the other.

WW1: first battle of the Marne(Gr loss) —> W front w/ trenches for defense strategy( Gr vs Fr + Br)

trench warfare

End of 1914-1918. Deep trench systems dug —> soldiers live there in poor conditions —>go over the top into “no man’s land” = open area between opposing trenches. Fighting over few hundred yards of territory. Jagged —> X firing down the line

U-boat

German submarine; nicknamed from Unterseeboot —> damage allied side —> X merchant ships = supplies for Br —> allies made convoys = merchant ships protected by warships

T.E. Lawrence

Colonel

Lawrence of Arabia —> support Arab revolt vs Otto(turks) —> X bridges + supply trains + guerrilla raids —> O lost territory(including Baghdad)

Schlieffen Plan

Gr milt policy developed by General Alfred Von Schliffen. 2 front war w/ Fr + Russ —> X problem. Gr —> Fr bc Russ milt slow—> defeat Fr quickly —> Russ. March through Belgium —> S behind Fr lines

Invaded Belg on Aug 3 —> war w/ Br on Aug 4

Result: failed bc Russ mobilzied quickly —> divert troops + Br/Fr —> pushed Gr along Marne River(September 1914)

total war

Nat entire resources needed —> + gov role in eco + cultural lives of ppl

War production eco, eco warfare, propaganda war

Lusitania

Gr 1915: ships —> goods to Br —> X by U-boats

May 1915: torpedoed Br liner Lusitania off Ireland’s coast — >1200 X(128 Amr) —> justifies attack bc of weapons—> Woodrow Wilson threatens X diplomacy —> unrestricted sub warfare X—>warn passengers before firing

propaganda

Used for milt mobilization(Br)

Fr + G prop = civ —> loan $—>gov

Allied prop = brutality of Gr; Br+ Fr press circulated atrocities(real, fake, exaggerated)

Fourteen Points

Woodrow Wilson = dedicated reformers, stubborn = hard to work w/ —> urged for peace w/o victory —> 14 points

Had to compromise

Self-determination(in reality, X colonies →Mandate System), League of Nat

self-determination

The right of people to choose their own form of government. Paris Peace Conference —> only in parts of Eur X Afr, Asia, etc

reparations

Gr paid

assume full blame for the war = cost of war + pensions for allied soldiers/widows/families —> $30 bn =2.7t today —> weaken Gr

No choice bc war of attrition →X resources→Treaty of Versailles

collective security

League of Nat

Group of nat —> preserve peace of all = one aggressor nat —> group together to defeat + maintain peace

League of Nations

• Proposed by Wilson

• Collective security

• All who signed Treaty of Versailles —> joined

• 40+ joined —> agreed to negotiate X war + common ally vs aggressor

• Rep senators(Henry Cabot Lodge=leader) —> X restrict treaty bc U.S. obligated to fight —> senate refused to ratify —> US X league.

mandate system

Rebrand colonialism

= Treaties created by mandates(territories run by W pwrs)

Br + Fr = Gr colonues in Afr; Jap + Austr = Pacific islands; Otto land as if colonies

Purpose: mandates until colonies could stand on own —> Eur colonies—>Afr+ ME betrayed

Ho-Chi Min

Palestine

Vladimir Lenin

• Exiled to Siberia(1897)

• Committed to class struggle + rev

• Moved to London(1902) —> befriended Leon Trotsky

• Wrote: What is to be Done?

  • Vanguard = uniter to lead the rev

• Amnesty granted to all polt prisoners —> 1917—>Petrograd

Bolshevik Revolution

Tsar Nicholas →Xppl = faith

March Rev = March 12 =Moderate = Mensheviks

November Rev(Nov 6.) —> radical bc Bolsheviks = rad

• #1 task = get Russ out of war —> focus on reform

• Treaty of Brest-Litovsk w/ Gr —> Russ gave Gr territory, pop, resources

• Civ war(1917-20) —> Reds = Bolsheviks vs Whites = non-Bolsheviks

• Complete breakdown of eco + soc

Kellogg-Briand Pact

• Peace, nats, int, extend peace

• Disarmament bc militarism →WW1 cause

• Diplomacy > force

• US sponsored 1928

• Nats joined: reduce size of their navies(not armies)

• “ban war” —> no enforcement

overproduction

• A condition in which production of goods > demand.

• After WW1 —> GD

• Demand slowed —> factories X production —> X jobs

 Great Depression

• Painful time of global economic collapse

• Summer of 1929. decreasing prod

• October 1929 stock market crash

• Fed +interest rate —> slowed eco

• Spiral

New Deal

• FDR(1932)

• Gov = active role in X Depression

• Massive package of eco + soc programs

  • Stock market reg

  • Bank deposit protection

  • Jobs + farmer aid

  • Social Security

Benito Mussolini

• It.

• Creator of Fascism

• Fiery + charismatic

• Black Shirts —>intimidation

• March on Rome

• King Victor Emmanuel III —> Mussolini = pm —> 1925 = Il Duce(the leader)

totalitarian state

A state w/ 1-party dictatorship —> regulates every aspect of its citizens’ lives

fascism

• Centralized + auth gov X comm;

• state > individual rights

• totalitarianism

command economy

Eco w/ gov makes all basic eco decisions

collectives

• Command eco

• State-owned farms

• Run by peasants, gov —> tractors, fert, seed, modern farming methods —> got goods

• Animals —>gov

• $ = gov set

• Kulaks =wealthy farmers—> resisted

Gulag

• Forced labor camp

• Stalin’s opps —> here

• + used in Great Purge(1936-38)

Comintern

• Lenin formed 1919, —>expedite world-wide rev —>aided comm rev + urged colonized —>rev → W pwrs suspicious —>Red Scare in US 1920s

• Wanted to turn 1926 strike(Br) —>rev

• Part of USSR gov, spread ideology

Adolf Hitler

• Born in Austria 1889; 18y.o —>Vienna(A-h capital)

• Gr Austrians felt superior to Jews, Serbs, Poles; H develops anti-semitism

• Fought in WW; 1919 joined small right-wing groups, X Wiemar Rep;→1 yr later →National Socialist German Workers(NAZI) party + storm troopers

Mein Kampf

• H’s manifesto

• “My Struggle"

• Nazi goal + ideology book

• Extreme nat, racism, anti-S

• Gr belonged to “master race” Aryans = light-skinned Eur vs Jews

• Jews ≠ religion; = separate race(anyone w/ J grandparents)

• Blond Gr vs: Marxists, Jews, corrupt polt, business leaders

• Unite Gr, need lebensraum(living space), Slavs + inferior races bow to Aryans —>need Fuhrer(strong leader)

National Socialist German Workers

• NAZI party(X actually soc, just for pop)

• totalitarian dictatorship

• ~GD—> ~mill members

• Appealed to vets, Workers, low mid-class, small-town Gr, business men

• Promised: X reparations, + jobs, rearm Gr

• Won seats in Reichstag; conservatives X comm —> H chancellor - 1933

Gestapo

• H’s secret police

• Rooted out opps/ fear tactics

• Totalitarian rule in Gr

Nuremberg Laws

• 1935

• Jews X citizens + restrictions: X marry non-J, attending/teaching Gr schools/unis, gov jobs, law/med, pub books

• Final Solution

Joseph Stalin

• After Lenin, X clear line of succession

• Brutal, ruthless, violent, mass murderer

• Censorship, secret police, X opps= milt →brain-drain for WW2

• Five Year plans —>heavy ind, + transport, +agr

• —> Command economy

• Collectives

• Terror Famine(Ukraine →X6 mill bc of kulak resistance)

• Great Purge

• Gulag

appeasement

• W pwrs denounced H after X Treaty of Versailles(rearming, going into Rhineland)

• Giving int to the demands of an aggressor —> “peace”

Axis Powers

• Weakness of Br, Fr, Us —>Gr, It, Jp —> Rome-Berlin-Tokyo Axis = Axis Powers = X USSR + X interfere w/ territorial plans

Francisco Franco

• Conservative general —> revolt(1936) in Spain —> civil war

• Fascists + right-wing supporters= Nationalists —> Franco. Republic of Spain supporters = Loyalists = Comm, Soc, pro-dem

• H + Muss —> Franco

• USSR —> Loyalists

• Guernica

Guernica

• During Spanish Civil War

• German air raid(blitzkrieg) on Sp market town(April 1937) —> bombs + machine-gun survivors —> 1600 civ X

• 1939, Franco = victor —>fascist gov like H/Muss

Anschluss

• Annexation of Austria

• March 1938 = union of Austria + Gr —> sent in troops —> Speech in Hofburg Palace

• Appeasement —> H ctrl w/o warning

• Gr superiority

• Need lebensraum

• Munich Conference →wanted to annex Sudetenland(W Czech w/ Gr) next

Nazi-Soviet Pact

• August 1939

• Nonaggression pact H + Stalin

• Divide Poland + E Europe + X war w/ eachother

• Prevent 2 front war

blitzkrieg

• September 1, 1939 —> Nazi —> Poland

• Lightning war = Luftwaffe(Gr air force) bombed airfields, factories, towns, cities, dive bombers X civ + troops. Fast-moving tanks + troop transports —> pushed into defending army —> encircling —> surrender

Vichy

• Gr puppet state capital(after June 22, 1940) in S Fr

Concentration camps

• Detention centers for civ considered enemies of state

• Millions of Polish + Soviet Slavs → work as slaves

• Part of Holocaust

Stalingrad

• Renamed from Leningrad

• 1941, Gr stalled outside Moscow/Leningrad; 1942 troops —> Stalingrad

• Battle:

  • Gr surrounded city —> bitter street fights

  • Nov. —> Soviets encircled Gr —> commander surrender

  • Jan 1943 —> Red Army on offense —> 1944 USSR —> drove out N axis in E Euro —> E Gr

• Turning point

• Now: 1-front war USSR advancing on Gr —> strain resources

D-Day

• Opened 2-front War on Gr(USSR on E[bc of Stalingrad defeat] + W —>GR)

• Dwight D. Eisenhower = allied leader

• June 5 midnight, allied planes dropped paratroopers behind enemy lines —> dam

• 1000s of allied ships w/ 156k allied troops —> Eng Channel —> wires, underwater bombs, machine guns

• Clawed through Normandy. Early Aug, —> allies —>Paris.

• Sailed from It —> S Fr; Fr resist X Gr(Paris) —> Gr retreated —> Aug 25 = Allies —>Fr free

• Allies began offensive on W front.

• 1944

Yalta Conference

• Feb 1945

• Big Three = US, UK, USSR

• Stalin wanted E Eur/ Roosevelt + Churchill = self-determination

• USSR —> war w/ J within 3 months of Gr surrender —> gets S Saurlin Island, Kwil Islands

• Gr div 4 zones: Br, US, Fr, USSR + S said free elections in E Eur.(satellite states)

• Prelude to CW tensions + uneasy alliance

island-hopping

• US + Br campaign

• Mini “d-days”

• Recapture J islands —> General Douglas MacArthur —> Philippines + Br pushed J into Burma/Malaya

• Iwo Jima

• Pushed Japan up from South

Manhattan Project

• Allied sci

• Create a-bomb

• July 1945, Los Alamos, New Mexico —> 1st successful test—>Truman heard of it —> use it on J bc want to save U.S. lives

• Met in Putsdam Gr —> threatened J —> x response

Hiroshima

• Bomb created from Manhattan Project — > used

• Aug 6, 1945 —> bombed —> 4 sq miles X, 70k X, radiation

• J X surrender —> same thing on 2 days later = Nagisaki —> 49k X

• Aug 10, Emperor Hirohito forced surrender

• WMD

United Nations

• Est: April 1945

• 50 int delegates —> San Francisco —> UN charter

• Each member = 1 vote in General Assembly; security council = 5 permanent members = US, UK, FR, USSR, CN —> veto anything

• SC = eco sanctions, peace-keeping milt, USSR vs US —> X SC

• Deals w/: disease, edu, protect refugees, nat eco dev, World Health Org, food + agr org

Cold War

• Roughly 1947-1961

• US + allies(W bloc) vs USSR + allies(E bloc)

• Proxy wars

• US: containment strat→ Vietnam + Korean War

• Spread ideologies(comm/capit.)

• Detente/escalation

• Berlin = 1st confrontation

• NATO/ Warsaw Pact →est. blocs

• Truman Doctrine/ Marshall Plan

Truman Doctrine

• 1947

• Greek civ war

• Turkey under pressure from USSR for concessions in Dardanelles

• U.S. support free peoples resisting takeovers by armed minorities/outside pressures(comm)→$400 million aid(eco, milt) →Gre + Trk

• Really only applied to capt

• Containment

Marshall plan

• 1948

• Eur recovery plan

• Eur destroyed →comm could take hold →aid →X comm

• Secretary of State George Marshall

• US —> aid —> all Eur that need it, vs poverty, hunger, chaos

• $12.5 bill of US. aid —> W Euro; E Eur(UUSR) X

NATO

• North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• W Eur

• US led it

Warsaw Pact

• E Eur

• USSR led it

• →satellite states

Iron Curtain

• Winston Churchill’s metaphor

• tense line btwn dem, capt W + comm dict E Eur

superpowers

• US + USSR

• Strongest nations after WW2

• caused Cold War

• Ideological diff →USSR = spread comm; US = contain comm

détente

• arms control agreements(70s) →ease tensions + diplomacy; X 1979 bc USSR →Afgh

• Strategic Arms Limitation Talks(SALT) = 1969; both signed 1972, 1979

• Anti-ballistic missiles = limited bc encourage one side →launch bc of protection

• Strategic Arms Reduction Act = 1991

ideology

• Comm, capt

• Value system + beliefs

• USSR →spread ideology + command eco globally

• US →contain comm ideology

containment

• US policy →comm; = keep comm in bounds + X expansion + support X comm govs

Cuban Missile Crisis

• 1950s →Fidel Castro = comm →Cuban Revolution →USSR help

• JFK →support Bay of Pigs Invasion →invade shore → X

• 1962, USSR →Cuba nukes →US blockade + demanded missiles X Cuba →Nikita Khrushchev called back nukes

Nikita Khrushchev

• Soviet Premier after Stalin(1953) →denounced brutality →X prisons + censorship; peace w/ W

• X violent + brutal

• Involved in Cuban Missile Crisis

• Berlin Wall

• Détente ~ 1970s

Mao Zedong

• leader of CCP + Mao’s People’s Liberation Army →conquered China + Tibet →1-party totalitarian dictatorship →seized property

• Led Great Leap Forward

• Cultural Revolution

  • Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution

  • Encouraged ppl →experience rev

Great Leap Forward

• 1958-60→+ agr/ind

• Communes = several villages, 100s of acres of land, 25k ppl; →backyard industries →failure →-quality + #goods;

• Commune system →X incentive for farmers →neglect land + -food →famine 1959-61→55 mill Cn X

Korean War

• NK = comm dictator = Kim Il Sung

• SK = capit dictator = Syngman Rhee

• 38th Parallel

• 1950 KIS → invade SK

• US + UN →SK in July →Sep X enemy supply lines →Nov = Yalu River →Mao Zedong alarmed→Cn soldiers→NK→pushed to 38th →armistice

• Containment: X comm →SK

domino theory

• U.S. theory

• Vietnam →Vietcong = comm victory in SV →non-comm SE Asia gives →govs

• Containment

Vietnam War

• NV = comm dict= Ho Chi Minh

• SV = non-comm dict = Ngo Dinh Diem

• 1960s comm guerrillas in SV = National Liberation Front = Viet Cong w/ N support →fought SV gov →liberate V from foreign influence

• U.S. →supplies, aid, milt advisors →bc of Tonkin Resolution→1000s of troops

• Cold War Conflict

• Tet Offensive →public opinion in US →X war →US pulled out

• NV →SV→V

mujahedin

• 1979, USSR →Afgh

• Warlords + Islamic conservatives X secular comm + land redistribution

• vs USSR

• Goal: satellite state + spread ideo

• Costly + demoralizing →USSR fall;

• Backed by US

Mikhail Gorbachev

• USSR Premier 1985

• Reforms →save USSR = glasnost(openness, X censorship, ppl discuss openly) + perestroika( - bureacry + limited priv ownership_ →X USSR

• Reforms →- eco; +inflation →- factories →+unemployment

glasnost

• Initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev

• Openness, X censorship, +ppl discuss openly →reform USSR →”save it” →crumbled it

• 5 year plans X dynamic

Solidarity

• 1980s

• Polish ind. labor union →leader = Lech Walesa

• Demanded polt + eco change

• USSR →Pol gov →X union + arrest keaders

• Wal = nat hero →relased

Arms Race/MAD

• MAD = Mutually Assured Destruction = one superpower fires →knows the other will retaliate →both assure each other’s destruction

• Race to match weapons →balance of terror

• a-bomb →USSR = 1949; both had h-bomb 1953