HIST 1103-FULL MIDTERM PREP

Contains info from weeks 2-6, or five classes worth of information. Damn.

Niall Ferguson, War of World Ep: 1

What are Niall Ferguson’s main arguments to explain why the 20th century was so deadly?

• Humans, not martians, were responsible. Divided by race

• “Not the triumph of the west, but the resurgence of the east” - Clash of Empires

  • Trans-Siberian railway all the way to east asia

  • “Biological superiority” Russian thinking - ex propaganda, dehumanization

• 1905 - Russia, Romanov dynasty is challenged by public, REVOLUTION!! (Japan thumps Russia for Manchuria, The Great Game)

• TECHNOLOGY - increasing = mass murder 

• WW1 start - Archduke Franz Ferdinand, June 28, 1914 by Gavrilo Princip (Bosnian Serv)

  • Bosnia - Ottoman empire, 1908 - Austria annexed. Serb murders archduke, spiral

  • Catalyst of racial hatred for 4 decades to come - ex change in POWs (“vermin-like plague”)

• WW1 changed little in Western Europe, much in Eastern (Bolsheviks & Lennon)

  • Germans unable to consolidate gains, became civil war of Bolsheviks (working class) & Provincial Government

  • Trotsky organizes, “terror” is the motto, many killed for false charges

• Explosion of ethnic conflict (Sovereign states against Russia, nationalization)

• STALIN comin’ in hot. Ethnic/class war 1918-1922. Outcome… bad (not much change)

• Jan 1919 - treaty of Versailles. WW1 not the “war to end wars,” but “the peace to end peace” ig

•  Armenian genocide of 1915? To 1923

• Ethnic cleansing of Greeks as well by Turks

Niall Ferguson, Civilization Ep 2:

What are Niall Ferguson’s arguments about the work of the European empires in Africa? 

• Modern medicine, but also more ethnic cleansing (West was good and mostly bad)

• French empire begun w/ slavery, abolished+added democracy (progressive imperialism)

  • Right to vote/bear arms

• Big issue - disease, aided by West (product of age of colonial empire) 

  • Limits to $$ spent on Senegalese (ex inland, rural villages)

  • EWWW eugenics (selective breeding) dominated European thinking of Africans 

• At first, colonization was limited to coast, but mechanized transport! 

• Herero/Nama part of German empire (pseudo-science master race [Aryans]) FIRST GENOCIDE OF 20TH CENTURY

  • “Testing ground for racial theory” - Von Troter? Forced Herero out/killed

  • Concentration camps - “justify” genocide through medical experimentation

• Not just a world war, but war between Western nations 

• France turns to Africa for soldiers (from Senegal to Congo) & Africans revolt - Blaise Deinge proposes French citizenship

  • Medical advancements - surgery, psychiatry, skin grafting/antiseptic wound irrigation, blood transfer

  • Eugen Fischer - pseudoscience, student was Joseph Mendeles

Skulls of My People

What is the documentary ‘Skulls of My People’ about? What did Ms. Utjiuna Muinjangue, Chairperson of the Herero Genocide Foundation, find out during talks in Germany about “the issue of genocide”?

• Missionaries of Christ influencing Africans (genocide)

• “Brought Christianity/churches, but also have the land”

• “80% of my people were wiped from this Earth” Herero genocide (80k to 15k)

• Gets the director of archives email - wants to see the skulls

  • “No pictures,” skulls are mixed up. She asks the German government for the skulls back, they reply with, “we don’t talk and negotiate with groups.” 

• Religion used to gather people for their death
  
  —-From optional reading—-

• Still feel impact of genocide. German government “you are not direct victims. It was a joke.” Permanently changed culture (people cannot speak language/culture, parents went to Botswana to flee Namibia) 

• Wants gov to: publicly apologize/recognize genocide, then sit with representatives & influence outcome of reparations 

• “We will follow the German government to the end of the world” 

• Land, cattle, psychological payment that’s been passed down from generation to generation

Lecture: what was the “Scramble for Africa”?

“Scramble for Africa” - European countries rushing to get land, colonize (imperialism).

Imperial ambition was there before, now it’s possible

• Steamboats, machine guns/firearms, telecommunications, canals (Suez, Panama) make it easier to colonize (only so much to carry with a horse)

• Conquest of tropical diseases (quinine as a medical cure for malaria)

• Otto Von Bismark unifies Germany 1871-1918 (germanic states) Federation united with wars

• 1820s until 1900ish, British/French are rivals (almost went to war in 1898) 

• Alaska purchase of 1867 - Russia sells Alaska to US (good for US)

Lecture: Southern Africa

• British takes Cape Colony from Holland during Napoleonic wars (^ colonization, lucrative mines)

• 1880s Zulu uprising crushed

• ‘Boer Wars’ of 1879 & 1899-1902: British vs Dutch Boer settlers (concentration camps used to house villagers burnt down villages to deny rebels supplies) 

• Apartheid - former combatants should be rulers of South Africa (segregated non-whites, no civil rights)

Lecture: Belgian Congo

King Leopld exploits Congo (½ population nearly dies in 30 years) - rubber, tusks (piano keys made from ivory)

Lecture: German Southwest Africa

-Southwest Africa. German colony 1884-1919

Expansion of territory in 1890s, 1900s meets resistance

Herero Rebellion. Initial success, retaliation by General Von Trotha (massacared, camps [shark island] exploited, driven into the desert to die)

• 20th century first genocide (race murder) acknowledged by German gov in 2016

• I feel like this has been gone over a lot, should be okay in terms of understanding/significance.

Lecture: What was the “Great Game”?

• rivalry between Britain/Russia for influence in Afghanistan, Persia, Tibet (Asia & beyond)

Lecture: How was nationalism transforming Europe? 

• Countries wanted more power/influence, thought to unify nations under one flag

• Map of Europe is becoming more individual (more sovereign countries)

• Serbia, Bulgaria, parts of Greece - nations within empires want their own country (Russian & Austrian empire) 

• Germany/Italy are coming together

Lecture: How were the fortunes & international relations of China/Japan changing?

• Japan bunkered down, America comes knocking. Meiji restoration (we need ___, copy Europe, catch up, building up an industrial economy/military)

  • Works (wins war w/ China), annexes Korea, 1910

  • Transforming society while pushing borders

  • Culminates w/ Russo-Japanese War 1904-5

• China, tough times (Qing Dynasty declining-ruled for MILENIUM)

  • Internal instability & external pressure (opium wars, 1840s-50s, Taiping Rebellion, 1840-64) 

  • Loss of territory

  • Boxer rebellion (anti-Christian uprising) - Eight Nation Alliance/Army (everyone agrees to subjugate China & reestablish hold on China)

  • Kuomintang: revolutionary nationalist movement (change in middle working class)

  • 1911-it’s a Republic! Sun Yat-Sen: first president

Lecture: What challenges was Russia facing in the early 20th century?

• Russo-Japanese war brings shock (military defeat, push, gone far enough) - too much belongs to the upper class (land, labor, political reform [democracy & socialism])

• 1905 unrest (worker strikes, peasant uprising, army mutinies)

• Creation of Duma (parliament) & a Constitution (1906) - takes power from monarchs

Lecture: How had the United States become an empire in the early 20th century?

• Latin America: most states gain independence, struggles between conservatives/liberals, rich/poor

• US: getting imperial - monroe doctrine (1832) “Latin America is ours” - currently aimed at China, used to be aimed at Europe

• Expands presence/influence in Pacific (Alaska purchase 1867 + Hawaii, 1898)

• Spanish & Philippine-American Wars

• Casting influence across Americas/Pacific

RR: How does Chatwin describe Patagonia? Why was he interested in Patagonia?

How does Chatwin describe Patagonia? Why was he interested in Patagonia?

• Prehistoric creatures in Patagonia, such as the “brontosaurus” (it was not a brontosaurus’ skin he was interested in, but the giant sloth, found in Chilean Patagonia)

• Interest piqed by connection to Cold War? 

  • “Safest place on earth” presumably because it was safe from the blast radius of bombs from Russia? “Cannibal of the Kremlin” 

• Described as a “far corner of the earth,” and “a country in South America, at the far end of the world.” 

“Icebox, able to preserve pieces of history. Still a feeling of warmth and comfort for safety.” Kiran

RR: Colin McEwan et al. What do these images tell us about Patagonia and about the editors of the book?

Fig 93: Patagonians depicted as huge, hulking figures, standing double the height of white men. “Brutish” in their clothing (ex sticks/cloths) - undercurrent of decivilization and dehumanization (goes along with eugenics science)

• Masculine faces, thick eyebrows, tattered clothing, etc

Colour plate 4/2: similar story to Fig 93 

Fig 97: Portraits drawn… distinctly 

• Editors of the book were very selective in what went into the book (almost certainly white colonists) 

• Patagonia mainly focused on the people, not the flora, fauna, culture, etc. - AND mostly in their relation to white colonizers

RR: Daniel Beer, House of the Dead. What is the significance and symbolism of the bell of Uglich? What was Russia’s relationship with Siberia? 

TL;DR: in 1591, son of Ivan the Terrible, Tsarevich Dimitry, murdered. Bell is rung. Tsar regent Boris Gudunov heavily punishes Uglichans via executions/displays of humiliation + “mutinous bell” is exiled to Siberia (specifically Tobolsk). 

• “Silenced and banished, the bell became a testament to the power of Russia's rulers both to drive their turbulent subjects beyond the Urals and to strike them dumb.” (p. 2) 

• Symbol of authority of sovereign power & the way they go about commanding power (through bloodshed) 

• Tobolsk - central to Siberian exile post-banishment of the bell, which also contributed to colonization of Siberia (ex-stone prisons were lasting settlements & “transit points,” exiles flooded Siberia.)

SIBERIA - not a country, not defined by ethnic group, no clear borders. “Prision empire” (p. 7) of Russia until Nicolas II’s abdication in 1917

• Exiles were supposed to take natural resources/reform; in reality, they begged for help from Siberian peasantry. Massive scale/diversity of exiles, including varying political affiliations. Eventually imploded, exiles took over during 1905 revolution (ex Fyodor Dostoevsky/Vladimir Lenin were exiles. Anton Chekhov/Leo Tolstoy wrote)

• Russian press pushes this info. To “soften the blow” the bell is returned in 1892 by Alexander III. Looks more like acknowledgement of failure than “magnanimity.” 

Saddest part - thousands of unknown common criminals/families shipped off to Siberia, aside from “radicals” 

Lecture: India

India - Indian revolt of 1857 against British East India Company

• British Raj established in 1858 (direct British rule)

• “Jewel in the crown” of British Empire

• TEN mass famines caused by droughts, 1860-1901 (15mil died, aid slow to arrive while agricultural exports continued)

National movement(s) begin to push for independence - Ghandi/others step up, end to British rule

• Indian Congress Party established in 1885 - anti-imperial feelings!

Lecture: Ottoman Empire

• (Sunni) Sultan

• Ruled a multi-confessional empire (people of the book) - as long as you’re monotheic, sure! 

• Large empire with control, but are feeling stressed (losing territory-Greece, Romania, Egypt). National Movements growing while boarders shrink (inc Muslims/Turkish)

  • Muslims moving into the core of Ottoman Empire (TURKEY)

Lecture: Persia

(Shia) Qajar Dynasty

• Undertook economic modernization programs (cash crops, tobacco coffee-seen w/ globalization)

  • Territorial losses/trade concessions to Europeans produced frustrations

  • Revolution in 1905, “crux point” 

  • Persia becomes constitutional monarchy - not to destroy, but to share power to the people (half-measures)

BQ: What sorts of places are Patagonia and Siberia? What images and ideas do you associate with them? Why do you suppose political assassinations were so common in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

Look globally - industrial rev = larger & more emboldened middle class that want political power. Appeal of liberal reforms, constitutions, even socialism. BOOM WW1

Assassinations - “ten a penny” Neil Ferguson. Why so common?

• Immediate change, weaponry, security was not a big thing, desperation

• Blind imitations of their leaders, propaganda

• Leaders had to be up and close with followers (no mics)

Franz Fredinand (Austria-Hungary) assassinated by Gavrilo Princip. Heir to the throne, set in motion events to WW1 

RR: Howard Markel, “The False Racist Theory of Eugenics”
What was the theory of eugenics as touted by Sir Francis Galton and what were some of the implications of the acceptance of the theory?

• Sir Frances Galton (younger cousin of Darwin) coined eugenics in his book “Inquiries into the Human Faculty & its Development” 

  • Spread rapidly, used to “explain” blind, deaf, mentally ill, non-white ethnic groups

• American eugenics mass supported by white Protestant population, including most of those in power, some being non-white as well

IMPLICATIONS

• Quarantine “undesirables” from contaminating “superior” white citizens. Cue state-mandated sterilization, birth control policies, adoption laws, & Americans to gain positions of power in scientific field 

• Immigration Restriction act of 1924-preventing Eastern/Southern European & Asian immigrants 

• Once a theory, then used as a “harmful evidence base for ridding nations of those the dominant society did not like or feared.”

RR: Excerpts on Harry L. Shapiro + Race Mixture review
Who was Harry L. Shapiro? What research did he undertake and how did his findings challenge accepted beliefs in racial science?

Shapiro-physical anthropologist for US in the Pacific. Encounters encouraged him to speak out against racial discrimination/prejudice in science.

• President of a bunch of different American Anthropological organizations

• Basically shared opposing views about the lack of ill consequences of racial mixing

• Renounced eugenics/racial science in the 30s, too late :(

Race mixture review

“…Great majority of geneticists and anthropologists today. Though racial distinctions of a biological nature are undeniable, there is no sufficient ground for attributing innate superiority or inferiority to any particular race, either in physical traits or in respect to intelligence, with the possible exception of a few special characteristics, such as musical ability-and even here the evidence is slender.” (p. 3)

• Believed previous racial science was discounted by having a “primitive conception of psychological tests standardized for persons of a particular cultural background” + inadequate sampling

• “The great injustice, after all, that has been placed on the mixed-blood is that he is judged, not as an individual, an elementary right to which he is entitled, but as a member of a group about which there is much prejudice and little understanding." (p. 3)

RR: 100 Years of Silence film

What legacies of the colonial era can be seen in the film? How is Namibia (and Namibians and Germans) reconciling and/or not reconciling with the colonial past?

“Ruthless campaign against an ethic group that has never been seen in the history of mankind” 

• Madness of Hitler started with the Herero

• Georgina questioned her identity as having lighter skin than her fellow Herero (great-grandmother was raped) 

  • Proud of Herero heritage, even if she doesn’t look the same. Wants to find out her history/past as part of reconciliation (face and find the truth)

  • Still has Herero culture passed down, such as importance of cows, piece of land w/ livestock

  • Reclaiming of culture - wearing Herero traditional wear (hat shaped to look like cow horns) + spitting 

• German descendants have economical power in Namibia (massive economical disparity)

• Eugenics - Germans & their “superior race” take over, brief covering of previous history

• Waterberg massacre - still celebrated by German peoples in Namibia 

• Hereros only get memorial plaque, buried around the bush - Georgina does not know how to do the ritual specific to Hereros when they die, another piece of colonial era

• Swakopmund - coastal city in Namibia. Large division again, white shopkeeper (Peter) believes in Lebenstraum. “Germans aren’t inherently racist” which is true. 

  • German/Herero graves, mass difference in upkeep

• Archiserando festival - day to celebrate Herero culture/commemorate those who died in the genocide

• Windhoek statue - Klaus Dierks, local historian/former minister of transport - Germans are unwilling to face the past (German golden square mile) 

  • Excellent example of reconciliation  

• Hereros don German uniforms in recognition of the orphaned who were used as German slaves (militaristic lens) 

Interesting - Georgina never learned about events like Shark Island in history

• Both sides need to forgive and reconcile

Lecture - Gavrilo Princip - upbringing. Where did he grow up? Where did his “sense of injustice” come from?

• Fewer/larger countries - nationalism changing Europe 

• Poor region in Bosnia/Herzegovina (Knin) - 9 brothers/sisters, 3 lived past infancy (sense of injustice)

• Left for Sarajevo for education (ambitious), gains knowledge of Bosnian diversity

• Austrians (buildings, infrastructure) starkly contrast the peasants

Lecture - What is nationalism?

Nationalism: the idea that all people who speak the same language, historical experience, and sense of identity belong to a nation that is indivisible.

Lecture - Civic vs Ethnic nationalism

Civic: ideas, ideals, laws, common virtues. Regardless of background, you can “sign up” to it (ex-Canadians like maple syrup & not being American lol)

Ethnic: focus on common heritage (language, culture, history, religion, “blood” [marriage])

Lecture - Liberalism

suffrage (voting), rule of law, human rights, private property, individualism, capitalism & democracy

Lecture - Socialism/Communism

Response to Liberalism (Marx) - property’s collectivized, owned/controlled by the state. Planned economy. “Not efficient, but everyone had homes/jobs”

Lecture - Industrial Revolution

NW Europe. Mass migration to cities, middle/working class inc. → rights, power, progress (Western superiority.) Fueled imperialism.

Lecture: What is the difference between imperialism and colonialism?

Imperialism: “policy a nation’s authority by territorial acquisition or by establishing economic/political hegemony over other nations”

Colonialism: “policy of acquiring control of another country, bringing in settlers, & economically exploiting it.”

Lecture: How did new theories on race and new technological and medical interventions further European imperialism in Africa in the late 19th and early 20th century?
Hint: Linnaeus, Darwin, racial scientists (Agassiz/Galton), Grant, Shapiro

Carl Linnaeus - entranced by order (classification systems)

• Human racial categories: Europaeus, Asiaticus, Americanus, Afer (“non fully human”) 

Darwin & Patagonia - “living necropolis.” Yagan people of Tierra Del Fuego “people are purely aboriginal.” Influential views, including evolution, natural selection. Clashed with Linnaeus’ followers (humans = adaptations to conditions)

Racial scientists: Louis Agassiz (Harvard Zoologist) & Francis Galton (eugenics. Eu=good, genesis. Races shouldn’t mix, see Howard Markel reading)

Madison Grant - book, The Passing of the Great Race, immigrants are bad (Trump!) - followed by President Calvin Coolidge, “America must be kept American.” Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 restricts immigrants (800k in 1921 → 100k in 1930, 80% W/N Europeans)

• Ideas are circulating/gaining popularity

RR: “Blank Check” from the Kaiser
How would you characterize the Kaiser’s message? Is this clear evidence of aggression?

• “As in all others” - Kaiser Wilhelm remarking that Austria is reliant on Germany (no, you’re part of our empire, not a sovereign nation-state) 

• “Action must not be delayed” meaning sooner is better than later… 

• “Years prepared” for a war between Russia & Austria-Hungary - Triple Alliance = secret pact between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

• “He [Kaiser Wilhelm] would regret if we [Austria] did not make use of the present moment which is all in our favor.” Interesting implication

RR: BBC magazine - “10 interpretations on who started WW1”
What are some of the differences between the historians in terms of the evidence they provide to support their respective arguments? Which of the ten interpretations are most convincing to you? Why?

• Conversation w/ Dr. Brooks - sure, Germany offered unconditional support, but it was ultimately Austria-Hungary that chose to make such a radical and extreme ultimatum to Serbia. He mentioned A-H wanted to rewrite history books, look at police records, etc. A surrender of sovereignty nobody would really take.

• Sooo A-H, then, are at fault. But they had to do something about the assassination, it’s not like they could’ve just stood back and said, “sure, it’s all good.”

• Did the Serbian government know of the Black Hand? Dismiss Croatians “we want this to look like it was Serbian” on the arrest lists w/ Franz Ferdinand assassination

RR: “Lenin Rejects Democracy”

What are Lenin’s reasons for rejecting democracy? What does he argue it should be replaced with?

• First sentence - to have parliament (that is corrupt, basically, or biased) “crush” a group of peoples is unjust, even in a democracy

• Quotes Marx haha

• Parliament is a facade for the “common people,” especially in the Russia, with a seemingly “bourgeois-democratic republic” showing the “sins of parliamentarism” before parliament has even been established.

• Instead of democracy, we need a “working, not parliamentary, body” - not specific in his plans, more so voicing the people’s unrest and desire for real change.

• Tool for oppression - true estimate of bourgeoisie is to repress and crush the people of the parliament 

• Wanted working class to be in power 

• Clean the house and elect new people in

Lecture - Gavrilo Princip - Sarajevo

• Austrians are occupying Bosnia, seeds of radicalization begin (social, communist books)

Bosnia-Herzegovina has a mixed pop. including nationalities, ethnicities, religions 

• Joins Young Bosnia (rebels) after witnessing the death of Bogdan Serajic

• Princip fails Serb. army physical, but is inspired after seeing it push out Ottoman Empire

• Gets connected to Black Hand (Serbian Military Intelligence) - taught how grenades/guns work undercover/on the down-low

• Does his thing in Sarajevo, feels bad about killing the wife of Franz Ferdinand. Prison for 20 years, dies in 1918

Lecture - Long 19th Century. What came before the UN, or League of Nations?
- Where is Germany sitting?

Collective security. Nothing stays the same in history.

• 19th century, falls apart, alliance system comes into play by 1900 (friends!) instead of “nobody disturb the peace, don’t change boarders, don’t start wars.”

Germany

• Triple alliance, 1882 (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy). Good w/ Britain/Russia

  • Wilhelm II becomes Kaiser, more overseas imperialism, = conflict

  • After Bismark dismissed, brilliance “just wasn’t there”

Lecture - 1890-1907. What’s going on w/ Wilhelm, France, Britain?

• Wilhelm II - Russia relations worsen, inc. navy to rival Britain 

• France - Dual Alliance w/ Russia against Ger. 

• Britain: out of isolation, worried about Ger. (Alliances! Japan, 1902, France 1904, Russia 1907). WHY? All fear the rising power of Germany (Thucydides’ Trap - rising power confronts ruling power)

• Germany, why NOT be w/ Britain? Common blood! B/c who’s going to be the bigger fish? Germany. Bigger economy, population. Pride, honor.

Lecture - Road to WW1. What about domino effect of political/military “doomsday machine?”

• Russia/Bosnians resentful of Austria. Germany supp. Austria, Russia supp. Serbia

• Balkan Wars, 1912-13. Greece/Serbia inc. power

• Powder keg didn’t start w/ Sarajevo & Princip, but rather all of Europe

Political “doomsday machine” alliance system causes chain of events (dominoes)

Military doomsday machine - tight organization, hard to stop once started (millions of men, equipment, supplies) 

• Germany declares war on France/Russia, not on Britain (hopes they will sit out) but are unlucky. Belgium is invaded, final straw (neutral countries should NOT be invaded, violation)

War in Europe, excitement. Germany → Schlieffen plan fails (Belgians resist, BEF, French) 

• New tech (machine guns), trench warfare, less mobility (mechanized armies) 

Eastern Europe - Serbia ultimately crushed 1915, Germany → Russia 1915, retreats (Russia ain’t doing hot, pressure on gov.) 

RR: Samantha Power, “Race Murder” p. 1-16
Why did the United States not take action to aid the Armenians in 1915?

TL;DR: Soghomon Tehlirian kills Talaat Pasha, former Turkish interior minister that allowed Armenian genocide in Turkiye (narrative @ beginning of ch) 

• Armenians forced out of Turkiye, destroyed churches, closed Armenian schools

• Turkiye justified genocide under pretext of Armenian “revolutionary uprising” - international bodies did little to contest Turkiye’s actions 

• Britain/French at war w/ Ottoman Empire & cover news/support

“The US, determined to maintain its neutrality in the war, refused to join the Allied declaration. President Woodrow Wilson chose not to pressure either the Turks or their German backers. It was better not to draw attention to the atrocities, lest US public opinion get stirred up and begin demanding US involvement. Because the Turks had not violated the rights of Americans, Wilson did not formally protest.” (5)

• Ambassador Morgenthau Jr. (& his father) advocate for US’ involvement. Constrained by Wilson admin/diplomatic protocol

• Interesting look into Talaat’s psyche. “We treat the Americans all right, too. I don’t see why you should complain [about the Armenians dying in Turkiye.]” (7)

• More coverage in the media in the US in 1915, given parallel w/ Belgian King Leopold & Congo in late 19th/early 20th century

• Turks unhappy about attention, but because Americans weren’t directly affected, Washington (Wilson?) didn’t act. Morgenthau worked w/ private allies & donations

• Theodore Roosevelt (previous president) enraged/vocal

• Morgenthau leaves in 1916; thought he failed (1M Armenians killed)

• “The United States would offer humanitarian aid to the survivors of ‘race murder’ but would leave those committing it alone.”

Post WW1, question of war guilt. Growing postwar isolationism = US reluctant to do shit. Other countries like Britain persecuted those in power/responsible for genocide

GROUP - maintain neutrality (large countries, seen in the 20th century)

• US citizens

• Yarravan, then LA (Glendale) - largest Armenian population

• Eyewitness accounts - irrefutable stories (hard to fake/discredit vivid, shocking details). Spoke to people who read it, able to empathize 

RR: TRT World: The Treaty of Lausanne and the great population exchange
What are the stories of the two men (Suleyman Mazlum and Ioannis Gklavakis) featured in the documentary? What reconciliation efforts are being made by the Lausanne Foundation in this video?

1923 pop exchange - Orthodox Christians forced to leave Turkiye, Muslims forced to leave Greece. As Ottoman Empire collapsed, tension inc., Muslim minorities persecuted, Christian minorities also in Turkiye. Aim = prevent future conflict.

• Lack of care/food + rapidly spreading disease killed many. Threw bodies over board to prevent disease.

• Mazlum, son of Turkish migrant. Architect. Mother left when five, wealthy in Greece, to Turkiye, where they couldn’t speak the language/nobody to help

  • Went back to Greece to revisit 

• Gklavakis - exchange was painful/hard, but two populations were separated 

  • Parents left Turkiye at time of exch. Father left @ 18, lost 3 siblings, nearly drowned trying to get on ship

  • Went to Turkiye to see town mayor 

Lausanne Foundation has museum holding artifacts/exhibition of items & journeys documented 

• Mazlum/Gklavakis bond over shared exp. of family stories

GROUP - “If we don’t talk about history, it’ll repeat itself.” 

• Placed in villages where pop. was exchanged

• Shame/discrediting past (neg. highlights government) - conversation of keeping statues/monuments of racist/terrible people

RR: University of Cambridge, Research News. Spanish Flu: A Warning from History
What was the impact of the Global Pandemic of 1918-19? What are some of the lessons from this pandemic?

• 50-100 MILLION people died, majority being previously healthy young adults

• “I had a little bird. It’s name was ENZA. I opened the window, and influenza!”

• “Forgotten pandemic, global calamity” US, Europe, recorded by Spanish press (neutral, Spanish Flu)

• “Killed more people in the first 25 weeks than AIDS/HIV in 25 YEARS.” 

• Graphic, horrible deaths (blood coming out of orifices, drowning in phlegm)

• Starts in Kansas, army camp, spread via troops through WW1

Open questions: how does the virus adapt from one species to another? Then within that person to transmit from human to human? 

• Continued until 1957, adapted to humans. Studied to predict evolution to make vaccines to prevent it

  • Hard to eradicate-constantly changing.

• “Not if, but when” 

GROUP - disrupt economy. 

• What we can apply to when we have COVID - policies, what did/didn’t work

• How little they knew about viruses - no policies, never happened before 

• COVID (re)shaped our lives - cultural shift/think anymore about it

Lecture: Gavrilo Princip: part 3. Memorial

• Bones exhumed after being buried in Northern Czechia 

• East Sarajevo - liberator. Was he a hero? A terrorist? Nuances in between.

Lol I have nothing for this.

Lecture: RUSSIA WW1

• Do well against Austria, bad against German

• Food shortages, men sent into combat w/ out proper equipment, lack of pay, economy struggling, country is struggling = unrest w/ government & Czar

• 1916-17 Brusilov offensive. Limited success. Protests → casualties, shortages, inflation, hoarding

• Feb 1917 REVOLUTION! Tsar’s gov. Collapses, abdicated; provisional government, unpopular (Bolsheviks) 

  • Bolsheviks seize power (coup, Lenin/Trotsky), nationalized land for peasants.

  • Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, 1918. Give away territory (Poland, Finland, Baltic states, Ukraine)

  • Internal struggle (Reds, Bolsheviks, vs Whites, Russians loyal to Czar/Prov. Gov.)

Lecture: Basic WW1 info
- triple alliance vs entente, who switches sides/when

Triple Alliance (Central Powers): Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy

Triple Entente (Allies): Great Britain, France, Russia

Changes: Ottoman Empire → Alliance (1914). Italy changes sides (1915). Russia exits war post-rev (1917) & US enters w/ Entente (1917)

Lecture: Balkan/Italian Front, Middle East, Asia, Naval Warfare (yeah it’s a lot)

Balkan/Italian Front

• Austria vs Serbia: initial def. by Serbs, 1915 overwhelmed

• “Italian Front” (White war) → treaty of London, 1915 (promised Tyrol, East coast of Adriatic AKA territorial gains)

  • Prevail in 1918. Sacrifices/casualties fuels Italian Fascism

Middle East

• Unsuccessful on British/French front, stalemate, longer war (British/French naval blockade=famines, mostly for the people.) British forces prevail in Iraq/Palestine 1917-18

•  Britain/Africans seize most German territory. Germans evade/tie down British until end of war

Asia

• Japan does well-emerges as a position of strength

  • 21 demands in 1915 to China

Naval warfare - British blockaded Germany, cuts supply lines. 

• Germans introduce submarine warfare (sinks Lusitania w/ Americans aboard, US jumps in 1917)

Air Warfare - biplanes (reconnaissance, dog fights) + zepplins, larger planes (bombing cities) 

Lecture: Trench Warfare

What stands out to you about trench warfare? Why do you think most of the soldiers endured the conditions and continued to fight?

• Stalemate in West. Industrial warfare: increased firepower. Defence, war of attrition.

• “We’ll take heavy losses, and you will too, but we’ll last longer.” - Germans

• Barbed wire, elaborate trenches, trench foot, trench mortars, poison gas, uniform shifts

• How to break through? Tanks (metal units on treads)

• “Worst day in the history of the British army” first day of the battle of the Somme. 57k casualties, 19k died of injuries. Only 12k of land gained in 4.5 months. 

  • Took pressure off of French/innovations, VERY high price.

Lecture: 1917-18, the cost.

• Entente offensive on Western Front - bad (mutiny)

• Russian Rev=out of war (treaty of Brest-Litovsk), Americans in 1918

• German Spring offensive, March 1918 (tactics, numerical advantage)

• Entente counterattacks, July-Nov 1918 (Germans pushed, US troops impact)

  • Bulgaria, Austro-Hungarian Empire & Ottoman Empire seeking peace Oct ‘18

• Entente victory: naval blockades, American aid, tanks 

• Armistice: November 11, 1918 (WESTERN front)

8.5M soldiers dead, 20M wounded. 13M? Deaths attributed to war. Lost generation, European resources strained. Great War challenges philosophy/humanism (fascism) :(

Lecture: Influenza Pandemic of 1918-19

• First wave, 1917-18 b/c of US training armies in 1918 Spring. Germans hit hard too, malnourished.

• Second wave, younger (20-40) more vulnerable.

• Casualties 50-100M (3% global pop.)

Lecture: Peacemaking, Treaties

• 14 points of peace (self-determination for nationalities - BUT land competitions)

  • Idealism vs war aims of Britain/France

  • Fear of Bolshevism

• Treaties: no Soviet Union/Ger, LON established. Colonial areas → independence

Treaty of Versailles

• Germany: LOSS (territory, Rhineland demilitarized zone, military limitations, $$ reparations, guilt clause placed them ENTIRELY at fault) 

• Also: treaty of St. Germaine/Trianon broke up Austro-Hungarian Empire

Lecture: How were the maps and populations of Europe and the Middle East transformed between 1918 and 1924? What were some of the consequences of these transformations? In your opinion, what was right and/or wrong about the post-WWI treaties?

*Includes info on Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Asia Minor ethnic separation, Armenian Genocide.

Eastern Europe

• Competing groups fight for control/territory (Poland, Ukraine, Baltic States, Finland)

• Austro-Hungarian Empire falls apart (men who can fight w/ weapons!) - Germans, Hungarians, Czech, Poles, Yugoslavs

Middle East (1916-18)

• Balfour Declaration (Jewish homeland in Palestine)

• Arab Uprising (against Ottoman rule, Hussein Ibn Ali-united Arabia)

• British/Arab forces defeat O.E.

Peace

• No United Arabia. British, French, Italians divide w/ influence spheres

• TL;DR boarders established post WW1, Saudi Arabia in 1932

Asia Minor

• Ethnic separation; before, for centuries, less persecution. 

Ottoman Empire/Turkey=Greco-Turkish War. Greek forces collapse, leave mainland (Christians) 

• Pop exchange (connected to RRs). Treaty of Lausanne, 1923 (no Kurdish/Armenian state, 5k Muslims to Turkey, 1.5M Christians to Greece)

• Mustafa Kemal Ataturk - secular, nationalist. 

Armenian Genocide (RRs) 

• 1915, Armenians (re-)moved from Asia Minor