History of the Modern World Exam

Contributing factors to WWI

Franco-Prussian War, Balance of Power, Nationalism, Militarism, Web of Alliances

Franco-Prussian War

War in which a coalition of German states defeated France.

Why was the Franco-Prussian war deliberately started by both sides?

Prussia wants to accelerate German unification (smaller states will ally with strongest power) and France wants to stop unification.

What provinces were seized in the Franco-Prussian war?

Alsance and Lorraine

Nationalism

Identification with your own nation and support for its interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of other nations.

Types of Nationalism in WWI

Pan-Germanism, Pan-Slavism, Franco-Nationalism

Pan-Germanism

Right of Germany to conquer “living spaces” for its people

Pan-Slavism

Unification of ALL Slavic peoples under Russia. Liberation of Slavic peoples under the Ottoman Empire.

Franco-Nationalism

Largely aggressive and xenophobic nationalism. Right to defend all French peoples. Right to retake Alsance and Lorraine.

Triple Entente

Alliance between Great Britain, France + Russia.

Triple Alliance

Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.

Inciting Incident of WWI

Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Who killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand?

Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip.

Why was the Balkans known as the “soft belly” of Europe?

Highly unstable region due to convergence of cultures + crammed populations.

Countries of the Balkans

Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Albania, Macedonia, Romania.

Serbia’s goal in WWI

Landlocked country wanted to obtain a port.

How did Austria-Hungary retaliate after the assassination?

Declared war against Serbia.

How did the war escalate beyond Serbia and Austria-Hungary?

Germany declared war against Serbia, Russia declared war against Germany (triple-alliance invoked), France declares war against Germany, Germany invades Belgium (neutral), Great Britain declares war against Germany.

Schlieffen Plan

Germany would attack France before progressing onto Russia.

Why did Canadian agents refuse enlistment to Native men?

Native people were viewed as children + flood of recruits meant agents could afford to be selective.

Important WWI battles for Canadians

Battle of Ypres, Battle of the Somme, Vimy Ridge

Battle of Ypres (1915)

Canadians held the gap and prevented a German breakthrough. Use of poison gas.

Battle of the Somme (1916)

Canadians were no match for the Germans. Armed with poor Ross Rifles. 600 000 casualties, 24 000 Canadian. Provokes a change of leadership + equipment (Lee enfields replace Ross rifles).

Vimy Ridge (1917)

Most important battle for Canadian troops. 70 000 Canadian troops. Heavily rehearsed and planned. Successfully captured the ridge. Defining moment for Canadian identity.

Canadian Women in WWI

Nurses, voluntary organizations, worked in farms, factories and offices.

How were Canadian women workers treated in WWI?

Paid less than men. Denied access to unions + daycare.

Wartime Elections Act (1917)

Gave the vote to wives + mothers of Canadian soldiers.

Maternal Feminism

Belief that women should vote because of their status as mothers.

Egalitarian feminism

Men and women should be treated equally.

National Service Board

Identified 475,000 men qualified to enlist. Only 200 volunteered.

How did PM Borden resolve the issue of conscription?

Had promised there would be NO conscription. Formed a coalition goverment with the Liberals to avoid Conservative backlash. Enforced conscription in 1917.

Royal 22nd Regiment

Popularly known as the “Vandoos.” First French-speaking Battalion. Created during WWI.

French Canadians and WWI

Refusal to enlist, English language of instruction, Royal 22nd regiment.

How many people died in WWI?

20 million.

Woodrow Wilson’s Advocacy

Reduction of armaments, no hidden treaties, self-determination of peoples.

Treaty of Versailles

Motivated by revenge, formation of League of Nations, lays groundwork for WWII.

Aftermath of WWI

economic ruin of Europe, American isolationism, shattering of Enlightenment ideals, Russian Revolution.

How did countries mobilize their entire populations?

centralisation of state power, propaganda campaigns, feminists temporarily abandoned suffrage movement, labor unions suspended strikes.

Why did the US join WWI?

sinking of the Lusitania, threats to American shipping, Zimmermann telegram.

How did women flout convention after WWI?

short hair, nightclubs, dancing, revealing clothing.

What did the end of wartime austerity lead to after WWI?

Rise of consumerism (radio, movies, jazz) and technological innovations (washing machines, ovens, vacuum cleanerS).

What did the imposed war reparations do to Germany?

Crippled economy, hyperinflation, resentment among demobilized soldiers.

What caused the Armenian genocide?

Carried out by the Ottoman Empire. Motivated by the belief that Armenians were collaboring with Russia during WWI.

How did Japan benefit from WWI?

Received German concessions from China + demanded further economic concessions.

Why did the Ottoman Empire collapse after WWI?

Had allied with Germany and lost WWI. Arabs revolted against Ottoman Turkish control. Establishment of Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Jordan + Palestine, governed by French + British mandates.

How did WWI lay the foundations for decolonization?

Triggered by soldiers returning from service in Europe.

How did WWI empower America?

Left intact after WWI, unlike many European countries. Became creditor state.

Russian Revolution

Period of political and social change in the Russian Empire catalyzed by WWI.

Who succeeded the Tsar?

Bolshevik Communist government led by Lenin.

Who did the Bolsheviks fight?

Nationalists, foreign armies, tsarist partisans, rival socialists.

Who succeeded Lenin?

Joseph Stalin.

How was Communism in the Soviet Union different?

Most socialists believed Communism could be peacefully + democratically achieved. Since democracy was impossible in Tsarist Russia, Russian socialists advocated revolution.

How did the Communist party dominate the political system in the USSR?

Outlawed other parties, “approved” ways of thinking, killed and imprisoned dissidents.

How did the USSR industrialize?

Collectivization of agriculture, rapid industrialization, public investment.

Describe collectivization of agriculture under Stalin.

Peasants forced into collective farms, richer peasants (kulaks) targeted, mass deportations and executions, massive famine.

Describe rapid industrialization under Stalin.

Elimination of unemployment, centralized state-run economy, mobilization of human labor + resources, urbanization.

Describe the effects of public investment under Stalin

Literacy rate skyrocketed, growth of public education.

Great Purges (1930s)

Campaign of state repression in the USSR that ended with 1 million dead and millions sent to labor camps.

Great Depression

Worldwide economic downturn that lasted from 1929 to 1939

How did the Great Depression begin?

1929 stock market crash.

What caused the Great Depression?

Overproduction in farms + factories, speculative stock market frenzy, bursting bubble in 1929 in the United States.

Describe the worldwide effects of the Great Depression

rubber market collapses (Southeast Asia), cocoa exports fall (African Gold Coast), plummeting exports (Latin America), land reform and protectionism (Mexico)

Why was Communism glorified during the Great Depression?

USSR had impressive economic growth + no unemployment.

Democratic Socialism

Emerged in capitalist countries as a response to the Great Depression. Involved greater regulation of the economy, more equal distribution of wealth, empowerment of the state.

Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal

Public spending programs, Social Security, Minimum wage + welfare programs.

Describe the New Deal’s impact on the Great Depression.

Ultimately ineffective.

How was the Great Depression ended?

Mass mobilization of WWII.

Why were farmers drawn to fascism?

Terrified of communist land seizures

Why were intellectuals drawn to fascism?

Appalled by the materialism + artificiality of modern life.

Why were middle and upper-class people drawn to fascism?

Threatened by Communism.

Why were WWI veterans drawn to fascism?

Nursed many resentments from WWI.

Where were fascism takeovers successful?

Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal.

Fascism

Political philosophy and regime that exalts nation and race above the individual.

Describe a fascist regime.

Centralized autocratic government headed by a dictator, severe economic + social control, opposition forcibly suppressed.

What ultimately provoked the Russian revolution?

Russian failures during WWI + the German invasion of Russia.

Komintern

International organization that advocated world communism. Controlled by the Communist Party of the USSR.

Ideological origins of fascism

Romanticism, nationalism, futurism.

Ideological opponents of fascism

Communism, revolutionary unionism, enlightenment values.

Nostalgic nationalism in Germany

Championed the revitalization of the German state, lamented its post-WWI state, glorified its past history.

Revolutionary Unionism

Broad international movement dedicated to organizing all workers into single, unified labor organizations.

Goals of Revolutionary Unionism

Overthrow the capitalist system through industrial actions, especially general strikes.

Futurism

Artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 1900s. Emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth and violence.

Describe the crises afflicting Italy after WWI.

Economic recession, mass worker unrest, political instability.

Describe mass worker unrest in Italy in the early 1900s

General strikes and factory occupations.

Describe political instability in Italy in the early 1900s

Battles between left-wing and right-wing militias. Local elites sided with fascists to suppress labor movements.

Italian elections of 1921

Loss for socialists + communists, victory for coalition of fascists + liberals, Mussolini elected to Parliament for the first time.

March on Rome (1922)

Organized mass demonstration that elevated Mussolini to power.

How did the March on Rome begin?

Blackshirts mobilized to stop an anti-fascist general strike.

How did the March on Rome end?

King Victor Emmanuel III feared bloodshed, persuaded the Prime Minister to resign and appointed Mussolini as his replacement.

Ideological origins of Nazism

darwinian nationalism, nostalgic nationalism, pan-germanism.

Pan-Germanism

Advocated for all Germanic-speaking peoples to be united under a German state.

Adrien Arcand

Known as the Canadian fuhrer. Founder of the Parti National Chretien. Sent to an internment camp during WWII.

Why were Italian veterans resentful after WWI?

Believed Italy should have gotten more concessions from the Treaty of Versailles.

How did the Nazi Party consolidate popular support?

invested in infrastructure, reduction in unemployment, brought Germany out of the Great Depression

how did the Nazi party (initially) repress Jewish citizens?

restrictions on daily life, looting of Jewish shops (Kristallnacht)

How did the Nazi Party initially gain support?

anti-semitism, racial superiority of German people, vengeance for treaty of versailles, fix economic woes.

Describe growing democratization in 1920s Japan

outbreak of rice riots, growth in union membership, women’s movement, universal male suffrage in 1925

Describe the backlash to democratization in 1930s Japan

Rise of the revolutionary right, recruitment of army officers, embrace of extreme nationalism.

Describe the military regime of Japan before WWII

government censorship, “resocialization” of political opponents, no mass executions or deporations.

How did anti-semitism manifest in British Montreal?

subtle discrimination (e.g secret university quotes at McGill)