Burbank and Cooper, pp. 369-412

Chapter 12: War and Revolution in a World of Empires: 1914 to 1945

This chapter explores how the two world wars and multiple revolutions transformed the structure and legitimacy of global empires. It addresses how war mobilization, ideological shifts, and anti-colonial movements weakened imperial rule and planted the seeds of postwar decolonization.

1. World War I as an Imperial Conflict

• WWI was not just a European war but a conflict between empires.

  • Britain, France, Russia, Germany, Austro-Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire were imperial powers fighting over territory and dominance.

• Colonial troops played a major role:

  • Millions were recruited from Africa, India, and Southeast Asia.

  • Their experience in Europe and the war effort altered perceptions of loyalty and empire.

2. Wartime Transformation and Crisis

• War strained empires economically and politically.

• Aftermath:

  • Ottoman, Habsburg, German, and Russian empires collapsed.

  • New states emerged, such as Turkey, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Baltic republics.

• The Soviet Union (USSR) emerged from the Russian Revolution, promoting anti-imperial and anti-capitalist ideologies.

3. Post-War Mandates and League of Nations

• League of Nations mandates redistributed former Ottoman and German colonies to Britain and France under the guise of stewardship.

  • E.g., Iraq, Palestine, Syria, Cameroon.

• This was essentially a new form of imperialism, justified by claims of preparing territories for self-rule.

• Resistance movements in colonies (e.g., Iraq 1920, Syria 1925) challenged this framework.

4. The Interwar Period: Reform vs. Repression

• European empires faced increasing demands for political reform:

  • India’s Congress movement pushed for home rule and later independence.

  • African nationalists formed early associations advocating equal rights.

• Responses included both limited reform and violent repression (e.g., Amritsar Massacre in India, 1919).

5. The Soviet Union and Revolutionary Empire

• The USSR promoted a universalist ideology of workers’ revolution.

  • Supported anti-colonial movements in Asia and Africa.

  • Framed itself as anti-imperialist, but maintained imperial control over Central Asia and the Caucasus.

• Created institutions like Comintern to support communist revolution globally.

6. Fascism and Authoritarian Imperialism

• Italy under Mussolini sought to revive a Roman-style empire (e.g., invasion of Ethiopia, 1935).

• Nazi Germany pursued racial empire-building in Eastern Europe.

  • Saw Slavs, Jews, and others as inferior races to be exterminated or enslaved.

  • WWII became a genocidal conflict with racialized imperial aims.

7. Japan’s Imperial Ambitions

• Japan built its own modern empire, occupying Korea, Manchuria, and parts of China.

• Claimed to liberate Asia from Western imperialism but imposed harsh colonial rule.

• The idea of a “Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere” masked its own imperial domination.

8. World War II: Global Imperial Conflict

• WWII was fought between imperial alliances:

  • Axis: Germany, Italy, Japan.

  • Allies: Britain, France, USSR, USA.

• Colonies were mobilized for war:

  • India and African colonies provided soldiers, labor, and resources.

• War accelerated anti-colonial sentiments:

  • Promises of postwar reform or independence were often made to secure support.

9. Shifting Imperial Legitimacy

• The Atlantic Charter (1941) signaled U.S. and British commitment to self-determination.

  • However, colonial subjects recognized the hypocrisy in Western actions.

• The Holocaust and Japanese war crimes exposed the brutal extremes of imperial ideologies based on race and exclusion.

10. Seeds of Postwar Decolonization

• WWII weakened European empires economically and politically.

• The emergence of the U.S. and USSR as superpowers, both opposed to old-style colonialism, shifted global power balances.

• Anti-colonial movements gained strength, and imperial rule was increasingly viewed as untenable.

Conclusion

• The period between 1914 and 1945 marked the beginning of the end for traditional empires.

• War, revolution, and ideology undermined the legitimacy of empire.

• The groundwork was laid for the wave of decolonization that would follow in the postwar decades.