World War II

World War II was primarily caused by fascist and authoritarian political expansion, appeasement from economic and war turmoil, and extremist racist policies.

• Hitler’s principle of Lebensraum, the idea that superior races needed to expand their territory to accommodate their needs led to Nazi Germany’s actions toward building an Aryan Racial State by rearmament, political alliance, and annexation of land.

  • Examples: Anglo-German Naval Pact, Occupation of Rhineland, Rome-Berlin Axis

• Mass casualties from WWI and the economic destruction of the Great Depression led to Western policies of non-intervention, allowing Nazi Germany to gain territory in Eastern and Central Europe.

  • Examples: Annexation of Austria, Munich Conference, Sutenland in Czechoslovakia, Chamberlain’s policy of Appeasement

• Japan grew increasingly aggressive in expanding against colonial powers in East Asia, leading to mass militarization and anti-Soviet action.

  • Examples: Seizure of Manchuria

World War II begins with early Axis victories from new technology and warfare tactics, allowing Axis forces to seize France and Scandinavia. The Axis forces faced trouble conquering Great Britain under Churchill and resorted to airstrikes using the Luftwaffe division.

• Examples: Blitzkrieg, Panzer Divisions

The invasion of the USSR badly failed as the war reached a turning point after American intervention from Japanese aggression at Pearl Harbor, leading to an increased supply of arms and bettering morale.

• Examples: Battle of Midway, Battle of Stalingrad, Invasion via Normandy (D-Day)

The Eastern front reaches a turning point after American success in the Pacific, leading to hopes for a Japanese invasion, but ultimately resulting in Japanese surrender following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In fascist states, “New Orders” appear and leaders attempt to form racial states using grotesque measures of genocide, torture, and mass murder to target ethnic minorities, homosexuals, and disabled people.

• Examples: Final Solution, Madagascar Plan, Death Camps, Einsatzgruppen

• Examples in East Asia: Burma-Thai Railway, Korean and Chinese genocide

WWII saw a new kind of total war as states pushed for new measures on mobilization, citizen activity, and women’s role in the war effort; total war spread to include civilian death and targeting.

• Examples: Rations, Grow Your Own Food Campaign, Night Witches, Manhattan Project, Luftwaffe bombings

World War II’s end saw extreme civil devastation, new technology and sciences funded by the government, and the rise of Cold War tensions from Allied War conferences on conflicting communist and Western ideals of a peaceful Europe.

• Examples: Tehran, Yalta, Potsdam, “Declaration on a Liberated Europe”, “Iron Curtain” Speech

Cold War

The Cold War was caused by underlying tensions between the communist Soviet Union’s want for buffer Soviet satellite states in Eastern Europe and the capitalist West’s wish to halt communist advances and promote Western capitalist ideals.

• Examples: Truman Doctrine, Marshall Plan, Containment, Berlin Air Lift

• The tensions between Western and Soviet rule in Europe formed military and economic alliances to ensure compliance with either side.

  • Examples: NATO, COMECON, Warsaw Pact

The Cold War tensions saw brief spurs of “hot wars” in international politics where a struggle between communist and Western forces would ensue, especially between the USSR and the US. The Cold War tensions would also rise in the form of races to better technology and arm countries against each other.

• Examples of “hot wars”: Korean War, First Vietnam War, Vietminh, Cuban Missile Crisis

• Examples: Arms race, Space race

Decolonization movements rose within Africa, Asia, and the Middle East after economic turmoil following World War, ideas of self-determination spread, and political instability grew inside Europe. However, many newly independent states saw surges of ethnic and religious conflict and social instability.

• Examples: Kenyan African National Union, Nelson Mandela, Apartheid, Pan-Arabism and Nasser, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Great Leap Forward

Economic recovery from the Marshall Plan is spurred quickly in the West, however, in the USSR and Eastern Europe economic recovery is pushed via Stalinization and militarization. Many European states hope to form a European unity through economic organizations.

• Examples: Tito, National Social Security Act, EEC

Consumerism and Americanization spread with the development of welfare states, the Baby Boom, the arts, literature, film, and leisure. Religion attempted to revive after WWII but failed to gain mass popularity again with the rise of artistic and literary movements for a lack of destiny, absence of God, and need for authenticity.

• Examples: Existentialism, Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, Pope John XXII, Movies, TV

Protest becomes an integral part of European society with demonstrations for women’s liberation, antiwar protests, and student revolts.

• Examples: Student Revolt 1968 in France, Kent State

The Cold War’s brief “hot wars” including the 2nd Vietnam War led to an eventual détente era as communism did not continue to spread in Asia, lessening arms tensions and putting a new spotlight on Chinese communism rather than the USSR.

• Examples: Antiballistic Missile Treaty, Equivalence

The USSR begins to fizzle out as it becomes more open to independent states, Western ideals, and capitalism.

• Under Brezhnev, the Détente lessened authoritarian measures in the USSR, however, the USSR ensured appropriate control over their Soviet satellite states when threatened with democratic values.

  • Examples: Hungarian Revolt, Prague Spring, Berlin Wall

The Feminist movement rises once again with a new focus on tackling social and economic inequalities, such as birth control, education, wages, and job opportunities in women’s lives rather than voting.

• Examples: Betty Friedan, de Beauvoir, Women’s Liberation Movement

Movements for civil rights, gay rights, and women’s rights grow in Europe, leading to opposition and new legislation.

• Examples: MLK, Malcolm X, Aids Crisis

The West saw a sharp economic downturn, leading to the rise of Conservative leaders who restricted and placed limitations on the welfare state, reduced union power, and stood firm against Soviet policies.

• Examples: Thatcherism, Reagan

New ecological awareness, technology, and innovation globalized the world, led to the growth of new political parties and consumerism, tackled social and political concerns, and united multiple cultures.

• Examples: The Green Party, Postmodernism, Rock and Roll, MTV, Munich Black September Terrorism, Americanization