Unit 7: 1900 to Present - Key Concepts and Events

Internal and external factors led to significant changes in various states after 1900.
- Russia:
  - Lagging behind the West economically.
  - Reluctance to expand civil liberties.
  - Losses in Crimean War and Russo-Japanese War.
  - Bolsheviks seized power and established a communist government, forming the Soviet Union.
- China:
  - Internal threats: ethnic tensions, famine, diminished government revenue.
  - External threats: Western industrialization.
  - The last Chinese dynasty (Qing) was overthrown by Sun Yat-sen.
- Mexico:
  - Huge wealth gap, especially regarding land.
  - Cooperation with US investors to the detriment of the landless poor.
  - Revolution led by Francisco Madero aimed to correct internal and external problems.

Combination of:
- Militarism: Buildup of military weaponry.
- Alliances: Defensive groupings of nations against each other; promising to come to one another's aid if attacked.
- Imperialism: Fierce competition for unclaimed lands (e.g., scramble for Africa).
- Nationalism: Intense pride in one's own national identity, culture, and language.
The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was the spark that ignited World War I.

Total War: Countries leveraged all domestic assets to fight.
- Transformation of domestic industry and economy.
- Sacrifices made by the population to support the war effort.
Propaganda:
- Used to persuade people to support the cause.
- Spread biased or inaccurate information.
- Demonized enemies and glorified the cause.
New Technologies:
- Poison gas, machine guns, submarines, tanks.
Trench Warfare:
- Combined with new technologies, led to long-lasting stalemates and high casualties.
Ended with the Treaty of Versailles in 1918.

The Great Depression:
- Began in the US and spread worldwide due to interconnected economies.
- United States:
  - Herbert Hoover's laissez-faire approach initially failed.
  - Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal: massive government spending aimed to rescue the US from the depression.
- Germany:
  - Economically ruined after World War I due to hyperinflation.
  - Rise of fascism and the Nazi party.
  - Strong government intervention, including ceasing reparations payments and building up the military.
- Soviet Union:
  - Enacted a series of five-year plans to transform the USSR into an industrial power rapidly.
  - Collectivization of agriculture led to widespread famine and death in rural areas (especially Ukraine).

The unsustainable peace agreement of World War I (Treaty of Versailles).
Economic crisis (Great Depression).
Rise of fascist regimes, notably Nazi Germany.
Treaty of Versailles:
- War Guilt Clause: Germany was made to bear the entire blame for World War I.
- Reparations: Germany was forced to pay for the war, destroying its economy and hyperinflation.
Rise of the Nazi Party:
- Capitalized on extreme nationalism and tapped into deep grievances of the German people.
- Wanted to restore German greatness after the humiliation of the Treaty of Versailles.
- Cancelled reparations and began taking land surrounding Germany for Lebensraum (living space).
Appeasement:
- British response to Hitler's expansion was appeasement.
- Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 triggered World War II.

Total War: Totalitarian and democratic nations deployed all their nation's resources to fight and win.
- Methods: Propaganda, manufacturing sectors repurposed for military output.
- Colonial powers called up colonial men to fight and colonial women to support the war effort.
The United States:
- Strongest industrial sector, produced astounding amount of munitions.
- Women took the places of men in factories.
Germany:
- Relied more on forced labor, including concentration camps (counterproductive due to harsh conditions).
Repression of Civil Liberties:
- Curtailments of freedom of speech in democracies.
- Japanese internment in the US after Pearl Harbor.
New Military Tactics and Technology:
- Firebombing (Tokyo, Dresden).
- Atomic bombs (dropped on civilian populations in Japan).