Information from Heimler’s History, Encyclopaedia Britannica and my World History textbook

Unit 7.1: Shifting Power After 1900

Decline of the Ottoman Empire

1. Young Ottomans (Western-educated [*cough* Enlightenment ideals…]) emerged and called for changes that would reform the empire like Western democracies.

2. The authoritarian sultan agreed to the creation of a parliament and constitution but changed his mind when he was threatened with war by Russia

Young Turks

The Young Turks, filled with nationalism, called for the modernization of the empire. In 1908, they overthrew the sultan and took control.

The Young Turks’ Reforms:

• Secularization of schools and law code

• Establishment of political elections

• Made Turkish the official language of the Ottoman Empire (remember, nationalism)

Nationalism

⚠ These acts of nationalism alienated many of the empire’s minorities, which resulted in the minorities’ increased nationalism.

What does ethnic nationalism often lead to in AP World History? Cries for independence, and a fractured state

Collapse of the Russian Empire

In the 19th century (remember, 1801-1900), under Tzar Alexander II, Russia made progress in industrialization. Industrialization created a middle class.

Under Tzar Nicolas II…

Middle Class: Wanted more representation in government
Working Class: Experienced bad living/working conditions

This led to the…

Russian Revolution of 1905

Nicolas II granted the population a constitution, and legalized labor unions and political parties. Despite this, he carried on as usual (continued to be a dictator). These suppressed desires erupted again in the…

Russian Revolution of 1917

Note that this is ONE YEAR BEFORE THE END OF WWI

The revolution was lead by Vladimir Lenin, a Marxist and leader of a political group know as the Bolsheviks.

Lenin and the Bolsheviks successfully seized power and established a communist state, the Soviet Union

Collapse of Qing China

Qing’s Internal and External Problems

• Taiping Rebellion

  • Suppressed Qing leaders

  • Millions dead

• Loss of Opium Wars

• Loss of Sino Japanese War

  • China, who was too busy focusing on internal problems to industrialize, lost to industrialized Japan

• Boxer Rebellion: Launched by the Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists

Britain, Japan, France, Germany, and the U.S, etc. sent troops to suppress the rebellion.

When a country “helped” another country, it was usually for personal gain.

These countries demanded more from the already weakened China as a sort of payment for their “help”.

• Western-educated Sun Yat-sen created a revolutionary movement that ended in the abdication of the Qing Emperor

• Sun Yat-sen set up a provisional (temporary) government

• Sun Yat-sen’s successor, Chiang Kai-shek, was an anti-communist (Rape of Beijing)

• After years of struggles with Chiang Kai-shek, communist Mao Zedong established the communist People’s Republic of China. Chiang Kai-shek established the Republic of China in Taiwan

Mexican Revolution

• Late 19th century to early 20th century, a dictator named Porfirio Diaz ruled

• Nearly none of the social classes liked his policies, so he was removed

• His political rival, Francisco Madero, was elected in 1910, but was assassinated in 1912

• Next came unsuccessful civil wars led by peasant armies

• 1917: the revolution ended; Mexico became a republic with a constitution that solved its original problems:

  • Universal male suffrage

  • Minimum wage

  • Separate the Church from political and economic powers

Unit 7.2: Causes of World War I

M.A.I.N

Militarism: States began to create and mobilize massive armies and military plans. At the start of WWI, Germany had the most powerful military, which worried France. Britain had spent so much resources on its military that its resources were depleting

Alliances: Triple Alliance: Italy, Germany, Austro-Hungary (and its allies)
Triple Entente: Britain, France, Russia

Imperialism: Imperialism, which was used to gain power, led to heightened competition.

Nationalism: Nation states had increased nationalism (from 19th century) and saw other nations as enemies

WWI started after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by Serb Gavrilo Princip in the Balkans. The alliance systems then sprung up to protect their allies.

Unit 7.3: Conducting World War I

Total War: A war that requires the mobilization of a country’s entire population (military and civilian) to fight.

To successfully maintain a total war, that is, keep both civilians’ and soldiers’ morales high, governments used various techniques such as propaganda.

Propaganda

• Exaggerated the evil-doings of the enemies to increase hatred against the enemy

• Increased nationalism; this caused people to view themselves as the best nation

How the War Was Fought

• Schlieffen Plan: Plan by Alfred, Graf von Schlieffen; two-front war against France and Russia; France would be defeated first, then Russia

• New technologies:

  • Machine guns

  • Chemical Gas

  • Tanks

• Trench warfare: created to avoid loss of soldiers; resulted in a multi-year stalemate with casualties rising

• Colonial soldiers were brought to help fight. They fought hoping to gain independence or greater freedom

• The US joined the war for the Allies (brought fresh troops and supplies)

Unit 7.4: Economy in the Interwar Period

Germany

• Germany, which spent a lot on the war, thought that, by winning the war, it could pay off its own war-related debts.

• The Treaty of Versailles made Germany pay (expensive) reparations for its damage.

• Germany solved this problem by printing more money, which led to hyper inflation (1 USD = 4.2 trillion marks).

Decline of the Global Economy

• Germany owed but couldn’t pay Britain and France

• France, then, couldn’t pay off its debts to the U.S.

• The Soviet Union didn’t pay its debts because it didn’t want to

• Colonial governments relied on their colonial powers, thus declined economically as well

Stabilization of the Global Economy

• Started in 1924

• Germany borrowed money from U.S. banks to pay Britain and France

Soviet Union

• Exited WWI in 1917 because of the Russian Revolution, but not before its economy was devastated by its effects

• New Economic Policy (1923) (Vladimir Lenin)

  • Introduced limited free market economies while big institutions remained under state control

  • Dabbled in capitalism to be able to fully establish communism

  • Died in 1924 with Vladimir Lenin

• Five Year Plans (Joseph Stalin)

  • Goal: Fast industrialization; multiply Soviet industrial capacity by five

  • Collectivization of agriculture (merged private farms into large, state-owned farms) Food went to urban centers

    • The landed elites (Kulaks) resisted; 8 million were executed or sent to labor camps

    • Only the peasants remained; were incapable of keeping up with state demands

    • ↳ Resulted in famine (Holodomor), as the little that they could produce was sent away.

The Great Depression

• 1929 U.S. stock market crash

• Many European countries were relying on the US for monetary help in rebuilding after the war

• ↳ Worldwide disaster

• New Deal (Franklin D. Roosevelt):

  • Put people to work on infrastructure projects

  • Government-sponsored retirement program

  • Government medical insurance for elderly and children

Unit 7.5: Unresolved Tensions After World War I

• Republic of Turkey - Mustafa Kamal/ Ataturk

• 1931: Japan invaded Manchuria to get access to natural resources

  • Was against the League of Nations’ rules

  • League of Nations didn’t have enough power to enforce its rules, so Japan voluntarily dropped out

  • By 1932, Japan had taken over part of China

  • Continued to seize territory across the Pacific

The Mandate System

Cause

• Divided Ottoman and German territories among European powers

• Woodrow Wilson said that the right to self-govern would lead to peace

• France and Britain disagreed and the Mandate System was made as a compromize

Effect

• Middle-eastern territories would become mandates under the League of Nations

• Three tiers:

  • Class C: Smallest population and least developed; treated as colonies; several islands in the Pacific; taken over by British and Japanese

  • Class B: Larger populations, yet still underdeveloped; most of Germany’s colonies in Africa

  • Class A: Large population and sufficient development; treated as colonies; Britain occupied Palestine and Iraq; French occupied Syria and Lebanon

• Colonies had expected the outcome of the peace conference to be independence, so opposition grew.

Anti-colonial Resistance

• Indian National Congress

  • Formed before the war in the late 19th century

  • Formal petition to the British government for more self-rule

• Africa National Congress

  • Founded in South Africa by Western-educated lawyers and journalists

  • Wanted to obtain equal rights for colonial subjects in South Africa

  • Pan-Africanism

Unit 7.6: Causes of World War II

Italy

Was mad because…

• Italy did not receive promised land grants in Austria and Ottoman territory

(Allied powers promised Italy land to get it to join their side; realized that Italy wasn’t useful, thus, redacted the promise)

How this was solved

“Fine, I’m taking land on my own!” -Italy — invaded and conquered Ethiopia; combined it with previous African colonies and created a German Empire

Germany

Was mad because…

• Paying reparations ruined economy

• Germany was forced to demilitarize

• Germany was blamed for WWI

How this was solved

• Reclaimed lands taken by them by the Treaty of Versailles

  • e.g. the demilitarized Rhineland (buffer stated between it and France)

  • Czechoslovakia

  • Austria

The League of Nations didn’t do anything about it to avoid starting another war. This, however, made Hitler feel that he could do whatever he wanted.

Rise of Fascist and Totalitarian Regimes

Fascism: A political philosophy characterized by extreme nationalism authoritarian leadership and militaristic means to achieve its goals.

Soviet Union

• Joseph Stalin

• Wanted the entire world to be communist

Italy

• Benito Mussolini

• Rose out of the dissatisfaction with the war

Germany

• Adolf Hitler

  • Cancel reparation payments

  • Remilitarize

  • Territory expansion (lebensraum)

  • Eliminate “impure” (non-German) races

• Stated that socialists, communists, and Jews were the root of all Germany’s problems

Unit 7.7: Conducting World War II

• Total war (bigger than WWI)

• Hitler’s invasion of Poland (September 1st 1989) was the League of Nations’ “last straw”

• Axis Powers: Italy, Germany, Japan (Fascist)

• Allied Powers: Britain, France, USSR, US

• Use of propaganda

• Fascism and Communism: Served the interests of the state

• Democracy: Winston Churchill (Britain) couldn’t use force, so he used persuasion: “peoples war”; promised welfare expansion

• In the US, Japanese-Americans were forced into internment camps because of a fear that they were working with “the enemy”

• In Germany, Jews and others were forces into ghettos, than concentration camps

Strategies and Technologies

• Blitzkrieg: A shock and awe strategy aimed to eliminate the enemy with incredible speed

• Firebombs: Small clusters of explosives that sought to do damage with fire rather than explosions

• Atomic Bomb

Unit 7.8: Mass Atrocities After 1900

• ~120 million deaths, 50% civilian

• Aerial warfare: fire bombing, atomic bomb

• Extremist political campaigns that sought to destroy entire people groups

  • Armenian Genocide:

  • The Holocaust

    • Nuremburg Laws: stripped Jews of rights and forced them into ghettos

  • Cambodian Genocide

    • Khmer Rouge under Polpot, wanted to rid Western influence, thus executed those who were most likely to be influenced (~25% of population).

Unit 7.9: Causation in Global Conflict