7.4-7.9

Unit 7: Global Conflict (1900-Present)

7.4: Economy in the Interwar Period

• Great Depression (1929-1939):

  • Caused by stock market crash (1929) and agricultural overproduction.

  • Led to unemployment, hunger, and homelessness worldwide.

  • Governments increased economic intervention to stabilize economies.

• Keynesian Economics:

  • John Maynard Keynes argued that government spending (deficit spending) could stimulate economic recovery.

  • Used by FDR’s New Deal to provide relief, recovery, and reform.

• Effects on Trade:

  • Countries imposed tariffs, worsening the global economic downturn.

  • Japan devalued its currency, making exports cheaper and recovering quickly.

• Economic Responses:

  • U.S.: New Deal, government work programs.

  • USSR: Five-Year Plans, forced collectivization (led to famine).

  • Mexico: PRI-led economic reforms and nationalization of oil (PEMEX).

7.5: Unresolved Tensions After World War I

• Effects on Colonial Lands:

  • Many African and Asian colonies contributed troops but were denied independence.

  • Wilson’s Fourteen Points raised hopes for self-determination, but Western powers ignored it.

• Mandate System:

  • Middle Eastern lands (Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq) were placed under British & French control instead of gaining independence.

  • Balfour Declaration (1917): Britain promised a Jewish homeland in Palestine, leading to future tensions.

• Anti-Colonial Movements:

  • India: Amritsar Massacre (1919) radicalized independence efforts. Gandhi’s Salt March (1930) protested British rule.

  • China: May Fourth Movement (1919) led to anti-imperialist protests and rise of Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

  • Korea: March 1st Movement (1919) protested Japanese rule.

  • Africa: Nationalist movements emerged, inspired by exposure to European weakness.

7.6: Causes of World War II

• Rise of Fascism & Totalitarianism:

  • Germany (Nazi Party): Hitler rose to power by exploiting economic woes and nationalist resentment.

  • Italy (Mussolini): Established a corporate fascist state and expanded imperial ambitions in Ethiopia.

  • Spain (Franco): Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) was a struggle between fascists (Nationalists) and democratic forces (Loyalists).

• Aggressive Expansion:

  • Germany: Remilitarized the Rhineland, annexed Austria (Anschluss, 1938), and took the Sudetenland (Munich Agreement, 1938).

  • Japan: Invaded Manchuria (1931) and China (1937), escalating conflicts in Asia.

• Failure of the League of Nations:

  • No action taken against Germany, Italy, or Japan, emboldening aggressors.

• Appeasement & German-Soviet Pact:

  • Britain & France appeased Hitler, allowing expansion without opposition.

  • Nazi-Soviet Nonaggression Pact (1939) divided Poland between Germany & USSR.

• Invasion of Poland (Sept. 1, 1939):

  • Germany invaded Poland, prompting Britain & France to declare war → WWII began.

7.7: Conducting World War II

• Total War:

  • Governments mobilized all resources, including civilians.

  • U.S. & Britain: Women entered workforce (“Rosie the Riveter”).

  • Germany & Japan: Used forced labor.

• Major Battles:

  • Battle of Britain (1940): German Luftwaffe bombed British cities, but Britain resisted.

  • Operation Barbarossa (1941): Hitler invaded the Soviet Union, leading to the Siege of Leningrad (3-year blockade).

  • Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941): Japan attacked the U.S., bringing the U.S. into WWII.

• Turning Points:

  • Battle of Midway (1942): U.S. Navy halted Japanese expansion.

  • Stalingrad (1942-1943): Soviets defeated Germany, turning the tide in Eastern Europe.

  • D-Day (June 6, 1944): Allied invasion of Normandy, opening a Western Front.

  • Battle of the Bulge (1944-1945): Last major German counteroffensive.

• Victory in Europe & Pacific:

  • Hitler’s suicide (April 1945) → Germany surrendered (May 8, 1945, V-E Day).

  • Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki (Aug. 1945) → Japan surrendered (Sept. 2, 1945, V-J Day).

7.8: Mass Atrocities

• Holocaust:

  • Nuremberg Laws (1935): Stripped Jews of citizenship.

  • Kristallnacht (1938): First major state-sponsored attack on Jews.

  • Final Solution (1941-1945): Mass genocide in concentration camps (Auschwitz, Treblinka, Dachau).

  • 6 million Jews killed, alongside millions of others (Roma, Slavs, disabled, LGBTQ+ individuals).

• Other Genocides & War Crimes:

  • Armenian Genocide (1915): Ottoman Turks killed 1.5 million Armenians.

  • Rape of Nanking (1937): Japanese forces killed 100,000+ Chinese civilians.

  • Cambodian Genocide (1975-1979): Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge killed 1.7 million people.

  • Rwandan Genocide (1994): Hutu extremists killed 800,000+ Tutsis.

  • Bosnian Genocide (1992-1995): Ethnic cleansing by Serbs against Bosniaks.

7.9: Causation in Global Conflict

Political Causes of War

• WWI Causes:

  • Militarism, Alliances, Imperialism, Nationalism (M.A.I.N.).

• WWII Causes:

  • Treaty of Versailles, economic depression, failure of appeasement, expansionism.

• Decolonization & Cold War:

  • WWII weakened European powers, leading to independence movements.

  • U.S. vs. USSR rivalry led to global Cold War conflicts.

Effects of War

• WWI Effects:

  • Collapse of Ottoman, Russian, and Austro-Hungarian Empires.

  • Economic instability, rise of fascism & communism.

• WWII Effects:

  • Mass destruction, millions of deaths.

  • Creation of the United Nations (1945) to prevent future wars.

  • Cold War tensions (U.S. vs. USSR) began, shaping global politics for decades.

Summary

• World War I & II reshaped the global order, leading to economic turmoil, the rise of totalitarian regimes, genocide, and post-war independence movements.

• New global powers (U.S. & USSR) emerged, setting the stage for the Cold War.