Y1 IB History Exam Study Notes

Mercantilism

Middle Passage

Bacon’s Rebellion

Stono Rebellion

Causes of the Civil War

  • Sectionalism
  • Manifest Destiny
  • Compromise of 1850
  • Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857)
  • John Brown’s Raid on Harpers Ferry
  • Election of 1860

Factors Affecting the Outcome of the Civil War

Success of Reconstruction

  • Freedmen’s Bureau
  • 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments
  • Military Reconstruction Act
  • Ku Klux Klan
  • Lynchings
  • Voting interference

Causes of War in Europe (World War II)

  • Treaty of Versailles:
    • Peace agreement that ended World War I in 1919.
    • Punished Germany harshly:
      • Taking away land.
      • Limiting its army.
      • Making it pay for the war.
  • Failure of Collective Security:
    • League of Nations: Proposed by Woodrow Wilson to provide “collective security.”
      • Nations protect one another → strength in numbers (countries are less likely to be attacked if they have others supporting them).
      • The US didn’t join the league (out of fear they would be dragged into irrelevant conflict), which led to the failure of collective security.
  • Great Depression:
    • Worldwide economic crisis during the 1930s where many people lost jobs, businesses failed, and banks closed.
    • Key factors contributing to the crisis included: Speculation in the stock market, minimal banking regulations, a reduction in purchasing power.
    • Economic uncertainty led people to turn to a leader who promised to fix things → Hitler.
  • Conflicting Ideologies:
    • Fascism: Political system where the government is very powerful, people have few rights, and nationalism and military strength are important (used in Italy under Mussolini).
    • Nazism: Extreme form of nationalism and racism, characterized by antisemitism, a belief in the superiority of Germany, and the desire to create a “master race”.
  • Expansionist Aims of Hitler and Mussolini:
    • Hitler’s Rise to Power:
      • Unification of German People/Elimination of “Others”.
        • Lebensraum: “living space” in Eastern Europe into which Germans could expand.
        • Anschluss: The annexation of Austria (Anschluss) in 1938 was part of Hitler’s plan to unite/rule all German-speaking areas.
        • Annexation of the Sudetenland: Wanted this region of Czechoslovakia that had a significant German population.
        • Aryan Supremacy: Hitler wanted a racially pure society, which led to the persecution and genocide of Jews and other “inferior” groups.
      • Military Preparations:
        • Remilitarization of the Rhineland: Hitler sought to rebuild Germany's military strength, which was limited by the Treaty of Versailles.
        • Creation of alliances with Italy (Rome-Berlin Axis) and Japan (Anti-Comintern Pact).
        • Rearmament to prepare for wars of conquest.
      • Invasion of Poland (1939): Official outbreak of World War II, when Germany attempted to regain its former port city of Danzig
  • Tripartite Pact (1940): Alliance between Germany, Italy, and Japan, creating the Axis Powers.
  • Appeasement:
    • The policy of conceding to an aggressor to avoid conflict, ultimately proved unsuccessful in preventing World War II.
    • While initially intended to buy time for Britain and France to rearm, it emboldened Hitler and allowed him to expand Nazi Germany aggressively.

Causes of War in Asia

  • Japanese militarism/nationalism: Fueled a desire to build a powerful empire in East Asia, mirroring Western powers' imperial ambitions and using the military to protect its empire from external threats
  • Expansionist Aims: Starting in the early 1930s, Japan attempted to gain control of neighboring countries
  • Bombing of Pearl Harbor:
    • Japanese attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941 with the goal being the destruction of America’s pacific fleet.
    • In hopes that the US could not interfere with Japanese expansion.

Practices of the War

  • Blitz: German bombing campaign by the Luftwa e against the British in 1940 and 1941 to destroy British industrial capacity and break British morale. Over 9 months, around 43,500 civilians were killed in the Blitz
  • Blitzkrieg:
    • “Lightning War” tactic used by Germany in the early years of the war that combined air attacks with the use of tanks to carry out a quick attack that would cause shock and chaos
  • Phoney War:
    • Eight-month period at the start of World War II after the UK and France had declared war on Germany; from September 1939 until May 1940, little actual warfare occurred
  • Evacuation of Dunkirk:
    • Took place in late May/early June 1940 in northern France.
    • Allied forces were trapped by the advancing German army, but the British Navy and civilian vessels were used to evacuate over 338,000 soldiers → boosted morale, despite losing France
  • Battle of Britain:
    • Major aerial conflict between the Royal Air Force and the German Luftwa e from 7/10-10/31/1940.
    • Goal of the Luftwa e = gain air superiority over Britain to help with a future invasion
    • RAF was outnumbered but successfully defended their airspace, preventing a successful German invasion and securing Britain's survival
  • Operation Barbarossa:
    • Codenamed for surprise German invasion of the Soviet Union; while the Germans initially achieved some success, the invasion ultimately failed due

Turning Points

  • Battle of Stalingrad (1942-1943):
    • Germany and the Soviet Union fought for control of Stalingrad.
    • One of the deadliest battles in history with millions of casualties.
    • The Soviets surrounded and defeated the German army, forcing them to surrender.
    • Turning point in Europe → Germany started losing ground after this.
  • Battle of Midway (June 1942):
    • Key naval battle between the US and Japan in the Pacific.
    • The U.S. broke Japanese codes and set a trap near Midway Island, where they successfully sank four di cult to replace Japanese aircraft carriers
    • Shifted power to the US Navy in the Pacific and stopped Japanese expansion via “island hopping” (moving from island to island, conquering each along the way)
    • After, Japan started to lose territory and couldn’t attack as easily
  • Battle of El Alamein (October-November 1942):
    • Allied forces stopped German General Rommel’s advances into North Africa→ ended German hopes of controlling the Suez Canal
    • Boosted Allied morale; Churchill called it “the end of the beginning” for the Nazis
  • Operation Overlord/D Day (June 6, 1944):
    • The Allied campaign to liberate Western Europe, specifically focusing on the Normandy landings.
    • Largest amphibious assault in history, with approximately 160,000 Allied troops landing on the beaches of Normandy via boat, land, and air.
    • Allied victory allowed them to begin regaining control of western Europe from Germany
  • Battle of Berlin (April 16-May 2, 1945):
    • The final major o ensive of the European theater, fought between the Soviets and Germany, resulting in the fall of Berlin and the end of Hitler’s rule (and life)
  • Manhattan Project:
    • A top-secret US program that developed the world's first atomic weapons
    • Bombs were used to devastate Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order to force Japanese surrender
    • President Truman thought using the bomb would ultimately save American lives
  • Holocaust:
    • Genocide in which Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered approximately 17 million people, including six million European Jews in death camps
  • Japanese Internment:
    • Fear of Japanese spies after Pearl Harbor led to FDR’s Executive Order 9066, which ordered the forced relocation and internment of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans
  • Role of Women:
    • With the men abroad fighting, women took on traditionally “male” jobs; women could also join the armed services and fight if they wanted to

Effects of the War

  • Yalta Conference (February 4-11, 1945)
    • Leaders of the US, USSR, and UK met to discuss Europe’s post-war reorganization and the establishment of the United Nations
  • Potsdam Conference (July 17 to August 2, 1945)
    • Leaders of the US, USSR, and UK met to discuss the postwar order in Europe and to pressure Japan to surrender → made threats about what would happen if they didn’t (and four days later the first atomic bomb was dropped)
  • Treaty of San Francisco
    • Signed on September 8, 1951 to formally ended the war between Japan and the Allies
  • Establishment of the United Nations:
    • Organization of countries around the world established in 1945, dedicated to maintaining international peace and security

The Cold War: Superpower tensions and rivalries

  • Salami Tactics:
    • Soviet strategy of gradually expanding its influence by making small territorial gains, often without provoking immediate or significant backlash
  • Iron Curtain:
    • Winston Churchill said this had descended across Europe, marking a symbolic divide between the communist east and democratic, capitalist west
  • Communism:
    • System in which the government owns all businesses and property; there is no private ownership
    • Everyone is supposed to be equal, sharing wealth and resources, with the goal being to create a classless society without rich or poor people → this doesn’t work
    • Less choice for people, limited freedom, and lack of motivation
  • Capitalism:
    • System in which individuals and businesses own property and run companies for profit
    • People compete in a free market to make money and improve their lives.
    • Some people become rich, others may stay poor → economic inequality
  • Truman Doctrine:
    • A US policy of providing aid to countries threatened by Soviet expansionism
    • Pledged American support to free peoples resisting communist forces or outside pressures
    • Primary goal was to contain communism and prevent its spread →initial focus on Greece and Turkey
  • Marshall Plan:
    • The US pledged support to the devastated European countries after World War II; they hoped this would build a connection with these recovering nations so they would turn to the US, rather than the USSR
  • Containment:
    • Preventing the spread of communism / preventing a domino effect (when one country falls to communism, those around it will fall after
  • Détente:
    • Refers to the easing of tensions between the US and the Soviet Union, particularly during the 1970s.
    • Involved a shift away from direct confrontation and towards diplomatic e orts to de-escalate
  • SALT I and II:
    • “Strategic Arms Limitation Talks” between the US and Soviet Union to limit the number of nuclear weapons and missiles held by each country
  • Helsinki Agreement:
    • Signed by 35 countries, including the U.S. and USSR, to improve East–West relations; countries agreed to respect borders, human rights, and cooperate economically and scientifically
    • Was never legally binding, but it was a symbol of détente
  • Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD):
    • Basically if one country uses nuclear weapons, they risk retaliation from another country with them and ultimately both sides would be destroyed
  • Gorbachev’s Policies
    • Glasnost:
      • “Openness”; encouraged people to voice their opinions about government failures/shortcomings
    • Perestroika:
      • Plan to restructure the economy (and government) to incorporate capitalist ideals

Cold War Leaders

  • Nikita Khrushchev:
    • This Soviet leader, who served as premier from 1958 to 1964, largely pursued a policy of peaceful coexistence with the West except when he instigated the Cuban Missile Crisis
  • Mikhail Gorbachev:
    • Worked with Reagan to decrease political and military tension between the US and USSR; he declared the Soviet Union was dissolved when he resigned, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his “leading role in the peace process”
  • John F. Kennedy:
    • His presidency was defined by the Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
  • Ronald Reagan:
    • By the time he took o ce, two anti-nuclear treaties had been signed between the US and the Soviet Union, known as SALT I and SALT II, which helped him to end the Cold War
  • Fidel Castro:
    • Cuban leader who led the revolution to overthrow Batista; he remained in power through the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis, and he aligned Cuba with the Soviet Union

Cold War Crises

  • Berlin Blockade and Berlin Airlift:
    • Berlin was divided after WWII: the US controlled West Berlin; Soviets controlled East Berlin
    • In June 1948, the Soviet Union blocked all land and water routes into West Berlin to force the Western Allies to withdraw.
      • The U.S. and Britain responded with a massive airlift (the Berlin Airlift), delivering over 2 million tons of supplies (food, medicine, etc.) by air.
    • The Soviet Union lifted the blockade in May 1949, e ectively ending the airlift
  • Korean War:
    • Proxy war fought between North Korea (backed by China and the Soviet Union) and South Korea (backed by the US) from 1950-1953
    • Demonstrated America’s commitment to containment, as the goal was to prevent capitalist South Korea from falling to communist North Korea
      • Ended in a stalemate; Korea remains divided to this day
  • Cuban Missile Crisis:
    • 13 day stando from October 16-29, 1963
    • Soviet nuclear weapons were found in Cuba, causing the US to panic about the possibility of an attack on American soil
    • Closest the world ever came to nuclear warfare → Ultimately ended with the US agreeing to remove their weapons from Turkey and the Soviets removing their weapons from Cuba
  • Vietnam War:
    • Proxy war fought between North Vietnam (backed by the Soviet Union) and South Vietnam (backed by the US) from 1955-1975
    • US joined the war in 1964 with the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (passed after North Vietnam attacked two American ships in the Gulf of Tonkin, this allowed the US to send troops and military assistance to Vietnam without an o cial declaration of war
  • Key moments: Tet O ensive
    • Tet O ensive (1968): North Vietnam and the Viet Cong took advantage of the holiday, Tet, to attack in South Vietnam, targeting over 100 locations across South Vietnam
    • War was heavily protested in the US → lack of support contributed to US failure
    • US withdrew in 1975; South Vietnam fell to communist North Vietnam shortly after