Unit 6 & 7 Notes

Unit 6: 1750-1900 - Imperialism and its Consequences

Big Idea 1: Ideologies of Imperialism

  • Imperialism (1750-1900) driven by various ideologies:
    • Cultural Ideologies:
      • Belief in white race and European culture superiority.
      • Roger Kipling's "White Man's Burden" as quintessential example.
      • Social Darwinism: applying "survival of the fittest" to states.
        • Strong states dominating weak states.
      • Desire to spread Christianity.
    • Nationalist Motives:
      • Powerful states declaring dominance through empire building.
        • Britain in India.
        • France in Africa.
        • European states in Africa and Southeast Asia.
      • Japan (non-Western state) colonizing Korea after defeating China in the Sino-Japanese War.
    • Economic Motives:
      • Industrialized nations seeking colonies for:
        • New markets.
        • Raw materials.

Big Idea 2: Methods of Consolidating and Expanding Empires

  • Non-state to state control:
    • The Congo: Initially King Leopold II's private colony with brutal policies.
      • International pressure led to Belgian state control.
    • India: British East India Company's control.
      • Corruption and harsh policies led to Sepoy Rebellion (Indian Mutiny of 1857).
      • British government took direct control.
  • New imperial powers replacing old ones:
    • Decline of Spanish and Portuguese power.
    • Rise of:
      • United States: Expanded into the Pacific (Philippines) after the Spanish-American War (1898).
      • Japan: Expanded into Korea, parts of China, Southeast Asia, and Pacific Islands.
      • Russia: Expanded into Poland, Eastern Europe, parts of the Middle East, and China.
    • Scramble for Africa:
      • European powers desired Africa's raw materials.
      • Otto von Bismarck's Berlin Conference: European powers diplomatically divided Africa without African input.

Big Idea 3: Resistance to Imperialism

  • Resistance from colonized peoples:
    • Direct Resistance:
      • Peru: Tupac Amaru led a rebellion against Spanish atrocities (crushed by Spanish).
      • India: Sepoy Mutiny/Indian Rebellion.
    • Creation of New States:
      • Balkan states: Nationalism led to independence movements from Ottoman control.
        • New nations: Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, etc.
    • Religiously Inspired Rebellions:
      • Ghost Dance Movement (United States): Indigenous groups sought to expel white settlers (crushed by US military).
      • Coastal Cattle Killing Movement (South Africa).

Big Idea 4: Transformation of the Global Economy

  • Shift to cash crop farming:
    • Subsistence farming: Growing food for survival.
    • Cash crop farming: Selling crops for export (coffee, rubber, sugar, etc.).
    • Examples:
      • Uruguay and Argentina: Cattle ranching for European/American beef demand.
      • Peru and Chile: Guano extraction (fertilizer).
  • Colonial economies transformed to serve imperial powers:
    • Serving needs of distant urban centers.
    • Imperial powers organized economies around cash crops (cotton, rubber, palm oil).

Big Idea 5: Economic Imperialism

  • Economic Imperialism:
    • One country has significant economic power over another.
    • Not traditional colonialism (political control).
    • Example: Britain and China:
      • Opium Wars: Britain smuggled opium into China to fix trade deficit.
      • Chinese leaders banned opium; Britain retaliated.
      • British victory due to industrial capacity.
      • Britain forced China to open trading ports and free trade agreements.
      • China divided into "spheres of influence"
        • Exclusive trading rights for imperial powers (Japan, France, Germany, Russia, US).
  • Imperial powers organized economies for their distinct economic advantages.

Big Idea 6: Migration Patterns

  • Massive migrations due to industrialization and globalization:
    • Reasons for Migration:
      • Work.
        • New labor systems:
          • Indentured servitude: Workers pay for passage by working for a set number of years.
          • Asian contract laborers: Chinese and Indian workers for low wages.
          • Penal colonies: British convicts sent to Australia.
      • Bad Conditions at Home:
        • India: Poverty led to mass migration; indentured servitude offered by British.
        • Ireland: Irish Potato Famine (1845) led to immigration to America.
    • Settlement Patterns:
      • Immigrants settled in large cities, contributing to urbanization.
      • Ethnic enclaves formed.
    • Reception of Immigrants:
      • Discrimination faced.
      • Racist legislation:
        • White Australia Policy.
        • Chinese Exclusion Act (United States).

Unit 7: 1900-Present - Global Conflicts and Transformations

Big Idea 1: Changes in States After 1900

  • Internal and External Factors Causing Change:
    • Russia:
      • Lagging economic growth and reluctance to expand civil liberties.
      • Losses in Crimean War and Russo-Japanese War.
      • Bolsheviks seized power, establishing a communist government (Soviet Union).
    • China:
      • Ethnic tensions, famine, diminished government revenue.
      • Encroaching Western industrialization.
      • Overthrow of Qing Dynasty by Sun Yat-sen.
    • Mexico:
      • Wealth gap, land inequality, US investor cooperation.
      • Revolution led by Francisco Madero.

Big Idea 2: Causes of World War I

  • M.A.I.N. Causes:
    • Militarism: Buildup of military weaponry.
    • Alliance System: Defensive groupings of nations.
    • Imperialism: Competition for unclaimed lands.
    • Nationalism: Intense pride in national identity.
  • Spark: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Big Idea 3: World War I Strategies and Technologies

  • Total War:
    • Countries leveraged all domestic assets.
    • Transformation of domestic industry and economy.
  • Propaganda:
    • Biased information to persuade support.
    • Demonization of enemies.
  • New Technologies:
    • Poison gas, machine guns, submarines, tanks.
  • Trench Warfare:
    • Combined with new technologies led to stalemates and casualties.
  • End of War: Treaty of Versailles (1918).

Big Idea 4: Government Intervention in Economies After WWI

  • Great Depression:
    • Began in the US, spread worldwide.
    • US: Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal (massive government spending).
    • Germany: Economic ruin and hyperinflation after WWI.
      • Rise of fascism and Nazi party.
      • Strong government intervention (ceasing reparations, military buildup).
    • Soviet Union:
      • Five-Year Plans to transform USSR into an industrial power.
      • Collectivization of agriculture.
        • Widespread famine and death in rural areas (especially Ukraine).

Big Idea 5: Causes of World War II

  • Unsustainable Peace Agreement of WWI (Treaty of Versailles):
    • War guilt clause (Germany blamed for WWI).
    • Reparations (destroyed the German economy).
  • Economic Crisis (Great Depression).
  • Rise of Fascist Regimes:
    • Italy (Benito Mussolini).
    • Germany (Nazi Party):
      • Extreme nationalism.
      • Desire to restore German greatness.
      • Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939 triggered WWII.

Big Idea 6: World War II: A Total War

  • Total War:
    • Similar methods to WWI (propaganda, repurposed manufacturing).
    • Colonial powers called up colonial men and women.
    • Repression of civil liberties.
    • US: Japanese internment camps.
  • Mobilization of Different State Types:
    • United States (Democracy):
      • Strong industrial sector.
      • Women in factories.
    • Germany (Totalitarian):
      • Forced labor (concentration camps).
  • New Military Tactics and Technology:
    • Firebombing (Tokyo, Dresden).
    • Atomic bomb (US on Japan).

Big Idea 7: Rise of Extremist Groups and Genocide

  • Attempted Destruction of Populations:
    • Nazi Holocaust:
      • Final Solution: Rid Germany of Jews and other undesirables.
      • Forced removal to concentration camps.
      • Separation into labor and extermination camps.
    • Ukraine (Holodomor):
      • Ukrainian farmland: agricultural capital of the Soviet Union.
      • Confiscation of food led to a massive famine (7-10 million deaths).
      • Stalin's response: continue sending food to urban centers.