I. Beginning
A. Nelson Mandela of South Africa spent 27 years in prison for treason, sabotage, and conspiracy.
1. in 1994, he became South Africa’s first black president
B. Decolonization was vastly important in the second half of the twentieth century.
1. the newly independent states experimented politically, economically, and culturally
2. these states were labeled as the third world during the cold war
a. now are often called developing countries or the Global South
b. they include a large majority of the world’s population
c. suffer from enormous challenges
II. Toward Freedom: Struggles for Independence
A. The End of Empire in World History
1. India, Pakistan, Burma, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel won independence in the late 1940s
2. African independence came between mid-1950s and mid-1970s
a. more than 50 colonies won freedom
3. imperial breakup wasn’t new; the novelty was mobilization of the masses around a nationalist ideology and creation of a large number of new nation-states
a. some comparison to the first decolonization of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries
b. but in the Americas, most colonized people were of European origin, holding a common culture with their colonial rulers
4. fall of many empires in the twentieth century
a. Austrian and Ottoman empires collapsed in the wake of World War I
b. Russian Empire collapsed but was soon recreated as the USSR
c. German and Japanese empires ended with World War II
d. African and Asian independence movements shared with other “end of empire” stories the ideal of national self-determination
e. nonterritorial empires (e.g., where United States wielded powerful influence) came under attack
i. U.S. intrusion helped stimulate the Mexican Revolution(1910)
ii. as in Mexico, Cuban revolution (1959–1960) included nationalization of assets dominated by foreign investors
f. disintegration of the USSR (1991) was propelled by national self-determination (creation of 15 new states)
B. Explaining African and Asian Independence
1. few people would have predicted imperial collapse in 1900
2. several explanations for decolonization have emerged:
a. emphasis on the fundamental contradictions in the colonial enterprise
i. rhetoric of Christianity and material progress didn’t fit the reality of racism, exploitation, and poverty
ii. Europeans’ increasingly democratic values were in conflict with colonial dictatorship
iii. ideal of national self-determination was at odds with repression of the same in colonies
b. historians use the idea of “conjuncture” to explain timing of decolonization
i. the world wars had weakened Europe and undermined a sense of European superiority
ii. the United States and USSR opposed older European colonial empires
iii. the UN provided a platform for anticolonial moves
iv. these factors helped create a moral climate in which imperialism was viewed as wrong
v. by the early to mid-twentieth century, the colonies had multiple generations of Western-educated elites
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Chapter 22
I. Beginning
A. The Berlin Wall was breached on November 9, 1989.
1. built in 1961 to seal off East Berlin from West Berlin
2. became a major symbol of communist tyranny
B. Communism had originally been greeted by many as a promise of liberation.
1. communist regimes had transformed their societies
2. provided a major political/ideological threat to the Western world
a. the cold war (1946–1991)
b. scramble for influence in the third world between the United States and the USSR
c. massive nuclear arms race
3. and then it collapsed
II. Global Communism
A. Communism had its roots in nineteenth-century socialism, inspired by Karl Marx.
1. most European socialists came to believe that they could achieve their goals through the democratic process
2. those who defined themselves as “communists” in the twentieth century advocated revolution
3. “communism” in Marxist theory is the final stage of historical development, with full development of social equality and collective living
B. At communism’s height in the 1970s, almost one-third of the world’s population was governed by communist regimes.
1. the most important communist societies by far were the USSR and China
2. communism also came to Eastern Europe, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, Afghanistan
3. none of these countries had the industrial capitalism that Marx thought necessary for a socialist revolution
4. communist parties took root in many other areas
C. The various expressions of communism shared common ground:
1. a common ideology, based on Marxism
a. an international revolutionary movement was more important than national loyalties
2. inspiration of the 1917 Russian Revolution
a. USSR provided aid and advice to aspiring revolutionaries elsewhere through Comintern (Communist International)
3. during the cold war, the Warsaw Pact created a military alliance of Eastern European states and the USSR
a. Council on Mutual Economic Assistance tied Eastern European economies to the USSR’s
b. Treaty of Friendship between the USSR and China (1950)
4. but relations between communist countries were also marked by rivalry and hostility, sometimes war
III. Comparing Revolutions as a Path to Communism
A. Communist revolutions drew on the mystique of the French Revolution.
1. got rid of landed aristocracies and the old ruling classes
2. involved peasant upheavals in the countryside; educated leadership in the cities
3. French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions all looked to a modernizing future, eschewed any nostalgia for the past
4. but there were important differences:
a. communist revolutions were made by highly organized parties guided by a Marxist ideology
b. the middle classes were among the victims of communist upheavals, whereas middle classes were chief beneficiaries of French Revolution
A. The Berlin Wall was breached on November 9, 1989.
1. built in 1961 to seal off East Berlin from West Berlin
2. became a major symbol of communist tyranny
B. Communism had originally been greeted by many as a promise of liberation.
1. communist regimes had transformed their societies
2. provided a major political/ideological threat to the Western world
a. the cold war (1946–1991)
b. scramble for influence in the third world between the United States and the USSR
c. massive nuclear arms race
3. and then it collapsed
II. Global Communism
A. Communism had its roots in nineteenth-century socialism, inspired by Karl Marx.
1. most European socialists came to believe that they could achieve their goals through the democratic process
2. those who defined themselves as “communists” in the twentieth century advocated revolution
3. “communism” in Marxist theory is the final stage of historical development, with full development of social equality and collective living
B. At communism’s height in the 1970s, almost one-third of the world’s population was governed by communist regimes.
1. the most important communist societies by far were the USSR and China
2. communism also came to Eastern Europe, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, Afghanistan
3. none of these countries had the industrial capitalism that Marx thought necessary for a socialist revolution
4. communist parties took root in many other areas
C. The various expressions of communism shared common ground:
1. a common ideology, based on Marxism
a. an international revolutionary movement was more important than national loyalties
2. inspiration of the 1917 Russian Revolution
a. USSR provided aid and advice to aspiring revolutionaries elsewhere through Comintern (Communist International)
3. during the cold war, the Warsaw Pact created a military alliance of Eastern European states and the USSR
a. Council on Mutual Economic Assistance tied Eastern European economies to the USSR’s
b. Treaty of Friendship between the USSR and China (1950)
4. but relations between communist countries were also marked by rivalry and hostility, sometimes war
III. Comparing Revolutions as a Path to Communism
A. Communist revolutions drew on the mystique of the French Revolution.
1. got rid of landed aristocracies and the old ruling classes
2. involved peasant upheavals in the countryside; educated leadership in the cities
3. French, Russian, and Chinese revolutions all looked to a modernizing future, eschewed any nostalgia for the past
4. but there were important differences:
a. communist revolutions were made by highly organized parties guided by a Marxist ideology
b. the middle classes were among the victims of communist upheavals, whereas middle classes were chief beneficiaries of French Revolution
Chapter 21
I. Beginning
A. The last veterans of World War I are dying.
1. disappointment that it wasn’t the “war to end all wars”
2. but now the major European states have ended centuries of hostility
B. The “Great War” (World War I) of 1914–1918 launched a new phase of world history.
1. it was “a European civil war with a global reach”
2. between 1914 and the end of WWII, Western Europe largely self-destructed
3. but Europe recovered surprisingly well between 1950 and 2000
a. but without its overseas empires
b. and without its position as the core of Western civilization
II. The First World War: European Civilization in Crisis, 1914–1918
A. By 1900, Europeans, or people of European ancestry, controlled most other peoples of the world.
B. An Accident Waiting to Happen
1. modernization and Europe’s rise to global ascendancy had sharpened traditional rivalries between European states
2. both Italy and Germany unified ca. 1870
a. Germany’s unification in the context of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) had embittered French-German relations
b. rise of a powerful new Germany was a disruptive new element
3. by around 1900, the balance of power in Europe was shaped by two rival alliances
a. Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, Italy)
b. Triple Entente (Russia, France, Britain)
c. these alliances turned a minor incident into WWI
4. June 28, 1914: a Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne
a. Austria was determined to crush the nationalism movement
b. Serbia had Russia (and Russia’s allies) behind it
c. general war broke out by August 1914
5. factors that contributed to the outbreak and character of the war:
a. popular nationalism
i. freedom movements like that of Serbia
ii. intense nationalist competition between countries
iii. gave statesmen little room for compromise
iv. assured widespread popular support for starting war
b. industrialized militarism
i. military men had great prestige
ii. all states had standing armies
iii. all states but Britain relied on conscription
iv. arms race, especially in warships
v. all states had elaborate plans for what to do if war broke out
vi. large number of new weapons had been invented (tanks, submarines, airplanes, poison gas, machine guns, barbed wire)
vii. result: some 10 million people died in WWI, perhaps 20 million wounded
c. Europe’s colonial empires
i. funneled colonial troops and laborers into the war effort
ii. battles in Africa and South Pacific
iii. Japan (allied with Britain) took German possessions
iv. Ottoman Empire (allied with Germany) suffered intense military operations and an Arab revolt
v. the United States joined the war in 1917 when German submarines harmed U.S. shipping
A. The last veterans of World War I are dying.
1. disappointment that it wasn’t the “war to end all wars”
2. but now the major European states have ended centuries of hostility
B. The “Great War” (World War I) of 1914–1918 launched a new phase of world history.
1. it was “a European civil war with a global reach”
2. between 1914 and the end of WWII, Western Europe largely self-destructed
3. but Europe recovered surprisingly well between 1950 and 2000
a. but without its overseas empires
b. and without its position as the core of Western civilization
II. The First World War: European Civilization in Crisis, 1914–1918
A. By 1900, Europeans, or people of European ancestry, controlled most other peoples of the world.
B. An Accident Waiting to Happen
1. modernization and Europe’s rise to global ascendancy had sharpened traditional rivalries between European states
2. both Italy and Germany unified ca. 1870
a. Germany’s unification in the context of the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) had embittered French-German relations
b. rise of a powerful new Germany was a disruptive new element
3. by around 1900, the balance of power in Europe was shaped by two rival alliances
a. Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria, Italy)
b. Triple Entente (Russia, France, Britain)
c. these alliances turned a minor incident into WWI
4. June 28, 1914: a Serbian nationalist assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne
a. Austria was determined to crush the nationalism movement
b. Serbia had Russia (and Russia’s allies) behind it
c. general war broke out by August 1914
5. factors that contributed to the outbreak and character of the war:
a. popular nationalism
i. freedom movements like that of Serbia
ii. intense nationalist competition between countries
iii. gave statesmen little room for compromise
iv. assured widespread popular support for starting war
b. industrialized militarism
i. military men had great prestige
ii. all states had standing armies
iii. all states but Britain relied on conscription
iv. arms race, especially in warships
v. all states had elaborate plans for what to do if war broke out
vi. large number of new weapons had been invented (tanks, submarines, airplanes, poison gas, machine guns, barbed wire)
vii. result: some 10 million people died in WWI, perhaps 20 million wounded
c. Europe’s colonial empires
i. funneled colonial troops and laborers into the war effort
ii. battles in Africa and South Pacific
iii. Japan (allied with Britain) took German possessions
iv. Ottoman Empire (allied with Germany) suffered intense military operations and an Arab revolt
v. the United States joined the war in 1917 when German submarines harmed U.S. shipping
Monday, April 3, 2017
Chapter 20
I. Beginning
A. The author describes his experience in postcolonial Kenya.
1. discovery of reluctance to teach Africans English
2. colonial concern to maintain distance between whites and blacks
a. was a central feature of many colonial societies in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
B. The British, French, Germans, Italians, Belgians, Portuguese, Russians, and Americans all had colonies.
1. colonial policy varied depending on time and country involved
2. the actions and reactions of the colonized people also shaped the colonial experience
II. A Second Wave of European Conquests
A. The period 1750–1900 saw a second, distinct phase of European colonial conquest.
1. focused on Asia and Africa
2. several new players (Germany, Italy, Belgium, U.S., Japan)
3. was not demographically catastrophic like the first phase
4. was affected by the Industrial Revolution
5. in general, Europeans preferred informal control (e.g., Latin America, China, the Ottoman Empire)
B. The establishment of the second-wave European empires was based on military force or the threat of using it.
1. original European military advantage lay in organization, drill, and command structure
2. over the nineteenth century, Europeans developed an enormous firepower advantage (repeating rifles and machine guns)
3. numerous wars of conquest: the Westerners almost always won
C. Becoming a colony happened in a variety of ways.
1. India and Indonesia: grew from interaction with European trading firms
a. assisted by existence of many small and rival states
2. most of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific islands: deliberate conquest
a. “the scramble for Africa” was based on inter-European rivalry over only about 25 years (1875–1900)
3. decentralized societies without a formal state structure were the hardest to conquer
4. Australia and New Zealand: more like the colonization of North America (with massive European settlement and diseases killing off most of the native population)
5. Taiwan and Korea: Japanese takeover was done European-style
6. United States and Russia continued to expand
7. Liberia: settled by freed U.S. slaves
8. Ethiopia and Siam (Thailand) avoided colonization skillfully
D. Asian and African societies generated a wide range of responses to the European threat.
A. The author describes his experience in postcolonial Kenya.
1. discovery of reluctance to teach Africans English
2. colonial concern to maintain distance between whites and blacks
a. was a central feature of many colonial societies in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
B. The British, French, Germans, Italians, Belgians, Portuguese, Russians, and Americans all had colonies.
1. colonial policy varied depending on time and country involved
2. the actions and reactions of the colonized people also shaped the colonial experience
II. A Second Wave of European Conquests
A. The period 1750–1900 saw a second, distinct phase of European colonial conquest.
1. focused on Asia and Africa
2. several new players (Germany, Italy, Belgium, U.S., Japan)
3. was not demographically catastrophic like the first phase
4. was affected by the Industrial Revolution
5. in general, Europeans preferred informal control (e.g., Latin America, China, the Ottoman Empire)
B. The establishment of the second-wave European empires was based on military force or the threat of using it.
1. original European military advantage lay in organization, drill, and command structure
2. over the nineteenth century, Europeans developed an enormous firepower advantage (repeating rifles and machine guns)
3. numerous wars of conquest: the Westerners almost always won
C. Becoming a colony happened in a variety of ways.
1. India and Indonesia: grew from interaction with European trading firms
a. assisted by existence of many small and rival states
2. most of Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific islands: deliberate conquest
a. “the scramble for Africa” was based on inter-European rivalry over only about 25 years (1875–1900)
3. decentralized societies without a formal state structure were the hardest to conquer
4. Australia and New Zealand: more like the colonization of North America (with massive European settlement and diseases killing off most of the native population)
5. Taiwan and Korea: Japanese takeover was done European-style
6. United States and Russia continued to expand
7. Liberia: settled by freed U.S. slaves
8. Ethiopia and Siam (Thailand) avoided colonization skillfully
D. Asian and African societies generated a wide range of responses to the European threat.
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