1 InternationalConflictsandThreatsto Peacein the 20thCentury

I The First WorldWar(191418)

(1) Background of the World The Western powers competed for colonies in Asia and Africa after the Industrial Revolution. The spread of nationalism led to the rise of Germany and Italy. France tried to get back the land lost to Germany after her defeat in the FrancoPrussian War (1870-71). This started her conflicts with Germany. Britain was a great industrial and colonial power; and she gave up her isolation because of the threats from Germany Germany was an industrial state like Britain. Her attempt to build a strong navy and get colonies in Africa led her into conflicts with Britain and France. Russia was the biggest European state with the largest army. Her support of the Balkan states led her into conflicts with Austria-Hungary. Austria-Hungary was ambitious in the Balkan peninsula. Italy was the weakest among the European powers. She allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary because of her colonial conflicts with France. The United States was a strong industrial country, but she adopted isolation. (2) Causes of the War (a) The Alliance System i. ii. Germany started this system against France in the 1870s. By 1907, two sets of alliances had developed in Europe: The Triple Alliance: formed by Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1882; The Triple Entente: formed by France, Russia and Britain in 1907. iii. If a member of the Triple Alliance was at war with a member of the Triple Entente, the other members had to help them, thus turning a local war into a general war. Picture Description: The Three Emperors League (1873)
Tsar Alexander II of Russia Kaiser William I of Germany Emperor Francis Joseph of AustriaHungary

(b) The Armaments Race ii It took place in Europe in the period 1871-1914. iii Each power tried to produce more weapons and develop strong armies. iiii The powers distrusted each other because of the armaments race. ivi This increased the powers tensions and helped to bring about the First World War. (c) Colonial Rivalries i. ii. The European powers competed for colonies abroad during 1871-1914. Colonial rivalries increased the tensions among them.

(d) Extreme nationalism Frances attempt to take revenge on Germany for her defeat in the FrancoPrussian War in 1871 led her into conflicts with Germany. iii Germany started the Alliance System to isolate France. She also promoted Pan-Germanism to unite the Germans in Austria under one great German state. iiii Austria-Hungarys attempt to expand in the Balkans led her into conflicts with Russia and Serbia. ivi Russias attempt to promote Pan-Slavism to unite all the Slavs in Europe under one great Slav state led her into conflicts with Austria-Hungary. ii
Additional Information: Nationalism It is a feeling of unity among a people based on common history, religion, language and customs. It is also a devotion to the interests of ones nation.

(3) How War Began (a) Pre-War Crises i. Crises in the Morocco Two crises took place in Morocco in 1905 and in 1911. Franco-German relations grew worse because of these crises. The bad relations between the two countries speeded up the outbreak of the First World War.

ii. The Bosnian Crisis In 1908, Austria-Hungary took control of Bosnia-Herzegovina from Turkey. This angered Serbia since she also wanted to have these places.

iii. The Balkan Wars

Two wars broke out in the Balkans in 1912 and 1913. Serbia grew more powerful because of these wars. Austria-Hungarys attempt to stop her from becoming too powerful led to conflicts between the two states. (b) The Sarajevo Incident (June 28, 1914) On June 28, 1914, a Bosnian murdered Archduke Ferdinand, the heir to the emperor of Austria-Hungary, in Sarajevo. iii Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia because she said that Serbia was behind the murder. ii
Picture Description: Gavrilo Princip (18951918)

Gavrilo Princip

Gavrilo Princip killed Archduke Ferdinand on June 28, 1914. He was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1894. He was a member of the Serbian nationalist secret society Black Hand. Princip was imprisoned by Austria-Hungary for killing Archduke Francis Ferdinand. He died of tuberculosis in 1918.

(4) Course of the War The Central Powers consisted of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, while the Allies were made up of Russia, France, Britain and Serbia. Many Asian, European and American countries joined the Allies and this turned the war in Europe into a global conflict. In 1917, the United States declared war on Germany when Germany said her submarines would attack any ships sailing to Britain. In November 1917, Russia withdrew from the war after the October Revolution. The Allies defeated the Central Powers in 1918. The Battle Fronts: Anglo-French soldiers fought against the Germans in the Western Front while the Germans fought against the Russians in the Eastern Front. (5) Results of the War (a) The Paris Peace Conference (1919) i. ii. iii. Britain, France and the United States dominated it. The victorious nations signed treaties with the defeated ones. By these treaties, each defeated country had to disarm, to pay an indemnity and to lose some land.

iv.

The peace treaty with Germany was called the Treaty of Versailles (June 1919). By this treaty, Germany had to: reduce its army to 100,000 men; pay a large indemnity; return Alsace-Lorraine to France; give up some land and all her colonies; and accept the war-guilt clause.

Picture Description: The Representatives of Britain, the United States and France at the Paris Peace Conference (1919) British Prime Minister David Lloyd George US President Woodrow Wilson French Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau (1841-1929)

(1863-1945)

(1856-1924)

(b) Effects of the War i. ii. iii. iv. v. The First World War killed about 8.5 million people, and this weakened most of the countries that had taken part in the war. It ended the empires of the Russians, the Austrians, the Germans and the Turks. This led to the rise of many new nation states in Europe. The war led to the formation of a peacekeeping body, the League of Nations, in 1920. The social position of women raised after the First World War. New weapons were used during the war.

II The SecondWorldWar(193945)
(1) The World after the War Britain, Italy and France: weakened by the First World War; faced rising national debts, falling production, unemployment and social unrest Germany: overthrow of William II and setting up of a new republic; unable to solve the problems brought by the war Eastern European States: weak and dependent on British and French protection Japan: took over German colonies in the Pacific; naval development was just behind that of Britain and the United States Russia: became a Communist state in 1917; renamed as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922; Stalin became the leader of the Soviet Union after Lenins death in 1924. The United States: became the worlds biggest creditor, producer and importer; returned to isolation and refused to join the League of Nations
Additional Information: The United States and the League of Nations Though President Woodrow Wilson supported the formation of the League of Nations, the US Senate refused to ratify the Treaty of Versailles. The United States was unable to join the League of Nations.

(2) Causes of the War (a) The Great Depression i. Why it started The United States prospered after the First World War, and stock prices rose rapidly. Rapid economic growth led to overproduction and overspeculation in the stock market. In 1929, the stock market collapsed leading to unemployment and bankruptcies. The Great Depression started.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945)

Additional Information: The Great Depression in the United States During the Great Depression, there were 16 million unemployed workers, representing about one-third of the total workforce in the US. The gross national product decreased from $103,828,000,000 in 1929 to $55,760,000,000 in 1933. President Franklin Roosevelt introduced the New Deal (1933-41) to solve the problems brought by the Great Depression. The New Deal provided financial aid and work to unemployed workers and reformed the economy of the United States.

ii. How it Spread to Europe and Japan The United States demanded European nations repaying their debts. She also reduced the import of goods from Europe and Japan. Europe and Japan lost their overseas markets leading to unemployment in these places. The Great Depression spread abroad.

iii. Effects Economic problems and social crises created a breeding ground for totalitarianism. Totalitarian nations favoured expansion and threatened world peace. The Great Depression caused unemployment and political instability in the United States, Britain and France, so these states failed to work together against totalitarianism.

(b) Rise of Totalitarianism It was a kind of dictatorship developed in Italy, Japan and Germany after the First World War. Under this system, a dictator or a political party: had dictatorial power by banning all political parties; ruled with an ideology; and adopted an expansionist policy. i. Italy The democratic government failed to solve the social and economic problems brought by the First World War. In 1919, Benito Mussolini (1883-1945) formed the Fascist Party, and he claimed that he could turn Italy into a strong country. Many Italians supported Mussolini, and in 1922, a fascist government under the leadership of Mussolini was set up.

Additional Information: The March on Rome (1922)

Mussolini and his supporters marching on Rome

In 1922, Mussolini and his fascists marched on Rome threatening to occupy the city if he was not invited to form a new government. King Victor Emmanuel III refused to arrest the Fascists. He invited Mussolini to form a new cabinet.

Main Ideas of Fascism Meaning: Fascism comes from an ancient Latin word fasces, which is the name of an axe tied with rods carried by the lictors of the ancient Roman Empire as a symbol of authority. believed in one-party dictatorship; controlled everything; praised wars and adopted an expansionist policy.

ii. Japan A democratic government ruled Japan after the First World War. But it failed to solve the problems brought by the Great Depression of 1929-33. So many Japanese supported the militarists who supported an expansionist policy to make Japan strong again. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria and captured it in 1932. Main Ideas of Militarism to use force to make Japan stronger, to settle conflicts and ruled over weak nations, to use violence to get rid of their opponents, believed in an expansionist policy.

iii. Germany During the period 1919-33, a democratic government ruled Germany. Not many Germans supported this government because it accepted the Treaty of Versailles and failed to solve the economic problems during 1929-33. The Germans supported Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party because he promised to end the Treaty of Versailles, solve the problems facing Germany at the time, and make Germany strong again. In 1933, Hitler became the Chancellor. He turned Germany into a totalitarian state and ruled Germany until 1945. Main Ideas of Nazism believed in racial superiority, Additional Information: Adolf Hitler followed a genocide policy against the Jews, Hitler (right) during World War I believed in one-party dictatorship, Adolf Hitler was born in a small village in Austria. His used violence to get rid of enemies.
father was a customs official. Hitler was aspired to be an artist when he was a teenager. He lived an idle life in Vienna after failing to enter the academy of arts. He joined the Bavarian army when World War I broke out. He became a corporal and was rewarded the Iron Cross for his bravery.

In 1919, he joined the German Workers' Party, renamed the National Socialist Party (the Nazi Party) in 1920. He was elected the president of the Nazi Party in 1921. Two years later, he was imprisoned for staging a coup against the government. He wrote his book My Struggle in prison. 7

In 1933, he was asked by President Hindenburg (1847-1934) to form a new government. After Hindenburg's death in 1934, Hitler took up the title of Fuhrer (leader). He purged his opponents during his rule. In 1944, Hitler survived an assassination. In 1945, shortly before the fall of Berlin, Hitler married Eva Bruna. Then, they committed suicide.

Hitler and Hindenburg

(c) Aggression of the Totalitarian States i. Japans aggression in China: In 1931, Japan attacked Shenyang and took over Manchuria next year. ii. Italys aggression in Abyssinia: In 1935, Italy attacked Abyssinia. iii. Germanys aggression in Europe In 1936, Germany broke the Treaty of Versailles by remilitarizing the Rhineland. In 1938, Germany united Austria. In 1939, Germany demanded Czechoslovakia to cede the Sudetenland inhabited by over 3 million German-speaking Austrians. (d) Response of the Three Western Powers i. Britains Response Britain, under Neville Chamberlain (1869-1940), adopted appeasement towards the aggression of Germany. Appeasement is a policy to satisfy someone by giving him what he wants. Chamberlain followed this policy because: he believed that Germany was unfairly treated at the Paris Peace Conference (1919); Britain was hit by the Great Depression and could not wage wars to stop Hitlers aggression.

ii. Frances Response France also followed this policy because she faced many political and economic problems.

Additional Information: The Munich Pact (1938) Germany, Italy, France, and Britain signed the Munich Pact in 1938, which permitted Germany to occupy the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain signed this pact since he believed that Hitler would not claim demand for other territories after obtaining the Sudetenland.

Primer Minister Edouard Daladier (1884-1970) of France

Prime Minister Chamberlain of Britain

Mussolini

Hitler

iii. US Response The United States was indifferent to the aggression of the totalitarian states and carried out the policy of isolation. The United States had still not fully recovered from the Great Depression. (3) How War Began (a) Failure of Appeasement In 1939, Germany occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia. Appeasement failed to maintain peace in Europe. (b) Invasion of Poland After conquering Czechoslovakia, Hitler decided to invade Poland. He signed a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union in order to get rid of the Soviet threat. On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. Britain and France declared war on Germany when Hitler refused to withdraw from Poland.

(4) Course of the War The war was fought between the Axis Powers and the Allied Powers. The Axis Powers consisted of Germany, Italy and Japan; while Britain and France were the Allied Powers, which were joined by other great powers later. The United States joined the Allied Powers after the Pearl Harbour Incident (1941). In 1942, Germany broke the non-aggression pact and attacked the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union joined the Allied Powers. The Allied Powers first defeated Italy in 1943, then they defeated Germany in May 1945 and Japan in August 1945. (5) Results of the War (a) Settlement of Germany and Japan During the Second World War, the leaders of Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union met to discuss how to settle the problems after the war. Settlement of Germany Germany was divided into the British, French, American and Soviet occupation zones. In 1949, the three Western zones joined together to form West Germany. The Soviet zone became East Germany. Settlement of Japan Japan was occupied by the United States until 1952. Reforms were carried out during the American occupation.
Picture Description: Wartime Leaders Winston Churchill (1874-1965) became the prime minister of Britain in 1940. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the president of the United States during 1933-45. Joseph Stalin (1879-1953) ruled the Soviet Union during 1924-53. Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin (from left to right)

(b) War Deaths and Destruction Industrial and agricultural production and the world's living standards fell because of the war. About 37.6 million people were killed. (c) The United Nations

The United Nations was set up in 1945 to replace the League of Nations as the new international peacekeeping organization. (d) Decolonization The war weakened Western colonial rule and this led to discolonization in Asia and Africa.
Additional Information: Causes of Decolonization Decolonization started after the Second World War. Britain, France, Belgium and other colonial empires were weakened by the war. They were also challenged by the growing nationalism in their colonies. Apart from nationalism, many Asian countries were influenced by Communism, which also posed a challenge to European colonialism. Britain, the greatest colonial empire, was seriously affected by these problems. One of its colonies, India, became independent in 1947. Mahatma Gandhi (1869-

1948), the leader of Indian independence

(e) New Weapons New weapons such as bombers, aircraft carriers, the radar system and the atomic bombs were used during the war. (f) Rise of Superpowers The war led to the rise of the Soviet Union and the United States and they influenced the world after the war.

III The ColdWar(194691)

(1) The World After the War Britain and France: weakened by the Second World War; lost their colonies in Africa and Asia Germany, Italy and Japan: weakened by the war; adopted democratic systems in the post-war period The Soviet Union: became a superpower; controlled the Communist states in Eastern Europe Asia and Africa: most colonies in Asia and Africa became independent in the postwar period

Eastern European States: became the satellite states of the Soviet Union. The United Sates: became a superpower (2) Meaning of the Cold War
Additional Information: The Soviet Satellite States in Eastern Europe Some communist states, founded after the Second World War, were controlled by the Soviet The Cold to the between the Capitalist Bloc and the below: Communist Union. TheyWar wererefers known as thetension Soviet satellite states. Some of them are listed

Bloc. It Poland, first began in Europe after the Second World War.Germany Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Rumania and East The two Blocs mainly fought through propaganda, building armaments and helping small nations at war.

Additional Information: Cold War Propaganda

A soviet cartoon showing the United States extending its influence to other countries

A British cartoon depicting the Soviet Union as a liar

(3) Causes of the Cold War (a) Different Ideologies The Capitalist Bloc supported private property, free elections and free economy. The Communist Bloc believed that the State should own all resources in the interests of society as a whole. The two Blocs distrusted each other. (b) US-Soviet Rivalry in Eastern Europe Many Communist states were formed after the Second World War with the help of the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union built the Iron Curtain to shut them off from Western influence. The United States determined to stop the development of Communism and this gave rise to the Cold War.

(4) Developments of the Cold War (a) The Greek Civil War (1946-49) The Greek Civil War broke out between the Greek Communists and the Greek government. The Soviet Union helped the Communists. In 1947, President Truman introduced the Truman Doctrine to help the Greek government, stating that the United States would back free peoples against outside enemies.
Additional Information: The Marshall Plan The participating countries of the Marshall Plan included the United States, Britain, France, Belgium, Switzerland, West Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Norway, Denmark, Greece, Turkey, Austria, the Netherlands, Sweden and Iceland. The plan distributed more than 12 billion US dollars among the European nations during 1948-51. The Marshall Plan ended in 1952. George Marshall (1880-1959) was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in 1953.

A poster of the Marshall Plan

A European family receiving relief from the United States

(b) The Berlin Blockade (1948-49) In 1948, the Soviet Union tried to control the whole of Berlin by closing its land routes. The Western democratic states supplied daily necessities to West Berlin by air. 12 Atlantic countries formed the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in April 1949. Faced with this challenge, the Soviet Union ended the blockade in May 1949. After the Berlin Blockade, was Organization divided into East and West Germany. Additional Information: The NorthGermany Atlantic Treaty This division ended when Germany was reunified in 1990.
Founding Members (1949): Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, and the United States. Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium Website: http://www.nato.int/ The official NATO flag

(c) Rise of the Peoples Republic of China (1949) In 1949, Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communists took control of China in a civil war. He set up the People's Republic of China on October 1, 1949. The United States attempted to stop the growth of Communism in Asia. (d) The Korean War (1950-53) In 1950, the Korean War began. United Nations forces, under the command of General MacArthur, helped South Korea while China helped North Korea. In 1953, the war ended and Korea was divided into North and South Korea. (e) The Cuban Missile Crisis (1962) In 1962, Cuba allowed the Soviet Union to build bases for nuclear missiles on the island. This threatened American safety, so the United States ordered the blockade of Cuba. President Kennedy ordered the blockade of Cuba. The Soviet Union agreed to remove the nuclear missiles from Cuba.
Additional Information: Fidel Castro (1926- ) Fidel Castro has ruled Cuban since his overthrow of the pro-American government in 1959. The United States tried to overthrow his government in 1961. The attempt failed. Castro strengthened the tie with the Soviet Union by allowing the latter to build missile bases in Cuba. A satellite photo of the Soviet missiles in Cuba Field Castro

(f) The Vietnam War (1965-75) In 1954, a civil war broke out between North Vietnam and South Vietnam. In 1965, the Vietnam War began when the United States helped South Vietnam against North Vietnam. President Nixon (1913-94) brought South Vietnam and North Vietnam to sign a cease-fire agreement in 1973. In 1975, North Vietnam won the war and ruled over the whole of Vietnam. After the war, the United States was not so keen on checking the Communist movement.
Additional Information: Casualties of the Vietnam War The Vietnam War was one of the bloodiest wars in history. A lot of people protested against the war. About 50,000 US soldiers were killed. South Vietnamese casualties were more than 400,000 and over 900,000 North Vietnamese were killed.

Anti Vietnam War demonstrations

(5) End of the Cold War

(a) Easing of Tension The Change in Sino-American relations In 1971, the United States supported giving UN membership to China. In 1979, the United States and China established normal relations. The Change in Soviet-American relations They held talks on limiting nuclear weapons in the 1970s.

Picture Description: Cold War Leaders

Mao Zedong (1893-1976) and Nixon in 1972

Leonid Brezhnev (1906-82), the leader of the Soviet Union during 1977- 82

Additional Information: Nixons Visit to China In 1972, Richard Nixon visited China. He was the first US president to visit China since 1949. During his visit, he met Chinese leaders Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai (18981976).

Premier Zhou Enlai and President Nixon at a state banquet in 1972

(b) Rise of Gorbachev Gorbachev, the new Soviet leader during 1985-91, was more interested in solving domestic economic problems than in ruling other states. He signed treaties with the United States to limit missiles and nuclear weapons. He gave up the control of the Communist states in Eastern Europe. This led to the setting up of non-Communist governments in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Additional Information: Mikhail Gorbachev (1931- ) Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, came to power in 1985. He was born in Stavropol, a city in Southwest Russia. In 1970, he became the party leader of Stavropol. The party leaders regarded Gorbachev as a reformer. In 1985, he was elected as the leader of the Soviet Union. During his rule, Gorbachev started a series of reforms to improve the Soviet economy. His reform programmes failed and he met growing opposition from his opponents. The Soviet Union disintegrated into various independent states. He resigned in 1991.

George Bush, Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev (from left to right). Reagan was the 40th President of the United States ((1981-89). He was succeeded by Bush, his Vice-President. Bush ruled during 1989-93.

Gorbachev: http://www.mikhailgorbachev.org/

(6) Effects of the Cold War (a) Political Effects There was the danger of another world conflict or nuclear war during the Cold War. Their tense relations threatened world peace.

(b) Social and Economic Effects The Cold War affected the cultural and economic developments of the Capitalist and Communist Blocs.