Notes

bipolar a world with two superpowers; i.e. the United States and Soviet Union
capitalism an economic system based on private ownership and competition motivated by profit
communism a classless society where control of wealth and property belongs to the state
culture all the knowledge and values shared by a society
diversity variety in a group such as gender, ethnicity, and economics
ethnic a group sharing distinctive cultural traits
fundamentalism a religious movement based on a literal interpretation of a doctrine
globalization the process of conducting business on a global scale
imperialism policy extending political, economic, or military rule over another
multipolar a world with many great powers; i.e. 19th century England
nationalism a strong sense of love and devotion toward a nation
socialism an economic system where all business is controlled by people who share equally in the profits

EFFECTS OF WORLD WAR II

Introduction. This part of today's lesson keys on four effects of the war:

Political effects. World War II altered political boundaries throughout the world. In Europe, Germany was divided into four parts. The Soviet Union annexed part of several countries and eventually established satellite nations (Eastern Bloc) on its western border.

To the south (Africa) and east (Asia), European imperialism came to an end. Great Britain, France, Germany and others could no longer afford to deal with the time consuming administration of overseas colonies. In the span of about twenty years nearly all European colonies managed to achieve their independence.

In Asia two allies, Kuomintang and the communists fought side by side to rid China of Japanese imperialism. Once Japan surrendered, they fought for control of China. After four years of bitter struggle, the communist regime under the leadership of Mao Zedong defeated the Kuomintang. Meanwhile, Korea was partitioned into a north and south.

Reconstruction. Over 65,000,000 people lost their lives during World War II. The majority of them were ordinary citizens who got caught up in massive bombing raids. Entire cities were devastated. Since the United States had suffered less damage than other nations it was in the position to help with post-war reconstruction.

The Marshall Plan was developed to help the war torn nations of Europe. Billions of dollars was given to aid in reconstruction. There were two reasons behind the aid. One was to help Europe rebuild. The second and most important reason was to stem the tide of communism. The financial assistance helped to unify Europe as the threat of communism became more real.

In Asia, the United States oversaw the reconstruction effort in Japan. This island nation completely revamped its government and education system. By the 1950s it was well on its way to becoming one of the top industrialized nations in the world.

United Nations
The United Nations was created in 1945 with four major goals:

to prevent war
to promote human rights
to provide a basis for international law
to increase the standard of living for all people
Today the United Nations consists of 192 nations and has its headquarters in New York City. Its two main parts are the General Assembly consisting of all member nations and the Security Council. This council has five permanent members and ten other members that are voted in for two-year terms.

The United Nations is primarily concerned with keeping the peace and protecting human rights. It is also involved with supplying aid to nations who have suffered through natural disasters, civil war, or famine.
THE COLD WAR

Before World War II the earth was multipolar meaning there were a number of powerful nations. After the war, the world became bipolar. When the dust settled two nations emerged as the most powerful; the United States and Soviet Union. During the war they were allies and after, bitter enemies. Below is a brief Cold War timeline.

1948—Berlin blockade and airlift. Russia closed Berlin to the outside world and several nations airlifted supplies to the city.
1949—North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is formed to combat the spread of communism in Europe
1950—Korean War begins and lasts three years.
1961—Bay of Pigs incident where CIA-trained Cubans attempted a coup against the Cuban leader, Fidel Castro. It ended in total failure
1962—The Cuban Missile Crisis. The Soviets tried to install nuclear missiles on Cuban soil, and the United States forced them to stop
1965—The ten-year Vietnam War begins. It ends terribly for the United States.
1972—The Cold War antagonists agree to limit nuclear weapons; a major breakthrough in relations (SALT I - Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty)
1979—Russia attacks Afghanistan in an effort to protect its pro-communist government there. The war ends ten years later in bitter failure.
1989—The Berlin wall comes down.GROWTH OF NATIONALISM

Introduction. When European imperialism ended after the war many nations sought their freedom. This spirit of nationalism was found all over the world. Nationalism can take on four forms:

political
ethnic or race
culture
religion
Next, you will review this spirit of nationalism as it emerged across the globe.

Asia. The Philippines achieved their independence in relative peace but this was not the case for others. Vietnam, Indonesia, Burma, and Cambodia all went through bloody struggles to achieve independence.

Vietnam fought two wars, one with France and the other with America before the communists were able to unite the country. Indonesia had to fight a war for five years against the Dutch to gain freedom. Burma continues to have struggles today with an oppressive government that discourages contact with the rest of the world. The name of Burma was changed to Myanmar in 1962. Cambodians have had to tolerate cruel leaders until recently but appear to be creating a more unified nation.

India. Indian independence was a ninety year process resulting in India gaining freedom from British rule. Below is a brief timeline of this struggle which ended right after World War II.

1857—Indian Rebellion- Indian soldiers rebelled against their British commanders setting off a nationwide rebellion
1885—Indian National Congress is formed to set up political resistance against Great Britain
1919—Rowlatt Act gave the British government power to control the press, arrest people who might be committing treason, and imprison political activists.
1919—Mohandas Gandhi appears advocating a non violent protest.
1919—Jallianwala Bagh Massacre
1920—Subhash Chandra Bose appears believing the only solution is violence
1942—The Indian National Army is formed and fights for the Japanese in World War II against India
1942—Quit India Movement was a political movement to get the British to leave
1947—India is partitioned; Pakistan and India gain independence
Africa. Africa was the last frontier for European imperialism. In 1884, European nations met to decide how to divide Africa for themselves. This initiated the "Scramble for Africa" where all but two countries (Ethiopia and Liberia) fell under European imperialism.

When World War II ended many African nations sought their independence but did not know how to go about it. As a result there have been many bloody conflicts in the region. In addition, European nations stripped much of the wealth from the continent leaving the new countries very poor. Even today, the United Nations struggles with taking care of millions who suffer daily with famine, disease, and civil war.

Eastern Europe. Nationalism in Eastern Europe took on three forms.

political—many nations broke away from the Soviet Union and formed entirely different governments.
ethnic—Eastern Europe is ethnically diverse so some nations (Yugoslavia and Georgia) were formed along those lines alone. Yugoslavia has since split into six separate nations.
religious—Eastern Europe is home to Islam, Catholic, and Orthodox groups that do not get along. Some nations were formed strictly to the predominate religion in a region.
In nearly every case, these nations turned from economic socialism to one that combined that with capitalism. After tough early times, many of these nations have turned their economies around.
1991—The Soviet Union dissolves into fifteen independent republics and the Cold War ends.