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Gandhi In His First Civil Disobedience Movement
VideoGandhi, throughout 1920-1922, started his first civil disobedience movement. This was an attempt to break the chains of Britain’s rule on India and he used this movement to start a chain of events which eventually succeeded in the liberation of India. -
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Gandhi Continues Civil Disobedience Movements
Gandhi launched more campaigns of civil disobedience, and in doing so links were broken in the control Britain had over India.Gandhi embodied the perfect leader, as he knew that the only way to achieve the freedom of the country the people knew was theirs was not through war, but peace. Soon after, The Communist Party Of India was formed. They supported Marxist-Leninist beliefs. This party believed in the views of the communist leaders of Russia and China (Mao Zedong). -
Igbo Union Founded
After the war started, in 1940 the Igbo Union was founded to represent the interests of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. When it began to establish links with the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroon, western Nigerians formed the (Yoruba) Egbe Omo Oduduwa association. -
Arab States Granted Freedom
Most Arab states were granted freedom from colonial rule in the process of decolonization after the first world war and they were allowed to draw their own boundary lines, many of which exist today except in the region where Israel was created. In 1917, the British government signed the Balfour agreement which stated the they would make a homeland for the Jews in Palestine. This was a major victory for the Zionist movement. At the end of WWII, most Arabs developed a sense of Pan-Arab nationalism -
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French Capture Vietnam
The French recapture most of Southern Vietnam and Saigon with military aid from the US and the British in an effort to reclaim its status as a world power since it had been roundly defeated and humiliated in WWII. The French then decided to take back North Vietnam by running a bombing campaign which killed thousands of civilians. The Viet Minh launched a retaliatory guerilla warfare campaign with weapons and support by China in 1954. The Viet Minh defeated French at Dienbienphu. -
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Yalta Conference
The Yalta Conference took place in which Franklin Roosevelt of the United States, Winston Churchill of Great Britain, Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union met. They planned on the occupation areas for Germany and also discussed on plans to form the United Nations.
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Potsdam Conference
Potsdam conference took place and was the conference where it was decided to punish Nazi germany and what exactly their punishment was. This led to the development of NATO and the Warsaw treaty organization because this is where the splitting up of Germany was agreed upon.
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Truman Doctrine
George Kennan's ‘long telegram’ declared that the US should try to stop soviet expansion. On Feb. 21, 1947, the British told the US that it wouldn't give any more financial aid to Greece or Turkey. On March 12, Harry Truman asked congress for $400 million in economic assistance to Turkey and Greece. The United States had seen the fall of the Greek government and the rise in communism afterwards and this worried them, part of the reason they were going to give them aid. -
Philippines Becomes Sovereign Country
The U.S. was the first nation to start colonial liberation when the let the Philippines became a sovereign country. However, the U.S. maintained a strong presence in the Philippines in order to keep an eye on communist groups and to keep Pro-America officials in power. Soviet leaders used this control as evidence that Americans equate Pax Americana with imperialism and control around the globe instead of decolonization.The soviets won the hearts of 2nd and 3rd world countries by giving aid. -
India Declares Freedom
On August 15th, 1947 India declares its freedom and let Pakistan became an Islamic dominion. Pakistan celebrates this day on August 14th because the separation of the countries happened at midnight. -
Creation of Israel
Both the U.S. and USSR lent their support to the creation of Israel by the U.N. but the Arabs within the regions now designated as Israel found this to be an unacceptable solution and as a result, civil war broke out between the Arabs and the Jews. In 1948, the creation of Israel was complete, but it angered most of the surrounding nations and as a result, has led to conflict ever since its creation, some of which is still going on to this very day. -
Korea Divided
Korea agrees to the establishment of two separate states. The country is divided upon the 38th parallel and a DMZ is established as a buffer between the two countries. The USSR took control of the Northern half of the state and established a capital at Pyongyang. The US took control of the Southern half of the state and established a capital at Seoul. Once control of the state was ceded to the Koreans, the superpowers withdrew their troops and allowed the koreans to rule. -
Israel Given More Land
Although the Arabs had expected swift victories due to their higher amounts of troops, the Israeli army was very well equipped and very well trained, something that holds true to this day. A truce was enacted by the U.N. to stop the fighting and distribute some more land to Israel, a decision that further angered the Arab states. -
NATO was ratified
The purpose of NATO is to provide military and economic aid to countries west of the Berlin Wall so that they may stand strong against communism. Another contributing factor to the success of Western European nations was the marshall plan, which pumped 13 billion dollar into their economies. NATO also paved the way for reformed capitalism which mixed Laissez-Faire economics and socialism. -
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China and Soviet Union Unite
China emerged as a powerful ally to the Soviets as they had embraced a similar system of communism. However Mao Tse-Tung based his version of communism, called Maoism, upon the belief that the backbone of the country is the peasantry because they provide the food for the country. This belief lies in the old confucian traditions of having the lower classes be considered more honorable than the higher classes. -
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US Intervenes in Korea Conflict
The U.S. decides to intervene on behalf of the South and as a result, they push back the North Koreans until they were behind the 38th parallel. This retaliation happened within two weeks and the US decided to try and unite the Koreas under a government that was Pro- US and they decided to push onto Pyongyang in order to make the unification easier. The U.S.’s efforts pushed the North Koreans back towards the Yalu River, which is part of China’s border. -
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Invasion by North Korea
The North invaded the South because of the unstable political situation and because of a desire for Korea to be united as one power under one government. 100,000 troops invaded the South and pushed back the South very quickly. On the 27th, the North captures Seoul. -
Mau Mau Uprising
An ethnic group by the name of Kikuyu formed a secret society known as Mau Mau. The goal was to gain independence from Britain by removing the European settlers from Kenya. In response, the British established a state of emergency and crushed the Mau Mau by jailing and using British troops. The British were able to crush the Mau Mau uprising by 1955, however the Kenyans ultimately prevailed as they negotiated independence by December of 1963. -
Koreas Cease Fire
After 3 million casualties, mostly civilians, and large amounts of damage to the infrastructure of Korea, The two powers convince the two Koreas to agree to a cease fire, but not a peace treaty, to stop the fighting for the moment. However, this left the two Koreas at odds with each other and left the possibility for future tensions to occur. In fact, the situation in the Korean Peninsula is a direct result of the two Cold War superpowers interfering with the Koreans struggle for unity. -
Nikita Khrushchev takes over
Stalin dies and Nikita Khrushchev takes over as the soviet premier. He saw that communism, while successful, had numerous flaws that had been proven through history and through his own experiences with Stalin and the Soviets during WWII. He decided to put forth the idea of reformed communism -
"Domino Theory" Introduced
Dwight Eisenhower, U.S. president, accepts the “domino theory”, which is the theory that should one nation fall to communism, the neighboring nation will eventually fall to communism thereby creating a “domino” effect in the region. This comes after the establishment of the SEATO, the Asian NATO, in an attempt by the U.S. to start globalizing containment. The U.S. viewed the North Korean’s actions as an effort to take over the world under communism. -
Segregation in the South
Up until 1954, the soviets used the US treatment of African Americans to contrast the American foreign policy of “freedom and democracy”. Even though slavery was illegal since the end of the Civil war, the South still institutionalized segregation through a system called the Jim Crow laws. These laws segregated everything from beaches to pools to restaurants to even schools. It also led to extra legal violence against black by groups such as the KKK being accepted. -
Geneva Peace Conference
The French sue for victory at the Geneva peace conference and a solution is reached for the time being. Vietnam shall be divided at the 17th parallel. The communists will get the Vorthern half and will be led by Ho Chi Minh while the Southern half will be given to the non communists while election will be held to determine the leader of Vietnam. The South, with French and U.S help, bypass these elections and try to build one pro- us government. -
Bandung Conference
The Bandung conference was called. 23 asian and 6 african countries met up to talk about an alternative option to the two superpowers at the time and they came up with the idea of Nonalignment, which was the idea of supporting neither power and staying out of the Cold War completely. The topics of racism and colonialism were also discussed by these countries and these discussions eventually influenced some of them to try and break free from their old colonial ruler such as Jawaharlal Nehru. -
Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks refuses to give her seat up to a white man in a peaceful protest inspired by Gandhi’s methods of protesting in India against the oppressive government there. This incited blacks to stage even more peaceful protests in Montegomery, the city in which Rosa Parks lived, in order to bring the causes to the forefronts of American opinion and activism. -
Warsaw Treaty Organization established
The soviet union answers NATO with the Warsaw Treaty organization, which was a treaty saying that any of the countries listed on the treaty were under the protection and influence of the soviet union both militarily and economically. This is why a lot of the nation under this treaty are behind economically and technologically today because the USSR did not allow modern appliance and technology to come into the eastern bloc. -
Fidel Castro Overthrows Batista Regime
Fidel Castro overthrow the Batista regime, who had gone to great lengths to keep the U.S. happy in regards to sugar production, of Cuba and assumes control. Angry with what he saw as the U.S. once again being imperialist, he rejected U.S. desires for elections, kicked out foreign firms and killed or exiled most, if not all, of his political opponents. The U.S. responded by cutting all ties with Cuba, including their sugar deals, and placed an embargo on U.S. goods in Cuba. -
Cuba and Soviet Union Unite
Castro was offered support in both manpower and economic standing by the USSR and accepted it. The USSR then sent thousands of technicians and politicians to help further the country’s advancement. This broke the Monroe doctrine as it is an Eastern power influencing part of the West. This incursion has remained the only major break of the Monroe doctrine to date and further contributed to the distrust of Cuba in modern day. -
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Creation of Nuclear Arms
Because of the escalating military mobilization and building on both sides, the sides started to build their nuclear arms stockpiles in order to not be outdone or seem weak in the eyes of the world compared to the other power. They viewed this almost as a sort of nuclear arms “race” to see who could amass the most weapons in the shortest amount of time. Richard Nixon, U.S. president during the Vietnam war and part of the 60’s , called the arms race a necessity. -
Berlin Wall created
VideoBerlin wall was erected by the Soviets in Berlin in response to the loss of many intellectual and artistic people to West Germany because they felt they would be more accepted and free in the west, which was true. The wall was thick concrete with few checkpoints, barbed wire and armed guards who shot on sight in order to discourage any fleeing. This another reason why the East was so unsuccessful because the wall came into the game too late to stop most of the business owners. -
Bay of Pigs Invasion
VideoIn response to Castro's alignment with the USSR, the government decided to act. The CIA trained an army of 1,500 anti-Castro Cubans, armed them, and the transported them to Cuba. However, the air support promised by the Americans failed to appear and the hope of an internal uprising ended as the small Cuban invaders were captured or killed within 3 days by Castro’s far larger and better equipped army. -
Missles in Cuba
In the culmination of the Nuclear arms race and confrontations, The U.S. discovered that soviets were building missile launchers in Cuba in order to protect the Cuban government from US incursion. President Kennedy was pressured by congress to deliver an ultimatum to the Soviets and he did; he said to withdraw all missiles from Cuba and to stop the arrival of more of the nuclear missiles. In addition kennedy set up an air and naval blockade on the nation to ensure that no more missiles would be -
Removal of Missles From Cuba
At the end of two weeks time, Khrushchev was the first to back down on the grounds that Kennedy would never try to overthrow the Cuban leadership again. Since Kennedy agreed to this, the Soviets removed their missiles from Cuba and the US removed their missiles from Turkey. This sequence of events happened because the U.S. had a policy called MAD, or Mutually Assured Destruction. -
OAU Founded
European powers had drawn borders on Africa based on artificial conveniences instead of economic or ethnic divisions. This caused political conflicts between tribes within the states. Recognizing this problem, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) was created by 32 member states. Its goal was to promote unity in Africa. Kwame Nkhrumah was the former president of Ghana that was inspired by Marcus Garvey, to decolonize Africa. He led a faction in which he stressed Pan-African unity.
