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WW1
-Began when Francis Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Hungary, was killed in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip
-The central powers were Austria-Hungary, Germany,
Bulgaria, and the Ottoman Empire
-Russia mobilized to defend Serbia, Germany declared war on Russia
-Germany then declared war on France
-German forces swept into France, they invaded Belgium, a neutral country;Britain to declare war on Germany
-Machine gun was used
-The Treaty of Versailles was created which gave away German land. -
Gandhi
-Pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement
-He pioneered satyagraha
-His philosophy was firmly founded upon nonviolence
-His philosophy and leadership helped India gain independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world -
Russian Revolution
-Revolution forced the Tsar to abdicate and set up a provisional government made up mostly of Democratic-Socialist reformers
-There was disatisfaction in the populace (money, war, etc)
-The Tsar was ruled by Rasputin and was totally ineffecticve so the people led by the army revolted
-After a time of confusion the Bolshevik party took over in the country and created the USSR.
-Russia became communist -
Treaty of Versallies
-The peace settlement signed after World War One had ended
-It was between Germany and the Allies
-Germany gave up territory to Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, France and Poland.
-France gained control of Germany's Saar Valley coal fields for 15 years
-Allied military force would occupy the Rhine River's west bank for 15 years
-Germany forced to give up war materials, livestock, and various goods to the Allies.
-Germany had to pay $33 billion in reparations to the Allies -
Wilson's 14-Point Plan
-It was a plan to end the present hostility amoung European nations and hopefully end all future wars
-It became the basis for the terms of the German surrender, as negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference
-The Fourteen Points was accepted by France and Italy
-They choose not to follow it, and was never actually used. -
League of Nations
-The League of Nation's task was to ensure that war never broke out again
-It was formed out of U.S. President Wilson’s 14 points
-President Wilson hoped that a united front of nations would prevent any future international wars
-The League did have some successes, but a series of failures soon discredited the League
-Germany’s aggressive acts after 1935 were never challenged by the League and 20 years after the end of the First World War, war broke out in Europe again -
Mao Zedong
-Chinese revolutionary
-Guerrilla warfare strategist, poet, political theorist, and leader of the Chinese Revolution
-Founding father of the People's Republic of China
-Led the Communist Party of China to victory against Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang
-Helped repel a Japanese invasion -
Stalin's 5-Year Plan
-It modernised industry; concentrated on the development of iron and steel, machine-tools, electric power and transport
-Stalin believed that the USSR should ‘overtake and outstrip the capitalist countries
-The 5-year plans were very useful propaganda for Communism and for Stalin
-It met its five year goals within four years and a new five year plan was instituted a year earlier than expected
-Industrial and agricultural output both increased by over 100% according to the Soviet Union's figures. -
Great Depression
-It was the longest and most severe economic downturn in American history
-It began with the stockmartket crash
-Unemployment skyrocketed reaching levels as high as one third of the population
-Output fell by ten percent
-Crop prices fell by over fifty percent
-Homelessness, poverty and general despair characterized much of the nation -
Hitler Comes to Power
-He had long-term bitterness after the ending result of WW1
-There was strengths of the Nazi party, and weaknesses of other parties within Germany
-Many workers turned to communism after the depression, but this frightened wealthy businessmen, so they financed Hitler's campaigns.
-Hindenburg and Papen came up with a plan to get the Nazis on their side by offering to make Hitler vice chancellor
-Hitler became chancellor, and immediately set about making himself absolute ruler of Germany using Art -
WW2
-Germany wanted to regain the land lost after WW1
-Germany attacked a small country named Poland. So Britain, Canada, New Zealand attacked them.
-Japan flew to American soil and attacked their people. So America joined the war effort
-Italy, joined Germany and they became dual powers
-Germany killed Jews
-America teamed up with Canada and Great Britain; they were victorious -
Juan Peron
-Argentine military officer, and politician
-Trade unions were formed in every industry
-Social security was made universal
-Education was made free to all who qualified
-Made Argentina's economy better -
Chinese Civil War
-It was due to Conflicts between nationalist and communist Chinese forces
-Violence broke out briefly after the WW2 ended, the US general Marshall had failed to arrange a lasting compromise settlement
-Lin Biao completed his conquest of Manchuria, where the nationalists lost half a million men, many of whom defected to the communists
-In Central China the nationalists lost Shandong and were defeated at the battle of Huai-Hai
-The People's Republic of China was proclaimed -
Cold War
-Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union wanted to openly fight each other and they were afraid of each other’s power
-Both the countries were fighting indirectly
-It became a war of the communist world versus the non-communist and democratic nations
-It was the Republican George W. Bush who called the final shots and that too because Mikhael Gorbachev backed down
-They bothe had nuclear weapons but didnt want to use them -
Indian Independence
-Labour decided to end British rule in India, from Britain being worn out from WWII
-As independence approached, the violence between Hindus and Muslims continued unabated
-British army unprepared for the potential for increased violence, Louis Mountbatten advanced the date for the transfer of power
-Nationalist leaders agreed to a partition of the country along religious lines -
Creation of Pakistan
-Created from the separation of the north-western region of the Indian subcontinent
-Movement to have a sovereign and independent Muslim state
-Resulted from British partition of Indian land
-Movement was led by lawyer Muhammad Ali Jinnah
-Desire to build a state on the principles based on Two-nation theory -
Nelson Mandela
-He was President of South Africa; first South African president to be elected in a fully representative democratic election
-Mandela was an anti-apartheid activist
-He was arrested and convicted of sabotage and other charges, and sentenced to life in prison; he only served 27 years
-He led his party in the negotiations which led to multi-racial democracy -
NATO
-It is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
-It is made up of 26 countries from Europe and North America
-NATO was created because if the Soviet Union attacked a country that had signed it they would all go to war
-The aim of the treaty is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries by political and military means
-It is currently involved in a range of missions throughout the world -
Maoism
-The armed branch of the party must not be distinct from the masses
-Socialism cannot be introduced before the country has gone through a period in which the material conditions improve
-Society is dominated by a wide range of contradictions
-The revolution does not wipe out bourgeois ideology
-Three World's Theory -
Korean War
-It was a conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea
-At the end of World War II, Korea was divided into Soviet (North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean)
-North Korean forces invaded South Korea. The United Nations quickly condemned the invasion as an act of aggression
-North Korean capital of Pyongyang was captured; North Korean forces were driven by the 8th Army, which marked the border of Communist China
-Negotiations failed four different times, but an agreement was signed. -
Warsaw Pact
-It was a treaty between Albania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and the Soviet Union
-it was a military treaty, which bound its signatories to come to the aid of the others, should any one of them be the victim of foreign aggression
-The Pact quickly became a powerful political tool for the Soviet Union to hold sway over its allies and harness the powers of their combined military
-The Warsaw Pact was officially dissolved in Prague in 1991, after successive go -
Great Leap Forward
-Aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country into a modern communist society
-Mao Zedong led the campaign based on the Theory of Productive Forces
-Introduction of a mandatory process of agricultural collectivization
-Restrictions on rural people were enforced through public struggle sessions
-Private farming was prohibited -
Vitenam War
-It was fought between the communist North Vietnam and the US supported South Vietnam
-The Viet Minh forces took over North Vietnam according to the Geneva Accord
-Diem enacted tougher, new anti-communist laws; North Vietnam created the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam
-The Paris Peace Accord ceaseed fire and allowed for the exchange of prisoners of war; North Vietnam attacked the South violating the Paris peace treaty
-North and South Vietnam were unifed into a single country -
Bay of Pigs
-It was an unsuccessful attempt by United States-backed Cuban exiles to overthrow the government of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro
-Increasing friction between the U.S. government and Castro's leftist regime led President Dwight D. Eisenhower to break off diplomatic relations with Cuba
-The invasion was stopped by Castro's army
-The invasion made Castro wary of the U.S -
Berlin Wall
-Leaders of the Communist parties of the Commecon meet in Moscow and they decide to close the open border between East and West Berlin
-The wall was built and separates the city into two parts for more than 28 years
-East Germans were not allowed to free travel to the West
-A press conference is held and announced that travel restrictions for East Germans had been lifted
-In that night people from East Berlin flooded into the western part of the city -
Cuban Missile Crisis
-Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to install ballistic missiles in Cuba
-President Kennedy imposed a naval blockade on Cuba and declared that any missile launched from Cuba would warrant a full-scale retaliatory attack by the United States against the Soviet Union
-Russian ships carried missiles to Cuba turned back, and when Khrushchev agreed to withdraw the missiles and dismantle the missile sites, the crisis ended
-Cuba removed all missiles and the US pledged not to invade Cuba -
Helsinki Accords
-The accords recognized the borders of Europe, The declaration focused on improving the relations between Communist governments and the Western world, with a goal of reducing Cold War tensions
-Soviet obtained international recognition of the post-war borders, including the the Soviet annexation of the Baltic States
-In turn agreed to respect human rights, full human rights would be instituted in a new Russian Federation -
Islamic Revolution
-Backlash against the Westernizing
-Demonstrations against the Shah commenced in October 1977
-Strikes and demonstrations paralyzed the country
-Guerrillas and rebel troops overwhelmed troops loyal to the Shah in armed street fighting
-Royal regime collapsed
-Iran voted by national referendum to become an Islamic Republic -
Iran-Iraq War
-War began when Iraq invaded Iran
-Invasion by air and land into Iranian territory
-Iraq was aiming to replace Iran as the dominant Persian Gulf state
-Iraq believed they could attack Iran easily from the recovery of Iranian Revolution
-Iranians regained virtually all lost territory
-War ended with a United Nations brokered ceasefire -
Tiananmen Square
-Movement used mainly non-violent methods
-Considered a case of civil resistance
-Led mainly by students and intellectuals
-Sparked by mass mourning over the death of former CPC General Secretary Hu Yaobang
-100,000 people gathered at Tiananmen Square
-There was widespread international condemnation of the government's use of force against the protesters -
Reunification of Germany
-Process in 1990 in which the German Democratic Republic joined the Federal Republic of Germany
-Also when Berlin reunited into a single city
-Hole in Iron Curtain caused thousands of East Germans fleeing to West Germany
-Protests by East Germans led to GDR's first free elections -
USSR Disintegrates
-Process caused by weakening of the Soviet government
-Poor Soviet economy contributed to disintegration
-No longer able to afford military
-Country was in a situation of severe stagnation
-Political differences -
9-11
-Series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda
-Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners
-Hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
-Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the attacks
-United States responded to the attacks by launching the War on Terror
-U.S. invaded Afghanistan to kill the Taliban