it’s getting cold in here… the world after wwii. latin america wwi results in a decrease in...
TRANSCRIPT
It’s getting cold in here…
The world after WWII
Latin America
• WWI results in a decrease in agricultural exports- leads to increased homelessness and weakening of landowner’s power
• Mexican Revolution (1910-1920)• Revolt against dictator Porfirio Diaz• Issues:
– Peasants did not own land– Wealthy families and foreign investors owned
50%-85% of land– No system of succession
• War breaks out when Diaz has his opponent jailed
• Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata• 1917- Mexican constitution
– Limited foreign ownership of resources (nationalized)
– Land reform (Land redistribution)– Guaranteed worker’s rights (min. wage,
hours)– Limited rights of the church
Postwar China and India
China
• 1911 Revolution ends Qing dynasty• Sun Yat Sen is elected president, but
powerful warlords throw the country into chaos
• Sun’s successor, Chiang Kai Shek (Jiang Jieshi), leads the GMD against the warlords, the Japanese, and the communists
• Corruption in the GMD, and the exploitation of peasants, lead to its failure
• Meanwhile…Mao Zedong begins to organize the peasants
• Believed that peasants, not industrial workers, were the key to reforming Chinese society
• Chiang’s forces continue to attack the communists (nearly surround them)
• In 1934, Mao leads 80,000 people on a year-long march to safety at Shaanxi; called the Long March
• By 1945, the communists have strengthened and forced the GMD into exile in Taiwan (U.S. tried to help GMD)
• Civil War over, communist government begins
Goals of the Communist Revolution
• Redistribution of land- goodbye landlords• Women’s rights: literacy, military
involvement, land ownership, no arranged marriages or foot binding
• Restricted Confucian traditions• New technology- 1964 atomic bomb• Equal distribution of wealth• Universal literacy• Eventually will seek to expel foreigners
Early communism in China• In the beginning, open ideas and criticism
of the government were encouraged• By 1957, the party cracks down on
dissidents • The Great Leap Forward- Govt. controlled
economic restructuring; attempts to localize industry and do away with any private enterprise (village-based industrialization)
• Massive failure; millions starve• Mass Line approach
• Cultural Revolution- 1966-69• Mao’s attempt to stifle political opposition.
Teachers, professors jailed and sent to labor camps
• After this period, China reinvests in industry and the economy improves dramatically
• China becomes more open to the west. Nixon visits China. U.S. and China become friends…kinda
India
• Gandhi• South Africa- racial discrimination• Non-violence• Blended Hindu and Christian concepts• Civil-disobedience- fasts; salt march• Hindu-Muslim unity• End of Untouchability• Emphasis on peasants• Simple technology (spinning wheel)• Prohibition of alcohol• Assassinated in 1948 by a religious extremist• MLK
Gandhi Quotes
• “I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent
• “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong”
• “An eye for eye will make the whole world go blind”• When asked by a reporter what he thought of western
civilization, Gandhi replied “I think it would be a good idea”• “Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one
as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth” -Albert Einstein
• India gains its independence in 1947- democracy
• The nation of Pakistan is created in 1947 with an officially Muslim government
India since Independence
• World’s largest democracy• First female Prime Minister- Indira Gandhi• Still very patriarchal- women far behind
men in literacy rates• Green Revolution• Industrialization
The Cold War
• Undeclared war between Communism (Soviet Union) and Democracy (United States)
Yalta Conference
• U.S., U.S.S.R, and G.B. decide fate of Germany
• Divide it up into sections
• Creation of United Nations- U.S. joins
Two Views• U.S. view-
communism must be stopped from spreading
• Soviet view- communism must spread
• Most of eastern Europe becomes communist satellites ; southern, and western Europe do not
• Iron Curtain- communist dominated countries (Churchill)
• Containment- U.S. should resist attempts to form communists govts. elsewhere
Marshall Plan
Plan to rebuild Europe
after WWII
Germany- East and West
Berlin- East and West
Berlin Airlift
• Stalin wouldn’t allow food into west Berlin
• Allies send food in by air
NATO
• North Atlantic Treaty Organization- 1949
• Attack against one is an attack against all
• NATO countries sought protection against communism
• After Stalin dies, Nikita Khrushchev takes over party leadership (1953-1964)– Publicly denounces Stalin– Tries to establish agriculture in Siberia
• Both policies fail, leading to his removal from power
• Leonid Brezhnev (1964-1982)• Prague Spring- Czechoslovakia tries to
establish an independent govt.- fails• Poland seeks higher wages, right to strike,
and free elections – called the Solidarity movement – also fails, but results in international pressure on the U.S.S.R.
• War in Afghanistan
The Military-Industrial Complex
• Eisenhower’s warning: the military and heavy industry have a mutual interest to promote warfare; steps should be taken to prevent this
Red Scare
• HUAC- House Un-American Activities Committee- investigated disloyalty i.e. communism
• “Hollywood Ten”– Blacklisted
McCarthyism
• Senator Joseph McCarthy- witch-hunts
• Eventually loses credibility
“A conspiracy so immense and an infamy so black as to dwarf any previous venture in the history of man”
Spy Cases
• Alger Hiss- tried for espionage- found guilty
• Julius and Ethel Rosenberg
• Accused of giving atomic secrets to the soviets
• Found guilty and executed
The Korean War (1950-1953)• Korea divided at 38th
parallel• North- communist• South- democratic• War ends in a draw,
Korea still divided at 38th parallel
• War angered American allies- saw it as unnecessary; uncomfortable that it provoked the Chinese
Decolonization
• European Powers and U.S. lose their colonies after WWII
• The devastation of the wars and the Great Depression left them without the resources to maintain colonies
• Many wars of independence were successful
• Anti-imperialism movements pointed out the moral hypocrisy of colonization
Latin America
• U.S. overthrows governments in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, Chile and replaces them govts. Loyal to the U.S.
Middle East
• After Holocaust, many Jews seek refuge in Palestine
• 1947- U.N. divides Palestine
• 1948- Jews declare independent state of Israel
• U.S. supports• Leads to Jewish-Arab
hostilities
Suez Crises
• Egypt seeks Soviet support• U.S. and G.B. cut off aid to Egypt• Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt’s ruler) seizes
(nationalizes) the Suez Canal• NATO backs down to avoid a war
Iran
• U.S. and Britain help install Shah Reza Pahlavi
• The Shah modernizes and westernizes Iran, against the wishes of many people (only business elites are happy)
• Corruption is common, and dissidents are abused by the secret police
Iran cont.
• In 1979 the Ayatollah Khomeini leads a rebellion that forces the Shah into exile
• Establishes a theocracy• When the U.S. tries to help the Shah, the
Iranian govt. holds U.S. diplomats hostage in Tehran
• The revolution of the ayatollahs has been the most important factor in Iranian development in the 20th century
OPEC
• Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
• Formed in 1960 to protect the interests of countries rich in oil
• 1973 “oil shock”- when the U.S. supports Israel in the Yom Kippur war, OPEC establishes an embargo, which drives up prices
Cuba
• Fidel Castro• Overthrows U.S. backed dictator• Collectivizes farms• Allocates funds to health, education, and
cultural activities• Expropriates foreign assets
• Ernesto “Che” Guevara• Participates in Cuban revolution• Travels throughout the world teaching
guerilla warfare techniques and inspiring communist uprisings
Kennedy’s initiatives
• Civil Rights• Military buildup• Space program
Bay of Pigs Invasion
• Covert operation to overthrow Castro in Cuba
• CIA trains Cuban exiles to attack Cuba• Operation is a disaster• Huge embarrassment to U.S.
– Helps Castro’s reputation– Leads to the…
Cuban Missile Crisis
• U.S. learns that soviets are building missile bases in Cuba (1962)
• Options:• Negotiate• Invade• Blockade• Bomb the bejesus out
of them
• Kennedy decides on a “quarantine” – sounds nicer than “blockade”
• Brinkmanship
Arms race and space race
• Both countries look to build nuclear weapons- ICBMs
• Sputnik- U.S.S.R. launches first satellite to orbit earth
• U-2 incident- U.S. spy-plane shot down over Soviet Union
Vietnam (c. 1960- 1973)• Aka “French Indochina” – France tries to
hold onto this colony after WWII- U.S. offers limited support
• Led by Ho Chi Minh, the Viet Minh lead a communist rebellion and take over north Vietnam. A corrupt, but non-communist govt. reigns in the South.
• The North Vietnamese support a communist, guerilla group (the Viet Cong) in the South.
• The U.S. steps in. Why?
• U.S unskilled at Guerilla warfare• Battlefield losses and the unpopularity of
the war cause America to sign a peace treaty in 1973.
• Two years later, the North Vietnamese break the treaty and take over the South.
Asia and the “Tigers”• Japan continues to become an economic
powerhouse.• Follows a model of detailed planning, free-
market competition, high tariffs, govt. protection of industries, and an emphasis on efficiency- govt./business cooperation
• Other Asian countries that followed this model, specifically South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan, become known as the “Asian Tigers” for their rapid economic growth
Green Revolution• During the mid-20th century, the world
experienced a population boom, especially in underdeveloped countries
• To keep up, new techniques of food production were developed
• Through genetic engineering, new strains of wheat and other grain products were created that were more productive; new fertilizers were developed too
Fall of the Berlin Wall- 1989
• Mikhail Gorbachev is Soviet Leader -1985• Glasnost (political openness)• Perestroika (“restructuring”- a move
toward a more open economy)
• East Germans cross to West Germany
• East German govt. collapses
• Germany reunified in 1990
• High unemployment levels
• Some people fear Germany will become “aggressive” again