World History Notes

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• Germany (and the city of Berlin) is divided among France, Great Britain, Soviet Union, and the United States

• The Nuremberg Trials tried Nazi leaders accused of war crimes

• Germany paid reparations to other countries for causing the war. USSR received most of the reparations.

• The Cold War begins as conflict between democratic and communist countries. USSR controlled Eastern Europe and East Berlin. US and pro-democratic countries govern the rest

• Containment

  • Truman Doctrine states that economic and military aid will be given to countries to oppose the spread of communism. The first aid is given to Greece and Turkey.
  • Marshall Plan was similar. This provided $13 billion in aid to Western Europe to stay stable (and democratic) after the war

• Confrontations

  • Democratic parts of Germany wished to create a singular democratic power. The USSR did not approve and initiated a blockade against the Western half of Berlin (was also going to be part of this democratic government). The US initiated the Berlin Airlift to airdrop supplies to West Berlin.
  • NATO forms as an alliance of democratic governments
  • Warsaw Pact forms in response to the creation of NATO as an alliance of Communist nations in Eastern Europe
  • Korean War happens when North Korea (communist) invades South Korea (democratic). US forces help South Korea push back against North Korean forces and the war ends in a stalemate.

• Deterrence was a policy of creating and training military power to prevent attacks by the opposition.

  • This lead to the Arms Race in which the US and USSR both created and maintained an immense nuclear arsenal

• Also lead to the Space Race for each country to assert scientific superiority, beginning with the Soviet’s launch of Sputnik

• Cold War lead to many other conflicts such as the Vietnam War, creation of Berlin Wall, Bay of Pigs Invasion, Cuban Missile Crisis

• Nonaligned Countries refused to take part in the conflicts of the democratic and communist countries.

• Nixon pursued the detente policy between the US and the USSR. This meant an easing of tensions between the US and USSR (and communist nations as a whole).

• Reagan followed through with this too

• Economy grew quickly in the postwar era. However, price increases on energy in the 1970s began to slow the economy, with many losing their jobs.

• MLK Jr. started a movement to end segregation and other civil rights injustices

• Counterculture rebellion became popular with the youth, questioning Vietnam and other policies

• Baby Boom occurs in this time

• Canada shelters Vietnam draft-dodgers

• The Marshall Plan helped reconstruction of post-war Europe and NATO members put aside longstanding rivalries to help each other

• Stalin helps rebuild the USSR and Khrushchev loosens some restrictions on USSR citizens

• Solidarity Movement in USSR is crushed by the Communist government of Poland

• Mikhail Gorbachev recognized the need for economic changed due to the lack of consumer goods. He introduces glasnost and perestroika.

• With this, there was little to no Soviet military intervention in peaceful uprisings, as was done in Poland.

• Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia rebelled against one-party communist leadership

• Berlin Wall is taken down \n

• The USSR slowly falls apart with various revolutions and a failed coup which removed power from Gorbachev

• The Russian independence movement was lead by Boris Yeltsin

• The Cold War ends with the USSR stopping operations. Yeltsin makes Russia more capitalistic, but many lose government jobs. This lead to a rise in consumer goods, causing economic crisis \n

• The United States

  • The Internet lead to a Tech Boom in the 1990s that created many jobs, reduced the number of budget deficits, and optimized tasks with computers.
  • However, this prosperity only lasted till the 2000s, when rising energy costs and government spending caused many economic issues, like high poverty rates.

CHAPTER 30: ASIA

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• Britain controlled India and demanded Indian soldiers fight to support democracy in WWII, despite not having their own democracy.

• Gandhi begins the, “Quit India” movement to drive the British out of India.

• Britain decides to leave India after WWII ends

• Independence hopes rise and Muslims fear their voices will not be represented

  • Muhammad Ali Jinnah leads the Muslim League and believes the Muslim voice can only be maintained if they have a separate nation
  • British partitions India into Muslim and Hindu parts. India is Hindu, while East Pakistan and West Pakistan are Muslim.
  • Jawaharlal Nehru becomes India’s first Prime Minister
  • Violence erupted along the border with India and Pakistan fighting for control of Kashmir among other places. 

• Nehru helps India through economic and social reforms. Nehru helped the poor, low caste, and widows.

• Following Nehru’s death, Indira Gandhi comes into power. She initiates many reforms. When Sikh separatists take refuge in the Golden Temple of Amritsar, Gandhi orders troops to enter and clear the temple of the terrorists. Indira Gandhi was subsequently killed by Sikh bodyguards.

• East Pakistan was controlled by the government of West Pakistan, a government of people extremely culturally different from them. East Pakistan starts a civil war for independence and is supported by India.

• Vietnam \n

• Most of the nations in South Asia were controlled by colonial power (Great Britain, US< Netherlands, etc.)

• After WWII, the French did not give away Vietnam. Soon after, Ho Chi Minh and his group of communists sought to overthrow the French rule and began fighting

• Vietnam was divided into two halves, and were to be reunited in 1956 under an elected government. 

• The US feared that if communists won the election, the nearby countries would also fall to communism (Domino Theory). So, the US supported Ngo Dihn Diem, a brutal dictator. Diem’s enemy form an opposition group of Vietnamese communists called the Vietcong.

• Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: A falsified report that the American Navy had been attacked by the North Vietnamese and was used to expand American involvement into Vietnam.

• North Vietnamese and Vietcong attack South Vietnam in Tet Offensive. Americans do not win as easily as expected and support for the war weans. Americans pull out of Vietnam, and it is reunited. \n

• Indonesia

  • Independence movement lead by Sukarno rebels against Dutch control. Sukarno took control of government and his economic policies were horrible for Indonesia.
  • Army officers and communists try to stage a coup and they are fought by the army lead by General Suharto.
  • Suharto is brutal and corrupt, but he is good for the economy. When the economy suffers, he steps down.
  • Indonesia takes over the Portuguese colony of East Timor, which rebels against Indonesia for 3 decades.

• Cambodia

  • Communist group called Khmer Rouge gains control of Cambodia, which was controlled by Pol Pot
  • The Khmer Rouge kills “opposition” of 1.5 million Cambodians
  • Vietnam invades and removes Pol Pot from power, but a civil war ensued

• Burma

  • Had been controlled by a strict military dictatorship
  • Aung San Suu Kyi opposed their rule and was placed under house arrest for a long time

• China

• Guomindang Nationalists set up government in Taiwan

• Mao sets up government in mainland China

• Mao’s Leadership

• Created a Communist state by discouraging religion and taking land from landowners and giving it to peasants 

• His plans were meant to emulate the USSR, but his first plans failed

• Mao tried to eliminate opposition and also sought advice from the USSR. USSR gave aid to China till disputes over territory and ideology pushed the nations apart

• Mao launches Great Leap Forward. This plant was to increase agricultural and industrial output, but instead killed many in famine.

• Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to progress China by eliminating intellectuals (artists, skilled workers, teachers)

• Mao set up Red Guard high schools and colleges to train the next generation of  Chinese communists. Many of these people killed or tortured people they thought were corrupt

• Post-Mao

• Nixon visited China

• Mao faces bad health in his last years, so a group of four people (Group of Four), control China.

• After Mao dies, Deng Xiaoping comes into power and became China’s leader. He instituted many economic reforms.

• Many saw economic and democratic reforms and demanded the same

• Pro-Democracy protesters met in Tiananmen Square. The government sent tanks and troops which fired on the crowd. \n

• Reconstruction of Japan

• General MacArthur tries many Japanese military officials for war crimes

• He has a democratic constitution written and the emperor became a symbolic leader

• Japan got economic growth by the breaking down of monopolizing organizations and by supplying forces fighting in the Korean War

• Philippines

• President Ferdinand Marcos became a dictator, imposing martial law on political opponents

• One of his main opponents Benigno Aquino is killed, so his wife Corazon Aquino comes into power

• The Asian Tigers are nations which made fast advances following WWII

• They succeeded due to high rates of education, US financial aid, and through low labor costs  \n

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