Study Notes: Global Conflict & Power Shifts (1900–1945)

Unit 7: Global Conflict (c. 1900–Present)

Shifting Power After 1900

The 20th century began with the collapse of older, land-based empires due to a combination of internal decay and external pressure. This power vacuum sets the stage for global conflict.

Collapse of Land-Based Empires

Three major empires collapsed in the early 1900s, shifting the global balance of power:

1. The Qing Dynasty (China)
   • Internal Factors: Ethnic tension (Han Chinese vs. Manchu rulers), famine, low tax revenue.
   • External Factors: European industrial imperialism (Spheres of Influence).
   • Result: Revolution of 1911 led by Sun Yat-sen; ended 2,000 years of imperial rule and established a republic.
2. The Ottoman Empire ("The Sick Man of Europe")
   • Factors: Failed modernization (Tanzimat reforms didn't go far enough), rising nationalism among diverse ethnic groups (Greeks, Slavs, Arabs).
   • Turkification: A distinct move toward Turkish nationalism, which alienated Arab populations.
   • Result: Collapsed after WWI; replaced by the Republic of Turkey under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
3. The Russian Empire
   • Factors: Slow industrialization, loss in the Russo-Japanese War (1905), peasant discontent.
   • Result: The Bolshevik Revolution (1917).

The Mexican Revolution (1910–1920)

A major challenge to the existing political order in the Americas.

• Cause: Dictator Porfirio Díaz allowed foreign control of resources and extreme wealth inequality.
• Key Figures: Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata (leaders of redistributive peasant movements).
• Outcome: The Constitution of 1917, which provided land redistribution, universal suffrage, and public education.

World War I (1914–1918)

The Causes of WWI (M.A.I.N.)

While the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne) by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip was the immediate spark, the underlying causes are remembered by the acronym MAIN:

• M — Militarism: Aggressive military buildup (e.g., Britain vs. Germany naval race).
• A — Alliances: Secret treaties meant a local conflict became global.
  • Triple Entente: Britain, France, Russia.
  • Triple Alliance: Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy.
• I — Imperialism: Competition for colonies in Africa and Asia increased tension.
• N — Nationalism: The desire for self-determination (e.g., Slaves in the Balkans wanting freedom from Austria-Hungary).

Conducting "Total War"

Definition: A war in which nations commit all domestic resources (economic, human, and industrial) to the war effort, blurring the line between combatants and civilians.

• Government Intervention: Governments set prices, censored media, and imprisoned activists.
• Technology: Industrialization led to mass casualties via machine guns, poison gas, submarines (U-boats), and tanks.
• Trench Warfare: Led to a stalemate, particularly on the Western Front.
• Propaganda: Art and media used to mobilize populations and demonize the enemy.
• Global Participation: European powers used colonial subjects (e.g., Indian troops fighting for Britain, West Africans for France) to fight.

The Outcome

• US Entry (1917): Prompted by the Zimmermann Telegram (Germany asking Mexico to attack the US) and unrestricted submarine warfare (sinking of the Lusitania).
• Treaty of Versailles (1919):
  • Forced Germany to accept "War Guilt," pay massive reparations, and downsize the military.
  • Created the League of Nations (proposed by Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points), but the US refused to join, weakening it.
  • Mandate System: Instead of independence, colonies of the Central Powers (Ottoman/German) were transferred to Britain and France.

The Interwar Period (1919–1939)

The Russian Revolution

Russia withdrew from WWI due to internal revolution.

1. February Revolution (1917): Czar Nicholas II abdicated; provisional government took over but failed to leave the war.
2. Bolshevik Revolution (Oct 1917): Led by Vladimir Lenin and the Bolsheviks (communists) under the slogan "Peace, Land, and Bread."
3. Governance: Established the USSR (Soviet Union). Abolished private trade.

The Great Depression

A global economic collapse triggered by the US Stock Market Crash (1929), bank failures, and agricultural overproduction.

Responses to the Depression:

• United States: The New Deal (FDR). Used Keynesian Economics (government deficit spending) to stimulate the economy.
• Soviet Union: Five-Year Plans (Stalin). Rapid industrialization and collectivization of agriculture. While the rest of the world struggled, the USSR's command economy grew (at a massive human cost).
• Fascist States: Moved toward military buildup to solve unemployment.

The Rise of Fascism

Fascism is an authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology characterized by dictatorial power and suppression of opposition.

• Italy: Benito Mussolini (Blackshirts) took power in 1922.
• Germany: Adolf Hitler (Nazi Party) rose due to resentment over Versailles and hyperinflation. Became Chancellor in 1933.
• Spain: Francisco Franco won the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) with German/Italian help (a "dress rehearsal" for WWII).

World War II (1939–1945)

Causes

1. Unsustainable Peace Settlement: The Treaty of Versailles humiliated Germany.
2. Expansionism:
   • Germany: Invaded Rhineland, Austria (Anschluss), and Sudetenland. Britain/France used Appeasement (giving in to avoid war) at the Munich Conference.
   • Japan: Invaded Manchuria (1931) and China (1937).
   • Italy: Invaded Ethiopia.
3. Invasion of Poland (1939): The immediate cause of the war in Europe.

Conducting the War

• Alliances:
  • Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan.
  • Allied Powers: Britain, USA, USSR (after Germany broke the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact).
• Strategies:
  • Blitzkrieg: German "lightning war" (fast tanks + air support).
  • Island Hopping: US strategy in the Pacific to cut off Japanese supply lines.
• Total War (Again): Firebombing of cities (Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo) and the use of the Atomic Bomb (Hiroshima, Nagasaki).

Mass Atrocities (Topic 7.8)

Unit 7 specifically focuses on how 20th-century conflicts enabled genocides and ethnic violence.

Key Genocides

1. Armenian Genocide (1915): The Ottoman government systematically killed ethnic Armenians (Christians) during WWI, accusing them of colluding with the enemy (Russia).
2. The Holocaust (1941–1945): Nazi Germany's "Final Solution" to kill Jews, Roma, disabled people, and LGBTQ+ individuals. 6 million Jews murdered.
3. Ukrainian Holodomor (1932–1933): Not direct warfare, but a man-made famine engineered by Stalin to force Ukrainians into collectivization. Over 3 million died.
4. Rwanda (1994): (Often covered in Unit 7 or 9) Hutu extremists killed Tutsis. UN peacekeepers were restricted from intervening.

Common Mistakes & Pitfalls

1. Confusing the Alliances:
   • Correction: Italy was with the Central Powers initially in WWI but switched sides. In WWII, Italy was firmly Axis. Japan was with the Allies in WWI but Axis in WWII.
2. "Appeasement" vs. "Isolationism":
   • Correction: Appeasement was Britain/France giving Hitler land to stop him. Isolationism was the US policy of trying to stay out of European affairs entirely.
3. Misunderstanding "Total War":
   • Correction: It doesn't just mean fighting really hard. It specifically refers to mobilizing civilians (women in factories, rationing food, targeting cities).
4. Communism vs. Fascism:
   • Correction: They are enemies. Fascists allow private property (if it serves the state); Communists abolish it. Do not use the terms interchangeably just because both are dictatorships.

Summary Timeline

• 1914-1918: World War I
• 1917: Russian Revolution
• 1919: Treaty of Versailles
• 1929: Great Depression Begins
• 1931: Japan invades Manchuria
• 1939: Germany invades Poland (WWII starts)
• 1941: Pearl Harbor (US enters)
• 1945: WWII Ends; United Nations formed