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Explore the major events and factors that shaped the 20th century, including the end of the Victorian Age, World War I, the Communist Revolution in Russia, economic exuberance and depression, World War II, and the victory of Americanism in the West.
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Class 35: History of 20th C Ann T. Orlando 17 April 2019
Introduction • The end of the Victorian Age • WW I • Communist Revolution in Russia • Economic Exuberance and Depression • WW II • Cold War • Victory of Americanism in West
Queen Victoria • Reigned 1837-1901 • Stability in England, during time of British expansion abroad: India, Africa, Australia • Through Victoria and Albert (German prince) and the marriage of their children, • Queen Victoria was the ‘grandmother’ of major royal monarchs during WW I • Germany, Russia, Austria, England • Gave a false sense of stability to Europe
Preludes to WWI • (Second) Boer War (1899-1902) • Conflict over control of South Africa, especially gold mines, between earlier Dutch settlers and British • Conflict one of guerilla warfare, and though severely outmanned, Boers able to prolong war through use of machine guns • British use troops from around the Empire (Australia) • Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905) • Conflict over Russian vs Japanese dominance in Manchuria and Korea • Russian military suffers humiliating military and naval defeat • Unpopular war in Russia, more so after the defeat • President Theodore Roosevelt negotiates the peace treaty in Kittery Maine in 1905, the Treaty of Portsmouth
Contributing Factors to WW I • System of National Alliances established by Congress of Vienna (1815) • Disconnect in Europe among • political system (parliamentary and regal); • society (rural and urban); and • economics (capitalists and worker movements) • Disintegration of Ottoman Empire • Arms race among France, Germany, England, and Russia
The Great War, The War to End All Wars1914-1918 • Starts with assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand (heir to throne) of Austria by a Serbian • Because of system of alliances, Germany and Ottoman Empire support Austria; Russia, France, England, Italy support Serbian nationalists • Expectation that war would be over quickly • Modern technology had created incredibly lethal weapons; but strategic thinking had not advanced • Trench warfare, • Massive loss of life on battle field; 9,000,000 died • War did not end quickly (11/11/18)
Political Result of WW I • Destruction of Ottoman Empire; Middle Eastern holding divided between England and France • Destruction of Austro-Hungarian Empire; end of HRE • Political and Economic Punishment of Germany; loss of territories won from France in Franco-Prussian War • Rise of America as a world power • Collapse of Russian monarchy, rise of communism • League of Nations (to which neither the US nor Soviet Union belonged)
Social and Economic Result of WW I • Massive displacement of peoples due to revised political boundaries • Germany, especially, unable to compete economically • All major European countries were nearly bankrupt because of the war • The US became the banker to the world • When the US goes into a depression in 1929, takes the rest of the world with it
Spanish Flu: Pandemic of 1918 • Perhaps because of weakened conditions due to WWI, flu of 1918 was the most deadly epidemic in history • Effected the entire world • 20 – 40 million people died • Called the ‘Spanish’ flu because Spain was neutral in WWI and had no press censorship • Thus it was covered much more extensively at the time • Flu likely orginiated in northern China or Manchuria
Europe at End of WW Iwww.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/resource/wwii.htm
Nationalism as Replacement for Religion • Lenin and then Stalin in Soviet Union attempt to create national identity and loyalty focused exclusively around the State • Common good, but without dignity of person • No private property • Enforced sameness • Beehive model of society and economics • Hitler does much the same thing in Germany between the Wars • Mussolini in Italy • Spanish Civil War results in a unity of religion and nationalism
Prelude to WWII: Spanish Civil War (1936 – 1939) • Sides in the Spanish Civil War • Nationalists: devoted to Catholicism, military, business owners • Republicans: Followers of enlightenment political philosophy, and socialists economic policies • Bitterly fought with atrocities on both sides • International military support for both sides • Nationalists: Germany and Italy • Republicans: USSR and liberal American volunteers • Nationalists won; leading Nationalists general, Francisco Franco, assumed control • Franco dictator in Spain 1939 - 1975
Hitler and Appeasement • Europe is tired of War after WWI; horrors of trench warfare still very fresh • Recognition that economic reparations against Germany at Treaty of Versailles had been overly punitive • Willing to do almost anything to avoid War • After Hitler invades Czechoslovak, England and France refuse to sanction Germany • Munich Agreement 1938 • Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister of England: “Peace in our time”
WWII 1939-1945 • Hitler invades Poland, 1939 • Axis powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) • Allied Powers (US, England, France, Soviet Union) • Truly a world war in ways WWI had not been • Massive civilian as well as military casualties (21 M in Soviet Union; 11 M China; 6 M European Holocaust) • Total casualties in WWII 56M (1/2 civilian) • World-wide refugee problem
Reshaping Map of World • Elimination of colonial powers, or at least plan for independence • State of Israel • World divided between US and Soviet Union ‘spheres of influence’ • Note this represents the victory of two ‘Enlightenment’ powers • United Nations
Cold War • Massive armament • Threat of ‘Mutually Assured Destruction’ • Science and Technology as means to military and political survival • Competing economic and social models that come from Enlightenment • In Soviet Union, break from ancient forms of society; not unlike French Revolution • In US increasing concern about “Red Menace”
From Time Magazine, Jan 1959history.acusd.edu/gen/USPics14/75657.jpg
America as World Leader • Amazing historical fact: America defeats Soviet Union as a result of economic not military warfare, 1989 • Confidence that if only everyone else was like us they would be so much better off; collapse of Soviet Union seemed to justify that view, especially after debacle of Vietnam War • Economic Power • US economic power rebuilds societies within US sphere of influence • Soviet Union tries, but does not have the economic resources to do this • Disparity between Western/Eastern Europe; North/South Korea • Cultural Power • Economic prosperity makes US culture envy of many • US able to project its cultural influence through entertainment and internet • But, US can no longer chose to be isolated • Threat of ICBMs • 9/11 • World-wide economic interdependence has grown such that US economy is completely dependent on world economy, not vice versa