Notes from July 25

Effects of World War I

Mass migrations
Europeans within Europe
Jews to the Americas
African-Americans to the Northern US
American troops to Europe
Armenian genocide
Flu epidemic
Spread of Communism
League of Nations proposed by Woodrow Wilson
US enters war, becoming less isolationist in European affairs
Frustrated, poor, angry Germans

Europe divides world

German colonies were taken away by the winners of WWII.

Class A colonies: Arab nations
Britain and France became “Mandatories” to help nations achieve independence
Mandatories would answer to the League of Nations
“liberation” from Ottoman “oppression?”
Arab Nationalism: Arab world unites against occupation

Class B: larger colonies that would become independent later (Africa)

Class C: Small colonies remained colonies (Pacific Islands)

Zionism

A political movement for a Jewish homeland in Israel (Palestine)
Balfour Declaration of 1917:
Great Britain supports the concept of Zionism
Wants to make sure the rights of non-Jewish Palestinians are protected
Though promising to keep Palestine independent, Britain occupied it from 1920-1948
Israel became a separate Jewish state in 1948
Palestine is not recognized as a country by the US

Russia -- USSR

Russia could not support their war effort on the Eastern Front
Many casualties and food shortages at home
Tired of fighting and inept leadership, Russian troops begin to desert
February Revolution:
The Tsar was removed in 1917
April: Russia pulls out of the war, giving up land
October Revolution:
Lenin and hardline Bolshevik socialists take control of Parliament
New Economic Policy allowed for a free market but kept major businesses under government control

Joseph Stalin

Took control after Lenin died in 1924
Focused on modernization through industrialization
Five-Year Plans: industrial reforms controlled entirely by government
Many peasants sent to cities for factory work
Collectivization: others were organized into public farms
Wealthier peasants protested the loss of their land and were persecuted
Famine and unskilled farmers led to millions of deaths

Reparations

Germany and Austria owed money to Britain and France for damages during WWI
To pay debts, Germany borrowed money from US banks. (France and Britain also owed the US)
When the Great Depression hit, US banks called in their loans. Germany defaulted.
While other nations had colonies to support their economies, Germany did not
Famine led to starvation and unemployment in Germany
Germany wanted to regain land lost in WWI to help end their depression

Italy

World War I was never very popular in Italy.
Humiliated by both sides: “London Pact”
The Depression meant many young men lost jobs and inflation was high
Fascism:
Militant nationalism. People work collectively for the benefit of the state
Unlike Communism, the country is primary, not the people
Benito Mussolini started a fascist party hoping to make another (Roman?) empire
“Black Shirts” kept order by persecuting socialists
Important Battles of WWII

Invasion of Poland by the Nazis, 1939
Considered the start of WWII
Blitzkrieg - “lightening war.” Quick deployment of air power, heavy machinery (tanks) and then troops

Battle of Stalingrad
Hitler wanted Russian land and resources for Germany, even though he signed a treaty with them
The first real defeat of the German army
Don't fight a land war in Asia during the winter

Pearl Harbor
Japan tried to make the US accept the Japanese takeover of European colonies in Asia
Instead, US enters war

Siege of Leningrad, 1941-1944
“Total war”
Over one million citizens dead from starvation alone

Battle of Midway
Turning point in the Pacific Theater; US begins to win
D-Day
Allied troops invade Normandy, France and begin to push towards Berlin

Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Only uses of the atomic bomb in warfare
100,000s of civilians dead; leads to Japanese surrender

End of the War

July, 1943: Italy invaded by the Allies. They quickly give up but Germans keep fighting
June, 1944: Allies invade France (D-Day)
February, 1945: Yalta Conference. Britain, US, USSR discuss a post-war Europe
May, 1945: Hitler kills himself, Germany surrenders
August, 1945: Japan attacked by atom bombs. USSR begins to invade from the north
Emperor surrenders to US. Hirohito keeps job