A. Europe was no longer the main battlefield
1945—a watershed?
In this unit, you have studied a number of important wars in the 20th century.
Complete the exercise below using your own knowledge.
Major wars before 1945
First World War
Second World War
Duration
Four years（1914-1919）
Six years (1939-1945)
Powers that participated
Germany,
Germany, Italy, Japan,
in the war
Austria-Hungary, Britain ,
the United States,
France, Russia, Japan, the
Britain, Soviet Union,
United States and Italy
France and China
Six
Five
Two
Three
From the countries you
named, how many are
European countries?
From the countries you
named, how many are
non-European countries?
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Major wars after 1945
The Arab-Israeli
Korean War
Vietnam War
conflict
(1950-53)
(1965-75)
(1948-1982)
Countries that were
Israel, Jordan,
China, North
North Vietnam,
involved in the
Egypt, Lebanon
Korea, the United
the United States
conflicts/wars
and Syria
States and South
and South
Korea
Vietnam
/
/
/
From the countries
All of them are
All of them are
All of them are
you named above,
non-European
non-European
non-European
how many are
countries
countries
countries
Asia
Asia
Asia
From the countries
you named above,
how many are
European countries?
non-European
countries?
In which continent
did these
conflicts/wars take
place?
Using what you have written down in the exercise above, explain why the year 1945
could be considered a watershed in the warfare of the 20th century.
Suggested Answer: Before 1945, majority of the wars involved European countries.
However, after 1945, European countries were no longer the major parties. The
non-European countries played the more important roles. Wars were taken place in Asia.
Before 1945, there were two wars using “real” guns and bullets: the two World Wars. After
1945, economic and political relationship between countries became very tense: Cold War.
The scale and mode of wars have great change.
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B. More civilians became victims of war
First World War
During the First World War, more than 90% of the victims were soldiers. Battle of
Verdun and Battle of Somme were the two most famous land battles of the First World
War. They were important because both sides (Britain and France on one side and
Germany on the other) suffered great casualties. It is not difficult to find out the
figures of casualty in the Internet or reference books. Find out how many soldiers
were killed in these two battles by filling in the table below.
German casualties
French / British casualties
Battle of Verdun
Battle of Somme
Second World War
You have learned in previous lessons why so many peoples (including civilians) were
killed in the Second World War. Make a summary of the reasons below. (Hint:
think of the weapons, treatment of the civilians by enemy soldiers, the fate of the
children, etc.)
Suggested answer: First of all, weapons had become more destructive. The atomic bombs
killed thousands of civilians in Japan. Tactic like bombing of enemy countries was
increasingly used, leading to heavy civilian causalities. At the same time, the warfare
between Germany and Soviet Union was very tight. The killing of civilians was commonly
found. As a matter of fact, Nazi Germany was accused of the Holocaust.
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Arab-Israeli conflicts
In previous lessons, you have learned that the Arabs and the Jews had fought 5 major
wars between 1948 and 1982. These wars brought casualties to both sides.
However, more important was that it gave rise to a serious refugee problem. Both
the Jews and the Palestinians suffered much as a result of this problem.
Study the following web pages and then make a summary of the sufferance of the
Jewish and the Palestinian refugees.
<http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/100/maps/refuge.html>
<http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/100/maps/refs.html>
<http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/100/maps/fed.html>
Suggested answer:
Students can discuss on the sufferings, food shortage and sanitation problems facing the
refugees during their journey to the refugee camps. The loss of their home and property
were the misery had to be borne and faced by the refugee. Moreover, not all countries
they settled treated them good.
Korean War
Source A
Refer to the website<http://www.rt66.com/~korteng/SmallArms/1civ.htm>
Civilians were killed in the Korean War
Vietnam War
Source B
Refer to the website<http://www.vietnampix.com/fire9a2.htm>
A Vietnamese village bombed by the US air force. Villagers were running for life.
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Source C
The My Lai Massacre
In March 1968, the US army entered a village, My Lai, to search for
enemies. Over 300 apparently unarmed civilians including women,
children, and the elderly were killed. Lieutenant William Calley was
held responsible for the massacre. He was sentenced to life in prison,
but was released three years later.
Source: <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/trenches/my_lai.html>
In addition to the wars mentioned above, can you think of any other wars in which
civilians were affected? (Hint: Gulf War (1991) between US and Iraq, Conflicts in
Kosovo between Serbian and Kosovo Albanians (1998-1999), the war between Russia
and Chechen since 1994, the US military action in Afghanistan in 2001, etc). Give a
brief description of your findings below.
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All in all, wars nowadays do not affect soldiers only. In fact, every citizen may be
affected. In November 2001, the Security Council of the United Nations declared that
international terrorism has become a challenge to all countries and the human race.
<http://daccessdds.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N01/633/01/PDF/N0163301.pdf?OpenE
lement> or
<http://www.un.org/Docs/scres/2001/sc2001.htm>,
choose
“Security
Council
resolution 1377 (2001) Threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist
acts”
C. Other trends
Can you think of other main trends of warfare in the last 100 years? Use what you
have learned in this unit and figure out 2 other trends yourself. Remember to give
examples to support your own answer. The following website may help you to finish
your task.
<http://www.cyberschool.oxfam.org.hk/search.php?topic=2&search_mode=article>
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