INTERACTIONS
1914 - Present
WAR
DIPLOMACY
DRIFT TOWARDS WAR

Slavic Nationalism
•
•
•
•
•

Pan-Slavism stressed unity of Slavs under Russia
In Turkey: Bulgars, Macedonians sought independence
Austrian Slavs: independence or rights within Austria
Hungarian Slavs: unification with independent Serbia
Germany backed Austria-Hungary
Anglo-German Rivalry
• Naval race between Germany, Britain increased tensions
• German industrialization threatened British lead

Colonial disputes of the late nineteenth century
•
•
•
•

Germany sought colonies at others expense
France, Germany nearly fought over Morocco in 1905
Balkan wars (1912-13) strained diplomatic relations
France, UKGB, Russia came together to oppose Germany
Public opinion supported national rivalries
• Attitudes of patriotism among European citizens
• Leaders under pressure to be aggressive, to take risks
COLONIAL EMPIRES, c. 1914
ALLIANCES & WAR PLANS

Rival systems of alliance
• Obligated allies to come to one another's defense
• Included all great powers and many lesser powers
• Even included Japan

The Central Powers
• Germany, Austria-Hungary formed a Dual Alliance 1879
• In fear of France, Italy joined, now Triple Alliance
• Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria, Rumania affiliated with Germany

The Allies
• Britain, France, Russia formed the Triple Entente, or Allies
• Shifting series of treaties ended with a military pact, 1914
• Belgium, Serbia linked to Allies

War plans: each power poised and prepared for war
• Military leaders devised inflexible military plans
• France's Plan focused on offensive maneuvers and attacks
• Germany's plan: swiftly defeat France, then Russia


Neutrals were not to be respected
Wars were to be swift and over by Christmas
WORLD WAR I BEGINS


The guns of August - June 1914: Countries race towards war
The Western front
•
•
•
•
•

Stalemate caused by new weapons
Bloodletting: long, costly battles
New technologies favored defensive tactics over offensive tactics
Armored tanks used to break down trenches toward end of the war
Airplanes used mainly for reconnaissance
Submarines
• Used especially by Germans against Allied shipping
• Unrestricted warfare against all vessels to isolate Great Britain

On the eastern front
• Battle lines more fluid
• Russians gradually overrun by Germans, Austria

New rules of engagement
• Civilians became targets of enemy military operations
• Air raids against civilians; naval blockades common

Total war: the home front
• On the home front: the economy mobilized to the war effort
• Women served the war by entering the workforce
• Propaganda campaigns to maintain national support for the war
WORLD WAR I OUTSIDE OF EUROPE

•
•
•

•
•
British, French forces used colonials as troops, bearers
FR: Senegalese troops at Marne, Vietnamese bearers used
UK: Indian troops in SW Asia, African bearers
Australia, New Zealand, Canada heavily involved
Asia-Pacific
Japan entered war with Allies to get German holdings in area
The Twenty-One Demands




•
•
•

•
Sub-Saharan Africa
Allies targeted the four German colonies in Africa
Togoland fell quickly, but not the others: long, protracted warfare
Many Allied soldiers and workers died from tropical diseases
The Ottoman Empire and SW Asia
Battle of Gallipoli, 1915, in Ottoman Turkey


•
British decided to strike at the weakest Central Power, the Ottomans
Battle of Gallipoli a disaster, with 250,000 casualties on each side
The Ottoman empire lost ground after Gallipoli




•
Japan advanced its imperial interests in China
21 Demands were designed to reduce China to Japanese protectorate
Britain intervened, prevented total capitulation of China to Japan
Lost Caucasus to Russians
Armenian Holocaust: Turks killed more than 1 million, relocated many
Successful Arab revolt aided by British
By 1918, British occupied Fertile Crescent
Allies had secretly agreed to partition Ottoman

Russia
END OF THE WAR
• 1917 February or Democratic Revolution in Russia


Uprising against shortages, mounting deaths in the war
Facing mutinies, Nicholas II abdicated
• Struggle for power between provisional government, soviets


New government passed many liberal reforms
Did not undertake land reform, did not withdraw from the war
• V. I. Lenin (1870-1924) stepped into unstable situation


A revolutionary Marxist, exiled in Switzerland
Saw importance of a well-organized, disciplined party for revolution
• 1917 October or Communist Revolution




Minority Bolsheviks gained control of Petrograd soviet
Bolsheviks' slogan "Peace, Land, and Bread" appealed to workers, peasants
Russia withdrew from war, made a separate peace with Germany
U.S. intervention
• United States under President Woodrow Wilson officially neutral


American public opposed to participation but U.S. sold supplies, gave loans
By 1917, Allied ability to repay loans depended on Allied victory
• The submarine warfare helped sway American public opinion


German blockade sank merchant ships, intended to strangle Britain
1915, Germans sank Lusitania, a British passenger liner, killing 1,198
• United States declared war on Germany, 6 April 1917

Collapse of the Central Powers
• US produces food, engines, aircraft for allies; US troops halt Germans
• Allied troops on offensive in West, Balkans, Middle East, Italy
• Germany was the last of Central Powers to seek armistice
PARIS PEACE COFERENCE, 1919






Wilson's 14 Points: proposal for a just and lasting peace
•
•
Free trade, rights for colonials, self-determination, association of nations
Most rejected by Allies; Central Powers surrendered based on them
•
•
•
•
•
Great War killed fifteen million people, wounded twenty million
Set stage for decolonization after World War II
Economic crises: inflation, debt, loss of investments, foreign markets
Economic relationship between Europe, US; United States now creditor
Loss of prestige overseas weakened European grip on colonies
•
•
Twenty-seven nations with conflicting aims participated; Peace dictated
Leaders of Central Powers and Soviet Union not included
•
•
•
•
French insisted on destroying German military
Central Powers forced to accept war guilt and pay reparations for cost of war
Austria, Hungary separated, reduced; new states added to eastern Europe
Overall, the peace settlement was a failure; left a bitter legacy
•
•
•
•
Basis for redrawing map of Eastern Europe: Difficult to draw lines
Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Rumania were all multi-national
German, Italian, Hungarian minorities not granted self-determination
Colonial issues never discussed; self-determination not granted for colonies
•
•
•
•
The war helped spread concept of self-determination
Nationalist movements also sought inspiration from the Soviet Union
Felt betrayed, ignored by their allies
Wanted independence from Ottomans, end of foreign concessions
Results of War
Paris settlement was dominated by Britain, France, United States
The Peace Treaties, 1919
Self-determination for ethnic nationalities
Revolutionary Ideas: Arabs, Asians, Africans Outraged
LEAGUE OF NATIONS

The League of Nations created to maintain world peace
•
•
•
•
Forty-two members, twenty-six of them outside Europe
Dominated by UK, France and used as force against Germany
The league had no power to enforce its decisions
League could only



Make suggestions
Impose sanctions
Blockades
• Collective security depended on all major powers
• Powers Left Out




The mandate system
•
•
•
•

United States never joined
USSR ignored
Germany not invited for some time
United States opposed direct colonization
Allies proposed system of trusteeships
France, United Kingdom benefited most
Created from German colonies, Ottoman territories in S.W. Asia
Idealistic Attempts
• Attempts to disarm nations led to naval reduction treaties
• Attempt to outlaw war led to Kellogg-Briand treaty
• Many nations reduced their militaries to minimal levels
LEAGUE
OF NATIONS

Japan
INTERWAR DIPLOMACY
• Global conflict began with Japanese invasion of Manchuria, 1931


League of Nations condemned action; Japan simply withdrew from league
1937, Japan launched full-scale invasion of China
• 1937 War In China Resumed


Nationalists and communists formed "united front" against Japanese
Unable to effectively work together, they conducted guerilla attacks
• Japan, Germany, Italy ally 1940; neutrality pact with USSR, 1941

European aggression
• Italy after the Great War



Italians felt slighted at the Paris Peace Conference
Mussolini promised national glory, empire
Invaded Ethiopia (1935-1936), killed 250,000 Ethiopians; annexed Albania
• Germany: deep resentment at Treaty of Versailles


Harsh terms: reparations, economic restrictions, depression helped Nazis
Hitler blamed Jews, communists, liberals for losing war, Versailles Treaty
• After 1933, Hitler moved to ignore terms of peace settlement


Withdrew from League, 1933; Rebuilt military, air force; reinstated draft
Militarized Rhineland, 1936; Austria, 1938; France and Britain did nothing
• Spanish Civil War 1936 - 1939


Spanish fascists stage coup against republic; socialists, communists fight
Italians, Germans, Russians helped each side but fascists won
• The Munich Conference: Peace for our time?



In 1938, Germany "appeased" by taking Sudetenland
Britain and France desperate to avoid war, appeased Hitler
Russian-German Non-Aggression Treaty, 1939, shocked world
WORLD WAR II: AXIS 1939 - 1942






Blitzkreig: Germany conquers Europe
•
•
•
•
•
Strategy of a "lightening war": unannounced, surprise attacks
Conquests: 1939 - Poland; 1940 - France, Norway, Denmark, Low Countries
Battle of the Atlantic pitted German submarines against British convoys
The battle of Britain was a British victory against the German airforce
Germans, British, Italians fight see-saw war in the deserts of North Africa
•
•
•
•
•
1941: Germany conquers the Balkans, invades USSR in June 1941
Blitzkrieg strategies less effective in Russia
Hitler underestimated Soviet industrial capacity
Russian winter caught German troops ill-prepared
Germans stalled at Battle of Stalingrad
•
•
Roosevelt sold and then "loaned" arms and war material to the British
Later supplied the Soviets and the Chinese
•
•
•
•
Continued into southeast Asia: Indochina, 1940-1941
United States responded by freezing Japanese assets, implementing oil embargo
Demanded withdrawal from China and southeast Asia
Prime minister Tojo developed plan of attack
•
•
US navy at Pearl Harbor attacked
US declared war on Japan; Germany and Italy declared war on United States
•
•
Conquered Philippines, Dutch East Indies, Indochina, Burma, Singapore
Slogan "Asia for Asia" masked Japanese imperialism against fellow Asians
The German invasion of the Soviet Union
U.S. support of the Allies before Pearl Harbor
Japanese expansion
7 December 1941
Japanese victories after Pearl Harbor
WORLD WAR II: 1942 - 1945

•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•
•
•

•
•
•

•
•
•
Impact of Soviet Union and U.S. entry in 1941
USSR brought vital personnel and USA industry to Allies
Russia fielded 350 divisions against the German 130
Germany forced to fight a two front war
German subs sank 2,452 merchants ships, but U.S. shipyards built more
Allied victories came after 1943
Russians defeated the Germans at Stalingrad, pushed them back
1944, British-U.S. troops invaded North Africa and then Italy
June 1944, British-U.S. forces invaded northern France at Normandy
Overwhelmed Germans on coast of Normandy, 6 June 1944
Round-the-clock strategic bombing by Allies leveled German cities
Germans surrendered unconditionally 8 May 1945; Hitler committed suicide
Turning the tide in the Pacific
The Battle of Midway, June 1942; United States broke Japanese code
Island-hopping strategy: moving to islands close to Japan for air attacks
US launched unrestricted submarine warfare against Japanese empire
British invade Japanese empire through Burma, SE Asia
Chinese nationalists, communists tie down 2 million Japanese troops
Savage fighting on islands of Iwo Jima and Okinawa
US launches round the clock air raids against Japan
Japanese used kamikazes; Okinawan civilians refused to surrender
U.S. military was convinced that Japan would not surrender
Japanese surrender after devastating assault
U.S. firebombing raids devastated Japanese cities: in Tokyo, 100,000 killed
August 1945: atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed 200,000
Japanese emperor surrendered unconditionally 15 August, ending WWII
WORLD WAR II ALLIANCES
HOME FRONTS

•
Occupation, collaboration, and resistance
Patterns of occupation varied


•
Both Japan, Germany exploited conquered states, peoples


•


•
In Asia, Japanese domination not much different from European domination
Others aided conquerors to gain power in new administration
Anticommunism led some in western Europe to join the Nazi SS troops
Resistance to occupation took many forms



•
Active resistance: sabotage, assaults, assassination
Passive resistance as well: intelligence gathering, refusing to submit
Resistance in Japan and Germany was dangerous and rare
Occupation forces responded to resistance with atrocities


•
Slave labor conscripted from conquered populations to work in factories
Labor conscripted from Poles, Soviets, Balkans, also Chinese and Koreans
Many local people accepted, collaborated with occupying forces


Japanese conquests: puppet governments, independent allies, or military control
German conquests: racially "superior" people given greater autonomy
Brutal reprisals to acts of resistance by both Germans and Japanese
Despite retaliation, resistance movements grew throughout the war
Women and the war
"It's a Woman's War, Too!"



•
Over half a million British, 350,000 American women joined auxiliary services
Soviet and Chinese women took up arms and joined resistance groups
Jewish women and girls suffered as much as men and boys
Women's social roles changed dramatically


•
By taking jobs or heading families, women gained independence and confidence
Changes expected to be temporary, would return to traditional role after war
"Comfort women"



Japanese armies forcibly recruited 300,000 women to serve in military brothels
80 percent of comfort women came from Korea
Many were massacred by Japanese soldiers; survivors experienced deep shame
SETTLEMENTS & COLD WAR








Soviet Union and United States vied for nonaligned nations
War left millions of casualties and refugees
•
•
•
•
At least sixty million people died in WWII, highest in Soviet Union and China
Eight million Germans fled west to British, U.S. territories to escape Soviet army
Twelve million Germans and Soviet prisoners of war made their way home
Survivors of camps and three million refugees from the Balkans returned home
•
•
Unlikely alliance between Britain, USSR, USA held up for duration of war
Not without tensions: Soviet resented U.S.-British delays in European invasion
•
•
•
•
Each Allied power to occupy and control territories liberated by its armed forces
Stalin agreed to support United States against Japan
Stalin's plans prevailed; Poland and east Europe became communist allies
President Truman took hard line at Potsdam, widened differences
•
•
•
•
Soviets took east Germany, while United States, Britain, and France took west Germany
Berlin also divided four ways; by 1950 division seemed permanent
Churchill spoke of an "iron curtain" across Europe, separating east and west
Similar division in Korea: Soviets occupied north and United States the south
•
•
Perception of world divided between so-called free and enslaved peoples
Interventionist policy, dedicated to "containment" of communism
•
•
Idea to rebuild European economies and strengthen capitalism
Soviet response: Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) for its satellites
•
•
•
•
1949, United States created NATO, a regional military alliance against Soviet aggression
1955, Soviets formed the Warsaw Pact in response
Two global superpowers protecting hegemony with alliances
United Nations, established 1945 to maintain international peace and security
The origins of the cold war (1947-1990)
Postwar settlement established at Yalta and Potsdam
Postwar territorial divisions reflected growing schism between USA, USSR
Truman doctrine, 1947: USA would support "free peoples resisting subjugation"
The Marshall Plan, 1948: U.S. aid for the recovery of Europe
NATO and the Warsaw Pact: militarization of the cold war
COLD WAR IN EUROPE

Postwar Europe
•
Divided into competing political, military, economic blocs



•
Western Europe


•

Dominated by Soviet Union, Red Army, secret police
Communist governments modeled after USSR dominate countries
Germany divided east and west in 1949
•
•
•
Soviets refused to withdraw from eastern Germany after World War II
Allied sectors reunited 1947-1948, Berlin remained divided as well
Berlin blockade and airlift, 1948-1949



•
Soviet closed roads, trains, tried to strangle West Berlin into submission
Britain and United States kept city supplied with round-the-clock airlift
Soviets backed down and ended blockade
The Berlin Wall, 1961




U.S. allies supported by permanent presence of American army
Parliamentary governments, capitalist economies
Eastern Europe


NATO, European Economic Communities
Warsaw Pact, COMECON
Neutral: European Free Trade Association; Yugoslavia
1949-1961, refugees from East to West Germany, East to West Berlin
Soviet solution: a wall of barbed wire through the city fortified the border
Former Allied nations objected but did not risk a full conflict over the wall
Nuclear arms race
•
•
•
•
Terrifying proliferation of nuclear weapons by both sides
NATO and Warsaw Treaty Organization amassed huge weapons stockpiles
By 1960s USSR reached military parity with United States
By 1970 both superpowers acquired MAD, "mutually assured destruction"
UNITED NATIONS, 1945
COLD WAR ALLIANCES
NORTH ATLANTIC
TREATY ORGANIZATION
WARSAW PACT ORGANIZATION
COMECON
CENTRAL TREATY
ORGANIZATION
S.E. ASIAN TREATY
ORGANIZATION
ORGANIZATION OF
AMERICAN STATES
THE COLD WAR WORLD, c. 1982
COLD WAR CONFLICT



The Korea War, 1951-1953
•
•
•
•
•
Korea divided at 38th parallel; U.S. ally in south, Soviet ally in north
North Korean troops crossed 38th parallel and captured Seoul, June 1950
U.S. and UN troops pushed back North Korean troops to Chinese border
Chinese troops came in, pushed U.S. forces, allies back in the south
Both sides agreed to a cease-fire in July 1953, again at 38th parallel
•
•
•
Western fears of international communism must be contained
Creation of SEATO, an Asian counterpart of NATO
“Domino theory": if one country falls to communism, others will follow
•
Fidel Castro establishes guerrilla force in mountains, 1953
Globalization of containment
Cuba: nuclear flashpoint





•
Bay of Pigs fiasco, April 1961


•
Overthrew dictator Batista in 1959
Castro declared that his government would be socialist, angers USA
Castro seized U.S. properties, killed, exiled political opponents
United States cut off Cuban sugar imports, imposed export embargo
Castro accepted Soviet economic aid and arms shipments
CIA-sponsored invasion of Cuba failed
Diminished U.S. prestige in Latin America
Cuban missile crisis, October 1962



Soviet deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba, aimed at USA; claimed Cuban defense
Kennedy blockaded Cuba, demanded removal; two tense weeks
Khrushchev backed down; Kennedy pledged not to overthrow Castro
DÉTENTE & DECLINE OF BIPOLAR WORLD





Era of cooperation
•
•
•
Leaders of both superpowers agreed on policy of détente, late 1960s
Exchanged visits and signed agreements calling for cooperation, 1972, 1974
Concluded Strategic Arms Limitations Talks (SALT), 1972, again 1979
•
•
•
Full U.S.-China diplomatic relations in 1979 created U.S.-USSR strain
U.S. weapons sale to China in 1981 undermined U.S.-Soviet cooperation
1980 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan prompted U.S. economic sanctions
•
•
•
•
•
•
1950s, United States committed to support noncommunist government in South Vietnam
U.S. involvement escalated through 1960s
United States and allies unable to defeat North and South Vietnamese communists
President Nixon pledged in 1968 to end war with Vietnam
U.S. troops gradually withdrew; U.S. phase of war ended in 1973
North Vietnam continued war effort, unified the nation in 1976
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Afghanistan had been a nonaligned nation until 1978, pro-Soviet coup
Radical reforms in 1978 prompted backlash
Islamic leaders objected to radical social change, led armed resistance
1979, rebels controlled much of Afghan countryside; USSR intervened
United States and other nations supported anti-PDPA rebels; struggle lasted nine years
1989 cease-fire negotiation by UN led to full Soviet withdrawal
Taliban forces captured Kabul and declared Afghanistan a strict Islamic state, 1996
•
•
•
Cultural criticism of cold war as seen in film Dr. Strangelove, 1964
European and U.S. students agitated for peace, end to arms race, Vietnam war
Rock and roll music expressed student discontent
Demise of détente
U.S. defeat in Vietnam
Soviet setbacks in Afghanistan
Cold war countercultural protests in 1960s and 1970s
END OF COLD WAR

•
Revolution in east and central Europe
Moscow's legacies




•
Mikhail Gorbachev, Soviet leader 1985-1991


•




•
1989, Gorbachev announced restructuring of USSR, withdrawal from cold war
Satellites states informed that each was on its own, without Soviet support
Rapid collapse of communist regimes across eastern and central Europe, 1989


After World War II, Soviets had credibility for defeating Nazis
Communism unable to satisfy nationalism in eastern and central Europe
Soviet-backed governments lacked support and legitimacy
Soviet interventions in 1956 and 1968 dashed hopes of a humane socialism
In Poland, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa won election of 1990
Communism overthrown peacefully in Bulgaria and Hungary
Czechoslovakia's "velvet revolution" in 1990, divided into Czech Republic, Slovakia
Only violent revolution was in Romania; ended with death of communist dictator
East Germany opened Berlin Wall in 1989; two Germanys were united in 1990
The collapse of the Soviet Union
Gorbachev's reforms



•
Gorbachev hoped for economic reform within political and economic system
Centralized economy inefficient, military spending excessive
Declining standard of living, food shortages, shoddy goods
Perestroika: "restructuring" the economy


•
Tried decentralizing economy, market system, profit motive
Alienated those in positions of power, military leaders
Glasnost: "openness" to public criticism, admitting past mistakes



•
Opened door to widespread criticism of party and government
Ethnic minorities, especially Baltic peoples, declared independence from USSR
Russian Republic, led by Boris Yeltsin, also demanded independence
Collapse of the Soviet Union, December 1991




In 1991, conservatives attempted coup; wished to restore communism
With help of loyal Red Amy units, Boris Yeltsin crushed the coup
Yeltsin dismantled Communist party, led market-oriented economic reforms
Regions of ethnic groups became independent; Soviet Union ceased to exist
GUERRILLA STRUGGLES

Definition
•
•
•
•
Small trained groups conduct military operations
Targets associated with government, economy
Avoid conflict with larger, regular military forces
Inspiration





Nationalism
Political Independence
Political Ideology
Religion
Previous Historical Examples
•
•
•
•
•
Dutch against Spanish, late 16th and early 17th century
Americans against British, late 18th century
Spanish against Napoleon, early 19th century
Russians against Napoleon, early 19th century
Boers against British in Boer War, late 19th century
GUERRILLA MOVEMENTS: VIETNAM





Indochina was a French colony
•
•
•
Nationalist movements arrested by French
Model aims after Chinese nationalist parties
In 1940, Japanese occupy area in agreement with Vichy French
•
•
•
•
•
•
Ho Chi Minh founds Vietnamese Communist Party
Fought French, Japanese in World War II
Declared Vietnam independent in 1945
French decided to reassert colonial rule
Viet Minh defeated French 1954 Dien Bien Phu
Vietnam partitioned at 17th parallel
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
US assumes roll of aid to anti-communist south
Viet Cong wage war against corrupt South Vietnamese state
Communist guerrilla movements in Laos, Cambodia, too
US troops reach 300,000 but cannot win war
1968: Tet Offensive broke Viet Cong, US will to win
US eventually withdraws, South fights loosing battle
North Vietnam takes control of South in 1975
•
•
To displace murderous Pol Pot Regime
Khmer Rouge use guerrilla warfare against Vietnamese
•
•
Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau against Portuguese
Yugoslavia, Albania against Nazi occupation
1945 – 1959
1959 – 1975
1979 Vietnam invades Cambodia
Other Communist Guerrilla Movements
RELIGIOUS GUERRILLA MOVEMENTS

Iran: 1953 – 1979
• Shah Reza Pahlavi


Modernization equals westernization; export of oil, military take top
priority
Ruled with secret police, tyranny
• Violent clashes between protestors, police

Ayatollah Khomeni
• Traditionalist movement unites opposition; ousts Shah in 1979
• Established Muslim fundamentalist state
• Takes US diplomats hostage in 1979, released 1981

Actively sponsors Muslim terrorist groups abroad
• HAMAS: Palestine; FPLO: Radical branch of the PLO
• Hezbollah: Lebanon Shites; Islamic Jihad

Afghanistan: 1979 – 2002
• 1979: USSR invades to support pro-Soviet government


Mujahidin forces fight until 1989
Communist regime collages 1992 after Soviets withdraw troops
• 1996 Taliban Islamic Fundamentalist militia take control



Anti-western; anti-women; anti-democracy
Attacks images of west, non-Islamic culture (blew up Buddha statues)
Anti-any group which was not Muslim
• Supports Islamic terrorist groups abroad (Osama bin Laden)

US topples regime after it supported 9-11 attacks on US
INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS



Post-1945
•
•
Era of international cooperation
Many global problems cannot be solved by national governments
•
•
•
Red Cross, an international humanitarian agency, founded 1964
Greenpeace, an environmental organization, founded in 1970
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch
•
•
Founded 1945 "to maintain international peace and security"
Security Council
Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)
The United Nations



•
General Assembly



•
Each nation has one vote; poor, 3rd world nations dominate
Cannot legislate, but has influence in international community
Often used as a sounding board for world concerns, ignored by West
ECOSOC, UN Commission of Refugees, WHO




Permanent Veto Nations: UK, US, France, Russia, China
Not successful at preventing wars, for example, Iran-Iraq war
Often can diffuse tense situations
More successful in health and educational goals
Eradication of smallpox and other diseases
Decrease in child mortality, increase in female literacy
Human rights: an ancient concept, gaining wider acceptance
•
Nuremberg Trials of Nazis


•
Established concept of "crimes against humanity“
Permanent court sits in Hague, Netherlands for war crimes trials
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights


Forbids slavery, torture, discrimination
Guarantees basic human rights, freedoms
GENOCIDES



Types of Murder
•
•
•
Genocide: Killing of a specific group of people, attempt to wipe out
Democide: Mass murder of people by government
Ethnic Cleansing: Term common when one group attacks, kills another
•
•
First genocide of 20th century
Turks killed 1.5 million Armenians for their support of Russians in World War I
•
Long history of anti-Semitism
Armenian Holocaust
The Holocaust




•
The "final solution"



•

Will to resist sapped by prolonged starvation, disease
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising: 60,000 Jews rose up against Germans
Altogether



Began with slaughter of Jews, Gypsies, undesirables in Soviet Union
By 1941, German special killing units had killed 1.4 million Jews
By 1942 Nazis evacuated all European Jews to camps in east Poland
Jewish resistance

•
Created tolerance of Nazi's anti-Jewish measures
At first Nazis encouraged Jewish emigration
Many Jews were unable to leave after Nazis took their wealth
Nazi conquest of Europe brought more Jews under their control
About 5.7 million Jews perished; more than 2 million Poles died
Almost 98% of all Gypsies were murdered
Other Examples
•
•
•
Democides: Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot (Cambodia), Zaire/Congo
Genocides: Rwanda, Sudan
Ethnic Cleansings: Bosnia, Kosovo, Kurds in Iraq
21ST CENTURY
POWER BLOCKS