Western Civilization III: Development of the Twentieth Century
Content Standards
The text references apply to the adopted text for this course, World History: Patterns of
Interaction.
Unit I: World War I, 1914-1918
Text references: Chapter 29 pages 740-769
Objectives:
Students will be able to…
1. Analyze causes of World War I, e.g., nationalism, militarism, imperialism, alliance systems,
political effects of industrialization Essential
2. Identify major events leading to the outbreak of World War I, e.g., Franco-Prussian War,
1870-1871, von Schlieffen Plan, rise of Serbian nationalism, assassination of Archduke
Ferdinand, carte blanche to Austria, Austrian declaration of war on Serbia, German ultimatums,
and Russian and French responses to the ultimatums Essential
3. Describe new technology of modern warfare, e.g., oil-dependent machinery of war, machine
guns, poisonous gas, tanks, submarines, etc. Essential
4. Analyze the effects of the technology of modern warfare in creating such things as high
casualty levels, trench warfare, and stalemate on the Western Front Essential
5. Locate the principal theaters of war, i.e., the Eastern Front and the Western Front Essential
6. Locate theaters of war outside Europe, e.g., Atlantic Ocean, Asia, and Africa
Extended
7. Analyze responses to the war through such things as poetry, letters, books, Dadaist art,
German Expressionism, and Surrealism of the post-war years. Essential
Unit II: Treaty of Versailles, 1919
Text References: Chapter 29, pages 660-763
Objectives
The students will be able to
1. Describe the peace conference at Versailles, e.g., the political aspirations of the Big Four and
the exclusion of Germany Essential
2. Identify and analyze the major points of the Treaty of Versailles, e.g., changes to political
boundaries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Middle East; the League of Nations, war guilt clause,
German reparations, and limits on German military power Essential
3. Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the Treaty of Versailles, e.g., reparations, war guilt,
internationalism Essential
Unit III: The Development of the 1917 Russian Revolution and Stalinism
Text References: Chapter 25, pages 649-650; Chapter 30, pages 769-778
Objectives
The students will be able to…
1. Account for the Russian Revolution, 1917, e.g., crises in Russia caused by World War I such as
food shortages, human and territorial losses at the front, weapons shortages; Lenin’s arrival in
St. Petersburg, problems with the Provisional Government Essential
2. Identify the key elements of Marxism, an idea base for the 1917 Russian Revolution, e.g., class
struggle between bourgeoisie and proletariat, revolution, and “abolition of private property
Essential
3. Differentiate between Lenin’s leadership and policies and Stalin’s leadership and policies,
e.g., definition of Bolsheviks, definition of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, War
Communism and Civil War, Trotsky, New Economic Policy, Collectivization, Totalitarianism,
Stalinist purges, and Stalin’s industrialization of the Soviet Union Essential
4. Identify the major events associated with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, e.g., the rise of
Gorbachev as a reformer of Soviet politics and economics, collapse of the Soviet Union, and the
ending of the Cold War hostilities. Essential
Unit IV: The Development of Fascism and Nazism
Text References: Chapter 31, pages 801-815
Objectives
Students will be able to…
1. Identify the major elements of Mussolini’s fascism in Italy, e.g., the origin of the word
fascism, the anti-communist nature of fascism, the concept of nation above individual,
glorification of violence and war Essential
2. Analyze the elements of fascism that are rooted in social Darwinism and in a nation’s folk
and romantic art, literature, and music such as an analysis of Wagner’s themes. Essential
3. Account for the rise of Nazism in Germany, e.g., nationalism, reactions to the Treaty of
Versailles, consequences of the global depression of the 1930s, effectiveness of Nazi
propaganda, appeal of anti-Semitism, promotion of racial hierarchy, rationale for lebensraum
and key elements of Adolf Hitler’s life story Essential
4. Identify the two main factions of the Spanish Civil War—the Republicans versus Francisco
Franco’s fascist movement and analyze Pablo Picasso’s Guernica painting as form of social and
political criticism Extended
Unit V: World War II in Europe, 1939-1945
Text References: Chapter 31, pages 808-809 and pages 811-815; Chapter 32, pages 818-845
Objectives
Students will be able to…
1. Analyze the major events leading to the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, e.g., German
aggression and the world’s responses to this aggression, Anschluss, appeasement policies at
Munich in 1938, and the German-Soviet non-aggression pact of 1939 Essential
2. Identify key events in the course of war in Europe, e.g., invasion of Poland by Germany and
the Soviet Union in 1939, invasion of Western Europe by Germany in 1940, the German invasion
of the Soviet Union in 1941 and consequent treatment of the civilian and military populations,
the significance of the battles of Leningrad and Stalingrad, the Allied invasion of Italy and the
battle of Anzio, the Allied D-Day invasion of France, and Germany’s unconditional surrender
Essential
3. Identify the British-American idealistic rationale for World War II, e.g., the Atlantic Charter.
Essential
4. Account for and assess responsibility for the Holocaust defined as “the organized killing of
civilians, especially Jews during World War II in Europe,” e.g., anti-Semitism in pre-war
Europe; Nazi Party anti-Semitism and racial purification policies in Germany before the war
such as Kristallnacht, Nuremberg Laws, and the opening of concentration camps such Dachau in
1933; the world’s response to Nazi policies; changes in Nazi policies after the outbreak of war in
1939 such as the institution of the Final Solution, extermination camps, and establishment of
ghettos; and cooperation with the Final Solution policies throughout Europe Essential
5. Analyze cases of resistance to the Holocaust by individuals and groups in Europe, e.g., Miep
Gies and the hiding of the Frank family in Holland, the Danish rescue of Jews in Denmark,
Corrie Ten Boom, Raul Wallenberg, Oscar Schindler, and Pope John Paul II as a priest in Poland
Essential
6. Identify the major events leading to the establishment of the United Nations in 1945 and
analyze the structure and powers of the Security Council and the United Nations Declaration of
Human Rights. Essential
7. Evaluate the legitimacy and implications of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials at the end of
World War II. Extended
8. Analyze the world situation in 1945-1947 at the end of World War II, i.e., the basis of the Cold
War, e.g., views of the world from Moscow, Washington, D.C., London, Paris, and Berlin.
Essential
Unit VI: The Development of the Middle East Since 1919
Text References: Chapter 33, pages 874-875; Chapter 34, pages 901-905
Objectives
Students will be able to…
1. Identify and analyze the effects of post-World War I European-imposed boundaries in the
Middle East based on European and secular interests as opposed to Middle Eastern religious or
ethnic differences, e.g., boundaries for Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine. Essential
2. Analyze the role of oil as a resource in major Middle East developments such as British policy
during and after World War I, Lawrence of Arabia and Britain’s strategic goal for his actions,
the protectorates organized by the Treaty of Versailles, the discovery of oil in Saudi Arabia and
U.S. influence since 1934, etc. Essential
3. Narrate the historical story of the creation of Israel and identify the tensions created by the
establishment of Israel and subsequent war between Arabs and Israelis in 1948, e.g., the Zionist
movement dating from the 1890s, the British Balfour Declaration of 1917, European Jewish
immigration to Palestine in the post-World War I era, Jewish immigration in the post-World
War II era, terrorist activities in the pre-1948 years, United Nations acceptance of an
independent Israel in 1947, the 1948 Arab-Israel War. Essential
4. Account for the paradox of Jerusalem as a unifier and a divider of peoples, e.g., identification
of major religious holy sites for Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, United Nations
recommendation for an international city in 1947, the divided Jerusalem from 1948-1967, and
the results of the 1967 Six Day War. Essential
5. Analyze and evaluate the rationale for Palestinian and Israeli points of view and land claims
in Palestine, e.g., religious claims, 1948 War, 1967 War, 1973 War, Camp David Agreement, Oslo
Accords, and defense barrier, etc. Essential
6. Account for terrorism as a tactic used by individuals, organizations, and governments in the
Arab-Israeli conflict. Essential
7. Narrate the major elements of the historical story of Iraq since World War I and account for
Iraq’s decisions to attack its neighbors in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, e.g., British boundary line
decisions, the British interests in Iraqi oil, Iraqi independence from Britain, the founding of the
Ba’athist Party, the modernization and secularization of Iraqi society/politics, and the rise and
fall of Saddam Hussein Essential
8. Narrate the major elements of the historical story of Iran since World War II, e.g., U.S.
interests in Iran after World War II, the rise and fall of the Shah, the Islamic fundamentalist
movement in Iran since 1979. Extended
Unit VII: The Chinese Revolutions of the Twentieth Century--1912, 1949, 1966-1976, 1980s1990s
Text References: Chapter 4, pages 97-98; Chapter 30, pages 781-784; Chapter 35, pages931-935
Objectives:
The students will be able to…
1. Identify the major events in the 1949 Chinese Revolution that culminated in the victory of the
Chinese Communist Party, e.g., Sun Yixian’s 1912 revolutionary movement that overthrew Pu
Yi, the last emperor of China; the May Fourth Movement as a reaction to the treatment of China
by the Big Four at the Versailles peace conference; the rise of the Nationalist leader Jiang Jieshi;
the Long March. Essential
2. Account for the victory of the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, e.g., consider the CCP’s
relations with the Chinese peasants, the consequences of the Japanese invasion of China during
World War II, and the Civil War between the CCP and the Nationalists (Koumingdong).
Essential
3. Analyze the role and policies of Mao Zedong in shaping the Chinese Revolution and the
Great Leap forward of the late 1950s. Essential
4. Explain the 1966 Cultural Revolution in China by analyzing tensions between traditional
Chinese culture and Mao’s attempt to create a modern China and a communist regime, e.g., a
look at key elements of Confucian philosophy compared to shifts in roles of women in China
and the expectations of the peasants in the 1950s and the 1960s. Essential
5. Assess the degree to which China has abandoned communist ideas since 1976 and the ending
of the Cultural Revolution. Essential
6. Analyze the 1989 Tiananmen protest, e.g., conditions in China that prompted the students to
protest in spring of 1989, the reasons why the protester labeled President Gorbachev “Mr.
Democracy,” the symbolism of the statue of liberty as a rallying point for the protesters in
Tiananmen Square, the methods by which the protest was ended. Extended
7. Compare and analyze Chinese revolutionary propaganda art with Russian revolutionary
propaganda art. Essential
Unit VIII: African Nationalism in the Post World War II Era
Text References: Chapter 34, pages 896-900; Chapter 35, pages 916-920
Objectives:
The students will be able to…
1. Define apartheid and analyze the major events in the ending of apartheid in South Africa, e.g.,
identifying the roles of Desmond Tutu, F.W. de Klerk, and Nelson Mandela in ending apartheid,
studying the truth and reconciliation process as a means of healing wounds in South Africa, and
identifying current problems in South Africa. Essential
2. Describe, trace, and account for the main events and ideas that shaped the post-World War II
independence movement in one African country, e.g., working in small groups or individually,
the students can choose a country in sub-Saharan Africa, identify the major events in that
country since 1945, analyze the positive and negative effects of imperialism, analyze the
positive and negative effects of independence, and assess responsibility for the situations in
modern Africa including such things as civil wars, poverty, urbanization, and the AIDS crisis.
Essential
3. Analyze interrelationships between African culture and Western Civilization, e.g., the
influence of African masks on Western art in the works of Picasso in the early twentieth
century. Extended