World History:
WWI to Modern Day
Roots of WWI
 World
War I
– “The Great War”
 Nationalism-
 The
loyalty to one’s country
Balkans
– Ethnic groups launching revolutions against
the Ottoman Empire
– Some annexed by Austria-Hungary
– Poland v. Russia
– Ireland v. Britain
Roots of WWI
 Militarism
– Countries began building up their
militaries to intimidate others
 Alliances
– Agreements between nations to help
each other in case of war
The War Begins
 June
28, 1914- Archduke Francis
Ferdinand, heir to Austria-Hungary, was
assassinated by a Serbian nationalist
– Austria-Hungarian/German alliance
– Serbian/Russian alliance
 Triple
Entente
– Great Britain, France, Russia
 Central
Powers
– Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire
The War Front
 Weapons
– Machine guns
– Poison gasses
– Tanks and airplanes
 Stalemate
develops
 Trench warfare
– Dirty ditches
– “no man’s land” in between
The End and Aftermath
1917- the US enters the war
 1918- the war ends when Germany is defeated
– 20 million Europeans dead
 President Wilson wanted peace but the allies
wanted to punish Germany
 Treaty of Versailles
– Forced Germany to accept blame
– Germany to pay reparations ($)
 Hapsburg Dynasty (ruling European family) fell
 Ottoman Empire- no longer existed

The Aftermath
 Allies
redrew national borders to
benefit themselves
 New countries created causing
conflict
 Promised independence to Arab
nations but went back on their word
– Mandate system
 Germans
left resentful
 Laid the path for WWII
League of Nations
 President
Wilson proposed it
 Was meant to provide a place where
countries could peacefully discuss
solutions
 Many countries joined but no the
USA
 Could not enforce anything
Russian Revolution
 Czar
Nicholas II- lead Russia in
WWI but was overthrown in 1917
 Lenin
– Marxist/Communist
– Bolsheviks- socialist party
– Gained control of the Russian
government
 Western
nations sided with the
non-communist
 Soviet Union= Communist Russia
Joseph Stalin
 Became
communist dictator of Russia
 Five Year Plan
– Sought to increase industrialization in the
USSR
– State owned farms and starvation
 Purge
– Stalin eliminated those he saw as a threat;
some killed some sent to prisons
– Murdered millions of his own people
Effects of the Revolution
 End
of the Romanov Dynasty
transferring power to the lower
classes
 Urbanization and technology
 Mistrust between the Russia and the
west
 Later led to the Cold War after WWII
Totalitarian v. Authoritarian
Governments
Democracy does not exist in either
 Authoritarian

– Only interested in political power
– Conservatives who want to preserve traditional way
of life
– Expects people to accept government policies and
carry on with their lives

Totalitarian
– Government seeks to control politics, economy,
culture, and social life
– Terror and fear used to force citizens
Italy
 Fascism
– Nationalistic movement that is antidemocratic and anti-communist
– Rules by intimidation
 Benito
Mussolini
– Used violence to settle unrest
– Became dictator of Italy after gaining support
from the middle class
– Repressive government
Adolf Hitler
Took control of Germany with the Nazi Party
 Rose in power through Nationalism and
promised of rebuilding
 “Third Reich”
 Began militarily expanding

– Empire building
– Appeasement

Anti-Semitism-hatred of the Jewish people
– “Final Solution”-called for the total elimination of the
Jewish people
– The Holocaust
Japan
 Emperor
Hirohito
– Did not have complete control of Japanese
government
– Militarily controlled
 Hideki
Tojo
– Japan’s premier and led Japan through WWII
Leading to War
 Hitler’s
invasion on the Rhineland,
Austria, and the Sudetenland
 Japan expanding in the Pacific and
into China
 Axis Powers
– Germany
– Italy
– Japan
WWII
 Hitler
invades Poland
 Britain and France enter the war
 Hitler takes over France
 Battle of Britain
– Thousands of German planes bomb
Britain
– Winston Churchill- British prime minister
– Britain holds on
US Involvement
 US
had remain neutral until
December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl
Harbor
– US declares war
 Allies
– United States
– Britain
– Soviet Union/Russia
 Hitler
invades Soviet Union
Strategy
 Stalin
wanted US and Britain to open the
western front of Europe to help him out
 Churchill and Roosevelt decided to attack
Germany in Africa, Italy, and then the
Western European Front
 Tehran Conference
– Allies agree to invade Europe
– D-day
– Significance: Paved way for Western
European invasion that would end the war
 France
is won back
Yalta Conference



“Big Three”
– Roosevelt/Truman (US)
– Churchill (Britain)
– Stalin (USSR)
Yalta Conference
– After German defeat USSR would help with Japan
– Eastern European countries to get elections
– USSR gets land in Poland and some in China
– USSR gets most reparations because they were the
hardest hit
– Germany divided into four zones after the war (US,
Britain, France, USSR)
Significance: Laid out post-WWII Europe between the
west and the communist
Potsdam Conference
War in Europe ended May 1945
 Potsdam

– Truman meets with Stalin and Churchill
– Unconditional Surrender of Japan
– Significance: led to the decision of the atomic
bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki
War on both fronts were finally ended
 Use of the atomic bombs led to the
nuclear arms race between the US and the
USSR

– Hydrogen bomb created
Post WWII




Cold War
– Tension b/w the US and USSR that many feared
would lead to nuclear war
Marshall Plan
– Money given to help Western Europe’s economy and
help rebuild countries
Post War Japan
– Created democratic government ad helped rebuild
– Today a modern, industrial, and wealthy nation
United Nations
– Organization of different countries to find peaceful
solutions to problems
– Permanent Members: US, Britain, France, Russia,
China
Indian Independence
Decolonization
 India was under control of Britain
 Mohandas Gandhi
– Leader of the Indian Independence
Movement
– Supported non-violent protests even through
beatings by the British
– Unity b/w Hindus and Muslim Indians
 Gained independence but not religious peace
 Pakistan created as a Muslim state
 Gandhi was assassinated but inspired many

China’s Communist Revolution
 Nationalists
 Mao
v. Communists
Zedong
– Communist leader who gained control of
China
– USSR supported
Israel
 Zionism-
Jewish nationalism
increased after the Holocaust
 1948 Israel created for Jewish people
 Arabs upset because part of Palistine
was taken
 Wars have broken out and still
tension
Latin America
US was backing governments in Latin America
that nationalists did not support
 Latin American nationalism associated itself
more with the Soviet Union
 Cuba (Castro), Chile (Salvador Allende),
Nicaragua (Sandinistas), Mexican attempt
(Zapatistas)
 US backed anti-communist takeovers
 Today’s anti-US Latin American governments

– Venezuela and Hugo Chavez
– Bolivia and Juan Evo Morales Ayma
Southeast Asia
 Decolonizing
after WWII
 Many of the countries experienced
unrest
 Vietnamese Nationalist led by Ho Chi
Minh fought the French and the US
– Communist nationalist won in the end
Africa
 African
nationalism also came about after
decolonization
 Several African countries gained
independence
 South Africa
– Apartheid- official policy of racial segregation
in South Africa
– Nelson Mandela- arrested for his leadership
for 27 years but 1994 was elected president
– 1994 South African elections where black
population was allowed to participate
Middle East
 Arab
National arose after the
founding of Israel
 Abdul Nassar became president of
Egypt and united Arabs in standing
against the west and supporting
Palestine
Ethnic Conflicts
 African
tribes fighting one another
 Kurds, Persians, Arabs, and Jews
fighting in the Middle East
 Eastern Europe
– Serbs, Bosnians, and Croats fighting
– Serbians conquered Bosnia and began
ethnic cleansing killing many Bosnians
– NATO helped to maintain peace
Terrorism
 Terrorism
– Use of violence against innocent people in
the name of a cause
 Al-Qaeda
– Largest and most active terrorist group
– Led by Osama bin Laden
– Sept. 11, 2001
– War on Terror- invasion into Afghanistan
 How
does this affect us today?
Globalization
 Globalization-
worldwide interdependence
 United Nations
– Allows representatives to negotiate
peacefully, provide aid, and back military
forces to maintain stability
 World
Trade Organization
– Monitors countries making sure they stick to
international trade agreements
 OPEC
(Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries)
– Several oil producing nations that control the
cost and supply of oil