Nationalism Around the
World
1919-1939
Mr. Barchetto
Notes #4
Colonial Possessions During WWI

India- 29.1
◦ Indians helped the British Empire fight the Central powers during WWI. They hoped
their service would earn them their independence. Instead Britain responded in
1919 with harsh new laws limiting freedom of press and other rights in India.

Africa
What commonality do we
seeEastafter
 Middle
29.2 WWI between
these three areas?
◦ During WWI more than 1 million Africans fought on behalf of their colonials rulers,
hoping their service would lead to more rights and opportunities.
◦ Arabs believed their contribution to the Allies against the Ottoman Empire in WWI
would give them independence after the war. Instead the Allies carved up the
Ottoman lands, giving France and Britain mandates to many Arab nations.

China- 29.4
◦ Sun Yat-sen’s government sided with Allies against Germany. They hoped that the
Allies, in gratitude would return control of China to the Chinese.
Growth of Nationalism


Most nationalist movements were
creations of Indians, Africans, Arabs and
Chinese educated by Western institutions.
Why do you think colonial powers educated men from
these societies based on Western education? What do you
think they hoped to gain?
◦ Colonial powers hoped to create leaders in these nations which
would be models of the West. These new leaders would run
their nation based on Western values and traditions.
Nationalism in India-29.1
Who: Indian nationalists &
celebrators dressed for a Hindu
Festival (approx. 10,000)
What: General Dyer and 90
Indian soldiers opened fire on the
crowd killing 400 and wounding
1200. General Dyer after ten
minutes of shooting orders his
men to leave.
When: April 13, 1919
Where: Amritsar capital city of
Punjab; in a walled park called
Jillianbagh
Why: Indians were meeting in
April 13, 1919: Amritsar Massacre
The flame of nationalism is lit and explodes across India
defiance to the new law stating
no public gatherings. General
Dyer wanted to send a message
to India
"The Indians were 'packed together so that one bullet would drive through three or four bodies'; the people 'ran madly this
way and the other. When fire was directed upon the centre, they ran to the sides. The fire was then directed to the sides.
Many threw themselves down on the ground, and the fire was then directed on the ground. This was continued for eight or
ten minutes, and it stopped only when the ammunition had reached the point of exhaustion".....Winston Churchill
Message Received

1858- Indian National Congress was born
◦ Goal: Initially their goal was winning equal
opportunity for Indians in social services.
◦ By the early 1900’s Indians' were calling for an
end to cooperation with Britain
◦ The Amritsar Massacre only unified Indians'
more toward this cause
“Cooperation in any shape or form with this satanic government is sinful”-Gandhi
The Push for Indian Independence
Mohandas Gandhi and
Jawaharlal Nehru led India’s
independence movement.
Even before World War I,
Mohandas Gandhi was active
in the Indian independence
movement. The Indian people
called him Mahatma, or India’s
“Great Soul.”
Gandhi & Nehru
Gandhi organized mass
protests against British law
using methods of civil
disobedience.
Indian Independence
•
Gandhi began a nonviolent campaign against
British laws by encouraging Indians to:
– Not pay their taxes
–
Not send their children to Englishsupported schools
–
Make their own cloth
–
Harvest their own salt
–
Boycott British-made goods
Independence becomes Fractioned by
mid-1920’s
•
The Indian independence movement
became divided and split into two paths:
− One group identified with Gandhi’s
religion, and tradition and Nehru’s
secular, Western, and modern approach.
−
Another division began to separate
India when Muslims became dissatisfied
with the Hindu-dominated INC and
created the Muslim League.
Nationalism in the Middle East- 29.2
Who: People of Middle East who
were under the rule of the Ottoman
Empire.
What: After treaty of Versailles
Middle East lands of Palestine,
Transjordan, Iraq, Syria &
Lebanon became mandates of
Britain and France.
When: Conclusion of WWI
Where: Middle East
Why: They believed that fighting
The Fall of the Ottoman Empire After 500 years of Rule
against the Ottoman Empire on
behalf of the Allies would help
earn them their independence
Betrayal at the Peace Conference

Arabs believed their contribution to the Allies in
WWI would give them independence after the war

Instead the Allies carved up the Ottoman lands,
giving France and Britain mandates to many Arab
nations

Arabs felt betrayed by the West, leading to
protests and revolts against Western Imperialism
Pan-Arabism Grows

Nationalist movement built on the shared heritage of Arabs,
living in lands from the Arabian Peninsula to North Africa (Syria,
Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco)

Sought to free Arabs from foreign domination and unite them
in their own state

Worn out by WWI Britain & France did not have the power or
will to stop Arab Nationalism
◦ British lost Iraq (1922) & Transjordan (1923)
◦ France lost both Syria and Lebanon (1936)

Only Palestine was left & it will become the center of turmoil
in the Middle East
British Palestine-Mandate
Promises in Palestine

McMahon-Hussein Agreement of
October 1915

◦ accepted by Palestinians as a promise by
the British that after WWI, land
previously held by the Turks would be
returned to the Arab nationals who lived
in that land.
“Land that cannot be said to be purely Arab was
excluded from the agreement”
Balfour Declaration of November
1917
◦ led the Jewish community in Britain and
America into believing that Great Britain
would support the creation of a Jewish
state in the Middle East.
“it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done
which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of
existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine”
A Bitter Struggle Begins

1919-1940- thousands of Jews migrated to Palestine due
to the Zionist movement and anti-Semitism in Europe

By the 1930’s Great Britain was getting ready for war.
 Oil importance—Relationship with Middle East Crucial
 Stop Jewish migration to Israel to make Arabs happy.
 WWII sympathy towards Jews due to Holocaust lead to
establishment of the nation of Israel.
 This will set off turmoil throughout the Middle East

Even today, the two groups fight for control over the
land that the Jews call Israel and the Arabs call Palestine
Revolutionary Chaos in China 29.3
Who: Sun (soon) Yat-sen
What: Early 1900’s Chinese
realized the only way to rid China
of foreign rule was modernization
and nationalism
When: 1911
Where: China
Why: Sun wanted to rule China
1911- Sun Yat-sen’s New Republic of China is established
based on 3 principles
1. Nationalism
2. People’s Rights
3. People’s livelihood
Sun’s New Republic is Weak

End of 2000 years of imperial rule left China
weak and disunited
◦ Roads and bridges were in disrepair
◦ Crops were destroyed
◦ Famine killed millions

WWI Begins
◦ Sun sides with Allies against Germany hoping that will
earn them their independence.
◦ Treaty of Versailles reveals Allies refusal to give up
territories and commercial interests in China.
 Even worse Japan was allowed to keep Chinese territory they
had seized during the war.
Nationalists


Adopted many ideals of the
West
Supported Modernization
and Westernization
Communists

The Chinese Communist Party
(CCP) was organized in
Shanghai by a group of young
radicals and several faculty
members from Beijing University
in 1921.

They grew increasingly tired of
western influence
Both groups clashed and severely distrusted each groups motives
The CCP and the Nationalist Party, led by Sun Yat-sen, put aside
their mutual distrust and worked together to expel imperialists
from China.
Nationalists/Communists
Civil War
•
Cooperating to drive the imperialists from China, the Nationalists and
Communists then fought one another fiercely for the right to rule China.
•
1925 Sun Yat-sen died and leadership of Nationalist party is
passed down to his brother-in-law
•
•
General Chiang Kai-shek succeeded Sun Yat-sen. Chiang distrusted
communists
Chiang turned against the Communists and killed thousands of
them in what became known as the Shanghai Massacre.
Nationalists and Communists
In 1928 Chiang formed a new Chinese
republic at Nanjing and spent the next
three years trying to unify China.
 Mao Zedong believed that a Chinese
Revolution could be successful with the
support of the peasants in the rural areas.
Mao used guerrilla tactics to combat
the Nationalists.

Nationalists and Communists

1933 Chiang Kai-Shek launcehed an army of a
million men to destroy Mao’s army.
◦ They outnumbered Mao 10 to 1.

Mao’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA)
began the Long March (1933) to the only
Communist base in northwest China. Only
about 10,000 of the 100,000
Japan invades Manchuria

Chiang Kai-Shek
◦ Receives money and weapons from United States but
stock piles it
◦ He believes the Communists are more of a threat
than Japan This thought process will prove costly

Mao Tse-tung
◦ Mao and his Red Army fight with everything they
have.
◦ Chinese peasants look at Communists as heroes who
were defending China from foreigners .
◦ Loyalty won from peasants will become a powerful
weapon against Nationalists in the future