8:An American Century: The globalisation of the balance of Power

Question 1

US population in 1783

Answer 1

3 million

Question 2

US population in 1914

Answer 2

98 million

Question 3

status of the USA in 1830 compared to 1900

Answer 3

1830: it was the 6th biggest industrial nation
1900: overtaken Britain as the world’s leading industrial power

Question 4

size of US forces in 1890

Answer 4

-US army was smaller than that of Bulgaria
-US navy was about the size of Italy’s

Question 5

US naval power by 1913

Answer 5

it had emerged as the world’s third strongest navy power

Question 6

examples of America on the world stage

Answer 6

1812-15: Conflict with Britain
1823: Monroe doctrine
-Imperial role in Caribbean & pacific after Spanish defeat in 1898
-US control over areas
1904-14: US construction of the Panama Canal

Question 7

What areas did the US have control over?

Answer 7

Philippines
Hawaii
Guam
Samoa
Cuba
Panama
Dominican Republic

Question 8

Why was Russia expanding into Asia?

Answer 8

1891: construction on trans-sibmerian railway began
they wanted to acquire a warm water port in Manchuria or Korea
Russian plans in the far east didn’t take Japan into account

Question 9

position of Japan in the 19th century

Answer 9

-a closed, insular, xenophobic feudal society

Question 10

what changed in Japan that it managed to turn itself into a great power within a single generation?

Answer 10

1968: Meiji Restoration
-political, economic and military reforms along western lines

Question 11

What did Japan seek as a result of great power status?

Answer 11

Empire- China a target
Victory in the Sino-Japanese war 1894-1895

Question 12

Anglo-Japanese alliance

Answer 12

1902

Question 13

events of the Russo-Japansese war 1904

Answer 13

Feb: Japanese surprise attack on Russian fleet in Port Arthur
May: Japanese victory-battle of Yalu river
Oct: Russian Balkan fleet began a 7 month journey to Japan

Question 14

Events of Russo-Japanese War: 1905

Answer 14

Jan: surrender of besieged Russian garrison at Port Arthur
Feb: Russian defeat at battle of Mukden
27-28 May: Decisive naval victory over Russian fleet at Battle of Tsushima

Question 15

what consequence did the Battle of Tsushima have on Russia

Answer 15

contributed to the Russian Revolution in 1905

Question 16

How did the Russo-Japanese war end?

Answer 16

September 1905
- US president Theodore Roosevelt brokered the treaty ended the war

Question 17

American troops in the war and what this meant

Answer 17

1918: 500’000 US troops on battlefields
an unprecedented projection of American military power

Question 18

Role of Wilson in post Great War politics

Answer 18

• was established as the moral and political leader of the victorious powers in the search for a just peace settlement

Question 19

Why did the US role in Europe/world affairs look uncertain by 1920?

Answer 19

-Wilson was unable to impose his vision for a new international order on Britain and France
-the US Senate refused to ratify the TOV

Question 20

how did the American foreign policy change?

Answer 20

interventionism to isolationism
end of a democratic presidency, republican ascendancy until FDR

Question 21

How did America dominate outside of politics?

Answer 21

they dominated the new mass entertainment industries that emerged in the inter-war years

Question 22

examples of the americanisation of popular culture

Answer 22

-Hollywood movies pumped images of American glamour and fashion out to a huge global audience
-popular music: blues, Jazz, swing

Question 23

European reaction to Americanisation of culture

Answer 23

some european countries perceived American pop culture as vulgar

Question 24

Events of the break out of war in Europe in 1939-1940

Answer 24

1st Sept 1939: Nazi Germany invaded Poland
April 1940: German invasion of Denmark & Norway
10th May: German invasion of Belgium and Holland, same day chamberlain was replaced by Churchill
22nd June: fall of france

Question 25

what was the impact of france falling in 1940:

Answer 25

- it fundamentally changed the 20th century balance of power (David Reynolds) -it turned a European war into a global one

Question 26

how did the fall of France transform a European war to a global one?

Answer 26

1.Germany turned east to invade USSR-former allies 2.Britain turned to the USA for support 3.Italy and Japan joined the war

Question 27

economic/political affect of WW2 after the war?

Answer 27

-Germany's defeat left europe bankrupt, in ruins and occupied -Europe moved towards more economic and political integration in postwar decade

Question 28

Questions about pacific war

Answer 28

should the pacific war against Japan in the far east be regarded as a seperate conflict? Was European war unrelated to Japan creating its own regional empire?

Question 29

why was the pacific war still tied to war in Europe?

Answer 29

-lack of coordination between the axis-not a proper alliance system -racism fuelled a war of extermination in the pacific -Soviet Union, a potential bridge between European and pacific theatres

Question 30

when was Japan definitely brought into the war?

Answer 30

- Japan avoided war with Soviets after defeat in undeclared border conflict in September 1939 -USSR only declared war on Japan on 8th August 1945

Question 31

how did the balance of power change in terms of manufacturing?

Answer 31

US,USSR and UK accounted for 60% of world manufacturing production, axis powers only 17% US alone accounted for 60% by 1945

Question 32

who made the decisive military contributions to the defeat of Nazi Germany?

Answer 32

Soviet Union

Question 33

how many soviet casualties were there at the end of the war?

Answer 33

8-10 million military casualties 25 million civilian dead

Question 34

how did the soviet military casualties compare to the west?

Answer 34

US: 400'000 UK: 380'000

Question 35

military power that the rising superpowers had at the end of the war

Answer 35

-Soviet Red army occupied alot of territory in eastern and central europe -USA was the sole possessor of the atomic bomb

Question 36

why did 1945 lead to a new balance of power?

Answer 36

-WW2 destroyed the artificial eurocentricity of the inter-war years -it established the USA and Soviet Union as dominant world powers - this war saw the origins of the Cold War, rather than unfair forced German surrender

Question 37

Europe was divided as a result of the Cold War. How?

Answer 37

Soviet Red army occupied Poland, Hungary, Baltic states, Austria, Yugoslavia,Romania, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria Germany and Austria divided into british, French, US and Soviet zones, as was Berlin. 1945-1948: 'Sovietization" of Eastern Europe

Question 38

what was a key Cold War issue in Europe?

Answer 38

the revival of German power in the context of superpower rivalry and the European balance of power 1949: seperate west and East German states created

Question 39

How did the Cold War change the balance of power?

Answer 39

-The Cold War international system was dominated by the 2 superpowers: bipolarity -Britain determined to retain its status/tried to mobilise imperial resources/sustain itself as a third force in post-war world -economic weakness forced Britain soon to give this blame up

Question 40

why is a purely bipolar Cold War system a simplification?

Answer 40

- the Bandung bloc and post-colonial world -European Integration -China