the 20th century Flashcards
time of optimism
nation with expansive empire, well-admired navy, thriving industry, strong political institutions
global superpower
time of social progress
financial help for the unemployed, old-age pensions and free school meals
laws passed to improve safety in the workplace, town planning rules tightened to prevent the development of slums, better support to mothers/children
WWI
franz ferdinand of austria assassinated in 1914 (june)
other factors like a growing sense of nationalism in many European states, increasing militarism, imperialism and the division of major European powers into two camps
WWI as a global war
conflict centred in Europe but involved nations all around the world
Allied Powers: France, Russia, Britain, Japan, Belgium, Serbia
- later Greece, Italy, Romania and the US
Central Powers: Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and later Bulgaria
whole of the British Empire involved
over 2M British casualties
- one battle, the British attack on the Somme in 1916 resulted in 60k casualties on the first day alone
ended in 1918 with victory for Britain
partition of Ireland
in 1913, British government promised home rule for Ireland
proposal to have self-governing Ireland with its own parliament but still part of the UK
- opposed by Protestants in the North of Ireland who wanted to resist Home Rule by force
Ireland and WWI
war led the British government to postpone changes in Ireland
Irish nationalists didn’t want to wait, and there as an uprising in 1916 against the British
- leaders executed under military law
guerrilla war against the British army and the police in Ireland followed
in 1921, peace treaty signed and Ireland became two countries in 1922
- six counties in the north that were mainly protestant remained part of the UK under the name northern Ireland
- the rest became the Irish Free State which had its own government and became a republic in 1949
the inter-war period
in the 1920s, living conditions improved
great depression in 1929 with mass unemployment
- effects felt differently in different parts
- traditional heavy industries like shipbuilding badly affected but new industries like the automobile and aviation industries developed
cultural blossoming with writers like Graham Greene and Evelyn Waugh
BBC started radio broadcasts in 1922 and began the first TV service in 1936
WWII
hitler came to power in Germany in 1933
- believed that conditions imposed on Germany by the Allies after WWI were unfair and wanted to conquer more land
when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939, Britain and France declared war to stop his aggression
Axis powers: Germany, Italy and the Empire of Japan
Allied side: UK, France, Poland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the Union of South Africa
hitler continued his invasion of poland by taking control of Belgium and the Netherlands
in 1940, German forces defeated allied troops and advanced through France
- as France fell, the British decided to evacuate soldiers in a huge naval operation
- more than 300k men were rescued from the beaches around Dunkirk
from 1940 until 1941, Britain and the empire stood almost alone against Nazi Germany
Germans waged an air campaign against Britain but the British resisted with fighter planes and won the Battle of Britain in 1940
- most important planes were the Spitfire and the Hurricane
German air force continued bombing London and other British cities at night time
- the Blitz
- Coventry almost totally destroyed
Winston Churchill
conservative MP in 1900
PM in 1940
refused to surrender to Nazis, and was an inspirational leader to the British
lost the general election in 1945 but returned as PM in 1951
- MP until he stood down at the 1964 general election
voted as the greatest Briton of all time in 2002
WWII outside of Britain
British military fighting the Axis on other fronts
- Japanese defeated them in Singapore and then occupied Burma, threatening India
US entered the war when the Japanese bombed its naval base at Pearl Harbour in 1941
hitler then attempted the largest invasion in history by attacking the Soviet Union
- fierce conflict with huge losses on both sides
- Germans ultimately repelled by Soviets
allied forces gradually gained the upper hand
- in 1944, allied forces landed in Normandy (d-day)
- won and pressed through france, and eventually into Germany, defeating them in 1945
war against Japan ended in 1945 when the US dropped atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
first to split the atom
scientists led by Ernest Rutherford
Alexander Fleming
born in Scotland, later qualified as a doctor
researching influenza in 1928 when he discovered penicillin
- developed into a drug by Howard Florey and Ernst Chain
mass production by the 1940s
fleming won the nobel prize in medicine in 1945
