unit 8 (1900-present)

Question 1

European Economic Community

Answer 1

An alliance formed in 1957 by six West European countries dedicated to developing common trade policies and reduced tariffs; it gradually developed into the larger European Union.
The EEC/EU, along with retaining the knowledge of industrialization although the physical infrastructure was destroyed, helped Europe to rebuild after WWII.

Question 2

Marshall Plan

Answer 2

The third factor that allowed Europe to rebuild quickly after the war.
Huge U.S. government initiative to aid in the post-World War II recovery of Western Europe that was put into effect in 1948. The US sent $12 million, and many technicians and advisors.
The aid was sent partly as a humanitarian effort, but also to gain more customers for American businesses and to undermine support for communist countries

Question 3

Great Leap Forward

Answer 3

Communist push for collectivization that created “people’s communes” and aimed to mobilize China’s population for rapid development.
China’s industrialization was similar to Soviet industrialization and collectivization; a bureaucratic class of planners, managers, scientists, and engineers emerged and policies tended to favor urban over rural areas and the highly educated over workers and peasants
The Great Leap Forward also resulted in an unprecedented human tragedy; a massive famine occurred and 30 million people were killed

Question 4

Cultural Revolution

Answer 4

China’s Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution was a massive campaign launched by Mao Zedong in the mid-1960s to combat the capitalist tendencies that he believed reached into even the highest ranks of the Communist Party; the campaign threw China into chaos
Mao rallied millions of young people, called Red Guards
These guards attacked teachers, local party and government officials, intellectuals, factory managers, and many more
Like in the Soviet Union many were beaten, killed, humiliated, and sent to do hard labor
Soon revolutionary groups turned on each other and China was threatened with civil war; Mao called in the military and restored order within the CCP

Question 5

Cold War

Answer 5

Geopolitical and ideological conflict between communist regimes and capitalist powers after World War II, spreading from Eastern Europe through Asia; characterized by the avoidance of direct military conflict between the USSR and the United States and an arms race in nuclear weapons.

Question 6

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Answer 6

A military alliance, created in 1949, between the United States and various European countries; largely aimed at defending against the threat of Soviet aggression during the cold war. This treaty also anchored West Germany into the alliance, and decreased military spending in Europe, allowing them to continue to recover

Question 7

Warsaw Pact

Answer 7

A military alliance between the Soviet Union and communist states in Eastern Europe, created in 1955 as a counterweight to NATO; expressed the tensions of the cold war in Europe. This treaty imposed Soviet influence on Eastern Europe, like voluntary American influence in Western Europe

Question 8

Berlin Blockade

Answer 8

Soviet attempt to starve out the allies in Berlin in order to gain supremacy. A high point in the Cold War, and it led to an Airlift.

Question 9

Iron Curtain

Answer 9

Winston Churchill’s term for the Cold War division between the Soviet-dominated East and the U.S.-dominated West. Was also a term for the Berlin Wall as the physical separator.

Question 10

Mao Zedong

Answer 10

(1893-1976) Leader of the Communist Party of China that overthrew the nationalist. He established China as the People’s Republic of China

Question 11

Proxy Wars of the Cold War

Answer 11

Wars that were the result of ideological differences between Capitalism and Communism. Governments on both sides funded these wars, provided soldiers, and more
The spread on communism led to many of these
Korean war: North Korea invaded South Korea leading to Chinese and American involvement in a three year war (1950-1953) that is still in a standoff that divides Korea today with the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)
Vietnam war: communist movements in Southern Vietnam wanted to unify the south with the already communist North Vietnam, prompting massive American intervention in the 60s. North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union and China, leading to them beating the US and the entirety of Vietnam becoming communist
Afghanistan: A Marxist party had come to power in 1978 with support of the Soviet Union, however there was a growing opposition movement from Islamic radicals, the Soviet union intervened and this led to a ten year war, in part because the US had supported Afghan guerrillas. Eventually the Soviet Union withdrew leading to the rise of extremist groups like the Taliban

Question 12

Cuban Missile Crisis

Answer 12

In Cuba a communist regime had come to power in the 1960s under Fidel Castro.
Because of American hostility, Nikita Khrushchev sent nuclear missiles to Cuba.
In October of 1962 the missiles were discovered and for the next thirteen days many thought nuclear war was imminent
The threat was ended when Khrushchev and JFK came to a compromise; the communist regime was kept in Cuba and Khrushchev would not invade the US, after this a direct line was established between Moscow and DC

Question 13

India’s Independence Leaders

Answer 13

India had a nonviolent movement led by Gandhi and Nehru
Gandhi rejected industrialization while Nehru embraced science and technology as being essential for India’s independence
Gandhi was inclusive to all castes and religions

Question 14

Partition of India

Answer 14

The Muslim minority in India thought that they would be swamped by the majority Hindu population
Muhammad al Jinnah led the Muslim League which argued that regions with a Muslim majority should have their own nation; Pakistan
Gandhi and the Congress Party agreed to the Partition
In 1947 India and Pakistan split into two countries; about 1 million died in the violence, and 12 million refugees moved between the two countries

Question 15

Mikhail Gorbachev

Answer 15

Led the Soviet Union from 1985-1991 when it fell on Christmas Day
His policies such as perestroika which was aimed at restructuring the Soviet Union’s economy like China’s reforms, and glasnost which permitted intellectual and cultural freedoms, failed at what they had intended to do, weakening the Soviet government and many democratic movements arose, eventually leading to its collapse in 1991

Question 16

Perestroika

Answer 16

Similar to China’s restructuring, Gorbachev freed state enterprises, permitting small-scale businesses called cooperatives, offering opportunities for private farming, and cautiously inviting foreign investment
However this did not work as it had in China, inflation mounted, raising the prices of basic necessities, many Soviet farmers did not willing to privatize, and many foreign investors did not want to do business in the Soviet Union, this weakened the economy further leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union

Question 17

Glasnost

Answer 17

Literally means openness; Gorbachev opened access to intellectual and cultural resources
- newspapers and tv exposed crime, prostitution, homelessness, child abuse, suicide, and elite corruption
- plays, poems, and novels were released to the public
- films were allowed to be more explicit
- the Bible and Quran were more available, and many churches and mosques reopened
- Soviet history was reexamined and Stalin’s crimes were revealed
This lead to a large democracy movement, with many wanting a multiparty democracy and free market system

Question 18

Deng Xiaoping

Answer 18

Leader of China after Mao died in 1976
He ended collectivised agriculture, and returned to small scale private farms
He opened the country to foreign investors
He deregulated many state enterprises
This led to enormous economic growth

Question 19

Outcomes of China’s economic growth

Answer 19

Economic growth and prosperity led to better diets, lower mortality rates, declining poverty, massive urban construction, and growing exports, improving material life, and China became one of the Great Powers and challenged American dominance in East Asia and the Pacific

Also; massive corruption, inequalities between the coast and interior, urban overcrowding, and pollution
things like crime, prostitution, gambling, drugs, and organized crime all resurfaced in major cities

Question 20

Tiananmen Square Massacre

Answer 20

After these reforms China had become a capitalist country led by the CCP
Although it had many economic reforms, it did not relinquish its control for democracy
When a democracy movement led by students rose in the late 80s, Deng ordered it to be crushed brutally in front of television cameras

Question 21

Special Economic Zones

Answer 21

In 1979 the Chinese government established these on the coast near Macao, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Improved transportation, lower taxes, and other incentives attracted investors.
This helped stimulate economic growth

Question 22

Decolonization of Africa and Asia

Answer 22

Between the mid-50s-70s 50 African nations gained independence
WWI and WWII proclaimed that humans were separated into distinct peoples and nations and all should have their own states, making the empire less valid
This as well as; the world wars weakening Europe and discrediting it, new global superpowers (Soviet Union and US) discrediting empires, the UN providing a platform for anticolonial discussion led, and Europeans dependence on local authorities led to the fall of European empires
Many colonial rulers began to deliberately plan for decolonization with gradual political reforms, investments in railroads, ports, and telegraph lines, holding elections, and writing constitutions
Movements in Africa and Asia used strikes, demonstrations, peaceful protest, and sometimes guerrilla warfare

Question 23

Contradictions of empires

Answer 23

Christianity, Enlightenment thought, and material progress contradicted colonial racism, exploitation, and poverty
National self determination contradicted the fact that colonies could not express national characters
Nationalism which had been a factor in the building of empires was now a part of their end

Question 24

Mexican Revolution

Answer 24

During the struggles for independence the US’s influence in Latin America also came under attack
The Mexican Revolution in 1910 resulted in the nationalization of many industries such as the oil industry which had been mostly owned by American and British investors

Question 25

After Independence

Answer 25

Many different kinds of political rule rose
Communist control, multiparty democracy, and personal dictatorships were all common
Many also had military interventions which resulted in military led governments in much of Latin America until the globalization of democracy which ended military and autocratic rule, however many leaders became authoritarian in office, parliaments were limited in their authority, elites exercised their influence, or democratic movements were ended

Question 26

Conflicts between communist regimes

Answer 26

The communist world faced many internal conflicts due to territorial disputes, ideological differences, and rivalry for leadership
This led to conflicts between communist powers such as:
- the Soviet Union and China, started when the Soviet Union backed out of their promise to give China a prototype of an atomic bomb, however China did build a nuclear arsenal and by the late 60s they were on the brink of nuclear war
- protests against the Soviet Union in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, these movements were brutally crushed when the Soviet Union invaded
- China went to war with Vietnam
- Vietnam invaded Cambodia