1947-1949
* India & Pakistan gain independence (August 14 & 15, 1947):
* Partition of India: Marked the End of British rule in India after 200 years which led to the birth of these two new nations (Hindu India & Muslim Pakistan)
* Widespread violence erupted
* ***could mention how Ghandi believed India and Pakistan could coexist peacefully and opposed partition
* Gandhi demonstrated how nonviolence could succeed
* Mass migrations and violence erupt along religious lines; an estimated 1–2 million people died partially as a result of the death of Gandhi from the death of a Hindu fanatic in 1948 during prayer service to end violence
* Muslims moved to Pakistan and Hindus moved to India
* Symbolizes end of European Colonialism
* Marshall Plan (April 3, 1948)
* US economic aid to Western Europe to help rebuild after WWII.
* 13.3 billion in aid
* Demonstrates tensions present between USSR and USA aka Cold War
* Western Europe was worried that reliance on USA and tariff free trade would lead to unemployment and them losing autonomy in shaping their economies
* Positioned USA as global economic leader
* USSR responded with COMECON
* Establishment of Israel → Arab-Israeli War (May 14, 1948)
* After WWII, the idea of zionism spread (movement of return of Jews to their ancestral homeland)
* UN Partition Plan of 1947 → splitting Palestine into Arab and Jewish states
* Jews accepted while Arabs and Palestinans rejected
* Immediate war followed from 5 Arab states after Israel declared independence
* Israel survived the war but 700,000 Palestinian Arabs became refugees in what they call Nakba
* US declared arms embargo in efforts to not escalate tensions, however USSR supported Israel through sale of Czech arms to Israel
* Crucial to Israel’s success in the war
* Israel wanted to make people of all shared culture (hebrew language, new names) not diverse
* After 1948, Palestinian citizens of Israel (about 20% of the population) faced land confiscation and were placed under military rule with restrictions on movement, politics, and culture until 1966
* Israeli victory through armistice agreements
* Global Outlook:
* First Arab-Israeli war laid foundation for ongoing issues
* Cold War complications as USSR supported Israel with intentions of spreading communism although USA eventually gave support
* Blockade of Berlin (June 24, 1948-May 12, 1949)
* Cut off all land and river transit between b/w West Berlin and West Germany
* Event that is apart of the Cold War
* in response to economic unification of Western sectors of Germany: 324 days
* West had to airlift supplies and soviets eventually dropped the blockade
* West is saying no to the spread of USSR
* Founding of People’s Republic of China (October 1, 1949)
* Chinese communist party led by Mao Zedong, defeats the nationalist in a civil war (KMT army)
* Marxist revolution did not take place in the way Marx believed
* * The end of Warlords, Landlords, and Foreign Power Dominance
* Marked a major shift in the politics of China at the time
* USSR used the Party Line where Communist Party dictated every aspect of citizens lives while PRC used Mass Line so that leaders would listen to the people
* CCP targeted landlords
* CCP saw cities as full of KMT corruption so they cracked down on prostitution, crimes, and drugs
* Women's liberation was promoted
* Global Outlook:
* gained support from Joseph Stalin
* Cold War tensions
* Excluded from the UN
Similarities and Differences:
decolonization/emergence of new nations, mass displacement, cold war
All different events: decolonization, marshall plan, economic strategy, state formation via partition, geopolitical standoff, revolutionary regime change
1954-1956
* Geneva Accords and Division of Vietnam
* Ho Chi Minh wrote to Woodrow Wilson for the purposes of self-determination which was ignored so he turned to Lenin and Communism which supported decolonization
* Japan invaded Vietnam in 1940 and with help of US army and OSS officers, vietnam was able to stay strong
* The US prioritized fighting the Cold War over promoting decolonization spending more on the French War than on the Marshall Plan
* Actual 1954 Vietnamese communist were supported by Chinese communists
* Under the Geneva Accords, Vietnam was temporarily divided at the 17th parallel line (North Vietnam → under communist, South Vietnam → under anti communist)
* USSR had never supported word because under Khrushchev desired “peaceful coexistence”
* China: funded the war but desired a divided vietnam to limit US involvement
* “Domino Theory” dominated US policy
* Vietnam became a major proxy war
* Algerian War of Independence begins
* Inspired by the effects of other anti colonial wars especially in Indochina
* Between France and the National Liberation Front (nationalist movement seeking Algeria’s independence)
* Muslim Algerians faced major discrimination although living in their ancestral lands
* Muslims were legally defined as French subjects (not citizens)
* Land confiscation
* Employment discrimination
* Cultural assimilation
* segregation
* Events leading up → French defeat in Vietnam led to demerol in French
* Algeria eventually gained independence, lots of people died,
* Global: Boost to global decolonization efforts, importance to overcome a crooked system
* Brown v. Board and Montgomery Bus boycott
* Supreme court case in the USA
* “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal”
* Overturned Plessy v. Ferguson: allowed for segregation under the “separate but equal doctrine”
* Global:
* Anti racism, served as a symbol internationally
* International perception: can’t critique atrocities in other places when horrible things are taking place in the USA
* Impacted human rights
* Khrushchev's secret speech (Feb 25, 1956)
* He gave the speech to delegates of the communist party
* Denounces Joseph Stalin’s rule, not communism
* He believed the Stalin had abused powers
* Denounced Stalin’s use of the NKVD (secret police) to carry out mass arrests and executions of loyal Communists, especially during the Great Purge (1936–38).
* Tells party they have lived in fear and mistreated and that he will care for them and treat them the right way
* Sparked internal turmoil as some people were very loyal to stalin
* Hungarian revolution and Soviet Invasion
* Background: Mátyás Rákos was a stalinist enforcer and was replaced by Ernő Gerő another hardliner
* Student protest erupt in Budapest demanding free speech, multi-party elections, withdrawl from the Warsaw Pact, and return of former prime minister Imre Nagy (reformist communist)
* Peaceful protest turns violent as police and state security open fire
* Giant statue of Stalin is pulled down in Budapest (symbolic)
* Imre Nagy is reinstated as prime minister
* Hungary declare neutrality on November 1, 1956 and announces withdrawal from the Warsaw pact so USSR responds by invasion
* Thousands of Hungarians are killed
* Event demonstrates limits to Krushchev’s peaceful coexistence
* Global: US was outraged but did not intervene militarily because didnt want to escalate the Cold War
* Revolution was seen as affront to human rights
* Suez Crisis
* Gamal Nasser overtook the Suez Canal previously controlled by Britain and France (both countries have interest in colonial power in the area)
* Israel, France, and Great Britain all joint efforts in a war against Egypt
* For Egypt, this confirmed Israel as a ally to colonial powers
* USSR threatened rocket attacks against France, Great Britain, and Israel
* US refused to supply oil and used financial pressure to end get France, Great Britain to end hostilities and Israel to withdraw
* Victory for Nasser as he maintained control of the Suez Crisis
* Decline of European colonialism and rise of USSR and US influence
1968 (What’s so funny about peace? powerpoint)
* Assasination of MLK Jr
* Highlights the racism taking place in the United States and human rights issues present globally
* He was in Memphis to support a strike by Black sanitation workers fighting for better wages
* He launched the Poor People’s Campaign (calls for an end to economic inequality across racial lines)
* Widespread riots and protests erupted in over 100 U.S. cities, resulting in deaths, injuries, and mass arrests.
* Global: Shocked people globally especially people involved in anti-colonial issues
* Revealed deep racial issues present within the United States
* “Prague Spring” and Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia
* Internal reform that took place as a result of the economic stagnation
* Under Alexander Dubcek, tried to implement “socialism with a human face”
* Embracing policies like market socialism, cultural openness, and freedom of expression
* Demonstrates an attempt to humanize socialism from within
* USSR feared that liberalization would weaken the eastern bloc so that led an Warsaw Pact Invasion
* The soviets invaded and instilled the Brezhnev Doctrine declaring USSR had right to intervene whenever socialism was threatened
* Global: created a new fear of instilling reform in the communist bloc
* Student Movement and General Strike in France (May 1968)
* Student protest against overcrowded universities and lack of student rights
* Professor held absolute authority, university governance was hierarchical
* Students were punished or expelled for organizing protests or distributing political means
* Student protest was met with harsh police intervention
* Strike involved 10 million workers
* Though the uprising didn’t produce lasting institutional change, it reshaped French society
* It led to improvements in labor conditions, education reform, and cultural liberalization.
* It marked the decline of traditional authority and contributed to the growth of leftist, feminist, and environmentalist movements.
* Comparison to US civil rights movement and anti vietnam protests
* Protests in Poland by Students Against the Regime
* Resulted after government banned a performance of Adam Mickiewicz’s romantic nationalist play (critical soviet influence)
* Led into broader protest and opposition to communist rule as a whole
* Protest was crushed but marked the first alliance between students and intellectuals
* Relate it to protest in France and US
* Brezhnev Doctrine Announced
* The Brezhnev Doctrine was a Soviet foreign policy principle stating that the USSR had the right to intervene in any socialist country whenever socialism was perceived to be under threat—even from internal reforms. It was used to justify Soviet military intervention in allied socialist states to preserve the dominance of Communist Party rule.
* No eastern bloc communist nation attempted reform until 1980 with fear of the USSR
* Shift people's perspective of socialism from liberating to coercieve
* Cold War tensions intensified
1979-1981
* Iranian Revolution
* Began as a revolution against the monarchy of the Shah and lead up to the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979
* Shah had a “white revolution” → financed with oil income? (1963)
* Land reform pushed many peasants off their land and these displaced people went to urban centers and the people that could not find jobs ended up in urban slums
* Investment in education and industry created a new middle class and working class
* Implemented Literacy corps
* Gave more rights to women and non-muslims
* Urban slums and new working class developed simultaneously despite seeming contradictory
* There was a rise of religious opposition
* Religion + nationalism + class resentment led to revolution
* Revolution began where oil workers, students, and civil servants all participated in non-violent protests
* The army refused to repress protestors leading to the Shah fleeing and the declaration of the Islamic Republic
* Global: first successful islamic revolution which neither supported Western liberalism or Soviet Communism instead supported the Islamic model of governance
* US lost a key Cold War ally in Middle East with sparked US-Iran hostility seen today
* Hijab became mandatory
* Education for women expanded
* Women gained and lost rights as literacy rates soared but strict dress code was implemented
* Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan
* Soviet Union sent troops into Afghanistan to support the struggling communist government against growing islamic influence
* Result of internal instability within Afghanistan after Saur Revolution
* Soviets did not want pro-Western or Islamic regime on their southern border
* Resulted in a decade long war which drained Soviet’s resources
* Intensified Cold War tensions and led to the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow olympics
* Beginning of the Iran-Iraq War
* Iran and Iraq have had a long history of territorial disputes especially over the
* Tensions worsened with the Iranian Revolution which got rid of the pro-western shah and established a new form of governance
* Iraq’s dictator viewed post revolution Iran as weak and feared Iran’s ideology would spread to Iraq so attempted to assert dominance by seizing Shatt al-Arab waterway
* War turned into a stalemate because Iran repelled the invasion
* Iraq receives support from the US, USSR, France, and Arab states
* Global:
* Limited US and USSR rule
* Iran represented a third ideological force
* Iran and Iraq were both major suppliers of oil so the war disrupted global oil supplies
* Election of Ronald Reagan as U.S. President
* Signified a shift in political ideology toward conservatism
* US was facing major economic crises, high unemployment
* Hard-line stance against USSR
* Implemented Reagan doctrine
* Reaganomics
* Policies: tax cuts, deregulation, cuts to social programs, increased defense spending.
* Sided with Iraq
* Creation and Suppression of Solidarity Movement in Poland
* Began as a strike for workers for better pay, working conditions, and recognition of trade unions
* Resulted in the Gdańsk Agreement, where the government allowed the creation of an independent trade union—a first in the Communist world.
* The solidarity movement soon grew into a nationalist movement and gained support form Pope John Paul II increasing its global impact
* General Wojciech Jaruzelski declared martial law to crush the movement
* Solidarity was banned, leaders arrested, communication restricted, and protests violently suppressed.
* Acted with soviet approval due to fear of another Hungarian-style revolt
* Global:
* Mass nonviolent resistance could change could challenge communist regimes
* Beginning of the end of Soviet dominance in Eastern Europe
1989-1993
* Fall of the Berlin Wall
* One of most significant events as it signified the end of the cold war (weakening of communism)
* Result of Gorbechev’s reform polices
* Reunified germany
* Reconfiguration of germany
* Spread of Freedom
* Tiananmen Square Massacre
* Violent crackdown by the Chinese government against pro-democracy protest led largely by students
* Deng Xiaoping returned to power and he had a pragmatic shift from maoist ideologies to economic reform introducing Market-Leninism
* Perestroika without Glasnost (economic reconstruction without political liberalization)
* State guided capitalism with competition b/w firms
* Continued authoritarian control
* Anyone can apply to join the CCP and college students were eager to join
* Massacre was sparked by the death of reform minded Hu Yaobang
* Started with students but led to include more people
* Peaceful protest
* People’s Liberation Army was told to clear the area by force
* Effects: party leadership wanted them to know change comes within the party not without
* Failed Coup and dissolution of the Soviet Union
* Gorbachev’s reforms weakened the system through Glasnost and perestroika
* Glasnost gave citizens more freedom of expression, access to information, and exposures to failures of the regime
* Perestroika introduced market-style reform but maintained state control causing economic confusion and uncertainity
* Workers feared job loss and losing their guaranteed housing and health benefits.
* These reforms also alienated party hard-liners (system being dismantled without anything stable to take its place)
* The August 1991 coup:
* Communist hardliners attempted a coup while Gorbachev was vacationing
* Coups intent was to stop the signing of the new Union Treaty that would decentralize Soviet authority
* It collapsed in days
* Failed coup discredited communist party
* Republics rapidly declared independence no longer fearing USSR
* India Initiates Free Market Reforms
* Turning point in country’s economy as it transitioned socialist styled economy to a free market
* India was severely struggling economically as foreign exchange rates fell dangerously low
* Economic growth soared
* India has become one of the strongest economies
* Global:
* Increased global trade
* Oslo Accords Between PLO and Israel (Israel and Palestine)
* Triggered by the First Intifada (grassroot palestinian uprising against Israeli military occupation in the West Bank and Gaza
* Challenged the authority of the Palestinian Liberalization Organizations (lost support after backing iraq in the Iraq gulf war)
* PLO saw intifada as threatening to their power
* PLO acknowledged the state of Israel and Israel acknowledge the PLO as a legitimate representation of the Palestinian people as a result
* The Oslo Accords (agreements between PLO and Israel) to administer parts of West Bank and Gaza strip
* Allow for governance of Palestinian life until a peace agreement was reached
* Oslo Accords projected creation of a new Palestinian state (left to future negotiations)
* For the first time, Palestinians received equal welfare benefits with Jewish citizens of Israel and funds to build infrastructure in their communities
* No final peace deal was ever reached
* Hamas and other terrorist groups rejected Oslo