HW 1 - upDATEd (I put dates in)

Long Term Causes:

1. Foreign Influence on China- Political, Economic, Religious- In the 1800s and early 1900s, European nations established "spheres of influence" in China, meaning that many areas were heavily influenced by the Western world. Countries like Britain controlled many businesses and began to spread Western religious ideas.
   
2. Rise of Chinese Nationalism- Social, Ideological, Religious- Many Chinese people resisted the influence of foreign nations, believing that China should remain purely Chinese and keep its independence. This led to movements like the Boxer Rebellion in 1900
   
3. Downfall of the Manchu dynasty- Social, Political- The Manchus were seen as being too weak to effectively run China, letting it get overrun by Europeans. The Boxer-Rebellion and other anti-Manchu movements eventually caused a change in power in 1912.

Short Term Causes:

1. May Fourth Movement- Political, Economic- After World War I, China hoped that it would be given back the port of Kiaochow, which had been taken by Germany and then Japan. When China did not regain this territory after the war in the year 1919, its people protested. Reaction to Treaty of Versailles (China didn't like it.) Protests included boycotts against Japanese goods, which likely increased tension between China and Japan leading up to WWII.
   
2. Russian Revolution- Political, Social, Ideological- The Russian Revolution in 1917 helped to start the spread of communism, a social idea that quickly reached China, dividing the Chinese people ideologically
   
3. The New Tide- Political, Social, Ideological- A social movement focused on freedom, modernity, equal rights, and the elimination of old-fashioned ideas. Started in 1916.
4. March to the North- 1926,
5. Poverty in China- China had economic difficulty in 1911, due to nation-wide harvest failures, increased taxes (to support the New Army), the creation of railways, and the use of foreign loans and technical assistance. Helped cause the 1911 Revolution.
   
6. Chinese Communist Party- Started in 1921
7. Fascism- Chaing Kaishek, 1923
   

Class Notes 01/26/10

3 Long-term Causes

• Chinese nationalism
  
• Influence of foreign nations on China (opium, spheres of influence)
• Revolution of 1911
  

2 Political Causes

• Contest for leadership
• Boxer Rebellion
  

1 Social Cause

• Rise of Marxism
  

Other Causes:

• May Fourth movement (political/social: long-term or short-term?)
• Russian Revolution (political/social: short-term)
  

China Chapter 1

A.

• Dynasty: Period of time in which the country is ruled by a royal family
• Manchus: The people who ruled China in 1900
• Unequal Treaties: Japan forced China to sign treaties that gave sea ports and trade privileges to Japan
• Spheres of Influence: Areas in which European nations had economic influence
• Boxers: People who rebelled in 1900, opposing foreigners, Christianity, and to an extent the Manchus. They were called Boxers because they practiced martial arts.

B.

1. The man in the picture was a Boxer.
2. The Boxers were rebelling in order to reduce the influence of foreign cultures on China.
3. The man was probably caught by the Manchus or their supporters, who executed him in public as an example to other revolutionaries.
4. The onlookers in the photograph were probably terrified by the violence, although it is unclear whether they were supporters of the Manchus or the Boxers.
5. The photograph may have been taken for the purpose of showing what would happen to people if they acted violently against the government of China.
   

Paper 1 Practice

1. a. According to Source C, the Geneva Conference failed because it was unable to accomplish anything in terms of disarmament. The source says that this was because of "capitalist countries" pushing for their own agendas, and that they lied to each other by disguising their demands as "pacifistic phrases." The Soviet view was that these nations were trying to increase their own armaments while decreasing the armaments of others, instead of making any real progress towards global disarmament.

1. b. Source E suggests that the Geneva Conference is only going to bring more destruction. This is represented by the image of King Kong, labeled armaments, breaking free of the control of the people who brought him to the conference.

3. Source C is an article from the official newspaper of the Soviet Union discussing the failures of the Disarmament Conference. The purpose of the article was to convey one interpretation of why the conference was unsuccessful. This source is very valuable for the fact that it shows what Russia thought about the events leading up to World War II, exhibiting the tension between communism and capitalism at the time. This may also be a limitation, however, because the Soviet newspaper could be blaming capitalist countries primarily for propaganda purposes, while there may have been other causes for the lack of progress at the conference.
Source D comes from a British writer who is trying to convey her own thoughts about the conference's failures. The excerpt is helpful in that it shows Britain's perspective of the conference and how France and Britain were allies in the events between World War I and World War II. However, Britain might have only blamed Germany and sided with France because of World War I.

Comparing and Contrasting Effects of WWI and WWII

WWI

1. Major peace conference w/ harsh terms
2. Germany paid for much of the damage caused by the war
3. France and Britain become powerful internationally
4. 20 million dead
   

WWII

1. No major peace conference (many smaller ones)
2. USA + Allies paid to rebuild Japan and Germany
3. US and USSR became superpowers
4. 40-50 million dead
   

WWI + WWII

1. Attempts were made for global peace + collective security (League of Nations, United Nations)
   
2. Land taken from Arab nations for mandates (WWI) and Israel (WWII)
   
3. Both created democracies in Germany
   

Effects of World War II

Social Effects

• 50 million dead (20 million from USSR dead, 6 million Poles dead)
• 21 million displaced
• 25 million in USSR homeless
• 10 million ethnic Germans forced to move to West Germany
• Fear and suspicion between the USSR and the USA, Great Britain and France
• Fear of Nuclear Holocaust
• Eastern Europe loses freedom and is "Sovietized" by Russia

Economic Effects

• US and USSR become dominant superpowers, engage in an ideological struggle from 1945-1990 (Communism vs. Capitalism)
  
• US economy strong enough to help rebuild W. Germany and Japan
• We rebuild W. Europe with Marshall Plan funds
• France lost 50% of wealth
• Italy lost 30%
• Western USSR was destroyed
• German cities and factories destroyed
• Japanese cities and industry damaged -US helps rebuild Japan
  
• Japan gives up all territory gained in the last 90 years
• Japan leaves China

Political Effects

• "De-Nazification"
• Nuremberg Trials in 1946
  
• Germany divided
• West Germany occupied by US, GB and
  
• East Germany occupied by USSR 1945 - 1989
• Creation of the United Nations in 1945 (US-led organization: Eleanor Roosevelt had a key role in this), all major countries joined
• USSR tries to spread communism
• United States foreign policy changes (no longer isolationist)
• 1950-1952 Korean War- A tie, N. Korea communist, S. Korea Democratic
  
• 1965-1975 Vietnam War- Communists win
• US adopts "containment" policy, tries to spread democracy and stop communism
• Creation of Israel in 1948 as a homeland for the Jewish people (land taken from Arabs- root of violence and tension between "Western" and "Arab" worlds today)