http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/kowar/kowar.htm
This is a link to a site about the Korean War (which connects to our study of the Korean war and Cold war) that includes an overview and a bunch of pictures with specific names and explanations. It was produced by the "DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY" / "NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER". The photographs enhance our knowledge of the subject by demonstrating US naval efforts in the war and providing more visual detail about the technology (planes, ships, weapons, etc.) the soldiers used, and the scale and effect of some of the explosions. A limitation faced when using this source is that because the focus is on American involvement and it could be argued that the purpose is to lift up the American navy, nothing is mentioned of the other nations' troops that were also sent into Korea, and all North Korean actions are painted in a negative light.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
SGQ # 11
IBSL2 SGQ11
Guiding questions:
Why did the Cold War spread from Europe to other parts of the world after 1950?
For what reasons, and with what results for East-West relations, did the superpowers become involved
in the affairs of one of the following: Korea; Vietnam; the Middle East?
What were the effects of the Korean War on international relations?
MWH p. 143-147
1. Background
a. Explain the evolution of control of Korea from 1910 to 1948
Korea had been under Japanese occupation since 1910 -> After Japanese were defeated in August 1945, America and USSR divided Korea into 2 sections along 38th parallel to 'guide their half's withdrawal of Japanese' and then in August/September 1948 they each set up a government in their half of Korea - the Americans/UN the independent Republic of Korea w/ Syngman Rhee as president and its capital at Seoul, and USSR the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
b. What was the leadership situation in Korea in 1949?
America + USSR had removed troops, and Syngman Rhee became a "ruthless authoritarian", and Kim II Sung (North Korea) was even worse, modeling after Stalin and arresting/executing many of his critics
2. Why did the North invade the South (June 1950)?
Possible answers:
a. Kim's idea - It was his own idea, encouraged by Dean Acheson's lacking to include Korea in his earlier statement of areas the US would protect
b. Chinese role - Kim Il Sung was encouraged by new Communist gov't (who was getting ready to attack Chiang Kai-shek)
c. Russian role - Stalin/Russians wanted to test Truman's determination. They had already supplied North Korea, and a victory over the south would strengthen their position and make up for their loss against the americans in West Berlin
d. S. Korea's role - Communists claim that Syngman Rhee's troops had crossed the 38th parallel
3. What did the USA do?
a. Why did Truman decide to intervene?
i. he saw it as Stalin's doing and a big plan to spread communism
ii. the invasion could be seen as similar to Hitler's policies in the 1930s (appeasement had failed then, so they shouldn't use it now)
iii. Truman was determined to support the UN because the USA had not supported the League and it had been bad.
iv. [Democrat] Truman wanted to dispel Republican attacks about not taking action against communism and them working for the USSR
b. What nations joined the US in support of S. Korea?
14 other countries also sent troops after UN ordered members to send help. (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Nationalist China, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Columbia, Greece, Turkey, Panama, Phillipines, Thailand and Britain)
c. Briefly summarize the course of the war in 1950
By september, communists had captured all but port of Pusan in south-east South Korea -> american troops land in Pusan and clear Seoul -> communist forces collapse -> Truman (w/ approval of UN) orders invasion of North Korea to unite country for free elections
d. How and why did China get involved?
They became alarmed that America was at its border (of Manchuria) and had a fleet between them and Taiwan (Chiang kai-shek), so they sent a full offensive (>300,000 troops) and drove the americans back down through Korea and captured Seoul. [But then the americans fought their way back to the mid line of Korea)
e. How did the war end?
Peace talks came to a close in 1953 w/ an agreement that the border should be along the 38th parallel (pretty much where it had been before the war)
4. What were the results of the war?
a. Korea - Disaster: ~4 million Korean soldiers and civilians killed, 5 million people homeless, Division seemed permanent (each side suspicious, ceasefire agreements often broken)
b. the US - Some satisfaction from having contained communism and American rearmament, but lost opportunity to destroy communism in China
c. the UN - had successfully exerted authority and reversed aggression, but communists called it a capitalist tool
d. China - had put up impressive fight against americans and prevented korean unification -> was clearly a world power, but still denied seat in UN
e. the Cold War - American relations now permanently strained with Russia and China, especially because of situation with Taiwan. --> China tries to build up alliances with struggling communists in other countries (India and Burma), and America tries to set up bases around China while allying with Asian states (South East Asia Treaty Organization)
Guiding questions:
Why did the Cold War spread from Europe to other parts of the world after 1950?
For what reasons, and with what results for East-West relations, did the superpowers become involved
in the affairs of one of the following: Korea; Vietnam; the Middle East?
What were the effects of the Korean War on international relations?
MWH p. 143-147
1. Background
a. Explain the evolution of control of Korea from 1910 to 1948
Korea had been under Japanese occupation since 1910 -> After Japanese were defeated in August 1945, America and USSR divided Korea into 2 sections along 38th parallel to 'guide their half's withdrawal of Japanese' and then in August/September 1948 they each set up a government in their half of Korea - the Americans/UN the independent Republic of Korea w/ Syngman Rhee as president and its capital at Seoul, and USSR the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
b. What was the leadership situation in Korea in 1949?
America + USSR had removed troops, and Syngman Rhee became a "ruthless authoritarian", and Kim II Sung (North Korea) was even worse, modeling after Stalin and arresting/executing many of his critics
2. Why did the North invade the South (June 1950)?
Possible answers:
a. Kim's idea - It was his own idea, encouraged by Dean Acheson's lacking to include Korea in his earlier statement of areas the US would protect
b. Chinese role - Kim Il Sung was encouraged by new Communist gov't (who was getting ready to attack Chiang Kai-shek)
c. Russian role - Stalin/Russians wanted to test Truman's determination. They had already supplied North Korea, and a victory over the south would strengthen their position and make up for their loss against the americans in West Berlin
d. S. Korea's role - Communists claim that Syngman Rhee's troops had crossed the 38th parallel
3. What did the USA do?
a. Why did Truman decide to intervene?
i. he saw it as Stalin's doing and a big plan to spread communism
ii. the invasion could be seen as similar to Hitler's policies in the 1930s (appeasement had failed then, so they shouldn't use it now)
iii. Truman was determined to support the UN because the USA had not supported the League and it had been bad.
iv. [Democrat] Truman wanted to dispel Republican attacks about not taking action against communism and them working for the USSR
b. What nations joined the US in support of S. Korea?
14 other countries also sent troops after UN ordered members to send help. (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Nationalist China, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Columbia, Greece, Turkey, Panama, Phillipines, Thailand and Britain)
c. Briefly summarize the course of the war in 1950
By september, communists had captured all but port of Pusan in south-east South Korea -> american troops land in Pusan and clear Seoul -> communist forces collapse -> Truman (w/ approval of UN) orders invasion of North Korea to unite country for free elections
d. How and why did China get involved?
They became alarmed that America was at its border (of Manchuria) and had a fleet between them and Taiwan (Chiang kai-shek), so they sent a full offensive (>300,000 troops) and drove the americans back down through Korea and captured Seoul. [But then the americans fought their way back to the mid line of Korea)
e. How did the war end?
Peace talks came to a close in 1953 w/ an agreement that the border should be along the 38th parallel (pretty much where it had been before the war)
4. What were the results of the war?
a. Korea - Disaster: ~4 million Korean soldiers and civilians killed, 5 million people homeless, Division seemed permanent (each side suspicious, ceasefire agreements often broken)
b. the US - Some satisfaction from having contained communism and American rearmament, but lost opportunity to destroy communism in China
c. the UN - had successfully exerted authority and reversed aggression, but communists called it a capitalist tool
d. China - had put up impressive fight against americans and prevented korean unification -> was clearly a world power, but still denied seat in UN
e. the Cold War - American relations now permanently strained with Russia and China, especially because of situation with Taiwan. --> China tries to build up alliances with struggling communists in other countries (India and Burma), and America tries to set up bases around China while allying with Asian states (South East Asia Treaty Organization)
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
IRL (TOK)
TOK QUESTION: Can history provide a guide to understanding contemporary affairs? Can it provide a guide to the future? What might be “the lessons of history” for future generations?
History can provide an understanding to many contemporary affairs, because human nature follows patterns: we will always seek survival and profit for oneself. It is our nature to form opinions and to trust them no matter what others say... Hence the battles such as that between capitalism and communism.
As seen in my first IRL (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/39528.stm) about Communism in Cuba and the incident in 1997 of how the Christian Liberation Movement was not allowed to stand for election, it is evident that in Cuba (as well as in China and other places around the world) Communism, and control over parties and opposition, still exist in our world - almost 60 years after it was invented by Carl Marx and implemented (not too successfully) in China and other places. This is because some people will probably always be convinced that central ownership etc. is the best way to run a country.
My fifth IRL (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/coll.html) showed Stalin's plans for carrying out his Communism (collectivization and central industrialization). While I don't know any countries that are really doing that now, I know that the government of America took over GM (the car company) when they had to bail them out of the recent recession ~2009. I can imagine in the future, that an attempt on the part of the government to create jobs could lead to them owning many businesses etc. and we only being employees... And the current issues right now with Obama and his wanting to impose healthcare plans/laws, follow a sort of socialist path. Maybe the 'Change' we think we're going to get is really just a revolution back to old historical patterns that they tried in the last century.
The clear racism expressed in the source for my third IRL (a poster handed out by Nazis) (http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~rar4619/Images/chart.jpg)
is still very present in some societies; even in America many African Americans suffer injustices such as court charges/accusations because of prejudices against them and their supposed criminal tendencies, and I still find it fairly unusual to see a married couple of different colors.
I think it is hard for history to provide a "guide to the future" because yes, it makes us aware of past mistakes and possible future ones, but it is rare that actual answers to past problems were ever reached, and it is likely that any answers had some sort of consequence that someone didn't like (for example, Germany's unhappiness after the Treaty of Versailles). In addition, events here and now feel very different than something read about in a history text book, so we are inclined to feel differently and make different choices when it is our problem. Further, the world is changing so quickly with the development of technology, growing of populations and environmental effects, that it is hard many times to make an accurate comparison between a current condition and a past one.
I think "lessons of history" that I've learned from this class and these IRLs are 1) what I said before about there being patterns in human nature and behavior that will probably always result in close ideas and solutions to our problems, 2) you always have to think about many different aspects: the viewpoint of each party in a deal etc. has to be considered and understood, and there is more to "history" than dates and events - there is humanity, emotion, culture... A more specific lesson might be the failing of extreme Communism, seeing as the Cubans protested against the law against opposing parties --> Ideals are nice but they almost never function so well.
History can provide an understanding to many contemporary affairs, because human nature follows patterns: we will always seek survival and profit for oneself. It is our nature to form opinions and to trust them no matter what others say... Hence the battles such as that between capitalism and communism.
As seen in my first IRL (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/39528.stm) about Communism in Cuba and the incident in 1997 of how the Christian Liberation Movement was not allowed to stand for election, it is evident that in Cuba (as well as in China and other places around the world) Communism, and control over parties and opposition, still exist in our world - almost 60 years after it was invented by Carl Marx and implemented (not too successfully) in China and other places. This is because some people will probably always be convinced that central ownership etc. is the best way to run a country.
My fifth IRL (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/coll.html) showed Stalin's plans for carrying out his Communism (collectivization and central industrialization). While I don't know any countries that are really doing that now, I know that the government of America took over GM (the car company) when they had to bail them out of the recent recession ~2009. I can imagine in the future, that an attempt on the part of the government to create jobs could lead to them owning many businesses etc. and we only being employees... And the current issues right now with Obama and his wanting to impose healthcare plans/laws, follow a sort of socialist path. Maybe the 'Change' we think we're going to get is really just a revolution back to old historical patterns that they tried in the last century.
The clear racism expressed in the source for my third IRL (a poster handed out by Nazis) (http://www.owlnet.rice.edu/~rar4619/Images/chart.jpg)
is still very present in some societies; even in America many African Americans suffer injustices such as court charges/accusations because of prejudices against them and their supposed criminal tendencies, and I still find it fairly unusual to see a married couple of different colors.
I think it is hard for history to provide a "guide to the future" because yes, it makes us aware of past mistakes and possible future ones, but it is rare that actual answers to past problems were ever reached, and it is likely that any answers had some sort of consequence that someone didn't like (for example, Germany's unhappiness after the Treaty of Versailles). In addition, events here and now feel very different than something read about in a history text book, so we are inclined to feel differently and make different choices when it is our problem. Further, the world is changing so quickly with the development of technology, growing of populations and environmental effects, that it is hard many times to make an accurate comparison between a current condition and a past one.
I think "lessons of history" that I've learned from this class and these IRLs are 1) what I said before about there being patterns in human nature and behavior that will probably always result in close ideas and solutions to our problems, 2) you always have to think about many different aspects: the viewpoint of each party in a deal etc. has to be considered and understood, and there is more to "history" than dates and events - there is humanity, emotion, culture... A more specific lesson might be the failing of extreme Communism, seeing as the Cubans protested against the law against opposing parties --> Ideals are nice but they almost never function so well.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
SGQ # 10
Guiding questions:
Analyze the origin of East-West rivalry and explain why it developed into the Cold War.
When and why did the Cold War end?
How did the Cold War develop?
MWH p. 117-140
1. What were the effects of WWII?
a. evidence of enormous destruction?
-almost 40 million people were killed
-21 million people had been uprooted from their homes (sent to concentration/labor camps, or fled)
-destruction of cities and French wealth
b. no all-inclusive peace settlement - what was there?
# of separate treaties:
-Italy lost african territories and and claims to Albania and Ethiopia
-USSR took eastern Czech and some others...
-Romanians took back Transylvania from Hungary
-in 1950 Japan agreed to give back all territory gained in last 90 yrs -? full withdrawal from china
c. examples social changes?
-populations movements during war; after war people had to move, especially germans to west germany so germany couldn't claim areas in future
-urban redevelopment as ruined cities were rebuilt (esp. in germany and USSR)
-1942 Beveridge Report, a plan for introducing a Welfare State in Britain
d. nuclear weapons - so what?
-had horrifying effects, but made both sides of Cold War so scared of consequences that they wouldn't fight each other
e. European domination of the world ended - why?
Because the biggest powers were weakened: Germany was ruined and divided, France and Italy were on the verge of bankruptcy, and Britain was closely and uncomfortably dependent on the USA for loans (which came at high interest)
f. emergence of the superpowers - who?
USA and USSR (no longer as isolated as during war; America had biggest air-force and navy, and altho weakened Russia had biggest army) --> they were both suspicious about each other's intentions
g. decolonization - what happened to the territories?
gradually they achieved full independence, but not without a struggle many times
h. the United Nations - so what?
the United Nations ORGANIZATION became the successor and did a much better job keeping world peace.
2. What caused the Cold War?
a. what are the differences of principle?
-the communist system of following Karl Marx; centrally planned... life.
-the capitalist system based on private ownership and pursuing profits
b. what were Stalin's foreign policies?
He wanted to take advantage of military situation to strengthen russian influence over Europe -> he tried to occupy as much german and other land as he could
c. what were US and British policies?
-After Roosevelt died and Truman became president, the attitude was tightened towards communists
-Britain's delay in launching invasion of France was aimed towards exhausting russian army ?
-West had atomic bomb, USSR did not.
3. How did the Cold War develop between 1945 and 1953?
a. what four things were agreed upon at the Yalta Conference?
i. United Nations created instead of League of Nations
ii. Germany was split into Russian, American, British (and later French) zones
iii. Free elections would be allowed in the states of eastern Europe
iv. Stalin promised to join war against Japan if he could have some territory (partly from Manchuria)
b. why were Germany and Poland the major concerns at the Potsdam Conference (July 1945)?
-It was a big question of When Germany's parts would be able to re-join (other things like her reparations and trade/food supply from russia were settled).
-Poland made the biggest disagreement: the pro-communist Polish government expelled 5 million Germans, which was not agreed on at Yalta
c. how was Communism established in eastern Europe?
-Russia systematically interfered in countries (such as poland) and imprisoned or murdered opponents if necessary
-allowed free elections in Hungary but made sure Cabinet was full of communists
d. how did Russia exert its influence in eastern Europe?
-they kept enforcing communism, rigging elections and ditching opponents
-Stalin treated russian part of germany like russian; only communist party was allowed, and Germany was drained of resources
-Yugoslavia was the only one with an elected leader and less russian control
e. what were the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?
-Truman Plan helped grecians receive arms and supplies to defeat communists, and gave turkey 60 million dollars of aid
-Marshall Plan (June 1947) economic extension of truman doctrine --> one of its aims was to promote european recovery --> Marshall Aid fostered recovery of agriculture and industry
f. what was Cominform?
Communist Information Bureau, soviet response to Marshall Plan (set up by Stalin in September 1947) which tightened grip on communism throughout europe (industrialized, collectivized, centralized) --> later Molotov Plan offered russian aid to satellites
g. what happened to Czechoslovakia?
Communists were blamed for Czech rejection of Marshall aid --> Communist coup seized power before elections could be held
h. what happened in Berlin?
after the 3 western zones of germany united and requested the russian zone join too, the russians blockaded their zone, but the americans kept flying in food and supplies on planes to the zone, and the russians finally gave up and removed blockade --> power to west but bad relations with Russia, formation of NATO
i. what is NATO?
North Atlantic Treaty Organization: America, Britain, and lots of other european countries signed this to guarantee each other future military security if one of them was attacked
j. what happened to Germany?
westerners set up WEST germany, and russia set up east germany, so they were separated until 1990 when communism collapsed
k. what developed with nuclear weapons?
america was scared of russia and newly Communist (Maoist) China --> USA increased expenditure on arms and invented hydrogen bomb much bigger than atomic bomb
4. To what extent was there a thaw after 1953?
a. why was there a thaw?
i. Stalin died and new russian leaders wanted better relations with USA (mostly because of hydrogen bomb)
ii. anti-communist senator mccarthy was discredited after he went too far with accusations and then america had better feelings toward soviet people
b. how do we know there was a thaw?
i. singing of peace treaty at Panmunjom ended Korean War in 1953, in 1954 the war in Indo-china ended
ii. Russians made important concessions
1. gave up military bases in finland
2. lifter veto on admission of 16 new member states to UN
3. quarrel w/ Yugoslavia healed
4. Cominform was abandoned -> more freedom to satellite states
iii. Austrian State Treaty (May 1955)
c. what evidence suggests only a partial thaw?
i. Warsaw Pact 1955
ii. Russians continued to build up nuclear armaments
iii. situation in Berlin caused more attention
iv. Khrushchev installed soviet missiles in Cuba (<100 miles from American coast)
5. The nuclear arms race and the Cuban missile crisis
a. how did the arms race accelerate?
Russians produced own atomic bomb -> America makes more powerful H bomb -> Russia does too, w/ far range -> Americans remain ahead in numbers of bombs, but -> 1957 Russians produce Inter-continental ballistic missile -> americans make own version, and lots of them, plus shorter range bombs -> Russia launches earth satellite -> america does too.
b. what happened in Cuba? how was it resolved?
Fidel breaks off USA relations and buddies up with Russia -> america tries to invade Cuba with 1400 troops but fails -> Fidel claims Cuba as Marxist -> america keeps attacking -> russians set up missile base in cuba, pointing at USA -> USA and Russia come to agreement to remove missiles from Cuba and turkey
c. what happened to the arms race in the 1970s?
Russia continued competing with america, and caught up (they both developed several new types of missiles - multi-headed ones, low-flying ones...)
d. how effective were anti-nuclear protests?
British protested for a one-country banning of nuclears but the gov't was scared of an attack from USSR... However, maybe the grand scale of this contributed to the eventual understandings...
Analyze the origin of East-West rivalry and explain why it developed into the Cold War.
When and why did the Cold War end?
How did the Cold War develop?
MWH p. 117-140
1. What were the effects of WWII?
a. evidence of enormous destruction?
-almost 40 million people were killed
-21 million people had been uprooted from their homes (sent to concentration/labor camps, or fled)
-destruction of cities and French wealth
b. no all-inclusive peace settlement - what was there?
# of separate treaties:
-Italy lost african territories and and claims to Albania and Ethiopia
-USSR took eastern Czech and some others...
-Romanians took back Transylvania from Hungary
-in 1950 Japan agreed to give back all territory gained in last 90 yrs -? full withdrawal from china
c. examples social changes?
-populations movements during war; after war people had to move, especially germans to west germany so germany couldn't claim areas in future
-urban redevelopment as ruined cities were rebuilt (esp. in germany and USSR)
-1942 Beveridge Report, a plan for introducing a Welfare State in Britain
d. nuclear weapons - so what?
-had horrifying effects, but made both sides of Cold War so scared of consequences that they wouldn't fight each other
e. European domination of the world ended - why?
Because the biggest powers were weakened: Germany was ruined and divided, France and Italy were on the verge of bankruptcy, and Britain was closely and uncomfortably dependent on the USA for loans (which came at high interest)
f. emergence of the superpowers - who?
USA and USSR (no longer as isolated as during war; America had biggest air-force and navy, and altho weakened Russia had biggest army) --> they were both suspicious about each other's intentions
g. decolonization - what happened to the territories?
gradually they achieved full independence, but not without a struggle many times
h. the United Nations - so what?
the United Nations ORGANIZATION became the successor and did a much better job keeping world peace.
2. What caused the Cold War?
a. what are the differences of principle?
-the communist system of following Karl Marx; centrally planned... life.
-the capitalist system based on private ownership and pursuing profits
b. what were Stalin's foreign policies?
He wanted to take advantage of military situation to strengthen russian influence over Europe -> he tried to occupy as much german and other land as he could
c. what were US and British policies?
-After Roosevelt died and Truman became president, the attitude was tightened towards communists
-Britain's delay in launching invasion of France was aimed towards exhausting russian army ?
-West had atomic bomb, USSR did not.
3. How did the Cold War develop between 1945 and 1953?
a. what four things were agreed upon at the Yalta Conference?
i. United Nations created instead of League of Nations
ii. Germany was split into Russian, American, British (and later French) zones
iii. Free elections would be allowed in the states of eastern Europe
iv. Stalin promised to join war against Japan if he could have some territory (partly from Manchuria)
b. why were Germany and Poland the major concerns at the Potsdam Conference (July 1945)?
-It was a big question of When Germany's parts would be able to re-join (other things like her reparations and trade/food supply from russia were settled).
-Poland made the biggest disagreement: the pro-communist Polish government expelled 5 million Germans, which was not agreed on at Yalta
c. how was Communism established in eastern Europe?
-Russia systematically interfered in countries (such as poland) and imprisoned or murdered opponents if necessary
-allowed free elections in Hungary but made sure Cabinet was full of communists
d. how did Russia exert its influence in eastern Europe?
-they kept enforcing communism, rigging elections and ditching opponents
-Stalin treated russian part of germany like russian; only communist party was allowed, and Germany was drained of resources
-Yugoslavia was the only one with an elected leader and less russian control
e. what were the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?
-Truman Plan helped grecians receive arms and supplies to defeat communists, and gave turkey 60 million dollars of aid
-Marshall Plan (June 1947) economic extension of truman doctrine --> one of its aims was to promote european recovery --> Marshall Aid fostered recovery of agriculture and industry
f. what was Cominform?
Communist Information Bureau, soviet response to Marshall Plan (set up by Stalin in September 1947) which tightened grip on communism throughout europe (industrialized, collectivized, centralized) --> later Molotov Plan offered russian aid to satellites
g. what happened to Czechoslovakia?
Communists were blamed for Czech rejection of Marshall aid --> Communist coup seized power before elections could be held
h. what happened in Berlin?
after the 3 western zones of germany united and requested the russian zone join too, the russians blockaded their zone, but the americans kept flying in food and supplies on planes to the zone, and the russians finally gave up and removed blockade --> power to west but bad relations with Russia, formation of NATO
i. what is NATO?
North Atlantic Treaty Organization: America, Britain, and lots of other european countries signed this to guarantee each other future military security if one of them was attacked
j. what happened to Germany?
westerners set up WEST germany, and russia set up east germany, so they were separated until 1990 when communism collapsed
k. what developed with nuclear weapons?
america was scared of russia and newly Communist (Maoist) China --> USA increased expenditure on arms and invented hydrogen bomb much bigger than atomic bomb
4. To what extent was there a thaw after 1953?
a. why was there a thaw?
i. Stalin died and new russian leaders wanted better relations with USA (mostly because of hydrogen bomb)
ii. anti-communist senator mccarthy was discredited after he went too far with accusations and then america had better feelings toward soviet people
b. how do we know there was a thaw?
i. singing of peace treaty at Panmunjom ended Korean War in 1953, in 1954 the war in Indo-china ended
ii. Russians made important concessions
1. gave up military bases in finland
2. lifter veto on admission of 16 new member states to UN
3. quarrel w/ Yugoslavia healed
4. Cominform was abandoned -> more freedom to satellite states
iii. Austrian State Treaty (May 1955)
c. what evidence suggests only a partial thaw?
i. Warsaw Pact 1955
ii. Russians continued to build up nuclear armaments
iii. situation in Berlin caused more attention
iv. Khrushchev installed soviet missiles in Cuba (<100 miles from American coast)
5. The nuclear arms race and the Cuban missile crisis
a. how did the arms race accelerate?
Russians produced own atomic bomb -> America makes more powerful H bomb -> Russia does too, w/ far range -> Americans remain ahead in numbers of bombs, but -> 1957 Russians produce Inter-continental ballistic missile -> americans make own version, and lots of them, plus shorter range bombs -> Russia launches earth satellite -> america does too.
b. what happened in Cuba? how was it resolved?
Fidel breaks off USA relations and buddies up with Russia -> america tries to invade Cuba with 1400 troops but fails -> Fidel claims Cuba as Marxist -> america keeps attacking -> russians set up missile base in cuba, pointing at USA -> USA and Russia come to agreement to remove missiles from Cuba and turkey
c. what happened to the arms race in the 1970s?
Russia continued competing with america, and caught up (they both developed several new types of missiles - multi-headed ones, low-flying ones...)
d. how effective were anti-nuclear protests?
British protested for a one-country banning of nuclears but the gov't was scared of an attack from USSR... However, maybe the grand scale of this contributed to the eventual understandings...
IRL #11
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/video/2008/oct/09/cold-war-modern-design
This is a video actually about the opening of an exhibit in the Victoria and Albert museum, but the exhibit contains furniture and objects from the Cold War era, and the video talks about some of the political connections, main images associated with the Cold War... It connects to what we're studying because obviously we just started studying the Cold War, and it enhances what we've learned by providing some visual images and a different twist on what the cold war produced (not only war but fashion and STUFF). The source of the video is "Andrew Dickson, Shehani Fernando and agencies" on and I don't know much about them, but the information shown is not too affected by the source... The limitations of this source include its brevity and its focus being on the material in the museum, so there is not much in-depth information available to a historian studying the Cold War.
This is a video actually about the opening of an exhibit in the Victoria and Albert museum, but the exhibit contains furniture and objects from the Cold War era, and the video talks about some of the political connections, main images associated with the Cold War... It connects to what we're studying because obviously we just started studying the Cold War, and it enhances what we've learned by providing some visual images and a different twist on what the cold war produced (not only war but fashion and STUFF). The source of the video is "Andrew Dickson, Shehani Fernando and agencies" on
Monday, January 4, 2010
SGQ #9
Origins of WWII
Why was the time period 1933 to 1939 such a crucial era in world history?
MWH p.69-84
1. Relations between Japan and China
a. Japanese invasion of Manchuria
i. why?
It was a valuable trade outlet; wanted to take it before the Chinese (getting stronger under Chang Kaishek); had been involved there since 1890s, won a port in the russo-japanese war, and invested millions of pounds into their industry and railroad. Since Japan was suffering economically, they couldn't stand by while they were squeezed out of Manchuria.
ii. who supported them? who was opposed?
The British Foreign Secretary because he noticed all the investments Japan had there.
Chinese were opposed?
iii. what was done?
Japan declared Manchuria an independent state under Pu Yi, the last of the Chinese emperors.
b. Japanese advance from Manchuria
i. explain - In 1933 japan advances from manchuria into north-eastern China; by 1935 a large part of china (up to Beijing) is under japanese political and commercial control (while Chinese are in civil war b/w Mao and GMT)
c. Further invasions
i. explain - Signed anti-comintern pact with Germany (1936) -> Japanese use as excuse an incident b/w chinese and japanese troops -> invade other parts of China (July 1937). [The Prime Minister didn't want big intervention but he gave into the wishes of General Sugiyama the War Minister] --> Autumn 1938 Japanese had captured Chiang Kaishek's capital and done terrible things to the Chinese, but didn't victor because Mao had joined against Japanese, and the Russians were helping both communist groups --> League of Nations condemns japanese aggression but is powerless to act because Japan was not a member --> none of the other countries were available to help, so japan conquered eastern china and Chiang held west and center
ii. what did the League of Nations do?
League of Nations condemns japanese aggression but is powerless to act because Japan was not a member
2. Mussolini's foreign policy
a. 1923-1934 (summarize)
i. attended Locarno Conference (1925) -> disappointed that treaty did not guarantee the Italy-Austria border
ii. he was friendly towards greece, hungary and albania; economic and defense agreements were signed
iii. cultivated good relations w/ britain (he supported her decision about turkey, and in turn she gave italy small part of Somalialand.
iv. after britain, he was the 1st to recognize the USSR; he signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR
v. he helped defend austria from the germans -> improved relations w/ france, but mussolini was getting impatient
b. after 1934 - how had Mussolini's attitude changed? examples:
i. joined the british and french in condemning the german action of re-introducing conscription (events convinced Muss. that britain was selfish, and would turn a blind eye to his invasion of abyssinia
ii. Italian invasion of abyssinia (ethiopia) --> demonstrated ineffectiveness of collective security
1. what did the League of Nations do?
iii. condemned italy as an aggressor
iv. applied economic sanctions, which were useless because france and britain wanted to keep italy as an ally
3. Hitler's foreign policy
a. aims
i. destroying hated Versailles settlement
ii. building up army
iii. recovering lost territory (e.g. Saar an d Polish Corridor)
iv. bring all german-speaking people inside the Reich (annex austria and take territory from Czech and Poland)
b. successes
i. (since Germany's military was still weak in 1933 he had to move slow at first) Withdrew Germany from World Disarmament Conference and from League of Nations
ii. signed a 10-yr. non-aggression pact with the poles (Jan 1934) -> calmed down Britain and Poland but worried France and Russia
iii. suffered setback when Austrian Nazi revolt was put down because Italians had moved to protect Austrian border
iv. the Saar was returned to Germany and propagandized
v. 1935 first break of Versailles when he re-introduced conscription
vi. signed the Anglo-German Naval agreement with britain (germany was basically encouraged to do re-armament, but only to 35% of Britain's navy --> by 1938, german army, navy, airforce was doing very well
vii. he sent troops into the demilitarized section of the rhineland -> no real resistance was offered, and to soothe his enemies he made a peace treaty for 25 years
viii. 1936 he signed Rome-Berlin Axis with Mussolini and Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan --> italian and german troops gain experience from winning Spanish Civil War
ix. March 1938 Anschluss with Austria (Hitler's greatest success because showed relations with italy, and rendered Czech attackable from west, north and south
4. Appeasement
a. what is appeasement? summarize the two phases:
-avoiding war with big powers by giving into other reasonable demands
i. from mid 1920s to 1937 attitude "war must be avoided" so france and britain ignored all the breaches of Versailles by germany and france
ii. may 1937 Chamberlain becomes british prime minister and decides to take initiative and show hitler that reasonable claims could be met by negotiation rather than force
b. how was it justified?
i. it was thought essential to avoid war (fear of defenseless cities being bombed) and britain didn't have money for vast rearmament
ii. they felt bad about harshness of Versailles on germany and italy
iii. Chamberlain thought he could civilize hitler and mussolini by personal contact since the League wasn't powerful enough to do anything
iv. Economic cooperation b/w britain and germany would be good for both (if britain helped ger. economy to get better, their internal violence would die down)
v. they feared Communist russia even more than Hitler, and thought Nazism would be a buffer against western spread of communism
vi. Britain was totally unprepared for full-scale war, so it wanted to avoid military action; Chamberlain sped rearmament in hopes of preventing attacks
c. what was the role of appeasement leading up to WWII?
i. no action was taken to stop obvious german rearmament
ii. Anglo-German Naval agreement was signed without consulting italy or france -> broke Stresa front
iii. only half-hearted british action against italian invasion of ethiopia
iv. French didn't mobilize troops when Germans re-occupied Rhineland
v. neither Britain nor France intervened in Spanish Civil War
vi. they protested against Anschluss of germany and austria but lacked action
5. Munich to the outbreak of war
a. Czechoslovakia - what were the three steps to the conquest of Czechoslovakia?
i. The propaganda campaign in Sudetenland : Hitler encouraged Germans' in Sudetenland hatred of Czech for supposed "discrimination" against Germans (employment rate there WAS low)
ii. The Munich conference, September 29, 1938 : Hitler invites Britain France and Italy to meeting to sign Munch agreement, giving Germany sudetenland (if the Czech resisted Munich decision, they would get no help from Britain or France - breach of Locarno)
iii. The Destruction of Czech, March 1939 : loss of 70% of industry, 1/3 of population and territory... Eventually Germany seized whole of Czech -> even appeasers weren't ok with this
b. Poland - what were the two steps to the conquest of Poland?
i. In April 1939 Hitler demanded the return of Danzig and a road and railway across the corridor, linking east prussia with the rest of Germany --> Foreign Minister Colonel Beck refuses to go to conference and accept
ii. Germany signs non-aggression pact with USSR --> started full-scale invasion of Poland --> Germany ignores threats from Britain about war starting if troops not removed --> Sep. 3 Britain starts war against germany; soon after, France did too
Why was the time period 1933 to 1939 such a crucial era in world history?
MWH p.69-84
1. Relations between Japan and China
a. Japanese invasion of Manchuria
i. why?
It was a valuable trade outlet; wanted to take it before the Chinese (getting stronger under Chang Kaishek); had been involved there since 1890s, won a port in the russo-japanese war, and invested millions of pounds into their industry and railroad. Since Japan was suffering economically, they couldn't stand by while they were squeezed out of Manchuria.
ii. who supported them? who was opposed?
The British Foreign Secretary because he noticed all the investments Japan had there.
Chinese were opposed?
iii. what was done?
Japan declared Manchuria an independent state under Pu Yi, the last of the Chinese emperors.
b. Japanese advance from Manchuria
i. explain - In 1933 japan advances from manchuria into north-eastern China; by 1935 a large part of china (up to Beijing) is under japanese political and commercial control (while Chinese are in civil war b/w Mao and GMT)
c. Further invasions
i. explain - Signed anti-comintern pact with Germany (1936) -> Japanese use as excuse an incident b/w chinese and japanese troops -> invade other parts of China (July 1937). [The Prime Minister didn't want big intervention but he gave into the wishes of General Sugiyama the War Minister] --> Autumn 1938 Japanese had captured Chiang Kaishek's capital and done terrible things to the Chinese, but didn't victor because Mao had joined against Japanese, and the Russians were helping both communist groups --> League of Nations condemns japanese aggression but is powerless to act because Japan was not a member --> none of the other countries were available to help, so japan conquered eastern china and Chiang held west and center
ii. what did the League of Nations do?
League of Nations condemns japanese aggression but is powerless to act because Japan was not a member
2. Mussolini's foreign policy
a. 1923-1934 (summarize)
i. attended Locarno Conference (1925) -> disappointed that treaty did not guarantee the Italy-Austria border
ii. he was friendly towards greece, hungary and albania; economic and defense agreements were signed
iii. cultivated good relations w/ britain (he supported her decision about turkey, and in turn she gave italy small part of Somalialand.
iv. after britain, he was the 1st to recognize the USSR; he signed a non-aggression pact with the USSR
v. he helped defend austria from the germans -> improved relations w/ france, but mussolini was getting impatient
b. after 1934 - how had Mussolini's attitude changed? examples:
i. joined the british and french in condemning the german action of re-introducing conscription (events convinced Muss. that britain was selfish, and would turn a blind eye to his invasion of abyssinia
ii. Italian invasion of abyssinia (ethiopia) --> demonstrated ineffectiveness of collective security
1. what did the League of Nations do?
iii. condemned italy as an aggressor
iv. applied economic sanctions, which were useless because france and britain wanted to keep italy as an ally
3. Hitler's foreign policy
a. aims
i. destroying hated Versailles settlement
ii. building up army
iii. recovering lost territory (e.g. Saar an d Polish Corridor)
iv. bring all german-speaking people inside the Reich (annex austria and take territory from Czech and Poland)
b. successes
i. (since Germany's military was still weak in 1933 he had to move slow at first) Withdrew Germany from World Disarmament Conference and from League of Nations
ii. signed a 10-yr. non-aggression pact with the poles (Jan 1934) -> calmed down Britain and Poland but worried France and Russia
iii. suffered setback when Austrian Nazi revolt was put down because Italians had moved to protect Austrian border
iv. the Saar was returned to Germany and propagandized
v. 1935 first break of Versailles when he re-introduced conscription
vi. signed the Anglo-German Naval agreement with britain (germany was basically encouraged to do re-armament, but only to 35% of Britain's navy --> by 1938, german army, navy, airforce was doing very well
vii. he sent troops into the demilitarized section of the rhineland -> no real resistance was offered, and to soothe his enemies he made a peace treaty for 25 years
viii. 1936 he signed Rome-Berlin Axis with Mussolini and Anti-Comintern Pact with Japan --> italian and german troops gain experience from winning Spanish Civil War
ix. March 1938 Anschluss with Austria (Hitler's greatest success because showed relations with italy, and rendered Czech attackable from west, north and south
4. Appeasement
a. what is appeasement? summarize the two phases:
-avoiding war with big powers by giving into other reasonable demands
i. from mid 1920s to 1937 attitude "war must be avoided" so france and britain ignored all the breaches of Versailles by germany and france
ii. may 1937 Chamberlain becomes british prime minister and decides to take initiative and show hitler that reasonable claims could be met by negotiation rather than force
b. how was it justified?
i. it was thought essential to avoid war (fear of defenseless cities being bombed) and britain didn't have money for vast rearmament
ii. they felt bad about harshness of Versailles on germany and italy
iii. Chamberlain thought he could civilize hitler and mussolini by personal contact since the League wasn't powerful enough to do anything
iv. Economic cooperation b/w britain and germany would be good for both (if britain helped ger. economy to get better, their internal violence would die down)
v. they feared Communist russia even more than Hitler, and thought Nazism would be a buffer against western spread of communism
vi. Britain was totally unprepared for full-scale war, so it wanted to avoid military action; Chamberlain sped rearmament in hopes of preventing attacks
c. what was the role of appeasement leading up to WWII?
i. no action was taken to stop obvious german rearmament
ii. Anglo-German Naval agreement was signed without consulting italy or france -> broke Stresa front
iii. only half-hearted british action against italian invasion of ethiopia
iv. French didn't mobilize troops when Germans re-occupied Rhineland
v. neither Britain nor France intervened in Spanish Civil War
vi. they protested against Anschluss of germany and austria but lacked action
5. Munich to the outbreak of war
a. Czechoslovakia - what were the three steps to the conquest of Czechoslovakia?
i. The propaganda campaign in Sudetenland : Hitler encouraged Germans' in Sudetenland hatred of Czech for supposed "discrimination" against Germans (employment rate there WAS low)
ii. The Munich conference, September 29, 1938 : Hitler invites Britain France and Italy to meeting to sign Munch agreement, giving Germany sudetenland (if the Czech resisted Munich decision, they would get no help from Britain or France - breach of Locarno)
iii. The Destruction of Czech, March 1939 : loss of 70% of industry, 1/3 of population and territory... Eventually Germany seized whole of Czech -> even appeasers weren't ok with this
b. Poland - what were the two steps to the conquest of Poland?
i. In April 1939 Hitler demanded the return of Danzig and a road and railway across the corridor, linking east prussia with the rest of Germany --> Foreign Minister Colonel Beck refuses to go to conference and accept
ii. Germany signs non-aggression pact with USSR --> started full-scale invasion of Poland --> Germany ignores threats from Britain about war starting if troops not removed --> Sep. 3 Britain starts war against germany; soon after, France did too
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