Aim: Post WWI nationalistic movements
Both the cause and effect of WWI was nationalism.
Not all colonies struggled for independence now, but many will form nationalistic movements. Why? The Europeans indirectly caused colonies to struggle for independence. How? During WWI, people from the colonies came to Europe to fight for their mother countries. While in Europe, they absorbed European ideas such as independence and freedom.
Areas of nationalistic movements:
1. Middle East
a. Turkey
b. Iran (Persia)
c. Lebanon
d. Syria
e. Zionist- Palestine
2. Africa
a. Egypt
b. South Africa
c. Kenya
d. Nigeria
e. And others
3. Asia
a. India
b. China
Turkey- used to be part of the Ottoman Empire. Now, all that remains of the Ottoman Empire is Turkey.
At this time, Greece was trying to take over Turkey because they knew Turkey was weak. Turkey was being ruled at this time by a sultan. The Greeks gained strength in Turkey and it looked like they were going to take over, but Mustafa Kemal, a Turkish general, fought them. He won, and now that he had so much power, he overthrew the sultan and became leader of Turkey.
Mustafa Kemal wanted to modernize Turkey into a westernized, secular nation- he became interested in Japan because they started out in the same situation as Turkey. The first thing he did was get a last name because it’s more western- he became Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.
Ataturk’s reforms:
1. Built roads and RR.
2. Factories- paid people from the west countries to teach people how to make factories.
3. Day of rest- Sunday.
4. Secular calendar is used.
5. Religious schools were closed, and secular schools were opened.
6. Woman shouldn’t wear their veils in public.
7. Woman got the right to vote.
8. Monogamy- only 1 wife per man.
9. Turkish alphabet was changed.
Ataturk faced a lot of opposition because people felt he was taking away their religious practices and they wanted an Islamic government. He managed to lead Turkey for a number of years. Turkey became a modern, secular country.
Aim: Nationalism in Iran (Persia)
Iran had their independence in jeopardy- over the generations, Britain and Russia had established spheres of influence in Iran. Iran was being ruled by a weak Shah who was unable to keep the foreign nations out of Iran. Iran was a very backwards country- rode camels, had no plumbing… A powerful leader in the army, Reza Kahn:
1. Overthrew the Shah
2. Rid Iran of foreign domination.
Reza Kahn became the new Shah. He modernized Iran:
1. RR and roads
2. Factories
3. Woman are asked not to wear their veils
4. Public schools with secular education
5. Woman got rights
6. Skyscrapers
Today, Iran is less modern than it was in the 1930s.
In the 1920-30s, the Shah faced religious opposition- the people felt they want a religious way of life and a religious government.
Aim: Arab nationalism grows
In the 1920s, oil was discovered in the Middle East. As nations began to industrialize further, they came to the realization that oil is the best fuel; it surpasses steam power. Fuel was now being used for cars, and during WWI was used for planes and tanks.
Arab countries felt that if they are so vital for their oil, they should get their independence. Since WWI, the Arab countries belonged to the Ottoman Empire and after WWI, they were taken as mandates by:
1. Britain- Palestine and Iraq
2. France- Syria and Lebanon
Pan Arabism- the unity among the Arab peoples- all the Arab mandates want independence. In the 1920s, Egypt does get their independence because of the Suez Canal.
Aim: Palestine- troubled mandate
Palestine was the most troubled mandate. Why? Because 2 groups of people, the Arabs and the Jews, both want control over it. There was a growing population of Zionists in Palestine who wanted it under their control, and there were also many Arabs in Palestine who wanted it under their control.
In 1917, the British issued the Balfour Declaration- the British will help the Zionists get Palestine as a homeland. This was a ray of hope for the Jews.
From 1919 to 1939, thousands of Jews immigrated to Palestine (mostly Zionists). They set kibbutzim- raised chickens, planted… With in a couple of years, barren land was now giving forth produce. The Jewish population now boomed from 50,000 to half a million people.
At first the Arabs were happy- there was a lot of money coming into the country, but after a while the Arabs began to get nervous that there were too many Jews.
By the late 1920s, there were destructive events such as the Chevron Yeshiva Massacre.
The British were supposed to be policing in Palestine, but they weren’t so the Jews set up their own army- Haganah. The British set that it’s illegal to belong to the Haganah.
By 1939, the British were so frustrated with the tension between the Jews and the Arabs, and they feared there would be a civil war. They past a law in 1939- White Paper- only 75,000 Jews are allowed to enter Palestine. After this, the Arabs will get control of Palestine. This was bad timing because of WWII- many more Jews could’ve been saved. This law became known as the Black Paper.
Aim: Nationalism in India
In 1919, the British didn’t want to give the Indians self-government, so they had a demonstration in Amritsar. The British weren’t happy, and an officer told the soldiers to gun down the crowd. This massacre, known as the Amritsar Massacre, was a peaceful demonstration that turned into a horrific bloodbath. This was a turning point for the Indians; now they want total independence from the British.
Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi was a nationalistic leader and he led the Indian people to independence. Gandhi was a bright child, and was educated in Britain. He attended law school in England and afterwards was a lawyer in South Africa. In South Africa he saw the system of apartheid- blacks were kept away from the whites. The whites felt they were so superior to the blacks that they needed to be totally separate. Gandhi developed a sense of anti- discrimination and developed a policy of non-violence (aka passive resistance or civil disobedience) while in South Africa. The purpose of the policy of non-violence was to gain the sympathy of the world.
In about 1914, Gandhi returned to India and became the leader of the INC- Indian National Congress- nationalistic movement, which wanted independence from Britain. When Gandhi became ruler, he instituted his non-violence policy. Gandhi used passive resistance:
1. Told the Indian people to boycott British cotton cloth. People started making their own cloth with the spinning wheel.
2. Salt March- there was a British law, which stated that the Indians had to buy their salt from the British. Gandhi felt this was unfair because India is a peninsula- had tons of salt washed upon its shores. Gandhi marched with 78 other men and they collected salt- shows civil disobedience. 1000s of Indians joined the march. They marched 240 miles- it took 6 weeks. When they got there, Gandhi went into the water and began to pick up salt. As soon as he broke the law, Gandhi was arrested. This event made the British look bad and the Indians look good in the eyes of the rest of the world.
As it became clear that the Indians would gain their independence, the tension grew between the Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was a Hindu, and the Muslims didn’t want the Hindus to rule. When Gandhi took over, the Muslims appointed Mohammed Ali Jinne as leader of the Muslim League (like the INC). The British realized that if they left India, there would be a civil war.
Aim: Nationalism in China
For 1000s of years, China was ruled by dynasties. The last dynasty, the Manchu dynasty, didn’t want change. At this time, China was divided into spheres of influence.
As a result of the Manchu dynasty’s refusal for change, Sun Yixuan overthrew the Manchu dynasty. He had an agenda- 3 Principles of the People:
1. Nationalism
2. Democracy
3. Livelihood
As leader of China, Sun Yixuan didn’t do much because he had lots of opposition. Sun Yixuan’s group was called the Nationalist party (aka Kuomintang Party), and because of the many opposing parties, he was unable to concentrate on getting things done. After a couple of years, he stepped down without having achieved his goal.
After he stepped down, there was chaos in China. There was no:
1. Stability
2. Law
3. Order
In the 1920s, Chiang Kai Shek (aka Jiang Jieshi) took over China. He became leader of the Nationalist party. He led China for a couple of years. Chiang Kai Shek was stronger than Sun Yixuan- he was a general in the army. He hoped to unite all the groups in China. Chiang Kai Shek wanted to create a republic.
He was greatly challenged by the Chinese Communist party. At this time, Communism had spread from Russia to China. Many Chinese felt that Communism would be great. Chiang Kai Shek began killing as many Communists as he could. At this time, the Nationalist party was still stronger than the Communist party. The Communist party was growing. Chiang Kai Shek couldn’t stabilize China because he was busy dealing with the Communist party. The leader of the Communist party was Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong ran away and built up a following of peasants supporters. The peasant’s strength lied in number and not physical strength. He went on the Long March. “In a very short time several hundred million peasants will rise like a mighty storm”- Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong told his fellow marchers not to steal from the peasants and talk to them with respect to gain their support. The peasants became interested in Mao Zedong because he promised them land.
In the beginning of the war, the Nationalist party was stronger but as the war progressed, the Communists started emerging as the stronger power:
1. Got the support of the peasant.
2. Was a good leader.
1n 1939, everything stopped because of WWII- the civil war paused. During WWII, Japan was brutal to the Chinese; they killed many of them.
After WWII, the civil war continued and the Communists ended up winning resulting in Mao Zedong as ruler of China.
Aim: Russia under Stalin
Stalin took over Russia after Lenin. He ruled for over 20 years. Stalin set the tone of Communism for Russia.
When he took over Russia, he adopted the name Stalin- man of steel.
Russia became a totalitarian state- the state has total control. Really, Russia was supposed to have war Communism, but the people soon realized they were not going to get any control because Stalin had tools of control:
1. Secret police- KGB
2. Censorship- no one can own anything such as a book that speaks against Stalin.
3. Used terror
a. People would disappear, never to return again.
b. People were sent to the Siberian Gulags.
4. The government focused on propaganda- brainwashed the Russians starting from when they were little children that Stalin is so great.
5. War on religion- said religion is archaic and should be thrown out. Stalin claimed he was an atheist, but really he was an anti- Semite. Many Jews felt safer under Stalin than under the czars, but they gave up their spirituality. Now assimilation began.
Aim: Russia under Stalin
Stalin used every form of control possible to have total control over the people such as putting recording devices in the walls etc. This made the people terrified.
The type of economy that was introduced by Stalin was command economy- the government makes all the decisions.
Stalin put the five year plans into effect-
1. The first five years of leadership would be in modernizing industry-
a. Stalin focused on production of heavy industry-
1. Rail roads
2. Cars
3. Buses
4. Mines
5. Power stations
6. Ammunition
The focus was on heavy industry and not on light industry because Stalin
wanted Russia to look powerful.
b. There were problems with the factories-
1. No incentives so people didn’t work as hard as they could. Production slowed down, and as a result, there were enormous shortages.
2. Poor quality of goods- as a result the black market evolved- people illegally brought in and sold goods from other countries.
c. The health care was not good.
2. The next five years would focus on agriculture. Stalin got rid of the NEP because he wanted the government to have control over everything. Private farms were merged into collectives (kolkhoz). The purpose of this was to grow more. There was no incentive, so people didn’t want to join the collectives. Many people, mainly rich landowners (kulaks), gave up their lives instead of merging into collectives. The result of this was famine because of the lack of motivation- people were lazy on the collectives and many kulaks were dead.
Aim: Russia under Stalin
As the years of Stalin progressed, he became weird, paranoid and a maniac. In the 1930s, he felt he had to kill all of his enemies. He began by killing several million people with power because he felt they were a threat to his ruler ship. This was known as the Great Purge.
Now WWII broke out and Stalin didn’t have any generals for his army because he killed all of them.
In the 1950s, Stalin turned his wrath on the Jews. He killed every Jewish doctor in the Doctor’s Plot.
Stalin died in the 1950s, and people didn’t know how they could manage without him.
Advantages and disadvantages under Communism in Russia-
Advantages Disadvantages
Education Now, everyone could get an education- not just the elite. The Russians brainwashed everyone.
Healthcare Everyone got healthcare. Healthcare was inferior.
Jobs Everyone got a job. Woman worked full time.
Heavy industry Russia became the leading producer of heavy industry goods. Shortage of goods.
Housing for all No homeless people. Low quality housing.
By the time Stalin died, Russia had become a world power, but there was a price to pay- the people lived in a terrifying situation.
Aim: Pre WWII Era
Most countries (especially in Europe) after WWI spent the 1920s and 30s recovering and rebuilding.
In 1928, over 60 nations signed the Kellogg Briand pact- “we renounce was as an instrument of national policy”. Among the nations that signed were Germany, Japan, Russia etc. Germany and Japan signed so as not to look bad.
In 1931, Japan became the first nation since WWI to take serious aggressive action; they took Manchuria, which was Chinese territory.
The League of Nations was supposed to stop Japan but they just condemned Japan. The world now got the message that they won’t be fought against by the League of Nations if they do something wrong.
In 1929, the Great Depression broke out and the US stopped lending money to other countries. Democracies were hit hardest- 1/3 people had no job. People began going to soup kitchens and there was inflation (especially in Germany). There was lots of disillusionment with democracies because they believed in Laissez Faire, and clung to their policy even when the people were in the midst of a depression.
Aim: Rise of fascism (totalitarian)
People were willing to give up all their freedoms in exchange for a controlling government because they were in desperate need of change.
Fascism-
1. Individuals exist to serve the state- the government is everything and the people only exist to serve the government.
2. Extremely nationalistic government- think they’re the best.
3. Anti democratic- no freedoms. A very oppressive government.
4. Felt war is glorious- need to build an army and empire.
5. Unquestioning obedience- everyone listens without a word.
Italy became a fascist state. Why? Because of Mussolini’s promises to solve the problems in Italy:
1. Italian people are full of resentment and anger because they switched sides during the war and didn’t get anything for it.
2. Weak and corrupt government- the government is chaotic and many people don’t have jobs.
Mussolini’s promises:
1. End chaos
2. Stability
3. Mare nostrum- take over the Mediterranean area- build an empire.
Mussolini got many followers aka the Black Shirts. At this time, there was a king in Italy, King Emanuel II, so it was pretty risky to form an army. In 1922, Mussolini and his army marched to Rome to petition to the king that Mussolini get a position in the government. The king invited Mussolini to be prime minister. By 1925, Mussolini became a dictator- Il Duche, and the king stepped down.
Mussolini’s actions-
1. “He made the trains run on time”- brought order and stability.
2. No freedoms
3. Censorship
4. Terror
5. Prison
6. Secret police
7. Executions
8. Army is built up- every male 8-83 had to sign up for army training.
There was extreme order in Italy, but also extreme terror.
The major difference between fascism and communism was in the economy. In a fascist country:
1. You could have private property.
2. Factories are told what to make, but make their own money.
Now, the communist and democratic countries join together to fight against a common enemy.
Aim: Germany: From liberal democracy to Fascist dictatorship
In the 1920s, Germany had a democratic government- the Weimar Republic, which was forced on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles.
The Weimar Republic was replaced by a brutal, fascist dictatorship. How did this happen? Hitler’s rise to power. How and why? People let him take over and institute a fascist dictatorship. Why did they let this- didn’t they have a good government?
1. The Weimar Republic was no good- the government was weak and also hated because they signed the Treaty of Versailles. The Weimar Republic faced a lot of opposition from the Communists and Conservatives. The Germans didn’t want a democracy, but rather a strong government, which would have power. Many of the important politicians in the Weimar Republic were Jews, which led to anti-Semitism- blamed the Jews for the Republic’s problems.
2. Economic Depression- the situation in Germany was desperate. The economy was bad since WWI + the Great Depression in the US. There was terrible inflation now in Germany.
Hitler was able to rise to power now because Germany was so desperate.
Hitler was born in Austria. He tried to get into art school, but was turned down. He tried to get into the army, but landed up with the lowest position. During WWI, Hitler developed a raved anti- Semitic feeling.
In 1919, he organized a revolutionary group to overthrow the Weimar Republic called the Nazi party. His followers were known as:
1. Brown shirts
2. Storm Troopers
Hitler chose the swastika as his symbol. The swastika is an Indian symbol because Hitler felt he was from a mix of Indian and German blood- Aryan.
The Nazis hated everyone:
1. Democrats
2. Communists
3. Capitalists
In 1923, Hitler and the Brown shirts made an attempt to overthrow the government, but they failed. Hitler ended up in jail. While being imprisoned, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf. The main theme of this book was:
1. Lebensraum- living space= empire. The Germans deserve more space to live because they are superior.
2. Anti- Semitism- Aryans are the “master race”. Hitler was obsessed with race and didn’t care about religion. He believed that there were many races in the world and the Aryans are on the top, while the Jews are on the bottom. (Hitler said the Jews are insects, not humans.) For many German Jews, this was surprising because they were so nationalistic. Germany does have a long tradition of anti- Semitism:
a. Marin Luther
b. Otto Von Bismarck
c. Richard Wagner
At this time, France was the most anti-Semitic country. Hitler in Mein Kampf used the Jews as a scapegoat- he said Germany lost WWI because of the Jews.
When Hitler got out of jail, he printed his book and because of it he gained lots of support and popularity.
Hitler began to make rallies stating that Germany should:
1. Stop paying reparations
2. Build up an army
3. Create jobs
Hitler was able to brainwash many people and his power began to grow. By 1933, Hitler became chancellor of Germany and within a couple of months he declared himself dictator and the Weimar Republic toppled. Hitler killed the Nazis he didn’t trust and the Communists. Hitler said people are created to benefit the state. He took away people’s rights.
Hitler’s first anti-Semitic action was in 1935- the Nuremburg laws- discriminated Jews, mostly shutting them out of professions.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
SS- 2nd test
SS
Aim: The Industrial Revolution
Instead of making things by hand, things were made by machine. Industrial means the making of goods. It was an economic and social change. The Industrial Revolution began in Europe in the late 18th century.
What led to the Industrial Revolution?
1. Agrarian Revolution- in farming.
2. Population Explosion- more children were being born and surviving birth.
3. Energy Revolution- Different types of energy can make machines run.
Aim: Factors leading to the Industrial Revolution
1. Agrarian Revolution- was advances in agriculture- new farming techniques were discovered.
a. Dutch- dykes- a wall that kept water from overflowing the land. Now more
land was available for farming
b. Improved fertilizers- to improve soil so it can produce more food.
c. Charles Townshend- planting turnips/ crop rotation- not planting the same
produce in the same fields year after year.
d. Tull- seed drill- a device that deposits seeds evenly. Leads to more food.
Enclosure movement- happened in Britain. Wealthy landowners bought more land- now they can plant more crops. The farmers who sold their land had nothing to do. This led to the opening of factories because there was available labor.
2. Population Explosion- more nutrition became available especially in England where the Agrarian Revolution began. The population in England doubled. Now people were living longer. There were advances in medicine. When woman gave birth, their babies or themselves no longer died. There was also an increase in hygiene. They learnt about germs and keeping things sterilized. Disease also became less widespread.
3. Energy Revolution- new ways to power machines were invented. Up until now horsepower was used. In the 1700s, it was discovered that heating up water could move heavy metal- steam power. This lead to the invention of trains and boats, which could stay on path. With trains and boats, goods could now be transported.
The combination of these 3 things all together led to the Industrial Revolution. “Necessity is the mother of invention”.
Aim: 1. Why does the Industrial Revolution begin in England?
2. Early inventions
3. Impact of the inventions
1. The industrial revolution begins in England because:
a. England has an island location. This advantageous because England wasn’t involved in Europe’s battles and they were able to focus on industrialization.
b. Had resources- coal and iron. These resources are needed for industrialization.
c. Has fast flowing rivers with powerful currents- good for waterpower, which made machines run.
d. Had many workers because of the Enclosure Movement and because of the Population Explosion.
e. Capital- large amounts of money were available for investment by many rich English. These investors became entrepreneurs.
f. England had the ideal government for a nation about to embark on industrialization. The government was stable and helpful. English believed in laissez faire- business is business and government is government, and the two shall never intertwine.
2. The early inventions were mainly in transportation and textiles. Originally fabric was made in cottage industries- peasants would make fabric in their cottages. When there was a Population Explosion, more textiles were needed and the cottage industries couldn’t keep up.
a. Flying shuttle- wove thread. One man in one day could now make what a town of people made in 3 weeks.
b. Spinning Jenny- spun thread.
c. Cotton gin- separated seeds from cotton fluff. Now there’s more cotton available.
3. The impact of the inventions was that the factory system emerged. Factories were
needed for machines. Urbanization occurred- people moved from rural areas to be
closer to factories in cities.
Aim: The impact of the Industrial Revolution on the working and middle classes
1. Middle class- the middle class were the managers or owners of factories of mines or inventors. This put them above the lower class. Some entrepreneurs made it to the upper class. The middle class enjoyed the quality of life. The men worked, and the women called upon each other, and spent lots of time on their wardrobe because they had nothing else to do.
2. Working class- had to work in:
a. Factory-
1. Had long hours with low wages.
2. Child labor.
3. Lived in tenement buildings- bad apartment housing.
4. No safety devices- many got injured on the job.
Many skilled people now found that they were being replaced by machine, and they had to now work in factories. Labor unions were formed, but didn’t have any impact.
b. Mines- to get resources
1. People did animal labor- dragged resources through tunnels.
2. People became hunchbacks, and their lungs were destroyed.
Sadler Committee- sent by British government to investigate the working
conditions, and to interview factory workers and mine workers.
Aim: Supporters and Opponents of Laissez Faire
“Every man as long as he does not violate the laws… is left free to pursue his own interests… in business”. - Adam Smith from his book Wealth of Nations. Smith said that government shouldn’t make rules so that people can make money.
As people saw problems in working masses, they asked if they should have Laissez Faire.
Many people believed in social Darwinism- in our society there are those who are meant to be rich and they are the fittest, and that there are those who are going to be poor and there’s nothing to be done about it.
2 people spoke out about Laissez Faire:
1. Bentham- society is supposed to benefit the majority.
2. Mill- the government must protect workers and workers must have the right to vote.
Aim: Socialism- a rising movement in the 19th century
Capitalism vs. Socialism
1. Capitalism- economic system. Purpose of capitalism is opportunity.
a. Goes hand in hand with Laissez Faire
b. Strong focus on profit earning
c. Private Enterprise- people can have their own businesses
d. Lead to abuse of workers
e. There was now a huge gap between the rich and poor. The wealthy could make lots of money and the poor couldn’t get ahead.
Some people felt capitalism should be demolished, and some didn’t.
2. Socialism- brought about by the negatives of capitalism. Socialism responded to the horrors of the early years of the Industrial Revolution. Socialism is about sharing the wealth- the workers or government should own the means of production. The only case of successful socialism is Kibbutzim. Socialism is really impractical because someone needs to be in control.
Early socialists were known as Utopian Socialists. They felt they could establish a perfect society.
a. Robert Owen- set up a little community in Scotland where
1. People worked 8 hours a day in safe conditions.
2. Had paid vacations.
3. School for kids.
4. Healthcare center
The community went bankrupt and people said that this is proof that socialism doesn’t work.
Aim: Marxism/ Communism
Some people said to keep capitalism and work with it, while other people said to get rid of it and introduce socialism.
Karl Marx came up with the ultimate form of socialism- scientific socialism. He called it Scientific Socialism because it was very well researched. He wrote his ideas in books:
1. Communist Manifesto (wrote with Fredrick Engels)- was a small pamphlet of their ideas.
2. Das Kapital- wrote his ideas in great detail.
Marx was Jewish. He came from great rabbinical lineage, but his father was an atheist.
Marx’s Ideas:
1. All of history is influenced by economics- history is interpreted through economics. Marx only focused on economic issues. This led to problems because not every war and idea occurs because of economics.
2. Class struggle- there are 2 groups of people- have and have-nots. Struggle is between capitalists (factory owners) and proletariats (working class). He said we see that the capitalists are taking advantage of the proletariats. Really there was some cooperation between the capitalists and proletariats- together they produced things.
3. Communism is inevitable- workers will unite, revolt, overthrow the capitalistic system and introduce communism. “Workers of the world unite… rise up and throw off your chains” – Marx. Marx ignored nationalism- workers would rather live in poverty then join together with workers from other countries.
4. Dictatorship of the proletariat- the state will wither away- there’ll be a classless society. The reality is the government never gave up control; it became stricter to keep power.
Russia was agrarian- these ideas were for an industrial country. Russia was the first country to have communism and the communist revolution started there.
Aim: Reforms made in response to the Industrial Revolution
Why did communism not start in Britain? Because reforms were made in response to the Industrial Revolution.
Reforms under capitalist system in Britain:
1. Child labor- had the Sadler Committee investigate the labor in factories. In 1833, the factory act was passed- it said children under 9 can’t work and older children should have limited hours.
2. Increased representation in government- more people are going to be represented in the British government. The Reform Bill of 1832 eliminated rotten boroughs, which meant people in cities got more representation than those people in rotten boroughs.
3. Increased suffrage- in 1885 workers got the right to vote. In 1918 woman got the right to vote.
4. Workers rights- workers earned rights through protest. In 1825, labor unions became legal. In 1847, the Ten Hours Act was passed- no man or woman can work longer than 10 hours. The Employer Liability Act said the employer is responsible for people hurt on the job.
5. Education- before the late 1800s, education was only able to select people. In 1870, public school was open for everyone grades K-8, where they focused on the 3 “r”s. This was good, because now the population won’t have to do menial labor. There was an unequal education between girls and boys.
6. Urban improvement- cities used to be crowded, ugly, and full of crime. Serious efforts were put into the improvement of the cities such as parks, paved streets, lights, police and fire departments and safer buildings.
The result of all the reforms was an increased quality of life.
Aim: Global impact of the Industrial Revolution
1. Migrations- people moved from one country to another because as jobs filled in one country, people would move to countries to start industrializing. The US was a major refugee country because it had freedom, no frequent revolutions and no persecution (for Jews.)
2. Nations communicate and trade- interacting in ways not previously possible. Before people couldn’t travel far to sell their goods, but now they can.
3. Nations without resources could:
a. Buy resources to industrialize.
b. Take over colonies- imperialism.
Aim: Motivation for new Imperialism
Imperialism is one nation controlling another nation, resulting in the relationship of a mother country (imperial power) and her colonies.
Old Imperialism was when Britain, Spain, France and Russia took over colonies in the Americas in the 1500s- early 1800s. New Imperialism took place in the 19th century in Africa and Asia by European nations.
Motivations-
1. Economic (to become rich)-
a. Resources-
1. Iron
2. Coal
3. Rubber
4. Tin
5. Copper
6. Metals
7. Petroleum- oil
b. Mercantilism- used colonies as markets to make money. European countries made few goods when they started out. As the demand got greater, they began to produce a lot of supplies. As the objects became part of everyday life, the demand was not as great. The European nations looked at the colonies as a great to sell their extra goods.
2. Political- prestige and power come from owning an empire. The more colonies a country owned, the more important it was. It also meant that wherever you were you were near home- you always had a place to restock ships.
3. Humanitarian/ religion- believed in civilize and Christianize. At that time, people didn’t value other cultures, and the Europeans thought they were doing the Africans and Asians a favor by teaching them to be civil. They:
a. Introduced hospitals.
b. Introduced better medical care.
c. Ended harmful practices such as foot binding.
The humanitarian acts were good, though the religion part wasn’t.
4. Racial/ Social Darwinism- The Europeans came to African and Asian countries and saw savage people. They felt they were more fit to live and have the right to take over. This theory goes hand in hand with racism. Kipling, a believer in Social Darwinism who lived at this time, wrote a poem The White Man’s Burden. It said in it “Take up the white man’s burden, send forth the best ye breed. Go bind your sons to exile- to serve your captives need… your new- caught sullen peoples- half devil and half child”.
How are the European nations going to get the colonies?
1. The European nations have guns and well-equipped armies and navies. “Whatever happens we have got the Maxim gun- and they have not.”
2. The European nations have an organized government and are industrialized. The tribes couldn’t unite amongst themselves and the Europeans were organized.
3. The European nations had the telegraph. They could communicate and ask for more troops and get them immediately.
4. The European nations had steam ships, which helped them travel to Africa and Asia.
Forms of control-
1. Colony- the total control of one nation over another with the imperial power making all the decisions.
2. Sphere of influence- economic control- mercantilism. Not as powerful as political control.
Aim: European nations colonize Africa-
For 100s of years, Africa was known as the “Dark Continent” by the European nations because the Europeans weren’t really comfortable with most of the areas in Africa besides for Carthage and the tip of Africa. Cartographers drew a blank map full of animals and black people hanging from mango trees because the interior of Africa was unknown. For this reason, Europeans were scared to take over.
In the late 1800s, the Europeans sent people to explore Africa and send back information to the government about the interior of Africa. One of the explorers was a man named Dr. Livingstone, who was sent by the Britain government. Livingstone was a young doctor who left to Africa with his family. He helped the Africans with his medicines and spread Christianity. Livingstone sent back information to the British government. He was the first white man to set his eyes on Victoria Falls, the tallest waterfall, which he named after Queen Victoria. Livingstone disappeared for a while and the government figured he was dead. An American reporter by the name of Henry Stanly went to Africa to search for Livingstone. When he found him, he said, “ Dr. Livingstone I presume”. Livingstone became family with the blacks. He taught them language, religion and culture. When Livingstone died, the Africans sent his body back to Britain.
As Britain began taking over territories, so did the French, Portuguese, Italians and Germans. In 1875, the land all belonged to the Africans, but by 1885, almost all of Africa was in European hands. This period of time is known as the “Scramble for Africa”. In 1885, all the European nations that owned land in Africa met in Berlin for the Berlin Conference, where they drew lines to define boundaries in Africa. Not one black was there.
Cecil Rhodes was a British man who believed in taking over lots of territory. He said, “From Cape to Cairo”.
Did any Africans resist? Some did, but mostly their fights weren’t successful.
1. Ethiopia kept their independence. At this time, Ethiopia was very strong. Ethiopia’s king, Menelick, realized he needed guns to fight the Europeans. He sold ivory for guns.
2. Liberia kept their independence. Liberia was the place of the slave trade, so it was already controlled by whites, and was left alone.
3. The Zulu were tall Africans with grey- black skin. They fought against the Europeans and were unsuccessful, but they put up a good fight- they ran towards the guns.
There was competition and war over who gets what territory, for example the Boer wars. The Dutch and the British fought the Boer wars over South Africa. South Africa was considered a hot spot because it has a good climate and has diamond mines.
The Congo region was ruled by Belgium. The king of Belgium, King Leopold, told the Belgians to work on making Belgium rich.
Aim: Effects of European rule on Africa
The Europeans left major effects on the Africans. All the Africans underwent major changes in a negative way. Now, if you travel to Africa, you’ll see remnants of a society once run by Europeans. You’ll see old railroad lines, hospitals and churches. You will also hear European languages spoken.
How did European rule affect Africa?
1. Boundaries were disregarded- now new boundaries were made.
2. Changes in agriculture- the Africans used to plant together (yams, okras) and divide all the food fairly among everyone. Now, the Europeans forced the Africans to grow cash crops such as coffee, cotton and peanuts. This led to a decrease in the Africans’ nutrition.
3. Africans were taxed- they got paid to work, then they were taxed.
4. Exploited resources- the Europeans took the resources out of the ground and exported them.
5. Transportation and communication- the Europeans put in railroads so they could send resources to Europe and telegraphs so they could communicate with the people back home and more effectively control the Africans.
6. The Europeans didn’t follow the Africans’ laws- this shows disrespect for the culture you’re in
7. Education- the Europeans set up schools. This was good because now the Africans got an education, but it was bad because the Europeans brainwashed the Africans, and those Africans who were smart became the Europeans’ pets. They sent them to Europe to be educated so they could eventually help the Europeans rule. This was also bad because it led to family instability and jealousy.
8. Hospitals and medicine- this led to a decrease in infant mortality and increase in life expectancy. This population explosion was bad because it led to shortages of food.
Aim: The British colonize India
India was a very valuable colony because it had spices, teas and other valuable resources.
Since the 1700s, the British East India Company controlled India. The British East India Company set up trading posts in India, and then began to take control of India bit by bit. The British enjoyed mercantilism- they sent Indian cotton, tea and sugar to Britain. The British East India Company was doing such a good job in India, that the British didn’t need to come control themselves.
Some effects of company rule on India:
1. Railroads- to send goods.
2. Telegraph- communication.
3. Schools- taught that the Indian religion and culture is no good. The British replaced the Indian way of writing, Sanskrit, with English. This was not good because unlike the Africans, the Indians already had an established culture and religion.
In general, the Indian people were treated as inferior. The British moved to India because it was an easy life- they had many servants for very cheap. The British were treated like royalty (even the children), while the Indians were treated like children.
4. The Britains worked to some barbaric Indian practices
a. Sati- widow(s) would jump into the flames of her deceased husband’s burning body at his funeral. Why was this done? Because widows were considered contaminated, and they felt it would be better to be dead.
b. Caste system/untouchable discrimination- the lowest class of the Caste system was known as the untouchables. They were considered contaminated and did lowly work. The British helped to end this.
c. Female infanticide- the Indians would kill baby girls because when they married, they would move away, and not stay and help support like the boys. The British also helped to end this practice.
The British felt the Indians should be thanking them for all the positive they did. Many Indians however didn’t appreciate the British. Indian resentment of the British grew until in 1857, they finally rebelled. What caused this rebellion?
1. Indians were resentful of the British.
2. The straw that broke the camel’s back- rumor had it that the bullets were greased. When the soldiers of the British East India Company (some British, but mostly Indians- Sepoys) would bite open the packages, they would get some of the grease in their mouths. Some of the soldiers were Hindus and some Muslims. The Hindus don’t eat beef and the Muslims don’t eat pork. They were scared that the grease was animal fat; maybe coming from the animal they won’t eat.
The Sepoy Rebellion/Mutiny resulted in the deaths of many British until they were able to get reinforcements who put down the rebellion.
This rebellion led to uneasy feelings. The British now realized how the Indians felt about them.
The British back in Britain felt that the British East India Company couldn’t control India any longer, and they came and took over. Now India was an official colony of Britain. India was considered the jewel in the crown of the British Empire.
Aim: China under foreign dynasty
The Chinese are an ethnocentric people. The Chinese felt that foreigners were barbarians, and that no one could compare with their:
1. Porcelain
2. Language
3. Dress
4. Furniture
Why did the Chinese feel like this? Because they were isolated- China was surrounded by mountains and dessert.
The Chinese had a pretty advanced culture- that was discovered by Marco Polo.
China believed they didn’t need everything from foreign countries. The Chinese didn’t get any goods from Europe. The Europeans traded with the Chinese for tea, silk, porcelain- who valuable goods. The Chinese opened up one port for trade, where the Chinese gave the Europeans goods for money- not goods. The Europeans were upset because this was trade deficit- when nations buy more then they sell. The Chinese had trade surplus- sell more then they buy.
The Europeans wanted to find a way to trade with the Chinese with more port- they wanted to take over. The Europeans wanted to find something the Chinese needed. In the 1800s, the British sold opium, a drug derived from poppies, to the Chinese. The Chinese became addicted and wanted tons of opium. The Chinese needed so much opium, they actually began paying the British with silver. By the late 1830s, the Chinese realized:
1. They were wasting money.
2. Opium is dangerous for the people.
3. The Chinese suffered the effects of addiction.
In 1839, the Chinese demanded the British to stop sending opium to China. The British saw this as the opportunity they were waiting for to fight with the Chinese. They sent $2 million worth of opium to the Chinese, who exploded the ship.
The British started the Opium war. This war was the Chinese junks versus the British warships. The British easily defeated the Chinese. Now, the British controlled China. The Treaty of Nanjing was signed:
1. The Chinese had to pay for the war.
2. The Chinese had to give Hong Kong to Britain- didn’t get it back until 1998.
3. The Chinese had to open more ports for trade.
4. The British get extraterritoriality- the British don’t follow the Chinese law, only their own. The British set up courts in China to protect themselves.
Aim: Chinese struggle against foreign control
Effects of the Treaty of Nanjing on the Chinese:
1. Humiliation- the Chinese thought they were superior. They were living in an illusion land of strength. Now they lost the war and had to suffer from the treaty.
2. Had no control over trade.
3. Sphere of influence- once Britain won, other countries such as Germany, France, Russia and Japan came to get parts of China. Sphere of influence= economic control + extraterritoriality.
4. Missionaries came to China- they spread Christianity. This was embarrassing because the Chinese had their own religion.
At this time, the Manchu (Quing) dynasty was ruling in China. They were the people who introduced the ponytails. The Manchu dynasty was a weak and corrupt dynasty. There was also overpopulation and floods. This is a bad combination because this led to food shortages. The people were frustrated and resentful.
About 30 million peasants rebelled in the Taiping Rebellion. This was probably the biggest peasant rebellion ever. They said they felt the government should give them food and land. The Manchu alone couldn’t put the rebellion down, so they got help from the Europeans. Why did the Europeans help? Because they liked the Manchu dynasty because it was weak- like a puppet.
As a result of the rebellion, China was weak. Japan came and fought with them in the Sino- Japanese war. The Japanese wanted land, and ended up getting the island of Taiwan.
The people blamed the Manchu dynasty for all of their problems because of the Manchu’s refusal to modernize. Why did the Manchu’s refuse to modernize? Because Ci Xi, the empress, was traditional. She was so against reform, she put her nephew, the king, in jail when he started introducing reforms.
A group of people decided to rebel in the Boxer Rebellion. The Chinese worked out until they thought they were so strong that the foreigner’s bullets would bounce off of them. The Europeans won in 5 days.
The Chinese were getting desperate. Then, in 1908, Ci Xi died and the Chinese got new hope. The people wanted a new government. Sun Yixuan wanted to form a new government. He had a plan of how to take over China and how to get out the foreigners, making him very popular.
China: 1330s- 1900
In the early 1900s, girls could go to school.
The Chinese realized there was a need for radical change. They felt they had to rid themselves of the Manchu Dynasty, which proved itself as no good.
Many reform groups were formed in China. One of them was headed by Sun Yixuan. He had a clear idea of what type of government China should have. He called his itinerary “3 Principles of the People”. The 3 principles were:
1. Nationalism- foreigners need to be kicked out of China.
2. Democracy- a representative government. This is a huge change because China was ruled by dynasties for 1000s of years. This was the key part of his government.
3. Livelihood- economic security. Sun Yixuan told the people that they’d get land. They would get economic security by becoming part of the global market.
Ci Xi died in the early 1900s. Many people wanted to overthrow the rest of the dynasty. When it came to picking a new ruler of China, Sin Yixuan was chosen and he became the president. Now China is a republic.
Sun Yixuan had many enemies. Some people were in favor of socialism, some of communism, and some of a balance of powers.
For the next 40 years, China suffered from many revolutions of people fighting with each other, until China landed up with Communism.
Aim: Meiji Restoration- Japan modernizes
Japan escaped the fate of being colonized because it had the foresight to modernize. What took place that helped Japan make reforms?
From the 1600s- mid 1800s, Japan was under a feudal system.
1. Shogun- military leader.
2. Daimyo- landowners.
3. Samurai- soldiers.
4. Peasants
Japan had an emperor, but he was powerless.
The shogun decided that Japan would adopt the policy of isolationism- no one may move out and no one may move in. The only contact with the rest of the world was Japan’s port city of Nagasaki, and only the Dutch could come trade here. This was frustrating for the rest of the world because Japan had good resources.
In 1839, Japan got a warning that their independence may be threatened- Opium war.
In 1853, the US sent Mathew Perry to Japan with a fleet of ships. Perry demanded that the Japanese:
1. Open more ports so the US could trade with them.
2. Use Japan as a place to refuel their ships.
When the Japanese saw the fleet of ships, they were intimidated and said they’d open ports for trade. In the Treaty of Kannagaua, the Japanese were forced to open 2 ports. After the treaty, other European nations followed, and gained trade with Japan.
A group of Japanese officials realized that they needed change so as not to be devoured like China. The shogun was blamed for this incident, even though it really wasn’t his fault (the Japanese only had spears and Samurai swords), and the emperor was bought back to power in order to fill his place. The emperor was only 15 at the time, and was used as a puppet.
This era was known as the Meiji (ruler) Restoration- the emperor was brought back to modernize and industrialize Japan. The Meiji Restoration was the most serious turning point in all of Japanese history. The motto of the Meiji Restoration was “rich country, strong military”- industrialized country with a powerful army.
Japan sent diplomats to Europe and the US to learn how to industrialize.
Some of the changes made in Japan were:
1. Political-
a. Went from feudal system to emperor and legislature (diet). Had a government similar to the Germans.
b. Some men had the right to vote.
2. Military-
a. Was modernized with western style weapons such as guns.
b. All men are required to serve in the army- it quadrupled in size.
3. Economic-
a. Banks
b. Railroads
c. Telegraphs
d. Factories
e. Mines
f. Cities.
By 1890, Japan looked just as industrialized as everyone else.
Aim: Imperialism in South East Asia
South East Asia was the Spice Islands, where during the Age of Exploration the Europeans came desperately for spices. The main goal of getting these nations was for resources such as:
1. Rubber
2. Copper
3. Metals
4. Tin
5. Lumber
South East Asia was also good planting territory.
The Europeans took over in a sneaky way: they began by trading, and then little by little took over land.
Many European nations colonized Asia. The countries that got the most land were:
1. Dutch/ Netherlands- took over the Dutch East Indies. They took over Indonesia, an archipelago of about 3000 islands.
2. Britain- took over:
a. Burma- now known as Myanmar.
b. Singapore
c. Malaysia
3. France- took over Indo- China, which consisted of:
a. Laos
b. Cambodia
c. Vietnam
4. US- took over:
a. Philippines
b. Hawaii- for pineapples
c. Guam
Thailand aka Siam remained independent. How did they stay independent? The king of Thailand, King Mongkut, told the Europeans he would give them the trading rights they wanted as long as they didn’t take over. Then, Mongkut began to industrialize like Japan by importing professionals to Thailand to help. Though there were culture clashes, the Thai ended up with an industrialized army, and they broke away from the Europeans.
As WWI drew closer, the countries realized they could situate naval bases in the territories they owned.
In the 1950s, most of these countries gained their independence.
Aim: Imperialism in Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Canada, Australia and New Zealand are different then the territories we discussed previously because they got their independence a lot faster.
1. Canada- was taken over by France in the 1700s, then Britain came and took some land. Canada was divided:
a. Upper part- Ontario- British
b. Lower part Quebec- France
By 1900, Canada was independent because the reason for taking over territory is social Darwinism, but there were so many French living in Canada, it wasn’t necessary.
2. Australia- was discovered by Captain Cook, a British sea captain. Australia was down under and hard to find.
The native Australians were called Aboriginals. They had dark skin, dark eyes and were short.
The British realized they needed to settle the land, but Australia was an 8-month journey from Britain, so no one wanted to go. The British ended up sending their convicts to Australia.
Australia is mostly desert- outback. People only lived on 10% of the country.
In the mid 1800s, gold was discovered in Australia- motivation for people to go.
3. New Zealand- was discovered by Captain Cook.
New Zealand is the closest country to Antarctica.
New Zealand is the only place where kiwis are grown.
New Zealand was settled by many British. The original people in New Zealand are called Mauri- had body paints, wore clothes made from animals.
Aim: Imperialism: Motivation- canal building
Canal building is a main reason why nations imperialized.
1. Suez Canal- in order for people to get from Europe to India, they had to go all the way around Africa. France asked Egypt if they could join together and build a canal through Egypt. The Egyptians agreed, and the French sent over professional engineers to build the canal.
The Suez Canal connected the Mediterranean and Red Seas. This caused a revolution in world travel because it shortened travel and trade time. This canal was built with manual labor.
The Egyptians couldn’t pay for their part of the canal, so the British bought it off them. The building of this canal showed how weak the Ottoman Empire was, that someone could build a canal in their territory without asking them permission first. Britain decided that if the Ottoman Empire is weak, they could take over Egypt. They took Egypt as a protectorate. Egypt didn’t get their independence until the 1920s and didn’t get the canal back until the 1950s.
2. Panama Canal- A MAN A PLAN A CANAL, PANAMA. The Panama Canal was built in the early 1900s. President Roosevelt wanted a canal in Central America- Panama. He helped Panama revolt from Columbia, and then took the canal as a thank you gift. 6,000 people died while building this canal. The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
There are only 2 canals that cut through continents- the Panama and Suez canals.
Aim: Causes of war
The Congress of Vienna kept war away for 100 years. Why do we have war now with more nations than ever before? Nations are more connected because of imperialism.
Causes of war:
1. Imperialistic competition-
a. France and Germany almost went to war over Morocco.
b. Germany threatened lots nations such as Britain. There was lots of competition from Germany because now they’re united and built up.
2. Economic competition- up until the 1900s, Britain had the strongest economy, but now:
a. Germany rose economically.
b. Russia also rose economically, and they had so many resources no one could beat them.
3. Military competition- every nation began to build up an army and navy because as each nation built up, every other nation reacted by improving their armies and navies. The competition was between Britain and Germany, but now Germany was improving.
4. Glorification of war- people forgot what war is really about- they thought it was exciting. Really, war was brutal.
5. Nationalism- is about strength and power but can also be aggressive because everyone wants the biggest empire.
a. The Germans wanted to show off in WWI everything they built up.
b. After the Franco-Prussian war, France lost Alsace- Lorain, and they want it back.
c. Russia had Pan-Slavism- unification of the Slavic people. This was a problem because all the Slavic people were in different territories. The Ottomans were losing Slavic territory to the Russians. The Ottomans were afraid of the Athenians (were Christians) because they were connected with the Russians, and killed all million of them out.
6. Alliances- when countries buddy up with each other. There were 2 alliances:
a. The Triple Alliance- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy and the Ottomans (at the end).
b. The Triple Entente- France, Britain and Russia.
Aim: Outbreak of WWI
In 1914, Europe was a tense region. There was a lot of competition, nationalism and the warped idea that war is fun.
The Balkan region had a lot of tension. The Balkan region of Bosnia was under Austrian- Hungary rule. The Bosnians were a Slavic people, and felt they should’ve been under Russian or neighboring Serbian rule.
On June 28, 1914, the archduke of Austria- Hungary, Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. There was a small terrorist group of Bosnians and Serbians called the Black Hand, who plotted to kill the archduke and his wife. While they were riding in an open limo through the streets of Sarajevo, Gavrilo Princip shot the archduke and his wife. This was known as “the shot heard around the world”. The Balkan powder keg now exploded and caused a war.
Germany told Austria- Hungary not to let the Bosnians get away with this, and that they would help in war. Austria- Hungary declared war on Serbia with Germany at their side. Italy also joined them and they became known as the Central Powers. France, Britain and Britain all joined Serbia and formed the Allies.
All the countries had to mobilize their armies for war by making drafts, uniforms… Germany was the first country to mobilize. They marched through Belgium and came to the countrysides of France- Somme and Verdun. France was already prepared and the British joined them. For the next 4 years, these nations fought at these places, and there was a stalemate.
Aim: Fighting fronts of WWI
The Western Front, by the France and German border had many battles there for 4 years. Millions of people died. The French and German fought with trench war fare- they dug pits about 8 feet high, and that’s where the soldiers stayed. When someone would scream “over the top”, both sides would come out of their trenches, and fight in the middle.
In the Battle of Somme, 60,000 people died.
New weapons-
1. Submarines- sunk Luistania.
2. Rifles
3. Poison gas
4. Planes
Never before had so many people died in war, but with new weapons, killing so many people was now possible.
How was this a world war?
1. The US joined in 1917.
2. Colonies joined the war.
Aim: WWI- turning point for the Allies
The turning points were:
1. In 1917, the US joined the war. Why?
a. The Lusitania was torpedoed- it was a British passenger ship with American passengers.
b. Zimmerman telegram- Germany sent Mexico a telegram telling them to attack the US. The US intercepted it immediately, and Woodrow Wilson said, “Need to make the world safe for democracy”.
c. The British issued the Balfour Declaration- they’ll support the setting up of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
The US got ready to send help to Europe. The US mobilized, and in 1918, 2 million troops- dough boys- were sent to Europe. The US gave the whole army more strength.
2. In 1917, Russia dropped out of the war- the same time the US joined, Russia dropped out because they had just overthrown the czar of Russia. Germany was excited about this because now they can direct all their troops to the Western front. The Russians gave the Germans some territory- they signed the Brest Litovsk treaty.
On November 11, 1918, the Germans signed an armistice- they surrendered.
Aim: The Treaty of Versailles
27 nations came to participate in the writing of the treaty. The British, French and US got the biggest say in the treaty. Their representatives were:
1. Britain- Lloyd George- wanted revenge on Germany.
2. France- Clemenceau- wanted revenge on Germany. He said, “we want to squeeze Germany until the pip squeak.”
3. Woodrow Wilson- said not to focus on revenge, but rather on preventing another war. Why was he the clearest in the mind?
a. The US came at the end of the war- they hadn’t been fighting for so long.
b. The fighting wasn’t on their territory.
Wilson made a list of 14 points he wanted incorporated into the treaty:
a. Freedom of the seas- no country can submarine another country’s ships.
b. All people should have self determination- all nations should be independent. This wasn’t actually done.
c. No secret treaties- such as the Brest Litovsk treaty. No secret agreements.
d. A League of Nations- a club of nations joined together to prevent future wars. It was like a large alliance system.
Points in the Treaty of Versailles-
1. A League of Nations was made.
2. Germany lost Alsace- Lorain to France.
3. Poland became a country again.
4. Germany lost territory overseas.
5. The League of Nations takes German colonies as mandates- a temporary colony. The countries that won the war took mandates and ruled them until they got their independence.
6. Reduced army.
7. Germany had to pay for the war.
The map after the war was very different from the map before the war:
1. Russia and Germany had to give up land to Poland.
2. Alsace- Lorain went back to France.
3. Yugoslavia was created.
4. Palestine becomes a British mandate.
Now, everyone had to sign the treaty. Germany was very upset. Wilson didn’t want territory, but because of the US system of checks and balances, he had to ask the Senate before signing. They didn’t let him. Many historians believe that had the US signed the treaty, there would have been no WWII.
Aim: The Russian Revolution
Causes of the downfall of the Romonov czars:
1. In 1905, the Russo-Japanese war was fought. The Japanese won, and the czar became very unpopular.
2. Bloody Sunday
3. Duma- the czar set up a representative government to show the people that he acknowledged them, but it wasn’t really representative.
4. Many land-less peasants- serfs were freed about 30 years before, and now they had no land, money or source of income.
5. Russia started industrializing- conditions were horrific.
6. Russia got involved in WWI in 1914- they were so ill prepared, they sent soldiers to the battlefront with no ammunition. 2 million soldiers died in the 1st few months.
7. Rasputin- he was a monk who basically ran the czar’s court. How did he get so much power? Czar Nicholai had a hemophiliac (because of intermarriages) son named Alexus. Rasputin was able to stop the bleeding, therefore he got the power. A group of men decided to kill him by:
a. Poisoning him- he lived.
b. Shot him- he survived.
c. Shot him again- he still survived
d. Tied him up and dumped him in the river- he finally drowned.
8. Enormous food shortages- this was the last straw.
In March of 1917, woman marched through Russia asking the czar for bread. The czar told his soldiers to kill them, but the soldiers refused. This shows that the czar was losing power. In March of 1917, the czar abdicated, hoping he could at least survive.
A group of government officials set up a provisional court. At this time, Russia was still in middle of fighting WWI, but no one wanted it. About 100 revolution groups wanted to take over the Russian government. The strongest group was the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin. Lenin had revolutionary blood in him and had a hatred for czars (his brother had tried to kill the czar). When Lenin grew up, he became a Marxist- Communist. Lenin got sent to Siberia, and when he returned was exiled to Switzerland. He kept in touch with Russian people so he would know when his moment come to come back to Russia and take over. When Lenin heard about the czar’s abdication, with the help of Germany, he returned to Russia. He had 1000s of supporters. He said, “to make an omelet, we need to break eggs, to make a revolution we need to break heads”. Lenin promised the Russian people “peace, land and bread”:
1. Peace- get out of WWI- he signed the Brest Latovsk treaty, and Russia got out of the war.
2. Land- He took land from the rich and gave it to the poor.
3. Bread- efforts to end food shortages were made and workers were givin control over the factories and mines. Factories began to fall apart and Lenin realized he needed to take more strength. The government began to the control of the economy- war communism- took control of the factories and mines by telling them exactly what to do. The idea was that after the war, they’d go back to regular communism.
At this time, Russia erupted in a civil war- Bolsheviks vs. everyone else (czar supporters, rich, people who want democracy, socialists). It was known as the war between red (communists) and whites.
Aim: Russia under Lenin
When the Bolsheviks took over, the result was a civil war. Many Russians had begun to get discontented by Lenin. In order not to loose power, during the civil war, Lenin:
1. Issued red terror- terrorized people into following him. Innocent people were killed in the streets for being an enemy of Lenin.
2. Cheka- secret police, which spied on people.
3. Executed the czar and his family to show the whites that the czar isn’t coming back.
In 1921, the reds won primarily because they were all unified, while the whites were many groups of people who all hated each other.
Now, Lenin concentrated on ruling Russia. He realized they needed to do some economic reform. The goal was dictatorship of the proletariat- economy in which the proletariats rule. Lenin realized that the people were not yet ready for this and he temporarily introduced the capitalist system. New Economic Policy- people are allowed to open up their own businesses- “we must go one step forward, one step backward to get two steps forward”.
In 1924, Lenin died and didn’t leave clear instructions about who should take over. The choice was between:
1. Joseph Stalin
2. Leon Trotsky- was a Jew.
Trotsky was more popular and higher in the communist party, but Stalin had better connections and eventually took over. The first thing Stalin did when he took over was get rid of capitalism.
Aim: The Industrial Revolution
Instead of making things by hand, things were made by machine. Industrial means the making of goods. It was an economic and social change. The Industrial Revolution began in Europe in the late 18th century.
What led to the Industrial Revolution?
1. Agrarian Revolution- in farming.
2. Population Explosion- more children were being born and surviving birth.
3. Energy Revolution- Different types of energy can make machines run.
Aim: Factors leading to the Industrial Revolution
1. Agrarian Revolution- was advances in agriculture- new farming techniques were discovered.
a. Dutch- dykes- a wall that kept water from overflowing the land. Now more
land was available for farming
b. Improved fertilizers- to improve soil so it can produce more food.
c. Charles Townshend- planting turnips/ crop rotation- not planting the same
produce in the same fields year after year.
d. Tull- seed drill- a device that deposits seeds evenly. Leads to more food.
Enclosure movement- happened in Britain. Wealthy landowners bought more land- now they can plant more crops. The farmers who sold their land had nothing to do. This led to the opening of factories because there was available labor.
2. Population Explosion- more nutrition became available especially in England where the Agrarian Revolution began. The population in England doubled. Now people were living longer. There were advances in medicine. When woman gave birth, their babies or themselves no longer died. There was also an increase in hygiene. They learnt about germs and keeping things sterilized. Disease also became less widespread.
3. Energy Revolution- new ways to power machines were invented. Up until now horsepower was used. In the 1700s, it was discovered that heating up water could move heavy metal- steam power. This lead to the invention of trains and boats, which could stay on path. With trains and boats, goods could now be transported.
The combination of these 3 things all together led to the Industrial Revolution. “Necessity is the mother of invention”.
Aim: 1. Why does the Industrial Revolution begin in England?
2. Early inventions
3. Impact of the inventions
1. The industrial revolution begins in England because:
a. England has an island location. This advantageous because England wasn’t involved in Europe’s battles and they were able to focus on industrialization.
b. Had resources- coal and iron. These resources are needed for industrialization.
c. Has fast flowing rivers with powerful currents- good for waterpower, which made machines run.
d. Had many workers because of the Enclosure Movement and because of the Population Explosion.
e. Capital- large amounts of money were available for investment by many rich English. These investors became entrepreneurs.
f. England had the ideal government for a nation about to embark on industrialization. The government was stable and helpful. English believed in laissez faire- business is business and government is government, and the two shall never intertwine.
2. The early inventions were mainly in transportation and textiles. Originally fabric was made in cottage industries- peasants would make fabric in their cottages. When there was a Population Explosion, more textiles were needed and the cottage industries couldn’t keep up.
a. Flying shuttle- wove thread. One man in one day could now make what a town of people made in 3 weeks.
b. Spinning Jenny- spun thread.
c. Cotton gin- separated seeds from cotton fluff. Now there’s more cotton available.
3. The impact of the inventions was that the factory system emerged. Factories were
needed for machines. Urbanization occurred- people moved from rural areas to be
closer to factories in cities.
Aim: The impact of the Industrial Revolution on the working and middle classes
1. Middle class- the middle class were the managers or owners of factories of mines or inventors. This put them above the lower class. Some entrepreneurs made it to the upper class. The middle class enjoyed the quality of life. The men worked, and the women called upon each other, and spent lots of time on their wardrobe because they had nothing else to do.
2. Working class- had to work in:
a. Factory-
1. Had long hours with low wages.
2. Child labor.
3. Lived in tenement buildings- bad apartment housing.
4. No safety devices- many got injured on the job.
Many skilled people now found that they were being replaced by machine, and they had to now work in factories. Labor unions were formed, but didn’t have any impact.
b. Mines- to get resources
1. People did animal labor- dragged resources through tunnels.
2. People became hunchbacks, and their lungs were destroyed.
Sadler Committee- sent by British government to investigate the working
conditions, and to interview factory workers and mine workers.
Aim: Supporters and Opponents of Laissez Faire
“Every man as long as he does not violate the laws… is left free to pursue his own interests… in business”. - Adam Smith from his book Wealth of Nations. Smith said that government shouldn’t make rules so that people can make money.
As people saw problems in working masses, they asked if they should have Laissez Faire.
Many people believed in social Darwinism- in our society there are those who are meant to be rich and they are the fittest, and that there are those who are going to be poor and there’s nothing to be done about it.
2 people spoke out about Laissez Faire:
1. Bentham- society is supposed to benefit the majority.
2. Mill- the government must protect workers and workers must have the right to vote.
Aim: Socialism- a rising movement in the 19th century
Capitalism vs. Socialism
1. Capitalism- economic system. Purpose of capitalism is opportunity.
a. Goes hand in hand with Laissez Faire
b. Strong focus on profit earning
c. Private Enterprise- people can have their own businesses
d. Lead to abuse of workers
e. There was now a huge gap between the rich and poor. The wealthy could make lots of money and the poor couldn’t get ahead.
Some people felt capitalism should be demolished, and some didn’t.
2. Socialism- brought about by the negatives of capitalism. Socialism responded to the horrors of the early years of the Industrial Revolution. Socialism is about sharing the wealth- the workers or government should own the means of production. The only case of successful socialism is Kibbutzim. Socialism is really impractical because someone needs to be in control.
Early socialists were known as Utopian Socialists. They felt they could establish a perfect society.
a. Robert Owen- set up a little community in Scotland where
1. People worked 8 hours a day in safe conditions.
2. Had paid vacations.
3. School for kids.
4. Healthcare center
The community went bankrupt and people said that this is proof that socialism doesn’t work.
Aim: Marxism/ Communism
Some people said to keep capitalism and work with it, while other people said to get rid of it and introduce socialism.
Karl Marx came up with the ultimate form of socialism- scientific socialism. He called it Scientific Socialism because it was very well researched. He wrote his ideas in books:
1. Communist Manifesto (wrote with Fredrick Engels)- was a small pamphlet of their ideas.
2. Das Kapital- wrote his ideas in great detail.
Marx was Jewish. He came from great rabbinical lineage, but his father was an atheist.
Marx’s Ideas:
1. All of history is influenced by economics- history is interpreted through economics. Marx only focused on economic issues. This led to problems because not every war and idea occurs because of economics.
2. Class struggle- there are 2 groups of people- have and have-nots. Struggle is between capitalists (factory owners) and proletariats (working class). He said we see that the capitalists are taking advantage of the proletariats. Really there was some cooperation between the capitalists and proletariats- together they produced things.
3. Communism is inevitable- workers will unite, revolt, overthrow the capitalistic system and introduce communism. “Workers of the world unite… rise up and throw off your chains” – Marx. Marx ignored nationalism- workers would rather live in poverty then join together with workers from other countries.
4. Dictatorship of the proletariat- the state will wither away- there’ll be a classless society. The reality is the government never gave up control; it became stricter to keep power.
Russia was agrarian- these ideas were for an industrial country. Russia was the first country to have communism and the communist revolution started there.
Aim: Reforms made in response to the Industrial Revolution
Why did communism not start in Britain? Because reforms were made in response to the Industrial Revolution.
Reforms under capitalist system in Britain:
1. Child labor- had the Sadler Committee investigate the labor in factories. In 1833, the factory act was passed- it said children under 9 can’t work and older children should have limited hours.
2. Increased representation in government- more people are going to be represented in the British government. The Reform Bill of 1832 eliminated rotten boroughs, which meant people in cities got more representation than those people in rotten boroughs.
3. Increased suffrage- in 1885 workers got the right to vote. In 1918 woman got the right to vote.
4. Workers rights- workers earned rights through protest. In 1825, labor unions became legal. In 1847, the Ten Hours Act was passed- no man or woman can work longer than 10 hours. The Employer Liability Act said the employer is responsible for people hurt on the job.
5. Education- before the late 1800s, education was only able to select people. In 1870, public school was open for everyone grades K-8, where they focused on the 3 “r”s. This was good, because now the population won’t have to do menial labor. There was an unequal education between girls and boys.
6. Urban improvement- cities used to be crowded, ugly, and full of crime. Serious efforts were put into the improvement of the cities such as parks, paved streets, lights, police and fire departments and safer buildings.
The result of all the reforms was an increased quality of life.
Aim: Global impact of the Industrial Revolution
1. Migrations- people moved from one country to another because as jobs filled in one country, people would move to countries to start industrializing. The US was a major refugee country because it had freedom, no frequent revolutions and no persecution (for Jews.)
2. Nations communicate and trade- interacting in ways not previously possible. Before people couldn’t travel far to sell their goods, but now they can.
3. Nations without resources could:
a. Buy resources to industrialize.
b. Take over colonies- imperialism.
Aim: Motivation for new Imperialism
Imperialism is one nation controlling another nation, resulting in the relationship of a mother country (imperial power) and her colonies.
Old Imperialism was when Britain, Spain, France and Russia took over colonies in the Americas in the 1500s- early 1800s. New Imperialism took place in the 19th century in Africa and Asia by European nations.
Motivations-
1. Economic (to become rich)-
a. Resources-
1. Iron
2. Coal
3. Rubber
4. Tin
5. Copper
6. Metals
7. Petroleum- oil
b. Mercantilism- used colonies as markets to make money. European countries made few goods when they started out. As the demand got greater, they began to produce a lot of supplies. As the objects became part of everyday life, the demand was not as great. The European nations looked at the colonies as a great to sell their extra goods.
2. Political- prestige and power come from owning an empire. The more colonies a country owned, the more important it was. It also meant that wherever you were you were near home- you always had a place to restock ships.
3. Humanitarian/ religion- believed in civilize and Christianize. At that time, people didn’t value other cultures, and the Europeans thought they were doing the Africans and Asians a favor by teaching them to be civil. They:
a. Introduced hospitals.
b. Introduced better medical care.
c. Ended harmful practices such as foot binding.
The humanitarian acts were good, though the religion part wasn’t.
4. Racial/ Social Darwinism- The Europeans came to African and Asian countries and saw savage people. They felt they were more fit to live and have the right to take over. This theory goes hand in hand with racism. Kipling, a believer in Social Darwinism who lived at this time, wrote a poem The White Man’s Burden. It said in it “Take up the white man’s burden, send forth the best ye breed. Go bind your sons to exile- to serve your captives need… your new- caught sullen peoples- half devil and half child”.
How are the European nations going to get the colonies?
1. The European nations have guns and well-equipped armies and navies. “Whatever happens we have got the Maxim gun- and they have not.”
2. The European nations have an organized government and are industrialized. The tribes couldn’t unite amongst themselves and the Europeans were organized.
3. The European nations had the telegraph. They could communicate and ask for more troops and get them immediately.
4. The European nations had steam ships, which helped them travel to Africa and Asia.
Forms of control-
1. Colony- the total control of one nation over another with the imperial power making all the decisions.
2. Sphere of influence- economic control- mercantilism. Not as powerful as political control.
Aim: European nations colonize Africa-
For 100s of years, Africa was known as the “Dark Continent” by the European nations because the Europeans weren’t really comfortable with most of the areas in Africa besides for Carthage and the tip of Africa. Cartographers drew a blank map full of animals and black people hanging from mango trees because the interior of Africa was unknown. For this reason, Europeans were scared to take over.
In the late 1800s, the Europeans sent people to explore Africa and send back information to the government about the interior of Africa. One of the explorers was a man named Dr. Livingstone, who was sent by the Britain government. Livingstone was a young doctor who left to Africa with his family. He helped the Africans with his medicines and spread Christianity. Livingstone sent back information to the British government. He was the first white man to set his eyes on Victoria Falls, the tallest waterfall, which he named after Queen Victoria. Livingstone disappeared for a while and the government figured he was dead. An American reporter by the name of Henry Stanly went to Africa to search for Livingstone. When he found him, he said, “ Dr. Livingstone I presume”. Livingstone became family with the blacks. He taught them language, religion and culture. When Livingstone died, the Africans sent his body back to Britain.
As Britain began taking over territories, so did the French, Portuguese, Italians and Germans. In 1875, the land all belonged to the Africans, but by 1885, almost all of Africa was in European hands. This period of time is known as the “Scramble for Africa”. In 1885, all the European nations that owned land in Africa met in Berlin for the Berlin Conference, where they drew lines to define boundaries in Africa. Not one black was there.
Cecil Rhodes was a British man who believed in taking over lots of territory. He said, “From Cape to Cairo”.
Did any Africans resist? Some did, but mostly their fights weren’t successful.
1. Ethiopia kept their independence. At this time, Ethiopia was very strong. Ethiopia’s king, Menelick, realized he needed guns to fight the Europeans. He sold ivory for guns.
2. Liberia kept their independence. Liberia was the place of the slave trade, so it was already controlled by whites, and was left alone.
3. The Zulu were tall Africans with grey- black skin. They fought against the Europeans and were unsuccessful, but they put up a good fight- they ran towards the guns.
There was competition and war over who gets what territory, for example the Boer wars. The Dutch and the British fought the Boer wars over South Africa. South Africa was considered a hot spot because it has a good climate and has diamond mines.
The Congo region was ruled by Belgium. The king of Belgium, King Leopold, told the Belgians to work on making Belgium rich.
Aim: Effects of European rule on Africa
The Europeans left major effects on the Africans. All the Africans underwent major changes in a negative way. Now, if you travel to Africa, you’ll see remnants of a society once run by Europeans. You’ll see old railroad lines, hospitals and churches. You will also hear European languages spoken.
How did European rule affect Africa?
1. Boundaries were disregarded- now new boundaries were made.
2. Changes in agriculture- the Africans used to plant together (yams, okras) and divide all the food fairly among everyone. Now, the Europeans forced the Africans to grow cash crops such as coffee, cotton and peanuts. This led to a decrease in the Africans’ nutrition.
3. Africans were taxed- they got paid to work, then they were taxed.
4. Exploited resources- the Europeans took the resources out of the ground and exported them.
5. Transportation and communication- the Europeans put in railroads so they could send resources to Europe and telegraphs so they could communicate with the people back home and more effectively control the Africans.
6. The Europeans didn’t follow the Africans’ laws- this shows disrespect for the culture you’re in
7. Education- the Europeans set up schools. This was good because now the Africans got an education, but it was bad because the Europeans brainwashed the Africans, and those Africans who were smart became the Europeans’ pets. They sent them to Europe to be educated so they could eventually help the Europeans rule. This was also bad because it led to family instability and jealousy.
8. Hospitals and medicine- this led to a decrease in infant mortality and increase in life expectancy. This population explosion was bad because it led to shortages of food.
Aim: The British colonize India
India was a very valuable colony because it had spices, teas and other valuable resources.
Since the 1700s, the British East India Company controlled India. The British East India Company set up trading posts in India, and then began to take control of India bit by bit. The British enjoyed mercantilism- they sent Indian cotton, tea and sugar to Britain. The British East India Company was doing such a good job in India, that the British didn’t need to come control themselves.
Some effects of company rule on India:
1. Railroads- to send goods.
2. Telegraph- communication.
3. Schools- taught that the Indian religion and culture is no good. The British replaced the Indian way of writing, Sanskrit, with English. This was not good because unlike the Africans, the Indians already had an established culture and religion.
In general, the Indian people were treated as inferior. The British moved to India because it was an easy life- they had many servants for very cheap. The British were treated like royalty (even the children), while the Indians were treated like children.
4. The Britains worked to some barbaric Indian practices
a. Sati- widow(s) would jump into the flames of her deceased husband’s burning body at his funeral. Why was this done? Because widows were considered contaminated, and they felt it would be better to be dead.
b. Caste system/untouchable discrimination- the lowest class of the Caste system was known as the untouchables. They were considered contaminated and did lowly work. The British helped to end this.
c. Female infanticide- the Indians would kill baby girls because when they married, they would move away, and not stay and help support like the boys. The British also helped to end this practice.
The British felt the Indians should be thanking them for all the positive they did. Many Indians however didn’t appreciate the British. Indian resentment of the British grew until in 1857, they finally rebelled. What caused this rebellion?
1. Indians were resentful of the British.
2. The straw that broke the camel’s back- rumor had it that the bullets were greased. When the soldiers of the British East India Company (some British, but mostly Indians- Sepoys) would bite open the packages, they would get some of the grease in their mouths. Some of the soldiers were Hindus and some Muslims. The Hindus don’t eat beef and the Muslims don’t eat pork. They were scared that the grease was animal fat; maybe coming from the animal they won’t eat.
The Sepoy Rebellion/Mutiny resulted in the deaths of many British until they were able to get reinforcements who put down the rebellion.
This rebellion led to uneasy feelings. The British now realized how the Indians felt about them.
The British back in Britain felt that the British East India Company couldn’t control India any longer, and they came and took over. Now India was an official colony of Britain. India was considered the jewel in the crown of the British Empire.
Aim: China under foreign dynasty
The Chinese are an ethnocentric people. The Chinese felt that foreigners were barbarians, and that no one could compare with their:
1. Porcelain
2. Language
3. Dress
4. Furniture
Why did the Chinese feel like this? Because they were isolated- China was surrounded by mountains and dessert.
The Chinese had a pretty advanced culture- that was discovered by Marco Polo.
China believed they didn’t need everything from foreign countries. The Chinese didn’t get any goods from Europe. The Europeans traded with the Chinese for tea, silk, porcelain- who valuable goods. The Chinese opened up one port for trade, where the Chinese gave the Europeans goods for money- not goods. The Europeans were upset because this was trade deficit- when nations buy more then they sell. The Chinese had trade surplus- sell more then they buy.
The Europeans wanted to find a way to trade with the Chinese with more port- they wanted to take over. The Europeans wanted to find something the Chinese needed. In the 1800s, the British sold opium, a drug derived from poppies, to the Chinese. The Chinese became addicted and wanted tons of opium. The Chinese needed so much opium, they actually began paying the British with silver. By the late 1830s, the Chinese realized:
1. They were wasting money.
2. Opium is dangerous for the people.
3. The Chinese suffered the effects of addiction.
In 1839, the Chinese demanded the British to stop sending opium to China. The British saw this as the opportunity they were waiting for to fight with the Chinese. They sent $2 million worth of opium to the Chinese, who exploded the ship.
The British started the Opium war. This war was the Chinese junks versus the British warships. The British easily defeated the Chinese. Now, the British controlled China. The Treaty of Nanjing was signed:
1. The Chinese had to pay for the war.
2. The Chinese had to give Hong Kong to Britain- didn’t get it back until 1998.
3. The Chinese had to open more ports for trade.
4. The British get extraterritoriality- the British don’t follow the Chinese law, only their own. The British set up courts in China to protect themselves.
Aim: Chinese struggle against foreign control
Effects of the Treaty of Nanjing on the Chinese:
1. Humiliation- the Chinese thought they were superior. They were living in an illusion land of strength. Now they lost the war and had to suffer from the treaty.
2. Had no control over trade.
3. Sphere of influence- once Britain won, other countries such as Germany, France, Russia and Japan came to get parts of China. Sphere of influence= economic control + extraterritoriality.
4. Missionaries came to China- they spread Christianity. This was embarrassing because the Chinese had their own religion.
At this time, the Manchu (Quing) dynasty was ruling in China. They were the people who introduced the ponytails. The Manchu dynasty was a weak and corrupt dynasty. There was also overpopulation and floods. This is a bad combination because this led to food shortages. The people were frustrated and resentful.
About 30 million peasants rebelled in the Taiping Rebellion. This was probably the biggest peasant rebellion ever. They said they felt the government should give them food and land. The Manchu alone couldn’t put the rebellion down, so they got help from the Europeans. Why did the Europeans help? Because they liked the Manchu dynasty because it was weak- like a puppet.
As a result of the rebellion, China was weak. Japan came and fought with them in the Sino- Japanese war. The Japanese wanted land, and ended up getting the island of Taiwan.
The people blamed the Manchu dynasty for all of their problems because of the Manchu’s refusal to modernize. Why did the Manchu’s refuse to modernize? Because Ci Xi, the empress, was traditional. She was so against reform, she put her nephew, the king, in jail when he started introducing reforms.
A group of people decided to rebel in the Boxer Rebellion. The Chinese worked out until they thought they were so strong that the foreigner’s bullets would bounce off of them. The Europeans won in 5 days.
The Chinese were getting desperate. Then, in 1908, Ci Xi died and the Chinese got new hope. The people wanted a new government. Sun Yixuan wanted to form a new government. He had a plan of how to take over China and how to get out the foreigners, making him very popular.
China: 1330s- 1900
In the early 1900s, girls could go to school.
The Chinese realized there was a need for radical change. They felt they had to rid themselves of the Manchu Dynasty, which proved itself as no good.
Many reform groups were formed in China. One of them was headed by Sun Yixuan. He had a clear idea of what type of government China should have. He called his itinerary “3 Principles of the People”. The 3 principles were:
1. Nationalism- foreigners need to be kicked out of China.
2. Democracy- a representative government. This is a huge change because China was ruled by dynasties for 1000s of years. This was the key part of his government.
3. Livelihood- economic security. Sun Yixuan told the people that they’d get land. They would get economic security by becoming part of the global market.
Ci Xi died in the early 1900s. Many people wanted to overthrow the rest of the dynasty. When it came to picking a new ruler of China, Sin Yixuan was chosen and he became the president. Now China is a republic.
Sun Yixuan had many enemies. Some people were in favor of socialism, some of communism, and some of a balance of powers.
For the next 40 years, China suffered from many revolutions of people fighting with each other, until China landed up with Communism.
Aim: Meiji Restoration- Japan modernizes
Japan escaped the fate of being colonized because it had the foresight to modernize. What took place that helped Japan make reforms?
From the 1600s- mid 1800s, Japan was under a feudal system.
1. Shogun- military leader.
2. Daimyo- landowners.
3. Samurai- soldiers.
4. Peasants
Japan had an emperor, but he was powerless.
The shogun decided that Japan would adopt the policy of isolationism- no one may move out and no one may move in. The only contact with the rest of the world was Japan’s port city of Nagasaki, and only the Dutch could come trade here. This was frustrating for the rest of the world because Japan had good resources.
In 1839, Japan got a warning that their independence may be threatened- Opium war.
In 1853, the US sent Mathew Perry to Japan with a fleet of ships. Perry demanded that the Japanese:
1. Open more ports so the US could trade with them.
2. Use Japan as a place to refuel their ships.
When the Japanese saw the fleet of ships, they were intimidated and said they’d open ports for trade. In the Treaty of Kannagaua, the Japanese were forced to open 2 ports. After the treaty, other European nations followed, and gained trade with Japan.
A group of Japanese officials realized that they needed change so as not to be devoured like China. The shogun was blamed for this incident, even though it really wasn’t his fault (the Japanese only had spears and Samurai swords), and the emperor was bought back to power in order to fill his place. The emperor was only 15 at the time, and was used as a puppet.
This era was known as the Meiji (ruler) Restoration- the emperor was brought back to modernize and industrialize Japan. The Meiji Restoration was the most serious turning point in all of Japanese history. The motto of the Meiji Restoration was “rich country, strong military”- industrialized country with a powerful army.
Japan sent diplomats to Europe and the US to learn how to industrialize.
Some of the changes made in Japan were:
1. Political-
a. Went from feudal system to emperor and legislature (diet). Had a government similar to the Germans.
b. Some men had the right to vote.
2. Military-
a. Was modernized with western style weapons such as guns.
b. All men are required to serve in the army- it quadrupled in size.
3. Economic-
a. Banks
b. Railroads
c. Telegraphs
d. Factories
e. Mines
f. Cities.
By 1890, Japan looked just as industrialized as everyone else.
Aim: Imperialism in South East Asia
South East Asia was the Spice Islands, where during the Age of Exploration the Europeans came desperately for spices. The main goal of getting these nations was for resources such as:
1. Rubber
2. Copper
3. Metals
4. Tin
5. Lumber
South East Asia was also good planting territory.
The Europeans took over in a sneaky way: they began by trading, and then little by little took over land.
Many European nations colonized Asia. The countries that got the most land were:
1. Dutch/ Netherlands- took over the Dutch East Indies. They took over Indonesia, an archipelago of about 3000 islands.
2. Britain- took over:
a. Burma- now known as Myanmar.
b. Singapore
c. Malaysia
3. France- took over Indo- China, which consisted of:
a. Laos
b. Cambodia
c. Vietnam
4. US- took over:
a. Philippines
b. Hawaii- for pineapples
c. Guam
Thailand aka Siam remained independent. How did they stay independent? The king of Thailand, King Mongkut, told the Europeans he would give them the trading rights they wanted as long as they didn’t take over. Then, Mongkut began to industrialize like Japan by importing professionals to Thailand to help. Though there were culture clashes, the Thai ended up with an industrialized army, and they broke away from the Europeans.
As WWI drew closer, the countries realized they could situate naval bases in the territories they owned.
In the 1950s, most of these countries gained their independence.
Aim: Imperialism in Canada, Australia and New Zealand
Canada, Australia and New Zealand are different then the territories we discussed previously because they got their independence a lot faster.
1. Canada- was taken over by France in the 1700s, then Britain came and took some land. Canada was divided:
a. Upper part- Ontario- British
b. Lower part Quebec- France
By 1900, Canada was independent because the reason for taking over territory is social Darwinism, but there were so many French living in Canada, it wasn’t necessary.
2. Australia- was discovered by Captain Cook, a British sea captain. Australia was down under and hard to find.
The native Australians were called Aboriginals. They had dark skin, dark eyes and were short.
The British realized they needed to settle the land, but Australia was an 8-month journey from Britain, so no one wanted to go. The British ended up sending their convicts to Australia.
Australia is mostly desert- outback. People only lived on 10% of the country.
In the mid 1800s, gold was discovered in Australia- motivation for people to go.
3. New Zealand- was discovered by Captain Cook.
New Zealand is the closest country to Antarctica.
New Zealand is the only place where kiwis are grown.
New Zealand was settled by many British. The original people in New Zealand are called Mauri- had body paints, wore clothes made from animals.
Aim: Imperialism: Motivation- canal building
Canal building is a main reason why nations imperialized.
1. Suez Canal- in order for people to get from Europe to India, they had to go all the way around Africa. France asked Egypt if they could join together and build a canal through Egypt. The Egyptians agreed, and the French sent over professional engineers to build the canal.
The Suez Canal connected the Mediterranean and Red Seas. This caused a revolution in world travel because it shortened travel and trade time. This canal was built with manual labor.
The Egyptians couldn’t pay for their part of the canal, so the British bought it off them. The building of this canal showed how weak the Ottoman Empire was, that someone could build a canal in their territory without asking them permission first. Britain decided that if the Ottoman Empire is weak, they could take over Egypt. They took Egypt as a protectorate. Egypt didn’t get their independence until the 1920s and didn’t get the canal back until the 1950s.
2. Panama Canal- A MAN A PLAN A CANAL, PANAMA. The Panama Canal was built in the early 1900s. President Roosevelt wanted a canal in Central America- Panama. He helped Panama revolt from Columbia, and then took the canal as a thank you gift. 6,000 people died while building this canal. The Panama Canal connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
There are only 2 canals that cut through continents- the Panama and Suez canals.
Aim: Causes of war
The Congress of Vienna kept war away for 100 years. Why do we have war now with more nations than ever before? Nations are more connected because of imperialism.
Causes of war:
1. Imperialistic competition-
a. France and Germany almost went to war over Morocco.
b. Germany threatened lots nations such as Britain. There was lots of competition from Germany because now they’re united and built up.
2. Economic competition- up until the 1900s, Britain had the strongest economy, but now:
a. Germany rose economically.
b. Russia also rose economically, and they had so many resources no one could beat them.
3. Military competition- every nation began to build up an army and navy because as each nation built up, every other nation reacted by improving their armies and navies. The competition was between Britain and Germany, but now Germany was improving.
4. Glorification of war- people forgot what war is really about- they thought it was exciting. Really, war was brutal.
5. Nationalism- is about strength and power but can also be aggressive because everyone wants the biggest empire.
a. The Germans wanted to show off in WWI everything they built up.
b. After the Franco-Prussian war, France lost Alsace- Lorain, and they want it back.
c. Russia had Pan-Slavism- unification of the Slavic people. This was a problem because all the Slavic people were in different territories. The Ottomans were losing Slavic territory to the Russians. The Ottomans were afraid of the Athenians (were Christians) because they were connected with the Russians, and killed all million of them out.
6. Alliances- when countries buddy up with each other. There were 2 alliances:
a. The Triple Alliance- Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy and the Ottomans (at the end).
b. The Triple Entente- France, Britain and Russia.
Aim: Outbreak of WWI
In 1914, Europe was a tense region. There was a lot of competition, nationalism and the warped idea that war is fun.
The Balkan region had a lot of tension. The Balkan region of Bosnia was under Austrian- Hungary rule. The Bosnians were a Slavic people, and felt they should’ve been under Russian or neighboring Serbian rule.
On June 28, 1914, the archduke of Austria- Hungary, Francis Ferdinand and his wife Sophie visited Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. There was a small terrorist group of Bosnians and Serbians called the Black Hand, who plotted to kill the archduke and his wife. While they were riding in an open limo through the streets of Sarajevo, Gavrilo Princip shot the archduke and his wife. This was known as “the shot heard around the world”. The Balkan powder keg now exploded and caused a war.
Germany told Austria- Hungary not to let the Bosnians get away with this, and that they would help in war. Austria- Hungary declared war on Serbia with Germany at their side. Italy also joined them and they became known as the Central Powers. France, Britain and Britain all joined Serbia and formed the Allies.
All the countries had to mobilize their armies for war by making drafts, uniforms… Germany was the first country to mobilize. They marched through Belgium and came to the countrysides of France- Somme and Verdun. France was already prepared and the British joined them. For the next 4 years, these nations fought at these places, and there was a stalemate.
Aim: Fighting fronts of WWI
The Western Front, by the France and German border had many battles there for 4 years. Millions of people died. The French and German fought with trench war fare- they dug pits about 8 feet high, and that’s where the soldiers stayed. When someone would scream “over the top”, both sides would come out of their trenches, and fight in the middle.
In the Battle of Somme, 60,000 people died.
New weapons-
1. Submarines- sunk Luistania.
2. Rifles
3. Poison gas
4. Planes
Never before had so many people died in war, but with new weapons, killing so many people was now possible.
How was this a world war?
1. The US joined in 1917.
2. Colonies joined the war.
Aim: WWI- turning point for the Allies
The turning points were:
1. In 1917, the US joined the war. Why?
a. The Lusitania was torpedoed- it was a British passenger ship with American passengers.
b. Zimmerman telegram- Germany sent Mexico a telegram telling them to attack the US. The US intercepted it immediately, and Woodrow Wilson said, “Need to make the world safe for democracy”.
c. The British issued the Balfour Declaration- they’ll support the setting up of a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
The US got ready to send help to Europe. The US mobilized, and in 1918, 2 million troops- dough boys- were sent to Europe. The US gave the whole army more strength.
2. In 1917, Russia dropped out of the war- the same time the US joined, Russia dropped out because they had just overthrown the czar of Russia. Germany was excited about this because now they can direct all their troops to the Western front. The Russians gave the Germans some territory- they signed the Brest Litovsk treaty.
On November 11, 1918, the Germans signed an armistice- they surrendered.
Aim: The Treaty of Versailles
27 nations came to participate in the writing of the treaty. The British, French and US got the biggest say in the treaty. Their representatives were:
1. Britain- Lloyd George- wanted revenge on Germany.
2. France- Clemenceau- wanted revenge on Germany. He said, “we want to squeeze Germany until the pip squeak.”
3. Woodrow Wilson- said not to focus on revenge, but rather on preventing another war. Why was he the clearest in the mind?
a. The US came at the end of the war- they hadn’t been fighting for so long.
b. The fighting wasn’t on their territory.
Wilson made a list of 14 points he wanted incorporated into the treaty:
a. Freedom of the seas- no country can submarine another country’s ships.
b. All people should have self determination- all nations should be independent. This wasn’t actually done.
c. No secret treaties- such as the Brest Litovsk treaty. No secret agreements.
d. A League of Nations- a club of nations joined together to prevent future wars. It was like a large alliance system.
Points in the Treaty of Versailles-
1. A League of Nations was made.
2. Germany lost Alsace- Lorain to France.
3. Poland became a country again.
4. Germany lost territory overseas.
5. The League of Nations takes German colonies as mandates- a temporary colony. The countries that won the war took mandates and ruled them until they got their independence.
6. Reduced army.
7. Germany had to pay for the war.
The map after the war was very different from the map before the war:
1. Russia and Germany had to give up land to Poland.
2. Alsace- Lorain went back to France.
3. Yugoslavia was created.
4. Palestine becomes a British mandate.
Now, everyone had to sign the treaty. Germany was very upset. Wilson didn’t want territory, but because of the US system of checks and balances, he had to ask the Senate before signing. They didn’t let him. Many historians believe that had the US signed the treaty, there would have been no WWII.
Aim: The Russian Revolution
Causes of the downfall of the Romonov czars:
1. In 1905, the Russo-Japanese war was fought. The Japanese won, and the czar became very unpopular.
2. Bloody Sunday
3. Duma- the czar set up a representative government to show the people that he acknowledged them, but it wasn’t really representative.
4. Many land-less peasants- serfs were freed about 30 years before, and now they had no land, money or source of income.
5. Russia started industrializing- conditions were horrific.
6. Russia got involved in WWI in 1914- they were so ill prepared, they sent soldiers to the battlefront with no ammunition. 2 million soldiers died in the 1st few months.
7. Rasputin- he was a monk who basically ran the czar’s court. How did he get so much power? Czar Nicholai had a hemophiliac (because of intermarriages) son named Alexus. Rasputin was able to stop the bleeding, therefore he got the power. A group of men decided to kill him by:
a. Poisoning him- he lived.
b. Shot him- he survived.
c. Shot him again- he still survived
d. Tied him up and dumped him in the river- he finally drowned.
8. Enormous food shortages- this was the last straw.
In March of 1917, woman marched through Russia asking the czar for bread. The czar told his soldiers to kill them, but the soldiers refused. This shows that the czar was losing power. In March of 1917, the czar abdicated, hoping he could at least survive.
A group of government officials set up a provisional court. At this time, Russia was still in middle of fighting WWI, but no one wanted it. About 100 revolution groups wanted to take over the Russian government. The strongest group was the Bolsheviks, led by Lenin. Lenin had revolutionary blood in him and had a hatred for czars (his brother had tried to kill the czar). When Lenin grew up, he became a Marxist- Communist. Lenin got sent to Siberia, and when he returned was exiled to Switzerland. He kept in touch with Russian people so he would know when his moment come to come back to Russia and take over. When Lenin heard about the czar’s abdication, with the help of Germany, he returned to Russia. He had 1000s of supporters. He said, “to make an omelet, we need to break eggs, to make a revolution we need to break heads”. Lenin promised the Russian people “peace, land and bread”:
1. Peace- get out of WWI- he signed the Brest Latovsk treaty, and Russia got out of the war.
2. Land- He took land from the rich and gave it to the poor.
3. Bread- efforts to end food shortages were made and workers were givin control over the factories and mines. Factories began to fall apart and Lenin realized he needed to take more strength. The government began to the control of the economy- war communism- took control of the factories and mines by telling them exactly what to do. The idea was that after the war, they’d go back to regular communism.
At this time, Russia erupted in a civil war- Bolsheviks vs. everyone else (czar supporters, rich, people who want democracy, socialists). It was known as the war between red (communists) and whites.
Aim: Russia under Lenin
When the Bolsheviks took over, the result was a civil war. Many Russians had begun to get discontented by Lenin. In order not to loose power, during the civil war, Lenin:
1. Issued red terror- terrorized people into following him. Innocent people were killed in the streets for being an enemy of Lenin.
2. Cheka- secret police, which spied on people.
3. Executed the czar and his family to show the whites that the czar isn’t coming back.
In 1921, the reds won primarily because they were all unified, while the whites were many groups of people who all hated each other.
Now, Lenin concentrated on ruling Russia. He realized they needed to do some economic reform. The goal was dictatorship of the proletariat- economy in which the proletariats rule. Lenin realized that the people were not yet ready for this and he temporarily introduced the capitalist system. New Economic Policy- people are allowed to open up their own businesses- “we must go one step forward, one step backward to get two steps forward”.
In 1924, Lenin died and didn’t leave clear instructions about who should take over. The choice was between:
1. Joseph Stalin
2. Leon Trotsky- was a Jew.
Trotsky was more popular and higher in the communist party, but Stalin had better connections and eventually took over. The first thing Stalin did when he took over was get rid of capitalism.
SS- 1st test
SS
Aim: What caused the French Revolution to break out?
1. Political-
a. Louis XVI- preceded by absolute monarch Lois XIV.
b. Estates General- divided into social class system. Estates General was an unfair government because the 3rd Estate was
always outvoted 2-1 and they didn’t have a political voice- Ancien regime.
2. Economic-
a. 3rd Estate overtaxed- had to perform community services if they couldn’t pay
taxes. Had to pay taxes on everything. Government tried to make life hard for
them. ex. hunting.
b. France is in deep debt- raised taxes
c. Bad harvest- no wheat- no bread- peasants were starving.
3. Social-
a. Resentment
b. Lack privileges, power and prestige.
4. Enlightenment- brilliant philosophers came up with reasons why people shouldn’t
Have to live under such conditions and told the masses to revolt.
“ What is the 3rd Estate? Everything. What has it been until now? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something.” - Sieves.
Aim: How did the Enlightenment influence the 3rd Estate?
The Scientific Revolution led to the Enlightenment- relationship between government and society.
The Enlightenment had 3 names:
1. Enlightenment
2. Age of Reason
3. Intellectual Revolution- change in how people think.
Now philosophers were introducing ideas:
1. John Locke (England)- in the time of the Glorious Revolution, which amazed Locke, he wrote a book “ 2 Treatises of Government”. It said government rules by the consent of the governed and if the people don’t like the government, they can overthrow it. This idea was far reaching and rocked the world.
2. Baron de Montesquieu (France)- was from a noble family, but was pro-democracy. Wrote “Spirit of the Law”. He believed power should be split in order to limit it, aka separation of powers.
3. Voltaire (France)- didn’t care to speak against the government. Was against the absolute monarchy and introduced freedom of speech. Was fond of saying “I don’t agree with a word you say…” He also believed in freedom of religion.
4. Rousseau (France)- wrote “ Social Contract” which described what Rousseau believed should be the relationship between the people and government. He believed the less laws the better. “Man is born free but everywhere is in chains.” Believed people should have general will- have a say in the government.
5. Diderot- Wrote “Encyclopedia” which had many ideas about democracy and against absolute monarchs.
6. Thomas Hobbes- believed absolute monarchs are positive and only form of government. Felt people without laws will tear everyone apart. He said life would be “nasty, brutish, and short”. He wrote “Leviathan”- felt society will swallow itself alive.
Aim: The Revolution begins
In 1789, Louis XVI calls a meeting with the Estates General. Why?
1. France needed money
2. Riots in countryside/ cities.
Louis wanted to raise taxes. Representatives from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Estate came to the meeting. The bourgeoisie came to represent the 3rd estate (they were educated) and they demanded change. The king said no so they set up their own government called the National Assembly. They wrote their own constitution, but Louis ignored it. The bourgeoisie left the meeting and met at the tennis court. This meeting was called the Tennis Court Oath. They said, “Never separate until we have established a just institution”. This meeting became very popular.
On July 14, a group of frustrated peasants stormed the Bastille. Many people joined the mob including the king’s soldiers who were guarding the Bastille. The mob freed the prisoners. This was the beginning of the revolution. Louis was shocked and didn’t know how to deal with the situation.
The bourgeoisie continued to write their new constitution for their government. They wrote the motto for the French Revolution “ Libertei, egalite, fraternite”.
Aim: The French Revolution: 2 sides
By September of 1789, the National Assembly had written the introduction to the new constitution of France known as the Declaration of Rights of Man. It outlined the goals of what they wanted the new government to be like.
At approximately the same time, a group of furious peasant woman marched to the palace in Versailles with their cooking tools. The people said they wanted to see the king and queen. The king and queen were told of this, and sent a message to the people that they’re with them. The king even put on a red white and blue cloak- the revolution colors- to show he was with them. The people wanted the king and queen to come with them. The royal family went, and the peasants shouted, “We have the baker, the baker’s wife and the baker’s boy. Now we’ll get bread”. The king and queen lived in Paris for the next several years.
At this time, the king and queen wanted to escape and so did the 1st and 2nd Estates. Upper class people left to England. They became known as émigrés.
Other leaders of other countries became scared their countries would revolt too. Nations like Austria and Prussia attacked France. Why?
1. Because they don’t want a situation like this in their country.
2. If France is weak, why not take advantage and attack?
In 1791 the members of the National Assembly completed the constitution, which had:
1. Limited monarchy- power limited. Will have to work with the legislative assembly.
2. Feudalism would be officially abolished- no longer have serfs.
2 groups were formed:
1. National Assembly- moderates- wanted small change.
2. Revolting populace- radicals- want blood and revenge.
Aim: The Radicals seize control of the Revolution
The Radicals had 3 names:
1. Radicals
2. Jacobins- Why? During the years while the revolution was breaking out, they were planning to revolt. This had to be kept quite so they wouldn’t be caught, and as another measure of protection, they all called each other Jack so is would be hard to single one person out.
3. Sans Culottes- the aristocrats wore culottes. Wanted to show they were proud not to be like the aristocrats.
In 1793, the Jacobins took over the revolution and the Moderates had to run away. They took over the Legislative Assembly and established a new form of government for France called the National Convention. The National Convention:
1. Abolished the monarchy
2. Made a republic- leader elected by the people, suffrage for everyone even non-property owners.
3. Abolished all titles of nobility- everyone became citizen or citizeness.
The people killed the king and the queen with the guillotine, which was invented by Robespierre. Robespierre said, “Criminals must lose their heads”.
At this time, the Radicals had many challenges:
1. Peasants were still starving- food shortage.
2. Had enemies- Moderates, 1st and 2nd Estates, Royalists
3. Riots/ chaos
4. European nations were warring with France.
The Committee of Public Safety was established. They killed all people who were against the Radicals. They killed over 40,000 people with the guillotine from 1793-1794. During this time, France was under the Reign of Terror. This was the worst year of the revolution. Aristocrats who were to be killed were put in the prison of Le Force. The aristocrats did there what they knew what to do best. They partied, debated and played cards.
The Committee of Public Safety had to raise an army. They composed “Le Marseilles”, which they sang on the way to battle.
The Radicals had a strong feeling of nationalism- fighting for their country.
Aim: The Revolution goes Radical- Moderate- Napoleon
The Radicals began to fight amongst themselves. Robespierre would kill people he felt where a threat to his becoming the leader of France. Some Radicals were scared for their lives, so they had Robespierre arrested and he was killed by the guillotine. Robespierre’s death resulted in the weakening of the National Convention.
Moderates returned and set up The Directory as a government. The Directory had 5 leaders and a legislature. The Directory wasn’t a good government; it didn’t last too long because there were many problems:
1. France was still fighting wars with Austria and Britain.
2. Many leaders of The Directory were corrupt- they pocketed tax money.
3. High bread prices- shortages.
4. Royalists are strengthened.
It looked like revolution was going to break out again. The Directory wanted to save themselves from downfall, so they brought in the war hero Napoleon as a new leader. Napoleon overthrew The Directory in coup detat, and announced the government no longer exists. The year was 1799, and Napoleon appointed himself to be the 1st consul. The people accepted him because he gave France order and stability. In the French Revolution, Napoleon fought for the Jacobins because “It is better to eat than be eaten”. Napoleon wasn’t happy enough as 1st consul and after 2 years he became emperor. Napoleon organized a lavish ceremony when he was crowned emperor. Napoleon invited the pope to crown him as was the custom, but Napoleon crowned himself. This showed he was higher than the church.
Napoleon’s reforms:
1. Called himself “son of the revolution”.
2. Kept the motto “liberty, equality, fraternity”.
3. Set up public schools- very democratic.
4. Set up merit system- give people jobs if they deserve them
5. Worked to gain the favor of:
a. Émigrés- welcomes them back to France
b. Peasants- lets them keep their land
c. Workers- made them jobs
d. Economy- controlled prices to keep the bourgeoisie happy.
6. Napoleonic Code- system of laws Napoleon made by himself
a. All men are =.
b. Religious tolerance.
c. Brought in ideas from the Enlightenment
How different is France from 10 years ago? France still has the equivalent of an absolute monarch, but the bourgeoisie have more of a say in government, and many reforms were made. The most major impact of the French Revolution was that the 3rd Estate gained political power.
Napoleon and the Jews of France:
Napoleon considered himself to be enlightened. He brought some of the ideas from the Enlightenment into his government, such as religious tolerance. Napoleon therefore allowed Jews to become citizens. During the Ancien Regime, the Jews were not part of the 1st or 2nd class, but were not part of the 3rd class either. As a result, many French Jews left France and went to Poland. During the time of Napoleon, Jews got politically emancipated- freed politically. They got:
1. The right to vote.
2. Weren’t 2nd class anymore.
3. Could build shuls.
4. Could speak Hebrew.
The political emancipation led to spiritual destruction. As long as the French Jews were in the ghetto, they kept to themselves. Now that Jews could hold places in the government and go to university, the French Jews began to assimilate, which meant the end of continuity for the French Jews.
Napoleon worked to assimilate the Jews. He let them into society because he felt they had economic contributions, therefore he wanted to make life easier for them. Napoleon established the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was a group of “rabbis”. Napoleon made this Sanhedrin because he felt that the Jews would accept the opinion of these “rabbis”, and he would be able to lure them into doing the wrong thing. Napoleon told a group of 70 “rabbis” to tell the French Jews that assimilation was OK. This was a tragedy because while many people didn’t listen to the “rabbis”, many people listened to them.
Eventually, Napoleon stopped pushing the Sanhedrin and went on to build his empire.
Aim: Napoleon builds an Empire
Napoleon’s true goal was to conquer territory. Napoleon was known to have said, “A man such as I cares little for the lives of a million men”.
Napoleon began by capturing the areas right around France. Then he moved on to Britain. Britain is hard to conquer because it’s surrounded by water. France came up with the Continental System- European nations are ordered to boycott Britain, and when they would become weak, France would take them over.
Russia defied the Continental System. Why?
1. Didn’t want to be bossed around.
2. They knew they were next.
In 1812, Napoleon planned a massive invasion of Russia. He prepared ½ million soldiers and 50,000 horses for the 50,000 generals. The French army started marching in June. When they got to Russia they saw what was known as the scorched earth policy- Russia burnt all its land so it would be hard to invade. They ruined all the crops and killed all the animals. The French soldiers were hungry, and by the time they got to Moscow in September, the army was too weak to fight. That year the snow began to fall in October, and the French army had to march back to France. On the way back, people were dying left and right.
If the army was in such a weakened state, people may have attacked France, and people would start looking at Napoleon really badly.
“General Famine rather than Russian bullets have defeated the French army”
A general
Aim: Napoleon’s defeat and France post Napoleon
Napoleon messed himself up by invading Russia. When he returned to France with his glorious army in shambles, Napoleon is seen as a loser. The people in France had revered Napoleon because he had patched France together when it was in need of help.
Now the European countries Napoleon controlled would break apart. Austria, Russia, Prussia and Britain combined their armies to defeat Napoleon. The Europeans nations won France; Napoleon was exiled to Elba- a small island in the Mediterranean.
What happened to France? Louis XVIII, who was the brother of Louis XVI, claimed the throne. Why was this weird? France just had a whole revolution to get rid of the monarch. Louis XVIII promised he wouldn’t be an absolute monarch and that he would follow the Napoleonic Code.
Many of the French wanted Napoleon back, so Louis XVIII was asked to step down from the throne, and secretly some Frenchmen went to Elba and brought Napoleon back as emperor. Napoleon only ruled France for 100 days. Why? Other countries didn’t want Napoleon as emperor, so they got together and fought the Battle of Waterloo and they won. Napoleon was again exiled to an island, though St. Helena was further out in the Atlantic Ocean. Napoleon stayed there for a few years until he died of a fever.
Aim: How did Napoleon’s conquest and defeat affect Europe?
The spread of nationalism affected European countries. What’s nationalism? Love and pride of one’s country and also unity and independence. Why did nationalism spread?
1. Nationalism is the reaction to conquest.
2. French’s nationalism was contagious.
The European nations wanted to be independent of French power, so the European nations broke away from France’s control.
Europe needed to be re-divided- the map needed to be re-drawn. Why? Because a balance of powers was needed so no country would do what France did. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna was called. Russia sent Alexander I, Britain sent Lord Castleriegh and Austria, who was hosting the congress, sent Metternich. Most of the European leaders that attended the congress weren’t involved in day-to-day border issues. Austria was turned into a party city of circuses, balls, princes and princesses, while Alexander I, Lord Castleriegh and Metternich mainly dealt with the issues at hand.
Aim: Actions of the Congress of Vienna
1. Redrew the map of Europe, while keeping a balance of powers.
a. Italy and Germany were divided so they would be less powerful.
b. Netherlands united with Belgium and Luxemburg- more powerful.
c. Austria, Russia, and Britain got more land.
2. Appointed leaders of newly divided nations- the Congress of Vienna were concerned that the new nations should be a certain type. They wanted powerful rulers. Why? To prevent revolution from breaking out again.
Most of the European nations were conservative besides for Britain (liberalism) For example, Alex I of Russia, Fredric of Prussia, and Francis of Austria all had 1 thing in common- absolute monarchy, didn’t want change.
Why were they afraid of liberalism? Liberalism meant people would have a say in the government, and would get rid of the absolute monarchy. (Britain and France were the only countries with out an absolute monarchy at that time. Britain had a limited monarchy- had parliament; France had Louis XVIII- limited monarchy.)
There were 2 groups in Europe at this time: Conservatives- want to turn back the clock, and pretend that the French Revolution never happened. European leaders were trying to find a way to get rid of the FR.
Powerful leaders were appointed to prevent revolution. Francis, Fredric, and Alex I formed the Holy Alliance, which made sure that absolute monarchs would still exist in as many empires as possible.
Many European leaders joined the Concert of Europe, which kept peace- really didn’t want revolution. How successful was the Concert of Europe? Very. The next major war was not until WWI about 100 years later.
Aim: Congress of Vienna- positive/ negative impact
Positive:
1. Redrew the map of Europe
2. Balance of power, though it wasn’t perfect. It was tolerable as there were no wars for about 100 years.
3. Restored stability in many European countries by establishing a monarch.
Negative:
1. Ignored nationalism- Italy and Germany will fight to unite.
2. Ignored force of liberalism- can’t turn clock back; the ideas are already out there- can’t get rid of them. In the 1830s- 1840s there were revolutions in European countries of liberals trying to gain rights.
Aim: American and French Revolutions inspire Latin American nations to revolt
At this time, the world was becoming more connected, and events that happened in one part of the world affected other parts of the world.
In the early 1800s, the Latin American nations would revolt against their European rulers for independence. What inspired this? The American and French Revolutions.
What force inspires people to fight for independence? Nationalism- wanting their country to be free and independent.
Ever since the 1500s, these Latin American countries had been controlled by Spain. Spain got its wealth through mercantilism. Spain was an imperial power- mother country- owned a colony. Spain took raw materials from the colony, and sold finished products back to the colonists. Why couldn’t the Latin Americans just make the finished products themselves? They weren’t allowed to. Spain was getting constant wealth, while the Southern Americans lived in a seriously underprivileged state.
In Latin America, there was a social class system:
1. Peninsulars- were from the Iberian Peninsula. They were privileged because they were from Spain. In order for the Spanish government to get people to go to the new colony, they had to bribe the Spaniards with plantations.
2. Creoles- peninsular’s children. They were the most privileged after the peninsulars, and when the peninsulars died, they became the most privileged people. They also owned plantations, and led a luxurious life of hunting and partying.
3. Meztizos- they were ½ European and ½ Indian. They weren’t as low as someone who was only Indian, but they didn’t usually own land.
4. Mulatties- ½ European and ½ African
5. Africans and Native Americans- were very low. Had no freedom. They worked as slaves. Africans were brought over to be slaves because Europeans couldn’t do work, and the Indians needed to run wild.
These 5 classes all had one thing in common- they didn’t want to be under Spanish rule anymore. The creoles basically led the revolution because the lower classes couldn’t do it. The Creoles learnt the ideas of the Enlightenment and were inspired by these ideas. However, they needed to wait for the moment because Spain was very powerful. When Napoleon took over Spain, Spain was weak. It was the perfect chance for a revolution.
Aim: South America wins independence
A colony needs 2 things to revolt:
1. Nationalistic freedom
2. Nationalistic leader- need someone to pull everything together.
The first country to revolt was a French colony- Hispaniola (present day Haiti). Hispaniola revolted in 1791. At this time Hispaniola was run by a few whites, but was mostly black. Their leader was Toussaint L’overture. He was black but wasn’t a slave- he could read and had freedom. L’overture read the ideas of Enlightenment, and was inspired. He decided that he would not only rid Hispaniola of its mother country, he would also get freedom for the slaves. Even though France was in middle of a revolution, they still sent troops over to Hispaniola, who were joined by Spanish and English troops. Why did these countries join? To show their colonies what would happen if they would revolt. It took a few years, but Hispaniola became free. L’overture was caught and was sent to France, where he died of coldness. Now that Hispaniola was free, it was an encouragement to other countries.
In 1812, Mexico sought revolution from Spain. Mexico was ruled by Father Miguel Hidalgo. Hidalgo was the priest of a church, which was mainly attended by poor people. One day, as people were coming into church, Father Hidalgo rang the church bells and shouted “Grito de Delores”- we’ll be free. Hidalgo formed an army of peasants and promised them rights and land when they would succeed. Some creoles went and killed Father Hidalgo. The next leader who took over was also killed. Mexico went through many leaders, and in 1824, Mexico was freed. However the peasants got no rights. Mexico was ruled by a military caudillos- dictator. The creoles said the military caudillo could keep his position if he enforced slavery.
Simone Bolivar became known as “the great dictator”. He freed Latin American nations from Spain. Bolivar said, “I swear… never to rest… until I have broken the chains that bind us to Spain”. Bolivar then went south and met Jose de San Martin and together they got independence for Argentina and Chile. By the 1820s Simone Bolivar and Jose de San Martin got most of these regions independence. They wanted to unite the regions and make Gran Columbia (Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia, etc.). These countries were separated by mountains and the people were so different. Fighting broke out, and Gran Columbia fell apart. Bolivar was very disappointed. He said, “We have gained independence at the cost of everything else”. Bolivar saw his countries be taken over by military dictators.
Don Pedro was the prince of Brazil. He was told by his father, the king of Portugal, that if people ask for independence, ask for it yourself- you can’t fight them, join them. That’s exactly what he did. Brazil became separate from Portugal.
In the colonies, conservatism took over.
Aim: After the Congress of Vienna- Challenging Conservatism
Wanted that the rule should remain in the hands of the strong people to keep out liberal ideas. However, once the forces of liberalism, nationalism and democracy were out, they had spread all over Europe, and people wanted change. For the most part young university students and peasants were the ones who rioted.
In the 1830s- 1840s, revolutions popped up all over Europe:
1. France- Louis XVIII realized that he couldn’t rule as an absolute monarch. He therefore ruled as a constitutional monarch. He had a legislature and allowed freedom of the press. The people complained- the royalists wanted a real king, and the liberals said there aren’t enough rights. They wanted the right to vote, were concerned about the bread shortages, felt not enough people were represented, and so on. Louis XVIII then died, and his brother Charles X took over.
Charles X was an absolute monarch, and got rid of the legislature, constitution and freedom of the press. Now France has another revolution. There were riots in the streets. As a result of the rioting, Charles X abdicated, and ran away to England.
The legislature appointed a new king Louis Philippe, who was called citizen king. Louis Philippe wore regular clothing (no crown) and mingled with the people. There was one problem- serious economic trouble. At this time, there were riots with people blaming the king. Louis Philippe abdicated.
Once again, there was no government in France. The wealthy and bourgeoisie took over the government. The lowest class in France was represented and rioted and said “Bread or lead”.
Louis Napoleon took over. He let every French male vote regardless of his social status. Once Louis Napoleon had the people’s support, he made himself emperor. French philosopher Tocqueville said, “We are sleeping on a volcano”- we’re in an era of revolution because the forces are out there. Metternich said, “When France sneezes, Europe catches cold”.
2. Poland- tries to gain independence, but fails.
3. Austria- had lots of rioting. In the 1840s the people want reform. The rioting became so extreme that Metternich had to leave Austria for fear of his life. The emperor said Metternich’s gone- need to give the people a constitution or something. The emperor promises reform. The Austrian army got help from the Russian army, and the revolt was crushed easily.
4. Belgium- wanted independence and a liberal government. They were actually successful, and got a liberal government with a constitution.
Germany and Italy wanted a liberal government and nationalism. The Germans have always taken nationalism to the extreme- they feel their country is superior and that other countries shouldn’t survive.
Aim: German Unification
Even though Germany was divided into about 30 states, the German states felt connected by their language, music… At this time, Germany was the most in country. Japan formed its modernization around Germany, and rich Americans attended university in Germany. Germany was very civilized.
The Congress of Vienna had divided Germany, which was a major barrier to unification. Why was this done? The leaders of the Congress of Vienna felt that a unified Germany would be too strong.
The largest of the German states was Prussia. Prussia wanted to be the state to unite the other German states. Reasons why Germany couldn’t unite:
1. Many German states were owned by foreign nations such as Austria, Denmark…
2. Germany’s neighbors didn’t want a united Germany- would be too strong.
3. The princes of the German states didn’t want to relinquish their power.
In 1862, the king of Prussia, William I, appointed a new Prime Minister Otto Von Bismarck. He was a noble, and an opinionated, loud politician. He said, “By blood and iron (wars) we’re going to unite the German states”. He was very conservative- he didn’t want to give any freedoms. He was a real politic- a politician who will do anything to achieve a goal. Von Bismarck fought many wars:
1. Against Denmark which controlled Schleswig and Holstein. In order to win Schleswig and Holstein, Bismarck teamed up with Austria, the deal being that they’ll split the territory. Austria and Prussia won the war.
2. Immediately after the first war, Germany fought Austria to get these territories. They got them and also got other German territory that was owned by Austria.
3. Prussia went to war against France because France was a big obstacle- France was ½ Catholic and ½ Protestant. France didn’t want the German Catholic states to become Protestant when taken over by Prussia because then the majority of Europe would be Protestant. This was known as the Franco-Prussian war. Here, nationalism won over religion. Prussia got $50 billion and Alsace Lorain.
By 1871, Germany was united. William I became Kaiser, and Von Bismarck got a nice raise-became chancellor. Called it the 2nd Reich. Germany wasn’t a democracy. It had strong leadership, and realized that with a conservative government, they can be much stronger. Germany began to build up their army. Once the army would be built up, there would no longer be a balance of power.
Aim: Unification of Italy
Italians had strong feelings of nationalism, even though they were separated for about 1400 years.
Barriers to unification:
1. Italy is naturally divided
2. Many Italian states were owned by Austria and France
There was strong motivation which was more ideal than real. The Italians felt a unity way back from the Roman Empire days. There was also a common culture between all the N and S Italians such as food, music, religion and language, even though the N and S were so different. The N was rich while the S was poor. The Italians thought unity would be better for business.
There are 2 components to achieve unification:
1. Nationalism
2. Nationalistic leadership-
a. Mazzini- In the 1830s, he introduced a group called Young Italy, which tried to achieve unification. Young Italy fought France, and was defeated. Mazzini said, “Ideas grow quickly when watered by the blood of martyrs”. Young Italy tried to spread the force of nationalism. People had the urge for unity. How would they get unity? Sardinia was the most powerful state in Italy, ruled by King Victor Emanuel II. Victor Emanuel had a prime minister named Cavour.
b. Cavour- was a real politic. He decided to fight with Austria and get the N stated. He got help form Britain and France. Cavour did get the N Italian states and other N Italian states joined that were owned by other countries. Now N and central Italy was united. Cavour got 70% of the job done.
c. Garibaldi- organized an army called “Red Shirts”. They got Sicily and Naples. Other S Italian stated joined and now the whole Italy was united. Garibaldi gave over the S states to Victor Emanuel II. In 1861, all of Italy was united with the exception of Rome and Venice. By 1870, Italy got these two states, too.
Italy after unification- people wanted unity, but couldn’t actually feel unity. Victor Emanuel’s government was largely corrupt- few people had the right to vote, and the government took much of the money that was for the people. The church lost its papal states, so Italy gave them the Vatican. In the late1800s and early 1900s, many Italians came to the US, especially from S Italy. Victor Emanuel decided to take over Ethiopia to get people to want to stay. The Italians lost, making a bad situation worse.
Aim: Nationalism/ Liberalism threatens old empires in Europe
There were 2 large empires in Europe. An empire is a nation that controls other nations. Both controlled nations in Europe. They were:
1. Austrian- Hungarian Empire- controlled part of Poland, Ukraine, and Serbia. These nations wanted to break away from the AH Empire, but didn’t gain independence until WWI.
2. Ottoman Empire- controlled Bulgaria, Romania, and Palestine. They wanted to break away and gain independence. The Ottomans were an old empire and were losing their strength. Romania and Bulgaria broke away. The Ottoman Empire was aka the sick man of Europe. Bosnia was also under Ottoman rule and broke away.
The AH Empire said if the Ottoman Empire is weak, the can take over some of its territories and took Bosnia. AH and Bosnia were very different. The Bosnians were furious. They became nationalistic and wanted their independence. The Balkan region where Bosnia was became known as the Balkan powder keg.
Where did ideas of independence come from? The French Revolution
Russia was an exception. Why? The Russian Empire was enormous, and was kept separate then the rest of the world by their strong leaders. In the 1200s-1500s, the Mongols ruled Russia. This kept Russia cut off from everyone else. They were in a dark age. In the 1500s came the czars- mostly from the Romonav family. (Peter the Great, Katherine) Russia ruled over 40 types of people. Russia wasn’t up to par with the rest of the world economically. Socially, they still had feudalism. The Russians did get some ideas from W Europe, but they didn’t want the ideas of nationalism to come in. It was the czars and nobles against the peasants and serfs.
Aim: Czars of Russia
The czars were autocrats- absolute rulers. There were 2 types of czars:
1. Reformers- were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. They thought about or introduced reforms to Russia.
2. Reactionists- crushed reforms if people got out of hand.
Czars:
1. Alexander I- ruled in 1801. He was both a Reformer and Reactionist. He first considered himself pro reform because he talked about freeing serfs. Then the French Revolution occurred, and he said no freeing serfs. He cracked down on them more, and spoke out against democracy, representation, constitution…
2. Nicholas I- ruled in the 1830s. He was the most anti-reform of all the czars. He was the cruelest czar of all of Russia. He introduced censorship and the secret police. Punishment was either being sent to Siberia or an insane asylum. The Jewish connection- Nicholas I was a raved anti- Semite. He introduced the Cantonist System- took Jewish boys as soldiers for the Russian army and converted them.
3. Alexander II- He was the most serious of all the Reformers. He was a czar in the time of the Crimean War, which Russia lost, proving they weren’t so strong. This showed Alexander II that he needed to catch up. He built the trans-Siberian railroad and freed serfs. He saw the people wanted more such as democracy and representation, so he gave them some self government- Zemstvos, which wasn’t real representation. The people wanted real representation. Then Alexander was assassinated.
4. Alexander III- was a Reactionist. He followed the path of his grandfather Nicholas I. He had censorship, secret police and he introduced russification- everyone has to speak Russian and everyone must join the Greek Orthodox Church. This was done to unite everyone, crushing individuality.
Aim: Nicholas II- Changes in Russia
Nicholas II took over in the 1890s. Nicholas II encouraged the persecution of Jews so as to distract the Russian population because ideas of liberalism were leaking into Russia. At this time, the czar wasn’t so popular because the people realized that they were missing out on freedom. The serfs were discontent because they didn’t have anywhere to go or anything else to do when they were freed. Nicholas II said that the people have his permission to kill Jews. In some areas, the Jews and Gentiles were on good terms or the Jews bribed people to protect them. In other areas however there were pogroms. The barbarity of the pogroms was unbearable. Before the Kishnev Pogrom, there were 70 shuls in Kishnev, while after the pogrom, there were none. Many Jews began to emigrate.
The discontent of the Russian people began to increase because Russia got involved in a war in 1905- the Russo-Japanese War. Russia and Japan were fighting over Manchuria and Japan won. Many people said that this was a sign that the czar isn’t good.
Now, liberals began to speak out very openly against the czar. In 1905 there was a huge demonstration of liberal in St. Petersburg (where the czar lived). It was a respectable demonstration- the people asked respectably for change. The czar told his soldiers to open fire on the crowd. This day is known in Russia as Bloody Sunday. This occurrence was bad for the czar because people who felt loyalty to czars felt animosity towards him.
Nicholas II set up Duma, a representative government. It was unfair.
Russia was beginning the Industrial Revolution. At this time everyone was miserable besides for the czar.
Aim: Differences between Russia and Britain
Russia Britain
1. more conservative 1. liberal
2. no representation 2. legislature with House of
Commons and House of Lords
3. czar wanted the people to be dumb so they can’t go against him- 90%+ were illiterate 3. had public schools
4. had torture 4. death penalty only for serious
crimes
Aim: 2 Nationalistic Movements
1. Irish Nationalism- Ireland was missing independence because in 1100 the English took over Ireland. The situation was like this for hundreds of years. The Irish were resentful, but didn’t take act until the 1800s because the saw other revolutions and the struggle for independence. In 1845, there was a potato famine. The potato crop got a disease and the potatoes failed to grow. Now the Irish didn’t have food or money. To make the situation worse, the English landowners came to collect rent and when the people said they couldn’t pay the English said, “no rent, no roof” and removed all the roofs of those that didn’t pay. The nationalistic movement intensified into acts of violence. In the 1920s, N Ireland got independence.
2. Zionism- Jews wanted love of their country, but the question is what’s their country? Those that joined the Zionistic movement were intellectual Jews who joined conservative and reform movements. These Jews saw anti-Semitism was still strong. They thought it wouldn’t affect them because they didn’t look like religious Jews, but they were wrong, so they went to find a country for themselves. Herzel was the leader of this movement and suggested the Jews take Uganda as their country, but the other leaders opposed this idea. They said Jews have their own country even if Jews haven’t lived there since the Dispersal. They didn’t want religious Jews living there. The Zionists wanted to prove that they could build up a country and be productive. At this time the Ottomans were living in Palestine. It would be hard for the Zionists to say that they were worthy of living there.
Aim: The Dreyfus Affair
The Jewish needed a Jewish country for safety because anti-Semitism was so great. In W Europe there was anti-Semitism, which was interesting because W Europe was where the Enlightenment started. In E Europe the anti-Semitism was bloody; there was lots of butchering. W Europe dealt with anti-Semitism with white gloves. The Dreyfus Affair showed that anti-Semitism was still strong.
Alfred Dreyfus was a French secular Jew. He became an officer in the French army. No other Jew had held such a high position before (it looked as if France was finally accepting the Jews), which led to anti-Semitism. Dreyfus became a target. In the 1890s someone said that Dreyfus is a German spy, and told the Germans the secrets of the French army. Dreyfus was convicted of treason without a shred of evidence being shown. Dreyfus was exiled to Devil’s Island- very hot and hard to survive.
People were torn. Is Dreyfus innocent or guilty? The conservatives said that he’s guilty, while the liberals said that he’s innocent. Emil Zola wrote an article called J’ Accuse. He said that Dreyfus is innocent and that he knows who’s guilty- a rich noble. He said anyone that has proof that Dreyfus is guilty should bring it forward. No one did. 10 years later, Dreyfus was re-tried and proven innocent. The Dreyfus Affair was disturbing for secular Jews because they wanted to blend into society, and now they saw that they couldn’t. This led many secular Jews to become interested in Zionism.
Aim: What caused the French Revolution to break out?
1. Political-
a. Louis XVI- preceded by absolute monarch Lois XIV.
b. Estates General- divided into social class system. Estates General was an unfair government because the 3rd Estate was
always outvoted 2-1 and they didn’t have a political voice- Ancien regime.
2. Economic-
a. 3rd Estate overtaxed- had to perform community services if they couldn’t pay
taxes. Had to pay taxes on everything. Government tried to make life hard for
them. ex. hunting.
b. France is in deep debt- raised taxes
c. Bad harvest- no wheat- no bread- peasants were starving.
3. Social-
a. Resentment
b. Lack privileges, power and prestige.
4. Enlightenment- brilliant philosophers came up with reasons why people shouldn’t
Have to live under such conditions and told the masses to revolt.
“ What is the 3rd Estate? Everything. What has it been until now? Nothing. What does it want to be? Something.” - Sieves.
Aim: How did the Enlightenment influence the 3rd Estate?
The Scientific Revolution led to the Enlightenment- relationship between government and society.
The Enlightenment had 3 names:
1. Enlightenment
2. Age of Reason
3. Intellectual Revolution- change in how people think.
Now philosophers were introducing ideas:
1. John Locke (England)- in the time of the Glorious Revolution, which amazed Locke, he wrote a book “ 2 Treatises of Government”. It said government rules by the consent of the governed and if the people don’t like the government, they can overthrow it. This idea was far reaching and rocked the world.
2. Baron de Montesquieu (France)- was from a noble family, but was pro-democracy. Wrote “Spirit of the Law”. He believed power should be split in order to limit it, aka separation of powers.
3. Voltaire (France)- didn’t care to speak against the government. Was against the absolute monarchy and introduced freedom of speech. Was fond of saying “I don’t agree with a word you say…” He also believed in freedom of religion.
4. Rousseau (France)- wrote “ Social Contract” which described what Rousseau believed should be the relationship between the people and government. He believed the less laws the better. “Man is born free but everywhere is in chains.” Believed people should have general will- have a say in the government.
5. Diderot- Wrote “Encyclopedia” which had many ideas about democracy and against absolute monarchs.
6. Thomas Hobbes- believed absolute monarchs are positive and only form of government. Felt people without laws will tear everyone apart. He said life would be “nasty, brutish, and short”. He wrote “Leviathan”- felt society will swallow itself alive.
Aim: The Revolution begins
In 1789, Louis XVI calls a meeting with the Estates General. Why?
1. France needed money
2. Riots in countryside/ cities.
Louis wanted to raise taxes. Representatives from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Estate came to the meeting. The bourgeoisie came to represent the 3rd estate (they were educated) and they demanded change. The king said no so they set up their own government called the National Assembly. They wrote their own constitution, but Louis ignored it. The bourgeoisie left the meeting and met at the tennis court. This meeting was called the Tennis Court Oath. They said, “Never separate until we have established a just institution”. This meeting became very popular.
On July 14, a group of frustrated peasants stormed the Bastille. Many people joined the mob including the king’s soldiers who were guarding the Bastille. The mob freed the prisoners. This was the beginning of the revolution. Louis was shocked and didn’t know how to deal with the situation.
The bourgeoisie continued to write their new constitution for their government. They wrote the motto for the French Revolution “ Libertei, egalite, fraternite”.
Aim: The French Revolution: 2 sides
By September of 1789, the National Assembly had written the introduction to the new constitution of France known as the Declaration of Rights of Man. It outlined the goals of what they wanted the new government to be like.
At approximately the same time, a group of furious peasant woman marched to the palace in Versailles with their cooking tools. The people said they wanted to see the king and queen. The king and queen were told of this, and sent a message to the people that they’re with them. The king even put on a red white and blue cloak- the revolution colors- to show he was with them. The people wanted the king and queen to come with them. The royal family went, and the peasants shouted, “We have the baker, the baker’s wife and the baker’s boy. Now we’ll get bread”. The king and queen lived in Paris for the next several years.
At this time, the king and queen wanted to escape and so did the 1st and 2nd Estates. Upper class people left to England. They became known as émigrés.
Other leaders of other countries became scared their countries would revolt too. Nations like Austria and Prussia attacked France. Why?
1. Because they don’t want a situation like this in their country.
2. If France is weak, why not take advantage and attack?
In 1791 the members of the National Assembly completed the constitution, which had:
1. Limited monarchy- power limited. Will have to work with the legislative assembly.
2. Feudalism would be officially abolished- no longer have serfs.
2 groups were formed:
1. National Assembly- moderates- wanted small change.
2. Revolting populace- radicals- want blood and revenge.
Aim: The Radicals seize control of the Revolution
The Radicals had 3 names:
1. Radicals
2. Jacobins- Why? During the years while the revolution was breaking out, they were planning to revolt. This had to be kept quite so they wouldn’t be caught, and as another measure of protection, they all called each other Jack so is would be hard to single one person out.
3. Sans Culottes- the aristocrats wore culottes. Wanted to show they were proud not to be like the aristocrats.
In 1793, the Jacobins took over the revolution and the Moderates had to run away. They took over the Legislative Assembly and established a new form of government for France called the National Convention. The National Convention:
1. Abolished the monarchy
2. Made a republic- leader elected by the people, suffrage for everyone even non-property owners.
3. Abolished all titles of nobility- everyone became citizen or citizeness.
The people killed the king and the queen with the guillotine, which was invented by Robespierre. Robespierre said, “Criminals must lose their heads”.
At this time, the Radicals had many challenges:
1. Peasants were still starving- food shortage.
2. Had enemies- Moderates, 1st and 2nd Estates, Royalists
3. Riots/ chaos
4. European nations were warring with France.
The Committee of Public Safety was established. They killed all people who were against the Radicals. They killed over 40,000 people with the guillotine from 1793-1794. During this time, France was under the Reign of Terror. This was the worst year of the revolution. Aristocrats who were to be killed were put in the prison of Le Force. The aristocrats did there what they knew what to do best. They partied, debated and played cards.
The Committee of Public Safety had to raise an army. They composed “Le Marseilles”, which they sang on the way to battle.
The Radicals had a strong feeling of nationalism- fighting for their country.
Aim: The Revolution goes Radical- Moderate- Napoleon
The Radicals began to fight amongst themselves. Robespierre would kill people he felt where a threat to his becoming the leader of France. Some Radicals were scared for their lives, so they had Robespierre arrested and he was killed by the guillotine. Robespierre’s death resulted in the weakening of the National Convention.
Moderates returned and set up The Directory as a government. The Directory had 5 leaders and a legislature. The Directory wasn’t a good government; it didn’t last too long because there were many problems:
1. France was still fighting wars with Austria and Britain.
2. Many leaders of The Directory were corrupt- they pocketed tax money.
3. High bread prices- shortages.
4. Royalists are strengthened.
It looked like revolution was going to break out again. The Directory wanted to save themselves from downfall, so they brought in the war hero Napoleon as a new leader. Napoleon overthrew The Directory in coup detat, and announced the government no longer exists. The year was 1799, and Napoleon appointed himself to be the 1st consul. The people accepted him because he gave France order and stability. In the French Revolution, Napoleon fought for the Jacobins because “It is better to eat than be eaten”. Napoleon wasn’t happy enough as 1st consul and after 2 years he became emperor. Napoleon organized a lavish ceremony when he was crowned emperor. Napoleon invited the pope to crown him as was the custom, but Napoleon crowned himself. This showed he was higher than the church.
Napoleon’s reforms:
1. Called himself “son of the revolution”.
2. Kept the motto “liberty, equality, fraternity”.
3. Set up public schools- very democratic.
4. Set up merit system- give people jobs if they deserve them
5. Worked to gain the favor of:
a. Émigrés- welcomes them back to France
b. Peasants- lets them keep their land
c. Workers- made them jobs
d. Economy- controlled prices to keep the bourgeoisie happy.
6. Napoleonic Code- system of laws Napoleon made by himself
a. All men are =.
b. Religious tolerance.
c. Brought in ideas from the Enlightenment
How different is France from 10 years ago? France still has the equivalent of an absolute monarch, but the bourgeoisie have more of a say in government, and many reforms were made. The most major impact of the French Revolution was that the 3rd Estate gained political power.
Napoleon and the Jews of France:
Napoleon considered himself to be enlightened. He brought some of the ideas from the Enlightenment into his government, such as religious tolerance. Napoleon therefore allowed Jews to become citizens. During the Ancien Regime, the Jews were not part of the 1st or 2nd class, but were not part of the 3rd class either. As a result, many French Jews left France and went to Poland. During the time of Napoleon, Jews got politically emancipated- freed politically. They got:
1. The right to vote.
2. Weren’t 2nd class anymore.
3. Could build shuls.
4. Could speak Hebrew.
The political emancipation led to spiritual destruction. As long as the French Jews were in the ghetto, they kept to themselves. Now that Jews could hold places in the government and go to university, the French Jews began to assimilate, which meant the end of continuity for the French Jews.
Napoleon worked to assimilate the Jews. He let them into society because he felt they had economic contributions, therefore he wanted to make life easier for them. Napoleon established the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was a group of “rabbis”. Napoleon made this Sanhedrin because he felt that the Jews would accept the opinion of these “rabbis”, and he would be able to lure them into doing the wrong thing. Napoleon told a group of 70 “rabbis” to tell the French Jews that assimilation was OK. This was a tragedy because while many people didn’t listen to the “rabbis”, many people listened to them.
Eventually, Napoleon stopped pushing the Sanhedrin and went on to build his empire.
Aim: Napoleon builds an Empire
Napoleon’s true goal was to conquer territory. Napoleon was known to have said, “A man such as I cares little for the lives of a million men”.
Napoleon began by capturing the areas right around France. Then he moved on to Britain. Britain is hard to conquer because it’s surrounded by water. France came up with the Continental System- European nations are ordered to boycott Britain, and when they would become weak, France would take them over.
Russia defied the Continental System. Why?
1. Didn’t want to be bossed around.
2. They knew they were next.
In 1812, Napoleon planned a massive invasion of Russia. He prepared ½ million soldiers and 50,000 horses for the 50,000 generals. The French army started marching in June. When they got to Russia they saw what was known as the scorched earth policy- Russia burnt all its land so it would be hard to invade. They ruined all the crops and killed all the animals. The French soldiers were hungry, and by the time they got to Moscow in September, the army was too weak to fight. That year the snow began to fall in October, and the French army had to march back to France. On the way back, people were dying left and right.
If the army was in such a weakened state, people may have attacked France, and people would start looking at Napoleon really badly.
“General Famine rather than Russian bullets have defeated the French army”
A general
Aim: Napoleon’s defeat and France post Napoleon
Napoleon messed himself up by invading Russia. When he returned to France with his glorious army in shambles, Napoleon is seen as a loser. The people in France had revered Napoleon because he had patched France together when it was in need of help.
Now the European countries Napoleon controlled would break apart. Austria, Russia, Prussia and Britain combined their armies to defeat Napoleon. The Europeans nations won France; Napoleon was exiled to Elba- a small island in the Mediterranean.
What happened to France? Louis XVIII, who was the brother of Louis XVI, claimed the throne. Why was this weird? France just had a whole revolution to get rid of the monarch. Louis XVIII promised he wouldn’t be an absolute monarch and that he would follow the Napoleonic Code.
Many of the French wanted Napoleon back, so Louis XVIII was asked to step down from the throne, and secretly some Frenchmen went to Elba and brought Napoleon back as emperor. Napoleon only ruled France for 100 days. Why? Other countries didn’t want Napoleon as emperor, so they got together and fought the Battle of Waterloo and they won. Napoleon was again exiled to an island, though St. Helena was further out in the Atlantic Ocean. Napoleon stayed there for a few years until he died of a fever.
Aim: How did Napoleon’s conquest and defeat affect Europe?
The spread of nationalism affected European countries. What’s nationalism? Love and pride of one’s country and also unity and independence. Why did nationalism spread?
1. Nationalism is the reaction to conquest.
2. French’s nationalism was contagious.
The European nations wanted to be independent of French power, so the European nations broke away from France’s control.
Europe needed to be re-divided- the map needed to be re-drawn. Why? Because a balance of powers was needed so no country would do what France did. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna was called. Russia sent Alexander I, Britain sent Lord Castleriegh and Austria, who was hosting the congress, sent Metternich. Most of the European leaders that attended the congress weren’t involved in day-to-day border issues. Austria was turned into a party city of circuses, balls, princes and princesses, while Alexander I, Lord Castleriegh and Metternich mainly dealt with the issues at hand.
Aim: Actions of the Congress of Vienna
1. Redrew the map of Europe, while keeping a balance of powers.
a. Italy and Germany were divided so they would be less powerful.
b. Netherlands united with Belgium and Luxemburg- more powerful.
c. Austria, Russia, and Britain got more land.
2. Appointed leaders of newly divided nations- the Congress of Vienna were concerned that the new nations should be a certain type. They wanted powerful rulers. Why? To prevent revolution from breaking out again.
Most of the European nations were conservative besides for Britain (liberalism) For example, Alex I of Russia, Fredric of Prussia, and Francis of Austria all had 1 thing in common- absolute monarchy, didn’t want change.
Why were they afraid of liberalism? Liberalism meant people would have a say in the government, and would get rid of the absolute monarchy. (Britain and France were the only countries with out an absolute monarchy at that time. Britain had a limited monarchy- had parliament; France had Louis XVIII- limited monarchy.)
There were 2 groups in Europe at this time: Conservatives- want to turn back the clock, and pretend that the French Revolution never happened. European leaders were trying to find a way to get rid of the FR.
Powerful leaders were appointed to prevent revolution. Francis, Fredric, and Alex I formed the Holy Alliance, which made sure that absolute monarchs would still exist in as many empires as possible.
Many European leaders joined the Concert of Europe, which kept peace- really didn’t want revolution. How successful was the Concert of Europe? Very. The next major war was not until WWI about 100 years later.
Aim: Congress of Vienna- positive/ negative impact
Positive:
1. Redrew the map of Europe
2. Balance of power, though it wasn’t perfect. It was tolerable as there were no wars for about 100 years.
3. Restored stability in many European countries by establishing a monarch.
Negative:
1. Ignored nationalism- Italy and Germany will fight to unite.
2. Ignored force of liberalism- can’t turn clock back; the ideas are already out there- can’t get rid of them. In the 1830s- 1840s there were revolutions in European countries of liberals trying to gain rights.
Aim: American and French Revolutions inspire Latin American nations to revolt
At this time, the world was becoming more connected, and events that happened in one part of the world affected other parts of the world.
In the early 1800s, the Latin American nations would revolt against their European rulers for independence. What inspired this? The American and French Revolutions.
What force inspires people to fight for independence? Nationalism- wanting their country to be free and independent.
Ever since the 1500s, these Latin American countries had been controlled by Spain. Spain got its wealth through mercantilism. Spain was an imperial power- mother country- owned a colony. Spain took raw materials from the colony, and sold finished products back to the colonists. Why couldn’t the Latin Americans just make the finished products themselves? They weren’t allowed to. Spain was getting constant wealth, while the Southern Americans lived in a seriously underprivileged state.
In Latin America, there was a social class system:
1. Peninsulars- were from the Iberian Peninsula. They were privileged because they were from Spain. In order for the Spanish government to get people to go to the new colony, they had to bribe the Spaniards with plantations.
2. Creoles- peninsular’s children. They were the most privileged after the peninsulars, and when the peninsulars died, they became the most privileged people. They also owned plantations, and led a luxurious life of hunting and partying.
3. Meztizos- they were ½ European and ½ Indian. They weren’t as low as someone who was only Indian, but they didn’t usually own land.
4. Mulatties- ½ European and ½ African
5. Africans and Native Americans- were very low. Had no freedom. They worked as slaves. Africans were brought over to be slaves because Europeans couldn’t do work, and the Indians needed to run wild.
These 5 classes all had one thing in common- they didn’t want to be under Spanish rule anymore. The creoles basically led the revolution because the lower classes couldn’t do it. The Creoles learnt the ideas of the Enlightenment and were inspired by these ideas. However, they needed to wait for the moment because Spain was very powerful. When Napoleon took over Spain, Spain was weak. It was the perfect chance for a revolution.
Aim: South America wins independence
A colony needs 2 things to revolt:
1. Nationalistic freedom
2. Nationalistic leader- need someone to pull everything together.
The first country to revolt was a French colony- Hispaniola (present day Haiti). Hispaniola revolted in 1791. At this time Hispaniola was run by a few whites, but was mostly black. Their leader was Toussaint L’overture. He was black but wasn’t a slave- he could read and had freedom. L’overture read the ideas of Enlightenment, and was inspired. He decided that he would not only rid Hispaniola of its mother country, he would also get freedom for the slaves. Even though France was in middle of a revolution, they still sent troops over to Hispaniola, who were joined by Spanish and English troops. Why did these countries join? To show their colonies what would happen if they would revolt. It took a few years, but Hispaniola became free. L’overture was caught and was sent to France, where he died of coldness. Now that Hispaniola was free, it was an encouragement to other countries.
In 1812, Mexico sought revolution from Spain. Mexico was ruled by Father Miguel Hidalgo. Hidalgo was the priest of a church, which was mainly attended by poor people. One day, as people were coming into church, Father Hidalgo rang the church bells and shouted “Grito de Delores”- we’ll be free. Hidalgo formed an army of peasants and promised them rights and land when they would succeed. Some creoles went and killed Father Hidalgo. The next leader who took over was also killed. Mexico went through many leaders, and in 1824, Mexico was freed. However the peasants got no rights. Mexico was ruled by a military caudillos- dictator. The creoles said the military caudillo could keep his position if he enforced slavery.
Simone Bolivar became known as “the great dictator”. He freed Latin American nations from Spain. Bolivar said, “I swear… never to rest… until I have broken the chains that bind us to Spain”. Bolivar then went south and met Jose de San Martin and together they got independence for Argentina and Chile. By the 1820s Simone Bolivar and Jose de San Martin got most of these regions independence. They wanted to unite the regions and make Gran Columbia (Venezuela, Ecuador, Columbia, etc.). These countries were separated by mountains and the people were so different. Fighting broke out, and Gran Columbia fell apart. Bolivar was very disappointed. He said, “We have gained independence at the cost of everything else”. Bolivar saw his countries be taken over by military dictators.
Don Pedro was the prince of Brazil. He was told by his father, the king of Portugal, that if people ask for independence, ask for it yourself- you can’t fight them, join them. That’s exactly what he did. Brazil became separate from Portugal.
In the colonies, conservatism took over.
Aim: After the Congress of Vienna- Challenging Conservatism
Wanted that the rule should remain in the hands of the strong people to keep out liberal ideas. However, once the forces of liberalism, nationalism and democracy were out, they had spread all over Europe, and people wanted change. For the most part young university students and peasants were the ones who rioted.
In the 1830s- 1840s, revolutions popped up all over Europe:
1. France- Louis XVIII realized that he couldn’t rule as an absolute monarch. He therefore ruled as a constitutional monarch. He had a legislature and allowed freedom of the press. The people complained- the royalists wanted a real king, and the liberals said there aren’t enough rights. They wanted the right to vote, were concerned about the bread shortages, felt not enough people were represented, and so on. Louis XVIII then died, and his brother Charles X took over.
Charles X was an absolute monarch, and got rid of the legislature, constitution and freedom of the press. Now France has another revolution. There were riots in the streets. As a result of the rioting, Charles X abdicated, and ran away to England.
The legislature appointed a new king Louis Philippe, who was called citizen king. Louis Philippe wore regular clothing (no crown) and mingled with the people. There was one problem- serious economic trouble. At this time, there were riots with people blaming the king. Louis Philippe abdicated.
Once again, there was no government in France. The wealthy and bourgeoisie took over the government. The lowest class in France was represented and rioted and said “Bread or lead”.
Louis Napoleon took over. He let every French male vote regardless of his social status. Once Louis Napoleon had the people’s support, he made himself emperor. French philosopher Tocqueville said, “We are sleeping on a volcano”- we’re in an era of revolution because the forces are out there. Metternich said, “When France sneezes, Europe catches cold”.
2. Poland- tries to gain independence, but fails.
3. Austria- had lots of rioting. In the 1840s the people want reform. The rioting became so extreme that Metternich had to leave Austria for fear of his life. The emperor said Metternich’s gone- need to give the people a constitution or something. The emperor promises reform. The Austrian army got help from the Russian army, and the revolt was crushed easily.
4. Belgium- wanted independence and a liberal government. They were actually successful, and got a liberal government with a constitution.
Germany and Italy wanted a liberal government and nationalism. The Germans have always taken nationalism to the extreme- they feel their country is superior and that other countries shouldn’t survive.
Aim: German Unification
Even though Germany was divided into about 30 states, the German states felt connected by their language, music… At this time, Germany was the most in country. Japan formed its modernization around Germany, and rich Americans attended university in Germany. Germany was very civilized.
The Congress of Vienna had divided Germany, which was a major barrier to unification. Why was this done? The leaders of the Congress of Vienna felt that a unified Germany would be too strong.
The largest of the German states was Prussia. Prussia wanted to be the state to unite the other German states. Reasons why Germany couldn’t unite:
1. Many German states were owned by foreign nations such as Austria, Denmark…
2. Germany’s neighbors didn’t want a united Germany- would be too strong.
3. The princes of the German states didn’t want to relinquish their power.
In 1862, the king of Prussia, William I, appointed a new Prime Minister Otto Von Bismarck. He was a noble, and an opinionated, loud politician. He said, “By blood and iron (wars) we’re going to unite the German states”. He was very conservative- he didn’t want to give any freedoms. He was a real politic- a politician who will do anything to achieve a goal. Von Bismarck fought many wars:
1. Against Denmark which controlled Schleswig and Holstein. In order to win Schleswig and Holstein, Bismarck teamed up with Austria, the deal being that they’ll split the territory. Austria and Prussia won the war.
2. Immediately after the first war, Germany fought Austria to get these territories. They got them and also got other German territory that was owned by Austria.
3. Prussia went to war against France because France was a big obstacle- France was ½ Catholic and ½ Protestant. France didn’t want the German Catholic states to become Protestant when taken over by Prussia because then the majority of Europe would be Protestant. This was known as the Franco-Prussian war. Here, nationalism won over religion. Prussia got $50 billion and Alsace Lorain.
By 1871, Germany was united. William I became Kaiser, and Von Bismarck got a nice raise-became chancellor. Called it the 2nd Reich. Germany wasn’t a democracy. It had strong leadership, and realized that with a conservative government, they can be much stronger. Germany began to build up their army. Once the army would be built up, there would no longer be a balance of power.
Aim: Unification of Italy
Italians had strong feelings of nationalism, even though they were separated for about 1400 years.
Barriers to unification:
1. Italy is naturally divided
2. Many Italian states were owned by Austria and France
There was strong motivation which was more ideal than real. The Italians felt a unity way back from the Roman Empire days. There was also a common culture between all the N and S Italians such as food, music, religion and language, even though the N and S were so different. The N was rich while the S was poor. The Italians thought unity would be better for business.
There are 2 components to achieve unification:
1. Nationalism
2. Nationalistic leadership-
a. Mazzini- In the 1830s, he introduced a group called Young Italy, which tried to achieve unification. Young Italy fought France, and was defeated. Mazzini said, “Ideas grow quickly when watered by the blood of martyrs”. Young Italy tried to spread the force of nationalism. People had the urge for unity. How would they get unity? Sardinia was the most powerful state in Italy, ruled by King Victor Emanuel II. Victor Emanuel had a prime minister named Cavour.
b. Cavour- was a real politic. He decided to fight with Austria and get the N stated. He got help form Britain and France. Cavour did get the N Italian states and other N Italian states joined that were owned by other countries. Now N and central Italy was united. Cavour got 70% of the job done.
c. Garibaldi- organized an army called “Red Shirts”. They got Sicily and Naples. Other S Italian stated joined and now the whole Italy was united. Garibaldi gave over the S states to Victor Emanuel II. In 1861, all of Italy was united with the exception of Rome and Venice. By 1870, Italy got these two states, too.
Italy after unification- people wanted unity, but couldn’t actually feel unity. Victor Emanuel’s government was largely corrupt- few people had the right to vote, and the government took much of the money that was for the people. The church lost its papal states, so Italy gave them the Vatican. In the late1800s and early 1900s, many Italians came to the US, especially from S Italy. Victor Emanuel decided to take over Ethiopia to get people to want to stay. The Italians lost, making a bad situation worse.
Aim: Nationalism/ Liberalism threatens old empires in Europe
There were 2 large empires in Europe. An empire is a nation that controls other nations. Both controlled nations in Europe. They were:
1. Austrian- Hungarian Empire- controlled part of Poland, Ukraine, and Serbia. These nations wanted to break away from the AH Empire, but didn’t gain independence until WWI.
2. Ottoman Empire- controlled Bulgaria, Romania, and Palestine. They wanted to break away and gain independence. The Ottomans were an old empire and were losing their strength. Romania and Bulgaria broke away. The Ottoman Empire was aka the sick man of Europe. Bosnia was also under Ottoman rule and broke away.
The AH Empire said if the Ottoman Empire is weak, the can take over some of its territories and took Bosnia. AH and Bosnia were very different. The Bosnians were furious. They became nationalistic and wanted their independence. The Balkan region where Bosnia was became known as the Balkan powder keg.
Where did ideas of independence come from? The French Revolution
Russia was an exception. Why? The Russian Empire was enormous, and was kept separate then the rest of the world by their strong leaders. In the 1200s-1500s, the Mongols ruled Russia. This kept Russia cut off from everyone else. They were in a dark age. In the 1500s came the czars- mostly from the Romonav family. (Peter the Great, Katherine) Russia ruled over 40 types of people. Russia wasn’t up to par with the rest of the world economically. Socially, they still had feudalism. The Russians did get some ideas from W Europe, but they didn’t want the ideas of nationalism to come in. It was the czars and nobles against the peasants and serfs.
Aim: Czars of Russia
The czars were autocrats- absolute rulers. There were 2 types of czars:
1. Reformers- were influenced by the ideas of the Enlightenment. They thought about or introduced reforms to Russia.
2. Reactionists- crushed reforms if people got out of hand.
Czars:
1. Alexander I- ruled in 1801. He was both a Reformer and Reactionist. He first considered himself pro reform because he talked about freeing serfs. Then the French Revolution occurred, and he said no freeing serfs. He cracked down on them more, and spoke out against democracy, representation, constitution…
2. Nicholas I- ruled in the 1830s. He was the most anti-reform of all the czars. He was the cruelest czar of all of Russia. He introduced censorship and the secret police. Punishment was either being sent to Siberia or an insane asylum. The Jewish connection- Nicholas I was a raved anti- Semite. He introduced the Cantonist System- took Jewish boys as soldiers for the Russian army and converted them.
3. Alexander II- He was the most serious of all the Reformers. He was a czar in the time of the Crimean War, which Russia lost, proving they weren’t so strong. This showed Alexander II that he needed to catch up. He built the trans-Siberian railroad and freed serfs. He saw the people wanted more such as democracy and representation, so he gave them some self government- Zemstvos, which wasn’t real representation. The people wanted real representation. Then Alexander was assassinated.
4. Alexander III- was a Reactionist. He followed the path of his grandfather Nicholas I. He had censorship, secret police and he introduced russification- everyone has to speak Russian and everyone must join the Greek Orthodox Church. This was done to unite everyone, crushing individuality.
Aim: Nicholas II- Changes in Russia
Nicholas II took over in the 1890s. Nicholas II encouraged the persecution of Jews so as to distract the Russian population because ideas of liberalism were leaking into Russia. At this time, the czar wasn’t so popular because the people realized that they were missing out on freedom. The serfs were discontent because they didn’t have anywhere to go or anything else to do when they were freed. Nicholas II said that the people have his permission to kill Jews. In some areas, the Jews and Gentiles were on good terms or the Jews bribed people to protect them. In other areas however there were pogroms. The barbarity of the pogroms was unbearable. Before the Kishnev Pogrom, there were 70 shuls in Kishnev, while after the pogrom, there were none. Many Jews began to emigrate.
The discontent of the Russian people began to increase because Russia got involved in a war in 1905- the Russo-Japanese War. Russia and Japan were fighting over Manchuria and Japan won. Many people said that this was a sign that the czar isn’t good.
Now, liberals began to speak out very openly against the czar. In 1905 there was a huge demonstration of liberal in St. Petersburg (where the czar lived). It was a respectable demonstration- the people asked respectably for change. The czar told his soldiers to open fire on the crowd. This day is known in Russia as Bloody Sunday. This occurrence was bad for the czar because people who felt loyalty to czars felt animosity towards him.
Nicholas II set up Duma, a representative government. It was unfair.
Russia was beginning the Industrial Revolution. At this time everyone was miserable besides for the czar.
Aim: Differences between Russia and Britain
Russia Britain
1. more conservative 1. liberal
2. no representation 2. legislature with House of
Commons and House of Lords
3. czar wanted the people to be dumb so they can’t go against him- 90%+ were illiterate 3. had public schools
4. had torture 4. death penalty only for serious
crimes
Aim: 2 Nationalistic Movements
1. Irish Nationalism- Ireland was missing independence because in 1100 the English took over Ireland. The situation was like this for hundreds of years. The Irish were resentful, but didn’t take act until the 1800s because the saw other revolutions and the struggle for independence. In 1845, there was a potato famine. The potato crop got a disease and the potatoes failed to grow. Now the Irish didn’t have food or money. To make the situation worse, the English landowners came to collect rent and when the people said they couldn’t pay the English said, “no rent, no roof” and removed all the roofs of those that didn’t pay. The nationalistic movement intensified into acts of violence. In the 1920s, N Ireland got independence.
2. Zionism- Jews wanted love of their country, but the question is what’s their country? Those that joined the Zionistic movement were intellectual Jews who joined conservative and reform movements. These Jews saw anti-Semitism was still strong. They thought it wouldn’t affect them because they didn’t look like religious Jews, but they were wrong, so they went to find a country for themselves. Herzel was the leader of this movement and suggested the Jews take Uganda as their country, but the other leaders opposed this idea. They said Jews have their own country even if Jews haven’t lived there since the Dispersal. They didn’t want religious Jews living there. The Zionists wanted to prove that they could build up a country and be productive. At this time the Ottomans were living in Palestine. It would be hard for the Zionists to say that they were worthy of living there.
Aim: The Dreyfus Affair
The Jewish needed a Jewish country for safety because anti-Semitism was so great. In W Europe there was anti-Semitism, which was interesting because W Europe was where the Enlightenment started. In E Europe the anti-Semitism was bloody; there was lots of butchering. W Europe dealt with anti-Semitism with white gloves. The Dreyfus Affair showed that anti-Semitism was still strong.
Alfred Dreyfus was a French secular Jew. He became an officer in the French army. No other Jew had held such a high position before (it looked as if France was finally accepting the Jews), which led to anti-Semitism. Dreyfus became a target. In the 1890s someone said that Dreyfus is a German spy, and told the Germans the secrets of the French army. Dreyfus was convicted of treason without a shred of evidence being shown. Dreyfus was exiled to Devil’s Island- very hot and hard to survive.
People were torn. Is Dreyfus innocent or guilty? The conservatives said that he’s guilty, while the liberals said that he’s innocent. Emil Zola wrote an article called J’ Accuse. He said that Dreyfus is innocent and that he knows who’s guilty- a rich noble. He said anyone that has proof that Dreyfus is guilty should bring it forward. No one did. 10 years later, Dreyfus was re-tried and proven innocent. The Dreyfus Affair was disturbing for secular Jews because they wanted to blend into society, and now they saw that they couldn’t. This led many secular Jews to become interested in Zionism.
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