The History Book

CHANGING SOCIETIES 249

See also: The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■ The Gettysburg Address 244–47 ■
The opening of Ellis Island 250–51 ■ The Trail of Tears 264

John Gast’s painting American
Progress (1872) depicts the concept
of manifest destiny. In it, the figure of
Columbia, representing the USA, lays
telegraph wires and leads settlers west.

was completed, slashing journey
times: by 1876, it was possible to
travel from New York to California
in three and a half days.

population of San Francisco, the of Panama. Six months was the Settlers and victims
main point of entry, was hardly 200 expected minimum for these Immigration was the fuel that
in 1846. By 1852, it was more than enormous undertakings. powered these transformations, the
30,000, and by 1870, it was 150,000. new lands demanding a vast influx
However, an extraordinary of new settlers. In 1803, the US
A handful, mostly early arrivals, resolution to link these vast new population stood at 4 million. By
made fortunes, while some made territories was being forged, 1861, it was 31 million; and by the
modest profits, and most made harnessing new technology in turn of the century, 76 million.
nothing at all. The California gold pursuit of nation-building on an epic There were inevitable costs to
rush seemed a national obsession. scale. In 1861, the first telegraph line such rapid growth, and American
In reality, it was no more than was established between the east Indians paid the highest price.
an extreme instance of the and the west coasts. In 1869, the Driven off their tribal lands with
determination to colonize North first transcontinental railroad line relentless brutality, their numbers
America by the United States that dropped from perhaps as many as
was underway long before the gold 4.5 million to 500,000. Herded into
had been found. By 1803, Vermont, reservations, their traditional way
Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio had of life destroyed, they were helpless
become states. In addition to the in the face of this seemingly
annexation of Texas in 1845, a irresistible expansion. ■
further 13 states had been added
by 1848. In the same year, New The Battle of the Little Bighorn
Mexico and California were also
seized from Mexico. Gold was behind the most were sent to Montana to round
famous confrontation between them up. Among them was a
New technologies the new settlers of the west and troop of 600 under Lieutenant
To reach California, the 49ers the native populations: the Battle Colonel George Custer. Some
endured journeys of astonishing of the Little Bighorn on June 25, 200 of these men, led by Custer
hardship, traveling by wagon 1876. The US government himself, discovered the Indian
across the immensities of the Great authorized the settlement of the encampment in the Little
Plains or by ship around Cape Horn, Black Hills of South Dakota after Bighorn Valley. In just one hour,
and sometimes across the Isthmus gold was discovered there. By the combined American Indian
doing so, however, it broke a warriors, led by Sitting Bull,
treaty with the Sioux of the killed Custer’s entire force.
Great Plains. When, in return, Their deaths renewed the
substantial numbers of Sioux government’s determination to
and Cheyenne refused to move force the Sioux and Cheyenne
to reservations, federal cavalry into reservations at any cost.

250

MGTAHMOEEDLET’RGSIIRNCCEGARAPUITSOCTIBLE,

THE OPENING OF ELLIS ISLAND (1892)

IN CONTEXT Industrialization, urban growth, and lower infant
mortality boost European populations.
FOCUS
Mass migration and Political and religious freedoms and economic
population growth opportunities in young countries such as the US

BEFORE attract millions of immigrants.
1840s The Irish potato famine
leads to mass emigration. Steamships make ocean voyages to distant lands
safer, faster, and cheaper.
1848 The failure of liberal
revolutions sparks large-scale An immigration station on Ellis Island opens
German emigration. to process arrivals to the United States.

c.1870 Major emigration of By the mid-19th century, the of improved agricultural methods. It
Jews from Russia begins as world was experiencing an was also a result of industrialization
they flee persecution. unprecedented boom in and urban growth, as well as the
population, particularly in Europe. affluence and improved living
1882 Restrictions are placed This increase would continue into standards that both produced.
on the entry of Chinese into the 20th century and beyond. It Political stability played a role, too.
the United States. was partly due to improvements After the defeat of Napoleon in
in health, backed by more ready 1815, Europe enjoyed almost 100
1880s Mass emigration from access to food as a consequence years of largely unbroken peace.
Italy begins.

AFTER
1900 The population of
Europe reaches 408 million;
the United States, 76 million.

1907 The largest number of
immigrants in a single year
enters the United States: more
than 1 million.

1954 Ellis Island closes.

CHANGING SOCIETIES 251

See also: The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■ Bolívar establishes Gran Colombia 216–19 ■
The 1848 revolutions 228–29 ■ Russia emancipates the serfs 243 ■ The California Gold Rush 248–49 ■ The Irish famine 264

Nature also had a hand in the I had always hoped that 5 million from Austria-Hungary, and
increase in migration. The Irish this land might become a safe 4.5 million from Germany. Between
potato famine of the 1840s, and agreeable asylum to the 1820 and 1920, the US attracted
resulting from a failed crop, may virtuous and persecuted part 33.6 million immigrants, where
have been the last major European they often found themselves in
famine, but it brought suffering on of mankind, to whatever poor living conditions in rapidly
a startling scale: up to 1 million nation they might belong. expanding cities such as Chicago
people died. It provoked among George Washington and New York, aiding the growth
survivors a vast wave of emigration of American industry with their
of over 1 million, almost all to the cheap labor. Over the same period,
US. The population of Ireland in 3.6 million Europeans settled in
1841 was 6.5 million; by 1871, it had South America, and 2 million in
dipped to 4 million. Australia and New Zealand.

Urban underclass revolts of 1848. From 1870, huge Unwelcome guests
Industrialization produced a similar numbers of Russian and Polish This process of relocation was
paradox. Whatever the civic pride Jews—1.5 million in 1901–10 not exclusively European. Indians
and bombast of the immense new alone—similarly emigrated, settled in South Africa, Chinese
urban centers of the Industrial fleeing anti-Semitic pogroms. migrants spread across the East
Revolution, especially in Britain, a Indies, and Japanese migrants
new urban underclass was being The numbers involved in this settled in California; many found
created, desperately impoverished huge transfer of populations were themselves unwelcome.
and living in extreme squalor. remarkable. From the mid-19th
century to 1924, 18 million people There were also victims of
For the citizens of continental emigrated from Britain, 9.5 million enforced emigration. Unknown
Europe, the lure of new lands in from Italy, mostly from its deprived numbers of black African slaves
which to be free and prosper would south, 8 million from Russia, were still being shipped around
prove irresistible. Substantial the world.
numbers of Germans, Czechs, and
Hungarians left central Europe after By 1910, more than one in seven
the suppression of the nationalist of the US population had been born
outside of the United States. ■

In its first 30 years, Ellis Island Ellis Island Jersey shore in New York
saw 80 percent of United States’ Harbor, Ellis Island had at its
immigrants passing through— Opened on January 1, 1892, Ellis heart a vast, echoing hall. Here,
almost 12 million people. Island, along with the Statue of shuffling forward, the newly
Liberty, became a symbol of the arrived immigrants, speaking
vast stream of immigrants that a dazzling array of languages,
poured into the United States. would be processed. They were
This immigration center processed examined medically before
perhaps 12 million people, and being subjected to a series of
it is claimed that as much as simple questions to establish
40 percent of the immigrant their eligibility. The great
population of the United States majority would then become
has at least one relative who accepted as citizens of the
was fed through this immense United States, with scarcely
bureaucratic machine. Built on 2 percent turned away. Ellis
nothing more than a nondescript Island finally closed its doors
sandy island, close to the New on November 12, 1954.

252

ESTNHTRREIEMCNHIGLTTITHHAEERNCYOUNTRY,

THE MEIJI RESTORATION (1868)

IN CONTEXT Aggressive Western demands for trading rights in
Japan highlight the weakness of its ruling elite.
FOCUS
Modernizing Japan Leading feudal barons reassert
the authority of the boy emperor
BEFORE
1853 A US naval force Meiji and oust the shogunate.
arrives in Japan and
demands trading links. The barons see the adoption Military might is seen as
of Western political and an essential way of fulfilling
1854–55 The US, Britain, the
Netherlands, and Russia force social methods as the best Japanese ambitions.
trading treaties on Japan. way to strengthen Japan.

1866 The rulers of the Choshu Modernization and Westernization encapsulate the Meiji
and Satsuma regions form a period, and Japan emerges as an imperial power.
secret alliance against the
ruling Tokugawa shogunate. T he overthrow in 1868 of the Netherlands to establish trading
the Tokugawa shogunate, links. In place of the shoguns, the
1867 The Tokugawa rulers of Japan for 250 pliant 14-year-old Meiji emperor
shogunate ends. years, was led by feudal barons from would “exercise supreme authority.”
the southern provinces of Choshu The goal of the barons was not to
AFTER and Satsuma and was the direct take over and maintain Japan as it
1868–69 Defenders of the consequence of its weakness in the had existed under the shogunate—
shogunate are defeated. face of aggressive demands by the rigidly hierarchical and deliberately
United States, Britain, Russia, and isolated from the wider world.
1871 Feudalism is abolished,
and Japan launches a far-
reaching program of reform.

1894–95 The Sino-Japanese
War underlines expansionist
Japanese aims in the region.

1904–05 The Russo-Japanese
War ends in Japanese victory.

CHANGING SOCIETIES 253

See also: The Battle of Sekigahara 184–85 ■ Stephenson’s Rocket enters service 220–25 ■ The construction of the Suez
Canal 230–35 ■ The Second Opium War 254–55 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■ The Long March 304–05

This image of Yokohama in 1874
depicts the modernity of Meiji-era
Japan in the form of steam-powered
trains and ships, which also served
to open up the country to trade.

The spur to modernization had
largely been the fear that Japan,
like China, would become another
Western colonial pawn. In fact, the
opposite occurred.

Rather, it was that they felt abolished feudalism and established Military expansion
Japan’s clear destiny could only the yen as its currency. By 1872, the By the 1890s, Japan was a colonial
be established by the adoption first railway was under construction; power. In 1894, Korea had asked
not just of Western technological within 15 years, there was 1,000 both Japan and China to help curb
means but of Western political miles (1,600km) of track. In 1873, an insurrection there. When both
and financial systems, too. Japan introduced conscription, countries later sought to take over
along with Western weapons and Korea, the Japanese swept the
Japan transformed uniforms. The same year saw an Chinese aside, and then demanded
There followed a transformation of overhaul of the education system, and received possession of Taiwan,
a kind no society had seen before or and in 1877 Japan’s first university as well as rights in Manchuria.
has seen since. Modeling itself on was established in Tokyo. Japan Here they came into conflict with
the West, in 30 years Japan became also introduced a new legal code in Russia. The Japanese victory in
one of the most dynamic industrial 1882, and a new constitution seven 1905 over a disorganized Russian
powers in the world and the leading years later. As industry boomed, fleet at the Battle of Tsushima
military power in East Asia. so exports grew. Cities similarly Strait was the first time an
expanded, as did the population, industrial European power had
Almost no aspect of Japanese swelling from 39.5 million in 1888 been defeated by an Asian power.
society was left untouched by this to 55 million by 1918. Japan had the world’s attention. ■
whirlwind of change. In 1871, Japan

Emperor Meiji Important not as a statesman in February 1867, following the
or as the ruler of Japan in the sudden death of his father,
sense of exercising actual power, Emperor Komei.
Emperor Meiji (1852–1912)—
whose personal name, never For those ambitious daimyo,
used, was Mutsuhito—was or feudal barons, who were
instead the symbol of the reborn determined to drive Japan into
Japan. Until the restoration the modern world, elevating
of Meiji in January 1868, the the emperor to a higher profile
emperors of Japan were little bestowed legitimacy on what
more than a symbol. Under the was otherwise an act of
shogunate, they were obliged usurpation. It is telling that one
to remain invisibly at the royal of their first acts was to force the
palace in Kyoto more or less emperor to move to Edo, which
permanently. Strictly speaking, was renamed Tokyo in 1868, the
the “restoration” never happened: former residence of the shogun.
Meiji had already become emperor Meiji himself remained an
impenetrable cypher to the end.

254

TIAINONWDMAIETYTLTHHDAEACTNPKHODEAWNUEDNRIKVIELRLSE

THE SECOND OPIUM WAR (1856–1860)

IN CONTEXT Despite China’s great wealth, Western powers are
allowed very restricted access to Chinese ports.
FOCUS
Decline of imperial China Western merchants use opium to pay
for goods, damaging China’s economy.
BEFORE
1793 Lord Macartney’s trade The First Opium War is sparked by
mission to China is rebuffed. Chinese attempts to stop the opium trade.

c.1800 Opium is increasingly The Second Opium War leads to further
used to pay for Chinese crippling territorial and trading concessions.
goods, sparking a balance
of payments crisis. Unable to resist the West, China sees its status
diminished internally and externally.
1839–42 The First Opium
War ends with Hong Kong O n October 6, 1860, after burned down the emperor’s
ceded to Britain and five years of sporadic conflict sumptuous Summer Palace. The
Treaty Ports opened. known as the Second Chinese agreed to talks, and the
Opium War, an Anglo-French force resulting Peking Convention not
1850–64 The Taiping seized the imperial capital of Peking only increased the number of Treaty
Rebellion brings China close (today Beijing), in China, to force Ports open to Western trade, but
to complete disintegration the Chinese to submit to trading British and French zones of influence
and kills millions. concessions. The point was were extended in south China and
underlined when the Europeans along the fertile Yangtze River.
AFTER
1899 The anti-Western Boxer
Rebellion is put down by an
eight-nation foreign force. It
signals the effective end of
Chinese imperial authority.

CHANGING SOCIETIES 255

See also: Stephenson’s Rocket enters service 220–25 ■ The construction of the Suez Canal 230–35 ■
The Siege of Lucknow 242 ■ The Meiji Restoration 252–53 ■ The Taiping Rebellion 265 ■ The Long March 304–05

The port of Canton, in southern
China, was initially the only trading
port open to Western merchants. After
the two opium wars, Europe was given
exclusive access to many more.

Less than 70 years before, Britain Qing dynasty, its administration mostly by bribing officials, were
had sent an embassy to China to increasingly ineffective, had increasingly able to use opium,
open trade talks, only to be rebuffed. essentially lost control of China. cheaply grown in India, to pay for
Late 18th-century Qing China was goods. By the 1820s, 5,000 chests of
the richest, most populous, and The West intrudes opium a year were entering China.
most powerful country in the world, It was this growing turmoil that
and it could afford its complacency. the West exploited, weakening The Chinese attempt to end
By the mid-19th century, however, China further in the process. The the opium trade and its debilitating
the nation was effectively bankrupt, first, modest trading concessions effects led to a crushing defeat in
racked by famines and revolts, China had agreed to stipulated that the First Opium War of 1839–42,
and increasingly exploited and all Chinese goods be paid for in with the European powers, Britain
humiliated by the West. silver. However, from the early above all, extracting substantial
19th century, European traders, trading concessions. It was
Uprisings and revolts Western insistence in 1856 that
China’s problems were internal The Boxer Rebellion these concessions be extended
as much as external. A swelling that led to the Second Opium War,
population—100 million in 1650, In the turmoil of late 19th- concluded in 1860 by the Peking
300 million in 1800, 450 million century China, it was inevitable Convention. By 1900, a string
in 1850—provoked recurring that efforts would be mounted of Western trading ports were
famines. Between 1787 and 1813, to end the growing dominance scattered along the Chinese coast.
there were three major uprisings. of the West. The imperial Britain, France, Japan, and Russia
Its border provinces, conquered government in Beijing made a now all controlled what had been
at huge expense in the 17th and last-ditch attempt at reform on Chinese tributary states on its
18th centuries, were in a near- Western lines, but the chaos borders. China, wracked by turmoil,
permanent state of unrest. came to a head in 1899 with the was effectively disintegrating. ■
Boxer Rebellion, mounted by the
In 1850, the Taiping Rebellion Militia United in Righteousness, were invulnerable to Western
erupted across central China, a semi-secret society composed weapons, was the overthrow
resulting in the death of as many mostly of young men. Its goal, of all Western interests.
as 20 million people. When it was to be achieved in part thanks to The rebellion was variously
finally put down, in 1864, it was their deluded belief that they supported and opposed by
only after Western intervention. The the imperial court, uncertain
whether it represented a means
of salvation or would merely
provoke Western reprisals.
The latter proved to be the
case. An eight-nation military
alliance, including Japan,
was sent into China against
the Boxers, and by September
1901 the rebellion had been
crushed, amid scenes of
indiscriminate violence.

256

ISOTOHHFUAETNGHISHEITMAEMTIOFORFEBELEFATJMOEAWOLUEOSRU.S

THE OPENING OF THE EIFFEL TOWER (1889)

IN CONTEXT T he opening of the Eiffel and over it now soared Gustave
Tower on March 31, 1889 Eiffel’s tower, at 984ft (300m) not
FOCUS was a startling assertion just the tallest structure in the
Urban culture of Parisian bombast in the years world, but a triumphant monument
between the humiliations of the to technological progress.
BEFORE Franco-Prussian War in 1870–71
1858 The Great Stink in and the outbreak of World War I in The ideal city
London prompts the building 1914. This was the Belle Epoque, Modern Paris was the creation of
of an extensive sewer system a time when Paris could—and Napoleon III. Beginning in 1853,
still used in the 21st century. did—confidently proclaim itself the French emperor had whole
the City of Light, supremely districts knocked down, replacing
1863 The first underground cosmopolitan, the art capital of the medieval buildings and tangles of
train comes into operation world, and the epicenter of civilized tiny streets with imposingly vast
in London. living. Paris was the city reborn, boulevards. It was urban planning
on a scale never seen before. Train
1868 The first elevated urban The Eiffel Tower was erected in stations were built, water supplies
railway opens in New York. time for the Universal Exposition of improved, sewers constructed,
1889. At the time, it was the world’s parks laid out, and stunning vistas
1876 Los Angeles installs tallest structure. It has since come to created. The goal was a model
the world’s first electric street represent Paris to the entire world. city, one that would reflect not
lights. London soon follows. just the glory of France but also
its mastery of the modern age.
AFTER
1895 A variety theater in It was a process mirrored in
Berlin, the Wintergarten, cities across the industrial West.
becomes the world’s first In 1850, there were three European
cinema. cities with populations larger than
500,000: Paris, London, and
1902 The first motor bus Constantinople. Fifty years later,
service starts in London. there were nine with populations
larger than 1 million, and by
1900, London was the largest
city in the world, with 6.5 million
inhabitants. The same dizzying
growth occurred in the US,

See also: Stephenson’s Rocket enters service 220–25 ■ The construction of the CHANGING SOCIETIES 257
Suez Canal 230–35 ■ The opening of Ellis Island 250–51 ■ France returns to a
republican government 265 Underground railways

Industrialization and Squalor and Between 1800 and 1900, the
emigration draw millions disease afflict the population density in New
of people to cities across new urban poor, York rose from 39,183 per
subsisting in slums. square mile to 90,366, and
the Western world. the congestion was worsening
as public transportation took
Infrastructure— Social reformers argue up valuable land. A solution
sanitation, transport, that living conditions favored in the United States
and street lighting— for all must be improved. was an elevated railway—
a train line raised above
becomes a priority. the streets on steel girders.
The first was opened in New
The opening of the Better living conditions York in 1868.
Eiffel Tower is seen and higher wages in cities
In the UK, the same space
as an affirmation lead to the birth of constraints led to the birth
of civic pride. mass consumerism. of the underground railway.
The first, using conventional
too—between 1850 and 1900, the and compulsory education, with steam engines, was London’s
population of Chicago, for example, basic literacy and numeracy now Metropolitan Railway, which
tripled, from 560,000 to 1.7 million. increasingly commonplace. It was opened in 1863 and linked
an age of music halls and popular Paddington and King’s Cross
Difficulties and inventions theater, and subsequently of the stations with the City of
The initial consequence of this cinema; of the phonograph; of London. Soon extended and
population explosion was quite mass-circulation newspapers; and combined with the District
staggering urban squalor. Diseases of a growing interest in sports. Line, by 1871 it encircled
such as cholera and typhoid were almost the whole of central
commonplace. It became clear that Just as central to this age of London. The city’s first electric
the infrastructure demanded by growing affluence and increased underground service—faster,
any modern city had to include not leisure—at least for some—were quieter, and much less dirty—
just adequate public transport and the first department stores. These was opened in 1890. Paris
well-lit streets, for example, but were a conspicuous part of a retail followed suit with the opening
major improvements in public revolution that was coupled, from of the Métro, named after the
health—above all, sanitation. the 1870s, with an advertising London line, in 1900, and the
explosion, with color posters mass- first US underground service
The shift in the quality of life produced for the first time. And opened in Boston in 1897.
in these great metropolises was from the 1890s in the United States,
extraordinary. It was paralleled cityscapes were further changed by In 1890, London unveiled the
by the rapid development of a new type of building: skyscrapers. world’s first electric underground
mass consumerism, the direct Just as the Eiffel Tower before railway. It made transport within
consequence of improved living them, they rapidly became symbols the city quick and reliable.
standards, shorter working hours, of the transformation in urban life. ■

258

IOWFTOIHUCELORDUPLALDNANNIEEXTS

THE BERLIN CONFERENCE (1884)

IN CONTEXT The interior of Africa is revealed by European
exploration. Its commercial possibilities are alluring.
FOCUS
The “scramble for Africa” Unremitting competition Europe takes full advantage
between Europe’s colonial of its financial and
BEFORE military superiority
1830 France begins powers sparks a sudden
occupation of Algeria. “scramble for Africa.” to impose itself on Africa.

1853–56 David Livingstone At the Berlin Conference, new colonial
crosses Central Africa. possessions are created, supposedly in the
interests of Christianity and “civilization.”
1862 John Speke discovers
the source of the Nile. By 1913, only Liberia and Ethiopia remain fully independent.

1879 H. M. Stanley is hired by T he Berlin Conference the conference was held over the
Leopold II to survey the Congo. did not precipitate the winter of 1884–85 and attended by
sudden European takeover representatives from 14 countries. It
1882 Britain takes over of Africa after 1880 but, rather, was intended in part to legitimize a
nominally Ottoman-ruled Egypt. confirmed Europe’s self-asserted more or less enforced subjection of
right to impose itself on a continent Africa and, by setting agreed rules
AFTER deemed backward, ignorant, of colonization, to avoid conflict
1886–94 German territories and savage. Called by Otto von between Europe’s colonial powers,
in East Africa are established. Bismarck, Germany’s chancellor, France and Britain most obviously.

1890 The Anglo-French
Convention grants France
control of the Sahara.

1891–93 Cecil Rhodes brings
Southern and Northern
Rhodesia under British rule.

1899–1902 Boer War sees
Britain wrest control of Orange
Free State and Transvaal.

CHANGING SOCIETIES 259

See also: The construction of the Suez Canal 230–35 ■ The Siege of Lucknow 242 ■ The Second Opium War 254–55 ■
The rise and fall of the Zulu kingdom 264 ■ A Mahdist Islamic state is created in Sudan 265 ■ The [Second] Boer War 265 ■
Indian independence and partition 298–301 ■ Nkrumah wins Ghanaian independence 306–07

It was also seen as a way to end the The subsequent heightening Cecil Rhodes, portrayed in this
slave trade, not least by the actions of tensions resulted in the near- Victorian cartoon as a giant straddling
of Christian missionaries. At the complete reduction of Africa to the entire African continent, was a
same time, it paved the way for European rule. African colonies great believer in colonization for the
Germany and Belgium, two nations were essentially artificial creations, benefit of the British Empire.
with no history of colonial rule, to lines drawn on maps to suit the
become major imperial powers. For colonizing powers. They took 1884 and today part of Namibia,
Germany, this was little more than no notice of local histories and were equally brutal. The true price
a logical next step in its challenge cultures, and any local resistance of the riches produced by Africa
to Britain and France. If they could to colonization was invariably for its European masters—ivory,
boast vast colonial possessions, crushed by military means. rubber, gold, and diamonds—was
Germany felt it should, too. extraordinary suffering. ■
Belgian and German rule
The European takeover In 1885, Leopold II, the King of
Before colonization, Africa possessed the Belgians, proclaimed the
a variety of states and territories, establishment of the Congo Free
some quite precisely defined, some State, an area 76 times larger
amorphously tribal—there was than Belgium. Presented as
an extreme contrast between a model colony, dedicated to
the sophistication of Egypt, for humanitarian ends and free trade,
example, and the Congo in tropical in reality it was anything but.
Africa. At the same time, much of
the north was Muslim. The first Treated by Leopold II as his
European holdings in Africa were personal possession, the Congo
coastal trading forts, sustained witnessed brutalities on a near-
by gold and the slave trade. The genocidal scale. The exact numbers
interior remained impenetrable, but can never be known, but it is
as it was revealed from the early believed that between 2 million
1800s, European control of Africa and 10 million Congolese died.
gained momentum. Conditions in German southwest
Africa, suddenly taken over after

Cecil Rhodes There was no more ardent Zambia) and Southern Rhodesia
exponent of British imperial (now Zimbabwe), which were
rule in Africa than Cecil Rhodes both named after him. As the
(1853–1902), financier, statesman, prime minister of Britain’s Cape
and relentless imperialist. He Colony from 1890, his relentless
envisaged a continuous body of scheming to topple the Boer
British colonies that would run republics led to his eventual
north and south across Africa, political demise in 1895. He
linking the two strategically remains perhaps the most
vital extremities of Africa: Cape striking example of the
Town and Cairo. Having made unashamed imperialist, not
his fortune mining and selling just permanently ready to
diamonds in South Africa, he extend British colonial control,
dedicated the rest of his life to but convinced that it was his
this audacious vision. He was able duty to do so in the interests
to carve out new British territories of what seemed to him a self-
in Northern Rhodesia (now part of evident European fitness to rule.

260

DLMOTEEEFYAMATPRCORENHCUOIRTTNPHHAGLECESAYPAONRRTFDIEHNSTEGCCHOIDIPEEIILNCNEGTCSAETTOOEFS

THE YOUNG TURK REVOLUTION (1908)

IN CONTEXT Ottoman Turkey finds The Ottoman sultanate
itself increasingly unable attempts Westernizing
FOCUS reforms, but these efforts
Modernizing Turkey to keep control of its
empire and match are half-hearted.
BEFORE Western powers.
1798 French invasion of Egypt,
which leads to the Ottoman The Young Turk The rule of Abdul Hamid
loss of the country in 1805. Revolution II proves repressive and
instigates
1830 Greece’s independence corrupt, ever more at
signals the loss of the first modernizing the mercy of Western
Ottoman Balkan territories. reforms. It is
France begins its conquest unable to offer any financial interests.
of Algeria. lasting solution Defeat in World War I
to Turkey’s
AFTER declining power. shatters the Ottoman
1912–13 Ottoman Turkey Empire but leads to
suffers humiliating defeats the formation of a
in the Balkan Wars. secular republic.

1914 Ottoman Turkey enters T he Young Turk Revolution had suspended in 1878 in favor
World War I on Germany’s side. of July 1908 was instigated of personal rule after only two
by nationalistic army years. In 1909, he was forced to
1920 Mustafa Kemal leads officers dismayed by the territorial abdicate in favor of his brother,
a revolt against the punitive losses of the Ottoman Empire. It Mehmed V, who was merely
Treaty of Sèvres imposed on forced the sultan—the Ottoman a figurehead.
the Ottoman government after ruler, the ineffective but repressive
defeat in World War I. Abdul Hamid II—to reintroduce The revolution did very little
the constitutional monarchy that he to halt the Ottoman decline,
1923 The Treaty of Lausanne tending mostly only to highlight
confirms the borders of modern
Turkey; Kemal launches a
modernization program.

CHANGING SOCIETIES 261

See also: Stephenson’s Rocket enters service 220–25 ■ The 1848 revolutions 228–29 ■ The construction of the
Suez Canal 230–35 ■ The Expedition of the Thousand 238–41

tensions between those who The Ottoman Empire became known In October 1914, Turkey entered
championed Turkish Islamic values as “the sick man of Europe” in the late World War I as an ally of the
and those liberals who believed 19th century, due to its inability to hold Central Powers—Germany and
only Western-style reforms could on to its lands. A defeat in World War I Austria-Hungary—convinced that
save Turkey. led to even more territorial losses. German military aid would allow
it to reassert its potency. This
Territorial decline the Balkan Wars of 1912–13 saw the was a calamitous mistake, and
In 1800, despite repeated defeats surrender of almost all of Turkey’s defeat in 1918 saw Turkey reduced
at the hands of the Russians, remaining European territories. to its Anatolian heartlands, its
Ottoman Turkey still ruled over remaining Middle East territories
a vast multinational empire that A fateful alliance lost, largely carved up between
stretched across the Balkans, the Following the Balkan crisis, the Britain and France.
Middle East, and North Africa. Ottomans’ military government
From 1805, it lost control of launched a drive to modernize The traumas of Turkey’s defeat
Egypt, which became effectively the country along Western lines. in World War I were underlined in
independent under one of the 1920 by the Treaty of Sèvres, largely
sultan’s generals, Muhammad Ali. a Franco-British imposition. This
confirmed the loss of Ottoman
In 1830, the year that France territory and also awarded much
began its conquest of Algeria of western Turkey to Greece,
(completed in 1857), Greece won provoking an immediate nationalist
its independence; and by 1878, backlash led by Mustafa Kemal,
Serbia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, as well as the overthrow of the
and Romania were similarly last sultan, Mehmed VI.
independent in all but name.
In 1881, Tunisia, too, was taken The Turkey that emerged under
over by France. Kemal, subsequently styled Atatürk
(“Father of the Turks”), was exactly
Following the Young Turk the centralized Western-style and,
Revolution, the relentless decline importantly, secular state that
of Ottoman Turkey continued. In nationalist reformers such as the
1911, Libya was lost to Italy, while Young Turks had argued for. ■

Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal, better known the Greeks from mainland
as Atatürk (1881–1938), the name western Turkey. With the
he assumed in 1934, was the country’s borders confirmed
founder and first president of the by the Treaty of Lausanne of
republic of Turkey. Born in 1881, 1923, the West effectively
he took part in the Young Turk agreeing to the establishment of
Revolution as an army officer. a new Turkish republic, Atatürk
Later, he served with distinction launched a radical program of
in the Gallipoli campaign of social and political reforms
1915–16, which repulsed a joint intended to transform the nation
Franco-British attempt to conquer into a modern, Westernized
western Turkey. republic. However painful
the process of dragging Turkey
After the Turkish defeat in into the modern world, under
World War I, Atatürk established Atatürk the country indeed
a provisional government. As emerged as a coherent, secular
leader of the Turkish Nationalists, political entity.
he played a central role in driving

262

DWEOERDDSSNOT

THE DEATH OF EMILY DAVISON (1913)

IN CONTEXT More women are educated and hold professional posts,
raising expectations for them to have the right to vote.
FOCUS
Women’s suffrage Societies are established to campaign for women’s
suffrage, particularly in Britain and the United States.
BEFORE
1869 In the US, the National Militant campaigners from Britain’s Women’s Social
Woman Suffrage Association and Political Union are arrested and imprisoned.
and American Women Suffrage
Association are formed. Emily Davison’s death raises the profile
of women’s suffrage across the world.
1893 New Zealand is the
first country to grant women Women’s war work emphasizes their capabilities. British
the vote. women win the vote in 1918; American women, in 1920.

1897 The National Union of O n June 4, 1913, Emily However, the intended disruption
Women’s Suffrage Societies is Davison stepped onto was typical of the Women’s Social
formed in Britain. It campaigns the course at the Derby, and Political Union (WSPU), which
peacefully for the right to vote. England’s premier horse race, and Davison had joined in 1906.
was knocked to the ground by a
1903 Emmeline Pankhurst horse owned by King George V. She Britain: the suffragettes
forms the Women’s Social and died four days later. It is unclear if Women in the West had begun to
Political Union in Britain. Vote this was a protest that went wrong feel that they, and by extension
campaigns grow violent. or an active attempt at martyrdom. those elsewhere, should no longer

AFTER
1917 The National Women’s
Party begins a 30-month
protest at the White House.

1918 All women 30 or over are
granted the vote in Britain.

1920 The vote is granted to all
American women 21 and over.

CHANGING SOCIETIES 263

See also: The signing of the Declaration of Independence 204–07 ■ The Battle of Passchendaele 270–75 ■
The March on Washington 311 ■ The 1968 protests 324 ■ The release of Nelson Mandela 325

Emily Davison, George V’s horse as the vote-seeking women were surprise, given that its founder,
Anmer, and jockey Herbert Jones lie on by now mockingly known, became Alice Paul, had been a member of
Epsom race track after Davison’s actions increasingly violent. Chaining the WSPU from 1907 to 1910 and
to draw attention to the cause. The themselves to public buildings and had been sent to prison three
suffragette was the only one to perish. the disruption of meetings escalated times. The NWP’s so-called Silent
into the smashing of shop windows, Sentinels, protesting outside the
be regarded as second-class acts of arson, and bombings. White House from January 1917,
citizens. Extension of the right to were also arrested and force-fed.
vote to increasing numbers of men The more active members of the
in countries such as Britain and WSPU were repeatedly arrested and Success at last
the United States had left them imprisoned: Pankhurst received At the outbreak of World War I,
asking why women should not be seven prison sentences; Davison, the WSPU stopped campaigning,
entitled to vote. In 1903, Emmeline nine. In 1909, the WSPU began to mobilizing itself instead in support
Pankhurst founded the WSPU with stage hunger strikes in prison; in of the war effort. The contribution
the aim of using militant tactics response they were force-fed—a made by women during the war
to further this cause. Its slogan painful and degrading process. plainly demonstrated just how
declared “Deeds not words,” and much wider their role could be than
the tactics of the suffragettes, The US: the suffragists that traditionally expected of them
The experience of what in the US as wives and mothers. In 1918, all
were known as the suffragists British women aged 30 or over
had clear parallels. The Women’s were granted the right to vote.
Christian Temperance Union In 1928, suffrage in Britain was
campaigned peacefully for women’s extended to women aged 21 or over.
rights, arguing that women could
not influence political decisions— Meanwhile, in the United States,
in this case, Prohibition—without the NWP continued its protest into
having the right to vote. 1919, when Congress approved the
Nineteenth Amendment, which
However, the National Women’s was ratified the following year,
Party (NWP), established in 1916, granting women the same voting
imitated the militant tactics of rights as men. ■
Britain’s WSPU. This was no

Emmeline Pankhurst The best known of all the of the WSPU exhibited a
suffragettes, Emmeline Pankhurst determination to take the fight
(1858–1928) epitomized a new for women’s suffrage into the
breed of politically active women heart of what she saw as the
in the early 20th century. She was enemy camp. Her increasing
born into—and later remained readiness to use more violent
in by marriage—an eminently methods to secure suffragette
respectable, somewhat left- goals alienated many who may
leaning middle-class world in otherwise have been her natural
the north of England, which only supporters—women as much as
served to cement her desire to men. Nonetheless, her absolute
further the cause of women’s refusal to back down, coupled
rights. This decision would prove with the fervor she inspired
explosive. She was single-minded, in her followers, introduced a
exceptionally active, and wholly new mood of feminist militancy
unflinching in her refusal to into a complacent masculine
compromise. Her leadership political world.

264

FURTHER EVENTS

THE PARTITIONS OF THE WAR OF 1812 firepower. The British divided up
POLAND their kingdom, eventually adding
(1812–15) Zululand to their empire.
(1772–95)
In 1812, the United States declared THE TRAIL OF TEARS
From 1569 to the 18th century, war on Britain over a number of
Poland and Lithuania were united issues, including trade restrictions, (1830)
in a large federated commonwealth British commandeering of US
that occupied an extensive area merchant seamen, and the support In 1830, the US Congress passed
of northern Europe. In 1772, lent by Britain to American Indian the Indian Removal Act, which
the powerful neighbors of the peoples who opposed US expansion granted Native Americans lands
commonwealth—Austria, Prussia, into their lands to the west. The west of the Mississippi in return for
and Russia—encroached on its conflict took place on several them surrendering their lands within
territory in a series of annexations, fronts across North America and existing state boundaries in the
diminishing it until they absorbed involved a failed US invasion of east. Although the removal was in
it fully in 1795. Russia took over the Canada, the burning of the city theory voluntary, in fact it resulted
eastern half of the country; Prussia, of Washington by the British in in the eviction of tens of thousands
the north; and Austria, the southern 1814, and a major US victory at of people from their homelands
and central parts. The elimination New Orleans in 1815. After more on a forced westward march that
of the Polish state bolstered these than two years of fighting, the became known as the Trail of
three great European powers, status quo was largely restored. Tears. The people forced to move
leaving Polish patriots to struggle However, the war gave the US a were mainly Cherokee, Chickasaw,
for independence, which they stronger sense of nationhood and Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole.
achieved in 1918. confirmed that Canada remained Among the Cherokee alone, some
part of the British Empire. 4,000 died during the march.
THE SIKH EMPIRE
IS FOUNDED THE RISE AND FALL THE IRISH FAMINE
OF THE ZULU KINGDOM
(1799) (1845–49)
(c.1816–87)
Maharaja Ranjit Singh brought In the 1840s, the rapidly growing
together a group of Sikh states Shaka, ruler of a small Zulu rural population of Ireland suffered
in and surrounding the Punjab chiefdom, was a dynamic leader a series of disastrously poor crops
region of northern India to create who formed a Zulu state after of their staple food, the potato.
a powerful Sikh Empire in 1799. 1816 by conquering and uniting These bad harvests, due to potato
For its creation and defense, it drew a large number of groups of the blight that spread rapidly in the
on the Khalsa, the powerful united Nguni people of southeast Africa. damp weather, led to about
army that had been created in the The Zulu kingdom had to contend 1 million people dying of starvation,
1730s by Sikh leader Nawab Kapur with two belligerent groups of while another million emigrated
Singh. The empire lasted for 50 incomers: the Boers (descendants of either to Britain or North America.
years before falling to the British. Dutch settlers at the Cape) and the After the famine ended, emigration,
Although not long-lasting, it helped British. The British invaded Zulu especially to the US, continued as
to strengthen Sikh unity and territory in 1879 and, after suffering landlords evicted tenants as part of
confirmed the close identification of an initial defeat at Isandiwana, estate “rationalization.” The famine
the Sikhs with the Punjab region. overwhelmed them with their was a terrible and pivotal event in

CHANGING SOCIETIES 265

Irish history: Ireland’s population efforts of health reformers such as British Governor-General. The
has never risen back to its pre- Florence Nightingale, who worked Mahdists were finally defeated by
famine level and bitterness about to improve the nursing service Lord Kitchener in 1898, after which
the British government’s poor offered to the wounded and to Sudan was ruled jointly by Britain
response to the famine remains. improve training for nurses in both and Egypt.
military and civilian hospitals.
THE TAIPING REBELLION THE [SECOND] BOER WAR
FRANCE RETURNS TO A
(1850–64) REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT (1899–1902)

By the mid-19th century, Qing (1870) The war of 1899–1902 was the
rule in China had become corrupt, second conflict between the Boers
and there were many who wanted In 1870, Emperor Napoleon III of (South Africans of Dutch descent)
change. Among various anti- France surrendered at the Battle and the British. After initial Boer
government groups was one led by of Sedan, during the Franco- victories, the British defeated their
a religious leader, Hong Xiuquan. Prussian War, and he was taken enemies by applying a “scorched
Hong’s followers attacked Nanjing prisoner. The French parliament earth” policy in the areas of the
and took the city in 1853. The declared a republic, expecting it country in which the Boers had
rebellion grew and spread across to form an interim government fought successfully as guerrillas,
virtually all of China until it became until a new monarch was chosen. and capturing women and children.
a war with hundreds of thousands However, it proved impossible Some 20,000 died in concentration
of fighters involved. With European to decide on a constitutional camps, and the Boers lost their
military aid, the Qings eventually framework for a new monarchy, independence. The war reduced
managed to crush the rebels, and or on who should take the throne. many surviving Boers to poverty,
millions of soldiers and civilians After elections in 1871, the Third but it also spurred on their
were killed. Despite its failure, the Republic became permanent, with nationalism and indirectly led
Taiping Rebellion fatally weakened a president as head of state and a to Afrikaaner dominance of
the Qing regime, which only Chamber of Deputies, elected South Africa’s government in
survived for another half century, through universal male suffrage, the 20th century.
increasingly prey to foreign powers. to make the laws. The Third
Republic lasted until 1940 and THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION
THE CRIMEAN WAR set the pattern for French
government after World War II. (1910)
(1853–56)
A MAHDIST ISLAMIC STATE Beginning in 1910 and initially led
When war broke out between IS CREATED IN SUDAN by Francisco Madero, the Mexican
Russia and Turkey in 1853, France Revolution removed the dictator
and Britain intervened in support (1885) Porfirio Diaz, who had ruled for
of Turkey, sending a joint force to some 35 years. However, the
invade the Crimea and besiege the In 1881, the Sudanese leader new republic could not prevent
Russian port of Sebastapol. There Muhammad Ahmad declared armed factional struggles and civil
were huge numbers of casualties, himself the Mahdi (a messianic war, which continued until the
particularly on the Russian side, figure in some Muslim traditions) drawing up of a new constitution
before Russia agreed to peace and launched a revolt against the in 1917 and the election of a new
terms. Blunders such as the British government of Egypt, which ruled government in 1920. The following
cavalry’s infamous, suicidal Charge Sudan although Britain effectively two decades saw key reforms such
of the Light Brigade made the war controlled both countries. Ahmad as the redistribution of lands
notorious for the needless waste of laid siege to Khartoum, which fell among peasants and Indian
human life. The Crimean War also in early 1885, in spite of a defense communities and, in 1938,
came to be associated with the by Charles George Gordon, the the nationalization of oil.

WTHOERMLDOD

1914–PRESENT

ERN

268 INTRODUCTION

Uprisings in Russia lead Shares on the New York Hitler invades Poland, British India divides
to the abdication of the Stock Exchange crash. and Britain and France into two independent
Tsar. Lenin calls for a Billions of dollars are lost declare war on Germany;
and the financial disaster the war lasts six years and nation-states:
revolution and the plunges the world into Hindu-majority
Bolsheviks seize the Great Depression. is the deadliest India and Muslim-
power in November. in world history. majority Pakistan.

1917 1929 1939 1947

1919 1934–35 1942 1948

World War I ends (1918), and the Fleeing from Nationalists The Nazis meet at The Jewish state of
Treaty of Versailles is signed in in southern China, Wannsee to plan the Israel is established
June 1919: the Germans are in Palestine, which
stripped of land, their army 80,000 communists annihilation of the had previously been
led by Mao Zedong Jews. More than
is reduced, and they have head for the north on the 6 million are killed under British rule
to pay reparations. perilous Long March. in the holocaust. for three decades.

H istorical perspectives on them by far the most destructive alternative “communist” societies,
events close to the present conflicts in history. Both European based on the model of a single-
day are inevitably shifting civilization and science—the twin party state and a state-controlled
and uncertain. A historian writing pillars of the traditional 19th-century economy, proved to be a costly
in the mid-20th century might have idea of “progress”—were tarnished experiment. In Russia, followed by
characterized the modern era as a by association with this slaughter. China, communism succeeded in
period of catastrophe, in which all Germany, often considered one of transforming relatively undeveloped
the economic and political gains Europe’s most “civilized” countries, countries into major industrial and
of liberal civilization had been descended into dictatorship and military powers, but millions died
squandered. However, by the early genocidal massacre. Science was as victims of the state, and citizens
21st century it was tempting to see used to create weapons of mass were denied fundamental freedoms.
continuity with the pre-1914 world, destruction, from poison gas to the
as a globalized capitalist economy atom bomb. Even in the interlude A battle of ideology
and great technological innovation of relative peace between the world World War II was followed by the
were combined with rapidly rising wars, global capitalism failed to Cold War confrontation between
population and productivity. function effectively, the economic the “free world,” led by the United
misery of the Great Depression States, and the communist bloc.
The two world wars driving a retreat from democratic Instead of disarmament, there was
The convulsions of the period from government and free markets. a potentially disastrous nuclear
1914 to 1950 were on an epic scale. arms race. Meanwhile, the main
Two world wars between them To revolutionaries inspired by European powers, economically
caused the deaths of between a Marxist vision, these upheavals weakened and demoralized, found
70 and 100 million people, making seemed the death throes of the themselves in no position to sustain
capitalist order. But the building of

THE MODERN WORLD 269

Egyptian leader Nasser declares For 13 days the world is The East German On September 11,
the nationalization of the Suez under the threat of nuclear government lifts travel Islamic extremists
Canal. Britain, France, and war between Cuba and the
Israel invade Egypt, the US US, during the Cuban Missile restrictions and launch a major
imposes a ceasefire, and the Crisis. The dispute is resolved thousands of people tear terrorist attack on
allies withdraw. by diplomacy. down the Berlin Wall; the US. Almost 3,000
communism collapses.
people are killed.

1956 1962 1989 2001 2011
1957 1965 1991

Kwame Nkrumah wins The US sends troops The first website (“World The world’s population
Ghanaian independence to South Vietnam to Wide Web”) goes live, exceeds 7 billion; the global
prevent the spread of built by British computer challenge is to improve
from Britain through communism and is scientist Tim Berners- living standards
peaceful means. By the embroiled in the war Lee to enable academics without destroying
1970s, most countries in to share information. the environment.
Africa are independent. for nine years.

their empires against colonized liberal democracy was “the only was recognized as a major challenge
populations eager for freedom. The game in town.” Certainly, by the end for the future, a problem generated
newly independent nations became of the 20th century liberalism was by humanity’s growth and success.
an ideological and even, at times, surfing a wave: in 1950, only a few
military battleground between the nations in Europe were democracies; Indeed, human progress in the
capitalist and communist systems. 50 years later, all of them were. 20th century was remarkable, from
rising literacy and life expectancy
In the end, the issue was settled Progress and pessimism to the development of air and space
by economics. Capitalism showed From the 1960s, hotly contested travel and computers. Yet there was
its ability to generate economic campaigns for civil rights had no outbreak of general optimism.
growth on a vast scale, creating a progressed liberal ideals in areas Environmental issues aside, it was
booming consumer society in more such as racial equality and gender all too evident that the future held
advanced countries. In contrast, politics. Growing prosperity was potential dangers: the unsettled
by the 1980s communist countries also impressive. In Latin America politics of the Middle East, sucking
confronted economic stagnation and much of Asia, living standards major powers into wars; brutal acts
and rising popular discontent. With had risen dramatically by the early of terrorism; economic inequality
great rapidity, communist regimes 21st century. Despite the world’s generating mass migration; financial
collapsed in the Soviet bloc, while population increasing on a huge instability and market breakdown;
communist China later became a scale—from under 2 billion in 1914 epidemics spread by global travel—
powerhouse of capitalism. to over 7 billion one century later— all provided plenty of material for
food supplies had not run out, as pessimists. History offered no solid
In the wake of communism, the had once been predicted by many. ground for predictions, suggesting
political scientist Francis Fukuyama Restricting environmental damage only that the unexpected was to
coined the expression the “end of be expected. ■
history” and argued that Western

YOU OFTEN

DEADWISH YOU WERE

THE BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE (1914)



272 THE BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE

IN CONTEXT P asschendaele, officially Soldiers at Passchendaele fought in
known as the Third Battle appalling conditions. In the absence
FOCUS of Ypres, was a large- of anything better, these machine-
World War I scale attack against the German gunners are using bomb indentations
front line around Ypres, Belgium, as makeshift shelter.
BEFORE during World War I. The Allies’
1870–71 Defeat for France in aim was to advance into Belgium hailed as a victory by the British
the war against Prussia leads and free the German-held ports government but became a byword
to the creation of a powerful on the Belgian coast, which for the utter futility of war.
German Empire. the Germans had been using to
attack British shipping. The Secret diplomacy
1887 Germany orders large biggest challenge was to break Two main disputes led to World
shipbuilding initiatives. through the defensive positions War I: one between Germany and
taken by the Germans on the France, and the other between
1912 The Balkan Wars erupt, West Flanders Ridge. Key to the Russia and Austria-Hungary. The
hardening Austro-Hungarian breakthrough was seizing the long history of mutual antipathy
attitudes to Serbia. village of Passchendaele. between Germany and France
came to a head in 1870 with
AFTER Preparations for the battle France’s humiliating defeat by
1916 Secret meetings between began on June 7, 1917 with a heavy Germany in the Franco-Prussian
Britain and France produce two-week bombardment of German
the Sykes–Picot Agreement, positions. The infantry offensive
splitting the Ottoman Empire. began on July 31, 1917. Within days,
the Allied forces were stuck in mud
November 9, 1918 Kaiser as torrential rain turned the area
Wilhelm abdicates, and his into a quagmire. By the time the
imperial government collapses. Allies—made up of British, French,
Canadian, and Australian troops—
1919 At the Paris Peace captured Passchendaele on
Conference, stiff terms are November 6, the village was in
imposed on Germany by ruins. The conflict cost 300,000
the victors in the Treaty Allied lives, with a gain of 5 miles
of Versailles. (8km), while the Germans lost
260,000 of their troops. It was

Life in the trenches At the outbreak of World War I, The trenches sometimes filled
both sides anticipated fast-moving up with rats and lice, as well
battles that would cover hundreds as water, which turned to ice.
of miles. None expected a static Life in such conditions was
fight with their forces deep in exhausting, and soldiers had
defensive trenches. a repetitive diet of canned food
and few comforts.
Early trenches were small
furrows, but they grew more Snipers shot at any heads
elaborate, fortified with wooden that appeared over the parapet,
frames and sandbags. German and raiding parties throwing
trenches were more sophisticated grenades were a constant
and had electricity and toilets. danger. The trenches were
Soldiers spent daylight hours bombarded with shells, bullets,
avoiding enemy fire and endured and poisonous gas. It was a
periods of boredom and daily relentless war of attrition—
chores, broken up with spells in smelly, dirty, and riddled
reserve and short rest periods. with disease.

THE MODERN WORLD 273

See also: The Expedition of the Thousand 238–41 ■ Russia emancipates the serfs 243 ■ The October Revolution 276–79 ■
The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93

The lamps are going The atmosphere generated by this ally Germany, Austria-Hungary
out all over Europe. We international jostling led to an presented Serbia with an ultimatum
shall not see them lit increase in military spending on July 23, demanding that the
again in our lifetime. by European governments and the Serbs stop all anti-Austria-Hungary
expansion of armies and navies. activities. Serbia accepted most of
Sir Edward Grey the demands, but Austria-Hungary
War erupts declared war on Serbia on July 28.
British Foreign Secretary (1914) A spark was all that was needed to Britain called for international
ignite the flame of enmity between mediation, but the crisis quickly
war, which led to the annexation these two alliances. It came on escalated into European war. When
of most of the French provinces of June 28, 1914, when a Bosnian Serb Russia mobilized against Austria-
Alsace and Lorraine. assassinated Archduke Franz Hungary, Germany declared war on
Ferdinand, heir to the Habsburg Russia on August 1, and on France
In Eastern Europe, the Austro- throne, in Sarajevo. The Austrians two days later. Britain joined the
Hungarian and Russian empires suspected Serbia, their principal war on August 4, after the Germans
had a long-standing dispute over enemy in the Balkans, of the attack. invaded neutral Belgium. The
which of them had the strongest After securing support from its British Expeditionary Force (BEF), ❯❯
claim to power in the Balkans. Both
depended on the area for access to European powers are bound A European arms race leads
the Mediterranean, and each eyed together in a complex to larger armies and more
the movements of the other with web of alliances.
intense suspicion. destructive weapons.

Each state needed allies, and War breaks out, eventually drawing in all the major powers and
in 1882 Austria-Hungary, Germany, causing death on a scale previously unimaginable.
and Italy signed a Triple Alliance The relative equality of the armies means that
promising to give each other neither side can score a decisive victory.
military support in case of war.
Then, in the 1890s, Russia and The fighting on the Western Front becomes
France signed an agreement to a bitter stalemate despite the enormous
protect one another in the event of cost of battles like Passchendaele.
a war against Germany. By the turn
of the century, Kaiser Wilhelm II’s With both sides exhausted, US entry into the war on the side
provocative nationalistic speeches of the Allies facilitates a breakthrough in the conflict.
and naval expansion pushed Britain
into closer ties with France. In
1904, Britain and France agreed
an entente cordiale, or friendly
alliance, which was broadened into
a triple entente, embracing Russia,
in 1907. The triple entente would
become known as the Allied Powers.

274 THE BATTLE OF PASSCHENDAELE

Huge artillery guns such as the
Howitzer cannon were transported by
horses and tractors. High-explosive
shells fired in massive quantities were
key to the war’s high casualty rates.

a small professional troop led by Sir trenches, punctuated by appallingly had anticipated a war of attrition.
Douglas Haig, had arrived in France bloody battles, failed to break the New mechanized weapons added to
by August 22. It was deployed near deadlock. More than 600,000 Allied the high casualty rates. Tanks were
the Franco-Belgian border, in line troops were killed or wounded in the used for the first time, and machine
with pre-war military plans agreed Battle of the Somme alone. guns such as the German MG 08
with the French government. Maxim could fire up to 600 bullets
Total war a minute. Aircrafts, first employed
Germany had to fight a war on At the start of the conflict, both for reconnaissance, were later used
two fronts. On the Western Front, sides had been convinced it would for bombing. Both sides used poison
in the first weeks of the conflict, be a short, decisive battle. No one gas. Horses were the backbone
the Germans invaded Belgium of logistical operations, but as
and France, but their advance the war progressed, railways and
was halted by the French and motor trucks were used to transport
British at the Battle of the Marne. goods to the front.
By the end of autumn, the two
sides had reached a stalemate. Civilians were brought into
Meanwhile, on the Eastern Front, the front line by the bombing of
the fighting remained fluid. London and Paris by airships and
Germany dominated, scoring a bomber aircraft. By 1917, German
great victory against the Russians submarines were sinking one in
at Tannenberg, but its Austrian four merchant ships headed for
allies suffered several defeats. Britain to try to starve the British
On the Western Front, however, into submission. Britain’s naval
a 400-mile (645km) trench line blockade of Germany also led to
stretched from the Belgian coast
in the north, down through eastern 6 World War I is also known as the Great War, due
France to the Swiss border. The two
sides faced each other across the to the unprecedented number of participants. An
open space between their front enormous 65 million soldiers saw combat, almost a
lines. This area—no-man’s-land— MILITARY CASUALTIES (MILLIONS) 5 third of whom were wounded and half as many again
had barbed wire fronting the
trenches to slow the opposition. were killed. In addition, 8 million civilians lost their
Continuous fighting from the lives. These high figures are a direct consequence of
4 the array of devastating new weapons that were in
use by all of the armies involved.

3

2

1

0 Machine- Rifle Poison Other combat
Artillery gun fire fire gas deaths
fire

THE MODERN WORLD 275

There was not a sign of life colonies in Africa were overrun by US troops helped defeat the
of any sort… Not a bird, not British, French, and South African Central Powers and bring the
even a rat or a blade of grass. troops. In May 1915, Italy joined the Germans to the peace table.
Allies, fighting Austria-Hungary
Private R. A. Colwell and Germany in the Alps. When the conflict ended, at
11am on November 11, 1918, the
Passchendaele (1919) In early November 1914, the alliance led by France and Britain
Ottoman Empire, an Islamic power, emerged victorious. More than
acute food shortages. This was the abandoned its neutrality and 65 million troops had been involved
first “total war,” meaning not just declared a military jihad (holy war) in the war, of which at least half
soldiers but also civilian populations against France, Russia, and Britain. were killed or injured. The Russian,
were involved. The US was drawn into the war by Austrian, and German empires had
German submarine attacks on collapsed. After the war, the Treaty
Britain was forced to introduce commercial ships at sea, such as of Versailles redrew the map of
conscription for the first time in the one on British liner Lusitania in Europe, leaving nations, particularly
its history. From January 1916, all 1915, with 128 Americans on board. Germany, embittered. A public
single men aged 18 to 41 could be After a German plot to persuade assembly of countries, the League
called up. Britain and France Mexico into an anti-US alliance of Nations, was founded to help
also assembled armies from their was discovered, Congress declared maintain peace. However, the
overseas colonies, such as India war in April 1917. League proved toothless in the face
and Africa, and from the British of countries that chose to ignore
dominions of Australia New When the Bolsheviks in it. When fascist Benito Mussolini
Zealand and Canada. War brought Russia negotiated a peace treaty came to power in Italy in 1922, he
many social changes, notably for with Germany at Brest-Litovsk denounced the Treaty. In Germany,
women, who filled positions in on December 22, 1917, it seemed where the response to the Treaty
factories and offices. Women were Germany had won a significant was one of deep resentment,
also increasingly employed in the victory. They also made gains on the Nazi Party began to gain
munitions industry as governments the Western Front in 1918, but momentum. Far from being “the
switched to large-scale production. then, in July and August, the war to end all wars,” World War I
Allies counterattacked, beginning had instead sown the seeds of
an advance that would continue future conflict. ■
until November. Four million fresh

Global conflict
The key belligerent states brought
their vast empires into war with
them, and the conflict soon became
a world war. German colonies in
China and the Pacific were invaded
by Japan, which entered the war on
the side of the Allies. Germany’s

One of the social changes brought
on by World War I concerned the role
of women. The female population
joined the war effort by working in
places like munitions factories.

276 IN CONTEXT

PNHNUOISOOSWTTITFAFOEOSRWRRSYNEGUWODIMWVOIEELL FOCUS
Russian Revolution
THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION (1917)
BEFORE
1898 The Russian Socialist
Democratic Labour Party
is formed.

1905 Russia suffers a crushing
defeat in a war against Japan,
which leads to an uprising.

1914 Russia enters World War I
and quickly suffers heavy
losses in defeats to Germany
on the Eastern Front.

AFTER
1918 Tsar Nicholas II and his
family are executed.

1922 Lenin creates the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics
(USSR) under the control of the
Communist Party.

1929 Stalin becomes leader
of the USSR and establishes
a dictatorship.

I n October 1917, Russia was
in turmoil after suffering
huge losses in World War I.
There were food shortages, and
workers in the cities faced low
wages and appalling conditions.
The February Revolution had
ousted the Tsar, but the Provisional
Government that replaced him
faced imminent collapse.

Vladimir Lenin, a member of the
revolutionary Bolshevik Party, took
full advantage. He was committed
to a workers’ (proletarian) revolution
and set out a series of proposals to
overthrow the government in what
became known as his April Theses.
His simple slogan “Peace, land, and
bread!” became a revolutionary

See also: The founding of St. Petersburg 196–97 ■ Russia emancipates the THE MODERN WORLD 277
serfs 243 ■ Stalin assumes power 281 ■ The Siege of Sarajevo 326 ■
The Spanish Civil War 340 Vladimir Ilyich Lenin

rallying cry. On October 24 the main telegraph office, post Born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov
(November 6, Gregorian calendar office, and power stations. Only on April 10, 1870 (22 April, NS),
(GC)), there were attempts by the the Winter Palace, the seat of the the founder of the Bolsheviks
government to curb the activities government, remained. The small and first leader of Soviet Russia
of the Bolsheviks to prevent a coup. unit of military cadets guarding it was a bold theorist and tireless
Orders were issued for the arrest of willingly surrendered to the organizer. Lenin became an
leading party members, and their revolutionary soldiers. The regime active Marxist revolutionary
newspaper, Pravda (The Truth), was overthrown, and power had after his brother Alexander
was closed down. Lenin, keeping a passed to Lenin and his Bolsheviks. was executed in 1887 for
low profile in his apartment, urged conspiring to assassinate Tsar
action. “We must not wait! We may Laying the groundwork Alexander III, an event that
lose everything! The government The October Revolution was the caused Lenin to lose faith in
is tottering. To delay action is culmination of the civil unrest that God and religion. In 1895 he
the same as death,” he wrote. had rumbled on for months. On was arrested and exiled for
February 23, 1917 (March 8, GC), in three years to Siberia.
On October 25 (November 7, Petrograd, a riot had started, led by
GC), the government tried without women frustrated at waiting hours Lenin’s chief aim was to
success to find armed support. for bread. They marched through organize the opposition to
The Petrograd Soviet of Workers the city, gathering support as they the Tsar into a single coherent
and Soldiers party, of which the went. This grew into a general movement. Following the
Bolsheviks were a faction, could rely strike, and the demonstrations took Russian Revolution of March
on the support of troops in Petrograd on a more political nature. Red flags 1917, he returned to Russia
(later St. Petersburg). The Bolshevik began to appear, and statues of ❯❯ believing his moment had
paramilitary Red Guards occupied come. In October, Lenin
led the Bolsheviks against
The Russian Revolution of 1905 forces a the government then,
range of reforms from the autocratic Tsar Nicholas II. suppressing all opposition,
became dictator of the world’s
Dissatisfaction Russia suffers Economic first communist state.
persists among defeats in hardship leads
World War I. to food riots. Lenin’s main challenge
the people. was civil war (1918–20). The
Communists won, but Russia
In February 1917, the monarchy is overthrown and replaced was brought to its knees.
by the Provisional Government. The Tsar abdicates in March. The strain of leadership also
broke his health. After two
Lenin and the Bolsheviks demand strokes, one of which deprived
total power for the proletariat, him of speech, he died on
January 21, 1924.
launching the October Revolution.

278 THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION

Tsar Nicholas II were toppled. to his ideas, and he accused his returned to Russia, and renewed
Soldiers refused to obey orders to associates of not doing enough to calls for revolution. He handed
fire on the crowd, but police shot overthrow the current regime. responsibility for military tactics
and killed 50 people. to Leon Trotsky, a fellow Marxist.
Prime Minister Lvov resigned Peasants and farmers were
Rise of revolutionary parties after the disastrous July Offensive revolting in rural areas, workers in
With violence erupting on city on the Western Front. His successor, the cities. Lenin decided the time
streets, the Tsar abdicated in Alexander Kerensky, formed a was ripe for a Bolshevik seizure of
March, having relinquished power new socialist government with power. The Bolsheviks took
to the Provisional Government in the Petrograd Soviet, but he, too, government buildings and the
February, with Prince Georgi Y. insisted on keeping Russia in the Winter Palace, where Kerensky’s
Lvov as its head. The government war. After mass demonstrations cabinet had sought refuge.
still represented only the middle in Petrograd encouraged by the
classes and continued to back Bolsheviks, Kerensky banned them On the night of October 25
Russia’s involvement in World War and arrested many of their leaders. (November 7, GC), Lenin issued a
I. Groups such as the Petrograd Lenin fled to Finland. brief address to the Russian people:
Soviet of Workers and Soldiers, a “The Provisional Government has
council made up of workers and Revolution is nigh been overthrown. Long live the
peasants agitating for change, grew In August, Kerensky faced a new workers, soldiers, and peasant
stronger and gained power within threat. General Lavr Kornilov, revolution!” After this initial
the Provisional Government. Lenin, Russia’s army commander-in-chief, triumph, Lenin was compelled to
in exile for revolutionary activities, ordered troops into Petrograd. hold democratic elections, but the
was anxious to return to Petrograd, Kerensky believed that Kornilov Bolsheviks received only a quarter
convinced that the collapse of was plotting to seize power. In of the vote. Lenin dissolved the
world capitalism was imminent. desperation, he released the elected government and sent
He received the help of the German Bolsheviks, who armed those armed guards to prevent it meeting
government, which hoped that who wanted to prevent a counter- again. In February 1918, he signed
he could further destabilize the revolution. This was a massive a peace treaty with Germany, but
political situation in Russia for their boost for their cause. They were the terms were extremely harsh.
war effort, and arrived secretly in a able to represent themselves to the Russia ceded the Baltic States to
sealed train. Full of revolutionary people as defenders of Petrograd. Germany, while Ukraine, Finland,
zeal, he was determined to shape a By September the Bolsheviks had and Estonia were transformed
new Russian government according taken control of the Petrograd into independent states. Russia
Soviet. Lenin seized the moment, was also forced to pay six billion
German marks in reparations.
This move freed the Bolsheviks
from the German threat, but the
terms of the treaty were deeply
unpopular. Many regarded it as
a betrayal of their country.

Civil war
The Bolsheviks had gained power,
but now they had to keep it. Lenin
established a highly centralized
government system, banned all

This painting of the storming
of the Winter Palace portrays the
dramatic moment in the October
Revolution when the Bolsheviks
seized the government building.

THE MODERN WORLD 279

Vladimir Lenin addresses his
troops in Moscow’s Red Square
in 1919, during the civil war that
followed the October Revolution.

opposition, and started the Red A country in ruins of the communist movement.
Terror, a campaign of intimidation, By 1921, the Whites had been From its inception, the USSR
executions, and arrests against defeated, and Lenin could finally was based on a premise of one-
anybody perceived to be a threat turn his attention to rebuilding party rule, prohibiting all other
to the Bolsheviks. the Russian economy. political organizations.

The Bolsheviks were a minority He faced a country on the verge Lenin was disheartened by
in Russia, and their opponents of collapse. In the countryside, political infighting and worried
marshalled their forces against around 6 million peasants had died about how the USSR would be run
them, primarily the Whites, made of starvation, and there was rioting after his death. In late 1922 and
up of former tsarists, army officers, in the cities. The Kronstadt naval early 1923, he dictated what became
and democrats. The Bolsheviks were rebellion in March 1921 further known as his “testament,” in which
known as the Reds. undermined the regime. Kronstadt he expressed regret at the direction
was a naval town on an island off the Soviet government had taken.
As various factions fought over the coast of Petrograd. In 1921, He was especially critical of Joseph
the future of the country, a civil war 16,000 soldiers and workers signed Stalin, then general secretary
characterized by extreme violence a petition calling for “Soviets of the Communist Party. Stalin’s
erupted in Russia and ran from 1918 without Bolsheviks”: freely elected aggressive behavior had brought
to 1921. The Whites received help Soviets and freedoms of speech him into conflict with Lenin.
from Russia’s former allies—Britain, and press. The Reds reacted
France, the US, and Japan—which ruthlessly, executing several Lenin died in 1924, but his
feared the spread of communism. At hundred ringleaders and expelling legacy lives on. The Bolshevik
first, they made significant gains. over 15,000 sailors from the fleet. Party’s establishment of the world’s
However, they were badly first socialist state in the largest
coordinated, and Trotsky proved to In May 1922, Lenin suffered nation affected every country in
be a brilliant military tactician. a stroke. In December, the the world. The victorious socialist
Soviet government declared the revolution inspired workers
In 1920, Lenin ordered a war establishment of the Union of with an alternative to capitalism
against Poland to liberate the Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and old imperialist regimes. ■
workers of eastern and central a federal union consisting of
Europe, but at the Battle of Warsaw, Soviet Russia and neighboring The execution of the
after a magnificent counterattack, areas that were ruled by branches Tsar and his family was
the Red Army was driven back. needed not only to… instil
a sense of hopelessness in
the enemy, but also to
show that ahead lay total

victory or total doom.
Leon Trotsky

280

FTTOHHRIISS2II0SSYNAENOATARRPSEMAISCTEI.CE

THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES (1919)

IN CONTEXT A fter four years of global You have asked
conflict, 16 million people for peace. We are ready
FOCUS had died and centuries-
Peace after World War I old empires and dynasties had to give you peace.
collapsed. In January 1919, the Georges Clemenceau
BEFORE victors of World War I met to
1914 The four empires of discuss the terms of peace. US Prime Minister of France
Austria-Hungary, Germany, President Woodrow Wilson had
Ottoman Turkey, and Tsarist devised a plan that he believed War-guilt clause
Russia rule over vast lands. would bring a new order to Europe Crucially, in a “war-guilt clause,” the
based on democracy. Wilson Germans had to admit to starting
1916 British and French pushed for a League of Nations the war and also pay £6.6 billion in
diplomats meet secretly to to act as arbiter and peacemaker reparations. They signed the Treaty
determine the fate of the in national disputes. of Versailles on June 28, 1919 but
post-Ottoman Arab world. stalled in paying compensation, so
Britain and France wanted in 1923 France occupied Germany’s
1919 The Paris Peace to ensure that Germany would industrial Ruhr Valley. However, in
Conference sets out the never again be able to threaten the interwar years, neither of those
terms and conditions for European peace. The German nations did anything to deter
post-war peace. Army was to be reduced and the aggression by Nazi Germany. When
Rhineland demilitarized. Germany Adolf Hitler took France in 1940, he
AFTER was also asked to give up lands to ordered the master copy of the
1920 The Treaty of Sèvres France on its west and to Poland treaty to be burned. ■
carves up the Ottoman Empire on its east and north. In addition,
to remake the Middle East. the Austro-Hungarian empires
were to be split into new nations
September 3, 1939 World such as Czechoslovakia and
War II begins with the German Yugoslavia; and the Ottoman
attack on Poland. Empire was also to be carved up,
to the advantage of the British
October 24, 1945 The and French.
League of Nations, having
disbanded, reforms after World See also: The Young Turk Revolution 260–61 ■ The Battle of Passchendaele
War II as the United Nations. 270–75 ■ The Reichstag Fire 284–85 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■
The founding of the United Nations 340

THE MODERN WORLD 281

PNDSREOOOALPTBURHLTOEIIOBSMNLSTET.HMONEOALMLAN—

STALIN ASSUMES POWER (1929)

IN CONTEXT A fter the October Revolution I believe in one
in 1917, Russian leader thing only, the power
FOCUS Vladimir Lenin created a
Soviet Russia single-party state and appointed of the human will.
Joseph Stalin as general secretary. Joseph Stalin
BEFORE Stalin then used his position
1917 Lenin begins Russia’s to launch his bid for supreme The dictator looked for chances
move toward communism. leadership, becoming dictator in to expand communism beyond
1929, five years after Lenin’s death. Soviet frontiers, and after World
1922 The Union Treaty joins War II, it spread to Poland, Hungary,
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Stalin pushed the country into a Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and
the Transcaucasus into the period of rapid industrialization. He others, becoming known as the
Soviet Union. confiscated land belonging to rural Eastern Soviet Bloc. Communist
farmers to turn it into large farms parties came to rule in North Korea
1928 The first Five-Year Plan is to be run collectively to make food in 1948, China in 1949, Cuba in
adopted, with the state setting for the new workforce. In 1931–32, 1959, and Vietnam in 1975.
ambitious goals for the whole he requisitioned grain from the
of the economy. peasants, which led to a severe Stalin had risen to become one
famine in Ukraine, killing millions. of the most powerful men in the
AFTER world. Soon after his death in 1953,
1945 The Soviet Union defeats The People’s Commissariat for his nation was a superpower to
Nazi Germany and controls Internal Affairs (secret police) was challenge the United States. ■
central Europe. tasked with hunting out Stalin’s
political opponents. Thousands of
1989 East and central Europe Soviet citizens died in the 1930s’
reject communism, and the “blood purges,” known as the Great
Berlin Wall comes down. Terror, and millions of non-Russians
were deported to labor camps.
1991 The Congress of People’s Despite this, Stalin portrayed his
Deputies votes for the country as a land of peace and
dissolution of the Soviet Union. progress, and himself as a man
working for the benefit of the people.

See also: The October Revolution 276–79 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■
The Berlin Airlift 296–97 ■ The fall of the Berlin Wall 322–23

282

IFSANUNTATTYTUHLEREASEECICOKSOFOFNTFOOHOCMELOIUICNSNFHIITDEEDNCE

THE WALL STREET CRASH (1929)

IN CONTEXT O ver six desperate days dabbling in the stock market, and
in October 1929, shares thousands of ordinary Americans
FOCUS on the New York Stock bought shares, increasing the
The Great Depression Exchange crashed. The downturn demand for them and inflating their
began on October 23rd, when value. Between 1920 and 1929, the
BEFORE stocks from car manufacturer number of shareowners rose from
1918 The global economy General Motors were sold at a loss 4 million to 20 million.
struggles to recover its and the market started to collapse.
stability after the disruption Panic set in, and the next day the By late 1929, there were signs
of World War I. market nose-dived. of trouble within the American
economy: unemployment was
1922 The US economy starts On Tuesday October 29, which on the rise, steel production
to grow rapidly as factories became known as Black Tuesday, was declining, construction was
mass produce goods. stock prices plunged even lower. slowing, and car sales had dipped.
In total, $25 billion, approximately Still confident they could make
1923 Prices in Germany spiral $319 billion in today’s market, was a fortune, some people continued
out of control in hyperinflation lost. It was the biggest financial to invest on the stock market.
that destroys people’s savings. catastrophe ever, and it plunged
the world into the Great Depression.
AFTER
1930 Mass unemployment hits Roaring Twenties Speculators crowd around the
the US, Britain, Germany, and The US had recovered quickly after front entrance of the New York Stock
other countries. World War I, and factories that had Exchange, deeply concerned about
made supplies for the war effort their financial investments in the days
1939 The advent of World switched to producing consumer following the Wall Street Crash.
War II sees an increase in goods such as cars and radios. The
employment and government growth of new technologies and
spending, speeding recovery. mass production saw economic
output increase by 50 percent; the
1944 World leaders agree age of prosperity and consumerism
to set up the International that resulted became known as
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Roaring Twenties.
World Bank to finance
economic development. Newspapers and magazines
were filled with stories of people
becoming rich overnight by

THE MODERN WORLD 283

See also: The California Gold Rush 248–49 ■ The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■
The Reichstag Fire 284–85 ■ The global financial crisis 330–33

Prosperity in The US
the US leads to stock market
overconfidence
and reckless crashes in
investment. 1929.

A worldwide recession
sets in.

Mass Discontent in US President Franklin D. Roosevelt
unemployment Europe leads Roosevelt
to the fall of Franklin Delano Roosevelt
in the USA governments and introduces the (1882–1945) was the only
results from the rise of New Deal to president ever elected to
overproduction dictatorships. stimulate the serve four terms in office. He
and inadequate achieved this success despite
economy. suffering from polio in 1921,
demand. which crippled both legs and
almost led him to give up on
However, when the stock prices since its post-war economy was his political career.
began to drop in October 1929, supported by huge American loans
panic set in. The ensuing crash which it was unable to pay back. Roosevelt won the election
triggered a worldwide recession to be the governor of New
known as the Great Depression. A New Deal York in 1929, and in 1932 was
The crash helped bring Democrat nominated as Democratic
The Great Depression Franklin D. Roosevelt into the candidate for the presidency.
In the US, factories were White House in 1932. His policy, Pledging a New Deal for the
closed and workers sacked. In the New Deal, introduced a American people, he won a
the spring of 1933, the agricultural program of social welfare landslide victory. In his first
sector was on the verge of disaster: for the poor and government 100 days, he introduced a
25 percent of farmers were without expenditure on huge public program of social and
work, and many even lost their projects that created new jobs. economic reform to combat
farms. Unemployment went from the Great Depression. These
1.5 million in 1929 to 12.8 million, The Great Depression marked immensely popular measures
or 24.75 percent of the workforce, the end of the United States’ post- won him a second landslide
by 1933, a pattern seen around war boom. In Europe many turned victory in 1936.
the world. to right-wing parties, such as Adolf
Hitler’s National Socialist Party In 1939, the US was
Unemployment in Britain rose in Germany, with its promise to propelled into World War II,
to 2.5 million, 25 percent of the restore the economy. In many and Roosevelt took his place
workforce, with heavy industry, countries, recovery came only as one of the allied war
such as shipbuilding, particularly with the increase in employment leaders. He was one of the
badly hit. Germany suffered greatly, brought about by World War II. ■ principal movers in the plans
for a United Nations but died
in March 1945, just before
the UN’s first meeting was
convened in San Francisco.

284

TTTIHHREAETTDMROUEFTNLHAIBIRSEERTY

THE REICHSTAG FIRE (1933)

IN CONTEXT Slowing European German resentment
economies make festers over the terms of the
FOCUS everyday life harder.
Rise of fascism Treaty of Versailles.

BEFORE Extremist fascist and communist ideologies seem to offer
1918 World War I leaves easy solutions to national problems.
Europe politically and
economically unstable. The Reichstag Fire is blamed on the
communists and is used as a pretext
1920 The National Socialist to curb civil liberties and jail dissenters.
(or Nazi) Party is founded
in Germany, with racism The disintegration of formal structures of government
a central tenet. clears the way for Adolf Hitler to become dictator.

1922 Benito Mussolini is W hen fire broke out at the The timing was perfect: elections
made Italian premier by Reichstag, the German were due to take place in March
King Victor Emmanuel III. parliament building, 1933. While Hitler’s National
just after 9pm on February 27, 1933, Socialist, or “Nazi,” Party was
AFTER Chancellor Adolf Hitler claimed it the largest party in parliament, he
1935 Mussolini invades was a communist plot to bring down lacked a working majority because
Abyssinia (Ethiopia) as part the government—a cynical ploy that the two next-largest parties (the
of his ambitious foreign policy. gave Hitler an excuse to decimate Social Democrats and Communists)
his communist rivals. were both on the left, and he feared
1936–39 The Spanish Civil
War is fought.

1938 Adolf Hitler invades
Austria. The Munich Pact
grants Hitler control of the
Sudetenland.

1939 Hitler orders the
invasion of Poland, which
triggers World War II.

THE MODERN WORLD 285

See also: The Expedition of the Thousand 238–41 ■ The Battle of Passchendaele 270–75 ■ The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■
The Wall Street Crash 282–83 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■ The Wannsee Conference 294–95

Ours is a fight to the They used paramilitary groups to The Reichstag Fire is said to have
finish until communism intimidate opponents, and spread burned so fiercely that flames could
propaganda to gain popularity. In be seen for miles around. Hitler blamed
has been absolutely Italy, Benito Mussolini was seen as the communists in an attempt to build
uprooted in Germany. the only man able to restore order. support for his Nazi Party.
Hermann Göring Once appointed prime minister in
1922, Mussolini gradually assumed Front government emboldened
Leading Nazi Party member dictatorial powers, becoming Il the dictators and emphasized the
Duce, the leader. By 1928, Italy was weakness of Western democracies.
his party would not fare well in the a totalitarian state.
elections. Hitler rushed to blame The Reichstag Fire was a key
the fire on a lone Dutch communist, In Germany, Hitler worked moment in Nazi history. It led to the
which prompted suspicions that ceaselessly to transform the Nazis absolute dictatorship of Adolf Hitler
the Nazis were behind the arson, into a major political force. Relying and the growth of fascism, setting
given that they had so much to gain on a mix of nationalist rhetoric, anti- Europe on the path to world war. ■
from discrediting the communists. communism, vicious anti-Semitism,
and an unceasing call to reverse had the Blueshirts; France, Le
The next day, the Reichstag Fire the peace terms made at Versailles Faisceau; and Denmark and
Decree banned the Communist in 1919, Hitler rode a wave of Norway had many far-right
Party. Hitler’s response fed on fears popularity. In 1933 he became parties. Engelbert Dollfuss’s
of a communist takeover, and many Chancellor, then, shortly after, Fatherland Front was installed
Germans believed that Hitler’s dictator, calling himself Führer. in Austria in 1934, while Greece
decisive action had saved the was under the rule of General
nation. By April, under pressure Fascists united Ioannis Metaxas between 1936
from the Nazis, the Enabling Act In 1936 Hitler and Mussolini began and 1941. Portugal and Bulgaria
was passed by the Reichstag. This to send military support to aid also came under right-wing
granted Hitler the right to make his General Franco in the Spanish dictatorships, as did Romania.
own laws without involving the Civil War, which pitted right-wing
Reichstag, and it solidified his nationalists against left-wing By the end of the 1930s,
place as a fascist dictator with republicans. Franco’s victory authoritarian governments had
complete control over Germany. against the left-wing Popular assumed power in virtually
every corner of central and
Dictators seize power Fascism across Europe Eastern Europe, and democracy
Fascism emerged across Europe in was in decline.
the 1920s and 30s. As governments European fascism blossomed in
struggled with post-war economic a climate of economic disarray in
hardship and the fear of communist the 1920s and 30s. Democracies
revolutions, extreme right-wing lost legitimacy with their people,
movements—fascism in Italy and and fascist parties, offering a
Nazism in Germany—were set up form of extreme right-wing
as defenders against communism. nationalism, boasted that they
would provide strength where
weakness had prevailed.

In the 1930s, no European
country, with the exception of
the Soviet Union, was without
a form of fascist party. Britain
had Sir Oswald Mosley’s British
Union of Fascists (BUF). Ireland

IN STARTING

VICTORYITATHNDAITSWMNAAGOTINTTGERRASIGWBHAURTT

NAZI INVASION OF POLAND (1939–1945)



288 NAZI INVASION OF POLAND

IN CONTEXT I n August 1939, Nazi Germany The invasion ended in a resounding
and the Soviet Union signed victory, and it added to Hitler’s
FOCUS a non-aggression pact, also increasing belief that he was a
World War II secretly agreeing to invade and military genius. Some areas in
then divide Poland between them. western Poland were absorbed
BEFORE Russian leader Joseph Stalin had into Germany, while territory east
1919 The Treaty of Versailles decided that in the event of war, of the River Bug was annexed by
at the end of World War I Germany offered the best hope of the Soviet Union.
humiliates Germany and sows Soviet security. One week later,
the seeds for future conflict. on September 1, 1939, more than The Nazi regime in Poland
a million German troops invaded The Nazis imposed a brutal regime
1922 The Union of Soviet Poland from the west. Soon after, on the German part of Poland.
Socialist Republic (USSR) on September 17, Russian troops Hitler was bent on the elimination
is founded. attacked Poland from the east. The of anyone who stood in the way of
context for this unprovoked assault, German domination.
1933 The Enabling Act gives as declared by the German Führer,
Adolf Hitler dictatorial power Adolf Hitler, was the pursuit of As part of Hitler’s plan for
in Germany. Lebensraum, “living space” deemed ethnic cleansing, around 5 million
necessary for the expansion of the Polish Jews were rounded up
AFTER German people, whom Hitler saw as and herded into ghettos. The
1942–43 The Soviets defeat a superior “Aryan master race,” with invasion of Poland gave some
the Germans at Stalingrad. the right to displace inferior races. forewarning of the violence that
would soon be visited upon
1944 The June 6 D-Day The invasion lasted just over scores of countries and countless
Landings, which were the a month. Trapped between two people around the globe.
largest amphibious military huge, well-armed powers, the
operation in history, begin the Polish air force and army fought The rise of the Nazi Party
liberation of Western Europe. valiantly, but they lacked modern Although World War II was
aircrafts and tanks. The German triggered by Hitler’s invasion of
1945 As Russian troops win Luftwaffe was quickly able to Poland, its origins can be traced
the Battle of Berlin, Hitler gain command of the skies. In back to Germany’s defeat in
commits suicide. The Germans the end, Poland’s aviators and World War I and the demand for
surrender unconditionally. soldiers, fighting on two fronts, reparation payments. The defeated
were overwhelmed. nations lost land and prestige,

Britain and France want Hitler’s government German forces
to ensure Germany is rebuilds Germany’s invade Poland.
incapable of starting military and promotes
another war. extreme nationalism.

The Treaty of With economic Britain and France
Versailles sets tight depression crippling declare war on Germany,
Germany, Adolf Hitler leading to World War II,
limits on German grows in popularity. the most destructive
armaments and
conflict in history.
armed forces.

THE MODERN WORLD 289

See also: The Battle of Passchendaele 270–75 ■ The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■ The Wall Street Crash 282–283 ■
The Reichstag Fire 284–85 ■ The Wannsee Conference 294–95 ■ The Berlin Airlift 296–97 ■ World War II in the Pacific 340 ■
The founding of the United Nations 340

Adolf Hitler watches a victory parade
in Warsaw following the invasion of
Poland. He and Soviet leader Joseph
Stalin agreed to the invasion and
division of the country.

causing deep resentment. Germany Hitler’s Lebensraum Fascism in Europe
was forced to return Alsace and Italy’s Fascist dictator Benito
Lorraine to France, and all of its Under this creed, Hitler embarked Mussolini also had aspirations for
overseas colonies were annexed on an ambitious foreign policy. foreign glory. In October 1935, he
by the Allies. In 1935, openly going against the invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia) in
terms of the Versailles Treaty, he retaliation for the defeat the Italians
Germany’s Weimar Republic began a massive program of had suffered there in 1896. By May
began its economic recovery in the re-armament. In 1936 he occupied 1936, Mussolini had conquered
1920s, but it could not survive the the demilitarized Rhineland, but the country, facing no opposition
blow that was inflicted by the none of the major powers from the Western powers.
US economic crash of 1929. This intervened. In March 1938, Hitler
financial crisis aided the rise of annexed Austria to Germany, Further evidence of Western
the National Socialist (Nazi) Party, before setting his sights on the democracies’ weakness in facing
led by Hitler, who promised the German-speaking part of up to the Fascist challenge was
German people he would make Czechoslovakia, the Sudetenland. provided the same year, when
the nation great again. British and French politicians both Mussolini and Hitler sent
wanted to avoid a repeat of the “volunteers” to fight in the Spanish
Hitler had fought in World horrors of World War I and felt Civil War, to aid nationalist
War I, and the experience of trench that the Sudetenland was not General Franco in his campaign
warfare, the shock of defeat, and worth fighting for. In the Munich against left-wing supporters of
the terms of the Versailles Treaty Agreement of September 29, 1938, the Spanish Republic. Britain
were to influence the rest of his the Sudetenland was handed to and France took no action, and
life. He developed extremist views Hitler in exchange for his promise Franco’s victory in 1939 bolstered
based on far-right nationalism; and to end his land-grabs. British prime the Fascist cause. ❯❯
by the time he became chancellor minister Neville Chamberlain
of Germany’s coalition government declared that he had secured German troops crossed
in 1933, and dictator of the country “peace for our time,” only for the the Polish frontier this
the next year, he ruthlessly pursued Nazis to invade the remainder of morning at dawn and
his policies of nationalism, anti- Czechoslovakia in March 1939. are since reported to be
Semitism, and anti-communism. bombing open towns. In
these circumstances there is
only one course open to us.
Neville Chamberlain

290 NAZI INVASION OF POLAND

The West intervenes scale attack, and some politicians We shall defend our island
Hitler’s invasion of Poland, which still believed that peace terms whatever the cost may be.
began on September 1, 1939, finally could be negotiated. We shall fight on beaches,
forced Britain and France into landing grounds, in fields,
a war they had been trying This period became known as in streets, and on the hills.
desperately to avoid. Deciding the “Phoney War.” Expecting to be We shall never surrender.
that they needed to take a tougher bombed, Britain began to evacuate
stance against Hitler after his its children from major cities. Air- Winston Churchill
takeover of Czechoslovakia, the raid shelters were built, and gas
two nations had guaranteed Poland masks handed out. The Phoney War they could be evacuated by sea
support in the event of German ended in April 1940, when Germany from Dunkirk. Thousands of Allied
aggression. Honoring this promise, attacked and conquered Denmark soldiers were transferred across
they declared war on Germany on and Norway. A month later, they the Channel in all kinds of vessels
September 3, which meant British turned on France, Belgium, and the in Operation Dynamo. Winston
and French colonies were also Netherlands. The French army was Churchill, the First Lord of the
drawn into conflict: Britain’s poorly led and badly equipped. Admiralty and later Britain’s
dominions Australia and New France had relied on the Maginot wartime prime minister, told the
Zealand declared war immediately, Line, a chain of fortresses along the British parliament, “The Battle of
the Union of South Africa followed frontier with Germany, to halt any France is over. I expect the Battle
on September 6, and Canada on attack. But the fortification did not of Britain is about to begin.”
September 10. extend along the Franco-Belgian
border, and the Germans simply However, Hitler’s attempts
Germany quickly overran bypassed it at the north end. Within to invade Britain in Operation
Poland with its tactic of blitzkrieg the space of six weeks, France had Sea Lion had to be abandoned
(“lightning war”), which utilized fallen to the German onslaught. after the Luftwaffe failed to win
tank divisions supported by the the battle of the skies. With the
Luftwaffe, the German air force. The Battle of Britain Luftwaffe triumphant in both
The British sent an Expeditionary Only a hesitation by Hitler, who Poland and France, the Germans
Force (BEF) to France, but neither may have wanted to rest his troops had hoped that Britain could
Britain nor France attempted and spare them from a possible be beaten by air power alone.
an offensive against Germany. counterattack, prevented the However, German crews were
They were not ready for a large- destruction of British forces before exhausted, intelligence was poor,
and Britain’s use of radar enabled
the Royal Air Force (RAF) to track
incoming planes and take off in
time to meet an attack. The Battle
of Britain in the summer of 1940

Operation Dynamo, in June 1940,
focused on the evacuation of Allied
soldiers from the port of Dunkirk,
in France, after they had become
surrounded by German troops.

THE MODERN WORLD 291

Finland*
April 3, 1945

Canada UK Netherlands China
Sept. 10, 1939 Sept. 3, 1939 Dec. 8, 1941 Dec. 8, 1941

USA France Turkey Australia
Dec. 8, 1941 Sept. 3, 1939 Feb. 23, 1945 Sept. 3, 1939
Egypt
Mexico Italy* Feb. 24, 1945
May 22, 1942 Oct. 13, 1943

Nicaragua
Dec. 8, 1941

Declarations of war against Brazil
Germany began right after the Aug. 22, 1942
invasion of Poland and carried
on until the end of World War II. South Africa
Some nations (such as those Sept. 6, 1939
asterisked) switched sides
late in the conflict.

was the first real check on Hitler’s people were urged to grow their Wilhelmina, also sought refuge
progress, but Britain alone could not own food. Nazi-occupied Europe in London. When France fell to
fight a power that now had control also experienced food shortages, Germany, Charles de Gaulle,
of almost the entire continent. which weighed most heavily on who opposed the newly installed
the conquered populations. Vichy government, became the
The world at war voice of French opposition to the
What started as a European war Collaboration or exile Nazi occupation.
gradually became a world war. In In some locations, the Germans
June 1940, Italy, emboldened by worked with existing governments In 1940 the biggest threat
German successes, declared war and fully supported puppet facing Britain was from German
on Britain and France, fulfilling administrations, such as the pro- U-boats. As an island, Britain was
the terms of the Axis agreement Nazi Vidkun Quisling in Norway dependent on its merchant ships to
made between Hitler and Mussolini and the Vichy regime in southern bring in vital supplies but also to
on May 22, 1939. But Italy’s failures France. Led by Marshal Philippe export equipment to its fighting
in Greece and North Africa Pétain, Vichy was officially neutral, forces abroad, and German U-boats
forced Hitler to send German but it collaborated closely with were sinking dozens of Allied
armies into these areas, as well Germany, fighting the French ships each month. Merchant ships
as Yugoslavia. resistance, and implementing traveled in convoy to increase
anti-Semitic legislation. the chances of supplies getting
On September 7, 1940 Germany through on each journey, but
began its first major air raid on Germany had total control in casualties were high.
London. The Blitz, as the bombing of Poland and eventual control of the
the English capital became known, Baltic states. Monarchs and Fighting the USSR
thrust civilians into the war and put politicians of more than a dozen In June 1941, Britain gained a
relentless pressure on industry, ports, occupied countries escaped to new ally when Germany invaded
and British morale. With men joining Britain. Polish ministers set up the USSR in Operation Barbarossa.
the army, women were required to headquarters in London, and Hitler had looked to the Soviet Union
work in factories and on farms. Belgium’s government operations for new territory for the German
Food rationing was introduced in were transferred there. The people. It would also remove any
Britain in January 1940, and Dutch royal family, under Queen future threat from the east but ❯❯

292 NAZI INVASION OF POLAND

Operation Barbarossa, launched
in June 1941, saw the invasion of the
Soviet Union by Germany, in breach
of the non-aggression pact the two
countries had signed two years earlier.

fundamentally followed through on hardships. German tanks plowed Roosevelt. Both were decisive in
Hitler’s plan to destroy communism. through the Red Army defenses. bringing about the defeat of the
At first it looked as if Germany and Prisoners of war were shot or left Axis powers. American industry
its allies would be as successful to starve. Fleeing civilians were became a triumph of wartime
against the Russians as it had butchered without a moment’s production, giving Americans in
been against the French. By winter, hesitation. The harshness of the combat in Europe and Asia the
Germany had advanced to within Russian winter slowed the Germans, tools they needed to fight the Axis.
1 mile (1.5km) of Moscow, and and Russian counterattacks drove
Leningrad, the USSR’s second city, back their front line by several Japan won quick victories in
was under siege. hundred miles. In the Battle the Pacific. It successfully captured
of Moscow, from early October the Philippines, Malaya, Burma,
Another powerful rationale for 1941 to January 1942, an estimated Indonesia, and Singapore, Britain’s
war in the east was one based on 650,000 soldiers from the Soviet main naval base in East Asia.
racist ideology and Hitler’s hatred of Army lost their lives. In the spring
Slavs and Jews. As German troops of 1942, the Germans resumed their In North Africa, meanwhile,
swept into Russia, they inflicted offensive in the USSR, driving the a renewed Axis offensive led by
a terrible campaign of genocide Red Army back and coming close General Erwin Rommel brought
against communists and Jews. to taking the Russian oilfields. the German and Italian armies
Russian troops endured extreme within striking distance of Cairo
and the Suez Canal. The first major
Allied victory came in Egypt. In
July 1942, Rommel was halted at El
Alamein; in October, he was forced
into retreat by the British 8th Army,
led by Field Marshal Montgomery.

That same winter, the Red Army
defeated the Nazis at Stalingrad.
The Soviets encircled the Germans,
forcing a surrender in February 1943.

History knows no greater The Pacific and Africa
display of courage than In December 1941, Japan entered
that shown by the people the war by attacking the US fleet
at Pearl Harbor, in the Hawaiian
of the Soviet Union. Islands, as part of its plan to drive
Henry L. Stimson American forces out of the Pacific.
Germany—which had a tripartite
US Secretary of War agreement with Japan and Italy to
provide mutual military assistance
in the event any one of them was General Dwight D. Eisenhower led
attacked by a nation not already the Allied forces during the Normandy
involved in the war—immediately landings of June 1944. The invasion
declared war on the United States. was a decisive step toward taking
Britain now had two strong allies, Europe back from the Nazis.
the USSR under Joseph Stalin, and
the US, led by President Franklin D.

THE MODERN WORLD 293

The turn of the tide The Battle of Iwo Jima saw US Hiroshima and
In a conference at Tehran in troops fight against Japan’s Imperial Nagasaki
November 1943, the Allied leaders Army for possession of the tiny island
agreed on a strategy to liberate in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in American planes dropped
Europe. While the Russians drove 100,000 Japanese casualties. atomic bombs on the Japanese
the Germans back in the east, and cities of Hiroshima and
the British and Americans advanced atomic bombs on Hiroshima Nagasaki to force Japan to
slowly through Italy, a huge Allied and Nagasaki. The effects of the surrender and end World
invasion force arrived in Normandy bombs were cataclysmic, inflicting War II. On August 6, 1945,
in June 1944. Eleven months later, unprecedented horror on the two “Little Boy” was dropped on
it had reached the river Elbe in Japanese cities. Hiroshima. The inhabitants
northern Germany, while Russian below had no idea what was
troops were advancing block by Nations united about to happen. People,
block through Berlin. Germany Hitler’s invasion of Poland marked animals, and buildings were
was being hit repeatedly by British the start of World War II, the largest incinerated in the searing heat.
Lancaster bomber aircraft from and most destructive war in history, Some 70,000 died immediately.
Bomber Command and the US by the end of which an estimated Despite this terrible event,
Eighth Air Force. Staring at defeat, 60 million people had been killed. Japan did not surrender.
Hitler committed suicide on April Like their predecessors in 1918, the
30, and Germany surrendered Allies were determined that this Japan had cause to
unconditionally a week later. should be the last war of its kind. reconsider its position when
the Soviets entered the war
The last act of the war came Representatives of 50 nations against them by crossing
in August 1945, when the US, met in 1945 to set up the United into Manchuria on August 9.
after fighting island by island Nations. There was hope that this When, that same afternoon,
through the Pacific, put an end to would mark the start of a new era the US dropped “Fat Man”
Japanese resistance by dropping of international understanding. ■ on Nagasaki, instantly killing
50,000, Japan was brought to
its knees and agreed to the
Allies’ terms of surrender.
These unprecedented attacks
avoided a bloody ground
assault by the Allies on the
Japanese mainland, but many
thousands lost their lives as a
result of the long-term effects
of radiation sickness.

294

OQTHUFEETSHFTIENIOJANELWSIOSLHUTION

THE WANNSEE CONFERENCE (1942)

IN CONTEXT Hitler becomes ruler of Hitler’s takeover of Austria
Germany and introduces is followed by widespread
FOCUS legislation discriminating
The Holocaust attacks on Jews.
against Jews.
BEFORE
1933 The first concentration The Nazis look for efficient Germany conquers
camp is built in Dachau, near ways to kill millions after Poland, and Polish Jews
Munich. Its first inmates are the invasion of Russia. are forced to move into
communists, socialists, and overcrowded ghettos.
trade unionists.
The Wannsee More than 6 million
September 1935 As a result Conference Jews are killed in
of the new Nuremberg Laws, the Holocaust.
Jews lose their civil rights. organizes the
Final Solution.
1938 During Kristallnacht, the
“Night of Broken Glass,” the O n January 20, 1942, 15 tabulation of all the Jews in Europe
Nazis terrorize Jews across members of the Nazi Party was presented, country by country,
Germany and Austria. and German officials met as well as a target number for
in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee extermination: 11 million. The
June 1941 The German to discuss the implementation meeting lasted two hours and was
invasion of the Soviet Union of the “Final Solution of the Jewish matter-of-fact and dispassionate.
is accompanied by the mass Question”—the code name for the After approving the “Final Solution”
killing of Jews. systematic annihilation of European and the slaughter of the Jews, the
Jews. During the conference, a men called for brandy and cigars.
AFTER
May 1942 Gassings start at
Auschwitz, in Poland.

1945–46 At the Nuremberg
trials, 24 Nazi members are
indicted and 12 sentenced
to death.

THE MODERN WORLD 295

See also: The Treaty of Versailles 280 ■ The Wall Street Crash 282–83 ■ The Reichstag Fire 284–85 ■
Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93 ■ The establishment of Israel 302–03 ■ The Siege of Sarajevo 326

Auschwitz, in southern Poland, has When Germany invaded Russia in killed, and only seven prisoners are
become a byword for the Holocaust. 1941, paramilitary death squads known to have survived. The death
Those prisoners subjected to forced carried out mass killings of Jews in camp at Auschwitz, however, also
labor were summarily executed when the conquered areas. To start with, had a labor camp attached, where
they became too weak to work. victims were shot, up to 30,000 at a those who were not killed on arrival
time, but the SS then began gassing were made to work. The Germans
The Wannsee Conference was far Jews in the backs of vans. Poison needed slave labor to support their
from the start of Nazi brutality gas was found to be a more efficient war effort, and this offered Jews
against Jews. Adolf Hitler had way to commit mass murder. their best chance of survival. Along
come to power in 1933, spreading with other prisoners—including
his belief that Germans were the Until 1941, the Nazi leadership socialists, homosexuals, Roma, and
Aryan master race, superior to all had envisaged solving the “Jewish prisoners of war—many Jews were
others, and that their blood should problem” by deporting Jews to a sent to concentration camps. Their
not be contaminated. He identified distant location. By the time of the heads were shaved, and they were
Jews as a race of people, not just Wannsee Conference, however, they given a uniform to strip them of
a religious group. German Jews were committed to systematically their identity. When the Allies
were banned from marrying non- killing Europe’s Jewish population. liberated the camps in 1945, they
Jewish Germans and subjected Six dedicated death camps were found a vision of hell. The survivors
to increasing discrimination and built in Poland. Adolf Eichmann of were skeletal and traumatized.
segregation. From the time of the the Nazi paramilitary corps, the SS,
German takeover of Austria in arranged the transport of Jews to State-sanctioned genocide
1938, Nazi brutality against Jews the camps from right across Europe, The Wannsee Protocol, the minutes
worsened. Jews wanting to flee including France, Greece, Hungary, of the conference, represents the
German rule found other countries and Italy. The Jews from the Polish unimaginable. For the first time, a
unwilling to accept them. ghettos were also taken there to be modern state had committed itself
exterminated. Prisoners arrived at to the murder of an entire people.
Gathering momentum these huge killing factories by train As many as 6 million Jews lost their
After Germany’s invasion of Poland and were gassed in shower rooms, lives, and an estimated 5.5 million
in 1939, the Nazi campaign against their corpses burned in large others—Slavs, homosexuals,
the Jews reached a terrifying new crematoria. At the Belzec camp, communists—were also killed. ■
level. Herded into ghettoes, Polish about half a million Jews were
Jews began to die in large numbers Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler,
of starvation and ill-treatment. The Nuremberg Trials head of the SS, and Joseph
Goebbels, head of propaganda,
After the end of World War II, had committed suicide, leaving
the Allies sought to bring the 24 defendants facing four counts:
Nazis to justice. An international crimes against peace, planning
tribunal was held at Nuremberg, and waging wars of aggression,
Germany, beginning in 1945. war crimes, and crimes against
Newsreels captured from humanity. Most said they were
the Nazis revealed the gas “only obeying orders.” Albert
chambers, the massacre of Speer, head of war production,
civilians, and the ill-treatment was jailed for 20 years, while
of prisoners. The trials were 12 of the other defendants were
televised, showing to the sentenced to death; the trials led
world—and, in particular the to the setting up of a permanent
German people—evidence of international criminal court in
the horrors that had taken place The Hague, in the Netherlands.
in the concentration camps.

296

WAANLALDSWSFLLEEYDEIPD

THE BERLIN AIRLIFT (1948)

IN CONTEXT A t the Yalta and Potsdam A clash between East and West
conferences in 1945, the had the potential to lead to another
FOCUS wartime Allies agreed to world war, but the Western nations
Cold War split defeated Germany into four devised a plan to use airplanes
zones, each separately administered to drop supplies into Berlin. Over
BEFORE by France, Britain, the USSR, and the next 14 months, 278,288 relief
1918–20 US troops fight the US. The capital, Berlin, lay deep missions were flown to the city.
against the Bolsheviks during within Soviet-controlled East At the height of the airlift, a plane
the Russian Civil War. Germany. This, too, was split into landed every three minutes.
four zones. On June 24, 1948, the
1922 Russian revolutionary Soviet Union imposed a blockade The Cold War
Vladimir Lenin creates the on West Berlin, cutting off all links The era of cooperation between the
Communist International by rail, road, and canal, to prevent victors of World War II was short-
(Comintern) to promote vital supplies from reaching the lived; the Western countries clashed
international revolution. population. In all, 2.5 million people with the Soviet Union (USSR), over
faced a choice between starvation the type of governments being set
1947 The Truman Doctrine and accepting a communist regime. up in Europe. The USSR banned
pledges support for countries non-communist parties in every
attempting to hold back Dozens of people in West Berlin Eastern European country and
communism. stand waiting for the much-needed created a block of satellite states
supplies that are about to be dropped subservient to Soviet leadership.
AFTER from a low-flying US Air Force plane The Western powers sought to
1961 The Soviets erect the during the 1948 Berlin Airlift. create democracies that excluded
Berlin Wall between East and communists from power. Germany
West Berlin. It becomes an remained divided into communist
ugly symbol of the Cold War. East and democratic West, an
emblem of polarized Europe. In
1985 Russian leader Mikhail 1946, former British prime minister
Gorbachev campaigns for Winston Churchill summed up the
economic and political reforms: situation when he stated that “an
glasnost and perestroika. iron curtain has descended across
the continent.”This deep division
1990 Germany is unified after between East and West became
the fall of the Berlin Wall. known as the Cold War, since it

THE MODERN WORLD 297

See also: Russia emancipates the serfs 243 ■ The October Revolution 276–79 ■
Stalin assumes power 281 ■ Nazi invasion of Poland 286–93

After World War II, the communist East and democratic West
disagree over the future of Germany.

The Western Allies plan to turn their occupied zones
into a separate German state.

The Soviets cut road and rail links into West Berlin Joseph Stalin
to force the capital into surrendering.
The dictator of the USSR
The West is determined to have a presence from 1927 until his death,
in Berlin but cannot risk another world war. Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)
was notorious for his ruthless
The Berlin Airlift is a peaceful solution. repression of dissent. His rise
to power began in 1903, when
never escalated into direct military North Atlantic Treaty Organization he became a friend of Vladimir
conflict. The struggle over the (NATO). The communist states of Lenin, the first leader of Soviet
future of Berlin became the first Eastern Europe organized a rival Russia. During and after the
major crisis of the Cold War. alliance in the Warsaw Pact in 1955. Russian Revolution (1917), he
played a prominent part in
A plan to starve Berlin The crisis over Berlin the Communist Party’s rise
In June 1948, the three Western exacerbated the animosity to power, and in 1922 he
Allies announced plans to merge between the US and the USSR. advanced to become general
their zones and introduce a new After World War II, Korea had also secretary of the Russian
currency. Stalin’s response was been split—into a Soviet-occupied Communist Party.
swift: his blockade sought to northern zone and an American-
starve Berlin into surrender occupied southern one. The north, He became supreme
and wrest power away from the backed by the USSR, invaded leader in 1927 and aimed to
West. The Western powers did the south in June 1950. The US transform the Soviet Union
not want to give the Soviets provided troops for a United into a major industrial force.
control of the Western sector Nations army, which went to the In 1928, he launched an
and were determined to stay. support of the South Koreans. industrialization program
The Korean War ended in 1953, and introduced collective
The Berlin Airlift was a success, but it, the conflict over Berlin, and farming. Millions died of
and Stalin lifted the blockade in the Soviet testing of their first starvation, in labor camps,
May 1949. Spurred by the Berlin atomic bomb in 1949, created a or in a wave of purges directed
crisis, Western European countries climate of fear in the West over at his supposed opponents.
formed a defensive alliance—the communist expansion. ■
In the post-war years,
Stalin led the Communist Party
into a period of confrontation
with his former World War II
allies. Following his death,
Stalin was condemned by his
successors for his campaigns
of terror and murder.

298 IN CONTEXT

SWTAAAWTHNLHEEDTAEEHKMNFPEERISTDESTHNEITOENIDRGDLOWOHIIMFKATOEERWHLOOIDFLULR FOCUS
End of empires
INDIAN INDEPENDENCE AND PARTITION (1947)
BEFORE
1885 The Indian National
Congress (INC) is founded and
campaigns for Indian rights.

1901 Australian colonies
are united to form the
Commonwealth of Australia.

1921 The Irish Free State
(four-fifths of Ireland) gains
independence from Britain.

1922 Egypt is given limited
independence by Britain,
but British troops remain to
protect imperial interests.

AFTER
1947 The Commonwealth of
Nations is formed—all former
British colonies can take part.

1960 The Declaration of
Decolonization asserts
the rights of all peoples
to self-determination.

F or more than a century,
India had been the crown
jewel of the British Empire,
but on the last stroke of midnight
on August 14, 1947, it became an
independent nation. In India’s
Constituent Assembly, Delhi,
a special midnight gathering
of parliament was convened.
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime
minister of India, rose to his
feet to declare India’s freedom.
However, this independence also
opened a social and geographic
wound that has yet to heal.

The new Indian state was split
into two independent nation states:
Muslim-majority Pakistan and
Hindu-majority India. Pakistan